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 Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 12:48 am
"No, he isn't a sort of Kelpie, Vox is a Kelpie. He's a man-eating beast hatched from a strange cabbage in my bathtub. And no, I'm not going to let him-"
Before Rit could finish her sentence Vox had moved past her and grabbed a hold of Lucien's hand, licking his fingers in the same manner he'd been licking his own. The blood was sweet, a little too sweet, and the small Kelpie quickly let the hand go for a moment before picking it back up. A beggar can't be a chooser.
"Vox, I swear that if you so much as bite him or-"
"I won't do anything wrong. I'm cleaning his wound, that's all. Kelpie blood and spit has the power to purify, you know."
It was true, as some part of the legends went, and as Vox cleaned Lucien's hand the area around the scrape seemed a little healthier as well.
"I know that, I'm the one who told you that. Just because you are what you are doesn't mean you know everything right away. You're just a baby."
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:23 am
Lucien felt his heart jump and squeeze its way into his throat when Vox came forward and grabbed his hand. He was scared--of course he was scared, Rit had just described the boy as a "man-eating beast".
And, well... he kind of expected Rit to restrain Vox a little more than she had.
Lucien trembled as Vox began sliding his tongue over his fingers, and if he wasn't so terrified, he might have marveled at the stretched, shiny skin that had begun to replace the crosshatched abrasion with every swipe of Vox's tongue. Abstractly, he felt some of the warmth return to his fingers as Vox cleaned between them, and gradually, (very, very gradually), felt some of the tension ease from his body.
"Thank you," he said quietly, adding an internal for not eating me alive before giving a quick, tight smile.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 5:21 pm
"Your blood is too sweet for me to get a good bite out of you."
Voc let go of the other's hand and licked his lips, the spirals that survived as his iris and pupils moving to indicate his gaze had moved elsewhere. He was looking at the snow that was slowly getting full of little holes, probably from water droplets that still seemed to come out of no where, and he poked his finger into one of the holes.
He may be a creature who enjoyed the blood of others, but he was still an infant. A curious one, at that, who seemed to have a child's attention span once his stomach was full of blood and whatever else Rit had fed him that morning.
"What are these? Holes. What made them?"
He looked to Lucien, wondering if the other knew.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 5:56 pm
Heart still beating spastically, Lucien pressed a hand down over his chest and swallowed down some of the tightness in his throat. He wondered if hugging Vox for being such a good sport and not devouring him would end up in Vox devouring him, and quickly decided that yes, probably.
Lucien turned his head to look to where Vox was looking.
"I don't know," he said, then, when, another droplet fell, "Oh! It's the water. It's making holes in the snow like our feet and hands do." Lucien puffed his chest proudly at having solved the mystery, and just as he went to place his finger in one of the holes too he felt two hands grasping his shoulders and tugging him back.
"Having fun, are we?" Grace asked, not waiting for an answer as her eyes traveled down his arm and to his hand. "You hurt yourself again. Dear God, can we not go out once without you hurting yourself? Oh, who am I kidding, you'd just knock yourself out with the microwave."
Grace looked up at Rit and made a face. "You're the parent here, why weren't you watching them more carefully?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:11 pm
"I understand it's water, but where is it coming from? None of these trees are dripping."
Vox frowned, clearly displeased with Lucien's response to him. He had hoped the other child would have given him a better answer, and he shook his head. As he did, small droplets of water flowed off the tips of his hair, splattering around him in a neat little circle, though it was odd.
How did this child suddenly have wet hair, when only minutes before it had been bone dry?
Rit turned and glared at the waking woman from the bench, her expression one that could peel paint, eggs, and probably cast death on small animals.
"Lookie here, lady. You were the one sleeping over there on that bench the whole time your child was left alone, so don't even get started with me. And I did protect your kid from getting hurt even worse - he did that injury to himself."
Rit reached over with her good hand and pulled Vox over to her own side, her glare never leaving Grace for a moment.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:19 pm
Lucien opened his mouth to protest, but hesitated at the sight of the water dripping from the other boy's hair. The cogs in his head working double-time, Lucien shrugged out of Grace's hands and took Vox's hair in his hands.
"It's coming from your hair!" He exclaimed like a bursting light-bulb. "Maybe it's because you're a Kelpie. In my book a Kelpie looks like a horse with a mane that's always wet. Maybe it's the same for you?" Lucien's voice got softer as he spoke, almost as if he didn't want to finish he explanation. Which he didn't. He didn't like the idea of being wrong and Vox seemed to be thinking him stupider by the minute.
Lucien took a step backwards, releasing the hair from his hand and shrugging. "Maybe," he mumbled.
"Oh, ho, ho, you're gonna question my parenting on the boy who radiates the energy of a very small supernova? Lo-how blow." Grace crossed her arms and took a step forward. "Look, I could sit here all day listing how much I really, really, really, really, really don't care but let's just skip to the part where you stay up late with a bucket of ice-cream and pinkie swear that your diet will start tomorrow, m'kay?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:39 pm
"Don't you mean the part where you go home, put on Bridget Jone's Diary, and cry your eyes out while eating an entire tub of Hageen-Daaz while swearing you'll never find true love? And in the mean time the child you're supposed to be watching is probably swallowing enough things to become a vending machine? Yeah, as if you can judge me on my parenting skills, Miss Holier-than-Thou."
Rit was not a woman to be messed with when it came to insults. Hell, she probably wasn't one to be messed with in general. If push came to shove she came out swinging and usually on top thanks to her profession, and she let go of Vox slightly as if to prepare for the need.
"Oh, I see about my hair then. My caretaker says my hair always leaks when I get hungry or feel antsy, so I must be one or the other right now. But I'm not allowed to eat until we get home, so I can't keep talking to you before I bite you. Even though you're too sweet."
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:01 pm
Grace's expression grew, if possible, ever harder, and although she'd never admit it (not even to herself), she was enjoying the back-and-forth between her and Rit. Put-downs, vindictive banter, and dry quips were what made her grim existence worth waking up for.
"It really is just super that you're here to remind me that I hate the human race, just super. Now, as much as I'd just la-hove to stay and chat, I really must be taking my battered son home and sheltering him from Beelzebub's spawn before it leaves him gasping for that one last breath of air before moving into the light. Thank you so much for taking care of him, really, if you're ever around my area be sure to call so I can repeatedly bash myself over the head with my phone."
Lucien looked over at Grace, his face burning, before looking apologetically back at Vox.
"I guess we'd better say goodbye before they start attacking each others necks, or before you attack mine," he joked weakly, bringing his hands together. "It was nice to meet you, Vox. I'm uh, sorry I'm so sweet."
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:16 pm
Rit had been taught, since she was very young, to not make the first hit. It was always let yourself get hit (weather the blow), and then when you kick the other person's a** if was entirely in self-defense. So, that being said, Rit had learn to grow up with a temperament that was really quite calm. She was mostly verbal, never physical, but there was only one or two times she'd hit someone.
And this was one of them. Cocking her fist back Rit cold-cocked Grace right in the eye, making the woman stagger backwards slightly. This little chickie could pack a punch, and as soon as the stinging in her hand stopped she grabbed Vox into her arms and looked down at Lucien.
"Say good-bye Vox."
"Good-bye Lucien. I'll eat you when you get older."
And with that, the woman ran off with her child in her arms.
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