[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

[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."