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BEACH PARTY!

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The dreams were getting worse.

Ronan had thought he moved past all this last summer. He’d come home, gotten a brace on his wrist, taken a little time off to heal, and gradually came back on a lighter work load until things were back to normal. No dreams after the first few nights, no intrusive thoughts, nothing to worry about except the concerns of Kris and Maili. Things had been fine. But he was starting to learn that putting something behind him was not the same as making peace.

Ronan stared at the ceiling as his breathing slowed, chasing away the image of the demon’s claws closing around his face and rubbing at the scar on his arm - a nervous habit that had gotten worse in the past few weeks. All it had taken was a mention at the beach party and the conversation at the bar. That’s all it took to make him lose control.

It made him feel pathetic.

Desire to sleep broken Ronan crawled out of bed, ignoring the 4:02 on his clock and grabbing his swimsuit, the selkie changed and out the door in only a few moments. The wind made his skin ripple with gooseflesh but he moved forward. It would be even colder where was going. Bare feet stepped over rock and then sand and he focused on the tactile sensation, trying to clear his head. Step, breathe, pause. Focus on what’s there. The wind continued to rush past him, a new sound gradually coming in - surf. He’d arrived at the beach.

The moon was the barest possible sliver, only days away from the new moon and stars splashed against the sky. Below the water was equally dark. Things had died down to a slight breeze and now the waves brushed softly against the sand, water whispering. For a long moment the selkie just stood at the water’s edge, wondering why he was out here, why he was doing this now, but as he did the demon’s image rose in his mind’s eye and he ran into the waves, away from the memories.

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AKA Ronan and Connor are Huge Nerds

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Emails between Ronan and Zeke checking up on the raevan, and eventually talking about a new individual to bring home

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The time has come

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The door to Vermillion bakery swung open, two individuals entering - one walking, one floating. Amity looked around with wonder at the shop. Stars practically lit in her eyes at the decorations, the frei enjoying how similar some of the shop colors were to her own.

"HELLO! Anyone there?"

"Indoor voice, Amity."

"Oh!" She brought a hand up to her mouth, watching as Ronan fought off laughter. Her next words were much quieter. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he said, finally chuckling. "Just something to remember."

As of now the selkie had yet to spot Cesc, though he hoped to catch sight of him soon. It was only fair that the sigel would get the chance to meet the raevan who's soul he had helped obtained. The fact that Ronan had decided to make it a surprise, well... it might not work out, but he figured it was worth taking the chance.

The only face behind the counter was Vivi's pretty one-- she wore a red flowing shirt and her hair was braided elaborately and hanging over her shoulder. She was just finishing ringing up a client-- fresh baguette and a croissant to go, with coffee-- when she lit into a smile seeing Ronan and his charge. The smells in the bakery were reigned by wheat and yeast and coffee in the morning, welcoming and rejuvenating as Vivi's smile was now.

Laughter rang from her and she lifted up her arms in a silent request for them to come closer, her face bright and happy.

"My goodness, hello! What sweetness! What a very very long time that it has been, non? Who is this I see here?!" She called, her voice sweet and inviting. "Come here instantly, it is that I must see you."

Amity took a liking to this new individual almost immediately. They didn't seem to be the person Ronan had told her about (they weren't another raevan, for one thing) but she was more than happy to see them in the meantime.

The frei also took the command of "instantly" somewhat literally - with a few strong beats of her wings the flying fox soared across the room to the french woman, barely bringing herself to a stop to avoid crashing into her. "Amity! Pleased to meet you."

Ronan followed a few seconds later. "She just came home on the 24th. Is, ah, Cesc here?"

"Oh!" Vivi's laugh heightened as Amity flew right to her, and the French woman braced for impact as the Frei came close, her mouth opening and her eyebrows lifting in an expression of pleased surprise. In the end, however, it was she who closed the distance, leaning over the counter to pull the flying fox into a hug and two air-kisses on the cheek.

"Darling child, how exuberant you are! What life you have! I am Vivi, and it is a pleasure to meet you, beauty." Vivi beamed at Ronan. "A moment you kept her from meeting us is too long! Rhedefre will be overjoyed -- but wait, no! He left just fifteen minutes ago for a hike, he is at the Oceanview Trail now!" The Frenchwoman's smile twisted. "Oh! He will truly curse his luck to have missed this one!"

Every bit of physical contact almost seemed to make Amity glow, her already cheerful expression becoming even brighter. She'd learned already that not everyone appreciated this sort of thing, but this, this was nice. The last words out of Vivi's mouth were less pleasant, and she watched as Ronan's face fell. Only one option then.

"Can we go out and meet him?"

Ronan stopped on the words he had just started to form, looking over at the frei in surprise. It wasn't something he had thought of, and yet, if she were willing... He turned back to Vivi.

"Actually, would you be okay giving us directions to the trail?" Amity was about brimming with energy at this point, and he didn't feel like having it end just yet.

Vivi's smile turned back to its full wattage at the option, and she nodded along with Amity's suggestion as though SHE were the one asking to go or come along. It gladdened her heart to not have to disappoint Cesc--nearly one year removed from their shared trauma and she still had trouble seeing him even the least upset.

"One moment, I will draw for you a map--" said Vivi, pulling a clicky pen and a napkin from beneath the bar. She bent, working quickly on the directions, now and then ticking her eyes up to the flying fox Raevan. What liveliness she displayed, what cheerful willingness to be loved and accepted she seemed to have! She was beautiful in a different way than an Anya or Zurine, handsome and exquisite and flushed.

"There you are!" She said upon finishing, holding out the napkin to Ronan. "Is this legible? He will not have gone far by now; he always stretches first." She winked at Amity. "I hope you will like our Rhedefre!"

"Thank you!" both said, the two voices seeming to have an echo as they overlapped.

"See you again soon!" Amity added on, leaning over to hug Vivi once more before flying out the door and Ronan only realizing what had happened a few second later. He burst out laughing.

"I'd better go catch her before she gets lost. Thanks again!"

***

A few minutes later the two of them found themselves on the trail, Amity still keeping a quick pace but luckily slow enough for Ronan to keep up - she was getting more than distracted by the scenery, sometimes pausing for several seconds to gaze slackjawed at trees that stretched up to the sky.

Something else managed to catch Ronan's eye a second later - a flash pink and gold. Taking a chance the selkie cupped his hands around his mouth, projecting the best he could.

"Cesc!"

Cesc hadn't been hiking--or the Raevan variation thereof--very long. He'd gotten a little distracted on his way out, chatted with a passerby who recognized him from the bakery, took his time stretching. It wasn't often the Sigel had a day off, and when he did, he very rarely took it /off/. His agenda for today: a morning workout (check), a morning hike, back to the bakery for a little pitching and hitting practice, lunch at the beach while taking Guy Smiley for a walk, a shower, some light reading and lessons with Granny, dinner, drinks... the list went on.

One thing he did NOT have on his list was being called to just now, when he was just getting into the groove of his flight. Immediately, his heart jumped--a problem at the bakery?-- and he circled back, his ears flicking as he found the source of the yell.

"Ronan?" Cesc called back, still between trees, his eyes trained on the selkie and not yet seeing his companion.

It was him! Ronan started to jog over to Cesc, but long before he could arrive Amity zoomed past him and barrelled straight towards the sigel. This seemed to be turning into a trend... and a somewhat alarming one at that. He only hoped he would manage to keep up in the future.

The frei had planned barrel into Cesc with a hug, letting him know just how excited she was to meet him - but then she remembered at the last second he might not want one. As a result she swerved and went into a confused spin for a few seconds, finally righting herself with out stretched arms a moment later.

Cesc smiled at Ronan and lifted a hand to greet him -- well, this was some luck, wasn't it -- when a sudden movement caught his eye. The speed was the first thing that Cesc noticed, and the phrase 'bat out of hell' popped gracelessly into his mind as his eyes widened and he started, arms out and wings splayed. Instinctively, his antlers and wings turned into golden light, expecting mischief, with the prongs of his antlers sharpening to points and his wings growing to impressive, glittering size.

Then he paused, concerned, uttering a cry as the -- wait, what was that?-- lost some control and swerved and dipped and then stopped. And Cesc saw what she was, silver hair tousled, light-white threads waving about her like a halo, her dark skin flushed and her eyes young, blissfully young and sweet and naive.

His glow dissipated. His antlers rounded and his wings shrank and folded back and the shock on his face melted cleanly into a genial smile. A hug. She wanted a hug. She was here to meet him.

Part of the Sigel suddenly remembered what it meant to be Frei, a newborn, meeting everyone and hoping to be liked, hoping to do everything right, and here he was now: tall and broad in his athletic dry-fit shirt and stubble, somewhat sweaty already from the hike, meeting this astounding, sporty, beautiful creature he'd somehow somehow had a hand in creating.

Cesc laughed. His color was high, and he put out his arms. "I don't smell so good," he warned. "But I'm happy to hug you all the same."

In her brief tailspin Amity had missed most of Cesc's threat display, only seeing the last bit of fading light as she turned back around. The laugh that greeted her however was so much brighter than what she might have seen before, and she gladly accepted offer for a hug, burying her face in his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him. Unlike her, he had a waist, making the experience of hugging more like that of hugging Ronan than that of hugging another frei. She didn't mind however - she could find out how the other felt another time.

Ronan finished jogging up to where the other two were, having sprinted for a brief period when Cesc's antlers had sharpened, but he was glad to see that everything had turned out alright. Hand holding or linked arms was definitely going to be kept in mind for the future when he was out and about with Amity.

"Hey there!" He said. "I guess that ended up as more of a surprise than I expected, sorry about that."

It took a long few seconds, but Amity finally extracted herself from the hug when she heard Ronan, still beaming at Cesc even as she backed up.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Amity!"

She hugged him anyhow, unabashed and friendly. He was surprised at how outgoing she was, and when she spoke, he was further impressed by her command of the language. His own had lagged, and for nearly a year he'd felt himself a stranger in a strange land by the nimbleness of everyone else's tongues. She, however, seemed built for any kind of deftness.

"It's alright!" laughed Cesc. "Any time you want this kind of surprise, I'm up for it."

He turned back toward Amity then, his smile still wide and pleased. "Amity, I'm Rhedefre--but you can call me Cesc, too, if you like." He put a hand on her shoulder, gentle. "It's very, very nice to meet you."

Ronan grinned at Cesc's statement, settling in next to the two raevans and hooking his thumbs in his pockets. "I'll keep that in mind for the future."

Amity herself gave a nod at given name. "Cesc... okay!" They'd made it, she'd met him... and now a new question formed in her mind.

"What are you doing," she paused, taking a moment to gesture wildly at their surroundings and the trees, "out here?" Vivi had mentioned something about a hike, but Amity wanted to know what that meant to him.

Cesc smiled at Ronan but slid his eyes to Amity and kept them on the Frei. There was much he wanted to ask Ronan -- when Amity had arrived, how things had gone so far, how elated his family must be-- but he kept the questions for another time, one when Amity was not around. For a newborn, the short histories of their lives were nowhere as fascinating as exploring the world. And that, THAT, Cesc wanted to assist in-- especially after how spectacularly he and Ronan had failed that poor bat in her soul's past life.

He looked at Amity, at her graceless, youthful gesticulating, her boundless enthusiasm.

Maybe the term 'spectacular failure' wasn't really necessary, after all…

"I'm out here on a hike," said Cesc with a nod. "A hike is when you go out in the forest and you just walk or run or climb or fly for a while, away from buildings and the city, and get to be with nature for a little bit. It's very nice to do, and it keeps you strong." He patted his own bicep in a show of what he meant. Then, with a boyish grin, he added: "And it's pretty, and fun."

Amity floated transfixed as Cesc gave a description of what a hike was. In her mind she felt as if a small checklist was being checked off with each word. This was so many things she was interested in... and more.

She wanted to do it. Badly.

Seeing Cesc flex his bicep Amity immitated the gesture, looking down at her arm. Her muscles weren't as big simply due to the fact of smaller arms, but something told her that her own showing of flexing muscles wasn't bad at all. She looked back to the sigel with a large grin.

"Can you teach me? The climbing first, maybe?"

Ronan watched as Amity seemed to discover new passion all at once, and hoped the result would be positive. He definitely knew she needed some way to burn her boundless energy.

Cesc's eyebrows lifted and his head cocked back--he hadn't expected the frei to have been so gung ho and forthright. Immediately, he smiled, looking over at Ronan with his head tilted.

"Well, sure--if Ronan says it's okay, I don't see why not!"

"I'd say go for it," Ronan said with a smile. "I'll hang back if that's alright." He could do basic running, but he had a feeling what the two of them could do would be somewhat out of his skill range - and he'd already seen how absurdly fast Amity could when she wanted.

Amity bobbed up and down and brought her hands together, looking back over to Cesc. "I'm ready when you are!"

Her enthusiasm was infectious. Cesc nodded at Ronan, relieving the selkie of any further need to stick around, although Cesc wasn't entirely certain he could keep Amity in hand if it was needed. Ah, well--who was to say that Ronan did, either, after her entrance?

"Alright, Ronan! We'll holler if we need you then, ah?" Cesc laughed, half-teasing. He turned toward Amity then, trying to remember her makeup. The flying fox he remembered well, but what was her essence? Tree-something? Sap? Bark--wait, yeah, bark. Well, seemed like she'd probably take to trees well then...

"Okay!" Cesc put his hands together in a 'let's get going!' sort of clap, then rubbed them together as he looked around for a good tree. "Well, now, you can climb trees or rocks, but we've mostly got trees around here, so why don't we go with that? Does that sound alright?"

He floated to one nearby and motioned for Amity to follow him.

"Sounds amazing," Amity said, looking up at the tree in front of her. She'd fed from different trees before closer to home, just a little bit at a time, but somehow she'd never really thought about climbing them. Maybe it had something to do with the size - this tree was so much bigger than any she'd seen before.

"What do I need to do?" Part of her wanted to grab a snack right there, but she figured it'd be better to let Cesc give her the pointers first - and who knew, maybe the bark at the top might feel different!

"Well," said Cesc, floating closer to her. "It's kind of a… personal decision. When people climb, they've got to think about their legs and feet and hips and gravity. We've got these." Cesc flaired open his wing in demonstration, then folded them neatly across his back again. "So we don't have to worry about that stuff, unless we want to. But this is climbing, not flying, so I usually try to do what I can without my wings, and just use them as balance, or as a catch, should I need to."

As he spoke, Cesc went forward and grabbed a hold of the lowest branch that he could find. He pulled himself up like a pull-up to branch level, and opened his wings slightly to steady his balance. From there, he reached up and grabbed another branch and did the same- a swing and pull sort of motion, pressing aside branches with his wings in lieu of legs. When he reached three branches up, he looked down to see if Amity followed. "Be careful of your wings while you go! Branches can pack a punch."

"Okay!"

Coming up to the tree Amity began to follow after Cesc, keeping her wings bundled tightly to her back. She'd already learned that the membrane on her wings could be sensitive, and she had no desire to test that on sharp tree branches.

While things took a little longer without pushing things out of the way with her wings Amity had sooned squirrel up to where Cesc was, looking at him expectantly while clinging to a nearby branch.

"What next? Do we keep going up?"

"You go up as high as you want!" laughed Cesc, pulling himself up onto a higher branch. He continued the motions, pushing and pulling, clearing a path, choosing the way that seemed easiest for his new young friend--until finally he stopped, close to the top of the tree, and rested there. He waited for Amity to reach him and then he turned toward her with a smile.

"Then you get your reward," he said, motioning with his head outward. From the top of the tree, the view was so different, the perspective so shifted! They could see into other trees, see the nests of birds made from twigs and all sorts of things, the holes where squirrels lived, the natural pathway that foot traffic of man and beast left on the ground. It was peaceful, too, quieter in the branches, with the noise of other hikers' conversations just barely reaching them--like a laugh on a breeze.

"It's nice, isn't it?" prompted Cesc, smiling.

When Amity heard a mention of a reward while climbing the last few branches, she wasn't sure what to expect. What she got wasn't it. It was better.

Spread out before her was almost more natural wonder than she'd ever seen, and in that instant she knew, just knew that this was the sort of thing she wanted to be able to see, to explore in this strange and wonderful world she was still learning.

She perched on the tip of the tree, ears and wings shivering along leaves in the breeze as her lips parted, her next words a mere breath. "It is."

"Thank you."

Cesc had a feeling, considering Amity's makeup and general disposition--by far the most active and cheerful newborn he'd ever met-- that he should be looking at her face when she arrived at the top, and not the view.

He wasn't wrong.

He broke into a smile at her look of wonder, her face colored from exertion and her eyes bright with excitement. What a brilliant child, thought Rhedefre, to be in Ronan's care. He'd make sure she was always that way.

"Any time," he replied simply.

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Amity couldn’t sleep.

2:13 glowed on the microwave clock in the kitchen, wind whispering outside and the sound of crashing waves in the distance. Moonlight sent branching shadows through the windows. The refrigerator hummed.

Several hours ago Ronan had wished her goodnight, ruffling the hair between her ears and squeezing her shoulder. Telling her to get some rest and not stay up too late. And yet here she was, restless. Unable to match up with the normal schedule.

For the most part, things have been great since she came home. Ronan has been teaching her basic reading, and showing her around the island. Maili fills in some more gaps, and tells her about social stuff or what she should say to people (though Amity isn’t always sure that she should trust that advice). Kris has been showing her fashion and flowers and music. The hikes she takes around the forests and the trees and all the different animals are amazing!

And yet...

Amity floated over to one of the windows, watching a tree branch shake in the breeze as the leaves danced, scattering starlight that was only partially covered by the clouds. As much fun as she’d had, and even with all the stuff Ronan and Maili and Kris have done for her, Amity was still very aware that she was... different. The half body was the obvious one, and the wings and the hair and the ears too, but it was also the way everyone else talked with each other, interacted with each other. Half the time they already seemed to know what the other’s going to say, or it was some joke where Amity didn't know the punchline and everyone else burst out laughing. She could tell that they really cared and were trying to help her, yes, but she wasn't part of the group. Not really.

Then, there was a glow, out of the corner of her eye down the hallway and away from the kitchen and windows. One that she hadn’t noticed from her previous spot in the middle of the couch. A lamp left on? A night light maybe? The frei floated down the hall, arms hugging her chest and wings tight against her back.

Once she got closer she realized the light was coming from Maili’s room, the door cracked and the glow just barely seeping out, far too faint to be one of the lamps or main lights. Through the crack she could see Ferdinand sleeping on his little bed on top of the dresser, antennae twitching. Taking a deep breath through her nose, Amity pushed open the door.

At the sound of the door creaking Maili gave a start on the bed, guilt flashing on her face and quickly folding closed a clamshell case, the light winking out. A moment later she finally seemed to realize that Amity wasn’t Ronan and that she wasn’t going to get in trouble. She relaxed, though still regarded the frei somewhat warily.

“... hey. You alright?”

“Um. Yeah.” Amity floated there, continuing to hug her arms to her chest. “Can’t sleep. What’re you doing?”

Maili hesitated for a moment, then slowly opened the clamshell back up and motioned for Amity to come over. “Close the door first though.”

Closing the door behind her and making sure it wasn’t cracked this time Amity floated over and settled down on the bed next to Maili, ribbon pooling beneath her. She found herself looking at two bright little screens, a colorful creature sleeping on the bottom one until Maili poked it with a stylus, and it yawned, two little hearts floating up as it woke. For several moments Amity watched fascinated as Maili pet, played with, and fed the little creature, all the way until a whole stream of hearts filled the screen at once.

“It’s... just a game,” Maili said, switching to a different creature with the stylus and starting the whole process over again. “Not even the main part of it, really, but it helps when I’m stressed out. Something nice I guess.”

“It does sound nice,” Amity said, arms slowly relaxing and hands setting down on the bed, hands that gladly took the system and stylus a moment later when Maili passed it over, Amity now petting the creature and feeding it all she could. They lost track of how much time they spent, passing the system back and forth or Maili going to get more of the creatures from an in game computer, but they didn’t care.

Sure, things weren't perfect, but for right now... it was going to be okay.

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