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Ri was on her feet in an instant, Isys held safely at her side away from the door and her eyes narrowed intently. "Zen." Her voice came angry and concerned, switching to mindspeak a second later. ~Zennie, what's wrong? What's going on, honey?~

The flood of images that came back, tinged with child's rage, explained - well, a little of the situation, at least. The chaos of several dozen other voices, mental and otherwise, only confused the situation a bit further. With a muttered oath, the Water Slider handed Yamazaki his infant and :gated: from the room, reappearing an instant later beside her own daughter. Eyes like emerald lasers bored into the woman's back, each word pronounced ever so carefully and laced with carefully-tamped-down anger. "May I ask what in hell you've done to my children?"

Caz, meanwhile, shook his head and motioned toward the pair of adults with a worried sigh. "Mean lady did somethin' weird to Duncan." He frowned. "Scared Zennie - an she does magic when she's scared. And that brought out auntie Ri." He pointed to the Water Slider. "She's mad."

Of course, Ri's reaction to the mental flood was hardly the same as Duncan's; unlike her adopted son, she was neither young nor without power, and she'd been through these things more than once before. And Aarimeth's idea of gentle was a lot harder than this. Compared to Kelesha's active trying to tear her head apart, this was almost easy.

With a slow blink as the images faded, the Water Slider took a deep breath, deliberately reining in her temper. From the connection she'd gotten, she knew the woman hadn't exactly meant to hurt Duncan. Still - "You might consider being a bit softer in the future. Most children don't handle mental shots well." Gently, she tugged Zen over, a fleeting smile crossing her face as Duncan took up a position flanking her. "This is my cousin's Center, may I help you?"

Ri's mental response - a High Elven translation of "Um, hell no" - was utter unconscious reflex, her usual sarcasm and protective streak going full blast. Still, Yamazaki had said he didn't want to hurt his 'problem,' and she had an eerie sense that the eyes looking back at her would have been equally at home in the magesmith's face. Instead of allowing herself the luxury, she gently motioned the children back to their cousins and siblings. "If you'd tell me who you're looking for, I'd be glad to see if they're in there." She responded instead. "Though as far as I know, it's only Rune's family inside - she's a bit particular about the holidays."

Ri muttered a second comment in another tongue, not Elven but utterly uncomplimentary nonetheless. She'd heard that Yamazaki's family didn't appreciate Elven-kind - though considering what she'd learned about the Elves he knew, it wasn't entirely unwarranted. He hadn't met any of her Elvenkin, at least not that he'd realized, and he'd been quite nice when Nova showed up. And good grief, she hadn't needed the neon sign in her head. Not even the High Elven Nobles were that obtuse.

Now, though, the Water Slider had a dilemma. She didn't want to make a comment about Yamazaki being in the house, but how was she supposed to know if he wanted to talk to the woman or not?

Thankfully, Cody got into the act, grinning from nearby. "I'll see if he's in there, Aunt Ri." He waved cheerily to Steve and Caz, then blinked out of existance, reappearing a few seconds later beside the Magesmith. "Hey, Yamazaki? Who's the scary lady with balls like a bull out there baiting Aunt Ri?"

Cody glanced at the magesmith for a few seconds as though expecting his older friend to be kidding. Then, a blink, and the youth stared at Yamazaki like he'd grown a second head. "Your MOTHER?" He repeated, the faintly-yelped sound laced with awe and disbelief. "You're kidding me. It's your mother? The witch - "

At that moment, his tongue caught up with his brain, and he realized that his friend might not necessarily like hearing his mother referred to as horribly as that. Not that Cody would usually care, but he DID happen to like the magesmith. "Um, sorry. And yeah, I will. On both counts."

Outside, meanwhile, Ri's undoubtedly subtle-sarcasm-retort was cut off as a whip-thin little blond boy glared at the woman before him with diamond-sharp dislike in his eyes. "Funny, I thought it was where we had to aim our sarcasm." He spoke with a cutting edge. "Since most of it probably goes right over your big ugly head."

"Darwin - " Ri's reaction - equally split between smirking amusement and a chastising rebuke - probably didn't help much. Zen grinned fiercely, sticking out her tongue at the lady from where she stood between her brother and the other chlidren. Childish, yes, but she WAS five. This lady was a dork.

Oooooo, someone had touched a nerve. That much was clear from the serious, deadly irritation that flickered across the Water Slider's face. Darwin wasn't her son - in point of fact, he'd been adopted by Morgan, one of Rune's "magesisters" - but the implied slur pricked at her all the same. Still, she'd been taught subtle and catty sniping from some of the best there were (HER elves being more inclined to it than outright violence or blatant blabbing whenever possible), and she'd had worse.

Not very, but still, worse.

With a frosty smile and a cheer that could have frozen hell, Ri affected a look of faint surprise. "You do? How odd. These children have always been perfectly polite in proper, deserving company." Her head tilted to one side, an eyebrow rising calmly. "Perhaps the problem isn't their age, but the public involved."

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Cody grinned in relief. "She's a b***h." He said gleefully, almost awed again - though now for a different reason. "But I've never seen anyone bait Aunt Ri that way. Should'a seen it - like watching a train wreck, or a fencing match on crack." The youth shook himself. "Yeah, I'll dispell the snow firs - hey, do you hear that?"

And Yamazaki would, though it wouldn't be intentional on Ri's part. A low, almost inaudible muttering could be heard through the house as tamped down energy transmitted her subconscious thoughts into sound. Most of it in Elvish or Common Illuzen, none of it was complimentary. Cody looked delighted. "Ooooo, I haven't heard her use that one since she kicked Kelesha's a**."

Cody laughed. "She's not sayin' it out loud." He pointed out, grinning. "But yeah, she'll be good. She knows better than to yell at the bigwigs." Now he paused. "Well, most of the time. Eh, she'll stay polite enough, I'll poke 'er."

With a smirk, the youth popped out again, reappearing beside his aunt. "Yamazaki says she's his mom, and we can show her in." He put on his best courtly manner, a hidden grin nearly revealing itself as Duncan caught his eye. So that was what had happened, eh? Cool. His gaze flicked to Darwin, still glowering, and he motioned the boy to stand down. No sense in ticking off the lady more.

Yet.

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Ri stood silent and motionless, the air around her nearly vibrating with tension and muscles wound wire tight. With Mind as her secondary element, it was fiercely obvious this lady was powerful; well, hell, she was related to Yamazaki after all, and Ri knew his strength was nothing to scoff at. It had also been obvious - at least, until a moment ago - that the woman was planning on starting a mage-brawl.

But it had faded away, and the faintest frown flashed in the depths of the Water Slider's eyes before her nephew reappeared. With an inner sigh of disappointment - however much she may be civilized, there was a raw elemental portion of her that did so love battle - Ri managed a smile in the woman's direction. "It seems Yamazaki is waiting for you."

One arm rose, and with a negligent flick of her wrist, the snow wall collapsed back onto either side of the path. There were benefits to being of Water, after all. "I believe he'll be in the study. Second door on the left."

"Better be nice to him." Darwin muttered, not quite under his breath. He LIKED the magesmith, and his kids - especially Steve, but Isys was a favorite, too. And Darwin didn't like many people.

Ri felt the parting flash of mental magic, a slow frown just beginning to gather on her features before she caught sight of Darwin. "Dar, wha - "

The little boy's face had gone white as the snow around him, skinny body ramrod still, eyes impossibly wide and round as saucers while he stared unseeing at the door. He knew the memory was true, he wasn't an idiot. On the contrary, in fact; Darwin's abilities made him much smarter than a normal ten-year-old. Still, it took him a few seconds before he blinked and returned to himself again.

The tall woman had been right in one sense. If Darwin had not spent the holidays with the magesmith, treating him as one of the family, the sights of the memory would have sent the former lab-rat screaming back to Morgan in a terror so deep he would never be able to overcome it and trust the man again. But he KNEW Yamazaki, knew him with the senses that had never failed to separate good from bad.

And hell, his foster aunt and uncles were demons and worse. They'd never killed kids deliberately - at least, he fervently hoped not - but they had done bad things.

Which meant, rather than freaking out, Darwin managed a response that was somewhat more normal for one of Rune's adopted family. Namely, shouting out the foulest curses he could think of at the woman's retreating back, in any language he knew. Coward, b***h, snake, harpy - most of the rest were unprintable.