[PRP] Chicken Daycare? Clucking Exciting! [Dude Food/King Cock]

[Ruriska]

"It'll be fun," Dude Food was saying as he ambled along, barely getting the words out as he also fought back a yawn. It wasn't often that he was up before midday. "You'll make some friends, hang out a bit. I feel bad, y'know? I gotta run the truck sometimes, even though I'd rather stay home with you."

There was an answering cluck from his back, where a small perfectly preened hen was sitting, wobbling slightly with his movements.

"I know, right?" He gave a slow laugh. "But we'll just give it this one go and see if you like it."

A little further and Dude Food came to a halt in front of the building that was apparently a chicken daycare. He'd found the advertisement while flicking through the paper and after some slow deliberation (a a whole month) he'd decided they would give it a crack.

Rather than have Henrietta at home all day, this way she'd get to socialize with other chickens and he could open his food truck without any worry.

It occurred to him, as he was knocking on the door and listening to the faint background sounds of chickens, that maybe he should have called first. Did you need bookings for chicken daycares? Well, they were here now and they could only ask.

[Gl!tch~]

All the daily drop-offs were accounted for, plus the last-minute call-ins (with waivers and extra fee forms signed and filed out of pecking reach). Confirmed by a quick glance up at the clock, King was free to consider the morning rush officially over. He ushered the day's flock out the back door towards the range run, tossed some feed on the ground to get everyone milling about, and after making sure no one looked about ready to have any sort off fuss, went back inside to start his pre-lunchtime routine. And maybe have a cup of coffee.

An unexpected knock at the door cut off his train of thought. He tilted his head, heard another knock, and realized that, yes, he did in fact have to answer it. Even after the morning rush and before the evening rush. He flew over to make up for lost time.

"Welcome to Castle Coop, where chicken care is King. Can I...help you?" he recited his over-the-phone script to the Phony in front of him, eyeing the stallion up and down.

Behind King, the inside of the daycare center had a charming rustic quality to it befitting a hen-focused establishment, with tacked on medieval-themed decorations here and there. Most of the space was quartered off for safe and hygienic hen use, with ledges and roosts for interior mobility. A decent amount of said space was worn from pecking and scratching.

@Ruriska

[Ruriska]

Well, that was quite the intro. Dude Food liked it. "Oh hey," he greeted, leaning slightly to look past the rooster standing in the doorway to inspect the insides. From just that glimpse it certainly seemed the ideal daycare for chickens, with far more facilities than Dude Food had in his much more humble home. Maybe Henrietta wouldn't even want to leave?

"So, yeah.... actually, I know it's probably a bad time but," he began to drawl, looking back at the other Phony. He certainly looked like he belonged surrounded by chickens. "I wanted to ask about signing up Henrietta." At her name, the chicken stretched out her neck and clucked curiously. "I probably should'a called first." He smiled apologetically.

@Gl!tch~

[Gl!tch~]

King listened for a bit, nodding along, until the hen popped into his view.

"Oh, well, look at you. An absolutely precious baby!" King cooed at the purple chicken. He turned his attention back to Dude Food, and his demeanor immediately changed back to professional-bordering-on-bored. "Henrietta, you said it was?" He mulled over the very...on-the-nose name. "I'm gonna guess she's your first."

She looked very well-behaved and healthy. Not every hen would sit on a Phony's back like that. Especially after a little bit of jostling. King allowed himself a to be a little impressed, though he was still all business otherwise.

"Calling does have some perks to it." Like saving him time, and paperwork, and time with paperwork. "Unexpected drop-offs come with a li'l fee for last-second accomodations, you know how it is. And that's when it's..."

He looked at the clock again. King had to guess that Dude Food was no early riser. "Earlier."

The rooster Phony had to crunch some numbers. And coffee beans, but that didn't seem to be in the cards today. "We might have to talk late fees..." Though his heart wasn't in the concept. Or the conversation it might lead to. He would be thrown off his game even more! And the idea of losing business over piling on so many fees hurt him so. Henrietta seemed to good to lose over that.

"But, if you're planning to bring her around daily, I think we could forget about that one."

@Ruriska

[Ruriska]

Even if the rest of the conversation was droll business and if in the future it turned out that King Cock was, well, a bit of a cock, Dude Food would always appreciate the compliment to his absolutely precious baby.

"Yeah," she couldn't help his fond smile as he looked back over his shoulder. "I've had her since I was a kid. She's been with me through thick and thin, helped support me whenever I was feeling down. She's a good girl."

Dude Food smiled and ruffled his hair sheepishly. "I understand. It's just business." His mother had instilled the importance of business and money in him early and even if he didn't run his life the same way, he still respected the hustle of everyone else.

Wait - daily?!

"Uh," he began, not ready to drop his best bud off that often before they'd even checked the place out. "Maybe I should just come back another day? I'll set an alarm next time."

But Henrietta was apparently not a fan of that idea. She jumped neatly from Dude Food's back, fixed her feathers and then cluck-stepped her way to the doorway and attempted to walk straight past King Cock.

@Gl!tch~

[Gl!tch~]

The King stared down for a second, then stepped out of the way. He wasn't about to stop a hen with her mind set on something. Instead, he just laughed at the forceful personality that completely stepped on the face of Dude Food's waffling. "Looks like someone knows what she wants. She'll be in good company."

A decent chunk of his job centered on pulling customers into be fold, and often that involved railroading when they seemed indecisive or pulling all the stops when they were clearly new caretakers desperate for someone to do a good job when they weren't sure they were pulling it off themselves. Maybe the practice angled a little more towards revenue than customer service, but he had to keep the business running somehow.

And this customer was definitely getting cold hooves. King could probably start talking about how Henrietta clearly loved the place, then  pull out some forms while he kept on about it, and get the door shut on Dude Food's face before the stallion could fully process that he signed his chicken up for a full month's worth of daycare.

Dude Food's commentary stuck in his mind, though. A life-long bond was no joke. Most who came in had been sucked into the hen fad and didn't know the first thing about the fowl they now had to take care of. He didn't feel bad taking the reins and as much of their money as he could doing so because it would be less heartache than trying to coach on how to raise a happy hen. He had stories that would drive one to drink.

He looked back up at Dude Food. "She's in safe hooves here. And she's not gonna go anywhere. If you take her at the end of the day and never come back, I'm not gonna take it personal. But I think it's gonna be worth a shot to see how you do without her for..."

He looked at the clock again.

"One full afternoon."

King internally wept about how much time he was losing.

"Think of it as a trial run. On the house. Because letting go is very tough, ain't it?"

@Ruriska

[Ruriska]

"Well..."

Dude Food watched as Henrietta marched her way past King Cock and immediately began investigating her surroundings. He wanted to follow and be there as she settled in but he had a feeling he wouldn't be quite so welcome. Nobody wanted a helicopter parent hanging around.

"I guess that sounds okay."

He scratched absently behind his neck and then shrugged. "It's not that I'm worried about her. She can handle herself. And it's not like I've never left her side before." Though now that he was here, having this conversation, maybe he was more attached than he'd originally thought.

He was far too lazy to open his food truck for very long and every other day he mostly just stayed home and played games, and she always sat next to him and watched the screen or slept. Sometimes they'd take slow walks around the block together or sit in the sun for hours at a time. He'd cook them a big lunch, making them both quite plump and happy.

Sometimes he even brought her to work with him though he tried not to let her see the copious amounts of deep fried chicken.

Okay, maybe he was waaay more attached than he had originally thought. Especially now that she was walking away without a care in the world.

"Oh man," he laughed. "Is this how parents feel sending their kid off to school for the first time?" He was such a softie but this Castle Coop guy looked like he'd take good care of her and had been generous enough to offer a free afternoon trial. It seemed a waste to let that go now.

"One full afternoon," he repeated. "Thank you. I... uh... guess I'll be back then."

He took a slow step back... and another.

"See ya in a bit."

@Gl!tch~

[Gl!tch~]

He nodded. "It's my pleasure. See you then, uh, champ."

Friendly terms for stallions....still a work in progress.

He shut the door, though not unkindly.

King turned and contemplated the hen for a moment.

Huh. King guessed there was some kind of privilege to running a daycare. He never had to give his own wards to someone else for any amount of time. Something to think about.

But! More pressing matters lay before him. He needed to get Henrietta settled in and maybe get some coffee before it was time to start lunch.

@Ruriska

[Ruriska]

Dude Food had never been called champ before but sure, he could dig it. He was still hesitating mid-step back but the door slowly but firmly shut. Then he stood for a while, contemplating whether he should just go back and retrieve his chicken before finally deciding it was better to just amble away. Henrietta had decided she wanted to stay and so he would respect that.

There was a whole afternoon to enjoy now that the one task he'd set out to do today was done and there were plenty of options. He had been originally planning on opening the food truck but he felt weirdly bereft having left Henrietta behind and his heart wasn't in it. Or he could drop by and visit his parents but he knew his mother would just end up sighing and suggesting that 'hey maybe you should open the food truck...' and that didn't sound appealing at all.

Maybe he could go on a picnic? Nah, that was always more fun when Henrietta was there. So were most other things.

Oof, this sucked.

Well, that only left one thing left to do (other than nap) and with new purpose Dude Food hurried (in a slow kind of way) home.

And later as the afternoon was shifting towards evening, with the sun sinking and the air getting chillier, Dude Food arrived back at the chicken daycare with a fresh hot veggie pie that had just come out of the oven and was being carried in a quaint little picnic basket. There was no way Dude Food could just let someone look after his beloved Henreitta all day without some sort of pay and cooking always brightened his day.

KNOCK, KNOCK!

@Gl!tch~

[Gl!tch~]

His day went on as normal. No one appeared to kick up any fusses about lunch or recess or 'naptime'. The regulars went home with their owners like clockwork, and the one-and-dones were timely, too.

So King sat in the daycare with one hen left, plus his own two that were milling about as they tended to. He started to wonder about the last-second client not too long before he heard a knock on the door.

Grateful that his day would end not too much later than usual, he opened the door. "Welcome back, champ. Your girl's waiting just inside. She had a pretty good day, if I do say so myself."

King tended to think that any hen in his care was bound to have a good day.

"I think you'll find Castle Coop more than adequate and- oh, hey, what's the basket for?" His showmanship and boasting sidelined by novelty.

@Ruriska

[Ruriska]

"Hey," Dude Food greeted as King Cock answered the door, unable to help but tilt his head to try to look beyond and catch a glimpse of Henrietta. He was pleased to hear she'd had a good time but he wouldn't feel back to rights until he'd seen her himself and given her a hug.

"That's great," he said with a slow growing grin and then lifted the basket a little bit higher for the other Phony to see and smell better but without lifting patterned cloth covering the actual pie. "I hope you don't mind. I brought you a gift."

Meanwhile inside Henrietta had indeed had a lovely day and was currently sitting on a cushion, feathers puffed out happily after having heard Dude Food's voice.

[Gl!tch~]

King blinked. "That's- well, shucks, thank you very much!" It didn't much matter what was inside the basket, the thought alone was enough to throw him off.

He moved out of the way to make it easier for phony and hen to reunite. King glanced at the basked, Dude Food, then cleared his throat and gestured back towards Henrietta.

"Egg-ceptional service, as promised, thank you very much!" he puffed up with a little bit of pride.

[Ruriska]

When King moved out of the way, Dude Food took a few more steps forward, just inside the door to gently place the basket down. But his focus was entirely on Henrietta. "Henny?" He called, suddenly struck by the worry that maybe she'd prefer it here, surrounded by chicken friends and a Phony who clearly knew what he was doing around hens.

But the chicken popped up with a cluck and happily scampered over to Dude with a series of pleased and welcoming clucks.

He wrapped a leg around her for a light hug and then landed a smooch on the top of her cute little head. "You had a good day?" Cluck. "I got all your favourite snacks waiting at home!" Cluck cluck! "Can't wait to tell you about my day. I had some awesome customers." Cluck!

He backed out of the door and Henrietta took her place on her back with more elegance than a chicken had any right to possess.

Only then did he look back at King Cock with a grin. "Hey, thanks for looking after her. Seems like she had a good day. We'll totally be back. Not tomorrow though. Gonna take her out for a picnic by the lagoon. But hey, can I call? I'll book her in properly next time instead of just showing up at your door."

@Gl!tch~