I do not own Harry Potter or Type-Moon.
Playtime!
If you were to ask any ordinary mind what would the headquarters for the defense of humanity look like, it would be most likely that the first thing that would pop into their head would be a military base or barrack of sorts, with an air of utter seriousness. If you were to ask any of the residents of Chaldea what it was like, they would reply that it was a home: a big, spacious home filled with warmth and joy. The staff and Servants alike mingled with one another with little to no fear; they ate, they chatted, they fought (or sparred, in the Servants' case) but they all did their best to get along. And with all the interactions and friendships formed in Chaldea, it was natural that groups and cliques would form.
Especially with the children.
Being surrounded by so many adults and combined with the stress of the whole scenario and his past, it was natural that the young Master of Chaldea felt nervous from time to time. Luckily, and much to his mother's relief, Harry managed, one by one, to summon a small gaggle of Servants that were close to his age. In little to no time at all, one could hear the laughter and giggling of the children in any one of the rooms of Chaldea; with Harry among them, naturally.
Such is the case now, in a brightly-colored room filled with cushions, beanbag chairs, and toys, the so-called "Play Room" of Chaldea.
"Time's up! Everybody, stop!" exclaimed a blond, red-eyed boy who sat in the center of the room. At the sound of his voice, the small group of children that surrounded him put the crayons in their hands down and looked at him. In front of his sandaled feet lay a teddy bear.
"OK, let's see what you drew!" he said, approaching one end of the circle and looking down at a paper with a drawing on it. He hummed at the drawing while taking glimpses of the teddy bear. The blond child then nodded with a smile "Nice! I like the forest, Paul!"
The blonde, denim-wearing girl smiled at the compliment. "Thank you, Gil; they're redwoods! Lots of bears like them!"
Gil went over to the next drawing, which was drawn by a white-haired girl with braids and a frilly black dress. "Ooh, this is very nice Alice! He even has friends!"
"They're gonna have a tea party!" she said. "There'll be snacks, tea, and honey! Bears like honey, right?"
"Bears love honey!" exclaimed Harry, who sat next to her. He was wearing a white, button-up shirt with black pants. He took a look at Alice's drawing and was very impressed. "Mr. Paracelsus once told me that. They also like fish and fruits."
"Ooh, really?" Alice (or Nursery Rhyme as she was properly known) asked. "Then I should add some. He'll get hungry with just honey!" she said as she added the foods to her drawing.
Gil just nodded and turned to Harry. "How did you draw, Harry?"
"Umm…fine, I guess" the young Master replied nervously, holding his drawing. He thought Alice's drawing was better.
"Come on, let me see!" Gil said, extending a hand to Harry with a smile. Harry smiled in return and handed the drawing. The red-eyed child looked at it and nodded with satisfaction. "This is also very good! I really like the way you drew the fur and teeth." Harry perked up at the compliment.
"Really?"
"Let me see" a soft voice to his left said. It was Jack, this time wearing a white dress.
Gil handed it over to the scarred wraith-child, who smiled at the drawing. "This is very good Harry. Did you see a real bear once?"
"Umm…not really" replied Harry, rubbing his head. "I did see a picture with Mommy once."
"What was it like?" she asked.
"Well, Ms. Vinci was showing me and Mommy what animals we might see when we travel. There were a lot there, like dragons, boars, giant wasps, and then bears."
"Ooh, giant wasps!?" asked a red-haired boy. "How big were they? Were they ugly? How can you kill them?"
"Alex, calm down" replied a violet-haired girl, wearing a black coat and hood. "They're probably squishy like normal bugs. Even you can kill one of them."
"Well, it doesn't hurt to know – hey!" the young prince turned to her. "What do you mean, 'even you'!? I can take on things way bigger than that!"
"Really?" she asked in a deadpan tone. "Then why do I remember Gil telling me you took one look at a spider and ran behind Harry's back?"
Alexander looked at Gil in disbelief. "You told her!? Why? I thought you said you would keep that secret!" The red-eyed youth shrugged in embarrassment.
"I didn't mean to; it just slipped out and she had some of Miss Tamamo's cookies and –"
"Come on!" Alex exclaimed, crossing his arms. "Brothers don't do that! But since now you started it, I need to get even." He turned to the purple-haired girl with a grin. "Hey Ana, did you know that Gil took something out of the bar and –"
"OKAY!" Gil interjected. "I think we should continue with the contest." He turned to his Master and nodded. "Good drawing, Harry. Now let's see what you drew Jack."
He handed back Harry's drawing and picked up Jack's. He nodded at first, but then his eyebrows went up.
"Umm…Jack? I don't think bears have this much blood on them. Also, I don't think their claws are that long."
"Of course they're like that. They eat meat, right? So, they rip the meat to shreds with their claws and teeth, and blood comes out" she said in a chipper tone.
The group just stared in silence at the wraith-child, with raised eyebrows and uncomfortable expressions all around. Except for Harry; he was used to Jack's liking to carnage. That, and she was his best friend.
"OK…" muttered Gil as he handed the drawing back to her. "Let's see what the rest of you drew, shall we?" he asked, trying to re-lighten the mood.
He went to Alexander and looked at his drawing, which was very detailed but Gil said it was "boring".
"What do you mean, boring!?" the red-haired youth exclaimed in outrage.
"It's boring, what else can I say?" replied Gil with a nonchalant shrug, but everyone saw a tiny smirk showing itself for a second. Alexander took back the drawing with a grumble and Gil moved on to Ana.
"This is also very good…" muttered Gil. "Though I don't think bears and snakes play with each other."
"Here they do," Ana said and snatched the drawing away, ignoring Gil's protests. Knowing better than to try and take it from her though, he just sighed and turned to address the group.
"Okay, I've thought about it, and the winner of this contest is…drumroll please." The children all started to pat the floor rapidly. Gil took a deep breath and pointed at…
"…Alice!"
The silver-braided girl's eyes shone and smiled with joy while everyone else clapped for her, all smiling too. After the clapping died down, Gil handed her the bear, which she held close to her chest.
"Thank you everyone!" she said. "I'll make us a tea party for my win!" She then rubbed her chin and tilted it. "But where can I get more tea…?"
"We can do it later," said Paul before turning to her child of a Master. "What do you want to do now Harry?"
The group all turned to their Master, who just blushed at the attention and fiddled with his shirt. "Um…maybe a board game? Like that Mono…Monopoly?"
"No way!" exclaimed Alexander, pointing accusingly at Gil. "Goldie here would win again! That's what happened the last five times!"
Gil just smiled proudly; arms crossed at the red-haired boy. "Not my fault you're so bad with money."
"Oh yeah? You sure about that, with your stupid Golden Rule skill? How can that even work with Monopoly!?" Gil just shrugged in faux-innocence.
"Money is money, fake or real. Not all of us can be meatheads."
'Uh oh' though everyone. Those two always found ways to needle one another, even if they were good friends, and it would almost always end in a fight. Case in point, Alexander got up and stomped over to Gil, eyes narrowed and fist raised.
"Wanna go, pretty boy!?" Gil just grinned and punched him in the stomach, dropping his guard for only a second, but Alexander recovered and started throwing his own punches. Pretty soon, the two were wrestling one another on the floor, throwing insults at one another. The rest of the children just watched the two, knowing it wouldn't end in anything serious.
Harry stared at the miniature wrestling match with a slight hint of worry when Jack touched his shoulder. He turned to look at her and she giggled.
"It's funny seeing them fight like that." A small smile form on Harry's face. That was true; he knew that they would never actually try to harm the other, and something in the scuffle did look funny.
"Yeah…but shouldn't we stop them before –"
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
The children all turned to the door where the knocks came from, and even Gil and Alexander stopped their scuffle.
"It's me, honey! Are you and your friends busy?" Harry smiled at the sound of his mother's voice.
"Come in Mommy!" The door opened and Mata Hari stepped in, holding a plastic box. Next to her was a green-haired young woman with cat ears and green eyes, wearing a black-and-green dress with black gloves.
"Hi Miss Atalanta!" said Harry to the cat-eared woman, who perked up with a smile and dashed over to him and bent down, rubbing her head with his.
"Hello there, little kitten" she replied, softly purring all the while. "What are you all playing?"
"We were all drawing a bear and Alice drew the best one!" Alice giggled with a small blush at the compliment.
"Really?" she asked. The huntress looked down at Harry's drawing and nodded. "That's very nice. Did you know I hunted lots of bears in my time?"
The children all perked up at this and scooted closer to Atalanta.
"Really!?" asked Alexander excitedly. "What were they like!? Were they really strong!? Could they bust down trees? Did they tear their prey to bits? Did they –"
"Calm down, Alex," Mata Hari said, cutting him off gently. "Why don't we let Miss Atalanta tell her stories and eat some cookies?" She opened the box to reveal a large batch of mouth-watering chocolate cookies. The smell wafted around the room and the children looked at the box dazed.
"Did Mister Emiya make those?" asked Alice.
"Mister Emiya AND Miss Tamamo" corrected the dancer with a smile. The group all started licking their lips. Food from just one of those master chefs was a delicacy, but the two of them working together?
Five-star eateries would hang themselves in shame and envy.
"Ehh? Cookies made by Onii-chan and Tamamo-san!?" asked a voice outside the door, snapping the children out of their daze. They looked at the door again and two girls stepped in, excited looks on their faces. They both looked nearly identical; one with white hair, ruby eyes and pale skin and wore a green-white shirt with a skirt. The other had rose-like hair, yellow eyes and tanned skin, and wore a purple shirt with a mini-skirt.
"Oh, hi there, Einzbern twins," said Gil with a small wave. The two waved back and skipped to the cookies with hints of drool at the corner of their mouths. The tanned one reached out to grab a cookie but Mata Hari gently pushed her arm away.
"Now now, Chloe" she mock-chided. "Everyone gets a cookie and then extras. Don't think I don't know what happened the last time you found Tamamo's cookie jar."
Chloe pouted and crossed her arms, while her twin just kept smiling and extended a hand to the dancer. The children's eyes swam as she handed them all a cookie each, and soon they all sighed in bliss at the utterly delicious taste. Even Atalanta took one, and her tail wagged back and forth so fast that it fanned the whole group.
Harry was finishing his cookie when Chloe snuck up from behind and wrapped her arms around him. "Hey Master, is that your drawing? It looks really good."
Harry smiled at the compliment as the tanned girl placed her head near the crook of his neck, causing him to blush. Unbeknownst to him, Jack was staring at Chloe with a pout. "If you want, I can show you a lot of my drawings back in my room."
"Really?" asked Harry.
"Sure! I have these really cool colors Okaa-san and Da Vinci made for me and Ilya." She then noticed Jack's stare and an impish smile crept up on her face.
"Oh, Master," she said in a teasing lilt, "I see some cookie crumbles on your cheek. If you'll allow me…"
She leaned in and was about to brush the nonexistent crumbs off his cheek when Jack pulled Harry away and hugged him tightly. She sent the rose-haired girl an angry glare while Harry just looked confused.
"Stay away," she said, the slightest sliver of irritation in her deadpan voice.
"How cruel" Chloe mock-gasped, placing her hands on her cheeks. "I just wanted to clean him up, but you have to go and be a meanie, Jackie." She turned to her twin. "Ilya, help me out here!"
Ilya just looked at her in confusion while Atalante and Mata Hari giggled at the sight, the children joining in with their laughter. The Sunlit Dancer's heart warmed immensely as the sound fluttered in her ears. She hoped that the sound would never die, not as long as Harry was with her.
Hi guys! I'm SOOOO HAPPY with all the reviews! Especially with great writers like Quatermass and Gabriel Herrol reviewing! It's just...let me just take a moment...
...*breathes* Thank you.
Anyways, this is a little scene showing Harry and the children Servants playing with one another. Since there are a good number of child Servants in the roster, I figured that having other kids his age (or close) would be great for him. Gil is like the big brother of the group, but they all place Harry in a very high position, and not just as a master. We also so Atalanta, who loves children, and Kuro and Ilya, with the former and her teasing nature. Naturally, Jack is there. She's my best Assassin and my first SSR in the game, so she means a lot to me.
I hope you guys keep giving suggestions for ideas! I might have one for the next chapter, but I'm not sure about it, so again, any suggestions are welcome!
Also, what do you think about my writing style? Is it too robotic, or is it just me...I don't know.
What do you think is Alexander's age? It doesn't say in any of the wikis.
Go check out my other stories and the challenges on my profile!
Read and Review!