Chapter Text
She purses her lips into a thin line when she hears a high-pitched voice from the other end of the call, and the thin line stretches into a smile when she makes eye contact with one of the kids at the other side of the glass divider.
“You want me,” Mona repeats her mother’s words as she turns her back against the children, “to babysit Klee.”
“After you’re done with work, yes,” she taps the end of a pencil repeatedly on her desk, waiting for what the older woman is going to say next.
Mona isn’t exactly new to the babysitting gig. Though she’s only done it a few times in the past to earn extra cash just so she could buy the limited edition book of her favorite astrologer, she thinks that it was enough experience to know what are the dos and don’ts of babysitting.
“This’ll only be for a few days! Alice said she’ll pay you, too,” she hears, followed by a sound of agreement from Alice in the background. “Someone will pick her up around five, after his part-time job so you won’t be taking care of her until the evening.”
She stays silent for the next minute, one hand resting on her hip as she stares at the wall beside her, as though waiting for it to give her a solution. Babysitting isn’t a challenge for her as long as the child knows how to listen and while Klee can do that… she can still be a little difficult to handle compared to the kids she took care of in the past.
“Meg.”
“I told you not to call me that,” Mona frowns at the mention of her mother’s nickname for her, then sighs. “Alright, okay, I’ll do it.”
Oh, well. Difficult or not, she still has a truckload of astrology equipment waiting to be checked out from her online shopping cart and they’re not going to pay for themselves.
- - -
“Sorry for taking so long,” she says apologetically to her co-teacher Eula once she’s returned to the classroom after the call. She glances at the calendar on the teacher’s table.
“Your date with the Sagittarius guy you’ve been telling me about一that’s today, right?”
Eula rolls her eyes in faux annoyance at the question, but the smile on her face easily betrays her. “His name is Kaeya, and yes, it’s later at three.”
Realizing that said date was in two hours, Mona forces Eula to go home and prepare, reminding her of what they agreed about earlier: “His birthplace and time of birth, don’t forget!”
Once that was dealt with, she waited for the rest of the guardians and sent the children home one by one, leaving her alone with Klee. She was wearing her usual bright red dress, one that makes Mona wonder if her mother had bought them in bulk.
“Hey, Klee,” she crouches in front of the chair Klee was sitting in and peers at the paper on the desk that had doodles all over.
“Big sister Mona!” The little girl greets her with a wide smile on her face. “Is mommy going to be late today?”
Mona shakes her head as she helps her pick up the crayons to put them back into the basket. “She said your big brother will pick you up later after her work, so you’ll stay with me in the meantime. Is that okay with you?”
Klee jumps from her seat, the smile on her face somehow growing even wider as she nods, and she pulls Mona into an embrace as tight as her small arms allow her to. “Of course!”
Just as she was about to return the hug, Klee backs away to fish something out of her pocket. Mona raises her brows in anticipation when the little girl takes her hand, blinking in surprise upon seeing Klee put coins in her palm.
“Mommy gives me coins every now and then and she said I can buy anything if I want to, so…” She looks down at her tiny hands, fiddling with her fingers. “Can we buy ice cream with it?”
“Sure,” she agrees, and Klee looks up at her with a smile so bright that it could rival the sun. “I heard there’s a newly opened ice cream store near the playground, let’s go try out theirs. Sounds good?”
- - -
The central district of the city is busy during weekdays, mainly because that’s where the playground and mini-market are located. It’s only a few blocks away from the primary school where Mona works and she’s passed by the area enough times to know when it’s best to take a stroll or a quick shop. Said time is an hour or so after the school’s dismissal time because by then, most of the parents have already dragged their children home for their afternoon naps or tutor sessions.
“Don’t let go of my hand, okay?” Mona reminds Klee for the third time ever since they left the school and the little girl nods, holding her stuffed toy closer to her as they cross the street.
They soon arrive at the playground, and there were still a few children playing by the swing sets and slides while teenagers were sitting comfortably on the benches, eyes glued to their gadgets as they ate their ice cream.
Mona doesn’t need to look around to search for the store, all thanks to the giant air dancer by the storefront.
(She thinks it looks weird, the inflatable stick figure, but doesn’t deny that it’s a good strategy to attract attention, especially for a shop that only started their business recently.)
“Oh? Big brother’s here!”
When they enter the store, they’re greeted by what was supposed to be the store’s catchy catchphrase, but it escapes Mona all too quickly because it’s the person who said it that catches her attention instead.
The cashier was probably the same age as her, or maybe a little older—if he ever was, it wasn’t obvious with how pale and soft his skin looked. His ash-blonde hair reached his shoulders but half of it was pulled back into a braided ponytail, and his bright blue eyes crinkled in the slightest when he offered them the most charming smile Mona has ever seen in her entire life.
Oh, he’s cute, she thinks.
He’s very cute.
Wait—what? Big brother?
- - -
As it turns out, the handsome cashier really is Klee’s older brother, confirmed by the man himself, and according to the small name tag attached to his baby blue apron, his name is Albedo.
While the little girl is busy choosing what ice cream flavor she wants, Mona can’t help but wonder if they were actually blood-related. For one, Klee calls her big sister even though they weren’t related so it wasn’t impossible that he had the same situation, and two, as far as she can remember, Alice has never mentioned that she has a son.
“Okay!” Klee’s voice pulls Mona out of her thoughts, glancing at Albedo who happened to be looking at her as well. “I know what flavor I want now!”
“And that would be?” Albedo asks as he takes his eyes off her to tap on the digital cash register’s screen.
“Strawberry! With lots and lots of toppings!”
“Coming right up,” he smiles at Klee, then glances at Mona. “How about yours, miss? Which flavor will you have?”
“Oh, no—I, uh,” she shakes her head in panic, the words formed in her head suddenly forgotten. “Just her.”
He stares at her for a few more seconds before he nods in acknowledgment, bringing back his attention to the cashier. Mona pays him the exact amount and looks for a vacant table for her and Klee while they wait for the ice cream to be served.
After five minutes or so, Albedo emerges from behind the counter, holding two cups of ice cream as he walks towards their table. Klee beams when he hands her the cup of strawberry ice cream with rainbow sprinkles as its toppings. Then, he looks at Mona, setting down the cup of vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate drizzle in front of her.
“Wait, I didn’t order any—”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s on the house,” Albedo simply says. There was that incredibly charming smile plastered on his lips again and it’s only then that Mona registers how gentle and soft his voice was.
Mona stares at him, taking a few seconds to admire his annoyingly handsome features before she clears her throat. She offers him a small smile in return and says, “Thank you.”