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"Alright, little guy, nearly done. You should know better than to try a stunt like that again," Crow said in a motherly tone as she welded shut a long gash on the baby Vehilii's side.

The Vehilii gave a grudging beep in reply, shifting slightly so that it hovered a bit higher. Crow tugged it down again by one of its tripod legs, wiping sweat out of her eyes as she finished the welding and watched the split flesh slowly knit back together. She and Lenore had been woken by the creature in the early hours of the morning by a guilty tapping at her window sill - the Vehilii she'd let run wild had had a bit of a scuffle with a bear on the newly made mountain, and had rushed to her for aid.

Lounging in the long shadow the Vehilii cast in the early morning sun, Lenore watched Sadako scuttle around on all fours, hunting grasshoppers. The girl folded her large metal wings boredly, pleased with the new ability to shield others from the feathers' highly sharp points.

"Mum, are we gonna do anything interesting soon?"

Crow stiffened and turned, looking towards the rather unwelcome company.

"....Hello."

Lenore jumped up and smiled, rushing towards Malachi and picking him up.

"Hi, Bah!" she said, holding him out at arm's length to look at him before setting him down again.

"I'm taller than you now!" she said excitedly, flaring her long tail feathers like a peacock to impress him.

Lenore giggled and waved a long-fingered hand airily.

"Aw, you're just saying that to be nice," she said, ruffling his hair fondly. Her smile died a little as she looked at Rabid and Crow, and cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Uh, c'mon, Bah. Let's give the grown-ups some space - I'll introduce you to Thestral."

Whistling for Sadako, was was ready to pounce on a hapless grasshopper, she took Malachi's hand and lead him behind the Vehilii, biting her lip in slight anxiety.

It took a remarkable amount of willpower not to grind her teeth as Crow looked at Rabid. Unbidden, the memory of a a red blade flashing in firelight raced through her mind. She shook it off and hitched a smile onto her face, wondering vaguely at the effort it took.

"Yeah, well.... yeah. Um..."

She paused for a few seconds.

She's my friend. We've been friends for ages - I would wait up for hours for her to call me at night. I loved every minute I spent with her -c'mon, kid, get past it already.

Suddenly aware of the deeply uncomfortable silence that spiraled between them, she set down her repair tools quietly and stood, brushing the dirt and grass off her fishnet stockings absently.

"I, uh...I got a job."

Brilliant icebreaker, moron.

Lenore gave a heavy sigh and sat down against the Vehilii, setting 'Dako in her lap and braiding the doll's hair.

"Mum's the same way - when we first got back, she wouldn't eat, didn't talk, and everytime she went to sleep, she'd break stuff." Len paused to untangle her fingers from Sadako's messy braid, undoing the plaits and starting again.

"I didn't know Mum could move stuff with just her mind 'til she had a really bad nightmare and made all the windows in our room break," she said mournfully. Looking at Malachi in delayed curiosity, she cocked her head to one side.

"Who's Leem?"

Dude, she totally knows I'm not happy to see her. Keep smiling - it'll make the tension go down a little.

"You know that little bio-technology lab in Durem? Well, they needed someone proficient in biomechanical tech, so I went in and they hired me, since I used to work at a Vehilii lab in Ri- uh, at home. I'm an official, uh, ya know, scientist...thing now."

She gulped and gave a slightly forced laugh, wondering why her mouth had gone dry.

Lenore smiled faintly as she watched Malachi play with the marble. Sadako watched it travel through the air as she leapt off Len's lap, crawling on all fours to investigate Skelly.

"Huh. That's nice - I'd like to meet him. Weird is good." Len said, toying with her bracelet and watching as Sadako poked Skelly experimentally to see if it moved.

Crow gave a stiff nod.

"Cool. That's.... very nice."

Her attention turned to the rustling sound, very glad for the distraction.

"What's that?"

Crow was absolutely not in the mood for surprises. Letting her claws grow long and serrated, she crept towards the source of the sound.

"Whatever it is, it's about to have its jugular ripped open," she said cheerfully.

"Sounds like my kinda guy," Len said, trying to imagine what Leem looked like. "How come his chest beeps? Is he a robot or something?"

Sadako jumped back, hissing in surprise.

"Alive?" she asked, blank eyes dancing. Another possessed doll? Sweet.

Crow recoiled back, blinking in astonishment.

"Oh."

Forcing her claws back to their normal size, she stared at the girl in surprise.

"Um...hello?"

Lenore was about to reply when an undeniable sense of unease rippled over her. Jumping up, she rattled her razor feathers in unconscious defense as she peered through the bushes Crow and Rabid had gone scrambling into.

"There's a stranger here," she muttered, eyes narrowing as she loomed over Malachi protectively.

Sadako gave a screech of delight, which she quickly turned into a raspy cough of feigned indifference.

"Oh. 'Lo," she said, her hoarse voice betraying her cool demeanor in its excitement.

"Hnnnn..."

Lenore gave a violent shiver and wrapped her arms around Malachi, unfolding her rattling razor-feathers so that the boy was shielded by her formidable wings.

"I don't think it's one of us, Bah."

Crow watched Clematis with wide eyes, unsure what to do. The girl's little show of power to spell out her name was a bit unnerving, and Crow wasn't a bit ashamed to let her alarm show on her face.

"Rabid, she's...she's dead," she whispered frantically, oblivious to how obvious this information was already.

Sadako gave a weirdly girlish giggle and took the flower bashfully, entwining the stiff stem into her hair.

"Pretty."

Reaching into a makeshift pocket in her dress, she pulled out a vividly striped black and yellow spider. The twiggy-legged creature quivered in her hand as she held it out to Skelly shyly. Pointing at herself, she looked at Skelly through her curtain of hair.

"Sadako."