Gabriel, Damien, & Fifth's Journal

[fallingUPstairs__x x]

Foxy Momma Part II

It was morning when the door creaked open and a little head popped in. "Momma?" The boy blinked in the dim light. A gold glint caught his eyes as he saw feathers on the floor. Mr Avenue's feathers? He frowned and began to pick them up as he made his way toward the bed. "Momma? I found...." His eyebrows furrowed as he realized there were not only feathers in the room but golden wings next to his mother. ".... momma whatcha doin' with Mr. Avenue?"

DS had winced at the light and tried to hide her head in her pillow. One hellva night had left her only slightly bruised up but feeling great. "Whaaaaat, runt?" She growled completely forgetting about the man next to her. She opened her eyes a crack coming face to face with her concerned son and a handful of feathers. "What are you going on about?"

"... is Mr. Avenue sick? Cause he's in your bed... I only get to sleep there when I'm sick."

DS jerked up suddenly then pulled up the blanket to cover herself. "s**t! What are you doing here? Greg was supposed to keep you until-! Go! Out of the room!"

"But... I wanna say hi to Mr. Avenue." He pouted still clutching the feathers.

Fifth was asleep like a rock - a boulder, at that. One of his arms was loosely wrapped around the woman sitting next to him, but it fell away as soon as the woman even moved. He made a soft noise in his throat, half-hearing what was going on but not really caring for it, flicking his ears back and doing what he could to go back to sleep.

"Devan, out or you're grounded." She hissed at the boy.

Devan didn't seem to pay any attention as he was distracted by Fifth's tail. He moves about to to give it an experimental tug before climbing up to touch at his wings.

"Devan! I told you to get out!" She hissed louder giving Fifth a look. "Don't do that!"

"Why not?"

Fifth was certainly awakened by the mountaineering trip that used his tail as a rope. Snarling despite himself at the pain that it caused, he sat up rather quickly, used to waking up... well, in a place with much more hostile people. He winced slightly at the sunlight that prodded and poked at his slight headache before glancing first at Devan, then at the woman he was in bed with, putting two and two together and looking a little... lost, really. The wing that was being pet flicked softly and he gave Devan a bit of a forced smile.

"Hey bud. What's say you head back out... into the rest of the house for a bit and I'll see you in a bit? Your mom and I have... some things to discuss. I think," he explained, ruffling Devan's fluffy hair and sending a wary smile to DS. He tugged an already-loose feather free from his wing and handed it to the boy. "I'll even give you this for your trouble."

The snarl brought DS to bare her teeth at the male. She was ready to go on the defensive to protect her son. But when he seemed to relax so did she upon instict. He wasn't a threat.

Devan giggled when the feathers ticked him and tried to hug the wing. He peered up at Fifth, his spade wrapping gently around the man's arm before letting loose. "Kay." He accepted the feather and hopped down. "Pancakes?" He questioned on his way to the door.

"Um, yah we'll... talk about it." She answered watching him walk out. "I am so freakin sorry about that. I didn't know Greg was going to just drop him off."

Fifth smiled at the endearing antics of the child, wishing that his own kids could have had the luxury to behave as such instead of growing up as fast as they did. Yet, when Devan left, he relaxed a bit more, leaning back into the pillows and raising one hand to scratch gently behind one of the woman's ears, the smile on his face very much blissful after a truly unforgettable night, despite the alcoholic blur around the edges.

"Nah, don't worry about it. By now, I've kind of gotten used to having no time to myself," he mused idly, tail flicking slowly back and forth on the bed. Despite its persistent throbbing, he did a good job to ignore the slightly worsening ache in his head. He chuckled softly and happily to himself. "Last night was better than any nights that I've had in a loooong time."

DS' eyes closed particually as an embarassing sound close to a purr escaped her. She pulled away from his hand and gave a grunt. "Yah well he still shoulda got out when I told him." She gave a slow tired smirk to the other man and stretched out. "Hey ask and you will receive, Puss. I have to admit I expected something with a bit less roar but I'm not disappointed."

Fifth chuckled at the disgruntled noise and gesture from the female, pulling his hand back and taking the time to stretch his arms as well as the rest of himself, wings stretching to cover almost the entire wall when fully extended. After a brief yawn, he compacted himself again, that same content smile coming back to his golden face.

"You shouldn't expect anything less from a lion, my dear~" he hummed happily, before giving her a deviously inquisitive look. "Ask and I shall receive, eh? Well then..." he mumbled, leaning in a bit closer to press a kiss to the woman's cheek, chuckling softly. "Perhaps I could ask to see you again some time soon?"

She watched his wings unfold. The fox had taken a keen interest in them when she was drunk. And even batted at his mantle when the feathers moved. She refused on him when they were back against his body.

"Hm?" She glanced over lazily flicking an ear in his direction. "I don't know, kid. You're not versed in how this works. Foxes like to seek you out not be saught out."

Fifth pouted softly at the answer that he received, shrugging his shoulders and getting to his feet, gathering his clothing from around the room. "If that's the case, I suppose I'll just have to change my tactic then, won't I?" he spoke, half to himself and half to DS, his tail swaying down by his legs. Awkwardly, he tugged his pants and boxers back on, briefly wondering where his shirt was before remembering that he hadn't had one in the first place.

"Maybe but then again I'm not exactly like other foxes." She tapped her necklace and slid from the bed. She grabbed her shirt then frowned. "Where the... oh you've got to be kidding me." She was looking up where her pants were hanging over the ceiling fan. How wild were they last night? A slight move to walk forward reminded her that they were very wild. "Hey, Wings," She started dubbing him with a new nickname, "use that tall sexy body and nab my damn pants will you?"

Fifth smiled a bit coyly, having already made up his mind about playing the one-night-stand card; if not acting completely disinterested, at least not acting as desperate for affection as he actually was. Stupid life, being a c**k-blocker. The mentioned wings fluttered softly when he was addressed, doing up the zipper and buttoning his pants, looking over to the woman and then to where she was looking.

"...huh," he mumbled, scratching his head. He hadn't remembered throwing those up there... or did she? Shrugging to himself, he tugged them down, not even needing to stand on his tiptoes to reach the fan. The gryphon couldn't keep his eyes from following the slight feminine curve of her body as he tossed her pants back to her. "New nickname, eh?"

DS was trying to figure out the same thing. A lot of the undressing was one big blur. She felt ridiculously short as she caught her pants and began to tug them on. There was a small space cut out of the pants entirely, rather then a hole, for her tail to sit in. "You earned one. Don't make me take it back. If you keep up last night you might get another one. Come on. I'm sure the runt is hungry or something."

"I'll try my darndest," Fifth said almost jokingly; at least, the word choice was joking. He nodded in understanding and, when the woman was fully dressed once again, opened the door for her before following into the rest of the house, yawning widely. "I'd offer to help you cook, but my skills as a chef are... honestly, nonexistent."

Devan was there the moment the two adults had the door opened. He had a bandaid in one hand and a can of soup in the other. The feathers Fifth had given him had been attached to a paper crown that he was wearing. "I'm a doctor! And I'm going to make you feel better!" He announced staring up at he man, untimidated.

"No need to worry about it... Oh jeeze." DS muttered, "You can just leave if you want to Fifth." She told him heading toward the kitchen to make breakfast for the three of them.

Fifth took a step back when the boy rushed up to the two of them, a bit surprised by his sudden appearance. He grinned, crouching down so it wasn't so hard to be eye-to-eye with the smaller male. Bright green eyes flicked up briefly to what exactly he was eye-level with on DS before they flicked up to her face and he gave an innocent smile. "Nah, don't worry about it. I'm good with kids.

"Are you really, Devan? Well, it's a good thing you're a doctor, then," Fifth replied to the patience boy, tumbling back in the hallway and taking up almost all of it as he lay there, spread-eagle. Melodramatically, he stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth and crossed his eyes. "Because I think something might be wrong with me."

DS gave him a small smirk that was closer to a smile before she disappeared. The sound pots and pans being moved around started shortly after.

Devan's eyes lit up like Fifth ahd just given him the best Christmas ever. "Its a good thing I gots a bandaid! Don't worry Mr. Avenue! I'll make you all better! OK, first we gotta figure out what you got. Cause it might be something as horrible as chicken pox! That's when you turn into a chicken for like a whole week! A itchy chicken!" He moved over and put his hand on Fifth's head and stood back. "What are you suptoms?"

"It sure is a good thing!" Fifth exclaimed, green eyes going wide open at the idea that he could turn into a chicken for a /whole week/! He started scratching at himself a bit frantically before began to make clucking, chicken-like noises. "Oh no! I think I'm -cluck!- I think I might have -cluck!- the chicken pox!!"

Devan's eyes went the size of saucers. "Oh no~! You can't have the chicken poxes! You'll turn into a chicken!" He looked honest to god scared like Fifth had contracted some horrible disease. "Hold on! I can fix it!" He put the bandaid in the middle of Fifth's forhead. His tail had firmly wrapped around the taller man's wrist. "I'll call um... the um other doctors. They'll help!"

Fifth noted the fact that the boy was actually afraid that something wrong might have happened, and took that as a good sign to enact his magical cure. At the bandaid pressed against his forehead, he paused for a moment then gasped.

"Nope, nope, hold on a second, bud..." he said, laying a hand gently on Devan's shoulder, patting himself down and looking astonished. "No, I don't think that you need to call anybody else, Devan! I'm cured! No more itching and no more clucking. I think I'm gon'na be okay, Doctor Devan!"

Devan's tail squeezed uncomfortably tight as he stared up at the much taller man with small pinpricks of tears in his eyes. "R-Really? You're not gonna turn into a chicken?" He asked in almost a pleading tone. "I really cured you all up?"

"Aww, kiddo," Fifth said with a soft laugh, propping himself up in the hallway and wrapping his arms around the patience child who was so close to tears. "No, I'm not gon'na turn into a chicken. You cured me all up. I think if I had any other problems, you might'a fixed those, too." He held the boy at arms length, looking into his eyes. "Alright?"

Devan snuggled closer to the man and nuzzled at his feathers. "O-Okay..." He responded shyly and wiped at his eyes. "I just wanna make sure cause I don't want you to be a chicken. How come you came over here Mr. Avenue? Are you and momma best friends now?"

Devan gave him a slightly confused look. "Oh... good friends is good. She said friends are good." He frowned slightly and shook his head. "Nuh huh... it looked fun though!"

Fifth chuckled a bit awkwardly, but smiled at the fact that at least Devan didn't look into things any further than what the gryphon had told him. "Well, your sleepovers might be a little different. Just like most things that kids and grown-ups do are at least a little bit different."

"Oh... like wrestling!" The boy says rather excitedly. "Mom and this one guy did special wrestling once but I wasn't allowed to play. Uncle Greg brought me home but said we had to go for ice cream." He said with a pout.

Fifth's eyes widened at what the child said, coughing awkwardly in the hopes of buying himself enough time to be able to find a way to steer the conversation away from this. "Uh, yeah. Don't worry, kid, you'll be able to play that one day. Besides, it's only fun if you play with a special sort of person. Now come on, let's see how your mom is doing on dinner."

"Okay..." The boy responded cheerfully as he made his way into the kitchen. "Hy mom! Fifth and I played doctor and said if I find a special person I can wrestle like you do!"

The woman turned with one eye twitching toward the boy. "Whaaaaaaaat?" She then looked up at Fifth with the exame expression, wafffles nearly falling off the plate she held. ".....WHAT?"

Fifth followed along after the boy, feeling successful until those words stumbled from Devan's mouth. Choking out of shock alone, he sputtered at the expression on DS's face, trying to gesture in a way that implied that that was not what he meant, kneeling down in front of Devan. "Nonono, see, I meant that you will be able to do it when you're older and understand it better and- and don't just do it with anyone, because it will only be fun when it's with someone special to you, alright?" he re-explained, flicking a nervous glance toward DS every now and again.  

[lux eternelle]

Sweet Romance ( Gabriel and Ilyrosa's Valentine's Date - Skills & Melee Class Requirement )

Gabriel didn’t just have a normal plan that Valentine’s Day; no, he had planned something exceptional for the love of his life. On their first date, he had taken her to a small lake that was only a few blocks from his house, stationed in the middle of a park. That day, they’d gone ice skating, despite the fact that he’d been unable to rent skates and had managed to make a complete a** of himself trying to skate on his own two feet, which ended up whitish blue by the end of an hour. But it was early spring now, and that meant that there were no longer tons of kids trying to sled on the melting snow, and the ice was starting to melt away, revealing the water beneath. A few nights earlier, while walking by his lonesome through the park, he had discovered just how beautiful the park looked at sunset, especially the way that the sun reflected off of the water.

‘Ilyrosa,

Meet me at sunset on the dock where we went ice skating. Bring a tape-playing radio, your appetite, and feel free to dress well. If you do show up, I’ll assume that you do want to be my Valentine.

-Gabriel’

It was a note that had been written by Damien and tied to a bag that had a heart-shaped box of chocolates within and a ‘Be Mine?’ balloon tied to the handles. He knocked, but was gone by the time the door was opened; he just had to hope that at least the note made its way to Ilyrosa before that evening. He had shoveled all of the snow off of the little dock and laid two layers of blankets on it, a thermal box full of food set in the middle of it, along with two plastic champagne glasses and a bottle of sparkling cider. Gabriel himself was in a turtleneck, tie, vest, darkish jeans, and the one pair of sneakers that he had that didn’t have any holes in them, pacing nervously as he waited for Ilyrosa to show up.

Ilyrosa had thankfully been the first to find the valentine that morning before Damon or Seth could get to it and either destroy it or hide it in an attempt to keep her home. Who would eventually do what was anyone’s guess with how odd the two had been acting as of recent. In fact, she nearly forgot completely about the holiday and wouldn’t have recognized it at all had Gabriel not sent her the absolutely adorable valentine. Thus it was no surprise when the teen was scrambling out the door in hopes of finding a suitable dress for the evening that was sure to make the spawn’s jaw drop.

She wasn’t a pride child, nor that of humility. There was just something... oddly powerful about being able to control someone based on looking good and appealing to their desires. That ability to give as much or as little as she so desired and to keep the other on a leash she could toy and mess with was something she just absolutely enjoyed. And the fact that Gabriel loved her and put up with it made it all the better.

Radio in hand and a little red bag that contained her gift to Gabriel in the other, the teen roamed the park on her way to where he specified the date to be. She was insanely excited for the date, thus went a little all out for it. Dressed and excited beyond belief, the teen arrived thankfully on time without being too terribly rushed. “H-Hey Gabe,” she greeted, flashing him a soft smile. Thankfully she remembered a jacket before running out the door. “Happy Valentine’s Day. Got you something, I hope you like it,” she added, offering him the back where within lay a small box decorated in jeweled butterflies in a scenic background that occasionally peeked through on the sides. She had heard he liked butterflies so it seemed like the perfect gift, though a little girly in her tastes.

“It’s beautiful here...” she murmured, looking around in awe.

The dress that clung tight to Ilyrosa’s form had just the reaction that she was hoping for. Gabriel’s bright red eyes latched onto her as soon as she was in sight, mouth dropping open at the sheer amount of leg that was revealed by the outfit that his girlfriend was wearing. As she approached, he couldn’t keep his eyes from travelling slowly up her bare legs, up to the swish of her hips, the dress cutting off juuust below the place that his eyes were trying to find. Shaking his head and clearing his throat -and hopefully the dirty thoughts from his mind, lest that stirring in his pants become something noticeable- he smiled up at the wrath seductress, tail wagging back and forth like a puppy’s.

“Hi, Ily. You… you look really good,” he commented, laughing awkwardly as a blush came to his face. When the gift was presented to him, the pride child looked genuinely surprised. He didn’t receive things often; at all, really. He was always the one spending his spare money on Damien or on Ilyrosa or on his family, never the other way around. That dumbfounded look on his face stayed there as he awkwardly took the gift, an idle ‘thank you’ falling from his lips as he gestured for the beautiful woman to follow him to the little picnic that he’d set up. Taking a seat, he gently removed the box from the bag, eyes glowing with happiness and wonder as he immediately knew what he was going to use it for, sending a bright grin toward the wrath spawn.

“It’s awesome, Ilyrosa, I love it. Sorry for the… awkwardness before. I’m just really not used to getting gifts and stuff. Usually it’s me who gets things for other people, like you or my brother, y’know? It was… a surprise. It’s great, though. I really like it,” he rambled, smiling happily before he remembered the food and grinned again, opening it and beginning to pull out very typical picnic foods that he’d bought at a grocery store - fried chicken, potato wedges, coleslaw, potato salad, and other small dishes and foods.

“Isn’t it?” he offered in response to her observation, nodding a few times, ears and headwings perked up in happiness and excitement for the night that was already beginning to go as planned. He gestured to the meal that was laid out in front of them in a very ‘serve yourself’ manner as he went about opening the sparkling cider pouring a glass for each of them. “That’s why I picked this spot. It’s not quite as pretty as it gets, though. You should see it when the sun gets really low, like when it starts colouring the sky, because the lake reflects all of the colours and, um, what’s the word… refracts them all over the snow and everything else. It’s amazing.”

Ily watched Gabriel look her up and down, orange eyes following his red ones along her more-revealed-than-usual body. She certainly had his attention now judging by how he could barely keep his eyes OFF her. Slowly they crept up higher and higher only to stop and jump back to her face. “Hi back at cha. You think I look good? Hm, I suppose I’ll just have to take your word on that,” she replied, trying to hide the little smirk that threatened to appear. It was Valentine’s Day, a day of happiness and love and annoying songs of romance.

“Glad you like the gift, then, Gabe. Took me a while to find something I knew you’d like,” she added, blushing. Soft pink hues tinting her skin and glad she got something right. Everything had been so... pink and glittery and flowery at the stores she had fruitlessly searched through. Everything screamed girly in big, bold letters on a neon sign able to be seen from the moon and the teen hadn’t thought her boyfriend would enjoy such pink and fuzzy objects. Thankfully she had vaguely remembered his love of butterflies and managed to snag the object before anyone else had.

“Ooh. Sounds beautiful Gabriel. You really did all this for me? You certainly went all out but I have to ask, what’s the radio for?” Ily asked, tilting her head curiously before getting a good look at the food. God she was ravenous. When he said bring an appetite, she hadn’t a clue what exactly he had in mind for her so she prepared for a feast. “Looks good, no, not good. Better than good, Gabe, it looks great!” she added, plopping down onto the blanket next to the pre-teen.

The young pride spawn couldn’t help the wistful sigh that escaped his lips as a blush teased Ilyrosa’s cheeks in such a way. It wasn’t something that he was used to seeing on the wrath spawn, not even in the slightest. In fact, aside from complimenting his brother, he was fairly sure that he hadn’t seen it on any wrath spawn that he’d met before. It made her look… different. More vulnerable, somehow, showing off a feminine side of herself that she usually kept hidden. Sure, she wore feminine clothing, short skirts, tight shirts, and she could never pass as a male in the least. Much too… curvaceous… beautiful…

The bright red pride spawn blinked a few times when she spoke again, finding that his eyes needed to be lifted to hers once more, an awkward, lopsided smile coming to his face. “Uh… right. Yes,” he replied awkwardly, giving a nod before the small part of his mind that had actually been present spoke up once again. “Oh! The present, right. It may have taken a while, but you did a good job. Thanks a lot, Ily.” His smile became softer, more casual, another wistful sigh falling past his lips. She really was the most beautiful girl in the world; and he really was the luckiest boy.

“Of course I did!” Gabriel replied, sounding almost offended at the idea that he wouldn’t do all of this for his girlfriend, pressing a hand to his chest in a comically affronted manner. A soft chuckle fell from his lips and he reached out to take one of her hands, bringing it to his lips, where he pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles before letting her have her hand back. “I would never dream of doing anything less than this for you, Ilyrosa. I mean… it’s so much easier to work to get money and to set up something like this for you than it’s ever been for me to do for anything else. So, really, it was nothing.

“The radio? Oh, that’s going to be my little secret until later, if you don’t mind,” Gabriel said with a sly smile and a wink. With her compliment to the food, he smiled, still blushing beneath his green scaled cheeks, and gestured to the miniature feast of a picnic. Green-tipped fingers retrieved the napkins and paper plates and he handed both to Ilyrosa, a smile on his brown-skinned face. “Dig in; feel free to have as much as you want.”

“Thanks, Gabe. Though really, you didn’t have to go to such extent just for me,” she replied, taking the offered plate before looking at the food with an almost predatory look. Gluttony child she was not, as she had said before, but it certainly took a lot of food to keep up with her insanely high metabolism rate. Taking a little bit of everything, for a start, she didn’t feel the least bit awkward. Like hell she was going to eat a little just to make herself not seem like a huge pig or something. Gabriel took her on a nice date and by the seven hells she was going to eat that damned food.

“I’m going to have to take you on a date sometime, yanno. Keep the field even with the dates you keep taking me on,” Ily teased, sticking her tongue out at him. It was odd how her wrathful tendencies seemed to remain at bay around patience children... Strange. “Though I doubt any of them will top this one,” she added, glancing around at the park for the briefest of moments. Damn he was good.

“Pssh. Not needing to do something is no reason not to. After all, it makes you happy, right? And that’s the most important thing on Valentine’s Day. At least… from what I can tell, that’s the point of it,” Gabriel replied, chuckling a little awkwardly. His life being the way it had, he didn’t even bat an eyelash at the amount of food that Ilyrosa got, stacking his own plate enough that the paper started to give. Plopping it down in his lap, he dug into the tasty picnic food, his pride the only thing keeping him from shoveling the delicious food into his mouth. Good Lord, fasting for a few days was TOTALLY worth it if this was the result!

Gabriel chuckled in amusement at her challenge, sticking the tip of his tongue out in response. “Oh will you? Well, it’s not required, ya’know. I mean, it’s a gentleman’s privilege and that sort of thing. I’m proud to have the ability to spoil you like this, make you so happy and such. I enjoy it,” the young man said with a smile, making sure that he didn’t speak without swallowing his mouth full of food, trying to pace himself on how fast he was eating - it wasn’t working very well.

“But if you really want to, I’m not going to stop you,” he added, making sure that he didn’t make himself sound too sexist, just gentlemanly. Usually one was seen as better than another afterward. The boy grinned at the compliment, tail flicking back and forth softly. “Thanks. That was certainly the plan, after all. At least, to an extent.”

Ilyrosa eyed the massive stack of food Gabriel grabbed, not saying a word but inwardly laughing at it. Guess she wasn’t the only one dying of starvation. Good thing too, she didn’t want to eat all the food if Gabriel didn’t eat much or had actually eaten beforehand or something else just as silly. “True; and I know that, I just feel like I should every now and again,” she replied, digging into the food with less restraint than Gabriel while still managing to not appear like a starved animal.

Swallowing the food she had in her mouth, the teen flashed him a grin. “Good. Cause I’d rather not force you to go on dates with me.” Another tease and back to the food, wondering just how much would be left afterwards. Probably not a whole lot, if any, at this rate.

Finishing off her plate of food, Ily couldn’t help but wonder what exactly that radio was for. The curiosity was killing her practically, wondering if he meant to serenade her or something. There were hundreds of possibilities, each idea involving music and a lot of it.

Gabriel smiled softly at the mild insistence from his girlfriend, another of those happy sighs falling from his throat. It was adorable, the way that she wanted to spoil him as well. On top of that, it was kind of nice. As much as Gabriel would love to be able to spoil his love to hell and back, it was nice that Ilyrosa wasn't the sort to just accept that and leech off of him, but actually wanted to have an even give-and-take sort of thing going on. That was... nice.

"And I'd be glad to oblige. It would be fun to not know where we're going one night~" the pride child hummed softly with a soft smile on his face, retrieving a biscuit from the small box of them, buttering it and taking a bite. Other than that, he was pretty full, having eating a little too fast to leave room for much else. Suddenly, he made an odd choking noise with the biscuit, swallowing it quickly, a bright grin on his face. "Shoot, I almost forgot!!"

Laughing happily, he reached into the small cooler once again, which seemed to be bottomless with how much stuff he'd managed to Tetris into it. At the teasing, he simply sent a wistful smile in her direction. "Trust me, my dear, it is a privilege to be in your company~" he replied sweetly, pulling out his final food-related supply. "Hope that you saved room, since I... forgot to bring this up. Tada~ Dessert is served," Gabriel said in a sing-song voice, putting down a mini, fruit-swirled sampler cheesecake, cut into eight pieces, with four different flavours.

Ilyrosa grinned, tail tip flicking back and forth happily. “Heh, spontaneous dates to random locations I can do,” she replied, having most of her day go about in such a way. Rarely did she have a plan about what her daily activities would be or where they would lead her. It kept everything far more interesting and easier to go along with if an event didn’t go quite as hoped or she missed it entirely and had to find something else to do.

Alarm spread across her face at the choking sound, nearly punching him a moment later when it turned out the boy was just fine. “Forgot what? And don’t DO that! Thought you were dying or something,” she muttered, obviously more than a little peeved at being scared like that. Even she often forgot her little fears about those closest to her becoming hurt or seriously ill. As Gabriel brought out the cheesecake sampler platter, any and all rage against him instantly flew right out the window.

Anything that happened to be on her plate was instantly forgotten about for that simple dessert. Damn he was good. “Gabriel, you have no idea how much I love you right now,” Ily laughed, wondering how exactly he knew cheesecake happened to be her favorite type of cake. Or was it a pie? Either way, it was her favorite even without all the fancy fruity flavors people often added in to spice things up now and again.

Despite the fact that the comment seemed to just be of the idle, figurative sort, Gabriel couldn't help the rather dazed expression that came to his face when the young woman said that she loved him. A soft sigh fell past his lips as his face lit up with a pale red blush. He chuckled softly and shook his head, a smile on his face. "I think you're the one with no idea, my dear..." he said, voice barely even a whisper, a thought spoken aloud.

"I take it that I made a good choice, then?" the preteen asked, tail flipping back and forth gently as he gestured to the cheesecake with a smile. "Go ahead and take first pick... even though there are two of each flavour. I'm not picky. Not... to say that you are but-- Oh, I'm being polite, that's all," Gabriel rambled, smiling sheepishly and chuckling at himself.

Ilyrosa gave him a curious stare at the spoken aloud thought, turning her gaze back to the dessert a moment later. Gabriel was odd; she had to admit that much about him. “Mm... yes, you did. I love cheesecake,” she replied softly, pondering which slice to take first. They all looked amazing and absolutely delicious to the point that she was unable to pick just ONE to try.

“Hm... I think I’ll take the strawberry one. What about you?” she asked, glancing at him curiously. Carefully, so as to not cause the dessert to break or collapse or do something else that would destroy its perfect shape, Ily slid the strawberry slice onto her plate. Sure it’d taste the same in a billion pieces, but for some reason having to hunt down the various bits didn’t sound all that fun to her.

Gabriel smiled happily, glad that he had made a good decision. Not that he was prone to making bad ones, it was just a nice ego boost to hear that he'd done something right - again. "Good to know; I'll keep it in mind~" the pride spawn replied with a smile, tail flicking as his red eyes flicked between Ilyrosa and the cheesecake, curious about which type she was going to pick.

"I'm gon'na go with the raspberry one," he replied, nodding a couple times. Instead of doing what Ilyrosa did, however, he carefully picked up the cheesecake carefully, making sure that it didn't fall apart, eating it like it was a piece of pizza. After all, since it was a mini cheesecake, the slices were pretty small, and he wasn't used to utensils; it was so much easier without them. Why did people use them anyway? The boy made a happy noise at the flavour of the cake, smiling broadly. He'd never had cheesecake before. "This is so good."

Ily nodded, flashing him a smile. “What’s your favorite?” she asked, wondering what his favorite could be. Obviously he had no idea hers was cheesecake since he even said so moments ago. Such a prideful little thing, wasn’t he? Compliments of any kind had such an impact on him; it was almost weird if he had been like any other person in the world.

“Mm, the raspberry one would be good too,” Ily said aloud, watching as he ate his piece only to laugh when she realized what he was doing. Snickering a little, though as to what was anyone’s guess, she stabbed off a large piece off her cheesecake slice with her fork, giggling as she ate it. Gabriel certainly was weird in more ways than one.

"My favourite...?" Gabriel asked with a tip of his head, blinking a couple times. "Like... my favourite flavor? Or my favourite kind of cake? Or do you mean my favourite kind of food in general? Though... I guess that wouldn't make a lot of sense. At the same time, I should probably know: What's your favourite kind of food, Ilyrosa? Assuming that the kind of food that I think is, y'know, any kind of fancy or special probably... really, really isn't."

He nodded his agreement to the statement, finishing off the slice of cake like the starving little boy that he was, making a happy noise when he was done. It took him a moment or two to chew and swallow before speaking again. "Y'know, you can take the rest of the cake home if you want it," the boy noted since, after all, there wasn't a lot left of the food itself to offer to the young woman. Besides, even if he never had cake like that, he would rather that she have it than he, his dad, and his brother shove it down their throats in about ten seconds.

"Your favorite dessert, duh,” Ily laughed, polishing off her slice with a happy little look. Damn, cheesecake was freaking amazing. The best dessert ever thought of in the world, probably. At his other question, though, she had to pause for a moment and think about it. What WAS her favorite kind of food? Well, it wasn’t hard narrowing down what wasn’t her favorite, that’s for sure. “Hm... I like meats in general, but I do like strawberries as well,” she replied thoughtfully.

As he offered her the rest of the cheesecake, Ily simply stared at him. “Really? Seriously I can?” she asked, a little surprised. Damon wasn’t fond of desserts, choosing to gorge himself on chips and beer in front of the TV than anything else. And Seth... Seth would eat anything sweet, but he never ate all that much considering. Which meant the entire thing, save for a slice here and there, was hers. All hers to eat when she so desired. Best. Gift. Ever.

Gabriel chuckled sheepishly, offering a cute little smile in his embarrassment. "Yeah, should'a figured that," he replied, though he didn't answer the question itself just yet. His mind pedaled its way through all of the different kinds of desserts that he'd had, most of them having been cold, stolen, or salvaged. But... there was one thing that he'd remembered having a while ago... The pride boy nodded and smiled. "Cinnamon-roasted almonds, I think. I dun'no if you can buy them anywhere that's not at a booth, but they're so good."

The preteen laughed at the way his girlfriend seemed so completely astonished by the idea of taking the rest of the cake home. "Yeah, seriously. I mean, if I took it home, it'd be eaten but not... y'know, enjoyed. With how much you like it, I know that you'll enjoy it," he explained, tail flicking softly as he started packing all but the cheesecake boxes back into the cooler, moving it off to the side and picking up the radio from where it had been placed, digging through his pockets for the tapes that he'd bought, trying to remember which scribbles meant 'better music'.

Ily laughed, finding the smile kinda cute especially with the embarrassment clear in his expression. “It’s ok. Cinnamon-roasted almonds? Those do sound good...” Now she knew exactly what to get him one of these days and where exactly she’d take him. It was perfect, really, since she wandered around so much and knew relatively where all the good spots were.

Blushing ever so slightly, Ily looked away in embarrassment. Maybe she liked cheesecake a little too much? Nah, no one could ever love a dessert too much so long as it was kept more as a favorite food than anything else. “Thanks Gabe. Whatcha looking for?” she asked, noticing he was searching his pockets for something. Probably had something to do with the radio, but what could it be? Once again curiosity plagued her thoughts as she waited for him to either answer or show her.

"Yeah, they really, really are. Especially since they sell them hot and it's weird 'cause they're soft instead'a hard like almonds usually are. So tasty," Gabriel agreed, getting to his feet and putting the radio on top of the cooler to make it louder than it would be from the ground. He pulled a tape out of each pocket, biting at his lip and looking between the two; why hadn't he just brought the better one...?

"Uhh... the better music?" Gabriel offered awkwardly, giving a soft chuckle and showing her one of the tapes. Biting his tongue and taking a gamble, he shoved one of the tapes into the player, closed it, and turned it on. For a moment, there was just a soft crackling noise, the usual sort that came when a tape was played. Slowly came the sounds of a symphony warming up before the tell-tale tapping of a conductor's baton on a music stand, and with that the song started, a grin spreading across his face. Boy, was he lucky.

La da da da da...

Turning on a green-scaled heel, he walked back over to his date, offering her a hand to help her up, smile charming despite the blush on his dark face. Behind him, the sun had almost disappeared from the sky, casting shades of red and purple across the lake, while the sky overhead was beginning to fill with stars. "May I have this dance, mon amour?"

Ily raised an eyebrow at the odd writing on the cover, obviously unable to understand the writing as well but saying nothing about it. It didn’t even look like English or any other language she had heard about. “Better music?” she asked, blinking at the sounds the tape player began to play. It was interesting, to say the least. Old style if she had to guess.

As he offered his hand, the teen giggled and flashed him a smile. So, they were to dance the night away? Worked for her. “Of course.” Rising to her feet, it quickly became obvious how different they were in height. So much so she was tempted to take her shoes off so as to reduce the height difference. “Dinner and dancing, how romantic,” Ily commented, not a hint of sarcasm in her tone. It really was pretty romantic to her, anyways, without being overly cheesy.

Bright red eyes slowly followed the wrath girl as she rose to her feet, the blush on his face only growing at how much of a child he felt like at his current height. Yet, he tried not change his romantic demeanor. With her hand in his, he silently thanked the fact that it was her whose hand was supposed to go on his shoulder, wrapping his own arm around her waist and gently tugging her to the center of the blankets set on the ground.

"I'm glad. I'd like to think that the picnic, outdoor, and time alone aspects make it more romantic as well as original; y'think so?" Gabriel asked, a soft sigh falling past his lips. He didn't know how to dance -well, he did, but not very well, and he'd only practiced with one of the kids in his father's gang- but he did what he could, slowly leading the young woman in a smooth waltz in tune with the song, red eyes never leaving her's. "It wouldn't have been the same without you, though. In case you didn't already know that."

Ily giggled , allowing herself to be led in the dance, despite the fact that Gabriel didn't seem to be a good dancer. She wasn't very good either, though it was more because she was better at clubbing than ballroom dancing. Either way, the whole thing was still romantic and she loved it all the same. Sure it was awkward, but it was still good.

"I do think so, and the same about you, in case you didn't know either," she teased, giggling softly. It was just perfect. As they danced and twirled, slowly getting better and improvising whenever they could, it quickly became clear to her that the tape could hold only so many songs.

Switching tapes occasionally and eventually resorting to a radio station that was playing classical music, the two danced into the night and, though she'd probably never actually admit it to anyone other than Gabriel, she loved every moment of it. She of course never once was tired, but the fact that her date was managing to stay up with her the entire time was amazing. It was just... Awesome. She felt like a princess practically.

Despite what he was letting show, Gabriel was definitely starting to become tired. After how much work he'd been doing over the past few days, and with all of the dancing they were doing, his consciousness was wearing thin. But his lovely combination wouldn't let that show, not to his love. Pride kept him on his feet, patience reminded him that he could sleep the next day and would be fine doing so. Yet even so, despite the tire, he loved what he was doing. He loved the joy that he was able to give Ilyrosa, the way that his heart pounded in his chest every time she smiled...

By the time that he could barely stand, the sky was steadily turning brighter as the stars faded away, pale blues and yellows rippling across the water, morning runners appearing every now and again. Heavy-lidded red eyes raised up to Ily's face, headwings tipped back against Gabriel's black hair as he smiled, stepping away and giving the young woman a deep bow, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. Not a single part of his mind touched on the fact that maybe it was a little strange how they still hadn't kissed. He loved what they had; he wouldn't risk anything to change it. "It's been an honor dancing with you tonight, m'lady."

Noticing how tired he was, Ily didn't bother asking if they could dance some more. He wasn't a child of dilligence and thus couldn't stand dancing night after night away without tiring out greatly. Hell, she was beginning to feel a little tired herself, though probably more because she hadn't slept in a few days and was probably due for a nap soon. Still, she didn't let such exhaustion bother her at all.

"It's been amazing dancing with you as well, good sir," Ily replied, blushing a little as he kissed her hand. Odd how they hadn't ever done more than hug up till now, though she wasn't in a hurry to rush through things. Everything about her seemed to be all about speed and whatnot, but not relationships oddly enough. Pausing a moment, a strange and devious thought crept into her head. Moving closer, the teen hesitated for a moment before leaning in for a kiss. It just seemed right, yanno? A sweet kiss to seal the deal on such an amazing date he had managed to take her out on...

Gabriel laughed happily at the formal response that he got, though a bit of the laugh was just a result of how ditzy he felt. The tiredness was starting to eat up the part of his brain that could process what was and wasn't funny. "I'd truly love to be able to do it again one day, my dear," he added with a suave little smirk, the hand that wasn't holding her's slipping back around the teenager's waist.

As she leaned in, he tipped his head, mind taking a moment to catch up with what was going on, before the pounding of his heart alerted him to what was happening. Letting the smile fall from his lips, he stepped onto the toes of his feet, managing to make himself about a foot taller, though a bit under-balanced. His other hand dropped her's to cup her cheek before slipping into her hair as he leaned forward to press his lips gently against her's, blood pounding in his ears and head positively swimming.

Ilyrosa didn't exactly have any conscious thoughts, just going with the flow as Gabriel went along with the kiss. She supposed he would go after it, exhausted or not, simply because he was just absolutely infatuated with her. Puppy love, something she was just beginning to see emerge though his actions and emotions. She wasn't exactly the quickest when dealing with social things like this.

Pulling away, a dark red blush flowed across her face, heart pounding violently. What the hell did she just do? Obviously be a creature of sudden impulses judging by what exactly she did just then. "I... Uhm... Sh-should pr-probably get going," she muttered, blush still horribly bright among her facial features. The little splash of red skin along her nose wasn't nearly as bright as her blush. "G-goodnight Gabriel, th-the date w-was fun," Ily stuttered, trying to regain control of her emotions and thoughts. God she was so weak...

From what Gabriel could tell, that kiss had vanquished all conscious thought he had that didn't have to do with happiness. On top of that, the sunrise wasn't helping this giddiness, and his face was pleasantly flushed when he pulled away. "Y-yeah, probably. After all, what would your scary dad think of you being out with me all night?" he joked, voice sounding a little dreamy as he turned to get the cheesecake, cooled by the spring air, and handed it to her. "Best not to forget this."

As the woman left, Gabriel couldn't get himself to turn back toward his house, even with how tired he was. Instead, he leaned against one of the supports that kept up the canopy on the dock, red eyes gazing after her as she left, heart fluttering in his chest. Softly, he laughed to himself. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to go all-out like he'd done, huh? After all, how in God's name would he be able to top it next year?  

[fallingUPstairs__x x]

[Searching for Perfection - Gabriel & Elias?]  

[fallingUPstairs__x x]

You're... huh? ( Fifth x DS )

DS and Fifth had been seeing each other off and on almost two months now. Finding ways to get to each other and to 'enjoy' each other's company. It had be come so routine that DS had gotten used to it. Very used to it. Her favorite game was to see how many feathers her lover left behind and to keep them in a secret place. Yes, Fifth was more then just a lover to her. Or at least that's what Greg kept insisting.

She didn't honestly take any heed of it. Fifth was what he was. A lion in bed and a gentle but wise a** out of it. She liked him but to Hell that it was *love* or anything silly like that.

Or at least that's what she thought until something very real and life shattering came to her attention. Females have cycles, she'd grown used to that, annoying as it was. But she'd missed hers. And there were no signs of it. Just when she needed him most, Gregory had gone to Spain to visit his older brother.

Nervous and unsure she contacted the only other person she knew. She'd managed to get his adress from the faculity after bitching them into a hole and took in the sent of Fifth's home. It was his. She could smell him but there were also a ton of other smells. Like more then a few people lived there. She held onto her pendant and knocked, ears back.

Devan was at a babysiters waiting for her. Thank goodness she'd found someone.

Fifth feelings about his relationship with DS was quite the opposite of her own idea. Of course, it didn't help that she was the first relationship that he'd had in many, many years, and that she'd had yet to run off like the others had. He saw her almost more often than he'd seen his own kids, and would quickly admit that she was in his mind much more often than his twins ever were.

Unfortunately, he had a similar problem revolving around a detachment from reality. The man hadn't the slightest memory of the fact that women actually had the ability to get pregnant or gain any other number of problems if he didn't remember to use protection. He was, of course, preoccupied with all of the other parts of the women that he was falling for - and falling hard.

When a knock sounded at the door, he glanced up in surprise, along with the heads of a few other kids who had been sitting around the house. A few of them looked between each other, Fifth included, before the gryphon stood to get the door, emerald eyes widening at whom he saw on the other side of it. Smiling awkwardly, he slipped out the door and pulled it shut behind him, leaning against it to keep her out and the rest of them in. A large hand ran through his mane of hair and he smiled. "Hey there, hun. What brings you to my neck'a the woods."

The fox's ears flicked a few times and her nose flared, gathering information of the other residents off Fifth and from the door. She seemed momentarily distracted and at first didn't even hear him. She glanced up suddenly. "You have a lot of pepole in there. I can come back." Her voice was uncharacteristically nervous. She'd never shown anything more then self confidence to the other man. Now she was worrying at her hands and trying to see passed him into the house.

Fifth chuckled softly, a faint yet sheepish smile on his lips, tail flicking softly around his knees. "Ah, yeah. They're not guests or anything, you don't need to leave," he replied, speaking rather quickly as he reached out to take 'hold of her wrist, keeping the woman from leaving, which -at this moment in time- she seemed anxious enough to do. He smiled softly at her, the ends of his wings wrapping around her waist loosely. "Though if you want to find somewhere more private, my room's in the back, and the kids are out right now..."

The fox bristled as soon as she was touched. Normally Fifth touching her was a good thing but she was so muddled she didn't know how she felt about it. "Private. That's good. So wait all those people live here? I smell like... ten people." She said wrinkling her nose. "Though I'm not sure that's even right. Let's... go back to your room." She peered over her shoulder and ducked her head slightly. "I want to ask you something."

Fifth tilted his head slightly at the way the woman seemed to shy from his touch, one ear flicking back softly. How strange... something was wrong, he assumed? That, or she thought something was wrong. Or was she going to break up with him? That's generally what that meant in various television shows, at least... Worrying, his other ear tipped back to join the first and he nodded distractedly. "Y-yeah. There might be ten-ish here right now, but a lot more actually live here. It's still early -sorta- so most of them are still out."

Nodding a bit, he pushed the door back open, smiling and waving at the kids who were scattered around as he led DS through the mess of the horribly cared for house. A few questions shone in the eyes of some of the more curious of his housemates, but they stayed silent until the door to Fifth's room was closed, when the whispering and giggles started up almost immediately. He took a seat on the mattress that belonged to him, across from Gabriel's wall of mirror shards, and offered the seat to DS, still nervous. "Alright. I'm all ears."

The fox looked vaguely disgusted as she followed Fifth. She gave a bristling glare to the kids and showed off her teeth, keeping close to the hybrid. The smell was bad enough outside but inside. Ugh. Too many people for her comfort zone. She wanted to burry her nose in Fifth's mantle and just breath in his scent.

She was staring at him like he'd just offered her drugs. "You live in that mess?" She inquired her normal braizen personality starting to shine through again. "Jeezus, Fifth. How do you even move around with those wings of yours? Why didn't you tell me you lived in a shelter or whatever the crap this is?"

"Yeah, it is a bit of a mess..." was, at first, Fifth's only response. He shrugged his shoulders softly, wings stretching out wide before drooping behind him on the bed, relaxing for the first time that day. He gave a soft smile, obviously not the sort to really mind the mess that he lived in every day. "But between you, caring for my twins, and working, I don't have the time to clean up all of the messes that are made..."

The rather snappy questions that followed made a soft frown come to his features, his ears flicking back softly. "Most people move enough to let me through. They respect me like that," he answered, his emerald gaze sharpening slightly. "It's not a shelter. I didn't tell you because it's... a gang. Of sorts. Made up of Eilians, mostly. Most of the kids were abandoned by their families, as the older ones were when they were... younger. Some of the older ones help me with the bills, and in return, I protect and take care of... all of them," he answered, shrugging his shoulders. "It's been like this for as long as I can remember. Mind you, I wasn't the leader for that long, but... this has always been my family."

The woman across from him was staring to loose her fire. Her small shot of her temper was a defensive ploy to get the subject off of her. He needed a hand with this place. "A gang, huh? Sounds like you got something going for you. " Her fingers went up to her pendant. "Yah well... a family is somethin' I can't argue against. Your life not mine."

He claws dug into the matres. She had to just spit it out. "Listen I came here because... You're the only person I know who might be able to help me. OK? Its kind of stupid but I don't know what to do about it."

Fifth smiled softly, ears tipped back and twitching softly. The woman's comments about the place had only served to remind him what poor care he'd been taking of his gang recently, as well as the apartment. At what seemed almost a wistful comment, he scooted closer to the female, wrapping an arm around her waist and stroking her side softly. "I dun'no, recently I seem to have three of them... it's starting to get a bit difficult to juggle all of them fairly."

The man looked a bit surprised at the way that she spoke, tugging his lo-- his girlfr-- DS closer, nuzzling softly into her hair. "I'm here for you, DS. You don't have to worry about that. What's got you so worried?"

"Three?" She paused when he scooted closer and at the stroke. There was a pause before she blushed, tail hitting the left and right of the bed with heavy thumps. He was really something else.

"Er well... Its kind of strange. I'm not human so I don't know if its normal. Er..." Her eyes went to his wings and she seemed concerned again. He wasn't either. "OK so human females bleed...er alot for once a month. And I didn't. I haven't for a little while. Is that..er a bad thing?"

"Yes, three," he said simply, with a soft smile. The man chuckled softly at the woman's embarrassment, giving a gentle sigh and pressing a kiss to the top of her head, heart pounding despite himself.

The Eilian listened to the information that he was given, tipping his head to one side, tail flipping back and forth gently. As his eyes flicked about the room, he used various things he saw to try to spur any memories that he had that were related to this sort of thing. The best that he could come up with were from some strange, dramatic television shows that he'd seen some time ago, and they usually ended with...

He blanched. "Oh... s**t."

The fox's ears went down at the kiss and she ducked her head slightly. Fifth was becoming more affectionate and she wasn't sure how to handle it. Instead she shied away. It was a natural response.

Her ears swilved up to face him as she looked up at the much taller man. 's**t?' That was never good. There were three people you never wanted to hear s**t' from. A doctor, a dentist, and finally a lover. "Er.. What's the matter? Should I go to the doctor or something? I mean I hate those places but if its that bad..." She rambled nervously. She began to lean on him almost desperately. She rarely needed anyone but her fur was bristled in nerves.

Fifth took a deep breath, afraid of assuming anything at all, especially with what little he actually knew medically. But... really, he had no other ideas. If it was something else, then that was a load off his chest, even if it could be something bad. This would just... it would make things a lot harder than he was hoping. As she pressed herself closer to the large golden man, he wrapped both of his arms around her, stroking her hair softly and kissing gently atop her head.

"It... it... I mean, I'm not that reliable, I don't know a lot about medical things and, really, most of the stuff that I know I learn from television," Fifth rambled, speaking quickly, a nervous laugh falling past his lips. "And... and we'd only need to go to a grocery store or something, not to a doctor, at least if I'm right, but, I think that... DS, I think that you might be pregnant..."

The fox didn't know how to take the affection but right now she was needing him. She rubbed her forhead against his shoulder a low rumble in the back of her throat. It wasn't a growl, rather it was a purr. She had never wanted to need someone but she was afraid something was wrong.

The woman looked up at him inquistive and nervous. Her fur still bristling. Her mouth fell open slightly. "I.... what?" She pushed away from him slightly. "You're joking? Tell me you're joking. I mean sure we... I mean of course we did. But if..." Her eyes slitted a silver hue coming to her skin as her fur started to sprout. She was freaking out and it was starting to nullify her pendant. If she was pregnant she would have more kids. Devan even as nice as he was was a handful. Another one? Younger? And there was no way a fox and whatever he was could produce right. Her breath was coming out short.

Fifth's emerald eyes expressed his own fear, nervousness showing through the trembling of his hands. Despite that and despite the woman moving away, he continued stroking her silvery hair, trying to calm her down as a canine fang poked out of his mouth, biting gingerly at his lower lip. He was as terrified as she was, and just as afraid of showing it.

"I- I mean, it's not for sure. Like- like I told you, I really don't know a lot about medical stuff, it could be something completely different, it really could. Besides, I'm probably wr-wrong anyway," Fifth stammered nervously. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to calm himself, looking back toward DS and stroking her cheek softly. "But... but if that's it, DS, I'll be here for you, I promise. I... I would never let you deal with that alone..."

The woman was puffed in such away that her tail looked twice its normal size. Like an animal that had gotten into headlights she just looked up at Fifth, completely froze. It broke when he touched her cheek and she looked away. "There's ways to check, right? I mean... there is right?" She pulled away from his hand. "You're a male. What interest do you have in sticking around once the brats er brat are born?"

"Yeah, yeah, there are ways to check. You can, um, get pregnancy tests from grocery stores and stuff, I know that. I'd offer to go get one for you, b-but I can't read and I don't have any money..." Fifth replied awkwardly, only admitting those faults because he felt like it was suddenly necessary - like somehow being less than the God he made himself out to be would make DS feel better. At the same time, he felt like that was completely idiotic. He blinked in surprise at the statement, ears pricking up. "Yes, but I'm an Eilian. We mate for life. N-not that I'm going to hold you to that, but..." he chuckled softly. "But so long as our possible-children need me, there's no chance of you getting rid of me."

"I can get one. Greg left me money." She responded more to herself then Fifth. It did make DS feel better at least somewhat. He was willing to help at any rate. The woman seemed utterly confused by the concept. "Mate for life?" She asked then fidgeted. "I'm not... I mean... I can't be. I shouldn't be..." She let her body fall against his. "This is screwed up..."

Fifth nodded in response to the idle statement, wrapping an arm around the woman once again, one hand gently running through her hair, twisting the strands softly about his fingers. "Mate for life, yeah. Not to say that I've ever had that chance," he replied, chuckling in a way that sounded more bitter than amused. "I know it is, love... very screwed up."

The female hesitated then rubbed against the male's chest with her cheek much like a cat. She bit her lips slightly as she looked up at the male. "I .... that is..." She sat up a bit and gave him a friendly punch on the arm. "....Jeniffer." Said slowly. "My name.... its really Jeniffer."

Fifth chuckled softly despite the pounding in his chest, still nervous but glad that the both of them seemed to be feeling better. At the way the woman nuzzled against him, she raised her hand to scratch behind one of her ears softly. The gryphon's ears perked up slightly and he let a smile spread slowly across his lips. "Well then, Jeniffer...." he said softly, tipping up her chin to press a soft kiss to her lips, a teasing smirk on his own. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

She gave him a smile back, especially after the kiss, and flushed rather deeply. "... So no big reveal, huh? I was kinda thinkin' you had a real name too. But I like it. Fifth... You know Devan the other day called him self First for a whole two hours because I taught him, First, Second.... but I told him I already claimed the Avenue."

The man laughed softly, nuzzling his cheek against her's softly, one large golden wing wrapping around her. "Sorry, m'dear. No parents, no name," he replied with a shrug of one of his shoulders. The story made him laugh softly, a smile coming to his face. "Cute. Both of you, that is. Though don't worry about it," he said softly, large hand still cupping one of her cheeks, thumb brushing across her cheek gently. "Because that name is already your's..."

"Do you want one?" She inquired resting against him enjoying the brush of his feathers. She flushed again but this time didn't pull away. "So how bout it, darlin'? Shall we go get that test? Or should we wait and leave it to surprise. Though if I start pulling out my fur I wouldn't question anything."

"A name?" Fifth asked, raising an eyebrow curiously before giving a soft smile and another shrug of his feathered shoulders. "Eh. I never really gave it a lot of thought. I'm content with Fifth for now," he said, hugging the woman close again. A smirk arose once again as he started pressing kisses across her jawline. "Oh, I believe it can wait until Damien and Gabriel get home..."

The fox's tail flicked in contentment this tiem as he showered her with affection. She smirked and kissed him back, a deep one with sly indication. "Mm, how long *do* we have for that by the way?" She purred deviously.

Fifth grinned, enjoying the fact that his lover never failed to misinterpret his sexual innuendos. Grinning as his fingertips started to slip beneath her clothing, he gave a bit of a shrug. "Oh, a couple hours, at least..."

And then: Dot, dot, dot.

---

Later that evening...

Certainly, his golden-winged son walking in on the two of them at a much less innocent time than Devan had was an unfortunate way for reality to come crashing down on the couple once again, but it was what had happened no less. A quick trip to the local corner store was all they needed to get the test, Fifth looking as awkward as a teenage boy buying condoms.

By now, the man was nervously standing outside of the bathroom, waiting patiently for DS to come back out. If he could, he would be waiting in the room, but it was later, when the older gang members were coming around, and he would rather be able to fend them off of her. Not that they would want her in the same way he did but, damn, they could be assholes when they wanted to be. Though he certainly trusted her to take care of herself, she seemed in a sensitive state at the moment. It was just better to avoid conflict.

There was a bit of loud noise from the bathroom and a bit of swearing. It seemed to take an eternity before the the door creaked open. Almost shlyly the woman reached out her hand to grasp at Fifth's coat and tug him. "Come here. Just... I need you to come here." Her voice sounded strained like she'd been crying or just about to. "I can't...I can't read this goddamned thing."

Fifth jumped a bit when he was grabbed, tense enough to immediately anticipate something bad happening. Yet, after he realized who it was, his eyes widened a bit and he slipped into the bathroom, closing the door behind the both of them. 'Course, the word 'read' certainly wasn't something that gave him any kind of confidence in helping with the situation. After all, what could he read, really, aside from the word 'pizza' and sometimes numbers. Taking a deep breath, he smiled, stroking her silvery hair softly. "Uhh... what is it you need help with, exactly?"

DS' green eyes looked up at him then down again. "... its ... the thing." She whispered holding it up like it was a relic. "It... It says it turned pink. I... I read the test and... and well..." She pushed the box at him so hard her clawed nails went through the cardboard. "It... it has a pink picture on it... at the top."

Fifth stared, nervous and wide-eyed, at the test in his girlfriend's hand, and then at the box that was thrust at him. Awkwardly, he took it, green eyes flicking over it without stopping the way that anyone else's would, looking over the letters like they were as good as pictures. "What does... um..." he mumbled, swallowing thickly. "What does it mean, that it turned pink...? Or... or do you not know...?"

The ears went back on her head as she dug her nails into the test instead. ".... I......I think pink means positive...or yes.... Fifth I think it means yes..." She stumbled back against the wall of the bathroom. "I... I didn't know I could... I thought I couldn't..."

Fifth's eyes only got wider at this... this... well, it wasn't an idea now, right? It was a reality... a... He stumbled back himself at the heaviness of the situation, pressing a hand to his forehead, eyes wide. "I... I mean... we... at least... at least we were... expecting the... the possibility... right?" he asked, sounding and feeling how old he really was, wings drooping down slightly. Sure, the possibility was something to prepare for, but... but it being real? That was something else entirely...

The fox slid down the wall and put her hands over her ears. "I don't know! I mean... I didn't know! I thought we were just having fun." Her eyes became sore as tears started to run down her face. "What am I going to do Fifth? I don't know... I hardly know how to take care of Devan! Another kid? And this one will be younger. I don't know if I can do that."

With a slight struggle, Fifth pushed himself up off of the wall and walked over to his girlfriend. Carefully, he slid down the wall and sat beside her, one arm wrapping around her shoulders and tugging her a bit closer. Softly, he scratched at her scalp, trying to keep himself level-headed rather than diving off the ledge of sobriety and disappearing for the next few weeks. After all, he promised that he would help, right? He had to.

"It's... it'll be okay, Jennifer..." he said softly, pressing a gentle kiss to her temple. "After all, I'll be here to help you, right? I promised, after all. I don't plan to go back on that."

The woman stiffened almost as if afraid before dropping the test completely. Her arms went around the griffion as she let her face go against his shirt. "I didn't mean for this to happen, Fifth." She choked out holding him tighter. "s**t. I didn't mean for this s**t to happen... I just liked you a lot. I didn't want to stop seeing you. I just didn't think I could get pregnant." Her words were choked and panicked. "I really ******** up..."  

[lux eternelle]

[Melee Class] Gabriel - Aiming

[Spirituality Class] Gabriel - Empathy  

[fallingUPstairs__x x]

Melee Class done by Taiat Kileplith

It felt exceedingly strange to Damien to go through the teacher's wing of the Facility and not go into either of his guardian's classrooms, instead bypassing them both and heading towards the room of one of the melee teachers. To be honest, he had been mildly surprised when he had learned that neither Cat nor Fifth could teach him a fighting skill. After all, they had taught him everything else, and the idea that Fifth - Fifth - couldn't teach him a fighting style, or at least in the Facility's eyes, was hard to wrap his head around.

He couldn't say that he preferred it this way, but there was nothing he could do. He wasn't going to be like Gabriel and whine until he got his way or was smacked. He steeled himself as he knocked upon the door labeled 'Taiat Kileplith', a name he couldn't even pronounce in his head. This would be fine. There was no problem here; there was nothing wrong with him meeting a new teacher. Almost all of the teachers he had met liked him, his quiet and serious discipline, so there was really, seriously, nothing to worry about.

"Come in," came a serene voice from beyond the door, and as Damien entered, he was greeted by a tan elven creature, watering a plant that sat in the corner of the classroom. The elf smiled gently at Damien, although it looked more like a gesture of habit than any type of kindness. He walked smoothly around towards Damien, extending a hand for him to shake. "My name is Taiat, and you must be Damien. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Damien was thrown off balance by the elf's calm demeanor, but he reasoned that it was just kind of an elven thing, not to sound racist or anything. An equally weak smile was flashed back at the tan creature, and he shook his hand, careful with his claws near the dry, papery skin. "Ah, pleasure to meet you too. I'm, uh, excited to learn a style of fighting from you. Given my sin, I'm... prone to fighting, but I've never really any kind of formal training, so-"

"So you want to refine your style so you can combat more effectively. Don't worry, young one, I understand." That simple, watery smile once more, and then Taiat took Damien's hand in his own and inspected it, much to the spawn's nervousness and confusion. A thin finger traced over the rough palms, and the bright green eyes hovered specifically over the long claws. "I can see why they sent you to me. These are very fearsome things. Your genetic mother certainly gave you a gift, at least in terms of combat." The elf released the spawn and floated back over to his desk, one long finger hovering over a slip of paper. "Hand-fighting will suit you very well, young one. I will teach you how to use those claws to slice and injure more effectively than before." He smiled back at Damien. "Is that agreeable with you?"

Damien nodded in response, a eager light glinting in his eyes. "Yes, that makes sense. To be honest, that was what I was hoping to learn; these things are really only inhibitors in most other activities." He straightened up slightly, hands twitching in quiet anticipation. "So, how should we begin?"

"With stances, the root of all combat." Taiat faced Damien in a very professional manner, then spread his feet apart slightly and raised his hands, fingers arched comically to represent Damien's claws. The spectacle was made even more amusing by the elf's completely serious expression, and Damien had to take a deep breath to keep himself from snickering. "It is not commonly considered, but having a solid stance is the most important part of combat. Keep yourself upright, you have the advantage. Let yourself be knocked over, you have the disadvantage. Understand so far?"

"Yeah... That makes sense," Damien said slowly, gazing intently at Taiat's stance before slowly moving his limbs to replicate it. Although he felt silly in such a position, he understood the basics of it clearly enough. Especially considering his failed fight with that b***h Ilyrosa, he definitely got that you should keep yourself upright in a fight. The boy stood motionless for all of a few seconds, then inevitably began to twitch, his tail tip flicking irritably back and forth. "So... What next?"

"Be patient, Wrathling. Appreciate the feeling of the stance, or else you will not know it. However, I understand your impatience, so we will proceed. Now, I do not want to try and teach you specific moves; too often that will slow you down in a real fight. Therefore a real fight will be simulated."

"What, what does- Aaah!" Damien shouted as he stumbled backwards, taken off guard by his teacher's sudden attack. As his tan fist came swinging towards his head, the boy reflexively blocked, only to be tricked by the feint and receive a stiff blow to the stomach. He gasped for air and looked up, only to see Taiat staring passively at him.

"Keep your guard up, and don't leave any part of you exposed. Now, catch your breath, and savor it: I will not pause again." The elf waited a generous ten seconds for Damien to regain his breath, and then moved forward again. Except this time the spawn was ready. He blocked the elf's low strike and swung his claws viciously, only just missing the skin. The watery smile reappeared, and the spawn took that to mean that he had done well. Moving forward deftly, he feinted to the left, then spun and attacked to the right, only to have the strike blocked.

"Very good, you learn quickly. But then..." The elf moved quickly and struck at Damien's head, only to have his arm grabbed and twisted with a snarl. "You have the genetic predisposition for this style of fighting. It suits your natural speed and spikes."

- to be cont. ( 1093 words ) -  

[lux eternelle]

"1: What is the name of the parent that you picked to study this time around?"

"Enki, this time. He's my other... Papa." -snerks-

"2: What is the Virtue or Vice of the creature? Or was the one your studying a Neutral? Or is it Reshmi who doesn't fall into any of those categories?"

"Oh, he's a vice or whatever. The one that means that he's a sin. Though, really, I have no idea why. I mean, pride isn't that bad of a thing, is it? Come on, compare me and Damien -no offense, Amie- and his humility and my pride. Seems like the whole humility thing does more bad than my pride ever could." -sadly pets one of Damien's hand-scars-

"3: What made you pick this person? Was it because you were more curious about them? Or was it something else?"

"Umm... 'cause I did the other one last time?"

"4: From the photo do you see anything right away that reminds you of you? Answer Yes or No."

"Yup."

"5: Name at least one thing you have in common with the one that your studying up on today."

"He's crazy-lookin', but we've got the same eyes, and tails, and legs. Also, I've got green scales that are like his, too, I think. Same with my dark skin."

"6: From the reference material do you find that it sounds as though you have anything in common with this creature that isn't something physical? Answer Yes or No."

"Uhh... yes?"

"7: If you answered yes, what is it you have in common with the one your studying up on today other then physical traits?"

"I talk a lot, too. Least, I think they said that about him. Oh! I'm clever, too. Like, not book-smart the way that Damien is, but I'm good at figuring out logic puzzles and stuff."

"8: What is it that you find the most interesting the one your studying today be it something physical or perhaps a skill that they might have."

"How he's awesome-looking."

"9: If you had one question you could ask of this person what might it be?"

"Uhh... am I gon'na look more like you the bigger I get?"  

[fallingUPstairs__x x]

Wednesday, April 26th, 2010
Damien Avenue
8:13 AM EST

Dear Journal
xxxWHAT THE HELL. I- I don't UNDERSTAND. ********... Okay, okay, calm down, just calm down and write... Mmkay.

xxxSo. To start more... properly. I was walking home last night a little late, because, as you know, I like to explore the city before going home from school. I see new things, pretty things, and by then most of the assholes at my dad's apartment are asleep or gone. I decided to cut through the park because it's nice in there. Plus... it reminds me of when I first met- But that doesn't matter. The point is, I like the park, and it makes me happy, alright? I was going by the miniature river, and I found this... stone. It was egg-shaped, perfectly, and was a silver-pale color. It was the most perfectly formed stone I'd seen, and although I know about the 'leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures' creed, I... I took it.

xxxI don't know what I was planned on doing with it. I suppose that I was going to incorporate it into something, but at the time I had really no idea. It was so strange, it was like it was calling out to me. Well, now I understand why, God... No, no, stay calm. The point is, I brought it home, I set it on the shelf, and I went to sleep. Nothing strange was supposed to happen.

xxxOf course, nothing was supposed to happen. When I woke up, what did I find in its place? A kid. A ********, genuine, duck-based Eilian KID. But wait, it gets better. I called for my dad, and this boy - naked, in my shitty, gang-infested apartment - runs up to me, latches onto my leg, and calls me... Mama. He ******** called me Mama, isn't that just the s**t icing on the goddamn cake?! I mean, here I am, a kid in the LOWEST ******** levels of s**t-eating poverty, in an apartment filled with ******** ***** and my dad trying to deal with HIS new kids PLUS my brother probably ******** MOVING OUT, and what does God decide to give me? A ******** doe-eyed baby boy to take care of! I mean, what the HELL did I do to deserve this?! I can't do this, I can't ******** raise a kid, not by myself...

xxxBut... He's so cute. That's the thing, just the idea of me leaving brings the kid to tears, and I just. can't. do that to him. It's not ******** possible, it's not in my mental capacity, just like it's not in my ******** ECONOMIC CAPACITY to support him. So... I don't know what the hell I'm going to do, but I'm going to try and keep him. He's sweet and adorable, and he does everything I say, so... He shouldn't be a problem. It'll be okay, I'll get help, I'll- I can do this. For him. For Dayo.  

[lux eternelle]

Whrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

"Blech. Was that really what I sounded like? Geez...

"Anyway; here I am again, Gabriel Avenue, talking into a tape recorder... again. Today iiis... May -wait, April?- Fine, April twenty-eighth, twenty-eleven.

"Unfortunately, I actually have important things to talk about this time, instead of last time, where I just kind of... I don't know, suffered horrible diarrhea of the mouth or something. This time, I-- Damien, would you STOP FOLLOWING ME?"

SLAM.

"Ugh. After the million times I dropped it and the help I needed winding the tape, he seems to think that I need help with doing everything on this machine. Then again, I should probably also factor in... well, he seems to know that I'm leaving.

"Yeah, that's right. Leaving. Me. From here.

"A couple weeks back, I met with a man -a ballet teacher, actually; laugh and I swear I'll get my dad to break you- and discussed the idea of taking lessons from him, with the consequence that, well... I can't exactly pay for classes. Obviously, as you well know. He said that it would be a good exchange if I lived there, since he says that he has a very wonky sleeping schedule, and I would help with chores and cleaning, along with not needing to take so much time traveling. Sleeping, eating, training, cleaning, without adding x-amount of bus hours in there.

"Only problem is, I... haven't exactly told my dad or my brother. I mean, I haven't, like, kept it a secret or anything, I have no problem packing in front of them and trying to imply, I just... don't want them to get mad at me, which I'm almost positive that they will... or at least that Damien will. Him and his temper.

"Speaking of Damien, he has a kid now. Yep. Cutest little thing. The only negative part might be the fact that he's, oh, a cross-dresser at toddler stage and is living in our apartment. If I knew it wouldn't break his little heart, I would ask Damien if he wanted me to take Dayo -that's the boy's name, Dayo- with me, but... I'm sure that the poor kid wouldn't be able to stand it.

"What else, what else...

"Oh! Ilyrosa and I are now, officially dating. Isn't that awesome!? I knew that we would, of course, but it's still awesome to know that, y'know, it's actually happening. She's... she's amazing. Still. Instead of getting less interesting or more boring or anything, she seems to just get more and more wonderful and attractive at every turn; it's awesome.

"On top of that, she is so cute when she actually gets all girly. Not so say that she isn't normally, but when she gets embarrassed or sheepish or anything like that... she gets so cute.

"That's probably what I'm looking forward to the least when I move. Not being able to see her as often as my schedule permits now. I mean, I'll still see her -I have to see her- it'll just be on Mister Elias' terms instead of my own for once. That... will certainly be something to get used to.

"Well... that's all I can think to talk about right now. I'll come back to this when I figure out something else to talk about."  

[lux eternelle]

A New Place to Call Home ( Gabriel & Elias )

It was only with his entire life packed into a box that Gabriel realized how little he actually owned. Almost the entire box was mirror fragments, of course; the ones that had decorated the walls of his family's shared room. Along with that was the small jewelry box that Ilyrosa had given him, and a few small trinkets from his brother; those amazing things that the young humility spawn was somehow able to craft. Otherwise, there was very little else. Some extra clothing, which he had used to wrap the more fragile of his trinkets. Some extra money, which he hid at the very bottom of the entire treasure trove. That was all that he had. Every item held to the name Gabriel Avenue.

Of course, from what he had heard, that wasn't much of a problem. If he'd had anything more, chances were that it would only interfere with his practice. Ballet wasn't just dancing, it wasn't just a hobby. It was, honest-to-God, a lifestyle. He would have to eat, sleep, even breathe according to a regimen that dictated to him every second of every day. He would have to follow every instruction given to him, no matter how difficult or demeaning. That was the price that he paid for the task that he wished to dedicate his life to.

Awkwardly balancing his small box of possessions, he reached up to grab the door knocker on the admittedly huge Victorian mansion that his teacher supposedly lived in. It was strange, that was for sure. Well... less strange and more 'not what he was expecting'. As he had been told, he'd arrived in the early evening, just after the sun had left the sky, still none-the-wiser to his teacher's suspicious origins.

Although he had just barely woken up, Elias was already expecting his colorful new student. He had lingered in his entryway for as long as he had been awake, flicking through an old magazine only to give his hands something to do. It had been so long since he'd had a student, or a companion beyond his two cats. His body was dead, but he could swear he felt his pulse quicken with every moment.

And then, the door knocker. Elias carelessly tossed the magazine aside, practically flying to the door. Only a few seconds passed before the large door was swung open, and a very welcoming smile was given to the young boy before him. "Ah, Gabriel. So happy you found the place? A little out of the way, but certainly worth the trip, huh? Come, come in, come in." Perhaps out of habit, Elias ushered Gabriel in warmly, taking his box in one fluid motion.

"So, where do you want to begin? I could give you a tour, or perhaps you would like to see your room and settle in. However, do get used to becoming nocturnal; I'm afraid I am useless during daylight hours." Elias smiled thinly, as if he was on the edge of spilling his secret right there for no other reason than to see Gabriel's reaction.  

[lux eternelle]

Broken Backs

"Try to have fun, Dayo. I'll see you soon." Damien smiled weakly at the void-like blue eyes, nearly filled to capacity with devastated tears, as they stared accusingly at him. They only grew larger as Cat's car pulled away, determined to haunt him throughout the rest of his day until he returned to collect his baby son. Despite Dayo's sorrow, the young spawn waved at the car until it was well out of sight, sighing ruefully. Doing that was harder every time. And every time he went home, he was treated to yet another weepy rant as to why school was 'stupid' and 'mean' and he should never even consider going back there again. But, as he would patiently explain to Dayo each time, he wasn't going to be in school for much longer, and he needed school to get a decent job so they could move out of the disgusting apartment. Not that any of that was under Dayo's concern, he thought sardonically with a shake of his head as he turned to go to class. All he cared about was seeing his mama.

"So who's the dumb b***h, f*****t?"

Damien blinked as he was stopped short by a large shadow in front of him, followed by a few more to the side and behind. As his eyes climbed upward, the shadows proved to be several angry looking children, easily recognized as the school's 'bad kids'; the embryo stages of high-school drop-outs, druggies, gang-bangers and losers. However, they had no reason to be bothering him, seeing as he had been staying silently out of their way since he'd noticed them. The last thing Damien wanted was to start causing trouble or making enemies; it'd make his already-difficult life even harder. He was so stunned by their sudden assault that he could only stammer in confusion for a few minutes before squeaking out "Ex-Excuse me? What are you talking about?"

Of course, his request for clarification got him a neanderthal's shove in the chest, sending him stumbling back to land awkwardly against a solid chest behind him. He scowled at the derisive chuckles that surrounded him, evidence of undue arrogance. Those kind of people were exactly why he deferred to others so often. He never wanted to run the risk of thinking he knew what he was doing when it was painfully obvious to the audience that he was completely in the wrong. Wrath peaking momentarily, he shook himself out of the strong hands that held him, glaring at his oppressors.

"God, you are such a retarded freak," the apparent leader chuckled at him. "I'm talking about the dumb b***h who let you nail her, foo'. I mean, how stupid would you have to be to ******** someone like you?" This jibe was accompanied by another shove, which knocked his bag to the ground. "And you let her pawn the brat off on you, too! ********, you're one stupid freak, f*****t." This caused hearty laughter among the aggressors, all oblivious to the contradictory nature of their insults.

Damien bared his teeth at the insult against his son, as angelic and innocent as any child could ever be, but he was determined to keep his rage under check. The last thing he wanted, again, was to cause trouble and call attention to himself. It would just make things more difficult, he was convinced of it. So instead of lashing out like he so desired, lash out with his lethal claws and show all of these bullies that he was not to be ******** with, he merely clenched his hands into brief fists, eyes glowing furiously up through his hair. "I have no idea what you're talking about. How that boy came into my care is none of your business. Now, please, I have to get to class."

Foolishly, Damien bent down to gather his things, exposing his entire back to the offended bullies. Almost as soon as he bent over, a cruel heel drove into his back, knocking him into the concrete. The spawn gasped as the air flew out of his lungs, wincing at the scrap to his elbow and his jammed wrist. He tried to get up, angry words already forming, but instead he was plucked up like a leaf and thrown against a brick wall. The knock to the back of his head almost definitely drew blood, and his vision was blocked by strange gray-ish circles that flickered and faded repeatedly. As he trembled and tried to stay upright, the bullies encircled him, cutting off every route of escape. The boy's eyes flicked nervously from predator to predator, unsure of what was going to happen next but dreading every possibility he could think of.

"Shut your mouth, queermo." All the humor was gone from the leader's voice as he shoved Damien into the wall once again, only aggravating his head wound. The larger boy got uncomfortably close to the spawn, grabbing his hair and yanking up his head forcefully. "Did I ever ask for your ******** opinion, freak? Keep your f*****t mouth shut, or you'll be sorry."

"I already am," Damien said without thinking, only to get another blow to the stomach. He doubled-over in pain, only to be pulled up and punched again, this time in the jaw. "I told you to shut it, smart-a**. Now you're gonna be sorry."

Remembering what happened next would always be difficult for Damien. It just was too fast, too many blows and fists to too many places, causing far too much pain. All of his focus was centered around his Wrath, suppressing it, trying to keep it from leaking out and making everything just worse. That's all that the Wrath could do, it only made things worse, he shouldn't push his luck, if he could only hold out a bit longer, it was only pain, he just had to endure a little longer...

"Man, you're a freakin' p***y."

This new voice assaulted him as Damien was picking himself up off the ground, struggling to breathe around a nose that was almost definitely broken. Given what had just happened, the spawn jumped visibly, eyes shooting to the direction of the voice. When he saw who it was, however, his fear transformed into intense irritation. It was just some kid he'd never seen before, although he looked almost like the bullies who had just assaulted him. Something was different, though, a little more... realistic, if that made sense. Whatever, Damien didn't care at this point. His snarl was ferocious as he stood up, things mostly back in his bag. "'Nd you'b just been sidding dere de whole time? Yeah, you're in de right place to be calling me a p***y."

But instead of being intimidated or angered, the boy just hopped down from the wall he had been perched on, staring at Damien with a strange curiosity. His stare was returned with all of Damien's fury, and the spawn turned his back on the boy, making his limping way into the school building. However, the weirdo didn't take the hint, and he quickly followed Damien until he was walking beside him. "Well, all you really did was sit there, y'know what I mean? You got those wicked-looking claws, man; I just can't figure why you didn't use 'em and get those goons offa your back."

Frustration reaching its peak, Damien stopped short. His entire body was shaking with the anger that he was trying to repress, and his voice was a deadly hiss. "Listen. I dun know who de hell you are, but leab me alone. I didn't do anyting because... I didn't want to make anyting worse. You tink dese tings are cool or someting?" He held up a hand, turning his claw around so its cruel edge caught the light. "Dere dangerous. Dis is nofing compared to gedding expelled for slicing dose idiotic goons in half." He readjusted his back, turning away once again. "So leab me alone."

But the boy seemed completely unfazed by Damien's display, and he shrugged, following the spawn regardless of threats. "Heh, yeah, if you went apeshit on their asses. But you could at least punch them or... something, come on man. I-" He faltered for a second, as if on the verge of saying something he shouldn't, but then continued. "I've seen you, man. My house, it's right the train tracks, and I've seen you walking and... lifting things. And dude, you're ******** strong. You could be real dangerous, you know, and I can't figure why you'd just let them... beat you. At least you could stand up for yourself, you know? Otherwise..." He lifted up his sleeve, revealing a painful-looking scar that was clearly from a knife. "You're just making yourself an easy target."

Damien stared at the scar, hypnotized, amazed by this lecture from a total stranger. His gaze was confused, but appreciative. "...Thanks. I'm... I'm gonna go now. Gotta get t' class." He shot a hesitant smile at the boy, then made to leave only to double back, holding out a hand. "I'm Damien. Damien Ab- Avenue."

"Rico," he replied with an easy smile. "See you around, Damien. My mom makes killer food if you ever want to stop by. Oh," he added with a suppressed chuckle, "You really gotta go see the nurse, man. You look like s**t, and if you don't want your nose to stay in that ugly shape..." He chuckled again as Damien touched his nose gently, eyes widening at the abnormal shape. "Here, I'll walk you. I hate English anyway. I keep on trying to tell them that it's not my native language, but they never understand, you know?"

Damien chuckled at the joke, shaking his head as he was escorted by this strange boy. He was right, though; he was totally right. The spawn was done letting others just walk over him just so he didn't make waves. It would only end like this; with him getting taped back together. It was just irritating that it involved this much pain just to get that concept into his fat head.

 

[lux eternelle]

Ring! Rrring! Rrrrring!

"Hello, you have reached..."

"Ugh...

"You probably haven't gotten this phone yet, huh? Well... whatever. Damien. You there. This is your phone now. Elias got one for me, one for Ilyrosa, and one for you. It's super-fancy and... really, really hard to use at first, but you'll probably figure it out faster than I could, huh? Y'know, with how you can actually read the instruction manual and... well, everything else. So... you can call me whenever. I probably won't answer a lot - at night, I'm training, during the day, I'm usually either sleeping or... stretching; getting ready for more training.

"It's... really strange. I'm starting to think that this guy is more than he appears. I've never been in his room -hell, I'm practically banned from going anywhere near it- and we only practice at night. During the day, he's nowhere to be found. I've never seen him eat, but he cooks like a dream. He slips off in the middle of the night, but comes back shortly afterward. Like, so shortly that I have no idea what he could do that fast, unless he felt the need to use a bathroom from one of the restaurants down the street or something.

"But he's nice... and this place is amazing. Huge, huge Victorian mansion, all black and purple. The damn thing looks like it cost at least two million dollars, inside and out. There are more rooms than I could look through in a week, every single one of them fully furnished, mostly in a mixture of velvet, silk, and other really pretty, really nice fabrics. Custom-made, too, as far as I can tell. All of the rooms have a different colour-theme, too. It's strange, really. But... awesome.

"To top it all off, he has a dance studio. A full dance studio, on the ground-level floor of his house. It's... it's huge. The thing's practically an atrium, with a high, high ceiling and a wall made of giant windows with dark blue velvet curtains that completely block the sunlight if they're closed. The other wall is one solid mirror. Like, not like the ones in most dance studios, where they're four or more mirrors just stuck next to each other, but an entire, solid mirror. There's a barre stretching all the way across it, and your voice echoes when you whisper.

"And... yeah, it's great and all, but...

"Man..."

...whimper...

"I really miss you guys, y'know? There's one person here... I-I never have time to go outside... I haven't seen you, or Ily, or Dad in... God, since I moved here...! I haven't seen anyone aside from Elias since then..."

...sob...

"I feel so lonely, Damien... Could you...

"Could you find the time to come visit...?

"O-or, even, I mean... I know you don't like her, but... could you bring Ilyrosa here with you, m-maybe...? Or Dad? Or... or even both...?

"Please, Damien... I...

"S-sorry. I'm just... I should get back to work.

"I'll talk to you later Damien.

"Ciao."

"Message received at: Six-twenty-four PM. To replay this message..."  

[fallingUPstairs__x x]

[PD] Thrifty Business - Damien & Lucina (plus Dayo)  

[sevenofsevenmule]

It would be on a Saturday that you open your mail box (if you have one) and notice there is a rather thick envelope stuffed in there. There is no postage stamp and a very vague return address. But you recognize the font and the company's name. 'Seven of Seven Inc' scrawled in majestic font across the upper left hand corner. As you open it, you may strangely find yourself drawn to the letter, there is a mass of notes inside. They read as follows:

Letter

Congratulations! You have managed to succeed in raising your child. (IE: Not killing him or her or getting killed yourself. Haha we kid of course.) We would like an update from you on the following:

Guardians Name:
Child's Name:
Sin:
Virtue:
Gender:
Current Attitude:
Likes:
Dislikes:
Any abnormal growths: (if any, example: Feathers molting, horns growing larger, scars )
Current hair style:
Current clothing preferences:
Dominant celestial trait: (The sin or virtue)

Please summarize in your own words how difficult or easy it was taking care of your child. Did you manage to care for them in a kindly fashion? Or were you forced to discipline them?
As well do not be alarmed if you suddenly find your child achieving a massive growth spurt in the next little while. We are finding that the children from our facility have strange growing patterns and are rather unpredictable. Although please let us know if anything unexpected occurs.

Sincerely the technicians from Seven of Seven Inc.

Ps. Please just leave your letter back in your mail box one you have completed it our courier will pick it up.

Thank you.

You would notice the letter seems overly friendly...strange since the scientist were so ...cold before.

(Just take the from Guardians name to Dominant Celestial trait and pm it to the mule, the summarization doesn't have to be long just have fun with it.)