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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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 Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 11:29 am
// Library RP: How two Forgotten came to be! //quietsnooze's posts are in green, mine in dark green, and Aki's in a lighter shade of green.. just in case someone missed the shop RP!Summer breeze blows its way through every crack and tear in the building's walls, the trees that create the protective cloak around it rustling accordingly. It looks as if a storm has driven up most suddenly, thunder rumbling at a distance. Soon after, lightning fills the dark sky, illuminating the almost lonesome mansion.
Not long after the first rumble can be heard does the rain explode from the sky. It's as if someone had set a timer for its release. The thirsty grass soaks up this treat greedily, but any and all stray street occupants will want to seek shelter from this sort of surprise weather.
After being cooped up in her home for what seemed to be weeks on end with a grumpy house guest, Reyna was about ready to rip her hair out. Mystic was actually the one that suggested she get out of the house before she ended up doing more than smacking Athan upside the head. The only problem with that was that the Shadow hadn't ever been seperated from her before so he kept rattling around in her head filled with worry.
She ended up throwing up her mental walls hard enough that even she winced as she blocked him out. "Headache.. headache," she grumbled between clenched teeth as she pressed her hands to her temples. Hell, she didn't even know where she was going. She hopped on the first bus she could and then started walking when it stopped.
The surroundings were vaugely familiar but she realized as she glanced up towards the sky irritably with each step she took the sky grew darker and darker before all but emptying the contents on her head as lightening flashed through the sky.
"Nothing quite as relaxing as being drenched in pouring rain," she hissed under her breath as she pulled the hood of her jacket up over her head and walked a little faster to seek out some shelter from the storm.
Aki knocked gently, pinks cheek at the very idea of disturbing strangers. Strands of raindark blonde hair lay plastered against her face, dripping a bit slower than her soaked clothing.
Shivering, she raised her hand to knock once more...jumping at the sound of footsteps behind her. "Pardon! Pardon, excuse me?" Waving to the figure hurrying down the sidewalk as she twisted, jacket hood obscuring the figures face, Aki cleared her throat.
"Do you...know where I could find a phone? I'm, well..." Spreading her hands, the thin material of her shirt clinging in a most embarrassing manner, Aki shrugged. No phone, no umbrella...
Very little dignity.
Perhaps it can be attributed to the door needing a new lock, or some other force at work here, the well worn door of the mansion moans its way open. The rain drops come down in harder sprays, sometimes enough to sting a little when they hit flesh.
Indoors, the only light that's actually visible is the kitchen, situated at almost the back of the house. So in the moments between lightning flashes, darkness swallows up most objects with a lack of light source. The moon is blocked out by a thick, black cloud, not helping this situation one bit. One can only hope for enough light the next lightning flash to find their way around without bumping into things.
--
Stories and stories underfoot, Pippin clacks away on his laptop, waiting for the little alert to appear on his screen to say that his darling Ciara has signed online. One delayed crash makes it way to his ears, and he sighs loudly as all the electricity shut off, his computer included.
"Better get some candles and round up the kids," he murmurs to himself. He jumps slightly, having meant for that to stay in his head, but in this sort of darkness his voice is skewed into something scary. Overactive imagination at its best. Feeling his way along using the bookshelves, he leaves to the back in search of candles.
Reyna glanced up when she heard someone call out faintly over the boom of thunder overhead. She squinted blearily in the darkness and damned the fact that her depth perception was already hampered slightly. She idly trailed her fingers against the edge of her eye patch at that thought before continuing on her way along the sidewalk and nearly bumped into the figure that had called out to her only moments ago.
"Oh.. sorry," she murmured in a low voice that was barely audible over the storm that was raging above their heads, "It's a bit dark out with this storm. Didn't see you there." Her eye narrowed faintly when she realized that the girl looked a bit stranded without an umbrella or jacket to protect her from the rain.
Aki jumped as the door swung open, staring into the darkness with mouth agape. It was so dark within...a distant light seemed to illuminate the hall to one side. Turning back to see if the stranger had heard her, Aki froze once more.
It was gone!!
A sudden lightning flash proved her wrong...light spilling over the shoulders of the hooded figure. The face was swallowed within the blackness of the hood, two eyes catching the light in a most ominous fashion.
Far too ominous for Aki.
Stumbling backwards, filled with pounding fear, Aki caught her heel on the thresh hold and landed heavily on her bottom...just as the thunder rolled in a celestial growl overhead. For some strange reason, the words of her dear friend Raife sprang to mind.
Oh, snap!
Struggling to her feet, trying desperately to keep one eye on the silent figure in the rain, Aki fled into the house and made a beeline for the light. She had to get away! She had to find a phone, and...
...just like that, the power went out. Aki froze, suddenly realizing her situation. Alone in a strange house she hadn't been invited into, no doubt being pursued by the creepy rain shrouded silhouette...
She did the only thing she could, and curled up into a teeny tiny ball. Scaaaaary!!!
Soft ticking rises from the floorboards. It's very faint, originating from someplace on the opposite side of the grand staircase. From one perspective, it could sound very much like a bomb, while the other would perceive it as the tock of a grand clock..
Reyna's one visible eye widened in surprised when the girl darted off faster than she would have thought possible. She'd had people run from her before, but usually it was because she was being rude, mean, arrogant, or otherwise rather unpleasant. "Strange," she murmured faintly as she frowned and decided to trail after the skittish girl. Maybe something was wrong and she needed help. It would definately explain why she had looked so utterly lost.
She truly wasn't the sort of person to lend a friendly hand to just anyone. Her own paranoia typically kept those tendencies firmly squashed, but from what she'd glimpsed when the lightening flashed, the girl had headed into the abandoned looking house.
A house meant shelter and shelter meant no more rain pouring angrily down on her. She sighed and jogged up along the cracked sidewalk to dart into the house in hopes that it wasn't nearly so run down and would at least provide an escape from the nasty weather.
Aki uncurled slowly, face tilting towards the insistant sound. A....clock? But, the power was out!! It dawned on her slowly...perhaps it was only a fuse that was blown! If there was power elsewhere, perhaps there was a phone!!
Pushing bravely to her feet, arms outstretched, Aki followed the noise. She was getting closer! Patting something in the darkness before her, Aki's hands tried to figure out what it was. Damp, crinkly, nice rack...
Rack?!!? Meeping in absolute horror, Aki's eyes dialated abruptly as lightning flashed and sent a spray of light through the window...illuminating the creepy figure from the street. She had been followed!!
Willing herself not to faint, Aki scratched the back of her head nervously. "I...hi! I um...say, do you hear that?" Giggling unevenly, Aki tried to scoot around the terrifying...um...woman, and make her way towards the noise. Any distraction in a storm!
The door swings shut.. hopefully, due to the wind. And now, the partially broken lock jams in such a way that it shuts the door more firmly than it's been since Pippin moved in. Crazy, really.
Insulated from the rain, the ticking seems to strengthen slowly.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Until it changes to an unbearable volume, as if the device - whether clock or explosives - is right in the victim's ear.
Reyna arched a brow at the girl that she suddenly found herself face to face with. She wasn't exactly fond of having her personal space invaded, but she decided not to comment when the girl skittishly made her away around her. She was a bit odd, but she knew she hardly had room to talk when it came to quirks.
"Yeah," she replied, "I can hear that.. I'd have to be deaf not too." She squinted in the darkeness of the house before stumbling on what might have been a loose floor board. She hissed and cursed under her breath before nearly bumping into the other woman.
"Uh.. sorry," the silver haired woman murmured before straightening back up and idly running a hand through her short hair.
Gasping at the noise, Aki spun...gazing in wonder at the woman before her. It was so dark, she could barely see the reflected light shine through the cropped silver hair. It wasn't a monster after all!!!
Sighing in relief, Aki jumped as the other woman stumbled...reaching out instinctively to try to aid her. "Are you okay? I'm sorry...about before. I'm just a little jumpy."
Creeping a bit closer to where she'd originally heard the sound, squinting against the racket, Aki paused. This was it! She should be there...but, she couldn't see a thing!! It occured to her that she was still being rude...a casual apology wouldn't change that.
"Oh! I'm sorry! I'm...Aki!"
Something crunches underfoot, a sickening sound of breaking glass. Unrecognizable as to what the object is anymore, shards of glass are scattered around the area circling the two victims.
Following this is the scraping similar to nails on a chalkboard. The previous ticking, faded as it is, seems much more inviting than these awful noises.
Ahead, built into the grand staircase's backside, is a half-sized door, perhaps one meant for storage. It flies open with such force that the door swing and cracks against the wall, the noise mixing in with these persistant noises. The small door swings as if something originating from inside is blowing it, bursting it open..
And from this chute comes the only light. It seems to be candlelight, from the look of it, with no traceable source. A ladder awaits inside.
"Couldn't tell," she smirked faintly, "I'm Reyna." Normally when she smirked like that she simply looked smug, sort of like the a cat who had just caught the canary. In the darkness of the house it was more eerie looking than anything else. The expression faded quickly at all the strange noises that suddenly assaulted her senses in an irritating way.
Reyna gazed at the open door suspciously before easing toward it to peer down towards that flickering light that sent shadows skittering across the wall in a way that likely would have been unnerving if she weren't so used to seeing such a thing in her home on a regular basis.
"Well, Aki," she started as she poked her head inside the door and glanced down at the ladder, "Want to explore a little?" She chuckled faintly under her breath and didn't wait for a response as she climbed down the latter.
"Ex...plore?!" The next words on her lips were 'No! Not really!' but the strange woman was already departing. Chewing her lip, still shuddering from the deluge of scary noises, Aki swallowed heavily. Either she followed...
...or she stayed here all alone.
"Wait! I'm coming!! Reyna?" Whispering as loud as she could, Aki hurried towards the door, squinting in the light as she gazed down the ladder. Her stomach turned at the thought of exploring a strangers basement, but it was that or...
Another roll of thunder made up her mind. Modesty to the wind, she hurried down the ladder...skirt flouncing. "What do you see? Are there spiders?!"
Oh how she hated spiders.
Despite quite a few cobwebs, and the occasional squeaking rat, nothing can be seen or heard.. til they hit the bottom. The ladder runs out three quarters of the way, so it's a fair bit of a jump.. but the bottom is light, and the top dark. Not to mention that the door slams itself shut at the top, a lock sliding across and into place. Funny, was there a lock there before..?
The only way is down.
This way leads to the rear of the Library, where most of the more crisp books can be found. It, too, is dark, and the light that seemed to be candlelight disappears as soon as the victim touches the flooring. Instead, a faintly lit Library greets them, small and dim candles [protected in cases, of course, wouldn't want any book fires..] lighting random shelves.
"Uh.. I see," she looked up before glancing back down when she realized what exactly she could see. Somehow she figured the other girl wouldn't appreciate her looking up her skirt. "Well.. I see more lights.. looks like a library down here."
Reyna frowned when she half stepped down expecting another wrong on the latter. She glanced idly back over her shoulder before jumping down to land in a slight crouch. "You're going to have to jump," she called up to Aki, "The latter uh.. ends suddenly."
She gazed up at the woman on the latter and smirked again, though the expression wasn't nearly so creepy as it was before now that she was in better lighting. "Want me to catch you?" she teased as she stood there with her hands on her hips and watched the girl cling to the latter in her skirt. It was just sheer luck that she'd stuck to her jeans and t-shirts for the past couple of days.
Making her way down the ladder, totally oblivious to her show, Aki shook her head. "No, I'll make it! Thank you!!" Offering a nervous smile, Aki waited till the woman stepped back...jumping after a moments pause.
Landing awkwardly, skirt floofing out around her, Aki pulled herself straight once more. "Ouch. I guess I...wait. Where are we?!" Eyes going wide as she stared, Aki drifted to Reyna...unconsciously hiding just behind the other woman.
"There are candles burning! Someone must have been here recently! Perhaps we should go, but..." Glancing back, Aki sighed. They'd have to drag a table over to reach the ladder again!!
"But...perhaps we're out of luck. I wonder who could own so many books!!"
Walking forward slowly, glancing back to make sure Reyna wasn't far, Aki peered closer at the rows and rows of tomes. It was mindbending...literally. This many books shouldn't have been able to fit under the old building!!
Nostalgia washed across her as she blew gently at a layer of old dust, barely disturbing it. It reminded her so of the archives in the Temple...but that was long ago, and this was now.
Sighing as the memory faded, Aki lifted her gaze...peering father into the back. "There is more light that way!" Her feet were already moving. Perhaps, if this was a library, they would have an old phone!! The thought of making a call faded abruptly as her gaze crossed one old book in particular. Lips parting, Aki took another step towards it...hands curling and uncurling as she restrained her urge to reach forward.
It was so old!!
The outside of Aki's book is rough, as if skin of the book's own. The pages are slightly yellowed, but softer to the touch than most paper is. There is something on the front cover, but the writing is so broken that the word or words cannot be made out.
Reyna's book also has a rough feel, though much more jagged around the edges. The weight of the book, seemingly thin, is very curious. The pages are crisp and almost too white for such an old-looking book. The spine of the book is colder than the cover and pages.
Pippin lights the last of the candles, surveying the Library proudly. There! Improvisation! And he proves not to be an idiot with so many candles around so many books. With every child tucked in and asleep, he assumes there's no one around to knock or even need the candles, them being there for his own personal comfort. Tucking away the matches, he slouches down into his chair, only to catch shadowy movement in the corner of his eye.
Assuming this to be Petra and her daemon, Pippin raises again, silently sighing and making his way around the long way to investigate.
Reyna trailed along through the library with Aki before pausing before a curious looking book. She felt drawn to it, though it didn't really surprise her. She loved books and had quite an expansive collection of her own that she regularly mulled through.
"I wish my library was this large," she murmured faintly as she reached out to touch the book, fingertips idly gliding along the spine as she squinted at it interestedly. "Strange," she whispered under her breath as she noted that the spine felt sort of cool to the touch. She picked up the book and opened it to inspect its contents before glancing up when she heard the distinct sound of footsteps coming from nearby.
Nodding absently, Aki continued to stare at the book that had so captured her attention. She felt bad for intruding, but...
Well. Books were meant to be read, right? Reaching forward slowly, Aki's fingers closed around the spine...a shiver chasing through her. It was such a curious texture...not at all what she'd expected!!
Flipping into the book at random, Aki squinted at the words...reading them carefully as her fingers stroked against the edge of the page. So soft...
Abruptly she realized Reyna wasn't looking at the book, but staring steadily in another direction. Clutching the precious book to her chest as the footsteps reached her ears, Aki gasped in horror.
"I...think we should leave!!"
Most likely, it was too late.
"Ohhh.. ohnoes.."
Pippin pulls off his glasses, rubbing both eyes as he approaches even closer to the not one, but two shadows. Great. Grown up people, like himself.
"B-but, I locked the door!" he insists with a groan, shaking his head. "Both of you'll need to come with me.. you're not in any trouble, but you really need to know the severity of what you just did.."
Rubbing his sunglasses off on his shirt, he gestures to a slightly lopsided table across the clearing. "If you'll just set those books down on the table, I can take you to my office so we can talk in better light."
The weariness and slight concern in his voice give truth and genuinity to his words, instead of making him out to be some sort of creep who lures women to his library for his own purposes. No, in his office there are cribs, not some sort of seditives.
The silver haired woman eyed the man curiously before setting the book down. He said they weren't in trouble but what had they done that was so severe that they had to be herded into his office? She frowned at that thought but followed along after glancing back towards the book that lay open on the table where she'd left it.
"Uhm.. we just came down here because it was storming really bad," Reyna offered as she headed into the office with Aki. She reluctantly took a seat in one of the chairs before the man's desk before shuffling around the baby cribs to do so.
Really, she'd prefer to remain standing and not have her back to the door, but she did barge into the man's home and library without permission.
Aki shuffled in next...trying twice to set down the book before a successful attempt. Her vision was starting to tunnel...following almost blindly, white as a sheet, she sat beside Reyna and nodded mutely.
This wasn't going well, the poor elf was scared stiff. Centuries of experience behind her, and she still hadn't ditched the absolute feeling of mortification that struck whenever she screwed up.
How sad.
Trying to clear her throat, willing herself to stay upright, Aki clutched her tummy with both hands. Not now. Please not now.
Come morning, she'd most likely be a headline.
The thought didn't help much. Aki began to turn a bit green.
Pippin brushes messy lime hair out of his eyes, looking over the two women. "I hope you two are prepared for guardianship," he begins, finding it fitting.
"The books you opened.. for some reason, heck if we know why, they are manifested into children, those of which are in the case of that person who opened the book." He gestures wearily with a hand, smiling crookedly. "You two are the latest, er.. victims."
Setting down his sunglasses, he nudges his head in the direction of the door. "They're probably out there now. They have a piece of paper that we believe holds information important to the individual child, so keep that safe someplace. They also have a soul-connected animal.. daemon, if you will. Named after a word, and usually a quite fitting one."
He turns around, running a hand over one of the makeshift and temporary cribs. "Mine's in here," he explains softly, his tone changing affectionately. He raises his silver eyes to first Reyna, then Aki. "It's dark, so I'll come with you - I always like to see the children after they've first arrived."
He opens the office door, holding it open for the ladies.
Guardianship..? Reyna resisted the urge to groan in irritation at that word. She knew what that meant. It meant someone or something else she was going to have to look after and be responsible for. It was also how she ended up with Mystic. At the thought of him she felt him gently tugging at their bond as though begging for her to open her mind back up to him.
'Shh.. later. In the middle of something.. er.. important,' she told him before blocking him out once more to keep him from assaulting her with an entire barrage of questions. He was always so curious and nosey! Though really at this point she realized she truly didn't have any room to talk considering she'd wound up in someone else's library and opened a book she most definately shouldn't have.
She glanced idly towards the lime haired man and waited for him to shut the door of his office before following along after him.
Color returning slowly, Aki looked up with hopeful eyes. Babies?! She loved babies! Well, perhaps not so much babies themselves, but family was the most precious thing she could ever hope for. Especially considering all the trials they'd been through lately...
Rising with a bounce, much more eager than when she'd entered, Aki offered the young man a smile. "I'm Aki, by the way. Thank you for being so kind."
It was a weight off her shoulders to know he wasn't mad. After all, breaking and entering was rarely so rewarding!! Following in the steps of her newfound companions, Aki peered breathlessly forward...
Pippin grins widely. "The name's Pippin. My wife and I own the place," he explains on the walk over, glad to talk lightheartedly. Children, after all, can be very exciting, though with a quick look at the other new guardian, Pippin assumes she's less than thrilled.
"Well, I shouldn't be the first to see them," he announces, backing up slightly. "Go on ahead. Just remember where you put yours, wouldn't want a mix up!"
The silver haired woman wasn't nearly so excited as Aki seemed to be, though very little ever seemed to thrill her. She had the overwhelming tendency to blow everything off as being little interest to her, though truly it was just an easy way to hide away what she really felt.
"My name is Reyna," she offered to Pippin as they walked along before pausing briefly when the lime haired man urged them to go forward towards their books. She glanced uneasily between the two other people there before walking towards the table where she had placed the book. Her mood shifted from irritation to more open curiosity.
What had she gotten herself into now, exactly..?
Aki's mood was more than simple curiosity. This was better than Christmas!! Hurrying forward, she gave Reyna's arm a quick squeeze before peeking around the corner. Would there really be a child? Her heart would be broken it if was all a cruel joke. Besides, she'd seen stranger things...
Peering slowly, careful not to startle whatever she might see, Aki's hands curled around the edge. Where was the book?! In it's place...
...was something else entirely. Breath catching in her throat, Aki took a single step closer...straining to see in the dim light. Whatever it was, it was much bigger than a book.
A smile brightened her face slowly.
The first baby, Aki Ana's little girl from her roughly skinned book, muffles a yawn and rests her head back against her large daemon, who seems to be bending the table under his weight.
"She turned her fingers even more frantically and the winding mechanism clicked faster and faster. Then her thumb snapped past her forefinger as the knob lost its friction and revolved too easily. It fell loose and empty and turned backwards as well as forwards. She'd broken it. In vain, she shook and tapped the metal case, opened it up, jiggled it and held it to her ear in desperate hope. But the watch was dead."
Desperate, as he's named, curls his trunk around her soft cheek, shuffling his feet as the table groans accordingly. The excerpt paper is tucked neatly into the material at the baby's ankle.
Next to this pair is Reyna's, much more awake than Aki's. Rocks swivel and swirl around her outstretched hand in whirling patterns, while her quick little ghostly flame daemon zips energetically around her.
"A heavy explosion rocked the quiet morning, deafening to the ear. The walls of the tunnel crumbled. Rock fragments flew everywhere. The blast blew white smoke out of the tunnel and her along with it. When she landed she could hear the screams, and instantly she knew what her fate was decided to be."
The girl stops, her rocks hovering midair, eyes wide and reflecting what little light is flickering in the darkened Library. Shoving a finger to her mouth, the rocks fall and clatter against the wood surface of the table, slightly startling Desperate. Reyna's child's daemon, Fragments, gives the elephant daemon a bubbly, excited look before zipping around his Forgotten again. This girl's excerpt is under her leaning hand, lightly crumpled but otherwise intact.
Pippin blinks rapidly. That elephant had better not break the table.. He watches, slightly startled. None of the others showed immediate powers, and none had a daemon quite so.. heavy.
Aki walked forward slowly, offering one hand for the Daemon to smell. His trunk uncurled gracefully, reaching towards Aki's hand with a youthful eagerness. Her smile spread as the tip of the trunk snuffled and prodded against her palm...surprisingly, the smile was echoed by the tiny girl resting against his side.
Aki dropped her hand, tilting her head at the baby girl. The little one tilted her head also, sleepy eyes smiling. Carefully, Aki reached forward...stretching her hands towards the child. After a moment of doubtful staring, the girl reached back...making grabby hands at Aki.
"Hello, little one!" The tiny girl fit perfectly into her arms, the watch around her neck sliding heavily to one side as Aki shifted her. The elephant trumpeted noisily, stomping one foot on the already shuddering table. Aki winced, stepping back to make room.
"Hello to you both!! You, however, are not so little!" The elephant paid her little mind as it stepped down daintily onto the nearest chair...grunting as the chair shattered under it. Picking himself up, trunk held high, Desperate shook the kindling from his thick skin and picked his way from the wreckage.
The baby in her arms giggled. "Ooh, well if that's funny, you're in for a treat! There is way more stuff to break at my house!" Shifting the child to her other arm, balancing the weight on her hip, Aki peeked down at the tiny babe. "You're going to need a name, aren't you? Well..."
Glancing from babe to beast, Aki smiled slowly...remembering her ancient mythology. "How about...Nisha? That's a pretty name, isn't it!"
Nisha opened her mouth, staring up at Aki with a look of utter shock before cramming all four fingers of her left hand directly in. Mumbling happily as she chewed, Nisha's eyes closed slowly. Nap time wasn't over yet!!
Slipping the scrap of paper from the yellow wrap, trying not to disturb the sleepy child, Aki smoothed it out as best she could.
"She turned her fingers even more frantically and the winding mechanism clicked faster and faster. Then her thumb snapped past her forefinger as the knob lost its friction and revolved too easily. It fell loose and empty and turned backwards as well as forwards. She'd broken it. In vain, she shook and tapped the metal case, opened it up, jiggled it and held it to her ear in desperate hope. But the watch was dead."
Reading it over slowly, Aki also tried to recall Pippin's words. The elephant...this was Nisha's Daemon! It was named after one of these words, wasn't it?
The elephant flapped its ears as it stared up at her...truck questing upwards to poke Nisha in the side. The girl opened one eye and giggled, fingers slipping from her mouth to push the trunk away. Aki couldn't help but laugh...he only wanted attention!
"And you can be...Desperate. I'm Aki, little ones. Welcome to the family."
Lifting her gaze to Reyna, Aki's eyes creased with a smile. Looks like the other woman had her hands full as well! Slipping Reyna one of her name cards, golden ink displaying Aki's name, contact information, and a tiny little portrait, she stepped back with a smile.
And nearly tripped.
Desperate was right there, nestled up behind her and peering at the other pair curiously. Flapping his ears once more, he trumpeted a greeting at Fragments...lifting one foot in a friendly stomp. Aki winced as the books rattled on the shelves. She reached over to scratch Desperate atop his head, laughing nervously.
"I should get him out of here before he brings the whole place down. I'm still not sure what just happened, but...if you'd like to get ahold of me, perhaps we can share some free therapy."
One last smile, and Aki turned to nod at Pippin. He seemed to know an elephant friendly exit, so Aki followed without delay...turning to see if Reyna followed. Nisha was sound asleep again...drool dripping from her tiny fingers as her arm flopped over her side.
Hugging the girl closer, Aki hurried desperate forward with one foot...wincing as the Daemon rocked the library with his distinctive call.
It was going to be a long ride home, but Aki couldn't be happier.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 4:09 pm
// A Child to Love //Reyna heads home with little Samara and her daemon...Reyna looked down at the golden card in her hand that had Aki's contact information on it before shoving it into one of her pockets for safe keeping. Her hands were a but busy holding onto a squirming baby. She winced faintly when the child patted her cheeks and tried to pull at the elastic of her eye patch. "No," she murmured as she pulled the girl's hand away from that area of her face, "Don't do that."
The child blinked up at her with her big green eyes for a moment before contenting herself by sucking on her fingers and watching Fragments swirl around them in little darting circles over and over again. The silver haired woman sighed faintly and chuckled under her breath as she walked along. The little ghost-like creature was a bit of a spaz, she decided.
What was she going to do with a child? She didn't know how to care for one. It certainly wouldn't be anything like taking care of Mystic when he was a child. Shadows didn't require food, sleep, or really any of the nessecities that a normal human would need. Reyna grumbled as she stood waiting at the bus stop that would take her back towards Barton. She wasn't even human, though in the past several decades she'd done a fairly good job at mimicking one.
She gazed down at the little girl in her arms and realized that she needed to give her a name. She frowned at that thought before scowling outright when the baby reached once more for her eyepatch, seemingly fascinated with the black bit material that covered her left eye. "I said stop that," she hissed before softening her voice when the child shot her a look of upset.
"No, no! Don't be upset.. it's okay," she reassured her when the baby began sniffling faintly as though to cry. Reyna dug through one of her pockets for one of the rocks that the child had appeared with. She had tried to leave without them, but the baby wailed until she gave in and shoved them all in her coat pockets.
The stone contented the child for the time being and stopped the tears that threatened to spill from her pretty green eyes. She shook the rock as though it were a rattle and laughed as Fragments did little circles midair as though to entertain her. She gurgled and reached out for the ghost-like creature before her play time was interrupted when the bus rolled to a stop before them.
"Time to head home," Reyna murmured as she carried the little girl onto the bus while Fragments trailed after. The daemon did a good job of spooking the bus driver before flittering over to where the silver haired woman was sitting. She shot the man an apologetic look before tightening her arms around the baby as the bus lurched forward. ---- She fumbled with her keys as she struggled to find the right one and keep a good hold of the little girl that was squirming restlessly in her arms at the same time. Just as she had found the right key she heard the bolts slide and unlock to reveal Mystic standing there in the doorway. He looked as though he were about to start grilling her about why she had block him out of her mind, but he remained silent as he gazed curiously at the child in her arms.
'Who.. is that?' he asked as he stood there gazing wide-eyed at the baby who gurgled in delight and made grabby hands at the Shadow.
"Uh.. haven't come up with a name yet," Reyna replied before sighing as Mystic filled her head with a barrage of questions, few of which she actually held the answers to. "Long story short. The kid came from a book I opened," she said simply as she tiredly made her way towards her room after dropping her keys on the kitchen counter.
Instead of explaining exactly what happened she simply opened her mind to him and allowed him to see for himself. After that the Shadow was quiet for quite some time as he trailed after his Guardian. He sat on the bed next to where his Guardian had left the baby to loll about while she disappeared to change out of her still soggy clothes. She was thankful she wasn't nearly so susceptiable to sickness as most people were and didn't have to worry about getting a cold.
She poked her head out of the bathroom after she had changed and peered at the baby curiously. She seemed healthy. Thankfully the storm had stopped after she had left the Library at Pippin's house. She smirked faintly at that thought. She truly had become a 'victim' of the Library so to speak. The storm had appeared suddenly, forcing her to find some sort of shelter. The circumstances were quite strange, but she decided not to question them. Stranger things had happened to her, though she had to admit almost all of them had occurred after she moved to Gaia.
"Any ideas for a name?" she asked Mystic who simply shook his head and continued to stare at the baby as though it were the most interesting, complicated puzzle he'd ever been faced with in his entire young life. "Me neither," she murmured as she moved to sit on the bed opposite side of the Shadow so that the baby was in between the two of them and in no danger of crawling off the bed.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with her.. man.. I don't even have a baby crib or anything for her to sleep in," Reyna lamented before rising to her feet to move towards her desk to fumble for a pen and some paper. She'd have to go to the store the very next day to get things she'd need for the child. "Erm.. what exactly do babies need?" she asked out loud even though she was more or less talking to herself.
Maybe she ought to call Wren and bug him. He had kids. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was not meant to raise children. She wasn't even sure she was capable of having children. Hell, she couldn't even remember ever being a child. Her childhood was nonexistent. She just sort of.. existed.
The sound of a child's giggling laughter pulled her attention away from her barely formed list just in time to see Mystic toss the little girl high up into the air and dash up and catch her. Her visible eye widened and she made a sort of choked noise when the Shadow did it again, much to the delight of the little girl.
"Don't.. DO that.. you'll.. break her or something!" Reyna yelled, hands on her hips with an anxious, worried sort of look on her face.
'I wouldn't drop her. She's fine,' Mystic replied, fairly beaming as the little one gurgled something he couldn't understand against his cheek and tangled her little fingers in his hair while he hovered midair. Fragments flew about the Shadow, seemingly checking him out to make sure he was okay, but his Forgotten seemed to be just fine. He settled down to nestle in a invisible nest in the air next to Mystic and contented itself to simply hover as well.
"She might be fine, but I'm not! You damn near gave me a heart attack!" Reyna scowled before tearing one hand back through her hair as she gazed up at Mystic.
The Fiend floated back down to the floor to stand on his solid feet before handing his Guardian the baby. 'Here.. hold her for a second,' he murmured as he handed the baby over towards her that whimpered in protest. She was having fun floating through the air with him. She didn't want to go to the silver haired woman.
Reyna held her stiffly away from her body and squinted at her blearily, much to the child's discontent. She whimpered unhappily before those whimpers turned to louder cries. "Noo.. please be quiet? Don't cry! Mystic is coming back.. he's always around.. hey.. hey..!" Reyna pleaded with the baby to no avail because, well, she was a baby after all. Reasoning did not work on a child so young. "She won't stop crying!" the silver haired woman announced when Mystic came back into the room.
The Shadow snickered inside her head and folded his arms over his chest in a bemused sort of fashion. 'Maybe you should try holding her,' he teased.
"I am holding it, but it won't stop!" Reyna cried out over the child's wailing before her eyes widened when Mystic moved towards her and pressed the baby closer towards her. It forced her to adjust her hold on the child and cradle her against her chest, something that seemed to soothe the baby some until her crying had subsided to soft hiccups.
'See..' Mystic murmured, 'She just wanted to be held..'
"Oh," was Reyna's reply as she frowned and glanced down at the baby that had curled one tiny fist in her shirt while the other was shoved mostly into her mouth. She looked tired, but then it was rather late at night.
The silver haired woman moved to sit on the bed with the child still firmly cradled against her chest as though she were afraid if she moved her she'd become upset again. She simply sat there with her back against the headboard and watched the child slowly fall asleep there in her arms. Her dark frown faded slowly and the corner of her mouth quirked in a hint of a smile. The baby looked.. sweet. Innocent. It made her want to hug her close and protect her. It was strange, warm feeling that she truly wasn't used to and couldn't exactly remember having experienced before.
She sighed and moved to put the child down with some visible reluctance before frowning when the baby stirred and began to cry. "Oh come on.. don't be upset.. I need to go check on Athan," she murmured as she tried to soothe her by petting at her soft brown hair.
'Athan... isn't here, actually. He went home,' Mystic replied as he moved to sit next to the sleepy child. He put a purple colored panda plushie down in front of the baby that he'd removed from a shelf in his room. He'd never played with it as a child, but he remembered wanting it because it was roughly the same color as he was.
Tiny hands reached out towards the plushie and Reyna watched as the baby snuggled up against it as best she could. Her sleepy green eyes sifted closed and she fell to sleep once more while Mystic and his Guardian both stayed up to keep a watchful eye on her. Fragments stayed awake as long as he could, but after a while of suspiciously eyeing the two other people in the room he nestled down against his Forgotten's side and slept as well.
"Well," she murmured in a soft whisper as though to avoid waking the child again, "Good. He was driving me up the bloody wall." She frowned and moved to pull her chair closer to the bed to watch the baby sleep. She sat curled there with one leg pulled up against her chest while resting her chin atop her hands that were neatly folded on top of her knee.
"Samara," she smiled faintly, interupting the lull of silence that had filled the room.
'A name for her?'
"Yeah.. it was my grandmother's," Reyna replied with a smirk before chuckling quietly behind one hand when Mystic went wide-eyed at that statement.
'I thought you didn't have any family,' he remarked as he gazed over at his Guardian suspiciously.
"I don't," she replied simply before falling quiet once more.
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 6:04 pm
// Shopping Fun //Reyna goes shopping for baby supplies and Athan pays a quick visit!Reyna sat in the middle of the living room floor watching Samara crawl around on the blanket she'd laid out for her. She figured the comforter she'd laid out would be a bit more forgiving on the girl's hands and knees than her hardwood floors would be. She contemplated the thought of getting carpet, but decided that it'd end up too costly and that carpeting would simply soak up any accidental spills -- not to mention the stains all her art supplies would leave.
She pulled a face at that thought before simply deciding to invest in a few area rugs instead. It certainly wouldn't interfere with her rather interesting decor if she bought some that were in solid colors. She was rather fond of her mural paintings, as was Mystic. Idly she wondered what sort of colors Samara would approve of and hoped she didn't want something too obscenely bright colored. She wasn't too sure if she could stomach a pastel pink room...
"Come on, little one," Reyna murmured as she reached to pick the child up who in turn held her arms up towards the silver haired woman expectantly. The sight of Samara reaching for her was something that she found pleased her in a strange way she couldn't quite put a name to. It left her grinning stupidly and cuddling the girl against her chest the way Mystic had all but forced her to do the evening before to put an end to the baby's crying.
She pulled herself up to her feet and swayed slightly in a rocking motion that seemed to lull the little girl into leaning her cheek against her shoulder. Mystic appeared before them with a sort of bemused expression on his face but didn't dare comment on how motherly and sweet his Guardian appeared -- it would surely ruin the moment if he were to point it out, something he had quickly learned when he'd commented on how the woman had stayed up all night just to watch the baby sleep.
'We're still going to the store, right?' he asked instead as he floated midair, something that seemed to amuse Samara and her daemon that was flittering about.
"Yeah.. we need to get her some food, too. No need for her to starve," she replied simply before moving towards the kitchen table to pick up her wallet and keys. She headed outside, fully expecting Mystic to simply appear near her side after he'd locked the door from the inside and drifted through the door.
"Let's go to Barton first.. stuff is usually less expensive there. If they don't have anything we can use well.. we'll take a bus to Durem," she said out loud before smirking faintly when Samara gurgled a noise in response as though approving of Reyna's plan. It indeed was a good plan until the woman realized that the reason why she didn't go shopping more often was because she hated it.
Her temper flared on more than one occasion while they were out and she was fairly certain she ended up getting one or two employees in some serious trouble. Truly, it wasn't the shopping that bothered her -- it was having to deal with all the people that were lurking about within the stores. Places like malls and stores seemed to leave a residual stain of life inside them so to speak, so even when there wasn't that many people there it felt as though there were. It was something she felt to be rather suffocating at times, and was all too thankful when they had come to the conclusion they had bought everything they had come for and then some.
Reyna grumbled under her breath as she dropped a diaper bag full of various things and nessecary items that she had bought gracelessly to the floor. She glanced over towards the little girl that was giggling and patting her hands happily against Mystic's cheeks. Amusement bubbled over through the bond they shared and it eased her overall crankiness. A small smile tugged at her lips when the Fiend handed Samara over towards her.
"And of all the new toys and things you now have you want Mystic's panda plushie," she teased as the little girl flailed the plushie through the air with one tiny fist clutching its arm. She squirmed and kicked her legs, giggling in amusement as she managed to bash the silver haired woman upside the head with the toy.
"Alright now.. enough of that," Reyna murmured, careful to keep her tone light and soft as to not upset the child. Growling apparently didn't seem to intimidate children into behaving -- it scared them.
She carried the little girl to her room where Mystic was, already unpacking Sam's new things and setting them out for her. They managed to find a nice, plush area rug for her room that covered the vast majority of the floor. Reyna sat her down on the floor to play with her plushie and some toy blocks that she'd reached for insistently when they'd ventured into the toy store. She watched her play for a little while before moving to help her Shadow assemble the baby crib.
It was a task that proved infinately more irritating than any other project she'd undertaken. Reyna ended up sprawled in the middle of the floor with Sam curled up against her chest to nap while Mystic tried to make sense of the directions after his bonded had all but given up.
"I think we should have bought one pre-assembled. Those directions don't even make sense and I think there are parts missing," she announced irritably. Sam stirred somewhat but simply clutched her plushie closer while Fragments darted inside the box that had once contained all the parts and pieces that were strewn messily across the floor. "Screw it... she'll just sleep with me to--"
"Tsk tsk.. since when have you resorted to stealing babies, Reyna?" came a mocking voice from the doorway.
Reyna sat up with Sam cradled in her arms and glared stonily at Athan. "I didn't steal her, she's mine. Learn how to knock," she hissed in a low voice as she idly toyed with a few strands of Samara's hair as though to remind her she was holding a little girl in her arms and couldn't jump up and start a fight with the man. "She came from a book I opened, so now I have to take care of her."
Fragments darted out of the box he'd been exploring and swirled around Athan's shoulders as though sizing him up before moving to hover near his Forgotten's side just in case. He did look rather suspicious with his glowing green eyes and dark robes. The little daemon tensed as though ready to spring on the man when he bent to kneel down next to Reyna and the child, but he relaxed somewhat when the man pushed back the hood to his cloak. He didn't look nearly so intimidating that way..
"What's her name?" Athan asked with a smile, something that seemed to stun Reyna slightly. Since when did he smile like that?
"Samara. I call her Sam, most of the time," she murmured quietly as she squinted at Athan suspiciously. Last she'd seen him he'd been having something akin to a nervous breakdown and was suffering from the after effects of a massive explosion of magic that had been aimed at him. He seemed normal enough -- as normal as Athan ever was.
"Sam. That's cute," he replied as he reached for the sleepy little girl and plucked her up out of Reyna's arms. The silver haired woman opened her mouth to protest but decided against it. Instead, she pulled herself to her feet and crossed her arms over her chest. "I can honestly say I've never thought of you as a motherly sort of figure," Athan teased before chuckling low under his breath when Sam gurgled up at him sweetly as though to confirm the fact that she was cute.
"What's all this mess all over her floor? Is this her room?" Athan laughed as he shifted his grip on Sam so that she was propped up against one hip and he had one arm free. He whispered a few low words under his breath in a language Reyna couldn't understand and outstretched his free hand towards the pieces of wood and metal. The mess that covered the floor floated up off the ground and pieced itself together. Fragments whirled through the floating objects before settling on the assembled bed with a look of approval as he bounced around on the mattress excitedly.
Reyna stood with her hands on her hips and remained quiet as she scowled irritably at the bed. 'I so could have done that...' She pulled her attention away from the bed and back towards Sam who was giggling and awake now. She clapped her hands, giddy and excited after watching all the pieces of her bed float through the air. She squealed as Fragments floated over towards her before settling on Athan's shoulder so that he could watch and see if the man did anything else that was entertaining.
"So," she murmured as she tried to keep the irritation she felt out of her voice as she reached for Sam, "Why are you here?" She eyed Athan warily as she tried to calm the little girl in her arms that was flailing out towards the bed where her panda plushie lay. He hadn't ever visited her home but once when they had first met, and then once more when they were readying a spell against Doran. This was unexpected and she wasn't sure what to expect from him.
"I wanted to make sure your wards were back in place since it's mostly my fault they were torn down by Doran," he replied simply, "But it seems you've already put them back into place."
The silver haired woman shot him an odd look at that statement. It was true that the wards that protected her home and kept her well hidden from the world had been all but shredded apart, but she hadn't had time to fix them. "I.. it must have been Izzy. I haven't had the patience or the time really to do such a thing," she answered with a sort of half confused look on her face.
Athan frowned as well but refrained from commenting further on the subject. He glanced idly towards Mystic who was hovering near the baby crib, occassionally poking at it to make sure it was sturdy enough to safely hold the little girl that he had quickly adopted as his baby sister. "Well... that's all I came here for. Oh, and to grab the journal I left in your guest room," he stated, "I shall surely see you soon. I have business to take care of for the time being. I'll likely stop by the shop here in a couple of days."
Reyna nodded in response as she idly rocked the little girl in her arms and walked Athan towards the door. She smirked faintly when the man paused briefly to pat Samara on the head affectionately before all but disappearing from view.
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 2:30 am
// Sleepless Nights //Reyna calls Wren for advice on how to soothe a teething baby.."By the gods!" Reyna exclaimed, "Children should come with off buttons!"
Mystic resisted the urge to snicker at his Guardian's declaration as he moved to scoop up the crying little girl from her crib. Being in his arms as he floated and twirled through the air calmed her some, but her sniffling hiccups persisted. He rubbed her back in soothing circles as she buried her little face against his neck and clung to him for dear life.
Samara had been cranky since she woke in the middle of the night, disturbing Reyna with her wailing. She found Fragments pawing frantically at her bedroom door when she stumbled bleary-eyed out of her room. Thinking the absolute worst, she dashed down the hallway to the little girl's room to see what was the matter.
She found her standing upright as best she could in her crib, gripping the railing with tiny fists to keep herself up while she cried. The only thing she found wrong with the child was that the front of her lower gums were a bit swollen. Mystic had declared that she was probably teething -- he'd read about such things in a baby book that he'd insisted she buy while they had been out shopping the other day.
Since then Samara had remained cranky and irritable. Her bad mood worsened as night turned to day and she went without any rest at all. Fragments hovered worriedly about his Forgotten and Reyna mirrored Sam's foul mood while Mystic tried to soothe his adopted little sister.
He'd suggested that perhaps Reyna should try to ease her pain with a healing spell or at least put her to sleep the way she had done Athan when he had been under her care. She'd considered the idea for only a moment before paling visibly. Her magic only worked correctly half the time, which left the distinct possibility it could do more harm than good. She didn't want to risk tainting the child's aura with her slightly warped magic. She wasn't even certain that it would work on her. She didn't exactly have a whole lot of experience with humans or at least ones of a more normal variety -- then again, the child did have a daemon flittering about it near constantly. She was fairly certain that wasn't exactly normal, but she hardly had room to talk or really even room for comparison when it came to terms of 'normal.'
What's more, Athan she knew could handle her magic, even if it was tainted. He was a well practiced magic-user and she wasn't all that concerned with his well-being anyway, just so long as he didn't up and die on her any time soon. Samara she felt responsible for, and part of her was swiftly growing quite attached to her.
Despite her developing soft spot for the girl she was rapidly losing her patience. She was hardly a stranger to insomnia, but she was feeling quite drained after staying up all night with her. She truly hadn't rested well since she'd brought Sam home from the Library. She was paranoid that somehow the child would end up hurt by accident or something simply awful would happen and the babe would be torn from her arms. She couldn't explain that fear or why it was there gnawing at the back of her mind, but it was there none the less.
"Nnnh.. think clove oil will work to numb the pain or something?" Reyna pondered out loud, "Or maybe we should give her some medicine... wait. Can babies take medicine?"
Mystic simply shrugged in response. His knowledge was about as limited as Reyna's, and he hadn't gotten that far into his book just yet.
"Dammit! I was never meant to have children! I don't know if I'm even physically capable of such a thing!" she lamented as she tore her hands back through her short hair out of sheer frustration before falling absolutely still as a thought struck her.
"Wren has kids! He and his wife have an entire herd of them. I'll call him!" Reyna announced as she scrambled out of the child's room and all but ran to the phone that was perched atop the bar that was attached to the kitchen.
She skidded to a stop in front of the device and quickly punched in his number from memory despite the fact that she had the number on speed-dial. "Pick up, pick up," she murmured as she anxiously fidgeted while pacing back and forth as she listened to the dial-tone.
The phone rang at least three times before it was finally picked up. "Concord residence," the voice on the other end spoke, obviously very distracted, "souls devoured, destroyed, and repossessed, all for free! What can I do for you?"
"For starters you could give me advice as to how to silence a wailing child in the most humane way possible," Reyna replied, biting back a few giggles of laughter at the bit about souls while she continued to pace back and forth in her living room. "I've.. got a kid now," she went on, "And.. Mystic says she's teething and I haven't slept in a while so excuse me if I'm a bit delirious.."
There was more silence for a moment ( Wren blankly staring at the computer screen in front of him and trying to digest the information said ), before the demon spoke again. Seriously this time. "Ah, well ... All the ways that immediately come to mind aren't exactly humane, but the first question that comes to mind is what the hell are you doing with a kid?" And did she realize how surreal it sounded. "But, um, have you tried giving her something to chew on, while she's teething? There's also some stuff you can apply to their teeth and it'll help too ..." He was rambling all most, a shocked expression on his face. Reyna. With a kid. Scary.
"Yeeeaah.. see.. I went into this house to get out of a storm and me and another girl went down into this library --"
"You discovered babies come from books!"
"Uh.. yeah. I did," she spoke up as she idly ran a hand back through his hair, "So now I'm stuck with her. And.. you know me.. I know me. I was not made to have a kid and I'm.. so damn tired. I mean, I got rid of Athan and now I've got a kid.." She rambled on endlessly for a moment or so before sighing when she realized that she was simply talking in circles. "Anyway.. I'll.. buy her some chew toys or something.. I don't have anything to put on her teeth except maybe some clove oil, but I was afraid it'd.. make her sick or something.."
"Brilliant." Wren murmured, not really meaning to let it out. He shut off the computer monitor, so he wasn't distracted by the urge to write and not give his friend some advice. "There's these little ring type things that you can buy for her. You can put them in the freezer for a bit and pull them out and give them to her to chew on. Also, consider some popsicles, but it might be a bit too cold for her." He paused again, somehow amused that after everything, another set of children were born from the library. "And, ah, clove oil shouldn't do anything to her. Just use a cotton ball to apply it to her teeth. If you go to the store, they likely have some other stuff you can use too ..."
"Okay.. that sounds good. I'm about done with the constant crankiness and crying. Hopefully this will fix things," she murmured before sighing when Mystic trailed into the room with the sniffling baby in his arms with Fragments following shortly behind. "She's kinda .. cute when she's not screaming her little head off," Reyna went on before snickering faintly under her breath.
"I'm sure, my dear, that the same was said about you at some point in time," Wren teased lightly, before chuckling quietly. "It's likely just the teething that has her out of sorts, besides the fact that you're not use to babies and she's probably not quite use to you yet." And even a baby would need time to adjust and particularly Reyna, they needed to adjust to the behavior of each other. "... and, um, if you're having trouble getting her to sleep, have you considered letting her rest on your chest, with her ear towards your heart beat? And find her something to chew on until you get her something proper, too." The last bit was an absent thought.
"Uh.. no.. haven't tried that," she answered as she frowned, looking a bit frazzled. There was so much she didn't know! It was frustrating to no end. Her life was organized in a certain way, and she went about her daily life in what could be considered a ritualistic pattern. Everything was now completely strewn apart and putting the pieces back together seemed to be more difficult than it truly ought to be. "I think.. I've got some popsicles in the fridge.. we might have something to suffice as a teething ring. I damn near bought out a store the other day for just.. stuff for her."
There was another quiet set of chuckles, and Wren smothered the yawn that threatened to escape, if only because of the hour. "Try it, sometimes it's soothing for a baby." And other small baby animals, but he'd leave that line out. He had to learn the hard way with his kids, as it was, helping Reyna out would be a good thing -- for both new mother and child. "Well, don't worry, you'll likely buy out an entire store by the time you're finished, trust me. As is, if you want, I've got some books on babies and the like, if you want them. From when I first got Mael." As if he knew how to take care of kids, then. Considering his parents, it was likely a good thing he read up instead of practicing what he learned and sharing that knowledge with everyone else.
"Yeah.. I will. Mystic got a book while we were out," she said in a rather tired voice as she pressed a hand to her face and ceased her pacing as she settled on the couch while she watched Mystic play with the little girl in an effort to distract her from the pain of her teeth cutting through gums. "Man.. I'm so not fit to be a parent," she lamented quietly as she leaned her head back and gazed up at the ceiling, "How the hell have you managed to pull off having kids running about?"
"... you do realize I'm not entirely sane," he deadpanned, "have you ever wondered what finally made me snap?"
"True," Reyna snickered with bemused grin plastered across her face that faltered slightly when Mystic's entertainment value seemed to wear off and Samara's sniffling turned into wailing cries once more. "Well," she sighed, "I've gotta get back to the shop in the next couple of days or so.. check up on things before Athan has a cow. Want to stop by and meet the kid?"
"Sure. I suppose I could bring Mael with me, even if ..." Wren trailed off, shaking his head. "I'm sure Athan would love to see me." He added in, with a devious glint to his eye, an amused expression on his face. "And I wouldn't mind meeting the new girl, probably cute as can be." And he had a soft spot for cute things, which did include children. "What's her name?"
"Athan can kiss my a**," she replied as she sprawled out over on her side with one arm dangling off the edge of the sofa carelessly, "The kid's name is Samara. I usually just call her Sam. And she's got this funny ghost looking thing named Fragments that flutters about after her. It kinda reminds me of Mystic when he was a wisp."
"I'm sure your a** is high on Athan's list of things to kiss," he snickered as he pushed his keyboard aside, his forehead now pressed to the monitor and eyes shut. "But that is a cute name, Sam, though I don't recall a daemon quite like that before. Kind of ... unique." Particularly the way that he was imagining it in his mind's eye.
Wren's comment merited a few giggles from Reyna as she lolled about on the couch. "Oh. I'm sure of it," she snickered, "Yeah.. so.. whenever you get a chance. Stop on by. From tomorrow onward I should have resumed my normal schedule if all goes well." She trailed off on a soft sigh before sitting upright to trail off towards the kitchen where she could hear Mystic rummaging about. "Anyway.. thanks for the advice. I appreciate it. I gotta go see what my Shadow is doing with my child in the kitchen.."
"Probably looking about for a popsicle or something to for the kid to chew on, considering you know ... your shadow's ability to know your thoughts." Wren ignored the subtle tug from Hawk's Eye in the back of his mind, as the child actually came through into the room to check in on him -- or torment, as it was the same thing. "But I'll stop by, in the next day or so. Not sure when, but I'll definitely be by. You're welcome for the advice, too ..." Wren trailed off, suddenly, actually having to listen to Hawk as he bombarded him with something. "And, uh. Hawk says for Mystic to watch out."
"Yeeah.. true, true. I'll let you get back to writ--"
A loud crash interrupted her mid-sentence. Samara's crying ceased and she began giggling in amused fashion. In her upset she'd managed to make every loose item in the kitchen float. Upon seeing the stuff fly through the air she clapped her hands and laughed in approval, effectively causing everything to come crashing down.
"Uh.. I gotta go. I'll talk to you later, Wren," Reyna murmured as she peered around the corner into the kitchen with a faint wince at the mess that was strewn across the floor. Mystic shot her a rather pathetic look as he was covered in what appeared to be flour, making him look just as ghostly as Fragments.
"All right," Wren murmured, only hearing faint bits of the crashing through his end of the line. He held back the chuckles and merely glared over his shoulder towards Hawk who looked rather amused. "I'll catch you later, Reyna. See you soon and get some rest, after ... cleaning up what's probably a mess." This time, he did chuckle, but he was all ready moving to hang up the phone and turn his monitor back on so he could write.
'I am not amused,' Mystic grumbled as he handed off the little girl to Reyna before disappearing to go and clean himself off.
She sighed as she peered down at the giggling girl in her arms who reached to pat her little hands against her cheeks, no doubt leaving bits of flour in her wake. "Guess I ought to go get you cleaned up too, huh?" she murmured as she cradled the girl close in her arms and carried her off towards the bathroom to bathe her. She'd worry about the disaster area that was her kitchen later when her nerves weren't nearly so strained.
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:46 pm
// Nightmares //It seems the lack of sleep is taking its toll on Reyna...Samara exhausted herself with all her crying and ended up sleeping soundly well into the night after Reyna had cleaned her up after her little 'accident' in the kitchen. When she'd returned to clean up the mess after putting her down to sleep she found that the kitchen had already been thoroughly cleaned. It surprised her a little, but she knew quite well who had done such a thing.
She tugged affectionately at her bond to Mystic before retreating off to bed herself since the house was still and quiet once more. She slept soundly before waking with a start when she heard high pitched wailing pierce through the air. She wasn't certain what time it was when she woke to stumble down the hallway, but it was late enough to send the entire house into pitch black darkness.
"Sam, Sam.. dear one, please stop crying," Reyna murmured in a soft, tired voice as she reached to pluck the girl up and out of her crib. She rocked her in her arms, idly swaying side to side but it didn't seem to help. Her cries echoed off the mostly bare walls of the room, and in her upset she hardly seemed to hear Reyna whispering soft, soothing things against her hair. She clung to the silver haired woman and turned wide, tear-brimmed green eyes up at her imploringly.
"Alright," she breathed as she cradled the little girl in her arms and idly stroked her soft brown hair that had somehow come loose from its usual ponytail, "Let's go try out some of Wren's suggestions, hm?"
She trailed out of her room and then down the hallway towards the kitchen. She poked around in the freezer for a bit before snatching up a popsicle with one hand. She grabbed a small hand towel as an after thought. One thing she learned quite quickly was that feeding a baby who was still developing all their basic motor skills meant that meals were destined to be messy no matter what it was they were eating.
Reyna sat down on the floor with her legs crossed and pulled Sam into her lap, pleased that most of her crying had lessened to basic sniffles as she watched curiously as her mother peeled away the wrapper to the popsicle she was holding. "Look! It's cherry," she murmured, "I bet you'll like it. Everyone likes sweets." Even demons, but she refrained from telling her that. It was doubtful that Sam would remember her saying that or would know what she meant, but it wasn't something she felt quite comfortable telling the child. It was.. something they'd discuss once she was much older.
She idly bit the top off the popsicle with a loud, slurping sort of noise that made the little girl in her lap giggle and teeter over to one side. "You try," Reyna said with a faint smile as she wiped her mouth off on the towel and held the popsicle for the little girl to suckle on. She snickered when Fragments suddenly appeared near her side to prop his front paws up on Reyna's knee as though to beg for a bit of popsicle as well.
"Hey.. you don't even have a mouth," she retorted before rolling her eyes when the daemon simply huffed and decided to shuffle across her lap to curl in Sam's. He glanced up at his Forgotten with what seemed to be a sort of disgusted look on his face when a bit of cherry flavored drool drizzled down on his forehead. Reyna chuckled quietly at the sight before reaching to wipe off the drool on Fragments' forehead and Sam's mouth.
"Hee," Sam beamed as she grinned up at the silver haired woman, mouth stained a bright red from her popsicle.
"Feeling better, hm?" she smiled as she idly ruffled the girl's dark brown hair before helping her finish off the popsicle. Reyna sprawled out on her back there in the floor and pulled the little girl along with her so that she was laying against her chest on her stomach. She smiled faintly as tiny fists curled in the fabric of her shirt and Sam seemed to relax and nestle there. Fragments joined them both moments later after prowling about the living room before curling near Reyna's head.
She hadn't intended on falling asleep there in the middle of the floor, but once she closed her eyes she was out like a light. She was just so exhausted there was no fighting it. Her breathing evened out and she unconsciously wrapped one arm around Sam while the little girl snuggled close and napped as well.
From there Reyna sank into dreams filled with darkness, something that she wasn't at all unaccustomed to dreaming of. The darkness swirled around her like a thick mist that spiraled and moved as though some unseen force or wind was causing it to move. She payed it no mind. She was no stranger to darkness. It was very much so a part of her, something she was distinctly aware of and knew better to try and fight off, even in dreams.
Her dreams shifted and grew bright suddenly, throwing everything into sharp focus. She blinked curiously and sat up before frowning when she realized that Sam wasn't in her arms where she was supposed to be. Hadn't she fallen asleep with her there tucked away against her chest? She frowned and pulled herself to her feet before glancing down the hallway when she heard the faint sound of Samara's giggling laughter.
"Sam?" she murmured as she trailed after her down the hallway after catching a brief flash of brown hair and what looked very much like trails of wispy white that could only be Fragments. "Sam!" she called again, wondering why it was she couldn't seem to move fast enough to catch up with the little girl. Wasn't it just yesterday that she could do no more than crawl on her hands and knees?
She growled under her breath out of sheer frustration as she picked up her pace and began to run. She couldn't remember the hallways to her home being so long and narrow, or even so dark during the day. She stopped to catch her breath before peeking around the corner to see Fragments sitting there gazing up at her with wide, dark eyes, tail wagging slightly. He zipped away in a sudden burst of energy.
Reyna chased after him, certain that Fragments would lead her to wherever Sam was. The little daemon paused every now and then to allow the woman to catch up some, but whenever she came close to catching up with him he'd dart away a little further. This continued for some time before he seemed to disappear entirely.
She frowned and walked slowly along before pausing when she realized that there was a door open up ahead. The door led to the garden that was located at the very center of her house. It was relatively small, but it was a peaceful place meant for meditation. She squinted blearily at the sunlight that filtered through the skylight before drawing in a sharp intake of breath.
Sam was sitting in the middle of the garden near the tiny fountain. She turned to smile over at her mother for a moment before turning back towards what had caught her attention. A shiny stone was floating midair, glittering darkly in the light as swirls of shadow surrounded it.
"NO!" Reyna called out as she tried to dart forward to snatch up the little girl to keep her from touching the wisp that was floating there just a little ways above the fountain. "Sam! Don't touch that!"
Her tiny fist closed around on the object and a moment later the little girl seemed to be entirely enveloped by darkness. It wasn't the calm, cool darkness Reyna was used to. It was like the sort she had fought against with Doran. Her visible eye widened in alarm as everything faded to darkness and she seemed to be caught up in the thick black stuff. She clawed through it as though to get to wherever it was Sam was, panic overtaking her at the thought of her little girl being trapped in the same murky darkness she was.
'REYNA!'
She darted upright on a sharp intake of breath, bolting halfway up off the floor as she woke. She glanced around her to find herself in the middle of her living room where she'd fallen asleep, though now it was clearly morning. She glanced frantically around for Sam before her eyes fell upon Mystic who was holding the little girl in question in his arms.
"Uh.. I'm.. gonna go take a shower. Watch the kid for a while, kay?" Reyna murmured fuzzily as she retreated out of the living room and towards her own room to leave Mystic staring after her curiously.
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 3:58 am
// Tick-Tock //Sam has an "off" day...Sam woke up screaming.
It was a blood curdling scream that sent shivers down Reyna's spine when she darted up out of bed. It sounded as if someone was murdering her child. It was the only way she could describe it. She rushed in a panic down the hallway towards Samara's room to see what was the matter, movements jittery from lack of sleep and the sudden surge of adrenaline that thrilled through her.
Upon barging into the room, she fully expected someone or something to be there tormenting her child. She was surprised to find that nothing from what she could tell was wrong with her. Mystic was already there, hovering worriedly about the girl's crib. Even Fragments seemed to be acting strangely. His brow was furrowed in what seemed to be angry lines and if he could have, he likely would have snapped at Reyna's fingers when she moved to pick up her wailing child.
"Shh.. Sam.. dear Sam," she breathed as she cradled the little girl to her chest and idly smoothed one hand up and down her back in a soothing motion. "Child what is wrong with you? Still teething?" she murmured as she tried to look at her gums but the girl twisted her head away and shrieked at the top of her little lungs as she kicked her hands and feet in attempt to pull away from Reyna.
She looked down at the writhing child in alarm before carrying her off towards the kitchen to rummage through one of the drawers for a thermometer. Maybe she had a fever and was sick! That would certainly explain her behavior, or so Reyna thought. It was the only logical explanation she could come up with.
She tried to put the instrument in the girl's ear the way the instructions said to. Samara simply wailed in protest before physically fighting against her mother. She flailed her little arms in a sudden violence, sending the device all but flying out of Reyna's hands to skitter across the floor.
Mystic's eyes widened when he reached to pick up the thermometer to find that the digital face was cracked in several places. 'Something is definately wrong here,' came his soft reply against Reyna's mind.
"Yeeah.. no kidding," Reyna murmured as she tried to hold Sam and cradle her close once more. Normally that was something that calmed her, but it definately wasn't helping this time. Her kicking and screaming ensued and she actually bit at her mother's shoulder while pummeling her with tiny, angry fists.
"Samara!" the silver haired woman yelled over the child's screaming as she held her away from her body the way she had done when she'd first brought her home and hadn't known how to properly hold her. "What the hell is your problem, kid?"
Sam simply screamed louder at that, tears streaming down her face as her entire body seemed to shake with the force of her sobs. Reyna opened her mouth to say something else but at that moment everything in the kitchen decided to rattle and shake before floating midair. Her eyes widened and she ducked down with the girl cradled against her chest as a set of kitchen knives went flying through the air.
"Mystic!" she yelled as she glanced up just in time to see her Shadow go transparent and wisp-like as the knives passed right through him to stick in the wall behind him. Reyna felt a rush of fear and panic filter through their bond that mirrored her own emotions. If Mystic had still been in his solid form he would have been hideously wounded by the knives.
She stood suddenly and took off running with Samara cradled protectively against her chest. Everything they went by shook with the tremors of her telekinesis that was seemingly out of control. The only place in the house that Reyna knew would be somewhat safe from her now destructive powers would be the child's bedroom. There was barely anything in it for her to float through the air.
She put the child back into her crib while Fragments pawed frantically at her legs as though trying to tell her something, but it was no use. He couldn't speak and even if he could, Reyna likely wouldn't be able to understand him. She took a step back from the crib as it began to rattle and shake and was tempted to pluck the screaming girl out of it for fear that it would come apart.
'She's safer there. Athan spelled it, remember? It's least likely she'll hurt herself in here,' Mystic murmured as he reached to grab Reyna by the arm and haul her away from the child for fear that somehow his Guardian would end up hurt the way he almost was with the knives. 'Leave her be..'
"But," Reyna protested before Mystic bodily through her down to the floor when the rocks that Samara had appeared with in the Library came flying out of the treasure chest box that they had been safely stored away in. One of the larger rocks flew into the wall that Reyna had been standing in front of moments before while another smashed through the glass window on the opposite wall.
'Stay down,' Mystic breathed as he ducked down over Reyna and huddled close to her as though to shield her from the onslaught of Samara's temper tantrum. They stayed huddled there in a corner of the room for what seemed to be hours on end, afraid to leave the child there alone and afraid that one of them would end up hurt by the swirling rocks that banged violently into the walls, leaving considerable damage in their wake.
Both Mystic and Reyna ended up curled on the floor behind a small table that had been knocked over. Surprisingly it was one of the few things aside from the crib that wasn't floating about the room. It was something that Athan had donated to help spruce up the room, so that was likely the reason for that. Either way, it made for a fairly good sheild against everything that Sam threw at them.
Reyna occassionally peeked up over the edge of the table to see what Sam was doing when she fell quiet, but whenever the child spotted her mother looking at her, her wailing would resume, as would the bombardment of rocks swirling about the room. It didn't end until sometime late in the evening when Samara finally exhausted herself. She laid in her crib curled on her side with Fragments, sobbing into the panda plushie that Mystic had given her.
The silver haired woman desperately wanted to go over to her and comfort her, but she was afraid that by moving from her and Mystic's hiding spot that somehow she'd end up upsetting her. Just as she was about to give into that temptation and try to see if her child was okay, the door to the bedroom swung open.
Athan snorted faintly in a bemused fashion as he took in the appearence of the room. The curtains were half torn off the window that was smashed in, rocks were scattered across the floor and inbedded in the walls, and Reyna and Mystic were huddled behind an overturned table. That last part was what proved to be the most comical. "Do I even want to know?" he snickered as he pushed back the hood to his cloak before reaching to haul Reyna up off the floor with one arm, eyes widening slightly when she stumbled.
"Er.. sorry.. legs went numb," she explained tiredly before pulling away from him to move towards the crib to check on the sleeping little girl.
"... how long were you two in the floor?" he asked slowly with a bemused smirk on his face as he idly tried to pry one of the rocks free from the wall.
"I have no idea. Sam went nuts with her telekinesis and we couldn't get anywhere near her," she replied softly as she bent to carefully brush the girl's brown hair out of her face. She was sound asleep, cheeks slightly pink from exertion and lashes a dark, damp smudge against pale skin.
"She's a telekenetic? You failed to mention that," Athan replied smoothly as he managed to jerk free the rock from the wall that left a large hole where the rock once was. He studied the dark stone for a moment before squinting at it curiously in as he held it up to the light. His head tilted to the side as he stared at the stone, seemingly transfixed by it. "Did you know that there are crystals of some sort inside these stones?" he murmured as he picked up another and examined it as well.
The one from the wall was cracked and he could easily see the sparkling crystals within it, though none of the other's seemed to be as damaged as that first. "Very interesting.." he mused out loud before moving to push Samara's dresser upright before setting the cracked stone on top of the piece of furniture as though to add a simple, decorative touch to the thoroughly trashed room.
Reyna simply rolled her eyes at the man before ushering him out of the room forcibly by one arm to keep from waking Sam or Fragments, both of which were sleeping soundly for once. "What are you doing here anyway?" she asked as they trailed towards the kitchen that Reyna soon discovered, was just as demolished as it had been a couple of nights ago when Sam had been throwing a temper tantrum. She could easily foresee that dealing with with the child when she was older and was a bit more in control of her powers was not going to be easy or pleasant.
"You were supposed to be at the shop today," Athan replied before smiling when Reyna looked slightly startled and opened her mouth to explain why she hadn't been there to take care of the shop. "It's not a problem. I figured something was wrong and came over to check on you. And I'll have you know that I knocked," he went on, smirking broadly in a way that unnerved the woman slightly, "And you were not there to answer the door."
"Right. Well. I was a bit preoccupied," Reyna grumbled as she scowled over at the man and motioned to the mess that was supposed to be her kitchen. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She was utterly exhausted, and from what she could guess, she probably looked it. That was the only reason she could come up with as to why Athan was being so.. nice.
She sat and chatted with him idly for a while about shop matters and briefly about Sam, but truly she was too exhausted to focus on any sort of legitimate conversation. She was mentally physically drained and felt as though she could easily sleep for several days if she could get away with such a thing.
There was also this nagging worry eating away at the back of her mind. She didn't quite understand why it was Samara had acted the way she did. The only thing she could think of to do was to possibly stop by the place she was born to see if there were any answers there. "Athan.. I don't think I'll be at the shop tomorrow, either," she murmured tiredly, "Sam.. I need to see about Sam."
"Yes.. and I think you ought to see about yourself first and get some sleep," Athan admonished in a fatherly sort of way that made Reyna growl and bare her teeth in irritation. The man paid her no mind and simply hauled her off towards her room despite how she fought and hissed like some wildcat.
Mystic simply watched as he peeked his head out of Samara's room, vaugely amused. Reyna's behavior reminded him of how the little girl had fought against either of them trying to hold or console her. 'Strangely fitting.'
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 1:04 am
// Milk and Cookies //A bit of normalcy returns to the household...Samara sat in her high chair while avidly watching her mother move about the kitchen. Quiet classical music played in the background, something that she found to be quite delightful. Occassionally she'd gurgle quietly and clap her hands when one of the movements to the concerto her mother was listening to would come to a close before picking up with the next.
She had a bottle of milk to sip at and cheerios to gnaw on. She was one happy little girl, something that contrasted sharply with her behavior the day before. She'd been terribly upset then. Everything had felt strangely wrong and nothing consoled her. Not even Misty and she loved him. He was the best! He drifted through the air with her up so high towards the ceiling. It was a marvelous feeling to soar through the air like that!
She shoved a couple of cheerios into her mouth and kicked her chubby little legs in an excited fashion when Fragments floated up towards her. She giggled and laughed merrily when he upset the bowl of cereal she had, something that made Reyna scowl darkly. Thankfully Sam wasn't old enough to handle eating cereal properly with a spoon and milk, otherwise the mess she was having to clean up would've been a lot worse.
"Alright you," she muttered as she pointed accusingly at the wispy little daemon that zipped through the air around her in a way that made her feel a little dizzy, "No more chaos, alright? I had enough of that yesterday. Thanks."
Fragments simply wagged his little tail and pawed playfully at the ground as though to try and get her to play. Sam laughed at that as she kicked her feet and bounced slightly in her seat. Reyna simply shook her head and rolled her visible eye as she bent to pick up the bits of cereal that was scattered across the floor.
She snorted a bit indignantly when she stood upright and found herself nearly nose to nose with the little demon. "What?" she grumbled before pushing past the little creature, idly glancing back towards Sam who stuffed her hands against her face as she giggled. Her voice seemed a bit hoarse, but otherwise she showed no outwards signs of whatever it was that had ailed her the day before. She had to admit that it was strange, but mostly she was simply thankful that whatever it was had seemingly come to pass.
A timer chimed in the kitchen, something that alerted both her and the curious daemon that hopped on top of the stove to peer at the beeping clock. "Be thankful what I'm cooking is in the oven you little beast," Reyna informed Fragments, "Otherwise we'd be having ghost for a snack, now wouldn't we?"
The silver haired woman swore the creature gave her a rather dirty look for that comment. She squinted at him for a moment before bending to retrieve the food she'd been baking out of the oven. She'd made several dozen star shaped cookies, all of which were covered in colored sugar crystals. She was aware that cookies and popsicles probably weren't the best thing to give a little kid all the time, but she could afford to spoil Sam some. She certainly felt as though the child needed some sort of comfort after her ordeal yesterday.
She waited for them to cool before breaking one in half to offer to the little girl. She smiled as her tiny hands reached for it. Reyna snickered faintly when the child banged it against the high chair rather than stuffing it in her mouth. "No, no," she admonished lightly as she resisted the urge to laugh at the girl's antics, "Eat it."
She popped a small corner into the little girl's mouth and smirked faintly at the expressions that fluttered across Sam's face. "I'm not too bad at cooking, huh? I suppose I might want to learn how to make healthier things, though. All things considered, right?" she chatted idly as she reached to pull up a chair next to Sam's. She sat in it backwards with her arms casually thrown over the back as she continued to talk to the little girl as though she were simply another person and not a baby. She'd never been around a baby and didn't know better, really.
Besides, conversations were always best with milk and cookies.
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 6:53 am
// Twilight Designs //Sam's first visit to the shop Reyna runs...The way to work was a path she knew all too well. She went the same way nearly every day, but admittedly it had been weeks since she had gone to open up shop. The last time she'd been at the store had been the evening of their battle with Athan's old comrade he'd previously thought to be dead -- or so he said. There were too many details around the situation that were a bit fuzzy for her liking, but she decided not to press the issue. What was important was that it was all done and over with and the b*****d had been locked away.. mostly.
She sighed as she adjusted her hold on the squirming baby in her arms as she fumbled with her keys to unlock the door. Just as she had found the correct key Athan appeared in the doorway and unlocked it for her from the inside. Her eyes widened slightly at that. It was hideously early. What the hell was he doing there at that time of day? Truly it wasn't even nessecary for her to be awake and there so early, but she preferred to avoid the crowds of people that gathered in the mornings.
"Morning," Athan replied before smiling faintly at the sight of Samara when the little girl gurgled a hello of sorts of her own.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. She seemed to be asking him that quite frequently as of late. Then again, he always seemed to be popping up unexpectantly.
"I didn't think you'd be showing up. You seemed a bit out of sorts last I saw you, I do believe," he informed her before locking the door behind her once she shuffled inside with Sam and her diaper bag.
"Thanks for the reminder," she grumbled before biting back a yawn as she headed towards the back room to settle her little girl in. She was surprised to find a play pen already set up and an assortment of brightly colored toys. Reyna laughed quietly under her breath before glancing towards Athan who was leaning in the doorway arms crossed over his chest. "Just happen to have a baby pen lying about your house, huh?"
"I could have. You don't know."
She snorted and arched a brow at that. "Don't tell me. You've got a wife and six kids at home," she teased as she sat Sam down into the pen to explore all the new shiny things that had been bestowed upon her.
"It's possible."
She stopped midmovement and simply allowed the diaper bag to slide off her shoulder limply before she burst into a fit of giggles. "Riiiiight," she snickered, "I'm so not buying that one. I won't even rent it." She sighed, a small smile still toying at her lips as she dug through her messenger bag for the cookies she'd made the day before. Cookies were an excellent breakfast -- or so she tried to convince Mystic when she'd packed them in a small container and stuffed them in her bag for later.
"Want one?" she asked around a mouthful of sugar cookie as she held the container out towards Athan when she noticed he was still hovering there in the doorway. She frowned when he simply eyed her a bit suspiciously. "What? It's not like I poisoned them or anything. I made them for Sam.. mostly. Do you really think I'd give my kid a poisoned cookie?"
Her gaze narrowed and she brushed past him with a huff when he remained silent and stared at her pointedly. He grabbed up the container when she walked past and stole a cookie for himself. Reyna simply smirked and decided after a moment that she was curious as to how he managed to eat the damn thing and not get any crumbs all over his impeccable all black wardrobe.
Sam gazed after her mother through the mesh side of the baby pen as she crawled on her hands and knees. She gurgled something, eyes wide as she reached towards the direction she'd walked with one hand. Fragments appeared next to her, distracting her from what would have been a moment of upset at having been left all alone.
Instead, she busied herself with the bright new toys that dangled off the side of the pen and the soft pillows that were inside the pen itself. She teetered over onto her back, giggling quietly as she fell backwards and she noticed that the ceiling was moving. Reyna had painted it to resemble the night sky and Athan had spelled it to move and shift like a miniature sky.
This fascinated her for some time as she lay, quietly cooing to herself and Fragments before she squealed when Mystic appeared above her. For a brief moment he seemed to blend in with the ceiling seeing as he was dark colored and mostly transparent before he took on a solid form. She kicked her feet excitedly, small arms flailing up towards him. She wanted to be picked up!
She made a gleeful sort of noise when he did just that. Sam murmured something unintelligible as she craned her neck to gaze up at the ceiling before beaming when the Shadow floated up towards the constantly shifting painting so that she could see it better. She reached out with one hand to brush her tiny fingertips against the surface.
'Too bad that sky isn't real, hm? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to touch the stars and float that high?' he murmured even though he knew she wouldn't understand a thing he said. She simply smiled at him before squirming faintly when the fascination with the ceiling wore off. He dove sharply downwards before skittering up again and through the door to zip through the front of the shop with Fragments following closely behind.
There was nothing quite as sweet as her giggling laughter, he decided as he cradled her close against his chest.
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2005 6:35 pm
// Big Brother //Mystic contemplates Sam...Samara gurgled happily as Mystic set her in her high chair. She did so love him! He was shiny and purple and could zip through the air just like Fragments! At that thought the little ghost-like daemon appeared and settled himself on the child's tray, tail wagging expectantly as though waiting for his breakfast as well.
Mystic batted the creature away before chuckling quietly when Fragments thought that an invitation to play. Sam squealed loudly and threw her hands into the air as though to join in which simply added to the daemon's enthusiasm.
'Hey! It's time for you to eat breakfast, not play,' he insisted in a soft whisper against the girl's mind. Sam's green eyes widened and her delighted cries ceased for a moment as she stared up at the Shadow. Mystic's brow furrowed in worried lines. He had forgotten about how Sam might be frightened by his telepathic speech. He internally cursed himself with a few vibrant adjectives he'd picked up from his bonded.
Tentatively he reached out to nudge against her mind to see how bad the damage was. Rather than finding the mess of confusion he simply knew would be there, he found simple curiosity. She was also comparing him to Fragments. Apparently he spoke to her in a similar way, so she wasn't so much shocked and confused as she was mildly surprised.
She giggled happily and banged her hands on the tray as though the demand the bowl of warm, chocolate cereal Mystic was holding in her dark hands. She was hungry and her tummy told her it was time to eat!
'Right,' he murmured as he pulled up a chair to Sam's and offered her a spoonful of the cereal. She accepted the first bite greatfully while humming under her breath in what Mystic assumed was approval. His mind wandered as he continued to feed the child her breakfast, idly wondering what sort of connection Sam had with Fragments.
Reyna had said that they had appeared together from a book. It sounded strange to him, but he hardly had room to talk when it came to being strange. He had manifested from a small gem surrounded in shadows. Sam was at least more normal in the sense that she appeared and acted more human and had the basic needs of any human child as far as he could tell.
He just barely had a physical, solid form and eating wasn't something he could do seeing as he had no internal organs or even a mouth. His gaze narrowed in a tic of irritation at that thought. He wanted to be more like that. More human. He idly pushed a hand back through his hair after cleaning up Sam's face with a wet rag.
'You're lucky,' he told her as he hefted the small child from her seat. She merely gurgled cheerfully as she fisted one tiny hand in his hair as he drifted lazily down the hallway with Fragments nipping at his heels.
To be human. He wondered if that was even a possibility for him. He realized he was technically still growing. He had once been a tiny wisp, and now he was physically a teenager. He felt somewhat trapped, though -- and for reasons he didn't quite comprehend. He simply felt.. strange. Out of place. It wasn't something he'd really noticed before but now it was suddenly glaringly obvious.
He supposed that the observation came about when Sam entered his life. The only other people he'd ever been around for an extended period of time were his guardian and Athan. It didn't exactly make for a very good comparison when he was thinking about himself. There was Hawk, but the little Seer creeped him out for some reason.
He frowned faintly as he carried Sam off into her room to change her into some clean clothes before taking her out into the garden to play some with Fragments. There was just so much he felt he didn't understand, but at the same time he knew quite a bit. It was another odd feeling he hadn't quite sorted out.
'At least you don't have to worry about things like that,' he stated quietly as Sam giggled when he idly tickled her sides and then her feet as he put little socks and shoes on her. After that he took her out into the garden and decided to brush his worried thoughts aside for the time being and simply watch Sam enjoy the warm sunshine.
Sam laid on her back and gazed happily up at the sky. It was warm and bright. She reached up towards the sky with her tiny hands and gurgled some nonsensical gibberish. Her view of the brilliant blue sky was slightly ruined when Fragments got in the way. She batted at him and kicked her legs in frustration before managing to roll herself over onto her tummy.
From there her world tilted and her perspective on things changed slightly. Forget the sky! There were all sorts of things on the ground to explore. Fragments agreed with this train of thought and decided to hunker down in the grass and roll and play. The sight of him doing that was something that tickled Samara to no end.
She clapped her little hands and laughed as she watched before teetering over on her side as she lost her balance. She hadn't quite gotten the hand of sitting upright or crawling just yet, but she was working on it! Mystic watched this with a look of amusement on his face as he shifted slightly to hide within the shadow of the tall tree that was there in the center of the garden.
He disliked sunlight and generally being in any sort of light, but it was good for Sam, and she definately seemed to be enjoying herself.
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:15 pm
// A Small Adventure //Small adventure in a big department store..."Well since Mystic isn't feeling all that social I guess it's just you and me, kiddo," Reyna murmured with a quirky sort of grin as Sam squealed and writhed in her arms, obviously excited that they were going to go somewhere. The silver haired woman chuckled quietly under her breath at the child's antics before cradling her close against her chest.
She locked the front door behind her and Fragments and started her way off towards Barton. They made fairly good time despite the fact that Reyna was on foot, but she wouldn't really have it any other way. She preferred to walk or occassionally teleport to where she needed to be. The only issue with teleportation at the moment was that she wasn't entirely certain how it would affect Sam -- and then there was always the chance that her abilities would spaz and she'd end up lost between dimensions.
She frowned at that thought. Yes. She definately preferred to walk.
They hopped aboard a bus in Barton and Reyna couldn't help but smirk faintly when Fragments zipped past them, effectively startling the driver as he had done once before when she had first brought both daemon and Forgotten home. She settled down in a seat with Sam still curled protectively in her arms.
Fragments materialized in the adjoining seat next to her, tail wagging excitedly as he idly pawed at the the back of the seat in front of them. Reyna was simply thankful that no one else was sitting around them, otherwise she was fairly certain she'd have a hard time keeping the rather energenic daemon out of the other passengers' hair -- not that she could really control him anyway.
He was, she guessed, a part of Sam or bonded to her the way she was bonded to Mystic. It was only her guess, but there was no way for her to know for certain until Sam was older and she could explain. If should could explain. There was a fairly good chance the child would be just as clueless as she was.
Either way, it wasn't something she was really all that worried about. Fragments hadn't proved to be any sort of danger to her, Mystic, or Samara. In fact, he did a very good job at protecting his little girl and always came running to her or her Shadow whenever the babe was upset. She smiled faintly at that and idly reached to pet the little ghost like creature. He seemed to take on a solid form for a moment to enjoy the attention before going transparent once more when the bus lolled to a stop and he zipped off to wait for both guardian and child impatiently on the sidewalk.
She shot a slightly apologetic look towards the bus driver, but honestly she wasn't that concerned. She found the daemon's antics entertaining most of the time, and so did Sam.
The child in question gurgled something in a cheerful sort of voice as she patted one hand against her mother's cheek, tiny hands idly grabbing at the woman's short, silver hair. "Hey now.. don't be tugging so hard," Reyna admonished, careful to keep her tone light. She'd learned rather quickly that growling the way she normally would served only to frighten the poor kid.
She'd learned quite a bit since taking Sam into her care. It definately changed her perspective on things. It wasn't nessecarily something she could, or even would if pressed, put to words, but she did realize that things were different.
"Ah well. Change isn't nessecarily a bad thing, right?" she asked even though she knew Sam wouldn't be able to supply her with a coherent answer or would even be able to comprehend exactly what it was she was saying. She smiled faintly down at the girl as they walked along before stopping before a rather nice looking department store.
It was one she'd gone to once before, and decided it was worth shopping at again. The prices weren't too terribly bad (not that she was hard pressed for money, but she had the overwhelming tendency to hoarde anything of value), and the sales associates didn't annoy her too terribly much.
She headed towards the children's section of the store after settling Sam into a shopping cart. Really, she felt sort of comical pushing a baby around in a cart, but she figured it was just something that she'd have to get used to. Fragments hopped into the basket portion of the cart. He sat on his hind legs with his front paws propped up on the rim so he could watch what was going on around all of them.
"Mm... gotta get a book for Mystic, too," she absently reminded herself out loud as they walked along. She paused briefly in front of an end cap, stopping a few aisles short of the children's area, to eye a set of books that seemed interesting. Sam kicked her feet back and forth in her little seat as she watched her mother skim through a few pages of the books.
How boring! She squirmed irritably in an effort to get loose, but it was no good. She couldn't get herself free. She turned her large, expressive green eyes up towards her mother with a faint whine to get her attention but it was no use. Reyna seemed more absorbed in the book in her hands than her. Tears welled in her eyes and she sniffled faintly and reached to grab at the air near where her mother stood but she couldn't quite reach.
Fragments zipped through the air, but Reyna simply batted him away as though she were merely swatting at an annoying fly. With a look of determination Fragments tried again, but to no avail. He huffed irritably before knocking over a display a few feet away. The various baubles and trinkets displayed on the spinning rack came crashing down with a racket of noise that echoed off the walls.
Sam giggled and writhed in amusement in her seat, quickly forgetting that she was upset about having to sit in the cart. Reyna's visible eye widened in shock before her expression darkened as the mischievous little daemon flittered off before she could reprimand him for what he'd done.
For all he was concerned, he had done his job! Sam was no longer unhappy. He hid atop one of the cap shelves and watched as Reyna bent to help the sales associate that came rushing at the sound of the crash to pick up the mess that had been created.
"I am so sorry," she murmured quietly before she paled slightly when she heard another crash. Reyna went still and glanced towards Sam when the child started giggling again. She caught a brief flash of white zip around a corner and she resisted the urge to groan.
Maybe shopping wasn't such a good idea.
"That little beast," she grumbled under her breath as she clenched her teeth and left the sales associate to clean up the mess the aforementioned 'beast' had created. She pushed along the cart until she came to a stop. The daemon sat at the end of the aisle, tail wagging with a look on his face that was clearly supposed to make him look innocent. Unfortunately for him, Reyna knew better.
She said nothing, but the look on her face definately revealed that she was not pleased. Sam, on the other hand, seemed rather tickled by the chaos her daemon had wrought. The crash and the noises reminded her of when things had floated in the kitchen and then came crashing down!
She banged her little hands on the railing of the cart, while humming a sort of sing song little noise as they continued on their way to the children's department of the store. Sam's eyes went wide with wonder at all the brightly colored, noisy things that were clearly there for her to play with.
She reached out with both hands towards a particularly shiny looking toy. "Uhnmuh!" She wanted it! Samara looked pleadingly up at Reyna, but her mother walked right past the shiny thing she wanted. Large, crocodile tears welled up in her eyes once more and she began to sniffle and cry.
"Sam," Reyna pleaded, "please don't throw a fit! We've already caused enough trouble in here." She sighed irritably and pinched the bridge of her nose when the child continued to cry before she started wailing outright. Other costumers in the area scowled and indiscreetly moved away from where they were to try and distance themselves from the noise.
Somehow the last time when they'd gone shopping things had gone a lot smoother. Then again, Mystic had also been there to appease Sam. Reyna sighed at that as she realized that this was something she was going to have to do on her own. She was the child's guardian, not Mystic.
She plucked the child up out of the cart and cradled her to her chest in an effort to soothe her but it wasn't doing any good. She wanted the shiny, not to be held! Didn't she know? She fisted her hands in Reyna's shirt and sobbed as she kicked her feet and continued to throw her temper tantrum.
It was at that moment that things started to rattle and shake. Reyna's eyes widened and she sucked in a sharp breath. That was not a good sign when Sam was involved. "Ohhhh no.. no no no," she murmured almost frantically as she abandoned the cart and skittered back down the aisle.
Sam's crying quietened some when she realized that they were going back down the aisle where the shiny had been. She made grabby hands at it as they passed and it and everything else that had been stacked neatly on the shelves followed after them.
Reyna didn't notice this as she headed for the door, but the other employees and customers did. A few people cried out about there being a ghost of some sort while another pointed a finger at the silver haired woman and the wailing child that the toys were following.
"Not good not good!" the woman cried out as she now had security officers and the store manager chasing after her as well. She wasn't a thief! Truly she wasn't. Nor was Sam. The child merely didn't know any better, and clearly had no control whatsoever over her telekinesis.
She came to a sudden halt when she realized they had blocked off the doors. She shuffled Sam from one arm to the other to free her right arm. "Please let this work," she gasped as she hastily constructed a rune midair before teleporting herself outside the store, leaving the angry mob of plushies, sales associates, and security guards quite confused that their supposed culprit had disappeared in thin air.
Fragments trotted out through the automatic front doors and Reyna scowled. "This is so your fault," she informed him but she couldn't hide the faint smirk that was on her face. Despite the sheer chaos they had managed to create, deep down she was horribly amused. She darted down the street before the people inside the store could realize she was standing outside and giggled faintly under her breath.
Sam laughed, too, tears still in her eyes, but there was a smile on her face. She might not have gotten her shiny, but it had still been fun, and apparently teleporting short distances didn't seem to have any sort of negative effect on her child.
All in all she couldn't really complain. Much.
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:18 pm
// A Favor //Reyna calls upon Athan for a favor...Reyna had a plan. It was a plan she knew would work, it was just a matter of implementing it. In order to get Mystic to spill on whatever it was that was eating him from the inside out, she'd have to corner him away from Sam -- and to get him away from his beloved little sister she'd have to find a babysitter.
"I need a favor."
Athan glanced up from the stack of papers on the desk before him. His mouth twitched faintly as though he wanted to frown. He knew quite well he was indebted to Reyna, but another part of him cringed at the thought of owing favors to a demon. Typically, that sort of thing led to the loss of one's soul, and he preferred to hold on to what was left of his as tattered as it may be.
"And what would this favor entail, exactly?" he asked slowly as he put down the document he was reading over and peered over at the silver haired woman suspiciously.
Reyna smirked slowly, something that distinctively reminded Athan of an overly pleased cat. It was plainly obvious she was enjoying holding impending doom over his head. Her smirk faded somewhat as she leaned her elbows on top of the desk and rested her chin in her hands.
"Could you babysit Sam for a while?" she requested, "Only for a little while tomorrow. I've got some errands to run and toting her along makes things difficult." Plus, she was bound and damned determined to figure out what was bugging Mystic.
"Sure," he found himself replying before he could say no or otherwise think of something rude to say in response. He let out a breath of air he hadn't realized he'd been holding and offered the woman a faint, barely there smile.
"Great!" she beamed with a bright smile which unnerved Athan to no end, "I'll meet you here at the shop tomorrow morning around eight or so. That alright with you?"
"Yeah," he replied as he continued to eye the woman suspiciously as though there was some sort of catch, "That's fine by me." It left him with plenty of time to have enough coffee in the morning to ensure he was conscious enough to take care of Sam. As for everything else, well, he'd simply have to play it by ear. As much as it pained him to admit, he had about as much experience with children as Reyna did. His only advantage over the woman was that he could actually remember being a child at one point.
The babysitter having been found, all that was left for Reyna to do was to pack up a bag of things for Sam when she got home and to find out what had her Shadow so down and out. So far, her plan was going off without a hitch. Now it was just a matter of coaxing Mystic out of his room.
---
Athan waited patiently the next morning in the back room with a cup of coffee in hand as he waited for Reyna to arrive with the little bundle of joy he was going to be watching for the better part of the day. It wasn't as though he honestly had something else to do aside from study spells and the like, but that was something he always did. This wasn't to say that he was tired of his studying or he was bored with it, but he could definately afford to spend some time doing something other than attempting to decipher ancient books.
He glanced up when Reyna came in with Sam in her arms. The child sleepily scrubbed at her eyes with one hand and gave a little yawn as she squirmed in her mother's arms restlessly. "Morning," the silver haired woman called as she balanced Samara on one hip and a diaper bag on the other.
"Morning," he replied calmly as he stood and dropped his coffee cup off in the sink to take care of later. He reached for Sam with a small smile. "Hello, little one," he said to the baby who cooed something sweet back in response as she nestled in his arms. He was familiar enough to her that she didn't fear him, and Fragments certainly wasn't alarmed by him, either. The little daemon settled itself upon Athan's shoulder and wagged his tail expectantly, clearly excited that they were out of the house and obviously going somewhere.
"Well," Reyna began as she gazed fixedly at Sam and fidgeted in a somewhat nervous fashion. Athan arched a brow at that before it dawned on him exactly what the real problem was -- the woman hadn't ever left her baby with anyone other than Mystic and they had a direct connection with one another. Technically she could check on Sam whenever she wanted via Mystic when she was at work.
"Take care and have fun running around today," Athan smiled, startling the silver haired woman out of her temporary stupor.
"Uhh.. right! Just.. uhm.. well.."
"I'll see you later tonight," Athan stated for her as he followed her towards the front door of the shop. He nearly had to give the woman a shove out the door before she'd actually leave. Sam waved with one hand in a way that made Reyna falter once more, but Athan was prepared for this, too -- he locked the door and turned away.
"Your mum doesn't have anything to worry about right, Sam?" he murmured as he idly stroked the little girl's hair when she yawned and leaned against his shoulder, "But I do believe it's a bit to early for you to be up and about."
With that he left the shop and transported himself along with the child and daemon to his own home. Sam squinted blearily at her surroundings when she noticed that the sky looked slightly different as did the scenery. There were no buildings! It reminded her a bit of home, so she wasn't all that upset by the change. There were no other buildings next to her home, afterall, seeing as Reyna had all but secluded herself within a swamp just outside of Bass'ken Lake.
There was no swamp surrounding Athan's land, though. It was nothing but lush countryside and no other buildings or people to be seen for miles. He was as appreciative of his privacy as Reyna was, in all honesty.
He smirked faintly at that as he treaded up along the gravel sidewalk that led to the front door. He fumbled with a key briefly before managing to get the door open. The lights flickered on a bit reluctantly and left the house itself dimly lit. It was plenty enough light for Athan, though. Too much and it irritated his senses and gave him a headache. He blamed it on spending far too much time in darkness, but there was little he could do to change that now.
He headed towards his room to gently lay Sam down so that she might be able to sleep a little longer. She had done nothing but yawn since Reyna had handed her off to him. She murmured to him in her own garbled little language as she clutched one fist around the arm of her panda plushie while Fragments nested in one of Athan's pillows.
The child slept soundly for some time and Athan busied himself with by reading a book he'd meant to read long ago and never found the time to do so. About half way through he stopped when he heard a loud cry pierce through the air. He dropped the book without a thought and headed off towards his room to find Samara sitting upright, redfaced and angry as she cried.
"Shhh. It's okay," Athan reassured her as he scooped her up in his arms and cradled her close until her sobbing subsided to soft hiccups. He carried her into the rather large living area and fetched the diaper bag that Reyna had packed for her. He fished out a bottle and a package of forumla. Figuring out how he was going to make the bottle with Sam still in his arms (seeing as she began to sniffle and protest whenever he moved to set her down), nevermind figure out how to make said formula correctly was going to prove to be interesting.
One small mess later, he had a bottle and a less fussy baby. Idly he glanced towards the daemon. "I don't suppose you eat anything," he said out loud, but from the looks of him he didn't really look solid enough to eat actual food. "Look a bit Fiendish to me.." He poked at Fragments and snickered in amusement when the little ghost creature thought that an invitation to play.
Sam giggled at this around her bottle as she watched Fragments run circles about Athan's feet and then chase him down the hallway when he headed back towards his bedroom. It was the most child proof area of his home, and he didn't want to risk Sam or Fragments getting into something they shouldn't.
Not only would it irritate him some, but he was fairly certain it wouldn't be exactly safe for either child or daemon. Ultimately, his own life would also be in danger considering Reyna's behavior earlier. Who'd have thought that the woman would become so firmly attached to the child? It was rather endearing, but he wouldn't dare mention those thoughts out loud. He wasn't about to hand her bragging rights, afterall.
He settled on the bed and curled there on his side with his book with Sam to watch her play with a few of the toys that Reyna had packed for her and a few he had absently bought for her when he was out and about. So maybe he was endeared to her, too.
He smiled faintly at that and ended up watching the child play rather than reading his book.
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:19 pm
// Little Sister //Mystic is having a hard time coping with Sam...To say that Mystic was angry would be a vast understatement. He was positively fuming and had been ever since he'd returned home after his last lesson with Athan. He told himself that if it weren't for that bloody seer it wouldn't have been nearly so bad, but another small voice in his head, a quiet, low voice he hadn't noticed before, said otherwise. At least for today, he had no lessons -- Athan thought it best that he take a day off from his studies.
'Of course he thought that it was best,' Mystic all but snarled to himself as he paced within the confines of his room which he then realized was rather small. That irritated him too. It made him feel caged, trapped. He scowled and moved to sit on the edge of the bed and hold his head in his hands.
He couldn't explain the rage that was coursing through him. He wanted to blame it entirely on Athan and Hawk, but he knew that it was more than that. He just couldn't explain it. Nothing really seemed to make sense. He visibly tensed and tightened his arms about himself and buried his face against his knees. He wanted to scream. Or yell.
But that was difficult to do when one had no voice.
There was so much anger within him, and there was no visible way to release it. Reading didn't help. Talking Reyna into allowing him to play with her art stuffs didn't help -- that would only lead to him having to talk to Reyna and she'd corner him to try and figure out what had made him all but close off their shared bond.
That was taking its toll on him as well, and he thought maybe that was part of it. He was used to sharing energy with her and now he was relying entirely on his own. It didn't hurt him or strain him, but it did leave him feeling sort of detached from her. It was probably for the best, or so he tried to convince himself. He'd just bring her pain.
He sat up straight, brow furrowed in worried lines as he tried to pinpoint exactly where that thought came from. He'd never cause Reyna pain. He'd made a promise to himself that he'd never hurt another person he loved.
'A promise..?'
Unbidden came images that reminded him of the first few books of magic he read. The images were fuzzy around the edges, tattered and frayed as though the roll of film had been damaged. He was in a large house. He heard a woman scream and then there was a sudden silence that him. That deafening sound seemed to knock the wind out of him.
Then he heard the distinct voice of a child calling out to its father in a small, wavering voice. A brief image of a little girl with dark hair and tear brimmed eyes flashed across his vision and then there was nothing.
He blinked a couple of times and realized that he was no longer sitting on his bed. He was standing in the door way of Sam's bedroom and she was standing upright in her crib crying. Fragments was pawing at his legs in an effort to obtain his attention as though to inform him of the child's upset. He swallowed thickly and pressed a hand to his face as he swayed lightly on his feet.
He didn't feel quite right. Something was wrong and he didn't know what it was.
Samara's crying pierced through the air and he pressed his hands to his ears. 'J-just... shut up..!' he hissed but it did no good, the child simply cried louder until in her upset the pictures on the walls and her assortment of stuffed animals began to tremble with the first signs of her telekinesis.
He darted out of the room suddenly in a movement that made his dizziness worse. He just barely made it into his room before he dropped to his knees and clutched at his head. There was a dull, throbbing ache there at his temples and it increased every time one of Sam's high pitched wails pierced through the air.
He wasn't sure how long he stayed there on the floor, doubled over from the searing pain in his head. It could've been hours or simply mere minutes. He didn't really become aware of his surroundings again until he felt a gentle nudge inside his mind that soothed the pain. Reyna. His eyes sifted open and he glanced towards his door that was not but a few feet away. He could just barely see the soles of her boots beneath seam of the door.
"Hey.. you alright?" Reyna asked, concerned. She'd been hit with the oddest feeling when she was almost home and when she'd walk into the house Sam had been all but screaming in upset. Now the child was merely hiccuping softly against her shoulder with her tiny fists clenched in her shirt.
'I'm fine,' he lied easily enough, somehow managing to keep his telepathic voice from wavering.
"You sure?" she murmured again as he continued to soothe the grouchy child in her arms. She frowned when she didn't recieve a vocal response and Mystic shut her out completely from his mind. "Well.. I'm going to make dinner for, Sam. You take it easy, alright?"
'Alright.'
Reyna walked away, a bit unnerved by her Shadow's behavior. Normally he was well attuned to Sam's moods, even more so than she was. The fact that she had been wailing when she walked in concerned her to say the least. "It's okay, Sam," she whispered sweetly to the little girl in her arms as she patted her back and rocked her in her arms as she headed towards the kitchen to get dinner ready for the both of them.
Sam, however, was not easily consoled. She'd been napping quite soundly when something terrible had disrupted her wonderful dream! It had been dark and scary, and when she woke her room had been just as dark since the lights were off and the windows had been blocked out to keep her telekinesis from breaking the glass.
Unfortunately, all she could do was cry in protest. She couldn't form words to explain why she was upset or what had scared her, and that seemed to frustrate her more. At least her mother was there and she was being held. That definately helped. She heaved a little sigh and scrubbed at her face with one tiny hand as she sniffled faintly.
"Shh. No more tears tonight, little one," Reyna smiled as she idly kissed the girl's cheek as she settled her down into her high chair so that she might give her dinner.
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:21 pm
// Slight Confusion //Sam is frightened by a sudden change...Reyna grumbled as she padded down the hallway. Damn her head hurt. She rubbed at her temples before going to look at the aspirin bottle. She couldn't remember how many it was she could take in the span of a handful of hours. She took two when she came home before Mystic had managed to corner her.
She sighed at that. He'd cornered her and it triggered natural instincts within her she couldn't exactly fight. Well, she could fight them off, and she tried, but it was rather painful. Not only that, but it was rather inevitable. She could only stave off the change for so long. What worried her, though, was that she'd been incapable of shifting forms entirely.
She frowned as she looked at the bottle and popped two more pills. No more than six in twenty four hours. She could handle that. Hopefully. What she wasn't sure she could handle was her new form. She wasn't stupid enough to try and change back to her human form or try to change all the way into her true from. For the moment she was going to consider herself lucky that Athan had been available and had force changed her into.. well.. it wasn't really one form. She was stuck in between.
Her frown darkened at that particular thought. Her normal cropped silver hair (which was oh so easy to manage early in the morning) was now long and ended about mid-back and her bangs had the tendency to sift over into her eyes. Her ears were now tapered and came to a point and were a bit larger than she really appreciated.
The changes in appearence didn't really bother her that much. She could deal with that. What she had serious trouble with was with being so disoriented. Her senses felt off. It was like someone suddenly sharpened her vision (which did not help the headache one bit!) and her hearing. She could hear every little creak and groan of her house as it shifted.
She also heard Sam restlessly fidgeting about in her babycrib, no doubt ready to be given her dinner and her bath for the evening. That, oddly enough, was sort of comforting to the woman. She'd grown rather fond of her adopted daughter, and taking care of her in their usual routine would help her feel a little more.. normal.
Reyna headed towards the little girl's room quietly. She peeked into the room and smiled to see Samara standing up in her crib, panda plushie held tightly in one hand as she tried to find her balance. She fell back onto her bottom, but when she caught sight of her mother she didn't immediately reach out towards her as she usually did.
The child didn't recognize her. Who was that long haired woman with the sharp smile and pointy ears? That certainly wasn't her mother. She made a faint whine of protest when Reyna picked her up. That whine turned into sniffling and all out crying when she tried to push away.
"Sam, stop being so fussy!" she scolded until she fell quiet and seemed to realize why Sam was acting so strange when she caught a glance of her reflection from the mirror that was situated atop the little girl's dresser.
Mystic drifted into the room through the wall when he felt a sudden jolt of fear and worry from his guardian. It was rare for his guardian to feel that sort of anxiety unless something was really wrong. She had the tendency to bottle her emotions, and he knew it. For her to let something slip by..
'What's wrong?' he asked tentatively as he watched the woman struggle with the little girl that was wailing outright now.
"She's.. scared of me," Reyna said in a sort of exasperated tone before simply handing the little girl off to the Shadow.
Wordlessly the Fiend took the child who huddled against his chest and went to make her dinner the way Reyna was going to. She stayed where she was standing there in the middle of the child's room next to the crib. A brief look of upset flashed across her face before it softened somewhat when she felt something rubbing against her leg.
She glanced down and chuckled quietly at Fragments. "At least you still recognize me," she said with a faint, barely there smile as she bent to pat him on the head before scooting him towards the door with her foot gently. "Go take care of your girl."
The little daemon trotted off with a sort of proud look on his face before taking to the air and zipping down the hallway and into the kitchen to settle on Sam's highchair as he was usually wont to do when it was time for her to eat. Tears still brimmed along the child's eyes, but her upset was mollified by the fact that she had a bottle and Mystic was warming up some mashed potatoes and peas for her.
Reyna didn't dare go near the kitchen. She didn't want to upset the child to the point that her telekinesis went nuts. The last time that had happened in the kitchen the results hadn't been good. Mystic nearly ended up skewered by some knives. That wasn't something she wanted to risk again, nor did she want to traumatized the poor kid.
She sighed and headed off towards her room and ended up falling asleep there curled up on her side in bed. She stirred some time in the middle of the night when she heard a faint, barely detectable sound. She got up out of bed and headed towards Sam's room almost instinctively, all but forgetting how her change in appearence had upset the child earlier that evening.
The babe was awake and playing with her stuffed animals in her crib despite the late hour. Her eyes widened at the sight of Reyna looming there from the doorway, but when she moved towards the crib, she didn't look nearly so scary bathed in the soft glow of her night light. She waved with one hand, something she'd picked up from watching people come and go from the shop.
Reyna smiled at the sight of that and plucked the child out of her crib and cradled her close. At first, Samara was a bit startled and her delighted smile washed into a slight frown until her mother remembered what had happened earlier.
"Shh little one, it's still me," she whispered softly as she dragged one of Sam's little hands up to her face and pressed it to her cheek. She smiled, amused when the child went for her eyepatch as she was wont to do. Small fingers pressed against the fabric and then patted at her cheeks before one hand grabbed a fistful of her hair and tugged. Hard.
She winced but didn't dare scold the child. "Hey now, that's not nice, Sam," she stated as she carefully disentangled the babe's hands from her hair and cradled her close. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?" she murmured as she carried the little girl out of her room and headed towards her own so that she might curl up in bed next to her.
Fragments certainly didn't protest. There was plenty of room for him to nest and he rather liked Reyna's feather pillows. Reyna watched both child and daemon sleep before eventually falling back to sleep herself, somewhat comforted that Sam wasn't completely frightened of her -- just a bit startled.
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Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 5:09 pm
// Trick-or-Treat! //A very first Halloween...The child in Mystic's arms fidgeted restlessly. She'd been in her panda costume all evening and was quickly growing tired of it. What's more, all the noise and people from the party at her mother's store had left her cranky. She certaintly hadn't woken up from a perfectly good nap for all of that!
She huffed faintly and turned in Mystic's arms so she could wrap her little arms about his neck. The faint frown of displeasure on her face disappeared when Fragments zipped around Mystic's legs in a quick circle before zooming upwards so that he was eye level with the child. Samara smiled and waved at him with one hand before reaching out to pat his head. She giggled when her hand sifted through him all together a moment later when she reached to pet him again.
Mystic glanced back behind him, utterly amused by both the child and the daemon's antics. It seemed lately they were always up to something, and that something always seemed to be terribly cute. He had a feeling it was because they had both settled into their home. He and Reyna had also grown used to having them around. Really, it was hard to imagine life without them.
A group of children in costumes ran past them in a quick dash, giggling and laughing as they ran past Mystic who paused to allow the kids by. Sam's green eyes widened suddenly at the sight of all of them in strange outfits. She squealed loudly in delight and reached out towards the direction they fled in before turning to look up at Mystic expectantly.
'Still a bit too young for trick or treating, I should think,' he chuckled good naturedly in a soft whisper against her mind. He wasn't entirely certain whether or not she understood what he had said but she smiled brightly all the same, showing off the very first of her baby teeth.
He stopped once more when another smaller group of kids rushed by. They all seemed to be gathering at a shop not too far away. He could hear the sounds of music and laughter and other such sounds indicative of a party. 'Lets have a better look, hm? Just don't tell Reyna or she'll throw a fit,' Mystic murmured as he slowly allowed himself to float up off the ground.
Sam cried out loudly with a bubbly, amused laugh as they floated up towards the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. Fragments seemed to prance midair before zipping about in acrobatic loops and spirals.
'Show off,' the Shadow laughed as he floated over towards the roof of where the children had all headed. A few shouted and pointed, declaring that he was ghost as he passed overhead, but with a few mutters from the adults supervising they were calmed. He laughed quietly and idly wondered what their explanations were. Really, all they had to say was, 'This is Gaia, you know.' It was the truth.
Samara snuggled closer into Mystic's arms that held her so tightly and waved to the people down below with one hand while Fragments danced just over their heads. Some of the children waved back and she gurgled happily in response before quieting down once the lights of the city faded and the familiar dark calm of Bass'ken Lake replaced the hustle and bustle of children in costumes. The only light that could be seen was that of the swollen, yellow full moon. It shined with a faint silver glow that reflected lightly off the waves of the lake. It was a calming sight after such an eventful evening.
She yawned and watched sleepily as Fragments slowed down and hovered closer and closer to Mystic. She'd had quite a bit of excitement and as much as she loved to play with her big brother when he decided to fly her through the air, she was growing quite tired.
Her warm bed was welcomed without protest after she had been changed out of her panda onesie and put to sleep. Mystic hovered near her bed and watched as she slowly slipped off to sleep. 'Maybe next year.. you can go trick or treating.' He reached to brush her bangs out of her face and whispered a sweet endearment before drifting off to his own room.
Despite the insanity of the party at Twilight Designs, it had been a rather uneventful Halloween, though really, he couldn't bring himself to complain.
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Reyna Crelos Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2005 11:36 pm
// A Little Bit of Chaos //Sam meets Mael...Wren wrinkled his nose as he moved up along the path towards Twilight Designs. He was beginning to realize that he was seriously starting to miss his glasses. Of course, it couldn't be helped that they had been confiscated over a month back by his mother -- but it did not mean he liked it. Never mind the fact that he could no longer hide the glow of his own eyes or the fact they were very much changeling eyes like Lafe had.
Not that Mael seemed to care whatever was on his father's mind. Rather, he was in a sour mood and dragging his feet as he toddled along beside him. He did not want to go outside into the cold. He did not like the cold, period. In fact, he was overly bundled up to avoid the cold chill in the air and he raised his hands up to tug down the twisted devil face beanie on his head. Letting out a disgruntle hiss, he kicked at a stone on the ground and tried to keep up with father who was all ready at the door. "St'pid," he muttered under his breath, fingers reaching into his jacket to rub against Suffocation's scale as she was hiding underneath his clothing.
"Nothing's stupid, Mael," Wren murmured, hand on the door handle and pulling on it to go on inside the shop. He wasn't even sure this little meeting of forgotten would go well. Never mind the fact that Hawk had come along as well, but was hanging back it seemed. He'd likely come along, but did not want to come in at the same time Mael and himself did. "And you had better behave yourself," the demon added as an after thought.
... and the innocent smile that was cast in his direction hardly assured him that there would be a toddler on perfect behavior.
Despite the cold outside and the near constant draft that was let in when customers entered the shop, it was quite toasty inside. Athan wasn't fond of the cold himself and he had insisted that they turn off the A/C and switch on the heater the very moment the weather hinted at being cold. Now that it truly was chilly outside he'd even changed out of his robes and into a long-sleeved turtle neck along with a pair of dark pants.
The man was currently perched at Reyna's usual post behind the front desk, sifting through various stacks of papers. He glanced up briefly, a faint smile quirking at his mouth when he heard the chime of the door, but that expression quickly washed away when he realized who it was.
Wren. Only his most favorite person in the world! Except.. not really. In all honesty he was still a bit miffed over the Halloween ordeal, but he wasn't about to bring it up any time soon. "Reyna's in the back room with Sam," he grumbled as he pointed stoically without glancing back up from his paperwork towards the door just a few feet behind him.
Watching as Mael came in with him, Wren let the door shut behind them and smiled at Athan. "Good to see you, Athan," he said, an amused glint in his eyes. He knew the other wasn't happy to see him and ... well. He was a demon after all, that sort of thing pleased him.
"Hawk should be along shortly, I imagine he'd rather talk with you than deal with Mael and myself." Another grin in place, Wren moved towards the back room and meant to go there with Mael.
Except Mael wasn't beside him like he thought he was anymore. Rather, the young snake child was all ready at one of the cases and peering inside. His tail was twitching back and forth in a way that clearly said he liked what he was seeing. Mael hissed quietly to Suffocation, telling her what he saw. "J'wels," he murmured under his breath, his fingers moving to unzip his jacket and let Suffocation see herself.
Besides, it was nice and toasty warm in the place. Add that to the fact there were shiny gemstones and other treasures present -- he was a happy camper.
Right up until his father came over to crouch beside him and draw his attention away from the case.
"Oi, Mael, we're suppose to go to the back room ..." Wren's words fell on ears that weren't bothering to listen and Mael just continued to whisper and hiss words quietly to Suffocation.
Wren came to his feet, looking up at the ceiling with a sigh. "So knew this was going to happen if I came in the front ..." Which meant now he was going to have to cart Mael off to the back and started to move to do so, only to find that his son had moved to another case -- closer to Athan -- and was peering inside intently.
Athan smirked faintly as he watched the little snake-like boy peer in all the different cases, tactfully avoiding being caught by his father each time he moved around. He moved from his seat behind the desk and shifted to crouch down on one knee so he was about eye level with the child. "Want to see what's inside?" he offered with a smile. He'd annoy Wren in the best way he knew how -- by giving him gifts.
Though technically the gifts would be for his son, but nevertheless he hoped it riled the demon some. Besides, giving the child some trinkets wouldn't be an issue nor would it cause harm to the boy aside from perhaps spoiling him some. He did the same for Sam, so why not?
He pressed one hand against the glass case, causing a small green circle to appear. A moment later the case was unlocked and he easily slid the glass aside. He pulled out a rather expensive looking sapphire pendant and held it out for inspection. "It looks real.. but it's actually synthetic. Still very good quality, though," he informed the boy before a sudden thought struck him.
He had a bag of gems -- Fiends.. that weren't strong enough in spirit to make it. He hadn't the faintest clue as to what to do with them (they lacked a certain lustre to him, but it very well could have just been his conscience toying with him). He now had an idea of what he should do with them, or at least who he ought to give them to.
Mael peered up at Athan intently once the man was close, crouching next to him. Those red snake eyes of his had a rather piercing stare when he was figuring out whether or not to trust someone, decide if he was okay with being around them.
... but if the man was going to let him see inside the cases when his father didn't want him too, he was bound to be okay!
"Yea'," Mael spoke, head tilting as Suffocation nudge up against his jaw. "Please," he added, as Suffocation reminded him to be polite to people who were being so nice to him. Never mind it all ways got on father's nerves when he played nicely. Sometimes anyway.
Entranced by the green circle, briefly, he watched as Athan pulled out the pendant and moved closer to look at it. "S'pretty ..." he hissed out. Even if it wasn't real ( and he liked real ones, thank you ), he still liked it. Mael reached out towards Athan's hand as if to touch, but instead let his hand hover right over it. It wasn't his, so he could only look, and he knew how people could get if other's touched their things.
Or he knew how he got, at least.
Wren was just scowling over on the sidelines, tapping his foot. He wasn't even going to bother coming forward to snatch up Mael. He did not want to get bitten and never mind the boy would probably squirm out of his arms to see what Athan had to show him.
Athan was so getting it later. He was!
The man paid the seething demon no mind. His goal had been mostly achieved, and in such a short span of time! It was quite satisfying. He stood from where he was crouched on the ground after sealing the case shut after he'd allowed the child to examine the pendant. "I've got some jewels you can have, actually. If you'd like to see them," he told the boy as he held out one hand for him so that he might lead him towards the vault in the backroom.
He shot Wren a charming smile. He wasn't vindictive and out for revenge. Not in the least!
Mael's eyes pratically lit up at that, Suffocation even lifting her head to acknowledge Athan. Anyone that offered something like that to Mael? Definitely got some points in her book.
He nodded his head rapidly, letting out an agreeable hiss and peering at Athan's hand before taking it so that he could see the jewels that he talked about.
Wren refrained from gritting his teeth and followed after the pair once they headed towards the back room. At least it got Mael where he was suppose to go, but it grated him that Athan was ... doing what he doing. Not that giving his son a present was a bad thing, it was the motives behind it that were aggravating.
Reyna was sitting in the floor in the back room with Sam sitting in her lap so that she could sit up without having to struggle with keeping upright. She was getting a little better at sitting up on her own, but she was still a baby after all.
"Hey, Wren," she smiled before the expression faltered slightly as she watched Athan stride towards the back wall to open up the 'normal' safe. Wren didn't look too pleased and the little boy that was with Athan definately was not his. She glanced towards her friend curiously before her gaze flickered back towards the other man and the child that was standing near his side.
Athan opened the safe and drew out a small bag. It was.. small in comparison to him, but in the hands of a child it seemed a lot bigger. He handed the parcel over to the boy with a genuine smile, "You can have everything inside. I think I've got some stuff stashed away at home I can part with, too. I'll have to go through and organize things in my study."
The silverhaired woman arched a brow at that. Something was definately going on. It looked a bit like payback from the sour look on Wren's face.
Mael's eyes grew huge once the bag settled in his hands. He shook it a little, hearing the clink of gems and jewels hitting one another. It didn't even take him a second to finally get the bag open and peer inside.
If he had been the type to let out squeals of joy, he might've, but instead he looked back up at Athan with a huge smile, that clearly showed his fangs in the process. Suffocation had nudged her head inside the bag to peer inside before coming back out, she nudged her head against Mael's jaw again.
Be. Polite. Particularly since the man said he had more that they could have.
"Th'nks," Mael finally said, once he could pull his attention away from the contents in the bag.
Wren edged his way around until he was near Reyna and Sam and crossed his arms with a faint scowl still on his face. "I'd introduce you, but it seems my son's attention is elsewhere." He paused. "And Athan's continuing to doom himself."
"He's good at that," Reyna replied with a faint smirk as she continued to watch Athan interract with the little boy. Her attention was drawn away from the both of them when Sam began to squirm restlessly. "Uh.. this is my kid," the silver haired woman went on after a brief lull of silence, "Samara."
She half grinned at that, a quirky sort of smile that showed off sharp, pearly white teeth. She didn't know what else to say after that. She hadn't exactly introduced her baby to anyone else. Not really even Athan. He'd made a comment about her resorting to stealing children, but other than that an intro hadn't seemed necessary with him.
Sam's daemon flew by in a mad dash around the room before deciding to sit on Wren's shoulder for a moment. The little ghost-like creature made a point to closely examine everyone that came in contact with his girl. So far, the other demon had his approval, but he had yet to really come across someone he didn't quite trust. This was likely due to both daemon and child not coming in contact with that many people.
"And that's Fragments," Reyna snickered, "He's kind of a spaz."
"Far too good at it," Wren said with a smile ( that wasn't a particularly nice one and directed entirely at Athan ) before crouching down a little to really get a good look at Samara. "And I believe I saw the little lady briefly at the party, but she was a panda then." His lips turned into a real smile after that and he reached forward with a hand to waggle his fingers at Sam.
Blinking rapidly as he watched Fragments fly through the room, he focused on the daemon once he was on his shoulder. "I can see that," he chuckled, bringing up his hand to wave at Fragments a bit. "Rather unique compared to some of the daemons I've seen the kids have. Cute too," he added as an absent after thought.
Mael was still enamored with the bag of gems and jewels he had gotten from Athan and with a grin, that could've been wicked looking to most, his tail briefly wrapped around the man's ankle and squeezed faintly. The ankle was closer than his wrist, but the action would've meant the same no matter what -- he now held some trust for the man, a bit of respect too. ( Which would no doubt irritate Wren, but he wasn't admitting that. )
With a final hiss of thanks, Mael made his way over to his father to show him what he had gotten from Athan. Suffocation had slithered her way out of Mael's jack and was hanging from around his neck, though part of her curled around her forgotten's arm. "Dad! Look!" For the moment, Reyna and Samara and even Fragments on his father shoulder were ignored.
It was time to look at the shinies and Wren shook his head, casting another glare in Athan's direction, before he turned his attention towards the gems. They were, he had to admit, very good quality.
After studying them, though, Wren gave Mael's shoulder a nudge. "They're lovely, but why don't you say hi to my friend Reyna?" Reyna first, then Samara and Fragments -- or so he hoped. "Reyna, this is Mael, and the snake coiled around him is Suffocation."
Letting out a hiss because he'd much rather stare at the gems, he raised his head up to look at Reyna and stared at her intently. Suffocation was, actually, matching her forgotten in that she was intently staring too.
Another female, but a friend of father's -- she seemed like father too in a way ...
Athan merely smiled right back at Wren in a charming sort of way as he quietly made his way back into the front room to leave the demons and their respective children alone for the time being. He still had a mound of paperwork to sort through, and as unpleasant as it was, he wasn't the sort to stray from his work for too terribly long. Even if it was to antagonize Wren.
Reyna paid him no mind and instead intently met Mael's piercing gaze. He was an adorable child, though that wasn't something she'd say out loud about much of anyone. Getting her to admit things aloud about her own child was hard enough as is. Faintly, he reminded her of Wren, but the boy was his son after all.
"Hello, Mael," she murmured with a fanged grin and a small wave, "And Suffocation." She eyed the snake for a moment and noted that its coloring was quite stunning. Red was one of her most favorite colors, and snakes were all ways cool in her book.
Sam squirmed faintly in her arms, clearly tired of being held. She wanted to get down and play with all the shiny things that her mum had laid out on the floor. There was a stack of multi-colored construction paper along with scraps of all sorts of fancier paper, a box of crayons, markers, sequins, glue, and other random bits of art supplies that were in a plastic storage box.
She didn't have the faintest clue what any of it was, but the bright colors and shiny objects caught her attention and held it even more than the boy with the pretty red snake.
TBC.
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