Doug's head was cocked to the side, bottom lip caught between his teeth. He wore such a concentrated look on his face, it was almost comical.
"Hausen, what does this say?" The short male sat on a stone wall that overlooked a training ground. He had a newspaper in his lap and he was trying his hardest to understand a certain word. The taller male, who was on his smoke break, leaned down and squinted at the word that the boy was pointing at.
"Flume...flum...adiddle?" Hausen frowned as he struggled to pronounce the word correctly. He hummed as he tried to find a possible definition for it. He shook his head after a minute.
"Sorry, I've got no idea, kid." Hausen shrugged. Doug sighed, unsatisfied with the response.
"Do you think Ginger knows?" he asked.
"I doubt she's ever seen that word," Hausen puffed a cloud of smoke. Doug hummed. The duo lapsed into a comfortable silence. They stared out at the guild members milling about. There wasn't anything particularly interesting happening that day, which was what led to Doug's sudden interest in reading the newspaper. Cinnamon eyes roamed over the faces of his fellow members lazily until one face caught his attention.
"Galahad!" he exclaimed happily.
"Heh, what's he doing here?" Hausen asked. The younger boy called out loudly and waved his arms to catch the other male's attention. He succeeded after a few attempts.
"What are you two lazy asses doing up here?" Galahad smiled at the two once he had reached them.
"Funny, I could ask you the same thing." Hausen reached his fist out to bump it against Galahad's. The dark skinned man ruffled Doug's hair and laughed at his sounds of protest.
"Whatcha got there, kid?"
"Newspaper. Do you know this word?" Doug held up the page and pointed at the unknown word.
"Flume...flum...what?" Galahad squinted.
"Right?" Hausen laughed. "What the hell does that mean?"
"Hell if I know. I can't even say it. I'd feel really stupid if it had some simple meaning, though."
"You gotta help me figure it out!" Doug pleaded. "It's gonna bother me forever if I never find out what it means!"
The two elders looked down at the smaller male's pouting face. Hausen cocked a brow in disbelief as Doug tried his puppy dog eyes. Galahad sighed, shaking his head.
"Alright, kid. I'll buy you a dictionary."
"Really?"
"Yeah, why not? I've got nothing better to do anyway."
"Yes!" Doug cheered like a child. "Wait here, I'll get my money!"
The short boy sprinted off to his room, a trail of dust behind him.
"This kid," Hausen shook his head.
"Well, aren't you unusually happy," Galahad commented as the pair walked down a stony path. Doug was trying his best not to look excited, but he wasn't doing a very good job. He held his hands behind his head.
"What, I can't be happy?"
"No, no, just saying. You don't usually try to purposefully make yourself look like a kid."
"I'm not a kid." Doug stuck his tongue out.
"Whatever, kid," Galahad laughed at the other's embarrassed expression.
Together, they made a peaceful trip to one of the only book stores in the area. It was a small place that didn't seem to get much business. The selection of books it contained was a bit limited, but they were lucky enough to find several copies of dictionaries available. Doug stepped up to the counter with his prize in hand and handed the money to the shopkeeper.
"Oh my, what a cute little boy you are! And look how grown up you are, paying for your own book. Daddy must be proud!" the elderly woman gushed. Galahad tried not burst into hysterics at the furious blush on Doug's face. He held out until they had made it a few steps out of the store.
"Daddy?" Galahad boomed. "She thought I was your daddy?"
"Shut up! She was blind as a bat!" Doug's ears were red. That wasn't enough to deter his happiness, however, as he wasted no time in taking out his new dictionary from it's paper bag. He opened it, appreciating the scent of the crisp pages. He flipped through it, searching for the unknown word.
"F-l-u-m-a," Doug spelt aloud to himself. "d-i-d-d-l-e."
"Hurry it up kid, the suspense is killing me."
"Aha! Found it!" The short male studied the page.
"So?"
"It's pronounced 'fluhm-a-diddle'," Doug said. "And it means 'utter nonsense.'"
Galahad stopped in his tracks.
"We came all this way and bought a dictionary, just to find out that it means nonsense." he dead-panned. He sighed a deep, tired sigh and ran a hand over his face. "What am I doing with my life?"
"Would you say that all of this was just...flumadiddle?" Doug waggled his eyebrows.
"You little bitch." Galahad brought down his fist on the shorter male's head.
He laughed through his pain.
A/N: What's up my lovely little sheep? Here's another short story my brain puked up just for you. This one's a little more cheerful than the last one (thankfully).
I want to thank all the ones who read Piano Lessons and reviewed. You guys are awesome and you all get virtual hugs from virtual sheep!
Insanity's Pen, out!