[D] Fallen in Truth (Neko's Feien) | Page 8 | Feien Fairies | Guild Forums

Neko Girl

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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 8:59 pm

RP that occured July 3/4, 2004: [size=9](From the shop)[/size] [size=7]Aquired from karma_k's journal. Altered to fit in one quote by Neko Girl.[/size]
[size=7]Note from Karma: [i]((Taken from the main Feien thread. There's parts here and there where Tal and Tahki refer to other things that had been going on in the shop at the time but that I didn't want to log since there were about three different plots going on respectively. Just...nod and pretend to understand.))[/i][/size][color=white]

Tal was a bit too preoccupied to notice there were other feiens already there as he barrelled into the shop. He'd been granted permission to come alone tonight and three times his path had been interrupted as he'd been harrassed and dive-bombed by the fat miller moth he was currently pursuing, a sharp twig in one upraised hand.

The moth clumsily but quickly darted once around the light fixture before it was confused by the brightness of the bulb and paused to batter itself brainlessly against it. Tal, not expecting the sudden stop, fishtailed in mid-air, broadsiding the moth and sending the both of them spiraling to the countertop, not far from Tahki and the others.

Tal landed first and with a soft plip! the moth landed on top of him, stunned. Without missing a beat, he sat up angrily and seized the insect between his hands.

"What is the MATTER with you??" he raved at it. "Not in the mood to feed the birds tonight, I said! Have somewhere to go, I said! You just weren't happy until it came to this!!!"

The moth just...STARED at the young feien with compound eyes which, had they been more sentient, would likely have been very, very puzzled.

AH! Just the feien she was looking for! Quickly, Tahki bolted back up onto her feet, and scurried over to Talonfaust, blinking a few times as he scolded the moth. Why...was he scolding it, anyway? Hiding the package behind her back (and not very well), she stepped a little closer to the white feien.

"Hi Talon!" she smiled cheerfully.

Tal froze in mid-tirade, his eyes snapping wide at Tahki's voice as she came up behind him and his hands reflexively stiffening until the fingers were straight. The moth, seizing its opportunity to get away from the looney holding it captive, bumbled off with a buzzing of its earthy wings to return to the golden glory of the lightbulb on the ceiling.

"H'lo, Tahki..." he greeted, withdrawing into his shell with an almost audible slam as he realized where he was and how many feien were already there.

....WELL now, there went -his- dignity allowance for the evening...

Tahki continued to smile. "How are you today? I hope things are better now... How come you were yelling at the moth?" she spat out, leaning up onto her toes for a moment before going back down.

"U-um...t-thank you for the roses, Talon!" she also added, blushing slightly. "They're beautiful!"

Tal flinched a bit as she thanked him for the roses, his eyes darting to the others, hoping nobody was listening and coughed. "You're welcome." he said, sounding a little more stiff than he meant to. "I--well, not all of us have feathers to give away." he muttered, looking at the floor.

He quickly decided to steer the subject back to her first question, trying to shake off the feeling of being a complete fool. "I wasn't yelling at it, I was--correcting it. It kept getting in my way, I tried to ignore it, then it made me crash into a low branch, and...." he paused "....well, would YOU let it get away with that?"

He looked down, realizing the twig he'd broken off in his anger from said branch and was intent on using as a makeshift moth harpoon was right beside where he sat. He extended one foot in an attempt to subtlely kick it out of sight.

Tahki watched him kick the branch away, and she giggled a little bit. "Well, maybe not," she had to admit, lifting a hand to rub her neck. Unfortunately, she nearly lost balance of her gift, and she quickly put her hand back behind her.

"S-so how are you today?" she asked, kicking her foot a little against the counter.

Tal shrugged and got up, arching his back to pop it. All of these crash landings weren't good for him... "Better since yesterday." he answered, his voice low enough that only she could hear him. He paused, blowing raven bangs out of his eyes. "And yourself?" As he got himself composed again after his graceless entrance, the irritated edge began to work itself out of his voice.

"I'm good!" she declared, her yellow eyes catching pink hair in her glance. Must pay attention, must pay attention...

She wanted to fiddle with the yellow string around her waist, but that would be impossible with the object in her hands. ...Time to give it to him, then! Sheepishly, Tahki brought out the green package from behind her back, blushing again. "I m-made you something..." she stammered, holding the gift up to him as her feet started to turn inwards towards eachother. What a funny feeling she felt inside...more warm and fuzzy that usual.

Tal blinked twice, his first impulse to recoil a little from what Tahki was offering, but quickly catching himself. "You--" he faltered, really not sure how he should react. "---really?"

He wanted to give himself a swift kick in the rear for that... 'really'...? That was the best he could come up with? Tell her thank you. It won't kill you, you great git. Who are you trying to impress, anyway? his brain scolded him.

"Thank you..." he said quietly but with sincerity, reaching out to accept it, wondering what she'd made.

Were he to open the package right then, he would find a dreamcatcher, carefully wrapped in the cloth. Made from a very small silver ring, red thread, a few beads, and a couple of her more glittery feathers.

"It's a dreamcatcher," she said softly. "I read that they were supposed to keep bad dreams away..."

Tal silently unwrapped the package, the green cloth unfolding and falling away as he revealed the red-and-black dreamcatcher within. He stood in silence a minute, just looking at it. She'd made this for him because of their discussion yesterday...because even though she hadn't fully understood, she must have realized how badly the nightmares had been bothering him.

His chest felt like it had seized up for a moment before he shook his head slightly to clear it. He looked to Tahki, several things coming to mind to say at once and all of them fleeing out of his tongue's grasp before he could say them.

So, in leiu of being able to say anything, he acted on his next impulse, pulling Tahki in for an impulsive, if slightly clumsy, hug.

Tahki blinked a few times, not really expecting that reaction from him. This WAS Talonfaust, wasn't it? ...Of course it was. Smiling, Tahki returned his hug, happy she was able to do something right.

"S-so you like it?" she asked curiously, just to be sure. She felt like she was floating on air for a moment...but she wasn't.

Tal drew back again and, instead of giving a verbal answer, nodded once, stepping backward from Tahki and looking to the side, his cheeks a little flushed with embarrassment as his outburst. He was just tripping all over himself tonight...

"I do." he said quietly. "I--I'm sure it will help." he forced an edge of confidence into his voice, not really sure if it would help with the nightmares or not, but at least sure that he'd give it a try. And that even if it didn't, it would be taking its place as his favorite possession soon enough. "Thank you." he said again, waiting for the heat to leave his face.

One of his tapered ears twitched at the sound of the female voice nearby that was speaking in a constant run-on and he flicked his emerald eyes in the newcomer's direction briefly. He'd never seen this many of them all in one place before...it was strange and stifling.

He knelt, picking up the green cloth that had fallen and, for lack of better things to do with it, tied it around his upper arm so that he wouldn't forget it when it was time to leave and he needed something to wrap the dreamcatcher in. He cleared his throat as he stood again, looking back at Tahki and not really knowing what to say, hoping she would think of something before the silence spanned too long.

Tahki felt like bouncing off the walls, she was that happy. Now that her ears had caught the drone of the unfamilar voice, her curiousity and attention span was getting the better of her.

"I-I'll be right back!" she stammered, smiling up at him. "I just wanna meet the new feien, and then I'll come right back!"

She didn't think that even SHE could listen to the talkative feien for too long. Without another word, Tahki flitted over to the small group of females, looking to the pink haired feien curiously.

Tal let Tahki go without argument, breathing a sigh of relief when she was gone....a couple of minutes to himself to get his head on straight was something he desperately needed as he stretched his wings to their full span, giving them a quick flutter and taking a deep breath.

His eyes fell back to the dreamcatcher he held between his hands and he held it up to examine it a little more closely, admiring the intricate pattern of the string and the familiar-looking red and black feathers hanging beneath it.

He allowed himself a half-smile and then turned to watch the interaction with the newcoming pink-haired feien from afar with mild curiousity. He -assumed- she was new, anyway. He'd never seen her before...but then he'd not seen a lot of feien who had been around before him yet.

Tal sauntered to the edge of the counter, away from the bustle of voices and activity and sat quietly, neither thinking nor doing anything in particular and unaware of the scuffle going on in the rafters. A flurry of movement out of the corner of his eyes caught his attention as he turned to see the miller moth he'd been intent on spearing when it came in caught in a large spiderweb in the corner.

He watched it flail for a minute with malicious amusement. "Serves you right..." he growled at it aloud. He watched a bit longer as the insect became more and more entangled in the silken strands before rolling his eyes. It was going to ruin the spider's web faster than the spider, wherever it was, was going to eat it.

That, and if anybody was going to get to kill the fat bugger, HE was.

Rolling his eyes, he got up and took wing across the shop, pausing to hover as he pulled at the silken strands entrapping the moth. A moment later, it flew free of its prison to return, once again, to the lightbulb, leaving Tal feeling rather unfulfilled and with spider's silk all over his hands. Yeck...

Oh oh oh, someone else who liked shineys! "Yes yes, I like your horn! It's very pretty. I don't have anything like that, I'm kinda normal! Except for my coloring, that's not normal apparently. I have two colors instead of one! On my body AND in my hair! How come your markings are swirly? Mine aren't swirly! And and and..."

For a moment, she stopped, remembering how she said she'd return to Talonfaust after she'd met the new feien. Tahki smiled warmly, calming herself down, her wings shifting a little. "I'm sorry...I would like to talk to you more, but I promised my friend I would go back to him. Perhaps we could talk another time, or later?" she asked. Not waiting for an answer, she floated up into the air. "It was very nice meeting you, Aqua! I look forward to seeing you again!"

With that, she fluttered off to find Talon again.

Tal returned to the countertop, still attempting to pull silk from his hands with his face screwed up in a frown.

He wondered just what was going through the maker's head when it decided there ought to be a creature that was not only CAPABLE of producing such a sticky mess but that lived its life by doing so. Giving a snort of disgust, he landed gently and sank to one knee, concentrating his full attention on his hands.

The moth, rather than be thankful for its release, bumbled about the light for a moment more before zipping downward in a dramatic divebomb, clipping the back of Tal's head with its wings.

Tal glared daggers at it. Apparantly this particular moth knew about a thousand different ways to say "Please kill me"

Tahki noticed the moth out of the corner of her eyes, following it as it dived nearly into Talon. She couldn't help but giggle at this, floating closer to the two.

"I think it likes you," she joked.

"I THINK its about three seconds from being diced up to feed the sparrows in the morning." he growled, his eyes tracking the moth as it drunkenly flew across the shop before landing on the wall, non-chalantly folding its wings and attempting to look unimportant.

He forced his attention away from it, muttering a curse before looking back at Tahki. "What was she like?" he asked, referring to the new feien. His tone was non-committal, asking though he wasn't very curious at all about the pink-haired one.

Anything that spat out that many words missed its calling as a blasted dictionary.

"Very talkative," she said with a nod. "But very nice."

Landing on the counter once again, she gave a quiet yawn, holding a hand over her mouth. Glancing down at Talon, she noticed his hands shining a little bit from the sticky, silkly webbing. "Spider?" was all she uttered.

Tal nodded and scowled again at the silk on his hands. Most of it was gone now, but -still-...

He shot a glare up at the moth which had shifted its position on the wall to be upside-down. "Stop looking at me!!" he demanded sharply. The moth remained where it was and rubbed its front legs together to groom itself. Tal narrowed his eyes and looked back to Tahki.

"Look at him." he muttered, pointing at the moth as it supposedly rubbed its hands together. "TELL me it doesn't look like he's contemplating his next attack." he said it in such a way that it could sound like he was merely kidding, but the anger in his voice was apparant.

Tahki looked to the moth, pondering what Talon said. Perhaps, the little insect did seem like it was preparing itself...but it hardly seemed menecing. Glancing back to the white feien, she crouched down next to him, placing her hands next to her feet.

"Well...I suppose you're right," she said with a slight smile. "But, to me, it kinda looks happy at the same time. Like it were playing with you."

"Just as long as it stays away from my head...." he grumbled, pulling the last of the silk strands from his left hand and fussing with the remaining ones on his right. He turned away from the moth before he began to obsess over wanting to spear it.

He winced a little at the sharp exchange of words going on nearby...apparantly they'd missed something. But...it was none of their business either. Doing his best to ignore it, he looked back to Tahki.

"You always see a bright side to everything, don't you?" he remarked in a gentled tone. It never would have occurred to HIM the insect was playing with him.

Tahki blushed slightly, smiling at his words. Perhaps she felt prided in this, as she liked feeling happy. Were she to look at it negatively, she may become frightened...or even worse, to her, she'd become sad.

"I... Well, if I looked at it any other way, I may feel bad," she tried to explain. "I want to try and think of things in a happier way...in a less scary way." She frowned slightly as she remembered Neko's disappearance, and then her bonded's return to home. She remembered how terrible she felt every time she thought Neko wasn't coming back...

However, her smile returned. "Not everything has a bright side...I know that. But...don't you think some things would be better if you thought about it being better?"

Tal seemed to think this over for a moment. It wasn't that he went out of his way to look for things to be upset over. It was more like they came looking for -him-.

"I suppose so." he relented with a shrug. "Thinking of things being better has been easier lately, I'll give it that much. But there are some things I can't just let go." he paused. "....but I'll try to do better if you wish it."

If she wished...? Tahki gave him a warm smile. "The way you think should be your choice, not my wish," she said softly, finally taking a seat on the counter. She drummed her fingers a little, her hands resting inbetween her not outstretched legs.

"I only think the way I do because I want to," she added. "I used to think differently, really. But, that way of thinking seemed to make me more upset than it did happy, so I changed my way of thought." Now she played with the ends of her string. "So, it should be a matter of wanting to, shouldn't it?"

"I just don't want to make you leave. That's all. Enough people think I'm crazy as it is." Tal muttered, his eyes distant, looking like he was recalling something else. After the encounter with Shux he found himself constantly second-guessing himself around Tahki and others. If he ever heard her fire off on him that way.....well, he didn't know what he'd do, but it would certainly be a lot easier for him to dislike himself.

He cleared his throat, finding the dreamcatcher nearby where he'd set it down when he'd gone off after the moth and reached out, retrieving it and setting it down nearer to himself.

Clearing her throat softly, Yeande moved to stand behind Takhi, glancing to the girl. "Takhi? May I speak to you for a moment?"

Tahki was about to respond when her long ears caught the sound of Yeande's voice. Smiling, she leaned her head back a bit to see the dark feien. "Of course!" was her responce, unaware if it was a private conversation or not.

Chuckling down at Tahki, Yeande pulled her cloak a bit tighter around herself. "You're a cold Feien, right?" she asked, moving to sit near the two instead of looming over them. "I believe that our new bloom is a cold Feien of some sort. It froze the water we put it in last night, and seems to be thriving in the freezer. Can you think of anything else that may help?"

Tahki thought for a moment. What did Neko's journal say again...? "Oh oh! Cold air!" she giggled. "Neko said I liked the air conditioner...the freezer was the best, though," she stated. "Um...I'm not sure if the bloom would like it, but Neko said I liked the moon, too. But...she never said I froze the water."

Interesting...where there other types of cold feien? "Um...ice? Have you tried ice? Neko said I liked ice, too!"

As this was all over his head, Tal sat and remained obediently quiet while Yeande and Tahki spoke to each other. His eyes wandered back to the wall where the moth was, only to find that it was no longer there. He narrowed his eyes a bit in suspicion, bringing up his wings slightly to guard his head.

"Neko didn't do a lot of...ha...hab.......habitat tests on me. Mostly water and coldness stuff. She did some music tests, though! I think some flower tests...I can't really remember anything else, though," she continued to ramble. "Um...does that help any?"

"Yes, it does... thank you, Takhi." Yeande smiled then, getting to her feet and brushing herself off. "I should get going and check on the bloom, as well."

"I hope it's doing well!" she beamed, a little excited about the feien inside. It would be nice to have another cold feien around...it felt strange to her, being the only one she knew of.

"I hope you have a good night, pretty lady!" Tahki added, her wings shifting a bit.

"You as well, Takhi," Yeande replied, nodding politely to her. "And to you, Tal..." Smiling, she headed for the door then, lost in her own thoughts.

Tal peered at Yeande from beneath the shelter of his wings and tilted a wave at her retreating back, despite the fact she hadn't seen it. Likewise, as he shifted his position a little, he didn't notice the moth's slight weight as it sat on the back of his left wing, seeming almost proud of itself.

Tahki looked back to Talon, and was quiet for a moment, looking right at the moth. Was it so light that it couldn't be felt? Much less, heard. A moment longer, the little feien was silent, until she fell over in a fit of giggles.

Tal remained completely oblivious to Tahki's sudden laughter, quirking a brow and squirming self-consciously. "What...?" he asked, looking first to the left, then to the right, trying to find the source of her amusement and not seeing it. The moth remained perfectly still, peering mockingly over the top of his wing out of his line of vision

Taking a few breathes to calm herself down, Tahki sat back up, rubbing her eyes a bit. "I'm s-sorry," she stammered, giving him her cheerful smile. "It's just...well..."

The cold feien stood up on her knees, reaching a hand out to the moth, wondering what it would do.

The moth lingered where it was and then crawled forward onto Tahki's hand, its legs a little prickly but not painful and hung there. Mockingly. Right in Tal's face.

Tal's eyes narrowed to slits at the moth's dust-colored wings. It had been right there all along. ON him. He growled through clenched teeth at it, using all of his willpower not to lunge at the little puke.

Tahki giggled a little again, the tiny legs feeling a little tickly. She smiled, however, lightly petting the moth on its head. It wasn't so bad...it seemed to really just be playing.

"See? I think he's just having fun," she tried to sooth Talon, resting back down on the counter. "Maybe if you asked him to leave, he'll go home?"

Tal's eyes shifted to Tahki briefly at the suggestion, then back to the moth crawling on the countertop.

"Go. Away." he told it flatly.

The moth spread its wings, fluttered them...
Then flew directly at Tal's face, latching on and making him pitch over backwards with a muffled yelp of surprise before the moth, wisely, took to the air again and flitted out of reach a moment before Tal sat up, fire dancing in his eyes and spitting out wingdust.

"You---YOU---!!! RRGGHH!!" he yelled after it, unable to even form a coherant curse.

Tahki did her best not to laugh. It wasn't so much that it was funny...but she found it rather cute. "I guess that didn't work," she stated the obvious, spreading her wings for a moment.

Scooting a little closer to Talon, she looked up at the moth with puppy-like eyes. "Awww, Mr. Moth? I know you're probably having fun, but...I'm afraid of you getting hurt. Do you think you could go home now? Perhaps you could visit another day," she asked sweetly.

The moth continued to flutter blindly around the ceiling for a minute, and then by sheer chance, its blundering carried it out the open door. Tal watched it immediately adhere itself to the nearby closed window from the outside, beating its wings furiously as though wondering how it got outside.

"I guess that works too...." he said, reaching up to wipe his face on the back of his arm once more, checking to see if he'd gotten all of the dust. "You seem to have a way with beasts." he said, completely oblivious to the fact that the remark could be misconstrued to include him as a "beast" as well.

Tahki was a bit surprised that it had even worked. Oooo, maybe she could talk to animals... It would be something to try at home. "Sorry...I hope you don't think I'm trying to... "out-do" you or anything," she said a little sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. She slumped over a little, covering her mouth as she yawned.

"Out-do me...?" Tal quirked a brow. "Out-do me in what?" Frankly, he was just glad the damned thing was gone....or at least not able to get at them at the moment. Tahki's yawn was catching as he did the same. He hadn't even noticed that it had gotten late and that the once-full shop of feien had dwindled down to just the two of them.

He guessed she'd be wanting to leave soon and leaned back, propping himself up against the small display that showed off the store's selection of flower-hats. He lidded his eyes slowly, looking at her with mild fixation. As with last night, he didn't really want to go home, but that's the way things were when you had bondmates that were prone to fit-throwing.

Tahki closed her eyes for a moment, leaning forward slightly as she already began to drift. Quickly, she opened her eyes again, shaking her head a little bit. Hmmm...that can't be good. Merely blinking made her eyes grow heavy, and she rubbed them a little.

Realizing that Talon was looking at her, she blushing a little, smiling slightly. "I guess I'm a little more tired than I thought," she said quietly, stretching her legs out again. With another heavy blink, it occurred to her that she more than likely wouldn't be able to make the flight home safely.

"Something wrong?" Tal asked, his voice sounding loud and sobering to himself, despite his usual quiet speaking tone. Realizing he was dangerously close to nodding off, he gave his head a sharp shake. Despite his good mood last night, he hadn't managed more than about two hours of sleep.

"I'm just...tired," Tahki yawned again, covering her mouth before hugging her knees to her chest. Sleepily, she rested her chin on her knees, struggling to stay awake.

"I don't think I can make it home," she said quietly, almost lazily. "Maybe I'll just sleep here..."

Tal stiffened a little. "You can't just stay here by yourself." he reasoned, his 'inner watchdog' triggered. "What if something happens? What if--" he trailed off and straightened up, scooting closer. "I'll stay too, then." he said with finality as though the subject was already closed.

Well, that temporarily woke her up, her eyes snapping back open as she blushed once again. Stay here too?? "Y-you don't have to!" she stammered, but wasn't really one to argue. Her yellow eyes glanced over at him. "But...why?"

She pretty much knew the answer...as she would have done the same for any of her friends. However, she was curious as always.

"Because--" he faltered "--because someone needs to watch out while you sleep. I'm probably not going to sleep anyway." he said lamely, his reason not sounding very convincing. "S-So I'll just keep watch..." He sat up straight, puffing out his chest a little, trying to show her just how awake he was...the illusion of which was ruined by the way his eyelids were already sagging.

Tahki giggled a little, but it was weak. "So...I have a dragon knight to protect me?" she said sleepily, sitting up a little. Gently, she rested her head against his shoulder, smiling her cheerful smile one more time. "Thank you..." she whispered quietly as her eyes closed. Unintentionally, she fell asleep right there, her smile frozen on her lips.

Tal didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until he tried to fashion some sort of response to the "dragon knight" comment. He let the breath he was going to spend speaking out in a sigh and debated moving her so she could lay down. In the end, he extended one leathery white wing and folded it over her.

"You're welcome" he muttered, his free hand groping beside him blindly until it found the small circular dreamcatcher she'd given him earlier. He held it firmly in his grasp, refocusing his eyes to the ajar front door to guard as he'd promised.

A few moments later, however, his head had sunk to his chest and his eyes had lulled shut as he, likewise, fell asleep, his fingers loosening on the dreamcatcher but not letting go of it.

Aww...there's even a picture to go with it! xd Drawn by karma_k whee

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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 9:02 pm

(July 4, 2004)

Neko stretched her arms a bit, leaning back on the couch just enough to crack her back. There was annoying racket outside that had woken her up, and things smelled awful as gunpowder smoke slowly drifted into the house through the open window. Hmph...why was the window open, anyway? Maybe Domonic opened it before he left...he DID say he'd be out until the evening.

Scratching her head for a moment, the demon hanyou lazily stood up, her ears drawing back slightly as the loud cackles and booms started up again for a moment. Who the hell was setting off fireworks in the middle of the afternoon? And for God's sake....WHY?! Running a hand through her short flipped red hair, she stopped at the window, golden eyes sleepily (and angrily) glancing outside. The sun was high, still...so it couldn't be past 1pm, perhaps. Nonetheless, she glared at her slightly pathetic neighbors, who only offered a smile and a wave, before she slammed the window shut.

"Baka..." Neko muttered quietly, her tail lashing with annoyance for a moment before she turned and started back towards the couch.

"About time you woke up and closed the window," came a complaint from the couch, possibly about as annoyed as the demon was. The tiny male feien opened one eye, keeping his other two closed. "What...what were those sounds, anyway? Is there some sort of war starting?"

Of course, Neko was rather surprised at seeing Merrimack curled up on the back of the couch, not being used to the feien being anywhere near her. "No, not a war," she yawned, moving back to the couch to sit down. "Those are fireworks."

Merrimack's eye twitched slightly, watching his bond. "Who in their right mind would set off fireworks in the middle of the day?"

"I like how you think," Neko smirked. "Maybe when you get bigger, you can play some pranks on the idiots."

"Please don't put ideas in his head," Ares called, gliding out from around the corner of the stairwell. Tahki wasn't too far behind, apparently having snuck in sometime during the morning. "I'd rather my son not be blown to bits. If anything, maybe Mika could but a damp in their afternoon."

It was obvious that none of them were too happy about all the noise. Well, except for Tahki, who had immediately flung herself against the window as crackles and pops filled the room once again. "Ooooooo!! SHINEY!!!"

Neko decided not to ask where the little cold feien was all night, since she appeared to be fine. A scolding may come later, but...right now, she looked to happy.

"I'm gonna be hearing that all night, aren't I?" she sighed, placing a hand against her head. "Mika, you heard the lady. Ruin their fun so I can have peace for at least an hour...just long enough for us to get out of here."

The little water nimue looked almost too happy to skip over to the window, and start climbing up the curtain. Stepping onto the windowsill, Mika cackled, placing her tiny hands upon the glass, and making her magic go to work. Neko smiled as she began to hear whining coming from outside, the neighbors wondering why their fireworks wouldn't light.

"We're going somewhere?" Ares finally asked, touching down onto the back of the couch, red eyes peering up at the demon hanyou.

Neko simply nodded, standing up again. Reaching an arm out to the end table, she picked up her leather collar, the little silver cross gleaming a little in the light. "Yep...we're gonna have a girls day out!" she declared, smiling happily. Merrimack coughed an "ahem," glaring at the bond. "...Oh, you know what I mean."

"YAAAAY! Where we gonna go, Neko? Is there gonna be ice cream? I feel like ice cream! Will there be games? What are we gonna do??" Tahki cried, zooming over to the little group by the couch.

"Well, first, I think we should pick up some fireworks before we do anything. Then, I thought maybe we could go out to eat...ya know. Domonic gave me a ticket to a concert that's in a couple of hours, and I figured Ares and Merri might like that."

"A...concert?" the little male feien inquired.

"Classical, even," Neko smiled, hoping to coax the feien into going. "I knew you two liked that sort of music...and...well...since I missed your one month summonday..."

Merrimack blinked a few times, wondering why someone would celebrate such a thing. No matter...but, she was giving him a gift?? And a rather nice one, at that. He finally sat up, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, I suppose that's fine," he said quietly, this own way of thanking her.

"And for Tahki, I thought we'd go to the ice rink near by."

"Ice rink??" the cold feien asked curiously. "What's that?"

Neko thought for a moment, flicking her tail as she tried to figure out how to put it simply. "Well, it's kind of like a really big freezer, with a thick sheet of ice in the middle for people to skate on. You know, like how you skate around on some of the ice in my freezer. Just...this one is big enough for people."

"REALLY?!?!?! YAY!!! Lets go now!!"

"Tahki..." Ares sighed, shaking her head lightly.

Neko giggled a little bit, rubbing the back of her neck. "And...well, I missed Ares' third month, too."

The black and blue feien blinked a few times, her wings folding down over her shoulders. Her tail flicked a little, curious. "Excuse me?"

"I'll give you your gift later tonight, if that's alright. Maybe tomorrow...because I know you wanted to visit Arturo tonight. Anyway, I'm gonna get ready, and then we'll be off."

Neko yawned lightly as she walked towards the stairwell, and bound up the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Ooooo!! Aaaaaah!!" Tahki cried with wide, bright yellow eyes as she sat on the grassy hill with the others.

Ares refrained from twitching, her tail cringing with annoyance. "Tahki, they haven't even started yet," she sighed, her hands grasping onto the strap of leather around Neko's neck, trying to seat herself better on the demon's shoulder as she leaned back a little.

"I'm practicing!"

Merrimack grunted, much like his father's snort, as he was perched reluctantly on Neko's other shoulder. His orange eyes were fixated on the lake, watching the reflection of the horizon as he waited for the "show" to start. Domonic was the one lighting the fireworks, as Neko wanted to be with her feien to keep them safe.

"Oh, I don't think you need practice," Neko finally retorted, watching Domonic get things ready. "You're a master already."

Tahki flitted up off the ground, and promptly perched herself on Neko's head, carefully grasping onto a tiny handful of locks as she laid down. "Are they ready yet??"

"Almost. We got quite a few of them, and he's setting them up so that they'll, theoretically, go off one right after the other."

"I think he's ready..." Ares said quietly, noticing the man waving before spotting a flicker of light.

For a moment, there was only orange sparks, flitting slowly by in the air before they disappeared, and a loud poomf! shouted from the ground. A tiny object flew up into the air with a tiny stream of smoke, and within about 3 seconds... POW! crackle fizzle sizzle crackle... A beautiful shower of purple, green, and red light sparks floated into the air as it lit up the sky, fading away into nothingness. Another poomf! shooooom... POW! sparkle crackle crackle..., and then another...

The small group watched in awe as they watched the beautiful lights, not only from their display, but from others as well. Neko could only smile as her three feien rested on her, unable to turn their little eyes from the bright attraction. Only one thought ran through the demon hanyou's mind as she watched with them, her tail flicking happily.

It's so good to finally be a family...

Neko Girl

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Neko Girl

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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 9:04 pm

RP that occured July 4, 2004:[color=white]

Ares flapped her wings a little bit, gliding to a halt for a moment as she looked behind her, making sure Merrimack was still following. He looked tired, and was lagging behind because of this. "We're almost there," she assured him calmly, her black tail curling up a little bit. "Then you can rest."

Merrimack grumbled a little bit, wishing he could be carried like he used to be when he was tired. Ares had stopped that when he reached a month not too long ago...also when he'd stopped doing anything. This was such a long trip, and it was tiring, and it had better be worth it.

The black and blue feien continued on once her son had caught up, quite thankful for street lights. It wasn't long before they reached Puchiko's home, which housed the feien she was seeking. Flitting up to the window, she peeked inside, Merrimack lazily coming up from behind.

It was Gogol and Nero at the window this time, the two of them chatting, and looking like conspirators. Gogol's ear twitched as he heard a noise against the window, and he looked over his shoulder to see Ares tapping on it.

"Oh, Nero! Your mom's here!"

Nero turned around, grinning. "Mother!" he squealed, yanking the latch open. The window swung inward, allowing the two feien to enter.

Ares smiled as the window opened, carefully landing herself on the windowsill. Merrimack quickly flew inside, and immediately sat down, needing to rest for a moment. Hugging Nero gently, she knealed down infront of him. "Oh Nero..." she said softly, relieved to see him. "I missed you, sweety. How have you been?"

"Good!" Nero chirped, although his eyes betrayed his words. There was obviously something troubling the boy, but he wouldn't admit it. He hugged his mother tightly, kissing her cheek. "I missed you too, Mama. And so did Papa."

Ares smoothed Nero's hair a bit, careful of the hair pin in his hair (providing he's wearing it). "Well, Papa can wait...I was rather worried about you," she said, placing her hands gently on the boy's shoulders. "I heard a mouse attacked you not too long ago..."

Merrimack yawned quietly, crossing his legs a bit. While he listened to Ares and Nero, his three orange eyes glanced at the dark skinned white feien, blinking a few times. Hm...save for being tan, he somehow reminded him of another white feien...

"Oh," Nero stared at the ground. "Yeah - a mouse kinda nipped me, but it was okay! Ianios patched me right up and it hardly even hurt, honest." he said with a nod.

Gogol peered back, intrigued by this newcomer. "You're pretty!" he beamed, wings twitching happily.

Ares wanted to believe that was everything, but something nagged at her. Why did her son seem a little unhappy...? "Nero, is something wrong?" she asked calmly, looking at him sincerely.

Merrimack blinked a few times, his red wings instinctivly beginning to curl around himself. However, he did his best to calm down, knowing the feien must be a friend of his brother's. "W-who are you...?" he stammered quietly, the cheerfulness reminding him of another close feien: Tahki.

"Oh, no! I've just missed you and Ruya and Merri, is all," Nero explained. It was true - he did miss them. But that wasn't all that was troubling him.

"I'm Gogol!" he said, grinning at Merri. Scurrying closer, he sniffed cautiously at the other feien and "oooh"ed appreciatively. "You even smell good! You smell like..." Another sniff. "Pineapple! I LOVE PINEAPPLE! YOU'RE SO SQUEE!" Gogol threw his arms around the other feien with a happy yell.

Perhaps it was her motherly instincts that were nagging at her, as she felt he wasn't telling her everything. Sitting down on the windowsill, she patted her small lap lightly, indicating for him to sit down. "You know you can tell me," she offered again. "Maybe I could help."

Inside she was laughing at Gogol's outburst, but she hopped Merrimack would be alright while her attention was drawn to Nero.

"EEP!" was all he could utter, tensing up as the feien hugged him. He's t-t-touching me...!! his mind screamed at him, trying to get himself to at least squirm. All he could do, however, was sit there, frozen with wide eyes.

Nero declined the offer to sit in her lap. Rather, he sat down next to her and sighed. "It's nothing, Mama," he muttered, shaking his head. Pieces of hair fell to cover his face, but if they were swept away, it would reveal a near-tearful Nero.

"Hee! I'm gonna call you Mr. Pineyapple, and then I'll just nickname you Apple! And we'll eat fruit all day and have LOTS of fun! Fruit is yummy! Have you had it? It's rather silly to smell like pineapples and never eat one."

Merrimack finally managed a whimper, twitching slightly. Why him...WHY? "My name is Merri, and I'm not an Apple," he stated, slowly loosening up a bit. "If you must call me by any nickname then please...call me Merri. And yes...fruit is good."

Ares did sweep Nero's hair away from his face, and she gently placed a hand on his cheek to get him to look at her. "Nero, what's wrong?" asked again, soothingly. Her concern was only greater now that she saw the tears.

"No, you're not an Apple, you're a Pineapple, silly! It's a nickname." Gogol said, nodding. He grinned brilliant at the feien and pat him lightly on the head.

Nero wiped his eyes, smiling and shaking his head. "It's nothing!" he said. The boy didn't want Ares getting mad at Arturo or him for their conduct, depending on who she sided with.

Merrimack raised a brow at the feien, cowering slightly as his head was patted. He couldn't win, could he? "Fine," he grumbled, folding his arms across his chest.

Ares sighed lightly, not wanting to press further into the matter if Nero didn't want to. Perhaps Arturo would know something, though. "Well, will you be alright, then? I don't like knowing that my son is upset about something..."

"YAAAAY! Mr. Pineapple it is, then! And you can call me Unkie Gogol!" he giggled.

Nero nodded a bit. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea for his mother to know, anyway - what if she too tried to keep Ianios and him apart? His tiny shoulders shuddered at the thought. "I'll be okay," he promised, offering her a thin smile.

Merrimack groaned lightly, shaking his head. "Please tell me you're not really related..." he muttered quietly, trying to back away a bit.

"All right then," she finally accepted, patting him lightly on the head. Standing up, she stretched a little bit, her wings extending as she did so. "Can you tell me where your father is?"

"To who? Artie?" Gogol shook his head furiously, making a face. "No! Artie is a bad feien! He's mean and bossy and he makes poor Nero sad all the time!"

Nero nodded. "He's in the kitchen, practicing on the table. It's less cluttered than the desk." he said, giggling.

Bad? Makes Nero sad? His orange eyes glanced over to his brother for a moment before looking back to Gogol. "Um...that's my father you're talking about," he said weakly.

Ares leaned over to whisper in Nero's ear quietly. "I know Gogol won't hurt your brother, but try to look after him...Merri may seem calm, but I'm not sure if he'll snap." She smiled weakly, shrugging a little. "Just make sure he stays calm...

With that, she took flight, and began to search for the kitchen.

"Oh." Gogol flushed, embarrassed. "I... think he means well, y'know? He just doesn't like me much."

Nero nodded to his mother, and skipped over to Merri. "How are you, brother?" he asked, giving Gogol a light pat on the shoulder. The brown feien beamed broadly at him.

Arturo was in the kitchen, but amazingly enough, it turned out he wasn't training. He was sitting cross-legged on the pages of a book, reading intently.

"I...think I'm okay," he managed to say, scooting closer to Nero before scooting behind him. Tugging on Nero's arm a little bit, he whispered, "He's like Tahki...only...slightly less annoying."

Ares quietly flew up behind him, pausing for a moment as she looked over his shoulder, wondering what he was reading. Carefully, she brought herself closer to him, and gently slipped her arms over his chest, hugging him. "What're you reading?" she asked quietly, resting her chin on his shoulder.

Nero smiled kindly at his younger brother. "Gogol is a good feien, Merri, and he's the nicest one I know." Aside from Ianios. "Please be nice to him? He means well."

Arturo reached back to gently stroke her hair, eyes still on the pages. "Moby d**k," he replied, then tilted his head to the side to kiss her cheekbone, the only area he could reach.

"So long as he doesn't hurt me..." he said quietly, Merrimack finally standing up. His wings drooped a little as he ran a hand through his longish hair. "So how've you been, Nero? I haven't seen you in quite some time."

Ares smiled slightly as he kissed her cheek. "Mmmm...I think I've read that one before," she said absently, lifting her head so she could look at him. "I'm not bothering you, am I?"

Nero sighed, watching Gogol as he toddled off to poke at Rhodium, who was teaching herself to read. "Can you keept a secret, Merri?" he whispered, yellow eyes wide.

"Ares, my love, nothing you could do would ever bother me." He shifted around to face her, his arms wrapped around her waist. He kissed her again, this time a lingering kiss on her lips. "How is Merri?"

Merrimack blinked once, raising a brow. "Noooo, Nero," he started sarcastically. "I can't keep a secret. Tell me anything, and I'll just tell ALL the friends that I don't have."

She kissed him back, smiling against his lips. "At the moment, he seems to be fine...he's with Nero right now," she said softly, her tail curling a bit once again. Her wings folded down over her shoulders, figuring she'd be here at least for a bit.

Nero fidgeted, swallowing a bit. "Touché, Merri," he said, attempting a smile. Then he sighed, hanging his head. "There is this boy I really, really like - Ianios. He's sweet and he's smart and he's so brave and... Papa says I can't see him anymore." Again, the tears threatened to fall, but he wiped them away furiously.

Arturo smirked, running his fingers through Ares' hair. "And how are you, love?" he asked.

Merrimack blinked a few times. Tears...his brother was nearly crying?? Something inside of him felt like it was about to shatter. "Ianios...? Isn't that the guy that hurt Tahki?" he questioned, looking a bit concerned. He personally didn't like the boy...there was something about adventure that just turned him off. Of course, he was more concerned about the fact this their father was forbidding Nero to see said boy.

Ares sighed lightly. "I suppose I'm alright, but a little troubled," she replied honestly. "And yourself?"

"He hurt Tahki?" Nero whispered. "I'm sure he didn't mean to! He's such a good person, Merri! And he gives me hugs and helps me when my hair gets tangled in things and..." He trailed off, realizing how much he sounded like Gogol, and blushed. "When I got bitten by the mouse, he protected me. When I got stuck in a bird's nest, he helped me out. Admittedly, those things happened when I was with him, but I'm also happy when I'm with him, you see? And Papa saying I can't see him is just awful, Merri, just awful."

"Troubled? What's wrong, Ares?" Arturo asked, knitting his eyebrows.

Merrimack listened quietly, still unsure about the feien in question. "Well...I personally don't like him very much. But you have your own life, and are free to be friends with whoever you wanna be," he said softly. "Really, Daddy or Mommy shouldn't have any say in what we wanna do. We're our own feien...we have a will. I mean, the worst they could do is get mad, right?"

"Well, our son seems to be upset," she said, looking up at him. "I don't like knowing that he's upset."

"But I HATE it when Papa is mad," Nero replied. "And, I don't know, I can see his side also. It just... makes me sad."

Arturo snorted. "Probably over that Ianios boy. Do you know what happened?" he asked.

"...Well, I can understand that," Merrimack said, looking up a little. It wasn't like he had the guts to disobey his parents...he was too afraid to. But Nero...Nero was a lot braver than he was. "I say, just go see him anyway. I'd be to scared to, but you... you're strong."

Ares shook her head a little bit. "The only thing I know is that he took care of Nero when he got bit by the mouse," she replied.

Nero giggled a bit. "That's what I'm trying to do. Gogol's a messenger for me, and we're going to arrange a time somehow, and then I'll be able to see him." He heaved a great sigh, resting his chin in his hands. "And I'm not strong, Merri. Not brave like Papa, or like Ianios."

"And nearly got him eaten by a bird," Arturo replied dryly. He pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers and snorted. "He's an awful influence, that boy."

"Sure you are," he stated, as if it were a fact. "You're a heck of a lot braver than I am."

She thought for a moment, rubbing the back of her neck before letting her hand rest there. "I have a feeling Nero thinks otherwise, Arturo," she said softly, wondering what the chances would be that Nero and Tahki would both be in love at the same time. It was strange, those two...

Nero blinked at Merri, confused. "What makes me brave, Merri?" he asked, genuinely interested.

"Nero doesn't know what's good for him," Arturo grunted, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's my job to look out for his best interest. And this is in his best interest. He'll get over it."

Merrimack thought for a moment. "Well...you actually WENT on the adventures, right? And you can talk to other people without any problems. I mean...you can even leave the house by yourself," he explained, wondering if it helped.

Ares sighed lightly. "Arturo...tell me something," she started, looking towards her feet. "What would you have done if someone forbad you to see me? Or, when you were young, if someone told you you couldn't see Caterina anymore? How would you have felt?"

"Merri, you can do all those things too," Nero said, staring at him seriously. "Do you want me to help you become more social? I will! You're my younger brother, after all. Gotta look after you!" He grinned.

"I didn't get you or Caterina nearly killed twice," Arturo replied with a snort.

Merrimack twitched slightly. "Maybe if I grew to be really big, I might. Right now...I just..." He sighed, folding his arms across his chest and looking off to the side. "I'm...too scared. I know they won't hurt me...but..."

"That's not what I asked," she retorted, raising a brow. "Arturo...dangerous things happen. Those things could have happened to Nero with ANYBODY."

Nero chewed his lip, thinking. "What if I was there to introduce you? Would that help?" he asked.

"Nero is an obedient boy." Arturo replied blankly. "He was never this ornery until he met this Ianios fellow. It has bad influence written all over it, and I shall not tolerate it. I don't need silly little feien putting silly little ideas in my son's head that can get him and others killed."

He shook his head lightly, scratching his head a little. "Tahki tried to introduce me to others," he replied, sighing. "And...well...she could very well be our sister. I'm just...I can't explain it. Whenever I see someone I don't know, I just get so frightened. Anything bigger than me, especially."

"Don't you think he can make his own mistakes?" she said almost flatly, looking away. "I certainly had to...and I made a lot of them before I grew up."

"Are you frightened of me, Merri?" Nero asked, slightly stung.

"I suppose I was a mistake, then?" Arturo asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"You're family. Family is different," he said, raising a brow.

For a moment, Ares had done nothing. That mere statement tore through her like a hot knife through butter, and it hurt. To think...him doubting her like that. "I never said you were," she said, her voice a little hoarse. "If anything, perhaps I was the mistake."

Ares then stood, her back to him as she unfurled her wings. "Nero...it won't be long now before he's almost two months old. I just...I think he needs a little more room, perhaps. He was always trying to please us, it seems...he needs to learn things for himself, maybe."

Nero looked determined. "Merri, I'll make you feel better around people, I promise. Or at least try! I hate to see you upset." He carefully hugged his brother, knowing his aversion to touch.

Arturo kicked himself mentally, and stood with Ares, his arms wrapping around her from behind. "I'm sorry," he muttered. And him apologizing was a big deal - because he never apologized. "I'm just a bit agitated right now. It's nothing to do with you, love. You were not a mistake, rather, you're were - and still are - the best thing that's happened to me in many, many months. As for Nero," he sighed, his grip tightening almost protectively around Ares. "He's a child still, Ares. He doesn't understand how cruel life can be. He doesn't need to learn yet." he muttered.

Merrimack blinked a few times, not really expecting the hug, but hugged him back. "I'm more worried about you being upset...but alright," he sighed, glancing at his brother. "If anything, you could always use it as an excuse to go to the shop." For someone who was scared a lot, he sure was sneaky.

The small feien gently leaned against Arturo, lightly placing his hands ontop of his. "Arturo...I've been keeping track of the newer feien. The ones that came after me," she said quietly. "Most of them grew up after two months..." She looked up at him a little sadly. "Nero won't be our little baby too much longer..."

Nero grinned broadly. "Yeah, maybe!" he chirped. Merri was making him... well, merry! "Thank you," he said, smiling quietly.

"But he's our baby now," Arturo said sternly. "Ares, I don't want to see him hurt as I was. I'm doing this to protect him." he whispered.

He managed to smile a little. ...Wait...was the the first time he EVER smiled??? "N-not a problem," he said quietly, looking over his shoulder just to be sure Arturo wasn't standing right there.

"You weren't the only one hurt," she said quietly, kissing his cheek the best she could. "I'm only saying...sometimes getting hurt may be the only way to learn." Sighing softly, she decided to give up on the matter. "I just hope that HE doesn't end up hurting YOU through all of this."

Nero giggled. "It'll be fun. There are lots of nice, neat feien for you to meet, Merri, ones that aren't scary at all! Like... Arith! She gave me this beautiful hairclip." He leaned forward, pushing some hair behind his ear so that the hairclip was more visible. "You'd really like her, Merri. She's very gentle."

"I don't get hurt anymore," Arturo replied with a snort. A lie, as his heart nearly broke in half when Ares turned away from him, but it mended quickly.

"Gentle is good," he said softly, crossing his arms over his chest again. "I like gentle."

Ares smirked slightly. "You can't tell me it wouldn't hurt if Nero ever uttered the words, "I hate you," and actually meant it."

"Papa does that," Nero giggled. He imitated the gesture, crossing his arms over his chest.

Arturo balked at that. "He wouldn't hate me. I'm his father." he reasoned.

Merrimack stuck his tongue out at Nero. "Well...maybe HE'S coping ME," he joked.

"I'm just saying...it COULD happen, but I won't say that it will," she stated. Turning around in his arms, she faced him, and leaning against him slightly. "But you're probably right. It probably wouldn't happen."

Nero smiled warmly at Merri. "I wish you and Mother would visit more often, or that Papa and I would visit you more often. I really miss seeing you."

Arturo kissed the top of her head, arms wrapped around her shoulders. "I'm doing what I think is right," he muttered, shaking his head. "Nero understands. He's bright."

"Yeah...I miss you and Daddy, too," Merrimack admitted. "And Ruya. I haven't seen her in a LONG time... Have you heard from her at all?"

For your sake, I hope so, she thought to herself, resting her head gently against his chest. "...You know, I have to say that I missed this," she sighed, hugging him a little.

Nero shook his head. "Papa wants to go over and visit her. He's worried." he whispered.

Arturo laughed softly, tilting Ares' face up by putting his finger under her chin. "Me too," he muttered, bending to kiss her softly.

"I am too...so is Mommy," he sighed, frowning slightly. "I hope she's okay."

Ares kissed him lightly, closing her eyes for a moment as she did so. She had missed the warmth of his touch, and this made her feel quite content.

"Do you think something happened?" Nero asked, frightened. Poor Ruya!

Arturo pulled back after a moment, kissing her bottom lip softly before drawing away. Then he smirked. "Kids occupied for now?" he asked.

He yawned quietly, turned away for a moment as he did. "Aw, don't make me think things like that..." he complained. "I'll get too worried."

She couldn't help but smile a bit. "Either Merri will fall asleep soon, or they're talking up a storm," she commented, looking up at him.

Nero nodded, chewing his lip. He was worried, but he didn't want to upset Merri. "Are you tired?" he asked, tilting his head. He flapped off to fetch the small patch of cloth that served as his blanket, then winged his way back to Merri. "Here!" he chirped, offering it to him.

Arturo smirked, fingers closing gently around her wrist. "Come on," he muttered into her ear, flapping up to an empty cabinet.

Merrimack looked at the blanket for a moment, then towards the door. No sign of Ares...ah well. He WAS tired, and it seemed late... He smiled a little, taking the blanket from Nero and wrapping it around himself. "Thank you."

She followed after him, unable to help but smile. "You sure know your way around things," was all she said, flying close and wrapping her arms around his waist, letting him drag her along a little.

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 9:07 pm

July 5, 2004[color=white]

Just as I thought, Ares didn't come home last night. She and Merri stayed at Arturo's which is fine. So long as I know where they are...I don't have to worry, right?

I gave Ares her gift, and...well, I think she likes it. I know how much she likes weaving, so I thought sewing might be nice, as well. Until the shop gets feien-sized sewing materials, this will have to do... I gave her a needle, some thread, and a little bit of cloth. I also gave her a "How to" book on both clothing (because I know she was interested in making dresses like they wore in the earlier centries...you know, the really frilly ones. e.e) and blankets. I plan on ordering some cloth from the shop for her...but I won't do that until she at least practices a bit and decides if she really wants any or not.

Other than that, everything seems to be falling into place right now. I got to have some alone time with Domonic last night, as Tahki had fallen asleep on the way home, and Ares and Merri are both happy they got to see their family. Even Merri is starting to warm up to me a little...I've noticed he's not as afraid of me as he was only a month ago, and I'm very relieved. I wonder what else I might be able to do for him...?

Neko Girl

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Neko Girl

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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 9:09 pm

July 6, 2004[color=white]

A random event! eek

RP that occured July 6, 2004:[color=white]

*a small feien plops down and waits* Tahki?

Tahki's ears perk up slightly, blinking a few times. "Eeee??"

tah-----keeeeeeeee.....

are you here?

Tahki poked her head out of Neko's poking, peering about for a moment. "Helloooooo---Aqua!!" she smiled, fumbling out of the pocket.

Tahki! *aqua starts flying till she is eye level to the pocketed feien, she looks at her head tilted like*

whacha doen?

"I'm just fiddling in the pocket! I was kinda bored," replied the little feien, kicking her feet in the air a little bit. "What about you?"

aqua smiles slightly and giggles "im alive hey i got something for you oh by the way i think i forgot to tell you my name is Aquaphina i know you gave me your name but i forgot to tell you mine how stupid of me i know its bad i could be walking into a drain storm and forget its tuesday and then all is lost i dont know what that came from but i like it i mean its all like all is lost but its not ist still right here isnt it its not like the world is ganna end or anything i guess its alright and if you dont believe me well i guess all is really lost and i guess thats really not good so anyways Hi we met before my name is Aquaphina"

she hands you a rose and smiles User Image

Tahki giggled as Aquaphina sputtered on about her name, the weather, and day of the week, and her little yellow eyes grew wide as she saw the rose. "Ooooo, it's so pretty!!" she cried, taking it carefully in her hands. It was almost like the roses Talonfaust had given her...hey, she could make a little boquet now! "Thank you so much, Aqua!!" she grinned happily, smelling the red flower. "I'll have to get you something, too!"

aquaphina smiles and giggles slightly as she nods "well i saw it and thought of you you know how it was very big and stuff and it was a pain getting it off but i thought it was worth it you know just to see your face and stuff i mean its a flower but still it is pritty"

"Thank you so much!!" Tahki carefully placed the rose in Neko's pocket.

"Nya??" Neko stared at her feien for a moment, wondering what was poking her chest.

The little cold feien hugged Aquaphina gently. "I'll take good care of it!"

aquaphina giggles lightly "hey guess what i found out theres this stuff called tape its sooo cool and its really sticky maybe next time i see you ill get some."

Tape? She liked tape? Hmmm... "Okay! Maybe we could make something with it," she beamed, ruffling her feathers a little bit. Of course, that only gave her an idea. Looking behind her, she glanced at her wings for a moment, then carefully grasped a loose, red feather. It was still shiney from the glitter... "Here!" she smiled, holding it out to the pink hair feien.

Aqua gasped slightly "its so shiny" she smiled and held it tightly "thank you!"

"You're welcome!" Tahki said, folding her hands behind her back. She'd have to think of another gift later.

Neko: Goodness...she's gonna have enough for a bouquet soon. eek ;;

~~~~~~~~~~

I guess I jinxed myself by saying that everything was doing well for once. Nero brought Merri home from the shop not too long ago...needless to say, all the hard work I put forth into gaining his trust has become damaged badly, and he won't even let me be in the same room without panicing. What...the f***....HAPPENED?!

~~~~~~~~~~

Ares

I'm worried. I'm absolutely worried. My poor son... Nero brought a terrified Merri home from the shop, and neither of them will tell me what happened. He was crying...my son, who hated tears of any kind...was crying. All he would do was hug himself around my waist, and cry, muttering "never again." Never again what? Go to the shop? ...I can't allow that, unfortunately. He needs interaction with others, despite what he says. Perhaps if I can make sure someone is with him...

Tahki hasn't come home yet, and this makes me a bit concerned. I hope she doesn't think it's her fault, because Merri seems to think that it's not, and I have no choice but to believe that. I just... I wish he would tell me what happened. Perhaps Tahki will tell me, when she comes home.

~~~~~~~~~~

Merrimack

...I'm never going anywhere by myself again.

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 9:13 pm

RP that occured July 6, 2004: [size=9](From the shop)[/size][color=white]

Merrimack sighed lightly, growing bored (and tired) of the shop, listening to the others be all...happy. It wasn't fair...well, it was his own fault for being afraid, really, but it wasn't fair. Running a hand through his white and blue tipped hair, he looked to the rafters for a moment as he lifted his wings. Home...home sounded good right now. He made it here by himself, so he could make it back, right?

Glancing about the shop one last time, the small feien took flight, and headed out the door.

What the hell was with flying? You flap your wings as hard as you can and still things don't work out right... bobbing around, sore shoulders, winds even as low as the ground trying to tip you over. Absolute bull s**t. There was a trick to it. There had to be. Too bad he didn't know what it was.

"Bloody 'ell..." That's why he had decided the first open window sill would become his perch for the time being so he could pant out his failed efforts for a few moments. Imagine his surprise when bored orange eyes downcast and spied a figure emerging from the door. A tiny figure. Infact, his first impression of it...

"Ah! Whut a frigg'n huge rat wit' wings!" The young and dark skinned feien called from his sill perch, flaring his insect like wings already as he debated trying to work them again. He wanted to go see that silly little thing down there.

Merrimack's ears twitched slightly hearing the voice from above. Oh Gods...even GOD thought he was pa--...wait. His three orange eyes peered up as he stopped, looking a little tired. No, there wasn't anything up there...not that he could see right away. A small humming sound filled his ears, however, and cautiously, he investigated.

The sill... There was a colorful feien on the sill. Why did he call him a rat?? "Excuse me?" he finally choked out, moving a little closer.

"Mmnn... yer not a rat, are yah?" Oddly the feien sounded disappointed as he knit his brow and leaned his head back, cocking it in such a manner that twisting bits of dreadlock drooped messily into his face.

Finally he heaved a sigh and cocked his head to crack his neck audibly while pushing himself to his feet. Trekking along the sills edge he crouched right at the corner, buzzing his wings like an irritated barn fly as he debated flying. What a waste of HIS time.

"Brat," He addressed the feien no matter that he was older. Or so he figured. He seemed older, even if he wasn't big like the grown-up ones. "Come up 'ere. Hurry up, I dun't feel like mov'n down there."

Merrimack cringed slightly as he heard the crack, wondering if that hurt. He twitched, however, being called a brat. How...how...RUDE!

"Hmph...and why should I go up there?" he grunted, mustering up a little courage. Of course, he DID go up to the sill anyway, crossing his arms over his chest like he normally did.

"W-what is it...?" There was something about this feien's colors that struck him as odd. Comforting...inviting...and yet somehow, ruthless.

An eyebrow twitched momentarily when Merrimack stuttered such stupid things, but when he obeyed it seemed to smooth calmness back into the unfamiliar feien. Calm... wasn't the word for it. More like the spring that was about to burst was just coiling up tightly again, silent and waiting. One could almost hear the timebomb ticking.

"I want'd tah look at yah, moron." He replied unhurriedly, straightening from his crouch and sizing the other feien up. This one was shorter. Good. He liked shorter. With all the world so large, it was much better to have things smaller then him.

He leaned forward and squinted into Merri's face, then reached up and clutched a fistful of hair, yanking it - and Merri - forward as he decided to examine it. The colors were kind of cool. I guess. But since this lurched Merri so much closer, he noticed the more puzzling feature... "Is tha' real?" He curiously reached up, rudely poking Merri's third eye.

Merrimack gasped and winced a little as his hair was tugged on, forcing him to be closer to the other feien. Too close...to cl--he's TOUCHING me... his mind began to panic, fear overpowering his will.

He almost cried out as the dark skinned feien poked his eye, his orange eyes watering as he bit his lip. "Yes, you DOLT!" he managed to cry, angrily. "That hurt!"

"..."

Calico just blinked stupidly for several seconds in which an awkward silence came after Merrimack cried out in his distress. Twitch twitch, went an eyebrow again; in fact, a whole eye did that spasmic little flicker.

It was like stepping on the tail of a cat, all purring one moment and a little mass of anger the next. That hand fisting the hair fisted together so tightly that the hair bristled in near audible cracks within his grasp. Then all at once he wrenched down on that hair to force the shorter feien's head down low and vulnerable.

"What, yah li'l b*****d? Yah gonna say tha' 'gain or gonna apologize?" His voice was shivering but it wasn't fear that was making him tremble. Funny, he seemed to be very excited instead. Say it again, he willed him in mental eagerness, Go ahead and try.

This time, Merrimack did cry out in pain, but it was still soft as he choked on his own cries. It hurt...it hurt badly. ...In fact, this was probably the first time he'd even FELT real pain. The force on his head was causing him to bend a little too much, and the small feien fell to his knees, his pale hands clutching at the other feien's in an attempt to get him to let go as he clenched his eyes shut.

"S-stop it!" he cried, his body shaking a little bit as tears began to swell over his eyes.

Wow. Was this what winged rats did when you hurt them? Calico cocked his head, perplexed at first to why Merrimack just fell apart like that. And what was with the speckling dark spots between them - was he crying?

For several seconds there was a silence in reply before gradually the grip loosened on Merri's hair. The poor little creature was crying, collapsed on the ground like a frightened child, who wouldn't feel guilt for battering the dear....

"I wondah wha' those taste like." Giggled the voice a feien who didn't know anything about guilt. His fingers were buried into Merri's hair again, having released only a few seconds so to grab a handful of the back instead. He crouched down while pulling backwards and force up the head he had originally been shoving down.

"Apologize," He purred in a hushed whisper for he had leaned closer now and in one, feline like movement he had lapped one trailing tear from the smaller feien's cheek then smacked his lips curiously together like he was enjoying lollipop. " 'N it won't 'urt as much."

"Urk!" choked the feien as his head was yanked back. His fingers dug into the other's hand, but as Merrimack wasn't very strong, it only felt like a mere light pinch. His eyes snapped open, his tears falling a little more freely, and he watched as the other feien moved closer.

His breathes were short with fear at the closeness, and he was slightly confused as to why it was so important that he apologized. Before he could do anything else, however, Merrimack felt the wet tongue against his cheek, and he completely snapped. It was as if his very heart shattered as his eyes dialated and he could only scream.

Nero heard it. He heard it loud and clear. His ears twitched as his head snapped in the direction he heard the scream from, heart racing. That was Merri. Someone was hurting Merri.

Jumping off the counter, he gathered what little speed he had and raced outside, to where he thought the scream came from. His sharp yellow eyes spotted Merri and - someone else. "Stop!" he shouted, fists clenching at his sides. He dove towards them, looking angry for the first time.

"Let him go." he hissed.

Tal shrugged and nodded reluctantly. "I guess so. Too much has been going on lately..." And speaking of which, just what WAS going on nearby...?? Tal quirked a brow and turned his head in the direction of the scuffle going on up on the sill. "How're you...?" he asked distractedly, not looking at Tahki as he spoke.

Calico was gleeful at the sound. Goodness, that was beautiful! That dumb fox-thing that he lived with kept saying the birds sounded beautiful in the morning but ******** that... this here. This was absolutely gorgeous and he couldn't help laughing beneath the scream. It was short-lived though, a smile there for a touch of a moment before it dropped away as easily as a mask into a flat expression.

The brat still hadn't apologized. Stupid little b'tch... he tightened his fist in the hair with every intention to continue, but then there came a voice from above. It startled him enough to look up sharply, but when he saw it was only another kid descending he eased his surprise into annoyance. Orange eyes narrowed lazily in the slit-like manner a cat gained when contemplating if it wanted to chase this moth instead of the one it had under its paws.

"Whut're yah do'n interrupt'n meh?" Calico eased his grasp on Merrimack's hair though he had not released the broken down feien entirely. He had been enjoying himself...!

"I said let him go," Nero repeated. He flitted closer, steeling himself to be unafraid of this new, horrible feien. "That's my brother and you're hurting him. Please let him go."

Nero's miniwings were flapping now, buzzing back and forth with rage. He did his best to be controlled, but poor Merri! He was already frightened by most things, and this certainly was not going to help.

Arith toddled in at the commotion - head tilt and eyes full of worry as she heard a lot of noice and a good number of voices. Watching carefully, she tried to pinpoint a safe person to ask what seemed to be the problem..

Merrimack took rather odd, quick breathes, his eyes twitching as wide as they were. He couldn't move...couldn't speak. All he could do was listen to Nero and this...CREATURE.

Run away... his mind screamed at him. Nero, RUN AWAY!

So helpless...this was why the small feien had hated tears. It left one so HELPLESS. If only I were stronger...if only I could be braver...

Tahki quickly spun around, staring out the door with wide, confused eyes. That scream... "W-what was that...?" she whimpered, ignoring the earlier question. Her yellow eyes glanced around for a moment. "Where's Merri??"

Calico cocked his head to one side sharply and seemed reluctant to follow Nero's request. He stood himself up fully now, the action dragging Merri's head up once more since he didn't at all bother to release the hair. It wasn't grasped as fiercely but even in that loose fist he had tangled up those locks like some sort of leash.

"Brother?" He echoed lazily, licking his lips more then once after tasting the word. The anger in this new feien was quite exciting and the temptation for switching toys was great. "Yah dun't look much alike. Why're yah such an ugly one?" He inquired flatly, seriously.

Nero's cheeks turned red with fury, making the yellow of his eyes stand out even more sharply. Calico had hit a nerve, apparently, a very tender one that Nero had never fully gotten the chance to heal. Nails digging into his palms, Nero forced himself to calm down, and slowly the flush drained away.

Relax, Nero. Peaceful methods.

Part of him remembered what his father said: that some matters could only be settled by way of force. But if he were to use force, then he would be no better than this person. Words. Words were the way out.

"Let go of my brother, scum," he snarled.

Wrong words! Wrong words! Stupid Nero, wrong words!

Tal narrowed his eyes. "Don't know...." he muttered, taking a step back and leaping into the air, giving a flap of his wings in order to see what's going on on the sill. Getting a brief glimpse of the conflict, he returned to the countertop and folded his wings along his back.

"He's up there." Tal muttered. "...and its not looking good." He had no intention to take action unless asked. It wasn't his fight.

Bark, bark puppy. Calico smiled with a disturbing calm when Nero snarled those words. Every fiber of his body was twitching with fury now and his free hand was compulsively folding in his fingers in and out of fists. You'll eat yer insult, yah li'l b'tch, he purred mentally. But out loud, instead, he said this.

"Jus' a li'l accident, dun't ruffle yer feathers pigeon." He replied lazily and lowered his eyes just slightly to Merrimack. In a manner that acknowledged the feien at his feet but kept a majority of his attention on Nero instead. "Righ' Love? Yah said sum mean words yah did'n mean. He was jus' 'bout tah apologize..."

He felt like giving Merrimack one more chance at it. He wouldn't forget the smaller feien's refusal to apologize otherwise. Things like that he just didn't forget.

If only I were stonger... Merrimack's hands finally dropped, his body loosening up slightly as he couldn't take much more. His head was being jerked around like it were unattacked, or if he was some sort of animal recieving punishment. This...obsession the feien had for a mere apology...it was mind boggling. Taking a few deep breaths, the small feien finally managed to look at his brother, his orange telling HIM that he was sorry. The words escaped his lips surprised even himself as he didn't even stop himself, in hopes to save Nero.

"Go to hell..." he whispered quietly, immediately regretting it.

"Up where??" Tahki asked curiously, taking flight for a moment to peer out the window. She could see Nero...and someone with spots. And...someone kneeling.....

"MERRI?!" she squealed, grabbing at her head. What was going on here?! "We have to help him!!"

Though, not waiting, she began to zoom towards the door.

Nero's eyes widened at Merri. Oh no. No! "He - " the feien began, unsure of how to continue. Merri, what have you done? he thought. Nero was a smart feien - he took after his father that way - but he had never been put in a situation like this; he felt helpless to aid his brother, especially after that.

Biting his tongue (and all the horrible, nasty things he wanted to say), Nero turned a cool, sharp eye on Calico.

Time to bluff.

"Let my brother go or you shall surely regret it. My parents are both powerful feien; my mother has one of the strongest elements known, and my father is a swordsman. While I may not look like them, I've certainly inherited those traits." To prove his point, Nero drew his cocktail rapier, aiming it squarely under Calico's chin. He tried not to tremble. Merri needed him.

"Tahki!!" Tal called after her as she headed for the door. Just great....never a day without drama and he wasn't in the mood for it. Growling, Tal surveyed the countertop, finding a tray of pebbles that Em sold to feiens interested in using them as weapons.

Grabbing up one in each hand, he took to the air angrily, flying a bit difficult with the newfound weight as he headed for the scuffle taking place. Maybe they'd have it resolved by the time he got there... ><;;

Heiko sighed softly as she headed towards the Feien shop. Something always seemed to keep her from coming here when she had planned.
She was just outside of the shop and was peering around, only to find a group of young Feien gathered around. She quirked a brow and hovered in place for a moment, staring over at them. Then she took flight down towards them and landed quietly close by..
What in the world is going on here? she thought to herself..

... What? Calico was stumped. For a moment Nero meant nothing to him as his burning orange eyes downcasted to the defeated feien slumping at his feet. Why? The question was so loud it hurt his head and made his eyes narrow, both out of anger and trying to focus. One ******** word, all he had to say was that damn word and it'd be fine! God DAMMIT.

"You..." His voice was hoarse suddenly from the raw fury that suddenly overwhelmed him. His fist snapped tightly shut, but whatever his intentions were, they were interrupted by the light playing off plastic so close to his vision. He felt like he was in a daze, looking over toward Nero like it was all one foggy daydream beyond his control.

It was another silent moment as he looked down at the sword, seeming unconcerned at the threat. One would think he'd brush it aside, as well as the words, if it weren't for the fact that he gradually released Merrrimack's hair to let the crushed knots fall back where they belonged. He looked beyond Nero to the flickering movements of more arrivals, but made no comment of them. Instead he just looked at Nero squarely in the end with a calm silence that screamed loss of control despite its stillness, and gave a simple promising smile to the brave feien.

Nero stared back, yellow eyes flashing. He would not be afraid. He would not be intimidated. This boy was inferior to him, and what's more, his threat had worked. His "sword" lowered, and he stuffed it back into into the string around his waist to kneel at Merri's side. His eyes never left Calico's face, though, as if DARING him to try something else with his brother.

"Come," he whispered, gently smoothing Merri's hair. "I'll fly you home."

Tal watched as Merri was released below and rolled his eyes, both in exasperation and with relief as he quietly returned to the counter to put the pebbles back. He really hadn't wanted to stick his neck out...if it hadn't been for Tahki panicking, he wouldn't have taken action at all.

People already had low enough opinions of him as it was, and he had enough to worry about without nightmares that this red-and-gold nutter might come swimming up through the toilet one night to track him down and finish him off if he clobbered him now with a rock.

Merrimack had immediately sunken into himself upon being released, trembling with fear. He flinched as Nero touched him, as if he had lost all trust for any contact, but he allowed his brother to smooth his hair, trying hard not to cry again. This stranger...why did he do such things? The...the...b*****d.

The small feien merely whimpered as he weakly wrapped his arms around Nero, unable to move much more than that just yet.

Tahki stopped as she reached the door, peering out the window from inside. Nero took care of it? ...It was probably for the better, being family and all. But the look on Merrimack's face...it broke her heart to see him that way. How could this happen?? WHY did it happen? Better yet...how could she have failed Ares so miserably?

Heiko blinked a bit, her head cocked to one side. She didn't know what happened..but whatever it was, it seemed to be over now and she didn't want to get into something that wasn't her business..
Spreading her wings out, she took flight once more, but this time she headed inside like she intended to before. She landed softly on a countertop and folded her wings close to her body, looking around for anyone.

"Merri, it's okay," Nero soothed. He wrapped his arms around his brother and gently rocked him, ignoring Calico for the time being. Merri was more important.

"He's not worth it," he whispered into Merri's ear, but loud enough so that the abuser could hear his voice. "Do you hear me, Merri? He's scum, like I said. Don't let him ever touch you again. If he does, you punch him square in the nose, you understand?" Admittedly, Nero wasn't too sure if he could follow his own advice, but Merri didn't need to know that.

Odd as it was, Calico lingered. If only for a few moments more during which his expression became flat and dead of most emotion. He just stared stoticly at the goings on before flickering his wings once like a flexing dragonfly.

As confident as he was of his actions, he was young and it took some good amount of early buzzing before he could even get himself off the sill. Even then that was a tiring effort and he flit off inside to a nearby shelf perch. No, he wasn't leaving yet, strange enough. Though as far as he was concerned he was done... he just wanted to watch them now, s'long as they left him alone.

A cat must survey the mouse hole before sticking its claws into it. (But that little white-and-blue-haired rodent had been too tempting a treat beforehand, he just couldn't help himself)

Merrimack didn't say anything. He merely stared at the feet of the one who attacked him, wishing he could just forget everything that happened today.

I'm...never coming here again... was his first thought. Not alone....not ever alone...

Tahki reluctantly turned and made her way back to the counter, hugging herself a little bit. "I'm a terrible knight..." she murmured softly, mentally scowling at herself.

"Do you want to go home?" Nero offered gently. "I'll stay with you as long as you need, Merri. He won't follow us home."

Merrimack nodded slowly, hugging Nero tighter. Alone was bad...very very bad.

Nero helped his brother rise slowly to his feet. "Come on," he said. Holding his hand, Nero hopped into the air and, waiting for Merri to follow, began to slowly flap off.

Merrimack followed, still a little curled up as he allowed his magic alone let him fly. Never...again... he thought to himself again, squeezing Nero's hand a little.

Neko Girl

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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:08 pm

July 7, 2004[color=white]

Tahki

I'm not sure why, but I'm really happy!! Maybe it's just hyperness from this morning! It was sooooooooo cool...well, the first part wasn't, but the rest of it was!!

Something REALLY bad happened to Merri yesterday...but he made me promise not to say anything, so I won't. It's just...it was so bad!! And I felt so terrible...I didn't do anything to help. Nero saved him, but...I couldn't do anything myself. I felt so horrible horrible!! ...Talon cheered me up, though. He said that it isn't my fault...he's right, right? He has to be...because he's really smart, I think, and he might know. Yes...yes...Talon was right. It wasn't my fault! ...Because....because I could have gotten hurt too...and then I really wouldn't have been able to do anything.

...I wish it was me instead.

We talked about smiles! Talon said he didn't like to see me unhappy. I don't like seeing him unhappy either! It upsets me when my friends are upset...but but, something feels strange when I see Talon upset. Like I want to do everything I can to make him feel better! Talon said he didn't know if he was ever really happy. But but but he SMILED!! I saw him! I saw him smile, and I was happy!

...And he kissed me. Right on the cheek! ...Kind of. Not like when I kissed him on the cheek, but...but it still counts!! I feel soooooooooo warm inside when he did. I felt...really...REALLY happy! Like I could do anything kind of happy! Happier than I normally am when I'm with Talon...

I got to see the sunrise today. It's so shiney!! So pretty!! Not as pretty as the moon, but still really pretty! Talon was with me...he's staying with Yeadne while his bondmate is away for a week. He said he might not be around while he's there... But but but a week is too long! It feels like forever! It's only been less than a day and I miss him. ...I want to visit him...but I don't wanna intrude or anything. Maybe....maybe I'll...no, I will try. I'll to visit him when he's there.

I delivered a plushie for Nero today! It looked like Ian...I wonder why I had to take it to his home for him?? Nero said something about so Arturo wouldn't find out. ...Is something wrong with Ian??? I hope not. He's so nice, just like Nero! ...I wonder why he gave Nero a plushie? I'm so confused! I wanna know I wanna know I w

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:09 pm

July 8, 2004[color=white]

Tahki

I met someone new today! I didn't get his name...but he has wings like Ian and Tempest! And he's all brown! ...I miss Tempest. I haven't seen her in so long! I wonder if she's okay?? I hope so. I also met that bad feien th

...he's so intimidating! I think...I might have said too much to him. I told him I lived with Merri, and he said he was still w

He's waiting for Merri. This is bad! This is really bad! I can't let Merri be alone if he goes anywhere...if that ever happens again. Merri's been practicing his magic, though, and Ares is helping! She's teaching him how to focus even more so that he can do more! Possibly to help him not be so tired, too.

...I know it's not my fault, but why do I still feel so bad? Especially after seeing HIM again?? I kept thinking about what happened...I keep feeling worse. Talon....I wanna see Talon again. He makes me feel better...the coin. That's right...I have the coin to remember him by! Just like Nero has the plushie to remember Ian by... I need to ask Nero to make something for Ian, so I can deliver it! Yeah...that's what I wanna do. I need to talk to Nero.

Neko Girl

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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:10 pm

(July 10, 2004)

Tahki yawned quietly on the windowsill, her back against the window glass as she continued to look at the gold dubloon Talonfaust had given her nearly two weeks ago. It had been only three days since she saw him, and she felt really bad for not trying to go see him.

What if I'm disrupting something? she would think to herself. Or what if he...doesn't want to see me?

The little cold feien sighed softly, reaching an arm over to the wall and carefully dragging the shiny coin into her lap. Delicately, she ran her small fingers over the surface, staring at the golden aura that appeared around her tiny form. Something was bothering her, but she couldn't figure out exactly what it was, aside from her "missing-complex," as Merrimack had bitterly put it.

"Maybe I'll make a picture to think of something else!" she finally declared aloud, Merrimack twitching slightly on the desk as his concentration was broken.

Opening his left eye and nearly glaring at her, he grumbled, "I was meditation, you fool. You broke my concentration."

"Oops!" Tahki giggled shyly, setting the coin back against the windowsill before taking flight to the desk. "Whatcha workin' on now?"

"Actually, I'm trying that...recall spell mommy always uses to calm herself down," he sighed, giving up for the moment. Shifting his legs to stretch them out, he removed the bowl of white paint from his lap. "I can't say that it's WORKING, but I think it's helping. Seeing...as I'm speaking with you right now."

"Hooray!! Merri li--" Tahki cheered, stopping herself as she realized she almost hugged the small boy feien. A little sadly, she straightened up again, glancing at the other child's slightly wide orange eyes. "I, I mean...I'm glad. That you're talking to me..."

Merrimack was tense for a moment, finally loosening up as he watching Tahki step away to wonder another part of the desk. Something in him ached as he noticed how disappointed she looked, but at the moment he couldn't help it. It was hard not to tense up even around Ares, and she was his mother. Nero...right now, all Merrimack wanted was his brother.

The little cold feien looked about the desk, wondering what she could do. Should she paint the picture? Pencil it? Pen it? Maybe draw with her glitter? ...That's it! Maybe glitter and paint! Perhaps it would cheer up the other feien, as well. Giggling to herself, Tahki quickly stepped over to where the art supplies were usually kept for them. Picking up the black paint, and the blue paint, and attempting to pick up the red as well, she carefully started making her way towards Merrimack, little splitters and splatters of paint dropping onto the wooden surface. This would be great! No trouble at all! Everything would be just...

"Tahki? What are you doing...?" the memory feien asked, backing up slightly as he noticed everything the other was holding. "....Hey! Watch where you're going, you idiot! You're going to step in the w--"

It was too late. ""Hm?" was all Tahki could manage before her little foot stepped right into the white paint Merrimack had set aside. What was even worse was that this caused the little feien to lose her balance...and everything fell. The red paint splashed right onto the boy feien, the blue clattering off to the right, and the black paint bowl landed right on the poor feien's head.

Tahki quickly sat up, yellow eyes wide as she immediately apologized. "I'M SO SORRY!!!" she squeaked, lifting the bowl carefully off of his head. His once white, blue tipped hair was now covered with black paint. "I'MSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSORRY!!!! I'LL GET A TOWEL!"

Scrambling to her feet, she scurried away from the dazed feien, leaving a trail of little white footprints behind her. There was tissue by the art supplies, right? Yes yes, of course! Quickly grabbing a tissue from the box, Tahki yanked hard in a panic, but with her left foot covered in paint, she slipped and fell face forward, the tissue landing right on top of her. And to make matters worse, a little bit of the gold dust she'd planned on using lifted into the air, and tickled her nose. Just as the small feien crawled out from under the tissue, she sneezed. Right over the glitter. POOF! went the glitter as it flew into the air, sprinkling all over her body, wings, and hair. Of course, it probably didn't help that her magic dust was right next to the gold, and that had flown into the air as well. Now in a slight sneezing fit, very glittery feien stood up, grabbed a clean tissue, and slowly made her way back to Merrimack.

Ares was already there, however, holding a damp, torn piece of cloth in her hands as she looked to the two young feien. Merrimack's face was a little smeared, most of the paint having come off on the cloth. She nodded a little bit, as if confirming something to herself.

"So, I guess it really does work," she said, smiling a little bit. "Thank you for helping me, Tahki."

The little glittery feien was confused. "Help you with what??" she asked curiously, sneezing a few more times.

"I was just testing something. Apparently I have something called bad luck, and I cast it on you while you weren't paying attention. It works rather well," she said calmly, helping her son stand. He looked about ready to laugh, for the first time in a few days, a faint smile on his lips. So...it was an attempt to cheer him up. "Come on...I'll help you two wash up."

Tahki giggled, ruffling her feathers a little bit, a few feathers and a lot of loose glitter floating down onto the desk. "Okay!"

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:12 pm

RP that occured July 11, 2004:[color=white]

You never really could appreciate the art of flying when it went from an art to a chore. For once Tosten was breathless when he reached his goal and thoroughly confused to why anyone ever walked anywhere. Walking was horrible! So tiring... whew.

He was staring up at the sill of the house then, deciding that he'd much rather fly then climb. So fanning his wings he gave a few laborious flaps and fumbled his way from the ground to the sill, plopping down with a puff and calling out a breathless greeting: "HEEY! Ares? Are you home~~?"

He decided it was best to mention to Ares first that he was here then just go bother Merrimack, who may not be so pleased with his arrival. In the meantime Tosten thumped right down to rest his feet as well as his wings. The ungraceful flying seemed namely due to his right shoulder, which the shoulder and upper arm were (clumsily, to be honest) taped up with bits of bandage cloth.

WHUMP! Tahki immediately smushed herself against the window, her yellow eyes wide as she scrunched up her face. She was still incredibly glittery from the night before, and her left foot was stained white. A muffled giggled sounded through the window as she pawed at the glass.

"Moooomeeeeeen!" she tried to call into the window, failing miserably.

Ares twitched slightly, raising a brow at the small feien as she stood, noticing she was beginning to frost the window. "Tahki, you're doing it again," she reminded her, taking flight for a few seconds to get to the window sill. Delicate hands attempted to open the window. "...Help me, child."

"EEheeheeeheee!" she giggled insanely, bending down and helping Ares lift the window up enough to let Tosten through. With the two of them, there wasn't a problem.

"Tosten!!" she smiled, and hugged the large blue feien.

Ares shook her head a little bit. "I'm sorry about that," she said soothingly. "Please, come in."

Tosten flinched an eye shut with the hug, his breath hitching for a moment before he turned the gasp into a flurry of giggles. He slung an arm around Tahki and mock ruffled her hair with the other. Just cause, you know, he was grown-up. He was allowed to ruffle other peoples hair now. It came with being taller.

"You shouldn't be so noisy at night, Tahki!" He mock scolded like a true hypocrite, because anyone knows that if Tosten was excited, day or night, he'd be as loud as he pleased. But still, you see, this came with being an adult too. He was allowed to say stuff like that.

"Hi Ares!" He chirped cheerily to her, though oddly no clinging glomp. He just ducked inside and ruffled his wings, his smile turning a tad sheepish. "Its not too late, is it? It was really hot during the day so, yah know, I waited till it was later. And then it was almost TOO late but I thought I'd come anyway..."

Tahki went into a fit of giggles as Tosten mussed up her hair, her red and black wings ruffling as if she were being tickled. As he wandered inside, she noticed the bandage on his arm.

Ares shook her head a little bit. "Oh, no...it's fine. Tahki and I were about to watch a movie with Neko, actu..al..ly..." her voice faded out, red eyes focusing on what Tahki was looking at. Tosten had gotten hurt?

"Tosten, what happened?" she asked with concern, her brow knitting together as her wings folded over her shoulders. "It looks like your arm was hurt..."

Tosten seemed pleased when he made Tahki giggle, peeking down at her a moment, then toward Ares when she trailed off as she did. He glanced sidelong at thebandage and seemed momentarily disturbed, twitching an ear expressively.

"... It's a battle wound!" He announced suddenly, dramatically as he turned to Ares with the most sunshine of grins. "Agains, ah, hmm... a monster! No, a goblin! Nono, a dragon!"

He turned to Tahki and added on matter-of-factly. "A very big one too. You know dragons. You don't fight little ones cause that's not fair. I don't see why its fair that big dragons pick on little people then... kinda funny if you think about him." Ponder ponder.

Tahki gasped lightly. "A DRAGON??" she asked curiously, placing her hands on her cheeks. "I know a dragon!!! Well...he's kind of a dragon. He USED to be a dragon, but now he's a feien! He's a really nice feien...I like him a lot! I miss my dragon knight...I wonder if he knows the dragon you fought!"

Ares sighed lightly, knowing full well that Tosten made these stories to hide things when he didn't want to talk about them. Well...tonight, he would win, providing he was really okay. "Will you be all right?" she asked, gently placing a hand on his other shoulder. "Or is it bad?"

"A dragon feien?" Tosten echoed wonderingly, puzzling that over. He was distracted by the hand that was placed though and looked sidelong to Ares. And for a moment he offered a smile unlike those that were known for him. A more calm one filled with an apology and, surprisingly, age. Maybe for two seconds he actually looked like an adult.

But only two seconds. Then he stuck out his tongue in a childish manner and turned enough to cling his hands upon her own arm as he always did, just not as full body as was his usual nature. "Mm! I'll be fiiine. I bounce back like... like you know, bouncy things! Marshmellows! Ah... wait, they don't bounce. Like BOUNCY marshmellows!"

He giggled and looked beyond her then. "But aaaactually, I'm here to see Merrimack~. He's not sleeping is he?"

Ares, for a moment, smiled in relief, the way she used to before she'd bred with Arturo. Gently petting his hair a little, she shook her head lightly. "No, he's wide awake. He refuses to sleep without me or Tahki in the same room," she informed him, looking over her shoulder at the boy sitting on the desk, Winter in his lap and Sasuke curled up nearby.

"Really...?" Tosten blinked wonderingly at her words, following her attention to the boy in question. Now why would he do that? He was tempted to ask Ares about it but, after a quick thought, decided better of it.

"Mind if I visit him for a little?" He chirped innocently to Ares, tilting his head some as he sought her permission. Not his usual nature but he was a little... boogled today, keeping in character was a little hard for him.

"That's not a problem," she assured him, unfolding her wings. "Then he'll have company while Tahki and I are downstairs. ...Wait here for a moment, alright?"

Releasing herself from Tosten's grasp, she glided over to her son to speak with him for a moment. For a moment, Merrimack looked a little reluctant, cowering slightly as he looked over his shoulder at Tosten, but finally he nodded his head with a sigh. Smiling a little, Ares waved Tosten over.

Tosten waited on the sill where he had been told, flexing his wings to be ready. It didn't settle with his right side to flap that wing but he couldn't just flap one to try and fly! That would just be silly... he'd go in circles!

When waved over he fluttered to the air with a beaming smile to Tahki (and a few unintentionally molted feathers). "Goodnight Tahki!" As he wasn't so sure he'd see her again after he was done with Merrimack. Safer to say it now. Then off he flit from sill to the desk, touching down a little heavily as he wasn't so elegant today. -thump!-

"Hi Merri~." He cheerily anounced with a thanking smile to Ares.

Merrimack's orange eyes glanced up at the blue feien for a moment before looking back at Winter in his lap, absently petting his cat. "Hello," he said softly, tucking his legs underneath himself a little.

There were blue splatters and splashes all over his wings and body, the black markings being the most stained. His hair was a faded black with a little blue on the tips, and his face seemed to be a little smudged.

"We'll be downstairs if you need us," Ares said with a little nod, summoning Tahki. Lifting into the air, she waved her fingers at them as she flew out of the room.

Tahki quickly followed after, waving her arm. "Goodnight if I don't see you again, Tosten! Have fun you two!" she giggled as she left.

Tosten gave a wave to the pair until they were gone from the room. Then he issued a big dramatic sigh and shook his head as though to clear it. All it honestly did was tousle his frizzy hair into a more messy state into his eyes.

"Aah, I need to sit!" He declared like this was important for Merrimack to know. Then down he thumped, settling cross-legged and peering curiously at the younger feien a few moments. A soft snort noise escaped him, then a whole bout of giggles. "Aah, Merri! What happened? You're so... well, colorful! I love it. <3 "

Merrimack twitched slightly, his eyes glancing back at the adult feien again. He was...laughing at him? "Mommy was testing a spell on Tahki last night, and she accidently dumped paint on me. ...She got the best of it, though, since she likes glitter so much. Mommy says it'll come off after a while," he explained, scratching Winter under her chin.

Feeling a slight bit of jealousy for the small cat, Merick saundered his large self over to the two feien, and promptly placed himself in Tosten's lap. The leopard didn't seem to care that he was as big as a rat...he just wanted a little attention, as well, and the blue feien seemed much more calm than Tahki.

Tosten had noticed the glance that Merrimack gave him and tilted his head innocently, giving a sheepish smile. "It's not a bad thing, I love paint! I say we look alike now~, cause look at me!" He giggled again, at himself even, as he went to display his paint stained body. Really eternally paint stained now, seeing as it never came off easily to begin with. Especially when at least every day a new splotch was added.

The large feline plopping itself upon his lap was surprising, making him jump a little in surprise. He stared at the leopard a few moments then puzzledly scratched its head. "Well hello there! Are they yours, Merrimack? I have a kitty too!"

Merick lowered his head enough so that it would be easier to scratch.

Merrimack shook his head, picking up Winter and carefully placing her on the desk. "No...most of them belong to Neko, but we own a couple of them," he sighed, picking himself up and dusting off his lap. Cautiously, he stepped over to Tosten, and scratched at the leopard's neck lightly. "This one is Tahki's. She has a fox, too...and mommy has a dog. Winter is mine."

Tosten peered up as Merrimack approached and scratched the leopard. "What a lot of pets. I just have a kitty and she's so small. And fits in my lap." A teasing comment made toward Merick regardless of if the large feline understood or cared.

"Ah! Well! How've you been, Merri?" He inquired cheerily, then pouted some. "I hope it's not so weird that I came to visit. I like to visit people, cause, you know, otherwise I'm by myself and thats boring. Travelling is fun." Ramble ramble, talk about someone with no social awkwardness.

Merick glanced down at the blue feien, taking a slight hint, and moved, laying down next to him instead.

Merrimack hesitated for a moment before answering, his wings drooping a bit as he sat down again. "I...I guess you could say I've been better," he sighed sadly, looking at Merick instead of Tosten. "I wish my brother were here...but, you're okay too."

He had a rude way of saying something nice, at least. "Tosten...why are you here for me? You knew mommy, right? So...why me?"

"Thank you!" Tosten chirped to the leopard when it moved, giving some affectionate scratches. He was a feien hard to insult, even with Merrimack's clumsy way of saying things he just smiled easily. "Your brother? If I happen to see him later I'll be absolutely sure to tell him to visit!"

"Ah, why?" He blinked at him a moment and looked toward the ceiling thoughtfully. "Hummm~~... well, I like you!" He declared as his reason. He wasn't going to admit the more detailed reasons, they weren't polite to be saying. "And I get to see Ares and Tahki like this, too. See? Two birds with one stone! -- Thats how the saying goes, right? I never liked it much, I don't see what you do with two birds and one stone. I suppose they can play catch?"

Merrimack lifted a brow at the feien, patting Merick lightly on the head. An interesting annalogy, even if he didn't completely understand it. "But...why? I was so rude to you at first," he commented, looking away for a moment. This feien...he was so persistant, it seemed.

Merrimack wasn't alone in that. Tosten sometimes didn't even understood what he said, but it was good to just say it. Maybe that didn't even make sense either, eh? He smiled to Merrimack as the younger feien wondered so much over something that seemed so trivial to himself.

"Were you?" He tilted his head and peered toward the ceiling, thinking it over. "I don't remember you being rude. I remember~~, hmm... Ah! I remember you asking about your Mother!" He beamed back to the littler feien. "If you don't wanna believe that I just came to visit then thats okay, how about we say I came to tell you more about your Mother? Like there was this time that I covered her in paint to look JUST like a butterfly and her caretaker got so upset!"

...Neko got upset? ...Ares was painted on?? Hesitant at first, Merrimack looked back to Tosten, the stories of his mother sounding interesting.

"Please...tell me about it?" he asked, drawing his knees close to his chest as he leaned back on his hands.

Tosten smiled a bit mischeviously when Merrimack began to show interest. He scooted his position to more face the other feien and beamed a cheery grin. "I'll tell you anything you want to know." He chirped back. "They're happy memories!"

Though sometimes it was hard to remember clearly, he hoped he didn't get the stories wrong. "Well, when your Mother was a li'l blossom she was really dark looking. And she's really beautiful now - she always has been! - but I always thought she needed to be a little... brighter! Cause its hard to be sad when you're bright." He nodded matter-of-factly. "So one night we all - ah, who was it... me, Ares.. Seamus was there, he's-- ah... he was a really friendly feien but, um.. he's gone now... anyway! He was there, and we got into a paint fight."

Rambling feien, wasn't he? He was giving handgestures now, as though acting the whole situation out even if he was getting the story or actions incorrect. He was having fun remembering. "Arturo was there too - he covered me in pain, baah! Heehee, well after everyone left, it was me 'n Ares. So, since she was covered in paint, I started making it really pretty. Cause I loove painting and she didn't mind. She looked great! Ares told me that Neko had taken a picture of it, I think... it might be somewhere."

He peered about wonderingly if it was true, and if it existed anymore.

Merrimack thought for a moment. Maybe THAT was the "embarressing" picture of Ares that Neko was going to show him. "Hm...Neko may have it around somewhere. I haven't really investigated, myself," he explained, noticing Tosten looking about. "What else can you tell me about mommy?"

Of course, when it came to his family, he was always interested. It also kind of interested that Tosten had known Arturo, as well.

Tosten closed his eyes, scrunching up his nose as he tried to think it over. Some memories were sad and troublesome, he didn't want to tell Merrimack about the fights or sadness that had plagued Ares so long.

"Ah... she was a little different then she is now." He admitted thoughtfully. "She was shy when she was younger, and gentle. Even though she was a kid I still think she was older then any of us." And still is, he added on mentally. He half opened his eyes and studied the ceiling. After he talked with Merrimack, he decided he wanted to spend some time with Ares. Only from this conversation did he suddenly realize how much he missed her.

"She must be a wonderful Mother." He chimed to Merrimack after the odd pause, smiling over the thought of it. "Cause I know she's a very, very proud one."

The small feien was a little surprised. Proud...? he thought to himself. Of me? Sitting up straight for a moment, he lifted his hands and looked at them, wondering what there was to be proud of. He was lazy...always being tired, and never wanting to do anything. He was scared of just about everything, and usually refused to try anything new. ...So why was she proud?

"Did she tell you that...?" he asked in wonder, a bit absently.

Tosten blinked once and tilted his head slowly, trying to wonder if over again. "I don't remember." He admitted honestly. "But I don't think its something someone has to say for you know, you know?"

He rustled his wings a little, giving them a lazy sort of stretch until each feather was seperated from the good, satisfying force of it. "When you were a blossom she carried you everywhere - I mean everywhere. And she took such special care of you. She had these gentle eyes when she looked at you, and she still does now." He stuck out his tongue childishly to himself, in that way he did when he was pleased with something, goodness knows why he did it. "That's how I know."

Merrimack blinked a few times before his knees slacked and he pulled his feet in closer to himself, resting his hands on his toes. "Thank you...Tosten," he said quietly, his red wings drooping even more. "Thank you for coming to see me."

Tosten blinked at him in surprise when the withdrawn little feien seemed kind of defeated, drooping himself like that. But his words made him smile [not that he had ever stopped] and perhaps a little more gently at that. "You're welcome. I'll come again too, if you wanna. I can again too! I can teach you to paint," He glanced about and leaned in mischeviously. "Just don't tell Neko and Ares, they might fuss, heehee."

Teach him to paint? "I kind of like my pencils, though," he said a little sheepishly. "Not too messy, and it's an easy clean up."

Tosten pouted a moment and tapped his index fingers together innocently. "You don't like messy? But thats like the best part of paints..." He recovered promptly though and beamed his sunshine smile. "We can draw together then! I have pencils to, in all sorts of colors. I got them as a present!"

Merrimack smiled slightly, nodding his bi-colored head a little bit. "I...I'd like that," he said quietly, glancing at Sasuke who had moved to lay next to him.

Tosten nodded pleasedly with this decision made. "We'll draw together one day. We can sit on ... the window sill!" He pointed toward the location when he decided it. "And draw the outside- oh! Or Ares could pose for us!" He giggled at the idea. "Artists have people pose for them, you know, to do really good art."

"Mommy could pose...?" he echoed quietly. He never did try to draw Ares, and the thought didn't sound too bad. "Alright. But, not today...because I'm kinda getting sleepy..."

"Of course." Tosten agreed. "I didn't bring my pencils today either! Ah, and its getting late..." He glanced back at the window to confirm the darkness that had settled. "I best be on my way too!" He pushed himself to his feet and stretched his wings again, having already decided he'd head downstairs. Both to send Tahki back as Ares had said Merrimack didn't settle when alone, as well as visit Ares as well. "Goodnight Merrimack."

"Goodnight, Tosten," he said, laying down on the desk. Sasuke scooted himself closer to the boy while Winter moved to curl up next to Merrimack's feet.

With that the blue feien had fluttered into the air, a tad unelegantly but he felt stronger with his goal in mind. Tosten flit out of the bedroom door where he had the two other feien gone, but from there it was a guessing game of peering into each room and trying to follow voices to find out where they went.

"Taaaahki! Areeees!"

Of course, no one answered when he called. Down the stairs, there was a light seeming to flicker in the darkness, unusual sounds emmitting from the shadows.

"Taaahki?" Tosten called again and scrunched up his nose at the lack of replies. Where had they all flown off to? There was light crawling up the steps and soon he was swooping down in that ungraceful manner he had today, tentatively deciding to follow what he could. But his over-active imagination was getting ahead of him - what if it was a scary monster, you know?

"A-AAAaaaAarees!" He whined out the name now all dramatically as he peeped about worriedly. This house was creepy at night time!

As Tosten neared the bottom of the stairs, a low growl sounded before a shadow lunged at him, only to be jerked to a halt in mid air. Right infront of the little feien was the head of a large, green cat-like creature, hissing madly as her body hung in the air, the dragon-like wings on her back struggling to move.

"Nani shiteru no, Clover?" Neko said absently, holding a hand out from the couch towards the stairs. Her hand seemed to be glowing a little. "You're interupting my movie."

Ares blinked a few times, red eyes glancing over at the stairs. The movie they were watching was pasued momentarily. "Oh! I forgot to tell you that Tosten came by," the little time feien said as she stood up from the back of the couch, and took flight to meet her friend.

"They like to scare everyone, it seems," she informed him, quickly taking his arm and leading him away before he could say anything. "Poor Luca got scared by them, too."

Tosten was one of those types that was stunned when truly scared. He just sort of froze, beyond his pumping wings [they were a secondary action, like the beating of a heart, he didn't often have to focus to remind himself to move them. maybe it was the magic.]

"A-ah..." Was all he dumbly choked out, reluctantly fluttering after Ares as she guided him on his way. He stared at her nervously then back over his shoulder. How in the world she did live with such things? How s-scary! He gradually recovered, at least enough to speak.

"I-I wanted to talk to you... just a little..." He informed her quietly, the more he recovered the more the stutter and soft tones faded back into his usual nature. "But you said before Merrimack's not so good alone, could Tahki go back up and stuff?"

Ares lifted a brow before looking at Tahki, who was entranced by the TV. It WAS her bedtime, anyway. "Tahki? Time for bed," Ares ordered, floating a little closer to the little feien sitting on one of the couch pillows.

"Awwww, but the movie isn't o--" Tahki started to complain, but she stopped when Ares placed her hands on her hips, giving her one of those looks.

"Yes ma'am!" she said cheerily, getting up quickly. "Night night, Neko! Night Night Tosten!" With that, the little cold feien flitted towards the stairs, but not before freezing Clover's nose with the touch of her hand. Quickly, she flew up the stairs.

"...." Tosten stared after Tahki a good long moment before looking back toward Ares. He dared not go any closer toward her lest it put him back in range of that aggressive big thing they had there. So he just pointed toward the stairs and addressed the sophisticated feien puzzledly. "How'd you get that to work??"

Ares looked back to Tosten, a little puzzled. "How did I get what to work?" she asked calmly, her tail flicking a little.

"Oh, your majesty," Neko mocked, looking down at the two feien. "Might I be able to finish my movie, please?"

"Yes yes, of course," she said softly, waving a hand to Neko.

The demon hanyou cleared her throat a bit, lowering her hand slowly.

Ares glanced up at her bondmate for a moment before shrugging a little. "Let's go to the kitchen, shall we Tosten?" she said quietly, lifting into the air once more and waiting for her friend.

"Hiii!" Tosten, unmindful of being an interruption, took the time to give a cheerful wave toward the fussing Neko and her desire to watch the movie. But then off Ares was heading and he was more then happily to follow her. "Coming~."

Neko smiled a little and waved her fingers, watching them leave. Once in the safety of the kitchen, she litterally dropped the celestrus onto the floor, glaring at the cat-like creature for a moment.

"What did I tell you about attacking the little ones?" she scolded before turning her movie back on.

Ares glanced into the shadows of the kitchen for a moment before landing on the table. "Juubei? Can you turn on a light, please?" she asked the darkness, turning back to Tosten.

The light over the stove turned on, the ninja looking back to the feien as if looking for approval.

Ares nodded with a little smile, and the ninja was gone as quickly as he had come.

Tosten had lingered in the air until light flooded the kitchen. Only then did he swoop down and settled a bit heavily on the table by Ares, looking about the room in perplexity of what happened to the man. He could have sworn he just saw someone there!

"Your house is kinda creepy at night." He admitted to Ares, smiling sheepishly. Then, since things were settled, he decided to get to business... and clung onto her. A whole glomp instead of the usual 'Gotch'a arm!' method. It brought a wince to his face to swing up and wrap around his injuried right arm, but he didn't seem to mind as he hugged her tight, if only for a few seconds.

Ares blinked a few times in surprise, stunned for a moment as he hugged her, but then she smiled, gently hugging the blue feien. He's grown much more than I thought... she thought to herself, resting her head lightly against his.

"Of all the feien I've ever met, Tosten, you're the one I always end up missing most," she said quietly. "Is everything alright?"

"It will be." Tosten murmured back, not wanting to lie and call it perfect but also not wanting to worry her with troublesome details right now. It amazed him that he hadn't come sobbing to her when its problems started, it had been the most terrifying thing he had ever experienced. He still wasn't sure if his decision was just some growth of maturity or something else he didn't understand.

"Have I ever really told you how much I love you?" He said gently, in the same fond tones he always had though they seemed more sincere when he wasn't shouting and giggling when using them. "Or how absolutely, super important you are to me?"

Ares smoothed out his hair a little bit before gently resting her hands on his shoulders. "To tell you the truth, no...you haven't," she said softly as she smiled warmly. "But you never had to. Your actions have always told me, and that's how I knew."

"And, you're very important to me, too, Tosten," she said as her wings folded down over her shoulders. "Probably just as important as Arturo is to me, and that's a lot. I don't know what I would do if I lost either of you..."

Tosten closed his eyes fondly at that, even managing the most faint of blushes as it was wonderful for him to hear that. She was one of the last of his precious childhood friends, it was good to both tell her of her importance and learn of his own.

"I should say it more often," He decided matter-of-factly. "That I love you. Cause sometimes, I think, not everyone can tell how you feel from your actions." His eyes opened and he peered bi-colored eyes at her. "... I don't think Merrimack can."

Ares tilted her head to the side a little bit, concerned about what he was saying. Perhaps...the loss of Seamus and Sunil as his friend is starting to get to him, she concluded to herself at his decision. It wasn't that she minded; it was more of a curiosity as to what brought it up.

"You don't think Merri can what?" she asked, running a hand through her short blue hair.

Tosten had dropped his gaze now, releasing her and going to his favorite habit of hooking loosely onto one of her arms instead. Less restricting so that if she wanted him to go away it was easier to escape, but at the same time he still had the reassurance of affectionate contact.

"That he can tell how somebody feels just but how they act, and how they look." He admitted, peeking up to Ares face after a few moments of tracing her wrist design. "You're proud of him, right? And love him lots and lots and lots?"

Ares furrowed her brow a little. "Of course I love him...he's my son. I couldn't be more proud of him," she said softly. "You think he can't see that?"

Tosten was a little skittish of the topic, not wanting to say anything about the relationship between Ares and her son lest she become offended, or he be wrong just make them upset with eachother somehow.

"I.. I don't think he can." He said after the hesitation. "I think he's a person that needs to hear it sometimes too. I mean, its not bad or anything, really!" He was prompt to reassure her. "I know its hard to know how someone feels just by how they look and act, you know? Cause sometimes your imagination argues with what you see and so you see things wrong and if you don't hear it you might believe your imagination said..." He rambled hurriedly.

Ares closed her eyes for a moment, knowing exactly what he was saying. It was the way she felt originally when she'd met Seamus and Arturo...as well as all the other feien. All she wanted to hear was that she was their friend, right? Or that they loved her... However, it wasn't until she'd suffered herself that she could see what it all meant.

"Tosten...I want you to be honest with me," she said as she opened her eyes partially. "Am I raising him well enough...? Or could I be doing better?"

Tosten looked at her in surprise when she asked him such a question. What a scarily important question! He released her arm then so he could worry his hands together and wondered it over.

"Ah, I'm not a parent or anything so I dunno about stuff like that..." He tapped his index fingers together a few times then smiled at Ares. "If Ares is doing her best then she's already doing a great job. Merrimack isn't mean - I mean, he isn't really good with words but he's not mean, and Nero is really nice and... I don't really know the other one but they're all nice and I think you're doing great!" He nods firmly. Nero was friendly and Merrimack was nice beneath his first impression personality. That made them perfect to Tosten.

Ares' expression softed a little bit as she looked up towards the ceiling for a moment. They really didn't turn out bad...even if she couldn't be there all the time for them. They could take care of themselves if it came down to it, except for Merrimack.

"I just wish...that Merri could see the world like I did when I was younger. That he could look on and not be so afraid," she sighed lightly. "But that's the way he is, right? No matter what, he's my little Merri...and that will never change. I love him just as much as I love Nero and Ruya, and I'm just as proud to have him as my son."

Tosten tilts his head and brought a fist over his lips as though trying to hide his smile, but what a hopeless effort that always was. "That sounds like the words of a very excellent Mother to me!" He chirped back cheerfully and brought out his index finger to press against his lips as though he were telling a secret. "But you shouldn't tell me, I know this already. I think its them you should tell. I'm sure they know too! But they're pretty words to hear."

Ares couldn't help but laugh lightly. "Thank you for telling me, Tosten," she said, smiling slightly. Leaning over, she gave him a soft peck on the cheek, and then hugged him him gently, being careful of his injured arm. "It amazes me that you're not a father yourself. You'd make a wonderful one, that's for sure."

Tosten blushed lightly as the kiss was placed, and returned the hug though with one arm this time. Besides that he seemed beaming happily, feeling he had been helpful today... not to mention learned more about Merrimack as well as told Ares of her importance to him.

"Ah? Heh heh..." He drew back and rubbed the back of his head modestly at such a compliment, for once not so sure what to say. It was quite a handful of a compliment. So he avoided it by glancing to the side and gasping. "Oh! Look how late it is! I should be getting home or Nekota will call and Neko will be upset her movie is interrupted again." He giggled and looked all about him. "Is there a way out down here?"

Ares unfolded her wings and took flight for a moment, peering by the door. Clover was still scowling on the ground, her tail lashing about angrily.

"Hmmm...I could see if Neko could get you home?" she suggested, thinking about the time. She also remembered how poorly the feien had been flying.

Tosten looked at Ares unsurely when she said this, moving to the edge of the table closer to where Ares had gone but not taking to the air just yet. He fisted his hands over his lips and gave his head a few rapid shakes. "She'll get upset!"

"Oh, I'm sure her movie is almost over," she stated, waving her hand at him a little. Gliding over to her bondmate, she landing gently on the demon hanyou's shoulder.

"Neko?" Ares piped up, glancing at the TV for a moment.

"Nya?" was her reply, a little entranced with the moving pictures.

"Would you be so kind as to take Tosten home? He was injured earlier, and I fear for his safety returning by himself at this hour," she asked softly.

Neko was silent for a moment, as if she were thinking about it. After another moment of the movie passed, her tail thumped a little on the couch as she shifted to stretch. "There's about 10 minutes left...can he wait until then?" she yawned, leaning back further against the couch.

Tosten had squinted after Ares when she flew to the next room. He had planned to wait but, restless, he was lit to the air and flit to at least the doorway by the middle of the conversation.

"Ah, it's all right Ares!" He piped in interruption. "I can wait." What a hassle he felt like! But it did sound very nice to be getting a free ride back home. As much as he loved flying, for once he just wasn't in the mood.

Ares nodded, and took a seat on her bondmate's shoulder.

"I don't bite, you know," Neko smirked slightly, not glancing over at the feien. "You can rest over here too."

Tosten twitched an ear, cleared a throat dramatically and fluttered unevenly closer. "I knew that..!" It was more the thing by her that was still making him uneasy. It didn't look happy at all! He settled on the couch back, plop, and peered at the television screen a little sleeply.

Neko Girl

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Neko Girl

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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:13 pm

[saved for RP: July 13...Tahki/Tosten]

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:15 pm

[mini RP: July 14...Tahki gets grounded]

Neko Girl

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Neko Girl

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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:16 pm

RP that occured July 16, 2004:[color=white]

Tahki fluttered her glittery wings a little bit as she glided quietly into the shop, peering about the empty store. She'd been grounded the last couple of days after accidently knocking over (and breaking) one of Neko's favorite vases, and she still couldn't fully understand the means of the punishment. ...All she knew is that it kept her from seeing her friends, and from seeing is Talonfaust had returned or not. Perhaps today would be better, and something good would happen.

Well, perhaps...AFTER she'd landed. Taking Shalafi's advice about landing slower, Tahki attempted to be as slow as possible. That wasn't very easy for such a fast feien, and for not halting earlier, and the little cold feien simply tripped over the edge of the counter. Maybe it was a routine, or something...like it was fate that she had to trip every time she came to the shop. However, she was lucky enough to not fall flat on her face; she merely stubbed her toe. Biting her lip from the pain, she tried to pretend it didn't hurt.

Distraction from the pain came surprisingly quickly - the shop door opened, nosed by an occasional visitor/transportation for one of the other feien. Ailis padded in, sniffing a bit before curling up in his normal place under a window. Aileron took to flight almost immediately after the door shut behind Ailis, glancing around curiously to see who else was in the shop. Spying Tahki, he smiled vividly, moving to join her on the counter. "Hello there."

Tahki leaned back a little bit to look up at the tall feien, thinking for a moment. He seemed really familiar...had she met him bef--oh! Noticing the black feather in his hair, she smiled happily. "It's the pretty man that was looking for the pretty lady!" she beamed, giggling to herself. "Ail.....Aaaaaaileeeeeee............................Aileron?"

The names of feien she didn't see very often seemed to be the hardest to remember, it occurred to her, and she hoped she didn't offend him.

"That's right," Aileron said easily, not quite successful in hiding how pleased he was to see she remembered him. "I was hoping to catch you today."

Tahki's head cantered off to the right as she pointed to herself. "Me?" she asked curiously, not used to many feien seeking her out.

"Yes," Aileron nodded, moving to sit down beside her. "You gave me a gift a while back," he added softly.

Tahki smiled cheerily, staying standing so she could still see him okay. "Mmhm!" she hummed, folding her hands behind her back. "I'm glad you still have it!"

"It's rare I don't wear it," Aileron noted. "The cats love to play with it, and I like the way it looks." He hesitated a moment, then withdrew a small pair of carefully bent paperclips. The silver metal of each curled around the other, forming a makeshift woven circle. "I'd like to return the favor. If I may...?"

The little cold feien blinked a few times, curious of the circle he was holding. Favor? "Uuuum, okay?" she giggled, unsure of what else to say. May he what, though?

He held the bit of metal out to her. "I thought you might be able to use it for your hair, or as a necklace. Or something."

Hair? Necklace? Tahki looked at the circle for a moment, carefully taking it in her hands as she smiled to herself, wondering how that would work. It took her a moment to realize.... Oh! It really was a necklace! "Thank you, Aileron!!" she said happily, her smile growing wider. "Since I wear my hair in buns, I can wear it as a necklace!"

"I think it will look beautiful on you," Aileron smiled, enjoying how pleased she was with the gift. "I'm glad you like it."

Tahki carefully pulled open the metal circle, just big enough to put her neck through. Slipping it around her neck, she bent the necklace back into its circled shaped, so that it wouldn't fall off, then looked to the tall white feien for approval. "Like that?" she asked curiously, smiling brightly.

Aileron examined it carefully, then nodded. "It suits your coloring," he informed her solemnly, leaning back to grin at her. "And provides a nice bit of contrast to the darker colors. Rather like your feather does to my paler coloring."

The little cold feien clapped happily to herself, blushing slightly. "Oh thank you so much!" Unable to help herself much longer, she threw her arms around Aileron in a hug. It wasn't very often that she got gifts. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! I'll take really good care of it!"

Aileron hugged her back, his smile only widening with the embrace. Releasing her after a moment, he rose, a content look on his face. He started to move away, then stopped, glancing back at her. "Tahki?"

"Hm?" she hummed, her ears seeming to perk up a little. Once again, she folded her hands behind her back.

"Yeande isn't the only one who deserves the title of 'Pretty Lady'," he said cryptically, eyes warm as he moved to take to the air.

Tahki blinked a few times, not fully understanding. Well...sure! Everyone was pretty in some way! But Pretty Lady was always Pretty Lady, right? ...Well, maybe she'd understand when she'd get even older. She smiled anyway, however, waving a hand as she thought he was leaving.

"Just remember that," Aileron said, seeing the confusion on Tahki's face. He grinned and made his way back to Ailis, who rose and began to pad out of the shop.

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:17 pm

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

Neko Girl

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karma_k

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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 10:21 pm

Mekakushi sighed as Talonfaust flitted from one shoulder to the other like a high-strung finch as he sauntered up the walk of Neko's house, a bonzai pot with healthy green plants and loose soil balanced on his palms.

"Look, if you didn't want to come here, why the hell did you drag me out of the house??" the raccoonshounen growled at the little fairy boy.

"I never said I didn't want to come here." Tal snapped in retort. "Just...just leave it on the porch." he added, gesturing at the plants.

"Look, Puff, I'm doing YOU a favor. Don't start giving me orders." Meka retorted, moving forward and setting the pot down gently. From where he had perched on the top of Meka's head between his tufted ears, Talon stamped his foot hard, making Meka wince at the stab of pain in his scalp.

"Don't call me that! I hate it when you call me that!" he snarled, giving a startled squeak as he was snatched from the air in one of the raccoon's soot-colored paws.

"Well, until a certain four-inch crackjob can learn a little respect, maybe you should get used to it." He released Tal roughly, watching the little feien immediately take wing and move out of Meka's reach with a look of murder in his tiny green eyes. "So that's it? We're just leaving it here and assuming someone's going to figure out what this is all about?"

"I left a note." Tal snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. Meka shook his head and said nothing, smoothing back his tufted dark hair with a sigh as he headed back down Neko's walkway without another word, Tal flittering after him.

Sitting amid the cluster of miniscule plants there is a small white egg about the size of a golf ball that deepens to a rose coloring at its top and bottom. It glows with a gentle yellow aura and is soft to the touch, twitching now and again with movement from within.

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Affixed to the rim of the pot is a tiny scrap of paper with feien-sized handwriting on it.

Quote:

Tahki,

I have not forgotten you. Needed time to think things through after returning home. Will visit the shop soon to look for you. Please look out for this one, I can't manage them both.

Fondly,
~T

It offers no explanation of what the egg is or where it came from...Tal likely forgot such "trivialities" in his haste to get the note written.

...hmm...

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