Another request fic for texanona on tumblr!
Didn't matter if he had just reunited the worlds or not. Dirk always made him rake the front lawn.
"But there's so much of it!" he had complained, which did nothing to impede the dwarf from handing his son a beaten-up rake.
"Chores build up a man's character!" Another dwarven vow. One of the lame ones, but Lloyd had to swallow a retort and go to his task. The autumn leaves crunched underneath his boots as he tried to sweep them into neat piles. Noishe watched him from the shaded confines of his shed, giving a half-whine as he watched the boy stuck in rake-sweeping hell.
"You know you could help."
Noishe scratched at his long ear, turned around in a complete circle, then curled up as he laid down, eyes closed. Figures.
"Lloyd!" He swiveled his head to find Colette rush across the small bridge, eyes bright, hair pulled at by the breeze. "Oh! I didn't know you'd be busy today."
"I didn't either." He sighed. He had taken off his jacket long before, because even if no one ever believed him on this, (say, Genis) raking the leaves was hard work! He leaned on his tool, the wind refreshing against his bare arms, lifting at his black undershirt a bit. "It's seriously gonna take me all day."
He wasn't exaggerating. The whole expanse of the grass was covered in red and gold leaves – and that didn't even include the backyard, which Dirk also expected his son to clean.
Colette looked thoughtful at the prospect of such a task. "Aw, but we're having a Harvest festival back in Iselia. I was coming over to invite you. Genis made some pumpkin pie and all sorts of cookies for the villagers-"
"What, really?!" Lloyd groaned, limbs hanging off of him in pure despair. "I want cookies and pie!"
"Yeah! And even Raine cooked up some pumpkin stew for everybody."
"Eh, well, that's okay." Lloyd looked back to the ground, to the three small piles of leaves he had created, and to the rest of the sea of dead and discarded leaves. "Still, cookies! I can't believe I'm missing out…"
Colette's face suddenly brightened. "Maybe I can help!"
"Huh?"
A pair of translucent wings, softly tinged pink, sprouted from her back. "I can just gather them up like this, and then we can make one big pile!"
"I dunno, will that work?" Lloyd wasn't entirely too opposed to the idea though.
"I think so! Maybe if you used your wings too?"
"Hey, yeah! Why am I doing it the boring way!?" Lloyd threw away the rake to the side, and summoned his own wings, their shape grand like an eagle's, constructed from pure light. "Let's try it!"
He wasn't as used to flying as Colette was, so he held onto her hand as she guided him a few feet upwards, just enough to reach the balcony of his room. Their wings beat gently in the air, reflecting off the lowering sun.
"We should probably hurry before the festival starts," Colette said.
"Yeah, because I'm getting first dibs on that pie!" And with impatience, he flapped his wings hard, creating a gust of wind that blew the carpet of leaves into the air.
Colette followed through, her own wings beating in synch with Lloyd's. Their combined strength started a little whirlwind of autumn leaves as they pushed it to one side of the lawn. The three piles that Lloyd had started began to converge. The grass beneath was now better seen. Noishe made a little frightened yelp and hunkered more deeply into his shed.
"Do you think this is enough?" Colette asked, her voice faint against the gusts.
"Nah, let's keep going. We're gonna make this whole place leaf-free!" He moved his wings even harder in response, bringing in new gales to join the rest.
This was really working! Lloyd laughed happily as the wind continued to whip around them, Colette's blond hair sometimes getting into his face but not minding it in the slightest.
"Lloyd! What's all this racket?"
Being a dwarf, Dirk's voice could get very deep and very loud if he yelled. It was the kind of voice to shatter eardrums if one got too close, and Lloyd knew that firsthand. Yet even held up by his wings, several feet away from the ground, the shockwave (and surprise) of his father's voice knocked him off balance. His wings flickered out suddenly, making him grip even more tightly to Colette's hand as his body plummeted.
She hadn't been prepared for that and fell with Lloyd – straight into the river.
When both emerged from the water, they saw a bearded dwarf standing on the bank, thick arms crossed across his chest. Behind him, an array of red and gold leaves fell behind him from the sky to join the sea of its brethren once more. That big pile they had worked hard to create? No longer in existence.
"Um." Lloyd winced. He still held onto Colette's hand as both stood up in the low river, their clothes drenched. "Uh, I was working though."
Dirk raised an eyebrow. "That so?"
"I'm so sorry. I made it all worse instead."
"Now, now Colette. Don't take the fall for Lloyd's mistakes."
"But it wasn't-!" Lloyd started, then stopped. Well, he did make them keep going with it, he supposed. "I mean, we just wanted to finish it faster."
Dirk shook his head. "Well, that'll have to be for later. Now you both need to change."
Lloyd turned to Colette, finding how her blue and white dress was completely ruined. "Heh, sorry about that." Hand in hand, he helped her out of the river as they scrambled onto the bank.
"That's okay!" she smiled, though it faltered as she looked down at her now water-logged boots. "I didn't bring any spare clothes though…"
Then Lloyd knew exactly what to do. "I have an idea!"
Finding the leaf-raking to be a lost cause, Dirk had let the two leave for Iselia, as long as Lloyd promised to do his chore later. And help out with turning to leaves to mulch for their gardens as well. Lloyd tried not to think too hard about that future.
"Hey! You guys finally…" Genis had rushed up to the gate at the sound of Noishe's barking, but his voice died at the sight. "Uh, Colette, what are you wearing?"
Colette's face was flushed. She scratched at her cheek, the overlarge sleeve of Lloyd's jacket brushing against her skin. Her hair drowned away the white strips of Lloyd's collar that streamed out the back. "Um, because I couldn't wear mine!"
Lloyd grinned, giving Genis a thumbs-up. "Yeah, so I gave her some of my clothes. Pretty smart, huh?"
Genis stared at them blankly. "How thoughtful of you." He made no comment at how loosely Lloyd's clothes hung off of her. Her boots made plodding sounds as she walked, ill-fitted to her small feet. "At least you can change when you get home, Colette."
"Y-yeah. Yeah!" She nodded, gripping Lloyd's hand tightly as they entered the village, ready for a first-taste of Genis' pumpkin-spice cookies.
Colette didn't change out of Lloyd's clothes the entire day.