Daycare Days (Daycare Attendant Oneshots)

High Ground

Synopsis: Kid gets up on top of a play structure and nearly gives Sun a heart attack

Word count: 1201

Requester: --C0L0URZ--

~~~

"Okay little nebulas!" Sundrop called out loudly to get the attention of the children in the daycare, standing up tall. They let their words hang in the air, looking around to make sure all attention was gathered, then continued. "I think we should all play a game together, how does that sound? We've had a lot of time in our own little groups, but I think it's the most fun if everyone is playing together. Let's do a vote... tag, or hide and seek?"

"Tag!"

"Hide and seek!"

"Tag please!"

"I wanna play tag!"

"Hide and seek is fun!"

"Tag please Mister Sunnyman!"

Sun kept a mental count of the children's answers. Fourteen votes for tag, nine votes for hide and seek, and seven nonresponses. Twenty three out of thirty kids giving an answer wasn't bad at all, Sun was expecting a lot less decisive answers... but these kids knew what they wanted nearly immediately. It made sense, with how headstrong this batch seemed to be.

"Hmm... Well, it seems like more people want to play tag than hide and seek. So we will play tag first, and then we ca-" Sun was interrupted mid sentence by a little boy named Jason.

"Mr. Sun?"

"Yes?" Sun asked, being patient with the small child. That was one of his best traits, in his opinion, after all. Being able to deal with a bunch of children was no easy task, and certainly not something many people envied in him.

"I love you!" Jason declared with a big, cheesy smile. Sun chuckled and smiled at him.

"Thank you, but can you please not interrupt me while I'm talking? Next time, please raise your hand or wait till I'm done speaking, okay?" Sun requested, going over to the boy and patting his head. They then took a few steps back, looking back around at all the children. "Now... I'm going to be the first person that's It. I'll give you all to the count of five. One..."

The children immediately began to disperse, giggling and laughing. It made Sun's rays spin with joy to see such a happy and energetic crowd! The kids had no real chance of winning, of course, as Sun was designed to significantly outmatch them in terms of speed and strength, but there was no loser in tag. Not to mention, Sun always slowed down when playing with the children to make it more entertaining for them; he only ever used his full capabilities in case of an emergency.

"Two... three... four... FIVE! I'm gonna getcha!" Sun started to run towards the nearest child. It looked like they were struggling to keep up, but in reality, they could do it all day. In all fairness, though, they kind of did; at least when the daycare was open and it was their turn to watch over the kids.

After a few rounds of tag, Sun's eyes caught something that practically gave them a heart attack. Not that they had a real heart.

A little girl, named Sasha, was all the way on top of one of the play structures.

"Pause, everybody!" Sun called out, slowly approaching the play structure. "Hey there, little one... You really shouldn't be up there, it's dangerous. Are you okay?"

"It's not dangerous, I do this lots! Mama says I'm a very good climber. I never falled once! Except that time I fell off a tree. And the monkey bars at the park. Or the time I almost fell off of the roof, but that doesn't count 'cause Papa catched me!" Sasha declared with a proud smile, completely unaware that she was only serving to make Sun's terror even worse. His sun frills went inward.

"Do you think you can come back down here without falling..?" Sun asked hesitantly, afraid to hear the answer. The small kidden tilted her head, as if contemplating her options.

"I could jump and you could catch me-"

"Do not do that, we will get you down, just hold on," Sun was covered in foam and soft fuzzy material, but at their core they were still made of metal. They didn't trust the foam layer to fully cushion the fall, and the metal layer could be outright dangerous.

"Moon, we have a code high ground, please collect Sasha from the leftmost side of play structure B before she hurts herself," Sun relayed to their counterpart through their internal communication system. Sun was technically able to use the cables to 'fly', but they weren't near as good at it as Moon was. Just like how Sun and Moon were technically built the same, but Moon was more aware of their body and how it can move, and therefore more flexible.

"Stay still, little one," Sun spoke aloud again, but the girl didn't seem to have any intentions on listening, as she started to continue moving around the top of the play structure. "Oh my stars I am going to lose my mind-"

Thankfully, Moon didn't hesitate a moment, using the ceiling cable to move over to the little child, even with the lights on. It was a bit difficult for them to see, not to mention the sensation that could only be described as pain it brought them, but the safety of a little kid was most important. Within moments, their arms were wrapped around the little girl, and the two were descending to safety.

"You shouldn't climb on the outside of the play structures, little star..." Moon scolded, setting her down on solid ground. "You made me and Sun worried. We know that it can be tempting, but it's dangerous. They're built for you to play inside of, not on top of."

"Why?" Sasha replied, tilting her head.

"Because the top netting isn't as stable and strong as the rest of it, and there aren't any barriers, so if you trip, you'll fall down. Tell Moon thank you for getting you down, little nebula, they need to go back and rest," Sun said, to which Sasha frowned.

"Why can't Moon stay?"

"Because I work at night, except when it's nap time or winding down time, so I spend the rest of the day resting," Moon answered, "But since you were in danger, I had to wake up. If I stay much longer, then I'll be too tired to do my job tonight."

"What's your job at night? Are there kids here at night? I want to do a sleepover!" Sasha exclaimed.

"No, no, no sleepovers with little ones. I do patrols at night to make sure bad guys don't show up and try to steal things," Moondrop explained, and Sundrop quickly cut in.

"That's a story for another time though, maybe you can ask them about it during wind down time. Now, say thank you and goodbye," Sun repeated, patting Sasha's head.

"Bye bye Moon... thank you." Sasha said sadly, looking up at Moon and watching them leave.

"There goes our three day streak of no kids putting themselves in danger." Moon mused when they returned to the room. Sun managed to get a laugh out of that, even though it did terrify him to no end what the children tended to achieve.