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 Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 12:39 pm
Matthew Jove sighed despairingly as he walked to his detective partner's house, a bag of candy at his side and a frown on his forehead. He had always admired Peony enough to not mind doing things that he probably shouldn't have to for him, but really: dragging him across town so he could babysit? Even Matthew was a little cheesed off by that.
'At least Echo's a cute kid,' he thought to himself as he walked up the stairs, ringing the doorbell to the house and, after no one answered, calling out. "Boss! I'm here!" Matthew fidgeted nervously. He'd never seen the inside of Peony's house, and although he was mildly familiar with Paradise, the idea of meeting his family was... intimidating. But of course, that made some sense; Peony Marlox was the single most intimidating individual Matthew had ever met. And he'd talked to serial killers.
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 1:08 pm
Echo perked up a bit when he heard something outside, and it was only a moment before he wriggled off his seat, completely clothes-less, and ran to the front door. He practically ran right into it, standing on his tippy-toes and grasping for the doorknob, whimpering when he couldn't reach it. "Mattoo!! MATTOO!!" he squealed, wiggling around and trying to jump for the knob.
It was a couple minutes before Paradise finally emerged, wearing nothing but a blanket that was sloppily wrapped around him. It seemed that he and Peony had been... distracted from breakfast and had forgotten Echo at the table. Well, his babysitter was supposed to have been there soon, a few minutes alone wouldn't kill him, right? His little tail flicked a bit beneath the covering and he cracked the door open, scooting his son to the side a bit. When he saw who was there, however, his dual-coloured eyes widened, face going red while he laughed sheepishly.
"Oh, Matthew. Uh, hi. So, I'll be... I'll be right back. Feel free to come in, y'know... have something to eat, there's still... bacon left. And some chocolate chip pancakes," he responded quickly and nervously, before darting back into the bedroom to, y'know, put some clothes on, leaving the door half-open for Matthew to come in. Immediately, Echo was latched onto his ankle. "Mattoo!!"
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 1:18 pm
Matthew stared in mild fright at the exuberant sounds coming from behind the door, taking a half-step back. After a second, he shook himself slightly and took that step back, steeling himself. He was a detective, for pete's sake! The last thing he should be afraid of was his partner, his partner's brother, and their candy-addicted baby son. Seriously.
However, his set expression quickly melted away when he saw Paradise wrapped in nothing but a blanket, not to mention the lack of clothing on their son. A giant blush grew on his face, and he cast his eyes to the side in embarrassment, scratching his face awkwardly. "Uh... h-hey. What's up, Paradise? Um, I'll just, uh... Get some of that bacon. Th-Thanks..." The detective slipped into the house, keeping his gaze distinctly away from the bedroom and making for the kitchen for no other reason but to have somewhere to sit.
He flinched lightly as his ankle was attacked by Echo, and smiled nervously down at the toddler. "Hey there, Echo." He shook the bag full of candy above his head, a light smile on his face. "Still like nums?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:00 pm
"Peony? So, Matthew's here," Paradise stated, laughing weakly. "Do you know where I put the list of phone numbers? And Echo's backpack full of... entertaining stuff? I don't know anything about Matthew, I didn't know if he had any kids stuff at home, and if so, if he had anything for someone Echo's age... Peony, will you do something other than lay there?!" Paradise snapped suddenly, face darkening in colour as a result of his brother doing little more than practically posing on their bed. Okay, so maybe only Paradise saw it that way, but it still wasn't helping!!
Echo bounced happily as he clung to his babysitter's ankle, Matthew being the man who was practically his second-father. Or... third father; whatever the case may be. When the bag of candy was held up, his eyes widened and glittered happily, before he let go of Matthew's leg and started to jump up and down, grabbing for the candy bag. "Nums!! Nums, Mattoo, NUMS!!"
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:50 pm
Peony was indeed pretty much posing on the bed, a very satisfied smile on his face. Even with his partner here, he wasn't very inclined to move, especially given the activities that had been cut short. Stretching lazily, he replaced his glasses and swung his legs off the bed, wiggling his way into pants. "En awrder: No, et es, ahnd 'e has two youngah sistahs ahnd a lettle niece. 'E'll be fahne." Still in a certain mindset, he wrapped his arms around Paradise from behind, planting a gentle kiss on his neck. "Yah needn't worreh so much, love. Matt'ew may not be th' bahrightest bulb on th' chahndelier, but he'll tahke care a' Echo, ef anehthen' tah keep me happeh," he replied with a smirk.
Matthew grinned at the child's exuberance and quickly fished through the bag, tossing him a small pack of Starbursts. "Alrighty, here you go, bud. One nums, straight from Uncle Matthew." As the child ate happily, Matthew's attention drifted reluctantly to the bedroom door, wondering and wishing he didn't wonder what was taking his partner so long...
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:08 pm
Paradise grabbed a white tanktop that had earlier been discarded and pulled it on, wings being crushed underneath it awkwardly before wriggling their way through the designated holes in the back of it and flapped a couple times to get the rest of the caught feathers out from underneath the fabric. Pants, however, were a different story, and were of an Eilian clothing company's design where he had to do little to get his stubby tail in a place where it would be comfortable. Rather, the pants had been made especially for tails, and had a hole in the back, buttoning above it.
The redhead whined as his brother wrapped both arms around him, grumbling at him and his attempts to get the elder one back in bed. "We have the rest of today to do other things, let's just get Echo off with Matthew and then we can... do whatever it is you plan on doing," Paradise stated firmly with a blush and a roll of the eyes, picking up his son's backpack and looking for a sheet of paper covered in phone numbers, which he found shortly afterward.
When he returned, Echo was sitting on the floor and wiggling as he chewed on a Starburst and pulled the wrapper off of the other one that had come in the little package. Upon seeing his 'mother', he smiled toothily and waved from his spot on the floor before returning to the candy. After smiling at his son, Paradise gave a weak chuckle and a sheepish grin to Matthew. "Sorry about that. Leaving tomorrow and all..."
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:37 pm
Matthew smiled at the happy toddler, setting his bag of candy on the table and looking around for a few seconds before Paradise came out of the room, thankfully more clothed. This was one of the few times that he had actually seen the Eilian face to face, and so he was still struck by how different the apparent twins were. Peony was dramatic, dark and light, huge wings and tail and temper; while Paradise was mild, smaller and more sociable. The contrast was very stark, especially since Matthew spent a good portion of his life tagging along with one.
The young man glanced said twin leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom, smiling evilly at him in a way that made Matthew gulp and quickly glance away. So the brothers had been doing what he thought they had been doing. Not that he had any problem with it - doing so would be suicide anyway - but it just hadn't been the image he'd had in his head. He'd always seen the twins as living together with their respective mates, but that apparently wasn't the case...
Shaking himself out of his reverie, he smiled at Paradise, shaking his head. "No, d-don't worry about it. You got your business, I got mine." Leaning over, he picked up the child and his candy bag. "So, anything else I should know about? When should I bring him back?"
"Oh, Ah thenk yah alreadah know everehthen, Matt," Peony replied as he walked over to the small group, putting an arm around Paradise. "Yah c'n breng 'em back in, oh, three er fawr hours, Ah thenk." Smiling wide, he bent down to pet his son's hair. "Yah be a gewd boy fer yer uncle, yah hear me Echo?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 11:06 pm
Paradise couldn't help the embarrassment, still a little off at the fact that he'd been seen while, more-or-less, in the middle of such... indecent actions. Not that he regretted the actions, just the timing of everything. The tan-skinned Eilian's wings ruffled up indignantly when Peony settled himself beside his twin, Paradise sticking his tongue out at the other in a mocking fashion, for no reason other than the fact that he could.
At the response of when to bring Echo back home, Paradise lifted a hand, gently pressing the tip of a finger to Peony's lips and smiling pleasantly toward Matthew. "Actually, would you be so kind as to bring him back around six or seven?" Paradise asked sweetly, not at all seeming to have a problem completely contradicting his brother, though it would have likely made the detective gape otherwise. The redhead was already well aware that his twin was little putty in his hands, and all he had to do was say he wanted something to have it in an instant. Well, usually.
Paradise nuzzled against his brother gently while Echo bounced, clothing-less as he was, against Matthew's side. "Oh, right. You'll probably want to give him a bath; he seems to like them a lot. And... you'll want this," he said, fishing a ratty-looking shirt out of the backpack that he then handed to Matthew. "Wearing it makes him more calm. But chances are he'll want it off as soon as possible. Otherwise, feel free to go on your merry way..." Paradise trailed off as he turned, now more properly face-to-face with his mate, kissing Peony's cheek in an irrepressibly cute manner. Apparently Matthew had been dismissed...
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 11:31 pm
Matthew did indeed gape slightly at Paradise's contradiction of his brother, even more surprised by the simple pout that such impertinence received. If he had done that... Well, for one, he wouldn't ever touch his partner in such a way, but moving on from that, he'd probably be scalped for doing that. Either that or snapped at, which was sometimes worse. He grimaced slightly; dealing with Peony definitely took a lot of walking on eggshells. Unless you were Paradise, he couldn't help thinking bitterly.
However, he was careful to keep these thoughts off of his face as he smiled and nodded at Paradise, taking the ratty shirt. "Right. Baths are good. I'll remember. I'll- Ah-" He stopped short when he saw that the other two were, ahem, occupied, and exited the room in a mild huff.
Once he had reached home, Matthew was luckily in a better mood, and he happily set Echo down, placing the backpack on the table and holding the shirt loosely. "So whaddya say, kiddo? Bath or t-shirt?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2009 9:16 pm
Echo didn't notice the interactions between his guardians, but seemed adamant about clinging to his babysitter's leg, even as the other walked out the door, not bothering with shame while he was outside, despite the lack of pants or anything else. He enjoyed the entire ride there and snuggled against Matthew when he was carried into the house, happy as a clam, though he was happy not to be one.
There was something that caught his eyes on the way in, however, which was something that was in a book he'd found. When he was questioned on what he wanted, he stared with those bright eyes up at Matthew blankly before a grin crossed his pale face and he pointed to the large lack instrument. "Mattoo's pinano!!" he squealed, running to the grand piano and scrambling onto the bench, poking at each of the keys and squealing at the sounds they made.
For a moment, that was all that he was doing, playing around the keys, before suddenly the music gained the largest amount of depth it possibly could between his short fingers and equally short arms, teal eyes falling shut. To all the world, the little boy looked like a master pianist.
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Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2009 9:59 pm
Matthew blinked at the exuberant small child and watched him with a small smile as he clambered onto the piano bench. "Yup, my pinano. I don't play it a lot though; mostly just my sister." He watched Echo test out the sounds of the keys for a few moments, then went to the kitchen to fix up a bowl of candy for his charge. It was very obvious that he would have died (and Echo probably would, too) if he hadn't gotten all of the sweets.
However, within a few minutes, the sound of a symphony reached his ears, and he darted back into the front room, undefined fears already racing through his mind. Those were all quickly replaced with confusion when he saw that it wasn't some mysterious, piano-phile intruder, but Echo who was playing the piano with such mastery. Stammering quietly for a few seconds, he walked beside the little boy, placing the bowl of candy on the floor behind him and putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "... jeez, Echo. How... How did you figure that out so fast?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 4:45 pm
But Echo was... gone, to put it simply. He'd completely lost any presence that he'd had, hypnotized by the instrument that he was playing. He'd never felt so calm, so at ease, in his entire young life and decided at that moment that there was nothing that would ever give him as much pleasure as creating his own music. But, lost as he was, he didn't so much as bat an eyelash at Matthew's comment, and it was another two minutes before the boy moved from his focused position.
Finally, his sonata over, Echo glanced up from the piano keys, turning around on the 'pinano' bench. For a moment, he stared at Matthew with a smile on his face before catching sight of the bowl of candy, the smile on his face brightening even further. "Nums!!" he exclaimed excitedly, jumping off the bench and falling to his knees next tot the bowl, digging through it to steal all his favourites.
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 10:16 pm
Matthew was starting to get seriously worried about Echo, gnawing nervously at his lip as he looked around, irrationally fearing a Peony lurking in a dark corner, ready to kill him for bad caregiving. This twitchy behavior lasted until the song was over, at which point Matthew was stuck between calling the hospital and trying to explain to them what was wrong. 'He won't stop playing the piano!' Yup, sounded stupid even in his head.
The call of nums shocked him out of his worried stupor, and he let out a large sigh of relief, patting Echo's head gratefully, although he was still a bit on edge. The words of Peony came floating back to him, as they were wont to do. 'Oh, Ah thenk yah alreadah know everehthen, Matt.' Yeah, right. Leaving the boy to his sweets, Matthew inspecting the piano suspiciously, treating it as if it were some mystical and mysterious being of power rather than an instrument.
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 7:02 pm
Echo was content eating his sweets happily for much of the rest of the day, getting his bath and watching some television, eventually curling up and falling asleep on Matthew's lap. By the time the boy was going home, he was groggy and a bit irritable, stuck in the ratty shirt that he didn't like, clinging to Matthew's hand as the older male took him to the door.
It was Paradise who answered the door again, this time much more decent than he'd been the first time. A gentle smile came to his face when he found his baby at the door, and he lifted the sleepy, sweet boy into his arms, wiping away a stray smudge of chocolate from his cheek. "Thank you very much for taking care of him Matthew. It was well-needed," Paradise said with a smile toward Matthew, his little wings fluttering gently behind him. "He wasn't too terrible to you, was he?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 8:15 pm
Matthew smiled gently as the sleepy boy was taken into his... mother's arms, ruffling his silken hair affectionately. "Ah, you're welcome. It was fun, to be sure. Send him over to me any time."
However, Paradise's question caught his attention, and he stood up, eying the ground nervously and biting at his lip, not exactly sure how to phrase his next words. "No, no, he wasn't terrible, he's a total sweetie - must be all that sugar you feed him - but he was a little... odd." He glanced around conspiratorially, then leaned a little closer and half-whispered over the sleeping nix's head.
"He played the piano. Like, like, like he was Mozart or something. It was a complete freaking symphony that just, like, jumped out of him. I couldn't even get him to talk while he was playing. It was weird."
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