Pipe Dreams [Kari] [FIN]

[Vyn]

The finch listened quietly as mother and daughter spoke, smiling softly at the interactions. She wasn't aware of how rare this little moment of lucidity was, but she always had a soft spot for little family moments. Having never had any bonding experience with her parents, Poe saw such simple day-to-day activities as beautiful little gems.

Or perhaps it was just the poet in her that lovingly over-analyzed everything.

Once addressed the finch smiled gently and gave a quick little nod. "That's perfectly alright. Lead the way?" She sipped down the rest of her tea and gently replaced it on the desk before hopping from her seat. It was an awkward little series of movements, but the finch smoothed her feathers down once she was on the ground and returned to her polite little poise.

It would seem Othello was the blind child. Handsome name, very poetic. Kamina was equally poetic and rolled smoothly from the tongue. Poe wondered briefly if it was Xiven or her spouse that came up with such beautiful names. She'd have to praise the Queen for it someday.

[Kari Muffin]

Easy going. That was refreshing. Xiven rose from her seat with a smile. "All right, his room isn't that far away, so it won't be too much of a walk."

Kamina bounced on her feet for a moment, nudging the book with her nose as she looked at her mother. She waited for the woman to pick it up before she trotted out the door in front of Poe and her mother. She seemed to think that leading the way was a good idea. Maybe they would get there faster.

The walk only took a few minutes. Xiven paged through the book as she went, engaging both Poe and her daughter in casual conversation about its contents. Multitasking was a skill she took pride in. She was fairly good at it unless someone caught her in one of those moments when she ran into a door. Thankfully the servants who had spotted her doing that once or twice kept their mouths shut for fear of getting their gender reassigned in the most unpleasant of ways.

When they arrived at the room, she opened the door for Poe and Kamina.



Othello was carefully trying to balance a few things on his nose when they entered. As soon as he heard the clacking of bird claws and the smell of Kamina the ball the ball that was being balanced on his nose was dropped. His fur ruffled a bit as he turned to look in the general direction. "Hello?"

"Othello, I wanted to introduce you to someone. I was thinking of getting you a new... friend who can help you with some daily tasks," She didn't want to use the term Babysitter considering his age. He was a bit sensitive about having to be a "burden."

The woman watched as Kamina wandered over to her brother and licked him on the cheek without warning. Apparently her sobriety was waning. Her half brother shook the wetness off without a second thought and scooted away from the girl a bit.

"I would like to introduce you to Poe if you're up to it."

Othello wasn't stupid and knew that this Poe person was a babysitter. Great. Another person to scare away. "Okay..." he said in a fairly timid voice.

[Vyn]

Poe was happy to follow along in silence and simply listen as Xiven and Kamina discussed the contents of the book. It helped that the book itself was quite interesting and discussed old poisons. She pondered momentarily what it was that Kamina was hoping to find within its pages but they arrived at the door before she could ask.

Another odd child awaited them within the room, an awkward mix of regions with... a strange mist billowing from his eyes. Oh dear. But still not nearly as bad as.. those things. She felt awful for the way she thought of them when she knew how much her brother loved them, but it was still terribly hard to just not be bothered by such a thing.

Nevertheless, in the here and now, dear Othello was not nearly as shocking as her brother's children. And what a proud, handsome name. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Othello. I'm Poe." She had slipped closer before speaking, surprised to pick up the scent of mint past Kamina's smoke. Was that his strange green mist? Hmm. "I look forward to spending time with you and your family soon."

[Kari Muffin]

Kamina continued to lick the boy on the cheek. Even though he didn't taste of mint, the smell was enough for the feline to think she was actually tasting a bit of mint. And really the boy could use a little affection. Who didn't like to be licked ever now and again? Not everyone could be smoked after all.

Othello sighed as the girl continued to wet one side of his face. On many attempts in the past he had tried to break her of the habit, but the more she was pushed away the more persistent she was. So he would have to let it run its course. His eyes wandered to Poe's general direction.

"It'th nice to meet you Missth Poe," he said as cheerfully as he could muster. He offered her his mechanical hand to shake. Considering he didn't know her region, or her breed it was simply out of habit. Most people were willing to entertain the blind boy.


Xiven was, at the very least, relieved that Othello wasn't throwing a fit like the last time he had introduced him to a baby sitter. He had screamed so loudly that there was a monster that looked like his brother in the room, the poor person had been scared off and had only agreed to help with the other children.

[Vyn]

It was nice watching the children interact, it gave her a better feel for their relationships and individual personalities. Kamina was a dreamy little child, seeming to walk a fine line between reality and her own little world. It was cute, though she could imagine it might lead to some trouble with watching her. Poe would have to be attentive.

She hadn't been around Othello long enough to properly peg his personality, but she could see well enough from the simple interaction between him and his sister that he was a kind, tolerant child. A rare gift indeed, especially for one who seemed to have a rough life. Poe would be happy to spend more time with him.

Poe blushed delicately as Othello offered his mechanical hand to her. "I'm sorry -- but my wings are bound. Shaking 'hands' is a little hard. Thank you though." Hopefully her refusal wouldn't come off as rude, were it not such an awkward balancing act she would've offered a talon. However, given the circumstance and the company, declining seemed better than risking falling over.

[Kari Muffin]

The boy blushed under his fur. It really sucked to be blind sometimes. He slowly took his paw and placed it on his sisters nose to stop her from soaking the side of his face. She took to licking his paw before finally getting bored and stopping.

"I'm thorry," he said. "I can't tell thome things about Cardsth. I didn't mean to be inssthenstive."

He also quietly wished that he didn't have a lisp. Even if he had his buck teeth "corrected" he still would have had the problem of the lisp. He had gathered that it was terribly difficult to get rid of, and even after years of training he probably would still hiss incoherently every now and again. "Tho has my mom told you about my condition?"

Xiven was still in the door frame, watching silently. She was surprised that Othello was actually asking questions. Maybe this would work out better than she thought?

[Vyn]

Despite the burdens he carried, Othello was a shockingly kind and polite child. Blind and encumbered by a lisp, he was more proper than most of the children his age Poe had spent time with. She paid little mind to the lisp, too focused on the way he was apologizing to her for not being able to see. And he worried about being insensitive.

"You're not at all insensitive. Quite the opposite." The finch's smile was easily heard in her voice. "I'm partially to blame for not mentioning my binding."

Though she was primarily focused on Othello, Poe kept an eye on Kamina as the girl grew bored of licking her brother at last.

His question caused Poe to pause for a moment. His condition? Hopefully he meant his blindness because that was all Her Majesty had mentioned. "She told me you were blind, yes." Hopefully the boy wasn't sensitive about it, Poe wouldn't want to come off poorly on account of that. The last thing she wanted to do was start off on the wrong foot with such a kind individual.

[Kari Muffin]

Othello titled his head. This woman was nice at the very least. A lot more well spoken that most of the people who tried to babysit him. And she didn't talk to him like he was some sort of idiot just because he was blind.

His ears panned forward. Mom had mentioned the blind part but not the whole story. "I'm not blind in the conventional thenssse," He motioned towards the door frame. He was actually pointing directly at it. "The door ith made of oak and ith painted red on the back. It has a few odd patchesth on it from all the timesth it was painted over. At the very top it has initialsth carved into it"

He was actually right about the description of the door. Xiven pulled it a bit to show the bird what the boy was talking about.

He looked in the general direction of Poe. "I can thee things in the past or future. I can't thee you though."

[Vyn]

Poe blinked in surprise, glancing back at Xiven momentarily before her gaze slid over the oak-paneled door and up to the initials carved above it.

Suits, he was right.

The finch turned back to the boy. She'd seen a lot of weird in her lifetime, but this was something entirely new. He could see the past and the future but not the present? Poe was utterly speechless. What did you say to that? Was it a gift or a burden? She had always been intrigued by clairvoyance, but if he couldn't control what he saw than that seemed more of a burden. Better to pretend you were blind, as he did.

"You seem to have caught me in a rare moment of speechlessness," the finch murmured bashfully. "That is a strange condition indeed, far worse than simply being blind." Despite herself, Poe was nibbled at by her curiosity until it was simply too much to bear. "If you don't mind my asking: can you control it at all? Or does it change without warning?"

[Kari Muffin]

Othello tilted his head as he waited for the woman to say something. Not many people accepted his condition. They just called him crazy and moved on. Even his mother had doubts about his abilities. Everyone had doubts about his abilities.

When she spoke, for a moment he drooped. Did she really believe him? Or was she just saying that to make him feel better? Her last question seemed to be an honest one. He frowned a bit. "No, I can't control it. I just see things... funny. My eyes don't even agree on seeing the same thing a good deal of the time."

And sometimes he heard things. Which was why very few people believed him. Then again when he was able to quote events from the past perfectly they started to think a little differently. Not like he was capable of doing that very often.

Kamina had edged over to the corner. She was poking around in a pile of plush toys. It looked as if she was going to take one, but instead she crawled onto the pile and stretched out. on top of them, purring. She seemed to be in a world of her own.

Xiven was somewhere between pleasantly surprised and hopeful. This was going to work out.