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Private RP between Faolan & Zia (Jynk) and Elst & Aoi (Roots of the Cosmos).

Location: Elst's home.
Time: Evening.
Weather: Outside.

War and Peace, a novel infamous among many a student for being the most wretched read imaginable, boring beyond all imagination, was proving quite interesting for Elst. Granted, he'd only made it in about twenty pages by now, but that mattered little. He'd only started about five minutes ago, so he felt he'd made decent headway. The newly-Alter Aoi read with him, now in his lap for his new size wouldn't precisely allow him to return to his previous favorite spot: Elst's shoulder. His ribbon still hung about his neck, but was loosened more from what it used to be; there was a substantially larger neck to hang around now.

There was a knock at the door, however, rousing the duo from their reading trance. Elst thought for a moment, trying to figure out who it would be. Odd, I know Verdant has a key to the gates, but he always rings the bell, he never seems to knock... He then remembered, from a couple days ago; he'd given someone else a key. Oh! That must be Fao! I wonder if he brought anyone with him, but I doubt being up this late would be good for Ellandra's health, perhaps he's alone... He looked down to the Alter sitting with him.

"Hey, looks like Zia's gonna get to see your new form now, if Fao brought him along. Let's go see, eh?" He stood, Aoi standing with him, and headed towards the hallway. Passing at least twelve potted plants on the way, he made it to the end of the hall, and opened the door to reveal two familiar figures, one matching the equally familiar voice he'd heard a moment earlier.

"Fao, Zia! What a pleasant surprise! Come on in..."

Aoi smiled somewhat sheepishly at his sibling, offering a quick wave.

Aoi almost blushed a bit at the dual compliments, swallowing a bit before speaking. He had a voice now that he was Alter, but when nervous as this, he returned to his former method of speaking. Oh, um, thank you. I’m glad I finally shifted, there was a lot I couldn’t do in my old body… and I like your eyes too, Zia, there’s so much color to them!

Elst grinned at the case of beer. “Oh, I always enjoy company, and you’re certainly welcome here any time. Let’s head inside, I’ll see if I have any snack food lying around here somewhere.” He gestured quickly for them to come in, opening the door a little wider.

Elst let out a half-laugh, trying to hold it in. “My, I must admit, you caught me a little off guard there; I don’t think I’ve ever heard my name and ‘normal’ in the same sentence before. Regardless, good to have you here, I don’t get much ‘guy time’ as you said. I mean, Verdant works here, but… Never mind.” He led his guests down the hall, not quite making to the living room just yet. From everywhere around them, the heavy aroma of mint, lavender, and…was that orchid? wafted through the air, from the potted plants lining the walls.

Aoi lowered his head slightly, flustered in a way he wasn’t used to. This was how he was when he was a Proto, why go back to that all of a sudden? Oh, it’s nothing really; all I could do was make it rain, make the plants change a little. Your ability to read things, in an instant seem to know next to everything about something, that’s truly impressive.

Elst finally failed at holding back the laughter, smiling fully at the bluntness of Fao’s retort. This was something he did not get to enjoy often, other than the occasional spurts of it Aoi seemed to occasionally had. ‘Guy Time’ as Fao put it, really the best way to say it.

“Ah, yes, I can’t help but imagine it gets at least a bit manic between all of you. I mean, pregnant wife, Essentics that seem to be at the polar opposites of the arena, a lot to deal with at once. And yes, please realize you’re welcome to come over and relax any time, I’m glad to have you over. Now, let’s see if I have any food anywhere, I think I have some potato chips in the pantry somewhere.”

He led them to the end of the hallway, opening to the main room, the living room, positively overflowing with plants. Several overstuffed reclining armchairs were scattered across the room, two sitting close to a coffee table, in front of one of many large windows displaying the evening sky. Elst beckoned, “Go ahead, have a seat, I’ll be right over once I find the chips.” as he walked through an arched doorway into the kitchen.

Aoi fell silent for a moment, savoring Zia’s words, so to speak. Oh, yes, I understand there are things less pleasant to dwell on… Dad has a few of those, I find them through our mental link, but…he doesn’t really like to bring them up, he seems to prefer to pretend they aren’t there…. And yeah, I guess my dancing’s gotten a little better. I’ve been practicing a lot, and synchronizing them to music. Not to mention, my limbs are a lot more nimble now that I’m an Alter. It gives me a lot more endurance, though I’m far from strong.

After a short while, Elst finally emerged from the kitchen, having finished his rummaging. In his hands was a jumbo bag of some brand of potato chips, as promised. He sat the bag down on the table, taking the chair next to Fao’s. “Oh, Verdant’s off somewhere, he almost always is in the evenings. I would like to think he’s off singing, but who knows, I haven’t really asked. What he does in his spare time, that is. I just know he usually sings in cafés when not working here, dual careers, you know.” He extended the reclining legs to his chair, sitting back a bit. He leaned forward for a moment, opening the bag of chips on the table, grabbing a few. “Hm, sorry, forgot to get a bowl, kind of slipped my mind, I guess. Oh well… Anything else going on with you?” He dropped a couple of chips in his mouth; he was glad human fat oils didn't cause him problems, he loved these things.

Aoi stretched out a bit, one of his legs had begun to cramp. He thought for a moment, and, having overcome his shy side for the moment, actually opened his mouth to speak. His voice was surprisingly deep, rather smooth to match, went well with the bits of singing he did here and there. “Oh, I’m sure you’d dance great once you got the hang of it! I could try and teach you a little bit too, if you’d like.”

Elst took the beer, simply looking at it for a moment, trying to remember the last time he’d had one, and furthermore…how to open it. My, I’m even further out-of-touch than I thought…Oh wait, the cap thing, it either twists off, or I use a bottle opener. Let’s see here… He twisted the top, and to his luck, the cap came off. Hopefully he hadn’t taken too long to do it, though… “Ah, I must admit, I haven’t had one of these for a while now. And twins, really? Congratulations!” He took a quick swig of the beer, trying to get used to the peculiar flavor, yet enjoying it.

Aoi smiled slightly, finding another one of the chairs to sit in, pointing towards one next to it for Zia. “Well, I’d be glad to teach you any time, just say when. And, I haven’t been up to too much, lately, though I really love music; I’ve been trying to write songs, too. I finished a couple. And Rhian's getting a little clingy, then?”

A wider grin replaced its predecessor on Elst’s face. “I get why you’d be excited, definitely. And I can tell already, those kids’ll be lucky to have you for a dad. The dedication and love needed to get through it all is simply beaming out of you; it really is.” He nodded slightly as he talked, taking another swig of the beer. He was getting used to the drink by now, in a good way. “What names have you thought up?

Aoi scratched the side of his face lightly as he thought. “Oh, the butterfly’s getting restless, then. Well, you know as well as I do that you guys are welcome to come over anytime and hang out; it’ll give her a good chance to roam around a bit.” He raised an eyebrow at the mention of card tricks. “Oh, so she’s doing well at that then? Good to know she at least has something to bide her time with. I guess we have to hope, though, that when she hits Alter she gets a decent bit more humanoid.” He sat up, leaning over the arm of the plush, overstuffed chair, after a moment retrieving what looked like a glass jam jar full of candies. They were in a multitude of colors; obviously Aoi’s favorite sugarcane candies. “I know it’s a little kid-ish, but want one?”