[Nexus] The Frescot House

[Murkus]

Adir steps out without getting dressed. He's actually toweling off his hair for once, with no antlers to tear and ruin the towel. He seems a little more awake, and a lot more calm.

The stag gives a mellow smile with his lips alone. "You don't have to apologize. I'm just tired, is all."

[Gullara]

Sakura smiles and pats the bed next to her. He should sit. "Which is why I'm sorry. Shoulda just let you sleep."

[Murkus]

"S'fine. You're just... used to things being cleaner, now. I gotta get with the times," Adir certainly wasn't expecting complaints about cleanliness from Sakura. He sits down gently, trying to put his arm around her. "Don't worry about it."

[Gullara]

Sakura laughs a little and leans against him. "It's just this new house. I wanna keep everything so nice and fresh, you know?"

[Murkus]

"I think we're gonna need to let Laela go then, hon," Adir says with a mirthful little smile. "Keeping it fresh isn't gonna last long once she's old enough to walk and talk." Adir flops backward on the bed, letting out a grateful sigh. "Just think of me as one more big kid..."

[Gullara]

Sakura laughs and lies down along with him. "I guess you're right. Just as long as you don't stink up our bed." She gives him a peck on the cheek and grins.

[Murkus]

"I think that's gonna be hard, hon. Those flowers of yours are hard to get past," says Adir, blinking his tired eyes at the dryad and smiling quietly. "Not that I mind." He grins and snickers drowsily. "We'll, uh, never have to buy air freshener at least."

[Gullara]

Sakura giggles and gives him a playful prod. Nothing that would disturb hi rest too much though. "Okay, I'll give you that. Especially if more of our kids have flowers too. She's unsure how common that might be.

[Murkus]

Sakura giggles and gives him a playful prod. Nothing that would disturb hi rest too much though. "Okay, I'll give you that. Especially if more of our kids have flowers too. She's unsure how common that might be.

"Mmm. Whole place smelling like cherry blossoms," Adir yawns loudly, taking a deep wiff of that same smell before he starts to drift off. He tries to plant a kiss on Sakura's lips before he does, though. "Wanna take a nap, or do you have stuff to do?"

[Gullara]

"Mm, I better get up and do some stuff. Sleep well, honey." Sakura caresses his cheek and will wait till he falls asleep before slipping off.

[Murkus]

Adir adjusts a bit more to be comfortable, but otherwise will probably doze off in moments. The stag likely sleeps until evening, so if something happens with Sarget by then, it would be convenient to run the scene while Adir's out.

[Murkus]

I do believe it's about time something happened around here. Adir disappeared the very same night, while Sakura slept on. He'd intended to be gone only for a couple hours - the note he left attested as such - but this is not the case. Early in the morning, the following day, the stag returns.

There is a mild romping from the forest, a crashing of trees and snapping of branches. Moments later, a tremendous she-boar breaks the treeline, a pair of wings draped over her mud-crusted flanks. The beast snorts and snuffles, cartoonishly round body expanding rapidly. Then she hurries toward the house, ever curious.

Riding atop her, apparently having lost another night of sleep, is Adir. He laughs and pats the pig's hide as it goes, saying loudly, "Not too fast. Don't want to wake anyone." She complies, but only marginally.

Suddenly, with a flap of her tremendous wings, the pig alights atop the Frescot House hill. Despite her huge size, there's hardly a sound to accompany this, and the pig promptly hunkers down to enjoy the rising sun. Adir climbs down off its back, patting her hide graciously and saying a few words in Fey before retreating to the Master Bedroom.

He swings down, hooves clopping on the wooden balcony, and uses his key to discretely open the double-doors. The stag looks around covertly, mostly checking to see if Sakura's awake yet or if she's somewhere nearby.

[Gullara]

Adir will find his wife in their room. She's sprawled out on her back on the bed, naked and half covered by the blanket. She mumbles something and shifts as Adir enters, but she doesn't wake.

[Murkus]

The stag grins and shifts his legs back to their humanoid state. He slips past Sakura without a sound, all those years sneaking around on the hunt finally put to practical use. Once he's into the main room, he makes a small clucking sound with his tongue and teeth.

Tiny sprites appear from the walls, from behind furniture, from the smallest crevices and cracks. The apparently featureless orbs fly up to Adir, whispering in beautiful tinkling voices. He replies with a few token words in fey, some sort of command, and they zip off through the house. They begin to clean everything - the bedrooms, Laela's room, the dishes from the night before. Some linger over Laela, playing fairy fire upon her face. They absolutely adore children, and project an aura of warmth and calm.

When Adir returns to the Master bedroom, the sprites are still lingering, eating up bits of dust and folding clothes neatly. Growing impatient, the young buck shoos them away, eager to have some time alone with his wife. They take their time, peeking back in with childish curiousity as Adir undresses. This garners another glare from the stag, and at that they disappear from view.

Alone at last, he sighs and gets into bed, climbing atop Sakura, propping himself up so as not to make her uncomfortable. He kisses her throat and cheek as the morning sun rises, bathing their chamber in orange light. The stag begins to relax, watching his wife with half-shut eyes.

[Gullara]

Laela reaches for the little balls of light. She giggles happily. These are much more interesting than that animal mobile Sakura put up.


Sakura wakes up gradually when Adir starts to kiss her neck. She pulls him tighter against herself with one arm while the other tries to guide her face up to hers. "Well this is a nice way to wake up. Almost makes up for you leaving me alone for another night." She doesn't seem terribly upset, though, as she tries to give him a deep, though brief kiss. She nibbles his lower lip before letting her head fall back.

[Murkus]

The lights form a little ring around Laela, spinning and sprinkling something akin to pixie dust. Laela's can certainly reach toward them, but actually grabbing them will have entertaining results to say the least.


Adir winces a little when the dryad speaks. He shifts and nuzzles the underside of Sakura's jaw, whispering, "I'm sorry, baby. I just couldn't sleep." The stag moves his head back and looks into those big brown eyes, completely at peace. "I wasn't gone that long." Hopefully Sakura hasn't seen the note yet.

[Gullara]

((Heh, yeah. I tend to forget about them too. <.<))

Laela's sure going to try and grab them. It's probably best that she can't, though. What with her habit of putting things she grabs in her mouth.


Sakura smiles faintly and traces her finger along the edge of his ear. "It's okay, honey. I might not have noticed you were gone at all if Laela hadn't woken me up." She runs her other hand lower, over his butt. Then she tries to give him a pinch. "But what happened to being back in a couple hours?"

[Murkus]

If she does get hold of one - which I'll leave up to you - it'll feel like a tiny humanoid with insect wings. Putting it in her mouth is less of a danger than one might think, to be perfectly honest.

Adir, meanwhile, gives a jolt at the wicked pinch. Sakura will feel his muscles tense up against her body, against her hand. Even his ears perk out expressively. "Well, y'know. This and that. Got in a long fight." He looks to the side, gritting his teeth with embarrassment. His ears fall. "Might've, uh, died. Just a teensy bit."

[Gullara]

It's unlikely she'll actually be able to grab one. She isn't coordinated enough for the task. She certainly enjoys the attempt, if her continued giggling is anything to go on.


The sound of her child's mirth coming through the baby monitor does nothing to distract Sakura from Adir's words, however. "What?!" Adir will feel Sakura's emotions clearly through the earring. At first she's almost purely baffled, but then a rising wave of sheer horror batters against his mind. It might be hard to think. She pushes him off of her so she can sit up. "Died?!"

[Murkus]

Adir is pushed away, watching his wife recoil in horror. Then he feels it, a tide of fear, which very nearly gives him a headache. "Sakura, relax!" He holds his hands up in a defensive gesture. "I'm fine! I'm here. If you... hunt, well enough, there's this goddess who brings you back after you die. It was like five minutes! Tops!" Though it might be blocked out by the weight of her own emotions, she might note that Adir has been filled with a mix of panic and surprise. His ears perk up wildly, and his eyes are quite wide.

[Gullara]

"Hunt well enough? What if she didn't bring you back? What if you never hunted well enough?" His words to nothing to make her feel the least bit better. "What happened? What were you thinking putting yourself in danger like that? I can't lose you like I thought I lost you before." Her voice lowers and she sits back on her legs as she says the last. Her arms curl over her stomach.

[Murkus]

The sprites continue to play with Laela, trailing dust around her crib and occasionally perching on her forehead to smell the flowers.

"I know," The stag says, looking down at the bed, ears drooping along with his eyes. It's clear the shame of those lost months hasn't left him yet. "I bit off more than I could chew." That's what he gets for trying to fight a monster made of rock with a bow. "M'sorry. I wasn't thinking. It won't happen again."

[Gullara]

Sakura reaches to take his hands in hers. She runs her thumb over his knuckles while she's silent for a moment. Her fear gradually recedes, steadily being replaced with relief. "Thank you."

Abruptly, the two will suddenly here a happy little squeal from the baby monitor. Back in Laela's room, the baby fey is delighted by the fairy landing on her forehead. If she looks up enough, she can just make out the sprite.

[Murkus]

Adir sighs and manages a small smile. It's a relief to see her calm again. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just... felt like you should know." The last is said with a shrug. He's about to continue - perhaps with a joke or a continuation of his heartfelt apology - but then the squeal sounds over the monitor. Oh gods, not the sprites. Once Sakura's looking away, he slaps a hand to his face in aggravation. "I'll, uh, go check on that."


The sprite turns and bends down over her eyes. It seems to be small, half-ethereal creature, perhaps made of energy. Its mostly featureless face is accented only by an impish smile and a gleaming pair of eyes.

[Gullara]

The dryad squeezes his hands, and was just about to lean in to embrace him when Laela interrupts. Her head turns toward the monitor. Now what has Laela so excited? "Oh, okay. Go ahead." She replies when he offers to handle it.

Laela, meanwhile, has acquired a fascinating new target. Pretty lights right in front of her. And not moving too... Her hand darts up fairly quickly and tries to enclose around the sprite.

[Murkus]

The sprite is seized! It squeals in turn, and the others laugh tinnily at their fellow's predicament. It's wings crumple, but they don't seem to stay that way for long.

Adir, meanwhile, tries to peck Sakura on the cheek before hurrying toward Laela's room. Friggin' sprites. He knew he shouldn't have invited them in with a baby around, they'll never leave her be.

[Gullara]

Laela holds the sprite in front of her face and grins a toothless grin. She babbles excitedly, thankfully not putting the little fey in her mouth... yet.

Sakura meanwhile gets out of bed and stretches. She pauses to look at the baby monitor, wondering what has Laela so excited. She'll have to go investigate herself in a moment. For now she goes to the closet to consider clothing.

[Murkus]

A few words in fey float through he door, a little annoyed, and in a flash, the other sprites disappear. Adir enters behind them, looking around for any more evidence of the tiny fey.

Then he sees what Laela's holding. Hoo boy. He knows what babies do with things they grab. The stag hurries forward, leaning down into the crib and gently grabbing Laela's arm. He whispers, hopefully low enough for Sakura not to hear, "C'mon, honey, you don't wanna eat him, he's kinda gross." This earns Adir a sidelong glare form the captive fey, but nothing more.

[Gullara]

Adir's presence completely grabs Laela's attention from her new friend. She giggles and reaches toward him with her free hand, both her hands opening and closing. The sprite has plenty of opportunity to escape her grasp.

Sakura, meanwhile, has decided to throw on a bathrobe and head over to laela's room. All she could tell through the baby monitor is that Adir spoke, so he's not found out yet.

[Murkus]

The sprite falls at first. Then his wings snap back out and he flutters toward the door, grumbling. Sakura may well see the little orb fly out of Laela's room and down into the house at large.

"There you go. Good girl," Adir says with a laugh at Laela. He lifts the baby from her crib, unless she makes a fuss, and holds her in the crook of his elbow. When Sakura arrives, he looks up and smiles winningly. "Must've been a, uh, bug or something. She was gonna try and eat it."