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It had started as a walk. Actually, it had started with a moping, out of paint sister, a lazy dog and a restless toddler. That had led to the walk. But the walk was little more than a toddle, because well, that's what Taylor was. A toddler. He toddled. That's what toddlers do.

But it was a hot day, too hot for walking, even toddling, and the valient party of explorers soon grew discouraged by the heat. Jer'ain, who insisted (lately) that she would not go outside unless nearly ever inch of her skin was covered, was panting. Blame the dark pants, the long sleeve shirt, the gloves, and a beanie pulled low over her eyes. Taylor had decided he was done walking, and sat down firmly in the middle of the open square around which a variety of shops were situated. And Fen... well Fen was a good (if ugly and huge) dog. He watched Savius patiently, waiting for further instructions.

Well... fine then. Time to cool off a bit.

Leaning down, the Kestrel winged boy scooped Taylor into his arm and tossed the boy into his arms.

"Well, lets take a break. You wanna get us some icecream, 'rain?" He asked, giving his sister a gentle push toward the stand. "We'll wait here."

Here, was the fountain in the middle of the square. Which he promptly jumped into, plopping Taylor down into the cool water.

The fountain was a marble affair, the sort with swans spitting streams skyward, and Savius was letting his hair and wings get fully soaked. Taylor, sitting among hundreds of penny wishes, was picking up sparklies, and giggling happy at each dime and quarter found. They both turned toward Archie and Alek. Savius nodded and waved a greeting, while Taylor only looked.

And Fen... well, a bit about Fen. His lineage was clear enough to anyone who knew dogs. Some idiot had crossed a rottweiler, a boxer, and, well, a wolf. He was huge, he was ugly, and his gray and black coat was a bit shaggy. Sitting still as a statue and unleashed, he looked at the approaching toddler, but otherwise, didn't move.

"Oh, he likes Fen?" Savius asked, moving out of the water to sit, now soaking wet, on the lip of the fountain, close to dog and child. "Fen, safe. Pack child."

Fen was also a very smart dog. At the brief list of commands, he collapsed like a past king's monument, rolling over to expose his belly to Alek, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

All the excitement drew Taylor to the edge, though he stayed within the fountains cooling spray. His hands gripping onto Savius's wet black shirt, he looked at the other boy with a curious frown. "I Taylor. My Fen. Who you?" For a toddler, his speech was very clear, though the grammar clearly needed work.

Savius, meanwhile, managed a slow, lazy sort of grin for Archie, "Cute brat you got there."

Happy little puppy sounds came from Fen as attention was rewarded, and he leaned his huge, boxy head toward Alex, tongue sneaking out to lick the toddler's legs. They could be friends see? Nevermind that a single chomp would mean the boy losing a foot, Fen was a good doggie. When he was told to be.

"I'm Savius, and the short one's Taylor." The teen asked, reaching out to roughly ruffle the young boy's white and black hair. "The stick-zombie's my little bro, aren't you dude?"

No response there, except the toddler's tail slapping wettly against his arm.

The gryphlet was focused on Alek and Fen, reaching out to tug on the dog's large curling tail. He earned a indulgent look, and a low bark, which took him a moment. Dog wasn't his best language.

My packmate. Unlike his big brother, who spoke to Fen in human, Taylor spoke in yips and whines.

"Fen is big." He parroted with a nod, reaching out to take a new handful of the dog's fur. "I being wet."

"You come being wet too?"

"Ahh, it's one of those sort of stories is it?" Savius asked, grinning at the man as he helped his granchild into the fountain. It made sense, he didn't look old enough to be 'gramps'. "So, where'd he come from? Taylor's a reborn gryphon who came out of a gold stick."

A shrug, dismissing the whole crazy mess of the child's emergence. "Dad wasn't happy about that one."

Taylor was pleased to have the company, not yet at an age where he might suffer from social anxiety, if such an age ever came. "Us wet. Wet not so hot. Sun mean." He slapped his palms down on the water, splashing himself, and sending water toward Alek. A giggle.

It was then that Jer'ain made her way back, five icecream cones of various flavors in a tray. Always observant, when matters of her family came up. She wasn't smiling, her expression displeased at best.

"V, who are these people?" No nod to Archie, no smile. "I brought them icecream."

"Awesome. They can be zombie twins." As Savius spoke, he stepped out of the fountain. Sister's arrival meant it was time to dry back off, and more importantly, eat sweets. Not just any sweets though, stawberry icecream. Because Jer'ain was awesome that way.

"Archie, this is my sister sort, Jer'ain." He took the cone he knew was marked as his, and started in on it as he spoke, licking along the edges. "She hates you, but don't worry, that's kinda her thing."

"V." Jer'ain didn't so much object as simply state the name, her tone containing something that might have been irritation, but mostly sounded like impatient affection.

"No worries 'rain. He's got a stick baby too." Unlike his sister, Savius was utterly at ease. It came from knowing he was utterly superior from all the mortals that surrounded him. "Take some icecream. We've got--"

A glance to Jer'ain then, indicating that she should fill in the details.

"Chocolate, vanilla, umm... blue, and cookie dough."

"Right."

Distracted by Alek, Taylor had yet to notice that the sister sort had returned with treats. Startled by the splash, he laughed loudly. Putting his hands under the water, he attempted to splash it up at the other toddler, but found this somehow less effective. His tail, with a mind of its own as always, reached out of the water to slap against the other boy's shoulder.

Savius followed Archie's lead, sitting on the edge of the fountain, his wings open to dry, and the majority of his attention focused on the icecream in his hands.

Jer'ain, for her part, continued to stand, still having two more cones to deliver before she could take her own. So she watched the kids, waiting. The little one wasn't a problem, not really. She didn't mind bratlings of Taylor's height or shorter. But after that, they grew up, and changed. She wasn't sure where the switch came, or why. But people became cruel as they aged.

Curiousity about the tail he couldn't see warred with the sudden awareness of icecream nearby, but icecream ultimately won out. Even in the water, it was still hot, where icecream was cold and sweet. Reaching out to grab Alek by the arm, Taylor headed to the very edge of the fountain.

"Eat now." He explained, pointing at his sister.

"Sis. Want white." He demanded, with typical toddler entitlement, reaching up toward her in illustration.

"Mmm... yeah. In every way that counts, anyway." Lazy affection laced Savius's words, and he managed something like a smile, a lopsided grin toward Jer'ain, who was handing icecream cones to the toddlers. There was a hint of a smile on her face as well, though it faded as soon as the little one got their treats. For her part, Jer'ain took the chocolate icecream without complaint, and took a seat next to her brother on the rim of the fountain.

Taylor was content for the moment, enough so that he released Alek's arm to better hold his icecream cone. He ate messily, attempting to take bites instead of licking and jerking his head back roughly when the cold froze his teeth.

"Good." He told his new friend, in case the other boy wasn't aware of the tasty nature of icecream.

"Icecream" Taylor replied, proving that his vocabulary could occasionally branch into larger words. It wasn't the nouns and verbs he had problems with. Just everything else. Of course, it probably wasn't the answer the other boy was seeking, but in addition to other difficulties with language, Autsu tended toward the literal.

In perhaps a better response, he pushed the icecream toward Alek, so enthusiastically that he risked getting some on the other boys face. "Eat."

Savius nodded in response to Archie's words, "It is nice. I have good taste."

He felt no hesitation in seeing the family as an accomplishment. Hadn't he picked them out? Hadn't he seen Lithle, with her dead eyes and stony hatred, and rejoiced in the anger he could bring to the surface there?

And later... other emotions, lighter ones that he had not quite so much expected. It could be uncomfortable sometimes.

"Still a family can be... confining. I like my freedom." A firm nod, as if agreeing with himself. "I'd never have a brat of my own."