“Come on Jordy,” Sara said placing her hand down the ticket counter as Sara made idle chatter with Ellie. Jordan felt physically tired after his shift of handing out tickets. He climbed onto Sara’s waiting hand ready for the shift to be over. Sara cooed a bit toward Jordan as he saw an older gentleman walk towards the ticket counter.
He seemed to be similar to Jordan in age but this man had the benefit of being immune. Sara and Ellie chatted with him for a couple minutes as the shift changeover occurred. It wasn’t long before they were walking down the hall back towards the breakroom. The lobby was quiet as most of the movies were started. It would be a good hour until any form of late night rush started.
Jordan took this night as glimpse of what life was going to be like. He pictured Sara going to college or trade school. Working some kind of job where he would probably act as her assistant. He would be forever paid in points instead of actual money. The constructs of which society had built upon itsef in trade and commerce now seemingly above him. The idea of not needing money was unique to him.
The idea that all his needs woud be filled by Sara was harder to grasp. He understood the reality of it. Even if he got some kind of little based job like LIsa. How much would they really pay him. It woud be a pittance compared to what Sara would make. He was going to be forever beholden to her in some ways. While it wasn’t like he needed alot of food to survive in comparison to Sara or Ellie. However his diet was now solely curated by Sara. She decided what he got to eat mostly outside when Ellie or Chloe woudl give him food if he didn’t like what Sara had provided.
Looming over him though through all this was that in the back of his mind were those little pellets. He wondered how long he could truly avoid them. Sara was much a healthier eater then he was. After speaking with Ellie he understood why she was conscious in how she ate and what she put into her body. The fact he now Sara’s little meant that he was subject to some degree her diet and would someone who eats healthy and counts calories really allow him to eat what she viewed as unhealthy.
He had heard whispers of what he hated to call but couldn’t think of a better term himself in human food was not the healthiest for littles like him. As his body had a harder time extracting the nutrients from human food so much of it was treated similarly to junkfood. A guardian would really have to watch what foods they ate and served to there litlte if they were going to continaully feed them human food. Jordan undestood it was selifsh to ask this of Sara. As something like pellets would be much healthier for him. As the pellets were designed so that his body would be able to process all of it. Everything in the pellet was viewed as good and healthy adding almost no fat or bad calories to the little.
Jordan just hated the idea of having to eat what he couldn’t think of as anything other than pet food. He knew logically he was basically Sara’s pet. She loved on him, she doted on him. She cared for him but he was her pet in her eyes. Which was hard enough to be forced to accept. Jodan didn’t want to give up his ability to eat regular food. It was part of what still him made him a person in his eyes.
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Bro if they don’t start envisioning some little food im going to riot because you can’t expect littles just to eat fucking pellets even dogs and cats eat meat and other stuff excluding chocolate and certain foods but still man I feel for Jordan just eating the same thing sounds like unnecessary punishment
Sara does give Jordan regular food. Its just more work then pellets.
The pellets would be easier on smallborns then infected littles. As it would just be normal to them.
There is little scale food, it’s just out of Sara’s budget. She may love him, but not nearly that much.
yup, little scale food is uber expensive because it requires small intricate work.
1) How long is their shift? Like when till when?
2) Tamara’s father is still able to keep his job and providefor his family, and (while Jordan doesn’t know this) Bryce is able to make enough to support Mia so it’s not like little based employment is all that bad.
3) “He wondered how long he could truly avoid them” well, it was one of Sara’s promises, so don’t think it’ll be too long. We know in about 18months Sara’s already broken her word, and it’s been long enough for Jordan to think nothing of it in Sunday Funday.
4) littles having a hard time digesting human food would be rough, I’d have assumed littles had digestive tracks similar to humans. I’m hoping Sara will eventually get him on that little sized food, but hope and Sara haven’t proven to be a good combo.
5) I’m glad Jordan’s still clinging to his personhood as much as he can, he’d lost so much ground in just four days as a pet.
1) 5 to 9 or 6 to 10 depending on the day.
2)That is true. Bryce is more in the future then this is. Tamara’s father was already working for generitech so that’s a huge advantage that other littles wouldn’t have.
3)I do think a point you overlook is just changing information and people just learning more about whats healthy. We do learn Sara breaks the promise in the next 18 months but also the information available to her when she made the promise to when she breaks the. promise is not ht same.
4) Littles do have biological differences between normal sized humans. Its all biological differences they appear the same as standard humans.
5)He has had to deal with some harsh realities of his new life.
1) they get a break during a 4hr shift?
2) I see, But my point remains little employment is very much an option.
3) I didn’t mention it in this point but it was in the next. but when someone is in the habit of breaking promises people tent to stop caring if they have a good reason or not.
4) indeed, I look forward to exploring this further.
I’m curious if humans can eat little pellets? can they sustain in them?
5) he truly has, and often under Sara’s rarely sympathetic guidance, potentially making things worse.
1) It might just be a California and new York thing, but yes. I think it’s 15-30 minutes. And they can’t work past 10 pm, at least in Cali
1) CM nails it. you get a 15 for every 4 hours consecutively worked. Depending on the state its between 4 to 6. anything more then 6 they have to give you a 30 minute lunch. 8 or mote hours worked they have to give you a 15 minute break for every 4 hours worked.
Being they are minors as CM stated they can’t work past 10.
2) True, he could work but he also has a job as sara’s support companion. So any job job would need to work around his support companion duties.
3) You don’t know that she doesn’t discuss it with him prior or explain why its has to happen.
Which can change if its really a broken promise or just a modification of the agreement.
4)They aren’t harmful to humans but they nutrional value and nutrients was set for a littles body and how a little absorbs them.
So a human eating little pellets would not be able to sustain forever off of them. They would also need a lot of little pellet to meet there needs.
5)I was wondering when the Sara shade was coming.
1) interesting, not nearly as lenient with breaks in Australia, but we get more data off so that evens out.
2) That’s fair, his best employment Sara would allow is being her hand held helper, as he is now.
3) She could discuss it with him, but that would likely be done the same way she “discussed” him being called her pet. And Sara tends not to be forthcoming with info and explanations.
If it’s a modified agreement it’d be interesting to see what Jordan gets in return.
4) ok, I thought since they were designed to be super healthy they could be beneficial to humans similarly.
I was imagining a health nut eating them as some “dietary life hack”, lol.
5) So pointing out her broken promises doesn’t count as shade to you? Interesting.
But in seriousness I am actually trying to cut back on that.
1) in California 2024 they’d be making 20 an hour, which per Google is 30.10 in Australia
Thats like two coffees at starbucks per hour or 1 australian.
Sorry had to convert it to Maisy Math.
1) I would not say that evens out. I’d rahter have all your days off then extra 15 minute break each day.
3)I mean I feel like Sara would probably be leading the discussion. You are your probably right.
I mean in a modified agreement; Jordan’s gain could be being informed of the new arrangement lol. As prior Sara would just unilaterally decide and do it before.
5)Not for you. Thats just business as usual.
1) I was trying to stay humble, but yeah, we fucking win.
3) I can see that.
You joke, but if Jordan gained being informed of all new arrangements, that’d actually be a win for him.
5) lol.
Having a pretty shitty day with work and a bust pipe, but got this written up last night. figure at least one thing could cheer me up lmao apologies for the length, btw. will try to keep things shorter going forward
Chapter 10: Keeping it in the family
Joey had gathered his, Sandi’s, and Ciara’s dirty plates from the kitchen island top and set them into the sink before guiding the two girls to the living room and plopping down on the couch. Taking a cautionary glance out the bay window again to confirm the silver coupe hadn’t pulled up any closer, he then grabbed the remote for the TV and changed the input to where Switch was hooked up to, eliciting big smiles from Sandi and Ciara as they start debating what game to play before settling on Mario Kart. After setting up a circuit, the three of them start playing, Joey purposely driving poorly so as to not discourage either Sandi or Ciara while they play. Mario Kart wasn’t a game that Joey is necessarily good at, but he is miles better than either of the younger Hale girls, and always found their competition with each other more entertaining than the game itself.
As the three of them raced and Ciara complained about getting hit by a red shell just as her star power had ended, Joey’s mind began to drift back to the dining room, where the doors were closed as Roni and her parents discussed his fate. He really does think that Roni’s plan would work. His parents care so much about their reputation and social standing that any kind of blemish against it would drive them to the brink of insanity. Internally, Joey could only laugh at the idea. He remembered when his grandfather on his dad’s side of the family was alive, and he never struck him as a person that cared what other people think, so Joey just isn’t too certain where his own dad got it from. Though, thought Joey, it could have just been old age and that his Grandfather figured out that reputation isn’t everything at some point during his life. Why couldn’t his father figure it out now, thought Joey somberly.
“Hey! JoJo you blue shelled me! I was about to win!” cried Ciara with a frustrated huff as Sandi crossed the finish line, along with two other AI drivers before Ciara could finish.
“Huh? Oh…sorry CiCi…” he replied as he was snapped out of thoughts at the end of the 2nd race.
“Don’t apologize Joey, she needs to learn winning isn’t everything at some point!” said Sandi, with a smirk as she playfully stuck her tongue out at her little sister. Ciara, for her part, took it in stride, but it was still obvious she was pretty steamed about losing to Sandi as the 2nd race in the circuit loaded. “Oh, cause you like losing sooo much” retored Ciara as she hit the boost on the countdown and took off into first when the race started. “Eat my dust, Sandi!” she added with a delighted squeal.
The two Hale sisters continued to banter with one another as the first lap of the race began as they competed for first place while Joey did his best to just coast in the middle of the pack. As this continued, though, Joey couldn’t help but wonder what his new future would be like as a little. Would he actually get to be Roni’s little? If not, would he go to a good home, or would he be subjected to cruel and unusual treatment just for his owners satisfaction. Sure he knew that there were laws regarding how littles are treated, but his own research on the internet showed that there were a fair amount of people that knew how to work around the rules. One reply to post on Reddit buried deeply in the comments with a high number of upvotes talked about how they use their little to organize their desk in order to earn their owners praise and even food. Joey could never confirm if this was in the United States or not, but the thought of that happening to him now that he’s condemned to that life made him sick to his stomach, and that wasn’t even the worst story. Others that had littles would discuss using them to clean their computers or organize their dirty clothes for laundry day, with very foul looking photos of their littles to accompany them. Most of the replies said that with the lack of frequency at which littles are physically checked on and the government’s lack of open communication on littles rights, they could mostly treat them however they felt so long as there weren’t signs of physical abuse and wouldn’t get caught. The fact that other countries like France and Italy were much more lax in their laws and rights for littles, but the United States still had these issues, both frightened and infuriated Joey, as he knew that if Littles were living in a facility just for them, they would be living life essentially just the same as humans. Even small borns wouldn’t know that there was a major difference.
“JoJo! You won? You never win!” cried Ciara in surprise and frustration as she comes in second, just ahead of Sandi. “Yeah, Joey. You almost never win. What the heck!” Sandi reiterated with a huff, her competitive nature preventing her from being happy to see him take first place.
Joey snaps back to reality as he sees he had won and chews his lip a little. “Oh yeah..I..got kinda lucky with some of the items I got. I think I got a Bullet Bill in all three laps” he chuckles nervously, not wanting to let on that he normally lets them win. He knows they wouldn’t be totally upset, but he also just wants to have fun and avoid the competitiveness that the two girls have with each other. In reality, Joey almost exclusively played Mario Kart when he played anything on the Switch, so he was really good at it compared to most people, making him much better than Sandi and Ciara as a consequence.
“Wow JoJo! That’s so lucky! I never get the fun items…” said Ciara as the next race got underway.
“Yeah Joey, must be your lucky day” chuckled Sandi as she launched a greenshell backwards in an effort to hit him.
Before the race got too much farther, though, the doors to the dining room opened and Roni and Mr. and Mrs. Hale came out, joining the other 3 in the family room.
“Joey, can you pause the race? We..want to talk to you and we need to make sure we have Sandi’s and Ciara’s full attention” spoke Mrs. Hale with a warm and soothing voice.
His heart beating in his chest, Joey complies, pausing the game much to the disappointment to the younger Hale daughters. “Mooom! We were almost done!” whined Ciara as she crossed her arms.“Ciara, hush. You know they wouldn’t ask us to do this if something important wasn’t going on…” interjected Sandi in a comforting tone as she scooted closer to her.
Mrs. Hale smiles affectionately at her daughter, appreciation shining in her blue eyes. “Thank you, Honey. You’re right. We do have something very important to tell the three of you”
Sandi raises an eyebrow at this, looking at Joey as she realizes he is involved in whatever her parents are about to say. Ciara, for the most part, doesn’t seem too concerned, but is curious as to what her parents are going to say to them.
“Firstly..” started Mr. Hale as he looks to Joey “We think it’s best if you tell Sandi and Ciara the news you told us, just…so they’re aware of the…bare minimum” he says, hinting to not speak too much about how his parents are treating him.
“R..right…” Joey said cautiously before looking at Sadni and Ciara as he picks his words carefully, “Well…I..just found out I’m not immune to Smallara and…well..I’ll eventually be a little and…my parents are…wanting me to have a better life and will be giving me up to Generitech for that to happen” he says, holding back his emotions the best he can as he lies about what’s really happening.
Sandi’s jaw dropped hearing this, shocked to hear that one of the people she’s closest with is an underbred, while Ciara’s eyes light up with excited curiosity.
Before either could say anything, though, Mr. Hale steps in and continues “Since…giving Joey a err…better life…is their goal, your mother and I have…decided to see if Joey’s parents will…let us adopt him before he changes…and that way we can claim him and keep him with loved ones for the rest of his life”
Joey couldn’t help but shed tears of relief upon hearing that the Hales were really going to try to help him. It was the best news he had heard all week, after being completely abandoned by his parents and left to drift until he caught Smallara. A dam of relief burst in his heart, and all he wanted to do was jump up and hug Mr. and Mrs. Hale and to express a gratitude that he knew he wouldn’t fully be able to articulate, but he held back, knowing that things still weren’t a guarantee. Still, through choked back sobs, Joey looked in the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Hale, giving both an appreciative look, as he made direct eye contact with Roni, his green eyes meeting her hazel ones. Upon contact, the two teens shared a silent conversation, Roni’s expression confirming to Joey that he’d be her family no matter what. With his voice quivering, Joey managed just to utter two words: “thank you..”
Roni blushed and ran her hand through her black hair, a smile forming on her face. Things wouldn’t be perfect, especially with the stipulations her parents had put on the whole thing while Joey was in the livingroom playing with Ciara and Sandi, but he would be loved and cherished, forever.
“So…Joey’s an underbred and…is going to be my brother, then my…pet?” questioned Sandi as she scratched her head before running her hand through her long brown hair.
“JoJo’s going to be tiny! He’ll be soo cute! We can play dolls and I can dress him up, and we can watch cartoons!” Ciara declared excitedly, the curiosity in her bright blue eyes now replaced with excitement.
“Ciara!” snapped Roni, “Joey would be your brother at that point and you’ll listen to him then just like you do now!” her hazel eyes dark with anger, quickly quieting Ciara. “Joey isn’t a little yet, either, so from now on no one will even bring it up to him!” Roni then looks over at Sandi with a more calm expression “and as a little, he won’t be your pet, he will be under my guardianship.”
Mr. Hale clears his throat to get all three girls’ attention. “Look, let’s just calm down for now. It’s been a long day, and I’m sure Joey’s tired, having been doing work for his parents and dealing with his…diagnosis. He’ll sleep down here on the couch for now, so let’s just give him some space to take this all in” he declares firmly before looking at Joey, “Tomorrow, you, Roni, and I are going to pay a visit to your parents, so be well rested, son.”
This was another great chapter inspite of your bad work day. It seems like Roni’s younger sisters have different views on how this will play out then Roni does.
Thanks! Luckily it turned out my plumbing was fine, just some kind of change the city did that shot a ton of air into my pipes.
And yeah, they definitely should have some fun perspectives. I figured Ciara reacted how a 8 year old would to finding out they were getting a pet, but Sandis gonna split the difference a bit. Idk how she feels about Littles just yet, but she does want to be a around joey and roni, just cause that’s how I remember feeling about my older brother and his friends, but just hasn’t fully figured out what to think about little, and this will be the first one anyone in the Hales have really been around. Mr. Hale visited his sister once but was alone so no one else really got to see that, which is good lol I might touch on that part a bit in a few chapters