|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 9:12 am
We call you Otta
Jacosa had just finished a toast with tuna and was now slipping off the chair as he heard his name. "What a pretty one, come and look, Jacosa !" It was old Narra's voice and the toddler quickly ran into the living room. His nose didn't notice something new at first, but then his eyes saw something white close to the woman's feet.
It was as big as a dog, but looked like a snowflake. It's ears twitched slightly as Jacosa came closer and it moved it's tail, which was just as pale blue as the rest of it's body. "Where doyoo come from ?" The otter asked quite confused and sat down beside the animal to pet it. It looked like it was a good swimmer, because it didn't have normal feet, they were more flat than his own ones.
Narra smiled. "She came out of your shell, Jacosa. I told you there was someone inside." The old woman coughed and held her back. She needed to take a bath again soon, it was a bit too dry in here for her likings.
Jacosa squealed in delight. This meant the animal was his, right ? He hugged it tightly, but gently at the same time and stroked through it's hair, which caused the creature to purr. "Me is Cosa. What's your name ?"
"She doesn't have one yet, you should think of one." Narra announced as she threw another piece of wood into the fireside and smirked.
"I call you...Otta ! They call me, too." Jacosa smiled broadly and hugged the pet again. That was the best Christmas present ever, he really had to thank Ranjit. It didn't matter that she shell was gone now, he liked Otta much better. Hopefully Andraste would allow to take her with him.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 12:59 pm
Let's go home
"Mom, it's us." Ranjit said as he entered the house and Andraste dashed into the living room. "Hello. Nice to see you again. Where's Jacosa ?"
Narra smirked and pointed at the room's corner, where the otter was busily playing with the little creature.
Ranjit's eyes were full of sadness as Andraste grabbed the fourth wall's wrist. "I'm back, Jacosa. We can go home now." She said and you could literally sense the tension inside of her.
Just as he didn't notice it the otter started to smile widely and hugged his mother's extended arm. "Mommy !" Andraste looked pretty shocked and retreated a few steps before glaring at Narra, who didn't seem to pay attention. He had never called her like that before and she never intended that he'd do so.
Suddenly the strange creature close to Jacosa got her attention and she frowned once again. "She is Otta. She came out of the shell." The otter squealed happily and wrapped his arms around the pet's neck. "It's a Lucarin." Narra commented as she tried to cheer her son up with a smile. She didn't know what happened, but she sensed that something unusual was going on.
Ranjit sighed and moved closer towards the woman he loved. "Andraste...we really need to talk about it." The man started as the woman just glared at him and picked Jacosa up. "Ottaaaa !" The boy wailed and managed to grab the pet's tail, which yowled. The woman growled, but picked up the Lucarin as well.
"Thanks for watching him." She looked at Narra and nodded with gritted teeth. Ranjit was a b*****d for doing this to her, truly. "We will leave now."
Jacosa pouted but he knew that there could nothing be done about such facts of life. He pushed his nose against Otta and smiled. "See yoo !"
His tail wiggled and he waved friendly as Andraste stormed out of the house and towards the car. Out of sudden Jacosa realised that he had forgotten to say thank you to Ranjit and tried to move out of the woman's grip. Sadly he didn't manage to do so and as Andraste pushed him into the children's safety seat he started to cry.
"I know. Bad people, bad people, Jacosa." The mother growled and tied a safety belt around the pet as well without thinking about her actions. The otter was quick enough to get his tail into the right position, otherwise it would have been stuck between the door and the car as Andraste slammed the door.
Jacosa leaned his forehead against the pet's one and closed his eyes. Sometimes he wasn't able to understand the grown-ups at all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 4:34 am
Anger
I ******** can't believe it ! The fishguy RAPED me...
Alright, not really, but hey, we had sex and then I woke up and...I could kill him, really I could. I can remember everything and that's the bad part. Why was my brain so fuzzy that night ? Why ? Why ?
But that's not all of the s**t, no of course not. Jacosa got a shell from Ranjit ( *scribble scribble hate signs and curses* ) and a little creature came out of it. The otter loves it to death and called the girl 'Otta', it's a Lucarin and it lives in our bathtub now. It's it's bed so to speak.
Jacosa loves it a lot and so he's distracted at least. I'm not distracted, not at all. We will celebrate New Year's Eve alone, alone. ALONE !
Me and my otter and the strange...otta. Yeah, that's how it will be.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 4:55 am
Snow Devils Sayuri_Nitta Sayuri tucked Catta into bed. The poor little pooka girl was ill with a nasty cold and hadnt stopped sneezing and coughing the last few days. She had filled a sippy cup with a warm mixture of lemon and honey, leaving it on a table next to Catta's little bed and tiptoed out.
She was accosted by Aini in the living room.
'Me wan' Penny!' pouted the fennec toddler, her paws balled and her feet stamping the floor a little. 'Penny' was the name of the panda backpack that Sayuri had given Aini when she had grown - unfortunately;
'You know you filled Penny with snow yesterday, and now she needs to dry out.'
'I dint..'
'Oh so who did it? The snow gnomes again huh?' Sayuri chuckled at Aini's downcast expression, and drooped ears.
'You can have her back when she is dry again. You can play out in the front garden but you need to go get your booties, and outside clothes on.'
Aini toddled and crawled off. She had recently started to walk but still scrambled on her hands and knees when she wanted to be faster. Sayuri began tidying the toys up from the living room floor, waiting for her to come back. Lenachan358 "We'll buy just a few of these cracker thingers for kids, alright ? You will look at them and say 'awww' and then you'll go 'wow' and be satisfied, alright ?" Andraste told the otter who followed her across the sidewalk. They were about to go shopping for new year and Jacosa had demanded to get some nice stuff, which was supposed to explode. Andraste had given in and now they were on their way. The otter stopped once in a while and looked at all the interesting things. He was wearing a cute woolly hat, some gloves and boots. A wintery dressed otter was obviously something seldom. Jacosa was content though, he liked the snow. It melted and then it became water. Suddenly he spotted something familiar nearby. Didn't he know this one ? She had ears, she had fur, she....was a friend, wasn't she ? Andraste didn't notice at first that Jacosa had wandered into the front garden and continued talking. The otter instead smiled broadly and waved with his gloves. " Hey hey hey !"Sayuri_Nitta Yup, Aini had wandered outside without her winter things. Penny-deprivement protest in her mind. She padded along in the snow, loving the way her paws sunk into the drifts as she wobbled along the front path...Sayuri finally realised that Aini had either forgotten that she was going outside or..she hurriedly looked outside, peering through the just open window shutters and swore under her breath. Hurrying along in a kimono wasnt an easy task but she managed it, slipping on her outside shoes and going outside.
Aini wiggled her ears, her head tilted as she looked at the otter boy.
'Osa?' she said, it was the only name she knew other then Catta's and Sayuri's.
'Osa!' she snatched up a handful of snow, going over to him and plonking it on his head with a giggle.
Sayuri slipped along, kimono skirts in hand as she went into the garden proper.
'Aini! Get inside,' she yelled, then noticed the other child.
'Oh..where did you come from?' she looked, seeing Andraste and tottering over to her. Lenachan358 Jacosa grinned and nodded as he heard something similar to his name. " I-knee." The otter applauded himself with his gloves and laughed about the nice sound they made. And suddenly his head felt wet and cold. He tried to look up, but just ended up with staring at the sky. Had it started to snow again ? Wasn't possible. The eyes turned back to Aini and he heard her giggle. That was a game, wasn't it ? Quickly he grabbed some snow as well and threw it at the fox. Andraste was just about to walk out of sight as she suddenly heard yelling. She twitched and turned around. Usually there was Jacosa involved when people were yelling and this time there was no difference. "Uh...hey." She greeting and suddenly noticed that she knew this person. New experience. Sayuri_Nitta 'One second..' Sayuri raised a hand in greeting to Andraste then grabbed Aini, hoisting her in the air, and stuffing the fennec toddler in a coat, and pushing her feet into little rubber wellies. She put Aini down, and then smiled at Andraste.
'Andraste isnt it?' she waved her over.
'Want to come inside?' she offered.
Aini splashed in the slushy snow and grinned at Jacosa.
'Play snow? Fite snow.' and she scooped up a pawful of snow again and chucked it at him before darting off across the front of the garden towards her house. Lenachan358 "Yes, right. Sayuri ?" Wow, she even remembered a name. What was wrong with her ? She grinned as the girl was stuffed into clothes and was glad that Jacosa had agreed on wearing his. "Actually we wanted..." The mother started, but actually Jacosa had started to laugh and was about to follow Aini by throwing snow like a snowman on crack. "Sure, would be nice." She sighed and was actually happy that she could get into the warmth. "Is it alright if they play outside ? Jacosa is sometimes a bit...active." Indeed he was and was just about to grab Aini's tail as he stumbled across his own feet and hit the snow with a thud. Sayuri_Nitta Sayuri nodded;
'We'll leave them out here. I don't want to stay outside too long anyway - I have another toddler inside who is unwell.' she motioned Andraste inside, catching Aini's eye quickly with a look that clearly said be good. Aini poked a little pink tongue out at Sayuri's retreating back before squealing in shock as Jacosa grabbed on her tail. She sat down heavily as well, falling back into the snow. Her eyes stung a little with pain tears but she giggled anyway.
'Osa fall doooown,' she said. Lenachan358 Andraste followed quickly. "Oh I have that quite often now, too. Don't feel so extremely well, especially in the mornings." She frowned slightly and brushed some snow off her boots before entering. "Much better." Jacosa rubbed his head and his dark nose. It felt soooo cold. He sighed and suddenly his breath looking like : FOG ! He was awfully excited and just stared at it before looking back to Aini, who was just poking out her tongue. That looked like fun. He tried it was well and noticed that it just became cold by doing so. The little otter usually didn't cry when just a bit hurt, because Andraste told him not to do so. So he grinned in a very stupid way and nodded. " I-knee tooo." Sayuri_Nitta Aini puffed her breath harder into the air as well when she noticed the funny little white clouds that came from their mouths.
'We on fire?' she asked, tilting her head as more 'smoke' puffed from her mouth as she spoke.
'Ill in the mornings? Oh no, Catta has a bad cold and its best for her to stay in the warm until she gets a bit better,' Sayuri led Andraste into the living room.
'Take a seat please,' she motioned.
'Would you like something to drink?' Lenachan358 Jacosa started to laugh as he saw Aini. She was a dragon, for sure. " You are dagon." He commented and rolled around in the snow laughing. " Nice dagon, though." The otter really liked the other one, she was a lot of fun. Andraste smiled. "I should go an visit a doctor. You've got a nice house, nothing in comparison to our apartment." The woman sat down and looked around. "Coffee would be nice." Sayuri_Nitta Aini made a growling noise, running around in the snow, flapping her arms as she puffed out more 'smoke';
'Rar! Me big dagon..' she hopped from snow drift to snow drift, landing to 'devour the villagers'...
'Did your sickness just sort of start?' Sayuri asked gently, before smiling at the compliment.
'Thanks. How did you want your coffee? Milk, sugar?' Lenachan358 Jacosa got onto his feet and looked at the dangerous dragon. " Me is night. Me will slay you !" He laughed and started to throw snow at the little girl. "Yes, it just appeared. But I guess it will be gone in a few days." Andraste nodded gently. "Do you have many children ?" As she was asked about the coffee she shook her head. "Nothing please, I like it black and pure." Sayuri_Nitta 'Waaah!' wailed Aini and she fell backwards in the snow.
'Yoo gots dagon,' she giggled, her tail making patterns in the snow as she wiggled on the ground.
'Just the two,' Sayuri answered.
'Okay, I'll be right back,' and she left the living room, heading down the corridor and into the kitchen. Minutes later she returned, a tray in hand and placed it down. She put the mug of coffee, steam issuing from it, before Andraste before taking a seat herself and pouring tea from a daintily painted pot into a cup for herself. Arranged on a small plate were a variety of biscuits and Sayuri motioned to them.
'Help yourself.' she said, blowing on her tea before sipping it. Lenachan358 Jacosa tried to horde quite a lot of snow on the fox's body and giggled madly. " You be snow-Aini !" He laughed happily and wiggled with his tail. The otter ran around in the snow and tried to pile up a snow mountain. "More than enough, I guess." Andraste grinned. She was glad that she just had Jacosa, he was alright. "Smells good, looks like you do good coffee." The woman really tried to be nice, although she usually didn't spend time with other mothers. "Thank you." She took a cookie and smiled. "How did you receive Aini ?" Sayuri_Nitta Aini spluttered as snow landed on her belly, and she wriggled under the wet weight of it.
'I no sno man!' she said, trying to sit up, snow sliding off her head and plopping down.
'Well yes,' Sayuri nodded.
'They are quite the handful.' she drank some more tea before putting her cup down.
'Aini? Well I'd heard about the Fourth Wall place from a friend, and when I went there they were taking applications for people who would be willing to adopt a child. And well I was chosen,' she smiled. Lenachan358 Jacosa watched her for a while before helping her to push the snow off her body. " Wanna do sno mam ?" He had no idea what it was, but it sounded funny so he waited for the fox to start. The otter was a master of joining in, he knew that. Andraste took a sip and smiled. "Sounds like a good way. You must be a very good mother if you were chosen." She ate a cookie and thought about Jacosa's arrival. "I hadn't planned it. I just went there and suddenly the otter appeared." Sayuri_Nitta Aini shook herself, the rest of the snow falling, leaving little crystals of frozen water that dotted her fur.
'Otay...' Aini pushed the snow with her hands, trying to pat it into a rounded mound.
'Sno go in a bumpy lump.' she said, as she dumped another handful on the misshapen 'body'.
'I hope I am.' Sayuri smiled.
'It's not a comfortable thought to think that your parenting skills might be wrong so I try not to think that way,' she chuckled.
'Really? But it had to have been a very pleasant surprise though right?' Lenachan358 Jacosa blinked and it seemed like his brain needed some time to understand the process before joining in. " Bum-pie, lum-pie." He giggled and moved some snow on top of the body. "I bet you are." Andraste nodded. "At first it was hell for me, to be precise. I'm not used to children, but...Jacosa is great. I'm not alone and that's good." Sayuri_Nitta Aini pushed more snow along, puffing with exertion.
'Make this hi-hi,' Aini made as a big an arch with her arms as she could reach.
'Put lumpy on top for hed.'
Sayuri nodded;
'Well it's good that you have someone to help you with him,' she smiled as she picked her cup up again, wondering if she should mention that Andraste's symptoms sounded like morning sickness! Lenachan358 Jacosa managed to make a big ball-like snow lump and tried to carry it carefully. This one was heavy and he didn't wanted to destroy the things they had done so far. With a loud thud the snowball landed on the man, who became a bit smaller by doing so. Jacosa said nothing and just stared. Andraste took a last sip out of her cup and looked around. "So you're dealing with two kids completely alone. That's amazing. If you want you can come over one day and Aini and Jacosa can play, so you have some free time." She smiled. It really had to be hard for the other one. Sayuri_Nitta 'No-man splat,' Aini said, as she piled more snow on the two mis-shapen lumps. It was sort of looking like a snowman that had an encounter with a hairdryer.
'Well, you're never alone with you have kids, but yes.' Sayuri nodded.
'Sometimes it would be nice to offload them on someone and say 'That's it, you can deal for a while', but I do love them both.'
She smiled at Andraste;
'Well that's a nice offer, I'll probably take you up on that. I know Aini likes Jacosa, she keeps saying his name..well I think its what she is trying to articulate,' she chuckled. Lenachan358 Jacosa laughed and tried to hoard up a lot of snow as quickly as possible. Of course it didn't work out right and the snow always fell down again. The otter snorted and looked for something else. " Need nose." He decided and desperately tried to find something resembling a nose. It had to be black, Aini's nose and his nose were black as well. Right ? Andraste nodded. "Same with me. Sometimes I appear harsh and would like to just put him in a drawer...especially when he thinks about painting walls. But I would never do so, I guess." The woman grinned a bit embarrassed and moved through her hair in a nervous gesture. "Sure, just call me whenever you wish. Jacosa loves to play. I think it's a great sign that he remembered Aini. They were both very young when they met first." Sayuri_Nitta ' 'No-man need nos,' Aini echoed.
' 'No-man need carrot nos,' she said.
'I ask mama, you come wif?' Aini asked Jacosa.
Sayuri chuckled;
'Well at least you can't lose Jacosa up a tree,' she said, picking up a biscuit and nibbling the edge off it.
'Catta my other..child, is a lemur pooka. And she climbs up trees - and goes really high when she is sulking.' Lenachan358 Aini really knew what snowmen needed. Jacosa agreed silently as he poked the lump. " Yea, yea. Your mommy can do ?" He smiled and waited for her to go into the house so he could follow. Another person's house was totally new to him. "Indeed not. He prefers to swamp my bathroom." Andraste giggled slightly. "But it's getting better...slightly." Checking her watch the other woman imagined how it would be to have two active children and frowned. "Wow, I guess that's pretty hard then. How do you get her down ?" Sayuri_Nitta Aini nodded, grabbing Jacosa's arm and tugging him towards the house;
'Mama hav carrot. 'no-man get nosey,' Aini said with confidence as she walked towards the front door.
Sayuri laughed;
'With a broom handle? Not really though,' she grinned, tilting her head towards the the shuttered window, listening to the sounds outside.
'Usually with a food bribe..she really loves banana's, so they tend to work best.' Lenachan358 Jacosa embraced Aini slightly as she touched his arm and snuggled up to her for a moment of joy. After expressing his happiness he followed her towards the front and looked at the huge door with astonishment. "Oh food bribe sounds like a good idea. Jacosa sadly doesn't care about bribes and just loves to...express himself. He gave me a wall painting for Christmas." Andraste didn't know if she was still angry about it or thought it was funny. So she just shrugged. "Did you meet many other Fourth Wallers yet ?" Sayuri_Nitta Aini wondered what that snuggle was about; wasnt that only what she did with her mama? But she was a toddler, and so couldnt wrap her brain around it enough to make a protest or comment and so she just tugged him along, pushing on the door which Sayuri had left on the latch. It slowly opened.
'Osa elp!' Aini squeaked as she shoved with all her toddler might against the door.
Sayuri smiled.
'Well I bet it was a mess, but it's just their way of expressing themselves which you can't really find fault with them for.' Sayuri shook her head.
'Apart from yourself, and Jade with the aggressive tiger boy? No others.' Lenachan358 The otter looked at the door and as watched the fox pushing for a while, before he took action. He turned around so his bottom touched the door and started to lean against it while trying to push it open. "uuuh...""It indeed was a mess, I was shocked, but I couldn't even yell at him, because he was so happy." The woman sighed. "We met a few others. It's really interesting to see the different animals..err..children ?" She scratched her head as she heard some strange noise. "I think there's somebody at the door." Sayuri_Nitta Sayuri listened as well, finally hearing the slight creak of the front door.
'So there is,' she stood, drifting sedately out into her hallway. She pulled open the door slowly and Aini pinwheeled, before falling inside.
'Mama!' she squeaked from the floor, slowly scrambling upright again.
'Want carrot!' Lenachan358 Andraste leaned forward a bit and watched the scene quite amused until she noticed Jacosa stomping into the house with wet boots. "No, Jac !" She called, but it was already too late, there were small puddles on the floor. The otter was quite confused though and looked at Aini as if she knew the answer. " No car-ot ?Sayuri_Nitta 'Oh don't worry about it,' Sayuri waved the mess away.
'It's no worse then what Aini does, and has done.'
Aini looked up at Sayuri;
'Wat I doned?' she pulled down on ear tip, her face looking lopsided as she wondered what naughty thing she might have done without realising it.
'No car-et?'
'And what do you want a carrot for?' Sayuri asked.
'Me n Osa made a 'no-man!' Aini said proudly.
'Oh a snowman huh? Well I think I might have one in the fridge. We'll look at your snowman when I get it ok?' she smiled at Andraste, walking off towards the kitchen. She was back shortly, the orangey vegetable in her hand.
'Car-ret!' Aini squeaked, wriggling excitedly and looking at Osa. Now their snowman would have a nose! Lenachan358 Andraste sighed out of relief. Gladly Sayuri wasn't mad because Jacosa had made this mess. "Jacosa, you can't just go in and make the floor wet." She still told the otter, who stared at her in disbelieve. The ottery eyes turned to his boots and he squeaked. " Sowwy. He was quickly distracted by the carrot though and clapped. " Yaaay." His tail flicked from side to side and he smiled. " Less put on !" He demanded and waited for the parents and Aini to come. "Yes, I think we should take a look at the 'masterpiece'. But sadly after doing so, we have to go. We still wanted to go shopping, remember Jacosa ?" The otter didn't listen though. to be continued
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 5:11 am
Scribbling
The otter was sitting in front of a variety of crayons and smiled broadly. Andraste would show him how to write and how to read ! That was the best thing ever, he knew she loved him. Otta was asleep in the bathtub, because Andraste had feared that she could make a mess or Jacosa would paint on the pet.
The mother but a notepad with blank papers in front of Jacosa and he laughed again. "What do you want to write ?" She asked and watched the otter as he picked a dark blue crayon. "Me like to write Cosa.".
Andraste laughed and nodded. Of course, everyone would like to know how their own name was written. "Wait, wait...then me writes Mommy." The otter smiled proudly to be so unselfish, but Andraste shook her head. "It's alright, we write your name at first."
The woman wrote a 'J' on the paper and pronounced the letter slowly. "Like in Jacosa and Jeopardy and Julia." She commented and noted the confusion on the otter's face. He had no clue what jeopardy or a Julia was, but the first one sounded like an animal.
He concentrated on the paper again and sighed. That would be hard to do. His paw was clutched around the crayon and he tried to imitate the J as good as possible. It looked pretty stupid though. "Look, try it again like this. In parts." Andraste showed him how to do the first stroke and then the second one. The otter watched and almost bit his tongue as he tried to do it like his mother had done.
Andraste applaused as she saw the wiggly J. "Awesome Jacosa. Do you know which letter comes next ?"
The otter pushed one finger onto his nose and thought about it. "J-AAAAA..." He mumbled and the mother scribbled something on the paper again. "That's an A. It's the second letter in your name."
The toddler hugged Andraste happily, which caused her to smile slightly. "Is start of Mommy's name, too."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 5:49 am
No way to fly Lenachan358 " When snow is gone...it's water. Can we put snow into badtub and swim inside snow ?" Dark otter eyes looked up at the woman who was holding on to his paw, so he wouldn't vanish like usual. Jacosa was definately fond of running around and looking at everything. Everything even covered dead flies. But right now he was occupied with snow and hadn't stopped talking about it since Christmas and since he had been with his 'Grandma'. Stupid old woman, talking about fairy tales and other old woman making snow. Andraste growled. She often felt sick throughout the day now and so she had decided to bring Jacosa into the well-known building to be able to rest. He was just too curious and annoying sometimes. Some other people seemed to enter the building as well and so Andraste smiled and pulled the otter towards the big house. "Get inside, now. Quick." Jacosa squealed and toddled through the door. Syrcaid Taylor was much happier inside where it was dry, doing her best to wipe her feet in a hurry before she ran for the main room. There wasn't as much open space here like there was in the park, but there was still room to stretch her ever-growing legs. She was at the point where she was getting very lanky and leggy, stretching up and tall. Syrcaid suspected it'd be yet another child that was taller than she was. Fortunately, S-D was her own height and could bully him into behaving since he was the only true brat amonst them all. Syrcaid took her time taking off her scarf and coat, thankful to be inside as well. Inside it was quiet and dry, the holiday decorations still looked to be up along the walls but now with pictures and postcards pinned to the corkboards. Taylor even stopped to look at the pictures on the "New Arrivals" section for a few seconds before she scurried off to see if the playroom had any new toys. Youkochylde "Off." Youko reached up once he was inside the door, picking Kaeru up and setting him on the floor. The moment the boy was down, he started to take off, coming to a rather spectacular halt as he reached the end of his scarf, which Youko had grabbed hold of. The result was Kaeru getting his feet wiped out from beneath himself as he tried to worm free of the encumbering winter garb, and one fox trying like crazy to just CATCH him long enough to get him unwrapped without strangling him in the process. "LEGGO!!" Kaeru was pawing at the fleece coat, rolling around on the floor and making more of a mess than was necessary. Youko just sighed, grabbing a handful of coat hood and hauling him up to his feet again. "I would, if you'd sit still for just ten seconds." The boy obliged, reluctantly, and fidgeted as he was unwound. The moment he was free of the garb, he took off like a bat out of hell, darting into the warmth of the Fourth Wall center, dressed in nothing but a pair of board shorts and a t-shirt. Some would likely call Youko crazy for dressing a child like that in the winter. And he'd tell them to try and put anything MORE on the boy. Whenever Kaeru felt he had too many clothes on, he'd just leave them in a trail wherever he happened to be. It was better to have few clothes on him than none at all. The last time Kaeru felt 'trapped' in clothes, Youko had nearly wound up chasing a nude toddler around the mall right before Christmas. Quinny-chan The slush had made her forgo the stroller, opting instead for the baby carrier. She readjusted the harnass as it bit into her shoulders, struggling against Moss' constant kicking. She didn't think he would bother learning to walk, he'd skip straight to running the way those legs moved.
Pointing out random tidbits of doggie interest in a quiet voice, Quinn twirled her son's lond braided tail betwixt gloved fingers and thought on the cryptic message that had greeted her that morning. It went along the lines of, "Come to this address at this particular time. I gotta run, no time to explain."
She seemed to be getting a lot of that lately... She looked down at Moss and smiled, remembering the last such cryptic message and the life-style change it resulted in. She leaned forward and kissed the boy on the back of his stocking capped head. It had been worth it.
She knocked at the door while checking her watch; she was exactly on time. Quinny-chan The slush had made her forgo the stroller, opting instead for the baby carrier. She readjusted the harnass as it bit into her shoulders, struggling against Moss' constant kicking. She didn't think he would bother learning to walk, he'd skip straight to running the way those legs moved.
Pointing out random tidbits of doggie interest in a quiet voice, Quinn twirled her son's lond braided tail betwixt gloved fingers and thought on the cryptic message that had greeted her that morning. It went along the lines of, "Come to this address at this particular time. I gotta run, no time to explain."
She seemed to be getting a lot of that lately... She looked down at Moss and smiled, remembering the last such cryptic message and the life-style change it resulted in. She leaned forward and kissed the boy on the back of his stocking capped head. It had been worth it.
She knocked at the door while checking her watch; she was exactly on time. Lenachan358 " Snow is water, water is snoooow." Jacosa sang to his very own melody as he and his mother entered the building. The otter smiled and almost ran into a strange frog, who wiggled around a lot. Not disturbed by this in any way the toddler moved on and looked around for the toys. He knew there had been a ball last time. Andraste sighed and greeted everyone politely. "Hey, I'm Andraste. That's Jacosa, nice to meet you." She sat down on a chair with a thud and just allowed Jacosa to look around on his own. He'd do so anyway. Oh, there was someone else as well. " Howse ?" He knew them from cowboy movies. Syrcaid "LEGGO!" Taylor heard, tall ears pricking up as she turned and saw something tumbling and green. Instantly she bolted to greet it, but... what the heck was it? Was it a leaf? Was it a turtle? It talked, though! Taylor wasn't very chatty, but she was insatiably curious about everything. She stood stopping at Kearu and staaaared... Syrcaid watched from the sanctuary of chairs that lined one of the walls, too aware of hard little stomping hooves to sit on the floor this time. Last time Taylor had made a lovely minced mousefoot pudding of Terry's feet. She hadn't wished that on her own feet since. Youkochylde Kaeru bolted towards the main room, only to wind up finding his way blocked (rather unexpectedly) by a girl. Normally, he'd just skirt around, but this hadn't been anticipated, and instead, he barrelled right into Taylor, winding up in a heap on the floor. Even though he had grown, he was still small, and the frog boy twitched slightly as he stared at the ceiling. "Gravity works..." he murmured, blinking a few times. Youko had let him watch Fern Gully recently, and Batty Koda was now his idol. Therefore, he used as many quotes as he could manage to fit into regular conversation. The fox snickered, hanging up the coats and moving to shake the dampness out of his tail. He turned towards the other woman who had come in behind him and offered to help with her coat as well. "Good to meet you, Andraste. I'm Youko, that's Kaeru. We weren't sure if anyone else was going to be here today." Syrcaid Taylor rolled without any resistance, too curious even about being bowled over and kind of just... waited to see what happened. It was kind of fun! As soon as her eyes stopped spinning in their sockets she looked up and started laughing. "Oh, it works alright," Syrcaid noted, watching crosslegged on the chair. "It starts to really hurt when you get bigger, too. Cripes, if I fell like that I'd just lie there and wait for the crane to show up..." Taylor pushed her long hair from her eyes, never having seen any of the newcomers before. She was still laughing when she pulled herself up into a sit regardless of who or what was on her still, absolutely delighted to have company. She let out a high pitched whinny, Syrcaid flinched. "Sorry, about that..." Syrcaid apologised. Quinny-chan "Why does no one answer the door anymore..." Quinn wondered absently as she reached up to knock again and instead decided to just waltz in.
She opened the door slowly, incase someone was on the other side and called, "Hello? Um... Karma? Anyone?" Lenachan358 Andraste blinked as Youko helped her out of her coat. Usually she'd kick everyone who did so. Today she decided to mumble a 'thanks' and watch the kids. Oh...the frog had almost killed the horse..what was Jacosa doing now ? The otter watched for a moment and then laughed. " Coooool !" His nose started to sniff as he was about to get to know the new persons' smell. They looked like they were funny people, perhaps they wanted to play with him ? As the door was opened Andraste looked up and waved. "We're here. Come on, we've still place for another kiddo." Youkochylde Youko glanced to the door as it opened, motioning the woman in. "C'mon, we're all in here. Karma isn't in attendance, however. She might be around later, though." He stepped inside fully to give Quinny room in the entryway. Now that he and Kaeru were unwrapped, he could get inside completely, where it was warm. Kearu snickered at Syrcaid's comment, nodding softly. "A crane? Nah, you're not big enough for a crane. They're REALLY big and they pick up things that weigh tons." He startled slightly at Taylor's whinny, looking towards her as a grin spread across his face. Now THAT was a cool sound! "Do that again!!" Syrcaid Syrcaid stared. Then burst out laughing. "Do that again!!" Taylor smiled so hard her eyes were shut tight. Again? Okay! She took a big huff of air and whinnied again, sending it ringing around the walls. Syrcaid flinched again and hoped it wouldn't shatter anything valuable. "Maybe we should've met at a Chuck E. Cheese..." Syrcaid suggested feebly. Lenachan358 Jacosa usually was the center of attention and now it felt a bit awkward that everyone looked at the horse girl. He scratched his head and decided that he'd probably just join in and be nice. But somehow the sound hurt his ears. " You know sing show on TV ? You can go there." It was supposed to be a compliment, really. Quinny-chan Quinn's face flushed red and her mouth dropped open at the sight of the man who ushered her in. She did not know many other fox people and this man was... well... beautiful. She stammered a shy, "Hello" and edged into the room, freeing herself and Moss of their winter garments.
Loosening Moss from the carrier, she did an interesting juggle of baby, diaper bag and harnass as she removed it and then, just as she stuck out her hand to introduce herself to the lovely specimin of foxhood, Moss took the opportunity to place his giant, gapping, slobbery mouth full around her right breast.
Scarlet and horribly embarrased, she thrust the baby at the man and dashed off in search of a restroom, sobbing. Syrcaid Syrcaid watched Quinn make a run for it and blinked. Taylor was completely oblivious, taken to looking for the building blocks and half sunken into the large plastic toychest. "Ummm... what just happened?" Youkochylde "Wouldn't have worked, we got kicked out of Chuck E Cheese when he was a toddler. They didn't take too kindly to him climbing the pipwork playground... on the OUTSIDE of the pipes." Youko said to Syrcaid, poking at one ear with his finger, trying to clear it from the ringing whinny. He was grinning, however, as he moved to assist Quinny, taking the diaper bag, harness and coat, and setting them with the rest. He liked being helpful, after all. And he didn't seem too surprised or perturbed by the green dogboy's sudden 'attachment' to his mother. He chuckled, however, clearing the way for Quinny and Andraste to enter the main area. He watched Kaeru and Taylor then, glad that the boy seemed to forget the fact that he hadn't wanted to come here. The moment something interesting came up, the boy was ALL about staying. "She's beautiful," he said, commenting on the girl to the one that was obviously her parent. "I bet the infant years were murder with those lungs, though." Youko moved to curl up in a chair then, smiling as another child came to enter into the fun. Kaeru was gleefully trying to imitate the sound Taylor had made... but instead, it came out sounding like a mix between a hoarse crow's cry... and that of a rooster being strangled. It SOUNDED fun, but he just couldn't do it. "That's so cool," he murmured, grinning from ear to ear. He saw the otter boy then and nodded at the comment. "Yeah!! She could sing really loud and make all the other people vote for her instead of for those other silly people. They just dance around to bad songs." He got up then, doing a rather amusing impersonation of Brittney Spears, including the butt wiggle as he tried singing 'Oops, I Did it Again'. Youkochylde Youko kept Moss in his lap as he rested in the chair, hoping that his mother wasn't sick or something... then again, that's usually why people ran for the bathroom, especially when kids were involved. "No clue," he murmured to Syrcaid, settling Moss on one knee and bouncing him lightly. Syrcaid Syrcaid listened as Youko went on about Chuck E. Cheese, trying her best to be polite about Quinny's hurt feelings. Trying hard not to laugh at things that were obviously very funny amidst things that were blatantly not funny, she'd taken to just biting down on her knuckle, eyes growing hot like she'd eaten something very spicy. When the little frog started dancing she'd begun a very soft, high pitched squeal trying to hold down the laugh. This was proving difficult as Taylor watched Kaeru talk on and on and her jaw went slack in the concentration of watching his mouth move. Taylor wondered if he was one of those puppet thingies from public access television. "Kermit!!" taylor blurted. Syrcaid's face paled. "Oh, for ********..." she slapped her forehead and whispered. Lenachan358 Andraste had sat down as well and just watched, her arms crossed as she saw the stranger dashing off to the bathroom. She grinned. "Oh I can understand, must be the flu. I have this throughout the morning quite often now. Disease spreading or something." "Sounds like your kids are just as much trouble as Jac is." Jacosa smiled at the frog boy answered and started to squeal loudly as he saw the cool dance. "Dance, dance." He motioned and followed the other one's butt wiggling. His tail moved from side to side and he almost hit Taylor accidently. "Ooops...again...ooops..again." The Oops was obviously the favourite part, although he had no clue who Britney Spears was or what she did. "Come on, you be a star." He waved at the girl and smiled. Youkochylde Youko, however, hadn't made any pretense about holding in his laughter. He slid down in the chair and nearly had tears in his eyes as he watched the kids trying to imitate Brittney. He'd have to make SURE that CD went missing somehow, because he hadn't quite realised just how much Kaeru had been listening to it. At the comment of 'KERMIT', however, he let out a soft howl of laughter, head falling back onto the chair as he laughed. "Life with kids is NEVER boring," he murmured, wiping tears from his face. Kaeru, however, stopped when he heard Taylor's shout, and stuck out his tongue, making a face. "Nah, Kermit's boring. He just sits around on a log and sings 'It's not easy being green', and dresses in ugly coats and hats. I do COOL stuff, wanna see?" He made a running start almost immediately, looking as though he was aiming directly for the wall. "I can FLY!" He leapt, feet and hands clinging to one wall... then he used that as a springboard to dart to the side, jumping to a higher point on the other side of the corner... then leapt into midair, limbs wide as he spread his fingers and toes to catch the air in the webbing between them. There wasn't a breeze in the room... at first. However, as he started to descend, a soft wind seemed to come out of no where, letting him glide across the room. Youko, however, was out of his seat, Moss held in one arm as he darted for the boy. "Kaeru, NO!" he yelled, reaching and catching the boy with his other arm. "Awww.... DAD...!" "Don't you 'aw dad' me.. No flying in the house." Kaeru sighed, sliding down to the ground and half glaring at his dad as he sulked back to the other two kids. "It WOULD have been cool..." Quinny-chan Perhaps it was the stress, perhaps it was the mystery of the cryptic message, but whatever it was, Quinn had snapped. She ran down a long hallway, trying, in vain, to find a restroom. Maybe she could drown herself in the toilet...
A quiet burbling wail filtered out from somewhere and Quinn's motherly instinct, what little of it was left, got the better of her. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and stood stock still, large furry ears swiveling and twitching to pick up the sound again.
......
There! She made her way down the hall, creeping as quietly as possible on the wooden floors until she arrived at the source of the sound. Pushing the cracked door the rest of the way open, Quinn peered into the dim interior, shocked to see her name on a post-it stuck to a large aquarium.
She reached her arm into the room and swept it up and down over the adjacent walls until she found a light switch. Flicking it bathed the room in a cool, flourescent glow. She made her way over to the tank and examined the creature inside.
He was small, mostly white with a golden stripe along the top of his head and along his spine, with big, fuchia frilly gills floating lazily along the side of his head. He was about the size of her hand from the tip of her middle finger to the base of her palm. And he was smiling.
An envelope barring her name leaned on the glass and she picked it up and opened it, eyebrows raising at the contents:
Quinn~
Sorry I couldn't be here to greet you. Best laid plans and all that. This is Belen. He's an Axolotl. You will find an information packet enclosed. The box next to the aquarium has everything you need to get started -- a small bowl for carrying him, some food, toys, a nebulizer to strengthen his rudimentary lungs, a voucher for an aquarium...
Make sure you do his breathing treatments 3 times a day to help develop his land lungs. Let me know if you have any questions and GOOD LUCK!
~Karma
So... apparently she was to take the little guy home. He was kinda cute... Belen took the opportunity to float up next to the glass and shoot Quinn the small, adorable smile only an amphibian can give.
"That settles it," she said, smiling once more, "Time to go meet your brother." She scooped him out of the tank and placed him in the carrying bowl, hefting the box of goodies and the information packet under her other arm and made her way back to the main room. Lenachan358 Jacosa was sure he had just met the best person in the world. He had no clue about Kermits and Britneys but he knew that he wanted to fly as well. His eyes were staring at the boy and the otter gasped for air. " Me wil do too !" The toddler announced and quickly ran towards the wall. Jump, now he just need to jump and - gonk ! A wail echoed through the room as the otter rubbed his head. Tears were dwelling out of his eyes. Why hadn't it worked ? Andraste had almost fallen asleep as she heard the wail of Jacosa. "Oh no, Jac. What did you do ?" She quickly moved over to him and picked him up. "Looks like that's going to be a swelling." Syrcaid "It's most certainly never boring," Syrcaid agreed, watching Youko slide up and down his chair. Taylor just stood and stared watching Kaeru do all sorts of neat tricks and that mouth! It just never stopped GOING! Slackjawed she stood from the inside of the toychest and just watched him, slowly inching herself down to sit in the toychest to make it easier to sift through it. Syrcaid was used to Taylor climbing into the toychest and didn't discourage it. There'd be a time when Taylor couldn't fit into it anymore and that was one thing Syrcaid missed herself. Being able to fit into anything, for one, and secondly to be able to submerge yourself in the things you enjoyed the most. "I hope everyone's Christmas or holidays went well," Syrcaid went on. "I just keep wondering what we're going to do when they all start becoming teenagers in big waves... I think by then we should pad these walls or buy an old asylum to let them loose in from time to time." Quinny-chan Sheepishly, she rejoined the others. "Sorry about that... I'm a little... new to motherhood." She motioned to the foxman, "You can just put him on the ground, he'll be fine. Thanks for watching him for me."
She smilied shyly and held out the bowl, "This is Belen... Oh and I'm Quinn and he's Moss..." She gestured towards her other son. "I guess Karma wants me to look after him for awhile... The frog child, he'll have a swimming partner soon it seems."
Having been forced back to reality by the arrival of Belen, Quinn was, for all accounts, calm. She bent down in front of Moss and held the bowl out to him, "Moss, sweety. This is your new brother, Belen. You have to be careful with him, alright. Just do nice touches... Do you remember what nice touches are?"
Apparently he did, for he reached out and stuck his hand in the water of the small bowl, running his fingers lightly over the Axolotl's stomach and giggling. Youkochylde Grinning, Youko set Moss down on the ground after he was done tickling his new 'little brother'. "It's okay," he said, a soft chuckle coming from him. "At least he's got the gender right. My daughter tried to latch onto me one night when I was holding her and her brother on the couch. She hadn't quite figured out yet that her mother was the only one with the right plumbing." As he settled back into his chair from the debacle, he cast an apologetic glance at Andraste, his ears drooping to the sides slightly. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "He tends to go a bit wild when he's excited, and he doesn't realise yet that not everyone can do what he does. He woke me up the other morning stairsurfing on a wooden teatray. I gave up trying to get him to quit after the next few hours... I just had to go and get him a metal one so that he doesn't break the good one." This was news to Kaeru, however, and the frog's sullen demeanor shifted almost immediately. "You did?? SWEET!! Can we go home??" He hadn't seen this new tray yet, but it HAD to be better than the wooden one. "No, not yet." Youko had just gotten settled, he didn't want to go back out into the cold yet. "Damn." "WHAT?" Youko's ears pricked straight up at that, and Kaeru let out a yelp as he realised he'd been heard. "Nothing!!" The boy scrambled away then, darting towards the toybox where Taylor was. It had to be safely out of range over here. Sighing, Youko rubbed his hand over his forehead for a moment, narrowing his eyes at his son. "It had better have been nothing... or I know someone who's going to have a sore behind for swearing." That asylum was sounding better and better. However, he wasn't sure if it would be needed for the kids, or for the parents by the time they reached their teens. Lenachan358 Andraste gently put Jacosa back onto his feet and as the otter saw the aquarium he forgot about his pain. " Fish ?" It looked like it, but it seemed a bit too big for a fish. Usually he ate it in small portions. The mother giggled as she listened to Youko's story. "Oh I can imagine the little one's face." Deep inside she just noted that she would never buy tea trays. Never. Not with Jacosa around. The otter poked the glass slightly and tried to peer inside. Syrcaid Syrcaid watched things move along as they always had, new parents showing up. Not-so-new parents sharing sympathy for each other, but also that no one seemed to really regret having a child despite the difficulty. Then it occured to her amidst her small attention span that she'd failed to introduce herself and Taylor to anyone. "D'oh!" she shook herself into reality. "I'm so sorry. I'm Syrcaid and the one inspecting the plastic tub full of legos is Taylor. I just take a lot of things for granted sometimes, I forget that not all of us have met. I'm so used to Taylor just accepting everyone that comes in and greets us." Quinny-chan Belen swam up to the glass and peered back at the otter. He blew a few bubbles at him and then, in a truely inspired bit of excitement, Belen peeked his head out the top of the bowl and spit a stream of water at the otter before plunking back down into the bowl. Quinn giggled and wiped the boy's face, "No, sweetie. He's not a fish. He's called an Axolotl. Can you say Ax-oh-lot-ul? He's an amphibian... like Kaeru. He breathes water, instead of air like you do."
Quinn continued to hold the bowl carefully before her, in case any of the other children were curious.Moss crawled over to Taylor pulled himslef up using her tail for leverage. This was the first time he had ever stood on his own and he suprised himself a little by the ability. He bobbled back and forth, tossing Taylor's tail side to side, before ultimately plopping onto his diaper padded behind.
He didn't let go of her tail, however. Instead, he picked up his own braided version, putting the two together and wiggling them back and forth, cooing happily.Lenachan358 Andraste was about to fall asleep again as she heard Syrcaid's voice. "Uh huh, really nice to meet you..." She was barely able to keep her eyes open. Jacosa instead was completely awake and squealed loudly as he got wet. He really loved water so he wasn't mad at the fish. But wait, hadn't the woman just said he wasn't a fish ? " Axe-ohoo-lot-L." Jacosa tried to pronounce it right and grinned. " Wanna be friends with me ? Others don't like, because me cannot fly. But Cosa can dive, very good. Not good like you, but good too." His tail flicked from side to side as his nose came closer to the water surface as he talked. Youkochylde "Good to meet you," Youko replied, relaxing again as it seemed that Kaeru was finally settling in. He was always so rambunctious when he first arrived anywhere. However, he had a feeling he should have kept the tea tray to himself... now the boy was going to be nagging him incessantly the whole way home. He turned his attention to Quinny and the bowl she was carrying, remembering fondly when he'd first received Kaeru. It was going to be good to have the froglet around the house... especially with Raven and Omi both getting to the age when they would likely start wanting to move out. He wasn't quite sure he could handle an empty house just yet. Kaeru had gotten his attention firmly on the Legos that Taylor was playing with, the boy dropping down to sit and watch her. "What'cha building?" he asked, tilting his head to the side faintly. It was good for him to have a focus to his curiosity. Or in this case, at least a SAFE focus for it. Syrcaid Taylor was using her teeth as Moss used her tail for leverage, she didn't mind things crawling on her. She watched him as she tried with what arm muscle she had to pop open the lid of Legos. For such a child friendly label it sure was hard to- PSSSSSHHH!!!Taylor looked surprised as a confetti of Legos flew out like shrapnel and sprayed across the carpet. She watched it fall with curiosity, wondering if the box was supposed to do that. "That's going to hurt if you step on it," Syrcaid said numbly. "At least they aren't metal jacks. Stepping on those little jacks made of tin are excruciating." Taylor looked to the two nearest her and started laughing again, this time snorting as she took in air. Syrcaid watched her and started laughing herself up again. Quinny-chan Quinn reached out and ruffled Jocasa's hair, "I'm sure Belen will be friends with you, Cosa. He likes to swim, just like you do. But he's not a big boy yet, like you are, so we have to be very careful with him, ok?" She held out the bowl so the boy could peer in.Belen smiled at Cosa, which seemed to be his response to most things. He peaked over the top of the bowl again, tiny wheezing noises emminating from his rudimenary lungs. Moss' eyes went wide as the Legos cascaded down. He was shocked and almost started crying until everyone else started laughing. He sniffled a bit, but then began to giggle. Youkochylde Kaeru let out a shriek at the rain of Legos, covering his head for a moment... until instinct got the better of him. Small object. Moving fast. GET IT!! His tongue darted out, catching a Lego and snapping it back into his mouth a split second before he realised what he'd done and tried to remove it. His tongue was left hanging out of his mouth, a bright blue block dangling from it as he let out a sigh. "Aw mannnn... ged oph meh..." He caught hold of the block, tugging at it until it snapped free, and he made a face. "I hate that." Snickering, Youko shook his head. "Go wash it off at least, no one wants to play with your spit." Kaeru nodded. At least THAT, he understood well enough. Spit-covered toys were icky. He got up, carrying the block with him to the bathroom and disappeared inside, shutting the door. A moment later, the sound of water running in the sink could be heard. Turning back to Syrcaid, Youko nodded emphatically. "Jacks... but dice are worse. My oldest boobytrapped the stairs leading down to her room in the basement by covering them with four-sided dice. Not sure who she was trying to trip up, unless she was laying bait for her brother." Lenachan358 In the meantime Andraste was completely asleep and her head was slowly moving down as she breathed heavily. Jacosa smiled. That was a nice woman and hopefully Belen would really like to be friends. He had never been called a big boy before, usually he was just otter. "I have a new pet. She is called otta, she swims too. But she is no otta, she is ...other white thing. Came out of a shell."He reported to the lady and poked one finger into the water. Belen should grow quick so they could play. Quinny-chan Belen plunked back into the bowl, swimming circles around where Jocasa swirled his finger. He bubbled and spun and twirled, excited with the interaction. "What kind of creature is you new pet, honey? Oh, good job, Cosa. Those are good nice touches. You see, he is playing with you!" Ever watchful, Quinn just caught Moss trying to put some Legos into his mouth.
"HONEY! NO!"Her shout startled him and he began to sniffle and whimper a bit, the usual baby crying sounds replaced by the canine variety. He raised his hands to Taylor. He wanted to be picked up and snuggled and she was close and appeared to be big enough.Lenachan358 Jacosa was startled as he was asked about the pet and seemed thoughtful for a moment before he quickly moved over to Andraste and tugged on her trousers. " Moommmy...what kind of pet is Otta ?"Andraste blinked very tiredly. "Lucarin, Jacosa. Some kind of sea monster thingy mix..." She muttered before dozing off again. The little one was satisfied and moved back to the bowl. " It's Lucarin." He repeated and turned around. If the Axo likes his finger, it would definately like his tail. As gently as possible he poked it into the liquid. Quinny-chan Belen dove to the bottom of the bowl as the giant tail came right at him. He was very little -- only about 6-8 inches tall -- and that tail was very big. But it entered the water gently and didn't move much after that. He swam up to it curiously, latching on with his sticky feet and climbing onto its furry surface. Quinn grinned, knowing just what the boy was taking about and watched interestedly as he dipped his tail in, delighted to see Belen investigate.Youkochylde Youko lounged in the chair, smiling as he watched the otter boy and Belen play. They were so CUTE when they were that small... and he idly remembered Kaeru as a tadpole, swimming in the tub. Kaeru. Blinking, Youko sat up, looking around. What was taking the boy so long? There were sounds of splashing from the bathroom, and the fox felt his ears droop as he got to his feet and headed down the hall. Oh gods, please don't let him be... As he pushed the door open, however, THAT hope was dashed. Kaeru was clinging to the side of the toilet bowl, the seat raised and bubbles filling up the porcelain bowl as he swished his hands around and sent the Lego into a spiralling death whirlpool. He'd abandoned the sink... he hadn't been able to find a drain stopper, and the water was still running where he'd forgotten to turn it off. "Incoming, incoming!! We're under attack! Battle stations!!" Kaeru splashed in the water, sending small waves over the side and onto the already sopping floor. "BATTA-TATTA-TATTA-TATTA-TATTA-TATTA... TAKE THAT ENEMY SCUM!" As he shouted, he made 'machine gun' motions with his hands, fingers poking into the water at the helpless Lego 'ship'. "TORPEDO!!" With that, both hands smacked down into the water, sending half the contents of the bowl spilling out everywhere. Now the small bathroom was flooded with water, suds and the remains of the S.S. Lego. Youko let out a yelp as the bottom half of his pants got soaked, and he scooped up the boy immediately. "What are you DOING?!?" Lenachan358 Jacosa felt a shiver down his spine as something climbed up his tail. It felt very very strange and his tail was very sensitive. It tickled. Jacosa started to giggle and almost pulled his tail out of the water. But he didn't dare to hurt the axo. Hadn't the lady said that it could only live in water ? Just as he thought about this option of life he heard noises from nearby. It sounded like the bathroom. Andraste slowly awoke as she heard the voices and yawned. "Uh...Jac ?" Trio Maxwell-Chang "Winter sucks," Trio muttered, Makana's hand wrapped tightly in her own. She caught the outside door, hauling it open and pinning it there with her hip as she ushered Makana inside - the catgirl looked more than a little awkward in feet hidden by oversized, strangely-shaped boots. It didn't seem to matter that her feet were completely protected; she still walked carefully, lifting her foot and shaking it before taking the actual step forward. "Hurry, sweetie." The rest of the abyssinian was bundled up in a purple and silver snowsuit that looked like it had already seen a fair bit of wear and tear. She had a blue hat under the hood, the edge of it drooping down over her eyes, and her scarf was a pretty green, still seeming new. And from all accounts, she couldn't wait to get out of it, shedding the coat as soon as she reached warmth. Trio ducked in after her, shucking off a winter coat and hanging it on the wall as she watched Makana shedding her own suit. It took a few minutes before the girl was ready to head inside, and by then she was eyeing the other children warily, hanging back near her mother's legs. Quinny-chan Wiggling his fingers and toes in the soft and never before felt fur, Belen ducked his head in the water again and then climbed farther up onto Jocasa's tail, gripping it with all his amphibian strength. Quinn's head whiped towards the sound of Youko's yells and broke into a belly laugh, jiggling the bowl that held Belen as she was racked with fits of laughter. Tears leaked from her eyes and she was having difficulty breathing so when Trio entered, all she could do was wave and gasp, "Torpedo!"Moss eyed the newcommers with interest from his spot on the carpet. Something instinctually told him that this girl would be a fun playmate, but he wasnt sure why. He liked girls though... Whimpers fading, she crawled over to her, yapping his cute little puppy yaps and begged to be picked up.Lenachan358 Andraste waved at the newcomer as she got up very tired. "Time to get home, Jacosa." She checked her watch and yawned. Somehow she was tired quite often throughout the last days. The otter just giggled hardly as the little amphibian clinged to him. " Lookit, Mommy !" He laughed and shook his tail slightly. They needed to go, he didn't want to, but they needed to look after his pet.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 8:23 am
Happy New Year
Jacosa and I had a peaceful new year's eve. We met a few people he liked on the days before and he was busily painting and trying to read throughout the evening. I think we'll go to the library and lend him a nice children's book.
After a while he became tired though and we watched some comedy shows on TV. Jacosa put his head on my lap and after a few minutes he'd fallen asleep. It was nice, I have to admit.
Anyway, I hope this will be a good year and I'll be able to be a good mother. Sometimes it's not easy, but I really like Jacosa and I don't want to give him away again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 8:28 am
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 8:40 am
Meeting the baby nozomi_ga_kanau
"Ow! Akilah! Stop!" The howls of the poor, poor Patrick could be heard as he was heading towards the Fourth Wall center, wincing as his fuzzy mouthful of a son clutched onto his head.
Akilah had taken a strong liking for clinging to the dark mans head, nails digging into Patricks lower jaw, paws twisted in his thick mat of hair and his little tail curled slightly as he rode on the others shoulders, "Churt!" He chortled happily, wriggling on Patrick as they continued moving.
"Damnit.." He swore, softly. The last time he had said anything bad, Akilahs older sister had started repeating it. In front of the boyfriend. Ugh. Talk about a baaaad night. "Karma was right after all - you're a psycho little ...thing! Ow!"
Hands, decorated by plastic bracelets and golden armbands, reached up to try and grab the nimble little child. While Akilah wasn't quick on his feet, as he couldn't crawl too well and mainly wriggled himself on the floor or used his hands to climb, he WAS strong. At least, strong for something clinging to anothers head. The pierced man winced slightly, letting his hands drop as a lost cause. Instead, he grabbed the door to the center, twisting it open for a minute.
Akilah chirped.
Patrick grumbled as he ducked into the center, dark eyes fluttering about before moving further inside. Akilah churred in delight, little butt bouncing slightly as he tugged at his fathers hair. He remembered this place! This is where he met his daddy.
"CHRRRRPT!"
"SHush!"Lenachan358 " Can Mommy buy a new book ? Can she ? Can she ?" Jacosa asked again and again as they moved through the streets. Andraste felt very tired and desperately needed to visit the bathroom. Within the last few days the desire to use a toilet more regularly had become stronger and she wondered if she had some kind of disease. "How about going into the Fourth Wall building and we look if you can meet some friends ?" She gritted her teeth and pushed the otter towards the said building. Jacosa pushed against the door and slipped inside the warmth. Were people here already ? Andraste followed and smiled very relieved as she noticed a man and a...fuzzy thing. " I'm Cosa. You ?" The otter quickly toddled towards the pair and didn't even notice that his mother excused herself and ran towards the bathroom. nozomi_ga_kanau Patrick paused when he heard others voices, turning around to look curiously at the woman and the...walking otter? Holy crap. Shock showed on the multple pierced man but it was quickly replaced by a faint smile.
In one swift movement, he was crouching down to peer at Jacosa more curiously, head tilted to the side. Akilah grumphed his agrivation at being put sideways. "My name is Patrick. This is Akilah. Say hello to Cosa, Akilah."
Akilah paused, small hands twisted as his legs let go of his fathers neck. He leaned over, nose outstretched to sniff quickly at Jacosa. Like him! It was like him! ...kinda. "Chirrpt?" He crooned, tail sticking partially up. Then his lips split into a childish grin and he giggled - giggled! - before chirruping again. Lenachan358 Jacosa liked to be in center of attention and his tail wiggled slightly as he took a deep breath to identify the little creature on the man's head. It was furry and small, but it wasn't an otter, was it ? " Heylo. Padtrik and Akeela." Although he didn't pronounce the names right away it was obvious that he was glad to meet them. He waved towards the little one in a friendly way. His ears twitched as he heard the strange word and he wrinkled his nose. " Whatsa...chirrpt ?" It definately had to be something funny, because the other one giggled. Jacosa liked laughing and so he just joined in and grinned in a naive way. nozomi_ga_kanau "Chirrpt and stuff is all he can say right now. He's just a baby and can't even crawl. He can climb though." He winced lightly as small, sharp paws dug into his skull to prove that. Akilah was leaning further over to peer at Jacosa even closer, both black ears up to study this bigger thing.
"Furpt?" He asked curiously, nose wrinkling up to smell at Jacosa curiously. Patrick winced once more and finally grabbed at the little meerkat, pulling him off of his head and onto the floor. There, Akilah stared up at Jacosa, black eyes wide.
This thing was TALL! And we all know what to do with tall things.
CLIMB THEM!
So try he did. Arms latched around Jacosa, chirruping, as he wriggled and tried to climb his way up him.
"Gah! Akilah, let go!" Lenachan358 Oh that was the problem. He was a baby. Jacosa scratched his head and nodded to prove that he had understood. Everyone was able to do cool things on land. The otter smirked, because he was only good at swimming and diving and...he was able to read now ! " Me can read now. A bit. Not good, a bit." The boy smiled proudly and didn't seem to be irritated at all as he stared at the little meerkat. This one was really small, but it had big eyes and that looked nice. Jacosa knew from the mirror that he had big dark eyes as well. But suddenly something hit his foot and Jacosa winced. It had sharp thingies ! The otter squealed and tried to kick the meercat of and it really looked like he performed a strange dance. The claws didn't hurt too much, because he owned a thick fur, but the surprise had been quite a shock for the small one. "Eeeeeeeeeh...." nozomi_ga_kanau
Holy cow! It was a ride! The big fluffity brown thing (he..thought it was brown anyway - baby eyes weren't too good with color yet) was giving him a ride! Akilah squealed in utter joy as he was thrown up and down against this things leg, using his strong fingers to try and propel himself up.
Patrick squaked in shock and tried to grab his son. Firm fingers wound about the meerkat and pried under his stomach, delicately trying to pry the child off. Akilah simply squealed and clutched tighter - until a finger wrapped around his tail threateningly.
Eyes snapped open and there was a squeak right before he released the otters leg and all but flew back against Patrick, with the force the other had been trying to tug him away. The dark man cradled his squeaking son close, giving Jacosa an apologetic look. "I'm really sorry, Cosa. He climbs everything. But you can read? That's good! Reading is fu--"
Akilah, now out of shock of being tugged and pulled and FLYING, stared up at his father, then back to his new climby thing. It took another second to register that he was no longer climbing and thus...started to wail. Small arms started flailing and he wriggling, still screech-wailing his 'pain'.Lenachan358 Jacosa sniffed and was more than relieved as the furry ball was gone from his leg. He sat down and stared at his leg with disbelief. This little one was so STRONG already. There were a few markings were the claws had been and the otter looked around to look for his mother. She probably was still at the bathroom. His lower lip trembled for a while before he heard the man's voice and just looked curiously. " Is okay." He mumbled and quickly turned to Akilah. He wasn't just strong, he was loud as well. Jacosa crawled towards the man and the baby and sat down beside them looking at the meercat with interest. He didn't know about babies a lot and probably they weren't allowed to be kicked and pulled and so on. " Ouch ?" The otter asked with concern and tried to move one paw close to the grey one. nozomi_ga_kanau "Are you okay, Cosa, I know his nails hurt like..anything.." There were fresh little cuts on his chin and jaw from just that day - Akilah enjoyed the clinging and the like. Patrick was worried about the little otter; he knew how much Iamel despised being hurt or anything like that. "If you're hurt I have..bandaides of something..somewhere..."
But Akilah was shutting up, miraculously. When he saw the otter come over, unafraid to be clung to again, the little meerkat sniffled softly at the others words. Ouch? Did his loud wailing noises mean ouch? "Prrourch?" he whimpered, trying to imitate the other. But he was young still and he was concentrating more on his ability to move then to speak... But it was close enough.
The paw was met with a curious expression, still sniffling as small paws moved out to pat at the larger, otterish paw. Patting commenced as he turned it this was and that and then...went back to petting it. "Prrourch!" He declared once more, still studying the hand as he gave one more pat and a giggle."Prrrrrrrouch!"
Jacosas name was now Prourch. Congratulations. Lenachan358 Jacosa looked at the small scratchs again and shook his head. " Cosa tried to fly and ran 'gainst wall. That hurt." He grinned a bit and then turned his attention back to the baby. " Is Keela otter ?" He had met horses and pandas and frogs, but never an Akilah before. As his paw was touched he smiled a bit and nodded. That was much better than being hurt. Jacosa started to giggle as he heard the funny word and nodded. " Yeah, ouch. No do to me." He was sooo big already and he could teach the little one. That was cool, he wanted one of these too. nozomi_ga_kanau "..I can imagine it hurt," His voice was wry, grinning down at where his little meerkat brat was patting and playing with Jacosas hand like it was his new toy. He BETTER still like that ball he threw a fit about. "Nope. He's a meerkat. They're usually a lot smaller then he is," Akilah was about a foot in size already - that's how big adult meerkats were, "But he's a special case, like you."
"Prrourch." he huffed, nose wrinkling up and wriggling a little, like a bunny. "Prrrourch no! Chirrt." He was mainly talking to himself now but...ah well. The small fluffball wrestled himself free of his fathers light hold to crawl onto Cosas hand. Flop. Like a lazy kitty. Just..clinging to his arm. "Prrrourch no." Lenachan358 " Yes, did hurt." Jacosa smiled although the memory wasn't a nice one. The otter was an optimist though, but sometimes it seemed like he just didn't understand what everyone talked about. A meerkat ? " Oh...hey cat." He greeted the friend and giggled as suddenly a someone clinged to his arm. Jacosa had no clue what the other one was talking about but it seemed like he was fond of cuddling. The other paw was extended and he looked at Patrick just as if he asked for allowance to pet Akilah. Jacosa didn't want to break the other one and make him wail again. nozomi_ga_kanau Patrick nodded encouragingly at the silent offer, grinning once. "Petting calms him down. Makes him vibrate, kinda like a cat."
Akilah looked up curiously at the mention of a cat. He'd seen cats! "Crrrrpt?" He wriggled once more, little prehensile-ish tail curling once, twice before he peeked over at Jacosa, stretching out slightly against him.
PETS! He squeaked happily, wriggling again and let go of his arm to twist around, showing the even whiter underbelly. "PRRRT!" Lenachan358 Jacosa liked to be stroked as well, but usually everyone went through his hair. He tried to remember if his belly had been petted yet and without doubt he just had been tickled. The otter thought about it for a moment and finally decided that he didn't had a clue how to pet a cat properly. But as Patrick told him to go on, he tried. The paw was placed gently on the meercat's white belly and he moved it slightly. This definately felt funny to the sensitive parts of Jacosa's hands. Andraste reappeared and slowly moved out of the bathroom. Hopefully Jacosa hadn't start to eat toys again. She sighed and looked at the scene. Wow ! "Hey, sorry for running off like that." nozomi_ga_kanau
Akilah stretched out and started wriggling in pleasure before collapsing on the others leg with a happy noise. Skin fluffed up before going glat against his paw, almost purring like a kitten.
Now that his son was limp and content with being petted like a housecat, Patrick was able to relax. Petting of the stomach was his sure-fire way of shutting the little brat up and - oh, look. Person. He twisted around slightly, glancing at the woman with a faint smile.
"Hello. You must be Cosa's mother. I'd stand and shake your hand but... I'm Patrick. This is Akilah."Lenachan358 " Lookit Mommy, I stroke Keela." Jacosa whispered and smiled at his mother. He had known she'd come back, she was at the bathroom often now. In the mornings she made strange noises and came back pale. Sometimes he wondered if she ate soap. Right now he concentrated on the meercat though and continued petting the little one. His paw made small circles as it moved through the fur and he bit his lip, because this was very exhausting. Don't push too much, but push at all. Andraste nodded and kneeled down. "Andraste, nice to meet you. You know Jacosa already. Pretty meercat." nozomi_ga_kanau "He's a delightful child - and tons quieter then my little ball of Mufasa-munch." Patrick grinned and glanced up to Jacosas face, lips quirking into a faint smile.
"You don't have to pet anymore..he fell asleep." A quiet laugh and he moved to touch the otters paw gently. "That's how we get him into bed without screaming actually. Thank you, Cosa. He only falls asleep for people he likes." Lenachan358 Andraste raised an eyebrow quite astonished about the comment. Everytime she came to this place everybody seemed to have a child, which was even more active than her little one. She wasn't quite sure if she could believe it, especially not when Jacosa decided to paint the TV. "Thank you. He isn't always quite though." The mother shrugged and moved one hand through Jacosa's black hair. The otter woke from his trance and stared at the sleeping baby. " Oh...asleep." Jacosa always went to bed without screaming, because Andraste didn't care to push him into bed. He was allowed to go when he wanted, but it was boring to be the only one who was awake. So he usually went to bed, when Andraste did or fell asleep on the couch before. " Likes me ?" The otter grinned and revealed his tooth by doing so, the other one was obviously missing. " Me likes badtub. Keela likes too ?" nozomi_ga_kanau "No, they never are, are they...always quiet that is." A faint smile from the dark man. He was inwardly pleased that Akilah had finally met someone he liked outside of the family - the little brat hardly 'spoke' to people outside of his little self-prescribed 'clan'.
It was frustrating sometimes.
Carefully, his fingers moved to wrap around his limp son, grinning a little bit more. "He's not too fond of the water, yet. It scares him that he can see things in it but still...hits water. Like I said..just ababy still. "
Akilah, deep in his peaceful, pettings induced slumber, released the little otters paw with a dreamy chirrup, curling obligingly against his fathers chest. The white and black bundle curled against him in a tight ball, relaxed and churring softly under his breath.
"You said you can read a little, Cosa...what'cha like to read?" Lenachan358 Andraste nodded and smiled. "Jacosa was a funny baby, he babbled all the time but nobody was able to understand him. He didn't care though." She shook her head, a bit sad that he wasn't so little anymore. The woman definately remembered how scared she had been when he learned how to crawl. Jacosa was very busy with watching the sleeping other one and just smiled. He liked him, he was fuzzy and nice. No otter of course, but who cared ? " Want one too." He turned around to tell Andraste, who just shook her head. It took the otter a while until he noticed that the question had been directed at him. " I like fffairee tales." Phew, difficult words. nozomi_ga_kanau "Akilah...is just..a very.." A pause, nose wrinkling as he stared down at the contented little bundle of trilling, snoozing furr in his arms, "...I dunno what kind of baby he is, but he's not a regular little brat."
In the back of his mind, Patrick was pondering how many kids there were, already, through the rift. Maybe another meerkat? But no... Cosa had said he'd never seen something like Akilah before. A faint grin crossed his lips when the small otter told his mother that he wanted one, heavily pierced eyebrows arching at the mention of fairie tales.
"Fairie tales, really? What's your favorite one? My daughter is partial to Rapunzel, so that's the one I've been reading most. What about you?" Lenachan358 "He's unique. That's pretty good in my eyes." Andraste answered as she watched Jacosa. She liked him. Alright, at first she totally didn't want him, but that had changed and now she loved him dearly. " Really. Me likes the one with princess and frog." They had lent it from the library and since then he had tried to read it properly. But most of the time he made out stories when looking at the pictures. " Wassit Rapunzel 'bout ?" His eyes watched the man curiously before turning back to the baby. Somehow it became boring. When did it wake up again ? nozomi_ga_kanau
"Unique is best when someone understands. C'mon, sit down while I tell the tale of Rapunzel!" Patrick laughed quietly, patting a hand down beside him and the otter.
The dark man paused, wondering how he could start such a tale as the one of Rapunzel. "Well... it's about a girl who was kept up in a high, high tower by an evil witch before a handsome prince rescued her." A faint smile, glancing back down at the little snoozing meerkat.
The little otter was utterly adorable - like a 'regular' little kid, asking questions, glancing around and curious about every little thing about the world. It was...intruiging. Interesting to see how something almost so animalistic could speak and move and interact with people... How did their vocal chords work? Did they see color? How was their hearing - advanced? Like a humans?
Ooooh, the possibilities..
"He'll sleep for a few more minutes before popping awake," A soft snicker, head shaking, "He's a weird little thing."Lenachan358 Andraste watched Jacosa as he sat down beside the man without any fear and listened to the story. " How high ?" He thought about the highest building he knew and quickly his eyes moved towards the ceiling to estimate it. " High as skybluesunmoooon ?" Jacosa blinked twice before forgetting about the story and the heights again and looked at the baby. " Sleeping is boring." He muttered and Andraste shook her head. Sleeping was nice, oh yes, indeed. "He's a baby Jacosa, babies need a lot of sleep." The otter scratched his head and thought about poking the baby. Just a bit, just a tiny tiny bit. He extended his paw... nozomi_ga_kanau
"Almost that high," he assured the child, "Higher then any building in Gaia, but the skybluesunmoon were still out of reach. It was very high, though, and she had very long hair." The dark man smiled faintly - Jacosa was fairly adorable! He had this guy twisted firmly around his little paw.
Then again, patricks mind was reeling with how a child, obviously so outwardly animalistic, could speak better then many human (-ish) children could when they were older and was obviously smart indeed... Oh, this was going to be an interesting ride with little Akilah. A miniature science project, if you will.
Seeing that cute ittle paw, Patricks own hand, the one that wasn't filled with a dozing meerkat, moved out to bap gently at the toddlers paw. "If you wake him up, he'll scream." Still, his voice was mild, amused even at the childs stunt. It was...cute. Few of Patricks children could ever be cute, "And he screams very loud and very much like a girl does. It's not pleasent."Lenachan358 "Woow thatis hiiigh." Jacosa's eyes started to sparkle as he thought about it. He wanted long hair too that would be cool, he would be able to climb things and be saved. The otter pulled his paw back and sighed. Probably babies weren't so good at all if they sleep a lot regularly. Ewww....Akilah screamed like girls ? " Me heard scream howse girl. Not nice." Jacosa covered his ears and was quite sure that he didn't want to hear that. Andraste nodded and tried to explain. "We were here once and there was a small girl, who was a tad bit angry...." nozomi_ga_kanau "Yes, it is." He laughed softly, head shaking a little bit, nose wrinkling a little bit. Indeed, babies weren't all that good - Akilah was a psycho little kid to begin with and an awakened, grumpy little meerkat was NOT something he wanted to deal with.
He hoped no one would want to deal with that either. Ugh.
"A horse? There's a horse girl as well?" Curiousity sprinkled in those dark eyes, eyebrows arching slightly as his finger moved to stroke over the soft white and black furr of his meerkat. "How many different species have come through the rift? Jacosa was the first other Fourth Wall child I've met, other then Akilah." Lenachan358 Jacosa of course didn't know anything about rifts and his specialty and just stared at the man for a moment, his nose twitching slightly. Did he want to know who he knew ? " I-knee is friend. We play snow and she is dagon. Has fluffy tail." Andraste shook her head. "She's a Fennec Fox, indeed. The dragon was just a game Jacosa." The otter didn't seem to mind and tried to remember different people. " Kaeru is frog. He can fly. Me can not." He pouted for a moment before going on. " Jade is Panda.
Is..Belen. Looks like fish, but isn't." "He's an axolotl." Andraste commented and Jacosa gave up and stared at the snoring meercat again. "I really don't know how many there are, but we met quite a few. I think there also was a white tiger baby and a few others I forgot." nozomi_ga_kanau
He wanted to know. This place was a science dorks dream - another world, filled with anthropormorphic animals of all different species that one could watch grow - and Patrick wasn't regreting it for a single moment.
"A fennec fox, a frog, a panda and an axolotl? That's...pretty cool." His eyes are wide, glancing back at Cosa with a little grin. "Did you defeat the drag--gyah!"
Right when he was speaking, Akilah chose...to wake himself up. The small ball of fluff gave a great rumble and a churr before uncurling, diminutive frame stretching out. A quiet purr left him as the thing shifted on his lap/arm, big black eyes blinking open, staring up at Jacosa and Patrick and Andraste.
"....chirr?"Lenachan358 "Cool ? I don't know, I thought it was freaky at first." Andraste admitted and poked Jacosa, who was staring at the baby like in trance. The otter blinked and nodded very exaggeratedly. " Yeees, me push her in snow." He grinned and squealed in delight as Akilah awoke. He moved his paw towards the small one's head and petted it very slightly as if he wanted to say hello. " Chirr." Jacosa mocked and smiled. That was a secret language, for sure. nozomi_ga_kanau "Well, it's pretty cool if you consider that the animals we have here that they look like don't have the mental or physical capacity to learn and speak like they do." He grins slightly, watching as the two interacted on his arm/lap. "It's just stunning sometimes. Akilah was trying to crawl the other day and it was just...So weird. And so cool. All at once."
Of course it was! It was Akilahs cool amazing secret language and he LOVED IT. The little meerkat squealed as the other returned his words, thin arms rising up and wrapping themselves around his paw. "Chirrrupt!"
It was a trill. He was pleased. Oh, so pleased was the meerkat. Lenachan358 Andraste had never thought about that fact and was silent for a few moments. "Jacosa tended to roll around like crazy until he was able to crawl. I guarantee you, take care if they're able to walk. It starts to get really exhausting by then." The otter laughed, although he was a bit scared by the meercat's claws. He shut his eyes for a few moments, but as he noticed that he hadn't been hurt yet he moved his paw slightly and started to tickle the other one with his tail. " Wanne be friend, Keela ?" Andraste smiled. It was funny to see that Jacosa literally asked everyone he liked if they wanted to be friends. "If you want you can come over to our apartment one day and the kids can play together." The otter's ears twitched and he screamed out happy. " I show Otta !" nozomi_ga_kanau Leave it to the science spazz to point out something like animals not usually being able to talk or walk or 'make friends'. Patrick was just as weird as any of his children, although he didn't see much point in saying so.
Akilah just stared at the other one while he flinched back from the ALLMIGHTY CLAWS OF DOOM, looking confused as to why the other was clenching his eyes so. The little meerkat trilled in confusion, little black ears twitching up as he studied the boy.
Then..came the tickling. The infant wasn't quite sure what it was at first except...it made him giggle! Loudly! He squealed and wriggled, giggling and clinging more to that ticklish, ticklish paw. "Geeeebish!" Came the noise, small, sharp nose nuzzling into Jacosas furr.
"Frrruund?" He'd heard that word before. Never understood it. So when Jacosa said it, once more...Akilah tried to imitate. It was growly and low, but a crude imitation none the less. Thus! He did not like. "Chirrup!"
"Otta?" Lenachan358 Jacosa giggled just as the meercat did and thought that it really sounded like a lot of fun to be tickled by tail. He would try and do so more often when somebody was unhappy. Suddenly he felt something sharp and looked down to see that a nose had nuzzled into his fur. He hesitated to move and just stared again. This felt nice somehow and made him feel fuzzy inside. Of course Chirrup meant yes, it couldn't be different. " Thatis good. Otta is friend, too. Is pet. He tried to explain and looked towards his mother, they could stay longer couldn't they ? Andraste sighed. "We wanted to go and buy some new clothes for Jacosa, because he's grown a bit. Would you mind if we meet up another time again ?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 3:49 am
New Clothes
"Tis was fun. Me like Keela." Jacosa mentioned as they moved through the streets towards a big well-known shopping center.
"Yes, that was nice. Now let's go and find some nice new clothes for you, alright ? You can't always walk around in shorts." Andraste looked at the otter quite friendly and pulled him closer as they crossed the street.
" Why ? Me like shorts !" The otter was quite puffed up about the statement and was a great immitation of his mother as he put his paw onto his hip and pouted. "Because you'll get a cold, just like I have. Believe me, Jacosa."
Actually it was just because she wanted him to look different, because he had grown a bit. The baby clothes weren't appropiate any longer and the woman definately wanted him to look good.
So they moved into the lights of the center and quickly went towards the children section. "Pick something you like and I tell you if we buy it." Andraste mentioned and sat down on a chair, whereas Jacosa was still a bit overwhelmed. "Is cool here." He grinned and caused his mother to laugh. The otter liked expressions from TV.
The otter through the lines of clothes and suddenly stopped in front of a black hoodie. He sniffed it and smiled as he pulled it to the ground and cuddled it. Andraste blinked and caught him right before a shop assistant was able to do so. "We'll buy this." She grinned and glared at Jacosa for a moment before she picked an appropiate pair of trousers.
She growled. "Jacosa, you can't just pull things down. I told you to ask me first." Her eyes suddenly spotted something and she laughed again. "This one is right for you." Pale hands were taking a shirt which read 'Public Enemy'. Of course Jacosa didn't get the message, but Andraste was busily looking through more of these shirts. "Son of a gun." She laughed exaggeratedly as she looked down and Jacosa looked a bit sad.
"Mommy said, you can choose. He sniffed and was close to cry. "Sure sure, go and LOOK." Andraste was still busy to look at all the nice sayings, whereas Jacosa moved towards the girl section.
The mother was busily looking for clothes as something was shoved into her hands. "Tat is what I want." Jacosa beamed happily and Andraste stared at something fuzzy and yellow. It was a little handbag which looked like a creature from an anime series. "Jacosa that's a bag. You put it around your body and you can carry things with you. It's nothing you actually...wear.." And it's for girls, she added in her mind.
Jacosa was even more excited and his tail started to wiggle. "Me waaaant." He exclaimed loudly. Andraste shook her head. "No, we want to buy clothes." The otter frowned hardly. He really wanted this pocket, he wanted to put things inside and show it to friends. "Put pencil n'side. Wite ewerywhere." Huge dark eyes looked up and started to become watery.
Andraste sighed. "Alright...let's go and pay." The otter squealed in delight.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 10:11 am
Big Brother
The next morning arose and after some time in the bath Andraste was busy in the kitchen making some coffee. Jacosa toddled inside and climbed onto one of the chairs silently. When he had managed to sit down he grinned broadly. "Morning Mommy !" The otter smiled and looked very cute in his pyjama as he put his paws onto the table and waited for his cereals.
Andraste was glad the she had managed to make him eat something beside fish in the morning, because she really hated the smell of the fish. "Morning Jac." She replied and sat down with a mug of coffee and smiled slightly. Her eyes rested on the strange fish pendant around Jacosa's neck for while before she shoved the bowl full of cereals towards him. The otter smiled and started to eat very carefully, because he still remembered the day he had made a mess.
The mother sighed. How could he be such a morning person ? And afternoon, evening, night person too ? She shook her head and sipped some coffee. "Jacosa ?" The mother started and caused the otter to look up from his meal. Some milk was dripping down his muzzle and he grinned. "Ya ?" Andraste was about to blurt out that a fishbaby-something was on it's way, but she better forgot about it quickly.
"I'm sure you want to wear your new clothes today." She smiled friendly and the toddler nodded quickly. "An' pocket, course !" Andraste sighed and nodded. If she really wanted to keep that baby she needed to talk with Jacosa and make an arrangement in the clinic pretty soon. Just very very probably she had to talk to Ranjit as well.
"What would you think about...a baby, Jacosa ?" Andraste tried to look away into the steaming liquid in front of her, although it was just a toddler she was talking to. The otter pondered for a moment, but smiled. "Like 'Keela ?" The meercat was the only baby he had met for a long time and Andraste nodded slightly. "Yes, same size, but different. More like I look like...and Ranjit looks like." It was a strange thought, but Jacosa shouldN't mind. "I like that." The otter grinned and Andraste was almost too relieved to notice that he had used I instead of me. She blinked and then smiled without commenting on it. "Well, Mommy is probably pregnant. There's a baby in my tummy." She tried to explain and just noticed that the otter started to stare at her belly suspiciously.
"We all have baby in tummy ?" His eyes were a bit scared, but Andraste just laughed and shook her head. "No, Jacosa. Only women and right now, only me."
"Can we call it Keela ? Jacosa asked and continued to eat the cereals. "We don't even know if it's a boy yet." Andraste answered and moved to put the mug into the dishwasher. "Why not ?"
"Because it could be a girl as well." Andraste muttered and shook her head. "Don't think about Jacosa, I need to see the doctor first anyway."
The otter nodded and was lifted up quickly and carried into the bedroom. "Now let's see what's so special about your new clothes." Andraste grinned and pulled out the shirt she liked best.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:36 pm
Finally Home
After picking up Jacosa from the daycare center Andraste and Ranjit drove home. On the whole way to the flat they hadn't dared to talk about the pregnancy and the man concentrated on the otter, who seemed very pleased to see him.
"Otta grew. You see !" He shouted as they entered the living room and Andraste opened her blazer. Phew, her belly didn't really seem to like the blouse. "She's in the bathroom, Jac." The mother smiled before she moved into her sleeping room to get changed.
Jacosa proudly presented his pet and demanded Ranjit to stroke Otta's fur 'vewwy gently'. He was pleased that the man was back again, because it always had been fun with him and he couldn't understand why Mommy was so angry with the blue one.
"What do you think about getting a sibling, Jacosa ?" The otter looked into Ranjit's face and tried to understand what a sibling was. It sounded gross, very strange and he didn't know if he wanted such a thing. The grown-up noticed that the toddler didn't seem to understand and kneeled down. "I'm talking about a brother or a sister, Jacosa." He smiled and suddenly the otter's face lightened up. "I like this."
Ranjit wasn't so sure if the otter would still like the fact when the baby actually appeared. "I heard that you have learned how to write." The otter nodded and the man opened one of the bags he had carried with him. A blue book was taken out of it and he handed it to Jacosa. The toddler beamed at him happily and opened it. But - oh no - all the pages were BLANK !
Jacosa was startled, but Ranjit grinned. "It's a diary. You can write down what you think or you can simply paint in it." The otter wasn't quite sure if he understood the purpose yet, but he really liked the shinies on the cover. "Thankoo." He toddled out of the bathroom and almost bumped into Andraste.
The woman was dressed in black pants and a long pullover in grey, which stated 'Do not open before Christmas'. She pointed at her belly and snorted. "That's great, ne ? It was a present from the GMFC. That's the clinic I go to." Andraste added a bit more shyly, but was quickly interrupted by Jacosa. "Lookit, this is die a rie." The otter explained and pointed at the book. "Nice Jacosa, we can try to write in it later."
"Help ?" Instead of asking his mother the otter had turned towards Ranjit, which caused Andraste to become incredibly jealous. "I will help you, Jac !" She demanded before the man was able to answer and picked up the otter to carry him towards the couch. "Ranjit will stay with us now for...quite a time." The woman tried to explain, whereas Jacosa just nodded and looked at his book.
"He will understand, don't worry." Ranjit mentioned and sat down beside them. It almost felt like family to be together like this. "I bought some stuff for the baby. It's in the bedroom now." He explained to Andraste, who was still very uncomfortable with him being in her flat. Of course she had offered him to stay in her bed, but Ranjit had told her that he would sleep on the couch. This was much better, why did it worry her so much ?
Jacosa looked up from the book and smiled. "We call him Keela, Randy." Andraste couldn't help but giggle. The otter had just made up a wonderful nickname.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:37 pm
Meeting a Rainbow Lenachan358 It was time for another check-in at the clinic again, but this time Andraste had decided to take Jacosa with her. Still, he was only a toddler and he loved destroying things when he was alone. He would have called it making experiences, but the woman wasn't fond of coffee powder all over her shoes to see if they became brown. Her belly already showed the signs of pregnancy as she opened the door and entered the clinic. " We get baby now ?" The other inhaled the air and wrinkled his nose slightly. Strange place, he had never been here before. Where was the fun and where were the toys ? XBear Luckily for Tourmaline, it was quite a warm day for January, and that meant Slush was willing to let his daughter out of the house, with his accompaniment of course. "Is Tayn going to stay with us Mum?" She asked curiously, peering up at Slush, who was trying hard not to frown. "We'll see..." He trailed off, noticing someone enter into the clinic ahead of them, squawking abruptly with a grin, "People! C'mon Skittles~." Slush chortled, half bounding and half dragging his daughter to the clinic. Tourmaline simply rolled her eyes and went with him. Truth be told, she was curious about the furry thing that had entered in with the 'normal' looking woman. The Skullmonkey in lead pushed the door open and grinned brightly, eyes brimming in excitement, "Hello there!" His daughter just watched, evaluating the pair before waving in greeting. Lenachan358 Andraste was just about to sit down, because she wasn't fond of standing as two strangers entered. Her eyes examined the new ones before she spoke. "Greetings." With a thud she took a seat and sighed out of relief. Perhaps she should stop wearing high heels when being pregnant ? Jacosa had turned around as he heard the door and had managed thereby to almost trip over his own feet. His tail wiggled in anticipation. There was a girl, a very colourful girl. She was taller than the otter, but in fact he didn't seem to mind. He just knew other animals, so he wondered what she was. Probably a parrot ? " Heyo ! I am Cosa. Introduction was always a nice start, hopefully she would like to play. The other big one could play with Mommy. XBear Tourmaline peered at the furry little animal, and was quickly reminded of Sanura, "I'm Tourmaline." She sent a glance to Slush before meandering closer to the smaller child. Slush all but bounded over to the new lady once he was sure his daughter would be fine. Plopping down on a nearby seat, he gave her a bright smile, "I'm Slush~ When are you due?" Lenachan358 Jacosa was startled, because that was probably the longest name he had ever heard. " ...lin ?" The last part was everything he had been able to memorize and now he felt a bit awkward. This feeling didn't last long though and quickly a grin spread on his face again. " You get baby too ?" Probably everyone was here for getting siblings, it just seemed logical to the otter. Andraste smiled slightly and looked at her belly. "Andraste. I don't really know, but I fear it will be quite soon. The baby is...a bit special." She sighed and didn't really know how to explain it. "The father's race is a bit quick regarding pregnancy." XBear Tourmaline blinked at the little otter, shaking her head slightly, "Try Sandia, it's my middle name." The next question made her eyes go wide, and she immediately made a face and shook her head, "No... This is my doctor." "Really? We had an egg," he gave her a sage nod, as if having a baby come from an egg was an every day occurance. "But what race? We're Skullmonkeys, my husband and I." Hopefully she wasn't a homophobe. Lenachan358 Jacosa cocked his head to one side and you could almost see the gears in his head turning as he tried to pronounce the name as perfect as possible. " Sand-ia." Phew, done. It almost sounded like the other one had said it, right ? A smile was conjured onto his lips and the otter started to giggle as he noticed the girl's face regarding his question. " I don' have doc. My Mommy gets baby. Wanna play ?" He quickly pointed towards Andraste and then looked back at the girl. She had so pretty clothes. " You look cool." An egg ? Andraste frowned as she thought about having an egg coming out of her. It was then she realized that a birth was probably something painful and hoped that it would work out right. "Oh that's interesting. I can't really imagine it, but it's interesting." She grinned a bit and looked at Tourmaline, estimating how old she might be. "Skullmonkeys...I think I read about them in the newspaper. People thought they were gone for a while, right ? Suddenly new members of the race appeared." Andraste was too busy with herself to think about two husbands. If people were able to have fishbabies it was just as normal that two men could receive an egg. Nothing was able to shock her anymore, at least she hoped so. "Oh yes, he's a Nokke." XBear "Uh, sure... And thanks," she beamed at his compliment, absently swinging her torso from side to side so that her skirt would sway a bit. Reaching up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, she smiled lightly, "What do you want to do?" Slush's face visibly darkened at the mention of it being in the paper, "Our creator abandoned us..." He trailed off, pushing his loathing for QS away in favor of the subject change. "What's a Nokke?" That was something he had never heard of before. Lenachan358 Dark eyes watched the movement of the skirt and he wondered why his clothes always had to be so dark. Colours were much happier. " Sandia, can you read ? He tried to make the sentence as perfect as possible so the older child wouldn't think he was too small. " I have book. Or we play hid and seek." "Oh..." Although she wasn't good at being polite, Andraste noticed that this fact seemed to hurt the man and stopped talking about it. "They're fishpeople...basically. Blue skin and such. Ranjit says it doesn't have to do with fish, because they have legs, but I don't really believe it." The woman shrugged and tried to remember what she had been told. "They have pointy ears and...can sing songs that make people sleepy ? Don't really know, because I never really talked much about it." XBear "Yes," she replied with another smile, "What book?" As long as it wasn't something to do with swimming she'd be fine. She'd had enough dreams of drowning and didn't want to provoke another one if she could help it. "Fish... People? How do they breath out of water if they're fish?" Slush was honestly curious. This was new to him, and he was quite curious to know more about them. "What are you then?" The question wasn't meant to be rude, but she obviously didn't have blue skin so she couldn't be a fish person right? Lenachan358 Jacosa quickly moved towards the pocked which Andraste had carried and pulled out a fairy tale book. " Is called : S-N-O-wwwwite." The otter tried to read the heading and handed it to the taller girl. " Is new, got it from Mommy." Since reading appeared to be the only hobby which was able to keep Jacosa silent for some time, Andraste had decided to buy him a few more books. "Well, I just call them fish." Andraste scratched her head a bit embarassed and sighed. "In fact they are mythical somethings, who lived close to rivers and seas and lured people. They can breath below water and they can breath on land. Ranjit it half-human though, is mother is a complete Nokke. That's why he's not as blue as she is." The young woman wondered why she had never informed herself a bit more. It would definately be a good thing to know about her baby. Listening to the second question she raised an eyebrow and huffed slightly. "I am human." XBear "Okay," she said, nodding and taking the book from him before making her way over to the fire. It was a little chilly by the door and she didn't want to take any chances. Sitting down, she opened the book, only beginning to read when Jacosa sat down with her. "Humans are hard to come by these days it seems," Slush murmur to himself mostly, shaking his head before smiling lightly. "My mother's a vampire; I'm adopted obviously, and we have quite a few different species living with us... Jivvins, a Fa'e, and a few others. It's crazy in that house." Lenachan358 Jacosa squealed in delight and just wanted to hug Tourmaline as she went towards the fire. His tail started to wiggle and quickly he followed her. As the girl sat down the otter tried to imitate her as best as he could and sat down as well. His eyes glanced at the book, whereas his paws were busily straightening his pullover, which stated 'Troublemaker' in bold yellow letters. " Ready." "That's true. When I received Jacosa, I didn't even know that you could buy diapers with holes for tails." Andraste looked towards the otter who had managed to make someone read to him again. "He is a Fourth Wall baby. All of them are animals, but they talk and act like humans. First I wasn't fond of having a baby, but as it looks like I'm stuck with two now." Although the words weren't nice, you could sense that Andraste still liked her children. "Wow sounds like a lot of trouble. Your mother has to be a great person if she's able to deal with so many people. I already freak out when Jacosa decides to eat soap." XBear Chuckling softly, she glanced up at the otter boy before she began to read, showing him pictures ever so often. Like her 'mother,' Tourma was quite animate during the story. Slush nearly choked at the 'great woman' comment, coughing to try and cover it up, "Well... She's sure different, and definately not conventional." He tried not to be too blatant. "Erm... Don't ever trespass on our property though... Or I'm afraid you'll become a meal." Sadly, it was the truth. X had a tendency to eat trespassers as a midnight snack. Lenachan358 Jacosa just stared in awe and was totally captured by the story. The dwarfs were actually the best part, nobody was interested in princesses ! Sandia was the best story teller ever, besides Jade, Jacosa decided and smiled broadly. His paw softly tugged her scarf and before she was able to say anything he embraced her friendly. Or at least he tried. Andraste's eyes widened. "Er...sure." Although she seemed a bit irritated at first she didn't seem to be afraid. "I would make a great deal though, bite one, swallow two." She poked her belly, which didn't seem to react to the touch. "I'll make sure to stay away from your house...do you know if it's normal that the baby is so quiet ? I always thought that they tended to kick." XBear When she finished, she shut the book, and before she could do anything she was pulled into a hug. At first, she was cautious to return it due to her strength, but eventually did carefully as to not crush the otter boy. "I guess that means you liked it?" "Or just make sure you come during the day and to the front door," Slush shrugged, giving her a half smile, "Well she's a vampire, so you'd be... Yeah." Reaching up, he nervously pushed his hair from his face. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that? Lenachan358 Jacosa nodded and got back into his former position. " Sandia ! Sooo awewesome. Nice." He didn't really know how to express his feelings and so he simply smiled and nodded once again. The otter's thought trailed back to his first impression of Sandia and looked at her clothes. " What are you ?" Andraste shrugged. "I work as bodyguard, I have dealt with several people." She wondered if she had said something wrong because Slush appeared to be quite nervous. "How is it like to have a child of your own ? I mean...Jacosa is adopted and an otter, it's probably different when having a baby of yourself...right ?" XBear She grinned, flushing somewhat, "I'm a Skullmonkey." Handing him back his book, Tourma absently smoothed out her skirt. "What about you?" "Yeah, but X is..." Slush trailed off, shrugging, "Different. Let's just leave it at that." He sighed, mustering a smile at the new subject, "It's amazing. Especially since we're both men..." Drifting off, Slush's face filled with pride and emotion as he watched his daughter. Lenachan358 Jacosa nodded and tried to push the word into his memory. He wanted to know as much as possible about his friends and didn't want to make her said when saying that she was a parrot. " I am an otter." He stated quickly and watched her hands as they moved across her skirt. " You want to be my friend ?" Jacosa really liked Tourmaline and probably they could meet more often, when he was able to read better as well. Andraste looked towards the children and smiled. Jacosa had grown a bit throughout the last weeks and she still hoped that he wouldn't grow into a child soon. She liked him so small. There was much more control. "I can imagine. I didn't know before that it's possible to do this in such a clinic. But it's awesome." It really had to be difficult for all the species on Gaia to become babies, if they wanted one. Such clinics were really useful, the mother decided. XBear Tourma made a mental note to remember this, and nodded, "I'd like that." The otter boy didn't seem to be too much of a threat, and he didn't get her clothing dirty. Another plus. The Skullmonkey was about to answer when he jolted out of his seat with a strange look of surprise on his face. He immediately dove his hand into his front pocket, pulling out a cell phone and relaxing somewhat. It had been on vibrate. "Hi Sharkie~," he crooned, motioning over to his daughter that they were about to go, "Yeah, dinner sounds great... I think Tayn's still at home." They talked a bit more before Slush chirped an 'I love you' before hanging up and stuffing the phone back into his pants. "I'm sorry, but my husband just got out of work early... And I haven't gotten laid in quite a few days." He offered her a sage nod before heading out, "Bye~." "I've got to go. It was nice to meet you~." Tourma was quick to stand up at the phone call. Daddy was coming home early! Positively beaming, she gave the otterboy a pat on the head before standing up and running to the door, clunking loudly on the wood floor. Almost like the dull thud of metal against wood. Soon they were both out of sight and heading home. Lenachan358 Andraste nodded and blushed hardly as she heard about the sex comment. "Er...sure...sure..." She muttered as suddenly a nurse entered and motioned towards the woman. "Mrs. CaerbHall, it's your turn." "Come on, Jacosa." The woman mumbled as she got the paw of the happy otter. He had a new friend, awesome ! As he turned around he saw another woman and felt bad as they went away. The otter definately wanted to play a bit more... Andraste didn't notice the incoming person so and moved into the next room to get an ultrasound.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 8:23 am
The Name of the Game
Jacosa squealed out of happiness as he was tickled by two blue hands and rolled around on the floor. Andraste was eating some chocolate cake and looked at a book, her feet were comfortably lying on the couch table. "What do you think about Afon ?" She asked and Ranjit stopped to play with the otter to look at her.
"What are you talking about ?" Andraste growled and waved with the book she was holding which was obviously a book about baby names. "OH !" Ranjit called out and quickly moved to sit down beside her.
The otter was quite confused and pouted as he noticed that the man didn't want to play with him anymore. "What does it mean ?" Ranjit asked instead as Jacosa got onto his feet and toddled towards his parents. "River." Andraste smiled slightly and looked at the otter, who was crawling on the couch to sit down between them. "Keela." He demanded and winced as he noticed Andraste's glare. "We will NOT call him Akilah." She growled and the otter fled onto Ranjit's lap who smiled quite serene.
"Come on Jacosa, we make a nice list of names. You can help." The man said as he grabbed a piece of paper and a biro. Jacosa wasn't fond of the idea, but after all if someone needed his help he'd never refuse.
Quickly the man scribbled 'Boy' and 'Girl' on the paper and showed it to the otter. Jacosa frowned and tried to read. "B. Bo. Boyyy. Stupid name." Ranjit laughed and shook his head. "No, it just means here will go the boy's names and here the ones for a girl."
The otter's face lightened up and nodded. Now he understood.
Andraste sighed. "Can we go on now ?" The men agreed and so they were busily looking for names. In the end they had a neat list of baby names.
Boy
Kelvin
Conway
Thanh
Girl
Saraswati
Maya
Adva
Nila
Jumana
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 2:49 pm
An Exhausting Trip - Part I Sajhiri The door of the office building was pushed open with a soft grunt as Sajhiri shouldered her way inside. She wasn't paying overly much attention to her surroundings, as her eyes were scanning over a piece of paper in her hands. The confusion caused by the note from Karma asking her to come to this address for a 'pickup' was written all over her face, from the furrowed brow to the pursed lips. A pale face poked in the egress after she passed, a hand adjusting a pair of spectacles balanced on a non-human nose. Saedare called after Jhiri, "Do you want me to give Rebecca her bottle, mother?" Sajhiri blinked and turned to look at the Aduthule woman and she nodded after a moment. "Oh, yeah sure, hon. I'd appreciate that. If she starts screaming, you can put her in the stroller and head around the block. You know how she hates the truck if it's not moving." Saedare smiled and disappeared back outside where a large silver truck was parked. Sayuri_Nitta Sayuri pushed open the door with one hand, the other supporting a just-walking Aini. Sayuri stooped as she entered the Fourth Wall office, watching Aini's faltering steps.
'Almost inside, you're doing really well,' she encouraged the fennec girl, who had the tip of her little pink tongue protruding from her mouth as she concentrated.
'There!' she said, swinging Aini up in the air as they went inside proper to the large waiting area. Sayuri rested Aini on her hip, and the toddler played with the collar of Sayuri's kimono.
'Oh hello,' Sayuri nodded at the other woman there. Youkochylde Another pair entered into the shop a moment later, Youko glad that at least this time he didn't have to grab Kaeru by the collar to make him stop and shuck off his coat and shoes. The boy seemed to be used to this routine by now... although he still hadn't gotten used to putting them in the right place. Instead, he left coat and shoes in a heap before springing into the main waiting area and immediately diving INTO the toybox that waited on the other side. "BANZAIIIIIIIIII!!!" he screeched, sending plushies in a spray around the box as Youko winced and picked up the boy's shed clothing. karma_k Somewhere within the depths of the Fourth Wall building, there was the sound of a door opening and then closing. Karma came to the conclusion that she was getting to the point where she was, as much as she hated to say it, getting too old to pull all-nighters constantly. But the paperwork was all in order, the phone calls had been made, the eggs had all been checked, and now, she decided, she was going home to take a nap before starting all over again. The foxcoon slunk down the hallway toward the waiting area, one ear lopped over in exhaustion and the dark rings under her eyes hidden by her mask. As she drew near, however, the sounds of voices caught her ear. ...visitors. Crap. Quickly, she veered off into the bathroom, cracking the tap and splashing her face with cold water in an effort to jolt herself awake. It worked....sort of. It was enough to bring her back to alertness, at least. Too much water, and she'd look like a drowned rat. Pausing to towel the beads of cold water out of her fur, she headed back out to the waiting area to greet the people. Lenachan358 Andraste petted her belly and stared at the little otter, who was rubbing his nose in a strange manner. " I feeeel...people." He said and pushed one strand of his black hair out of his face to see better. The mother didn't dare to mention that this feeling could be a result of seeing people enter the building, so she just kept silent. Jacosa was wearing a funny new pocket, which was yellow and fuzzy and was much too girly for Andraste's likings. He loved it though and there were some crayons and paper inside. They entered the building and the otter grinned. " Said people are here. HEYO !" He screamed and suddenly noticed that some of them were even familiar. Sayuri_Nitta Sayuri laughed as the frog-boy did a rather interesting dive into the toybox.
'I give that an 8.6,' she joked as Aini squirmed in her arms. She turned as someone else entered and smiled.
'Andraste,' she called, and Aini squirmed to get down even more.
'Osa!!' Zero Dream And, unaware of the other presents, Zero was slowly making her way torward the center on foot, with Ronen carefuly nested in his coat and on her shoulders, which probabely was a fact that no other would be able to reproduce, since, well... Ronen was not exactly a feather. The plan was to go see Karma... to chat a bit and show her that Ronen was doing well, and then go catch a bit to eat. The reploid had spotted a vegetarian restaurant which would probably fit the dinosaur's tastes to perfection, and the loss of one meal worth of meat wouldn't kill her. Sajhiri Sajhiri moved to the front desk where she signed in. Sayuri's hello made her turn in surprise. "Say?" she asked in surprise. She'd not seen Sayuri since dropping a few rambunctious gargoyles into her lap around the holidays. "You have some idea what...this...place..." her words trailed off as she lookd down at the little fox walking on it's hind legs. She was no stranger to anthros, but babies made her doubletake at their cuteness. The Banzaii-ing Kaeru made Jhiri jump before she chuckled and looked towards Youko. "Long time, no see, my friend. Is that little fellow yours?" The addition of the otterling and Andraste made Sajhiri's brow further furrow. "I'm beginning to see a pattern here. Are all these kiddos from this place?" Youkochylde Youko snickered, moving to hug Sajhiri lightly as he nodded. "Yep, the hellion in the box is mine. His name's Kaeru and yes, he came from this place. Karma brought him to me just before my birthday this past summer." He stepped back then, lifting a brow as he let a grin spread across his face. "And I'm guessing that if you're here, you're about to get one too. Congratulations!" Sayuri_Nitta Sayuri finally let Aini down again as she was starting to make small whining noises, and Sayuri knew that if she didnt get her way she would dissolve into a screaming tantrum.
'Ok,' she said, as she placed her on the floor.
'Just don't n** anyone,' she scolded, as the fennec toddled towards Kaeru in the toybox, occasionally falling back with a small bump onto her furry tail.
'Yes, congratulations,' Sayuri smiled at Saj, casting glances at Aini. karma_k At last, Karma arrived in the waiting area, smiling and doing her best to be pleasant as she scanned the people who had arrived, recognizing most but not all. Her eyes fell on the dark-haired woman whom Sayuri and Youko were speaking with and she racked her brain. She'd made an appointment with someone today amid all of her phone calling and filing. It was fortunate they had all shown up when they had, or she likely would have forgotten about it completely and gone home to zonk out, leaving the poor lady in the lurch. Maybe investing in a planner might not be a bad idea... Crossing the waiting area, being careful not to step on small tails, flippers, hands, and the like, she approached. "Sajhiri?" she tried amiably. If it wasn't her, the worst she could do was fix her with a strange look and say no, after all... Lenachan358 Before Andraste was able to even greet somebody, Jacosa had already spotted the fennec fox and squealed. " I-Knee !" He toddled towards her quickly and almost pushed his pocket onto her nose. She so had to see and like it. " Lookit !" Of course he had also noticed that the cool flying frog guy was there and...there was someone else as well. Someone blue. He stared at the boy for a moment. Andraste blinked and then waved at Sayuri and Youko. She knew those two. For a moment she turned to her belly and then decided to walk towards the other grown-ups. "Hello." The woman greeted and smiled slightly. "Looks like everyone had the same idea." A chuckle escaped her lips as she saw Sajhiri. Another victim. Zero Dream And it was at that moment that the blue-haired woman entered the door, and her eyes whidened a bit. "Well, who-ah." She commented, clearly having not expected to see so many people here. Maybe it would be better to come back later, but Ronen had been looking forward to this... Beside, there seemed to have plenty of kids his age. "Allright, down weee goooo~~" Zero ducked down, and Ronen gave a surprised yelp at first, but it quickly turned to a little giggle and squees of delight as she disloged the dinosaur boy from her shoulders and helped him take off his coat. "Stop wriggeling, cutie, or ill't take longer." He pouted a bit, but compeled, his tail waving back and forth calmly until he finally was free, and rushed to the otter boy. "Hi !" Sajhiri Sajhiri's jawdrop was Stooges-worthy in its comedic potential. Youko and Sayuri's indication that she was here to get a baby left her gobsmacked. After a moment or two she managed to shake off the shock. "You're sure? I mean...well I wouldn't mind another little one around the house. With the rest of the Menagerie all grown up, Rebecca could really use another little one to play with." She glanced out the window to make sure her biological daughter wasn't making her adopted daughter's life a living hell inside the truck. Seeing all was in order, she scanned around the room quickly filling with little ones. "Where in the world do they come from, though? Is there a part of Gaia that evolved differently? Or are they from somewhere else? They're so darling!" At Karma's address, Sajhiri turned to the foxcoon and smiled. "Um, yes, that's me. I received a message to come here for a pickup?" She looked a little confused, but a bit excited at the prospect as well. Youkochylde Youko stepped back to let Sajhiri talk to Karma on her own, the grin not fading in the slightest as he fully recognized that 'poleaxed' look. He knew it intimately, it was the same look he'd had when presented with Kaeru. Speaking of Kaeru... He turned then, eyes widening as he darted towards the boy. "NO!" Kaeru stopped dead, mouth open as he paused in his attempt to catch a fly that was buzzing against the window. It had just been SITTING there, and obviously it didn't have a long life expectancy. "WHAT? I was just gonna taste it..." "No eating bugs outside the house," Youko reminded him, sighing inwardly. It was bad enough he liked to gross out his sisters by munching on bugs. He didn't need to worry about what the boy was flicking up with his tongue everywhere ELSE. Sayuri_Nitta Sayuri nodded, then noticed the blue haired woman and gave a small nod and a wave in her direction, chuckling at the child she had entered with. So many children! She hoped that none of them started the other's crying, she didnt think she was quite up for that level of noise.
'Hi Andraste,' she raised an eyebrow.
'Well you're looking...fuller then last time I saw you,' she said, a slightly triumphant look on her face. She had been right in her thinking that Jacosa's mother was pregnant.
Aini watched, eyes round at Kaeru.
'Yoo eats flys?' she asked, radiating awe (well as much awe as a toddler could).
'Mama say I cant eats wrigglies,' she complained, as Jacosa came over.
'Lookit wat?' she flicked her ears at the otter boy. karma_k Karma's smile widened a notch at the response she recieved and nodded. "Yes, follow me please?" she asked, beckoning Sajhiri to come with her as she left the waiting area and headed to the left, down the hallway. She made a mental note to herself that what she really needed to do was get some new toys for the waiting room. The kids were getting bigger every time she saw them and one toychest with a few odds and ends was not going to cut it very soon. Lenachan358 Jacosa huffed as Aini didn't recognise the most marvellous bag/pocket/carry-around-thing ever. He was just about to speak as the blue one came over. Was he a dog ? No...doggies had fur. A brown paw scratched the small one's head before he started to smile. " I Cosa, that I-Knee. You ?" Quickly he opened and closed the plush pocket to show Aini how great it is and that everybody was supposed to like it. As he noticed Kaeru though, he was quite amazed. " How does taste ?" Andraste blushed and nodded slightly. "Yes, I am..." It took her while to say the word. "Pregnant." She grinned and looked at her feet. "Jacosa will get a sibling quite soon." Zero Dream "Ronen." He answered, pointing at himself, his nose wriggeling a bit at the thought of eating bugs. Bugs weren't for eating, ewwww... He didn't comment on that, however, as he plopped sitting on the ground, and mimiced Jacosa's movement with a giggle, then peered as he worked with the pocket, visibely more than a bit interested in the sound it made. Zero decided it was better to keep herself sillent, at least until Karma was done with the other woman, and simpely sat nearby. Sajhiri Sajhiri gave Sayuri and Youko a little wave, her eyes lighting up, before she turned to follow the proprietor down the hall. The seraph wrung her hands a bit in anticipation, feeling her heart pound. "This is really interesting. I hadn't really thought about another baby, but now that I think about it, my daughter really needs another little one to play with, and I miss having a pile of youngins about. I'm happiest taking care of babies." She smiled warmly, her eyes flitting about curiously as they passed the doors. nozomi_ga_kanau After last nights (almost) catastrophe with fanged women and not-babified children, Akilah had demanded to go back. His demanding consisted of screaming and screeching out 'FOOF' and 'FWINE' until Patricks ears started to bleed...so why the hell not?
Not like he had...y'know. Other kids to take care of. Or a job. heaven freaking forbid.
Still. The kid was contented, riding on his fathers shoulders, hands tugging at his hair like a rider would a favorite (albiet psycho) horse.
"Eeee~" The meerkat squealed when Patrick pushed open the Fourth Walls door, pain written on his brightly pierced features. "Eee! Fwoof! Fwine! Churrrr~"
Sound affects were cute. The psycho clutching meerkat? Not so much. "Yes, Akilah. We're here." And in an animal house it appeared! Look at all the kiddlets and peoples and and and...so many. karma_k "I'm glad to hear it." the foxcoon replied just as warmly as Sajhiri's smile. "Its always nice knowing the children are going to good homes. I always worry that there'll be a time that one will come through and have no takers..." Karma paused at the third door on the left, turning the knob gently and pausing to look over her shoulder at the dark-haired seraph, lowering her voice a bit. "So far, this one seems really cooperative. He came through the rift and went right to sleep. I called you right after getting him settled in one of the cribs, since you didn't list a particular preference on species. He was still napping last I looked" Saying so, she eased open the door slowly so that she wouldn't startle the little angel inside. The 'little angel' however, seemed to be wide awake and busily gnawing on the corner of the powder-blue blanket Karma had tucked around him the last time she'd been in to check on him and still found him snoozing. He'd apparantly been working hard at it, too...the fibers were frayed and soggy and the little silver lamb didn't even look up as the two women entered. Youkochylde "They're good," Kaeru whispered, sidelong to Aini and Jacosa as soon as Youko's attention was elsewhere. He WAS a frog, after all.. and frogs ate bugs. HE liked them. As he watched Youko walk away, he waited until the fox's back was turned, then let his tongue zing out, catching the unsuspecting fly and reeling it in again almost as quickly. It was an instantaneous reaction, and within a span of a second, he was sitting there in the toybox again as if nothing at all had happened. Sajhiri Sajhiri tiptoed in behind Karma, expecting a snoozing baby, and instead found herself staring down at a wide awake ball of fluffy wool. She blinked, both brows heading ceiling-ward, at the mess in the crib and the cause of it. "Looks like I'll need to stock up on chew-resistent teething items, eh?" She leaned over to scritch the little fellow under the chin. "Just look at you. A little silver lamb! No doubt you'll be a big silver ram some day!" She chuckled then looked ponderous as she glanced back towards the hall. "Just like my truck...a big silver Dodge Ram. Oh!" She laughed out loud and looked to Karma. "That's what I'll call him...Dodge! He goes through blankets like my truck goes through gas. It's kind of fitting," she grinned. Sayuri_Nitta 'Congratulations!' Sayuri squealed, actually hugging Andraste.
'I did kind of suspect from what you were saying last time we met, but wasnt sure how to tell you.' she smiled, letting the woman go.
Unfortunately for Jacosa, the pocket thing that he was trying to show her was eclipsed for Aini by what Kaeru did next.
''gain, gain!' she clapped, wriggling around on her bottom, her tail wriggling excitedly.
'Do it 'gain!' karma_k A tension seemed to pass out of the foxcoon at Sajhiri's positive reaction to the youngling and she gently reached into the crib, shooing the corner of the blanket out of Dodge's mouth. Before he could protest, she'd picked him up, taking a quick peek into the leg of his diaper to make sure he was not in need of a changing, and then offered him to his new mother. "You want to go say hi?" she goaded the little lamb. They could worry about paperwork another time. She had Sajhiri's contact information, after all, and the papers could be completed by mail just as easily as they could be filled out in the office. Lenachan358 " Ronen. Nice ta meetcho." The otter grinned and his tail flicked from side to side. This one looked nice, but he had some bad things on his back. " Ouch...how did get that ?" An extended finger pointed on the almost spiky things. Eyes turned back to Aini for a moment and he pouted. She wasn't even interested in his famous bag...A slurping sound was heard from Kaeru's direction and Jacosa turned towards him. The fly was gone. That was a really cool thing to do, but the otter knew that his tongue wasn't able to do it. First he could fly and now he could eat flies...life was unfair. So he decided to sit down beside Ronen and showed the pocket to him. " Wanna try ?" His ears perked up though as he heard a familiar chirr. Dark otter eyes looked for the source. Today was best friend day ! Sajhiri Sajhiri's expression melted into a motherly smitteness. She just could never resist the little ones. The flood of Menagerie members was a testament to that. Her tower was filled with beings of every shape, size and species. She reached out to take the little lamb into her arms, and cradled him gently to her. "Aren't you the handsomest little lamb ever?" she cooed to him. "Hi Dodge, I'm here to take care of you." The lamb looked up at her, wide-eyed for a moment, until the compliment about his utter cuteness. that seemed to make him comfortable and happy, and he merrily began chewing on a lock of Jhiri's hair. Zero Dream ((Oh yeah, on that, Karma... >_>;;; Permision to throw a form your way sometime soon ?)) Ronen perked a bit, just fast enough to see Kaeru's tongue zoom right on the poor unsuspecting fly, and see it retract as quickly as it zoomed. ...And while the idea of eating flies was still gross to him, Kaeru's mighty tongue-fu impressed him indeed. "How you do that ?!?" He asked, surprise apparent. "Was aw-som !" Then his attention turned back to Jacosa, who had just spoken, his tail still wagging, but slower, out of instinctive caution and Zero's learning that he might hurt someone with the spikes on it. The spines on his back weren't that much of an issue... they couldn't pierce or cut. The dinosaur boy gave it some thought for a moment before answering. "Always had tat." He admitted, visibely not really having thought about it before. "Like you have tat." He pointed at his fur, visibely trying to draw a parallel. "And me don't." ...It made sence in his mind, at least. But then, he forgot all about it when he was presented the pocket. "Sur !" karma_k Karma stood silently, watching the two of them with a satisfied smile. This was, without a doubt, her favorite part of this occupation -- watching new families begin. After a short time, she spoke. "If you need supplies or anything, I have them in the supply closet" she offered. The seraph had already mentioned her love of babies, but it never hurt to make sure that a parent was well-stocked. Her supplies might not have been top of the line since she purchased them in bulk, but there were plenty to go around. nozomi_ga_kanau The minute he saw Jacosa, the little meerkat squealed, bouncing more, chirruping and churrings wildly. Patrick could only wince, reaching up and trying to pull him down once again.
"A-Akilah! Stop!"
"Eee!" He squealed, letting himself be taken down from his high perch. While the fly-snapping thing caught the little furry things attention, he wasn't the one who had petted his belly before! Small paws reached out for Jacosa, flexing and squeaking more, writhing to try and free himself from bejewled hands.
Akilah couldn't walk, but he could wriggle! And...drag and stuff.. Sajhiri Dodge's eyelids drooped sleepily. He opened his toothy maw to yawn loudly, letting out a little contented bleat before snuggling against Sajhiri for a nap. His little ears flicked back and forth, as if still following the sounds of conversation, perking whenever his new name was mentioned."Little Dodge, he's adorable, Karma. Thank you so much!" Sajhiri paused, peering at the foxcoon curiously for a few moments. There was a strange sensation she got from close vicinity to the woman. Something she usually felt in Tir Nan Og. Perhaps this was a kithain? But she'd not found a bloodline leading to her in her research yet. She'd have to look into that when she got home. "I think I should have most of what I need but ah...what would be best to feed him. Does he eat human food or would he prefer...ah..wheatgrass smoothies or something?" karma_k Karma blinked, watching the other woman stare at her for a few moments. She managed to keep herself from squirming, but felt a bit uncomfortable as she wondered what it was that was stare-worthy. Had she forgotten to brush her hair? Had she sneezed on herself again? ...and just like that the conversation, blessedly, resumed once more. "Its mostly a trial-and-error thing." the foxcoon explained. "Some of the kids prefer 'people' food, and others stick to what you'd expect them to eat. I'd definitely plan to keep him on a vegetarian diet, though." Her eyes fell on the sleeping lamb as she spoke. He really WAS a cutie. Then again, after the traumatizing experience of having Angellica arrive late at night, every baby that had come through the rift since had seemed like the most adorable thing in the world by comparison.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
