When Ward was a very small child, the Rand corporate galas used to be a combination of mind-numbing boredom and a strange, exciting amount of attention. Dressed up in his little tux, he was passed around between grown-ups who used to call him cute and give him treats.
Now he was too old for that, and his job at these parties was to watch the two littler kids, who were now old enough to get dressed up and go to the grown-up events too.
It was a nightmare.
Ward knew he hadn't been that much of a brat when he was their age. Mostly because the adults were watching him every minute (at least, that's how he remembered it) and he never had a chance.
Where had they gone now? He'd already checked the dessert table, and gotten chased out of the kitchen by a scolding caterer lady. He was reduced to skulking around the ballroom peeking under white tablecloths one by one, and finally, after checking half the ballroom, was drawn by the sound of quiet giggling to the right table.
"I am going to kill you two," he whispered fiercely, as Danny and Joy looked up with wide-eyed innocence from the little drama playing out on the carpet with toy ponies and dinosaurs. "Get out of there."
"No!" they protested, retreating as far away as they could get. The table rocked ominously. Ward hastily caught and steadied it. He could just imagine the reaction from the adults if he accidentally flipped a table while trying to drag two seven-year-olds out from under it. (Dad's reaction in particular didn't bear thinking about.)
He couldn't really think what to do except crawl underneath with them. The tablecloth fell all the way to the floor, shutting them into a private dimly-lit cave that brought back sudden memories. He had played under similar tables as a little kid sometimes, come to think of it. Probably for the same reason as Danny and Joy -- because the adults were boring and underneath here, it was private and fun, at least until someone came and dragged you out again.
The kids were giggling like this was the best thing that had ever happened to them. "Play with us, Ward!" Joy whispered, piling onto him and putting her sticky little arms around his neck. Despite his attempts to keep them away from the dessert table, they'd both ingested so much sugar that they probably wouldn't sleep for a week.
"I'm not here to play with you," he whispered back.
"Lay down on the floor, Ward. We're all trapped in a snow cave and we have to stay warm."
"No -- get off --" Now he had two giggling little kids piled on him, pinning him down. And he couldn't thrash around to escape or he risked pulling the entire tablecloth down on top of him. There was a My Little Pony jabbing him in the small of his back.
"I'm going to murder you," he whispered to the giggling hellions holding him down. "I'll hide your bodies in the chocolate fountain."
Result of murder threats: more giggling. They were the worst.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
carisma_sensei
An Iron Fist ficlet for you! :)
Date: 2019-12-31 12:15 am (UTC)Now he was too old for that, and his job at these parties was to watch the two littler kids, who were now old enough to get dressed up and go to the grown-up events too.
It was a nightmare.
Ward knew he hadn't been that much of a brat when he was their age. Mostly because the adults were watching him every minute (at least, that's how he remembered it) and he never had a chance.
Where had they gone now? He'd already checked the dessert table, and gotten chased out of the kitchen by a scolding caterer lady. He was reduced to skulking around the ballroom peeking under white tablecloths one by one, and finally, after checking half the ballroom, was drawn by the sound of quiet giggling to the right table.
"I am going to kill you two," he whispered fiercely, as Danny and Joy looked up with wide-eyed innocence from the little drama playing out on the carpet with toy ponies and dinosaurs. "Get out of there."
"No!" they protested, retreating as far away as they could get. The table rocked ominously. Ward hastily caught and steadied it. He could just imagine the reaction from the adults if he accidentally flipped a table while trying to drag two seven-year-olds out from under it. (Dad's reaction in particular didn't bear thinking about.)
He couldn't really think what to do except crawl underneath with them. The tablecloth fell all the way to the floor, shutting them into a private dimly-lit cave that brought back sudden memories. He had played under similar tables as a little kid sometimes, come to think of it. Probably for the same reason as Danny and Joy -- because the adults were boring and underneath here, it was private and fun, at least until someone came and dragged you out again.
The kids were giggling like this was the best thing that had ever happened to them. "Play with us, Ward!" Joy whispered, piling onto him and putting her sticky little arms around his neck. Despite his attempts to keep them away from the dessert table, they'd both ingested so much sugar that they probably wouldn't sleep for a week.
"I'm not here to play with you," he whispered back.
"Lay down on the floor, Ward. We're all trapped in a snow cave and we have to stay warm."
"No -- get off --" Now he had two giggling little kids piled on him, pinning him down. And he couldn't thrash around to escape or he risked pulling the entire tablecloth down on top of him. There was a My Little Pony jabbing him in the small of his back.
"I'm going to murder you," he whispered to the giggling hellions holding him down. "I'll hide your bodies in the chocolate fountain."
Result of murder threats: more giggling. They were the worst.