it's been a long time since i had you near my dear -- private

Honestly, he had no idea how he'd ended up in the situation he was in.
It wasn't that Devon didn't like kids-- he did. In fact, he was more than happy to babysit for people if they needed him to mind younger siblings or whatever, but that was when he had some sort of notice. Some preparation done, etc. This was... unexpected, to say the least. The bronze haired boy had been minding his own business, sneaking a cigarette behind his cabin when Anna had approached him, practically begging him to take care of her little sister, Carrie. Okay, that was fine, he didn't mind. He'd agreed, only to find out as Anna was leaving that it was likely she wouldn't be back until eight. At night. It was nine in the morning.
Carrie was a good kid. She was actually pretty funny, but... well, Devon had no experience with kids her age. Or girls her age. Hoping to find Taylor in her cabin, he'd called by only to be told that she wasn't awake yet by her half-siblings. At that point, the kid trailing behind him was getting bored, and he knew he had no choice but to leave a message for her and bring Carrie off to do something. "Tay, I need you right now. SOS, save my soul, etc etc. Please don't ignore this desperate need for help, and meet me at Zeus' Fist as soon as you're awake."
Probably not the safest place to bring a kid, sure, but Devon had never been known for his great ideas. She was alright though-- even a young demigod knew to bring a weapon with her everywhere she went, and Carrie had a little knife that she tucked into a holder around her waist. She wasn't really interested in that, though. Climbing up the rocks seemed to be her thing, and Devon couldn't help laughing and joining her a few meters off the ground, sitting with his legs swinging as he waited for the one person he hoped would have experience with little girls.
It took her a bit longer than he'd hoped for, but Devon was informed by Carrie as soon as someone was approaching.
"Who's the girl?" She probably thinks of Taylor as a boys name, whoops.
"That's Taylor, Ri." He smiled up at the girl who was now trying to reach the top of the boulders (And of course, failing cause she was too small), and stubbed out the cigarette that he'd been smoking quickly, before Taylor could catch sight of it. Then he jumped down, keeping his voice low enough that Carrie wouldn't hear him, but Tay would. "You took your time." It wasn't rude, though. Devon said that in good nature. "Didn't saving my soul mean anything to you?"

If it weren't for the gremlin who was currently scrambling down the rocks, it would have been a touching moment-- in Devon's eyes, at least. He grinned as Taylor stood on her tiptoes and ruffled his hair, leaning down to plant a peck on her cheek (which was met by sounds of retching from behind them both).
"Pfft, you're as bad as some of the kids of Hypnos. Didn't you ever hear the saying that the early bird catches the worm?"
Chuckling, he followed her gaze to where Carrie was currently standing. "Alright, it was a bit of an overstatement. But really, can you blame me? I'm a macho guy-- I'm not supposed to be taking care of little girls." Devon gestured up at the kid, and looked back at Taylor. "I really need help, Brooks. What do little girls talk about? Boys? Makeup? Chocolate? I mean... I could talk about chocolate, but anything other than that and I'm royally screwed."
Carrie waved back at Taylor, grinning widely as she finally made it off of the rocks and came skipping over. She stuck her small little hand out to shake the (for once) taller girls own hand. "I'm not a kid. I'm Carrie." She glanced up at Devon, then back at Tay, and shook her head. "No... but my sister says that smoking harms your soul, and that's why I shouldn't do it, so really he's harming his own soul, right?"
Well... shit. Kinda wish I'd gagged her now.

"Cheese and worms aside, you have a real talent for sleeping. I've never met anyone who has the same ability you do-- except perhaps Max, but you've really blown away her previous sleeping record." He shook his head adamantly. "Nope, macho men are too busy doing dangerous stunts to take care of little children who want to paint their nails and stuff. We gotta keep our image good."
Devon couldn't help but smile as the two shook hands-- it was kind of cute, the little eight year old and his girlfriend, making friends. Well... they would have been making friends, had it not been for Carrie's amazing timing.
She couldn't stay quiet, nooo.... she had to go blurt out that one thing.
Holding his hands up, he backed up a step or two, sending a glance towards the mischievously grinning kid that probably knew exactly what she'd just done and was enjoying every second of what was to come. "Tay, let's not get angry at me, yeah?" He barely got his sentence out before she was reaching up, twisting his ear. "Ow!"
There were chuckles coming from the little kid, but Devon couldn't even look at her-- he was too focused on Taylor and his stinging ear.
"I did! For... a few days, at least. It's a lot harder than it looks!" His eyes widened, and Devon shook his head, mouthing the word "No" at Taylor when she requested his box. He couldn't. He wouldn't. Cold turkey was... he'd die. Literally die, if he had to go cold turket.

"I'm just not gonna win, am I? I have no choice but to become a macho man who cares for little girls in his spare time." He faked a sad sigh, glancing at the kid as he did. She actually wasn't all that bad, as little girls went. He would have been able to put up with her, easily, if it hadn't been for her ratting him out.
He could feel his cigarette box in his back pocket, and really? Devon wanted nothing more than to protect those white and tan sticks against all cost. It wasn't that he had an addiction to nicotine... it was just that he couldn't give them up. He'd tried. And it had been much too hard. Out of all of the symptoms from nicotine withdrawal, he'd had a lot of them-- fatigue, headaches, coughs, cravings and more. Max walking into their shared room with a cigarette clamped between her teeth had been the final straw. He'd quickly crossed the room and begged her for a puff, and after that, a cigarette of his own, and before he knew it he'd broken his promise to Taylor that he'd quit and had already paid for some packs of his own. It had been going on like this for a few weeks, with him hiding his cigarettes and smoking them when he knew that she wasn't around. If it hadn't been for Carrie, he probably would have continued too.
Then again, Taylor had produced a convincing argument when she'd first asked him to quit. And the look on her face now... killed any sort of resolve he had to keep the box in his pocket and refuse to hand it over. Sadly, he reached to his back pocket, pulling out the box and holding it close to him for a few seconds. Devon almost couldn't bring himself to put it down on her outstretched hand, but he managed it.
"But what'll I do when I have a craving?"

Truthfully, it was almost too much for Devon to handle, putting his cigarettes down like that. He didn't have an addiction-- it was under control. He knew though, as she slipped them into her pocket, that he wouldn't be getting them back. And if she had her way, he wouldn't be having anymore cigarettes full stop.
Devon smiled weakly as Taylor reached up to hug him, her kiss strengthening his resolve. He didn't even care about what sounds might come out of Carrie as he leant down and pressed his lips quickly to hers, pulling away before she could protest. "Thank you," he said, voice low.
Devon had tried to give them up before. He really had. But... he'd started a long time ago. His first cigarette was in his early teenage years, and slowly but surely he started to smoke more and more-- it was a habit more than anything else. Where some people had some coffee, listened to music, or maybe read a book to relax, he would have a cigarette. It was normal, and deep down, maybe he didn't want to give them up. But standing there, watching Taylor cross over and sit with the little blonde... maybe he could. For her, at the very least.
His trademark crooked smile was in place as he joined the two on the rocks, sitting down beside Taylor and putting his hand down on top of hers automatically. It was funny, how in such a short amount of time, that movement became almost natural.
"I can do that for you. He smoked a lot while we were waiting for you-- I think he thought I didn't see, but I did." He'd never really agreed with Max when she said that children were the devils deviants, but all of a sudden he was starting too. He chuckled quietly, awkwardly averting his gaze from Taylor as he waited for whatever the girl was going to say next-- something that would get him in trouble, for sure. "Are you his girlfriend? Ew.."
He laughed at that particular question, raising his eyebrows at Taylor. "Don't leave the poor girl waiting, Tay."
Carrie was quickly getting distracted-- now standing on the rock, she was looking around as if she was looking for a foothold so she could start climbing again. "Nice to meet'cha, Taylor. That's a boys name though... why've you got a boys name? Oh, my sister had to go do something important, and she wouldn't let me come. Now I have to hang around with him." It was amusing, really, how such a young kid could throw such a dirty look his way. "You seem like much more fun."