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 Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 7:59 pm
Lee nodded a few times to Faolan before looking down and biting her lip. He didn't seem too upset at least. Okay, let's try not to be a downer here. Smiling up at him, she tried to push her guilt to the back of her mind. After all, she'd just be in and out by tomorrow and move on, not bothering them if they didn't to be bothered.
Lauss floundered a bit to get closer to Rhian, but failing horribly when Faolan had thrown him over his shoulder. Not being able to float was difficult. If only he had legs...
Lee looked over to Ellandra and held her head low once more. She'd be crying, hadn't she? Seriously, this was a horrible idea. Why had she even bothered to call the woman? She should have known involving her in any of that mess would have ended poorly for Ellandra somehow. But still... she wouldn't have to marry that weirdo-William anymore. Plus, she got to be Faolan's bride for a night. This whole situation was so conflicting. She wanted to be happy, but she couldn't help but feel sad for Ellandra.
Lee followed Faolan inside the vardo, looking around once more and waiting for Faolan to take a seat so she could as well. Okay Faolan, say what you need to.
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:42 pm
Faolan went straight to the bedroom to set Lauss down gently on the bed and set Lee's bag on the floor before walking back to the front room. He motioned for Ziazan to make itself scarce and the Essentic nodded and took off out the front door. Walking to Ellandra, he took Rhian and set her in the bedroom with Lauss and shut the door. "Don't need them interruptin'."
He motioned for the women to sit, but remained standing, arms folded across his chest, since they only had two chairs. "Alright. First things first. We're all married now and we have some choices. Soonest we can anull my marriage to Lee will be tomorrow evenin', but we'll have three months to sort out if we wanna do that or not. Way I see it, so long as she's my wife, she's safe here under didikai protection. We can stay wed till we figure out some way of adoptin' her or . . . just stay wed. There's some advantages to havin' two wives."
Licking his lips, Faolan looked at Ellandra. "I ain't leavin' you, lass. No chance of that, but Lee needs us. A night and a day plus three months is a long time to sort out some decisions. So, I'm open to ideas."
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:13 pm
Rhian squeaked as she was set in the bedroom with Lauss, but honestly couldn't say she was too displeased with being left alone with the tutor. "Hello, Lauss-teacher!" she chirped happily, wrapping the other proto in a hug and kissing his nose. "I missed you! and now you've moved in, isn't it nice?" Yes, there was much tension and sad emotions in the other room, but obviously her help wasn't wanted or needed right now, so Lauss would get all of her attention and - what was that on his arm?!? "Lauss-teacher, are you hurt?!?"
Ellandra sighed softly. "I know. . . and I honestly don't have any ideas," she admitted. She knew Faolan had done what needed to be done, and that there hadn't been time to think of anything else. It just. . . . well, she couldn't change the fact that it stung terribly. She tilted her head a little. "I imagine we'll do what needs to be done, no matter what - and if it's to stay like this, we'll adjust. . ." Left unsaid were the words "though not easily in my case."
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 10:31 pm
Lauss purred quietly as Rhian was set next to him. That horse ride was worth it. "Hello, Miss Rhian." He had flopped on his side and nodded to her. "We are all going to live here?" The proto looked about the room. There was hardly enough space for the two little protos, let alone a whole family -- or at least when he compared it to his old home. "Miss Rhian, we should get our own. There isn't enough room to live here." Oh, but he didn't want to leave, didn't want to be taken away from Rhian. It would just take him a while to get used to living not-quite-so-lavishly. He looked down at his wrist, grabbing the cast with his other hand before holding it out for Rhian to take a look. "I am. Don't take the bracelet off, it will make it worse."
Lee felt like an intruder, almost a home-wrecker. Well, she was, wasn't she? She rubbed her shoulder as Ellandra spoke. No, she wasn't about to do this to her. She couldn't stay married to Faolan. But, honestly, a small flit of happiness bubbled inside of her as she learned Faolan didn't necessarily not want to be married to her. "Wh-what sort of things would be good about both things. I mean, just one wife or two wives." She wasn't seriously considering this, was she? If she didn't say no, it didn't look like Ellandra would either, no matter how badly she wanted to. Faolan seemed open both ways. If Lee didn't put her foot down, poor Ellandra would be miserable, wouldn't she?
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 10:45 pm
Faolan looked at the girl, thinking how to word it for a moment before answering. "Well, Ellandra's gonna need help around here soon with keepin' house and raisin' the kids. I cannae always be here with work and all, though I try to be." He ruffled his hair, sighing. "Lee, you're a legal adult as far as the didikai are concerned, but I gotta know, how much longer till you're a legal adult for outsiders? If it's gonna be a long while, we can try and convince Da to adopt you after I get our marriage annulled, but if it won't be so long, then we can maybe wait it out and then just annul it after you're eighteen, if'n we all still wanna do that."
He looked at Ellandra and gave her a smile. "Rhian and Lauss can spend time together more, too. This kinda works out all around." He focused on Lee again. "There's the matter of sleeping arrangements, though."
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 10:57 pm
Rhian tilted her head. "not enough room? That's silly, it just means there's more chances for cuddling!" The flutterby chirped, flopping happily next to Lauss and peeking at him. "I won't try to take off the bracelet," she said, watching Lauss show her the cast. "But how did you get hurt, Lauss-teacher? And when will you get better?"
Ellandra was silent for now, but a tiny smile managed to creep onto her face at the thought of the two Essentics - they, at least, were probably thrilled with the idea of being with each other constantly. Adorable little ones. She didn't really have anything to add to he conversation for the moment, not until they had more of an idea what they were working with regarding Lee's age.
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 11:32 pm
Cuddling... he remembered doing that with Misha. Perhaps it'd be better with Rhian. "Miss Rhian, where is your bedroom?" There had to be more to this place than one bedroom. This whole vardo was the size of Mrs. Katan's closet. Lauss thought back to his incident with Vin. How had this happened? "I believe... I was being hunted. And the hunters did this." He held up his wrist once more. "I don't know. I should have asked Mister Vin. But he said it wouldn't heal for a while." He flopped to his back to hold his wrist to his chest. It always seemed to hurt.
So Lee would basically be a nanny? But... children weren't fun. They were difficult to manage, and she was always afraid she'd hurt them on accident. They were so fragile.
So now it was either lie or be Faolan's papa's daughter? And technically be Faolan's sister... Neither were the best options. While lying and saying she'd turn eighteen sooner than she would be sounded preferable, there were two problems. One, she was a terrible liar, and two, it wouldn't be legal if she did, and Faolan would eventually find out anyway. That wouldn't go well. "My birthday... isn't until January." Dangit. Now lying seemed like the better option.
Sleeping arrangments? Lee looked to the bedroom, remembering how small a bed that was. "We're all gonna fit in that bed?" Lee plus Ellandra plus Faolan, all huddled up on that tiny thing. Sounded nice for him, but...
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 11:57 pm
Faolan nodded, eyes half-closed in thought. "Well, then that gives us three months to sort out some arrangement on adoption." He opened his eyes more, looking at both women. "Unless you two decide to keep the marriage."
He glanced at the bedroom, then at Lee, grinning. "Nae, lass. I was thinkin' you and Elle would share the bed till we sort this out. I'll sleep out here with Zia and the other two. Th puppy can stay out here, too."
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:24 am
Rhian tilted her hed and looked up. "I sleep in the rafters," she said, not understanding Lauss' problems with the size of the vardo - after all, she'd been "born", so to speak, here, and saw nothing at all wrong with the small space available. "Hunters? But that was a long time ago, Lauss-teacher, we're hidden so we're not hunted. . ." she trailed off, though, at the mention of Vin - was this the same Vin as her Grandpa Vin-Vin?
". . . .Mister Vin?" she asked hesitantly, remembering what Sibling-Zi had told her about him and adding it up in her mind with her own experience, and now what Lauss was telling her. Something was strange here, not right. . . but she couldn't tell what.
Ellandra blinked and tilted her head. "Are. . . you okay with that, Lee?" She knew the teenager wasn't exactly. . . thrilled with the idea of staying here now that she was presented with more of the facts of what staying here might and would involve, and she wanted to teen to be happy - that was what this entire situation had been set up for, after all, to get lee away from that life she'd been leading until now.
"I can make up a bed on the floor if you'd prefer," she added softly. Lee was used to much more space, after all, and the bed would probably seem small to her as it was.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:36 pm
Flopping on his back at looking to ceiling, Lauss was even more discouraged. "You sleep there?" Looked like there was even less room than down here. "I can't go that high, though. Does that mean I don't get my own room?" Dang... he was so close, just a bit longer and he would have been able to have his own little space. But at least he had Rhian. "I don't remember it clearly. But Mister Vin told me they were hunters. Have you met Mister Vin, Miss Rhian? He took care of me." If it hadn't been for him, his wrist could have been in much worse condition by now!
Lee blinked a few times to let it all sink in. Once again going over her options, it became increasingly difficult to choose. Marry Faolan and hurt Ellandra or get adopted by Keagan and become Faolan's sister. Or, more simply, sacrifice either Ellandra or Lee's own desires. Someone was going to get hurt, no matter what she chose, but some kind of answer was needed. "Um..." Lee took a deep breath, trying to keep herself as collected as possible. "Do we... have to make a decision right now?" This was easily the biggest decision she'd ever have to make, and she didn't want to rush into anything. "I mean, I just... I wanna sleep on it. Plus, I dun even know your dad..." Yeah, a meeting with Keagan would be needed before she could agree to anything. Although, really, he'd have to be pretty awful to be worse than her mother.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:24 pm
"We got three months to sort it out," Faolan said, shrugging. He looked toward the bedroom door. "Makes me glad I managed to get the two beds set up in there. Should be plenty of room for you two." He looked back at the women, eyes half-closed in thought. "Look, I'll be honest. Didikai believe in happy families, so . . . the three months is really supposed to be to try making the marriage work, even if there's more than one wife. We're still gonna try and find a solution to this if the marriage is still to be annulled, but I'm just wantin' you both aware of the traditions here."
Walking to the couch, he sat down with a heavy sigh looked at the two women, arms resting on his knees. "Elle, I know this ain't easy for you and you know hurtin' you is the last thing I'd ever do, but just try and keep an open mind on this all, at least till we figure out what to do." He looked at the younger woman. "Lee, this is all a really sudden for you, but bear with us on this, okay? I know we're talkin' about annulments and all, but that don't mean I don't care about you."
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:43 pm
Rhian tilted her head, confused. "Well, I can't sleep easily on a bed, it's much easier to perch," she said, not really understanding what Lauss meant by his question. "Your own room? What's that? There's only two rooms, and I don't think they belong to any one person," she added. "Yes, yes, I've met him," concern was rising in Rhian now, there were no hunters that she knew of, and Lauss-teacher didn't remember. . .
Had Vin-Vin been the one to hurt him? With what Sibling-Zi had told her, it didn't seem unlikely. The flutterby shook her head a little and fluttered her wings a bit, not enough to lift herself into the air but enough to give her a better view of Lauss' wrist for the moment. "Well, don't get hunted any more, okay?" She asked, then lifted into the air and kissed him again.
Ellandra nodded silently. She would try, for Faolan and Lee's sakes. It was all she could do, really.She certainly wasn't going to et any personal feelins of hurt get in the way of Faolan or Lee's happiness, after all. "I understand, Faolan," she said quietly, dropping her hand to her belly after a few moments and closing her eyes. After all, no matter what, she had these two little babies. . .
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:35 pm
Oh. He hadn't thought about that. Wings must get in the way of such things... Though the fact that she didn't understand what he meant by his own "room" was very surprising. "Miss Rhian, have you never been to a house other than this one?" She was missing out. Though honestly, he'd never been in any house similar to this. It was just the Katan household, Banning's masion, and here. This vardo. It didn't seem fitting for Rhian. Lauss couldn't understand how she didn't mind being cramped. Being held back. "Miss Rhian, a lady deserves her own room." Even the term "lady" was too mild for how lovely Rhian was; she was more like a "princess".
How could she have met Mister Vin and have nothing to say about him? He was so interesting, and very knowledgeable. But she seemed more interested in his cast. "I'll try, Miss Rhian. It wasn't fun. I felt like dying." He nodded, explaining what he could remember happily.
Lee sighed with relief. Three months... And there were no problems with the sleeping arrangement now, either, huh? So they'd wait to see if this would even work? Lee looked to Ellandra, watching her touch her belly. Oh yeah... They were going to have children.
The girl nodded to Faolan. "I-it's alright." They did what they had to do. And she wasn't expecting him to really care for her like he did Ellandra. Honestly, she never expected to get this close to him in the first place. She wasn't sure how to take it. He cared about her. Hearing him say that... it made her dizzy. "W-would it be alright... if I went to bed?" The weight of it all made her want to rest.
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:43 pm
Faolan got up with a soft grunt and nodded. "Rest sounds like a good idea." He headed to the bedroom to get a pillow and some bedding to make up a place to sleep in the front room.
"It's all yours, loves," he said, gesturing to the bedroom. "I think it might be best if you sleep in the bed above the cabinet, Lee. It'll be easier for you to get up there and you can have some privacy. I can move Lauss out here and fix him up a place on the couch--Zia will share--or a pallet on the floor with me."
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Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:26 pm
"Uh-huh! Ellandra and Ellandra husband and Sibling Zi and me and Mr Banning and Misha-Fluffy and Miss Longway all went to a big big house by the ocean! It was very very big and I stayed by myself there, but I like it better here because it's lonely when everyone's all spread out," Rhian said, wanting Lauss to understand what she meant when she said she liked it being close and small.
The flutterby lifted off the bed now at last and moved around in front of Lauss, kissing him on the nose. "Getting hurt isn't fun, I don't think," she said, not pushing him to try and remember something she could feel was a bit emotionally buried right now. "Vin-Vin helped me get home when I got lost," she added, unable to place the "Granpa" title there if he really was the one who had hurt Lauss-teacher, as she was beginning to suspect.
Ellandra looked at Faolan, then toward the bedroom, having the vaguest feeling that she was going into an exile-of-sorts. . . she didn't know why, though. Well, she still had Rhian to support her, and she had the babies, no matter what Faolan was going to do in the next few months - or decide. She wouldn't be entirely alone (figuratively speaking) as long as she had her flutterby, and as lpng as she had the babies. Still . . . .the next few months were going to be far from easy - for any of them, she suspected.
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