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 Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:37 am
"DUCKY!" The small frost spirit squealed as she hopped out of her father's arms. Today Jason decided it was nice enough for a little family stroll. But with Colby still suffering from a cold he left the baby in his mother's care while taking Shayla out to exert most of her energy. One decent nights sleep, was that so much to ask for?
The toddler though, was grinning as she ran for the waters edge. "Ducky, ducky, DUCKY!" She chanted, stopping just short of falling in. The birds took to their natural instinct and moved back a few feet from her, weary of this new creature.
Jason smiled as he came up behind the girl. "Shalya if you scream the ducks won't come near you. Try some of this." And if like magic, a bag of bread crusts - since no one in his house seemed to like to eat them - was produced. Showing how to break it into little pieces and toss to the birds, he then passed a few pieces to the girl.
Shayla giggled. "Daaaaddy! We give duckies people food?" she asked, turning to watch as the ducks devoured the bread as if they never ate in their life. She followed in her father's example, breaking the bread and tossing it to a near by duck. Giggling she watched in amazement as it ate then moved in closer. "Duckies are so silly!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:52 am
"L.. lake."
"That's right, Lillan." Paper smiled down at her little boy as he gazed with wonder at the water. She'd thought it might be nice to take him to a new place, seeing as he'd grown quite a bit and she couldn't shelter him forever.
"Not like.. the other?" He asked slowly, peering up at her with an odd expression on his face.
"No, this is a different lake. There are many lakes around Gaia."
Lillan's face immediately brightened at the thought. "Many lake? This is good." He made a small laugh and started walking down to the water's edge where there appeared to be two other people and a group of hungry looking ducks. He hadn't noticed them at first but when he did, the little boy immediately stopped dead in his tracks then back stepped a few feet until he was hidden behind Paper's skirt.
"Oh, it appears there are other children here." Paper smiled warmly and called out to them. "Hello~ Lovely day isn't it?" Well, it was an awfully cliche coversation starter, but she wasn't very good at socializing. If not for Lillan she'd be at home reading. As things stood, however, she knew the little boy needed to meet more people.
Lillan just peeked shyly around Paper's leg, eyeing the others cautiously.
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 1:11 am
Jason thought he heard someone, and glanced over in Paper's direction. Then he did the stupid thing, glancing behind him as if she were talking to someone else. No? There was only water and ducks that way, and a creepy looking old man far from their location. Conclusion, she was talking to him.
Looking back over, he forced a smile and gave a faint nod in greeting. "Aye... It is a nice day. Specially to fee-" There was a small pause in his words, taking note of Lillan. But he caught himself quick enough to continue, "Feed the ducks. You have a Spirit Incantation don't you? I've seen quite a few now it's getting easier and easier to pick them out from other children."
Upon hearing this, Shayla jumped and spun around. Was it another friend to make? Maybe this one would be fun and active like Taji. Or maybe he'd like Oreos like Elazu! Or maybe he'd be snotty like that Ashe... No, she wasn't that bad in the end. Either way, the small child started towards Lillan and Paper at a mild pace.
"Hhhieeee!" She beamed, waving her arm around in the air as she approached. "I'm feedin' the duckies! Do you want to feed dem too? Daddy has lotsa bread n' I can share!" That said, the remaining piece of bread in her hand was offered out to Lillan as she came to a stop several feet away from him. She didn't even notice the boy was more or less trying to hide from her... Oh well.
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 1:28 am
Paper tilted her head at the man and was silent for a moment. "I didn't realize there were others," she said at length. "Though, now that I think about it, I can't see why there wouldn't be."
Lillan's eyes became wide with surprise as this Other came right up to them and started speaking almost too fast for his startled mind to follow. "A-ah... what?" He looked up at Paper, confusion written all over his delicate features.
The pale woman knelt down so she was at eye level with the frightened child. "Remember we spoke about learning new things? This is someone you can learn from. Say hello and introduce yourself to her."
It was as if the thought hadn't occured to him. "I will learn?" Lillan perked up, smiling at Paper, then at the girl. "Hi~" he finally replied, though not quite as loudly. "What... are ducks?" he asked, little hands clutching at ends of his long sleeves. "And.. what.. are you? I am a Lillan."
Paper coughed and glanced up at the other man in semi-embarrassment. "He hasn't met many people, I'm afraid.. Actually he hasn't met any children at all. You say you've met others like these two?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 1:54 am
Shyala blinked at the boy. He was so ... Different. He definetly wasn't like her other friends. "My name is Shayla! And ducks... Are dose floaty things out there. Like a rubby ducky in a bath! But these duckies are real, and they eat bread!" And as if to make her point, the hand holding the piece of bread once more offered it to Lillan.
"Come on! We go feed the duckies! It'll be lots fun!" Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she reached out with her free hand to grip the material of Lillan's sleeve. Gently she tugged, wanting to coax him down closer to the water.
Jason watched his kid before looking over at Paper. "Yes, I've seen a few. Though Shayla's interacted with them more than I did. It's more about her than me of course. I just watch from the side, taking pictures for future black mail or of course her scrap book I started. I was just telling another mother a few weeks ago how these years are most precious. I want to make sure she'll have these memories after she's forgotten them." Shrugging, he removed a small digital camera from his pocket to be ready for that kodak moment.
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 3:21 am
"O-ok.." Lillan stuttered, letting himself be dragged along after seeing Paper was ok with it. His kimono was loose to begin with (he really wasn't into clothing to be honest.. so confining) and Shayla's tugging only made it worse. He tripped over the hems of his clothing several times on their short trek to the water's edge.
"Ducks eat.. this?" He frowned slightly before taking the odd looking Bread from Shayla's hand. "Bread.." He sniffed it experimentally. "Is it good to eat?"
This whole situation was a more than a little intimidating to Lillan, who was still so inexperienced.. but.. Oh! A thought occured to him. She must want to play in the water! Why else would she have taken him so close. He blinked at the girl, wondering how Bread and Ducks could be played with in the water.
"You will go together with me in the.. the lake?" Lillan asked Shayla, sounding a bit more enthusiastic as he took her hand and pulled her toward the ducks. He stepped out of his shoes as Paper taught him and took a few steps into the cool water, his feet sinking into the squishy mud. "The Bread will play too?" he inquired as he dunked a fist full of it into the water. It came apart in his fingers, disolving into several mushy pieces.
"... I don't know... how to play with Bread," he said sullenly, holding the last sloshy chunk out to the nearest duck, who promtly splashed out of reach.
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 6:09 pm
"Yes yes! Bread is good to eat!" She stated, but giggled a little. "I jes dun like the crusties. That's what we throw to the duckies 'cause the duckies like to eat them." She explained, watching as the boy sniffed the bread.
But as he began to take his shoes off and walk into the lake, Shayla just shook her head. "No no no! Not in da water!" But she smiled and laughed, letting him get wet. She instead, walked on top of the water - only after using her powers to freeze it below her feet. Only a small little platform was made, nothing more than a foot around her. "I dun wanna get wet today... But you can play in da water. I stay up here."
Nodding, she took a quick glance around for the bag of bread crumbs, only stepping away a moment to retrieve it and come back to Lillan. Only then did she see the mushy bread in his hand and giggle once more. "You so silly! You dun get the bread mushy you throw it to the duckies! Like this." Grabbing a hand full of crumbs, she threw them out to the ducks with a shout of "HERE duckies!"
Again, the birds flocked over to devour the crumbs in less than 5 seconds. Though this time they stuck around. A bag equaled more bread and they wanted it.
"Seeee. They like the not musshy stuff... So try again?" She asked, offering the bag down to Lillan so he could get a new handful of bread crumbs.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:58 am
"Duckies like.. crusties," Lillan repeated slowly, turning to smile shyly at Shayla. He was learning so much already! But he was immediately distracted from his musings when he noticed the girl seemed reluctant to get in the water. And then, to his absolute amazement, she walked on top of it. "Don't want to get wet," he said, almost unable to comprehend such a thing. "Why no-... Hey.. how.. you...?" He half squeeked at her. Lillan poked cautiously at the ice platform as Shayla went to get more bread.
"What is that?" he asked when she got back, then said "Ok.. I won't.. make it.. mushy," as he reached carefully into the bag to grab a small handful of bread crust.
"Like this?" The little boy carefully tossed some crumbs to the increasingly friendly ducks, laughing as they gobbled it up. "Duckies, duckies~" he sang happily. He smiled when an adventurous old mother duck with three fluffy duckling floating behind her came close enough to snatch a tasty looking strip of crust from Lillan's hand. "What are.. those?" he asked, pointing at the little yellow fluff balls.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 1:28 am
She didn't hear him ask as she walked away, but when she returned she giggled at the question. "This?" She asked, tapping her toes on the ice. "It's ice. It's somefin I can do... makin' icey..." She explained, shifting to sit as to be closer to Lillan's eye level.
"You wanted go in da water so I had ta follow... But 'cause I dun wanna go in the water I made a spot to stand. I dun wanna make more though 'cause then I'll get sleepy real fast..." She recalled the last time she made a lot of ice and pouted slightly. She couldn't even remember how she got into bed...
But as the boy threw more bread, she smiled and giggled before doing the same. More and more were starting to come closer, and taking a long piece from the bag she held it out at arms length. A few moments passed before a daring duck took it from her hand. She burst out in a giggle, "DIDJA SEE THAT!?" She asked, pointing at the duck that hurried away from the outburst.
Only then did she see the ducklings. "Huh..." She frowned, watching the little fuzzy things. "I unno what those are.. They looke like duckies, so maybe baby duckies? More like the rubber ducky I play with in da tub!"
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:22 am
"Eyes," Lillan said, testing the word out. No, that wasn't quite how she'd pronounced it. He was always very careful about learning how to say things properly. "Eyyy..ss... Ey-yy-ss. Sssss-ss."
"Oh~!" He giggled with Shayla as the ducks become bolder and practically crawled over eachother to get at the tasty morsels floating on the surface.
But... At that moment he was more curious about something else. Lillan knelt down so that he could get a closer look at this ice. Of course his clothing got thoroughly soaked in the process, but that never concerned him. Nearby Paper made a delicate frown at it, but otherwise didn't intervene.
Lillan seemed suprised that Shayla didn't know what the yellow fuzzies were. "Rubby ducker.." No, that wasn't right. He reached to put his hand on the ice as he pondered over the words. Oh, my~ Ice was cold! It was a little shocking to the little boy and he stumbled back a step, flailed a little then fell over completely. Lillan was, for a second, flat on his back. With a startled squeak he popped back up out of the water.
Amusingly enough, one of those yellow poofs sat squarely on his head, looking just as startled as poor Lillan.
At the edge of the lake, Paper stopped midstride. She could see he was ok... and a little water never hurt him. Actually, after the initial shock wore off, Lillan giggled and attempted to peer up at what ever was now attempting to hide in his petal-hair.
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Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 10:45 pm
"Ice." Shayla tried to correct her new friend, chucking another handful of bread at the birds. Her attention was off on the birds, instead of the boy inspecting the quickly melting ice chunk. Really it was only big enough to support her weight, and in the warm weather it was rapidly melting. Too bad she didn't notice.
When Lillan fell backwards, Shayla jumped in surprise. "Lillan! What happened!?" She shouted, all but ready to jump in the water after him. But when he resurfaced with the duckies on his head, Shayla just started to laugh.
"LOOKIE!" She shouted, pointing at the ducklings. "He's got duckies on his head daddy!" Jumping excitedly, the ice below her cracked down the center. Only seconds later she fell a** first into the water.
Well, looks like she didn't stay dry for long. Tears welled in her eyes as she held up the now water logged bag of bread. "Ohnoes....."
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