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"Excellent," Progolo chimed, nodding his head. He indicated the straight-backed chair he'd been using for practice, and asked Makai to have a seat. "I will return shortly. There is one instrument I think you should use to help you learn the basics. Then we'll move onto the flute."

He turned and swiftly made his way to the ladder leading up to the second story. After a minute, he returned again, with something beneath his arm. It was a sleek, handsome object of glossy wood and delicate strings.

Progolo hopped down the last few rungs, black hair flaring out a bit as the sudden momentum caught it, and made his way back to where he'd left Makai. Quietly, he sat down beside the boy and held out the instrument to him.

"This is a small harp. It's a very easy instrument to learn...very straightforward. The longer the string, the lower the note. And with this...you can play several notes all at once." He ran long fingers over the string, striking a pleasant chord. "Here, you hold it like this...good. Go ahead, try a few notes."

Whilst this was going on, Kala lost interest. The harp was pretty cool, but she'd seen it before, so didn't care much for it. But instead of picking up a book, a toy, or playing with one of her fellow residents like most young girls would, she opted to see if she could top her push-up record.

Yaraif, meanwhile, had taken advantage of Makai's and Progolo's distraction to pilfer all of the boy's chocolate-covered marshmallows.

Progolo nodded. "Precisely. My, you're a natural, aren't you? It's like you were born to hold a harp. Now...all of these strings have a name. Did you read about note names in any of your books?" As he said this, he reached to the music stand and picked up a few pages of sheet music.

17...ugh...18... Kala thought to her self. Her arms were beginning to shake from fatigue. She gritted her teeth. Ugh...what came next? Her yellow eyes scanned the carpet, trying to think.

Kala's long, pale ears perked up as Makai revealed his 'job.' Giving up on trying to think of nineteen, she laid down on her stomach and tapped her hooves against the hardwood floor. A 'job'...Aerandir had 'jobs'? She stared hard at her staff. What...what was her job? Jobs were like chores, right? Progolo made her sweep the floor from time to time...was that something she'd have to do FOREVER?

Kala made a face. Upset, she pushed her skinny body up off the floor.

Progolo nodded at the boy, sensing his uncertainty. "That's right. There's a flat between every note except for E and F and B and C. On a harp, they're very easy to see. This string here...this is A. The next note is B flat...also known as A sharp. If a note is half a step higher than another, its a sharp. If it's half a step lower, its called a flat. This note is between A and B, so it can be called either A sharp or B flat. You follow?"

Progolo abruptly made a choking noise, before Makai could answer, as Kala came up behind him and threw her arms around his neck. "Proglo~wha's my job-ob?"

Her keeper pulled her arms away from his throat to prevent her from strangling him with her violent display of affection. "You're a fire mage, alvea," he wheezed, shooting an apologetic look to Makai. But, at the same time, he felt sorry for favoring him over his own charge. He wished he could think of some way to keep her occupied without making her feel shunted aside, especially with one of her friends in the house. But, though she didn't like to be the center of attention, Kalarune did require attention all the time.

"I'mafhut?" the flamingo child asked, distressed and curious.

Progolo tried to shrug out of her vice-like grip, uncomfortable with the situation he'd found himself in. He really should have thought of this before offering to teach Makai...but it was too late for that. "We can talk about it later, precious. Now...why don't you go...play with Tayte?"

And WHY would she want to play with that little guy when there was a boy just as short and pretty in her own house?

"But...I wan...t-to show M'Kai-ai th' pond...d..." Kala whimpered as she was peeled away from her keeper.

Progolo sighed. "Makai is busy at the moment...but when we're done, I'll come get you and then you and Makai can play all you want. Is that alright?"

Kala made a heartbroken face, but didn't object. Her wings drroped a bit. "Fine..." she said huskily. "G'bye...aye..." She shouldered her staff, patted Makai's head lovingly (though dejectedly) and wandered out of the house.

Progolo gazed questioningly at the boy as he made his request. The man rubbed one high cheek bone, contemplating. "An overview, hm? I...suppose we can do that, yes." He nodded, more to himself than Makai, and straightened from his laid-back posture. "We'll cut this quite short, then. What I want you to do...is take this harp home. From what I've told you, and knowing that this string here is A, I want you to write down the names of the rest of the strings. Try getting a feel for what every note sounds like. I thought I might teach you how to read a few notes, but that will need to wait until next time. Now..." he reached forward and gently lifted Makai's chin to ensure that their eyes met. "You need to swear you'll be careful with this harp...It's the only one I have. Promise?"

Progolo smiled, unable to get another word in edgewise before the boy had bolted off. He was feeling deeply pleased, at the moment....for one, he now had something to do with himself instead of moon about the boring old hut all day, and, for another, Makai seemed to be a very sweet child that Kala would get along with well. As he pondered over the little time he'd spent with Makai, the biologist within became unsatiably curious as to Makai's totem animals. He stood, hefted a heavy encyclopdia of animals from the mantle, and began to persue it with quiet thirst, glad to have some form of entertainment. He idly figured he ought to keep an eye on the children, however, so, after tucking Myrrh under his arm and scolding Yaraif for snitching every candy she could reach, he reluctantly wandered outside and made himself comfortable on the back porch. Progolo had reason to believe they'd be back there where he could see them very soon...

Kala had taken a good long time going down the path leading from number three, clicking her staff against every tile as she went. For the first time, she wasn't anxious to see her pretty little "boyfriend" and his absurdly fun "duck-man" uncle. She was puzzling over the unhappy twinge in her tummy and the words Progolo had told her. "Fire mage..."

"Kalaaa~!"

The girl just about jumped out of her skin at the sound of Makai's voice. She whirled around with shock, the glass orbs on her staff flaring in response to her surprise.

"Y....you all done-one?" she struggled, awed and ecstatic.

Kala didn't need to be asked twice. Nearly ripping the boy's arm out in her frenzied glee, the flamingo child dragged Makai along at breakneck speed around the house, almost tripping right into a small man-made pond.

"Look-ook! Prolo-o m-made it for me-e when I wassa gryph-yph," Kala huffed in her cumbersomely slow, faulty manner. She more than made up for it, however, with her rapid movements. Before most people can even process a thought, Kalarune had excitedly pushed Makai right into the water. "You can...can...swi-im init!"

Progolo looked up from his book at ths sound of the splash, his brow furrowing with concern. Kala could be alarmingly rough sometimes... "Kalarune, be gentle! Is he alright?"

At that moment, Makai would have found himself sitting in the shallow end of a rather attractive pond that had been dug right into the ground. Its bottom was made of a black, plastic material and covered with a layer of rounded river-stones. The surface was broken around the edges by various water plants, shifting lazily in the wind. A mesquite tree grew nearby, spreading out wizened, ugly branches over the water feature to offer some sparse shade. The water was pleasantly cool at this time of year, something not lost on the duck-goat Aerandir floating around the deeper end of the pond. A few koi swarmed around its hooves beneath the surface.

Progolo shook his head, glad their was no serious harm done, and leaned back into his chair to continue his research. He glanced up every so often, drinking in details about Makai's appearance. Sleek brown body, blue wings...Hm...

Kala nodded happily. "I...l-like to s...sit in it," she explained, dipping a hoof and swirling the water with it. "Prolo said the f-fish keep-eep the w-water clean. I like...th-that one!" She pointed out a relatively small orange and black koi with a notably long tail, grinning. "He'ss p...p...pretty, right?"