Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aard hesitantly opened the doors to the mansion. Maybe he should have knocked... But he did seem to be able to leave and enter the mansion as he pleased. Unless there was an angry resident residing just within, waiting to chase him or any others away. Like that weird fox person...

Rather than the fox person, he saw a grey toddler and a... Very strange older man. "H-hello," Aard said them, hoping to catch their attention.

Both heads turned towards the door as it opened, watching curiously for the arrival. At the sight of Aard, Isto glanced sideways down at Lyrus and nodded towards the new boy. "Well, go on, another Sinawhatsis. THey're who you're here to see, not me."

"But I don't know him either!" Lyrus huffed, frowning up at his 'brother'. When no reply was forthcoming, he climbed to his feet and started towards Aard, nodding absently in greeting. "Hallo. You're the second person I've seen today who I don't know yet. Hopefully you'll be as nice as the last. I'm Lyrus, who're you?" he finished, folding his arms and eyeing Aard warily.

"Hi, Lyrus... I'm Aard," Aard said, watching Lyrus as he moved forwards. Hopefully this Sin'Aeis wasn't the equivalent of a male Kilah. "Um, who else did you see today? Um, if you don't mind me asking..."

Aard's glance momentarily shifted to Isto, studying him.

"Yukito," Lyrus replied immediately, not at all letting his guard down. Aard. THIS was Aard. ...He seemed jumpy. Teehee, it'd be fun to scare him, but....Isto was here. Dangit. Lyrus liked that motorcycle too much to risk anything right away. "He was nice. Fixed my hand a bit. D'you know him?"

Isto had already lost interest in the new arrival and was seriously considering a nap. It wasn't like he had anything better to do, and they had been here for a while... And with this new person, it looked to be a while longer. Goody.

"Yukito? Um, yes, I know Yukito..." Aard nervously said as he looked back to Lyrus. "He's good at fixing hands... He's done it for me before. And yes, he's very nice."

Aard was completely clueless as to what Lyrus was thinking. The toddler did look a bit... Odd. But what could he possibly do to harm him? Aard was bigger and there was someone older around.

...Teehee. He was jumpy. Right then, Lyrus would have given absolutely anything for Isto to conveniently walk out of the room. Lyrus wasn't exceptionally cruel by nature, but... Well, actually, he was. but if someone was nice and polite, he would be as well. If someone was an open target... "Do you know Kilah?"

"Kilah?" Aard looked very surprised at this, and even jumped slightly. But what if he was a friend to Kilah and Kilah had told him about Aard? "Wh-who's Kilah?" Aard asked, gaining even more nervousness. It seemed that this Sin may be like Kilah as he had dreaded.

But there was still hope that he wasn't.

"Just someone I know," he replied with a shrug, smiling innocently. "She mentioned you once, I think, so I thought I'd ask." He paused, then let his arms fall to his sides, raising a brow at the older Sin. "Why're you so jumpy? Am I really that scary? ...Or maybe you're scared of Isto?" he asked, gesturing back to the SM (who appeared to be asleep). "He's pretty scary sometimes."

"Oh." That explained it. If it was once, it seemed that he may be able to get away with not knowing her.

"Uh, er, I'm not jumpy," Aard stated, trying to force the nervousness away from him. "You ? you're not scary. And um, he doesn't really look scary." He looked somewhat more confident, but not enough to look convincing.

"Yes you are," Lyrus replied matter-of-factly. "And I might be scary. And so might he. Isto scares a lot of people. He's really strong. Broke someone's neck once with that arm." He pointed back towards the clearly visable metal arm, then lowered his voice somewhat. "They dented his motorcycle a little bit. He wasn't happy. It made me laugh."

Straightening up once more, he shrugged, absently slipping his hands into his pockets. "But, ya know, he's normally a nice guy. He just flips out every so often. Gettin' struck by lightening'll do that to ya, you know? I don't like violence much... Stealth's better. Putting glass pieces in people's food. Yeah, good stuff. I like glass."

"M-motorcycle? That doesn't look like a motorcycle," Aard said as he looked over at the metal arm, tensing. "Uh, uh... It can't be that bad. Um... Can it? Will he attack me with it?"

But as Lyrus continued, it seemed that his question was answered. Aard relaxed slightly. "Oh, being hit by lightning cant be good... I wonder if it hurt. But it's good to know that he's not violent."

Aard seemed to tense up again. "Um... Um, will you ever put glass in my food?"

"Oh, his motorcycle's outside. That's just his arm." He waved vaguely in the direction of the door, then shrugged. "Only if you make him mad. I think he's asleep, so you don't have to worry. And he likes me, so I'd protect you. He wouldn't break my neck."

He paused briefly, then shuddered, nodding seriously. "It did hurt. He had to go to the hospital for days, and came home all burnt and bloody. Couldn't even walk for a week!" Right, so, Lyrus was making that up. In fact, he hadn't even been alive when Isto was struck by lightning. But he had heard that it happened, and he could just elaborate off that. "He's okay now, though."

There was another pause while Lyrus considered the question. He eyed Aard throughtfully, absently tapping his chin with a finger. "Well, I dunno... Prob'ly not. Maybe if you made me mad enough. But you won't do that, right?" Toothy grin.

"Oh, okay then. I don't think I want to go near either," Aard stated with a nod. At the mention of Isto being asleep, the boy suspiciously looked over the face of the man. "Uh, he does kinda look like he is, doesn't he?"

"Well, then I guess it really, really hurt. I don't think I'd wanna be hit by lightning. Unless it meant that sh- Er, I mean, someone else got struck by it with me." Aard laughed weakly. He'd almost let that slip. "I wonder if he was permanently damaged somehow - somewhere from it..."

"Okay, well I guess I won't make you mad then..."

"Mmhmm. But I wouldn't be surprised if he is. We've been here for a while, and he hasn't really done anything." Lyrus watched the SM silently for a moment, then turned back to Aard and quirked a brow. "You'd want someone else to get struck with you? Well that's mean. Unless it were someone you really hated, I s'pose. Like Lex. I hate Lex. I'm gonna put glass in his food tomorrow. Don't tell anyone."

He grinned crookedly at the very thought, but soon snapped out of it, eyeing the boy curiously. "Do you hate anyone? I could put glass in their food for you." Take the bait... Take it. But meanwhile, "He probably was. He went and married another boy not long after. Maybe it messed with his brain."

"Ah, yeah." Aard quickly looked at Lyrus and really took in his appearance when he was looking at Isto. "Yes. If I really didn't like someone, I'd get struck just so that they'd get struck." Ooops. Aard noticed his emphasis on someone too late. Hopefully Lyrus wouldn't pick anything up from that.

"Ummm.. I might hate someone. But if you give me the glass, I'll put it in their food so you don't have to." Aard raised an eyebrow. What was with all this males crossdressing and loving each other? It was weird. "He married another boy? Um, isn't he supposed to marry a girl?"

Lyrus was listening carefully for any way to possible trip Aard up. He caught the emphasis. "Ohh, you hate someone, I know. I can tell. Who is it? Is it me?" Lyrus rolled his eyes, waving away a reply before it could come. "Sorry, bud, but I can't put glass in my own food. It's against policy." Right, Lyrus had absolutely no idea what that meant. But he had heard Moo say it, and he had heard Banda say it, so it would work.

"That won't work either," he replied, frowning. "Glass it my thing, not yours. And if you get caught, you'll get blamed for all the other glass stuff. You wouldn't want that, would you?" Pausing once more, he shot another glance towards Isto, nodding sadly. "Uh-huh. But the lightning messed with his brain, ya know? Plus, the guy he's married is really girly. So maybe he thinks that guys a girl. Even though he's not."

"I don't hate you," Aard hurriedly said, his voice with a convincing tone. "I only just met you, and you haven't done anything I don't like. I haven't even heard of you before," Aard explained to Lyrus. "I don't think I'd want glass in your food. Only if you did something to tick me off..."

"What if I were to get my own thing, then? I won't take your glass. But perhaps..." Aard pondered, searching his mind for an idea. Lyrus had inspired him to go do as such.

Temporarily forgetting his search, the boy looked over at Isto. "Does he, um, dress like a girl? The one who he married?"

"Well good, 'cause I don't hate you either." And he didn't, really. Rather, he was amused by the whole situation. Aard wasn't a threat; he was a toy. "So no glass in your food, and no glass in my food. Glass is mine. You could find your own thing, though, yeah! Got anything in mind?" Ohh, this was too perfect. Find Aard's new method of destruction, reproduce it, get said Aard in buttloads of trouble... Lyrus was going to have fun.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he shrugged, shaking his head. "Nah, not that I've seen. Just acts like one sometimes. 'Course, I only met him a few days ago, so maybe he does. I can ask Isto."

"Well, it's good that we don't hate eachother. That would be a bad thing, wouldn't it?" Aard rubbed his chin with a curled finger. "Uh, no.. I'm not very good at thinking of things. Maybe if there was someone that I didn't like... For, um, what's it called? Oh yeah, motivation."

The red head wouldn't be too happy if he knew what the toddler was thinking. And if such things were to be carried out... Then Aard would definately be unhappy with Lyrus.

"It's better if he only acts like it. Boys who dress like girls are weird. Very weird." Aard expressed his opinion on crossdressers as if they were the most unusual things he'd heard of.

And who should come crawl-swimming his way through the place, but Dante - Falcon desperately running after him, looking a little more than agitated, and like he hasn't had sleep in weeks - which may actually be true.

"That it would be," Lyrus replied with a serious nod. "But there is someone you don't like. 'Course, you haven't told me who yet... Who is it? C'mon, you can tell me!" He could, and he would. Lyrus would talk it out of him sooner or later, he was sure.

But for now, they could continue discussing the oddities of gay men. "That is weird. And why would anyone -want- to dres like a girl? Earlier Yukito mentioned that his guardian made him wear a dress once, but at least that wasn't willing." Lyrus shuddered. Thank goodness Slush dressed normally.

An odd shuffling noise followed by footsteps momentarily distracted him. Glancing towards the sound, he frowned faintly and raised a brow, watching both infant and man approach. Finally looking up, he pointed out towards Dante, being sure to catch Falcon's attention. "Your kid's legs're missing."

Falcon laughed, and scooped up his son, getting a good grip on him.

"He was born that way."

He shifted his grip on the boy.

"Agoooooooo!"

Dante agreed.

"I don't hate - or dislike - anyone," Aard lied. "And if I didn't like someone, I wouldn't tell you... I mean, I don't have any reason to tell you, do I?"

"Yu was forced to wear a dress? Haha, now I have something mroe to tease him about. If he wsn't willing, then that would be good. "It'd be bad if he wanted to dress like a girl."

Missing legs? Aard looked over at Dante and watched the baby for a moment.

"Yes you do," Lyrus replied, frowning faintly. "And you can tell me because I asked you. That's enough reason. And I told you that Yukito had to wear a dress. Fair trade, yes?" Meh, Aard was starting to get annoying. Stupid booger, thinking he could talk his way out of things. Lyrus had directed the conversation from the start, so nah!

Briefly ignoring Aard, Lyrus turned his attention back to the new pair, eyeing the baby warily, but speaking to the man. "Isto was born without an arm, but he didn't have a fin there. I'm Lyrus, and this is Aard," he added, waving vaguely to the older Sin. "Who're you two?"

Quite suddenly Isto snapped awake, jumping slightly and hitting his head on the wall behind him. Wincing, he shot a glare back at it, then yawned and climbed to his feet, pulling a watch from his pocket with his normal hand. He spared it a quick glance, and immeediately awoke completely, cursing under his breath as he repocketed it. He started for the door, waving for Lyrus to follow. "Hurry up, shorty, we need to head home. It's a lot later than I thought."

Lyrus frowned. The toddler glared after his 'brother', then turned with a sigh back to Aard. "Was nice meeting you. And you two, too," he added, nodding to Falcon and Dante. "G'night!" And with that, he ran off after Isto. Both slipped outside, the motorcycle roared, and they were gone.

All was not well outside Noyama's home, and it wasn't just that the barn hadn't been rebuilt yet...

"This your fault! YOU ARE VERY BAD PERSON!"

Three pairs of eyes glanced left.

"My fault?! It's your fault, you idiot!"

Three pairs of eyes glanced right.

Said three eyes were those of Kilah, Momoro, and the newest edition, Twila. Where as the baby was far from mobile, Kilah had no trouble getting up and wandering away from the scene. And, of course, the fox boy hurried after her without a second thought.

Such a scene was...different. Noyama and Noharu. But they weren't attacking each other, just fighting. Fighting like Sango and Kilah did. Fighting like 'normal' sisters (as normal as they got) would. Across from each other, shouting and pointing fingers accusingly.

The trip hadn't exactly gone as planned; Moo would have to stay longer. All on business, of course. But Banda had chosen to come home....and now very much regretted it. As of the previous evening, all the children had come back to Moo's house and...Isto was in prison. And it was Banda's fault. Not that he had meant to, of course, but...

Ah, well, nothing he could do right now. To avoid the thoughts, Banda had volunteered to take Lyrus to visit Kilah. The toddler had immediately accepted, and both started on their way.

The sight that greeted them, however, was not at all what either expected. The pair paused a short distance from the arguing sisters, eyes moving back and forth between the two just as the earlier trio's had done. Lyrus soon lost interest and ambled off in search of his friend, leaving Banda to watch the argument. "Kilaaaaaaaah, where are you?"

As a result of being blind Kilah's hearing had greatly improved. But being the race he was, Momoro's was almost as good. Good enough so that they both heard Lyrus at the same time.

Happy for his soon-to-come company, Kilah lifted a hand in hopes to get his attention. "Lyrus! Over here!" Momoro didn't seem pleased.

"Why does he have to come?"

Back near the house, the fighting continued, and surprisingly neither seemed to notice Banda. But something was very, very wrong. The one speaking poor English...wasn't Noharu.

"Very bad! Very bad! You should not mess with things not know how to work!"

Kilah's call and wave did catch Lyrus' attention, but he didn't notice Momoro until he neared the trio. The boy frowned, dark eyes glittering dangerously at he eyed the fox boy. But just as quickly, the look was gone, and Lyrus' attention had returned to Kilah. Best ignore it while he had the chance. "Hi Kilah! Banda came home last night, so he brought me here today. Why're Noya and the b***h fighting?"

Banda was, to say the least, confused. True, Noya and Noharu appeared to be fighting like, well, sisters rather than foes, but that wasn't it so much. Noharu was easily distracted. Anyone could fight with he luck that. No, Banda was simply having trouble following the conversation. Fast talking and odd angles made things difficult. He would just..wait it out form the sidelines.

"Don't know. Something about a spell and switching or something." Yeah, something. Not being able to see either of them, Kilah couldn't tell at all what was going on. Momoro didn't even hear Lyrus, though the two seemed to agree. Best he ignore that thing. "Where was Banda?" She knew Moo went on a lot of trips, but Banda did too?

Neither of them calmed down, but Banda did catch one of their eyes. Green eyes, to be more specific. And not that he'd know it, but when the voice belonging to such spoke, it didn't sound like Noyama...

"Well, well."

"Ahh, I see." Well, no, he really didn't. But that was alright. He could pretend. "Banda went on a trip with Moo to some big city, but Moo had to stay longer for some reason, so he came back. He's been acting sorta weird since he got back... Really jumpy, too. Oh! I met Aard yesterday. And Yukito. You're right, Aard is a stupidhead."

Banda cracked a smile when 'Noya' finally noticed him, flashing a small wave before repocketing his hands. "Sorry, didn't mean to interupt."

Thank God. Kilah wasn't sure she could take another one of her most important friends liking that stupid tomato boy. Mignon did, and had even told her once he 'wasn't bad'. To Kilah, she might as well have said 'you're wrong', which she would've hit nearly anyone else for. Akilah was never wrong.

Well, almost.

When he stopped there, her face shifted into a scowl, voice sharp. "And Yukito?"

'Noyama' grinned at him in a sly, mischevous way had she really been who she looked like (er, had the eye color of) she could've never pulled of. "Oh, no, it's just fine."

Noyama--or Noharu?--stomped her foot and hissed in warning. "Noharu, you leave alone!"

Lyrus inwardly cringed. He probably shouldn't have even mentioned meeting Yukito. But, no going back on that. He quirked a brow at Kilah and shrugged, folding his arms across his chest. "He was nice. He fixed my hand where that thing bit me. And he doesn't hate you, you know. Why do you hate him?"

The grin immediately put Banda on his guard, and he took a small step back, glancing from one girl to the other. "Um... Did I miss something?"

Like she didn't already know that. It wasn't in Yukito to hate. The boy was too big of a wuss to even dislike anyone, she was sure of it. Rather then snap at him for being nosey about the already 'touchy subject', she got to her feet and just walked away without a word.

Maybe another time when Momoro wasn't around.

Speaking of which, the boy was so surprised she'd failed to say anything it took him a minute to register she was gone. "A-Akilah!"

"Missed me, didn't you?" Noharu grinned slyly, blew a kiss his way, and got another hiss from her sister. What fun! And, it was going to get sooo much better. "What? Banda didn't tell you he likes to take advantage of girls?"

Clueless, Noyama just blinked for a few seconds. "...advantage?"

Lyrus was rather surprised when no reply was forthcoming, and simply blinked after Kilah as she walked away. However, he snapped out of it with Momoro's call, frowning deeply and shoving the fox boy out of his way as he started after his friend. "You can't just walk away without answering me! Get back here!"

Banda was so, so very lost. He blinked in confusion at 'Noyama', who, really, was not acting at all like herself, then over to 'Noharu', who was being unusually standoffish. ...And then Noyas words clicked, and he frowned faintly, raising a brow. "Take advantage? I don't take advantage of women."

Not only did she walk away, but now she was ignoring him. Known only to her, Kilah actually did have a place in mind where she was going. Somewhere with flowers. Lots of flowers. So she could kill them, of course. Ignoring him, yes, but it was obvious she'd heard him because she immediatly began walking faster.

Noyama wasn't sure what that word met (any of the meanings it had), but when Banda said otherwise, she assumed advantage was a bad thing. "You hush, Noharu."

Not a big surprise when she didn't. Noyama's attention needed to focus on something other then her. Besides, her grumpy mood met she just wanted someone in trouble. Poor Banda just happened to show up first. "Certainly did. He kissed me, you know. Bet he didn't tell you that."

Unfortunately, Noya did understand that word. Her eyes shot toward Banda, and clearly she didn't believe it.

"I know you can hear me! You can hear everything!" Lyrus snarled, stalking after her. He hadn't the faintest idea where she was going, but he did NOT like being ignored. Especially by one of his best friends. "Get back here and talk to me, Kilah, or I'm going home right now and not coming back! EVER." Okay, so, yeah. Ever meaning about a week. But still. It was a big threat for a toddler.

Poor Banda was still oh so confused. His eyes moved back in forth in an attempt to follow the conversation, but he must have seen correctly. He had never kissed Noya! And even if he had, that wouldn't bother Noharu. He'd only ever been kissed once by... "Noharu!" Why did they look like each other!? Turning to who he now knew to be Noyama, he shook his head, gesturing vaguely towards Noharu with one hand. "No, no, she kissed me. The night she broke my earphones... She was pretending to be you, and she kissed me, and pulled my headphones off while I was distracted. I wouldn't kiss her, Noya. You know that...?"

"Won't be the first, won't be the last!" Kilah called over her shoulder finally, and her voice almost cracked. Fine, let him go. Forget him. Forget Mignon. Forget everyone. Since when did she start needing other people? People left her all the time! Even Noyama when they took her to that awful island place, Gizmo being the only reason she didn't completely hate it. She should be used to it!

That was her problem. Making friends. She didn't need friends. She didn't need anything. When the scent of the roses filled the air, the toddler stopped and sat down infront of the rosebushes, but failed to reach out for one, thinking hard.

Noyama frowned and gave him an unsure look. Even if it wasn't Noharu, it had to be weird seeing such an [removed](that wasn't fake) on her face.

"Maybe, but he sure didn't seem to mind any. Had enough time to get those headphones, after all." Noharu's voice was so casual you'd think she'd just asked about the weather, and she glanced over her nails as if she gave a damn. "The only reason he even talks to you is because you look like me."

This was fun.

"Well FINE," Lyrus practically snarled, pausing in step. He glared after her, debating over whether he really wanted to leave or not, then decided he did and whirled around, stomping back the way he'd come. "Good ridance!"

"Oh please, you pulled them off as soon as you kissed me." Banda frowned, glancing quickly from Noharu to Noyama and back before continuing. "And that's not true. For one, I knew Noya first." Pausing, he sighed and turned to Noyama, beginning to speak, but hesitating. Damn, it was weird thinking of Noharu as Noya... It just didn't work, even if they were nearly identical. "She always lies, Noya, you know that. You believe me, right?"

"Fine!" The toddler snapped back, reaching out and pulling one of the roses off. She had the thing in a about five hundred pieces before one could blink twice, but the next time she didn't get as lucky, and sure enough a thorn got her hand. "Ow!" Grumbling, she held the injured hand closer to her. "Damn flowers."

Why wasn't Momoro here yet? He should've come after her by now, or at the very least followed Lyrus. It wasn't like him to be sneaky, so she was a bit suspicious when she heard something shuffling around. "Come on, Momoro. That's not funny, and you know I can hear you."

Without hesitation, "Yes." Only a second after, a very unusually look was on her face, as if she'd just seen the strangest thing in the world. Lifting one hand, she let it over infront of Noharu's (though currently her own) blind eye, the other unmoving.

When Noyama looked that way, Noharu looked very amused. "You can see it, can't you?"

"Fine," he mumbled, just so he could have the last word. Lyrus really wasn't sure what he was going to do now. He didn't want to just leave. It was a pretty long walk from Moo's house to Noya's. And Kilah would come begging for forgiveness sooner or later. That thing must've warped her mind while he was gone. Yeah, that was the only reason Kilah had yelled at him.

Still mentally reassuring himself that Kilah didn't absolutely hate him, Lyrus decided to just walk around the house a few times. It was something to do, after all. So he started towards the building, lost in his thoughts, which altered between worrying that Kilah would never speak to him again and reassuring himself that Kilah had been at fault, not him, and would soon be begging for him to come back.

"See what?" Banda asked, frowning. What was going on? Something was wrong with Noha...er...Noyama's eye? Still frowning faintly, the SM took a small step towards her, tilting his head to the side. "What's going on, Noya?"

The toddler paused, indicating she might've heard Lyrus. Probably not, considering it was more likely she'd yell back at him if that was the case. They were just too much a like when it came to things like that.

When the noise stopped, she was just a tad annoyed. Not scared, annoyed. Lyrus must be trying to scare her, she decided finally. Stupid boys. "Very funny, Lyrus. You better quit it..."

When Noyama spoke, it clearly wasn't what her sibling had expected, and it only took one word to make everything quiet again. "Sister..."

Growling in disgust, "Noyama" (for the time being Noharu) had never had shown such an angry look. "Shut up."

Turning around, she stormed off, as Noharu often did...almost.

Twila had remained dead silent through the whole deal, but when Noharu reached her, the babies hand reached out and grasped around her ankle. With a giggle, she lifted her free hand and pointed up at her. "Haaaaru!"

The only response was, "Er-"

And...walking around houses was easily the dullest thing Lyrus had ever done. The toddler soon grew tired of it and simply plopped down to sit on the grass, absently pulling up a few blades. Kilah was probably talking to Momoro right now... AH. That's why she had yelled! Kilah liked Momoro more now! Even though that thing had bitten him!

Banda was so very confused. So, so very confused. The artist watched Noharu go...or try to...the turned back to Noya, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck. "Um...? What's going on, now..?"

She was unaware of such, but Kilah had walked quite a ways before stopping. Far enough none of them back at the house would've her heard sudden scream.

What happened had been simple. She'd heard Gizmo, and her guard immediatly went down. Silly griff sneaking up on her. But then...he was growling? Then something had jumped at her, which she'd known only by the rush of air.

Gizmo, in turn, attacked whatever that was, and it apparently ran away. But when she finally found his feathery self, there was something to warm to be water. Blood. Not being able to see the injuries, she couldn't tell how bad they were. "Ooh s**t. Don't die, please don't die!"

The griff looked at her questioningly, glancing over at the cut on his leg. It was bad alright, but it wouldn't kill him. Far from it. "Wark?"

Noyama had failed to respond at first, watching Noharu intently. She seemed to have a sudden sympathy with her sibling, but wouldn't put it past her to kick Twila or something for daring to touch her.

But she didn't. Just nudged the baby to the side and continued on her way.

Only when she was out of sight did Noyama acknowledge Banda's question. "Saw things...bad things."

....Right, that was enough of that. Lyrus climbed to his feet and started back in the direction Kilah had gone. No, he wasn't going to apologize. He had no reason to! But maybe Kilah wasnted to apologize by now and just didn't know where he was. Yeah, that would be it. Silly blind girl. Lyrus was being really quiet. Kilah wouldn't be able to find him. So he would come back, and she would apologize, and they could be friends again.

Awkward silence. Well, more eerie than awkward. Even more so to Banda, who couldn't hear it to begin with, and simply stood there turning from one sister to the other, waiting for someone to say something. He remained tense even after Noya...er...Noharu had gone, confused by the whole situation. In the time he had know the pair, Noharu had never just...left. Finally Noyama spoke, and Banda was lucky enough to catch her words, though they only confused him further. "What d'you mean? Bad things..?"

As if understanding him, Kilah's voice became cold again. "Oh, you're alright then?"

Gizmo nodded even if she couldn't see it. "Wark!"

"What was that?" While asking this, she reached out toward one of the roses, careful not to get another thorn caught on her hand as she pulled off the flower and began ripping the petals apart. The fact she was taking her time was the only sign she was thinking about something, and thinking a lot.

The griff didn't know, so just watched her in silence.

"I can hear you," she said loudly. It was times like these she actually found a use for that stupid 'ability'. Positive whatever that thing had been hadn't come back with Gizmo there, she knew right away it was either Lyrus or Momoro.

----------------------

"Bad things..." It seemed to be the only explanation she had. Instead of providing a good answer for his question, she had one of her own. "How you not mad, Banda?"

"Yeah, now you can," Lyrus snapped, pausing a short distance away from Kilah. He vaguely noted that Gizmo was bleeding, but the griffon didn't seem bothered by it, so he made no comment. Instead, he scowled, refolding his arms across his chest. "When you didn't know who I was. Funny how you can hear footsteps but not shouts."

"Mad?" Eh, and now Banda was confused again. He blinked, then raised a brow, frowning faintly. "Mad about what? I'm sorry, Noya, but you've completely lost me."

He was pushing it. It was almost creepy how calmly she answered, how flat her tone was, and how she continued to take her time with this rose, pulling off petal after petal as if unwrapping a Christmas present. "My hearing is better then yours, and hearing people who try to be sneaky-like you-is my ability."

-----

"Mad," she repeated. It was normal for people to get lost when speaking with her. She still didn't speak English as well as she'd have liked. Would've made things either. "Mad about...no hearing."

"I wasn't trying to be sneaky. I just came to see if you were gonna apologize yet, seeing as I didn't do anything. Stop being a b***h, Kilah." He scowled and dropped to sit on the ground, amusing himself with pulling up one grass blade at a time. She could kill roses, he could kill grass.

"Oh.." He fell silent for a moment, then smiled faintly and shook his head. "Not really... I was really upset...but not mad... I went most of my life without hearing. I dunno... At the time, I was more worried about the loss of the headphones then how they had been lost. Does that make sense..?"

In that flat tone,"Nope."

He'd have it hard in life if he kept always expecting a sorry. Not just from her, but from everyone. Would that thing that hurt Gizmo say sorry? No. There wouldn't always be a sorry, even if someone was your friend. Besides, he'd just called her a b***h, so she most certainly wouldn't say anything NEAR 'sorry'.

-----

At first, one might think her shaking her head met she didn't understand. And while that was probably true, the motion wasn't answering him. "No, not what I mean. I mean, all the time. Kilah angry she can't see. Noharu...angry people hurt her. But then you hear nothing, and not angry. I..don't understand."

"Ohh..." Banda fell silent, eyes turning thoughtfully towards the sky. After a moment he returned his eyes to Noya, smiling. "I think...they let it get to them. Dunno, I've... I wasn't always deaf. There was an...accident when I was really little. It was my fault, though. I never had anyone to blame but me. And, really, it was an accident..."

He shrugged, looking back up. "I just didn't dwell on it. After all, i don't need to be able to hear to be happy. If I thought about it, yeah, i would get sad, but then I'd just find something to cheer myself up. So eventually I stopped worrying about it. I'm not going to let my disability ruin my life. Just have to keep a positive outlook."

"Fine." That was it. Lyrus wasn't even going to give her another chance this time. She was his friend! Friends apologized to their friends if they wanted to stay friends. If she wasn't going to apologize, he wasn't going to be her friend anymore. Climbing to his feet, he retreated back to Banda and Noya, approaching the SM and tugging on his coat to get his attention and waiting until he lookde down to speak. "We have to leave now."

Banda blinked. "But I'm talking with--"

"We're leaving NOW," Lyrus hissed, then turned and stalked off the way they had come.

The SM stared after him for a moment, then sighed and turned back to Noya, nodding in apology and murmuring a goodbye before following the toddler back home.

I went to the manshun place again and this time met Ancelin and Jani. Ancelin is in Kilahs mafia so I guess its good that I met her even if Im mad at Kilah. Anny seemed nice though but she is still a baby so its sometimes hard to tell. And I met Jani too whos not a bird or in Kilahs mafia but she seemed pretty nice too. So thats good cause I can be friends with her cause shes not a bird.

Um. Anny and Jani wanted to play house but I didnt cause thats a stupid girly game. But there wasnt much else we could play cause they cant walk very well yet. Banda says hes glad I was payshent with them cause Im normally not. I guess Ill be more payshent with other babies and make Banda happy. Hes been acting weird lately.

Bye now.

I got a present from Ancelin! Its a really really really really really pretty gem that the note said was a 'ruby'. Banda says rubies are precou precious stones so I should treasure it. It was very nice of Ancelin. Im gonna put it in my treasure box with my feathers and glass stuff. Ill have to thank her when I see her next. Dont let me forget!

Bye now.

Yukito headed up the stairs and into the mansion. He looked around and called out a 'Hello' not sure if anyone was about. He had a bag slung over his shoulder that held in it a variety of things that he might need for most any situations. Like a first aid kit, a couple books, and various other items.

He headed down the hall and into one of the livingrooms and sat on the table a potted plant with flowers on it he had gotten from home before he went to sit on the couch and took out one of his books. It was a book on the game of chess, maybe if he studied up on it he would be able to be more of a challenge for Maelon next time they played?

Aard had arrived at the front door of the mansion no to soon after Yukito. The red head was about to knock, but hesitated. He slowly began to open the door of the mansion and moved inside, carefully closing it behind him. It appeared that noone was in the hallway. Aard nodded to himself then began to move towards the living room.

"Yu?!" Aard called as soon as he saw the albino Sin. "Hello, Yuuu!" Aard was overjoyed that it was Yukito here, rather than an annoying brat like Kilah or that scary fox person thing.

Lyrus was bored. Kilah still hated him, Banda had been acting funny for weeks, and making glass roses was only interesting for so long. Now, with over 3 dozen to his name, the Lamb Sin'aeis was completely at a loss for anything to do. So he had snuck out! No one had noticed, Lyrus had taken careful pains to see to that, and, to be on the safe side, he had brought his new flitt with him. The tiny dragonish creature rode calmly from his bond's shoulder, a constant protector for his young charge.

And the best part was, his flit would get bigger than Jax's. Take that, catbutt.

The Lamb Sin'aeis had long since memorized the trip to the mansion, and, with nothing better to do, had hopefully turned that way. Surely someone would be there for him to talk to! And as long as that someone wasn't Kilah (or Lex), he was okay! But, of course, it would be much better if that someone actually was one of his friends...

Thus, it cheered him considerably when, upon reaching one of the livingrooms, her saw a familiar figure seated on the couch, and another standing nearby. Grinning, he hurried over, in the process dislodging the brown flitt seated on his shoulder, who squawked a protest and took to the air, darting after his charge. "Well, well, well, look who's here..."

Yukito lifted his head and gave a smile seeing Aard, "Ah! Hello again Aard." He greeted happily seeing his friend standing there, his smile only got brighter when he Lyrus appeared as well. He had definately picked a good day to come here for a visit, "Hello Lyrus. Its nice to see the both of you again." He said his tail now wagging rapidly. This was much better then the book which was making little sense to him.

The book was tucked away into his bag and he drew his legs up onto the couch and scooted himself over so there was room for them to sit down if they wanted too.

Aard truned his head when he heard Lyrus. It was that boy, wasn't it? "Um, ah, hello there," Aard greeted weakly.

Aard deicded to take the seat. He sat down next to Yukito and nervously looked around. He was fine about being around Yukito, but Lyrus made him nervous. The tomato Sin' decided to stay quiet now. Hey, Yukito was there for him to talk to. Lyrus didn't need to talk to the red head.

Aard also wondered what Lyrus thought of the albino.


Aard sat and...no, there really wasn't enough space left for Lyrus to sit with them. Comfortably, at least. But that was quite alright; he didn't want to sit anyway. He paused in step infront of the couch, smiling cheerfully to the pair, and didn't even bother to look sideways as the young flitt alighted on his shoulder once more. He was used to it by now, though he hoped the sight of the dragonic creature would intimidate Aard a bit, at least.

It was fun knowing he could intimidate those older and larger than him.

But, it was good to see them both, even if Aard was a wuss, and so no mlicious thoughts had yet reached Lyrus' mind. Instead, he smiled warmly, glancing from one to the other and back. "It's good to see you too! Especially now that Kilah hates me and I don't have anyone else to talk to. How've you both been?"

Yukito's wrapped his tail around his waist so that it wouldn't bother Aard as it seemed to have a mind of its own most days. He look him over a moment wondering if he was ok, he seemed a little quiet. Maybe he wasn't sure about Lyrus? He looked over at the darker colored boy as he spoke his red eyes widening, "Kilah hates you?" He asked in surprised, last time they had spoke it sounded as if they were getting along really well, "What happened? Did you get into a fight?"

Gillian's guardian, Gabriel, had left on an errend a few days prior. Apparently the old elf had wanted to seek out a young colt for his child that would grow with him. The child was much smaller than the others, and had poor health that was in constant supervision due to the accident in creating twins during the element's fusion to a life. Gabriel was raised in the mentality of thinking that any physical weakness could be cured with a spiritual means. The companionship of a creature was something held in high reguard in his culture. The boy was shy already, he was capable of making sounds and mocking words already but he hardly made a sound, even when he was uncomfortable instead of crying he'd simply make a displeased face. It was quite odd.

Gillian had been left in Chaco's care needless to say, aside from his guardian and sister, Chaco was the only other person that he'd let near him without growing uncomfortable. The boy had been left to flip through picture books while his "babysitter" attended to some other matters. It was never a worry anyway, Gillian hardly moved from where he'd been left, he had no reason to.

The sound of new voices turned the young one's head up from the books, two deeper, louder voices than he was used to. He slid the book away from him and fell to all fours. Though he was able to stand and crawl along walls at that age, he prefirred crawling over any other means of moving himself around. He paused at the corner of one of the hallways and inched himself to a stand, the long white cow-like tail whipping around behind him for balance as he held himself against the wall, peeking around the corner at the source of the two voices. One had a tail- a tail just like him! The other had wings. His face brightened up at the sight of the wings.

Aard eyed the flitt for a moment. Deciding the flitt wasn't harmful, he looked between Yukito and Lyrus. The lamb Sin seemed to be trying to be friendly, but Aard was suspicious. What if he happened to be lying, and was just trying to get Aard to trust him?

Aard looked around once more and noticed the young one that was looking at them. Gillian seemed to be looking at something on him. Aard nervously flicked his wings in habit. "Um, hello," he greeted the little one.

Gillian sunk back when the older Sin turned to face him, loosing his balance he fell back on his rear end with a soft, "Kummp..." sound coming from his soft voice. He hadn't expected anyone to actually see him there. Now feeling slightly silly the little Sin foced a shy smile on his face, he couldn't speak but he was unusially intelegent- he knew pretty much anything anyone was talking about around him and he found ways to respond. He took his tail from his side, shyly looking down to it and picking at the tufft of fur towards the end. "Mm.....a......mmsabbb....", he was babbeling- like any infant would, trying to come up with a decent response to the greeting.

Erk. Unwanted subject. But he hand mentioned it... So his fault. No need to get mad at Yuki about it. The lamb toddler shrugged, clasping his hands behind his back as his smile faded somewhat. "Yes and no. She hates me, and she was mean and then wouldn't apologize when I said you were my friend, and so now I won't speak to her anymore. But I don't miss her, 'cause she's a little b***h."

Huh, lie of the century. But no one, not even Banda, could get Lyrus to admit that he missed his friend. When Kilah apologized, then he would talk to her again.

With Aard's quiet greeting, Lyrus looked up, glancing back towards the door and the infant standing there. He raised a brow, but said nothing, soon returning his eyes to Yuki and ignoring the baby. "I bet she misses me, though."

The end of Yukito's tail flicked a little bit, "I'm sorry about that. I hope that you guys make up soon." He said he could tell that Lyrus wasn't as uncaring as he was trying to come off as. They had sounded like such good friends.

He turned his gaze towards the little one that had appeared and he couldn't help but smile and wave, "Hello there little one." He greeted the newcomer. He hadn't seen this baby before. How cute!

"I'm sure that she misses you as much as you miss her." Yukito said.

He smiled a bit more, blushing at his fall. He would be much smaller than normal Sin infants, his skin a bit of tan color dispite his element. Long hooked horns stuck out from his opal black hair- dangerous and something to be mindful around. For one so young he was quite careful with them- Gabriel had already cut himself on the horns once or twice. It wasn't fun for either side when it had happened. The one with the tail addressed him now, causing his shy purple eyes to look up slowly from his tail. He smiled a bit and pointed- presumably to the tail as he was swishing his own around happily.

Lyrus merely shrugged haughtily in reply, frowning. He really didn't care if they made up soon. He never wanted to see that stupid Kilah again! The lamb sin'aeis bristled angrily with Yuki's final words, scowling up at the older Sin. "I don't miss her! She's a stupid butt and I hate her!"

The flitt on his shoulder twittered nervously, effectily snapping Lyrus from his rant. Calming almost too quickly, he turned and started for the door, stepping around Gillian with so much as a glance and speaking back to the two children on the couch. "I'm going home now. Good seeing you."

Yukito waved, "Talk to you later Lyrus!" He called then gave a little smile. He smiled a bit then turned back to Aard before looking at Gillian. He unwrapped his tail from around his waist and flicked it back and forth within reach of the other little Sin'aeis.

"What the hell?!" Noharu hissed loudly. It wasn't so much her hair that would get hurt, but her ears were pretty sensitive. Snarling, she reached up and grabbed whatever it was with one hand, pulling it away and taking a nice bit of her hair with it, dropping both to the ground. "What the...crap is this?" She grumbled, rubbing her head with a wince with one hand, and examining the other which as expected had a nice couple of cuts on it now.

Considering Kilah had screamed for all the world (exceptions being the deaf such as Banda) to hear, Noyama had of course caught on too. She hesitated at the doorway, and strange as it was, she didn't seem all that worried to find her (supposedly psychotic) sibling towering over a sobbing Kilah. Perhaps she'd been expecting her?

Once she finally did move, she ran to make up for the time she'd spent just standing there, kneeling down and lifting a hand, but simply letting it hover there. "Akilah...?"

"I'll come back," Noharu hissed, turning and storming off. If she had forgotten why she wanted to kill them all, she certainly remembered now...

Despite the fact that he had been uncerimoniously dumped on the ground, Vin was feeling exceedingly proud of himself. Untangling himself from the hair caught on his claws, he sent a final hiss in the direction Noharu had gone and took to the air once more, just as Lyrus arrived on the scene. The toddler seemed a bit confused that he had missed any chance of a fight, but soon recovered and gestured Vin back to his shoulder, murmuring approvingly to the young flit. Once Vin had called to only the occasional happy croon, Lyrus hesitated a moment before walking over to Kilah and setting a hand on her shoulder. "Kilah..? Don't cry..."

Banda was...so incrediably confused. The SkullMonkey hadn't moved from his spot throughout the ordeal, and was no staring off in the general direction Noharu had gone, his forgotten cigarette butt lying on the ground beside him. Noharu certainly hadn't seemed threatening. And even when she moved for Kilah, she seemed more intent on keeping Kilah at the house than taking her away. Which explained why Banda hadn't rushed to her rescue. Even now, he was reluctant to join the trio. Things were awkward enough, and Kilah looked to be crying...Something altogether strange in itself. So, for now, he'd just...stay here.

"I'm not!" Kilah snapped at him, but the fact she still wouldn't lower her hand didn't support that being the truth any. Suddenly, she did grow quiet, but it seemed to be mostly to listen to something. Or more so, someone...

"Rain, rain, go away!" The girl sang cheerfully as she skipped toward the group. She looked quite a bit like Noyama, which would answer right away where she came from. Unlike Noyama (aside from looking around ten years old), her eyes were a ruby-colored red. "Kiki!" She offered cheerfully, only stopping when she was infront of the toddler. "Oooh, Kiki, why're you crying."

"I'm NOT!" She insisted in a hiss, but by that time the other girls eyes had come to focus on Lyrus. Her face lit up, and with no reguard to personally space she reached out and poked the middle of his forhead. "Lyrus! You're very cute!"

"What are you doing here?" Kilah grumbled as she wiped her eyes and finally dared to set her hand on the ground. Well, she seemed to know her, but Noyama looked absolutely lost.

Lyrus was just as lost as Noyama. The sudden arrival of this overly cheerful girl made him want to hide under a rock. But as it was, Kilah was sad, so he had to stay and make her happy despite the fact that she hated him. Ahh, the lament of a partner in crime. However, when the girl loomed over him, he automatically took a small step back, eyes nearly crossing in an effort to follow her finger, and blinking with the actual poke. Meh, as long as she didn't touch his horn... Still, the happy was starting to scare him, so Lyrus casually sidestepped to hide sullenly behind Kilah from the evil cheery one.

The girl watched as Lyrus moved away from her, and for some reason seemed dissapointed. Perhaps she was expecting some other reaction? Shrugging lightly, her gaze fell to Kilah. "What's wrong, Kiki? Did that meanie make you sad calling you those names?"

"I'm not sad..."

Whoever this girl was, she managed to sigh and make it sound happy, kneeling down infront of the other girl, and waving her index finger back and forth like a teacher or scolding parent would. "Now, Kilah, if you're that "worthless" word, a lot of those little friends of yours wouldn't look up to you, would they?"

"I..guess not," Kilah agreed hesitantly, turning her head to follow the sound of the others voice as she moved back to Lyrus.

"So, you ARE him then!" She chirped, smiling brighter than ever. "I have something for you, little lamb!"

Was she talking about him? Sure, he'd called Kilah a few names...but she had accused him of stuff to. So nah. Maybe it was someone else? But he was the only one allowed to call Kilah names! So there. Bwaha.

Snapping back to reality, he glanced back up at the girl and frowned faintly, resisting the urge to cringe away. She was creepy. Far, far too happy for Lyrus' tastes. Mignon was the only one allowed to be bubbly around him. But when she said she had something for him, curiosity immediately overcame fear, and his haughty attitude returned, quirking a brow as he stared up at her. "Well? What is it, then?"

"Silly, silly little lamb!" The for now nameless female giggled, snatching his hand up and dragging him off to the right. Mignon might've been "bubbly", but she seemed just plain crazy. Kilah had barely gotten out an 'Uh' before she called back, "Don't worry, just takin' 'em over here!"

'Here' being fairly close, certainly with seeing range, but just enough so she knew Noyama wouldn't be able to hear, and far enough she was certain Kilah couldn't either. Once there, she released his hand and kneeled down again so they were level, humming some strange tune as she reached into her pocket. "Aha!"

A second later she was holding a strange gem out to Lyrus. Round, and such a dark blue color it was boardering black. "This is very, very special! It'll do something really neat! But not until you REALLY need it! Most importantly, you can't break it! Nu uh uh! No brakey the gemy!"

Lyrus visably twitched when the overly cheerful girl dragged him off, shooting a look that plainly begged 'save me!' back at Kilah. But, sadly, Kilah couldn't see, and they only got further and further away... By the time they stopped, Lyrus was sure he'd explode even if this girl's smile was too bright. Thus, when she pulled something from her pocket, he automatically cringed away, expecting it to be some sparkly girly glitter thing with flowers and butterflies and crap like that that Coen liked so much. Stupid Coen.

But the gem most certainly was not that. The toddler's mouth dropped open at the sight, eyes widening greedily as he stared at the gem. After a minute, he shook his head and snapped back to reality, nodding slightly and reaching out for the beautiful object without a question as to why she was giving it to him. "What happens if I break it?" Not that he would. It was absolutely lovely.

"Hmm, I don't know, exactly, she didn't tell me." As for who 'she' was, that would for now remain a mystery. This girl seemed to have the memory a goldfish. "Just something bad, is all I know, so make sure it stays someplace safe!" Her eyes narrow suspiciously, glancing from the right to the left, left to the right, and continued doing so even as she spoke. "Anyway, you be a good, strong little lamb boy for Kiki. Kiki needs you to be strong for Kiki to be strong for her friends. 'Cept you, 'cause you're strong too. That's what she told meee." She sang the last line rather than saying it, then got to her feet and twirled around once. "You should try walking around with your eyes closed for a whole day! It's not very fun, nope, nope it's not!"

"BYE KIKI!" She screeched over to Kilah, waving wildly even knowing well she wouldn't be able to see it. "Take care," she offered to Lyrus before winking playfully at him. Clearly ready to run off, she hesitated only a few more seconds to say one more thing. "Oh, and don't worry about Momo-momo, he'll be very busy, very soon!" That said, she giggled brightly and off she went.

By now, Kilah had joined the 'completely lost' group. Eyebrows raised, she yelled over to her friend. "Lyrus? You okay?"

Ug, this girl was horrible. It was all Lyrus could do to keep a straight face, rather than screaming loudly and cringing away from the evil singing demon. He breathed a sigh of relief as she pranced away and waited just a second longer before pocketing the gem and heading back to Kilah and Noya. He shrugged despite the fact that she couldn't see, speaking as he neared. "I'm fine. The crazy happy one gave me a rock." A very pretty gem, actually. And now Lyrus was itching with curiosity as to what would happen if he broke it. Hmm...

"Gonna throw it at someone?" Well, Kilah seemed better. Acting it anyway, but that was enough for Noyama. Seeing the most vicious member of her family (Lucky and Noharu aside) like...that, it was just...weird, for lack of a better word. "Let's go get your flower so you don't forget it?" The toddler suggested, scratching the back of her head. He had no idea how badly she wanted to rip those things apart. But Gizmo assured her they were too 'pretty'.

"Actually, I might." Hmm, he hadn't thought of that. Maybe if he threw it hard enough at Momoro, the b***h's fat skull would break it and he could see what was so bad about that! ...But later. When he was less attached to the pretty gem. Lyrus loved shinies. And other pretty stuffs. Like the flower. "Yeah, let's go get it," he replied cheerfully, starting back for the house.

After being away for so long, it was understandable she'd forgotten some things. Things that made finding the house again as easy (or as easy as it could be anyway) as it use to be. But she did manage to find the outside wall soon enough, finding the door a bit slower and following Lyrus to her room. Once there, she hauled herself back up onto her bed and huddled toward the back, yawning broadly. "Hey, Lyrus... You know I'd never let anyone get you right? You and Mignon?"

Lyrus was patient with his friend, but didn't offer any directions. He knew Kilah, and Kilah was pretty independent, and he had a feeling that if he did tell her, she would just get mad at him. So he simply walked at her side, leading the way by just a bit to assure they were going the right direction and immediately climbing onto her bed as well once they reached the room, flooping out on his back with a yawn of his own. "I know. An' I'm really sorry I couldn't keep that mean guy away, Kilah. I won't let anyone get you again. Mignon, too."

"Nah, don't be sorry, you couldn't do nothing about it." She meant that, too. Hell, no one could've. They didn't even know where she was. She had a feeling Lucky might've had a faint idea, and Noharu knew because she was there too, but otherwise... Yawning again, she reached up and rubbed one of her eyes. "We won't let anyone get each other then, and both of us won't let anyone get Mignon."

There was something to think about. Lucky had told her Mignon had run here crying, looking for her, but she hadn't been here. She wasn't that worried, Lyrus had been here right? As long as one of them was, Mignon would be fine, and she was certain Lyrus could take care of himself when push came to shove...

Her train of thought slowed, until eventually it faded away, and the toddler fell into an unwelcomed (though probably needed) sleep.

Outside, Noyama had watched the both of them to make sure they got inside alright. She seemed to be thinking the same as Lyrus as far as helping Kilah went. Once the both of them vanished indoors, she still stood there for a few more seconds. Well...THAT had been quite an interesting day...

Chuckling, she shook her and walked over to Banda, well aware he'd been doing 'that' again, but not seeming to care as she offered a hand to him and pointed with the other toward the door. "Tired, yes? Home now?" She was speaking about Lyrus, but wouldn't be surprised if he was too.

Banda glanced up as Noya approached, half expecting to be yelled at and smiling only after she did. Taking her hand, he climbed to his feet and started back for the door with her, nodding slightly with her words and yawning. "Yeah, we should head home..." It was getting late, after all.

Once inside, Banda headed to Kilah's room and peeked in, smile returning when he saw both toddlers sprawled out and sleeping on the bed. Chuckling softly, and careful not to disturb Kilah, he picked up the lamb toddler and started back for the door, pausing near the door when Lyrus shifted and opened one eye. Yawning, the toddler waved a hand back towards Kilah's closet, mumbling, "Can't forget the rose..."

Banda quirked a brow, but obligingly returned and, with a bit of effort, managed to pick up the rose, holding the flower in one hand and Lyrus, who had drifted off again, with the other, returning to the living room in thus fashion.

Noyama nodded and followed him quietly, seeming a bit surprised at their discovery. She'd never seen Kilah sleep since she was a baby. Normally, she was one of those 'light sleeper' things, or whatever it was they called it, but she was...cute, maybe? Quiet, at least. And yet another surprise. There was a rose in Kilah's room that hadn't been shredded into a million pieces?

Still careful to stay quiet, she followed Banda to the front door, waving one hand with a simple, "Bye."

"G'bye," Banda murmured in reply, flashing a quick smile and nodding slightly before heading out the door and off for Moo's house, Lyrus calmly dozing against his shoulder. Well... At least Lyrus and Kilah were friends again.

Kilah had been half-asleep by time Gizmo's feet touched the ground. Well...maybe a little more than half, the sudden hault almost knocked her off the griff. Yawning loudly, she yanked on one of his feathers for not landing more gracefully (and quietly) before stumbling onto the ground herself. Walking was for people less lazy, Kilah had recently learned. Or just ones without giant birds that could fly them places...

"Helloooo?" The girl called loudly, rubbing her eyes, obviously annoyed. A lovely black strap was over her shoulder, keeping the odd guitar Lucky had gotten her hanging from it onto her back. It was easier to pull it over your shoulder than one might think.

Lyrus was bored. Having snuck out again (Jax was still bring a horrible dirty brat), he had gradually worked his way back to the mansion, taking his cera and flit along to keep him company. At present, he and the two little creatures were stretched out in the garden, all three staring boredly at the sky for lack of anything better.

And then...the more than welcome sound of a very familiar voice. Admittedly, it sounded a bit different, but that really wasn't the point. Jumping to his feet, and with the animals hard at his heels, he ran around to the front, grinning ear to ear. "Hallo Ki--iiaaahh!" He skidded to a halt, staring in shock up at the girl who was now much taller than him. A moment passed, and then without a word he turned and stalked sullenly back towards the garden, passing a very confused cera and an equally confused flit on his way.

Her humming preceding her, Mignon walked up towards the garden. It was a nice enough day, and she wanted to spend the time around flowers.

Walking back, she heard someone else. Her face brightened. "Lyrus!" She called, waving as she started towards him. It had been a long time since she had seen the lamb boy.

The fact her name was drug on longer than nesscary made her curious. What was HIS problem?

A minute later, it hit her. Oh, right, the growth thing. But...then he had walked away, from what she knew, and that still didn't make sense. Was he mad at her for something? She hadn't even said anything to him! "What the ******** did I do?" She shot in his direction before catching Mignon's voice. "Mignon?"

Lyrus brightened only slightly when he heard the unmistakable voice of Mignon, and immediately changed direction to stalk off towards it. However, even as he lifted his head to say hello, he froze once more, a scowl immediately replacing the rather faint smile he had managed before. And again, without a word, he turned and walked the other way, returning to his previous spot in the garden and dropping to the ground once more, stretching out on his back and closing his eyes even as he felt his pets do the same on either side of him.

Mignon's eyebrows raised and she frowned. "Lyrus?" She called after him while starting to follow.

"Kilah." She sighed, joining her friend. "I think he's suprised at us." 'Surprised' being the nice word for the look on his face. Mignon had a feeling that Lyrus was not at all pleased with their new height and Kilah's chest.

"He's being a little b***h," she hissed, angry obviously, but not at the one she was talking to. "We grew before him last time, we probably always will, you think he'd be happy for us! We're his BEST FRIENDS, damn it!" Lyrus could probably hear her, the WORLD could probably hear her, but she didn't seem to care. Snapping her fingers, Gizmo immediatly moved off to the side and lay down, watching the pair of children curiously. He clearly didn't understand what had Lyrus so upset.

"Anyway..." Kilah's voice trailed off as she lifted a hand to run it along the guitar strap, thinking hard about something, though for now that would remain a mystery. "How're you?"

Oh yes, Lyrus could hear everything. And despite how correct he knew Kilah's words to be, the toddler was moved almost to tears by them, a rarity for him. It just wasn't fair! And the least they could have done was warned him before showing up and flaunting their whole...tall-ness. And both of them at the same time! It was like thousands of people were suddenly pointing and laughing and jeering about how he was still little. Again.

Lyrus rolled over onto his stomach (Task, the cera, only just managed to dart away in time) and buried his face in his arms, determined to ignore the two children fo as long as possible. Stupid bitches. Big and tall and all mean about it, too. And he and Kilah had just made up the other day! The least she could've done was reassure him that he would grow soon too or something. Didn't have to be so mean... Stupid, stupid bitches....

"Oh, Kilah, be good." Mignon put her hands on her hips. "Wouldn't you be mad at me if I had grown and you hadn't? I'm going to go and talk to him."

She walked over to Lyrus and leaned down. "It's been a long time, Lyrus. I think last time I saw you, you were still a baby. You look good." She gave him one of her sunniest smiles, trying to cheer him up.


A minute later she sitting beside Gizmo, leaning back on the bundle of feathers, arms crossed. Dumb little lamb boy, what the ******** was wrong with him? Her first thought was he was still mad at her for something before, but hadn't they gotten over that? And now Mignon was on HIS side? HE was the one being a brat!

Ah, well, she should've seen this coming...er...heard it coming, anyway...

There was another brief moment where Lyrus considered simply ignoring Mignon, but then he remembered that she was actually nice and surely hadn't meant to upset him, and tilting his head slightly to grace her with a glance. "Yeah... You too... Grew up s'more, and Kilah..." ...and sulking returned. With a sound that seemed rather as if he were struggling back a whimper, Lyrus buried his face in his arms once more. Stupid, stupid, stupid girls. Here they were all growing and big and he hadn't even done anothr between quest yet! Was he broken or something!? Stupid not broken girls...

Mignon leaned down and kissed Lyrus on the top of the head. "You're so silly, Lyrus." She said, fondly. "Me and Kilah grew up together last time, and you grew after. Maybe that'll be the way it'll be this time. My Mom told me, good things come to those who wait. I bet when you grow into a kid, you'll be twice the kid Aard or Yukito are." She grasped his shoulders and grinned again.

"Now, silly boy, why don't you get up and tell Kilah how pretty she is." She patted her knees once or twice before standing up.

Kilah had gotten very bored, very fast. She'd never admit it outloud, but life would be boring with both Mignon and Lyrus mad at her. Shrugging, she grumbled loudly something not in English to herself and yanked the guitar over her shoulder, running her fingers along the strings.

Mignon was just one of those happy people, Lyrus decided. But the good kind that made other people happy, too, rather than the overly cheery hyper scary kind athat made him twitch. Lyrus sometimes envied the happy people. Happy as they were an all. Anywho, Lyrus did seem somewhat cheered by the attention and words, and after inwardly debating with himself for a while longer, he slowly climbed to his feet, but kept his eyes locked on the ground, only a very faint smile hovering at his lips. "I haven't even gotten the between quest yet... and you've both already grown."

....Sulking over, Lyrus glanced up, straightening his shoulders as he did so and smiling politely to Mignon. With Kilah's attitude, there was no way she would get a compliment out of him, but Mignon was nice, so it came naturally. "Kilah's being a b***h, and I'll tell her she's pretty after I've stuck a few glass pieces down her throat. But you look very pretty, Mignon. Congrats on growing."

"Better watch out, though." Mignon warned, smiling. "She's got some wepons to go with her height." Her phone started to go off in her purse and she sighed.

"Mom's beeping me. Thanks for the compliment, Lyrus, and don't fight with Kilah anymore. I don't like it when my two bestest friends fight." A little extra sweetness couldn't hurt matters. She waved do him.

"Bye bye, Kilah! Mom's calling me, but Lyrus is here. Please don't gut him like a fish!" She called before dashing for the gate.

A lot of things about Kilah had changed, and a lot hadn't. She still felt no need to keep her eyes open when she wasn't moving (or even when she was for that matter), so they were still closed as she lifted one hand and waved slightly. "Later, Mignon."

She said nothing as far as Lyrus went. He was the "b***h" here, or he was the one being one right now if you asked her! Still, Lucky had told if she stabbed anyone, Lucky would stabbed her. And, quite frankly, Kilah believed her.

With her female friend now long gone, she yawned again and plucked at the strings of the guitar carelessly. It was a tune of some sort, but far from a song.

"Bye Mignon," Lyrus mumbled almost sadly, waving slightly to his friend as she headed away. With a sigh, he dropped back down to sit on the grass, having absolutely no intention of speaking to Kilah until she apologized for speaking badly about him using curses he had never even heard before. Instead, he contented himself with dragging Task onto his lap and absently petting the little cera, who simply curled up and went to sleep. Animals were better than people. For many, many reasons...

"Lyrus." The name came loud enough to hear over the music (if you'd call it that), but she had no plans of apologizing either. Why should I? The voice in her mind complained. He was the one to go off sulking for such a stupid reason! Still, he WAS her friend, and one of her only ones since she found the majority much too annoying. She wouldn't let on she was...slightly concerned, or admit it, but she was. "What the hell is wrong with you, man? Me and Mignon didn't do anything wrong, and you're over there pouting, aren't you?"

And again, Lyrus seriously considered just ignoring the girl. He -had- said...thought...whatever that he wasn't going to speak to her until she apologized. But Kilah never apologized to anyone for anything, and she was speaking to him, which, for Kilah, was almost sort of an apology. Lyrus sighed deeply, continuing to absently pet his cera while he replied. "You grew without me again...and you could have waited, I know it... But you didn't bother, so now I'm stuck little forever 'cause I'm broken and you and Mignon'll just get bigger and stop talking to me 'cause I'm practically still a baby." He swept through the sentance in a rush and clamped his mouth firmly shut, glowering past his feet at the grass.

"I think that's pretty selfish of you to ask me to do that, you know." She seemed to mean it, too. Along with that, her voice was unusual calm, not irratated like one would expect. Not that it was hard to get her angry, but still... "You're aware I have someone who wants to kill me running around this old? Aard might be a little s**t face, but he's not joking around."

It took everything she had not to grin. Haha. Stupid Aard. She'd introduce him to Mr.Dagger if he tried to smack her again, and maybe Lucky would understand.

Those thoughts should be for another time, though, and thus she attempted to center her attention fully on Lyrus. "Besides, me and Mignon grow together, and we grow before you. Maybe you don't think it's fair, but that's the way it's going to be. You'll be this old too, soon enough, and then we'll all be the same again. It doesn't matter, really, there's nothing wrong with you how you are now."

So what if it was selfish? If they had really been his friends, they would've thought it from the beginning 'cause this was the same bloody thing that happened last time! Lyrus didn't care about being selfish anymore. Not that he had ever particularly cared before, but yeah. And Kilah was scared of Aard? Wanting to kill him? It was laughable. Indeed, Lyrus laughed, climbing to his feet and scooping Task up within him, continuing to pet the little fuzz ball. "Aard's a stupid wuss, and I could take him as I am now, so don't try and pull that with me."

A pause, and then, "And I don't care when you grow or how you grow or anything, but you should've waited for me! Or at least waited for my between quest so that we know I'm not broken! I would've done it for you!" But never again, he thought. Maybe he'd hurry and find a way to grow super fast, and then he could get bigger before Kilah and Mignon and step on them. Or Kilah, anyway.

"I don't think you would've." Again, the chicken girl glared. Toward his voice, but off to the side quite a bit. A small gust of wind sent her hat toppling off her head and her hair flying in her face. "Look, Lyrus, you don't have any idea how annoying I find this. I had to learn to walk ALL OVER again because I'm taller now, I've got this God damn hair ALWAYS in my face, and for whatever reason, suddenly the topic of conversation is about my damn chest."

She paused before continuing, shifting the guitar over her shoulder carefully. Damn strings hurt her fingers. "If you don't like this, tough s**t, ya know? I'm not gonna beg for you to be "happy" or not mad at me like Mignon will. It's a shame you're pissed, it really is, but you're the one being annoying here. And kind of unreasonable."

"I would've," he hissed back, politely ignoring her misdirection. Just because they were arguing for the upteenth time, didn't make it right for him to tease her about her eyes. That was cruel. The toddler remained silent for a bit longer, taking some consolation in the fact that she wasn't too happy with her growth. Lyrus, personally, thought she looked pretty and had nothing to complain about. Well, maybe the hair. Hair was irritating. Lyrus was glad he didn't have any. "It couldn't have been that hard. And you do have lumps on your chest." Those must be annoying, too. But Lyrus certainly didn't think them worth talking about. Lumps.

She did have a point, though. It wasn't as if he could change anything. Sighing, he turned his eyes back towards the ground, contenting himself with pulling up a few grass blades. "I know... I just feel left out... You an' Mignon grow a lot faster than me. You'll prolly be, like... all the way grown up before I'm even a kid! And then what'll I do!?"

"Come on, you're being ridiculous." Wait...ridiculous? Where the hell did she learn to talk like that? No more sister time with Sango, she decided. Shaking her head, she muttered something then spoke louder, toward Lyrus, "C'mere, I've got something for you."

Had she been a toddler still, she would've tried to find him herself, but doing so know risked falling on him. She'd already tripped over Twila (who she was still convinced had done it on purpose, little b***h).

To Lyrus' mind, he was being perfectly reasonable. After all, he had always been behind when it came to growths and whatnot, and now her was -really, really- behind. It could only get worse as things progressed. However, he grudgingly acknowledged that Kilah couldn't help that and, when she beckoned him over, deposited Task on the ground once more and climbed to his feet, trying not to act too curious as he shuffled over. "Yup?"

"Give me a second." Between all the junk she now kept in her pocket, it took longer than she should have to locate the dagger case. Obviously, being neat wasn't Kilah's strong point, as when she pulled the case out various candy wrappers and other things fell to the ground. She either didn't notice or care. Probably the first, but she likely wouldn't have cared even if she had.

Snapping the case open, she traced her finger along the end of the weapon to make sure it was the correct one. There was something different about each of them, small things, but they helped Kilah tell them apart. "Here, take this. This one's my favorite, but I want you to have it. Being upset doesn't suit us, you know? We're the badasses around here. Feel better now?"

Had it been Mignon, she would've...hugged her or something. That just seemed creepy with Lyrus, though...

Waiting was usually worth it with Kilah and those around her. Lyrus had quite a collection from them thus far. Between the feathers and Task and that gem thing and now whatever she was giving him... Yeah, Kilah was unusually good about giving things to Lyrus. Not that he was complaining in the least. Lyrus was like a raven in that.

However, when she presented him with the weapon, it took the toddler completely by surprise. His mouth literally dropped open, and he actually hesitated a moment before reaching out and carefully accepting this new treasure. "Wow, I... This is SO cool, Kilah!! Haha, this'll be so much better than those glass roses, and I can learn to throw it like Moo's friend does, and, and..." The ideas were endless. Lyrus was lost for words. And seriously resisting the urge to hug Kilah. This knife was that good.

Despite the fact they'd been fighting only moments ago, Kilah couldn't help but grin. Haha, damn right. Daggers were THE weapon to have, in her opinion. And of course, her opinion was right, because Kilah was always right.

In a spilt second her voice became serious, her tone lowering to sound something along the lines of disgusted. "When Lucky gave them to me, she told me I wasn't allowed to stab anyone." So, naturally, she'd tried to cut her sisters hand off. "She doesn't trust me, so she put a curse on them. You can't hurt anyone with them unless it's in..." Ah, s**t, what did she call it? "Self defense, or something."

It was a shame, really. Aard had hit her first before, though, so her hopes were he'd do it again. If he hit her, it was "self defense", right? Right. "Anyway, I'm learning all this magic stuff. When I'm good enough, I'll take the curse off and you can stab whoever you want. Until then, just show it off or threaten people with it."

Lyrus would have seconded that thought in an instant. Daggers were clearly the best of the weapons for various reasons that the toddler was too distracted to think about right now. And it was sharp and shiny and oh so beautiful and Lyrus thought he might just be in love. And then...Kilah shot an arrow through his beloved, and Lyrus' heart broke in two. "I can't stab Jax!?" ...Okay, that came out wrong.

"I mean, er, so... I can't use it until you get rid of the curse thing?" He sighed, glancing back down to the blade and carefully running a finger along it. "Well...It's still amazingly great. And I can practice and stuff and then use it once the curse was gone." Yes, that sounded reasonable. Besides, Jax was too tall now and had a buttmunchy flitt. Lyrus would rather not provoke that until he was tall enough to easily counter. It was safer.

"Basically. Gotta take the bad with the good, I guess. If you can't kill it, that is." That seemed to be her solution for everything. Something bad? Kill it. And if you couldn't kill it, throw it in a river. Rivers were good.

She was starting to understand how her sister felt walking around carrying that boomerang all the time. Seems she wasn't as use to the extra weight her guitar provided as she thought. Standing up, she immediatly toppled back over. "Ow..."

Once again on her feet, careful to balance herself this time, she hauled up onto Gizmo and kicked him in the side. It wasn't meant to hurt him, just to let him know she wouldn't tolerate him flying slow. "Anyway, Lyrus, I'm gonna go. Got people to see, you understand."

Without waiting for a reply, she nudged Gizmo in the side again. Barking his goodbye to Lyrus, he stepped back once before launching forward into the air.

"'Zactly," Lyrus acknowledged, though he was far too excited about his dagger to really be paying attention. So lost in the pretty sharp shiny dangerous object, in fact, that he completely failed to notice Kilah falling over backwards, and therefore didn't bother to help her up. The toddler snapped out of it only with the sound of his own name and, still rather distracted, glanced up to Kilah out of the corner of his eye. "Huh? Oh, right, 'course... Thanks for the dagger, Kilah!"

And then..she was off. Damn. Lyrus wished he could fly/ride something that could. The toddler glanced thoughtfully in the general direction of his flit...and quickly resigned himself to the fact that Vin would never be able to carry anyone. Oh well. Moo had a plane; he could fly that when he grew up. Which he would, if only so that he could attack Jax and not get beat to a pulp. Yupyup.

With a wave he attracted the attenion of both Task and Vin, then started off for him, carefully carrying his newest treasure in both hands, the two creatures following loyally along behind. This might just be the greatest day of his life. ...Maybe.

Kilah and Mignon are big now. I went to the manshun mansion this morning and saw them and...got mad. They grew without me again. I always get left behind like that. And I havent got my inbetween quest yet so maybe Im broken and not gonna grow? I really really really want to grow cause my best friends did and Im still stuck little again.

Anyway I was mad for a bit and Kilah said some real mean things but Mignon told her not to and came and cheered me up and then Kilah talked to me and cheered me up too after Mignon left. So I guess theyre still my friends even though theyre bigger again which is good as long as they dont grow again before Im older. I dont think they will though. unless I really am broken.

Anyway Kilah gave me a dagger when she was cheering me up. Its about the greatest thing Ive ever seen ever! But I cant use it cause its cursed which is bad. But Kilah says shes trying to figure out how to break the curse so maybe by the time Im older and can really fight Jax the cursell be gone. I sure hope so cause Id love to stabe Jax with it.

Until then Ive been bugging Coen because he hatched and is a really happy little stupid wuss. Hes an idiot. But I can pull his feathers out and make Jax think I cut them off so Coen cries and Jax is scared to punch me cause he thinks I can stab him. Its fun. And Banda doesnt even suspect anything cause hes been in his studio all day working on something. I think Im making Moo sad though. She took Coen away and told me to come up here to my room so I guess shes mad but she didnt sound mad just a little tired.

Maybe that Pod guys bugging her.

I dunno.

Bye now.