[Edel PRP] Not So Little Anymore (Adi/Echo/Concerto)

[Meepfur]

Though initially disappointed that Echo didn't know anyone, her ears perked with interest when she mentioned another possiblity. Concerto was rather handsome, after all, and she had at one time had a bit of a little girl crush on him (as children sometimes did with babysitters and teachers). It was an interesting possibility that bore further discussion.

...or would have, if he hadn't chosen right then to come back, and clearly heard his mistress. Adi giggled unrepentantly. "You think so?"

[A Wandering Esper]

"Of course !" Echo couldn't help herself - she was laughing, loud and true. Poor Concerto ! She'll feel bad later on. Maybe. "Is is rather cute, no ?"

Concerto seemed to know better than to say anything at this moment - sure, there was no denying that Adi was cute and nice but it was Adrienne and he'd changed her damn diapers ! and well, she was still very much little Adi in his mind, in spite of having the proof sitting right in front of him.

He crouched down to lie the platter down at arms' length of both the ladies, and lingered, for a moment, not knowing if he was meant to stay or go back to the sanctity of the kitchen while he was being gossiped about.

[Meepfur]

Adrienne 'studied' him for a moment, though she couldn't keep a straight face, and observed, "He does have nice wings."

It was just in good fun, though. Mostly. She was well aware that she was still little Adi to just about everyone - and Concerto'd known her since the day she was born. She'd just have to find someone who hadn't known her when she was little; not that she was in any particular hurry. She had plenty of other things to do!

When he set the platter down, her tail set to wagging again. "Ohh, snacks!"

[A Wandering Esper]

Concerto's poker face wasn't holding, and he blushed even more when Adrienne 'studied' him, not quite realizing it was jokingly until much too late, and then he simply sat, and looked at his mistress. "Does this mean we are even ?"

Echo, for her part, had taken an orange quarter to eat, and she looked as much as an imp as is was possible for her to be. "Maybe." Concerto had given her hell back when she and Nergal had been in this weird, in between stages - it was more than time for her to claim some payback.

[Meepfur]

Hmm, what to have~? Something that went with orange juice...but not an orange. After a moment of thought, Adi selected and apple, only to tip her head curiously at the 'adults.' "Even? For what?"

[A Wandering Esper]

"You see, dear, Concerto can't leave anything alone." Echo leaped on the question, so to speak, looking downright angelic.

"You two just had to not make it so tempting." Concerto muttered.

"That is, he teased the hell out of Nergal and I. This certainly call for payback, doesn't it ?" She batted purple eyelashes as innocently as possible. Ironically enough, it was working.

[Meepfur]

"Ohh, I see," Adi said with a giggle, especially amused that her aunt had used a 'bad word.' Not that it was very bad, just a little, on the profanity scale. As she thought for a moment about what to say or ask next, things like how Echo had fallen in love with Nergal, or what was it like, a potential question popped into her head that made her very curious indeed.

"Have you ever been in love, Concerto?" Adrienne, it seemed, was growing up to be every bit as nosy as Rio, if not more so.

[A Wandering Esper]

Echo had either never noticed the 'bad word' slip out, or she considered Adrienne old enough for it to be a complete non-issue. Right now, however, her attention was completely on her aoidei.

...What kind of question was that ?! Though, he figured, that made sense for these kind of questions to be on her mind. She was at... that age, after all, and he remembered being young, one upon a time. If only for that, he made himself answer.

"Twice." It didn't seem much for an immortal aoide, really. "The first was... before I became aoide. She was mortal, and she died." And that was the way things were. "The second time..." He went silent, shaking his head as if the chase a bad memory. "He was aoide, too, but... I don't think he's coming back."

He'd held Adagio in his own arms as he died, after all... He shook his head again. It was no use thinking about it now.

[Meepfur]

In hindsight, it probably hadn't been the best question to ask, but it hadn't occurred to her that Concerto might have been in love and had a sad ending, not a happy one. Or...endings, as it were. She leaned forward to offer a hug, looking a little guilty. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad."

[A Wandering Esper]

He did close his arms around her, when she hugged him. "It's okay. It's probably good that you know these things." Not everything was happy. Not everything ended well. It was a part of life she'd seen little exposure to, loved as she was. He knew it well, because he had directly been a part of that environment. "I've made my peace with it. It just... When you love someone, and they're gone... It gets better, in a way, but the pain is never truly gone. It recedes, but it never leaves completely."

Echo, on her part, was silent. She knew better than to ask - now, or well, ever. Unless Concerto brought it up himself, she wouldn't ask. It was none of her business.

[Meepfur]

Yeah, that had been a definite oops. Adi would have to remind herself better, in the future, that you didn't ask every question that happened to pop into your head. Well, except if it was Rio or Orin. They were her parents, she was allowed. "Thank you for telling me."

It had given her something to think about, though, and maybe tell Rio about. Maybe it was something he could help with. In the meantime, though, it was probably time for a change of subject. "I didn't know you weren't always an aoide. Did Echo make you one?"

[A Wandering Esper]

This wasn't dangerous territory, but it was potentially surprising territory - given how much Echo remembered of the past. He could feel the goddess looking at him in pure curiosity, even now. "She did." He answered, patting Adi's head again. "A long time ago. All three of us."

[Meepfur]

"That's really cool." Adi's tail wagged again. "Shy and Ishkha weren't always aoidei, but they don't remember very well how they got to be."

[A Wandering Esper]

"It is hard to remember that far back." Concerto nodded. "I don't remember exactly how, either. Or when. I've slept for a long time, so things kind of just... run together and it can be a little hard to separate them." Maybe Adrienne would experience something like this, one day, when she would have a few centuries of life under her belt. Maybe.

[Meepfur]

"I can't imagine sleeping for so long." Sometimes, if she was really really tired or lazy, she might sleep for ten or even twelve hours, but for years and years? How would you not wake up? Maybe it was like bears hibernating, or something. "Do you dream, when you sleep that long?"