Disclaimer: I don't own PoT, I don't want to be sued, I have no money even if you want to try.
AN: D'oh, forgot an author note on my last one, bad author no cookie ::smuggles in jelly beans:: or jelly beans::snatches them away:: Uhm, yeah, this is to show yet again that the twins have zero self awareness when it comes to some things. You gotta wonder exactly what is going through the boys minds during this...too bad the girls'll never know...or will they?
Grateful for a day that was our to spend as we chose with our boys Miki and I had intended to suggest a lovely day spent watching movies, we were a bit miffed when the boys beat us to the punch and asked us to come out to a small festival. Knowing we wouldn't be able to say no to them, trust me, we tried frequently; we merely acquiesced and dug out more appropriate sun shades.
Thankfully mom had prepared our closets for most any contingency. Miki came out in a red yukata with blue-green accents done in large birds of paradise, her paper parasol covered in a red phoenix. My yukata was golden brown with swallows in teal, my parasol showing plum blossoms. Feeling silly as I minced along in my sandals I pondered the implications of the outfits. Before we met the boys I noted to Miki, "You realize this outfit was designed by men, so we couldn't do much more than stagger along behind them."
Moving along the busy streets I had to admit this was fun. Living in the US there were never cultural festivals like this, well unless you counted the Fourth of July, but it didn't have fun booths or shows. Eiji was having fun winning prizes at the various booths, and soon Miki had no hands to hold them, let alone her parasol. So now I had two, along with one very large purple panda that Fuji had won for me. In a whispered aside he noted that it was quality over quantity…and seeing Miki juggle her fifth cat plush I had to agree.
After dragging Eiji away from the goldfish booth, he was getting very vexed when he couldn't get one out with his paper scoop; we stopped for a moment to catch our breath. The boys successfully found us a patch of grass under a tree and we piled the collective of stuffed animals underneath it, my panda nearly completely covered by Eiji's winnings. Resting my head on Fuji's shoulder I smiled as the lanterns were lit and the festival's energy picked up a bit as night settled around us.
Of course I should have known the peaceful, nearly picture perfect moment, would be ruined. With his trademark "Hoi hoi" Eiji launched himself up in a fairly amazing display of acrobatics and pointed excitedly at a vendor. "Look, parfaits! Ice cream! Carmel apples!" Running over he all but danced around the vendor before coming back to us. "Miki, Michi, what would you girls like?"
Glancing at Miki I laughed at her boy's enthusiasm, "I'll take a caramel apple." "Chocolate sundae for me." Miki added. Fuji lifted an eyebrow and stood up to get my treat. Returning with a small ice cream cone of his own he handed me my gooey apple as Eiji gave my sister her sundae. Grinning as the red-head tried to talk her out of the cherry on top I licked at the caramel to see how chewy it was. "Good luck on that Eiji, she may like you, but she'll bite the hand that feeds her." And true to form Miki set aside her cherry for last, and dipped her spoon into the rich dessert.
Knowing a caramel apple wasn't exactly the most delicate of treats I momentarily regretted picking it, but shrugged, I loved the caramel too much to care that I'd soon have it smeared across my face. Taking a large bite I laughed and hid my mouth behind my hand while glancing up at Fuji, "If you don't eat your ice cream it's going to melt." I pointed out since he'd not even touched it yet. This seemed to have woken him up and he took a small lick of his ice cream. Tipping my head I smiled and nipped off another bite of my apple after asking, "Is it good, what flavor did you get?"
"Mm, fudge swirl," he seemed to be fixated on my face and with a start I realized I must have a gob of the sugary coating on my mouth. Running my tongue over my lips I hoped I got it but then I perked up. "Fudge?" Sucking on my bottom lip I looked hopefully at his cone, my question must have been evident as he extended it towards me. Scooting closer, my yukata parting a bit, I lick at the side of his cone. While I loved caramel more, chocolate was always near the top of my list of sweets as well. Holding out my apple I offered him a bite in turn.
Wrapping his free hand around mine he turned the apple to where I'd taken my bite for his taste of the apple. Pulling away he licked his lips slowly before settling back beside me. Blinking, my brain momentarily distracted, I smiled and innocently asked, "Good?" A startled look passed over his face, as though he expected me to say something else, but he nodded and I went back to happily munching my treat.
Realizing Eiji had been nearly silent for the last few moments I glanced over my shoulder at them. Miki was currently sucking the last bit of fudge off her spoon while eyeing Eiji's quickly melting ice cream cone. If I knew her she'd somehow con him out of it if he wasn't careful. Picking up the cherry she nipped off the fruit, catching my eye she grinned and held up the stem, "Four?"
"Four," I repeated with a smile. This was an old dare; we'd never successfully gotten more than three knots on a cherry stem since we learned the trick as children. The running prize was an alibi to shave Mr. Frenchy…so we always tried to get four. Fuji's free hand found mine and our fingers laced, giving him a quick smile I looked back to keep an eye on Miki, to make sure she didn't cheat.
Taking the cherry stem into her mouth she got a look of intense concentration, her boy giving her an odd look. Nibbling at my apple I absentmindedly sucked some of the juice out of the tart fruit. A moment later she pulled the stem out of her mouth, but a frown was on her face. Only three knots. Disgusted she started to toss it aside when Eiji grabbed it from her hand, the expression on his face seemed to be a mixture of amazement and something else I couldn't identify.
"Better luck next time," I smirked and snuggled into Fuji, who'd moved closer while I watched Miki. Leaning over he missed my apple and nipped my hand. Grumbling I squeezed his hand. "Y'know, if you would open your eyes you wouldn't miss the apple."
Ignoring my jibe he took a bite of the area on the apple I'd licked clean of caramel before asking in a lowered voice. "Fancy trick, can you both do that?"
Sneaking another taste of his ice cream I licked the corner of my mouth, "Mm, hmm, we used to sit at the bar in our grandparents house and eat all the cherries trying to learn how to do it." Without thinking I caught a drip of ice cream before it slid down his hand, "We still can't get more than three knots on one stem though…whomever does gets a 'get out of trouble free' card for shaving the dog." I snickered at the idea of mom's Pomeranian without his trademark fluff.
As Fuji leaned over, to get another bite of the apple I assumed, I moved it closer, hoping to prevent a repeat of the minor cannibalism of earlier. Instead I nearly fell backwards as he changed his target and ran his tongue over my lower lip. Unable to form two coherent thoughts, let along figure out what he was doing, I barely moved and he drew my lip into his mouth. Scraping his teeth over my skin as he pulled back I knew my face was bright red as I cleared my throat and looked everywhere but at him or the others.
"Uhm, thanks, but you know you could have just told me I had caramel on my mouth." Taking a healthy bite of the apple I nearly choked as he chuckled, drawing my eyes to him as he licked his ice cream slowly.
"Who said you had anything on your face?" with that my brain seemed to go into core meltdown, and my hand remained suspended halfway to my mouth. Unable to process that I turned towards him, my mouth opening again to ask him what he meant when he tapped a finger to the bottom of my jaw, closing my mouth. Pointing over my shoulder he grinned. "It looks like Eiji wants to help Miki win the bet."
With dazed eyes I turned, Eiji was harassing the vender, who obviously wanted the red-head gone more than he wanted life, as he shoved a jar of cherries towards him. Scampering back up the hill he grinned and held it out towards Miki. "Here, I know you can do it if you try!"
Laughing Miki dipped her hand in and pulled out another cherry. The smirk on her mouth cleared the haze from mine and I quickly shoved the remainder of my apple towards Fuji. "Oh no you don't, I want a shot too." Kneeling I reached out and plucked a cherry from the jar as well, my fingers finding the longest stem I could. Sitting back on my heels I bit off the fruit then nodded at Miki. "One, two…" "Three" On three we both put the stems in our mouth, our tongues and teeth making fast work of the first two knots. A bit more effort goes into the next one, then we both tried our hardest to make the illusive fourth.
As the stem shredded I grumbled and spit it out, the three knots showing right in a row. Reaching for another cherry I stopped as one appeared over my shoulder, glance back I smiled my thanks at Fuji and reached for it. Shaking his head he brought it to my mouth and I shrugged and ate the sweet fruit, again, reaching for the stem I sighed as he insisted on holding onto it. Carefully taking the end I lifted my brow and tugged until he released it. Winking at him I turned back as Miki got her second stem, and we both tried again.
This time, before starting I sucked on the stem, trying to soften it up, but not too much. Taking my time I started, and nearly swallowed it when I felt Fuji pull me back against him. But if I pulled the stem out I'd loose, so I merely grumbled a bit and resumed. Finally, after a few minutes I pulled the stem from my mouth just as Miki pulled hers out. With a gloating grin on my face I held out the stem, tied first in three little knots, one at each end then the middle, then lastly tied in one big knot for all to see. "I win."
Shaking her head Miki held out hers, similarly tied. "Actually, we tied."
Laughing I dusted my hands off, the stem falling easily to the ground. "Well damn, then how do we decide who wins?"
"Oh I don't know, I think we all win," Fuji piped up from behind me, his arms looped lightly around my waist.
Tipping my head back I smile and rest my hand over his, "Oh, and what did you two win?"
True to form he merely smiled.