"Aaaaaadrien!" little Chloé squealed as she ran out the door toward the equally little boy. He barely had time to brace himself before the girl clung to him, hugging him tightly. They nearly toppled to the close ground, but Adrien was able to plant his foot and force the girl off his shoulders to steady them.
"Hi, Chloé," he greeted less enthusiastically.
"C'mon! Let's go play!" Chloé suggested happily, bouncing on her mary-janes. She took Adrien's hand and dragged the boy inside, the both of them giggling as they ran for the stairs. It wasn't often either of them had someone their age to play with, so they took the opportunities happily. Adrien didn't go to school, instead being homeschooled, and Chloé just didn't have an easy time making friends since people judged her crooked nose and stringy hair before they judged the girl. Well, everyone except for Adrien.
Once they were in Chloé's room, the two children played one of their favorite games: Animals.
"I wanna be a kitty!" Adrien laughed as he dropped onto all fours. He'd seen a kitty from the car and since then that was all he could think about.
Chloé nodded to his idea and ran to her toy chest. She fished out a pair of tiger ears and a mismatched black-cat tail. Then, for herself she pulled out a pair of wings and a headband with bee antennae on them. "I'll be a bumble-buzz bee!"
With that, the two children were off. Adrien had fastened the tail around his waist and rested the ears over his messy mop of hair. The accessories sorely stuck out against his khaki shorts and dress shirt, but he didn't care. Chloé pulled on her wings and fixed her antennae perfectly under her bangs, excited just at her own reflection.
She was up on the furniture, jumping and 'bumbling' about as Adrien ran on his hands and feet below. He jumped and swatted at the little girl as she jumped across sofas and chairs.
"You can't catch me, Kitty-Cat!" she giggled, scooching around on the arm of a chair. Adrien sat crouched below her, barely holding in giggles as he waited for the girl to jump. It was a bigger gap than what she had been jumping across, and he knew he would catch her this time. It was all just a matter of Chloé jumping and him catching her by the belly.
She took a breath and scooted her feet before finally working up her courage to jump.
At that moment, Adrien reached up an arm. Said arm smacked into Chloé's stomach and brought her down, but Adrien couldn't get his other arm up in time to wrap it around her. Without that support, Chloé tumbled to the ground and rolled feet away. She had landed against Adrien's shoulder with her mouth, then hit the tile floor again with her jaw and lips.
"Chloé!" Adrien cried, scrambling over to his friend.
The little girl's shoulders shook, though she was silent. Adrien lifted a hand to rest on her just as she took in a big gulp of air. And, with that gulp of air, the floodgates opened with a drawn out wail. "Uh-oh!" Adrien panicked, grabbing Chloé by the shoulders and forcing her into a sitting position.
Chloé let out a shaky breath as she cried, snot leaking from her nose and blood running down her chin. Her bottom lip was bust and bruises were already forming over the rest of her mouth. "T-t-too-t-t," she stuttered, unable to get past her sobs.
Adrien looked down at the floor and, in a small pool of red, sat a piece of white. Her tooth! He reached over and picked up the tooth and held it out in confusion. How did that get out of there? He looked back up at Chloé, who seemed to be crying harder, shaking harshly. "Let's get your daddy…" Adrien mumbled, pocketing the tooth. He got to his feet and held out a hand for Chloé, who took it graciously. She allowed him to lead her down the stairs to find her father, who was talking to a guest.
"Mr. Bourgeois?" Adrien called, tugging the man's pants. The mayor looked down at the two children, then saw the tears-stains of his daughter's face and the dried blood on her chin and pale yellow dress. "Chloé's got hurt," Adrien explained. He let go of the girl's hand so she could stretch up to her father.
Mr. Bourgeois lifted his daughter and excused them from the client to go to the bathroom. "Now, what has my sweet little girl done?" he asked once the three were out of public eye.
"I f-fell and h-hurt my face. And my t-tooth! Tooth!" she started screeching for the bone, pointing at Adrien animatedly when her dad set her on the sink counter.
"Let's see this tooth," Mr. Bourgeois cooed, washrag in hand. He wiped at the blood on her chin and lips, encouraging the girl to open her mouth for his inspection. "Oh," he started when he saw just what she was talking about. He turned to Adrien, who held the now-lint-coated speck in his pudgy fingers. "Well."
"Can you put it back?" Adrien asked hopefully.
That earned a chuckle, Mr. Bourgeois ruffling the boy's hair. "Now, you don't put them back."
"I'm gonna be toothless?!" Chloé cried loudly. She felt a new wave of tears spring into her eyes, and she was sure she was going to explode all over the mirror from fear. If kids picked on her before, it would be even worse when she had less teeth than everyone else!
"Nonono," Mr. Bourgeois scrambled to correct himself, "i-it's a part of growing up, dear! You lose your baby teeth, then a little mouse comes in the night and leaves you sweets! Then, a new tooth starts growing in the old one's place. A brand new, adult tooth!"
Stunned silence from both children. Well, it could be worse.
"A mouse?" was Chloé's only question.
"Yes, a mouse! A little mouse that collects teeth in exchange for sweets!" her father reaffirmed.
Her smile began to grow, and she jumped down from the sink counter, taking Adrien's hand and running off back upstairs. Mr. Bourgeois sighed in relief, turning over the tooth in his hands. His daughter's first tooth, and yet he hadn't been there to help her.
That next morning, Chloé awoke to the loud sound of Adrien's snoring. She groaned and kicked her bare foot against his shoulder. "Wakey, wakey, Adri!" she called as she ran her glittery toes through his hair.
"Mmmmugh," Adrien whined, turning over and burying his face in a pillow. This was why he didn't like spending the night with Chloé; she did weird things like use her toes to play with his hair.
Chloé giggled and sat up, feeling as if she were forgetting something.
Oh, yeah! Her tooth! She spun around on the mattress and pulled back her pillow to find four banana macarons under her pillow. "Yummy!" she squealed, lifting up the little cookies. She offered two to Adrien, who gladly took the treats. They sat there and savored the cookies for a few minutes, neither child saying anything.
It kind of hurt to move her jaw, but Chloé happily took the pain to eat the macarons. She could tell her mouth was practically swollen shut, but that didn't stop her in the slightest. "I should get hurt more often!" she managed to say through cookie and swelling.
Adrien nodded in agreement, tossing in the last bit of macaron. If it meant he got a share of the treats, she could lose as many teeth as she wanted!
Been a while since I wrote one of these! Also - France, why do you have a Tooth Mouse?
Review and Favorite if you enjoyed!