[log] - Oh dear...

[ariakitsune.livejournal.com]

{ooc: A little bit after THIS point in Lorelei's intro.}
Aria never thought she'd see Radiant Garden again so soon. Not that almost fifteen years was soon. Seph checked to make sure Rainbow's End was still standing once in a while but, that was pretty much it. Coming home to find Lorelei missing nearly sent her into a panic though. A few hours were spent checking her usual spots and calling her friends. Seph looked just about ready to start tearing the universe apart looking for her.

She'd been asking about this place a lot though. If she wasn't here Aria didn't know what to think. The worst came to mind of course.

"What if she isn't here?" Seph interrupted her thoughts to ask. There was no expression on his face, almost no emotion in his voice.

"...We ask for help," she replied hesitantly.

They were getting some odd and occasionally hostile looks as they walked towards Rainbow's End. Seph had never been popular here. It was just too much to hope that people would drop the ridiculous grudge after all these years.

"Ask for help? After disappearing for almost fifteen years?" Seph replied. They were nearly there by this point.

"...They've forgiven worse," Aria said after a thoughtful pause. Thinking about the kinds of things that have been forgiven was not really good for her state of mind at the moment.

"We're here," Seph announced. Thankfully, that interrupted Aria's train of thought.

They both hesitated at the door though, still reluctant to make themselves known.

Comments

[carmenbird.livejournal.com]

Doctor Song (or Doctor Wojciechowski, technically) was on her way home from a rather hectic class. She taught the science of magic, and she was quite well-suited to lecturing, but then they'd wanted to pair a lab with her class. It went well most days, but 'most days' was definitely not every day.
Today she'd had to sort out the results of an attempt at combining spells. She still wasn't sure why the student had thought Gravity and Fire would be useful as a pair (his presentation had been vague at best), but the resulting semi-singularity with its spiraled arm of flames had made for an exciting morning.

Her heart was set firmly on a change of clothes and a hot cup of jasmine tea, but the desire was momentarily forgotten at the sight of an unmistakable flag of white hair.
She took a moment to gather her wits. Then, seeing as the visitors appeared be frozen at the door, she stepped forward and raised her voice. "Sephy, Sephy, I sent the last tea invitation nine years ago! I hope you have an excuse for being late."

[creepy-son-of-a.livejournal.com]

Seph spun around at the call, partly in anger. He hated being called Sephy. Probably even more than Sephiroth did. He calmed a bit when he realized who it was though.

The only replies he could think of were a sarcastic one or an explanation that would take longer than he'd wait to find out whether or not Lorelei was here.

"We were busy," he said instead. He wasn't really in the mood for sarcasm.

Aria just looked at the ground guiltily.

[carmenbird.livejournal.com]

Song stopped below the porch, resting her hands on her hips and giving them both a thorough looking over. It had been a long time.

"Too busy to say hello? I hope you were either saving about two dozen worlds or raising a family. I don't think anything else will excuse you." It was a joke, of course, based on her own experience as a mother (despite all her youthful protests). She was really very puzzled by their return after so long without a word.

[ariakitsune.livejournal.com]

Aria and Seph looked at each other, amused despite the situation.

"I think you would have heard about it if we'd saved a few worlds," Aria replied.

She sighed and looked back at the house.

"Lorelei's a good kid when she isn't missing," she muttered. "We think she might be here trying to find out some things we wouldn't tell her."

"We hope she's here," Seph cut in. He was starting to think he never should have shown her how to use the dark corridors.

[carmenbird.livejournal.com]

Song's eyebrows shot up as she registered what the answer meant. If not for the obvious stress they were under, she would have barraged them with questions.

Instead she ascended the steps and slipped between them to open the door, all business, speaking as she went. "Spontaneous disappearances seem to be inherent behavior for the Refugee kids. One thing I can promise you is that we've all had plenty of experience tracking them down." She ushered them inside rather hurriedly, not about to let them get away now that they were here.

[creepy-son-of-a.livejournal.com]

Of course they followed her in. Song didn't really have to worry about them disappearing right away. They weren't about to leave without finding out if Lorelei was here.

"She's been curious about this place for a while. We've told her too much, I suppose." Seph left the reasons for keeping things from her unspoken. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

"Guess we couldn't have expected her to take 'You can meet them when you're older' as an answer forever," Aria muttered unhappily. They'd just wanted her to be able to take care of herself before she was introduced to the kind of things the Refugees generally got into.

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

Eli cracked his soda open while maintaining his balance on the chair arm, more than ready to hear Ray's answers to Lorelei's questions. He glanced over when the front door opened though, and grinned as the trio entered.

"Hey! Look who we found! Why didn't you guys say anything? You didn't have a boy too while you were at it, did you? I'm surrounded by girls."

[cantbeknown.livejournal.com]

"What's wrong with..." Lorelei started before looking over to see who Eli was talking to. "Eep!" she squeaked instead of finishing her sentence when she saw her parents standing there.

The deadpan look on her dad's face made her debate the likelihood she could open a Corridor and get through before he could stop her. She sighed when she came up with no for her answer. At least her mom just looked relieved.

Guiltily, because she knew how much she must have worried them, she got out of her chair.

[creepy-son-of-a.livejournal.com]

Seph approached Lorelei, the deadpan look still on his face.

She was just standing there, her gaze fixed on the floor. He'd never really been more than mildly annoyed with her before. That he was now seemed to frighten her. He stared down at her for a few seconds. She was growing more nervous the longer he remained silent. Like she was imagining some dire punishment.

"Lore," he sighed. She looked up just in time to receive a rather firm hug that nearly lifted her from the ground. Whatever she'd been expecting it certainly wasn't that.

Aria approached the two of them and joined in the hug. "Don't do that again," she said, sounding like she might have been suppressing tears.

[carmenbird.livejournal.com]

It hadn't been very hard to work out who the strange girl was, between Eli's comment and the looks being exchanged. The hug confirmed it beyond a doubt.

Larkin was lurking in the doorway, playing at being an innocent bystander. Song met her daughter's eyes, sharing the amusement of the situation.
"There, you see? Even the usual suspects are becoming experts at finding each other," she said brightly for Seph and Aria's benefit, though she only half-expected them to hear her.

[cantbeknown.livejournal.com]

When Lorelei realized she wasn't being punished, lectured or dragged home she hugged back.

"I just, I just want to know why." She couldn't help wibbling a little there.

"It's alright Lore," Aria said soothingly. "I think I understand. Can't really still keep it from you now anyway."

"Later," Seph cut in. He released the hug though he stayed close enough to keep a hand on her shoulder. "I believe we owe some explanation to others first."

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that'd be nice." Eli said casually, grinning a bit before he sipped from his soda. He'd been in Lorelei's position before, getting into one thing or another and being rewarded with enormous, squishy hugs...only to be grounded for eternity later. He knew Lorelei's was coming, and was suddenly glad Seph wasn't his father.

"So do we have any other cousins no one's mentioned?"

[creepy-son-of-a.livejournal.com]

"We don't have any other children," Seph grumbled. He was just a bit disappointed by that fact. He enjoyed having a family and a bigger one would not have been unwelcome. This wasn't really the time to discuss that though.

He sighed and ruffled Lorelei's hair. He ignored the annoyed pout she directed at him. "There is a lot to discuss. I am not sure where to begin."

"I'm sure they have many of the same questions Lorelei does," Aria said quietly.

[carmenbird.livejournal.com]

"Well, before you get into it," Song interrupted, "let me make tea." She'd been giving Eli's soda a disapproving look.
Breezing past the group as if it did not contain two long-lost friends and a new, exciting acquaintance, she slung her book bag off her shoulder and dropped it beside the couch as she made her way toward the kitchen, paying no evident attention to whether the others decided to follow or stay where they were.

Larkin, having stepped expertly out of her mother's way, settled a flat look in Eli's direction, silent commentary on the madness of their family.

[cantbeknown.livejournal.com]

"Who was that?" Lorelei asked, a bit stunned. She hadn't even really noticed another person in the room distracted by her parents as she was. Physical descriptions were not part of the few stories they told her.

Tea sounded like a good idea to her. But then so did sleep. She really hated how easily she got tired sometimes. She tried to hide it though. Her parents were likely to start fussing and put off telling her things if they noticed.

"That was Song," Aria muttered. She hadn't noticed how tired Lorelei was yet but, it wouldn't really be long before she did.

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

Eli raised his eyebrows at Larkin before taking a proper seat in the chair. Probably wouldn't have been long until somebody told him to. It didn't stop him from slouching into the seat, however. He'd do that even if someone had commented.

"So..." He played with the tab on the can while he waited with the others, half considering suggesting the 'kids' go harass people in town while the adults worked out whatever this was. The fact that he still considered himself one of the so-called kids didn't escape him, and he snickered just a little. Took after his mother that way.

[larkinciel.livejournal.com]

"So..." Larkin echoed, "I was gonna suggest we go scout out the castle basement for that secret room you thought was there, but this is cool too." Sidling over to Eli while she talked, she plucked his soda away from him to steal a sip.

"What're you gonna do now, Lore?" She adopted the nickname with hardly a thought, and though she was asking the girl, her eyes strayed more toward Seph and Aria, studying the figures she remembered only from stories.

[cantbeknown.livejournal.com]

Lorelei was a little uncomfortable with someone she just met using her nickname. She couldn't suppress a slight grimace but, she wasn't going to argue about it. She wasn't interested in delaying finally getting some answers.

"I think I'll stay here for the talking," she answered uncertainly, looking to her parents for approval.

[creepy-son-of-a.livejournal.com]

Seph wasn't changed too much after almost fifteen years. He was older of course but, he'd also completely stopped wearing the black leather and taken to keeping a thin braid in his hair behind his right ear.

Now that he wasn't distracted by relief at finding Lorelei safe he noticed her fatigue.

"Only for a little while," he murmured. "You are going to bed early tonight." He was making it sound like a punishment. It wasn't really but, he didn't want to discuss her frailty here. Her existence obviously couldn't be hidden any longer. That didn't mean he had to reveal her weaknesses to everyone. At least it could be passed off as an effect of prolonged nervousness if anyone else noticed.

Aria didn't have anything to add even though she also realized that Lore was tired. She was kind of resisting the urge to fuss over her daughter. She decided to distract herself by taking a good look at the other kids in the room.

"It's been far too long," she sighed. It was strange seeing Eli grown and she had no clue whether she was right to assume the girl was Song's.

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

"Hey!" Eli protested as his soda was stolen, but he was watching Lorelei and caught the grimace at Larkin's use of her nickname. He winced himself.

"Y'know Larkin, maybe you shouldn't call her that 'til you know her better?" She'd either agree with him or call him Ladybug in front of company just to be spiteful. Oh, how he hoped not. He found himself sitting up straight once Aria turned her attention to them, despite his original intention to slouch. He grinned and waved a bit.

"Yep! If you'd stayed away another decade, we'd have kids!" Eli blushed suddenly, making it a point to avoid Larkin's eyes. "Or maybe another two decades, yeah, um, say hi to Larkin."

Acting like a kid wasn't the only thing he'd inherited from his mother.

[larkinciel.livejournal.com]

Larkin seemed to calculate this advice, apparently deciding that politeness was worth more than the fun of teasing in this case. She gave a brief but clear apology.

As for Eli'd awkward comment, she wasn't sure whether to be amused by the admission or annoyed with his uncertainty, so she ignored it and focused on the introduction instead.

Handing Eli's soda back to him, she offered a dramatic little bow to the couple. "At your service - when I feel like it."

[creepy-son-of-a.livejournal.com]

Seph raised an eyebrow at Eli.

"Sure of that, are you?" He asked, slightly amused.

His eyes then turned to Larkin. He probably wouldn't call it instant dislike but, it was pretty close. There was the optimistic thought that maybe she was just terrible with first impressions.

"Cute." As in not cute at all. He never did enjoy unnecessary dramatics.

"Nice to meet you, I suppose," Aria cut in. That was her lame attempt at being polite. She wasn't really one for pretending to like someone just because they happened to be the offspring of a friend.

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

Eli glanced back at Larkin, the embarrassment fading. Was he sure about marrying her someday, and having a bunch of little dream mages running around that his mother would squeal over?

"Yep."

He frowned at his aunt's reply to Larkin before deciding not to start anything by commenting on it. Instead, he set his soda down and called toward the kitchen.

"Aunt Song, did the tea zombie get you?"

[carmenbird.livejournal.com]

Larkin's slanted gaze and sudden silence suggested she'd become aware that she was not impressing the strangers. She decided to back off a bit, but she would sure as hell not apologize or try to act overly polite. Larkin firmly believed that who she was and how she liked to behave came above what others thought of her.

Song's voice, quieted by the distance, still carried her playful lilt as she replied, "Help, Eli, she was hiding in the cabinet! I never saw it coming! Curse the wicked tea zombie!"

[ariakitsune.livejournal.com]

"Tea zombie?" Lorelei muttered. The only thing that made her think of was her mom going 'teeaaaa' as she got the kettle out after a long day. She stayed silent otherwise. She was busy resisting the urge to whine about the delay in explanations and trying not to fall asleep on her feet.

"Is tea zombie still a frequent problem around here?" Aria asked jokingly.

"Apparently," Seph muttered dryly.

Now that their silence was broken there was the desire to catch up. They couldn't stay too long though. Not unless they wanted to stay the night. And Seph, at least, didn't really. Call it paranoia but, he wasn't sure the issues that made them feel the need to hide Lorelei from everyone had been completely resolved.

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

"They didn't mention the Tea Zombie? It was great, see, once aunt Song and my mom went down into the kitchen for breakfast and there was this incubus..."

Eli trailed off and cleared his throat. "Um, never mind. But aunt Ari is hysterical when she hasn't had her morning tea."

Yeah, of course they were gonna tell their kid about an incubus. Eli himself might never have known about it if he hadn't gotten so good at listening at keyholes.

"So, yeah. Shutting up so someone else can talk."