by Hex
Disclaimer: Don't own it. I just like reducing their ages and making them relive all the less than inspiring things I did as a child.
Warnings: Very minor Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei abuse.
Credits: Teddy Bear was inspired by the picture "Bribing Kisses" by Fablespinner.
And everyone on GWFF and Love TQ that liked Teddy Bear enough to give me feedback and ask for sequals/sidefics^_^
"Come on!" Trowa crowed. His brown shorts were torn at the bottom and his black shirt was tucked in on one side but not on the other. Summer had dotted his cheeks with pale freckles.
The other four boys scrambled to follow Trowa's lead through the tall grass surrounding "The Creek" [1]. The Creek was a small trickling of water that flowed at about six inches to a foot wide. It ran along the outside of a fence of white wood beams and barbed wire that separated and old farmer's field from a horse ranch. The horse ranch's field rolled and stretched out to the west, far beyond the boys' range of sight. The boys however, were more concerned with their play area, the old wheat field that was now over run by various wild prairie grasses as well as weeds.
The creek ran underneath a road through a culvert. The boys would use the road to get to the other side when the creek was too swollen with spring run off to be jumped across. They hopped over a small area of the Creek and ran through the tall grass. They made their way to where the water pooled deeply enough that entire bikes could be lost in it's depths and even a few had [2].
Trowa lead them into the row of trees that marked either side of the road leading into the main house and horse feeding area of the ranch. The afternoon breeze rustled the leaves gently. Unfortunately the wind wasn't strong enough to dispel the bugs and the boys had stirred up quite a few in their wake. Trowa began to climb up a tree and motioned the other boys up. The boys followed suit, Quatre climbing right at Trowa's heels and Heero, Wufei and Duo shimmied up another tree. If Duo and Quatre both reached towards each other the tips of their fingers could touch. Trowa pointed at a mass of leaves and twigs in a tree close by. The boys climbed higher to see exactly what he was pointing at. Brown fuzz and small yellow beaks wiggled and squawked in the nest. Trowa smiled proudly at his friends.
"Me and Steppy found them yesterday." Trowa told his friends.
"Wow. They're so little." Wufei said, leaning dangerously far out of the tree trying to get a better look. Wufei's pristine white shorts and dark red shirt had bits of bark raining from them as he moved.
"They're kinda funny looking" Duo stated crinkling his nose - which was where the requisite dirt smudge had taken up residence today. Duo was wearing, despite the heat, a black T-shirt and black shorts. His birthday black High Tops now had a loose sole that Duo made speak for him by flapping it.
"That's 'cause they're still babies. All babies look kinda funny." Heero replied, grabbing the back of Wufei's pants and tugging him in a bit closer to the tree. The Japanese boy wore, of course, a simple green tank top and black bicycle shorts.
"Yeah. My cousin Sammy [3] was all wrinkly and pink and stuff." Duo stated. "So I guess bein' fuzzy and brown isn't so bad."
"HEY! The horses are out!" Quatre cried, pointing down the creek where a white horse with brown splotchs [4] stood grazing over the fence. The blonde wore a navy blue golf shirt and a pair of khaki shorts supported by a brown leather belt.
The boys all scrambled down the trees and bolted towards the stretch of fence close to where more than one of the horses were grazing. The boys came to a skidding halt a few yards away as a few of the more skittish horses shied away. They began to walk cautiously and spoke softly to one another as they approached the fence. The five of them set to work pulling the longer fresh grass on their side of the fence and began piling it just on the other side so the horses could reach it. Once a respectable size pile had accumulated, the boys sat and waited.
They didn't have to wait long. A brown horse approached the fence cautiously, eyeing the boys warily and it slowly began to nibble at the pile. Trowa moved first grabbing fistfuls of longer grass within arms reach, then moved to stand in front of the horse and offer what he had picked. The horse sniffed cautiously at the grass. The green-eyed boy uncurled his fingers from their grip on the grass and laid his hand flat. The horse snuffled the grass again then began eating what was offered to him. Trowa suppressed a giggle at the tickling of the horse's soft lips on his palm. The boy pulled more grass and the horse ate more. Slowly more horses began to gather. The other boys stood moving slowly with their own handfuls of grass, tempting the horses to come near the fence allowing the boys a close up view.
"Come on. Don't be shy. It's just grass." Quatre cooed in the direction of a particularly shy white mare.
The mare snuffled then craned its neck out and nibbled at the grass. Quatre laid out his hand flat and palm up so the horse could eat the grass and not his fingers. The group of five boys had been taught by a few older neighborhood kids to lay their hands out flat and let the horses eat out of their palms. This was safer for their little fingers then keeping the grass clutched in their hands. The horses were generally timid but once they felt comfortable they would plow through the food they were offered and a few fingers had been nipped here and there. So the boys took what they were taught by the older kids to heart and were very cautious when dealing with the horses.
Slowly Quatre's mare worked its way to the fence. As the mare continued to eat, Quatre began to gently pet the horse's neck. He made sure to be visible to the horse, taking up residence in plain view of the horse's left eye before he began stroking its neck. The powerful muscles clenched and the horse's eye ticked but otherwise it continued to eat. The horse's ear flicked and it snorted as Quatre stopped the attentions to pull more grass. Before Quatre could even finish raising his hands over the fence the mare craned it's neck over and sniffed at the little boy's shirt. Quatre laughed and produced the wild grasses under the horse's nose. It ate greedily snorting and smacking its lips. The white tail swished back and forth fighting off the flies buzzing around. All at once the horses ears pricked up and they took off from the fence at a run. The boys looked at each other confused for a moment before Heero shrugged.
"It must be supper time." Heero muttered to himself. "Oh no! Supper time." The young Japanese boy cried. "We're gonna be late for supper!"
The boys all exchanged looks before bolting. Heero's mother was very strict about them being on time for supper. If they weren't on time there was no desert and no soda pop. All though it was a barbecue with all of their families, that rule was still in place. The boys made a mad dash through the tall grass, the plants whipped against their bare legs, jumping from one creek bank to another, before tearing through the field towards Heero's house. The bungalow had a large bay window and was painted a vibrant red. The house had three bedrooms and an unfinished basement. Not an ideal house for a party. The backyard however, was large enough for two picnic tables, a swing set and there was even enough room left over for the boys to be able to run and play, making it an ideal house for a barbecue. The boys made it to the front yard before they all stopped dead in their tracks. Wufei let out a small whimpering noise and scratched at his legs. Trowa turned to look at him.
"My legs hurt. They're stinging." Duo said and scratched at his legs.
"Mine too." Quatre said and rubbed his hands down his calves.
"Mine too." Wufei echoed. Trowa and Heero nodded that theirs did too.
The boys limped into the backyard cringing. Their parents milled about. Ryo, Heero's father, a stock Japanese man with a penanche for soccer stood by the barbecue with Hareem, drinks in hand, laughing as smoke floated off into the sky. Monique and David sat at a picnic table talking seriously with Manxue, Wufei's mother. Manxue smiled softly at her friends and nodded. As usual Wufei's father Zhang was not there, but that fact lightened rather than dampened the atmosphere. Duo's father and mother, Taggart and Zigana- also know as Tags and Ziggy - were helping arrange food on the table. Eileen flitted in-between the house and the table, hauling out food and drinks for everyone.
"Dad." Duo said whining slightly. "My legs hurt." Duo grabbed his father's free hand and tugged.
"Huh? Oh Duo, you guys are here just in time. Supper is almost ready." Taggart said and grinned down at his son. There was no mistaking the relationship between the two when they both smiled. The sassy grin was a genetic trait and, if Ziggy was to be believed, so was the attitude.
"Dad! My legs hurt." Duo said again exasperated.
"Did you fall? What happened?" Taggart asked, his brain catching up to the speed of his child's.
"No I didn't fall. Their legs hurt too." Duo said and pointed towards the others. The other four boys were squirming and scratching at their legs. One occasionally whimpered. Taggart gave them a quick once over as David walked over. Apparently he had noticed the boys standing around squirming and looking expectantly at Taggart.
"What's wrong Tags?" David asked coming up next to the boys.
"They hurt their legs......" Taggart trailed off before leaning down and snatching a bur off of Duo's shoe laces. The dark-haired man grinned and held up the bur for David to see.
"Did you boys go down to The Creek?" David asked his lips curving up slightly.
"Yeah-huh. Auntie Eileen said we were 'llowed to." Duo said and began twining his shirt in his hands as he did when he thought he was going to be in trouble.
"I know. That's fine but next time maybe you boys should wear long pants." Taggart said.
"Why?" Duo asked "And how come you guys are laughing? Our legs really hurt." The last was said with a jutting out of lips as Duo crossed his arms over his chest.
"Don't worry Duo. It will go away soon enough. It's Stinging Nettles. Nothing to worry about. You guys just wear jeans next time you go run by the creek all right?" David said his lips twitching.
"Stinging Nettles?" Quatre echoed. David nodded and smiled.
"It's not funny." Heero muttered and scratched at his legs again.
"Come on. Let's get the hose and we'll cool your legs off all right?" David said as Taggart started to laugh.
"Why are you hosing the boys off?" Eileen asked as she appeared out the side door of the house, potato salad in hand.
"They had a close encounter of the Stinging Nettle kind." Taggart said snorting.
"Oh don't laugh! From personal experience it hurts [5]. Quit being so mean." Eileen said brandishing a large spoon in Taggart's and David's direction.
"Don't worry we'll cool them off. I didn't even think to warn them about nettles either." Taggart said turning on the tap and handing the hose over to David.
"Ah, they're too stubborn to listen anyway." David replied and both men snickered and shook their heads.
"Ok boys loose your socks and shoes then sit on the lawn." Taggart intructed. The boys did as they were told.
"Next time we wear jeans." Wufei muttered as he sat down next to Quatre and waited for his turn to get his legs blasted by the hose. The other boys nodded their agreement.
[1] This is what I always called it. This is what everyone I knew always called it. If it had a right and proper name I still don't know but it's probably something like St. Norbert Creek. Then again it might be too small and insignificant to be named anything.
[2] That, my Dears, is entirely true. I believe I even witnessed the extraction of a bike from there when it was a dry summer and the handle bars started to poke out.^_^
[3] That was basically my reaction to my cousin Samantha's birth. "She's pink and wrinkly!" I was eight years old after all.
[4] I know it's a Palomino, but then again, not everyone would.
[5] This is from personal experience. It does hurt but go away eventually. It's definitely not an experience I want to repeat:p.
~~Special Notes: I'm trying to give these places (The Forbidden Forest and The Creek) the level of awe and mystery that you'd expect them to have when you're a kid because that's what they had for me. Although I didn't exactly have a Forbidden Forest. They were called the Monkey Trails. Don't know why. Never asked.~~
Oh and because Neri asked yes I will explain the comment about Wufei's father as long as I get to writing the 5XS. >.< Heaven help me. Some how this turned into a monster with sidefics and ficlets. I even have a sort of sequel in the works.
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