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 Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:16 pm
For the first time since he'd meet Airaka, Tovar grinned sharply - a good smile that touched across his worried eyes and for a split second made the young man look fiantly charming rather than infinitely awkward. "My kind of store," he noted cheerfully, relenquishing Etain's hand.
The unicorn took full advantage of being set free, cauterwalting off at a wobbly trot down the path in the direction he clearly anticipated the two adults (and baby) to be heading. Fortunately he was in the right and Tovar moved off after him, falling in step beside Airaka.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:37 pm
Airaka blinked, and the smiled cheerfully back at him. Then she giggled, and pushed her hand through Xtol's hair, moving his hair away from his eyes.
"He's really quite cheerful."
She smiled warmly, watching Etain,
"I'm pretty sure Xtol'll be enegetic. He acted as such when he was a baby ghost."
Airaka glanced back at the small wisp trailing the wooden wand,
"That's the next stage for Leith, baby ghost. You can hear them in your head."
Xtol glanced at the ground beneath them, making grabby hands toward the path. He glanced back up at Airaka, with his big yellow eyes, then back to the earth.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:46 pm
Wait, hear him? In his head? That was...a little creepy. Self consciously, Tovar's gaze dropped to the little wisp clinging fitfully to the end of the wand, as if fighting against the force of Tovar's walk on it's half-formed body.
"Do they, er--" Tovar hesitated, glancing back to Airaka. Ahead, Etain's pace had flagged and he'd come to a stop by the side of the path until the adults had caught up at which point he fell in step and caught Tovar's hand again. "Do they say much, or just average gurgling and that sort of thing?"
He wasn't sure how much he liked the idea of someone talking to him in his head; not even Michael could do that, so far as Tovar knew.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:59 pm
Airaka noticed she had accidently frightened Tovar, and attempted to give him a reasurring grin.
"It's just baby noises, murmurs, giggles, and gurgles."
She took a deep breath in, and then continued,
"It may be a bit surprising the first time you hear it, but you kind of get used to it after a while. "
"They can also float around on their own. Like they and their wands have switched positions."
Airaka's grin turned rather childish, her speech more relaxed.
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 8:04 am
Well, that was a relief. Still, Tovar had a bad stomach for disembodied giggles. Why did every horror movie in existance feature them on their soundtracks? Seriously; that's just bad natured.
"I suppose I'll have to get used to it," he noted, smiling faintly. Etain switched hands, circling around Tovar's back before latching onto the other so the little boy could be closer to Airaka and Xtol. One hand clutched firmly in Tovar's, Etain used his other to poke curiously at the edges of the infant's carrier.
"So," so Tovar, glancing back to the path. "Do you remember how long it took Xtol to be a baby? - Well, a solid one, anyway," he asked as they moved off the path of the parkway and back onto the main sidewalk. There were a number of shops about, but Tovar didn't know which particular one Airaka intended to visit, so he was fully prepared to let her lead wherever she liked - he was used to following people.
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:34 pm
Airaka paused, and placed a finger to her lips as she thought over his last question.
"A couple months. He was kind of slow at growing, as well. "
Xtol blinked at the boy, and pulled himself up using th handle of the baby carrier. He smiled, and poked back at Etain.
Airaka lurched slightly as the boy shifted his weight, and grimaced.
"I'm going to need to find the stroller that went with this thing."
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 7:12 pm
Tovar couldn't help but feel a little better. It seemed like every other guardian and spirit from the wand shop he'd met were already much farther along than poor little Leith; it was a relief to know that his wasn't the only child that didn't seem to be progressing through it's rebirthso quickly. Subconsciously, his hand drifted to the satchel at his hip, fingers tracing the lump the unexposed bit of the wand left in the fabric.
"He's a cute baby," Tovar noted absently, glancing to Xtol thoughtfully as Etain continued to poke at the infant. Neither of them seemed to be doing one another any harm, so Tovar didn't move to pull the unicorn's hand away from the other little boy.
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 7:33 pm
Airaka chuckled, and glnaced down towards Xtol as well.
"Yea. All babies are cute."
"I'm sure Leith'll be adorable as well. I wonder if he'll have ... different parts, like wings, or a tail."
It was pretty obvious that Airaka didn't quite know what a Kelpie was, execpt that it was an equine-type beast.
Xtol wiggled his tail out from behind him, and grabbed onto the wand with one of his hands. His tail then winded around the other side oof the handle, to replace the hand that was holding his wand. Then he leaned toward Etain, and tested out his weapon by gently tapping Etain wit the golden wand.
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 7:38 pm
Tovar laughed slightly, shaking his head. "I doubt Leith'll look much different than your or I. He's -- do you know what a kelpie is?" If she didn't Airaka definitely wouldn't be the first one. Tovar himself had only heard of them once or twice before he'd get Leith, and had only a vague idea of what the creature was at the time.
"They're...malevolent carnivorous water faeries. Shapeshifters, they can either appear as a human or a small black horse," Tovar explained without actually waiting for an answer from Airaka.
"Horse," Etain parroted happily, apparently not bothered by the tap-tap-tap of Xtol's wand on his arm.
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 8:05 pm
Airaka shook her head, and blinked ta the explaination. With a grin, she looked down at Xtol,
"He has wings, ears, a tail, and scales. So far... He has been the most different I've seen so far."
Xtol noted everyone mimiking each other, and attempted to do so himself,
"Haa..."
His face contorted angrily, then twisted about and hit Airaka's leg with the wand.
Airaka skipped in step and blinked down at Xtol.
"Ow." she said, instantly.
She blinked back at Tovar, with a grin.
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 8:23 pm
Tovar burst out laughing. Apparently the little infant had taken offense at the statement. "Oh, but it's good to be different - eh, Etain? We've never seen a unicorn like you, have we?"
The little blonde bow shook his head, beaming cheerfully. "No uni'orns," he affirmed brightly -- and then suddenly untangled his hand from Tovar's and lurched to a shopfront window. "Shoes!" he squealed happily as he pressed his pale face to the glass. "Shoesshoesshoes."
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Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 12:45 pm
Airaka nodded her head, agreeing with the statement.
"I haven't seen any unicorns like you, either Etain."
She looked up, surprised they had reached the store already. It seemed much closer then the last time. The red head moved toward the automatic door, and waited for Tovar and Etain to follow. Grabbng a shopping basket, she looked back at the other two, and smiled.
"We ready to shop?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 1:06 pm
Managing to peel Etain off the window and usher the boy through the door, Tovar followed with a nod. "Seems like it. What all do you need, anyway?" Clearly, Etain needed shoes and honestly Tovar probably needed to start thinking about...stuff...for Leith. He suddenly realized with a bit of a start that he hadn't actually done much to prepare for the spirit becoming more than a wand or a little cloud of smoke. Oh sure, he'd cleaned out a room and made sure all the electricity worked (before stuffing the little plugs into the sockets), had washed the walls and opened the window to air out the musty storage room smell but beyond that - hardly any preparation at all.
Not that he was exactly equipped to guy a crib or anything at the moment. He could get all that at home anyway; he wasn't a magician's apprentice for no reason. But still, there were probably a few things other than Etain's shoes that he could pick up while they were here.
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Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 1:19 pm
"Just normal baby stuff. Diapers, wipes, food, and I guess a new pacifier."
She pushed through the second set of door, looking up at the signs that hung from the ceilings.
"Shall we go get Etain's shoes first? They look as if they are over there."
Airaka pointed in the general direction of the shoes, and looked back at Tovar wait for a responce.
Mean while, Xtol's little fingers attached themselves to a random paiur of purple sandles hanging off the edge of their basket.
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Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 1:34 pm
Tovar nodded, catching Etain's hand before the little boy could go flailing off in the direction of the shoes. "That might be best." Otherwise, he'd have to keep ahold of the unicorn the entire time, lest Etain go wandering off to find new footwear on his own.
Letting Etain tug him in the right direction, it didn't take too long before they'd found a section of shoes Etain's size. "What about these?" Tovar asked, pointing to a box of small trainers colored black and red. Ooh, they even lit up.
"Uh-uh," Etain chirped after a moment's consideration, loosing his fingers from Tovar's hand and pawing through the boxes. "Shoes!" he declared with a squeak, lifting high over his head a box of purple jellie sandals.
Tovar stifled a laugh behind his hand.
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