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 Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 5:31 pm
This RP consists of two parts. See, Crout is getting to... THAT AGE, and Infi is at an utter loss as to what to tell him. One would think that with her extensive literary pornography collection, she'd be able to do more than just stutter and hmm. Laertes is no help, he just goes off into peals of laughter.
So, in her desperation, Infi turns to....
Adrian.
"Adrian, my love, " she stuttered. "Would you, umm, be... willing to have.... THE TALK with Crout?" If only she was able to keep a steady boyfriend, she moaned, and didn't have to ask a friend. But a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do. "You can take Crout for the weekend, and... do whatever... and I'll take Malachite and whoever else you want to send. I have a farm here, I'm sure they won't be bopred."
And so it happened that Crout was unceremoniously taken to Adrian's house for the weekend.
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 5:46 pm
Crout growled and kicked a rock as he and Infi walked down the drive, Infi hauling Crout's bag over one shoulder. "Why am I going to Adrian's again?" he groused. Laertes sniggered from where he walked on Infi's other side, reaching around to pat Crout on the head. He was on his way to work, but had decided to accompany them.
Infi tossed her flame-red hair (a lovely color, she'd decided, and dyed it in a fit of whimsy.) "I told you. There are some things that require a manly touch, and your recent questions are one of them."
Crout bared his teeth at his "mother" in irritation. "You're manly sometimes! Make this one of them."
Laertes thought it would be wise to speed up his pace. The loud squeak of Infi's outrage behind them rewarded his thought, as well as Crout's squeal as Infi pinched his cheeks. "I'm not manly!" Infi protested, twirling around. Crout muttered something surly that the teenager couldn't quite hear, but at Infi's exhaled puff of air, he grinned. Those two were like children.
Athena swooped overhead. "Are you sure we don't just want a ride?" Crout asked, pointing at the goddess. "She'd get us there faster." he said, and Infi sighed, handing up Crout's pack for the goddess to take in her paws.
"No, she can't carry all of us. Besides, she's a goddess, not a workhorse, and it's not that much further." And within moments, Infi was herding her reluctant son up the walk to Adrian's house, beating him with his pack while Laertes followed behind obediently, and Athena curled up in the front yard, preening her multi-colored feathers.
Knock knock
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 6:04 pm
"So, what is it we're doing, again?" Malachite asked as he leaned against the counter in the kitchen.
"Think of it as a trade, just for the weekend," Adrian explained again, glancing up from the brownie batter he was mixing. "You're gonna go over to Miss Infi's house for a bit and spend sometime with her, Laertes and all their creatures."
Mal made a face and whined, "But Laertes doesn't like me."
"Maybe he's loosened up since the first day."
"I doubt it. It would take..." Malachite paused, considering. "I think he'd have to get laid before he loosened up at all."
Adrian snorted, not bothering to hide his smirk.
"What about Crout? Won't he be there?"
"Eh, see, now, that's where things get interesting," his guardian said, pointing at Mal with his spatula. "Part of the point of this is you get to have some time with a motherly figure, and Crout gets to have some time with a fatherly figure."
Malachite blinked. "Why?"
Adrian shrugged, going back to his mixing. "Infi says he's been asking questions lately, and she's not comfortable enough to answer them."
"Questions about what?"
"None ya business," Adrian said, poking the boy in the nose with the chocolate-covered utensil.
Malachite wiped his nose clean, then licked his fingers. "So when does it all start?"
They both glanced up as a knock echoed through the front entrance hall.
"Right now." Adrian smiled, setting the bowl aside. "You did get packed and everything like I asked you to?"
"Yeah, I'm all set," Malachite said with a nod. "I just wanted to be sure I heard you right while I was waking up this morning."
"Is someone gonna answer the door, or what?" Hana snapped. She'd just come down the stairs and spotted shadowy figures behind the closed curtains of the front windows.
Kaleb peeked out from the doorway that led to the house's private dojo. "Answer the door yourself if you care so much," he said, stepping into the hall.
The two teenage-figures stood there glaring at each other while Malachite came out of the kitchen and headed for the door. He opened it, blinking at the figures on their doorstep -- and the rather colorful creature sitting on the front lawn of the mansion.
"Hello," he said, struck with a momentary bout of shyness. They'd become less frequent than they used to be, but they still popped up from time to time. "Come on in," he invited, holding the door open for them.
"Hey~" Adrian called and waved from the kitchen. He was busy putting a few things away and washing his hands.
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:27 pm
When Malachite opened the door, Infi had Crout's cheeks pinned in an upward smile position. "Hi!" she said cheerfully, and pushed Crout forward on Malachite's invitation. "Hey Adrian!" she called back, cheerfully, and glanced around, looking for a place to set Crout's duffel.
Laertes followed them in, giving Mal a small smile, long blue denim skirt swirling about his ankles.
Infi glanced around, unsure of what exactly to do. Just, oh, grab Malachite and run like hell! Whee! Freedom from one troublemaker for a weekend. The fact that Nakshidil was doing the cooking tonight was another cause for her to want to hurry home- Nakkie cooked better than she did on most days.
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:42 pm
The pinned-up smile was rather disturbing to the residents of the Karlet household, but Malachite did his best not to show it. He bowed pleasantly as the three stepped inside, and took Crout's duffle bag and set it at the end of the staircase. Hana and Kaleb were still standing there, staring, so Mal took it upon himself to introduce them
"Miss Infi, Crout, Laertes, this is Kaleb--" he gestured to the pink-haired boy with dog-ears -- "and Hana" -- the tiger-girl with the perpetual scowl.
"Yo," Kaleb said, flashing a V-sign.
Hana merely grunted.
"The others are probably upstairs," Malachite continued, counting off on his fingers. "There's Schye, Cyrus, Alfie, Locke, Haruki, Mackenzie, Nyako, Maki, Ailuene... and a couple more that I'm forgetting, but I doubt they'll all come down here to say hi. Adrian will point out who's who for you, though, if they don't introduce themselves," he added, glancing at Crout.
"You think we have a hard time keeping track of everyone, just wait until you get to Infi's place," Adrian said as he stepped out of the kitchen. He smiled at Infi. "Love the hair, by the way. Hey, Laertes. Have you settled in okay?"
Malachite shuffled around, fetching his own duffle bag from one of the window seats and carrying it over to the group. He waited patiently, silently wondering what was in store for him this weekend.
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 9:04 pm
Infi gave Hana and Kaleb a warm smile. "Nice to meet you both." Crout gave a small smile and a little wave, and Laertes nodded to them both. When Adrian stepped out of the kitchen, Infi bounced across the room to give Adrian a peck on the cheek. "Thank you so much." she whispered in his ear. "He had me terrified nearly to tears, and Laertes in stitches last night. It's... lord, I hope Nakkie and Naira are easier."
In answer to Adrian's question, Laertes nodded. "I'm getting used to the eccentricities. And don't worry, Naira's taking care of Mara. Mal should be able to make it into his room without any kitty-made booby-traps." he assured the other male, with a little shudder. He gave Malachite a small smile. "Anyways, I have to get to work. Just came to see Crout off to his weekend of fun." he grinned and Infi gave a little groan, burying her face in Adrian's shoulder with loud mock sobs.
Pulling away, she grinned at Crout. "You be good. I hear he had any problems with you, and the entertainment center is gone. Hear me?"
Crout nodded. "Don't forget to feed the ponies!" he said quickly. "We have new foals so fresh water and food is really important. Keep them in the habitat I built, don't let them outside. After... well... Mara ate the one..."
Infi was the one who nodded this time. "Okay." she bent over and pressed a kiss to Crout's forehead. "Take care of my brat." she teased. "No more than 4 pieces when I come back for him, okay?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 9:32 pm
Seeing as their presences were no longer required, Kaleb and Hana drifted into the dojo to spar while Crout was getting settled in. Kaleb did at least spare Malachite a wave goodbye as he was sneaking off.
Adrian smiled, an arm draping around Infi's shoulders. "Don't worry about it," he whispered back. "I'm more than happy to take over for you." He patted her shoulder at the mock-sobbing.
"Well, that's good, then," he said to Laertes. "Thanks for stopping by; it was good to see you."
"Have a good day at work," Mal offered. He frowned at the news that this Mara-cat had eaten a pony, but made a mental note to check on their food and water himself.
"Oh, I'm sure he'll physically be in one piece when you get him back," Adrian assured Infi with a grin. "I can't guarantee about mentally, but I'll do my best not to scar him too badly." He turned his grin on Crout. "Hopefully we can find some stuff to do that you'll like."
Malachite pouted softly, but Adrian's guardian radar picked up on it. "Take care of my baby, too, will ya?" he added quickly. "It's really the first time he's stayed over at someone else's house."
"'m not a baby," Malachite murmured, but managed a smile.
"Call me if you need anything," Adrian said, giving him a serious look, "even if it's the middle of the night."
"I will."
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 9:45 pm
Infi smiled. "I'll take care of him. Everything should go smoothly. I'm not doing any cooking this weekend." Crout giggled and Infi ruffled his hair. "Okay, except for maybe that lasagna you like so much. Garfield."
Crout made a sound of mild protest, but grinned. Infi let him go and grinned at Malachite, hands falling to her hips. "Ready to go?" she asked cheerfully, pulling out her mobile phone and handing it to Crout. "I was going to make you a cheat sheet for the family, but Crout had faith in your memory skills. Khepri, one of the dewis, said he'd take you flying. And Malaike and Julian said they'd take you swimming."
Idly, Infi wondered how Malachite would react when he found out his... swimming companions... were merpeople. She stretched, and waited for Malachite's response. "I figured we'd have Athena take your bag back. Nakshidil said she'd pick out a good room for you. You mind walking, or would you rather have a ride? It'll only take a minute for one of the others to be here." Athena COULD carry them both, but she didn't want to make the goddess work too hard.
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:08 pm
"I'm sure you will," Adrian said, smiling. He'd already known about Crout's love for lasagna, so he hoped he could pull off a decent one for him this weekend. He went over and gave Malachite a hug, coupled with a quick noogie before he let the boy go.
Mal recovered quickly, looking up at Infi and nodding. "Flying and swimming?" he echoed. "Sounds like fun. Ah... okay. I don't mind walking, really. I could have Hana or Kaleb give us all a ride, if you really wanted." He gave her another one of his shy glances.
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:15 pm
Infi shrugged. "Let's walk." she said, cheerfully. "You have all weekend to be at my house, and it's not a horrible walk." she gently appropriated Malachite's duffel and took it outside, handing it to the rainbow-winged goddess. "Nakshidil said she'd probable end up giving him the aquarium room." she told the dewi, and Athena nodded, lifting off with a single sweep of her huge wings.
Infi waved at Crout again, blew a huge, dramatic kiss at Adrian, and waited patiently for Malachite to join her for the walk back to her home- and her zoo.
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:24 pm
"Okay," Malachite agreed. He blinked as his bag was taken from his hands, and followed Infi outside, blinking at the great rainbow-colored dewi who took ahold of it and took to the air.
Adrian also followed them outside, as far as the front step, returning Infi's kiss and waving goodbye to Malachite. Malachite returned the wave, turning back to Infi. "I'm ready if you are," he said.
--
"Well, that's that," Adrian said, heading back inside the mansion and letting the door shut behind him. "You wanna sit down and relax for a bit? Either in the living room or the kitchen -- it doesn't matter, but at least in the kitchen I can finish up that pan of brownies I was working on."
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:33 pm
Infi nodded and started off towards her house. "So, what kinds of things are you really interested in? Let's see if we can figure out lots of fun stuff for you to do while you're at my place, hmm?" she gave Malachite a warm smile. "We've got you going flying, swimming, Naira would be more than happy to show you around the woods, I'm sure- if she doesn't insist. We've got a huge TV, loads of movies. Crout's got more game systems than I knew to exist. The library is always open, and if you asked, Laertes would probably let you use his studio." Infi pondered. "And we've got close to 100 family members, so you shouldn't be lonely." she said with a laugh.
----------------------
Crout gave Adrian a small smile and followed the other male towards the kitchen. "Infi can't cook." he said. "It'll be nice to have a good pan of brownies. Last night she tried to make some cookies so Malachite would have some and almost burnt the kitchen down." he sat down in the kitchen and grinned.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:25 am
Malachite followed along beside her, glad he didn't have the burden of his heavy duffle bag to carry around.
"Eh, well," he began, looking up at the sky as he thought, "I like a little bit of everything, really. I don't think you'll have to worry about keeping me entertained."
He wondered briefly what kind of studio Laertes owned, and then his eyes bugged out a bit at the mention of just how large Infi's family really was. "A hundred?" he squeaked. "Adri wasn't kidding!"
--
Adrian led Crout into the kitchen, which was next to the dining room, behind and to the right of the front staircase.
"Ah, I see," he chuckled, pulling a stool out from the counter for Crout to sit on. He went back to his bowl of brownie mix and set about pouring it into a pan, scraping the sides of the bowl. "Well, Mal's not too picky about his food, so I'm sure if your mom did make anything, he'd still try and eat it."
He paused, glancing up at the dark-haired boy. "Are you a picky eater?" he asked, just to be sure. After the bowl was sufficiently scraped, he slid it and the chocolatey utensils over to Crout while he popped the pan into the oven.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:42 am
Infi giggled at Malachite's bulging eyes. "Nope, he wasn't kidding. Though he's never actually met any of them." Infi pondered for a moment. "We'll have to have him come over to pick you up, and keep him for dinner." she gave Mal a mischevious wink before running up ahead to look at her house, and the multitude of creatures in the front yard.
The majority of the dewis were playing "war games" near the river. That was really the only place they could play them, as the devil god had an unfortunate propensity for setting things on fire. A couple of the merkiri were up in arms about their home being turned into a draconic playground, but Naira was outside playing negotiator, so Infi wouldn't be too worried about it.
From the distance, she could see Nakshidil in the kitchen, long hair pulled back into a thick braid, looking out the large bay windows towards the water.
"Come on." she called, waving to Malachite. "We might still have a chance to get in on the water fight!"
---------------------------
Crout shrugged at Adrian, picking up one of the utensils and licking it clean. "I don't like stuff that's too spicy. And I don't like mushrooms. Other than that, I'll eat anything." he said firmly. And he would, especially if it was homemade. One thing he'd forced himself to learn was that it wasn't just the taste that mattered. The thought counted for a lot.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 3:37 pm
"He must've heard about them from somewhere." Malachite grinned. "I'm sure we could arrange it."
He was overwhelmed by the sight of so many creatures in the yard and by the river. The house itself looked warm and inviting, but he followed Infi's lead to the river, hanging back a bit as his shy nature kicked in, again.
~*~
Adrian finished cleaning up the mess he'd left in the kitchen, frowning softly as he considered what else he could make. He flailed suddenly, remembering to set the timer for the brownies.
He regained his composure and smiled at Crout. "Well, good. I'm sure we'll be able to find something to your liking, then. How about we sit in the living room for a bit, where we'll be more comfortamable? You can bring the bowl and stuff in."
He led the way out of the kitchen and across the entrance hall to the front living room. "In case you haven't realized," he said, gesturing to some of the more expensive-looking decorations, "this isn't really my house. But judging by how little the mistress is around, it might as well be. She was kind enough to let me move in here a year ago, and I haven't had the heart to move out."
He settled on one of the couches, stretching his arms over the back of it. "She's been really generous about letting me stay, and all my kids have grown up here. But anyway, I'm babbling; sorry." He chuckled softly and looked a little embarassed.
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