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 Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 6:05 pm
Duncan could only watch breathlessly as Cesc bounded down the corridors. He rarely cursed his age, but Duncan could imagine that it was what was getting the better of him now, but there was no time to ruminate on it - once fully composed, he stood straight and marveled the disaster that was all around him. To say that only half of the artifacts were in disarray was a generous estimate, to say the least, and the docent of the wing where it all began pointed straight and accusingly at him from afar. Duncan let out a breath.
This was going to be a very long day for Duncan.
For Aina, everything was a flurry of colors and strange shapes and wonder, and she was so hungry but amazed that she wanted to eat everything and send it all flying into the sky. She thoughts of eating lead to the other, but a part of her knew the sensations felt different; eating satisfied her rune while showing Cesc her very own magic starved it. It was very confusing for the newborn Frei.
Thankfully, Cesc didn’t let Aina have enough time to make either decision. What artifacts they came by on their journey to Duncan’s office merely teetered and floated a few safe millimeters off the ground, much to the Frei’s dissatisfaction.
“Mm, I wanna learn,” Aina whined, scrunching her face up to a small frown; but the words hungry and snack managed to brighten Aina back up again. Smiling wide, Aina nodded, waving her hands in front of her toward the artifacts in passing. “I can eat?”
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Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 2:42 pm
Cesc was fast approaching a door that at least looked like an office, and as he turned the handle to it, he swore inwardly--if he found a lunchbox inside, Aina was eating what was in it, if she could. If it was someone else's, they would truly, sincerely, and from the bottom of their heart, have to ******** deal.
"Duncan told me you have a super cool lunchbox with snacks and stuff! Should we eat that instead? I think that sounds super duper yummy," said Cesc soothingly, opening the office door. He thought belatedly to ask the young Frei in his arms: "Is this Duncan's office? Can you show me where your lunchbox is? I'd love to see it. Is it super cool looking?"
At this point, Cesc himself was starting to feel quite hungry. He'd expended a lot of energy just now, and if they did have the wrong office, he might eat someone else's lunch himself, too.
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2016 11:43 pm
Cesc's answer was not an immediate no, but neither was it an immediate yes, and Aina looked up at the stag with all the betrayal and confusion her newborn body could muster. Tears were welling from a mention of a lunchbox; if it wasn't within eyeshot, she thought, it was still very far away.
"No lunchbox," Aina whined, tugging at Cesc's clothes; where were they now? Through her frustration and welling tears, Aina could scarcely comprehend their location. At Cesc's second question, though, Aina rubbed her eyes, shaking her head; "I dunno," she replied, meekly.
Fortunately for them both, it was Duncan's office, and when Aina glanced up again, she noticed the familiar lining of bookshelves and an office table in the corner. "Birdies," she explained; the lunchbox in question was a tin box on one the office chairs. It was decorated in pastel paints and robins, and she reached out for it, almost teetering out of Cesc's arms to do so.
"Juice!" she brightened; just then, the lantern on the desk began making its descent to the ceiling.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2016 8:47 pm
"Birdies!" sang Cesc, and it was a song of relief. He gently set Aina onto a chair and opened the lunchbox, orienting it toward her to eat whatever she wanted of it. He sank down beside her, only then noticing the lantern, which he dove forward to grab before it went too high out of reach. Not wanting her to feel badly, he continued holding it aloft with one hand, smiling brightly, and... rather stupidly, gave her a thumbs up with his other hand.
"I'm so ready for lunch," he said with a nod, his smile a touch shaky. "I'm so glad that precious Aina has lunch now! Are we super happy? Do you need help with anything?"
A sudden thought registered to him then, and Rhedefre held a brief, stunned moment of silence for every vase, cup, ornamental collectible decorative plate set and piece of good china in Duncan's house. May the survivors be wrapped in bubble wrap forever and forever, amen.
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Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 9:30 pm
In light of everything Aina had seen thus far in the museum, the contents of the lunchbox now seemed so... tiny, to say the least, but the Frei was excited to see it all the same. She wiggled in her seat as Cesc presented the contents to her, and she quickly reached forward for the pomegranate first. Next to it was a small canteen of tea, painted like a ladybug, which still wafted faintly of rose tea.
"This is me!" Aina smiled, holding the pomegranate out to Cesc. Opening a pomegranate seemed so easy when papa and grandpa did it. Placing her palms on either side of the fruit, she attempted to pry it open to no avail; whining, she held it closer to her chest. "Seeds, come out," she pleaded, and the fruit slipped from her hands and onto the floor, where it rolled and knocked against the table.
Which was also floating. But, luckily, it was only by a few meager centimeters; just like everything else. At least, now, it was only a slow descent to complete disaster.Atmadja Rhede is hilarious good GRIEF
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2016 10:40 pm
Cesc's face lit up with a smile as Aina held up the fruit and declared it kin. A pomegranate! How charming was that? This, he thought, must be what parenting is like--everything a mess, everything a giant disaster, a lamp in one's hand for no reason at all, but the smile on the child's face entirely worth it.
The fruit slipped from her hands and Cesc immediately called: "I'll get it!" and descended to the floor (the lamp still in his hand, why was he still carting it around?) He set the lamp on the floor, where it immediately began to float upward a little bit, the same as the chairs and table. At this point, with nothing priceless at stake, Cesc could not find it in himself to care. He made sure nothing was beneath the legs of the tables that could get hurt, he retrieved the pomegranate, and he turned a blind eye. They could float. Float away, guys. Float into the aether. Float the hell on.
"Here we go!" he said cheerily as he reemerged, this time sans-lamp. He cracked a little piece of light and cut a shallow slit into the pomegranate and split the fruit open, a few of its seeds rolling out and onto the table. He peeled a touch of it's beige film off the jewels and handed one half back to Aina. "Lunch! Yum."
Where was Duncan, he wondered? Still in prehistoric pottery? Assessing damage? Oh, man. He was going to get banned from this museum for sure.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2016 3:54 pm
Aina was close to tears as the pomegranate fell, but Rhedefre managed to save the day once again - smiling, wiggling in her seat, she watched as the stag retrieved the fruit off the floor. Gasping, she sat up in her seat at the small display of light that cut the pomegranate neatly in half. When Cesc offered her the piece, she took it gratefully into her hands.
"Thank you, Mister Raevan," she hummed, prodding at the arils once the film was removed. Her wings twitched as she thought; she could only vaguely remember what Duncan had called the stag earlier, and it frustrated her. "Aina," she recalled her own name, offering a ruby seed to Cesc, "Mister Raevan...? I forget your name..."
A few men passed by the office, curious, crowding around the glass door to see within; some looked grave, and others amused. One in particular donned spectacles and curious garb, almost sagelike, who opened the door just enough to poke his head in.
"Excuse me. Rhedefre, was it?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 7:56 pm
Cesc had barely managed to relax in his chair, watching Aina as she poked out the seeds of her pomegranate, a strange weariness settling over him as he did so. That tiredness--a weird, complete tiredness mixed with triumph--he believed must be what other people call 'parenting', and he suddenly had a greater, deeper respect for Duncan than he'd even had before.
"It's Rhedefre," said the stag. "But that's kinda tough on some people, so you can call me Cesc, if you want, Aina. And you don't have to say 'mister', if you don't want." He lifted a finger and gently booped her on the shoulder, smiling gently.
Into that quiet, the door opened, and a bespectacled man suddenly called his name.
Whelp. That was it. Museum jail awaited. (That was a thing, right?)
Cesc sat straighter in his chair. "Ah, yes," he said, rising. "How can I help you?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2016 1:15 pm
"Rhedefre," Aina mimicked, albeit slowly, smiling wide at the Sigel. Her expression fell to a curious frown as he explained, and the Frei glanced at the ground, chewing idly on a pomegranate seed. "Cesc? Two names? 'M Aina Sabine?" she asked; "Not mister?" she continued. A few weeks into the world and learning everybody's names was so confusing, but the Frei remained vigilant nonetheless.
The bespectacled man smiled calmly at the two Raevans, and quietly made his way through the office door. He shut it closed behind the other curious bystanders, then tidied his garb, adjusted his glasses, and primly held his hands behind his back.
However gently he acted, the new face frightened Aina some, and she shrunk in her seat as he approached.
"No need to stand, Rhedefre, no need to stand. Please, relax," the older man said, raising his hand. He cleared his breath, his expression solemn. "There is some good news, and some bad news. Which shall I start with?" he asked, eyes trained on the stag.
There was a hint of an amused smile and a glint of curiosity written on the wrinkles of his face; for as dire of a state the museum seemed to be in, he seemed to be in no rush at all.
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 8:02 pm
Rhedefre slowly sat back down in his chair, but his heart was pounding. More than the immediate horrible idea that they might put them in museum jail (not a thing), Cesc was suddenly overwhelmed by the possibility he might be held financially responsible for the loss of artifacts, which probably would be an astronomical number he couldn't even comprehend.
Please, relax, the man said, and Cesc tried to comply. His shoulders dropped, and he tried on a small half-smile that he hoped was reassuring for poor Aina. He cracked another part of the pomegranate and let the seeds fall onto her lunchbox, encouraging her to keep eating.
"Bad news first," he said. "Maybe the good news will soften it a little after, yeah?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 6:19 pm
Duncan had just managed to arrive to the office by the time the older gentleman had arrived to the scene. Winded and a tad overwhelmed, he watched through the glass as he pushed through the onlookers as politely as he could.
Aina didn't seem to notice, more focused on the stranger and Rhedefre, who sat uneasily near her. Still, she did as she was encouraged, eagerly taking another seed from the stag to chew on. The older man sighed, smiled, and sat in an office chair, thinking on the words.
"The bad news... well, I'm afraid to say, but you, Mr. Clarke, and dear Aina here have been banned from the museum. How long, though, I can't say," he chuckled, shaking his head, "But I hope it is not forever. You've made my day very interesting, Rhedefre. I would be sad to lose you."
"The good news," he continued, brightening, "Is that I've managed to save almost all of the artifacts that were broken. Isn't that delightful?"
"Excuse me," called Duncan, pushing past the office door. He managed a tired smile to Rhedefre, and to Aina, though the expression dropped considerably when addressing the gentleman. "I'd like to escort Rhedefre and Aina outside, Richard, if you could wait."
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 7:07 pm
Cesc fought valiantly to keep himself from looking as crestfallen as he felt when the bad news was expressed to him. Banned! He'd never been banned from anything in his life! He was shocked, although the more rational murmur in his brain that came on the next wave of emotion told him he really should have expected that much. Can't wreck a museum and expect to warmly be embraced back.
Ah, yes, Rhedefre! We have so many new things for you to break. Priceless works of art. Please step this way.
Yerp... not so much.
Cesc sighed, putting a hand over his mouth and then lifting it to his brow, and laughed an uneasy laugh as Richard continued. "I understand, of course," he said. "I'm so sorry the trouble and I'm glad it wasn't all a loss."
When Duncan came in, Rhedefre floated to his standing position, straightening his shirt, and smiling reassuringly down at Aina. "I'll go quietly, sheriff," he said to Duncan.
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Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 2:22 am
"Yes," Richard replied, clearly pleased with his own handiwork. Just as he was about to summon Rhedefre and Aina out of the museum himself, hopefully in an effort to sneak in a tour of his own impressive magic, he glanced back as Duncan entered the office. The glint of amusement in his eye seemed to fade, but he laughed nonetheless, resting back in his seat.
"Of course, Duncan." Richard waved his hand casually at the man. "I do have all the time in the world, after all."
"You're very kind." Duncan nodded courteously to the magician. Approaching the Raevans, he softened, and Aina blinked cluelessly at Cesc when he smiled at her.
"Go?" Aina aske. She had finished most of her lunch, but she was never very fond of the word go. It often meant leaving a place she liked too soon, and she flustered, her eyes glistening with tears.
"Yes, I'm afraid so, Aina," Duncan said, frankly. He lifted the Frei carefully into his arms, and he put a reassuring hand on Cesc's shoulder. "Rhedefre, you have nothing but my gratitude for everything that you've done. You mustn't feel poorly," he urged, letting go of his shoulder to retrieve Aina's lunchbox. "Is there anywhere I can drive you to? At the very least, a cafe, somewhere relaxing?"
"Don't wanna go," Aina piped up, sniffing sadly against Duncan's jacket.
Richard chuckled.
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Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2016 3:57 pm
Cesc rose and prepared himself to leave, hoping that he could manage to escape the glances of museum patrons that had seen the entire disaster unfold. His shoulder relaxed as Duncan put his hand upon it, and the Sigel smiled faintly.
"Thanks, really," he said. "And I'm alright--I'm walking distance from where I need to be, anyway. Let's hang out again another time, yeah? Some time maybe less... uh, exciting, yeah?" Rhedefre smiled and tipped his head to make sure Aina saw it.
"Your magic is super cool. Let's practice sometime outside or something, Miss Aina!"
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