Never Have I Ever…rescued a princess
The minute Hina smiles up at me, I know any resistance to whatever she wants will be futile. Ever since Rio and I got married, Hina has made it a habit of stopping by our house at least once a week to have 'girl time' with Rio.
At first she would kind of ignore me and give me a few wary glances every now and then, but one day she wandered into the barn looking for Rio and ended up helping me feed treats to some chickens.
Ever since she's been attached to both me and my wife.
Right now, he little girl stands on our doorstep, her arms swinging back and forth playfully as she smiles up at me just waiting for me to say something.
For a second the two of us stare at each other, before Rio's voice calls out, "Neil? Who's at the…"
Her voice trails off as I drop my arm from blocking the door and the farmer stands next to me, blinking down at Hina.
It takes all of two seconds for Rio to register that Hina's standing there before a big smile comes over the blond's face and she crouches down to be eye-level with the little girl. I can't even begin to compete with Hina when it comes to making Rio smile; the ridiculousness of the thought makes me smile a bit myself.
"Hey pretty girl," Rio says with a smile as Hina giggles and smiles back. "What brings you to our house?"
"Toni and Niko and I wanted to know if you two would come play with us," Hina exclaims, her sweet girly voice already weakening my defenses. All the same, I'm prepared to try and say 'no thank you' when Rio turns to look up at me, a pleading look in her blue eyes.
One look is all it takes; the combined power of both girls is too much for me, and with a sigh I give up before saying, "I'm not busy. Rio?"
Hina giggles happily as Rio straightens up and grabs my hand, giving me an adoring look before tugging me out the door behind her to follow Hina. As the three of us walk off the farm together, I silently curse myself for being so weak to Rio's and Hina's attacks before allowing them to drag me along.
We're halfway across town before a familiar voice calls out to us.
"Rio! Neil!"
When I turn to look, I see Rod waving at us as he approaches our little group. Hina stops and blinks up at him innocently as Rod comes to a stop, panting for breath.
"Whatcha guys up to?" Rod asks cheerfully, before leaning down to smile at Hina. "Going somewhere?"
"We're going to play in the forest with Toni and Niko," Hina informs him with all the seriousness of a six-year-old. Rod seems to take this in stride before glancing up at me and grinning. Immediately, I glare at him as he turns back to Hina and says, "Mind if I tag along and play too?"
Even happier, Hina grabs his hand and begins tugging him towards the forest while Rio smiles after them before saying to me, "Let's go too then. It'll be fun!"
"Which part of being forced to play with little kids is fun?"
"You're not being forced!" Rio insists. "If you don't want to play too you could've just said no this morning."
As she continues to talk and pull me towards the forest, I just roll my eyes and wonder what I've gotten myself into. One minute I was at home with my wife, getting ready to enjoy a day off with her, and the next minute I found myself being dragged into yet another one of the many escapades that Rio always seems to come up with when she's with other people.
I knew I shouldn't have answered the door this morning.
"I want to be a princess!" Hina pouts at Toni, who sticks his tongue out at her before crossing his arms and complaining, "But that's no fun! I don't want to be a princess, why can't we be robots instead?"
As the kids all begin to squabble over what to play, Rod and Rio exchange looks before looking back at me. I'm sure the grumpy look on my face tells them I'm not about to help, so with a sigh Rod kneels down next to Toni and says, "Hey buddy, I've got an idea."
"Really? What is it?" Niko asks from where he stands next to Toni with a hand on his head.
"Why don't we COMBINE your ideas and play?" Rod suggests, and when the kids give him a confused look he explains, "We can play princess and robots!"
"How?" Toni wants to know. Folding his arms stubbornly, he stares at Rod as if waiting for the pet seller to come up with a good explanation.
"Weeeeelll…" Rod stretches out the word, and the instant he looks back at me I know he has no idea how to combine the ideas into something decent enough to make the kids believe it'll be worth playing.
With a sigh, I come to his rescue.
"Hina can be the princess captured by evil robots," I say, completely making this up as I go along. "And uh…someone has to save her."
"Like a prince?" Hina asks, suddenly very excited at the idea that she'll get to be rescued.
"Yeah, a prince," I mutter, but to my chagrin she grabs my hand and gives me an encouraging grin. Turning to Toni and Niko, the little girl says, "Let's play that!"
"Okay!"
As all the kids begin hashing out some sort of story, Rod stands up and smirks at me while Rio giggles. Glaring at both of them, I mouth at Rod "you owe me" before I find myself pulled towards the lower part of the forest.
Hina pushes me into place next to Toni and Niko before giving us a look that says 'stay'. Grabbing Rod's hand, she pushes him next to me before walking over to where Rio stands and grabbing her hand.
In a commanding voice, the little girl explains, "Toni is an evil robot minion and Rod is the evil robot queen."
"Wait, why am I a queen?" Rod asks with a frown, before Hina gives him a stern look and says, "Because in fairytales there's always an evil queen! Duh!"
Rod falls quiet at this explanation while Rio giggles at him and he sticks his tongue out at her. Continuing her orders, Hina says, "Rio and I are the princesses and we've been kidnapped by the evil robot queen, Rod!"
"So what do we do?" Niko asks, grabbing my hand and tugging on it as I look down at him.
Hina gives us a scrutinizing look before deciding, "Neil, you have to be the prince who rescues us. And Niko can be a knight who helps."
As we all mull over our given roles, Rio suddenly gets a look in her eyes that tells me she's up to no good. Kneeling down, she whispers something in Hina's ear before the two girls exchange nods and Rio walks over to Rod and slips him something that he immediately hides whatever it is in his vest.
Leaning close, she whispers something in his ear and he gets a grin on his face before nodding at her as they exchange smiles and Rio walks back to Hina's side.
"Come, Princess Hina," Rio says in an imperial tone. "It's such a lovely day for a walk, don't you think?"
"Yes, Princess Rio," Hina giggles. "It's pretty today!"
I realize that they've started playing when Rod lowers his eyebrows and cackles evilly (which coming from him, isn't really evil at all). Still cackling, he runs past me and Niko before grabbing Rio's arm.
"Mwhahaha! I've captured the fairest woman in the land, the Princess Rio!" Rod yells in triumph, before running towards the upper part of the forest pulling Rio after him.
"Oh no! Someone save me! Princess Hina, watch out!" Rio cries, reaching a hand out towards Hina with a worried look on her face.
Over his shoulder, Rod calls, "Robot Toni! Capture the beautiful and beloved Princess Hina! We will need her if we are to succeed in taking over Echo Kingdom!"
Toni, laughing every bit as villainously as Rod, grabs Hina and pulls her after Rod while the little girl giggles and waves at me and Niko.
"Help us Prince Neil!" Hina calls as the two disappear after Rod and Rio.
Slowly, I look down to see Niko staring up at me with wonder in his eyes. For a second we say nothing before Niko looks at me with a frightened expression and I sigh.
Leaning down, I say seriously, "Sir Niko, we have to go save the princesses!"
A ruddy blush of happiness makes its way across Niko's cheeks before the little boy salutes me and says, "Of course, your Highness Neil sir!"
Allowing him to take my hand, I walk with him towards the upper part of the forest. Warily, we stop every few feet before looking at each other and proceeding with caution. We make it halfway through the forest and near the mine before we look up to see Rio and Hina sitting on a grassy ledge. Rod and Toni have put a bunch of sticks around them like a cage of sorts but other than that the two girls look like they're pretending to be damsels in distress with ease.
Niko and I watch them and looking down, Rio sees us and says loudly, "Princess Hina! Look there! I see the prince and his knight coming to save us!"
"Don't worry, Princess Rio!" I call up, "We're coming to save you!"
We take a step forward before suddenly Rod jumps out of some nearby foliage with Toni following not too far behind.
"Ha HA HA HAA!" Rod crows. "You've fallen right into my trap! You'll never save the princesses!"
"Oh yeah?" Niko yells back, "That's what you think!"
Nodding at me, the little boy gives me a look and I step forward and square my shoulders.
"Surrender now and I promise not to hurt you," I say menacingly, glaring angrily enough that both Rod and Toni flinch. When I see that, I cough and try to soften my glare before giving Rod a valiant look.
Seeing my expression, Rod crouches over before reaching into his vest. "You think you're strong enough?" Rod declares. "Well I have much more! Gaze in horror at my awesome power!"
When he produces a bottle from out of his vest pocket, my eyes widen and he gives me a triumphant look before taking a small swig from the bottle. As birds begin to flock towards him and a few foxes approach him from out of the undergrowth, I narrow my eyes and look at him curiously.
The kids all look on in delight before I glance down at the label on the bottle before reading it and looking back up to see Rio staring down with a big grin.
"Wild Animal Friend," I mutter, "That stupid potion…"
As birds land on Rod's shoulders, he gives me the darkest look I've ever seen on his face before he announces, "I am the evil robot queen! You will never defeat me and my minions!"
Pointing at me, he shouts, "Fly! FLY MY PRETTIES!"
When the animals just stare at him in confusion, Toni decides to take charge and runs towards me with a yell, picking up a stick along the way. Quickly, I glance around only to find that there are no more branches nearby.
Just when I begin to panic, Hina's voice calls, "Prince Neil! Take this!"
I look up to see Rio toss a large branch in my direction, while Hina cheers as I catch it. As Toni takes a swing at me, I block it and then turn to Niko.
"I need your help, Sir Niko!" I yell, and the little boy nods at me before glancing around frantically and heading for the nearest stick. While I hold off Toni, Rod continues to cackle menacingly in the background.
I don't have to wait long before Niko returns to my side, and I step out of the way and let him fight with Toni before making a beeline for Rod. Giving the pet seller an intimidating look, I approach him and he tries to fend me off with a slap.
Easily dodging it, I grab his wrist and pull him in before we're eye to eye and I declare, "You'll NEVER take my princess from me…evil queen robot."
Turning, we both look to where Niko pretends to stab Toni, who falls to the ground dramatically and groans loudly.
"Oh great queen," Toni groans, "I have fallen!"
"Good job, Sir Niko," I say, giving the kid a thumbs up before turning back to Rod and pushing his shoulder lightly. Clutching at his chest, Rod stumbles back and forth before hacking and saying, "You have vanquished me, Prince! Noooooo!"
Ignoring his dramatics, I lightly push his body to the side with my foot before waving my arm for Niko to join me. Together, we climb up the rest of the way to where Hina and Rio are waiting for us with smiles on their faces. While Niko gets a pat on the head from Hina, I walk up to Rio and put a hand on my hip. She sits on the grass, beaming up at me with a twinkle in her eye.
"Princess," I say, dropping all acting and grabbing her hand to pull her to her feet. As she giggles and stands up, I loop an arm around her waist and pull her close before kissing her lightly on the forehead.
Together, we turn to look at where the kids are now jumping up down on Rod before turning to look at us.
"Let's play another game!" Hina calls.
While they wave us over, I tighten my grip on Rio's waist before calling back, "I'm sorry Princess Hina, but I'm taking this one with me!"
Ignoring the kids' calls and Rod's admiring whistle, I pull Rio into my arms in the infamous 'princess carry' and walk off with her towards the mountain area, taking us on the scenic route home. Holding onto my neck, she giggles before blushing a bit and murmuring, "Are you sure about this, Prince?"
"Hush up. I'm kidnapping you."
"Oh that's a twist. The prince is the one who kidnaps the princess," Rio laughs, and reaching up she kisses my cheek as I blush and look away with a frown, trying to hide how happy I am at her actions.
Leaning back, she gives me a mischievous grin before saying, "By the way…"
Questioningly, I look at her before she pulls herself up to my face again and brushes past my cheek to my ear.
"You can kidnap me any day," she whispers, sending a blush flooding across my face before I cough gruffly and continue to head towards home.
Neil likes kids but he's not always the best with them I feel. Part of that is the gruff attitude that he has and another part of it is that he doesn't really understand how to interact with them. Adults can understand that we don't always mean what we say-kids, not so much.
That being said, Neil can be pretty harsh to people, even Rio and Rod. Imagine if he said that to the kids...I just feel like I wouldn't end well XD Of course, he's learning to talk nicer since he doesn't want to insult Rio so it's only natural to me that he'd start getting along better with the kids too.
That, and I couldn't resist the idea of him carrying Rio like a princess XD
Anyways, liznightangel I actually have a oneshot about Rio and Neil cooking already but I figured I would wait to post it and do this one first. The idea of in laws though is pure gold, and I'm going to start on that one right away! Thanks for the suggestions, look out for those! I will post them :)
Thanks ALL for the reads and reviews :) As always, they are encouraging to me and keep me wanting to write! Until the next update, thanks again!