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 Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:10 am
Returning from Nick and Lili's, Thane Magos found himself in a good mood. Nick and Lili were wonderful people and any child would be privileged to call their house a home. He was happy for his friends.
At the same time, he could not fight the nagging idea that maybe, just maybe, he had something to offer a child himself.
It had been many years since Thane had last taken in a foster. That was before the war, before Ver'Diolus, when he lived in Sewat. He could still remember, crystal clear in his head, the words of his father, Gayle, in explaining the motivation behind the first foster: "In order to learn how to help humans, learn what they need at every stage of life." Little Tricea had been a wonderful child, orphaned at so young an age, but so full of curiosity and light. Thane was glad she had passed away before the siege of Ver'Diolus, but saddened her descendents had not been so lucky. It was consolation enough to know that somewhere out there in the universe, her descendents still lived on, as did the descendents of so many other fosters who had grown up in the mage tower. Some had even gone on to pursue magical careers of their own. Every so often Thane received a kind letter from Demitheus, who was now grey-bearded and wise in the way of most mages.
Since the end of the war, it felt like Thane had an awful lot of time on his hands. He was happy to use it to pursue his magical research and further the knowledge of mankind, but it was a lonely endeavor and his house was quiet. As he made his way through the hallway to his office he listened, but heard only air and stone. Thane Magos sighed a dusty, ancient exhalation.
How nice it would be to have once more the laughter of a child in his house. To see someone grow and develop, turn into a person of character and wisdom because of the guidance he provided. In his heart, Thane Magos lived to serve, for that was the reason he had been created. As of late, he had no one who truly needed him. No more wars to fight, no people needing his protection.
Thane Magos settled down at his desk and waved the lights on. He could see perfectly well in the dark, but like any real living thing who knew and loved sunlight, he found the dark depressing. The Aderenadine Cortex, his latest acquisition, sat waiting on the table. He had decades and centuries of research to look forward to, until whatever magical energies powered his heart were faded into nothing. Some might think he was immortal, but that he doubted. Gayle Thanatos was a great mage, but nothing lasted forever.
Thane's chair creaked as he rose, the Aderenadine Cortex laying untouched on the table. It, and all his other relics, would wait for him indefinitely. Magical research was well and good, but finding someone to share and explore the world with was a prize worth hurrying for.
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 10:53 pm
After the scene at Alden's, for lack of a better word, Thane was left with a great many thoughts. To think, out of all his neighbors, that Alden had opted for cabbages! Or perhaps he had adopted from the Nursery. Thane had considered that option, but it seemed to him that caring for a cabbage felt right. To be able to say to someone that you wanted them even before you knew who they were was a powerful gift, and one Thane had never gotten the chance to explore before.
He knew there were other options out there. Nick and Lili, when deciding to go forward with their own adoption plans, had weighed several agencies including Dr. Akari's cabbage project. In the end they had opted to forego the cabbages. Thane Magos did not fault them for it. For them, the options seemed to broad and limitless, but Thane had realistic ideas of how he might be received by outsiders based on his centuries of experience. Single parent, maybe. Monster parent, maybe. Single monster parent? Not so much. He had been to Gaia a few times and though he found it was a very diverse place, he stuck out rather badly. He was so much bigger and bulkier and humans, his hands fearsome when ungloved, his unveiled face terrifying to them. While he suspected he might have found success in the attempt, he hardly wanted to burden anyone with the worry that they had just entrusted a child to an unseen monster of untold strength and demeanor. His relationship with Dr. Akari was good, and when he asked, she had taken him right to the garden and let him pick a cabbage from the ground. He impressed her by removing it gently with some root manipulation.
Now the cabbage was sitting in the kitchen beneath a sunny window. Perhaps some people might hesitate to put a cabbage containing a child in the kitchen of all rooms, but Thane thought it had the best light, and there was no need to worry about accidentally eating the plant. Not only had Akari called it "indestructible" (a term he did not think she used lightly), the kitchen was not a room Thane generally used for eating. There were pots and pans and plates and cups and silverware, a sink and cupboards, but Thane himself had no need for food. He generally used it for making potions, or occasionally making tea for a guest. He would have to change that now that there was a mouth to feed in the house. He rather liked making changes.
Checking to make sure the cabbage looked well, Thane spritzed it with the provided water spray and moved it to receive a little more sunshine. Even though the cabbage could not see him, he smiled at it. To whomever is in there, I wanted to meet you even before I knew who you were, and I look forward to meeting the person you will become. He gave the cabbage a friendly pat with his ungloved hand and headed back to his research to pass the time until the cabbage opened.
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Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 7:51 pm
Lili and Nick were surprised when he told them, but happy. Lili's hands danced joyfully as she signed, "I think there is no one more perfect for you have been to me like a father." Thane was so immensely honored by this he took all four of Lili's hands in his and touched them to his scarf.
"You honor me far too greatly."
Lili had to remove her hands to respond: "All accolades are deserving, Honored Thane."
"You'll be a great dad," Nick agreed, thumping Thane on the shoulder. "Let me know if you need anything."
"Thank you," said Thane, but he had already taken the liberty of stocking up the kitchen with supplies and aired out the little room next to the front window. Gone were the four cupboards full of artifacts, replaced with a nightstand, pine cot bed, bookcase, and mirrored dresser. The little lamp on the nightstand lit when the shade was touched with a soft glow in accordance with the wishes of the user. The light switch activated a diffuse light spell, and during the day the room was lit quite beautifully by the sun bouncing off the flowers in the front garden.
Everything was ready, so when Thane heard the little tug of the charm he had put in the kitchen to monitor the cabbage, he was able to swoop in just as the final leaves were unfurling.
The little girl in the cabbage was dressed in her holiday best, her red shift dress and gloves and boots trimmed in white. She took an uneasy breath and squinted her eyes. Thane Magos extended his hand to her. "Hello."
She seemed a bit too dazed to register any fear or surprise. She gave a little sniff and sneezed. Thane picked her up gently. His massive arm, swathed in soft woven fabric, made for a comfortable resting place. She coughed.
Thane swept his cloak around her, pinning it to his shoulder and making it into a protective tent over her head. This was much easier on her eyes, unaccustomed to the light. He headed for the door.
Protected by the cloak, the newly-emerged little girl barely noticed as they went outside and down the lane. Thane rapped his gloved knuckles on Lili and Nick's door. Lili answered, signing her greeting, and Thane responded by removing his wide-brimmed hat.
Had his hands been free, Thane would have signed back. When it was just the two of them standing face to face, it seemed more polite. Instead, Thane said, "Good afternoon, Limue, may we come inside?" Lili graciously waved him in.
"Hey, Thane," said Nick, "thought that was you knocking."
"I am so terribly sorry to bother you both, but I was wondering if you might do me a favor?" Thane unhooked his cape, revealing the little girl nestled in his arm.
The response was immediate. Lili pressed her hands together and Nick's eyes widened. He quickly got up from the couch. "Heyy, who's that there?"
"I was wondering," said Thane, carefully monitoring the little girl to make sure she was not startled or scared, "could you tell me if she feels warm to you?" As a golem, Thane did not have nerves and senses like biological people. He could not feel temperatures, taste or smell. He could perceive texture and see and hear, but the other senses were lost to him.
Nick was quick to oblige, gently laying his hand across the little girl's forehead. The knitting of his eyebrows was clear answer. "I'm afraid so. Let me get you a thermometer."
Thane nodded his head. "Thank you." Nick went to get the device from the bathroom. In his absence, Lili gently brushed the little girl's hair from her face and signed her concerns to Thane. Are you sure you will be able to deal with this?
"Certainly," said Thane, "though it was unexpected." Lili nodded solemnly and gently brushed the little girl's hair from her face.
She is beautiful. Have you a name for her?
Thane smiled, an expression hidden behind his high collar. "Yes. Katherine."
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Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:32 am
Thane Magos kept Katie within his reach for the first few days, placing her bassinet in his study. Guided by the thermometer, he tended to her with traditional medicine and avoided magical spells. While it was unlikely she would have an adverse reaction to his magic, Thane had a great deal of experience with people from all sorts of universes and backgrounds and preferred not to take the chance. Medicines were more consistent.
It was unfortunate that her first experiences with the world had to be through a sickly lens, but Thane did all he could to lessen the injustice. She was soon out of it, and by the third day her color was healthy and her temperature settled and he had only the tiniest of coughs remaining. The troubled look on Katie's face disappeared and gave way to the sweetest smile imaginable. Her lips curled at the corners and her chin tilted down, big eyes looking up at Thane with shy love. When he hunched over to tend to or entertain her, she laughed, cutely starting and stopping just to make sure that as far as responses went, laughter was okay. Delightful as that was, Thane was quickly able to elicit from her a full-fledged laugh that sent her rolling in her crib by removing his gloves and reshaping his hands into pictures of things to tell a little story. Katie could not have understood what the shape of the bunny was, but she was delighted by the way Thane made it hop and dance.
The physical contact Thane gave to Katie was important, but it paled in comparison to the conversation he provided. She loved the sound of his voice: gentle, calm, warm, and wise. When he stroked her cheek she grabbed his fingers and babbled with enthusiasm far beyond her vocabulary.
She stood quickly once she was feeling better, her legs wobbly but strong. She was quick to pick up on the things Thane said, and her first real words were "Thane-kyu." It would be several days more before she learned that this was something to be said to all sorts of people and not just Thane Magos.
She also seemed rather attached to her outfit. When Thane removed it to give her a wash she was terribly upset, and then very disappointed when Thane tried to explain to her that she could not put it back on because the dress was still drying. Eventually Thane caved and applied a warming charm, but he sincerely hoped to teach Katie that, in general, magic was not an easy little fix for life's problems when they could be solved without it.
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 6:02 am
It was such a beautiful day that Thane decided to take Katie for a picnic. She did not know the word picnic, but watched as Then found a basket, filled it up with lovely foods, and folded a blanket at the top. "And now," he told her, "we go out."
"Out!" repeated Katie, beaming with happiness and waving her arms to be picked up. Thane was happy to oblige and carried her out the back door.
The backyard behind the cottage was as picturesque a meadow as could be imagined. Patches of flowers scattered about, birds swooping through the air and friendly butterflies floating about. Katie laughed a butterfly landed on the brim of Thane's hat, and was charmed when it flew away as she reached for it. "That is a butterfly," Thane informed her, but the word was much too long for Katie to try and mimic.
The meadow was quite hilly and Katie was amazed to find at the top of each little hill there was another. She looked back over Thane's shoulder and found the cottage was gone from view. Concerned, she patted Thane on the shoulder and pointed.
She did now know any words for house or home or cottage, but she knew one that might make clear her concerns. "Bed?"
"Are you tired?" asked Thane, looking back.
"Aaa," protested Katie. "Weerer?"
"Ahh," said Thane, and continued up to the crest of the hill, at which point the cottage came back into view. Katie gave a cry of happy exclamation and they continued on their way. Watching the cottage disappear and reappear as they went up and down hills became quite a novelty for Katie, and she quickly understood that no matter how small in the distance the cottage became or how many times it left her view, it was still there.
Thane picked a spot on a hillside that provided a lovely view of the valley below and the snowy mountains in the distance. Katie stood and pulled at pieces of long green grass he spread out the blanket, then delighted at the squishy, squirmy feel of the grass under the blanket.
They had crackers with strawberry jam and cream cheese and peach jelly sandwiches and a mix of raisins and dried cranberries. Katie ate the food and offered parts to Thane, who judiciously put them in his mouth and pretended to eat, then discretely disposed of the materials in the grass to the side. A grasshopper jumped right into the middle of their picnic and Katie gasped in surprise. "That is a grasshopper," said Thane, and when it jumped away Katie shouted, "Grazoppa!" She scrambled to her feet and stumbled after it, but it jumped away, and then jumped again, disappearing into the grass.
Thane laughed. "They're quite fast and hard to catch! Maybe when you're older." Katie shrugged her shoulders and toddled back to the blanket to finish her sandwich.
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Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 10:21 am
"How would you like to go meet our new neighbors?" Thane suggested to Katie. This seemed like a fine idea, so Katie agreed. "We should bring something to share with them, something everyone can play with, what would you like to bring?" Katie had to think about that a moment. Since their picnic, Thane had bought her a big box of butterfly stickers. "Baflies sitters?" "Excellent thought," said Thane. Box of stickers in hand, they walked down to Nick and Limue's house. Nick and Limue were very happy to see Thane and Katie and quickly introduced them to their new daughters. "This is Ella and this is Nina, say hi to Thane and Katie," instructed Nick. "Hi," said Ella softly, smiling. She had fangs and big black eyes and big green wings with a pair of little mouths at the tips. She was wearing a shirt with pretty pink flowers on it. "HI," shouted Nina. She looked nothing like her sister. Her skin was light-brown and there were black markings all over her head. Her clawed hands were busy tearing up the hem of her dress. "Hi!" smiled Katie. "Brought barfly sitters." She held out the box to show them. Limue signed a happy thank you at Katie and Nick said, "Wasn't that nice of Katie, girls? Why don't we take them into the living room?" In the living room, the girls set up together on the floor and the adults on the couch. Limue signed to Thane Magos. He signed back,
The girls spent several minutes stickering one another and were now enacting a very serious imaginary recreation of how to bake cookies. Ella had to demonstrate to Katie how it was done with imaginary eggs, flour, sugar, and everything else. (They at least had real bowls and spoons to play with.) Katie had to sit very close and lean in to hear Ella's whispery voice. "Open the eggs like this," Ella explained, pretending to crack one on the big mixing bowl. Katie nodded dutifully.
"GRAAWR!" shouted Nina, and reached in for the imaginary dough and pretended to throw it all around, laughing. Katie and Ella giggled.
Katie reached out a hand to grab some of the imaginary dough from the air and put it back into the bowl. "No, here." She was holding a mixing spoon and was looking forward to finding out when she would get to use it on the dough, as Ella had told her not yet.
"HHHHGH," sighed Nina, rolling her eyes and grabbing bits of imaginary dough to put them back in the bowl. "Make COOKIES."
"We are!" said Ella. "Now mix." Katie happily stuck her spoon in the dough and Ella did the same, but Nina had to go and get her spoon, which she had thrown halfway across the floor earlier. The three spoons jabbed around in the bowl for a while and then Ella removed hers and Katie did the same. "Stop, Nina."
With another sigh and eye roll, Nina stopped attacking the imaginary dough with the spoon and sat back. "COOKIES."
"Put the dough on the pan," said Ella. They only had a bowl, not a pan, so they pretended to put handfuls of dough on the living room rug instead. Nina pretending to squash the dough really hard into the floor. Then Ella got up, pretended to pick up the imaginary pan, and put it underneath the living room table, which was apparently the oven.
Nick leaned over to Thane Magos and whispered, "I think she forgot to preheat the oven." Thane chuckled quietly in mirth.
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Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 10:31 am
Katie soon proved herself to be quite the little thinker. Her favorite thing in the world had to be picture books, and while at first she just liked to look at the colorful illustrations, when she listened to Thane read them aloud she soon figured out that the funny black marks on the pictures were the words he was speaking.
She had quite a lot of picture books but never tired of them, or of trying to work out what they said, which she was able to do with Thane's help. "Baa-naa-naa," she worked out, which was easy to find because it had three of those little "a" marks and two "n" marks and started with a mark that had a line stickup up out of it. "Very good!" said Thane, and together they worked on writing Katie's name.
After picture books came crayons. Crayons were so much fun because with them you could make your own picture books, and Katie happily signed each picture she drew with her name: "Katie" -- though she occasionally wrote it incorrectly, as "Katite" or with the K or the E facing the wrong direction.
When she finished a drawing she would run and show it to Thane, who dutifully admired each for the masterpiece it was. Then Katie would show him how this picture came after that one and explain the story. More often than not she would ask, "Can you put that on here for me?" So Thane would take his quill, dip it in the inkwell, and write out the story's events. At first he wrote them on the back, but Katie said, "No, no! Here like in a book," and pointed to the front of the paper. Thane would write the story out on the front with the illustration and when the story was done, they would hang it up on the wall.
At first Thane had put Katie's drawings on the fridge, but that quickly became an overcrowded jumble, so he started to put them up on his office along in the wall in proper story order. There were so many wonderful stories. There was one about Nubi, a little girl, who found a yellow bird in the garden and then they became best friends. There was Kappi, a duck, and his friend Poogly the rabbit, who traveled to the mountains and then the forest and met the princess and the king. There was even a story about Ella and Nina down the street. Nina was very bad and spilled juice on Ella's pretty shirt but then a fairy made the shirt all better and they lived happily ever after.
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Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 11:51 am
If Thane had been at all worried that Katie, an only child, would want for friends, he would have found all those worries erased by the course of events. Between Ella and Nina down the street and Spencer and Hatshepsut across it, she had no shortage of interactions with children her own age, though it took some convincing to get Katie a playdate with Alden's pair. "I don't want to look after three kids, I don't even want to look after TWO," Alden had pointed out.
"Nonsense," said Thane, "I will be present as well." So Katie had her first playdate with Hatshepsut and Spencer.
They went through introductions and everyone said hello and then Spencer suggested the go look at his bug collection, which was comprised of dead bugs he found in the window screens and sometimes the yard. "This," he said, "is a bee."
"A bee," said Hatshepsut.
"A bee," echoed Katie.
"If you see one, don't touch it because it can sting you when it's alive."
"Sting, ouch!" explained Hatshepsut. Katie's eyes went wide.
Spencer continued, "This one's okay because it's dead but still don't touch it. Bees live around flowers a lot so be careful."
"Ahh," agreed Katie, studying the little dead bug intently.
Spencer was using a pin to move the bugs around in the little box he used for his collection. "This is a butterfly wing."
"Barfly!" exclaimed Katie, saddened. This was the wing, but where was the rest of the butterfly? And the poor thing was dead.
Hatshepsut noticed Katie's distress and patted Katie's arm. "It's okay," she said. She took off her big golden bangle bracelet and took Katie's hand, putting it on her. Spencer frowned. Jewelry was boring, bugs were interesting! And books!
"Want to go look at some books?"
Katie instantly brightened. Books! She liked those, too! They ran into the living room.
But the books Spencer were talking about had lots of writing and few pictures. Katie was confused. "Pictures?" she said, so Spencer showed her the encyclopedias, but there weren't any pictures of princesses and fairies or little boys and girls and their pets. There wasn't even any good story! "No, PICTURE books."
"But those are for babies!" whined Spencer. Hatshepsut stood quietly to the side and did not say that she thought Spencer's books were boring, too.
Katie sighed. "Crayons?" Hatshepsut and Spencer agreed that was a good idea, but Spencer was more than a little disappointed. He could not understand why the girls weren't interested in the same things he was. Maybe because they were girls. As he colored in a blue plaid vest on the boy in his picture, he wished there were some boys his age that lived on his street instead of girls.
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Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 11:51 am
The next time, Hatshepsut came to Thane and Katie's cottage. Spencer stayed at home to play with Carpenter, which was the name he had given the boy in the blue plaid vest who liked everything he liked. Hatshepsut was still learning vocabulary, but then, so was Katie, and they happily pored over Katie's picture books. "This is the prince," Katie told Hatshepsut. "He rescue the princess!"
"Princess," Hatshepsut said, pointing at herself. She pointed at Katie. "Prince."
"You wanna me rescue you?" Hatshepsut nodded. Katie grinned. "Okay! Need a monster." They looked all around Katie's room but Katie only had nice, friendly toys, and when Hatshepsut suggested them Katie would protest and go, "No! Mr. Flippy is nice, not monster," or "Jupi isn't scary at all."
Eventually they went to ask Thane about a monster. Thane sat back in his chair and considered. "A monster, hm?" Of course, he could hardly conjure up a real monster or a demon. Even if he bound one to his will it was too much a danger, and he had no desire to bind creatures anyway. His creator, Gayle Thanatos, had always found such arrangements a distasteful thing. It was cruel to force something into a contract. It was no better than slavery. Gayle might have created Thane, but he had always given Thane a choice.
Then Hatshepsut had an idea. "Ah!" she exclaimed, grabbing Katie's arm and Thane's cape and tugging insistently. "A monster! Butch!" Alden's dog had terrified her the first few days of her arrival, and even though he was sweet and loving now, he still was big and ugly and totally monstrous.
They ran across the street to Alden's, Thane following right behind, and banged on the door. "Back already?" said Alden when he answered.
"Butch!" said Hatshepsut.
"We need a monster!" Katie informed him.
"We thought we might move over here if that's alright?" said Thane.
Inwardly, Alden was groaning, but all he said was, "All right, just keep it down, I'm trying to work."
"In the yard," suggested Hatshepsut, which solved everyone's problems nicely.
"Can Spencer come play?" asked Katie.
"Aw, sweetie, I don't know, but I'll check," said Alden. He sent Butch into the yard with Katie and Hatshepsut, Thane Magos taking a watchful seat on the porch, and went to check on Spencer.
Alden opened the door to Spencer and Hatshepsut's room and the first thing Spencer said was, "Knock!"
So Alden sighed, knocked on the door, and said, "Katie invited you to play outside with Butch and Hatshep."
"Can't you see Carpenter and me are reading?" demanded Spencer, but even though Spencer had set up a book for his imaginary friend, Alden was having trouble seeing that from where he was standing.
"Don't shoot the messenger," said Alden. "I'm just letting you know."
Spencer sighed and got up. "Watch my place," he said to Carpenter, "I'll be back later." Alden was silently relieved Carpenter wasn't going to trying to join the girls because as patient and Katie and Hatshepsut might be, including Spencer's imaginary friend might be stretching it.
Spencer found the girls and Butch in the front yard. Katie was holding a stick and waving it around, Butch hopping up and down in excitement. Hatshepsut was standing with her hands clasped together and swooning. "My prince! My prince!"
"I'm rescue you, princess!" Katie promised, but she seemed to be having some trouble getting past the "monster." Finally, she threw the stick she was holding and Butch ran after it. "You, free!"
Hatshepsut jumped up and hugged Katie and they laughed, but then Butch returned with the stick. "Monster!" yelled Hatshepsut. "Eeeeee!" The monster promptly slimed her with his big, wet nose and tongue.
Katie spotted Spencer and waved. "Hi, Spencer! Come play! Hatsy is a princess and I'm a prince!"
Spencer approached, confused. "You can't be a prince. Only boys can be princes."
"It's make-believe!" said Katie.
"But you're a girl," said Spencer. Katie didn't hear him, too busy laughing and giggling as Butch bowled both her and Hatshepsut over.
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