Welcome to Gaia! ::

Morning dawns clear and bright and bitterly cold, and so when Marco's new apprentice knocks for the first time upon his door, he is wrapped up in a thick, heavy coat, with a scarf wound round his neck and a similar wrap fastened around the neck of his tiny Guardian fawn. Little Georgie looks quite the same as he did yesterday, all bright eyes and eagerness, fully awake. His little Guardian is perhaps a surprise considering this, for she is every bit as shy as he had promised. She is a delicate little thing, and tiny; she shivers in the cold and presses tightly up against her Chosen's legs, even going so far as to stick her head up underneath Georgie's coat when Marco answers the door. Her shadow-grey coat is nonetheless rather fetching, and surprisingly simple when compared to Somnium's boldly contrasting markings.

Just behind Georgie and Ariana stands Last, who had apparently drawn the short straw this morning and had to walk Georgie here; he is nothing like bright-eyed, being a good yawn away from falling back asleep standing up. His clothing is a bit rumpled, his hair uncombed, and there is still just a bit of stubble on his chin. But he is carrying several parcels, presumably Georgie's new supplies, and he is not alone. In a turn of events which may be even more surprising then Georgie arriving on time, standing at Last's feet is another Guardian. This one is a young buck, a few months older than Georgie's little fawn perhaps, and as alert as Last is sleepy. He is also leaning against his Chosen, though there is nothing fearful in the way he behaves; if anything he appears rather protective, as if he really does intend to guard the fool boy, for all that he is no larger than a medium-sized dog.

"I'm here!" Georgie greets his teacher cheerfully. "And I think I gots everythin'."

Georgie is pleased to trot inside, with his Guardian following as close behind as a shadow; the little Grimm seems to see nothing at all wrong with taking direction from a witch-deer, despite the stated biases of his elder brothers. It may surprise the gentle Somnium, however, to find that little Ariana is just as afraid of him as she is of everyone else; though some of the tension runs out of her now that they are indoors, she is still quivering with fear to be in the presence of strangers.

Last swallows back a yawn, pleased enough to hand over the awkward parcels to Marco. "Not a bad thought," he mumbles, with a glance down at the charmingly colored fawn at his side. "Whatcha think, boy? We can make you a little saddle." Unwanted snorts scornfully at this idea, and paws at the ground in front of him as if he is planning on charging at Marco for making such an absurd suggestion -- but he does no such thing, instead sticking close to Last's side. "I'll be returning to bed, I'm hoping. We'll send someone about to pick her up later on." He nods to Georgie, just inside, and fights back another yawn.

.. maybe he's just sleepy, but did he just call Georgie a her? How could he be that tired?

"See ya," Last mumbles, ready to turn about and head off then and there. Leaving Marco with a child too young for his gender to be readily apparent, although Georgie is quite a pretty little thing, pretty enough to actually be a girl despite the elegant trousers he wears.

As little Unwanted is a ways off from being large enough to carry his reluctant Chosen just yet, Last simply waves one hand over his shoulder in a lazy farewell, not even bothering to mumble a response. It is far too early to be decent about anything, so he doesn't intend to bother --

Inside, Ariana regards Somnium with huge eyes, quivering with fear. It is only when Georgie unexpectedly steps away that she wobbles and then builds up her courage, inching gingerly towards the much larger Guardian. Finally, reaching him, she will very very cautiously sniff at whichever part of him is nearest. So long as he does not make any sudden sounds or movements, she will eventually move ever closer, but if he makes a loud sound or moves abruptly, she will be gone faster than her shadow, and underneath whatever piece of furniture is nearest almost before he can blink.

Georgie takes no note of all this, staring wide-eyed at the desk. His own desk? Wow! Mouth open in a wide 'oh' of surprise, he at once reaches eagerly for his satchel, ready to start pulling things out and putting them away. "I found one once, but it were old, and hadda lot of praying innit, and I didn't like it. 'cept for the bits about leeches. There were illustrations." He sounds delightfully pleased by the wretchedness of such a possibility, and offers his new teacher a grin.

ZIP! Underneath the nearest bit of furniture Ariana goes, like a streak of shadow or a shy sort of ghost. At length she will emerge again, so long as it is quiet; if Somnium stays asleep she may even grow so bold as to tuck herself against him. He is a big thing, and that is very frightening, but he is also a big thing in the same shape as she is and that may indicate that he is Safe. If he is Safe, his big-big size could be good protection .. and a morning of sleeping beside his warmth would be the nearest thing to Heaven for her.

Despite Marco's obvious distaste, Georgie examines the image with every sign of relish. "Eeeew!" He announces, utterly fascinated. "That's amazing! Can I buy some? Do people scream when they bite? Do they have teeth?" The flow of words stops suddenly as Georgie belatedly reviews Marco's words and realizes that somewhere along the line he ought to have listened after all. " .. eeeew," he says again, and this time he actually means it. "Do I gotta? I wanna learn stuff. And put leeches on people. Cleanin's for sissies."

" 'Course not, that's icky." His nose wrinkles at the very thought, not at all disturbed by the idea of the leech-teeth and all that they would imply. If anything the poor doctor has only increased his fascination, and he may wish to send urgent notes to his suppliers not to sell any such thing to the young boy. He's more than clever enough to think of trying to buy some of his own. "But if I'm a doctor, I can just make somebody else do .. it .. for .." He trails off as the realization hits him that this is exactly what Marco is doing, his little mouth hanging wide open for several seconds.

" .. but it's yucky," he says finally, almost pleading, the sort of thin, pitiful tone that has probably tugged at heartstrings at home and gotten him out of all manner of trouble or onerous chores. He does not really expect it to work here, but he has to try.

All of this is plainly quite a shock to the young boy, who stares at him with his mouth wide open for several seconds. It isn't difficult to imagine how little real discipline he must have had if this mild scolding is such a terrible shock to him. The very notion that Marco would happily abandon him at any time instead of simply giving in to Georgie's demands is an astonishing notion that he cannot fully wrap his brain around.

And this is where it might have ended -- with Georgie storming off in a rage to go seek refuge with his older brothers -- if things had not been as they are. If it hadn't been for little Ariana, with her soft grey hide and big big eyes, little Ariana, who helped make Georgie believe that he wasn't alone. If it hadn't been for all the stories of wolves, of how they can kill a man but sometimes won't, leaving him bleeding out for days while they play with him. If it hadn't been that Georgie wants to be a hero, wants to do something, even though he's too little to fight.

If it hadn't been for all that .. but he does want to help and to do good, and so the moment soon passes and his little mouth snaps abruptly shut. " .. yessir," he says, in a much more subdued voice. "I'm ready."

This is not going to be the last time that Marco has trouble with the lad -- but it's a start, and any sign of progress is useful.

Ariana has watched this exchange take place from her position tucked against Somnium's side with wide-eyed interest. Something important has happened here, and even she seems to see it in the air; there is a hint of pleasure, a breath of approval -- but she is young yet, and it is forgotten the moment that Marco opens the door. Oh. They're going outside? At least there is Sominum to hide under, and she will stick very close to the larger Guardian, occasionally pressing against his legs if they stop.

An odd expression comes over Georgie's face for just a moment when Marco mentions the queen, as if some memory brings itself about and then is gone again just as quickly. But he tugs a lock of his own hair and bobs his head in a nod at Marco, and just outside the door will finally do something that makes it seem as if he is going to be useful after all. He'll reach for the travel bag, trying to tug it out of Marco's hands, no matter that it's probably heavy enough to make him stagger. He just does it wordlessly, because it seems like something he should do. " .. I like honey cakes," he offers hesitantly, looking sidelong at Marco for some hint of approval.