Reassigned:- Floor 15.

[Eric]

Eric trailed cigarette smoke, although he wasn't supposed to. There was clearly no-smoking signs everywhere, but Eric had always been slightly blind in that respect and people had got used to it. Apart from the the few superiors he had, and since he was meeting one now, the youth paused in the corridor and ground out said cigarette on the wall. Then dropped it in the bin.

Eric was a bright, cheerful popular indivdual with a classified file. He'd been a sergent so it explained a lot of his talents, but also spoke volumes about his attitude to power. He'd recently been assigned to make a crack team to bust up StoneAge, although he had no idea how to do that because he knew it involved a lot of computer work. So first task? Find a computer wizz kid. But he was also getting a new project, and had no idea what it would be, but did notice he'd been called to floor 15.

Which was the child care floor.

Eric's hair was a mess as usual as he padded up to the office, knocked, because you always had to wait, and then sat down. He wore a pair of black leather trousers that had seen a lot of usage, and a brown tunic like top that had a belt strapped about the waist and flared out a bit over his arse. It was sleevless, he wore fingerless leather gloves - gun gloves. A bandana also held his hair out his face, and green eyes focused down on his feet. Eric couldn't help but have a weird feeling about this, and wondered how Jenny and Meg would take to this assignment. They complained when he was away a lot.

[triss]

Tristian Tsunopolous, fifteen year old Greek male, and absolutely nervous about being here. Nervous you might say, how so? Well take a look my dear friends, watch his left knee closely through those baggy jeans. It was shaking wasnt it? Yes, yes it was. It shook in the same manner it did whenever he had to present something in front of the class. In order to recieve proper marks he would regain his composure and pull through. Like the presentation, this was, or shouldnt be that big of a deal. He knew why he was here, he was just getting moved somewhere, something along those lines. The guy he was living with was away or whatever, so he could suppose that he was being babysat.

The term "baby sat" actually bothered him. Because firstly mostly everyone in the building was older than him, it made him feel small and insignificant and besides, he didnt want to be a burden, he was a good kid and could look after himself, cook and clean and whatnot. He would preferr the word "supervised" then again, even that would make him sound like a trouble maker, guess he couldnt win, maybe he should just stop worrying about the smallest things.

So, he stood there, trying to calm himself, preoccupying his busy with by only looking at his surroundings. Eric would soon find that Tristian was mostly a visual person, and something like looking around would actually keep him ammused for hours on end, so all in all this boy had never been bored in his life, Tristian was incapable of experiencing boredom.

The young boy, was short in size, darker skinned and well, cute. Many were afraid to admit it but Tristian, or Triss as he was known by his classmates, was as cute as a button, staring at the floor and anything that his wide eyes came across. He wore a black baggy sweater, it had several paint stains near the sleeve. This sweater was worn whever he painted, or worked with clay or anything messy, wich ment it was worn a whole lot. He fiddled with the edge of his sleeve...looking and waiting...

[Eric]

The door was open and Eric was called in. The woman in charge of child allocation was Harriette Graham, and she was slightly buxom lady with dyed blond hair, glasses and a big grin. She beckoned Eric in and gave him a friendly hug. This was the woman that had allocated Eric and gaurdian. Triss was in the room with her, after having been de-briefed. (told what was happening)

Eric glanced at the kid and offered a grin, suddenly clocking why he was here. It was part of the job, espically if you'd been a DPS raised kid yourself. You could be expected to take in the odd waif and stray now and then. It was how DPS got most of it's workers, actually.

"So, Eric, you obviously have figured out what you're being assigned. And Tristian, you know why your here too. So, Eric, this is Tristian Tsunopolous, and Triss, this is Eric Latner. Eric was an orphan too you know, and now look at him! He's going to look after you will Derek is away...That is, if you like him. You'll get a trial of each other for three days, and then you'll meet the review board."

She smiled and then her and Eric had a brief chat about what sort of admin things would be entailed. Eric was also given the kids card, and a big bag with most of the boy's stuff. The rest would be delivered to Eric's apartment. He nodded, and then the two were out in the corridor.

Eric dumped the back at his heavily booted feet, turned around and sat down on the chair he'd been sitting on moments before. Green eyes fixed onto Triss, and he raised an eyebrow.

"So your an orphan eh? That sucks. What do you like to be called?"

[triss]

Yeah the woman, right the woman, he had seen her once or twice before, talking about exactly where he was going to go and what was going to be happening. So here was the rundown of what he understood. The guy he was living with now, Derek was away for a long time..and this Eric guy was going to be "supervising" him for a little bit until Derek came back. The woman had explained things clearly enough, and this had actually calmed him, knowing that he wasnt in any sort of trouble, and just being moved for a short period of time. Now that he was confident with himseld, and secure knowing that everything was alright, his left leg stopped it shaking, and all nervousness vanished all together.

Really if Tristian wasnt worried about something, he was actually quite the social butterfly, well known in school ( be it because he was the best in his art clas sor that several students hated him, was a different story) and a nice kid all around. He was observant too, obviously, judging by the way the two were hugging, they must have been good friends. So this was it then eh? They had all his stuff...and he was all set to go?

Wait a minute, how the heck did they manage to stick all his stuff in a bag, his many manga books, his art supplies, unfinished peices of work and the like? Goodness if anything was damaged he was going to flip, and another thing that made him uneasy was the way this woman talked. He didnt care about what Eric was now, sure it was cool that he was an orphan...but did they expect him to"look at him" admire him, want to grow up exactly like him and become...whatever it is he did? It sounded kind of corny to him, and that would bring us to another one of Tristians personality traits, observant, and cautious. Tristian wasnt one to take chances, it was odd in a sense that he knew sometimes, when he was flustered he would over exagerate a problem and end up worrying over nothing, but he was like that, his stuff was probably fine.

" Erm...people call me Triss..."

Well, that wasnt what he would like to be called, actually he didnt kow what he wanted to be called. In his eyes, a name was something given to you, something for others to adress you by, if people called him Triss, then he guessed that was his name. A name was also to be earned, he wouldnt dare let himself give himself a nickname like "shadow" or something horrible like that. He was just plain old Triss...and this guy was just going to be Eric, because thats what he would call him if that was alright with him. Well, that is it. Guess he is going to live with this guy, he could tell already he was a good person, he could feel it in his observant catious bones.

[Eric]

Eric raised an eyebrow. Derek. Eric didn't know Derek, but he had the feeling the guy wasn't exactly the most outgoing of blokes because if Tristian tried to climb under his jumper anymore he'd be minus a head. Tongue flickered over his lips and he stood up.

"Right. Triss. I'll think up a nickname for you later, Stumpy." Eric was nutoriously bad with names. He gave everyone nicknames and those were what he normally first thought when people wandered into his viewpoint. He slung the bag over his shoulder and started to head down the corridor, the clunk of his boots on the thin tiled carpet following him.

"I hope you like dogs, cos I've got two and they ain't goin' anywhere. And fish. I've got fish too. How do you feel about sharks? Ain't got no cats though. Not that I'd love a pair, but you can't keep cats in a third floor apartment. I'm trying to get moved to a first floor, but I doubt it'll happen." A grin curled over his lips and Eric paused in his steps and fixed his bright green eyes on the boy.

"So I take it you like to paint stuff then? My third room is pretty much a study that I don't use so we can turn it into a studio for you. Oh, and here..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the boy's token card. Derek would've used it to buy Triss what he wanted and his tokens, but the boy technically shouldn't have had free run with it. Eric tossed it over.

"They're your tokens and I never use all mine up in a month anyway, so I should budget just fine."

[triss]

Stumpy. Sure why not...stumpy. Guess he was short anyway so it didnt matter. Tristian was now, Tristian, Triss, and to this Eric guy, Stumpy. What could he say about the name? Well he was indifferent, it didnt bother him. If he chose to name him yeasty thingy... maybe then it would have been an issue, but it wasnt. If that was the name given to him so be it, he could live with it, it wasnt that bad. Same with the dogs, he loved animals and he loved to paint them as well, mostly when they were sleeping, because they were still and easier to draw.

Tristian smiled some to himself, it wasnt a big smile, but a smile nonetheless. Already he really liked Eric, this guy was pretty neat. A studio? You gotta be kidding, when he was with Derek all his art supplies were mashed into his room. Wow, this would be interesting. Hey, wait a second, how exactly did he know that he liked to paint?

" Alright...thats cool but um...how did you know I painted?"

A rather deep voice came out of his small body. Hurrah for puberty, it did that for you, the small barely noticeable zits about his hairline, yeah puberty did that too. The only thing puberty didnt seem to do was make him taller, stumpy, he hated being short. The rest of the kids in his class were almost six feet tall, he felt really short. Oh well, whatever. Moments later he eyed his sleeves, with green acrylic paint on them. Tristian had just answered his own question. Of course...he didnt have paint on his sleeve because he had an accident involving paint. Goodness he was out of it, maybe he would be better after a long nap.

He caught his tokens, and tossed them into his giant pockets. Well, he hardly spent his money... maybe a manga every now and then, and only painting supplies when he really really needed them. He had everything he needed, he couldnt understand what more anyone could want, everything was now distributed equally. everyone had money...and shelter and food, so he wasnt going to complain, he just continued to follow Eric, into his new home...for the moment.

[Eric]

Eric grinned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a packet of cigarettes. The youth flipped it open and thudded the bottom, one cancer stick popping up and finding itself gripped between Eric's lips. The packet was slid away, and then he pulled out his zippo. With a clack and a flick the cigarette was lit, the lighter hidden away back in a pocket.

"You've got paint on your shirt, and engrined underneath your nails. When you do what I do, you learn to be observant. So how old are you?"

They reached the end of the corridor, Eric reaching out and ashing his cigarette on the ground. He wasn't the tidiest of people, much more used evidently to being outside rather than being cooped up inside the offices. Which is why he really spent as little time in them as possible, mainly because he totally uselss at computers and paper work and it took him forever to do anything. People always got on at him for not keeping up with the game. Fact was, he never read anything anyone put on his desk. Eric worked on the system that if it was important enough for him to know about, someone would tell him. Or at least shout at it him.

The elevator arrived and Eric stepped in, one booted foot reaching out and thunking against the side to keep the door open while he waited for Triss and his little legs to keep up. Hrm. The kid was short, which meant he'd get a growth spurt at like 17. Unless his parent's had been short too. Meh, he probably wouldn't have Triss that long anyway. Eric was a field expert, he was away a lot of the time too.

He'd probably only have Tristian for the duration of the Stoneage smoke out. And then, hopefully, he'd be stationed in Ionia or Cerica to deal with trading or something. From there he could scarper. Fingers crossed.

[triss]

For a short moment Tristian's large eyes had trailed over to the cigarrettes Eric had, and then lighted. The scent did not bother him much, sure there was a small cough at the beginning, but he got used to it. Somehow he knew Eric was a smoker, as soon as he saw him, he smelled it on him, the tobacco. Although Tristian had never smoked a single cigarrette in his life, he just knew it when he smelled it. This kid wasnt one to smoke a cigarrette, and the thought of drinking didnt sit to well with him either. Soon Eric would learn that the child drank milk and milk only ( if he drank so much milk why was he so short) and well, he didnt feel like it ever.

He wouldnt try pot, no nothing. Really, when he was five most of the teens would have tried it, now they wouldnt. It was weird that way, but he wouldnt know it, Tristian was only five at the time, far to young to remember the way it used to be. Surely, if he knew, he would have definetly preffered the old times much better, but until then he was going to be clueless.

ANYWAY Tristian was actually impressed with howobservant Eric was, and also somewhat shocked with himself. How did he not know the details, on his shirt and nails? Well, no matter he would just remember to open his eyes more later.

As for how old he was, well, maybe Eric would have a hard time believing this kid was fifteen years old. He was on the short side, fir a fifteen year old anyway, seeing how most of the kids in his class were almost six feet tall, or a bit past it by now. Maybe it was because he was short that he looked much younger, or those cute large brown eyes. Who knew, he didnt know. If he actually had a family he would have known that on both sides everyone was kind of short, and being born premature probably didnt help either. Hopefully Eric was ready for the answer.

When he scurried himself into the elevator, he just answered his question.

" Um...fifteen."

[Eric]

He raised an eyebrow and glanced down at the boy. "Meh, you'll probably hit a spurt at fifteen. I didn't hit a spurt until I was 18, and by that time I was already in the marines and they were pretty pissed cos they had to change my file."

Eric snickered at that thought, and sighed. "So, what's your favourite food? We'll swing by a store on the way home and pick it up. I'm not the best of cooks mind, so if it can be done in a microwave we'll be sorted. Normally I live on takeaways and then canteen food here. But since I'm feeding two now..it might take a little more."

He grinned somewhat sheepishly and then they arrived at the bottom floor. <quick elevator> and the doors pinged open. Eric waited and puffed quietly on his ciagrette.

[triss]

Oh he only wished he could believe that he could get taller. Somehow he had a gut feeling he was stuck this size. he was smaller, naturally, with a small slender body and the like, sportying a more feminine appearance, what with the long hair and all, and well, it didnt scream growth spurt. Most of his height was definetly from his legs, wich were rather long and heabily muscled, most of his weight was probbaly down there anyway. You couldnt tell though, not with all those baggy clothes he wore. He had enough points on his tokeny thingy to buy himself new clothes, ones that FIT but he just didnt feel like he needed it. Tristian could get buy with what he had.

Even if he did go shopping for clothes it would have been to buy more baggy clothes...cat ears, and anime shirts. Regarding the food, at the very mention of it there was a loud roar from somewhere, coming from Tristrian's direction. It was his stomach, demanding to be fed. Tristian wasnt picky with food, he would eat everything and anyuthing that came his way, but when it came to what he drank, he drank only milk.

" Aw well... I'll eat anything, dont bother with the take out or nothin'...I can cook."

[Eric]

He stepped out into the corridor, and eyed the train times that left from the floor of the DPS building. It was all like one great big train subway station, really. Eric eyed the times and raised an eyebrow.

"Ah here it is. Platform three, quick!" Eric grabbed Triss by the wrist and dragged him across the terminal, running not as fast as he could, but pretty fast. He bounced on the train and dragged Triss on with him, the doors closing just behind them and the DPS officer let out a sigh.

"Phew, that was close. And now, comeon. What's your favourite food. I hear you say don't bother or something one more time and not a yes please, or thank you that would be great eric, You're going to get fish food for your dinner. Understood? I don't like my generosity being belittled."

Eric winked, in jest of course but a fair chunk of it was partly serious. If there was anything Eric hated was people "trying not to make a nusience of themselves." it was bloody frustrating.

[triss]

Yeah so anyway there he was, ya knowjust walking at a casual pace, la dee daa ho hum minding his own business. Wait a minute, where were they, where were they going and how? he saw the train, shit were they supposed to be using that? He didnt know, he thought that they may be cutting through, who knew right? He sure as heck found out when he was grabbed and booted it into the train. Well woulda look at that, looks like their usin the train! He did what he was told, he ran to the train, platform three. At first, it was him suddenly being dragged, but as soon he clued into what was happening, his powerful legs began to work, throwing him into his destination at great speeds until eventually, he was going faster than Eric, unintentionally draging him into the train.

Once he stopped...he stood there for a moment, before answering his question, thinking of exactly what he wanted. What did he feel like, oh goodness he didnt know. Really he was taking his offer, he would much rather cook than take out, but after hearing what he said he came to realize he just kicked a gifthorse in the mouth. So...food, but wich kind? Well, something simple thatr everyone liked would be nice.

" Sorry...lemme try again. In would like to have some pizza please and thank you :3 "

He said this , managing to put on a sweet face and a smile. That out to work, he was trying to keep himself out of the way, but if this would make him happy then heck, it would make himself happy too. Pizza would be good anyway, he was craving it.

[Eric]

<continued in Living Quarter>