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 Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:53 pm
"Hee hee hee... Ne, Kimiko, lighten up a bit," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. Oh, this was just so precious to her. It was so fun toying with the girl's mind, and even more amusing to see these things happening. It was all just innocent fun; it's not like the children even KNEW what was going on. "They're just kids. Nothing's going to happen."
She crouched down and started to pick up the candles the teenager had dropped, grinning over at Mayu.
"Oh, don't worry about it. Your mother's just reading into the situation too much. I hope the power surge didn't scare you guys. Are you okay?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:02 pm
Kimi nodded slowly, still wide-eyed and speechless. Even if they were still little kids, she could not help but gawk when something like this happened. She walked over to Mayu, and helped the girl up.
"Oh, okay.." Mayu said, nodding in response to Neko's question. She was still a bit confused over the whole situation, but thought it best not to ask.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:09 pm
"What were you guys doing, anyway?" she asked curiously, standing up after grabbing the last candle. "I thought I heard a loud noise up here, and I can't imagine you guys just falling over for no reason."
"The book was on the top of the bookshelf again," the child muttered, calming down a little bit. "I was just trying to get it down."
Neko frowned slightly for a moment, but then she smiled, looking out into the hall. "I see..."
Apparently, the halfling still hadn't caught on that Domonic was trying to keep the book from him for some reason.
"Well, just be careful. If you two get injured, I'm going to have one hell of a time treating you because of this weather."
"Yes, ma'am," Demare said quietly, still crouched down in his corner. What a night this was turning out to be.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:18 pm
Kimiko walked back out into the hallway, glancing over to Neko.
"The storm's getting worse now," she said, as a bolt of lightning crackled through the night sky. "We should finish setting up the candles, before the power REALLY goes out."
Well, she was just looking for an excuse to get out of the room, she was liable to snap any minute.
Mayu walked over to Demare, and squatted.
"So... what now?" she asked, as she felt another clap of thunder running through the air.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:48 pm
"Hai haaaai~" was her only response as she followed Kimiko down the hall. Sometimes it was hard to tell who was the adult and who was the child with her.
His heartbeat finally returning to a normal pace, the halfling exhaled slowly, glad that Kimiko didn't blow up at him. It wasn't like he'd done that on purpose... He didn't mean to hurt the poor girl. He just lost his footing, that was all.
"Well, I wasn't sure of what else to do..." Demare said, looking to Mayu after a moment. "I figured maybe we could read something from the book. Or do you have something else in mind? I'm certainly open to suggestions."
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 11:08 pm
"Okay, sure. I don't really have any other ideas." Mayu smiled and nodded, walking over to fetch the book from the spot Demare had tossed it before.
Flipping the book open to a random spot, she walked back over to the corner where the boy was sitting and plopped down.
"So... You pick something to read, since it's your book," she said, handing it over. She was really in the mood for something big and colorful with pictures, like those silly Dr. Seuss books. It was too boring to concentrate on just little words all day, she felt, and would usually just look at the illustrations.
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Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2006 11:46 pm
"Um... okay," he said, taking the book and carefully flipping through its pages for a moment. What kind of story would Mayu be interested in? She said she liked adventure and fantasy... Maybe she would like Arabian Nights.
"Dema-bra!" Manior whined at the door, having snuck up the stairs and down the hallway. He had a sad look on his face, a little pout forming, his ears drawn flat against his hair. "You an' Mau come pway wiff me!"
Demare thought about that for a moment, looking to Mayu before looking back to his brother.
"I was going to read a story," he told him, moving to stand up and holding a hand out to the tree girl in case she wanted help up. "Would you like to listen too?"
"Stowy!!" the toddler cheered, scampering into the other room, hoping the two would follow. He liked stories best when he was sitting on his bed, and really liked to hear them when he was about to go to sleep.
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Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2006 11:54 pm
Mayu giggled, toddlers could be so cute sometimes! Pushing herself up, she looked over to Demare then took the lead, following Manior into the room. Finding herself a nice spot on the floor, she plopped down and waited for Demare to join her.
"So, what'll it be?" she asked, looking over at her friend.
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Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2006 12:09 am
Demare flipped through another couple of pages, and opened his mouth to say something.
"Li'le Wed Waiding Hoo!" Manior demanded cheerfully. He began to purr loudly, his tail thumping against his bed as it flicked up and down and left and right.
The halfling frowned a little bit, thinking that story would be a bit of a bad idea. After all, it didn't exactly end very well.
"Manny, you always want to hear that one," he sighed, his arms dropping down for a moment. "Can't we read something el--"
"Li'le Wed Waiding Hoo!" the cat boy whined, making his pouting face again. His eyes grew wide and teary-like, as if he were about to cry. "Peeeeaaaas?"
"It's not fair when you do that," the boy complained, reluctantly flipping through the pages to find the story.
"Peas an' cackers?" the toddler perked up.
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Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2006 12:22 am
Mayu laughed. Yes, toddlers were cute, but oh-so-good at guilting people into doing things.
"Can I read?" she asked, peering over Demare's shoulder. She did so like this story, even if the girl did get eaten at the end. As she was about to take the book, the lights crackled overhead. A boom of thunder rolled overhead and they fizzled off.
"Perfect..." she muttered, glancing about in the darkness.
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Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2006 12:53 am
When the lights flickered out, Manior began to whine and wail, wimpering as he could hardly see anything. It wasn't that he was afraid, it was just that he didn't like being in the dark. He liked being able to see, and knowing exactly what was in the room.
"Crap..." Demare grumbled, looking about for a moment to try to and focus on his surroundings. He could only see a little bit, the two candles in the room hardly letting off enough light. He began to form a couple of small bright orbs, filling the room with just enough light to see the general area of things.
"I wonder if they'll come back on this time," he pondered aloud, moving one of the lights closer to Mayu and another next to Manior.
The toddler continued to cry, but the sounds were getting weaker as the lights began to float about.
"Aw, Manny..." the child sympathized, stepping over to the small bed and picking up his brother. He rocked the little cat boy in his arms for a few moments, hugging him close and trying to sooth him. They needed to figure out a way to get him to forget about it being dark. It took too much concentration to make the lights much brighter than they were, and he needed to focus on things at the moment. So how could he...?
The halfling got an idea.
"Hey, Mayu...? Can you still read the book?" he asked, looking down at her.
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Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2006 1:00 am
Mayu nodded, then looked down at the book. She squinted to read the small words in the dim lighting, but finally managed to adjust to the darkness well enough to begin.
"Once upon a time, there lived in a certain village a little country girl, the prettiest creature who was ever seen. Her mother was excessively fond of her, and her grandmother doted on her still more. This good woman had a little red riding hood made for her. It suited the girl so extremely well that everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood." She stopped reading for a moment, as an idea sprang to mind.
"Demare, how about we act out this story as we read?" she asked, then looked over at Manior. "Would you like that?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2006 1:10 am
Manior peered down at the girl from over Demare's shoulder, not quite understanding.
"Mrah?" he mewed, puzzled as he seemed to calm down. He was just sniffling now, little hands wrapped tightly around the material of his brother's shirt.
"Hey... that doesn't sound like a bad idea," he said, blinking a couple of times. He placed the toddler carefully back on his bed, thinking for a moment. They needed some props. Taking the blanket from his own bed, he handed it over to Mayu.
"This is the closest to red I've got in here," he said, smiling a little bit. He stepped over to his desk and opened one of the drawers, rummaging through its contents for a moment before pulling out a cat-eared headband and sticking it on his head. "And that's the best I'll be able to get for a wolf. Now, we need a basket and pot... Or do you think that even matters?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2006 1:18 am
"Thanks," Mayu smiled, and wrapped the blanket around herself to look like a hood. "I can make do with my purse for a basket, but I don't know what we can do for the pot." She thought for a moment, then snapped.
"How about a box?" she asked, flipping the page and beginning to read again.
"One day her mother, having made some cakes, said to her, 'Go, my dear, and see how your grandmother is doing, for I hear she has been very ill. Take her a cake, and this little pot of butter.'
Little Red Riding Hood set out immediately to go to her grandmother, who lived in another village."
Mayu emptied the contents of her tattered purse in her right pocket, and pretended to set off on a forest trail, though she wasn't a very good actor.
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Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2006 1:37 am
Demare grabbed a small box from within the desk drawer before closing it, and handed it to Mayu before she was "off".
Manior simply watched in wonder, seeming to forget that he had been crying just a moment ago. His tail curled along the blanket, wondering just what the strange girl was doing. She was going into the forest? Just like Little Red!
Demare peered over Mayu's shoulder, pretending to stalk her for a moment.
"As she was going through the woods, she met with a wolf, who had a very great mind to eat her up, but he dared not, because of some woodcutters working nearby in the forest. He asked her where she was going," he read aloud before stepping in front of the girl, clearing his throat and puffing his chest out.
"Where are you going, little girl?" he bellowed in a deep voice, trying to immitate an older man. He wasn't exactly good at acting, either.
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