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 Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 4:39 pm
Akuja was still reeling in shock over being a sudden parent, but after some time adjusting to her new charges and after many phone conversations with her good friend, Freyr, the woman had decided it would be a good thing to take the children to the pet store to acquire some new little charges, preferably fish. Fremere had been more than enthusiastic, and Seidh had even shown a bit of excitement in her usual serene demeanor. So there they were, at the pet store.
She held onto both of their hands as they first started to look at the tanks and accompanying accessories, Fremere quite ecstatic as he pointed out each and every one he liked and loved while Seidh seemed to already have her eye in the fish and after some time the small girl had tapped on her guardian’s arm and softly questioned if she could go look at the fish, to which Akuja gave a long thoughtful moment before nodding and informing her that she was to wander no where else. The small girl was then off, wandering carefully down the aisle of occupied fish tanks, peering into some of them before stopping at a particular row and tilted her head up as a small frown came upon her face.
She wasn’t tall enough to look up there!
Seidh glanced down one end of the aisle to the other to see if there were any step stools or anything, but no such luck. She then glanced back to where she had left her guardian and brother. She didn’t want to bother Akuja right now, since they were busy looking at the tanks, so the girl turned her head back up to the top tank, still frowning as she caught glimpses of round heads and the edge of tail fins. In an unusual show of impatience, the girl’s little hands made grasping motions up to the top most tank, as if she could magically reach it some how.
Quint had been browsing and picking up a few odds and ends for his tank back at home mostly just fish food and a couple of new bulbs for the lighting of the fish tank itself. Then he saw the girl as he walked past and he paused staring at her as she seemed to be staring so intently upward and making grasping motions at the air. Either she wanted the fish up there to come to her or she was making grabby hands for something else that he was unaware of. He shifted a bit in his stands trying to figure out what he wanted to do. Just why should he care? He should just go to the cashier and make his purchases and go.
Yet he couldn't just do that. Something about the way she behaved made him want to help her. Quietly he set his armful of things down and moved up behind the smaller child and gently moved to place his hands around her waist so he could lift her up slowly, "Up you go, kid." he announced his presence hoping she wouldn't freak out or make him drop her if she allowed this move.
She had been so preoccupied in imagining those fish in the top tank she didn’t hear anyone pass by her as she stared intently up at it. So it did come as a bit of a surprise as hands went around her waist and despite only being with her guardian for a few weeks, she knew these hands didn’t belong to Akuja and it was confirmed when a voice spoke up. Akuja had warned them against strangers yet she didn’t feel alarmed at all as she more or less went limp in the young man’s grasp as her feet started to dangle off the ground.
Seidh kept her gaze straight head for now, blinking as the compass within her chest seemed to do a few rotations before settling on the person behind her, the person she was catching glimpses of in the reflection of the tanks.
He kept a hold of her quietly not seeming to mind the feel of her weight in his hand even as she went limp. He kept a firm hold on her so she wouldn't ever have to worry about falling, "You see everything okay? Those the fish you wanted to take a look at?" He asked quietly as he stared at her reflection within the glass of the tank for the most part. He had seen these fish many times he didn't really feel the need to give them much more of a glance than that. He waited for her to confirm or deny what she wanted as he stood there with her.
Again his paranoia spoke up that this was likely a set up by someone wishing to see his soft wide underbelly but he promptly ignored it and kept on waiting. The worst thing that could happen right now was that someone would assume that he was trying to steal the girl from a parent. Sometimes people seemed to see all the bad things in him for no reason at all.
The girl felt oddly secure in his grasp and soon enough she was elevated high enough to stare at the oranda goldfish with their large, raspberry like heads and short compact bodies. She stared at them for a long moment, giving Quint a few nods of her head in response to his questions. As much as she liked the fish, they suddenly seemed to take a back seat in interest to the person that was holding her. Seidh’s attention shifted from the graceful fish to the reflection of the young man holding her, whose face she could see now in the glass.
Her lips parted a bit in surprised as she immediately zeroed in on his eyes, quite prominent even in the reflection of the glass. It was then that the little girl slowly turned and tilted her head to look back at her human lift, looking quite in awe as she now physically stared quite intently at his eyes.
Quint let her stare at the fish as long as she seemed intent on doing so which apparently wasn't very long because she seemed to suddenly tilt her head back and physically stare at him or rather more directly at his eyes. He furrowed his brow and stared back at her own seemingly fathomless black eyes with a bit of interest, "Dunno if you didn't realize but, I'm not those fish," he smirked a little at her as he seemed content to still hold onto her for the moment.
After all the fish was the entire reason why he lifted her up in the first place but now she seemed to insist on staring straight at his eyes. He wasn't quite used to the sudden fascination with his eyes but he had to admit there was something relaxing about staring in the blackness in her eyes.
Oh she still was intent upon the fish, but they’d be here longer than this stranger probably would be and the fish didn’t have eyes like he did. She wasn’t deterred at all from blatantly staring and continued to do so…they were…almost like hers! That fascinated her to no end as in the past couple of weeks she was dismayed at seeing her eyes in her reflection or in a mirror but something about this person’s eyes…
At his words Seidh gave a short, soft giggle as she stared for a few more moments and then leaned back a bit, one hand coming up and slowly and cautiously reaching back, fingers directed towards his eyes.
He didn't move to correct her though he did raise an eyebrow at this gesture, "What about 'em?" he asked quietly. He'd never been unnerved about the way of his eyes looked nor despaired about it. He just accepted it as it was much like his teeth and everything else about him he couldn't really control very well. Quint wondered briefly what he should do with the small child dangling in his grasp but decided to just let things go...Though his arms were getting kind of tired.
The young man quietly moved to set her down but only for a moment before he turned her a bit about before he lifted her back up into a more natural position of holding her face to face and using his arm so she can 'sit' upon it.
The small child couldn’t seem to find the words to speak yet, just being so utterly fascinated and enthralled in silence as she stared. She certainly wasn’t getting tired of staring anytime soon but was yanked out of her stare when she found her feet once again on the ground and she then seemed a bit dismayed. The hand that was starting to reach out making grasping motions towards his eyes like she had done moments prior to the fish, but luckily she wasn’t on the ground for too long as she was then lifted back up and put into a better position.
One hand went to rest gently on his shoulder as the other went back to shyly and hesitantly reaching out for one of his eyes. Her fingers danced around, going back and forth before she gently touched the skin under one eye. Seidh’s lips had parted a bit once again in awe was she went back into her enthralled mood.
He blinked a little at her behavior. Couldn't the kid talk? She seemed old enough to talk but yet she wasn't talking. Was she mute? That could probably make things a bit hard as far as communication went especially if she needed to find her mother at any point. Still Quint held onto the girl and let her do what she wanted so long as she didn't poke him directly in the eye it was going to be okay. He hoped. The young man wasn't really in the mood to drop a small girl onto her rear or her head.
Not that there needed to be a mood for such a thing. He just didn't want to.
Quint stared at her and simply said, "I like your eyes." to see if that would get some form of conversation going even if it was based on eyeballs.
After touching the skin underneath his eye, her hand went to touch the skin underneath one of her own eyes. She knew better than to poke the eye directly because when she did that to herself in the mirror one day it watered terribly. Seidh then leaned closer towards Quint’s face, one eye closed as the other peered into one of his own eyes closely as she could see her distorted reflection in his eye. She pulled away a bit, seeming quite pleased until he spoke up again.
She stared back at him for a long moment, blinked, as her round cheeks then broke out into a blush at the compliment. He liked her eyes? That just made her…happy. The little girl turned her head to the side as she blushed, murmuring a soft thank you, before also murmuring, “…I like your eyes, too.”
He trusted her to know what it'd feel like if someone got poked in the eye so he decided not to warn her about it. Quint stared at her as she pulled in close and stared at him some more and then watched as she leaned back again with a small amused chuckle. The young man was curious as the blush spread over her face after the complimented her and then she spoke.
She does have a voice!
He smiled a bit, "Thanks, kid." Quint said in reply and then paused thoughtfully a moment. "My name is Quint what is yours?" he asked curiously might as well get a little acquainted with her since they were complimenting each other and interacting. In the past getting acquainted with the children never really did him any harm so he didn't see why not. So long as no one was nearby to tease him about it...
Her gaze shyly turned back to stare at his face, her own lips twitching every so slightly as his small smile. She blinked once more as he introduced himself. Quint. Such an interesting name! It was interesting sounding too!
“…My name is Seidh…” She murmured once more, glancing off to the side and blushing more, one hand coming up to grasp one of her braided pig-tails as she then pulled it a bit against her face as if trying to hide herself for some odd reason. She liked this Quint with the pretty eyes that were almost like hers.
Quint was a bit baffled by the way the child was acting but hey he wouldn't judge. She was just a little weirdo apparently. Not like he disliked the way she was behaving it was admittedly a bit cute. Not that he'd say so out loud right now. When she told him her name he smiled a bit more and tilted his head, "I like that. It is a very lovely name," he said quietly. The young man found it funny that he didn't seem to curse so often around children and couldn't seem to at all around the small girl right now.
Though she hid herself behind her hair (or tried to) he took a moment to compliment her hair as well, "I like the color if your hair, it's very pretty," he liked this small girl she had a very calm way about her that he found himself enjoying.
It was okay if the young man didn’t get it, she wasn’t expecting him to at all. Seidh couldn’t help but blush even more as Quint continued to be nice and compliment her, another small giggle escaping from her lips. She glanced at him once more to find that his smile had grown a bit and she turned her face away again, her lips twitching more. “…I like your name too.” She uttered shyly.
When he then complimented her hair, she let out a soft sound and grasped her other braided pig-tail and hid behind that one as well. “Thank you.” She murmured, “…It’s like my favorite flower.” She then added with a whisper.
"Well thank you Seidh," he replied to her return compliment and continued to hold onto her. He wasn't sure why but she just seemed to get shyer by the moment when earlier she was practically up in his face apparently checking out his eyes for whatever reason she may have had. "What is your favorite flower?" he asked curiously as he tilted his body to look at fish a bit more again as he awaited her reply.
Thankfully the child was fairly light so his arms didn't feel too tired and gladly kept her held up. "You like the fish huh?"
“You’re welcome.” She replied, peeking out at him from behind her hair. She was using her manners like her guardian had told her, like a good girl. “My favorite flower is the iris…the bluish purple ones…” When he turned to face them towards the tanks, her dropped one of her pig tails and looked back at the tanks as well since she had gotten a full share of eye staring to last her for now.
Seidh gave a nod of her head in response to his question. “…Mother is getting us fish…I want these ones…” She pointed to the top most tank that she had been trying so hard to see earlier, where the orandas were just swimming about.
"Those are a pretty flower," he said with a small smile. Quint didn't know what his favorite flower he was never paid much attention to them. He looked into the tank with her at the little orandas were swimming about and he nodded a little, "These are pretty nice. Who is your mother? Maybe we should look for her and tell her these are the ones you want, hm?" he said 'we' which surprised him but he didn't move to change the words or the sentiment about it.
Though he doubted she'd let him get away with him putting her down and just walking off, it seemed as if she was attached to him so he wasn't that oblivious.
The young girl nodded her head in agreement and lucky for Quint didn’t question what his favorite flower was, for now anyways. She snuck a quick glance at him as he looked at the tank full of orandas too and ducked her head for another moment, her lips twitching. When questioned about her mother she perked up a bit and seemed to focus on something for a moment, locating the whereabouts of her mother and brother and finding them to be in more or less the same spot she left them in.
She looked thoughtful for a moment before giving a small nod of her head. It was good to introduce new…friends, right? “I will take you to her and my brother.” She murmured and then waited to be put down, as content as she was there in his arms.
He seemed oblivious to the glance and just stared at the orandas though he did glance at her when she seemed a bit too quiet compared to earlier and watched with curiosity as she seemed deep in concentration. Quint nodded slowly as he gently set her down onto her feet and got ready to follow her with a simple, "Okay. I hope your mom won't be upset that you've been talking to strangers," he said thoughtfully.
Most parents got kind of undone when they saw him wandering along after their children when this sort of thing happened. Oh well. At least he didn't steal the kid, right? As tempted as he might have been from time to time.
Once set on her feet, the little girl even shyly reached up and grasped one of the young man’s fingers to hold onto as she then started to lead him to where Akuja and Fremere were. Seidh did happen to fret for only a moment at his thoughtful statement but was he really a stranger now after they introduced each other? He’d be a stranger to her guardian, but that’s why she was going to introduce them, right?
Soon enough she rounded the corner where the gangly woman and bright colored young boy were examining tank accessories and it was Fremere who looked up at the arriving pair first, his bright orange eyes going wide with delight. Was it a new friend to be made? Akuja looked up then at Seidh, seeing the girl return before her eyes quickly moved to the person her hand was pulling and her eyes narrowed briefly. Nothing against the teen of course, Akuja was just a suspicious person by nature and the suspicion did happen to be doubled now that she had children to care for.
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Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 4:40 pm
Seidh was eager for there to be no awkwardness though, and quickly and softly set forth to introducing the young man. “…This is my new friend. His name is Quint.”
Akuja seemed to relax ever so slightly as she looked down at the little girl and then at the teen because let’s be honest, if he wanted to steal her, he probably would have done so by now and wouldn’t have come to introduce himself. Besides…the longer she stared at the young shark man the more she got this odd feeling as she stared back and forth between him, Seidh and Fremere. This odd feeling that he was…like these children she had suddenly acquired. “…She wasn’t bothering you, I hope?”
Fremere wasted no time in coming up to Quint after the introduction and grinned up at him quite happily. “My name is Fremere! I’m her older brother!” He was quite proud of this fact and that his ‘little’ sister had made a friend.
He let her grasp her fingertips and he wandered along behind her. Once seeing the guardian in question along with another child he wasn't surprised and was even less surprised at the narrowing of eyes and acted as if he hadn't noticed and simply nodded to confirm his name was indeed Quint and then shook his head, "If anything I probably bothered her," he said simply with a shrug, "there were some fish she couldn't get a good look at so I lifted her up," the young man explained. His gaze moved to stare at the boy that came up to him.
"Hello," he said simply and then after a moment he added, "pleased to meet you."
Being well mannered was hard work. This was far more involved than he had intended on being but he went along with it. "She wanted to show you the fish she wanted," he said to Akuja once more.
Akuja trusted that Seidh had a decent judge of character for her age, unlike her brother, who would run up to anything that moved. Anything. “…Ah I see. Well, thank you for the kind gesture. I’m glad she wasn’t the one who was doing the bothering…” She watched as Fremere ran up to Quint and of course it was bound to happen rather quickly. “…I am Akuja…and if you have somewhere you need to be…don’t let us keep you…” She tilted her head a bit at how the little girl held onto one of his fingers and even looked….shy? Yet pleased at the same time? How odd…
Fremere’s grin widened even more if that was possible. “We can be friends too, right!?” Seidh on the other hand, just kept her grasp on Quint’s index finger, quiet as everyone else around her spoke.
"Nope all me," he replied quietly and didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to dislodge his finger just yet. In fact he was just waiting for Seidh to say he can go for some odd reason. He just couldn't bring himself to just up and leave her right then and there. Quint nodded a bit, "Pleased to meet you, too."
Rest assured as soon as he wandered out the shop he'll be exploding with curse words and other foul things.
He blinked over at the boy again and raised an eyebrow, "Ummm, sure? I don't see why not..." Quint didn't see why not indeed though he'd probably learn that one sooner or later. Quint quietly swung his hand with her without being very conscious of the move. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to him right now.
“The pleasure is all mine…” Akuja murmured as she tilted her head even more at Seidh’s behavior, the girl swinging her arm a bit as well in response to the young man swinging his arm. She just seemed so…content. Yes, Freyr would definitely be getting another call later.
Fremere seemed totally ecstatic at making another new friend as his delight was very apparent, and it was now that Akuja decided she should probably persuade Seidh into letting her new friend go before Fremere started to talk his ear off, and that the young man could have somewhere he needed to be but didn’t want to let go of her hand for some reason (she was pretty cute too, though). “Seidh…you should probably cut him loose for now…” The little girl seemed a bit saddened at this as her arm stopped swinging, but she was a good girl and she understood he probably had things to go do.
“…I’m sure you’ll see him around…and besides…He probably has stuff he needs to do and we have some fish and items to pick out…”
Seidh gave a small nod of her head as she glanced up at Quint for a moment before her fingers slowly slid off of his finger and she then moved her hands to rest on her tummy.
Well, that tugged at his heartstring to see her so disappointed to see him go, it was not something that happened often if at all. He took a moment and undid the clasp of one of his earrings and pieced it back together and then knelt and offered it to her, "Keep this safe for me until we see each other again, okay?" he said to Seidh. It was pretty much a guarantee that he'd seek her out again since she had something that was a part of him in a way. He looked from Akuja and then to Fremere thoughtfully for a moment.
"...If you want my number I can give it to you if you ever ... need someone to watch the kids," he offered Akuja quietly. Today was apparently a day of offers for the young man.
Seidh let out a quiet sigh but she looked over at Quint as the young man was suddenly at her level and offering her a small hooped shiny. A look of surprise crossed her face before one of delight took over as she reached and carefully picked up the earring and then held it with both her hands against her chest. She gave a vigorous nod of her head, a promise that she would take the best care of it ever.
Akuja’s lips twitched a bit at the display (not that she’d admit it out loud, but it was…cute. Definitely something she wouldn’t say out loud right now). The older woman then blinked at his offer, tilting her head in the other direction thoughtfully. It wouldn’t hurt would it? It wasn’t like there’d always be days where Freyr could watch the children…so it definitely wouldn’t hurt. It was a bit of a surprise to see a teenager acting so…responsible too. It was a nice surprise.
“Alright…” She replied, pulling out her phone and waiting to get his number.
Once the care of the shiny thing was taken care of he stood up straight and got out his cell phone and then proceeded to recite his number out to the woman before him so she could program it into her own phone and then waited for her to either text him or recite his own number so that he could know who it was before he answered. He had a bit of a habit of screening his calls for one reason or another. There was just some people he sometimes didn't feel like talking to unless somehow it was an emergency to do so.
"I know it's kind of weird for me to offer all that right away," he added quietly, "but the kids you have they...give off the same uhh... energy my brother and some others do. So if something weird happens on that end ummm..Feel free to call me for that too," he muttered quietly. He might as well at least offer.
The woman typed in his number and saved it, putting her phone away as she then recited her own number to him. She could definitely understand wanting to know who was calling you. At his words she couldn’t help but blink a bit and then seem to feel a bit better about this entire situation she had been tossed into starting with that suspicious shop and suspicious shop keeper. So he was like them! It honestly was a bit of relief to know that there were others out there like these children…and possibly others out there going through the same things she was.
Akuja stared at Quint for a long moment before she smiled ever so slightly. “…Thank you.” She uttered with the utmost honesty and sincerity despite her subdued tone. She was truly thankful to have a bit more light shed onto the situation.
He programmed it into his cellphone as it was recited to him and he tucked away his phone once more. He nodded to her as she uttered her thanks and even offered her a bit of a smile, as friendly a smile as he could muster with his teeth and face. Quint looked down to Fremere and then to Seidh, "See you guys later, be good to your Mom," he advised quietly before he turned and went to make his way to where he had left his would-be purchases so he could finally get out of the store without any further distraction or ceremony.
Saying goodbye seemed far too permanent these days...
The older woman wasn’t at all put off by the bits of unusual teeth she caught sight of when the young man smiled a bit. When you wake up one morning to find two children hanging on your wall it tends to desensitize you to less trivial things such as appearances. “Always!” Fremere cheered, “You have a good day and I can’t wait to see you soon!” Seidh was more subdued in her parting, murmuring a soft goodbye as she watched him leave until he was out of sight. Akuja smiled a bit awkwardly as she placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder and directed her towards the fish accessories for her to pick out. It was always best to try and occupy a sad child’s mind with other things…
Soon enough they were sitting in the car on their way home, Akuja peering into her review mirror to catch what the children were doing. Fremere sat in his booster seat with three bags each filled with one oranda on his lap, cooing to them and telling them how happy their new life was going to be and how much he would love them forever and ever. Seidh had two bagged fish sitting on her lap, one arm cradled protectively around the orandas she had picked out while in her other hand she held the small hooped earring, gazing down at it and her fish with a content expression.
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