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 Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:01 pm
For some time, Amryx had refused to believe that Adrian came from her broken burner and was convinced that this was some ruse to get him out of trouble. She had attempted to look around Midori for an unfortunate parent or set of who had lost a sulky emo boy with weird hair, but her searches turned up empty each time.
However, as time passed, Amryx was forced to slowly take Adrian's story as truth. He didn't tell her his name (Adrian was something Amryx made up on the spot in frustration when the youth didn't tell her - she was tempted to name him Ashley, but refrained), he smelled strongly of Black Currant no matter how many baths Amryx put him through, and the way he just appeared, and the fact he was so emo... Amryx was wondering exactly how she was "lucky" enough to stumble upon an enchanted scent.
Did Olivia know about this? Maybe that's how she got Ment. The boy always smelled strongly of peppermint... Amryx was thinking about this on a particularly slow day in the shop, as Adrian was writing something next to her.
"What are you doing?" Amryx asked the boy behind the counter, as Adrian was more interesting than watching people walk by the window.
"Writing poetry. You don't want to hear it, but you're going to ask to hear it because you want to be nice, don't you?" The child miserably sniffed, and Amryx resisted the urge to smack him fiercely across the head.
"Humor me."
"Fine," Adrian sniffed, and began reading.
"My soul is an abyss of torment
void of hope and life
because I'm stuck with this miserable cow of a mother
for the rest of my - OW!"
As it turned out, Amryx did smack Adrian across the head.
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:15 pm
Olivia was not home that day, she had left a note for her employee that she was picking up a shipment of candles that couldn't be delivered normally for the delivery boy was out with fever. She had also left her in charge of watching Ment, who was mostly keeping to himself and giggling from time to time as he passed by Adrian.
He meandered out from the back room when he heard Adrian's "OW!" and came to see what the matter was. "Hey Lady~ Why is the sad one rubbing his head??" Ment questioned, bouncing up and down on the heels of his odd shoes that didn't seem to fit here.
He twirled a piece of hair between his fingers and waited for her answer as he looked down at what Adrian had written.
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:24 pm
Kitten, having not bought her gel cup too very long ago, had not expected herself to be returning to the scented shop so very soon. True, she'd almost been out of oil for her candle, but like everything else she probably would have procrastinated on getting more anyway. Now, here she was, standing before the shop and peering through the windows to see if there was anyone inside. This trip however was not for her to purchase more oil. Oh no, we'd already seen where that had lead to, didn't we?
Oh good, it looked like that little white haired boy from before.
Turning, Kitten looked down at the girl whose hand she held, puckered her lips a bit and then turned back around to push open the door to the store, tugging the orange haired child gently. It's not that Kitten was acting unmotherly, or irritated towards the girl. More, she appeared to be too deep in thought over what exactly had happened and what exactly it was she needed to do about it.
Entering the shop she was once more assulted with all the scents one could ever imagine. Oh...there was even a raspberry sce-no! Not again. Kitten didn't have the money for another scent at the moment anyway.
Making her way to the counter, Kitten smiled sweetly at the woman who appeared to be working there that day, though she felt a bit put off that it wasn't the familiar Olivia this time. Although she smiled, Kitten didn't talk, instead she simply waited for the other to begin.
Vanyel peered around curiously, rubbing at her nose with one hand and fixing her glasses before spying Adrian and Ment. Canting her head to the side she offered a sweet smile like the one Kitten was giving now. She'd wave but, well, her waving, and was being held in her mommy's hand at the moment.
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:18 pm
To say that Mary was unused to carrying small children was an understatement. In fact, she couldn’t remember a moment in her life that she had spent cradling a child in her arms – let alone one that smelt strongly of spiced apple at this proximity - much less carting them through the city like a one-woman chauffer. None of her friends had children, and she had no siblings, so the task was foreign to her.
For the umpteenth time in that hour Mary readjusted the little boy tucked in her arms. His own were draped languidly around her shoulders, his legs wrapped loosely around her waist. For being so little, he sure was growing heavier and heavier! He must have been asleep at that moment in time, for she felt his face nuzzle into her shoulder (of which ached terribly!) and a sigh brushed across her neck. Despite the sweetness of the situation, practicality and urgency (for once) overrode any affection that may have grown for the obstinate boy; and in such little time!
She crossed the street towards the shop, short legs carrying her all the way to the door where she stopped to peer inside. Wonderful! There were occupants – perhaps even the shop keep was there and they could play a little game of twenty questions, the first one being: why? Why had there been a little boy in her living room, on her piano no less! When she had lit that silly candle. Despite living on Midori her entire life, Mary wasn’t much for magic and magician’s shenanigans! At least…that’s what she told herself. And this was coming from a woman who could sit and watch sparklers for hours on end on holidays.
Shifting Amahté onto her left hip and supporting him with her arm, she reached forward and opened the door with some difficulty, squeezing in. The scents that had mingled at the door’s crack now blasted her senses, and she felt a little overwhelmed by their mingling aromas; it was like having a horrible bout of vertigo. The little boy stirred, lifting his head up and wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth. His look of bleary-eyed wakefulness lasted for but a second before he came to, eyes brightening and narrowing like a cat’s.
“Why am I here?” he asked simply, voice giving a shrill crack. Apparently Mary herself was not important enough to be included in that ‘I’.
“That’s exactly what I would like to know,” she returned, setting him on his feet; when she tried to take his hand, he snatched his away, opting instead to walk before her, eyeing the other occupants within the room critically.
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:55 am
Farlest was perplexed. Well, that was something of an understatement, he was confused and befuddled and just barely dressed, in jeans, flip-flops, his button-up shirt was half undone and he hadn't done a thing with his hair. This was the state of mayhem into which his life had been cast, and all by one silly little indulgence in a fragrance. Alas and woe.
Of course, parts of it weren't so bad. Even if the boy was precociously impertinent...he was cute. Adorable with those big crimson eyes of his. Gods they were crimson. Crimson eyes and hair as dark as Far's own. Now that was just a cruel trick for fate to play, now really.
Ka's eyes.
Arius, as he'd announced was his name, with those same puppy eyes and voice that was entirely too savvy for his apparent age. Fitting somehow for the spawn of Mad Love. But all right, Farlest wanted some answers.
So it was back to the little shop in which he had purchased the stuff in the first place, the boy had one hand attached to the elf's jeans and Far's hand was in the child's hair, monitoring and ensuring that he didn't just wander off on him. Arius seemed the type that just might do that...miniature imp that he was.
Pushing the door open with his free hand, immediately the fears came true, and Arius pulled himself loose and darted on in, as there were new people and HE WANTED TO MEET THEM! Like a little cyclone of sweet-smelling goodness he announced his presence.
"Hello!" Beaming at them all, he finally slid to a halt, bright eyes wide and full of complete innocence, most of it probably feigned. "I'm Arius!"
Far sighed...it was hopeless. "Ari..." Already shortening the child's name in sheer exasperation, he made a grab for the youngster's wrist and tugged him back. "Be polite...please."
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 2:46 pm
"Because he's a brat who has nothing nice to say," Amryx grumbled, but now that she looked down on the mournful child, she did feel bad. Then she remembered Adrian always looked like that. Indeed, he seemed to forget about Amryx entirely and instead gave a dramatic sigh to Ment's question.
"Mother doesn't appreciate poetry. I figured as much," Adrian whined, looking up at his guardian balefully. Amryx was about to argue back when the front door opened, and she immediately took the chance to cater to a customer and ignore this demon spawn that came out of the burner... until she noticed that the customer had a child in tow, one who smelled strongly of Orange...
And then another, and another, all with children. The children seemed to recognize their own kin immediately, and Amryx promptly resisted the urge to groan in despair. She wasn't sure what Olivia's return policy for children spawned by magical oil/burners.
Luckily, Adrian groaned for her.
"Great, more kids. I bet their parents don't want them either," Adrian loudly complained, so that everyone could hear. "We're not going to keep here, are we? I don't want to share my corner. It's a corner meant for one."
"Shut up," Amryx hissed, and she promptly plastered a permagrin on her face as she finally attended to the customers. Maybe they all just decided to bring their kids along and she was getting the wrong idea about everything. "Hello! Welcome to Solace Scents! Olivia isn't here right now, so I'm taking her place."
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Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 1:28 pm
Ment looked up, fluffy white hair bouncing and settleing quickly back into it's original state. His bright red eyes blinked for a moment at the sight of so many people in one room. Quckly though his attention went back to Adrian for a reply, "It's not your corner. It's 'Livia's corner." He muttered, crossing his arms in a way befitting for one proud of their parent.
He wasn't going to mingle with the children that had entered until one little boy came bounding up with hair a black a raven, and eyes as red in color as his own. He said his name was Arius, and he smelled good~
Ment stopped for a moment, dropping the crossed arms he was sporting and his eyes lit up, clapping his hands wildly. "They're here!!!!!" He shrieked, dodging in and out of the men, women and their children. "They're all here!!!!...Well....Most of them."
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Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:29 pm
Oh look. More children.
It wasn't really that Kitten wasn't good with kids, on the contrary, she quite enjoyed children and was rather good with them...but this many? No, this many were not her cup of tea. Atleast they had their own parents to cling to though.
The orange haired girl standing at her side, who had so cutely called herself Vanyel during Kitten's 21 questions on their trip here, simply stood and watched the others. Poor girl must have felt left out being stuck in a group of boys, but atleast she was taking it relatively well. A smile was upon her lips for anyone who cared to notice, though apparently none of the others were very interested in her at all, especially when Ment got excited only after seeing the Arius boy.
Kitten simply pulled the girl a bit closer to her in a protective manner before turning to the one that declared herself in charge. "Good evening," Kitten replied to the woman's greeting, "I'm here because I'm a bit confused..." With a bashful expression Kitten looked down at Vanyel.
No, Kitten wasn't here to rant or rave or get angry about anything. She was a shape shifter after all, so from where she'd grown up? This wasn't anything strange at all, she simply wanted to make sure she didn't do anything wrong.
Vanyel continued to watch everyone with observant eyes, wide behind those black frames. A giggle was with-held when Ment got overly excited about the arrival of the others, but that wasn't surprising, he probably had known they were coming, even though they hadn't even know themselves.
Looking past Ment, Vanyel peered at the one that rather excitedly announced himself as Arius. It wasn't that she didn't want to reply with her own name, but as soon as she'd opened her mouth to reply, Ment and Kitten had interrupted her, so that could wait for later she supposed. First impressions couldn't be tarnished just because they hadn't actually met, could they?
Adrian was...unfortunatly...not noticed as Vanyel's view of him was obscured by where Kitten was standing between the two, so instead she trained her eyes on Amahte, purshing her lips and giving a weird expression at the sight of the boy. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with him overall, after all, they had all been oil cups just moments before, but he was strange even for the group. Atleast the rest of them were wearing normal clothes, like pants and shirts.
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Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 1:09 pm
It took Mary a moment to realize just how many children and adults were in the room, and she swung her gaze backwards to see if there’d be another influx. She took a few more calculated steps into the shop and rubbed her clammy hands together, brows knitting. Everyone had a child, plus little Ment, of whom she had met before while purchasing Ama—no, the spiced-apple scent liquid. She had not bought a child! As much as she tried to convince herself this, the fact still stood that she had seen everything…. A shiver worked its way down her spine despite her layers.
Upon hearing Adrian’s baleful words, she perked up and shook her head frantically.
“Not at all! I-I mean…well, it’s not that I don’t WANT him…but…” her voice trailed off as she searched her mind for the words; to anyone looking at her, it seemed as if she simply had forgotten to finish her sentence, having thought up something else. Something completely unrelated. She jolted suddenly.
“Why?” she cried aloud; she shook her head and tried again. Obviously she was stressed. “He- I didn’t mean- I just- I didn’t BUY a child, did I? Where did he come from? Did…Did Miss Solace plan this? Why didn’t she TELL us?” She looked at all of the others in turn, beseechingly. For a woman who spent most of her time on Cloud 9, she looked worried, almost terrified.
Mary turned to Ment, fingers pressing into her round cheeks, “ ‘T-they’re here?’” she repeated. Vertigo. Her voice became shrill, “Did you know? Oh God, I bought a child! I-Isn’t that illegal? What am I going to do?”
Somewhere behind her Amahté scoffed and gave his green eyes a whirl. Of all the people to be stuck with, why did he have to get the bimbo? He was already disgusted by the other children’s show of…glee, and now to be coupled with Mary? Oh, he was in for quite a treat, wasn’t he? The little boy crossed his arms over his bare chest and wandered (with a soft ‘shuff, shuff’ as his quilt dragged along the floor) towards the shelves.
It was like a burning in the back of his neck, having someone stare so intently at you. He attempted to ignore it, to even jostle some of the glass cups lining the display, but it didn’t leave. Straightening, he cocked his head slightly and cast his eyes over his shoulder; his entire body soon followed until he was eyeing Vanyel dubiously.
“Yes?” His brows remained level, as if addressing her were perhaps the most boring thing he had done in the short time he had lived.
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:29 pm
To Far's everlasting delight, the dark-haired boy actually listened to him this time, small fingers curling in the fabric of a pant leg and clinging, gazing up at his new caretaker in a puppyish fashion. Arius always knew how to make his wishes known even without words...but words helped, and he, like his guardian, loved to talk. "Pick me up?" He begged, crimson eyes becoming wide as saucers, liquid with what could possibly be tears that would most definitely spill should Farlest say no.
He didn't. With a longsuffering sigh, the elf scooped the little boy up into his arms, and Arius responded with a childish squeal of glee. Farlest had a long ways to go with that one...
The older male had to agree with Mary's slightly panicked outburst to some extent. "I'd have to agree...I really don't think any of us purchased something here with the intention of getting another family member." Farlest observed. "However, from the state of things, I gather Ms. Solace doesn't really want them back."
"So...how...precisely did this happen?" Eyeing the strange little white-haired child, who seemed so ecstatic about the entire affair, Farlest couldn't help but get the suspicion that the children knew more about this than they themselves did.
That was a damnedly scary thought right there.
"You dun want me, Daddy?" Arius looked positively crestfallen, arms looped around his guardian's neck, gazing into emerald-green eyes.
Oops. "Of course I do..." Farlest soothed quickly, tucking the boy's head under his chin, "...I just want this figured out. You were kind of a surprise, penneth."
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:51 pm
Oh no. It was time for Amryx to do damage control, and she had nothing to control the damage with. Certainly, there were situations at the bank back home where Amryx had to quickly explain her way out of transaction failures and such before the angry customers clobbered her with chairs and the like, but this?
How could she explain children randomly being born from burners? She had no idea such a thing was possible, yet the proof was running around all over the shop!
"I had no idea as well. I was um... very surprised when Adrian showed up. Tell me, how did you come across your children? Did they just appear, or did you see them being born, or...?" Amryx hoped that more information would help her solve this inconvienient mystery. Of all the days Olivia had to leave!
Adrian seemed to be unsure of what to do, but he grudgingly followed Ment out from behind the counter. Whether he was just curious or because he didn't want to be left of the crowd, Amryx didn't know.
"Well, it's my corner now. My mom works here too," Adrian mumbled, knowing how lame that sounded. He glared balefully at Amryx, accusing her of not being cool and owning her shop. Maybe he was jealous. Either way, he joined Vanyel and Amahté at the other end of the store.
"... Why are you wearing a blanket?" Adrian questioned, pointing to Amahté's choice of clothing. "It looks like an colorful oversized diaper, actually."
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:03 pm
Ment crooked a head at Mary as she rambled on in her confusion. After she was finished he quickly regained his composure and made a ninja look to make sure no one saw that he was slack jawed at watching the woman who didn't seem to breathe when she talked. At least he still thought she was a nice lady.
"Calm down silly Lady," He murmured, taking Mary's hand with a smile, " You chose us." He gave her a smile before darting away from her to inspect the children. He tugged at Amahté's wrap, made Princess Lea buns out of Vanyel's hair, and poked Arius in the butt several times before being content with his exploration. "It's like a family!" He squeaked, his peachy fists balled and shaking from delight, "A family! A family!"
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Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:30 pm
Vanyel smiled in return to Amahte's expression and question. "I was just admiring your..." the girl thought for a moment as she tried to figure out just what to call the cloth wrapped about his waist. She thought it would probably be insulting to call it a skirt, but that's certainly what it looked like. Finally she found a better word, "I was just admiring your outfit," she finished.
The girl gave another cute smile before Ment suddenly started playing with her hair. Vanyel pulled away and wrinkled her nose, causing her dark glasses to slip down her nose and requiring her to push them back up. Quickly fixing her braids the girl turned to look at Ment. "Family?" she asked curiously, looking around at the other boys with a dismayed look. Vanyel was definitally the type of girl that was all about sisters.
Although she should have replied to Adrian first, Ment's actions had riled her so much she had replied to him first afterall. Turning to him she shook her head and giggled, "It doesn't look like a diaper at all. I think it's really interesting, don't you?" she asked, looking over at Ment curiously.
Kitten watched quietly as Vanyel made her new little friends before turning back to Amryx with a smile in hopes of comforting her. It must have been a shock for all the people come in at once and Kitten didn't want her own presence to be upsetting to the woman. "Actually, I thought Vanyel had broken into my house when I was gone and that I'd caught her in the act."
"Ah, is there anything I need to know about her? I've tried to give her a few baths to get the gel off of her that spilled on her when she broke the dish, but it doesn't seem to come off. It's like she's her very own cut of gel. It washed right off me but with her, I dunno, it's just not working..." Kitten smiled again before looking over at her girl mingling with all the boys. Well, they looked...harmless enough, but those braids being pulled into buns by Ment had been cute enough to bring a laugh from the woman.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:28 pm
As the others spoke in turn, more calmly than she, Mary followed them with her hands pressed to her mouth. Her brow was worried across her dark forehead, fingertips pressing hard against her lips. Her gaze lingered on Farlest the longest, or rather, on Arius who seemed most affectionate, and his father in turn (’If…that is his father. Right? Oh goodness, at THIS angle…’); she received the sinking feeling that she had gotten the most…ah, socially apathetic of the bunch.
Mary began to nibble anxiously on her nail, “I…I saw an eye. I mean, I was playing my piano and I get up to get a snack, and when I come back the entire room was just…” – she looked for a word and bit hard on the corner of her finger – “immersed in smoke. And then there was this eye.”
She threw her arms into the air suddenly, “This big! And…and it blinked at me and then everything just sort of swirled back into the cup. Like…like a reverse explosion, or something. And then he was there. Amahté, I mean…he was on my piano.”
She wondered if any of the other stories were as weird as hers…she certainly hoped so. Her hands brushed against her skirt when she felt Ment’s small hand clasp her own, and she looked down to him almost imploringly.
You chose us.
When he darted off, quick as a sprite, she followed his movements, the crease in her brow disappearing slowly. So…that was it? After her so-called ‘retirement’, she had planned to live leisurely, and one sharp turn down her path she had stepped upon a sour note. She hadn’t even planned this! But in hard truth, she had. She had chosen Amahté, thus had chosen her own fate.
Oh, this was too mind-boggling. She could only hold her head and sigh.
“…Oh, I think I left the blinds open…”
Vanyel’s answer caught him slightly off-guard, but he managed to cover up his uncertainty to respond with a nod, as prim and proper and detached as only a king could be; a smug smile pulled the corners of his mouth taut. For a child, his mannerisms were curiously cold.
“Admiring? I see. Well, continue if you’d like,” he returned with a knowing nod (he may have had the air of a king, but his voice was one of a boy’s: high and sweet, able to sell sand to the desert). “Gods should be admired.”
“Amahté!”
He turned slightly, “What is it, woma—gah!” He swiped at Ment when he tugged on the quilt, a little too late. He took a hasty step forward in the boy’s direction, before Adrian wrangled his attention in the opposite. “I’d hardly want to be a part of this family – and you” – he pointed harshly at Adrian – “Don’t question my state of dress, and I won’t question your lack of masculinity. And you think I wear the diaper?”
His mouth twisted into a vicious sneer – or would have, had Vanyel not cut in. Again he seemed confused by her…unintentional support. Obviously he did not expect it, nor did he know how to receive it. However, the young boy quieted down and dropped his hand, looking every part disgruntled.
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Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:33 pm
Ari had squeaked at Ment's experimental poking, leaning over his guardian's arm in a precarious fashion in order to bat playfully at the other's finger...for some reason he didn't seem to mind said poking and Farlest had to wonder just where this kid had gotten his outlook on life...
He hoped it wasn't from him...Farlest didn't think he had been quite this much of a love-monger when he was that age. Of course, considering...it was a wee bit of a stretch to remember that far back. Huh...how old was he now anyway? Refraining from trying to count it out in his head, he turned back to the matter at hand.
"I'm positive Ari appeared from the scent...I don't really see how he could have gotten there otherwise." Farlest's smile was a bit sheepish, "I was the only one in the house and he did sort of materialize right in front of me...at first I was sure that the smoke was talking and I had gone mad."
The child didn't seem to be listening any longer, squirming his way from Far's arms, after planting another childishly sloppy kiss on the elf's cheek, and was immediately granted access to the floor. "Family? So it's like he's my daddy and you guys" A gesture to the other children, "are kinda like my cousins or somethin'?"
Green eyes flicked over to Mary and her young charge, "It seems you have something of a handful there, Ma'am." Sympathizing, he was as polite as he deemed correct for the circumstances. Though he rather thought that 'little he-devil' was a closer description for Amahte. Any tyke who thought he was a god had severe issues upstairs in his personal opinion.
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