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~Meeting with Aard at the Mansion~


Out of the house again. Flitch seemed to be doing this more and more often. Sure, he was out because Anvion was now busy with two new babies and the fact that they had just moved made it neccesary for Flitch to learn his way around. Oh well. Least it was a nice day out. Also the house was close to the local library, which made Flitch happy. Anvion had a bigger collection of books overall, but what she had was limited, being how it was mainly fairy tales and spellbooks.

The house was also pretty close to the mansion. Sure, he had to cut across a fairly busy street to get there, but it was closer overall. He was at the mansion now, wandering aimlessly about the yard. Now that he had found the directions to both the places he was allowed to go to without supervision, he really had little to do. Maybe someone was about...
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Aard was leaning against the trunk of a tree, staring at the golden light that filtered through the jade leaves and onto his hands. Something was calming him about the day. The Sin made to reposition his arms to rest on his knees as he noticed the other who was now walking around the spacious gardens. He could probably sit here and stay unnoticed by whoever it was, but in truth, the boy was growing rather bored.

Using the trunk to straighten himself up, Aard looked to see who exactly was here. Blue hair... Who could that be? He didn't know any blue haired Sin, did he? A quick ponder allowed him to remember a certain fish boy. "Fli-flitch, right?" Aard called, dusting himself off as he approached the toddler.
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Upon hearing his name being called, Flitch looked about curiously. Oh! It was... umm... Aard! Yeah! Flitch vaguely remembered Aard. At least he remembered the older Sin's name.

"Hi Aard!" He replied, waving as he trotted over to the older Sin', smiling. "How're you? Haven't seen you for a while... Anything going on?" Hopefully Aard was going to be here for a while. Then perhaps they could play or something. Truth be told, Flitch wasn't exactly looking forward to another day of just floating about the mansion alone again.
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"Not really. I'm kinda bored, actually," Aard replied, returning the smile. "Has been awhile. Hey, want to do something? This place is big, I think we'll find something new to do."

Aard looked around the large mansion grounds. Sheesh, he had never even noticed how big the darned place was! And there were plenty of areas in the garden he had never visited. "It's so nice today..." Wait. What did Aard just say? He was commenting on the weather? He quickly slapped his forehead and shook his head. "Um... Yeah. It's... Sunny today. And stuff."
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Do something? Excellent! Happily, Flitch nodded in agreement. "Yeah! There's so much stuff here anyways. Finding something to do should be easy. Anything in particular you wanna do?"

At the mention of the weather, the blue-haired Sin' glanced up at the sky, nodding. "Yeah it is. And it's warm too. Which is good. I don't like it much when it gets really cold... It makes me sleepy..."
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Aard wasn't at all interested in using the mansion today, so that was ruled out of his response. "How about we explore the garden or something? I don't wanna be inside doing something when it's so... Um. Good today. Maybe there's treasure here or something? Hah, that would be fun."

Treasure sounded more than unlikely, but, well... Anything seemed possible in an area so vast. "Cold weather sucks," Aard agreed with Flitch. "Doesn't make me sleepy but... I just like it when it's hot. Okay. Anyway, if we're gonna follow my suggestion, what way you wanna go?"
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"Exploring the gardens sounds like fun," Flitch responded, nodding. Hopefully they'd hang around the parts that weren't ridiculously flowery. A lot of people found gardens that were pure flowers pretty, but Flitch thought they were just too gaudy. Hopefully there'd be a place with more subdued plants. Like... a hedge maze! Or a herb garden. Those places usually smelled really good.

"Hmm..." He looked around. Which way, which way? "How about... that way!" He pointed in some random direction. It looked reasonable enough. Besides, he wasn't really sure as to where to go...
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What was that way? Aard looked over in the direction he pointed at. It was back in the direction where Aard had come from. It started out as thin trees, but they gradually condensed into what appeared to be a small patch of forest. The boy turned his head just a bit and saw flowers. Ugh, flowers. He was sick of flowers � there were plenty of flowers where he lived. To the other side were hedges, and what was inside Aard had no idea. Was it a small area to sit in, or was it a maze? There was only one way to find out.

"So, you wanna uh, check out those trees or the hedges? Or... those flowers?" Aard asked the younger boy. Please not the flowers, the red-head begged mentally.
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"Um... would you mind if I said the hedges? Flowers are just flowers after all. Besides, it might be a hedge maze. Those are fun. Have you ever been to one?"

Flitch started off towards the hedge, making sure that he didn't run off too far ahead of Aard. Sure, the older Sin' was bigger and could therefore catch up with him easily, but Flitch didn't want to run off ahead. It just seemed impolite to dash off in that sort of manner.
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Thank gosh, Aard said mentally. No flowers! Yuki likes them, but they're far too numerous.

"Hedges are good! Never been in a hedge maze, but it sounds like fun!" Aard called as Flitch began to move towards the hedges. Aard allowed the younger Sin' to get further away and therefore closer to the hedges before he spread two green wings and rose into the air. Even though Flitch wasn't going very fast, Aard was sure that even if the younger boy was racing as fast as an Olympian he could beat him. There was nothing as convenient or as enjoyable as having your own pair of flight-capable wings. The redhead easily landed on the ground in front of the hedges before Flitch.

Aard peered in between the hedges and sure enough, there were a few stone benches. After that there was the back and two openings to explore a maze beyond. Looking behind him at Flitch, he called, "It's a maaaze!"
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"Wow!" Flitch cried, stopping to gape at Aard as the older Sin' flew above his head. He'd never seen THAT trick before. Well, if he did, he'd forgotten it. But watching people fly was just cool anyways. He dashed over to Aard as he landed, grinning broadly. "Wow! That was so cool!"

And what was even cooler was that the hedges were indeed a hedge maze! Hooray! Sometimes Flitch had the suspicion that the mansion was magic, since it seemed to have EVERYTHING. Oh well. Hedge maze! Yeah!

"Great!" Flitch responded, broadly grinning. "Shall we start?"
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"It's... It's not that amazing, really... I think some others can do it too," Aard said, rather embarassed that the younger boy found him so 'cool'. He couldn't ever remember being given that compliment - yet, it seemed that younger people looked up at odler people as being cool. For a moment, he scratched the back of his head before returning his arm to his side.

"Um, yeah. Wanna go different ways, or the same way? 'Cause I'm going this way." Aard pointed to the right opening and began walking towards it. "We might be able to find cool things if we go different ways or something... But I can always fly over and find you if you get lost. If you wanna come the same way then that's cool too."
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Flitch placed his hands on his hips, his aqua eyes scanning the paths. "Hmm... I think I'm going to follow you. It's not as much fun if you go all alone, right?" While the idea of finding lots of cool things intrigued Flitch, he was betting on the fact that they would get hopelessly lost and perhaps cover most (if not all) of the maze on their wanderings.

He trailed after Aard, smiling. "Lead the way, Aard. I know I'll get us hopelessly lost if I lead..."
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"I'll probably also get us lost... I'm a lost cause!" Aard joked. "But I suppose we can't get too lost... I can try to fly up and figure out the path back out if we do get lost. It's kinda fun... being able to fly. And handy."

Aard began to walk forward through the maze. Shrugging, he took the first turn which led to the right. A couple more turns and they were both greeted by a hideous stone gargoyle. Aard looked over it; the stone was chipped and vines were twisting themselves around and trhough cracks. It looked old. Very old. Apparantly, it was magic too, as they would now find out.

"Hello," It rasped. "Turn back or answer my riddle to pass."
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Flitch trailed after Aard, aqua eyes glancing curiously and excitedly around as they walked through the maze. He stared at the gargoyle in curiosity, jumping back a step when it began to speak. Aaah! That surprised him! He made a small nervous laugh to cover his embarassment.

"A riddle?" he looked at Aard, smiling. "That sounds fun. I'm good with things like riddles..."
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"That's good, 'cause I'm bad at riddles." Aard turned from Flitch to the gargoyle. "What's the riddle, then?" He asked of the stone beast.

The gargoyle gave what sounded like a cackle, but it was hard to tell if that was the case or if it was just coughing. Aard presumed the former as he could not figure out how or why something made of stone would need to cough. "Very well," It said. "Answer this."

"Often talked of, never seen,
Ever coming, never been.
Daily looked for, never here,
Still approaching, coming near.
Thousands for my visit wait,
But alas, for their fate,
Though they expect me to appear,
They will never find me here.
What am I?"
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Oooh, this riddle was a tough one. Flitch bit his lip, thinking things over. He'd heard this one before, in a book. Was it death? no, no. People didn't go looking for death, unless they were crazy. But people waited for it every day... and it never came. OH!

"I got it!" Flitch cried out after thinking things over for a minute or so. "Its tomorrow, isn't it?"
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"Correct," It said and moved aside, allowing the two of them to pass. As soon as Aard led Flitch past it, the gargoyle back into place.

"We can't go back through there now, apparantly," Aard stated. "Unless that thing speaks through its back. Hey, can you hear me?" The redhead kicked the gargoyle but recoiled, now having only a set of pained toes. Btiing his lip, the boy marched onwards, trying to look for another interesting aspect of the maze. Hopefully, the center. From what he knew of mazes, the center usually held some sort of notable landmark or a prize.

"Want to lead the way for a bit?" Aard asked Flitch.
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Flitch frowned, wincing slightly as Aard kicked the stone. Ouch. that sounded like it hurt. But now that they were on their way again, he trailed after Aard. At the mention of leading, however, he blinked in mild confusion.

"Um... okay..." Stepping inf ront of Aard, the smaller Sin' began to lead, only to stop once they hit a point where six paths seemed to intersect. Flitch looked at each path, then back at Aard. "Eh... any choice on which way to go?"

~Run-in with Akilah~

"Jeesh, you'd think I tried to stab her or something!" Kilah ranted, ripping apart another daisy that happened to grow in the wrong place at the wrong mansion. Not since toddlerhood had the Sin'aeis taken the time to shred the garden outside, but today she was feeling particularly aggravated.

"Wark," Gizmo offered, slightly sympathetic. Slightly. At first, he'd felt bad for Kilah, having a new little toddler running around the house that looked eerily like her. Noyama was cooing over the thing a lot. However...

He wasn't sure that was a valid reason to try and throw her off the roof. 'I was teaching her to fly!' Kilah had protested when questioned by her protector. Of course, she conviently left out she herself couldn't, and more likely than not ever would be able to, fly.

"Even if I HAD, and she DIDN'T fly, it'd just be one less person in the house. Frankly, it would've been a family benefit! We all have to make sacrafices, right?"

"...Wark..."

"Oh, shut up."
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Loo dee doo. At the mansion again. No surprise.

Flitch was cutting across the mansion's lawn, hands jammed in his pockets. Kuzu was at the house raising hell again, so Flitch had slipped out and had decided that he was going to wait at the mansion until things cooled down a bit. Ah well. There was almost always someone about, so he knew he wouldn't be bored.

Sure enough, he spotted a fairly familiar figure in the gardens. Flitch stopped, tilting his head curiously. Akilah? It had been ages since he had seen her last...

"Hey! Kilah!" he called out, shifting his walk towards her. Hopefully she wasn't in TOO bad of a mood today... But hoping she would be in a nice mood was definitely stretching it...
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Truth be told, she was interested to hear that voice again. Not happy, but interested. She hadn't heard a thing from or about him in... a long while. Since that Nychii chick left, but Noyama warned her not to mention it or she'd take all her sharp objects away.

So, she settled for simply, "Yo, Flitch," and left the greeting at that. Running her hand along the dirt she made a bitter discover. That which was she'd murdered every flower within a ten foot range. Damn.
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Flitch stopped, keeping safely out of Akilah's range, just to be... well, on the safe side. She was always so unpredictable. And her unptredictability could lead to violence, if he remembered clearly. And, well... he could do without violence, thank you very much.

"What'cha doing?" he asked. "Destroying the flowers again? There's some you missed to your right..." he added helpfully.
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"Oh, thanks," she said flatly. Now a days her voice was either dull like that or angry, so the first was better. And, really, she did appreciate him alerting her of it. It was always cool points with Kilah to help her destroy things. She took to destroying the rest of the remaining plant life.

"How've you been since--" Catching herself, she finished quickly, "--I last saw you?"

"Wark," Gizmo greeted politely, peering up at the toddler with his head on his paws. He remembered the boy. A bit nervous, but generally a good kid. One of the few nicer influences Kilah had had as a toddler way back when.
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Flitch gave a small grin at Gizmo in greeting, shrugging at the same time to Kilah's question. "I've been all right. Living with a girl named Anvion. She's kinda weird, but nice. How 'bout you?" he asked, trying to shift the conversation away from himself. "It's been ages."
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"Got my eyes gauged out," Kilah answered, shrugging. The blindfold over her eyes was hint enough if you asked her, but the average person could understandablely assume she just wore it for the sake of doing so. "You should've seen the little kids I scared the s**t out of at Halloween." Though... Flitch was still a little kid too, wasn't he? And she wasn't all that old herself.

Oh well.
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"WHAT? How'd that happen?!" The thought of something like that to anyone, even Kilah, shocked Flitch (not to mention make him feel a little queasy). His blue eyes went wide, webbed hands covering his mouth in shock. Suuuure, he'd read about monsters and bad guys having this sort of thing happen to them in books... but he never thought such a thing would happen in real life, much less to anyone he KNEW...
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The girl shrugged for the second time and then stretched her arms above her head, yawning. A second later she answered with, "Some s**t happened." It wasn't as if recounting the tale horrified her--though it could've easily done so with any sane individual--it was just murdering mass of flowers and left her lazy and unwilling to tell a story that would undoubtedly take at least ten minutes, no matter how much she cut out of it. "Done anything worth mentioning yourself?" Probably not, she assumed.
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Flitch shook his head. "Not really. Things have been kind of boring. Oh! But I taught Parvana how to swim. That was pretty fun." Hn. Looking back on his times with Anvion, things certainly hadn't been glamorously interesting. Oh well. He'd rather be bored than have his eyes gouged out, to be honest. Eeee. The thought alone made him queasy...
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The chicken Sin'aeis produced a sour expression, matching tone and all. "That little butterfly b***h?" If she remembered right, that was Parvana. Yukito's cousin. Ick. "I hate those things. We have one at my house, too." A butterfly person, that is. Onoway. Always drug her stupid plants around the house.

Even more than Harper, the sister she'd tried to push off the roof only an hour or so ago, she wanted to rid the house of that horriblely annoying little plague on her life. Unfortunately, Onoway could already fly, and thus pushing her off something wouldn't do too much.

"Anyway," she continued, standing up. "I have to get going. When you're not such a runt anymore you can come to my aunt's house, we're staying there right now. She's got a lot of books and s**t for her one daughter--little book b***h like you, ya know? You can probably use a few of them." And more importantly, get them out of her room. They took up space. Space that was rightfully Kilah's.

Turning to Gizmo, she grasped a handful of feathers and hauled herself onto his back. "Later days," offered the child with a half-hearted wave, and off the two went.
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Flitch blinked, not sure to be happy that Kilah was inviting him over to get some books or be.... well, worried. "Um, okay. I'll drop by sometime." Caught off-guard by Kilah's somewhat sudden departure, he waved as she flew off on Gizmo's back. "See ya, Kilah..."

"Oy, Flitch! Get your coat, we're goin' shopping!"

"Why? We went to the grocery store two days ago. We having company over or something?"

Curiously, Flitch peered through the rails on the side of the staircase, watching Anvion fumble about with the twins Amaris and Walter, cheerily informing Varlen that he was in charge of all the babies whilst she and Flitch went out. The drow didn't seem pleased... but Varlen rarely looked happy. Still... Anvion was far bouncier than usual. Something was probably up.

True to his suspicions, Anvion triumphantly waved a folded piece of parchment at Flitch's direction. "Not at all! It's quest time, m'dear! So let us be off, like bold heroes of old!"

And, with a high-pitched giggle, she pranced off towards the front door. Varlen watched her go, and, glancing at Flitch, sighed and shrugged.

"Don't ask. I don't know, either..."

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Twenty minutes later, Flitch was curiously rifling through the cluttered bookshelves in a secondhand bookstore Anvion often visited. Anvion, having calmed down immensely, was busy chatting with the shop's owner, a feline half-lycanthrope named Niiran, who happened to be a good friend of hers. She let Flitch have free reign here, telling him that his quest insisted on getting five books he didn't own.

That was easy enough. Despite a rapidly growing collection of books, Flitch always found that there were more and more books, especially stories. Oh, how he loved stories! So it came to little surprise that he bypassed the nonfiction section and instead grabbed a bunch of stories, a few of which Niiran suggested. The feline had read every book in his shop, it seemed, and so was more than eager to point things out every now and then.

"No, no, choose Interview with the Vampire," he insisted. "It's quite a fascinating story. Besides, it makes one think. You don't need any of that silly mindless children's book..."




At last, after purchasing the books, Anvion and Flitch waved goodbye to Niiran and continued on their way. "What's next?" Flitch asked, trotting to keep up with Anvion.

"Mmm," Anvion's gaze flicked across the paper. "Dress pants and a sweater. Shouldn't be too hard. Hopefully not too expensive, either..."

They entered a store together, Anvion picking out the pants whilst Flitch examined the sweaters. Pants weren't too interesting, but sweaters could be interesting. After all, they came in a lot of nifty designs and colors. Poking through the racks of sweaters, he found a rather nice-looking one... and in one of his favorite shades of green, too!



Taking the sweater, he dragged it over to Anvion. "Look! I found a good sweater! Does it look nice?"

"Yeah," the elven female agreed, nodding. "And I got you some pants. Simple, yet fancy enough for most stuff."



Woo hoo! Now to the next thing: silver objects! Frankly, Flitch was really excited about this part. Silver objects could be so pretty! Especially elven-crafted things. He'd poked about through some of Anvion's jewelry before, and was shocked to see some of the elven-worked necklaces in there. They were worth a TON. Elven craftsmanship went for a lot, and some of the stuff Anvion had was definitely that of master craftsmanship. So he'd already planned that one of his silver things would be of elven make.

Sure enough, in the first shop they visited, Flitch's eyes fell upon a rather lovely silver necklace. The carvings were nothing compared to that of what Anvion had, of course, but to Flitch it would suit him just fine. It also took a surprisingly small amount of convincing to have Anvion get the necklace, being how she was usually so careful with her money. Sure, she wasn't destitute, but Anvion wasn't exactly the richest girl, either. Still, Flitch's face all but glowed in excitement as she bought the necklace and handed it to him.



The next two silver objects were harder to decide upon. At last, he settled on a small silver box and a fancy silver chalice that they found in a dilapidated antique shop.



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And now for the finale. Ahh, arrangements. Anvion had tossed the parchment at him once they got home before retreating into the kitchen to arrange dinner. Flitch, of course dashed up into his room to arrange the items. His small body was practically aquiver with excitement, so much that his hands practically trembled as he hastily arranged the objects. He'd decided on a bit of a pattern with them; every other spot was a book, and he placed the clothing and silver treasures between them in a manner that made sense. Like the chalice. It HAD to go next to Treasure Island. After all, the chalice looked like pirate treasure, so why not put it next to the pirate book?

Once complete, Flitch grinned, sitting back on his heels. Wonderful...

~Playing with Gillian and Varys~


Gillian sat with his back leaned up against the fence of Gabriel's estate, watching the snow fall further out along the path. Gabriel was inside tending to Hugo, his new baby brother. The boy couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of the new arrival. Younger than him- but larger. Just like his sister. Still a baby, he wasn't smart enough to understand quite why, but he did know the difference between him and the others. He wasn't allowed out too long because Gabe was worried that he'd grow ill, he had to wear a pair of bright red balls on the ends of his horns both so he didn't hurt someone on accident and so he was easily spotted.

His black-and-white blotched tail thumped on the ground, shoveled free of snow so he wasn't gettind damp. He'd been told not to leave the unshoveled areas.

He'd been bundled up horribly, a thick winter coat lined at the neck and wrists with fur, thick leather pants, thicker boots lined with fur inside and at the top, a thick knitted scarf, and a pair of gloves.
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Humming aimlessly as he wandered down the road, Flitch nonchalantly swung his bag full of books as he walked. He was just heading home from the library, having decided that he wanted to read something other than Anvion's collection. Sure, she had a helluva lot of stuff, but it was quite limited when it came to genre. So the library it was!

The Sin' continued to hum, every now and then letting out a long breath just to see the mist turn all vapor-ish from the cold. Winter was so neat! And now that he was bigger, he was allowed to go out to more places by himself! Like now. He was taking another route he discovered. It was longer to get home, but far more scenic.

Upon passing a huge estate, Flitch couldn't help but stare slightly. Damn. That place was huge... But he paused. A small figure, all bundled up. Could it be...

"...Gil...? Hey Gil, is that you?"
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Gillian looked up at the sound of snow crunching under a pair of feet. A figure came into veiw- familar... but different. The sin tilted his head to the side, a pair of indigo eyes studying the figure silently. It... was Flitch- much bigger than he remembered, older... and with glasses. The older sin seemed to take notice of him at the same time, taking a moment as well to identify the one sharing the area with him.

At his name he nodded slightly, smiling, "You have grown." He said a bit shyly, "N'... lots of books too." He chuckled a bit, noting the large bag. What else could it be? The first time he'd met Flitch the boy had done nothing but talk about books. Not that he minded- one of the bits of advice he clung to firmly was one Flitch had told him. "Sin's like you and I- we can't depend on our bodies but that's why we got our minds." or...something along those lines.

Gil shrugged off the thought and got to his feet, thumping at his bum to remove any snow from it.
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"Yeah," Flitch said cheerily, nodding. "I got glasses, too. Probably 'cause I read too much." He laughed, pointing to his bag. "Obvious, huh? I'm just heading back from the library. I managed to find a lot of good stuff today."

Unslinging his bag, the blue-haired Sin' squatted down so that his head was closer to Gillian's. Sure, he had to get home before Anvion finished dinner, but hey! He hadn't seen Gillian in a while, and he wanted to chat for a bit. After all, he was intrigued by the quiet Sin'. "So how're you? Things going okay for you?"
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Gillian chuckled a bit, the idea of needing glasses because of too much reading normaly wouldn't make much sense but Gabriel wore glasses... and he read all the time. The older elf would often explain that he couldn't see well without them and that elves normally could see very well- better than most could tolerate likely. It was a bit of a confusing thought to be able to -see- better... of course in recent days the young Sin had become more aware of colors, they seemed far more vibrent and lively than they had before. More logic he'd have to sort out over time.

"Reading is good though." he tapped his head with a shy smile, "I remember."

Concerning how he'd been- that was pretty hard to answer... so many changes. "Well...", Gil turned his head to the side a bit, "Junkie's big too...", a bit of a sore spot for him, and he didn't do too well of a job covering up that fact, "I got a new brother too." he motioned back to the house, "N' a new horse. It's got...", he paused, trying to think of the number. With a helpless shrug he looked back to Flitch, a bit embarassed, "Lots of feet."
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With a giggle, Flitch nodded. "Horses do have lots of feet. I wonder if they ever get tired... The feet, I mean. And I saw Junkie," he added. "She looks good. I bet you'll grow soon, too. Don't worry too much about it. People grow at different rates."

Sensing Gil's resentment, Flitch was trying to cheer him up. After all, Gil was his friend, and Flitch never liked it when his friends got upset over things. Call it sappy, if you must, but that's just how Flitch was. He truly and honestly cared about his friends.
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Gillian made a bit of a face, trying to best describe his new companion. He looked down to his hands, then nodded. "Like this." He held up his hand and made it look like a four-legged creature- more or less a dinosuar or something... Gabe pretended his hand was a spider sometimes and that seemed to do the trick. "Normal horse legs." he explained, then added four more legs to his little hand horse by bringing his other hand around, "My horse- lots more legs."

A good distraction from the subject of his growth. He wasn't bitter over it, more or less confused and a bit lonely over it. Gabriel spent so much time with Hugo now- the baby seemed as if he'd been through a lot and would need the attention. Again, Gillian didn't allow himself to blame the baby but it was something to adjust to. His better friends were all a good deal older than him, he mused about days when he could leave the house on his own to visit them, know how to read so he could know the same stories Flitch knew, that sort of thing. It would be enjoyable to actually get to stay the night at a friend's house too- he'd heard that was a lot of fun.
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"Weeeird. So it's got eight legs?"

Curious. There were so many curious things in the world. But that's why it was so fun! There were just too darn many interesting things in this world. Tilting his head to the side, Flitch blinked. "Is the horse nice? Can he run real fast? I'd imagine that a horse with a lot of legs would be able to run really fast..."
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Gillian nodded at the first question, mouthing the word "eight" a few times. Might help to remember that, it was difficult to think up the right word- especially when counting was still something beyond his mental ability.

At the second series he brightened up a bit more, nodding, "He says that he can run real fast!" He says- something that Gillian didn't realize most animal should be doing in this world... speaking. Of course, the colt wasn't from that world so that would explain a good deal. "I can...", introduce was the word he wanted, but he couldn't think of it, "Hmm.... Do you want to meet him?" There we go, that worked just as well.
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"Meet him? Sure!" A grin crossed Flitch's face, the blue-haired Sin' standing and picking up his bag of books. Sure, he wasn't going far, but he didn't want to leave his books behind. They might get stolen, and that would be really, really bad.

"All right, you wanna lead the way?"
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"Yes." Gillian chuckled, moving towards Gabriel's estate. He wasn't a bad walker for an infant. Being so low to the ground and having a tail definately helped his balance a great deal. However there were times when his foot would catch on a bit of snow or he'd simply fall to his bum. Nothing he couldn't tolerate with a pat to his trousers and a grin over to Flitch, slightly embarassed, but good over all.

"Gabe says he's from where he used to live." He explained as they went along. The boy spared a glance in the direction of the manner. Gabriel's back could be seen, rocking slowly back and forth in a chair. Probibly giving Hugo his bottle.
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Flitch trailed alongside Gillian, blue eyes keeping a close watch on the smaller Sin', sometimes reaching out to grab out at Gillian as he fell, but only a few grabs were successful. He returned the embarassed grin with one of his own, each time muttering an apology for whenever he wasn't able to help keep the small Sin' steady.

Listening to Gil's explanation, Flitch tilted his head to the side slightly. "Where's Gabe from? From far away, I suppose. Seems like all guardians are from far away..."
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Gillian shrugged a bit, "He said not in this realm." That was about all he could ever really understand from Gabriel when he began explaining where he was from. Another realm- a completely different plane of existance all together with its own series of suns, planet systems, and the like. Of course all that was a bit too much for Gillian to digest at his age, he simply remembered the word 'realm' because it was used to often, even as he said it he sounded a bit confused.

Gillian went around the side of his house, pausing to brace himself against the wall. A large barn stood out a good deal behind the house with a rather generous ammount of running space. A large dappled gray war horse- with the normal amount of legs for a horse and the same vacent look as a local horse -pushed aside the snow with his pink nose, pulling at what grass he could find. Nearby a black colt with a pearly white mane, blotched here and there with white seemed to be completely fascinated by something in the water troff. Indeed he had four extra legs. From his shoulders to his knees they were perfectally normal, where the knees jointed sprouted an extra set of legs. One pair of the front legs was propped up on the edge of the troff, the others stood firmly on the ground. Unlike the dappled gray, he had a much more intelegent look about him, a confused look at the moment- but obviously a bit brighter.

"That's him." Gillian pointed out the colt, "We can't think of a good name yet."
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"Oooh..." His eyes widening, Flitch studied the strange horse through his glasses, mouth hanging slightly open in a sort of fascinated awe. Eight legs... how weird...

"Um... haven't thought of a name?" snapping out of his fascination, Flitch cast a curious glance at Gillian. "You said that he can talk earlier, right? Why not ask him?"
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"You know...", the colt looked up from where he had been before, his eyes narrowing a bit, "I can hear quite well thank you. It's very rude to talk about someone within earshot of who you're talking to."

Gillian chuckled a bit, slowly waddling his way towards the fence. "I asked. He said he didn't have a name." True enough. His mother had been killed before she had thought up an appropreate name and hell if his dad was around anymore. Gabriel had happened upon him in the capital of his old homeland being cared for by various other equine beasts. The offer to have a partner was more than enough to convince the colt to come along with him.
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"Oh..." Flitch flushed slightly, embarassed a little. "Um, sorry. I... um... I'm not used to horses talking. Sorry..."

Following Gillian over to the fence, Flitch set his bag on a relatively dry spot of ground then scrambled up to sit on the edge of the fence. Then, glancing down at Gil, Flitch grinnned and offered the other Sin' a hand. "Wanna come sit up here, Gil? That way, we all can talk easy enough."
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"I beg your pardon?! Horse?!" The colt snorted, clearly insulted. All eight legs came to the ground and he moved over towards them, it was odd how very little his frame loped like a common horse would. "That-" he jerked a head towards the grazing dappled, "Is a horse... Not just a horse- but a stupid one. Can't speak, can't do much... it's a stupid horse. I am a Sleipnir." He lifted his head, eyeing the boy as if he should know what that was.

Gillian chuckled, nodding to Flitch. He wasn't too well with climbing quite yet. He'd managed to get to the second cross-beam on the fence before but fell and bruised his legs terribly. "He gets grumpy if you say he's a horse."

"Rightfully so, little one." He flicked his white tail behind him.
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"Um... sorry?" Flitch cast a frown at the Sleipnir as he hefted Gillian up onto his lap. "I've just never seen a Sleipnir before. Not even in my books. You just look... kinda like a horse. And, since I didn't know exactly what you were, I just called you a horse because you resemble one. Generally. I didn't mean to offend you."
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The colt grunted and shook out his name, "Well I suppose that explains it. No harm done." He assured the sin boy with a smile, "You smell different...." The colt leaned his long neck out to sniff at Flitch a bit more, his eyes squinting a bit, "Why you have those same eye-glass things that the big one had."

Gillan made a slight "umph" sound as he was lifted up into Flitch's lap, giving him a bow of his head in thanks. His tiny hands went up to hold onto his horns so he could mind them a bit better, it wouldn't be at all good to scratch Flitch.... not at all. "This is Flitch- he's smart." He said with a bit of pride, "I bet he knows a good name.

"Oh?" The colt turned his head to the side with interest.
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"Umm... I have glasses because I can't see things from far away too well." Flitch tapped at them with a smile. "These help me see better."

He flushed at Gillian's compliment. Again with the compliments. "Um... Maybe I can help with a name. What kinds of name do you want? A heroic name? A scholarly one? A cute one? There's lots of types to choose from..."
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"Hmm....", the colt lifted a hoof to rub at the understide of his chin, looking up, "A heroic name." He grinned a bit, returning the hoof to the ground, "Then perhaps I can be accepted into the equine army when I'm older."

Gillian winced a bit, "I... don't want to be in an army..." Lords that would be akward. He could perhaps be shot towards someone, but he just couldn't picture himself weilding anything longer than his arm- which at this point in his life wouldn't even be a decent short sword.

The colt chuckled a bit, "Yeah but still. Smart and cuter are for the mares."
-------
"Psh. There's nothing wrong with a smart name. But anyways..." Flitch screwed up his face, thinking of the names of heroes from the stories he's read. "Let's see... There's Adinar, Mavon, Eddard, Varys, Lir Tara, Edris, Arthur, Llewellyn... I can give out more if you want."
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"I like Varys." Gillian put in, smiling between them both, "It sounds strong and smart- a good in-between?"

The colt turned his head to either side, looking one way then the other. Kind of odd behavior but perfectally normal for the equines of his land when considering, rolling the name over in his mind. With a slight tap of his hoof he looked back with a nod, "Very well. I like it."

Gillian chuckled, looking up to Flitch, "Told you that you were smart. I tried for two days for a name."
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Flitch grinned happily, nodding. "I like Varys too. He was a really cool spy and figher from this one book I read. He was also a good fighter." With a small laugh, he patted Gillian on the head. "We're all smart in our own ways, Gil. I just remember names and books well..."
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Gillian chuckled, moving his hands over his horns as if to remind Flitch of their being there and their apparent sharpness. In his first months when he'd cry and go into a tatrum (often over food but at that age who could blame him?) he'd thrash about and Gabriel still bore scars from those horns of his. Gillian was well aware of what they were capable of and minded them like nothing else. "Still... you are smartest I have met."

The colt whinnied a bit, trotting himself in a small circle, "Oh splended! Hey, how about a ride to thank you? I'm sure you've never gone as fast as I can go! Hooo-rinnirunnnrhhmm. I can jump that fence easily."

"Yeah!" Gillian clapped his hands a bit, "You can do it. It's fun. If you fall just get up again."
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Ride? Flitch had never ridden before. "Umm... Well, I've never been riding before. Not on a horse OR a Sleipnir. How do I do it?"

As book-learned as Flitch was, practical experience was by far a different matter for the blue-haired Sin'. "Um... you wanna ride too, Gil? Can you carry him, Varys?"
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"One at a time...", the colt snorted, bending his upper half downards. "Little one can watch from the side- besides with those pokers you're likely to get skewered like a fresh bushel of hay if you jerk forward hard enough."

Gillian nodded, "I don't want to scratch you." He was perfectally fine with watching, he'd ridden a few times already, he wasn't old enough to have Verys flat out run but he had managed a trot easily enough.

"Now come on, climb onto my back- sit behind my shoulders and hold with your knees. Hold my neck- but not around it or you'll choke me. If you must hold my mane but I won't thank you to pull it."
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"Um, okay..."

One arm keeping a firm grip around Gillian, Flitch slid down from the fence, gently setting the horned Sin' on the ground. Then, after making sure Gillian was clear from Varys' hooves, he scrambled back up onto the fence and onto Varys' back. Leaning forward, Flitch put his hands around Varys' neck as properly as he could. "Is this good...?"

~ROAD TRIP!~

Freize stepped out of his car now, drawing in a deep breath as he looked up at the home of Anvion.. He brushed his hair from his eyes and then went around to get Chael out from his carseat, finding him whining and squirming for freedom. After freeing the boy, closed the car doors and carried him up to the door. He hesitated a moment, glancing around as if to make sure this was the right house. Freize could prove scatterbrained when he had a lot of work to get done at home, and so this wouldn't have been the first time if this wast he wrong house. He turned to face the door once again and rapped his knuckles on it.

His baby wasn't quite sure where they were or why, but he was very content just to be carried, sucking at two of his fingers. He knew that they were gonna see Flitch soon, though, so he was in an even brighter mood than usual. Was Flitch inside this house? He looked up at the door with wide eyes, pondering baby thoughts.

His weremutt for a guardian had decided to take Flitch and Chael on a little 'surprise' road trip. It wasn't really too much of a surprise- it was just the ending location that nobody but Freize knew yet. He smiled to himself as he waited for the door to be answered. He hoped the kids ended up liking the trip.
------
Someone at the door? Flitch looked up from his book that he had been reading, then got up and trotted to the door. He was curious as to who it could be. Couldn't be Varlen. He came in through his lab. Plus he had a key. Oh well.

Opening the door a bit, Flitch was surprised to see Chael and Frieze there. Pushing the door open all the way, a grin spread across his face. "Hi! Didn't expect to see you. Come on in."

Stepping aside, he gave way for Freize to enter. Sure, he was a little curious as to why they were there, but Flitch assumed it was perhaps a surprise playdate or something Anvion had arranged and forgot to tell him...
------
Freize smiled warmly to the boy, "Thank you." He moved inside now, and from the boy's surprised expression he decided Anvion hadn't told him. Perfect, all the more surprise! He shifted the baby in his arms and glanced about- it was, after all, the first time he'd been to their house.

Chael's face lit up as he spotted the older boy, perking somewhat, "F'itch!" He clapped his hands together and his wing-ears twitched. He was able to move those little wings now; when he was even younger he had no control over them. He blinked as he was moved to his guardian's opposite arm, looking up at him and tilting his head.

"Anvion hasn't told you?" He'd play dumb for now. "Well, I asked if you would be allowed to come on a little trip with me and Chael. Well, if you're up to it, that is." He didn't want to force anyone to go anywhere, after all. Surprises were nice, but only if they were fun for all parties.
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"A trip?" Flitch tilted his head to the side, blinking slowly. "You, me, and Chael? Sounds cool." Pushing his glasses up his nose, Flitch nodded in full agreement.

Reaching up to happily tickle Chel's ears, Flitch smiled happily. He'd never been on a road trip before, and now the thought excited him. Plus, to be honest, it was his first ride in a car. This was going to be fun!
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Freize smiled, "Great! We're ready to go whenever you are. It'll just be a little day trip... I'd dress warm, it's cold outside."

Chael grinned at the older boy happily, giggling as his ears were tickled. "Hi F'itch!" He was learning about how you were supposed to actually greet people when you saw them. He reached for Flitch with grabby hands, but Freize only tapped the top of his head. "Not now, Chael. You can play with Flitch in a little bit." The baby frowned up at him. "Whah?" Why couldn't he play now? Why later? What was a trip? He was confused as to what was going on.
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Flitch nodded, darting up the stairs. "Okay! Be back down in a sec! I just gotta grab my coat."

Sure enough, he was back down a few minutes later, tugging his coat on. He also had his bag, with a couple of books hastily stuffed in to read to Chael in case the smaller Sin' wanted to be read to. "All right!" He chirped, hopping down the last few steps. "Ready!"
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Freize nodded after teh boy returned, "Alright, let's get going then." He turned and exited the door from whence he came, leaving it open for the smaller male. He glanced around- the snow was melting to mush and mud. It was almost depressing; especially because his favorite season was winter. He nodded towards the car, "Go ahead and hop in, I'll buckle Chael into his carseat." He went to the opposite door of the one he hinted at and did so, then hopped into the driver's seat.

Chael wriggled about in his seat- he hated this thing. He poked two fingers into his mouth as he watched Flitch, smiling around him. Oh well, atleast he had a friend here too!

"It's gonna be a little while, you have something to do for the ride?" Freize glanced back, starting up the car.
------
Following Freize out, Flitch shut the door behind him, humming happily. Joyous! His first trip in a car. Wonder where they were going. Flitch made a mental note to ask later as he hopped in and buckled himself in, after seeing Freize do so.

"No problem," he responded, half holding up his bag. "I have some books so I can read if yo want me too. Plus, I can talk to Chael. And quick question: where are we going? Or is it a surprise?"
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The male nodded, "Alright, that's good. Feel free to do whatever you like..." He faded out and then smiled back at the boy, turning some in his seat. "It's a surprise." Nothing spectacular, but still a surprise- simply because surprises were much more fun. And with that he turned forward again and began backing out of the driveway and moving out into the road.

Chael had managed to grab up the stuffed dog that had been on the seat beside his carseat- it was a scruffy thing with one eye. He loved it. He held onto it as he looked to Flitch. "F'itch." He chirped merrily.
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Flitch nodded, cheerily fiddling and figuring out his seat belt. Once it was fastened in place, he turned to face Chael. Yay! car ride, car ride!

"Chaelll~" he replied. "Is that your dog?"
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The boy nodded enthusiastically, "Yah! Doggeeee~!" He showed it to the other boy happily, beaming. "Doggy is Chael's fwen!" He did a little bounce in his carseat- he rarely got to introduce doggy to people! How exciting! He calmed after a moment or so, but his smile lingered. "Chael draweded doggy." He nodded sagely.
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Flitch laughed quietly at Chael's enthusiastic response to his dog. Wow. Chael must really love his dog. That made Flitch grin broadly. "Oooh, so you drew doggy?" he asked curiously. "Do you have the drawing with you?"

Not being an artist, Flitch still liked to look at drawings and stuff. Especially if his friends drew it or helped with it. It was always intereting to the blue-haired Sin' to see what everyone liked to do. It was fun seeing how different everyone was...
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Chael frowned thoughtfully, tilting his head.. Where had he put that drawing..? "Aah..." He pressed his lips together, "Chael finks.." He let go of the dog to reach towards a bag on the floor, unable to reach it because of his carseat. "Mebbe be in dere. I's put all the stuffs I drawded in dere."

Chael, unlike Flitch, was very big on art. He was constantly drawing or making crafts when he was at home- and he was rather good at it too. Even better than his toddler brother Eva, who was actually older than he was.
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"In here?" Flitch asked, leaning forward and managing to pluck up the bag on the floor. Handing it to chael, the blue-haird Sin' grinned. "You keep all your drawings in here? Can you show me?"
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The baby took the bag gratefully, "T'ank you..." He faded out when the older boy spoke, and then smiled cheerily, "Okie! Chael show!" And then he dug into the bag, pulling out his surprisingly huge heap of papers- well, what he could get out anyways. He pulled out a few drawings; his house, the garden at the mansion, a monster in the sandbox, that sort of thing. Sure, they were baby drawings, but they had a somewhat advanced quality to them. One might expect them more from an older toddler or rather young child instead of a baby.
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Flitch leaned over as Chael showed him the drawings, an amused and interested smile on his face. "Oooh, that's really neat, Chael. I think you can draw better than me..."

Well, Flitch had never really tried drawing, of course. He was more for the words than the art. But still, Chael's stuff was really good! "Y' know Chael, I think you'll be a famous artist when you grow up."
------

Chael smiled brightly at the praise, "Chael likes artses." He informed the other boy and then nodded merrily, 'ears' wriggling slightly. That's what Freize had told him to call the stuff that he did at come.. The coloring, the drawing, painting, craft making... It came so easily to him, maybe that's what he liked about it.

"I's... 'acome faa... Fam-ohs?" He tilted his head curiously, "Whazzat? Wha's famous?"
------

Flitch gave a small chuckle. "Famous is good. It means a lot of people know your art and really like it. If you keep up your drawing, you WILL become famous and then will be able to get to do a lot of cool stuff and see a lot of cool places."

He gave a firm nod, smiling as if he were some sort of authority on this matter. "It would be cool to become famous. Right?" he asked, leaning forward to ask Freize. "Don't ya think?"

~Keeping an eye on Dante~

((lost within the main thread. Will recover when Duke Nukem Forever comes out.))

It was a quiet day in the library so far, where Flitch had to look forward to nothing more than reshelving books all afternoon. Not that he minded. The library was a big place, and that meant he would be kept busy for at least several hours. Plus he'd have time to run off in a corner and read while there was nothing going on. That sort of thing was frowned upon usually, but with him, Mrs. Howell and the other librarians allowed it to happen from time to time. After all, he was a diligent worker, and he'd only do such a thing when there was nothing else he could do.

Today, however, he doubted he'd get to do such a thing. Some college students had just been through with all their term papers, and they had books strewn most everywhere. Still, Flitch set to work cheerily, humming tunelessly as he worked.

Mm, lessee... Biographies. Go through those first, since he could do those fast and easy. He had just begun his work when Mrs. Howell bustled over, looking slightly nervous.

"Flitch..." she said in her normal quiet librarian voice, though there was a strained note to it. "Flitch, can you do me a very important favor?"

Setting down the book, Flitch cocked his head and nodded, a frown of curiosity on his face. "Sure. What do you need?"

"Take this," she said, handing him an old, large book. "It's a book requested by... well, no matter. I just need you to deliver this to the man who lives at this address, all right?" At that she gave him a scrap of paper with an address jotted down upon it. "Be quick, too. The man who requested this book isn't a very patient one, either. So please hurry."

"What about-"

"I'll take care of the books, dear. Just get this book delivered, all right?"

Huh. She really was worried about this book, wasn't she? A part of Flitch was curious and wanted to ask more questions, but she had asked him to hurry, and being the ever-so-dutiful kid he was, Flitch just nodded. "Sure. be back soon as I can."

Tucking the book under his arm, he made a quick stop in the employee room before heading out, grabbing his jacket and messenger bag. Tucking the book within the bag, he skittered out the library, glancing at the address. Eee. The place he was supposed to be going was a long walk from here, almost on the other side of town. The fact that it wasn't in a terribly nice neighborhood only made things less fun. Oh well. Best to grit your teeth and get it over with, eh? Besides... he knew a few shortcuts. This hopefully wouldn't be too bad...

Setting out from the library, he stuffed the scrap of paper inside a coat pocket. Mrs. Howell had seemed a little too nervous for him to get this done slow. Best get it over with quickly and done with. At that, he broke into a light jog, frowning up at the sky. It had been raining all morning, and while it had stopped, the clouds still hovered ominusly overhead. Just so long as it didn't rain.

The first bit of his errand went without any hitches or problems. Hell, even the sky was beginning to lighten up a bit, the leering promise of rain withdrawing for the time. That was good. Everyone said that a little adventure was good, but honestly, Flitch preferred uneventful errands. That way he could get it over and done with. Considering how little he liked the errand, the ssoner this was doen with, the better. There had just been something about Mrs. Howell's tone of voice that put Flitch ill-at-ease regarding the task.

So he hurried, ducking back into an alley that would get him towards his destination faster than the winding main road would.

However, he regretted his choice almost immdeiately, for a small gang of teenagers was seen gathering there, huddled together and laughing coarsely at something. They were all in faded denim and metal studs and leather, so Flitch immediately doubted they'd be anything like his friends or the people he was used to. Had he any sense he'd have turned back, but noooo. Flitch had to get this delivered fast, and turning about would only add another ten or fifteen minutes to his task. Maybe they wouldn't notice...

Unfortunately, they did notice. Most of them turned to watch him pass, their narrow eyes gleaming with unfriendlieness. "Hey," one of them called, causing Flitch to go rigid. "Hey little girl. What've you got in that bag?"

...Little girl? Flitch turned to stare incredulously at the gang of punksters, a frown on his face. He shouldn't talk to them, he knew, but perhaps he could make their interest dwindle. He didn't like how they were looking at him. "I'm not a girl," he stated, turning away and beginning to walk off ********' look like one," the punk snorted, taking a long drag on his cigarette. "Oy! Girly-boy! What's in your bag? We'll be happy to take it off of ya..."

Flitch increased his pace, daring a brief glance back at them. "It's just a book," he called over his shoulder. "Nothing else."

"Nuthin'? You sure?" To his dismay, a few of the gangsters had gotten up and were following him. "You sure you don't have no money on ya?"

"No," Flitch replied honestly, picking up the pace. Almost outta here. Almost outta here...

The gang picked up their pace as well, eyes on him like a hungry dog on a haunch of raw meat. "You're lyin'," one accused mockingly.

By this time, Flitch had burst into an all out run. He didn't even bother to answer. He just... had to... run!

Bursting out into the welcome open area, Flitch skidded around a corner, dashing towards where he knew was a popular shopping area. Here, he doubted the gang would press on with the chase. Or, if that didn't work, he could duck into a shop and hide. It wouldn't be difficult.

Fortunately, they went with his initial hope, slowing to a halt when they realized where he was going. "You'll pay for this, b***h!" they shouted and jeered, turning around to rejoin their gang. Even though they had stopped, Flitch ran a bit farther, finally stopping in front of a cafe. Phew! That had worn him out. Thank goodness he was getting close!

Thankfully, he had no problems long the rest of the way. Once at the indicated address, he jumped easily up the stairs to knock on the door.

An older man answered, opening the door a crack whilst leering through the open slit at Flitch. "What do you want, kid? I ain't doing no goddamn charities."

...How rude. And after all he'd been through. "Um... did you order a book from the library?" he asked, pulling it out and presenting it. "I brought it over for you."

"Why'd they send a kid?" A good portion of the man's hostility had faded, and he opened the door a little farther.

"Mrs. Howell sent me," he explained. "I was the only other person working there today, and she can't leave the library in charge of a minor."

The man rolled his eyes, but nonetheless pulled the door open and took the book. "Whatever. Thanks kid. Here-" he rummaged in a pocket, pulling out a crumpled bill. "You deserve it. Now go buy yuorself an ice cream or somethin'."

"Thank you sir," Flitch replied as the man shut the door. Now he had some money. And he knew how he was going to spend it. It wasn't going to be on ice cream or snacks. He didn't much care for those. No, he had a better plan--

--He was buying a bus ticket back.

~Cookies~

Flitch ahs a brief run-in with Ryker