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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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 Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:26 pm
For several days, Serenity had been looking forward to the weekend. Every day she had checked her email faithfully, holding her breath and crossing her fingers that nothing would come up on Gaunt's end that would have to postpone their meeting in the park. And so when Saturday dawned bright and cheery, she was beyond happy - she was just as excited as Ian was.
It hadn't taken any convincing to get the Surprise to get ready for their day out, and together the two of them had prepared snacks and sandwiches and flasks of drinks and put them into Serenity's runed bag. She had also made sure to bring canvases of several different sizes, paints and water, brushes, and - of course - her collection of face paint.
They were beyond early for their meeting with Gaunt and the Prince: it was barely past 10:30 when they arrived at the park. Together the two of them decided that while they were waiting, Serenity would paint her first picture - the entrance, and the park itself, with all of its lush grass and beautiful trees, and the stream that went through one part of it.
Ian kept fidgeting while Serenity painted, and as fast as she was he grew bored waiting so impatiently for their friends.
"Mom, what time is it now?" he kept asking, every two minutes, until finally Serenity had replied, "They're not going to come any faster if you keep asking."
So he gave up.
Instead he amused himself by seeing if he could sneak into her bag for some of the snacks she had brought - though she caught him every time and eventually had to confiscate her bag. Finally, he just lay on his belly and stared at the park entrance, chin in his hands, feet in the air, watching and waiting for their friends to appear.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:53 pm
Indeed, it was difficult to wait for Saturday to come around. While he didn't have much reason to email her, he wasn't exactly a stranger. Maybe little notes, wishing her a good day, or if something memorable happened to share the story.
Gaunt had done some grocery shopping of his own. One of the local supermarkets had some sushi, and he bought a couple of packs of california rolls, 16 pieces in total, as well as some juices.
Gaunt was also a stickler for time. He hated being late, with a passion. So while their time was for noon sharp, it was around 11:45 by the time he was showing up. Of course, he had his handy-dandy vase with him since Prince was still pretty reliant on it. Gaunt reaches up and takes Prince in his hand when he saw the pair and set him on the ground. The little Second pumped his arms and legs as he sprinted, as well as a Surprise could, toward the two. "IAAAAANNNN! SEEERREENNIIITTTYYY!"
Gaunt chuckles as he approaches a few moments later, casually raising his free hand in greeting. "Hey there." He moves behind Serenity and peers down at her work. "Hooooh. That's pretty good."
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:00 pm
The second Ian spotted the Prince and Gaunt approaching, he hopped to his feet and zipped towards them, also shouting in glee, "PRINCE!! GAUNT!!"
And then he pounced on the Prince, knocking them both to the ground in a pile of arms and legs, squealing with laughter.
Serenity giggled and waved back at Gaunt. "Thank you," she smiled warmly at him. "We got here very early, so I thought I might as well make use of the time."
It hadn't taken her long to do the painting itself, but with the extra time she had added extra details and flairs that weren't really there in real life, adding a sundial in the clouds that was barely visible with the shadow resting on noon exactly. But now that the others were there, she started packing her paints away so that they could go off and do whatever they wanted.
"So what first?" she asked with a bright smile. "Picnic and then play? Or play and then picnic? Since a picnic might give us full bellies and then we might want to rest first."
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:13 pm
Indeed, did the two tumble. Prince laughed as he play-wrestled with Ian, more or less fighting for who comes out on top.
Gaunt smiles warmly as he sinks down to the ground, making himself comfortable in the grasses as he looked over the painting with a little more of a close inspection. He chuckles lightly and he shrugs slowly. "Why were you here so early? Did you actually want to sit here and paint, or were you just too anxious to meet with me again and got bored?" He grins a little teasingly at her and he chuckles. "And I think we should play first. If we get full bellies and then start running around and having fun, we might get cramps."
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:26 pm
Ian squealed and tried to pin the Prince down, but despite his age he was not strong - too long suffering from starvation, and not enough time since then to fully heal from it.
Serenity blushed at Gaunt's teasing, and she couldn't bring herself to tell him that he had been right, that she had indeed been very anxious to come and meet him here. Instead of answering his question, she picked up her bag and put it over her shoulder, then picked up her canvas, careful not to touch the wet paint.
"Then play it is," she agreed, her face still slightly red. "I've seen Ian with cramps before ... he has a tendency to do everything he does to the fullest ... so him eating and then playing usually ends up with him getting sick."
She giggled softly and fidgeted with the necklace she had chosen to wear that day, a copper Egyptian cartouche with her name on it. "Where first then? I don't know much about this park, but I did see some swings and a see-saw and slides and such ..."
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:56 pm
Prince, not being fully aware of Ian's weakness, likely came out on top. He just grinned down at Ian and gave him a big hug. "How have you been, Ian?" He climbs off and helps Ian to his feet. At the mention of play, of course, Prince was all ears and ran toward the equipment. The equipment was indeed what she said. See-saws, slides, some cute animals resting on a spring for bouncy fun. Swings. Merry-Go-round. A set of large wooden blocks, oh 15 feet high for climbing.
Gaunt chuckles as he gets up as well. "Mmn. So have I, with Prince. It's not fun. Good thing the dorm floors are tile so it's relatively easy to clean up. Though I don't really have the stomach for such things. When I see someone losing their stomach, I'm usually am going to wind up right next to them doing the same thing."
He strolls casually toward the equipment. He glances toward her, taking in how she was dressed, how she looked. The cartouche was an interesting thing to look at. Though, himself, he wasn't decked out. He was wearing a beige polo tee and khakis. He apparently wasn't one for jewelry, no rings, no necklaces, no piercings.
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:11 pm
Ian grinned at Prince and climbed to his feet with his friend's help.
"I'm good," he said brightly, taking off after him towards the playground. He was slow as well, also a result of his near-starvation, but that didn't bother him one bit. He knew that someone was always going to be faster than someone else, or stronger, or smarter - he took it in stride and simply hoped that he could someday make himself even better.
"Let's go on the twirly thing!" he called to Prince, pointing at the merry-go-round. "I bet Mom and Gaunt can get it going real fast!"
Serenity looked sympathetic. "Poor you ... I don't enjoy cleaning up after someone is sick, but it doesn't particularly bother me. My sister, Skye, she can't stand the sight of sickness ... but she's strong in other areas, with her living with Ian and myself, we manage fine."
She wondered where the boys were headed when they ran off so suddenly, and when she saw what they were headed for she glanced curiously at Gaunt.
"What's that?" she asked him. "I've never seen anything like it before ..."
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:39 pm
Prince nodded and he smiles happily as he clamors up onto the merry go round and holds on to the bar. "Yeah! Lets go really fast! C'mon Gaunt! Hurry up and get over here so you can start spinning this thing!"
Gaunt chuckles and he shrugs. "What can I say? I have a weak stomach when it comes to sickness as well as blood. I just can't stand them." He nods and he smiles softly. "Though as long as I can continue to sneak back food from the cafeteria, we'll be fine too. I'm not supposed to leave with anything besides a piece of fruit or a bagel, but if I wear something with big enough pockets, I can wrap a sandwich in napkins and sneak out with it."
He chuckles softly as he approaches the merry-go-round. "This is a Merry-go-round. It's something that spins as fast as you want it to. See, watch." He grasps the corner of a rod as it dives down toward the edge of the merry go ground. He jogs a full circle while holding on to that pole, to get it started, before he gives it a few full-armed slaps to give it a little more speed. He could get it a lot faster, but unless the Seconds wanted more of it, he'd let it be like this for now.
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:02 pm
Ian squealed and held on as tightly as he could with both arms and both legs wrapped around the bar.
"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he shouted as he spun around in circles. "Faster, Gaunt, faster!" He laughed and looked at Prince.
Serenity watched Gaunt and the boys, still smiling, though her eyes were filled with thought and a little bit of sadness. It had to be hard for Gaunt, to have so much difficulty taking care of Prince ... it almost sounded as if he wasn't allowed to have anyone living with him in his dorm. She couldn't help but wonder if there might be something - anything - that she could do to help them out. Somehow ...
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:10 pm
"Yeaaaaahh! Gaunt! Faster! We wanna go faster!" Shouted the laughing Prince as he and Ian were spun about in circles on the merry go round. Gaunt laughs to himself as he spun the merry-go-round harder, making it go faster still. He was unaware, since he was laughing as well and paying attention to the two Seconds, that Serenity was having misgivings about his living situation. As far as he knew, everything was fine.
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:13 pm
The wind was burning Ian's eyes, and he had to close them, though he was still laughing loudly and holding on with all of his strength.
"Faster, Gaunt!" he cheered again, little realizing how fast they were already going by now. He was starting to sweat a little from holding on so tightly, and he didn't realize that his fingers were beginning to slip ...
Serenity just smiled. They were going too fast for her to see anything but a blur, and it sounded as if they were having the time of their lives.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:17 pm
"Yeah! Faster!" Echoed Prince. But they didn't get what they wanted. Gaunt laughs softly and he shakes his head. "You two are going fast enough. I don't need either of you flying off, or getting sick. We're here to have fun, not to get you two hurt." He stands back with Serenity, the low friction on the spinning point making the speed slowly decrease, so there was probably still a good minute of fun to be had before it would slow down enough for them to jump off. Of course, they would be so dizzy that they might just fall over the moment they did jump off. He offers Serenity a soft smile and he stood close to her. "It sounds like Ian's having a lot of fun. I hope I can find a way to help you have a lot of fun today too."
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:54 pm
"Aww," Ian pouted. "I wanna keep going!"
But then his hands slipped and he tumbled backwards off the merry-go-round, doing backwards somersaults until he finally came to rest flat on the ground, arms and legs sprawled outwards, his tiny chest heaving, head spinning in slow circles.
Serenity was about to reply to Gaunt when Ian took his tumble, and she dropped her painting, both hands flying to her mouth, eyes wide in shock. "IAN!"
She started running over to him and knelt beside him, her face filled with worry. "Are you all right?" she gasped.
"Whoa...." Ian breathed, a slow grin spreading over his face. "That ... was ... so ... COOL!"
He climbed dizzily to his feet and charged past his mom, staggering in a zig zag back towards the merry-go-round. "Let's do it again!"
Serenity felt light-headed as relief washed over her, and she smiled and slowly rose to her feet once more. She turned to Gaunt, her face pale. "He's all right," she smiled wanly. "I should have known better ... he's not very strong ... Ian isn't ... but he's hardy. He's a survivor." She laughed softly.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 8:04 pm
Gaunt gasped softly when Ian went flying off. He ran to his side as well and knelt down, but he seemed a little bewildered as well as relieved when Ian popped back up to his feet. He breathed out a slow sigh of relief but he didn't seem as relieved as she did. He looked beside himself in guilt. "Oh, God, Serenity. I'm so sorry." He looked at her with wide eyes, his face as white as a ghost. "If.. if I.. hadn't done it so fast.. that probably wouldn't have happened.. it's my fault.. I almost got him killed.. I'm so so sorry.."
"HEYYY! What's the hold up, Gaunt? We wanna go fast again!" Shouted the Prince, as the merry-go-round slowed further.
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Elnara Aldrich Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 8:15 pm
Serenity's eyes grew soft, and she reached over and put a hand on Gaunt's shoulder tenderly.
"Hey," she said softly, smiling warmly at Gaunt, "it's all right. You can't blame yourself. Neither you nor I could have known - and if one of us should have, it was me. But he's all right, and now we know ..."
She laughed quietly and wiped a bit of sweat from her brow. "But maybe we should encourage them to try something a bit safer, yes?" she suggested.
Ian was still giggling and staggering towards the merry-go-round, but halfway there he lost his balance and fell right onto his side again.
"Whee!" he cried gleefully. "It feels like I'm still on it!" He giggled and held one hand out to the Prince. "Come on, lay down! It feels really funny!"
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