:[PRP]: Of Faeries, Stones, and...Lockpicks?

[Teigra]

The male Fae chuckled, watching the little girl skipping down the pathway in front of him. The two had left Nienna taking a nap and had snuck out of the house to let her rest. No need to disturb her this lazy afternoon, right? Cabel had just decided to take Eudora out for a while to let her burn off a little childish energy. It wasn't as if they could keep her in the tree-home anyway, it seemed. Whether they locked the doors or no, somehow, the little girl always managed to get out and go wherever she wished. If only they could figure out how she did it. Then again, considering she'd found her way INTO the home when she shouldn't have been able to in the first place...well, one of these days, Cabel planned to spy and see how in the world she kept escaping.

Anyway, he and Nienna had discovered that it was simply easier to keep an eye on the child as she amused herself. Perhaps if he could tire her out with the walk, they could slip back to the house and join Nienna in a nice late afternoon nap.





Eudora skipped ahead happily, oblivious to the thoughts of the Fae behind her. In fact, she pretended as if he wasn't there at all, focusing instead on the little plushie in her arms. It was a gift from Cabel, whom she'd started calling Daddy, though it was unclear whether or not Cabel had actually encouraged this behavior. Perhaps it was Nienna's idea, though the joke was on her, as Eudora had started calling her Mommy around the same time.

The young Fae child, giggled, holding the plushie's arms in her tiny hands and swinging the toy back and forth in front of her as she moved, almost as if the toy were alive and dancing with her to some music that only the two could hear.  

[Kira of Flames]

Shale lay in the middle of the path, curled up in a sleeping ball. He had wandered off from the little troupe of three under aged pae and one human into the forest. After crawling and trying to walk a bit, the little angel pae had used up all his energy and collapsed into a sleeping ball.  

[Teigra]

Eudora practically tripped over the angel toddler, between her distraction with the plushie...and the fact that he looked more like a rock wearing a diaper lying in the pathway.

"Hey! Whatcha' doin' there?" she questioned, poking the angel in the side. "You a kid or a rock? Are you sleeping? Can rocks sleep? Hey, if you're sleeping, and you're a rock, can you still make those sleepy noises through your nose? I think it's called 'snorting' or 'sneering' or something. Daddy makes those noises sometimes, but Mommy doesn't. He said..."

Cabel was quick to appear at Eudora's side, a slight blush creeping across his face as she continued rambling. "Okay, dear...I think that's enough. It's called 'snoring' though...and I don't do that." His attention turned to the rock...or child lying in the pathway. "Oh my...not another one," he muttered softly, praying to the Guardians that they hadn't brought another young one to him to take care of. Eudora was certainly enough for now.  

[Kira of Flames]

Shale slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes and blinking, looking up at the two older Pae. He froze, a little afraid of the two new people. He decided that maybe if he stayed still, they couldn't see him. For good measure, he also covered his eyes with his hands.  

[Teigra]

Eudora blinked, tilting her head in momentary confusion. Silence.

Though that didn't last long.

"Hey! What's wrong? Can't you talk? Maybe you are a rock. But...rocks don't move, do they? Daddy! Rocks can't move, can they? I've never seen a moving rock! Can they walk like we can? Or..."

"Eudora, please calm down a bit, okay? I think you're scaring him!" Cabel chuckled softly, bending down to put himself on the children's level. "And no, he's not a rock. He's a Pae'il, just like us, though he's younger than you, so you need to be careful with him okay? And stop poking him."

Eudora pouted, looking guilty as she stopped doing so and lowered her tiny arm. "Sorry, Daddy." She turned her attention back to the rock-Pae. "Sorry, little Pae'il rock. Wanna' play with my plushie?" She grinned, holding out her precious toy to the younger boy. Maybe he'd talk to her if she got him to play with her?  

[Kira of Flames]

Slowly, Shale spread his fingers to peek through them at Eudora. Now that she had stopped poking him, he didn't feel as alarmed. He blinked as she held out the plush toy to him, then slowly put his hands in his lap. "Wha...." He spoke softly. "Wha you name?" He looked up at the girl again, then to the older Pae she had called 'Daddy'. What did that name mean?  

[Teigra]

"I'm Eudora!" the little Fae child exclaimed proudly, puffing out her chest as she said so. "This is..."

"My name is Cabel," the adult male interrupted before she could call him 'Daddy' again. Best to keep things simple for the toddler for now. He smiled warmly, sitting down on the pathway to talk face-to-face with the children. "What about you, little one? Do you have a name? Are you out here alone in the forest or is someone taking care of you?" Guardians, he hoped the poor boy wasn't alone out here...

Eudora stuck out her tongue at her Daddy. That was rude! Interrupting her while she was talking! She'd have to tell Mommy later. That'd show Daddy.  

[Kira of Flames]

""S....Sale." The little stone-colored Pae stuttered out, trying to pronounce his name. He then shook his head. "No wive awone. Hafs Kowie...." He didn't want to give out too much of himself, he didn't know who these Pae were, aside from their names. He wasn't even sure if they were Pae, the didn't have wings like him or Raziel, and they didn't have tails, like Raziel once again.  

[Teigra]

"Sale?" Cabel looked bemused. It always was a tricky matter asking young Pae'il what their names were. He remembered trying to ask Eudora...somehow, she'd ended up making him look foolish in the process. He was relieved to discover that this toddler had a caretaker...even if they weren't here right now.

"Hi, Sale!" Eudora grinned. "Nice ta' meetcha!" She was all too happy to take over for her Daddy. He didn't need to talk any more anyway. This was her new friend, not his! She blinked a bit, eying his wings and halo in curiosity. Of course, she had immediately picked up on this 'something new.' "Hey, what are those? How does that thing float up there like that? You got it stuck on something to hold it up?" She reached up, trying to poke at his halo.  

[Kira of Flames]

Shale shook his head vigorously; BOTH of them had gotten his name wrong! "No, it's S- hale." He said, finding it a little frustrating that he couldn't do the 'sh' sound just yet. When the little black and blue Fae started asking him about his floaty ring, he shook his head again. "I no know...." He was slowly gaining confidence around these two, but still was a little shy.  

[Teigra]

Cabel felt like kicking himself. He'd done it again. "I'm sorry. Shale. I understand now." He smiled despite how foolish he felt, then turned to Eudora. "That's called a halo. Angelic Pae'il all have one. Their wings are also shaped differently than ours because we're Faery Pae'il. We're all still Pae'il though...these are just the little differences that make us all special." He smiled, thinking of Takeko. The angelic Pae had been the closest thing he'd ever had to a mother. Obviously, he hadn't been her own child, though she always treated him as such. He realized now how lucky he had been to have her...even if he'd had Kane to grow up with as well.

"Hee hee! Okay! So Shale is special!" Eudora giggled, pleased with her discovery. "Shale is special, Eudora is special, and Daddy is special!" She paused for a moment, looking at her plushie. "So, my plushie is special too? 'E looks like Shale...kinda'."  

[Kira of Flames]

Shale smiled a little at Cabel, then couldn't help but fully grin at Eudora and the plushie. He didn't quite understand the difference stories, but it was all that was needed to tell him that Eudora was a Pae'il like himself. "Udowa?" He said, trying to pronounce her name. "Wha his name?" He pointed to the plushie still in Eudora's arms.  

[Teigra]

Cabel chuckled a bit, sitting back and removing himself from the children's conversation for now.

"Hmm..." Eudora picked the plushie up, looking at it as if studying it carefully. "Don't know yet. 'E needs a good name and I haven't thought of one yet. I just call him 'Plushie' or 'Friend' for now." She smiled, looking back at Shale as she lowered the plushie into her lap. "Maybe we could come up with a good name for 'im!"  

[Kira of Flames]

Shale blinked at the word 'we' then smiled brightly and nodded. "Otay! Wha you wanna name him af'er?" He scooted over the ground on his bottom so that he was sitting next to Eudora and looking down at the plushie. He had also noticed that the older, bigger Pae had moved away, but didn't say anything.  

[Teigra]

Cabel smiled, resting his arm on one knee as he watched the children play. Had it really been so long since he'd been that age? Yeah, he supposed so. He'd only had Kane to 'play' with though, and his adopted demon brother hadn't exactly been the best playmate. Only time he'd ever actually wanted to spend with Cabel was when he was using the Fae as a target for his "hunting practice." Chuckling softly to himself at the memory, Cabel also remembered all the bruises he'd ended up with after the 'game.'

"Name 'im after?" Eudora looked confused. "Don't wanna' name 'im after anything! I wanna' name him now, silly!" She giggled at her new friend, obviously missing the entire point of what he'd just said. "Now...I think he's a boy. He needs a cool name. A tough name. 'Cause...he's strong and stuff. And he protects me when Mommy and Daddy aren't around." She nodded sagely to herself as she continued her description of her friend. He needed to have the perfect name; one that fit him and only him.