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 Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 9:20 pm
Julian walked down to where Belladonna had said she would meet him, carrying a basket Mum had left with him. It was full of snacks for himself and Belladonna and a couple of books, a doombox, and some soft music for Rowan. Mum always said music was what made all her little sweetlings into the clever boils they had grown into. He had gotten there a bit early so that he could set up the blanket and everything. He'd even brought along an old stuffed cat plush that had been passed down since Andor was a little bird. It was pretty ratty, since they all had terribly sharp claws even when they were little, but he thought it would be a nice little touch. He was supposed to treat it as a baby after all, wasn't he?
He set the basket down under a tree and started setting everything up.
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Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 1:07 pm
Almost as a sign that she was not to be left with something that would induce her to show any sort of responsibility, Belladonna was late. And not sort of any normal late, but the late that made the other person sort of uncomfortable because they were waiting, and waiting, and waiting and when whoever they were waiting for finally shows up, their excuse is kind of lame.
"I was taking a shower!" Belladonna shouted from atop her broom, hovering over the spot Julian had set up with such care. A black basket with a loop handle hung from the top of her broom, tied with pink ribbon that matched the lining of the basket that held the pumpkin (Baby Rowan!) and a few food stuffs, mostly taken from the vending machine in the Reaper dorms. "Rowan needed to be cleaned too! Not that she was dirty or anything." Belladonna was still hovering above their spot, one hand on the broom handle and the other waving the air around in various gesticulations. "But babies have to be bathed... right??"
As if he were to know, Belladonna finished her rather lame excuse (but my, didn't her hair look lovely and clean and shiny and dry and like she had taken an exceptional amount of time drying it after a long shower?) and stared expectantly at Julian. He was 'The Father' and was supposed to take the basket from the broom because Belladonna couldn't land the thing properly if Jack himself was there to watch. She raised her eyebrows at him, shifting her eyes purposely from the basket to himself and to the ground.
And then she remembered. She didn't really KNOW him and he certainly didn't know her.
"OH. Hey! Will you take the basket off the broom please? I can't land." Here she inserted a cute shrug that really covered her sentiment of embarrassment because didn't ALL GOOD WITCHES know how to land brooms?
Yeah. They did.
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Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 2:32 pm
Julian had actually fallen into a doze, his back against the tree and his eyes closed as he listened to the music he'd brought. He'd been waiting a fair bit, so the young demon thought nothing of resting his eyes for a moment while he waited a bit more. He was, however, under the impression that as soon as he did so, Belladonna would come along. And while it did feel that way when he started awake with a small shake at her sudden shout, he had gotten a good ten or fifteen minutes in.
"Oh, th-thats alright. I wasn't w-waiting that l-long." So it was a lie. It didn't really matter to him. He'd gotten a nap and hadn't been terribly bored. And bathing was important, especially for babies. And he was glad she cleaned Rowan, because he would have had a time of it. He was terrified of getting his feathers wet, so baths were very unconventional for him.
He watched her hover for a moment, wondering what she was waiting for. But then she asked him to take the basket, that otherwise she couldn't land and he felt like such an idiot. Of course! He should have realized that was an otherwise precarious place for Rowan and that there might be some difficulty for Belladonna getting off the broom without putting Rowan in danger. Julian jumped up at that and rushed about, getting the basket off the end of the broom. Once he'd gotten it off, he held it close while she undoubtedly landed.
"The ribbons are a c-cute t-touch," he added, picking carefully at one of them.
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Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 8:57 pm
With probably the most undignified crash of body into ground, Belladonna fell from the sky. Thankfully she didn't make any undignified noises (except the small "oof" that was appropriate) and quickly popped back up, dusting off her skirt and setting her broom down on the nearby picnic blanket.
"Oh, thank you!' She said in reply to the ribbons, taking the basket from him, plucking Rowan from it and handing her to Julian before extracting the various things packed within. "You're such a sweetie!" She cooed, jumping forward and hugging him close.
While enjoying the blush that undoubtedly spread over his face, she flounced over to the blanket and plopped down. Her eyes curious, Belladonna slowly surveyed the picnic set up around them, a large smile replacing the little pucker of concentration she had previously.
"Wow! This is fantastic!" She popped a cd into the doombox, listening to the soft wails that emanated from it. "Rowan has to like this!" She meant the music, but it could have been taken as either the music or the grand picnic set up.
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Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 9:44 pm
He wouldn't make a comment, he knew what it was like to fall flat on your face after a bad landing, so if hers was a little undignified, he had no right to talk. He was a born flier and while witches were known to, he was meant for it. He smiled shyly and dipped his head in acknowledgment to her thanks, taking Rowan from her when she started taking things out of the basket she had brought.
And then before Julian knew anything more, she was hugging him. His eyes grew as wide as he did his best to move Rowan out of the way, his face turning red. Even the red marks above his eyes darken a couple shades.
"B-Belladonna, b-be careful of Rowan," his words stumbled but his tone was somewhat firm. He didn't want to get a bad grade, and by what Nurse Cricket had said, there was a creature within the pumpkin. He didn't want to hurt it, if that was true. He moved to sit next to her, carefully crossing his legs and setting Rowan in his lap.
"M-Mum used to say this h-helped make us sm-sm- intelligent," he replied when she mentioned the music. He ran the backs of his knuckles over the side of the pumpkin.
"I br-brought books to r-read to Rowan, t-too. If you think that's a g-good idea." He glanced up again, blinking at Belladonna in questioning. That was also good for babies, right? Papa had read to all of them. He remembered perching on his papa's leg with Bran, Cyrus on the opposite side. Bran was never really interested, but he and Cyrus loved it. Michel and Andor had been to big at that point. It's why they all loved to read so much, well, all of them but Bran. He picked a micecake out of the package he had brought them in and nibbled on it.
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Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 11:16 am
Thankful that he wasn't going to mention her ungraceful fall, Belladonna patted Rowan carefully after their hug before leaning over to look at the books Julian had brought. Upon their first meeting, Belladonna was unsure as to how all of this would play out. Julian seemed incredibly shy and she was uncertain as to how he would react to suddenly have a baby (and a bubbly witch) thrust upon him. But happily, Belladonna was being surprised in all accounts. Julian was proving to be a more than proficient father, thinking ahead as well as offering care to Belladonna by providing snacks. All of this was making the witch feel very excited about their prospects for this class, as well as starting to feel a little warmly toward the boil.
"I think its an amazing idea!" She plucked one up, scanning the words and smiling happily. "I remember this one, about the little vampire and his blood ghost friend? Too cute!" A quick peruse of the books showed that Julian had brought a good number of books all suitable for children. "So your Mum read to you a lot? Do you have a big family?"
After careful consideration, Belladonna also picked out a cake, trying to avoid any that were made of any sort of creature. She finally found a chocolate-slime cake and tried her best to keep from gobbling it down. Wouldn't that be interesting if Julian had a big family? He was so shy! Maybe that was why? So many people and he could just fade into the background??
"I have a pretty big family. Witches usually do. Two older sisters, Hemlock and Delphinium. There's my parents, and both my parents have two siblings. 3 is a big number in our family." Here she interjected a laugh that was slightly nervous, as the idea of having 3 children of her own frightened her. Squick!
But strangely, and she wasn't sure why, she reached out a gently ran her fingertips over Rowan's hard shell.
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Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 12:26 pm
"My d-dad did, actually," Julian replied smiling in thought of those evenings with his dad while Mum helped Andor and Michel with their studies. He didn't think he had a terribly large family, but in talking with others, he really did. his mother and father didn't have as many siblings as he did, but they weren't only children either. His mother even had a twin sister. And his grandfather came to the estate sometimes. Family was a big thing to them.
"Four old brothers, Andor, Michel, Cyrus, and Bran. Mum likes k-kids and Dad likes to m-make Mum happy," he explained. It was also common knowledge that Mum still wanted a little ghoul, but they were waiting a bit until trying again. Wait until their youngest was back from school. He didn't think he would mind having a little sister. Or a good number of little harbingers of his own. But he most certainly did not want to start any of that any time soon.
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:13 pm
Since she was paying very careful attention to her class partner, Belladonna was glad to notice his stutter was slowly starting to ebb, if only ever so slightly. While it was rather fun to make this feathery fellow blush a bit, it was also nice to know he was becoming comfortable with the witch, even if it was only slowly and for the sake of a good grade. In any event, Belladonna was rather enjoying his company and he was taking such good care of them! And the fact that he was indulgent in his history didn't help but fuel the red head's curiosity.
"Four brothers! Wow! That's double mine!! It must have been hard... Were your brothers nice to you?" She didn't want to sound whiny, so she left out the source of her questioning. "Do they look a lot like you? Who do you favor more? Mom, or Dad??" She had already eaten through her cake and was now gobbling up another, flipping through the books assembled at a leisurely pace though she didn't pay attention to them.
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:05 pm
"My brothers looked out for me," Julian replied and that was true for the most part. Sure, they were older brothers. Cyrus poked at him and had been the one to develop his fear of water, but that had been all fun and games. His third eldest brother hadn't known that Julian's feathers did not take to water well. And Andor and Michel pushed him a lot to be a more sociable, but he was getting that from his friends and classmates, so that was apparently just something others did when they cared about you.
"None of us look alike. My eldest brother, Andor, he looks a lot like mom except he has dad's build. Dark brown hair and brown and black feathers. And Cyrus looks kind of like me, only he has more ash-gray hair and brown and gray feathers. Michel's all scarlet and Bran has all black except for a white streak in his hair. They're both really tan, too." He liked talking about his family. He cared about them a lot and it was just something he could easily talk about.
"I actually look like one of my ancestors on my dad's side. Death Harbingers are really uncommon," he explained. There was a portrait of the last Death Omen in their family, several generations back. She'd been tall and thin with long white hair and wide yellow eyes. She had the red markings like Julian, only they were beneath her eyes. It distinguished Harbingers in their true form from just abnormally large animals.
"Who d-do you look like?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:49 pm
A slight tilt of the head was meant as 'That's very well and good that your brothers were so kind to you!' but probably looked more like she had a gnat too close to her eye. In any event she listened with rapt attention to the peculiar fact that none of his family favored the other. That was all very odd as Belladonna came from a family where it was obvious one hailed from the Divine clan!
"Everyone in my family has red hair! Or pink eyes, either one!!" She was a bit shocked and couldn't help but wonder what had caused such oddities in Julian's family. She didn't think any the matter with it, just that it was totally different from herself and anything different meant it was utterly fascinating!
"Is not your whole family Harbingers?" Why, her whole family were witches! This was all very strange, but Belladonna couldn't help but lean forward a little bit to listen. "Pay close attention Rowan! You might end up with red hair and feathers!" Obviously someone had failed to mention to the witch that pumpkinglings only took the traits of one parent, but oh well. It might have been for the best that she completely ignored that little tid bit of information for in her mind she was having quite a bit of fun considering a witch with pretty owl-like wings!
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Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 12:05 am
Julian actually smiled at her questions, happy to explain his sub-race. Harbingers on a whole were often forgotten, since most had fallen out of common knowledge in the human world.
"Pretty much every human myth that says a certain type of creature they might see every day will bring some misfortune is a Harbinger. I think because we all come in different forms, our appearance is a sort of grab-bag, depending on the species. I come from a long line of birds, so we all look like one. The biggest difference between me and a regular barn owl is that I actually know when something's coming. We find a 'host' and follow them around until the doom we sense descends. Most can't Sense death coming, only a few types. It's more common in other families, mine's just really jumbled, I guess. I think an owl clan in the past tried to keep within that type, but it would have come down to inbreeding," he explained, finding it interesting that her family all looked mostly alike. He should have guessed, but it really hadn't occurred to him.
"My brother's aren't far off, though. Dad's dark like Bran and his mum has Michel's coloring. You k-kind of have the same hair color, t-too," he added, looking back down at Rowan when he started stuttering again. He absently stuffed another mice-cake in his mouth to shut himself up.
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Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 9:18 pm
The idea of precognition was intensely exciting for Belladonna, as she did specialize in divination and any sort of talk, regardless of its form, made her all the more curious. And while all of this talk was extremely stimulating for the witch, she couldn't help but look over to the pumpkin and wonder what it was thinking. Since she did view it as a pet, she knew that all pets thought certain things, it was just a matter of figuring out exactly what they were thinking. And as this pumpkin didn't have a face, Belladonna could only assume it was intensely BORED. Why! It already knew where its parents came from (it WAS a combination of a harbinger and witch, so obviously its preternatural skills were strong) and it surely wanted something more fun!
"Let's play a game!!" Belladonna jumped up, grabbing Rowan under one arm and pulled Julian up with the other. "Let's play... Hide Rowan and Seek Her! Its just like Hide and Seek, only one person hides Rowan and the other has to find her. Here! You go first!" She pushed Rowan back into Julian's hand and pushed him in the general direction of away from the picnic. "Go hide her and come back with three clues as to where she could be. If you hide her in a nearby bush, you'd say it was leafy and a circle and like a very small tree! Get it?"
Oh this was going to be such fun and didn't Rowan look happier already? Yes! She certainly did! With that Belladonna flopped back down onto the blanket and dutifully covered her eyes, waiting for Julian to return from hiding their pumkingling.
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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 9:33 am
Julian did not look pleased at the thought of the game she suggested they play. He thought it was a little more than just a bit irresponsible and several bad scenarios went through his mind. But he didn't want to anger his classmate by refusing to play her game, so he went and dutifully hid Rowan, very close by , in a bush at the base of another tree. He set the pumpkin back against the trunk so nothing could grab it from behind and he kept an eye on the top and front as he walked back to Belladonna.
"Okay, Rowan's hiding," he said, looking a little anxious over the whole thing.
"To her back it's solid, but all else around, it's soft. She's in something of a tree, but not aloft. I think that's technically three..." He trailed off there and fidgeted a bit, hoping she hurried up.
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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 4:22 pm
Completely ignoring the waves of 'Danger, Baby Rowan, Danger!!' Julian was giving off, Belladonna clapped her hands with glee, turned and dashed off in search of the pumpkin. The clues had been just vague enough that she had search quite a bit, but helpful enough that Belladonna was almost 110% positive Rowan was hiding in a bush. After a good five minutes of searching behind every bush Belladonna came across, she produced the pumpkin with a great flourish of movement as well as grand "A HA!" of joy. With skipping steps she darted off to hide the pumpkin again.
The next half hour was spent in such a manner, Belladonna ridiculously happy to hide and subsequently find the pumpkin, increasing the vagueness of clues along with making Rowan harder to find. Julian probably wasn't have as much fun as the witch, but she was thinking solely of the pumpkin at this point. The game was starting to lose its newness when Belladonna flopped down onto the picnic blanket.
"I made it really hard cause I think its time for a nap. Rowan looks tired." Belladonna looked a little tired too, for that matter. "Let's see..... My clues were... Hmmm..." Had she forgotten them?! Possibly, but pride would never let her admit to such. "Uh... A hole of some sort hides Rowan-baby... It isn't in the ground. It isn't in a tree." Then where was it?! Suddenly, the witch couldn't quite remember either...
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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 4:34 pm
The game was not very fun and Julian's anxiety rose the longer it went on. He had found himself with his back against the tree, waiting for Belladonna to come back for what felt like the hundredth time, his head tilted back, eyes closed to disperse the horrible feeling that had fallen over him. He hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was, but was pretty sure there wasn't any doubt. He was supposed to be coming to school to learn how to use his abilities, but all his "visions" seemed to center around his own doom.
His eyes opened slowly when he heard the witch heading back. He didn't move his head when he leveled his gaze on her, but rather listened to her clues as she gave them.
Or, at least the clues she had.
He sat up when she trailed off, it felt like he'd only gotten two out of her.
"B-Belladonna, I don't think I want to play anymore, either. Where's Rowan?" he asked, his back getting rigid with worry. He hoped that Belladonna was just having trouble coming up with another clue. Oh, please, Death, let her just be having trouble...
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