[Kitsumi]

Donovan Hendricks & Stacey Carter

"I can't believe I let you drag me to this thing."

As usual, Carter was in a bad mood. It was chilly, and he didn't like being away from home, especially when there was a large chance of crowds. However, he couldn't say no to Donnie. The kid had his heart set on attending the event, and Carter wasn't going to let him come unsupervised.

Eyes wide with wonder, Donnie grinned up at Carter. "You're just being an old sourpuss, like always. Come on, can't you see how fun this is going to be? There are so many places to explore!" His gaze was moving from one thing to another, lingering for a few moments before something else caught his attention. He was obviously already enjoying himself, and there was no way that Carter was going to take that away from the kid. Besides, he knew that he needed to loosen up a bit. Perhaps...perhaps this would be the way to do it.

"Alright, we can go explore. But first, I want to check out that fire! I'm an old man, remember? I chill right down the bones!"

The younger man chuckled. "Oh, please. You're not that old, Carter. You're not even ten years older than me! But if you want to see the fire first, that's fine by me. I like bonfires. Let's go!"

Donnie grabbed Carter's hand and rushed to the bonfire. As he passed by the host, he called out, "This looks like fun! Thanks for letting us come to your Festival! I'm sure we'll enjoy it quite a bit!"

[Taking a slot, please. Post 1]

[Kitsumi]

As they settled onto a log near the fire, Carter shot Donnie a look. "You know, it was probably rude of us to blow right past our host like that. Maybe we should have...I dunno, made sure it was okay for us to just barge on in the way we did?"

"What are you talking about?" Donnie was holding his hands up to the crackling fire, letting the heat keep them nice and warm. "I said thanks for letting us come, and that's sorta like a greeting, right?" Ignoring the critical glare that his companion was giving him, Donnie looked around at the people nearby. "Wow, there sure are a lot of people here! Hey, I thought you didn't like being around a lot of people?"

If Carter wasn't scowling before, he was definitely scowling now. "I don't," he growled. "But you seemed so excited about everything, so how could I deny you? Besides, you know how Justus keeps nagging me about getting out and going somewhere. Hopefully this will be enough to satisfy him, and I can finally get him off my back." He offered one of his rare smiles, proof that he really was trying. Despite his rather rough exterior, he really did care about the boy. If this Winter Festival would make the kid happy, then it would be worth whatever small annoyances and uncomfortable circumstances that Carter faced.

The smile on Donnie's face was almost reward enough. "You didn't have to come here for me, Carter. I'm sure I could have convinced Justus to bring me. He wasn't as busy as he said he was, I'm sure. He's always willing to make time for me. We could always go home and he could bring me back a bit later."

Carter waved away the idea. "Don't worry about it. It's not that big of a deal, honestly. Besides, I thought it could possibly be some time that we could...y'know...bond, or whatever."

Instead of speaking right away, Donnie took Carter's hand happily. The younger man was friendly enough that it wasn't unusual for something like that to happen, so Carter thought nothing of it. "You're really great, you know that? You took me in, you treat me like part of your family or something, and now you're even taking me places that you don't really want to do just to make me happy!"

"Uh, yeah, thanks kid." Carter looked uncomfortable. He wasn't used to being complimented like this. "Let's...let's just go explore and stuff, huh?"

[Post 2]

[Kitsumi]

A giggle escaped Donnie's lips. "Aww, you're funny when you get compliments." Ignoring Carter's grumbling protests, Donnie began to elbow him playfully. "So, what if I said that you were my best friend? Or if I said that I looked up to you? Or what if I told you that you were an incredibly handsome ma-"

"Okay, now that's quite enough." Carter cut him off. The older man's face was bright red, although whether it was purely from embarrassment or something else was hard to tell. Either way, it was obvious that it was time to drop the subject. He didn't seem particularly angry, but it was probably best if Donnie didn't push the topic any further. So, the subject was dropped.

After a moment of silence, Donnie spoke up. "Well, you wanted to move on, right? I'm sure that there are plenty of cool places to look at. We shouldn't waste all of our time sitting here."

Carter nodded. He wanted this to be a fun time for Donnie, so he would ignore the odd effect the compliments had on him. "Sure. Where would you want to explore first?" He unfolded a map and studied it. "It looks like we're closest to the Christmas tree. I know you like seeing them all decorated and lit up. Would you want to start there first? We might as well go in order. It'll be easier that way, don't you think?"

"Sure, that would be great!" Donnie stood. "Let's go!"

[Moving to Area 2 - Post 3]

[Kitsumi]

It wasn't long before they were standing in front of the humongous Christmas tree. Donnie was staring at it in awe, and even Carter couldn't help but to appreciate it's size and beauty. The lights reflected off the decorations, casting dancing rainbows of color on them.

Donnie moved closer. Hesitantly, he gently moved forward to touch one of the more beautiful ornaments. He glanced back at Carter. It was obvious that he was unsure on whether or not it was appropriate to touch it or not. He bit his lip, waiting to be reprimanded. Carter only offered him a soft smile, however, and so Donnie smiled back before turning back to the ornament. He traced the edge of it with one finger, making sure to be very careful and gentle with it. The ornament looked delicate, and he certainly didn't want to break it.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" His voice was full of wonder, and Carter envied him. It had been a long time since Carter had seen such a sight through a child's eyes, and he missed those times. It was nice to see Donnie enjoying himself, though. Carter could almost pretend that he was young again, seeing things the same way that Donnie was seeing them.

Realizing that he had yet to answer the younger boy, Carter quickly nodded. "It is." The boy didn't respond, and Carter wondered whether or not he should speak again. Finally, he broke the silence. "You know, we don't have a Christmas tree at home, do we? You seem to really like this one. I doubt we could fit one this big in our house, but maybe...well..." He ran his fingers through his hair, embarrassed. He really wasn't used to all of this. Holidays were rarely celebrated by him before. It wasn't until Donovan came into his life that he began to take note of holidays. "How would you like to get a tree? We can pick up some lights and ornaments, and decorate it similar to this one."

The younger man couldn't believe it. Carter didn't seem the type to celebrate holidays, but maybe Donnie had just misjudged him. "I'd like it." He replied. "I'd like it a whole lot!"

[Post 4]

[Kitsumi]

"Well then, I guess that's settled." Carter was already starting to regret offering, but he wouldn't say anything. He knew it would be some work getting a tree into their ranch house, not to mention finding some way to actually get it to the house. He'd have to enlist Justus' help setting everything up. Ah, well. Carter was sure that he wouldn't mind it all that much once it was already set up, giving the house that wonderful scent of pine. Besides, they needed something to put presents under, didn't they?

Carter began studying the different ornaments on the tree. "Donnie, make sure you get a look at what types of ornaments you like the most. We'll pick some up after we leave here, but I don't just want to buy a ton of ornaments that won't look good together. It'd help if we could plan which ornaments we want now, and then make a list to buy them later."

The younger boy giggled. "You always have to be the man with the plan, don't you? If it's important to you, I'll make a list of the types of ornaments I like on this tree. It's okay if we add onto it once we get to the store, right? We'll only get ornaments that look good together though, I promise! We'll need lights too, and garland. Oh! And we definitely can't forget about the star!" By this point, he was bouncing up and down excitedly. "The star is the most important part. Can we get one of the ones that plug in and light up? Do they all do that? I don't think they all do that, do they?"

"Whoa, kid, slow down." Carter laughed. He was actually beginning to enjoy himself...a bit. "Yes, we can get a star that lights up. How about we go ahead and make this list really quickly, and then we can move on to," he unfolded the map to study it. "Oh, looks like the bakery is next. You'll like that, won't you?"

Donnie nodded happily. They began compiling their list, scratching out the things they didn't agree on, and then writing a couple back in as they came to a compromise. Once their list was finished, they put it in Carter's pocket and then headed to the next area...

[Moving to Area 3 - Post 5]

[Kitsumi]

Even before they had reached the doors of the bakery, both Donnie and Carter were smelling the air and sighing longingly at the sweet scent of baked goods. Donnie took off at a sprint to get to the door, and it took every ounce of willpower that Carter had not to do the same. "Come on, Carter." He chided himself. "You can't go acting like a kid. You're the chaperone here, the adult. You need to act like it, dang it." He kept himself going at a steady pace, although his speed may have increased a bit.

When he reached the door to the bakery, Donnie was waiting. "I waited for you out here," he said breathlessly. "Can't you just smell it? I bet it tastes so good! I don't know how I'm going to pick just one thing. Do you think maybe I could get a couple things? Just two or three...I already had dinner before we left home, so it's okay to have dessert now, right?"

As always, those puppy dog eyes drew Carter in. "Fine, you can get two things. Just two, do you hear me? If there's something else that you really want, maybe I'll grab it and we can split it. But you're not going to act like a little kid - you're a teenager, Donovan. Remember that, and act maturely."

"You only act like a bossy parent when you've already given into my demands." Donnie laughed and held open the door for Carter to walk in ahead of him.

[Post 6]

[Kitsumi]

The smell of freshly baked goods had been tempting from outside the shop; it was nearly overwhelming once they got inside. Carter licked his lips, trying to make it inconspicuous. Donnie obviously didn't care who was watching. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he let out a whimper. "Carter, I can't stand it. My stomach is caving in on itself from hunger. Can we get some pastries, now? Please?"

Carter pointed towards the line of people already waiting. "Well, we'll have to wait our turn. But I'm sure it'll be worth the wait." He stepped into line, taking Donnie's hand and pulling the boy with him. "Do you see anywhere that we can sit and eat?" It was hard for him to see around the crowd coming and going. It seemed that for every person that left the bakery, two more people entered. It probably wasn't actually as bad as that, but it was pretty crowded.

"Keep our spot in line, I'll go scout out the bakery. I'm smaller than you, and I can fit places that your gut can't." Donnie side-stepped as Carter made a half-hearted swing at him, and then skipped off laughing as Carter grumbled about how he was still in perfect shape. Of course he was right - he had maintained his athletic build throughout the years, and he really wasn't that old, certainly not old enough to just let himself go. Donnie was just being his typical, rascal self.

[Post 7]

[Kitsumi]

While his guardian stood in line, Donnie took a look around the bakery. While it was pretty close to being full, most of the people seemed to be anxious to move on to other areas, or get back to their families to celebrate the holidays. From the snatches of conversation he heard, not everyone was here for the Festival. Luckily, most people were taking their goodies to go, and Donnie was able to find some places for him and Carter to sit. They'd probably be jostled a bit by the other customers who continued moving in and out, but Donnie could deal with it. If he was able to keep Carter distracted enough not to bite anyone's head off, they would be just fine.

Squeezing around and between people, Donnie made his way back to Carter. The older man was still only about halfway up the line, but it was an improvement. Donnie slipped back into line behind Carter. A lady behind him complained that he was cutting, and Donnie was quick to respond. "Nuh-uh, my place was being saved for me, so there!" He stuck his tongue out at her in a very juvenile manner, before turning back to Carter who was looking less than pleased.

"Didn't we talk about you acting your age before we came inside?" Carter chastised the boy, but he wasn't listening. Donnie was already trying to see around the people in front of them to get a good look at the goodies that they could purchase. Carter rolled his eyes, and decided to just let it go.

[Post 8]

[Kitsumi]

"I can't see." Donnie complained. "There are too many people in the way. How am I going to know what I want? I need at least five minutes to make the right decision. I doubt that anyone here wants to wait in line five minutes behind one person, just because he couldn't see over the darn crowd!" He put his hands on his hips, looking every bit the stubborn teenager that he could be at times.

Carter just laughed him off. "We're still only halfway down the line, Donnie. You'll have plenty of time to look at everything, I'm sure. Just be patient, okay?" Despite his calm words, Carter was having a hard time staying in line and not rushing out of the bakery. The others in line were making him feel a bit claustrophobic, and he didn't appreciate being jostled. Plus, there were so many faces...how was he supposed to be able to recognize one that might be threatening? Crowds were never a good thing for a man that was on the run. He had figured that they were far ahead of anyone who may be on his trail, but what if he was wrong?

"Hey...are you okay?" Donnie was studying Carter in a concerned way. "You're not looking too good. Are you sick? We can go home if you want. You can even wait outside, and I'll bring you back a cookie or cupcake or something. Do you want to leave?"

"No. No, I'm fine. Just...it's a bit hot in here, isn't it?" Carter tugged at his collar as he regained his composure. They were moving up in line, and the rows of treats were finally within sight. "There, you can decide what you want now. Stop staring at me like that, and just pick out what you want, okay?" He hated making Donnie concerned about him. The kid shouldn't have to worry about the adult - it wasn't right.

Donnie nodded. "Okay, if you're sure you're fine." He started studying the treats, but kept glancing at Carter every now and then. The line continued to move up, and Carter returned to normal.

[Post 9]

[Kitsumi]

By the time they were next in line, Donnie was practically drooling and Carter had to force himself to look away in order to keep from purchasing one of everything. The younger man had his face practically pressed to the glass protecting the goodies, and Carter had to remind him to keep from touching it. "You don't want to dirty up the glass, do you? I'm pretty sure they don't like it when you do that." Donnie waved him off, but he did move a half step back, away from the glass so that his breath wasn't fogging it up the way it had been moments ago.

Carter had regained his composure, but he was still keeping a good eye out for anyone that he might not want to see. His eyes were constantly scanning faces and looking for anything familiar in build, while he listened carefully to every conversation he could overhear for the chance to recognize a voice. No one seemed familiar though, and they eventually made it to the front of the line uneventfully.

"Alright, Donnie, what do you want?" Carter allowed his charge to order first. Despite Carter's earlier comment about only getting two things, Donnie asked for a chocolate chip and M&M cookie, a chocolate pastry, and a bearclaw. He figured that with Carter being slightly, he would be able to get away with it, and he was right. Donnie nudged his guardian, alerting him that it was his turn to order. "Oh, umm...can I get one of those personal-sized chocolate cakes? And a couple of cappuccino truffles as well, please." Donnie's eyes widened at the mention of truffles, and Carter nodded at him, confirming his hope that Carter had ordered one for both of them.

After paying in keystones, Carter grabbed their bag of treats. "Well, Donnie, you did find us a place to sit, right?"

[Post 10]

[Kitsumi]

"Yeah, it's this way. Follow me!" He darted off through the crowd, leaving Carter to struggle to follow. While Donnie was nimble enough to slip around people without touching them, Carter wasn't as good at it. He nearly knocked over a little kid that he wasn't able to see, and had to apologize to a scowling parent. He also ran into a lady, making her spill her drink all over her husband. The husband didn't seem to mind about the drink on his shirt, but the wife was adamant about her wasted drink, so Carter handed over some keystones to pay for a new one.

When it was finally all said and done, he stomped over to where Donnie was already sitting, watching him impatiently. "Can I have my goodies now?" Donnie asked, completely unaware of what Carter had gone through to try to keep up with him. "I want the cookie first, I think. You can try all of my stuff if I can try a bite of your cake, okay?"

Carter dropped into the seat and pushed over the bag of goodies. "Here, get your stuff. And next time, don't just run off expecting me to follow you, got it?" Donnie nodded, not really paying attention, and Carter watched as he pulled out his three items. "Hey, wait a second...didn't I tell you to only get two things?" He had missed it earlier, but now he was ready to crack down on the boy. "Listen, Donnie, I brought you out here to have some fun. But things are going to go sour pretty quickly unless you learn to listen to me. I don't regret taking you in, not for a minute. But you need to learn some respect. I'm acting as your guardian, so you need to obey me. Do you understand?"

His head hung with shame, Donnie nodded. "I'm sorry. It just all looked so good. Here...you can have my cookie." He handed the cookie over, watching Carter in hopes that the man's irritation would dissipate.

[Post 11]

[Kitsumi]

Carter's eyes softened. "I'll take half of it, sure." He broke off piece of the cookie, handing the bigger piece back to Donnie. "And you'll have to have this truffle tomorrow or something. You'll have had plenty of sweets after you finish those." He gave the kid a pointed look, but he was smiling. He could remember being young. He was always ravenous, and those who knew him referred to him as a 'bottomless pit'. He would have had a hard time choosing between only a couple of options back then, so he could understand why Donnie had chosen three. It was wrong to disobey of course, but it was a minor sin at most.

The first bite of the cookie had Carter's eyes rolling back in his head. "Gods, this is good." He found no trouble in finishing off the cookie, and his attention was soon turned to the cake. "Here, Donnie, you can have the first bite. Just...make it a small bite, okay? Like I said, you've had enough sweets for today."

"You're afraid of spoiling me, aren't you." Donnie took a heaping forkful of the cake and gave Carter a chocolatey grin. "The thing you don't realize is that you couldn't spoil me even if you tried. I'm a good kid, and there's no way to spoil perfection." He struck a silly pose, cracking himself up in the process. He knew he wasn't really perfect, but he would like to pretend.

Making a face, Carter tried to stifle his laughter. "Maybe it's that vanity that we're going to have to start working on next." He reached across the table to ruffle the boy's hair. He took out the map and held it out to Donnie, who had already finished all of his baked goods. "Here, read this and tell me where we're going next."

[Post 12]

[Kitsumi]

The boy examined the map in front of him. His eyes widened, and he let out a very loud squeal of delight. Carter looked up from his cake, startled. When he realized that Donnie was alright, he quickly looked around to see if anyone was disturbed by the sound. They had drawn the attention of several of the other customers in the bakery, and Carter quickly looked away, unable to meet their curious looks. It was hard enough for him to get out in public like this. The kid was making this ordeal even more embarrassing and uncomfortable than it had to be.

"What was that for? You didn't need to do that." Carter mumbled quietly, hoping that no one was paying attention to them anymore. "What's wrong, did you spill something on the map or something? It's fine, I can go get another one." He glanced at the piece of paper on the table, and was confused when he noticed that nothing was wrong with it. "Well...what the heck happened?"

His eyes were bright with excitement. "Carter, there's a petting zoo!" He pointed to the map happily. "I haven't been to a petting zoo since I was like, five years old! It says that they had a recent birth of Sahound puppies, as well as tons of other little baby animals! And, they have a real reindeer! I can't believe it!"

Speaking quietly to himself, Carter mumbled, "There's probably a reason you haven't been to one since you were tiny..." In his opinion, anyone over the age of 9 was too old for a petting zoo. He could see that this obviously wasn't the case for Donnie, and they weren't going to be able to skip this part of the Festival. In fact, Carter was probably going to get roped into petting some baby animals himself. Sighing, he stood and threw out their garbage. Leading Donnie, who was chattering happily, Carter left the bakery.

"Well, I guess we might as well get it over with."

[Moving to Area 4 - Post 13]

[Kitsumi]

Donnie was in heaven. Standing in the middle of the barn, his eyes went from one animal to the next, trying to decide which to go to first. Carter had tried to wait outside, but of course Donnie had pulled him inside before leaving him to get a closer look at the animals. "I want to go see those puppies," Donnie said decidedly. "And you're going to come with me! You're too grumpy, and a cuddly little Sahound pup might be exactly the thing to help you get over it!"

"Oh, wow, thanks kid. I wonder why I'm so grumpy." Carter decided to just play along instead of getting offended. "Maybe it's because I have a certain teenager to tease me and drag me around!" He didn't stop Donnie from grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the animals, even as he pretended to protest. "I don't like animals. I'm allergic!"

"You're not allergic! I saw you carry that Sahound out of the barn the other day, when he somehow got in there and couldn't find the way out. You didn't sneeze once." Donnie obviously wasn't going to take no for an answer. Soon, they were standing in front of the puppies. Carter knelt down, putting his hand out for one of them to sniff. Donnie, of course, plopped down on the ground and immediately began cuddling with them. Laying on his back in the hay, he held one Sahound pup against his chest while another nibbled at his hair, causing him to giggle.

Even Carter had to admit, it was a pretty cute sight.

[Post 14]

[Kitsumi]

"Why are you still staring at me like that?" Donnie's words seemed to break Carter out of a trance. He hadn't realized that he was staring, but he was. In fact, he had probably been staring at the boy for a full five minutes or so. Donnie didn't looked creeped out or anything - he looked more concerned than anything else. "Are you okay? Is whatever happened at the bakery happening again? We can still leave, you know..."

Carter shook his head. "Sorry, I guess I just zoned out." He forced a laugh. "I'm fine, really. Any other animals you wanted to see?" He looked around. "I see a baby Yingshee over there." He pointed, and Donnie hurried over to the other animal while Carter stayed behind.

He didn't want to be here anymore. As fun as it had been, he just wanted to be home, alone. It was actually because of the fun they were having that Carter was uncomfortable. Even Justus hadn't been able to make Carter enjoy the holidays, and he had been around for years now. Donnie had only just joined their odd family, and he was already stealing Carter's heart, perhaps in a way that he shouldn't. It wasn't the boy's fault, Carter knew that. The blame rested solely on him.

"Hey, were you going to come over and see this Yingshee?" Donnie called from where he was. He was kneeling in front of the animal, petting it softly. "It's really cute!"

"No, I'm just going to sit here while you see the animals. Let me know when you're ready to move on."

[Post 15]