An Odd But Soothing Habit (Tag: Ampara)

[Minato]

As it was for anyone, the end of a long, hard day generally meant that an opportunity to quietly wind down was both a want and conducive to their well-being. It didn't matter how old one was - age was a relative thing anyway.

Though, at his age, it was probably a bit odd to find him in the Creche. He'd graduated that place Turns ago, and even sitting quietly in the corner as he was, he was still far too big to fit in with the little, pudgy bodies crawling here and giggling there, pushing whatever toy had their fancy around.

If anyone had questioned him, Minato would have denied that he loved being here with the flattest expression possible. He prided himself on being a tough kid, friendly, but not...mushy. But...he liked his quiet, too, at the end of the day. He liked nothing more than to sit somewhere where he was least likely to be annoyed by anyone, and once he'd done his duties for the day, he didn't want to be found by anyone unless it was urgent.

So the Creche was an odd place to find that, but at the same time, it made sense. Hardly anybody but the nurses, and occasionally, visiting parents or the Headwoman came; it was only the babies and the toddlers. And though he'd deny it until he was blue in the face, if there was one thing Minato had a massive soft spot for, it was children. There was no ulterior motive for it - the teenager just...liked listening. It took him back to when he'd been a kid, and though one was inclined to wail and cry now and again, generally, the sound of the babies cooing softly and the toddlers giggling, with no expectations for serious conversation.

It was just...calming for him.

A little smile curled the blonde's lips, and he tilted his head back against the wall, closing his eyes and exhaling in a way that seemed to drain every tension from his body. He opened his eyes again when something bumped against his leg, blinking and looking down to find a ball had made it's resting place in the hollow of his knee.

The little smile grew just slightly at that, and though he wasn't sure which child had rolled it, he took it and rolled it back out into the middle of the room before leaning back and closing his eyes again, mouth still twitching.

[Ampara]

There was the sound of clapping, followed by laughter that was truly childish glee.

"My ball, my ball! It back!"

The little nearly two turn old was trying to use it to stand himself up, and seem rather surprised when the ball spun away, back the direction it came, and he was on his bum once more. He laughed again though, thinking it was all a good joke, and bent over, using the floor to get up on his still somewhat chubby and baby-ish legs. He went toddling after the ball at a near run, headed straight for Minato.

He stopped just short of barreling into him, green eyes bright and merry and looking for a friend, which was of course anyone that would show him a bit of attention.

"Play wif me!" Aicer demanded, smiling and widening his eyes hopefully.

"My ball... play with me." He said, deciding that this was the logical way of things.

[Minato]

It was embarrassing. Really, it was. He was a seventeen turns old boy, for Faranth's sake. Seventeen turn old boys did not play with children. Did not smile at their antics. Faranth forbid, did not melt and laugh and turn into mush over them. Really, it wasn't right, and if anyone ever knew, Minato...well, lived in constant fear that he would be teased and ridiculed.

But...gah.

The blonde teenager, though quiet, was not known for being shy. Always, did he have a smile ready, no matter how small. It was one of the reasons his father had referred to him as "Flash" from such a young age. Well, there were a few reasons, but the blonde hair and bright smile tended to speak for themselves.

Thus, when little Aicer came bumbling his way, the slight smile in the older lad's blue eyes deepened, brightening the oceanic hues warmly. So gentle and non-threatening in nature was he with little ones that it crossed his mind but briefly that he might startle the toddler. And then he shifted, ready to catch the child on an arm should he fall.

It appeared Aicer was perfectly capable of maintaining his own balance, though, and Minato leant back when the little one teetered upright, tilting his head slightly at the childish demand. Perhaps it was right to some to demand manners from the child, but he was only two, after all. And manners were something your parents, or in the Weyr, foster parents drilled into you. Not strangers...or playmates.

A toddler's eyes, no matter the hue or shape, were hard to resist anyway. Thus, after the initial blink of bemusement at Aicer's demand and the ball bumping against his leg again, Minato happily obliged the lad and shifted so his rangy legs were crossed and facing Aicer's direction.

"Play catch, neh?" he teased, chuckling a bit before rolling the ball back to Aicer, pausing only to shake the long, spiky-soft bangs out of his face.

[Ampara]

Aicer giggled and clapped as the ball came back to him.

"Catch?" The toddler questioned, wrinkling his forehead in concentration as he thought the word over.

He rolled the ball back and pointed at it. "Catch?" He was a quick one to understand, but one soon to tire of simple games. Something else would catch his attention soon enough. One had to wonder if that short attention span might carry through or if it would wane with childhood. Bright minds did have a tendency to wander at times.

Aicer waited for the ball to come back. Trusting with childlike simplicity that it would.

[Minato]

Perhaps it was a sixth sense that came with finding a similarly bright mind, no matter the age gap. Whatever it was, it had Minato pausing to think for a moment, rather than merely roll the ball in a straight direction like he had been about to do so.

Maybe it was the bright green eyes regarding him. If his mother had been watching, she'd say she was watching her son at that age, only with far more confidence around a strange big person, and green instead of blue in gaze.

Tilting his head, Minato blinked before smiling docilely. Rolling the ball over in his hands, he flicked his wrist slightly. With the movement, the ball still rolled in Aicer's direction, but rather than a mere little roll, it bounced slightly at random intervals, thus presenting a slightly greater challenge of chasing after it and catching it.

As if the thought of his mother had conjured them up, the presence of two small ones became known. Out of the corner of Minato's peripheral, one would see the sturdy form of a little brown firelizard, curled up in the rafters. On the other hand, a startlingly small bronze made himself known by the glint of sunlight through the eaves onto his hide, perched where he was on the edge of one of the babe's cots.

[Ampara]

Aicer's little forehead crinkled and he backed up a few teetering steps before pouncing on the ball, effectively capturing it mid bounce. He looked at the ball, picking it up only to drop it and watched as it bounced nearly right back into his hands. He managed to scoop it up after it bounced feebly a few more times. Aicer had temporarily forgotten Minato's existence, but then he looked up and met his eyes with a cheeky grin.

He decided then to bounce it back, going a little further making it bounce in higher and more jagged angles at least as much as his little strength could allow. There was perhaps more interest in the ball than whether or not Minato caught it. Aicer seemed fascinated by the bouncing.

[Minato]

The chuckle escaped him before he could stop it, though at the present, he really didn't care. The kid was just too cute, and it struck the young Candidate at how Aicer attempted so dilligently to mimic and replicate his own movements with the ball.

The jagged angle of the ball was enough so that Minato actually had to lunge for it. Almost too late, he tried to untangle his crossed legs and lunge to the left for the ball, ending up in a very comical heap on the ground, though in the least, the ball was clutched in his arms.

"Bet you found that funny, didn't you?" he growled playfully, pushing himself upright and blowing his askew hair out of his face before bouncing the toy back to Aicer once more. A sound rather like choked, squeaky laughter made the lad look up, and he scowled reproachfully at the culprit; his mother's little bronze, Memnon, perched atop a cot, giggling merrily at the sight of the usually quiet, reserved boy making a fool of himself for a child's game.