Gaius no.” Anaius said, shaking her head at her husband.
“Gaius yes. You’re the one who told me to get rid of some of it and I’m sure as hell not going to throw it all out. That’d be a terrible waste. Now if you’ll excuse me,” he leaned out the window of the vehicle and pulled his wife in for a quick kiss, “I’m going to make some random kids really happy.”
Aniaus could only watch as he drove off in a white, windowless van with “Free Candy” sloppily painted in bright orange on the sides. “He’s going to get in so much trouble.” She said with a sigh before turning back to the house and yelled, “Kids! We’re going to save your father from his good intentions.”
--
“Okay, we’re headed that way. Keep us posted if you get any more calls on him.” Frederick put the walkie back on the dash of their cop car as he told Chrom what the dispatcher had said. “A vehicle matching his was seen heading up Ike towards 7th.”
Chrom gets on the laptop and figures out the quickest route to hopefully get a head of their friend. “How is he getting so far ahead of us so fast? We’ve gotten how many calls with his location, and yet we’re still ten steps behind.”
“It seems he’s picked up on some of his wife’s tactics. I’m just glad we know he’s not dangerous.”
The younger man was about to agree when his phone started to ring. “Officer Chrom. Alright, just keep an eye on him and call me if he moves again. Thanks Candice.”
“Where’s he at?” Frederick asked as Chrom started dialing a number.
“The park down the road from the orphanage. No idea how he got there that fast, but that’s where he is now. I’m going to give Libra a heads up so he knows what’s going on.” Frederick nodded as he turned down Ephraim Ave.
--
“Alright kids, line up here,” Gaius said waving his hand in front of him, “and I’ll let you in to get all the candy you want once the others are done.” He looked up from the group of children gathered around the side of the van when he heard a car pulling up across from where he was parked. “Hey Smokey, Blue. You looking for sweet snack in between catching badies?”
“We’re here for you Gaius.” Frederick said in a flat tone as he got out of the car.
“Look, whatever it is I didn’t do it.” The redhead put up his arms in surrender, “I promised Bubbles I’d be good. See, I’m helping a bunch of candy-less kids.”
Chrom walked up beside his partner. “We understand that you’re trying to be nice but we’ve been getting some calls by people worried that you’re doing something…”
“Creepy,” a young woman’s voice called out with contempt, “the word you’re looking for is creepy.”
The three men turned in the direction of the voice to see Gaius’s oldest daughter walking across the park towards them. “Hey Candy. Come to help out your old man?”
Candice crossed her arms and stood next to Chrom. “No. You know we’ve been looking for you for hours and Mom hasn’t heard from the twins so she’s out looking for-“
“Hey Dad,” Mark’s head popped out from the back of the van, “we’re almost out of the little multicolored ball things.”
Morgan’s head popped out just below her brother’s “There’s enough left for a few more people.”
“…them.” Candace shook her head and glared at her siblings. “You two were supposed to call when you found him, not join him! Mom’s been worried sick about you.”
“But it sounded like fun.” The twins said in unison as they stepped out of the van.
Gaius walked towards his youngest kids with a serious look on his face. They both put their heads down, knowing better than to try to say anything when he had that look on his face. “Go call your mother,” he ruffled their hair with a smile and continued, “but I do appreciate your help.” Mark and Morgan both nodded and went off to the other side of the van to do as they were told.
“We still have the issue of your van causing a disturbance in the neighborhood.” Frederick said, clearing his throat.
“Look. I didn’t mean to make a scene. I was just doing what Bubbles asked me to and I didn’t want to see all of that lovely sugar go to waste.” His voice sounded sad just at the thought of all those treats being thrown into the trash.
“We could be of help with that.” A soft, somewhat feminine voice said. The four of them turned to see Libra, surrounded by a group of kids with excited smiles on their faces. Gaius looked between them and the cops with a matching smile.
“I see no problem with it.” Chrom said with a shrug. “Just be sure to repaint that van as soon as your done here. We don’t want to get any more calls about you.”
“I guess I can do that.”
--
“Gaius, I know I asked you to get rid of some of your overflow of sweets but you didn’t have to go and do this.” Anaius said with a sigh as she gestured to the van.
“Chrom said to repaint it, so I repainted it.” He said as he leaned out the window of the van and pulled his wife in for a kiss. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to give some kids some candy.” Mark and Morgan waved at her from the passenger side as they drove off. What was once a white windowless van was now bright and colorful with pictures of candy all over it and “Candy Man with the Candy Van” scrawled across the side.
“You married an idiot.” Candace said as she walked up next to her mother. “You know that right?”
“Yes, I do. But he’s a lovable idiot.”
This is my birthday present to Anaius based off of a conversation we had in the car one day after seeing one of those plain, windowless vans.
(Mark is the male version of Morgan and Candace is our daughter for Gaius.)
Candice: You can quit following me any time you know.
Gerome: Not until I know you aren’t going to do anything drastic.
Candice: Like what?
Gerome: Like what you had mentioned on the mountain the other day.
Candice: Oh jeeze. We’re fighting in a war. If I really wanted to get myself killed I’ve had more than enough opportunities to do it on the battlefield. And in ways that wouldn’t be suspicious. A classic sword to the chest, a spear through the guts, an arrow through the throat, falling from my Pegasus… the list goes on.
Gerome: You’ve thought about this way too much.
Candice: I’ve always been partial to a literal blaze of glory.
Gerome: You’re not helping yourself.
Candice: I know. Why do you care so much anyway?
Gerome: You are my comrade, and your death would be an inconvenience.
Candice: Aww, you do care.
Gerome: *snorts, holding back a sarcastic laugh*
Candice: Thaaanks Gerome. Tell me how you really feel.
Gerome: I only mean that you are an asset to the Shepherds and losing you in such a way would be detrimental to our cause. You do remember what we came back in time for, yes?
Candice: Of course I do! I’m not a gods damned idiot. I only said that before because I was traumatized. Picturing my parents doing… that…gah. That is something I never wanted to think about, let alone know exactly how it happened.
Gerome: Fair enough, as long as you remember your, our, purpose here.
Candice: Don’t worry. That is something I will never be able to forget, even if I wanted to.
We got inspired the other night if you can’t tell...
