Welcome to Gaia! ::

Infi grinned. "Hey, Mal, let me tell you a secret." she stopped and leaned dow so that only the boy could hear her words. "Most my family members? Don't know each other. I have so many, and get more so often, that they wouldn't know if you're part of thre family or not. So don't worry about being shy. They love people, and they love to play. So, if you don't mind getting messy, I recommend you just go right in and start splashing. You'll lose, you can't beat a dragon tail for making a wave, but you'll have a lot of fun doing it."

Infi spun away and gave a loud whoop, running in and kicking up some water, aiming at Naira. "War!" she cheered, and Naira squealed before fighting back with a water pistol she'd had hidden in her skirts.

On the banks, Koi (an equus filly) noticed the preteen and came trotting over, whinnying a greeting before nibbling on Malachite's hair.

Euuuuch, not yummy grass. Koi snorted and rolled over, whinnying displeasure at the shampooey taste before coming up and bumping Malachite's hand, running away a bit.

Tag, you're it!

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Crout giggled softly, watching Adrian almost forget to set the brownies. That small action set him more at ease than anything. At Adrian's offer to bring the bowl, Crout shook his head quickly and set it in the sink, rinsing it out quickly before following the older male towards the living room. "It is a very nice house." he said politely. It was much less homey to him somehow though than his house. This one was full of expensive decorations, while Infi bought cheap little baubles that amused her, and decorated it with things that didn't look like they'd be bad if they got broken.

But the house was really nice, he thought. It would be homey for him if it wasn't so... lonely.

You could actually hear yourself think. No kittens wreaking havoc, no dewis roaring at each other, no little neighs in his ear from Shahar and Siobhan. No "bam, crash, thud, crack, Aaaaah!"

On second thought, it was pretty nice. Heh.

He curled up on one of the couches, knees drawn up towards his chest, head lying on the arm of the chair. "It's alright." he said with a smile. "Please, feel free to 'babble'." he said with a smile. "I didn't see it as such." It was nice to know someone had such an attachment to things. Infi went stir-crazy if things weren't changing.

Stability was something Crout was starting to count as precious. Adrian seemed to have it in abundance.

Koi snorted and pranced away from the funny-tasting grass, teasing it with her tail. Catch me, silly! She whinnied loudly, and a row of little rat-heads popped up. Playtime? Without the scary dragon-things of smooshing? The Volu chittered as they came up out of their little nests, joining in the fun with some tag of their own. Alexis chittered, twirling around Malachite's ankles,slinking low so Malachite couldn't touch him.

Infi watched, amused. It was good for them all to have someone who would play with them. Crout was so absorbed in... inventing, building, creating... that he didn't really play with them. Nakshidil hated getting firty, and Laertes was too old to really enjoy playing with the ones wityh sub-human intelligence, like the Volu. Koi was smart, even though she couldn't speak the human language.

Nakshidil came to the backdoor, beating on the huge bell. "Dinner you scalawags!" she yelled. "All of you, clean and dry, now!" Nakshidil had been reading Infi's pirate romances, and thought scalawag a horribly romantic word.

Naira dand Infi turned and ran for the house. "Last one there has to eat with Diablos!" Naira yelled, and Infi giggled, running faster, tagging Koi as she ran by. Koi snorted, and joined in the run, speeding past both of them with a derisive snort.

The Volu chittered and moved for the house, intent on getting scraps, and the merkiri vanished under the water. One of the dewis came over to Malachite. "Hurry up now." She said gently, nuzzling Malachite. "The guest of honor can't be late."

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Crout smiled at Adrian. A dojo, huh? That could be fun. "Ummm....." he thought about Adrian's question for a while before answering. "It's been tougher than I thought it would be. Naira's been hanging about an awful lot, then with Nakkie and Laertes there in the mornings, it's strange. I'm so used to having her attention, then suddenly it's like... she's not there as much. Though I know she's trying to make us all feel like we get enough of her time." he frowned, staring down at his hands. "And yet, she's got some little boy named Kael coming to live with us soon too, and it's... intimidating, I guess. But I like Naira. Nakkie scares me. She's still crushing on A'Hallei. Laertes is quiet, and seems to still be testing Infi in a lot of ways. But I think we're coming together as a family fairly nicely."

The black-haired boy shrugged. "It just gets lonely sometimes. Strange, in a house full of people, but... sometimes it just feels like I'm missing something."

Nakshidil set Malachite down in the dining room. "We usually use the kitchen," she explained, "Cept, I made a mess of it." Her normally perfect black hair was messy and hanging down in long tendrils down the back of her neck. "Mara decided it would be fun to play in the kitchen, and she knocked over the flour, the sugar, and the rum. Made a horrible mess on the floor." She pointed at a struggling black and red kitten chained to a table. "So she's being punished.

Mara's little leathery wings batted at the air and another kitten, this one with rainbow wings, jumped down onto her back, mewling. Mara plopped to the ground, hissing, and Uriel's tail batted her face.

At that point, Infi came in, carrying a tray with salads which she set out. Koi snorted and tried to steal a bowl, but Infi whisked it away, swatting the filly on the nose. "Nice try, smart girl." she chided. "You eat outside. Naira, can you let her out?"

If a horse could cling, Koi clung. Her teeth latched on to the back of Malachite's chair and she let out a bray that would make a donkey proud. I want the funny grass man! she protested loudly, but Naira won in the end, getting Koi out with minimal furniture damage.

"The main course is mexican." Infi and Nakkie winced as there came a loud crash from the back door, but it held. Naira pranced back in.

"Don't worry, the dewis got her. She really seems to like you Malachite." the angel girl said with a giggle. "You'll have to play with her tomorrow. Ooooh, enchiladas!"

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Crout nodded, giving Adrian a warm smile. "I know." he said softly. "Cause she's always making lasagna." he gave an almost girlish giggle. "But, it's really nice sometimes, having such a big family. You can kind of get lost in it, yet at the same time, you know someone is always looking out for you. Cause it isn't just the 4 of us she has to take care of. There's the dewis, though she usually leaves most of that deciding up to the gods and the older dewis... and the ponies, and the merkiri. Plus, she's got a job.... I think...." his voice trailed off.

"But she told me she's not talking to me agaibn until I stop with puberty."

Almost on cue Crout's voice cracked and he buried his face in his arms.

"Would you rather swim or go flying tomorrow?" Naira asked. She'd decided to take it upon herself to make sure Malachite had fun. Sooooo much fun. Infi had just eyed her and let her have her way.

Laertes came in as the enchilads were being served, giving everyone a warm smile. "Mmmm, Mexican. Let me change and I'll be back down. Oh, Infi, Athena left Malachite's bag on the stairs. Want me to put it in the Aquarium?" he asked, and Infi nodded.

"Make sure you close the door, we don't want Mara in there." she said, and he nodded, disappearing. Infi turned to Mal and gave him a smile. "We're giving you the aquarium room. I hope you like it." she said, and Nakshidil giggled. "It was one I wanted for myself, but with the way I leave my room open, it was impractical." she gave a moue of disappointment and Laertes came back into the room, in a knee-legnth denim skirt with a pair of jeans under it, setting down at the table and serving himself some food.

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Crout groaned. "That's what she says... to every question I ask. But she won't give me a list of problems. And when I find one, and ask her about it? She usually gives this odd squeak and tells me to ask Laertes. But Laertes just sort of laughs and says I'll figure it out." he rolled his eyes. "I don't want to figure it out 10 years from now, I want to know NOW."

Naira nodded. "Yup yup. There'll be plenty of time. Nakkie, Lae, wanna come with?" the angel girl was practically bouncing. "We can get Soli and Athena fly you two." she said happily.

Nakshidil declined, but Laertes grinned. "Sure. Could be fun." he said brightly, and finished off his salad neatly, digging into the enchiladas. He was kind of curious as to why Malachite kept glancing at him then jerking his gaze away to Mara, but he didn't ask.

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Crout frowned, twisting nervously in his seat. "Well, I know the basics. I've read all of Infi's books, but they only make me more curious. Like, does it hurt the girl, and does it hurt to be on the bottom, and how do guys keep from peeing instead, and why do gay guys wear condoms if they can't get pregnant anyways, and..." he sucked in a deep breath, popping his lips in annoyance.

Nakshidil wasn't a girly-girl, but she did hate flying. Heights were perfectly nasty little beasties, thanks.

The meal finished quickly and peaceably, and by tat time it was dark outside. "Anyone want me to take their plates?" Naira asked brightly, standing and taking any plates that were handed to her before heading to the kitchen.

"I have some dessert in the fridge!" Nakshidil said brightly. "Want to hold off on it, or have it now. Chocolate brownie cheesecake. Yumm."

"Let's hold off on it for now." Infi said with a big smile, standing and brushing a kiss across the top of nakkie's head. "I'm gonna show Mal where his room is." she smiled at the boy and waited patiently for him to be ready.
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Crout sighed. It made sense, but those were things he'd mostly been able to figure out for himself. Now came the kicker question. The one that had made Laertes turn beet red and fall off the bed. "So how do we properly masturbate without getting an infection? If the muscle contracts to keep pee out of the semen, it would relax eventually, right? So, like, proper tactics to keep from getting the other fluids in our urinary tract." Crout waved his hand. "I asked Laertes to show me, but he just sort of... looked at me dumbly. I suppose I shouldn't have asked to be shown, but... he wouldn't even look up stuff for me in books to look at."

((Infi was and still is tired. Dinnae prod any continuity errors. They are invisibibble.))

Infi grinned, leading Malachite up the stairs. "You'll see." When they reached the door, she put her hands over Malachite's eyes. "Keep them shut." she urged, and pushed open the door, leading the young preteen into the room.

She glanced around, admiring what he would see when he opened his eyes. There was an aquarium built into the walls that circled all four walls, unbroken except for the doorway they stood in, the entrance to the bathroom, and one window, but even then the doorways and that window were just an arch in the aquarium. There was no seam, it was just a wall of flawless glass. Three of the walls were painted a rich blue, to enhance the color of the water, and the room was in a corner of the house, so the wall by the outside was carefully paneled glass, to let in plenty of natural light. The air was almost salty, and a little on the warm side, however it was possible to open some of the skylights in the ceiling to let in cool, fresh air.

In the tanks swam colorful creatures of many shapes and sizes. Plants grew on the bottom of the tank. The entire room was it's own aquatic ecosystem, and in the center of the room was a queen-sized four-poster bed, complete with drapes that could be closed for privacy.

"Open sesame." Infi said cheerfully, and took her hands off Malachite's eyes. "The Aquarium Room."

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Crout frowned. He'd have to think on that. He pursed his lips and sank back into his cushions, debating. "It made sense." he assured Adrian. But the think he wanted to know was HOW one went about being cleam. Wasn't sex innately a messy thing?

He'd have to think on it.

Definitely.

He had all day tomorrow to ask questions, right?

Infi laughed when Malachite bowed to her. "I'm glad you like it. Now you can see why I wanted it, I'm sure!" she gave Malachite a wink. "I'm glad you like it," she said with a nod. She turned and lifted Malachite's duffel up from where it rested on the floor and set it on the bed. "As you can see, we don't exactly have a closet in this room. Hence that monstrosity." a hand waved at the cedarwood wardrobe. "Feel free to use it, there are hangers. The bathroom has a hair dryer, and a small linen closet with towels, sheets, toiletries like shampoo and soaps. You can just drop the sheets in the hall in the morning, I'll get them when I go to do laundry. You can also drop your bedclothes out there, if you don't mind stripping the bed. I'm a bit of a 'must sleep on clean sheets' freak." she pursed her lips, thinking.

"Other than that, I can't think of anything. OH! If the lights in here get too bright with the aquarium, you can either turn them off here-" she flipped a small switch by the bed, "But some of the fish glow. Strange little beasties. Or you can just close the drapes." she gave the preteen a warm smile.

A squeal and a thud from downstairs, followed by a wail, made Infi roll her eyes. "INFI! NAIRA JUMPED OFF LANDING AGAIN!" Nakshidil's voice yelled, followed by the sound of Laertes shushing her and crooning to the wounded child. Infi sighed.

"And don't follow Naira jumping off anything unless Khepri says he'll catch you tomorrow." she said, and left the green haired boy to peace. He could come down when he wished. She swept downstairs and caught up Naira, thanking Laertes for his quick thinking in soothing the angel.

((We'll pretend Naira is still a child since she grew mid-rp.))
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Crout's stomach rumbled and he gave a nervous little laugh. "I've never made my own pizza." he said finally. "It sounds like fun." he smiled at Kaleb. "I don't rightly care what goes on them as long as no mushrooms. I hate mushrooms." Infi usually ate them for him- not that he was supposed to notice her snitching them off his plate.