Fandom: White Collar
Prompter: Basketball 12
Prompt: De-aged Neal living with Peter and El while they try to reverse it
Warnings: Contains mention of spanking
See Author's note.
Drabble 1: De-aged, Paint, and a Lie
"Neal George Caffrey-Burke! Get down here this minute, young man!"
El walks into the living room just as Neal reaches the bottom of the stairs, and she catches his look of rebellion before his face transforms into a large smile upon seeing her. She has to force back a grin at his obvious relief, even as she feels a twinge of concern.
"El, let me help you with those bags. Did your event go well?" Ever the charming young man, Neal tries to avoid an arms-crossed, glaring Peter by graciously stepping up to assist her entry into the home.
"My event went excellently, Neal; was your day as productive? It seems that Peter has something he wants to discuss with you."
"Oh, Peter always has something to discuss with me. We spent the whole day together, I would rather spend some time with you now."
"Uh-huh, nice try. Thank you for the help, but get back in there Mister."
Neal scowls at her gentle nudge towards Peter, and defiantly sulks his way back at Peter's two finger point.
"Front and center, young man."
When he arrives in front of Peter, Neal continues to pout towards the ground, despite Peter's obvious request for his attention. Peter frowns for a moment before he kneels down to be level with the small boy, and speaks calmly yet firm.
"Neal."
The young boy in question slowly raises his head to meet his guardian's, and Peter cringes at the internal uncertainty he sees in the blue eyes.
Peter cursed Neal's biological father once more, before taking a mental deep breath, preparing to deal with the little boy in front of him.
"You know the rules of our house buddy, and you know how to follow them. And if you have a question, you know you can always ask El or me. Right?"
Peter watches carefully as Neal scrunches his face up in annoyance, before nodding reluctantly. At Peter's pointed look, he responds with a sigh,
"Yes Peter."
Peter nods once. "Good. Now, what are the rules regarding paint supplies in this house?"
Behind him, he can hear El giving a groan, seeing where this is going, and Peter agrees with the sentiment, even as he keeps his eyes locked on the little boy's in front of him.
Neal huffs and looks down again, before he mumbles, "Paint supplies are to stay in the art room only, unless supervised by you, El, or another approved adult."
After waiting a moment for Neal to continue, Peter prompts him sternly.
"And?"
Neal glares at the carpet and gives it a small kick before he mutters, "and, unless I get express permission, all paint supplies stay on paper or other designated material, not the walls, carpet, or ceiling."
"That's right." Peter keeps his voice firm as he asks the now-standard questions. "Does this mean that we do not like your art?"
"Yes," Neal mutters.
Peter bites back a frustrated sigh, and places his hands on Neal's shoulders, giving them a gentle shake.
"No, Neal, it doesn't. We love your art; just as we love you. You are incredibly talented, and we are very proud to showcase anything you make around the house. Do you understand?"
"Yes Peter," he whispers.
Peter smiles proudly. "Good boy." He squeezes the small shoulders gently for a moment, before he drops his arms and resumes his stern demeanor.
"So, knowing these rules, can you tell me why, when I went into the guest bathroom today, I saw an impressionist mural painted onto the wall, with open bottles of paint and dirty paintbrushes spread around?"
The vulnerable look disappeared, to replaced once more with a sullen look as the small head bowed down again.
"Mozzie did it."
There was a moment of hushed silence.
"Oh Neal," El calls sadly.
Neal flinched.
Peter closed his eyes for a moment of sad regret before he slowly opens his eyes and looks at the guilty, fidgeting youngster.
"Neal? Did you just lie to me?" he asks softly.
Neal just shrugs after a moment.
"Alright, let me ask you again. Do you know who did the painting in the bathroom, Neal?"
"Yes."
"Was it Mozzie?"
"No." he whispers.
"Who was it, Neal?"
Neal stiffens, and there is a long silence before he finally mumbles his response.
"I did."
There is another long silence before Peter quietly speaks again.
"Neal. In this house, what are the two things that will always get you a spanking."
Neal looks up at him, tears starting to pool in his eyes.
"Peter, please…"
Peter closes his eyes for a moment, trying to find strength, before he opens them and prompts Neal again.
"I'm sorry, buddy. But what are they?"
Neal bites his lip before he tremulously responds.
"P-putting myself in, in danger, and… and…"
El comes over to kneel next to her husband, and compassionately takes the smaller hands inside of her own.
"And what sweetie?"
He looks up at her, big eyes sparkling with unshed tears before he whispers,
"Lying."
El gently squeezes the hands cupped inside of her own, trying to fight back her own tears as Peter resumes the conversation.
"That's right Neal," Peter says softly. "Honesty is one of the most important things in the world, and if you lie to us then we don't know if we can trust you."
"But- but I didn't mean to Peter! It just slipped out!"
"I know, buddy," Peter reaches out to squeeze the two sets of hands himself, "but I need telling the truth to be so instinctual that lying never even passes as an option in your mind, much less actually making it to the mouth."
Neal looks down and nods, biting his lip. Peter gives a big sigh before he stands up and sadly looks down at the youngster.
"Alright buddy, why don't you head up to your room. I'll be there in a minute."
Neal nods as El pulls him in for one last squeeze, before he turns and races up to his room.
A/N
So- here you go my friends. The first prompt. I was so surprised by the amount of responses I recieved to my challenge! Thank you all so much for such fantastic ideas; and please check the list of fandoms, it has been updated. :) I am going to try to do at least one prompt from every person, but some are easier for me to envision than others. Keep passing those ideas along!
Also, thanks to Basketball 12 who suggested this prompt. It... took a lot longer than I had expected to make it; the orignial actually turned into about 1,700 words, but I really wanted to stick to my goal of one a week, so this is a shortened version of the story- if you are interested, I will post the full story later. It might take me awhile to get the hang of writing short stories, as both of my attempts so far have been well over 1,000 words. The other attempt is over 3,000. But I will keep trying! Please review, let me know what you think. :) Also keep in mind that this is a challenge to myself to write quickly, so I will not be doing a whole lot of editing, or my perfectionism will never let me post.
Thanks again, you are all amazing!
Published Feb. 23, 2019