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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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 Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 6:27 pm
There were no giggles, but Viviana did let out a high-pitched squeal that one could guess meant she was amused. The girl-person looked silly when she did that, but also a little scary. Suddenly she wasn't sure if she wanted to keep holding onto a scary person, but she did not let go. Partly because it would take a good deal of effort, and partly because holding onto something, anything, made her feel better.
Outcry snorted scornfully, blowing bits of mist into the air, but remained still. He would never show it, but he was a bit scared of the crossed eyes as well. The only evidence that anything had changed was the rigid way the daemon held himself.
"Ah, me too." Other than browsing hoverbike and motorcycle shops, the only stores Eriol went into of his own will were bookstores. "I mean, libraries're cool an all, but sometimes ya jus wanna keep the book. So tha' way yer not worried 'bout messin' it up an havin ta pay a fine. Or not returnin' it when they want ya to." He'd racked up fees at several libraries due to those offences. Still, when it came to finances, the price of a library book couldn't be beat provided you returned it timely.
Pausing a moment, Eriol actually looked at the girl and bit back a laugh. "What're ya doin, lookin like that?"
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Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 7:03 pm
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 8:14 pm
((SORRY. x_x For both the delay and the repeatpost, Gaia was wonky that night. Or something. Ignore me.))
Eriol nodded in agreement, not taking much notice to Viviana's active squeals. "Yeah. I like readin new books, but it's fun ta read one'f yer ol' fav'rites sometimes."
Suddenly Viviana felt the hand she was holding tense up, and that made her more uncomfortable still. She wasn't scared enough to start crying, but she did know that something wasn't right and her face screwed up, filled with anxiety. Outrcy, equally anxious, was madly blowing air and trying to ward people away from Vivi, but it wasn't working quite the way he wanted it to.
"S'okay," Eriol replied to Marie's final statement. "Y'can never really tell what she's gonna do. But she's okay, I think."
And if she wasn't it wasn't like Eriol knew what to do about it anyway. So why worry?
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Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 5:11 pm
((No worries, luv! <3))
"Exactly," Marie nodded and smiled shyly, pleased to have found somebody who enjoyed books as much as she did.
Then, her blue eyes widened in fright at the site of Vivi's troubled face. She hadn't imagined the babe's reaction to be anything of this sort and the blonde girl couldn't resist the urge to free her finger from Viviana's grasp.
After taking a step back, Marie swallowed and peered up at Eriol, entirely convinced the she'd done something wrong in spite of the older boy's reassurance.
"Does she always react this way?"
Or was it just her?
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 7:16 pm
And then there was nothing to hold onto at all. Viviana was lost, and confused. Her daemon wasn't pleased either, but since the potential threat had backed away, he was considerably less tense. That only made Viviana more insecure. She thought the girl was nice, if a little scary, but Outcry clearly didn't agree... or did he? It was all too much, and a small trickle of tears started flowing down the girl's cheeks.
Oblivious to the extent of his charge's distress, Eriol shrugged. "You'd probly know 'bout as much as I'd when it comes ta her. I can' read her, or understan' much of wha' she wants from me."
Admitting that fault didn't hurt Eriol as much as the others had. He was a teenage guy, not a mom. He was supposed to be interested in sports and cars (and he had some interest in the latter), not baby books and bottle feeding. Being unable to tell what a little kid (a girl even) wanted just came with being him.
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Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 3:33 pm
Marie was swiftly crumbling under the force of her feelings; frustration at the babe for being how she was, frustration at Eriol for not know knowing what to do, but, most of all, frustration (and a bit of anger) at herself for being the cause of such distress.
Desperate to fix what she had done and guessing that a storybook, her first option, wouldn't calm Viviana, Marie began to hum. It was a soft, sweet sound that didn't faulter as she reached forwards and gently wiped the tears from the baby's delicate cheeks.
Please, she thought, let this work.
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 8:23 pm
And surprisingly, once Viviana heard the sweet sounds coming from the strange girl, she did start to calm down. Her whimpers quieted, her face relaxed, and the flow of tears stopped cold. Of course, she wasn't totally convinced that nothing bad was going to happen. But the music was enough to distract her from her former tension. For his part, Outcry let out a soft croon, as if attempting to join in the song. Or voice his approval, or lack thereof.
"Not bad," Eriol commented with a hint of admiration. The girl liked books AND she could carry a tune. If she was a little older, and not so skittish... well, he could dream.
Still, there was the question of why she started humming at all. "You jus like ta sing, or what?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2006 9:27 pm
Viviana finally camed and Marie slowly let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding in.
All of her earlier frustrations were forced out of her body by an overwhelming feeling of joy. She had been able to mend whatever damage she'd caused, after all!
It took Marie a minute to reply to Eriol, for she was a bit cautious about pausing. What if Viviana started crying again?
With a bit of alarm, Marie thought about what she would do if she had to hum to the babe for the rest of her life... or until Viviana grew too hold to be comforted by such a noise.
"Thanks," she beamed at Eriol when she was finally confident that Viviana wouldn't burst into tears again.
She didn't even need to think about the answer to his next question.
"My mother hums to my little sister whenever she's upset," she shrugged, "I thought it might be worth a try."
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 8:08 pm
Viviana was a bit disappointed when the humming came to an end, but she didn't show it. Any damage had been repaired, and she came to the realization that any person who made sounds that were pretty couldn't be bad, even though sometimes it looked scary. While Outcry wasn't sure he agreed, he ceased his own variant of music when Marie did.
"Oh." And in his total oblivion Eriol hadn't even noticed anything wrong. How the heck was he supposed to tell when the squirt and squirtier weren't happy? He couldn't speak babytalk.
But then, Marie didn't seem to be that much of a kid, and she understood. Maybe it was a girl thing. His sisters all adored Viviana, and none of them had problems. "You got sisters too? How d'ya tell when they're needin stuff, or somethin? I can' tell 'er happy from 'er hungry half the time."
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Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 6:59 pm
Viviana had calmed down! Marie felt like she could yell and scream for joy. Indeed, she was that happy. She settled for a pat on the back, proud of herself for easing the babe's mind.
"You mean..." she paused and stared at him with wide eyes, utterly stunned, "You didn't know something was wrong?"
Marie couldn't hold back a giggle. So that explained why he hadn't helped her before. Her earlier frustration to wards him was now very funny, at least, to her.
"I have four sisters," she told him as-a-matter-of-factly and then continued with a smile on her face, "There's only one that's too little to tell us what she wants and ma deals with her most of the time. I suppose it might just be a mom thing. I got lucky with Viviana. Maybe... you have to practice?"
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:37 am
Eriol frowned for a moment. He didn't appreciate being laughed at; after all, it wasn't like totally cool guys were regularly taught childcare. But he let it go, forcing a sort of smile. It wouldn't do any good to get mad at a kid like Marie, who probably didn't mean any harm.
"I've got a buncha sisters too, but none've 'em are as little as Viv. 'Cept one, but yeah, Mom takes care've her. I used ta help with my brother when 'e was little, but... Iunno, boys an girls are diff'rent I guess." And that was becoming more and more clear with each passing moment.
That completely settled it. Anyone who laughed was a good person. The big man who took care of her laughed when other people talked to him, and then he would play with her more, or give her something yummy like bananas. And the other people at home laughed too, mostly. So anyone who did that was good.
As what may have been a show of good faith, Viviana extended her hand again, opening and closing her fist as she did so. Her mood wasn't damp anymore, and she wanted to see and feel what else the girl was like.
Observing this behavior as best he could, Eriol shrugged. "Lotsa practice, I'd say. Eeesh."
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 1:53 pm
The frown that passed across Eriol's face surprised her and Marie stopped giggling almost instantly. What could she have done wrong? Then, he smiled and she smiled back, a bit awkardly, but it was a smile, nontheless.
"They are," she nodded in agreement, "but they can be similar too. You and I both like books, and I don't really like to play with dolls. Although, I do have a teddy-bear named Winifred but I don't consider her a doll... You don't like to play with dolls, do you?"
It was her attempt at some light humor and she laughed again to let him know, hoping that he wouldn't take offense.
Viviana's outstetched hand caught her attention and Marie's eyes widened in surprise. Had the babe forgiven her, then?
The girl smiled and slowly (so as not to frighten her) offered her finger to Viviana. Perhaps they could be friends, after all.
"Well," she sighed and grinned sideways at Eriol, "you'll get better with practice and then, everything will be easier."
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 5:26 pm
The first thing that came out of Eriol's mouth was an emphatic "no!" Of course he didn't like dolls! He had one or two stuffed toys that he used more as pillows than anything else, but those totally didn't count. Then he realized that Marie was laughing- not at him, but making a joke- and started to laugh too, if uneasily.
Crinkling her fingers lightly around the girl's extended digit, Viviana gave a sleepy smile and let out a soft "ahhh" noise.
"She fallin' asleep?" Eriol frowned a moment, then shrugged. "Guess I should get her home soon, eh."
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 10:56 am
When he laughed a very large and very pleased grin split Marie's face in two. So many accomplishments in one day! She was delighted with herself. Perhaps socializing wasn't so terrible, after all.
"That might be a good idea," Marie nodded sadly, dissapointed that Eriol and Viviana had to go so soon. She'd grown quite fond of both of them.
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DivineSaturn Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 4:05 pm
"There!" Eriol's voice was slightly triumphant. "Ya look a lot better when ya smile, kid. So nex' time, maybe ya wanna read somethin that won' make ya cry."
Shifting uncomfortably, Outcry let out a surprisingly gentle sound, as if cuing Eriol. Viviana was tired, and so was he.
With a sign Eriol nodded. "I get it, I get it." Overgrown fish he added mentally, but shook his head. "Was nice meetin' ya, Marie. Have fun with yer books."
And he didn't even get to pick up new ones. Still, Eriol couldn't exactly classify the visit as a waste, and there was something of a smile on his face as he headed for the door.
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