Entry tags:
Biggles fic: Play Date
Because what the fandom definitely needs right now is MORE FIC.
I was Enabled. Also, shockingly, I don't think these characters have been de-aged *once* in this fandom and there had to be a first time.
(Update: Also, this is partly based on this absolutely adorable AI art that![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sweetsorcery posted of papercraft-style versions of the characters, which is what inspired the original thoughts about this in a conversation with sheron yesterday that basically spiraled into this fic.)
Play Date (1200 wds)
In which Algy has to deal with child versions of Biggles and EvS after a magical artifact encounter.
Also on AO3
Algy didn't remember Biggles all that well from when they were kids. What he remembered was, mostly, a slightly older cousin he had tagged after in an adoring kind of way.
It was a startling revelation to discover that Biggles as a kid was -- there was no other word for it -- adorable.
He was tiny and cute and, to Algy's genuine surprise, quiet and shy. He was a thin, rather sickly kid with huge eyes and a mop of fair hair, and all Algy wanted to do was wrap him in a blanket and protect him.
At least when Biggles wasn't driving him insane. One minute he would be quietly promising to stay in bed, with those big hazel eyes full of sincerity -- and the next, he was going out the window with a bedsheet tied into a rope, or the equivalent.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
No -- the worst was von Stalhein.
Von Stalhein, who had also been exposed to the same artifact that had done this to Biggles, and who was now also a precocious child of about five or six. If Algy had trouble thinking of his cousin and "adorable" in the same sentence, it was about 20 different shades of absolute wrong to think of von Stalhein that way.
Algy was at the table, enjoying the first quiet cup of tea he'd managed to have all day and poring over the sheaf of papers they'd obtained from Biggles's uncle in hopes of finding some way to fix this when a sudden crash made him jump and nearly spill his tea. He leaped to his feet.
"Ginger! I told you to keep an eye on them!"
Ginger also had more papers and books spread out in the sitting room. "Biggles is in his room," he said. "Erich is reading on the --" He looked around to find an empty blanket cocoon on the sofa that had formerly contained a small dark-haired boy, who had settled down with a book after the two children stopped sulking after being separated, which they had both treated like a punishment.
Biggles was definitely not in his room. Algy thought the crash had come from his own room, and soon discovered this was in fact the case when he came in to find Biggles tangled up in the curtains and von Stalhein trying to extricate him.
As soon as Algy came in, both children froze guiltily. Von Stalhein -- Erich, rather; it was far too ponderous a name for a child who barely came up to Algy's waist -- scrambled to his feet and straightened himself in a stiff pose that seemed too old for his years. "It is my fault, sir," he said precisely. His English was faultless (he'd clearly learned it at a very young age) but still unpracticed. "Don't punish him. Punish me."
"No!" Biggles yelped, trying once again to struggle out of the curtains. "It's not his fault, it was my idea actually, please don't punish him and please please don't stop him from playing with me. I'm sorry, I'll be good."
They were both staring at Algy and Biggles, at least, was clearly trying not to cry, which made him feel like a heartless monster. Algy wished he could take a moment to step outside the room and scream.
"What were you two doing?" he managed to say calmly.
"We were playing cave explorer," Biggles explained. He coughed a little.
"On my curtains. When you're supposed to be resting."
One of the things that had been truly startling was finding out how sickly a child Biggles actually was. Algy didn't remember that part at all. Then he'd found out how hard it was to keep him in bed, where he clearly ought to be.
"You can punish me," Biggles said earnestly, but Erich had already stepped between Biggles and Algy, looking as if he planned to defend him against the much bigger adult.
Unbelievable, Algy thought. They'd only known each other, from their current perspective, for something like two hours.
"I will take the punishment for both of us," Erich said.
"No, please, sir," Biggles cried. He finally managed to untangle himself from the curtains and pushed his way in front of the taller child. "Me!"
Algy rubbed his forehead. "No one's being punished," he said. "Biggles, that is, James, why don't you go back to your room and lie down. I'll -- I'll bring you some toast or something."
"I'll stay in bed if Erich can come play with me," Biggles said hopefully. "I'll be very good."
Algy had been trying to keep them apart because they were vastly more trouble together, but he realized as the two children stared at him -- Biggles with hopeful eyes, Erich still bristling as if he meant to fend Algy off physically -- that he might have found leverage that would actually work.
"You can play together if, and only if, you play quietly and stay in Bigg-- er, in James's room," he said.
Both of them broke into grins -- Biggles a delighted, sweet grin that was vaguely reminiscent of his adult self, Erich smiling shyly.
"Come on, I'll show you grownup me's model aeroplanes," Biggles suggested, and the two dashed off.
"Don't break anything!" Algy shouted after them. He turned with a sigh to look at the mess they had left behind. His first inclination was to drag them back by the ear and make them clean it up. Then he thought of those shy, delighted grins, sighed again, and started untangling the curtains.
Some time later, when he came into Biggles's bedroom with a tray containing two cups of warm milk and some cake he'd found in the kitchen, the two children were playing quietly on the rumpled covers of Biggles's bed. They had Biggles's entire selection of model aeroplanes spread out and seemed to have staged a mock battle.
"I'm in bed," Biggles reported hopefully.
"Yes, I see that."
Erich watched Algy as he set down the tray on the nightstand, with an old-beyond-his-years wariness that was once again like a little flash of his future self. "Is that for us?" he asked.
No, I just decided to taunt you both with cake because I'm a horrible person. "Yes, of course, just try not to spill anything." He sat on the edge of the bed and examined the aeroplanes spread out all over the bedcovers. "What are you doing?"
"Rescue," Biggles promptly supplied. He pointed to the foot of the bed, where the bedcovers were rumpled up, half burying a toy plane.
"If you're bullying him," Algy began indignantly to Erich.
"What? No!" Biggles declared, rousing out of his bed in protective indignation. "That's Erich's plane. I'm rescuing him."
"Of course you are," Algy sighed.
"And then it's my turn to rescue you," Erich said. Biggles nodded vigorously.
Algy gave up. "Well, maybe you'll learn something." It was almost impossible to hold back the urge to scruff both their hair. Somehow he resisted.
I was Enabled. Also, shockingly, I don't think these characters have been de-aged *once* in this fandom and there had to be a first time.
(Update: Also, this is partly based on this absolutely adorable AI art that
sweetsorcery posted of papercraft-style versions of the characters, which is what inspired the original thoughts about this in a conversation with sheron yesterday that basically spiraled into this fic.)Play Date (1200 wds)
In which Algy has to deal with child versions of Biggles and EvS after a magical artifact encounter.
Also on AO3
Algy didn't remember Biggles all that well from when they were kids. What he remembered was, mostly, a slightly older cousin he had tagged after in an adoring kind of way.
It was a startling revelation to discover that Biggles as a kid was -- there was no other word for it -- adorable.
He was tiny and cute and, to Algy's genuine surprise, quiet and shy. He was a thin, rather sickly kid with huge eyes and a mop of fair hair, and all Algy wanted to do was wrap him in a blanket and protect him.
At least when Biggles wasn't driving him insane. One minute he would be quietly promising to stay in bed, with those big hazel eyes full of sincerity -- and the next, he was going out the window with a bedsheet tied into a rope, or the equivalent.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
No -- the worst was von Stalhein.
Von Stalhein, who had also been exposed to the same artifact that had done this to Biggles, and who was now also a precocious child of about five or six. If Algy had trouble thinking of his cousin and "adorable" in the same sentence, it was about 20 different shades of absolute wrong to think of von Stalhein that way.
Algy was at the table, enjoying the first quiet cup of tea he'd managed to have all day and poring over the sheaf of papers they'd obtained from Biggles's uncle in hopes of finding some way to fix this when a sudden crash made him jump and nearly spill his tea. He leaped to his feet.
"Ginger! I told you to keep an eye on them!"
Ginger also had more papers and books spread out in the sitting room. "Biggles is in his room," he said. "Erich is reading on the --" He looked around to find an empty blanket cocoon on the sofa that had formerly contained a small dark-haired boy, who had settled down with a book after the two children stopped sulking after being separated, which they had both treated like a punishment.
Biggles was definitely not in his room. Algy thought the crash had come from his own room, and soon discovered this was in fact the case when he came in to find Biggles tangled up in the curtains and von Stalhein trying to extricate him.
As soon as Algy came in, both children froze guiltily. Von Stalhein -- Erich, rather; it was far too ponderous a name for a child who barely came up to Algy's waist -- scrambled to his feet and straightened himself in a stiff pose that seemed too old for his years. "It is my fault, sir," he said precisely. His English was faultless (he'd clearly learned it at a very young age) but still unpracticed. "Don't punish him. Punish me."
"No!" Biggles yelped, trying once again to struggle out of the curtains. "It's not his fault, it was my idea actually, please don't punish him and please please don't stop him from playing with me. I'm sorry, I'll be good."
They were both staring at Algy and Biggles, at least, was clearly trying not to cry, which made him feel like a heartless monster. Algy wished he could take a moment to step outside the room and scream.
"What were you two doing?" he managed to say calmly.
"We were playing cave explorer," Biggles explained. He coughed a little.
"On my curtains. When you're supposed to be resting."
One of the things that had been truly startling was finding out how sickly a child Biggles actually was. Algy didn't remember that part at all. Then he'd found out how hard it was to keep him in bed, where he clearly ought to be.
"You can punish me," Biggles said earnestly, but Erich had already stepped between Biggles and Algy, looking as if he planned to defend him against the much bigger adult.
Unbelievable, Algy thought. They'd only known each other, from their current perspective, for something like two hours.
"I will take the punishment for both of us," Erich said.
"No, please, sir," Biggles cried. He finally managed to untangle himself from the curtains and pushed his way in front of the taller child. "Me!"
Algy rubbed his forehead. "No one's being punished," he said. "Biggles, that is, James, why don't you go back to your room and lie down. I'll -- I'll bring you some toast or something."
"I'll stay in bed if Erich can come play with me," Biggles said hopefully. "I'll be very good."
Algy had been trying to keep them apart because they were vastly more trouble together, but he realized as the two children stared at him -- Biggles with hopeful eyes, Erich still bristling as if he meant to fend Algy off physically -- that he might have found leverage that would actually work.
"You can play together if, and only if, you play quietly and stay in Bigg-- er, in James's room," he said.
Both of them broke into grins -- Biggles a delighted, sweet grin that was vaguely reminiscent of his adult self, Erich smiling shyly.
"Come on, I'll show you grownup me's model aeroplanes," Biggles suggested, and the two dashed off.
"Don't break anything!" Algy shouted after them. He turned with a sigh to look at the mess they had left behind. His first inclination was to drag them back by the ear and make them clean it up. Then he thought of those shy, delighted grins, sighed again, and started untangling the curtains.
Some time later, when he came into Biggles's bedroom with a tray containing two cups of warm milk and some cake he'd found in the kitchen, the two children were playing quietly on the rumpled covers of Biggles's bed. They had Biggles's entire selection of model aeroplanes spread out and seemed to have staged a mock battle.
"I'm in bed," Biggles reported hopefully.
"Yes, I see that."
Erich watched Algy as he set down the tray on the nightstand, with an old-beyond-his-years wariness that was once again like a little flash of his future self. "Is that for us?" he asked.
No, I just decided to taunt you both with cake because I'm a horrible person. "Yes, of course, just try not to spill anything." He sat on the edge of the bed and examined the aeroplanes spread out all over the bedcovers. "What are you doing?"
"Rescue," Biggles promptly supplied. He pointed to the foot of the bed, where the bedcovers were rumpled up, half burying a toy plane.
"If you're bullying him," Algy began indignantly to Erich.
"What? No!" Biggles declared, rousing out of his bed in protective indignation. "That's Erich's plane. I'm rescuing him."
"Of course you are," Algy sighed.
"And then it's my turn to rescue you," Erich said. Biggles nodded vigorously.
Algy gave up. "Well, maybe you'll learn something." It was almost impossible to hold back the urge to scruff both their hair. Somehow he resisted.
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If possible,I would love to see more of the child versions of Biggles and Erich.
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Also, I think maybe a bit of a shock to Algy to see Biggles sickly and frail and to realise that they might not have had all these years of adventure together if things had gone wrong.
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Yes, this! I cannot say I enjoy everything about the Biggles as a boy books, but I like young Biggles as a person and I think that almost every single adult he meets is awful to him. Even the ones who think they are doing it for his own good or to teach him a lesson. Like the headmaster (I hate him) in the first chapter of Biggles Goes to School.
Tiny!Biggles is actually really friendly and earnest to everyone, child or adult; a real friend at school to have fun with and confide in (or a few of them, because he is bullied, too) would have made such a difference. I know the books shows how Tiny!Biggles is fine on his own, but what if he didn't have to be!
In the last chapter of The Boy Biggles, he explains very calmly to his friend how he'll probably die of the next fever he gets and that's why he has to leave India. And the next thing chronologically is that awful scene in the headmaster's office at the boarding school.
So,this is a very long winded way of saying that Tiny!Biggles having Tiny!Erich for a friend feels right in every way. Somehow, I feel that Erich might have had friends, growing up, not that many, but very close and treasured friendships.
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And tiny wary Erich all protective of Biggles, and Biggles so fragile and such a HOLY TERROR! Bribing them with Not Being Separated! Rescue games! This is all the cutest thing in the world <333
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Algy definitely needs to give kid!Biggles all the hugs, though. Erich probably needs one too, but that might be a bridge too far. Still, I'm now picturing Algy reading them to sleep and both of them falling asleep on him and I'm dying. ♥
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I mean, pretty please?
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Because unlike random original child characters, they're characters we love already, but we get to delight in their unfiltered personalities without pesky things like wars, and being enemies, and influences from others, spoiling them. I don't doubt for a moment that mini-Biggles and mini-Erich would be exactly like this.
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(Anonymous) 2023-12-10 01:32 am (UTC)(link)This isn't the first de-aging story, though, I'm afraid. kK on the forum wrote one for Halloween last year.
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(Anonymous) 2023-12-10 12:40 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
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