March 29, 2010

"Soldier vs. Birthday"

Zechs lay on his stomache on the floor, lazily flipping the pages of his book while tuning out the squeals of his charges around him. The constant peeking and giggling of his sister however, was less easy to ignore.

He heard the approaching voices, the keys in the door, and waited for the inevitable spray of laughter, which was right on cue. He didn't look up to see what sort of expression Lady Une might have been wearing, but he could well imagine the face on Noin, and she was laughing.

"Zechs..." Noin managed to squeeze out in betwen gasps. "I'm sorry...it's just...you look..." She wasn't going to stop anytime soon. All Zechs could do was grin -or not- and bear it, and he did, resting his head on one hand and stretching his legs, bound together from the knees down with three pink and purple jump ropes.

"He was taking a nap" one of the young girls said proudly as she finished braiding another ribbon into his hair and securing it with a tiny bow or barrette, he wasn't sure, the fifteenth such item if his count was right. The barrettes weren't so bad, though the headband was starting to chafe.

Noin finally stopped laughing enough to form coherant sentences and Lady Une corralled the young girls into the dining room for cupcakes. She cast one eye back to were Zechs was still prone on the floor. She raised an eyebrow. Zechs sighed. "It was just easier this way."

Une followed the children into the dining room while Noin finally reached down to untie Zechs' legs and the two of them sat on the couch removing the plethora of princess decorations from his hair. "I hope the glitter is going to come out." She said while she picked at a looping braid creation. Zechs did not seem to hear the sentence past the word "glitter." Noin smiled and ran her fingers through his hair, checking for knots and lingering around the strands at the back of his neck which he was pretty sure had been made tangle free some time ago. She pinched the furry ears on the headband. "I think we'll leave these in a little longer."