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(Ice and Rose)

*

It was becoming a little apparent and a little more alarming to Leon Aristipossos that whenever Cressida was out the house - and he was left with one or more children - he started to seek the company of other adults: well, that wasn't too surprising. Quixana's conversation abilities had a number on his sister's (who talked in bubbles, hissing, and lately high-pitched squeaks) but after more than a few hours of it, their father started to get stir-crazy. It was unfortunate that, then, the best people to seek out were other parents: because normal people started to tire easily of the worries and woes of infant daughters eating all the fluff out the carpet.

"Fssss," Annie said. They were settled in what passed for classy coffee for a parent: the McCafe part of McDonald's, where she was ensconced and trapped in a high-chair and trying admirably to get her Lazytown t-shirt off. She was missing the fluff, didn't like the aroma of espresso, and was generally peeved. Terror had attempted to jump into her apple juice. By now, Leon was fairly sanguine to all of this. "EEEEEEEEEE."

"Mmmhmm," said her father, unsympathetically, and raising his coffee to his lips: as Ice walked through the door, Annie was even more frustrated, opening and closing her little fists and showing her sharp little teeth. "Eat your fries."

"Fsssssssssssssssss," said Annie.

"Looks like someone got bigger," remarked Leon with a short wave to Ice and her coterie, not even blinking at the dark-haired centaur girl that the woman had in tow. Annie was so busy looking at Walter that she accidentally put a fry up her nose and snorted in irritation. "Xana looks like an abuse victim. Doesn't walk if he can run, and doesn't run if he can fall down and hit himself in the head. - Want some coffee?"

"Eeeeeeeeee!" shrilled Anemone, which may have meant, Walter! or may have meant, This potato object is displeasing me!.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Kitsumai," said Leon, who at least had good manners sometimes; he ran one hand back through his fair hair and totally ignored Annie trying to suck the fry up to her brainstem. "Seems like your family gets bigger every time I see you, Ice. Huh. - Cress is out shopping; she'll probably come join us late - damn it, Oblivion."

Oblivion was already attempting to eat a chair leg; still fairly composed, Leon wrested it away and hoped that none of the minimum-wage workers had noticed. The chair was noticeably wobbly now. "Should've brought her some ball-bearings," he said. (With the other hand, he attempted to remove Annie's fry, missed, and patted her on the head instead. He had earned his Parental Wings.)

"Eeeee," said Annie, and held out demanding, salty hands out to Walter.

"No use taking away the other leg," Leon said. "We can't glue it back on. Just let him have it. - Should've known better, anyway: my bad." (Annie had started wriggling out of the high-chair like a worm; he picked her up by the scruff of her neck and set her down by his leg, where she immediately stopped fussing and hugged Walter's extremities.) "At least he's not ripping the sh - the curtains."

Terror hadn't yet responded to Oblivion being there: neither daemon got on well with the other. He was still hiding in Annie's t-shirt, though she was pulling herself out of it in admiration at seeing both Walter and Kitsumai. Rather than being scared of the horse-girl, the fishbaby gave her one of the most calculating looks ever seen on an infant: then she hugged her leg, impressed at Kitsumai being half-pony.

"Courage scratches everything," Leon said, in tones of deepest gloom. "At least she and Oblivion don't live in the same house."

"Eeeeee!" Annie shrilled again, and waved her salty hands at Kitsumai. She then gave a slight babble to Walter, which probably meant, see the horse-creature! I am enthralled!.

"Fssss," said Anemone, who was suitably impressed at Kitsumai. She had a big brother at home; and though Quixana was, in her opinion, fairly near to Jesus, God and television, he did not have four legs. That was pretty excellent. She tugged on Walter's shirt-front, already trying to pull herself up: thus far she hadn't been successful (much to Leon's relief) but she kept trying. "Wawa."

That got Leon's attention; he had been eyeing up Terror and Oblivion. Terror was still burrowing into the folds of Annie's discarded shirt. "What?"

"Wawa," said Anemone. Then, disappointingly: "Eeeeeeeeek."

"Still hasn't said her first word," Leon told Ice. "Just nonsense noises. - Quixana's talking up a storm."

Indeed, Anemone seemed inordinately fond of Walter; alas, nobody told him to relish it now, lest it change during puberty. "Wawa," she answered him, which didn't help, but she seemed very smug with her saying of the word. "Waaaawa."

"Quixana tried a bit harder," Leon said, and drained the rest of his coffee. "Annie just... makes sounds, really. - You must have talked a lot to Walter - "

His cellphone launched into a beeping rendition of Mozart. He pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Yes? - No; we're across the road with Ice. - No, don't; I will. Yes. Love you.

"Cressida," he said in explanation, and tucked the phone away. "... Xana will be happy to see Walter."

"Should've told Cress to bring some scrap metal," he said, but held the leash: he and Oblivion eyed each other a moment, but Oblivion seemed much more entranced with her chair leg than with looking at her new leash-holder. "Don't worry; kids watch weird stuff. Quixana will shut up for hours in front of Erroll Flynn."

He dug out his wallet and passed it to the other woman. "My treat; I asked you here. Can you grab me a coffee for Cress? And one of those, uh... gaudy box, plastic toy... for Xana." (He didn't bother with Annie, who was blissfully gumming on - the back of Walter's neck?)