Welcome to Gaia! ::

You find a nearly dead fairy. Though she seems to be an adult, she will recover when cared for and form a bond with the caretaker.

Silva trailed down the hall, chewing on his toothpick thoughtfully, a slight scowl pulling at his lips. Why did s**t like this keep happening to him? Honestly, it was as if he had a giant sign on his back with the words "Screw Me Over" written on it.

Dee had gone crazy, and there was some sort of conspiracy going on somewhere that he didn't quite understand, and dammit all, he didn't want to get dragged into it! All he wanted was a good snog, a beer, and maybe a trip through the door or two. Maybe a beach this time if he could arrange it. He could go for a surfing trip.

But instead here he was. Like always. Dammit. He wondered where Aleric was.

Raising a hand to brush her hair back firmly behind one ear and then reaching up to ensure the wind hadn't blow her hair into a mess around the tiny wings in her hair, Ruya waited for the door to the HQ to open. When it did, she drifted through and into the reception area on a slight current of air. She landed lightly on the desk there and licked her lips lightly. The summer sun combined with her fangs had made them a bit chapped.

She didn't have apurpose for being that the HQ other than the idle wish to have someone to talk to.

Silva went perfectly still as he belatedly picked up the magic signature. He had been distracted. And now he was about to pay for it.

Then he almost laughed at himself, shaking his head. Yeah, it was Ruya. But it wasn't HIS Ruya. His Ruya was gone, and he was with Averno now. Whoever this feien was, she wasn't who she used to be.

So he fingered his toothpick, slapped his smirk firmly into place, and headed down the hall and into the waiting room, only glancing at her casually as he crossed the room. Slowly.

She was an adult again, it seemed. Huh...

Behind Silva, the door to Hamada's office opened and suddenly voices were audible, the effect similar to turning on a television broadcast in mid-sentence.

"--think we should pursue the feien we have active security logs on first," came Geiseric's voice, and a moment later Geiseric himself, riding on Gunn's shoulder.

"Uh huh," nodded Gunn. It was funny, really, how easily the six-foot human followed the little feien's lead.

"We'll have to check in with Autry. Where did he say he was going? Ah! Ruya, good to see you, we've just completed another statement for your perusal." Geiseric switched his focus from Gunn to the two other feien without any pause, making it sound as if the two topics were one.

Ruya's eyes had been caught by the feien moving across the room, but before she had a chance to try and attract his attention or speak to him, Gunn and Geiseric emerged from an office down the hall.

"Interesting," Ruya said, shifting her attention. "I hope you're finding that the missing feien are all well. I'd hate to think they were in trouble. Or causing it," she amended, clasping her hands in front of her.

Feeling like she should attempt to include this other feien, who she reasoned was probably the one making the statement. Silva, perhaps? No, she dismissed that thought. It would be quite the coincidence to have heard him spoken of and then to see him.

"So," she said, trying to think of something to say. "Are you the feien who just gave a statement?" She directed this comment in Silva's direction, not sure if he would hear it.

He looked at her for a moment, fingering his toothpick. "Yeah. I am. Name's Silva." And the clincher. "You?"

Of course both Gunn and du Pont knew that he knew who she was, so they could blow up the question into something that it damn well wasn't. At least, he didn't think it was. He was just acknowleding her choice.

She didn't want to remember him, well fine. Then he wouldn't remember her.

Ah, so he was Silva. Ruya paused for a moment at that revelation, taking the time to study him carefully.

"I am Ruya," she said, and then without bothering to think about it she continued, "but I think you probably already know that."

She felt slightly nervous, as she was finding to be the norm for meeting people who knew her already.

"Only your name, darlin." He drawled. "I don't know you anymore." He glanced over at du Pont, looking thoughtful. "When you say you're going after the missing feien... you mean you'll hunt them down like dogs?"

"Of course not!" said Geiseric. "Why on earth would we--"

"This is a missing persons investigation," said Gunn quietly. He was looking at the floor and disassembling a pen with his hands.

Well, Silva seemed to take her amnesia well. Ruya gave him an absent-minded half smile, relieved to find that as she had suspected Sunil had been lying about her relationship about this feien.

His accusation to Gunn and Geiseric though made her sigh. Honestly, why did people seem to have such a problem with authority?

"So what if they did?" She asked, a bit confrontational. "My understanding is that as Fleet citizens we probably enjoy certain resources, so is it such a cost to pay to have them aware of our locations?"

"More than resources," interrupted Geiseric. "Feien Services has become concerned that the missing feien may in fact be the result of unsatisfactory bonding situations. We're looking for them for their own safety."

Silva looked at her, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You realize some of us didn't ask for the Fleet to come in and change everything. Some of us don't mind remembering s**t." He bit back a curse, looking away. "Forget I said that."

He looked at du Pont again, once again realizing how naive the kid was. Sure, he looked like an adult, but-- "I don't care if you hunt them down like dogs. Or if you find them new bonds, or whatever. Just sayin, don't lie to me. I don't like bein' told one thing and seeing something else happen. If you were gonna hunt them down then tell me straight. I kinda liked Ursa. Doesn't happen often."

Geiseric opened his mouth, but as usual Gunn held the feien back in his quiet way. "We're not hunting anyone down," he said. "If you're concerned for the safety of your friend, I would never allow harm to come to a feien." Gunn's mouth tightened and his shoulders stiffened. He stopped fiddling with the pen.

Alarmed, Geiseric rolled to his feet and said, "Billy--"

"Excuse me," said Gunn quickly, turning so fast Geiseric barely had the time to launch himself into the air. Gunn paused three strides away and looked halfway back. "I'll be right back, Eric." He promptly disappeared into the bathroom.

Geiseric stared after Gunn, dumbstruck. It had been a rather sudden launch, enough to shift his uniform sideways around his neck. He adjusted the cloth so his rank bar was in the front again and tried not to look as unsettled as he felt.

"I'll hold him to that." Silva said coldly, thinking of Dee's words once again. Then he looked at du Pont, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"It's easier to look tough when you're sitting on that big guy's shoulder, isn't it?" He asked, with that dry tone that meant he was giving the kid a hard time. Not that du Pont would know that, no doubt. But the faintest traces of amusement danced in his eyes. He ignored Ruya for the moment.

There was the subtlest change in du Pont's demeanor now that Billy was gone. He straightened, done fixing his uniform, and looked Silva in the eye. "I've never found the size of a human to be intimidating," he said darkly.

"True." Silva said thoughtfully. He leaned back in the air, as if reclining there. "Tell me... what do you get out of this little trip? The chance to run around in uniform, maybe? Or do you really care about us... Gaia feien?" His derisive tone suggested he doubted it.

Geiseric glanced at Ruya as he answered. "As a Security officer, it is my duty to ensure the safety of the citizens of the Fleet. I'm doing my job. But I'm sure you already know the importance of work. Tell me, what do you do for a living?" The tone was innocent enough, but somehow Silva got the impression the question was not.

"I kill things." Silva said easily. "Rats, snakes, feien. But damned if it just doesn't get me the fancy outfit. Maybe I should look into asking people questions for a living." It was making him loosen up, actually. This little argument.

"An exterminator, then?" said Geiseric, with overly-stressed interest that suggested he was patronizing Silva. "Have you killed many feien? Does it pay well?"

Watching the two male feien snark at eachother, Ruya spaced out abit to wonder if her first impression had been wrong. It did seem perhaps that this Silva was angry she didn't remember him. Which was absolute crap as far as she was concerned, since it wasn't her fault. Or she didn't think it was, since she couldn't remember making the decision.

Anyway, she was annoyed.

"Do you kill things as a service to others, Silva, or because you enjoy it?"

"It's a bit of both. It's a service that I enjoy." Silva admitted. "The last feien I killed earned me the lives of three juvenile girls." He said, looking thoughtful. "Including my own. What's your job earn you, du Pont?"

"Respect," said Geiseric, so simply and eloquently it was worthy of envy.

"And the uniform is rather nice," Ruya added.

"We're actually getting in new feien uniforms soon," said Geiseric, secretly pleased at the compliment. "My uniform is merely a prototype."

The bathroom door opened and Gunn emerged, tugging the creases out of his jacket and patting his tie down flat. He seemed refreshed.

Silva choked and looked away before he started laughing. It was a loud, honest laugh that came straight from the gut and made him bend over to try and contain it. But then he stopped, his grin fading into a smirk as he looked at them.

"I also train kids to fight now." He said with amusement still in his eyes. "But hell, I guess that might not earn me the uniform, either."

"And adults?" Ruya said. "Sunil mentioned something about Aleric, with whom I've been told you share a bond, and an invitation to train."

Gunn rejoined the conversation as a silent observer, wondering what the joke had been to cause Silva such mirth.

Geiseric just rolled his eyes. All the training in the world could not compare to the education the inquisitor had thanks to the Fleet, and that included combat.

"If they need it." He said, not showing his surprise at the offer. "Sunil used to know how to fight. But hell, all the change made her weak." He went on, looking at her for a moment, then he looked back at du Pont, not wanting to follow that conversation until he had time to think.

"But whatever do you need that training for?" asked Geiseric. "Is there some great menace that lurks here on Gaia?"

If Gunn were a feien, his ears would have perked up. As it was, his chin lifted slightly and his eyes, directed towards the window, unfocused slightly as his mind set to thinking.

So she claims," Ruya said, narrowing her eyes. She didn't really want to get into the topic any further either, since she was starting to feel very out of the loop.

Silva looked at du Pont. "About two months ago we had a little drugged cupcake situation going on. It wound up with three little girls tied up and bleeding to death by a ******** psycho named Cascati. I killed the b*****d, but the girls were helpless and stupidly thinking the same thing you are. That there's nothing to be worried about on Gaia."

"Maybe there isn't. Now."

"Drugged cupcakes," said Gunn before Geiseric could reply. "The incident that prompted Feien Services to take a stronger interest in the feien here on Gaia." He was twitching again, drumming his fingers together.

Geiseric drew himself up. "Naturally," he said authoritatively, "if the Fleet had been allowed to take stronger action or been called upon sooner for assistance, the whole debacle could have been avoided."

"I'm not risking it." Silva said with a shrug. "I'll knock some sense and fighting skills into these brats if it kills me. And it's a hell of a lot better for them than sitting around thier bond's house looking pretty. We get them fit, teach them to spar, and might even get a few games of football out of them."

Gunn, drifting into whim, said lightly, "I wanted to investigate that." He blinked, returning to reality. "What difference would fighting skills have made? From what I read, the problem was an ingested toxin."

Ruya remained silent, trying not to look too surprised to hear about people almost dying from drugged food. She privately agreed with Gunn, she wasn't sure that learning to fight would stop people from drugging feien, but as she didn't know any of the details she couldn't say for sure.

"Why doesn't the Fleet offer services to train feien? I assume that the Fleet feien receive some sort of instruction about their magic, defending themselves, recognizing bad situations, etc."

After a moment, she added, "And if you were an instructor Silva, perhaps they'd give you a nice uniform too." She couldn't help but smile.

"The fighting training will make the little bastards figure out that there IS danger out there." Silva said as if it made perfect sense. "They learn that they're not invulnerable, they might do something less stupid. And cupcakes aren't the only threat. There's some mean a** birds and dogs out there."

He had run into a couple of those, as well. "And then there's other feien. You might not wanna believe this, but not all of us are nice to begin with."

"So you want to train feien to fight against each other?" said du Pont, unable to mask the disgust in his voice.

Silva looked at him as if he was an idiot. "Yeah. I train them to fight against each other. And you really wanna know why? Because every once in a while a feien gets so damn strong that something happens called 'Berserk.'" He drawled. "And they don't have complete control of it just yet."

"That's why I'm damn well going to have those kids know how to keep from getting killed long enough to get away." His eyes were cold. Because he was talking about himself.

Gunn took a deep breath, a sound that seemed far louder to the assembled feien than it would have to a group of humans. "When you increase the weapons accessible to the public, you don't end up with a safer public. You end up with more violent crime. What you're doing is reckless. You're enabling greater cruelty. Even if it were your intent that the skills only be used to defend, you have no way of ensuring it."

His disapproval was obvious. There was a heavy frown on the human's face as he looked out the window and towards the skyline of Barton Town.

"It's too dangerous," said Gunn, voice so low it was almost a whisper.

"I had read studies like that had been conducted with humans, but it is possible that they aren't directly applicable to feien." Ruya said thoughtfully. "Does anyone in the Fleet conduct socio-psychological studies with feien?"

"Not specifically," said Geiseric, "but psychologically, I've seen no difference that feien are any different from humans."

Silva looked at Gunn. Then he shook his head, relaxing slightly. "I'd agree." He said slowly. "If the students weren't four little girls and a boy that's there to flirt." He shrugged. "Although training Sunil might be damn stupid on my half."

He went on. "Unless I trained them for a year or two, they'll never get to the point I'm at. Even then Aleric's still not there. I'm the only weapon people should worry about. But I'm not cracked enough to stick in a padded room just yet."

Gunn's brow creased. "How do you keep track of your students, to make sure they don't use the skills you give them to hurt other feien?" Not having feien attacking each other seemed to be an important point for Gunn.

"Interesting," Ruya noted. "I would have thought perhaps the clear physical differences and our lack of procreational gender would have led to some deviations from human behavior. Perhaps it has something to do with our living among them."

She was off in her own little world.

Geiseric silenced himself from pointing out that plenty of humans never procreated even though they had the capability. (Gunn was a good example.) He was more interested in hearing about Silva's so-called training.

"Well, Soho's my little girl." Silva said after a brief moment of thought. "She's also a bit of a ditz, more likely to want to cuddle than to fight. Hell, only reason she's learning is because her friends are there. Marne kisses every person she meets on the lips. Too damn bubbly to attack people without cause... Gala wouldn't hurt a fly unless it was threatening someone she cared for, and Bruns..."

He hesitated on that one. "Bruns I'll have to keep an eye on." He admitted. "But I'm hoping he might be good for a spar. If he ever learns how to move faster than a turtle, that is."

"So you only train feien with little to no predilection for violence? What reason then do these feien have for seeking out combat training?" Geiseric settled back down on Gunn's shoulder as he spoke. Let Silva interpret what he may from the motion; it was merely habit on Geiseric's part.

Silva almost choked on his toothpick as he went back to the reason for the training. "It's because Marne thinks Soho and she should get married." He said bluntly. "I'm not against girls with girls or anything, but Marne... well, she's a bit of a... moron as far as I can tell. But if she's going to be spending time with Soho, I'd rather have them together where I can keep an eye on them."

The stressed father look that crossed his face would have provided many a feien with blackmail material had they seen it. "Gala wants to impress her bond, who from all I can tell is a bit of a b***h, Bav's there because she can't beat me, and Bruns is there to flirt with Soho and Marne. Make sense?"

"No," said Geiseric, "it sounds like you're only 'training' them so you can assert your own superiority by monitoring their skills. The only feien on Gaia who seems to pose them any threat is you."

"Already did that." Silva said with a shrug. "They asked for training themselves. Hell, it's really, Aleric, Nick and Nack that are actually doing the sparring part. Nick and Nack being a few animal boys that I raised."

He looked at du Pont. "Maybe you should come see the training yourself sometime. Make your conclusions then."

"Yes, I'd like that," said Geiseric, a bit of anger in his voice. He hardly considered that an answer to his accusation. Perhaps if he could talk to Silva again without Gunn he could get a straight answer.

Picking up on Geiseric's annoyance, Gunn warned, "Eric..." It would not be good for the other inquisitor to get distracted or start obsessing over something. "I don't suppose I could come and see, too? When the investigation is over." So much for Geiseric's straight answer.

"Sure. The boys promised them a soccer game after Friday's training. We'll do it on the back porch." Silva said with a shrug. If du Pont wanted to think he threatened the kids, well, hell, who was Silva to stop him from it? He'd see soon enough at the training.

Neko quietly opened the door ajar, gold eyes peering curiously inside of the 'new' headquarters. For once reason or another, she'd found it rather difficult to get this far; mostly being unsure of whether or not this was the right place, and partly because of the reason she was coming. Ares had mentioned the place had changed, but the demon hanyou never expected it to have changed this much. The place was more like some sort of office now instead of a shop, and everything seemed very organized. ...Perhaps that was for the better. But what happened to Em in order for all of this to happen in the first place?

Opening the door enough to fit through, she closed it gently behind herself after stepping inside, taking a better look around the room. This was an odd feeling... It just didn't feel right to her at all. So orderly... it was no wonder Tahki had gotten bored when she came here. Neko looked to Raylan for a moment, making sure the small feien hadn't dropped off her shoulder anywhere by accident. He insisted on coming along, even though she'd requested them all to stay behind and keep a close eye on the bloom in an attempt to keep Roswell away from it with the paints. Hopefully Merri's height would be intimidating enough...

Neko's arrival brought a swift end to the conversation, which was probably for the best since it was doubtful there was any more mileage to be had from the subject. "Can we help you?" Geiseric called to the woman, speaking on behalf of the whole group. (Never mind that Silva probably had no interest in helping.)

Silva snorted, then glanced over at Ruya one last time, not knowing... or really wanting to say anything. But he grunted to them all. "See ya." And flew past Neko's head and down the stairs.

He figured he'd see them soon enough, and he needed to talk to Aleric about the offer to train Sunil. The sooner the better.

Trinityblue was once more at the door step of her sister's, Ice Queen, house. This time she was ringing the doorbell, hitting it repeatedly with an impatient air.

"Would you stop that! It's probably driving them nuts!" Bavaria muttered, sitting on her bond's shoulder once more. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she waited.

"Then Ice should answer the door faster! Especially when I have good news." Trin answered, not at all detured from what she was doing.

"Baseball bat, check... machete, check, porn magazines... check." Ice muttered. Then she looked at Silva, raising an eyebrow. "Do we REALLY need these?"

"Do you want to keep him in place long enough to use that bat?" Silva asked. "It's either that or you pull your shirt up." And he twitched with that, hating the idea even more than she would. Not that Ice noticed.

"Good point... Okay, I think we're ready--" She finally realized that the doorbell was being rang. "Crap. Do you think he's here? No, he wouldn't use the--"

"Just open the door, Ice."

"Oh, oh right." Ice said, reaching and opening the front door.

"I'm going to live!" Trin announced as soon as the door was open enough for the two to see eachother. She then lauched herself at Ice, wrapping her arms around her in a gaint hug.

Bav took off from her shoulder the moment she moved forward and started to hover in the air. Her bond was such a dence....

Ice blinked. "Um... what?"

"Shade! He stopped by my house last night to do his job." Trin started as she walked in, closing the door behind her. She was talking almost possibly to fast for most to understand what she was saying. It was something that happened when she was very excited. "But then he saw a picture of us that I have on my mantle and decided that he didn't want you to hate him forever, so he decided to fake his kill and took one of the pirate-bots, beat it up and all that to take instead. Poor Frank!"

"He also had to cut me for it too." She finished and took a deep breath.

"He... dropped by... last night..." Ice repeated.

"AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME TILL NOW??!" She shouted angrily right in her sisters face. "YOU'RE LUCKY I DON'T KILL YOU MYSELF!!!"

"You wouldn't answer your cell phone!! I left a message!!! And by the time I got home, it was too late to try again!" Trin shouted back, more in a defencive way than an angry one.

"It wasn't on!" Ice growled. Then she stopped. "But Shade... he... What if someone finds out? Then what will happen? Will someone else come? Will he get in trouble? Oh lord..."

"If someone else comes at least we know what to expect." Silva said after a moment. "And who gives a s**t of he gets in trouble or not. The b*****d deserves it."

"And as long as it's someone else, we wont have to worry about them opening a rift into the room to kill us." Bav spoke now, still hovering in the air and not about to near the two bonds incase they started yelling again.

Trin sighed. "This is why I'm going to have to lay low for a while. I got money saved up anyway. If that does happen.... Maybe Shade'll quit and come help us." She said softly and in a much calmer tone.

"A while?" Ice asked. "But what about the things you've been working on lately? All your advances? Ever since we stopped pirating that stuff's become your life..."

Silva scowled, then moved lower, pulling the playboy mag from Ice's pocket and tucking it under his arm. Then he turned and flew away.

Bav lifted a brow at this, then started to follow him. Where ever he was going, it was probably more interesting than here, talking about stuff she already knew.

"I can still work on them. Just beause I have to lay low doesn't mean I gotta stop." Trin answered and gave a small shrug. "I just can't show it off for the next 50 or so years. Besides, I should probably hit the books again..." The enthusiam in her voice died at that thought. Hitting the books for what she knew would come. Joy.

"Yeah..." Ice said, hesitating. Then she sighed. "Walter should be waking up from his nap. Do you want to meet him and Oblivion? You didn't get to see them much at the Easter egg hunt. Just you know, put all metal you've got on you in this plastic box." She said as she walked to a very high shelf near the door and pulled off the plastic box in question. "Just in case."

Silva tossed the book into the closet before he headed for the hope chest, dropping down on the plush couch that Nick and Nack slept on and leaning his elbows on his knees. His head leaned down, almost hanging.

"What's wrong with you?" Bavaria asked as she landed on the edge of the chest. She took a moment to look around the room again for where the others were, only to return looking at him.

Trin pulled out a few things that were in her pockets, placing them in the box. One was a remotcontrol like device. "Hate to lose that thing." She muttered and gave a sheepish grin as she set it in. "And that should be it. How are things going with him?"

"He's a sweetheart, of course..." Ice said as she led the way down the hall, frowning ever so slightly. "And I love Oblivion, although she's a bit grumpy and shy around new people. It's just when you put the two together... of course they're always together... well..." She glanced over at Trinity, grinning. "They're a bit of a handful."

She pulled open the door to Walter and Oblivion's room, revealing the pair standing at the window, Walter almost halfway out already. "Did I mention their little escapes?" She asked before rushing over to grab the little blonde boy.

Silva glanced up at her, then grunted, running a hand over his face. "Nothing."

"You're a lousy lier." The hope feien muttered, dropping down on the edge of the chest and dangled her feet over the edge, kicking them slightly.

Trin grinned at this, watching as her sister. "Just be glade he can't rift things, or you'd know what mom was going through with us." She teased, walking into the room.

"So true." Ice said as she walked over to her sister, the baby on her hip, Oblivion wheeling along beside her. The daemon paused, sniffing at Trinity suspiciously. Then she moved closer, nosing Trinity's pants, as if-- "I think you forgot something." Ice said casually.

"I said it was nothing, darlin. When I say it's nothing then I mean it's nothing." Silva growled.

"Well you sure aren't actin like it's nothin." Bav bit back, glaring down at him. "If your relieved, then you're sure are actin weird about it all, old man."

Trin blinked and stuck her hand into a pocket, pulling out a few nuts and bolts. "Huh... I did." She then crouched down, holding them out to Oblivion on the palm of her hand. "This what you're looking for?"

Oblivion's eyes went blue as she gently took the nuts and bolts from her, munching away with a screeching sound. "I'm afraid Kisa indulges her." Ice said with a grin. "She gets little snacks like that all the time. I swear she does the sniffing thing just to prompt us."

Walter blabbered something in baby talk and Ice reached into her pocket, pulling out a cookie. The same cookie she had stolen from him earlier. "We had to weigh down the trashcans to keep them from knocking them over." She added as Walter took the cookie then reached for Trinity, urgently.

""I'm not relieved." Silva growled, standing. "Show me what you've learned, girl." He said, motioning for her to follow him as he entered a loose fighting stance.

Now it was time for her to get her a** handed to her. Bav growled lightly, sliding off the edge of the trunk and fluttering so she stood opposite Silva. She moved into a stance that she had learned, glaring up at him. One thing she wasn't about to do was back down from a challange. Especially one he created. She wasn't going to show him weakness.

Trin took Walter into her arms now. "Hello honey. Someone seems happy to see a new face." She said told him in a happy tone. Then gave Ice a grin. "He abandons you so easily, sis."

"Doesn't he just?" Ice asked, shaking her head as she handed him over. "But Oblivion seems to like you, too, of course that might have to do with the metal you carry." She paused. "You want to babysit sometime?" Walter babbled something up at Trinty, telling her about his recent escape attempt, even as he slobbered on his cookie between statements.

And Oblivion waited patiently for another treat.

"Attack me." Silva said.

Bav advanced on him, then spun to deliever a round house kick at him and already waiting for him to counter it. He was good and she wasn't about to undersetimate him. That and her skills were like a grain of sand to him.

"I'd have to do something about blocking off my shop. If Oblivion got in there.... I'd be done for and you know it. She'd be in heaven, though." Trin said when Walter paused in his baby talk. She had no clue as to what he was talking about, but it sounded like it would be interesting. "Take it you would want a night out with your girls?"

Then Trin dug in her pocket again with one hand, seeing if she missed on. Finding one lone bolt, she handed it off to Oblivion, courching once more.

"Jade has a boyfriend." Ice said, grinning slightly. "And Kisa's been looking a little stressed lately, I think she catches more of the escape attempts than I do. But I just thought they'd like a new place to explore."

"That and I'm tired of only my socket wrenches going missing." She added evilly.

Silva blocked it. "Again." He said, not attacking back.

Bav frowned still and touched down only to spin again, putting more force behind her kick this time. The way he had said that seemed like she was to do the same attack again. One she didn't have too much problem in doing.

"Oh that's crewl!" Trin frowned at her sister, standing back up. "But atleast I know what to do with alot of the scrap metal I have now." One hand rubbed Walter's back absently. Then she blinked. "Jade's got a boyfriend? Bout time."

"A college fox boy that reads to the kids up at the library after classes." Ice said. "A bit young, but I guess so is Jade, you know? It's kind of cute, actually. She keeps sneaking out to do 'research.'"

Walter gnawed on his cookie for a moment before making yet another indecipherable comment, which was accented with a little nod.

Oblivion chewed happily on the bolt, hoping that this one would last a while.

"Better. Now a different attack." Silva said.

Bav again touched that foot down while changing her stance as she now threw a jab at his stomach. Even if he was a hell of alot taller than she. It sucked being so little sometimes.

"Oh yeah?" Trin asked to both Ice and Walter as a grin tugged on her lips. Seriously, Walter was adorible! "I can jsut guess at what Jade's 'researching' and I don't think he has to do with books." She said lightly.

"I'm sure it doesn't." Ice replied dryly. "Shall we move to the front room? It's more comfortable." She leaned down, hauling the daemon into her arms. "Ooof... all that metal eating has made you heavier..." She complained to Oblivion. Oblivion looked offended.

"Faster. And harder this time." Silva commanded as he blocked the punch.

"Any harder and I sacerfice my balance." Bav replied with a slight growl in her voice. But she did as he told her, drawing her arm back and throwing another punch with more of her weight behind it, allowing her front leg to slide over the ground for better support.

"You ever wonder where it all goes?" Trin asked curiously, heading for the front room.

"I have no idea." Ice said with a shrug. "For all I know she's using it to grow bigger. There's a lot of things I don't know about these two, actually." She said as she dropped down on the couch, idly running a hand over Oblivion's back to see if she was still nicely oiled.

"Thing is... Over the last couple of weeks I've been having these... strange dreams." She said after a moment. Then she shook her head. "Nah, it's probably stress from the whole Shade problem."

Walter offered TB the last soggy bite of cookie with another bit of baby talk.

"Is your balance that bad?" Silva asked, blocking yet again.

"No, you're just too damned tall! How the hell did you get so tall anyway? Did they feed you merical grow or what?" Bav asked, again bringing her hand back for another hit. Her knucks and shin were stinging from his blocks, but she ignored it.

"Oh, thank you hun." Trin said with a smile and tilted the small hand slightly so she got a small nibble off of the dry part of the cookie. Where ever it had been, she didn't wanna know. Then she looked to her sister. "Dreams? What kinda dreams?"

"Nightmares." Ice said simply as Walter finished off the part that TB hadn't nibbled. "The first one was like... England right when the car was invented. I was attacked by these thugs that I could almost see through... I don't know. It was just strange."

"I turned into an adult." Silva said. "Different hit. And this time attack from the air."

Bav gave a snort, already stopping that attack and hopping into the air. She flew down at him with another punch.

Trin lifted a brow at her sister. "Dreams normally are weird and sometimes don't make sense. What happened?"

"They attacked me. And right before it got ugly Walter woke me up crying." Ice said. "But the more I think about it, it probably is because of stress." She glanced over at Walter, smiling at his earnest look. "I don't think Walter would know what a nightmare was, actually. He's usually pretty happy."

Silva blocked again. "Again."

Bav grabbed the hand that he blocked with, using it a leaverage to swing a kick at his head. He did say again.

"I'm sure there are some things that'll upset him too, but for now, he needs to be happy, right little guy?" Trin said, grinning at the slobbering boy in her arms. Babies weren't really her favorite thing in the world, but for Ice's kids, she made an exception.

Walter grinned and babbled his agreement before crawling off her lap and looking down. Oblivion slipped off Ice's lap, dropping to the floor and wheeling over to where Walter was, so the Forgotten could drop on her back.

"Better." Silva said, blocking the kick just as easily. "And again."

Was she out to impress him? Hell no, just the repetiveness of how she was attacking was boring her right now. This time Bav dropped to the ground as quickly as she could and spun to sweep his legs out from under him.

Trin blinked, watching them. "Where are they going now?" She asked being slightly confused. Huh, interesting way to get around.

Oblivion wheeled away slowly, heading yet again to the pole lamp that Ice had stuck way back behind a couch.

"Trying to get another snack." Ice said with a sigh, shaking her head even as Oblivion got caught between the couch and the wall.

Silva jumped. Then he stayed in the air, just high enough that a kick wouldn't affect him. "Nice trick. But not for someone that has wings." He said. "Try again."

Bav grinned at him, rolling back onto her feet and followed the motion with another kick from her other leg. "Yeah, I know. Just tryin to add a little spice to this." She told him.

Trin snickered as she watched. "With as much as she's eating, she might turn out to be huge, Icey. Then what will you do?"

"Take her up to the junkyard." Ice replied with a sigh. "Or just buy beat up cars from it and bring them home. Walter eats a lot, too. We've had to put a restraint on how much he can get a hold of. So how's Bavaria getting along? Have you two reached an agreement?"

"Spice is fine, but wasting opportunities is just plain stupid." Silva said. "Always remember who you're up against."

Bav pulled back, staying in a stance as she listened to him. The small grin on her lips took a more serious air. "I remeber, old man, and I remember that you can easily kick my a**. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop. I will get stronger and I will get better." She told him. Then started the attack again. She would get better, far better, and he was her way to that goal.

"I guess you could say that." Trin answered, thinking it over. With all that was going on, she really didn't have time to think on it. "She's still bossy and gets demanding at times... but she's really taken to helping me in the shop. And likes showing it off to her siblings." Even if that was just limited to Brunswick right now.

"Feien can be hard to get along with." Ice agreed. "But it sounds like you're getting used to each other. That's good." She glanced over, watching as Walter slipped off of Oblivions back and crawled in front of her, reaching his hand out to try and grab the pole. His arm was still a bit too short, but that didn't stop him from trying!

"You damn well better." Silva said. "I don't like wasting my time, darlin. Unless it's on something more entertaining than training a group of brats."

"Gee, what could possibly be more fun then that." Bavaria asked scarcasticly. "That's the whole reason why I'm here, old man. I'm going to get stronger, then I'm going to kick your a**." That was farfetched and she knew it, but it felt good to say it all the same.

"We've been trying out foods that she likes and doesn't like. And I've been trying to take her to the homes of her siblings, so I know where she'd run off too. So far, I've only made it to Jack's place. He's the bond to Brunswick." Trin told her, watching as Walter tried to get the light for Oblivion.

"Sounds like a good plan. I know she comes over here pretty often, too. Silva's been teaching a group of them self defense." Ice said. Walter was stubborn. He hadn't given up, but he did back up, looking over the scene for a good long moment before crawling onto Oblivion, then onto the couch to try again from a higher vantage.

"Then you'll need to get a hell of a lot faster, too." Silva said with a tiny smirk.

"I already know that." Bav gave a little snort, that serious grin was still on her face even as he said that. "I got my self a little set up back home to keep working at it, too."

"He is a clever thing, isn't he?" Trin asked as she watched them, smirking slightly. "I figured she'd be coming here. She and her brother know Silva and talk about him sometimes. Usually with Varia calling him a b*****d." She said with a small shrug and a smirk. "Think they look up to him already?"

"Well compared to them he's pretty tall." Ice said with a shrug. "It's hard not to look up at him."

Walter let out a little grunt as his fingers barely brushed the pole, then looked down at Oblivion with a slight shake of his head and a babbled apology. He would have to figure something out to make his reach longer!

"Good." Silva said. "It's a hell of a lot better than Soho does." He shook his head. "That's enough for now."

Varia dropped out of her stance easy enough and flexed the hand she had done the most hitting with. "She doesn't seem like much of a fighter, or that she even wants to fight." She commented, still watching him just incase he decided to resume her little training.

"That's not what I meant, Icey." Trin snickered and went quiet a moment. "You know.... Shade was thinking about giving up his job after my hit..." She said softly, still not looking at the other female.

Ice fell silent for a long moment, then stood, crossing the room to pick Walter up. "He can do whatever he wants. He's a free man."

"She's not. But she needs better stamina." Silva said, heading back to the couch. This time when he dropped down he sort of lounged there, looking into the distance for a moment. "I'm... sorry, kid." He finally said, not quite looking at her.

Bav blinked at this, then blinked again and took a seat on the floor, leaning back on her hands. He was sorry? "For....what?" She asked slowly.

Trin sighed at the sudden mood change she had caused in her sister, and stood as well. That was still a touchy subject, huh? "Right, bad topic." She said softly, then started to rack her brian for something else.

"Know what? I think Walter could use a new batch of cookies. The kind grandma made us when we were kids! She gave me the receipe, ya know." Her tail gave a happy little swish at this idea.

"Huh? Sure! I'd like to have some of those, too, actually." Ice said, smiling once again. "The ones with the peanut butter in them?"

Walter cheered up again as soon as he heard the word cookie. And Oblivion gave one last mournful look at the pole before turning back to observe the scene silently once again.

"I just am." He said. "Accept it and never mention it again, darlin. If you know what's best for you."

Bav choked and started to laugh at that threat. She had no doubt in it, but it was funny how he put it.

"I was actually thinking the catnip ones.... but if you want!" Trin said and made her way for Ice's kitchen, already plundering it for the things she would need to make peanut butter chocolate cookies. "Next time I come, I'll bring some more scraps." She said, looking at Oblivion a moment.

"Here, we'll help you." Ice said, walking in with Walter and Oblivion. "And any silverware that hits the ground is Oblivion's." She added, much to Oblivion's joy.

Silva just smirked slightly.

"Yeah, sure." Bav said once she had recovered enough too and gave a small shrug, looking at him again. He still didn't look at ease, but whatever. "You still going to train us brats?" She then asked, as if to change the subject from the appology. Even if she wanted to know why. Silva didn't seem the type to give them out freely.

A small c***k sound of a spoon hitting the tile floor rang though the kitchen. "Whoops." Trin's voice followed after having 'accedently' dropped a spoon. She'd owe Ice a new silverwear set later.

"Yeah." Was Silva's only reply.

Wrapped in layers of red and black tissue paper and tied off with a bit of black velvet...



Dear Soho,

I found this panda bear and thought you might like him. His colors remind me of you except without the lovely red. He is very cuddly and will listen to all of your secrets and stories.

Thank you for being my friend.

Sincerely,
Galatea

Clustered together with a little note, near Soho's things.



Stacked next to each other are these small plush dinosaurs: