seikilos: (Default)
[personal profile] seikilos
Title: Grune and the Bitties - 02. Dhaos
Fandoms: [community profile] luceti, Tales of Legendia, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, original works, Tales of Graces f, Tales of Phantasia
Genre: Fluff
Rating: G
Words: 2390
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the above media.
Summary: Luceti AU: Dhaos is excited to learn that he's not the only one to know about angels--but unfortunately for him, there's a twist.
Author's Notes: And four months later, here's the next fic in the series. Whoops. I'll try to post the next one after this a little faster....

Not a lot to say about this one, except it's horrendously ironic if you've played Tales of Phantasia. Whoops?

As a reminder, here are the ages of the bitties involved: Sophie (3), Dhaos (6), Fenimore (7), Hubert (10), Helios (12), Ginia (12), Rupert (12)

Have fun?

Mornings were always a busy affair in House 34. With seven children to be woken up, clothed, and fed and only three adults to oversee the process (one of whom was Grune), it was quite the job. Of course, the oldest children helped the youngest with their buttons and laces, and everyone but Sophie could do at least something to move breakfast along, but it still meant there was little time to be taking in the sights.

And so it wasn't until the start of breakfast that Rupert, on his way back to the electric icebox to return the apple juice, caught a glimpse of the yard outside.

"Whoa—it snowed last night!"

Halfway through the sentence, there was a tiny stampede to the nearest window made up of every child in the house.

"W-Wow, look at it all!" Helios exclaimed.

"I can't see!" Fenimore complained. "Miss Grune, tell them to get out of the way."

"Here." Grune knelt down next to her, then, without too much effort, lifted her up and balanced the girl on her hip.

"Whoa." Fenimore grinned, paying far more attention to the snow outside than the fact that she was doing a fine job of strangling Grune.

Grune set her down after a moment and was about to straighten when she caught sight of Sophie waiting patiently with her arms raised. So of course Grune let her have her turn, too.

She turned next to Dhaos, but he shook his head and with a proud smile said, "No, thank you, Miss Grune. I'm all right."

And he rose into the air until he was hovering over the heads of even the oldest children.

"Show-off," Fenimore muttered.

"Now, Fenimore, that's not very nice," Grune said gently. "You might hurt his feelings."

". . . Sorry, Dhaos," Fenimore apologized.

It seemed Grune had been right, though; most of the excitement over the snow had disappeared from the little boy's face at Fenimore's words. He even seemed to droop in midair.

However, he did his best to smile. "I-It's okay, Fenimore. . . ."

He drifted over to Grune, who caught him in her arms. She barely staggered this time as Dhaos let go of the spell—his timing was getting better.

Ginia, who had been scribbling a question on her whiteboard, held it up; Rupert read it aloud for the benefit of the youngest children: "'Miss Grune, can we go outside?' Yeah—can we?"

"Please?" Hubert added.

"Not until you finish your breakfast!" Norma answered for Grune from her position by the oven. "I'm not gonna slave away over a hot stove just to have you guys ignore my hard work. The first pancakes are gonna be ready in a minute, so everybody go wash your hands—that means you too, G-Girl!"

There was a happy clamour at her announcement and, seconds later, the kitchen was empty and the bathroom was successfully invaded.

*


Dhaos wanted to eat his breakfast as quick as he could so he could go outside and play in the snow, but his gaze kept traveling to the window. There it would stay as he sat with his fork partway to his mouth, until Rupert or Miss Norma reminded him to keep eating.

In the end, he only managed one and a half pancakes, but he thought that was okay. Miss Norma made really big pancakes, and Miss Grune ate the part he couldn't finish for him.

After that, everyone rushed for the front closet.

"Miss Grune, do I gotta wear my snowpants?" Fenimore asked as Dhaos moved past her to find his mittens.

"Oh, yes. You'll be cold if you don't," she answered.

"It's not cold out," Fenimore declared. Dhaos wondered how she knew—no one had been outside yet, right?"

"Put 'em on, Fen-Fen," Miss Norma told her as she zipped up Sophie's jacket. "If G-Girl says you gotta, you gotta."

"Ohhh. . . ." Fenimore went to get the snowpants.

At this point, Dhaos was almost ready to go outside—except his coat zipper was stuck. Zippers were a new thing to him and he hadn't quite worked out how they went yet.

"Um. . . ."

Luckily for him, Hubert noticed his problem in spite of the bustle. "Oh, um, I'll help you, Dhaos." He pulled off his mitts and bent down.

"Thank you."

In one long motion, Hubert zipped up his coat. He made it look so easy. . . .

Finally, everyone but Norma was dressed (and everyone was wearing snowpants—even Miss Grune, Dhaos noticed) and they could all run outside.

Everything looked so different under the snow! If Dhaos hadn't lived in House 34 as long as he had, he thought he might get lost.

He looked about, trying to remember where all the gardens were so he wouldn't step on them (although Ginia and Rupert and Fenimore didn't seem to mind . . .). Miss Grune said that the flowers were all asleep under the snow, but it didn't seem very nice to step on their heads.

He wandered around a little before kneeling down in the snow and packing some of it together. There was definitely enough to make a snowman now!

He stayed very focused on his work, up until Fenimore bellowed something about "snow-galves." He quickly looked up—were there monsters? Should he run away? —but since Fenimore was lunging about with a stick she must have dug up from the snow, he felt safe to go back to building his snowman.

. . . Except for some reason, Ginia had just flopped back into the snow and was waving her arms and legs about. He barely had the time to wonder if she was all right when Rupert exclaimed, "Hey, great idea!" and did the same. A few seconds later, Helios copied them.

Curious, Dhaos left his snowball and wandered over, just as Ginia was standing up and surveying her work in satisfaction.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

Ginia picked up her whiteboard and marker, wiped off her last message, and scribbled out, "Making snow angels!"

Dhaos' heart jumped and a big smile burst onto his face. "You know about angels?"

He was the only angel in House 34. Everyone else except Miss Grune was either human or Ferines—or, in Sophie's case, both. He didn't mind it too much for the most part, but sometimes it could get a little lonely. (He wondered if Miss Grune got lonely sometimes, since she was the only one of her kind, too.)

Rupert sat up."Course we know about angels. Doesn't everybody?"

Dhaos shook his head. "Miss Norma said she hadn't heard of them, and so did Hubert."

"Huh. Weird." Rupert got to his feet and checked out his own "snow angel." Dhaos did the same.

". . . Why are they call snow angels?" They didn't really look much like angels to him.

Ginia tapped his shoulder and wrote, "Wings." She pointed at where her arms had swished back and forth in the snow in a wide arc. "Robes." She pointed to where her legs had done the same.

"But angels don't wear robes." He looked at where Helios had finished his snow angel. "And their wings don't look like that. They're smaller."

"Sure they do," Rupert told him. "You probably just haven't heard the right stories, that's all."

Dhaos shook his head and insisted, "No, they don't. My wings don't look like that, and nobody wears robes at home except on special occasions."

Instantly, he was surrounded. Rupert, Ginia, and Helios were pressing in, fascinated looks across all their faces. Feeling abruptly intimidated, Dhaos took a step back.

"Y-You're not an—an angel, are you?" Helios asked.

"No way—that's impossible!" Rupert declared. "Angels don't come down out of heaven unless it's an emergency."

Ginia shoved her whiteboard in his face; Dhaos retreated farther. "Where are your wings? I wanna see!"

"I-I don't use my wings except if I have to go a long way, a-and I'm not allowed without an adult." Dhaos picked at a clump of snow stuck to his mitten, not daring to raise his head. "What's heaven?"

"Heaven's where all the angels live," Rupert said. "Is that where you live?"

"N-No, I live in Elusion. It's on Derris-Kharlan."

"Maybe Derris-Kh-Kharlan's another name for heaven," Helios said thoughtfully. "It probably has l-lots of different names."

Rupert shook his head. "You probably got mixed up, Dhaos. There's no way you can be an angel."

"But I am," Dhaos insisted again, forcing himself to look up to do it.

Ginia pushed her board forward. "But angels are dead. Heaven's where you go when you die."

Dhaos eyes rounded and he gasped. "I-I'm not dead!"

Rupert gave Dhaos a considering look that he didn't like at all. "You could be. I mean, Walter's dead and it doesn't seem to bother him any."

"I'm not dead!" His eyes started to fill. If angels were dead and he was dead, that meant his Mommy and Daddy were dead, too!

"I-It's all right," Helios tried to reassure him. "It's probably a lot of f-fun being an angel, r-right?"

"Yeah, if I was an angel, I'd fly everywhere," Rupert added.

"So what's heaven like?" Ginia showed him.

It was entirely too much for him. Dhaos turned and ran away, the snow dragging at his boots. It only served to increase his panic, and tears spilled from his eyes. He didn't turn when Rupert called out, "Oi, Dhaos, wait a minute!" He needed to get back in the house and in his room and under the covers right away!

. . . Except there was Miss Grune, helping Sophie roll up a ball of snow. His pace slowed, and then he stopped. Miss Grune would know if he was dead. He could ask her and find out the truth.

He wiped his nose on the back of his mitt, then scrubbed away his tears. A good prince was supposed to set an example for everyone else. He couldn't cry in front of Sophie or his example would be a bad one.

He took a deep breath and marched right up in front of the pair.

"M-Miss Grune?"

"Yes, Dhaos?" She sat back on her heels and gave him a curious look.

He steeled himself as best he could. "I'm not d-dead, am I?"

Miss Grune seemed very confused. "Why would you be dead?"

"Because. . . ." He felt his lip start to shake; even after he bit it, it wouldn't stop. "Because I'm an angel, and Ginia and Rupert and Helios said that angels are dead, and—and that means everyone at h-home is d-dead, a-and I don't want to be dead!"

To his shame, he felt new tears run down his cheeks, and no matter how much he told himself to stop, they wouldn't. He was setting a bad example for Sophie and being a bad prince and—

Gentle arms enfolded him and drew him close.

"There, there," Miss Grune said softly as he clung to her. Their slippery jackets made it tricky, but he still held on as hard as he could. "It's all right."

She hugged him and let him press his damp face against her neck until his tears had finally stopped. She was soft and strong, and even with all her winter clothes, she still smelled like Miss Grune. It was calming; already, he was feeling a little better.

When he pulled back, he wiped his nose on his mitten again. But before he could dry his tears, Miss Grune pulled off her gloves and did it for him. Her hands were gentle and warm against his cool cheeks, and just for that moment, it didn't matter if he was dead or not, because Miss Grune loved him.

When she was done, she said kindly, "Don't worry. You're not dead at all."

He so wanted to believe her, but— "But Rupert and Ginia and Helios said. . . ."

"I think they got a little mixed up. Or . . . hmm. . . ." She set a finger against her cheek. "Maybe angels are different where they're from."

"Really?" So that would mean he and his Mommy and Daddy weren't dead!

"I don't know." She smiled at him. "But you're not dead, Dhaos. It's all right."

Finally, he was able to smile, too. "Thank you, Miss Grune."

Shyly, he gave her a hug. It felt good to hug her when he was happy, too.

"You're welcome." She even gave his cheek a kiss when he let go. "Now would you like to help me and Sophie build a snowman?"

"Oh, yes! I'll go get my snowball and we can put them together. I'll be right back!"

He ran off to get it—and he even floated part of the way.

*


As Grune was carefully lifting Sophie's smaller snowball atop Dhaos', she became aware of three very contrite children lining up in front of her. Once the snowball was safely balanced, she looked up.

Ginia held up her board, onto which she had carefully copied, "We're very sorry."

"We didn't mean to make you cry, Dhaos," Rupert added, only barely meeting the smaller boy's gaze.

"W-We were j-just—just curious," Helios mumbled to his boots.

"It's okay," Dhaos said, both immediately and sincerely. In the time it had taken to roll up his snowball, he had made a complete recovery. "You probably didn't know Derris-Kharlan angels are different from Earth angels, that's all."

"Yeah." Rupert tried to smile. "G-Guess we didn't."

Ginia looked conflicted—but then, she seemed to make up her mind.

"Can we still see your wings?" she showed him.

Dhaos looked up at Grune. "Miss Grune, can I?"

"Oh, yes, of course," she said immediately.

"Okay."

Dhaos closed his eyes. A moment later, delicate, transparent wings appeared behind him. They shimmered and sparkled and cast a soft green light on the snow.

"Cool!" Rupert and Helios chorused. Ginia clapped her hands as hard as she could, and Sophie announced, "Pretty!" She stuck a hand into their light and giggled, then giggled louder when Dhaos flapped his wings.

As Fenimore and Hubert ran over to see what they were missing, Grune smiled and set a hand on the top of Dhaos' touque-covered head. He looked up and beamed at her—the very picture of a happy, confident child once more.

Date: 2012-09-05 11:54 pm (UTC)
northeasternwind: (Naesala and Leanne)
From: [personal profile] northeasternwind
D'aaaaw! 8D Pfft irony whatever, we can be happy

I kinda love the image of all the kids going OMG OMG OMG SNOW 8DDD and all running to the window before the whole sentence is out. LOL. And all the tiny kids are like SOBBING GRUNE I AM SO SHORT except Dhaos, who can fly. Like a boss. And make everyone jelly.

And alksdjalskjd Dhaos not knowing how to work zippers XD They are pretty complicated if you've never seen them before though, now that I think about it!

Ahaha, no one except Dhaos can tell that Grune isn't human, angelic or Ferines...

All the kids are so cuuuute XD Especially Ginia. LOLOLOL. Except ahaha, yeah, tiny kids do not like being surrounded by older kids, whoops. Guys you be frightening him, stoppit.

...Giles' name seems to be spelled Report somewhere in there. IT'S GOTTA BE AROUND THIS POINT BUT I CAN'T FIND IT AGAIN...

Sobbing Dhaos and being dead T__T

But GRUNE TO THE RESCUE

GRUNE MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER

8D

8D

8D

...D8

And aaaaaw, the kids apologizing ♥ Gaaaah Vyc why are they cute. Wai. ...Also Sophie. SOPHIIIIIIIIIIE.

Yeah so adventures in being tiny are amazing XD SO MANY CUTES and ironies, as Angie points out. But cutes. \o/ Needz moar bitties, Vyc. Moar.

Date: 2012-09-06 03:03 pm (UTC)
vyctori: (Grune.)
From: [personal profile] vyctori
True story time: Like 90% of this is based off my experiences trying to substitute teach on any day it snows. XD Stampedes are pretty much inevitable.

Even if you have seen them before, they're pretty hard--I usually have to do them up for kids until about Grade 3. So it's pretty much to be expected for him.

Yup! And he just doesn't think to share this with anyone else. Just like in Luceti, actually. XD

Ginia knows the important stuff. :Db Yeah, they're twice as old as him and they outnumber him. Terrifying. D:

...Dammit, you would think with three proofreading sessions I would catch all of those, but apparently not. /fixes Thanks!

GRUNE WILL HUG YOU AND LOVE YOU SO MUCH THAT IT WON'T MATTER IF YOU'RE DEAD. ...Which happens a depressing amount in Luceti, actually. Grune, stop making friends with all the dead people. D:

They are cute because kids are awesome, that's why. :Db

I have one more finished, but, um, it's possibly even more depressing than this one. ...While also simultaneously being occasionally cute. So, uh. :D;;?

Profile

seikilos: (Default)
seikilos

August 2021

S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
222324 25262728
293031    

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 8th, 2025 02:27 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios