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Rime was gone for the afternoon, leaving Alida in charge of the household, with a bit of help from some of the more responsible members of their menagerie.

She was draped on the couch, lightly twirling some of her green hair between her fingers as she scrawled into her diary. She sighed, actually rather bored. Avery wasn't tearing around, Ritsu had holed up in the room, and Sybil was playing with some of her friends, so she greeted the ringing of the phone with some display of happiness.

Avery looked up from where he was scribbling in his own journal, and looked over at Alida before jumping up, shouting, "I'll get it!"

He dashed over to the phone, and said with enthusiasm, "Hello, Dragona household, this is Avery!"

Alida smiled, and waited to see who it would be.

Avery made a small face. What a weirdo. But he turned and looked at Alida with one hand over the mouthpiece.

"It's some guy named Nikoli, and he says he knows you, Ali."

Alida smiled brightly, and nodded, making 'go on' motions with her hands.

Avery sighed, and said into the phone, "Yeah, she's here, and she asks what you want?"

Alida made a frowning face at Avery, and scawled on an empty page, BE POLITE! to which he rolled his eyes.

"She got all excited, so I don't think you'll have a problem asking her out- AH! Ha ha, you missed!" he hollered away from the phone, having successfully dodged the pillow thrown at him. He stuck out his tongue with his eyes closed, and got the other pillow smack in his face.

"Ow! Ali! I'm telling Mom!" he said, and in reply Alida pointed at the phone sternly.

"Yeah yeah... So... Nikoli, right? What did you want, again?" Avery asked, completely forgetting that Nikoli had never actually said what he wanted.

"R-reeeh?!"

Oh great, maybe they thought he was some freaky shady person now. Nikoli thought with embaressement adding another level to the 'Nikoli Stutter Scale' up a notch. He should really try and get a cold glass of water.

"U-u-uh, w-w-we-well i-i-is s-sh-she b-bu-busy t-th-th-this a-a-aft-aftee-afternoon?"

He asked, averting his eyes in anxiety untill they settled on a pair of dripping wet toddlers running around one room to the another only drapped on a towel as they were chased by a flustered man equally drenched (with cloths) trailing hot behind the two squealing girls.

Staring in shock for a second, Nikoli shook his head down feeling an over blood-rush to his head. Sighing deeply he brought the phone closer just in case the kids wouldn't trip on the cable. Playing nervously with a pink bubblegum hair bang with his left hand as he continued to speak.

Avery waited while the person on the other end shakily made their way through the sentence... but his patience quickly grew out, and by the end of the sentence, he wasn't even paying attention. When, after a couple seconds he realized the person was done talking, he blinked.

"Oops," he said, and held his hand over the receiver to ask Alida, "Uhm... He wants to know if you're busy."

Alida shook her head, and wrote, I'm never too busy for Nikoli. Tell him that.

Avery rolled his eyes. This was getting boring. Why had he felt the need to rush to the phone again?

"She says she's never to busy for you. God, that's mushy. I don't wanna be your go between anymore, Alida!" he whined loudly.

She frowned at him again, and wrote, He's my friend, Avery. Be nice to him.

Avery sighed, and spoke into the phone again.

"I guess that means she'll do something with you. Maybe you two should meet somewhere and leave me out of it."

That would suit him just fine.

Avery made a small put upon face, and turned to Alida with a look of resignation.

"He wants to meet you at the bookstore on Isle de Gambino, but time is up to you."

He waited a bit impatiently for her response. He was bored now, and he was fidgeting. He could see sunshine outside, and he didn't want to write in his journal anymore...

Alida held up her notebook, which read, That's great! Mom should be back soon, so I'll go as soon as she comes back. Is he free then?

"I don't know. Why don't I ask him? Hey, lover-boy--" and her he skillfully dodged another projectile, this time a wadded up piece of paper "--are you free in a half hour or so? Mom should be home then, and Alida can't go 'til then."

Alida was glaring at Avery over the top of the couch, her blue eyes barely visible over the top of the couch as she fixed him with a venomous look. Avery looked over while waiting for Nikoli's response, and he gave his sister a slightly wavery grin, swallowing hard.

Avery strained to catch the last of the other boy's words, then snickered. He looked over at Alida, and said, "He said yeah, and that it's really urgent he meet you." He was about to add more, but a look from Alida actually managed to make him think twice about his quick mouth.

Alida looked concerned, wondering why it would be urgent, but she nodded to Avery. She then got up to get her things ready, so that they would be ready when Rime got home.

Avery turned back to the phone. "She's getting her stuff ready now, and mom should be home in a few minutes, okay? I'm going to go now, too, cause I have things to do." He waited for the other boy to either deny this, or to say good bye.

Avery hung up the phone, and whooped. He was free! He grabbed his baseball bat and ball, and ran outside to the park. He wasn't going to be stuck in here any longer if he had any say about it!

It wasn't long after that Rime came home, looking tired but happy after another long day of helping her shops bring new babies into the world to be sold. ((ie: coloring. XD ))

She saw Alida perched on the arm of the couch, watching the inhabitants of the room, who were actually rather good at watching themselves, and smiled.

"You look like you're ready to go out, 'Lida... am I right?" she asked.

The teen nodded, and pulled the shawl she had draped over her wings and shoulders a little more securely to her body. She didn't want it to get blown away or something. She looked at Rime hopefully.

Rime smiled, and shook her head a little. "Of course you can, dear, you're responsible. Just... where are you going, and with who? And when do you think you'll be back?"

Alida quickly scrawled her answers in elegant handwriting and tore the sheet off to hand to Rime, who read it and made a shooing gesture.

"Go on, then. Not much trouble you can get into at a bookstore with Nikoli. Have fun! Be back by midnight!"

Alida waved as she headed out the door, pocket book and notepad in a bag she slung over her shoulder. She headed down the street, and stepped into the teleporter that would take her to the isle de Gambino. Just thinking of how long it would take to the get to the other city from here otherwise was daunting.

She materialized in the island city, and she looked around to orient herself before heading towards the book store.