I Like Pi [Bee]

[Vyn]

Vesper nodded to herself. Exactly as she'd suspected, Corvies. Not that she had anything against them personally, she just had a healthy respect for her fellow morally-devoid crowd and didn't intend to sacrifice any children on their doorstep.

She drew a little closer as she studied the woman, acknowledging the growling... thing... near the woman's ankles. ...Huh. Was that a Bander? Her tove sat on her head, rotting mess of a beast, and trilled curiously. Vesper ignored it.

Tybalt hesitated upon being greeted with a snarling Bandersnatch, blinking a few times before glancing up to the woman. She seemed cheerful enough, and she even had a tail hooked to her shorts. Between that and the monster that could probably mangle him at any given moment, Tybalt could already tell the day was going to be awesome.

"Hey. I'm Tybalt, and these are my sisters - Vesper," the ratdog waved vaguely in acknowledgment, "and Lethe." Lethe poked her nose out from behind her brother, grinning wide as her little tail began to wag behind her. She was so glad she'd decided to tag along with Tybalt! "Nephy invited us."

[Dark]

Minh smiled and murmured a 'nice to meet you'; she liked the look of the younger ones--eager, adventurous; good qualities in younglings--but the older one--garish little thing, wasn't she--had a more cautious air about her that made Minh want to do something naughty and worth the girl's caution. She refrained, however, when she heard the reason for their visit. There would be time aplenty for fun later.

"Ah, the grandson!" Was he in residence today? It was sometimes hard to keep track of the coming and going of the Family. Such a large, boisterous crowd that Mnem and she had spawned--though it had mostly been Mnem, dear lord--and it was strange to think those children were now having children of their own. It made her feel a tad old, though she didn't dare say anything of the sort in Mnem's vicinity. The woman was sensitive about the encroaching years.

"Let's go find him, shall we?" she gestured them into the apartment, taking note of Monty. "Would you go get him, dear?" The bander growled, and bounded off.

[Bee]

Nephy had managed, over his visits, to take up a small space for himself--there were so very many rooms in the place that at least one had to be available. There wasn't. So he had taken one over. Now he was arranging his small assortment of books based on which authors would like each other best.

Then a long scratch, a claw raking down the door.

He paused.

Another scratch, two claws.

He turned.

Then ferocious mauling, accompanied by irritated growls and shrieks.

Monty, of course.

He cautiously opened the door, only to have the beast run quickly behind him and slam into his back legs, shoving him forward.

"Ow! Monty!"

The bander made a shrill sound and nipped at his ankle, then headbutted him forward again.

"Oh Monty, what is it? Has Timmy fallen down the well?" But he was only shoved forward again. He gave an exasperated sigh and let himself be herded. Then he thought, wait, he was expecting company. Perhaps they had arrived! Maybe Monty wasn't leading him to a pot of boiling water and assorted spices.

He took off down the hall, the bander at his heels. It was a long hall. It was a long staircase, and a long pole, and a long trick crawl-space, and a long couple of ladders. But finally he found the stairs that led to the main entrance. He threw himself at the bannister and waved happily down at the assembled crowd. Tybalt, and two people who looked like him by degrees.

"Hi!" he said. It appeared from a distance that Monty hadn't eaten anything off anyone. A promising start. "Glad you all made it here in one piece."

[Vyn]

The children were eager, held only slightly by politeness but driven intently by curiosity. They wanted to go inside, to poke their noses into everything and all the strange smells, but they held back and waited for invitation. Once invited both children scooted inside, eyeing the bander warily until he was sent gallumphing off to find Nephy.

Lethe 'Oo-ed' and looked back up at the scientist-woman. "Will he really go find him? I didn't know Banders were that smart!" Her tail wagged curiously. She liked the tiny white monstrosity a great deal.

Even Tybalt was impressed by the Bander's skills though he knew less of them than Lethe did. Lethe seemed to know a little bit about everything -- even if her knowledge wasn't always complete.


Vesper was blissfully unaware of Minh's thoughts and instead focused intently on the joys of being drunk. None of which she currently got to enjoy considering that she was here babysitting and very, painfully sober. Toli gave her some extra cash for it, though, and to this Vesper approved greatly.

The jingle of coin was her mantra of kindness as she strolled inside the large complex and made an appraising nod. This place was fairly cool.

It was long before this 'Nephy' appeared, hanging on a banister and waving cheerful hello. ...By the suits, was he a pure Yarrow? Vesper contained her snickers. She'd never met a boy Yarrow before, but he seemed shockingly in one piece. Though maybe his mother had blinded him as punishment, what with those giant spectacles.


Tybalt's head snapped up from listening to Lethe and Minh and he let out a cheerful bark. "Hey Nephy!" He grinned mischievously at the 'in one piece' comment, though by the look of this strange building it was probably more suiting than he could yet imagine.

[Bee]

"Tybalt!" he said, happily. He glanced over at his granny, who in that moment looked exceptionally dotty. "Thanks for not drugging them, Grandma."

He finished off the stairs and joined them on the floor, Monty still at his heels and growling at the guests. He might have wondered what set the bander to such a state, but there was no rhyme or reason with Monty. As far as he could deduce, Monty seemed to believe that everything in the world belonged to and was inferior to Monty, and Monty behaved accordingly. But he also suspected that attempting to analyze Monty's behavior was a psychological death trap.

He looked more closely at the two girls. The older looked like she had been down several miles of bumpy road, her body riddled with scars, one of her eyes gone. He wondered if she, like Tybalt, had been born a low rank, and harassed...well beyond the verbal. The ideas for where the scars came from just got sadder after that, so he pushed them away. This was a happy time, after all. He needed to think about things a little less than usual. The glass rose, he thought. That was pretty! That was a happy thing to think about.

What a pretty happy thing, that rose, he thought. And the cheer regained acceptable levels.

"You two must be Vesper and Lethe. Charmed! Don't mind Monty. I shan't allow him to disembowel you. When she gets used to you, she's really quite sweet."

How sad that he had kicked off their meeting with blatant lies.