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(( Resumed from shop RP, page 23, for a note to anyone jumping in. ))



Tarachand turned, a little embarrassed as he answered, "Well... I didn't think you agreed. After all, they are your friends and I'm just... some stranger. I thought you'd side with them." He tried not to fidget as Shylyn looked over his foot. He clenched his teeth before answering as he heard that his foot needed to be wrapped up, realizing he'd have to meet with someone else's parent when he couldn't stand to be with his own. But for Shylyn, somehow, he was willing to put up with it. He swallowed and gave a sharp nod, responding, "Sure it is, I don't mind."

He caught Chrono's glance at him and turned his head to the red-and-black archon. He could tell what he meant behind his gaze, and sternly looked him back in the eyes, almost daring him to try anything but obeying nonetheless. He wasn't going to hurt Shylyn, he knew he couldn't handle it. His large ears twitched as Chrono spoke, and his eyes narrowed. He sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back, nodding slightly. "Okay. Fair enough," he answered as he rose back, although wobbily, to his feet.

Thenyl blinked, surprised that Tarachand had agreed with Chrono. She grabbed Amethyst's arm and peeked around her shoulder, smiling at Chrono with gratitude in her eyes. "Thanks," she mouthed, still a bit hesitant to talk out loud.

Amethyst smiled as well, relieved to know he wasn't as single-minded as he seemed. She patted Chrono's shoulder in assurance and said, "Okay, then! Well, let's head to your house then."

Tarachand stared blankly up at Chrono for a moment as he asked, hand on his knee to support, surprised he would offer. He grinned at Chrono, a smirk across his face. He could recognize this sort of bantering. "Heh, no. That's okay, I can stand on my own two legs," he reassured, rising the rest of the way but still keeping most of his weight on his uninjured foot.

Thenyl gave an audible sigh of relief, crossing Amethyst's back out of view and coming out on the other side, in back of Chrono. Tarachand's attitude seemed less severe now that the two siblings had calmed him down, and she was willing to take the risk of coming into partial-view. She held her hands in front of her, wrapped around each other and resting at her front, ready to get moving.

Amethyst nodded as she watched her sister come out from behind her, glad things were settling down, for now at least. She caught Chrono's smile and smiled back before saying, "Which way to your house?"

Tarachand turned to Shylyn and listened, still a little bit hesitant about meeting their mother. But... she couldn't be all that bad, right? She was Shylyn's mother, and parent's traits often rubbed off on their children, though they weren't related by blood. "Lead the way, Lyn," he answered, willing to take the plunge.

Amethyst laughed at Chrono's description of his mother. "Okay, thanks for the warning!" she snickered, following Chrono to his house.

Thenyl cocked her head as Amethyst started to laugh, not seeing much to worry about. "That's okay," she finally said, not minding being hugged.

Tarachand's ears twitched as Chrono finished, suppressing a moan from escaping his mouth. Hugging... that's all he needed. But the touch of Shylyn's hand made him forget about all that, taking it with a smile. "Thank you," he said, nodding to allow Chrono to go first.

Tarachand nodded, willing to believe the shadowmoon archon. If she said he'd like her, then he'd at least try to like the woman. Besides, there wasn't any need to stay very long if he got uncomfortable, and at Shylyn's description of her quick medic skills he began to feel a bit less tense on the matter. He wrapped his arm around Shylyn's own and leaned off and on of her shoulder with his own, trying not to place too much weight on her.

As he limped along, he couldn't help but notice how close he was to her. His heart skipped a few beats and he could feel his face flush slightly into a blush. He tried to shake it off; he never imagined himself as the kind to get crushes, especially so easily! But there was something about her: her easy-going and understanding personality, her grace, her beauty... He turned his eyes away, trying not to look at her the rest of the way to their house for fear of letting something slip.

Thenyl noticed Tarachand's odd behavior with a few quick, sheltered looks up at him. She wanted to smile, because it was rather sweet, but she was still frightful of him. She didn't like to feel scared and wished it would go away, but knew it would just have to take some time. She just needed to talk to him some more, in a friendly manner.

As they approached the house, Thenyl gasped and her mouth grew into a gaping smile. It scared Amethyst at first, making her think that she had just remembered something or she saw something particularly bad, but she grinned widely as soon as she noticed why her sister had done so. Thenyl ran to the flowers in front of the house, kneeling down to caress the soft petals. "They're beautiful!" she breathed, in awe.

"They really are," Amethyst agreed as she watched her sister carefully. All the colors of the flowering buds seemed to dance in the light breeze, and the smells tickled her senses. This sure brought her back...

As Chrono called for his mother, Amethyst cocked an ear. "Are you sure she's home? Maybe she went to the store to get more cleaning supplies," she asked, remembering that the siblings had said that she was cleaning the house today.

Tarachand swallowed as Shadow appeared in the doorway, stopping himself from saying anything to counter his sudden urge to just disappear and holding on to Shylyn. True, she didn't give him a bad impression at all; on the contrary, it was a rather good impression, but he never felt comfortable around parents. It may have been a side-effect from his past before crossing over into this realm, but he tried to like her anyway.

Thenyl grinned up from her perch by the front-house flowers to Shadow, trying to show her appreciation. "Hello! I'm Thenyl, and your flowers are absolutely amazing!" she chirped, bending over to smell them.

Amethyst snickered at her sister's forward nature, glad she was starting to forget about what had happened. As Shadow disappeared, Amethyst placed a hand on her chin in thought and said, "She is very perceptive. I guess you two have a rather hard time hiding things from her, eh?"

She turned to Shylyn as she spoke, nodding. "I see. I figured she might, but I also didn't know if she knew where we were," she explained with a cringe and a smile. She shouldn't have doubted them. They knew her better than she did, after all!

Tarachand was caught slightly off-guard as Shylyn began to lead him over to the bench, not realizing she would go so far. "I-I'm sure I can walk over there on my own...!" he tried, but it was too late; she was already seating him down. "Thanks," he murmured, not used to saying it.

Thenyl's eyes widened in surprise at Shadow's consent for her to be able to take some, not knowing what to say at first. Snapping back into reality as she realized the space of time she remained silent, she finally was able to stutter a, "Th-Thank you so much!" She turned abruptly back and began to study the flowers, picking which ones would be better to take away from the rest.

"Don't take too many, now, Then!" Amethyst called to her younger sister. She smiled her thanks to Shadow and nodded, telling her silently that she wouldn't let the little tahnee get carried away. Thenyl snorted a response, but understood. She'd never just go off and take them all from their natural habitat!

Tarachand stiffened his leg to stop his reaction of pulling it in quickly to his stomach as Shadow returned and studied his foot. His ears twitched back as she started to sing, and he clenched his teeth down hard when she started to bathe it in antseptic. Not only was it cold, but it stung the scratches!

His hands wrapped around the edge of the bench he was on, knuckles turning white under his silver fur as he kept them from pulling him away. You gotta stay nice; no fleeing. What am I, a child? Maybe physically, but mentally I'm not! he growled to himself, but his tenseness soon evaporated when Shylyn wrapped her hand around his, his face turning red again. He wasn't used to othis feeling, and that fact scared him a little, but it was comforting at least. He gave a stiff nod in reply to Shy's words, whispering an, "Okay." He would listen to her.