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 Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 4:59 pm
If there was one thing Bran really and truely enjoyed the most it was exploring the expanse of a flea or farmer's market. Currently he was at an early morning farmer's market. He wandered and wove between the stalls of produce and other people who were there.
He was looking for a few things in particular - Bran preferred to cook his meals with fresh ingredients. Perhaps tonight he'd make some pasta and cheese sauce.. lasagna maybe? Or penne rosa? He scanned the cheese booth he stood in front with a vague expression.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 5:08 pm
Hadrian was beginning to feel fed up. And tired, for that matter; he hadn't gotten one whit of sleep last night (he'd been sleeping in his office again, lately - it was too strange in his own apartment). Earlier, just when he'd been contemplating taking a nap, Dacian had sent a frantic call to him.
"Hadrian, Hadrian - all three are beeping! I can't get them all, you have to help!"
Then he'd sent him off a wild goose chase. Bran Lio'koli was not in his apartment. Nor was he anywhere on the compound. He was just lucky that someone had seen the man leave, and had an idea of where he was going.
Then he spotted the man. Thank the Gods he was distinctive...
"Mr. Lio'koli."
Hadrian wasn't going to shout; he was too tired for that.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 5:14 pm
Bran looked up, blinking in surprise as he heard someone speaking his name. It was a very tired sounding voice. He turned curiously, staring blankly at the man in front of him for a few moments. He felt a vague niggle of deja vu in the back of his mind and then it clicked.
This was one of the three mages that he'd seen on the day that he'd visited his child.. well... energy. He turned to give a small wave to the vendor before walking calmly over to the other, head tilting slightly with interest. His long hair was tied back in a ponytail that rested at the nape of his neck and his horns were once more bound in white cloth.
"Hello... Hadrian, correct?" He never forgot a name. He offered up a slightly confused quirk of his lips that was supposed to be a smile. What was he doing here?
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 5:19 pm
The mage gave Brana tired nod; at least the man knew who he was. He wasn't in the mood to go through explanations.
"If you would come with me, please? The monitors picked up fluctuations from the your Soul, so it should be being born very soon."
Glancing at the strange-seeming watch on his wrist, Hadrian checked that the Soul hadn't been born yet; amazingly, it hadn't. He was starting to think that something about the guardians was neccesary for them to be born...they tended to change as soon as their guardians entered.
Hm. He'd have to look into that.
Stifling a yawn, he reached up and adjusted his monocol.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 5:28 pm
He felt like his heart stopped, his whole body freezing up. His child was going to be born! Immediatly he became limber again, hurrying forward and grasping Hadrian's hands. "Oh... let's... yes. Please lead the way." He let go immediatly when he realized that it may be awkward.
He tucked his hands into his long sleeves for lack of anything better to do with them. Suddenly he felt nervous - what if the child didn't like him? What if something went wrong? Could something go wrong? Why hadn't he thought of these questions to ask before, when they were all together standing in that strange building that held the children in their energy state.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 5:38 pm
Hadrian began to lead the way back, tiredly wondering when he'd be able to go back to his office. He wanted to make good use of that cot in there...
--
It had taken a bit of time to travel back to the compound, but they had done so. And now, they were descending into the labs, towards the room where Bran had met his future child for the first time. On the way down, Hadrian offered some comments.
"Only once has there been anything wrong with a child, at birth; and even then, it wasn't a particularly dangerous problem."
Just, y'know, silence. Ophiera's muteness had been discovered very early. He thought that he should offer some measue of reassurance, since the man seemed so nervous.
"Also, I will take a sample of the DNA after it's born, to determine what it has blended with."
They reached the doors to the room where Hlao was.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 6:03 pm
Bran bit his lip as the stopped in front of the door and Hadrian tried to reassure him in his own way. Still.. something had gone wrong once. And what if he couldn't raise his child in the proper way? What if something went wrong and it was entirely his fault?
He gave a tight nod, forcing a smile. "Thank you... ah. You'll be taking blood?" He frowned slightly and vowed he'd hold onto his child's hand if he or she wanted him to... he hoped they would.
How developed would it be, he wondered. And then... why were they just standing outside? He shuffled slightly, keeping his hands in his sleeves. "Do.. do we have to wait or.. can we go in? Can I see?"
There were more questions.
Will it like me? Will it be a boy or girl? Will it open it's eyes, speak, smile, cry...?
Will it love me?
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 6:08 pm
"Yes, but it's not done in the traditional fashion, so the child will feel only a brief p***k."
Magic and technology...they worked surprisingly well together. For the most part, anyway. Some things just couldn't be blended.
In response to Bran's question, Hadrian opened the door, and led them in. And, just as he was expecting, the energy began to fluctuate visibly just a few moments after they entered.
Pulling out and in, and then finally seeming to practicaly implode. And then, after a moment of blinding light, a little girl was sitting in the center of the room.
Hlao.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 6:55 pm
There was an audible gasp from Bran as the energy fluctuated. He watched with a mixture of horror and amazement as it went wild, sucking in on itself until there was a implosion... at least he thought that's what it was, there wasn't any sound accompanying it.
And then there was a child sitting, knees curled up and hands tucked into her lap. Long flowing green hair just touching the ground where she sat. The little girl blinked her eyes open for the first time and looked around, her expression confused.
Bran hurried forward quickly to the child, as though drawn in by an invisible hand. He stopped in front of the small child, dropping to his knees in front of her. He dropped his chin to his chest to look down at her as she looked up at him with those deep, wide eyes. She reached up and...
...grabbed a handfull of Bran's long hair, giving it a hard pull. When the man gave a surprised sound she smiled, her face lighting up and...
She laughed.
"Oh... hello, Hlao."
The name just appeared. Now that it'd been said he had no question as to if that would really be her name. This was Hlao.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 7:18 pm
Hadrian mentally marked down the name 'Hlao', to put on her file later. A little girl, from the looks of it...and he had a good idea of what her blend was. The energy stage had been rather obvious, after all.
Stepping forward, he touched a few things on the monitor. Apparently it was a touch screen, because a little compartment popped open underneath it. From it, he took a small object; it looked like some sort of scanner.
"Now, this will only take a moment..."
He knelt by Hlao and Bran, and placed it over Hlao's hand; the little girl would feel a momentary p***k, but then it would disappear as Hadrian raised the scanner, and stepped back to the monitor.
"I believe her blend was fairly obvious from her appearance as an energy, but this is just to make certain."
He seemed to be waiting for something to pop up on the monitor.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 7:27 pm
Hlao gave a small jump at the p***k, tears welling up in her eyes and staying. It was a little scary but not all together too painful. She gave a small coo and reached up toward the dark haired man.
Bran frowned and picked Hlao up, tucking her gently into his arms. His flowing garmet helped in wrapping her up, causing the toddler to give a small chuckle of enjoyment. She continued to explore Bran's hair, sticking a rather large clump of it into her mouth to suck on.
Bran smiled tenderly, stroking the back of her head. Her hair was beautiful and long, her skin the color of rich mahogany. He noticed her ears came to a fine, elven point as well. "She looked like... dirt." Not the most elegant, but how could one be at a moment such as this?
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 7:32 pm
Waiting a few more moments, something popped up on the screen, and Hadrian nodded to Bran.
"Well, it looks like that's accurate. Hlao is blended with earth."
A bit more eloquent way of putting that she was dirt. Yeesh, talk about the insults she'd deal with when she got older, if other kids found out about that...
The mage put the scanner back into the compartment, and closed it up. Dacian tended to be much more social about these things, but he just wasn't in the mood to care, lately. And he wanted to sleep.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 7:48 pm
Bran nodded, carrying the little child over to stand before Hadrian. He gave a small, polite bow, being sure to hold Hlao tightly. She gave a small chortle at this, enjoying the moment of new perspective.
"Thank you, Hadrian." He looked up at the man, hoping that he could understand the heartfelt appreciation he had. "I suppose.. I'll be going now?" He stroked Hlao's hair gently and the small girl leaned on his shoulder, large eyes slowly closing. It was hard work coming into the world, that was for sure, and she was feeling extremly sleepy...
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 7:52 pm
Hadrian allowed a small smile to cross his face for the first time that day, as he nodded in response. He could see how grateful Bran was, and how happy Hlao was...and even if he wasn't in the mood for much of anything, he was at least happy that something was going right for someone.
"Your welcome."
Tapping a few things on the monitor, to shut the equipment in the room down into stasis, he directed a momentary comment to Bran.
"If you have any questions later on, just ask one of us Magi. We'll take care of it.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 4:03 pm
The small girl had fallen asleep against his shoulder, little arms curled around Bran's neck, a small smile on her face. Bran nodded to Hadrian, gently stroking her long green hair as he moved.
"Thank you. I will be sure to find one of you if I do. I'll show myself out."
He gave a small bow to the magi before turning and heading out the way they'd come in. He'd go home to show his girl where she'd be living now.
His girl.
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