New Responsibilities by Pent Ghelsburg
Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. Any resemblance to persons alive or dead is purely coincidental. They are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. This work involves underaged characters. You have been warned.
A young teen sits at the window sill peering out from it. The sun is bright and burning down through the sparse cloud cover in the sky above. The boy yawns and stretches, feeling like there is nothing to do. Yet his room is full of things, none of which interest him enough to get up and do anything with. It was just one of those days where he felt like being lazy and wanted nothing more than to just hang out.
At 14 years of age, Evan was at the prime point of his life where he had lost interest in so many things. While some of the hobbies he held in his younger years held true, for most others he had since moved on. As such a good number of the things in his room were just artifacts of a bygone era for him. Things that were nothing short of ornaments and fixtures to otherwise fill the empty space of his room.
Evan had recently entered the first year of high school. To the teenage cat, this meant that he had to move on from the simple things in life. In his mind, he didn't have time for things that he associated with as "cubby". He was a teenager now and for the last year or so he'd been working at building his reputation as a young man. Even despite this, his parents continued to treat him like a cub.
The black cat was an only child who lived in the suburbs of Filand. It wasn't a very big city but there was more than enough to do for anyone who went looking for activities or found themselves bored. But to Evan…this was meaningless. He didn't want to go to Filand on his own and his parents probably wouldn't have let him anyways. The teen knew that to them he wasn't responsible enough to handle it on his own.
Recently Evan had been asking for more responsibilities from his parents. He wanted to change their image of him. They had suggested he try to do more chores or go around the community, looking for work. He was still too young to get a job where he lived and relied on whatever tasks he could garner locally. Yet, even despite doing that their views on their son had changed very little over the past few months.
However, his parents had recently been talking to some of their neighbors. Evan lived in a community where young cubs of all ages were ever present in nearly every home. Of course, some homes were childless and some others were empty nests but there was still a sizable population of younger cubs that lived in their gated community. As such…his parents had come up with a plan to get their son a job as a babysitter.
That weekend everything was to come to fruition. Evan had remained sedentary and had done little to change his ways. Instead of sticking his face in front of the television or playing games whenever he didn't have homework. His mother knocked on the door as the teen was working on a sketch to pass the time. His drawing hadn't progressed much as he dabbled around in various scribbles.
"Come in." He said as he panned his head back to look towards his mother.
The older cat popped her head in. "Working on something?"
"Not really. What's up?" Evan spun his chair around so faced the older woman.
His mother crossed her arms casually. "I have an offer for you. You've been asking a lot lately for more responsibility and I figured you'd like an opportunity to do something extra."
"What do you have in mind?" The teen's ears perked up in curiosity.
The older cat approached him slowly. "Well…one of our neighbors is needing a sitter for the night. They have a young boy who is a bit too young to spend the night alone. So instead if you're up for it…he will stay here until the following morning."
"You mean like babysitting or whatever? How old is he?" Evan didn't want to get stuck with a cub who was in diapers.
She hummed as she thought about it. "I think he's around 9 or something but I'm not sure."
"I guess that would be fine…It can't be that difficult to watch him for a night. Will I make any money from it?" The cat was saving up for a new game he wanted to buy.
His mother nodded. "Yeah, she offered to pay you $50 for the night."
"Oh wow…I wasn't expecting that much. Count me in then. Is it tonight or when?" The teen had no plans anyways so he was flexible.
The woman sat down on her son's bed. "Yup. I hope you have nothing else in mind. I'll let her know. He should be over shortly before dinner then.
"Alright, I'll get ready then. I'll set up a game or something." Evan figured the younger cub would like video games just as most cubs did.
The older cat smiled at him. "I'll be here if you need help so don't worry too much if you run out of things to do. I'm sure you'll do great."
"Alright, cool." The teen got up and began to set up his gaming console on his television.
His mother stood up and began to walk out. "Feel free to set it up in the living room if you like."
Evan's mother left the room, leaving the teen alone to his own devices. The cat thought about it a moment before picking his stuff up to take it to the living room. He wasn't about to turn down gaming on the big-screen television there. It was an opportunity he wasn't offered very often. Just as he entered into the living room he saw his father picking himself up from the sofa, seemingly to go join his wife with whatever it was she was doing.
His father ruffled his head fur but said nothing to the teen as they passed by one another. Evan proceeded to the front room where he set up his gaming console in front of the television. It was simple enough to set it up, putting in the wires in the appropriate connections and then plugging it in so it had power. He went back to his room to fetch two controllers so that he and the younger boy could play together.
The cat continued to work on the setup until he was pleased with it. Making sure to leave a few game cases on the floor for the cub to pick from. Several hours passed until there was a knock at the door. Evan was the closest one to the front door and so he got up to answer it. He was all but certain it would be the cub whom he was supposed to babysit. A pit of nerves began to stir in his stomach as he forced himself forward to the front door.
Opening it, he was greeted by two red foxes. An older male red fox and a younger boy. The two were holding hands with the cub wearing a bright graphic t-shirt and nylon shorts.
"Hiya, I suppose you are Evan?" The man asked him from the other side of the door.
The teen nodded. "Yup. Is this who I am watching tonight?"
"Yup, this is Brandon. Brandon say hi." The father nudged his son forward to get the two to meet.
Evan kneeled a bit to get closer to the cub's eye level. "Hiya, nice to meet you."
The younger boy shuffled his feet into the gravel, looking at the ground as if he was nervous.
"Go on now, Brandon…say hi. I promise it will be okay." The older fox put his hand on the boy's shoulder in an effort to ease his anxiety.
Brandon mumbled a bit. "H-hi"
"Hiya, wanna hang out with me?" Evan tried to appeal to the boy by appealing to his sociability.
The young fox looked up slowly. "Y-you want to hang out with me?
"Sure, why not? Let's go play some games." The cat stood back upright.
The fox kit slowly walked inside as his father watched him leave his side.
The older male smiled. "Alright…your parents have my number if you need anything. I'll pick him up in a few hours."
The boy's father waved to the teen before showing himself off the property. Evan made his way back inside and found the small cub standing around idly, seeming uncertain of what to do with himself.
"Go ahead and take your shoes off and make yourself at home. Do you want something to drink or a snack?" The cat wanted to make the boy feel comfortable in his home.
Brandon nodded softly. "Uh-huh."
"What would you like?" Evan started to head towards the kitchen.
The red fox chirped. "Juice!"
The black cat made his way into the kitchen and over to the fridge. His father was working on making some pizza for them and the smell of it was fresh in the air. Evan opened up the fridge and pulled out a juice box before grabbing a soda for himself. He snatched a bag of chips on his way out back into the living room. Back inside he noticed that Brandon had plopped himself down on the sofa in front of the television.
The teen smiled, glad that the younger boy was making himself comfortable. Evan made his way over to the couch and placed the two juice boxes on a small coffee table near the couch.
"Is that…the new Xbox?" The cub asked meekly in an almost hushed tone.
The bigger boy sat down next to the younger cub. "Yup, it sure is. What kind of games do you like?"
"Uh…I like Sonic and Mario and stuff." Brandon pushed himself to the furthest end of the couch that he possibly could.
Evan leaned over and picked up one of the juice boxes before giving it to the cub. "Sounds good. I have a Sonic game we could play. Here's the juice you asked for."
"Thanks! Sonic sounds neat. Let's play. I call Sonic!" The fox kit bounced in his seat, seeming more excited than before.
The older boy laughed as he got up from the couch. "Alrighty, no problem."
Evan handed him the juice box so that he could get the game set up. He picked out the Sonic game from the small collection he'd put out on the floor. After he found it he loaded the disk and waited for a few moments as the machine powered itself on. He grabbed each of the controls before heading back to the couch. Handing the controller to the other cub, Evan waited for the younger boy to take it from him.
Brandon took it willingly with a gleeful smile on his face. The fox kit's body looked more relaxed now as had seemingly worked through whatever anxiety he was facing. Even joined him on the couch as the screen soon flared up in front of them. The starting screen for the latest Sonic game showed before them. The teen soon worked through the menu until he reached multiplayer and waited for the cub to pick his character
before he did.
The game started before long. The idea of the game was simple. A test of who could get the highest score by collecting rings, tricks, and how many times one fell off the track counting into the final tabulation. Brandon had played enough Sonic games that he didn't need to be told how to play. After all none of the games were that different from each other, at least in terms of gameplay.
Evan was no big gamer. He enjoyed the hobby as something to do but it wasn't something he took seriously. Already in his mind, he had planned to take a dive so that the cub could win. He'd heard somewhere that younger cubs could get upset by not winning at games so he wanted to placate him. Still, he knew he had to at least put on a show so that he didn't look like he was throwing the game.
The game began with both boy's characters on metal railings. Their characters grinded along it with their shoes making a soft squealing noise as they skidded across it. Every so often their characters would take a sharp turn or curl in a loop de loop. Occasionally the cat teen would look over to see how far along the cub was. In his mind, he planned to fall off just at the end as he knew just the place on the map where he could pull it off without being questioned.
The teen continued to go along with the motions of the track. The game wasn't overly hard and he'd already beaten it so it wasn't as much of a challenge for him. He waited until the fall in question. The final spinning decline of a conical pit onto a bounce pad. Yet just as he was about to hit it, he turned his control stick to the side causing his character to fall just short of it and end up in the water below.
Moments later the game declared Sonic as the winner. The blue hedgehog did his signature thumbs up and the younger boy bounced out of his seat.
"I win-I win-I win!" Brandon rotated about in place seeming quite content with his victory.
Evan patted him on the back. "Yup, you're too good for me. Nice game."
"Do you wanna play again?" The fox wagged his tail excitedly behind him.
The older boy nodded. "Sure, whatever you want."
The two picked up their controllers again. This time Evan picked out a different track with the results being much the same. They continued this way for some time with the teen only allowing himself to once. The result…nothing short of a meltdown for the younger cub who stomped around as if he'd lost something of great value. Of course, Brandon immediately redeemed himself on the next track and was nowhere near as sour about it.
Soon the cat's parents called them to the kitchen. They had been hard at work at the pizza they had been cooking together. His father had finished it while his mother busied herself with setting the table and making drinks. Evan beckoned for the younger boy to join him. The smaller cub whined a bit but a sudden rumble from his stomach reminded him that he was hungry too. Brandon soon followed suit, padding just behind the bigger boy.
In the kitchen the room smelt of melted cheese and roasted pepperoni. Evan couldn't help but feel even more hungry the moment he stepped into it. His young charge wasn't far behind. The two of them sat next to each other. The pizza was already cut and sitting on a large tray at the center of the table. His parents soon joined them at the table and his father started to serve it up to each of them.
"Thanks, Mom & Dad." Evan said to make sure they knew he appreciated their hard work.
They nodded to him before his mother spoke. "Eat up before it gets cold."
So the extended family did just that. Evan began nibbling away at the slice he'd been given. Looking over at Brandon he noticed the boy was stuffing his face with almost half the piece. He wasn't sure what to think of it since he wasn't his guardian or sibling. The cub was hungry enough that he had forgotten his manners. The stares from the adults across the table weren't enough to get him to correct his manners.
Yet none of them were in a position to correct him so they just had to put up with it. The four of them continued to work through the pizza rather quickly as they were all hungry. By the time they were done, there was nothing left. The youngest boy wiped his mouth with his sleeve, unconcerned with leaving a mess on his clothing. The cat's parents decided it was probably best to not do dessert.
The two boys were dismissed from the table with Evan taking the younger cub back out the the living room. He assumed the boy would want to go back to playing video games.
"Do you want to play some more video games?' The teen asked just to be certain this was the case.
Brandon hummed a moment as he thought about it. "Okay!"
The fox swooped back over the top of the couch, bounding it in a single go. Evan watched him, seeming a bit surprised that the small cub could manage to clear it. Yet, he wasn't about to do the same as he knew his parents would take issue with it. He rejoined the younger boy back on the couch and looked at him.
"How'd you like to try a game I like?" He suggested something different since he wasn't as big a fan of Sonic anymore.
The younger boy looked at him curiously. "What game are you thinking?"
"NBA 2024. Do you like Basketball?" Evan liked sports games more than anything else that he had at his disposal.
Brandon shrugged. "Sure, that sounds neat!"
The older teen got up from the sofa and went over to switch out the games. FPBA 24 was a game he'd gotten recently and hadn't had much of a chance to practice just yet. Still, he knew that all of the basketball games worked the same. As such he decided to play in cooperative mode with the younger way. Evan figured it would be the only way to avoid the cub having another breakdown because he lost.
The teen soon returned to the couch and rejoined his young charge. The game started up soon with Evan having to navigate through the various menus to get to cooperative mode. Once there he picked his favorite team the Bradbury Barks. Bradbury was a professional team that was local to him and one that he'd gone to many games in the past with his parents. He licked his lips a bit as he got ready to play his favorite game.
"Pick whichever player you want." Evan made sure to pick the best player so that he could carry the other boy to victory.
Brandon picked the first player on the list as it didn't matter to him nearly as much as the other boy. The two began the game before long with it being set up as a shorter endeavor to end in just two periods instead of the usual four. Evan figured that the boy would grow bored of this game since he assumed the cub wasn't familiar with the sport.
Evan gave a quick rundown of the controls before starting the match. The starting buzzer soon sounded with the tip-off ending in the Barks Favor. He had picked a center so he could take better control of the ball. Soon he passed the ball to Brandon who quickly dribbled down the court, weaving through each of the defenses as if he'd played the game numerous times before. The cub swished a basket as the roar of the virtual crowd erupted as a result.
It seemed that Evan had underestimated his young charge. Brandon had picked up the controls of the game like he was a natural. The ball was returned to mid-court where they once again tipped off in the Bark's favor. This time the cub fumbled the ball as it was passed to him but was able to recover before it was stolen. Quickly he reeled the ball back towards the other boy who shot it for 3 points and landed it from the backboard.
This time Evan decided to allow Brandon to have center court. He was almost certain he could manage it considering how well he was playing. Yet he couldn't hit the button on time and the ball soon ended up in the other team's hand. Quickly the cat rushed forward and swooped his hands from underneath, swiping the ball from the other player. Passing it down the court to an open AI player who scored yet another basket in their favor.
The crowd roared once more with the lot of them clapping and chanting the team's name. A crowd wave soon ensued with several high fours being shared by the players on screen. The game continued much in the same way. A sheer show of dominance by the side of the Barks. The score…a huge gap separated by almost 30 points. Their team would be declared the victor with both boys sharing a celebratory paw bump.
The two continued to play games in much the same way for the remainder of the night. It no longer seemed like a burden to the older boy. Evan found that he was rather enjoying himself. The time seemingly flew by. As the hours continued to wash away the cub soon yawned and leaned into the other boy's shoulder. Evan didn't think it strange and allowed it all the same without putting up a fuss about it.
It was getting late. The scheduled time of pickup of the younger boy had passed a bit. In fact…it was Brandon's bedtime. His head continued to weigh heavily on the older boy's shoulder. Even leaning into him a bit. It wasn't long until he fell asleep on the older boy. Evan didn't even notice until the cub's character on screen stopped moving. Yet he didn't move…instead just remaining there for want of not disturbing the sleeping boy.
A short while passed until there was a knock at the door. Evan was hesitant to get up and called for his parents to help him. They questioned it but showed up all the same. Of course, the moment his mother arrived, she realized what had happened and smiled at the sweet moment on the couch. She opened the door to greet the older male fox who thanked her wholeheartedly for allowing his son to stay for dinner.
The man soon made his way inside. By this point Brandon was fast asleep and no amount of nudging was going to wake him up. The father leaned over the older teen and picked up his son in his arms without issue. He nodded to the cat before
digging into his pocket. The older male felt like the boy deserved a bit of a tip beyond what he had originally planned on paying him. Taking out 3 $20's he handed it over to the boy before nodding to him softly.'
He showed himself out, not saying a word to not disturb the sleeping cub in his arms. The cat's mother soon returns to Evan and sits next to him.
"You did good tonight. How'd you like to do that again?" She was feeling more confident he could handle himself now.
Evan smiled and nodded. "That sounds good. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."
"Alright, I'll keep my ears open and help you advertise your services." The woman ruffled his head fur before getting up from the sofa.
Evan would turn off his game for lack of wanting to continue playing it any further. He would become something of a go-to sitter with all sorts of families coming to him for his services. Over time he would develop confidence in his abilities and even expand his clientele to girls…which was something he was uncertain of at first. His parents too would come to recognize this. Finally acknowledged that he was flowering to a young man…graduating him from the boy he was to the young man he wanted to be.
