Neith walked into the HQ, a bundle held close to her in a sling. She peered around the room, and waved to Lenore, her face twisting in 'excited-but-must-not-show-it' expressions as she tried to casually walk over to her. "Anya found Kia!"
Lenore smiles, still running a finger over her cut. "That's good to hear," she says. She looks up at the little Fa'e and smiles. "Kia is gorgeous."
The two snakes on Nyoka's head look up before Nyoka does. When Nyoka sees the new Fa'e, her face becomes one of curiousity.
Neith giggled as she ran one hand over Kia's back gently. Kia opened one green eye to peer at them both. She looked up at Neith for a moment, then looked at Lenore for a few long moments, finally resting on the snakes and the little green head peering at her. Kia outstretched a hand, and started to try and grasp at them, although they were across the room and out of Kia's grasp.
Nyoka tilts her head to the side, watching the new Fa'e's hand reaching for her from feet away. She stops petting Nakia and crawls over to her mommy and Neith. Once there, she waves at Neith and the Fa'e, she waves up at them.
Kia only struggled with her free arm harder as Nyoka came closer, reaching down at the waving baby.
Neith blinked, stepped back, carefully and somewhat reluctantly, laid the baby down on her blanket beside Nyoka. "...I'm not sure what she wants..."
Kia reached out at Nyoka's face, her eyes locked on the other fa'e as she tried to communicate with churps and coos.
Lenore looks down at Kia, pretty sure of what she is reaching for.
Nyoka looks up at the two snakes on her head, which are wriggling furiously now. Nyoka somehow knows what the fa'e is trying to tell her. She hisses slightly, seeming to talk to them. They settle down a little and one stretches a little toward the Fa'e "You can pet her," Nyoka smiles. "She calm now."
Neith clenched the carry sling a little harder, muttering, "Kia...careful..."
Kia's little golden hand gently touched the top of one of stretched out snake and her first smile filtered through as she stroked the smooth scales beneath her chubby fingers.
"Don't worry, Neith," Lenore smiles, still messing with her cut. "Nyoka's snakes have never been violent. And, ever since she figured out she can talk to snakes, she can get them to do whatever she wants them to. She won't let them hurt anothe Fa'e.
The snake stays still under the petting. Nyoka beams at the new Fa'e and asks, "What her name?"
Neith kneels beside Nyoka and Kia, smiling a little easier as she answered Lenore's fa'e. "Her name is Kia... it means spirit." She stood up again, and looked at Lenore's cut. "How'd you get that?"
Kia stopped patting the snake, and peered around the room as best she could, moving her chubby body around on the blanket.
Sayuri_Nitta: *walks in, a huge smile on her face, a wriggling bundle in her arms*
Hi guys
Neith beamed and waved to Sayuri. "Hi!"
Nyoka looks up at her mother, who tries to concel the cut with her hand. She knows she is trying to protect her, but her eyes water anyway, and she looks away.
Lenore didn't want to talk about what happened in front of Nyoka, but she sighs and nods. She looks at Neith. "Nyoka and I shared a dream last night. In it was Medusa. I got too close to her and she wipped me with her tail." Lenore takes her glove off of her right hand again, intent on going all the way with the story. Neith can see the stone fingertips now. "She looked me in the eye, and this is what happened to my hand. I woke up when Nyoka screamed. And . . . well, where the blood on Medusa's tail was is now a silver mark on Nyoka's tail. Nyoka is upset, as I am, and she seems to think she hurt me. But, she didn't."
Lenore waves to Sayuri and her new Fa'e.
Sayuri_Nitta: *giggles as Sati tries to grab for her hat* she keeps doing that (( omg i luv her so much *squees* will have to do a diary entry later tho - dont have much time now)) *sneezes again* i think i will have to bath you already! Spices are getting up my nose
*Sayuri leaves, gently clutching the wiggling Sati, sneezing all the way out*
"Aww... Poor Nyoka... I can see why she thinks she did it, but if you know she didn't... Mommas always know best." Neith sighed a little. "I guess that's what we get for having fa'e, the dreams come with them. And the other effects..."
Kia peered at the new fa'e, not finding anything on the new one as interesting as Nyoka's snake. She returned to staring at Nyoka with wide fasanated eyes, content to suck on an edge of her blanket and look.
Neith grinned at Sati's actions. "I've kept my hat on... imagine how bad Kia will be when she spots two tuggable bunny ears dangling above her head..."
"I'm every bit as distressed as Nyoka, and I know she senses it, so it isn't making anything better for her," Lenore says. "I always suspected that was who she might have been, but now I am sure. Her face was exactly as Nyoka's, but older. But, there is nothing I can do about it now. She'll get over it, she did the last time she had a nitemare like this one."
Nyoka looks from her mother sadly, then down to Kia. She decides she needs to take her mind off things. She moves her silver-tipped snake tail above the head of Kia, smiling.
Kia let out a squeal, and grabbed at the snake tail in delight, her legs kicking off the blanket as she wriggled and grasped at the pretty dangling thing.
Neith grinned at Kia, and then hugs Lenore. "I know you'll be able to get through the worse parts of being a Guardian of Nyoka, as few as there will be. You wouldn't have been given her otherwise."
Nyoka lets Kia grab her tail, smiling slightly, shoing off the tips of her snake-fangs that hang a little over her lower lip.
Lenore hugs Neith back. "I know that, I just sometimes wonder if I will be strong enough for her when she needs me to," she tells Neith. Then, she smiles. "Enough talk of sad things. Did Anya tell you where she finally found your little Kia?"
Kia stares at the caught tail in her hands, waving her legs around in glee as she looks at Nyoka, then at the tail, wondering if it can be sucked on.
"She never said... in fact, she was a little mysterious with all of it." Neith shrugged. "I'm curious, of course, but I can hardly make her tell me. Did she tell you where she found Nyoka?"
"No, Anya was mysterious as well," Lenore smiles. "I can't imagine where she could have found Nyoka."
Nyoka tilts her head a bit. Kie seems on the verge of sticking the end of her tail in her mouth, but seems to be thinking it over. She, of course, sucks on her tail all the time, but no other Fa'e has done so . . .
"Maybe there are some things even Anya can't share... " Neith shrugged. "I'm curious, but so happy with Kia. She's amazing! Chubby, lively, twice as demanding as a normal baby, she sucks on anything that's too close to her mouth... but ... She's perfect."
Kia let the tail go at the last moment, spotting a fly buzzing around over her head. She grasped and tried to catch it, forgetting about the dangling tail for a moment.
"I suppose not," Lenore agrees. "I know what you mean about Kia. Nyoka is quite a handful sometimes, even if she is perfectly behaved around others."
Nyoka watches Kia try to catch the fly. Then, she looks down at the silver tip of her tail again and her eyes grow sad.
"All babies are, I guess. Maybe they'll... be better... when they're adults... Not long to wait!" Neith sighed, picturing her baby Kia as a toddler, then a teen. "Not ... too... long...?"
Kia gave up on the fly, and started to play with the silver tip, making happy cooing noises and smiling at it. She was obviously pleased with it, her eyes staring at it as it moved.
"I know what you mean," Lenore sighs. "Nyoka is growing so fast. She is already getting some kinky-curly hair, and another snake has popped out of her scalp. Her tail is really long now, and her ears are starting to get almost as long as her head is tall. I think she is set for toddler-hood," she says, picturing her hellion when she hits that age.
Nyoka is brought from her melancholy musings by Kia grabbing her tail again. She moves it around, making it a little harder for her to grab it. She smiles at the cooing coming from Kia.
"Well, she's pretty good with Kia. Kia hasn't been this amused since she discovered that if she poked the tomato's eye, it would go in then pop out again." Neith giggled quietly at that memory. "I gave her the tomato in her playpen while I set up her things. And then found her poking the tomato's eye in over and over and over..."
Kia grabed at the tail some more, before laying back on her soft blanket and clutching at her ankles, watching the adults talk, her expression turning more calm as she listened to them. As soon as she heard Kia talk about the tomato, she started to make loud baby noises, grabbing at the tail idly.
Nyoka, showing expert control over her tail's muscles, pokes Kia gently in the tummy as she watches her mommy and Neith talk.
"Yeah," Lenore smiles. "Nyoka seems to be good with a lot of the kids. I think she likes meeting new people. And how cute, about the little tomato. Nyoka only gets really curious and absorbed like that around animals."
Neith nods. "I know! She hasn't yet met many of her family yet, she's already got a lot to learn about. Most of my creatures are still living at my other smaller home, by choice. It's more of a collection of a few liveable sheds on a lot of acres of land, but then, they love the land."
Kia squeaks and pokes at the tail that's poking her stomach.
"I have a feeling that Kia might be as quick at learning as Nyoka is," Lenore smiles.
Nyoka giggles hypnotically as Kia pokes her tail. She still pokes the little Fa'e.
Kia keeps poking, her face alight with a giant smile.
"She probably will be. And probably is... but we'll see." Neith smiles at the two. "At least they're getting along."
"Well, we expected they would," Lenore smiles.
Nyoka lets Kia grab her tail again, her snakes moving happily on her head.
Kia hugs the tail close to herself, still with a huge smile on her face as she watches the snakes sway on Nyoka's head.
"Of course we did." Neith grins, then sits down on the couch to relax a little. "I'm still half-dead from setting up our room... Wow. A lot of work."
Lenore sighs. "I know what you mean. I am clearing out my basment studio to make a room for Nyoka when she gets older. She loves it down there. She sits on my desk sometimes to watch me do my art."
Nyoka wraps her tail around Kia's wrist gently, so she doesn't hurt her.
Lenore looks up at the clock and jumps to her feet. "Oh, I have to go! I have an orientation today . . . I have to go get ready." She walks over to Nyoka, who unwraps her tail and pulls it gently from Kia. "Say goodbye to Kia, darling. You get to see her later tonight, If she is here when we come."
NYoka smiles down at the little Fa'e, who is enchanting in her eyes. "Bye, Kia. I promise I will see you later."
Kia pouts, her face returning to the normal look as she watches her friend leave with the guardian. She looks around, and seeing no fa'e, holds her arms up to Neith with the most demanding look she can possibley make.
Neith sighs, but smiles as she leans down to pick up Kia, wrapping the silvery blanket around Kia again. Kia rests her head on Neith's shoulder, her eyes shutting as she's lulled into a sleep by the beating heart.
