Welcome to Gaia! ::

Inle was not a big fan of nature, the outdoors, or anywhere she might encounter other people. In fact, she would have been perfectly content to live the rest of her life at home or, better yet, in her room, where she could sleep and sleep and never have to deal with people and things and her kids. Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way. Sometimes she had to deal with people and things and her kids, and today was one such occasion.

The television didn't seem to hold as much power over Calumet as it once had. The tacit toddler would no longer spend endless hours on the couch fixated on the goings-on behind the glass screen; no, now his time on the couch was spent staring out the side window. There were no cartoons there. All there was there was the Outside, a place he rarely ventured. It seemed he wanted to change that. Calumet had become somewhat subdued, somewhat fussy, and Inle had noticed. So in order to bring her happy, problem-free child back, Inle gave him what she thought he wanted--out. More specifically, a trip to the park. She wasn't about to stick him in one of those ridiculous baby swings, so she planted him in the sandbox with a couple of colorful toys and let him have at it.

Cal was not happy with this. Why would he want to be in a sea of blah-colored gritty stuff when he could be out of this yucky box, where the few flowers that hadn't succumbed to the cold were sitting bright and cheery not a few yards away? He glanced at the bench where he knew the Crazy Lady who took care of him was. She was reading, it looked like--she certainly wasn't paying attention to him. Now was his chance! He made a moue of disgust as he crawled out of the sandbox--this stuff was gross!--and made his way happily to the flowers.

He liked flowers. He remembered what had happened last time he had been in these flowers and was almost disappointed that Asrafel wasn't there to share in the prettiness before he got distracted by a tulip. Cal smiled at the flowers. They were all so pretty! They reminded him almost...of candy! With a happy smile, he reached for one.

What Cal didn't know was that Inle HAD been paying attention, kind of. Every now and then she would look up from her book to make sure he was still there and not taking a sand-bath. Sand? Check. Toys? Check. Baby? ...where did her kid go? With a sigh that was more of annoyance than worry, she scanned the park. He couldn't have gone far, he wasn't THAT good at walking yet. There was a slide in a separate sandbox, but she didn't see him there. He wasn't by the swings. ...did that flower just move?

Bookmarking the page with a finger, she got up and moved towards the suddenly-dancing flowers, peering into them only to find Calumet happily playing with them. Petals and dirt adorned his clothes, his skin...and his mouth.

"Cal, is that a daisy? Good choice." Her tone was that of a mother long resigned to her child's particular brand of eccentricity. Calumet smiled up at her, a white petal sticking out of his mouth like a wayward tooth.

The abrupt appearance of Karma and Baniru drew both Cal's and Inle's attention. Inle had crouched on the sidewalk next to the flowerbed and had been trying to brush dirt and various bits of foliage off of Cal, and Cal had brought his arms up to flail aimlessly in an attempt to stop her. They froze in what appeared to be a humorous tableau at the arrival of others, staring at them for a moment before turning to look at each other.

Cal recovered first, shaking off his mother's hands in order to crawl over to the very place he had just escaped from, curious about the sandbox's noisy new occupant. He stopped at the edge, small hands braced on the ledge. He found himself hesitant to return to the sea of grit, but there was someone to play with in there! Cal didn't yet recognize the small body as Karma--he had only met the other boy the one time, months ago, and Karma was facing away from him anyway.

With a frown, Cal looked for some way to get Karma's attention without actually venturing into the sandbox, grinning a bit as he he saw a small plastic pail close enough to the edge. He scooted towards it, leaning over the ledge and stretching his arm out, fingers wiggling as he tried to snag the half-buried handle...there! He got it! Now...what to do with it? Well, that was easy! He reached back, the pail clenched awkwardly in his hand, and--

"Don't throw that, Cal!" Inle cautioned. If it came down to it, Calumet probably wouldn't know enough to defend himself in a fight and the other boy looked to be bigger than he was.

--chucked it in Karma's general direction, turning to glance at the Crazy Lady. What did she want? Luckily, the bucket landed with a wet-sounding flop several feet away from Karma.

If Inle showed any recognition of mother and/or son, she didn't show it. Moreover, she wouldn't know it, as she had endeavored, mostly successfully, to shove the entire night of the party out of her mind. Part of her was still paranoid that the cops were going to break down her door one night and arrest her for letting babies around alcohol--even though it WAS Stae's party and establishment, the psycho had left her in charge--in spite of the fact that the party had been several months ago. No, now she was content to watch Calumet from the safety of the flowerbed, just to make sure he didn't get into any trouble. Or more trouble than he usually managed to get in, anyway.

Calumet blinked as if dumbfounded, like an infant listening to the meaningless babble of a Nobel prize-winning scientist. Words held little meaning for him; his world was based on color and light and images and, being mute, he didn't process spoken words correctly.

Like the words Karma was saying made any sense anyway. He frowned at the other child, gaze following the rise of Karma's arms. Was there something up there he was looking for? All Cal could see was blue sky and fluffy clouds and blinding sun. What, was that what Karma was reaching for? The sky? No! He couldn't let his re-newfound friend go up there! It was so big, and he would get lost! Uncharacteristic frown deepening, Cal threw himself at Karma while remaining seated, chubby arms wrapping around the other boy as if to hold him to the earth.

Inle winced, tensing.

Inle sighed. Busted already! But at least it hadn't come to blows. Cal had never actually been in a fight, and Inle was happy for this way out of a potential one. Although it almost looked as though the two were getting along...

"Yeah," she called back, hoisting herself up and brushing dirt off her pants, "sorry about that, I'll get him."

Cal giggled silently at the other boy's apology, though he didn't recognize it as such. He paused at the sudden shadow that was cast over himself and his little friend, looking up at Inle's frowning face.

"C'mon, kid, off." As Inle bent to pick him up, Cal panicked and scrabbled over the lip of the sandbox, crawling across Karma's lap in order to hide behind him. Save me from the big crazy person! the gesture seemed to say.

Inle and Cal bore twin looks of bemused confusion as Karma attacked Inle's leg. Cal's expression changed faster, into amusement, and he leaned over Karma to give Inle's leg a few flailing whacks. Inle frowned down at the pair and stepped back. Great, just what she needed, someone teaching her relatively calm child all about violence.

Hey, this was AWESOME! Cal wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, but it made the Crazy Lady go away! He made a mental note to do this more often (although he would likely forget all about it within moments). He patted his friend on the back as Inle retreated as if to say "good job!"

"Quite alright," Inle called back, "I'm used to getting beaten up by kids." Only one reason among many she hated the little brats. Her own children weren't safe from that emotion--most of the times she couldn't wait for them all to grow up and leave her in peace.

Inle watched with not-quite-sympathetic amusement as Baniru tried to wrangle her kid upwards. "Inle, likewise."

Cal put his hands to his mouth, silently giggling behind them at Karma's resistance and cheering him on. He blinked owlishly at the tug, looking up at Inle as if asking "wtf?" before using her pants leg to hoist himself up, teetering unsteadily after his friend. Inle watched him run off, not too concerned; really she could stand to lose a kid or two. Or more. She sighed. "I'd kill to just have one. Something about Gaia attracts kids to those who want them least."

"That is the way Gaia seems to work," she admitted. "Just one big baby dumping ground." Inle sighed, glancing at the toddlers and moving to sit near Baniru, looking at the other woman. "I don't," she replied with a rueful grin.

Hey, his friend was stopped! Why did his friend stop? And so messily! Cal pondered this but forgot to stop running; his mad dash was ended with a fall too, except he tripped and landed on Karma rather than the grass. Oops.

"Too many," was the immediate response. Hmm, there were...she took a moment to mentally count. "Four, I think? That I consider "kids," anyway--the rest are old enough to look after themselves. Plus various wards and other pets." It was utter hell on someone as antisocial as Inle, but she tended towards resiliency. Besides, they'd all grow up and leave her alone someday, or so she hoped. "Count your blessings." All one of them, lucky soul.

His friend made funny noises, Cal decided. Somewhat like the silly moving pictures in that box, although his friend was neither animated nor small. He didn't seem to like being landed on, either. After a moment of awkward shuffling, Cal righted himself, looking down at his friend with a faint smile. What was he doing down there? Weren't they doing something? Oh yeah, running. With a beckoning motion that clearly said, "Back to work, lazybones!" he turned and did just that.