"Tell me. What's your name?"
"Wey, that ain't important now. I've taken care of gairn since I 'twas 'bout twelve years, I must say. Trust me, I ain't no glaiky! I don't do em tabs either like the blokes and lasses who are close to muh' age."
"… wha-what?"
"Oh, thas right… I forgot that ye aren't my kind'a folk. Divint hesitate to ask what I'm saying to ya. My accent's a bit hacky for the foreigners to understand."
"I… have no idea what you just said."
"Haha! Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. I just wanted to see if you'd understand me or not. Anyway, my name is Aiden Mills…"

"Hey, Tony, what else do you do around here?" Aiden asked him skeptically after stashing away his father's stack of c.d.'s that were labeled 'OLDIES' with an original black permanent sharpie. The little blond bloke shrugged and wiped the spaghetti sauce off his cheek with the sleeve of his blue sweater, then resumed eating his dinner with his feet swinging back and forth under the table.

"I have friends coming over in a while," Tony said with a mouthful of meatball.
Aiden blinked blankly, and said slowly, "Well, sure, but…"
"Pleaaaase?" He pleaded innocently, his eyes closed and his front teeth stuck with rosemary.

The door bell rang before she could say anything else.

"Too late to say no!" Tony's eyes lit up, and he tossed the plate in the kitchen sink with no further ado. He ran toward the door, wiping the rest of his dirty mouth with the opposite sleeve.

"Ah-" Aiden froze in her awkward stance. She was squatting, her butt hovering a few inches off the couch.

"Come in!" Tony smiled, opening the door and motioning his hands to welcome the newcomers.

"Mom, do I have to—"
"Shush, Gregory…"

"Ah well, I can't stop him even if I wanted to," Aiden smiled, shaking her head, "The kid's too cute."

She plopped back onto the couch; legs outstretched across all three of the cushioned seats and closed her eyes. She was tired from all the studying the night before. Today was a dreaded math exam that would decide whether or not the administrators would keep her in her prestigious private school. Aiden was never the best at studying, but she tried. And hey, it doesn't hurt to cross your fingers every now and then.

Aiden opened her eyes, and gasped, clutching onto the pillow for her dear life.

"My name is Rudolph,"

A little boy stood in front of her, his skin was ghastly white… Almost icy-blue. He looked older than Tony about two years. Rudolph's hair looked like it was blown all over the place by the wind, and then shot up by lightning. His clothes were a bit dusty and old fashioned. Maybe they were new hand-me-downs?

"Oh, ah, hey there," The edges of Aiden's mouth tugged upward into an uncomfortable smile, "Aiden."

She looked down, seeing that he held a leash in his right hand. Oh crud, did they bring a dog in? Hopefully, it wouldn't leave any dirt in the house. Her eyes traced the origins of the leash, and ended up looking back at the couch. Whatever was at the end of the rope was behind the couch.
Aiden stood on her knees, looming her head over the cushion head of the chair, expecting to see a dog.

"What are you looking at?"

Even worse.
She found a teenager in a foul mood.

He was crouched down on the floor, lazing around like it was his house that he owned. Aiden smacked herself mentally. Better prepare another frozen meal for the guests.
The boy looked scary. And when she thought Rudolph looked beat up, this guy looked like he escaped a mental facility. To top it all off, he had a muzzle.

And it was so weird, seeing that Tony and Rudolph found this all to be very… casual.

I guess all people do this to their kids around in this area, Aiden thought. Blimey, they've got really different customs than the west side.

"This is Gregory," Rudolph beamed proudly, as if he were introducing her to his award winning golden retriever. His blue lips glistened under the light. What an unusual skin tone, "He's my older brother."

"Come on, Rudolph!" Tony shouted at him at the base of the stairway, "I've got something to show you!"
"Could you take care of him, please, Miss Aiden?" Rudolph's eyes darted excitedly from Tony to Aiden, "Thank you!"

He shoved the leather leash into Aiden's hands and disappeared with the blink of an eye.
Aiden stared awkwardly at the belt in her hand and then at Gregory. He growled at her.

"If I take off that muzzle, will you bite me?" She asked quietly, crouching down to him at eye-level.

It took him a full minute to come up with a reply. She felt him analyzing the structure of her face, neck, and hands.

Finally, he shrugged, "I can't make any promises."