Welcome to Gaia! ::

*Newton's Third Law 3

Donat's voice was no longer audible, and neither was Arlyn's own. There was nothing. It was like the nonsight of the Anima's eyes had spread to his other senses.

He had to remember where he was! He had to remember himself! He was Arlyn, and he was in the forest, sitting on a log, with his brother!

And with the same suddenness with which the whole ordeal had begun, it was over. There were twigs and bits of leaf litter pressed into Arlyn's palms. He could feel his wings against the branch, too. He was crouched under it now, on his hands and knees.

Full feeling rushed back to him in a pins-and-needles sensation then, making all his muscles tense up and lock.

"Arlyn!" Donat yelled over and over again as his brother nearly disappeared. And then, fulfilling his deepest wishes, the other boy returned to a state just as solid as he had been before.

"... Can you move?" the goat asked hesitantly, leaning down a little to touch Arlyn's shoulder with the very tips of his fingers. This time, they encountered solid flesh.

Tingles radiated from Arlyn's shoulder through his body, until he could feel something actually touching him there. Donat's voice sounded quite clear, though. "Nnng...." he replied inarticulately, still in considerable shock at what had happened.

The goat grasped Arlyn's forearms a little more securely and gently started trying to pull him out from under the branch. It would be easier for him to get up that way, if he did not have to crawl out himself. The Anima's skin felt a little cold and clammy, too, so Donat wanted to be sure his brother would have to do as little work as possible on the way home until he felt better.

"What happened?" Donat asked, though he had a feeling that Revenge was just as baffled as he was.

Arlyn shook his head a little, and slowly moved to sit up and cross his legs. "I don't know," he mumbled after a moment.

He could feel little sore scrapes on his hands and knees from being dragged, but he was thankful more than anything else that he could feel at all. He was here again, and whole enough to get hurt. He carefully wiped his palms off on his thighs, then licked at them, tasting a tiny bit of blood.

"Can you get up? We should get home and tell Daddy...." Donat leaned down to take hold of Arlyn's arm again, tugging gently upwards in a suggestion that he should stand.

"No! Don't tell him," Revenge insisted, flopping a little like a ragdoll as Donat tugged at him. He slowly started to climb to his feet, spreading his wings wide for balance. His tail found Donat's leg, too, and he curled it around the other boy's limb a little, needing more reassurance that there was someone else there.

"Why not?" the goat asked, sounding worried as he wrapped an arm around his brother's waist. "What if you go away again like that? Maybe Daddy can help with his magic."

"I don't think his magic can help," the Anima replied, starting to walk slowly alongside Donat. His body felt better now, but it was still somewhat hard to move. He was not sure why he did not think their father's magic would do anything for him, but it seemed true to him.

Donat nodded slowly and sighed, guiding Arlyn back towards the house. "Alright. I won't say anything." He narrowed his eyes a little. "But if it happens again, then I will. Even if Daddy's magic can't help, he might know what to do anyway."

The Anima hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Okay."

The secret would be kept for now because they were brothers. But the next time it happened, Donat would tell on him. Because they were brothers.

Crossposted in Arlyn's journal

*The Goat and the Dragon

Donat takes a trip to D-corp headquarters to meet his future dragon.

*This Will Only Hurt a Little

*Becoming Big Brother 1

Donat walked alongside his father through the neighborhood. He was big enough to walk on his own, certainly, but something about the atmosphere of the cool evening made him want to hold Kumoru's hand anyway. Kumoru had said, "Let's chat a little, and go for a walk," and while the offer was definitely friendly and the chance to talk to his dad welcome, the goat still had a feeling that some of the news would be heavy.

"Do you remember how Miss Aylana was talking about me taking care of her baby?" Kumoru asked once they had gotten a few houses down the block.

"Yeah," Donat replied with a nod, looking up at the mage. "Why does she want you to take care of it, though? If you're not the daddy." He had been wondering about this since he had met the blue-skinned angel, but was never sure when would be a good time to ask about it. It seemed a bit of a sensitive subject.

Kumoru sighed. "I am not quite sure myself," he admitted. "But apparently her baby needs a guardian to survive, and, by some twist of fate, I guess, I happen to be that guardian."

The request had come completely out of the blue, honestly. One minute he was tripping by mistake over a young woman with a milkshake downtown, the next, the pair of them were sitting in an ice cream parlor, talking about how the meeting could not possibly have been coincidence.

Kumoru was not someone to place too much stock in fate, nor was he staunchly determined to resist it; why would one need to resist something that did not exist?

Daddy always got that look on his face when he thought about big things, Donat observed, watching Kumoru's features.

"I am excited about being a big brother, though," Donat offered after a moment with a small smile. And he really was. He and Arlyn could both play with their little brother or sister - the goat secretly hoped it was a brother - and they could all go for walks, too.

With a smile, Kumoru ruffled Donat's hair a little. Now that the boy mentioned being an older brother, the mage really realized how much he had grown since he had first arrived. His horns were longer, his skin had gotten a much richer pattern on it, and Donat had learned to count with those eight fingers of his. Donat's hair was starting to grow out patches of light brown from the roots, too, in places; maybe that was another way of showing that he was maturing?

"You'll be a good big brother," the mage told him, meaning every word. A little brother might be what Donat needed, too; he was certainly friendly and learning well to be polite, but he just had a certain recklessness about him that worried his father more often than not. Maybe having a little one to look after would instill him with a sense of responsibility to keep the little one safe. Ideally.

"Thanks, Dad," Donat replied. Then he asked, "Do you think he'll be blue? The baby?" He had already made up in his mind that the child would have to be a brother.

"I would imagine at least a little," Kumoru replied. "But I'm not very familiar with Miss Aylana's kind. She is something called a Fa'e, and so is the baby's daddy. You haven't met Lucien, but he looks very different from Miss Aylana. So we'll have to see what the baby looks like."

The goat nodded. "When is the baby coming?"

Kumoru shrugged. "I am not sure, really. Very soon, though. Didn't you tell me right after you came home that you could feel her baby kicking inside Miss Aylana's tummy? I think that means it's nearly ready to be born."

Oh, how little Kumoru realized he knew about how life came into the world, as opposed to leaving it.

"Miss Aylana has our phone number at home," he explained. "She says I should be there when the baby is born, and so she will give me a call when she needs me to come over."

"Ooh, so it could be anytime. That must be exciting!"

The boy's relative naivety was refreshing in some ways. Kumoru sometimes envied that he seemed to fear nothing.

"Yes, she could call at any minute, and I will have to leave right away. I might also have to be gone for a little while."

Now for the real point of the discussion.

"When that happens, I want you to be in charge of the house, okay, Donat?"

Donat looked up at his father with wonder and some enthusiasm. "Me? Really?" When he really thought about it, he realized he was probably the best choice in the house; Arlyn was older, but he was disappearing.

"What will I need to do?" Kumoru took care of so much of the home's working that the goat was not completely sure what all he would need to do.

"Just stay at home and make sure your brother and sister are alright," the mage told him. "I'm still not sure what's wrong with Arlyn, but keep an eye on him especially. Keep Serif inside, or at least close to home. If I'm gone for a meal, I have things in the refrigerator that you can make. You've made things in the microwave before; all you have to do is follow the instructions on the box."

The goat nodded, making mental notes of all of this. His first big responsibility!

"If anything bad happens, like someone tries to break in, call the police, or the neighbors. When I come home, I'll ring the doorbell three times so you know it's me."

"Okay." Donat hoped that no one would try to get in, though.

"Do you think you can handle all that? I can get someone to look after you all if you don't think you're ready." Donat would have to learn to take care of himself sooner or later, but Kumoru was not sure if he was asking too much of the boy too soon.

Sticking one finger in his mouth in a habit that had actually finally been starting to fade, Donat considered it for a long moment. Then he nodded and turned his bright blue gaze to meet his father's.

"I can do it," he told him with certainty. "I'll do it to show I can be a good big brother."

*Becoming Big Brother 3

Donat snapped awake as he heard the doorbell ring three times. Dad was home with the baby!

He hopped out of the chair where he had been sitting and reading when he had apparently fallen asleep, and realized that it was now nighttime. The goat had forgotten to turn on lights.

Feeling his way in the dark, he found the table lamp and clicked it on. He could hear his father jingling keys outside, so he shouted, "I'll be there in a second, Dad!" and rushed to the door.

Kumoru tucked the keys back into his pocket as Donat opened the door, and as he saw the boy's eager face, he could not help but break into a smile.

He picked up the baby carrier and held it up so Donat could see.

"Shh, he's sleeping," he cautioned. "But here's your little brother, Bhel."

The goat put his hands over his mouth and gasped with delight. Bhel was so little! He had gotten a little brother, just like he had hoped, and on top of that, he had horns, too! Five fingers, though, however tiny, but he had horns!

"Hi, Bhel," he finally managed in an elated whisper, wiggling his fingers at the new arrival.

Bhel's even breathing quickened a moment, and then a little hand moved to rub at his eyes. One opened, then the other, and then Bhel's little mouth opened into what might have been a smile before he started whimpering.

"Oh, sorry, was I too noisy?" Donat asked sheepishly, stepping back to let his father into the house.

"No, he's probably just hungry," Kumoru told the goat as he walked into the kitchen and sat down. "Can you grab the formula I bought? I left it on the step so I could pick this guy up again."

Donat nodded and brought it in, and watched as his father showed him how to follow the directions to mix the formula up.

Sensing that something was going on outside of his field of vision, Bhel squirmed a little in his carrier, then started crying.

"Would you like to try feeding him?" Kumoru asked, handing Donat the bottle of warm formula when it was ready. Then he picked Bhel up out of the carrier to hold him carefully in his lap. He was not sure if there was a very special way to hold a baby, but this way seemed alright.

Very carefully, Donat offered Bhel the bottle like the baby was going to hold it.

"I think you have to hold it for him," the mage suggested. "And maybe turn it up so the formula flows right into his mouth?"

The goat tried that.

Bhel fumbled to get his little mouth around the n****e of the bottle, and then suck on it. He slobbered a bit of milk, but drank enough to quiet him down.

Donat giggled, and tried to hold the bottle steady. "There you go, little brother Bhel!" he encouraged.

Kumoru stroked Bhel's hair a little while he drank the formula, and was silently thankful that Donat at least was willing to help him through this crazy baby stuff.

(( crossposted in Bhel's journal ))

Kumoru went through the mail, eyebrow raising a bit as he came across the note from D-corp addressed to himself and Donat. Setting the bills and charity organization letters aside, he tore open the envelope and went through the contents.

After thundering down the stairs, Donat slid across the patch of hardwood floor into the kitchen in his stocking feet. He spread his arms out and grinned at his dad, leaning forward a little in a bow.

"Heya, Dad, anything interesting in the mail?" he asked.

"Yeah, here's something for you," the mage replied, handing the boy one of the forms.

"Really?" Donat took it and plopped down in his seat at the table, squirming as he got his legs up underneath himself so he could lean more over the form.

"Oh wow, they're asking about my dragon!" he said excited. "Is it going to hatch soon, Dad?"

Kumoru nodded a little, then went to get another pen so he could fill out his own section of paperwork. He was still not so sure about actually having a dragon around the house....

"Seriously?" Donat's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "I can't wait!"

And then he set about dutifully scribbling down his responses.