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 Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 5:38 pm
It was a cool, blustery day. The kind that sends the leaves scattering and moves the clouds across the sky: a crisp autumn day, and here Rail was, practically beside himself.
They had tried everything. Every time they called a bureau, an agency, someone about a lost baby - it was as if all the people on the end of the line were drugged. They would answer in these sort of sleepy, yet stern voices, that they were sure there was no problem, no, the baby wasn't lost; the baby was right where it should be, with him.
Rail was beginning to think it was some kind of conspiracy. He had already sunk deeply into paranoia: why did everyone they call answer the same way?! Was it some kind of spell?! That was impossible! And yet it was happening, just like the baby being thrust into his arms by that person...which, for some reason, Rail couldn't see clearly in his mind. It was as if that masked figure had simply bled into the night; Rail couldn't even remember if he had seen his face or not. But it had definitely been a he.
It had been pandemonium for about a week. Dierk had swung between disbelief and fury, Tris had simply taken care of the thing, Rail had pounded his face on the kitchen table repeatedly. At first the question had been raised whether it was actually Rail's baby or not; "Rail, what if this is the kid of a hooker you banged, or something?"
"OKAY, FIRST OF ALL?" Rail had roared, causing the baby to cry. "I DON'T JUST BANG HOOKERS. UNLIKE YOU, DIERK."
"Maybe you were too drunk --"
"YOU --"
They had tried a blood test, to clear it up. Negative, everything. Rail had crowed in triumph...except that the baby still wasn't going anywhere, and nobody would take her; everybody answered as if their minds were sliding away from some truth...and the baby was still there.
Concert appearances had been slashed. They had holed up in the house. The baby cried whenever Rail wasn't there, which was all the more infuriating for Rail. Tris, in her infinite wisdom, actually took care of the baby. She reminded Rail and Dierk that she had cared for her siblings when they were little; that was great and all, but THE BABY WAS STILL THERE.
Rail had even put up "FOUND: BABY" posters all over Durem, in hopes of getting around the bureaus that did absolutely nothing. Strangely, they all seemed to disappear...
Exhausted, paranoid, and shaken, Rail was a withdrawn unseeing wreck by the time he arrived at the farm near Barton. It had been Tris' idea; take the kid out somewhere, since they'd all been in the house trying to figure out wtf to do with the thing. Dierk had politely refused to go, being smart. Rail had no choice. The baby wailed and cried when he wasn't there, so he was going.
If it wasn't for Tris, the baby probably would have been in dire need of the necessities of life: because Rail was definitely too twitchy, too paranoid, too off to even think about feeding himself.
He had a black hoodie on, the hood thrown up over his messy black hair and stubby horns. Tris walked next to him, the baby on her shoulder with a small handtowel to stop any accidents. Rail had on a ridiculous looking front set of straps, for the baby. He just refused to put the thing in there, so Tris carried her.
The baby didn't have a name yet. They just called her The Baby.
"So, so we're here??" Rail asked, still twitching slightly; his words tended to run together at the moment.
"Yes," Tris said, without emotion. She was patting the baby's back and walking with her, looking around.
"W...Why'd we have to come here, a-anyway??" Rail asked, his eyes darting around. He dug his hands deeper into the hoodie pocket.
"Because we and The Baby need to get out of the house," Tris said, turning to him and patting the baby's back some more. Rail wanted to throw up a little seeing The Baby on Tris's shoulder like that: IT WASN'T RIGHT. THEY WEREN'T ********> or ASPIRING ADULTS (WITH REGARDS TO MAKING A FAMILY). They were a band! They had THINGS TO DO, and now...now...n-now this damn baby...
The Baby was gazing around, staring at things with her bright blue eyes. She had her hand curled up into a fist and it was about halfway in her mouth.
"We're going to get out and do something with The Baby at the same time," Tris said logically, continuing to walk forward from the parking lot. Rail followed, his cloven hooves dragging across the grass. He didn't want to be here. There were lots of other families, too - <******** WE'RE NOT A FAMILY. DAMMIT. He shivered under his hoodie.
He'd call the bureau again tonight...yeah...yeah, that was it...
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Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 6:51 pm
Since it was a nice enough autumn day, the Torrens had decided to go out on a family outing. Or rather, Nikomas and Aqua had decided, and so Nanaki was automatically brought along, and Blackfell just so happened to be lucky enough to get snagged before the raven could sneak out and take off.
And so, they four were all piled into the old minivan Nikomas had purchased years ago, the angel in the front seat behind the wheel with her wings settled comfortably behind her in the custom made seat. Blackfell was in shotgun, and Aqua was behind them with Nanaki next to her in a baby car seat.
"Mama, where're we goin'?" The little elemental asked curiosuly, sitting up on her knees to press her face against the window, watching trees go by on the country road, her teal hair falling behind her in endless curls.
"A farm, called Redwood Stables. They have wagon rides, pumpkin picking, and I think there might even be a small pen with animals you can play with. And sit down, Aqua, there are ruts and if you're not sitting you'll probably hit your head on the roof." The girl obligingly sat down, reaching over to tickle Nanaki on his belly, who immediately started giggling and waving his hands towards his sister.
"Naah, Aka, staaah!" He whined, making a pouty face, his little ears drooped.
At this point Blackfell finally spoke up, having been staring silently out the window. "Aqua, c'mon, leave Nana alne. We don't want anything catching on fire now, do we?"
"But I could just put it out, so whys it matter?" She asked brightly, sitting back in her seat with her hands on the seat next to her knees, her legs swinging under the chair.
"Because fire in a car will make it explode, dear." Nikomas said as she finally saw the sign for the farm, pulling into the driveway and the small field that had several cars parked there already. She pulled into an empty spot, putting the van into park while everyone piled out, Blackfell holding onto Nanaki since Aqua was too ADD to be trusted with the toddler.
"Right then." The angel looked around, her hands on her hips before she took Nanaki from Blackfell, balancing him comfortably on her hip, his small tail dangling down. "Blackfell, do you and Aqua wanna take a look around? I'm sure they have alot of stuff you guys can do. We'll find you later. I'm just gonna wander with Nana." She said, a smile coming to her face at Blackfell's expression. Which was slightly mournful.
"Erh, sure, Ma." Blackfell said, squatting down to let Aqua clamber onto his back, his face showing the words Why is she stuck with me? with a critical raised eyebrow. Niko merely smiled, raising an eyebrow in return and giving him a little wave.
"I'll catch up later, loves." With that, she turned around, heading towards the farm while she could hear Aqua asking loudly about the petting pen.
"Pet?" Nanaki asked, gold eyes looking at his mother with a curious look. The pair walked around aimlessly, the angel looking for something toddler appropriate, and the lion-child looking at everything in general.
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Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:03 pm
"We should get on the hay ride," Tris said to Rail, her long, straight black hair blowing slightly in her face. "It goes to the pumpkins and apples."
"S...Sure, whatever," Rail said. He avoided looking up at Tris, because then he had to look at The Baby, which was the source of all his current frustration. Irritated at the very thought, he yanked off the harness hanging from his front that the baby was supposed to be nestled in. He didn't WANT to have the dumb thing hanging from his chest, like a dead weight.
Extremely uncomfortable and resentful of The Baby, he cast a dark eye around at the growing crowd. They were all gathered in the grass, mostly sitting or standing around waiting.
"We need to buy a ticket for each of us," Tris said flatly, nodding at the sign near the gathering.
"F-Fine, whatever," Rail said, a bit more hotly. "I'll get the damn tickets..."
He shuffled off, approaching the farmer and handing him a few crisp bills. In return he was given some plain ticket stubs, like on a boardwalk ride. YEAH, GREAT, 3 BUCKS A PIECE FOR THIS STUPID THING, he hissed mentally. Although The Baby was free because she was under seven. GREAT!
He turned around and marched back to Tris, who was looking tired with The Baby on her shoulder.
The Baby, for her part, was just looking around with her big eyes and sucking on the half of her hand in her mouth.
Rail resisted the urge to wrench her off Tris's shoulder and chuck her into the lake, which he could see on the farm's property from here. G...g...god...DAMMIT. He shoved the ticket stubs into Tris's hand. "Here."
"Hold them, if you're not going to hold The Baby," Tris said bluntly.
"Everyone is going to think you're her goddamn mother," Rail said through his teeth, standing next to her and glaring around.
"Whatever," Tris replied, though she said this under her breath so that the others around wouldn't hear. "We can't have it die."
"You're not a mother," Rail hissed, digging his fingers into the grass as he sat down with Tris. "And I'm not her freakin' father!"
"They'll think you're my son before they think that," Tris said waspishly, sounding annoyed now.
Rail wanted to stand up on his hooves and scream at the top of his lungs to all the people sitting around them: THIS ISN'T OUR KID!!! He didn't know why, but the thought of people thinking it was made him want to puke and rip his hair out at the same time.
THEY WERE A BAND. THEY HAD THINGS TO DO.
...THINGS THAT DIDN'T INCLUDE BABIES.
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Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:47 am
The angel was simply meandering around, pointing out various things for Nanaki to draw his attention to, hopefully encouraging the "learning experience" in addition to the amusement factor for the boy. The whole talking thing. Right.
Well, he was at least starting to make attempts at sentences, so Nikomas really couldn't complain. It was while she was pointing at the barn, repeating the name for it several times to Nanaki's reply of "Bahn, bahn!", that she heard mention of a hay ride. Turning towards the two speaking, she saw a faun and a human woman arguing.
Or rather, the faun looked like he was about to throw something, while the woman looked calm and controlled. Shrugging to herself, she re-hoisted Nanaki in her arms, putting his little hands around her neck, and approached the pair.
"Erm, excuse me, did I hear you mention a hay ride?" The angel asked politely, giving the small blue eyed baby a smile and a tiny wave.
Nanaki's attention was immediately on the baby, and he started leaning forward out of Nikomas's arms, though his chubby arms were still around her neck, to peer in interest at the other child. "Naah?"
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