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[Swiped from Kam~.]

[Swiped from Wren~.]

It's a surprisingly chilly night for this deep into the summer, so it doesn't look so unusual for the teenage Legend to wrap his jacket around him tightly. Not quite noticable from the front, but clearly bizarre from the profile, an irregular lump hides in the protection of Dare's arms, beneath the jacket.

"Guess I don't need to tell you to keep quiet," he murmurs absently, on the alert at every stray noise. What was he thinking, taking her along? He won't live to see the end of this - and knowing his uncle, this could be entirely truthful.

Nuzzling her head into her cousin's ribcage, April closes her eyes and locks her arms harder around his middle, this feat taking barely any effort due to experience on her part. Her feet are the tricky thing, shoes dangling out, exposed by the jacket, at the sides of Dare's legs. Neither person notices this, however, much too busy with what floats through their own heads.

With the extra weight and the fragility of his transport, it takes Dare at least twice as long to get out of immediate sight of the Tolcher household.

Wren was trying to figure out why he let Mael come along in the first place, but the toddler was jumping up and down at his feet as he walked, making grabby hands at Lafe's swishing white tail.

"I get bit because you grab his tail, you're in trouble, brat," the demon said it loudly enough to get his son's attention who turned a wide, red snake-eye innocent look upon him.

He didn't buy it, and instead snorted, looking down at the growing pooka in his arms. Lafe was quiet for the most part, glaring off into space and seemingly ignoring both of those he was traveling with. His tail was twitching in tune with his irritation, not even caring it was creating a game for Mael to play. He nuzzled into his scarf some to further protect against the chill he felt.

Coming up on the house rather slowly, he spotted someone not too far ahead and coming this direction. He paused for a moment, head tilting, and eyebrow arching. It looked ... like ... there was a foot hanging out of the teen's jacket.

From this distance the teen looked a bit familiar, and he opened up his mouth to call out a greeting. At least, then, he'd know for sure, right?

Feeling the cover of his jacket slip - but not April, no, she's an expert at this sort of thing - Dare stops out on the sidewalk to fix and rearrange things. Having not noticed anyone present, he doesn't mind much that the girl is temporarily exposed as he does retuck the zippered front around her.

She looks at at him in this brief moment of natural light, pigtails brushing her shoulders and eyes wide and black. He's almost sad to have to cover her up, as adorable and innocent as she appears to be. But, for his own safety, and apparently hers also, it must be a clean exit, no witnesses.

Shrugging the jacket on for a better fit, he resumes curling his arms around her, eyes finally strolling up the street. Dare nearly jumps out of his skin to see someone there, and, from the looks of it, about to speak to him.

So much for no witnesses, he mentally groans.

Wren's lips closed abruptly, his steps stopping, and Mael stopping a few precious feet in front of him, wondering just why his father stopped and -- well, there went the tail he was grabbing at. It was now caught between Lafe's fingers, that were absently brushing the fur. The pooka's piercing silvery blue eyes were focused on the snake boy, watching him with an all most knowing look. He knew just what the boy was up to, and was putting an end to it.

Of course, the demon wasn't paying attention to any of this, but instead to the flash of a little girl he knew looked just like April, so familiar that it had to be her, and she disappeared within the jacket of someone ... he couldn't recall.

Just what was going on here?

"Oi!" he called towards Dare, "enjoying the evening air?" Oh, yes, he was one to be subtle. Really.

Dare swallows at the lump that suddenly rises in his throat, nausea overwhelming him. He hadn't even made it to the nearest bus stop, and he'd been caught. How pitiful is that? Alone, on his own escape mission, he'd made much better progress with plenty other people around to notice, and yet not one person saw him leave.

"It's.. just lovely," he replies, keeping his distance warily. "A bit cool, if anything."

He hugs his stomach tighter, more protectively. Had he seen her? Ohh, he must have.. he'd been so stupid to stop and check on her. If anything, keeping hidden is something she's good at, and he'd been the one to ruin it. Perfect.

"Ah, yeah, it is a bit cool this evening," the demon started, smiling easily, and shaking his head as he approached the other slowly, as if treading closer to a skittish animal. "But it feels good, compared to the heat of the day," he finished off with another warm smile.

"Something the matter with your stomach?" Wren asked, somehow managing to put genuine concern into his voice as he asked the question. "Are you all right?" But from the gleam in his eyes, he knew something was up. He was just waiting to see if Dare would make any moves.

Mael had stilled at his father's side, his fingers curling around of the suspenders that weren't worn properly and tugging slightly. He was studying the one that father seemed so interested in, but ... well. There was something not quite right. Besides, Lafe wasn't fun to pay attention to as it was -- the baby was still as could be, silver-blue eyes half-closed and seemingly not paying attention whatsoever.

Taking steps backwards immediately, he nearly trips at the uneven distribution of weight. "No, nothing - nothing's wrong with it, just.. chilly," he assures, with absolutely no assurance in his voice. He's quite the bad liar under pressure, and in most cases he sticks to the truth to avoid such situations.

There's a gentle squirm from under his jacket to tell otherwise, one of the feet rising up to hold tighter to the carrier. April can hear the voices and some movements, but being under this jacket sends her senses awry, causing her to become rather skittish. If she can't see or hear, it leaves a bitter helpless feeling she hates dearly to experience.

Close enough for his tastes, to clearly see that it looks like a child shaped lump under that jacket ( and wondering just how that jacket managed to hide the girl under there ), Wren nodded his head slightly. "Looks like you're holding a bit tight to your stomach there," he murmured, eyes trailing until the focused on the shoe that was hanging out of the jacket and clearly in view.

"... and apparently have grown another foot," he added in with a slight cough at the end, his eyes raising to stare at Dare.

Mael's tail had loosened from being curled around his ankle and he was ... very slowly, taking steps forward. If only to try and get close enough to poke at the mysteriously large bulge where he figured someone's stomach was. Or maybe something was inside the jacket. In any case, he had to have a look -- because Lafe was boring.

( And probably resented being called boring, but he didn't like Mael, thanks. )

Dare bites down on his lip visibly, sliding his hands down to the bottom zippered edge. He has quickly grown tired of the extra weight anyway, and the gig is already up.

"Look, sir, it certainly isn't what you're thinking," he explains, tipping his head to the side nervously. Oh? Wasn't it? "I'm not gonna hurt her, or anything. In fact, she wouldn't let me leave without taking her with me, and well you see it all wasn't supposed to happen this way.."

The foot sways side to side, loose from the clamped grip it had on the teen Legend's leg. Leg warmers scrunch up at the base of her ankles, socks barely visible from the condition of her clothing, as if she had been inhabiting these clothes for days.

"I don't doubt that if April didn't want to come along," Wren said slowly, shaking his head with a sigh, "that she would be latched onto you as she is." He didn't know what quite to say in a position like this, when someone was obviously making off with the friend of a child.

Leaning forward, he abruptly grabbed the back of Mael's collar and tugged him back. "No messing around, mister," he said in a hiss into Mael's ear and he got a disgruntle hiss in return, as well as a sudden n** to his chest from Lafe who did not appreciate being slightly squished in the leaning over.

The pooka glared up at Wren and rubbed his hands at his head and then his ears, before returning his grip to his tail. His eyes were on Dare, now, and he remembered this one from the past, he was sure. But ... the last time ... it had only been a fleeting glimpse.

"But you're not making off with her in the still of the evening? Because that's what I think and it looks like it ..." Wren trailed off, eyebrow arched and waiting for an answer.

"Uhm.. well." Hesitation, which only proves the point. ".. Er, uhh.. I'll stick with yes."

He drops his arms to his sides, the jacket waving gently aside in the cool breeze. April drops her head back, paling slightly to see who it is, only to dig her fingers into Dare's sides. He winces, trying to stop himself from pushing her off out of pain. Instead, she lets herself off, dropping her feet first before releasing her hands [a relief to Dare.]

She sits directly on Dare's foot, as if to protest him moving anywhere without disturbing her. She blinks, looking at each individual one by one before settling on Mael, a friendly face. He'd understand. She waves to him, opening and closing her hand as is her custom, and actually manages a toothy smile. He wouldn't let her go back there!

"Not to firm with a cover story, are you?" Wren wanted to move a hand to scratch at the back of his head, but instead he keeps his grip on Lafe, who still hadn't moved much beyond his gaze shifting from Dare to April. His tail swished a little, which attracted Mael's attention before it shifted to April.

Now, see, Mael knew things were bound to come from somebody's stomach looking a little too full. Wriggling out of his father's grasp, he moved forward, waving at her in return. She wasn't with the one Mael knew to be her father, but with someone who seemed a bit more there than him.

( Mael, as it was, couldn't find it in himself to trust Pippin. He simply ... did not exude that air that called for respect, more like it called for Mael to poke and prod and cause trouble. )

Letting out a hissed hello, as was normal, he moved before April and Dare. After giving April a wide smile, those fangs of his visible, he turned his attention to Dare. The look in his eyes was hard, calculating. He wasn't sure about April being with this one, but ... she was with him, and that had to say something ... Still, he had to look him over anyway. Just in case.

( No, he wasn't protective of his friends. Really. )

"Why do you have her, besides the fact she wouldn't let you leave without her?" Wren finally asked, trying to get somewhere and trying to figure just what the hell was going on in this situation. He couldn't, honestly, let someone take April from the house, but at the same time, he couldn't assume that something was wrong.


Dare tries not to look edgy and vulnerable with the look that Mael gives him; a toddler, for goodness sakes, can't have too much on their minds.. can they? He shakes his head, red hair drifting across his forehead.

"No, I wouldn't say I am," he starts with, eyebrows pressing together in a tinge of self pity. It disappears quickly. "I can't tell you why I took her with me. It was more an instinctual thing than anything else."

He rummages into his pocket, producing a twenty, the only money he has to his name.

"Here, sir, for your silence..?" Whether or not that'd work, he wasn't sure, but talking seemed to dig his own grave deeper. And yet, nothing stops him from continuing to shovel. "I can assure you, we were close once, Turtle and myself. She was just a baby last I remember her, but they grow like weeds don't they?" He attempts a smile, looking more like a pitiful wet dog than anything else, nevermind to be trusted.

Curiosity nudges his self out from inside April's sleeve, wheezing softly and dramatically. Lost! Why had she curled herself up in a way to make him lose himself in his own home?! Huffing, he tumbles down onto the pavement, clicking his tongue in a scoff. People.

The child raises her eyes off her daemon, smiling remaining in a faint line curling upward at the corners. She brushes a pigtail off her shoulder while standing up, mildly discouraged at the height she gains over her friend. Never the less, she pats his bald head affectionately, next looking up at Lafe. Interesting fellow, isn't he..

Wren bit the inside of his cheek to hold back the slight chuckles at Mael's behavior and Dare's reaction to it. Still, he holds himself in check and adjusts the fox child in his arms slightly. "Look," he said, letting out a deep sigh and raising his eyes upward to the sky in slight exasperation, "truth is worth a lot more to me than money, and you'll likely need it if you mean to take her with you."

Wiggling his hand free, he made a gesture for Dare to put the twenty back away, before his eyes softened just a bit from the stern look. So ... maybe this one was someone ... He shook his head a bit, smiling faintly. "Yes, they do grow like weeds. Before you even realize it."

Thing was, Wren had this habit about not being able to do further harm to kicked and wet pitiful dogs, as much as he tried.

It took a moment or two, but Mael eventually deemed Dare all right. He seemed more together than the other one, and toddlers could sense these sort of things ( otherwise how did they know when to mess with someone and when not to? ).

Actually, he was truly distracted by the sudden hand on his head, patting him. Mael wrinkled up his eyebrows, lips pursing and he let out a small hiss. Did she have to do that? Eh, oh well. It didn't bother him that much and eventually he gave her a smile, before following her line of sight.

Oh. Him. Mister No Fun. Mael let out a slight hiss that seemed to relate that little fact.

Lafe's tail swished back and forth still and he was still ignoring Mael entirely, it was often better that way, as much as it probably irritated the toddler ( whether Lafe realized it or not ). Silver-blue eyes focused on April and he slowly, eventually raised one small hand to give her a wave.

This one, she felt ... different. She was a bit different than the other children he was use to, more mellow, more calm -- not so much ... chaotic. Though the larger one seemed to be very nervous and his eyes briefly glanced up at him again, an ear twitching, before he turned his attention back down on April.

Still ignoring Mael, thank you.

Dare pockets the money with a bit of saddened realization. "Oh, right. Money," he murmurs absently. His thoughts are quickly plagued by things like, what will keep her entertained? What does she eat? Should she come back at all to play..?

"I don't know what I'm doing," he finally admits, wearily raising his gaze to Wren. With his luck, this is just a nice guy act, and he's going to report back to his uncle, which equals.. insta-death. "It just feels like she knew what was right and what's supposed to happen."

He couldn't explain it, really, and it wasn't as if it had been a strong feeling, but just a look at her reassures him that he's doing the right thing. .. Somehow.

April dips into momentary confusion, looking between the boys as if to make some sort of connection. Neither seems to want to do that for themselves, that's plain to see. But the fuzzier one, he doesn't have a daemon; no, he looks like he's still got his daemon in him, and it got stuck halfway out.

She waves to him, hoping to make peace with his interesting new speciman. Anyone with their daemon still in is a new and confusing species indeed!

Wren readjusted his hold on Lafe, eyes glancing down to the child and the toddler now near him. They were fine, but he turned his attention up at Dare. April, he though, was old enough to be able to make her own decisions ( to a certain degree ), but he also trusted the fact that if she didn't want to go somewhere, she wouldn't.

She seemed like that type of little girl, even if silent most of the time. "Are you by any chance, Dare?" he asked, curiously, listening to him as he spoke, but still asking the question he had on his mind. He had heard of him from Pippin at least once, when April went missing months back.

For the moment, in any case, the demon is thinking about whether or not he's going to let this slide. Asking if the teen is Dare is just a way to stall and give him a bit more time to think. If anything, he's sure the boy will stumble a bit on his words before he admits his name.

Mael made a small hiss towards Lafe, a small warning to play nicely, but all he got was a look from Lafe that seemed to say the baby would do as he pleased. For once playing nicely as April seemed to be interested in Lafe ( and, really, if Mael wasn't use to seeing kids without daemons, he might've been too ).

He blinked his eyes suddenly, as Suffocation poked her head out of his shirt, from where she was coiled around his torso. He turned his attention down to her, hissing softly, and scratching gently under her chin. Everything was fine, Lafe was ... just being Lafe.

Lafe's ears c**k to the side, eyes opening up entirely and that silvery-blue gaze focused on April. He returned the wave she made in greeting, curiousity eating as his mind. She was different, just like Mael was different and Otium was different. One in two, though he wasn't consciously aware of the fact.

A little half-smile was on his lips, as most as he gave people, and he squirmed in Wren's arms to get a better look at the girl before him. When it came to his curiousity, Mael didn't matter.

Dare gives Wren an abrupt, astonished look. Had he met him before..? He would have remembered the face, surely his memory isn't that terrible. Or, perhaps it was too long ago for him to remember.

Wiping the expression off, though knowing the damage is gone, Dare stands up a little straighter. "N-no, what makes you say that?" he stammers, lying through his teeth. If there's some sort of bad omen behind his name already, he should find it out before admitting his identify, real or otherwise.

Opening and closing her hand in a wave, the escapee child looks over Lafe with interest, intrigued by his unique appearance. Unique to her, anyway, as she's seen little more than the ones who come from the Library, and her new baby brother. [She figures they're hiding his daemon somewhere, or she is too small to see, or something.] April reaches up on her toes, running her fingers through Lafe's tail very cautiously. Someone with daemon parts might bite like one, too.

She stops with mild surprise, looking a little shocked. Her eyes flicker side to side without actually seeing anything, her hand dropping slowly from Lafe's tail. She softly whimpers, a truly worried and pitiful sound coming from a normally silent girl. Whirling around, she blindly buries her face into Dare's leg, curling her fingers around the folds of his pants and tugs. Insistingly, she tries to pull him across the pavement, eyes shut to prevent tears.

There's a soft howl from under her clothing, muffled by the layers but chillingly out of character for the usually grumpy Curiosity.

The black-haired demon arched an eyebrow, lips trying to not quirk at the sudden look on the teen's face. At least, that sort of response gave him some sort of idea he hit paydirt. Without using any other ability to make sure the boy was telling the truth.

"Just a thought," Wren replied. The look on Dare's face and the way he stammered really was enough to make him think that was the boy's name. Even then, though, something tells him the girl's likely in safe hands and as much as he ... likes Pippin, the man wasn't all ways the most observant. How long would it be before he noticed April was even missing?

Lafe's lips turn up at the corners, but he holds back the snarl that usually threatens to spill out when someone touches him and he doesn't want to be touched. The soft fuzzy white tail is a no-touching zone, but he doesn't bite or truly snarl. His ears c**k back, silvery-blue eyes trying to stare down April. There's something about her he can't figure out, like there's something familiar about her ...

Except she's moving back and whimpering, and something flashes in Lafe's mind but ... he doesn't know what. He lets out a tiny growl, shifting and squirming in Wren's arms. The growl is echoed by Mael's hiss, the serpentine toddler sure that ... well, needless to say he thinks Lafe probably did something to April.

Suffocation slithers to a better vantage point, silenting communicating with her forgotten, but otherwise the toddler is caught between glaring down Lafe and looking to April.

"Oi, Lafe, Lafey ..." Wren murmured, trying to get Lafe to stop squirming, but his eyes glance up from the fox child in his arms to April clinging to Dare and the sound of howling he picks up as well. "... what's wrong?" he mutters, but ... doesn't really expect an answer.

Dare springs ahead on this opportunity, guessing it to be his best chance at escape. Lifting April up into his arms, he takes off in a run past Wren. Something slides out of April's sleeve, whether purposely or not, to land roughly at Mael's feet. It's a small hairclip matching the one in April's hair currently, grey with a skull charm. His head swarming with thought, Dare stops a good twenty metres away just to turn around. Being rude doesn't sit well with him, what when the man knows his name and knows his uncle.

"Please, I beg of you to keep your silence," he calls, breathlessly, stumbling backwards to continue moving. "But you must realize that this what's best, and she knows what she's doing!"

Does she, really? Or is his own judgement poor and has it softened at the reunitement of his favourite, fatefully bonded relative?

Wren whipped around, trying to catch Dare, but all he succeeded in doing was gaining a bite from Lafe. It was a sound bite, into his forearm, the fox baby's canines sinking into his flesh and latching on. He let out a near hiss, biting back the urge to say something nasty at the sudden ache in his arm.

Lafe let go after a second, blood smeared on his lips, but a pleased glint in his eye. He wanted to stall Wren, to stop him from moving. Part of him knew far too well that this was for the best too. Wren just didn't realize it and Lafe was determined to make him, one way or another.

Mael gave April a worried look, once it seemed Lafe was contained by his father, and his toddling steps towards her are stopped once it seems that Dare was making off with her. There was a frown on his lips, tongue flickering out, but ... it's what she wants. He knew she wouldn't go anywhere, unless she wanted to. Or so he thinks.

Instead, he moves forward, Suffocation slithering down his body to the ground and goes to pick up the clip that fell from April. He leans over and his fingers curl around it, picking it up and examining it in his hand with a small hiss.

"Fine, fine," Wren eventually muttered, his attention on the departing pair. "I'll leave it be for now, but if Pippin asks," and here the demon wondered how long it would be until Pippin would ask, "I'll tell him." Because, honestly, sometimes it was a bit too creepy when it seemed the children knew the right thing to do and he did not.

Dare's relief might not be noticable at this distance, but he grins widely as emphasis. "Thanks, sir! I'll bring Turtle 'round sometime, once the heat's worn down, to see your serpent-kid."

And with that, he turns and makes off down the street. The night is fresh, though the cold seems to remain in the air. Despite the chill, it's a beautiful summer night. April watches over the shoulder of the teen as one of her best friends disappears; she slides a hand out to try and wave goodbye, eyes full of saddness that won't be seen. It hadn't been part of her plan to be reminded of what she's leaving behind.

"You do that!" Wren called back to Dare. At least, if he can't see the relief on Dare's face from where he was standing, he most certainly could hear it in the teen's voice. He probably could catch the pair, if he wanted, but Wren had two children with him and it would likely be war if he left Lafe alone with Mael. He rakes his free hand, the one that Lafe so nicely bit into the arm, through his hair and sighed.

What was he going to do now? Besides going home, he had no clue, but Lafe was looking up at him self-satisfied and he couldn't even begin to question that look.

Mael on the other hand barely caught any glimpse of April as she and her new caretaker disappeared off. Instead, he thought he saw a hand and waved too in goodbye. Somehow, he knew it might be a while before he saw her again, but until then ... well. He'd keep a hold of her hairclip.

And give it back when he saw her again. That way, at least, he knew he could potentially see his friend again.

[As transcribed by Kam, <3~]

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[Snagged from Kam!]