Welcome to Gaia! ::

The day was crisp and chilly, the weather inviting adventures outside without melting the recently fallen snow. The occasional tree peppered the landscape, with the D-Corp buildings well within sight. Sometimes, Michael thought he could get used to this.

It'd only been a week. A week since the bat child had been entrusted to his care. And now, it already seemed as if the time before fatherhood was blurry, intangible. As if her laughter echoed back through past darkness, lightening shadows and making only the current moment important.

He watched Earako romp in the snow with an indulgent smile, hands shoved in the pocket of his leather jacket. She seemed less aware of the cold, though he'd managed to get a jacket and mittens on her. Those wings... it was troublesome getting anything on her with those wings. And his shoddy alterations in the back to allow for them were hardly attractive. He was going to have to find a tailor. Or a specialty store. This was Gaia, after all.

She glanced back at him, wide smile and dark sunglasses. The tiny ball of snow in her hand didn't cover even a quarter of the distance between them, but it was an attempt.

"Nice try, Kid. We'll have to work on your pitching arm."

At the sound of another's approach, Michael turned, offering a lazy smile to the woman and her young child. Perhaps this would be a chance for Earako to make some friends. It had taken the better part of the week, and plenty of icecream, before she'd even warmed up to him. But now that she was more at ease, she might be better at socializing.

"Hey. Pretty day, isn't it?" He asked casually. Most his attention remained on Earako, half invisible in the snow. Her long black jacket, and wings stood out, but her pale skin made her fade. "Hey, Kid, c'mere."

"Da'?" Earako turned her attention away from the lump of snow she was forming, immediately rushing up toward him. Until she saw the lady. And the kid. Brief excitement became sudden shyness and she hung back looking from Michael's relaxed smile to the lady's more severe expression. Was she in trouble? Reflexively, she brought her wings around her.

"C'mere, Baby Girl." Michael gave the woman a 'we're in this together' smile. "I guess they're both a bit shy."

Covering the distance between himself and Earako, he picked her up, and let her wrap her arms around his neck. Giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, he grinned.

"This is Earako. I'm Michael. I'd shake your hand, but..." He shrugged and bounced the albino child slightly, indicating the burden that kept him from doing so.

Picturesque, huh? Talk about your big words. Pretty suited him just fine. But, hell, he wasn't everyone, and he couldn't expect some random woman to act like a member of Tred. After all, the pack was special.

And at least she'd given him her little boy's name. Anoki. He seemed a bit shy, but, Earako had a death hold on his neck, so it seemed it went both ways. "'s alright, Kid. You're fine." He whispered to Earako, gently pulling her away from him and settling her firmly on the ground.

"Hey there, Anoki." He offered to boy a wide, wolfish grin, "Don't suppose you have a little time to play with Earako here? She hasn't had a chance to meet anyone yet."

Earako stared at the boy from behind the protection of her dark sunglasses. He didn't look mean, even if his ma' looked kinda strict. That was too bad. Da' was always saying how he was gonna spoil her while he had the chance.

Still, she wasn't sure she was ready for this yet, and Da' was refusing to pick her up again. He just stood there, one hand on her shoulder. What if he was mean? Da' was supposed to protect her, not push her off toward scary people. He'd said he would, he had!

"'lo." She managed at last, the greeting just whispered as she kept as close to her Da' as she could manage. Maybe he'd be nice. Maybe they could play in the snow.

Maybe.

Well, the question didn't seem to be scary. And he wasn't yelling or anything. Earako started to relax, unwrapping her wings from their defensive position. It made her feel safe, but it was hard to move like that.

"Mmhm." She responded, with an enthusiastic nod. Snow was like icecream, though slightly less tasty. Not that she hadn't attempted to eat her share of it, it just hadn't been as good. Maybe Da' would bring sugar next time. Even without sugar, the snow was cold and shapeable and dazzlingly shiney in the bright sunlight. Until she'd put her glasses on, it'd burned her eyes. "P'ay?"

She took a few steps toward the mound that she'd been working on before, pausing to see if Anoki would follow.


"Those are some impressive horns that he has. What is he?" The question sounded a bit rude, but Michael was at a loss at how else to put it. All the kids were part something, after all. His little Earako was a bat, and albino. He still wasn't sure whether the paleness was deliberate, or some sort of mistake during her creation. It didn't matter. She was beautiful.

"Suwe. 'm buil'in' a moun'in." She explained. The statement was hesitant, and she still spoke in whispers. She hadn't really known what she was going to build until he'd asked her, but a mountain sounded as good as anything. They could make it really tall, like the one's on tv. And then people would come to climb it.

Yeah.

Or wait. If they made it big enough, it could be like a house. They could dig out the middle and hide inside. It'd be just like Da's house, except made of snow.

"A moun'in. Wif a hole. Like a 'ouse." She explained, gesturing expansively to display the size of the construction she was imagining.

Yeah. Earako. She's well--" He shrugged, unashamed at his ignorance at his daughter's exact species. She was a bat and she was a kid. If you added much more onto that, he'd never keep track. She was complex enough as it is. "You know, I don't know. They told me she was an albino bat. I guess I should have asked for details."

He devoted enough attention to the conversation not to appear rude, but made sure to keep half his attention on the kids. You couldn't trust children, not really. They could be mean, without warning. Not that Anoki didn't seem like a nice kid. It just paid to be cautious.



((This'll probably be my last post for the day. I've got some stuff to take care of.))

The whole conversation would have been simpler had Earako only had the words 'snow fort' somewhere in her vocabulary. Lacking that, she stumbled trying her best to encompass and combine the two very different concepts. The questioning made her less sure of herself and her ideas.

It showed, the brief childish enthusiasm replaced again by obvious shyness. She didn't quite wrap her wings around her, but they flexed a bit, as if threatening to do so.

"Big 'ike a moun'in." A fluttering of hands and wings, forming a mound shape in the air. "Bu' wif a 'ole inet. 'ike a cafe."


Michael didn't answer the question immediately. Instead, he pulled out a cigarette, rolling it between his fingers without lighting it. It was the hardest thing about having a daughter. Trying to quit. His gaze was on Earako, reminding himself why it was worth it.

"She doesn't like bright lights. They hurt her eyes. I'm not sure if that's the albino, or the bat in her. Maybe both. Either way, she doesn't seem comfortable without sunglasses." Unaware of that the interest being shown was scholarly, not friendly, he smiled at Raven. It was nice to have a chance to talk about the Kid.

"Yea, a cafe." There, now they understood each other. Enthusiasm restored, Earako returned to adding snow to the mound, grinning at Anoki while she did so. This wasn't so bad after all. Maybe other kids only seemed scary at first.

It was cold of course, even wrapped up as she was, and the wind on her face and her wings made her shiver. But she tried not to think about it. Building and moving made her warmer, and she went at it with gusto, if less care and finess than Anoki. The sooner they got done, the sooner they'd have a house. And maybe it'd be nice and warm inside.



The cigarette continued to roll between his fingers, leaving Michael to wonder if it was a torment or a comfort to hold something he knew he wouldn't be smoking. At least it was something to do with his hands. The passive stance of observation was new to him. He was used to getting involved. But if Earako was to make friends, she had to do it without him hovering over her shoulder.

"She's ok when she forgets them, mostly. But it's pretty obvious that bright light makes her uncomfortable. I don't like to see her unhappy." A quick shrug, and he tucked the cigarette away again, "So, what do you do when you're not raising children?"

Earako was starting to run out of snow as well, so the pile offered by Anoki was greeted by a bright grin. "Tanks." For once, it was more of a chirp than a whisper, she had a high, breathy voice.

The mountain was taking longer than she'd expected. At this rate, they'd never get as high as the trees. But maybe if they just got it big enough to climb inside, that'd be enough. It'd be warmer inside. Houses were always warm.

"You gots ho'ns. I dun gots 'em." While still packing on snow, she looked at Anoki's horns with open envy. One hand touched her own head, feeling the sad lack there.


"Oh?" Michael ignored the chill in Raven's voice. He actually seemed rather skilled at ignoring any behavioral clues that didn't suit him. It made him seem a bit dense, but it kept his apparent easy going attitude from being shaken, "What do you teach?"