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Ray nodded happily, neatly arranging the cookies on a larger plate, then he put two cookies on four separte plates, placing one in front of Bloo, his bear, then Kami, and then one plate for himself.

He was petting Bloo and watching Kami pour the tea when the little teapot lid slipped, and the luke-warm, mild tea spilled out, splashing onto the table, and then on her dress. Seeing Kami's expression quickly go from happy to quite distressed, he jumped to his feet and gave her a hug. In the process, he bumped the table, spilling more of the tea onto himself. He stepped back from Kami, and looked down at his shirt, grinning. He held onto the bottom of the shirt, stretching it out so Kami could see that he'd gotten dirty as well.

Of course, a little bit of dirt, mud, paint, tea, or anything else for that matter, really didn't bother him. He didn't mind getting completely filthy, as long as it was a great deal of fun was had in the process.



Emme glanced over to the children, and reacted calmly, heading to the kitchen to find a towel. "Don't worry hun, there's a bathtub upstairs, and I'm sure I've got something she can wear." She handed Pata a towel, and scooped up Ray in the towel she'd kept. "Silly boy! you got tea all over the shirt Uncle Torrin got for you!"

Bloo, the cat, completely unphased by the whole incident, made himself busy lapping up the spilt tea.

Emme nodded. "It is getting rather late. We'll have to do this again soon. I'll be at the shop more often with Ray, so I'm sure they'll see eachother again soon. I'll bring some crayons and such to the shop. I didn't know Kami liked to draw too." Emme smiled, and sat down Ray suddenly. "Speaking of! I have something Kami might like to color!" She ran into the small office, and shuffling could be heard as Emme searhed for something.

Ray waved up at Kami where she hugged her mother, waiting patiently in Pata's arms. He was actually quite amused with the turn of events, enjoying the minty sent of the tea on his clothes, and looked forward to the bath that was sure to follow.

Emme returned with a large tan envelope. Inside was a sheet of paper supported by a thin sheet of cardboard to keep the contents from bending. "Before I left for my vacation, I had Carcer draw a couple portraits of the Simulacra at the shop. I couldn't afford full color at the time, and never found the time to color it myself... Maybe Kami would like to color it?"





Emme and Ray waved happily as Kami and Pata made their way out the door and down the street to their own home. Street lights flickered on around them, almost on cue. It created a wondeful atmosphere, and Emme did her best to remember every detail to enter in her journal to remember for days to come.

Emme was looking through the shop files and photos of all the beautiful children that had emerged since the opening of 'Through the Looking Glass' over the past few months. There were almost 20 total... though she'd met so few of the children herself, and Ray perhaps even less. Then she spotted a girl among the other children, one that struck a chord with her for some reason... So she arranged for the young simulacra and her guardian to come for tea. Until she wsa able to attend to the shop more often, or arrange for a party of some sort, this seemed to be the best way to meet the children.

Ray was fairly apathetic about the whole thing... still unhappy with himself and his new ackwardness. He'd spent a good deal of time stretching, jogging and practicing archery, hoping to regain his childhood agility and or at least get back decent sense of balence and a better feel for the limitations of his new height and bulk. Nothing really seemed to help.

he was enjoying his voice, though. As his speach caught up with his written vocabulary, he felt more at ease speaking with others, though he was still halting and short with the things he did say.

Emme had nearly forgotten about the date with Kerryn and Merewen, immersed in a painting when she heard a knock on the door. Ray had been casually picking a few things up, but he didn't mind his mother's clutter and left most of the open shop/studio in it's usual disarray. He set up the low asian style table near the couch, stereo and sitting area of the studio and put on some herbal tea while his mother ran upstairs to wash the paint from her hair.

Ray made his way to the door, shaking his head at his mother's poor planning and forgetfulness. It WAS her idea afterall, you'd think she could keep things straight.

"Coming." he said, though it was probably barely audiable through the doors. He grabbed the handle of the double french doors and pulled the right door open wide, revealing their waiting guests. "Sorry for the wait, mother got distracted..." He said, looking the pair over. The older woman looked about his mother's age, and he smiled as he noticed taht she too sported a nose ring. A girl stood beside her, obviously a reflection of her guardian, as most the simulacra are... Her hair was dark, black actually, and she was rather petite, with lovely green eyes.

"Come on in," he said, showing them to the couch in at the far back of the room with teh low sitting table sitting on a thick plush rug. "Make yourself at home, the couch is rather comfy, though I prefer the rug." He went to the kitchenett on the north side of the room and got out the tea glasses. "I made some mint herbal tea, though i have several types of tea if you'd like to pic your own. There's hot water ready." He brought the tea pot of hot water, the cups and a box of assorted teas to the table and sat them down.

"Oh, yes... sorry, i wasn't thinking. I'm Ray.. Mom's upstairs, she should be down soon." He took Kerryn's hand as she introduced herself... as their hands touched, he froze up for a moment, feeling rather light headed, a rush of images flicking in his mind's eye. He took a moment to recover. "ah... have we met before?" he asked the younger girl, stammering a bit. He was almost sure he hadn't... though he had soem rather muddled memories from before he grew, so anything was possible. "You seem familar some how..." He shrugged, and went about pouring the tea and placing a chamomile bag in the girl's cup andhanding it to her. "Careful, it's hot."

Emme chose that moment to come rushing down the stairs, her hair a wet mess, though she had put on a fairly nice dress and was actually wearing a pair of shoes. "Sooooo sorry Bri!" She exclaimed, coming into the open space of the studio. "I got caught up painting... But I'm so glad you're here! And Kerryn! Welcome! Don't you and Ray look cute together, both in green."

Ray shook his head again at his mother's rambling and went to the kittchenette again to fetch some biscuits and cookies.

Ray noticed that Kerryn seemed to have the same strange reaction he had when they'd touched hands. He hope it didn't bother her too badly... He was baffled by his own reaction, and wondered at teh fact that this perfect stranger seemed so familiar.

"Ray and Ryn! How cute!" Emme said, amused with Bri's comment.

Ray shook his head again... He couldnt' remember his mother being quite so annoying when he was younger.

"I'm sorry again for my absentmindedness." She attempted to arrange her hair, and straighten her dress, though it didn't do much good. What a terrible impression I must be giving! She thought as she made her way to the sitting area. "Thank you so much for coming. I was away from the shop for so long, and am so busy these days, it seems that searching through our files and inviting folks over is the only way I'll ever meet everyone!"

Ray brought the snacks to the table, sitting across from Kerryn on the floor, his feet tucked under. A small blue cat had appeared from out of no where, seemingly instinctively aware of the fact that there was food with in reach. While Emme was distracted, Ray slipped the cat a bit of cookie.

"Oh! my painting... It's kind of hard to explain... I've been having dreams about the shop, I think there is a spirit watchign over us there. I've been obsessed with trying to paint her, but I can never seem to capture her correctly." Emme fixed her own tea, and knelt down to sit on the carpet much like Ray. "But enough about me. I want to know about you and Kerryn!"

Quickly growing bored of his mother's rambling, Ray leaned towards Kerryn and whispered, "I dont' know about your mom, but mine's bound to talk forever. If you want, we can go out to the back yard. There's a pond out there with Koi, and I've got lots of drawing supplies upstairs if you like to draw."

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