No Knives for Baby [Finished!!!]

[seraaches]

When they went 'home', it was a rather difficult undertaking because they didn't have a single option. They had 2 easy, 1 semi-difficult, and 1 very difficult options available to them. The easy options were both in the main of Capital City, though one was on the darker side and the other on the nicer side. Their mother(s) lived in the forbidding part of town and their father lived in the nicer area at least part of the time. The other part of the time he lived up at the Palace of Hearts in his role as a King to the notorious Queen Serafino. But their Marshdweller father saw Josiggy as his real home and he made it a point to haul the whole brood of them out there (the seven siblings and two faux siblings) out to the Marsh for survival training. It had only worked once, but the glint in grey-green eyes warned that he was hoping to make it occur on a regular basis.

Today, the King of Hearts only had three of his children in tow, three of his sons, as he headed from the Palace back into the main of Capital City. One delivery later and the four guys had a bander in tow and were walking to a park near the stallion's suite in the City. Supposedly they were supposed to meet up the other sibs and parents and have a nice meal before heading home again.

Shinrai kept a close eye on the Ten who held his prized bander's leash. His children were unaware of his painful past, but most of the kids seemed to realize his deep attachment to the creature and at least pretended to respect it.

Iraishin flipped back his deep teal ears, purple eyes on the blue bandersnatch which coughed and sneezed his way down the street, evidently quite pleased to be out of the Palace for a bit. Jou loved to be out in the fresh air able to trot around the City.

Vishne slunk along beside his father, ears flat as his blue eyes darted about almost suspiciously. He nearly cowered when anyone looked at him, as though expecting a blow because of his odd colouring. Rai glanced down at the boy with some concern, but he wasn't certain how to address an issue that had no warranted cause. At least, that he was aware of.

Following behind with wings folded tightly against his back, Perseus, known only as Se, glared at anyone who dared to eye him curiously, brilliant green eyes soon causing them to shudder away from the pupiless glare that seemed to be looking into their very thoughts.

Rai gave a purely mental sigh, his face easily schooled into his day-to-day expression of determination and confidence. He had a strange batch of children and he loved them dearly. Sometimes they just seemed a little... off.

Ira called out, "Mom! I see the park!"

Rai sighed and this time it wasn't mental. "For the love of everything, Ira, I'm your father." The little colt flicked his long, green tail mischeviously and trotted ahead, bander leash still looped around his neck.

[Bee]

Mnem had a headache. A terrible, throbbing pain that bordered on a migraine. Her eyes hurt to see the light, her stomach felt nauseated at the faintest scent, and her ears burned with the sound of incessantly babbling children. She needed a drink. She needed several. Above all, she needed a kidnapper.

Perhaps she could pawn the children off on Shinrai, the miserable bastard who had gotten her into this mess in the first place, for a while. Then Mnem could slink back to her apartment and have some tea laced with bourbon and perhaps some opium and everything would be peaceful.



"Mommy," said Iphis, suddenly. "I think Eir is hurting Helena."



Of course he was. Eir was her most powerful child, a Jack, and he seemed to like using his ability to push tiny, sharp bursts of pain on the people around him. Particularly Helena. Of course Iphis would be the one to notice. He always noticed...feelings. While clutching his...dolls.

My kingdom for a small army of martinis, she thought.



And Helena never complained about it. Just attempted to cuddle up to Eir and beg more attention. She was like that with most people, Mnem saw. It was almost sickening. What in the world was wrong with that child?

"Eir," said Mnem, through gritted teeth, "if you don't leave your sister alone, I will rip out your small intestine and choke you with it."

Resentfully, Eir said, "Yes, Mother."

Mnem was just about to tell him to watch his tone when she spotted the park. Thank everything holy, the park.

[Kasatsu]

Trotting down the streets, cane clicking with every other step, a bright red mouse made his way towards the direction of the park. Another, slightly smaller, female mouse –who had the same coloring as her mother – bounced at his side taking in all that was around them.



“Pa, wot is that over there?” the female voiced in an inquisitive voice, pointing towards a figure. His Elyse was one of constantly curiosity about things and the way they worked and had more than one generous bone in her body.

“It’s not nice to point, dear.” Her father replied, looking down at her thorough the corner of his eye. A look she was sure to be familiar with.

They were to be meeting her brothers and sisters at the park today but they were running a little late due to something coming up at the shop. After leaving Finwe at the shop, with Asher, to deal with customers and the troublesome boy, they were now on their way.

Glancing over to his daughter he saw that she seemed to be having a heated argument with is Tove, Juris. Deciding not to question what the youngster was doing, he shook his head slightly, ushering his daughter and Tove along gently when they began to lag behind.

[Dark]

Minh liked children--she always had--and while she'd never really planned to have any of her own--and definitely not so early in her career--she didn't feel the regret many younger parents supposedly experienced at having their "youth" so prematurely brought to an end.

Having children of her own hadn't adversely effected her lifestyle, though she hadn't been able to go out and drink as much as she would have liked--and Aderlass kept giving her that look over the bar fights. She was trying to cut back, honestly she was, but sometimes she just got this itch to fight.

She glanced back at Hadyn, who was tottering along in her wake, neck slunk down below his shoulders, nose to the ground. His sister, Elyse, had taken after her the most--and it was adorable how she was so interested in plants, considering her auntie's occupation, though Minh herself didn't see the draw. Hadyn, though, she wasn't quite sure what to make of him.

He glanced up from his exploration and, noticing her gaze, smiled--a devilish twinkle in his eye the only hint on an otherwise adorable countenance of the mischief lurking within. He really was hell spawned, the little darling.

Minh flexed her back and flopped down on the grass--coming to the park was a pleasant change, and it was the perfect temperature for a nap. She slit open one eye when she heard Hadyn go quiet, dreading the worse.

The smile had taken on a entirely wicked edge, "Elyse!" He went loping towards his sister with something like malicious glee.

Minh propped herself up to regard the newest additions to the park--it was nice to see Elyse, though the little mouse seemed to prefer her father. And speaking of their father...

[seraaches]

Ira flared his tail and trotted forward quickly as the others lagged behind. He heard his mom’s voice behind them, ”Se, stay close to Ira until we’re all together, alright?” Not addressed to him! The winged horse dog made some sarcastic reply, but Ira ignored it too. Se had weird feet anyway, the little colt thought, flaring his tail and swishing it behind him. Jou coughed excitedly, beginning to pull slightly at the leash as he caught sight of the open area. “Hey, I see Minh Mom and Hadyn! HHHIIIIII, HADYNNNNNN!!!!”

“I hate you,” Se said flatly as he came up behind the young horse. His wings were still tightly tucked along his back; unwilling to risk them until he had a nice, open area.

“The feeling’s mutual, Mixmatched!” Ira called with a grin, trotting faster to force his youngest brother to keep up. “Wait till Minh Mommy hears wot you said!”

“Tattletale,” the mix snarled.

“Blenderbits.”

“Suck up.”

“Ugly!”

[seraaches]

(( separated into two groups for sera's sanity... ^^;;;; ))

Shinrai slowed his step slightly, glancing down at his canine son before saying quietly, ”Let’s slow down a little bit, Vishne, and have a chat.” The pale blue puppy glanced up at his father and nodded his pink striped head slowly. Rai inspected the young boy again carefully, surprised as usual by the odd pelt he’d been born with. It still seemed strange to be a father, but his odd and unusual children were likely the most surprising thing of all. He didn’t mind their remarkable natures and looks, though he was more than a little worried about a few of them, but he was a bit curious as to exactly how they’d come out so strangely. His biggest concern was that Mnem had drunk, ate, smoked, or injected something whilst pregnant and the poor children had reaped the effects, for good or for ill.

The stallion abruptly realized that he’d been quiet for a long time. ”Are you alright, Vishne?” the man asked as gently as he could. ”You seem rather… jumpy.”

Vishne’s ears were back, as they almost always were and he continued to move uneasily alongside his very large father. “I’m… alright.” His softly offered words hardly seemed sincere due to his lack of confidence in them.

Rai’s ears flicked back in brief unease and he wondered if he should push the small dog about it or not. He finally decided to not; they were near the others and he didn’t want to chance embarrassing the boy. ”Well, if you ever want to talk, Vishne, don’t hesitate to come to me.”

Vishne nodded, but Rai wasn’t certain he believed the agreement. Well, there was nothing more he could do until V decided to confide in him.

[Bee]

More children. She saw them, her other spawn, Minh with hers, Aderlass with the other. No sign of Rai and Vishne, which was terribly disappointing and vaguely worrisome. He was supposed to be with them. Why was he not with them? Of course, it would be very convenient for the purposes of kidnapping, but she was a bit fond of Ira. He at least understood who was in charge. And that person happened to be Mnem.

"Mommy!" Helena said, excitedly, and in her joy her odd blue hair began to bounce and wave about just as she was flailing her arms. The girl had inherited Mnem's lovely mass of hair--though hers was not pink and semi-sentient as hers was--and not much else, as far as Mnem was concerned. "Mommy, Hadyn is here! I want to hug him! He pushed me down the stairs the other day. I think that means he loves me. Can I hug him, Mommy?"

"We don't molest people, Helena."

"But one day we'll have babies together. That makes it okay, right? You molest Daddy sometimes."

Mnem narrowed her eyes. "Why don't you go say hello to your brothers instead?" Though Helena flirted with her brothers, too. Innocently, of course--but the girl had no concept of boundaries. Or self-respect. Mnem shuddered to think about what she was going to be like when she grew up. Clinging mess of a woman, probably.

Helena appeared to forget about Hadyn, and rushed off for her brothers.

Eir was eying the other children with predatory interest. Eir had learned some time ago about his peculiar little mind-control talent--and its limitations. Mnem was not worried about him for now, but at some point the boy was liable to sneak off into the bushes, and then perhaps Elyse would start setting things on fire and they would all know something was going on.

Iphis looked sweetly up at her. Mnem didn't understand him, either. Half the time she had to restrain herself from telling people he was another daughter. On the bright side, he really liked to help around the house. On the downside, he liked to pretend he was a mother with a husband and babies of his own while he did this. He said, "I'm going to say hello to everyone. Is that all right with you, Mommy? I want to show Elyse my dolly's new dress."

"By all means," she muttered. "Get out of my sight."

Iphis smiled brightly. "Thank you, Mommy! I'll be careful. I love you."

"Bugger off."

Iphis nuzzled her. "You're the best, Mommy." He scampered off.

[Kasatsu]

Entering the park slightly out of breath from their adventurous journey, he glanced around trying to spot his love and friends. Apparently they had been the last to arrive – just like he had thought they would be. Ah, there they are he thought when he finally glimpsed them. Minh was lying on the grass apparently preparing herself for a nap while Hadyn was making his way towards them at a gallop.

“Hadyn, you won’t guess wot Papa bought me!” She called back in greeting, scampering forward to meet her brother. Meeting him halfway she reached into her small pouch that their father had given them, pulling out a small piece of marble. He had had one of his artisan from the shop create the small figurine of herself for her when he had discovered her love for marble.

Also seeing that Iphis was also making his way, from his mother’s side; over towards Elyse he decided that there were too many children around for him. “Be careful with that. I do not want to hear anyone crying that you threw it at them, nor that it was broken.” With that said he left the kids alone for ‘bonding’ time he made his way over to Minh, plopping himself down besides her.

[Jaguara Katial]

Maji walked through the capital as she usually did, Aeron in tow. He looked around the streets and followed close to her obediently. “Mama…where are we going?”[/b] he looked up to her and waited for her to respond. She looked down at her son and smiled. She knew that he needed to get out more, unlike she had when she had been his age. Playing with the banders was fine and all but a child needed more. That and Ashwin needed some space. She felt bad, showing up as she had that night when Aeron was born. She knew that soon she would out stay their welcome and she needed to find a more permanent residence, but she did not have the faintest clue where or where that would be. In the mean time, she just did what she could to try to make herself useful.

“No where in particular sweetheart, I just thought we would go out for a walk, is that okay?” He looked back up to her and smiled.

“Alright Mama…”[/b] They continued their walk until they reached the edges of the park. Maji heard the voices of children and adults as well. She stopped and watched what seemed like families out with their children and a twang hit her heart as she wished that Aeron, Ashwin and herself could always be as they were, but she knew that was impossible.

“Let’s go in here Aeron” She said as she smiled down at her son. As she moved for the entrance of the park, Aeron followed close by her but as they approached the group he hid behind his mother, suddenly shy around the other children.

[Dark]

((Jag, I want to steal your babeh. *-* ))

Minh was having trouble finding a comfortable spot to lay down, thrashing about in the grass to find that perfect reclining position and failing miserably. With a mental poke at the grass she managed to convince it to lie in a more agreeable manner, stacking up and creating a bit of a nest for her to curl up into. And it was comfy, too.

A brief shadow crossed her beam of sun, and she was about to complain to Hadyn that he was interrupting mommy's zen-time when she managed to crack open one unwieldy eye and spotted Aderlass instead.

"Hello, darling."

She stretched, feeling her back pop and realign as she did so. Her tentacles basked happily in the sun, one absently raising up to briefly stroke Aderlass in greeting before flopping back down into contended bliss.

She really rather liked being a mother--especially when the kids weren't around.

--

Hadyn loved his mother, he really did, but she was crazy. And, with the exception of the occasional explosion, watching her work in the lab wasn't all that eventful. Exploring the lab, on the other hand, provided hours of entertainment.

Regardless, getting out into the fresh air was an absolutely, positively, fantastically refreshing relief--he had too much energy to spend doing nothing all day, and while his mother didn't seem to mind overly much when he got into things, his Aunt Mnem was a little more touchy about her things.

He smiled at his sister, making the appropriate 'oh's and 'ah's as she showed off her newest acquisition, not really seeing whatever was supposedly so special about it. But it made her happy at least.

"Iphis. Hi. I was just...leaving." He didn't dislike his cousin, but the boy's habit of playing with dolls was just a tad disturbing. That, and the unshakable compulsion Hadyn always experienced to brush the boy's peculiar hair when he was around. Not that he'd ever admit it to anyone, of course.

He made in the direction of his slightly less crazy cousins, "Eir, yo!"