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“Would you three make yourselves useful and carry something?” Cyn hissed, struggling up the buildings front walk with a multitude of shopping bags in one hand and a squalling infant balanced on the opposite hip. Several yards ahead of the frazzled woman, a trio of toddlers appeared unconcerned with their guardian’s demands; inexpressive eyes watching the ghoul as the struggled with her load. To them the scene was amusing, dissolving them into giggle fits as a plastic carry bag broke and scattered its contents upon the ground.

Half snarling, half growling, Cyn squatted awkwardly to retrieve the fallen good; the weight of Pyrrhus in her arms and the protrusion of her pregnant stomach causing her to over-balance and topple first to her knees and then onto her hands. This, of course, only caused the triplets to laugh harder.

“I swear you three aren’t eating for a week” the woman seethed, still sprawled upon the ground as she debated the best why to stand while still preserving her dignity.

David, who was just returning home, saw this scene through tired eyes, and lifted Indari higher into his arms, before jogging up to the five.
"Hey, miss. You alright? Can I help?" He offered.
Indari gave a little hiss at Cyn and began to chew on her own hand. She hadn't noticed the triplets yet. "Buuuuuuh..."

Cyn rolled her eyes beneath the veil of her ruddy blonde hair. “No I’m perfectly fine, I chose to drop the groceries and caress the ground” she replied bitterly, wondering why someone would even ask such a stupid question. “Take him” Cyn barked, shoving Pyrrhus toward the boy and returning to retrieving the fallen groceries with her freed hands.

Ruffling his crimson wings in a mix of annoyance and attention seeking, the brown-eyed boy regarded David and Indari with the restrained excitement of a performer greeting a new audience. Stringing together several babbled ‘words’, Pyrrhus greeted the pair with a subdued smile.

“Another one?” Marcus voiced curiously, pointing toward Indari from where they stood.

“Looks like” Viktor replied, crossing his arms over his chest as he moved toward David and his daughter. This one looked human, which was good; after all the triplets couldn’t very well goad a ‘freak’ child that was younger then themselves.

“Who are you?” Amelia asked as the trio stopped a safe distance from Cyn, words directed toward the man.

David gasped, a little taken aback at having a child thrust into his arms, but held the child anyway. What a rude woman... He mused to himself, observing Cyn through squinted eyes.
Indari eyed Pyrrhus haughtily, and attempted to squirm away from him. She didn't like the excitable-looking child. And wings? Pah, she hated wing-ed things...
"Buh." She voiced her distaste, glaring at the other child and crossing her arms. She furrowed her tiny brows and poked out her bottom lip.

Throwing the last of the shopping into one of the intact bags, having readjusted the uneven weight the incompetent clerk had distributed, Cyn awkwardly stood to her feet; hefting the carriers and her arms before continuing on toward the building.

“Carry him would you” she instructed over her shoulder, caring little for any objections David might voice.

Surprised by the girl’s reaction, but hardly about to be out-acted, Pyrrhus crossed his own arms, narrowed his eyes into a glare, furrowed his brow and pouted in return. “Mmph” the boy huffed angrily.

Clearing his throat to gain the man’s attention, Viktor voiced Amelia’s question in a louder, less polite tone – “Who are you?”. As their guardian began to work toward their apartment block, the triplets began toward slowly backwards in unison, eyes focused on David, his daughter and their brother.

David twisted his mouth downwards in distaste. He decided he didn't like the grumpy pregnant woman ordering him about, but he followed her anyway. He jumped a little, though, when the triplets burst into his bubble of thought.
"D-David..." He stuttered, avoiding the glares of the three. Creepy kids...
Indari growled at the boy. How dare he imitate her? "Ubabuu!" She blabbered at him, balling her tiny hands into fists.

Kicking at the doorframe with her shoed foot, Cyn scowled at the portly manager who waddled over and opened the door; offering him no thanks as she moved inside, and sparing no second glance to ensure that David was following. As far as the ghoul was concerned, he would be doing her a favour if he decided to run off with the monsters.

“Do you like here D-David?” Amelia asked, deliberately stuttering over his name in attempts to mock him.

“Why haven’t we seen you before?” Marcus chimed in, regarding the boy with dark eyes and crossed arms.

“Who is she?” Viktor demanded, pointing toward the growling baby.

Balling his own hands into fists and poking his tongue out toward Indari, directly defying her attempts to intimidate him, Pyrrhus’s expression returned to an annoyed glower.

David's frown deepened at the triplets. Nasty. "I've lived here four years, so yeah I guess...umm, I don't usualy go out and this is Indari." He managed to gasp out, shocking himsel by rememebering all three questions.
Indari didn't like this at all, not at all. Her expression crumpled into a red, upset one, and tears and screams threatened to explode from her any second.

“Where did she come from?” Viktor asked, knowing without question that Indari wasn’t David’s real child. She was like them, only they were better.

“Why don’t you go out?” Amelia enquired curiously, watching the boy expectantly.

“Are you afraid?” Marcus posed, smirking.

Holding his breath to force redness into his own cheeks, panting heavily and gasping for air a moment later; Pyrrhus contorted his lips into a sad frown, scrunching up his face to try and force tears from his own eyes. He would ultimately fail of course, thinking of their mimicry only a game and not something to become upset over.

David gulped. Scary, and demanding. "I found her...and I get tired real easy, and..." he struggled to recall the final question, "Yeah," He said unsurely, not really remembering what he'd been asked.
Indari gasped in horror. He was /imitating/ her! The nerve! "AAAGA!" She screeched, tears welling in her eyes.

“Why do you get tired so easily?” Amelia asked, continuing to move backward toward the door.

“Found her where?” Marcus added, watching Indari with a frown.

“Do we scare you?” Viktor sounded delighted as he posed the question, smiling darkly at David’s gulp.

“ARRGGHHA” Pyrrhus imitated with no less enthusiasm, reaching to prod Indari in the arm with his still fisted hands. The girl was certainly good at coming up with new things to copy, ensuring that the phoenix boy was thoroughly enjoying himself.

David shook his head. "One at a time, please!" He begged. It was getting too much, and he could feel the headache from Indari's earlier tantrum growing. "I found her on my bed, with a note, okay?"
Indari squirmed angrely. Stop it, stop it, STOP IT! She wanted to scream. Instead, she babbled loudly, swinging her fists at the boy.

In unison the triplets snorted in annoyance and disgust, unable to comprehend why he was remember and answer their questions without the need to repeat them.

“Do we scare you?” Viktor repeated, slower this time; ensuring each word was pronounced so that David would hear and understand this time around.

Shooting the man a glare, irritated that he hadn’t answered her, Amelia turned and opened the apartment door to which they had all but backed into.

“You had a note? We didn’t have a note” Marcus murmured aloud, shrugging as he moved inside.

As fists were swung in his direction, Pyrrhus blinked several times in surprise; sensing that pseudo punches weren’t meant in jest. Beating his wings angrily, creating a rapid breeze in the process, the boy growled and kicked toward the girl with his feet; actions baring the same malice as hers.

David looked a little offended at being spoken to in such a way, but nodded, if only to please the boy. "Y-yeah, a little..." He mumbled. "Hey, you two!" He cried out, realising why the babies had been making so much noise.
Indari screeched in anger at the retaliation, and beat at his legs as hard as she could.

Dumping the grocery bags haphazardly on the kitchen bunch, Cyn breathed a sigh of relief at the reprieve she was being given from the monsters that had invaded her home; the peaceful moment shattered as a piercing cry issued from downstairs. “What the ********?” the woman muttered irritably, slamming the door sharply as she headed back to the lobby.

Unimpressed with the lack of answer she received, Amelia huffed and headed inside; caring little about whether the door hit David on this way through.

Continuing to squawk and screech in equal volume with Indari, the winged infant leant forward and added his balled fists to the fray of kicking limbs. Chestnut eyes narrowed themselves into a glare of anger and annoyance; mind stuck on the notion of ‘she had started this, but he was going to finish it’.

Finally, in spite of his attempts to the contrary, Pyrrhus broke into a flurry of tears; Indari’s feet and hands impacting with the softer parts of his body. Echoing the girl’s screams, the boy continued to fight back; cries ending in a startled wail as Pyrrhus was seized and lifted sharply from behind.

“I don’t know if you aware of this” Cyn hissed condescendingly, “but they don’t understand s**t at this age, although I would have thought even the most moronic would know that – but I guess not”

Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, unable to believe that someone could be so ignorant, Cyn turned to head inside; catching a glimpse of the triplets at they headed toward the elevator. “Are you coming? Or are you happy to stand around looking like an idiot?” the woman posed, tapping her foot impatiently.

Now in his mother’s arms, Pyrrhus continued to sniffle; chestnut eyes casting glares in Indari’s direction.

David held Indari close and rocked her gently, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry...I didn't know what to do..." He shrugged and pet Indari's back gently, trying to get her to calm down.
Indari wasn't giving up. She screamed and screamed, tears pouring down her chubby little face.

“It’s not rocket science” Cyn retorted, releasing the door and heading down the corridor. Reaching the elevator just as the door hissed shut, sealing the amused triplets inside, the woman growled and slammed an open palm into the metallic doors. “******** monsters” she seethed, now doomed to spend several more minutes with the clueless male; even longer if the trio insisted on pressing every button on the display.

After a moment of extended silence, Cyn gruffly uttered – “Why are you raising a child? What are you, like twelve?”. With the continuation of Indari’s screams, the ghouls jaw tightened in withheld frustration. If the child didn’t shut her trap shortly of her own will, Cyn would do it for her.

Aware of his guardian’s predisposition toward crying, Pyrrhus continued to regard Indari with narrowed eyes. The girl was certainly a drama queen, but there was a limit on how far one should take it.

David huffed a little again, bundling Indari up and watching the elevator with only vague interest. Today had been far too long. A long day stretched out with a rolling pin, then pounded with a tenderiser.
"Fourteen," David mumbled, "And I didn't choose this...she just kind of...showed up."
Indari's wailed subsided into pituful whimpering, as though whispering in David's ear the torture she had endured at the hands of the pheonix boy.

“Sounds familiar” Cyn muttered darkly, narrowing her eyes and huffing to herself. The triplets had turned up under similar circumstances, and the woman was still struggling to cope with their arrival. With Indari’s wailing quietening, Cyn allowed her jaw to unclench; moving the muscle and bone in a slow circle to unstiffen them. “Fourteen” the ghoul uttered, sounding part way between disgust and suspicion, “why the ******** are you living here, not with your parents and s**t?”

Grunting, as if to express his loathing of Indari’s whimpering, Pyrrhus continued to glower toward the other infant. She had given as good as she had gotten, and the phoenix child wasn’t about to think otherwise.

David winced away a little.
The sensitive spot was hit, and the day went from long, to difficult.
"They...died." He whispered, hefting Indari higher into his arms. "A while ago...I've been living here alone since."
Sensing sensitivity, Indari quietened more and shufled closer to David. For comfort?

If David had been expecting Cyn to suddenly reveal a softer, gentler side at his revelation, then he was to be sorely mistaken. “And?” the woman questioned, quirking brow and shifting Pyrrhus to her other hip. “Oh wait, let me guess, you’re one of those people who cared about their parents or had their parents care about them – right?” Cyn continued, scoffing as if the notion were ludicrous.

Ignoring Indari and her rapidly changing emotions, Pyrrhus clung loosely to his mother’s clothing; the child silently wondering when they would be rid of the drama queen infant.

David nodded a little, eyes shimmering. He wasn't going to cry, not now. He'd shed as many tears as he had to spare for his parents already.
"Yeah, kinda," He mumbled, looking away.
Indari gurgled sympatheticly and pawed at David with her tiny fingers.

“Yeah kinda? Cryptic much?” Cyn mumbled angrily, squaring her shoulders and stomping into the elevator as it returned to the ground floor. The triplets were no where in site, although the ghoul hadn’t suspected they would be. Pressing the button for the third floor, Cyn idly held to door and shot David an impatient look; one that said if he were coming, he should best hurry up.

“You’re not going to cry are you?” Cyn asked with disgust, narrowing her eyes at the boy. She didn’t do crying, never had and never would.

David shook his head and wiped his eyes, jogging up to the elevator, Indari bouncing in his arms. "Do they do this often?" He asked, looking at Indari as though hoping she wouldn't be the same.
Indari stuffed a fist into her mouth and closed her eyes, pleased with herself.

Cyn shook her head, allowing the doors to close and waiting for David to choose his floor. “Their usually worse” the woman grumbled in response, curling her upper lip at the words, “much, much worse”. Despite the manner in which her words were delivered, there was little doubt that the ghoul wasn’t exaggerating; and in time David would probably come to realise that for himself.

Smirking as she noticed the look that teenager directed toward Indari, Cyn drawled amusedly – “Judging from her earlier ‘episode’, I expect you’re going to have some issues with her”

David hefted Indari higher into his arms, a look of worry coming across his face.
Indari whined grumpily and curled into him further. Tired. Now. Home, NOW! "Maaaaah..."
David reached out a pale, weak hand, and punched in the top floor, dropping his hand to his side and shutting his eyes at the exertion.

The lift whirred into noisy motion, drawing itself slowly upward until it reached its first stop – the third floor. Without sparing David a backward glance Cyn vacated the tiny compartment, finding herself relieved to rid of the boys presence. “Good luck with that monster” the woman offered over her shoulder, a smirk upon her lips. Without another word she headed down the hall and back to her apartment.

tap. tap. tap. tap.

David boredly flicked at the cord on the curtain, causing it to swing like a tiny pendulum, and strike against the window. David heaved his shoulders in the sigh to end all sighs, and blinked his tired eyelids.

"There's someone at the door, daddy." Came the quiet whisper of Indari's voice at his ear. By the time David had turned, she was already gone, and he could hear the door being opened, and some very loud voices entering the room.

"David, David! Where art thou?" One of the voices called theatricly, and was followed by a rain of laughter.

David smiled to himself a little, and dragged himself to his feet, peering out into the loungeroom. There he saw three boys, the source of the laughter. All of them had just as much black and leather as David, and all were just as pale.

"There he is!" The shortest of the boys, waved and beckoned to David excitedly, "Check it out, your sister likes hardcore!"

David looked confused for a moment, "Sister?" He asked, walking up to the group. His eyes fell upon Indari. She was sitting in the middle of the group of boys, headphones on, and clapping her hands excitedly.

She liked the angry music, she sure did! "Daddy!" She called over the ruckus that was being pumped into her ears, her voice echoing around the, admitedly quiet, room. "They bought me a music box!"

"Daddy?" Asked the boy who had called out earlier, Josh, "Is there something you're not telling us, David?" He laughed a little, but it was a nervous laugh. One that said, Oh, GOD don't let it be true...

David shook his head. "No, no! It's nothing like that! She just kind of...showed up. She's not mine in that way, swear!"

Indari looked up, grinning happily as screaming, growling lyrics and distorted guitar was pumped into her ears. She watched her adoptive father's mouth moving, but heard no words as he explained to his trio of bandmates what had happened.

He explained the note, the other two people, Indari growing suddenly...the whole kaboozle. And Indari didn't hear a word of it.

"Daddy!" She shouted over the ruckus, "Will your friends play music for me all the time?"

David put a finger to his chin, then nodded, slowley, unsurely, but then finally, "Yeah. Dudes, our band practices here from now on."

The three boys, Josh, Kendal and Jacky all gave simultanious, wide grins.

"Heck yes!"

And Indari didn't hear a word of it over the music.

And she saw David nod. Saw the smiles.

And Indari was pleased.

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