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 Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 2:05 pm
"Can I open it?"
"NO!"
This conversation had been going on (much in that very fashion) for nearly a half hour. Youko was curled up next to the tree, arranging presents and swatting at Kaeru's hands each time the boy tried to make a grab for one of the brightly coloured packages. It wasn't Kaeru he was having this particular argument with, however... it was his daughter.
Raven was sitting, crosslegged on the couch with her skirt draped over her knees. In her lap was a small red stocking with her name emblazoned on the side. Youko had dropped by the GMFC to set up appointments for Raven and Omi, and had found it there to be picked up. From the moment he'd brought it home, she'd been poking at the small wrapped present that sat inside it.
"Why can't I open it?" she needled, glancing to her father out of the corner of her eye and picking at the wrapping paper with the tip of a fingernail. "It's not like it's HUGE or anything, and you always let up open presents on YULE before. Why the sudden need to make us wait til Christmas, we don't even celebrate it!"
Youko frowned then, setting his hands on his hips as his tail took a swipe at the boy who jumped at the first opening. "Normally, we DO. However, I got sick of hearing you gloat to your brother about being able to open your presents earlier than him, so now you get to wait, just like he does."
Snorting, Raven slouched back against the couch, poking at the present in her lap. "Not my fault he's a whiner."
"He's not a whiner. You would torment him until he was ready to kill you, then you'd call him a tattletale when he ran and told one of us to make you stop. This year, we're not having it."
That made the girl roll her eyes as she poked at the gift some more. "Can't I just open this ONE?" she pleaded, looking to him with the Eyes of Doom (TM) that had worked so often in the past. "Come on. It's just ONE. And if you let Kaeru open one too, it'll get him off your back."
Youko just sighed, narrowing his eyes. She had a point. "Fine. ONE. That's it." He slid a small gift to Kaeru too, watching the boy let out a whoop of glee.
"YES!" Raven nearly shredded the paper, not caring where it flew at the moment, and let out a squeal a moment later. "CEL PHONE!!! I got a cel phone, dad!!"
Youko blinked, tilting his head to the side. "But you already have a cellphone. I got..."
"Yeah, but this one's COOL!" Raven held it up, grinning from ear to ear as she watched the little cel cord swing back and forth. "I'm gonna call and get my number transferred to this one."
"Tomorrow," Youko reminded, glancing up with a smirk. He was, at the moment, supevising the shredding of wrapping paper from the frog toddler on the ground, and trying to hear through the happy screeches of 'HARRY POTTER' that came from the boy. Kaeru's 'early' gift was a three-pack of DVD's with the first three movies all wrapped up. Already, he was hoisting himself up to try and shove the entire case of one into the VCR.
"To-sa... movie?" Kaeru frowned as he received a held up index finger, designed to make him wait a moment. He chose that moment, however, to conveniently forget what that symbol meant, and headed for the TV on his own.
"What do you mean tomorrow?" Raven asked, her voice bordering on a whine.
"It's Christmas Eve, no place will be open today. Just relax, we'll get it turned on Monday, okay?" Scooping up the paper remnants, Youko headed for the kitchen. "Stop your brother before he breaks something."
Raven blinked, then looked over to Kaeru who was having a rather amusing time trying to slide the DVD case into the VCR. "NO!" she yelped, getting to her feet and diving after him. She scooped up the toddler under one arm, then with the other hand (thank gods for claws), she cracked open the case and started up the DVD player. "Go sit, I'll get it."
"MOVIE!!" Kaeru was grinning from ear to ear and crawled over to the middle of the floor to sit attentively.
As the previews started to play, she dropped back onto the couch, smirking wryly. "Dad??"
"Yeah?" His voice came from somewhere in the kitchen, where the smell of popcorn filtered through to the livingroom.
"What's Kendall's LEAST favourite song?"
"You are NOT getting Dancing Queen as your ringtone."
Pouting, Raven slouched into the couch again... a moment before a smirk crossed her face. "What you don't know..." she murmured, setting that notation aside for when she got the phone turned on.
"I mean it," he said, coming into the livingroom with a bowl of popcorn. "He nearly KILLED you for ruining his Lemon-whatever disc."
"Lemon Demon," she corrected, looking up at him. "And I didn't ruin it. I burned a CD with Dragostea din Tea on eternal repeat and printed a label to make it LOOK like his Lemon Demon CD."
The fox raised a brow, setting the bowl down. "And then put it in his car to drive him insane."
Shrugging, she just grinned. "He'll get it back eventually. Besides, he'll love me after Christmas."
"Oh?" He was about to take a handful of the popcorn when a long tongue shot out and scooped up a mouthful. "KAERU!"
The frog looked at him, smiling as he chewed. "Pah-cone..." he murmured, nearly spilling half the kernels out of his mouth.
Raven stuck out her tongue, shoving the bowl towards Kaeru with her foot. "He can have it. And yeah. I got him an Xbox 360 on reserve. The store won't have it til after the first of the year, but I'm giving him the reserve coupon in an envelope for Christmas."
Youko just turned and stared at her then, blinking. "How the hell could you afford that??"
Smiling, she pointed to her purse. "I got one of those credit card applications in the mail and filled it out. I'm now the proud owner of a Visa card."
Sighing, Youko plunked himself down on the seat next to her. "You'd better be careful... my credit's already screwed because of those things."
"It's alright. I've got it figured out." She picked up her purse, dragging it to her and pulled out her wallet. "With the job at the store, I get paychecks every week deposited into a checking account. Every two weeks, $100 gets yanked out and put into a savings account. Out of that, I pay the credit card off and give Ken gas money for driving me to and from work."
Sighing, Youko drooped faintly. When the hell had his kids grown up? "Just be careful..." he murmured, watching her intently. Thank gods, she hadn't started making noise about moving out.
Yet.
Kendall was already talking to Karma about it, he'd heard that much. Soon, Omi and Raven would likely do the same. He wasn't sure if he was ready for this just yet...
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Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 2:06 pm
Dear Diary Christmas was good this year. Raven has vanished to her room with nearly everything she got, and I doubt I'll see her again for quite some time. She got a PSP, some games for it, and I paid up her EverQuest account for a year. To say that she was excited is an understatement. I was surprised by her this year... I think my baby's finally growing up. She broke the news to me that she got herself a credit card. I just hope that she doesn't screw herself over the way I did with one. Still she used it to get Envy and I a set of crystal wineglasses with our names etched on them, and got her brother an Xbox. Shopping for Nozomi was relatively easy... she's not into the computer games and such like Raven is, so I got her a book on Japanese mythology, some new clothes and just gave her cash to use however she wants. Again, I doubt I'll see her for a while... she took off this morning soon after waking up. She'll probably come back with an armload of stuff. Kaeru was the easiest to buy for... and he made out like a bandit. A box of Legos, new movies, new clothes, a big box of Magnetix, and numerous toys and treats. He passed out cold in the wrapping paper before noon, one arm wrapped firmly around the plushie frog that he'd gotten in his stocking. When he woke again, the first thing he did was roll over and start taking stock of his toys again. I think he was afraid his sisters would take his things. All in all... a good holiday. I'm exhausted. Now that all three of them have stuff to keep them occupied for a few days, I'm seriously considering a NAP. Youkochylde
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Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 2:06 pm
Dear Diary Well, the Christmas holiday is over... presents have all been unwrapped and taken to respective bedrooms. The tree is still up, I can't quite bring myself to take it down just yet, or the rest of the decorations. Kaeru wants me to leave them up... he doesn't quite understand that they can't stay up ALL year. (despite the fact that a house down the street seems to leave their lights up year-round) So I'll be leaving them up til after New Year's, and then I'll get them down while he's out with Raven one day. She's already offered to take him to lunch and a movie so that I have a bit of 'alone' time and can get the stuff put away without the drama of a screaming child. He REALLY doesn't like the idea of the stuff 'going away'. Hopefully, he'll realise that it'll all come back next year. He's still too little to understand that this is a yearly occurrence, not just a once-in-a-lifetime shot. Hopefully, we'll have other stuff to decorate for soon. Valentine's Day is coming up (and Omi's birthday!), and then we have Yeande's birthday right afterward, in March. After that, we don't see another round of birthdays until July when we have Kaeru's, the twins, and mine. Looks like it's not just Christmas I have to save up money for...
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Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 2:08 pm
Dear Diary Dear gods, I'd hoped for a bit longer of relative peace. I awoke this morning to the most HORRIBLE racket I'd ever heard in my life. It sounded like someone was dragging a hogtied elephant down the stairs, and it dragged me out of bed with visions of murder dancing in my head. I met Kaeru halfway down... or at least I'm pretty SURE it was Kaeru. He's grown... right after Christmas, and he's grown. He's still demanding to keep his toys from Christmas, which is a relief. It would have been hell to take them back and get him new stuff. Still... you'd think that with all the toys and movies from Christmas, he'd have found SOMETHING to do other than to ride my teatray like a surfboard down the fecking STAIRS. >_< Raven took him out this morning to go shopping for new clothes. For all the good that'll do. It's STILL harder than hell to get him dressed and I don't see him going out much during the winter. He seems to hate the cold as much as I do, and made that clearly known when we had to get him bundled up to go to the store. Ah well. At least I have a bit of quiet to get BOTH eyes open before figuring out what to do with a now larger handful of energy. -Youkochylde
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Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 2:09 pm
(Part 1/2)
What a dismal and drippy day, it was too warm for snow to stay frozen but too cold to not wear a coat or a sweater as Syrcaid and Taylor sloshed their way to the front door. Taylor looked unhappy, soaked to the ankles in cold water and her hooves didn't allow her to wear human-shaped footcovers. Syrcaid had taken to going to every shoe store and inquiring around.
"I think tomorrow we'll have to find ankle wraps if nothing else, sweetlump," Syrcaid stroked Taylor's hair with sympathy. "Let's get inside as fast as we can - oh, but wipe your feet!"
Another seemed to also have the issue of no footcovers... but Kaeru had gotten around this problem by simply riding on Youko's shoulders, looking like a bundle of fleece.
"We almost there?"
"Yes." Youko glanced up, smirking faintly. "We're almost there, so you can stop complaining about the cold." It had become ritual. Getting the boy out of the house was a nightmare in and of itself, and Youko had gotten used to the resulting chase, tackle and fight to get clothes on the froglet. This last time... Kaeru had stubbornly stuck to the ceiling until Raven had gone and gotten a broom to knock him down. Youko refused to let his son become a recluse... especially now that he was growing and turning every normal household object into a weapon of mass destruction.
Kaeru frowned, clinging to Youko's head and shoulders, the wide violet eyes peering out from the hood of his winter coat. "It's cold, and wet and I HATE it out here. Why couldn't we just stay home??"
"Because you're going to get out of the house and make friends, and have FUN, dammit..." Whether you like it or not, his mind supplied, bringing a smirk to Youko's face.
"When snow is gone...it's water. Can we put snow into badtub and swim inside snow ?"
Dark otter eyes looked up at the woman who was holding on to his paw, so he wouldn't vanish like usual. Jacosa was definately fond of running around and looking at everything. Everything even covered dead flies.
But right now he was occupied with snow and hadn't stopped talking about it since Christmas and since he had been with his 'Grandma'. Stupid old woman, talking about fairy tales and other old woman making snow.
Andraste growled. She often felt sick throughout the day now and so she had decided to bring Jacosa into the well-known building to be able to rest. He was just too curious and annoying sometimes.
Some other people seemed to enter the building as well and so Andraste smiled and pulled the otter towards the big house. "Get inside, now. Quick." Jacosa squealed and toddled through the door.
Taylor was much happier inside where it was dry, doing her best to wipe her feet in a hurry before she ran for the main room. There wasn't as much open space here like there was in the park, but there was still room to stretch her ever-growing legs. She was at the point where she was getting very lanky and leggy, stretching up and tall. Syrcaid suspected it'd be yet another child that was taller than she was. Fortunately, S-D was her own height and could bully him into behaving since he was the only true brat amonst them all.
Syrcaid took her time taking off her scarf and coat, thankful to be inside as well. Inside it was quiet and dry, the holiday decorations still looked to be up along the walls but now with pictures and postcards pinned to the corkboards. Taylor even stopped to look at the pictures on the "New Arrivals" section for a few seconds before she scurried off to see if the playroom had any new toys.
"Off." Youko reached up once he was inside the door, picking Kaeru up and setting him on the floor. The moment the boy was down, he started to take off, coming to a rather spectacular halt as he reached the end of his scarf, which Youko had grabbed hold of.
The result was Kaeru getting his feet wiped out from beneath himself as he tried to worm free of the encumbering winter garb, and one fox trying like crazy to just CATCH him long enough to get him unwrapped without strangling him in the process.
"LEGGO!!" Kaeru was pawing at the fleece coat, rolling around on the floor and making more of a mess than was necessary.
Youko just sighed, grabbing a handful of coat hood and hauling him up to his feet again. "I would, if you'd sit still for just ten seconds." The boy obliged, reluctantly, and fidgeted as he was unwound. The moment he was free of the garb, he took off like a bat out of hell, darting into the warmth of the Fourth Wall center, dressed in nothing but a pair of board shorts and a t-shirt.
Some would likely call Youko crazy for dressing a child like that in the winter.
And he'd tell them to try and put anything MORE on the boy. Whenever Kaeru felt he had too many clothes on, he'd just leave them in a trail wherever he happened to be. It was better to have few clothes on him than none at all. The last time Kaeru felt 'trapped' in clothes, Youko had nearly wound up chasing a nude toddler around the mall right before Christmas.
The slush had made her forgo the stroller, opting instead for the baby carrier. She readjusted the harnass as it bit into her shoulders, struggling against Moss' constant kicking. She didn't think he would bother learning to walk, he'd skip straight to running the way those legs moved.
Pointing out random tidbits of doggie interest in a quiet voice, Quinn twirled her son's lond braided tail betwixt gloved fingers and thought on the cryptic message that had greeted her that morning. It went along the lines of, "Come to this address at this particular time. I gotta run, no time to explain."
She seemed to be getting a lot of that lately... She looked down at Moss and smiled, remembering the last such cryptic message and the life-style change it resulted in. She leaned forward and kissed the boy on the back of his stocking capped head. It had been worth it.
She knocked at the door while checking her watch; she was exactly on time.
"Snow is water, water is snoooow." Jacosa sang to his very own melody as he and his mother entered the building. The otter smiled and almost ran into a strange frog, who wiggled around a lot. Not disturbed by this in any way the toddler moved on and looked around for the toys. He knew there had been a ball last time.
Andraste sighed and greeted everyone politely. "Hey, I'm Andraste. That's Jacosa, nice to meet you." She sat down on a chair with a thud and just allowed Jacosa to look around on his own. He'd do so anyway.
Oh, there was someone else as well. "Howse ?" He knew them from cowboy movies.
"LEGGO!" Taylor heard, tall ears pricking up as she turned and saw something tumbling and green.
Instantly she bolted to greet it, but... what the heck was it? Was it a leaf? Was it a turtle? It talked, though! Taylor wasn't very chatty, but she was insatiably curious about everything. She stood stopping at Kearu and staaaared...
Syrcaid watched from the sanctuary of chairs that lined one of the walls, too aware of hard little stomping hooves to sit on the floor this time. Last time Taylor had made a lovely minced mousefoot pudding of Terry's feet. She hadn't wished that on her own feet since.
Kaeru bolted towards the main room, only to wind up finding his way blocked (rather unexpectedly) by a girl. Normally, he'd just skirt around, but this hadn't been anticipated, and instead, he barrelled right into Taylor, winding up in a heap on the floor. Even though he had grown, he was still small, and the frog boy twitched slightly as he stared at the ceiling. "Gravity works..." he murmured, blinking a few times.
Youko had let him watch Fern Gully recently, and Batty Koda was now his idol. Therefore, he used as many quotes as he could manage to fit into regular conversation.
The fox snickered, hanging up the coats and moving to shake the dampness out of his tail. He turned towards the other woman who had come in behind him and offered to help with her coat as well. "Good to meet you, Andraste. I'm Youko, that's Kaeru. We weren't sure if anyone else was going to be here today."
Taylor rolled without any resistance, too curious even about being bowled over and kind of just... waited to see what happened. It was kind of fun! As soon as her eyes stopped spinning in their sockets she looked up and started laughing.
"Oh, it works alright," Syrcaid noted, watching crosslegged on the chair. "It starts to really hurt when you get bigger, too. Cripes, if I fell like that I'd just lie there and wait for the crane to show up..."
Taylor pushed her long hair from her eyes, never having seen any of the newcomers before. She was still laughing when she pulled herself up into a sit regardless of who or what was on her still, absolutely delighted to have company. She let out a high pitched whinny, Syrcaid flinched.
"Sorry, about that..." Syrcaid apologised.
"Why does no one answer the door anymore..." Quinn wondered absently as she reached up to knock again and instead decided to just waltz in.
She opened the door slowly, incase someone was on the other side and called, "Hello? Um... Karma? Anyone?"
Andraste blinked as Youko helped her out of her coat. Usually she'd kick everyone who did so. Today she decided to mumble a 'thanks' and watch the kids. Oh...the frog had almost killed the horse..what was Jacosa doing now ?
The otter watched for a moment and then laughed. "Coooool !" His nose started to sniff as he was about to get to know the new persons' smell. They looked like they were funny people, perhaps they wanted to play with him ?
As the door was opened Andraste looked up and waved. "We're here. Come on, we've still place for another kiddo."
Youko glanced to the door as it opened, motioning the woman in. "C'mon, we're all in here. Karma isn't in attendance, however. She might be around later, though." He stepped inside fully to give Quinny room in the entryway. Now that he and Kaeru were unwrapped, he could get inside completely, where it was warm.
Kearu snickered at Syrcaid's comment, nodding softly. "A crane? Nah, you're not big enough for a crane. They're REALLY big and they pick up things that weigh tons." He startled slightly at Taylor's whinny, looking towards her as a grin spread across his face. Now THAT was a cool sound! "Do that again!!"
Syrcaid stared. Then burst out laughing.
Taylor smiled so hard her eyes were shut tight. Again? Okay! She took a big huff of air and whinnied again, sending it ringing around the walls. Syrcaid flinched again and hoped it wouldn't shatter anything valuable.
"Maybe we should've met at a Chuck E. Cheese..." Syrcaid suggested feebly.
Jacosa usually was the center of attention and now it felt a bit awkward that everyone looked at the horse girl. He scratched his head and decided that he'd probably just join in and be nice.
But somehow the sound hurt his ears. "You know sing show on TV ? You can go there." It was supposed to be a compliment, really.
Quinn's face flushed red and her mouth dropped open at the sight of the man who ushered her in. She did not know many other fox people and this man was... well... beautiful. She stammered a shy, "Hello" and edged into the room, freeing herself and Moss of their winter garments.
Loosening Moss from the carrier, she did an interesting juggle of baby, diaper bag and harnass as she removed it and then, just as she stuck out her hand to introduce herself to the lovely specimin of foxhood, Moss took the opportunity to place his giant, gapping, slobbery mouth full around her right breast.
Scarlet and horribly embarrased, she thrust the baby at the man and dashed off in search of a restroom, sobbing.
"Wouldn't have worked, we got kicked out of Chuck E Cheese when he was a toddler. They didn't take too kindly to him climbing the pipwork playground... on the OUTSIDE of the pipes." Youko said to Syrcaid, poking at one ear with his finger, trying to clear it from the ringing whinny. He was grinning, however, as he moved to assist Quinny, taking the diaper bag, harness and coat, and setting them with the rest. He liked being helpful, after all. And he didn't seem too surprised or perturbed by the green dogboy's sudden 'attachment' to his mother. He chuckled, however, clearing the way for Quinny and Andraste to enter the main area.
He watched Kaeru and Taylor then, glad that the boy seemed to forget the fact that he hadn't wanted to come here. The moment something interesting came up, the boy was ALL about staying. "She's beautiful," he said, commenting on the girl to the one that was obviously her parent. "I bet the infant years were murder with those lungs, though." Youko moved to curl up in a chair then, smiling as another child came to enter into the fun.
Kaeru was gleefully trying to imitate the sound Taylor had made... but instead, it came out sounding like a mix between a hoarse crow's cry... and that of a rooster being strangled. It SOUNDED fun, but he just couldn't do it. "That's so cool," he murmured, grinning from ear to ear. He saw the otter boy then and nodded at the comment. "Yeah!! She could sing really loud and make all the other people vote for her instead of for those other silly people. They just dance around to bad songs." He got up then, doing a rather amusing impersonation of Brittney Spears, including the butt wiggle as he tried singing 'Oops, I Did it Again'.
Syrcaid watched Quinn make a run for it and blinked. Taylor was completely oblivious, taken to looking for the building blocks and half sunken into the large plastic toychest.
"Ummm... what just happened?"
Youko kept Moss in his lap as he rested in the chair, hoping that his mother wasn't sick or something... then again, that's usually why people ran for the bathroom, especially when kids were involved. "No clue," he murmured to Syrcaid, settling Moss on one knee and bouncing him lightly.
Syrcaid listened as Youko went on about Chuck E. Cheese, trying her best to be polite about Quinny's hurt feelings. Trying hard not to laugh at things that were obviously very funny amidst things that were blatantly not funny, she'd taken to just biting down on her knuckle, eyes growing hot like she'd eaten something very spicy.
When the little frog started dancing she'd begun a very soft, high pitched squeal trying to hold down the laugh. This was proving difficult as Taylor watched Kaeru talk on and on and her jaw went slack in the concentration of watching his mouth move. Taylor wondered if he was one of those puppet thingies from public access television.
"Kermit!!" taylor blurted.
Syrcaid's face paled. "Oh, for ********..." she slapped her forehead and whispered.
Andraste had sat down as well and just watched, her arms crossed as she saw the stranger dashing off to the bathroom. She grinned. "Oh I can understand, must be the flu. I have this throughout the morning quite often now. Disease spreading or something."
"Sounds like your kids are just as much trouble as Jac is."
Jacosa smiled at the frog boy answered and started to squeal loudly as he saw the cool dance. "Dance, dance." He motioned and followed the other one's butt wiggling. His tail moved from side to side and he almost hit Taylor accidently. "Ooops...again...ooops..again." The Oops was obviously the favourite part, although he had no clue who Britney Spears was or what she did.
"Come on, you be a star." He waved at the girl and smiled.
Youko, however, hadn't made any pretense about holding in his laughter. He slid down in the chair and nearly had tears in his eyes as he watched the kids trying to imitate Brittney. He'd have to make SURE that CD went missing somehow, because he hadn't quite realised just how much Kaeru had been listening to it. At the comment of 'KERMIT', however, he let out a soft howl of laughter, head falling back onto the chair as he laughed. "Life with kids is NEVER boring," he murmured, wiping tears from his face.
Kaeru, however, stopped when he heard Taylor's shout, and stuck out his tongue, making a face. "Nah, Kermit's boring. He just sits around on a log and sings 'It's not easy being green', and dresses in ugly coats and hats. I do COOL stuff, wanna see?" He made a running start almost immediately, looking as though he was aiming directly for the wall.
"I can FLY!" He leapt, feet and hands clinging to one wall... then he used that as a springboard to dart to the side, jumping to a higher point on the other side of the corner... then leapt into midair, limbs wide as he spread his fingers and toes to catch the air. There wasn't a breeze in the room... at first. However, as he started to descend, a soft wind seemed to come out of no where, letting him glide across the room.
Youko, however, was out of his seat, Moss held in one arm as he darted for the boy. "Kearu, NO!" he yelled, reaching and catching the boy with his other arm.
"Awww.... DAD...!"
"Don't you 'aw dad' me.. No flying in the house."
Kaeru sighed, sliding down to the ground and half glaring at his dad as he sulked back to the other two kids. "It WOULD have been cool..."
Perhaps it was the stress, perhaps it was the mystery of the cryptic message, but whatever it was, Quinn had snapped. She ran down a long hallway, trying, in vain, to find a restroom. Maybe she could drown herself in the toilet...
A quiet burbling wail filtered out from somewhere and Quinn's motherly instinct, what little of it was left, got the better of her. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and stood stock still, large furry ears swiveling and twitching to pick up the sound again.
......
There! She made her way down the hall, creeping as quietly as possible on the wooden floors until she arrived at the source of the sound. Pushing the cracked door the rest of the way open, Quinn peered into the dim interior, shocked to see her name on a post-it stuck to a large aquarium.
She reached her arm into the room and swept it up and down over the adjacent walls until she found a light switch. Flicking it bathed the room in a cool, flourescent glow. She made her way over to the tank and examined the creature inside.
He was small, mostly white with a golden stripe along the top of his head and along his spine, with big, fuchia frilly gills floating lazily along the side of his head. He was about the size of her hand from the tip of her middle finger to the base of her palm. And he was smiling.
An envelope barring her name leaned on the glass and she picked it up and opened it, eyebrows raising at the contents:
Quinn~
Sorry I couldn't be here to greet you. Best laid plans and all that. This is Belen. He's an Axolotl. You will find an information packet enclosed. The box next to the aquarium has everything you need to get started -- a small bowl for carrying him, some food, toys, a nebulizer to strengthen his rudimentary lungs, a voucher for an aquarium...
Make sure you do his breathing treatments 3 times a day to help develop his land lungs. Let me know if you have any questions and GOOD LUCK!
~Karma
So... apparently she was to take the little guy home. He was kinda cute... Belen took the opportunity to float up next to the glass and shoot Quinn the small, adorable smile only an amphibian can give.
"That settles it," she said, smiling once more, "Time to go meet your brother." She scooped him out of the tank and placed him in the carrying bowl, hefting the box of goodies and the information packet under her other arm and made her way back to the main room.
Jacosa was sure he had just met the best person in the world. He had no clue about Kermits and Britneys but he knew that he wanted to fly as well. His eyes were staring at the boy and the otter gasped for air.
"Me wil do too !" The toddler announced and quickly ran towards the wall. Jump, now he just need to jump and - gonk !
A wail echoed through the room as the otter rubbed his head. Tears were dwelling out of his eyes. Why hadn't it worked ?
Andraste had almost fallen asleep as she heard the wail of Jacosa. "Oh no, Jac. What did you do ?" She quickly moved over to him and picked him up. "Looks like that's going to be a swelling."
"It's most certainly never boring," Syrcaid agreed, watching Youko slide up and down his chair.
Taylor just stood and stared watching Kaeru do all sorts of neat tricks and that mouth! It just never stopped GOING! Slackjawed she stood from the inside of the toychest and just watched him, slowly inching herself down to sit in the toychest to make it easier to sift through it. Syrcaid was used to Taylor climbing into the toychest and didn't discourage it. There'd be a time when Taylor couldn't fit into it anymore and that was one thing Syrcaid missed herself. Being able to fit into anything, for one, and secondly to be able to submerge yourself in the things you enjoyed the most.
"I hope everyone's Christmas or holidays went well," Syrcaid went on. "I just keep wondering what we're going to do when they all start becoming teenagers in big waves... I think by then we should pad these walls or buy an old asylum to let them loose in from time to time."
Sheepishly, she rejoined the others. "Sorry about that... I'm a little... new to motherhood." She motioned to the foxman, "You can just put him on the ground, he'll be fine. Thanks for watching him for me."
She smilied shyly and held out the bowl, "This is Belen... Oh and I'm Quinn and he's Moss..." She gestured towards her other son. "I guess Karma wants me to look after him for awhile... The frog child, he'll have a swimming partner soon it seems."
Having been forced back to reality by the arrival of Belen, Quinn was, for all accounts, calm. She bent down in front of Moss and held the bowl out to him, "Moss, sweety. This is your new brother, Belen. You have to be careful with him, alright. Just do nice touches... Do you remember what nice touches are?"
Apparently he did, for he reached out and stuck his hand in the water of the small bowl, running his fingers lightly over the Axolotl's stomach and giggling.
Grinning, Youko set Moss down on the ground after he was done tickling his new 'little brother'. "It's okay," he said, a soft chuckle coming from him. "At least he's got the gender right. My daughter tried to latch onto me one night when I was holding her and her brother on the couch. She hadn't quite figured out yet that her mother was the only one with the right plumbing."
As he settled back into his chair from the debacle, he cast an apologetic glance at Andraste, his ears drooping to the sides slightly. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "He tends to go a bit wild when he's excited, and he doesn't realise yet that not everyone can do what he does. He woke me up the other morning stairsurfing on a wooden teatray. I gave up trying to get him to quit after the next few hours... I just had to go and get him a metal one so that he doesn't break the good one."
This was news to Kaeru, however, and the frog's sullen demeanor shifted almost immediately. "You did?? SWEET!! Can we go home??" He hadn't seen this new tray yet, but it HAD to be better than the wooden one.
"No, not yet." Youko had just gotten settled, he didn't want to go back out into the cold yet.
"Damn."
"WHAT?" Youko's ears pricked straight up at that, and Kaeru let out a yelp as he realised he'd been heard.
"Nothing!!" The boy scrambled away then, darting towards the toybox where Taylor was. It had to be safely out of range over here.
Sighing, Youko rubbed his hand over his forehead for a moment, narrowing his eyes at his son. "It had better have been nothing... or I know someone who's going to have a sore behind for swearing."
That asylum was sounding better and better. However, he wasn't sure if it would be needed for the kids, or for the parents by the time they reached their teens.
Andraste gently put Jacosa back onto his feet and as the otter saw the aquarium he forgot about his pain. "Fish ?" It looked like it, but it seemed a bit too big for a fish. Usually he ate it in small portions.
The mother giggled as she listened to Youko's story. "Oh I can imagine the little one's face." Deep inside she just noted that she would never buy tea trays. Never. Not with Jacosa around.
The otter poked the glass slightly and tried to peer inside.
Syrcaid watched things move along as they always had, new parents showing up. Not-so-new parents sharing sympathy for each other, but also that no one seemed to really regret having a child despite the difficulty. Then it occured to her amidst her small attention span that she'd failed to introduce herself and Taylor to anyone.
"D'oh!" she shook herself into reality. "I'm so sorry. I'm Syrcaid and the one inspecting the plastic tub full of legos is Taylor. I just take a lot of things for granted sometimes, I forget that not all of us have met. I'm so used to Taylor just accepting everyone that comes in and greets us."
Belen swam up to the glass and peered back at the otter. He blew a few bubbles at him and then, in a truely inspired bit of excitement, Belen peeked his head out the top of the bowl and spit a stream of water at the otter before plunking back down into the bowl.
Quinn giggled and wiped the boy's face, "No, sweetie. He's not a fish. He's called an Axolotl. Can you say Ax-oh-lot-ul? He's an amphibian... like Kaeru. He breathes water, instead of air like you do."
Quinn continued to hold the bowl carefully before her, in case any of the other children were curious.
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Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 2:10 pm
(Part 2/2)
Moss crawled over to Taylor pulled himslef up using her tail for leverage. This was the first time he had ever stood on his own and he suprised himself a little by the ability. He bobbled back and forth, tossing Taylor's tail side to side, before ultimately plopping onto his diaper padded behind.
He didn't let go of her tail, however. Instead, he picked up his own braided version, putting the two together and wiggling them back and forth, cooing happily.
Andraste was about to fall asleep again as she heard Syrcaid's voice. "Uh huh, really nice to meet you..." She was barely able to keep her eyes open.
Jacosa instead was completely awake and squealed loudly as he got wet. He really loved water so he wasn't mad at the fish. But wait, hadn't the woman just said he wasn't a fish ?
"Axe-ohoo-lot-L." Jacosa tried to pronounce it right and grinned. "Wanna be friends with me ? Others don't like, because me cannot fly. But Cosa can dive, very good. Not good like you, but good too."
His tail flicked from side to side as his nose came closer to the water surface as he talked.
"Good to meet you," Youko replied, relaxing again as it seemed that Kaeru was finally settling in. He was always so rambunctious when he first arrived anywhere. However, he had a feeling he should have kept the tea tray to himself... now the boy was going to be nagging him incessantly the whole way home.
He turned his attention to Quinny and the bowl she was carrying, remembering fondly when he'd first received Kaeru. It was going to be good to have the froglet around the house... especially with Raven and Omi both getting to the age when they would likely start wanting to move out. He wasn't quite sure he could handle an empty house just yet.
Kaeru had gotten his attention firmly on the Legos that Taylor was playing with, the boy dropping down to sit and watch her. "What'cha building?" he asked, tilting his head to the side faintly. It was good for him to have a focus to his curiosity. Or in this case, at least a SAFE focus for it.
Taylor was using her teeth as Moss used her tail for leverage, she didn't mind things crawling on her. She watched him as she tried with what arm muscle she had to pop open the lid of Legos. For such a child friendly label it sure was hard to-
PSSSSSHHH!!!
Taylor looked surprised as a confetti of Legos flew out like shrapnel and sprayed across the carpet. She watched it fall with curiosity, wondering if the box was supposed to do that.
"That's going to hurt if you step on it," Syrcaid said numbly. "At least they aren't metal jacks. Stepping on those little jacks made of tin are excruciating."
Taylor looked to the two nearest her and started laughing again, this time snorting as she took in air. Syrcaid watched her and started laughing herself up again.
Quinn reached out and ruffled Jocasa's hair, "I'm sure Belen will be friends with you, Cosa. He likes to swim, just like you do. But he's not a big boy yet, like you are, so we have to be very careful with him, ok?" She held out the bowl so the boy could peer in.
Belen smiled at Cosa, which seemed to be his response to most things. He peaked over the top of the bowl again, tiny wheezing noises emminating from his rudimenary lungs.
Moss' eyes went wide as the Legos cascaded down. He was shocked and almost started crying until everyone else started laughing. He sniffled a bit, but then began to giggle.
Kaeru let out a shriek at the rain of Legos, covering his head for a moment... until instinct got the better of him.
Small object.
Moving fast.
GET IT!!
His tongue darted out, catching a Lego and snapping it back into his mouth a split second before he realised what he'd done and tried to remove it. His tongue was left hanging out of his mouth, a bright blue block dangling from it as he let out a sigh. "Aw mannnn... ged oph meh..." He caught hold of the block, tugging at it until it snapped free, and he made a face. "I hate that."
Snickering, Youko shook his head. "Go wash it off at least, no one wants to play with your spit."
Kaeru nodded. At least THAT, he understood well enough. Spit-covered toys were icky. He got up, carrying the block with him to the bathroom and disappeared inside, shutting the door. A moment later, the sound of water running in the sink could be heard.
Turning back to Syrcaid, Youko nodded emphatically. "Jacks... but dice are worse. My oldest boobytrapped the stairs leading down to her room in the basement by covering them with four-sided dice. Not sure who she was trying to trip up, unless she was laying bait for her brother."
In the meantime Andraste was completely asleep and her head was slowly moving down as she breathed heavily.
Jacosa smiled. That was a nice woman and hopefully Belen would really like to be friends. He had never been called a big boy before, usually he was just otter. "I have a new pet. She is called otta, she swims too. But she is no otta, she is ...other white thing. Came out of a shell."
He reported to the lady and poked one finger into the water. Belen should grow quick so they could play.
Belen plunked back into the bowl, swimming circles around where Jocasa swirled his finger. He bubbled and spun and twirled, excited with the interaction.
"What kind of creature is you new pet, honey? Oh, good job, Cosa. Those are good nice touches. You see, he is playing with you!" Ever watchful, Quinn just caught Moss trying to put some Legos into his mouth.
"HONEY! NO!"
Her shout startled him and he began to sniffle and whimper a bit, the usual baby crying sounds replaced by the canine variety. He raised his hands to Taylor. He wanted to be picked up and snuggled and she was close and appeared to be big enough.
Jacosa was startled as he was asked about the pet and seemed thoughtful for a moment before he quickly moved over to Andraste and tugged on her trousers. "Moommmy...what kind of pet is Otta ?"
Andraste blinked very tiredly. "Lucarin, Jacosa. Some kind of sea monster thingy mix..." She muttered before dozing off again.
The little one was satisfied and moved back to the bowl. "It's Lucarin." He repeated and turned around. If the Axo likes his finger, it would definately like his tail. As gently as possible he poked it into the liquid.
Belen dove to the bottom of the bowl as the giant tail came right at him. He was very little -- only about 6-8 inches tall -- and that tail was very big. But it entered the water gently and didn't move much after that.
He swam up to it curiously, latching on with his sticky feet and climbing onto its leathery surface.
Quinn grinned, knowing just what the boy was taking about and watched interestedly as he dipped his tail in, delighted to see Belen investigate.
Youko lounged in the chair, smiling as he watched the otter boy and Belen play. They were so CUTE when they were that small... and he idly remembered Kaeru as a tadpole, swimming in the tub.
Kaeru.
Blinking, Youko sat up, looking around. What was taking the boy so long?
There were sounds of splashing from the bathroom, and the fox felt his ears droop as he got to his feet and headed down the hall. Oh gods, please don't let him be... As he pushed the door open, however, THAT hope was dashed.
Kaeru was clinging to the side of the toilet bowl, the seat raised and bubbles filling up the porcelain bowl as he swished his hands around and sent the Lego into a spiralling death whirlpool. He'd abandoned the sink... he hadn't been able to find a drain stopper, and the water was still running where he'd forgotten to turn it off.
"Incoming, incoming!! We're under attack! Battle stations!!" Kaeru splashed in the water, sending small waves over the side and onto the already sopping floor. "BATTA-TATTA-TATTA-TATTA-TATTA-TATTA... TAKE THAT ENEMY SCUM!" As he shouted, he made 'machine gun' motions with his hands, fingers poking into the water at the helpless Lego 'ship'. "TORPEDO!!" With that, both hands smacked down into the water, sending half the contents of the bowl spilling out everywhere.
Now the small bathroom was flooded with water, suds and the remains of the S.S. Lego. Youko let out a yelp as the bottom half of his pants got soaked, and he scooped up the boy immediately. "What are you DOING?!?"
Jacosa felt a shiver down his spine as something climbed up his tail. It felt very very strange and his tail was very sensitive. It tickled. Jacosa started to giggle and almost pulled his tail out of the water. But he didn't dare to hurt the axo. Hadn't the lady said that it could only live in water ?
Just as he thought about this option of life he heard noises from nearby. It sounded like the bathroom.
Andraste slowly awoke as she heard the voices and yawned. "Uh...Jac ?"
"Winter sucks," Trio muttered, Makana's hand wrapped tightly in her own. She caught the outside door, hauling it open and pinning it there with her hip as she ushered Makana inside - the catgirl looked more than a little awkward in feet hidden by oversized, strangely-shaped boots. It didn't seem to matter that her feet were completely protected; she still walked carefully, lifting her foot and shaking it before taking the actual step forward. "Hurry, sweetie."
The rest of the abyssinian was bundled up in a purple and silver snowsuit that looked like it had already seen a fair bit of wear and tear. She had a blue hat under the hood, the edge of it drooping down over her eyes, and her scarf was a pretty green, still seeming new. And from all accounts, she couldn't wait to get out of it, shedding the coat as soon as she reached warmth.
Trio ducked in after her, shucking off a winter coat and hanging it on the wall as she watched Makana shedding her own suit. It took a few minutes before the girl was ready to head inside, and by then she was eyeing the other children warily, hanging back near her mother's legs.
Wiggling his fingers and toes in the soft and never before felt fur, Belen ducked his head in the water again and then climbed farther up onto Jocasa's tail, gripping it with all his amphibian strength.
Quinn's head whiped towards the sound of Youko's yells and broke into a belly laugh, jiggling the bowl that held Belen as she was racked with fits of laughter. Tears leaked from her eyes and she was having difficulty breathing so when Trio entered, all she could do was wave and gasp, "Torpedo!"
Moss eyed the newcommers with interest from his spot on the carpet. Something instinctually told him that this girl would be a fun playmate, but he wasnt sure why. He liked girls though... Whimpers fading, she crawled over to her, yapping his cute little puppy yaps and begged to be picked up.
Andraste waved at the newcomer as she got up very tired. "Time to get home, Jacosa." She checked her watch and yawned. Somehow she was tired quite often throughout the last days.
The otter just giggled hardly as the little amphibian clinged to him. "Lookit, Mommy !" He laughed and shook his tale slightly. They needed to go, he didn't want to, but they needed to look after his pet.
Youko stared at the destruction of the bathroom and let out a whine. "We've got to get this cleaned up," he murmured, setting the boy down and directing him towards the towels that hung from the rack on the wall. As Kaeru was about to open his mouth and argue, Youko held up a hand. "Not if you've got any shred of survival instinct left."
That did it. Kaeru shut his mouth immediately, and set about mopping up the water with the towels, handing the dripping cloth to Youko to wring out in the sink before starting up again. It didn't take long for the two of them to get it reasonably clean... and the rest would dry easily enough if they left the door open.
When they re-emerged, Kaeru was acting as though nothing had happened, holding up the Lego triumphantly. "It's clean!" he crowed, darting back to the box of coloured bricks and settling himself in the midst of them.
Youko, however, was scowling at the soaked-from-the-knees-down jeans he was wearing, and his ears were flat against his head. "That's the LAST time you watch Pearl Harbour," he growled, settling into his chair again as Trio and Makana entered.
Trio blinked at her long-time friend, keeping her expression as steady as she could manage. The tell-tale trembling of her lips and slight shaking in her voice was enough to give away how hard she was trying to hold in laughter. "I thought Shiro and Annora were the two water fanatics..." She waved to Quinny, then nudged Makana further into the room, eliciting a soft whine of protest. Makana took two steps forward, then about three back as Moss came at her, eyes huge. When she ducked behind Trio's legs, the woman bent down, scooping Moss up and settling him in her arms with easy comfort.
"Thought I'd come see if the place was still standing after Christmas."
Quinn reached down and scooped Belen off of Jocasa's tail and back into his bowl. He was beginning to dry out and the wheezing was getting to her. She patted the otter boy on the head and whispered, "You need to be a big boy and help mommy go home. I promise you and Belen can play together again soon, ok?"
She was still a little red from all the laughter, but the shade changed from mirth to concern as Trio scooped Moss into her arms. She fumbled for what to say, deciding ultimately that perhaps if she said nothing, the boy would keep his hands to himself.
Cocking her head to the side, she peered around Trio, smiling and waving her fingers at Makana.
Moss cooed delightedly at having been picked up. While this lady wasn't his intended target, she was warm and had fun squishy parts just like his mommy. Talking nonsense to himself, he burried his face in her bosom, patting either breast with his tiny hands.
"It's standing," Youko replied weakly, grinning at the woman and opening his arms to try and coax her into coming in for a hug. HE wasn't moving just yet. "But barely. My son just tried to drown a Lego and flooded the bathroom... but other than that, it's relatively calm." He stopped then, staring at the little cat girl behind Trio's legs.
"Is that Makana?" he asked, eyes widening as he smiled. "Gods, she's grown..."
"HI MISS TRIO!" came the shout from the pile of Legos, Kaeru waving a hand frantically to try and get her attention.
Andraste took Jacosa's paw as he nodded friendly. "We play soon, Belen. I can show you my pet. He smiled as they left the building.
"Bye," Trio called out belatedly, seeming to take no notice of the little boy currently mauling her chest. "How are you two? And hey Youko? The drowned-rat look doesn't suit." She flopped down beside him, leaning in to kiss the kitsune on the cheek before catching one of Moss's hands and moving it away from her chest absently. "Hi, Kaeru!"
Makana found that her mother was moving a bit too quickly away... WITH the odd dog-boy, and she skittered after Trio, wide eyes peering warily at everyone.
Youko's ears pinned as he snorted towards Trio. Still, the corner of his mouth curved upwards as he did. "Smartass," he murmured, snickering faintly. Looked like they were going to be here a bit longer than he'd planned... at least until his jeans were to the point that they wouldn't turn into icicles when he stepped outside.
Kaeru, however, was oblivious to the discomfort of his 'father', happily building the World's Tallest Lego Tower in the corner, and doing a bang up job of it, if the first levels were any indication.
"Hi, Makana," Youko said softly, resting his head against the side of the chair as he watched the little girl. Gods, but she was growing quickly... and looked to be FAR less outgoing than her siren sister.
So much for that theory... Quinn thought miserably as she watched Moss debase Trio's breasts. She waited for her to shriek or to throw the boy to the ground, but her new friend simply took it in stride. Maybe it wasn't as horrible a trait as she thought...
"Um... do you want me to, um..." she floundered, hands grabbing out and then pulling back up to her body, "I can take him..."
Moss latched onto Trio's fingers, pulling them to his mouth and gumming them happily.
Belen popped his head out of his bowl and eyed the shy little girl curiously. So many new encounters today!
"You've always known I'm a smartass, Youko. That's why we're friends," Trio returned, before glancing at Quinny oddly. "No way. Mine are grown, I wanna snuggle a little longer. I'll let you change his diaper when it's time, though," she added, winking and tugging lightly at her fingers. His suction seemed strong, though, and she ended up choosing to leave them in place, reaching with her other hand to move his fingers. "Friendly sort, isn't he?" she added, with a teasing grin.
"H'lo," Makana murmured, edging up beside her mother before Belen caught her attention. Instantly, her eyes lit up, and she crept closer, tail swishing lazily behind her as she followed the amphibian's movements. One hand lifted, fingerpads resting on the cool glass very carefully.
Quinn was genuinely suprised at Trio's reaction. She was most definetly not horrified. "Yeah... friendly... You mean, its ok with you... the, the..." her voice dropped to a whisper, "grabby hands?"
Belen's tiny hand snaked up and he issued the side to side motion that he had watched everyone do to each other in greeting, a gentle smile directed at the furry little girl.
Trio blinked. "Why would I mind?" she asked, in honest surprise. "It's not like HE knows what's going on. All he knows is 'there's milk in them thar hills'," she laughed, ruffling Moss's hair. "Now, when he's eighteen and still groping me? Then we'll have a talk."
Makana watched Belen curiously, then waved back shyly, brightening. "Hi," she whispered carefully.
Quinn smiled in relief and confusion, "But that's just the thing. I've never breast-fed him or given him any indication that that is where food comes from. Its like he just KNOWS... Its a little unsettling."
Quinn leaned over to Makana and offered quietly, "He's just a little guy, so he doesnt talk much yet, but you can play with him if you are gentle. He needs the water to breathe and to keep him moist, but you can take him out of his bowl for a little bit if you want, since I dont think you would like the water..."
Moss looked up at Trio and grinned, "Meeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhh," he exclaimed, breaking up into giggles as he tugged on one of her braids and matched it up to his own tail.
"It's just instinct, probably. Or maybe his other parents breast-fed him," Trio pointed out, offering a smile.
Makana looked up at Quinny very seriously, hesitating before cupping her hands and holding them out so that Belen could rest in them. Before the tiny boy could be placed in her arms, however, Trio reached over Youko. "Not yet, sweetie. Quinny, can you make sure she's sitting beside you first? I'd rather she be stationary."
Makana wilted, but moved to crawl up and nestle between Youko and Quinny.
Carefully, Quinn reached out and scooped up her aquatic son, rubbing him with a bit of the lotion from the box Karma had provided. She smiled down at the serious child, waiting for her to ready herself before placing the frilly-headed boy in her eager lap. "Just make sure you're gentle, ok? And let me know if you think he needs more water and I'll help you so you dont get wet."
Belen scampered around excitedly, making short bounces from one side of the girl's lap to the other. He gurgled a bit and smiled adoringly at her.
Makana was clearly in heaven, completely forgetting to be shy as she watched the tiny boy bounce around her lap. She made no move to touch him, but watched him like a hawk, hands hovering above him carefully. "I Makana," she whispered, this time quiet for the intense concentration, rather than timidity.
Trio chuckled, watching her daughter for a few before leaning back. "She loves small things," she noted softly. "Especially animals."
Youko smiled, watching the two interact as he kept one eye on his son. It wasn't that he didn't trust the boy... he DID. But Kaeru had enough impulsivity for a herd of cat-n** strung felines, and he wasn't about to turn a blind eye to that after the bathroom incident.
Kaeru, for his part, was happily playing with the Legos... until his tower started to wobble. Then his goal changed from creating the largest tower, to TOPPLING the largest tower as he stood up and snarled like a monster. "I AM GODZILLA!!! RRRRAAAAAAAARRRGHHHHHHHHHH!!! FLEE IN TERROR, MORTALS!!" He stomped through the Legos then, sending the tower crashing down in the hundreds of pieces that had made it up.
The fox just facepalmed, wincing slightly. "I don't give him sugar, I swear..."
Belen watched her as she spoke, ceasing to move as he concentrated. "Bellbellbellbell," he finally managed to sputter out, grinning from fuchia frill to fuchia frill.
Wheezing a little in the excitement, he used his sticky feet to climb the girl, making a final perch on the bridge of her nose, grinning and peering from one eye to the other.
Makana went cross-eyed, sitting rigid and whiskers quivering. Her ears were flat against her skull, but she wasn't about to grab the tiny boy and possibly hurt him.
Trio snickered, eyeing Quinny before glancing at Youko. "I don't think you NEED to," she muttered, tilting her head and laughing. "He's just as I remember."
"Ehehe..." Youko wilted slightly, watching the 'rampage' over in the corner. "Start cleaning up, kiddo," he said, lifting his voice so that he could be heard. "We have to get heading home."
Kaeru froze then, one foot in midair as he looked to Youko with an expression akin to someone who'd just lost thier puppy. "But WHYYYYYYYY..." he wailed, crocodile tears starting to form. "We just got here, and you said I needed to get out of the house, and now you're making me go home and I don't WANT to!" Before Youko could react, the boy had jumped upward, scaling a bookshelf and positioning himself on the ceiling near the wall. "No! I wanna stay!"
"An hour ago, I couldn't get you out of the house!" Youko replied, sighing as he got to his feet and headed for the side of the room. There was a window there... if he was lucky, he could get on the sill and reach up to pry the boy down.
Kaeru skittered forward, moving so that he was clinging in the centre of the room, one hand wrapped around the light fixture. "But now we're out of the house and I wanna stay!"
So much for that idea.
Youko stood in the middle of the floor, staring up at the boy with his ears pinned back. "Come DOWN here," he hissed, trying to avoid making a bigger scene than they were already. "Don't make me get a broom..."
It took a lot to take Moss's mind off of female endowments, but a frog scrambling around on the ceiling was a good enough distraction. His head tipped back and swivveled as he tracked the frog, barking wildly and having a great time.
Belen watched Makana's ears move and felt about his own head for similar features. Finding none, he climbed the rest of the way to the top of her head and peered into them, wondering where they led.
Having simialr ears to Makana and having just watched Youko's go back on his head in anger, Quinn got a little worried that the kitten was uncomfortable in some way. "You doing ok, honey? Need any help with anything?"
Trio's eyes widened as she watched Kaeru. "Uh... Youko?" she asked quietly. "Want some help there?
Makana, on the other hand, had her nose wrinkled up tight, sitting very very still so she didn't dislodge Belen. "Tickles!" she complained, no longer quite so quiet.
"I think I've got it," Youko growled softly, trying to keep his cool. He tapped one foot idly, staring up at his son, who was dead set AGAINST coming down now.
"Can't we please stay? Just for a bit longer?" Kaeru was sniffling now, curled up in a ball as he stuck to the ceiling.
Sighing, Youko shook his head. "Not tonight. We can't, Kaeru, we have to get home and make dinner." Finally, he remembered that one ace in the hole he still had. "Besides. You need to get down here and clean up the Legos first... then you can test out that new metal tea tray while I figure out what we're eating tonight."
Well, THAT changed everything. Within two seconds, the boy had dropped down, landing first on Youko, then bounding over to the toys. "OKAY!"
Belen's weezing was getting louder, so Quinn picked him up and dipped him back in his bowl for a moment. "You are doing very well, Makana. I just need to rehydrate him and then you can have him back... There." She placed the Axolotl back in the child's hands and reached over to scratch Moss behind the ears.
Now that Belen was back in her lap, Makana's grin returned, a soft rumbling purr beginning to start up. She lifted a finger, hesitantly touching his head carefully before looking up at Quinny with wide eyes.
"That's right, sweetie. Be gentle," Trio murmured, even as she set Moss on the floor for a few moments to get up and walk to Youko. "You're not leaving here without giving me a hug, mister!"
Belen nuzzled into the finger Makana presented, rubbing his frilly gills back and forth over the girls hand. He liked the rumbling noise she was making and made several amusing attempts at reproducing it.
Snickering, Youko held out his arms for a hug, pulling her close and nuzzling against her hair. "Yes, mom," he murmured, smiling still. "Like I'd leave without one, you know me better than that."
Kaeru picked up all the Legos in record time and zoomed past the hugging pair on his way to the coatrack. He tried to jump up and grab HIS coat, but it was under Youko's... and the crazy puking lady's... and Moss's... and Miss Trio's...
So he wound up sitting in the middle of the mudroom with a pile of coats on him as he yelled. "Will I be warm enough like this??"
Trio laughed, releasing Youko with a grin. "You need to come to dinner, soon. Shiro and I haven't seen you in forever!" she chided, even as she moved to sit back on the couch. "Bye!"
Makana beamed, purring at Belen and stroking the skin carefully. "Pretty," she whispered.
Rolling his eyes, Youko moved to disentangle the boy from the coats, trying to make sure they were all hung back up where they needed to be. "Count on it!" he called back over his shoulder, finally managing to bundle up Kaeru and pull on his own coat.
As he was lifted up to ride on Youko's shoulders again, Kaeru waved wildly to the others, grinning. "Bye Miss Trio and cat girl and salamander thingy and Miss Foxthing!"
Chuckling, Youko waved as well, pushing his feet into his boots. "Bye, you guys. Take care! And Trio, you guys can come over for dinner too. Gimme a call later this week." With that, he ducked out the door, shutting it behind him before too much cold air could come in.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:48 am
Youkochylde Dear Diary - Well, I've done it. I've managed to get Kaeru OUT of the house before spring. Granted, he gets cold quickly and we have to keep an eye on him to drag him back inside the house before he turns blue, but we managed it. After much debating between myself, Omi and Raven, we came up with a solution that was just so crazy, it might work. We got him a snowboard. My house is now surprisingly MUCH more quiet, and the metal tea tray has been sitting dormant in his room for three days now. Instead, he's been going outside, shovelling snow from our yard and nearly every one of our neighbors' driveways to bring it INTO our yard... and has managed to make a pretty decent 'snowboard park' in the back of the house. The neighbors don't mind. It's not every day that someone offers to shovel their driveways for free, and none of them have yet come to me wondering why my kid puts all the snow in a BIG box on a sled and carts off to our place. I'm sure that'll be an amusing conversation when one of them does. I don't think Karma's got ANY snow left at her place... I stopped him before he could climb up on the roofs and get snow from up there. That would be an emergency room visit, I'm pretty sure of it. Anyway... it's got him out of the house, it keeps him occupied, and he's actually getting pretty good at it. Raven's made note that I'll probably need to get him a surfboard come summertime. We'll see about that... but for now, this'll work just fine. Youkochylde
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 10:33 am
The door of the office building was pushed open with a soft grunt as Sajhiri shouldered her way inside. She wasn't paying overly much attention to her surroundings, as her eyes were scanning over a piece of paper in her hands. The confusion caused by the note from Karma asking her to come to this address for a 'pickup' was written all over her face, from the furrowed brow to the pursed lips.
A pale face poked in the egress after she passed, a hand adjusting a pair of spectacles balanced on a non-human nose. Saedare called after Jhiri, "Do you want me to give Rebecca her bottle, mother?"
Sajhiri blinked and turned to look at the Aduthule woman and she nodded after a moment. "Oh, yeah sure, hon. I'd appreciate that. If she starts screaming, you can put her in the stroller and head around the block. You know how she hates the truck if it's not moving."
Saedare smiled and disappeared back outside where a large silver truck was parked.
Sayuri pushed open the door with one hand, the other supporting a just-walking Aini. Sayuri stooped as she entered the Fourth Wall office, watching Aini's faltering steps.
'Almost inside, you're doing really well,' she encouraged the fennec girl, who had the tip of her little pink tongue protruding from her mouth as she concentrated.
'There!' she said, swinging Aini up in the air as they went inside proper to the large waiting area. Sayuri rested Aini on her hip, and the toddler played with the collar of Sayuri's kimono.
'Oh hello,' Sayuri nodded at the other woman there.
Another pair entered into the shop a moment later, Youko glad that at least this time he didn't have to grab Kaeru by the collar to make him stop and shuck off his coat and shoes. The boy seemed to be used to this routine by now... although he still hadn't gotten used to putting them in the right place. Instead, he left coat and shoes in a heap before springing into the main waiting area and immediately diving INTO the toybox that waited on the other side.
"BANZAIIIIIIIIII!!!" he screeched, sending plushies in a spray around the box as Youko winced and picked up the boy's shed clothing.
Somewhere within the depths of the Fourth Wall building, there was the sound of a door opening and then closing.
Karma came to the conclusion that she was getting to the point where she was, as much as she hated to say it, getting too old to pull all-nighters constantly. But the paperwork was all in order, the phone calls had been made, the eggs had all been checked, and now, she decided, she was going home to take a nap before starting all over again.
The foxcoon slunk down the hallway toward the waiting area, one ear lopped over in exhaustion and the dark rings under her eyes hidden by her mask. As she drew near, however, the sounds of voices caught her ear.
...visitors. Crap. Quickly, she veered off into the bathroom, cracking the tap and splashing her face with cold water in an effort to jolt herself awake. It worked....sort of. It was enough to bring her back to alertness, at least. Too much water, and she'd look like a drowned rat.
Pausing to towel the beads of cold water out of her fur, she headed back out to the waiting area to greet the people.
Andraste petted her belly and stared at the little otter, who was rubbing his nose in a strange manner. "I feeeel...people." He said and pushed one strand of his black hair out of his face to see better.
The mother didn't dare to mention that this feeling could be a result of seeing people enter the building, so she just kept silent.
Jacosa was wearing a funny new pocket, which was yellow and fuzzy and was much too girly for Andraste's likings. He loved it though and there were some crayons and paper inside.
They entered the building and the otter grinned. "Said people are here. HEYO !" He screamed and suddenly noticed that some of them were even familiar.
Sayuri laughed as the frog-boy did a rather interesting dive into the toybox.
'I give that an 8.6,' she joked as Aini squirmed in her arms. She turned as someone else entered and smiled.
'Andraste,' she called, and Aini squirmed to get down even more.
'Osa!!'
And, unaware of the other presents, Zero was slowly making her way torward the center on foot, with Ronen carefuly nested in his coat and on her shoulders, which probabely was a fact that no other would be able to reproduce, since, well... Ronen was not exactly a feather.
The plan was to go see Karma... to chat a bit and show her that Ronen was doing well, and then go catch a bit to eat. The reploid had spotted a vegetarian restaurant which would probably fit the dinosaur's tastes to perfection, and the loss of one meal worth of meat wouldn't kill her.
Sajhiri moved to the front desk where she signed in. Sayuri's hello made her turn in surprise. "Say?" she asked in surprise. She'd not seen Sayuri since dropping a few rambunctious gargoyles into her lap around the holidays. "You have some idea what...this...place..." her words trailed off as she lookd down at the little fox walking on it's hind legs. She was no stranger to anthros, but babies made her doubletake at their cuteness.
The Banzaii-ing Kaeru made Jhiri jump before she chuckled and looked towards Youko. "Long time, no see, my friend. Is that little fellow yours?" The addition of the otterling and Lena made Sajhiri's brow further furrow. "I'm beginning to see a pattern here. Are all these kiddos from this place?"
Youko snickered, moving to hug Sajhiri lightly as he nodded. "Yep, the hellion in the box is mine. His name's Kaeru and yes, he came from this place. Karma brought him to me just before my birthday this past summer." He stepped back then, lifting a brow as he let a grin spread across his face. "And I'm guessing that if you're here, you're about to get one too. Congratulations!"
Sayuri finally let Aini down again as she was starting to make small whining noises, and Sayuri knew that if she didnt get her way she would dissolve into a screaming tantrum.
'Ok,' she said, as she placed her on the floor.
'Just don't n** anyone,' she scolded, as the fennec toddled towards Kaeru in the toybox, occasionally falling back with a small bump onto her furry tail.
'Yes, congratulations,' Sayuri smiled at Saj, casting glances at Aini.
At last, Karma arrived in the waiting area, smiling and doing her best to be pleasant as she scanned the people who had arrived, recognizing most but not all. Her eyes fell on the dark-haired woman whom Sayuri and Youko were speaking with and she racked her brain.
She'd made an appointment with someone today amid all of her phone calling and filing. It was fortunate they had all shown up when they had, or she likely would have forgotten about it completely and gone home to zonk out, leaving the poor lady in the lurch. Maybe investing in a planner might not be a bad idea...
Crossing the waiting area, being careful not to step on small tails, flippers, hands, and the like, she approached.
"Sajhiri?" she tried amiably. If it wasn't her, the worst she could do was fix her with a strange look and say no, after all...
Before Andraste was able to even greet somebody, Jacosa had already spotted the fennec fox and squealed. "I-Knee !" He toddled towards her quickly and almost pushed his pocket onto her nose. She so had to see and like it. "Lookit !"
Of course he had also noticed that the cool flying frog guy was there and...there was someone else as well. Someone blue. He stared at the boy for a moment.
Andraste blinked and then waved at Sayuri and Youko. She knew those two. For a moment she turned to her belly and then decided to walk towards the other grown-ups. "Hello." The woman greeted and smiled slightly. "Looks like everyone had the same idea." A chuckle escaped her lips as she saw Sayuri. Another victim.
And it was at that moment that the blue-haired woman entered the door, and her eyes whidened a bit.
"Well, who-ah." She commented, clearly having not expected to see so many people here. Maybe it would be better to come back later, but Ronen had been looking forward to this... Beside, there seemed to have plenty of kids his age.
"Allright, down weee goooo~~" Zero ducked down, and Ronen gave a surprised yelp at first, but it quickly turned to a little giggle and squees of delight as she disloged the dinosaur boy from her shoulders and helped him take off his coat. "Stop wriggeling, cutie, or ill't take longer."
He pouted a bit, but compeled, his tail waving back and forth calmly until he finally was free, and rushed to the otter boy. "Hi !"
Sajhiri's jawdrop was Stooges-worthy in its comedic potential. Youko and Sayuri's indication that she was here to get a baby left her gobsmacked. After a moment or two she managed to shake off the shock. "You're sure? I mean...well I wouldn't mind another little one around the house. With the rest of the Menagerie all grown up, Rebecca could really use another little one to play with." She glanced out the window to make sure her biological daughter wasn't making her adopted daughter's life a living hell inside the truck. Seeing all was in order, she scanned around the room quickly filling with little ones. "Where in the world do they come from, though? Is there a part of Gaia that evolved differently? Or are they from somewhere else? They're so darling!"
At Karma's address, Sajhiri turned to the foxcoon and smiled. "Um, yes, that's me. I received a message to come here for a pickup?" She looked a little confused, but a bit excited at the prospect as well.
Youko stepped back to let Sajhiri talk to Karma on her own, the grin not fading in the slightest as he fully recognized that 'poleaxed' look. He knew it intimately, it was the same look he'd had when presented with Kaeru. Speaking of Kaeru... He turned then, eyes widening as he darted towards the boy. "NO!"
Kaeru stopped dead, mouth open as he paused in his attempt to catch a fly that was buzzing against the window. It had just been SITTING there, and obviously it didn't have a long life expectancy. "WHAT? I was just gonna taste it..."
"No eating bugs outside the house," Youko reminded him, sighing inwardly. It was bad enough he liked to gross out his sisters by munching on bugs. He didn't need to worry about what the boy was flicking up with his tongue everywhere ELSE.
Sayuri nodded, then noticed the blue haired woman and gave a small nod and a wave in her direction, chuckling at the child she had entered with. So many children! She hoped that none of them started the other's crying, she didnt think she was quite up for that level of noise.
'Hi Andraste,' she raised an eyebrow.
'Well you're looking...fuller then last time I saw you,' she said, a slightly triumphant look on her face. She had been right in her thinking that Jacosa's mother was pregnant.
Aini watched, eyes round at Kaeru.
'Yoo eats flys?' she asked, radiating awe (well as much awe as a toddler could).
'Mama say I cant eats wrigglies,' she complained, as Jacosa came over.
'Lookit wat?' she flicked her ears at the otter boy.
Karma's smile widened a notch at the response she recieved and nodded. "Yes, follow me please?" she asked, beckoning Sajhiri to come with her as she left the waiting area and headed to the left, down the hallway.
She made a mental note to herself that what she really needed to do was get some new toys for the waiting room. The kids were getting bigger every time she saw them and one toychest with a few odds and ends was not going to cut it very soon.
Jacosa huffed as Aini didn't recognise the most marvellous bag/pocket/carry-around-thing ever. He was just about to speak as the blue one came over. Was he a dog ? No...doggies had fur. A brown paw scratched the small one's head before he started to smile. "I Cosa, that I-Knee. You ?"
Quickly he opened and closed the plush pocket to show Aini how great it is and that everybody was supposed to like it. As he noticed Kaeru though, he was quite amazed. "How does taste ?"
Andraste blushed and nodded slightly. "Yes, I am..." It took her while to say the word. "Pregnant." She grinned and looked at her feet. "Jacosa will get a sibling quite soon."
"Ronen." He answered, pointing at himself, his nose wriggeling a bit at the thought of eating bugs. Bugs weren't for eating, ewwww...
He didn't comment on that, however, as he plopped sitting on the ground, and mimiced Jacosa's movement with a giggle, then peered as he worked with the pocket, visibely more than a bit interested in the sound it made.
Zero decided it was better to keep herself sillent, at least until Karma was done with the other woman, and simpely sat nearby.
Sajhiri gave Sayuri and Youko a little wave, her eyes lighting up, before she turned to follow the proprietor down the hall. The seraph wrung her hands a bit in anticipation, feeling her heart pound. "This is really interesting. I hadn't really thought about another baby, but now that I think about it, my daughter really needs another little one to play with, and I miss having a pile of youngins about. I'm happiest taking care of babies."
She smiled warmly, her eyes flitting about curiously as they passed the doors.
After last nights (almost) catastrophe with fanged women and not-babified children, Akilah had demanded to go back. His demanding consisted of screaming and screeching out 'FOOF' and 'FWINE' until Patricks ears started to bleed...so why the hell not?
Not like he had...y'know. Other kids to take care of. Or a job. heaven freaking forbid.
Still. The kid was contented, riding on his fathers shoulders, hands tugging at his hair like a rider would a favorite (albiet psycho) horse.
"Eeee~" The meerkat squealed when Patrick pushed open the Fourth Walls door, pain written on his brightly pierced features. "Eee! Fwoof! Fwine! Churrrr~"
Sound affects were cute. The psycho clutching meerkat? Not so much. "Yes, Akilah. We're here." And in an animal house it appeared! Look at all the kiddlets and peoples and and and...so many.
"They're good," Kaeru whispered, sidelong to Aini and Jacosa as soon as Youko's attention was elsewhere. He WAS a frog, after all.. and frogs ate bugs. HE liked them. As he watched Youko walk away, he waited until the fox's back was turned, then let his tongue zing out, catching the unsuspecting fly and reeling it in again almost as quickly. It was an instantaneous reaction, and within a span of a second, he was sitting there in the toybox again as if nothing at all had happened.
'Congratulations!' Sayuri squealed, actually hugging Andraste.
'I did kind of suspect from what you were saying last time we met, but wasnt sure how to tell you.' she smiled, letting the woman go.
Unfortunately for Jacosa, the pocket thing that he was trying to show her was eclipsed for Aini by what Kaeru did next.
''gain, gain!' she clapped, wriggling around on her bottom, her tail wriggling excitedly.
'Do it 'gain!'
"Ronen. Nice ta meetcho." The otter grinned and his tail flicked from side to side. This one looked nice, but he had some bad things on his back. "Ouch...how did get that ?" An extended finger pointed on the almost spiky things.
Eyes turned back to Aini for a moment and he pouted. She wasn't even interested in his famous bag...A slurping sound was heard from Kaeru's direction and Jacosa turned towards him. The fly was gone. That was a really cool thing to do, but the otter knew that his tongue wasn't able to do it. First he could fly and now he could eat flies...life was unfair.
So he decided to sit down beside Ronen and showed the pocket to him. "Wanna try ?"
His ears perked up though as he heard a familiar chirr. Dark otter eyes looked for the source. Today was best friend day !
Ronen perked a bit, just fast enough to see Kaeru's tongue zoom right on the poor unsuspecting fly, and see it retract as quickly as it zoomed.
...And while the idea of eating flies was still gross to him, Kaeru's mighty tongue-fu impressed him indeed.
"How you do that ?!?" He asked, surprise apparent. "Was aw-som !"
Then his attention turned back to Jacosa, who had just spoken, his tail still wagging, but slower, out of instinctive caution and Zero's learning that he might hurt someone with the spikes on it. The spines on his back weren't that much of an issue... they couldn't pierce or cut. The dinosaur boy gave it some thought for a moment before answering. "Always had tat." He admitted, visibely not really having thought about it before. "Like you have tat." He pointed at his fur, visibely trying to draw a parallel. "And me don't."
...It made sence in his mind, at least.
But then, he forgot all about it when he was presented the pocket. "Sur !"
The minute he saw Jacosa, the little meerkat squealed, bouncing more, chirruping and churrings wildly. Patrick could only wince, reaching up and trying to pull him down once again.
"A-Akilah! Stop!"
"Eee!" He squealed, letting himself be taken down from his high perch. While the fly-snapping thing caught the little furry things attention, he wasn't the one who had petted his belly before! Small paws reached out for Jacosa, flexing and squeaking more, writhing to try and free himself from bejewled hands.
Akilah couldn't walk, but he could wriggle! And...drag and stuff..
Quinn felt a little guilty for leaving Moss with the sitter, but neither he, nor Belen, seemed to mind very much and she thought it beneficial that the pair socialize without the other every once in a while. So, armed with a spray bottle, some lotion, nebulizers and Belen's travel bowl, she had brought the Axolotl to the center to play and to perhaps check with Karma to make sure his breathing treatments were progressing as they should.
Not bothering to knock this time, she swung the door wide, chirped a fond hello and sat Belen on the ground, cautioning him to be wary of the others. Wouldnt want him to get stepped on simply from lack of attention.
Strong swimming legs allowed him to toddle slowly, even though he wasn't quite old enough to be able to do so. It gave Moss fits, watching his younger brother walk when all he could do was crawl behind. Such was sibling rivalry, she supposed.
She took a seat on one of the plump couches, eagle eyes trained on her diminuative, yet very independant son.
"Kaeru!"
The boy wilted slightly when he realised he'd been caught fly-catching again. Dammit, this was so unfair. "But I was hungry!" he wailed, throwing one of the toys in a fit of anger.
"Then we'll go home and get you something to eat," Youko replied, moving to scoop him up before he could start a full-out tantrum. "And a NAP," he admonished, ignoring the protests of the frog as he set the boy down and swatted him lightly on the behind to get him moving towards the coats. He waved to those he knew, and pulled his own coat on, helping Kaeru as well.
It was amazing to him that children moved 10 times SLOWER when they were whimpering.
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 7:14 am
Kaeru was curled up in the back seat, seatbelt on and legs tapping along with the beat of the music as he sang at the top of his lungs. One could still barely hear him... because it wasn't Youko driving, but Raven. And Raven had the radio cranked up as loud as they could bear, the foxcoon girl singing along with her younger 'brother' as best she could. The two could hardly be considered in 'in tune', but they were having a blast with their music... and that's what counted, yes? They were heading to Durem, to take back a few Christmas presents that were too big, too small or just plain not appropriate for a child. Kaeru had gotten a few toys and books that were designed for toddlers, and he just showed no interest in them now.
When they reached the parkinglot, Raven set the car into park and turned to look over the back of the seats at Kaeru. "Go ahead and get out... I'll get the stuff, okay?"
Nodding, Kaeru moved to wriggle out of the seatbelt, fighting with the mechanism as he always did. He could hear Raven getting out and opening the trunk, and tried to at least hurry up, so she wasn't waiting out in the cold for him. "Ready!" he crowed, pushing open the car door and jumping out. It was when he shoved the door closed that it happened.
All Raven knew was that she heard a yelp, a thud and a WAIL that made her drop everything she had in her arms. She didn't care that there were now two bags of clothes and toys on the ground... what mattered was the frog boy on the ground, screaming as loudly as he could. "Kaeru?!? Kaeru what happened??"
The boy couldn't answer. He'd started to close the door and step back, when his foot had hit a patch of ice. He slid, tried to catch himself on his arms behind himself, and the next thing he knew, he'd felt a crunch in his arm... and blinding pain. He couldn't form words to answer Raven... all he could do was hold up his arm and cry.
"It's okay," she murmured, winding an arm around Kaeru's waist and lifting him up to stand. When she tried to push up his sleeve to see the damage, however, he just screamed even louder and tried to jerk away. "Okay! Okay, I won't touch it. Can you move your fingers?"
A quick attempt and the sensation of wanting to pass out let Kaeru know that no, he couldn't move them... and he tried to get this point across to Raven as best he could. "Hurts... can't... hurts..." he managed to gasp out in between the throat-rasping cries. Next thing he knew, he was being bundled back into the car.
"Just hold it as still as you can, kiddo," Raven said, buckling the seat belt and moving to shove the packages haphazardly back into the trunk. "We're going to the hospital." She raced to the driver's side then, picking up the celphone she always had with her, and dialed the home number. "Dad? Dad, it's Raven. No, everything's not alright. I'm taking Kaeru to the hospital, I think he broke his arm." She paused then, wincing at the yelp on the other end of the line as she started up the car. "We're in Durem, he slipped on the ice and... well... I'm sure you can hear him."
She was sure everyone in a four block radius could hear him, actually. Kearu was hysterical in the back seat by now, screaming for his daddy. "Yeah, we'll meet you there. I'm taking him to Barton General. Yeah. Okay, I love you Dad... and calm down. I've got the car, racing out to the garage won't do you any good. See if you can get Envy or Trio to come get you, okay? Alright. I'm getting off the phone, daddy, I don't want to talk and drive. Love you!" She hung up the phone then and put the car into gear, praying for decent traffic and a lot of green lights.
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 1:11 pm
Youko was now panicked. He had gotten Raven's calm phone call, and had remained relatively calm while he was talking to her... but now he was by himself and able to completely LOSE IT without upsetting his kids. Kaeru was on his way to the hospital, Raven had the car, and now he had to find a way there. A call to Karma's had revealed nothing, apparently she and Kendall were out at the time... and no matter how much Arkie insisted, he was NOT about to agree to the boy driving him anywhere. It also hadn't seemed to occur to Arkie that with Karma and Kendall gone, BOTH cars were gone as well.
Now, he called another number that he'd managed to dig up from memory. As Youko paced back and forth across the livingroom, he prayed that Trio was actually working today, instead of at her home an hour away.
"Pixapets," came the familiar voice on the line a moment later, with the standard cheerfulness of any shopclerk's greeting. "How can I help you?"
"Trio!!" Youko stopped dead in the middle of the livingroom, hoping that he'd managed to NOT sound like a panicked idiot on the phone. However, he wasn't sure he could portray calmness at the moment. "Please tell me you're not busy and can get away for a little while? I'm desperate here."
"...Youko? What's wrong?" she asked. As she spoke, her voice got fainter, and a moment later, he heard her murmur something to someone near the phone - presumably telling them she was headed out. "Are you at home?"
"I'm at home..." he whimpered in reply, pushing his fingers through his hair and along his ears as he stared out of the back sliding glass doors in the livingroom. "Raven just called me, she's heading to the hospital with Kaeru. She thinks he may have hurt himself pretty badly on the ice. I didn't want her to detour here to get me, I could hear him screaming and crying in the background. Please... I'm sorry to ask you to leave work, but I really, REALLY need to get to them..."
"I'll be there in... five minutes. Hang tight," was Trio's reply, and she hung up before he could respond.
Youko hung up immediately and darted off to get shoes and a coat on. By the time Trio pulled up in front of the house, he was already out there, pacing and looking expectantly down the road in the direction she would come from. Almost before the car was even stopped, he was racing towards it and pulling the door open. "THANK YOU!"
"What happened?" Trio demanded, before he made it into the car. "I assume Barton Hospital?"
Seating himself and pulling the door shut, Youko whined softly as his ears pressed back against his hair. "Yes, Barton," he murmured, winding his arms around himself tightly. "They were taking back some of his Christmas presents... after he grew, he didn't want half of them anymore, so they were going to go and get him other stuff to play with. Raven said he slipped on the ice and started screaming. She thinks it's broken." Youko was content to believe her. Raven didn't exactly overembellish things like this, and usually had a pretty good grasp of what was going on.
Trio reached out with one hand even as she started driving again. "He's going to be just fine, you know. Everyone breaks something sometime, right?"
"I know," he murmured, clasping her hand nervously. He still continued to stare out of the window, but spared her a glance as he smiled halfheartedly. "I'm just allowed to panic... it's a parent thing. YOU understand."
"Of course you're allowed to panic," Trio nodded, squeezing his hand gently. "I'd be more worried if you WEREN'T. When we get to the hospital, you find out what's going on for certain, and then you'll feel better. Levon's watching the shop; I can stay as long as you want me to."
"Thank you..." he murmured, leaning over to nuzzle Trio's cheek for a moment. "Raven's with him.. she's got a level head, she'll be able to handle things til I get there. I just didn't want to stay at home and wonder what was happening."
"You've got a good kid in her, you know that?" Trio murmured, keeping her eyes on the road even as she grinned. "You already sound calmer."
Nodding, Youko smiled. "I do. All of them are good kids. I trust her, she's already shown me that she can be calm when something like this happens." Still, he was nervous as hell. By the time they reached the hospital, he was nearly vibrating in his seat.
"I'll let you off here," Trio noted, pulling up to the doors and idling. "I'll park the car, then come find you, okay?" The addition wasn't really necessary - Youko knew how things worked. But all the same, she figured with him so worried, emphasizing the ordinary couldn't hurt. "A couple minutes behind you at most."
"Thank you," he murmured... and would likely kick himself for not being more polite later, but for now, he was more worried about his kids. He squeezed her hand one last time, and dove out of the car, aiming for the Emergency Room entrance.
She waited until he was in the doors before pulling back out and driving off to find a parking space. Giving him a bit of extra time to talk to Raven and find out what was going on wouldn't hurt, she reasoned... though not too long. Just in case.
As Youko hurried into the waiting area, he didn't see any sign of his daughter or son... that was good, it meant they were already being seen. It took a few questions for the duty nurse, and he was led back into the emergency ward, where he could now hear the soft cried that he knew were Kaeru's.
The boy looked like he'd been through a wringer, and even though his eyes were closed, he was still whining faintly. Raven was sitting beside the bed, but got up to hug her father and usher HIM into the chair the moment she saw him. "He's on painkillers," she murmured, rubbing Youko's shoulders gently as she apprised him of the situation. "They just got x-rays and we're waiting for them to come back. Then we'll know what happened and what needs to be done."
Youko smiled, hugging her back tightly, then glanced up to her as he forcibly tried to calm himself. "Trio's coming in after she parks the car... can you go and wait for her?"
Nodding, Raven smiled. "I don't think they'll let us have two people back here at one time anyway," she said, and moved to scoop up her purse. "I'll stay out there with Miss Trio, and pester the nurses for information."
Youko curled into the chair after she'd gone and leaned over to brush the hair back from Kaeru's face. "I'm here, kiddo," he whispered, making sure he was close enough that he could take Kaeru's hand as well. "You're going to be just fine."
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 6:08 am
Dear Diary -
I'm not quite sure why I thought to bring this with me here. Maybe it was just some way of keeping myself sane while waiting for news. Kaeru is pretty well unconscious at the moment, and the doctors have gotten his x-rays back finally. Raven called it... he's got a broken arm. Both bones of his lower arm snapped when he fell on the ice and put his hand behind him to try and catch himself. They're currently preparing to reset the bones in his arm and put the cast on. I'm very glad he's out cold for this, I can't imagine what that's got to feel like. I'm suddenly very glad that I've never really broken a major bone before.
Still, I'll be here when he wakes up, and I'll take him home. Gods, he's going to be spoiled rotten for a while...
Youkochylde
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:57 pm
It was difficult to gain leverage when you were trying to lift dead weight out of the back seat of the car. With the ice on the ground, Youko had to be extra careful... or else he'd wind up breaking something too. Raven had driven home, her nerves were much calmer than her father's, who kept turning around to look at the boy in the back booster seat.
He was small normally, hence the reason for the booster... but now, with the painkillers making him nearly unconscious, Kaeru seemed even smaller. Sighing, Youko wrapped his arms around the boy, lifting him carefully as he turned to his daughter. "Can you get the door, sweetie?" he whispered, as if the sound of his voice would rouse Kaeru from his drug-induced sleep.
Raven just nodded, shutting the car doors and darting ahead towards the house, keys in hand. She felt exhausted... but knew that SOMEONE had to stay coherent and sane during this, or her father would freak. He ws staying calm for Kaeru's sake, but she had the feeling that once the boy was in bed, Youko was going to have a meltdown. She unlocked and pushed the door open, noting that lights were already on inside. That meant that Omi was home somewhere... but the Fa'e girl wasn't in evidence just yet. She stepped aside then, clearing the way for Youko as he carried Kaeru into the house and quickly toed off his shoes.
Even now, propriety had its hold.
"Go get him in bed," Raven murmured, getting Kaeru out of his coat as Youko held him. It was easier than normal, they hadn't bothered putting it back onto his right arm with the cast. Once it was gone, she shooed Youko off, earning herself a smile from her father.
"Thanks," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her cheek lightly. Trio had been right... she was a good kid, and he'd do something to make sure she knew it. She'd been the rock of reason in all of this mess... and he was thankful for it. After this was done, he had to do something special for her.
Once he was upstairs, he turned down the hall to Kaeru's room, pushing the door open with his foot and stepping inside. The soft hum of the two humidifiers was a constant sound in here... it had been unthinkable to ask him to live in the bathroom now that he was older, and the girls had taken exception to it as well. So instead, he now had his own room, Omi having given up her own space so that he could be comfortable.
The girls now shared a room... well, the entirety of the basement anyway. Kendall's things had been taken over to Karma's, and Omi's moved in. It was a good arrangement for the time being.
Laying the boy in the bed, Youko sighed, brushing the dark hair back from Kaeru's face. "You're gonna be okay, kiddo," he murmured, bringing the covers up over him and heading for the door. The next few days would be amusing, especially when the painkillers started to wear off. There was nothing to be done except to prepare for it.
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 8:07 am
Dear Diary -
Well, it's been about a week or so since the 'big accident'. Kaeru's adjusting well to the cast on his arm, although he's pretty well convinced that the broken bone happened in the lamest way possible. It's good to see him up and around again. I doubt any parent wants to see their child in pain, but seeing him unconscious due to pain meds was a nightmare in and of itself. That's something I hope I never have to do again in my life.
It's been difficult to keep him from aggravating the injury. He's constantly wanting to get out and go, but I suppose I'm still paranoid about it. I mean, part of his body is BROKEN, for crying out loud... and I don't want to wind up with him back in the emergency room again. The snowboard was hidden shortly after we got home. Then I realised that I'd have to hide the tea trays as well. Of course, now I'm the meanest parent on the face of the earth. But hopefully he'll realise that I'm just doing this to help keep him from getting hurt even worse. I KNOW that I can't keep him off the 'surfing' forever, nor do I want to.
Just until he heals up a bit more.
Youkochylde
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Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:15 am
Deer Diree Diare,
I think this sucks. I can rite, but not good. It was hard to reed befor but now its reely hard. My hand gets all wobly and I cant even reed it. But dad sez that Im doing betr and will get betr if I rite more. He's not bugin me abot speling rite now. He just wants me to get betr at riting agen cuz I haf to start scool soon. I dont now why I need scool. Maybe if I pretend that my arm reely hurts he wont make me go. Raven sez thats silly. What duz dos
She sez things like that to mak me mad. If I haf to go to scool Im gona tel all the kids that I brok my arm on the steps. Or on my snow bord. Its stoopd to brak yor arm on the ise.
My arm hurts. Bye.
Kaeru
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Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 10:04 am
"Come on, quit lagging behind." Raven was moving through the store, heading for the boy's section as Kaeru paused to stare at every nifty 'thingy' they passed. No wonder Youko had asked her to do it... he HATED shopping and likely would have tucked the boy under his arm and dragged him off by now. Turning on her heel, Raven stopped in the middle of the aisle, waiting for Kaeru to catch up.
The frog was moving at his own pace, pausing here and there to look at all the 'eyecatchers' that were placed strategically at the end of the aisles. It was a selling ploy that would likely work on most people, especially children. He was barely looking where he was going when he ran into Raven. "OW!" he yelled, tucking his cast-covered arm against himself as he looked up at her balefully. "You'll break it again!"
Rolling her eyes, Raven grabbed him by the GOOD arm and started to haul him towards a rackful of jeans and t-shirts. "I will not. Trust me, if I wanted to break something, it would be your silly head." It was all good natured... the two of them happened to get along well. Once they were where she wanted them, she started holding up jeans and shirts to him, getting an idea of whether he'd grown out of the previous size or not. Once that was determined, she started picking out clothes here and there and generally left Kaeru to his own devices. She knew that he would pipe up if there was something he absolutely HAD to have.
Like now.
Kaeru jumped up, holding a t-shirt that proudly proclaimed 'Rebel' on the front in sketchy letters. "Raven, can we get this, PLEASE?!" He asked, smiling to her in what he hoped was a winning manner. He waited patiently while she took it, held it up to him and looked at the price.
"Find a medium and you've got a deal," she said, smiling. "That's a large and you'll swim in it."
"WOOHOO!" The boy darted off then, heading back to the rack that he'd found that one on, and started digging for the right size.
"Those're cool," came the voice from beside him, and Kaeru turned to see a towheaded boy with a missing-toothed smile grinning at him. "I'm trying to find a small."
"Yeah, I like these... and the ones with the skateboarder on them." Kaeru kept looking as he spoke, his eyes raking over the shirt tags to find the right size. "I'm going to skateboard once the ice and snow leaves.... there's not enough snow left to snowboard."
The kid was now staring at him as if he were a god. "You DO that??" he asked, looking at the frog in awe.
"Yup!" Kaeru answered, puffing up proudly. "I even got this doing it." He held up the cast then, his pre-practiced speech coming to mind. "Check this... I was out in my backyard... I have a snowboard ramp that I built back there, but I musta built it too close to the tree..."
By this point, the boy was hanging on his every word, nodding emphatically at certain spots in the story.
"And then... when I went ot make the jump... WHAM!!!" Next thing I knew, I was upside down in the tree and hanging by my ARM!"
"No way!!"
"YEAH! Really!" Kaeru was motioning with his good arm and making a valiant attempt at looking like he was hanging upside down. "It hurt like hell--"
"Language," Raven reminded, slanting her gaze at him. Personally, she thought it wasn't good for him to be making up stories... but she had to admit that falling on the ice wouldn't get him 'cool' points with anyone.
Kaeru blanched for a moment, until he realised that Raven wasn't going to blow his 'cover', so to speak. "Sorry," he murmured, then turned back to regale the boy with his tale of pain, torture and agony of breaking his arm doing a super stunt on his snowboard.
Raven just shook her head, sighing as she gathered up the pile of clothes and picked out a medium version of the shirt Kaeru had shown her. He was so busy bragging, he'd forgotten to find it. Then she took the clothes towards the cashier, wondering if this story-telling would wind up being a REALLY bad habit or not.
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