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 Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:33 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:36 pm
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Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 12:06 pm
Cold. Cold and dark and alone. That's what it was. He didn't know why - he didn't know how he'd gotten there or what he'd been doing, but he knew it was very, very cold. It was very cold, and very dark, and he was very much alone. So very alone. There was no one around - not his brothers or sisters or even his mother; no one came when he called out - did he even make a sound? No one was there. No one cared, no one wanted him. He was all alone, as he had been before, as he had been in that place. He whimpered and curled into himself in that dark place, not hearing but knowing he felt the bubble of sadness in his throat.
'Maravilha...'
Then - then, in the darkness, there was a voice. It startled him - was it his own? No, it wasn't his own. He didn't know whose it was. He didn't even know if he'd really heard it. It wasn't a voice he could describe, wasn't something he understood; it was deep and light, hissing and quiet and screaming and loud all at the same time. It made him cringe in fear, eyes closing tightly though it made no difference in his sight. He was blind in this place. Blind and alone and afraid.
Or he had been. Was supposed to be. Something. He couldn't quite remember anymore.
'Maravilha... Do not fear me. Do not run away from me. Maravilha...'
His eyes shut tighter, arms wrapping around his knees as he buried his face in them. No, no! It was bad, bad bad bad - he didn't know what it was but it was bad. It made him want to scream and run away and curl up all at once, made tears run down his cheeks. He didn't want to go with it! He didn't want to look at it! No, no, no no no no no no--
Maravilha woke with a start, sitting straight up in bed. He didn't understand, didn't know what was wrong. He didn't remember what he'd just dreamed - nothing but a few lacy memories of fear and darkness. But he knew he was very cold. And he was very afraid. Almost afraid to creep out of his bed, clutching tightly at the blue, multiarmed plush that he'd taken to sleeping with. But it wasn't quite dark - there was a hint of light filtering through the window and into the hall. It must've been early morning sometime.
He didn't know how long he stared at his mother, wishing she would wake up, before she finally did. And when it happened, it was a flicker of the eyes, followed by a confused expression and outstretched arms.
"Mmm... baby, what's wrong...?"
He didn't say anything, just crawled into the open embrace, comforting toy coming right along with. And that was okay, and he knew it was okay, because soon he was wrapped in a warm, caring embrace, and he knew he wasn't cold anymore, knew he wasn't alone. And that was what he wanted.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 1:10 am
[Currently ongoing, and sized down so as to not stretch the page too far down.]
The sun was going down slowly, but it was still bright at the Lupix Sanctuary; one short, somewhat perky russet kitsune was busily putting the finishing touches on the dinner he'd prepared for his guest; his long term friend Jadaria and one of her kids..or two. @_@ He wasn't certain; the invitation had been open ended.
Khia was there, lazing on a couch and scratching his furry tummy lazily; somewhere, more of his "pets" (kids?) were lurking...most had sitters. Elsewhere.
---
The sun was going down - Jadaria had to wonder if they were late. She couldn't help it; just a touch of paranoia ingrained into the overzealous mother of... well. However many children she had at this point. She would hate to be late, really; it was a terrible, terrible fate as far as she was concerned. Being late was unacceptable! Either way, however, she had shown up at the appropriate time, only one child in tow.
Maravilha was clinging tightly to his mother's hand, staring out at the sanctuary and huddling as close as he could without being shooed away. His metal fingers clenched tightly at his shirt, his 'real' hand clutching his mother's hand. He wasn't sure about this whole thing - they were family, but who WERE they? He didn't know these people - he didn't know who they were going to see! Was this really such a good idea?
"Mommy..." he whimpered softly, hiding behind her legs as she moved to ring the doorbell.
"Hush, Mara, baby. It'll be okay. It's just your Uncle Sy, okay? I promise nothing bad's going to happen... maybe you'll make friends with some of your, uh... Cousins." She sighed, reaching down to pat the tall boy comfortingly as they waited.
---
Khia heard and scented the pair long before his Dad even noticed, so he got up to open the door for them before they even reached the door; but first he called over his shoulder "Dad, that woman's here with..." and he sniffed a bit, a Tale? Oh damn. "A Tale?" The black beast's tail twitched and he opened the door, peering out with bright red eyes.
"Hi Aunty, right on time."
From the kitchen, swearing could be heard, and high pitched animal giggles - also, a flash of brightly colored fur zooming out of the kitchen with random items flying out after it. "Beck godrot you, you little b*****d!"
Just another night at the Grand Manor. Really.
---
"Hey, Khia." Jadaria smiled up at the redeyed creature, reaching down and trying to force Maravilha from behind her legs where he'd taken to hiding. At length, she finally reached down and just picked him up, though he was far too tall for that as far as she was concerned. Still, she managed, and supported him with one arm (after all, after so many kids, you get some arm strength), holding his hand with her free one.
"Sounds like your dad's having fun in there," she commented with a grin, shaking her head. "I'm glad the well behaved one stayed with me. Ah well. We're on time then? That's good. And - oh! Khia, I forgot - this is Mara. Maravilha. Say hi, Mara."
"..." The young Tale stared up at the shifter with wide, frightened eyes.
"Er... he's a little shy. Heh." There was a bit of a forced, 'I hope he gets over it soon' smile on her face as she shifted him on her arm, moving to step inside. "So what's on the menu for tonight?"
---
Khia chuckled and eyed the shy little Tale curiously. "Yeah...well..you know how the Dust's can be..." Another barrage of swearing and Bree went skittering out of the kitchen, Ki-yiing wildly, joyously even, at having done the mischief intended. The shifter's ears flicked, causing the long tassles of silky fur to dance a bit; instead of the long, long hair he's sporting a short, choppy hairdo that's likely best for the heat.
"Mmm...Hi Mara, I'm Khia. And if you think I'm scary now, you should see me when I smile. >3" *snorts and ushers the shorter woman in with her child, closing the door behind them. "Er...that, you'll wanna ask Dad. I think it's chicken...but god only knows by now...."
Speak of the devil, and he appears. Syrie stepped out of the kitchen, cheeks flushed with irritation. "Godrotting little beasts, I'll neuter every last one of you!" His ears lay flat against his head for a moment before he turned to greet Jada and Mara. "Hi guys...sorry about the mess...and noise...and throwing of kitchen objects....the kids are "playing'".
---
Jadaria just chuckled, shaking her head and hefting the tall toddler at her side, offering a crooked grin to her friend. "I understand. You've seen how many children I have. Do you think you have that many boys without a few messes?" Still, she couldn't help a slight giggle; after all, she very rarely had to throw kitchen utensils to get her children to quiet themselves - ah, but the difference in mothers and fathers!
Mara, on the other hand, just huddled against his guardian, clinging tightly to her shirt until she pushed at him a bit, then leaned down to set him on the ground. It took a moment or two of fighting, but finally she forced him loose, leaving him to wrap his arms around himself and cringe as close as he could to her leg.
"Mara, baby, you can't hide behind my leg forever," she sighed sadly, then shook her head and looked up at the shifter and kitsune. "Don't neuter them, Sy. You know Zon would have a fit. Hm hm. So - what's for dinner? Or... would it be safer if we packed up and went out to eat?" She grinned playfully.
---
"Ha ha, very funny Jada." His tail flicked and he regarded the woman with steady silvery-grey eyes. "Chicken with a little lemon, some strange casserol that Ren made before he left, and whatever else Bree and Beck haven't eaten." The kitsune crouched down so he was closer to being on Mara's level, expression gentle. "HI Mara...I know we're noisy, but don't worry...we're good people." The "mostly" at the end of that sentance was added under his breath.
Khia shifted into his lupine form and chuffed at Mara's feet, looking for all the world like an oversized stupid dog. "Wuff." He did it on purpose...sometimes, it seemed people were more comfortable with him if he adopted a certain form...something less threatening, perhaps?
---
"I thought it was bloody hilarious."
Wide eyes and silence met Syrie's gaze, and a little squeal came from the youngster when Khiarhu shifted, leaving him pressed up against the woman's legs in fear. Who WERE these people? Still, after a moment, he couldn't help natural curiosity getting the better of him; even if he was afraid, he did have some measurement of normalcy in him. Cautiously, the dual-coloured Tale scooted over towards Khia, reaching out to grab at an ear curiously. "Doggie?"
Jadaria laughed a little bit. "No, no Mara. Be careful baby. That's still Khia. He changed, kinda like Zon and Rejie and Maan do, remember? Be careful not to pull too hard..." She let out a sigh, then offered a half shrug to Syrie.
Mara's brows twisted together in thought as he struggled to process this information. A few moments later, though, the formerly afraid child latched onto Khia's face, giggling in delight. "Doggiekeeeaah~"
Jadaria just shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Close enough," she laughed, softly. At least the boy wasn't terrified of animals, for whatever reason.
---
"Don't worry, he's used to being chewed, clawed and yanked. He gets to meet a lot of the newly born Tales." He chuckles and eyes his dark child, the scary one that is so gentle most of the time. "Thanks Khia, I hope you don't have to eat dinner like that..." The fox gestured into the house more, leading - or trying to lead - the group into a dining hall; he'd set up only at one end, but it could have easily sat thirty had he wished it.
Khia just whuffed and delicately licked at the boy's hands; if being a "dog" would get the kid to accept him a little, that was fine. Most kids reacted better to the "beast" Khia than his shifted form anyway. He chuffed and his tail poofed a little at being grabbed like that, but he took it all with good humor and one long suffering sigh, then started wagging his tail like a good dog would.
---
"Ah.. still. Shouldn't make him suffer through more. And Mara's gotta learn that Khia won't hurt him anyway. C'mon, sweetie, let's go eat, okay?" Jadaria leaned down to tug her son loose from the so call 'doggie.' Mara let out a little whine, wrapping his arms around Khiarhu's neck and clinging defiantly. This perplexed the woman - Maravilha wasn't usually very persistant about much of anything when it came to new people! Still, there was food to be eaten.
"Okay, okay, sweetie. You can play with Khia after dinner, okay? Let him go - you wouldn't want to be tugged around like that, would you?" After a few moments, the boy did as he was told - as well trained as any of her children - and took her hand. Jadaria offered a rather tired smile to the shifter, then tugged her son along after his 'uncle.' "And you can shift back if you want, Khia. He DOES need to get used to you."
---
"He will...Khia won't stay that way for too long...He'll get sick of it." Another flick of his tail and the kitsune was pulling out chairs for Jada and Mara, and pulling covers off of the food he'd prepared earlier; pieces of the chicken were missing, probably due to Dust Games, but everything was done nicely and would likely be delicious~ Syrie was a good house b***h like that.
The big black shifter whuffed again, and shifted back to his usual form, sliding into his chair as his body reshaped itself rapidly. "Yeah well...at least this way he'll associate my scent with something that's not scary." He wagged his tail and chuffed again.
---
"That's true," Jada decided lightly, picking Maravilha up and settling him in his chair once they reached it. As it turned out, the boy was already more than tall enough to sit at the table - even if he was quite young. It made the woman laugh a bit, and she patted his head lightly before leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. He blushed furiously, but dealt with it well enough - for the most part. "Such a tall boy... He's going to be a giant when he gets older, I bet. You know he's already three-ten? He's almost four feet tall!"
Maravilha wasn't really sure what was so great about all that - so he was 'tall?' He didn't feel tall. Everyone was taller than him! Kajika and Luc and and and... well. They were all taller than him. The dusts were taller if they WANTED to be. Still, the little one sat more or less still - until he found that if he wriggled a certain way, his chair wobbled just a little bit - but not enough for anyone else to notice. This pleased him, and set him into a wriggling spree, as it were.
At least, until there came a light swat at his head as Jadaria took her own seat. He pouted pointedly at his mother, but stopped wiggling.
---
Khia's bright red eyes focused on the strange boy - could he really consider Mara strange when he was such an odd creature himself? Probably not. "You don't know that for sure, I was tiny when I was little, and now I'm big enough to cause problems, as Dad likes to remind me." He skinned his muzzle back in what equated a grin in the world of muzzled beasts, but did indeed look feriocious and wickedly threatening.
"He is likely the tallest of the children, by far...we'll see if he continues to grow like that..." Syrie motioned for everyone to dig in and get what they wanted - he'd made a lot of food, with lots of different things, mostly because Khia ate enough for three and he wanted to be certain that there was something for everyone to eat. He fixed his own plate and poured everyone a drink - a light wine for himself and Jadaria, cider for Mara and Khia. "I hope he'll like that..." If Mara wanted something else to drink, that was fine too, the Manor was well stocked.
---
"He should be fine, Sy," Jadaria said first, setting herself first to serving Maravilha - who had started more or less cowering in his seat from Khiarhu's "grin," then fixed herself something to eat - after making sure that a napkin was spread over the boy's lap and that he could reach his food properly. "Tell me if you want anything else though, okay baby?" Maravilha nodded, then set into digging at his food - still mastering the finer 'art' of using a fork properly.
"And... well. I know. But call it... a mother's instinct." The woman grinned as she took her own bite of food, then shook her head. "I mean, I know he COULD stay as 'tall' as he is now forever - but I've just got this feeling about him, you know? I don't know. Maybe I'm just crazy."
"Mommy not cazee," Mara mumbled through a mouthful of food. His mother cast a soft smile at him, then let it turn stern.
"No talking with your mouth full! So, Syrie. Khia. What have you two been up to recently?"
---
Syrie too Jada's word for that, and went back to filling his plate, glowering at his son for trying to eat with his hands instead of silverware, and eating some of the food himself; he wasn't too hungry honestly, he'd been kind of pining for something recently and it kept his appetite down low, but...it was good food.
The shapeshifting Tale gave up trying to eat with his claws and gave in to Syrie's unspoken - but very well "heard" - admonishment to eat like a "proper" person would, not an animal. "Kiddo, your mom's nuts, just FYI." He filled his plate and immediately started in on it, ignoring any glares he might have gotten from Syrie.
"Khia..." It was a word full of warning. This wasn't the first time recently that Khia'd said something untoward at an adult. "I trust your intuition...and there's something there that doesn't feel small..I agree."
---
Jada shot a warning look over at Khia as well, then shook her head and turned her attention back to the kitsune. "You think so too? I'm fairly certain. I'm not sure what it is - but then, I'm not really sure about any of these kids at first." She grinned rather widely. "I guess it's just a learning experience, huh? Heh. I do hope he doesn't pick up the bad manners from any of his brothers or... cousins."
The subtle hint wasn't really that 'subtle' when the blue haired woman shot another glance over at Khiarhu; she treated most of Syrie's children like her own, anyway - so she didn't feel bad about it. Maravilha was busy crinkling his nose and staring at Khiarhu curiously. After a few moments, he decided that he didn't like the fuzzy black thing - he didn't think his mommy was nuts. Nuts was for those people on the teevee that did bad things he couldn't know about. His mommy didn't do bad things! So she couldn't be crazy.
"Whassis?" he interrupted, poking at his food.
"Eat it, you'll like it."
"Looks funnee..."
"Sweetie, mommy's talking. Eat your food - Uncle Sy wouldn't make you anything bad, would he?"
Mara shot an overly speculative look at Syrie, then decided to trust his mother - biting into the food curiously. After making a game of poking at it and making it slide around his plate, of course.
---
Khiarhu grunted a little, and toyed with his food before eating it. He was edgy and twitchy and trying very hard to hide it; oh, he thought Jadaria was crazy, yes - that didn't change - but he would have found a better way to say it, usually. That was probably why Syrie kept casting him odd little worried looks; the kitsune was an empath and could pick up on his unrest. "Whatever..." He didn't like her insinuation, and it made him bristle visibly.
"Come on now, you know very well both our kids will do their best to teach him things too quickly...it's their chief joy, I swear..." The short kitsune did the best he could to diffuse a situation before it became one - by interrupting and hissing a little at Khia. What was wrong with his son lately? First Nanashi, now Jada...peculiar! "I promise you kiddo, it's not bad. I like your mom too much to make funny food for her."
A little chuckle came from Khia, and this time it was more like the way he usually was; not making fun of anything, but just laughing. "Dad, you make funny food anyway...we've just all gotten used to it."
---
Jadaria relaxed a little bit at Syrie's talk of the other children, and she couldn't help smiling a bit. "You're right... they will." She gave a hefty, overly dramatic sigh and shook her head. "I guess that's just what happens with big families though. Especially with Luc and Kaji in the house! Goodness. Not that he'd be any safer over here, though..." She grinned playfully at the kitsune, then glanced over at Khia - already feeling bad for snapping indirectly at him, even if he DID deserve it, in her opinion. She was NOT crazy.
No matter how many people thought she was.
"No funnee food?" Mara's little voice piped up, and then went quiet when his mother's eyes turned curiously on him. He wasn't supposed to interrupt! But he'd been spoken to, right? So it was okay if he said something - that was the rule, right? The mental 'stress' that the decision caused made the rest of his body react - the little tendrils from his shoulder wriggling a bit, the green markings engraved in his arm glowing a tad brighter.
"Unca' Sy dun' make funnee food? But Luc said... Luc said..." He struggled for a moment, brows crunching together - then a bright smile crossed over his face, and an inverse look of terror spread over Jada's at about the same time, as though she already knew what was coming.
"Luc said Unca' Sy dunno 'ow t'cook. Luc said not t'eat an'thin' tha looked funnee from Unca' Sy 'cause I might gets sickses," he declared proudly. Jada groaned and covered her face with a hand, shaking her head.
"What have I said about listening to your brothers?" she muttered under her breath.
---
Perhaps Syrie was one of the few people that didn't think Jadaria was crazy to one extent or other - that might have been why they'd actually gotten close in the first place; she wasn't crazy, just misunderstood...or something. It was undefinable, and usually the kitsune didn't bother thinking about it: Jada was Jada. That's really all there was to it; his black tipped ears flicked a little as he ate, listening to the predominately vowel speach Mara gave them.
"...Luc is a PITA, by the way. I think I've said that before, haven't I?" But he was trying not to laugh - he cooked just fine, there were just a few things he could not do...like bake. Luc had been around when Sy was trying to bake before....and yeah, if you tried eating something he'd baked, you'd likely get sick. For whatever reason, the fox could cook like a dream...but he couldn't bake for s**t.
"Dad can cook...he just can't bake for shi-er, he can't bake real well." Khia managed to stop the obscenity before it came all the way out; he'd settled a little, and didn't want to fight - even just a little - with anyone to make the unease return.
---
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 1:39 am
Cold - it was cold this time. Always cold, it seemed. He was always cold when he was asleep. He was asleep, wasn't he? He had to be asleep. It was always like this when he was asleep - asleep but not asleep, slumbering but elsewhere, not warm and snug in his bed and happy thoughts.
It wasn't dark though - it wasn't dark like usual. It was grey and green - metallic, dim but lit with neon green lights. He recognised it - recognised the patterns, that shade of tarnished silver. Unconsciously, the boy's own metal fingers clenched; in response, the swirled runes and markings of the room grew brighter. His eyes widened, and as they did, his jade eye suddenly ached, a sharp pain cutting in and piercing the poor orb mercilessly. He cried out, the 'real' hand lifting to cover it and hide it from whatever had harmed it. As the pulsing light faded out of sight, the eye began to feel better almost instantly, leaving the poor child confused and shaking, tears welling up in both of his eyes. He tried to move his hand away - and immediately the pain began again, leaving him clenching almost desperately at the area on his face, struggling to hide it from the eerie glow.
Maravilha stumbled, then bumped into the wall behind him; again the lights flared, making his fuschia eye turn up and gaze around in surprise. He didn't get long, though; behind him, the strange tendrils sprouting from his right shoulder blade reacted, twisting and writhing, the end flaring up and extending in ways he'd never experienced. At the same time, the left side of his body began to ache - no, not ache, to hurt.
The boy screamed, jerking away from the wall and stumbling away, tears streaming down his cheeks freely now. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he heard laughing - cruel, terrible laughing, laughing that someone of his age should never hear, should never imagine.
His eye searched for freedom, searched for an exit, but there wasn't one... there were no doors, no windows... There was only the green, and that metal, and the laughter... The laughter as it grew, swelled and expanded in his mind until there was nothing else, nothing but the laughing... Not even his own screaming covered it up - there was just laughter, and pain, and...
Maravilha woke with a start, screaming and clutching at whatever he could find. What he found was a soft nightgown and a warm, caring body, with soft words and a gentle 'shhing'. There were arms to encircle him and pick him up, a kind voice to comfort him, a loving mother to hold him close and cradle him as he sobbed into her, trembling because of a nightmare he didn't understand, a world and reality that made no sense to him in the least.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 9:36 pm
It wasn't cold this time. It wasn't... anything, really. It wasn't warm, but it wasn't chilled - it was almost... numb, honestly. It certainly wasn't comfortable - it was too balanced, too... perfect to be comfortable. Something like that couldn't be comfortable to a creature that was living - a creature that wasn't accustomed to perfection.
For the longest time, Maravilha kept his eyes closed, wishing and praying that it would go away, that he wouldn't have this dream. He didn't want to get hurt! He didn't understand why it hurt when he dreamt, sometimes. He was too young to understand any possibilities - he was too young to understand why he was dreaming these things. Perhaps not even too young - perhaps no one would understand. But he knew that they frightened him. He knew that going to sleep every night was a chore because he was afraid of a dream like this. And again, it had been proven right.
It didn't happen every night, but when it did, he knew. He knew he was dreaming. And he knew the fright and the pain would come.
When he opened his eyes, he only opened one at first - and it was the wrong one. The vivid eye screamed in pain, as did the rest of his right side. Almost immediately he shoved himself off the floor, squeezing his eyes tightly closed and shaking his head. He hadn't gotten sight of anything - anything but white. Endless white.
Maravilha didn't want this. He didn't want to be encased in a place of perfection - and he didn't want the pain that was now shooting his body. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he heard something... a whisper, a taunting sort of whisper, like the wind playing tricks on him. He forced both of his eyes open, though it sent searing pain wracking through his young body.
Before he lost consciousness, he caught sight of a figure - he couldn't place it though. Didn't even know how he'd seen it. It was white, white, white, so white...
This time, Maravilha caught himself before he screamed, instead rolling over onto his side and grabbing at his Mozou-Micky plushie. He whimpered quietly, streams of tears rolling down his cheeks. He didn't understand, he just didn't! Mommy didn't have dreams like that - he'd asked, and she'd only seemed confused - and concerned. Worried that something was wrong. And he didn't want to worry her... because nothing was wrong. He was a good boy. A big boy. Nothing was wrong with him...
He curled up around the plush, staring at the darkness. Unlike many children, he wasn't afraid of the dark - he was afraid of falling asleep. The dark could protect him. Sleep could only hurt.
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Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 12:10 am
Maravilha didn't get it, honestly. He didn't get what the big deal was - or why his brother loved it so much. It wasn't like it was all that interesting, was it? How could it be so much fun? And why in the world did he want him involved so much? Sure, he liked doing things with him, but that didn't mean that he had to do everything, right? He were a lot older than him, used to a lot more than he was... right?
"Come on!" came the happy shout, as well as a wave of water from the side of the pool. The Tale squealed in fright and skittered away from the edge of the water, while his ruddy-skinned brother laughed joyously over it. Kajika was much fonder of water than his little brother - obviously. The child was a natural in the water, and as it were, he was more than a little anxious to get his sibling along with him. Sure, they both had Luc to play with, but the two were closer in age than that of the fuzzball and either of them. Thus, the Eden had attached himself to his sibling in hopes of dragging Maravilha along with him in any and all mischief that he could conjure. More than that, he really just wanted to play with his brother - and the pool was the best play that he could think of, really.
Kajika loved the water - more than anything. It made him feel free inside. It made him feel right, made him happy, made him... whole. He didn't know that not everyone shared that opinion - so he wanted to share it with his little brother.
Maravilha, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with any of it. Nothing at all, from the looks of things.
"Moooommmmmyyyyyyy," he whined, running to where Jadaria was stretched out beside the pool, tanning and watching her children play. She knew that Kajika could swim - probably better than she could, and she had years of experience under her belt! And she trusted Maravilha to be safe with him, if the dark-haired one could get his split-toned brother into the pool. However, when it came to teasing, she did have to put her foot down a little bit, didn't she?
"Kajika, be nice to your brother! He doesn't have to swim if he doesn't want to." The woman sat up, reaching an arm out to wrap it around the Tale's small shoulders and hug him gently as he pouted against her chest. "Don't rush him!"
"Awww... yer no fun, Mom!"
"Don't 'aww' me young man, unless you want to get out of that pool right now." Kajika rolled his eyes and splashed back into the pool, diving under to see how far he could swim before he came up for breath again. "And you, Mara... you can't always come running to me whenever Kaji does something that you don't like, okay? If he hurts you, you know you have to tell me... but sometimes brothers just like to tease. And he's only trying to get you to play... Don't you want to play with him?"
"Guess sho, mommee...." There came a quiet sniffle. "Bu' he didn'a hafta splash meeee... ish cold."
"Aw... it's only cold because you're not used to it. And it's hot out here, isn't it? I bet that water would feel nice and cool if you got in it... And if you stay in the shallow end, you wouldn't have to go under at all! It's only three feet deep there. And how tall are you?"
"...." Another sniffle. "...thwee-ten."
"Exactly! See, you won't get hurt... And you'll be able to play with Kajika that way, too."
For a few moments, the young child just pouted pointedly, but finally, he did pull away from his mother and wrap his arms around himself, feet scuffing the ground as he toddled to the pool edge. When he got there, Kajika was already waiting, the hyperactive Eden's face split into a wide grin. Long, lithe limbs reached out, fingers closing and opening in a 'gimme' kind of motion. Maravilha's lip was poked out to an exaggerated length, but it didn't seem to deter the dark-skinned boy any.
"C'mon, Mara~ Come swimmin' with me! I won't let'cha get hurt~ Don't'cha want Kaji t'teach ya how'ta swim?"
For a few moments, the split-toned boy stood and stared at his brother, pouting and not seeming very sure of himself. Then, a few seconds later, there was a loud splash and a squeal of joy, as well as laughter from two different voices a short time later.
Jadaria smiled. It was funny, sometimes, how much siblings could do for each other.
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Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:49 pm
--Shopping Trip: Crystal Balls and Windchime--
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