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 Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 8:00 pm
Makai watched Kala with something akin to wonderment. He stared at his half-chewed carrot, then back again. Food was for eating, not playing. How... different. And messy. But she looked to be having such fun. Once again, he stared at his plate of veggies. No, not for him. Although the ranch dressing was nice. Wyv liked chunky blue cheese, which he personally found repulsive. Ew.
He eagerly attacked his fish with salt and pepper, after a quick sampling found it to be a little on the bland side. Just another of the ways people were different. Not good, not bad, just different. Variety and spices, or something like that. Or the lack of spices, in this case. A welcome change from the heavily seasoned cooking he found at home.
He chewed thoughtfully, while investigating his rice cautiously with a fork. He'd never seen anything like it. It was like sand, he supposed, but larger and more appetizing. It almost reminded him of some of the pastas Yule had cooked before, something-ini. More like pasta than sand, perhaps.
The boy wormed one single grain away from the horde and contemplated it with an unblinking intesity. He ate it, barely chewing. It was only one grain, after all. He sampled a larger portion- a whole forkful this time.
Obviously, it had passed whatever test he had set for it. The boy happily began to shovel forkfulls into his mouth, pausing to chew and swallow, and alternating with bites of carp and shrimp.
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Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 4:14 am
"Avast~!" Kala cheered. "What...b-be this-is? Booried-ded...ded...treasure-ure!" She unearthed a fat piece of shrimp and, when Progolo wasn't looking, picked it up and popped it in her mouth. She wasn't supposed to eat it that way, she knew...but it was ridiculous to have to eat EVERYTHING with a utensil, wasn't it?
Progolo served himself a small portion and began to eat quietly as well, watching the children from where he stood against the wall. He finished quickly despite the decidedly small forkfuls he allotted himself, washed his dishes, and made for the back door. "You two, stay there. I'm going to go get Mystaven...then we can go."
Kala looked excited. Ooh, she'd forgotten about Mystaven! She scarfed down the rest of her meal and began eagarly attempting to describe Mystaven to Makai. Despite her best efforts, the most that she managed to convey was that this thing, whatever is was, was "like them-em...but bigger!"
Progolo, outside, knocked softly on the shed door. "Mystaven..." he said gently, through the door, "Kala and I are going out. Would you mind...?"
A disgruntled voice responded, not from within the shed but rather it seemed to be coming from within Progolo's own mind. Yes, yes, I'm coming...
Progolo stepped back as the shed door swung open to permit the exit of a very large creature; a rather unhappy looking full-grown griffin. Judging by the bloodshot corners of its eyes, he had been asleep. He ducked through the narrow doorway, blinking blearily as the sun alighted on his sleek form. What time is it...? Mystaven asked wearily, trudging behind Progolo towards the house.
"About...noon," Progolo murmured, unconsciously feeling Mystaven flinch behind him. Mystaven was nocturnal.
The two entered the house, Mystaven with a great deal more trouble (Wings of that span simply weren't MEANT for human doors!), amid gales of excited gibbering and gestures from Kala. "That's Myst-st! Innit--innit he p...p...pretty?"
Mystaven cast mismatched, intelligent eyes on the two children, allowing his ego to be stoked by the girl's comments. His gaze fell with particular interest on Makai. Hm...another Aerandir brat...lovely...
With whom should I be concerned? Mystaven asked dully, his silky voice echoing telepathically. He wandered in front of the hearth and lay down gracefully before it, awaiting Progolo's answer.
"You're watching the griffins, the minions, and Yaraif," Progolo responded. "Myrrh is here...Yaraif and Taal are by the table...the minions are upstairs. Are you going to be alright?"
Mystaven muttered something, flicking his tail dismissively.
"Oh...and this is Makai. He's a friend of Kala's."
The gryphon grumbled something, deeply resenting having been awakened, but he lifted his head and courteously (though stiffly) nodded towards Makai. The pleasure is mine, he said dryly. He huffed through his beak and laid his head on his talons.
Progolo chewed his lip. He felt bad having to wake Mystaven up for baby-sitting duty, but his charges were a troublesome lot when left to their own. Furthermore, it wasn't as if Progolo could take them all with him...he doubted Wyvern would appreciate having an entire raucous menagerie on her doorstep.
It couldn't be helped.
He collected the harp from where it sat. "Alright, children...are you two ready to go?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 5:39 pm
Makai nodded and spun from his greeting of Mystaven - Kala was right, he was pretty, and feathery too. Lots of things 'round here were feathery - to chirp an enthusiastic "Yeah!" Without waiting for further approval, he bolted right out the door, halting at the edge of the porch. A cautious glance over his shoulder to ensure he was being followed, and then he was off again.
The process was repeated multiple times along the journey. Granted, Makai did not live that far from Kala, but this was a day of excitement, new food, new things, and most importantly, new music, and that made the boy, well, bouncy. Running was his prescribed exercise for burning excess energy, so back and forth and back again he went.
Finally, with a triumphant declaration of "This is it!" Makai presented his residence to Progolo and Kala with a flourish, pointing out items of intrest: the fire ring and chairs, the lanterns along the walkway, the wind chimes along the porch ceiling and the hammock tucked away in the porch corner- "That's Wyv's spot, so don't sit there." He paused in mid-step on the porch as he spied a note scrawled across the whiteboard.
the Aerandir was better at reading now, but that still didn't stop Wyv from using the images and symbols he'd learned to understand at first. In this case, it was a large arrow, pointing off to the right.
"She's out back in her workshop ," the otter-boy translated. "We gotta go 'round." He plopped off the porch and tread along a path around the side of the house.
He led them to the shed outback and tried the handle. "Wyyyyyv?" he called, opening and inviting his guests in. There was a muffled reply, as a green haired figure rolled herself out from under what appeared to be an ancient Pickup Truck. The source of the mumbled reply was clear: a wrench clenched firmly between her teeth.
She tilted her head back, staring upside down from her reclined position on the mechanic's crawly, a blank look of puzzlement on her face. "Mmph," she announced with a blink and a slightly pink tinge to her cheeks- not only was she without her face veil and normal armor of concealing clothing, she was also spattered liberally with oil and grease. Slowly, Wyvern rolled herself back underneath the truck.
Makai grinned, abashedly. "We gots company!"
"Nice, Mack, really nice," ecchoed out from beneath, accompanied by amused sigh. "Apologies, I'll be out in a second."
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 8:53 am
Progolo and Kala followed Makai with great interest, Kala at a capricious clip and Progolo at an easy stride. Kala bubbled up with happiness when she realized how close his house was to hers, and became even more happy when he pointed out the fire pit. Makai got to play with FIRE?! Wow, this Wyv person must be fun!
As they entered the shed (Progolo having to duck to avoid banging himself over the head on the door-jamb) Kala cooed in excitement at the huge piece of machinery. Progolo spared a moment wondering how on earth the thing had gotten into the shed, before turning his attention on the woman beneath it.
There was a moment while the indeed 'green and spiky' Wyv gazed perplexedly at the man and Aerandir child before she disappeared again under the machinery. Progolo suddenly felt a bit awkward. He turned his eyes on the dark walls, drinking in details, and ran his fingers through his hair uncomfortably.
Kala, of course, was unabashed. She dropped to all fours at once and peered under the pickup, eyes large and curious. "Wow!" she oohed at the confusing jumble of metal and the hardly visible woman beneath it all. She lifted a hand to her mouth and made a noise not unlike a fangirl's squeal. "This is-is soooooo coo...ool!"
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Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 7:08 pm
That elicited a laugh from Wyvern as she caught sight of a new face peering beneath the mechanical monstrosity and heard a delighted croon. Makai's new friend had a healthy sense of curiosity, it seemed.
A few more twists here and she decided that this was as good a time as any to pause for a moment. Wyv rolled out on the opposite side of the truck, leaving it as a barrier between herself and Makai's guests. She needed a moment to compose herself. Having people she didn't know see her tattoos made her feel naked... and vulnerable. It always led to questions she didn't want to answer. Maybe they wouldn't ask them. She'd hate to scare off one of Makai's new friends, especially after he met new people during Halloween.
Makai, for his part, attempted to fill the silence, pointing out various tools and implements. It was also a cover for his own nervousness. He'd been so excited, he'd forgotten Wyv didn't like unnanounced guests.
He hoped he'd be forgiven. He really, really wnated music lessons.
The shed itself was in a state of quiet chaos, the truck dominating the empty back half, with shelves, racks, and containers along the walls in front. Everything had a home, just not everything always made it back to it's home. The left side contained mechanical supplies, the right was filled with things slightly more exotic. Every jar on that side was labeled, and Makai read them off the ones he knew with great relish. "Powdered Hen's teeth, Rosemary, salt, dried fern..." He trailed off, as Wyv squeezed by the front of the truck.
Her hands were shaking slightly as she fumbled with the veil, sliding it on at last. The woman had pulled on an overshirt that had seen better days and seemed to have recovered quite a bit of her aplomb. She smiled, a rather subtle expression given that only her eyes were visible. "Can I help you?"
Makai took this as his cue. He ran over and wrapped his arms around his guardian's leg. "Mr. Dagagn's gonna teach me the harp!" he rattled off in a yelp. "And later on the flute! He's gonna gimme lessons! Please lemme go, I'll clean my room the first time! I promise!"
Wyv, used to such barrages, still blinked and took a closer look at her guests. Something about playing the flute stuck in her mind, but refused to come loose. "Did he, now?"
Makai nodded fiercely, eyes wide and earnest.
She grinned. "Well, we'll have to thank him for that." She extended a hand furtively scrubbed clean of oil on the seat of her jeans. "Wyvern's Scale, atcher service. I can't tell you how much this means to me and to Makai." Wyv glanced down and tousled her charge's hair fondly. "Although I think you might already have an inkling about that last part."
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Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 4:57 pm
"Indeed," Progolo smiled, turning his vague gray eyes warmly on Makai before looking back up at Wyvern's Scale. An unusual name, he noted, and the face veil was a bit unnerving to one as paranoid as Progolo. Still, he chided himself, who was he to judge? "I'm happy to do it. It gives me something to do," he admitted softly.
"Wowyou'rereallycoolM'kai'sProlo!" Kala suddenly blurted with a huge grin. She'd been practicing these words under her breath since seeing the underside of the truck, and now she could not be prouder that she'd managed to say them without stuttering. Whether her effort had made her anymore coherent, however, was questionable.
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Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 6:12 pm
He wasn't going to ask the two questions that everybody seemed to ask. Wyv let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding and dropped her hand back to her side. Makai was so excited about getting music lessons, so it was probably best that such a touchy subject (for her anyways) was avoided, even if it would only be temporarily.
It was never a good way to start a relationship of any sort by revealing that your name wasn't really a name or that your impressive network of tattoos didn't just consist of inert ink. Explanations of things like that always seemed to get... overly complicated.
Back to the matter at hand thought. "Erk." Wyv blinked at the little Aerandir girl. Well, not so little when compared to Makai, but still smaller. Relatively speaking, of course. The woman had understood a few of the words in that jumbled sentence, but the girl looked so happy that Wyv couldn't help but smile, albeit a bit nervously. "Um, thanks. I think," she added in an undertone. "What's a Prolo?"
Makai giggled a bit at that, thinking of the conversation he'd had at lunch time and his butchered attempt at Progolo's last name.
Wyvern only blinked and turned to regard Progolo. "Uh, is that... you?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 3:54 am
Progolo smiled faintly. "Progolo is my name...Progolo Dgagn. But...Kala calls me Prolo. And she's gotten it into her head that all adults are 'Prolos'." He touched Kala's head in a muted display of affection.
Kala squinted up at him.
Gee, Prolo mispronounced his own name?
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Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 4:21 pm
"Ah," Wyvern said, smiling a little herself. He seemed to be incredibly fond of his ward. Couldn't be that hard to find a common ground with Progolo, could it? "Well then," she continued. "Let's move this discussion inside to where's it's less..." She peered around her workspace. "... cluttered. We can hash out all the details for these lessons Makai mentioned."
Makai relinquished his hold on Wyv's leg and headed back towards the house. He did not make his way around to the front this time, but instead aimed for the door in the back. "This way, this way!" he cried, propping open the back door and heading into the kitchen.
After taking a moment to lock up the shed, Wyv trailed in sedately. "Make yourselves comfortable." She waved to a small dinette set, then to the stools sitting at the counter. "Take your p***k."
Makai, for his part, clambered up on to a stool, spinning it around in lazy rotations.
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Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 4:14 pm
Progolo and Kala followed obediently, Kala only just barely managing to keep from knocking one of the strange knick-knacks hanging from the wall with her large, awkward wings.
"We're g-gohin in M'kai-ai's house..." Kala whispered excitedly, tugging on Progolo's fingers. Progolo spared her a gentle smile before returning his gaze to his unfamiliar surroundings. His eyes took on a dark, suspicious look, but melted again into his usual pensive expression at Wyvern's return, and he silentely took a seat, adjusting the sleek harp so that it sat in his lap. As was his nature, he waited to be addressed.
Kala's face shone with glee at the sight of Makai's stool, and hopefully edged near another one nearby.
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 4:34 am
Wyv took a seat near Progolo, flopping into it with no grace whatsoever. She took a moment to relax and gather her thoughts. While she did so, she massasged the back of her neck, trying work out a kink.
"So," she began after a moment. "Music lessons. What exactly will this entail? An ideal timeslot, homework, materials? Stuff like that." An actual person would no doubt be a better teacher than learning straight from a book.
Makai eyed Kala as she crept closer to the stool. He grinned brightly, then slipped off his own stool to return with a small step-stool, which he placed down for a boost. The stools were kinda tall, and even though Kala was taller, he wondered if having hoofs might be of a hinderence. He didn't want that. The stools were fun to spin around on.
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 4:44 pm
Progolo shifted. "Well...as far as lessons are concerned, I was considering at least an hour a day...perhaps after Makai's...quiet time, I believe it was called?" he murmured, fixing Wyv's face with dull eyes. "His materials...I will provide." The man indicated the harp in his lap. "This is for him to practice with...."
Kala grinned. She felt like a princess! She executed a playful bow and then stepped regally up to the stool. "How d'aye...I...spin?" she gurgled, once she had perched herself just so.
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:03 pm
"An hour's fine. We could also make it longer, if the situation calls for it." Truthfully, she wasn't sure Makai could sit still for over an hour. He really did enojy music, and craved to learn more about it, but then he also enjoyed a lot of other things too. Maybe lessons would help to teach him focus. The mention of quiet time elicited a chuckle. "It's a bit of a hassle to get him to sleep some times, so thus... quiet time. Usually that happens anywhere from twelve thirty to about three. I can set a concrete time, should that be more desirable. And he'll be sure to take good care of the harp you've so kindly loaned him."
In the background, Makai made a face. Quiet time was basically nap time and nap time was for babies. Not a happy thought. Instead, he turned his attention to showing Kala the trick to spinning around on the stool. "Jus' a little push, like this..." he demonstrated, using his hands against the edge of the counter to get just enough momentum to spin one complete circle. "Too fast an' you'll fall or get dizzy." He made little spiraling motions with his hands and rolled his eyes, hoping that made the idea clearer.
Hearing that she wouldn't be forced to invest more money into yet another instrument was of considerable relief to Wyvern, however, it also brought up the subject of compensation. Not that she believed Progolo was doing this grudgingly, but he was helping her out and considerably. Fair's fair, and all that. Besides, she also hated owing favors. A few deals gone sour had forever tainted that for her and her eyes darkened at the memories.
However, she pushed them away, refocusing on her guest. "If there's anything I can do to say thanks," she began, and trailed off, not certain of how to continue.
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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 4:37 pm
Progolo's automatic response, indicative of a proper, cultured up-bringing, was a polite dissmissal. "Don't fret. I don't mind, really, I don't..." Deep down, however, he knew from experience it was frustrating to not be able to return a favor. Whether this woman felt this way he did not know, and he internally debated whether he should stand by his insistence that she not worry about compensation or try and think of some random little favor to settle her conscience should the issue arise again. What in the world to ask for stumped him, however, so he decided that, for now, he'd go with option one. If it really bothered her, he could invent something later...quite a task for one as decidedly self-sufficient as he.
Kala might have shrieked with delight if she'd been able to coax a sound from her clumsy mouth, but instead she just grinned broadly as the world revolved around her. "Again!" she ordered, once Makai had finished speaking. The girl was easily amused apparently, for she was trembling with glee at even such a simple thrill.
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