Welcome to my world (Kiri)

[Locke F. Herald]

Locke actually slept soundly, and it wasn't until much later in the morning that he rose. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he moved out into the hallway, dressed in his flannels and a night shirt only, still slightly groggy. He moved by reflex into the kitchen, where the delicious scent of food caught his nose.

"Mmmm, smells good." He said, looking over towards the stove where his father stood, flipping something hazy in a frying pan. Locke still hadn't fully woken up yet, so seeing was still difficult. He looked around the kitchen after blinking once or twice. Alley was in the den, playing with some of her toys, but where were the ladies?

"mmm, Morning Dad. Where are...?"

But his father merely pointed outside with a smile, before Locke could get to the door though.

[green]"So, did you have a good evening?" He asked simply.[/green]

Locke met his gaze with a glare of his own. "I don't know what you saw or what Star told you, but not a word will be spoken about this." It wasn't a request, it was a command.

[green]"Hey, it's your life. Not my place to mess it up, just wanted to make sure everything was ok."[/green]

Locke thought for a second. Ok? No, everything was far from ok. But still, something nagged on his mind.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you. Animals can't understand normal humans, right? I mean they can't understand the human tongue, right?"

[green]Francis nodded. "Yeah. I dunno what it sounds like to you, but I imagine its similar for them. You know that, the animals have never been able to understand you."[/green]

Locke locked gazes with his father again. "Yeah, but her bird can. A raven that is with her, I am almost positive it can understand me. What could cause that?"

[green]Francis stopped for a moment, looking concerned. "Well, the Fae have always had their little secrets. But overall it would say that is no ordinary bird. I'll have Star keep an eye on him. You think it's 'fowl' play?"[/green]

"Well maybe b-" He caught the joke. "Urgh, come on Dad, really?" He sighed, opening the door to the outside. It was just then that he felt a tug on his pant leg, looking down to see Alley standing there with a wide smile. Locke suddenly got an idea and kneeled down next to his sister. He turned her towards Kiri and pointed to her, then gave her a little push on the back.

And so, the little child toddled across the grass towards Kiri. When she finally got close she placed her face over the girls so she was looking straight down at her.

[pink]"Hi! Mornim!" She said, waving at the girl lying on the grass.[/pink]

[Kiri Honeywater]

She had ordered Mikail to wake her if she started to drift off but he only had to do it twice. Curled in the fetal position she lay on the grass staring as a caterpillar crawled on her hand. Being lazy had never been hard for her, or well, laying around doing absolutely nothing but being with her animals. Sometimes she needed to get up and go, to play for hours, but there were times where she just enjoyed being silent with them. And ever since that night she enjoyed being silent more and more.

The morning had gone on peacefully for the most part her mind blissfully empty, and she smiled as she watched the dew evaporate. Now she lay there starting to get warm feeling pretty serene but a tad achy it was an odd feeling. Oh, the joys of the after affects of crying a lot. Blinking slowly she sighed rolling her eyes to stare at Mikail who just so happened to be-the dirty traitor- sleeping. She rolled her eyes and startled a bit to find a tiny face very close to hers. Apparently Alley was awake.

"Good morning, sweetheart." Kiri sat up opening her arms for the girl to climb into her lap if she wanted. Seeing the young babe tugged at her heart and her abdomen suddenly cramped. Smiling brightly she waved one of her hands using glamor to make the air sparkle and glitter with tiny butterflies in a rainbow of colors. "How are you this morning? Getting hungry? Where's your family?"

Twisting a bit she glanced around in search of the small child's family knowing that someone had to be nearby. No way would they leave her alone with such a precious gift.

[Locke F. Herald]

[pink]The girl climbed into Kiri's lap at the offer, and at the appearance of the butterflies and shiny colors, she squealed, reaching for them with her tiny hands. "Flies! Flutterflies!" The child said, giggling as she reached out to grab them. Of course it was no surprise to her that she couldn't catch them, she could never catch any of the animals. When Kiri asked her triple questions though, something jogged the child's memory.

"Ah! Hungly!" She said, rolling out of Kiri's lap and grabbing her hand, tugging on it. It would appear that she wanted the girl to come with her. " 'Ancakes!" She spoke, the word oddly dissected. "Daddy!" She called loudly, to which a respond met their ears.[/pink]

[green]"Come on in girls!" He called. "The missus is just making up a little something to go with it, breakfast will be ready soon!" He said, opening the door and throwing out a handful of blueberries onto the grass. One was snatched up in the air from a familiar set of silver wings, and all manner of birds and rodents began coming from the trees to enjoy the treat.[/green]

Locke, on the other hand, was just content to watch the whole scene. He was being an observer, watching how Kiri was adapting. No need to make things harder on her then they needed to be.

[Kiri Honeywater]

It lit up her entire world to have that little girl in her lap smiling and giggling like that. When the girl climbed out of her lap her heart fell for a split second before her hand was grabbed. Her mind translated the undisciplined speech almost instantly and she smiled warmly standing carefully so as to knock Alley over. With the small girl's hand in her she made her way toward the house her whole being seeming to glow now that she was with Alley.

Her eyes lifted as she heard Mr. Herald's voice and watched as the animals came forth for the berries. It was odd to see the falcon take some but it wasn't completely off base. Once they reached the house she beamed at Locke then gazed down at Alley the little girl obviously having stolen her heart. She just wanted to pick her up and cover her in flowers and rainbows.

Keeping her eyes on the little girl she let go of that dainty little hand to let her go find her mother. Kiri wrapped her arms around her abdomen the smile staying but her eyes going distant as she watched Alley. Not even the prospect of eating made her look away.

[Locke F. Herald]

[pink]While Kiri may have let go of Alley's hand, she clearly was not done with the fae girl yet. She moved over to the table and waved to her, standing next to a chair.[/pink]

Locke moved over and picked up Alley, placing her into her hi-chair. "I think she wants you to sit next to her, she really took to you right away." Locke smiled at his little sister, poking her nose once as she giggled and poked his. He sat down on the other side of his sister, looking up at the rising plate of pancakes his father was topping off.

[green]"Randy's just collecting the daily harvest, I don't know how they'll compare to what you may be used to, but I promise they'll beat the socks off of anything the Academy has." He grinned before making a rather dexterous movement as the pancakes seemed to just slide on to the plates. "Blueberry pair, coming up!" He declared, sliding two plates across the table to Locke and Kiri. "Oh yeah, can one of you cut up Alley's? She's not too good with the knives yet." Normally he would have asked Locke, but he thought otherwise at this time.[/green]

[blue]And then into the kitchen walked Randy, holding a rather large wicker basket. As she placed it out on the table, Kiri would be able to see all it contained. Raspberries, Strawberries, Blackberries, Nuts of all shapes and sizes, with a nut cracker included of course. It was a magnificent display of nature's bounty. "Francis grows these himself. They are the best I've ever had." She said with a smile, placing the bowl on the table and then moving over towards the counter. "Can I get you anything to drink?" She posed to the two, as she poured a cup of juice for Alley.[/blue]

[Kiri Honeywater]

She smiled at Locke and moved to sit by the adorable little girl who only proved to make her heart sing, and her stomach twist. Without even needing really to be asked Kiri pulled the little girl’s plate over to her so she could cut the pieces up, not too big or too small. Or at least she hoped they were the right size she just figured too small the girl might try to swallow them too soon, too big and she wouldn’t be able to handle them. It made sense in her head even if it didn’t make sense to anyone else.

At the sound of feet she lifted her gaze and spotted Mrs. Herald with the delicious looking basket. Staring for a moment she turned her attention back to Alley afraid to meet the woman’s eyes. After last night Locke’s mother was bound to hate her. Once the pieces were all sorted she pushed the plate closer to her. Smiling she gazed at the precious little girl then glanced over at the question. “Um, no I’m alright. Did you need help with anything?”

Kiri felt a bit silly for asking seeing as everything was already prepared for them, but she felt like she should. She was just so used to helping her mom at home that she wasn’t used to people taking care of her. Was this how human families did things? Or other families in general? Sitting there watching the family she wondered how different things were between her and Locke. Maybe she needed to have a talk with his parents, ask them some serious questions. She had a feeling that their backgrounds were far more different than she’d first believed. If they were going to stay together she needed to close that gap.

[Locke F. Herald]

[blue]Randy smiled. "Oh no, that's fine dear. You just enjoy your breakfast." She took a handful of the nuts and berries from the basket, placing it in a smaller bowl. "So, what do you two have planned for today?" She asked, cutting a piece of the food as she looked up from her plate. She looked over towards Francis, who was heading to the window first.[/blue]

[green]"Hey Star! Don't forget the job you have to do!" He called out the window, an affirmative caw greeting them back. Kiri would be able to hear the annoyance in the response as the bird flew into the room. Grumbling the bird moved over to a small indoor nest, settling out his feathers.[/green]

"It's not even my hatchling...why do I have to do it?"

[green]Francis rolled his eyes. "This one doesn't have parents, so someone needs to care for it. And besides, I can trust you to do it right." The bird seemed to accept that answer, and sat down on a rather familiar looking egg. Francis looked to Kiri with a bright smile. "He's busy taking care of your gift, so I'm sure it'll be all right. Hmmm...do phoenix's come out of their eggs on fire? I might have to look into that..." He said thoughtfully as he took his seat at the table. "For now, we eat!" He announced, needlessly dramatically. He seemed to realize something after he took a bite and looked over to Kiri again, coincidentally she was across the table from him. "So, I know you just got here, but was there anything you wanted to do or see? Might as well seize the day, yeah?" He wasn't going to mention last night, he'd made a promise.[/green]

Locke looked over to Kiri as well, but only a fleeting glance before the rumbling of his stomach demanded attention as he dug into the cornucopia of food.

[pink]Alley began stabbing at the pieces of pancake on her plate. Chewing happily on them until she made a realization. "s'yup!" She called out, looking rather annoyed with the absence on her plate.[/pink]

Locke laughed at her outburst. "Whoops. Sorry about that Alley." He said, grabbing a small pitcher from next to him and pouring a small puddle of syrup onto her plate, which she eagerly began dumping her food into with glee. Locke made to offer it to Kiri.

"If memory serves, I think you'd want this?"

[Kiri Honeywater]

Having been told to enjoy breakfast she turned toward the abundance of delicious looking and smelling food. She simply didn’t know where to start. Okay, that was a little bit of a lie she’d lived on berries and nuts for months, so now was the time for pancakes! After piling her plate with pancakes she glanced over at Locke in response to his mother’s question. “Well, whatever Locke feels like doing is fine by me.”

Her attention turned to Mr. Herald as he called for the falcon and when she saw why the bird was being called giggled loudly. “Why not just stick the egg in a fire? It is a phoenix after all.” Kiri smiled at Locke’s father so glad he seemed pleased with his gift. “I think they have small flames…but I haven’t seen a baby phoenix in such a long time.” She ladled on some fruits and berries onto her pancakes before raising her gaze back up to Mr. Herald. “I don’t really know anything about the area, but if there are any place you’d like to show me I’d me more than thrilled to go.”

Now some people might think that she was just polite but in all actuality she was very excited to learn as much about Locke’s life as possible. She took a small bite of the food always wanting to try fresh ingredients in their truest form. At Alley’s cry for syrup she blushed a bit in embarrassment having should of thought of giving the girl some syrup. “Sorry, I should’ve given some to her.” She also didn’t want to give the girl anything she wasn’t allowed to have. Some parents from what she knew could be very picky on their children’s sugar intake. Then when Locke offered the syrup to her she beamed and eagerly poured a lake-full worth of syrup on her plate. After that she did the only logical thing.

“Thank you so much for breakfast!” The words rushed out in a happy flood before she dove into eating. Each bite was like breakfast heaven as she nearly bounced about in her chair gleefully eating some of the best pancakes she had ever eaten. In her head she hummed her pancake song, yes, she has a pancake song, her face alight with yummy food happiness.

[Locke F. Herald]

"My life?" Locke echoed. "Uh...that'll be interesting." He said, returning to his meal awkwardly.

[green]Francis chuckled slightly. "What the Professor means to say is that he doesn't know much about this area himself. He just goes out to play with his sister." He explained, taking another bite. "I think getting out to explore would do both of you some good. And if you really don't know where to start, why don't you take Alley over to the park?" When she made mention of putting the egg in a fire, he blinked. "Does that really work? I thought it was all rumor and hearsay, I wasn't going to try it with such a precious gift without being sure. Hmmm, it's a plan I guess." He mused, and then laughed when she began devouring the food. "Hahaha, you must have been hungry! Eat up, it's the best compliment for a chef!" He encouraged with a smile.[/green]

Locke was similarly attacking his own plate, which was still large, though smaller then hers. Where she put it all, he had no idea. He looked at her beaming expression and laughed quietly. "I take it you like them, yeah?" He asked her. She hadn't had a fresh cooked meal in a long time. Locke had been able to get her food in the Academy hall occasionally, but she would never go without him. This atmosphere would be healthy for her.

[Kiri Honeywater]

"I'd love to take Alley to the park! Play on the swings, the sandbox, and we can even do a picnic!" This was how it was going to be from now on. She was truly happy and she was going to do her best to make as many people around her to be happy as well. Kiri grinned at Alley watching the precious girl eat her breakfast. Then at the mention of the egg she turned back to Mr. Herald.

"Well, think about it. Their mother is on fire as she sits upon the eggs right? Wouldn't it make sense they'd do fine in a fire? I mean no offense to Star but he might not be warm enough..." She poked her food with her fork glancing over at the falcon. "But if you don't want to keep a fire burning I'm sure hot coals will work just as well." And with a quick smile she dove into her food not wanting to sound like some know it all. Mr. Herald knew probably more about animals than she did seeing as he had much more experience and age behind him. She'd just been lucky to see a phoenix in their natural habitat is all, but maybe he had too?

After a moment or two of inhaling her food Locke's voice filtered in and she rolled her eyes over to him. "Hmm?" Fork in her mouth it took a moment for the question to process, and she swallowed. "Oh they're delicious! Much better than the school's pancakes." She moved her food around in the syrup for a moment before diving right back into the food.

[/size][/color]

[Locke F. Herald]

[green]"You sure know a lot about them. All I know is rumors, never actually seen one or an egg in person. But yeah, every explorer worth anything knows what a Phoenix egg looks like, it's one of those rare treasures everyone hopes to find. And here I have one dropped into my lap, it's enough to give an old man a gray hair!" He thought for a moment. "I've heard some really interesting rumors about them too. Some people say they can understand humans, even though they can't speak our language. I can't wait to find out for real."[/green]

[blue]Miranda laughed. "Dear, you sound like a child waiting for Christmas. I know you are excited, but honestly now." She said with an affectionate smile.[/blue]

[green]"Ah? As I recall that youthful energy was what drew you to me, wasn't it?"[/green]

[blue]"Oh? You sure it wasn't your ego?" She added with a knowing grin, and Francis sheepishly backed off. "Ok ok, you got me on that one." He said, raising his hands with his dumb smile.[/blue]

Locke had watched the exchange with a certain amusement. He'd been able to gather that his father was a bit of a trouble maker in his youth, and the fact that his mother was the one to tame him just made the interaction even more humerus.

Locke stretched out as his fork rested on the now empty plate. "Ah, I've missed breakfasts like that. They just don't compare at the Academy." He turned to look to Kiri. "You want to go get washed up or anything? I figure I'll go get her dressed." He said pointing to the toddler still in her pajamas. "Then I figure we'll head out to the park, see what we can find around here."

[Kiri Honeywater]

Continuing to eat she glanced up at him as he spoke of the phoenix eggs. It was good to be able to talk to another person who loved animals as much as she did. Maybe they could teach each other what they knew and be even more educated in the things they loved. With a small shrug she swallowed her bite of pancakes before answering him. "I don't know about if they can understand humans. Sometimes I forget that not everyone can hear the animals."

As the two parents exchanged their cute banter Kiri watched with awe having never seen people at their age love like this. Never having known her father it was all so magical to her to see a family like this. They all seemed so strong, happy, and full of love. Turning to gaze at Locke she hoped that he knew how lucky he was to have such a family as this. Not that she didn't love her mother, because she did greatly, but her family was no where near like this one.

She was finishing up her pancake pile as Locke started talking and she looked down at herself. Clean up? Was she dirty? Did she smell or something? "Um, is there a river near here? Oh, wait." Real people used showers or bathtubs."I mean...bathroom, it's down the hall right?"

Did she take a shower? Just wash her face? Kiri stood and stared down at her old yellow dress and her bare skin. Maybe she should get out her other dress. "Um, right. I'll go to my room then...um...clean up." Smile in place she hurried off toward her room to get her white dress. She had wanted to wait to wear it till a special dinner or something seeing as it was practically new. But if he wanted her to clean up then she'd clean up. Even though she didn't understand why they were just going to the park.

[Locke F. Herald]

[blue]Miranda watched Kiri vanish into her guest room, and got a telling smile. Francis looked at her while he was cleaning up the table.[/blue]

[green]"What are you thinking?" He asked, and when she turned suddenly he just grinned. "Come on, I know you. You were going to meddle."[/green]

[blue]"I was just wondering, she didn't bring much in way of bags. And if it's as I think then it might be hospitable." She said, moving to go upstairs. "I knew it would be good to hold on to them." As she vanished from sight.[/blue]

Locke poked his head back into the kitchen shortly. "Hey Mom wh-" And looked about, not seeing her. "Uh, Dad, where did Mom put Alley's tops?"

[green]"Closet, top shelf." He responded, slightly turning from his cleanup."[/green]

Locke left quickly after that. And a few minutes later a couple of outfits had been laid out in a small pile outside Kiri's door with a note on top of them.

[blue]Kiri:

This is some clothing I had around, if you'd like to you may use it while your here. Don't feel pressured, dress as you would be comfortable.[/blue]

Laid out in the pile would be a few different outfits. A pair of skirts and tops, and a set of actual pants with a T-Shirt top to name a few. The colors were mostly greens, blues and whites. Not much yellow to be found, unfortunately.

[Kiri Honeywater]

Dress in hand she went to go to the bathroom to 'clean up' and spotted the clothes and note. Bending down she read the note and looked up glancing around to see if she spotted Locke's mother. She bit her bottom lip feeling guilty for taking anyone's clothes, but she could always return them later. Kiri picked out a light green skirt and a white top and hurried to the bathroom with an armful of clothing. Using water and soap she cleaned up by ways of the sink, and after thirty minutes or so finally came out with hair brushed back into two braids.

After tossing the extra white dress into her bedroom she skipped back to the kitchen. She couldn't remember when the last time she wore new clothes or new to her that is. The outfit made her happy though she wasn't used to so many buttons like on the white short sleeved top. But the skirt was a lot like her dresses even if it was a tad shorter than she was used to. But it also made her feel more like a regular teenager her age which was a good thing. Maybe it meant that she didn't look like some wild child and would actually blend in more. Then Locke wouldn't have to worry about blending in while he was with her. Though her pointed ears did stick out when she braided her hair back.

She touched her ears and pouted out her bottom lip, she supposed she could use glamor to hide them. But she liked her ears just like she liked Locke's ears and if he wasn't going to hide his then she wasn't going to hide hers. Smiling now she tugged at her skirt staring down at them and realized her legs looked a long longer in shorter skirts. Maybe she should wear shoes? But she didn't own any shoes, and she hardly doubted her tiny feet would fit into Mrs. Herald's shoes. One thing about fairies is that they tended to have abnormally tiny feet. Or at least in her family they were very tiny.

Excited she spun in place giggling softly she couldn't wait to go to the park. Her ribbon tied braids spun around her and ended up whipping her in the face which only made her laugh. New clothes always made her happy especially since it didn't happen very often. Now she'd have to get something for Mrs. Herald in return. She'd have to ask Locke what types of things his mother liked so she could get her a small gift. Speaking of gifts she really needed to find one for Locke.

[Locke F. Herald]

[green]The first to spot Kiri in her new attire was not Locke, nor even Randy. Francis had finished cleaning up the kitchen and now was outside on a small stone patio, with the door open so he could hear inside. He heard the giggling voice and a smile cracked his lips as he turned from his work. What he had been doing wasn't inherently obvious. He was standing next to a small stone pillar. The pillar's top was wider around, like a bird bath or something similar. It looked as if it had drawings along the column, but they were not yet complete. Oddly, they seemed to end at the ground level, it was a rather peculiar setup. "Ah! Hey there Kiri! Just making a ne-whoa!" He stopped for a moment as he registered what she was wearing. Of course he recognized it, though he hadn't seen that outfit in many years. "Hah, you look nice in that! Sorry about that, gave me a bit of a flashback for a second there." He grinned. "Anyway, I was gonna make a nice little nest for the egg here. I figure, it's not a good idea to have a fire roaring inside the house." He grinned and stepped up from where he was kneeling in the dirt, looking over the unfinished column. "Something this special has to be perfect, a lot of hard work goes into perfection."[/green]

"Kiri? You around?" Came the voice from further inside. Francis smiled and turned back to his work. Locke would enter the kitchen with Alley in toe. She was wearing a small blue skirt with a white top, of course with a convenient hole for her tail to poke out. Locke on the other hand was dressed in a white T-shirt with a set of dark blue slacks. Simple and comfortable, he was no longer worried about going to extreme lengths to hide himself. "Oh!" Locke said, seeing her dress. Kiri was...wow...just... He was stunned for a moment, before snapping himself out of it. "Wow, you look..." Gorgeous? Amazing? Heavenly? "Beautiful." He finished. It seemed odd, the skirt was a bit shorter then what she usually wore, it showed off her legs, slender and sexy.

Locke felt the blood rush to his head instantly and coughed once uncomfortably. "Er...yeah. It's not too far, and it looks like it'll be a lovely day for a walk." He said, moving towards the front door.