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WHO: Tatiana, Revontulet, Doucette, Harrison & Camille
WHEN: Late June, early evening
WHERE: Harrison's Farm
WEATHER: Warm early summer, impossibly warm and humid but with clear skies.

Summer wasn't Harrison R. Troxel's favorite season. He was much more partial to autumn.... and winter. Or maybe he was just a grouchy old man that wanted to take everything out on the seasons and always found a reason to be upset with his environment. Humidity was probably Harrison's least favorite component of summer. Followed by the whole hockey season long since becoming dead to him. His flight schedule ramped up which was a positive and Tatiana seemed to flourish in the heat.

The warm weather suited her just fine- that much was obvious when her human counterparts wilted in the heat and humidity while her baseline level of excitement held at a consistent range of ‘bubbly’ to ‘snark master’. Tatiana enjoyed it- being born in the budding of spring and feeling the warmth grow in the air around her. He watched as she all but fumbled around in the long grass- the pack of now four canines yipping and jumping around her. Her red tinted hand held a glowing ball- some dollar toy Cam picked up on his way home from the new bar.

It was a comforting scene. His ward playing with his pups, Camille sitting on the patio, a cancer stick stuck between his lips-- not something Trox used to allow but in the heat and humidity- even a jaunt to the end of the quarter mile drive way lead into a nasty set of blisters on the remnants of the medic's leg. Granted that problem wouldn't happen if a) Cam sought physical therapy to learn to walk on his prosthetic and b) he quit smoking...

Luckily the medic's cravings were not many.

Harrison rolled his eyes and moved back to the steak he was marinating. Steak, blueberry lemonade, basil, tomato and mozzarella salad and a potato.... Doucette and Revontulet were en route. He took a swig, holding the neck of his beer bottle and smiled around the lip. Any ill feelings towards Camille's poor habits were lost as he felt a little swell in his chest at that thought and hummed.

The Cajun jumped slightly- having been lost in thought watching the smoke thread and wisp in front of him- when Doe appeared in his peripheral vision. She felt her lips press against his youthful cheek and he scrunched his face, holding his breath from his most recent inhale, stubbing the disgusting habit out in the small paper plate he had commandeered for his vice. The medic coughed- tilting his head to the side and breathing out- aggressively waving at the remnants of the cigarette and sheepishly smiled.

"Oh lookit'chu baby," He held a hand in front of his mouth, sensitive about polluting Doucette's nose. He let out a low whistle looking her over and smiling, "Da' babby bubba treatin' his momma righ'?"

The medic rarely had such a sloppy grin pulling his freckled cheeks up. He too was very sunkissed, complexion tanning through freckles much like the red head. He stood up slowly, grabbing his cane and accepting the flowers with a flush- responding with a heavily accented tone. "Bon merci, cher-cher..."

He held his arm out, unfazed by the heat- enjoying it and reminding him of home and fonder times. He nodded to the house, and pointed with his cane and began to escort Harrison's lady inside.

"Yeah, Pennsylvania boy be frettin' d'heat wave, tha's for sure. Bu' he be righ' through theauh. Th'kitchen. Leads t'th'back porch...."

He aided her up the front porch stairs and into the house.

"Ey, Trox! Y'baby is heauh," Cam smiled and gently brushed Doe's shoulder before heading backwards through the screen door.

--

Tatiana spun around in that moment, dining on the fall of the ball she had tossed for the pack of dogs. Trigger, the trusty german shepherd had instead opted to lag behind and nose Revontulet's hands. Tatiana reached forward gently scratching the german shepherds rump.

Trigger gave a happy response, legs moving in a little dance. He wings feathered out, flitting slightly against her bare shoulder blades. Her printed halter dress clung to her bosom, her ribbon bent and wobbling slightly.

"Hey, Ren." She said quietly, grin widening at the sight of her self acclaimed mentor.

Harrison looked up from tossing the salad, watching Doe move across the room with just his eyes, a slow smile growing as he put the salad down. She was a sight to him, dainty despite the added baby pudge, healthy curves becoming a bit more hidden in maternity. Hell yeah he was smitten. He finished another swig and slowly moved around the island in the kitchen.

"Hey, beautiful," He said, opening his arms and gently, yet firmly, wrapping her in a hug, "Y'look great." He mumbled into her mess of red headed curls.

"I got steaks ready for the grill, would you like to join me or chill in here with the fans an' less bugs?" None of the family members really believed in air-conditioning. Especially because the house was built on a concrete slab and kept relatively cool. So long as there was a cross breeze.

He dipped down in that moment, kissing Doe's expanding stomach and rubbed it over the material. "Hey lil' bubba." He said quieter.

--

"Trigger. He's the oldest..." Tatiana explained, braid falling over her shoulder when she leaned forward and kissed the canine on the spine. At this point the rest of the crew were racing back to greet the Aurora. Tatiana lifted her hands in the air to grab their attention but it did little when Ren smelled like two new animals. Troxel's dogs were well trained and sure they jumped up, but never on their guests.

"We've got, Trigger, Belle, Kiowa and Lakota... He's the newest. Harrison found him outside and alone. Post has been up for a week but no one called to take him..."

She went over to the mutt- most likely a mix between a golden and something- and rubbed her hands through his fur excitedly.

"We're an even bigger family now. Although he's probably gonna wanna stop the whole stray adoption thing... Not that I'm complaining,", She pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side, staring into the growing dark, "Camille.... Troxel's friend. I'll miss having him around all the time.."

"Absolutely nothing!" Troxel exclaimed, rolling his shoulder back and puffing his chest out. He grinned and pointed to a stool at his eat in breakfast bar and sighed, "To paraphrase the local cajun, 'you sitchur darlin' a** right there, ya'here?' "

He guided her over, keeping his hand in hers as she took her seat- probably begrudgingly- before moving over to the fridge and fixing Doe something cool to drink. The extra heat, weight and mobility hindrance probably didn't feel too grand what with heat turned as high as humanly possible. Granted Camille had other thoughts on that one. Apparently he came from a very special bowel of hell where anything below 90 was a blessing.

"Oh is da' wha' I sound like?" Camille said, sliding off his shoes as he finally followed through the screen door.

"Exactly. Perfect replica? Right Doe?"

"Awh don' trus' no one tha' cain' even pronounce their own name correc'ly," Cam said with flair, arm waving. He moved over to Harrison, footsteps audibly different now that he was barefooted, a rare sign of trust and comfort with present company, "Sniff test?"

The oddest ceremony they had. Harrison bent down without hesitation, glancing to the window as he all but smelled Camille's hair. The face he made was quite sour, "Nah, man. You smell like the Polish hangar in Kabul..."

"Really? Jet A?"

"Stale smoke, stress and desperation, actually." Harrison noted, brow raised as he pointed to the ceiling, "Upstairs and shower. Stool's in Tatiana's room for... some reason?"

"...ew. My bare a** goes on that." Cam made a very concerned face before moving towards the staircase.

"Yeah I'll have that talk then...." He looked to Doucette, concern evident in the creases of his face, "What does a torso less girl want with her uncles stool?"

---

Tatiana grinned, tattooed fingers gently sliding through Lakota's well groomed hair. She smiled solemnly, focusing her intentions on the dog instead of the emotions she didn't know quite how to identify let alone categorize. Camille had been there since day one. Not hour one- like Troxel- but that first day. He had the courage to sit with her and eventually wake her new guardian up. They sat and discussed things- many things and very random things. It was pleasant. He was hard to understand sometimes and looked sad far too often but all in all she was happy to call him an uncle. Almost as happy she was to call Harrison her Guardian.

The pilot took the title more than seriously with his fierce loyalty and desire to protect- sometimes it was overbearing.

After a long pause, Tatiana sighed softly, exhaling slowly and frowning as she looked up at the older Frei, "No, he's not going on Vacation. Harrison wants you and Doucette and the baby to live with us. Somewhere where we all have our own rooms. And apparently how the housing market works- the more rooms the more expensive."

The hamsa explained everything quite rationally. She was calm and composed throughout- gaze dipping from Lakota back up to Revontulet as she continued to annotate what both Harrison and Camille explained to her. That had been a rough dinner session.

"Camille also needs to move closer to his new business because moving is hard and everything," She pinched her mouth and gave a one shouldered shrug, navy locks pooled down her back with the movement, "I want him to live with us but it 'just isn't in the cards'."

By now the fireflies had started to appear in the twilight, their green yellow glow flickering over the field. Tatiana was momently distracted once more- carefully eying the tiny bugs before the aurora once again held her attention.

"He did try and bribe me- offering to take me and you on a 'special day out'," She paused, smiling a pout and looking to the side, "I thought you'd enjoy it so I accepted it."

"I'm sorry, hon," Harrison flushed at being sussed out. He bit his lip and slowly moved the cutting board laden with mozzarella and tomatoes. The pilot then sheepishly slid over a bunch of basil and smiled nervously at the fiery spirited woman, "Think you could make the salad? Chop those up, put them in a bowl then douse them with balsamic and olive oil? It'd be a real help."

He was trying. So very hard to meet amends here. Harrison Troxel was a strong man by all meanings of the word. However, when confronted with Doucette he crumpled like rice paper in a baby's hand. His cheeks flushed- and when the cheeks flushed his neck, ears and whole head really turned beet red. There was no hiding his shame or his willingness to appease his pregnant partner.

The Revontulet stormed in, panic palpable on in the Raevan's posture and pace. He quickly grabbed the steak he'd been marinating along with tinfoil wrapped potatoes before quickly moving towards the screen door. Five steps until he was safely by his grill.

"I'll just, leave you two- three," He amended as Tatiana followed Ren into the kitchen, "be while I start cooking these? Tatiana, bouncy ball's in the utility drawer!"

Tatiana rolled her eyes, watching her guardian flee incredulously before nervously looking up at Doucette then to Ren.

"I'm sorry if I said something wrong, Ren?" The young frei was worried. Very worried that she'd drop lower in Ren's ring of acquaintances. Their relationship was already thin due to the forced nature of their pairing. Or at least she was worried it was.

Tatiana was feeding off of Revontulet's emotions, something in her rune burned a bit and she gave a sharp gaze to the door her guardian hastily exited through. The hamsa was feeling more than worry now, there was a pit below her chest, right as the ribbon started that ached. Everything was changing rather fast and the reasoning behind it all was rather half baked. She moved towards Doucette and Ren, cautiously at first. Her instability caused her to pitch and sway a bit before she grabbed the countertop closer to her and regarded the two women, frei and human alike.

"It's okay, Doe," Tatiana muttered, letting her hand be wrapped in Doucette's warm palm. She huffed slightly, clenching her wings tight to her back and glancing towards the porch, "Is it Harrison's fault too? I mean. He's the one that put the baby in you after all."

The hamsa was educated. A bit too educated. Combined with the naivety of a newborn. She gripped the ginger woman's hand back and lifted her brows curiously. Tatiana wasn't a huge fan of change but had accepted it as something that just happened. She was young and this was her first journey around the sun so she honestly didn't have much of a comparison.

However Revontulet, had reacted violently to the change. Her voice pitched, her position stiff. It was uncomfortable still to look at the aurora, worried still she'd done something wrong or spoken too naively. That was the worst, reminding herself of just how young she actually was.

"What if Revontulet gets the deciding vote on the house?" Tatiana said after a pause, now moving into placate mode. It only made sense that the older Raevan have a say if it was affecting her life so much- right?

Tatiana honestly didn't have any more words. Her attempt at mediation fell through stupendously. The hamsa recoiled then, gently taking her hand from Doucette's grip and backing away into the counter, frowning with a large pout. She hated this ambiguity and discomfort. She'd much rather go back to petting dogs and watching fireflies. Instead she observed, watching Revontulet with a cautious gaze, ready to flick her eyes over to Doucette should she be caught staring.

Camille took that moment to re-emerge, smelling clean and wrapped in new clothing, a bit warmer than he'd previously adorned but still comfortable in a heatwave. He slowly descended back into the kitchen, raising his chin in inquiry to Tatiana who merely shook her head and gave a gentle shrug in return.

Well that was informative. The former medic sighed, and cleared his throat as he rounded the landing and moved into the kitchen.

"What's alla dis?" He asked gesturing the confrontational postures and energy sparking between Revontulet, Doucette, Tatiana and the screen door leading to the grill. He turned his gaze to the culprit of the last voice he'd heard while dressing upstairs, "Renno, what's wrong, mon cher?"

Tatiana was, in short, mortified. The emotions revontulet were such polar opposites she honestly didn't know how to react. She cast a very worried look at Doucette who seemed to be completely comfortable with the mood swing that just occurred. The hamsa was not, she bristled, uncomfortable and nervous. Was Revontulet always like that? Hiding something fierce beneath her stony exterior. That smile, while looking genuine, seemed so fake with the knowledge of what field the aurora had just batted out of.

Tatiana took a deep breath, launching herself off the counter and moving quickly to the stairs. She bypassed her self proclaimed uncle, finding his temporary room and gently closed the door behind her.

Camille was slightly awestruck at the certain turn of events as well. He had heard raised voices not moments before and now the only word to describe Revontulet was demure. No one was offering information so he decided to table the cause of the ruckus for now. Especially what with Tatiana hiding in what he gathered was his room for the time being.

"Jus' nothing? Don't seems t'me like nothin'. Y'all confused th'lil' duck," Cam started moving further into the kitchen and regarded Ren's sudden tomato infatuation curiously. "Special day? Oh! Yeah, jus' wanted t'take y'all t'th'open air market for a day."

Camille explained, biting his bottom lip and looking towards the screen door, "Did Troxel start tha' racket?"