Welcome to Gaia! ::

When Silva woke up Ice was already digging through her closet, tossing things this way and that. He blinked as a devil tail hit the bed. Then he blinked again realizing that she was in her seldomly used "Gaia" form, complete with white dreadlocks. He had gotten used to the lizard tail.

Then a black pair of silk panties hit him in the face. He grunted, shoving them off and speaking. "What the hell are you doing?"

Ice turned, holding up her jacked-up T-shirt. "I won!"

"... Won what?"

"The raffle!"

Silva jerked, sitting up and looking around, only to relax as the only bloom he saw was the one he had come out of. "Good for you." He said apathetically.

"The clothes are for a picture of me! But that ticket over there is for a feien." Ice said casually, going back to her digging. She didn't even notice the way he jerked again, then dropped off of his bed and headed for the piece of paper.

"Breeding Ticket." He repeated, blankly.

"The next time some of the other feien breed I get one of their babies!"

"... Well... s**t." He got off the bed and headed for the windowsill, picking up his weights and ignoring the sleeping pets. "You want me to raise some other person's brat."

"Well... yeah, I guess you could say that." She turned, holding up her angelic headband and her top hat. "Which one?"

He just glared at her.

"Both then!" She said, happily putting both on and going back to her digging. "Look, sure the kid will have parents, but you'll be the one he... or she... has to deal with on a daily basis. You're the one raising it. Not the parents."

"But the question is why in the hell would I want to raise a feien in the first place." He replied, grunting as he started his barbell squats. He cursed as his knee complained slightly. "Oh, and I want a balance beam."

"... A balance beam?" Ice repeated, then blinked. "Oh! Like the scene from Kill Bill! The one where they're--"

"Yeah. But get back to the subject." He said, doing another squat. "Why."

"Because you don't want the kid to add to the general idiocy that makes up the world? Remember the kid at Walmart?"

"... Dammit."

"But hey, it might be a while before we get the new bloom. There's five other people with one of those things." Ice said, turning to admire herself in the mirror. "How do I look?"

"Like a F'ed up mad hatter." He replied, putting his weight down, trying not to think of how he had only done half of his usual reps and grabbing his dumbbells.

"Too bad it's only waist up... I'm fond of these pants." Ice said, looking down at her camo pants. She reached over, snapping on her half gloves and grabbing her demonic fork. "Gotta go take a picture for her to work off of!" She headed out the door, barely avoiding Kisa as the small tiger walked in.

Silva chewed on his toothpick, watching her go silently before turning to Kisa. "Get to stretching brat, your training begins with a backyard run."

Kisa blinked, confused.

"Don't waste my time." He told her coldly, trying not to think about what Ice had just told him. Kisa nodded, stretching as he told her to, then looking at him expectantly. He put his weights down and walked over to the window, using his giant strength to open it all the way easily. "Get to running."

Kisa jumped out the window, grateful they were on the first level.

"I've got no scent." Sonnet said a good hour later. She was up to her shoulders in snow, but she didn't mind it. She was an arctic wolf, after all. Lyric, on the other hand, was freezing.

"M-m-m-me ne-ne-neither." He said from where he was jumping as high as he could to avoid the snow.

Silva nodded, hovering above and once again scanning the snow with a dark look. If Sonnet couldn't pick up anything... then there was no chance in hell of him finding Kisa. Ice was going to kill him...

"Ya don't even LIKE the thing! Can we go in now?" Lyric asked, mid-jump.

Silva didn't reply, leaving Sonnet to sigh and turn to the hyena. "Go in. We'll keep looking."

Lyric paused, not sure it was a good idea, but then nodded, not really wanting to freeze anymore then he had to.

"Silva..." Sonnet said softly after Lyric had left, sighing as the feien didn't look down at her. "I'm sure she's fine. She can take care of herself."

He grunted, pulling his toothpick from his mouth and tossing it to the ground. For a second he stared at the pawprints the tiger had left behind, then nodded, turning back to the house. "C'mon."

"But--"

"We gotta tell Ice." He muttered, so softly that she wouldn't have heard it if she didn't have such exceptional hearing.
**********************

"So you can't find her." Ice said, trying to hide her worry. Then she stopped, blinking as she remembered something. "You can't... but I know someone who can."

She walked over to the phone, pressing the redial button and waiting impatiently. She spoke quietly into it for a while, leaving Silva to stare out the window, scowling. Then she hung up, turning to him with a slight smile.

"She's at the clubhouse."

"... The what?"

"Well... that's where the coordinates of her tracking pendent say. And--" Ice pulled out a strange map, rolling it out on the table and checking the coordinates. "Yep. The Alphapet clubhouse. I got a note about where it was... a while ago." She was vague in her explanation, but he wasn't too surprised. He had yet to figure out if she was vague on purpose (Which he seriously suspected) or if she was just a ditz (Which he was also seriously considering.).

"I'm surprised you even bothered to tell me about this." She said, dropping down on the couch next to him, one leg draped over the armrest.

"No one deserves to be stuck in a cage." He muttered, scowling slightly. Ice blinked, not quite sure what he was talking about, then shrugged.

"Some might." Was all she said before flipping on the TV.

The hope chest was covered with wrapping paper, miniature bags that stood taller then Nick and Nack, and candy wrappers. Nick and Nack lay blissfully sleeping, their bellies full of candy, a half eaten candycane next to them.

Silva stood in the windowsill, swinging the silver necklace for a second before kicking out to send the small ball bearing at the end towards the punchingbag. It hit with a vicious thud, making him smirk before swinging it it over his neck to shorten the hit. Then he turned, sending it out again, slamming it into the punching bag.

Ice was gone, run off to family or something, but she had been there long enough to give them their gifts and wish them all a Merry Christmas. Whatever the hell that was.

He shrugged, trying another trick from Kill Bill, the ball wrapping around the punchingbag and tightening. The bag burst.

"...Damn." He muttered, letting the chain loosen and walking over to the punching bag. He fingered the beads that had fallen out, then turned, scowling slightly. He would need a tougher target.

He snorted, wrapping the chain up, but stopping before wrapping it around his waist. The necklace was a good twelve inches long. Far too long to sit comfortably around his waist... So he looped it three times, hanging it across his body like a bow and arrow bag. He would just have to get bigger, he thought, getting accustomed to the weight quickly. The bearing hung loosely at his side.

For a second he turned, looking at the other gifts and shrugging slightly. Only to walk over, grab one of the chocolate covered cherries from the gigantic box Ice had gotten him, and head for his garden.

So this was Christmas...

He missed the cat. He scowled, cursing his boredom as he sat in the window, watching the snow falling in the backyard. He didn't even LIKE the cat and he missed her... or at least missed bossing her around. It gave him something to watch outside. As it was all that was in front of him was snow... and more snow.

He scowled, reaching up to situate the toothpick in his mouth, just for something to do with his time. He had gotten used to the cold after a while, not even noticing it after forcing himself to put up with it long enough. But he still preferred summer. He missed surfing.

He had things he needed to do, he neeed to get his old chain back from Banana Tango, take the training doll over to Berra... But he didn't really care about his old chain as much. Not with his new one hanging on his shoulder. His leg kicked a little, hanging over the side of the windowsill, the cold air making him have to move slightly to keep from freezing.

He wasn't feeling social... wasn't feeling much of anything, actually. He had even done twice his usual routine of running, weight lifting, and his new balance beam practice just to make himself feel. It hadn't worked. Not even when he fell off for the fifth time. A pencil and two hardback books made up his new toy, the pencil taped down with scotchtape so it wouldn't roll on him. It didn't have to roll, he fell off easily enough as it was.

He could go ferret gliding, he thought, not really feeling like it. He could go driving in the remote control car... but he didn't feel like that, either. He wanted to go surfing. But the pools were put away, and getting wet in the middle of winter probably wasn't the smartest idea...

But... He shoved himself to his feet, a slight smirk crossing his face as he headed for his surfboard. He looked it over, noting that it was a little too big for him... again. But it would have to do. He tucked it under his arm and headed out the window, flying to the top of the hill like backyard.

He stopped, dropping to the ground, falling slightly into the snow, up to his ankles as he put the surfboard down and put one foot on it. For a second he turned, eyeing the snow with a little hint of pleasure in his eyes, then stepping onto the board and shoving off.

The wind was biting, and he had to tuck his wings in tight to his back so he went faster. He angled his body, swerving his board through the snow, making him laugh slightly as he came to a halt right in front of the porch and stepping off to flap his wings and get rid of the snow. He blinked at the sight of Nick and Nack waiting patiently, hugging themselves to keep warm.

"And you want...?" Silva asked.

Nick pointed at the board. "Ca-can we?"

"... Can you get it up the hill?"

"We'll use TZ." Nack said, letting out a whistle. The two boys were gone before Silva could reply, riding the ferret as it ran up a fence and to the top of the hill. Silva snorted, watching the two boys sit on the board and sled down the hill. Then he took the board again.

And that's how Silva learned how to snowboard.

Silva's Secret Santa

((Silva and Fifth... somehow the fact that the two don't hate each other is more frightening then if they did...))



((Had to put it in here))

A Moment with Nick and Nack
((Not for points of course))

Nick and Nack sat on the windowsill, their legs dangling off the edge as they watched the rain pour down. "It's not freezing..." Nick offered, his voice startling in the silence.

"It won't." Nack replied, but he sounded doubtful.

"Hope it won't." Nick replied, sighing and kicking a leg slightly. "You know where we're goin?"

"Nope."

"... Huh." Silence stretched between them for a while, until Nick spoke again. "You know where Silva is?"

"Nope." They sighed, bored, but too lazy to go anywhere.

"You think they make girls in our species?" Nick asked, making Nack groan.

"What's with the stupid questions, Nick?" Nack asked, sounding frustrated.

"It ain't stupid! I want a girlfriend!"

"Use your hand."

Nick went silent, the held up his hand, pretending it was talking as he pitched his voice into a bad falsetto. "Hello, Nick! Would you like to go on a date?"

Nack choked, then started laughing so hard tears threatened. "Man, you really ARE a dumbass!" He said, almost choking on his laughter.

"It was YOUR idea!"

Nack didn't reply. He was too busy laughing his head off. Nick just pouted, rubbing his hand. "Don't listen to him, honey. He just doesn't know true love when he sees it." He consoled the hand, making Nack start laughing even harder.

"You know, you could pass off as a girl." Nick said, looking thoughtful. Nack shut up, his expression going dark. "What? It's not as if we've ever looked!"

"You're sick, man. Seriously sick."

"No, really! How do we know you're not a girl? Dude, you even talk like one!"

"I'm a BOY." Nack replied, glaring at him.

"I want proof!"

"You're ate up."

When Silva came home it was to the sight of Nack crawling up the plush training doll while Nick tugged at his pants. "C'mon MAN! I just wanna look!!" Nick said, tugging harder.

"Look down your own pants, you perv!" Nack replied, clinging to the doll's head with all his strength.

Silva blinked, then turned, leaving as quietly as he had come.

*FLASHBACK PART I*

Do you know how hard it is sneaking three mini males and a handful of sprockets into an airport? Looking back all I can say is the guy doing the scan must have thought they were dolls or something... No wonder he gave me an odd look.

But it wasn't until we were on the plane that things really got interesting...

Silva sat leaning back against the shadow sprocket, a cherry in one hand, a small icing tube that had been converted into a water bottle in the other. The backpack was reasonablelly largesave for some comic books, a few regular books and a notebook or two if I got the urge to write. And he WAS only 4.25" tall. He motioned to the ice sprocket dancing quietly in the corner.

"We got an ice storm back home..." He said, looking up at me and chewing on his ever present toothpick.

"Ummhmm..."

"And you're taking that thing to Florida." He went on.

"Yep."

"When it needs an hour in it's own element daily."

"We'll put her in a cup of ice. She'll be fine!" I replied, grinning. I had thought that one through. Silva just snorted, taking another bite of cherry and glancing over at where Nick and Nack were playing tag with the other sprockets.

"And the storm one?"

"The shower!"

"For an hour?"

"We'll split the time up. Do fifteen minutes at a time or something. Relax already, this is going to be fun!"

He just snorted, going back to his cherry and looking around. His weights were in the corner, but she had made him leave the training doll behind. In other words he wasn't as happy as he could have been. He snorted, leaning back again. The one thing he DID like about the sprockets was the new shadow one. He hadn't really thought about naming it, but he already had something he called it. "Mine."

We all fell silent, the two boys comfortable with their new friends, Silva with his new "Companion"" and me with a good book. Not to mention a pair of headphones. We actually tend to be a quiet group... when we're not arguing with each other, that is.

And when we landed my uncle came and picked us up. Mom and I were shown to our room and I transferred the guys and the sprockets to a smaller backpack so we could go check out City Walk in the middle of the night.

The sound of Disco music reached my ear as we headed for the first bar, as well as the sight of several males and only a few females. Silva climbed out of the bag, confident that there were enough shadows that no one would notice him, and sat on my shoulder, looking around for a second. He eyed two males talking happily over in the corner, then snorted. "Gay bar." He muttered calmly.

"You sure?" I whispered back, trying not to laugh.

"Rather not find out, actually."

"Hey! Hey! We wanna see!" Nick called from the bag, making Silva look down with a snort.

"Too bad."

"We can ride in Ice's shirt!" Nick said, hopping up and grabbing my shirt to haul himself up.

"Where AT in my shirt?" I asked, suspicious. The little wolf boy was as big a perv as Silva was... sometimes more. He stopped on my shoulder, pointing at the dip between my breasts and I groaned. "I don't think so."

"But it's plenty big enough!" Nick argued, grabbing on for dear life as I turned and followed the others away from the bar.

"No!"

And if anyone noticed me arguing with myself they probably just thought I was drunk. I hope.

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