“you guys are gonna get me in trouble if you don’t close your eyes and at least pretend.”
dante warns once, raising a brow ominously. eight giggles become interspersed with the hiss of shushing, the little smack of hands being slapped over mouths not stifling the sounds of delirious laughter no matter how hard they try.
“sorry mister dante.” one of the eight year olds apologizes, pulling a blanket over her chin. she’s had it since she was far younger, around four - a gift from him he was given your blessing to pass along.
she struggled to fit in amongst the rowdier other orphans but she’s come into her own, flashing him a grin and showing off her two missing bottom teeth.
“we just like your stories so much!”
giggling is now replaced with affirmative nodding, humming, and various long syllabled “yeaaaahhhh” chants, the girls clearly deciding sleep isn’t quite calling their names yet.
“tell us the one about the devil!” shouts the oldest.
dante hushes her, reaching to gently tug at the end of her hair. it doesn’t hurt but she huffs, annoyed.
“the answer would be no even if we weren’t this close to bed time. besides, the boss would really kill one if she knew i told you that one.”
there’s no sense in hiding the scary realities of the girls’ power to them but dante does his best to respect your wishes not to; to allow each of them to figure it out on their own time.
“then how about the good witch story again!” one of the youngest who hasn’t yet nodded off squeaks meekly, the other girls chiming in with their cheers. some of them shift from laying in their beds to sitting on their knees atop them, hands clasped together in prayer.
“please! we’ll all go to sleep after this!”
they won’t but he chuckles, sighing and rubbing his hand over his face. little did he think this part of his life would be spent playing rock paper scissors and drawing with chalk but things could be worse.
“alright, alright. the good witch.”
he sighs though it’s exaggerated, pacing across the floor in front of eight little beds.
“once upon a time a witch about, eh….” he approximately measures your height against his shoulder. “this tall walked up to a handsome stranger and what did she say girls?”
the girls burst into laughter, falling back onto their beds.
“do you come here often!”
you, three doors down the hallway , hear your little witchlings chant your line and know they have him hook, line, and sinker just like you did.