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Despite the hell of an evening he'd had, at seeing Nani again, Zhane felt himself smile. Stepping forward, he reached out with his free arm to hug her closer, trying not to let his joy at seeing her again get the better of why he had come in the first place.

"This is her." he confirmed, looking down at the bundle of towels. He needn't have pulled them back as the small merchild had already taken the liberty of doing so, pawing the folds of terrycloth aside to blink up at Nani and Zhane in puzzlement, her blue lips pursed in distaste at the currents of chilly air that wafted over her.

"I don't know how long she can be out of the water..." he added. When he'd first removed her from the tank, she'd gone into a fit of coughing and he'd worried the tank might need to be her permanent residence...but once it had passed, she'd seemed fine. And she STILL seemed fine, for that matter.

Zhane followed after her, readjusting his grip on the towels as he went. "Nirendra?" he questioned as they ventured further into the house. "That's a new name..."

Maybe Nani'd mentioned her on the phone earlier...he couldn't recall. His mind in its turmoil had not allowed him to listen very well. Just being near her again, however, was doing much for his nerves. Being here would, if nothing else, give him some time to rationally think things out without the added stress of being prodded for the who's what's where's and when's by his parents.

As Seiji came into view at the bottom of the stairs, Zhane gave him a smile. "Hey you." he said, his usual tone of good nature surfacing amid the stress. "You been good for your mommy?"

If they'd been acting like hellions before, it certainly didn't look it to Zhane now as he stepped into the living room with Nani. The dragon girl still perched on the sofa was a lovely little thing and looked, in many ways, like Seiji. Enough so, actually, that they could have been cousins.

Or maybe siblings...

Tilting a wave back at the girl, while at the same time leaning in a bit to allow Seiji to see into the bundle, he quirked a brow.

"Have some family visiting?" he inquired.

The aquatic infant impatiently swatted away at the fold of towel that had fallen back over her face and blinked at the new face now peering down at her, squinting her large opalescent eyes to focus on Seiji. At length, she gave him a smile.

"She's adorable." he commented, giving a chuckle as the little girl hid from him only to peek back out again. he shifted his hold on the bundle of towels to return the wave.

Turning his attention back to Seiji he shook his head. "Doesn't have one yet, Seiji." he told the boy. "I kinda wasn't expecting her..."

A small bubbling giggle rose up from the bundle as if she'd understood his statement...though it was more likely she was entranced by the new colors and voices surrounding her.

His eyes shifting briefly to Nani, Zhane sighed. "Dad's gonna kill me..."

"Maybe..." he said, trying to allow it as a consideration. Something really didn't sit right, though, about saddling his new girlfriend with a baby that had spontaneously come from nowhere when she clearly already had her hands full as it was.

And speaking of hands full...he cast a look down at Nirendra who was now doing the universal infant sign language for "up, please". He hesitated, and then knelt to scoop her up into the crook of his other arm so she too could see the baby, wincing a bit as he did so. Ow...how did parents DO this?!? He did his best not to let on, though, and gave her a smile that was only slightly-strained.

Mindless of Zhane's discomfort as he tried to accomodate both her and Nirendra in his grasp, the infant giggled again, tiny hands groping the air for the fingers that loomed within her reach. Catching the tip of Nani's, she gave a small crow of delight, followed quickly by a sneeze.

"Couch is a good idea." he said, gratefully handing Nirendra back over to Nani and then following her to the couch where he carefully laid the bundle down on the cushions.

His arms, liberated of the cramping posture he'd held them in for the last while, ached a bit as he shook them out. That was much better. Settling beside Nani, he allowed himself his first real look at her since arriving...

"You look beat..." he noted. "They haven't let you get much rest, have they?"

At the tug at his pantleg, he directed his attention to Seiji, reaching down to hoist him into his lap. "I dunno, Seiji, I'd like to. Depends on what happens." he told the little boy.

Depends on how bad Mom and Dad freak out, rather...

He recalled the promise he'd made to Yeande about asking before going haring off to Nani's place without permission, but he'd liked to think this could be one of the exceptions they'd discussed...

From the bundle, there was another sneeze and Zhane looked to the small child within who squirmed, beginning to grow a bit fussy. Knitting his brow, he reached in to run the tip of his finger over one of her arms, finding that, as the towels were beginning to dry, so was her skin.

"Guess she doesn't like to be out of the water for too long..." he said, his tone half-questioning. At this point his guess was as good as any's.

"Tired? Funny, I don't -feel- that way..." and that much was the truth, at least. Exhaustion would probably hit him hard later, but for now he was wired for sound. Spontaneously having a baby to look after did that to a person...

He followed after her in the direction of her bathroom, however, in hopes that water would soothe the child before she got any fussier. "And anyway..." he went on. "...you sounded like you were about to keel over when I called earlier. I couldn't ask you to stay up."