Welcome to Gaia! ::

Chris was sitting in the corner again. They had given up on lecturing the poor boy when he broke something, but he insisted on punishing himself. This is why his back was to the room, his tail flicking back and forth behind him as he absently sang a little song to himself.

It was as quiet as he could keep it, but his voices had a way of carrying through a room, no matter how quietly he sang. Thankfully it was a sweet, comforting, wordless song that was more likely to put kids to sleep than to rile them up.

On the wildly contrasting other side of the scale was his cousin-sister-something, tiny blonde Wisp Darnell: for the first thing, she had gone way overboard with the fingerpainting and had deftly and innocently dodged both Evan and Xi's efforts to clean her up free of child-safe acrylic paint. She looked rather like a small, smudged rainbow mural, and there were blue flecks in her yellow-blonde hair as she came and sat herself down next to Christian. She never bothered punishing herself unless she really understood she had done a bad thing: and then she got so unhappy and full of self-recrimination that that was punishment in itself.

"Hiya hi!" she said to her younger brother-cousin-thing, and twisted her legs into an Indian-sitting position. Then: "You keep singing." Wisp pulled her knees up to her chest to listen better, resting her cheek on her slightly smudged-pink kneecaps. "I like it, Chris!"

While over in the front of the daycare was a new set of faces. Ze’zee, a member of a lizard like race with healthy green skin, held a baby not of her race. It was her newly adopted daughter: Aurora. “Look Sweety, more people to meet!” she told her baby happily.

The child looked at the people around, clinging to her mother, then shyly looked away.

“You’re going to have to stay here, like a good girl, while mama goes to work. I’ll be back!” Ze insisted with her girl, walking over to a mat and setting her down. Aurora was able to walk around on her own, and talk some, but when child was shy, she didn’t speak much.

Then, with a little kiss on the head, her mother was gone and Aurora was in this place of strange new kids. Amazingly, she didn’t cry.

"I bwoke the table," Chris said, stopping singing and looking at Wisp. "Dad's gonna haveta fix," he added before turning back to the corner and starting to sing again.

"Aw, that's okay," Wisp said. "S'cause Mr. Table's small and you's humungous. Table's fault. Get you a bigger table!" Pleased at this summation of the topic at hand and wholeheartedly believing it was the table's fault, she patted Chris' leg. "Unkie Tyler's good't fixing stuff, he can fix anyfing - hey! Hey!"

Totally distracted, she pointed a finger over at the other side of the room. She was pleased that she was wearing a cute overall dress and tights: good for meeting new people! "New girl!" she told Chris in a stage whisper. The small blonde cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted to Aurora: "Hiiii~iiiii-yo!"

Aurora’s head turned in the direction of the greeting. The pretty, bright colored – tough a bit messy – was calling to her. She looked around a moment, then decided that there wasn’t anything to do her, and pushed herself to her feet. She was still clumsy at this and her walking was more like waddling. Her ladybug covered sundress fluttered around her legs, short enough not to trip her. Her small tail helped her balance.

The closer she got, the more she heard the signing. She liked the singing a lot! It was different from her mothers, and made her more curious, if not a little sleepy. “ ‘Ewo,” she said, once close enough.

"I'm in time out," Chris said, only glancing over his shoulder quickly at her before turning back. "I'm bad." Then he started singing again, though it wasn't nearly as sad sounding as it had been. He liked company!

Wisp was deeply pleased by the whole thing. "You got a pritty dress!" she squealed. "Ladybirds!" She had a tail, too - just like Chris! Obviously an excellent sort of girl to have as a friend.

Aurora grinned at her, liking a compliment and decided to address her first. “’Angh yu,” she said, going to her knees again and crawling to them. This was the time that the dress got annoying, and she stumbled slightly in her crawl. Her hand then went to the pretty colors on the girl. “Pitty!”

Then her attention was drawn to the singing boy. “Whah yu bad?” she asked, looking at him in concern.

"I bwoke the table," he said, looking over at her again. "Las week I bwoke the dwesser, too."

"Chris's ginormous," Wisp explained gravely to the new girl. "But not In Trouble." In Trouble meant that you got sent to Time Out, they weren't bad kids - Chris just felt awful and wanted to spend some time in a self-inflicted Time Out. "Who's your name?"

"'Rorah," she answered, her own name being a bit difficult for her to say. "Yu's?"

So they weren't bad? Okay! Chris was big big big, though. Biggest of all kids!

"My name's Christian," Christian said before going back to his singing. It was hard to be in time out when everybody wanted to talk to you!

"Wisp Dar-nell!" She was proud of her long name, even if it was a bit hard to say. Now they were a little knot and it was only very vaguely a Time Out for Christian: Wisp drummed her feet on the floor and patted her 'cousin's' shoulder. "Chris, when you gonna be good again?" Then she got distracted: "Sing Rorah somefing!"

Rora looked up at him now too, wondering when he was going to get out of the boring corner. Though he sang. She liked singing! “Yu singh nice!” she told him happily now.

Chris glanced up, looking for an adult to tell him to get out of the corner, but they hadn't told him to get INTO the corner, so he guessed he could let himself out. He turned, careful not to hit either of the girls. "I dun sing for peoples," he said seriously. "I have funny voices."

And he did. Two different voices were talking at the same time, one slightly higher in pitch than the other.

"But it's cooooool," Wisp protested. Nobody else could sing like that! She clapped her hands, pleased and proud that Rorah obviously held the same opinion. "He can climb real high," she told the new girl. "An' jump!"

Rora's eyes were huge with wonder and amazement at his voices, now that she really heard them. They were nice! Then her bright eyes got larger (if possible) at what he could do. She couldn’t climb like that! Not yet. “Woow….” she said, looking at him in wonder again. Chris was officially cool in her mind.

He looked down, flushing slightly not that they could see it. "Nah, I'm just a little... stwong," he said modestly.

Luckily, Wisp was there to more correctly blow his trumpet. He was her little brother: of course she was more than proud of him! Rorah had to know his virtues! "He's soooper strong," she told Aurora. "Stronger'n..." Who was suitably strong? "A dump truck. He's bigger'n some grown-ups, too!"

Aurora nodded, gapped mouthed in agreement. “C’is biiiiggg!” she echoed, hold her arms out as far away from her as possible. “C’is swong!” Then she clapped her hands and laughed. “C’is sooper! Ah wike C’is! ‘E song good tu!” Apparently, Chris now had his very own fan club.

If he had been blushing before, he was downright sheepish now. He wasn't used to so much praise! Not even from Wisp! It was nice, but it was getting embarrassing! He needed to think of a way to distract them.

"Wisp can make wainbows," he told Rory, nodding seriously. "They pwetty."

"Not aaaall the time," Wisp said modestly. Making rainbows was just making rainbows, it wasn't like she could lift up cribs or anything! "Jus' sometimes."

“Oooh...” Rory’s mouth had formed a perfect ‘O’ with this statement. She couldn’t do anything like that! That made them “Sooo kuol!” she said, giving her new found friend a bright smile.

For some reason Chris's heart beat faster at that smile. He returned it, showing his baby fangs, his tail flicking happily behind him. "Does your mommy wook wike you?" he asked. "Wisp's mommy is bwonde and wooks wike her, kinda. Mine don't."

"My mommy don't have eyes," Wisp reminded her friend: that was really the main difference, as Wisp had eyes! "Chris gotta beee-yooo-ti-ful mommy callded Missy."

“Mama is wizer wike,” Rory explained happily. She didn’t look anything like her mom. “She’s all gween an’ has bwue eyes! ‘N wong wong tail!”

Chris nodded, perfectly happy just to listen to the two of them talk so he didn't have to. He didn't like his voices. They didn't sound like everybody else's, no matter what Wisp said about liking them.

They were both so much prettier than him...

Wisp clapped her hands enviously. "I wanna tail," she said. "I'd have one hyoooooge one. You two's so lucky!"

Rory looked back at her tail, waving it slightly. Then she pouted. “It get stuck in doors! T’at hurts,” she said, pointing out a bad thing with tails and doors that closed on their on and you didn’t bother to move away in time.

Chris nodded in agreement. "An' when I chew on it, it hurts," he agreed seriously. Nothing ELSE seemed to hurt the boy, no matter how many times he had fallen or run into things.

None of this seemed to perturb Wisp very much. She wriggled out of the little knitted jumper she was wearing over her overall and tucked it into a back pocket; it dragged behind her a little like a tail, but not very much. "Maybe when I grow's up I'll getta tail," she said. "You two are co~ool. Rorah, do you's like climbin'?"

“Iah can’t climb wewl,” Rory told her sheepishly with her head tucked down and a little finger going to her mouth in an embarrassed manner. It was true, though! She could only climb up on the couch and chairs.

"That's okay," Chris said. "I can cwimb enough for all of us."

"Is true!" said Wisp, trying to cheer Rorah up; she waggled her butt, making her sweater 'tail' wiggle back and forth. "Chris'n climb anything."

“Reawy?” Rory asked, looking up at him with new admiration again. “Wha we go cwimb?” She was working on standing again, so that they could go some where. She wanted to see! This was her first time here.

"We haveta wait till wecess," Chris said seriously. "Then we can cwimb the jungle gym."

"Yeah!" This cheered up Wisp no end: she loved recess. Then Aurora could see how Chris climbed! He climbed better than anyone else in Daycare, and Xi or Evan didn't even have to watch him carefully on the monkey bars in case he fell off!

"Okay, sprats," said the Chinese man from the far side of the room, cupping one hand to his bandanna. "Applesauce time."

Rory looked over at this announcement and wondered what it meant. Then she looked at her friends to find direction, only to edge closer to them both, as if hiding from everyone else.

"Applesauce is good," Chris said before getting to all fours and heading for the table at an easy lope. It would be the first time Rorah saw him move, but he forgot about that with the thought of food on his mind.

Satisfied that this was a good thing (and she did like applesauce), Rory followed them at a much slower pace. She was taken back by the way Chris moved, but after a few moments of watching, she decided that this was very cool! And it seemed much faster, but she wasn’t willing to try it yet.

Chris looked up at Xi, chewing on his bottom lip as he looked at the table. "Can I sit wit'out a chair?" he asked hopefully.

"You sure can, buddy," said the bandage-mouthed daycare worker; he gave Chris a bowl rather than the little pottle of applesauce everybody got, and a spoon that he and Evan had rustled up that broke far less readily than the plastic spoons everyone else got. "You do what makes you comfortable. Just sit nicely so we can make sure you're not stickin' that spoon up your nose, okay? Hey, Aurora! You want some applesauce?"

Wisp plumped herself down next to Chris, immediately beginning the difficult process of pulling the top off her applesauce so that she could get into it. Applesauce was cool, because it also meant recess followed!

Rory gave Xi a very shy look as she sat next to Wisp. “Yes pwease,” she said so softly that she might not have said it at all. A bright blush also covered her cheeks.

"Tank youu," Chris said happily as he started digging into his apple sauce. Not once did he shove anything up his nose. He liked Xi.

"Good girl, it'll make you grow up big and strong," Xi said cheerfully to Aurora. She also got the applesauce and the spoon. "You just have the cutest manners, don't you? Here you go, eat up."

Wisp had managed to pull the top off her pot and was tucking in; she made little nom nom nom sounds as she devoured it hungrily. Playing and everything was really hard work. "Lesh go monkeybarsh affawards!" she said, with her mouth full.

That just made Rory shyer as she opened her thing of applesauce, with much difficulty. These things made you fight for your food! But once that was succeeded, she ate happily, and nodded to what Wisp said.

Chris finished first, placing his bowl and spoon very gently on the table and looking patient. He would wait for the girls to finish. He ate too fast.

Even though he did it every time, Wisp still looked amazed and tried to eat at double speed: how could he eat so fast? For a moment she didn't look very ladylike at all as she shovelled it in, and she was glad that Missy or her mother couldn't see her!

Aurora was encouraged by Wisp’s fast eating, eating fast as she could too. She didn’t want to keep them waiting! Then, after swallowing, she had to remember to BREATHE! Breathing was important, so said her mommy. It was true, as she learned on bath time.

Chris ate so fast!

Once she was done, she gave a sigh, setting her cup down.

"You otay?" Chris asked her, frowning slightly. "You wooked purple there for a moment."

Finally, the pot was empty! Wisp surreptitiously wiped her face with her sleeve, dabbing delicately, satisfied with herself. "Done!" she crowed.

Rora gave a little embarrassed laugh, blushing to the roots. “Forgot ta bweathe,” she told him. “We c’n go outside now?” she then asked, to get his attention off of her.

He looked up at Xi. "We can go outside now?" he repeated to the man, hopefully.

"You all finished?" The three kids looked as though they were the first ones to. "Well, so long as none of you have choked, okay? Yeah, you look fine. Good eating, guys. Go have some fun."

"Wheeeeeee!" Wisp scrambled up from her chair and made a dash for the door to the outside playground.

Aurora gave Xi a very bright smile, then remembered her shyness as she got up and quickly as she could, followed Wisp to the door. She was eager to go outside and play! And see the jungle gym and Chris climb! Maybe she’d get good at it too!

Chris gave him a big smile and got up, barely managing to keep from knocking the table over in his haste to head out the door.

The weather was crisp and clear outside; Wisp had flung herself wholesale into a swing, on her stomach as she wriggled herself around the right way and flung herself into the air. She loved to apparently do dangerous things that would inevitably break her neck; she flung her legs out so that she could go higher. "Do climbin'!" she cheered at Chris: he had to show Rorah that they weren't just fibbing!

Swing!! Rory loved swings! She went for the one next to Wisp, planting herself in it and starting to swing. Chris was visible from here! “Iah wanna seeee!” she called out to him, laughing happily.

Chris headed for the monkey bars, a bit intent on showing off for the new girl, and climbed up easily before swinging from one bar to the next as if he had been born to do so. Halfway across he stopped, hanging easily from one hand as he scratched his head with the other. "You dun fall, otay?" he asked them, worried they might hurt themselves swinging.

"We's good swingers," Wisp chirped, to make Chris feel better. And they were! They were going higher than most people in the Daycare could at all! Wisp laughed out loud to see Chris pulling himself across the bars so easily; he always looked just like a stuntman on a TV show. "So cool!"

Rora laughed, seeing how well he climbed and just how high they were going, but her attention was on him. “Yu cwimb soo wewl!” she called out to him, cheering him on. She wanted to climb like that!!!! With that in mind, she dragged her feet on the ground till the swing stopped enough for her to jump off. Then she went to bars to try and climb.

He turned, watching her with big eyes. "You dun fall!" he said seriously, worried that she would. With that thought he let go of the bars, landing on all fours and moving under her to catch her if she did.

Obviously Chris was overly protective of females.

"She climbs great," Wisp informed Chris. There was nothing to worry about - Rorah was awesome! She dragged her shoes in the bark until the swing slowed down so that she could get the chance to clamber up after the new girl, too.

“O’ki,” Rory told Chris as she started to climb. Her tongue stuck out to the side in concentration as she started to go up. After a few bars, she looked back Wisp. “c’on Wissp! It—“ She had to stop talking and she realized something very important: she was high up. The second important thing she noticed was that she didn’t like being high up!

She yelped, giving a little whimper as she clung to the bar. Aurora discovered she didn’t like heights. This was the highest she had always been!

"Rorah?" Chris asked, seeing her go pale. "Rorah, leggo. I catch you." He lifted his arms to do just that.

Chris was being a hero! Deeply excited, Wisp wanted to be a hero too. She clambered up on the bars, pulling herself up to get to their new friend, struggling gamely in order to reach her.

"Is okay!" she assured her. "Just drop!" She and Christian were a great tag team!

Rory clung tighter, looking from one friend to another. Letting go was a silly idea! She didn’t want to let go and fall! But Chris was under her and would catch her, right? Wisp and he said so! Taking a deep breath, closing her eyes tightly, and she let go.

He caught her, hugging her to his chest as he fell onto his bottom. He was trying not to break her, as well.

His eyes were also closed.

The third member of their party confirmed that Rorah had landed safely in Chris' arms: she immediately cheered, pulling herself up to sit on the bar and bravely wave one hand as she chirped in congratulation. "Chris's SO COOO-OOOL," she said. "And Rorah!" Rorah had been brave enough to jump, after all!

Slowly Rora opened an eye as Wisp cheered. That had to mean everything was okay. And it was. Chris had caught her! Both eyes opened and the smiled at her hero. “C’is and Wissp saved me!” she added to the cheering. “S’ank yu, C’is!”

Chris breathed finally and opened his eyes. She didn't look broken! That was good! "You otay?" he asked, not quite letting go of her. His heart was still pounding against his chest. That had been scary!

He looked up at Wisp. "You no fall!" he commanded.

"I dun fall," she replied. She was fine! She was totally fine! Wisp beamed at Chris to show him how fine she was, kicking her legs and reaching out one small hand to wave at them both - only then she realised that she really was a little high up, and had never been that high before without an adult around. Her smile began to turn a little sheepish.

"I jump?" she said.

Rora’s eyes went big as she saw that now Wisp was in trouble! Quickly she squirmed so that she could get out of Chris’s arms and he could save her! Once on the ground, she backed away. “Save Wissp, C’is!” she begged, looking at him hopefully.

Chris stood, rolling his eyes. "Wisp like use me as slide," he told Aurora, not sounding nearly as anxious as he had with her. But obediently he sat down, holding up his huge arms for her to land in. "You jump."

"Whee!"

It was not nearly as scary considering Wisp tended to use Chris to get up to high places, sneak cookies, and generally as a playground expansion; she flung herself wholesale down onto him, laughing the whole time. "Fun!" she said to Rorah: she had to learn that Chris was awesome to jump onto! He could catch better than an adult!

Rory clapped her hands, laughing as Wisp enjoyed herself, jumping into Chris. He was soooo cool! And he really could catch well! Now everyone was safe and alright and no more scary bars. “Now we all safe!” she announced, like that wasn’t common sense.

"Me cwimb, you two, no," Chris said as he put Wisp down, in a decisive tone. They were forbidden to climb until they could do it without falling!

"Boooooo," Wisp said despondently, but she soon cheered up; she flung herself into the swing again, blonde ponytail bouncing as she flung her legs out to speed it up. "Should play hidea-go-seeks," she announced, trying to stand up in the swing to swing at the same time: obviously Chris had his hands full trying to make sure she didn't kill herself.

Aurora threw herself at the swing, just like Wisp did, only she got up and turned around so that she could swing. Daycare was GREAT, she decided, after making two new friends! This wasn’t that bad at all, now!

"Now, do you have the present?" Missy asked her son as they climbed out of the car and headed down the walkway to Ze'zee and Rory's front door.

"Uh huh," Chris said. The little box was tucked carefully into the bag he wore over his shoulder so he wouldn't crush it.

"Good boy," Missy said, ringing the doorbell. This was so cute!

"He's here!" Rory said excitedly from inside the house. She ran to the door, then hopped on the balls of her feet. Her mama was taking far to long to get to the door! That expression was far to clear on her face.

Ze laughed at her little girl's impatience as she reached the door. "Welcome," she greeted, holding the door open so that the boy and her mom could enter. "It's nice to see you again, Missy. Did you find the place alright?"

"I did," Missy said. "You give excellent directions."

"You still tiny," Chris said as he noticed Rory.

"Now Chris," Missy said. "Don't expect her to grow at the same rate you do."

"Yeah," Rory said, sticking her tongue out at him. But she grinned at him just as easily. "Wanna see my room? I saw yours last time!" she then invited.

"Good. You want to stay a while? I can make some hot coco," Ze said. Missy should stick around and watch their children exchange gifts, after all.

"Of course!" Missy said. "This is too cute. Did she tell you about my mother inviting them over before Valentines Day? Mom's been looking forward to it so much."

"Okay," Chris said, looking around for the room.

"This way, Chris!" Rory told him, then lead him through the house, to the back part where her room was. Once passing the kitchen and entering the hall, she paused. "That way's the music room, where all Mama's in-terments are," she told him. Then lead him to the opposite end or the hall.

"'N this is my room!" She swung it open to reveal a child's room with a ladybug theme to it. There was a twin bed to the side, with a toy box at the foot ot it. A little white dresser with green leaves and lady bugs on it was against a wall. On another wall, near the bed and bedside table, there was a white board with pictures hanging all over it. They were pictures of her friends. In the center of the room was a little plastic table with papers and crayons.

"Yes, she did tell me. Now, would I be invited for this too? I do want to see my girl's first valentines day," Ze' said.

"Oh, but we can't," Missy said. "Mom made me promise that we wouldn't go. They'll be making cards and cookies for the big day, after all." She grinned. "And they won't want us seeing the gifts they're making for us."

"Is pretty," Chris said, looking around before walking in. "You got toys?"

"Uh huh!" Rory said, heading over to her bed where some stuffed toys were. Those were her favorite. She pulled some off her bed, then brought them to him, offering them proudly. "See? They're soft and hugable," she told him, and proceeded to hug the toys.

"Aww, now that's too bad," Ze said, but she didn't sound disappointed. She lead the other lady into the kitchen. "Oh, there was something I've been meaning to as you. You do jazzarobics, right? I was interested in doing such. That and I do like jazz."

"You look like you'd be good at it, too," Missy said. "Just come up to the Curvables gym sometime and I'll give you a full tour."

Chris nodded. "Is cuddly," he agreed. "Oh!" he said, distracted. "I made you present!" he said, sitting down and pulling his bag off of his shoulder. He very gently put her small wrapped present to the side and then pulled out a metal "dragon."

"Is for you," he said. "Daddy shined it up nice!"

Rory's face lite up as she saw it. Then she grinned and put the stuffed things down to she could take the 'dragon.' To her, it was a dragon. How else is a metal twisted dragon supposed to look? "That's so cool!" she said, looking at it in awe. "Chris very good at doing that!"

"I put it somewhere for you," he said, pulling back before she could take it. "You want where?"

His action reminded her that it was heavy and she gave a small frown. That went away quickly as she looked for where he should set it. "Ummmm, here!" she said, going to the end table next to her bed.

"Okay!" he said, carrying it over to the table. He was extremely careful not to bend it on the way. "There," he said as he put it there for her. "It kinda not... fit in," he admitted as he looked around. It was as if he had just realized that it wasn't only the dragon that didn't fit in.

"So? Mama did my room. And I like it! So, it stays anyway," she told him smartly, reaching out and running her fingers over the shinny metal. Then she gave him a silly grin. "I could put a red ribbon on it! Then it would fit in with room!"

"Okay!" he said agreeably, even if he knew it was silly. The other, wrapped present was just sitting on the floor, waiting to be noticed. He had forgotten all about it.

She spotted it, however, as she was looking around for the ribbon. "Oh, what's that?" she asked, pointing where it was sitting. Her little tail was swaying back and forth.

"Hmm?" he asked. "Is little thing," he said, teasing her shamelessly.

She scrunched up her face at him for that. "You keep picking on me cuz I small!" she said, crossing her arms with a pout. "Maybe I don't wanna know!" she continued, turning her back on her. With her back to him, he couldn't see her grinning, because she was teasing him now.

"Okay," he said. "Then I keep small thing!"

The grin was then replaced with a pout. "I wanna know, though," she said, turning to look at him with the pout. "Is it for your mommy and you didn't want her to see?"

"Nope! Mommy helped pick it," he said with a nod as he made himself comfortable at her table and started coloring.

"Is it for Wisp?" she asked, walking over to where he was coloring. She had books out so that they could color. Though why he would have brought something for Wisp here, she didn't know. "I wanna know what it is!"

"Is little thing for little girl," he said. "Who can't wait."

"Is for me?" she asked, sounding surprised. Then a big grin broke over her face and she hugged him. "I can wait! Cuz I wanna wait to give you something too!" Though she had been working hard on it alll morning long. Her mama had it hidden up nice and safe for her.

"Okay!" he said. "You put little thing somewhere it not get stepped on."

She nodded, going to pick it up the box. Then she paused, so very tempted to shake it to find out what was in it. But she, like a good girl should, didn't. But she did take advantage of walking to listen.

But she didn't hear much of anything. So, she put it on her dresser, then went back to the little table to color too. "Soooo, I still wanna know," she told him.

"Issa itty bitty thing," he teased, grinning at her shamelessly. "Will fit you good!"

She stuck her tongue out at him for that tease. "Chris so mean to me! But you big! Everyone itty bitty to you!" Never mind she was smaller than Wisp. Wisp was older!

"Yup!" he agreed. "You size of toy to me."

"A big, plushy toy!" she said, not minding that. "Plushy toys get hugs."

"Plushy toys no talk so much," he teased right back.

"So I a special plush that talks!" she said with a little nod.

"Ok, ok," he said. "Demanding plushy," he said, holding out his arms for a hug.

She laughed, having not intended for the hug, but not going to say no. She wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you for the dragon!"

He hugged her back, barely touching her since he was scared of accidentally smooshing her. "Was nothin," he said modestly.

"Oh I knew there was a reason I brought this camera!" Missy said from the doorway, snapping a shot or two.

"I want copies," Ze said, grinning at the kids.

Rory blushed, looking up then grinned. "Mama! Look what Chris made for me!" she said, leaving him and going to the dragon, pointing at it. "It'n it cool?? I can't pick it up, though, it heavy," she said, sounding proud of his creation.

"That is nice! You did a good job, Chris!" Ze said, admiring the work.

"Aww, is nothin," he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he let go of Rory.

"Well, I see you haven't given her the other present yet," Missy said.

"It's ok! I have to give him his present," Rory spoke up. She wasn't nearly as shy with Missy as she had been. Then a little look of worry went on her face. "But, I only got one thing for you, Chris," she said with a little pout.

"Is ok!" he said. "Cuz one thing is itty bitty."

Rory stuck her tongue out at him again.

"Rory, stop that," Ze said, trying not to laugh.

"He keeps callin me small, cuz I am," the little girl replied.

"Christian!" Missy said. "No teasing people about their size!"

"Is cute itty bitty!" Chris said, obviously not bothered by the yelling.

"That why I only stick my tongue out at him, and not get mad. Cuz I get called cute!" Rory said, defending him with a grin. Obviously being called cute was important.

Ze choked. "Well, shall we go on into the kitchen? I made up a tuna salad sandwiches for a snack," she offered. Missy at least ate fish, so that was a good thing.

"Food!" Chris said.

"Why don't you bring your gift along, Rory?" Missy asked. "I'm sure you'll want to open it after eating!"

Rory's face brightened again as she went to grab it with a, "Yes ma'am!"

Ze snickered leading them back into the kitchen. Seriously, having a little girl was the best thing ever. She then brought out the sandwiches(there were a lot of them), setting them on the table. "And after we eat, then you gave give him his gift, okay, Rory?"

"Yes, Mama!"

Chris went to the sink to wash his hands, followed by Missy, then they sat down at the table to eat. "What gift I get?" Chris asked Rory.

Rory and Ze washed their hands next, then took their seats.

"I not telling, cuz you not," Rory said, giving him a wicked grin.

"Okay, then I eat first!" he said, pausing as Missy prayed and closing his eyes as was proper, then digging into his food.

Rory followed suite, taking a big bite out of her sandwich and chewing. After swallowing, she spoke again. "I hope you like it!"

Chris grinned at her, swallowing loudly. "I will!"

Missy just smiled. They were so cute!

Rory ate, but didn't fill her self up. Then she waited, oddly, and swung her feet in the air.

Chris finished off the sandwiches that the others didn't eat, then waited expectantly.

"That was very good," Missy said with a smile. "Did you add celery to that?"

"And pickle realish," Ze said with a grin. At least they weren't Vegans! A vegan wouldn't stand for fish!

"Mama? Can I now?" Rory asked, getting impatient.

"Yes, we can now," Ze said, getting up and going to the fridge. This time she came out with a three layer cake, covered in chocolate icing and chopped up strawberries. Vanilla pudding was used as the filling between the layers.

Rory looked most proud of this. "Mama helped me make it! It for you, Chris!"

"Ohhhh wooooow," he said with huge eyes. "All for me?"

"You have to share," Missy said, only to groan as he reached for the cake.

"We do each get a slice," Ze said, trying not to laugh again. Then she started to cute slices for them, before Chris ate it all and they couldn't have any. She cute a big one for him.

Rory was grinning from ear to ear. He liked it!! "It good! I had some of the icing and stuff!"

"You open gift!" he said, eating his slice happily.

"Okay!" Rory said. She put a fork full of food in her mouth. Then she went for the present next to her, opening it without much grace. She took the top off the box, then her eyes went huge.

"OH WOW!" She pulled out the necklace: a little stainglass leaf with a ladybug on it, and a beaded cord. To her, it was the most beautifulest thing EVER.

Ze was watching in interest.

"You like?" Chris asked, gulping loudly.

"Oh yes! I like lots! It's the most beautifulest thing ever!" Rory said, putting it on already. Then she grinned at Chris. "Thank you! Do you like the cake?"

"Yeah!!"

Demon Fire Bug
Players: Trinityblue, Ice Queen
----------------------------------------------------------

Aurora was busy putting her coat and things into her little cubbyhole, already looking for Chris. She was very used to being dropped off here while her mom went to work, then picked up at the end of the day. But that's okay! She had friends here!

And Chris wasn't had to spot.

Chris saw her almost as fast as she saw him, and he loped over, once again showing that he was starting to grow out of his baby clumsiness. His movement seemed natural, and showed that he would be a lot faster when he was bigger.

"Hiya, Rory," he said as he sat down to tug his coat and gloves off.

The duel voices distracted little Polly from where her mother was trying not to look traumatized by the situation. "And if anyone says, or does anything to you, you just tell your teachers, and--"

"Otay otay," Polly said, tugging at the arm Gwen held. "I want go see people!"

"Hi Chris," Rory said, favoring him with a smile. The little necklace he gave her was around her neck as she wore it proudly. "What we do today?" she asked before spotting someone new. Her eyes were drawn to the bright orange colors and the feather tail. And that had her distracted.

"Oh! Look! A new person with a tail too!" she then said. Tails weren't that uncommon, but this tail was different! It had feathers on it!

"And most importantly," Gwen said. "Be careful of dangerous looking strangers."

"Otay!" Polly said, then raced towards Chris the moment she was free. Gwen almost cried then and there. Unfortunately she had no choice, she thought as she glimpsed at her watch. She had to get to work.

Hopefully the caretakers would keep her little girl safe.

"I Polly!" Polly announced as she got to the two, shoving her thumb at her chest. "Who you?"

"I Rory! This is Chris!" she said, grinning at the new girl, though it was a shy grin. The shyness always happened with new people, though she was no less eager to meet new people. "I like your tail!"

Polly grinned. "Tank you," she said. "but Kitty bit, so I no like Kitty." Obviously she was NEVER going to forget that for the rest of her LIFE.

"Kitty?" Chris asked, making Polly's eyes go wide at the double voice.

"Bad Kitty," Polly said.

"Mmmm, well, no kitties here," Rory said with a little nod. Then, seeing as Polly was still in her outdoor clothes, she patted a cubbyhole next to hers. "You wanna put your stuff here? Then we can play!"

"Okay!" Polly said cheerfully, tugging her coat and gloves off inexpertly. She wound up getting tangled in the coat and glaring at it angrily. It made Chris blink.

"You is young?" he asked as he gently extracted her from the offensive material. She didn't SEEM young... but at the same time—

"It okay, though," Rory said, as she helped Polly with the coat as well, directing Polly's arms out of the sleeves as Chris took it off. It was neat to meet someone younger than herself! "You'll learn!"

Once the coat was off, Rory took it, folded it, and to put it in the cubby with the gloves.

Polly flushed slightly. "Well... I not big like you," she told him. "But I big enough!"

Chris laughed, amused by her. "We go in room now," he said as he got to all fours and led them in. "We have playtime first!"

"You have pretty shiny!" Polly said, distracted by the light hitting Rory's necklace.

"Chris gave me as gift!" Rory said, flushing with pleasure as her hand touched the necklace. She started to walk into the room. "Come! We play now!" she said, grinning at her new friend.

"Okay!" She wanted the shiny. But--but-- She looked over at the big boy waiting for them patiently. She figured he was Chris, and he would maybe get mad if she took the shiny...

Oh the dilemma... But the sight of the colorful room distracted her easily enough.

"She distracted," Chris stated.

Rory grinned. "She is, isn't she? I don't think we color," she said. Polly didn't look like one that wanted to sit and play. She looked to Chris. "What we play? Hide-n-seek?"

"What we hide?" Polly asked, shining that brilliant smile of hers full force at Rory. She was thinking like a pirate, not that she realized that. "Shinies! We hide shinies and go find?"

Rory giggled. "No, two of us hide and one looks for. But we could get something that one could hide, and the other two seek for!" It was like a whole new game to her. She wasn't even thinking her necklace as the shiny.

"Oooooh," Polly said, finally catching sight of Chris's earring. She moved forward, about to take it. "Pretttttyyyyy shiny."

"No, no," Chris said, gently grabbing her hand before she took the earring. "Need that shiny."

"But--"

"No," he said firmly. "We hide..." He looked around. "Puppy toy," he decided, heading for the small plushie and picking it up. "I hide first!"

"Okay!" Rory said, deciding that her necklace was safer in her shirt, and tucked it there. "We'll cover our eyes while you hide, Chris. You tell us when done."

Then she turned to Polly. "And to make sure we not cheating, I cover your eyes, and you cover mine!" she said, gently placing her hands over Polly's golden eyes. She left them cracked so that Polly could see to do the same, and see doing that.

"Okay!" Polly said, covering the other girl's eyes with her hands. She was so close to the shinyyyy... it was as if it were calling to her!

But no! It was Rory's and Rory was her new friend! Right?

"Mmmm..." Rory was getting bored just standing there, her hands closed over Polly's eyes once Polly blinded her. "You have any shinnies?"

"I got necklace and bracelet and belt!" Polly bragged. "Mommy gave them to me." She hadn't really, but she hadn't taken them away, either, so Polly considered them hers now.

"Ok, is ready!" Chris said.

"Cool!" Rory said, then removed her hands from Polly's eyes. "Let's go find it now!" She blinked slightly at the light.

"Okay!" Polly agreed, turning to start the search. She had resisted temptation, she thought proudly. And then she saw the shiny on Chris's ear again.

It was sooooo shinyyy... She almost reached for it, only to stop as she realized something. "What puppy look like?"

"Um, it was about this big," Rory said, holding her hands apart in a size. "'N brown and white. But if you think what you find is it, bring it to Chris!" she then suggested proudly.

"Okay!" Polly said. Chris was covering his earring with one huge hand, having figured out what she had been about to do before asking.

"You go that way," he told her, pointing away from him.

Rory snickered. "We after puppy, come on," she said, taking Polly's hand to pull her away from Chris and to where he might have hidden it. "Let's look for it! How ever finds it, wins!"

"Okay," Polly said, starting to search for the puppy. She was very thorough, looking under everything she could pick up. Then she got to her belly to look under the stuff she couldn't.

Rory was trying to look high, since Chris was tall. But he was also considerate, so she had to look low too. Everything was moved and replaced as she looked. Her tail swished around as she looked.

"Found it!" Polly said from where she was under the little table. Her feathery tail was in the air, flicking back and forth happily. "I found puppy!" she said, crawling out and grinning at them both, the puppy in her hands.

"Yay!" Rory said, though she was disappointed that she didn't find the puppy. "You're a good finder! We hide it again?"

"I hide this time!" Polly said. "You cover eyes!" she ordered them, looking around for a place to hide it, her tail twitching happily as she did so.

Chris agreeably sat down and held up hands for Rory to press her eyes against.

Rory did just that, and went on her tiptoes to cover Chris's eyes. "Okay! Hide away!" she said. Her tail twitched again. This was kinda fun!

For a second Polly was about to do that. Then she realized that Chris's eyes were covered and his hands were occupied so she snuck over close, being as silent as possible, and tugged his earring off.

Chris jerked away from Rory quickly, turning to glower at Polly, but Polly was already racing away. "I got shiny!!" she called happily.

Rory gasped as she realized what happened. "Polly! That not nice!" she said, getting up to go after Polly, and asked her to give it back. She was running better and better the more she played.

And walking with Chris, you had to be fast.

"Polly no put on!" Chris said, chasing after her. If it made him weak it would do horrible things to other people, right? Well, maybe?

"Is shiny!" Polly said, holding it up to the light with a look of awe.

"It is, but it Chris's," Rory said, a bit worriedly. She hadn't had anything taken like this from anyone before. But... maybe after she looked, she would give it back? "So, you need to give it back to him," she pointed out.

"Give back," Chris said, holding out his hand. "I need shiny."

"But--but--"

"I show," he said, looking around for something disposable to crush. He went to the metal trashcan in the corner and lightly gripped the rim. It contorted as if it were play dough. "Shiny make that not happen."

Polly's eyes were huge.

"Uh huh, so shiny very impo'tant, so Chris no hurt other on accident," Rory said, adding to that. Now she smiled at Polly, since the other girl didn't know. It was okay, as long as she returned it.

Polly nodded, handing over the earring to Chris. "I sorry," she said. "But was so shiny--"

"Is ok," Chris said holding the earring carefully in his palm. "Rory?" he asked a little helplessly, holding the hand out to her. The last thing he wanted was to break it!

"We find you something else shiny that would be okay for you to take," Rory said, taking the earring and carefully clipping it on Chris's ear. Her tongue stuck out as she did this too.

Then she turned to Polly. All was forgiven. "It okay, you didn't know!" she said seriously, and grinned happily.

"Okay!" Polly agreed, grinning brightly once again. "This time I really hide puppy!" she decided.

"Okay! And maybe I get to find it this time!" Rory said happily. Then, in full trust of the other girl, she went to hide Chris' eyes again.

See? That wasn't bad at all! And they were still friends, at the end of it all.

Ze'zee had taken Aurora to the park to play. It was good to get away from the house, get out and get some real fresh air. Currently Ze was sitting on a bench while Aurora was off in the play ground, playing in the snow.

Rory was going to make a snow man. It was something she had seen others do and she wanted to try it! But, well, she didn't know how it started, so she was piling snow up, like one would sand. Occasionally she'd stop to rub her hands together and rewarm them through the gloves.

"Is coooollllldddd," Christian complained as Missy led him through the snow and into the park. "Don't like cold!"

"But it'll be fun, Chris!" Missy said. "You get to see Rory!"

"See Rory somewhere warm!" Chris protested. "Tired of cold, want warm!"

"I know, I know," Missy said, laughing at him. "You're such a baby, Chris."

"Dun' like cold," Chris repeated irritably.

Across the street Polly was sitting patiently on a bench as her mother finished her meal. She had already finished her own. At the sight of Chris, though, she stood, yelling happily. "Christian!!"

"Hi Chris!" Rory said, abandoning her snow man to join her friend the moment she saw him.

"Can't say I don't agree with him. I don't like the cold myself," Ze'zee said, grinning.

The voice carried well in the park, making Rory look around for whom it belonged too. Then she saw the fire colored girl and grinned. "Look! It's Polly!" she called, waving to the other girl, even if she wasn't called for. Heck, Chris was so easy to see.

"I go over there," Polly told her mom.

"Look both ways before crossing the street!" Gwen said. She was so stressed out after the past few weeks of being a mother that she didn't even think about her daughter playing with freaky children. Any moment of peace was one that she was desperate to grab.

Polly headed for the street, looking one way, then the other before dashing across. Chris grabbed her before she could trip over the curb, picking her up and setting her down again so she was stable.

"Hiii Rory!" Polly said. She had gotten used to Chris doing that after a while at school.

"Hii!" Rory grinned, coming up and throwing her arms around the other girl in a hug. She was at a stage where she would hug people she liked and wasn't shy with.

"Wanna play? I trying to make a snow man!" she asked them both.

"It involve snow?" Chris asked skeptically.

"Ok! We play!!" Polly said cheerfully as she hugged Rory back. "We make snow man!" Then she paused. "What snowman?"

"Mmm, I saw it in the yard next door! It was tall and kinda lumpy lookin and it has sticks for arms and a carrot nose!" Rory told her happilly, patting Chris on the shoulder.

"You got carrot?" Chris asked, being extremely logical since, let's face it, he didn't WANT to mess with the snow more than he had to! "You got sticks?"

"I find sticks!" Polly said, heading into the park to look for fallen sticks that they could use.

"But is too cold to find carrot!" Chris said, intent on pointing that out. "Carrots hide during winter."

"Christian," Missy said, torn between scolding and laughing at him. His fear of cold always struck her as funny, since he was so bold about everything else.

"After this, I say we find a place that sells hot chocolate," Ze'zee said, rubbing her hands together. She did find it amusing as well, even if she was cold and not liking it!

Rory stuck her tongue out at Chris in a playful tease. "We can find something else for the nose!" she told him brightly. "You can look for something to use or you can put together the snow!"

"I look, I look," Christian said before lumbering off to see if he could find something that looked vaguely nose-like. He took his sweet time about searching, too, because he didn't want to start on the snow part of the snow man.

"I found sticks!!" Polly called, holding up two. She had a larger one at her feet. "I even find one for tail!!" Because obviously, three kids with tails would make a snowman with a tail!

"A tail?" Rory asked, blinking at the bigger stick. "The other one didn't have tail.. But ours can!" she said, because it only made since to her. Chris, Polly and her mama and her all had tails, after all!

But poor Chris! He didn't like snow, but she wasn't going to make him touch it! If it could be helped. She then went back to piling the snow. She didn't know that you had to roll it around to get it into the right shape for a snow man.

Chris was picking up rocks in a nearby garden, looking at them for a moment, and tossing them over his shoulder to discard them. None of them looked like noses to him!

"What else we need?" Polly asked excitedly. "I help get snow, too?" she asked.

"Uh huh! You can help! Chris wont want too, he hates snow," Rory answered, packing snow onto the snow man. "We gotta get the body built, then we can put on the arms and tail and nose! ... Shoulda told Chris to get some rocks for eyes."

"Uh huh!" Polly said, getting on her knees and starting to drag the snow into a pile. There was one little problem with that, though. The snow she grabbed melted into water as soon as she touched it. "Ummm... it no like me," she said, holding up her dripping fingers.

"Awwww..." Rory pouted. It looked like she was the only one putting the snow together. Then she got an idea. "Okay then! You can look for eyes!" she said. "It's an important task! The snow man needs to see!"

"Okay! I go find eyes!" Polly said before racing off to the rocky area where Chris was still sitting.

The boy had a stone held delicately between his thumb and his forefinger and he was looking at it closely. "It allllmossttt look like nose," he said. "Just got no nose holes. I keep looking!"

Rory heard him and snickered. "Chris!! It doesn't have to have nose holes! It'll work!" Heck, she wasn't picky, really, so anything would work. Her tail gave an amused wag.

"Okay, okay," he said, picking the stone up and heading over to hand it to her. "Now what I do?" he asked as he sat down. Thankfully his snow pants were nice and waterproof.

Rory grinned at him. "You can help build!" she told him. "Polly can't, cuz it melts," Why, she wasn't even going to question. Just that it did was enough for her. "So, that leaves you!"

Now it was her turn to tease him about something. He kept calling her little!

Chris pouted, then started dragging the snow into a pile. "What snowman look like?" he asked. "Is big pile of snow?"

"I found eyes!" Polly called, holding up a handful of rocks. None of them matched. "Lots of eyes!!"

"Good! We can use two for eyes, and use the others for a dotted smile!" Rory said happily to Polly. Then she looked at her odd shapped snow man. "Well... it had a round head, and kinda round middle, and big bottom!"

"Lemme guess," Chris said with childish dryness. "Bottom was round too?"

"Do I got big butt?" Polly asked, turning to look at her bottom. Her tail flicked behind her, blocking her view. "Hey you!" she complained, grabbing for her tail. "You in way!"

Chris sighed. "You is too little to have big butt," he told her seriously. "You wait till bigger to ask that."

"Yes, it was kinda, and squished looking," Rory answered Chris, she didn't see it being made, after all. Then snickered again at Polly, but looked over her own shoulder. "I to little to ask if I have big butt too?" she asked, looking at her own butt. Her tail was much smaller, so it didn't block her view.

"Uh huh," Chris said, thinking about the problem. "We roll snow!" he decided. "Will get bigger that way. Like... um... tape ball!" When he had played with a tape ball, they'd probably never find out.

"Okay!" Polly said. Then she pouted. "It no like me."

"Mmm, you can cheer us on!" Rory told Polly, so that she wouldn't be left out in the snow play so much so. "And Chris and I roll snow!" She had never thought of that, really! She rolled dough, so knew how to do that. Rolling snow couldn't be much different.

With that idea in mind, she got a snow ball in her hand, she started to roll it up and around.

"Was three balls?" Chris asked as he reluctantly started rolling a snowball. "All same size?"

"Good job rolling! Yay! yay!" Polly said happily. She clapped her hands and stomped her feet to add to the cheering.

"One big, at the bottom, one not so big and one small," Rory said, now that her mental image had the shape as balls. This was so much easier! She then grinned at Polly for all the cheering.

"Okay, okay," Chris said, starting to roll his ball so it got bigger. He looked at Polly. "Why you no do snow part?" he asked curiously. "Why it no like you?"

"It turn water," Polly said.

"It melts?" Chris supplied.

"Yeah! It melts!" she repeated. "And I get wet."

"Which I told you about, Chris," Rory called, stopping as she had a good sized ball of snow. It wasn't as big as Chris' was getting, however. Then she started on a smaller one.

"But didn't tell me why it melt," Chris said, looking curiously at Polly. "You is got power or something?"

"I dunno," Polly said as she started lining up her stones on the ground. "Bath water get steamy, too."

"Huh," Chris said. "Polly might be different, too."

"Oh...." Rory said, suddenly sounding a little sad. Wisp had something special she could do, and Chris was really really strong. And now Polly could heat things up. All she was, was small.

But she decided not to let this show, because Polly might get upset and there was no point in upsetting Polly! "So you heat up things up?" she asked Polly.

"Guess so," Polly said. It didn't seem that interesting to her. "He need hat!" she decided before turning to look for something that vaguely looked like a hat.

"I done," Chris said, standing over a huge ball of snow.

"I done too!" Rory said, and tried to lift the medium sized ball of snow. She then fell on her butt.

Chris sighed. "I get it," he said as he walked over, picking up the ball and placing it on his. "You do third?"

"I get--" Polly stopped, mere seconds away from touching the ball of snow. "I no get it."

"It's okay!" Rory said, as she was able to lift the small ball. "You can put on the arms and tail and things!"

"Okay!" Polly said, running over to the limb that would make the tail. She dragged it behind her as she came back, leaving wet footsteps and a trail in the snow from the limb. "He get nice tail!" she said proudly. "Will cover up big butt."

Chris let Rory put the head on, wondering if they could go somewhere warm. The whole snowman thing was utterly lost on him.

"Okay!" Rory said as she took the extra rocks and made a mouth into a happy face. "You can put on the two eyes and the nose, Polly!" the other girl wasn't able to do much.

"Okay!" Polly said, standing on tiptoe to put the stones in place. The nose went on upside down, but Chris was so cold that he didn't even care.

"We go get cocoa now?" he asked the mothers, hopefully.

Polly looked around for her own mother, noticing her still sitting across the street with a book in her hand. "I should--I should go. Bye, bye!" she said before heading to where her mother was.

Rory frowned slightly, looking to where they were going. Then she waved to Polly. "Bye bye!" she called, though she wanted to keep playing. Then she looked at Chris. "See? If you had hugged her, you woulda been warm! If snow melts, then she'd gotta be warm!"

Ze'zee was watching where Polly ran to, even as she spoke. "Well, I could really go some something and someplace warm right now. I'm not used to the cold at all."

"Yes, that sounds very good," Missy said, watching the little redhead as well. There was a frown on her face. The woman that Polly was heading for barely looked up as the little girl crossed the street.

Missy didn't like that one bit. She almost jumped as Chris slipped his hand into hers, watching the redhead as well. "Polly," he said quietly, and not very happily. "Her mommy not nice."

"I.... I don't like her, very much. She not nice with Polly," Rory muttered, holding on to Ze'zee's hand. Then she looked up. "Mama! You go and adobt Polly away from her! You're a good mama!"

Ze started at that, horrified that a little girl would even think that. "Aurora!"

Missy took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Why don't we all go get hot chocolate now? It'll warm us all up."

Chris looked at her, smiling crookedly. It was as if he knew exactly what she was doing. "Okay, I need warm."

Ze'zee clamed with that statment, giving a smile to Missy. "I agree completely," she said, patting the hood on Rory's head.

Rory looked confused. Why was Chris smiling like that? Maybe he was just happy to be getting warm.