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[Intro Post, RP with Kanth - Io and Erae]

Io hadn't been in the attic in quite some time, and was delighted to find that all the old toys her parents had stored there were safe and sound.

Hence all the excited squealing and stumbling and falling and crashing as she brought box upon box down the precarious ladder that led to the attic and into her room.

Finally, she brought the last box down, and set it on her bed, panting a moment before grinning viciously. "Oh boy, do I have displays to set up!"

Moving from his spot on the bed, Erae blinked lazily, having been 'conformed' to looking like a stuffed animal.

"Io...?" He yawned, curling his tail around himself as he stretched.

"Oh, hi Erae!" Io greeted him, waving and grinning as she brought an armful of toy robots out of one box. "Didn't disturb ya, did I? Cause I didn't really see you there..."

"What are those?" Erae countered, peering curiously into the box as he pulled his lithe form halfway over the bed, his crimson gaze ever watchful.

On the back of his legs (as he lay on his stomach) was a plush dragon, rather oriental in design.

"These are my PRECIOUS." Io purred, setting them up on a shelf, meticulously posing each one. "I haven't seen them in so long~!" Turning back to get more out, she noticed the plush Erae had and blinked.

"Hey, what's that? That's not one of my stuffed animals..."

"This? It's a gift from Kanth. She's a Velveteen, like me." He smiled and hugged her for a moment, before holding her out for Io to take.

"You can name her whatever you'd like. Kanth named me from a DDR song."

Io took the plush dragon carefully, eyes glittering as she looked it over. "She's beautiful... a Velveteen?" She glanced curiously at Erae - she'd heard Kanth refer to him as a Velvet before in passing, but hadn't gotten a chance to ask about it.

"They grow from plush animals to what I am now. With enough time and love, she'll grow to a real dragon, and then... a kid. I'm a teen now." A slight cheshire grin.

"...like the story!" Io gave a broad, warm smile, brushing her fingers down the dragon's sides before snuggling her and draping her about her neck. "Wow... I didn't expect a gift like this from Kanth... she reminds me of a dragon I used to write stories about all the time."

Io hugged Erae tightly, grinning like a maniac. "Thank you! For you and Kanth too; I'll thank her when she gets home... this is a million times better than any number of plastic robots!"

Smiling, Erae hugged back, feeling very content. "She loves you, you know. Her gifts are rare."

"Yeah... I think I know," Io mused, squeezing for a moment longer before pulling back, smiling.

"Can I call her my sister?" Erae piped up, looking cheerful. "I've never had a sister before. And with Shard coming back... Arden's not really my brother anymore..." A sigh, before he looked at her with hopeful eyes.

"Are you going to stay?"

"I wouldn't dream of leaving," Io replied, truthfully. "And of course you may." She ruffled Erae's hair affectionately.

Beaming, Erae closed his eyes, looking very happy.

"So..." Io began, turning back to her boxes. "Wanna help me get these guys set up? I'll introduce you to them if you want. Every one of my toys, magical or not, gets a name and a story..."

Nodding, Erae let out a sharp, happy sound. Giving a click of his tongue, he then wagged his finger at her, winking. "I would love to! But after, you have to play DDR with me..."

She laughed. "Deal! Just prepare to utterly mortify me; I haven't played in forever..."

Okay, so you're not insane until you start answering back, right? Right. Okay. Because it's bad enough that I thought I was going crazy when I found a White Mushroom - yeah, you know, like from Kingdom Hearts? - out in the woods, but I've started to catch myself talking to a plush dragon that isn't even technically alive. Yet. I think.

Then again, it's not like I really have anyone else to ask for advice and an ear at the moment. Heh.

Anyway, Vavalion wanted to hold the dragon earlier tonight during our storytime, so I let him. I'm not sure he was even listening to the story this time, despite his usual interest! At least he had enough common sense to keep her away from Noah. (That kid wants to grab anything vaguely interesting and rip it apart, I swear, especially if it's in some way monster-shaped... my poor Megabloks Dragons! I'm lucky they're designed to come apart!)

In any case, Vava refused to let her go the rest of the night, seeming rather attached to her for some reason.

Oh wait. They're both white... reptile... things. Of the serpent variety. Sort of. Heh, Vava has a friend! I hope the dragon doesn't feel too smothered when she... emerges or whatever.

I was going to let Vavalion sleep with her, but he seemed to feel a bit guilty. (I usually sleep with her these days, after all... yeah yeah I know, I'm a grown woman and still sleeping with plushies. And I love it.) He reluctantly handed her back to me as I was putting him to bed, and he gave me such a cute little smile that I just couldn't refuse the offer. He notices an awful lot for such a young child, I swear...

So off I go to bed with little miss dragon around my neck again. Hopefully I'll get better dreams than the one about the secrets of the universe being revealed via the inner workings of fractals. That one was just weird.