Home 20: Refurbished

[Deathkeeper]

Veronica's Place

"That time my roommates and I all had that pokemon adventure thing? Before Halloween? Uh, yeah, apparently back then due to some warp in the magic involved, she got sorta...spontaneously generated. So the egg just sort of...showed up, except something grabbed it. Long story, but the egg ended up in another world, which turned a little over half a year here into six years. So uh...I skipped the diaper phase?
...
also, she's a pokemon. She can talk perfectly fine, thank whoever's responsible for that one." he says, letting out a breath.

[UncleWolf]

Veronica's Home

The Harpy takes a moment to grab a spoon before turning around, leaning with her back to the counter as she stirs her ice-water. She's quiet for a moment before she purses her lips in thought and tosses the spoon behind her into the sink. A moment later and she tosses the half-cup of molten ice-water at Jace. "Calmer?" She asks if she hits him with it. She'll set the cup aside after she's done. "It's not like I'm going to complain about you having a kid when I take care of my siblings." She points out with a shake of her head. "I do wonder how such happened to you though. For all the caution and warning you give me about magic and other related subjects, everything seems to happen to you. Do you not take your own advice?" She asks, teasing a little. Just a little though.

[Deathkeeper]

Veronica's Place

Jace sputters, resting his cheek on his palm for a moment with a smirk on his face, before pointing at himself and muttering the words to a cantrip, causing the water on him to evaporate.

"Well, remember how I told you that I lost my ghost-shape? Well, when that was getting changed it took two tries. And the results of the first try resulted in me spending thirty seconds as a kind of pokemon which apparently works on a cosmic 'buy one, get one free' sale.

And everything happens to me because I keep making friends with unstable lives who need my help more than I need to keep myself from taking risks. My two tenants who were the same person, Fortuna...she's been really embarrassed about the dragon incident, and this one. She's kept herself in a mode that prevents her from using any of her natural magics for...weeks, at least. I hadn't noticed it until recently. I think she's gotten worried that it'll get worse than just silly little mishaps, and heavy stuff like this have clinched it.

Do you...want to meet her? My daughter, I mean. She's outside with Zebes." he says, slower this time.

[UncleWolf]

Veronica's Place

"I'd love to, but just one question first." She says, stepping close to put a wing on Jace's chest. "Do you know for certain this is all her magic has done to you?" Veronica asks, sounding both disturbed and concerned. "You know how Libra manipulated me that first night. Just...I want you to be careful, that's all." She explains before moving to actually hug him. "I feel kinda sorry for you really. You have a child but didn't get to do any of the fun parts of making one." She teases before backing off and gesturing towards the door, telling him to lead the child in.

[Deathkeeper]

Veronica's Place

Jace nods, accepting the hug.
"Yeah. Her powers are almost always very straight-forward. This is pretty much the only example of it not being the case. So we're sure there's nothing else. I know her, trust me. She wouldn't do anything like this on purpose, and she's been trying to avoid any more accidents."
---
"That's our cue, Khannie!" says Zebes outside, despite having no audible signal to tell him this. He gets the door for her, since it's probably too high for her.

[Rebonack]

[Veronic's Place]

The conversation leading up to this moment had been pretty straight forward. Khannie is, of course, worried that her daddy's girlfriend wouldn't like her. No doubt Zebes had been quite supportive. But now the door is open and it's game time! She takes a deep breath and scampers inside, heading straight for Jace's leg to glomp onto it.

She's certainly an interesting looking little critter. Fuzzy like a mammal and sporting fused hair-plates rather akin to an armadillo or a pangolin, depending on where they are on her body. Her coat is a light bluish color over most of her, but in a few places its fading to drab brown. Her paws don't really fit with the totally non-dexterous claws of your average kangaskhan, rather they have a heightened degree of flexibility along with a fourth digit, an opposable thumb. She's wearing a cute little pair of suspenders and a pretty little necklace with what looks like a cat's-eye marble on the end. A fancy scarf is slung around her neck and hanging over her back. And, of course, her blue eyes match her father's perfectly.

If not for the cap of fused fur protecting her head like a helmet, she could probably rock a little bow in her hair perfectly.

As such, she's settled with a big blue one tied near the end of her tail.

Khannie chances a glance up at Veronica. She doesn't look scary. She isn't even sure why she's hiding behind her daddy. Would Veronica like her more if she acts tough? She hasn't the faintest idea the sorts of things flying-type humans like. Most of the flying-type pokemon she knew usually didn't like fighting that much, so maybe she should just be really quiet?

Yeah.

She'll do that.

Just hold onto daddy's leg and watch Veronica from cover until daddy says otherwise.

[UncleWolf]

Veronica's Home

Veronica looks at the little Pokemon in curiosity, keeping her surprise hidden. From what Jace had said, she'd expected her to look a little more like him, but he had mentioned Pokemon. A dozen different questions went through her head, none of which having easy answers, but she forgot them. The kid seemed to be acting timid, but there was always a sure fire way to win one over. The Harpy stays quiet for a bit longer as she opens up the freezer and pulls out a small plastic wrapped treat to offer to Khannie. "I'm Veronica." She says, crouching slightly as she holds out the treat. "Popsicle?"

[Deathkeeper]

Veronica's Place

Jace bends down, putting an arm around Khannie's little shoulders.
"I've mentioned Veronica, remember? Say hello, don't be shy. She's a very important friend." he says.
Actually, she's his girlfriend, and Nick told Khannie this, but Jace isn't actually sure if she knows what that means.

[Rebonack]

[Veronica's Place]

Khannie knows what a girlfriend is!

That's when a boy pokemon and a girl pokemon really like each other, and then after a while an egg appears! This is super-simple stuff.

"Hello miss Veronica," Khannie says from her cover behind Jace's leg. Her father's touch encourages her to scoot out a little further. "I'm Khannie."

The Popsicle, though? At that her little ears perk up. "Ooh! Thank you!" She takes the treat and begins fiddling with it. She can smell something sweet in there, but she isn't sure what to do about the stuff on the outside. It sort of reminds her of the wrapper on a rare candy 'cuz she had one of those once. You have to take the wrapper off otherwise it tastes weird and gets stuck in your mouth. She grips the crinkly stuff between her fingers and tugs at it a few different ways until it finally splits open and she pulls out the treat within!

Into her mouth it goes!

Mmm... strawberry.

After sucking on the iced juice whilst scrutinizing Veronica she finally works up the will to ask a question. "Miss Veronica? Are you a flying-type human? Nick says you aren't."

[UncleWolf]

Veronica's Place

"It's nice to meet you, Khannie, and nope. I'm not even close to human." Veronica says with a small smile. "I'm a Harpy, my own species. I'm not even fully mammalian like humans are." She explains before heading to a kitchen chair to take a seat. "We may look similar, but we're very different when it comes to how we work and our physiology...um...how our bodies are made I mean."

[Rebonack]

[Veronica's Place]

Khannie's ears droop a little, then she gives a disappointed, "Oh..."

That means she was wrong and Nick was right!

She'll have to admit that she was wrong next time she sees him, and that's never any fun. Maybe she would be able to distract him from gloating by bringing home another Popsicle for him? She would just have to try really extra super hard not to eat it herself by accident.

The harpy (what's a harpy?) explaining how she's different from her daddy strikes a cord with her, though. But if there's one thing she's learned, it's that just because two people are different, that doesn't mean the can't be friends or siblings or lots of other things!

"Don't worry, Miss Veronica," Khannie says with a childish smile. "I'm really different from Daddy, too, and we still love each other a whole lot! And you aren't too different! You're both human-shape, and that means that if you both love each other a whole lot, you can make an egg together!" Mama Blissy taught her about how pokemon make eggs. Of course humans would make eggs the same way, right? Khannie's eyes light up with adorable anticipation. "Oh! That would mean I could have a little brother or sister!"

That would be very exciting!

[UncleWolf]

Veronica's Place

Veronica gives a small cough and shakes her head. "It's possible, but you should know that humans can't make eggs. Not like you're thinking, and neither can I. I lay them, but it is far more complicated than you know." She explains, keeping her composure. "And just because people are the same shape doesn't mean they can produce children either." She adds. "Besides, I'm not ready for a child. I'm taking care of two brothers and a sister. It'll be several years before I am ready."

[Deathkeeper]

Veronica's Place

Jace gives Veronica an apologetic look that just screams "kids!"
"Veronica's siblings are all a little bit older than you, Khannie. You should play with them some time. I'm sure you'll be friends." he tells her. Making friends with other kids is very important, after all.

[Rebonack]

[Veronica's Place]

Khannie looks a little embarrassed now. Poor kid. "Oh..."

Harpies 'lay' eggs.

What does that even mean?

Now Khannie is imagining Veronica taking eggs and laying them down in a little basket. She has no real context for what the harpy is talking about, not that someone her age really needs to know the details of such things yet. At the mention of siblings, though, she brightens up considerably. "Oh yeah! Zebes told me you had little brothers and sisters! Can I go play with them?"

She's really hoping the answer here will be 'yes'.

"I promise I won't punch anyone! Daddy says I'm not allowed to punch anyone," she adds, just to make it very clear that she's a very responsible, very grown up little girl.

[UncleWolf]

Veronica's Place

"Sure, but they're at school for now." Veronica points out. "It'll be the afternoon before they come back. Are you going to be going to school soon?" She asks. She expects that Khannie doesn't know what it is, but it was more of a hint to Jace that he needs to begin thinking about these sorts of things. If he's going to be a parent, he's going to have to act like it.

[Rebonack]

[Veronica's Place]

"Yeah!" Khannie replies, her excitement over meeting some new children quickly replaced by excitement about going to this strange and magical place called school! "Daddy says I'll be starting in a week! Nick goes to school and I'll be going to school with him at a place called... umm...Ahnahees?" She isn't sure if she got the name right. She wasn't really listening to that part of the conversation. "They teach you all sorts of things at school! Like how to do stuff outside of battles without HMs!"

She's extremely excited about that part.

"It'll be like Sensei Marrowack's dojo, except I'll get to learn about stuff that isn't fighting."

Khannie really liked Sensei Marrowack.

Maybe she'll get to see him again some day?

It's probably fortunate that Khannie is unaware time runs approximately twenty four times faster back at the pokemon village than it does here in the Nexus. If she returned in a few years, decades would have passed.

[Deathkeeper]

Veronica's Place

Jace gives just a tiny hint of a proud look. Take that, Veronica! Jace did think of responsible things!

"That's Inari's, Khannie. And yes, I thought I'd give her a week so she can get used to how the world works and enjoy it here before needing to do work for school."

[Shadowcaller]

[Valentine's Day]

Valente mumbles something and rubs his eyes. "Astrana?" Suddenly his eyes shoot open. "Oh no. Oh jeez I can't believe I fell asleep." Stupid stupid.

[Valentine's Day]

"Does it really matter?" The tiefling asks gently with a wide smile on her face. "I think you got what you wanted after all." She snuggles in closer to him. "And so did I."

[UncleWolf]

Veronica's Place

The Harpy raises an eyebrow at Jace curiously when Khannie mentions fighting. Even if she was a Pokemon, was it really appropriate to be teaching her such things? Then again, this school was supposed to teach other things, so maybe it was okay. "My siblings go to the schools just a couple blocks from here. Probably not as fancy as the one at the Temple of Inari though. Do you promise to study hard? If so, I'll always keep Popsicles on hand for you. Ice Cream treats too."

[Gullara]

[Valentine's Day]

Valente relaxes a bit, letting Astrana reassure him. "Oh, alright." He closes his arms around her and encircles her in his tail. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought." He kisses her nose and rests his head against hers.

[Rebonack]

[Veronica's Place]

Khannie nods enthusiastically!

"Yeah! I'll study super duper hard and learn all the really tough things they teach at school!" she boasts. She honestly has little idea what goes on at school. In her mind, it must be something incredible and amazing and exciting if all the children are doing it. After all, wouldn't they prefer playing and exploring and fighting to get tougher all the time? If school is better than playing and exploring and fighting, then it has got to be the best thing ever.

The best.

Thing.

Ever.

No questions asked.

"And I'll get to play with your little brothers and sisters, too?"

[Deathkeeper]

Veronica's Place

"There are a few pokemon at Inari's, and since Fortuna's little brother already goes there it seemed the most logical thing to send her there. That and they're good people and the place is defended, so I don't have to worry about any Nexus catastrophes happening."

Nexus catastrophes striking schools are just terrible.

[Yeah, don't ask about the fighting thing. You wouldn't believe how many times Jace has had to go over when and why she's not allowed to punch things. Sapient pokemon society is kind of messed up.] Zebes explains in Veronica's head.

[UncleWolf]

Veronica's Place

I don't mind teaching her self defense, but I'm getting some weird vibes from all of this, Zebes. I understand if you two don't want to tell me everything, but can you tell me if you are keeping anything from me? I've been nothing but open about what I am doing after all. It isn't an accusation, more of a concern. I'm honestly a little freaked out by all of this, though I'm definitely not going to complain about him having a kid when I'm taking care of three. It's just sudden and every time something weird happens, Fortuna is involved. I'm more than a little concerned about that.


Despite her thoughts, she gives a smile and a nod to Khannie. "They're older than you, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind another friend. You'll have to be careful though. Harpies aren't as sturdy as you are."

[Rebonack]

[Veronica's Place]

"That's what daddy said," Khannie replies between licks of her frozen fruit juice. "No punching anyone at Veronica's 'cuz they would get hurt. I won't hit anyone, I promise!"

Or bite them.

Or tail-thwack them.

Or any other sort of violence!

At this point, now that she knows there probably won't be any playing, her attention begins to wander around the room. People in the human world sure do have all sorts of neat things in their houses. Maybe that's because it isn't considered okay for someone to just walk in and take whatever they want?

That makes sense, Khannie decides. If people didn't have to worry about someone wanting and taking their things, they could have all sorts of pretty things in their house!

[Deathkeeper]

Veronica's Place

[I think you misunderstood. We taught her nothing about self-defense. We've been teaching her about why her natural tendency to want to get tougher isn't necessary. Really, she hasn't done any rough-housing with Nick, so I think it sounds worse than it is.
And Forte hasn't had an incident since Halloween. She's been a lot more cautious, it's just that this dates back to September when things with her were getting figured out. She's been helping her boyfriend with his little brother and it really turned up the responsibility dial.
Let's see...I think we told you everything. She has really weird genetic material due to the circumstance. Don't know if that means she has Jace's magic. He didn't manifest any until past her age though so either way that's not relevant now...]

"Speaking of school, we should go to the mall tomorrow to get you supplies, Khannie." Jace tells her. Can't let her get too distracted and start touching things.

[UncleWolf]

Veronica's Home

Just call me a paranoid skeptic. I won't rock the boat though, don't worry.

"You can go ahead and look around, Khannie, it's fine. Just stay out of the two bedrooms on the right, okay? Bathroom is on the left, next to the closet, and the living room is just on the other side of the wall from here." She explains, gesturing at the central wall that separates the kitchen from the living room. After that, she looks back to Jace with a small smile. "I think she'll be fine." She says, giving her approval of the kid to Jace. For now anyway. "I'll be heading to the shrine in two days."

[Rebonack]

[Veronica's Place]

"Okay!" Khannie yells before waddling off to inspect the house and look at things, allowing the adults to converse in peace.

So long as they can still hear her doing things then everything should be fine.

If it gets quiet all of a sudden, that's when you start to worry about kids.

[Deathkeeper]

Veronica's Place

Jace smiles fondly as Khannie waddles off.
"Yeah, I think she will."
Then he turns to Veronica, "That sounds fine. Nick's brother is going to be watching him, so she'll be fine without me for a day." he says.

[UncleWolf]

Veronica's Home

Khannie will find that the living room is rather small, just a TV, a bookcase for movies of all sorts, and a couch that had a blanket on the back. The bathroom on the other hand is...wow. The bathroom is larger than most of the rest of the apartment. It has two large heated baths capable of holding several people, separated by frosted glass, and a pair of stalls that are hot air dryers so there's no need to use towels. It's rather convenient for those with feathers, but it wow that's a lot.

"After the shrine, there's hints about an archangel being similarly trapped." Veronica says, folding her wings in front of her. "Depending on where and how, I'd like to try and find that too. Also, I was wondering. Do you have any books like these I can borrow? Potion crafting and such too. There's hints in the bloodmagic book about potions, and depending on what it is, I may try to make some. There's a store that sells blood, so I can just pick up supplies there."

[Deathkeeper]

Veronica's Place

Jace nods.
"Yeah, I have a few. Generally monster manuals and a few magic texts I got years ago. I'd recommend starting with those. Potions can be volatile, and blood magic is a much higher bar than elementary alchemy. Walking before running and all that. There's a potion shop in the mall that I've used a few times. You can probably get supplies there for the general stuff." he suggests.