Welcome to Gaia! ::

Asrafel took her comment to mean she was wearing the bathing suit, and tentatively turned around. The original intention of getting to go for a swim brightened his mood, and he looked down at the pool, grinning into it's reflection. "Yay! Then let's go swimming! Aunt Lani says we shouldn't jump in the pool but no one ever listens." He hopped up to his feet and backed away a few steps, looking as vicious as possible as he prepared to catapault in.

"Oh, no actually.. he's my brother's son. Nio. Doesn't feel like it though.. Asrafel likes it here better than home for some reason. He tends to stay here as much as possible."

Jocelyn rubbed her arms and approached the pool again, leaning forward to look into the calm water. Out of the corner of her eye did she see Asrafel, watching him to find out exactly what she was supposed to do. It was like...a giant puddle. Or a bathtub. But with loads more room, that was for sure. Room for this swimming thing Asrafel kept going on about...would it really be as fun as he said?

"Well, then jump in," she egged on, toeing the water before drawing her foot back. She was becoming a bit hesitant about the whole ordeal herself...

"I knew he looked like you! Nio, I mean. Asrafel looks like a piece of taffy to me...anyway, yeah." She grinned, giving her glass a small shake. "Ah, I think kids tend to favor being out of their own home rather than in. My kids are always at the orphanage or elsewhere...friend's houses and stuff."

She fell silent.

"Or so they say."

He didn't need any further encouragement. He was already running toward the pool when Joce told him to jump in, and as she toed the water his mocha form blurred in the air just above her and he divebombed into the water, howling the entire way. The impact sent a wave of water in all directions around him.

A moment of two later, the dark shape in the water surfaced and Asrafel giggled giddily. He slicked his locks of hair back and rubbed his eyes, looking up in Joce's direction. His fingers trailed on the tips of his hair after he'd slicked it back, and he idly murmured to himself "Gosh, I need a haircut.."

Alania quirked a brow at the taffy comment, and couldn't help but chuckle. "I suppose he does at that." Asrafel did have a vague likeness in facial structure to Nio, though it was hard if not impossible to notice when contrasting the pink hair and mocha skin to the pale skinned cabbit with purple hair.

She listened attentively to Sukkubus' further comments, and her smile faded somewhat. "Or so they say? You don't sound too sure.." She murmured quietly.

A howl echoed from outside, but Alania didn't seem phased by it. She rose a single ear for a moment, before it flopped down again. Oh that Asra.

The little blonde squealed and leapt out of the way the moment Asrafel threw himself into the pool, momentarily frightened by the giant blur. Still panicking, she leaned over the edge and looked for where the boy had disappeared, convincing herself that he couldn't live through that! When he resurfaced, all giggles, she immediately killed her bout of worry - ha, HER worry?! never. - and inflated her reddened cheeks indignantly.

"I thought - well, you shoulda - I mean -- you're STUPID!" she cried, stomping a foot to emphasize her words. However, her foot never landed on a solid surface, but air instead. Air above the pool.

Jocelyn mistepped and threw herself into the water, arms flailing as she hit the surface with a broken scream.

She made a small noise as she took another sip of tea.

"I trust them, but they're pretty sneaky sometimes. I mean, Momo's gone - supposedly he told me at the wedding where he was going. Caught me while I was...well, anyway. I woke up the next day and had no idea where in hell he was. I probably would have refused to let him go if I were sober." Her lips thinned, ears flattening against the sides of her head. "Diego is always leaving the house, and Ritsu...you think he's one place but he's in another."

She shrugged, "My household is crazy."

A howl. A shriek. The distinct sound of splashing water. The she-devil gave a start and looked behind her as if the source would be there. The hell were they doing...?

Asrafel's eyes widened as he saw her go flying into the water, and there was a split second of silence before he broke out into riotous laughter. That was the greatest thing he'd ever seen! He waded to where she'd fallen, and stuck his head underwater to catch sight of her. Once he had, he made to come after her like a shark after it's prey.

Alania thought it ironic that Sukkubus would mention her household being crazy just before hearing shrieks like that. She still didn't seem worried, but instinct told her that it was time to check up on them.

"They must be in the pool," She surmised from the sound of water. "Shall we go see if they're killing one another?"

She had swallowed a mouthful of chlorine injected water, and it did NOT taste too pleasant. Nor was the temperature pleasant either. But Jocelyn was too busy thrashing and flailing and kicking and coughing to notice such trivial things. After a moment she instinctively held her breath - there wasn't much to hold - and stared at the blurred shapes beneath the water. Especially that pink and brown shape that seemed to be...bubbles issued from her mouth, her hands windmilling to bring her to the surface where she hacked and spluttered, grabbing for the edge of the pool and clinging to it like her life depended on it.

She was going to be eaten!

"Eh, might as well," she sighed, feigning exasperation. "I'd rather not have to fish out body parts - best to get 'em while they're still clean."

Asrafel giggled even underwater as Joce flailed to get away. He followed her smoothly, and silently popped up behind her as she clung to the edge and awaited her fate. A mischievous glint played in his eyes, and he narrowed them with a grin. He did look like he was about to eat her - it was a good thing she couldn't see him!

He snuck around her, trying to keep from being noticed, until finally he ducked underwater and popped back out just under the curve of her arm. This popped him up right in her face, and before she could react he kissed her nose and squealed 'Gotcha!' He was gone a heartbeat later, back down the water and floating away until he surfaced a foot or so behind her. He floated onto his back and let out a batch of high, almost triumphant laughter. That was a fun game!

Alania put her glass down on the table, letting out a breath of laughter at Sukku's comments. "This way then." She murmured, leading the woman toward the slide door that led out into the patio with the pool.

She was too busy blinking the water out of her eyes to notice anything - even though she did this, she still couldn't see! Jocelyn then realized it was because her hair was matted to the front of her face, obscuring her vision; she proceeded to claw away at it, pushing the tangled mass over her head, one hand still grasping the pool's edge. There was no way she was going to let go!

Well, until Asrafel came up. Out of nowhere. Should she have been so surprised?

She reeled back a second too late, choking on a shriek she had just barely kept back. Her hand raised out to grab at him, or smack him, more likely, but he had disappeared once again. Not fair! She had a disadvantage - she had never swam before! With a watery sniff, she twitched and curled her nose, wiggling like a rabbit's - that had tickled.

"Not funny," she grumbled, turning her head to shoot him a glare. "Wait...wait 'til I can swim too!" She tenatively let go of the edge before smacking her hands down on it again.

"Just you wait..."

With a twitch of her tail she followed after the cabbit woman, looking around curiously as she went. She kept her glass for the sake of having something to keep her occupied - or to use as a projectile...just in case. Whatever. You never know. As she stepped out onto the patio, nearing the pool, the sight of a mussy nest of blonde hair caught her attention, but not before the little floating boy - the little laughing, floating boy.

Jocelyn's threat made Asrafel sink from his float. His laughter died off slowly, but his smile remained. It was then that he realized that Joce couldn't swim.

Somehow Asrafel had taken a knack to swimming quick enough, and hadn't taken into thought that perhaps the girl wasn't the same way. It was odd for a winged creature to enjoy swimming such as he did, but his wings were very accomodating for it - they flattened onto each other and stuck, acting as a single unit almost like a fin. It helped him swim, though he didn't really realize it yet.

He waded back to Joce, stopping just behind her and setting both hands on either side of the edge, while his head cocked to one side to look at her.

"I could teach you! Okay? Then you can get your revenge~"

Alania stopped at the pool's edge, eyeing the two for a moment before moving to take a seat on the patio. "Well, I hope you're both enjoying the last remnants of summer. We're closing the pool up in a week or two." This elicited a whine from the boy in the pool, clearly upset at the prospect of no swimming for months and months to come.

She refused to look up at the two adults, knowing, just KNOWING that one of the two was grinning. Jocelyn was a mess, and to top it off, she was embarrassingly vulnerable - which she hated ever being. She looked like a water logged cat, disgruntled and shaking, and made an effort to duck even lower into the water as Asrafel offered her help.

"No," she grumbled, words making the water bubble; her brows furrowed. "I...I can learn by myself. I can!" The last bit was added loudly, as if to assure her caretaker that she could.

Listening to the woman that Asrafel had continually called his aunt, made her frown. Her head bobbed above the water, lips puckering into a small pout.

"Well...well, it's good you're not gonna right now 'cause I still gotta learn to swim!" She finally let go, like this alone would speed up the process.

"Yeah, not right now," Sukku intoned, crouching next to the pool. "'Cause Joss is going to need those two weeks to even learn how to float."

"...S-shut up!"

Asrafel pouted visibly. "No..?" People didn't often say no to him. It was unnerving. "But.. I want to! Please..? I know you can probably learn by yourself.. that's how I did it. But.. but I really want to try to show you! It'll be quicker, and and and- it'll be fun! I promise~" He put his chin on her shoulder and gave her the most pathetic pouty face he could muster.

"Well, she is of course welcome to come over anytime to try. But I won't have that pool open a day past October. The leaves will get in it, and I just know I'll be the one cleaning." Alania made herself comfortable in the seat and watched Asrafel with a trained eye. He looked paler as usual - but she'd been noticing that for some time now. He seemed healthy enough otherwise.. but her motherly instinct had her always worrying.

Which happened to be the most patheic face -she- had ever seen. Jocelyn's steel resolve began to rust and fold underneath the boy's pitiful gaze and as much as she hated ever needing help, she was finding it hard to refuse. Her brows crinkled determinedly, but her face crumpled right afterwards as she drew her shoulders up with a bubbling sigh.

"Nn...okay..." Her voice was small, sounding damn close to a whine. She chanced a look at him from the corner of her eye before blowing her cheeks out again in mild frustration - at herself rather than the winged boy.

"She'll be coming around a lot," the she-devil said softly, smiling at the sight of the two children. It was good for Jocelyn to finally have someone her own age to hang around with - even if they WERE polar opposites. Her cynical and dry, whereas Asrafel was bubbly and hopeful. But...it was good for her. Sukkubus propped herself back on one hand, setting the glass next to her. And the way things looked right now, and how much she had known Joss had wanted a friend, she felt a flicker of hope for the girl. Maybe one day he would become her best friend, who knew?

Asrafel practically trilled in happiness. "Yesss! This is going to be so much fun! Okay, ummm, so the first thing you need to do is learn to trust your body. Because, for some reason if you don't flail or do much movement, and if you're really calm, your body actually floats on it's own. I learned that one day when Lillian threw a lawn chair at my head once while I was in the pool and it stunned me so hard I didn't move at all but Aunt Lani says I didn't drown because I was face up to begin with. Then she yelled at Lillian lots but that's not the point - so yah! Your body wants to float, so just try to be as un-nervous as possible. You kinda have to kick your legs and move your arms when you want to move around though.

He turned her around so that she faced him, and took both of her arms in his hands. "Okay. Don't worry about your hands for now, just try to kick your feet a little. Kind of like running underwater but you're not touching the ground."

Alania looked up at the sky, which was turning a darker shade of colors, and narrowed her eyes faintly. "Well, I suppose that's good, because she's not going to learn much today. It's getting late already and I don't want them out in the pool too long, it'll get chilly."

Joce stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. She reluctantly allowed herself to be unpried from the side of the pool, following after the dark skinned boy quite nervously. Her muscles refused to be relaxed, but were instead bunched up and tight as could be, causing her movements to be stiff and awkward. She tried to even out her breathing as Asrafel led her through the water, and gradually eased up on herself, swallowing her fear. If only for a moment.

"'Kay...is...is this good?" She did her best to follow his instructions, eyes trained upon his face as if by looking down she'd actually sink; it was rare that the little blonde put ANY trust in anyone.

"True. I don't think Joss would enjoy like experiencing 'her first cold' quite yet." The she-devil shifted to sit on her heels, arms outstretched before her. "Hey, kiddo. You're gonna get all pruny...save revenge for later, 'kay?"

Asrafel looked down to see if she was kicking, and watched her keep afloat on her own. "See! See! You're doing it! It's great!" He let her arms go but slid his around to hug her tight, and held her up in a bear hug so there was no chance she'd sink. "You're gonna be swimming like a fish in no time!"

He looked up at Sukkubus and Alania, pouting softly. "We're not pruuuniiing~" He whined, though he knew better than to argue with an adult. He led Joce back to the edge of the pool, and made sure she had a good grip before hopping up onto the edge effortlessly and shaking the water out of his hair. Similarly his wings shook until they snapped apart with a wet pop, and the drops of water splattered everywhere, flying at his aunt. She shielded her face with one hand and pursed her lips tightly.

"Thank you Asra, I didn't need a bath. Go dry up and get changed."

She seemed to brighten, brows quirking as her upturned eyes widened marginally. There was a triumphant light glittering within her emerald green orbs, a light that made her once stoic face more genial. Childish even. But her countenance became surprised as she was pulled into the air by a hug, shivering as the cool air met with her slick flesh. Jocelyn would never admit it, but she liked hugs. They were warm. Safe. But that was something she would never tell anyone, not even herself.

"...Fish...?" she questioned more to herself than anyone, before looking over at the she-devil and the lady with the funny ears. She groped for the edge and dragged herself out and onto her stomach, pushing herself to her feet. Sukkubus was busy gathering up all of her clothes, boots and socks included.

"Eh...follow Asrafel...I'm sure he can get you a towel." She shifted the clothes, "You should probably return that swimsuit too...eh, just follow ribbon boy."

Jocelyn curled her nose and took the bundle of clothing, careful not to get it all wet, "Are we leaving?" She tried her best not to sound too sad about it.

"After you get dressed, yeah. Don't gimme a face, shoo! Shoo!" Sukku made as if to boot the child in the rear, which sent her scampering towards the door and out of the way.

"Sure, I'll show you. Right this way!" He shook his wings out one more time to make sure they were dry, before opting to flutter a few inches above the air and float back inside, zipping towards the closet with the clean towels. He opened it and pulled one out for himself and Joce, then closed it once more. While hanging his own Finding Nemo towel over his head, he handed Joce hers and gave her a silly grin. "The bathroom's right behind you, if you want to change!" He planned on changing right then and there, as soon as he was alone. It wasn't hard for him after all."

Alania hoped that Sukkubus didn't think she was kicking them out of the house, simply because she was kicking them out of the pool. Still, she was worried over Asrafel's pale appearance after all, so she didn't argue when the woman mentioned that they would be leaving. "Can I get you anything else first? Maybe another iced tea?"

Jocelyn ambled after the boy, dropping her clothes in a haphazard pile on the floor. She took the towel with a faint smile of thanks and began to dry herself off, purposely flipping her hair over in attempts to get Asrafel wet. She expertly twisted her hair up with the towel before raising her head again.

"Oh, okay. I'll leave the bathing suit in the sink, 'kay?" Turning, she began to kick her pile of clothes towards towards the bathroom, too lazy to actually bend down and pick them up. When she finally disappeared into the room, she poked her head out before closing the door and gave an awkward grin.

"Um, thanks...'kay." She then shut the door and proceeded to get dressed.

As if to reassure the Lani's unanswered question, Sukku yawned widely, showing her apparent weariness. She waved a hand and gave a rapid blink, "Ah, no, no! Thanks, though. It's high time we'd be getting home anyway."

A faceful of hair swiped at Asra, and he backed his head up a bit to try and dodge it. It still left him wet in the face, and he giggled. Both hands dug into the towel and he dried his hair off first, before moving on to the rest of his body. "Sure that works!" He chirped in reply, and watched her walk in. Immediately he started to pry his shorts off, but thankfully he didn't get far - it was only an inch down off his bottom when she popped back in, and he squeaked in surprise.

"Ah.. no problem!" He replied with a nervous laugh, and then waited until he heard the reassuring click of the door before actually pulling his shorts off.

A whizzing noise suddenly filled the air, and several ribbons seemed to come at him as if they were magnetized by his body, the moment he was bare. They fought with one another to cover the necessities, and soon he was just as .. decent as usual.

"All right then. Please do remember to come back anytime. It gets a little quiet around here.." She lied.

Jocelyn would make a military man proud, the way she got dressed so quickly. Giving herself a once over and tapping the tips of her boots on the ground to make sure they were secure, she gave a nod of approval before flicking the lights and leaving the bathroom. She had dumped the towel and borrowed bathing suit into the bathroom's sink as she had said she would, and was now busy trying to tame her mussy hair.

"Not much for you to get dressed into, huh?" With a small grump, she simply twisted the mass of white gold locks and with her free hand, parted a small hole at the nape of her neck before feeding the end of her hair through into a makeshift ponytail.

"All better." Without thinking much on it, she approached Asrafel and hooked her arm with his, dragging him out to where their parents were.

"Ha ha, I'm sure it does," Sukku grinned. "Thanks for letting me hang out around here. It'll probably end up my second favorite place next to the church." She yawned again, not even realizing how strange it was for her to say that. Devil. Church. No, they don't mix. But she didn't bother to fix her words.

Asrafel bit his tongue childishly when she mentioned his lack of dress, and rested his hand on her arm, letting him be dragged happily outward. "That was fun! I can't wait until you come over again, we'll go swimming again, or we can go to the park, or we can go to the lake - that's the best of both worlds! Or we could just hang out here. We could do lots of things! Oh, I wish you could come over every day. It gets so boring here sometimes.. we don't get many visitors, and Lillian is just not as pleasant company as you'd think." He chuckled at that remark and shook his head softly.

"Church, you say? I don't ever think I've even been in a church. Is it that much fun?" Alania didn't think a place of worship could be somewhere that interesting, but she didn't know from experience and therefore wouldn't judge.

"That would...be fun," she managed to put in, finding Asrafel's yammering not as annoying as she may have; he was nice, and she liked nice people. She found herself smiling at the prospect of spending more time with him, with this boy she considered a friend. Maybe she could go to all those places with him! Her face brightened once again, head tilting towards Asrafel in subtle happiness.

"The park, 'specially...'kay? 'Cause Sukku said she'd take me there today, but we came here instead." She blinked, "But I'm glad we came. 'Cause I like you. So...y'ah, let's go to all those places."

Sukku bobbed her head with a smile, "It depends on who's there." The she-devil tipped forward and winked, a secretive smile dawning upon her lips. And somewhere outside of Barton, a young priest sneezed.

"All ready to go, kiddo?" She spun at the sight of Joce more or less waltzing her way, making her somewhat stupefied at the happiness the girl emanated. She shook her head and beckoned the girl forward, who reluctantly let go of the ribboned boy.

"Bye, Asra. Oh, and promise to go to the park with me, 'kay?"

"Yay! I promise!" He fluttered about in excitement at the prospect of all sorts of adventures with Joce, and waved to them both as they left the building.

"See you soon, Joce!!" He cried out, as if she was already miles away and couldn't hear him. Alania stood behind him, giving Sukkubus a mild wave and a genuine smile.

"Bring some more pictures the next time you come, if you'd like." She called out just before they left. She then turned to Asrafel, whose wings slowed to a stop once Joce was gone. He looked almost forlorn.

"Well well, looks like you've made a close friend, hm?"

"Yah.." He murmured affectionately, smiling softly as he stared at the door. His wings fluttered for a moment before stilling once more. "She's my friend."

Aura rolled her eyes at the nurse pushing her wheelchair, holding Ruli to her feet.
It had taken days to get the nurse to believe that Ruli was not a figment of their shared imagination, nor an evil Antichrist bent on world domination.
Then, even with that settled, it had taken another week to get the Head Doctor who oversaw her "treatment" (whatever that was) to give her permission to leave the hospital.
And, even then, he had insisted on having that grumpy, fat nurse accompany her.

Aura and the nurse (Emery was her name, Aura believed) only agreed on two facts in the whole world : that Ruli was a real person, and that they hated eachother with a fiery passion.

Aura rebuckled the belt attaching Ruli to her spindly legs.
She didn''t want him to fall off, and hurt himself.

He was fast asleep, the shock of actually leaving the hospital left the creature absolutely exhausted within the first five minutes. She was surprised anyone could think of sleeping in the city.
Plus, Nurse Emery was pushing them at a pace fit a marathon runner.
It was like a neverending roller-coaster.

She gulped down that thought with a rush of fear.

They crossed one busy street, then two. Nurse Emery didn''t seem to have the patience to wait for the street light man to show, and red hands became her new "go".

At the third of these near-death encounters, Aura decided she had had enough with seeing her childhood flash before her eyes.

"STOOOOP." Aura screeched, right outside of a quaint Day Care. Ruli woke up with a frightened gasp, bumping his head against her knuckle.

Nurse Emery smirked, knowing she had won their battle of the day.

"We''re not going any farther." She managed, a pathetic plee in her voice. "Let''s...let''s just do something. Let''s go in here, or something." She gestured at the Day Care.

Nurse Emery''s smirk grew wider, and she soundlessly pushed the battered wheelchair through the door.

Carpet. FINALLY.

Ruli''s eyes, vague and cloudy with post-nap bleariness, looked out at the place with a vagueness Aura could place as interest and curiousity. He tried to undo the buckle, but was unable to figure out how it unclipped.

Aura looked around at the surroundings, and called out. "Hullo?"

Ruli echoed her call. "Hullo?"

It seemed to be rather empty, yet Aura could vaguely hear the rumble of conversation...and random shrieking.

Alania hadn't been at her desk when the visitors arrived. She had been upstairs checking on Asrafel one last time, but upon hearing the door chime she made her way down the steps, and stepped out into the front desk area just as she heard a duet of greetings.

Pushing a short stub of hair back behind her ear, she slid back into her seat at the desk and gave the group a polite smile.

"Sorry about that; Welcome to the Benedict Center. My name is Alania, can I help you?"

Nurse Emery managed to nod her way out of the room, waiting at the door.

Aura gulped down her shyness like a disgusting medication, and wheeled herself toward the desk.
But before she could say anything, Ruli broke into a wide grin, and revealed what his work of the last few minutes had been.
The latch that had pushed him to her legs had been eaten through, and came off as his hand uncovered it.
He lept off the footstand, making a dire roll to save his neck.

Aura realized, with suitable embarrassment, that Ruli was very, very nekkid. It didn't bother her, or Nurse Emery, but this was a NORMAL day-care.

"D-don't be shocked!" She tried to warn the poor woman at the desk, as Ruli lay flat on the ground, shining like a disco-lamp with his dazed, milky eyes.

"He's h-harmless, I promise!" Aura tried to wheel herself to Ruli, but caught a snag in her wheel and was unable to push off of it. She tried to stand, but gave up quickly.

Ruli sat up, shaking his head as though to clear a mist from it. He swung himself to his feet, wobbled, and caught himself from falling (barely) with his elegent tail.
He didn't seem to notice the woman at the desk as he tested his feet on the new enviroment, tail supporting him like the best crutch on the market.

Alania cocked her head softly as the child vaulted out of the chair, and his mother had a fit - not about the child's safety, but rather about her own reaction to it. She pushed herself up off the chair, and stood up, but before she could say a word she caught a flash of bright colors out of the corner of her eye. She turned her gaze just in time to see Asrafel straightening back up after having collected Ruli in his own arms. The boy bounced the little toddler weakly in his embrace, and smiled faintly.

"I can assure you, miss.." Alania murmured faintly under her breathe as her eyes narrowed upon the sight of Asrafel out of bed. "Nothing shocks me anymore."

"Why hello there, who's this I see? The most beautiful array of colors ever, that's who!" Asrafel's voice was hoarse, but still as cheerful as ever; he looked a bit paler, but no worse for wear. His bright blue eyes turned to the woman in the wheelchair, resting his gaze on her fondly.

"What's his name, may I ask?"

Aura's mouth opened and closed a few times without responce.

Sensory overload, man.
She shook it off, hoping desperately against hope that this meant she was WAY more insane than the good doctor had thought.

Ruli seemed slightly unnerved at the boy holding him, but instead of wailing or wiggling, he opted for hugging. Aura was even more shocked by this, as strangers touching him usually made a very BAD impression to Ruli.
He usually ran into them with his horns.
Like Nurse Emery, for example.

She felt stupified, then, when she looked upon the divine being that stood there, holding her Ruli.

Her Ruli?

Where did =that= come from?

Anyway, divine being.
It was like an angel had swooped down from heaven and caught her little boy.

Damnit, there it was again, that possesive complexe!

ANYWAY. The being was magnificent, like Ruli, but with more likeable tones and colors.
She noticed with a shock that he was quite beautiful.

"M-my name is Aura." She said, without really knowing why. She simply said it, the silence in the room confounding her, begging to speak her thoughts to the woman and the angel and her Ruli.

GOSH DARN IT.
She shook her head furiously. Not again!

Asrafel purred when the colorful boy hugged him. He was entranced by the sharp vivid colors that twirled around the unique child's body. He held the boy at an angle to look him square in the eyes, and saw his own reflection. It was almost breathtaking to look at; he'd never seen anything like the boy before in his entire life.

Then again, many people had never seen anything like Asrafel in their lives, either.

He turned his head sharply when he heard Aura speak, and listened carefully to her words. They did not answer his question however, but that didn't matter. At least she was friendly!

"Oh, Aura is it? Well it's positively lovely to meet you Miss Aura, my name's Asrafel!" The boy hovered an inch above the ground and fluttered just a foot or two to move nearer to her, before he landed and immediately fell to one knee so that he could hold the child nearer to her as she sat.

"And shall I assume this beautiful baby is yours as well? What's his name?" He didn't mind asking questions twice, or three times, or seven. Eventually he would get an answer.

Miss Aura? Oh, she could have turned pink with flattery! What a polite cherub!

Aura was desperate to bow to the glory of the angel, but found herself quite frozen to her crippling device.

Ruli stared into Asrafel's eyes, his own milky eyes wide and very purple. "Name?" He asked aloud, very confused.

"It's Ruli," Aura supplied for her boy.

OH COME ON. I got through barely 4 sentences of thought and there is that possesive thing again! She got an angry look on her face.
He's not my kid! He just happened to show up in my bed!
But she didn't say that.

Ruli nodded, unsure. "Ruli." That was his name...?
"As-re-fel." He tried, working it out in his head. "As-ra-pel."

Aura glanced at the woman. "Wh-who, wh-what?" She tried to articulate a question without knowing was it was.

"Ruli," Asrafel repeated, letting the word roll off his tongue. "It's fitting. A unique name for such a unique boy. You're so very lucky to have found him."

How did Asra know she found him? Well, despite the woman being wheeled around by a nurse, babies like Ruli don't get born from a womb every day. Sure, in Gaia anything is possible.. but not commonly expected.

"Well, Ruli! It's lovely to meet you. I can see you're a bright child, already forming words. How wonderful! You should meet all my new friends, they-"

But he couldn't get another word out. He lurched forward, falling to his knees and leaning against the chair with his shoulder. His grip on Ruli tightened if only to keep the boy from falling out of his arms, but otherwise Asrafel was at the mercy of Aura for the moment.

"Asra, I told you not to get out of bed. Do you see what you've done now? You're going to wear yourself out!"

Alania had no idea just how right she was in her scolding, as the boy winced painfully. He was.. perhaps just a little see-through, though only those closest to him at the moment would notice.

Aura watched, mouth wide enough to catch a butterfly.
She looked at the woman, then the angel with the broken halo named Asrafel, then to her own strap that was preventing her from standing.

She set her hands to work, unlatching latches, unbuckling buckles, ripping cloth, until she was free.
She swirled her body, so she could at least attempt to help the tanned boy.

"Are..Are you...Alright?" She asked, trying to help Asrafel up with her pathetic, spindly arms that betrayed no muscle.

Ruli squirmed, clutching onto his falling savior like a security blanket. He ignored his own long braid that was close to whipping Aura in the face.

Alania moved from her desk to help Aura with Asrafel. The woman had no trouble in grabbing the boy's free arm and swinging it around his shoulder.

"What did I tell you. What did I tell you."

"Aunt Laniii.. stoooppp.." He whined faintly, retrieving his arm back and getting up on his own two feet. "It's just a fever, it isn't anything serious."

"That's what they all say. I'm sorry Miss.. Aura, was it? But you'll have to excuse my nephew. He's come down with a high fever, and while it doesn't seem contagious, I think it would be best for him and for us all if he stayed upstairs until he was feeling better."

Asrafel gave a quick, fleeting look to Ruli, before his eyes fell on Aura, pleading. "But you will return when I'm feeling better, won't you? Please? I'd love to see you both again. We could help you take care of Ruli.."

His last words were pinched off in a wince, and Alania took his arm again, shaking her head in annoyance.

An angel with a fever? Now that is something that you do not see often, if ever.
And she was his aunt? How the hell did THAT work out?!

"Of course, of course!" She took little Ruli from the angel, hoping Ruli would let Aura hold him for the moment.

Ruli took one long look at Asrafel, then buried his head in the crook of Aura's arm.

"We'll come back as soon as..." Then she stopped. She couldn't even make the promise that either of them could leave the hospital.
She sighed the drearyness out.
"As soon as we can. I'm going to need help."

She moved Ruli to a comfortable position in her lap, while Nurse Emery nodded her head as she came back in to the Center.

Asrafel's gaze brightened at the words. "Wonderful. Then I'll see you both soon!"

He gave them all a cheerful little smile, then fainted away in Alania's arms.

The woman looked at the limp boy for a moment, before poking him in the chest. "Asra." She murmured sharply, before shaking him. "Oh for crying out loud, you're such a drama whore."

She heaved his body into her arms - which was quite a task in itself, seeing as she wasn't the strongest or biggest of women - and turned to head upstairs.

"Sorry about all this. See you soon." Alania called out as she headed up the stairs with the boy.

Aura gaped like a fish, nodding, as Ruli waved a tiny multicoloured hand, and Nurse Emery wheeled her fishlike mouth (and body) out of the little center.

Ruli settled back in, a tiny smile on his strange face.

Aura sat, stunned from what had just happened, all the way back.



And Nurse Emery?
Well.
She had already known.

Because she knows all.

Well, not really. She didn't know anything but the hospital. Which was where they were.

Goodnight.

"Damn you're heavy.."

Alania flopped the unconscious boy on his bed, before pulling the covers up over his body and tucking him in. Truth be told, the boy was starting to grow on her, though she would never admit it to a soul. She spent more time with him than his own family did, and he always seemed to find his way around her whenever he could. She brushed a lock of his pink hair out of his face, and her hand pulled back at the heat eminating from his forehead.

"You're burning up.." She murmured, a tone of worry present in her voice. She turned around in her chair to reach for the wet towel she had prepared for him earlier, and in doing so missed the shudder of colorful light behind her. She squeezed the towel hard and brought it back up to press against the head of the boy who..

..wasn't there.

"Asrafel, damnit!" She growled, looking to the door.. but it was closed, just as she'd left it. Come to think of it, she would have noticed if he'd left.

The window? No.. also closed. Was he hiding? Ridiculous.

"You know, I'm going to tell your father how stubborn you are. He probably won't even let you work here anymore. If I were you, I'd get right back into these sheets and-"

Her voice stopped cold as she pulled away the sheets and looked down at a disturbing display of color, pinks and purples splayed against the sheets as if someone had just bled through them entirely..

..and dissappeared.