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 Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 10:15 pm
 01
For Page 02
01.15 Navigation
--Toddler Haki --
02.15 Picking her up.[PRP]
03.15 A rose by any other name... would be just as evil. [Self RP]
04.15 Step One: Make "Friends" [PRP]
05.15 Step Two: Infiltrate their HQ [PRP]
06.15 When Thorn comes over with a gift. [Self RP]
07.15 Step Three: Form Plan A [PRP]
08.15 Welcome to the Neighborhood? [PRP]
09.15 Barbie has a rival now... [Journal]
10.15 Hero Gavin and Hero-ess (really) Haki [PRP]
11.15 Practicing [Self RP]
12.15 Dressup and Rootbeer [PRP]
13.15 ... mommy? [PRP]
14.15 Patricia, the ghoul keeper [PRP]
15.15 Sugar and spice and all that's nice... [PRP]
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Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 1:52 am
Where is my son?!
Ale types in this color.
Nae types in this color.
Didn't they have reception down here?
Scowling at his phone as he walked up and down the hallway, he cursed the brand, the shop, and the woman who had influenced him to get the damned thing. Get him hooked to cell phones and then take away his service, was it?
He'd see about that...
Scowling as he looked around, he wondered briefly if he was going the right way-- and then decided he must be. He would never get lost. ... Ever.
Hadrian had been having an enjoyable evening; the Souls he was montering were progressing nicely, he'd managed to find some free time and that cheerful idiot Dacian hadn't hopped into his lab to bother him.
Of course, he considered that 'cheerful idiot' a friend...but he would never admit that.
But as he stepped into the hallway to check on another lab, he caught sight of someone and felt his relatively relaxed expression tense. Wonderful.
All the same, he couldn't let the man wander around here on his own...he would doubtlessly destroy something, or be lost down here.
"Are you lost?"
"No, of course not. I want to explore the hallways and discover every inch of white washed walls." was his automatic answer. Turning, he frowned. "Why don't you have a map here, a directory or something attached to the walls? How else is someone supposed to figure out where they are going?"
Marc didn't want to admit that maybe he was actually lost... and besides, this man looked official. "Do you work in this maze?"
And then remembered his manners. "I'm Marc. I'm here to here someone about... something?"
Hell. It was their fault to begin with.
"We don't get many visitors."
No, they certainly didn't...not until Dacian brought in all these guardians, anyway. Hadrian would need to remember to do something nasty to him, later. Maybe he'd cut one of his flowers in that garden of his - though that would require actually venturing into that smelly jungle. So on second thought, perhaps that wasn't such a good idea.
"Hadrian. And I own this building, actually."
So it seemed his co-worker hadn't bothered to inform Marc of the way this compound was run - or the fact that there were only three people in the entire compound. It seemed that he would have to do his job for him. A pity.
Well, at least this man didn't seem as sunshine bright as Dacian.
"Something? If you could elaborate, I may be able to help."
The owner, huh? Well. Marc would need to speak to him some more about installing more user friendly sights in this lab. He wasn't much for interior designing, but this place was claustrophobic.
"Hadrian, is it?" he nodded his head, filing the name away in his mental box... somewhere.
If his handphone was working he wouldn't need to.
"About a child? Energy?" What was the word they had used again? "Ball of light? Soul? Orb?"
It all seemed the same to him. "I'm supposed to take a kid back home with me sooner or later, but no one has told me enough-" the word was emphasized by another scowl. "About it."
What if this was like child prostitution?
With an irritated sigh, Hadrian rubbed his forehead. So Dacian had told the man - nothing. Nothing at all.
"Yes, it's a Soul."
Once again, he contemplated finding something nasty to do to the other mage, but dismissed it as a useless spenditure of his time. Well, he could always set Ismet on it...the young snake would probably help.
"Did my foolish co-worker tell you anything at all, beyond that you have been chosen as a guardian?"
Actually, there had been something.
But that day Marc had been trying to close a deal for a bilteral merge, and his stupid secretary had sued him for sexual harassment.
Needless to say, he really couldn't remember.
"No. Nothing." deciding to cross that bridge when he came to it, he nodded his head. "Could you tell me more? And... is this some kind of business venture? Do I need to pay?" Donate? Sponsor?
Still, he liked this bad. Foolish coworker, huh?
"Follow me, please."
Hadrian, by this point, had decided to set Ismet on the warpath. Perhaps he could come up with something to infuriate the boy and make him go against Dacian - that could be simple enough.
"First of all, you are not required to give money of any sort to us. Ahneta, another of my co-workers, is the one in charge of procuring funds for us; I doubt you will meet for some time, she's usually travelling."
They passed by several doors, and went through another couple of hallways, before entering one door. It looked like all the others, yet the mage knew exactly where they were. "Here we are..."
Stepping into the room then, he gestured for Marc to follow him. It was an exact replica of the room Inanna had been in - except that the Soul in this room was pink. Hovering in the center of the inscribed circles, with the ring of monitors surrounding it, it was an interesting blend of magic and technology.
Travelling, huh? Procuring funds? That sounded fancy. No. Actually, it sounded shady. With images of a large drug baron looming over his mind, he made a mental note to check it out.
Wouldn't want to get involved in something illegal.
The short trip was enough for Marc to rapidly reupdate other, more important matters in his head. Like work. Money. The important stuff.
And then.
"I get a PINK KID?!"
The skeptical gaze that Hadrian leveled on Marc at this point was amusingly scornful. "It is still energy, at this point. Once it is born, it may be pink or normally colored."
There really wasn't much of a way to determine it, at this point. The toddler seemed to - from the two cases so far - reflect the coloring, but you never know. It was only two.
"Whenever it has been born, you are welcome to stay in the housing on the compound. If you choose to live elsewhere, we would need you to visit here with the Soul regularly."
Another moment passed, and Hadrian eyed Marc with a more thoughtful expression. Dacian hadn't told him anything...so he likely had no idea what the Soul was. That might be something they needed to cover...
"It may be pink? Is it a girl?" Marc frowned. "Do you know anything about the (son) kid I'm supposed to take home with me other then the fact that he's pink?"
"Visit?" Marc frowned thoughtfully. Wait a minute... what was this? Feeling like an extra no some kind of drug bust, stopped. "What is regularly?" he asked.
A month? A week? Every day?
With the naturla arrogance of a man who clearly _knows_ his stuff is better than your stuff, he shook his head on the offer.
Hah!
The housing here couldn't be as good as his own.
"We won't be able to determine the gender until it's born, unfortunatly. And at the moment, I'm afraid we don't know anything. We'll take a DNA sample when it's born, to discover what sort of blend it is..."
"A month or a week, something like that; Dacian will primarily deal with those," was the dismissive response he gave to that. He certainly didn't intend wasting his time on meeting up with guardians and so forth, unless he was required for check-ups.
Adjusting his monocle briefly, he then continued on. "Did Dacian explain to you the purpose of this process, or even who we are?"
Hadrian really hoped that Dacian had done so. He was horrible at these sorts of explanations, and it was a rather fantastical one at that...
"Something about reincarnation, souls, helping people out..." Marc waved his to emphasize his point. "Children, joy..." yeah, around there Marc had stopped listening.
It could be a girl?
Marc dismissed the thought.
Naaaaaah.
"I need to know more. Not everything, but enough." Marc frowned. "I know that there are organizations that pawn of reincarnated criminals..." this wasn't like that, was it?
At the bit about criminals, Hadrian had to pause. Well, they had no way of telling if there were any criminals in there..and there probably were. But that wasn't the point of this, no.
"This is an entire world. Our world..." the mage gazed at the soul then, before explaining further "To put it simply, these are the souls of our people; we're trying to save them. Some of they may not be completely human however, due to complications in the transfer..."
His expression seemed to become more distant, as he thought over it. When Ismet had been born, and the problem had become apparent, Hadrian had simply blamed himself. Afterall, of the three of them, he was the most technically oriented; the one who should have noticed a problem if there was one. And he hadn't.
"Not completely human?" Marc look bewildered. Wait a minute. He didn't know anything in the wild that came in pink!
"When will you know what..." he paused, looking for the right word. "The kid will be?"
They weren't dangerous, were they? "Are they healthy? Mentally fine? Emotionally stable?"
Last thing he wanted was a crazy son.
Hadrian narrowed his eyes at Marc then, irritation beginning to show in his features. "As I've said before, we will have no way of knowing until the Soul is born."
They couldn't even do testing such as pregnant woman could undergo, to tell if the child had any deformities. Afterall, they weren't any sort of physical being just yet - the best that he could do was monitor and control the energies surrounding the soul. If there were any major fluctuations, he would be there to take care of it.
He leaned against a monitor then, folding his arms across his chest.
Marc irritation with annoyance. Well. That was extremely irresponsible. Didn't they know anything other than the fact that these souls were from out of space?
Still...
Marc blinked. "Hey, are you sure you should be doing that?" he asked, just slightly frantic. What if leaning against the moniter set something off, and then his kid died?
... Marc didn't really know or understand much when it came to science.
Reaching up and removing his monocle to rub at his eyes, Hadrian sighed slightly.
"The monitor itself does not control it; the keypads do. I don't use touchscreens in the laboratories since they are easily too dangerous for the Souls."
Though at least that worry showed that the guardian cared something already for the child. Well, perhaps Dacian wasn't such an idiot afterall, if he managed to pick out someone who would care.
Cross that, there were probably better candidates out there. He was still an idiot.
All the same, a half-smile wryly drifted onto his face. Better candidates, yes. But he'd probably flat out hate those 'better candidates'.
Marc's expression grew just slightly distant.
Actually, that was because he was embarrassed. Well, how was he supposed to know the monitor didn't control anything? He had a computer, sure... but it was for reports and the like, not for energy control.
Wondering if he was supposed to make up for the error in some way (and feeling that he should), Marc offered him a consolation.
"I'm sure the pink is just a phase."
.. alright. It wasn't much. But he didn't have time to prepare!
The comment seemed to come out of the blue, for Hadrian; completely and utterly random. It was startling enough that it managed to cause what might - if you listened closely enough - be a chuckle.
If Dacian had heard him, he wouldn't have believed it; this mage did not laugh, rarely smiled, and often smirked. Or at least, that's how the other man usually viewed him.
"Would you care for a tour of the compound? I'm done with my rounds, for now."
Without waiting for a response, he leaned over the keypad and tapped something in, recieving an answering beep from a strange watch on his wrist. He was effectively 'setting the alarm'. If the energy started to fluctuate, as it did before birth, he would be notified and could arrive in time.
Had the man just made a non coherent noise?
Still, before he could say anything the offer had him thinking about more important things. Yes. He probably would. It'll let him know what this place looked like so that he wouldn't get lost the next time, and find out just how big the place was.
It had to be huge, considering HE had gotten lost.
"If you're free." he said easily, nodding his head. That seemed like a better alternative than trying to find his own way out.
At the beep, he blinked, and remembered. "How long does it take for them to..." metamorphesis? change? evolve? hatch? "Turn into kids?"
"Hm?" Hadrian gave a distracted glance at Marc, over his shoulder, "We aren't entirely certain yet. Ismet was almost at once - all three of us were making a concentrated effort - but the second one was born not too long ago...it's too tiring to force the energy to mature all at once, so I'm afraid we're still figuring out what's average."
"Hopefully, not too much longer." It would free up some time for him to carry out his experiments...
Straightening up, he beckoned the other man to follow him into the maze of hallways.
"This building itself belongs to me - the laboratories. Hadrian owns another building, as well as the gardens, and Ahneta owns what will eventually become the 'school' to teach them about our history and magics."
He turned down another hallway, even entering a few that seemed to slope. And there had been stairs, so the fact that you could cross floors without entering those would likely confuse a passerby. After a bit, they exited the building.
"Ahneta procured the funds for us, and then we went about locating a suitable site - there were a couple of buildings already here, but as you can see, we've added on."
They were standing in what seemed to be an almost buisness-like courtyard, between one building and another.
Marc followed, half listening, half looking around. Well, this place WAS huge. His pride satisfied, he nodded his head.
"It might be an idea then, for me to get a place here as well." Sometimes he travelled, and he supposed it was more efficient knowing that his son would have a place to stay than to hire a nurse.
Who knew what nannys and the like were up to these days...
"A school?"at the mention of the drug barons name, he arched a brow. "Just how does she do it?" he wanted to know for himself... and also because maybe he could hire her services.
Unofficially, of course.
Hadrian was about to answer Marc, when his 'watch' beeped.
"We can discuss this later, but we may want to get down the lab, now."
He led the other man back into the building and through the maze of hallways, again. And while he did so, he thought through something - what did Ahneta actually do? He knew some basic things, but he had to wonder how she had gotten all her contacts here. After all, she had arrived here at the same time as he and Dacian did...
But when they reached the lab, he brushed those thoughts aside for seeing the Soul. And when they entered, the Soul seemed to be fluctuating much like the wolf one had, as the mage quickly made his way over to a monitor.
After fluctuating and inverting, the Soul settled upon the ground before inverting completely - and doing the exact same thing that Inanna had done. Where before there had been a ball of energy, was now a little blonde girl.
Marc followed, heart beating rapidly. That may have been due to the exercise, but really? He was... a little bit nervous about his pink son. Running in two steps behind the other man, he stopped.
And stared.
"Well." he said finally. "He's a very pretty looking boy."
"It seems...it's a girl," Was the simple observation Hadrian made. Without another pause, he had opened the sterile container the syringes' were kept it, pulled on out, and taken a blood sample to put back into the computer.
As the sample ran through the computer however, he narrowed his eyes at t he screen. Well...it was true, the child didn't look like she was part animal. Though he could honestly say he hadn't expected this - lace? He would have to rework his entire hypothesis on why they were blended, as before he had thought that animals souls had gotten dragged along by accident.
And whatever he was certain of, he felt certain that things like lace didn't have souls.
"She appears to be a lace blend..."
"A girl?" was his first reaction. And when those green eyes turned to him, it let him know that she was NOT PLEASED with being referred to a boy. No matter how rich her new father might appear.
"Lace?" This was getting worse and worse. He expected a son and he now had a daughter... a cute daughter, but still...
"Do lace even have souls?" what if it was some kind of new infected breed? "Is there anything wrong with her?"
And finally. "I don't care if you're her scientist person. Don't just poke her and withdraw blood. She's mine. That could constitute as child abuse."
Hadrian had been quite calm up until the final comment, and from the offended expression on his face her really didn't like that one.
"Would you rather not have known what she was?" Was the first thing said, his eyes slowly narrowing into slits. He may not care much for children in general, but he didn't appreciate being accused for child abuse.
"In fact, we would only have known if there was something wrong by drawing blood. A blood sample does not consititute as abuse," he stopped there, and with a sigh returned to the original question. Letting his emotions get ahead of him...not a good idea. He shouldn't estrange the new guardian completely.
"As far as I can tell, there is nothing wrong with her. It will take time to make certain of that, however."
Marc blinked. "Wrong with her? There could be something wrong with her?" Immediately he walked over to tug her out of the display case, wanting to take her home and put her in pretty clothing. Silks, satins. Lace. Oh, lots of lace. He'll have his stylist...
"And I would have been able to guess what she was without finding out." he muttered low under his breath.
Well. He would have. Sooner or later.
"Same as with any child - hopefully not, but possible."
He'd run the DNA through a few tests to make certain there were no problems, of course; he was doing so with all of them. They'd had such a low number so far that he really didn't know what sort of things could occur...though he had to admit, his primary fear had been that the Virus could have somehow slipped along with them. But so far, it seemed that it was safe.
Hadrian studied Marc and Haki for a moment before speaking again, "What do you want to call her? I'll need it for the records..."
"A name? You mean, you want me to pick one out now?" he looked up rather blankly. Well. That was difficult, wasn't it? It would have been something normal and strong like Adam had it been a boy, but look at her now! She was definitely not going to agree to Adam... "You know, you are supposed to spend a lot of time thinking up a name." he responded slowly. Slightly condescendingly.
Hardian must not have any children to say something like that to _him_ about his darling.
The girl looked up, slightly amused at the sudden change in reaction from the man who she guessed, was going to be her first slave. Blinking as she continued to stare up, she turned instead to Hadrian.
He was nice looking too! Maybe they were both going to care for her...
Something about that tone of Marc's was making Hadrian bristle. One thing he hated above all others was being the recipitant of a tone like that, and his agitated expression made that clear. "Usually, the guardian spends time thinking about a name beforehand; normally they're prepared."
Those words were snapped out silkily, accompanied by a glare at Marc. He had been starting to like the man - but he could already foresee that this was going to be the sort of thing where you alternated between liking them and hating them with a passion.
Marc scowled. "I did, okay?" he snapped, control vanishing. "It was supposed to be Adam or Nero. Fat use that is. Does SHE look like a Adam to you?" Marc was almost feeling sulky. Angry and sulky. "If someone had told me before hand that the soul was pink." he muttered loudly under her his breath.
The girl almost rolled her eyes. This grown up was supposed to take care of _her_? It would probably be the other way around. Patting his hands until he let go of her, she walked over to the more (seemingly) mature individual in the room.
Well. She thought she was the maturest. But that didn't seem to count.
Holding her arms out expectantly for him to hold her, she stared.
Marc lapsed into an obvious sulk. "She likes you more." he said accusingly.
At the girl stepping over to him, he just fixed an odd look on her. Normally, kids didn't go to him...but he normally didn't get into an argument with their guardians in front of them, either. A moment later, he realized that she wanted him to pick her up.
A look of vague disgust on his face, he gingerly picked her up - and then promptly walked over to Marc and held Haki out to him.
"She's your daughter; win her over."
After Marc had spoken about the names, Hadrian had to admit that he felt a bit guilty. It made some sense, really, and he wasn't being the most helpful. And it certainly didn't help matters when it seemed like the man's new child liked someone else better.
"...she just liked me because of the tone. You are her father." A stumbling attempt to reassure Marc, but at least he tried.
The girl stared as they approached closer, and her expression was one of vague confusion. Yes she wanted to TALK to this man, but how did he know? She hadn't said anything.
Marc still continued to give Hadrian a somewhat petulant expression. (From a grown man... tsk tsk) "How can she not like my tone?" staring at the girl, he frowned. "Girl." he said, holding his arms out. "Come here."
... yeah. What did he expect her to do? Jump the distant?
Hadrian was sure there had to be some sort of tic going on with his eyebrow - that's the way it felt. This man was alternating between frustrating him and making him feel rather amused - though frustration was pretty high right now.
Instead of forcing Haki to jump, the mage handed her over to Marc. A moment later, he remembered something else he needed to make certain of.
"Are you going to want rooms, here? Even temporary, I'll need to know to set them aside."
Marc held Haki the way one might a precious jewel.
That was actually the same way one might hold a poisonous snake, if they were forced to.
It was with this mentality that he nodded his head. "That would be nice. Rooms. Get a place closer to her studies so that I can leave her here... do you babysit?" Well, maybe not HIM. (He didn't want his precious to be with a man that she liked more than her own father!)
But...
Alright. So maybe him. But if he said no, at least Marc had a way for covering up the slip.
"Nice rooms? Large. Preferably with a view. And somewhere close walking distance."
At the question about babysitting, the word hovering on Hadrian's lips was an emphatic no. He was busy enough, and certainly didn't want to spend his free time - or cut into his work time - to watch a brat or two. Though...hm, Dacian would probably love to.
"I'm normally busy...but Dacian likely would."
In fact, it was with an amused thought that he realized the other man would probably enjoy babysitting. And while it was doubtless that he'd have to babysit at some point, he'd resist it right now.
"I'll set that up. Stop in some time this week, with her name, and I'll give you a key to your rooms."
Hadrian mused aside that he was being far more helpful then he normally was, but chased that away with an absentminded thought.
Marc blinked. Dacian, was it? "You mean, the one who forgot to tell me that my daughter was pink?" he said slowly, frowning.
Mm... maybe he would just leave her in Hadrian's lab, and deal with the consequences when it came. Yeah. That sounded like a better idea than the other one. Besides. How could he trust a man he didn't know?
"Keys?"
Marc frowned. "I'd like a look at the place first." he said, rearranging his thoughts. "I have to contact the decorator, have my secretary draw up a list of furniture kids need, and the like." he almost waved his hand imperiously.
Except it was caught underneath the fluff of a girl.
Hadrian gave a weary nod in response to the comment - yes, Dacian had done that. However, this mage was more concerned about the lack of informaton in general that he had not given Marc - not that he hadn't told the Soul was pink.
At the comment about looking at the place first, he resigned himself to even further interruption of his free and work time. After running through some of the available places in his mind, he gave a nod and spoke.
"Follow me, I think I have one in mind."
Marc relaxed, settling into a mask of interest and professionalism. He had one in mind, did he?
"Do you have any shops located inside the compound? Boutiques, 24/7's for people to pick up emergency supplies? Or is this all located out of doors? Can I hire people to work in my home, or do I have to run it by someone else so?" hoisting the girl's weight and moving it from one arm to the other, he smiled.
Yes. It was easier now.
"Considering there are only three of us, there are no shops on the grounds."
That question was one that had surprised him a little bit. Hadrian hadn't been expecting a question like that at all, and such a thing had honestly never occurred to him. Oh well, he didn't want people bustling around and sticking their noses into things they shouldn't; as far as he was concerned, it was going to stay without shops.
Though of course, Dacian and Ahneta might have other ideas.
The question about hiring people to work in his home gave him pause, but he gave a cautious nod. "...you can hire people. Just make certain they don't go poking around where they shouldn't, and if they become a nuisance around the compound, they will have to go."
Marc scowled. It was on the tip of his tongue to remind the man that he wasn't stupid. He wouldn't hire someone so... unprofessional. Dangit. Did he look so poor? But he had a vague (and it was a very vague) feeling that perhaps he would push too far.
Hadrian seemed more patient than Marc had given him credit for.
"That's fine with me. Would you like to sit in while I do interviews?" he arched a brow at this. Okay. So he couldn't keep all the protests down.
The girl continued to stare at the two of them, a little bit mystified. They weren't paying her so much attention, were they? That was disappointing.
Hadrian gave a brief, dismissive wave at the question. He didn't have the time to waste on the amount of interviews that would doubtlessly be gone through. He would just have to trust Marc to pick the correct people. "No, that's fine."
His eyes fell on the little girl, noting her expression. And since they hadn't much experience with the children yet, he simply assumed she didn't understand what was being said: she was only a magically reborn toddler, afterall.
The girl wiggled in Marc's grasp. Not trying to get away this time (no, his tightening grip on her let her know that _that_ wasn't much of an option.) she merely looked around her surroundings with the curious gleam of a girl who wondered just how many things she could play with.
"Babysitting... school..." Marc began to talk out loud. He had bought some books on child rearing (not that he would let anyone know about that dirty little secret) and knew it was time to catch up on the homework.
"Do you have any children I could leave her with?"
His tone was hopeful.
Immediately Hadrian opened his mouth to say no - then stopped. There was Ismet...though the boy would probably want to kill him for even suggesting this.
"The first child - Ismet. I don't know how suited he is to being a babysitter, but if you were in dire need..."
Of course, knowing the snake, he'd probably make himself seem even less fit to take care of children. Pretend to eat babies for breakfest, or something, if it kept him from having to be a babysitter.
Baby sitting sounded terrific. Noticing the unwillingness in the trailing off of the tone (how many times had Marc done it himself, to people he didn't want to deal with, deals he didn't want to go through?) Marc shrugged.
"It might go to that extent." he said simply. He was still... a little in shock.
What did he know about children?
Grimacing, he nodded his head. "This is a bit.." he stopped. Well. What could he say without insulting this man and his work? He shook his head. It didn't matter.
"So." he said, changing the subject. "Where do you live?"
Hmmm... once he figured that out, Marc was sure he could dump the kid in this man's arms if an emergency came up.
Hadrian gave a pause at this. Where did he live??
Good question.
He spent almost all of his time in the labs, even going so far as to occasionally sleep on the couch in his office; when he did sleep, anyway. His idea of rest was grabbing an hour or two nap and drinking lots of coffee, afterall.
The mage knew he had a set of rooms somewhere around here, but couldn't recall where, for the life of him. So his answer was suitably vague.
A shrug of the shoulders and, "...somewhere around here. If you need to find me, I'm always in the labs."
"There's a comm. room up on the ground floor, and if you use it, I should be able to hear you. Just call me up there, or come find me."
Marc nodded his head. He didn't understand how someone could live like that. With a frown, he decided that maybe one of these days he would take Hadrian shopping with his interior decorator. The man didn't have a nice enough home with a proper bed. That was why...
Shopping?
Startled blink aside, he stared thoughtfully at the other man.
Yes. That was it.
"It's going to be strange, bringing her home." he said outloud. "Now, where is this home...?"
"Let me check."
Stepping over to an actual computer, he tapped on the keyboard for a bit before managing to find the residential area of the network. Dacian had set up that part, so that they could easily locate information for housing.
"...you have your pick of the housing."
After all, the didn't have many guardians yet. Though at the same time, they also didn't have everything furnished yet - so he'd simply pulled up a list of the available apartment sets. Hadrian stepped away from the computer, gesturing Marc to come over and take a look.
There were only two buildings they had ready right now, and each floor was a set of rooms. There was a staircase that led to the front door of each set, as well as an elevator. One of the buildings was beside the lab, the other beside the gardens, both having four stories.
Hadrian and Ahneta both had their rooms near the gardens...he supposed his were by the lab, since that was what he would have picked. It shouldn't be too difficult to locate his, he decided.
"Does that work?" he asked doubtfully, staring at the computer screen. Adjusting his grip (damnit. Why was she so heavy?) he nodded his head. Yes. But which ones?
With an approximate guess towards sizing (was bigger better? Smaller cheaper?) he bounced the girl just slightly, to get her attention. In response she looked at him, and then at the computer screen.
And pointed.
"Mine."
Marc stared thoughtfully at the layout she was pointing towards. "We'll take that one." he agreed. "And she said her first word. Is that normal? The fact that she's so possessive." dominant leadership skills, control... she WAS his little girl. "Does this mean she's okay mentally, or...?" ... she wasn't crazy, was she?
"Do I have neighbors?" he asked hopefully.
And realized he was talking. A lot.
Like a... _girl_.
"Most children are possessive at this age."
At least, that's what Hadrian thought...and he thought he was being diplomatic about it, for that matter. His actual thought had been that most children were self-centered at that age, but had decided against saying that.
That aside, he quickly tapped on the keyboard to check the sets around the one Marc and Haki had picked - and blinked in surprise. It seemed that he lived below them.
Huh.
"..it appears I'm your neighbor. My set of rooms are listed as being the floor below - but the floor above is empty."
"Neighbors, is it?" with a considering look (maybe if he installed one of those firefighter poles... then if anything happened, his baby girl icould be safe and free!) at Hadrian (not that it would matter too much. How often did this man even set foot inside his own home?), Marc nodded. "We'll take that one."
The girl nodded her head, satisfied. Yes. Everything was working out so perfectly! And soon... well, soon she would have answers to all the questions in the world, hey.
"It looks good. I'll bring someone along by the end of the week, figure out what I need to buy to furnish the place and make it... habitable." his lip curled at the thought of living somewhere stark and bare. Maybe if the minimalist look was in, but that didn't mean he was all for it either.
"Neighbors."
Hadrian thought for a moment, debating over something. He could do this, or get back to work...and he'd already spent so much of his time on this. There were probably things requiring his attention by now.
But it was probably a good idea to at least see where he lived. He must have been there are least once or twice, but he couldn't recall. They'd been in Gaia for a year, and had the compound for half of that time...surely he'd been to his rooms at some point?
Ah, yes. Now he remembered. He'd stayed in there until the labs were going up, and then he was in there all the time to work on them.
"Do you want to see your flat? I should probably take a look at mine, so it's along the way."
Marc smirked. "Not if it's too much trouble." he said, and held back a wince. It wasn't that sarcastic-- he'd know if he was being sarcastic.
...
Marc thought so, anyways.
"It'll be nice the see the place" and nice to see where Hadrian lived as well.
Only for future baby sitting purposes, of course. Of course.
"Shall we?"
"If it wasn't along the way, I wouldn't. But I need to look at my flat at some point..."
Wait - why was he explaining himself to this man? They'd already discussed it, so there wasn't any reason to validate his reasons...though he had the odd feeling he didn't entirely believe his explanation himself. It was a rather feeble one, and just didn't strike true for him, even if he didn't know what the true reason really was
Standing, he gestured for Marc to follow, sincerely hoping the man wouldn't say anything about his hurried explanation. Then he was off, and leading the other from the lab and to the building beside it. It was rather nondescript from the outside, and as they entered it, it appeared the same way within. Not shabby, just...plain.
Of course, it was only a stairway. There was what seemed to be a locker set wall right of the stairway, and a door set to the left; the first floor flat...but that flat was currently empty.
Rummaging through his pockets, Hadrian pulled out a keyring and unlocked the locker. It was a rather curious locker, with five pegs set against the back of it, and two keys hanging from each peg. Reaching in, he pulled out the keys from the third peg, before closing the locker.
"Your keys - one spare," He offered them to the man, before heading up the stairs. On the next floor, he gave pause.
"This is my flat...yours first, or do you mind if I check mine?"
A spare key, hmm? Nodding his head and reaching for the key, it was immediatly snatched out of his grasp by a little girl who was too intent to own something. Peering at the keys, she stuck one end in her mouth, losing any sense of ... well, mystery and aloofness she might have had.
No one can look grand while sucking on the end of the keys.
"We can look at yours." Marc said simply. A brief thought that perhaps the last bit might have suggested that Hadrian would have wanted to do this without guests entered his mind- but liek all brief thoughts, it was discarded quickly. What was the point of dwelling too hard on stupid thoughts like that? Hmmm.
And waited for the door to open.
"Girl." he said absentmindedly. "If you need to chew on something, I'll buy you candy. If you like having metal in your mouth, I'll buy you a metal pacifier. But I don't think that's safe."
About time.
Unlocking the door, Hadrian peered cautiously inside. He wasn't quite sure what to expect, but...well, it wasn't too strange. It didn't look like any insects or animals had invaded since he'd last been there. In fact, it looked horribly barren.
It had basic furniture, but not much beyond that.
The mage took a few steps into the apartment, sweeping his gaze across the room. Hm...well, he could tell that he hadn't particularly cared much - there were some papers scattered across the table (though they obviously had not been touched in a while) but that seemed to be the only sign of anyone having lived there. The rest of the room was simply - empty.
Table, chairs, a bed in the bedroom, and other such things - but only the bare minimum. After a moment of surveying it, he gave a shrug and turned back towards the door.
"We can check your flat now."
Marc had known better than to expect anything... well, anything that remotely resembled taste in the room. But still, he was disappointed. Even if a man didn't live in the apartment, it should have held more than the bare minimum.
"Very well." he said, nodding his head, expecting nothing much from his own quarters either. Reaching inside his pocket for his handphone, he barely avoided having the little girl snatch it out of his grasp.
A missed call to his decorator. He knew she would call him back in at least two hours.
The girl reached for the phone again.
"No. This is mine." (was he arguing with a toddler? Could toddler's even think properly?)
"Please, lead the way?" he asked, distracted. Funny kid.
Hadrian watched Marc and Haki for a moment, feeling something that was almost - amusement? How odd. But the image of those two 'fighting' over the cell phone was one that struck him as funny, and while he could keep himself from chuckling, he couldn't keep a slight amused twist of his lips from his face.
He led them out of the room then, and up the stairway to the next floor.
After Marc had unlocked the door, and they had entered, it was shown to be the same sort of furnishings as his had been. Each flat came with basic furnishments such as this, just in case of emergencies.
Rather then venturing deeper into the flat, Hadrian leaned against the doorframe, flicking his hair out of his eyes. Once again, the mage noted that he couldn't seem to get rid of that barely-there smile - or 'twist of the lips' as he preferred, since it implied he wasn't showing emotion. Ah well, he'd worry about it later.
"Each flat has two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, two bathrooms - one in the master bedroom, one attatched to the living room - an office/study, and a balcony."
Except that for the first floor, it was a patio rather then a balcony.
Haki made a motion with her arms, a commanding thrust down that had the older man gently place her on the floor. Well. What did she really think she was going to do?
Walk. Or something like that.
Standing up and moving in an odd crawl/walk mixture, she headed straight to the the rooms, peeking in for a brief second before moving on. As if she was in search for...
ahah!
Marc frowned. He had spent two minutes with this girl, but he had a strong suspicion that he knew what she was doing. "Excuse me." he said abruptly, and followed her.
"Girl." he said, exasperated. "I'm the oldest. I'm your daddy. So I get the biggest room, okay?"
Out of sight, a grunt of a complaint lashed out.
"I GET the room, okay sweetheart?"
Eh. Girls. This was why he had wanted a son.
At hearing the latest dispute between toddler and father, Hadrian couldn't get rid of the smirk that fought its way onto his face for a few moments. He pushed himself off the doorframe and stepped to follow, and observed the two. He actually was rather curious which one would win this argument - the already possessive toddler, or a full grown man.
Tough battle.
It took a few more moments, but he finally managed to get that smirk under control.
"Well...that's the end of what you needed to be shown. I have work I need to be getting back to, so I'll be leaving."
For a moment, he seemed at a loss for what to say - thank you? That certainly didn't fit, and he wasn't the sort to offer up gratitudes. And saying it had been a pleasure, as was normally polite just seemed..out of place. So he improvised.
"You know where to find me. Enjoy yourselves."
And then, with a wave, he was gone.
What? That man was... was leaving him? That was uncomradely! The men were supposed to stck together in the face of the little blonde girl! "Deserter." he muttered.
But he was grinning.
And maybe it was the grin, but he finally gave in.
"Okay. You can the bedroom. I'll have the smaller one AND the study, okay?"
Sheesh.
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Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 5:05 am
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 2:56 am
Step One: Make Friends
Nae types in this color.
Ary types in this color.
Bani types in this color.
Remi types in this color.
It was a hot day, and yes despite that Haki was lost in the compound wearing a long sleeved scrap of lace as a dress. It wasn't her idea-- it wasn't Marc's idea either. Rather, the insipid moron who lived with them half the time and controlled her wardrobe 100% of the time, was the fault of this... this...
ugh.
Contraption.
Barefoot, she slowly stepped around the warm pavement, wrinkling her nose in disgust. And where was her guardian? How dare he leave her alone while she was taking a nap, and not tell her where he had gone?
Now she was all... all alone.
Sitting on the steps to one of the buildings, she sulked. Alone. With no one to watch over her and tell her how beautiful she was.
...
Alone, was it?
Suddenly, Haki's eyes brightened. Maybe being alone wasn't such a bad thing.
Inanna was racing through the grass, her bare violet feet gaining scratches and tickles from the green blades. She had been dressed in a cute blue skirt and top today, which clased neatly against the lavender hue of her hair and fur. Her ears twitched as she stumbled and slowed, glancing around. She had ran away from Ari while she was doing a sketch of a blue bird-wasn't she naughty! She couldn't help but giggle and twirl cutely. It was nice to be off on her own.
"Mm...?" She blinked suddenly, thinking she heard the movements of another not far off. "Ahaha!" She grinned and bounded off in the direction of the sounds, her tail swishing behind her. Soon Haki came into view. Oh! Someone new!
The sound of someone running had Haki perk up. She had been here long enough that such inbridled energy was... well, strange. Especially at the labs. Having only met two people and a couple of drones, it wasn't saying much about her knowledge.
But still.
Seeing the girl and casting a quick, judgemental look over her appearance, Haki stood up carefully, making sure that she didn't trip over the edge of her skirt.
It wouldn't do to have such an awful first impression.
"Who you?" she demanded, blinking her eyes. Well. The girl was certainly pretty. And strange looking too. Hmmm...
Ina came to a stop a few feet from the girl, smiling but having to take a moment to catch her breath. Her golden eyes were open widely in adorable curiousity as she looked over the other girl. There really wasn't much to see, since most of Haki was covered in the pink outfit she wore. But, Ina had seen much stranger, so she didn't really care.
She giggled and clasped her hands behind her back, teatering on the balls of her feet, "I'm Inanna! Who're you?"
"Inanna?" Banana! Blinking at the friendliness, Haki reacted in the only way she knew how- with the same amount of girlish force. "Haki." she said, beaming. Taking a step forewords and hesitantly reaching out, she nodded.
"You purple."
Haki had never seen a purple girl before.
She looked down at herself, swishing her tail to the side slightly. "Yes!" Ina then grinned brightly. "You wear lots o' pink..." She murmured, seeming pleased by the idea. She liked pink! It was very pretty...almost all the pretty dresses at the stores were pink.
"Why you out 'ere?" She asked finally, cocking her head to one side and looking extremely curious.
Osha had wandered away when his mother had fallen asleep on a bench in the sun. His mother was so silly! Sleeping like a... like a lazy cat. Why sleep when you had the chance to go see stuff?
Lazy, lazy cat.
The little boy found the other two quickly in an uncanny fashion, a smile breaking over his face. Oh boy! New people? Purple people! Purple purple purple... well one wasn't so purple. They were kind of bland, actually.
... purple?
Wait, what? He shook his head. Wow, there were alot of colors today... sunny days were the best for that.
Osha toddled off the walkway and onto the grass were Inanna was talking with another girl, curiously walking up to them.
Haki nodded, beaming. This girl was friendly. She was purple, and she had fluffy fur... all big ticks on her list of 'potential allies'... or something like that. "No one at home." she said simply enough. "Dadee work." and stylist was out chasing some other client of his...
Stupid stylist.
Her attention snagged by the wealth of red and orange scattered from the form of a boy, Haki immediatly brightened. Look, this one was...
Hey, how come everyone else was so bright and colorful?!
Deciding that this was what seperated her, the fairy tale princess from the normal people (like those books Dadee was always reading to her) she nodded her head.
"Lo."
"Oh...okiee..." Ina nodded, though she wasn't sure how her Dadee could work and leave her all alone. Ari never left her alone if she had her way...which apparently she didn't today because Ina had skittered off without a word. Silly Ari! She really should have paid more attention.
"Ahhh!" Her eyes brightened as the boy came over, her tail beginning to wag quickly. Ohhh, his hair was so pretty! "'ou hab pretty hair!" She told him happily, reaching out to touch the longer, tied orange strand with her violet hand.
Osha blinked his eyes owlishly at the two girls, showing that they were more like glass marbles that reflected reds and greens.
Wait, what was Purple doing? That was his hair! Or at least, he thought it was. Wasn't it?
Ooh, Inanna's hands were pretty...
"yes!"
He then looked to Haki, he repeated himself.
"yes!"
Maybe Osha was just a slow bloomer on the talking agenda... hey, Haki had a funny outfit on. He might as well tell her.
"yes!"
OH, and Purple had pretties! Might as well tell her too.
"yes!"
The boy plopped onto the grass, grinning like a fool. Boy, was he proud of himself for all this conversation! His tiny mind was already working to unravel the secrets of the universe...
Oh dear. This one was kind of stupid, wasn't he? A little bit disappointed that he wasn't very good at talking, she nodded her head. It was alright. Dadee always told her that princesses were nice to everybody. And so she would be nice to him too! Besides, he was pretty. And Haki knew being pretty could get you things.
Looking at banana, she nodded her head. Plopping down with some more grace in front of the little boy, she pointed to herself. "Haki." "Inannana..." hmm... did she attach too many nana's to the end of the name? "Nana." she adjusted. Yes.
And looked to the purple girl. It was better than banana. Surely.
Ina fell backwards onto her tail into the grass, giggling at the boy. "Funny, funny!" She beamed at him, apparently pleased with his attempts at speaking. It was funny! She wasn't sure that was the right word, but it worked. She sat up so she could face the other two and pulled her tail underneath her.
She apparently didn't share Haki's woes of Osha being stupid. She didn't care. She looked a little confused when Haki tried to say her name however. She giggled again, and said in a rather knowing tone, "No, no! Inanna! Or Mommy says Ina."
"Funny?" the boy parroted, gaining an intelligent look, "Funny! Funny funny funny..."
Now wasn't that just the greatest word since sliced bread? Oh MAN, he could rattle that thing off for hours on end! Funny. Sort of like that sticky sweet gold stuff that you eat...
Oh but wait, he knew his name too!
"Osha." he retorted keenly, looking to Haki, "Hanna?"
Hm... wasn't there an 'ee' sound in that? Well Purple had to have that then. One of them had it. Tricky vowels, they dodged alot! Suddenly Osha came to the conclusion that one of them must have been stealing it.
"Een."
He pointed a stubby finger at Purple. And then back to Haki.
Haki giggled at the sight of the boy. What was wrong with him? No matter. She LIKED this wrongness, and she liked him too! Still, it wouldn't do to have her new allies mispronounce her name. And she didn't really like Hannah. Hannah was the name of the woman who managed Dadee's life... and she was fat.
...
Had Osha just called her fat?
"Hah KEEEEEEE" she said, stressing the noise and going slightly scarlet-- wow, this was a lot of exercise!
"Haki." like, a hiccup.
Oh, and what was he pointing at her for now? Ian wasn't her name either.
"Osha! Osha nice," Ina commented, nodding her head up and down as her tail began to swish again. She meant his name was nice but...hadn't that been what she had said? Ah well! No matter.
She couldn't help but laugh again. Oohhh! He just couldn't say it right! Well, she supposed her name was hard. So many na's in it! But Ina wasn't too bad...was it? Maybe it was...wow...she had never known her name to be so hard! "Ina!" She corrected with a smile, pointing dark fingers toward herself, "'ats me! Ina!"
Holy crap man. Women were incredibly complex creatures. Hadn't he said the right things? Could girls ever be satisfied?
Osha nodded dumbly at the two, feeling that somehow he was actually supposed to be doing something. Like playing kitchen. Oh kitchen. Those plastic food things were so pretty. They tasted like the colors.
For a moment the toddler wondered if Purple- no wait, Ina? friendly. Purple Ina. For a moment Osha wondered if Ina tasted like grape. Wait, then did the oddly clothed one taste like vanilla? Ugh, now he was hungry.
Curse you, late night Emeril!
"HakEEE," he hastilly corrected, sensing that HakEEE was somehow agitated.
Osha patted his tummy fondly, before stating: "hungee."
It was nice. Everything was so very nice. And they were nice too. Beaming at Banana and Osha, she scrabbled up. "Hungree?" she looked around. Well, her house was near by. And she didn't really know where the other two was. Pursing her lips to pronounce the next decadent word, she frowned.
Hmmm... it went something like.
"Tschoklayte?" Mmm. Heavenly dark brown stuff that she would use to rule the world with, when she got older. Peering at Banana and wondering if purple people with ears could eat chocolate too, she tilted her head in query. "Eat tschoklayte?"
Hmm. Or maybe other candy would be good too...
"'colate!" Ina agreed with a flare of her tail in excitement. She hadn't had much of it...she tried to remember why. Didn't Mommy say something about it being bad for doggies? Mm...well, they didn't have a doggie so it was ok! Well, it should be, right? It smelled good, she remembered! Now she was getting hungry.
She smiled at Osha, wanting to giggle at his pronouciation of Haki but chose not to. Instead she tilted her head to the side again, her ears quivering slightly in curiousity, "'colate?" Did he like it too? She thought she liked it, anyway. It'd be fun if they could all go get some!
"Tscolabltph..."
crash and burn buddy. Crash and burn.
Osha looked curiously at HakEEE and Ina. What did choco whatever have to do with food? More importantly, how were they saying that?
His stomach rumbled again. Agh.
"Tscolate," he tried once more, thinking he was getting the hang of it, "Tscolate?"
The intelligent spark returned to his eyes. Oh, he got it! Ina tasted like tscolate!
Not waiting to find out exactly what that was or how it was, Osha scooted over to the wolf girl and tentatively began to suck one of her smudgy purple hands. He motioned to HakEEE to come over, as if saying: 'Get to work, lazybones!'
Hakee stared at Osha. Was he trying to EAT her new ally buddy friend thing? ... Oh no, that would not do. That would not do at all! Still, it was cute, and Osha was cute. And Banana was cute. And everything was cute.
...
The pink was influencing her brain a smidgen too much.
"OSHA!" she demanded, tugging at his hair. Although the girl did look tasty (purple looked very tasty. There was ice cream, drinks, and some wierd veggie thing that was sweet too... purple was good!), Haki didn't think that the girl would actually taste good.
...
Unless she was like a new chew toy?
"Go eat tsokolate, not Ina." she frowned.
When she got bigger, she would use Osha to DISTRACT her enemies, not fight them. That would be a very bad idea.
Ina's ears snapped back in alarm as his mouth fastened onto her fingers. She could feel his wet tongue and growing teeth against her mouth. What? No! She wasn't food! Her tail bristled and she cried out angrily, trying to yank her head away, "No! I no food! Nooooo!" If she had been standing she probably would have kicked him in her sudden burst of anger.
She didn't think about making Osha sad, she just wanted him off! That was the selfish mentality of toddlers, was it not? At least Haki wasn't trying to eat her too, "'colate! Eat colate, not Ina!~"
Osha stopped nibbling on Ina's purple hand to give a wayward glare to HakEEE. Ow, hair! Didn't they already have this conversation? His hair was his! Or maybe that was just him talking to himself again and they didn't hear it...
And then came the Ina yowl. Osha definitely jumped back from that, a little startled. The boy eagerly tried taking his little frond of hair back, gaining a thoughtful frown.
What was the hold up? What was the problem? Didn't they understand that Ina WAS the tscolate?
"No," he harumphed, "Ina tsocolate! Yes? Yes! Yes!"
Give the boy a prize Johnson, he made a passable sentence.
Stupid little boy. Did the fairy princess who was one day going to rule the world have to teach him EVERYTHING? "No." Haki said, frowning. "Tsocolate taste good. Ina..." she stopped. "No taste so good."
Well. Not as good as chocolate. Not that she had tried to eat her the way Osha had. Haki would not eat one of her future pawns. That was... well. Wrong. And un fairy tale princess like.
"Come?" She was sure her house was here somewhere. It had not taken her too long to walk this way, and she knew that it was... well, it was some way behind her.
With stairs. But the door was open, and there wasn't too many stairs. If she didn't lose her way.
With a sudden scowl at the thought of losing her way, HakEEE harrumphed.
"Okay?" she asked Ina.
"No! 'colate is food, Ina is Ina!" Inanna corrected with a scowl, looking like was pouting over having a toy taken away. She had finally gotten her fingers back and that was good. It didn't hurt, but she was just a little annoyed. How dare he try to eat her! She should bite him! But then she remembered the lecture Ari had given her when she had bitten Luka and decided to avoid that again.
She nodded to Haki and scooted away from Osha a little before she got to her feet, her blue dress covered in blades of grass, "Yes..."
Oblivious to the feelings of distaste the girls were putting out towards him, Osha pulled himself up with a wide smile.
"I go yes, yes! yes!"
It seems he had forgotten all about the previous tscolate mess. How could he remember, with all this new stuff that was going... on. . . . -
The toddler found himself staring at Ina's dress. When did it get so blue? Very, very pretty. Almost too pretty for the word pretty. He supposed he'd follow the dress if it moved, because he didn't really trust HakEEE all that much.
She seemed to want something, all the time. No satisfaction, I tell ya.
... what was he doing?
Oh, man the grass was green! Like HakEEE's eyes! Very pretty.
Staring at the boy, Haki looked over at Ina. The girl was okay, but was the boy? Was he remotedly sane? With a quick frown (what was he staring at so intently? Surely not the ground? What was so exciting?) Haki tugged at Osha's clothing.
"Go go go." she said, and beamed.
Smiiiiile wiiide!
Ina tugged at one of her own ears as she watched Osha look around as if he was seeing everything for the first time. So silly! It seemed to rub away her miffed mood, however, for her ears slowly pulled forward and her tail softened out. Besides, they were going to go get food right?
"'colate~!" Ina said in a sing song voice and a cute giggle, clasping her hands behind her back and twirling slightly. She grinned at the other too, "Yes, go go!" She rocked on the balls of her feet again, waiting for Haki to take the lead. She didn't know the way, after all.
"Go?" Osha muttered as he stumbled a bit from the pull on his clothes, "yes!"
He turned to Ina and latched onto her sleeve, mimicking HakEEE's tugging.
... Wow, she sure was purple. Hey, wonder if she would taste like grape-
Osha shook his head. This all seemed so familiar.
"Go!" he urged, and then marched forward in what he hoped was the right direction. If it wasn't, then HakEEE or Ina would correct him... hopefully.
Haki stared at the direction Osha was heading and chewed on her lip thoughtfully. Hmmm... that way looked familiar. Turning in a circle, she paused.
No, no. She remembered that pavemet.
Yanking Osha back (she had decided after all, that there was only one way to deal with that boy) Haki strode with determination down the path, and hoped she wasn't wrong.
"Ina where you live?" she asked, turning her head to blink at the purple figure.
She turned to ask Osha too, and then changed her mind.
Maaaaybe it was safer this way.
Inanna didn't budge from where she balanced until Haki began to lead. She didn't want Osha getting them lost! Once the other little girl seemed to find her bearings, however, she was rather willing to come along, pulling ahead of Osha a little but staying behind Haki so she didn't get lost. Her violet tail swept back and forth behind her with simple pleasure. She was liking this outing!
"Live away...not near here a' awl," Ina said knowledgably. She and Ari did have to take a funny giant metal thing to get here all the time. A nar? Cav? Eh, something like that.
"Urp," was the sound that Osha made as he was tugged back and stuck into last place. Now wait a minute, where exactly were they going? His eyes locked onto Ina's swishing tail curiously.
Boy, that looked like it would be cool to touch.
Using inner-strength, the boy resisted. Ina wasn't much of a touchy feely kind of kid, he reasoned with toddler intelligence. It might be bad to touch that tail.
Agh, why must pretty things never be touched?
Instead, Osha focused on the wave of Haki's lace as she moved. A very pleasant shade.
"yes?" he murmered behind the two, stretching his hands up towards the sky, "yes! yes!"
Who knew what he was trying to do now, and at this point, who really cared? It was pretty obvious that the toddler was a sincere crackpot...
Wow, that grass was green.
Stopping, Haki turned, tilting her head and watching Osha with interest. He was such a strange, stupid little boy. But she still liked it. It wasn't every day that Marc would let her see someone like _him_.
And besides. He was one of the first she had met that was her size! Everyone else was much too tall.
Pausing in front of a familiar building, (if only because she had scrawled her property sign on the base, and no one had erased it yet) Haki looked back at Osha a bit warily.
"Can climb?" she asked, thinking maybe stairs would be too much for him...
Oh well. More chocolate for her then.
With a grin at Ina, she pointed. "Tsoklate in there."
Ina looked up the stairs. It seemed awfully tall! The height didn't scare her or anything...rather it excited her. Yeah for doing a climb! And this time she wouldn't be scolded, for it wouldn't be the furnature. Her ears perked and her tail quivered for a moment before beginning to swish about energetically.
She looked at the other two, her golden eyes sparkling a little as she giggled. "Go! Go!" She then raced forward on her toes and began to scramble up the stairs. She didn't even seem to notice she'd be getting her dress dirty. Looking cute was easy for her, but it wasn't something she did conciously after all.
Had Gavin been able to laugh menacingly, he would have. Instead he squawked quietly to himself. Mommee was taking a nap. Hadn't she told him to do the same? Sleep was for the weak! Exploring is much more fun! He had somehow found himself at the top of a flight of stairs. How had he got there? He'd been having too much fun to remember. Right now he was having even more fun touching the softies on his back to remember.
Voices came from below. He froze before toddling off to the side where no one coming up could see him. It wasn't Mommee, was it? If she caught him out here he'd be in trubble. Big BIG trubble. But wait! These voices didn't sound like Momee. In fact, they sounded more like him. Hadn't Mommee wanted him to meet others and make--what were they called--fwends? How were you supposed to make fwends again?
Ah yes, Mommee had mentioned something about meeting new people. You said, "Allo" or something like that. Meh, that was too boring. Jumping down the stairs and crashing into something sounded much more fun. Not bothering to look at what poor person or people were coming up the stairs, he leaped down, flapping his softies for what little extra lift they could give him. Whoever it was down there would be fwends now!
"ALLO!"
Osha took one look at the stairs and frowned.
What the heck were those things?
Wow, Ina sure took a liking to them. Did the tickle? Were they fun? In all actuality, they looked kind of bland...
And despite the fact that HakEEE always seemed preocupied and maybe just a tad controlling, Osha found that she was an a-okay leader, and had taken a liking to her. Of course, he took a liking to everyone in due time...
"ALLO!"
Osha looked up just in time to screech and try to move out of the way. He'd been clobbered by falling objects before.
It hurt.
"AHBAHBAHB" he yelled, and quickly tried to scrabble with toddler legs behind the nearest being.
Haki started, staring up at the sudden noise.
And continued to stare.
Oh wow. That one was so pretty!
An epicure of all things expensive and of high quality (it was easy to tell which these objects were-- Marc winced.), she continued to stare. He was so SHINY! And look at those things on his hair! Entranced that the sudden volume as well (hello made more sense then... yes.), she turned to watch Osha.
Now what was he doing this time?
With a giggle half startled out of her, she tried to climb a view of the stairs to get closer to the shiny one.
"Mine?"
It was her first word. And with Marc, it seemed to work.
Ina had to duck so not to get hit by a random flying object coming her way. Ah! She was under attack! Her tail bristled as she pressed herself against the rough stone of the stairs, glaring with eyes that already seemed a little creepy in a normal expression. Her ears flickered back. Hey! Attacking was bad!
When Haki spoke it seemed to irratate her even more. Why did this...erm...fluffy thing get to be Haki's?! Not that she wanted it...but...she wanted stuff too! Discontent and edgy and rather angry as well the toddler grittered her teeth, which were actually a rather nice set for her age. She hopped down the stair and bit into one of Gavin's wings vengfully, not that she knew what that was anyway, "Rawwwrr!"
The ground proved to be very soft, save for the fact that Gavin didn't really land on ground at all. At least he landed on something colorful. Whatever it was had screamed while scurrying away before he landed on it. In this case it turned out to be a little boy, just like him. A very colorful boy. Yay, colors! Fwend!
"Allo! Me Gabvin! You?"
He looked up to take in the other toddlers present. One very regal looking one was giving him a strange look. Mine? What did 'mine' mean? Ah well, it sounds like a good thing. He smiled, and chirped in response. Dacian seemed to like chirping, so why not his new fwends.
Well, he chirped until a sharp pain shot through his shoulder. The purple, fluffy one had bit into his wing. No! Not the softies! The pain! So, he did what any self-respecting, manly little boy would do:
He cried...loudly.
It never failed.
For some strange reason, when there were flying objects to had, the would always land smack dab on Osha's face. Or his chest. Whatever.
What was he, the 'flying object' magnet?! And ow, Gavin was pretty heavy!
Forget the softies, forget the fact that Gavin was pretty interesting and wanted to be friends, HakEEE was claiming him, and Ina was... biting... him. Osha hurt, and there was no mommy anywhere to pick him up and kiss his booboo.
So, as soon as the Hawk-boy began to cry, Osha took one look and burst into a wail all his own, having to move strands or orange and red continually out of his face.
Why, why, whyyyyyyyyyyy!? The life of a toddler- so haaaaaaard!
What was WRONG WITH HER MINIONS?! She was never going to take over the world with this group. One attacked their own comrades, and the other two... scowling (and trying very hard to ignore her own answering sniffle at the face of all this trauma.) Haki patted Ina on the head.
"Bad Ina." she said, frowning and feeling a little bit perplexed. Was this like how Osha had tried to eat her too? Honestly. Only fairy tale princesses like herself seemed to have any brains around here.
Sympathetic crying... knowing that she would probably start soon too (Why couldn't she have SMART slaves?), Haki stopped, rubbed at her eyes and patted Gavin on the head too.
"Sokay." she said, nodding her head. They were so LOUD.
Trying to remember what Marc did whenever she cried, she nodded. Ahah! This always worked.
"Buy oo a presen'." she said, nodding.
Ina released Gavin after the crying started, seeming satisfied that she had gotten back at him. She folded her arms and grinned for a moment. But when the crying didn't stop her ears twitched and she frowned. She brushed her tail against Osha and hugged Gavin briefly, "You almost wack Ina!...Softies ok?"
Her tail bristled again, however, when Haki addressed her. She glared at Haki. She barely liked Mommy telling her what to do, but the other toddler sure wasn't going to. "Haki bossy!" she growled angrily. Boy, she was flip flopping everywhere when it came to her actions right now! But, being in the stubborn toddler rage that she was, she did the most logical thing to get back at the other girl-made a bite at her too. Mm...it seemed all her scoldings from Mommy had been forgotten.
When Gavin heard the colorful boy cry, he cried louder. If crying was to be done, he would be the loudest if he had anything to say about it. He barely heard the regal looking one tell him everything was alright. Everything was not alright. His softies were in pain! He did stop wailing when he heard the word 'present' however.
"Pwesen'?" he asked, all pain forgotten since the fluffy one had finally let go of his softies. "Gabvin 'ike pwesens!"
His excitement, however, was cut short when the fluffy one hugged him. He liked it, and the fluffiness made him feel a bit better. His new fwends were nice. Offering gifts and fluffy hugs. Yay!
"Softies ok," he replied, smiling, "No hurt softies again?"
The fluffy one--Ina, was she called?--had started yelling at the regal one. Haky, was it? Oh, hey, Ina was going to bite her too. Biting wasn't really nice, but she wasn't biting him so it didn't really matter. He was too busy trying to figure out who everyone was. He started pointing at the two female toddlers,
"Haky? Ina?"
He then looked underneath him, realizing that he still hadn't gotten off of the colorful one. This one was pretty, but Gavin hadn't heard this one's name yet.
"You?" he pointed, cocking his head with curiosity.
Osha's crying slowly came down to sniffling, and then none at all. What was he crying about? He couldn't quite remember, and whoever was sitting ontop of him was really, really pretty.
At the mention of presents, Osha shrugged it off. He didn't know what one was, exactly- his mom was pretty poor, so he hadn't gotten such a thing yet. It was a funny word anyway.
Wow, Gavin was really, really pretty.
And what was Ina doing trying to bite another person? Though he supposed it didn't exactly concern him after all, but he WAS fond of HakEEE...
"You?
Osha looked up at the hawk boy with his glass eyes, color moving and swirling within them. He had to think for a moment.
"Osha," he said proudly, smiling, and then parroted: "You?"
BITE AT HER, WOULD SHE?! Haki scowled, and would have snarled if she knew how. All that escaped as a childish grumble as she raised her hand to smack the girl away... except the pretty boy distracted her.
"Hakeeeee." she said, nodding her head and confirming her name. Remembering herself (and remembering that it probably wasn't very nice to strike your slaves... people on TV always said never to hit animals, after all.) , she frowned, and looked grudgingly at Ina.
"Sry." she mumbled quickly, frowning. It was a different frown as she hesitated. "Sorry?" she echoed again.
This girl could bite... it was better to have her on Haki's side, really.
"Mine, you?" she asked, addressing him the only way she knew how. Maybe he had a pretty name too. Not softie. Wrinkling her nose, she waited. If he had a pretty name, he would be more useful!
In the name world.
Sidling over closer, she awkwardly tried to pat Ina nicely.
Ina glared at Haki, growling in displeasure. Urrrr, she had really wanted to bite her! Her ear stiffened and her gold eyes followed the hand that Haki lifted sharply. If it had actually come down on her a full blow fight probably would have broken out. Inanna was being excentric enough. She skirted away from the other girl's touch, her tail looking rather poofy due to anger.
She nodded towards her name being said but the boy with softies, but didn't say anything. She was too busy being angry with bossy Haki. "People not mines," she snapped correctively. She remembered being scolded for thinking Eira was hers. Mm...big mistake. It was possible that wasn't what Haki meant at all, but ah...who cared. This all made her want to go back to mommy and pout.
"Osha?" Gavin parroted the colorful boy beneath him, having no intention of getting off anytime soon. That name just rolled off his tongue so easily. Osha, Osha, Osha. He'd have to go home and tell Mommee his new best fwend's name. And the others' names too, of course. Apparently Osha hadn't gotten his name yet, though he thought he had already established that. Not phased, he pointed at himself and said, "Gavin!"
Though he wasn't aware, it was the first time he'd said it correctly. He was too busy watching Hakee and Ina. Hakee had just waved off a particularly angry looking Ina and was staring at him intently. What was this mine thing again?
"Mine? Mine!" he chirped in response. He repeated it a few more times. That word was almost as fun as 'Osha.' His attention turned to Ina, who was all--poofy? with anger. She looked upset, and fluffy. What had she done when he was upset? Ah yes, hug! Time to return the favor. Being the little gentleman he was, he finally got up off Osha and toddled over to Ina.
"Don' be mad!" he smiled before giving her a big hug.
"Gavvvvvvv," he took a slow breath, "innnnnnn."
So Mr. Fluffies [or so he dubbed the other toddler, just disgarding the name altogether] understood his name! Ooh. Hey, he liked this kid. They should play a word game sometime...
To the toddler's great relief, Gavin got up off his chest to go visit Purple. Or was it Ina? Hm... Osha couldn't quite remember at the moment. Sitting up with some difficulty, the tiny painter rubbed his eyes, sleepily examining what was going on.
...
Osha's face lit up like a christmas tree, when his eyes moved from HakEEE to Gavin and Ina. Were they hugging!? Was it hug time!? Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh HE wanted a hug oh gosh-
The toddler wobbled to his feet, and clumsily ran over with his hands sticking out as if he were on a balance beam, before smacking into Gavin. He wrapped his pudgy little arms around him, so it kind of sandwiched him between Ina.
"HUG!" Osha chirped out happily, a big smile on his face. He loved hugs.
WHY DID THEY KEEP TOUCHING EACH OTHER?! Haki almost had an incredibly smart and witty retort on the tip of the tongue to use against Ina... or so she told herself. It would have been the perfect response-- except she wasn't quite so willing to figure it out yet. It needed time to mature.
Scowling at the girl (why wasn't she begging Haki for forgiveness?) she lowered the hand and turned away. Except... well.
Gavin was hugging Ina, and Osha was hugging Gavin. A little bit distraught at all this touching that didn't involve her (Marc liked to do it to Hadrian too... except the mage always seemed to get red whenever he realized she was still watching.), Haki sulked.
"Hug?" she said, rolling her lip in digust (she practiced that in front of the mirror) tugging at her long sleeves, she looked to her left, and then to her right
"Mah."
Ina's anger was forgotten in an instant. Ohhhhh~! Ohhh~! Hugs! It made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Oh, it made her feel happy! It took all her self control not to bounce about in glee as she flashed a cute smile at both her hugees. Her tail began to sway back and forth right away and she returned the embraces with feeling, "Eeee, hugs!" If she had been paying any attention to what was happening she would have wondered why Haki wasn't hugging too. But she was too happy to notice. Huuuugs~!
Well this was certainly an awkward picture. Gavin had to lean forward to keep his balance while he had his arms around Ina, and Osha's arms around him. Hug time was a wonderful thing! They should do this more often. Now Ina was hugging too! He coughed when she embraced him, as Osha was already cutting off his air supply. But it was a fluffy hug, so that made things all better.
Due to the need for air he had to let go, but he still kept that big smile on his face. Wait, weren't they missing someone? He blinked a few times, looking around until his eyes found Hakee. She was looking fairly displeased.
"Hug? Mah."
Blasphemy! Who didn't like hugs?! He sat down, dumbfounded. Pointing at her, he had to ask, "Why Hakee no like hugs?"
When hug time was over, Osha looked particularly saddened. It was his favourite time of the day! That and food time. And nap time. And play time... and-
As Gavin backed away, Osha was a little slow on the uptake of what exactly was going on, so the fluffies ticked his nose something fierce. He would have giggled, but it came out as sort of a half sneeze, making the toddler wobble backwards and land with an akward thump besides HakEEE.
Now why did Mr. Fluffies have to go and do that? Osha huffed, trying his best for a pout. Except it wasn't so much a pout as it looked like he had been punched.
Oh well. Better work on that one.
When he heard Gavin's question, however, the boy couldn't help but answer it himself!
"'Cuz HakEEE din't get none," the toddler said in a sure manner, crossing his short little arms on his chest, "yes? Yes!"
He looked to the lace girl, wondering, but quickly gave up on that to look around. No matter how many times he saw something, gosh darn it was pretty.
"Touchie Touchie." she said, frowning. She liked being held and stuff by bigger people... but hugs? That was kind of too invasive. And why did people like invading personal space? Ugh.
The thump had Haki bite back a yelp as she started, staring down at the form next to her. Eeh? Oh, wait. It was the dumb one. Nodding her head, and then realizing what she was nodding at, she stopped.
"no no." she said, scowling.
If Haki wanted hugs, she was very very sure she could get them. Yep. Very sure.
With that in mind, she looked up the stairs. Why were they... oh, right! "Up?" she suggested.
Ina completely agreed with Gavin, so she stared at Haki in horror as if she had grown another head. What little girl didn't like hugs?! She was so weirded out that her tail stiffened and her ears drooped. It was almost like she was seeing an alien or something. She'd have to remember this as the day she met someone who didn't like hugs!
When Haki suggested they go up, it took her a moment to realize they had been going somewhere. Like every child, she was easily distracted. "Ohhh~! 'Colate!" She chimed happily when she remembered and skipped back to the bottom of the stairs.
Osha must be right. Hakee must be deprived if she doesn't enjoy hugs. Even Ina was in shock. But then Hakee pointed up the stairs he had just recently tumbled down.
Woah, woah, woah. He must have missed something here. Where were they going? Up? But he had just come down! And what was this "Colate" stuff they spoke of? Too many questions for his toddler brain to handle!
"Colate, wah?" he cocked his head to the side, still sitting down. He refused to get up unless they could give him a good enough reason to climb up all those stairs again. It was hard enough the first time.
...Alright, Osha was confused. He stared at Haki akwardly, his arms managing to droop back to his sides.
The boy was more impressed with himself that he had even formed a sentence, for crying out loud, and then peach girl over here had to throw this curveball of a thing at him. Who nods and says no?! It made Osha question his values. His deep, deep... values.
Giving Haki a reassuring pat on the back (after all, she was a bit confused in the head, Osha supposed), he noticed the stairs.
The long, eternal climbing fest.
Oh dear. The toddler swallowed a bit, eyeing their destination warily. So this is where they were going all along? To hell?
Honestly.
Osha gave a slight grimace, before sitting down beside Gavin. He liked this boy- and hey, he didn't seem so eager to move either. And what about Purple? With a twist, the boy managed to reach over and tug on the bottom of Ina's shirt.
He had a serious look on, shadowed by his bangs. Sort of like The Grudge effect.
Colate as right! It had been forever since her last colate consumption, and she was feeling the bitter withdrawal affects. The shakey hands, the twitches... it was all coming back, and fast until she had her next fix. Scowling at the sitting down (THIS must be hell. Who turns their back onto chocolate like this?) movements, she stared at them all.
Stupid. Stupid fools.
But it left more for her.
"Wah?" she asked, frowning. Hmm. What did Marc call good things? Ah, yes. Narcotics for children. "Eben on a schtick." she managed. It sounded close enough. Heaven was supposed to be a nice place, right?
Hmm. Or something.
Clambering onto the top step, she kept a wary eye out at Ina. She didn't want to get yelled at again.
Who knew what a junkie toddler would do.
"Up up up!"
Ina was confused. Both boys seemed reluctant to go up the stairs...but why?! 'Colate was good! Far better then the green stuff Mommy tried to make her eat at dinner. Didn't they want any? Maybe they just hadn't heard her right the first? Yeah! That had to be it!
"'Colate! It's goood! Gooood! Candy~!" Ina chirped with a giggle and a bounce, feeling her dress being tugged on by Osha. "Go get some! There!" She pointed promptly up the stairs. Haki had said candy and 'colate was up there, right? So they had to go that way!
Gavin took one look at Osha and thought that this might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Neither one of them were even going to attempt those stairs. Nuh uh! Not even "eben on a schtick" was going to entice him, but that was mostly because he neither knew what a "eben" or a "schtick" was. He just gave Hakee a tired expression that said, "There's no way you're getting me up there."
Then he heard the word "candy." Gavin had never had candy, but Mommee had spoken of it before. Wasn't candy a good thing? Still, he didn't know what it was or whether it was worth getting up for. He looked back at Osha.
"Go for candy?"
If Osha went, then Gavin would follow.
Osha gave Gavin an appraising look, as if he couldn't believe someone was pairing up and joining his train of thought for once. He could have thrown his arms up in the air, screaming 'FORGET THE WOMEN!' except the only word he understood in that sentence was 'the'.
So instead he cocked a brow at the mention of candy. Oh, so this was the final act of temptation, was it? Was this what it all boiled down to, friendship or no friendship over...
Well hm. Candy did sound rather good. Osha wasn't quite sure if they still meant their witchery 'colate, or if they had the blessed candy pops that came in an assortment of colors at their side. Because hey, he'd hit that.
"Yes?" Osha burbled unpleasantly, not taking a liking to the idea of going up the wretched stairs.
If Gavin went with him, then the toddler knew he could make it. Mr. Fluffy, it seemed, was going to be one of his better friends in the growing days.
Osha stood, albiet wobbly, and tugged lightly on Gavin's shirt, as if to say:
'We can do it, with the powers of virtue, love, and friend-'
what was he saying, again?
This was taking much, much longer than she had thought it would. And she was getting distracted again. Staring at the boys (just what was Osha doing?), she turned around to attempt the climb.
One step.
Rest.
Two steps.
Rest.
Thank goodness she didn't live too far up. Partially glad to have the distance between herself and the other three too (... scary, scary people they were), Haki looked back.
Ina waited at the bottom of the stairs, rocking back and forth again. She wanted to boys to come~! I wouldn't be fun if they stayed here! They all had to go and get 'colate and candy! Though if Ina had to choose she'd probably bound up the stairs anyhow. Candy was, after all, the way to a child heart. Or something like that.
"Yaaay!" Ina cheered happily when Osha said yes. They were coming, yes yes! She then crawled up the first stair-or rather jumped up the first stair energetically. She wobbled a little, but kept her balance to her tail! Ooo, fluffy tail was useful! She grinned back at the other two, "Come come!"
Osha said yes, and so Gavin would climb the stairs. He stood up, just as wobbly as his new friend, and toddled toward the stairs. With great effort he pulled himself up the first two steps, next to Hakee. He held out his hand toward Osha,
"Help? Need?" he asked. He figured this would be a dual-effort, since neither of them really wanted to go up there in the first place. But the women had won them over again. Ina cheered and called them up higher. Dang, there were a lot of steps to go...
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Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:09 am
Step Two: Infiltrate their HQ
Nae types in this color.
Remi types in this color.
Ale types in this color.
Haki grinned in satisfaction as she left her house. Taking the stairs one at a time, she turned to look back, a small smirk on her face. She was so proud of herself, and the way she was getting her daddy and the mage together. Things looked like that were going to work out after all.
For her daddy.
When her feet touched ground long enough to walk on, Haki hesitated. Everything had worked out well until now... but what was she supposed to do with all this time? Night hadn't fallen yet, but she recognized the dusky line in the horizon.
She had no where to sleep! She knew better than to try to creep back into her room. The mage could be so noisy sometimes, yelling something out. Honestly, didn't they think about her?
Turning in circles, a small sense of defeat came over.
Alright, she was here.
Now what?
Gavin sure could crawl fast for a toddler. Especially down a huge flight of stairs. But then again, he did have some motivation...
"Gavin! Get back here and get in this bathtub!"
Mommee was trying to put him in the dreaded tub of watery Death again. Why did she always insist that he was dirty? And why did she try to do this to him on a daily basis? This is abuse!
He quickly crawled down the stairs with a quickness that came from lots of practice. Eventually he saw a familiar, more friendly figure below him. What was her name? She mentioned presents once...ah, yes. Hakee.
"Gfargle!" he yelped in fright, knowing Mommee was close behind with a towel and soap. He launched himself behind Hakee, hoping that maybe he could use her as a human shield. She always seemed to take charge of the other toddlers, maybe she could overpower Mommee.
Remi stopped near where the two were and put her hands on her hips with pursed lips. She hadn't expected two of them here.
"Well, what do we have here?"
Gfargle should have been warning enough. But what kind of warning was gfargle?! Letting out a small shriek at the thing that suddenly appeared behind her, she blinked.
What the... hey?
Relaxing at the sight of the pretty one, Haki turned at the arrival of the adult. Well, look at this! Her eyes brightened, taking on an almost zealous cast. This was a grown up, and grownups always seemed to pretend to be responsible. Hey, maybe this one would take her in, and Haki would have a place to sleep?
She didn't want to sully herself by sleeping on... ugh. Grass. Or pavement. How demeaning for the future ruler of the world.
"Hello." she said, her voice light. Beaming a smile that usually won people over (Haki spent HOURS practicing in front of the mirror. Marc thought she was vain. But it was more then that.)
(You needed a cute smile if you were going to rule the world)
"My name is Haki." whew.
Gavin cowered, his softies quivering as he crouched behind Hakee. He didn't like baths. They made him feel clean and made his softies all wet and generally not fluffy.
Remi paused for a moment, scrub brush in hand. She had never seen this little girl before. She had a cute smile, that's for sure. However prolonged exposure to Gavin's attempted cuteness made her numb enough not to fall at her feet and oogle the cuteness. Haki. She could speak. This was new. Gavin could hardly put words together and this one just made a complete sentence. She guessed girls would always be ahead of the boys in this case.
"Well Haki," she bent down to try and get more at her eye level, "Where is your guardian? And why are you out here all by yourself? And is that Gavin currently shivering behind you?"
Haki eyed the scrub brush with a mild look of distate. Well, what was this woman planning to do to Gavin with THAT thing? She knew this pretty one. For a moment, she stared, horrified. Was the brush going to be used to take out his feathers?! Because sometimes when she brushed her hair, hair came out on the brush. So maybe that was the special kind for feathered people.
How... scary.
Haki wracked her brains, trying to think up the sentences she had been taught. She knew more than a couple of words, but to try to sound smart? Hmm. "Marc is bissy." she said obediently. How many times had she said THAT over the phone? And the other two? Oh dear.
Communicating with adults and trying to look good was harder than she had first thought.
"Go home with you?" she asked, flashing an engaging smile. Or it should have been, really.
She practiced that too.
And maybe she could keep an eye on the Brush Weilder. Or get pretty feathers out of it.
Gavin wimpered at the sound of Mommee's questions. He kept repeating in his toddler mind, Baths are evil...baths are evil...baths are evil...
He totally wasn't paying attention to the fact that Hakee was asking to go home with them.
"Marc? Who's Marc?" Remi asked. The girl said that as if she knew who that was. She couldn't remember ever meeting a Marc before. Then it hit her that Marc was most likely her guardian. Since when did guardians get too busy to spend time with their children? She couldn't just leave the poor girl all her by herself.
"Alright, but just for tonight since it's already late. In the morning you'll have to tell me where you live, and then I can give Marc a good talking to."
She scooped up Haki in one arm, and a startled and bewildered Gavin who squawked at knowing that all was lost. Oh god, it was coming. The end of the world. Armaggedon.
Bath time...
"So little Haki," Remi began as she carried them back up to the flat, "Gavin's been seriously needing a bath, so what would you like to do in the meantime?"
She wasn't sure why she was talking to the little girl as if she were older, but she just got the feeling that Haki could understand.
How could someone not know her daddy? She knew him. And Hadrian knew him. ... oh right. Were they the only two? Hmm. So maybe he was like a special friend that only the ruler of the world was allowed to know. Yes. That made sense.
At the rise from floor to woman, Haki let out a slight noise of pleasure. Well, this was nice! She could kind of walk... but it was boring and tiring and well, this woman was fun.
"Bath?" she asked, inquiring as she tilted her head. She loved baths. She got to sit in nice smelling water until her fingers almost went wrinkly, and have Marc read books to her. Usually he sat there showing her pictures from magazines. And then she got to have nice smelling stuff in her hair!
Who didn't like to smell nice?
Kind of understanding what the brush was for now, she beamed at Remi. And then at Gavin.
She still didn't get what he seemed to be scared about. Maybe there was something scary waiting for the both of them at his house.
"Bath." she said.
She would take one too. She wanted to smell nice again.
"Okay, you two can take one together then," Remi smiled at her. She vaguely remembered the days when she was very little, taking baths with friends. Obviously Gavin was friends with Haki, or else he wouldn't have dived behind her for protection. Maybe she could get him to actually stay in the bathtub. Maybe she shouldn't get her hopes up...
She brought them both to the bathroom, making sure she had a very tight grip on the squirming Gavin. Setting Haki down first, she closed the bathroom door. No escape, Gavin panicked. And then the water turned on.
He scampered toward the door, reaching for the very high handle as Remi searched under the sink for various bubble bath bottles, soaps, shampoos, and what not. His efforts were futile, however, as the door handle was not only high, but locked. He did not understand the concept of a lock. He turned toward Haki, defeated.
"Bath," he wimpered, his lip quivering as he dejectedly headed toward the tub. Remi turned off the water now that there was just enough to sit in comfortably (for toddlers anyway), carefully took off his clothes, and set him in the tub. She threw in a rubber ducky for good measure, hoping maybe that would interest him. She turned to Haki smiling, "Your turn."
Haki took off her clothes in record time. Hmm. Maybe this wasn't something to be proud of, (maybe she had a future in stripping if world dominance didn't work out?) but she did it all the same. In a flounce of pink silk and pink cotton, Haki more or less rolled the turtle necked dress into a ball. See? She could be neat too.
Why did Gavin look so upset?
"Mine don't like baths?" she inquired, peeking over the edge. Oof. She turned to Remi for support to get into the water. She needed help, she did. And ooh! What was that? It looked like the one she had at home, except with bigger eyes.
Maybe not all ducks were related to each other? That would make sense.
"Dukkie!" she exclaimed.
Baths were fun.
Haki was already out of her clothes and trying to get in the tub by the time Remi was ready for her. Mine? Did she just call Gavin 'mine?'
Gavin looked up at Hakee peeking over the edge. He threw her a dejected look as if he had just received a death sentence.
"No like water," he muttered, scooting to the back of the tub where the water couldn't touch his softies. Remi helped Haki into the bath with a little splash, sprinkling water on Gavin. He screamed like a little girl. Not even the duck could quell his anguish now that he was wet.
Sulking, he used his small pudgy had to sweep a splash of water in Haki's direction. He thought everyone was like him, so of course he figured Hakee didn't like baths either. Therefore the water should make her scream too, right? Right?
Remi tossed in a bar of scented soap and a few more bath toys. A couple of little boats and squishy blocks that stuck to the wall once they were wet. They had been fun when she was little, so hopefully toddlers' tastes haven't changed much. She figured she'd let them play a bit before actually washing them. That is, if Gavin could understand that bathtime could be synonymous with playtime.
Haki let out a shriek alright-- of laughter. Delighted at the feel of water on her skin (once she ruled the world, everyone would be expected to swim in water!), she thought of splashing him back.
And paused.
No like water?
"No like water?" she repeated, incredulous at the thought. What was wrong with him? Hmm. Maybe the feathers filled up too much space, and so his mind wasn't working properly. Scooting closer, and creating little waves in the water with her movement, she peered at him.
"No like water?" she repeated once more, flicking him lightly on the front body. Except.
Well. The flick was bigger than she thought.
All the boats and blocks were devastatingly tempting. But she had to figure out this uncommon boy first! Maybe he was sick.
Somewhere.
Why was she laughing?! This was no time for laughter! He was surrounded by water, and his softies were getting slightly damp from the few splashes. And why was Hakee giving him that look?
"No like water 'cause softies get wet," he pouted defiantly. Then he "oof"ed when she flicked him. That hurt!
"Hey!" he whined. "No touchie!"
Then a boat floated by. That caught his attention. Mommee had never given him boats to play with before. He grabbed it and lifted it out of the water. How could he play with it now that it was all wet and stuff? He'd played with boats on the carpet of the living room before, so naturally he found the boats very out of place in the bathtub. Same with the blocks. How was he supposed to build a glorious castle out of them now that they were all soggy? And why all the water?!
"Bath time no fun," he said, "Everything all wet."
Haki frowned. She'd flick him until he gave in! "Wet is fun." she said. Ah, the feathers, was it? Leaning foreheads and invading space, she tried to pat the nearest available feather. "Mine." she said. "Wet softie very very very pretty." she said this earnestly, partially because she wanted to see them wet. Did they look darker? Or lighter? Would they be heavier? She wasn't as colorful as he was, so it would be interesting.
And partially because she wanted to play with the boats and stuff in the water! And how could she, if someone didn't want to get wet? It wouldn't be as fun... and since this WAS his house, she had a feeling that she should listen to him and include him in her games.
Picking up another boat, she frowned. "Water boat." she said, and demonstrated. Making odd 'beep, beep' noises that Marc did whenever he played with water boats (honestly that man seemed to have more fun that she did!) she had it sink into the water, coming up bit by bit. "See?" It was fine. At home she had a pink creature with a long neck. THAT was more fun, but this was fun too!
She would have to ask her daddy to buy her more boats.
Water boat. You couldn't do this on land. "Peekaboo!" she giggled. Peekaboo was a fun game too.
Gavin jerked back when Haki reached out for his softies, getting himself even more wet. He'd pulled out his softies on accident before, and it stung unless it was already loose.
"Softies not your 'mine!'" he said stubbornly, still not exactly sure what 'mine' meant. He guessed it was something possessive, as Haki liked getting things.
"Gavin, be nice," Remi said from the toilet. "If one of your feathers falls out you can give it to her."
Feathers? What were these 'feathers' Mommee spoke of? All he knew were his softies. He turned his attention back to the boat and the strange noises that Haki was making. Noise making time? Yay! Though, instead of beeping he made strange chirping noises that echoed throughout the bathroom. Aww, Haki got his boat wet again.
"Water boat?" he asked, confused. It was then that he realized that it floated on the water. Boats were made for water? Oh how his little world was shattered. Everything he once knew is a lie!
"Peekaboo!"
He looked at Haki strangely. What manner of amusement was this?
"Peekaboo?" he parroted uncertainly. He'd never heard that word before. It wasn't nearly as fun as 'Osha,' but it still sounded interesting.
Feathers fell out, did they? Deciding to stick around for _that_ one, she grinned, nodding her head. Alright. They weren't her mine yet. For now. Instead, she tried to distract him first.
She wanted to splash around in the water, and the boy was making it so difficult to do so. Honestly. Boys. "Water boat." she said, nodding her head. "Water?" she splashed. "Boat." she splashed with the boat this time. Maybe he would get the connection?
She giggled. It wasn't a boat for land, she knew that. All the land things had wierd circle things underneath them.
"Peekaboo." she said gravely. Now. How did the same go again? Oh, right. You had to hide something... reaching out and hiding her eyes, she pulled her hands apart with a 'peekaboo!'
Hmm. Marc was definitely better at this than she was.
Gavin looked back and forth between the dreaded liquid and his toy. Water. Boat. Water. Boat. Information not computing. Shut down. Reboot.
"Boat on water?" he asked frightened. Great, now his current favorite toy was doomed to bathtime. He might as well accept it. Mommee wasn't going to let him out of the water anytime soon, and she hadn't even started with the soap yet.
If there was anything worse than water, it was soapy water.
He cocked his head to the side, curious at this 'Peekaboo' thing. Haki was hiding her eyes. Why? He leaned in closer so that his nose was almost touching her hands. And then she just had to pull them apart.
"Peekaboo!"
"Aahhhh-glurg!" Gavin jumped backward into the water, getting water in his mouth. A few feathers went flying in his startled state. Aww, now the softies were all wet. And he was wet. And why was he not particularly all that upset?!
Haki let out a shriek of laughter as she fell backwards too, adoring his reaction to everything. Hey, maybe she was good at this after all? Feeling the smug sense of pleasure that came from doing something right, her eyes lit upon the feathers scattered. Hmm. And it seemed that she had gotten a present out of all this too. She'd pick them up later, and dry them. Certainly there was more than enough for her.
Realizing that he was drenched now and he couldn't do anything about it, she grinned, flicking him with water. See? She seemed to be saying. "Water good." it was so nice, and comforting and soft in the way clothing couldn't be soft. And the temperature was nice, and it smelled good too. Sometimes air didn't smell as good.
Giggling, Haki advanced closer, holding another boat as a peace offering between them. This one was funny! And it was fun, getting him to do things he didn't particularly seem to like.
And now she was laughing at him. Did all girls get pleasure out of his pain?! She flicked him with water, and he squirked. Finally getting used to the fact that he was, in fact, going to get wet, he flicked water back at her.
"Water not good, but I okay," he said reassuringly. He picked up his own boat and started to push it along the water. Maybe he should get Mommee to make Haki come over for bathtime every night. She at least made it fun. With Mommee it was all about this foreign concept of cleanliness.
Speaking of which, Remi decided that maybe it was time to actually clean them rather than letting them just sit around in water all night. She picked up the scrub brush and soap.
"Alright, time for the cleaning part of the night," she smiled at the two of them, holding up the soap in what she thought was a non-threatening way. Of course, Gavin tensed at the sight of soap. He scooted closer to Haki, gulping in anticipation for the worst. At least she hadn't pulled out the dreaded shampoo just yet...
It was good that he was okay, and she smiled, seeing the way he played with the boat. Honestly though, what was with the soap all of a sudden? Deciding that the next time she would have to get him wet faster to play more in the water, she stared. Hmmm. She had never seen THAT bottle before. What did it smell like? The one she used at home smelled of roses. And sometimes she used Marc's, which smelled... like Marc.
Maybe this would small like Gavin? His proximity distracted Haki for long enough that she forgot what she had been staring at so intently. Was he scared of this too? Water, soap. Frowning at the foreign brush though, she stared up, eyes brightening again into baby greens.
"Soap smell good?" she asked, knowing that everything depended on how nicely something smelled. She refused to... oh, maybe it smelled bad, which was why Gavin didn't want to get clean with it? That must be it. Reaching out for a squeeze of the soap, she smiled just as reassuringly.
"Soap fun!" she said, giggling. It was slippery. But she couldn't pronounce that word yet. "Squish." Because it was kind of squishy. And she loved it when it became all lathery and she could jump up and down and create bubbles.
Bubbles were the best!
He didn't like soap. It smelled frilly, like as if the gardens outside had gone on odor overload. Of course, he liked smelling flowers and all, but not having the smell permeating every inch of his body. That was just gross. That and every time it was put on him the comfortable layer of dirt on his skin got washed off. He hated that.
He watched Haki get excited over the soap. Traitor! She left him for the hideous soap. Pft...girls and their hygeine. To heck with them!
Remi let the bottle of soap down so that Haki could smell it.
"You want some?" she asked, squeezing the bottle enough to give her some more. "See, Gavin? This isn't so bad. See, there's even bubbles!"
She loaded up the brush with the squishy soap, getting ready to scrub down one of them, and Gavin had a sickening feeling that he was first. Of course, he was right. Oh the poor dirt layer! How he will miss it now that it is gone.
Now he was wet, soapy, and (god-forbid) clean
It smelled nice! It was nicer than the one she had at home, which only smelled of roses. This smelled like flowers. And she liked flowers second to money and shiney stuff. And what was it that Gavin didn't like about this?
Giggling when he was done, she turned to look at Remi, raising her arms with a sweet. "Thank you." the brush wasn't what she was used to. Marc had done of those wierd sponge things most of the time, and something else that was just slightly too bristly. But this was nice. And this was fun too!
Maybe the next time she took a bath, she would invite everyone over and make it more fun. Heck. Maybe she should always take baths with other people! Yes. That sounded like a good idea.
Rubbing the soap she had in her hand into a quick lather, she reached out to touch Gavin. "See?" she asked. "Fun. Slippy." She was surprised by his reaction.
But hey.
If he didn't like soap, all the more for her to convince him that he actually did. This would be fun!
Gavin made a mental note to go roll in a flower bed the next time he got outside. After being scrubbed by a brush, his skin was all pink and slightly irritated at the lack of dirt. And now Haki was trying to put more soap on him.
"No like slippy!" he backed away, slipping on his soapified hands.
Remi smiled at the two. She liked Haki. This girl knew the joys of a good bath, including how to bathe herself. No need to force-scrub her down. Next time she'd have to bring out the bath salts. In the meantime, she went under the sink again to pull out the bottle Gavin hated most.
"No sampoo!!" he cried. That stuff was even more disgusting than soap. It got his hair all soapy and clean. He liked his head being itchy and greasy, thank you very much. Unfortunately the bathtub left him no where to run or hide. Within the next few minutes, she had his head under her hands scrubbing his hair with floral shampoo. She piled the lather on top of his head, pulling his hair into one big spike in the center. Then she turned to Haki,
"Your turn."
Haki snickered at his reaction. Originally there had been concern that he didn't like to bathe. Partially out of concern for his mental health, and for herself too. But now... well, this was kind of fun! So what if he didn't like soap? There were probably other things he liked that she liked too. She could give in to soap. (After all, Marc didn't like _her_ soap either. Maybe it was a boy thing. Hmmm. That made terrific sense)
The shampoo however, had her peer closer, wide eyes trying to take everything in. Far enough that she didn't get in the way- (she HATED it when shampoo got in her eyes) but close enough that she wanted to help too! At the hair however, she giggle.
"Spike!" she exclaimed, and nodded. Her turn? She wanted spikes too! "Spike?" she asked, looking at Remi. Shampoo was terrible fun when it came to short hair.
It let her have gravity defying hairstyles!
Gavin sulked on his end of the tub as Haki went forward for her shampooing. The gravity-defying hairstyles were fun of course, but it worked much better when it stayed up because the greasiness wouldn't allow it to go anywhere. How could she actually like this stuff?!
"You want a spike too?" Remi smiled, lathering up Haki's hair. She scrubbed the little girl's head until she was able to scoop her hair into a spike as well. She'd let them have fun with their hair before she washed it out.
Haki beamed. This woman had nicer hands than Marc. Whenever Marc tried to spike her hair, he would get tangled and then it would hurt, having him extract his fingers. Why he was so clumsy she didn't understand. He always seemed to have his hands in Hadria's hair.
"Thank you." she responded promptly. Gently patting the hair to make sure it was as high as it would go, she preened in front of Gavin. "Mine." she said seriously, reaching out and trying to rearrange a spike. See? It looked better if it was high-
Oh.
The spike dropped, and Haki frowned. Well, this wasn't working out very well, was it? But she was still having fun. "See?" she said, fluffing her hair back up. "Fun!"
Remi sat back on the toilet, proud of her hair spiking work. Of course, Haki's didn't seem to be staying up too well, but the little girl was making it work.
There was that 'mine' word again. Gavin sulked some more as Haki showed off her spike. He never could back down from a challenge. Therefore, he lifted himself out of sulking and started preening his own spike, which flopped over as well but it stayed up longer. He puffed out his small chest as if to say, 'My spike totally pwns yours,' even though as he did this it flopped right in his face.
Still, he didn't want to admit that he might just be having at least a little bit of fun. If he did that Mommee would be making him take baths more often. That would not be good. Therefore, he pretended to ignore Haki's statement on fun bathtime.
Haki laughed. He wasn't doing a very good job at keeping it up, was he? It was okay though. Haki understood. Kind of. Hers wasn't staying up very well either. But this was all still fun.
With a smile that said 'very well, yours totally pwns mine', she reached out to flick the flopped hair out of his face. She didn't want him to throw a fit if the shampoo burned his eyes.
She was having too much fun to think about people who might not be. Bathing with other people was nice. And Remi was nice. Haki's eyes darted to the woman who didn't seem to be anxious much. Were baths always like this? Because maybe she would come over for every bath, now.
Gavin smiled back at Haki as she moved the spike out of his face. He'd won this time, though something in the back of his mind told him that she didn't get defeated very often. She would turn the tables on him when he least expected it. But of course, that wouldn't happen now so he let the thought go as quickly as it came.
Alright, so bathing could be fun. Sorta. Not really. Maaaaybee...
"Alright you two," Remi said, laughing at them. "It's time to wash that stuff out of your hair."
She turned on the running water again, which for once Gavin didn't seem to mind. For now, it didn't bother him. She led him to the faucet and gently ducked his head under, washing out all the shampoo. After she was done with him, she gestured for Haki to come forward to do the same.
See? He was smiling! Beaming right back (hey, she could get used to being nice to people) she nodded, watching the water the water seemed to go all over the place. Water was so pretty~.
Her turn?
Haki ducked closer to the faucet, scrunching up her eyes to make sure that they wouldn't get hurt. Shampoo was one thing. But she hated it when too much water got in her eyes as well. Or her hair. That was strange AND painful.
"Okay." she said, nodding her head. Remi could do the washing out bit. Haki? She was just going to try and survive.
And see what ELSE they were going to do tonight.
Gavin watched as Mommee also washed the shampoo out of Haki's hair while he sat in the tub. He shook his head vigorously, sending water everywhere from his hair.
Remi didn't mind, as she was already getting wet from the faucet. When she finished she turned off the faucet and pulled out the drain plug. As the water went down she went to the counter where she had placed a few small towels to dry them off with. Starting with Gavin she carefully wiped off all the water, and then ruffled his hair with the towel until it was mostly dry. Right now it looked as if he had a mop on his head, but once it fully dried it would settle down. She went to dry off Haki as well.
"Now Haki, we need to get you something to sleep in," she told the little girl with a calm smile. "I highly doubt any of Gavin's pajamas will do, but what do you want to do?"
Seeing his head, Haki let out a snort of laughter. Look at his hair! Delighted to see that his hair was so fluffy (maybe THAT was why he referred to his feathers as fluffy?), Haki beamed at Remi.
And then the question took her off guard.
Tilting her head, she looked over with distaste at her clothing. She didn't want to put THOSE on. After all, she was clean now, and worn clothes were... well, dirty. Frowning, she looked over at Gavin. "What Gavin wear?" she asked.
If it was good enough for the pretty one, it could be good enough for her. Maybe. Although she highly doubted he wore anything as amazing as pink with lace.
Hmmm.
Gavin instinctively started heading toward his own room to search for his favorite pair of pajamas. Mommee made sure to put his pajamas in the bottom drawer where he could actually reach it after his bath. Of course, this is one of the first times he was actually dry and not dripping on the carpet on his way there. Usually he sprinted out of the tub without even drying off.
He opened the drawer and pulled out a one piece, dark blue pair of pajamas. Mommee always let him pick out pajamas, but he needed help getting into them.
"Gavin, bring some pjs for Haki too!" Remi called from the bathroom. Gavin stared back at his drawer. He'd never had to pick two pairs of pajamas before. After much deliberation, he picked an orangish-red pair--the same color as his hair--and toddled back to the bathroom. He handed Mommee his pjs and she helped him make sure he put his head and various limbs in the correct spots. She then held up the other pair to Haki.
"Is this alright?" she asked the little girl.
"Mine!" she said, grinning. Not claiming the pajamas but merely making not that it kind of looked like Gavin, she beamed at him, raising the edge of the trousers towards the boy to make sure that it was good enough.
Yes, it was good enough.
"Thank you." she said politely, looking up at Remi. Now what was she expected to call Remi? Mommy seemed a bit too personal... although, since Haki didn't have anyone to call mommy, maybe it would work.
Holding out her arms (stupid buttons) she nodded. It was perfect! "Pretty." she said, nodding her head. Not as pretty as her white confection back at home, but it looked much more comfortable.
Besides, it looked like the feathers.
Reminded, her eyes darted back to the water. Feathers!
Remi smiled as she helped Haki make sure that all the buttons were clipped in the right spots. Luckily there wasn't much difference between boys' and girls' nightwear when they were little. Haki was so polite, always saying thank you. If only Gavin could be the same...
Gavin stared at Haki wearing his pajamas. He was glad she liked them, though a little miffed just because they were his after all. Was this what that 'mine' word meant? Ah well, he had a friend over for the night so he was okay with it.
Both of them noticed Haki's gaze turning to the loose feathers that had fallen out when Gavin got wet. Remi went over to the tub and gathered them all. There were only five in total, but any more and Gavin's wings would be looking a bit empty. Then again, didn't birds molt? Augh, she didn't want to think about that right now.
"You wanted the feathers, Haki?" Remi handed them to the little girl, though not exactly sure where she was going to put them.
Haki nodded, pleased. Wow, these people were so telepathically cool! Maybe if she thought really hard and looked at Gavin, they'd give her the boy too? Hmm. That might work. She would try that later, after they had forgotten about _this_ incident.
"Thank you." she said, taking them. She smoothed them out nicely, reminding herself that later, she would dry them out on a flat counter. Making sure that she wasn't crushing them in her grip, (she had held cotton candy too hard once. That had been gross) she looked at Gavin for guidance.
This was his house, after all. She didn't want to get lost... yet. Besides, if she was spending the night, she would have plenty of opportunities to boss him around later.
Tilting her head in inquiry, she stared. They had taken a bath together. Now what would they do? And where did Gavin sleep? Did he sleep in the biggest room too?
She did. It was only fair she did, when Marc was concerned.
Gavin gestured for Haki to follow him across the short hallway and into his room. It wasn't very large, but large enough for him. It was furnished with a bed, a small nightstand, and a dresser. Mommee told him that when he was older he could get more stuff, but for right now this was all he needed. Well, then there was the extremely large pile of various toys and stuffed animals in the corner.
"Bed?" he asked her, pointing to the bed. "Or play?"
He then pointed to the large pile of toys, most of which Remi had found in her parents' attic when she ransacked their home for spare furniture. The toys were old, some very worn, but they were still fun.
Look, toys! They looked softened up with age and abuse... but then, that was what usually happened to Haki's toys too. The ones she was allowed to play with. Some Marc had bought for decoration only. Silly man. Looking around for a flat surface to place the feathers on, she walked over a little space away from the toys and placed them all in a row.
Now that was done, Haki smiled. "Toys?" she asked. That certainly seemed to be more fun. And she wasn't tired yet. Sitting down and motioning for Gavin to join her, she pointed at them. Which one was his favorite?
Reaching out, she picked one out that vaguely, more or less resembled a bird. And giggled. Softies! She wantes softies too.
Ah, so she wanted toys. That was good, as he wasn't particularly all that tired either. He toddled over to the pile and started sifting through it. Now where was it? He wanted to show her his favorite treasure amongst his pile. Aha!
He pulled out a very fluffy stuff bunny. It looked a little worn around the edges, but that did not take away from its fluffiness. He sure did like fluffy things. But that wasn't the end of the wonderfulness of this rabbit. Holding it out in front of Haki, he grabbed a small pull string in the back all the way out.
"Little bunny FooFoo hopping through the forest, scooping up the field mice and bopping them on the head..."
It was his favorite song so far. Remi could never get that rabbit away from him, or stop the noise. Then again, Remi never could understand why a hawk blended child would attach himself so firmly to a rabbit. But, then again life never did make sense.
Gavin hugged the bunny as it continued to sing, "You like?
Wait a minute toys could make noises like that? She had soft toys too. But none that made noise. Letting out a shriek of startled laughter, she leaned forewords, gently touching the bunny as if it was made out of gold. It could have been, in Haki's mind. Why hadn't Marc told her that such a delicious invention existed?
What was the song again? She understood some of the words, but she had no idea what foofoo meant. And bopping? Bopping actually sounded like fun. Grinning, she sidled closer.
"Again." she said, nodding her head. Hey, maybe Gavin could sing the song too? Deciding that he had good taste to hold onto it so, she nodded. "Again." and also. "You sing too?"
Could the pretty one sing? Hopefully. Then Haki would have a pretty AND talented ally to entertain herself with when she grew bored. This sleepover was turning out to have been one of her best ideas.
Gavin's eyes brightened as Haki gave an obvious sign of approval. She wanted him to sing. Well, of course he would oblige. He'd always done so even when Mommee yelled at him to stop. He pulled the drawstring out again.
"Little Bunny FooFoo..." he started, and though he thought he matched the rabbit perfectly, his tone was way off. Alas, he was tone deaf. Completely, utterly tone deaf. He had no clue, of course, so he would always keep on singing. He went through the whole song in his voice that was always either too sharp or too flat. Making a grab for the string again, he looked at Haki,
"You sing too!"
What was that noise coming out of Gavin? Wondering if maybe her hearing was broken (more likely, his hearing) she blinked, staring with a slight expression of surprise. Alright. So maybe he was only pretty.
Still, she was comfortable, and clean, and the foofoo was really cute. So she smiled, nodding eagerly. She must be better then that, right? No one seemed to complain when she sang!
"Okay." she responded, agreeing with the idea that she could show off her talent too! Except she wasn't quite sure of the words. Starting 'little bunny foo foo' and making up for the rest with mangled murmurs, she frowned.
Hmm. Maybe she wasn't as good as this as she had first thought.
Trailing off and listening instead, she nodded, clapping her hands to some kind of beat. Hmmm. This was good! This was fun. She would have to get Marc to get her something that sang and looked cuddly too.
He couldn't sing, but he sure didn't know that. The only thing he was thinking about was how much he's going to sing his little heart out next time. He clapped gleefully as Haki joined in. So, she couldn't sing well either, but in his ears it was wonderful. All sound was wonderful, wasn't it? Well, except for crying, but he wasn't sad right now so that wasn't an issue.
He hugged his bunny tighter, but as soon as the bunny stopped singing there was another noise that filled the room. Gavin stared down at his rumbling tummy. All this excitement made him forget his bedtime snack! From the darkness outside his door, he knew Mommee was already in her bed asleep.
"Food?" he asked Haki. They could always sneak out and steal something. Mommee did tend to leave things lying around.
Food? At this time of night? Marc never let her eat at this time of night. But there was something dangerous, something exhilirating about all those extra calories tempting her in midair. "Food?" she nodded her head. She was kind of hungry too.
Marc had forgotten that dinner usually consisted of more than soup. So she was still kind of hungry. Getting up, she checked on her feathers first. Who knew? Maybe some evil gremlin would come steal it, or something.
Patting her stomach, she nodded her head. Hopefully it would't make the same nose his had. Because that would be silly. "Where?"
Maybe it was somewhere near by. And maybe they could reach it. Oof. Maybe it tasted yummy? Eyes brightening at the thought, she padded towards the door, and waited.
Well, it wasn't as if she knew her way around... yet.
"Food!" he chirped in agreement, pushing himself to his feet. "Food in kitsen!"
He toddled toward his door which led to the hallway. Gesturing for Haki to follow him--though she was preoccupied staring at the feathers--he ventured into the hallway. Wow, it was really dark at night. He was too short to reach any light switches, not that he knew what those were anyway.
"Dark," he started getting nervous as he walked slowly through the hallway. He knew his way to the kitchen with his eyes closed, but that was during the daytime. Nighttime was a completely different story.
Don't leave me! Was the first thought to flash through her mind as she ran forewords, running up close enough to Gavin to bump him. She didn't mind being alone at all... but that was outside, or at home. This was someone elses house... who knew what strange monsters lurked in the shadows?
Oh crap it was dark. How... foreign. Used to the little night lights that glowed around the house, she hesitated. Maybe she could send Gavin alone, to pick up the food? She could wait here... out of harms way.
Hakii didnt know what might be worse. Going, or staying. "Verra dark." she whispered, and decided to stay.
Maybe Gavin's defensive skills was better than his singing
Great, now she was leaving him all alone to fend for himself. In the dark. Evil things lurked in the darkness. Things more evil than soap and shampoo. He didn't have a clue what they were, but that made them all the more scary.
He sneaked down the hallway, walking very slowly. Maybe he should just get food for himself, since she was a deserter. Then again, maybe if he came back with enough munchies for the both of them it'd show how not scared he was. Well, of course he was scared, but at least if he did it he could say he battled the dark.
There was a soft, eerie glow from random appliances as he made his way across the living room toward the kitchen. He just knew that one of those flashing numbers on the VCR was going to lead some terrible creature this way to eat him. Carefully dodging all the items that were left on the floor, he felt his foot hit tile. Yes! He'd made it.
The floor was cool beneath his feet as he made his way to the large cabinet where Mommee kept the munchies. He hadn't made a habit of stealing food, so it wasn't like she needed to put it up high or anything. He felt around the cabinet for any boxes that felt vaguely familiar. Just for luck, he grabbed three of them that he guessed were snacks and tried to make his way back across the living room. The boxes were almost too much for his arms, so he had to walk even more slowly to keep from dropping them. Suddenly, a noise broke through the darkness.
It was loud, almost like a dull roar. Though it ended abruptly, Gavin made a beeline for the welcoming glow of his bedroom, boxes still in hand. He couldn't see if Haki was still waiting at the doorway, but he just wanted the safety of his bed.
On the other side of the flat, Remi snored loudly once again until she flipped over so that she was face flat in her pillow.
Gavin heaved deep breaths, still frightened. He dropped the boxes to look at what he'd grabbed.
Goldfish. Ritz cheese crackers. Dried prunes.
Two out of three, wasn't that bad.
Haki felt vaguely like the queen waiting for her subjects to return from some crusade, and so to act the part, she started to rearrange the soft toys in neat, orderly lines. This gave her something to do... and she was hoping Gavin would appreciate the effort she put in.
Moving the toys from the corner to the bed, placing them in a little council circle, she smiled, nodding her head. Yes. It was starting to look much better now.
At Gavin's arrival, she rushed over. Her soldier looked like he had been wounded in battle! "Gavin okay?" she asked, getting into her imagination of it all. See? Her soldier was back with the holy grail, and he was wounded! Staring at the boxes, she tossed the prunes away.
Ick. What were prunes anyways? They looked kind of gross.
"Gavinsaheeero." she said, beaming. He was he was!
Gavin beamed at Haki's comment on him being a hero. See! He could overcome the darkness. Of course he probably wouldn't go out there again, but he'd done his heroic deed for the night.
"I okay!" he replied, puffing out his chest in self-importance. He liked this hero thing, and should do it more often. Then he noticed how all his stuffed animals were arranged. Now he was just confused.
"Why toys like that?" he asked bewildered. He'd never arranged his toys in any sort of fashion, but then again he never played with multiple ones at once.
Haki beamed. Ooh, he had asked such a good question! "Bed is castle." she said, motioning to it. "Toys is people in castle!" she was so proud of the way things were going. "Gavin hero, Haki pinsess." yes, yes. This was working out all so well.
Convinced that this was what she had come to Gavin's to do, she nodded her head. Picking the two snacks up, she moved towards the bed. "See? Princess and hero and castle."
And with the food, it was happily ever after too!
He didn't understand this whole 'castle' business, but Haki seemed to like it. It included the word 'hero' in it, so that must be a good thing. Unfortunately, Remi had yet to expose him to the ye olde mideival stories. So he knew 'castle' from building blocks, and 'hero' from other stories. 'Princess?' He needed help on that.
"Wha princess?" he asked. He could sense a game coming up, but he'd prefer to know what it is before he jumps into it.
What was a princess? Well, that was a philosophical question! And much too deep to discuss at night with goldfish tempting her mouth. So Haki decided that Gavin needed the short answer.
"Princess is me." she stated.
Afterall, no one in her mind deserved the word princess more than she did. With a proud nod, she hopped on to the bed, careful to make sure that none of the soft toys were knocked over. Patting the seat next to her, she opened one of the boxes, sighing happily at the smell of snacks.
Yum yum yum.
"Hero Gavin. Wudyulike one?" she asked sweetly.
Princess is Haki...alright, he guessed that could work. Gavin still had no idea what 'princess' meant, but then maybe it was someone who always claimed things as theirs. That would make perfect sense, since Haki does that all the time.
He climbed up on his bed next to her.
"Yes!" he replied, reaching his hand into the box to pull out some goldfish. In the back of his mind, he vaguely wondered what the prunes tasted like. Maybe they could include that in the night's adventures. Fortunately for his taste buds, he was still pondering the whole 'princess' thing.
"So wha do a princess do?"
Waiting until hero Gavin had had his share, she reached in for some goldfish too. A, good old preservatives and msg. She chewed on one thoughtfully. What did a princess do? Well, anything she wanted to do?
But maybe that wasn't a very good answer.
Sitting there, she nodded. "Princess." she started, speaking in a tone that sugegsted she knew absolutely everything there was to know about life. "rewads heroes." which she was doing right now, by letting him into her castle and speaking to him and all that stuff. "rules da world?"
Oh, what beautiful, beautiful words. Nothing so nice had ever been spoken before this moment.
And her world was going to be such a beautiful place too!
Gavin beamed when Haki mentioned 'hero' again. He liked being the hero. Then she said 'rule the world.' That caught him off guard. To him the world barely extended out past the building he lived in. Well, there were the gardens, and the gate...but that's it! So Haki rules the world?
"World is Haki's?" he asked. He wanted part of the world too. "I want some!"
He was getting tired of goldfish now that he had grabbed two handfuls. Leaning over, he grabbed the Ritz crackers. With cheese. If there was one thing he loved it was the processed cheese of Ritz crackers, though Mommee claimed that it was anything but cheese. It still tasted good, so he didn't care.
Haki giggled. "Okay." she said easily enough. The world must be a big place. She'd give Gavin some! Maybe like an island, or something. But not a country. Unless it was small. He was a hero, but he hadn't proven himself for a country yet.
This was all working out so nicely.
With a giggle, her eyes fastened on to the other snack. Well. She had never seen those before. "What is?" she asked Gavin. What was that thing he was holding on to?
It looked kind of evil. Delicious, but evil in the way Marc would not buy it for their house, evil. Leaning forewords, she grinned. All these naughty, naughty stuff!
Yay! He was going to rule the world too! Maybe if he was lucky, Haki would give him his bedroom. Since he was living in it already, that would be perfect. When she asked what the crackers were, he held out the box to her.
"Crackers," he said. "Wit cheeeeeese."
He always liked holding out the 'eeee' part in 'cheese.' It just made the word that much more fun. He also insisted that it made the snack more fun too. Eventually he'd try those prunes.
"Cheeeeese!" that sounded like something Haki ate a lot of, actually. Beaming, she nodded her head. It sounded very good. Reaching in and pulling out as many has her hand would hold (they were partners in crime! She didn't have to appear so ladylike in front if him any more~), she took one out and popped it into her mouth.
Oh. Why had Marc tried to hide this goodness from her? What a silly, silly man. Letting out a soft noise of delight, she reached for another one. She would get addicted to these very soon!
Sometimes healthy food just wasn't good enough.
"Gavin good taste." she said after she had swallowed. Licking her teeth to make sure there were no bits left behind, she had another.
Gavin joined her in stuffing his face with the yummy crackers. Salt and cheese, best mix in the entire world. Of course he had good taste. He was the almighty Gavin, hero for all, wasn't he? Those prunes had been nagging the back of his mind, though. What did those taste like.
"Pruuuunes," he said, trying to say the word like Mommee had. Remi had always thought that one day she might get him to like healthy food, hence the prunes. Gavin opened the box and got a wiff of dried-fruit smell. He wasn't sure if he liked it. Scrunching his nose, he gingerly reached in and grabbed one. It was really dry against his fingers. And it was purplish black, darker than Ina.
"You want?" he asked Haki with uncertainty. Maybe he should get her to try it first.
Haki stared at the odd disfigured head in his hand. Because thats what it looked like, a dried up head. Or something just as disgusted. "Me?" she asked, making a face.
But he had bought the food.
"Okay." it looked like something else, something that sometimes came up in her food at home-- and home food usually tasted good. Staring at the thing in his fingers, she opened her mouth.
"Ah."
Gavin had signed up to be hero, not taste tester, so Haki got to experiment. She opened her mouth for him to put the prune in. He dropped it in.
"You like?" he asked with a semi-disgusted look on his face. At least the goldfish and crackers looked yummy. These things just looked weird.
Haki chewed thoughtfully. It was... sweeter than she had expected. But then the taste hit the back of her mouth and she grimaced. Eew. Eeew! Chewing quickly, she swallowed the entire thing as faster as she could and stuck her tongue out.
What WAS that?
Grimacing as she remembered, she shook her head. "Nooooo." she said, frowning. It wasn't like all the other fruits, or all the other vegetables. What had she just consumed?
"Tastes like poop."
She managed.
He stored that in his memory. Tastes like poop. He didn't know what poop tasted like, but from the look on Haki's face it didn't seem like it was yummy.
"Sowwy," he apologized for making her eat the yucky thing. He yawned loudly. It was getting late, especially if Mommee had already gone to bed. But what to do now? He couldn't just fall asleep and leave Haki awake all by herself. He was a hero! He could fight sleep...sorta. He yawned again.
The yawning triggered off Haki's own yawning, and she covered her mouth with her hands, yawning until her eyes closed and she fell over onto one of the soft toys.
"S'okay." she said, nodding her head. He was a hero. He could afford to make a couple of mistakes. Occasionally. Maybe one or two, or something. With a nod of her head, she shifted her position until she pushed the toy out of her way.
They were servants. She could afford to push them off the bed.
"Mine." she said, stifling another yawn. She was sleepy! Ooh boy. All that eating had sure drained her. "Sleep?"
As she pushed off the other toys, he was thinking sleep was a good idea. His eyes started closing involuntarily as he yawned again. This time he stretched his arms and his softies.
"Sleep," he parroted, blinking so that he could stay awake long enough to find his pillow. The bed was still fairly large for him, so the two could sleep comfortably. Even the pillow was big enough. He grabbed his sacred bunny, and absentmindedly stuck his thumb in his mouth as he scooted over to the side of the bed closest to the wall.
"'Night," he said tiredly, curling himself under the covers. From many nights of having Mommee tuck him into bed (the only reason she didn't tonight was because of Haki and the knowledge that they'd stay up late), almost as a reflex he muttered something else.
"'ove you." By this time he was too incoherent to even realize that Mommee wasn't tucking him in. He always said it right before he went to sleep.
The last statement lurched Haki out of her almost sleep with a start. More noise? As she digested what he had said, she giggled. Well, he was a little Hero alright! Sitting up, she stared at all the animals and pushed more away before setting in under the blanket in front of him. They could almost share the pillow, really.
Scotting closer and tugging at a loose section of the feather so that it drifted closer, she nodded.
"Night." she murmured, relaxing into the form of the bed. "'ove you too, Mine."
Surely he had meant it. So she could return the favor too.
"Alright, up up up!" Remi walked into the room with a bright smile on her face. The sun was just coming in through the window, brightening the room. She didn't wanted Gavin developing a habit of sleeping in past noon, so she always woke him up around 9 at the latest.
Gavin's eyes opened slowly, and he pulled his thumb out of his mouth. New day, new adventure. Blinking the sleepiness out of his eyes, he looked down at Haki.
"'ake up!" he yawned, stretching again.
Haki let out a small growl as she looked for anything to yank to cover the atrocious noise coming from around her. What sort of indecent monster would wake one up at so early in the morning?! She knew it had to be early, because she was exhausted.
Hmm. Maybe being with other people was more exhausting than she had first thought. Twitching, she scowled as she blinked one eye open, the look disappearing completely when she realized someone else was in the room.
Oh deary. An adult.
Smoothing it out with care, she smiled. "Morning mine mommmy." she said, smiling.
Ugh. Next time, she was going to figure out a way to get more sleep. It was inhumane, facing adults from so early on.
"Morning Haki," Remi smiled back. She had debated about making breakfast for them, but then realized that Haki's guardian was probably worried looking for her. Heck, she would have had the police searching the area all last night if she lost Gavin. It wouldn't be fair to keep whoever her guardian was worrying any longer. Breakfast would just have to wait. Plus, it was still early and Gavin usually liked lunch better than breakfast anyways.
"You two should get dressed," she said with that motherly tone. "Haki, you're going to have to show me where your building is so that I can take you home. Hurry now, I'm sure he's worried about you."
Gavin slid off the bed and went toward his dresser again. His clothes were in the second drawer, which was slightly higher but he could still reach in. He grabbed a tiny pair of toddler jeans and an orange shirt. It clashed a bit with his hair, but it was his favorite shirt.
Haki frowned. Worried? Marc? Wondering if they were talking about the same person, or if maybe she had misunderstood the word, she nodded her head. And went straight to Gavin's drawer to look in.
Hmmm.
"Mine dirty" she said as if this was fact, and peering in, picked out a shirt that looked like the band in his hair, and a pair of his shorts. She looked up for approval, but knew that he wouldn't complain. He couldn't, because he was hers.
Mine.
Nodding her head placatedly at Remi, she got changed.
"Alright, I can wash your clothes and return them to you when they're clean then," Remi smiled as the little girl dressed herself in Gavin's clothes.
Gavin nodded in approval. Why couldn't he look that good in his own clothes? But what did Mommee mean, taking Haki back? Aww, she was leaving. He pouted toward Mommee.
"Don't worry, Gavin you're coming too," Remi laughed at his expression. "I'm not mean enough to separate you two this early in the morning. Now that you're all dressed let's go."
She picked the two of them up, one in each arm. She was careful not to squish Gavin's wings, as he hated that. Carrying two of them sure was difficult. Slowly and carefully, she got them down the four flights of stairs from the building.
"Now Haki, I'm going to need you to point out where your building is," she instructed. She would go wherever the little girl pointed.
For a moment, the delicious thought of pointing her all over the place to see how long Remi would last entered her mind. But she decided against it. Because it was too early in the morning, and she needed this woman on her side. Mine seemed to belong to her as well, after all.
"There."
She pointed to the building almost perpendicular to the large lab, nodding her head. "Three floors." she made her finger into a three and waved it in front of Remi's face, just in case the older woman didn't get it.
Who knows? Maybe adults were stupid in the morning too.
Having been up since six in the morning, Remi was wide awake and able to understand. As a novelist, she liked working during hours where she wouldn't be disturbed. Which meant either really late or really early, when Gavin was asleep.
"Alright then," she said and headed toward the building. Her arms were getting tired, but she would remain strong. Gavin was still waking up, so he rested his head on Mommee's shoulder as she climbed all those stairs. By the time she reached the third floor, she was exhausted. She set the two down, now that they didn't need to be carried.
She walked up to the door and knocked. Apparently it was open, as it swung in a little bit. Being also quite a nosy person, she stuck her head in the door.
"Umm, hello? Excuse me!"
The apartments weren't that large, really. And because none of the doors were really closed, the fall of water from the shower could be heard. Accompanied by a '********. What the hell?' in a low growl.
The shower was shut off.
Marc, who had been really getting into whatever it was he and Hadrian were doing, resented the intrusion. What was this?! And it probably wasn't even a decent time in the morning yet.
So much for doing the nasty while Haki was still away.
"I'm going to kill them." he muttered, glowering as he reached for a towel. Great. It covered most of him, to about midknee. Reaching for a smaller handtowel, he tossed it with a smirk at Hadrian's direction.
"Use this one." his smile was wicked.
But he didn't need to, really. There was another towel his size hanging on the rack.
Deciding that anyone who was rude enough to walk in from so early in the morning deserved nothing more than this, he strode out of the master bedroom, hair wet and cheeks flushed, with a black towel around his waist.
And stopped.
"Haki?"
Haki looked down at Remi with a small smile. See? Nothing to worry about. "Tha' Marc."
Rolling his eyes at his retreating lovers back, Hadrian put the handtowel aside and grabbed a real one, using that instead. After making certain it was secure, Hadrian stepped out of the bathroom, through the bedroom and - stopped as he saw a woman in the main area of the apartment.
Ah. Haki.
He didn't mind Haki, of course - but a random woman (one of the guardians, most likely) seeing him in nothing but a towel. And obviously having been showering with Marc.
He couldn't help it, as his face slowly turned red.
Oh dear.
"T-that's Marc," she stuttered, mimicking Haki. A man. A naked man in a towel. A very wet, naked man in a towel. Oh yes, this so wasn't embarrasing.
"Er, umm...I'm t-terribly sor--," she started until another man walked into the room. Another very wet, naked man in a towel. Was that water running?
Her face flushed a bright red to challenge Hadrian's. She had two very nice looking, most likely gay men both in towels standing before her. She wasn't sure what to say. What do you say? And what had they been doing?!
Gavin blinked, confused at the two men. He'd never seen grown men before. Would he look like that when he grew up? Right now he was preoccupied with the color of Hadrian's face.
"Mommee? Why his face red?" he asked pointing. Remi was too much in shock to answer.
If Haki knew one thing, she knew this. Her father was fun, and he always managed to get a funny reaction from other people. "Daddee." she said, and then, as if to be more helpful, pointed to the other man. "Hay-dren." she said, as if it was exaplanation. And to push her point in further. "Hay-dren a mage."
See? She was polite, and all that.
Marc, looking back and seeing the way his mage's face seemed to match some of the furniture, smiled slightly as he walked forewords. Holding the towel in one hand and holding his other hand out, he nodded.
"Good morning." his smile was professional, warm, as if they weren't in this situation. "I am Marc. Thank you for taking care of my daughter." he turned his eyes on the boy.
Pretty. No wonder Haki had gone to their house.
"He's red because he's embarrassed." he answered, and grinned, flashing a glance towards Hadrian. "Although I don't know why."
She guessed she would have to get over the fact that they were all in bathrobes. Looking down at herself, she felt quite out of place. Baggy jeans, t-shirt, and her messy short blonde hair. Nothing like the two tall, dark, and beautifuls in bathrobes. She tried to keep her mind off of it.
"It's alright, I'm sorry for yelling," she apologized. Gavin's eyes perked up for breakfast. He wanted some of Haki's food! He pulled on Mommee's arm, signaling he wanted to stay for breakfast.
"Breakfast
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Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:11 am
Friends, Allies and Investors.
When Thorn comes over with a gift.
Marc had been pissed off all night, really. He had been so upset about Thorn coming in and ruining lunch plans that Haki had decided to sleep early. Sleeping early benefited everyone… it meant that Marc got to leave and spend more time with Hadrian. And… well. Haki liked Hadrian a lot.
He was useful. And he made her daddy smile.
“I’m going to go downstairs for a second.” He whispered, bending over to kiss her cheek. Haki barely managed to bite back a smile, murmuring something in her ‘sleep’ so that he would be convinced. The man was a superb liar. But he wasn’t very good at marking Haki’s lies from her truth.
Snuggling down, she felt the cool silk rub down her arms, and smiled. It was a really pretty room—and she liked the silence. It was better than the noise caused by her father or the other children.
Although… she wanted to see them too. She didn’t miss being around children her own age, because they hardly listened to her. But she still liked their stupidity.
Without knowing it, she fell into a light nap.
ding
The sound of the doorbell had her start up, rubbing her eyes as she wondered if Marc was home. But why would he ring the doorbell? Pushing off the blankets and climbing down the little stairs to the floor, she searched for shoes—the aircon had been on for long enough that the floor was too cold to stand on.
Ah. There. Pink balls of fluff to warm her feet.
Rubbing her eyes, she walked with some difficulty towards the door. Her room was the furthest one… it was also the largest still, so it was quite a journey.
“Marc?” the voice asked, curious on the other end. Haki brightened when she realized it for who it was. It was the pretty man from the restaurant!
She liked him.
She couldn’t reach the handle yet--, so she hurried over to her room and scratched out a piece of paper, scribbling (in as legible letters as she could) 12346.
That was the activation code.
And slid it under the door.
A few moments later, the door opened with a beep, letting her know that it was soon enough to step back so that the door wouldn’t swing forewords.
And looked up to see Thorn standing there, amusement twinkling in his eyes.
“He left you all alone?” he sounded surprised, gentle and walked in, closing the door behind him. Haki immediately reached out for a hug, to be lifted eye level with the pretty man. “What happens if someone tries to kidnap you?”
Haki giggled. “Silly.” She said. Looking behind her, she tried to read the time. Except, she didn’t know what it said.
“It’s very very late, Haki. Midnight. I’m sorry for the late visit. Did I wake you?” He spoke to her in a courteous tone, and while she preferred baby talk (it let her know that they loved her) she liked his words too. He was so nice and he seemed to worship her.
Haki shook her head. “Daddee not in.” she said, frowning slightly. He was warm, and he still smelled very rich, like silk and spice. Leaning forewords, she sighed. Was he going to leave her too?
“Why don’t we wait for him to come back.” He adjusted his grip so that he could hold her closer. Why he was so nice to her would have been obvious to another adult—just one more way to get closer to Hadrian. Besides, she might have her own uses too, in the future. “Where’s your room?”
Haki pointed to the master bedroom, and he let out a short laugh.
“Come on, lets go settle you back in.”
Haki smiled. See? He was her first real slave. He walked with her smoothly, hardly a bump as he laid her in the pink floss, plumping the pillows behind her head. When he was satisfied, he sat down next to her, pulling a small box out of his pocket.
“I have a present.”
Haki’s eyes brightened. Sleep, discomfort and Marc was all forgotten as she shifted all of her loyalties over to this man. PRESENT! She reached for it eagerly, seeing not the plain box but what it might contain. Hmm…it was a little bit heavy.
Opening the simple latch, she pulled out the pale pink confection, and crooned.
“Thank you.” She said politely, eyes gleaming. It was heavy enough, large in her hands and seemed to shift whenever she moved it around. It was gorgeous.
And she loved this man.
Thorn spoke to her, then. They spoke about stupid, silly things, but Haki felt loved and treasured, and decided that she was on his side. He stayed until she fell asleep, a little bit longer to ensure that she wasn't pretending, and then spent his time searching through Marc's stuff.
The next morning, Marc asked her where she had gotten the pink orb.
And she told him.
'Goffather.'
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Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:31 am
Step Three: Form Plan A
Nae types in this color.
Ale types in this color.
"I'm leaving you with this boy because I expect you to be well behaved, Haki." Marc responded. Haki almost rolled her eyes at that statement. She was always well behaved! "And because Hadrian and I need some time alone."
Haki almost smirked then. Thorn was still getting on Marc's nerves, and he wanted to make up for whatever damage he thought had happened with a single intimate date. Haki understood that.
What she didn't understand was why she had to be left with some stranger. Why, when she had been left alone so often before? Maybe this whole thing was Hadrian's influence.
Not that she was complaining. This provided her the opportunity to meet more people. And this thing called Ismet too. What was this thing called Ismet? Hmm. Very... interesting.
Hopefully, the person would prove to be on her side.
Looking down at her pink dress, she patted down the ruffles around her neck and nodded her head. She was ready.
"Ready?" Marc asked.
Haki smirked, and pressed the bell.
Ismet was the one that answered the door, in a loose shirt and pair of pants. He did nothing to hide the appearance - his skin, blue and scaly with those red markings that so resembled splatters of blood - his hair, his eyes...or his expression. One that seemed remarkably grumpy.
Typical. Only a child, and already entering the that irritated stage most went through in their teen years.
Though since he was always like this, it was more that he was eternally in that stage then anything else.
At seeing who it was, he opened the door wider for Haki.
"Hadrian should be out in a moment."
He was staying in Hadrians apartment, tonight; normally he'd been staying in Ahneta's as he preferred to avoid other people. Especially other people that were doing noisy things with one of his guardians.
Ick.
Oh wow, what was this thing?? Haki's eyes widened as she took in the blue form. He was... well, blue! And look at his eyes. And his hair! She immediatly let go of Marc's hand, rushing forewords and tried to place a hand on Ismet's face. Oh wow, he was a pretty shade of blue!
"He'lo" she said, transfixed. Ina had been pretty and purple. And Gavin was pretty. And Osha. Well. Osha was Osha. But this was BLUE! "You pretty~" she crooned.
Marc nodded, trying to keep a serious expression on his face. "Thank you." he said formally, nodding his head as he walked into the apartment. Hopefully Hadrian would come out soon, so that he would be able to avoid anything that happened because of Haki.
"Are you well?" he asked. The boy seemed older, grumpier... and Marc didn't want to step on toes. Not when Ismet was going to be invaluable--
Haki's baby sitter. Thank goodness someone was available.
Ismet was beginning to feel that all toddlers wanted to touch him. First Inanna, and now Haki. At least he could avoid Ina - but he had to watch Haki! So he withstood her touching for a moment before pulling back, his expression not changing in the slightest.
And in response to Marc's question...a shrug. That was about the extent anyone would get from the snake at moment; how could he be 'well' when he had to watch a brat?
No offence meant to any child, of course...but to him, all toddlers were brats.
Luckily, Hadrian exited his room at that point, smiling at Marc and Haki. His new monocol was being worn, and while it looked a bit different from his old one, it still clearly achieved its purpose. Improving the eyesight, and making the man look..interesting.
"Evening Haki. Ismet knows where everything is, so if you need something, just ask him."
His greeting to Marc was more typical of them, as he walked over and gave him a kiss.
Haki wrinkled her nose. She didn't like it when they made such a big deal about this in front of her. And why did they like kissing so much? Silly adults. She much more preferred hugs. Or presents. When Ismet pulled away and gave her that expression, she didn't know how to take it.
How could this thing not like being called pretty and being touched? She adored it! Thinking back to what Hadrian had said, she brightened. "Yew know evrything?"
Ismet couldn't restrain the smirk that crossed his face at that question. Now, just because he was anti-social, didn't mean that didn't enjoy being thought of as all-knowing. Maybe if she thought he knew everything, she wouldn't give him much trouble.
"Of course."
Haki's eyes widened. He did, did he? Speculatively, she closed the space between them. Hey, if he knew everything and he told her all the answers, then everything would be hers!
"Howdwai rule da world?" she asked, leaning forewords. He didn't seem to like touch. Which meant that maybe she could use that as an almost threat.
He knew everything!
Furrowing his brow as he attempted to decipher exactly what Haki had said, he still had an amused expression on his face. And once he figured out what she said, he actually chuckled - quiet, restrained, but it was there. Well, well, well...a toddler who wanted to rule the world.
That was original.
Smirking at the little girl, he told her.
"Simple. Get enough supporters in one country or city, and work your way up until you control it all."
Or she could go the dictator route, and just get a large military presence.
"Or take over the world through force, anyway."
Perhaps this would be a more interesting night then he had thought...
Haki frowned. Well, she thought she had known that. Straightening, she looked around the house with an impatient noise. "Suppor'ers?" she asked. What was that? She knew the table was supported by legs. But she didn't want table legs. Hmm. Was it to make her higher?
She beamed. "Force?" ooh, she knew that word. She shook her head. People were going to give her the world to rule. She just knew it in her lacey bones.
With a wave of his hand, Ismet explained it further - hopefully in terms a toddler could understand.
"Supporters are people who follow you. And for force, you'll need those people to fight for you; otherwise you won't get very far."
This was hilarious. Ismet was actually finding that he was enjoying himself, for once with a person rather then with a book. It was certainly strange.
Haki frowned. Oh dear. This was going to prove to be harder than she looked. And much more difficult to process! She walked over to the couch and pulled herself up, sitting down and patting the seat next to her.
They would have to do this all serious, her and her advisor. "Fight?" she asked skeptically. Oh, like the way Aladin had fought the guards? Hmm. She could handle that.
And grimaced. "But." she protested. "All my pretty people get ugly!"
Oh no. She could not have THAT.
With a dismissive wave of his hand, Ismet explained it.
"Get ugly ones to fight for you, the pretty ones can lead."
Hm. He should have an official title...Tactician to the Toddler Who Would Rule the World sounded good. Entertaining, at the very least.
"Uglies?" Haki sounded horrified at the thought of having ugly people in her world. Wait. They could work in the invisible places and stuff. Her world wasn't going to be full of ugly people!
Oh no oh no.
Tapping the seat next to her again, she frowned. "No uglies." she said. No uglies to be seen, anyways.
Ismet eyed Haki, before shrugging and giving a suggestion to deal with 'uglies'.
"Plastic surgery. Make them all at least half-way 'pretty', an there you go."
Plastic surgery, was it? Wow. Ismet new all these big words that she didn't know the meaning of! But she did know what plastic meant. And that meant her frown.
"Barbie?" she demanded. He wanted her to turn the ugly people into Barbie? "But no like barbie."
Actually, it was more like 'intensely jealous of Barbie'. Barbie could probably rule the world, what with all her clones skittering around like that. Had Ismet not seen the toy shops? She was every where!
Stupid small plastic bimbo.
Wrinkling his nose in what seemed to be disgust, he corrected her belief.
"Plastic surgery has nothing to do with barbie. Plastic surgery is just surgery to make someone look prettier."
Ismet mused that he needed to learn how to speak to toddlers - they didn't understand big words, after all. Though he really didn't care enough about toddlers to make much of an effort.
Oh, RIGHT! Haki got it now. She nodded her head, she smiled. "Isme." she said. "You have pastic surjree?" maybe he did. Because no one she knew was so completely blue. Even Ina wasn't so completely purple!
Hmmm. That would explain things, after all. "Isme smaaart." she said, beaming. She knew now that she would have to keep this one close to her, when she tried to rule the world.
"No."
Ugh. Like Ismet would do that...he didn't even like people, so why would he try to make himself look good? His distaste at the idea wasn't so easy to distinguish from his natural grumpiness, so Haki might not even be able to tell his reaction.
Glancing at the kitchen, he decided that perhaps if he got her full, she'd fall asleep and he could read...
"Are you hungry?"
Hungry? Haki tilted her head thoughtfully. She could eat, she supposed. And usually when Marc came home, he forgot to feed her. (something about that mage...) so she nodded her head. "Maybe." she said, sliding off the chair. Now where was the kitchen?
Looking back at Ismet, she frowned. "Cook?" he cooked? Maybe he was better than Marc. Although her guardian could create some miracles-- all he did was pop a container in the microwave, and boom! Instant goodness.
Maybe all cooking was done like that.
Ismet shrugged in response to Haki's comment; of course he could cook. The boy was astonishingly self-sufficient, which would explain why he had lived at Ahneta's apartment while she was away; now he just switched in between flats.
"What do you want?"
What did toddlers eat? Something simple, he imagined.
Anything, was it? Haki wracked her brains, and nodded her head. "Grilled chikken." she said. "Peas." and added, just for good measure. "Chokkate cake?"
Yes. That sounded like a very good meal, and as she stared at Ismet, she wondered how long she would have to wait until he delivered.
Ismet could handle the peas...and if he remembered correctly, there was actually a slice of chocolate cake in the kitchen; it wasn't too old, even. So while it wouldn't be fresh, at least he could get her that.
But grilled chicken? What kind of toddler asked for that?
Did Hadrian even have chicken?
Eyeing Haki doubtfully, he suggested an alteration, "How about grilled cheese instead of chicken? Or macaroni and cheese?"
Grilled cheese? What was that? Wrinkling her nose, but remembering that cheese always tasted good, she nodded her head. Very well. She could handle the grilled cheese. "Cheese?" she asked, following Ismet. She stayed far enough that he wouldn't hit her with a stray elbow.
But close enough to admire his hair. What WERE those things hanging at the bottom? Beads? "Sounds tay ss tee." the word was such a pretty word too.
Maybe after they ate, she could ask her new advisor more questions on how to rule the world.
Gathering the ingredients needed to makethe food, Ismet got everything down onto the counters. While he did so, he found that piece of cake - well, she could eat that while he cooked.
"Here...you can eat this while waiting for the food."
And so he began cooking. He was a pretty decent cook, considering his age.
Haki smiled. She did the customary 'ooh' and 'ah's as he maketh the food that was supposed to feed her. The cake wasn't that bad-- a little hard around the edges, but she didn't mind.
Food was food.
"Isme goood." she purred, beaming as she nodded her head. This certainly didn't look like what Marc did when he said he cooked! Staring with the intensity of a girl trying to make up for her lack of doingness, she nodded.
Actually, it didn't look too difficult.
After a bit of time, Ismet finished up the grilled cheese and put it on a plate for her. It wasn't the best grilled cheese that had ever been, but it was still pretty good. And the peas, of course, were simple.
Putting the plate before her, he began to clean up everything he had used, before pausing to ask something.
"Do you want anything to drink?"
Haki beamed. "Wa'er?" she asked. The food looked good. "Isme' know all and cooks!" it was stating the obvious. But she liked it. "Isme' goooood~"
So maybe it was laying it on a bit thick.
But Haki didn't think Ismet would mind. Who complained about compliments?
Getting Haki her water, Ismet noted the compliments once more - well, she certainly did seem to enjoy it all. He didn't pay much mind to it though, as he didn't put much stock in the opinions of toddlers.
Obviously, he didn't know much about Haki.
Sitting down, he began to eat his own food as well, with an absentminded 'thanks' for the compliment.
Well she had certainly expected more of a thanks then that! Deciding that her advisor was in need for a lesson, she frowned, slightly distressed. He was supposed to preen! Or at least take his new queen's compliments to heart. He didn't really know much about advisorhood.
Sad, sad news.
"Ismet live here?" she asked, continuing to talk. (Silence? XD What is that foreign concept?) Leaning forewords and picking at her peas, she nodded. "Ismet famlee too?"
"Some of the time. All of the mages are my guardians, so I spend my time at different flats."
Mostly Ahneta's, but since she'd come back, he'd been shifting around more. Especially when she decided to have people over...which hadn't been too often, but he'd already seen more then he wanted to see, the one time he had been there.
"Family? I guess, since Hadrian's one of my guardians..."
Weird.
Haki nodded as if this was the most interesting thing in the world. Which was, kind of. "Mages?" she knew there were others. But she had never concerned herself much before.
But now, she supposed she should. After all, she had to build her whole support network, the thing Ismet had talked about before!
Brightening at the idea of family, she nodded. "Haydren Marc's family. So Isme ..." she scowled, thinking. And then her brow cleared up as she reached her conclusion.
"Brother!"
"Brother, huh?"
Ismet's lips tilted upwards at the corners, seeming amused by the title he'd been given. "Well then, I suppose I have a new sister."
Haki wasn't all that bad, he had decided. He liked her more then any of the other children he'd met, anyway...he could stand her thinking of him as her brother.
She just shouldn't expect him to consider Marc his father. That was where he definintly drew the line.
Haki smiled back. He knew how to smile! Nodding her head, she started to dig in with more enthusiasm. See? Everything would work out, really it would. "Thank you." for the food, she meant.
Haki sighed. Pushing the plate away from her, she slid off her seat with a satiated. "Thank yew~". She was sleepy after all that food! But not willing to sleep either. There was something captivating about the boy. He had the answers to her future, dangit!
"Isme." she said, looking up. "Talk more?"
Raising one eyebrow at Haki, Ismet felt somewhat amused. He didn't think he'd ever met a toddler who was quite this talkative - or at least, who wanted someone else to talk.
"About what?"
Haki beamed. She had never thought he would ask. "Me!" she said, beaming and nodding her head. "My worl'." Of course that was second on the list. Standing close and placing a hand on Ismet's arm, she all but dragged him towards the couch. It was time to make this talk just a little bit more official! Yes. That was a good word.
"My worl." she repeated, pulling herself onto the couch and trying to pull Ismet on as well. Gosh, for a boy, he was sure heavy!
Ismet allowed himself to be pulled over, and sat on the couch alongside Haki. Honestly, he was a bit puzzled with himself - why was he allowing this toddler to pull him around, to bother him? He could have just given her a toy and let her entertain herself...
"Your worl'? World?"
Well, at least she was amusing. He hadn't met any other toddler who thought the world was theirs, after all.
Yay, he was up here! Wiggling down and leaning forewords, she nodded. She would get sleepy soon (damn food for wearing her out.) but she wasn't sleepy yet. "My world." she said, pronouncing the 'D' with a thud of her tongue.
Stupid words.
"Isme' like world?" she asked.
"Do I? Well...some of the time. I like some of the things in it, but I don't care too much for a lot of the people."
Try everyone. Well, excepting a few ones - Ahneta, Hadrian - and now, Haki. It was a small group.
Haki beamed. "Isme like me?" she asked.
"...yes, I suppose I do."
Ismet reached over and ruffled the little girl's hair, a motion of brothers everywhere - though he would have been startled to realize that. It just felt natural.
Haki made a noise of protest at the hair ruffling-- but this was more to do with her hair being ruffled than at the touch. Grinning, she moved her hair back into place-- she could style the short mop in her sleep!
"Then Isme help Hakeee rule?"
Ahah! That was the crux of it all. And her eyes flattened, taking on a much more intent, serious look as they waited for his answer. Because if he didn't help her...
She'd have to get rid of him! Or something.
"Why not."
Ismet didn't really seem to take her question seriously, just thinking it was in the typical fantasies of a toddler; he had no idea that Haki actually planned to carry through on this. So he thought nothing of agreeing to it.
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:28 pm
Meets Ina again, which is good because Haki still doesn't know how to come in terms with her. Meets the wierd man upstairs too... which scares her. More then just a little bit. 0.0 Is it really her fault if she doesn't know how to behave around a girl who is just as much equal to her as... well, someone as equal to her can be is?
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:43 pm
Barbie's Rival
Marc Journal entries, is it? Well then, I guess I have something to write about.
I bought Haki a barbie doll yesterday, one of the expensive limited edition ones with jewels in her costume. It is quite pretty, and while I don't really like women who wear so much makeup, I thought the girl would have fun with it. Afterall, don't all little girl's grow up wanting to be barbie?
Haki hated it.
She was curious at first, but once she realized it was the barbie she has seen so often in commercials, the one that can fetch over a thousand dollars, she was furious.
Not at me, though.
I think she was angry... at the doll.
Sometimes I wonder about that girl. She seems a little bit too sweet, and I've seen the way she looks at my globe. I showed it to her, offered to teach her lessons- maybe she would be someone famous? But she didn't seem to care, and the next day, colored the globe in pink!
Girls. Maybe it starts from really young. I don't think I'll ever understand her.
We were looking at a magazine together, and I saw a 'design your own doll' store. A sister branch to a 'design your own teddy bear' store? We went because we had nothing better to do, and built a small little blonde doll.
Personally, I think it looks like a young Barbie. But she gave it a lace dress and has dubbed it Haki.
Is she a little vain, maybe?
Or does she need a therapist?
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Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 11:16 am
Long Arpee. Haki spends the night at Gavin's once more, and learns the delight of lying to Marc! 8D She also gives Gavin something that is very special to her... in the 'it's expensive... and I got it by doing nothing! <3' manner. So she expects him to owe her something big and expensive too!
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Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 9:47 am
Getting her way.
Haki knew they were fighting, and she didn’t like it. It disrupted the order to her life, made things a little bit more chaotic. And she didn’t mean it emotionally either. Marc had moved them out. He had packed up her pretty dolls and expensive sketchbooks, things she needed right away and had moved them back into their own home.
When she had first decided that Marc was good enough to be her guardian, she had been happy at the thought of having two places. The other was much larger, and frankly- she enjoyed having the ability to move from one to another.
But she had grown used to the pink bed, used to the two flights of stairs and the fact that two little children lived near her too. Here, in this large … fortress, she was alone. And no one lived near enough for her to walk over.
So decidedly, Haki was pissed.
And Marc knew it too.
“Are you okay, Haki?” he asked, watching her from across the breakfast table. Haki poked at the pancakes before her, picking the blueberries off and slipping them through a pout. It wasn’t just Hadrian though. She did miss flying, but she missed Gavin too. And Ina, kind of.
It had only been a week. But it felt like forever. Because Haki was bored.
“Okay.” She murmured right back. She knew, through some practices that Marc responded best to listlessness. She liked testing it out, whether a pout would work better than a tantrum, if tears helped or a false act of bravado.
So far, she had her father down pat.
“Haki.” He sighed, pausing. “Why don’t we go to the shops tomorrow afternoon? I know you’ve seen a red necklace you like…”
Haki frowned. Did the man think she lived for shiny things?
Well, she did. Kind of.
But it was more then that!
She lived to take over the world too.
“It’s okay.” She said, pulling at the words the way she watched him do with his working people on the phone. And he always left the conversation looking smug, so surely it worked.
Marc paused. “Alright then. Do you want to visit your friend, Gavin?”
She brightened, and decided to reward him with a smile. She had practiced on some of the staff here- people who weren’t used to her, and people she wasn’t used to. It had been interesting, figuring out the fact that all these people had different preferences.
And difficult too.
How was she supposed to rule the world, if she couldn’t figure out how to get people to like her a lot?
“Thank you daddy~”
At the crooned words, Marc smiled. “Alright. I’ll call Remi and let her know.” He promised.
She smiled too. See? She was good at this.
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Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 3:16 am
Haki has met Natalie for the first time. She doesn't understand the currents that usually surround the adults- but she's used to it. After all, she's more or less oblivious to everything Marc and Hadrian get up to, unless they're fighting.
Deciding that this whole queen idea really, really suits her-- she's going all out. And look, there's going to be a party soon too, and she gets to dress up as the queen of hearts~! <33
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Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:57 am
...mommy?
[Roleplay with Ale]
RP LinkSummary: Haki calls Hadrian mommy! A shift in dynamics, where Haki starts to settle into the idea of having both a mom and a dad... and also learns the nuances of bribery. Hmmm. This might not be setting a good example for her when she grows up, but oh well!
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Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:59 am
Patricia, the ghoul keeper.
[YiM Roleplay with Remi]
Summary: Haki goes over with Thorn and meets Patricia, and learns that sometimes women have crazy hair, and that it doesn't mean a monster lives in it.
Also piques Thorn's curiosity in Gavin's gift. She feels slightly more protective over the boy, but what's new? ^^
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Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 5:00 am
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