Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sabriel finally fell asleep from exhaustion. The hours after he had come home had been hectic and painful for both Mishap and guardian. Chin consented to taking the blanket off, but the whips stayed tied - still a baby even though he was beyond terrible, he couldn't figure out what was keeping them together. It was more than a little annoying to the young Mishap. Her journaling kept getting interrupted by fussing from the other side of the room. When nobody came, he sat in his crib for a while in a sulk...and then dropped back. Just like that. Flop. Snore. It almost looked cute.

'But not very peaceful.' Her mind was troubled. The way Sabriel slept didn't help. Sleeping was supposed to look relaxed, but his soft growls and the 'slap-slap' of whips lashing at the crib didn't work towards that image too well. More like someone having a nightmare. Chin wondered if she ought to wake him up.

And what an angry little thing he was. All those bandaids couldn't tide them both over for a day - Sabriel had weapons in his claws and whips, and didn't hesitate to use them. She remembered running back from the Magical Mishaps shop holding him out in front of her, and still managed to get pretty well slashed up in those few short minutes. Thankfully the blanket she'd used to muffle his claws had been on hand the moment they burst through the door, and Twistie-ties, though a really desperate idea, had stopped that damn tail from whipping. Combined, none of them could be moved fast enough to hurt.

Not to mention when he woke up, he'd be fully refreshed and not quite so quiet. And hungry. She still hadn't figured out how to feed him without losing some fingers in the process. With a sigh, the girl glanced around the dark room. It was still strange. Even a bit lonely. Not at all like her room at the house, which was too far away for comfort, and would be for a long time now they were moving in here. Maybe she could call back home tonight...it would feel nice to have a little reassurance...

Chin pushed her hands up through her hair, her breathing somewhat shaky. She felt trapped.

-The Laundry Room-

Carrying Tamary Zeuleika in his right arm and hauling along their laundry with his left, Pink was glad he'd decided to invest in an easily portable hamper. The blue mesh crate-bag dragged bumped down along the stairs, just barely humming along the ground as the laundry room came within sight.

Nudging his way in backwards to the room, Pink turned and looked around. He was pleased to find his dreaded fear of no empty washing machines had not been realized. A few white folding chairs were placed in the room, one of which Pink sat down on with a relieved sigh. Dropped the bag, the shifter looked down at his charge.

"You, my dear, are getting heavy." Pink accused the babe, bobbing her on the nose with his finger. Tamary only replied by grabbing the offending finger and bringing it to her mouth for inspection. Pink quickly disengaged his hand from hers, shaking his head, "As if you haven't already gummed upon everything there is to gum!"

Shifting Zeuleika into his left arm, Pink layed out the Mishap's pink baby blanket on the floor and set her down on it. Little Tamary had become a pro as sitting up unassisted. Beside her he dropped the other goodies and playthings he had carried down for her entertainment: a new lion plushie, a new doll, and her little picture blocks.

Tam looked at her treasure with wide eyes, considering each object carefully before finally wrapped a slow, chubbed, clawed hand around the stuffed lion.

"Mama, why are we here?" asked the bone child as he trotted behind his guardian, one hand clutching the end of her black tail. He was a lanky young boy, bone markings decorated his skin and the places that resembled 'bones' seemed to protrued more than in the places that were black.

Azumi looked back and down at him before smiling with her reply, "the stupid washer broke again and we need clean clothes, right?"

"I guess..." mumbled Osso as he soon followed his mother into the dining room and stopped behind her as she reached to open the door.

The half werewolf gripped the door knob and pushed the door open before stepping inside and closing it again. Despite her usually sharp senses, she didn't even notice someone else was in the room and began to chuck laundry into an empty washer while blancing the basket on her hip.

Osso looked around with hollow eyes and from behind strands of pale blonde hair. Hey! There's someone here! he soon started pulling on his mother's tail to get her attention.

"Hmm?" she looked down at him and then around the room before letting a,"yipe!" escape her. "Oh! 'Ello, I didn't know anyone else was here!" she said sheepishly while regaining herself.

Chinchillie wandered her way through the building, trying to wrack up an image of the map in her mind. Laundry room, laundry room...it was somewhere near the kitchen. That was all she remembered.

Sabriel dozed gently after breakfast. He was being carried atop all their laundry, which was mostly new clothes. It was so soft and the bumping up and down so much like rocking he couldn't help but fall asleep.

Aha! This had to be it. Triumphantly she worked a hand free of the laundry and pushed the door open. The surprise of coming into a room full of people made her stop in her tracks. "Oh, hi." Chin said quickly, hoping she had come to the right place - if there weren't any people, there wasn't anyone to know otherwise. "This is the laundry room, right?" Right...?

Sabriel stirred and mreowed grumpily, woken up by the fuss. He cracked an eye open to see what was going on.

Pink had one hand in the washer, full of dirty clothes, when Azumi and her bone child entered the room. The shifter went still out of surprise; in the time that he'd been there, Azumi was the first guardian he'd seen. She, however, did not seem to have seen him. Taking the opportunity to observe the other, Pink continued to hold still, looking them both other. Her scent was preceeded by the sight of her tail, and both perked Pink's interest to a new level. Another shifter, perhaps? Smelled a bit like a dog.. or a wolf...

The child, on the other hand, was a bit more of a puzzle. Was he simply painted that way for halloween? But the eyes... And then Pink realized those black, eyeless sockets were pearing at him. At his feet, Tamary was staring back at the other's, the stuffed lion's leg in her mouth. She made an introductory gurgling noise behind the cloth, little bubbles of spit building on the corners of her mouth.

The sharp noise Azumi made when she realized Pink was there startled the shifter, dropping his clothes in the washer and sitting back in the chair. With a calm smile, he nodded, "'s quite alright... Lately I've been under the same impression..." The subtle joke made Pink chuckle under his breath, "Nice to see you." His attention turned, just then, to the flustered female who just burst in the door. His grin widened and he nodded again, "Nice to see you as well!"

Tamary just stared at Chinchillie, head cocked to the side. Slowly, she pulled the lion plushie out of her mouth, "Grrrmff..."

A young mishap wandered in all by himself, guardianless. Clicking along behind him was a small, green, puppy-sized skeletal figure - one resembling a... well, one couldn't really tell now, could they? Both figures made quite a lot of noise one approaching the laundry room, what with roars and growls from a young tyrannosaur by the name of King, and the skeletal creature Zarrol.

Rex himself was dead silent, and seemed to be deep in thought.

Zarrol clicked his jaws together and trotted ahead of his 'master', then circled back and jumped playfully up at King like a puppy greeting its master. In his excitement he did not notice Rexier's tail, and before he knew it, the green skeleton found himself under someone's feet, dazed.

Zarrol shook his head to clear it, and peered up at the owner of said feet with big hollow eye-sockets. "Krip?"

Azumi was about to say somthing to the man when she spun around as someone else came into the room. Gosh, today was literally full of suprises! Wine hued eyes soon went from the black furry bundle on top of the woman's clothes basket and then to the reptile looking babe sitting on the floor with a stuffed lion in it's mouth.

"I'm guessing you're all guardians as well?" Wow...no duh. Nice one, Azumi. she scolded soundlessly in her head. Excusing her stupid question, she just waited to see if she got any replies and flicked a black wolf ear. The half werewolf didn't even realize the green skeleton and that Rex had just came in.

Osso just looked around in some amazment and curiosity. He saw his mother look at something in the basket that woman had and attempted to see it too by standing on tip-toe, but to no avail. So, he escused whatever it was and turned his attention to the stuffy animal chewing babe on the floor. Now that was something to look at! it actually sort of reminded him of Wycliff with it's green color...Except it didn't have spikes. Instead it had yellow and blue-ish feather like things and looked like a..aaa...What was the name of that animal again? An algitor? Bah, whatever it was, it interested him.

In only a few seconds time after staring at the green child on the ground did Osso hear some strange little sound from the door way. Turning to look over her shoulder he raised a thin brow and gazed at the green thing and then he noticed Rex. "Rex! Look, I grew!" he said happily, dismissing the big people around him now that someone he knew was here.

Tamary's attention was being demanded on all sides and it was a bit overwhelming. She was not used to being around so many others, just Pink. Small clawed fingers clunched the lion plush with an iron grip, a reassuring glanced sent back to her guardian. The skeleton boy was staring at her and his eyeless gaze was upsetting her. Wiggling back on her blanket, the little crocodile Mishap leaned back against Pink's leg, her tail wraping around his foot.

Pink chuckled sadly, reaching down ato stroke the feathers on Tamary's head, "Yes, this is my little charge here. You'll have to excuse her, she's not really used to being around other people." With a warm grin, he offered his name, "I'm Pink, this is Tamary Zeuleika."

With the arrival of Rex and company, the laundry room was turning out to be quite a busy place. Apparently he should have come here sooner! "Hey guy, you wanderin' around my yerself?" Brave little toddler; Pink hadn't even figured this place out yet!

Azumi returned her attention back to the man, who she know knew was named Pink. "It's very nice to meet you two. I'm Azumi and this is Osso," she put a hand on her son's mop of pale blonde hair. She was about to say something else when she heard Both Osso and Pink speak to someone.

Leaning back against the washer she peered around the other woman and spotted Rex, who she had only seen once before, but could never forget the looks of this Mishap. "Rex?! What are you doing down here, and by yourself?" she asked in some confusment. Where was Silencer?

Osso smiled and soon looked back to the green skeletal dog like thing jumping around the Mishap. Everything today seemed to be odd and green...

Chin backed into a corner to make more room, trying not to jostle Sabriel too much. The brief glimpses she got of the other Mishaps, in order not to stare outright, made her more curious than ever. And they were all like Sabriel? At Azumi's question she nodded politely. "I'm Chinchillie, and this is Sabriel. He's usually not so quiet." she said, following Pink's lead.

So many people and not a single familiar face. That shouldn't be the case for long - she hoped for it.

Sabriel yawned and peered over the edge of the basket. His ears flattened back when he noticed Osso's curious gaze, but then the person looked away and wasn't interesting anymore. As the crowded state of the room began filtering through his sleepy head, back and forth went the tails, lashing noisily across the fabric.

Zarrol regained himself and got to his bony feet, accompanied by a chorus of pop, cricks and crackles. He shook himself as a wet dog would, in a series of new pops and cricks. Looking around, the little creature surveyed the room and decided he did not quite like the crowd and with a 'yipe' fled back to his master and hid behind him, poking a head out to stare curiously at the company.

King let out a wheezy, reptilian chuckle, and glanced around his 'side' of the place. He caught sight of another reptilian - crocodilian mishap, and peered at it with a bright, goldenrod hued eye.

A familiar voice reached the child's ears, and snapped him out of his daydream. Blinking and slightly disorientated, Rex shook his head and rubbed his eyes with a fist, then turned his head around in search of the source of the sound. It wasn't long before he saw who it was, and a grin made its way across the mishap's face.

"Osso! Long time!" The mishap waved, and jogged over to his friend. "How you?" he asked, once beside Osso.

Another voice soon caught his attention and the child turned around, spotting a man with his charge - the crocodile/alligator mishap King saw earlier. "Um..." Rex began, scratching his right temple lightly. "Mister talking to me? If so, yep! Rex doing a little wandering alone, all by myself!" The child paused, tilting his head up a little.

Soon after that he heard Osso's guardian querying him, and the boy turned back to face Osso and Osso-guardian. He frowned a little at her question, and looked up at the werewolf lady a little blankly. "Rex exploring, but forgot why end up in laundry room. Zarrol with me, so not alone." Rex waved down at the green skeletal figure at his feet, prodding it out towards both Azumi and Osso.

"Him tiny," the boy grinned.

Both Pink and Tamary stared in amazement at Rex as he ran over to Osso and King was clearly visible on his.. er, back. Pink's gaze flickered from the bone dog, "Zarrol" the boy had called him, and then back at King. He was quite speechless.

Tamary, however, had also caught sight of King. She peered blankly at the other reptile for a moment. Slowly, her tail uncurled from around Pink's foot and she flopped over onto to her hands and knees, the legs of her stuffed lion squished beneath her chubby calf. She crawled a few paces across her pink blanket and stopped, gabbing. Raising one chubby green arm, she reached towards King (who was quite a ways out of reach), "Roooo."

Pink, already dazed, stared down at Tamary, dumb with shock. Zeuleika was very particular, she never reacted with so much interest. Noticing that she was about to crawl off her blanket, the shifter considered picking her up. Instead he decided to leave her be and see what happened.

Azumi nodded to Rex's response figuring he couldn't get into much trouble inside the HQ anways with all the guardians running about, he was pretty safe. Wine hued eyes were about to inspect the black furry babe, that belonged to Chinchillie, until her ears heard the "roooooo" sound from Tamary. The werewolf looked over and smiled as she watched the reptilian Mishap reach out to who she was assuming was Rex. Azumi thought all baby antics were adorable and couldn't resist watching them..God she was such a girl at times, but it wasn't her fault.

"Long time! I am good, you?" grinned Osso while he stood and waited as his friend bounded over to him.Yay for someone he knew being here!

Sabriel froze at the sinister noise Tamary made. Fur began to creep up along his spine as he crawled to get a closer look - from up here, the lizardy Mishap only looked like a green blob with colorful fringes. A dangerous looking thing, whatever it was.

"My arms are getting tired. You don't mind getting down, do you?" Chin kept her voice down. She plunked the basket down on a spare washer and turned her ears to the conversation. "Have you been here long?" she asked Azumi in a shy, offhand sort of way, seeing she was watching the babies. They were pretty cute.

Sabriel DID mind. He glared daggers until she turned away, then glanced towards the edges of the basket. He wasn't very strong, but if he hooked his claws in and pushed with his back feet...maybe he could get out.

The young tyrannosaur attached to Rexier's back continued gazing down at Tamary. Upon seeing her actions his eyes grew wide, and he bristled with excitement.

"Rrroaaa...squirrr..." Came a rather hoarse reply, and he leaned out towards the reptilian baby. "Chaiiirp!" Rex, Rex!

"Ah?" King's twin blinked, and turned his head sideways at the sound. Apparently something had caught King's attention and King that something, and the boy was curious as to what it was. His brother rarelyshowed much, if any at all, interest in the other mishaps and their guardian - for he couldn't, of course, 'sample' them at all.

"Ahh." Rex smiled, catching sight of Tamary. He was surprised at himself for failing to notice her earlier. How could he? She had the most attractive... uh, plumage. It reminded him of a bird(or was it not?) he had seen before, back in a strange forest somewhere...

Wait - what forest? He had never visited such places! Rex shut his eyes and shook his head, as Osso spoke. "Hm? Glad to hear Osso good! Rex good too, though slightly bored... Mother back in Castle with new Family members." He spoke with great enthusiam, tail swaying gently behind him.

A snarl from King brought his attention back to the little mishap on the floor, and Rex smiled. Okay, sharptooth. Rex going over now. "Excuse me," the boy said, bowing slightly to Azumi and Osso before making his way towards Tamary. The child peered down at the mishap, and smiled. He lowered himself slowly to avoid alarming her, and smiled.

"Hello! What's your name?" Rex said, admiring her lovely feathers.

Osso nodded and stayed next to his mother. A slender hand once more found the fluffy black tail and he leaned against her leg. The bone child sensed some uncomfort in the other green babe and so he stayed his distance for now...He wasn't sure actually how he knew how she felt, but he did...

"Just a few minutes really...my stupid washer is broken at home so I get to make the long commute to here," she replied in her usual soft, happy tone. One of her ears twitched and she glanced at the cat like baby swishing it's whipcord tails. Someone doesn't look to happy, she thought.

As Chin turned away, she failed to notice the upset look on her Mishap's face. Pink, who had yet to really see the Mishap in the basket, peered over and grinned as the little furry black fella glared daggers into the back of his mother's head. It seemed he would attempt to escape from the basket.

Asumi's comment caught his ears and he raised his head. "Oh, do you not live in.. here?" It was a subject of great interest to Pink. While Tamary was young, it was good for her to have plenty of exposure and access to playmates. However, when she was older, he would prefere to move back to his own house...

The little feather's on Tamary's head bristled with excitement at King's ready reply. She took a few more steps in her wabbly crawl toward the other reptile. Then, as Rex approached, King disappeared behind him. This confused Tam and her little hand fell out of the air. Sitting back slowly, she stared up at the toddler, who seemed to be a great deal larger than her. "Brrrrr..." She stated, not understanding his question and wondering where the pretty reptile had gone. Still, Rex was reptilian enough to hold her attention. The patterns on his face interested her and she raised her two hands toward him, as though she wanted to be picked up. "Charrrrroooo...."

Pink chuckled and whispered down in her stead, "'name's Tamary Zeuleika... you can call her Zeuleika since she likes you so much." Then he flittered his attention back to Azumi, giving the two -three- the premise of "privacy" to have their "conversation".

"Zeuleika..." Rex whispered out the name, lowering his face level with the little mishaps'. As soon as she held out her arms towards him, however, the boy's smiled dimmed slightly, and he hesitated. Did she want him to carry her? It came as a rather sudden surprise to the toddler; he had never, ever picked up another living creature - except for Browns the rabbit and Zarrol before, but this was different. Zeuleika is a mishap, a fragile baby mishap.

Not knowing what to do next, the child reached out a hand towards Zeuleika, palms up, and held hers in his. Then he turned to Pink, as if for help. "Uh.. um... Mister?"

Upon hearing Tamary's voice the tyrannosaur huffed, and struggled to return her into his range of sight. A rumble of pleasure escaped him as Rex turned his head to Pink, and King opened his jaws slightly, revealing rows of small, but sharp teeth. In that way he 'smiled' down at Tam, and continued watching this interesting mishap through slitted reptilian eyes.

Back with Osso and Azumi, Zarrol clicked his jaws in annoyance at his master. How could they ignore him? Turning towards the two strangers, the green skeletal creature cocked his head to one side and watched Osso intently through empty eye sockets. Somehow he felt comfortable around this little boy. Tails wagging slightly, Zarrol circled Osso twice before settling down between him and his guardian.

Tamary went silent apprumptly as the bigger boy's hand wrapped around hers. Curious, she pulled their linked hands down toward her and raised her snout, trying to stuff as much of Rex's hand in her mouth as she could, "Churrrrr"ing around it pleasantly as she gummed away. Quite preditably with Zeuleika, everything went from eye to hand to mouth, like it or not.

The sight of King, however, sent her into a shrilling frenzy. The throaty shrill was accompanied by a "Mbbrooobb.." as she did not realize, at first, that the hand in her mouth was impeding her speach. Fortunately, with King holding her attention, the hand was no longer of interest. Rex was still holding it, however, so Tam was forced to reach out with her left hand instead. "Mmmrraaw mmwwrrk.." Whatever she was saying seem to be of some importance, as her attention was entirely focused on the slitted eyes that watched her. With her left hand she reached out to touch the reptilian face.

Pink, hearing the small plea for assistance, looked down at the three. Yes, Tam did look, at first, as though she wanted to be picked up. But he doubted somehow that that was what was on her mind. It did not matter, a moment later, once she had her mouth around the hands. It didn't concern Pink until she started to take interest in King. He nodded to Rex, as one level headed man to another, "Watch she doesn't put her fingers where they are likely to be" chewed off? "bothersome." Tam may not have noticed King's teeth, but Pink did!

"Ah..." Rex gently withdrew his hand from Tamary's mouth and pried her own away from it. "No eating my hand. Not food," he told her gently, waving a finger in front of her. Fortunately for him her attention was already with King, so the child wiped his drool-covered hand on his pants, and turned around thoughtfully so his twin may interact freely with the reptilian girl.

Be gentle, King. Girl hurt, Rex call Mother, the boy warned.

King blinked as a hand reached out towards him and he backed away a little, his gaze never leaving Tamary's left hand. Not knowing whether to take the sudden move as a threat or not, the reptile bared his teeth and let out a warning growl before a surprising thing happened.

The young tyrannosaur's nostrils widened and he blew a gust of warm breath at Tamary's outstretched hand. Then he leaned in, nuzzled the girl's hand and gave it a lick, before tilting his head to a side, offering her a rare chance to touch his face - something no one but only Silencer was allowed to do, until now.

If anyone else were to lay a finger on him, they would find themselves in the infirmary in no time at all.

Zeuleika's eyes moved from her hand to King's face, to his teeth. The sight of his teeth, far from warding her off, looked shiny and white, attractive to little fingers. Fortunately for them both, the feeling of King's hot breath and tongue on her hand was...odd, to say the least. That King was actually accepting her was lost to the baby Mishap. She pulled her hand a little away, her fingers feeling damp when she made a fist. But his nose.. it was so close... just one touch...

And so she did. Her hand touched his nose, resting on his nostrils. The curiously soft yet rough feeling of his scales interested her greatly. The feathers on her head rose and feel like that of a Cockatiel's crown. The gentle chortling/purring began again in her throat, pleased with the other and his nose. Slowly her hand dragged up his head. For whatever reason, maybe a bit of intuition, Zeuleika stayed away from the slitted eyes and instead only made it up the bridge of his nostril.

Taking her hand away, she smiled grandly, blue-feathered tail swishing. "Dehwroo! Dehwrooroo!" She barked triumphantly, followed by a throaty, scratching laugh.

Sabriel's eyes widened slightly. Would he be ratted out? Well...they wouldn't dare if they were smart. Even so, he tossed an equally nasty glare at Pink, keeping an eye on him as he went to try out the plan. His claws dug into the wicker and the baby kicked with his hind feet, pushing himself forward along the slippery clothes.

Sabriel reached the edge so quickly he didn't stop, but came tumbling out onto the washer. The basket, still stuck to his claws, flipped right on top of him. Gah!

King wrinkled his nose, feeling a sneeze starting up at the back of his throat. Uh oh. However, it disappeared all together as soon as Zeuleika's fingers left his nose, and the tyrannosaur trilled in relief.

Then a great, chuffing sneeze erupted from the reptile. "Trrr...."

Rocked by his twin's sneeze, Rex fell back-- forwards, and managed to catch himself just him time to prevent a face-on collision with the floor. A quick recovery in check, the boy sat himself on the floor and peered around the room at all the guardians and their charges present. Why, it was a congregation in there!

Then there was the saound of a crash, and Rex flicked his his in the direction of the sound. "Hm?"

"No...actually I live in the hills outside of Durem. I was thinking about staying here when I was put in charge of Osso, but it ju-Oh my," she was cut off with her response to Pink when she heard the basket near her flip over. Wine hued eyes glanced around for the furry Sabriel that was once before she noted the clawing from under the basket. "Um...Chin..." she said while taking the basket off the boy, but was only about to pick up the huffy babe if he was in danger. Senses already warned the werewolf about a bad little temper from this black thing...

Osso didn't pay attention to the happenings above him for right now his main interest was of the green bone dog near him. Crouching down the bone child balanced on the balls of his feet and wrapped on arm around his knees before extending a hand to the animal. His mother had always told him to let the animal sniff you before touching it...Though he never did like following that rule as a baby. "Hello," he said while peering at this queer creature who shared some similarities with him.

Sabriel seemed no worse for the wear - when the basket was lifted off his head, he was slightly dazed, but that faded the instant he lunged for Azumi's hand, giving out a shriek of anger. Evil person! This was all her fault! Luckily, Chin intercepted the baby and hauled the kicking and clawing bundle up into the air.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry." Sabriel yowled in rage. Chin glanced helplessly back and forth between all the people in the room. What a brat! Maybe she ought to leave...his noise would probably terrify the kids (even though they seemed like a very calm bunch). The kid with the dinosaur hadn't even flinched. That in mind, she began edging towards the door, apology clear on her face.

Azumi quickly pulled her hand away with a suprised expression on her face, ears and all. But it was only suprised, not mad or scared, just suprised. "Oh! No worries!" she said hurridly as she saw Chin edging towards the door. "Don't go, you just got here and no one's hurt..."

Osso simply looked up at the yowling fuzzy babe but didn't really react. The boy was used to those sudden shrill or loud moments since Klaz would occasionally squak and scream if he was suddenly startled in the dark; some night creature he was.

"Are you sure?" she asked worriedly. These people were so...so calm. If Sabriel had been tossed into their house the neighborhood would suffer stampeding cats, dogs, and everything in between. Chin made her way back to the group, Sabriel still fussing in her arms. He wasn't outright shrieking now.

She blinked down at Osso for a moment, surprised he hadn't even commented, then smiled."Thanks alot, you guys."

With King satisfied now, Rex broke off from Zeuleika and turned his attention to the other baby mishap he was sure he had never seen before this. Another newcomer? The HQ seemed to be teeming with new faces lately.

"Little one not happy?" The boy spoke, suddenly appearing beside Osso.

Pink was half lost in his own thoughts the moment he heard that Azumi lived elsewhere. Still contemplating, he reached down and pulled Tamary back onto her pink blanket. She fussed, wiggling out of his fingers. Her eyes were still following King's retreat. When her attention faultered, she looked down at her splayed toys, picking up her lion again and chewing on his ear.

The laundry moved from the washer to the dryer as the rest of the room occupants were chatting about the troublesome Mishap.

Sabriel realized the attention was now on him and shut up completely, scrambling up on Chin's shoulder to get a better look at Osso and Rex. He ignored her tiny squeaks as his claws dug in.

"He's never happy." she told Rex, wincing. It was true so far. Now that she looked closer, the sight of King made her blink again, this time to make sure her eyes were working. They were. "It's alright, though. You're Rex and King, right?" Now the double names made sense. "And Osso?" She'd heard them several times and wanted to make sure. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yep! Nice to meet you too, er....?"

The boy advanced towards Chinchille and her mishap slowly, never breaking his gaze off the now silent youngster. "Whatcher name?

A loud "ding" repeated in Pink's ear until, scrambling, he found the timer knob on the dryer and durned if off. Laundry done, he scooped the warm clothes and towels out of the dryer and plopped them into the mesh laundry hamper.

Raising his head, he nodded to those that were there, "Well, laundry's done. Hope to see some of you around again!" Reaching down, Pink scooped up Tam in one arm, stuffed lion and all. "I know Tam will be looking for some playmates."

Grinning, he picked up all the remaining toys and the pink blanket, and put them into the hamper as well. With a small sigh, he stood, steadying himself under the unbalanced weight, and headed out of the little room. Over his shoulder, Tamary watched the other's in the room until the door closed and blocked them from view.

A heap of bright green bones snuffed and shivered, before a noticeably bigger, older head shot up at the dings. Clicking irritably, the creature scrambled to its feet and made its way instinctively towards its master before plopping down on its haunches beside him.

Rexier's head snapped around as Pink spoke and the boy smiled, waving at the man and his charge. "Bye mister and Zeuleika! See you!"

"Cya Pink! Cya Tam!" Chin raised a hand to wave to the leaving pair, taking note of the playmate comment...Sabriel may not be a good candidate for that, but she'd like to stop in sometime anyways. Tamary was such a cutie.

She turned back to Rex. "I'm Chinchillie - Chin for short, or however you want. And this is Sabriel." She nodded to the baby on her shoulder.

Sabriel kept watching Rex once he turned, so he could catch the toddler's eyes when he swung back around. He was interesting - this way he could see King, who wasn't furry, but he was...kind of. Like himself. He couldn't quite explain it.

King caught Sabriel's eyes and blinked a bit, before screwing up his reptilian face. The young tyrannosaur snarled at briefly, then stuck out the tip of his tongue at the mishap.

Boo.

As the door swung shut, Rex turned back to face Chinchille and Sabriel, only to start at the black feline's stare.

"Uh. Hi Sabriel, hi Chin." The boy managed a smile, before taking a step back. "Nice to meet you, but Rex has to go now." The child gave a slight bow, then swung around and headed for the door. As he passed Azumi and Osso the child gave them both a bow too, this time with a grin on his face. "Bye Azumi, by Osso." And particularly to Osso, "See around sometime!"

With last a wave to the those who were still in the room, Rex disappeared out the door, followed closely by Zarrol.

Experimentally, Sabriel stuck his tongue out too - then snapped it back in when Rex turned back around. Oy. All of his plans were getting ruined.

"G'bye Rex...oh, and King too!" Chin found they'd have to follow when Sabriel began going into fit mode, starting with a low sort of humming by her ear, the sound of growling deep in his throat. She hurried to dump their clothes in the wash.

"Sorry." she said quickly to Osso and Azumi, heading for the door. Sabriel's growling increased in tempo. "I'd love to meet up again, though - ouch!" Chin hauled the baby off her shoulder and shouldered the door open, working in a wave before it closed.

RP with Deimos - continued
Sabriel squeaked in surprise, finding himself scooped up into the air. He wanted to squeeze his eyes shut - no brave crewmember ever did that, so he kept them open and instead buried his claws into Deimos' shoulder. Scary, creepy person! She wouldn't get Zir!

Deimos zoomed across a corner, ducking into the living room, slamming the door with him bum behind them.

Jizzy came to the door, smirking. "Deeimos.." SHe called out tauntingly, she was just palying with him now.

Deimos looked down at Sabriel. "Okay, mission one.." He let Sabriel down and stuffed Zit into his claws. "Go, take Zir, and hide. Mother can't find you, understand!"

Sabriel hesitated a moment, then stuffed the bear's arm into his mouth, so he could take off at a fast crawl towards the hallway. Deimos had better distract her! The fear of Jizzy was so great he didn't even think about stealing Zir now.

With a lodu crash, the door swung open revealign the evil faced Jizzy in the doorway. 'We need the bear.." SHe said, trying to stuiffle her laughter.

Deimos took a defensive stand, glaring at Jizzy. "Never!!" He said and lunged at her. Not to attack, but to tickle. He knew his mother's weak spot. Witha well placed flicker under the underarm she was down, laughing like a maniac.

Sabriel chanced a look back, alerted by the sound of the door crashing open. Deimos blocked his view. Relieved, he scooted on, finding the door to the hallway mercifully open. It was hard work getting Zir through.

Now which way? He could still hear Jizzy laughing in the living room, so they had a little more time. "Mrrrf." he muttered thoughtfully through Zir. The entrance hall was close...better than going outside, where it was cold. Thinking quickly, the cat Mishap headed off down the hallway, hoping the way wasn't as long as it looked. Maybe Deimos could let him into their room (if he ever escaped) and Jizzy would never find them.

"Ok.. Ok. i surrender.. I let up." Jizzy said, trying to breath as she continued to laugh hard.

Deimos stopped his asault, triamhant, stuck his tounge out and strode out into the hallway. "Sabriel!" He cried out. "We've won!" He wanted Zir back.

Hearing the call, Sabriel stopped, turning slowly to face Deimos. The Jizzy wasn't chasing them anymore? But...he still had the bear. And maybe she was making Deimos say that because she'd won. He started to move backwards, not taking his eyes off him.

Deimos narrowed his eyes as he spotted Sabriel backing away. What the hell did he think he was doing.. "You and I won, Sabriel.." He said, taking steps towards him.

Jizzy emerged from the room, clutching her side, still iggling slightly. "You play dirty, Dei." She saidm, stickign her tounge out at him before going back into the toy room.

The combined threats were terrifying. He turned tail and fled down the hall, actually getting up on all fours and scampering. Zir bounced under his feet. The bear was threatening to trip him.

Sabriel didn't make it to the hall, but he made it to the bathroom. The lights were off inside. He stumbled around in the dark before finding the sink and scrambling behind it, dropping Zir to free him for attack.

Chin waved cheerfully as Jizzy returned - she knew Jizzy had lost from the laughter and shrieking from the other room. Oh, geez. And the kids weren't with her. "Where'd they go?" she asked, hoping Deimos was trustworthy enough to be left wandering. Not that he seemed like a bad kid or anything, but still...

"Get back here!" Deimos shouted.l He'd taken Zir! He scurried down the hall, bursting open the door to the bathroom. 'Give him back!"

"DOwn the hall. They're probably celebrating thier victory." SHe said. She trusted Deimos that he'd take care of Sabriel. He was a crewmate.

The sudden glare of light from the hallway flashed against Sabriel's eyes, though he didn't know it, thinking he was still hidden from sight. He crouched down protectively over the bear and lashed his tails - thumpthumpthump - against the side of the sink. Deimos wasn't gonna get Zir either. Not if he could help it.

Chin dramatically slapped a hand to her forehead. "NOW where'll we get a bear?" She heaved a deep sigh and got to her feet so she could peer out the doorway, nodding sadly. "You're probably right. Listen to them yelling out there."

"Traitor.." He hissed as he left the door open to allow light inside. His red eyes were narrowed and he coudl ehar the thumping from behind the sink. His cloak bristled as he kneeled down. One hand lashed out behind the sink o the left, while his tail went off to the right side. He'd get Zir back.

Jizzy nodded. 'Besides, Deimos is a big sweetheart deep down, no matter whta e might say."SHe siad looking around, her hand swattign away a block. Beneath ti was. "a BEAR!" She excalimed!

Sabriel growled and slashed at the hand, unaware Deimos was trying to get at him from the other side. He tried to keep Zir close with the other paw, rather awkwardly. Its weight was tiring his arm out. He squeezed back even further against the wall.

"Jizzy! You're a genius!" Chin squealed. She scooted over to their Oz zoo and patted a spot between the lions and tigers. "Right here! It'll stop them from fighting each other." Ah well. Acting your age wasn't any fun.

Deimos tail clamped like an iron claw aroudn Zi and began to tug at it. "Let ZIr go!" He ordered, growling angryly.

Jizzy picked up the bear and placed it gingerly between the lion and tiger. "Good idea. We all know lions and tiger argue about whose the better kitty." She said nodding in agreement. It was true, acting you age was no fun. I mena, how fun would Jizzy eb if she acted 841?

Sabriel tightened his grip on the bear, hissing angrily at Deimos - what a dirty trick! Struck by thought, he let Zir loose and attempted to lunge past the demon boy. If he couldn't have it, he planned on escaping unscathed.

Chin nodded solemnly. "They do indeed. One more thing..." She picked up a block and put it in front of the two cats, just in case. The fences were really higher than they looked, so they couldn't go jumping over them or anything.

Deimos' tail brought Zir to him and he held the bear tightly. As Sabriel tried to lunge past, he reached out a hand to grab him by the scruff of his collar. "Where do you think you're goin, traitor?" He growled.

Jizzy smilied. "So they can't jump over, good idea." SHe said as she ste herself to building the monkey cage, around the monkey they had.

Sabriel yelped at being abruptly yanked out of midflight. Once again he was at mercy of the older boy - he certaintly tried to fight back, whipping his tails, snap-crack, squirming, trying to snap at the hand just behind his head, in the hardest spot to reach. Maybe some of the blows landed, but none that he could feel, only making him madder.

Deimos was wrong. He hadn't meant to do it...but he had, and still hadn't...it wasn't his fault.

Chin poked around for another animal to cage while Jizzy was making the monkey's. Panda? No. Giraffe? Nah...ohmygosh. She plucked up a bunch of penguins, reminded of a particular movie she'd watched earlier that year. And it was close to winter, too. The thought made her shiver. 'Spring, you'd better get here soon...'

"D'you think it's a bad idea to put them near our kitty friends? And the bear? He might be fond of penguin."

SOme of the hits did land, though Deimos didn't even flinch. His eyes were a blaze with anger. "Why did you do that, traitor?" He growled at Sabirel.

"I don't think it to wise. I hear penguin is a delicasy in the savvanah." She joked, carefully adding trees and such to their monkey exibit.

Eep! "Not in front of the children!" she protested, closing off little penguin ears with her fingers. "But all right." Using a blue block as an 'iceburg', she started setting up the penguin house near the monkey one.

Sabriel spat in reply, absolutely burning with hatred. He opened his mouth and yowled, 'Meow-MEEEOW!' much to the effect of "Let me down!". If only he could talk...then Deimos would find out a thing or two about traitors.

Chin paused. "Do you hear that, or is it just me?"

Jizzy arched an eyebrow and her ears perked up. "Yeah.. Dear.. You think we should go check it out?" She turned to Chin questiononly.

Deimos dropped the child, his eys still ablaze with anger. "You were supposed to save Zir, not kidnap him!" He siad angrly.

"Better than not, I guess. C'mon," she sighed and got to her feet.

Ouch! Sabriel glared at the hateful Mishap - before he could spring, footsteps sounded in the hallway, coming closer. His ears went straight up and swiveled round as soon as the bathroom door opened.

She glanced back at Jizzy with a worried look. "What's...going on?" Chin inquired of Deimos, noting the two shared the same expression - angry. She only held the door open a crack, to be on the safe side.

Deimos held Zir close to him, looking very odd with the scowl on his face. "He.." But he stopped.. Sabriel was a traitor, but still a crew mate. He'd deal with the cat his own way. "We celebrating that we got Zir back, but he tore.." He said, pointing to one of the apparently hundreds of stiched. He shot a glance at Sabriel that very well said ' I'll deal withyou later.'

Jizzy peered inside as well and nodded. "Another tear? We might as well get you a new.."

"I don't heed a new bear." Deimos said before she could even finish.

"Oh." she blinked. Kids sure could yell when they wanted to, even when they were happy. And it was a wonder that bear stayed together at all, or there was room for another tear...Zir seemed entirely stitches.

Sabriel stuck his tongue out, remembering King. Let him try.

Deimos glared at Sabriel and suddenly wished he'd just ratted the evil cat out. "Let's go fix Zir, Mother.." He said in a low growling tone.

"Yeah we should, before the poor dear falls apart." She said, taking Zir gingerly from Deimos' hands. "It weas a pleasure meeting you CHin adn Sabriel." SHe said smiling and was quickly tugged away by a very moody Deimos.

"P-pleasure!" She called out, but Jizzy was already gone. Bending down to scoop up Sabriel (who only turned his glare on her, tired out from fighting) Chin followed the two out into the hallway and back up to their room, musing on how well that had gone. If only she knew...

The cat child huddled in a sulk, unaware of the long walk to their room. He'd get Deimos back - it was all that rotten liar deserved.

Something was wrong with the heater. Chinchillie had been buried under a pile of blankets all afternoon because of it, a bowl of soup set down on a pile of books at her feet, slowly growing cold as the day wore on. She coughed miserably. "Bet it'd be nice to have fur..." she muttered enviously, peeking out long enough to see where Sabriel was.

He peered out the window, one paw pressed to the glass. It was fascinating how cold it was. But the real object of his attention...

Outside.

Outside where the leaves flew and the rain fell and the cold seeped in. Outside which whistled through a crack in the window and chilled his nose when he sniffed at it. Outside! But Outside was also very cold; his fur was baby fur, and it wasn't very warm. He shivered and glanced at Chin almost beesechingly. "Oh, alright." She reluctantly shed the blankets and went to fetch him so they could huddle up on the couch, though not exactly together. Sabriel curled up at the farthest corner, nose turned up and away from her.

Chin tugged the blankets over herself; Sabriel wasn't going to hog them all. Now, among other things, she'd have to take him outside before it got to be even colder. He'd never let her rest until that happened.

Hm. Green wasn't her first choice - for one, it clashed with the room. For another, it reminded her, far too cheerily, of spring, which was a long way off from now. Chin stuck the screwdriver between her teeth and propped the curtains up on their window, trying to figure out how they got stuck on there properly...Sabriel watched on with interest (and a little menace, she thought).

Maybe this would unglue him from staring out there. When she tried to pull him away, he hissed, and when she kept it up, he clawed. She'd been forced to go about the HQ without him to explore. Leaving him there for the first time had been a little worrisome, she had to admit, but it seemed like he never moved an inch. No matter how long she was gone. It was getting a little overboard.

Carefully sticking the rod in place, Chin screwed it in and hung the cheerful green curtains on. She stood back and admired it. "How's that?"

Sabriel just looked at them.

"Yeah, the color is kind of..." she trailed off. Looks like that made you a little nervous. She coughed into her hand and went to the door, remembering to pick up the laundry on her way out. "I'm gonna go down to the laundy room, okay?"

---

Sabriel raked his claws downwards and swung his weight into them, dragging a huge rent down the length of the curtains with a noise of tearing fabric. There was a horrible moment when he found his claws tangled, but the horror gave way to a malicious pleasure when the curtains came crashing down around him. He tumbled free of the wreckage. Getting his legs underneath him, he rolled back into a sit and surveyed it.

He found something out; he actually liked destroying things.

He clambered over the remains of the curtain to get to his windowsill, a smile on his face.

--

Chin came back later that night, after putting away the bags from a little shopping she had done on the side. She stumbled across the room and sank down on the couch. Feeling herself supported luxuriously by the stubborn couch she breathed out a thankful sigh, eyes fluttering closed. 'Sabriel.' Yes, where was he? She thought a little bit more. ...ohgod.

Her eyes instantly shot open. In the dark room she could see no more than slivers of fabric across the floor, and a dark shape outlined against the window. "Sabriel!" she hissed through gritted teeth, struggling to get free of the couch. "I'm-going-to-kill-you!" Putting their shopping somewhere else was a VERY good idea, if this was what he did to it.

Sabriel found himself a sight even more interesting than the outdoors. His head turned, he flicked an ear curiously upward, watching her try to come over and murder him - obviously she was going to take her time. "Kell." he repeated, grinning. "Kell'd."

"AAAARGH!" With a roar she sprang to her feet and lunged for him. Sabriel's fur shot up on end in surprise. Before he knew it he was grabbed roughly and swung under her arm, his legs and arms dangling, like a pillow or something. He fought back furiously. He put all his strength into lashing her bare arms, but Chin wasn't going to be stopped - this was the final straw. If he wanted to know what the outdoors were like, well...he'd find out.

Pushing the door open, she made her way to the balcony. The first hint of freezing air stunned her momentarily. Yeesh, Thanksgiving not a week gone, and it was practically winter. Sabriel howled in dismay. Lowering him to the leaves she disappeared inside.

He was still there when Chin reappeared with coats and a pawprint sweater and sleeping bags, and all sorts of other stuff. It wasn't like someone was going to come out here and trip over them in this weather. After a struggle she managed to get Sabriel into the sweater, and shrugged a coat on herself. He watched as she spread out the sleeping bags, shivering slightly.

Chin sat down on her bag when she was finished, giving the night around them a nervous glance. But when she looked back at Sabriel she at least appeared very collected. "Well," she began, tugging thoughtfully at a wing as she chose what to say, "this is going to be kind of like a camping trip, okay?" In the middle of winter, she refrained from adding.

"You can stay up if you want, but I'm going to sleep - that's where you sleep, over there." She made sure to emphasize that; she didn't want him near her right now, even though she was doing her best to be polite. "G'night, fuzzball." She pulled the sleeping bag over herself and faced the other way, trying to relax. The idea of staying up to watch him was tempting, but...it probably wouldn't help. Her plan was kind of stupid anyways. Sabriel wanted to go outside. Why would he be scared?

Sabriel poked around in the leaves after she flumped down and fell asleep, curiosity overcoming his fear of them. At first he didn't like how they rustled - they became interesting the more he investigated. And the way his breath misted. It had done that once when the heater broke, but in the darkness he could see it, puffing away. He tried holding his breath to help.

As he explored, the fear started coming back to him, creeping into the mental fog of discovery. Voices whispered in the dark. There were menacing things hidden in the shadows that stretched out over the lawn, eyes he could feel, and his spine prickled. If they all could come up here...there was nothing but cold in a dark winter night.

Sabriel learned his lesson after all. Come morning, Chinchillie found him huddled up beside her, so whatever-it-was out there would come and get her first. She sat up and awkwardly stretched, blinking when she found frost riming both her and the sleeping bag, and gave him a gentle prod. "Wake up, you."

He refused to come out. She had to pick him up, sleeping bag and all, and take him in before he crept free and fled under the couch. The outdoors weren't all that interesting any more.

Chin dropped their bags and sat down in the first chair she could find, looking helplessly around the room they were in. It appeared to be a classroom. There had never been a classroom in all the time that she had been here. Even worse, the sign above the door stated this room to be part of the purple area, and that didn't exist either.

And right when she'd figured everything out, too...

It took a little while for the pair to make their way back, confused by the completely different layout as they navigated the rooms. Chin kept stumbling upon rooms she had never even heard about before, let alone seen. Some of the new rooms - like the jungle room, which Sabriel had insisted on leaving, and the computer room were completely cool...but it was such a pain.

Their room was still right by the balcony, but the entire layout of their floor was changed. Heck, the old floor didn't even exist! Curious, she looked at the doors of her closest neighbors - Bergerac, Kunjiro, and Cato, three names she'd never heard - before putting the key in the lock and stepping into her own familiar room.

Sabriel leaned out of his stroller, fascinated. This was their room?

Chin only looked around, resisting the urge to flop right into bed and pull the covers up. "Swell." she muttered. The HQ had been in the palm of her hand - and then they went and CHANGED everything. Gah. She let Sabriel have his run of the bigger room, went to bed, and did what she had planned to do, turning and staring at the wall so she wouldn't have to see anything else. This could take a bit of getting used to, huh?

Sabriel's only concern was, how far away was Deimos? He still wanted to get that bear...

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

"Jingle bells, jingle be - crunch."

Chin rifled through their mail down in the entrance hall, Sabriel crawling past to investigate the unfortunate penguin. Past usual bills and letters from home, there was a blue envelope in among the rest - nobody ever sent them Christmas cards, so it couldn't be that. Then what could it be? She tugged the paper free:

Invitation

"There's going to be a party!" She did a little dance in place, while the cat baby muttered to himself, puzzled over why the stupid thing just didn't break. Reading on, she felt her face fell. It was going to take place in the ballroom. Did they even have a ballroom? Another new place, no doubt...

But a party! They were going to a PARTY! Eee!