Welcome to Gaia! ::

The Campaign
Players: Trinityblue, Ice Queen, rosemilk
----------------------------------------------------------

The cold war between Casca and the twins was still brewing. Their parents didn't know; Casca would turn up in the morning to still get both of them, but then dump them at the top of the road and march off another way. He didn't walk them home any more either, didn't say a word, was an absolute ghost when it came to school -- seemed like he threw in the towel and slept more, too, and even had a couple 'sick' days where he got to stay at home as a stone statue and sleep. The nascent friendship between all three was apparently through.

Things were getting... a little weird for Kashmira and Rhye, though. It had started with the stick taped outside the twins' window; when she woke up in the morning to open it, there it had been, with a ribbon and a little bag of Skittles with the post-it: Kashmira. But the same evening, there'd been another bag of Milk Duds, with a different-coloured ribbon and: Rhye. Both bags had been sealed, so they couldn't have been left there by cyanide-poisoning child molesters.

There was an oak tree in their yard where they liked to hide things; another day, there were two packages in it. Both were filled with tiny origami good-luck stars -- Rhye's purple, Kashmira's red -- and two eggs, the kind you got out of gumball toy machines.

It was all very mysterious. Another night Rhye's pillow made a crunching sound when she put her head down on it, and there was a little parcel of glittery hair pins; Kashmira's was nothing so girlie, as it was a small wrapped box of pastels.

It was extremely mysterious. (And possibly a little creepy, considering whoever had done it had been in their bedroom; but then again, would their parents ever let a stalker in?)

Kash stared at the pastels, wondering what in the heck was going on. "Hey, Rhye?" she finally asked. "Do secret santas go all the way to your house?"

"I think they're only supposed to be for schoo," Rhye replied, looking at the hair pins. They were both pretty and shiney! But how they got there, in her bed, she didn't know. And all the other little gifts were odd too.

She frowned at them however, picking them up. "Kash? Have you noticed when they appear? Maybe we can catch the one doing it."

It was no use waiting that night for any parcel, as obviously their secret gift-giver had already been; but tomorrow proved more promising, as no packages had been left anywhere in their yard or somewhere else, so it was a good guess that he or she might come again that night.

It took a very long time. The clock was ticking at half-past one in the morning when, finally, there was a little telltale rustle outside their window; and then a kind of skritching and a presence behind their closed curtains. It wasn't a cat or anything; after a few moments of silence, and then more rustling, there was the sound of their window being very stealthily eased up.

Kash couldn't sleep. She was hyped from all the sugar she had eaten and she had to pee. The only reason she wasn't getting out of bed to go to the restroom was because she didn't have to go THAT bad and her blankets were just to the warm cozy spot that she liked the best.

That was when she heard the window start to lift. She sat up, silently, a growl threatening to rumble in her throat, her body in pouncing position. She was forgetting that she was only a little girl.

Rhye was sound asleep, cuddled up in her nice, warm blankets. She was dreaming of... well, something colorful, she wasn't sure what, when the movement that Kash made her in her actually got her attention. That wasn't the normal nighttime movement.

She tiredly creaked an eye open, not yet aware that there was someone stealthing into their room. What was she doing?

The movement immediately stopped the moment that the growl was heard from Kashmira: just as before, obviously hoping the girl was still half-asleep, the window began to ease back down again -- slowly, surely.

Without a thought Kash jumped off of the bed and raced for the window, drawing up the blinds, her little canines showing sharply in the moonlight. "What do you want?" she demanded rashly, uncaring that whoever it was might be far more dangerous than she was.

Haloed in the moonlight, bright as day, was no thief or robber or serial molester; it was simply Casca, wings thrown out to help him keep his balance, tail lashed down to the windowsill and the window-lever as he held two small boxes in his hands. He'd obviously been trying to tie them to sticks again; he sighed, completely martyred, and put them down.

"Try not to wake up the whole house, ma poulette," he said, "all right, you got me, I give up. Haul me in, Sherriff."

She blinked, then blinked again before letting out a loud sigh and opening the window. "Fine, whatever," she said, stepping aside so he could come in. "But you're being creepy. What's with the boxes, anyway?"

"What's in the boxes?" Rhye asked, shocked to see Casca trying to be a sneak into their house. When Kash had jumped at the down-sliding window, she had jumped out of her own bed, canines bared and ready to fight, just like her twin. Then at seeing their.... neighbor, she dropped it.

"Matches," said Casca without blinking. "Emergency matches. For -- emergencies. First Aid, cher amies, it's -- it's very important, I thought you might need them outside your window." (It did not look like matches.)

"Why in the world would we need them outside our window?" Kash asked. She was tired, suddenly. All of her sugar had been run off with her rage at an intruder. "What are you really doing, Casca?"

He turned his back to them; crouched on their windowsill lightly. The light breeze outside ruffled his hair, as he hesitated -- at least he hadn't made any gouge-marks in their windowsill. Yet. Eventually he said reasonably, "I don't know, Mira, what was I doing?"

"It looked like you were trying to sneak in here," Rhye answered for her sister, going up beside her. It had taken her a little bit to clue in to what was all going on. Now she was. "And those boxes are too big for matches. Why are you trying to sneak into our room?"

Kash blinked. "You're the one hiding all the treats around here?" she asked.

Trust Kashmira to be the one to work it out. Casca looked at them both over his shoulder, the little silvery twins, considering. "And if I say hypothetically that I was, topolino? Hypothetically speaking, of course."

"Are you... apologizing to us?" Rhye added. Personally, she was thrilled that it had been him doing all the creepy-sneak stuff. That made it not creepy any more! She graced him with a smile.

"Yep, he's apologizing!" Kash said before he could reply. "He's loney," she added with a knowing nod to her sister. "He misses us and he's too pigheaded to tell us straight out."

"What would I ever do without you two charmers around," he said to mid-air, "to tell me what I was thinking or doing or considering at any given time?" But he didn't sound mad; in fact, he was trying to sound resigned, and they both knew when really he was probably pleased. "Pigheaded? That's just cruel -- Rhye, tell her how cruel that is; the word is stubborn, am I right?"

"It's the same thing," Rhye said, then jumped to Casca, hugging him in all her night time glory. If Kash didn't want to join, that was fine. "Then, I suppose you are forgiven. If you give us the boxes."

Kash, rather than hugging him, was trying to wrest her box away, even more greedy than her sister. "Hand it over and I'll forgive you," she said.

Casca had wrapped one arm around Rhye, and held the other one out of Kashmira's grasp while handing Rhye the one marked with her letter: it was a little wooden carved R, the type you got in scrapbooking. There were more origami stars -- God only knew how Casca folded them, with his claws, if he was the one folding them at all -- and inside was a little glass bunny. Then he tossed Kashmira hers, though he also reached out to ruffle her hair: origami stars again, but nothing as girly-fragile on the inside: slightly girly, but not very. It was a mood ring in a punk setting: Casca was merely rolling his eyes.

"Greedy," he said.

Rhye was only to happy, thrilled and whatever else about the glass rabbit. She quickly abandoned him, just proving their greed, and when to place it someplace nice. "Thank you, Casca," she said, gracing him now with a grin.

"So.. you won't be ignoring us at school from now on?" she then asked him shrewdly.

Kash slipped her ring on her right hand ring finger, admiring how quickly it changed colors. "And eat lunch with us," she added. "Because if you don't have something to distract you during lunch you wind up just staring at Chris eating and wondering how in the world he can open his mouth that wide."

"Has a hinge in his jaw," said the gargoyle promptly. "Yes, yes, I'll sit with you at lunch, if you obviously desire my presence that much, I can't blame you for wanting me -- get back to bed, ma petit soeurs, or you'll turn into pumpkins and your dad will kill me. Au revoir, buona notte."

He patted both of their fluffy heads, and then he went back to the window again: with a wink, he'd slipped out.

Blues Baby
Players: Trinityblue, Ice Queen
----------------------------------------------------------
Rhye had taken to hiding off in the library at times. She did like to read and there were lots of books here for her to do so. But that wasn't why she was in the library. She was hunting a certain book for her report.

She snuck through the shelves, her white tail slipping in behind her, gently brushing over the corners that she weaved. In one hand was a scrap of paper with the location of her book. In the other hand was her note book.

And she wasn't paying attention to anything else but what she was doing.

"Ah," Antony said from behind her. "I finally get the chance to meet one of the twins."

She jumped slightly, so intent on her book hunt that his words surprised her. Red eyes looked back up at him over her shoulder.

Blue and pretty for a boy. This had to be the boy her sister told her about! She turned around, looking up at him. "You wanted to meet one of us? Why?" she asked.

"Well for one, I saw your sister chatting with my best friend the other day. They seemed to get along really well." He looked at the books she was going through. "What are you looking for? I might be able to help."

"It's for a book report," she said, holding up. "I'm Rhye. My sister told me about you," she then added. He was all blue... she liked blue! So it was easy to like him.

"Really?" he asked. "She didn't seem that interested in meeting me," he added a bit dryly. "What's the book? I might have read it already."

She was cute! Of course her sister looked a lot wilder, but wilder wasn't always better if you asked Antony. Harper had been wild. Look where that had gotten him. "I'm Antony. Forgive me for not mentioning that earlier," he said with a slight bow.

"She noticed you because you're pretty," she said, having no problem with it at all. "And your hair is shiny."

Then she looked back at her paper. "It's on.... Treasure Island," she said quiet seriously.

"That's a very good book," he said. "And yes, I've heard that before. Often," he added dryly. "Unfortunately, this is how I was born. Other than the hair, that is. That's thanks to some very good shampoo and conditioner."

"Pantene?" she asked mischievously, her tail waving behind her showing her amusement. Then she giggled, moving closer to him. "Do you know where this book is?" she then asked.

She didn't see what her sister didn't like about him. Her was perfectly nice, and polite. She wonder what this Iggy was like.

"That," he said strictly, "is my little secret. And it's higher, here, I'll get it for you," he said as he reached up, pulling the book out and handing it to her. "You two are friends with Chris, aren't you? I have to say, that guy knows all of the pretty girls in school for some reason."

"Probably because he's so nice," she said, enjoying the flattery. It showed on her face as well as she took the book from him with a little thank you. "I don't see you having such a problem. You're nice too."

"Thank you," he said. "Although it's not always true, I still appreciate the sentiment. There is one thing I want to ask you, though," he said, trailing off slightly. It was her aura, he thought. Her and her sister both had strange auras and he wasn't sure how to explain it to them.

"That... band on your arm," he said finally, since it glowed like a beacon to him. "Where did you get it from?"

"Huh?" Rhye asked, now truly puzzled. She looked at the deep gold snake band that was wrapped around her upper arm. The red eyes had a faint glow about them, though she never really noticed it. The bands just... were.

She frowned slightly, thinking of how to answer him. Then she looked up at him quizzically. "No where, that I remember. They've just... always been there."

"And your sister has one, as well," he said, rather than asking. His attention was clearly focused on the band, now. There was a slight scowl on his face, though. "It's not like this, is it?"

"Yes, it looks different," she answered, putting a hand over her arm band. She didn't notice as it was 'looking' at Antony. Why did people look at it oddly? She didn't like that at all! And the conversation was getting a bit uncomfortably for her. "Hers is darker in color."

"But still gold? Or is it black or some other dark color?" he asked, knowing he was making her uncomfortable, but unable to stop. There was seriously something wrong about those bands. "Does it move?" he asked abruptly.

"No," she answered quickly, not even having to think about it. Then moving was not something she even considered. When they were forgotten after a bath they just in the next spot you looked. She never questioned that at all.

Then she gave Antony a very serious look, her red eyes narrowed slightly. "Why do you want to know about them? You don't want to steal them, do you?"

He laughed, but it didn't hold much amusement. "No, of course not," he said. He wasn't equipped to handle this, he thought. This needed something else, someone else. Someone like his uncle Jack... or Father Higgins. "You're always wearing them?"

"Well, yeah. These are ours! Of course we wear them," she told him as if that was the silliest thing in the world. She didn't like the laugh. Now she was understanding why Kash didn't like him so much.

He sighed, wishing he had handled this differently, and ran a hand over his face. "This isn't to tease you," he said finally. "I have a special ability. I can see ghosts and people's auras. I'm a... a death god in training, I suppose you could say."

"So? You don't have to ask things like that," she replied, still on the defensive. Her hand was covering her band protectively. She didn't see what the bands had to do with death and auras, after all.

"I do if something is potentially dangerous," he said. "The last time I didn't ask--" He shook off the memory of the well ghost and Irelia. "It wasn't smart."

An unlady like snort escaped her. "It's not dangerous. At all. We've had them since we were babies. Mom and Dad haven't seen them as dangerous either." Obviously, mom and dad could do anything still in her mind, and were highly trusted to know what was right or wrong.

He didn't look convinced. "Be careful," he said. "Especially your sister. Tell that to her for me, won't you?"

"She'll think the same," she replied, giving him an exasperated look. He had brought up her hackles and they weren't going to go down any time soon. "But I will. Thank you for getting me the book," she added out of politeness, then turned to walk off.

He sighed. Chris, he thought. Chris would be able to deal with it. He would just call him and tell him what the problem was--

And be blown off. Dammit. Sometimes being able to see things really, really sucked.

Rhye's RPs

Welcome to the Party (Xmas '0 cool - SS kids reveal their secret identity, eat food and all that! (ORP)

A Gift for Rhye - Rhye gets her final gift from Chris, gets tossed, and has a talk about the arm bands. (PRP)

A Gift for Casca - Rhye gives her final gift to Casca! (PRP)

Dance Party - Kaimi and Kash start up a dance floor at the Christmas party, Rhye snaggs Casca from there (ORP)

The Twins Connection: Kashmira meets Morgan and Skylar in the play area at the mall.

The Bathroom of Queens: Kashmira meets Iselda in a high class restaurant and helps her find her mother.

The Goth and the Dragon: Kash meets Magdelen while shopping and the two girls pick out outfits together.

Toy Store!
Players: Trinityblue, Ice Queen
----------------------------------------------------------

Finally things felt right to the little luck dragon girl. Her hand touched the snake arm ling that was around her in an idle motion. Who knew that they actually had personalities? And that they were the source of good and bad luck...

Thinking of the bad luck one, Bastian, just made her unhappy. She didn't like him, but she wasn't about to take him from her sister, either. She couldn't handle it. But there was no point on thinking of that now. She had a little gift buy!

She walked through the toy shop, looking for the plush toys.

"Okay, but we can't tell your mother about this," Axle said, giving into the baby tugging on his jacket and pointing at the toystore.

"You can't tell who about this?" Ker asked, since she was right next to them, pushing the empty stroller.

"Nothingggg," Axle said, lowering his voice comically. "Let's make a run for it!" he said to Jordan, breaking into a jog and slipping through the toystore door before Ker could reply. She sighed and shook her head, heading for a bench outside the store to sit down. Shopping for baby things was exhausting. "You can sit down, Mortar," she told the troll carrying all the things.

"Oh t'ank da gods," he muttered as he dropped down like a rock.

Ah ha! Plushies! Rhye had found her goal of the toys. Her dad was actually waiting outside the shop for her. They had just had a 'work day', where she went to her dad's work place. That had been fun! She got to meet people, after all. She was usually shy and quiet when it came to meeting people.

And her sister hadn't been around. So, she thought a gift would be nice for her. She also had a bad habit of not paying to much attention to the world around her, or the people around her.

"Would you look at that!" Axle said as his baby girl pointed at the train that was right in the middle of the toyshop. It was an entire diorama, one that went all over the ship, through tunnels and over hills. She looked enthralled, and he was so busy noticing that that he almost didn't notice the silver haired girl he was about to run into.

"Whoops!" he said, pulling to a stop before he hit her. Then he cocked his head, staring at her curiously, and a bit rudely. "Excuse us," he said a bit belatedly. "Jordi's just seen her first train." And was trying to drag him towards it.

Rhye stepped back, looking up at the man and child curiously. Then she smiled. "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going either." She then looked at the little girl and the train and grinned, stepping out of the way as she looked over at the train set. "Isn't the train great?" she asked the child.

The girl glanced over at her, giving her a toothy grin, then jumped as the train hooted its horn. Her eyes rounded in surprise, then she yelled, cheerfully, "Chu chu!!"

She did that a few times before tugging at her daddy's coat. "Down!" she demanded.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Down!"

"It's fine," Rhye told him. "They train isn't that high up." She didn't think the little girl could get to them anyway. And besides, she usually didn't talk to many people. It was time to change that, right? She stepped closer to where they were. "So you like trains, Jordi?" I'm Rhye," she added, smiling at them both.

Instead of going straight for the trains, because her balance wasn't that great just yet, the tiny little girl (barely over a foot tall) toddled over to Rhye and reached up a demanding hand. "Come!" she commanded, pointing at the trains.

"Jordan, say please," Axle said, inwardly shocked that those words had actually come from his lips. This little kid was messing with his head!!

She was so cute!! Rhye beamed at her, even if she didn't say please, and held out her hand for the little girl to take. And she was soooo tiny! She didn't even notice the father's reaction. "Okay!" she agreed easily.

"Pease," Jordan added belatedly, even as she tugged Rhye towards the trains. To tell the truth, Rhye was just her balancing toy, but she didn't bother to mention this. Her smile came again as the train came around the track again, tooting its horn again. She started giggling, almost falling over with it.

"Chu chuu!"

Rhye knelt down so that she was at a better height for the girl. She grinned at the giggles. "You really like trains, huh?" Then she looked up at the father. "Are you going to get her a train now?"

He sighed. "We live in an airship," he said. "Why trains?" He shook his head. Jordan ignored him blatantly.

"Chu chu! Chu chuuuu!" she called, watching as the train went away and trying to get it to come back. "Chu chuuuu!"

"Maybe something more her size," he muttered. "Mind watching her for a bit? I'll just be over there, looking at those... car things." He motioned vaguely to the corner, which was in sight of them.

"An.. airship?" Rhye blinked at that. People lived in such things? Now she wondered what it was like, only to be pulled back to what she was doing by the girls 'chu chuus'. "It'll come back, Jordi, watch!" she said, pointing at a tunnel that the train would come out of in its rounds.

She watched closely, as if thinking the girl was a liar, but then lit up like a candle when the train came out of the tunnel. She raised her arms and waved her firsts joyously as it sped on past.

"Okay," Axle said, wheeling a tiny little train car over. "This is the smallest they get, think it'll work?"

Jordan turned, breaking into a brilliant grin and tugging Rhye to the new toy.

Rhye followed-- actually she was dragged and had no other choice but to follow, or suffer a child unhappy. Not that she wanted to get away or anything, Jordi was cute! And soooo tiny! She was just like a little doll! Just.. not dressed up as such.

"What did you find?" she asked the girl's father, looking up at him.

"It looks to be a box on wheels," he admitted as he eyed the contraption. "But I suppose it looks enough like a train for her--"

Jordan climbed on, straddling the little train joyfully. It was just the right size for her! "Chu chuuu!" she said, rocking back and forth. The train moved a bit and her eyes widened as she realized the use of wheels. A devilish grin crossed her face and Axle suddenly realized the problem.

She was out like a shot before he managed to grab her, racing along on the little train, hell bent for leather. "CHU CHUUU!!!"

"Ah! Jordi!" Rhye exclaimed and took off after the little girl. If she broke something (or herself) there would be big trouble! And what if she rammed into someone? Not all people were tough like Chris! The little girl would probably hurt herself more than Chris if she ran into him like this.

She went out the door, sending off the alarm and making the teenagers behind the counter panic. But before she could go too far she ran into what looked like a rock. "Chu chu!" she said as the rubber train bounced back lightly. She ran into the rock again. "Chu chu!!"

"Oh, lichen!" Mortar said as he turned to look at her. "Dere you are!"

"We have GOT to get her that," Axle said.

Rhye pulled to a stop just before Mortar and looked up at him. He was HUGE! Huge like Chris! No wonder that didn't hurt him! She then walked up to where the girl was bumping into him.

"Hey, hey, Jordi, don't go bumping into people," she told her. Well, if they were going to get her this, they'd better make sure their house was bump proof! "Do you like your little train?"

Jordan gave her a wide grin, her eyes crinkling with it happily. "Chu chu!" she said joyfully.

"And I'll take that," Axle said, pulling out his credit card and paying for it. "Thanks," he added before heading out as well.

"So that's your daughter?" Dyer asked the dwarf curiously. They had started chatting while their kids were inside. "She looks like a handful."

"You're telling me," Ker said, shaking her head with reluctant amusement.

"Dad! Isn't she cute??" Rhye said as soon as she realized that he was here too. Her fluffy tail gave a little swish behind her. She glanced at Mortar again before heading back to the toy store. "I found what I wanted, let me get it and I'll be back," she told her daddy before racing back to the toy shop.

"So she's your daughter?" Axle asked as he walked out, pocketing his receipt. "She's a lot of help," he said as he fought the strange feeling of jealousy at the sight of Ker talking to the sharp, yet good looking man.

"She's one of them," Dyer said as he watched Rhye go. "My wife and I have twins, we adopted them. Ker says that your little girl comes from a cabbage, too?"

Wife, Axle repeated, wondering why he was suddenly relieved. "Yeah," he said. "She does."

Rhye came bouncing out after she bought the stuffed toy and candies for her and her sister. She was in a good mood now that she had met someone else new. This was a goood day! It was so nice to have a good day again.

Poor Kash... She shook that thought from her head as she beamed up at her dad.

"Liberty, right?" Ker asked Dyer as Dyer casually pulled Rhye into his side, ruffling her hair fondly. "I'll look into it."

"That's where Tyler works," Axle said, having heard the name before. "I think."

"Is he the starmaker's dad?" Dyer asked. "Christian?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's him," Axle said as he picked Jordan off of the train. "You're gonna break that on Mortar, honey, wait till we get home."

She pouted, trying to reach the train again. Bumping into Mortar was fun!

"Chris is fun! Jordi will like him. He's big like the guy holding all the bags," Rhye put in, enjoying her father's treatment. She liked being cuddled, after all! "So, she's from a cabbage too? That means' she's going to go to school sometime with Kash and I."

"Looks like it," Ker said.

"Chuuuu chuuuu!!!" Jordi wailed, desperately trying to get to her train. "Chuuuuuu!!!" she was close to tears by now.

"And it also looks like it's time for someone's nap," Ker said. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Maker."

"Call me Dyer," he said. "And likewise."

Chocolate Crunch
Players: Trinityblue, Ice Queen
---------------------

Holidays had to be the best things ever. First there was Christmas, where you got all these gifts. Now there was Valentines day, and you got to make chocolate! And cards for people! Even if she wasn't the best in the making of art like things.

Rhye was very carefully putting the chocolate cubes into the pot to be melted down for their own candies, then stirring the pot.

"We're gonna need a lot more than that for Chris's valentines," Kash said from where she was watching the chocolate melt happily. "I mean a lot lot, like, WAY more than mom got us, you know? Cuz he eats so much."

"Yeeeppppp. So, I think we could make mom and dad's out of this, and probably some other friends, then get twice as much for Chris'!" Rhye added happily. "Remember that really big bar he got me for Christmas? Something like that! But.. maybe bigger?"

That was, of course, the bar she had to share with her sister.

"Uh huh," Kash said. "Then we can get rides!" Which, had it been any other guy in the world would have made her a bit embarrassed. But this was Chris! Chris was the perfect guy for a piggyback ride! "But... do we gotta make Casca something? He sucks."

"Yes, we have to make Casca something. He dealt with the gag gifts from before well, he should get something too," her sister answered. Casca could be a jerk, but he learned his lesson from it, and was giving them gifts.

She pouted for a moment. "We should make him a coffee cup," she said. "Since that's like, the only thing he ever does anyway."

"What about chocolate covered espresso beans? I saw them when we were coffee shopping before. Think he'd like that?" Rhye asked curiously, as she continued to stir.

"Probably," Kash said. "He's got weird tastes." She was getting bored with the chocolate part of the Valentines thing. "I wanna make something, though. What about for Rory?" she asked. "Think she'd like a Valentines gift?"

"Oh! Sure! What do you think she'd like? You're the one better at making cards, though. You want to do that, and I do the chocolate things?" Then they'd just give their gifts together, and it would be teamwork like! That and her cards would just be an embarrassment.

"Okay!" Kash said. "I'll go get the art supplies!" she added, rushing off to their room and coming back with a gigantic suitcase of art stuff. "Hey, did you know that Chris was on vacation?" she asked her sister as she got the construction paper and scissors out of the box.

They stocked the arts and craftcase on a weekly basis, so she had plenty of glitter to go around. She put down newspaper on the kitchen table first, though.

"He is? I didn't know that! Where did he go off too? How long will he be there?" Rhye asked curiously, thought about it a moment, then added: "Um... think he'll bring us something back?"

"Mr. Deakon didn't say, but I think he's only gonna be gone for a week or so," Kash said as she started cutting out hearts in red white and pink. "I saw these felt flowers at the store the other day, I bet I could make them out of paper," she added, frowning thoughtfully before going to work.

"I want a valentines gift," Bastian whispered.

"Shuddup."

Rhye blinked at her sister, having heard her say shutup, but not Bastian's whisper. She figured it was him, though, and continued like normal, ignoring those things. It was easy to do when Atreyu didn't speak much. He seemed content to just be wrapped around her.

Well, that was okay. "Really? That would be awesome to see!" she replied happily.

"One that says I love you best," he went on.

"Do you want me to dip you in the chocolate?" she asked him conversationally. "Maybe you'd melt." Then she glanced at her sister. "Oh, you mean the flowers? I need a way of keeping them all together, though, like one of those clips with the wings that fold out... I think we got some..."

Rhye took the spoon out of the pot and set that down. Then she got off the stool and went for the art box. "Maybe? Or we can ask mom about it, see if she has it anywhere."

Then she gave a look to the black armling. "You behave and leave her alone," she added before starting to dig through the box.

"You could kiss the chocolate off of me," Bastian said, sounding as if he liked the idea of being dipped just a little too much.

"Eewwwww," Kash said. "You're sick!" She looked over at her sister. "I can find it, you need to make sure the chocolate doesn't burn, right? And he's just being irritating."

"You sure? Okay then," Rhye said before going back to the chocolate stirring. It did get boring though.

"You know... having a gift does sound nice," Atreyu put in softly.

Rhye gave a little groan.

Kash dug through the craftcase, looking for the things she needed. "Hey," she said. "I was stuck in detention with Mr. Deakon again, I told you, right?" she said. "He said that Chris told him bout the snakes."

"What were you doing in detention again?" Rhye asked her sister, then blinked. "Wait... Chris told...? Um.. And?" she asked a little uneasily.

"He says we need to talk to the parents," Kash said, still cutting out flowers. "He's probably right, but I don't know what they're gonna be able to do about it."

Rhye watched the liquid chocolate as she stirred it, thinking things over quietly for a few moments before speaking. "Maybe... maybe it's not the fact that they can do anything. Maybe it's just the fact that they should know about it. That way.. that way, if something weird happens, they know?" she suggested.

"Nothing weird is gonna happen," Bastian said irritably. "I'm just happy getting to sleep with you every night."

That went completely over Kash's head, thankfully. "Shuddup," she said again. But it didn't have as much force.

Atreyu gave a bit of a sigh himself, but hell, he got to do the same with his Rhye. There was no way he was going to complain!

"Anyway, so, what should we do?" Rhye asked her sister, ignoring the snakes on their arms.

"I guess we should tell them," she said slowly as she started to put the flowers together for bookmarks. "But I kinda hate to ruin Valentines day with it, you know? It's the time you're supposed to be happy, right?"

"Okay! So we'll tell them after Valentines day!" Rhye said, happier with that conclusion. Though she'd rather not tell... all those who did know seemed weird about it. At Atreyu didn't bite her, unlike Bastian. That also meant she'd never point her finger at him, as well.

"Yeah," Kash said, wondering if that was what Tyler had meant. She shrugged it off and went back to work.