Welcome to Gaia! ::

~Zaias ~Ali ~Tomas ~Ms. Powers
~Dr. Sullivan
~ Dr. Stanfield
~ Spencer
~Chris

Static reigned on the speakers strung high above the busy gardens and pathways of Iris academy. ”Hello and Welcome! To the student council’s 3rd annual fundraising fair and welcoming celebration! Please enjoy your day touring the campus and enjoying the many fun booths, rides, shows and treats that are available. Remember all of today’s funds go to providing the science labs, dental and medical offices with much needed supplies! New students please check in with the main office before heading out to the fair~”.
The periodic announcement had been recorded by the previous vice president -> now president of the student council. When it was done the music it had interrupted came back. The general back ground theme to the day was a piece written and recorded by Iris students and had a gentle tinkling note that didn’t irritate to hear repeatedly. Later that evening the music would pick up to a jazzier beat, accompanied by the lights strung up in the trees along the pathways and the edge of the fair. A local radio DJ would then replace that tune with actual songs once it got dark, and people no longer cared about hearing each other speak.

Ali meandered her way through the stalls, very much the topic of conversation because of her mini-version of the school uniform and the fact that she was of course – adorable in general. She was held in check by the hand holding hers. Her older brother Zaias was dropping her back off now that they’d had their family breakfast; he had an interview to attend. One that would determine whether or not his degree in ecological biochemistry could actually be put to use; his interesting minor and knowledge of the animal kingdom was actually very attractive to his prospective employers and there was a very large possibility he could be sent across the world to help engineer the newest form of the goo that makes glow sticks shine. Though Ali seemed to be certain he would do muchmore important things than that.

She skipped along, her hair bouncing at chin length and still as pale as her brothers. No one made the mistake of looking at Zaias and thinking he was Ali’s father, they looked almost too much alike to be anything but brother and sister.
Despite the fact that she was constantly distracted by all the things she wanted to do Ali kept a keen eye for Dr. Stanfield who had promised he would take her to ride every ride that she felt like.
”Ah! There he is” the little girl said suddenly and stopped dead so her pointing hand would be more accurate. Zaias stopped abruptly and looked in his sister’s general finger direction.

” Ah so he is. “ Zaias acknowledge his sister’s detecting skills with a pat on the head as he walked by her and changed their direction. They were now making a beeline directly for the first aid tent where of course, Dr. S would be. Where else for the resident doctor of the school?
Ali continued to keep up in her own way with Zaias’s long strides and waved a big arm at Dr. S who was talking to the other Dr. S inside the tent.

”Mornin.” Zaias intoned announcing themselves.

"Hi-yo Dr. Dad~!" Ali said hanging off Zaias's arm until he landed her on her feet inside the camo green army tent that served as the first aid station.


Dr. Stanfield was sitting at his desk reading. So far nobody had to come in due to an injury, but he was there just in case. The doctor was hoping for a casualty free day, though with the prefects as security, that might be a problem. He heard the siblings enter and turned around. "Oh, hello you two. How are you today? Ready for the fundraiser?" he asked with his usual smile.


"Brace yourself. She saw-" Zaias attempted to warn-

"There's a cotton candy man outside! And a popcorn man! AND a slushy man but I think I want the twirly white and blue popsicle instead of a slushy, I can have a pop-sicle right?" Ali asked head tilted and wide eyed, her crocodile plushy held gingerly by one reptilian leg.

~

Christopher entered the medical tent from the back flaps and headed towards Dr. Stanfield's office. He’d been told to get some cotton swabs for the face painting booth.

~

Zaias merely shrugged a shoulder and lifted his eyebrows as if to say. "Well, you are in the middle of a carnival dude - good luck with that.' He felt more than saw Chris coming in from the dark in the back of the tent and nodded hello to announce the boy.

"Now Ali, Zaias was talking. It's rude to cut people off you know. Though, I am glad that you are excited for the carnival. Hopefully it will help get the money we need for new medical and science supplies" the doctor said. He turned at Zaias’s nod and spotted Christopher. "Yes? What can I do for you?" he asked.

Chris turned and nodded to Zaias, then said hello to Ali as he came to a stop at the end of the folding table where the Doctor sat. "We need some cotton swabs for the face painting booth. I was told to get some here" he said.

Ali gasped, and interrupted again, "THERE'S face-painting!?!?!" Then she clapped both hands over her mouth and raised her eyebrows in the global 'oops' symbol, her gray eyes darting over to Dr. Stanfield to see how much she was in trouble.


Dr. Stanfield nodded. "Alright. Just don't use too many. I only have one spare one bag" he said as he bent over a box and got the cotton swabs for Chris. He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head towards Ali. "Remember what I said now" he stated as he shuffled through the contents in the box.

Zaias just raised his eyes to the roof of the tent and chuckled silently. They'd asked for it.
"Anyway Doc, I gotta go. Behave Gator." Zaias turned and walked off with a backwards wave.

Christopher looked at Zaias. "Oh, where are you heading?" he asked.

"A thing. For work." Such an informative answer from Zaias was quite a leap from the non-vocal gang leader he'd used to be. Well, still could be. Another few steps and he was gone.

Ali kept her hands at her face, her gator clutched precariously up near her chin and swinging delicately from side to side. She nodded quietly and sat down on a plastic folding chair as she watched Chrissy open the bag with the cotton swabs. Her hands came down to grip the chair as she used it to get a better view. "Can I get my face painted?" she asked quietly, almost to her gator.

"I think you could. Just don't go crazy. Unfortunately I have to stay here as I'm on duty. I can't take you" Dr. Stanfield said sadly to Ali. He then looked at Christopher. "What tasks do you have to do?" he asked.

"Well I was mainly running small errands. Everything else seems to be being taken care of" Christopher replied. "Why?"

"Well, actually, this works out pretty well. If you don't mind, I'd like you to watch Ali for me. She's pretty small, and dying to go out, and it's not like I can take her right now." Dr. Stanfield said rubbing his chin in thought.

Christopher looked a little shocked. "Who? Me?" he asked. He looked at Ali, then sighed.

Ali was doing her best angel impression. Hands clasped under her chin and eyebrows up as far as they would go with the silent Pleeeeeeease!?. Her gator even stared at Christopher, daring him to say no to the cutest, bestest most awesome child on earth.

Besides, it was Ali, everyone liked her, it would be way easy to get help if he needed it. Plus, she was, like, what? Five? Little kids got tired fast. He'd get her a butterfly painted on her hand, a balloon and a ride on the tilt a whirl and he'd be free. Right?

"Alright. I'll do it. If it costs me anything, you'll have to pay me back" Christopher said, ever reasonable.

Dr. Stanfield laughed. "Of course, I may even give you a babysitter's bonus. Now run along" he motioned with a wave of a hand.

Christopher turned and smiled at Ali. "Well, let's go. The line up for the face painting will probably get long so we should get there early. I have to take the cotton swabs there anyway" he said and began leading the little girl along.

Dr. Stanfield smiled and watched them as they left. He then returned to what he was doing before. Hopefully this would turn out to be a good day.


Ali gladly took Chris's hand and started out in the direction he led. She'd only ever had her face painted once, at the mall, when she'd visited Santa. She'd gotten a Christmas tree on her cheek. She wondered if they were doing Christmas trees. They walked past a vendor with big salty pretzels and another man with cotton candy. She wanted both of those. But, maybe later. Lines were first.

Ali waved to Maria, who was in charge of the lost and found booth with Shige. The girl cheerfully waved back then elbowed Shige as he’d pulled on his headphones and was clearly no longer paying attention to booth duties. Though as there currently weren’t any, one could hardly blame him.


Christopher dropped off the cotton swabs so that the face painters now had all the supplies they needed. Someone else went to get the water. "Ali here would like her face painted" Christopher mentioned. He then turned to her and helped her into the chair. The last time he had helped Ali into a chair was the dentist chair in Dr. Sullivan's office.

"Is there Christmas trees?" Ali asked inquisitively, looking expectantly at Chris.

Christopher chuckled. "Well I don't know. You'll have to ask the face painters. I was just asked to go get the cotton swabs. I'm sure they can do one if you'd like but isn't it a bit out of season for that?" he replied.

"What's it a season for?" Ali asked confused. She thought everyone liked Christmas. She crossed her hand across her face to swipe hair out of her eyes.

"Well it's summer, so maybe something like a sun or ice cream or a sand castle. If you want a Christmas tree though go right ahead. I'm sure you'll be unique with it on" Christopher said to Ali and leaned against the booth while waiting for Ali to get her face painted.

"Well.... I'll just get what you get then."| Ali said in deference to choosing for herself. "Okay?' she said to the hapless and innocent face painter girl, who looked dutifully at Chris.

Christopher blinked. "Huh? You want me to get my face painted?" he asked, a little surprised. He thought he would just be watching Ali while she got something on her face.

"Un hunh!" Ali said exuberantly. "Yeah! I'll get what you get!" Ali looked at Chris expectantly.

"Oh, well I don't know what I want" Christopher said. He was thinking of something science related. Maybe a test tube or something.

"Well come on Chrissy - there's a line! And I wanna still get cotton candy too. And ride the tilty thingy. Oh and Pretzles, oh and a popsicle too!" Ali nodded as if her sentence had been completely follow-able. She then eyed the small group of 2-ish people behind Chris who were indeed lining up for face painting, though there was more than one painter of course...

"Alright" Christopher said. He settled for a beaker containing a red liquid. "So, you're going to get this too?" he asked Ali while his face was being painted.

" Yeah! But I want blue!" Ali watched intently as the girl quickly painted a nice red beaker, complete with glassy sheen and miniscule luminescent bubbles onto Chrissy's face. Her mouth hung slightly open as she leaned side ways to see.

"Okay" Christopher said. Once he was finished he got out of the chair and helped Ali back in so that she could get painted. "I think Dr. Stanfield will be happy that you're getting something about science painted on your face" he said. He then went back to leaning on the booth corner while watching Ali get a beaker just like his, but with blue liquid on her cheek.

"Yeah?" Ali asked happily. "Dr. Dad does like science I guess. You need science to be a doctor right?" she asked holding her face extra still after asking her question. When the girl went to switch colors she continued"I like science. Ms. Powers says I'm good at school, even though I never went before." The little girl swung her feet as her picture was finished off. She looked in the mirror the girl held up and smiled happily. It was a nice blue.
"Can we get cotton candy now?" she asked hopefully, hopping down.

"Yes, you do need science to be a doctor because that's what medicine is" Christopher said as he paid for the face painting. "Sure, we can go do that. Hopefully there won't be too long a line" he said.

Ironically as the two were heading over, who should pop over to say 'hi' but the school dentist himself, Dr. Sullivan.

"It's the tooth doctor!" Ali exclaimed as they waited in line. Holding onto Chris's hand she leaned over to wave up at him. Ali used to think that Dr. Sullivan was the tooth fairy, but as he had a decided lack of wings she just assumed now that he knew the fairy on a purely business basis.

"Hello, Dr. Sullivan" Christopher said to the dentist.

The dentist gave Chris a small nod and then smiled down at Ali. "So what are you doing here? You're not getting cotton candy are you? You better be brushing your teeth" he said with his hands on his hips. Of course this was done in a playful matter. Everyone knew Dr. Sullivan couldn't be too serious...unless he really had to be.

"Two times a day! And I have my mouthwash that makes it colored! Ali was particularly fond of that mouthwash. Zaias - was not. Then she clicked it "Can I really not have cotton candy? she asked slightly saddened leaning against Chrissy’s leg in thought.

Christopher chucked and pat the back of her little head. "Of course you can. Dr. Sullivan is just being silly" he said.

"As long as you promise to brush your teeth. I don't want to see any cavities at your next appointment. Pinky swear?" Dr. Sullivan asked and held a pinky down to Ali.

"Yeah!" Ali curled her little pinky around the dentist's much larger hand, which for once, wasn't sporting a glove. "Do you like cotton candy?" she asked the dentist. Handing Chris her gator and holding her arms up to be picked up by the dentist. Zaias had said that now that she was getting bigger she wouldn't be able to be picked up by everyone for much longer. So she did it as often as possible while she still could.

"Well I don't eat it very often. It's pure sugar and I try to avoid it, though once in a while I'll be a bad dentist and have something like that. You want me to pick you up?" Dr. Sullivan replied.

"Yeah, uhm yes please. " Ali amended. "Is blue cotton candy worse or better than pink?" she asked, "For your teeth." she ammended

Dr. Sullivan picked up the girl and gave her a piggy back. "Hmm, I don't think it matters. They're both sugar. Colour doesn't matter. You still have to brush your teeth after eating it, no matter which one" Dr. Sullivan replied. He looked at Christopher. "So, you've been assigned as babysitter then, I take it" he said.

"It would seem so. Dr. Stanfield is busy and Zaias has an interview to do. What about you?" Christopher replied.

"I've been supervising a couple rides and stuff. Carnival day isn't really a day to be working in the office. Since Dr. Stanfield is handling all medical issues, I decided to help out with other things" the dentist said. "So what are you going to be doing today?" he asked Ali.

"All of it." Ali said matter of factly while playing with the ends of Dr. Sullivan's hair. He wasn't as tall as Zaias, but he had much longer hair. She remembered her old daddy's hair had been long, but it had been ugly and dirty. Dr. Sullivan's hair was much prettier and it smelled nice. Ali leaned her head on Dr. Sullivan's shoulder while she watched the cotton candy man spin some of the sugar around on a paper cone. She wondered if Chris and Dr. Dad and Dr. Stanfield knew how it did that because they knew science. She'd like to know.

Dr. Sullivan laughed. "I see. Well then, I shouldn't keep you. I have some stuff to do as well" he said and put Ali back down. He liked the feeling of her playing with his hair. Although he wasn't working in the office today, it was still kept in the usual ponytail.

Christopher noticed Ali had been staring at the cotton candy machine. "I take it you really want it, don't you?" he asked her.

" Yeah!" Ali answered as she waved Dr. Sullivan bye bye. "I wanna know how it goes to cotton too." she said quietly peering at the twirling cones.

"Well it's not real cotton. It's just called that because that's what it looks like. It's in a spinning machine to keep it from going all hard and crusty. It keeps the candy all fluffy" Christopher explained.

"Yeah, but he pours in powder, how’s it get to cotton?" Ali said holding onto Chris's wrist that held onto her Gator. She tugged him forward to get closer to the machine.

"The spinning machine does that. I could explain the physics to you, but I think it might be a little too complicated to understand. Let's just say the powder is spun into the cotton" Christopher said. "Do you want pink or blue?" he asked.

"Pink please~" Ali said pondering for only a moment. "Do you not like Physics?" she asked as the man went to work picking out a most bountiful pink cottoned cone for the adorable child. She looked up at Chris from her spot at his knee.

"Oh, I like physics. I like all sciences, but I think that if I explained the scientific process on how the cotton candy gets fluffy, you wouldn't understand. You're probably just starting your addition and subtraction tables" Christopher said as he bought the cotton candy. He then took Ali over to the side so that she could eat it.

"I can count to more than one hundred. I can count to any hundred. " she said taking her cone in one hand. She didn't quite know how to go about starting this, cartoon characters just seemed to take bites out of it, but everyone in real life was using their fingers. She pursed her lips at her lack of an explanation of the cobwebby substance then looked down the fair's corridor to the tilt a whirl.

"Alright. Do you really want me to go into a detailed explanation of how it becomes all fluffy?" Christopher asked.

Ali probably would have said yes. Unfortunately Chris was about to learn one of the cardinal rules of babysitting the hard way. The rule - always keep an eye on the kiddies. Why? Because in a crowded carnival children loading up on sugar tended to wander- and wander fast. Point of proof -> Ali was in the wind.


Christopher had turned his head for a split second, then turned to Ali to find her missing. "Oh, crap" he said and began running off to find her. He tried to use his telepathic powers to locate her.

Ali for some reason, got lost in the general massive hub bub of excitement a fair inspired in a bunch of people. If it wasn't the barely contained eagerness of people her own age, likely siblings of current or soon to be students, the nervousness of those new students seemed to block Chris out. There was a thought he did find loud and clear though and it was about Ali.

Ms. Powers stooped to greet Ali who had wandered her way with fingers sticky from cotton candy. "Why Hello Ali!" she greeted the girl, grabbing a wet wipe from the endless bag of useful things she called a purse. She wiped the girl's fingers as Ali said hello in return. She saw the girl peer around her at the tilt a whirl, whose smooth operation was the responsibility of Ms. Powers and a student council member - for some reason. "Do you want a ride? I'll put you on with me if you're scared." Ms. Powers offered. "Come on. she said and taking the little girls hand went for a whirl.

Ali thoroughly enjoyed her spin and was standing next to the booth where Ms. Powers now started collecting tickets. It had been fun, but Ms. Powers was asking where Zaias was and she didn't want to admit she'd lost Christopher when she had come here. She could see where she'd left him now, but he wasn't there any longer.
Bravely she decided to go look for him, and sneaking quickly she managed to disappear on Ms. Powers as well.

~Back to Chris who is casually freaking out~

"Zaias and Dr. Stanfield are going to take turns killing me if I can't find Ali" Christopher muttered to himself. He was still looking for her. Everyone's thoughts kept disrupting any mental contact he tried to make with the little girl.

Moments later and a short distance away~

Dr. Sullivan felt someone run into the back of his legs. He turned around and saw Ali. "Oh, it's you again. What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"Ah, Chris had to go to the bathroom so he said I should stand by you until he was done." Ali didn't know why she'd fibbed exactly, but it had been for Chris, not herself. " I haven't brushed my teeth yet." she said slightly distressed and as easily distracted as any other 5 year old. After all Dr. Sullivan was the tooth doctor who knew, personally, the tooth fairy.

"Oh, he did, did he? Are you sure? He never asked me. You'd think he would" Dr. Sullivan said to Ali. He then crossed his arms. "You didn't wander off, did you?" he asked.

"Ahhh..." Ali said trailing off but completely unable to hide that huge grin all children spontaneously and unconsciously formed while trying to get away with a trick or a fib...
Luckily Ali was saved as she saw a familiar face in the crowd. "Hi Mr. Tomas!" she shouted and waved to the handsome young man who was covered in what looked like lipstick marks and a whole lot of regret. He was off in the distance somewhat behind Dr. Sullivan and managed to perk up out of his beleaguered state to look around for who was calling his name. Ali turned slightly thoughtful and worried as she mumbled to the dentist. "What's wrong with his face?"

Dr. Sullivan looked at the guy and then back to Ali. "I'm afraid to ask" he said. He then sighed. "You know, I'm sure Christopher is worried about you. I think we should look for him, shouldn't you?" Dr. Sullivan asked. "How about you sit on my shoulders and see if you can see him" he added.

CAN I!?" Ali’s little mouth dropped open, and excitement over the prospect kind of dulled the whole avoiding Christopher aspect of the situation. She didn't know what to do.

The dentist picked Ali up and plopped her on his shoulders. "Do you see him anywhere?" he asked, while slowly turning in a circle so that Ali could see in every direction.

Ali squealed and hung on tightly laughing, she only ever got rides from Zaias and it was different with different people. For one Dr Sullivan was much better at walking without jolting her around. Though Zaias only did that for fun. Still it was nice that Dr. S was taller than some of the other people. She was having so much fun she forgot to look.

"Do you see him?" Dr. Sullivan asked, "stop giggling and look".He reminded her tugging on one little foot.

"Ahhhh over there maybe?" Ali said pointing to the side and laughing more as Dr. Sullivan turned that way. "NO! Over there!" she said losing again the whole point of the exercise but enjoying the ride.

Dr. Sullivan sighed and put Ali down. "Well, this isn't getting anywhere" he said while fixing his shirt collar. "Maybe we need to call him" he said.

Just as Dr. Sullivan was saying this, a kid about 1 or 2 years older than Ali was walking with his mother and bit into his ice cream. He then began crying and clutching his face. "Mommy! My tooth hurts!" he cried.
The older woman looked down at him and frowned. "I told you to brush your brush your teeth more often! Now you probably have a cavity" she scolded. The boy looked aghast and even more pained than he had been previously.

Ali shared a dumbfounded look with Dr. Sullivan and looked back to the mother son pair. "Can't you ...magic it better quick?" she proposed, feeling her own jaw in sympathy and looking up at him with a placating expression.

Dr. Sullivan chuckled at Ali. "I don't have that kind of power, but I can fix it if the mother will permit me." he stated and began talking to the mother. The boy looked at Ali while clutching his face.

~ At the tilt a whirl ~

Christopher spotted Ms Powers. "Ms Powers, have you seen Ali around?" he asked her.


"Ah hello Chris." Ms. Powers smiled at the boy. " I have actually. She was here a few moments ago, but when I turned around from the ticket booth she was gone. I was just about to go looking for her with Tomas. He just got back from the kissing booth and apparently saw her with Dr. Stanfield on the way over here."

~

Dr. Sullivan turned back to Ali, but she was gone. "Oh, dear" he said.

Clearly the adult set around Ali hadn't spent much time with young children. Ali was again pulled away, though this time by the tugging hand of someone else she knew.
~

"Well at least she was spotted. She can't be too far. Where about did you see her?" Christopher asked.

"Ah I'm not sure where she went, but she was watching the crowd of people by the ticket booth. Maybe she saw someone from school?" Ms. Powers felt really horrible that she couldn't help. If only Avery and Shige were around to help pin point the little girl in the crowd. ”Regardless, if I see her again I’ll give you a text!” she suggested.

~
"Hey Muchkin! Guess who's here for a visit???" Whit said teasingly to Ali, hoisting her up to his hip and becoming subtly visible once again. Totally not noticing Dr. S as he led the loudly wailing tooth acher away.

" WHIT! Hi! Where's Avery! Will you take me on the carousel!? Your hair is funny." Ali giggled at Whit's perfectly combed hairstyle and hugged him around his neck before she sat straight enough to be able to mess with it.

"Yeah Avery does it like that, I don't get it either." Whit said allowing Ali to restyle at her will. "We can go on the carousel sure! But where's Z?" Whit asked putting her on the ground and taking her hand. Avery had always said handholding was the key to keeping little people in line.

"He's at work, I'm here with Chris but he's somewhere." she shrugged and went with a half truth this time. She knew Whit wouldn't freak, and he'd get her a ride on the carousel.

Dr. Sullivan took the mother and the kid inside. He wanted to look for Ali, but he had other things to take care of. She was the responsibility of Christopher anyway, besides, Dr. Sullivan had a feeling he would find her.
~
"Hmm Ok. Well I'll find her. Thanks for the help though" Christopher said and continued on his search for Ali. He thought he spotted her in the distance but wasn't sure. There were too many heads in the way. He went in that direction anyway.
Christopher eventually found Ali with Whit near the carousel. "There you are. I've been looking all over. You really made me worried" Christopher said to Ali with a bit of a scolding tone. He then looked at Whit. "Hey. Thanks for finding her. I didn't know if you were coming" he said.

”Aves school doesn’t start till next week, and I have the decided benefit of being low man on the totem pole who’s related to top man of the totem pole, so I got the day off.” Whit said, readjusting Ali on his hip. No wonder he’d found her alone, she’d made her escape from the resident science nerd. Though it did explain the beaker on her face. Whit figured this day would probably end up being educational for Chris at the very least.
”We just had a ride on the carousel, where’s everyone else?” he asked.

”Sorry….” Ali mumbled, not too used to being in trouble. Though she was glad Chris had held onto her gator. She reached for it and held it close as she took a break off her feet up in Whit’s arms. She only had a few things left she wanted to get done. But it was starting to get dark outside.


As dusk hit the carnival the lights strung along the hedges and tree lined paths sprung to life and the tinkling music notes that had been playing were swapped out for a livelier melody. Ali smiled at the change and grinned wider as a breeze made the lights jiggle in the tree branches.
Chris cut into Ali’s mental break "You won't run away again, right? You had me worried you know. What would Zaias and Dr. Stanfield say if they found out you ran out of my sight?" He lifted a cautionary brow, as they both knew exactly what would happen. Though moreso to him than the squirt. He became distracted as his cell phone began ringing; unclipping it from his belt he answered it. "Hello? Oh, hi Dr. Sullivan. Yeah, I found her. She ran away from you too? Well at least she's safe now....you need an extra pair of hands? Where's your assistant...ah, right. You hadn't planned of doing any procedures, so why would she be here. Well I'm busy babysitting.” Chris listened intently for a moment and shot a glance over to Ali..”Ah.. I'll have to see" he said mysteriously before hanging up. He looked at Whit and Ali. "Dr. Sullivan wants me to lend a hand with filling a kid's tooth. Probably needs me to hold some stuff" he said. He looked at Ali. "He also asked if you could come. The kid he's helping is being fussy and is hoping you can talk to him to help calm down" Christopher said.

Whit’s eyebrows shot up as he gave Ali a bounce on his hip. ”Sounds important little one. Can’t let the tooth fairy down now can you?” he said shooting Chris a wink over the little girls head.
It’d be good for her to have a break inside anyway. She looked a little windblown and by the amount of deadweight in his arms, she probably needed to eat and sit down for awhile. Did 5 year olds take naps? Ali was five now right? When was her birthday? Aves would know…probably…he’d have to ask.

”He wants me to help?” Ali asked incredulously. Ali never really got to interact with a whole lot of other kids her age. Or help out with all that many dental procedures come to think of it. ”Well I guess, if the carnival will still be here when we get back, and …and he really wants me to.” she said looking at Chris optimistically.

Chris nodded and held out his hand taking the little girl to the science building at a fast clip. He hadn’t said anything but he’d heard the little boy from before screaming through the phone.

~
Around the same time, Spencer was taking a break, he’d been to every booth collecting all the funds and now he was set to start tallying it up with the student council president.

~
In the dental office Dr. Sullivan was actually using pain killer this time, so he still didn’t understand why the little fellow in his chair wasn’t settling down. It was unusual. He was fairly decent with kids, even if he did work mostly on adults.

The boy’s mom looked at her wits end as she had already tried what seemed to be her usual tactics of bribery, followed by what had been an awkward attempt at a threat just now. At a loss she now seemed to just be tolerating the incessant whining in awkward silence; though even Dr. S could see the last thread of her less than impressive store of patience beginning to fray.

Dr Sullivan just sighed quietly as he pulled his pediatric tray of instruments from the drawer where they were usually stored. Too bad he couldn’t call up Dr. Stanfield and order up an analgesic strong enough to put the kid out for a few hours. Not that a simple filling would take that long, but it certainly couldn’t hurt the little boy to miss out on what he was sure would be plenty of carnival candy.

Christopher walked Ali past the medical tent and let her say 'hi' to Dr. Stanfield before they headed over to the medical building. Christopher heard the kid kicking up a fuss as soon as they entered the waiting room of the dental offices. "Hmm. Sounds like Dr. Sullivan really needs your help to talk to this kid" Christopher said. He then knocked and poked his head into the procedure room with Ali in tow.

"I don't wanna get my tooth drilled!!!!!" the kid wailed, his mother now staring immovably from the ceiling.

As he turned to wash his hands at the sink he heard a light rapping at his office door and turned to see Chris and Ali peeking their heads in. As the annoyed mother didn’t seem to keen on having any more witnesses he quickly stepped over and opened the door wider.

”Hey you two.” He said in the sudden silence. Apparently the presence of another kid had made the little boy mute his whining. Though the rumblings were still highly evident.

Turning he explained their presence. ”This is Chris, one of the science affiliated students here at Iris, he’s also replaced my assistant several times, and was gracious enough to come help me out today with your…little fella.” Dr. Sullivan said somewhat hesitantly as he attempted to find words that weren’t rude.

”And this is Ali, she’s a special student here at Iris, and I thought she’d serve as a good distraction for your little boy. She’s an excellent dental patient and can tell him all about what’s going on.” He left the fact that he hoped some of her excellent dental patient skills would rub off on the spoiled little boy. But he held out very little actual hope. Kneeling he said quietly to Ali. "Can you see if you can talk to him? Maybe he needs to hear words from another kid to help him calm down. I don't think he trusts us grown-ups"

Dr. S stood and gave Ali a little pat on the back and nudged her towards the boy sprawled against one arm of the dental chair as far away from his Mom and Dr. Sullivan as he could get. Ali eyed the little boy with her odd gray eyes and went to the same side of the chair that he was on. She stood in front of the window and the dim light left from outside bounced off her hair in an odd orangey shade.

She put her hands on the same arm rest as the little boy and they watched together as Dr. S put the tray of tools down on the stand near the chair.
Ali waited until the Dr had turned around again before she leaned in close and whispered covertly ”Don’t worry, the tooth fairy is his boss.” She stood back up with a serious nod, small almost invisible eyebrows uplifted. ”And he does my teeth see” Ali smiled and pointed and her new friend did tilt his head to look. Ali patted his arm as Dr Sullivan came over with the numby gel and the boy sat back properly with a single worried glance at Ali.

~

A short time later the little boy was freed and walked off hand in hand with his mom, without even the pretense of holding a hand to his jaw. Ali and Chris were allowed to go back to the carnival and left Dr. S. to clean up the tools.

The rest of the night was left wide open. Now what to do with it. Chris looked down beside him to ask Ali what she had left she wanted to do at the carnival.

Only she wasn’t there again. His life flashed briefly before his eyes and he face palmed before he heard the mischievous giggle up ahead of him. Ali peeked out from behind a tree and raised an eyebrow at him before running back to grab his hand. He was almost incapable of moving for a moment, his relief was so great, until finally her tugging pulled him forward one step and then another.

”C’mon Chris! Let’s go!” Ali enthused tugging impressively for a shrimp her size.

”Alright alright I’m coming. On ONE condition.” Chris said bending down to Ali’s height and putting on an uber serious face. Ali sobered immediately and looked worried. Chris did have a good guilt inspiring stare when it came to her today it would seem. Chris just looked at her as she waited patiently for his verdict.

”To make sure you don’t run off again you’d better ride on my back. “ He said as if stating the obvious and most sensible solution. But let’s face it. He was a fairly smart guy, usually.

Ali’s mouth dropped open and she jumped on the spot. An enthusiastic ‘Okay!’ Was all Chris heard before she disappeared behind him and he felt her glomp onto his back.

Chris stood and together they walked off towards the bright lights of the carnival, in the darkening night if one listened closely you would be able to hear a sudden choking sound followed by an excited gasp and squeal ”Look Chrissy! GOLDFISH! Let’s play!”.
If you listened even harder or you had a certain special ability or two, you might even be able to hear the resigned sigh that followed.
~ Fin

P.S. -> The fundraiser was a success! It is every year! ^.^ -> From you're ever present Student President. cat_3nodding
"Ah! Also! Zaias got the job! We're all so very proud of him!" Ms. Powers <- she just had to say it. She was too excited.