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Lost Here was not a chain coffee shop. It did not have cute, smiling young barristas in neat uniforms behind the counter. It sold no coffee related knick-knacks, no cups, no CDs.

Lost Here was dark inside, even in daylight, and the guy behind the counter leaned on it sleepily, giving any customer that dared to order without tipping a look that told them exactly what would be happening with their drink. Abstract art that suggested violence hung on many of the walls, next to striking photographs of lonely city scenes.

Lithle walked in without hesitation, glancing behind the counter and noting that Kyle was not in with a sigh. She'd hoped that he'd take the child from her, take the responsibility off her hands and leave her to her day. But no, it was Ian behind the counter, bobbing his head in time to the music and thumbing through a magazine.

Jer'ain was sick. Savius insisted on taking care of her. And with the two teens under her guardianship down, that left her with Taylor, the lion tailed zombiebrat with the amber eyes. And no Kyle to help her either.

With a sigh, she ordered a coffee, threw a dollar in the tip jar, and retreated to one of the couches scattered in one corner of the place. She liked the blue one better than the red one she actually sat on, but that one was occupied by a couple of laughing teenagers, ruining the pretense at hardness with their easy smiles.

Reluctantly she pulled the fussing Taylor out of his stroller, settling him in her lap. Maybe she could just let him crawl around and steal things. That'd keep him content, and her from having to play mommy.

Lithle missed little. She'd been digging in her bag when the boy began his approach, but the uncomfortable nearness of another person made her glance up. Normally, she ignored children, but the boy's height meant he didn't slip under her radar.

Realizing that it was, after all, a child, the hint of life that had momentarily sparked in her habitual glare faded. There was no danger here, just an over curious kid who hadn't learned not to irritate strangers. He was babbling in tongues or something, but he was, none the less, a kid. And he seemed to have some interest in her zombie.

"Want something, brat?" She asked, her voice nearly expressionless, no warmth there, but she wasn't being out right hostile yet. Not toward a kid, at least.

In her lap, Taylor was refusing to sit still. Though the boy's dark skin prevented him from being shiny, he was wearing shiny things. And the contrast with the darkness made that shiny all the more visible. He reached toward the boy's beltbuckle, squirming in place and trying to get out of Lithle's grasp. "Wan!"

His little tail lashed as he twisted, and he grabbed it out of habit, taking firm hold of the fluff at the end and sticking it neatly in his mouth. Not that he was content with a mouth full of fur. The dark boy had a shiny and he fully intended to have it for himself. Leaning as far forward as he could, he made a snatching grab for it, pouting when he missed.

"Waa." It was hard to talk with his mouth full.

Heh, the kid couldn't tell the difference between dogs and wolves, could he? Well, Lithle couldn't blame him. Sometimes she thought the distinctions they'd made were all in her head. Whatever. Point was, she wasn't gonna bite the kid. Not when he was still such a little sheep.

"Heh. Kept the brat occupied for a minute. Don't much mind that." Which was probably why Lithle was being as close as she ever got to friendly, when not in the very confined circle of her pack. Gone for the moment was the usual glare, if only because the brat did seem so facinated in the boy, and that kept her from having to entertain him.

"Huh? He's a zombie baby. Came from a stick. That what you mean?" She touched the boy's hair gently, running her fingers over the pale strands with what might almost be called affection. Like the kid, Taylor was protected from her sharper edges. It was why the gods made children cute. So people would have a more difficult time hurting them.

Not that it didn't happen. Not that she hadn't seen it happen.

Taylor continued to squirm in place, ferociously gnawing on his own tail and whimpering pathetically when the boy with the shiny retreated. Now he'd never be able to reach it. His eyes took on the shine of tears, and he made a weak gasping sound, his attention never leaving the belt buckle, his arms streached determainedly forward.

"C'mon, kid. Take him before he really gets started." She scooped the infant up, holding him out toward the cowering child with every expectation that the boy would take him off her hands. After all, Savius always did. That's what older kids were for. Taking care of the littler ones.

Lithle's eye's remained primarily on the woman, even as the dark kid took the brat from her. Good kid. She wished Savius was so obedient. No... she didn't. But she wished she wished it. The birdbrat got away with far more than he deserved.

"'s what the other brats call him." She picked up her coffee, taking a slow drink and wishing again that Kyle was here. Kyle would have gotten her a beer. The kid behind the counter didn't even know where Kyle kept the drinks he served his friends. Useless. "Supposed to be a gryphon."

"Go 'head." Sure, Lithle was being more friendly than she had been in months, but she had good motivation for it. If the woman left, the kid left. If the kid left, she'd have to deal with Taylor. No point in chasing a free babysitter away just because she didn't want to make an attempt at conversation. She could play polite. Sorta.

"So, what is he?" Lithle gestured toward the dark skinned boy holding Taylor.

Taylor giggled happily when the boy took him away from Lithle, only glancing over his shoulder to make sure she didn't leave his range of vision. He didn't like it when family left him. But far more interesting than family was the shiny beltbuckle of the boy in question. Reaching out, he tugged at it, giving the wide toothless grin of a happy infant. His tail, now freed from his mouth, lashed about, and with his free hand he grabbed at the waving hand, attempting to put it in his mouth.

Lithle looked at Taylor as the woman spoke, unhappy with the newly realized possibility of complications. She hadn't thought that being part gryphon might mean that the child would have problems. Would he only be able to speak Gryphon? Was that even a language? The reading she'd done said the creatures were intelligent, but that didn't say much for linguistics. She wanted a child that understood her, if only because it meant he'd know what no meant.

"The brat's a thief." Lithle was speaking allowed, the comment directed at the other woman only because the other woman was there. "He'll take anything shiny. Maybe it's the gryphon in him, I hadn't thought of that. But they're supposed to have had hoards." She paused, shaking her head slightly. "I'd always thought that was dragons."

Taylor giggled at the touch of fingers at his lips snapping at them with toothless gums before once again becoming distracted by shiny. This time, it was the boy's hair, so white against dark skin. It didn't matter that his hair was equally light, he could only see the dark tips. White was shiny.

Small hands releasing hold on both hands and belt buckle, the gryphon reached upward, trying to get a handful of hair.

"You have a point. Lock up the guns, I guess. Don't want him waving one around, just because it's silver." Of course not. He wouldn't be old enough to teach how to shoot until he was at least seven. And Lithle had a standard rule in her house that no one got their own gun to carry until they were around eleven. Sure, Taylor had one on his wall, Savius had insisted, but he wouldn't be allowed to carry it until he was older.

Success! Taylor gave another happy giggle when the big boy leaned closer, putting his hair within easy reach. Now, how to get at it best? With a thoughtful little frown, the small boy put his tiny hands on the boys shirt and pulled, getting himself just a bit more lift. Leaning his head back, he opened wide, fully intending to get a mouthful of lovely shiny hair.

Mmm... shiny.

Lithle nodded, but refrained from speaking, the womans silence allowing her a silence of her own. She was not, by nature, a talkative woman. It was much more comfortable to sip at her coffee and watch Taylor absently. She raised an eyebrow when she realized that the little boy was making a sincere attempt to eat the dark kid, but didn't say anything.

Shiny, shiny, shiny. The little boy couldn't help but giggle in delight, giving up his chewing to sit back down in the drow boy's lap. He smiled upward at the boy, a brilliant toothless expression of innocent joy, and snuggled against him, his face nuzzling into the drow's shirt.

What a nice shiny.