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windchijmesTitle of work : Chibi Kisses - 4 - Fly Away on the Carousel
Genre : Gen, Fluff
Rating : G (General)
Warnings : Pure fluff and cutesiness.
Summary : At the carnival, Heero meets the other boys. Treize, Trowa and their youngest bro lil' Duo, Zechs with his younger bro Q-ball.
The moment all three of them — one woman and two young children — got off the bus, Heero instantly latched onto Fei-fei's hand. The little one was so excited he was practically bouncing on his feet. Heero held tightly onto Fei-fei's chubby hand.
"Hurrrreee…" Fei-fei tugged impatiently on Heero's hand.
Heero however, refused to budge until Mrs Chang returned. And when she finally appeared with the coupons in her hands, Fei-fei was swinging Heero's arm wildly in playful abandon. An approving nod from Mrs Chang and the two boys hastened towards the carnival.
It was like taking a big splash into a pool of colours and noises. Loud laughter and whoops and voices rung in their ears. Adults with their children, pockets of teenagers, trails of little stalls selling hot dogs, popcorn, candy floss and more sweets and snacks…and rides. They were mini versions of the huge rides at the big funfairs, but to the bright Prussian blue and black gazes of Heero and Fei-fei, the rides looked wonderful nonetheless.
"Bee!" Fei-fei squealed suddenly, one arm pointing at something Heero had to turn his head to look at. "IwannasitBee!"
Fei-fei's Bee was a small ride painted with bright strips of black and yellow, with its carriages made to look like big, cartoony bumblebees. The seats are right on the bees' backs. Heero thought the whole ride looked like a lot of fun too.
"Go ahead," Mrs Chang's gentle voice urged.
The two boys needed no further instruction. Still holding onto Fei-fei, Heero had to remember not to dash towards the ride or Fei-fei — waddling along as fast as he could on legs smaller and shorter than Heero's — would fall. Their coupons were handed over to the ride-tender, deducted, then returned to Heero, who carefully placed the remainder into the little pack he carried. Fei-fei was the one who picked the carriage, pointing to one which he insisted belong to them and thereby naming it Bee. They were buckled into it securely, and Heero laid an arm around his younger companion just to make sure. The little one was so excited he was almost hanging over the edge of the carriage. His small legs, not quite able to touch the flooring, swung back and forth like two wild pendulums.
Then, the ride moved and Fei-fei suddenly went all quiet as he stared wide-eyed at their carriage's rise into the air. "Feifeifly…" his babyish voice was hushed in wonder.
The carriage at first revolved in slow circles, then picked up speed and like a real bee's flight, it went high, then low and high again. Heero smiled when the smaller boy snuggled more securely into his arm. He guessed Fei-fei might be feeling just that tiny bit afraid. Heero wrapped both arms around Fei-fei, then pointed to the ground.
"See your mummy?"
The little boy's good cheer and enthusiasm instantly revived. After squirming to make sure Heero's arms were truly holding him, Fei-fei leaned over the side of the carriage to look for her. And when he did, he squealed and waved excitedly. "Ma-mee!" then he turned to Heero with sparkling eyes. "Feifeifly!"
"Fei-fei fly," Heero chuckled in agreement.
Once the ride was over and they climbed out of their carriage, Fei-fei ran to his mother with a laughing shriek. "FeifeisitBeeandfly!" he babbled. "Beeflyroundwoosh…andFeifeifly!"
Heero muffled his laughing behind a hand. He was tempted to bring Fei-fei on the Bumblebee ride again just to see the little one do his animated demonstration of flying a second time, complete with waving arms and sounds of 'woosh woosh'.
The next ride, Heero was surprised Mrs Chang would allow him to bring Fei-fei along. It was a mini version of bumper cars, where the drivers were children his age or a little older. But it soon became clear why it was ok for Fei-fei.
Fei-fei loved bumper cars. The moment his huge black eyes roved over the whole ground where small cars were bumping and crashing into one another, he turned to Heero and declared, "Iwannasit!"
A mini-car was picked — all bright blue and red colours — and they were ready. Fei-fei instantly turned into a little ball of destructive energy. It hardly mattered to Fei-fei whether they were bumped or they had bumped someone else. As long as the car took a knock, Fei-fei chortled with gleeful delight. Even when a particularly hard knock had Fei-fei accidentally bump his head into the steering wheel, he looked more surprised than anything. Heero however, was worried to death. The moment their turn was over, he tugged Fei-fei out of the arena.
"Are you hurt?" Heero cradled Fei-fei's cheeks in his hands and turned the child's face this way and that. He was already imagining a horrific swelling on that little round head.
Fei-fei nodded hard. "Hurt."
"Where?" Heero said in growing alarm. He couldn't see any bruise at all! Where was Mrs Chang? She should come and take a look!
In perfect seriousness, Fei-fei touched the tip of his finger to his forehead. "Hurt."
"Here?" Heero stared so intently at the caramel skin he was getting cross-eyed. Well, where was the bump?! He still couldn't see anything!
"Kiss!" Fei-fei insisted suddenly, his finger still glued to his very injured forehead. "Kissandmakeitbetta…"
K…kiss? Heero blushed. Yes, he had kissed the little one before but that was a long time ago. And…kissing wasn't for little boys! It was for girls!
"Hurt!" Fei-fei said petulantly, as if it was suddenly Heero's job to make the hurt go away. His little face was scrunched up in stubborn insistence.
Heero's blush deepened. Gently plucking Fei-fei's hand away from his forehead, he quickly kissed the soft skin. Fei-fei still had that babyish salty-sweet smell, he realised, ears turning red too. He felt like a mummy.
"Boys!"
Now Heero knew where Mrs Chang was. She held two small cups which obviously, must hold something delicious. Beaming, Fei-fei held up his hands for the treat. Heero sighed. So much for being hurt. The little one looked perfectly fine now.
"Here's yours, Heero," Mrs Chang smiled as she offered Heero the second cup.
"Oh…thank you," Heero took it gratefully. He was hungry! Peering into it, he was pleased to see it full to the brim with sweet corn. They looked like tiny golden bits, gleaming with butter.
"Come, let's go over there."
Heero and Fei-fei, both munching on spoonfuls of corn, followed her to this playpen. It was really made up of a large, colourful mat spread out on the grass and fenced in with just as colourful, foam posts. There were children scattered all over the mat, while their Mummies and Daddies sat outside the playpen. Heero held Fei-fei's hand and led them both to a small corner of the pen. Fei-fei sat down with a plop, grinning at Heero as he spooned another glob of corn into his mouth. Before Heero sat down however, he caught sight of a vendor hovering near the edge of the playpen. He was selling — Heero's eyes shone — candy floss. Sticks and sticks of the cloudy stuff in pink, purple and green colours.
Crouching down, he told Fei-fei firmly, to stay put. Only after Fei-fei gave him a loud 'Yes', then Heero approached the candy-floss man, wading through streams of little kids. Glancing at Fei-fei to make sure the boy was still sitting there obediently, he took out his coupons. He got a stick of bright pink floss. It looked delicious even without Heero tasting it.
"Heero."
Surprised, Heero glanced up. He recognised his classmate from school. A tall, quiet boy called Trowa.
"Hi, Trowa," Heero greeted. He liked Trowa. He was not like the rest of the noisy boys and girls in his class.
They began talking a little. Trowa was here with his brothers. He had two of them, he told Heero, one younger and one older than Trowa himself. Heero was about to tell Trowa about Fei-fei, when Trowa suddenly looked alarmed. Heero turned his head to see what Trowa was looking at, and now, Heero was the one alarmed.
Across the playpen, three small boys were tussling with each other. Or rather, over a cup. One was a little child with a mop of wavy, russet hair. One had hair like corn silk and eyes as blue as the sky. And the third — Heero gasped and began moving towards the kid fight — was Fei-fei! Heero was barely aware of Trowa moving alongside him.
They reached the little ones at the same time. Fei-fei's round little face was distorted in childish fierceness, an expression mirrored on the wavy-haired child, whose tiny, pointed chin was lifted in defiance, and on the blonde child too, who looked the nearest to crying. All three had a death grip on the cup, and neither was letting go, that was clear.
"Stop!" Heero and Trowa scolded at the same time.
Six chubby hands let go of the cup and it fell to the mat, its content spilling out in a dismal mess. Instantly, three childish voices began screaming at each other in child babble only they understood. Just before the three little ones lunged at each other, a pillar stepped into the centre of the storm. Well…it did look like a pillar to Heero at first. But now, he saw it was a boy in his teens. Tall and with a head of hair the same russet colour as Trowa's, his handsome face was stern as he stared down at the three misbehaving kids.
"Trowa, Zechs, come and get them," the older boy said quietly, before turning to Heero. Face softening, he motioned to Heero to retrieve his own little boy from the fight.
Heero quickly waded in and gathered a scowling Fei-fei into his arms. Similarly, Trowa pulled away the russet-haired kid, presumably his younger brother. The blonde child was picked up by another teenage boy who looked just a year or two younger than the stern one. He had fair hair that feathered into his neck and face, and eyes the same colour as the blonde child's. With the three little ones all safely disentangled, the boys began to set to work calming them down.
Trowa's little brother was still chattering crossly, his huge violet eyes animated as he gestured agitatedly to the mess of corn on the ground. "Hush, Duo," Trowa murmured somewhat helplessly as lil' Duo turned those violet eyes on him pleadingly. It was not until the stern teenaged boy shot the kid a glare that lil' Duo subsided into impetuous silence.
"Relax, Treize," Zechs, the fair-haired teenager said gently even as he tried to pacify his own crying brother. "Shh, Q-ball."
"What a mess," Treize said, exchanging rueful looks with the other youth.
Heero thought about it. It really was a mess. It was supposed to be a happy outing and now, Fei-fei had his face buried against Heero's neck and adamantly refusing to be cajoled. The other two children were also unhappy. Well, there was only one way to solve this. Gently pulling Fei-fei away, he placed his finger under a stubborn chin and lifted the kid's head.
"Fei-fei good?" he reminded. There was stubborn silence for several seconds, then that little round head nodded, and Heero smiled. He had just realised he had the stick of bright-pink floss still in his hand. "Fei-fei take candy, and share."
At this, Fei-fei looked absolutely mulish. The corners of his little mouth were all turned down. Clearly, he was still upset by the earlier struggle over the corn. Yet, he didn't want to displease Heero either. "Okaaaaaaay…" he agreed, albeit pouting at the same time.
Thankful that Fei-fei would listen to him this time, Heero carefully wrapped Fei-fei's chubby hand around the stick of candy-floss, then he gave the kid a gentle, encouraging push. The little one then went hesitantly up to the other boys, his small legs taking one unsure step after another. When he reached them, he hesitated again, whether in shyness or in unwillingness Heero couldn't tell. Then, abruptly, he held up the floss. "Share," he said brightly.
Lil' Duo, who had been watching the floss with lit-up violet eyes, now had the most radiant smile on his heart-shaped face. Even the crying child, Q-ball, had stopped sniffling out of curiosity.
"Not a bad idea," Treize said, a smile growing on his face. Behind him, Zechs came up and laid a hand on his shoulder. He was laughing.
"A good idea actually," Zechs shook his head wryly. "And thought up by a kid."
"My name is Heero," Heero corrected him.
The two teenagers looked momentarily surprised. Then, Zechs went forward to Heero and bent down. Cerulean eyes twinkling, he was clearly charmed by this little adult of a boy. "Okay, thank you, Heero, for that good idea," he smiled and tousled Heero's already-messy hair.
Fei-fei was holding the stick of candy-floss out for lil' Duo. Grinning widely, the little violet-eyed boy dipped his head and nibbled on the crown of the cloud of pink floss. And inching forward, Q-ball hesitantly reached a tiny hand towards the pink mountain, poked a finger into the pinkness and pulled away with a fingerful of floss. He smiled shyly as he stuck the finger into his mouth and sucked on it.
Heero, Trowa, Treize and Zechs all had to keep from laughing to see the three tiny former enemies now enthusiastically dipping fingers and mouths into the floss, and even babbling to each other in perfect solemnity.
"Oh!" Treize said suddenly. He looked around at the others, grinning now and looking more his age of fourteen, rather than a harsh nanny. "How 'bout all of us go for a ride together? The carousel? Does that sound good?"
Zechs playfully punched Treize on the shoulder. "Aren't we a little too old for the carousel?"
Returning his best friend's affection, Treize brushed his fingers across Zechs' fine-boned cheek, then quickly pulled back with some ill-concealed awkwardness. "Let's go, then," he said hastily.
Blinking, Heero was unsure if he should go along. After all…he didn't know these boys very well even if he were friends with Trowa. Then, he saw the older boys picking up a chattering lil' Duo and giggling Q-ball…then he saw Fei-fei looking around for him, and when the little one saw him, his face brightened up and again, those little dimples flashed.
"Hirotakemetocawwoser…" Arms stretched out, Fei-fei waited for Heero to come and fetch him.
Giving in, Heero smiled and went up to the younger boy, and his smile grew a little bigger and little more embarrassed when a small hand slid into his own and soft cheek nestled contentedly against his arm.
++++++++++
She heaved a sigh of relief as she watched the band of boys troop towards the carousel. Earlier, she had experienced a moment of sheer worry when she saw her little Fei-fei getting into trouble, and she had been ready to intervene when Heero had reacted even more quickly. Then there were those two teenaged boys who played nannies…with their little brothers as adorable as her own son.
Slowly, she strolled to the carousel, smiling.
Of all the rides at this carnival, the carousel was the most gaily-coloured, and the most merry-sounding. Round and round it went to the time of a cheery tune, all its animal carriages going up and down to mimic the flight of real animals. In the centre and bordering the canopy, twinkling coloured lights lit up the entire carousel, making it sparkle like a multi-faceted jewel.
Perched on a carriage that looked like a puffy, blue dragon, was Fei-fei, looking delighted as anything as he clung on to the twirly pole that rose up at the head of the carriage. Sitting on the same dragon behind Fei-fei, Heero was also grinning widely, unlike his usual solemn self. He was enjoying himself, even if he was trying to help keep Fei-fei's balance as the little one began bouncing on his perch in his glee.
Around them, lil' Duo and Q-ball were sharing the same carriage. It looked like a majestic lion, and Duo had his little arms wrapped around the lion's large head, while Q-ball had his own hands clinging onto Duo's shirt. He was chortling as he yanked it up and down as if he was holding onto reins and not a little boy like himself. Next to them, the russet-haired boy who was about Heero's age was lost in his own world, his beautiful deep-green eyes dreamy as he stared into the setting sky.
She tried not to laugh when she saw the two oldest boys surrounding the poor lion carriage with lil' Duo and Q-ball. The two little ones were now competing to see who could lean the furthest over the side of the carriage, then ended up giggling when they fell and had to be rescued by their two unamused older brothers.
"Ma-mee! Feifeifly!"
Looking up, she chuckled and waved.
And Fei-fei waved back, his huge smile the brightest thing in the carnival today.
~*~ fin ~*~
November 2003