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 Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:27 am
Youkochylde Trio liked quiet walks. She always had, which was part of what got her into trouble all too often, as she ended up finding new strays or shops all the time. This walk, however, didn't qualify. "...Mother Duck said 'quack quack quack QUAAAAAAAAAAACK," Annora sang at her side, holding Trio's hand and grinning. Trio winced at the last quack, half-wishing that Annora would just sing the song normally, at least... But with this rambunctious child, that wasn't exactly likely to happen. Twin furred ears pricked up from the book Raven was writing in, and she set it down to peer around the tree she was leaning against to see the pair coming along the grass. Grinning, she set the book aside and lay on her stomach in the grass, mimicking the quacks in an attempt to get the girl's attention. It took a moment, Annora gleefully singing the rest of that verse before noticing and looking around. Trio likewise blinked, then grinned as Annora tugged her hand free and darted around. "I can't see," she proclaimed, looking past Raven far too fast to actually notice her. Snickering softly, Raven ducked down flat against the grass. The only giveaway was her tail, twitching back and forth and visible from the other side of the tree she was curled against. Annora darted around a bit longer before squealing suddenly as she caught sight of the waving tail. "It's the GIRL," she called to Trio, diving for Raven happily. Laughing, Raven caught her and rolled the girl onto the grass, tickling her for a moment. "Hey there!" she said, resting her head against one hand and letting herself drape on the ground. One finger came out to beep against Annora's nose. "Look! It's the GIRL!" "I'm not a girl!" Annora protested, giggling and bouncing where she sat. "I'm Annora!" "You're not a girl?!" Raven looked scandalised for a moment, putting an arm around Annora and whispering. "But you don't look like a boy..." She chuckled then, looking to Trio and waving. "Hello Miss Trio!" Trio grinned, waving back. "Hi, Raven." Annora, meanwhile, got a look of amused chiding on her face. "I'm not a BOY," she informed Raven, drawling the word. "Well you said you weren't a girl..." Raven blinked innocently at Annora, but wasn't quite able to keep the quirk from the corners of her mouth. Annora blinked a couple of times before deciding. "I'm Annora," she repeated sternly. "Hello, Annora, I'm Raven." Raven reached out then, taking the girl's hand and shaking it formally before dropping back to lay in the grass. Annora took that for invitation, and pounced on Raven, trying to tickle the older girl just a little too roughly for it to work. "Annora..." Raven giggled, rolling onto her back and lifted Annora up at arm's length, the girl now dangling over her. "Won't work... I'm not ticklish." She grinned then, the tip of her tail doing her dirty work for her and tickling the other girl. "But YOU are!" Annora shrieked, laughing and squirming violently as she was tickled, but making no move to get free. Trio laughed, moving to sit down near the two without interrupting. Raven glanced over to Trio then, still grinning. "If you were going to see Dad, I don't recommend it. He's sick today, and EVERYONE knows it." The tail continued, tickling here and there... it was all lightly, and occasionally it would stop for a brief moment, only to start somewhere else. "I wasn't," Trio said thoughtfully, eyes narrowing at Annora. "But I could. Though she's apt to give him a headache..." Annora finally yelled to stop, tired of this game. Raven let Annora down the moment she yelled, grinning to her. "Well, all you had to say was stop," she said, watching the girl. "No need to yell." Annora continued to giggle as she calmed, curling up against Raven happily. "You tired?" Faking a yawn, Raven shrugged a bit. "I get sleepy when I'm out in the sun. I like it here... it's quiet and I get to hear the birds sing." She started to pet Annora's hair gently, almost in a soothing motion to calm the now-out-of-breath girl. She glanced back to Trio then. "I dunno if he'd want company or not. He gets really antisocial when he's sick." "Well, I wasn't thinking of staying, honestly. Just thinking that if he's sick, I could pick him up something to make him feel better and deliver it," she shrugged, smiling at the way Annora nestled her head against Raven's lap, letting out a soft 'mew'. Smling, Raven continued to stroke the girl's hair, glancing to Trio. "Well... if you wanted to go see him, I could keep Annora here with me. That way you don't have to worry about her getting sick over there." "You'd be okay with that?" Trio asked, tilting her head. "I mean, I'm pretty sure you came out here to get peace and quiet..." Bringing one finger up to her lips, Raven pointed down to the quiet and almost dozing girl. Trio chuckled, noding to Raven. "Thank you," she murmured, making a mental note to get a treat for the two of them as well. "I'll be back soon." Raven lay down in the grass then, grinning as she watched Annora and kept stroking her hair. "Got your breath back yet, Annora?" she asked, keeping her voice at a whisper in case the girl really WAS asleep. Annora nodded, one hand slowly moving to pluck at a bit of grass as she half-dozed against Raven. Being tickled was hard work! Smiling, Raven let her head rest against one arm as her other hand continued to toy with the girl's hair. She didn't know any lullabies or anything... but instead, she just started to hum softly, a random little tune that she'd come to enjoy from one of her relaxation CD's.
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:28 am
"Okay, what part of 'Nobody over thirty' aren't you understanding...?" Kendall inquired, his head thumping to the top of his computer desk as he attempted to speak reason to the idiot he was currently on the phone with.
He would never look for roommates on craigslist again. NEVER.
"Well I don't understand what your hangup is, man. I've had a lot of roommates and none of them have ever had any complaints with me."
"How about a thirty-eight-year-old dude wanting to move in with a eighteen-year-old dude is just ******** creepy?" he sighed, flattening his ears.
"Why is that creepy?"
"Look...just no, all right? Thanks, but no." before he could say anything else, Kendall hung up hastily, giving a growl of frustration. Ever since posting his ad, he'd had fifteen prospective roommates and not a single one of them were what he was looking for.
Was it really so hard to just find another normal guy his age that liked to play video games, wanted out of his parents' house, and could pony up half of the rent? HE didn't think so....the internet, of all places, was filled with guys like that.
So how come he ended up with old men, the over-the-hill single moms, and the girls who wanted to run away from home and "needed someplace to crash"? It was annoying as hell. And he was quickly running out of people to ask, as sad as that was.
And here he'd hoped he'd be out of Karma's house by Christmas....so much for that.
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:29 am
Prospective Roommate? ((OOC Note -- The character Ronin is from the Through The Looking Glass shop and is played by Lenachan358. You can read more about him here
This was also done in informal format, so I've adjusted it slightly to make it formal.))Kendall scowled and moved his mouse cursor toward the "delete topic" option at the top of his listing on Craigslist. The entire prospect of finding a roommate online had blown up in his face and he was sick of having to field calls from complete wackos. Maybe he'd just do what a sensible person did and wait until he made enough to afford a place on his own budget. It would take time, but better living alone on a shoestring salary than having to room in with a nutcase. "Are you sure you would like to delete the topic "18-year-old male seeking roommate in Barton Area"?" the prompt inquired. "Yes." he muttered aloud as he clicked the button. "Topic deleted successfully. Click here to post new topic" Instead, he pushed away from his desk and grabbed for his gameboy. This was bullshit. He couldn't think of a single reason there weren't other guys his age looking to move out. Guys who were normal and weren't wanting to hide bodies under the floorboards or stare at him while he slept or anything. So much for that idea... As though on cue, the telephone rang suddenly, making him jolt and then groan. Dammit, NO. He'd deleted the damn thread! Had he been placed on some sort of psycho phone tree list or something? He stared at it as it rang, not wanting to pick it up...however, his hand turned traitor on him on the fourth ring and he snatched it off of the desk, placing it to his ear. "H'lo...?" "Hello. I'm...calling about the ad on craigslist? For a roommate? Is this Kendall Kitsune?" "Yeah. Um...I just took that ad down, actually. Because apparantly nobody can read." "Oh." There was a long uncomfortable pause. "So its been filled then?" "No. It hasn't been filled. And its because I don't want to live with any crazy people or people twice my age." Kendall grumbled, hugging the phone with his shoulder as he continued to play his gameboy. "You're eighteen, right? I'm the same. My name is Ronin." "Mnh..." was the non-committal response. Now came the part where he said he was on ten different kinds of medication and wanted to bring his five rottweilers along... "And...sorry, I'm reading off of the ad. I can provide half of the rent and I don't mind buying my own groceries. Am I missing something?" Kendall's ears perked in interest. This guy actually sounded some semblance of normal. "And it'd just be you, right? No kids, no pets..." "No. Just me." "What about video games? Do you like video games??" he asked. This was the big one. "I...once played the Legend of Zelda..." There was a long pause. "....oh god, dude, seriously? You're my age, you can pay half the rent, AND you don't mind video games? Hang on a sec..." Placing his hand over the reciever, he threw his head ceilingward. "Thank you, GAWD...!" he whispered loudly before returning to the phone call. "Anyway, just the Legend of Zelda? Don't worry, I'm bringing my PS2, my X-box, and all my NES systems. We'll get you hooked up." "Sure, why not ? Do you have any game about knights and such ? Saving princesses and so on ?" Kendall blinked, finding this an odd request, but swivelled his computer chair to pull the large tupperware tub of games out from under his desk. "Let's see....I got....MorrowWind where you can be a knight and run around to different villages fighting bandits and doing stuff for people....I got Gauntlet, I got Midevil, I got Fable...." "There are SO MANY games about knights ?" Ronin sounded truly surprised by this on the other end of the line "When can I move in?" "Heh. I've still got to send an application to the Oakridge complex down the street. I didn't want to do it until I had a roommate, but mom already said she'd be a reference and I've got enough in the bank for the first month and a security deposit, so we should be good to go" "Awesome, sounds great. Just one thing....How are you dealing with the prince-...ladies ? You're not one of these guys making them sad, right ? I can't stand seeing this. No dealing with sad women anymore." One of Kendall's ears lopped to the side in confusion. "Um...I've never had a girlfriend if that's what you're asking. Just my twin sister Raven." "Well....I haven't either. Just problems. I can understand the sibling fact though. My older sister is trying to control me, because she wants me to go the 'right way'. She doesn't mean it badly...but...yeah...you know" "Well, don't worry about it." Ken assured Ronin. "It'll just be us, I'm pretty sure. No sad girls, no annoying sisters. And if one of us gets a girlfriend somewhere along the line, its a two bedroom apartment so its not like privacy's gonna be an issue." "Sounds like a deal to me. Now I just need to tell my mother somehow...don't worry, it'll be alright." He gave a slightly nervous laugh that suggested that there was a possibility this might not be so. "So...Kendall, right ?" "Yup. And you're....Ronin? Think I got that right... My mom'll probably be happy to get me out of the house as long as she knows I'm within driving distance." There was a faint scribbling noise on the other end of the connection as the other boy wrote something down. "Yes, very right. Anything else I need to know ?" "Um...can't think of anything. We should probably have a face-to-face meeting or something someplace before we set anything in stone, though. Just to make sure we're cool with each other. We could grab lunch or something." It occurred to Kendall he probably should have said that straight up, but he'd been so elated at the prospect of having a normal roommate, it had slipped his mind. "Would probably be nice. You know, I answered to another ad and there was this guy, who had piercings everywhere and smoked strange stuff when we met....you don't smoke, do you ?" "Nah....no piercings or tattoos either. Mom'd throw a fit. I'm not gonna pay some guy eighty bucks to sit there and stab me with a needle for an hour for something I'm probably going to regret by the time I'm thirty anyway" Ken had enough to worry about without worrying about socking away fifteen hundred dollars to get "JUICY" in scrawling calligraphy script removed from his a**. "You sound sensible. I think we'll get along. Although my sister has tattoos. But since birth, somehow strange. Oh yeah...just so you know, I was born from a teapot." Kendall blinked, taken a bit offguard by the statement before grinning. "That's okay....one of my brothers was born from a leaf, another one materialized out of nowhere one night on mom's bedroom floor. Gaia's weird like that." "You have a leaf sibling too?!" Ronin declared in shock. "Damn it and I thought only my mother was infected with this shop. Alright, now I really know you'll understand me." "Cool! When's a good time for you to meet up?" Kendall asked, grabbing for a piece of paper and a pen just in case. "Whenever you wish, I don't have anything to do lately. How about erm....just pick a date." "How about tomorrow afternoon? That's when I get off of work. Its that GameCrazy store down by the mall...there's an Olive Garden right next door we could go to." He hadn't had Olive Garden in months and it would be a good excuse to see if they still had that all-you-can-eat pasta buffet. There was more scribbling on Ronin's end. "Awesome, I'll be there. I'll get into the gameshop, so I can look at the games you were talking about. Got me interested, really." "Cool. I'll either be the guy with black hair behind the counter, or the guy with black hair on my knees trying to reorganize the display somebody's kid knocked over. Depends on how busy of a day it is. See you there." "Alright, see you. I'll just ask for the guy with the black hair. I'm the one carrying a sword." "Wait, dude, did you say sword?" Too late. The phone had already gone dead in his ear. He looked at the reciever curiously and then shrugged, hanging it up. So he carried a sword, so what? Arkie ran around the house in a kilt and he saw people on the street all the time decked out in full battle gear for no reason whatsoever. It'd be fine, he assured himself.
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:30 am
Dear Diary,
Well, I knew the day was coming for a few months now. Kendall's not just been hinting at it, he's been flat-out SAYING it -- he wants to move out. At the time, I just kind of turned a blind eye to it because I didn't think it was entirely a big deal. You know...one of those "you can talk about it, but its never supposed to actually HAPPEN" things.
Apparantly he's got a prospective roommate now and they're going to meet up tomorrow to make sure everything is kosher. Half of me hopes this Ronin guy is some sort of raving loon and scares Kendall off, but the other half of me hopes it works out.
I'm in a very awkward position as a mother of so many. The prospect of one of them leaving the nest and getting part of my house back makes me want to go dance in the streets, and it also makes me feel like I've made a mistake somehow and that I'm chasing him off. I know, I know its just part of growing up but...
Anyway, I guess its time to get myself used to the idea that he's really leaving and wish him the best. I don't want him remembering me as one of those clingy obnoxious moms who wept into her apron all while he was packing up his stuff.
....hell, I don't even HAVE an apron.
--Karma
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:31 am
Youkochylde "Can I open it?" "NO!" This conversation had been going on (much in that very fashion) for nearly a half hour. Youko was curled up next to the tree, arranging presents and swatting at Kaeru's hands each time the boy tried to make a grab for one of the brightly coloured packages. It wasn't Kaeru he was having this particular argument with, however... it was his daughter. Raven was sitting, crosslegged on the couch with her skirt draped over her knees. In her lap was a small red stocking with her name emblazoned on the side. Youko had dropped by the GMFC to set up appointments for Raven and Omi, and had found it there to be picked up. From the moment he'd brought it home, she'd been poking at the small wrapped present that sat inside it. "Why can't I open it?" she needled, glancing to her father out of the corner of her eye and picking at the wrapping paper with the tip of a fingernail. "It's not like it's HUGE or anything, and you always let up open presents on YULE before. Why the sudden need to make us wait til Christmas, we don't even celebrate it!" Youko frowned then, setting his hands on his hips as his tail took a swipe at the boy who jumped at the first opening. "Normally, we DO. However, I got sick of hearing you gloat to your brother about being able to open your presents earlier than him, so now you get to wait, just like he does." Snorting, Raven slouched back against the couch, poking at the present in her lap. "Not my fault he's a whiner." "He's not a whiner. You would torment him until he was ready to kill you, then you'd call him a tattletale when he ran and told one of us to make you stop. This year, we're not having it." That made the girl roll her eyes as she poked at the gift some more. "Can't I just open this ONE?" she pleaded, looking to him with the Eyes of Doom (TM) that had worked so often in the past. "Come on. It's just ONE. And if you let Kaeru open one too, it'll get him off your back." Youko just sighed, narrowing his eyes. She had a point. "Fine. ONE. That's it." He slid a small gift to Kaeru too, watching the boy let out a whoop of glee. "YES!" Raven nearly shredded the paper, not caring where it flew at the moment, and let out a squeal a moment later. "CEL PHONE!!! I got a cel phone, dad!!" Youko blinked, tilting his head to the side. "But you already have a cellphone. I got..." "Yeah, but this one's COOL!" Raven held it up, grinning from ear to ear as she watched the little cel cord swing back and forth. "I'm gonna call and get my number transferred to this one." "Tomorrow," Youko reminded, glancing up with a smirk. He was, at the moment, supevising the shredding of wrapping paper from the frog toddler on the ground, and trying to hear through the happy screeches of 'HARRY POTTER' that came from the boy. Kaeru's 'early' gift was a three-pack of DVD's with the first three movies all wrapped up. Already, he was hoisting himself up to try and shove the entire case of one into the VCR. "To-sa... movie?" Kaeru frowned as he received a held up index finger, designed to make him wait a moment. He chose that moment, however, to conveniently forget what that symbol meant, and headed for the TV on his own. "What do you mean tomorrow?" Raven asked, her voice bordering on a whine. "It's Christmas Eve, no place will be open today. Just relax, we'll get it turned on Monday, okay?" Scooping up the paper remnants, Youko headed for the kitchen. "Stop your brother before he breaks something." Raven blinked, then looked over to Kaeru who was having a rather amusing time trying to slide the DVD case into the VCR. "NO!" she yelped, getting to her feet and diving after him. She scooped up the toddler under one arm, then with the other hand (thank gods for claws), she cracked open the case and started up the DVD player. "Go sit, I'll get it." "MOVIE!!" Kaeru was grinning from ear to ear and crawled over to the middle of the floor to sit attentively. As the previews started to play, she dropped back onto the couch, smirking wryly. "Dad??" "Yeah?" His voice came from somewhere in the kitchen, where the smell of popcorn filtered through to the livingroom. "What's Kendall's LEAST favourite song?" "You are NOT getting Dancing Queen as your ringtone." Pouting, Raven slouched into the couch again... a moment before a smirk crossed her face. "What you don't know..." she murmured, setting that notation aside for when she got the phone turned on. "I mean it," he said, coming into the livingroom with a bowl of popcorn. "He nearly KILLED you for ruining his Lemon-whatever disc." "Lemon Demon," she corrected, looking up at him. "And I didn't ruin it. I burned a CD with Dragostea din Tea on eternal repeat and printed a label to make it LOOK like his Lemon Demon CD." The fox raised a brow, setting the bowl down. "And then put it in his car to drive him insane." Shrugging, she just grinned. "He'll get it back eventually. Besides, he'll love me after Christmas." "Oh?" He was about to take a handful of the popcorn when a long tongue shot out and scooped up a mouthful. "KAERU!" The frog looked at him, smiling as he chewed. "Pah-cone..." he murmured, nearly spilling half the kernels out of his mouth. Raven stuck out her tongue, shoving the bowl towards Kaeru with her foot. "He can have it. And yeah. I got him an Xbox 360 on reserve. The store won't have it til after the first of the year, but I'm giving him the reserve coupon in an envelope for Christmas." Youko just turned and stared at her then, blinking. "How the hell could you afford that??" Smiling, she pointed to her purse. "I got one of those credit card applications in the mail and filled it out. I'm now the proud owner of a Visa card." Sighing, Youko plunked himself down on the seat next to her. "You'd better be careful... my credit's already screwed because of those things." "It's alright. I've got it figured out." She picked up her purse, dragging it to her and pulled out her wallet. "With the job at the store, I get paychecks every week deposited into a checking account. Every two weeks, $100 gets yanked out and put into a savings account. Out of that, I pay the credit card off and give Ken gas money for driving me to and from work." Sighing, Youko drooped faintly. When the hell had his kids grown up? "Just be careful..." he murmured, watching her intently. Thank gods, she hadn't started making noise about moving out. Yet. Kendall was already talking to Karma about it, he'd heard that much. Soon, Omi and Raven would likely do the same. He wasn't sure if he was ready for this just yet...  Thank you, Arafel!
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:32 am
Youkochylde It was easy enough to deliver the card. All Raven had to do was cross the yard and knock on the door before letting herself in. The card was held in her hand and she slipped past Talon as he glared towards a... cage?... that was sitting on the kitchen counter. She wasn't going to ask. The envelope was set on top of a box under the tree that had Kendall's name on it. Inside, was a simple Christmas card, with a piece of paper stuck into it. The paper had a photo glued to it, and was written on with Raven's distinctive handwriting. Quote: Dear Kendall, No, this isn't going to explode. See this? -->  It's not a gag, it's not a joke, and you can pick it up with the reservation receipt that's stuck behind the card in the envelope. You didn't throw away the envelope did you? Merry Christmas, dork. Even though I probably won't see you til NEXT Christmas after you get this. Raven
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:34 am
Youkochylde Dear Diary Christmas was good this year. Raven has vanished to her room with nearly everything she got, and I doubt I'll see her again for quite some time. She got a PSP, some games for it, and I paid up her EverQuest account for a year. To say that she was excited is an understatement. I was surprised by her this year... I think my baby's finally growing up. She broke the news to me that she got herself a credit card. I just hope that she doesn't screw herself over the way I did with one. Still she used it to get Envy and I a set of crystal wineglasses with our names etched on them, and got her brother an Xbox. Shopping for Nozomi was relatively easy... she's not into the computer games and such like Raven is, so I got her a book on Japanese mythology, some new clothes and just gave her cash to use however she wants. Again, I doubt I'll see her for a while... she took off this morning soon after waking up. She'll probably come back with an armload of stuff. Kaeru was the easiest to buy for... and he made out like a bandit. A box of Legos, new movies, new clothes, a big box of Magnetix, and numerous toys and treats. He passed out cold in the wrapping paper before noon, one arm wrapped firmly around the plushie frog that he'd gotten in his stocking. When he woke again, the first thing he did was roll over and start taking stock of his toys again. I think he was afraid his sisters would take his things. All in all... a good holiday. I'm exhausted. Now that all three of them have stuff to keep them occupied for a few days, I'm seriously considering a NAP. Youkochylde
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:35 am
Youkochylde A Meeting with DamienDamien walks through the strip mall, looking in the windows. He has a few packages, filled with stuff for his mums, Rhiannon, Tinania, and something for Surion. Nothing he has seen has cought his eye, at least as far as something for himself goes. He stops in front of a strange little shop. Smiling slightly at the trinkets in the window, he steps inside, pushing a bit of his long bangs out of his face. The shop seems empty at first, until a slight scuffling sound comes from the back and a lilting voice rings out from somewhere in the vicinity of the storage room. "Welcome to Heaven and Nature! I'll be right with you!" Another scuffle and a thud later, and the voice wasn't so lilting anymore. It was softly cursing under whispered breath. By the time Raven had manhandled the box into her arms and gotten it to the doorway, she was doing much better and wound her way through the shop with her tail lending balance behind her. Damien's eyebrows wing up at the cursing. He watches the girl walk around with the box, and takes a step forward. "I'm sorry, but can I help you with that?" he asks, keeping his voice level. He is trying not to seem sexist in any way, and trying to keep the humor out of his voice as well. Pointed ears pricked up on the other side of the box and Raven leaned a bit to the side, peeking around it with a grin. "I think I've got it now... it's just the matter of getting it off the top shelf that makes life interesting. Thank you for offering, though!" She managed to get to the front counter, setting the box down and turning back to Damien. Almost inadvertantly, she found herself brushing a hand down the white peasant top and long purple skirt that she wore... she WAS a teenager after all, and this was someone new. That, and he wasn't half bad on the eyes. "Can I help you find anything in specific or would you just like to browse around for a bit? We just got in a new shipment yesterday, so I apologize if things are a bit of a mess in the book section." She smiled sheepishly then, the foxcoon's ears tilting back just a bit as she spoke. Damien's notes the smoothing of her shirt, and hides a smile. "Actually," he starts, "The shop just caught my interest. I thought perhaps there might be some things here that I had never seen before," he shrugs a little, and shifts his hands behind his back where they clasp, despite the bags. His own, pointed ears seem to twitch a little, and he looks up at the girl. "You have books, then?" obviously, books are far more interesting to him than any of the trinkets in the store. "What sort of books . . . ?" he trails off, hoping to leave the impression that he is asking her name. Perking up again, Raven stepped out from behind the counter, motioning him to follow. "Quite a diversity of subjects, really. Books on religions, tarot, crystals, runes... we have a pretty good selection about 'witchcraft'." As she said that, her fingers came up to make a 'quotes' mark along with the word. "Books on angels, ghosts, paranormal happenings, psionics. Pretty much everything that makes little old ladies clutch their hearts and scream 'heresy'." The shop wasn't that 'wide', but it was deep set in the building. Moving through it was an amusing set of twists and turns around shelves and displays that held jewellery, pendulums, tarot decks, figurines and racks of clothing that made one realise that Raven did most of her clothes shopping on employee discount. Damien follows her, toying with the wand he, now, keeps in a sort of sheath at the small of his back, under his long tunics. "Witchcraft, huh?" he asks. "I have an extensive collection of books on the subject at home," he offers. And, because it is obvious that she is not going to give him her name, he just lets it slide at this point. "I am afraid I am unfamiliar with what some of the subjects you listed are," he admits. "Like tarot, and crystals. . . ." he tilts his head to the side when he sees the books. Every one of them, he wants to pick up and read. But, he holds that urge at bay. "Really?" Raven grinned to him when he mentioned his own collection, her intrique lifting just a bit. "We don't have a whole lot... mainstream stuff, mostly, or what the 'neo-pagans' refer to as gospel." To keep herself from looking like an idiot and fidgeting, she reached up to slide a few out of place books back against the shelf. "I'd love to see what the real ones are like..." The girl blinked then, turning to Damien as if she suddenly realised something. "I'm sorry, I don't know your name. I'm Raven, by the way... sorry for being rude." Her own personal favourite was in the list of things he was unfamiliar with, and she leapt on that as a means to continue the conversation. "I've looked into the tarot quite a bit... some of it seems unreal, but I've also seen my father read tarot cards and he's just SCARY with how accurate he can be." Damien nods, listening to Raven. "Really? How do you read these. . . . tarot cards?" his curiosity is fueled greatly by the little hint Raven gave him. He almost forgets his own manners. Almost. "Ah, forgive me," he says, smiling again. He holds out his scaled hand, and says, "I am Damien." Raven took his hand graciously, noting the scales and marvelling at them for a moment. One would almost think they were scratchy or rough, from the look of them... but they felt just as smooth as the normal skin she felt. Then again, she had a bit of difference in her touch-sense than most... it came from having velvet-fine fur over her entire body. She was just very glad that it at least LOOKED like skin, for the most part. From a distance, anyway. "It's good to meet you, Damien," she answered, then went back to the subject at hand. "I can show you if you like?" she asked, motioning to a small, empty table against one wall with two chairs on either side. "I'm not that good at it though, fair warning. But I can show you the basics." "It's good to meet you, as well, Raven," he says, noting, himself, the fur. Of course, none of this bothers him. One of his mums is a vampire, and his sister is a big. . . well, snake. He nods. "Sure, I would like to see a reading," he says, smiling again. He motions with a hand for her to go first toward the table. Raven nodded to him politely, smiling as she brushed past him and reached into a pouch that she had hanging on the sash-like belt around her waist. "When I started showing an interest, my father bought me these," she explained as she moved to sit in one of the chairs. "He taught me quite a bit that I didn't find out int he books, for instance. Like the superstitions." She snickered then, shuffling the deck idly as she glanced up to Damien. "Different people believe different things. My father believes that in order for a deck to 'work', you can't have bought it for yourself, it needs to be a gift. Other people believe that if someone else touches their cards, they'll be 'tainted' somehow and not work. Others believe that the more you keep your cards with you, the better 'tuned' they'll be... to the point that they sleep with their cards in their pillowcases." Damien listens, and lifts a brow at the surperstitions. "Really?" he asks, and covers his mouth to hide his smile. "Do you believe in any of them? Because, if you do, I promise not to touch your cards, then," he says, in a serious tone as his face falls into one of seriousness. The twinkle in his eye might give it away, though, the light, teasing twinkle. He only hopes he doesn't offend Raven with what he is doing. She glanced to him, then nearly let out a snort of laughter with how quickly she collapsed into giggles. "I don't care if you touch them," she replied, still snickering slightly. "I just laugh my tail off when I see these people come in and act like they're going into a trance just to pick a deck of cards, or a crystal. It's hilarious." She set the deck on the table then, offering it to him for inspection. "If you want to learn to read them, or try to, I'd recommend looking through the 'demo' decks that we have out near the packaged ones. That way, you can find a deck that you understand. Some people can read perfectly with one deck and can barely understand another, just because the pictures are different." Damien chuckles as she tells him about the people that come in. Usually, he might think it rude to talk about other behind their backs, but he can't help it. He decides he likes Raven. "I'll do that," he says, nodding. "Who knows? I might have a knack for it?" Right now, though, he is anxiously awaiting what these cards might have to say about him. . . . "Never know til you try?" Raven grinned, motioning to the deck. "Go ahead and cut the deck... then flip over the top card." Damien nods, and does as he is instructed. He then folds his hands in his lap, waiting for the next intructions, if any. Raven looked at the card, smiling faintly as she held it towards him to see. "The fool," she began, wondering if he would take hte same 'offense' to it as others seemed to. "It's not a bad card, nor is it what the name implies," she explained. "The fool is someone who looks forward in life without looking back... and sometimes is known to tell people to leave him alone to do his own thing. It's someone who can take advice and ideas from others, and still have the confidence in himself to make his own decisions." Good card... she murmured to herself, watching for Damien's reply. "Does that sound like you? Because if it does, then you've just picked out your signifier card... which is the card the deck will use to represent you in the reading." Damien blinks, then frowns in concentration as he listens to Raven. "Well, it sounds quite a bit like me," he says, thoughtfully. "I suppose it's spot on on most of it." He smiles up at Raven. Smiling, Raven nodded and shuffled the cards, leaving the original one on the table. "Fair warning... I"m not expecting to be right with this. I've only been reading them for about a month, give or take. I've seen some people be spot-on with their readings, however. I'm hoping to get that good someday." Once she was done, she started to lay out the cards, one over the Fool card... another crossing it. Then four more in a cross formation around that. The last four cards were laid in a row alongside, all face-down. To be honest, she wasn't really concentrating on the reading in the slightest. It wasn't often that strangers came into the shop... normally, the clientele was a select few that came in and out continually to replenish their stocks of incense, or to get new books. "It's alright," Damien smiles, watching her lay out the cards with concentration. "I am kind of hoping you aren't completely spot-on," he admits, giving Raven a genuine smile. "Oh?" she asked, smirking wryly as she glanced to him. "Something to hide?" Raven was toying with him... to be honest, she wouldn't know what to do if she couldn't tease someone during the day. She was just hoping he didn't take offense to the playful jesting. Damien chuckles, and holds up his hands. "Everyone has something to hide, don't you agree?" he asks. Well, it is one way to politely answer the question without really answering. "Readily agree," she answered, grinning from ear to pointed ear as she turned over the first card. "Okay. This card represents you in relationship to your current situation..." The card overturned revealed four wands. "Happiness and peace are now within your grasp. Your past endeavors bring a well-earned rest from the cares. A new love is now possible. Success may give you reason to celebrate." Raven nearly blushed crimson as she came to the end of the card's description... she'd gotten so used to just blurting out the meanings, she hadn't stopped to actually THINK about it. It was a good thing the fur on her cheeks covered most of the flush. "Moving on," she said, clearing her throat faintly. "In the cross position, the Knight of Pentacles. The cross means that this represents positive forces or assets in your favour. The card itself is an active stance on finances... instead of sitting idly by and waiting for things to happen, you'll be making an effort to change your financial standing." Damien nods. "Makes a bit of sense," he says, softly. He glances up at Raven. If he saw the faint blush, he does not comment on it. He is fairly used to blushes, as he, more often than not, blushes as well. Nice recovery, she whispered to herself, sighing in a bit of relief that she hadn't made an idiot of herself. "Next is the page of swords... he represents an impulsive desire for new experiances... but it can cause problems. Make sure you take notice of warning signs around you. Then we've got the nine of wands... a reprieve from difficulty, and a much needed break from things that have been bothering you. You need to carefuly plan your next steps." Damien leans furhter onto the table, and looks closely at the cards. He nods, though the page of swords doesn't sound a bit like something he would do in the slightest. He smiles a little over that thought. Raven couldn't help but watch him for a moment. He was so intent on the cards, he likely wouldn't notice her watching him just a BIT... Still, she couldn't just sit here and do that all day. Flipping over the next card, she continued. "Queen of Pentacles... a feminine influence who is good with finances, but may be critical and demanding... she's factoring greatly in current situations. Then there is the nine of cups..." She blinked then, glancing up to the other nine that had appeared. "Good cards... here's hoping I'm not too far off. The nine of cups represents success, accomplishment and satisfaction in your emotional aspects." "Well, my future looks bright, doesn't it?" Damien says, cheerfully. He leans back in the chair again. "At least you haven't predicted my death in a violent and painful manner." He grins over at Raven. "It was interesting. At least you made me want to buy a book, and a deck of cards," he says, the grin still on his face. "Really?" Raven brightened a bit at that, as she put the cards back in their bag. "I figure, it's a good way to amuse myself, even if I don't get very good at it." She looked to him again sheepishly, shrugging just a bit. "I just hope I didn't mangle it too badly." She couldn't help but chuckle at the death comment, shaking her head. "Nah. I don't think I COULD give someone a bad reading like that, even if it came up. Most of the people that come in here for readings really don't care what it is, so long as it tells them that they're meant for greatness. Usually, it's just the high school crowd when they get bored and want to so something 'controversial'." "Sounds rather. . . . dull," Damiren says, though he has not had much contact with the high school crowd. "But, I think I can understand where you are coming from. I don't think I could tell someone that I see their death in the cards, and have them walking around as though they are doomed. Especially if I thought I was wrong," he chuckles a little, even if it is a macabre subject. "So, other than the dull high school crowd, how is it working here? I am, actually, looking to find a job somewhere. . . ." it is his turn to smile sheepishly. He hasn't even told his mums that he is thinking about getting a job somewhere, yet. "Other than the nitwits that just come in here to freak out their parents, it's pretty cool." Raven grinned, resting her elbows ont he table and her chin in her palms. "It's quiet... it lets me keep up on my school work, and it gives me extra money in my pocket." She made a motion then to her clothing and grinned. "The employee discount is good, too. I like the clothes we get in, and the jewellery... and I think I have most of the bookshelf contents at home." The dual-coloured eyes lit up at that. "Definitely... so long as it's not a romance novel or a western, I'll read it. Whenever I get bored in here, I camp out in these chairs here and read. So long as I don't ignore customers, the owner's fine with that. If you want, I can see if she's hiring, when I talk to her on Friday?" Well, it was worth a shot anyway. She wasn't sure if the place was busy enough to warrant having more than one person working at a time... but it'd definitely be interesting to work with him. "It sounds like an ideal place to work," Damien says. Then, he nods. "Sure, if you don't feel umcomfortable about it," he says,another smile on his lips. "If I don't find anything, though, I am pretty sure Mum Lenore would let me work in her shop until I found something different," he shrugs at that. He sighs, and goes back to the subject of books. "I am the same way. Why would I want to read a romance? It seems a bit. . . . cheesy to me. And westerns? Too many macho-men running around trying to shoot outlaws, or the like. Give me a good fantasy, or my study books, any old day." "Why would I feel uncomfortable about it?" Raven asked, blinking at him. Hell NO, she wouldn't mind in the slightest! She would have retorted a bit more, but the mention of books drew her attention away again. "Ah yes Fantasy... the bane of my existance." She chuckled then, shaking her head. "I have all of the Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey, as well as her SERRA-ted Edge novels... and all of Katherine Kurtz's Dryni Chronicles. I'm starting to collect the Pern books by Anne McCaffrey... my father says I'm going to read him out of house and home." Damien chuckles, recognizing some of the titles as books that he has yet to reach in the vast library in the study. "I guess I was born lucky," he starts. "My mums are really big on reading, so our study walls are just one big bookshelf. Not one inch of them is wasted, let me tell you. We even have some stacked in the corners, and hidden off in a closet in the hall," he smiles, happily. "Well, I was just saying, it might be uncomfortable for you to have some strange boy that you have yet to meet perhaps work with you," he shrugs. "Now that I say that, I suppose it sounds stupid. You are meeting strange people all day," he says, smiling again. He then moves a chunk of his loose hair out of his face, and steeples his hands, resting his chin there. "So, what do you study here while you are working?" "From the shelves?" Raven turned slightly to look towards the books. "Religions, mainly. I think it's amazing how many different ones are in the world, and how alike they all really are at the core. Otherwise, it's mainly just my school work... I'm getting slogged down with homework this year, and study hall just isn't cutting it. I wind up still having a couple hours worth, usually, but it's all done by the time I get home from here." She smiled then, tapping her fingers against her cheek idly. "I swear, I'm going to take about a year off between high school and college, just so that I don't burn myself out." Looking to him again, she tilted her head to the side. "What about you? Are you in school? Here I've been jabbering on about me and I know very little about you." Damien smiles, rather sheepishly, again. "Well, I am home-schooled. There really isn't a proper school for my . . . erm . . . talents?" he says. "I get taught the basics, you know; math, english, history, and all of that. But, a good chunk of my, erm, school day is taken with the other stuff." Rather vague? Yes. It might seem odd of him to be shy talking about magic in front of a girl who works at a New-Age shop, but he is wary sometimes. "What other stuff?" Raven asked, now completely focused on him. There was one thing that intrigued this little foxcoon more than anything... something she didn't know. The vague hints had now piqued her curiosity and she wasn't about to let go of the subject until it was answered. "Well . . . ah, I hope you believe me," Damien replies, the sheepish smile still on his lips. "Some people, I am told, don't believe in it. But . . . I am a . . . wizard," he says the last softly, and quickly. "And, Mum Eirnae is teaching me elven magic, as well as Mum Lenore's spells and wand-work lessons." His hands fidget in front of him. Raven's eyes were wide as he explained, and her tail was twitching behind her as she grew more and more intrigued. "Seriously?" she asked, the word coming out as barely more than a whisper. A moment later, she seemed to realise how silly she looked and just smiled. "Well, if I was a normal person, I'd likely just laugh it off. But you see..." She started ticking off a few things on her fingers. "My mother is a fox/racoon anthro... my father is half demon... my sister is a Fa'e with wings and a gender complex, and my little brother is a talking frog. My brother and I have ears and a tail... and that's not even mentioning the wierd stuff over at HIS house, where he lives with mom." Damien chuckles. "Your family sounds every bit as . . . diverse. . . . as mine. Two of my sisters happen to be Fa'e, as well," he admits. "I don't know if your sister would know them or not," he adds. Then, he lets out a relieved sigh. "Well, I am glad that you don't think me a loon," he says, pushing his long hair back behind his shoulders. He touches his wand resting at the small of his back, to make sure he hasn't lost it in the time that he has been here. "So, your father is half demon, eh? That sounds interesting. . . ." "He doesn't act it," Raven snickered, shaking her head. "I mean, he doesn't even really LOOK it, either. He's half kitsune... fox spirit. My grandmother's a riot, she's a full kitsune and pretty much takes over the house when she comes over." Raven blinked then, as if realising something and it had just made contact in her head. "Wait... Eirnae? And Lenore? You're KIDDING me..." Leaning back in the chair, Raven started laughing, taking a few minutes to compose herself before trying to speak through the giggles. "I still have the fox plushies they gave Kendall and I when we were born... and the basket they came in. Dad said I could keep it as long as it NEVER leaves my room. Apparently, it was charmed to speak when he stumbled across it and it scared the HELL out of him." Damien blinks. "Well, it certainly sounds like something they would do when they are in one of their moods," he chuckles. "I will be sure to tell them about you having the plushie. . . and the effect this basket had on your father," he has to chuckle. A grown man, half-demon, being scared of a talking basket? Yeah, that's funny stuff. Then, he taps his chin. "Kendall. . . . he sounds very familiar. . . . Did he go to Somonen for a little bit?" he asks. Nodding, Raven smiled. "Yup. We both did. Well, DO. We're still in classes there although we're not living on campus anymore. Kendall still has that scroll thing he got when we first started. I think he's waiting for it to do tricks." "How did I never run into you?" Damien asks."I remember your brother, vaguely. . . ." he admits."I think we might have met, or I overheard someone else speaking to him," his smile falters a little, and taps his ears a little. "My hearing is too good, sometimes. I am no eavesdropper." "I didn't like the idea of boarding there, to be honest," Damien sighs. "It would have been character building, no doubt. But, I am far too close to my sister, Nyoka. She lives in Greece, and when she can come 'round, it is to the manor, so I would miss it." Nodding, Raven understood VERY well. "I hated being away from home. Kendall said I was being a puss, but he moved back home too, so that's not exactly an insult." One claw traced idle circles on the table as she smiled almost wistfully. "I like living at home. I meant it's more than the fact that there's always food and the rent's cheap. I think I'd go nuts if I was in a house that didn't have the rest of them in it." Damien nods. "Or, you know, if you were too far away to visit often," he adds. "It might ound, to others, like we are . . . . erm . . . 'pusses'," he pauses. "But, when you have a foundation built around these people, all of them family, or very near it, it is just hard to drop everything and leave it." He coughs, and waves it away with a scaled hand. "Ah, now we have touched on another subject very near to my heart," he chuckles a little. "What sort of hobbies are you into?" That's Damien, ever the curious boy. She was still fascinated by the scales, especially after the faint brush against them when she'd shaken his hand. Still, she snapped out of that fascination for the moment and turned to the question at hand. "Hobbies... well, I'm a computer geek." She paused after that, glancing to him as if expecting him to start laughing the way Kendall did. "I build them, mainly... or rebuild them. I think I'm the on-call tech crew for most of my friends. I'm addicted to a couple of computer games as well. Other than that, I read... or draw. Between school and work, that's about all the hobbies I have time for." "Ah," Damien smiles faintly. "I am not too familiar with computers," he says. "The magic around the manor, sometimes it can mess with the electronics we do have in the house. Mum Lenore has a computer, though." He leans back in the chair, and crosses his arms over his chest. He studies Raven a moment. "Well, from what I understand, it takes considerable skill to build, or even re-buld, computers." Obviously, he is not going to laugh, he is more interested in the idea of building the computers than amused. Of course, he is a geek of sorts himself. "What sort of computer games are you addicted to?" Now it was time for her to get fidgety. She'd had to deal with being the 'Crackmonger' from Kendall for way too long, apparently. "EverQuest is my main one," she admitted. "And Sims2... and Maple Story. Two of them are online games, and I've made quite a few friends on there. Dad said that so long as I don't wind up believing anyone that tells me they're 18 and look like Brad Pitt, he's fine with it." She smirked then, glancing up to him. "I have heard of those games," he says, thoughtfully. Then, he has to chuckle. "I think that is one reason I never got interested in online things. It can be dangerous, if you lose your head," he says. He notes her fidgeting, and his brow furrows. "Have I said something wrong?" he asks. Shaking her head, she let her ears drop slightly as she nervously tucked a lock of hair back. "No... I just get crap from my brother about playing computer games. Not like HE has room to talk," she snorted, rolling her eyes. "He's a video game freak, and spends most of his time with a controller in one hand and wondering why both thumbs have callouses." Damien smiles slightly. "Well, they wouldn't be siblings if they didn't make your life miserable every once in a while," he says. "That's my experience, anyway. But, you can't live without the buggers," he shrugs. He looks down at the watch that his sister insists that he wears, and frowns. "Oh dear," he says, and starts to stand. "I am afraid I have to get back soon." He frowns at Raven. "I barely have time to get that book and the deck of tarot cards I was wanting to buy," sighing, he manages a smile. "Time flies when one is in good company," he says, chuckling. "Especially since Kendall's my twin. He lords that minute and a half over me constantly." As Damien made mention of hte time, Raven's eyes went wide and she glanced to the block on the far wall. "Gods, I've been sitting here this long? I've still got to get all those new necklaces and earrings hung up before we close." She gave Damien an apologetic look as she got to her feet, pushing the chair in. "You pick out your deck... there's the shelf of them over there, as well as opened ones that you can look through to see which one appeals to you most. I'll be up at the front counter when you're ready, okay?" Damien nods, and feels a stab of guilt over keeping her from her duties. And, he voices that, "I am sorry for keeping you so long," he says, smiling slightly again. "Alright, I will check out in a moment," he says, and hurries on long legs toward the bookshelf. He grabs a few of the books on tarot books, glancing at the titles to see if they seem to be what he needs. Then, he quickly scans the decks. He choses one that he thinks he will be able to learn from, and goes to pay. When that is all taken care of, he holds out his hand again. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Raven," he says, inclining his head a little. "I hope we meet again." "I hope we do as well," Raven said, smiling to him as she held out her hand to take his again. She was fighting to keep herself from grinning... who'd have thought someone like this would come into her shop? She handed him the bag with the books and deck in it... after slipping in a business card from the shop as well. Just in case he had any questions, of course. The fact that her cel phone number was written on the back was just an extra precaution. She was pretty sure she'd kick herself for being so blatant after he'd left... but at the time, it seemed like the right idea. Damien grins, and nods. "Thanks for you help. And, I hope you don't stay too late. . . ." With a wave, he leaves the shop. Raven kept herself still until he'd left the shop and disappeared away from the window. She nearly leaned OVER the counter to make sure he was out of sight and hearing range before letting out a SQUEAL and nearly bouncing in place where she was standing. A moment later, she was clearing her throat and smoothing her skirt as if the momentary lapse into teenage girl-ism had never happened, and had started to unpack the box waiting for her on the counter.
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:37 am
Youkochylde There was one thing to be said for working at a place like a New Age shop... no one cared if you wore shoes or not. Raven was the only one working at the moment, the foxcoon padding around in bare feet with a soft jingle of chimes each time she took a step, thanks to the belled anklets she wore. She had a matching set on her wrists, the chiming seeming to suit her as she moved to make sure everything was put away in the book section, all the jewellery was hung up, and that the shop was considered 'neat'. The clothes she wore were new... bought that day, in fact, with the paycheck she'd just cashed. A simple halter-type top that tied behind her neck, and a long flowing skirt that had beads and embroidery here and there. The colours were bright... yellows and oranges... and set off the drab greys of the girl's fur nicely. Her father would likely kill her for spending the money on them... but it WAS her paycheck, and she'd paid off her cell phone bill already this month, as well as giving Kendall gas money. So in her eyes... all was good. Rhiannon hummed as she walked, booted feet making slight tapping noises as she walked down the mall. Her ears flickered at the tinny music playing over the speakers, and she walked over to a clothes store front, peering in at the display. She chuckled at the lacies on show, pondering whether to buy anything, but decided against it. She carried on walking, strolling straight past the New Age store at first, and then backing up. It was place Damien would definately like; maybe she could get him something whilst she was here? Raven, by this point, had turned up the stereo behidn the counter so that she could hear it as she worked, and was finding the soft chiming music to be VERY relaxing. She'd have to get this CD as well, before she left work for the day. She loved working here... it was the perfect place for her, really, and she was thankful she'd gotten it. As she paced towards the front window display, she saw the other girl outside. Waving with a smile, she reached into the window display and moved around a few of the necklaces to make way for a rack of bracelets they'd just gotten in. Rhiannon blinked at the girl who had waved at her; something in her memory waved back and she realised that there was every possibility she'd met this girl before. She pushed open the door, walking in and looking around. She didnt really recognise alot of the stuff on the shelves...which meant she'd probably find something perfect for Damien. She looked at the teen, a darting glance taking in the ears poking up through her hair. 'Hello,' she said, her own ears flicking at the music that was filtering around the shop. Sort of gentle, chiming tune. "Hi there!" Raven replied, grinning as she arranged the front display. "Welcome to Heaven and Nature... feel free to browse around to your heart's content." Something was picking at the back of her mind... she knew this girl from somewhere, she was sure. But where? 'Thanks,' Rhiannon nodded. 'I have to confess I've not ever been in a shop like this before...' she raised an eyebrow at the girl. 'You know you look kinda familiar,' she said as she glanced at a display of crystal set jewellery. "I was just thinking the same thing about you," Raven replied, brushing off her hands as she moved around to the counter again, setting aside the box that the bracelets had been in to be thrown away later. "Then again, I've been meeting a lot of familiar people lately." Leaning on the counter, she rested her chin in one palm, her tail swishing behind her in time with the soothing music. "Do you go to the GMFC? That seems to be where I'm meeting people from lately." Rhiannon turned, moving closer to the counter and regarding her thoughtfully before snapping two fingers; 'I remember now,' she nodded. 'Yes it was at the clinic, we were both pretty young. You have a brother dont you? You were clambering all over your father,' she smiled, amazed she had recalled that time. 'I think I was only just walking or something then. But I do have that memory of you.' Grinning, Raven nodded. "Yup, that's us. I'm Raven... my twin is Kendall. Gods, I seem to be running into everyone from there in HERE lately. There was a boy here just yesterday that I was talking to... turns out his mothers know my father and gave us a bunch of stuff when we were little. Small world." 'Hello again then Raven,' she smiled. 'I'm Rhiannon,' she tilted her head to one side, her tail flicking behind her. She chuckled; 'Oh who was it?' she was curious to know, after all she couldnt see Damien doing a whole load of shopping, and she hadnt seen the other guys she knew for quite a while and had wondered if they were still in the area. "His name was Damien," Raven replied, smiling a bit despite herself. "Gods, he's cute... I think I made an idiot of myself though." She had to flush slightly when she remembered the phone number she'd scrawled on the back of the business card she'd slipped into the bag. Stupid, stupid move... but if it panned out, she'd get over the embarrassment. Rhiannon did a doubletake but strove to keep her expression calm. 'Oh Damien huh?' she nodded. 'Well it had occurred to me that he might have come in here. This stuff is kind of his thing. He is cute isnt he?' she smiled, despite the whirling thoughts in her mind. Did Damien think this girl was cute in return? Well she could see that...the girl was blushing a little now! Calm down, she said to herself firmly. Nodding, Raven glanced towards the bookshelves in the back. "He seemed really interested in the books... and bought a set of tarot cards after I did a reading for him." Her fingers were drumming nervously against the countertop... she wasn't sure just WHY she got this way when she thought about him, but couldn't help herself. "He seems really sweet.... a hell of a lot better than most of the guys I've met. I dunno... I think I did something stupid, but I guess it's too late to worry about it now." 'Yes he would have been very interested in the books,' Rhiannon said, surprising herself more then anything at how calm she was being. 'He is such a bookworm,' and she chuckled, remembering their last trip into a bookstore. 'Did he have a good reading then?' she inquired, trying to sound casual. 'Something stupid..Oh I'm sure you didnt,' she said. "You know him then?" Raven asked, ears perking up a bit. "It was an okay reading... I'm not that good at it yet though, so I'm not going to say if it was right or not. I'm still learning." She smiled a bit sheepishly, glancing back to Rhiannon. "And yes... something stupid. When he left, I slipped a business card into the bag with his books... with my cel number on the back." She curled up to sit on the stool behind the counter then, sighing as she let one claw scratch at the glass surface of the counter then. "I feel like a moron. I mean, I don't even know if he likes me or not... or if he's got a girlfriend or anything." Here's hoping he doesn't, her mind supplied readily on its own. "I'm going to feel like a twit if I find out he's taken... or gay... or something." Rhiannon nodded, listening to Raven talk, and then let out a little sigh; 'I should tell you that Damien is with someone,' she said gently. 'But you aren't a moron for wanting to take a risk in getting to know people.' Rhiannon wasnt sure why she didnt come right out and tell Raven exactly who she was to Damien, but the thing was Raven seemed nice. And Rhiannon didnt think of herself as that much of a b***h to be mean. The foxcoon's ears drooped slightly and she made an attempt at a little laugh. "Eh, figures. Oh well... maybe I can still be his friend or something. He's nice... that should have been my first clue." She gave Rhiannon a wry look then, one brow raised. "ALL the good ones are taken, I swear." At least she found out NOW, instead of making a bigger idiot of herself when/if Damien called. Now, she could keep things on a friendship basis only. IF he called, that is. 'Damien is nice,' she nodded affirmatively to that. 'Believe me I felt like that as well at one point..you'll find someone. The important thing is to meet people,' she smiled. 'And I'm sure Damien would be your friend, you have shared interests after all.' Rhiannon just hoped Raven wouldnt pry into how she knew so much about Damien. Well, there was one thing to be said about Raven. There were times when she was sharp as a tack at picking up on things. But when she was nervous, her alertness seemed to drop by about half. She didnt' even think about how Rhiannon knew so much, just assumed that she was another of Damien's friends. "Thanks for letting me know," she said, recovering her dignity at least a bit. "Now I won't make a bigger fool of myself when and if I see him again. The last thing I need is a jealous girlfriend wanting to beat my a** for horning in on her man." Rhiannon flushed a bright red at that; 'Umm I guess not.' she shuffled her feet, looking around the store. 'So tarot readings huh? Will you give me a reading?' Raven brightened up at that, nodding. "Sure! Just gimme a minute to clear off the table back there. Come on." She motioned the girl to follow her, leading her into the bookshelf area, where a small table was set against the wall with two comfortable chairs. Normally, the table was clear, but at the moment, it had a few stacks of books on it that she still needed to put away. "I can't wait til we move to the new store," she murmured, hefting the books over to the shelves. "There'll be a lot more room... it's an old two-story house with a HUGE open room as the second floor loft. We're going to start having dance classes, music lessons, drum circles... all kinds of things." Rhiannon nodded, following Raven, smiling at the jingling noise she made when she moved. 'That's okay...it isnt like I actually thought it was too small or something. I kind of like it.' she smiled. 'Sounds like fun, you like working here then?' Rhiannon had a job herself, but lately the delivering fast food on rollerskates thing was losing its novelty. "Gods, I love it," she said, grinning as she pulled out the bag with her cards in it. "I can wear clothes that I like, I can walk around barefoot..." She held up one shoe-less foot as a demonstration. "I get to listen to soothing music, and the employee discounts make my YEAR." She had gotten REALLY lucky with this job, and now was much happier than she'd been while job hunting. "Alicia's great to work for. She's an older lady, but she usually only runs the shop in the mornings. I come in in the evenings and close up. It's just the two of us, really. We're closed Sundays and Mondays, so we both get two days off. I like it a lot." 'You're lucky then,' Rhiannon said, taking a seat. 'I'm get a discount where I work but if I took full advantage of it I would be the size of a house by now,' she chuckled a little. 'I work at this themed roller restaurant,' she explained. "Oooohhhh... that sounds interesting though." Raven snickered, patting her own flat tummy. "Trust me, I love food too much. If I didn't keep a serious eye on what I ate, I'd be a house by now too." She started to lay out the cards then, flipping them over in turn and explaining each as she went. 'Yes..' Interesting was a way of describing the job where she got to wear a short skirted uniform in pinks and yellow. 'Well I'm not a picky eater,' Rhiannon said, watching her lay out the cards. 'I'm not one of those girls that's always dieting. The food is just, well its all grease and such.' "I'm not really dieting," Raven said, nodding. "I hate diets. I just look at the AMOUNT of food that I'm eating and figure out if I could fee another whole person with it. If I can, then I don't take all of it." She snickered a bit then, glancing up at the girl. "I'm a sucker for good food... and my dad cooks the most AMAZING things. It tastes so good, you don't want to stop eating, then you wind up feeling like a blimp afterward." Rhiannon laughed; 'That's an interesting way of stopping yourself from eating too much.' At the mention of of her father though Rhiannon fell quiet...she hadnt seen her own father for months, let alone had anything he might have cooked. Raven paused then, ears drooping a bit. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" she asked, tilting her head to the side a bit. Now that the nervousness had fled, she was back to her normal perceptive self. 'It wasnt you, you're lucky to have a dad around that cooks for you,' she said softly. Rhiannon motioned to the cards. 'Please, dont worry about it, and do your thing.' she managed a smile. Wonderful, Raven thought to herself, going back to the reading. She was barely even coherent of what she was saying as her mind went off without her. Open mouth, insert foot. Great. By the time she was done with the reading, she had laid out a hopeful 'future path' for the girl... although there were a couple of iffy points, dealing with changes and being ready for sudden mishaps. But all in all, it was a good one. When she was finished, Raven smiled to her, shrugging a bit. "Remember... I'm not THAT good at this, so I could be wrong. But thanks for letting me practice on you." Rhiannon had listened as Raven had shown her the cards, saying what each one represented. It wasnt doom and gloom - which given her current family problems she had been fully expecting, and despite not knowing whether she held much stock in this sort of thing felt a little better within herself. 'It's fine...I wont beat down your door if things dont happen as you've told them,' she chuckled a little. Grinning, Raven started to put the cards back in the bag. "Oh good. Because I'm not sure if I'm right or not." She noted that the girl still looked a bit saddened, and tried to come up with something to make her feel better. "Hey... we're going to be moving to the new store in about a week or two... maybe you can come to the bellydancing classes I'm going to be teaching? It's fun, and I'd love the company." 'Uh belly-dancing?' It was funny, she could run around in the woods near her home completely starkers but the thought of dancing in front of a load of strangers - now that was a daunting thought. 'I've never...I mean i doubt I'd be any good,' Rhiannon said. "That's what the lessons are for." Raven smiled, knowing full well what jitters this usually brought on. "I stunk at it too when I first started. That's why I want to start classes, really. I had to learn on my own, from watching tapes and DVD's. This way, I can SHOW people how to do it without them having to wonder if htey're doing it right or not." 'That's probably just it, I'm not one for making a complete twit of myself in front of strangers,' Rhiannon chuckled. But maybe it could be fun, and she did really want to get to know Raven better. 'But okay,' she said slowly. 'Count me in.' "Bah, it'll be a beginner course," Raven said, smiling to her. "That means that the only one who'll likely know what they're doing is me. I wouldn't worry about making a twit of yourself, it's not like I"m going to ask you to perform the Dance of the Veils the first day." At Rhiannon's agreement, Raven couldn't help grinning, her tail twitching behind her in excitement. "Wonderful! I'll let you know when the classes start, we need to get moved into the new shop first." She motioned the girl to follow her, and pointed towards a notebook and pen on the counter. "Just put your name and phone number on there, I'll be sending out calls once we've got everything ready to go." Rhiannon laughed; 'Yes but truthfully you know that people will laugh if you shake your belly like a buddha,' she grinned. 'It's in our nature.' Rhiannon followed Raven again, picking up the pen and scribbling out her name and number, talking as she did so. 'I've put my mobile number down,' she said. 'It's possible I'll be moving house in the near future so it will be easier to get hold of me on that.' "Sounds good," Raven replied, leaning against the counter with a smile. "And you don't have anywhere NEAR a Buddha belly, so I wouldn't worry at all. It's fun and it's not as hard as people think." As if to prove a point, she reached to the shelves behind the counter, picking up two small sets of finger cymbals. Once she had them on, she chimed them together, picking out a tempo relatively easily and began to 'demonstrate' one of the simpler dances. "It's just a matter of knowing where your feet are..." she explained. "And what direction you're going in." Rhiannon smiled. 'Well I hope so,' and she watched Raven dance. 'It can be quite a sensuous dance can't it?' she quirked an eyebrow, thinking that at some point if she got good she could perform for Damien. "Oh absolutely." Raven smirked as she replied, wiggling her eyebrows. "I doubt I'll be teaching some of the more *cough* controversial dances... but if there's someone you want to perform for, I bet I can sneak you into the shop after hours and teach you." 'Well..' she smiled a little, her ears twitching. 'I may take you up on that offer if I get to a point where I'm good enough to even think about a private performance for someone.' Rhiannon glanced around the shop then back at Raven. 'You know I came in here to look at the stuff for sale, havent done much of that. What do you recommend as a gift for someone who is a student of magic?' Raven tapped a finger against her cheek, looking around. "Well, if they're studying REAL magic, they might just get a laugh out of most of the stuff we have here. However, there's a chance that some of the crystals might come in handy..." Her mind went back to the talk she'd had with Damien, when he said that he'd studied magic... and then Rhiannon's claim that he was with someone.... And everything suddenly fell into place. Raven paled slightly, looking to Rhiannon. "Oh man, you're dating Damien, aren't you..." she murmured, suddenly feeling like the world's biggest idiot. Rhiannon listened nodding; 'Well if you can suggest a crystal or two,' she started to say, then wondered at Ravens change in expression. Well, she couldnt lie and so she nodded slowly. 'I'm sorry I would have told you outright, but then you said about jealous girlfriends beating your a**, and well..' Whimpering softly, Raven slid down to sit on the stool behind the counter, her head in her arms. "I'm sorry?" she mumbled from where her face was hidden. At least this way, the other girl wouldn't see her blushing fit to light up the room. "I didn't know he was with anyone... he didn't say he was, but then again, he didn't really say he wasn't either. It never came up." She glanced up then, ears drooped to the sides. "He wasn't leading me on or anything, I just thought he was cute and took a chance by slipping the card into his bag. Now that I know he's got a girlfriend, it's paws off for me." She brought up both hands then, smiling sheepishly. "I don't mess around with other people's men." 'It's okay,' Rhiannon said. Now she felt terrible for the girl as she remembered how she had been before Damien and she had become serious. 'You seem like a lovely person, and shouldnt give up because someone you found attractive was taken.' That made Raven grin and she shook her head faintly. "Oh hell no," she answered, sitting up fully again. "There's others out there, I'm just not persuing HIM." Rhiannon laughed; 'Well that's good,' she folded her arms and tried to look sternly at Raven. 'I wouldnt want to 'whup your butt',' she dissolved into giggles. Raven couldn't help it, she started laughing as well. "I dunno, I've been told I do well in a fight. My brother and I have been beating the snot out of each other since we were kids." Still, she had no desire to get into a fight unless it was necessary... as as far as she was concerned, fighting over a guy was NOT necessary. 'Well that's good,' she chuckled. 'I dont really have any siblings, not birth ones anyway. Sati is my sister, she's a Fa'e. So you just live with your dad and brother then?' Rhiannon asked, head tilted. Raven shook her head slightly. "Nope. I don't live with Kendall actually. When we were kids, we nearly killed each other, so he lives with mom and I live with dad. But we live right across the block from each other, so our yards connect and we can see each other anytime we want." It was a good arrangement... and kept them from giving their parents any more gray hairs. "I have a Fa'e sister too... her name's Nozomi. Dad brought her home when I was younger, and now we look like we're the same age. Then there's Kaeru... he's a little frog boy that mom brought to dad around his birthday. She said he was from the shop that she runs, and needed a caretaker." 'Well at least you can still see each other. But I would have thought you'd have gotten on better now you're older?' Rhiannon asked. 'Nozomi huh? I think Sati mentioned her in passing once. Sounds like you have a full house there. I live with just my mum...and my dad if he is ever around.' "Oh we get on better now... but neither of us wants to give up our own rooms." Raven snickered, resting her chin in her hand. "Omi and I share the basement bedroom, Kaeru has Omi's old room upstairs and dad has the loft bedroom overlooking the livingroom. It works out well." 'Well that's understandable,' Rhiannon smiled. 'I've had my own room since I was little as our current house is pretty big. Sati moved out to my mother's house when she was a teenager.' "I don't mind sharing with Omi... she keeps things neat and leaves me alone. She'd have her own room still, but dad turned the one bedroom into this HUGE Japanese bath with a soaking pool outside and everything. We had plenty of room til Kaeru came along. Dad's talking about remodelling again, though, and giving Omi her own room again. But we've got to wait til spring or summer to do it." Rhiannon chuckled; 'I dont think i'd mind having a room turned into a Japanese bath. Sounds heavenly.' She checked herself, and looked at Raven. 'I'm not keeping you from doing your work am I? I wouldnt want to get you in trouble or anything.' Raven glanced around, the two of them still the only ones in the shop. "I dunno..." she murmured, a wry grin coming to her face. "We're swamped at the moment." She giggled then, shaking her head. "Nah, it's pretty slow here during the week. Alicia and I are the only two workers, and she's the owner. Usually it's just me working, and the shop's closed two days a week so that we both get two days off. It's a good setup... I got lucky that I came in looking for a job right when she realised that she couldn't do it all on her own anymore." Rhiannon chuckled; 'Yes I'm just squashed here,' she poked her tongue out. 'Well you're very lucky to have such a nice job. I keep thinking that I need to find myself something better. Something that I'll enjoy going out the door for.' "I think it's a matter of 10% ambition to find something... and 90% luck to get the perfect job." Raven was VERY thankful for this one... she honestly loved coming to work, and she didn't know many who could say that. "With the new shop being bigger, maybe we'll need another worker?" she asked, drumming her fingers against the counter. "I told Damien that as well, he was talking about getting a job. I'll find out... if we're going to need new help, we'll know pretty quickly after the move. No one really comes in here... but the house that's being remodelled as the shop will be wonderful. It's out near the woods, Alicia will own the land... I can hardly wait!" 'I don't think I'm the retail person honestly,' Rhiannon smiled. 'But thanks for the thought. Working at the restaurant gave me all that customer service stuff, and I'm not the best at it. People and their complaints about slightly burnt chips or meat that isnt cooked just right..' she shuddered. "I'm glad that most of the people who come in here are easygoing... even if they need to return something, they're generally cool about it." She smiled then, glancing around the tiny shop. "I just hope we get more business at the new place. Alicia's putting herself on the line with this one... I'm considering asking her if I can move into the apartment at the back of the house, just so that she'll be able to get more money back in rent. I've seen the place, it's nice." 'Well I dont see why you wont get more business. You should ask at the clinic if you can post an advertisement flyer or something on the message board.' Rhiannon nodded. 'I'd like to move to my own place...with Damien,' she confessed with a smile. She glanced then at her watch. 'Damn, I really have to be going to. Wrap me up a couple of those crystals you mentioned before if you would please,' she smiled at Raven. Grinning, Raven nodded. "Sounds wonderful... if you guys get a new place, let me know! I'll bring a housewarming gift!" Raven moved to grab a small bag then, and went to the display of crystals, picking out a few of the ones that she thought Damien might like. "I'm not sure exactly what he would care for... so I'm matching some up to what colour preferences he seemed to have, that kind of thing." Once she had some gathered, she moved back to the register, ringing them up and handing the bag to Rhiannon. "I think I will do that too... might be good to just let people know the place is moving too, even though we're sending out notices to all the normal customers." Rhiannon handed money over, nodding and taking the bag. 'Thanks, I appreciate it.' she was glad now that she'd decided to pop into this shop. A new acquaintance, and belly-dancing lessons...although she wasn't sure about that, still she was going to do it. 'Well I best be going. It was really nice meeting you Raven. Thanks for the reading, and I hope to see you soon for those belly-dancing lessons.' "I'll call you!" Raven replied, grinning from ear to pointed ear. Well, this could have gone a LOT worse, especially considering the case of foot-in-mouth disease that she'd had at the beginning. But all in all, this was turning out to be one great week for meeting new friends.
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:38 am
Youkochylde Kaeru was curled up in the back seat, seatbelt on and legs tapping along with the beat of the music as he sang at the top of his lungs. One could still barely hear him... because it wasn't Youko driving, but Raven. And Raven had the radio cranked up as loud as they could bear, the foxcoon girl singing along with her younger 'brother' as best she could. The two could hardly be considered in 'in tune', but they were having a blast with their music... and that's what counted, yes? They were heading to Durem, to take back a few Christmas presents that were too big, too small or just plain not appropriate for a child. Kaeru had gotten a few toys and books that were designed for toddlers, and he just showed no interest in them now. When they reached the parkinglot, Raven set the car into park and turned to look over the back of the seats at Kaeru. "Go ahead and get out... I'll get the stuff, okay?" Nodding, Kaeru moved to wriggle out of the seatbelt, fighting with the mechanism as he always did. He could hear Raven getting out and opening the trunk, and tried to at least hurry up, so she wasn't waiting out in the cold for him. "Ready!" he crowed, pushing open the car door and jumping out. It was when he shoved the door closed that it happened. All Raven knew was that she heard a yelp, a thud and a WAIL that made her drop everything she had in her arms. She didn't care that there were now two bags of clothes and toys on the ground... what mattered was the frog boy on the ground, screaming as loudly as he could. "Kaeru?!? Kaeru what happened??" The boy couldn't answer. He'd started to close the door and step back, when his foot had hit a patch of ice. He slid, tried to catch himself on his arms behind himself, and the next thing he knew, he'd felt a crunch in his arm... and blinding pain. He couldn't form words to answer Raven... all he could do was hold up his arm and cry. "It's okay," she murmured, winding an arm around Kaeru's waist and lifting him up to stand. When she tried to push up his sleeve to see the damage, however, he just screamed even louder and tried to jerk away. "Okay! Okay, I won't touch it. Can you move your fingers?" A quick attempt and the sensation of wanting to pass out let Kaeru know that no, he couldn't move them... and he tried to get this point across to Raven as best he could. "Hurts... can't... hurts..." he managed to gasp out in between the throat-rasping cries. Next thing he knew, he was being bundled back into the car. "Just hold it as still as you can, kiddo," Raven said, buckling the seat belt and moving to shove the packages haphazardly back into the trunk. "We're going to the hospital." She raced to the driver's side then, picking up the celphone she always had with her, and dialed the home number. "Dad? Dad, it's Raven. No, everything's not alright. I'm taking Kaeru to the hospital, I think he broke his arm." She paused then, wincing at the yelp on the other end of the line as she started up the car. "We're in Durem, he slipped on the ice and... well... I'm sure you can hear him." She was sure everyone in a four block radius could hear him, actually. Kearu was hysterical in the back seat by now, screaming for his daddy. "Yeah, we'll meet you there. I'm taking him to Barton General. Yeah. Okay, I love you Dad... and calm down. I've got the car, racing out to the garage won't do you any good. See if you can get Envy or Trio to come get you, okay? Alright. I'm getting off the phone, daddy, I don't want to talk and drive. Love you!" She hung up the phone then and put the car into gear, praying for decent traffic and a lot of green lights.
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:39 am
Youkochylde Youko was now panicked. He had gotten Raven's calm phone call, and had remained relatively calm while he was talking to her... but now he was by himself and able to completely LOSE IT without upsetting his kids. Kaeru was on his way to the hospital, Raven had the car, and now he had to find a way there. A call to Karma's had revealed nothing, apparently she and Kendall were out at the time... and no matter how much Arkie insisted, he was NOT about to agree to the boy driving him anywhere. It also hadn't seemed to occur to Arkie that with Karma and Kendall gone, BOTH cars were gone as well. Now, he called another number that he'd managed to dig up from memory. As Youko paced back and forth across the livingroom, he prayed that Trio was actually working today, instead of at her home an hour away. "Pixapets," came the familiar voice on the line a moment later, with the standard cheerfulness of any shopclerk's greeting. "How can I help you?" "Trio!!" Youko stopped dead in the middle of the livingroom, hoping that he'd managed to NOT sound like a panicked idiot on the phone. However, he wasn't sure he could portray calmness at the moment. "Please tell me you're not busy and can get away for a little while? I'm desperate here." "...Youko? What's wrong?" she asked. As she spoke, her voice got fainter, and a moment later, he heard her murmur something to someone near the phone - presumably telling them she was headed out. "Are you at home?" "I'm at home..." he whimpered in reply, pushing his fingers through his hair and along his ears as he stared out of the back sliding glass doors in the livingroom. "Raven just called me, she's heading to the hospital with Kaeru. She thinks he may have hurt himself pretty badly on the ice. I didn't want her to detour here to get me, I could hear him screaming and crying in the background. Please... I'm sorry to ask you to leave work, but I really, REALLY need to get to them..." "I'll be there in... five minutes. Hang tight," was Trio's reply, and she hung up before he could respond. Youko hung up immediately and darted off to get shoes and a coat on. By the time Trio pulled up in front of the house, he was already out there, pacing and looking expectantly down the road in the direction she would come from. Almost before the car was even stopped, he was racing towards it and pulling the door open. "THANK YOU!" "What happened?" Trio demanded, before he made it into the car. "I assume Barton Hospital?" Seating himself and pulling the door shut, Youko whined softly as his ears pressed back against his hair. "Yes, Barton," he murmured, winding his arms around himself tightly. "They were taking back some of his Christmas presents... after he grew, he didn't want half of them anymore, so they were going to go and get him other stuff to play with. Raven said he slipped on the ice and started screaming. She thinks it's broken." Youko was content to believe her. Raven didn't exactly overembellish things like this, and usually had a pretty good grasp of what was going on. Trio reached out with one hand even as she started driving again. "He's going to be just fine, you know. Everyone breaks something sometime, right?" "I know," he murmured, clasping her hand nervously. He still continued to stare out of the window, but spared her a glance as he smiled halfheartedly. "I'm just allowed to panic... it's a parent thing. YOU understand." "Of course you're allowed to panic," Trio nodded, squeezing his hand gently. "I'd be more worried if you WEREN'T. When we get to the hospital, you find out what's going on for certain, and then you'll feel better. Levon's watching the shop; I can stay as long as you want me to." "Thank you..." he murmured, leaning over to nuzzle Trio's cheek for a moment. "Raven's with him.. she's got a level head, she'll be able to handle things til I get there. I just didn't want to stay at home and wonder what was happening." "You've got a good kid in her, you know that?" Trio murmured, keeping her eyes on the road even as she grinned. "You already sound calmer." Nodding, Youko smiled. "I do. All of them are good kids. I trust her, she's already shown me that she can be calm when something like this happens." Still, he was nervous as hell. By the time they reached the hospital, he was nearly vibrating in his seat. "I'll let you off here," Trio noted, pulling up to the doors and idling. "I'll park the car, then come find you, okay?" The addition wasn't really necessary - Youko knew how things worked. But all the same, she figured with him so worried, emphasizing the ordinary couldn't hurt. "A couple minutes behind you at most." "Thank you," he murmured... and would likely kick himself for not being more polite later, but for now, he was more worried about his kids. He squeezed her hand one last time, and dove out of the car, aiming for the Emergency Room entrance. She waited until he was in the doors before pulling back out and driving off to find a parking space. Giving him a bit of extra time to talk to Raven and find out what was going on wouldn't hurt, she reasoned... though not too long. Just in case. As Youko hurried into the waiting area, he didn't see any sign of his daughter or son... that was good, it meant they were already being seen. It took a few questions for the duty nurse, and he was led back into the emergency ward, where he could now hear the soft cried that he knew were Kaeru's. The boy looked like he'd been through a wringer, and even though his eyes were closed, he was still whining faintly. Raven was sitting beside the bed, but got up to hug her father and usher HIM into the chair the moment she saw him. "He's on painkillers," she murmured, rubbing Youko's shoulders gently as she apprised him of the situation. "They just got x-rays and we're waiting for them to come back. Then we'll know what happened and what needs to be done." Youko smiled, hugging her back tightly, then glanced up to her as he forcibly tried to calm himself. "Trio's coming in after she parks the car... can you go and wait for her?" Nodding, Raven smiled. "I don't think they'll let us have two people back here at one time anyway," she said, and moved to scoop up her purse. "I'll stay out there with Miss Trio, and pester the nurses for information." Youko curled into the chair after she'd gone and leaned over to brush the hair back from Kaeru's face. "I'm here, kiddo," he whispered, making sure he was close enough that he could take Kaeru's hand as well. "You're going to be just fine."
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:40 am
Youkochylde It was difficult to gain leverage when you were trying to lift dead weight out of the back seat of the car. With the ice on the ground, Youko had to be extra careful... or else he'd wind up breaking something too. Raven had driven home, her nerves were much calmer than her father's, who kept turning around to look at the boy in the back booster seat. He was small normally, hence the reason for the booster... but now, with the painkillers making him nearly unconscious, Kaeru seemed even smaller. Sighing, Youko wrapped his arms around the boy, lifting him carefully as he turned to his daughter. "Can you get the door, sweetie?" he whispered, as if the sound of his voice would rouse Kaeru from his drug-induced sleep. Raven just nodded, shutting the car doors and darting ahead towards the house, keys in hand. She felt exhausted... but knew that SOMEONE had to stay coherent and sane during this, or her father would freak. He ws staying calm for Kaeru's sake, but she had the feeling that once the boy was in bed, Youko was going to have a meltdown. She unlocked and pushed the door open, noting that lights were already on inside. That meant that Omi was home somewhere... but the Fa'e girl wasn't in evidence just yet. She stepped aside then, clearing the way for Youko as he carried Kaeru into the house and quickly toed off his shoes. Even now, propriety had its hold. "Go get him in bed," Raven murmured, getting Kaeru out of his coat as Youko held him. It was easier than normal, they hadn't bothered putting it back onto his right arm with the cast. Once it was gone, she shooed Youko off, earning herself a smile from her father. "Thanks," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her cheek lightly. Trio had been right... she was a good kid, and he'd do something to make sure she knew it. She'd been the rock of reason in all of this mess... and he was thankful for it. After this was done, he had to do something special for her. Once he was upstairs, he turned down the hall to Kaeru's room, pushing the door open with his foot and stepping inside. The soft hum of the two humidifiers was a constant sound in here... it had been unthinkable to ask him to live in the bathroom now that he was older, and the girls had taken exception to it as well. So instead, he now had his own room, Omi having given up her own space so that he could be comfortable. The girls now shared a room... well, the entirety of the basement anyway. Kendall's things had been taken over to Karma's, and Omi's moved in. It was a good arrangement for the time being. Laying the boy in the bed, Youko sighed, brushing the dark hair back from Kaeru's face. "You're gonna be okay, kiddo," he murmured, bringing the covers up over him and heading for the door. The next few days would be amusing, especially when the painkillers started to wear off. There was nothing to be done except to prepare for it.
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:41 am
Youkochylde Dear Diary - I love my sister. Really I do... But I'm SO DAMNED GLAD Omi's in her own room again. Living with her in the same house is a far cry from having to share a room, and I swore I was going to kill her within a week. She's such a damned NEAT FREAK, more than I am even, and that's saying a LOT. I didn't mind so much, until I started being able not to find anything because she rearranged it. Anyway, now she's got the attic, so we've got two floors seperating us now. I'm just glad it wasn't me that had to move. I LIKE it down here, thanks. Kaeru's doing better, although he's convinced that if he complains enough about his arm, Dad won't send him to school. I tried telling him it wouldn't work, but he doesn't believe me. He'll learn. Dad still sent me to school when I was showing every symptom of the flu. I just forgot about the fever bit, and he caught me. Anywho... work soon. Alicia says that the shop will be moving within the month. I haven't told dad yet about me possibly moving into the apartment behind the new shop... I'm not sure how he'll take it. He was talking with Envy the other day about how he's not sure he's ready for any of us to leave yet. I'm hoping that having Kaeru and Omi still around will help him deal with things better. We're going this weekend to see the new shop site, it'll be the first time I've seen it. Alicia's already closed the deal, so now we need to go in and figure out where everything's going to go. The shop will be closed down for the entire week before the move, and likely for a week afterward. That should give us plenty of time to get everything settled. I'll have to talk with dad about this at some point... I'm just really not looking forward to it. Raven
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:42 am
Youkochylde "Come on, quit lagging behind." Raven was moving through the store, heading for the boy's section as Kaeru paused to stare at every nifty 'thingy' they passed. No wonder Youko had asked her to do it... he HATED shopping and likely would have tucked the boy under his arm and dragged him off by now. Turning on her heel, Raven stopped in the middle of the aisle, waiting for Kaeru to catch up. The frog was moving at his own pace, pausing here and there to look at all the 'eyecatchers' that were placed strategically at the end of the aisles. It was a selling ploy that would likely work on most people, especially children. He was barely looking where he was going when he ran into Raven. "OW!" he yelled, tucking his cast-covered arm against himself as he looked up at her balefully. "You'll break it again!" Rolling her eyes, Raven grabbed him by the GOOD arm and started to haul him towards a rackful of jeans and t-shirts. "I will not. Trust me, if I wanted to break something, it would be your silly head." It was all good natured... the two of them happened to get along well. Once they were where she wanted them, she started holding up jeans and shirts to him, getting an idea of whether he'd grown out of the previous size or not. Once that was determined, she started picking out clothes here and there and generally left Kaeru to his own devices. She knew that he would pipe up if there was something he absolutely HAD to have. Like now. Kaeru jumped up, holding a t-shirt that proudly proclaimed 'Rebel' on the front in sketchy letters. "Raven, can we get this, PLEASE?!" He asked, smiling to her in what he hoped was a winning manner. He waited patiently while she took it, held it up to him and looked at the price. "Find a medium and you've got a deal," she said, smiling. "That's a large and you'll swim in it." "WOOHOO!" The boy darted off then, heading back to the rack that he'd found that one on, and started digging for the right size. "Those're cool," came the voice from beside him, and Kaeru turned to see a towheaded boy with a missing-toothed smile grinning at him. "I'm trying to find a small." "Yeah, I like these... and the ones with the skateboarder on them." Kaeru kept looking as he spoke, his eyes raking over the shirt tags to find the right size. "I'm going to skateboard once the ice and snow leaves.... there's not enough snow left to snowboard." The kid was now staring at him as if he were a god. "You DO that??" he asked, looking at the frog in awe. "Yup!" Kaeru answered, puffing up proudly. "I even got this doing it." He held up the cast then, his pre-practiced speech coming to mind. "Check this... I was out in my backyard... I have a snowboard ramp that I built back there, but I musta built it too close to the tree..." By this point, the boy was hanging on his every word, nodding emphatically at certain spots in the story. "And then... when I went ot make the jump... WHAM!!!" Next thing I knew, I was upside down in the tree and hanging by my ARM!" "No way!!" "YEAH! Really!" Kaeru was motioning with his good arm and making a valiant attempt at looking like he was hanging upside down. "It hurt like hell--" "Language," Raven reminded, slanting her gaze at him. Personally, she thought it wasn't good for him to be making up stories... but she had to admit that falling on the ice wouldn't get him 'cool' points with anyone. Kaeru blanched for a moment, until he realised that Raven wasn't going to blow his 'cover', so to speak. "Sorry," he murmured, then turned back to regale the boy with his tale of pain, torture and agony of breaking his arm doing a super stunt on his snowboard. Raven just shook her head, sighing as she gathered up the pile of clothes and picked out a medium version of the shirt Kaeru had shown her. He was so busy bragging, he'd forgotten to find it. Then she took the clothes towards the cashier, wondering if this story-telling would wind up being a REALLY bad habit or not.
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:43 am
Youkochylde It was barely midmorning, and Youko was still in his sleep pants when he called out loud enough for the rest of the house to hear him. "FAMILY MEETING!" He had the wand in his hand, moving to the livingroom and curling up on the couch with the object rested in his lap. "I knew it," Raven muttered, appearing from the doorway to her basement room. She was still rumpled from sleep, and looking as though she had a bad case of morning fur. "There IS something wierd about that wand, isn't there..." It wasn't a question. More like an accusation as she moved into the livingroom as well and flopped into the overstuffed chair. "I'll tell you ALL about it at the same time," the fox answered, giving his daughter a smirk. Rolling her eyes, Raven just waited for the other two to arrive. It didn't take long, the clatter on the stairs letting them both know that Kaeru was on his way. And the softer creak of the attic stairs telling them that Omi was on her way down as well. "Family meeting!" Kaeru crowed, leaping OVER the couch and his father, to land in a sprawl on the floor. "Are we going to Disneyland??" "Not on your life," Omi answered from the stairs, walking through the livingroom and curling up on the floor crosslegged. "We can't even take you to the grocery store without sending out a search party." Kaeru stuck his tongue out at the teenager, and turned back to his father. "Are we??" Shaking his head, Youko chuckled. "No. However, it appears that we're going to have to make a few changes around here." Before any of them could question his statement, he brought the wand forward to show them, his grasp keeping it out of Kaeru's range for the moment. "I found a shop yesterday that I didn't remember seeing before. When I went inside, I was told that the reason I'd found it then was because I'd been chosen." That brought similar confused expressions from all three of his children, and Kaeru was the first to pipe up. "Did you win something?" he asked, knowing that 'being chosen' was usually a good thing in contests. "Not really... not in the sense you're thinking," Youko explained, handing the wand to Omi when she reached for it. "That wand... is going to be a child soon." "Another kid?" Raven said, half worried about losing the sanctity of her room... but also still VERY interested. "Well, it's no wierder than mom showing up at the door first thing in the morning with a tadpole," she said, giving a pointed look towards Kaeru. Kaeru, however, was oblivious, and had all his attention on the wand Omi held in her hands. Omi was studying the wand intricately, turning it over in her hands. "Do we know if it's going to be a boy or girl?" she asked, watching it curiously. "And who's going to have to give up their room?" "BOY!" Kaeru crowed, jumping in place. "I'm gonna have a brother!" Raven reached out with a foot, catching Kaeru and planting him back on the floor. "It could just as easily be a girl," she said. Youko watched the two of them argue back and forth, shaking his head as he moved to take the wand again. "We don't know if it'll be a boy or girl," he answered. "And we'll worry about rooms later. Each of you slept in my room with me when you were a baby. That's not going to change now." "I thought you had a room for us," Raven pointed out. Snickering, Youko just turned to her. "I did. But you all invariably wound up in my room anyway." Raven fidgeted then, toying with the hem of her nightshirt. "Well... no one may have to give up their room," she began, glancing up to Youko furtively. "Ummm..." The fox's attention went immediately to his daughter, and one ear pricked up slightly. "Raven..." he whispered, not quite sure if he wanted to hear this or not. Something told him that this was the conversation that he'd been dreading. Omi seemed to sense something was up, and she grabbed Kaeru. "We'll discuss the wand later," she said, hauling the protesting boy out into the backyard. Youko and Raven barely noted them go, the pair watching each other intently. Raven sighed, looking to her father again. "Dad, you knew this was coming.." she began, trying to rationalise it. "I can't stay living here forever. And Alicia needs me to help with the shop. With it moving, there's going to be a small apartment behind the shop. I can live there for pretty much free, and it would be good for me." Nodding, the fox tightened his jaw, looking down at the wand in his hands. "Well... it would be good for you," he whispered, making it well known that he didn't like the idea. "Daddy, don't do this," Raven said, moving to him and curling up alongside him like she'd done when she was little. "I've been planning it for a while, I didn't want to say or do anything until I was sure I could do it." Smiling a bit wistfully, Youko ruffled his daughter's ears. "You always were the rational one, weren't you?" he asked softly. "I trust you... and I know you wouldn't just do something like this on the spur of the moment." He leaned over then and kissed the top of her head lightly. "I just don't have to like it, you know." Smiling a bit, Raven nodded. "I'd think you were sick if you liked the idea," she said, looking up at him. "I promise I'll make you proud, daddy," she said, curling into his arms. "You always do," he answered, nestling with her on the couch for now. The living arrangements and such about the wand could wait... this was more important at the moment.
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