Welcome to Gaia! ::

Yeande flew towards the house with a small bundle in one arm, and her other hand clasping Shalafi's as the little white Feien flew alongside her. Occasionally, she'd release him, letting him dart off, but would keep a close eye on him so that he didn't run into anything. Now that they were nearing the house, she didn't want to see him plastered to the wall, and kept a firm grip on his hand before stopping and ringing the doorbell once.

The door quietly creaked open as blue eyes cautiously peered around, blinking a few times as they didn't see anything at first. However, upon taking a second glance, black and white seemed to stick out, and the door opened a little more, revealing a tall, blonde haired man standing behind it. These creatures...they looked like the feien Neko had.

"Can I help you?" Domonic asked, curious as to who might be visiting while Neko was out.

"Hello," Yeande said, peering at him for a moment. She hadn't seen this one before. "My name is Yeande, and this is Shalafi." The white Feien waved to him, smiling. "I had been hoping Ares and her son were home, and that Shalafi could meet Merrimack."

"Mm?" Now, he was used to other feien seeming to come and go, particularly a white one that had been visiting the last couple of days. These ones used the front door? Interesting... It was good manners, at least. Domonic smiled, stepping out of the way and gesturing toward the stairs around the corner.

"They're upstairs, last room on the right," he directed them, closing the door once the two were inside.

"Thank you very much. Come on, Shalafi." Yeande took his hand, darting towards the stairs with the pale Feien in tow. She glanced to the bundle in her arm, making sure it hadn't been rumbled around too much. Reaching the door, she frowned, not quite sure if she could knock loud enough to be heard. Well... what ELSE was magic hand for? She used the spell to knock on the door as Shalafi broke free of her hold and stayed hovering nearby.

"Are they nice?" He'd had enough with rude Feien lately, and was a bit nervous to say the least. He trusted Yeande to not put him into danger.

Nodding, she smiled. "Ares is one of the nicest Feien I know... and while I don't know her son very well, I doubt she'd let him grow up badly."

Ares looked on toward the door for a moment, sitting on the desk with Merrimack in front of her. They had been meditating, her son suddenly finding a greater interest in making his magic grow, and the knock had interupted them. Neko was gone, however...so who would be on the other side?

"It's open," she called out loudly, not knowing whether or not they could open the door themselves.

Yeande manipulated her own magic, using it to open the door and fly inside. Shalafi followed behind her, staying quiet for the moment, but following Yeande as best he could. "Hello, Ares," she said, landing on the desk and setting down the bundle. When she unwrapped it, a small bamboo plant was there, nested in a blue vase. "I brought this for you... I thought you might like it."

Shalafi landed next to her, fidgeting for a moment before finally speaking up. "My name is Shalafi, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ares."

Ares blinked a few times, only able to stare at Yeande for a moment. She was so casual about it, but...what happened? The time feien picked herself up off of the desk, her black and blue wings shifting a little bit on her shoulders. She managed to smile, though, getting over the shock of seeing the other feien.

"Thank you, Yeande, it's very lovely," she commented, bowing her head a little bit. "I'll be sure to take good care of it."

Merrimack stood slowly, his red wings drooping downwards a little bit as he looked at the two arrivals. Well, it seemed that his mother knew the taller one...but who was this white one? He looked rather pale, much like Talonfaust did.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Shalafi," Ares spoke up, nodding to him as well. "Yeande, Shalafi, this is one of my sons, Merrimack."

Folding his arms over his chest, he seemed to cower a little bit, still a little bothered by the sudden company. Shalafi...? Wasn't that the one he was told that had also been a victim of Calico's?

"H-hello..." he finally piped, glancing off to the side for a moment.

Shalafi turned towards Merri, tilting his head at the hesitance he heard on the other boy's voice. He padded forward a bit, nearly tripping over the bamboo until Yeande caught him. "Sorry... can you keep talking, Merri? That way I can find you."

Yeande helped Shalafi around the plant, then turned back to Ares with a smile after letting the boy go off. "He can't see... so it's a bit tricky for him to get around new areas. It's a pleasure to meet you, Merrimack, I've heard a lot about you." Yeande kept an eye on the boy until he was close enough to Merrimack that he woudl find the other Feien easily enough, then turned back to Ares. "I hadn't seen you in a while... I'd been meaning to have Shalafi and Merrimack meet, but never got hte chance at the shop."

"Find me...?" he echoed lightly, raising a brow. Oh, that's right...he'd heard about the boy being blind.

"T-to the right...watch out f-for the string," Merrimack stammered, taking a couple of reluctant steps forward. Well, as least this one wasn't bigger than him...and he couldn't see. Where was the threat in that?

Ares watched them for a moment before turning back to Yeande. Once again, she looked the other feien over, trying to register all of the changes. Her claws were much different from San's, and her wings more draconic than bat. A blond streak...two sets of ears? And her eyes were very different...not as hard as they had been at one point in time. There was even a second set of wings, connected the the feien's arms. Interesting...very interesting.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?" she finally asked, her tail twitching a little bit. "You've changed...if not inside, then only outside."

Yeande 'hmmm'd softly, glancing to Ares in question. "Oh! Corvus found Feien gemstones... he showed them to me and when he went to merge with one, Julius asked me if I wanted to as well." She looked down at herself, holding up her hands to peer at the claws. They were perhaps the hardest thing to get used to. "There were a lot of changes... in both of us. I can't describe how it feels, but I can feel magic nearly singing in my veins. As strong as I was magically, I know I'm stronger now, and I just have to unlock the abilites." She smiled then, looking to Ares with unbridled glee in her eyes. "I feel so different now, it's amazing."

Shalafi made it to Merri, catchign hold of his arm and chuckling when he findally came to stand near the boy. "Thank you. Sorry about that, I'm a bit clumsy."

"Gemstones...?" Ares questioned, her tail flicking slightly. "You mean...we can merge with feien that passed away?"

Now this she'd never heard before. How was it possible? Did the feien inside of them gems want this to happen...? Perhaps these were the same gems that San had found that one day, the ones Corvus seemed so intent on digging up. Closing her red eyes for a moment, she wondered what Arturo might think of this new situation.

"You certainly look as lovely as ever, however," she commented, her red lips curving up into a smile. "And what were Corvus' changes?"

Merrimack almost cringed when Shalafi touched him, but he knew he'd have to handle it. After all, the other couldn't help that he was blind.

"Hmph. It's too bad I can't give you my third eye," he stated. "It's not like I need to see any better than I already do."

Yeande smiled, getting an almost predatory look in her eyes as she looked upward in remembering. "Corvus... he acquired new markings... yellow swirls down his right side, and his hair is now as long as mind. It shifts into a yellow blonde near his shoulderblades. His eyes changed, one's a different colour than the other now." The entire time she was talking, she was envisioning the changes in her mind's eyes, and smirked faintly. This was far from the shy little Yeande that most had come to know.

Shalafi just grinned, wings folding against his back lightly. "Well, I doubt a third eye would do me much good... it'd probably have wound up blind too. It's nice to meet you, I remember you being at the shop before, but I didn't get a chance to say hi. Do you go there often? Maybe you could watch the rainstorms with Tosten and me sometime."

Ares quirked a brow as she noticed Yeande smirking, but she decided it best not to comment about it.

"Perhaps one day I shall see for myself, hm?" she said quietly. "I'm hoping to learn as much as I can about our kind, and this particularly strikes my interest. Merging with other feien in such a way...ancients, no less."

"N-no...I don't really like it there," he sighed. "Not after what happened with Calico. One day, I may go back, but right now, I'm still not sure."

Absently, Merrimack ran a hand through his white and blue tipped hair, pulling it back for a moment as he looked at Yeande from afar. "Your friend...Yeande. She didn't always look like that, did she?" he couldn't help but ask, not even thinking about how rude the question might sound.

Calico... that made Shalafi tense, his wings folding tightly against his back. "I hate Calico," he whispered, frowning softly as he remembered what the Feien had done to Nero. "I'm learning magic so that I can fight him." His train of thought seemed to derail again just as easily, taking the distraction of the second question and running with it. "Yeande? No, she didn't. She let me see the changes that happened, she said that she got a Feien gemstone and merged with it. It made her look different and she acts a bit different too." Inwardly, he was wondering if he would ever get a chance to have a gemstone of his own.

"There are more of the stones," Yeande said, watching Ares for a moment. "There were several more that I saw there, and Corvus was saying that he was going to possibly sell them to other Feien."

Merrimack seemed to almost brighten when he heard that last part. Merged with a gemstone...? She looked so strong, or at least intimidating. He doubted anyone would pick on her like that, much less attempt to attack. What if he could get one of those gems...? Would he get stronger? Would be become powerful enough to at least defend himself against Calico?

"A gemstone...maybe I've been going about this all wrong," he muttered aloud. "Maybe that's what I need to fight him..."

"Sell them? Just...out of the blue?" This seemed a little strange to her, since he'd "worked so hard" to get them. "Well, I suppose that's fair enough. Tell me...are there side effects to merging?"

Shalafi lifted a brow, turning towards Merri and tilting his head to the side. "A gemstone? Maybe... Yeande said she felt stronger since that happened, and her magic's easier now. But she also said it hurt like hell."

"Language," Yeande reminded, glancing to the boys as her hearing picked up Shalafi's words.

"What??" The pale boy shrugged, grinning at her. "You DID say that."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean you have to repeat it." Snickering faintly, Yeande turned back to Ares and nodded softly. "Just out of the blue. Apparently he was going to use them all, but each Feien can only merge with one." Julius' words came back to her then, and Ares' question brought them to the fore. "There are side effects, yes. A feien that merges with one can never create more blooms again. It also does hurt very badly, and there's a chance of the personality changing. I haven't noticed much, but I hardly watch myself. Shalafi says that I've been acting differently, however."

"You have!" he piped up, wings rustling slightly.

Ugh...pain. Probably the one thing he hated more than Calico, if not the same. There wasn't any other way around it, was there? To be stronger, he had to hurt.

"I want one of those gemstones..." he said quietly, deciding that he needed one. To beat Calico...right?

Ares frowned slightly. They would become infertile, and possibly change inside? This wasn't something she could do, in fear of breaking a promise she'd once made long ago. While she'd already broken it once, she wasn't about to break it again.

"And you're not affected by this?" she asked. "By becoming infertile."

Shalafi brought up one hand, resting it on Merri's shoulder as he brought his back to the two adult Feien. He lowered his voice to a whisper then, not wanting them to hear. "Calico hurt you too, didn't he... he did to me too. Don't worry, we'll figure out a way to get him."

Yeande was still focused on Ares as the boys talked, and shook her head softly. Corvus had asked her the same thing, and Julius had warned her. "No, I'm not affected. I knew I would never have blooms, regardless... because the only Feien I would bond with would be Corvus."

Merrimack blinked a few times, lifting his orange eyes to look at Shalafi's pale white ones. Figure out a way...? That's what he and Talon were doing, but everything that had been done... What if it was being done wrong? What if what they really did need was other feien's help? Hesitating for a moment, the little feien finally spoke up.

"Shalafi, would you like to train with me and Talon? We're also trying to find a way to beat Calico, and maybe...if everyone he's terrorized helps eachother out, we might stand a chance?"

"I suppose that makes sense," she smiled slightly. "It's certainly being devoted, at the least."

Taking in a deep breath, Ares thought for a moment. While it all did seem interesting, power wasn't exactly anything that she wanted. At least, magical or physical power. She preferred the status bases, feeling that words were just as powerful as magic itself, much less physical structure. And the thought of being unable to breed scared her terribly.

"Has Corvus finally accepted your feelings, or is he still fighting it?" she couldn't help but ask.

"He's still fighting it," she answered bluntly, crossing her arms over her chest slightly. "I swear, one of these days, I'm just going to crack him over the head and drag him off, like in those caveman movies Youko watches. It MIGHT work." She doubted it. Corvus was so stubborn, a brick to the head might just damage the brick.

"Train... with you?" Shalafi thought for a moment, then nodded, pricking an ear to make sure Yeande was still talking to Ares. "Youko's teaching me how to read with dots... they're raised on paper so that people like me can 'see' them. Maybe I could teach you guys as well, so that we could have notes or such for each other without worrying about Calico finding them."

Ares laughed lightly, holding a hand to her lips so she wouldn't be rude. "All I can say is that I wish you luck," she said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Reading dots...do you mean braille?" he asked, just to be sure. "That would be perfect...I doubt Calico is smart enough to figure something like that out. Talon wouldn't mind it, I'm sure."

This was going a lot more smoothly than he had planned. Surely between the three of them, they could come up with enough information and tactics to be able to defend themselves, and hopefully to protect the others. Maybe things would end up working afterall...

"Yes! That's what he called it." Shalafi nodded, then curled up to sit on the desktop, his wings settling behind him as he looked towards Merri. "I bet we could do it. I mean, it's not that hard to learn, I've already got a pretty good grasp of it. Just given a bit of thought, it's easy!" This would be good, most definately... more of them could stand a better chance if they just stuck together. He didn't know how to wield weapons, and didn't know a lot about magic yet, but this was at least something he could do. And if they worked together, they could all learn more.

"Thank you," Yeande replied, grinning to Ares. "I'm going ot need it, that much is certain. I've never known someone else to be so stubborn."

"I guess it might be a good thing we seem to be quick learners. Do you think you could show me a little bit?" he asked curiously, feeling much more comfortable around the feien now than he originally had. "Maybe we could set up a day where all three of us could meet somewhere, too."

"So, tell me. What have you been up to these days, Yeande?" Ares asked quietly, leaning down to carefully pick up the bamboo plant. It would probably be best to put it somewhere safe now before anything happened to it, just in case. She glanced around the room for a moment, wondering where just the right amount of sun and shade might be.

"Sure can... do you have paper and a pencil or something? I cant' make the raised dots, but I've been poking holes in paper to get the same effect, kinda. It's easier for someone our size." he was fairly grinning now, excited about this prospect. Merri was nice, and he was thankfully not as flighty as Shalafi first feared when he'd heard about how skittish the boy was. They seemed to get along, and he was grateful for that. One more to be counted as a friend.

Following Ares, Yeande took in the room, then pointed towards a patch of dappled sunlight that was near hte windows. "Honestly? Not a whole lot. Ever since Shalafi bloomed, life has been interesting. We watch out for him as best we can, but we also have to iknow when to leave him alone and let him make mistakes for his own. I've been filling orders at the shop for Corvus while he was gone... and have kept doing that even though he's back." A smile crossed her face then, and she had to admit to herself that she really did enjoy the work. It kept her busy, at the very least. "I like moving around... doing nothing has never sat well with me. That bamboo is from my garden, I do hope you like it."

Merrimack quickly wandered off across the desk, grabbing a small piece of paper from a stack that they had. Well, maybe a couple would be better... Picking up a small stack, the small feien also grabbed two bee stringers Tahki had wanted for training, but never used. Making his way back, he sat down next to the other, placing a piece of paper in front of him, then holding out the bee stringer.

"Careful...I'm not sure if the tips of these are still poisoned or not, but stingers are the best we have," he explained.

Spotting where Yeande had pointed, Ares unfolded her wings and took flight, gently resting the plant down in said spot. "From your garden, hm? I'll take extra special care of this one, then," she assured her with a smile.

Glancing back at the boys, she looked thoughtful for a moment, running a hand through her blue hair. "So Shalafi is like the son you never had, it sounds like," she commented, looking over to the dark feien. "Am I right?"

"Thanks for the warning," Shalafi whispered, making sure he knew exactly where the tip was so that he didn't impale himself by mistake. He set the tip against the paper, poking a quick set of holes through, his fingers moving over the areas to make sure they were straight. After he had a small row, he held up the paper, grinning. "That's your name," he said proudly, then started to point out each set of dots, corresponding to the letters.

Nodding faintly, Yeande glanced towards Shalafi, sobering as a soft smile crept across her lips. "He is.... I hadn't really thought about it at first. But when we almost killed his bloom by mistake, I thought I was going ot die from the guilt. He's become a part of my life whether he realises it or not, and I'd defend him with everything I have."

"My...name?" he blinked a few times, looking at the holes. But, that didn't look anything like his name. As Shalafi explained the letters to him, he paid close attention, trying to find a pattern in the dots. It had taken him a few moments to realize...

"Wow! This will be very nice to learn, Shalafi," Merrimack said, brushing his fingers lightly against the paper. "This will work...very nicely..."

"Sometimes I wish they wouldn't grow up," Ares said absently, looking rather distant for a moment. "That they would always stay young and dependent."

Sighing lightly, she shook her head, knowing it wouldn't happen. "I'm just going to miss my children being...well...children. They won't need me as much, if at all, and I merely pray to the Gods that they don't push me out of their lives."

"I doubt they'll push you out of their lives, Ares." Yeande whispered, a chill going through her at the thought of Shalafi growing up and doing the same. What if he found out WHY he was blind and hated her for it? "You're a good person. And you're a wonderful mother. They won't forget that so easily, believe me."

"It's not that hard once you get the hang of it. I guess it's easier for me because I don't know what normal letters look like. I don't have to replace anything in my head." He tookt he paper again, making another series of dots, this time spaced a bit farther apart so that the 'letters' were more distinct. "That's my name, that was one of the first things Youko taught me. I'm still learning, but I can teach you guys what I already know."

"Thank you...sometimes I need that encouragement to remind me," she said smiling a little bit. Her tail began to flick curiously, watching the boys from where she was. Something was nagging at her in the back of her mind, but she couldn't place exactly what. Merrimack never got along with others right away...so what made this any different? "Have you ever felt like he wasn't telling you something, because he doesn't want to make you worry?"

"That's all right, we can take it slow, okay?" he said, smiling one of his rare smiles. It was unfortunate that Shalafi couldn't see it. "There's...technically no rush."

"yes... he's doing it right now in fact." Yeande frowned, remembering things clearly. "He swore he got hurt at the shop, but I know what damage can be done by falling into a rosebush. He had to have gotten his bruises and such somewhere else, but he wont' say anything. And now he's adamant about learning as much magic as he can."

The two boys seemed oblivious to the scrutiny, Shalafi grinning as he listened to Merri. "Right. We have all the time we need."

"Funny...Merri's done almost the same thing. He keeps insisting on getting stronger, yet he refuses to seek help from his father," she said quietly, folding her arms across her chest. "And he won't tell me anything. Even if I confront him about it."

Ares shook her head again, closing her eyes for a moment. "But...if he wants to handle this on his own, what can I do? I just hope he doesn't hurt himself in doing so..."

"I hope so, anyway." Hm...something about Shalafi seemed to cheer him up a bit. "Oh! When do you think the three of us should get together?"

"They have to learn to handle and defend themselves sometime," Yeande mused, watching the pair wistfully. "All we can do is let them and be there to pick up the pieces if they fail. Then send them off to do it all over again."

"Soon!" Shalafi grinned, happier than he had been in some time. "I know that Nero wants to do something about him too, maybe he can help. Ianios too..." He paused then, thinking that there were a LOT of feien who didn't like Calico. It almost made him feel sorry for the violent Feien.

Almost.

Merrimack scrunched up his nose at the mention of the last name, looking away a little bit. "I don't think Ianios should be involved," he admitted. "No offence to him, but he'll ruin everything. He doesn't have a REASON for his anger...which bothers me. I don't respect those that don't have a reason for how they feel."

Such a hypocrite.

Ares stretched out her slender arms after a moment, glancing out toward the window. "I just hope nothing happens while I'm gone. Tahki seems to have broken her arm, so I'm not sure how well she might do in watching Merri for me."

Yeande blinked, looking at Ares in concern. "Broken arm? What happened to her?" It was the first time she'd heard of a Feien getting seriously hurt, since Seamus' fainting spell in the store so long ago. "Do you want me to drop by while you're gone to check on them?" She almost asked where Ares was going, but didn't want to seem nosy.

NOdding faintly, Shalafi listened. "He's an odd bird, that one," he began, shrugging faintly. "He asked if I wanted to bond with him and he barely even knows me. But Nero seems attached to him."

"I'm not completely sure on the story, but I guess she was running away from something and flew right into a tree. She was already weak from having used Flash Motion four times within, what she said, was about 10 minutes," she explained, rubbing the back of her neck. "But flying into a tree...I can only assume she hit it pretty hard to break her arm."

"Fortunately, Talon found her...and Merri and Neko brought her home."

"Very." Sighing lightly, Merrimack ran a hand through his bi-colored hair, looking up toward the ceiling. "Maybe it's just jealousy talking, but there's something about that feien that I don't like. Of course, I won't tell Nero that since I know how he feels, but...something still irks me. What can I do, though, right? He's the least of my problems at the moment."

"Well, I'm more than willing to check in on them while you were gone..." Curiosity got the better of Yeande then, and she tilted her head to the side. "Where are you going, anyway?"

The hand came to rest on Merri's arm again and Shalafi smiled softly. "One thing at a time. We'll get through them all, right?"

Ares bit her lower lip softly. "Arturo's taking me to Connecticut, to see his old home. Next week is Caterina's one year anniversary," she said softly, looking sad for only a moment. "Caterina, his first love."

Merrimack nodded before realizing that he probably wouldn't notice that. "Yes...eventually."

"Ahhhh..." Yeande nodded, letting it drop at that. Nosing into Ares' vacation was one thing. Nosing into Arturo's past love life was completely another. "I wish you a good trip then..."

"We'll see who we can get to work with us then... and we'll leave Ianios out of it if youw ant to." Shalafi smiled again, turning his gaze down towards the paper in his hands. His fingers ran lightly over the surface, picking up the indents from the holes.

"Thank you. I'm hoping it'll be good...it will certainly be an interesting experience," she said, smiling a little bit. It would be good for the two of them, at least, as they hadn't been spending much time together as of late.

Merrimack caught himself watching Shalafi for a moment, and quickly shook his head to snap himself out of it. "Who else do you think we could ask?" he inquired, his ears perking up a little bit.

Thinking for a moment, Shalafi leaned back, winding his arms around his knees as he rocked slightly. "Let's see... you said you and Talon were interested. Nero would be, definately. Maybe Tahki?" He blinked, looking towards Merrimack then. He was still a bit hesitant now, and his mind was working. "What if it's not Calico's fault?" he ventured, fidgeting slightly. "I mean, what if he can't help what he does? I heard that Corvus is mean too, but Yeande likes him and he didn't seem so bad to me."

Merrimack thought about that for a moment. "Shalafi, what did he do to you?" he asked, thinking back to the day he was harrassed. "Think about what he had done, and then tell me that it wasn't his fault."

"I..." Shalafi swallowed hard, shaking his head. "I don't know. I don't think he knows what he does. I mean, he's just not all THERE when it's happening." He couldn't explain, and didn't know how to. "I want to do a bit of research if I can, and maybe see if there's something I'm missing."

He sighed lightly, looking at the white feien. He looked so troubled...damn it, why?? Why even question what Calico was doing? ...But Shalafi had a point.

"Its up to you...but, be careful, huh? I don't think anyone would be too happy if anything happened to you again."

Nodding, Shalafi let a smile come to his lips. "I don't want to get hurt, believe me. I just don't want to write him off just yet if there's something that can be done to change how he torments other people."

"Sounds like something mommy would say," he muttered to himself before smiling slightly. Perhaps that might have been up...Shalafi reminded him quite a bit of his mother in the sense of how smart and wise that he was.

"All right, then. Before anything else happens...we'll try to figure that out."

Nodding, Shalafi got to his feet and let his wings flutter slightly. Unlike Tahki and Tosten, he couldn't tell when he left 'presents' behind, and a couple of snow white feathers fluttered to the desktop behind him. "It's getting late though... I'll start thinking on it tomorrow."

Merrimack picked up one of the feathers, gently spinning it between his thumb and index finger. So...white. It was almost enchanting.

"Yes...yes it is. Oh! How about we try to get together in a couple of days? That'll give some time to talk to Talon and Tahki, and anyone else who may want to meet up for this."

"Sounds good! And I'll see if I can talk ot Nero..." Shalafi paused then, blinking. "Wait... You're his brother, you would likely see him first." He was still getting used to the fact that he knew very few people, in comparison to others.

Merrimack laughed a little nervously, wondering how exactly he'd go to see Nero without anyone finding out. "I'll do my best..."

Finally standing up, Merrimack lowered his head a little bit, trying to think of the right thing to say. "It...um...it was nice meeting you, Shalafi," he tried, not really being one to do well with manners.

Grinning, Shalafi extended his hand, as if to shake Merri's. It was nice meeting you too, Merri. I can't wait to see you again."

Merrimack stared at the hand for a moment, as if it were cursed. Physical contact...not really something that he enjoyed. It couldn't be helped, could it? Flushing very lightly, the small feien took the other's hand in his own, and shook it gently.

"And I, you."

Tosten knew Ares probably had a lot to do. She was a busy adult after all, with children and Arturo and Tahki - he couldn't interrupt her excuselessly! So that meant to interrupt, he needed an excuse today. And he had one.

"ARES! Are you home?" The voice called from outside as the blue feien swooped into the window, pumping those feathery wings as he clutched to him a small feien sized canvas. A delivery, of course. But if she wasn't there, he knew one feien that was probably always in the bedroom. "MERRI? Are you there? I need to drop something off~!"

Merrimack's ears twitched slightly as he opened one eye, sitting up on the desk upon someone's voice waking him up. He was holding a piece of paper with a bunch of little holes in it, the bee stinger he used rolling out of his hand and down the desk. It seemed that he was practicing something, and fell asleep while doing so. Looking around, he yawned before turning around to see Tosten. Mm? What was he doing here?

"Hello," he called sleepily, stretching his arms and legs, then his back before standing up.

"Hello!" Tosten chirped back happily, bobbing momentarily in one place under the power of his wings as he peered toward the movement, the voice where Merrimack had been resting. His waking movements became apparent then and the older feien laughed a little nervously. "Oh dear, I woke you up? I'm sorry."

Too late to turn back though and he fluttered down to the desk nonetheless, having already invited himself inside. He touched down lightly and peered at the risen feien sheepishly. "I was bringing Ares a present - but its for you, too, so I'll give it to you!" He announced unhelpfully.

Merrimack rubbed his eyes a little bit, trying to take in everything that was being said. Man...he was really tired today. Probably due to the events of the last few days, having forced himself to stay awake, train with Talon, and practice his name in braille that Shalafi had shown him. Taking in a deep breath, he exhaled slowly, Tosten's words finally kicking in.

"Well, if you want to see mommy, she's downstairs with Tahki. Neko's cooking, or something..." he said groggily, his red wings extending out to stretch before drooping back down.

Tosten tilted his head and glanced at the door, frowning unsurely for a few moments. He tightened his arm around the canvas as he debated what to do. He did want to see Ares, very very much... "Is it really okay if I go down there?" He glanced at Merrimack for advice, not wanting to swoop on down there with good inventions only to be scolded for bursting inside like this. Especially with those violent, creepy creatures that Neko had. He didn't forget those at all.

The small feien glanced toward the door for a moment, making sure the celestrus wasn't there. Thankfully, she wasn't, meaning that it was probably feeding time for the mass amount of pets that wandered about.

"It should be safe right now," he explained, running a hand through his longish hair and rubbing the back of his neck. "And I don't see why it wouldn't be okay. Its not like mommy or Tahki would just shoo you away."

Tosten pondered it over a few moments and decided it was worth the risk. Even if he was scolded he'd still get to see Ares, so he gained either way! With this decision he gave a strong nod and a bright smile. "Mm, okay! I'll do that then.. you should get more sleep, you look like you're about to fall over." He teasingly mentioned and with a few fluttery feathers he had taken to the air. He had just reached the door when something tickled him as funny. An odd noise in the air if anything. He paused long enough to half turn in the air, blink at the unchanged room, then dismissively squeeze his way out and flutter off on his way.

But how was it that he was gone and there was still the feeling that someone was there still? Ah, the night and its shadows could bring such odd feelings sometimes.

Merrimack sighed lightly, rolling his neck from left to right to crack it. Sleep...yeah, more sleep would probably be good, right? He looked to the paper that he was still holding, taking a careful look at the little holes. Hm...well, it had looked good at the time he did it, but now it just looked terrible! He'd have to practice it more later, when he wasn't so tired. ...If there ever was such a time.

Laying back down onto the desk, his wings curled up around himself a little bit, creating a kind of blanket. Quietly, a little ginger-colored pixacat padded out from its little bed, curling up near her owner's feet to rest with him.

It took some time, had to make sure things were quiet after all, before the odd sound picked up. By then it could probably be too late... just a close humming drone and the soft padding of a settling form. And, of course, a voice. Just above the young juvenile where the unwelcome visitor was crouching down, waiting expectingly.

"Merrimack.." The voice purred over him in greeting.

The little feien ignored the soft hum of wings, thinking that it was merely a fly as he closed his eyes, folding his arms across his chest to sleep. He even ignored his precious pet as it stood and began to hiss violently at the intruder, thinking it was nothing. However, he soon regretted it as the familiar dreadful purr rang through his ears, his three orange eyes snapping wide open as his body completely froze over. That voice...that terrible voice. Slowly, his frightened gaze turned to the side, only seeing a dark shadow against the light overhead.

There wasn't much more to be seen after that. This silhouette issued a low and excited little chuckle... really a cross between a chuckle and a giggle at once, but that was beside the point. And then things just changed.

A pressure to Merrimack's hair as the intruder fisted a handful so to get the other juvenile up if only enough force a strip of cloth - toted with him from home when he had decided to follow Tosten that evening - into Merrimack's mouth brutally. It was a thick wooly cloth torn from the knitting of Nekota's blanket, which Calico had decided to be the best cloth for muffling sound. A few rough knots and he was satisfied, already hauling the other feien to his feet with him.

Merrimack was just about to scream as the cloth was stuffed into his mouth, only a muffled cry sounding as he gagged for a moment. The terrified feien thus, in a panic, began to claw at the others hand, his weak strength trying to let him stay put but it was no use, being dragged off with Calico. Talon's training never exactly covered what to do when the attacker actually had a grip on his hair, as he felt it wasn't exactly the same thing.

What was he squirming so much?! Well obviously he wanted to get away. Calico fisted that hair tightly and was about to put an end to the fighting when the hissing came to his attention. Bright eyes turned toward Merrimack's little feline, blinking slowly a few seconds. Then suddenly he shoved the other feien aside, more downward if anything, so to have the time to step over to the cat. Fingers closed onto the scruff of the little kitty swiftly and harshly, hauling it into the air. Then he swung his arm around and soon the small animal was dangling over the edge of the desk and the far distance below.

"Merrimack, yah pay'n attention?" He snapped harshly now. "You ******** move 'n I'm dropping it so jus' nod yer 'ead if anything is get'n through yer thick skull, yah?"

Merrimack's head smacked hard against the desk as Calico threw him down, quickly bringing his hands up to try and stop the pain. Looking up to try and run, and reaching a hand toward his mouth to remove the gag, more fear seemed to strike him as Winter was held over the edge of the desk, the poor feline squirming and crying in pain. He stopped moving, his eyes growing wide once more. No...no! He couldn't hurt Winter! One of the few things within the world that he considered to be a friend, much less precious to him. And there he was...merely at the mercy of his attacker, and now as it seemed, captor.

Fighting the urge to cry, the little feien slowly nodded his head, dropping his hand onto the desk.

Calico rose his chin a notch in arrogance as much as annoyance. At least the stupid feien was listening, he noted and for that didn't drop the cat... he was tempted to do it anyway but then he'd lose his trump card.

"We're gonna go fer a walk, you 'n me Merri. If'n yah start mak'n a big fuss - now or later - I'll come right back 'ere 'n break this li'l fuzzball's neck, a'rite?"

Merrimack clenched a fist tight, closing his eyes. He was fast enough to run away...but he could only go for so long. Once he stopped, Calico surely would find him, so what was the use in running away? It would only delay the torture he knew was coming.

Once again, he nodded slowly.

Satisfied, Calico drew the feline in from where it had been dangled. He stared down at it a moment before harshly flinging it aside. Luckily he threw it away from the edge instead of off it, but it was still a violent way to disregard the animal.

He didn't leave Merrimack much time to worry over the well-being of the kitty either as once his hands were free he had grabbed hold of the older feien's upper arm and yanked upward. First to get him to his feet then further to get him in the air, his grasp tight enough to bury nails into the skin as he pulled, his own wings buzzing him airborn.

"Fly." Was all he commanded.

Merrimack winced as Calico forcefully tugged on his arm, immediately lifting his wings and floating into the air. He glanced over his shoulder quickly to make sure that Winter was all right, noticing his cat weakly stand from the harsh way she had been thrown. However, that was the only time he looked back, in fear of being scolded or hit by the other, his arm already growing slightly numb with pain.

Now all he thought in his mind was where they could possibly be going, and what was going to happen.

It wasn't until Calico had hauled him from the room and away from the home that he next spoke. His grasp on Merrimack never faltered and he kept an eye on the other feien, which more then once nearly led them both to crash into tree branches but he somehow always managed to yank them both in some direction to avoid the fate at the last second.

"Dun'tcha fret, brat." Was what he first purred when he spoke. "It ain't nuthin bad, I jus' need tah... talk tah yah, okay? I need a favor--" Duck, tree branch! "-- from yah. One li'l bitty favor. Ah, there t'is."

The goal wasn't far from Merrimack's home, to a gathering of trees that Calico himself was familiar with. One such was in fact a willow, gnarled and drooping. Its twisting roots rose and knotted from the soil and it was upon the highest of them that he descended with Merrimack, touching them down upon the velvety moss that coated the old wood.

Merrimack had already been scared out of his wits with the kidnapping, and near crashes didn't make anything better. Teary eyes constantly glanced about, doing his best to take note in where they were, and...what a creepy tree! It felt like they were nesting on the earth's head, and the willow was its horrible hair. However, now that they stopped...what could possibly be the favor Calico needed? And even more so, why was it HIM that he needed?

Calico contemplated Merrimack once they had landed and slung an arm around him, sliding on behind him. That arm kept about Merri's own more to keep him still then anything else, so that his other hand could fiddle with the knots of the gag. It went slack, came free, then immediately the feien's arms were only being twisted backwards so he could begin using the same cloth to bind his wrists together.

"Did yah miss me?" He asked suddenly, almost cheerfully off topic. As he fiddled with the knot he leaned forward just enough to see Merri's face over his shoulder. "I miss'd you, yah know."

Merrimack coughed a little bit from being ungagged, a single tear escaping his eyes as he was finally able to breath through his mouth. However, he stayed quiet, his arms and hands limp as Calico tied them behind him. Why...was he even being tied up? This was all so confusing to him... He could hardly think, had no courage to move much less really say anything, and as much as he wanted to break down and cry, the tears wouldn't come. It was if they were trapped within his eyes, waiting for the right moment. As if crying would help, though...

Finally, he managed to speak. "W-what do you w-want from m-me...?" he studdered quietly.

With the final knot in place, Calico released Merrimack, confident that flying with ones arms bound behind you was far from a good escape plan - and running on foot? Even less of a good idea.

"I ask'd yah a question." Calico scolded, perching momentarily on a rise of the root that was a suitable bench for the time behind. He looked Merrimack over and leaned forward, elbows upon knees patiently. "Yah talk'd with Shalafi, yah? What'd yah talk 'bout?"

Shalafi...? How did he even know that he knew him? For a moment he hesitated, his head hanging low, his bi-colored hair covering the sides of his face.

"N-nothing..." Merrimack answered, keeping his eyes downcast. "I don't know what you're talking about..."

Calico sighed and drummed his fingers once against his leg. Pushing off his knees he rose to his feet and rolled his shoulder as though to stretch it... then drew back his fist to harshly backhand Merrimack.

"Yer lying." He said with a calm tone not fitting someone who had struck with such force. He didn't like being lied to. Not at all. "Shalafi told meh he talk'd tah yah. So dun't lie, tell meh what yah talk'd 'bout..."

Merrimack's head snapped in the direction he was slapped, amazingly not falling over. Biting his lip, he didn't straighten out as he thought.

Don't tell him...don't risk it.

"It was nothing," he said stubbornly, clenching his hands into fists.

Calico cocked his head and stared at Merrimack a few moments. He had, honestly, thought it was nothing to start. He had wanted to know why Shalafi had been so happy that night... but the more Merrimack so secretive the more suspicious he was.

"Merrimack..." He purred the name, gently taking the older feien's chin and turning his face toward him. He smiled easily... and drew back his hand, backhanding him again now that he was neatly lined up. "Stop ******** lyin'!"

This time, Merrimack's whole body had turned, but his wings had caught just enough air to allow him balance. God damn...he hit hard. A slight copper taste had begun to form in his mouth, a taste he wasn't exactly familiar with, and didn't care to remember. There was a way around this, he knew...there was a way to tell him what they talked about, but not go into detail.

"We merely talked, is all," he said vaguely, still not looking at Calico. "Yeande had brought him to meet me, is all."

Calico narrowed his eyes lazily and turned his head away, looking over their surroundings as he tried to decide if this answer satisfied him. He hadn't cared about what they talked about really, but now that Merrimack was so suspicious about it he had a feeling it hadn't been good.

"Shalafi made a promise tah me." He said suddenly, his eyes settling upon the knotting of roots beside them before swinging his full attention back onto Merrimack. "Tha's why I need yer favor, okay? All yah hafta do is tell 'im sumthin fer me... easy, yah?"

Promise...? To Calico?? That fool! he cursed to himself. Trusting this feien even the slightest bit was a rather large mistake...but what could he do? Shalafi had said he wanted to learn as much as he could...and Merrimack let him.

"W-what's that?" he asked, his orange eyes finally glancing up at the taller feien.

Calico smiled just slightly and to himself then Merrimack, contemplating what words he wanted to use for this. He hooked a hand on the other feien's arm, tugging him over to where he stood.

"I jus' want yah tah remind 'im of it... remind 'im not tah keep fight'n me like he ends up do'n... remind 'im tha's he's mine now..." He tightened his grasp and suddenly wrenched Merrimack to the other side of him and shoved him into the narrow knotting of two roots, forcefully trapping him into that unknown and tight blackness... there was only one exit and that was of course where Calico himself was. "Lemme teach yah how tah do it."

Merrimack cried out as he tumbled into the darkness, pain stretching from his hands to his shoulders as they bent wrong when he landed right on his rump. Shalafi...was his?? Prying his eyes open, he quickly glanced around for a moment before they grew wider, realizing there wasn't an escape. There wasn't anywhere he could run, even if he wanted to. With his arms tied behind him, he was helpless, and even more so at the mercy of the feien before him.

"L-et me go..." he began to whisper, his wings beginning to curl around himself. This was almost like his nightmares...no, it was EXACTLY like his nightmares. "Let me go!"

Calico blinked in momentary surprise at the reaction. Ah... was the little feien scared? Hmm, it was almost insulting, scared more of that dark little place then him. He leaned an arm over the overhanging root and peered into the blackness, hoping to adjust his eyes but it was even hard to make Merrimack's shadowy figure out from the other blackness.

"Yer gonna talk tah Shalafi fer meh... yer gonna tell 'im he's mine now, that his promise makes 'im mine now." He purred to the panicked feien, regardless of him hearing it or not. "Yah pay'n attention, Merri? Cause if'n Shalafi dun't listen tah that I'll hafta do something... I'll hafta come back... and I'll hafta break yer arms, break yer legs, break yer wings... 'n leave yah in this li'l hole till it ******** falls apart 'n crushes yah, hear me?" Ah... sometimes just describing what he wanted to do was just as fun as actually doing it, how exciting it felt.

Now the tears began to fall. He was...going to leave him here? More broken than he was now?

"I--....I c-ca......." No...this couldn't be ignored. Had Shalafi betrayed them...? No, that didn't sound. He merely promised something, and now he was getting punished for it for some reason. However, enough was truely enough.

"F-fine...just...don't leave me here..." Merrimack whimpered, his wings curling further around himself. "Please don't leave me here..."

Calico shivered eagerly at Merrimack's whimpering. He was terrified, that was fantastic. Ah what a pretty sound he made, too. Who knew this was what he feared, he had just been wanting to bring the feien somewhere that no one would hear him screaming. How lovely.

"Yer gonna tell 'im that, got it?" He snapped, not satisfied with the agreement yet. He wanted to make sure Merrimack didn't forget. "I ain't ******** with yah, Merri. If yah dun't tell Shalafi 'bout this I'm gonna go gut that li'l kitty of yers, got it?" His voice dropped to a purr again. "Yah make sure Shalafi knows if'n he dun't keep his promise again, that bad things are gonna 'appen to you... it'll be all Shalafi's fault... yah will be all alone in the dark till yah rot 'n it's cause of that crippled li'l brat."

Crippled... Shalafi was far from being crippled. However, his fear was keeping him from speaking his mind.

"I'll tell him...I'll tell him..." he regrettably agreed, hanging his head low.

Merrimack swallowed hard, feeling like a fool. Like a coward. What else could he do in such a vulverable state? Stronger...I must get stronger...one day...

Calico tipped his head and seemed satisfied now. He didn't want to hurt Merrimack too much physically. Bruises and cuts were meant for punishment, mental pain though? Screwing with Merri's head was just a warning.

But... since he was down there... "By the way, yah owe me an apology."

ARGH! There was that damn apology again! Gods...he was obsessed with a simple phrase? He didn't even really do anything...he deserved his words after poking him in the eye.

"I don't owe you anything," he whispered, still standing firm on his feelings toward the subject. He seemed to forget, for a moment, that he was trapped.

Calico tilted his head slightly and took a step back, heaving a breath overdramatically before sitting himself down right outside the opening of the knot hole.

"Rot then. Yah try 'n come out 'n I'll break yer legs instead, I can have someone else tell Shalafi fer me." He leaned back on his hands, prepared to wait. "We'll talk when yer ready tah apologize."

Merrimack cried in the darkness for a moment, his orange eyes turned up toward the the one exit that existed. It wasn't all that big of a hole, and with Calico sitting in front of it, this would make things exceptionally harder. However, he knew he couldn't stay here much longer. Every second that he stayed where he was, the darkness hacked at his mind, creating more thoughts of torture than he could really handle. He had to do something...anything. ANYTHING.

Suddenly, the idea occured to him. He could float around without using his wings, right? And he was quick enough to possibly make a good enough impact...yes. Yes...he had to try. If he didn't, he'd more than likely pass out within the knothole before Calico freed him, IF he freed him. Carefully, Merrimack wrapped his wings around himself as tight as he could, laying down along the ground of the hole.

How boring... Calico frowned at the knot hole and tilted his head back slightly, letting a silence fall for now. He was done talking and losing patience with the frustrating feien. He so quickly was ready to hurt his friend and deliver the message, but is strong when asked to apologize? The dark feien chuckled to himself lazily... ah, selfish people at heart, even the most kind of them he was sure.

He sighed and just drummed his fingers, waiting impatiently and trying to decide how long he left him there before he should just try beating the apology out of him instead. It sounded more fun.

Merrimack used flight to lift himself off of the ground, rolling over onto his side in the air, straightening out his body as much as he could. He had to do it...it was now or never, right? Keeping an aim for the opening, the small feien crouched down along the back of the hole, and with Head Start, bolted right out of the whole with some effort, and slammed himself right into Calico. Unfortunately for him, he didn't exactly realize just how much with would affect HIM, as he grew into a slight daze.

What was that sound? Something seemed funny. Calico twitched a long ear and dropped his gaze lazily, staring at the hole skeptically... only to get a startling eyeful of a blur before collided into by the bolting feien. He toppled right over and lost every ounce of air from his lungs, choking momentarily as his startled lungs failed him. It took a few wheezing attempts before his hand would fish up and grab ahold of the dazed feien while he himself sought to recovery.

"...t-tch...." An odd stuttering hiss-growl came from him, positively furious, his grasp upon the other feien shaking fiercely as his fingers compulsively tightened until his knuckles ached from the strain.

Merrimack screamed in pain as he could feel his arm getting crushed within Calico's grasp, feeling his nails slowly rip into his skin. Damn it...this wasn't how he planned it! He was supposed to be able to get up, and just fly away! In one last attempt to flee, the small feien tried to pull his arm out of Calico's grasp, recovering from his dazed state.

Calico was hooked on tight though, all his strength was in that clutching grasp, fueled only by a rage that threw intelligent thought from his head. When Merrimack began moving about it encouraged him to move as well, forcing his knees beneath him and placing his other hand upon Merri's shoulder, shoving down the feien again as he clambered atop him. His knee found its settling place upon his chest as, in his fury, he struck Merrimack's face again, and again, and again - and truthfully he was going for it once more before any reality reached him.

"..." Eh? Oh... he lowered his fist reluctantly, shivering like a dog left in the cold too long. "You... you give Shala tha' message... or I bloody well swear tah god I'll kill yah slowly..." He panted out, his voice a rasp at the moment as air was still a precious gift to him.

He dropped back off Merri and had barely enough sense to pull on his arm, shifting him enough to yank the knots free and remove his ties. He didn't make any effort to do anything more after that... he wasn't going to escort Merrimack home, he was trying his very best not to rip him open and dissect every bone from his body right now. So he just clutched the cloth and shivered madly. "Go ******** tell 'im!"

Merrimack couldn't even utter a scream as Calico repeatedly struck his face, pain seering through his head. When he'd stopped, the poor feien had a bloodied nose, a busted lip, and an already swelling eye, all from the sheer force of the blows. As Calico removed himself, Merrimack wheezed painfully, carefully rolling onto his side and spitting blood from his mouth. God. ********. Damn it.

It hurt to stand, feeling dizzy from being struck so many times. He had to get away...and now, he had to tell Shalafi, in fear of being followed and struck again later. Clumsily taking wing, the scared feien shook as he flew along, not even daring to look back. What had he gotten himself into? What had he done...? Oh God, what was he doing...?

~~~~~~~~~~

Merrimack tearfully made his way toward the apartment, one hand over his nose to attempt to stop the bleeding, and his other constantly touching underneath his eye, making sure that wasn't bleeding as well. He continually sucked at his lip, which was almost through with bleeding, but he was starting to feel rather sick from the copper taste that practically stained his senses. Still shaking lightly as he landed on the balcony, he hoped to see Shalafi quickly, and just go home.

"Shalafi...?" he called out from the door, peering inside cautiously. "Shalafi???"

The blind Feien heard his name, even through the television that Youko was listening to, and the running water from Yeande's shower in the sink. He moved to the balcony door, sliding it open slightly and sticking his head out. "Hello? Is someone out here?"

Ah, good. He was the one to answer.

"Shalafi, I need to talk to you," he managed to say, looking off to the side so though he couldn't see his damaged face. "I-it's about Calico..."

He couldn't have seen if he wanted to, and landed near Merrimack, reaching out for him. "Merri?? What happened with Calico?" Shalafi's eyes widened then, and he started to tremble almost imperceptibly. No. No, he couldn't have, not after everything I've done. Damnit, Calico, don't prove me wrong!

More tears began to spill from Merrimack's eyes, his right one stinging in particular. It had taken him a moment to remember that this feien couldn't see, and was almost thankful for that fact. He didn't need to see what had happened...what had resulted in a talk gone wrong.

"C-Calico wanted m-me to remind you of your promise. T-that you belong to him... He s,said he'd hurt m-me if you didn't listen..." It was painful just thinking about the words, remembering how he'd been slapped and pushed into that terrible dark hole. If only he hadn't tried to flee.....damn! He still probably would have been beaten on.

"Oh gods no..." Shalafi sank to his knees then, sightless gaze lowered to the balcony floor as he shook his head softly. "I kept my promise... I just wanted him to leave everyone else alone, Merri, that's all..." He looked to the other Feien then, tears on his cheeks as his hands tensed against h is knees. "I promised that I wouldn't do anything stupid anymore... he was so CALM last night, I thought that if I stayed with him and kept him from getting aggravated, he would just leave everyone else alone!"

The pale Feien sighed then, not sure what to say or do now. "I'm sorry, Merri..." he whispered, trying to talk through the lump in his throat. "I promise I will never let him hurt you again. I don't care if I have to go with him and stay by his side every hour of the day and keep him from losing control. I will NOT let him hurt anyone else!"

Merrimack looked down at the other feien for a moment, watching the tears in his eyes. He really didn't know...? Did he not even think that something like this would happen? He wasn't a traitor...and now Merrimack felt ashamed for even thinking it. Dropping to his knees, he was relectant to do what he did next, especially after all that happened; reaching out with his free arm, he hugged Shalafi a little bit, doing his best not to get blood on the other's pale body.

"Shalafi, you didn't know. It's...not your fault, okay? What happened today w-was my own fault...okay? But...will you promise me something?"

"It wasn't your fault... I should have stayed there with him, but when I left I thought he was okay... I th-thought he would be alright, because he'd been so nice to me..." Shalafi was rambling, and paused as his breath rattled in his throat. "P-promise what?"

He didn't stand up for him before...so now, this was all he could think of doing.

"Promise me that the first attempt he makes to hurt you again...that you won't be a coward like me," Merrimack said quietly, gently placing his shaky hand on the boy's white head. "Just...please...don't let him hurt you because of us..."

"He didn't hurt me.. that's why I'm so shocked that he did this to you... I swear, I won't let him touch you again. I don't care what I have to do, he won't hurt me." Shalafi leaned forward then, clinging to Merri for a moment as he tried to catch his breath through the sobs he was holding back. He didn't want to cry righ tnow. He had to THINK, and figure out a way to prevent this from happening again.

Merrimack cringed as Shalafi clung onto him, not because of the pain, but because of the contact. He never wanted anyone to touch him again, but it took everything he had not to just run away right now. Though, somehow, this was a little comforting, even if his mind had been nearly broken. Burying his head in Shalafi's shoulder, he finally broke down from all of the events, crying his little eyes out. This was twice he'd been more scared than he ever had been in his life. This was twice that he did something remotely courageous, and had to pay dearly for it. The only difference between then and now, however, was that this one didn't involve his family.

SHalafi started to rock slightly, his hand coming to pet Merri's hair gently as he held onto the other boy. "It's okay, Merri," he whispered, trying to soothe the Memory Feien as best he could. This was his fault,a nd he'd make sure it didn't happen again. "It's okay, you're safe here and he can't touch you. I won't let him touch you."

He felt so pathetic, but it was really all he could do at the moment. He'd held it in as best as he could all night, breaking once when he was trapped in the darkness. However, now? It was like the dam broke and the village was getting flooded.

"All of this over a stupid apology! I didn't have a choice...if I hadn't hit him, he could have left me there to rot alone... Oh God....oh God... I only made things worse, didn't I?"

Of course, Shalafi more than likely didn't know of the apology he was even referring to.

"It wasn't your fault, Merri... it wasn't. It's okay..." Shalafi nuzzled against Merri's hair, trying to soothe him. "What apology?" he asked, not quite sure exactly what Merri was talking about. Maybe if he knew what had happened, he would know how to stop it next time.

"The day I met him...he poked my third eye on purpose, wondering if it was real, and I ended up calling him a dolt. He deserved that, damn it...then got all obsessed about me apologizing, when he didn't even say anything for poking my eye."

His tears were beginning to lessen now, but his eyes continued to sting. "I'd never been more scared...it's like he takes pleasure in messing with my mind."

Shalafi nodded, understanding a bit at least. Calico got incensed at the least t hings... sometimes even for no reason at all. It was difficult to explain or predict. For what had to be the u mpteenth time that day, Shalafi found himself questioning his own actions. Had this been the right thing to do?

"You're not alone," he whispered, shaking his head faintly. "None of us will let this happen again."

Merrimack listened to his words, feeling his heart sink, and something change. "That's what they said the last time."

They said that Calico wouldn't hurt him again. What happened? Where had everyone been when he needed them most? Biting his lip softly, the little feien lifted himself from Shalafi, leaned over, and kissed his forehead lightly, leaving a small red spot from where his lip had been broken.

"Perhaps it was just destined for me to be alone. Broken promises hurt the most..." he said coolly, clenching a fist tight. "It'll happen again...and for the third time, that promise will be broken. They wouldn't let anything happen to me... tch. I did w-what I came for... G-goodbye, Shalafi."

Sorely, Merrimack turned around and took wing, fresh tears beginning to roll down his cheeks once more.

Shalafi sat there, stunned for several minutes. By the time he had recovered his wits and scrambled to his feet, the other Feien had to have been long gone, but it didn't once cross his mind. "MERRI?!" he called out, darting off the balcony into the darkness.

Talonfaust paced the windowsill, casting occasional looks out of the open guest room window. As per usual, his bondmate had not checked with him before making plans and had poked her head into his room only ten minutes ago to inform him she'd just gotten off of the phone with Neko who had asked directions to their house on behalf of Tahki.

Tahki had something to show him, Karma had said, and while the prospect of seeing her again was uplifting, he'd rather wished it could have been under his own terms. As it stood, his nerves were on edge. He kept his wings folded close to his back as he paced...something didn't feel -right- today. Perhaps he'd find out she was hurt worse than he'd thought that night in the woods?

Tahki held onto the small bird in her arms the best that she could, the little creature being almost half her size. It wasn't really heavy, but when flying from out house on the otherside of town to another, it was a little tiring. Flapping her bi-colored wings to keep herself steady, she looked warily to the house she thought might be the right one. No use in not trying, right? Fluttering up to the door, she was just about to knock as it flung open all of a sudden, and she ducked for covered.

Angerily, a short old man glared his beady eyes out of the door, looking for the "punk" that had rung his doorbell and ran off. "Stupid kids..." he muttered, slamming the door shut.

Okay...that wasn't the right house. Quickly, Tahki tried the one across the street, flitting up to the door and using her foot to ring the doorbell.

Tal jolted visibly at the sound of the doorbell's buzz and stopped in mid-step as the living room became a flurry of commotion, both Karma and Meka going for the door at the same time.

"I'm expecting someone, Coonjab! Get away!"

"I'm expecting someone too! Stop shoving!!"

Talon exhaled, blowing his breath upward and blowing his bangs back in a brief flurry of wind. Thankfully, he didn't have a headache currently or those two would most certainly be feeding it. Until he knew for sure who it was, however, he remained where he was.

The door came open and Karma looked about for a moment, trying to locate the visitor before her eyes caught a flurry of red and black near the doorbell and turned to see the little feien with what looked to be a baby bird in her arms.

"Oh...! Tahki, right...?" She smiled, moving aside so she could come in.

"Thank you miss Lady!" Tahki said innocently, fluttering inside a little cautiously. At first, she thought she was at the wrong house again from all of the yelling. "Could you tell me where Talon is?"

The little bird in her arms began to squirm, wanting to be let go as it started chirping loudly.

"Talon...? Oh. Right!" she nodded briskly, pointing at the hallway. "Last door on your right. I think its open a little, if not, give me a holler and I'll come let you in. Guess I don't need to tell you he gets a little moody from time to time...?" she looked down at the little bird Tahki held then, puzzling over why she'd brought it.

"TAL!! Visitor!!" she called down the hallway.

Talon was off of the sill like a shot and zipped at the door, wedging himself into the two-inch gap sideways and giving a shove with both legs, making it creak open another inch or two so Tahki could get in without having to do any fancy manuevers.

"Thank you, miss Lady!" Tahki smiled before fluttering down the hall. She noticed the door move a little bit, and blinked a few times, staring at the crack for a moment. Moody? Hm...she didn't really think Talon was MOODY...but, that was also her opinion. For manners sake, she only stuck her head in the door, again trying to hold onto the tiny bird in her arms.

"Talon?" she called out, glancing around the room. "You're in here, right?"

"Right here." he said, coming out from where he'd momentarily zipped behind the door to see if he could pull it open a little further that way. He paused in front of her, his wings fanning the air, and his green eyes lighting up at actually seeing her again after putting it off for the last few days. He wanted to hug her, but the squirming bird currently in her arms made him keep a respectable distance.

"How are you? Is your arm all right?"

Tahki whimpered a little bit, hardly able to keep the bird still. "U-um...is there somewhere I could put Mr. Birdy first?" she asked, finding it difficult to hold on much longer.

"Oh...! Right...uhm...." he looked toward the sill where the bonzai pot sat quietly. His own bird had been resting since he'd fed it earlier that morning. "Here..." he said, extending his arms and offering to take the little creature from her.

Tahki carefully handed him the bird, rubbing her bandaged arm for a moment once it was out of her grasp. "S-sorry...I really wanted to show you..." she smiled, blushing slightly from embaressment. "It came from the egg that you gave me."


Talon secured his grip around the bird, wincing as one of its tiny claws scraped along his arm, not enough to draw blood but enough to sting as he carried it to the pot, depositing it alongside the blue-green ball of down already inside. His own bird instantly awoke and began to peep irritatedly at the intrusion. Tal watched the two of them for a moment, waiting to see if they'd hurt one another before fumbling beside the pot and coming up with the partially eaten branch of small round red berries he'd been feeding his own earlier and lowering it inside, hoping they'd both eat their fill and go back to sleep.

"Did yours come out yesterday too...?" he questioned, pulling away from the bonzai pot and fluttering back over to hover across from her, wincing a bit at her bandaged arm before gingerly putting an arm around her good side and giving her a half-embrace.

Tahki blinked a few times before hugging him with her good arm, smiling slightly.

"Mmhm...but I was gone when it came out," she told him, playing with his hair a little bit. "And my arm...is kinda okay."

She lifted her arm up a little in the sling, revealing a hard, white casing of some sort that came around her elbow and covered her forearm. Even her hand was bound in the bandage, letting her only move her four fingers freely.

"Neko looked at it yesterday, and had to rebreak it. Apparently it had been healing wrong, and that was really bad! And she found some of this stuff that they use on human breaks and had Ares help her put it on. So...it'll be okay soon. But it doesn't really hurt much anymore!"

REbroke it...?? Tal had never experienced a broken limb before but even the thought of it made him cringe noticeably against her. "I'm sorry I didn't help you that night..." he said, giving her a gentle squeeze. "That was thick of me, but it won't happen again, I promise you that. I'm just thankful Merri thought to do something...he's more of a protector than he gives himself credit for."

Tahki frowned slightly at the mention of Merrimack. No...no, Talon didn't need to know about that right now. Talon didn't need to worry as well...however, if he didn't come back soon...

She shook her head a little bit, smoothing out his hair a little bit. "Talon, you helped me more than you think. If you hadn't found me, or if you hadn't insisted you all search for me, I might not have been found. Then what? The bird might have come back to get me while I was helpless," she tried to assure him. "I was really scared, Talon, and you helped me."

Tal's left ear flicked a bit as she smoothed his hair. "I just want to be worthy of you, Tahki, that's all. I care for you above all else." He didn't care anymore about keeping a leash on himself. It left him unfulfilled and upset to constantly be having to hold back and this was yet another long stint of days he'd not seen her and kept himself worrying about her near-constantly.

"I just--" he drew back a bit, not sure what he meant to say and swallowed through a suddenly-dry throat as he summoned up his quickly-fleeting determination and leaned in, eyes gently closing....

Neeeeeeeeeeeee.... Tal jolted back just as his mouth would have touched Tahki's as a tickling of hair-fine legs tickled around his ears and forehead and looked up to see that a wayward crane fly had breezed into the room and was currently contemplating his head as a landing pad. GUH!!!! Was word spreading through the insect world that he was a fun and easy target for torment??

Tahki's eyes opened a little wide as she froze for a moment, unable to help but blush as he was closing in. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump was the slow pace of her heart as she couldn't seem to find the urge to move...

And then it hit her. No, really...it hit her. As the crane fly landed on Talon's head, its head leaned up right against hears, and...

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed as she backed away, startled, just as Talon had jolted back.

Talon's eyes became twin flickers of enraged emerald flame as, without even pausing to think twice, he darted to the windowsill to grab up the flimsy red-brown rapier and FLEW at the offending insect as it stupidly bumbled over the wall and hit the ceiling occasionally with its gangly legs.

It would have annoyed him enough that the crane fly had invaded the room in the first place, but the fact it had chosen that exact moment to make itself a nuisance sparked near-feral anger in him.

Tahki floated back a little bit, watching as Talon began to chase after the crane fly, remembering the moth from the shop. Well...there wasn't much she could do about this one.

"Um... Go Talon!" she cheered weakly, unsure of what else to do. Of course, not looking where she was going didn't help much. As she flew backwards, she seemed to trip over something and tumble backwards.

Balancing herself back up, she blinked a few times, noticing some sort of machine on a stool. What...was that? Flitting closer to it, she noticed a rather beautiful flower, all white with red speckles. "Oooooo..." she sounded quietly. Was this a bloom??

Tal swung the rapier again and again, each time narrowly missing catching the insect with its blade. The wind from swinging it, in fact, seemed to just aid the crane fly in escaping him. What infuriated him the most was how it didn't even seem to acknowledge that he was after it.

It curved lazily to the left, alighting on the wall with its legs splayed. Talon turned to follow it, attempting to stop just a moment too late and *CRUNK* hit the wall face first, his wings out at his sides and looking, very briefly, like a bizarre parody of the Batman logo.

Dazed, he slid down the wall, rolling twice before coming to rest on his back, the now-mashed cranefly flattened against his chest as he stared blankly up at the ceiling, trying to collect his thoughts as somewhere in the depths of his mind, thousands of tiny cuckoo clocks all chimed in unison.

From atop the stool, the bloom, which had remained stoically silent for over a week suddenly shifted its position a bit, the droplets of red that had sweat onto its snowy petals all slowly trickling down to the center of the flower. The petals trembled, and then began to yawn open as a trickle of red spilled from within, and then accentuated itself into a small gout of about three tablespoons of thick red liquid which spilled over the side of the stool and all over Tal's inert body.

The earth feien twitched a bit, but as the liquid was body temperature, didn't immediately notice it.

Tahki's jaw dropped slack from shock as her eyes grew wide, watching the bloom begin to move. Did...hers do that?? She continued to watch, however, not fully aware of Talon on the floor.

Karma, having been alerted by Tahki's startled scream a moment ago, hurried down the hallway and to the guest room, opening the door. The tirade she'd been about to give Talon about tormenting his visitors died on her tongue as she took in the immediate situation. On the floor, Talon laid still in a puddle of redness, his likewise-stained rapier nearby.

Oh god...God!! Had that been why Tahki had screamed??

"Tal!!" she cried, rushing forward and gathering the little feien in her palms. "Talon?? Are you okay??" Just before her panicked mind had made itself up that her little feien was dead, Tal suddenly came to life in an explosion of flailing limbs in her grasp.

"Whuh--?? Put me down! PUT ME DOWN RIGHT THE DAMNED HELL NOW!" he demanded, beating at his bondmate's fingers with one tiny defiant fist.

"Tal, you're alive!!" Karma squealed with elation, fighting the urge to hug the little fairy. "What happened to you?? Where are you hurt??"

"What do you mean 'where am I hurt'?" he growled, beating his wings against her palm in a further effort to make her let go. As he turned over in her palm to stand up, that's when he noticed it -- blood. He was surrounded by blood. Blinking in bewilderment, he looked first at his own hands, then down at himself. He was COVERED in it!

Even as Tal began to exclaim and shout out in panic in a loud and out-of-tune duet with Karma nearby as they panickedly debated where and how he had been hurt and how to fix it, the white bloom's petals folded back to their limit, curling in on themselves and turning a withered gray color. With a soft squelching sound, a ball of red-grimed black slid out from deep within the flower, sitting where it was for a moment before beginning to unfurl, the black becoming a pair of damp feathered wings which concealed a pale body beneath.

Tahki watched the happenings, her eyes flitting from left to right as Karma and Talon seemed to argue with each other. However, more movement seemed to catch her yellow eyes, and she turned her gaze back to the flower. Watching as something tumbled about and formed wings, she very gently picked up the body the best that she could in her arms, ignoring the pressure she felt on her cast. Wait...was this....was this a feien??

"Hello?" she piped up, wondering if it was okay.

The black-winged form on the stool coughed once and expelling a bit of red from its lungs and then slowly lifted its head, regarding Tahki through a pair of deep scarlet eyes that peered out through a forest of white hair, currently tinted pink from the blood. "H--" he paused, coughing again. "Hello." he greeted in a rich voice, resonant for his age before shakily attempting to gain his feet.

"Tal will you just let me SEE??" Karma asked in exasperation, drawing back her hand just as he snapped at her, his teeth clacking shut millimeters from the pad of her index finger.

"I said I can do it myself!!" he yelled at her. "Will you STOP mother-henning me??"

The stranger stared at the bickering two nearby and shrank back just a bit. ".....seems I've come at a bad time..." he murmured mostly to himself, though in a voice Tahki could hear.

Tahki blinked a few times, standing up after a moment. How...interesting! However, she couldn't help what she did. Immediately, she clung to the new feien, giggling to herself.

"You're so cute!!" she smiled happily. "I've never seen a feien emmerge before! Merri came out while I was sleeping. What's it like? Do you feel strange? Weak at all? Do you need any help with anything? What's your name? My name's Tahki!"

The new feien froze as he was hugged, not recoiling, not returning it, just...there. He was still getting his barings after so many days of hushed voices and strange sounds from the outside world. Tahki....he recognized that name from where, exactly? Ah yes, whoever that loud squawkish male voice behind him belonged to had occasionally mentioned it.

"I feel..." he trailed off, wondering how he DID feel. "...cold." he decided. The cold feien cuddling up to him, coupled with the draft coming in from the window over his still-wet body made him shiver a bit. "Well-met, Tahki." he added, giving her a thin smile, just to assure her she wasn't unwelcome. Though, he wondered if he ought to mention that her pretty face was quickly becoming dirtied in red.

Talon, finally having broken out of Karma's hold, flew to a safe distance on the other side of the room and quickly gave himself a glance over for the source of any gashes or punctures. The odd thing was, he didn't HURT...nothing did. Even the pain in his leg from his bandaged hawk war wound hadn't renewed itself.

It was at that moment he chanced to look down to the stool where, a moment ago, the bloom had been sitting quietly....and now, in its place was some CREATURE. And it was currently embracing Tahki. The argument and blood forgotten, he zipped toward the stool with his eyes narrowed to slits. "Get OFF!!" he demanded of the stranger.

The new feien blinked docilely and then sidestepped, taking Tahki with him at the last moment as Tal careened by. "Easy..." he said sharply, though his voice remained calm and with its same gentle drone as he regarded Talon the same way one would regard a tantrumy three-year-old. ".....you'll startle the poor girl."

"Eee?"

Tahki blinked a few times, not exactly understanding why Talon was so angry. ...Wait...oh! Oh! She knew why! Maybe he was jealous because the new feien was getting hugs! Giggling to herself, she released the new arrival and hugged Talon, not really aware of any of the blood on her, or him.

"Awww, it's okay! I have hugs for everybody!" she declared, deciding that was the problem.

Talon paused in mid-air, accepting the hug and at the same time putting his arms protectively around Tahki while glaring daggers at the newcomer.


The white-haired feien, while he didn't glare back, returned the gaze steadfastly, his eyes remaining gentle but firm. Oh dear...five minutes into this world and already he had a nemesis, it seemed.

Karma, finally putting two and two together as she realized where the blood had come from and that Tal wasn't hurt at all, slowly approached the stool and knelt to be more-or-less at eye level with the newcomer.

"Hi there..." she said tentatively, in awe of him much in the same way she was in awe of Tal when he'd emerged. She waited to see if he too would recoil in a panicky state as Talon had, but when he didn't, she smiled and extended her palm. He hesitated and then stepped forward onto it, allowing himself to be lifted.

Tal felt himself bristle all over with dislike and hugged Tahki just a little tighter.

Tahki looked down at Talon, petting his head a little bit to make sure he was okay. Was something wrong with him? Did he feel scared, or threatened for some reason. However, she felt it wouldn't be right to ask at the moment, and decided to wait until later to question about it.

Before Karma could ask, the feien dipped his head in a show of greeting. "I'm called Globin." he informed her, holding out a hand, watching as a drop of blood gathered on the tip of one delicate middle finger and then dropped soundlessly to the foxcoon's wrist. "As in hemoglobin....for rather obvious reasons, I suppose." he sighed.

"I don't trust you as far as I can blasted -kick- you...." Talon growled from the other side of the room, his glare never leaving Globin's back, despite the fact the feien's interest seemed to have long-since shifted from him.

Sensing the hostility from his direction, Karma lifted her eyes to both Tahki and Talon who were both smeared in crimson and saw the perfect opportunity to defuse a situation before it arose.

"Tal...? Why don't you take your friend to the bathroom and clean up in the sink before you two dry that way? I know you're strong enough to turn the faucet on your own"

"Clean up?" she questioned curiously before looking over herself. ...Oh! Where did all that come from? Glancing over at Talon, she realized that he was covered in the red liquid.

"Ah! S-sorry! I didn't mean to make a mess?" Tahki said, lifting herself up into the air. But...had she done this? Where did it all come from, anyway?

Tal opened his mouth to argue before realizing what this was -- just a veiled attempt to get rid of them for a bit so she could bond with IT for awhile. Despite his dislike for her, he felt an odd stab of betrayal. Fine...! Fine, let them have one another then. One less thing for him to worry about.

"It wasn't you..." he sighed, letting loose his hold on Tahki to take her by her good hand. "Come on, let's go..."

"Ah? Um...okay! Bye bye, miss Lady! Nice to meet you, Globin!" she called as she was drug out by Talon.

Neko looked at the piece of paper in his hands, matching up the numbers written with the numbers on the house. Well, it looked about right...and Tahki had comfirmed it from his shoulder, so there shouldn't be a problem right? However, he still had the feeling he should have called before hand, just to be safe.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Merri?" he asked the feien sitting on his left shoulder.

"How many times are you going to ask me that question?" the smalle feien sighed, glaring up at his bondmate.

"...Right." Looking over to his right shoulder, the demon hanyou realized that Tahki was no longer there. "Damn it..."

Quickly stepping over to the door, Neko grabbed Tahki just after she'd kicked her foot against the doorbell to ring it. "You're a pain sometimes, you know that?"

"Eeep! I'm sorry! I'm just...kinda excited..." Tahki blinked a few times, smiling up at Neko.

Karma perked her ears at the sound of the doorbell and headed to answer it. Who was it THIS time? More feien missing, she wondered? She hoped not...she made it a practice not to get involved with any of their drama circles, but if there was something out there that could potentially be a threat to other feien....even her own....

No...she wouldn't think of that, she thought with a firm shake of her head. This was probably nothing. Steeling herself just the same, she eased the door open, peering out through the crack before recognizing Neko on the other side.

"Oh...! Hi!" she smiled, opening the door the rest of the way.

"Hi miss lady!" Tahki grinned, trying to wiggle out of Neko's grasp.

"H-hi Karma!" Neko stammered, trying to ignore the ticklish feeling in his hand. "I hope this isn't a bad time, I kind of need to t--HEY!"

Success! Tahki flitted quickly over to Karma's shoulder, landing softly.

"Um...miss lady? Is Talon around?" she asked innocently, knowing Neko wouldn't try to grab her so close to someone else.

Karma looked at Tahki with a smile that was only a tad envious. She wished her boys could be as friendly as this one seemed to be. "He's where you found him last time." she assured her. "He was on the windowsill when I checked in about an hour ago, knowing him he's probably still there."

She then, suspecting Tahki would leave quickly after hearing what she wanted, turned her attention back to Neko. "Never a bad time...not given what -I- live with. What's on your mind?" she asked, stepping back to let Neko in.

"Thank you miss lady!" Tahki smiled, hiding Karma's shoulder a bit of a hug before fluttering off toward the room she'd found Talon in last time. Hopefully, he'd still be there.

Neko scratched his head a little bit, watching Tahki fly off. Well, hoping she wouldn't be too much of a bother...he didn't exactly want to start any trouble. Stepping inside, he folded his hands behind his back as his tail flicked a little bit.

"Well, I suppose it's a long story...but to make it short, it seems that Talon offered Merri a place to stay for a little bit. Aaand, he seems to want to take him up on that offer, so I thought I'd check things out with you first before either of them got into any trouble of that," he explained, ears twitching a little bit.

Karma blinked, a little startled. "....I wish he'd ask ME before making offers like that...." she sighed, looking to Neko's left shoulder where the memory feien resided. She hadn't even been aware Tal HAD any friends, much less friends he liked enough to allow them to share the house. He certainly seemed to be having trouble sharing it with Globin as it was -- oh yes, she'd read their ongoing spat in the diary, after all...

"Well, I suppose its all right...." she said, rubbing the back of her neck, not much caring for being backed into a corner. A flicker of movement caught the corner of her eye and she turned her head, noticing Globin only partially hidden on the nearby end table as he surveyed the current scene with mild curiousity. "Come on over, Globin, don't be rude." She smiled, offering a hand for him to land on.

The frost-haired feien hesitated, and then willingly flew over, perching neatly on her palm where she transferred him to her shoulder. "He'd probably like a little more docile company to talk to anyway...he and Tal have been at each other's throats since he came out..." she sighed.

"Oh!" Neko's ears perked up a little bit as he leaned over just enough to get a closer look at the newer feien. "He sure is...um...pardon for it sounding strange, but..........okay, maybe I won't say it."

Straightening up again, his tail began to flick side to side curiously, wondering what kind of a feien this one could be. Alternating colored stripes...? And a horn like Tosten's. Very interesting.

"Merri, if you plan on staying here, you have to talk a little more," he sighed, realizing that the feien had been trying to hide in his shirt.

Freezing for a moment, the small feien turned his three eyes toward the younger, rather wide with fright. He hadn't known there was someone else here! Otherwise he would have forgotten about the whole thing. It was too late now, though, wasn't it?

"H-hello..." he muttered quietly, pulling his wings around himself. Oh gods...and he had wanted a place to hide.

Globin likewise seemed to shrink back a little, troubled by the other feien's immediate fear of him....dear gods, what was it about him that made people feel like they had to put up their defenses...??

"Hello there." he greeted in turn, his voice soft as he nodded his head once, gently.

"He's a blood feien." Karma explained. "You'd think he'd be violent or something, but he's really...I dunno...withdrawn and quiet. At least HE makes the effort to be friendly, though, unlike some other white-winged crackpots I know of..." the remark was obviously meant for Talonfaust and Globin, though he was able to keep from smiling, was unable to hide a slight twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

She looked to Merri next, putting on a gentler tone. "I guess you can find someplace you're comfortable...pretty much anywhere is open as long as its someplace you won't get locked inside or stepped on. How long did you need to be here?"

"I...I don't know..." he said softly, cowering within his wings. "Long enough?"

"He's...not even telling us how long he needs to stay, that's the thing. He said he'd come home when he was ready to..." Neko murmured, shrugging a little bit. "I'm hoping it's not for too long, but...I don't want to force anything on him, especially after having just come home the other night..."

Karma looked a little troubled. She'd prepared herself for him to be staying maybe a few days or so, but....oh well. It wasn't as though feien took up very much space, and if it was someone Talon got along with, that meant there wouldn't be a THIRD voice added to the ongoing bitchery.

"Fair enough." she said with a nod, putting her hands on her hips and surveying the house, looking for places she could keep him that he would be allowed his privacy and not be in harm's way. "Uhm...let's see....we have space up on the mantle, I could bring over some bedding and move the clock. Or there's the laundry room, but that gets pretty noisy when the dryer starts going...."

"....why not Mekakushi's room?" Globin suggested, his voice barely a whisper, but near enough to her ear to hear it. Karma flinched and gave him a strange look. "...I've never, you know, seen him USE his bed....always the sofa..." The blood feien clarified with a shrug.

"....I guess we could do that. Its quiet in there ever since I moved the computer into the study and the video games into the family room..." She said thoughtfully. "And there's all sorts of places to hide in his bookshelf..."

Lots of places to hide...? That was always a good thing. Cautiously, the little feien stood up, his wings still curling around himself.

"A-all right...that might be good," he stammered, lifting himself into the air. "May I see it?"

Hiding places always seemed to coax him, Neko noted, rubbing the back of his neck a little bit. He merely hoped Merrimack wouldn't cause any trouble here.

"Well, if anything goes wrong, I believe you have my number...feel free to call at any time," he said, nodding a little bit. "Or, if Merri needs to be picked up for one reason or another..."

Karma gave Neko a nod and a reassuring smile "I don't think he'll be any trouble." And she didn't really....she would have worried if he was being outwardly hostile or nasty, but he seemed simply frightened. Like a little doormouse that just wanted to find a dark hole and cower in it. If she worried about anything, it would be that she wouldn't -see- him for days on end. "Anything else? Don't feed him after midnight? Don't get him wet?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Globin, looking up at his bondmate, noticing she had ignored Merri's request to see Meka's room, inched forward a little on Karma's shoulder, bracing one wing against the back of her neck so he wouldn't fall. "....I could show you if you like." he offered.

Neko laughed a little nervously, running a hand through his hair. "Aaaah, no no! Um...really, he didn't seem to like being alone...now he'd rather there be very few around him, o--Oh!"

Tapping the back of his neck, Miki peered around, holding something in its arms. "You brought her, right?"

"Mi!" the notion squeaked before flitting over to Merrimack and carefully handing him Winter. "She scratched me, mi!"

Merrimack hugged his kitten to himself, floating away from Miki a little bit before glancing at Globin. Well, he'd have to get used to this one, right? So long as he wasn't Talon...

"Fine," he muttered, waiting to follow the other.

"Um...right," he blinked, the notion wiggling itself into his ear. "Don't take anything he might say personally...he can be rather rude sometimes."

"I'm still here, you she-demon!" Merrimack scowled irratibly, snarling at the fact that Neko was talking about him to his face.

"...And he doesn't like sweets!" he beamed, grinning at his feien.

"Evil wench..." he muttered under his breath.

"Oh, and he doesn't like open windows anymore." Now he was doing it just to spite him.

"STOP THAT!"

"That's fine, Meka's room doesn't HAVE any windows." Karma chuckled. Oh dear...maybe this one was more like Talon than she thought. No wonder they got along. "Honestly, though, I'll make sure he stays safe. I've learned to run an hourly check on the other two...or every time things get a little too quiet." Saying so, her eyes flicked in the direction of the hallway. Speaking of quiet, she wondered if she ought to check in on Don Quixote and Dulcinaea in the guest room to make sure they were behaving....

Seeing Merri's consent to be led, Globin took off at a sedate pace so that the other feien could easily keep up with him, not looking over his shoulder as he felt that might be taken as a sign of coddling and something told him that this one desperately wanted to be independant. "No windows." he said, confirming what Karma had already mentioned. "There's an air conditioner set into the wall, but the vents are too small for anything but air to get in. ....perhaps an occasional fly." he relented.

Merrimack followed after him, noting the red tip of his wings. How...interesting. He seemed nice enough...but what if that was just a cover? What if it was a mask, and he was just as cruel underneath as Calico was?

"Can a feien fit through?" he asked curiously, scratching Winter behind her ears.

"All right...even so, if he gets to be too much, just let me know," he smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Thank you for letting him stay here. I may try to come by to check on him in a few days, just to see if he'll want to come home yet."

Globin paused at one of the doors which hung only slightly open and winced, heaving his shoulder against it until it pushed inward with a slight creak of the hinges. The light was off, but the desklamp had been left on, bathing the room in a golden shadowy light.

"I shouldn't think so." Globin said gently as he slipped inside, waiting for Merri to follow before gesturing toward said air conditioner. The grating on it was thick metal and the vent slots were only perhaps a quarter of an inch wide. Even if a feien DID manage to somehow get in through the outdoor fan, they wouldn't get far. The screws to undo the outer face of the air conditioner were on the inside, making tampering with it virtually impossible. Even for someone like Calico.

"That's fine, come by whenever you like. He's your bond, after all." Karma nodded. "Like I said, Globin needs to meet new people anyway...he tries so hard to be friendly and Tal's swatted him away so many times. You should see the open letter he left in their journal about it...I wanted to cry." She shook her head and brightened up a little.

"Should we go find Tahki or do you want me to bring her by later?" she asked, changing the subject and guessing, by the cast on the feien girl's arm, Neko wouldn't be too keen on letting her fly home alone.

"If that's all right," he said a little sheepishly, his tail flicking a little bit. Neko didn't exactly want to break up the little reunion, as Tahki hadn't really been able to do anything for herself the last couple of days. "I'd say she could come home when she's ready, but...I don't want to deal with another broken arm."

Merrimack squinted his eyes a little bit, examining the vent for a moment. Hmmm...so he wasn't lying. Slowly floating into the room, he looked around, taking in the surroundings. It was quaint, rather quiet, and didn't seem too large. So...the other feien hadn't lied.

"My...my name's Merrimack, by the way," he finally stated, looking for a place to land before deciding the bed would be good. "This is Winter."

The kitten in his arms mewed softly, her tail twitching in hello.

"That's fine, I planned on staying up late anyway tonight. I've got some writing I've been putting off for way too long." she chuckled. "I'll make sure she doesn't stay over TOO late..." ~And that Talon's behaving himself...~ she thought quietly.

"Globin." The blood feien said, a thin smile surfacing, glad that the immediate ice wall that had formed between them was melting a bit. He was quickly learning that if there was one thing he hated, it was BEING hated. "Its nice to meet you, Merrimack...and hello Winter." he added, tilting a small wave at the kitten.

He turned to the bookcase where action figures, books, and papers had been haphazardly arranged. Meka's lack of organization when it came to his belongings was sometimes a good thing...the way the books leaned up against one another they did, indeed, create dozens of nooks and crannies.

"I suppose you'll have free reign to go wherever you like while you're in here." he said, starting to relax. He'd worried for a moment that this boy would have the same kneejerk temper that Talon had.

"I think...." he said, suddenly sounding thoughtful as he spiraled to the floor and padded across the carpet toward Meka's bed, bending just a bit to walk beneath it. "....ah, here we are." Globin stated, emerging as he tugged an empty pillowcase behind him. Meka was an odd duck at best....one of his oddities being that he kept a clean set of sheets under his bed so that when laundry day came, he wouldn't have to rummage in the linen closet for new ones. "In case the wood is too hard to lay on..." he offered. "Folded over a few times, this should be more comfortable and fit on one of the shelves."

Merrimack wandered over to the edge of the bed, crouching down and opening his wings to keep his balance as he peered down at the pillowcase. Folded over, hm? Couldn't be too bad...he was used to sleeping on a desk, after all. Winter wiggled free of his arms, and began to explor the bed.

"Think you could help me set that up?" he asked, scratching underneath his black eye. Gods...first it hurt like hell, now it was itching?? Was that a good or bad sign...?

Globin's smile broadened, becoming a bit more genuine instead of the smirk he wore for the others...the smile he put on to say "yes I'm fine, thank you" so he wouldn't be asked. "I certainly could." he nodded, already fumbling with the linen to fold it over once. "I think...maybe twice more and we could both lift it to wherever you've picked out." he grunted a bit, giving a fan of his ebony wings so he wouldn't lose his balance as he stumbled a little.

Merrimack stiffled a yawn before lifting into the air, floating down closer to the other.

"Possibly...I'm not exactly the strongest feien out there, but I might be able to lift this..." he sighed, flitting over to the other side.

"Shouldn't be too bad." Globin assured him. "Not with two of us, at least. One of us, and we might have a problem." He straightened out the edge of the pillowcase a little before moving to fold it over again.

"So, I take it you know Talon?" he asked conversationally, trying to keep things moving and hoping Merri wouldn't clam up again. "Its nice to know he can be personable now and then...that's a luxury he certainly hasn't granted to me."

Merrimack snorted a little bit before crossing his arms over his chest, much like his father did.

"I don't want to be anywhere near that lying fool. His tactics didn't help me at all when I needed them..." he grunted, turning his gaze off to the right. "He wasn't there...just like the rest of them..."

Stubborn anger. It was as if nothing could change his mind at the moment; everyone he knew before that night was a traitor, and that was that.

"Wasn't there?" Globin questioned, blinking. He knew Talon was a little...all right, a LOT eccentric, but he'd not yet known him to be a liar. "I won't tell him you're here, then. Not if you think he might hurt you." He said quietly, averting his eyes back to the pillowcase as he tested half of its weight in his arms. It wasn't terribly heavy, it would just be awkward to carry at this size. He decided to fold it over once more and moved to do so.

Merrimack looked down at the pillowcase, watching it being folded.

"Yes...don't tell him, if possible. I'm not quite ready to talk to him quite yet," he muttered under his breath. "And...I suppose I should say thank you."

He was...helping him after all. Merrimack knew he wouldn't be able to set up the makeshift bed on his own.

Globin's scarlet eyes twinkled again at recieving the thanks....that was something he'd not yet heard and it pleased him to feel like he was doing SOMEONE a little good instead of being an annoyance or an enemy.

"Not at all." he smiled. "I know how bad he can be." he added, pointing at the fading line of off-yellow on his cheek, all that remained of the angry red from the handmark from yesterday. "....but I suppose I had that coming, overestimating him and all." In retrospect, it was funny. He'd never let Talon hear that, of course, but to him, that look of complete flabberghast he'd been given would always be privately hilarious.

When he'd finished folding over the pillowcase, he tried lifting it again, having little trouble with his end. "Now then, where would you like this?" he asked, good nature in his mellow voice.

Merrimack's ears seemed to perk up slightly as he listened, noting the yellow mark. Talon had...hit him? Of course, it didn't seem like anything compared to his black eye...but even so, he seemed to soften a little bit as he grew to realized something. He'd been physically abused...but Globin seemed to be verbally abused. How could he stand such a thing? Did he do anything to prevent it? Or just...let it happen...? Perhaps...he'd understand...at least a little bit.

Getting distracted from the question, the small feien looked back at the pillowcase. "There's a spot inbetween two books that are leaning on eachother like a teepee. They don't look like they'll be falling anytime soon, so I figure there might be good...that way, I can see most of the room, as well," he explained, struggling to lift the other end. True, it wasn't really all that heavy...but for him, it sure felt like it was.

Globin nodded and gave his wings a fan "Ready when you are, Merrimack." he said, ready to push off of the floor and likewise watching the other feien in case he lost his hold on the other side.

Globin was fairly sure he would be able to struggle it up to the shelf the rest of the way if Merri should lose his hold, but he didn't want the older feien to feel defeated or weak in the process. He all but radiated that much.

Quietly so that Merri wouldn't notice, the blood feien adjusted his grip on his half of the pillowcase, stretching his arms beneath it as far as he could to take as much of the weight on his side as he was able.

Merrimack lifted back into the air, flapping his wings a little needlessly to guide him.

Globin took off when Merri did, staying a little lower than the other feien, but not severely so so that the pillowcase would tilt slightly in his direction. The ascent was a little slow, but wouldn't take long...they were already nearing the destination shelf.

Merrimack looked past Globin toward the shelf, already beginning to feel a little tired. "Might want to move a little to your left," he told him, "otherwise, you'll bump into the books."

"Mm? Oh...thank you." he said with a slight nod of his head, banking a little away from the shelf as they reached where they'd been headed. "Here we are..." he said jovially, his feet touching the smooth wood of the shelf as he bent to begin sliding the pillowcase between the aforementioned books. "That wasn't so difficult after al--"

ssssssssTHUPTHUPTHUPTHUPTHUP!!!

Overhead from the shelf above them suddenly came a loud commotion as one of the books slid out of place, no doubt disturbed by the movements on the shelf below it, and created a chain reaction as the rest all fell against one another like dominoes, some toppling to the floor below.

Merrimack had quickly ducked upon hearing the sound, immediately wrapping his arms tightly around Globin's leg as his wings curled around himself. Merely a reaction he always had to sudden large noises; duck, and cling to the closest harmless object next to him. In most cases, it was his mother...in this case, it was Globin's leg.

"W-w-what was that?!" he demanded, not daring to open his eyes at the moment, afraid it would either happen again or something would attack them next.

Globin peered over the edge of the shelf at the several dimestore science fiction novels that lay in disarray on the carpet and reached down, gently stroking Merri's hair in a calming manner

"Its all right." he said soothingly, dropping his hand away, having learned the hard way last night that sometimes people just didn't -want- to be touched. "Just some books falling. Doesn't look like they hurt anything."

He gave a bit of a chuckle, realizing his own heart was pounding as well from the scare they'd both just been given. "Well...! I'm awake now, how about you?" he asked, letting it roll off of his back and trying to get Merri to do the same.

Merrimack twitched slightly at the touch, but it wasn't anything more than that. It was the same thing his mother would do, after all, whenever he was afraid. Opening his eyes slowly and blinking a few times, it took him a moment to regain himself.

"Ah...um...I suppose you c--" Oh...oh! Quickly Merrimack released the other feien, blushing madly from embarressment as he backed away a little bit. "I-I-I'm sorry! I d-didn't know....I mean I didn't mean to...!!"

Whoops! Perhaps backing up wasn't a good idea, as he had headed toward the opening of the shelf instead of the back. His hand dropping down from there being no surface underneath it surprised him, as he lost his balance and tipped backwards to fall. Opening his wings, however, he caught just enough air to allow him balance again, or at least enough time to use his magic for flight.

Globin cocked his head at a curious angle as Merri scrambled backward. For a moment, he'd looked like he was going to fall and Globin had nearly gone after him to catch him, but as the other feien caught himself, he began to relax again, peering over the edge of the shelf.

"It all right." he assured him, assuming Merri could still hear him in his normal speaking tone. "Believe you me, I'd take a hug over a berating any day." So he wouldn't feel awkward when he approached the shelf again, Globin backed a polite distance away from where they'd started to situate the pillowcase and awaited Merri's return.

"Would you like me to go?" he offered, not wanting to make things any further awkward as he folded his ears back and offered a sympathetic and somewhat sheepish smile. "You'd said you were tired."

Merrimack flitted back to the shelf, landing quietly as he rubbed the back of his neck, blushing rather furiously. This was rather...awkward. He'd just met this feien, and already he was feeling rather clusmy...light-headed around him. Was something wrong with him? Looking over his shoulder, he noted how empty the room really did look. Nothing like Neko's room, which is full of mystical items, books, trinkets, and in all...a more welcoming setting. While he barely could handle being in the knothole alone, he knew this place would be different, at least, on the first night.

"I...I think...I'd like it if you stayed," he said softly, unaware of the flush still staining his cheeks. He knew Winter was there, but there was something different about another larger body being in the room. It always had felt a little safer.

Globin had been prepared to be told yes, that Merri would like to be by himself now, and was knocked a bit off-kilter at the invitation, though he quickly collected himself. Really...? He was wanted?

"Thank you." he said with a slight dip of his head "I think I'd like that as well. The living room is lonely when everyone's gone to bed." he failed to mention that his proper resting place was supposed to be in the guest room with Talonfaust, but that he'd relocated himself to the living room the past couple of nights, not wanting to test the earth feien's temper.

He was...lonely? For some reason, Merrimack hadn't seen that coming. Scratching his head a little bit, the small feien looked at the other a little sheepishly, resting a hand behind his back.

"W-well...maybe while I'm here, you could bunk with me?" he offered shyly, still feeling a little awkward. Damn this feeling....curse it! Curse it all to hell!

"I--If you'd have me, I will." Globin agreed. He'd really expected Merri to want everyone to keep their distance after having obviously been through a lot...at least from what he'd overheard. Folks who were leading carefree existances didn't want to suddenly pack up and hide with near-strangers, after all.

"Just let me know if I start to irk you, hmm?" That's all he asked, really...if Merri began to get tired of his company, he would leave without argument. He hoped there wouldn't be another explosion. He DID enjoy being on his own, but after having been belittled and bitched at near-constantly since his summonday, a non-threatening presense was most welcoming.

"F-fine..." he said, regaining his composture. "All I ask is that...I can have time to myself sometimes...it's just...I have trouble sleeping alone, really..."

Yes...yes, that had to be it. He was asking Globin to stay because he wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise! Of course...of course...that had to be it...

Stiffling another yawn, Merrimack's wings drooped down lazily, his eyes closing a little bit.

"There's...enough room here, right?" he asked, just to be sure.

Globin approached hesitantly, half-expecting to half the memory feien change his mind and tell him to leave after all. "There's plenty." he nodded, seating himself beside the book teepee Merri had claimed, supposing he'd steal a corner of the pillowcase to cushion his head beneath. There wasn't room for both of them in the books without getting rather close and he doubted that's what Merri had in mind.

"I'll be right here if I'm needed." he assured Merri as he settled onto his side, folding his black wings about his body like an ebony shroud. It looked as though he was doing it for warmth, despite the fact it was the dead of summer and the room was a comfortable temperature...perhaps it was more of a security issue.

Merrimack found himself staring at the other for a long moment before he shook his head, once again trying to justify it. ...This time, he couldn't find a reason, so he merely placed the thought aside and settled down on the pillowcase, shifting to curl up on his left side as he always did. Instinctivly, his wings began to curl around himself, but he stopped them, allowing them to just drape lazily on his side. If he had to run away from the other for some reason, he knew he could...but right now, he just wanted to sleep.

Globin laid awake for quite some time behind his closed lids, listening carefully to Merri, making sure he would be able to rest and wouldn't need anything else. Once he DID drift off, he'd need to leave for a moment if only to inform Karma that Talon wasn't to know of Merri's coming to stay there just yet. The earth feien wouldn't hear anything from him, but he couldn't necessarily guarantee that the rest of the house was foolproof and the last thing he wanted Merrimack to think was that he'd betrayed his trust this shortly into his stay.