Welcome to Gaia! ::

Chao looked up, barely catching sight of the last fading rays of the sun before turning back to Aido and the level, slightly annoyed look the Embellished Tale was giving her.

"Aemu, I'll be fine, just let me go for a little while?"

The Author dragged a hand through her dark locks, "fine, fine. But are you sure you don't want me to come with?" The look returned. "Alright, alright, I'll be by later after I get my stuff from the library. Don't go anywhere else but the Stationary Store," she gave her daughter a cold stare, blinking as she received a hug in return.

"I won't! Promise!" Turning swiftly Aido dashed down the walkway towards the Stationary Store, a confidence she didn't feel in her stride. She dropped to a slow walk after Chao disappeared around the corner.
She sighed and chewed on her lip as she walked, halo glowing softly to further light the way until the streetlights came on.

"I'm not being slow ya know. And I know.. but I'd rather keep it locked anyway. Call it a very old habit." That made him snicker as he sung Jiro down onto the ground and let him walk on his own. The portal to the store was already opened so it wasn't hard to just get there. Sah rather loved Silent's company and Silent learned quickly that females ewre treated very very well here. Mainly cause there weren't that many there. This race was mainly male. But the animosity beteen Angelus and Jiro was still very much alive and 'well' and it bothered him.

"Not that I don't trust everyone here, just i've lived in the human world too long heh..I cant help it. Think anyone'll be at the store?"

" Yeah yeah yeah. You need to lose some weight. You know, Sah was commenting on your habit of eating too many sweets." She couldn't help but tease the man. Sah never said such a thing, but it was fun nonetheless. Silent looked down at Angelus. Nothing. Not a word nor peep.

She turned her attention back to Jiro and Akiya. " The human world is a scary place, I agree. Hmm... Hopefully someone will be there, if not, we can always get more books." Silent's favorite room at the home was the little library. More books were always better.

Angelus' head lay over Silent's shoulder. Emotionless brown eyes looked to Jiro then to Akiya. At rare moments did the child so any sign of feeling. But those moments were with Silent or Akiya. No one else.

Aido peered through the glass of the Stationary Shop breifly before taking a deep breath of air and running her fingers through Rael's fur as the Shadow briefly appeared.
The bell rang softly as she entered, only to find that no one else was there.
Laughing quietly to herself she simply shook her head, heading deeper into the little shop, examining it from her new vantage point. She wouldn't mind just waiting here, even if no one else was about, the Stationary Shop always made her feel safe after all.

"Am I getting fat?" He had the feeling this was a joke so he played along with it, letting out little whimpers as he pt his rock hard stomach> "waahh well I'd better start working out or something before I get fatter. Then Sah'll abadon me and it'll be all sorts of bad!" Snickering, he let those two enter the portal first before he and Jiro. "Yeah that's true... I need to get some of my books back from Keeper.. if he's done reading them anyway..."

He noticed those annoying eyes looking at him, and he smoothly looked away. Annoying Angelus. Bad enough he was still living, he kept looking at him. It bugged him like nothing else that he had shared his blood with that no good upstart.

When Angelus looked at him, his eyes softened as he smiled at him. The longer his silence, continued, the more determined he got to fix him.. whtever it took. He would make him better...

As soon as Akiya passed the portal and stood next to her and patted the flat stomach. She grabbed about a centimeter of skin. " You see that? Look at that fat. Don't worry. You and I can start working out. That way I can get in shape as well." She also grabbed her skin, pretending for it to be fat. " Now now. Sah will love you. Whether you blow up to be a hippo. I think he'd like the extra meat." She winked at the angel.

Angelus didn't react to Jiro's expression. It was as if he never noticed it. He stood quiet. Motionless, except for his eyes moving about him. He didn't have Darkness anymore. From what he heard, the man left the cave that day and was never seen again. A shiver ran down his spine. He swiftly closed his eyes. Ever since the transfusion, strange things happened to his body. What did the Tale's blood do to him? Angelus watched the smile on the man's face as he opened his eyes. His fingers gripped Silent's shoulders. He wanted to reach out; wanted to be held by the angel, but knowing Jiro... That would never be.

His face showed true horror as fake little tears slipped down his face. "Waaah I'm so fat! And trust me, me dear, Sah would not wish to be crushed by a hippo XDDD" Looking at her little bit of flesh, he snorted. "You should meet my sisters. They have the same issue you do XD." Feeling a faint tug on his robes, he looked down at Jiro, who was sending images into his head. "All right. Go ahead and see if anyone is there.." Jiro liked to scamper off ahead after awhile of being in their company. It wasn't much and it saddened Akiya like nothing else, but it was better than him being as openly hostile as he had been before.

His eyes were soft as he watched him reach the door of the shop and disappear inside before he felt someone looked at him and looked back at Angelus. There was a sensation.. Angelus wanted something. Silent..? Would it be all right if I hold Angelus for a little bit?"

Shoving open the door, he looked around, not seeing anyone he knew. There was one person there, btu he didn't exactly know her so he went over to his trusty box and rummaged about for his plush. But that smell was familiar...

Aido hummed to herself as she looked at the various Stationary, idly hoping to find something to read, she was getting tempted to break her promise to Aemu and wander off. It wasn't like she'd go far, just enough to see something-
The thought never finished itself as Rael brushed against one bare foot and she turned around at the sound of a box opening and froze.
It was Jiro, but he only glanced at her and she wasn't sure what she should do, he seemed intent on finding something. Still....
"Hi Jiro," she said softly, hand back on Rael's head for comfort.

Silent could only laugh at the angel's expression. " Please. Sah would probably be crushed under the weight." She chuckled. Her smile turned into a huff at the comment about his sisters. " They probably have the right idea." She smiled at the gentle jibes between the two. Her brown eyes fell to look at the top of a brown head. Her hand ran over his hair. She looked to Akiya at the request. Nodding her head, she carefully placed the child in his arms. The trio finally made it to the shop and walked through the door.

Angelus felt his being held by Akiay. His eyes went to the angels neck. No scar. Not like the one he had, but he huddled his face in his neck breathing in his scent. He was safe in the mans arms. Just like Silent's arms, he felt peace.

Someone was speaking to him. In a casual tone as if they were friends or something. It irked him but he paused in what he was doing, dropping the plush he had managed to grab onto as he looked at Aido carefully. There was something... hmm.. That smell. That hair color... the eyes. Finally, he gave a curt nod. "Greetings, Aido." The knight in shining armor chick. Seems she had grown up since last they met. What was he supposed to say to that. You look nice? are you wearing something new? He shouldn't listen to Mouu when he read those stupid human mags. "Good to see you're doing well..."

Good that was smart. Civil.. whatever. He couldn't care less. But Shouhin said to be civil to everyone. He might as well force himself. But his inner thoughts he kept behind his calm exterior. "And how are you?"

"My fears exactly." SNickering to himself more than anything else, he pulled Angelus close, stroking his hair. Poor little thing that gone through so much hell... but he wasn't alone. Silent and now Akiya and his family were doing everything they could to make him better. He had a scar on his neck, but his was made by a blade and was hidden mainly by his hair. Feeling him shift, he smiled before they all went inside and saw Jiro speaking to... "Aido?" She's grown since last time he had seen her!

Aido smiled slightly as Jiro recognized her, it seemed to take people a moment now. He was even being well, rather nice. She wasn't sure what to expect from people now, especially Jiro, "it's nice to see you Jiro. I'm mostly alright, how're you?"
And then the group came through and she went stiff again, briefly giving them a deer in the headlights look before waving weaking at Akiya and Silent, "ara, um, hallo everyone."
Suddenly caught sight of her silent friend, huddled against Akiya's neck, "Ang'lus!" she started, she hadn't seen her friend since the incident with Glory and Darkness and immediately rushed over, hesitation and uncertainty gone.
Standing on her tiptoes to see her friend better, "are you alright? Is he alright Akiya? Silent?" She looked from one adult to the other worriedly.

Angelus let out a small sigh at the caress against his hair. He grasped the mans shoulders tighter. Is this what it felt like to have a father figure? He shook his head. No. He had Jiro. And he had Silent, but his whole home was full of women. No male figure. He couldn't help but look up to Akiya. Even Sah, even though he did have womanly tendencies. His attention went from the mans neck to a older girl. His eyes squinted at the female. They widened in realization. Aido. He tried to hide his face. What would she think of him? A poor pathetic child who got everyone in child and couldn't defeat the master of Glory. He was weak. Weak.

Silent didn't know how to answer that. " Well... He's awake and eating, but..." A sigh escaped her lips. How could she tell her that he wasn't the same. The two childhood friends. " Ever since the incident... He hasn't been the same." Maybe seeing Aido would do Angelus some good.

He only gave a slight shrug in responce. He was being civil. Civil was not nice. "Well enough..." But when his Shouhin came in, his mouth shut instantly and he went back to rummaging about in his box. Somehow, he had to pick a dragon he wanted to keep... His head hurt for a moment and he sighed before he picked up another dragon. .....

"He's all right for right now, Aido.. just.. very quiet..." He nodded as he shifted down a bit so she could see him better. Though it seemed impossible, he did sometimes forget about his height and the fact he towered above most people. "He's very quiet so please forgive him for not saying anything..." In his eyes, he cared for Angelus the same way he did for Jiro. But the thing was, he was getting faint images from Angelus, like he did from jiro and he blinked before he tilted his head up so he looked at him. "You aren't weak, Angelus.." He placed a light kiss on his forehead and sent him an image. If his guess was right, he'd be able to pick it up.

The image basically showed him that he held the two tales in the same regard. If Angelus needed him for anything, even if it was a hug or just a shoulder to cry on, he'd be there for him. Make no mistake. But he felt something and looked down at Jiro, who was holding something in his hands. "Jiro?"

He was not a pleased puppy, but he wanted to do this. Why? He didn't know. "It's for him." He nodded his head in Angelus direction before he extended the gift to him. "It's nothing much..." Shrugging, he let Akiya take the dragon and he went to sit down by his box and play with his black glowy one. One nice thing he'd ever do for Angelus. Ever.

His eyes softened with a deep sense of pride for his little Tale before he offered Angelus the dragon plush. "Will you accept this?"

Aido caught the look before Angelus could hide his face and bit her lip, worry clouding her eyes, unsure as to how to take that look of disgust. Was he disgusted with her or angry at himself or...?
Her eyes slid to Silent then back to Angelus, stretching herself up further, trying to get on eye level with her friend, "Ang'lus? Ang'lus wha's the matter?" She dropped down, gave Akiya a small nod and moved so that she was around the back of Akiya as Jiro extended his gift and was back on her toes instantly.
"Ang'lus, we still best friends, right?" she asked quietly, willing her friend to look at her and she reached one hand up and put it on his. "Why's Ang'lus sad?" She didn't know why Angelus would be angry at himself or think he was weak, or even if those were really the reason's for the other Tale's silence, she just hoped he would answer her.

Silent nodded in agreement with Akiya. " He's much more quiet than he used to, but due to the situation, I think he's holding up ok." she nodded. Silent couldn't help but smile as Akiya held Angelus as if he was his own. Angelus needed that, she knew it. Her brown eyes looked into the angels, as if silently thanking him. For everything.

Angelus eyes widened. She didn't think he would hear him, but a sigh escaped his lips. He understood. His neck craned higher into his lips. His mind was flooded with an image. Him and Jiro. Sons to the angel. He thought of him that way? He did. He actually did. He gripped his fingers tighter around his shoulders, as if holding on for dear life. The fallen angel also sent an image back to Akiya. Holding him in the same regard as Silent. As a parent. Angelus opened his eyes and looked at the gift. Jiro? Jiro gave this to him? His brown eyes looked to the Tale who was busy playing with his own dragon. He nodded his acceptance. Secretely, he admired Jiro. His being interested him. Angelus sent to Akiya. Brother. he nodded his head to the other Tale. Even though Jiro might not think it, but Angelus did look at him as a brother. Living together made him see the Tale in a new light.

His brown eyes went to the older female. Aido. He couldn't help but smile at the girl. Aido always had that affect on him. " Best friends." He whispered. Aido will always be his best friend no matter what. " Sorry." He tried to apologize everything in just one word, but it would take more than just a sorry. " Not angry. Never." He appeased her thoughts.

His head shook in a tiny shake, dark blue eyes serene. The angel really didn't need any thanks. That just wasn't his way. He never did things to get a reward. Only if it truly and honestly called him to do so. Seeing Angelus' reaction made him chuckle. So, his guess had been right. The image connection he share with Jiro also passed to Angelus in the transfusion.. so he was, in some small ways, a telepath like Jiro was. It had awhile to figure out that he was a telepath.. but it was only by pushing Akiya's limits to test his mental strength did he figure it out. It pleased him muchly. Shifting his grip so he could hold him more tightly, he nodded as he got the image. To be Angelus' parent gave him a great sense of pride and happiness.

"I'm glad you accept his gift, Angelus." He knew it was damn hard for Jiro to swollow his own dislike to give Angelus something of his like that. But like he had heard Angelus call him brother, his demonic wing gave off a violent twitch, making akiya smirk. This was just bound to be interesting.

To hear Angelus speak again released some of the pent up stress and worry he had be haboring since he had woken up this way. He would heal now, he knew he would.

Aido smiled, relieved at Angelus' words and gave his hand a squeeze, though she would've much rather been able to hug her friend like in the past. But even though she'd grown she wasn't even near the angel's height, and unless she climbed up him it wouldn't work too well.
At his apology she shook her head, "s'alrigh', Ai just happy that Ang'lus' safe and alrigh'," and not angry or disgusted with her, her mind added silently though she pushed it back. Now wasn't the time for any growth induced uncertainties.

Silent walked to the side of Akiya and placed her hand on his shoulder. " Thank you." She whisperd. The angel would know what she meant. She couldn't help but be surprised at Jiro's actions. Things may change. No on ever knows what the future holds, but it might be a good one for the two Tales.

Angelus' feathered wings slightly ruffled at the hand placed over his. Aido's. It was great to be with his friend. " Thank you." he said to the girl. " You're pretty." He tried to hide the smile behind Akiya's shoulder.

At the whisper, he nodded again. "heh welcome." He did understand what she was getting up with those words and he was pleased to be able to do something helpful for them. He was also thinking along the same lines as Silent where his Jiro was concerned.. but time would only tell what would happen next. It was something that couldn't be rushed.

A chuckle left him when Angelus tried to hdie his face after calling Aido pretty. Now that was cute.

Was muttering in his head as he played with his dragon, pulling out his green fortune one so they could play smash and destroy. He liked it when the twins were there to play with him. This situation was making him edgy.. could they go home now? This was Angelus' thing.. it had nothing to do with him in the least.. so why be here?

He just hoped Akiya would hurry so he could play with Kali some more.

Even though her mother had said something along the same time when she'd first seen her after she grown Aido blushed slightly at the compliment and coughed in an attempt to hide it.
"Than'kyu," she murmured, falling back on the courtesy Chao had taught her, but she couldn't help a mock glaring at her friend from beneath her lashes for the disarming comment, though the brightness of her eyes assured Angelus that she wasn't angry at all.

The door to the shop jangled as Chao entered, a rather heavy looking bag slung over her shoulder. She blinked at the sight of everyone then smiled, waving with one hand before hurriedly clasping the bag again, "hello all."

Silent looked to the opening door. Chao. " Hey there." She smiled at her friend. It had been awhile since Angelus and herself left Akiya's home grounds. It was nice to see the females. Silent couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. Angelus was talking. Almost as if things were back to normal.

Angelus looked to Jiro, noticing his impatience. He wanted to say something, but bit his bottom lip. Maybe he would tell him when they got back home. Pain was evident in the child’s features. A flash of pain ran through his neck. He became stiff. A slight wimper escaped his lips. He grown used to it. Ever since Glory had a bite, now and then he would get pains in his neck. He gripped the dragon plushie in his hands for comfort. He opened his eyes after the pain went away and slowly smiled at Aido. "You're welcome."

Though Akiya knew that Silent felt rather.. well off cause there were mainly males in his world, but it wasn't so easy to get the females that where there out of hiding. Though if Silent met Lexus.. oooh dear lords, that'd be scary. He nodded to Chao when she came in, since she was holding Angelus, he couldn't very well wave.. or something heh.

When angelus got that pain his neck again, he made a face. Annoying... he got it every so often, at the same time that fallen did. and he knew it was cause of Angelus he was feeling it. Bleh, he didn't want this link..not at all...

At the whimper Aido bit her lip in response and was back on her toes, peering at the wound unhappily and squeezing her friend's hand with both of her's this time.
She glanced back and Rael stretched himself back into physical exsistence then shrugged, giving Angelus something akin to a lop-sided smile, though the Shadow's golden eyes were concerned as well. He liked the winged boy and felt the same unease as Aido when he looked at the wound.

"Hey yourself," Chao said with a smile towards Silent and a nod at Akiya, bah at school making her head home! She wanted to visit with the other Authors. But ah, maybe another time.... She didn't want to leave Aido there as it got darker either, so home it was for them. "Arg, I wish we could stay longer, but we need to head home. Common Ai."

"Aemu..." Aido sighed unhappily, bad timing on her mother's part. She braced her legs and actually hopped up, giving Angelus a breif hug as Rael supported her momentarily before hopping back down. "See you soon."
Ducking beneath Akiya's shoulder she made her way over to her mother's side and waved to everyone. "Bye Silent, Akiya, Jiro, Ang'lus."

Chao waved as well, "see you everyone! Hopefully next time for a longer amount of time," shoulder the bag again, and grimacing as a book edge poked into her back, she headed out the door, followed by Aido.

Silent nodded and waved goodbye to the woman and little girl. A smile graced her lips as she watched the grown up Aido leave. It was a good thing she brought Angelus with today. Looking to the angel she chuckled. " I think it's time that we say goodnight ourselves." Not wanting to disturb Angelus in his arms, Silent walked over to Jiro. Bending at the knee, she offered her open arms to the boy. " Want to go home?" she asked the child.

Angelus waved goodbye to Aido and let out a yawn. He couldn't stay up all day like he used to. Recently, he grew weak quickly and wasn't energetic as he used to be. He hoped that changed. Soon.

"Agreed.." He was more than happy to hold Angelus in his arms like this, though he knew he was weary fromt he events, even though it wasn't very active. Hwoever, when Silent got close to Jiro, he made himself watch. Oh he knew how Jiro felt about their guests.. but how would he take to her?

His eyes didn't even lift up from what he was doing as he stood up. There was no way in hell he would let her pick him up, for any reason whatsoever. Just cause he decided to be nice to Angelus.. it didn't mean anything in the long run. Not a single damn thing. And how dare she call his home their home like she would be staying?! Grah.. pissed him off.

He had much better things to do than leave the house, but Shouhin but being a stubborn old goat today. Maybe he had been trapped up in his dojo for a bit too long, but he still have to practice every day. Then Sah pointed out that he wasn''t really training no more than cutting himself cause his mind wasn''t focused on what he was doing. Sighing heavily, the boy paused in mid step and looked down at his heavily bandaged hands, flexing his fingers slowly and carefully. They were healing as they should, but it was stiff to move them too much. Another sigh left him as he looked up at his big brother Mouu, who had decided to come along with him today. Noticing that he had stopped, he looked down at him, just waiting for him to speak up first. "Are you okay with coming with me?"

"Hmm? Oh sure! Tigg''s asleep and we do gotta see if Yuhin''s stationary came in or something. I don''t mind coming out with you today, Jiro. How are you feeling?" He knew his kid brother was out of it with Khia moving away and everything, so the boy felt rather out of sorts. Khia was his best friend, after all, and though the boy had other friends, he just sseemed closer to Khia. Probably cause they were both violent or something, Mouu didn''t know. He just thought they were amusing to watch. Pushing open the door to the shop, he let him wander in first. "We shoulda brought Luc along.. maybe he could have used an outing..."

"But he''s gone out shopping with Kali.. there would be no point to it, ya know?" Snickering, he went and found a place to sit down and did so.

Silent walked the sidewalk quietly. It had been ages since she came to the shop. It didn''t feel the same anymore. And surprisingly, Angelus wasn''t on her arms like he normally would. Looking behind her, she watched the small Tale take his steps.

Angelus walked with a confidence, which was a definite change from the person he used to be. The scars are still evident on his neck, and the memories still fresh, but he learned to put that all behind him. It was time to move on. His blood tingled for an unknown reason. Jiro. He could feel the other tale. Ever since the exchange of blood, he wasn''t the same.

Silent finally made it to the shop door and slowly opened it. Angelus followed suit.

"So this is the place?" Redish grey and gold eyes were fixed upon the back side of the Stationary Shop.

"Mhm."

"This is where you were BORN."

Bi-colored eyes shifted to her brother, "yes, mr. lava lamp incubator."

Fai grinned and poked at her gently, "I didn''t mean anything by it," glancing around he blinked, "how do we get in?"

"Front door," Aido replied and stepped forward heading along the small alley like way that tracked around the shop to the main street. It felt so odd being here with her, now older, brother instead of her mother; though Chao had promised to meet them at the store later. It felt weird being there at all, there wasn''t even a guarntee anyone would be there or that the shop would even be open....

Fai glanced to her and rolled his eyes, first she''d been all restless and ready to go, now it looked like his sister was having second thoughts, how silly, "you have your ''what if'' face on Ai, stop worrying about nothing," grabbing onto her hand he quickly led them up the steps and pushed on the door, smiling triumphantly as it opened and the tell tale bell jangled softly as they entered.

Silent was about a foot away from the open door. Thank goodness it didn''t hit her. She turned around to see who entered. Brown eyes blinked in confusion and then a smile came to her lips. Chao. " Long time no see."she told the other Tale.

Angelus also turned around to see who was here. He wasn''t expecting Aido to come. Not at all. His own brown eyes looked up to his friend in awe. How long had it been since he saw her last? It was so long that he couldn''t remember.

" Aido." He whispered her name. He said it clearly but quietly.

Aido''s eyes caught Silent''s for a moment before darting to the floor, where Angelus stood near his mother. Eyes suddenly bright she darted foward, dropped downwards and hugged her friend fiercely, "Angelus!"

Fai smiled, very pleased with the sudden change in his sister. Coming here had been such a good idea. Smiling to the woman he tilted his head, "hello there Miss," he greeted warmly.

Silent''s mouth hung open and then closed. " Well. That was a decent hi. I guess." She chuckled. Her brown eyes went to the male. He didn''t look very familiar. She offered her hand. " Hi. I''m Silent. And you are?" she inquired of the newcomer.

Angelus nearly lost any breath he could have used. His wings flapped incessantly.

" Chao... Can''t... Breathe..." He hoped she would get the message. He really didn''t want her to let go. He missed Aido soo much, but he needed air to talk to her.

"She''s spent a little too much time inside I fear," Fai nodded solemnly, he''d said she needed to get out, what, over a week ago? Silly people, never listening to him. Turning back to Silent the redhead grinned, "my name''s Fai, her," he gestured to Aido, "brother, it''s nice to meet you miss Silent."

Aido blinked and promptly loosened her hold on her friend, slightly redcheeked, "sorry," she muttered, tugging on her scard in embarrasment before grinning at Angelus again, too excited at seeing her old friend to stay embarresed for long, "I just haven''t see you in so long. I missed you."

Silent nodded in understanding. " Angelus hasn''t had contact with anyone other than myself and his family at home. He needed to come back and by the looks of it, it was a wise choice." She could already tell that Angelus was warming back up to the old ways. Her brown eyes went back to the boy. " A brother? No offense, but Chao never mentioned you. I know her brother Rico, but not you." She didn''t want to seem rude, but she was a little lost right now.

Angelus chuckled as she released her hold on him. Within a moment, he had her in a hug. It was only fair. " I missed you too." He didn''t really use his telepathic abilities much. Every once in a while he did, but he slowly grew accustomed to talking verbally with others. He slowly let go and looked at Aido. " You''re big." He chuckled as he took in the form of his friend.

Today was truly one of the best days of Smerdle''s life. Sylvester wasn''t sulky or running a fever, nor was he a Crazy Nutjob. Smerdle was so thankful, in fact, that when Sylvester suggested they go to the stationery store, she had agreed even though she had other things to do. Like shop. For food. Oh well, they would just have to get a pizza tonight.

Sylvester hopped along in front of his mother, oblivious to the fact that he had been a Crazy Nutjob at all. He felt great, Morry was being quiet for a change, and he was going to play. He arrived at the door and pushed it open slowly.

"Hey!" he said, without looking around first to see who was there.

Smerdle followed a few steps behind, catching the door when Sylvester dropped it. She waved a bit at the older people in the room before sliding over to a brightly colored shelf to look around.

Fai tilted his head and nodded slowly, he didn''t think his mother had even been down to this shop in the time he''d been alive, "Oh yes, uncle Rico is Aemu''s mom but I''m her son and, well, I''m something of a recent addition to our family really," he scratched the back of his head and vaguely hopes his mother would arrive soon, it felt weird having to explain his exsistence.

Aido smiled and buried her face in his hair as they hugged a second time, smiling at the warm feeling that unfolded in her chest as Angelus said he''d missed her.

As he let go she sat back on her heels and lokoed down at his comment of her growth, "yes, I suppose so," she looked down back to her friend, "but now that I''m bigger I''ve gotten to explore more on my own." She paused, "it''s much more lonely, exploring on my own. I miss our explorations."

At the sudden greeting she looked up and over to the door and smiled to the newcomer, "hello there."

Silent nodded in understanding. " Around Gaia, one always has a recent addition to the family. Well it was a pleasure meeting you. Have you been around for a long while then?" she asked curiously. She nodded to the woman that stepped in briefly.

Angelus cocked his head to the side. " Explore on your own? We did that anyways with eachother." he chuckled. " It''s no fun to explore on your own though." he sighed. He missed their adventures.

Black wings ruffled in curiosity as a newcomer stepped in. A Tale from the scent of it. Angelus'' brown eyes scanned the newcomer and then he looked to Aido. " I don''t know him." he whispered. Was he gone for soo long that there were more Tale''s he didn''t know about? Most likely. He watched in observation.

Fai shook his head, smiling when Silent didn''t seem too weirded out at his recentness, "I haven''t been around long at all, only...a little over a month I think."

"We should go exploring again sometime soon," Aido replied with a determined nod and an excited smile at the prospect before turning her bi-colored eyes back to Sylvester, "I don''t either," she whispered quietly in return but dove into introductions anyway s her attention slipped back to the new Tale, "I''m Aido and this is Angelus, who''re you?"

Eyes. On him. Sylvester had forgotten how weird they made him feel. He involuntarily shrank back a bit before stepping forward, which resulted in kind of a wacky shuffle.

"Hi, I''m Sylvester," he said quickly to the girl who had addressed him. He watched her for a second, or rather he watched the halo float above her head. Ooo. He couldn''t exactly make out their whispering, but that hardly mattered. The girl, Aido, had said something about exploring!

"Have you been? Explorin'' I mean. All the other kids I met here do too! I..." He had been about to launch into a story about the time he had spent with his new dream friends, but he had promised them he wouldn''t. Plus, Mama was just right over there and Sylvester was sure that she would take him to the doctor again if he mentioned having dream friends at all. He scratched his neck and tried to look innocent, hoping they wouldn''t ask about his own adventures.

Aido began to fidget slightly as the new Tale''s, Sylvester''s, gaze latched onto her halo, just like everyone seemed to the first time she met them. The circlet drooped momentarily before perking up again as Sylvester asked about exploring and even began to launch into his own story about his exploration.

Smiling as she followed along she tilted her head as he suddenly stopped but tried to pick up the conversation again, "it''s nice to meet you Sylvester. I love to explore, espically since Gaia''s so big and crisscrossed, it''s like even if you explore someplace once there''s new things if you go back a second time."

Angelus watched on as Sylvester, the animal like Tale, and Aido conversed about exploration. He stepped forward, tired of being the shy one. " Why don''t explore upstairs?" he added in. He remembered the last time Aido and himself went upstairs. That was pretty fun. Memories of the backyard ruled out the Shop''s garden as a different means of adventure.

He gave a slight bow to the Tale in greeting. " I''m Angelus". His wings raised up in the air and flapped. A black feather fell from the movement.

"That''s so cool. I wish Mama would let me go all kinds of places like that."

He turned toward the winged Tale. Cool! "Yeah, let''s go!"

"Be careful," Smerdle said distractedly as she continued to browse.

Sylvester nodded to no one in particular. "Can you fly?" he said to Angelus. He had never seen another Tale fly, though he assumed Tybalt probably could.

Angelus smiled and with a burst of his wings bolted through the air. He came back around in front of the Tale and hovered a few feet above him. " Would you like me to carry you or would you rather follow?" he asked the Tale. He used to hold Aido under her arms and fly with her, but that was when she was a kid like himself. Not anymore.

Sylvester''s eyes widened considerably at Angelus'' awesome flying capabilities. But, they scared him a bit too. "That is so cool," he breathed. "I... I don''t think I want to fly though," he added. He hoped the other boy didn''t think he was too much of a wuss. "So, what''s upstairs?" he asked curiously.

Angelus smiled in understanding. His brown eyes went to the stairs that led to the second floor. " Last time I remembered we found some interesting rooms." Flying took little energy now. He had enough endurance to fly the whole time if need be. He looked back at the Tale. " You still want to go?"

"Yeah." Sylvester nodded and smiled. He glanced at his mother, looking to see if she was going to butt in, but she seemed preoccupied with the different kinds of paper. Grownups were weird. "Let''s go."

Angelus nodded and easily flew up the flight of stairs. He effortlessly lowered himself on the top of the steps. He didn''t want the other Tale to feel left out. Looking from left to right. He wondered which corridor they should go down. " Left or right?" he asked Sylvester.

Sylvester hopped up the steps after the flying Tale, excited to be on an adventure.

"Hmm. Left," he said. It looked slightly lighter, after all.

Angelus nodded and started his way down the left corridor. He walked slowly and cautiously. God knows what lay behind the many doors. As he walked, his fingers trailed along the wall. Lifting his nose into the air he sniffed to see what kind of scents lay before them. So many. But he couldn''t make out what they were. He looked to Sylvester.

" You''ve never explored before?" It didn''t seem right not to go exploring.

"Just around my house and yard a little," Sylvester said. "Mama''s scared stuff''ll happen if I''m alone other places and we don''t live around other people." Even as Sylvester said this, he knew it wasn''t true, but he couldn''t think of why. Oh well.

Angelus listened to the Tale. "Silent lets me wander off on my own. We own a lot of land at home and plus the beasts of the land no better than to do anything to me or else they have to deal with my mommy. And they don''t like an angry mommy." he commented. His eyes fell upon a cherry wood door. The knob was too high. He looked to Sylvester. He was taller than Angelus. Crouching on all fours Angelus looked to Sylvester.

" Climb on my back and open the door." He instructed the Tale. Angelus was curious to see what was behind the door.

"''Kay." He had never climbed on anyone''s back before, but there was a first time for everything. Gripping the door frame, Sylvester rested the toes of his right foot gingerly on Angelus'' back, careful not to step on his wings. He took a deep breath and hoisted himself up, turning the knob with ease. As he clumsily jumped off of Angelus'' back, he accidentally pushed at the knob on the way down. The door creaked open wide enough for a kid-sized head to peek through.

((-kicks gaia for eating her post, saluts silent and jumps back in-))

Several yards behind the two Simple Tales the shadows quivered and Aido''s head poked through, halo dim as her eyes swept over the dark hallway. Having lost the others in a moment of distraction she hoped they would be around here and smiled brightly as she caught sight of them.

The shadows twitched back into place as she pushed through the threshold, feet sliding onto the floor silently as she turned and quietly wandered down towards the others, looking over the doors they passed. For a moment she considered sliping back into the shadows and poking around on her own but-! No! Group exploration! That''s what she''d missed. Focused again she quickly moved to crouch behind the two, watching what they were doing but keeping quiet, not wanting to mess up whatever concentration they might have needed.

Angelus nearly fell on his stomach from the weight but quickly scrambled to stand on his two feet. A scent in the air caught his attention. Looking behind him, he fell backward in shock causing the door to open all the way. Chao nearly scared him to death.

" Aido! You scared me.!" He said to his friend. Brown eyes went to Sylvester. " Are you okay? What do you see?" Three pairs of eyes looked into the newly discovered room.

"Sorry," Aido replied, grimancing, but glad that Angelus didn''t seem hurt. She leant forward, "what''s in there?"

"It''s pretty dark," Sylvester said, after assuring himself that Angelus was okay. He was kind of scared of what was in there, but he didn''t want the others getting hurt either. Definitely not. He inched inside, using the tip of his nose to flick on the lightswitch. He turned around slowly, back to the wall.

"Whoa."


The room was engrossed in light. " What the?" He couldn''t believe it. What would a nursery be doing up here?

He looked to Sylvester and Aido as if they held the answers.



Aido blinked and sat back then shrugged casually, the nuresery made a bit of sense to her, "well, Linny and Khia both live or at least lived here at one point, right? Maybe it was their''s, or Linny''s sister''s or someone''s...."

"Yeah." He hadn''t known Linny when he was small enough for a nursery, and he didn''t know Khia at all, but Aido''s idea seemed like a good one.

Since he was already inside the room, he walked in a bit further, half expecting something to pop out at him.

Angelus walked deeper into the room. A wooden rocker rested next to a wooden crib. It was simple. Not too extravagent. " Makes sense." In a corner Angelus found a couple of wooden blocks. He wondered what else the room had?

Aido stood and followed quietly, running a hand over the top of the wooden cribs, quietly remembering her old crin [and the many times she''d escaped from it] and idly wondered if her old friend had once slept here. Which reminded her...she still hadn''t given him her gift.

Giving the crib one last look, and quietly vowing to either drop of Linny''s gift or track down her friend and give it to him personally, she continued to wander about the room.

While everyone appeared and roamed about, Mouu had been looking for Linny. So far he wasn''t seeing him and he frowned lightly as Jiro wandered about. While the boy was off looking bored and distracted elsewhere, Mouu watched him in concern. Lately, a lot of things had been happening to the boy.. Kali had told him about finding him on the roof with Khia.. supposedly Jiro had been carving symbols into his own legs using a chopstick.. why was unknown.. but Khia found him and helped him. Which was good.. but he''s been more withdrawn and testy lately. Though Mouu didn''t like to pry, he was half tempted to. As other Tales came in and then wandered elsewhere in the store, he blinked and looked at them heading upstairs. "Jiro.. aren''t those your friends?"

"Hmmm?" Turning away from what he had been looking at, he noticed someone heading up the steps and he shrugged. They weren''t his friends, he supposed. He didn''t talk to anyone much on a normal basis but whatever. "I guess... why?" Seeing how Mouu seemed to get a bit too pleased, he feared as he came closer. He knew there was a reason to it! Sighing as he found himself getting pushed towards the stairs, he grumbled as he got the hint. "Fiiine >>" Though he didn''t feel like it, he wandered up the steps, muttering how mean big brothers..

Sylvester had never really been small enough for a crib, but he was still small enough for toys. He approached a stripey jack-in-the-box and crouched near it, turning the handle quickly. When it popped open, an old-looking piece of paper popped out along with the required poofy clown head. Sylvester opened the folded paper only to find... nothing on it. How disappointing.

Angelus watched as Sylvester opened the Jack in the Box. He somewhat jumped in surprise but was glad no one else noticed. Looking around the room he found a small writing desk with a bookcase. Walking over, he climbed upon the chair and reached for any book within his reach.

" The Stinky Cheese man?" he said aloud. What kind of title was that for a book.

Blinking Aido wandered back towards Angelus, peering over his shoulder at the book, "''The Stinky Cheese Man'', sounds very... odd," she concluded lamely, not sure how else to peg the book''s title. Idly she looked over what else was on the table but nothing caught her eye.

With a shrug she wandered over towards the closet, peering inside, looking at the various older baby supplies that were kept inside.

Sylvester pocketed the blank piece of paper he had found as he stood and joined the other two Tales.

"Stinky Cheese Man?" He couldn''t read English, but the picture on the front of the book was enough to make him laugh anyway. He heard a faint chuckle, but assumed it was Angelus or Aido.

Angelus didn''t need to turn around to know who was in the room with them. He hadn''t seen the other Tale in a long time. His own negative feelings about the Tale long since vanished after the incident. He wished to make amends one of these days but Jiro was stubborn. It might not happy today or tomorrow, but Angelus hoped soon enough. His head turned to look at the boy.

" Hello Jiro." There was no animosity behind the tone, but gratitude that the Tale joined the small exploration.

Aido did turn at the slight chuckle, blinking as she noticed that it belonged to Jiro before smiling tenatively, she never had figured out where exactly she stood with the other Tale, and waving a hand in greeting towards the other Tale.

"Hello Jiro," she greeted warmly.

Well.. there went that cover. Ah well, it wasn''t anything bad. His eyes rested on the three there. Angelus, Aido and Sylvester. When it came to Angelus, his hatred and anger towards the other Tale had disappeared the longer he remained in his home. Actually he had no problem with him anymore.. but he was a stubborn mule and he wasn''t exactly sure how to make the first step in showing that he wished to ''mend bridges'' with him. Aido... before, he would have just ignored her. But he had spent a lot of time in self reflection and realized he had been rather babyish in his behavior towards her. It was in the past. It was done. It was over. Stop thinking about it and let it die.

Sylvester he didn''t know all that well, but he did remember him from some part. Probably Huni''s party. He had spoken to him about that odd thing called a TV, that he actually had to look up as soon as he got home. Allowing a smile, not a calculating, mean or cold but an actual smile, cross his lips, he pressed his hands together and bowed before them. It was his way of apologizing to Aido and Angelus and showing respect to all three of them. "Hello, Aido. Angelus. Sylvester. My big brother told me you three were here..." He then looked around. "Is this an exploring adventure or something?"

Oh hey, it was Jiro. He hadn''t seen all that much of the other boy, but he did remember that he had felt a lot dumber than the older Tale. Sylvester nodded in response to his question and waved briefly in response to Jiro''s bow.

"That it is." He responded to the question. His smile mirrored that of Jiro''s. Hopping down from the chair, he walked towards him. He handed the book to Jiro. " Honestly. What do you make of this?" Angelus couldn''t figure it, but Sylvester was right. It did have a funny picture on it. A gingerbread man, but made out of stinky cheese. Brown eyes looked to Aido and Sylvester.

" What do either of you think?" It was now the small mystery among the nursery room.

Aido smiled and her halo glowed softly at Jiro''s reaction, feeling some of the nervous tension that had begun to build fall away. She nodded politely to his bow before glancing back to the book in question,

"I don''t know. It seems a bit creepy though," she eyed the little cheese man on the cover warily. An animate little man made out of cheese was both bizarre and a bit frightening a prospect to her. What if people tried to eat him? Or he wanted revenge on them for eating his cheese comrades?

Looking down at the book curiously, he held it and turned it over, curious if there was anything on the back. After he found nothing to suggest anything, he turned it back to the front and studied the cover. "It''s a rather strange sounding book.. could be about a demon or something like that." A gingerbread man made of stinky cheese? Was it a twisted nursery rhyme or something?

"Maybe we should read it or something?"

Walking cheese men meant one thing... magic. Magic was awesome.

"Yeah. Open it," he urged.

Angelus looked back at Sylvester. An idea came to the Tale''s head and for some reason became overly excited. His brown eyes went back to the book. " I guess it won''t hurt to read it. Aido, will you read it?" he asked the eldest of the group.

Aido pursed her lips, releasing the bit of shadow she''d quietly gathered from the fold of her long sleeved shirt back to where they came from, having been quite prepared attempt to strike any Stinky Cheese Men that decided to come out if one of the other Tales opened the book.

Glancing to Angelus she nodded a bit, "yeah, I''ll read it," taking the book gingerly from him she opened it a bit more, making sure nothing was going to pop up and attempt to...well, eat them or something (she was never, ever agreeing to watch a horror film again if this was how it was going to make her think afterward.)

Glancing about she moved to a more open space and sat down, opening the book fully and glancing at the picture inside. She waited a moment for the other Tales to move closer then began to slowly read its contents.

He had no issues with handing the book over to Aido. It was best to let the eldest of them to read it aloud, though he was curious if anything would come out of it. If it did, he wanted to stab it with a chopstick to see what exactly it was. If it was real or just magic. Really good magic... Moving over with her as she found a place to sit down and knelt next to her, his robes shifting around him as he tried to look at it more closely. The words were weird to him. Probably English.. gah, he still couldn''t read that well yet >>.

Sylvester gathered closer to the other Tales and peered at the book. He had never been too interested in reading himself, but being read to was all kinds of cool. He shifted so he wasn''t sitting on his tail anymore and waited for Aido to begin.

Angelus also joined the half circle and sat close to Aido as well, making sure nothing would jump out. He let out a sigh of relief as only words appeared on the pages. Angelus sat back and listened the story that would soon come.

Aido took a deep breath and began, voice a bit weak but steadying and gaining a bit of confidence as she went on and stopped stumbling, she didn''t exactly have a large amount of practise with reading aloud either after all. Rather early on a dark eyebrow rose as she read about the birth then adventures of the Stinky Cheese Man to their small group.

Several minutes of reading later she read about the Ogre who seemed not to care about the Stinky Cheese Man''s stink and ate him anyway and finally stopped as the story ended, blinking and looking at the other Tales for reactions.

This story started off rather weird to him. About a piece of food that walked and talked? A bit disappointing to say the least, but the adventures were slightly amusing.. or maybe he was just morbid and horrid like that.

But then the story was over. Ah, that sucked. Aido had a nice reading voice too. With a slight wrinkle of his nose, he tilted his head a bit more. "Well.. it wasn''t about demons or anything.. and it was kind of morbid.. but it wasn''t anything bad..."

Smerdle had come looking for Sylvester several minutes before the story ended, having decided that pizza for dinner wasn''t such a good idea after all. She found the children easily since Aido''s voice carried down the hall, but Smerdle waited there until the story was done before stepping into the doorway.

Sylvester had enjoyed the story immensely, but in order to seem cooler, he nodded. "I wouldn''t eat a cheese man," he mused as Smerdle came into his view.

"Hey kid, we''ve gotta go," Smerdle said.

"Aw, mama."

"Sorry," she said. "We can come back soon."

"Okay." Sylvester stood and waved again. "Nice to meet you guys," he said to Angelus and Aido. "Bye," he sighed, including Jiro this time, since he had met him before.

Angelus waved goodbye to the other Tale. Angelus scrunched his eyebrow''s in wonderment. " The ogre ate him? Wouldn''t the stinky man be too skinky for the ogre?" Angelus couldn''t believe that such a rotten dairy product got away with so much stuff. He deserved to be eaten by the ogre. That was his philosophy. It was a tad morbid but entertaining none the less.

Aido waved to the departing Tale, "bye Sylvester, it was nice meeting you!" she called with a smile before turning back to their group and to the Cheese Man''s story.

"Yeah... it wasn''t bad. Though it''d be really weird if a cheese man actually came to life," she mused quietly, looking to the ceiling pensively at Angelus'' statement, "well... maybe the ogre was even more stinky than the Stinky Cheese man and couldn''t smell him over his own stench so just ate him and was done with it?"

"That would be rather strange indeed. But if one did appear, I would rather it be one that smells good so he can be eaten or something..." Waving goodbye to Sylvester and wishing they had more time to talk more, he scratched at his cheek rather lightly in thought. "Or maybe Ogres just aren''t picky about eating things.. and he was starving and decided he was just something to eat."

Angelus nodded. " Either way, the stinky man was eaten and the adventure ended. But personally, I would never eat a stinky cheese man if I was starving. Blegh!" Angelus made a weird face at the prospect of eating stinky cheese. Thank goodness that he didn''t rely on human food to live. It was nice to consume once in awhile, but it did himself nor Silent any good. He looked out towards the door. " Anyone else want to do something new?" The story was good but Angelus like to be active. He couldn''t stay in one spot for too long.

"Maybe..." Aido murmured before perking up at the prospect of doing something new, "yes, let''s do something new," she replied eagerly and stood, streching a bit before crouching back down, "what new thing should we do?"

Looking up at them as they talked about doing something new, he didn''t have anything against that and he pushed himself up smoothly. "Sure, what can we do?" Looking around this room again, he tried to figure out what they could possibly do. "Are we going to continue looking around here?" Since he was late, he had no idea that they had pretty much only done that.

Angelus shook his head. " I recall claw marks along the walls down the other corridor. You remember Aido." That was from one of their first explorations. Back when she was a child. " How about we find out what made those marks?" he asked to the two.

Aido nodded lightly, "yeah, I remember those." She considered this for a moment, feeling something nudge at her memory before brushing it off, "yeah, that sounds good."

He had no ideas what they were speaking of but he thought it sounded interesting. "Claw markings? Then let''s go find out who or what caused them then... it sounds like it''d be a fun mystery." Jiro actually looked rather eager to try out this adventure.

Angelus nodded his head and made his way out the door. He looked towards the opposite corridor. The marks were still there. Evident as before. He walked down the hall toward the markings. Bringing his hand up he felt the indentations in the wall. Lowering his noise he sniffed to see if any scent still stayed. Odd. He smelled almost familiar yet not. He couldn''t put his finger on it.

Aido quietly followed Angelus down the hall, running her fingers along some of the higher claw marks, digging them gently into the grooves. The shadows laced gently around the digits, their whispers floating through the back of her mind as goosebumps rose along her writ and forearm, but all she got was a vague sense of familarity and old sort of feeling from them.

As expected, she could still do squat with tracking and the Shadows, wonderful. With a sigh she pressed the shadows back into the grroves, watching them flit back into place before she looked down to Angelus, "what do you think?"


He followed them quietly a bit, pausing when he saw the claw markings. For a moment his golden eye flickered red a bit before he reached out and touched them himself. Such deep claw marks... he couldn''t have... but why? It didn''t make any sense. For a moment, he felt a sense of worry before he pushed it back. No way.. he wouldn''t think about it right now. Not til he spoke to him again. The smell he picked up was too strong, no matter how slight it was.

As his fingers dragged over the deep grooves, an odd onyx and ruby ring seemed to flicker and pulse on his left hand, middle finger. "Hmmm..." Though he could speak his mind on it, since neither had asked for his thoughts, he just kept quiet.

Angelus froze. He was feeling emotions. Emotions that weren''t his own. He looked to Aido. It wasn''t her. Realization struck. Jiro. He looked to the Tale. Something was wrong but he was being quiet about it. The transfussion. Feelings were felt. Angelus shook his head to rid himself of the emotion. "What the?" he whispered to himself. Confusion was evident. He looked to Aido, answering her question. " They seem familiar but I can''t put my finger on it. They''ve been here for so long."

He looked to Jiro. " What do you think made these?" A gut feeling inside told Angelus that Jiro knew. The emotions that came from Tale didn''t mean nothing.

Aido gave her friend a curiously concerned look as he froze and glanced to her, but didn''t comment on it, instead she nodded, "that''s what I felt too."

Her attention shifted to Jiro and she tilted her head, halo glowing softly, maybe Jiro got a different feeling from them? "yeah, Jiro, what''re your thoughts on them?"

Having been deep in his thoughts, his eyes dark with worry over what these markings meant, he jumped as they spoke to him and when he looked at them, his eyes were back to normal. "Hmm?" As he studied Angelus, he frowned mentally, having completely forgetting that he felt his emotions as well. Crap, how could he actually forget something as important as that? "I know where they came from..." His eyes gazed back at them and he ran his fingers over them again lightly, the bandages making sure he didn''t get splinters. "He must have been in a lot of pain... to make these..."

Was it right to say his thoughts, cause there was no way Linny could do something like this.. he only knew one person who could do such a thing. But what caused him to be so angry? Was he growing? Something else? ....


Angelus understood. Khia. Khia would be the only person to make markings such as those. And some of the same questions flittered through his brain. Why? He looked to Jiro and Aido. " Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this."

Silent voice rang from the bottom of the steps. It was time to go. Looking to the others, he lowered his head. " Sorry I can''t stay longer but we must get going. I''ll see you at home Jiro." He looked to Aido and gave her a smile. In an instant he hugged her legs as a goodbye. " I''ll see you soon. I promise." He told his friend. Without waiting for a reply, he flew into the air and down the stairs where Silent was waiting. In a couple minutes they left the Store and made their way home.

Aido tilted her head, running a hand absently over the marks again, this time she could feel a tighter string of recognition and the shadows'' calls grew louder. She grimanced as the feeling became to much to bear and quickly pulled her hand away, trailing bits of the tendril like shadows along with it, which she quickly shook off.

She blinked and took a firmer look at the claw marks, her own mind putting together what pieces she knew. One of the oldest of the Tales, one they all knew, and the only one to have claws, not talons or a weapon of any sort that would have been around to make the markings. The only one that fit it was Khia and the shadows were calling out their agreement.

Her brow furrowed at the thought of Khia making the marks, the question of ''why?'' rising to the forefront of her mind. Her eyes shifted to Jiro as he spoke and her frown deepened, she was deeply unsettled by the thought of her friend being in pain.

Then suddenly it was all broken, Angelus was saying his farewells and she gave him as good a hug she could before he was gone.

Looking to Jiro she sighed and flinched as a chorus of Chao and Fai''s voices filtered up the hall, "seems I must be off too, sorry Jiro. It was really nice seeing you, I hope we can all get to the bottom of this," she said, sincerely in her voice and eyes. With a wave of goodbye, as she had her doubts about the other Tale actually wanting to be hugged by her, she quickly about faced and headed down the stairs before her family could become worried about where she was.

Several moments later they had left and were heading towards their own home.

The meeting of Surion and Angelus

Surion walked out of the elevator and stashed his cardkey into his pants pocket, he moved nito the crowd weaving through the dancing bodies until he reached the ladder to the platfom. With diliberateness and purpose he climbs the ladder. Nani's acceptance of his new job helped greatly in his nervousness and now he was eager to get to work. Staurdays certainly seemed busier then fridays, but hey, that just meant more chances at tips! With a glance up at the DJs booth atop it's raised hydraulic lift he listened tot he music and started to move with it.

Silent, as usual, didn't need to wait in line. she smiled at the bounced and he nodded back letting her pass through. But tonight, she wasn't alone. A little figure that stood knee high to her walked beside her. Mother and child flitted through the crowd towards the familiar booth. Looking around, she observed the dancers, but this time a figure caught her eye. Surion? Dancing? On a platform. She rubbed her eyes in case she was dreaming. Nope it was real.

Surion looked into the crowd below him stooping once in a whle to scoop up the tips that were given, he looked every bit the job he did, obviously money wasn't scrimped on to get good clothing. One things anyone who was a frequenter there may know is the platforms were for employees only

Silent nearly didn't believe her eyes. Only workers danced upon the platform. She smiled at the thought. His cloting showed that the job was paying good enough. Before she delved into the discovery further, she felt her pant leg being pulled on. She looked down. "What is this place?" Angelus asked. Only a child, he didn't know much about the adutl world. Silent didn't have a babysitter tonight so she had to bring him with. "It's a club. A place where people hang out and dance. Relax." she responded. Angelus just looked on with curious eyes.

Surion's sense of smell picked up a familiar scent mixed among the hundreds of others, he wasn't sure he wasn't being fooled by his senses as there wre a lot of people there, His eyes started to scan the crowd as he continued to dance

Both Mother and son moved about on the booth and started to become comfortable. Their bodies relaxed into the cushiosn. Angelus seemed relax, but his body was on alert. This was a new place and he wasn't sure what to make of it. Everybody seemed to be having a good time. His mother looked relax. He crossed his arms and kept to himself. It was all adults. No children. No Aido, Jiro, nor Rhea. It couldn't be that great of a place. Why couldn't they have gone to the shop?
Silent looked back to Surion, hoping that she could catch his eye.

Surion's eyes flitted from the dancers tot he booths as he stopped to pick up another tip. After a moment his one visible blue eye, the other being hidden by his long blue bangs, caught sight of Silent. So his nose wasn't trickling him, he was there. He stood watching her as he danced for a time

Angelus watched his mother. Her attention was diverted. His brown eyes looked about to see if there was anything that would entertain him. Dancers....Dancers.....More dancers. He rolled his eyes. Looking at his mother once mroe, he quietly slipped down to the floor and zigzagged through the crowd. He could pass through their legs with ease due to his height. Looking around, he noticed a door on one side of the building. Closed. He wonder where that would lead? Maybe outside! If it did, he would fly to the shop all by himself.

Silent continued to look at Surion when something seemed wrong. Looking to her right side, a small figure was absent from its space. Cursing under her breath, she rose from the booth and looked around for her little misfit.

Surion had noticed the young person leave Silen't booth, he didn't quite understand how someone quite THAT young got in, but he knew he shouldn't be walking abouts alone. He jumps down from the platform using his float to land without problem and beelines through the dancers in the direction of the small moving person.

Angelus was tired of all the swearing bodies around him. Noticeding a hole in the group, he ran towards it. As soon as he noticed no one was above him, he flapped his wings and flew up into the air. He looked at the crowd below him. He couldn't see Silent nor the man that was following him. Looking towards the ceiling, he noticed metal beams that held up the structure. He flew towards one and landed among a beam. He scanned the area below him like a vulture. There was too many people. It was crowded and hot. What did Silent like about this place? It must be a grown up thing.
Silent sniffed the air once more. It was hard to discern her sons scent from the many other scents but she caught on to him. But his scent wafted through the air. She raised a finger to her temple and started to massage it. She could feel a headache rising.

There was reason the youngster didn't see Surion any longer, he wasn't visible. Floating above the crowd he watched the boy, he decided to see what the child would do and was somewhat surprised to see that he went up into the rafters

Angelus looked towards the ground and scanned the ground once more. He caught sight of Silent and someone else next to her. Odd, he thought. He didn't like this spot. He was near the strobe light. Walking along the beam, he started to walk towards the other side where it was dark.
Silent froze. She needed to get up there. Even though it seemed like Angelus could take care of himself at times, he was a little too full of himself at times to realize that he needed help.

Surion floated higher and followed the young boy until he was in the shadows "I do not know that Silent would want you up here lil guy" Surion says just loud enough for Angelus to hear him, by the direction of voice, he's directly beside the young man, and more then ready to catch him if he falls. But moreover, he's still invisible.

Angelus was not fazed by the voice at all. At home there were ghosts that he was good friends with. He continued walking along the beam. He regained his balance a few times, but kept on going. "It's ok. I can fly." But what he didn't realize was that there wasn't enough room to fly if he well. The beams on the ceiling were too congested to offer enough space to fly through. He didn't pay the voice that much attention. The lights started become dim as he neared the other side of the building.
Silent followed him from the ground. What the hell was he doing.

Surion shakes his head and wonders if he was that stubborn as a child "You are too much like Vina" he says and follows closely , he did realize what the boy did not

Angelus continued to walk along, but didn't see the screw that jutted out from one of the bars. He quickly lost his balance and wasn't able to regain it. "Whoa!" He said aloud as he tried to flap his wings to fly.
Silent watched as Angelus lost his feeting and it seemed like he was going to fall. She rushed to that spot right below him so she could catch him.

Surion reaches out and takes hold of hte falling boy "Okay lil guy, back to the ground, enough adventure for one day" he becomes visible as he pulls the boy face on towards him so he doesn't get hit by the moving wings.

Angelus felt himself being caught. He just raised an eyebrow at the invisible force who quickly takes shop before him. He stilled his wings and felt himself being held. "I just want to get out of here." This wasn't an adventure. It was a prison.
Silent watched as something caught Angelus and within a few moments realized it was Surion. "Thank goodness." she said under her breath.

Surion smiles at the child "Well, I'm guessing it's cause these are all adults, would you rather play with some other children? there is a kids area here" He asks a he sinks back to the floor

Angelus looked at the man with curiosity. "Children? Here?" He didn't believe him.
Silent let out a sigh of relief as she realized that Angelus was safe. "Surion and Angelus! Get your butts down here this instant!" she yelled towards the ceiling.

Surion laughs setting his feet on the floor at hte edge ofhte dancers "There is, my boss said so" he grins and looked towards Silent "I found someone" he tells her

Angelus crossed his arms over his chest. He'd believe it when he'd see it. His eyebrows perked up at the familiar irrate voice. He humphed. It was mom.
Silent eyed the toddler in Surions arms. Crossing her eyes, she raised an eyebrow. "What do you have to say for yourself?" she wanted an answer for his actions.
Angelus pondered. "Checking the cleansliness of the place. It's pretty dusty. We should call an inspector." He smiled smugly.
Silent rolled her eyes. Smart a**, she thought.

Surion laughed "Silent there is a kids area here, Silver says they are noisier then the actual club" he looks at the toddler in his arms thinking about his future

Silent didn't know what to say to the boy, so instead she responded to Surion. "Really? Where?" She asked.
Angelus looked at the man. Scrutinizing him, some what.

Surion smiled "I'm not entirely certain, this is my second day on teh job, but I bet we could find it" he smiles which shorws off his mouth full of sharp pointy teeth to the boy

Silent smiled in relief. "That would be great." She eyed the boy again. "Do they offer shackles?" Her face looked so serious, but she was really joking.
Angelus cocked his head to the side at the boys teeth. Demon. No surprise. The whole place had that aura to it. He wondered how mom knew him?

Angelus just scowled at his mother. Like she could.

Surion wanders around the edge of hte dancers carrying the boy "How are you doing Silent? You haven't stopped by to see dad..."

Silent followed the two males. "I've been really busy. Today is the only day I've had time to myself. Well, sort of." she motioned towards the brat. "How is Torvil by the way? It'd be nice to see both him and your mother." she responded.
Angelus listened on. He didn't know much about Silent's past. He didn't say a word and just listened.

"Dad is ok, Mum's been a lil up and down of late, but they both seem happy that Nani and I became mates and are moving in together" he peers towards Silent before moving into a hall which was nearly as loud as the club

Silent listened to the news. "Wow! Aren't you all grown up?" she smiled. "Don't worry. Hopefully I'll see the family soon enough. If life permits me." she chuckled. Life was just finicky that way. Silent's ears caught the sounds of children. So there was a day care of sorts? Interesting.
Angelus could also hear the familiar sounds. People his age!

Surion laughs "Yeah, I am sooo looking forwards to living with Nani, not that I wont miss being with mum and dad... but well you know..." He pauses in front of the kids are. Silver was right... they ARE noisy" he laughs before opening hte door

Silent laid her hand upon his shoulder in comfort. "I'm sure your parents understand." she smiled. "Now lets go see the other little devils." she laughed and made her way towards the room.
Angelus flapped his wings in excitement at what was to come.

Surion walks in dodging fast moving little bodies and puts the boy down "Well uhm, heres kids, I guess that gives you something to do" he said him before standing up "Dad practically offered to pack me up for me" he laughs

Angelus looked around. It felt like he was back at the store. None of them were human. Thank god!
Silent chuckled as she watched the children. "Really? " She said in a surprising tone.

"Mum said his words were something like 'can I help pack' " he smiles and turns towards the door again "Mind you... their door has been shut a lot lately" he heads into the hall once more

Silent shook her head. "I didn't need to know that bit of info." She turned back towards the room. Her brown eyes looked to the child. "Don't get into too much trouble."
Angelus only smiled.
Silent sighed and followed Surion.

Surion closes hte door once they are out "Yeah, you aren't the only one... not that dad hesitates in talking.... Well now you can relax in the club once more"

Silent chuckled. That sounded like Torvil. "Relaxation...That goodness!" Maybe she could unwound a bit, but for somewhere, she always felt tense whenever she brought Angelus anywhere. He always wound up in some kind up trouble.
Angelus looked around. Some kids were quiet, others were playfult, some were loud, and a few were obnoxious. He didn't know what to make of them. Hmmm, he wondered what he could that would entertain him?

"Dad knew I saw you that day..." Surion smiles "So I take it the lil guy is whats kept you busy since I last ran into you?"

"Did he?" And just as she said it she realized he would. Her scent was probably all over him when they danced. "I'm surprised he didn't ask if I raped you or something along those lines." she chuckled.
Silent sighed and rolled her eyes. "Busy is an understatement." She loved the little misfit though. She couldn't help it.
Angelus looked around to see if there was anything. A vent! Oh, he was going to have fun.

Surion snorted and laughed "Would you believe he did? In fact it was hte first thing he said" he shakes head recalling that conversation

"You know? That doesn't surprise me." she laughed. She brushed the hair from her eyes, but it fell back in its same place.
Angelus noticed no one was looking so he quickly made his way towards the duct.

Surion laughs and moves back out into the noisy club. "I have to do some more dancing, at break we can sit and talk though"

Silent nodded. "I'll be at the booth. You do your thing." she laughed. Her heels clacked the whole against the ground as she made her way towards the booth.
Angelus discovered that the screws were loose to the screen. Slipping under, he started to crawl through the metal tubes.

Surion wanders back into the crowd and nodded, he climbs back pon the platform falling back intot he beat of hte music

Silent raised her hand in the air and the bartender caught sight of it. Her drink was quickly made and sent over to her. She languidly sipped her drink and started to relax. Angelus was ok.
Angelus continued to make his way through the tubes glancing at each screen that he passed. He was back to the room of the dancing people.

Surion focused on his work , not that dancing really was 'work' more a workout then work and he was perspiring from the work, the amounts of lights there was caught the shine of his skin from it

Angelus continued crawling through the vents. He caught sight of the same man who helped him on the ceiling. He was dancing. Was that all adults did when kids weren't around? Odd.
Silent sipped her drink some more and closed her eyes. It was nice to have a time to relax and let out a breath of relief.

Come break Surion was readu for it, he climbed down and headed for hte booth where his sister's mother sat "Hey" he says as he sits down and pulls his tips out to tidy the money up before stuffing it into his pocket once more


Silent eyed the money and then the boy. "You remind me of a stripper. Or a male whore. Either or." she blurted out without thinking, but laughed at her own comment.
Angelus finally made his way to a vent that was positioned right behind the booth his mother was in. He caught part of the conversation. What was a stripper? Or a male whore? He'd have to ask his mother later.

Surion laughs "Well I'm neither, just a dancer, which pays quite well..." He blinks, a familliar scent nearby, but nah... that wouldn't be right, his eyes peared around

Silent laughed. "Good. I'm sure your lover wouldn't appreciate that." she smiled. Her fingers traced the cups rim. A high send emanated from the object.
Angelus ducked a bit, hoping he didn't get caught. He was sure though. The way the blinds on the screen were placed, you could barely see what was behind it.

Surion laughs "No I don't think Nani would like that, she doesn't mind this job though... " he eyed the glass the sound had cut through the music ... at least to his ears

"Well, it does look like it pays well. How did you get the job?" she wondered. Her fingers stopped their movements, letting the dance music play through the building.
Angelus waited and listened.

"Came and spoke to the owner of the club, I found out who it was the same day I met you, he's a wolfman Fa'e, pretty nice guy, my job comes with an apartment too" Surion says wit a smile

"An apartment? Aren't you a lucky dog. A wolfman Fae? Wow. You definately know the most interesting people Surion." she said in a tone of almost awe.
Angelus cocked an eyebrow. A wolfman? Cool!

"I know her too" he says motioning at hte snakewoman up atop yet another platform also dancing "I have met come interesting people to say the least"

"Angelus would love to meet them." she thought aloud. Silent was just a mere vampire. Nothing special in the demon world.
Angelus tried to see what Surion pointed out, but he couldn't. He huffed in resignation.

Surion pulled a pen from his pocket and doodled on a napkin before pushing it across the table to Silent, it read 'I think I smell him nearby'

Silent read the napking. For a few moments she didn't know what he meant and then realization dawned on her. Her eyes turned into slits. She took a deep whiff of the air. He was here. But not. Where the hell was he?
Angelus watched his mother start to smell. Who was she looking for?

Surion took a few smells of his own though they were more disguised , he frowns slightly trying to sort out what direction the scent came from

Silent closed her eyes and followed her nose. Her head moved with her nose. She stopped when the smell as its strongest. She opened her eyes. The vent?

Angelus watched as his mother turned his way. Uh oh.

Surion watches Silent and then followed her gaze, well that would explain why the scent was a bit muddled

Silent, with vampiric speed, ripped the screen from its hinges and reached into the vent grabbing the first thing she felt.
Angelus wasn't quick enough. He tried to crawl back the other way, but he felt his ankle being clamped upon. Damn!

Surion blinked and watched with a slight smirk, so thats where that came from....

With a quick jerk, the child landed uncerimoniously on her lap. Brown eyes stared down at the boy.
Angelus looked up at his mother. He didn't have a witty comeback this time. Instead....He gulped. Uh oh.

"Well well, a little escape artist, no wonder you keep so busy" Surion shakes his head "I can only hope my kids aren't like that when the time comes"

Silent looked up at Surion and just let out a chuckle. " I hope they are, then you'll know what I go through. Oh, and sorry about the screen. Just put it on my tab." she motioned towards the open vent.
Angelus didn't dare move. He lay sprawled on his back with bent limbs in the air. Like a dead cochraoch.

"Not my job to do, that'd be Silver's" he leans on the table "Well considering my kids would be dragonic like me I'm sure they would be little terrors... I know mum says Vina's were"

"Oh yes. They sound feisty already! "At the mention of Vina's children, Silent didn't know what to say. "She must have been a wonderful mother." she praised her daughter.
Angelus tried to move in a better position.
"Don't you move." Silent eyed the boy.
Angelus went back to his original position.

"I only kinda know her, she's lived at the cliffs my entire life, so I've just seen her when mum and dad went to the cliffs for a visit... She gave my mate a gift a while go which was neat, she's an Elder there..." Surion sighs

Silent nodded. "Well I hope she's alright and happy." she smiled. "I'm sure she is. An elder? Of what?" she asked.
Angelus listened in his awkward position.

"Of the cliffs, basically member of hte governing body, they are the ones in charge there" Surion tried to explain

Silent nodded in understanding. "Wow. She's all grown up." She wanted to see Torvina.
Angelus moved a bit and Silent didn't seem to notice.

"She looks a lot like Visha, it's kinda interesting to see..." he muses

"Really? Wow." Silent commented. Like Visha?
Angelus slowly started to loosen his limbs.

Surion nods and stretches "Well I should get back to work" he says with a look at hte boy

Silent apologized. "I'm sorry! I must be keeping you. Anyways, I must be off. It's getting late and I should take him back home to bed." She looked down at the child on her lap.
Angelus looked from one adult to the other. "What?" he asked.

Surion laughs "Break is an hour long, it was nice to visit with you, do come by the shop some time eh"

"Oh, well than I don't feel so bad. Don't worry. I'll come back. Maybe Angelus won't be such a misfit, right?" she asked the child in her lap.
FairytaleLover00: Angelus nodded. "Right."

Surion nods and gets up "Have a good night you two" he says before wandering back into the crowd of dancers

Silent waved good bye to Surion and scooped up Angelus into her arms. " You are going to bed. Early!"
The boy humphed but didn't say a word.

Mother and son both left the establishment and headed out back onto the street leading back home.

Angelus and Silent walked the same familiar sidewalk that would lead them to the store. Exactly how long had it been since they visited the stationary shop? Too long. Silent's black duster swished behind her as she walked with brisk steps. By the way she looked, you could've sworn that you was going to a club or some type of social event. But she usually dressed that way. Angelus quickly learned that three of his steps equaled one of Silent's, so he was finally able to keep up with his mother. His wings fidgeted in anticipation.

He wondered who would be at the shop this late at night?

Aido shifted, stretching in the confined space of one of the Stationary Shop's armchairs, shifting the beastery in her hands before propping it back up on her knees, which were now resting out the arm of the armchair. Her free hand dangled over the side of the chair, scratching at Rael's ears.

She'd come by earlier hoping to catch one of her friends but had found the Stationary Shop deserted and had tucked herself into an armchair, not quite willing to head home just yet. Besides, it was easier to get some reading done in a quite Stationary Shop than in her own bustling home.

Within a few moments, Both mother and son arrived at the front door of the shop. With a small push, Silent opened the door to find out that it was still open. A few lights were on giving the shop a mellow look. Angelus looked about the store wondering if Huni was around attending the shop.
Silent wiped her feet on the rug before stepping upon the wooden floor. It was a bit chilly out, but not incredibly bad. Angelus' wings blanketed the small boys body. Smelling the air, his ears perked up like a dog? It couldn't be. "Aido?" he whispered to himself.
Silent heard the boy and looked around. Aido? She didn't noticed the scent until Angelus said something.

Aido was too engrossed in her book to notice the whispers of her name or the shift in the shadows of the room, but Rael wasn't. Ears perking the Shadow pushed to his feet, tail sweeping at the ground he rumbled slightly at the newcomers.

At that Aido finally looked up, tugging at her scarf as she sat up slightly, "'lo?" she called, eyes sweeping the area, eyes resting on the door she blinked, "Silent? Angelus?"

Silent smiled at the grown girl before her. "Aido! Long time no see! How are you hun?" she walked over to the rest area and sat upon a free couch. She didn't bother to take off her coat. It was a bit chilly.

Angelus didn't move. Nearly didn't breath. How long had it been? He'd seen her grown, but still, that moment was brief. "Aido." he repeated her name as if trying to tell himself that she was there. And real. Was that Rael? Her shadow? His wings hugged his body tighter. Not because of the cold, but in comfort. It had been a long time since he'd seen his good friend. "Hi." He finally find a word to say. Wow. It was just a bit surreal at the moment.

Aido returned Silent's smile and set her book to the side, halo glowing warmly, "it feels like it's been forever. I'm doing okay, how're you?"

Her eyes slid to Angelus and she smiled tenatively at his greeting, unsure as to whether or not bounding over and hugging him would be appropriate or not. She rarely second guessed herself but seeing her lontime friend hug his wings tighter to himself at the sight of her was slightly disconcerting.

She settled on a verbal greeting and a sincere smile of welcome, "hi Angelus."

Realization finally seeped through his bones. It really was her. Within a flash, he jumped into Aido's arms and hugged her with all his might. "I missed you." He meant it with every part of his being. She was there for him since the beginning and ever since the accident, he was never around.

Silent smiled at the girl. "We're well. We're currently living with Jiro and Akiya. Well, with the whole blood transfusion and all." She wondered if the girl remembered what happened in the cave? Of course she would. Silent didn't excpect Angelus to become emotional, but what would she expect? Those two were always close and it had been a long time since they had seen eachother. The sight nearly made her heart skipped a beat... Well if her heart still beat it would have.

Aido laughed richly and returned the hug with equal force, burying her face in her best friend's feathers, ignoring the squeeze on old wounds. It'd just been so long. "I missed you too." She replied, the warm feeling of familarity and comfort filling her, she'd learned to treasure it since Reit.

Bi-colored eyes glanced up and she nodded slightly to Silent, old memories, her memories, thankyouverymuch, stirring at the mention of the blood transfusion.

"That's good to hear," she said, though it was muffled by Angelus' feathers.

Silent knew that the two would probably like some time alone. Standing up, she chuckled nervously. "I'll just... Uh... Find some food... Chinese food! In the kitchen! Right..." With a quick dash she skittered off towards the back where the kitchen was.

Angelus didn't look. This was real. She was real. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't his usual dreams. Closing his eyes, he took in her scent. It definately was real. Lifting his head up he looked into her eyes. "Where have you been?" he asked with utmost curiosity.

In the back of her mind Kibeth crowed at Silent's antics and a small chuckle escaped Aido's lips. She blocked out the other woman's influence and looked back to Angelus at his question and she tilted her head considerately, "recently? Mostly just home and around Gaia, though I can never seem to get here as often as I'd like. What about you? Where've you been?"

Angelus listened intently. He looked to the small form that crowed. His eyes went back to her. "Home?" He looked at her intently. Aido wouldn't hide anything from him, would she? He shook his head. No way.

"Me and Mom have been staying with Jiro and his family. Silent and Akiya want to look after us in case of anything." He didn't say anything further.

Mentally she fidgeted under Angelus' gaze before stamping out her own uncertainty. If there was anyone who would understand getting stuck in another world for over a month, well, it was probably Angelus.

"I was stuck on an island named Reit for a while, which kept me away for a time," she surpressed a shudder at the thought of that time and all it pertained. "But that wasn't home. Home is home near Durem, with my Mu and family," she said after a moment, a fond smile gracing her lips as she thought of her bizarre family, chasing away the bad thoughts.

She blinked, "in case of anything?" had something else happened? She glanced to the small form as it crowed and blinked, wondering what it was.

Angelus listened intently and laid his hand on her forearm and squeezed it in comfort. He smiled, glad that he was opening up to him. "At least you're back. Back with your family and all the people that care about you." He looked into her bi-colored eyes that revealed everything.

Angelus fidgeted a bit at the question. "Well... Jiro and I...Well... we can kind of hear each other's thoughts. We're not sure if that's all there is to it... Or if there's something more." He admitted. If he could talk to anyone, Aido was the one.

Aido returned the smile, she was glad to be back. So glad that she'd return to Reit to make sure than nothing from that place followed her to her home someday. But she didn't mention that, instead knocked their foreheads together companionably.

At his answer she couldn't help but giggle a little at the thought, hadn't Angelus and Jiro once hated one another? A very long time ago? "Hear eachothers thoughts?" she asked curiously, consideringly, "that sounds like it could be nice, as long as it wasn't all the time." She blanched at the thought, thoughts were often very private things. "Have there been signs of it being something more?"

Angelus chuckled. They were mortal enemies once? But now it was different. They could stand eachother without killing the other. "Well, at the moment, that's all. But we're still young. Who knows what that might mean in the future." He was scared. He couldn't help it. He didn't mean for any of this to happen, but it did. Was it fate? Or an accident.? He would never know the answer to that.

Aido nodded in return and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a comforting squeeze and a smile, "knowing you two you'll make whatever happens, if anything does, work." She had the utmost confidence in the other two Tales, after all, she knew firsthand how stubborn, amongst other things, they could be.

Aido nodded in return and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a comforting squeeze and a smile, "knowing you two you'll make whatever happens, if anything does, work." She had the utmost confidence in the other two Tales, after all, she knew firsthand how stubborn, amongst other things, they could be.

Angelus laughed. "Thanks Aido. I'm sure we can get through this. It's just the not knowing that scares me." He admitted to the Tale. Brown eyes looked down in embarrasment. He hoped Aido didn't see him as a sissy for being scared. He doubt she would though.

Aido's smile tilted slightly, a tinge of sadness affecting the usually happy expression and she ruffled Angelus' hair, "the not knowing is always scary... but all we can do is live in the present, right?"

Angelus batted her hand away playfully. " I guess. What more can we do?" Not much really. His eyes widened as he thought of an idea. "Want to go for a walk? Maybe get a piece of candy at the shop on the corner of the stree?" he offered.

Aido grinned and nodded, "that sounds nice," looking down she giggled and playfully poked him, "but you've gotta get off me first so I can get up."

Angelus apologized quickly and carefully crawled off Aido's lap onto the ground. Straightening his clothes, he looked up to the girl. He nearly forgot! He didn't have any money. Running off to the kitchen, he asked his mother for a few coins. He didn't want much. Running back to the living room, he smiled at Aido. "Okay. I'm ready. Do you have money? I can share." he offered to his friend.

Aido stood pulling on her coat and nudging at Rael. She explained what was going on and, after nodding, her Companion slipped off into the shadows.

Smiling as Angelus came back Aido looked up to the ceiling pensively before pawing through her satchel. Her Aemu usually made sure she always carried money but occassionally the gold got spent and she was left with coins for other lands that Chao insisted she carry 'just in case.'

There it was! A few golden coins left from buying yet more maps, she nodded to her friend, "thanks, but it looks like I've got money."

Angelus nodded and pocketed the coins. "All right!" Walking towards the door, he opened it and waited. He'd let Aido go first. "I'll follow." He offered, tugging at his buckle bracelets. He would be rude to go ahead of a female, his mother told him.

Aido nodded curiously, though the custom behind the action went over her head. She headed through the door and paused to wait for him so they could be off down the street together. Hopefully he hadn't meant that he intended to walk behind her all the way to the store, though, even if he had she wouldn't let him.

Angelus closed the door softly behind him so he wouldn't make too much of a ruckus. Looking to Aido, he smiled and caught up with her. He stood to the right of her, walking on the street side instead of the building side. It was another gentlemanly act that Silent taught him. Smiling, he started to walk towards the small shop. Out of nowhere, he began to hum a tune. He only hummed when he was alone, but because it was Aido, he felt he didn't have to hide that part of himself. "What are you going to buy?" he inquired of Aido.

Aido walked slowly beside him, smiling and nodded her head in time when he began to hum, reminded quietly of her brother.

She blinked at his question, "uhm... actually, I don't know." She's never gone to this store or, in fact, when she thought about it, been to a candy store before now.

Angelus took her hand into his and picked up his pace. "Well then, we better get there fast. That way, you can have lots of time to pick out what you might like. I sort of have an idea of what I want." What he wanted wasn't exactly a piece of candy, but a treat. It was sort of healthy in some context.
They nearly reached the entrance of the store.

Laughing Aido increased her pace to match his and opened the door to the store and tugged him through so they crossed the threshold together.

Looking around, every shelf was covered with clear boxes full of candy. Angelus could smell the sugar in the air. He knew what he wanted. Going towards the back of the store, he came upon a table filled with apples covered in caramel and nuts. "Mmm.." He nearly salivated at the thought of it. He wasn't a big sugar person, but this was a good treat. He looked to Aido with a big grin on his face. "These are caramel apples. They're really good. Did you see anything around that catches your eye?" he looked around as well, trying to figure out what Aido might like.

Aido was still looking around, a slightly overwhelmed look on her face. There were so many things! She didn't even know what she liked, having never been too big on sugar, unless her mother was on a baking spree and even then it was usually just things like pies or a cake that she would nibble on.

Glancing to her friend she shrugged, "I don't know... what do you suggest?"

Angelus bit his bottom lip in concentration. "Well... What do you like? Do you like sweet or sour things? Or do you like chocolate?" he'd help her narrow a list down for her.

"Uhm..." Aido thought about what she'd had before, "I like chocolate... and sweet things are nice."

Angelus thought long and hard. Chocolate and something sweet. If a lightbulb could go off above his head, it would have. "Do you like cherries?" he asked with a smile.

Aido tilted her head, "cherries?" What were cherries?

Angelus bit his bottom lip in thought. "Cherries are berries. You usually put them on ice cream." he offered.

"Aha," Aido considered that, wondering what these 'cherries' would look and tasted like before smiling, "I've never had them, but they sound nice."

Angelus smiled and took Aido's hand. "Follow me." He knew what would be a perfect treat for Aido. Arriving to the chocolate section, brown eyes scanned the numerous shelves before them. "Aha!" He exclaimed as he found what he was looking for. Pointint to a small piece of chocholate that looked like a little hill, Angelus looked to Aido. "Chocolaet covered cherries. You would probably like it." He nodded his head in affirmation. "And the best thing is, you can always try a piece of chocolate before you buy it, just in case you don't like it."
Angelus looked around for the store owner. Finding him, he went up to him and politely asked if his friend could try one of the chocolate covered cherries.
The old man smiled at the two children and nodded. Fetching a piece of chocolate, he offered one to idea on a small tray. "Here you go hun." he smiled at the girl.

Aido nodded curiously at the small bit of chocolate and smiled to the store keeper when he came over. Nodding she took a piece from the tray, "thank you," she said to the man with a warm smile before taking a tenative bite of the chocolate.

Angelus wringed his hands in anticipation. He hoped she liked it.
GuilmonTamer01: Aido smiled in delight at the taste and nodded, popping the rest of the chocolate into her mouth, "it's really good," she said after she'd swallowed.

"Great!" Angelus exclaimed at quickly blushed at his outburst. He had the caramel apple in his hand. "They're only a nickle a piece. How many do you want?"

Aido paused and thought about her, her brothers would probably murder her if she didn't bring any back to them. "I'll get ten so I can bring some home," she said after a moment and pulled out the coins needed.

Angelus nodded. Taking his caramel apple to the store owner, he watched as the man wrapped it up and placed it in a brown paper bag. He did the same with Aido's treats. He didn't have any brothers and sisters to worry about. And Silent wasn't exactly a foody.

Aido smiled her thanks and handed the payment for her treats over to the man she looked over to Angelus, "where should we go to eat?"

Angelus contemplated the question. "There's a small park not too far from here. Would you like to go there?" The park was either quiet or full of people depending on the day. So they could either people or watch or be themselves. It didn't matter to him.

Aido nodded, "mmhmm, that sounds great."

"All right." Angelus nodded. He thanked the store owner and opened the door for Aido again. "It's about two or three blocks away from here." He instructed. "All we have to do is make a left on this corner."

Aido stepped through the door, nodding to Angelus' instructions, "alright, lead on."

Angelus walked to the corner of the block. Since the store was at the corner, all they had to do was make a left and keep walking straight. It was close enough that they could see it from their spot. Angelus nodded his towards the direction and started walking. His right hand clasped the paper bag with his treat in it.

Aido stepped up to stride beside him walking on his left side near the buildings. As they walked she idly dragged her free hand along the walls and the shadows cast by the evening sun, humming to herself since Angelus wasn't at the moment.

As they walked, Angelus duck his free hand into his pocket. He would glance to Aido and then to the ground. It was as if he wanted to say something, but didn't know how to say it. Taking a deep breath, he finally said it. "Are you going to stay this time? You know... For good?"

Aido started at the sudden question, accidently digging whacking her fingers on the edge of a window sill. Grimacing she folded the sore didgets and pressed them against her scarf. She took a deep breath and sighed it out before shaking her head, "I....can't, I need to finish something on Reit." She couldn't leave that creature there and could barely stand not knowing why it'd attacked her in the first place. Why it had said what it'd said....

She smiled slightly, "but, after that I will." The smile crocked into a lopsided grin, "unless, I could get to other worlds and back, freely..." her eyes shown with excitement at the prospect of being able to always have someplace new to go and explore. She grinned to Angelus, "and someday I know I'll be able to take other with me and then we could go anywhere!"

Angelus wasn't expecting that answer. He dug his hand into his pockets deeper. "When will that be Aido? How long will it take you? You... You can't go by yourself. You just can't." He whispered the last part to himself. He looked towards the ground as they walked.

His ears perked up a bit when she said that afterward she would stay. Always. But still, he didn't erase the fact that she was going back there. Back to a place that made her frown, made her sad, made her... different. He wanted his old Aido back. The one that didn't experience this horrible place. He conjured up a small smile. "As long as you're safe Aido. That's all that matters." He looked back to the ground again.

Aido grimaced at the dissapointment on her friend's face and sighed, pulling hand through her hair. "Going back there and facing what I must is better than waiting her until it decides to come after me. Or worse, comes after you, my family, the other Tales," she shook her head, "I'll never let that happen."

She flinched at a mention to her safety and tugged self consciously at her long sleeves, thankful they and her scarf covered up the scares.


Angelus took his eyes from the sidewalk and watched his friend intently. They finally reached the park. Taking her hand, he lead her to a willow tree. Sitting down, he motioned for her to sit down as well. "Aido... I understand that you want to help everyone, but you can't go alone. I won't let you." He placed his hand on hers. Why did she play with her sleeves so much?

Aido took a seat and placed her bag by her, playing with the shadow their forms cast to calm herself before answering, bi-colred eyes icy with determination, "I won't put someone else in danger by taking them with me." Why was he trying so hard to make her undo the decision she'd made weeks ago? Maybe she should never have even mentioned the accursed island in the first place....

Angelus looked into his friends eyes. "Why are you so scared? Why won't you let someone help you? Why won't you let me help you? How can I not help you when you saved me?"

Aido returned the gaze and smiled sadly, "I won't let anyone help because this is my responsibility. Rael and I will deal with it and then thing'll be alright again." That is, if you're not- she stomed on the though and folded her knees up to her chin.

"I don't need anyone else to come with me, to get hurt because of me, I just need..." she sighed, "I need to know thing'll be here when I get back. I just want home to be here to come back to...."

Angelus clasped his hands over hers and stood quiet. He let out a sigh of defeat. She wouldn't listen. "If you need anything Aido, anything, just tell me, okay? I don't think I can..." He didn't want to even finish the thought. " Just come home Aido. Just come home." That's all he wanted. He wanted for her to be safe and sound, happy, and content.

Aido smiled and nodded, "I will." She shifted her hand and clasped their pinkies together, "I promise I'll come back."

Angelus smiled and squeezed his pinkie with hers. "Promise. Good." He felt much better knowing that. "All right. We should eat now! My teeth are craving to bit into this apple." he chuckled, taking out his caramelized treat.

Aido smiled warmly and nodded, glad they were back to lighter things, and took out one of the chocolate covered cherries, "yeah, let's dig in!" she cheered, taking off the wrapper and taking a large bite of the chocolate.

Angelus took a big bite of his caramel apple. It was sweet with a bit of crunch because of the apples and peanuts. He offered a bite to Aido. "Want to try mine?" he offered.

Aido nodded, "sure, want one of the chocolate covered cherries?" she offered, holding one up to trade.

Angelus chuckled. "Sure!" He let her take the apple and he grabbed a chocolate covered cherry. Chocolate was heaven.

Aido grinned and took a large bite of the caramel apple, savoring the new taste as she munched happily.

Angelus watched her experession. "What do you think of it?" He inquired.

"Very good," Aido managed out, though it was slightly muffled by the remains of the apple and she had to quickly swallow to avoid giggling and accidently choking herself.

Angelus laughed at Aido, but not in a bad way. "And the chocolate cherry was really good. Especially gooey." With emphasis, he licked his fingers that were coated in cherry goop.

Aido laughed and nodded, handing Angelus back his caramel apple and begininng to lick her own fingers. The carmel, chocolate and cheery goop had all had mixed together to coat the long digits, "mmmm," she murmured happily.

Angelus mmmm'ed in agreement. "Chocolate is heaven." he commented about the treats. He happily took his apple back and bit into it again. This was definately heaven. Being here with Aido and eating chocolate. He couldn't ask for anything better. "I'm glad you're here Aido." he smiled at his best friend.

Aido nodded again, licking the last of the chocolate mixture from her fingers before settling back, leaning on her hands. She smiled back warmly and her halo glowed softly, "I'm glad to be here with you, Angelus."

Angelus smiled and quickly finished his treat, leaving the core in tact. His back settled comfortably against the trunk of the tree. "We should do this more often Aido." He nodded in affirmation. That sounded like a good idea.

Aido nodded, "we should." It'd be a nice tradition for them to have.

Angelus said. "Great! This will be our thing. No one else's." It was a good idea.

Aido grinned and nodded, "just our's." It was a good idea and something to keep between the two of them. Looking around she grabbed a hold of a small stick and, shifting, plunged it into the ground by the tree then build up a small mound of dirt. She grabbed its shadow and tugged it up and over, coating the twig in black. Smiling she sat back on her calves. "There, now we have a marker for this place."

Angelus didn't know exactly what Aido was doing. He watched as she took a stick and plunged it into the ground, coating it in it's shadow. "A marker." he smiled. "Only the two of us will know what it means."

"Mmmhmm!" Aido agreed happily with a nod of affirmation. "The shadow should keep it here, even if it rains or the winds get really bad."

"That's a good idea. It will always be there for us to find. Just the two of us." he smiled and nodded. He didn't realize that a shadow could do so much. "It can do that?" he questioned.

Aido nodded and pointed at her work, "see? I made a sort of skin tight tent from this shadow," she pointed to the main tree's shadow, "so it's tethered to that. As long as there's even a stump of that tree it'll have a shadow so the twig will stay black."

It was amazing to hear what shadows could do. "I never thought of it like that Aido." He looked at the stick with new awe. Incredible, he thought. "Good. That way it will always be there." It was a good idea.

Aido smiled and put her chin on her hands, smiling fondly at the little black twig. She could do a lot more with Kibeth's knowledge backing her own discoveries. "Mmmhmm, it should be. And if this tree ever goes down we'll find somewhere else to tether it to," she looked up and patted the tree, "but I don't think it's going anywhere anyway."

Angelus looked up at the willow tree they sat beneath. "I agree. It'll be here for a long time." Angelus looked around. It was getting late. "It's getting late. Wanna go back to the store?" he asked Aido.

Aido looked up at the sun's posistion and nodded, "yeah, we head back, otherwise your mum might worry," they didn't exactly have the best track record for keeping out of trouble after all.

Nodding, Angelus rose up to his feet. He offered his hand to help Aido up. "You're right. Silent will track me down if I don't get back at a reasonable time."

Aido took the offered hand and chuckled, "I think Aemu's basicly given up trying to keep track of me, she finally gave me a 'cell phone' to call home with." She pat her satchel, feeling the little silver and black phone bounce around inside with her maps and other accorted things.

Angelus cocked his head to the side. "A cellphone? Silent has one but rarely uses it. She says it's more of a hassle than anything. But keeps it just in case." He hoisted her up to a standing position.

Aido dusted off her clothing and pit her bag and the remainder of the chocolates into her satchel, "it is a hassle, but it's nice to be able to call home when I need to and that way Mu can get a hold of me if needbe. I think it helps her worry less, which is a wonderful thing."

"I'll take your word for it." He smiled. "Are you ready?" He dusted off his pants and made sure he wasn't too dirty.

"Mhmm," she nodded, stretching out her back, "let's go."

Angelus watched as she stretched and started to walk back into the direction they came from.

Aido felt her back crack and quickly jogged after Angelus until she was walking in step with one another.

Angelus looked behind him and smiled. " I wouldn't leave you behind." he chuckled.

Aido laughed and stuck her tounge out, "no, you'd simply go to around the corner and laugh when I sprinted after you, right?"
FairytaleLover00: Angelus laughed. "Just wanted to get a rise from you." He gently punched her arm in a friendly manner.

Aido giggled and shook her head, ruffling Angelus' hair, as it was probably a more infuriating comeback then the return of a punch would be.

Angelus, again, pushed her hand away. "Not the hair." he tried to spike it back up.

Aido laughed warmly and poked at a strand, "is it even possibly to get it to completely bend down?" she shoved both her hands into it, attempting to press down the naturally spiky locks.

Angelus, AGAIN, tried to push her hands away, but it was of no use. "Yes! When I take a bath!"

"Ahhh, it's days like this that I wish I was a water woker," Aido sighed, giving the locks one last smoosh before removing her hands and looking at her handiwork. Immediately she burst into rich laughter at the sight, some of Angelus' hair had bent to her will other parts... hadn't.

Angelus just grumbled under his breath. "That wouldn't be a good job for you. You'd terrorize me." He wasn't going to bother fixing it. Instead, he'd leave it just to watch Aido laugh. It was a great thing to watch her laugh. He bit his bottom lip to keep from smiling. He wouldn't give in.

"I would, I'd terrorize everyone I saw with spiky hair," Aido giggled and swept her arms out, and cackled, "and then I would demand sacrifice from all who wished to keep their spiky hair intact!" she collapsed into giggles yet again.

Angelus covered his eyes with his hand and shook his head. "It would be the end of the world as I know it." He joked along with her. "Believe me! I wouldn't be the first in line to bow down to those silly demands." He humphed.

"Of course you wouldn't, you'd be my mercenary," Aido stated, quite matter of factly, "you'd make sure everyone else gave into my demands."

Angelus looked at Aido as if she were crazy. "Are you serious? A mercenary? Yeah right!" he replied dilligently.

"Captain of the guard then? You'd get to keep your spiky hair," Aido returned with a smile and a wag of her finger.

Angelus humphed. "If it lets me keep my hair then fine. " he responded. He wanted to have his spiky hair.

Aido beamed and hummed, lacing her fingers behind her, enjoying the bizarre bout of silliness.

Angelus pointed his finger at her. "Captain of the guard and I keep my hair, right?" he wanted to make sure.

WIP

Elder Kera: *Zy sneaks up upon and tackles* Yo! <3
FairytaleLover00: Ahhh!!! *Falls to ground* Zy!!! *Snuggles*What's this nice surprise? <3
Elder Kera: hehe well I've had you on my friend's list for awhile so I decided I might as well finally say hi to you while you're on it XD plus I saw Angelus grew. He looks smexah X3
FairytaleLover00: Thanks! Huni says he's my Valentines gift. She was impatient and made him grow. I guess I was taking too long, but I'm almost done with his last PD! LOL!
Elder Kera: hahah well Huni must have thought he was too sexy to hold out on much longer or something XD
FairytaleLover00: And I'm shocked! Jiro complimenting Angelus? I guess living with one another finally had a civil affect.
FairytaleLover00: LOL! Probably!
Elder Kera: haha yeah Jiro's just like there's no point in insulting him when there's nothing to find insult in >>
FairytaleLover00: *Chuckles* It's nice that they're not fighting or insulting each other.
Elder Kera: though he was gonna be like who would wanna date Angelus anyway XP but he didn't say that hehe
FairytaleLover00: Awww! I think Angelus might have a girl problem though. Between Aido and Rhea. X.x
FairytaleLover00: Both have the 'feelin's' for him.
Elder Kera: Jiro: *Shifts a brow* Ha! You're a ladies' man? I feel fo ryou I really do... *So glad he doesn't have that problem*
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *Rolls eyes and smiles* Thanks. *Rubs temples* I'm too young for this.
Elder Kera: Jiro: Tell them you're not intersted. It's worse to string them along if you're really not and you are too young for this.. hence why you shouldn't deal with it. *nods* You have more important things to worry over.. like training >>
FairytaleLover00: Silent: Funny... do you you know what the question was for his tome? "What do you get when you fall in love?"
Angelus: *Nods in understanding* I know, I know. I just don't want to hurt their feelings. Hey, wait?!? What about training? I want to play the guitar! XD
Silent: Then you'll have ALL types of girls all over you.*Rolls eyes* XD
Elder Kera: Jiro: *He snorted* I'm so glad that wasn't my question... *He looked at him like he didn't know who the hellt his person was* Guitar? ... *Rolling his eyes he shook his head* Bah, you're a hopeless case... *Rubbing the back of his neck, he took down his hair so he could work on making it into a thick braid* Then be used to girls screaming for you and sending disgusting love letters
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: It wasn't me! It was her! *Points to Silent*
Silent: Don't bring me into this! If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be here!
Angelus:*Rolls eyes and looks at Jiro* An acoustic one. And maybe the electric one. XD*Nods* Girls wouldn't be screaming for me. * Is utterly naive * I don't even have a weapon to train with. What am I going to use?
Elder Kera: Jiro: Uh huh.. you keep thinking that *Is so happy he's threatened away most people who would have a slight interest in him and that he didn't interact with Rhea that much.. though he was going to be intensely displeased when it came time to train her.. whenever that was or if she got around to sending him a note.* We'll find you something, I'm sure
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: What? It's true!*Nods in approval* Who doesn't like music? Rhea told me that she felt a little threatened with you, but still wants to train. *Points to temple* Remember? I hear what you think. XD *Bites his lip in concentration* What would be good for me to train with?
Elder Kera: Jiro: Threatened? *He gave him a rather annoyed look* I did nothing to her to constitute being threatened, thank you kindly. I'm sorry but it's not amusing to have to play twenty million questions with someone I don't know. Heh you can't hear all my thoughts... be thankful you can't. *He looked him over before he shrugged* We would have to try you out with a lot of them to see which you feel is right for you
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: Well Jiro. If you didn't know, you put a lot of people off the first time they meet you. She's not annoying... Just...Just... curious. *Nods* Yeah, that's it. *Shivers* I'm glad I can't hear all of them. Who knows what you have hidden in there. *Cocks head to the side* What do you suggest we start off with?
Elder Kera: Jiro: It's not my fault they have no manners *Shrugs* Curious.. whatever. *He shrugged and dropped it not overly caring. He wasn't getting into a debate with Angelus of all people* Heh I knew you were going to say that. But I suppose we can start you off with a staff.. lemme go get them. Stay there... *He waved him off as he headed off to his dojo to get some of the weapons he had that he could just carry*
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *Shrugged his shoulders* At least they don't have to live with you. * He joked to the other tale * A staff? You mean, like a big stick? *He trusted Jiro, but a stick? He shrugged his shoulders and followed the Tale's request*
Elder Kera: Jiro: You don't have to live here, ya know *His wings flicked in irritation before he disappeared fully, returning ten minutes later with two large staves and two wooden swords* Yes, basically a large stick. You need to learn basics before you can do anything else and if you start off with a staff you can balance yourself... duh
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *Puts up hands* Just kidding. I haven't bitched in awhile, what makes you think I'll start now? * Chuckles. Eyes the staff. * Balance? Oh yeah... Right. Balance. I knew that! * He really didn't.*
Elder Kera: Jiro: You shouldn't lie so obviously... especially to me *He handed him a staff, holding the other in a secure grip* If you really suck at using a staff, then I guess I'll have to start you off like I would with Rhea.. with making you exercise and run around a lot
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: Okay, I didn't know. *Takes staff and flips it about through his fingers* Wait! No running! Let's start off with the staff. *Arobic exercises were not his thing*
Elder Kera: Jiro: Then hope you don't suck. *Was all he said as he spun the staff smoothly in one hand, watching him with his very carefully. He was not going to be an easy teacher.. and if he taught Angelus a little something then he could warn Rhea about it as well, since he seemed to like her so much.*
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: Believe me, I'm praying. *Brown eyes eyed the other as he spun his staff. Angelus took in the weight of the staff and its texture. Not too heavy and smooth.* All right. How do you want to start this?
Elder Kera: Jiro: Try spinning it.. *Placing both of his hands in the center of the staff, he used his fingers to make them spin* This can be a hard task.. you have to find the very center of balance of the staff and use it to your advantage. So I do expect the staff to fall a few times... and you can't move your arms too much either...
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *He nodded his head in understanding and placed both of his hands on the center of the staff.* Make it spin. Don't move your arms. *He whispered to himself. He was much too focused on the task at hand, that when he tried to spin the staff, he fingers got caught and made the stick fall* Damn!
Elder Kera: Jiro: Relax.. it won't kill you if you don't get it.. *He smirked a bit* For right now I suppose you can bend your arms a bit.. maybe it'll make you feel more comfortable.. *He forgot how he had to do that himself when he first started* And take it as slowly as you need to
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *Nodding, he picked up the fallen staff and placed his hands in the middle of it.* Okay. *He bent his arms a bit* That's better. *Taking a deep breath, he tried again. He was about to complete a full spin, when his fingers got caught again.He let out a sigh.* A little better, I guess.
Elder Kera: Jiro: It definately is. Soon you'll find that there's a rhythm to the spins.. find a pace in that and you'll be set, ya know? But you're doing just fine *He nodded a bit, slowly still spinning his own staff*
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: How long did it take you to do it? * He asked Jiro. Sticking his tongue out, he tried it again. Bending his arms, he spun the staff with his fingers. He quickly grasped the staff before it would fall. He nearly completed a whole spin.* Almost there. Almost there. * He smiled, glad that he was sort of getting it.*
Elder Kera: Jiro: A couple of weeks.. but that was because I didn't stop at it til I got it.. I dunno if you want to spend hour after hour doing this.. though it is all up to you
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *Even though he didn't like doing work, he hated it more that he couldn't do something as spin a staff. He carefully watched Jiro do it and wondered how his fingers nimbly manipulated the piece of wood.* I'll do it or else it's going to drive me crazy knowing that I won't be able to do it. *He admitted*
Elder Kera: Jiro: Heh... well then we have some hours ahead of us then. The thing that's kinda ironic about this.. is one you actually get it down, you'll wonder why the hell it was so hard in the first place. Because it'll seem extremely simple. Here. watch *Getting him to stop for a moment, he took up his own again and slowly moved it, letting him see how he moved his fingers. When it was fast it was more like a blur and it seemed hard but in truth, it was a rather simple motion*
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: Hours, I've got. I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me. We'll see how long it'll take until I get to that point. *He chuckled. Nodding, he focused on Jiro's movements. It looked so easy, it did. But man was it hard right now.* It doesn't look hard, but you know what they say about book covers. * He smirked to himself. Taking a deep breath, he place both hands in the middle of the staff and, slowly, started to turn it with his fingers. He could feel it wobble a bit, but he finally made a full spin. He stopped to contemplate exactly what he had done.* This is going to take a lot of work.
Elder Kera: Jiro: Heh very true indeed... and we're the personifications of such a meaning *His lips shifted into a smirk before he shrugged* That's fine.. I figure if I give you some training, I'll have an idea of what to do later on... it's not like I'm some kind of expert really... *Nodding, he sped up his hands so it was spinning as it had been before, removing one hand so it spun it with the other* Yup but it'll be worth it in the end
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *He laughed at the comment* True. Very true. Expert? Jiro, you're an expert compared to him. I'm more of a bookworm than anything, but being able to fight is important. *He nodded his head as memories came to the surface of the cave. He wouldn't let that happen again. Shaking his head, he looked back to Jiro and watched as he used one hand. He sighed.* I can't even use both my hands and you're using one. Nice. *He chuckled. Taking the same position, he slowly spun the staff around once and would stop. He would this action again very slowly each time until his fingers became used to the movements. They kept cramping up on him.*
Elder Kera: Jiro: Only because I felt knowing both was better than just knowing one and not the other. I read a lot as well.. but action isn't a bad thing. *He shrugged lightly* Do you know how many times I whacked myself in the head trying to learn how to do this with one hand? It's not easy but worth the riskes once its mastered... *Angelus' memories of the cave made him frown and he shook his head himself to clear them away. He hated thinking about that place.. so he didn't* It won't happen again....
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *Angelus only smiled as his mind conjured up visuals of Jiro hitting himself with the staff* I can only imagine. And I wish I was there to see it. * He joked.* To think Jiro, how far we've come. And thank you.* He just left it at that. He went back to slowly spinning the staff. Every now and then the object would fall, but the numbers grew smaller.* Let's hope it doesn't happen.*He went back to spinning the staff.*
Elder Kera: Jiro: Makes me thankful no one watches me train. Last thing I need is to hear you snickering in a corner XP *Rolling his eyes a bit at the comment and making a mental note to be more careful to make sure Angelus didn't get to watch his training, he looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded* Indeed we have...
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: I definately would if I caught you. But no one's perfect so don't sweat it. *He smiled and looked at the staff in his hands.* You and I are going to become well acquainted in the next few weeks. *He spoke to the object as if it could listen. He ears caught Jiro's last statement. He smiled and nodded, knowing that words were not needed at the moment*
Elder Kera: Jiro: You know that doing something like that makes training even harder, right? *Which was why he was probably so serious as he trained. Though there were some things he did that were fun, to him training was a serious matter* heh.. you most likely will.. and if you like staves more, then there are a great many assortment to chose from
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *He his head* No. I didn't. * He answered to the Tale.* A stave? What's a stave? *This was the first time he heard that word. Was it another weapon? he thought.*
Elder Kera: Jiro: Well now you know... hmm well staves tends to be a plural term for two staffs..but there are definately different kinds of weapons. I have to show you that huge book about weapons of Akiya's... he has so many of them
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: * The Tale felt stupid for asking a question. He chuckled in embarassment.* I should've known. Two staffs instead of one? I'll stick to one right now and once I get that down, then I'll try the two. I don't think he's shown me that book. Did he start training you or did you start by yourself? *He was curious as to Jiro's methods.*
Elder Kera: Jiro: Heh once you learn how to master one you'll want to get to play with two. Trust me.. you can come with so many nifty poses with two... *Blinking at the question, he shook his head after a bit* I've been training myself... I learn by reading various books and wathcing Shouhin.. though he didn't know I started training by myself til a lot later *And Akiya hadn't exactly been pleased about it either*
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *He smiled at the prospect of playing with two staffs instead of one.* Nifty poses, eh? That'd be nifty. Training yourself? I wouldn't be able to just read something and do it. I'd need to see it. Thanks for showing me. * He thanked the Tale*
Elder Kera: Jiro: Yup. I'll show you sometime.. or I'll let you watch me do a kata or something.. staves are fun but my forte are blades.. and I'm slowly learning whips. but now I have a proper teacher myself so hopefully I'll improve... heh well we aren't the same. me, I was curious but I didn't wish to bother Shouhin about it so I did it myself.. it was quicker, so I thought. But you're welcome
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: A kata, eh? I've heard of those before. And blades? Jiro, you're the bruce lee of the Tales, you know this right? *He laughed at the remark. It wasn't an insult, it was a comment. He didn't know any other Tale that had such a vast knowledge of fighting like Jiro did.* I guess we're all taught differently. I couldn't ask Silent. She's more fang and nail then swords and knives. *He commented*
Elder Kera: Jiro: Whose Bruce Lee? *He honestly had no idea who he was because Akiya didn't delve too deeply into the human world as far as he knew. Or if they did, he hadn't found those books yet. But he didn't know that he was th eonly one so seriously interested in weapons and fighting. It was just his calling, he supposed* Sometimes hand to hand has its purposes... i think it's good to know both, just in case weapons are taken away.. but I'm being trained in that myself as well... once i learn more I can teach you as well, if you'd like
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *He could have sworn that his jaw dropped* I'm surprised you don't know him? Back on earth, well, when he was alive, he was one of the greatest fighters in martial arts. Not only well known for his hand to hand combat, but also wielding weapons. He's a legend among human mortals. *He explained to the Tale. His head nodded at the offer.* I'd like that. Maybe when we can ask Akiya and Silent. Akiya could probably teach us some new ways to handle new weapons, and Silent... well... with her two hundred plus years, can probably give us some advice on hand to hand combat. I can't imagine my mom fighting, honestly. * The thought was too weird to comprehend *
Elder Kera: Jiro: Oh so he's human... *Not that he had anything against them, it just explained why he didn't know who he was* Too bad I couldn't have met him. Probably would have been an excellent teacher... Sure. I think Shouhin wouldn't mind teaching us something... it's not like he hasn't been around long enough, that old man.... I'm used to seeing Shouhin use magic more than any fighting. But asking can't hurt *Lifting his arm to scratch at the back of his neck, a bunch of scars were revealed there as his sleeve fell down a bit before his arm was lowered and they were covered again.* Did you wanna continue or do something else?
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *Nodding at the deduction.* Yup. He died in his early years. Too young. Great! I'm sure Akiya wouldn't say no to us! I've only seen him use his magic a few times, not much. *Brown eyes easily caught the scars hidden from his sleeves. What the? He'd never noticed those before. He pointed his hand to Jiro's arms.* Where did you get those?
Elder Kera: Jiro: That's always a shame.. to lose people too early... heh nay, Shouhin's really open about things like this so it'll be fun.. or informative.. whichever. *Looking down at his arms, he gave a little shrug* They're nothing.. I was a bit.. depressed for a good period of time.. someone left and I couldn't focus on anything to save my life.. this happened during sword practice... I have others. It happens when you lose focus with sharp objects heh
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: * He bit his bottom lip. Jiro was there when he needed him they most, and he felt guilty for not being there when he needed help. But knowing Jiro, he wouldn't admit to it.* Was it about Khia? * He knew it was. Knew the the relationship the two I had. They were close. Very close.* I'm sorry Jiro. I really am. Well, then next time you lose focus with sharp things, how about trading them, with blunt objects like staffs?
Elder Kera: Jiro: *His eyes widened when he was asked about Khia and he looked away instantly* ........ *he knew they were connected by thoughts and such but he had hoped that was something he hadn't shared with Angelus.. but apparently, some of it did pass over* You don't need to be sorry. I don't like to complain if I'm not in the bet of moods... so there's no point in feeling guilty about it
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: I didn't mean to... I mean I know... I think I'm going to shut up now. It's not my business, but I am worried about you. *He admitted to the Tale* Jiro, you're not complaining. If you need someone to listen, I'm all ears. *He offered to the Tale.*
Elder Kera: Jiro: ... It's amazing what filters through the bond between us heh... you know about Khia but you don't know about the Other, do you? *He ran a hand through his hair. It was something that he hesitated about speaking on because he didn't know how people would react to the thought of it. He got teased enough enough and if anyone said anything negative about how he decided to like, he was going to kill them. No questions asked no remorse felt. Shrugging when he said he was dropping it, he was more pleased about it* I'll try to remember that
Elder Kera: ((Oh yeah my aim hates me and likes to kick me.. so it's a heads up for you X3))
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: A lot does, but I've kept it to myself, knowing that you like your privacy. Khia, yes. But the Other? No. Well, if you need anything, Jiro. I'm here. *He left the offer out in the open.* So, about pointy things that twirl? * He chuckled, trying to change the subject knowing that Jiro would talk to him when it was right.*
Elder Kera: Jiro: Hmph.. thought it might work out like that... well I suppose it's best you don't know. *shrugging, he refused to say anything else on the topic. If he felt like talking about it, he might. But it all depended and now was not one of those times.* Sure. I can take you to where I keep them.. Shouhin says I can't cart them around as much as I want right now
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *Nodding his head in understanding.* Where does Akiya keep them? And what does he have? * He wondered what type of weapons the angel kept."
Elder Kera: Jiro: It's somewhere in his library... but I know where it is... he has a lot of different kinds of swords, daggers and things of that nature. *He then took him off towards the library on the third floor*
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: In the library? I wouldn't think he'd keep the weapons hidden there. *Nodding his head, he followed the Tale to the third floor of the library. He wondered where the angel kept these things? And, especially, well so hidden.*
Elder Kera: Jiro: Yeah I thought it was odd he would put such things there. but in truth, it's rather brilliant. Who would think to put such weapons in a library? *Looking intently over a few books, he found the one he was looking for and yanked it open. Flipping it open, he revealed that it was truly empty expect for what appeard to be a round black... blob of sorts*
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *He looked around the the study. It really was a brilliant idea to hide weapons in the library. The fallen angel didn't even think of such a place to store weapons. His brown eyes watched Jiro scan the books, and just like it was out of a movie, yanked on a book and a hidden door was revealed.* The bat cave! *He joked to the Tale and thought that Jiro might not know batman either.*
Elder Kera: Jiro: What? *Looking at him oddly, he took out the blob, shut the book and put it back into place. The door that had showed remained in place but the orb in his hand seemed to harden* You're really weird... *He then went over to the door that held no doorknob or keyhole from the looks of it. All he did was press the orb against it and Angelus could see it begin to shift and stretch, sinking into the door in a wide design. A loud click was heard before the door shifted, revealing a vast room that was filled with weapons from all spans of ages and types* Here we go
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *The boy shook his head* As girly as this may sound, you and I are going to have movie night. You know, to get you acquainted with pop culture. * He stated. Just then, he became quiet and watched the process that led to the vast room full of weapons.* Wow, I didn't think Akiya has so many weapons. Wow. * He looked around in admiration.*
Elder Kera: Jiro: ... movie... nevermind. I don't want to know *But he cringed at the thought of movies* As long as they have no cartoons anywhere in sight... *Shuddering, he advanced more into the room, watching the huge door close behind them and lights flicker on* He's really rather old too... so it's not surprising. From what I've read in his journals, this is his third life... and he's collected all these things as he lived.. so pretty much.. he's used all of them at one time or another...
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *The boy just laughed.* I promise. No cartoons. You might even enjoy the fight scenes. *He added.* Exactly, how old is Akiya? *He never thought to ask the angel the question. * Third life? Okay, pretty old. *Angelus looked at each weapon with appreciation.* They're amazing.
Elder Kera: Jiro: oooh fighting scenes. Now that I'd really like. *Nodding at that, he smirked* Well as he says this is his Third Rewrite.. so he's not that old in this body.. from what he says, all his memories are fragmented and scattered around.. he can only remember things when he does certain things.. though he doesn't know what he has to do to regain his memories. *Going over to a scythe, he carefully took it down, admiring the obsidian blade* He takes care of them too.. so they can be used even now
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *He figured Jiro would like that part* You might even learn a thing or two. *Angelus listened, taking in the new information about the angel. * Does he talk a lot about his past lives? * He asked the Tale. His eyes trailed the edge of the blade.* Now that's nice.
Elder Kera: Jiro: Nah.. I read his journals that he managed to hide in the same spot so he could look over some of the things later.. it was amusing to read them... though he was mad when he found out I was reading them XP but oh well. I then asked and he told me what he could remember
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *He shook his head and laughed* Sneaky, yet deadly, eh Jiro? I bet they must have been an incredibly interesting read. *He looked at the scythe.* I wonder how he came across this?
Elder Kera: Jiro: His fault he didn't hide them well enough if all I'm saying *He smirked before he shrugged a bit* but they were interesting.. rather interesting indeed... *He looked thoughtful as he looked it over* I think.. this might have been his father's... from this Rewrite...
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: I guess Akiya learned his lesson. *His eyes ran over the blade and then back to Jiro.* His father? Wow, this must be old.
Elder Kera: Jiro: Yeah he did.. a bit too well I think. Took me forever to find this place again after he found out I found it the first time. Now I think he's just too tired to bother with it heh... *He carefully spun the scythe a bit* Yeah... this is the only thing of his father's that he has... he never really got to meet his parents *He placed the scythe back into its casing, not wanting to do anything to damage such an important thing to Akiya*
Elder Kera: ((brb we're going out for a bit so I hope you're still here when we get back X3 *Will read reply when we return.. I think we're all going.. *doesn't know -_-*))
FairytaleLover00: ((That's all right! I'll write my reply.))
Elder Kera: kk X3 bbs I hope! <3 *this is fun X3*
FairytaleLover00: ((Yes it is! Hurry back!!))
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *The boy pondered the concept of not knowing one's parents. He knew he didn't come from Silent biologically, but she brought him here. Made him 'be'.* Wow. I don't know how that must have been. Not knowing your parents. *He watched the Tale put the scythe back away* What can we use around here?
Elder Kera: I see joo! <3
FairytaleLover00: Oh no! * Hands behind her eyes * Not anymore! XD
Elder Kera: haha suuuure I don't XD
FairytaleLover00: Gosh darnit, I have to hide better next time. XD
Elder Kera: yush indeed you do X3 but I'll find you sooner or later *nods*
FairytaleLover00: Oh, drat! *Snaps fingers* Aw, Jiro said brother! *Is gonna cry*
Elder Kera: heh well he is his brother and Jiro knows it
Elder Kera: aww no crying! *hands over tissue*
FairytaleLover00: *Sniffles* But it's just so beautiful! *Snuggles Jiro and Angelus* My boys are all grown up!!! T.T
Angelus: *Gasps for breath* Air... Need...Air!
FairytaleLover00: XD
Elder Kera: Jiro: *Gags and chokes, kicking his feet* Oy! Tight grip! Ti-ght gr-ip! Leggo!

*Snickers*
FairytaleLover00: Silent: *Let's go and blows into the tissue* Okay. I feel a little better. XD
Angelus: *Falls to the ground* I love you air... *Gasps*
FairytaleLover00: lmao
Elder Kera: Jiro: *Hacks and thumps his chest* Holy woman! No need to kill with the maternal instinct >>
FairytaleLover00: Silent: *Smiles embarassingly* Sorry. I guess I got a bit carried away. I'll try not to cry again. XD
Angelus: Yeah mom, tone it done some.
Silent: Sorry. *Blushes*
Elder Kera: Jiro: Little carried away... sheez... good thing you're 'part o the family' or something *Sitting up, he tilted his head* Well we're still breathing so I suppose I can let it slide
FairytaleLover00: Silent: Thanks! * Was about to hug the two and thought better of it.* How about some cookies? Anyone up for cookies?
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: I don't think my throat can take it.
Elder Kera: Jiro: I'll have some... as long as I don't have to make em, I'll eat em
FairytaleLover00: Silent: Great! *Dashes off into the kitchen*
Angelus: *Raises eyebrow* When was the last time you saw her cook?
Elder Kera: Jiro: How should I know? *Looks at him with an equally raised brow* Why? Can't she cook?
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: She's a vampire? Why would she need to cook? *Hears a few pots bang in the kitchen*
Silent: *Yells out* Dont' worry about me! I'm fine.
Angelus: *Covers his eyes* Oh no.
Elder Kera: Jiro: ....?? *He then winced at the falling pots and he frowned* Oh... if she breaks anything, Yuhin's not gonna be happy
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *Also winces at the loud noises* I don't think she'll break anything. Leave a huge mess? Probably.
Silent: *Grumbles* Was it two eggs or four? Oh well! * Hums to herself as she works *
Angelus: I'm scared.
Elder Kera: Jiro:..... *He didn't say anything but he was starting to get that way himself*
FairytaleLover00: Silent: *After a minutes, emerges from the kitchen. She was full of batter and flour but had a huge smile on her face.* Okay! It should only take about ten, maybe fifteen minutes. According to those obsure directions from the box. *She rolled her eyes*
Angelus:.....I'm not going to ask. *He shook his head*
Elder Kera: Jiro: Um... all right... *he was now fearing his health but he wouldn't say that. she was at least making some kind of effort... or something*
FairytaleLover00: Silent: I made chocolate chip cookies! Who doesn't love chocolate chip? *She asked the two Tales. Looking to Jiro, she asks,* "Hey! Where is Akiya? I bet he'd like a cookie!" *Her smiled turned into cheschire cat smile*
Angelus: *Looks at his mother and shakes his head. That smile was never good.* Um...Thanks? * He didn't know how to reply to the question.*
Elder Kera: Jiro: Uh.. I think he's up in his office doing something.... I think *Why was he really fearing now?*
FairytaleLover00: Silent: That won't do! *Yells for the Angel* Akiya! Get your butt down here! We've got cookies baking!
Angelus: *Whispers to himself* Oh, don't come down.
Elder Kera: Akiya: Huh? *he heard someone calling for him but when he recognized it was Silent, he wasn't sure if he should go or not* What?! *So he'd play stupid*

Jiro: ...... *he just shook his head*
FairytaleLover00: Silent: Cookies! They're almost done baking! Come down and get some! I made them! *She said with upmost confidence*
Angelus: *Whispers to Jiro* Do you think we should do something?
Elder Kera: Jiro: I dunno.. Shouhin tends to eat just about anything so he might just try it anyway...
Akiya: *he wasn't sure about this but he came down anyway. He knew some vampires who could cook but he didn't know if Silent was one of them* Cookies are always good.. *And usually safe.. he hoped*
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: I don't think that's a good thing.
Silent: *She nodded in excitement* You can't go wrong with Cookies. I mean, I improvised a little here and there.* She smiled at the boys and angel* I hope it makes for a great surprise!
Elder Kera: Akiya: Improvised...? How so? *What was there to fix about cookies?*
FairytaleLover00: Silent: * Waved her hand as if it was nothing* Something about baking powder... Or was that soda? I'm not sure which one I used, and the egg amount? It seemed too litlte? *She ranted on a bit on other stuff she 'spiced up' with.*
Angelus: *Eyes widened* This is definately not good.
Elder Kera: Akiya: *His brows shot up into his hair as she spoke and he began to look rather worried. There were things one really shouldn't change in cookie recipes* Oh...

Jiro: Okay.. even I know that what she just did.. was not a good thing
FairytaleLover00: Silent: So, anyways, I just used a few things here and there. No biggie. *She shrugged her shoulders. She heard the oven ding. *They're done! *Dashes off to the kitchen*
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: I don't wanna know.
Elder Kera: Jiro: I'm gonna make sure to stick close to a bathroom.. just in case >>

Akiya: Oh... kay.....
FairytaleLover00: Silent: *Brings back a plate full of 'dark' cookies* They're a little burnt, but they're still good I bet! *She nodded her head in emphasis* Here! Take one! *She offered to the males in the room*
Angelus: Good idea. Maybe a trash can will do to. >.>
Elder Kera: Jiro: *Looking incredibly doubtful, he took one and looked at it. Burnt was the least of the cookies issues... but he took a hesitant nibble of it* ....

Akiya: *Taking one, he just dove right on in and took a big bite. he did have a steel stomach... he'd survive. Hopefully >>*
FairytaleLover00: Angelus: *Hesitantly takes a cookie and takes a small bite into it. He hide to bit his bottom lip to keep from grimacing.*They're good mom.
Silent: Great! What about you two? *She looked at the other two intently*