Caution: Big Kids at Play (Tsukiko)

[Vincent Romanov]

Vincent had a genuine love of children, even when they tested his patience. He just knew how to deal with them, for the most part. It was just when they grew up and became teenagers that they sort of began to annoy him. The children at Maddock General however, tugged at his heartstrings more than annoyed him. Seeing such young ones so sick broke Vincent's heart because they had no way of taking care of themselves and the ones who were terminal seemed to rouse the protector in him. He had a full plate being the head of security at Hammel, but when he did have some free time, he tried to give back to the community the best he knew how. Children where the next leaders of the world and someone had to teach them all the good things in life and how to know the difference from right and wrong. Sometimes he volunteered down at the local youth center and other times he came down here to the youth wing of the hospital. These kids were at the bottom of the barrel and Vincent was determined to help them out if he could at all.

He was dressed casually, a pair of faded blue jeans and a tight fitting black cotton tee shirt and black work boots. Of course, he had his blue tooth fitted snugly in his right ear in case something bad went down at the school. He hadn't shaved and was sporting a five o'clock shadow and his hair was a bit scruffy. He had needed some time off from Hammel, ever since the battle incident with the MSAD. Some off the staff was still recovering from injuries and so, if Vincent was going to be down here checking on them, he might as well be useful. As usual, the children were always glad to see Vincent as he was an endless fountain of energy and was perhaps the only adult in the world which could keep up with any child.

The youth wing playroom was down the hall from where the children were kept in their rooms and so, Vincent always ended up hauling them all down there to play. Compared to them, he was a giant, so the sight which was now playing out drew attention from everyone in the hallway. Vincent plowed down the hallway, children hanging off of him from every possible angle. One was clinging to his back while another clung around his front and yet another was sitting on his shoulders. Off each arm hung a child and around each leg was yet another child holding on tightly. A child was gripped tightly to each ankle being drug down the hall on their belly, all children laughing wildly. Vincent, moved down the hallway with no problems what so ever. His kinetic energy reserves were pretty high and so his strength was at superhuman levels currently. He had to be careful at this level of strength as it was easy to hurt those around him if he lost track of what he was doing. The kids didn't seem to mind the fact that Vincent was a meta, they thought it was pretty cool as it meant they could be as rough as they wanted with him and no matter what they did, they could not hurt him. Heck, half these kids here could be meta, but they were still sort of young for their powers to manifest just yet.

Vincent laughed with the kids he carried and drug down the hallway, some of the veteran nurses and other staff smiling and shaking their heads at the all too familiar sight. Meta-humans were more accepted here in Pilot Ridge than they might be anywhere else in the world as Hammel flooded the town with meta-humans. Some of the kids enrolled at Hammel lived in town with their parents and those who weren't, spent a lot of time in town, sometimes showing off for the locals in order to impress them. Metas were second nature here, but there were a few who still hated them out of ignorance and fear. Here at the hospital, Vincent had never been confronted about his condition and as such never gave it much thought, after all, it made the kids happy and that was what mattered.

Finally reaching the door to the youth center play room, one of the nurses on duty opened the door for Vincent, who in turn nodded politely. He carried and drug the kids in, setting them down and then laughing loudly. "All right, spread out and find something to play with and then I'll read to you all in a little bit," he said with a smile, looking to each kid as they lined up around him. The kids all laughed and then took off in several different directions at once, finding all sorts of things to play with. Vincent watched each child in turn, taking note of what toys caught whose eye.

[Tsukiko Aoki]

Tsukiko shuffled down the halls, yawning widely. She was so tired. So. Tired. Maybe she shouldn't have stayed out so late with Rome the night before, but who could blame her? He was cute, he was sweet, and he was hers. After a day spent dealing with sick children and children terrified of needles she needed those nights spent unwinding with her boyfriend, watching him play games and offering advice on which actions to take. She would undoubtedly do the same tonight.

She'd thrown on Blue's Clues scrubs under the assumption that something bright and cheery would help light up the children's day. So many of these kids lived in the hospital, a sterile and cheerless home away from home. She couldn't take away the syringes and the IVs and the constant interruptions as nurses came in and out to take their vitals, but she could certainly add what little cheer she could.

She paused at the sound of laughter, an infrequent sound here in the children's ward of the hospital. Gingerly she creaked open the door to the play room, peering around the corner to see what was causing the shrieks of joy and laughter.

Whatever she had expected, it wasn't the tall young man currently being used as a jungle gym by the smallest members of the ward. He didn't look like the usual visitors: pastors and nice old church ladies and family members. His athletic build and casual clothes suggested construction worker or police officer or something else lower class but necessary, something done by men who would have precious little time to come visit children in the hospital. But that meant little; appearances could be deceiving.

She closed the door behind her, smiling at the man and the children. "Good morning." She greeted the group brightly, scanning the man's chest for a visitor sticker. "Is...Mr. Romanov...entertaining?"

Like all rooms in the hospital the play room had a sink with soap and foil-wrapped sponges, and she quickly scrubbed her hands as clean as possible before approaching the children, "I don't believe I've seen you here before." She offered Mr. Romanov. "Are you someone's father?"

She couldn't bring any children with his surname to mind, but of course, with divorce so prevalent he could be anyone's father. "They seem to really be enjoying your company. I'm Tsukiko, Tsukiko Aoki." She added, then gave a self-deprecating smile, "But few people can pronounce that, so most people just call me Kiko."

[Vincent Romanov]

Vincent had been so preoccupied with the children and their laughter, that he did not hear the door open behind him. He did get that weird feeling one gets when someone or something is behind them, but then again, he let it pass due to his contentment with watching the children play and climb all over him. Vincent was an oddity to say the least. He was rather large and somewhat serious for the majority of the time, not to mention he was a veteran of several wars and was at one time part of an elite unit in the Army and yet here he was now, playing and entertaining little sick children. He was a giant teddy bear as the old saying went and loved being able to brighten any child's day. He was a protector at heart and while he couldn't protect these children from the various diseases which plagued them, he could protect them from depression and loneliness. These kids needed to know that there still was happiness to be found even in rough times such as these. Plus, Vincent gave parents a chance to find some free time to themselves as he entertained their sick children. While parents might put on the brave face, they too were upset and frightened which after a while took its toll on them, depriving them of much needed rest.

A small voice from behind Vincent caused him to turn around and several of the children to smile and laugh. The tiny woman he saw looked very familiar, but with the time Vincent had spent here at the hospital as of late, he was sure to have seen this woman in the hallways at some point. Vincent noticed how quickly the woman looked for a visitors badge, taking note of his name right away. The woman was smart and Vincent did not mind her caution of him being here. After all, this woman had no idea who Vincent was and for all she knew, he could have been some potential threat to these kids. In turn Vincent looked for some sort of identity badge on the woman, arching an eyebrow as he noticed she was a doctor and not some nurse. She looked young to be a doctor, but looks were deceiving most of the time.

Scratching the back of his head as Tsukiko washed her hands, Vincent laughed at some of the kids and sent some of them on to play as he readied for the oncoming conversation with Tsukiko. "Father?," he repeated rhetorically, "No, no," he added with a chuckle, "I'm just a volunteer," he said, offering his hand to Tsukiko now, "and you can call me Vincent," he went on, smiling. Vincent only preferred to be addressed as Mr. Romanov while on duty at school and even then only by the students. Vincent believed that children should show their elders respect, addressing them as sir or ma'am or in some other like manner. Seeing how he and Tsukiko were adults and how he was sort of off duty, he felt a more casual conversation was in order.

Dropping his hand, Vincent looked around at the kids as they scampered about playing with one another and with various toys and puzzles. "I sort of have that effect on the smaller ones," he said in response to Tsukiko's observation of how much the children enjoyed being around Vincent. Putting his hands on his hips, Vincent looked back to Tsukiko, smiling as he found her small size amusing. "I volunteer down here from time to time when I get the chance. I'm head of security over at the Hammel Institute, so that free time is very limited," he added, hoping upon hearing who he was and what his job was, Tsukiko might relax a bit more. "I think I might have seen you a few times in the hallways before or maybe down in the hospital cafeteria," he said, sort of remembering Tsukiko's face a bit better now.

[Tsukiko Aoki]

Tsukiko clasped Vincent's outstretched hand, shaking it firmly. "Ahhh. Vincent, then. Just a volunteer?" She smiled, shaking her head at that statement. "There's not any such thing as just a volunteer." She glanced at the children in his retinue, clinging to his pants as if he were their guardian -- or king. She wondered if he had any children of his own; certainly the ease with which he dealt with them suggested he had experience.

"You work at the Institute?" Then he probably knew Rome's friends. And head of security, that was pretty impressive. That explained the white collar appearance and attitude; he was definitely the security type, at least insofar as physical appearances. Tough, in shape, probably capable of tackling and/or beating thugs into the ground. She assumed that security also required a sharp mind, particularly from the person in charge of it. Good with children, in shape, and intelligent? She decided that she quite liked this Vincent fellow. He wasn't as adorably goofy as her Rome, but he was definitely the sort of person she was interested in cultivating a friendship with. She wondered if he was single; maybe she could hook him up with Yulia. The Russian woman needed to spend time with more people than her gay roommates. "Do you know Dr. Campbell? He's friends with my h---boyfriend."

Oops. Rome wasn't even her fiancé, she couldn't go around calling him her husband yet. Her sisters had both told her she needed to strategically place jewelry catalogs around his living room, but she seriously doubted he would get the hint. Her boyfriend was a bit dense and required blunter communication tactics, which was really a good thing for her, as passive aggressive communication attempts were beyond her abilities. If she truly got frustrated at the lack of a ring, she would tell him.

"Yes, you've probably seen me around." She agreed with a laugh. "I can't believe we haven't run into one another before now. I work in the Pediatric ward." She explained, backing toward the sink once more. She assumed he had washed his hands, but better safe than sorry when children's health was at risk. "You must not be around for my shift much." Well, he'd seen her, but maybe he usually left right as she was arriving at work, or vice versa.