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The noise and bustle of the festival was loud and joyous; the colorful, twinkling lights stood in stark contrast against the dark night sky.
Shiro had his arm around Keith who seemed pretty content to be there, and they shared a large pink puff of cotton candy between them as they took in the sights and sounds of the early summer festival.
Keith had been intermittently slipped in and out of little-space all night and Shiro knew it was because he felt safe and relaxed with Shiro. Every time it happened Shiro puffed a little with pride, even if his baby was very shy in public. Keith didn’t make it obvious by any means but Shiro knew his kitten anywhere.
Shiro absently pulled off a whisp of cotton candy and held it to his side for Keith and waited for him to take it... and waited... and waited. Finally, he turned to the side to find himself alone in the crowd. He spun quickly, only slightly panicked, only for a moment, until he spotted Keith several paces behind him having stopped in front of a game booth. He jogged over to see what had caught Keith's attention and found the booth filled with colorful stuffed prizes.
He smiled and leaned closer to Keith, gently bumping his shoulder.
"Do you want one of those toys baby?"
Keith clung to Shiro's arm and nodded into his bicep. Shiro hummed.
"Which one do you want?"
Keith points up at a stuffed animal the third row from the top. It looks to be a lioness but its red with white legs and tail. Not too odd seeing as its hanging right next to a green monkey with a pink face.
Either way if his baby wants it he's going to get it. Keith is still a little hesitant to buy any traditionally childish things like onesies or a pacifier. Pointing out a toy he wants is a pretty big deal for his kitten and there's no way he's going to discourage it. No matter how rigged this game may be...
He walks up to the pimple faced teen running the stand, he’s texting on his cell and looks like he would rather be anywhere else.
“How much?”
The kid doesn’t look up from his phone.
“Uum, excuse me?”
He glances up at Shiro and pockets his phone with a heavy sigh.
“Hello sir, what can I do for you?” he says in a bored voice.
“Wha- I uuh” he clears his throat “how much to play?”
“three rings for five dollars,”
Shiro’s eyes widen.
“Thats a -heh- that’s a little steep,” he says haltingly.
The kid heaves a big sigh and Shiro has to steel himself to keep his eye from twitching.
“I don’t make the prices, I'm just wasting my summer vacation here,”
Shiro nods, not wanting to continue this conversation, and digs through his pocket before sliding a five-dollar bill onto the counter. The kid grabs it before exchanging it with three red rings.
Shiro aimed carefully and tossed one ring toward the gathering of glass milk bottles, it ‘twinged’ off the rim of a bottle and flew off to the side where it fell to the ground. He huffed. He threw the second and third one and it went much the same way.
The kid, without looking up from his phone, said in a monotone “Aw, too bad. Would you like to play again? If you would like to purchase six rings for ten dollars, I'll throw in a seventh ring for free.”
Shiro paused for a moment before heaving an irritated huff and fishing ten more dollars out of his pocket which the kid took wordlessly and exchanged for seven more silver rings.
With each ring Shiro aimed carefully, trying different throwing styles, attempting to measure distances by eye, and with each throw that fell just short of winding around one of the necks of the milk bottles he could feel his blood pressure rising.
Finally, on the last ring, he shut one eye, aimed carefully and gave the little hoop a frisbee toss.
And to his shock and delight it caught on the rim of a milk bottle and fell, twirling around the neck for a moment before settling on the shoulder.
“Yes! Hey I-I got one,” he said pointing to the successful ring.
The kid finally paused, just for a moment, to glance over at the bottle before reaching under the front counter and pulling out a colorful, plastic... robot... thing... It was in a little sealed bag and it looked to be some kind of toy that you open and assemble, with the arms and legs disconnected from the torso.
“Oh, I uh, no I wanted that red lion right there,” Shiro said, pointing to the thing up in the third row of stuffed toys.
The as yet apathetic booth attendant looked up at it before sighing.
“The way the game works is that for each ring you get on one of the bottles you win a different level prize, exchanging the /previous/ levels prize for a new one if you choose to play again and win another level,” he says.
“That,” he continues gesturing to the little robot looking figure, “is a level one prize and the lion is a level four prize. To win it you have to land three more rings.”
For a moment Shiro just... stares at the kid before pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.
“Seriously?” he asks.
“Yeah. Would you like to pla-”
Shiro interrupts him with a barely restrained fist to the counter and sees him startle in his periphery.
“No, I just- uugh,” he sighs in irritation.
The kid is clearly having an internal debate with himself if he wants to call security on the guy who seems to be getting way to invested in a hack-y carnival booth and Shiro doesn’t really blame him. He takes a small step back before leafing through his loose bills for a twenty, folding it between his fingers and resting his hand casually on the splintery wooden countertop.
“Listen kid, I really want the red lion.”
The teen glances around himself for a moment, probably making sure that the booth manager isn't around, before quickly snatching the money from Shiro’s fingers and pocketing it. He goes to the shelves in the back of the booth, stuffed full of plush toys, and plucks one of the red lions from the bundle to give to Shiro who quickly bundles it into his arms protectively.
“pleasure doing business with you.” he says to the kid, who's already gone back to scrolling through his phone.
“Of course, sir, have a wonderful day,” is the monotone reply.
Shiro could care less about the unenthused stall attendant, barely hears him in fact, as he turn to go back to where he’d left Keith. He smiles when he sees that his kitten has barely moved from where he’d left him, but even from this distance he can see the wide sparkling eyes of his baby boy.
When Shiro stands before him, offering up the fuzzy prize, Keith glances between him and the presented gift before reaching for it slowly and reverently. He holds it for a moment, giving it an experimental squeeze and petting the synthetic, cherry red fur, before throwing himself into Shiro’s arms.
Shiro allows himself to be shocked for only a moment before wrapping his arms around his baby and tucking him into the crook of his neck.
A muffled “Thank you, Daddy,” comes from his shoulder area and he only squeezes harder, nestling his nose in his babies fluffy head of hair.
“You’re welcome, kitten.
----------------------------------------------------
The rest of the day is a blur of happiness for Shiro as he watches his kitten play in a carefree way that he's never seen from him in his little headspace before, all with the lion clutched close by his side.
In all the excitement of the game booth their cone of cotton candy had been abandoned somewhere, it quite honestly seemed to have vanished, so Shiro buys Keith a funnel cake and a fried twinky, both of which are topped with a generous sprinkling of powdered sugar and chocolate drizzle. They ride the spinning tea cups and Keith even points excitedly at the carousel with all of its vibrant and fanciful animals. They ride the lion of course; its head is reared back in a roar and its adorned with a gilded saddle. His sweet kitten rides in the front, holding onto the golden, twisted pole with the red lion in his lap and Shiro rides behind him. He’s not sure if they’re really allowed to have two adults riding a single seat carousel animal, most likely not if the way the back of the saddle is digging uncomfortably into his crotch is any indication, but the ride attendant doesn’t seem to be paying attention.
Shiro is a little sad to see the day end when he loads himself and Keith into the car for the drive home, but it had been a wonderful day. By the time they get home his kitten is exhausted and Shiro is just barely able to get him tucked into bed in some pink shorts and one of Shiro’s own t-shirts. Before Keith had completely drifted off, Shiro remembered something.
“Oh, baby,” he said quietly. Keith made a noise of groggy acknowledgment.
“What is your lions name?”
His eyebrows scrunch up and he makes a tiny tired noise. He seems to deliberate (or doze) for a moment before quietly mumbling “mmnrrrred.”
Shiro smiles and kisses his forehead.
“Okay baby, Red it is. Goodnight.”
He gives his babies hair one last pet before climbing into bed beside him. He hopes Keith will have many more fun times with Red.