Welcome to Gaia! ::

We're adding to our family!

Owner of First Parent: Parasitic Candii
First Parent's Name: Tempest
First Parent's Image: Image
--
Owner of Second Parent: Of The Epidemic
Second Parent's Name: Data
Second Parent's Image:Image
--
Owner of Child: Parasitic Candii

Gift to Child: A fairy in a bottle and a pocket watch
RP Response:
Apart, it could be said that both Tempest and Data were rather odd. Put them together however, and they were off the charts. It took nothing less than a trivial dispute over the weather to bring an AI Program and a secretive fox with an ocarina and an overly friendly fairy together. It seemed so long ago, and in reality it had been quite awhile. Time had seemed to break down the barriers between the two which had been, at one point, incapacitating. Data’s ability to feel emotions being undetermined, as well as Tempest’s reluctance to trust anybody other than his faithful fairy Straylight, were both rather crippling. And perhaps it had been more than just time, for without Straylight being incredibly hell bent on never leaving Data’s side, the two likely never would have crossed paths again.
Things took off for the two of them rather smoothly, and gradually their relationship escalated to the point of their wanting children. Children was a pretty major milestone for them, considering up until then Data had never even had a thought about children and Tempest had sworn them off years ago when the kits used to run off with his ocarina and annoy him to no end. The fact alone that either of them even thought about having kits was a pretty big deal, however those thoughts came to a hault quite quickly as reality set in. Data, being an Artificial Intelligence Program, was unsure if he could even produce bowls, which was a very pressing concern.
Data seemed to be worrying himself sick, and so eventually they started toying with alternatives. It was with a very sure decision that the two chose the option of adopting.

The satchel on Tempest’s hip weighed heavy on his mind, and carefully he stuck his nose down inside for what seemed the hundredth time to check on the two items concealed inside of it. A fairy in a bottle and a pocket watch, both gifts for the kit that would hopefully be joining them on the journey home. The pocket watch had quite a lot of sentiment, being one of Data’s favorite objects, and Tempest had decided on the fairy for the kit to keep as a nightlight or use in case they happened to fall ill.
A few flakes of snow began to fall from the grey clouds that had gathered overhead, and Tempest toed from side to side. He held indifference toward snow, but truth be told he leaned more toward the ‘dislike’ end of it all. It made everything that was already cold seem colder, and things that were colder seem freezing. The wind tossed his hair around in front of his eyes, and as he stood there with Data, it felt like everything they had worked toward was coming to fruition. All the worries faded from Tempest’s mind, carried away on the icy wind it seemed, though he couldn’t say the same for Data. The fear and uncertainty which usually remained unseen, swam violently through Data’s eyes. Tempest leaned over and gave him a reassuring nuzzle on the cheek and led their way up to the orphanage doors. “I love you” he whispered gently, and only for Data to hear.

Data paced back and forth for a moment, stopping at the gentle nuzzle to his cheek and blinking carefully before tucking his head up under Tempest’s. “I love you too.” He whispered softly, looking up at the orphanage doors and following his love. He liked it better when he wasn’t sure he could feel emotion, when fear and trepidation were far removed from his mind. Despite the fact the weather was freezing, he didn’t feel cold. Not from the weather, not from the snow slowly gathering itself upon his tail. As they entered, Data hung back and waited for Tempest to talk with the staff.

Tempest spoke to the staff in a very assured tone, a sweet smile always on his face as they were introduced to a few lively looking kits. The three seemed to be a group, like a trio that could not and would not be broken up. They were all very sweet and friendly, showing great interest in Tempest and Data, however in the end they bid their polite farewells and ran off to go frolic in the snow, smiling and laughing together. It didn’t seem right to break up such a group, and so the two continued searching. The staff left them alone eventually, allowing Tempest and Data to look around and perhaps let the kits come to them.

Data had been very timid at first with the kits, careful and clearly terrified that he was going to do something wrong. He sometimes forgot things, just little things, like how his eyes could be seen as scary. He stuck close to Tempest the entire time, taking care to appear as small as possible. If he made himself seem small, then maybe the kits wouldn’t feel so afraid. Not that he knew for sure if they were afraid, he just assumed and was trying to make things better.

After a couple of hours, it began to look as though the trip proved fruitless. They had met so many lovely kits, and all of them had been so very polite and loving, unfortunately however, all of them had lacked that click. That feeling that only existed once you found the perfect thing, the perfect one. It was similar to finally finding a mate, just with a different sort of love and emotion behind it. The staff informed them that they only had a few minutes before the doors would lock, closing until morning, so they gathered their things silently and drifted back toward the entrance. Straylight had clung to Data the entire day, and now her lively spirit seemed to die with the light of the sun, all of theirs had. It was with heavy, sorrowful hearts that they left the orphanage, the dull thud of the lock falling into place behind them resounding through the air.

Data was stricken at the fact that he couldn’t even manage to find an orphan to click with. He was convinced that he would end up being the worst mother ever and could not understand how his mother had been so capable with him… he shook his head. He had done nothing for long moments now except curl up against Tempest, his heart feeling heavy in his chest and his eyes stinging. Despite all of Tempest’s encouragement Data still felt like he had failed Tempest greatly this time, and it was a very real fear that Tempest would be mad, though of course he wasn’t.

Tempest took quite a few minutes out to console Data right there in front of the steps to the orphanage, assuring them that tomorrow was another day and that it would be alright, if they just had a bit of patience about it. But no amount of consoling could fill that void that both held in their hearts, and so they made their way away from the building and down the street to head home.

The day had proven to turn everything white while they weren’t looking. The snow hadn’t stopped falling after it had begun, leaving the entire town blanketed in a thick layer of everything freezing that sparkled under the street lamps. It was so bright and almost blinding, that had Straylight not sporadically flown away from them, calling Tempest and Data over frantically they would have missed it entirely. Straylight was hovering over a tiny, almost unhealthy looking kit that was huddled down in a box, which wasn’t doing much to keep the snow off. The soft pink glow Straylight cast over it allowed enough light for Tempest to tell it was, in fact, a kit and not just some gelatinous blob. His paw came up to pull some snow away from it, but the Kit jumped back in fear. It had backed itself up into the box, its tail a giant fluff around it, acting almost as a shield. Data leaned closer, his glow illuminating the kit, making it easier to see. Dark circles hung under the kit’s eyes, and there was a distinct tremble to its body, though if it was more from fear or cold was anyone’s guess. “I’m not going to hurt you” Tempest whispered, but the kit didn’t look very convinced. It backed away and looked like it wanted to flee.

Data laid his ears back and pressed himself down into the snow till he was almost completely immersed in it. “Hey, it’s all right little one.” He whispered softly, his nose edging up to the lip of the box. He placed just the tip of his nose in the box and very carefully wrapped his tail around the box to help insulate it some. “I promise, cross my heart hope to die. That I am not going to hurt you and I won’t let Tempest either.” He whispered, his body still pressed into the snow, making him seem very small. “Would you mind if I just laid here? It won’t do much to keep you warm but it might help a little? You see, we just came from the orphanage, we were going to adopt but it appears I’m incapable of being interesting or something, I am not sure. Something is wrong with me though, I know that. I always thought it couldn’t be too hard to be a mom right… I was apparently very wrong.” He shook his head and slowly set into the story of his life and being with his mom and the long summer months. He went on and on, and slowly the kit calmed and would even laugh occasionally at a funny story or when Data would do something silly.

It was only after Data was able to soothe the kit enough to keep him from doing anything rash that he was able to question it with a tender voice. Eventually finding out that the kit, aside from having a soft stutter, had gotten locked out of the orphanage and that it wasn’t a very uncommon occurrence. He had a tendency to sneak off and go otherwise occupy himself because none of the other kits really liked him. The only friend the little kit had, had been adopted not too long ago, and that was when the nightmares returned.

The kit told Data of how they plagued his dreams every night now, and that he didn’t get more than 2 hours of sleep a night, if that. When the dark circles started forming under his eyes the other children began shutting it out, which is why the kit started sneaking out in the first place. Because of the lack of sleep, his memory insisted on failing, and so the little one always forgot to check the time, and more times than not spent the night outside, sneaking in once they reopened the doors to avoid getting punished.

Data felt his heart go out to the little kit. He wanted so badly to just take him home and tuck him in between himself and Tempest to be kept safe forever. Slowly he nosed the kit gently, being able to get close to him now and he asked, he braved rejection and asked and was rewarded with a gentle acceptance and a small fluff ball climbing up onto his back to curl between his shoulder blades. Data wasn’t sure if they were going to get in trouble for doing this and frankly he didn’t care at this point in time. He would just have Tempest come back tomorrow to ask for the papers so they could adopt their child. They made their way home, Data walking close to Tempest, his tail twisted around the kit to help keep him warm until they reached home and settled in for a gentle night of warm baths, presents, and food.