Welcome to Gaia! ::

Chris and Maddy -- Waiting in Lines

(Counted as ½ of an ORP -- put together with The Tiniest Violin of All for 1 full ORP)

The grocery store was packed to it's maximum capacity, courtesy of all the Christmas shoppers who hadn't gotten their shopping in before Christmas or had run out of supplies earlier than they'd thought.

People were ripping food off of the shelves, and even if you did manage to get what you had - naïvely - come for, the long lines at the registers were enough to drive even the most patient of saints mad.

Patrons were huffing, looking at their watch impatiently and underpaid, harrassed cashiers were trying to move everyone along in a timely manner.

Not that Maddy could see any of that; the person in front of her was blocking out everything. She didn't even know how close she was to the registry!

She sighed and gave up her futile attempts to look around his large frame - this place was packed and it wasn't like she was especially tall to begin with.

"Excuse me, sir, do you see how long it is until it's our turn?" She poked the giant in the back, as politely as she could.

Chris jerked, waking up from his little nap in line, and looked back at the tiny little butterfly girl that had just poked him. "Hmm?" he asked, looking around blankly. His cart was piled high with things for his pizza experiments, but somehow he had gotten everything he wanted, and more.

He tended to have that affect on people. "Oh, right," he said, turning to look ahead. "A while."

"Oh." There was a look of sadness on her face that would have, had it not been put there because of a line in a grocery store, heartbreaking. "Thank you anyway."

She took a moment to stare unabashedly at him. He looked familiar somehow.. didn't he? But she was sure she hadn't seen anyone this big before..

Then it hit her: "Chris!" Maddy was feeling rather triumphant for having recognized him.

"Huh?" he said again. Then he looked at her, cocking his head slightly. "You're-- let's see, butterfly wings, tiny little thing, child age-- Didn't I see you with Kashmira at the party?"

"Yes!" She nodded fervently, glad to have something to distract her from the monotony of waiting. "I was her Secret Santa, see?"

"Ahhh, yeah, I was her sister's," he said, sitting down. He was so big that they were on eye level that way. And the only reason people hadn't moved out of his way in a hurry was because he always went to this store. They knew him well enough that they weren't scared of him.

Sometimes that really sucked. "What's your name?" he asked curiously.

"Maddy. Well, Madeleine really, but no one calls me that except Mom when she's really, really mad." She babbled nervously, suddenly becoming aware that he was large and fricking scary - it hadn't occured to her before when she was too busy being proud of herself but now..

"Didn't you get taller?" Her wings fluttered nervously, and a couple of people behind her started grumbling.

"Yeah," he said, his gold eyes narrowing slightly on the people behind her before he grinned at her. "A bit." Which was an understatement and a half. "But I kind of saw it coming." His two voices were deeper and raspier than when he had been a child, but it seemed he was in better control of them. The way he spoke was calming, as if coaxing a butterfly closer.

It was no wonder that most of his friends were girls, if you thought about it. He was a heck of a lot nicer to them.

"Really?" She'd never heard of that, but then again, she hadn't talked to too many older people. "You just like.. knew in advance?" It did sound sort of cool though, and quite practical.

Despite his appearance, he was really proving to not be very frightening at all and Maddy was slowly relaxing. But that was what Kaimi had said too, right? Nice enough.

"Kinda," he admitted. "I doubled in size when I became a kid, so I figured teen stage would be double again. And most of my friends had already grown. So what are you here to get?"

She nodded again, with less fervor and more understanding this time. Sounded reasonable. "Do you think you'll double again once you get older?"

"Oh, just some cereal." She held out the lone pack, the only thing she in her arms. "You?"

"Pizza stuff," he said, grinning. "I got a pizza oven for Christmas. It's not as big as it could be, but I figure I can do batches. And lord I hope I don't double in size. I've got enough trouble going through doors as it is."

He glanced towards the front again and moved his cart forward a bit before turning back to her.

Maddy automatically moved a step forward as well. "A pizza oven?" She repeated. "That sounds so cool! You like cooking food, then? I'm rubbish at it, but Mom says she'll sign me up for classes once I get older."

She grinned: "And yeah, I can totally see how that'd be troublesome. I'll cross my fingers for you, then!" She held up a hand and crossed her fingers, still smiling.

"Yeah, since I'm the only kid I tend to get spoiled," he admitted. "My Gramma got it for me, along with a gingerbread house and a fruitcake." In other words, he ate a lot. "And thanks, I need it, but don't do it for the entire time, since you won't get anything done that way."

He gave her a crooked grin. "Cooking lessons are great. My Mom teaches me a lot of stuff all the time."

"My Mom spoils me too, but not with anything that awesome." Her voice was distinctly disappointed.

"I got a ton of new clothes, though! Which is.. not nearly as cool as a pizza oven." She grimaced, nevermind that she didn't actually know how to make pizzas, it still sounded so much more fun than new clothes did. "My Mom wouldn't know how to cook if her life depended on it." An exaggeration; Olivia had been getting better lately, but they were still stuck with simple dishes most of the time.

"Nah, I won't, it'd be awful to have to explain to people anyway." She joked.

"I'm the only grandchild, too," he admitted. "Gramma only had Mom and Mom only adopted me, so they're really focused on me. Which is why it kind of sucks that I tend to grow so fast."

He looked at her curiously. "Are you an only child?"

She nodded understandingly; "But you know, from the other side, they'd probably think it sucked if they had to change diapers on you forever, you know?" It wasn't particularly eloquent, but it got her point across.

"Yeah.. for now." She fiddled with the hem of her shirt for a moment. "Mom adopted another cabbage a few days ago, so we're waiting for the baby to arrive now. I'm the one taking care of it." The last part was said with a proud smile.

He paused, as if he hadn't even thought of that option before. And he hadn't. That's what his parents and Gramma needed, especially now that he was getting older. They needed another cabbage! Then he frowned, wondering how he could convince them of that fact. A little brother or sister would rock, though. He doubted they would have the same problems as him, as well. A normal little brother or sister. Someone to share the burden of being the focus of the family...

"Are you looking forward to it?" he asked abruptly. "A little brother or sister?" Then he moved forward in line again, getting closer to the checkout.

"I wasn't at first, but I'm pretty excited now." She moved along with the rest of the line. "I'm hoping for a little sister though, so I can dress her up!" She sighed dreamily, half-lost in a world of frilly things for a moment.

He grinned, a bit crookedly. "Not a boy, then?" he teased. "I think a little brother would be fun. You could play video games with him."

Yeah, he thought, it would be cool to have a sibling. But then again, what if you got stuck with a guy like Antony? Or someone else annoying, like Merroth? His grin fell slightly at that thought. But he doubted any kid that was related to him would turn out like Merroth.

"Ugh, no." She wrinkled her nose at the thought of having a little brother. "I don't like video games and besides, I don't think that'd be enough to make up for the mess he'd make around the house."

She sighed. "Though I'd probably end up loving him either way. That's the problem with siblings."

He started laughing. He couldn't help it. "Yeah, that's definitely a problem," he teased her shamelessly. "Downright irritating, loving your siblings."

He moved forward again, still grinning in utter entertainment.

She made a face at him. "It is! Can you just imagine, the little bugger tearing up your room and terrorising your turtle and you still have to love him?!"

"Nope, cuz I don't have a turtle," he said, still teasing her. "And it takes a lot to make a mess of my room. I reinforced everything with half inch bolts. If I can't break it without a bit of work, a baby sure as heck couldn't. At least, unless they were like me, that is."

He moved forward again, now almost to the front of the line.

"Yeah well, obviously you'd be the perfect candidate for a brother." She deflated a few seconds before perking back up. "You ever thought about getting a sibling?"

"Not really," he admitted. "But I'm older now, so I guess it's about time I started thinking about it. Mom would be great with a new baby." His adoration for his mother was clear in his voice and on his face. He had a few females he would do anything for, and she was right at the top of the list. "Especially if it was as cute as you are," he added. "She never got the cute thing with me, I'm afraid."

She blushed a bit. "I'm not that cute, you know. But you should. Start thinking about it. Or talk to your Mom about it or something - then our new sibs could have playdates and stuff! That'd be so awesome." She was off in la-la land again, already arranging playdates and friends for her new brother or sister.

"You're very cute," he told her, finally reaching the conveyor belt and putting his stuff on it. "Trust me, I'm usually surrounded by cute girls. It makes me look even scarier, but I got used to it a long time ago. And sure, if I ever get a little brother or sister, they can play with yours."

But he wasn't too very hopeful about that. It would be up to his parents, after all.

"Must be something about you, then." She smiled. "You're very nice - not scary at all, and rather be nice than cute!" Cuteness couldn't get you real friends, but if you were nice, everyone would like you.

"And I'll hold you to that." She said as the freckle-faced cashier began ringing up his items. "My new sibling is going to have lots of friends even if I have to beat them to get them to be friends with her, just you watch."

"I think you're scary," the cashier volunteered. "Anyone that can eat as much as you do is terrifying," he added, shoving his glasses up his nose.

"Oh, just keep checking out, Carl," Chris muttered. Not even the check out boys were scared of him anymore, not at this store. But Carl also went to the same church as him, so it just ruined it completely.

"I'll see you at school, Maddy," he said as Carl finished. "And I'll want to meet your sibling when it comes, alright?"

Maddy giggled at Carl's commentary. Obviously he came here more often than she did.

"Sure thing! Thanks for keeping me company in that monstrous line." She smiled serenely at him before paying for her lone cereal and giving him a small wave as she walked out of the store. "Bye Chris, nice to meet you!"

Galleai and Maddy -- In Cabbage-Land

(PRP - counted as two solos)

The whole place seemed to be made of cabbages - everywhere you looked, cabbages. Larger-than-life cabbages with strategic holes in them made to look like houses made up a whole town, tree-trunks made by stacking small cabbages on top of each other - their leaves made out of loose cabbage leaves - smattered about the little town (with a larger forest on the horizon), even the ground seemed to have the texture of cabbages.

In the middle of all this stood a girl, the only living being in the dream. On the edge of your hearing, though, was the hustle and bustle of a city, as though everyone was just around the corner and could come walking along at any time.

It wasn't a lonely dream. It was quite serene, in fact, and it matched the girl with the butterfly wings who was examining one of the cabbage-trees with interest.

Galleai, in the shape of a larger-than-normal white cat with winged paws, found herself sitting in the branches of a tree that appeared to be made entirely of cabbage. It had a crisp, fresh smell that she found quite appealing. There was noise in the distance and, closer, the sound of a person.

Sticking her furry head out from the leaves, she came almost nose to nose with Maddy who was examining this very tree. Blinking her purple eyes, the cat spoke cheerily. "Hello!"

She blinked, quite surprised at finding someone else in this dream. She'd had it a few times now, but she'd never before met anyone - heard them, yes, but never actually seen.

And this one didn't seem to be made of cabbages. Maddy had, on some level, expected anyone to appear in this dream to be made of the same material as everything else (except, of course, her).

"Hello there." She smiled with a slightly bemused expression. "You're not made of cabbages, are you." It should have been a question, but it ended up sounding more like a statement.

"Nooo..." Galleai hesitated. "I'm not made out of cabbages. Are you?" She leapt lightly out of the tree and padded around Maddy, inspecting her and sniffing at her ankles. "You dont smell like a cabbage or look like a cabbage..."

"I don't think I am." She examined the skin on one of her hands, trying to see if she'd gotten any cabbage-like qualities. "Nope, looks cabbage-free to me."

Maddy hesitated a brief moment before coming to the conclusion that it was her dream and she could ask whatever she wanted: "Can I pet you? I mean, you look really, really, really silky and soft and I've never had a cat before or--" She broke off, blushing; it might've been her dream, but that didn't mean she should forget her manners, and bouts of babbling really weren't very polite.

"Oh, yes, please!" Galleai stood on her hind legs, resting her front paws on Maddy's knee. She loved being petted and began purring in anticipation. Once the girl did start petting her, the purring got significantly louder.

"What is this place?" Galleai asked as she was being stroked. Oh... petting was heaven!

"Hmm, I don't know. Some sort of cabbage-world?" Maddy shrugged delicately as she scratched Galleai's ears and quietly revelled in the comfort of a purring cat. "I'm not really sure, to be honest. I've been here a few times, but yeah."

"It's pretty." Galleai purred. The girl must like cabbage very much, and she had to admit that cabbages did create a rather charming village. "I can hear people... far away..." Her voice was just the slightest bit slurred from pleasure. "Do you know who they are?"

"It's kinda cute, yeah." Maddy grinned. "I'd never thought that cabbages could be cute before this, but ther--" She stopped, looking slightly bewildered. "At least I don't think I did, but obviously I did.. Wow, this is confusing!"

"I have no idea. I can't make out their voices very well. Can you?" The voices created a background, but every time you tried to focus on them they seemed to get dimmer and dimmer, as though the people were moving away.

Then again, as a cat, Galleai might have better hearing than Maddy did.

When the sounds faded for Maddy, they faded for Galleai too. It didn't matter, though. She gave the butterfly girl a very feline grin and swished her tail back and forth. "I dont hear them anymore either, exactly." Sitting back on her haunches, Galleai washed one paw carefully. "Are one of these cabbage houses yours?" It was good to have a place to go in your dreams that was your very own.

"Mine?" Maddy blinked, surprised at the thought. "No.. not really. I mean, I've never actually been inside one of them."

She looked towards the round cabbage-houses with renewed curiosity. "Do you want to go?" She'd been too engrossed in listening to the noise and examining everything from the outside the last couple of times she'd been here; it hadn't even occured to her to go inside the houses.
But now that it had, she was kinda glad she wasn't alone - you never knew if the dream would turn nasty, but having someone there made the prospect a lot easier.

"Yes!" Galleai agreed eagerly. "Lets see whats inside! There might be one just waiting for you to come and make it yours." Thats what had happened to her, after all. "Or there might be one with a feast inside, or treasure!"

"Alright!" She got up, infected by the cat's enthusiasm, and made towards the nearest house.

She stopped just outside the entrance, peering inside somewhat warily. "Do you see anything? It's completely dark for me.. I can't even see the floor!" If there was one, her mind added.

"I don't see anything..." Galleai said. "But why dont you try the candle in your pocket?"

It was entirely possible that the candle hadn't been there before Galleai mentioned it. But it was there now and would hopefully light their way at least a little bit.

Maddy took out the candle with a surprised expression on her face. Had that..? Nevermind. Conveniently, the candle lit up by itself, casting a warm orange glow on their surroundings in the sudden dusk that'd befallen them.

"Alright, here I go." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before stepping through the circular doorway.

Nothing seemed to happen. The butterfly girl cracked open an eye and took in her surroundings; not nightmarish in the least. It was a small, cozy cottage, made completely out of cabbage like the rest of the world. The wallpaper-leaves were a darker colour than the rest of the house, and all in all it was a nice, leafy contrast.

"Wow. This was not what I'd expected." She eyed the furniture, as cute and cabbage-y as the rest, and completely impossible anywhere but in dreams. "Did you know it was going to be like this?" Maddy had been expecting a nightmare, but Galleai had seemed sure that something good was waiting on them.

Again, that cattish grin. "I had a feeling." She said, wandering around the cottage. She sniffed at a chair-leg here and a little cabbage-leaf rug there. "Oh, look! Theres even a little fireplace!" She didn't recall seeing a chimney outside, but there was indeed a little fireplace looking ready for a flame to warm the cozy little space up.

"Why cabbages?" Galleai pondered out loud. She wasn't sure Maddy would have an answer, most of the time people didn't know why the dreamed what they dreamed. But she couldn't help but be curious.

"There is!" Maddy clasped her hands together, unexplicably happy with the little house. It was so, so perfect!

"Well," she began as she tested out one of the chairs. Surprisingly soft, she nodded serenely. "I've got a cabbage at home." Wait, that sounded kind of stupid.

"Or well, I'm taking care of one." Still sounded stupid. "It's gonna be my new sibling." Preferably a sister, but she supposed she could live with a brother as well.

"Really?" Galleai's ears perked up and she raised her head. "I came out of a cabbage. Not here, of course. But you know... In the world you're in when you're not asleep."

"Really? I didn't know that the cabbages made cats, too. Wow, that's so cool!" This was a day - or night, really - of surprises.

"I'm not a cat when I'm awake." Galleai purred. She padded over to Maddy and jumped into her lap. "I'm a girl like you. Except I dont look like you. But you know. I'm just a girl. Ooh... get right behind the ear?" She begged. "But I like being a cat."

Maddy dutifully obeyed the cat's request with a thoughtful expression on her face. "That's totally neat, you know, you being two different things - sorta."

She looked down at the purring cat. "How old are you, then? You've got a name too, right?" So far she'd just assumed that she hadn't, being a fantasy cat and all, but now that she knew the truth.. Well, that changed things.

"They call me Galleai when I'm awake." She smiled up at the butterfly-girl. "And I'm not terribly old out there. But I am much, much older in here." She knew it probably didn't make a lot of sense, but that was just the way it was. "Whats your name when you're awake?"

"Oh. That's a really pretty name." Maddy nodded. "Mine is Maddy. Or Madeleine, but no-one actually calls me that."

"Madeline." Galleai repeated. "Thats really pretty too!" She looked over at the fireplace, which obediently started crackling with flame. "Do you like your house, Maddy?" She asked. "Do you think you will come back here?"

"I think I will." She looked around with a smile as she came to that conclusion. "It's really nice here. It feels.. safe. Will you come back too? I'll rub your ears some more if you do." She smiled teasingly.

"I would like that very much." Galleai said, purring. "This is a nice place. I'd like to visit you here again."

"I'd like you to like to visit." That probably made more sense in her head than it did out loud, but, she reasoned, this was her head.

Galleai wandered along a paved street, marveling at the hard feel under her feet. She'd never been outside of the coven house but tonight, for some reason, she'd decided to leave. They would all think that she was visiting the graveyard and it was unlikely that anyone would come looking for her.

She cut a rather odd figure, underdressed and wrapped all about with ribbons. The cold didn't seem to touch her and Galleai didn't know that you simply didn't wear sandals when it was winter outside. Her eyes, huge and haunting, took in everything. The lit windows where families sat about the table, joining hands to pray before dinner. The christmas trees that were, in some cases still lit and decorated and in other cases abandoned outside next to the mailbox for the trashman to take away.

Her stomach gurgled. When was the last time she'd eaten? She couldn't remember, though it didn't really seem to matter.

Maddy, too, was wandering, though with considerably more appropriate clothes on. Really, for a girl with butterfly wings, being outside in the midst of winter was hell - it was bad enough that she couldn't get anything to cover her wings or feelers, but she could barely move in the clothes covering the rest of her body!

In fact, she could barely see through the scarf wrapped around her head, and so it was no surprise when she bumped into Galleai; she'd done it a thousand times by now.

"'scuse me, sorry, sorry!" She mumbled as she desperately flailed to keep from bowling over in the aftermath of the impact.

Maddy was a bit slower in regaining her composure, but she did manage it after a few moments.

"Thanks, but I should've known better by now." She said as she reveled the feel of not being on the verge of falling down. "It's this awful scarf, my Mom made me wear it." She grimaced, not that anyone could see. Maybe it was time to take this thing off, before she accidentally killed someone or something.

"Mom..." Galleai repeated quietly. She knew what moms were, even though she didn't really have one. Nicola didn't want much to do with her now that she'd grown. "It's a pretty scarf" She added, trying the smile again. It worked better this time, looked more natural. "Do you know where we are?" Not that it would matter. Galleai had no idea where home was in reference to where they were and having street names probably wouldn't change that.

"Umm.." Maddy had finally taken the horrible thing off, and was looking around with a fairly puzzled look on her face. "Apparently not. This was supposed to be Bakerlane, but uh, yeah." She looked sort of sheepish, now.

"I'm sure there's a sign around here somewhere though, or we could always knock on someone's door, if you're lost too." She wasn't too worried - in Maddy's experience, these sort of things tended to work themselves out. It wasn't too hard to find a lost kid with butterfly wings, even on Gaia.

Lost. Galleai took a moment to ponder the concept. "Well..." She began. "I'm not sure where home is, so I suppose I'm lost too." It was then that she realized something. "It might be a problem that I dont know my address." Yes, that could definitely get in the way of becoming un-lost.

"That could be a problem." Maddy nodded to herself, before getting a good look at Gal's attire: "Uh.. aren't you cold or something? You can borrow my jacket you know, I've got like a gazillion shirts underneath."

It wasn't that she was particularly apt for talking with strangers, but there was a niggling sense of familiarity about the other girl, as though they'd met before.
Not that Maddy could remember where that should've been; she was pretty damn sure that she hadn't met Galleai before, in fact. The other girl was kinda distinctive too, and she'd have remembered someone like her, right?
Still, that didn't make the feeling any less strong.

"Oh..." Galleai blinked, realizing for the first time that yes, it actually was cold outside. "Thank you, yes, I guess I am a little cold." It wasn't so much that she was aloof and distant, though it could certainly seem that way. It was more that she sort of had a habit of looking past someone, like she was watching something invisible. "Do I know you?" She added. She had the distinct feeling that she'd met Maddy. But she'd never actually met anyone. Which probably meant that she'd been in the other girl's dreams. But which one had belonged to Maddy?

Maddy struggled out of her jacket and handed it over to the other girl with some concern - what if it wasn't enough to stave off the cold? She wasn't sure how to perform CPR or anything of the like, and frankly she wasn't even sure that CPR was what was needed in terms of hypotermia.

"I don't.." She gave a start at Galleai's words, eyeing her with newfound curiosity. She felt it too? "I don't know. I mean, I have this feeling like I should know you, you know? But I don't think.." She trailed off with a shrug and a helpless smile.

Galleai shrugged back and put on the jacket. Even though she was fairly certain that she knew this other girl through dreams, she was kind of loathe to admit it. The dreamworld and the waking world were things that, at least for now, she tried to compartmentalize and keep seperate. It was just easier that way. And anyways, perhaps she could learn how to make a friend in the real world.

Smiling back, this time her expression held some actual warmth. "Thank you, thats much better. Do you know how to find your home?" She was sure that most people weren't as foolish as she was, wandering off without knowing where they were going or where they came from.

"Oh yeah! I get lost loads of times, so Mom made me like, memorize our phone number and address and stuff." She nodded vigorously, still not worried at all. "It's worse with you, though."

She thought for a few moments: "Do you know how your house looks? We could ring doorbells and ask around if anyone has seen it or knows your parents."

Galleai thought about this. "It's very big. And it has a long drive with a black metal gate. And theres a wood and a cemetary at the back." That was about all she could think of as far as descriptions went. "I think it's a long ways away. I was walking a long time before I got here. And I didn't see any houses near mine." She thought a little more. "I dont think anyone knows my..." Parents? Family? "Coven." Call a spade a spade, after all. "They dont have any friends."

Maddy shuddered a bit after Gal's description of her home, feeling as though the shadows were getting longer and darker - they probably weren't, but in her overactive imagination, the younger girl's description sounded positively ominous.

"Umm, right. That could definitely, definitely be a problem." Coven? She'd heard that word before, but she couldn't quite remember where or when. "But you know that you came from that way, right?" She pointed past Gal and down the street they were on.

Looking down the direction Maddy had pointed, Galleai nodded. "Yes, that looks right. What about you? Which way did you come from?"

"Oh, back that way." She pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "I don't think I'm too far off course really, the houses here are sort of the same style."

She smiled encouragingly: "Do you want to go see if we can find your home? Or at least find a street that seems familiar."

The dark-haired girl thought about this for a moment. "Are you sure? They don't like guests very much... and it's a long way away. I wouldn't want you to get scared." Gal hesitated. "I could walk you home instead if you'd like." She wasn't really afraid of being out alone, lost or not.

"No way, I can't just let you wander around lost and alone, you know." Maddy was far too into saving the other girl to be deterred by now. And seriously, how awful would she feel if she just left Galleai to her own? She seemed a bit too detached from the world to make it home safely on her own - Maddy got lost often and had experience, not to mention a cute smile and doe eyes that'd make anyone cave in and give them directions.

Not that it was much use, apparently, but hopefully Galleai would remember a street or a house that looked familiar and they could find the right way. Besides, she had her jacket, right? Might freeze to death without it.

Maddy's cute smile and doe eyes were just the sort of thing that the twins were attracted to in a victim. Galleai, of course, didn't actually know this. But she did know that she was still part of the coven, even if Nicola didn't really want her anymore. So if they did find the house, at least the butterfly-girl would be safe with her.

"Alright." Galleai said, nodding. "So... that way then, I think?" It could possibly be meant as a comment but ended up sounding like a question.

"Alright!" Maddy said with considerably more enthusiasm, taking the other girl's hand and leading her down the street.

"You know, you could totally borrow a pair of socks from me too, you're gonna lose your toes if you keep on like that." She rambled as they made onto another street.

Maddy's hands were warm. That was the first thing Galleai noticed. The coven's skin was always cold. Galleai marveled at this fact and it took a moment for her to register the girl's second offer. "Socks? Oh, no, thats okay. Really. But thank you." She said bumpily as she was pulled along behind the enthusiastic girl.

"You sure? Because I saw this documentary once where this skiing party had gotten in an accident and gotten all frostbitten and lost their toes. It was awful." She didn't mention that she'd had nightmares for weeks after that documentary and that her mom had officially forbidden her from watching Discovery channel again without supervision.

Toes falling off? "I... okay." Galleai consented. Maddy seemed so convinced that something terrible would happen if she didn't put on something warmer. "I guess next time I go out I should wear more clothing." She didn't know where this warmer clothing would come from, but she was sure she could find something.

"You should." Maddy nodded again as she let go of Galleai's hand and sat down on the steps leading up to one of the houses here. They'd gotten a few streets further, and the butterfly girl quickly took off her shoes to get a pair of socks for Gal.

"Not that your clothes aren't pretty or anything. They really are." She paused in her tugging to throw an admiring look at the aforementioned outfit. "They're just more suited for summer, yeah?"

"Aha!" She cried triumphantly, holding out a pair of thick woolen socks to the other girl. They were the thickest she had, but they still might not be thick enough, Maddy considered thoughtfully.

"Here," she said, taking off another pair to give to the girl - not as thick as the first, but still thick enough to be warm, "take these too, okay?"

Donning the proferred socks, Galleai glanced at the other girl. "You're very generous." She said, and then all of a sudden it hit her. "Cabbages." She muttered under her breath. And then, as if she'd said nothing, "I hope your feet dont freeze because of me."

Maddy had missed the whisper and went on obliviously; "Nah, Mom always frets too much and makes me wear a ton more than I need." Which wasn't entirely the truth, because she did actually freeze very easily - but there was no reason for the other girl to worry when she had even less clothes on than Maddy.

She did her laces again and got up from the stone-step. "Ready again?"

Nodding, Galleai stood up and shyly held her hand out to Maddy. She liked holding the other girl's hand. It was warm and oddly comforting. "Yes, I'm ready."

"Alrighty!" Clasping their hands with a grin, Maddy set off once again.

"So.." She said a few streets later, looking around at the houses that were becoming more and more scarce as they went on. "Anything look familiar yet?"

There was a streetlight with one lamp out. Galleai pointed at it. "There. I turned at that one." One of the streets leading away from the light was dark and roughly paved. Ominous looking, and in the distance a faint light could be seen. "Down there, I think." She squinted into the darkness and nodded. "Yes. Down there."

Her enthusiasm dampened considerably at the sight of the scary-looking road, but Maddy wasn't about to give up now. With a shaky smile and an unconscious squeeze of the other girl's hand, she started down the road.

"You know, you should ask your, um, coven to teach you the phone number, just in case. I'm sure they have one." She added, still not entirely sure what a coven was, but sure that anyone and anything living in this day and age had a phone, even if it was rarely used.

Galleai nodded as they started down the dark road. "I'm sure they do..." She hesitated, unsure she really knew what a phone was. She'd never actually used one before.

Before they had made it far, a figure sort of... slid out of the darkness. As if the shadows sort of up and spat it out. "Galleai" It said in a rich, masculine voice. The kind that sent shivers down the spine.

Galleai squeezed Maddy's hand. "Hello, daddy."

It was a good thing the two girls were holding hands, or Maddy would have bolted by now. She was staring, both eyes very wide and her face quite pale, at the newcomer.

"H-hello!" Her voice was more of a squeak, and whatever confidence she'd had when she'd been alone with Galleai just sort of disappeared.

Leeward was the sort of vampire you'd find in an Anne Rice novel. Very beautiful in a very dangerous way. He smiled like bullets at the two girls. "Galleai, you shouldn't run off like that." His voice was suprisingly gentle. "Who are you?" He leaned down to get a good look at Maddy.

"This is my friend." Galleai said, moving closer to Maddy. "You can't eat her, daddy. I like her." Ah, yes, the mouths of babes. Because bluntness was already appreciated.

Leeward laughed, a shockingly genuine sound, and winked at Maddy. "I don't eat little girls." He said reassuringly. "Thank you for bringing my daughter home, young lady."

Maddy clung to Gal's arm like a leech. There was no way she was letting go with that man anywhere near her. She might have been more impressed by his gorgeous looks if she weren't scared shitless and just a bit too young to really be interested - as it was, she was entirely focused on the 'dangerous' aspect, every pore in her body screaming run away, predator! Alarm, run!

"You're.." She gulped, standing closer to Galleai than should humanly be possible. "Welcome? It was no trouble!" She laughed, too off-kilter to care that she sounded slightly insane.

"My daddy Leeward heads the coven." Galleai explained to Maddy. "He wouldn't really eat you, I promise." She gave Maddy a hug, since the girl seemed to need it. "He's very well behaved for a vampire."

For his part, Leeward rolled his eyes, looking rather amused. The little girl with the wings looked fragile and terrified. He should probably tone things down a bit around Galleai's friends, or else she would never actually make any.

Vampire?! It hadn't even entered Maddy's mind that Leeward wasn't human, even though it was, in hindsight, fairly obvious.

Still, she calmed down a bit as she hugged Galleai back, trusting the other girl's judgement. And besides, someone who was entirely evil couldn't have raised someone as nice as Gal, could they?

"O-okay. Sorry, sir." She added bashfully, her fear momentarily overcome by the manners her mother had taught her.

"You'll be okay from here, then?" She smiled at the other girl, a bit more on track this time.

Galleai nodded as her hand was transferred from Maddy's to Leeward's. "I'll be fine. Thank you for helping me get home." She smiled and waved with her free hand. "Can you find your way back okay? I'm sure daddy would take you home..."

"No! No, that's totally fine, I know the way." She smiled nervously, obviously not wanting to be alone with the vampire for any amount of time.

"So, uhh.. do you want to play some day or something? I could give you my phone number." It had been fun to spend time with Galleai before the creepy road and vampire came into the picture.

"I would like that." Galleai nodded. "Daddy, do we have a phone number?"


Leeward took a sleek black business card from his coat pocket. It had a phone number etched in silver on one side. That was all. "Here ya go." He handed it to Maddy. "If you call during the day, just leave a message."

Galleai smiled again, she was getting the hang of the whole smiling thing. "Can I have yours too?"

Fancy, Maddy eyed the business card. Well, fair enough, she could work with that.

"Of course! Uh, but I don't have anything to write on.." She had a pen in one of her pockets, she knew, but which one was always the question. "I can write it on your arm if that's okay?" She'd procured the ball-pen, a plastic thing with the logo of her local supermarket on the side.

Obediently, Galleai held out her arm for Maddy to write on, then admired the little line of numbers marching across her pale skin. "Thank you." She said as Leeward swept her up into his arms.

"Thanks for bringing my girl back." He said, grinning a little eerily at Maddy. "Be safe out there... lots of creepy people on the road." He couldn't help himself, had to get that last little dig in there. Then, turning with his daughter, began making his way back to the coven house.