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 Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:01 pm
It was cold, very, very cold, and while Lucien seemed to mind less, Grace had taken to desperately rubbing her hands together in an unsuccessful attempt at fractional warmth. Quickly abandoning the task with an irritated sigh, Grace shifted her gaze to the small boy sitting cross-legged in front of a frozen pond... with a hint of blue crowding his fingertips. With an annoyed tut, Grace moved from the bench and crouched down in front of the boy, pulling a pair of red gloves from her coat pocket.
"Ya know, this communication thing is gonna have to improve," she said, forcing his hands into the woolen fabric. "You have to tell me when you're cold, 'cause I'm not always gonna to be here to check if you're turning a brilliant shade of blueberry."
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:20 pm
"It amuses me to no end that you really don't like the cold weather, but you really don't like being bundled up either."
Rit had a snug jacket on as she leaned over her shoulder to speak to the clearly grousing figure in the baby carrier on her back, noting with a sly grin how he seemed to be enjoying and hating this all at the same time. This little infant, Vox, seemed to be a complex character, and while he was fun to tease Rit was starting to feel like she didn't know how to properly do this.
I mean, how does one really take care of a cabbage baby?!
Rit was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't see where she was going until her knee came into full and proper contact with the concrete garbage can, a loud and painful encounter, and she swore loudly as her body moved to try and snub the pain.
"Don't you dare laugh Vox! It's not funny!"
But she couldn't hide the little snickers from the bundle on her back.
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:51 pm
At the sound of the impact, two things happened simultaneously; one, Grace jerked backwards, sprawling across the cold ground, and two, Lucien giggled and hauled himself onto her stomach. Wheezing in pain (and suffocation, just a bit), Grace grasped Lucien by the arms and shoved him aside with a grunt. She pushed herself awkwardly into an upright position and looked resentfully to the cause of the sound, mouth curling into a scowl.
Lucien, undeterred, sprinted towards the mother and child with flailing arms and a ear-splitting grin.
"Hi! My name is Lucien," he greeted, grinning at Rit and pushing himself up on his toes.
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:04 pm
Rit looked down at the sudden voice that called out to her, having at first looked up like she expected someone her height, and for a moment her face was blank before she smiled.
"Oh, well hello there Lucien. My name is Rit, it's nice to meet you."
The figure on her back grunted and kicked her slightly with a booted foot. It stung and she swore in her mind, but she tried to keep pleasant now in front of a child. Instead she merely reached back and pinched his leg a little bit, making him squeal softly with a little bit of protest.
"And this unhappysack on my back is called Vox. Would you like to see him too?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:10 pm
Cursing and grumbling, Grace stood and steadied herself with a tug of her left ear. When equilibrium was restored, she stalked back to the park bench, waved a dismissive hand at the boy, and sat. Lucien, who was watching her too-hopeful eyes, grinned at her gesture and looked back over at Rit, rocking backwards and forwards on his heels. Thoroughly intrigued by the grunts and squeals, he attempted to peer over Rit's shoulder.
"Hello Rit," he said, tilting his head to the left, then the right. "Yes, please."
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:20 pm
"Okay then, here you go."
Rit smiled politely and lowered the baby bjorn off her back, making sure to be careful that she didn't just drop Vox. Apparently being dropped wasn't good for babies, regardless of what they were, so she was better this time around.
"This is Vox. Vox, this little one here is named Lucien. Play nice if you want and remember - no biting. I mean it, there will be punishment."
Vox scowled at the warning but nodded his head anyway, moving slightly to get used to the clothing he was wearing to try and keep warm. Galley had dressed him like a puffball that morning and he clearly did not approve.
". . . hello there."
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:45 pm
Lucien smiled at Rit and whispered a thank you. Turning his to Vox, Lucien blinked twitchily, obviously amused by the boy's winter attire but not really wanting to embarrass him by laughing. Instead, he looped his scarf around his neck once, twice, three times until he had the scarf wrapped so many times around his neck that it greatly resembled a Elizabethan collar.
Satisfied that he had produced a similarly ridiculous appearance, Lucien peered obtrusively into the other boy's face.
"Hi Vox," he said, louder that was necessary. "You have really cool eyes."
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 6:28 pm
"My eyes? Thank you. You are..."
Vox leaned closer to the boy who speaking to him, his nose moving slightly as if he were sniffing the air or the clothing of the other child. It was uncertain, but rather comical since Vox looked like he was trying hard, and it continued for a moment before he went back to speaking.
"You have neat eyes too. They're different colors."
Again he leaned, though this time just a little bit closer. There were no other boys in Rit's home, at least none that he could get close to, so the little child was taking advantage of this while his 'mother' was looking at the injury to her leg.
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:29 am
Lucien watched as the boy leant in and... was he sniffing him? Lucien craned his head and frowned, confused.
But Vox had complimented him! He was making a new friend!
"Thank you," Lucien said, forgetting any weirdness. "Sometimes I forget that they're different. Most of the people I meet are really cool. Like you; my eyes are definitely not as cool as you and your eyes."
Lucien scooted forward, vaguely aware that Vox was still doing... whatever he was doing. "Does that help?" Lucien asked, pulling at his scarf. "You know, sniffing the air."
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 6:35 pm
"Help with what?"
Vox looked at Lucien like he was daft in the head, the younger child leaning closer until he were only a few inches away from Lucien's face. Personal space seemed to mean absolutely nothing to him at all, not that he would have obeyed any should it actually do, and he sniffed again before the sound of something hitting the ground echoed in the air.
It was a water droplet, but from where there was no clue. It had hit the ground with a splash, the sound quickly making Rit turn her head to look at the little boys talking to one another.
"Hey...can I see your hand?"
The question was innocent enough, but it made Rit's face pale.
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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:27 am
"Help with... never mind."
Lucien sat quietly as Vox leaned towards him, unsure of what to say and feeling a little awkward. It wasn't that Vox was invading his personal space--well, he was, but Lucien was all for space-invading--it was just that he he didn't have any idea what Vox was doing. He was looking at him, really, really looking at him, but why? He wasn't that interesting, and he didn't have anything cooler than swirly irises. Did he have something on his face? Did Vox think he was pretty?
Lost in his own little world, Lucien only half-heard Vox's question.
"Huh?" He asked, then, not wanting to appear rude (and having heard see and hand), added, "oh, yeah, okay," and threw out his hand, hoping that was what Vox had asked.
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:05 pm
"Thank you. It helps."
Vox was about to reach his hand out when Rit's voice came as a sharp cry over the two small children, and her massive hand descended down just in time as Vox opened his mouth to bite at the fingers that had been presented to him.
"...guh!"
Right away the small child coiled back and hissed as he spit out the blood that had come from the bite he'd kindly presented to his caretaker. It was dark red, fresh, and it colored the snow around him like someone had squeezed a doughnut full of jelly out.
"Dammit Vox! Lucien, are you alright? Did he get you?"
Rit's voice was deep and calm as she spoke, her left hand holding slightly above her right wrist. An angry chunk of flesh was missing from her palm, just about the size of a small mouth's bite, and it oozed blood into the cold air at a frightfully slow pace. The woman looked both furious and fearful as she glanced between the two boys and over to the woman on the bench, her frown mainly directed at the young child who was licking his fingers as if he were trying to get a bad taste out of his mouth.
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:53 pm
Lucien blinked four times (one-two-three-four) in an attempt to process what had just happened. It wasn't until his gaze dropped to Rit's wrist that realization dawned and his mouth fell open in horror. Lucien scrambled backwards, whimpering both at the freezing cold against his hands and the red spattering the snow.
"You," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You were going to bite me!" He took another step backwards, then another. "That's a horrible thing to do! I was-- I was being nice to you!"
Grace, who would ordinarily at this stage have swept Lucien into her arms and started in on a rant about poor parenting and child rearing, was resting her head on her shoulder and snoring.
Lucien looked up at Rit, his mouth pulled down in a sad frown. "I'm okay, and-- and no, he didn't."
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 12:01 am
"I feel the need to apologize for his behavior; this being the reason why he's strapped to my back and never let down."
The bleeding was slowly stopping, the wound thankfully not deep at all, and Rit glared over at her little charge who merely continued to lick at his fingers. While he had disliked the taste of her blood at first she figured he assumed it was better than nothing, flesh and all, so he was going to take what he could get.
"Have you ever heard of a beast called a Kelpie? You may or may not have, since they're only considered to be legend and only seem to dwell around the island of Scotland. The legends, however, come from around the world and take on many, many forms; Kelpie just happens to be the best well known."
If this child knew what a Kelpie was (she seriously doubted it) it would make explaining all of this much, much easier.
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 12:28 am
Lucien nodded suddenly, bringing his hands together.
"I remember reading about them in one of my books," he began, unclasping his hands and waving them for greater emphasis. "I read a lot, and I have a book about creatures based on fairy tales and my- myphs and legends. I remember reading about Kelpies and what they do and how they.. eat people." He glanced over at Vox and took a breath before mumbling a sudden pained, unintelligible word in the back of his throat. Momentarily distracted, he glanced down at his hand and stared at the bleeding graze he had obtained from scrambling back just moments before. Groaning in pain at his realization, Lucien looked over at the pair and cradled his hand in his arms.
"So, so Vox is a sort of Kelpie, right?" Lucien asked, nodding his head to the other boy. "Um, if he promises not to, you know, eat my hand or anything, maybe he could- I don't know, clean it up? I think I hurt it before and I'd do it myself but it'd taste bad because I'm not a Kelpie or a Vampire or an anything. Plus he seems to like it." He glanced over to Rit, his eyes resting on her wrist before hesitantly moving back to the boy who was cleaning her blood from his hand. He knew it probably sounded odd, offering for someone to drink his blood, but he reasoned that Rit would more than likely refuse in disgust and punt him or, well, he hadn't thought that far ahead. Besides, even if she didn't stop him (which was highly unlikely), if he didn't get injured or mauled or eaten, it'd be fine, right?
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