Welcome to Gaia! ::

Chris grunted as he fell into the hole, wondering how in the hell such a big hole had been dug when, according to Tock, only fairies lived in this area. He hadn't seen the hole, of course. He had been too busy ducking as a row of sharpened branches swung down out of nowhere.

He had intended to get lower, but this was too low, he thought irritably as he stared at the seven foot tall wall of dirt in front of him. "This was made for Tock," he muttered. Yet another thing to blame the b*****d for.

Wisp had crashed down smartly after him, and now the top of the hole was covered in a grille of sharpened branches; nothing loath, after a short round of groaning and brushing herself off and saying ewww, immediately started working. The trouble was that they were in a dark hole; she had drawn out her star sprinkles, and was -- with the help of the Rainbow of Light -- painstakingly was braiding a rope out of intangible strands.

"We can do it!" she said, like Rosie the Riveter. "That's the problem, with heaviness."

While two of her best friends found themselves in a dark hole, Rory was busy dodging swinging logs. She had never been so glad for the self defense and control lessons as they were paying off.

"What's with the traps?" she called out, keeping her eyes on the logs that were trying to knock her off her feet. She didn't want to think what would happen if she fell.

"Silva--" Tock grunted, shoving a log aside. Another one hit him in the back, making him curse, "is possessive of his cherries."

He cursed again, barely dodging a row of spiked tree limbs that fell from a tree. "And the bigger you are, the more dangerous this place is," he muttered as he tried to get his breath back. "Where are the others?" he asked suddenly.

"Rory!"

Wisp's bellow came funneled out of a weird direction -- it sounded like it was coming from behind and below, muffled. Thankfully it wasn't hard to see where it was coming from, either -- the girl threw her hand up like a softballer pitching and an arc of red sparkles like an emergency flare went up. Obvious message: help!

"In a hole," Rory replied to Tock's question as she saw the flare, and heard the call for help. She dodged another trap before heading for said hold, skidding to a halt right at the gap. Then she dropped to her knees, looking in.

"I don't even want to know how a hole like this got dug. Tock! Over here for some help!" she called over her shoulder. She was no where strong enough to get Chris out, but Tock might be able to help them both out.

"It's not that big of a deal," Chris bellowed as Tock went back, looking at the grille that covered the hole. "We don't need your help, Tock! Go on and get Polly!"

"Y'know, I would," Tock said. "But if we leave you down there, the fairies will have you. They're mean little bastards." He reached down, grasping the grille. "Watch out, I'm going to drop this into the hole so you can climb up it."

"But I thought fairies were cute and like, ran around coating things with fairy dust and being all, la la la," said Wisp, who'd only ever met with Ophelia's fairy. The grille dropped down; she immediately flung her intangible rainbow rope up into daylight, where it fixed itself on nothing, using the grille to help her scale until she was back at the top of the hole.

Chris jerked himself up the impromptu ladder before it collapsed under his weight. He used his legs to shove himself up those last few feet as the twigs fell into the hole. "I don't like fairies," he said.

The sound of a cold male voice laughing made him turn, his gold eyes narrowing at the trees. "We don't go la la anything," Silva said, still out of sight. "And the only fairy dust I know of is s**t you snort."

The grille was a great idea. While they were getting out, Rory kept her eyes open for anything else. Then someone else addressed them.

She looked over at the fairy who was laughing at them. "Where's Polly?" she asked, rather than comment to that.

Wisp was still trying to work out why you would snort fairy dust; she stood next to Rory, still brushing off dirt, looking at the tiny fairy. "Yeah," she said, "we've come here for Polly; she's only a kid! You better not have been hurting her!"

"Hmm, Polly, cute little redhead, bossy as hell, and tends to heat things up when she loses her temper?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's her," Chris said.

"Never heard of her. Now get out of my grove," Silva said coldly.

"Give me back my little girl," Tock snarled dangerously. "You cranky old b*****d!"

"You know her," Rory said, hands going on her hips. "And I know that she's come here. I saw that map of hers, and it lead here," she told the little fairy. There were more than one, and if these guys created traps like that, she wasn't going to just go up there and grab him to make him tell her.

Besides, she was rather happy that Tock was being so defensive of Polly, finally.

"Kidnapping's a crime, you know," added Wisp.

"A crime?" he repeated. "Who do you think the law in this part is?"

"He's right," Tock muttered. "This isn't like Gaia. In the grove, this is his territory. If they trespass it's his decision what happens to them. But she's MY little girl, Silva, and I demand you give her back!"

"What if she doesn't want to come back?" Silva asked, chewing on his toothpick with a little smirk. "She looked pretty happy to me. Even dug up a treasure box."

Tock had the gall to look proud of that fact.

Wisp did not have a huge head for legal practices, precedent or anything else. "Law doesn't matter," she said, "I'm a law, too, and this fairy is definitely contradicting colour law and the Rainbow of Light by doing anything so major-league craptastic -- "

But she thought about it, golden head tilted to the side, tapping her cheek. "We could pay for her," she said suddenly.

Silva leaned back, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Oh, really," he said. "Let me consult my... friend. C'mere, kid, tell them how much it's gonna cost them."

Polly stepped out of the shadows, a few more beads and shiny things hanging from her, nothing that looked expensive, but things that she definitely loved. She had a surprisingly serious expression on her face.

"Polly--" Chris said, stepping forward. A stick shot down in front of him, vibrating as it stuck deep into the ground.

"He won't pay for me again," she said, her eyes going to Tock, her hand going to the ruby she wore around her neck. "I'm too expensive."

Rory put her hands on her hips, looking at Tock. He was the reason this happened, after all. it was only right that he'd fix it. "So, what are you going to do now? You're the one she's mad at."

Not to mention that little Polly would be welcome at either her or Chris' house. She didn't say this, however.

"I think you better start deciding what's expensive and what's not expensive to you," added Wisp, sotto voce. "Like how bad it would cost not to have Polly around." (Secretly she was thrilled at her awesome metaphor.)

Tock grunted, already reaching for the three necklaces he had on. He tugged them off, tossing them on the ground. But that wasn't the end of it, and it even had Silva raising an eyebrow as he took the rings off of his hands, tossing them onto the pile. Then he reached for his shirt, having it halfway off before Polly threw herself at him.

"Stop!" she said. "Tock's an idiot!"

"So," Austin said, stepping out of the trees, a broken compass in his hand. "We goin' home yet? The treasure sucked."

Well, Polly had run back to her protector; a weird child had appeared in the trees; to Wisp, all was well that ended well, and this appeared to be a... well ending. "Well, that's that," she said, cheered, "hooray for family lovin'!"

"Guess so," Kaeden said, stepping out from around the tree too. "How mad do ya think Chloe is?"

"Probably really mad," Rory said, looking at the boys. "You guys went with her?" Then she shook her head.

"If you three ever do something this stupid again--" Tock started out, only to blink as Polly pulled away from him and went to picking up his jewelry. He waited for her to give them back.

She started putting them on, instead. "This is mine, and this is mine, and this--"

"Hey now," Silva said.

"Ha ha ha, it was all a big misunderstanding!" said Wisp at last, as though saying it would mean it was. "Thank you for looking after Polly, Mr. Fairy! I knew you actually had a kind heart!"

Silva shot through the air, grabbing two of the rings that fell off of Polly's tiny fingers. "I'm taking these, kid. Babysitting fee." She gave him a dark look.

"Fine," she said. "But I'll trade you this blue one for the red one."

He looked at the rings, then traded her.

"Let's get going," Tock said, picking Polly up by the back of her shirt and dragging her away before she could make any more deals.

"Take Nack with you," Silva said, shoving one of his guards forward. "He'll come home when he makes sure things are as they should."

Tock just grunted. He was ready to go home.

The Deakon household was decked out for Christmas. There was even a manger scene in front of the house and a Santa Clause on the roof, complete with dayglow reindeer. Lights lit up everything, from the tree in the front yard to the various windows and railings around the house. This was what you got when you were married to a handyman, after all.

Inside was just as festive, with decorations and gigantic Christmas trees in the front room and hallway. There were presents under both. Chris, in his newfound teenageness, was looking a bit uncomfortable in a dress shirt (sleeves cut out, of course) and a tie. He scowled as Antony sidled up next to him with a soft drink in his hand.

"They made me get you a present," Chris muttered.

"Yes? I got you one as well, if it makes you feel better," Antony said calmly.

"I read it already," Chris told him.

"You did?"

"Woulda been a waste of money just to give it to you."

"I see."

"It was a whole ten bucks," Chris added with a perfectly straight face. "So I read it twice."

"You do realize that you're not supposed to tell the giftee that sort of thing, don't you?" Antony asked just as mildly as could be.

Chris finally looked at him, grinning wickedly. "Yeah, I know."

The doorbell rang then. Both Ze and Rory waited for there to be an answer with food in a hand, or in a bag, gifts under hand, and fiddles over their shoulders. Only one of them looked the most uncomfortible in the snow, even with how bundled up she was.

"I hate the snow," Ze'zee complained, stomping her feet to keep them warm. Even her long tail was wrapped up! "Zard is a tropical planet, you know. We never -got- snow. You wanted white ground all around you, you went to the beaches."

Aurora couldn't help but snicker at her mom. "You know, I am a teenager now, mom. Can't we go visit grandma and grandpa some time?" How totally cool would it be to go to -another planet-?? That was just awesome.

Ze looked slightly more uncomfortable for a moment. "Well, I'll have to see about it with work," she stalled.

"Uh huh...."

The door opened a few seconds later, Chris scowling slightly over his shoulder. "It's freezing out there, why do I gotta be the one to open the door?" he demanded of his mother. "Make the blue boy, he's good with cold!"

"Antony doesn't live here!" Missy called from inside the house. "And be polite!"

Both ladies stared at the teenager that opened the door. Then one of the two exploded.

"CHRIS! You grew and you didn't even bother to call me a tell me?!" Rory demanded, still standing on the door step. "Or come over?!" Never mind she didn't tell him when she became a teen. Partly because she knew he was coming over that day... but still! He should have at least -told- her!

He jerked, a look of "Oh s**t" crossing his face as he slowly turned towards her. "Ah, Rory, ah, well, y'see, there was this--and the clothing and--you--" He stopped, rubbing the back of his head with a gigantic hand. "You look real pretty."

Antony started laughing behind him, loud enough for even Rory to hear. "Shut it," Chris snarled over his shoulder, flushing purple.

"Hmph!" Rory was not to be persuaded with flattery this time. She looked away from him, nose in the air. "See if I give you your gift right away now," she muttered.

"Well," Ze said, having been fighting from laughing out loud in front of them both. "Are you going to let us freeze out here? Or are you going to let us in?" she asked with a grin.

"Oh! Right!" he said, moving out of the way quickly. "Sorry, yeah, um... Merry Christmas?" he offered, looking more like a kicked puppy than a badass monster of a teen as he glanced over at Rory. He was in such deep s**t.

"Yes, Merry Christmas," Ze'zee said, hurrying in quickly. The house was warm, and outside was cold. She so didn't like the cold!

Rory followed in after him, but didn't look at Chris. "Merry Christmas," she echoed. Then went for Missy immediately. "Hello Mrs. Deakon," she said with a brighter grin. "Mom and I brought food, as well. Finger food things."

"Oh thank you, Rory! Ze!" Missy said happily. "Why don't I put those on the buffet table while you give Chris your coats? There's only Shade and Antony here so far, but more people will be showing up soon enough."

"So you should get what food you want now, before Chris eats it all," Antony said a bit dryly. "Merry Christmas, Aurora, Ms. Ze'zee," he added politely.

Missy was right; it was rare that Beatrix wasn't punctual or on time -- Irelia Torstenn had been excused from the gathering on account of another girl's birthday party, but Jacoba Darnell and Wisp Darnell were both there in front of their bandage-eyed blonde of a mother. In fact, it was a little odd to now see that both of them were taller than her -- Wisp a few centimetres, and Jace a couple inches, the tallest of them all at what was still a fairly measly 5'5".

They were all three wearing scarves -- Bea's pale blue, Wisp's rainbow, Jace's orange -- and a fairly automatic "Merry Christmas," came out from all of them, though Jace's seemed to be "merry damn Christmas." Wisp was holding a box, but when she looked in the house, she dropped it entirely as her mouth formed a hello! to her beloved Missy. In a flash of brown skin and red hair, Jace reached out and caught it on her metal foot: but Wisp was already zooming past, brushing Aurora on the shoulder, and jumping wholesale onto a very teenaged Chris' back.

"OH MY GOD," she bellowed, "IT HAPPENED I AM THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD."

"Damn, Mrs. Deakon," said Jace. "What'd you feed him?"

"Be nice," said her mother, and -- "Happy returns of the season, Melissa."

Rory blinked as the colorful rainbow of a friend whoosed by and jumped on Chris. She gave a sigh and a shake of the head, though she was still highly miffed at Chris. And being so, she turned to the others.

And did a double take. "JACE! You grew too? Awesome!"

"Hey!" Chris said, irritated as he glared at Rory for that. Sure Wisp was on his back, but he wasn't bothered in the least by that part. "How come Jace is Awesome and I'm in the dog house?" he demanded irritably. "That's totally not fair."

It was equally not fair in the way that Jace swaggered next to Rory and judiciously swatted her on the butt; winked at Chris, not Rory, though she made a gunshot ch-ch in the back of her throat at the tall green-eyed girl. "Suck it down, man," she said, and folded her arms.

Wisp was apparently just thrilled that she could go back to treating her childhood friend like a jungle gym; she looked happy and content, little blue sparkles winking in and out around her head. At least she was wearing jeans for once; jeans and -- what appeared to be a leotard, arm-and-leg-warmers, the leotard painted with a snowman saying YO. "You're in the doghouse?" she said, and: "Hey, you should be in the doghouse! Did you tell Rory or me? No you did not. Seriously you and Rory should be all sucking face, not -- "

"Wisp!" Rory squeaked, cheeks going red. Then she shook her head quickly, getting back on the topic and wrapped an arm around the redhead's shoulders. She was taller, so she was more leaning to the side. "Jace's awesomeness extends beyond the need to tell. Unlike you, who's supposed to be one of my best friends! And you didn't tell Wisp either??"

"It just happened this morning!" he protested. "And it was a busy day!" Now he was in the doghouse with both of them! Dammit!

"You have to admit, it is a bit hard to deal with the first day," Antony said, sticking up for Chris and getting a glowering look for his trouble.

The redhead punched Rory's shoulder in a light, familiar way -- she liked Aurora; Aurora was uncomplicated -- before making her way over to Antony instead. Jace did not look that festive: she was wearing a brown hoodie and the ripped jean shorts she loved, though apparently when she hadn't been looking Wisp had furtively drawn snowflakes on her back in bright yellow. She leant herself with her elbow up on Antony's shoulder instead, and apparently didn't deign to play grab-a** with him.

"Should've thought of that before," she said, "chicks get weird about that stuff, man. Sup, Mantony."

Wisp clambered down from Christian's back, patted his arm, but then stuck out her tongue to show that she was on Rory's side. She marched over to her friend and stuck her arm through hers, looping it through tightly. ""Well, Miss Rory," she said, "let's go and get some buffet, yo!"

Rory just glanced when Jace abandoned her for Antony, then turned her attention back on Chris, arm in arm with Wisp. She took her arm, though, away, placing her hands on her hips and marched up to him.

"So, you just turned today? Is that true?" she asked him seriously. Then deflated with a sigh before looking back at Wisp. "Should I forgive him?"

Chris waited impatiently for Wisp's answer.

Antony slid a hand around Jace's waist, resting a hand on her hip. "They have some six different flavors of soda," he told her casually. "As well as food enough that Chris hasn't eaten all of it. Want to go get some before Chris gets to it?"

"Bea!" Missy said, finally coming out of the front room. "Please, give Chris your coat and come on in! All of you do that, actually," she added. "He's learning to be a gentleman now, or I'll have to beat it into him."

Wisp turned Rory around in obvious super-secret powwow, voice low as she brushed her pink-streaked hair out of her face. "Yeah, forgive him," she whispered, "but don't be too like, 'oh I forgive you everything!', be more like, 'okay I guess I can forgive you THIS TIME,' just so that he knows he can't mess you around. Even if you're like 'oh Chris you are such a hottie,' which he totally is, except he's like my kid brother so it's not like I'm all, 'woo!'."

Beatrix was taking off her coat, and consented to give it to Chris; she was smiling, though it was a wry Dr. Darnell smile. "I can't imagine you beating anyone into anything," she told Missy, "but I can well believe -- hullo, Antony; and congratulations on growing, Christian."

"Six types of soda," Jace was saying, and she was already fiddling with the tie of Antony's ponytail. "God, the excitement. Let's go get some food before Chris stuffs his huge fat a** -- sorry, Chris, you're like the size of a house, man, I'm kind of nearly worried about my ability to try to beat you up. -- C'mon, man, I'll let you pour me some Coke if you're a good girl." (Antony did not look like a good girl.)

Rory whole-heartedly took that advice, turning back to Chris with a serious look on her face. He was a hottie now, though. That was like a bonus! "Alright. I suppose I can't forgive you -this time-," she told him, poking him in the chest. He was like a rock, took. "But don't forget to tell me again, got it? Got it."

Then she held out a large, circle shaped present, that looked like it was a pain in the butt to wrap. "And because you are forgiven, you can have your gift."

Jace looked at him, his shoulders shaking in silent laughter, and she grinned herself; took a paper plate and started judiciously piling up her plate, his laughter at the situation a little infectious. "Yeah," she said, sotto voce. "The boy is looking at a lifetime of being henpecked."

Chris probably wouldn't mind.

The little blonde, however, clapped her hands together, and she had shone like a lantern when Chris had leant down and kissed her best friend on the cheek. The operation was obviously going into a success. She leant forward to dape her knuckles together on Rory's, the little star on her cheek crinkling as she smiled. "Yessss," she said.

Rory was still stunned by this act (and in front on others). It was one thing to give a boy a kiss; it was something else to be kissed by a HOTTIE. Then she gave a slightly stupid grin at Wisp in return, blushing. "Yeaahh, anyway. You are awesome. Thanks! Now, we'd better do like your sis and Antony and get some food things. I got you a gift too."

"That's not the only thing," Antony admitted quietly as he made his plate. "He stands by me waiting for people to show up and tells me that he read my present. Twice. Because otherwise it'd be a waste of ten bucks."

Chris took his time putting the coats away, waiting for his flush to go away. He felt like a little kid in a teen's body. It sucked. But finally he headed back in, knowing his parents would yell at him if he didn't.

"Welcome," Tyler said as he saw all of them. "We're going to eat first, then exchange gifts, if you've brought them. Chris decided the order of events." Which was said a bit dryly.

"Chris is kind of a d**k in private," admitted Jace, with absolutely no sign of censorious or even disapproving. In fact, it sounded like something she liked about the youngest Deakon, something to slightly admire. Anyone who hung around with Wisp and Rory had to have some kind of personality secret to cope with it. "Pass those meatball things, wench. Damn, I love Chris' mom's cooking."

Her mother had sat down next to Tyler and the other adults; "Wisp, go and get the bag out of the car before we eat," she said, Thwomp hovering around near her shoulder. "I thought you were going to bring it in."

"Whoops, moment of suckage," announced her youngest, who darted out after Beatrix dangled her keys at her -- all really overly tight jeans and her retro 80s leotard top revealing that it was pretty much backless. Someone would have to tell Beatrix eventually that Wisp dressed like the cast of Dirty Dancing by way of youthful pole dancer.

"Hurry or you're going to freeze!" Rory teased her friend, but didn't offer to go back out. Instead, she was getting herself some food too.

"Missy, I hope you don't mind, but I did bring my fiddle, if you want some kinds of old fashioned music going on," Ze said with a grin. She had taken a seat with the other adults as well, having already grabbed some food.

"Oh, I don't want you to feel like you have to work!" Missy said. "But if you'd like to play a song or two after we unwrap presents you know I'm not going to stop you," she added with a grin. "I'm so glad you both could make it here tonight! Chris was so nervous earlier."

Then she frowned ever so slightly as she caught sight of Wisp running out the door. She would have to do something about that outfit, she thought with an inward sigh.

"It's because he hates me," Antony said cheerfully. "It's rather entertaining--" then he stopped as Rory got there. He would rather she not hear that conversation.

Chris came in with the present, placing it under the tree with the others before heading for the table as well.

Wisp came back in with pink cheeks -- matched her lipgloss -- and a large plastic bag full of lumpy objects. "Ho ho ho," she said, "Merry Christmas," and knelt down to start unpacking them briskly underneath the tree.

Plate finally piled high with food (it wasn't like Beatrix was an awful cook, but the fact was that Missy was a very good one) Jace collapsed down in her chair: "You can sit on my knee," she offered to Antony, guffawing at her offer.

"I'd say that sounds more than a little uncomfortable," said her mother, "considering what your knee is like."

"It's Antony. He likes suffering that way."

"I'm certain he doesn't," said her mother(and his faux-aunt -- did that make Jace his cousin?) wryly. "I apologise for her, as ever, Antony."

Rory was a little bothered by the fact the talking that had been going on stopped when she got to the table to get food. Then she shrugged it off as being a little edgy after Chris kissed her. Her plate also piled high with food, she took a seat on a cushioned foot stool. Just because she could.

"Mom had be bring my violin as well," she told Missy, then looked to where Wisp was coming in again. "What you get me, Wisp??"

"That wont be a problem, since I like to play," Ze assured her.

Chris sat in the chair behind Rory, starting in on his new plate of food without a thought. "Oh dear," Missy said. "He's probably finished off all the salmon balls again, Wisp, would you mind helping me get some more from the kitchen?"

Chris looked up, swallowing loudly. "There were only ten left," he said a bit guiltily.

"And had there been twelve you would have done the same thing," she teased as she stood and headed for the kitchen.

"Hee, I'm not telling you until you open it," the blonde informed her best friend, swinging around behind Missy as she followed her into the kitchen. "Otherwise it wouldn't be a surprise. I think it's pretty awesome, though. -- Are you and your mom going to play the violin? Say yes! Please please please! I've never heard you and your mom play together, that'd be rad chillies..." Then she disappeared behind the older woman.

"See, now look what you did," Jace said wearily to Rory. "She's all excited now. She'll pee on the carpet."

Testament to how much Beatrix had mellowed out that she only said: "We'll cover the floor with newspapers where she's sitting."

Rory choked, then started to laugh at that. It was sooo wrong to laugh at your best friend being made fun of, but she couldn't help it! Then she elbowed Chris's knee. "You shouldn't take so many, even if you like them. We're guests. You have to leave some for those of us who -don't- get your mom's cooking all the time."

Then she pouted, looking at her two rolls. "I was hoping to get more later..."

"It's not much, but we'll do it," Ze'zee said, then winked at Jace. "So, you might want to find that newspaper."

Antony was sitting on the armrest of Jace's chair, balancing his plate as if he did this sort of thing daily. "Don't worry, Aunt Beatrix. I'm quite used to it by now, I'm afraid," he said. "So how long have you two been going out?" he asked Chris, only a bit evilly.

Chris jerked, swallowing loudly at the question and forgetting to reply to Rory's jibe. "Huh?" he asked. One moment he had been hanging out with his best friend, eating his favorite non baked snack, the next he was put on stand by the blue boy. Not fair!

"Going out," Antony repeated. "As in dating. I thought she didn't know you were a teenager yet, but it seems that doesn't seem to matter. That kiss back there--"

"I knew this would happen, of course," Missy said as she bustled around the kitchen, getting the supplies out of the fridge. "Which is why I only made a few dozen up front. We're going to have to make more now, I hope you don't mind?" she added to Wisp. "But that'll give us time for a little girl talk!"

"I love girl talk!" said Wisp blithely, and she did, and she loved watching Missy make food: would probably attempt to help as well, but mostly just pass things, make conversation and look cute, since Wisp was not the world's most incredible cook. She grinned, lighting up -- Jace was forced to admit that Wisp was really pretty, but maybe crazy did that to a person. She followed Mrs. Deakon back into the kitchen.

"Unless you're not dating," she added, already catching on to Antony's pretty a*****e-ish and therefore hilarious line of conversation. She popped a meatball in her mouth. "Because, damn, I know like six guys who'd snap Rory up like that. Hey, I don't think you're too bad-lookin' either, sugar britches." (Aurora was probably going to kill her, but it was all in the name of lulz.)

Rory was secretly game. If she could get Chris to admit to something like that, or at least -ask- her, then it was all for the good. "Really? Is that why guys keep walking into poles when I jog past them in PE?" she asked, cocking her head to the side in a not-so-innocent fashion.

At least she had learned how to control her speed, so when she said jog, that was more like a normal person's run. Her type or running, no one else would beable to really get a good look at her. She would have been a blurr.

A murderous expression crossed Chris's face, both at the pole comment and at Antony and Jace bringing this up so soon after he had grown. "We aren't dating," he muttered. "What about you two?" he added. "Since you seem to be so... close." It was easy enough to change the subject.

Antony just smiled, mildly. "Oh, we're not dating," he said simply. He took a drink of his pop, still enjoying this situation. It was revenge for the Christmas present comment and he was mature enough to know it, while being immature enough to do it. "But Jace is Jace and Rory is... Rory," he added. "And you DID kiss her."

Chris let out a rumbling growl.

"You know, Wisp, you've grown to be such a beautiful young woman," Missy started out as she started to cook. "Have I told you that yet?"

"Chris, that's gay, dude," said Jace, sounding a little disturbed at his implication that she and Antony were dating. But then she changed the subject as well: "I think everyone's pretty much expecting Chris and Ror to date, right? It's like how every tard at school kind of expected Riley and Iggy to get together, which just proves their lives are boring-a**." (Everyone except Wisp, that was.)

Wisp was happily in the kitchen, or else that comment would have started to make her very flustered; she blushed at a compliment from the woman she considered to be probably the most beautiful woman found anywhere, and always had done ever since she was small: Missy was beautiful. It was undeniable. "Do you really think so?" she said, a little hopefully. "You're not just all, oh that's Wisp I better tell her she's cute, because hey Rory is so gorgeous she might feel bad. I mean I think I'm pretty cute, you know? But beautiful's like, the b-word, it's huge."

Rory was very wisely not jumping on Chris about dating. She wanted him too a lot. A whole heck of a lot, but this was his first day, so she was going to have a bit of mercy on him. "Wait.. you mean Iggy's got, or might have a girlfriend?" she asked, going on to a whole new conversation.

Basically, she wanted to know for Wisp's sake.

Antony sighed. "Lord I hope not," he muttered. He would rather have Iggy dating Wisp. He didn't like Riley, he never had. She rubbed him wrong for some reason. It was shocking that Jace didn't, to be honest.

Chris's attention was on Jace. "Jace... you're a girl," he said finally. How was it gay if she was a chick? That completely baffled him and distracted him from being teased about Rory. But Antony had a point, a betraying thought said in the back of his head. Rory was... Rory.

"You're a very beautiful girl," Missy repeated, giving the girl a "MOTHER" look. "Would I lie to you about something like that? But there is one little problem, honey, and I really think we should discuss it now before it gets worse."

Terror immediately awoke in Wisp's breast, and she looked at Missy with a slight deer-in-the-headlights expression. What was wrong? Did she have a zit? Didn't Missy like her hair? She could streak it different colours; she was planning on it, anyway. Was she getting fat? Was it the fact that she didn't have huge boobs like Irelia? She swallowed -- she had to remember she was a superhero -- and calmed down, managing to croak out a tiny, "Yes?"

"Damn, boy," her sister was complaining at Chris, "I don't point out that you're a big-a** black demon dude." After this baffling statement, stealing a meatball from Antony's plate and popping it into her mouth before he could steal it back, she added: "And nah, Ror, Iggy doesn't have a girlfriend -- Wisp keeps trying but I don't think he notices she has boobs. What, you want him?"

Thankfully Zee, Tyler and Beatrix were all apparently involved in adult conversation, rather than listening in on the who-dates-who.

"Nope," Rory answered, poping a meatball of her own in her mouth before going on. "As a best friend to Wisp, I wanted to know if he had someone else. But since he hasn't clued in to all of this yet, the answer would be no."

It was all to easy to not look at Chris, with the way they were sitting. At least that worked out! She then gave Antony and Jace a very curious look. In some twisted, messed up way, they'd be interesting together. Together-together, and not just friends.

Chris shrugged. "Don't have to, I've got mirrors," he said simply. "And trouble going through doors. And the little problem when I was a kid with ripping arms off of chairs. Kinda hard to forget what I am."

Antony had a disturbing image of Chris ripping off other types of arms. It was a bit too easy to picture, so he decided to change the subject. "These aren't really meatballs, are they?" he asked, curiously. "Since you're vegetarians, right?"

"Yeah," Chris said. "So some of them are fish, and some of them are mushroom. I like the fish the best." And he promptly tried to steal one of Rory's. Which was flirting, but Antony didn't mention it.

"Oh, Wisp, it's not the end of the world!" Missy said, seeing that look on her face. "It's just, well, honey, do you really have to wear such revealing clothes?"

"They're not meatballs," Jace said, "they're cheatballs. God I am hilarious." (She then proceeded to crack up at her own joke, though she was a little amazed at how Missy managed to make fake meat taste as good as real meat. She hadn't even noticed.)

The tiny blonde looked up at Missy with a blank expression, as though not quite sure what she meant. She looked down at her clothes: tight jeans, wicked-cool leotard that was totally hot, leg warmers, arm warmers. The chunky necklace of blue beads Irelia had given her for Christmas. Then it hit. "Oh," she said, puzzled, "oh -- oh, Missy, I'm like, reclaiming my sexuality, right? I'm all hitting a blow for womankind. I'm like, I am so proud of my femininity. I have to dress this way, right? I'm a rebel!"

But she added a little doubtfully: "It looks like I'm being rebellious, right, Missy?"

"My fish-meat ball," Rory said, quickly stabbing said meat ball that Chris was trying to steal and popping it in her mouth. In doing so, however, she left a salmon roll open for grabs.

With her attention on Chris, she couldn't laugh, or snicker, at Jace (or her joke).

He grabbed the salmon roll, popping it into his mouth with a triumphant air. "I like the salmon rolls better, anyway," he teased her.

"Even if they're not meat, they're a million times better than anything anyone in my family can make," Antony drawled, guarding his own plate now that people were stealing. "A household of bachelors doesn't make for great fare."

"Wisp, do you really think that femininity is tied up in showing off your body?" Missy asked softly as she rolled the balls. "Don't you think that there are some much more important factors? Such as your thoughts and beliefs and actions? Do I seem less feminine when I wear more modest clothes?"

It was better than M.B.'s cooking too, even if they lived in a house of bachelorettes. But M.B. wasn't bad. She was a dab hand at stuff like grilled cheese. She just wasn't Missy, who was a kind of domestic goddess. "So did you get that notice home for sex ed.," Jace said. "I can't believe they have to notify your 'rents on that kind of grab-a**."

Wisp tilted her head, obviously troubled. "No," she said, "but you always look gorgeous, that's different, right? I'm more -- I have to make a statement! Like -- do I really look skanky," she finally said, doleful. "I just like wearing bright colours and skinny jeans and things. And rainbow bracelets. And side ponytails."

Rory gave Chris a dirty look for stealing her salmon roll. "That was mine, ya know." Her mom wasn't Missy either, with the cooking, but it was also good. At least both of them could read a recipe and go from there. And hopefully not burn anything. Then her attention turned to Jace once more. "That sex ed class? Yeah... why'd they have to go off and do that?"

It was embarrassing, on a level, after all.

"It sucks," Chris muttered, flushing again. "It's gonna be worse now that I'm older. Dad already told me the basics, so why does that hippy chick gotta go over it?"

"I doubt it can get worse, to be truthful," Antony said with a sigh, agreeing with Chris on this one fact. Lindy wasn't his favorite teacher by any means.

"None of those things are bad," Missy said. "Used in moderation, that is. Wisp, you're a sweet, funny, adorable girl. You should make people focus on that fact instead of your body alone. There's so much you have to share, you know?"

"I dunno, guess it's required for teens," said Jace, immediately bored and finishing off the rest of her food in case her friend thought he needed to steal some back. Antony probably wouldn't. He was honourable that way. Wouldn't steal your cheatballs. "Least it'll be more interesting than normal health. I mean, it'll probably be funny-a**, right?"

All would be redeemed if Ms. Lindy somehow made it funny-a**.

"Do you really think so?" said Wisp, who looked entirely discombobulated. "I mean, if you think -- I mean, I'll try, Missy." She still looked a little woebegone. She also looked doubtful, as though she maybe thought people didn't really ever focus on Wisp being sweet, funny or adorable.

"I guess we have no choice but to find out," Rory added with a shrug. School was pretty awful that way. Just when you were getting the hang, and doing well in all other classes, they had to throw something new into it all.

Rory finished off her food and looked towards the kitchen. Now, where was Mrs. Deakon and those other salmon rolls?

"I know you'll do great," Missy said, handing her a plate of the food and kissing her cheek. "Because I believe in you, Wisp. Now go take these out there before Chris suddenly decides to eat everyone else's."

The movie had proved decent with the bonus of being fast paced enough that the ever-restless Ignacio had remained relatively still, blindly reaching for and downing popcorn on a semi-regular basis. Of course, this had lead to some accidental finger brushes with Wisp but he had merely grinned sideways at her and re-focused on the movie. Clearly, touching the rainbow girl presented no problems for him. Now, as the credits rolled, he swallowed his last handful and reached out to take the empty bucket from her. "I'll take care of this," he offered. Absently, he retrieved a few napkins that had fallen to the floor and pushed them into the bucket. "There should be a garbage can on the way out." With that announcement, he bounced to his feet and looked down at her expectantly.

The pink-streaked blonde girl picked herself up from the chair, blinking her eyes in the way that most people did once a film was done: stretching a little, making the chunky hoop bracelets on her wrist jangle merrily in wake-up. She still had a little bit of the deer-in-the-headlights expression that she'd seemed to have the moment Iggy had joined the others, but less of the staring, awkward silence. There was still something a little hesitant and clumsy about Wisp, though, as she said: "Did you like it? I wasn't bored, sometimes I get -- bored, I hope that doesn't sound like I'm a dumbass. It makes me sound like I'm a dumbass, doesn't it."

She added her Skittles wrapper to the communal trash bucket and followed closely behind him, arms folded, as they trailed out of the theater. Not only was Nacho the type of guy to throw away all his trash, but he picked up un-obvious trash. It was enough to make anyone hyperventilate.

"No, it's cool," he reassured her. He glanced back over his shoulder and grinned whitely. "I wasn't bored either. It was pretty good. I liked the car chases." Reaching the door at the back, he held it open for her. "I don't think you're a dumbass."

That made her smile blossom: she was about to protest the held-open door, but decided not to at the last minute, waiting outside on her tippy-toes for him as she clasped her hands in front of her. There was no sign of either Jace or Antony; they were probably going to have to wait in the lobby -- or her sister and Antony were already there. She wasn't too into thinking about them. "The special effects were pretty cool," she said, "like, the exploding building? When he was running away from the FBI."

Wisp fell in next to him. The bucket of trash went into the can.

"Totally cool." Iggy pointed towards a poster of the movie they had just seen, plastered along the wall opposite them. There was a bit of clear space beneath it and a low bench. "How about we go over there and wait for the other two?" he suggested. "Man, can you believe they couldn't get seats near us? Kinda stinks, huh? I hope they had somewhere they could see okay."

"I guess everyone just wanted to see this movie," she said blithely, which quietened the suspicious demons that thought maybe Jace and Antony had disappeared for a reason; leaving her specifically alone with Nacho, to sink or swim. She plopped herself down on the bench that he'd indicated, fiddling with the sleeves of her sweater before reapplying her lipgloss in a slight fit of teenage nerves. "So um do you see lots of Riley lately."

She regretted the question immediately.

Especially since Iggy could no better hide emotion than she could and his face immediately fell as he looked down at his feet. Then he jammed his hands into his pockets and scooted back until he could lean against the wall next to her bench. "Nah, not much," he said quietly. "I don't know why. I hope she's not mad at me or something. I don't think I've done anything wrong."

Her heart was immediately filled with pity for him. "Well," she said, "I mean, it could be that she's busy? Why don't you write her a letter? Like sometimes when you're friends with someone and you haven't seen them for a while, people get embarrassed and think the other person's pissed off at them. So they don't talk to the person at all because they're worried and maybe Riley's like, 's**t I haven't talked to Iggy, I am the crappiest song played on the saddest guitar.'" Vaguely aware of how she was shooting herself in the foot, the blonde girl tapped at one of her earrings and said; "I'll help if you want. I mean, if that's cool."

Strangely, that made Iggy laugh and he shook his head, tilting his body to smile a bit at Wisp. "You don't really know Riley, do you?" he asked rhetorically. "Nah, I'll just find her and talk to her some time. Things are crazy this time of year. Dad says that, anyway. If she's mad at me, she'll just hit me and we'll get over it. No big deal." He smiled a bit more. "You're sweet, though. Thanks."

Wisp ducked her head, fine strands of the bleached blonde falling over her forehead. She sank back on the bench, arms behind her head, looking up at the ceiling; shifting her hips a little so that the Rainbow of Light stopped digging into her stomach. For some reason, Iggy saying she was sweet made her a little depressed. "I'm not really sweet," she said, dolefully. "I'm totally being two-faced, Nacho."

"Huh? No way." Iggy pulled his hands from his pockets and dropped down to sit beside her. One of his hands touched her shoulder briefly. "Not possible, Wispy," he assured her. "You're good. I think kittens would die of shock or something if you lied. Don't worry about it. Don't feel bad 'cause a letter won't work."

She was still doleful when she looked at him, though a little bit of grievance had entered her eyes. "You don't have to really call me 'Wispy' if you don't want to," she said, faltering over her impatience with it, "I'm not a kid any more, Nacho, I'm." She was a punk revolutionary. She committed acts of civil disobedience. Punks did not get all hand-wringing with the guy they were crushing on. Iggy was so nice. It was why she was blurting. "I kind of don't feel that bad a letter won't work, that's why I'm all 'Wisp you are two-faced and kind of being a jerk.' Because I was all thinking maybe Riley wanted to get with you, you know?"

It was hopelessly teenage.

Iggy blinked at her, confusion clear in his golden eyes. "Get with me?" he repeated slowly. Then his mouth twisted suddenly and he made an impatient noise. Something had annoyed him but far be it from him to explain it. Instead, he reached out to ruffle her bangs and then, more gently, push them out of her face. He was careful to tuck the longer bits behind her ears. "Nah, we're not like that," he finally answered. He met her gaze without hesitation. "Don't worry about it. Really... And I think Wispy's a cute nickname. I mean, if you don't like it, I won't use it. It's not like Antony had to tell me not to use Tony more than once." He tried for a reassuring smile.

Wisp sucked in a breath the moment he started fiddling with her hair; she knew intellectually that the dark-skinned wolfboy touched everyone, especially the little kids at the Liberty Daycare, liked ruffling heads and fixing hairdos and even redoing ponytails for little girls whose hair had fallen out of them. He was good at that kind of thing. She was still holding her breath, and almost forgot to let it out. "I wouldn't tell you," she said, slightly incoherently, and amended -- "I mean no if you think that's cute, that's fine, just, if you think that's cute." (It was all said with the lack of punctuation that came with letting one's breath out like an inflated balloon.) The reassuring smile had not gone a long way; she had propped herself up on her elbows and was looking dazed. "It's cool with me, yo."

"Oh, cool. 'Cause I like it." Her reward for giving permission was a huge, toothy smile. Then he turned to settle back against the wall, sitting close beside her. "And this is cool, y'know? It was fun coming out with you."

"Do you want to do it again sometime?" (This was also said a little quickly.)

"Yeah, sure. Just..." Iggy laughed. "Okay, one rule. No chick flicks."

"Okay." She didn't mind chick flicks, but she wasn't picky either -- looked like she was going to have to see Twilight with Irelia anyway. It probably wouldn't have been fun without Irelia. She wanted to relax so that they could enjoy the film. And Wisp didn't mind action movies, or thrillers; she only got bored during long, boring stuff where nobody was kissing, blowing things up, or kissing and blowing things up. "Are we going as friends or, like. Because that's cool but you have to say, Wisp we're going as friends because, um -- God this sounded so much better inside my head, do you get what I'm trying to say? I don't think I get what I'm trying to say, derr."

"Oh." Iggy frowned a bit at that and stared ahead at the passing people. Finally, he shrugged a bit, uncomfortable and unsure. "I dunno, Wisp," he murmured. "We'll always be friends, though, no matter what." He paused. "I don't think about that kind of stuff a lot," he admitted sheepishly. If Jace or Antony had heard that, they would have done a combination of dying-of-laughter or pointing and saying NO KIDDING.

"It's okay if you don't like me that way," the slight blonde girl assured him, propping herself up further on her arms, looking down at him. She pattered along, blue eyes crinkling up a little with emphasis: "Like that's totally cool. I mean I like like you that way but it's not a huge deal, I mean I won't get all cryabetes like Jace says. Like you're rad to have as a friend, man, I totally get it if you don't think about me that way and don't think you will, it's like, that's cool, we tight."

He considered her words for an entire five seconds. Then, very unwisely considering what the poor girl had just admitted to him, Iggy straightened more and pulled Wisp into a tight hug. "Thanks, Wisp. Thanks so much."

If she had been just that little bit more featherheaded, she would have taken it as hope that in fact Iggy did in fact harbour secret feelings for her: but deep inside Wisp's romantic little heart, she practically felt the death knell of the We Are Good Friends! hug, the type of hug that would never lead to anything more than birthday cards and going out as buds to see films together. The hug hurt much worse than Iggy openly stating he didn't really see her that way: the hug was Emphatically Platonic. Forlornly, Wisp reached around to sort of awkwardly pat his back, looking horrified when she saw the familiar sparkle of drear grey around her head: she had to immediately clutch them down, and when she pulled away from Nacho beamed as though qualifying for the Smile Olympics.

"I bet they're outside, Jace has her nicotine problem," she said. "We could go check."

"Sure." Iggy released her but instead took her hand. He grinned brightly, adding a wink. "I think we should both tell her how stupid she looks smoking, don't you?" Spotting the sadness in Wisp's eyes, though, he misinterpreted it. "And, if she picks on you, tell me. I'll tell her off. Okay?" He tilted his head and squeezed her hand. He really was a Very Nice Guy. "You're cool, Wisp. You're just different than her and that's okay 'cause the world full of Jaces would... Be kinda scary."

She squeezed his hand back before untangling their fingers: Holding Hands might have given people the wrong impression, and she patted the back of his. "It would also be kind of choked with smog," she said meditatively, "and they'd only show what Jace liked on TV, so it'd be just the sports channel with some horror films, so that would suck, right?"

And they both walked into the thin winter sunshine in order to find her chain-smoking sister and Antony, the business concluded.