Mithar Keep & Frescot House IV: Magic babble lies within

[Gullara]

[Snowy Afternoon]

Oh look, the door to mommy's room is open. It's never open. A little eye peers through the crack between the lab's door and frame. They're not supposed to be in here, but the door is open. Maybe mommy's in there right now.

The door suddenly swings open and bangs against the wall. When Cessie and Dorota look, they'll see the resident four year old girl grinning at them from the doorway. "Mommy!" Cora runs over to Cessie and grabs at her skirts. "Mommy, come play with us. We're playing house, but Jillian was the baby but she cried and Kirin took her away."

Bastion makes his appearance now. The boy clings to his blanket and very hesitantly steps into the lab. They shouldn't be in here. Mommy says that they shouldn't come in here all the time. But Cora is in here now? He takes a couple more uncertain steps.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

Thankfully Cessie had just cleaned the laboratory out so it should be as children safe as it could get at the moment. Still, this wasn't the best time for the kids to make their appearance. She had guests!

Cessie gives an apologetic look to Dorota before she kneels down to deal with her daughter. "Cora, mommy have a guest right now and you know you shouldn't be in here. Can't Garn be the baby instead?" She gently suggests.

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

Dorota looks at the little kids with a mix of embarrassment and horror. She's a meticulous, organized person who doesn't handle chaos very well. Which, unfortunately, includes children. Who are, in her experience, noisy, smelly, confusing and distracting.

"Uh... hello," she manages.

[Gullara]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"Garn is too big." Cora shakes her head vigorously. "We wanna play a different game with you. Come on, mommy!" She tugs on Cessie's clothes some more, not willing to give up so easily. "We can play tag o- Hi!" She says when Dorota decides to speak up. "You can come play, too."

Bastion, a bit more confidently now, walks over to stand a few feet off. He hugs his blanket to his chest and waits.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

Cora was too stubborn, this required a more elaborate argument. She moves to get her wild little daughters attention. "Please Cora, Dorota and I were talking about some very important things. Can't I just make a splash-buddy for you to play with like before?" She referred to a water elemental which the children seemed to enjoy playing with. It got very messy of course but as long as they kept to the bathroom it was okay. Her concern was that they would like Bastion had done once, jump through it and end up hitting the hard floor underneath. It was so much simpler during the summers. "Or maybe a earth castle?"

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

Dorota smiles, a little desperately, and says nothing, hoping that Cessie can keep the attention of her children.

[Gullara]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"But moooooommy. You play with us too." Cora's lower lip wobbles dangerously as she looks up at her mom with big, pleading eyes. Bastion steps over, next to his sister, and joins her in looking up at their mom. He doesn't look quite so forlorn, however.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"Cora, I'd love to play with you and Bastion, but not while I have a guest. I can't just leave her alone while I go play with you." Cessie attempts to explain with a gesture at Dorota. "Why don't you set something up and I promise that as soon as I'm done here, I'll come and play with you?"

[Gullara]

[Snowy Afternoon]

Cora's face transforms in to the most heartbreaking little frown. "But I wanna play now..." She tries one more time. Why can't mommy stop doing other stuff and come play with them? Defeated, she lets go of her mom's skirts. "We can play right after, right?"

[UncleWolf]

Entrance

"I had another bag packed with clothes and some money but it dawned to me that I don't have your currency." She gestures back at the keep. "Which reminded me of another issue, when Harnel and I traveled to my world Libra claimed that the nexus was somehow 'translating' our languages and that didn't exist in my world so that she had to step in to make sure Harnel and I understood one another. An odd sentiment from her but an important one. So that has concerned me as well." The sorceress explains as Garn avoids meeting Jezebel's gaze.

"There is really no need to thank me though, it feels like I'm mostly doing this for myself."

Entrance

"I've thought about it before and tested it." Jezebel admits as she fastens her seatbelt and turns on the car. "The language spoken here is perceived as what we call Low Gothic back home, which is what most of the people speak. " She explains. "If you want to go get the bag of clothes anyway, we can wait a little bit. Otherwise, are you ready to go?" She seems to be in a bit of a rush, but given the circumstances, it is pretty reasonable to be.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"Right after." Cessie promises with a smile. "And we'll play anything you want." She gently runs her hand through Cora's hair.

Entrance

"I'm ready, I've already said goodbye to the kids. I just hope this doesn't take more than two weeks as you promised." Leaving the children alone, even with caretakers and the ability to see them every day made her worried. The nexus could be such a dangerous place and without Garn or her here, who know what could happen?
She turns to Garn. "Put up the bag load on the other one, we might as well take both." The gargoyle will nod and go and do just that.

[Gullara]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"Okay, mommy." Cora finally lets go of Cessie and instead grabs Bastion's hand. "Come on, Bastion. Up to our room to get toys." She tugs him along, out of the lab and then out of earshot.

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

Dorota manages not to sigh with relief.

"I'm sorry," she says instead. "I'm... not good with children. Never have been. There was no one younger than me around when I grew up."

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

The horror has passed, you're safe now Dorota. The children are gone. "Oh, don't worry about it. I'm not sure how good I'm at dealing with children either. I don't really play with these two enough." Cessie admits, Dorota might have to bring back the original subject though.

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"Oh, I think you're doing fine," Dorota says. "My mother and the other women on our street didn't really pay much attention unless they had chores for us."

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"Well, I don't think these two are old enough for chores yet. I will probably send them to the university once they are too. They're both mages you know? Quite remarkable actually. I theorize the nexus must have something to do with it." Though she prefered to not think too much about what sort of effects the nexus could have on her womb. ._.

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"It does seem to grant special abilities to those born inside it with great frequency, doesn't it?" Dorota says. "I can't say I've studied it in detail. Supernatural abilities are never hereditary where I come from. I suppose some do have more talent for supernatural arts than others, but it's no different than any other sort of aptitude."

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"Supernatural... oh, of course. Yes, 'magic'. It's not truly hereditary where I'm from either, evidence suggests it is a conscious choice by otherworldly entities but I don't dare discuss it. It's a theory that I can't really prove considering it's nature." The sorceress explains. "Which is why no one has been able to transfer the 'gift' to anyone else."

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"The word 'supernatural' does feel arbitrary, doesn't it?" Dorota asks. "After all, how do we define what's natural? Technically speaking, that we wear clothes, cook our food and build houses isn't natural, either. No one is born with such abilities at all in my world. Sorcery, mysticism, elemental chanting or alchemy can be learned by anyone... in theory. So does that mean your children have the potential for the same arts you do? Or some other kind?"

[UncleWolf]

Inside

The consruct probably doesn't notice with his adamatite skin and all. He just let's go after a moment or so.
"Cora and Bastions teeths are coming in very early and they're also rather sharp as far as I can tell." She never really did breast feed them.
"So I've found that they like meat more than anything else as long as it isn't too hard to chew. Jillian should just have formula."

Inside

"Okay. I can make sure to prepare smaller pieces of steak to give them soft chewy meat if that works." Thad offers as he writes down where the formula is and other notes on the children. "As far as sharp teeth, it's okay. My siblings tried to bite me all the time and even though they have normal teeth, I've learned how to avoid it." He admits.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"The same art. Well, almost." Cessie clarifies. "Each eldritch user is unique in their own way as they're specialized in different eldritch elements. So it's not exactly the same, not to mention that training is a big part how it's used. Back home there are a lot of different schools that utilize different methods to use eldritch."

Inside

"These two shouldn't try to bite you if I have taught them anything so you don't need to worry about that too much. But even if I'm sure you're experienced with your own siblings, my children are probably different. They both have manifested eldritch abilities, it isn't much but it might be considered a problem." Cessie explains.

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

Dorota quirks an eyebrow.

"Curious. Which element do you specialize in? I haven't seen that much of your magic other than Garn."

[UncleWolf]

Inside

"What sort of Eldritch Abilities? Anything dangerous?" Thad asks, sounding a little concerned. He hopes that he hadn't bitten off more than he could chew, but he was going to do his best for as long as he could.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"You haven't?" Cessie asks in surprise. "Well, in truth I don't really use my favored element that much because how destructive it is. It's magma you see, I just use magma elementals as I can contain their heat. Why do you ask?"

Inside

"Bastion have manifested earth a few times, but the one I'm really worried about is Cora as she have created a tiny flame at one point. I don't think I have to tell you that flames are extremely dangerous for a child at that age so I have instructed everyone to keep an extra eye on her." That wasn't the only reason she wanted Kirin to keep an extra eye on Cora though, that girl was wild.

[UncleWolf]

Inside

"In that case, I'll be sure to keep a few fire extinguishers around, but I can deal with Earth easily enough." He admits before looking thoughtful. "Would you be opposed to me trying to teach Cora to be constructive and safe with the fire if she does it around me? I'm sure I can make a game of it so it'd be easy to learn safety, but I'd only do it with your permission."

[Shadowcaller]

Inside

"Oh, not at all. I have been trying to do that myself her entire life you could say. Usually girls don't get rebellious until they're older, but Cora got into it early. I can only hope that means her teenage years will be better. I have no fear that you'll be able to handle Bastion though, he's rather shy, grounded if you will." Cessie explains.

[UncleWolf]

Inside

"Would you like to introduce me to them today then?" Thad asks, smiling gently.

[Shadowcaller]

Inside

Cessie smiles back. "If you wish, they should both be in their playroom at the moment." She will then lead Thad to see the twins in their playroom.

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"I'm just curious," Dorota says. "I've seen Garn and other objects you've enchanted, but not actual spells you've cast. Magma, you say. Interesting. I've never had much to do with it. The nearest volcano to where I live is... I'm not sure where. I've read that volcanoes on my homeworld tend to attract powerful fire fey. While it tends to result in potentially effective materials, it makes their retrieval complicated. I have some pieces of regular volcanic rock in my lab, though."

[Gullara]

[Inside]

The twins are right where Cessie left them, playing with blocks in the middle of their room. Bastion is making a tower, and it's looking pretty good! He carefully puts another block on top. The structure is getting to be almost as tall as he is.

"Rawr! Rawr!" Cora stomps over with big, exaggerated steps. She holds her arms close to her chest, two fingers on each hand hooked like little claws. She swings her tail and batters it against the tower's base. In less than a second, all Bastion's hard work tumbles to the floor.

"Cora! Go away!" Bastion shoves Cora away and sits down on the floor to start all over again. Cora just laughs and stomps over to Cessie and Thad. "Mommy! I'm a dinosaur! Rawr!"