✅3️⃣ Treating the Babysitter [Camp NaNoWriMo July 2023]

15. Careful Preparation

"Time flies!" Claudia said, and beamed like she was coming up with something really clever. She stared at the clock in the corner, and nodded in agreement. It was only when her head was turning back towards the game when she seemed to see the empty plate, and then her face fell.

"I'm sorry!" she gasped. "I didn't see. Do I gotta put my boots on? You said we have to go the park, I didn't mean to miss it, I promise!"

"I'll let you off this time," Adam said. "But I might have to embarrass you a little more while we're out. Just so that it will be easier for you to remember what you're supposed to be doing in future. I'm babysitting you this weekend to make sure that you learn how to look after yourself, remember. So you need to be able to get exercise and eat even if the game you're playing is a whole lot of fun."

"Okay," she pouted, and quickly flicked through the menus on the screen to save their game and shut the computer down. She didn't even stop and get to a convenient restart point, which told Adam that she was taking his instruction seriously even without the drugs compelling her to obey. "Now... coat and potty and boots and bag and let's go!" After finishing the sentence she laughed a little, and Adam could only guess that was a catchphrase from somewhere; either a cartoon character preparing to go out, or something her mother had taught her to repeat when she was very young.

"That's a good girl," he said. "Now, where's your cutest outside coat? It might be sunny, but there might be a bit of wind, so I'm sure it would be good to take one." He didn't mention that a coat would make it a little harder for strangers to notice what she was wearing; but he knew it would only slightly take the edge off her feelings of embarrassment.

She went over to a cupboard in the corner, and dug around in the bottom until she managed to find something like a coat. It was the kind of thing a child might wear in the rain, thin plastic printed with a selection of cartoon ponies. But when she put it on, he could see that it was almost the right size for her. It was hard to tell whether it was made for teen girls who had held onto their childish styling just as long as possible, or if this was something specifically made for the adult baby crowd. But in either case, Adam was sure, it would still embarrass her to go out in something like that. Still, she had lifted it out without being forced, so he had to assume that she was okay with that much.

He needed to remind himself yet again that Claudia had a much higher tolerance for humiliation than anyone else he had ever met. And he had to assume that she knew what she was doing when it came to her own modesty.

"Good girl," he said. "Are you really okay with wearing that where other people might see?"

"Please don't," she answered, blushing and staring down at her hands as she twined her fingers together. "It makes me super blushy." But still she was playing along. Just making a show of her embarrassment, because she wanted to be forced. Adam wondered for a moment how he could test that, and then remembered the rules he had given her. If she was really distressed by the thought, she would have said so.

"Well, I think it'll be good for you," he said. "But remember, you have to tell me if I try to make you do something that would really upset you. So, what's next? I think you said boots. Would you like to have some cute rain boots, so you can splash in the mud if you can find some?"

"I'm not a baby," she answered, and pouted briefly, but he could see that she didn't mean it. "And you should go potty before go the park. Can I go potty please?"

He could see her hesitating between the words this time, trying to find a less humiliating way to ask. But she knew that she needed his permission, and she couldn't just ask to use the bathroom when there was a perfectly accessible childish term for her to use. She didn't really have any choice, and forced herself to say it without making a fuss.