Curate, connect, and discover
you should check out my writing on ao3 its kinda cute idk heres a sneak peek >w<
“That was hell. Remind me to never take the elevator ever again, will you?” He rhetorically asked the baby, who was too distracted with the passing cars and loud sounds of the city. He looked at Dirk expectantly. “We really need to get you a name, lil dude. You can’t be ‘Mini Strider’ forever.” He looked around, attempting to get some sort of inspiration, the little Strider copying him. They finally reached the local convenience store, grimacing. “I don’t plan on naming you after a can of soup, but it might happen, man.” The baby replied with some babble, holding onto his glasses. Entering the store, it was plenty cooler than the air outside. The baby giggled at the bug-repellent air barrier. So easily entertained. The two of them waded around the store, looking at baby-safe foods, toys, and fighting over the fact the infant can’t just grab things off the shelf, no, put that down, stop it, you can’t even eat those yet you greedy, grubby monster. Dirk eventually found the perfect item- a baby carrier he could just buckle around his chest. Absolutely perfect. He can use both arms while also carrying the child. Amazing how technology has come so far. He picked up the small box, offering it to the child as a trade for the…. Popcorn? He picked up off the shelf. The infant was happy with this trade, chewing on the corner of the box. “Hungry, ain’t we? We can go somewhere when we’re headed home.” The baby returned a happy sound. They waited in line for the cashier, Dirk quietly humming a tune to a song he had heard recently, title and artist unknown. He swayed side to side with the babe, bouncing him as he giggled and snorted with the temporary entertainment. He stopped when they reached the register, putting the items on the counter for them to be scanned. The person at the counter was a troll- the grey skin and tricolored horns a prominent feature- which wasn’t uncommon for this area. Dirk dug in the back of his mind, reminded of when Roxy had told him about a select few passively living on Earth with humans. The baby stared through his sunglasses, grumbling some sort of strung together sentence to the troll. The stranger smiled, sharper teeth exposed, waving softly at the infant. “ThVt’s Vn VdorVble wiggler. Is it yovrs?” Dirk shrugged. “I guess he is now.” They both paused awkwardly, the troll handing over the two plastic bags of whatever baby supplies was bought. Eventually, the troll cleared their throat, stating their trained phrase. “ThVnk yov for purchVsing, come VgVin soon.” This led to Dirk grabbing the bags and nodding, a silent sign of goodbye. The baby turned still, looking over his shoulder to stare at the troll some more. They walked down the sidewalk, Dirk shuffling the three things around so his arms wouldn’t get sore, sighing as he eyed the smaller shops. “You shouldn’t stare, man. It’s considered rude.” The baby retorted with another babble, probably complaining. Dirk only smiled faintly, turning into a local cafe.