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 Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 10:19 am
Who: Amity, Ronan, Maili (Arana Kamina) Shoshana, Phoenix, Zoe (Annarchye X)
Where: The Gambino Aquarium
When: An early Saturday afternoon, shortly after lunch
Weather: Cloudly and brisk, but still comfortable
Normally, Ronan worked weekdays - at work while Maili was at school, and heading on home when she was off so he could have the best amount of time with his family. Dale, however, had caught an unfortunate early case of the flu and so Ronan had agreed to come in and help cover for the weekend.
Right now Amity and Maili were leaving the lunch area, Maili brushing crumbs off her shirt and Amity munching on the last grape from her fruit cup. Them being here today wasn't exactly standard procedure, but with Connor out of town and Kris still up at college the aquarium had been willing to cut Ronan a bit of slack. Technically with them paying admission they were just two more patrons at the aquarium - somewhat young patrons who spent a disproportionate amount of time with one of the employees, but patrons none the less.
"Do wanna head over to the show?"
Amity took a few more moments to finish chewing her grape, scrunching up her face in thought when she swallowed. "Would he be okay with that?"
"Ehh, I think so?" Maili shrugged. "He just needs to work during the show, pretty sure he'll be fine seeing us after."
Echoing Maili's shrug Amity went and floated after her as they went back through the aquarium, passing multiple displays and tanks before coming to an area separated from the rest with some glass doors. After the doors things opened up to a large amphitheater with cement seats, the semi circle of stairs and seats leading down to a large pool with a cement pad in front and several artificial rocks, the pool also having an underwater viewing window downstairs. Years ago the space had been used for dolphin shows but after the cetaceans had moved out almost a decade ago it's had become home to the aquarium's resident pinnipeds - who were now being led through a demonstration by Ronan.
Armed with a clicker, a small buoy on the end of a stick, and a bucket of fish Ronan took the sea lion through a basic set of exercises, using his equipment and gestures as cues and having the fish as a heaping helping of positive reinforcement. All through this he gave basic explanations what he was doing and the aquarium's animal rehabilitation mission while several other employees took seals and sea lions through the paces, the show eventually being capped off by one of the sea lions leaping up from the water and touch a large red buoy hanging from the ceiling, the crowd breaking out into a smattering of applause.
As the crowd broke up and headed towards the doors and the buoy was ratcheted back up higher into the ceiling Maili and Amity made their way down to the stage, Ronan chatting with a few other of the employees and helping with the clean up. While most of his coworkers didn't know the reason, Ronan's obvious skill in working with the pinnipeds had landed him a permanent position on team years ago, his help proving invaluable in more difficult cases. Sure, it was mostly just being able to talk with the seals and sea lions, but he didn't worry about that too much.
Finally catching sight of his girls when they were a few yards Ronan's eyes lit up, pulling them each into a brief one armed hug when they arrived.
"Hey there! Doing okay so far?"
"We'd be a lot better if we weren't abandoned ever ten minutes," Maili said, face settling into a mock pout. She couldn't keep it up however and soon she broke down with a snort, punching Ronan in the forearm. "Yeah, we're good."
Amity clasped her hands in front of her, ears twitching. "I love seeing all the animals again!"
"Hey, Ronan!"
The three of them turned in unison, looking over to Ronan's coworkers leaning out the crowd.
"There's another one of those half bodies - uh, rivens? - wandering around the aquarium right now. Thought you might want to check it out!"
He blinked in surprise. Another raevan here at the aquarium? He knew it was always a chance for someone to show up with how much of a tourist attraction the place was, but he'd never been around before when they'd been here before, even though he'd heard stories.
"Where?"
"Karen can show you over!"
Giving a quick goodbye to the rest of his coworkers Ronan marched up the stairs, Maili and Amity coming shortly behind and exchanging looks. Neither of them had any idea who it could be, but they were more than interested in finding out.
A few minutes later they found Karen, the woman pointing them in the right direction and the three of them heading off, itching to see just who they might be able to meet.
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 4:14 pm
The aquarium had been Zoe's idea. Being October already it was just too cold to go to the beach, which would have been her first choice. It was all part of her plan to educate her new sister on where she came from. Pictures were one thing. Using their dad's laptop they were even able to find beautiful renderings of hippocampi. They wouldn't be finding any real ones, that much was certain, but Zoe wanted Shoshana to see in person the different fish. The seahorses would be especially important. It was all relevant, wasn't it?
They had visited the aquarium before in the past, so Zoe had immediately taken charge in leading Shoshana and Phoenix past the various tanks. As they stopped by each one, the Frei plastered herself against the glass with a look of utter fascination.
"Look! You can see through this one," Shoshana's observation came out barely a notch above a breath. The transparent creature drifted by before it was lost amidst a school of tiny fish. The Frei's fins twitched and her wings beat rapidly. She turned to face her family with the widest of smiles. "Thank you for taking me here," she gushed, floating back to Zoe and Phoenix to take one of each of their hands in hers.
Phoenix laughed, adjusting the bag of water bottles he had over his shoulder. "You haven't seen the best of it yet," he said with a wink. He squeezed the Raevan's hand before jerking his head forward. "Go ahead! You can thank me later. You girls keep looking."
Neither argued, and Zoe hurried after her floating sister eagerly. "Zoe, you said there is horse that swims, yes? Like me?" Shoshana asked as they went to the next display.
"Yeah, a seahorse!"
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2016 9:11 pm
At the next display, one of the strangest things wasn't necessarily the aquatic life - it was a pair of black ears peeking around the corner. Soon they were joined by hands that pulled the ears out from behind the wall, revealing silver hair and red eyes that were staring a bit too intensely.
"I found them!" Amity whispered. Or rather, attempted to whisper. Maili rolled her eyes, walking the last several feet to catch up with the frei and pulling her out into view. Once she was out in the open however, she slowed down and came to a stop, one hand awkwardly holding Amity's elbow. How the heck were they going to avoid seeming creepy?
In the end Ronan came to the rescue, coming up to the new group with a warm smile and his completely-legit-reason-to-start-a-conversation work polo, all while Maili and Amity inched ever so closer.
"Thanks for coming to the Gambino Aquarium today! Is there anything I can help you out with?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2016 11:42 am
The sudden appearance of the Frei and her companions stopped both girls dead in their tracks. Of course no one had expected to meet another Raevan that day, but what a pleasant surprise it was! Shoshana floated closer after pausing a moment, wide-eyed.
Before she could say anything, Phoenix stepped forward with his usual ear to ear smile. "Hey, thanks!" He said enthusiastically. "We're just kind of looking at everything, but I think the girls--"
"Seahorses," Zoe interrupted. "We're looking for the seahorses. But I think I remember where they are." As small as she was, she still managed to look tall and important just then.
Shoshana's fins twitched. "You are not a sea creature!" An obvious observation, but Shoshana felt it was important. "I am Shoshana, who are you?" She addressed both girls, hovering closer until there was little space between them.
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Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 8:56 pm
"Not a problem!" Ronan said, returning Phoenix's grin and listening to Zoe. "The sea horses aren't that far from here actually, you're on just the right track."
Shoshana's observation an innocent one, but innocent or not Maili was immediately indignant, beginning to puff up to respond that she was a sea creature on her mom's side, thank you very much. Luckily, Amity got there first, cutting off any extreme rudeness on Maili's part.
"I'm a flying fox actually! And my name's Amity, and this is Maili!" She said, leaving Maili to give a somewhat startled "uh, hi!" Amity was unperturbed by the close quarters, and if anything ended up inching a little closer, looking intently at Shoshana's scales. "Your scales and fins are so pretty! What are they from?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 6:31 pm
Maili's reaction did not go unnoticed by either girl. Zoe's expression remained neutral, but she was just as confused as Shoshana, with her furrowed brow, as to why she seemed offended. But the confusion was interrupted by Amity's introductions.
"Ah! Like a bat, yes?" Shoshana recalled. Zoe had been teaching her quite a bit. "This is my big sister, Zoe," she said, placing both hands on the little girl's shoulders and directing her closer to the two girls. "And our father," she added, gesturing towards Phoenix.
"Hello," Zoe said politely, extending a hand toward Amity and Maili.
"I'm a hippocampus!" Shoshana exclaimed proudly. "That is why we are looking for seahorses."
Phoenix chuckled at the conversation between the girls before focusing his attention on Ronan once more. "I'm Phoenix, by the way," he said, also holding out his hand for the other man to take. "Thank you very much for your help!"
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:27 pm
“Exactly like a bat, yes! And nice to meet you Zoe,” Amity said, taking the girl’s hand and doing to her best to not shake too hard. She didn’t completely succeed, but at least the enthusiasm showed her sincerity. Maili got in her handshake in almost as an after thought, making sure to keep it brief after the hand pumping the other girl had just gotten.
"The name's Ronan, and not a problem," he said, smiling as he returned the handshake. The mention of a hippocampus however had him raising his eyebrows in surprise, briefly looking over to the young frei and back to Phoenix. "That... must have been quite the experience. I've seen a few hippocampi off the coast before but they keep to themselves for the most part."
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Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:49 pm
Zoe didn't seem put off in the slightest by the handshake, and her own grip was quite firm for as small and dainty as she appeared. "It's nice to meet you, too!" She said, smiling.
Shoshana appeared to be very proud of herself for making the connection between a flying fox being a sort of bat. She was simply swimming with questions now, but she was distracted by what she overheard Ronan saying to Phoenix.
Phoenix himself was mirroring Shoshana's shocked expression. "Off the coast? You mean, here?" He'd been shocked enough to discover the one in Greece. The idea that there could be more closer to home was a surprising detail. He looked over at Shoshana, catching her eye.
"I would still like to see the sea horses," she said in a surprisingly quiet voice. "But are there really more like me?
Not so far away?" They had already briefly discussed the idea that when they brought Shoshana to Greece with them for the next family vacation that they would keep an eye out. But if there was the possibility of seeing them here? That was a lot for the young Frei to take in, and it showed on her face.
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