orange and vanilla
. helium lost .
Author's Notes: This was supposed to be a drabble. But it spiraled rapidly out of control. XD Uhm, the setting in my mind is one in which Mohinder helped DL heal, then stuck with Niki and co. for a while to run some genetic tests in the process, also letting Molly and Micah play around (with the occasional visit from Uncle Parkman XD).
And I'm actually writing fluff. Wow.
Disneyland was, contrary to all marketing, not the "happiest place on earth". Niki Sanders could name a million places that were happier than Disneyland. Hell, a strip club would probably be happier. Her head was beginning to pound with the cacophonous sound of babies crying and mothers yelling shrilly after their children to stop whatever childlike behavior that their toddlers were behaving.
And the heat was not helping. At all.
"Mom?"
Niki let out a sigh, then forced on a smile. "Yeah, Micah?"
Micah looked up at Niki. "Can we have ice cream?" Molly stood beside him, and both of them were looking up at her, giving her the most heartwrenching, wobbling puppy eyes that they could muster. Trembling lower lip and all. Niki glanced over at the ice cream stand and groaned.
"Pleeease?" Micah and Molly said in unison. Niki bit her lip, but she then felt a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze.
"I'll take them," Mohinder offered. "You and Mr. Hawkins deserve a rest; you two shouldn't strain yourselves too much. Plus, I was the one who suggested we come—Molly did want to see Officer Parkman, after all, and Disneyland's pretty much en route." He smiled. "There are some tables in the shade over there; I'll meet back up with you in a little while."
Niki smiled. "Sounds good to me."
With that, Mohinder took Micah and Molly (who were chattering excitedly about ice cream) by the hand and walked toward the stand.
"You wanna know the first time when I found out that I could find people was?" Molly said, twisting out of Mohinder's grip so that she could run to Micah's side.
"What about it?"
"Well, I wanted some ice cream, but there wasn't any in the house. So I thought about the ice cream man—he always used to come around two or three. And then—I could see him." She grinned. "It was so weird, but I was always first to know where the ice cream man stopped."
Micah laughed. "For me, I was playing my Gameboy and I got mad that I lost a life in the game, because I was so close to beating the level... and then I told my Gameboy to give me ten more lives, and suddenly, there they were." He shrugged. "It was pretty cool."
Molly feigned a mad look. "You better not be cheating when we're playing on your PS3!"
"I'm not! I'd never cheat." He grinned. "I don't need to cheat when I'm playing against you!"
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
Mohinder rolled his eyes and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "Now now, no fighting, or else you won't be getting any ice cream." He steered Molly to the other side of him. Molly peered to the side and stuck her tongue out at Micah, who retorted by blowing a raspberry.
Half an (exasperated on Mohinder's behalf; highly amusing on Molly and Micah's behalves) hour later, Mohinder led Molly and Micah back to Niki and DL, Mohinder holding two rapidly melting cones in hand and Molly and Micah licking away happily at theirs. Mohinder handed the ice cream he was holding to Niki and DL.
"Oh, you didn't have to," Niki said, but Mohinder pushed the cones into their hands.
"My treat," he said. DL looked up at Mohinder.
"And nothing for you?"
Mohinder shook his head. "No, I'm not one for ice cream."
Niki gave Mohinder a sly look, then said softly so that only they could hear, "How about that one time when you and Syl—"
Mohinder coughed loudly. "Enjoy your ice cream," he said, oddly stiffly; DL raised an eyebrow as Niki laughed.
Micah shifted in his seat. "So your favorite is strawberry?" he asked, glancing at Molly's ice cream. Molly nodded enthusiastically.
"Uh-huh. Actually, I really, really like orange sherbet with vanilla ice cream, but they didn't have that. I like strawberry too, though. How 'bout you?"
"Cookies and cream, all the way," Micah said, munching on an Oreo bit. "Best ice cream ever."
Molly paused. "I don't think I've ever had cookies and cream, actually," she said. Micah did a double-take.
"Never had cookies and cream? Is that even possible?" Molly gave him a blank stare, and Micah smiled. "Well, you can have some of mine." He paused. "Just a little bit, though."
Molly grinned and leaned in. She grinned mischievously, then took a large bite, just to spite Micah.
"Hey!"
Molly looked up, ready to say something witty and leave Micah speechless (something along the lines of "nyah-nyah!"), but she found instead her lips meeting his for an instant. DL and Mohinder raised their eyebrows as Niki grinned. She stood and brushed off her clothing, fully ready for the inevitable shriek of "Cooties!" that would follow. They were, after all, still ten years old.
But what surprised her when she stood was the fact that... there was no shriek of impending doom and infection. Rather, Micah and Molly looked at each other for a moment, blushed, then went back to discussing whatever it was that they liked to talk about. Now, it had something to do with leveling up Pokemon.
Niki laughed. "Young love," she murmured, then sidled up beside DL and slung her arm around him, her nose touching us. "Just like us, huh?"
With that, she leaned in and touched her lips softly against his as Molly said something about trading and Mohinder looked away, bemused.
fifteen years later
Micah stepped out of the bathroom, toweling his hair dry, pajama pants low across his hips. He tossed the towel onto the back of the chair that was slid slightly away from the desk, then stepped over and jumped onto the bed, bouncing Molly (who was seated on it) up and nearly making her fall over.
"What're you reading?" he asked, leaning up on his elbows, his stomach flat against the bedsheets.
Molly smiled. "Well, I found my old diary from when I was ten. It was shoved in one of the boxes in the attic; I couldn't help but pick it out and read it."
Micah rolled over and picked up the book; before Molly could snatch it away, Micah flipped it open to a random page and began reading it aloud.
"June fifth," he read, dodging Molly's attempts to take back the diary and ignoring her protests. "Went to Disneyland today with Auntie Niki, Uncle DL, Uncle Mohinder, and Micah." Micah gently but firmly held Molly's flailing wrists together with his free hand. "It was really hot. We walked around a lot and went on a lot of rides. It was fun, Micah and I went with Uncle Mohinder afterward to get some ice cream.
"I actually lied to Micah (and felt kind of bad about it), because I've had cookies and cream ice cream before. I hate it, actually. But I took a bite anyway, 'cause I knew Micah would be mad (and he's so cute when he's mad!). And then I looked up, and then we kissed, kind of. Can you count it as a kiss? I dunno.
"Micah is the cutest boy ever. I hope we get married someday!" Micah paused and raised an eyebrow. "And a little lopsided heart."
Molly blushed as Micah snapped shut the diary. Molly wriggled out of his grasp and lay back down on the bed, blushing furiously.
"Oh, come on. I was ten," she said. Micah remained silent, then sat up.
"Still think I'm the cutest boy ever?" he said, flashing her a grin. Molly rolled her eyes.
"Of course not."
"Wh—"
"More like 'hottest guy ever' now," she said, raising an eyebrow, a playful smirk teasing the corners of her lips. She sat up and gently kissed Micah, letting her brown hair fall past her and brush against Micah's bare shoulder. Without a moment's hesitation, Micah returned the kiss—a soft kiss, filled with nothing but pure affection. Molly broke away, then let Micah embrace her.
"You smell good," she said after a moment's pause.
"Orange sherbet and vanilla, Mols," Micah said, grinning and kissing the top of her head. "Orange and vanilla."
Author's Notes: Any and all feedback is always welcome!