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 Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 6:25 am
Hanging up the phone, Orion growled audibly, glaring moodily at his computer screen. He could feel a headache coming on...damnit. Today, it would appear, was not going to be a good day. After a half hour of going over figures with the person on the other end of the line, he was thankful that he worked from home. At the very least, it restricted the repetitive question-asking to the telephone. Shutting down the spreadsheet in front of him, he shifted, eyeing the emails sitting in his inbox awaiting reply.
Grunting, Orion pushed back his chair, exiting his small office, and making his way to the kitchen--it was way too damn early to put up with this crap, without a cup of coffee, complete with cream and sugar. Getting his ground coffee out of the freezer, he carefully measured out two level scoops, dumping them into a filter, and starting up the coffeepot. Fetching the creamer out of the fridge, he barely restrained himself from slamming the door shut. It was Friday, the final day of hell before he had two days of blessed, quiet freedom.
Although, to be fair, he only really hated half of his job--finding the data that the interested party required, and interpreting it wasn't the problem--what he hated more than anything was having to explain, and usually, re-explain the obvious, time and again...often for the same party.
Once the coffee was finished, he made his way back to his office, wrinkling his nose in distaste--it wasn't even nine o'clock yet, and yet, in the time he'd taken to make his coffee, someone else had apparently called, as he had a message flashing on his answering machine. Shaking his head, he toyed briefly with the idea of answering the emails in his inbox first, before sitting back down, spine curving defensively, and hitting the playback button.
Some time later, he straightened, closing his eyes tiredly. A little time out in the sun was in order. Grabbing his laptop, and his wireless phone, he headed out into the screened in porch that ran along the back of the house. Sunlight filtered into the space, giving him reason to pause--already, he was feeling a little better. That is, until the phone rang...again. Setting down the laptop and switching it on, Orion answered the phone, a brusque "Yes?" taking the place of a typical greeting. Just a few more hours, he told himself, brow furrowing thoughtfully as he went about gathering the requested data, asking the occasional question of his own as he went.
Finally, the sun sank below the horizon, and the day was over. Disconnecting the office phone line, he closed his laptop with an audible snap. Thank God. Not every day was as hectic as today had been--on a good day, he might only have to speak to one or two people directly, and so might only have to explain things once or twice, as opposed to having to go over things that he would have thought to be obvious, because the person on the other end of the line was unable to add two and two together.
Getting to his feet, he returned the phone to its charger, and stretched, the motion causing his shirt to ride up, exposing a thin line of pale belly over his jeans. Despite it being the middle of winter, he was wearing no socks, and as he made his way through the living room, he became acutely aware of the fact that his toes were quite cold--if he were truthful, they were, in fact, bordering on numb. Rrrrgh. Stamping his feet impatiently, he headed into his bedroom, giving in to the urge to slam the door behind him.
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 11:22 pm
It was the day after Christmas--and while Orion was not usually very observant of such holidays (aside from the fact that they provided a day off from work), this year he'd actually found a package on his doorstep, with a small card attached. Vashtya, one of the few friends he'd made since coming to Gaia (they didn't speak often, but got along fairly well, as the half-elf, while chatty, wasn't one to ask many questions. It also helped that Vashtya wasn't easily intimidated, or put off by Orion's irritability). Upon opening the package in question, Orion had been more than a little taken aback by what he'd found inside--it had appeared to be a particularly large cabbage.
Eyeing the cabbage plant thoughtfully, Orion poked at one of the outermost leaves, wondering what the hell Vash had been on when he'd decided that, out of all the possibilities he could have considered for a Christmas gift...he'd opted to give Orion a cabbage. Admittedly, Orion hadn't even thought to get the other anything at all...but still...a cabbage?! He didn't even particularly like cabbage, save for perhaps in a nice slaw, or a light garnish.
When he'd asked that very question to the half-elf, Vashtya had simply shrugged, replying that he'd happened to run across the lab on accident, and upon seeing some vague mention of it being a biocomputer, had thought immediately of Orion.
"Hmph. Looks like an ordinary cabbage, to me." He fiddled with the spray bottle of water that had come with it, misting it lightly over the outermost leaves. Perhaps the computer part wasn't revealed until it had reached a certain stage of maturity? If not, it wasn't as though the plant would be totally wasted--if nothing else, he could always eat it, he supposed. "But why would you want to put a biocomputer into a cabbage, anyway?"
Regardless, the idea was intruiging, he'd give it that. Lifting it up from the spot on his dining room table that it had occupied since he'd opened it, Orion grunted in surprise--it was heavier than it looked! Making his way carefully out onto the back porch, he set his new acquisition in the corner that got the most sunlight, sliding it around until it was positioned to his satisfaction.
Taking a seat on a nearby chair, Orion stared at the plant pensively for awhile, feeling more than a little foolish for giving so much attention to something that wasn't even really alive, or even something he could investigate more thoroughly, at least not at the moment. He'd put in a good attempt at prying the middle of the cabbage open, to see what exactly was inside--only to find that it wouldn't budge.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:52 am
Once again out on the back porch, laptop sitting unopened on the table, Orion put his hands behind his head, leaning back on his chair. He'd gotten up early today, and wasn't due to start working for another few hours.
It was just after the new year, so at least he could hope for a slow day, as most people were still likely to be recovering from the flurry of last-minute catching up and summarizing that always seemed to take place before the start of a new year. In addition, it was, once again, Friday--arguably his favorite workday of the week. Getting to his feet, he stretched, meandering back into the house to make himself a cup of coffee.
When he returned, a few moments later, he'd barely had time to sit back down before a horrific, unexpected smell assailed his nostrils. Nose crinkling in displeasure, he thought first that perhaps something had died under the porch--only to dismiss it, since that would take time to start to smell, and would gradually build over time. Sniffing again, he shifted in his chair, looking around to see what could possibly be creating such an offensive odor. As his eyes skimmed over where the cabbage was, they nearly skimmed over the pale infant who was nestled between the leaves. What the...? Nearly forgetting why he'd been looking around the room to start with, he got to his feet, eyes widening in surprise when it moved.
The infant, as it were, was small, although considerably more developed than one's standard newborn, with pale, alabaster skin, silky snow-white hair, and bright blue eyes. He'd also arrived clothed (a merciful occurrence, that, since the odds of Orion having anything suitable were about nil), in a pale, powder blue turtleneck and what appeared to be a hooded jumpsuit that ended just above his knees, with one wide charcoal-grey stripe across the front. More strangely still, his feet, which Orion could see clearly because he was kicking them, almost as if to get his attention, looked like some strange mix between normal human feet..and...paws, of some sort? On top of his head was also a pair of soft, rounded ears. Is it even human? he wondered, distracted for the barest of moments by the strange, if (although he'd never admit it) cute traits.
As he stepped closer, a new wave of scent hit him, and he grimaced, then blanched as he finally identified just what he was smelling. "Oh ******** hell, no." he muttered to himself, shooting the baby a look that was a mix of horror and disbelief.
Eyebrows drawn down in irritation, Eirwyn looked up at his new guardian, kicking his feet insistently. He was cold, and in addition to being subjected to the same smell as his guardian, his diaper was distinctly uncomfortable, by this point. However, he made no move to cry, instead staring up at Orion, a serious expression on his small, round face.
Nearly stumbling, completely at a loss, Orion fumbled for the phone, dialing, then having to redial at least twice, Vashtya's number. When the half-elf answered the phone, voice rough--obviously awakened suddenly from sleep, he lit into him, without hesitation.
"You need to take back that Christmas gift you gave me. ******** hell, Vash, it hatched today, and I never agreed to take care of some damn infant!" When laughter could be heard from the other end of the line, he exploded. "It's not funny--can't you take it back or something? I mean, it-" He broke off, looking down at the phone in disbelief. With a cheerful, distinctly amused "Oh, look, Dane's up--gotta go!", that damn half-elf had hung up on him!
Having watched the flurry of activity around the telephone with some small degree of interest, Eirwyn waved a fist around, not liking that he was having to wait to have his needs met. In addition to the dirty diaper, his stomach was beginning to rumble insistently.
Not the sort to really abandon a responsibility, regardless of how unwilling (or in this case, unknowing) he'd been in taking it on to begin with, Orion sank slowly back into his chair, gaze fixed on Eirwyn, as he set his mind to dealing with the...problems this was going to cause--not the least of which was the odor, which continued to make his nose twitch.
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Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 6:02 am
Some Time Later...
He'd ended up calling in sick today. And, almost an hour, a stack of dirty towels (sitting outside in a trashbag) and some very creative swearing later, it hadn't even been a lie. He hadn't even had a spare diaper to replace the old one with, so he couldn't help but hope that the kid avoided messing himself again until they could make it out to pick some up at the store. He'd healed people, and so seen a lot of humanity's more gross bodily functions before--but there was something about the first time one had to change a dirty diaper...that, at least in his mind, made it far worse.
After much thought, and some searching on the internet for naming help, he'd settled on Eirwyn. Eirwyn, still hungry, could have cared less. Carrying Eirwyn with him, Orion headed up to his bedroom to get dressed--he wasn't completely oblivious as to the needs that this...child was going to have, and while he still was feeling somewhat queasy after the diaper removal, he couldn't help but figure that a trip out now, rather than later, to pick up some of the necessaries, was in order. (Especially for diapers. Before the damn kid messed himself again.)
When Orion set him on the bed so as to get ready, Eirwyn glared up at his new guardian, tiny hands clutching in frustration at his stomach--why didn't the man -feed- him?! Rolling over, he sat up, then crawled over towards the nightstand, eyeing the digital clock with open curiosity--something Orion probably should have been concerned about, had he been paying attention.
Picking the clock up clumsily, taking a couple of tries to successfully remove it from its spot, Eirwyn furrowed his brows, sniffing at it curiously as his stomach rumbled, insistent. It didn't really smell like something he wanted to eat, but at this point...
Sitting back on Orion's pillow, he stuck the clock into his mouth, chewing on it experimentally. The plastic didn't give, and it was probably fortunate that he'd started out biting down experimentally, rather than with the assumption that it was something safe to chew on. Attempting a different angle, he moved his mouth down the side of the clock, leaving a slimy, clear trail of spit in its wake. Coming to the conclusion that it wasn't edible, he set it down in front of him, scowling at it, then banging his fist on it.
By this point, Orion had already put on a clean pair of jeans, and was almost done buttoning up a crisp white shirt, when he nearly jumped out of his skin, interrupted by the strident beeping of...his alarm clock?
Turning to see what had prompted this, he was greeted with Eirwyn's wide-eyed look of utter surprise, directed at the clock in question. His small fist, still balled up, was hovering, inches above the button he'd apparently just hit. Shaking his head, Orion walked over to the bed, picked up the clock...and almost dropped it again as he realized that hitting hadn't been the kid's first reaction to the clock.Closing his eyes, he willed himself to be patient--patience wasn't a quality he possessed much of, after all--then, he set the clock back on the nightstand. Wiping his hand off on his jeans, Orion buttoned up the rest of his shirt hastily, grabbing his wallet, slipping on a pair of sandals and picking Eirwyn back up before heading towards the front door, all without saying a word (and still, it could be noted, utterly oblivious to the fact that the infant was getting -really- hungry). What the hell had he ever done to Vash to deserve this, anyway?
When they returned, some time later, Eirwyn hadn't just had a new diaper put on, but he'd been fed--it hadn't even occurred to his guardian, who often forgot to eat, himself, until a woman in one of the stores they'd been in had commented on the fact that the 'little one' looked hungry. He still had no clue how she'd known, but it had been a reminder that perhaps that was something he needed to remember to check on, periodically. For the most part, he'd allowed the sales people to direct him at what all he needed--they'd bought clothing, and what had seemed like a million and one different meals for toddlers, with tiny bite-sized pieces, in addition to diapers (and wipes)...he could only hope that the kid potty trained himself, soon. All in all, the trip had served only to upset his already-tenuously controlled temper...everyone and their cousin, it had seemed like, had wanted to coo and squeal and ask a million and one questions about the 'adorable little babyyyyy'...things weren't off to a promising start. On the upside, however, Eirwyn himself had proved to be downright tolerable--he didn't cry, unlike ninety-percent of the infants they'd come across today, and while he had a nasty kick, when irritated, and was messy...at least he wasn't talking, or asking questions about everything (at least, not yet).
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 2:49 pm
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Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 6:27 am
He was absolutely miserable. Shortly after the zoo outing, Eirwyn had come down with a fever, followed shortly by the appearance of red bumps. Orion, who'd caught the symptoms when he'd gone to pick up the infant, hadn't taken long to deduce the culprit: chicken pox.
Which was how he'd gotten where he was--he was stretched out on the small sofa, which Orion had lugged out onto the back porch so he could keep an eye on Eirwyn while he worked, with very little to do. Everything itched, and he felt like he was on fire. His hair was still damp from the cool bath Orion had given him, but even that and the calamine lotion hadn't helped--and worse still, he couldn't even scratch the itch, since Orion, once he'd realized that Eirwyn was going to scratch even when told not to, had tied mittens onto the infant's hands, in an attempt to prevent scarring.
To compound his many woes, Eirwyn was bored. Even the small TV Orion had put out on the table for him to watch didn't interest him. Making a low, pathetic sound, Eirwyn clambored off the couch, toddling over to where Orion was trying to get some work done.
Latching onto one of his calves, Eirwyn rubbed his face against the older man's jeans experimentally, pleased to note that the rough fabric relieved the discomfort, even if only for a few moments.
Orion, who was in the middle of a call at the time, hesitated mid-word, glaring down at Eirwyn, who wasn't even looking up at him, as he was utterly engrossed in his itching. It wasn't that Orion was unsympathetic--after all, he'd had chicken pox too, once--but since he'd already called off once or twice since the arrival of his wayward polar bear, he needed to be able to focus.
With a distracted "Have a nice day," he hung up the phone, setting it gently into its cradle and looking down at Eirwyn, frustrated. It wasn't as if he was old enough to sit down and lecture on the importance of letting one's parent work--and he was running out to ideas as to how to alleviate Eirwyn's obvious misery. Laying a hand onto Eirwyn's forehead, he felt experimentally to make sure that nothing more serious was developing with the virus. Nodding to himself, he got to his feet, scooping Eirwyn up and heading to the kitchen--maybe a cooling compress would at least give him a break from the fever--one of the few things he'd noticed that were odd about the polar bear child was that he seemed to have a very high tolerance for the cold--and conversely, heat made him irritable.
With a small growl, Eirwyn struggled--he'd finally been on his way to relieving some of that godawful itch, and now Orion was picking him up!
However, when the cool compress was laid across his forehead a short while later, he subsided, slightly, not even protesting when Orion laid him back on the couch, sitting down beside it to replace the compress a few moments later, and to reapply calamine lotion to the upraised red spots. As some of the heat that seemed to be burning him from the inside out abated, and the calamine finally started to kick in, Eirwyn slowly started to drift off to sleep--he'd hardly even dozed the night before, and it was getting to the point where even the itch (especially now that its irritation had been reduced) couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.
Getting to his feet quietly once the infant was asleep, Orion made his way back over to his work desk--with any luck, Eirwyn would sleep until the work day was over...
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:27 pm
It was the weekend again, finally...and while the scabs, the last vestiges of Eirwyn's bout of the chicken pox, were almost all gone, he still hadn't been sleeping very well. Now that he was able to move around more rapidly, and easily, Eirwyn had been making a habit of clamboring up into his guardian's bed at night--and insisting on sleeping curled up against his back. Some might have considered it to be 'cute', but for him...well, he wasn't used to sleeping beside anything, let alone something that was so insistent about sleeping so damn close.
He'd tried putting Eirwyn back into his own room, even going so far as to shut the door, but had eventually gotten tired of having to do so multiple times a night. Needless to say, he hadn't had a decent night's sleep since.
It was because of this that he'd ended up where he was now--sprawled out on the couch (which, since the chicken pox, had been moved back into the living room), dark circles under his eyes.
Making his way over to where Orion lay as if near-dead, Eirwyn tugged at his guardian's sleeve. "Go outside!" he insisted. He'd been cooped up in the house for quite some time, and now that the ungodly itching had stopped, he wanted to get out of this place, if only for awhile.
When his guardian didn't immediately react, Eirwyn laid his ears back against his head, furrowing his brow. "Reeeeeeeeeeeee~" Having struggled with his guardian's full name initially, the toddler had quickly come up with the far-easier nickname of 'Ree', and no amount of glaring had convinced him to cease.
Groaning, Orion fixed Eirwyn with his most irritable glare, grunting when Eirwyn not only seemed unphased, but tugged on his sleeve again, this time harder.
"Can't you wait a couple of hours?" Even as he asked it, he knew the answer, and sure enough, Eirwyn shook his head emphatically. Making an unintelligible noise, Orion sat up, shoulders slumped. Much as he wanted to refuse, to say no, flat-out...he could understand why Eirwyn wanted out-of-doors so badly...after all, he'd been stuck inside, near-immobile and itching for quite some time.
Buttoning up the shirt he'd been laying in, so that he could at least make the pretense of being semi-presentable, Orion waved Eirwyn towards the front door. Hopefully, there would be other kids at the park, so that he could rest on a bench while Eirwyn burned off some of that excess energy.
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:29 pm
At the park...(part 2 of the previous RP) will go here~
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:41 pm
At the Grocery Store (Eirwyn & Orion x Eden & Meilin)
Pushing the cart in the grocery store, Orion gave Eirwyn a warning glance when the bear-eared boy looked around, grip on the side of the cart loosening. He really wasn't fond of the idea of chasing the youngster all over the store.
"Stay by me and the cart, you hear?" he muttered, his usual impatient self.
Nodding Absently, Eirwyn didn't even deign to respond with a 'yes'. Expression curious, he nonetheless kept one hand clutching at the cart--for the time being, at least, he was content to simply look at the other people grocery shopping.
Besides, this way he might have some say in what Orion picked out--while none of the sugary treats even tempted him, some of the cooking meats in the deli made his young tummy rumble. When Orion made to wheel directly past the section in question, he tugged insistently on the side of the cart, causing the wheels to turn in his direction--exactly the result he'd been hoping for.
"I hungryyyy." he said, looking up at his guardian insistently.
"What? You just ate before we left!" Orion exclaimed. Sure, he might not be the best cook in the world, but he'd actually made toasted cheese sandwiches (and barely even singed them!).
She had been talked into grocery shopping. Alright, fair enough, but how had she been roped into grocery shopping... AND babysitting? With Eden sitting in the seat of the cart (Meilin didn't trust the child not to run off and start going grab crazy, as it was she was still managing to sneak things into their cart.
"Eden, for the last time, we're not getting egg nog. That's only for Christmas." Be firm, she told herself, but with Eden it was difficult, more so because the girl was frighteningly sharp for her age than anything else. Her simple, blunt child's logic would actually make her a worthy adversary in a battle of wits with Meilin, if not for the lack of experience.
And if only she could talk, of course. So if it was only for Christmas time, why did they sell it now when it so clearly WASN'T Christmas time? That's almost what her look said as she glanced at the carton and pointed to it, then looked at Meilin without taking her finger away. They were just a bit ahead of the two in the dairy section right by the deli, having their non-verbal argument until Eden spotted Eirwyn, and let out a delighted, curious squeal. Furry ears, she had to see!!
The ears in question perked up at the loud noise, swivelling in Eden's direction even as he turned his head, looking straight at her. "Loud!" He said, releasing his grip on the shopping cart and toddling in her direction--if nothing else, he wanted to see what had made her make such a noise--it had to be something pretty good, as the only other time he'd heard someone squeal, it had been at the zoo, when one of the animals had done something really amazing.
"Eirwyn, don't run off like tha--" Orion started, walking swiftly after the toddler, who was proving that he could move pretty fast, when the urge hit. When he finally caught up, Eirwyn was already standing near Meilin and Eden, blue gaze fixed solidly on the little girl sitting in the cart. "I'm so sorry--really, it's impossible to take him anywhere--he's fine until he gets an idea into his head, but once he decides he wants to check something out, he's nearly impossible." This last was said with a glare down at the boy in question. Eirwyn, of course, completely ignored it--it wasn't as though glares, or even grumbling annoyance, were out of the ordinary for his guardian, anyway.
Reaching one hand up towards Eden, Eirwyn's expression clearly stated that he wanted to see what it was that she found so interesting, too! He barely spared her guardian a glance, clearly far more intrigued by whatever had prompted the girlish squeal of delight.
Meilin had just blinked, glancing around to try to see what Eden had been squealing about herself, but when she found the child's gray eyes fixated on the young boy she blinked again, stared a bit. He looked almost like that Riley girl, but, a polar bear?
"It's fine, really, I understand. Eden is the same way... that's why she has to sit in the cart when we shop, isn't it?" She quirked a brow accusingly at the girl, who just giggled and reached back for Eirwyn. "Is he from the Cabbage Patch too?"
"Ears!" She beamed in delight, thrilled she'd gotten his attention, reaching down. If not for Lin's secure hold on the cart it might have toppled over with Eden's leaning.
Orion blinked. Finally, someone with a clue as to where the cabbage had come from! Eyeing Eirwyn, he thought about putting him in the cart too, then decided against it--unlike Eden, who seemed willing to sit, relatively well-behaved...Eirwyn had a tendency to kick when he was displeased.
"So...they come from a cabbage patch?" He finally asked, tone just this side of brusque. "I received the cabbage that he came from as a...gift. I wasn't even aware that there was a child inside, until he showed up." This said with an eye roll in the child in question's direction.
Eirwyn's eyes widened--she'd been squealing at -him-? Curiosity piqued at her reaction, he waggled his ears at her, the soft, fuzzy little things swivelling temptingly. "No have?" Surely she had ears as well?
"Some kind of lab. My sister refused to tell me much, I found out pretty well the same way you did. She brought it home talking about how she'd adopted a child. I thought she was crazy at first but, well..." Meilin sighed a bit, face turning into a frown as she glanced at Eden. It wasn't that she hadn't come to care about the girl (though she was grudging and reluctant to admit to Eden worming her way into her heart), but she still wasn't crazy about suddenly becoming an aunt and guardian. It still seemed an irresponsible decision, but what could she do but support Tony in it?
Eden would suffer the most if Lin tried to force her sister to go back on the choice. She'd never be able to bring herself to hurt a child that way. On an unrelated note, Meilin couldn't help but admit to herself that Eirwyn was a cute kid, probably just the kind of son she'd hope for if she ever had any of her own, quiet, yet, she could see there was more to him than that even at this age. "There are others. A -lot- of others. We met one in the park, she looked to be about fifteen or so... I'm told that they grow very quickly, however."
Eden stared, eyes wide and full of wonder as she watched those fuzzy ears move tauntingly. Try as she might, she couldn't mimic the move, and pouted something awful as she realized. She reached up and, in a moment of brilliance, wiggled her own pointy ears instead, grinning as if to say: "See? I can do it too!". "Fuzzy..." She replied with her baby tone again, pointing back at his.
"Hmm." Orion nodded, eyeing Eirwyn thoughtfully. What happened if a guardian chose to ignore their new charge, he wondered. Did this 'lab' care so little about the welfare of the children they 'created', for lack of a better term? But, he'd long since learned that not everything was what it first appeared--maybe there was more to it, that he just wasn't getting. Truthfully, it didn't concern him--he had Eirwyn, with no plans on adopting any more 'charges'...one infant was more than enough, as far as he was concerned.
"I still find it difficult to wrap my mind around, truthfully--fatherhood wasn't something I was anticipating any time soon." Or ever, if he were brutally honest. Which wasn't to say that he wasn't finding himself growing ever more fond of the pale-haired polar bear he'd been entrusted with.
Eirwyn grinned, eyeing her ears curiously. They weren't like his or Orion's--instead they were smooth like his human father's, but came to a delicate point. The result was something far more delicate looking.
"I Eirwyn!" he introduced himself, looking up at Eden expectantly, even as he motioned to his ears. "Want to touch?"
"Tell me about it..." Meilin sighed very softly, glancing from Orion towards Eden, who was oblivious. "I can totally empathize with you on that point."
Meilin was in the same boat as Orion, having been forced into this by her sister, but now finding that it was getting harder to hold a grudge over the fact. Oh, it was still irresponsible and it was still selfish deciding something so large that affected them BOTH, but... What could she say? Eden wasn't at fault...
".... But I'd be lying if I said I was still unhappy about it."
She smiled a tiny bit, just the most bare tweak of the corners of her lips.
Eden squealed at the invitation and the introduction, clapping her hands together three times joyfully before nodding eagerly with a big grin. "Eden... Yes, yes! I want to!"
Orion cleared his throat, unwilling to quite admit that much. He had an antisocial reputation to uphold, after all. "Well, at the very least, I've gotten used to being woken up in the middle of the night, and he can finally tell me when he needs something." He wasn't even going to go into how many issues had been had before the infant had learned to speak.
If anyone were paying attention, however, his gaze had softened slightly, if only for a second.
Shifting closer so that the ears in question were within reaching distance, Eirwyn wriggled them again, enjoying the attention they were receiving. "Pretty name," he observed, tilting his head slightly to the side. He was so distracted by this new, potential playmate, that he'd even forgotten, or lost interest in, his rumbling tummy.
Shaking his head, Orion rolled his eyes, barely restraining himself from chuckling. Eirwyn might be rather cool-tempered, even at such a young age, but he had absolutely no shame in being fussed over, or cuddled.
Eden was delighted, surprisingly tender when handling his ears despite her earlier displayed eagerness. She seemed to understand that you shouldn't pull hard on someone elses' body parts, at least. "Soft..." She grinned slowly, more so at his compliment. "Thank-oo!"
Meilin even had to chuckle at that herself. "Yes... agreed. It was a blessing when Eden finally learned words."
Eirwyn smiled brightly up at her, pleased by this result. Opening his mouth as if to speak again, his stomach rumbled, the sound loud and impossible to miss. Turning back to Orion, Eirwyn furrowed his brow, abruptly reminded as to what he'd pushed Orion into coming here, for.
"Hungry NOW!" he said insistently, good humor seemingly forgotten.
Orion blinked at the sudden noise, running a hand through his hair awkwardly and shrugging at Meilin. "As you can see, a true blessing." he replied wryly, unsure as to whether providing a playmate (and possible distraction from the crankiness that was likely to ensue for his taking so long to find food for his little monster) or parting ways now, and being able to feed said bear-cub sooner would be the better option.
At the very least, perhaps he should try to arrange a..playdate, for a day when Eirwyn was a little less cranky? After all, it couldn't be good for a child so young to get to be around other children so rarely--even he knew that. How did parents usually go about doing that, anyway?
Eden pouted a bit as she was abruptly forgotten, seemingly rather unhappy about it but drawing no attention to herself, instead she looked at the adults as if demanding that they fix it-- RIGHT NOW --so she could go back to playing with Eirwyn and his ears.
"Hmm..." Meilin offered a bemused look, remembering then that she had brought along a couple of small baggies of Eden's favorite treats. Some strawberries, some soup crackers, and some grapes. Looking at Eirwyn with what would be a surprisingly understanding look-- or so Tony would say if she were there --she retrieved one of the bags from Eden's baby bag, looking to Orion. "Well, from one new parent to another: Always keep healthy snacks on hand."
She offered the bag of grapes in offering.
Orion nodded, filing that information away--it was logical enough, thinking about it--he just wasn't used to having to worry about it that often, since, to-date, they'd rarely left the house for long enough periods to merit having to worry about feeding Eirwyn before returning home.
Eirwyn looked up at Meilin expectantly when she began to rummage, stepping closer to the young woman. When she produced grapes though, he wrinkled his nose and shook his head, earning himself a glare from his guardian.
"No like. Too sweet!" he said, sticking his lower lip out mutinously. Child though he might be (with accompanying avoidance of vegetables!), but Eirwyn had also always shown a distinct dislike of most sweet things, as well.
"Eirwyn..." Orion started, putting one hand on his hip, expression clearly stating that the infant was being rude.
Drawing his eyebrows down, Eirwyn looked at Orion, expression downright mutinous. "No like!" he insisted, mulishly sticking to his guns.
Eden continued to observe, looking fit ready to start crying at any moment for being left out of the conversation again and the swirling unpleasant emotions between Orion and Eirwyn, but for the moment her reserves of patience were holding out at least long enough to get the issue resolved.
"And lesson number two: Always carry a variety of snacks on hand." Meilin added with mirth, amused that she had gotten good enough at predicting Eden's vast taste to be prepared. Nevermind that it had actually been her being overly concerned when trying to figure out what to put in the baby bag. Eden probably had two days worth of diapers in there...
In any case the next baggy offered were the animal crackers and the saltine soup crackers. Shortbread cookies, she knew from personal preference (Preferring neutral things to sweet things herself) weren't too sweet for someone with Eirwyn's taste, but she offered the saltine crackers too in case he preferred something a little more plain. They were saltless.
Eirwyn looked at the new offerings, expression slowly brightening, as even his body language settled back down. Pointing at the bag of animal crackers (they were fun shapes) he reached out a small hand, opening and closing it.
"Not sweet?" He'd never had them before, and so wanted affirmation as to the fact.
Orion cleared his throat, shooting a look of gratitude at Meilin. She really had come prepared! "Eirwyn, a thank you would be more appropriate..." he rebuked, although his tone was far less forbidding than it had been a few seconds before.
"Not sweet." Meilin confirmed, placing the bag in his hand but not yet letting it go. She was also one for manners, and thought to help Orion out a bit. She gave Eirwyn a softly expectant look, waiting to hear the words before letting go of the bag.
"Mine..." Eden whimpered, looking at Meilin with a slightly betrayed expression.
"It's nice to share, Eden. Don't you want to share with your new friend?"
A moment's hesitation, the green haired baby looked at Eirwyn for a moment, then back again and gave a small nod. Yes, she wanted to share and be nice to her new fuzzy, er, friend. She looked back at Eirwyn and in a questioning tone: "Fwend?"
Eirwyn looked from Meilin to Orion, pushing his lower lip out slightly, but conceding. "Tanks!" Stuffing an entire cookie into his mouth, he chewed consideringly for a moment, before nodding up at Meilin, pleased to notice that she hadn't led him astray, in regards to the biscuits' sweetness.
Finally appeased, he turned back to Eden, looking from the bag of cookies to her, and making a decision that, while he wasn't exactly sure what being a 'friend' entailed, that was fine by him. "ohkay. Yes...friend." Then he smiled, sticking another animal cracker into his mouth.
"Thank God.." Orion muttered under his breath. Nudging Eirwyn, he motioned to the animal crackers, quirking an eyebrow when the polar bear gave him a disgruntled expression in return.
Reluctantly, Eirwyn proffered the bag of animal crackers to Eden, looking hesitant to give up his 'prize' now that he'd finally acquired it.
Eden was appeased with that, and offered Eirwyn another toothy grin, but he even went as far as to offer her a cookie! Even more delighted now she gladly reached into the bag and took one, albeit a bit clumsy with baby fingers. Bringing it to her mouth with both hands she smiled, mimicking him from moments before. "Tanks..."
Lin just smirked a bit at Orion's utterance, more amused still. To Eirwyn she offered a rare smile and nodded her head once in acknowledgement. "You're welcome." And to Orion-- "Well... I don't want to keep you from your shopping and Eden and I have a bit left to do still ourselves."
But they should exchange contact information so that Eden and Eirwyn could stay in touch. Quietly she took out one of Tony's business cards (She carried them for her sister's sake, to advertise her services.) and handed it to Orion.
"This is my sister's card. Just call the home number. Maybe Eden and Eirwyn would like to play together sometime."
Finally, Orion grinned outright, accepting the card and tucking it into his pocket for safekeeping. "I think that's a safe bet, at this point," he observed, nodding at the young pair. Reaching into his own pocket, he produced his business card. "I work from home, so that's the only number on there..."
"It was a pleasure to meet you," He wasn't completely without manners, and in this case, it was true--if only because Eden seemed to get along well with Eirwyn, and there hadn't been a semi-awkward conversation with her guardian about what they did for a living, etc.
Eirwyn wiggled his ears again, perfectly docile now that he'd gotten his way. Catching snippets of the adult's conversation, he wiggled cookie-crumb-encrusted fingers curiously. "Buh-bye time?" he inquired, before filling his mouth with another biscuit.
Eden pouted a bit again, sad to be parting ways with Eirwyn so soon, but she knew better than to argue with Lin. She waved crumb encrusted fingers back at him. "Bye bye..."
Meilin smiled politely and nodded. "Likewise. Goodbye for now." She said, including both father and adopted son in the farewell before she steered the cart away. It was rare for her to have such a pleasant encounter, especially involving children. Maybe she wasn't as terrible with kids as she first thought. Eden's mirthful expression suggested as such, at least.
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:40 pm
Eirwyn was bored. It was a beautiful summer day outdoors, and while he could do without the heat, Orion was busy with..whatever it was that he did on the telephone, his back to the polar bear child.
Wrinkling his nose, and using his arms to help push himself to his feet, Eirwyn made his way over to where Orion sat, obviously annoyed with whomever was on the other end of the line. He wobbled only slightly, expression darkening slightly when Orion didn't even bat an eyelash at his appearance. In fact, Eirwyn noted with annoyance, he hadn't even seemed to have noticed that Eirwyn was there.
Tugging sharply at Orion's pantleg, he growled, the sound rather impressive, particularly when one accounted for Eirwyn's relative size. However, much to both his (and Orion's) surprise, the pantleg gave way, with a loud tearing noise. Surprised into silence, Eirwyn looked down at the mangled article of clothing, mouth forming a surprised 'o'.
Orion was not having the best of days. Then again, since Eirwyn's arrival, there hadn't been all that many 'good' days. And while he didn't resent, or really dislike the infant for it, he was finding it harder and harder to remember what it had been like, to have some degree of peace.
He was on the phone, trying to explain a particularly simple concept to the person on the other end of the line, when he felt a sharp tug at his pants-leg, followed swifly by a loud rip. He froze, mid-word, completely forgetting what he'd been talking about as he turned to stare down at Eirwyn, who was looking no less surprised (although far more pleased) with this turn of events. Hanging up the phone, uncaring of the fact that the person on the other end would probably not appreciate this much (he'd have to blame it on a poor connection or something, later), he gritted his teeth, staring down at what had been his favorite pair of jeans.
"Eirwyn." His voice was low, and rather similar to the growl that his son had been making less than a minute before. "I think it's time that I invested in a playpen for you."
Peering up into Orion's strained face, Eirwyn had no idea what he was talking about--but at least he was paying attention to him, now! Tugging again, this time less firmly, at Orion's pantleg, Eirwyn pursed his lips.
"Hungry!" He hesitated another moment, before trying again.
"Want food!"
His expression was slightly petulant, and more than a little expectant. When Orion didn't immediately get up to make him food, he furrowed his brows, his expression a clear indicator that if he didn't get something to eat, and soon, there was likely to be a problem.
Orion stopped, debating for a moment before getting to his feet--while he refused to cater to temper tantrums, he was, himself, starting to feel hungry--and while he was far from pleased with the state of his jeans, it was hardly something he could discipline for...after all, it hadn't been as if Eirwyn had set out to rip them apart--but, Orion couldn't help but observe, it would appear that he had gotten more than just fuzzy ears from his polar bear traits.
"I can't wait til you're a little older...and you learn a little more in the way of manners." Orion muttered under his breath, although his grip was still gentle when he scooped Eirwyn up off the floor, pointedly ignoring the look of satisfaction on the youngster's face.
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Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:14 pm
Making a face, Eirwyn lay on his back, fiddling idly with his fuzzy, paw-like feet. He hated when Orion left him to his own devices like this. Using the side of the playpen to help hoist himself to his feet, Eirwyn growled, the sound a clear warning. He wanted out of here, now!
Worse still, perhaps because he'd gotten to be a little older--he was starting to look more like a toddler and less like a baby, after all--Orion had taken to leaving the playpen in the main living room, rather than out on the back deck where he did most of his work...which meant that it was a far greater challenge to get his attention, without lowering himself to screaming shrilly.
Finally resigning himself to his fate--today, it would seem, Orion was being stubborn, and would not be conceding to let him out of the playpen, no matter how long he stood glowering, Eirwyn plopped down with a soft thud. The action made the playpen scoot slightly on the hard floor, which made a short, high-pitched shriek, as the metal scraped along the wooden floorboards.
Peering through the soft cloth-mesh that made up his 'walls', Eirwyn smiled. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad, after all...
Orion snarled silently at the person on the other end of the phone line, completely fed up with the absurdity of what they were asking. After explaining, once again, he finally gave up, directing them towards his supervisor--who, if nothing else, could hopefully at least politely tell them to shove it. Looking at the clock, he pushed a stray strand of hair back behind his ear, getting to his feet and stretching out his much-abused spine.
Making his way towards the door that opened into the living room, Orion pulled it open distractedly, still muttering under his breath about how some people should just crawl into a hole and die. Stepping through the doorway, Orion barely bit off a vehement, very deserving curse, as he tripped over the playpen, barely stopping himself from landing on top of a very smug looking Eirwyn. It would appear that he was going to need a new playpen--or at the very least, was going to need to get one that could be bolted down, at this rate.
"Just for that, we're having a fruit salad with dinner tonight." He said, a vindictive sort of glee riding him as he watched Eirwyn's expression turn to one of dismay. It was petty of him, perhaps, to be set off so easily by the infant, but he figured that at least he never harmed the child (or, he thought, punished him unreasonably).
Tugging at Orion's shirt, Eirwyn laid his ears back flat against his skull. "Noooooooo....don't like!" He spoke insistently, drawing his brows down so far that they almost formed a 'V' in the middle of his forehead. He found the sweetness of fruit to be off-putting...it wasn't as bad as the cakes and sugary candies that most people seemed to find appropriate to offer children of all ages..but it disagreed with his palate nonetheless.
"Have...haabooger instead?" He tried, expression hopeful, his grip on his guardian's sleeve never faltering.
"Only if you can behave. I know you don't like being in there, but you won't let me get any of my work done, otherwise!" He didn't know why he bothered--perhaps this explanation would work when the child had grown up a bit...but for now, the concept of work, and why he needed to do it, seemed to elude Eirwyn.
Looking down at his wristwatch, Orion nodded to himself, pushing the playpen back to its original location, and scooping Eirwyn up before the polar bear could even muster up a decent protest at the change in location. He had a little time--probably just enough to check if Eirwyn needed to be changed (there was still the occasional accident, unfortunately), make a quick lunch, and maybe even grab a few minutes to read Eirwyn a short story, or to play a brief game before he had to get back to work...
Even he was finding Eirwyn hard to resist completely--he could never have imagined he'd find any sort of amusement in playing with a child, but had indeed discovered that there were rare moments of play that almost seemed to make the stubbornness, and mess, worthwhile.
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Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 11:31 pm
Stretching his legs, Eirwyn looked longingly out the window. If only it weren't so hot outside, he thought morosely, glaring at the sun, which shone brightly in the sky. Even indoors, with the air conditioning on, it was miserably hot. Almost more than anything else, he disliked heat--it wasn't even just being sweaty and disgusting that annoyed him, but everything that seemed to go along with it. The insects, crowds of people anytime one went anywhere, and the accompanying smells that went with them.
With one final dissatisfied grunt, Eirwyn swung his pale legs over the side of the bed, settling them on the floor with a satisfying thump. Making his way over to the dresser that sat up against one wall, he looked at his clothes, furrowing his brows as he debated his options. Finally, he settled for a pair of khaki shorts and one of the short sleeved polo shirts that Orion had purchased for him...his guardian's taste was not his own, but as things stood, he hardly was of an age where he had strong enough preferences one way or the other as to have it be unduly problematic.
With one last grunt, and a glare at the sun, already high in the sky and blazing brightly, he headed downstairs, nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste to get to the kitchen--now that he'd opened his door, he could smell bacon...maybe Orion would make him a bacon and egg sandwich?
Muttering under his breath, Orion made a face as he ran his singed finger under cold water. One would think that he could manage to make breakfast without injuring himself--it wasn't as though he was a stranger to the kitchen, after all...but it appeared that luck wasn't with him...at least, not this morning. Looking up when he heard Eirwyn pulling out one of the chairs at the table, Orion managed to grunt something that sounded a bit like 'morning', before turning back to the pan of now very-well-done bacon.
Scooting in his chair (noisily) until he was right up against the table, Eirwyn turned back to Orion, expression clearly expectant. He squirmed when food was not readily apparent, brows lowering in burgeoning irritation--he was hungry now.
Ignoring the potential tantrum, Orion finally removed his finger from the stream of cool water, and started piling the bacon onto a plate, grabbing the pieces of toast sitting in the toaster at the same time and laying them both on the table. "That's not all for you," he said, giving Eirwyn a look that clearly said that he knew that the boy would have eaten it all, with gusto, had he not said something. Turning to the fridge, he grabbed a small container of margarine, which he laid down next to the boy, along with a butter knife, for his toast.
That done, he yawned, making his way back over to the coffeemaker, where he poured himself a steaming cup of coffee--his second of the morning, not that he was counting.
Crunching on a slice of bacon, Eirwyn reached for his juice...then stopped, glaring at the empty space where it was supposed to be. Furrowing his brows, he looked over at Orion. "Where's my juice?" he finally asked.
Raising an eyebrow, Orion nodded his head in the direction of the fridge, not even bothering to reply aloud before he turned back to his newspaper. Having Eirwyn, while it had changed a great deal of things, had not suddenly made him particularly chatty, or even overly friendly.
Sighing, a put-upon expression slipping across his face, Eirwyn couldn't help but roll his eyes as he got up to get a glass of juice. Truthfully, when it came to his guardian, he was even more demanding than he might be otherwise, because a) Orion had a tendency to get wrapped up in what he was doing, and b) it very obviously annoyed him.
"I want to go out today." He didn't speak again til some time later, after he and Orion had finished off the last of the bacon. "Can we go to the park?"
It might be disgustingly hot outside, but at least it would mean getting out of the house. There might even be other children present, who could obligingly fawn over him play with him for awhile.
Grunting, Orion nonetheless nodded. If nothing else, he could get a little sun, maybe even actually take the time to read a book, while Eirwyn virtually entertained himself...
"I'll be ready to go in an hour or so," he said after a moment of silence, picking up the dishes. "After that, we should probably get you some new clothes--school starts soon, and most of your clothes are getting too small." He hated shopping--the crowds, the noise...however, it was a necessary evil--and in the case of a growing child, one that had to be revisited often...unfortunately. He'd bought himself an hour of peace, however, and wasn't about to waste it pondering the unpleasantness of their outings.
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 6:08 pm
[Reserving Post: A Meeting at the Park?
(Crispin and Ayse + Orion and Eirwyn-gonna work on having them meet up at the park, and will be chipping away at that slowly over the next few days/week or so biggrin )]
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:46 pm
Slouched casually in his seat, Eirwyn stared out the window with longing, wishing he was anywhere but where he was. Like an irritating insect, the teacher...Ms. Kalmire, was droning on and on about some empire that had long since vanished, which was about as uninteresting a topic as he could think of. Not that he found most of the subjects that teachers seemed to find important all that interesting, but this one was less so than most.
Grunting, he shifted uncomfortably, looking around the room, wishing the bell would ring. As he did so, he caught the eye of a little girl, with her hair up in pigtails, sitting a couple of rows to his left. Rolling her eyes in Ms. Kalmire's direction, she gave him a small smile, her gaze flicking to his ears with curiosity.
Pleased at the attention, Eirwyn tuned out the low rise and fall of the teacher's voice, smiling back at the girl, his teeth a bright flash of white. He didn't know her name off-hand, but she was smiling at him, which was more than enough to temporarily make him forget his irritation at the boring class lecture.
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