Welcome to Gaia! ::

((*snoogles Amyla* Hullo ^^))

((--purrs and snuggles Kimie back-- Boo! ))

((Aiee! *leaps and clings to a convenient tree*))

((--sends Ay-oh to fetch Kimie back--

Aiodhan: stare Stop calling me that. --growls--))

((*giggles*
Evan: Ay-oh Ay-oh Ay-oh!))

((--falls over and rolls around laughing--

Aiodhan: --pats Evan and proceeds to stalk OOC Amyla-- Urrrrrrrrgh....))

((*snerks... still up in the tree*
Evan: Mommy fat. 3nodding ))

((--throws sticky berries up at Kimie and runs away from Aiodhan--

Aiodhan: Yes, Evan, I saw. Amyla is going to get fat soon too... well.... --grins--.... yeah, soon.))

((Yay, berries! *eets*

Evan: 'Meela have egg-baby??

*throws sticks at Ay-oh >.> Aiodhan*))

((--throws more sticky things at Kimie--

Aiodhan: Egg-baby? --is confused and dodges the sticks-- Hey! D'you mind???))

((Evan: *rolls his eyes* You know! Drag'n baby from egg, egg in mommy. Mommy fat, then baby. Maybe dragon, not plushie though. *proud*

*tries not to fall out of the tree laughing* I tried to explain pregnancy. xd ))

((--nearly dies of laughter--

Aiodhan: Errr... something like that I guess. --blinks in confusion--))

((Evan: *confused* Why laugh? Ev 'splain!

*cough* Nevermind, Aiodhan, I'm sure Amyla will explain things for you later. *gigglefit*))

((Aiodhan: --pats Evan-- Yes, you explained very well, Evan. I just.... errrr... I'm thinking about other things right now. --subtly throws things at Kimie--

--sniggers--))

((*throws things back* Hey now, this is no way to treat a pregnant lady! domokun

Evan: Good. *nodnod* *still proud*))

((Aiodhan: --growls at Kimie and throws more stuff-- If you're pregnant, then how the heck can you climb trees, and why do you get to throw stuff at me?

--pats Evan-- Don't worry; Aiodhan has been a little crabby lately.))

((Because I'm just awesome like that. xp

Evan: Oh... *blink* Crabby 'cuz Meela gonna be fat like Mommy?))

((Aiodhan: Suuuure.... --starts climbing the tree-- Ahhhh... the blessings of claws.

--snickers a bit-- No, he's crabby because Amyla's been too tired and busy to stay up late with him.))

((Evan: 'Meela not like bed? Ev know bed not fun. 3nodding

Aiee! *climbs higher*))

Kimie Catclaw was not a happy camper. Her ankles hurt, she had to pee every 12 minutes, she hadn't seen her feet for weeks. In short, she was ready to be done. Why had she thought it would be so great to have a child of her own? Stupid! In any case, she needed to get out of her house. Figuring she could yell at the doctor for not talking her out of the whole mess, and maybe there'd be someone else for Evan and Maddie to harrass for a bit, she made her way to Farland's clinic. Looking distinctly frazzled, she entered the lobby, Evan and Maddie each holding onto a hand.

Evan was dressed in his favorite outfit-- green tunic, brown cords, and a little green hat with a jauntily-placed feather. He was, however, sans wooden sword. He skipped alongside his mother, oblivious to her mood.

Maddie had her dark red hair in two pigtails which she kept tugging at. "Where we go, Mommy? Others like me there?" she asked, her fluffy lemur tail held high.

"I don't know, Maddie. I hope so," Kimie answered, a little more curtly than she'd meant. It was quite possible the little girl had come from this clinic.. somehow... She flopped down into a chair and looked around. One corner held a decent collection of blocks, some trucks, a couple of well-loved dolls, and a variety of crayons and coloring books. "How 'bout you and Evan go over there and see what you can play with~"

Raving was in the clinic, waiting for a check up. She was obviouslt pregnant but not as pregnant as the other cat woman in the room. She gave her a warm smile, pulling at her jumper. She saw the too children and gave the woman a sympathetic look. She had a 7 year old son and a 5 year old adopted daughter aswell as many adopted sons. She knew the pain. "Hi, I'm Raving" she said smiling again.

((--giggles uncontrollably--))

When two exceedingly stubborn people live under the same roof and consequently sleep in the same bed, there often arise problems in agreeing on certain issues. Amyla and Aiodhan were no exception, and the entire Raikes-Layden household had witnessed a fight of epic proportions going on in the living room earlier that day. Amyla insisted that she was fine despite the procedure. She was young and healthy; what was a little anesthesia and needle to her? Aiodhan, on the other hand, argued that she'd done nothing but sleep most of the day. How could she possibly be up to going out and socializing?

Amyla won.

Thus, the two ended up back at the clinic for a social visit. Amyla was perhaps a trifle paler than normal, but her chin had lost none of its stubborn set. She tossed her long braid back over her shoulder with one quick sweep and strode in with her normal surety. Aiodhan padded in quietly just behind her, not pleased at all with this outing. By all rights, she should still be home resting, but nooooooo, of course not. The stubborn little woman had insisted upon getting out of the house, and not wanting to let her be out and about alone, Aiodhan had followed.

"I'm on the record as saying you should have stayed at home and rested," he muttered, ignoring the dark look she sent in his direction. His attention was momentarily grabbed by the other guests in the lobby, particularly the one dressed all in green. Boy, did that kid look familiar....

"Oh. Hi," Kimie blinked. Somehow she'd managed to miss the other occupant of the room. Too busy sitting down. "Raving? I'm Kimie, and that's Evan," she pointed, "and Maddie." She grimaced. "And this is the child-to-be. Soon, I hope." Kimie indicated her belly. "I'm guessing you're another of Farland's patients?"

The two children weren't particularly interested in the "grown-up talk" and began exploring the toy corner. Maddie grabbed a coloring book and a few crayons. Within a few moments, she was contentedly scribbling away, clearly not worrying about staying in the lines.

Evan looked at the dolls with disdain. Placing his hat next to him on the floor, he sat down and started rolling the truck around (and making quite a bit of noise in the process).

Edit: "Ay-oh!" He jumped up, the truck forgotten, and ran to the door.

Kimie waved at Amyla, slightly cheered by her arrival.

Mili lurked in a corner watching the girls and children with sleepy eyes... no more staying up till god knows when lurking in a shop to get a good look at demonic vials. He yawned and continued to watch with his fox ears almost reaching his eyes.

Amyla spotted Kimie and smiled, strolling over to snag a nearby chair. "I hope this chair's not taken," she chuckled, settling herself rather gingerly into the squishy armchair. Oh, did that feel better! She caught Aiodhan watching her and narrowed her eyes at him, receiving only a gentle smile in response. "He is driving me crazy," she declared, shaking her head in frustration. Obstinate beast was he, and arrogant was he also. She spotted another familiar face out of the corner of her eye and waved at Raving. Yes, she knew that woman from a previous clinic visit, but for some reason, the name just was not coming to her.

Aiodhan was too busy worrying over Amyla from a distance to recognize his name being called, but he did spot a green thing running across the room to him. He turned to spot a boy that looked remarkably like Evan coming towards him. One eyebrow nearly disappeared into his hairline. Wow.... if that was Evan, he'd obviously grown! "Errr.... Evan?" he asked stupidly, lightly folding his wings back against his spine.

"I take it you've undergone the procedure thing, then?" Kimie glanced at Amyla's waistline speculatively. "I swear, I'm about to explode."

Evan put his hands on his hips. "Of course!" he chirped. "Who else would it be?"

Glancing up from her coloring book, Maddie spotted a strange form across the room. She cocked her head to the side, ears perked up, and stared. "Doggy?" she asked curiously.

Mili blinked a bit one ear perking up at the 'doggy' remark, "Fox..." he mumbled before laying his head down again on his arms. He wondered why the Lemur child was following Kimie if she was still pregnent...

"Pleased to meet you Kimie" she said smiling. "And I know how you feel." she said pointing to her own stomach. The girl was obviously pregnant but not have as pregnant as the other woman. "Did you pick to do this? I'm hoping you did because it really sucks if you didn't" she said smiling, almost bitterly. She waved back to Amyla, recogning the woman. "Hello again"

Amyla nodded, sighing rather gustily. "Yep. Why else would the winged wonder be fussing over me like I'm the world's most breakable object?" she growled, though it sounded rather half-hearted. While she hated the constant fussing, she loved how much Aiodhan cared for her, and she was grateful to see him demonstrating that. It was a far cry from what he was like before. She liked this new Aiodhan better, exasperating as he could be. She glanced at Kimie's belly in return. "Explode, hmm? I guess that means you're about ready for pregnancy to stop and motherhood to begin all over again, right?" she asked, barely containing a smirk.

Aiodhan mimicked Evan's stance. "I don't know. Who else could it be? I didn't expect to see you this big!" he responded in an equally chirpy voice, unable to resist a sharp-toothed grin. This halfling never ceased to entertain him. Small wonder he didn't mind the boy. Don't mind the boy? Ye gads, Aiodhan, you think he's the greatest kid you've ever met! an annoying little voice (that sounded remarkably like Amyla) echoed from the back of his mind. He blinked. Yeeesh.... where had that come from??

Maddie dropped her crayons and toddled over to Mili. "Fox-doggy?" She crouched in front of him and poked at him with her tail. "Maddie," she said simply, pointing a finger at her chest. (Ahh, the child had no fear XD)

Blinked and shaked his head, "Just fox. Not doggy." His own tail flickered about with each poke, his ears twitched each time he was poked in the general area around his face and proceaded to make a murr sound. "Mili." he said pointing to him self.

Kimie gave Raving a self-deprecating grin. "Oh yes, it was my very own brilliant idea." She resisted the urge to flip off Amyla. There were children present. XD
"Urgh," she groaned, as a visible contraction rippled across her stomach. "It's been doing that a lot lately," she winced.

Evan stuck his tongue out at Aiodhan. "See, I'm big!" He bounced up and down a few times, as if that would demonstrate his new height.

Maddie giggled at Mili. "Mili-fox, not doggy," she repeated, pleased with herself for getting it right. "Why hide?"

Amyla grinned at Raving, trying desparately to put a name with the face. "Greetings. Here for a check-up?" she asked, giving Kimie a fully-fledged smirk. The woman might not have completed the action, but the intention was there. Amyla wouldn't have hesitated to do it herself in Kimie's place. Her smirk turned to a look of genuine concern, though, as the contraction hit. She whistled softly. "How much is 'a lot'?" she queried mildly.

Aiodhan nodded, still pondering over the little voice. "Yes, yes, I see that," he said vaguely, instantly feeling guilty that he wasn't really paying attention. Giving his head a mighty shake, he grinned at the boy, straightening out his own legs and back to stretch up to his full height. He looked down. "Yep.... still a little too short, though," he addd with a mischevious wink, tail twitching about in amusement.

"Um...I don't think thats a good thing" Raving said nervously. She had read alot about pregnancy and that didn't seem good, especailly since there didn't seem to be any doctors about. "Well this" she said pointing to her stomach. "Was all my mothers idea and the vial is my revenge" she said laughing.

Mili nodded aproveing of Maddie's realization then stops frowning, "Not hideing Mili is just nappin..." he closed his eyes again trying to doze off again but changed his mind opening an eye to keep watch on Maddie for his own good.

"Enough to be annoying, but not so often I think I should go to the hospital." Another contraction hit. "Ow," she commented, equally mildly. Kimie eyed her stomach critically.

"Not short!" Evan protested. He launched himself at Aiodhan's tail. "Gotcha!"

(edit) "Nap boring," Maddie nodded. "I color, see?" She waved her arm at her abandoned coloring book, as if Mili could applaud her artistic prowess from across the room.

Amyla chuckled mirthlessly. "I see." She raised an eyebrow at the next contraction. "You might want to re-think that hospital idea," she commented, noticing Raving's nervousness as well.

"Oh no! Someone help me! He's got my tail!" Aiodhan squealed in a false high-pitched voice, gently flailing his clung-to tail about. "Not my tail! My beautiful tail!" he cried in the same voice, trying to hold back a grin as he lamented the fact that his tail was being tackled by a creature less than half his size.

Raving smiled. "Well I'm going to be learning from you anyway!" she said smiling brightly. "How along are you do you think?" She played with her very bright multicoloured belt out of habit as much as anything else.

Mili shook his head, "Nap good Mili tired..." he made a slight hurump sound. He raised his head a bit and nodded, "Coloring is fun yes it is..." he crawled away from the child, all he wanted was sleeeeeppppp

Maddie pouted, poked Mili one last time with her tail, and toddled over to Aiodhan and her brother. She giggled at the pair's antics.

Evan shrieked with laughter, clinging to Aiodhan's tail with all his strength. "Rawrr! Yarr!" he growled between fits of laughter.

"Argh," Kimie echoed, unwittingly. "Um. Heh. Maybe you're right." She bit her lip nervously. She'd gone to the ER with Epona when Evan was born, but this was different. "Oh boy. Help?" Her stomach twitched again.

Aiodhan gave the approaching lemurgirl a grin and wink before falling to the floor, 'moaning' about how strong Evan was. "Oh no! Please not my tali!" he whined, fairly rolling about and flailing his tail (gently, of course, so as not to dislodge the boy). This was kind of fun.... in a rolling-on-the-floor kind of way. Amyla would kill him later for rough-housing like this, but it was entertaining for everyone involved.

"Of course, Kimie," Amyla replied, struggling to her own feet. Drat it. She hadn't even gotten the pregnancy confirmed yet, but she was already feeling like an odd sort of slug. Eeeeeeeh.... poor Kimie must have been feeling nothing short of miserable. She moved closer to her friend, sliding one hand beneath the cat-woman's elbow. "Think you can get up, or shall we wait for one more contraction to pass?"

Maddie was the first of the rough-housers to notice what was going on. "Uh-oh," she exclaimed, pointing at Kimie.

Before she got a chance to answer, another contraction did its thing. "Guess that answers that," Kimie gasped. She let Amyla help her up, her tail lashing behind her.

Evan let go of Aiodhan's tail, somehow without ending up head over heels. "Mommy?" he cried, rushing over to her.

Kimie winced, biting her lip. What to do with Evan and Maddie? They couldn't go to the hospital with her... "I'm OK, Ev, I promise. The baby just decided to make an appearance. Mommy needs to go to the hospital, but.." she exchanged glances with Amyla, "You get to go stay with Ay-oh!"

Amyla cringed as the contraction hit. Ye gads.... that looked painful! She slid her free arm around Kimie's back and under her other arm to keep the woman upright. She saw the look on Kimie's face and gave a nod of assent. Aiodhan could handle the two little ones while they were at the hospital. If this was any indication of how fast the labor was going to be..... yes, he'd be fine. "Yep, you guys can go back to our house while your mommy and I are at the hospital. Ay-oh will take you back there," she said with a meaningful glance at the dragon-man.

Noticing that something was going on, the hybrid rolled himself over and up onto his feet, stretching up to his full height and padding over to the little cluster of people. The reality of what Amyla had just agreed to finally sunk in, and his pointed ears twitched. "Erm.... okay. Sure. Great idea. You take the car. I'll fly these two," he replied, tail tapping lightly on the floor. Great. What had he just gotten himself into? It would be a long day and an even longer night. That he was sure of.

Maddie flung herself at Kimie. "Nooo! Stay!" Kimie winced and rubbed Maddie's back.

"I can't stay, but you and Evan are going to have lots of fun with Ay-oh. I'll come get you as soon as I can."

Evan stood solemnly, his eyes wide. "I'll take care of her," he promised, big kid that he was. He hugged his mother and took Maddie's hand. He led her over to the dragon-man, putting on a brave face.

Kimie sniffled a little, proud that her little son was being so protective. "You two be good," she called, letting Amyla guide her out of the lobby.

Amyla gave Evan and Maddie a reassuring smile. "You guys will have lots of fun. He has a wonderful voice for stories, so make sure you ask for at least one," she chuckled, ignoring the many-layered look the dragon-man sent her way. Then her attention returned to Kimie. "Out to the car we go. Let me know if you need to stop for a minute," she said, nudging the lobby door open with a shoulder to let the two of them out. "Gaia General isn't too far. I think I can get you there in under ten minutes. Unless.... did you have a preferred place elsewhere?"

Aiodhan gave the two women a belated wave. Oh boy.... what had he gotten himself into? He saw the brave face that Evan was making and grinned, ruffling the halfing's hair. "All right.... I suppose we'd better head back to the house. Plenty of dragons for you to play with, Evan, and there are a couple of horse-things roaming about, Maddie, if you're into ponies." He bent down and stretched out a hand to the lemurgirl. "You ready to go?"

Mili stares at everything going on watching Kimie leave now, he shrugged it off curling up almost again snoozing, he wraped his red whine coat around him as a blanket and waited for sleep that would obivously never come. After all, Kimie was haveing her kid!

Eyes wide, Maddie nodded and took Aiodhan's hand. "Bye Mommy!" she called after the departing women. Evan looked up at Aiodhan, trusting him completely.
"OK. I'm ready."

Aiodhan flexed his wings experimentally and gave Maddie a conspiratorial wink, closing his large hand around her tiny one and drawing her close. "I'm going to carry you on the way home. If you get scared, just close your eyes, all right?" he said, extending his other arm to Evan. "Get your arms around my neck, and I'll hold on to you. The two of you put together way half of what May does. We'll be home in no time at all."

Both little ones clung to Aiodhan's neck. "Fly high?" Maddie asked, eyes still wide. Evan took a few deep breaths-- not to calm his fears, but his excitement. He'd be flying, just like Peter Pan!

"Not too high," Aiodhan said reassuringly, standing up and settling one child on each hip. He padded toward the door and shoved it open with his tail, stepping out into the sunshine. His wings flared out to their fullest extent, and he gripped the kids just a bit more tightly. "Hold on, and close your eyes if you need to," he repeated once more before leaping skyward. His wings caught the air once.... twice... and then he was airborne, spreading his wings out to catch a thermal back towards home. He spotted an all-too-familiar car making its way in the opposite direction, towards he hospital and grinned before making a gentle turn and heading back toward the lakeside house. Once he was safely gliding at tree-top height, he glanced at both kids. "You okay?" he asked, grinning at the thrill of flight.

Maddie hid her face, but Evan was thrilled. He was flying! It was even better than the dreams he had when he was Peter Pan and flying off to Neverland. "This is fun!" he whispered loudly, over the wind rushing past his ears. Maddie whimpered but didn't want the big dragon-man to think she was a scaredy-cat! If Evan wasn't scared, then she wouldn't be scared either.

Aiodhan smiled at Maddie even though she couldn't see it. He was terrified his first time in the air too, but he hadn't held up as well as she was. He'd cried, thrown up, and crash-landed. Not fun. He had no urge to repeat that either. Evan, however, seemed to be enjoying himself. "Maybe we can go flying again later, then. I think Maddie wants to get down," he said in response to the halfing's statement. In almost no time at all, he caught sight of the house settled in the center of the clearing. It was an old house, and the architecture demonstrated that. It didn't look 'old' as far as wear and tear, though. He'd made sure of that. "We're heading down, Maddie," he warned the lemur girl before he folded his wings to execute a long, shallow dive for the porch.

Kari was there waiting, standing on the top step of the porch as he backwinged lightly to settle on the lawn. The green Ancient child leaped down the steps and practically skipped over to see her new guests. "Who did you bring to play?" she asked curiously, giving Maddie a wide grin. The little girl had a tail too, but it was fuzzier than Kari's.

Aiodhan gently set Evan on the ground. "Evan, Maddie... this is Kari. If she gets bossy, just ignore her. She does that sometimes. Kari, meet Evan and Maddie," he replied, gently stroking Maddie's hair. "You okay? You're looking a little ruffled?"

Kari gave Evan an appraising look. "Did you like flying?" she asked, eyeing the boy's pointed ears with interest.

Back on solid ground, Maddie stared around. She waved at the girl on the steps. "Hi," she said. -And suddenly lost her balance and fell over. "Ow!" she complained, scrunching up her face. "Ground moved!" she insisted, as Evan rolled his eyes at her.

"It did not, you lost your balance!" the halfling explained. He turned to Kari, his bright green eyes shining. "Yeah! So cool!"

Kari grinned. She liked this boy already. "Wait until you get Miette or Kveairo to take you up. Xyleea flies pretty well too, but she's kind of hard to hold on to with all of those feathers. You wanna go meet them?" the green Ancient asked eagerly, her tuft-tipped tail waving about.

Aiodhan gently scooped Maddie up. "Why don't I get you inside? Unless.... would you rather stay out here and meet our horse and dragon friends? Or are you hungry?"

"You're gonna overload the poor kid's mind. Give her a break," Kari said rather haughtily, rolling her yellow eyes in an overly exaggerated fashion. She was rewarded with a glare from her foster father. "I know, I know. I'm shutting up!"

"Sure!" Evan replied, eager to meet more of the lucky ones who could fly.

Maddie hid her face in Aiodhan's shoulder. "Hungry," she muttered. "Want juice."

Kari's grin turned from eager to entirely too excited. "Let's go!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down on her long green legs and swirling her tail about in circles until Aiodhan caught it in his free hand.

"Whoa.... I'm going to let you guys go, but you know the boundaries, Kari. Stay within sight of the house. I should be able to see you from the windows," he said, giving both of them a meaningful look. "Evan, you stick with Kari, okay? She knows her way around, and she'll keep you out of trouble."

Kari danced impatiently in place and nodded in agreement. "Okay, okay! Can we go now?" she asked, extending a three-fingered hand out to Evan. "You're going to love the wyrms. They're dragons, but some of them have feathers! And Xyleea and Thrynor breathe gusts of air instead of fire."

Aiodhan rolled his eyes at their childish eagerness and gently ruffled Maddie's hair. "Deal. Let's go get you some juice. What kind do you like?" he asked as he made his way into the house. He'd barely stepped in the door before a purring Vidya curled around his feet. "Silly beast. Would you stop trying to trip me?" he asked the young Kaelin as he padded into the kitchen.

No,no. So boring. Who is girl? the feline asked, leaping up onto the counter to watch Maddie and Aiodhan.

"Kay, stay by windows," Evan repeated, not really paying attention. He grabbed Kari's hand (even if she was a girl, and therefore icky, but she knew dragons!) and darted off after her.

Maddie thought hard. "Apple," she announced, belatedly adding a "Please." She peered down at Vidya. "I Maddie. Who kitty?"

Kari more dragged than lead Evan to the back of the house. He was strange. Like the rest of the human-like creatures, he had five fingers on each hand. Wierd. She glanced down at her other hand. She only had three. Hmmm... Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a massive snort in front of her and then a sheet of flame rising into the air. "Oh, that's Thayne! He's a fire wyrm. His mate, Xyleea, is hanging around somewhere. She's feathery. And Alinta is.... somewhere," Kari said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Thayne glanced over at the two younglings, tilting his horned head to one side. Who's your new friend? he asked, injecting a deep mental voice straight into both Kari and Evan's minds.

Kari grinned. "Evan, this is Thayne. Thayne, meet Evan."


Aiodhan grinned. "No problem, sweetheart. And that is Vidya. We'll get her a little bit of milk while we're in the refrigerator." He pulled a carton of milk and a jug of apple juice out and dug through the cabinets one-handed until he found a cup. Carefully setting Maddie in one of the chairs, he poured her cup full of juice and snapped a sippy-lid on top. Nieva was getting into her toddler stage too and tended to make a mess with things as he'd learned the hard way. "How's that?" he asked, handing Maddie the cup. Vidya batted at his leg rather insistently until he obligingly filled her dish with milk.

Good. He smart. the feline declared before daintily beginning to lap up her meal.

Feeling his nose to make sure it hadn't been singed off, he stared at the wyrm. "Wow," was all he managed. "Hi," he added, after a moment of awed silence. Evan liked dragons. XD

Maddie slurped at the juice happily. "Is good juice," she nodded. "Pretty Vid'a." Her striped tail stuck out through the bars on the back of the chair, waving slowly.

While Thayne was lowering his head to greet Evan, Alinta shoved her nose rather imperiously into Kari's back. What about me?? the half-grown golden dragon asked quite plaintatively, her wings drooping to drag on the ground.

Kari grinned and patted the light wyrm's nose. "Sorry, Alinta. Evan, meet Alinta. She isn't big enough to fly us around yet, but Mum says that she will soon. She'll be even bigger than Thayne," the Ancient said emphatically, glancing up at the fire wyrm who towered over her by a good three feet or so.


Vidya indulged in a moment of preening and then stalked out of the kitchen, tail held high. Aiodhan chuckled. "Glad you like her.... and the juice." He padded over and settled himself rather awkwardly on another of the chairs, his tail winding up around his waist. "I know your brother likes dragons, but what do you like, Maddie?" he asked curiously, watching the little toddler.

Evan reached out a hand to pat Alinta. "I'd like to fly with you some time," he told her. "You're very pretty. Both of you," he added, smiling up at Thayne.

Maddie toddler-waved (opening and closing her whole hand) at the retreating feline. "Uh... Maddie like kitties and coloring and puppies and trees and sometime Ev when Ev not hit Maddie." She nodded stubbornly.

Alinta crooned and gave Evan a hug with one wing. Thank you! I'd love to go flying with you too once I grow bigger. Above her, Thayne rolled his eyes. Pretty? I suppose that's supposed to be a compliment, so all right... thanks. He snorted once and turned around to amble off.

"He's grumpy, I think. All of his kids are growing up, so he feels old," Kari whispered to Evan with a giggle, scratching Alinta's headridges.


"Kitties, coloring, puppies, trees, and Evan when he's not being mean. Hmmm... well, once you're finished with your juice, we can head up to the playroom and find Zambarau. You'll like her; she's a purple kitty," Aiodhan chuckled, watching Maddie's solemn face. "She likes to play hide-and-seek."

Evan blinked. Of course "pretty" was a compliment! "He doesn't look old... Just pretty." The halfling nodded, trying to make amends. Shrugging, he reached up and imitated Kari, scratching the younger wyrm's headridges.

"Puhpul! Puhpul kitty!" Maddie bounced in her chair, thrilled by the prospect. "Maddie hide, kitty find?"

Thayne is much too grumpy to accept compliments, but I'm more than happy to get them. Alinta pointed out quite shamelessly, rumbling her contentment. This was fun, being paid so much attention to.

Kari grinned at the wyrm's shamelessness. "Yeah, he is a grouch, but he is a nice grouch to have around. Nobody comes near our house unless Thayne lets them, and he is very good at knowing when people have bad things in mind." She smirked, looking quite feline as she did with her yellowed eyes and tousled fur-hair.

Aiodhan couldn't help but laugh at Maddie's enthusiasm. She wasn't too bad, for a kid. "Yep. You hide, and she'll find you. And then she'll hide, and you can find her. Ready to go, or did you want some more juice first?"

"I see," said Evan, perfectly willing to lavish attention on the wyrm. "I've never seen a real dragon before, except for Ay-oh." He looked Kari over, searching for a familial resemblance. "Is Ay-oh your dad?"

Maddie had to think really hard about that one. "Um... More juice and..crackers. Please," she added belatedly. "Then play with kitty."

"You've never seen a real dragon besides these guys? Wow... " Kari said, eyes wide with surprise at that. Never having seen a dragon before except for.... "Ay-oh? Oh, if you mean my foster dad, also known as Aiodhan or my mom's 'significant other'..." Kari looked proud at her use of the adult term for the situation. "No, he's not my dad. He adopted me after he and Mum.... well.... yes, you get the idea. I'm one of only five of my kind here. I've met all of the other four, finally, and it's funny how different we all are."

Aiodhan stood and made an elaborate bow with torso and wings. "As you wish," he said with mock solemnity, chuckling loudly as he made his way over to the pantry. Crackers? He could do that. He pulled out the box and filled a small bowl with crackers, helping himself to a couple out of the box before handing Maddie the bowlful. "Hmmm... wish I had something for you to sit on to reach the table with," he muttered quietly as he dug the apple juice out of the refrigerator and refilled her cup. Since none of their many 'children' were in the toddler stage, they really didn't have a seating arrangement to cater to a child that size. And the highchair was a bit too small.

"Ay-oh is nice. I dunno who my dad is." He shrugged, then-- "Only four others? What are you?" Evan asked curiously (and rather tactlessly XD).

Maddie didn't really seem bothered by not being able to reach the table, but now she had food AND a drink to deal with. "Uhh... Need more arm!" Obviously, that would fix everything.

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't know who my real parents are either," Kari said with a matching shrug, giving Alinta's head a little hug. "And yep, there are only four of us. We're called Ancients. It is kind of confusing. Mum could explain it lots better."

Aiodhan pondered for a moment. How was he going to deal with this?? "Uhhh.... how about we go eat upstairs with the kitty?" he suggested. Zambarau wouldn't eat much of anything anyway. She was strictly a milk and cat food sort of creature, an odd thing for a lion cub. Not that Aiodhan minded of course; he didn't want to be feeding raw meat to a baby lion. "I'll carry you and the bowl upstairs," he added, simultaneously sliding a hand beneath the bowl to help her support it. He'd forgotten how toddlers had limited motor skills. He'd been an adult for far too long.

Evan blinked. Why would he feel bad? "Ah," he said, not really know what to say to that whole "ancient" thing. Kari didn't look really old! "Any more dragons?"

Maddie held her arms out to be picked up, clutching the sippy-cup of juice firmly in one pudgy hand. "Kitty like juice'n'crackers?" Her long fluffy tail wrapped around her legs.

Kari shrugged again and pondered for a moment, giving Alinta's headridges another absentminded skritching. "Ummm.... well, Xyleea and Thrynor should be around here somewhere. And there is Kveairo too, but he's just got dragon wings. Other than that, he looks like a horse." She grinned broadly, swishing her tuft-tipped tail. "We've got lots of horse-things around here too. Mum just attracts the things, I guess."

Aiodhan scooped up the little toddler in one arm, settling her lightly on his oddly-shaped hip. "No, she doesn't eat juice and crackers. She likes milk and cat food better." He padded out of the kitchen and up the spiraling stairs, his grin broadening as he heard loud snore-purrs echoing from upstairs. "Hmmm... sounds like she's finishing up her nap," he said, stepping up into the open space that made up the 'playroom.'

Sure enough, Zambarau was fast asleep in a sunny spot on the floor, snoring away. She was young, after all. 'Eat, sleep, play' was the general process of things in her life. The lioness cub's tail flopped slightly, and she stretched and yawned, rolling over to sprawl out on her other side.

"We have a lot of cats," Evan explained. "Probably since Mom is.. wazzitcalled. Feline." He nodded. "Dragons and horses are just cool!" Reaching up as high as he could, the little halfling patted Alinta's shoulder.

Maddie thought about this for a moment. "Milk good. Cat food ucky." She knew from experience. >.>
Spotting the lion cub, Maddie wiggled to be let down. "Kitty!!" she squealed happily.

"I like cats. They're not as fussy as dogs, and they're smart too," Kari mused quietly, watching Alinta rapidly getting bored. "Your mom's feline?" She saw Alinta snort a 'thank you' at Evan and then amble off. Hmmm.... something had the wyrm occupied. She was willing to bet that a certain male had just shown his face near the property. Oh well.... Kveairo was probably close by.


"I agree. Cat food is very ucky," Aiodhan said emphatically, setting the toddler and her cracker bowl down on the floor. He had eaten it once as a child and had never quite gotten over it.

Zambarau heard the happy squealing sounds and popped one purple eye open, yawning and stretching quite dramatically. Oiii.... so much noise at so early an hour. She rolled up onto her stomach to get a better look at her visitors, nose twitching inquisitively.

"Uh-huh. She's got the ears and a tail. My sister said she can turn into a cat, too, but I've never seen it." Evan shrugged. There wasn't much use in thinking about how exactly his mother was feline, he was kender, his sister was... blue... and Maddie and the new baby were lemurs. It boggled the mind, really.

Maddie toddled over to Zambarau and crouched in front of her. "Hi kitty. I Maddie," she announced, matter-of-factly. She held out a hand to be sniffed. "Don't drink my juice," she instructed. "Not for kitty."

"That's kind of cool. My mum doesn't change forms or anything like that, but I swear she can read minds. It's creepy. And Aiodhan is just a mix; he doesn't change back and forth." Kari blinked. She hadn't realized before how inexplicably odd both of her parents were. Ah well... they were still her mum and 'dad.' "Want to go find Kveairo? Maybe we can talk him into flying us around," she suggested, scratching behind one of her pointed ears.

Zambarau yawned again, showing off a large mouthful of teeth. She stretched again and sniffed at the offered hand, shoving her nose into the toddler's palm. Crackers and apple juice... interesting. Disgusting, of course, but interesting nonetheless. She cocked her head to one side. "I not kitty. I Zambarwaaaaaaaaow," the lioness said with another wide yawn. She spotted the cup in Maddie's hand and gave it a cursory sniff, promptly making a gagging sound. "Blech! Juice no good anyway. Juice for hoooooomans, not liiiiohns."

Aiodhan folded his long legs beneath his body and settled on the floor near the two younglings, watching them interact. They were both so adorable. Frustrating at times, yes, but adorable nonetheless.

Evan nodded, taking in the information (especially about Ay-oh!). His own pointed ears perked up at the thought of more dragons. "Sure! I wish I could fly on my own, though..."

Maddie giggled and patted the kitty. "Hi Zambaaoooww," she imitated, yowling the name to the best of her abilities. She pulled the hand with the juice away. "Juice good for Maddie," she agreed. She plopped down on the floor and pulled her tail into her lap.

"Me too. It'd be so nice to have wings. Y'know, for the first like... ten years that Aiodhan had his wings, he didn't use them. He hated them," Kari commented, ambling her way across the lawn to find the elusive dragon-winged horse. Kveairo liked to hide and sulk. Miette and the rest of the equine crowd adored human company. Kveairo, however, treated everyone with a distinct amount of coldness. Kari didn't mind. He liked her well enough, even if he was grumpy a lot.

Zambarau let out a soft, yowling laugh and then got to her feet, stretching with all of the laziness of one just awakened from a deep, restful sleep. "Maddie play too?" she suggested, pausing in mid-stretch with her rump in the air and her front legs stretched out in front of her, tail swishing about in the air.

Aiodhan relaxed a bit to keep a careful eye on the two. He trusted Zambarau to not employ any violence in her play, but both of them were still quite young. It was better to be safe than sorry.

"Really? I'd love to have wings. Or be able to fly like Peter Pan. With fairy dust and thinking happy thoughts!" He babbled cheerfully, the subject being a current favorite of his. Evan trotted along next to Kari, taking in all the open, greenspace.

Her juice forgotten, the little lemur-girl squeaked and hopped to her feet. Her juice forgotten, she pounced at Zambarau. "Maddie get youuuu!"

"Fairy dust? Why fairy dust? And why would you want to be like Peter Pan? Wings are so much more graceful and pretty. Besides, it'd be boring to never grow up," Kari said rather sagely, looking quite mature for a moment. The facade was dropped an instant later as she spotted a familiar, sulky black form scraping his horn against a tree stump. "Kveairo!" she sang out joyfully, running for the Sleipnir and ignoring the pained look he sent in her direction.

"So much for peace...." he grumbled affectionately, gagging in an overly dramatic fashion as Kari's arms fastened themselves around his wide neck. "D'you mind? You're going to strangle me."

Zambarau gave a squeaky roar and tried to dart away from Maddie's grasp, tail waving excitedly in the air. "Maddie not sneaky. I teach sneaky," she said, dropping her forequarters to the ground and sticking her rump in the air again. "Sneaky Maddie sneak up on people and scare them. Fun."

"The fairy dust makes you fly. And because... Because Peter Pan fights the bad guys like Captain Hook and takes care of the Lost Boys and lives in Neverland..." Evan stared at the horse/dragon.

Maddie giggled. "Sneaky! Yell boo and jump!" She copied the lion's stance and twitched her ears, her pigtails hardly held out of her eyes.

"Yeah, but it still doesn't sound like fun. I'd rather have wings and fly around and save people like Aiodhan does," Kari said, wistfully eyeing Kveairo's wings.

The nightmare-ish horse gave her a reluctant golden gaze. "Mmhmmm... too bad you'll never grow wings, small fry," he growled, taking a few steps forward to sniff at Evan's hair. "I suppose you're the famed Evan that Thayne was grumbling about a bit ago. He hates just about everyone, in case you hadn't noticed."

Zambarau nodded and gave a growling purr, dropping her hindquarters to shift into a crouch. "Yes, sneaky.... sneak behind and jump," she said, moving to demonstrate on Aiodhan who was feigning ignorance. "Sneak down like this then.... RAWR!" she roared in a rather squeaky fashion again, pouncing on the dragon-man's back.

"Ahhhhh!!!" Aiodhan screamed in mock-fright, falling over forwards and leaving Zambarau sitting rather contentedly on his back.

"Well, whatever. Flying is awesome," Evan amended. He looked warily up at Kveairo, trying to keep himself from reaching up fixing his hair. "Uh.. yeah. I'm Evan." He suppressed a fit of giggles. The hair-sniffing tickled!

"Yaaay!" Maddie pounced at the felled Aiodhan. Clearly, she'd been the one behind the attack!

Kari nodded in agreement, still trying to hug the massive stallion.

Kveairo flicked one ear and snorted. How strange young things were. He could hardly remember being so young. "I suppose your visit is some sort of social call then, hmm? And get off my neck, Kari, before I make you," he groused.

Aiodhan let out a wail of dramatic agony. "Oh no!! Not both of them! Mercy! Mercy!" he cried futilely.

Zambarau preened. "We very sneaky, yes," she said, nodding her dark purple head. "Maddie and Zam go sneak more?"

Evan patted the stallion tentatively. "Not really... My mom's having a baby." He made a face. Wasn't having Maddie around bad enough??

Maddie sat on Aiodhan's leg, giggling. "Feersh! Maddie an' kitty win sneaky game!" She patted Zambarau in a congratulatory manner.

"More small creatures?!" Kveairo sighed. There was no end to the young things that Amyla adopted, and he supposed Evan felt the same way about his new sibling. "Well... having offspring is supposedly a most blessed thing, but I can't understand why for the life of me." He nosed at Evan's shoulder. "I don't bite, you know."

"That's just because you two aren't female! It's a womanly thing," Kari said rather haughtily, stroking Kveairo's long golden mane.

Aiodhan grinned, though he wouldn't let the two young creatures see it. They were so cute.

"Yes, yes, we win. Maddie and Zam good team," the lioness said happily, swishing her purple tail about. She gave a rumbling purr at the caress and rubbed her head against Maddie's shoulder.

Evan giggled nervously and stroked the stallion's nose. "I guess," he said to Kari, clearly dubious. "My mom's just weird like that.

Maddie hugged Zam around the neck, very much pleased with her new friend and "teammate." "Yay nice kitty, we sneak on Ay-oh and WIN!" She chitter-howled happily. Oh yes. Lemur-lungs.

Kveairo pretended to be annoyed by the two youngsters' presence, but he really quite enjoyed this attention. He practically shoved his nose into Evan's hand when he felt the caresses weren't coming often enough. "I've never understood females. Confusing, tricky creatures..." he pondered.

"Mothers are weird," Kari stated matter-of-factly. "They always do strange stuff. Fathers too... but mothers are worse. Mum says it's a 'hormonal thing,' whatever that means. Aiodhan understands it, and he rolls his eyes every time Mum says it. He won't explain it to me either."

Zam purred eagerly. "Winwin! Yes... Ay-oh never know we sneak on him," she rumbled contentedly. Her ears flicked out sideways at Maddie's chitter-howl. "Funny noise..." She pondered for a moment and then tried a weird noise of her own, the sound coming out like a strange mewing roar.

Evan stroked Kveairo's nose with more confidence, at least mostly sure the stallion wasn't about to bite his arm off or anything. "Girls are weird," he agreed. "You're OK though, Kari," he said in a rush. He didn't want to hurt her feelings-- she had introduced him to dragons, so she couldn't be all bad!

"Is a Maddie noise." The little lemur-girl nodded and howled. "Zambarouourrww! See?" She looked immensely pleased with herself for making so much noise.

"No offense taken. I'm technically not even female yet, but that's a long story too. We're born and aren't male or female. We get to choose as we become teens. I chose female, so as I grow, I become more girl-ish. It's kind of strange, actually." Kari gave a diffident shrug and grinned. "But yes, girls are very weird. I've never understood the human girls' interest in things like curling irons. What is the purpose of curling your hair?"

Kveairo simply snorted and elected to not respond to that.

Zambarau's eyes widened at the prospect of noise now that their sneaky-ness had been confirmed. "Maddie noise interesting, yes. Zam noise scary," she said before promptly filling up her lungs and belting out a loud, through rather odd-sounding, roar. She gagged. "Beeeeech! Swallowed fur!"

Evan blinked. Girls did stuff to their hair? His mother never seemed to... (( xd )) "I don't know," he said simply. "Sounds silly to me." He shrugged, wondering how they'd gotten to this particular topic of conversation. o.o

"Eep!" Maddie jumped at the scary-Zam-noise. "Uh-oh! Fur not yummy." Madeleine, Queen of the Obvious.

"Sounds silly to me too. I've always wondered about it. Why do people want fancy hair? I like mine." The green Ancient grinned happily and ruffled her disheveled brown hair. It was just how she liked it: exceedingly messy. "Do Equus fix their hair too, Kveairo?"

The black stallion gave the equine version of rolling his eyes. "Humph.... how should I know? Do I look female to you?" he grumbled.

"Fur very icky," Zam confirmed, gagging once more before resuming her normal quiet rumbles. She stretched lazily, tapping her front paws on the still-pinned Aiodhan's back before leaping off and sauntering over to her toybox, tail waving high in the air.

Evan grinned up at Kari. "I like my hair covered by my hat!" He reached up to demonstrate and realized.. he wasn't wearing his hat! In fact.. had it even survived the flight from the clinic?? gonk "My hat! Where's my hat??" Evan looked around frantically, as if the little feathered green hat would magically appear.

Maddie patted Aiodhan's leg and trotted after Zam. "Play with toys?" she asked, peering into the box.

It was time to visit the Raikes-Layden family. Kimie had heard of Caleb's birth, and certainly they wouldn't mind a random visit.. right? Of course not! In any case, Kimie stood at the front door, Maddie and Madoc each on a hip, the newly-grown Evan at her side.

"Knock knock!" Evan yelled, knocking on the door as well. Kimie rolled her eyes. Oh well, it worked. xd

Evan smirked down at Kari. Yup, "down."

"Hi Kari!" he grinned, and patted her on the head. "I grew," he explained needlessly.

Kimie snorted. Evan was hardly tall, but he had grown-- in more ways than one. "Hey there, Aiodhan. Happy New Year! Figured we'd stop by and see the new baby." The feline stood on tiptoe, trying to see over Aiodhan's shoulder. The two lemurlings fidgeted, wanting to be let down.

"Hey, what?" Evan looked from Aiodhan to his mother, then to the retreating figure of Kari, highly confused. With a slightly panicky expression, he ran off after her. "Wait, Kari, I.."

Kimie couldn't help but grin. Her son was growing up. Both of them were... "Ah yes, Madoc grew.. about a month ago, I suppose. Rather suddenly, of course." She followed the dragon-man into the house, setting Madoc and Maddie down as she did so.

"Amyla~" she chirped, trotting into the kitchen, lemurlings trailing along behind.

Evan stood at the back door, peering out into the yard. "Kari..? I'm sorry.. I was just teasing you..." He bit his lip. Maybe growing up wasn't so great. Certainly more complicated...

Maddie perked up and starting looking in corners and under furniture. "Zam-kitty? Mrowrr? Maddie look! Pounce?" she babbled, dropping to hands and knees. Maddie was mostly good at walking, but crawling was still faster-- and less wobbly.

Madoc kept upright, but peeked around Kimie's legs at Aiodhan.

Giggling at her daughter's antics, Kimie gave Amyla a hug, eyeing the scorch-marks warily. "So he did inherit some of the dragon, then?" She grinned and poked Caleb's nose. "He does look incorrigible!"

Evan made a face. He didn't like people poking fun at his height either. "I'm sorry, Kari.. I didn't think. And it's not like I meant to grow, it just happened!" He stepped outside, avoiding the worst of the snow and put a tentative hand on Kari's shoulder. "Don't be mad at me.. please?"

"Who you?" Madoc demanded, his own striped tail waving. "Nice?" He glanced up at Aiodhan for more information.

Maddie squeaked and jumped onto the couch. "Zam-kitty! Maddie noise, yes, mrrowrrooo-hoo!" She reached out to pat Zam on the head, chittering happily.

Kimie's eyebrows raised as she inspected the distinctly draconic wings of the little baby. "Well hello there, Caleb. I'm Kimie, a friend of your mom and dad's," she explained matter-of-factly. She hid a smirk-- and she'd thought her kids were a handfull!

Evan nodded and offered Kari a hug. "I did get your letter! And the present. Mum didn't really want more pets, but since it was a gift..." He grinned. "Thanks a lot," he said honestly. "I meant to get you something, but uh.. I'm not too great at getting presents for people." Evan rubbed his hands on his arms. "Can we go back in now? It's cold!"

"Air'nn," Madoc repeated, still a bit suspicious. "Not pull tail, kay?" He held his long stripy tail protectively.

Maddie scritched Zam's ears happily. "Zam miss Maddie? Why make Erin cry? Fun noise!" She giggled.

"Things have been going well. A bit hectic, but that's normal." Kimie rolled her eyes good-naturedly and made a face at Caleb. "I'd been meaning to stop by, actually, I found out some things about Maddie..."

Evan shrugged. "She said it was cute, but that our house was awfully full already. The pony-bug is really pretty though; I'm calling her Crocus." Suppressing a shiver, Evan gladly followed Kari back into the house. Even better, she wasn't mad at him anymore.
--
"Mad'k" the lemurling replied, the second syllable of his name coming out as more of a click deep in his throat. "Airr'n kitty? Meow meow," Madoc added helpfully.

Maddie hugged Zam around the neck, doing her own little version of a purr. "Maddie like Zam. Erin silly not to like noises!" She peeked over at Erin and eyed her warily. Imagine! Not like the Zam- and Maddie-noises! o.o

Kimie nodded. "Delightful children indeed," she snickered, heading towards the living room. Sitting on a nice couch sounded wonderful-- maybe it wouldn't be full of Legos and blocks like the one at her house.

"I stopped by to see Farland just the other day, for that very reason."

"Legos sound great. Nice to be around someone who can actually talk, you know?" Little siblings were great. Really. But oh boy did Evan get tired of baby-talk. He peeked around and rolled his eyes at the crush of babies and parental units in the living room.

Madoc nodded. "Not kitty. Mad'k leemrrr. Mommy is kitty though." He nodded again, not at all bothered by the discrepancy.

Maddie was distracted by the sudden movement and pounced on the mousie. "Maddie get!" she shrieked, grabbing at the toy.

"The toddlers, like Maddie and Erin, were.. experiments. She said she didn't know for what... but that somehow our DNA was used and combined with animal DNA. Which is pretty much like what they did for Madoc and Caleb, but.. I'm not entirely sure." Kimie sighed, trying to remember exactly what Farland had said. "I think she knows more than she told me, but then Madoc grew all of a sudden, out in the lobby, and well, there was some commotion."

Evan scooted after Kari. "Yeah, Danica and Elenor are okay, but they usually hang out together, since they're all grown up and stuff." The halfling made a face, but wisely didn't comment on the clumsiness.

"Know 'bout drag'n. Ev like drag'n. Mad'k like truck! Got a truck, Airr'n?" Madoc peered at the girl through his long lashes. "Play truck."

Maddie squeaked and snatched at the mousie. "Zam get mousie, not Maddie!" She flung the toy across the room for the lioness to chase.

Kimie giggled at Caleb. "I try not to think about it too much," she admitted. "It's much easier to accept her as a mysterious child than.. some sort of.. genetic experiment." Kimie shrugged, the tip of her feline tail twitching slightly.

"Oh yes, it was definitely a surprise! He's big enough now he can't really wear Evan's old clothes, so I had to do a couple of emergency shopping trips." She grinned. "I've been in Gaia long enough, you'd think I'd be used to such magical growings, but they catch me every time!"

Evan wrinkled his nose. "Oh, I know how that is... Wow." He stared around the room. "You have a TON of Legos! I don't have nearly that many," he said, impressed. "Of course I won't tell!" He grinned and flopped down on the floor, careful not to sit on any of the little blocks.

"Cars good," Madoc agreed, watching Erin crawl under the couch and return with the aforementioned toys. "Vroom!" He picked out a blue sedan-type car and ran it back and forth on the rug, muttering "Vroom! Vroom!" under his breath.

Maddie flicked her tail for Zam to chase and giggled madly as the lioness went tearing after the mouse. "Yay Zam!" she cheered, on the verge of breaking out with her lemur-calls.

Kimie waggled her eyebrows at Caleb. "It is a bit creepy. But ah well. I wouldn't change it if I could, you know. She's such a sweet kid; it doesn't really matter where she came from." Besides, Kimie knew, there were much weirder ways to come into being in Gaia. Nanda had been an odd plushie, Danica was a bouncing blob...

She followed Amyla's gaze and snickered. "Oh yes. He and Maddie both are quite a handful. She's more shy around people, except for Zam, it seems, but he's definitely a social butterfly. At least they don't have swords." Kimie made a face, remembering Evan and his wooden sword... and whacking Maddie with it.

"Hmmm..." Evan eyed the rather extensive collection of Legos. "Do you have any of the special kits? Star Wars and stuff? Or do you want to make something from scratch, like our pirate ship?" He grinned and plopped down across from Kari.

Still "vroom"ing, Madoc pushed the car around the floor for a bit, then bumped it into Erin's. "Honk honk!" The little lemurling giggled cheerfully, pleased with this new game and friend (?)

Maddie nodded her head, little pigtails bobbing up and down. "Yeh, get mousie!" She patted Zam's head to congratulate her, then crouched down, ready to pounce at the mousie.

"'Color and activity,'" Kimie snerked. "That's one way of putting it!" She cast an amused look at her offspring on the floor, jumping around and making noise as they were. She continued, "Fortunately the Peter Pan phase seems to have come to an end, although he does seem to have a fondness for fighting 'pirates.' I do wonder if sometimes he wants to dash off and discover Neverland..." Kimie shrugged. "The current craze is dragons." She made a face in Aiodhan's direction.

Kari: --is moving objects around with her gift--

Evan: 0_o Okay, that's just cool. Why can't I do that?
Kimie: Because you're not green. 3nodding

--giggles--

Kari: You're not an Ancient. If I could make contact with my own kind, I'd be able to do a lot more. But... since I'm kind of stranded, I'm going to be much less powerful. That's okay, though. Who needs lots of powers? --has a ball hovering at eye level--

Aiodhan: --pats Evan-- Just feel glad you haven't met her newest sibling yet.

Evan: *covers self in green paint without listening to Kari* ... What?
Kimie: *dies* XD

Kari: --blinks-- Ummm... Evan?
Amyla: --shaking her head--

Evan: >.> Yes? mrgreen

Kari: Ummm... there's more to it than being green, you know.

Evan: Oh... But.. Mom said..! *sputter*
Kimie: *radiating innocence* Your fault for not listening to Kari! dramallama

Kari: She was speaking figuratively, I think. --would pat his shoulder but doesn't want to get soaked in paint-- You can't do it because you're not an Ancient.

Evan: Bah. *kicks at Kari's shin, splattering her with paint* D:
Kimie: Uh-oh >.>

Kari: --growls-- What was that for?!
Amyla: Oh crap. --backs off--

Evan: For making me pour paint on myself. Duh.
Kimie: >.> My question is, where did he get the paint? *whistles*

Kari: I did not make you do anything. --folds her arms across her chest--
Amyla: Hehehe... do we really want to know?

Evan: Hmph. Well. *gives Kari a biiiiiig paint-covered hug* mrgreen
Kimie: Probably no-HONSAPS! rofl

Kari: Ewwwww, Evan! --tries to shove him away-- That's gross! Now I'm covered in paint!

Amyla: I think that was the idea, Kari. xd

Evan: *doing his best barnacle impression* whee

Kimie: Yeah... Sorry, Amyla >.>

Kari: --shoves at him-- Evan! Get off! Evaaaaaaan! evil

Amyla: --grins-- That's okay. She needed a shower soon anyway. xd

Evan: Bweeehehehehehe! *flees for his life... leaving painty-footprints*

Kimie: Oh, he did too. XD

Kari: --furious-- Evan! You got me covered in paint! --chases--

Amyla: Well, they'll be occupied for awhile. Hehehe...

Evan: Did I really? >.> *scoots*

Kimie: Unfortunately for him, he's a bit easy to track..!

Kari: --chases-- Yes, you did, and I don't appreciate it! --practically has smoke coming out of her ears--

Amyla: xd Yep. Ah well. Good lesson for the both of them.

Evan: *looks back real quick and squeaks* Eek! Help! wahmbulance

Kimie: I'm hoping Evan learns something here, but.. Kari learns.. what?

Kari: You big sissy! Get back here!

Amyla: --snickers-- Always to avoid those who are covered in a paint. And patience and peaceful mediation. xd

Evan: *runs around shrieking* mrgreen wahmbulance domokun

Kimie: He really does sound like a little girl >.>

Kari: Now you're hurting my ears!! --can't cover her ears and chase at the same time--

Amyla: Yeeeah, he kinda does. I think most boys do at that age.

Evan: *winz* >.>

Kimie: This is true >.> *sigh* I'm going to have a green bathtub.

Kari: --picks up a bunch of leaves and throws them at Evan-- There! Wear that! --huffy--

Amyla: You and me both. Maybe we should just hose them both off?

Evan: *now covered in leaves AND paint* Now I'm really like Peter Pan!

Kimie: Peter Pan wasn't green...

Evan: xp But he wore leaves!

Kimie: Okay, you've got me there... [aside to Amyla] Yeah... At least hose them off first. XD

Kari: --snickers-- No, you just look funny.

Amyla: --whispers-- Definitely. Shall I find a hose?

Evan: *huffs* Takes one to know one!

Kimie: *whispers back* That might be a good idea.

Evan: I'm not a human either! *arranges the leaves carefully*

Kimie: *whispers back* Yup! Fire away! ... or something..!

Kari: You're not? Oh, that's right... I forgot. You're one of those short-sort of peoples.

Amyla: --turns on the hose and sprays the two kidlets with water--

Kari: Muuuuuuuuum!

Evan: Hey! domokun *launches himself at Kari, only to be drenched by the hose* Nuuuuuuu!

Kimie: *cackles*

Kari: --is knocked over-- Owww! Hey, Muuuuum! Stop iiiiiit!!!

Amyla: --giggles and hoses them mercilessly--

Evan: *flops over dramatically and flails around in a greenish puddle*

Kimie: I'm.. not sure this is better, honestly. *shrugs and takes a turn with the hose*

Kari: --trying to rinse out her tail hairs-- Stupid boy got me all covered in paint... --grumbles--

Amyla: --relinquishes the hose-- Why do you say that? At least they won't be totally covered in paint when they get in the shower.

Evan: *continues flailing* I'm not a stupid boy; you're a stupid girl!

Kimie: *points at the flailing Evan* That's why. xd Ah well, at least some of the paint is coming off.

Kari: Actually, I'm technically not a girl yet. Not until I grow again, anyway. --still trying to wash out her tail-- And you're still a stupid boy!

Amyla: Ahhh, I see. Well, when he stands up, we can still hose him off. xd

Evan: *sits up and blinks* You're not? Then what are you?

Kimie: *squirts him with the hose real quick* Ah-HA!

Evan: *too intrigued by Kari-not-being-a-girl to care*

Kari: I'm sort of genderless for now. When I grow, I'll be a girl.

Amyla: Got him! Hey, he looks a little cleaner now! They both do, actually.

Evan: Oh. *blinkblink* Did you get to decide that? I didn't. I just.. came as a boy. I think. @.@

Kimie: Yes, Evan, you were definitely always a boy. xd [To Amyla] Better, yes, but soap will be necessary. xd

Kari: Yep. I did. I was going to be a boy at first, but I decided I didn't want all of the extra parts. --busily cleans at ther tail--

Amyla: Hehehe... I'm trying to imagine Evan as a girl, and it's not working. --whisper back-- Of course. It always is.

Evan: Wowww. @.@ *sits, dripping green water all over the place*

Kimie: Oh man. Evan as a girl... *gigglefit* *whispers* Speaking of... I think it's time for that bath!

Evan: Nuuu!

Kimie: *hauls him away, leaving puddles in their wake*