Welcome to Gaia! ::

The transition from a quiet existance with his older sister to being the caretaker of a set of twins was an interesting one. He hadn't doubted her of course, not even when she said that she'd been killed, abducted and made to accept guardianship of a pair of gods. Hadn't doubted her, but had still been somehow unprepared to walk in the kitchen and find Maria trying to figure out how to feed two reluctant children at once.

It had been the first time in a long time that he'd seen her look anything like vulnerable.

So, after she left for work, he'd packed up the twins and set out to the grocery store. It'd been awhile since he cooked, but he knew his sister, and therefore knew that coming home to hot soup and freshly baked bread would do much in the way of restoring her stability.

Now, the wayward half fairy was trying to figure out how anyone on gods green earth dealt with twins. Or children in general. Not that he didn't like kids... but...

It wasn't their attitudes. Laroan was fair tempered and giggling. Nasiir was quiet, always observing. No, it was the difficulty of trying to figure out how one pushed a double stroller and a shopping cart at the same time. Thus, he was in the process of moving the twins from stroller to shopping cart when Nasiir, stoic and quiet, laughed, pointing gleefully, which got his twins attention, and had her laughing.

Following their gazes, he saw Liam and smiled his wings fluttering with pleasure. "That's well done."

This new turn of events brought an even louder laugh from Nasiir, and a croon from Laroan. Edward held a twin in each arm, and, to hide his own smile at the other man's misfortune, he lowered his head and kissed Nasiir's white hair. It wasn't nice to laugh at people, but the boy twin was still to young to scold.

Both infants were now wiggling, clearly indicating that they wanted to be nearer to this new, funny man and his giggling infant. New as he was at holding one child, let alone two, he was forced to give in to their whims just to keep his grip.

"Hey, I'm Edward." He seemed at ease for all that he was approaching a stranger in a supermarket, but he usually was. "These two? They're trouble already. Yours looks like a sweetheart though."

As Edward grew closer to Liam, one already notable difference became obvious. To be pointed, Edward, all 5'4" of him, had to look up to converse with Liam. He was, in a word, short. Still, he'd been short all his life, so he did his best not to be bothered by the height difference between himself and his new, juggling aquantince. The important part was that the man was amusing.

"I hope so. We're still getting used to each other, to be honest." He looked down at the children in his arms. "The darling has been dubbed Laroan, and her quieter brother is Nasiir. Say hi, sweetlings."

Laroan giggled at this, a sweet, musical laugh, but Nasiir was done laughing, and simply stared at the new man and his daughter with curious green eyes.

Noting Tyche's interest, Edward smiled at the little one, spreading his blue toned wings so that the little one could get a better look of them. Unlike his sister, he was rather proud of his heritage, and certainly willing to show it off. "Hi there, beauty." He said, in the sing song voice that adults tended to use with young children.

"Necklaces?" At this, Edward frowned, not an expression of displeasure but one of thoughts. "As in necklaces from people in spaceships and reborn gods?"

He hoped he'd gotten that right. Maria hadn't been all that interested in giving him the details. But that was Maria. 'Hey, we're raising gods now', and that had been about the sum of it. Evil gods, wasn't it? Well, maybe he shouldn't mention that to the gentleman he was in the processes of meeting. He didn't want anyone to be unduely prejudice against the kidlings.

Nasiir and Laroan, meanwhile, were certainly not giving off any evil vibes. Laroan, pure charm in infant form, gave her wide toothless smile, and made grabby hands up at the tall man, offering musical little coos as she did so. Wasn't she just so wonderfully cuddleable? Well, wasn't she? Nasiir, however, had shifted his focus to Tyche. He wiggled in Edward's grip and streached toward the cart, huffing in irritation when it became clear that he wasn't going to get free.

"That's what Maria described. Well, except the umbrella." Maria hadn't actually spoken much about the dying part, shying away from the uncomfortable memory, most likely. She wasn't the sort to discuss problems, not really. "They're my sister's, really, but I'm claiming Dad rights anyway."

The 'they' in question were doing their best to cause him as much trouble as it was possible for two captive babies to do. While Laroan continued to pull toward Liam, Nasiir was still struggling to get closer to Tyche, leaving Edward with two arms full of squirming baby. Still, he did his best to pretend like this was just a relaxed conversation.

"Chance, really?" He asked, seeming genuinely interested. Now that would be a cool (and not evil sounding) sort of god to raise. "You could make a killing at cards, when she grows enough to help you."

Laroan meanwhile, was doing her best to grab the arm attached to the hand on her head. Tiny hands that had been grabbing air now did their best to get a hold on what had come to occupy that air.

A step forward on his guardian's part brought Nasiir in range of the cart, which he held onto with one firm hand, his other reaching for the now much closer Tyche.

"Ga!" Nasiir echoed the strange infant, his reaching hand attempting clumsily to touch her on the cheek. He operated on pure curiosity, having never met another infant outside his sister. Having met very little in this new lifetime.

"That'd be very appreciated." Edward admitted, shifting Laroan so that Liam could take her. "I think they're trying to escape."

Laroan, was only too happy to be taken. The closer she was to the man, the better her chance to win him over. And who could resist those trusting green eyes.

"You don't play? Ahh... I used to win my sister's allowance every week." He let his attention fall to Nasiir, moving closer to the cart to allow him to interact with the girl. "It's fun."

Now of course, there was no dodging the direct question. Hopefully, the man wouldn't think less of the little girl staring adoringly up at him. "Persuasion and manipulation, actually." A weak smile. "The gods of politics, you could say."