The Twofold Houses 5: Rebuilding

[Gullara]

((I really doubt the front door is visible from the living room, but we can gloss over that detail. ))

[Playdate]

"What kinda stuff?" Bastion asks curiously. He watches Sergei go by with some interest. Was that a gift? His eyes light up.

"You gotta visit more, Ariel. Your mom's here lots. You should come too." Cora observes.

[Shadowcaller]

((When I wrote "enter" I meant them entering the living room as I assumed they would eventually go there. But she also heard them enter (would be kind of impossible not to) and so did Garn. Therefore, either them still being at the door or in the living room works. However, anyone addressing Cessie must have gone all the way to the living room if that's OK with you, Wolfy.))

Playdate

"Of course. Go right ahead, Charles." Cessie replies, nodding while Garn wanders over to the hall to start his vigilant watch over the children.
"You are supposed to be in the living room." He informs them with a gesture.

[Sweet Dreams]

"A desert? That does cut down the possibilities significantly." Ambrosia reasons as she once again touches her tome which starts to rapidly turn pages on it's own. "I'm not sure how you managed to cross the sea from Elshar but there's only one yu-seed on yukei and from your description it doesn't sound like you could have reached it, unless..." She looks to the tome which now shows a map of a world with several marked spot. "There is supposed to be a second seed in yukei but its has been dormant as far back as recorded history goes." The scholar remarks as her finger tip moves across the map. "Arechi desert... yes. This must be it. Right in the region this dormant seed is supposed to be. I have never read much about the region but look at this. It's clearly the area where this seed is supposed to be." She taps at a red dot on the map and frowns. "Not sure what to make of this. I suppose it would be pretty noticeable if one of the seeds disappeared for..." Ambrosia suddenly looks up to the dryad. "How old are you again, Sakura?"

[Murkus]

[Sweet Dreams]

Adir is starting to tire of all this seemingly irrelevant crud himself, but he withholds comment for now. Too much more about things that are almost like Sarget and specific locales and dormant seeds, though, he just might start to lose his mind. Just before Ambrosia poses her question, Adir leans over and whispers, "I sure hope she's reaching a point sometime this millenium. I'm starting to think she's looking at you like a research project and not a person."

[Not So Good Morning]

"Huh? What do you mean?" Adir feels something icy crawl up the nape of his neck.

[Training Day]

"Hmm. Sounds like your people had the right idea," Adir posits to Koshal. He looks at Wenomir. Grins a little. It's quite wicked seeming. "Yeah, well, you might wanna brace up a bit. It's gonna hurt."

And indeed, the miniature cannon jerks up violently if tested, unleashing a deadly spray of shot with incredible force. The stock - for thank the Gods, Adir has a stock attached to this one instead of a pistol grip or short handle - bites into his shoulder like someone stomping on it with a boot. The result is nothing if not satisfying: even a rudimentary aim disintegrates a huge chunk of the target paper.

"Would be almost a little too easy, huh?" Adir asks with his usual grin. "Hmm. Maybe I'll get Cern something little... a BB gun..."

[Gullara]

[Sweet Dreams]

Sakura looks up at Adir out of the corner of her eye. She snorts quietly and gives him a wink. It's probably fine. "Oh, um, I'm twenty nine. Does that matter?" Sakura answers.

"If there was any other being there, I wasn't aware of it. Unless a yu-seed can look human as well." Sarget says. Ambrosia is clearly a scholarly individual. Sarget has seen many things in the world, but that doesn't mean he knows all these proper terms.

[Not So Good Morning]

"I'm afraid I can't tell you anything precise. I just have a feeling for such things. I've heard of spirits that can cause nightmares. Perhaps something like that." Sarget ruminates. He leans slightly and looks more directly at Adir. "Is something wrong?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Sweet Dreams]

"Maybe." The scholar's curt answer isn't exactly satisfying but she seems to have reached some kind of conclusion at least. "But I see little other reason to go to that specific desert considering its ties with the seed. Yu-seeds do fall dormant occasionally when the environment they live in turn hostile, such as this one turning into a desert. The seed itself likely existed underneath the earth and transferred itself into the piece of Sarget once he handed it over. It's reasoning for this doesn't seem too difficult to understand, it longed after new life and well..." Ambrosia gestures at Sakura.

"So what does all this mean exactly?" Even Cessie seems to have trouble grasping the significance of this. It looks like she has more questions put have trouble putting words to them.

"That depends on what value you put into knowing your origin. I can't say for certain I've confirmed anything until I've had a chance to communicate with Sakura's inner self but now it seems likely that she's a changeling of a yu-seed. Whatever that means to you."

Cessie looks unsatisfied. "Okay, but how does that help us making sure Sakura is at balance? Did my trip into her mind help her in any way?" She would normally be more curious about this, but this was her friend they were talking about.

"Learning of her inner makeup will help me help her." Ambrosia tries to assure as she puts away the tome which slams shut and then floats up next to her. "And it's possible that you could have had some significant impact on her. It's too early to tell yet. But as I see it now you got two options. Either you wait to see if her dependency on fertility have improved or I could attempt communication with her inner soul right away. If she haven't improved you will need to call on me again. Waiting would allow me to prepare better but it could also mean that you have to deal with this problem for even more weeks or months."

[Gullara]

[Sweet Dreams]

Sakura frowns. "I don't see what waiting will do. If I want to have more kids, that's my choice. If that's how you think you can tell if things are okay or not, then I don't think that's right." Sakura says firmly. "This isn't about me. I'm happier and feel better than ever. You said there was a chance I could affect others somehow, and that's what we need to know."

[Morty]

[Training Day]

"I grew up in a hut that only had one room, so- ack!" Wenomir rubs his shoulder where the stock impacted it. "That did hurt. This has been a very humbling experience for me," he adds in a tone that manages to sound solemn but not quite authentically. "As for Cern, well, he wants to shoot guns like his dad. It's normal for kids, I hear."

[Murkus]

[Not So Good Morning]

"Well I mean, I..." He looks over where the warren supposedly is. He looks toward Cassie. "I just had the strangest... dream... about Cassie..."

To Sarget, he definitely seems pretty unsettled by something. He breaks out in a little bit of a cold sweat despite himself.

[Sweet Dreams]

Adir attempts to quickly add, "Maybe we should just get you into Sakura's head too. Or whatever you need to do to communicate with her 'inner self'. You know. See what we see." A pause. He adds, "That is, uh, primarily what we're worried about though, yeah. Her affecting other people. Me. The kids. I'm not worried about a, y'know, dependency. At least, uh, I don't think so?" Well, he might be now. Was Sakura being compelled by her, what the hell, 'soul self' to have more babies? Were they gonna be able to stop having babies?

[Gullara]

[Not So Good Morning]

"Why don't you tell me about it." Sarget suggests. Adir is clearly troubled. Being inside his own head doesn't seem like it'll help anything right now.

[Murkus]

[Not So Good Morning]

Adir looks after his daughters for a moment and looks up to Sarget. The treant seems to have a calming effect on him. "Yeah. Yeah, okay." He hunkers down in the grass right there, cross legged, and describes the dream to Sarget in specific detail. He retrieves the scribbled-down note from his pocket to make sure he gets it all right.

[Deathkeeper]

[Training Day]

Koshal shrugs.
”A little knife might be good just to see if he can take a dangerous thing serious.” He doesn’t actually know what a bee-bee is so he isn’t sure what Adir is actually suggesting.

[Gullara]

[Not So Good Morning]

Sarget looks toward the twins and gives a low rumble. "It's possible these spirits I felt did more than pass through, but I don't know how to interpret this dream." Cassie is right there, after all, as happy and vibrant as she's ever been. "Dreams can bring premonitions. If the dream isn't literal, it may be a warning. In your dream Cassie warned these monsters might return? Watch over the girls tonight and make sure their sleep isn't troubled."

[Rebonack]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

A child approaches along the path.

An approach alternating between a steady walk, a gleeful skip, and a somewhat awkward run whenever something interesting is spied on the way.

Progress is slow.

There are far too many interesting things to spy.

Like that large bush covered in dried out flowers that will be delicious berries in a few months. Or that great green frog clinging to that shrub. Or that worm trapped in a puddle who just needed a little bit of help to make it back to dry land.

Just...

Dip her toe in the puddle and flick the worm out. Can't use her hands.

Nope.

None of that.

Her hands are for carrying the great big wicker basket! The basket nestled with a soft cloth cushion and piled high with fresh brownies.

What if she put the basket down and some forest critter tried to steal it? Then there wouldn't be any brownies to share with her friends! And the would be terrible.

Just...

The worst.

Mother had given her that basket to deliver to her friends and she wasn't going to fail! Nuh uh! No way!

Because if there's one thing Lapis Lazuli's good at that isn't building forts or chasing birds or making sure there aren't any gross monsters trying to break into VIGIL it's doing good jobs!

She knows this because Mother told her so.

The half drow girl approaching the house looks perhaps five or six in human terms. Stark white hair, dark bluish skin, and a smattering of bright yellow freckles on her cheeks. She's wearing PANTS and BOOTS today because she learned from important people at VIGIL that the Frescots live in a forest and getting a dress tangled up in brambles is a perfectly bad way to ruin a perfectly good dress. Her long hair is tied back in a high-slung pony-tail, but is otherwise upbraided. We'll see if that remains the case by the end of the afternoon.

As for the basket of brownies it is teetering on the brink of too-large for such a small child to carry. But Lapis is DETERMINED! Determination burns bright in her heart and she isn't going to let something as mundane as awkward overabundance of volume stop her.

Up on her tip-toes to peek over the basket, a useless gesture that none the less feels like the thing to do, Lapis surveys the grounds, her nose scarcely clearing the basket's rim.

"Oooh, their house is pretty I love it!"

[Gullara]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

Lapis won't have to trudge through any substantial foliage approaching the house, though she can certainly see how the land give way to forest just beyond. As she approaches she doesn't see anyone around, but she can hear them. Voices of children can clearly be heard from somewhere out behind the house. She could easily walk around to the back if she wanted, but maybe the front door is more polite?

[Rebonack]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

Yeah but what if there aren't any people in the house?

What if they're all out back having fun and Lapis is just wandering around aimlessly in an empty house with an armful of basket?

Then what?

No, clearly the best solution is to follow the sound of fellow youths having fun. She'll go and do likewise.

Her course set, Lapis begins circling the house toward the voices, basket still firmly in her grasp, eyes peeking over the rim.

It's pretty hard to see her feet, actually.

But she's made it this far without stumbling (too much, no one saw those three times so they don't count). And she hasn't dropped the brownies yet so they DOUBLE don't count. Hopefully the path to the back yard isn't too terribly uneven. Roads are easy to walk on, after all. Except when they've got holes in them. Yards and paths can be a little tougher but Lapis is pretty good at balancing even if she's missing two legs and a tail right now.

Why do people like walking like this so much, anyway? It's WAY tippier!

But it leaves hands for holding things so that makes up for it.

As she rounds the house and the yard draws into view she immediately searches for Laela. They had lots of fun even though that stupid jerk witch had turned her into a sheep so they'll probably have way more fun this time probably. Lapis takes a deep breath and leads with the best greeting she can think of. "Hi I came over to play and brought brownies! You house is super pretty I love it!"

[Shadowcaller]

[Sweet Dreams]

Ambrosia looks to Sakura and Adir in turn as they voice their opinions and as Cessie doesn't seem to have anything to add, she nods. "Not quite what I meant, but I understand. I think miss Frescot have slept enough for today though so we're going to do something else." She offers her hand to the dryad. "Why don't you show me the favorite part of your garden? A place where you can be at peace." The scholar smiles calmly, suddenly acting a lot more sympathetic than when she was going through all that information.

[Gullara]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

Lapis will find Laela pretty quickly. She's standing in the middle of the 'backyard' with two other kids. One she might recognize as Lucy, Laela's sister she met briefly at the end of their last encounter. The other is a young boy, similar in age. He looks different than the other kids, though. His skin is green and he's got one big flower on his head. He's watching Lapis almost immediately as she comes around the corner. The frisbee Lucy just threw at him sails by.

The two girls turn when Lapis greets them. "Huh? Who're you?" Laela asks. Of course the last time they met Lapis didn't look like a half drow girl.

[Sweet Dreams]

"Alright, sure." Sakura looks like she has a dozen questions, but she just takes Ambrosia's hand and leads the way to the garden next to the house. It's already quite overgrown, but that's how Sakura likes it. It's no trouble for her to identify each plant here. "I wouldn't say I really relax here, but I guess it's peaceful." She comments as they walk into the space. The last time she really related was probably at least six kids ago. "I usually keep busy." She adds.

[Rebonack]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

Lapis is briefly distracted by the Frisbee.

She's never seen such a thing before!

Look at how it floats on the air when you throw it, she loves it! What a great toy oh but off it goes. Bye floating disk thing.

"I'm Lapis Lazuli! We played a bunch at VIGIL after that stupid witch had turned me into a sheep but I got better which is good 'cuz being a sheep wasn't great," Lapis explains. "I guess the rolling part was fun but not being able to pick stuff up was lame what are you guys playing?"

These are all very important questions and explanations.

Is there anywhere nearby to put a basket full of brownies?

Lapis is hoping there is.

It would be hard to catch and/or throw that floaty disk thing if her arms are full.

[Murkus]

[Training Day]

Adir has a little laugh at Wenomir's expense. "Just remember, keep it tight in your shoulder. It takes some getting used to."

"And knife! Hey, that's pretty good, kid. All the boys his age have one back home. And I did, too, so he'd be just like his old man. Though I'll be honest, I don't know if it would go to his head--"

"It wouldn't!" says Cern, from the edge of the range, seemingly without a trace of concern about being discussed like this. He mostly just heard he might get something.

"Oh, hey, son," Adir says, a touch awkwardly.

[Not So Good Morning]

Adir nods. Perhaps a little too quickly, in fact. He's surprised he didn't think of that himself. He doesn't know how he's gonna do it without freaking everybody out, but he knows right away that he wants to watch over them. "If only for my own sanity," he says, laughing a little, though without much humor. "I'll feel better... just for tonight."

"You said, 'if the dream isn't literal'. Do you think... do you think it could have been?"

[Sweet Dreams]

Well this is more like it. Adir doesn't sense that same academic sterility radiating off of Ambrosia. He snorts a little as they walk, presuming he and Cessie are still able to accompany the two. "Relax? Re-lax? Can you spell that? I don't know the word."

[Gullara]

[Not So Good Morning]

Sarget turns toward the girls again. The girls are still trying to resolve their current problem. Cassie is pouting notably. She never even got a chance to see the bunnies before they got spooked. "Cassie looks fine to my eyes." He concludes.

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

Lapis will be able to see the edge of a table if she looks across the house to where there's a patio on the opposite corner. If she heads over there and puts the basket down, she'll get a look inside the house through the big glass doors. Depending on how closely she looks, she might notice Sakura busy in the kitchen with two infants on high chairs at the island. There's also a pair of hair covered, hooved feet poking out from behind a couch.

"Really? You look totally different. I mean, different from before you were a sheep." Laela remarks. She walks over to the other girl and gives her a discerning look. "You're younger than me." She notes.

"We're playing frisbee! You throw it and someone else catches." Lucy helpfully answers helpfully. That reminds the boy, and he turns to run and retrieve it. "That's Russell, and I'm Lucy. Wanna play with us?"

[Rebonack]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

Lapis considers that observation for a few moments.

Is that really true, though?

"But I'm still blue with yellow freckles," she points out helpfully. "That's the same."

It's true, it is. The yellow spots probably wouldn't have been quite as visible from a distance. The kids only really saw Lapis when she was perched on Giga Not!Cora's hat.

"Yeah you're bigger than me, too. I'm going to put these brownies on that table, okay?" then off she goes to do exactly there. She briefly glances through the door before hurrying back over to the other children!

"Okay, how do we play? Are there rules? Oooh! How do you win?"

The idea that this might not be a competitive game doesn't immediately occur to Lapis. The desire to climb the Tower flows her veins like blood. And in like manner, the concept of games that don't have winners is a rather strange idea to her. It might require a little bit of explaining.

Lapis bounces on the balls of her heels eagerly, waiting to learn the secrets of Frisbee.

[Gullara]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

Laela gives her a puzzled look. But she wasn't a little girl before. Laela's dad can turn into a deer, though, so she doesn't pursue that point any further right now.

"Um, you don't win." Lucy puts her finger on her chin. "We just throw and catch it. It's fun. Show her, Russell." She addresses the boy, who's just coming back with frisbee in hand.

Russell looks back and forth between Lucy and Lapis, then throws the frisbee at Lapis. Think fast!

[Shadowcaller]

[Sweet Dreams]

"I think you're asking the wrong person, Adir." Cessie muses. "Perhaps one of your brothers can teach you? The ones without children of their own."

Ambrosia nods in response to Sakura. "I imagine so, child caring is the toughest job people are willing to do for free, which is why it's so underappreciated. You're quite literary raising the future right here in your home." The scholar stops as they've reached the spot. "But let's now sit together and at least try to relax." She positions herself in front of Sakura and takes her other hand. Squeezing it gently, Ambrosia slowly starts to sit down with her. "Imagine all your children sleeping deeply. Their peaceful breaths carrying them into the realm of dreams and wonder. That's where we want to go now. Snoozing the way only a child can." She starts closing her eyes and she seems to be expecting Sakura to do the same.

[Morty]

[Training Day]

"Ooof. I'll try to keep that in mind." Wenomir rubs his shoulder, but lets Adir have his fun. "Just goes to show you can always learn something new. And I'm not going to claim to be an expert on raising kids, but some of them going to try to fiddle with something dangerous eventually. Might as well have it happen under your control. I think that's why Cessie asked me to train Cora."

[Rebonack]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

Lapis appears to be deeply puzzled and slightly troubled by this unwelcome revelation.

"What do you mean, you don't win? Someone has to win. People win games all the time," she says moments before noticing that a flying disk is whizzing toward her.

Now, Lapis is relatively coordinated.

Relatively.

But she's most coordinated when she's got four legs instead of two. Two legs is a lot harder because you're WAY more tippy.

"Oh I got it!" she says, turning toward the Frisbee-

-only to be dismayed when the slight tilt to the disk's path causes it to suddenly veer to one side!

Lapis grabs at the disk, her finger bumping the edge and sending it tumbling! Already building rules in her own mind, Lapis has concluded that if you drop the Frisbee then you've obviously lost. And she's not going to lose her very first round of Frisbee throwing!

So she dives.

Flat onto her back she goes, getting grass stains all over her pants and shirt in the process.

BUT!

The Frisbee is caught inches from the ground!

Success!

"I got it!" Lapis declares, springing to her feet with a huge grin. She waves the Frisbee for all to see. "Okay now what? Are there rules for who I throw it to next?"

[UncleWolf]

Play Date

"Yes, but Mother wanted me to make sure you got this." Sergei explains, holding up the package expectantly. He looks up at the tall gargoyle, silent otherwise, and just stares.

Cessie is met with a warm smile when she approves of Charles' request. "Thank you, My Lady. I promise I won't disappoint." He swears, headed off to go get everything prepared. The way he was whistling, it seemed like he certainly had something special in mind that was making him quite pleased.

"I knooooooow..." Ariel groans, obviously disappointed that she hadn't been able to come out much lately, but the groan immediately turns into a grin. "But Mommy says we'll be over more!" She adds, full of glee. She spins on her heels, looking up at Jezebel and the gifts she was carrying. Jezebel doesn't even get to open her mouth before she chooses. "The big one!" She decides, holding up her hands. "Careful, it's heavy." The bulky wrapped box is lowered gently to Ariel, who ends up groaning under the weight and nearly dropping it. The girl sets it on the ground before shuffling it over to Bastion. "For...you..." She pants. The movement of the box makes the distinctive sound of far-too-many plastic pieces inside rattling about and settling. Poor Garn might have more to pick up today.

"And this is for you." Jezebel adds, smiling as she offers Cora her own package. "I think you'll find that it grows with you." That just left two more in her arms.

[Gullara]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

"Wow! Good catch!" Laela praises. "You can throw it to Lucy next. We just make sure we all get a turn." Laela explains. Especially important when playing with younger siblings. She backsteps away from Lapis now to make sure they're properly spread out.

"Come on, over here!" Lucy encourages, holding her hands up.

Meanwhile inside Sakura is looking out toward the patio door with a puzzled look on her face. She isn't heading over yet, though.

[Play Date]

Bastion's eyes go wide as the gift is shuffled toward him. "What is it?" It's so big! No use waiting for that answer, though. He tears at the wrapping paper.

Oh good, she was starting to get jealous of Bastion. Coraq snatches the gift. "Thanks!" She says preemptively as she tears into it.

[Rebonack]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

Lapis looks down at the Frisbee.

Then up at Lucy.

She wobbles the little disk on her fingers for a moment, trying to get a good feel for it. It doesn't feel very heavy. She shouldn't have to throw it very hard. She had seen how the others had thrown it, so how hard could it be?

Right?

So she winds up and tries pitching it overhand like a baseball!

It flops into the ground uselessly, of course.

*pap!*

This results in a frown from Lapis.

"Oh. Um... I don't think I did it right. Does... does that mean..." her lip trembles a little. "I lost?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Training Day]

Koshal nods, smirking a little bit at Wenomir's discomfort. Yeah, it's a big gun alright.
"If it does, better start with that then something that shoots. But it's different I guess. For lots of us when we turn nine we can already hurt each other from tripping." he jokingly pulls at one of his horns. From what Wenomir has told him this is a concern for at some of the Frescot brood.

[Gullara]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

There's a moment of silence before the two girls erupt into giggles. Russell, meanwhile, appears to have vanished from sight. "You don't lose. We're just having fun." Laela walks back over to smooth it over. She picks the frisbee up. "I can show you how to throw it. Watch." She turns toward Lucy and gives it a gentle toss. It sails through the air cleanly and Lucy snatches it.