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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 11:07 am
"I do have a bakery," laughed Cesc, his cheeks warming slightly in the presence of so much delight. While people generally seemed to be impressed by that knowledge, they rarely seemed to shine inwardly with the sunshine of enchantment like Lorin was--especially since the kiddo couldn't really eat that many of the treats to begin with. "You can come any time you want, and we'll get you some treats and let you meet some more Raevans. My friends Iorek and Zurine are Raevans and come over pretty often! I think you'd like them both."
To Cadi, Cesc smiled easily: "Amity and Aina! They're so great. But that sounds like a Lab party. Everyone gets kind of sequestered in their own groups. Too bad, though--there's some good people, probably pretty good to get some shots with, if that's your thing."
He grimaced, then. "Although... I'm kind of guilty of not going out with them either, generally. Second and Main's more a place to meet new people or forget when you stick your proverbial foot in it, ah?" He laughed, shaking his head.
"Hm?" Rhedefre looked up as Claire addressed him. "Oh, anything you'd give a dog or a cat works for him. Although he'd eat a shoelace if you said it was a T-R-E-A-T to his face. Not a picky Guy."]
Cesc turned toward Lorin. "Sure you can--but..." His face went still with fake solemnity. "If you do, you've got to be ready to give him tummy rubs, too. He's really serious about his tummy rubs. You think you can do that?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 10:20 pm
Lorin smiled at so many unfamiliar names. There were so many different Raevans that he still had yet to meet; considering all of his meetings had been one-on-one so far, he was eager to see where they spent their time, what they did, and learn everything about them. "I wanna come visit," he said decisively. "What are they like?" While he still wanted to find out most of the details on his own (in a future visit, perhaps), the namedrop had whet his curiosity and he wanted one fact to connect to these otherwise familiar names.
Cadi nodded, sipping her drink, as Cesc explained a little more about the Lab parties. "Feels kinda par for the course for parties, probably why I'm not much of a partier." His subsequent admission, chased by a laugh and a shake of his head, resonated with her - he had easily nailed one reason why she went out. With a smirk, she leaned back in the chair, crossing one leg over the other at the ankles. "Man, I feel you. Dunno if I meet too many new people there myself, I usually don't remember." It was her turn to laugh now and she shrugged. "It breaks up the monotony, I guess. Distraction from all the day-to-day junk. That's mostly why I go." She lifted her brows, her expression softening as Cesc turned his attention to Lorin now; Amity was nice, Lorin and Aina were cute, but weird as it was, it was kind of nice to connect with a Raevan on a heavier matter. She wondered what kind of things he was trying to run from, if it was similar to her own reasons.
Lorin, for his part, considered Cesc's offer with equal gravity. It must be something very important if Cesc was so serious about it! He nodded firmly. "I can do it. I give good belly rubs. You can ask Misha."
Claire made her reappearance then with a bag of dog biscuits; Ivy knew one of the vendors who made homemade animal treats at the local farmer's market from natural ingredients, and Misha was quite fond of them. She shook the box encouragingly to coax Guy into following her back out into the living room, her other hand carrying a tall glass of iced tea. "Here you are," she said, offering it out to Cesc. "Mint sun tea, fresh from the patio." It had just finished brewing about half an hour before the stag had arrived - her timing had worked out perfectly. She set the bag of treats on the table and Lorin leaned forward, putting his coloring book aside as he reached into the bag to pull out a nicely-shaped bone. Barely able to contain his excitement, he patted the sofa to call over Guy Smiley, holding the treat enticingly.
"C'mere, Guy Smiley!" He was beyond ready to distribute belly rubs.
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 10:47 pm
"What're they like? Well, Iorek is a big guy--he's a gargoyle. He's a Frei, like you, but he's got big stone arms." Cesc pantomimed the size by hovering his hand over his forearm. "He loves superheroes, too, and he's really funny and nice. Zurine, she's a Sigel like me, and she's made out of a snow flower and a snow owl, so she's all cold and pretty, just like snow. She's also super nice." Cesc nodded at this simplified characterizations of two of his closest friends, hoping it would pique the child's interest enough to know their friendliness and unique makeups.
To Cadi, he turned as Claire and Guy Smiley were returning on the scene with a sympathetic smile, his voice lowering a pitch: "Yeah, I've got my fair share of amazing nights there I can't remember at all. I like to tell myself they're the nights I met several princesses and charmed them all."
Guy Smiley sniffed the air, his ears perked and his nose twitching. He knew that food had made its way onto the scene, and he didn't feel that he was mistaken in guessing that it was for him (he always believed firmly that it was.) Hearing his name, he leapt nimbly onto the couch and gently pawed the child, looking for a firm foothold to get closer to the treat.
"Thanks so much for y--Oi, Guy. Be nice," Cesc said warningly to the animal, gathering up his glass of sun tea. Guy Smiley responded by sitting directly onto Lorin's ribbon, his tail flopping in anticipation. He licked his chops and opened his mouth, lifting one bent paw in readiness for food.
"Foxes sit on things they like," laughed Cesc, watching the exchange. "So if he keeps trying to sit on you, that's a good thing. You can gently shove him off if he's bugging you, he won't get his feelings hurt."
Turning his attention back to Claire and Cadi, he took a sip of his iced tea, his eyebrows raising with surprised delight. With Claire back in the room, some measure of studied politeness returned to his overall demeanor that had been absent in his conversation with Cadi. "Wow! I've never had sun tea before, this is great. Thanks so much for this. You guys have a really lovely home, too, by the way. Is that a garden back there?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 11:34 pm
Lorin watched, wide-eyed, when Cesc told him about his friends, eyes tracking his pantomimes as he moved from speaking about Iorek to Zurine. Even though the Raevans he had met had been vastly different from one another in demeanor and appearance, he was always enthralled to know just how different. It was a balm to him to know that they were all nice and spoken of so fondly. When Cesc paused, Lorin nodded, hands pressed to the coloring book against him. "They sound nice, I wanna meet 'em. Can we all meet at your bakery, Cesc?" he asked eagerly, and his expression shifted to one of surprise as another thought occurred to him. "Do they like games or coloring or anything? I can bring some!" He wanted to know so much about them now that he knew the basics - amazing how many more Raevan friends there were to meet in the world!
Cadi leaned to the side when Cesc bantered back, having the misfortune of taking another sip as he spoke. She snorted into the glass and muttered back, "Revision! Very clever. I should take a note outta your book." She grinned, eyes flicking over to Claire when she and Guy rejoined them. She, too, followed the same social cue as Cesc did - a conversation to be continued another time.
Lorin could not contain his giggles as the catsune landed on the couch deftly and sat firmly atop his ribbon. He held the treat up as Guy did so and when his paw rose, showing his readiness, the Frei beamed in pure delight and offered it to him. Most of his animal experience stopped just short of Misha, and while the borzoi was quite the couch potato at times, he had yet to sit on him. Lorin was very taken by the gesture. "I like you too," he assured Guy, placing a careful hand on his back and stroking.
Claire waved a hand, smiling fondly. "Thank you. All still a work in progress but we're getting there. If you like, I can tell you how to make that." She nodded towards the glass. "It's very easy. The sun does all the work for you." At the mention of the garden, she craned her neck to look out the sliding glass door to the patio. "It is. Also a work in progress so pardon me if it still looks a little empty," she amended with a laugh. "Shall we move things outside? We've got plenty of chairs and it's such a nice day." Lorin's hands paused in their petting at mention of a change of venue - maybe this meant that he and Guy could play!
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:49 pm
Guy Smiley nipped at the bone as it was offered to him, and chomped it in one, two bites with his nose pointed upward, trying to gauge how much he could eat of the snack at once. As it seemed too big to be immediately swallowed, he let it fall onto the couch and went down onto his belly, crunching the treat happily. He squirmed gently against Lorin, and his hind legs rose and then fell back down to a sit, trying to find a way to sit on more of the ribbon than previously. He licked his chops as he swallowed the last of the snack, then licked the couch cushions where crumbs had fallen with great care and love.
Lifting his head, he looked at Lorin and began to purr, the noise just slightly left of a cat's purr--a little rougher, like a car's engine. He slitted his eyes as he blinked slowly at the child. Why was there not more of him to sit on? Rhede had more to sit on. He inclined his head in confusion.
"Mrawf?" he said musingly.
"I'd love to know. I'm sure my family would be really happy to try it. Besides, I like it when the sun does my work for me, anyway," said Cesc to Claire, and when she suggested the change in scenery, he brightened further. "Oh, yeah--it's a great day outside, be awesome to be out there." He turned toward Guy Smiley. "You wanna go outside a bit, buddy?"
Guy's fluffy tail flopped on the couch and his ears perked upward, but he would not be fooled into moving while still getting pet if Outside was not a certainty.
"I think we could both do with a little more sun," said Cesc with a grin, picking up his glass and rising. "Lorin, do you want me to take our coloring? Or is that more of an inside thing?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2016 11:15 pm
Lorin watched in amusement as the catsune took the treat, before the remains tumbled to the couch and Guy repositioned himself to get what was left. As the tail and hind quarters came down again on his ribbon, the Frei let loose a peal of delighted laughter that continued well until Guy licked the cushions clean. He petted him as he snatched up every last crumb, and the rumbling purr that emanated from the catsune was noticeable enough for Lorin to feel. It was a new sound for him, as he had not had any experience with cats before (nor catsunes, for that matter), but the pleased expression on Guy's small face made Lorin think that he was doing something right.
"The easiest," Claire affirmed with a laugh. "Get one of those drink jugs with the spigot on the front, fill it all the way, and line the rim with regular black tea and mint tea packets before you put the top on. Then let it sit in the sun for a few hours and it'll do its work." The simplicity of sun tea made it a favorite drink of Claire's, especially when entertaining. "But yes, let's move things outside, shall we?" Claire moved towards the back door, reaching a hand out to pull the curtains aside.
Lorin's giggles resumed at Guy's reply to Cesc, and he wiggled underneath the catsune as an indication that he was going to get up. "We can do the coloring on the table out there," he said, nodding vigorously. He dearly wanted to color with his sissy and Cesc, but his gaze dropped to Guy, still sitting on his ribbon. "But I gotta do belly rubs first." Priorities were clearly in order. Cadi laughed as she rose to her feet, taking the momentary lull to stretch her back.
"Very serious business," she agreed with fake solemnity. "One must keep their promises, after all," she added as she tagged behind Claire, who was sliding open the back door for the party. While it was not a hot day, the change in temperature was easily noticeable, and Claire squinted a little against the sunlight into the garden. The wicker chairs stood a short distance away, surrounding a rounded table with a closed umbrella. She had been worried about anything obstructing the path to the chairs, but it seemed that Aaron had moved the soil bags and the extra walking path stones they were laying into the garage.
"Go ahead and get comfortable," she called back to the group with a slightly embarrassed smile. "I don't have much to look at yet, but please make yourselves at home." The patio was packed with blooming planters but the perimeter of the fence, while looking well-tended with moist soil and a stone border, was rather sparse in comparison.
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 8:24 pm
Guy continued to purr contentedly, and, as promised, flopped onto his side, lifting his forepaw to request his belly rubs. As they were delivered, he let his head gently plop back onto the couch cushions, his eyes closed, his purring becoming heavy and loud. It looked, for a moment, as though he may fall asleep.
"Well, don't let him monopolize you all day, yeah? He's a glutton for tummy rubs," said Cesc to Lorin, gathering a few of the crayons and the coloring book. He then spoke to Claire, smiling as he went to the door: "That definitely sounds easy enough--prep and forget, my favorite thing to do."
He stepped out after Claire, readjusting his cap in the brighter light of the outdoors. The garden was in a state of obvious flux, but there was something about it that Cesc still found charming. It was fresh and new and still being moved into, and it spoke of its busy owners and all the new things in their lives. That Lorin, who seemed part plant himself, would have a say in the planting of a garden seemed delightful and what was right to Rhedefre. A project he could take part ownership of.
On the couch, suddenly seeming to notice that the others were leaving, Guy's eyes snapped open. He squirmed back onto his belly and leapt off the couch, hustling to the door. He turned and looked at Lorin, tail shivering with delight: c'mon!
"This is great!" Rhedefre was exclaiming, sinking into one of the seats. "This'll be a great place for entertaining when you're all done with it--garden parties and the like. Only less... murderous birds at anything you throw, I'm guessing." He grinned at Claire, then shook his head helplessly. To Cadi, in explanation, he said: "Lab events... well, the one you were at was maybe the easiest one I ever went to."
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 7:51 pm
Lorin's smile grew into a grin the more he rubbed at Guy's belly, thoroughly pleased with the response that he was getting. Misha would usually kick one of his hind legs when the Frei found a certain spot, but the way that the catsune was reacting was so very new to him. He found that he quite liked the purring, surprising as it was at first. But now that they were moving outside, he wiggled a bit and paused in his rubbing when the catsune made to roll over and race for the door, tail shaking as he waited for Lorin. The leshy Raevan did not need telling twice, and he pushed himself up with a giggle, floating quickly to the open door to follow the catsune outside.
As soon as they emerged into the sunlight, Lorin stretched with a tiny sigh. The weather really was nice today, without a bite of cold in the air but not hot enough to feel oppressively warm. His wings and antennae fluttered in the fresh air and he spun around as he stretched. While most everyone else was convening at the chair and tables, he was not quite ready to color just yet. With a cursory glance at Guy, he flitted over to the other side of the door, where a tube of tennis balls waited (usually left here for Misha). He picked it up and popped the lid off, upending one of the balls into his hand. He turned to the table and held it up, calling out, "Can Guy and I play fetch real fast, Cesc?"
Cadi slid into the seat to Cesc's left before the Sigel sat down, sliding her phone out of her pocket when she felt it buzz. Claire claimed the seat across and beamed at his praise, cradling her own glass of tea. "Thank you. We're taking it bit by bit, but hopefully by summer we'll have the path laid down and everything planted." As the talk turned towards the fel essence hunt, her smile lost a touch of jubilance but she laughed. Cadi glanced up momentarily from her phone with a creased brow, which only furrowed more when Cesc explained.
"What, are you guys out there playing The Hunger Games or something?" she joked weakly with a snort.
"More like reenacting 'The Birds,'" Claire answered with a sip of her tea, turning to watch Lorin and Guy out in the yard proper.
"Ooookay," Cadi said, squinting at Claire before she turned to Cesc, her confused gaze looking for answers.
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2016 12:18 am
Cesc looked over at Lorin as he took out a tennis ball, his eyebrows lifting just slightly. He saw that Guy Smiley had come outside, and quickly checked to make sure that Claire's yard had a fence before continuing. While Guy did like to jump onto high fences, he generally would only use the height as a vantage point before coming back down--he wasn't the sort to just run off.
Hell, he tended to get grumpy if Cesc walked too far ahead of him at the dog park.
"You can try!" he laughed as he slowly sat back into his chair. "He only plays fetch sometimes, and when he does, you have to try really hard to get the ball back from him. He won't bite or anything, so if you have to reach in his mouth for it, don't worry."
Guy Smiley was busy sniffing the ground curiously: there was definite scent of Dog here, but not so fresh that the dog was clearly the owner of these grounds. He went into the garden and quietly peed beneath a plant, triumphant to reclaim that area from Absent Dog. He liked this place, and these snack-giving people. This plant, it was a good plant, and now his plant.
He turned around to Lorin, now his sat-upon Lorin, and skittered back toward the child.
Cesc did not notice Guy's goings-on (thankfully saving himself the embarrassment) as he refocused on Claire and Cadi. "Seriously, like 'The Birds'. We all came to see some cherry tree blossoms and instead this huge flock of birds came out of nowhere and trashed everything. Bad magical storm front or something. It was pretty weird." He laughed, shaking his head. "And somehow it was the second time I came out of a Lab event with bird poop on me."
He smiled at both women, helpless. "I'm sure that really makes you guys ever want to come to any of our events..."
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2016 10:26 am
Lorin nodded at Cesc's approval and, grinning in anticipation, set his sights on the catsune himself. He tracked Guy's movement as he sniffed around the garden and marked his territory, and once his business was done, racing back towards the Frei. Was it an animal thing, doing that? Misha did it a lot too, sometimes on the walks he would take with Grandma Ivy - size and appearance differences aside, he surmised that Misha and Guy must be pretty similar. He hoped, despite Cesc's warning, that Guy Smiley would also have the same propensity for fetch.
"'Kay!" he prompted, and he turned himself just a bit away, wound his arm back and let the ball fly. He did not have a lot of strength or precision in his throws, so the ball only managed to soar a few feet from them and roll off towards the shrubs. "Go fetch, Guy!"
Cadi's confusion only grew when the stag Sigel further explained, and she set her phone face-down on the table and lowered her chin into her palm. With a glance over to Claire for confirmation, all she received was a similarly helpless smile and shrug as the older woman cradled her glass between both hands.
"Jesus," was all Cadi could say. "Yeah, can't say you're selling me on events but I mean not all the events're like that, right? I mean New Years Eve was alright, Great Snowball War aside." She chuckled a bit to lighten the mood, hitting on the nickname that she and Claire had picked for the evening, and she remembered how dour poor Gabe had looked as he tried to dry off after being stuck in the crossfire.
"Well that one was run by you and your guardians though, wasn't it?" Claire asked Cesc. "Maybe that's why." She shrugged again. "I'm still relatively new and I think most of what I've attended were guardian-run so I can't say, but.." She thought back to the Essence hunt, and the strangeness of it all. She was not particularly keen to put Lorin in prospective danger. "I haven't heard of anyone doing anything like Dr. Kyou is, so I'm not surprised somebody would try to meddle with his work in that way." She paused to take a sip. "I don't know if that would keep me from ever going again, but.." She glanced over her shoulder, picking out the golden yellow of Lorin's hair easily from the backdrop of greenery. "If Lorin gets to a point where he will want to go, and I know he will, I don't know how much good it'll do me to keep telling him no; he'll want to know why. If Aaron and I are there though, I think it might be okay." She nodded, interrupting with a self-conscious laugh. "I hope so, at least. But that's a bridge I'll cross when I get there." It was hard predicting how she would act when the moment arrived.
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2016 11:27 am
Guy's sharp, triangular head tipped upward in an arc as he watched the ball sail its short distance, and he rose, mouth open. He took a few steps toward the tennis ball and then sat, suddenly very interested in the cleanliness of his paw, and licked his forepaw with diligence.
Then, as though remembering he was on some kind of mission, he went forward to the tennis ball, taking in its fragrant bouquet (Absent Dog!!). He lifted it in his teeth and then ran to Cesc to show him.
"Yeah, that was Vivi and Shep--wha? No, Guy. Not me. Take it to Lorin." He pointed at the Frei. "To Lorin. Take it to Lorin."
Guy tilted his head, then seemed to understand what was being asked of him, racing to the Frei and sitting with pride, showcasing the ball in his teeth.
"Yeah, ah..." The stag refocused on their conversation, taking another drink of his tea. "Honestly, most of the official events are... how should I say it? Voluntary, harmless mischief when it happens. Usually you know what you're in for when you sign up. The New Year's party was Vivi and Shep's thing, and I'll just say... woe betide the birds trying to ruin her good time. She'd have served them up as party favors after the snowball fight." He grinned, shaking his head.
"Anyway," he said musingly, "you and your husband will do what's best for him, I'm sure of that. But I'll say this--when I, and most of the other people I know, got into the worst trouble in Lab, I knew that I was going into a shi--a crapshow." He noted the darkness that entered his tone and cleared his throat, beginning again in a brighter pitch: "It wasn't their fault. This last time, with the birds, that was genuinely weird. I'd be surprised if it happened again. And we'd be sad not to see you guys around! You're good people."
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2016 2:45 pm
Lorin watched with open interest as Guy darted off towards the ball, paused to lick his paw for a few moments, and then continued on towards the tennis ball. Once he had it in his jaws, he waved his arms and called "c'mon!", much as he did with Misha. However, the boy's arms drooped a little when the catsune shot off toward his owner, ball in tow. "Where're you going?" Lorin called, distressed as he hovered forward to try and coax him back when Cesc intervened, and he halted in his tracks. His smile returned when Guy Smiley came trotting back to him with the ball, and Lorin leaned over to hold his hands out underneath his jaws. "Drop it?" he asked - that was usually what worked with Misha.
The two women giggled at the interruption, both sets of eyes following the catsune's retreating figure before focusing back on Cesc. Neither of them had much context to Vivi and Shep outside of faces they remembered from the New Years Eve party (and in Claire's case, small snatches of conversation during the Fel Essence hunt), but both cracked a smile at the thought of Vivi versus a pack of birds - and those birds ending up on the dinner table.
"It'd be in vogue if she did, though," Cadi replied with a laugh. "Doin' it up fancy. Which is saying something because that party was already pretty fancy." It had been her main impression when she had walked through the doors with Claire, as well as a supporting reason in feeling like an outsider.
Claire, meanwhile, considered Cesc's words carefully as she set her glass on the table and folded her hands in her lap. The darkened tone was not lost on her, but she noted it as neutrally as possible. There were a lot of factors to consider, and since he had been with the Lab a lot longer, he had a more informed opinion than she did on the matter. At his last statement, she smiled and ducked her head. "Well, I don't think you have to worry about that, we're definitely not going to be ditching willy-nilly. But it's good to know that there's some forewarning when trouble happens." One hand lifted in acknowledgement. "Which says to me at least you have a good system in place in case of emergencies." The hand came down softly in the palm of the other. "So don't worry, I'm certainly not going to deny Lorin the chance to see his friends.. or make new ones."
"I gotta say all of this just makes me more curious," Cadi added as she reached for her phone. "Not that I want to charge into a bird attack or something but hey." She grinned.
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2016 5:00 pm
Lorin's words were utterly lost on the catsune, who continued smiling up at him with the tennis ball in his mouth. He squinted his eyes in the sun, cheerful, assuming that the command was affectionate praise of how well he'd managed to take the naughty, terrible runaway ball. He sniffed Lorin's hands with interest, trying to find some manner of treat for his excellent work, but when he saw that it was not present, he continued to suit patiently. He chewed the tennis ball thoughtfully.
After a moment, he dropped the ball to lick Lorin's hand, and when the ball was no longer in his possession, began to lick his own chest and paw.
"Poor Lorin," Cesc murmured, shaking his head. "Guy sucks at this. He's part cat, y'know?"
He smiled brightly at Cadi, a boyish expression, and leaned closer to her. "You're in for it now. You're Sissy, you're going to have to come to crazy Lab events, get pooped on by birds, all the rites of passage." He straightened, laughing, and looked at Claire: "But wait for it, she'll show up and everything will get tame, and we'll be on the hook for showing you a real boring time."
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2016 9:37 pm
"Well, he hasn't met a cat before so this is all new territory for him," Claire added, eyes crinkled in amusement. As Cesc leaned towards her, Cadi inclined her head, brows lifted. As Claire's laughter joined in with the stag's, Cadi placed a hand to her heart.
"I would never rescind on my sisterly duty," she mock-gasped. "Even if angry birds stand in my way." Her smile broke through. "But really, I dunno. You'll probably see me around here and there, depending on school junk or whatever."
"Oh yes, that's right," Claire said to Cesc proudly. "Cadi is going to Gambino University in the fall to finish her undergrad degree. Although I'm sure Lorin will miss seeing you around as often as you have been."
"Aw shucks." The mocking quality to her tone had vanished in favor of being flustered. "Well, that's what weekends away to visit me are for." Eyebrows still brushing the edge of her bangs, her lids dropped into a saucy gaze. "Also for your date nights." Claire had the decency to turn red and laugh - guilty as charged.
Lorin waited in confusion, eyes locked expectantly on Guy and the tennis ball in his mouth until the ball finally dropped to the ground and the Frei got a lick to his palm for his efforts. He giggled, and as the catsune took to bathing himself, Lorin wiped his hand on his shirt and picked the ball up again. He looked over at the table, at the adults and his coloring supplies, before staring a hole into the ball in his grip. With a soft final toss, the ball rolled off towards the corner of the garden and he began to float over as he heard the adults' laughter carrying across the garden.
"Whatcha doin'?" he asked, pausing next to Claire's chair.
"Boring adult stuff like talking about parties," Cadi replied with a chuckle.
"Parties are neat," Lorin said knowledgeably as he clambored into the vacant chair next to Claire, reaching for the crayon box. He toyed with the flapping lid before he finally asked Cesc and Cadi, "D'you wanna color?" as he upended the box and dumped the contents onto the table in front of him. Claire and Cadi laughed, scrambling to keep all the crayons together.
"I would be honored," Cadi replied solemnly as she pulled a few stray crayons towards her.
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2016 8:09 pm
"Well," said Cesc as he looked over at Guy Smiley, who was diligently cleaning between his tufted toes now, "If this doesn't turn him off of cats, he can meet our other full-cat cat, Grumpaws, who hates pretty much everyone and everything. I guess that's just a cat, though."
He then leaned back, laughing heartily at Claire and Cadi's exchange, his expression bright. "That's some serious sisterly pride, to be doing all that. And y'know, if you ever want a break when he comes to Gambino, Vivi will probably fawn on him until the whole city is filled with sparkles and perfume and cooing."
Guy Smiley noted Lorin's leaving, but at the moment, there was a tangle in his paw that needed desperate attending-to, and so he sat and lowered himself close to the ground to work at it. Another moment, and he found himself enjoying the sunlight in his spot, and his eyes closed heavily, flopping to his side.
"Parties are neat," Cesc agreed with a nod, reaching over for his own few crayons that rolled toward him. "Coloring! Oh man, I'm not super good at it, but it's okay if I just have fun, right?" He looked at Lorin expectantly, adjusting his hat.
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