Another Mouth To Feed
(RP with Ice Queen)
Jack yawned, scrubbing both hands through his hair as he left his study. He paused just long enough to close the door and lock it - first with a key and then with a wave of his hand, callused fingers stroking the wood twice and then the doorknob in secret language. "That'll do it," he muttered under his breath. "Too many hours in there. My head'll go funny. Not workin' anyway."
A light weight landing on his shoulder made him start and he nearly swatted Brunswick away in instant, impulsive reaction. The feien neatly dodged the act and then strolled over to kick his bond in the neck. "You're talking to yourself again," he accused. "What the hell have you been doing in there? It was, what, almost 12 hours? Evie's about to cry. She misses you."
The Englishman stifled another yawn. "An' you, Bruns?" he asked. "Do I make you cry, too?"
"Yeah, sure. When you flirt with girls. Disgusting." He moved back to the edge of Jack's shoulder and sat down, cross-legged and balancing. "Go eat something so Evie doesn't think you're dead."
"You're a bossy little shite, you know that?" Nonetheless, Jack immediately began ambling down the hall towards the stairs. As he passed Shade's room, however, he paused and tilted his head. "Bruns... Do you hear something?"
The feien stood and half-closed his eyes. While he ordinarily did the opposite of what Jack suggested just to torment the man, the tone in his voice had him curious. "... Is that someone crying?"
"Yeah, sounds like." Jack hesitated, hand already lifting to touch Shade's doorknob. He glanced at Brunswick who shrugged as if to say "why not?" Jack nodded. "Well, it is my house, right?"
With that, he pushed open the door and stepped in gingerly.
"Please stop crying?" Calli asked, crouching down on the boy's chest to try and stop him. The little boy was sobbing quite pathetically, and she had no idea what to do to get him to stop. "Please? I don't know your name, of course, since you don't have one, but--,"
"Yeaaah, this is why I hate brats," Silva said from where he was hovering over them. Calli turned to glower at the taller feien.
"If you hate them so much why don't you le--," she stopped as she heard the door opening, and groaned. "We're so busted..."
Jack froze, head through the door, and stared at the small baby and the two feien. "Um... I didn't do that, right?" he finally managed.
Brunswick snorted, recovering faster than his bond, and promptly kicked Jack in the neck again before launching himself into the air. He fluttered over to land beside Callisto and patted her shoulder a bit. "Tough luck," he offered. "Hey, old man."
"Blame it on Shade," Silva said, glancing over at Bruns with a snort before looking over to Jack. "He did something stupid again."
"Don't talk about my bond like that," Calli snapped, only to groan as the baby started crying once again. "Shhh, shh, c'mon, it's okay. Why don't we name you? Um... Charlie?"
"Does he look like a Charlie to you?" Silva asked.
"Well, no, but I don't remember asking you!" She stopped, suddenly realizing that Jack deserved an explanation. "Well, um, you see, Shade--," she tried to think of something, but could only come up with, "did something stupid again."
"Color me surprised." Brunswick smirked and settled down into a crouch to study the child.
Meanwhile, Jack had managed to shake off his paralysis and pushed the door open further. Then, in a few steps, he was across the room and bending to gingerly lift up the child into his arms. There was an awkward moment as he tried to find the right way to hold the little boy; after all, the last time he had held a properly sized child was too long ago to be anything but a dim memory. Finally, he figured out a way to hold him and then he edged back to sit on the bed. "Okay, then." He sighed, peering down at the crying baby. "Right. So where is my flatmate, the idiot?"
"He's um, in space, getting baby things," Callisto admitted. "Since we've only got a little Gaia gold."
"He's broke? And he's getting a kid?" Silva asked, laughing abruptly. "No wonder Ice dumped him."
"He'll be back any moment, though," Calli said with another dark look at Silva. It wasn't that she hadn't thought those things herself, but hearing them from her nemesis made her pissed. "As soon as he has all the stuff he needs. I should have told him to get baby formula," she said abruptly.
"We'll figure something out." Jack absently started rocking the child in his arms but his gaze had moved to lock on Callisto. "So where did the sprog come from then?"
"And who in their right mind gives a kid to anyone in this house?" Brunswick added with a snicker. "You're different, Calli. You and me. We're not totally dependent on these idiots. Evie's just too much -her- to give a damn." His gaze flickered towards Silva. "By the way, old man, what're you doing here? Did you bring Soho with you?"
"I came to check out the brat," Silva lied smoothly. "Soho's off shopping with Ice again, or something. Hell if I know. She's an adult now, you know."
"The cabbage," Calli said as she flew over to them, looking down at the much calmer baby in his arms. "He's pretty, though," she admitted. "For a human baby male, that is." There was already signs of infatuation on her face, much to Silva's surprise.
"He is kinda cute, yeah." Jack looked down again to study the boy's face. "Little guy. Kids come outta the weirdest things, don't they? You an' Bruns from flowers, Evie from a cup..."
That caught Brunswick's attention and he lifted a bright eyebrow. "Oh, is she, huh?" he drawled. "I'll have to stop by and visit."
"She'd like that," Silva said blandly. The girl was too damn horny for his (not hers) own good. He was getting sick and tired of waking up with her curling up to him. He wasn't going to snog his own brat, dammit! No matter how hot she came out!
Antony's eyes were focusing more even as he spoke. It was as if his brain was comprehending and processing the language and storing it away. Calli didn't notice this at all. "I didn't expect him to come out this quickly, though," she admitted, patting the boy's cheek.
"Hungy," the baby said in a demanding tone, almost giving the little feien a heart attack.
Jack blinked. "... Did you just say hungry, sproglet?" he asked. "Yeah, I reckon you did. Wish I knew where Shade was but, ah, well. Needs must an' all that rot." Carefully, Jack stood, still cradling the child. "Maybe we can find somethin' soft downstairs for you t' fill up on."
Brunswick laced his fingers together behind his head and stretched lazily, ignoring the little drama near the bed in favor of the new information. "I guess I ought to," he announced. "I've gotta apologize, right? It's not good manners to desert a gorgeous girl. Not even if it's to take care of an idiot bond and his kid. Wait, you haven't met Evie. Never mind."
"What's the 'never mind' mean, brat?" Silva demanded, moving closer to Calli as if he expected her to run the moment she got the chance. She didn't, though, she was too focused on the baby and Jack.
"We could get--," she stopped as she heard something from the doorway. Shade pulled to a stop as he saw the scene in front of him, realizing abruptly that the kid in Jack's arms was probably HIS.
"I can explain," he said, letting the heavy box he had been carrying hit the ground.
"I just bet you can." Jack grinned at his roommate and walked over, pushing the box out of the way with his foot. "C'mon downstairs. He's hungry. You can explain on the way, huh?"
"Never mind is just..." Brunswick scowled a bit. "Look, Evie's a good kid, alright? She's just got too big a heart and I don't want her crushing on you or anything. Jack's already muttering about flushing a couple of her little cup friends."
"She's a cup?" Silva asked blankly, only to jerk as Calli followed Jack, still keeping an eye on the baby as if it were her new obsession. He didn't like that, he decided as he chewed on his toothpick. He really didn't like how easily she had gotten over her problem with him for the brat. He didn't realize his interest in the ancient was blatantly obvious until Shade's eyes fell on him, surprisingly cold.
"Don't even think of it, Silva," Shade said coldly before turning to chase after Jack. "So it's a boy?"
"Looks like. Cute sprog." Jack carefully picked his way down the stairs, extra cautious with his precious burden. "Doesn't look a thing like you luckily."
Following them, Brunswick barely managed to bite back his snickers at the sharp warning from Shade. Then he dragged his attention back to his own area of Do Not Touch. "Yeah, Evie came from a cup of liquid," he explained. "She grew out of it and then she grew some more. Cup's too small now."
"Huh," Silva said, not sounding too interested. "So she's a cup baby. I got a wolf brat and a skunk brat, but never heard of a cup brat," he added as he headed to follow them. He wasn't that worried about Shade's threat. Really. The b*****d had to accept she was an adult already, after all.
"He needs a name," Calli ordered. "And not Charlie."
"Huh? Well..." Shade thought for a second. "How about Antony?" he asked, picking a name out of thin air.
"That work for you, sproglet?" Jack asked the calmed child.
"Yeah, well. They're cool and boys." Brunswick moved ahead to stand on Jack's shoulder again, looking back over his shoulder, narrow-eyed, at Silva. "Evie's not a boy."
Silva smirked. "Warning me off of little sister?" he said. "No worries, brat, I don't like little girls."
Antony looked up at Jack sleepily, then spoke again, "is 'kay."
"He's already learned to speak?" Shade asked, almost tripping down the stairs. "Earthlings grow up fast!"
Jack laughed, reaching the bottom of the steps and heading towards the kitchen. "Shade, mate, he was a cabbage. Earthlings don't come out o' cabbages an' we don't talk 20 minutes after being born," he pointed out. "He's somethin' else a bit. Him talkin' makes things easier for you, though. Right, Antony? You can tell your Da what you want."
"Not warning." Brunswick shrugged. "Just saying. Like I'm worried. Evie's dopey but she's not completely stupid."
"Mm, I'll try not to break her heart," Silva said dryly. His eyes moved to Callisto again, contemplating. "Besides, I've got a much more interesting toy to play with at the moment," he added in a wickedly low tone.
Antony looked at Jack, then looked over his shoulder at Shade, who was still standing on the steps. Which was his dad? Were both? Did it matter? As long as someone fed him, he wasn't going to complain. Unless the food was horrible, that was.
"He's more like a feien than a human, in that way," Callisto said.
"More like. Quick on the uptake," Jack agreed with a smile at Callisto. "He'll be fun t' have around. I just hope he doesn't pick up things from Brunswick."
"Hey! He could do a lot worse, Jack." The feien in question folded his arms over his chest and scowled. "At least I've got some sense."
"See, I figure if he doesn't come out a serial killer then I'm doin' good," Shade said seriously.
"He will not become a serial killer!" Callisto said. "Isn't that right, Antony?" she asked the baby, earning a blank look as his mind processed the question.
Things like "serial killer" were still out of his range. But they wouldn't be for long, no doubt.
"I'm puttin' my foot down there. No serial killin' in this house." Jack grinned as he led the little parade into the kitchen. "Or you'll all be out on your ears."
"Daddy? Who's that?"
Jack paused immediately, so fast the others banged into his back. Seeing as how only one of them had any appreciable mass, this was no problem and he merely laughed a bit. "Oh, Evie," he said sheepishly. "I forgot you were in here, lil bit. I thought I'd put you in t' watch telly."
The little girl shook her head and her ponytail bobbed. "Nope! I got bored of that so you brought me in here to draw." She motioned to the piece of paper beneath her and the large blue crayon in her hand. Then she waved. "Hi, Shade! Miss Calli!"
Silva glanced over at her, unable to help himself after the kid had said what he said. She was cute, he had to admit, but not his type.
"Evie! Meet our new baby!" Calli said, flying over to the little cup girl with a beaming smile. "Bring him over for her to see!" she told Jack bossily, even as Shade pulled to a halt before quite running into the other male.
Antony looked around trying to twist in Jack's arms to see who was speaking this time, his big blue eyes curious as to who else lived with him.
Clearly amused by Callisto's orders, Jack obediently walked over so Evie could better see the baby boy in his arms. "What d'you think, lil bit?" he asked. "Shade's got a new sprog. His name is Antony."
Evie promptly abandoned the crayon and went up high on her knees to lean as far as she could over the rim of her glass. Reaching out a hand, she touched the little boy's cheek lightly. It was barely a feather's touch. "Oh, he's so cute!" she cooed. "Hi, Antony. My name is Evie. I bet you're going to like it here."
From his perch on Jack's shoulder, Brunswick rolled his eyes before turning to Silva and shrugging one shoulder gallically.
Antony gave her an angelic smile, added with a charming gurgle of laughter. He only expected such reactions, after all!
"He's like a little prince, isn't he?" Callisto asked, shaking her head and shoving her hair back with a hint of amusement.
"Y'know, you might be right," Shade said, peering over Jack's shoulder. "The clothes look like it, at least." The poor brat. His dad was poor.
"I should get goin'," Silva said casually. Ice would want to hear about this one...
"Yeah, if you have to." Brunswick grinned. "Tell Soho I'll be by to see her soon, okay?"
Evie blinked, attention distracted from Antony for a moment. "Hmm?" Spotting Silva, she blushed sheepishly and waved. "Oh. Hello! I'm sorry. He's just... Well, he's cute." She giggled. "I'm Evie."
"It'll be weird havin' someone 'round here who wears clothes," Jack mused.
"Sure," Silva said with a smirk before he nodded at Evie. "Don't worry, darlin, I've been getting that reaction all day," he drawled before heading for the window.
Callisto watched him, heaving a sigh of relief as he left. "Don't bother with him, Evie, he's not a nice man," she said in a motherly tone before turning back to the baby.
"I got stuff," Shade said abruptly. "A bed, and some clothes, and food... I think. The lady took one look at me and filled the list out for me."
"I don't blame her." Jack chuckled. "Mate, one look at you an' she knew. Just bless motherly sorts an' our life'll be easier."
Evie shrugged, frowning a bit. "He looked okay," she murmured. "He's like you and Brunswick so he can't be all bad."
"You'd be surprised," Calli said, making a face before she turned to Shade. "If she got you food for him, then go get it already," she said with another shove at her hair. "That's why we came to the kitchen, remember?"
"Oh! Right!" Shade said. "I'll go get the food, then," he added before heading for the stairs and the box he had left upstairs.
