Welcome to Gaia! ::

(September 12, 2004)

Merrimack laid stretched out on the desktop, orange eyes blinking up at the ceiling as he tried to think of something to do. He'd practiced his cello quite enough that day, his fingers twitching a little bit as his arms stretched themselves out against the desk as well. Lora was fast asleep on his chest, Winter curled up by his feet. While a nap did seem like a good idea at the moment, something was bothering him... The memory feien closed his three eyes for a moment, wondering how Globin might have been doing. Once again, it had been just about a week since he saw his friend, and ever since he found out about the piano, he'd been itching to learn more songs so that he could play side by side with the other feien.

A faint shadow appeared over the light that had filled his closed eyes, almost as if a cloud had suddenly blocked the sun, yet he was inside. Merrimack slowly opened his eyes partially, dismissing the figure as he noticed the bat-wings carrying a black color. It must have been his mother, right? Closing his eyes again, he thought about that for a moment. Ares normally said something when she stood over him... And, Ares also had much shorter hair than that. Furrowing his brow a little bit, the tall feien opened his eyes again, fully this time, and stared up at the mostly black figure. At least, black until his eyes had focused completely.

There was indeed a feien standing to his left, arms folded behind their back as they leaned over to further inspect the much bigger feien. This feien was...definitely a male, it seemed, but with long black hair that naturally stuck up in three placed in the back. ...They looked like ponytails... Bright green eyes that stood out against the shadow, white and black markings...and a curious look on his face very similar to Tahki's. And now, this feien was moving closer to Merrimack's face.

"What in God's name are you?" the memory feien finally spoke lazily, narrowing his eyes. "And why the hell are you in my house?"

"Your house? Oh my, I do apologize," the young feien said, straightening up a bit. "I woke up here only a moment ago, and thought you could tell me where this place is."

Merrimack's eyes twitched slightly, moving his arms to hold onto Lora for a moment as he sat upright. Something about this feien seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place what it was. Woke up here? How'd he even get in the house with the windows closed??

"Well, would you mind leaving? You're not exactly welcome here," he scowled, tempted to stand up to seem more intimidating. Though, he was rather surprised as the other feien began to walk over to the edge of the desk without a word. ...He was...listening?

"Merri, who are you talking to?" Ares called from the nightstand by the bed, setting down the dark blue cloth she'd been inspecting. Her red eyes glanced over to the desk as she quietly stood, lifting her wings to take flight. "Ah. It seems we have a visitor?"

The small feien looked to the black and blue feien as she glided over, stopping in his tracks. A faint pink color began to grow on his cheeks as he seemed to almost immediately recognize the voice, but not quite sure from where.

"I hardly think he's a visitor...perhaps an intru--" Merrimack started to say, but was interrupted as his mother hushed him by lightly placing a finger over his lips.

"It's not surprising you don't recognize him, Merri," she said softly, her wings folding back down over her shoulders. "You weren't around the bloom too much to begin with."

"The bloom...?" Glancing over toward the black and white flower near the other end of the desk, he realized it was a bit wilted, and had begun to dry out. "You mean...it's started."

Ares sighed softly shaking her head. "Merri, the world isn't going to end just because Tahki decided that she wanted children." Looking to the quiet boy near the edge of the desk, she lifted a hand toward him and motioned for him to come closer to her. "Besides, he seems rather calm. Perhaps most of Talonfaust rubbed off on this one."

The black and white feien stepped over to Ares as requested, shifting his arms so that his hands were folded together instead. He smiled happily, the flush on his cheeks still remaining as he looked up at the woman feien, rather intrigued by her three red eyes. So, she and the tall feien were related somehow, since they had the same trait. Did that make him related to them, as well, given the way his markings looked?

"What is your name, little one?" Ares asked calmly, her tail flicking a little bit as she looked the boy over for a moment, deciding he was definitely the feien from the bloom she and Tahki had cared so much for.

"My name is Raylan," he said, stepping a little closer to her, despite the fact that Merrimack was glaring at him now. Still smiling, he unfolded his hands from his back. "It's certainly a great pleasure to meet you finally," Raylan started again, moving his arms and wrapping them gently around Ares, nuzzling his cheek softly against her chest (as that was where he happened to come to in height), "Mama."

This caused Merrimack to be up and standing in a snap. Why was he hugging his mother??? And better yet, why was he calling Ares his mother?!

Ares blinked her three red eyes for a moment, a bit puzzled by the assumption. Mother? No...she had purposefully spent less time with the bloom so that this mistake WOULDN'T happen. Perhaps she should have spent less time around him...

"No, child, I'm not your mother," she explained softly, lifting her hands and gently placing them on his shoulders, pulling him away from her. "Tahki is your mother, but she isn't here at the moment. My name is Ares."

Tahki? Who was Tahki...? Wasn't it this feien that had taken care of him for so long? He smiled either way, dropping his arms to his sides. While he didn't understand completely, he would respect her wishes.

"All right...but, may I still call you Mama, as well?" he asked politely, looking a bit hopeful.

Ares looked up to Merrimack for a moment, knowing full well what he would say. She didn't particularly mind, so it would just have to be something for him to get used to...

"Yes..." she agreed, looking back to Raylan. "You may, but just remember that I'm not your real mother."

Raylan smiled, nodding quickly. Just as long as he got to be around her, that was good enough for him! "And who is this? Is he what's called a giant?"

"Giant??" Merrimack hissed through his teeth. "I can't help it I'm tall... Anyway, my name is Merrimack."

"A pleasure to meet you, Merrimack. Please, forgive my intrusion...I really didn't know I was disturbing you, and I will certainly refrain from doing so again in the future."

Merrimack huffed before realizing what the boy had just said. He was...agreeing to stay away from him? Or would he just not bother him while it looked like he was sleeping? Staring down at Raylan for a moment, he thought about this. Well, he certainly didn't look intimidating, much less threatening. There was also that air about him...that kind one that tended to be around Tahki. Just that trusting pull that let others know he wouldn't put them in danger on purpose, if ever. ...Much like the one he could feel around Globin...

Sighing lightly, he crossed his arms over his chest, glancing off to the side. "Just...don't bug me too much, all right?" he said as if laying down rules. "And don't touch me. I'll...um...I'll squash you if you do." The kid didn't have to know how weak he was.

"Merri..." Ares looked a bit skeptical at first, but didn't push the issue further as she noticed Raylan agree to the two conditions.

"I promise. I'll try my best not to touch you on purpose," he compromised. After all, there were accidents. "Would you be so kind as to show me around perhaps, Merrimack? I'm afraid I disturbed Mama while we were speaking."

"Oh, no...you weren't interrupting anything, Ray--"

"I guess. Come on...I'll take you to Sora until Neko gets back," the tall feien agreed, lifting himself into the air and gliding toward the door.

"Don't worry, we'll be back, Mama. You just wait here," Raylan smiled reassuringly, glancing toward the door for a moment. With the flutter of his wings, he clumsily flitted after Merrimack, not used to fly. "See you when we get back!"

Ares blinked after them for a moment, her tail flicking curiously. How...strange. "Take care," she called quietly after them, rubbing the back of her neck. Perhaps this was just what Merrimack had needed; someone that might be like a brother.

[Thursday: Merri/Raylan/Tahki]

[September 18, Tahki/Raylan]

[September 20, Ares/Raylan RP]