Welcome to Gaia! ::

The boy knew he would be an odd sight; nearly naked, and already starting to get soaked by the quickly impending flood of raindrops that began to flop on him while he cowered over Shauna to protect her from the rain. Even his ribbons were fighting against gravity, sheer will keeping them from dragging against the floor like they would have, were they normal ribbons, and not soulbound to the boy they clung so desperately to.

"Help us, please? We're lost.." Despite being nearly nude, the boy and his charge looked like two very scared children caught in the rain, and it was a sight that would melt all but the most frozen of hearts.

In his arms, Shauna stirred, and he whimpered to try and keep her asleep - if he could just wait out the storm, and maybe let his wing stop throbbing in pain.. but he couldn't see behind him, and the top part of his wing he hoped to fly home with was twisted in a very odd and painfull looking angle.

Gee, rain was cold when you didn't wear clothes..

Asrafel sniffed, grabbing the towel and wrapping it around the mostly dry Shauna's sleeping form, before using the second to wrap around himself. He looked up at Bird with a soft and pitiful gaze.

"I'm.. looking for someone. Ohhh.. but I'll never find them. Not like this.. and-owww.." He had rubbed the towel against his bent wing, and turned his head to give it a look. It looked ugly. He grimaced at it, pouting like a child.

Well, he was a child.

"I just need to keep her safe until I find whoever this little girl belongs to, see." He nudged in Shauna's direction with a fond and sad expression. The poor thing had been rooted up so suddenly, and now her life was in his hands.

What if he made the wrong decision? What if he made no decision at all?

".. Hot chocolate? Yes please!" Deep, philosophical questions didn't linger long on this boy's thoughts.

At first, Asrafel was too occupied by how much his wing hurt, that he didn't notice the child staring at him. He kept reaching back and trying to bend his wing back the right way, so that it could heal and he could fly home, but every time he touched it he winced and sucked in a little breath.

It was like pulling off a band-aid.. and he couldn't do it himself.

"Ohh.. thank you!" He looked back down at the hot chocolate, and grinned into his reflection in the surface. It's warm presence filtered up against his skin, heating away the moisture of the rain. "Well you see, I kind of don't know." He giggled softly, blowing on the hot chocolate. "I'm looking for the rightful mom or dad of.. my friend here." He pointed in Shauna's direction, the girl who was still curled up asleep in his lap. "I'm hoping that I'll stumble upon them.. eventu.."

His voice lagged as his eyes finally strayed toward the child sitting on the table. They went wide as his words died in his throat, and a mixture of awe, excitement, and sheer horror welled in the pit of his stomach all at once.

Oh no, another one. He couldn't help thinking. He had been so excited over meeting Shauna.. until she had been dumped on him. Lexi wasn't setting him up to collect this one too, was he?!

He almost spilled the cup of hot chocolate on Shauna and his lap as his concentration was lost. A drop hit his outer thigh, and he yelped softly, batting away at it with his hand.

The child merely stirred in his lap, but did not wake.

"Not really, no. My wing's hurting really bad, and I can't.. I can't.." He whined as he tried once more to bend it back the right way, only to move it less than an inch before stopping. He sighed, and turned his eyes back up to the girl in Bird's arms.

"It's nice to meet you Bird. My name's Asrafel, and this is Shauna." You.. should name her!" He suddenly blurted out, nudging his head towards the other child. "I think she'd like that. She's cute.. isn't she?" Oh, please say you like her, please please..

"She's not somebody else's kid." Asrafel whispered knowingly. He put the cup of hot chocolate down, and slowly picked Shauna back up into his arms. He stood, holding his wing out towards the woman, and closing his eyes.

"Would you do me a favor?" He asked her, clearly ignoring her questions. He'd get to them when he could think clearly.. after the horrible horrible pain that was waiting for him subsided.

"Pull it straight. Just.. do it fast, don't think about it."

It was a request from someone who suddenly seemed a lot more mature than he had been acting a moment ago.

The moment of maturity passed, and Asrafel was back to his childish, squealing self as his wing was pulled straight, and he cringed visibly. He let out a high pitched squeal, one that made Shauna whimper in her sleep, and just stood there for a moment, as the pain overbore all other sensations until it slowly ebbed away. He let out a couple more pathetic little whimpers, before finally taking a long, shuddering breath, and turning around with a pained smile.

"That sounded worse than it was, really. Thank you so much for helping. I won't be able to fly with it for a little while.. but at least it'll heal now."

His eyes dropped to the girl in Bird's arms, and he gave her an affectionate soft pout at her reaction. The pain still licked at his back, but he was able to ignore it by watching her.

"Maybe, as payback for your kindness, if you ever need help taking care of her.." He was already assuming the woman would keep the girl, of course, "You can stop by our Day Care center in Gambino. You don't have to pay or nothing, promise!" He pulled out a tiny piece of paper, (where he could have held that paper was a mystery, and imagination may lead us to places we wouldn't want to be, so it is best not to think of such things and blame it on magic), and handed it to her. "Benedict Center!" He proclaimed with a flourish, and smiled.

"When you do name her, I'd love to know what her name is."

Asrafel rose the hand not curled around Shauna, and lifted a finger to touch the dark skinned child's nose. "Such a cutie you are, yes you are!" He coo'd, before belatedly answering Bird's question. "Well.. I guess I'm going to walk. Nothing much else I can do, I suppose. I have to find her real home." He gave Shauna one last, sad look, before his eyes returned to the other child, glinting with mischief.

"I hope she's lucky, Shauna that is." He murmured in a hushed tone, turning his gentle gaze up to Bird. "Lucky enough to have a home with someone like you in it."

He could just barely hear the quiet outside, and the crickets chirping. The rain had stopped pattering against the window, and he turned toward the door.

"I think that's my cue to get looking!"