Welcome to Gaia! ::

He had brought the thing to the shop exactly once just to prove to Edwin that he had performed the strange order and thus secure his job. Since then, the cabbage had lived, apparently quite content, on a wobbly bench which featured a stunning view out the window and into the neighboring building’s brick wall. What it was lacking in scenery, though, the window made up for in sunlight; it consistently received warm, glowing goodness for a full half of the day and Devon figured that would make the plant happier than any lush landscape.

Just in case, though, he found himself propping up a picture he had sketched while mindlessly watching a special on the Serengeti on Animal Planet. It really wasn’t half bad, he had to admit. Then again, long grass was easy to draw and the shadows had been happy accidents. It all covered the half-assed lion lurking in wait.

He had no idea if the picture made the cabbage happy or not but he tried not to think about how much he was worrying about the cabbage’s feelings. Did a cabbage even have feelings? All in all, it was beyond weird to be so worried about a plant and its emotions. Edwin’s eccentricity must be wearing off on me, Devon thought as he kicked off his shoes at the front door of his apartment. He glanced at the cabbage in its place by the window.

He frowned. The shiny green leaves looked a bit limp and curling around the edges. He had watered it just that morning before leaving, hadn’t he? How much water did the damn thing need, anyway? He padded over in stocking feet, neatly skirting a tumbled pile of books that turned the floor of his living room into a minefield. Gingerly, he poked at one of the leaves. It failed to react. Why that surprised him at all was something he was trying not to think about. Devon huffed, scowling a bit, and retreated to his small, economy kitchen. A moment’s shuffled located the spray bottle and another moment yielded a measuring cup. Carefully, he filled both. Then he aimed a couple experimental squirts from the bottle into the sink.

Pleased, Devon returned to the living room and, setting down the spray bottle, he gently began shifting the large leaves of the cabbage out of his way as he tried to pour the water from the measuring cup directly down into the plastic tub serving as the cabbage’s pot. He watched, puzzled, as the soil soaked it up thirstily and left barely a trace. “Oh, come on,” he muttered. “I had to have watered you this morning. There’s no way that you needed that much water again. What are you? A damn camel?”

The cabbage remained blessedly mute and he immediately felt stupid for talking to it. Resolved to silence again, Devon set down the measuring cup and picked up the spray bottle, aiming a few haphazard squirts over the leaves. The droplets gleamed in the later afternoon sun and, finally, he shrugged and set down the bottle. It was a plant. He just had to keep it alive.

Shaking his head, Devon moved to drop himself onto the couch and picked up the remote. Time to see if anything non-plant-related was on the television.

Reaching over with a grimace, Devon set down the spray bottle of alcohol and gave freshly emptied chair a swipe with the paper towel in his hand. His back was killing him; four in a row should have been a crime first thing on a Saturday morning. At least there was a lull now and the other artists were kicking back and stretching with a veritable symphony of pops and groans. Standing, Devon gave himself a good shoulder roll.

"Dev?" He turned at his name to see the tiny blonde desk girl emerge from the back room with a bottle in one hand and his child (s**t, how did he get a child from a cabbage again?) balanced with the other on her hip. "Feeding time for Iggy."

"Yeah, yeah." He held out his hands obediently. "I'm just glad he was so quiet. I'm still sorry about havin' to bring him in. My neighbor who usually watches him..."

"Yeah, yeah," she teased, repeating his tone. "She's sick. Gotcha. C'mon, you know we don't mind. If you didn't bring him in soon, anyway, Bossman would've made you with the threat of a paycheck cut." She handed over the bottle first which he promptly set on his little rolling table amongst the pots of ink. The gently gurgling child, though, she hesitated over, clearly reluctant to part with the unusual-looking baby. Ignacio reached out to grab at the necklace hanging at her throat and she giggled.

"Hand him over, Tess," Devon said, waggling his hands. "Like you said, feeding time."

Once the golden-haired child was safely in his arms, Devon hooked his chair with his foot and dragged it underneath him neatly so he could sit more comfortably. Big eyes blinked up at him and he tried a lopsided grin of his own. "Hey, buddy," he muttered. "Thanks for bein' such a sport, huh?"

Ignacio blinked again and held out his hands, fingers opening and closing. He was hungry! Devon sighed, adjusted his hold, and neatly angled the bottle into the baby's mouth. Soon the rest of the artists were watching in bemused silence, punctuated only by sharp sucking noises from the hungry little Ignacio.

Shiori had meant to look up a tattoo parlor here on Gaia for quite some time. She was, however, a bit concerned about what she'd find. From the way people talked about her own tattoos, things were significantly different here. In her homeland, her tattoos were a mark of skill and adeptness as a member of the Order. They gifted her with extraordinary abilities.

Here, they seemed to simply make people think very differently of you.

She had worn something just a bit on the revealing side-- a halter top that didn't cover any of the hummingbird and starflower tattoo on her back, nor the strange leaves climbing up her right arm. There really wasn't anything to cover up the dayflower on her cheek either way.

Kisala didn't seem to mind being carted about, though. In fact, her eyes went eagerly from one building to the next as they walked down the street. They lit up when Shiori carried her into the tattoo parlor she'd found earlier in the day, and Kisala reached out eagerly towards the many shiny tools of the trade.

Shiori sighed, pulling the girl's hands back, "Behave yourself, 'sala," she said softly, "Don't touch anything."

She wasn't about to let the little one down, but she was sure Kisala would find trouble no matter how closely she was attached to her adoptive mother.

Shiori looked about for someone who might be in charge. She wanted to see what this place was all about.

Unfortunately for Shiori, while there were plenty of people in the shop, no one seemed interested in her arrival. They stood in a small knot halfway towards the back, clustered around something completely fascinating. A few mutters of "Look at him put it away" and "Look at the little toes" drifted to her ears.

Finally, a slightly exasperated voice rose above the murmurs. "C'mon, guys. Give me a break here. He's just a baby and he's just eating. Don't you have, I dunno, needles to clean?"

Laughter answered him but the crowd parted to reveal a young man in his early twenties, disheveled of hair and tattooed of skin, cradling a child about Kisala's size who was polishing off a once-full bottle. He blinked hazel eyes at Shiori. "Oh, hey. Customer?"

Shiori smiled a bit at the crowd-- she'd had something similar when she'd first brought Kisala to the Temple. Now, however, they knew what a trouble-maker she was and tended more to keep a watchful eye on her than 'aww' over her.

She shook her head as the man holding the baby addressed her, "Not precisely. I am interested in learning how you do tattoos in this world. The art of tattooing is...significantly different in mine."

She shifted Kisala a bit on her hip as the girl leaned heavily forward in an attempt to grab at Ignacio’s bottle, "No, Kisala, not until bedtime," she warned the little girl.

Devon shook his head and held out the bottle in response before turning it upside down to show Kisala that it was completely empty. "He's bottomless," he muttered. Then he glanced around at his co-workers who had all magically found tasks to occupy themselves with now that baby-time was over and someone wanted to talk shop. He shrugged and awkwardly shifted Ignacio into a sitting position, his back against Devon's chest. Ignacio promptly grabbed two of the fingers on the hand supporting him and stared at Kisala.

"Well, um, it's..." Devon would have flushed if he had been capable but his tanned skin never showed it. "Well, how do you do it?" he asked suddenly. "Maybe that'll help me."

Shiori chewed her lip thoughtfully, "Well, it involves special inks, and...well, the supplies seem similar to what you have here. I suppose what I'd like to know is why do people here get tattoos? Are there qualifications one must have at all, or can any person just get one?"

The whole concept of 'free' tattoos felt rather scandalous to the woman, but she was not going to pre-judge. Perhaps there was more to it than just a whim..?

"In my Clan, they are a symbol of ability, you see, not just for aesthetics."

Kisala looked back at Ignacio and smiled, though she was a bit put-off by the bottle thing.
"Bwuh!" she nodded her head vehemently, as though introducing herself to the other.

"Ah. Gotcha." Devon nodded slowly. "No, 'round here, tats are just tats. People get 'em for different reasons." He held out his unoccupied arm to show an elaborate Celtic cross design, stark black even against his cinnamon-colored skin, on the inside of his forearm. "Sometimes people get 'em for memories. This one's... Ah, ouch, s**t." Wincing, Devon pulled his arm back in so he could shuffle Ignacio to his other knee and shake out the hand that had been holding the baby. "What did I tell you about usin' my fingers for teethin', Iggy?"

Rounded eyes started back up at him in polite incomprehension and then the baby blew a bubble. He turned back to Kisala and waved his hands vaguely before jamming one fist in his mouth to gum wetly.

"... Sorry about that."

Shiori reached into her baby bag and pulled out one of those frozen teething devices, offering it to Devon, "Hasn't been used yet-- I think Kisala's got all hers in, but I've kept it just in case."

She'd done a lot of research into infants since agreeing to adopt one, but she hadn't known when Kisala would appear or how old she'd be when she did, so she'd just prepared for most eventualities.

She nodded, "I see. What sort of inks do you use?" she asked, wondering if his design gave him some sort of ability, or if they were just decorative. From the sound of things, though, they were all just decorative.

Kisala giggled as Iggy bit his father, leaning back with a thought to do the same to her mother...but deciding against it as the woman gave her a particularly warning look. Instead, she babbled again, though her words weren't particularly coherent.

There was a moment of hesitation but then, as he felt Ignacio grip new fingers with the clear intention of taking another bite, Devon gratefully snatched at the teething ring and transferred it into the child's mouth. He smiled sheepishly. "Thanks," he murmured. "I'm new at this and I still don't know how to tell my mom so I can't exactly call her for help."

Ignacio uttered a squeal of utter delight at the coldness and proceeded to chomp down hard. His little legs began swinging in time to his bites. Devon watched him for a moment and then turned his attention back to Shiori. "We use, well, tat inks. It's pretty much carbon-based stuff. There's different stuff you put in for the colors and we mix 'em as we need to. A lot of it's in the needlework, though. The shading." He paused and nodded suddenly at Kisala. "She's cute."

"I understand how you feel a bit. My family is all back in my home world, I've no idea how to get back there even if I wanted to...I made a lot of trips to the library after I was approved for her."

She decided to leave the subject of the tattoos alone. They were obviously not the same, and though she would like to come back sometime and watch the process, just to see how similar it was, she was pretty sure now was not the time. She really didn't want Kisala any closer to shiny, sharp objects than she absolutely had to be.

"Thank you. She's almost more trouble than she's worth sometimes, though," she gave a faint smile, though it was obvious she was still very fond of the little one, "She gets into everything."

Devon looked alarmed even as a dribble of spit slid from the teething ring and hit his pants. "She's crawling already?" he asked. "Iggy's only rolling so far... And chewing... On everything. He kind of points himself at things and wriggles to 'em or just rolls."

Shiori laughed, "She's not only crawling, but trying to walk, actually. She can toddle about if I hold onto her, and Light knows I'm not going to start letting go of her hand 'til she's able to recognize and respond to the word 'no'."

Kisala squirmed a bit at the word, but quickly realized that the no wasn't directed at her just then and went back to eyeing the shiny needles. She reached out a hand towards them again, and Shiori pulled the hand back without even looking at her, "I shudder to think what she'll get into once she can run about on her own, really."

Ignacio removed the ring long enough to send a raspberry in Kisala's direction. He laughed afterwards so clearly it was meant as a gesture of affection. Devon rolled his eyes. "He likes her," he pointed out unnecessarily. Then he paused and frowned. "We have a few months, though, right? Kids don't grow that quickly... Right? Even if they're outta cabbages like Iggy here."

Shiori shrugged, "I have no idea. From what I've gathered, though, these kids grow rather faster than normal kids."

She blinked, realizing what he'd said, "Wait, you got yours from a cabbage as well? Is this a common practice here, then?" She had thought it was very strange, really, to have a child pop out of a cabbage.

Kisala giggled as Ignacio blew a raspberry at her, babbling back at him in return.

"Hell, no." Devon shook his head. "I didn't even know I was gettin' a kid!"

Ignacio looked up at his guardian and stuck out his bottom lip.

"Not that I'm mad or anything," Devon quickly added, addressing the child directly. He was relieved to see Ignacio immediately burble back and then stick the teething ring into his mouth once more. His odd child then turned to face Kisala again and give her a rather drooly grin. "My boss told me to take this card and take care of what they gave me. It was a cabbage. Then it... Well, I got him here. I dunno."

Shiori blinked,
"But that's awful!" she cried, hugging Kisala tighter, "I at least knew a bit of what I was getting myself into. But..." she smiled a little bit, "If you need any help or anything...well, really, I've been trying to find children 'sala's age for her to play with anyhow."

She pulled out a pencil and paper from the bag with one hand, the other clamped tightly around the toddler in her arms. Slowly, she wrote out some numbers and letters. "Here's my phone number and address. That way you can contact me anytime."

She scrawled out the name 'Shiori Tonbo' underneath it. "Oh! I haven't even.." she blushed, "I'm Shiori Tonbo of the Order of the Dragon from the Peridot Clan."

She knew the whole title meant nothing to him, but somehow introducing herself with it made her feel better-- a sort of connection to her home, "And this is Kisala, though I think I've already mentioned that somewhere in our conversation."

Devon's smile appeared, lopsided and grateful as he accepted the slip of paper. "Thanks. I mean, I won't be a pain in the neck or anything but it'll be good for him to hang out with someone who's not an inker." He looked down at the paper, absently noting her penmanship and the way her name was spelled. Ignacio made a grab for it and Devon quickly moved it out of the way, tucking it in his back pocket. Then he reached over to a little stack of business cards on his shelf, slipped one off the top, and handed it to her. "And I'm Devon Garcia," he answered. "Everything's on the card there except this guy's name. He's Ignacio and I think he's got enough manners to not bite your girl. I hope."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I'm pretty sure she'd just bite back and laugh."

She bowed respectfully, "But I think I'd better get her home now. She's dangerously interested in the needles, and I don't know how much longer I can keep her away from them."

Kisala demonstrated this by making one last attempt to push past her mother's arms and grab at the shinies, but Shiori managed to pull her back before she got any of them,
"But do call anytime. As long as I'm not at the Temple, I don't really do much other than keeping her out of trouble, so you can come by whenever."

"I'll still call first, though." Reaching up, Devon tried to pull away the teething ring and only earned an indignant squeal for his effort. "Um, I have to owe you for this ring, too," he added. "Iggy's loving it."

The ring safely left in his grasp, Ignacio once more turned his attention to the other child and her guardian. He gummed in silence for a moment and then, pulling it away, babbled something that was obviously his way of saying 'thank you.' Then he blew another raspberry and waved the ring at them both.

Devon laughed under his breath. "So thanks again." He struggled up to his feet and offered a hand for a quick shake. "I'll be sure to call and we can put them in a pen or something. Let 'em work off energy."

She laughed, "Like I said, I think Kisala's got all of hers. I've a few more of those at home, so when you stop by you can have them too."

She bowed again and waved, "I'll see you, then." And with that, she left, shuffling Kisala to her other hip on the way.

Child on his hip, Devon stepped out the front door of Copper Dragon Designs with a sigh. Why he had to bring in the kid once a week was beyond him. Edwin was a nutjob to want a baby in a tattoo parlor. Not only was it probably against the law but Ignacio was still busily teething his way through everything that would hold still long enough for him to get it in his mouth. As if to prove the point, Ignacio squirmed in his hold and turned to pull a bit of Devon's t-shirt between his teeth.

Devon sighed again and took a step to the side towards the elaborate wrought iron bench place in front of the large picture window of the shop's front. With a long-practiced tug, he pulled Ignacio from his clothing and set him down on the seat. Then he fished a packet of hard biscuits out of the back pocket of his jeans, neatly shucking off the wrapper before handing one cookie over for merry gumming. Ignacio burbled his thanks. Straightening, Devon stretched until he heard various pops and cracks that signaled his bones were returning to their proper locations. He glanced at his watch. His next appointment wasn't for another thirty minutes. Plenty of time to flop around and try to wear Iggy down into a napping state.

First, though, Devon dropped his lanky frame onto the bench beside his child and closed his eyes. The hand closest to Ignacio shifted to rest on a small foot. Just a precaution, really. The kid wasn't doing more than rolling energetically yet.

Eliot and Ashley were walking side by side, exploring their new world mostly. The decked out 'couple' were wearing mostly black, 'ripped' clothes with a lot of metal jewelry and makeup, giving the impression they at least thought they were some important punk idols. They had a child with them that was dressed much the same, only in considerably looser and more comfortable looking attire. Eliot had Harper on his shoulders, clinging to his ears. It was a bit awkward given how fragile and small Harper still was, but he proved fairly talented at keeping his balance and got a major kick out of it so it worked out well.

"Ashleyyyy, I don't have anything to do tonight, but I know some girls who-" Eliot began, while tickling Harper's bare feet. The little wings on the sides of his feet twitched slightly along with his wriggling toes and giggles.

"Ugh, Eliot, give me my kid before you... taint him or something." Ashley moaned, her lips pursing as she reached up for her son who batted her away with a sharp 'no!' So, Ashley hissed and gave up the gesture, only shaking her head at her two companions.

"Oh, he loves me! More than he likes you, that's for sure! Here we are, the tattoo place. Gonna get one?" Eliot asked.

They stopped in front of the parlor, rather in front of Devon and the boy, completely ignoring them and going on with their talking.

"Unlike you, Eliot, I have nothing I need to cover up." Ashley said with a sigh.

Meanwhile, Harper had spotted Ignacio. Looking him over briefly, he freed one of Eliot's ears and waved at the other boy. "HELLO. I'm HARPER."

The sudden intrusion of a loud baby-voice startled Devon into sitting bolt upright and he scrambled a bit. Ignacio watched his father compose himself, mouth still full of biscuit. Then, removing it, he started laughing. "Dude, not cool," Devon muttered under his breath to the child. Ignacio ignored him and looked up at the other little boy. He waved his cookie. "Bah bah, 'lo!" he called out.

Devon looked up at the couple and their child and somehow managed to school away the automatic narrowing of his eyes prompted by their get-up. Edwin would smack him around but good if he scared off potential customers because he pegged them as posers or something. Reaching up to run a hand through already ruffled spikes of hair, Devon nodded. "Hey," he drawled. Then he watched in mild awe as Ignacio violently continued to wave the cookie at the other boy. If he didn't know better, he would have thought his bottomless pit of a kid was trying to share.

Harper's mouth fell open. "He has a cookie!... I no have a cookie!" He quickly discovered. Frowning, he bonked Eliot on the top of his head and provoked an 'ow!' out of the man. Eliot quickly removed the child and shoved him at Ashley who just as quickly curled her lips and put the boy on the ground.

"He's sticky! Eliot, what did I tell you about giving him to me when he's sticky! Useless ape!" Ashley whined, wiping her hands off on Eliot's jacket.

Harper didn't waste any more time. Whether or not the other boy's daddy wanted him to (unless of course he stopped him entirely) he approached the other kid with a look crossed between a puppy begging and a good friend trying to manipulate you. "I have some?" He asked sweetly.

Glaring at Ashley, Eliot sighed and nodded at the shop. "You're open, right?" Anything to get away from babysitting duty and madame diva. Besides, the group all had tattoos from a few years ago that were wearing out needed to be 're inked' or whatever.

"Yeah. I'm just on break." Devon's voice fell into the slightly mumbly, toneless range of things now but he had straightened his posture a bit and tilted his head to look at the adults a bit closer. A sudden jab in his side make him yelp, though, and all cool points were lost as he turned to glare at his son. "What the hell, Nacho?"

Unfazed, Ignacio held out his empty hand while displaying his soggy cookie. "Mmm," he hummed. "Cookie." Sighing, Devon surrendered the second and watched in growing amazement as Ignacio promptly handed it over to Harper. Then he watched the boy with alert golden eyes as if waiting for a suitable reply.

"Oh, cool. We can come back later, I guess... Though.." Eliot grinned and motioned toward Ashley, "Maybe I'll stay 'on break' with you, instead." Yeah, not that they were even remotely invited.

Harper watched the exchange and then stared at the offered cookie. He thought briefly if there was something he could offer in exchange, but he was already drooling, so if he actually got the cookie he would just have to think of some way to pay him back later. Thus, he grinned happily and reached to take it, while saying, "Yaaaay! Thank you!" In an enthused, thrilled voice.

"I hope that's sanitary." Ashley said pointedly at Devon while crossing his arms and glaring at him. "I'm not afraid to sue you if my son gets poisoned or something." Which was, you know, funny because most mothers would just not let their kid eat something from strangers...

"Oh, Ashley shut up. Guys who do things with tattoos know all about keeping things sanitary." Eliot said with a laugh, that faded a moment later. "Err, right?" He asked, sounding suddenly cautious and almost cowardly.

"Yeah." Devon trained his green-eyed gaze on Ashley and could not quite smother the smirk that appeared. "Go on an' sue me, lady. All you'd get is Ignacio here and he bites." He held up a hand and displayed a nibble-mark on his index finger. "Hard."

Ignacio, on the other hand, burbled his welcome and wriggled in his seat. Free of the spare cookie, his hand pointed at Harper's necklace insistently. "Shiny," he managed. Then he pointed at the space on the bench beside him. It was clearly an indication to join in on the lounging.

Harper quickly moved to the spot next to the other boy after shoving the cookie in his mouth. He was coating the thing in with drool while trying to look down at his necklace. Couldn't see it. His stupid chin got in the way. Bah! These things always seemed to happen to him.

He pulled on the necklace for a little but found he couldn't get it off, which was disappointing, because he wanted to give it to the other child as an offering. It was fastened with two bits of metal that slid into each other. Instead, he eyed his mother and beckoned for her. "Mommy come hur!" He commanded.

Ashley shook her head, "I'm sure he bites, if you're an idiot and let him bite you." She said, while taking a step to her son and bending down some. "What?"

Harper took the chance and ripped a cloth strap that was around mommy's wrist off. Came off easy due to the button clasp on it. He moved to give it to Ignacio. "You have it. Mommy don't need it she has too many." He said happily.

Ashley was.... well, turning bright red.

Eliot gave a happy sigh. "Funny, your kid looks kinda weird too. We keep seeing all these weird kids from the place we got Harper, I guess everyone on 'Gaia' is born funny." He said, still not pronouncing 'Gaia' right.

Devon raised an eyebrow. "I was born here," he replied dryly. "Nothin' wrong with me. Not even a low IQ," he added with a glance at Ashley. Seeing her change colors when her child stripped her of the bracelet, he smothered the urge to snicker and schooled his face to polite blankness. "At least Iggy doesn't just take," he observed. "And he came outta a cabbage so that's that."

Beaming from ear to ear and showing very white, very sharp little teeth, Ignacio accepted the gift from his new friend. "T'anks," he said. Then his attention turned to Ashley and his eyes rounded with something that could easily be interpreted as admiration. "Shiny!" He pointed at her.

Ashley, red from what was becoming increasingly obvious to be anger rather than embarrassment, growled at the two boys. "Give that ba-"

"Ashley! Don't take from the little boy! Sheesh, and you wanted to be a mother... Hey, you said cabbage? What a coincidence! That's how we get Harper! Seriously, think anyone in their right mind would ever knock her up?" Eliot grinned. He thought he was clever.

"Oh, here's an idea! Why don't you and this imbecile go into his little shop of horrors and stab each other with needles for awhile, all in a futile attempt to gain some pathetic dose of manhood?" Ashley snapped. Not wanting to grace the conversation with ...herself any longer, she crossed her arms, 'hmphed' and turned away from the grown men so that she was more toward the children. Now, however, she was glaring at Iggy and looking rather cautious for that look he had given her.

Either way, Harper wouldn't let his mother be an Indian giver. Nono. He nodded at Iggy and then shook his head at his mother. "Oh, no! You can't have my mommy! You no want her anyway, she's stupid a lot. But I love you mommy! What's your name? I'M HARPER." Harper repeated. Oooooh how he loved his name.

"Nnnnaaaa..."

"His name's Ignacio," Devon cut in neatly. Beneath his tanned complexion, the faint touch of a blush could be seen at his cheeks as he prevented his child from revealing the pet name. "He'll answer to Iggy, too." Reaching over, he ruffled the golden mop atop his child's head.

Which only caused Ignacio to reach up and swat him away. He growled at Devon but the noise held no threat, just exasperation. What he lacked in words, he more than made up for in non-vocal communication. Turning back to Harper, he nodded and pointed at himself. "Ignussee," he attempted. Pointing at Harper, he offered, "'Arper." Then to Ashley. "Mama."

Devon covered his face to smother a laugh. "Kiddo, she is definitely not your mom. Believe me."

"Iggy huh? Not even sure if I could say his full name, Harper for sure.." Eliot said with a little shrug.

"Iggy!" Harper repeated happily, finally sucking the last bit of life out of the cookie he had received from the other. "You are Iggy's daddy? And he no have a mommy? I don't get it." When Devon was done, Harper went to poke Iggy's hair as well wondering what that whole hair ruffling thing was about. Nobody ever did that to him.

Rockstars knew better!

Ashley, meanwhile, sat down on the other side of her son and gave Devon only a blank stare for about three seconds before nodding at Harper, "Mhm. He's the same kind of kid you are, Harper. You should make friends. Just never let him or his dad come to our house. Seriously, are we going to sit here all day or are you going to get on with it?" She asked, mostly to Eliot. She turned her gaze back to Iggy and shook her head, "Asper." Ah, her vain need to go by her old stage name.

"Aspa?" Ignacio mimicked, nose wrinkling in concentration.

Devon couldn't quite mask the faint smile that appeared at his kid's attempts at speaking. Before Eliot or (worse) Ashley could see it, though, he dropped his chin and pushed himself to his feet. Locking his fingers together, he pulled to stretch out various muscles. "So is someone up for a tat or what?" he asked. "There's me and two other inkers, y'know."

Ashley nodded at Iggy, satisfied enough with his attempt. At least she didn't have too high expectations... of the baby.

Harper, never appreciating anyone calling mommy anything but mommy, shook his head at Iggy but decided to let the issue drop without further complaint. "You have toys?" He asked, a shimmer in his black eyes at the notion of something to actually play with. Shiny jewelry could only get you so far, and little did he know the world of entertainment in the shop they sat in front of.

"No. Well, yeah, but nothing new." Eliot said with a shrug, pushing up the sleeve of his long bright red shirt in a gesture probably familiar to Devon. "It's faded, you know? Guy told me it might do that after a couple years, maybe because of where it's at, I dunno. Can you like, go over it again?" He said, flipping his arm up to show off a rather stupid tattoo on the bony side of his elbow. It was a colored thing, with what was once probably a nice red, and resembled flames circling around the base of said elbow. The parts around/on the actual bone were more faded than the rest, apparently that's what he was going on about.

"That is why whenever he wears shirts they are long sleeve." Ashley snorted, then gave a menacing grin at Eliot.

With an expression of pure professionalism, Devon neatly grabbed Eliot's wrist and adjusted the angle of his arm. His other hand went beneath the man's bicep as he squinted at the design. Clearly, the sullenness drained from Devon when confronted with ink. "Yeah," he muttered. "Red's a b***h to get right if you use the wrong ink. It fades quick in the sun and... Dude, this is a rough spot to let heal right. Did you do a lot of lifting and bending after getting it done?"

Ignacio tilted his head at Harper's question and then held up the wrist band formerly belonging to Ashley. "Mama," he burbled. Then he rolled over onto all fours and began edging himself back off the bench. "Toys."

Eliot's face went a little strange, he started blinking about twice as fast as normal and, although being quite awkward about it, let Devon move him around as he needed. "Uh.. I guess?" he began, sounding bewildered, "I mean, I don't remember too much of what he said not to do or whatever afterwards, if you get my drift.. But I'm sorta attached to it now, and-"

"He works out a lot, if that's what you mean. Always has. Compensation, you know?" Ashley interrupted, being oh so helpful. "It's gonna hurt, like, alot, right?" She asked, still grinning at Eliot. She heard 'mama' come out of an unfamiliar voice and quickly reverted back to Iggy. "No, kid, 'Asper.' Take it up with your dad if you want a... Hey, if you fall and break something, don't take Harper with you." She said, frowning as Iggy started off the bench.

"No fall!" Harper exclaimed, more at his mother than Iggy. He had some sort of confidence in Iggy's ability not to slam into the concrete and edge off safely. "Yes! Toys! We play!" He exclaimed, moving off the bench himself despite his mother who made no effort to help him what so ever.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Spotting Ignacio's antics, Devon dropped Eliot's arm abruptly and made a dive for him. He missed, however, and watched in wide-eyed surprise as his son stood on his own two feet, little hands gripping the edge of the bench for balance. Ignacio beamed up at him. "Well... Okay, then." Reaching up to run a hand through his hair, he schooled his face back to something resembling blankness. "Good job there, Iggy."

Ignacio laughed and reached up to tug on Harper's shoe in an attempt to get him down on the ground faster. Then he began edging his way towards the shop door, holding to the bench for support. Devon watched him go for a moment and finally shook his head. Glancing at Ashley and Eliot, he said, "Yeah, you have to let the scabs heal and workin' out'll do a number on them. The ink can't set properly... And anything on bone hurts more."

Ashley swatted at Iggy, though it was more a symbolic gesture and was way too far away to actually hit the child. "Don't do that!" She snapped, only to roll her eyes when Harper was successfully pulled to the ground with a little plunk.

Harper was unphased and kept going till he was in pace with the other child. He looked the other kid over and puffed out his chest slightly, "I help you. I walk good." He bragged, holding out his hand in an attempt to offer help.

Eliot shook his head, "Yeah, well, I don't mind the pain..." He couldn’t even keep a straight face for that one, and Ashley decided any comment to be made on that would be too easy. "An' Ashley will be a good little woman and babysit, won't you?" He grinned.

It took all her strength not to flip him off, but her hissing could be taken for a yes as far as Eliot was concerned. Of course, it's unlikely anyone in their right mind would allow her to watch after their child, but that was hardly the point.

"Oh, she doesn't have to." Devon shrugged and moved to open the front door as he did his best to hide his surprise at Ignacio's new skills. "Tess loves Iggy. She'll watch Harper, too. We've got one of those play pen things set up inside."

Ignacio wobbled when he stopped at the end of the bench and eyed the two feet to the door with apprehension. Then he looked at Harper's outstretched hands. He looked at the door again. Slowly, he pried one hand from the bench and held it out to the other boy. "'Kay," he agreed. "Go boom," he added and it appeared to be a warning of forthcoming hijinks.

Harper clutched the other kids hand, suddenly becoming aware of how awkward it was for him to walk alone, none the less in support of another. "No boom," he gulped, but shook any fear off a moment later. He took a step and a half and urged the other boy to come along. Seriously, wouldn't it be easier for their respective lackeys to just take them in? Even Harper was wishing for the easy route this time. He wanted a fast track to the toys.

"Well, that just makes my day. I'll be at some bar I trust is just around the corner." Ashley said, sounding happy. She waved at Harper with two of her fingers and turned to leave but Eliot caught her. The man looked something like fear for a moment.

"I told you last time, you aren't leaving me with him, even if I'm not watching him," Eliot explained, stammering for an excuse.

"You big baby!" she yelled, visions of freedom crashing on her face.

"Shut up!" he snapped as the lot went into the shop.

Rolling his eyes as the two squabbling stars pushed through the door he held, Devon moved to prop it open with his foot. "C'mon, guys," he said to the toddlers. "Get a move on before that woman trashes the shop."

Ignacio abruptly teetered in response as he tried to walk faster. His balanced lost, he began tilting forward and, his hand in Harper's, showed every intention of taking the other boy down with him. In a flash, though, Devon had managed to stretch out and press a hand against his child's chest. "s**t, Nacho," he muttered. "One day at a time, huh?" He laughed a bit, nonetheless, and awkwardly maneuvered himself to keep the door open while he picked up both boys, one under each arm. "C'mon. Let's make sure it's still cool in there."

A flick of his foot kicked the door wider and he shuffled through with both kids. Within moments, he had deposited them in a square pen filled with blankets and various odd toys.

Harper's eyes went wide, his free hand flailing in gigantic circles like a lame propeller on an airplane as they started tilting forward. Surprisingly, he was successfully propelled by some random dude. He gave a giggle and waved at his mother when they passed her.

Once in the pen, his mouth fell open again. "Lots of toys! Which is best?" He asked curiously, keeping his hands to himself for the time being to allow the other to pick out a toy. Smart kid, but only sometimes.

Ashley, back arched and fingers curled like some statue of some diva that long since lost her fame (irony at its best), was still glaring at Eliot who was taking periodic deep breaths.

"Just let the bloody thing fade away, yo moron." Ashley muttered, primping her hair for something to do.

"Oh shut up. You remember that big deal all those girls made over Sunny's? They made a flippin' website dedicated to that stupid rose!" Eliot exclaimed, before giving a smile at Devon. "You gonna do it yourself?"

Devon shrugged amiably. "Can do. It shouldn't be a big deal. Like you said, it's just re-inking. The design's still sharp enough that it won't be bad." Taking the man's question as an indication that he was, in fact, the chosen artist, he motioned Eliot to follow him to the first station - a rolling stool, a comfy-looking chair, and a few rolling stacks of drawers. "There ya go."

Ignacio surveyed his little kingdom for a moment. He wanted to pick just the right toy to show his new friend. Finally, he crawled over to a small pile and dug through it, toys flying everywhere. On all fours, he moved more surely, unnervingly like a wild dog. He made a low noise of discovery after a moment and turned with a large yellow truck in his hands. "Truck," he carefully announced.

Eliot watched Devon for a couple seconds, and with only passing another sheepish glance to Ashley he walked over. He sat down with a little thunk and smiled at Devon again; he smiled a lot when he was considering trying to get out of something. "Yeah. Like I said," he repeated, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and looking understandably nervous.

Harper shielded his eyes when the toys were flying, trying to inspect them all but finding they passed to quickly to be able to. When the truck was produced he grinned and nodded, "I have one!" he said, "Mine's red. S'at home." Quickly, he surveyed for another toy vehicle that they might commence the bashing of the two together.

Finally, deciding not to waste any more time on the grown child, Ashley walked toward the playing kids and stood in front of the pen. "Looks like you two are getting along. Has your daddy given you your first tattoo yet?" She asked sarcastically of young Iggy while crossing her arms again.

Ignacio paused in setting down the yellow truck and blinked up at the diva with wide golden eyes. Then, understanding perfectly, he held out his tanned-brown arms to show nothing but the remains of baby pudge. He looked at Harper. He shook his head sadly. "Mama, no," he mumbled.

Devon sat back a bit on his stool and eyed Eliot. "Dude," he said lowly. "Don't get it done because she's makin' you or something. Are you ready or would you rather, I dunno, just make an appointment for another time?"

Eliot snorted, not the first time he heard that. "Nope, my idea. She doesn't like it, so if anything, I'm doing it to spite her." He grinned again. "I was just drunk last time, so it's sorta new but not? I'm sure it'll be alright." He gave a confident nod that was entirely full of it but seemed insistent enough to get it done.

"I'm sure once it's no longer illegal or considered child abuse he will get right to it." Ashley said, giving Iggy a nod. "Harper darling, you aren't allowed."

Hypocrite, Harper thought! Of course he wouldn't put it so eloquently.

Harper then rolled his eyes in a great telling for the future before shaking his head at Iggy, "Why?" He asked, looking a little frustrated. "We draw on you!" He suggested merrily. Ashley promptly produced a pen from her purse and held it out for either of the children to take. (seriously, mother of the year award.)

Ignacio hesitated for a moment, eyeing her narrowly. Then he pushed himself to his feet and toddled unsteadily to the edge of the pen. Reaching out, he took the pen from her and spent a moment examining it. When he looked up again, he smiled. "T'anks." Then, summarily, she was dismissed as he made his way back to Harper and offered him the pen.

Devon studied Eliot for a moment longer and then shrugged. "Alright. Shirt off or sleeve all the way up," he ordered. "I'll get the inks ready."

"Hmph," Ashley crossed her arms again. She stood up straight, turned some to check on Eliot, but finding she had nothing better to do she continued observing the kids. Eliot wasn't screaming yet, nothing to laugh at.

Nodding at his mother as if in approval, Harper took the pen from Iggy and removed the cap. "Where? I draw good doggy! Mommy, ca' I have a dogg-"

"No," Ashley interrupted offhandedly.

"Mommy's stupid." Harper fussed briefly, then made a motion to hurry Iggy up on deciding.

Although not usually opposed to removing his shirt, Eliot instead opted for scrunching up his sleeve. Which he did. He used the other hand to rub his head this time, muttering something about how he should have gotten drunk first. "So, why'd you get the kid?" He asked. Seemed like the thing to do, sort of like talking to a barkeeper or something.

"Didn't mean to." Devon swabbed down the skin with alcohol, then turned the other man automatically into a position that would be more comfortable for the both of them. "To get this job, I had to take a note to this lab and take care of whatever they handed me. It was a cabbage which was weird enough, right?" He held the man in place and kicked on his needle, the low hum of it soft in the air.

Ignacio dutifully held out his arm to his new friend. Trusting or sucker, you decide.

Looking past his mother at Devon to catch briefly what he was doing, Harper nodded to himself, scooted around in position a little and stuck his tongue out as he concentrated. All too carefully he put the pen on the other boy's skin and proceeded to draw scribbles with the dark blue ink, creating a VERY vague form of a 'dog.' (AKA a lot of swirly things and a big circle.)

"How cute." Ashley said, smiling though her voice dripped with sarcasm. It was cute, but she wasn't likely to so openly embrace the cuteness. "Gonna let him draw on you next, Harper?"

Harper vigorously nodded but seemed annoyed for the disruption.

"Strange. Someone set you up, huh? You got no idea why someone would want you to have a kid?" Eliot asked, though he didn't sound like he was overly concerned. He was concentrating on not fidgeting or giving any light jerks that would betray how nervous he was (even if his position wouldn't allow anything truly disruptive), sort of like when you are forced to hold a strangers hand and try to make yourself think of anything else but the unfamiliar contact. Never works. "As for us? Ashley just decided to be all sadistic and run out and bring home the cabbage. Noooo idea why. Maybe she's going through 'the change.'"

"Dude, you really are a masochist." Devon set the needle to the other man's skin, face impassive and tone low. "If you live with her and she hears that, you're dead. For real."

Ignacio peered down at the drawing, squinting. Then he twisted his arm one way and then another. Thrusting it back at the other boy, he grinned. "T'anks!"

Harper nodded at Iggy. Satisfied he dropped the pen next to them both and grinned. "Looks pretty!" He informed everyone, looking up to Iggy's face, "is a doggy. You draw on me now?"

Eliot shook his head, "Nope. We shaved her head once and stole all her underwear while she was drugged out on the floor a couple years ago, she screamed for about three hours but in the end she just went to a spa for a couple weeks then came back talking about inner peace. If only that lasted...so, what about you? Live alone?"

"Just me and Jaws over there, yep." Devon squinted a bit and leaned over his work more. While normally a tight-lipped man, his choice of work had encouraged him to learn small talk for the sake of the customers. "Which is why I'm glad for the daycare thing that center runs. Makes life easier since I couldn't keep bringin' him into work or leavin' him with the neighbor. Well, not after he bit her cat."

Ignacio beamed whitely and picked up the pen. Then he pushed at Harper's sleeve. "Up," he ordered. "Do a..." He looked around the shop and his eyes fixed on a piece of bright flash art pinned to the wall. He pointed. "That."

It was a flaming skull with a snake crawling out of its mouth and dice set to snake-eyes in the eye sockets.

"Fun times. Least I'm lucky enough to have three other guys to share babysitting times with, and only two of us have jobs right now..." He laughed for a minute but it was cut short. The whole tattoo thing and all. "Working on that, I guess. We just had, err..savings.." Eliot was certainly not a tight lipped man. He talked. A lot. More than Ashley or Sunny ever appreciated. "He bit a cat? Haha, wow. I thought the screamer over here was bad. We figure he's gotta be part bird or something."

Harper examined the tattoo that had been pointed at and nodded, "Okay!" He said, while trying to push his sleeve up further only to find that was as far as it would go. "Go!" He said happily, grinning ear to ear. Ashley, still eavesdropping on the baby conversation, shook her head disappointedly, "Don't have very good taste in tattoos, do ya little brats?"

Even as Ignacio stuck his tongue out the corner of his mouth in concentration and pressed pen to skin, it quickly became apparent that he shared none of his adopted father's artistic talent. The skull became a wobbly circle, the flames crude squiggles, and the snake somehow looked like a deflated balloon.

Devon spared a moment to look over at the children and abruptly lifted the needle from Eliot's skin. "Hey, lady, is that stuff washable ink?"

"... Is this coming from you?" Ashley asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don’t know. Why, am I supposed to care?" She got sidetracked when she saw her 'friend' and stood up with a malicious grin on her face.

Harper began giggling when the odd sensation of being drawn on hit him. It tickled nicely and he was looking forward to being a walking canvas... or something. "Looks good?" He asked in a 'serious' baby tone.

"Good, good," Ignacio agreed cheerfully. He looked up from his work to study the reference picture once more. "Wanna 'nake?" he offered, pointing at another piece of flash featuring another snake. This time the reptile was winding itself around a heart.

Devon's expression didn't change from the immediate look of stony sullen-ness that had appeared when he had first noticed what the kids were up to. With a flick of his hand, he snapped off the needle and moved to set it down more safely. "Sorry, man," he muttered to Eliot. "I'll be back. Just gotta check to make sure your 'girlfriend' didn't poison my kid."
Eliot shook his head and gave a somewhat apologetic smile, "She hasn't killed Harper yet, I wouldn't worry too much."

Ashley grinned at Devon while passing him to go to Eliot. She put herself in front of Eliot and mumbled something one could only assume to be mockery.

Harper looked at the picture and nodded, "Nother? Okay!" He said, going to push up his other sleeve. He caught the sight of Devon and passed a questioning look to Iggy, "Uh oh?"

And for the record, the pen was just a cheap 30 cent blue ink pace of junk. Washable for sure, one point for Ashley.


Ignacio shrugged and held up the pen as Devon moved to lean over the fencing. "What's that? A Bic?" Ignacio waved it and reached for Devon's hand. "Uh uh. Write on your new pal all you like if he's cool with it. No writing on me." Satisfied, Devon withdrew and returned to his stool. He paused just long enough to roll his eyes at Ashley before reaching for Eliot and the needle again.

Smiling, Ignacio turned back to Harper and handed him the pen. He pointed at Devon and attempted to give a thumbs-up. Coordination being what it was, the gesture looked more like a gun aimed at the put-upon artist. "All good."

Eliot looked vaguely alarmed when he was suddenly back to being abused. "Hah, you mean you don't let your kid play with pens at home?" He asked in a very bad attempt at a joke, "Hey how much is this gonna cost anyway?"

"When is it gonna hurt?" Ashley asked with a strangely stricken, bored look on her face.

Harper stared at Devon for awhile, eventually giving a shrug. "Okay!" He exclaimed and then scooted around so that the other boy could get at his other arm. He spent a few seconds admiring the artwork of his completed arm and nodded approvingly, "Is pretty!" He praised.

Ignacio's smile was megawatt and he cheerfully began covering Harper's other arm with graffiti. "Like this," he announced. "Dada does."

Devon paused, needle lifting a bare millimeter from skin, and he blinked a bit. "Cost?" he repeated vaguely. A laugh just behind him twisted his head around and he directed his thoughtful expression at the petite girl, decorated in demure piercings, emerged from the back room. "Tess?"

"Thank God we don't let you run the place, buddy," she snickered. Coming over, she investigated the work and nodded before quoting a price. "And that's pretty low," she added, "'cause it's a redo and it's Devon here. We take pity on his victims."

Spotting the woman, Ignacio cooed and dropped the pen. He tugged on Harper's hand and pointed. "Tess," he explained.

Harper couldn’t help but giggle again when he was being drawn on, and seemed slightly disappointed when it all stopped. "Tess?" he asked, "Hallo, Tess." He gave a passive wave and then looked back at Iggy. "Your mommy?"

Eliot would of turned completely had he not been in such an ...unusual state. He caught a glance of Tess through his peripheral vision and gave her a grin, "Alright sweetie, I was just curious."

"Oh give me a break," Ashley moaned, throwing her head back.

"It isn't my problem if you don't have a sex life, you don't need to take it out on mine!" Eliot began, realizing a moment later this wasn't the best of times to get into any sort of dramatic argument/conversation/yelling fest. Ashley wasn't playing anyway. She was busy giving Tess a look down as her hips pushed to one side expressing every catty air possible.

Tess ignored the diva's look and merely crouched beside the playpen, smiling at the toddlers within as she absently pushed her long blonde braid back over one shoulder. "Hey, Iggy," she said. "New friend?"

Ignacio nodded furiously. Then he pointed at her again. "Tess," he repeated to Harper. The finger shifted towards Ashley. "Mommy," he added, reminding Harper of Ashley's apparent 'name' again. Reaching out, he pulled Harper's arm into better viewing position. "I did. 'S 'Arper."

"I can see that. Just like your dad, huh? We'll put you to work as soon as you can reach the shelves."

Even as the child puffed up with pride, Devon snickered under his breath and went back to finishing the redesign. "See?" he muttered. "Don't need babysitters. Iggy's got Tess."

"See Ashley, that's what women are supposed to look like." Eliot said with a triumphant crooked grin on his face, turning right way again and letting his eyes closed while his panic slid away.

Snorting again, Ashley smiled at Eliot and blew a kiss, "I'll be at the bar. Can't stop me now, can you?" She headed out of the shop.

Harper grinned at Tess, "You mommy too!" He informed her, deciding he would have to educate Iggy in one way or another. "My momm-" then he noticed Ashley leaving, "MOMMY!!!"

He went from one of the happiest children on the earth to something quite upset, and went into a full blown wail as tears slid down his red cheeks. It wasn't even that he appreciated his mothers company that much, but something in him hated it when people left... at all.

Alarmed, Ignacio opened his mouth wide as if to join his friend. Before he could, however, Tess had sprung to her feet and reached within the pen to scoop Harper up in her arms. "Hush, honey, hush," she murmured quickly. "Your mommy'll be right back." She turned so Harper could see Eliot. "See? Your daddy's still here."

Harper wouldn't have any of it, and when the relation between Eliot and 'dad' had been made so clearly he seemed to only wail louder.

"H-hey! I'm not his dad!" Eliot quickly protested, giving Devon a look that seemed quite impatient and ready for this all to be over with. "Turn him upside down." He quickly suggested, though the lack of cringe or fuss over the sudden loudness said he was quite used to the boy's screaming.

Harper was, then, shaking his head violently at Tess. "NO MOMMY, NO MOMMY!!!!"

"For the love of..." Neatly, Devon turned off the needle and snatched up the squirt bottle of alcohol. Within seconds, he had cleaned and covered the fresh tattoo. Then he was on his feet and taking the small, hollering child from Tess who was too busy looking stricken. "Upside down, sure," he muttered as he neatly turned the kid over and gripped his ankles.

Ignacio stared with round eyes at Harper. "Flyin'!" he squeaked, pointing.

Harper, now a bright nearly cherry red color blinked a few times when his vision flipped upside down. The next breath of wailing got caught on its way out in between the drool and breath rushing around down his throat; he made a gulping sound twice before he began sniffling in an attempt to pacify himself.

Slowly he wiped the tears from his eyes, and then began a light, cautious giggle at Ignacio. "Fly!" He agreed, the small wings on his ankles twitching slightly despite being confined by Devon's hands.

"That's just... beyond weird. I swear, no matter how many times I see it... and you won't believe how we discovered that." Eliot was saying, looking at his arm. He grinned a second later, "Done, right? Well it doesn't matter, I knew I was smart for avoiding this parenthood crap. How much was it again, hunny?" He asked Tess, pulling his wallet out.

Blinking, she repeated the number before motioning for Eliot to follow her to the front desk with a crooked finger. As they passed Devon who had begun to swing the up-ended child gently from side to side, not even seeming to realize he was doing it, Tess shook her head again.

Ignacio clapped, though, bouncing up and down on his knees. "Fly, fly!" he repeated.

Eliot frowned as he looked into his wallet and pulled out crumpled bills and then went to hand them to the girl. Probably shouldn't have paid in cash, not like anyone was accepting them for credit cards though and Eliot and Sunny decided banks were a scheme long ago.

"Here you go. Sorry about the fuss, sweet of you to take care of the kid for me though." he smiled at her. And continued to smile at her till it was long past obvious he had been smiling a bit too much.

Harper, giggling fully now complete with 'wheeee!' encouragements, found himself staring at an approaching Eliot. "I'll be on my way I guess. Thanks. Maybe I'll bring the brat back some time, seems to have made friends… okay, well, I'd only really be back for the girl." He reached out for the child with one open hand while using the other to stuff his wallet back in his pocket.

Devon cocked an eyebrow at the other man and then awkwardly turned Harper right-side-up in his arms before handing the kid over. "Real smooth," he commented dryly. "You're lucky she doesn't have a big, angry boyfriend." Ignacio began making angry noises in the pen and Devon snatched him up so he could say goodbye. "Yeah, though. Bring Harper by. Iggy likes him."

As if to prove the point, Ignacio smiled whitely and waved energetically. "Bye bye, 'Arper! See later!"

“Nacho! Time to get up. I’ve got the early shift at work and…” Devon trailed off, blinking into the makeshift crib that his adopted son regularly tore apart. Beneath the blankets, there seemed to be considerably more of the kid. Gingerly, he crossed the small room and poked at a promising looking bump. “Nacho?”

“Can’t see me, can’t find me” came the muffled response and he rolled his eyes. He poked again. “Not here. Come back later.”

Devon sighed and bent to grip the bottom of the blanket. “No way, Nacho. C’mon. Don’t be a s**t this early in the morning. For real, I don’t know who would open a tat shop before eleven in the morning but I’ve gotta go and the neighbor can’t take you and…” He pulled hard on the blanket and felt his jaw drop at the sight revealed.

Ignacio scowled up at him for a moment before pushing himself into a sitting position and yawning. Reaching up, he scratched the back of his head. Then he stretched both arms above his head. Noticing that Devon still had not continued his mutterings, he blinked. “Dad?”

“… I think we gotta get you a bigger bed, kid.”

“Huh?” Ignacio looked around at the tangle of sheets. Then he patted the mattress beneath him and reached out to grip the child-proof gate that served as one of the “walls”. He frowned. It seemed closer. Cautiously, he stretched out his legs and his eyes widened as the barrier at the end of the bed prevented his feet from going all the way out. He paused, looked up at Devon, and blinked. “The bed got smaller?” he offered.

“Nope. You grew.” A faint smile appeared on Devon’s face as the shock wore off and he reached down to hoist the rather larger child out of his bed. “Guess that’s what happens when you come outta a plant. Maybe.”

Ignacio considered this and shrugged. Once the shock was past, he felt more interested in what his new body could do. It certainly seemed stronger and it was definitely taller. Without letting his father know he was doing it, he estimated his new height. Really tall, he was past Devon’s waist and Devon was the tallest guy he knew. He grinned whitely. “Cool,” he announced. “Very cool.” He took a few experimental steps; his sense of balance was better, too. Then he looked at his old crib and wrinkled his nose. “I’m not gonna go back in there,” he said.

Kid gets a growth spurt and suddenly he’s talking like a normal human being… And giving me mouth. Great. Outside, though, Devon just shrugged. “Guess it’s good I work early today, after all,” he offered. “We’ll find a new bed after work. Stores’ll still be open.”

Beaming, Ignacio laced his hands behind his head and rocked on his feet. So these were the perks of growing up.

“Then I’ll call that Liberty place about the school thing they sent me.”

Ignacio’s face fell abruptly. Or maybe this was punishment for growing up.

"You think you brought enough gear, Nacho?" Devon asked mildly as he watched his adopted son trot ahead of him, carrying an awkward bag of balls over his shoulder. "You can't play all that stuff at once, y'know."

"We can try." Nothing logical could faze Ignacio; he was on his way to see his new friend. "If anyone can, I bet it's Riley and me. She's cool, Dad. Way cool. Even if she's a girl."

The corner of Devon's mouth turned up with amusement. Yep, the kid was definitely a kid. That was nice. Pushing his hands into his pockets, he picked up the pace to walk beside Ignacio. "So where's she gonna be?"

"Right..." Suddenly, Ignacio pointed, a wide white smile on his face. "Right over there by the soccer net. She has brothers, y'know? Maybe they'll come. Then we can all play together. I bet they're cool. C'mon." He took off at a run, the bag bouncing behind him.

Devon shook his head. "The kid hardly says a peep for weeks and now you can't shut him up. Figures." Reluctantly, he took off after his kid and, reaching him, quickly claimed the nearest bench from which to watch. He had no intention of chasing a ball if he could help it.

And there, just as Iggy had said, was Riley and three of her brothers by the soccer net. But it didn't look like the waiting had gone so well. Riley had Mikael bent over slightly as she clung onto his back via wraping her arms around his neck. She was shouting something, but it was muffled by Mikael's profane curses and Runeh's laughter. Kai was hovering helplessly beside the scuffle, trying weakly to break it up.

But as Riley squinted, shutting one of her eyes as Mikael tried to yank her off, she saw Iggy and his father coming over. So without further adue she let go, leaping off and landing on her feet behind her brother who toppled forward at the sudden lift of weight. Before he could swing around and grab her she raced forward, "Oi! Iggy!" She closed the gap quickly, planting her feet squarely in front of the other boy with a wide grin, her scuffle with Mikael forgotten.

"Riley!" was the equally boisterous and excited response. His burden made his stop a bit less graceful but Ignacio opted to use the momentum to swing the bag around to the front and Ignacio held it out like a teenager would hold out a corsage to his prom date. "I didn't know what we'd wanna do so I just brought it all," he explained. "You weren't waitin' long, right? I tried to get Devon goin' but he had to close the shop and that takes forever." He craned his neck. "Are those all your brothers?"

Devon paused before taking the bench and squinted across the distance at the two kids. Now he recognized the girl. He had seen her in the classroom when he had dropped Nacho off the other day. Shrugging, he walked over to join them. "So you're Riley, huh?" he asked. "Good to meetcha. I'm Devon. Just, uh, call me Devon."

"Sounds good to me! Means we can play lots of stuff!" Riley agreed, seeming impressed by his cleverness. She took the bag from him, setting it down neatly on the ground. Not before she took a good look at it's contents, though, and smiled with satisfaction. Then her attention was right back to her friend, "Naah, not wait'n too long. Long enough to give Mikael a hard time. He didn't get me in a headlock this time neither!" She put her hands on her hips, obviously pleased with herself at the feat. "And nah, that's just three of 'em. I've got two more."

She pivoted around so that she could point each of them out to Iggy. She may have been rough housing with them, but it was plain she was proud to have the brothers she did. "That there's Kai...and there's Runeh and his twin Mikael." She shived her silver eyes to Devon and gave a spunky mock-salute, "Nice to meet ya Devon, mister!"

"You, too, Riley." Looking over at her brothers, Devon raised a hand to signal hello to them as well.

Ignacio, however, had already dismissed them and stood, grinning. "Would they wanna play, too? I bet we're faster than them. We could beat 'em."

Riley didn't even bother to ask. She stood on the balls of her feet and hollared at them, "Heeey! Me an' Iggy are gonna kick your butts!" There couldn't be a more proper invitation. Though she didn't know what they were playing yet. She looked at Ignacio quickly, her eyes showing a sense of expextance, "What're we gonna beat them at first?"

"Ha! I'm gonna mop the ground with you, squirt!" Mikael called with a flare of his bad temper. He was all seriousness this time, it seemed. Perhaps revenge for her attack earlier? Either way, he was ready to take the kids head on. Runeh stood grinning slyly at his back, ready for an interesting game.

Kai didn't seem pleased, "Why don't we do something else..."

Ignacio studied them, taking in how much taller and more muscled Riley's brothers were. Then he glanced at Devon. Devon held up his hands. "Uh uh," he answered. "I'm not up for it. I just spent the past 6 hours hunched over body parts, Iggy. I just wanna stretch out and rest."

"Wimp. You sit on your butt all day!" Huffing, Ignacio shook his head and refocused on Riley. With a foot, he prodded the bag on the ground. "Well, catch is boring..."

"Don't break anything."

Ignacio rolled his eyes. "I've got a soccer ball in there and a football."

Riley completely ignored the "don't break anything" comment, since as she told Iggy at school it was a very common event. She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully, pausing a moment to think of the best game to combat the twins in, since it seemed Kai would sit out. Finally she clapped her hands together, grinning ear to ear. "Get the football out! Trust me!" she said with spirit, her silver eyes flashing.

Kai sighed, seeming defeated since both his sister and two younger brothers showed no signs of relenting. He moved over to get out of the way and sat by Devon.

Devon glanced at the other man and half-shrugged. "Must be nice to have other guys around to help out," he offered mildly.

With a fierce nod, Ignacio dug out the football. He straightened and tossed it easily into the air before catching it. He smiled then and threw it to Riley. "I'll follow your lead," he told her.

Kai shook his head, looking rather woeful. "Well...not particularly," he sighed, "I'd rather not have the twins watch her. They aren't the best role models." All that rough housing they'd taught her! And he was sure she would pick up their cursing sooner or later...it was just a matter of when.

Riley caught it easily, like the sporty tomboy she was. Pointing a sharp finger at the twins she yelled, "Line up! We'll start it off!" She jogged over to the halfway point in the field.

"Why, so I can squash you like the bug you are in a tackle?" Mikael jeered at Riley, really looking as though he'd enjoy it. He lined up across from his sister, Runeh coming to stand beside him.

"I'll hike it to you," Riley told Iggy after she gave Mikael a good look at her tongue.

"Gotcha! I'm on it." Trotting a sensible distance away from his new teammate, Ignacio grinned at the two adults they were facing off against. Then he settled into place, bouncing a bit from foot to foot with barely contained energy.

Devon watched his son with half-closed eyes for a moment and then shook his head. "I dunno where he gets it," he muttered.

"Well...while I believe one's family influences you, I also believe that a certain part of yourself is simply yours, without a specific cause..." Kai said with deep thought. Then, as if realizing he sounded silly he offered a sheepish smile, "Sorry...I guess I just mean that even if my brothers and I hadn't been around I think she would have been pretty spirited..."

Riley hunched over slightly, holding the ball near the ground beneath her feet, ready to snap it off. She eyed her two brothers fiercely, her tail feathers quivering for a moment before fanning out. Then she finally yelled out, "Hut hut, HIKE!" He snapped the ball under her legs, tossing it right at her waiting companion. But once the ball had left her hands she had taken off, knowing the twins would either try and rush Iggy so he'd have to pass or they'd come bolting after her.

With a faint grunt, Ignacio caught the ball and backpedalled. Seeing Riley's brothers start towards him, he swallowed and then grinned, daredevil and brave. He darted to the right and began running full-tilt. His legs pumped hard while he kept the ball tight to his body. As they careened towards him, gaining, though, he growled and made another pivot. With effort, he stopped his momentum and threw the ball as hard as he could towards Riley.

Devon watched with faint amusement before shrugging at Kai. "I dunno. I've never been a jock so that's all Iggy there," he answered.

Mikael had full on rushed at Iggy without a second thought. Runeh had hung back, drifting between cutting the boy off and making sure he could get at his younger sister. His twin had nearly reached Iggy when the ball was thrown hard and high. Runeh bolted forward and past Riley. Mikael dug his heels into the ground, spitting a curse, before turning around.

Riley was more then ready for the pass. She jumped up, catching the ball as it jerked into her grip but stayed firm. Landing light on her feet she took off again only to notice Runeh had headed her off. With a quick snap of her reflexs she attempted to circle around and out of reach. She was almost at the end of the field! But Mikael was charging at her like a bull and she noticed much too late that she was caught between the twins.

As they came within feet of her she jerked to the left, trying to snake out of their grasp and dart off. But Runeh caught her foot, sending her tumbling forward. And Mikael, without hesitation, tackled her into the grass, "I GOT YOU SQUIRT!"

"... That look like it hurt." Devon winced in sympathy. "Aren't they kinda rough with her?"

Meanwhile, Ignacio had hollered in annoyance and pounded over to push at Mikael. "C'mon!" he ordered, putting his lean muscles into the shoving. "Get off her! Your ball now."

Kai sighed, giving an uneasy laugh, "Well...yes...I'd like to tell them to stop, but she wouldn't appreciate being let off so easily and they wouldn't listen to me anyway. I sometimes wonder how Victor gets them to do what he wants..." He trailed off. Obviously he was the one commonly ignored when it came to giving advice.

Mikael was laughing in his triumph and finally rolled off, grinning proudly, "I'm off kid, I'm off! Well! I did tell you I'd get ya, didn't I sis?"

Riley sat up slowly with a moan of frustration. "Well....I'm gonna get you this round, mark me!" She lifted her left fist in a challenge, looking very determined.

Runeh seemed less amused. "Riley, you're arm," he murmured with a serious face, which was a rarity with the sly twin. He pointed at her right arm, which was twisted funny.

Ignacio stared, golden eyes huge. "Riley," he whispered. "I don't think it should be doin' that."

Looking back over at the group in the distance, Devon tilted his head and frowned. "They got quiet."

Riley blinked, looking from the startled Ignacio to her stoned faced brothers. Then she snuck a glance at the arm they mentioned, her brows furrowing. Then without warning she cried out in surprise, "It won't move!" It didn't hurt...or at least not yet. And while her comment wasn't completely correct, since it did shift a little it was definately not normal.

"Oh dear," Kai breathed fearfully, standing up and hurrying over to see what was going on. For such a worry wort, however, he didn't panic at the sight of his sister's condition. Instead he got down on the grass beside her, inspecting it. "Oh...Didn't I tell you guys to be more careful? I think it's broken..."

Ignacio bit down on his lower lip and moved to stand on Riley's good side for a moment. Then he sank to his knees beside her and offered his hand for holding. "It'll be okay," he announced bravely. "You'll see. You're tough."

Jogging over shortly behind Kai, Devon grimaced as he looked down at the girl. He had no first aid training but that definitely was not normal. He began digging in his pocket for his cell phone.

Riley grimaced in increasing frustration. Her body was slowly coming out of shock, which meant she was starting to feel the sharp pain that hadn't been there before. Her eyes watered a little, though she looked more angry then distressed. She took Iggy's hand and squeezed it, perhaps to help her vent, "It's not fair! We were having so much fun!"

Kai sighed, "Devon, could you call in? I'm a medic, but I dont' have the equipment to move her properly and she'll need to head to the hospital anyway." He rubbed his fingers through his hair, sparing at glance at the very silent twins. "Could you two fetch Victor and Liam? They'll need to know." And for once the twin's obeyed without protest.

Devon nodded. He was already dialing frantically. Walking off a few steps, he began giving the situation and the location to the operator. Ignacio glanced at his father proudly but then returned his whole attention to Riley. "We'll have fun later," he told her. "And we'll beat your brothers."

"Yeah, I guess," Riley grumbled, obviously not very reassured. The thought of going to the hospital was not very exciting. It had always seemed boring, from what she had seen on T.V. And the sad truth was that reality was even more dull then that. But she waited, being relatively good considering what happened.

When the ambulance finally arrived Kai gently tried to coax her away from Iggy. "Come on Riley, let's let these guys get you some help, hmm?"

Ignacio held her hand only tighter and then he looked at Devon with pleading eyes. "Can I go with?" he asked. "I wanna make sure Riley's okay."

Hesitating, Devon shook his head slowly as he put his phone away. "Iggy, man, her brothers'll go with her and make sure she's okay. You'll get in the way."

"I won't! I promise!" Ignacio's chin set stubbornly and he looked at the other adults. "I have to go with her so... Well, just 'cause."

"Ignacio..."

Riley's lower lip quivered slightly as she seemed to think something over. She then gave Iggy a sharp, searching look with her silver eyes. Or as much as a kid with a broken arm could, anyway. "It's gonna be boring...and I'll be ok. Ya sure you wanna come...?" she asked seriously, ignoring the fact that it wasn't really up to her.

Kai was rubbing the back of his neck, offering an apollogetic look to the medics from the ambulance. But he didn't stop the kids. He was a soft hearted guy. If Iggy wanted to come because he wanted to be with his friend then well...what was he going to do? Say no? "I can watch him, Devon...if he still wants to come."

"I wanna. I will." Ignacio nodded so hard that he nearly gave himself whiplash. "I'll be okay. Gotta keep Riley company, right?"

Devon hesitated again and finally nodded. "If you're sure," he said to Kai. "Call when you wanna get rid of him?"

"Sure, no problem," Kai nodded, "Besides, it'll probably be easier on the both of them if they were together..." Good old Kai, being the sensitive one. Had it been Liam or maybe even Victor Ignacio would have been going home. He looked at Riley, "Alright then, let them help you now. Um...Iggy, why don't you go ahead and get in so that we can leave once she's helped up?"

"Well you'll get to say you've ridden in an ambulance now," Riley said with a half-smile as she pulled gently from Iggy's grip and let the two medics come over to assist her.

He shot her a roguish grin. "Think they'll make the siren go for you?" he asked as he scampered ahead and allowed the driver to direct him where to sit. "I would."

Devon rolled his eyes and held out his hand for a quick shake. "Thanks, man. I guess... He'd've been a nightmare at home with not knowin' what was up with her. Probably."

"Don't worry about it. He's a good kid, I'm sure it'll be fine," Kai said with a small smile while shaking the offered hand. He then trailed after his younger sister, who had dawned a troublesome grin and taken up a glint in her eye. Quickly and efficiently they were loaded up into the Ambulance. And as they sped off it seemed a certain sparrow girl had convinced them to turn on the screaming siren.

----

"It feels really weird!" Riley exclaimed, giving her arm a curious look. Her right arm, after slogging through waiting rooms, doctors, x-rays, and the like, had been put into a cast. She sat forward on the hospital bed moving her injured arm up and down as if to test it's movement.

"Riley, leave it in the sling," Liam told her simply, his voice in a normal drawl but with a hint of firmness. He had stayed in the room with the two children while Victor and Kai went to fill out the paperwork. Mikael and Runeh had gone off for food.

Ignacio moved to perch on the edge of her bed and bent over his friend's arm to inspect the cast thoroughly. Looking at Liam out the corner of his eye, he gingerly poked a finger at it. "Hey, it's really hard!" he exclaimed. "Kinda feels like paper, though. That's weird." He paused to consider this paradox and then his face lit up again. "I bet we could draw on it."

Riley jutted out her lower lip at Liam's comment. So, in an attempt to curb her restlessness she shifted to sit side-by-side with Iggy, draping her legs over the edge of the bed so she could swing them back and forth. Curiously she lifted her other hand and knocked the knuckles against the cast. It was hard, but he was right about it feeling funny. It wasn't like metal hard or rock hard. "You think?" she asked him before craning her neck to see if there were any pens about.

"You need a permanent marker or it'll wash off," Liam stated practically. He tossed said marker over to them. Where he had gotten the thing...well, that was a mystery.

The look Iggy shot him as he caught the marker placed Liam momentarily on the level of God. Then he dismissed him and turned to squirm into a better position to get at Riley's cast. Uncapping the pen, he tilted his head. "What d'ya want?"

Riley clicked her bare feet together, thinking. What did you put on a cast anyway? She had no idea. But as long as it was fun, who cared right? "Why don't you...try putting something on it and I'll guess what it is!" She suggested with a grin, her feathered ears already twitching with a few ideas of her own, "Then I can have a go. Then at the end it'll be all...full of awsome stuff." Or something. Right.

"Well, if you say so." Ignacio peered down at the expanse of white and considered it. "I'm not as good as my Dad, though," he warned. "He can really, really draw." That said, Ignacio put marker to cast and began working. Shortly, his tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth in concentration. Black lines began appearing steadily.

Finally, he lifted the marker away and nodded. "There," he announced.

... The picture might have been a dog. Maybe. If that wasn't a tail, though, it was a creature with 5 legs.

Riley shifted her arm a little so she could get a better look. "I think it's great! Mm...is it a...dog?" she asked, blurting out the first four-legged animal that came to mind. Which was a dog. Obviously she wasn't a cat person, or that might have been her answer. But she had never been good at pictionary or anything. Whatever team she was on always seemed to loose...go figure.

"Yeah!" Ignacio beamed in relief that she understood. "I like dogs. Dad says I might as well be one." He looked over his shoulder and wagged his short tail. "He said I chewed on everything." He offered the marker to her. "Your turn?"

"Well you kinda look like one!" Riley offered with a grin, leaning back slightly so she could reach her left hand over to give his tail an affectionate tug. "Dogs are cool. Victor won't let us get one though...says the military won't allow 'em in the apartment and it'd probably try to pull out my tailfeathers or something." More along the lines of bite her/eat her then that, but whatever. She took the marker gladly, setting to work with determination. Luckily she was left handed, so it wasn't too hard.

"There!" she said, showing off an odd stick figure and a blob thing that sort of resembled a snake.

"Excellent!" Ignacio barely had wiggled at the tug to his tail but now he reached over to mess with Riley's hair and there was a touch of vengeance in the motion. "Snake, right? Y'know, we should have my Dad draw something for you. He's really good. He can make it like a real tattoo or something."

"Ak!" she grunted, ducking her head slightly though that didn't help her escape his reach. She was used to such an attack though, since her brothers did it all the time. Shaking her bangs out of her face she nodded, "Yeah...a snake trying to eat that guy." She pointed a finger at the stick-man right near the snake. "You're dad does tattoos?" she asked, perking up in curiousity. She had kinda wondered how tattoos got on your skin and all...

"Yep! He works at the Copper Dragon." Ignacio beamed with pride at the interest in his father. "I spend lots of time there," he added. "I mean, I never ever went to Liberty when I was little. Tess and Rob and Edwin and them all just helped watch me."

Riley wiggled her toes, her eyes fixed on them as she thought the new information over. "Hm...maybe I can go see it sometime. See if I ever want one," she murmured after a moment. Tatoos were cool, right? She had heard Mikael and Runeh talk about getting them before. Though why they hadn't yet was beyond her... She shook her head to his last comment, "Nah, me neither. One of my brothers has always been around to stay with me."

"Sure!" Ignacio beamed at the interest Riley was showing in his life and living conditions. "You'll like 'em. They're the best. Tess doesn't ink but she can draw so she can draw on your cast, too. Maybe make a tattoo."

"That sounds really fun," Riley said with a smile, getting a sly twinkle in her eye, "I bet Mikael and Runeh would be so jealous..." It seemed the flames of sibling rivalry never died.

The curtain around the bed pulled back and Victor walked in, one hand pushed into his pocket. "Alright, everything's done. Time to go Riley. We'll drop Iggy off on the way home," he said casually, giving Liam a small look and a nod that caused him to stand and leave to fetch the car.

Immediately, Ignacio slithered down from the bed to land on his feet. Stretching his arms above his head to work out a kink, he offered a white smile to Victor. "Thanks a lot," he said. "For lettin' me come, that is. I didn't want Riley to be bored." Then he turned to Riley and offered a hand. "Need help down?"

"You're very welcome. I think you did us a favor, really," Victor told the boy with a friendly smile. He knew very well how Riley could be when she was bored. Besides, a little moral support never hurt anyone.

"Nahh, I got it!" Riley said with confidence. She pushed her left palm agains the bed, sliding down to land on the ball of her feet. She let a quick shiver pass through her. The floor was cold! Snatching up her socks and shoes with her free hand she took a minute or two to get them on. Luckily her shoes weren't with laces, so she didn't have to tie anything. "Kay, ready to go~" She smiled at Iggy, "Thanks for comin'."

"Hey, no problem." Ignacio shrugged off the thanks and reached out to take her hand. "C'mon. Let's get outta here. I think we've been here way too long already."

With that wise declaration, Ignacio dragged his friend along with him, her two brothers following in their wake. Well, at least, it could be considered a lesson learned. Riley was breakable... She shouldn't ever get caught!

Gym Class - An Open RP - Ignacio finds a class that he actually wants to attend.

A Glowing Problem - A Closed RP - Ignacio goes to visit Kisala.