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 Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 9:44 pm
It was a rare day indeed. Warm enough to be outside without a jacket to keep back the chill. The kind of day that Haruki would grudgingly accept defeat on and go to the park with Revon. The young raven's thoughts where on saving what might be leftof the flowers. Which likely meant a few weeds that clung to life, but there might have been a luck blossom or two.
He'd managed to find a few too. Enough to make a delicate flower crown out of while Haruki sat on the bench nearby reading. It was a normal occurance for them really. The older and younger both quietly going about their pasttimes. It's how they maked things work.
And it let Revon be as girly as he wanted without bothering his keeper too much. Haruki didn't seem to mind it, but it was obvious that he wasn't too proud of it either. Or maybe that was just the usual disdain he had for everything? Revon wasn't quite sure.
It wasn't like it mattered much. He'd managed to make a makeshift flower crown. It wasn't all pink flowers as he usually prefered(because it matched his wardrobe better), but it would do. He lifted the thing up and plopped it on his head happily before adjusting it a bit. Perfect.
It might be the last one ofr the year, he had to enjoy it.
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Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 9:58 pm
Stevie quietly watched her black and white ward wade through a thick patch of clover, the little one seemingly fascinated by the greenery even as its vibrant color was beginning to fade for the winter. Fleur eagerly shoved his nose into every flower he found, indulging in each one's scent. Stevie had her arms crossed with one hand steadily holding her large insulated mug, its straw rarely leaving her mouth except for the brief moment when she caught a whiff of something unpleasant downwind.
"Fleur, spray," she murmured. Fleur let out a squeak and immediately fished an elegant crystal perfume bottle from the small messenger bag he carried with him, squeezing the black bubble attached to it to refresh his mask of apple-scented perfume. It worked very well, better than Stevie truly hoped, and it only had to be reapplied maybe three or four times a day, but she was beginning to grow worried about figuring out what brand of perfume it was before it ran out.
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Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:23 pm
Lucas was rather surprised by his son's willingness to come out into the open. Usually the boy had to be nudged out of the house if he was to perform any other exercise than dusting the countertops and washing dishes. That alone should have been a sign that Canti didn't like any form of dirt. Yet here the boy was, walking alongside him and somewhat reluctantly clutching his guardian's gloved hand with one of the four he possessed. Alright, so maybe it wasn't cold enough for a jacket, but the ant child had not made it out of the house without a long-sleeved shirt for his upper arms and a pair of leg-warmers wrapped around his secondary set. Pants had been a must, too.
"Well, this is the place I told you about, bud. The park." The photographer announced, giving the boy's hand a light squeeze.
"Park." Canti repeated, taking in the name as his onyx eyes ran over the wide expanse of trees, flowers, and bushes. Funny- the trees were now somehow taking an unusual metamorphosis with their leaves. Where had all the green gone? Contrary to Lucas' belief, the ant rather enjoyed the outdoors. There was just so much work to be done in the house.
"Right. Now why don't we find me somewhere to sit while you go off and play?"
"Play?" Canti knew the word. More often than not it was the only thing his brothers wanted to do. "With who?"
"Whom." The young man corrected. But yes, that was a question for concern. "You don't have to play with anyone, Canti, but... what about that cute little girl over there with the crown? She looks like she'd be fun." Yeah, right. Good job keeping your child near the other children on the right side of the tracks, Lucas... "Go on; I'll go find a seat."
Reluctant to move from his father's side, the ant let go of Lucas' hand and slowly made his way towards Revon. For a moment he studied the boy and his flowers from the back, judging, before he moved around to his side. "Hi... my dad said I'm to be playing with you..." He offered, looking anywhere but Revon at the moment.
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Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:47 pm
Revon had only just finished adjusting the crown and giving his wings a light flutter of joy when he heard a voice. Well one he didn't know. He quickly turned in the direction of the noise to stare at an odd creature. As dark skinned as he was, but no wings. Extra arms too. Kind of like him, but not.
Fingers worked momentarily at his long sleeves before be glanced down toward his feet. He was here to play, but... didn't he usually play alone in the park. He watched the boy another second before glancing at his guardian who was paying little to no attention at the bench. Haru was there, it would be fine.
"H-hi." He stated in an almost mute voice. "I... I'm R-rev-on." He added after a moment, then glanced off to find a flower to give the boy. After a moment he found one that was still clinging to life and held it out. "P-playing w-with fl-owers." He managed a tiny grin at that. Which quickly faded.
Why one earth did he smell apples. He wrinkled his nose and glanced around trying to find the source. Flowers weren't supposed to smell like apples so why..? "Y-you sme-smell th-that?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 11:05 pm
Stevie glanced over her shoulder when she heard voices and finally fully removed her drink's straw from her mouth so she could speak to Fleur un-muffled, "There's two other kids over there. Why don't you go say 'hi' now that you've freshened yourself up some?"
"...buh?" Fleur looked up at her with an expression like she had grown an extra head. "Why?" He had not met anyone else since he was first given to Stevie, and the prospect of being turned to introduce himself to two at the same time was horrifying to say the least.
"Why not?" Stevie shrugged. "You have to make friends sometime." She gave him one experimental sniff and took the bottle to spray under his tail once, making positive his natural odor was sufficiently masked. The scent of apples was not overwhelming though it was obvious Fleur's fur had been treated with perfume. However, it could not be helped, and Stevie was of sound mind that the average person would much rather smell apples than skunk. Those who would prefer skunk over apples she probably did not want Fleur associating with in the first place.
Fleur gave the other two an utterly petrified look, staying firm in his bed of clovers. The light lavender of his over-sized shirt blended with the clover flowers, a fact to which he was not oblivious and hoped it would hide him from the curious eyes of those strangers. Granted, his black and white pelt definitely stood out from the greenery.
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Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 11:32 pm
The flower was eyed curiously before one of the lower arms reached out and delicately took it. Slowly, a smile stretched itself across Canti's lips, obviously feeling a bit better about the situation now that he was assured that it wasn't to be an aggressive one. He could probably handle it if he'd received a rude response seeing as he happened to live with someone senselessly mean, but he wouldn't have enjoyed it. Wait. There were words you had to say when someone gave you something or else you got scolded...
"Thanks?" Yes, that was it. " 'm Canti... Smell?" The long appendages upon the ant's head twitched at that, perking up and tingling. Yes, he could smell. "Froo-oot?" The black head turned in search of the source of the scent, and it didn't take long for him to spot the rather obvious lump in the clovers. "Big flower."
There was a moment's consideration before a hand was held out to Revon. "We are... 'playing with flowers', yes? Are we to play with... the big flower?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 11:41 pm
Revon had spotted the black lump among the green before long too. Unlike the ant, he had be left speechless. One person he might be able to handle, but two? He glanced at the ant who'd been speaking as the question was asked.
Did they play with big flowers?
"I-if... it-'s n-nice." He stated as quietly as before, before pushing himself up to inch toward the lump cautiously. He had to try. Haruki said he should make friends, and his brother had friends. He should have some too. Good people had friends.
He just had to try really hard. Because it wasn't easy.
"F-flower, do y-you wa-want to p-play?" He wasn't sure what else to call the other child. So flower would do for the time being.
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Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 11:53 pm
"See? Now you have to go over there - they've spotted you," Stevie insisted, giving Fleur a nudge at his tail to stand up. "And they've even got your name right already." She gave him a nudge forward at his back to get him started despite his meek protests.
Stumbling forward toward the strangers, Fleur was frozen at first, his ears tilted back uncertainly and his tail trying to tuck under his legs, one of the flowers he had been smelling now clutched tightly to his chest as if it was now a makeshift security blanket. It took him a moment to find his voice; he knew Stevie would not be pleased if he was rude now, so he finally took one shakey step forward and meekly spoke, his voice weak and unsteady, "H-Hi...'m F-Fleur..."
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:31 am
Canti had gone with Revon over to the skunk among the clover and now watched as the furry one fumbled about. Was he scary? Carefully, those long antennae atop his head stretched out towards Fleur, twitching experimentally before pulling back again. Yes, this was where the smell had come from.
"Hi Fl-uuhr. 'm Canti..." He gestured with one hand towards the raven crowned in flowers. "Thas Revon." The name was spoken slowly, deliberately so that he wouldn't somehow make a mistake. "What... why hide? S'there monsters?" He glanced around him as if searching. "Should we be hiding?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:37 am
He nodded as his name was said. Fleur. Sounded liek flower. He had to be good. Flowers where nothing but good. He was a bit thankful when the other child introduced them both. He didn't want to try talking again, it was just... well he didn't want to make a mistake. So someone else saying it was better. As selfish as that was. And he knew that.
He gave the black and white creature a meek smile as he was introduced before frowning at the next question. Which was a rather good thing to ask. Should they be? He peered around cautiously a moment, hopping up and flapping his wings a few time to hold himself a moemnt more before landing back on the ground. He hadn't seen anything scary.
Just Haruki and a few more adults. People he had to assume were the other kids parents. That wasn't too scary. "D-don't s-ee any-one." He said quickly before looking back at the skunk expectantly.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:51 am
Fleur's dark blue eyes widened when Revon lifted himself into the air, so startled and fascinated he did not have a chance to be hesitant and shy as he asked, his voice full of wonder, "How'd you do that...?"
He realized it was a stupid question the second he said it - it was obvious how Revon did that - he had wings. Even at his young age, Fleur new wings meant flight. Correcting his embarrassing question, he instead stammered, "I-I mean...wh-what kinda bird are you...?" He had not yet seen a black bird, just the blue and pink mechanical parrots Stevie built and sold to keep her income steady. Revon was pink too but only in clothing just as Fleur was wearing a shade of purple, so Fleur doubted he was a parrot.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 1:17 am
The natural shyness that came with first meeting people was gradually beginning to fade. Neither of the boys seemed mean or particularly critical, so why should he remain tense? He nodded absently to himself about nothing in particular before stumbling back as Revon lifted himself into the air. Woah! Flying- what a neat trick. Canti found himself smiling despite the potential danger of a 'monster'.
None? No monsters? Good. At Fleur he gave a little tilt of his head. Then he glanced to the pink-clad boy, running his eyes over him. "A crow, yes? Like on windowsill... make mess on windows." A frown at that. "Pigeons too. Revon is not making messes, right? Only play with flowers."
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 1:24 am
How'd he do that? He rubbed his hand lightly. It was a compliment, so he'd done something good? "I... lea-learned it i-in a cl-class." He mumbled as quietly as before, then smiling slightly. It was a good thing to learn to fly. People liked those who could fly. But then came Canti's more cirtical comments.
Then again, he was talking about a crow. Revon was a raven. And he didn't make a mess, but his brother... well his brother did.
Still, he never made a mess on a window. "I-i'm a R-raven." He quickly corrected, before shaking his head. "Ha... do-does not li-like when R-revon ma-kes me-messes. So... Rev-on doe-does not. J-just flo-flowers." Was the reply he made, nodding a bit. Yes, he didn't make messes. Messes would be bad. So... he hated messes.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 2:14 pm
Fleur seemed a little confused. He had not heard of a raven before - crows, yes, but ravens? It was something he would have to ask Stevie later.
With the distraction of Canti's remark, Fleur realized he was beginning to come exceptionally nervous, clenching the lone flower he was holding almost painfully tightly. These two seemed okay, but what if the perfume started to wear off? He knew he had only just reapplied it, but he had been ushered over to Revon and Canti so abruptly he forgot to bring the bottle with him. What if his natural odor started to creep through again? He had finally started relaxing around the strangers, but now he was afraid again, afraid he would stink them away.
Desperate for another distraction, Fleur asked, hoping talking might keep them too busy to smell the air, "Wh-What kind of class? I'm j-just learnin' how to read..." He was still learning the alphabet at that time. Even as he talked though, Fleur found his eyes trailing up to Revon's head, growing fascinated by the circle of flowers in his hair.
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Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 10:41 pm
Canti didn't honestly know what a raven was, or what the difference was between a crow and a magpie. They were black birds, and he knew a black bird as a crow. However, when he was corrected, Canti silently stored the tidbit away. All that mattered to him was that Revon was clean and didn't make messes. Of course, the ant wasn't going to shun the raven if he did, but it was something he might wrinkle his nose at. Messes were bad indeed, yes. To signify his approval, he bobbed his head somewhat towards Revon and smiled.
A brow was lifted at Fleur quietly, unsure as to why the boy was tensing up. Was he alright? At the question, though, a frown crossed his features and his eyes fell towards the ground. "Me too. The alpha-mabet. Dad has said I can't get it right past G..." Apparently it was quite the disappointment for the ant. He wanted to learn fast! "I am knowing in numbers."
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