The Twofold Houses

[Gullara]

[Front Door]

Lucy looks between her dad and G'nichi with interest. "Are you strong like daddy? I'm strong too you know." She lifts her twig like arm and flexes it for all she's worth, gritting her teeth with the effort.

[Bun in the Sun]

"Well I did tell you she's pretty." Sakura replies, not totally convinced. "Why are you so curious what I think of Calanthe anyway? Obviously I enjoy that she's here. I've told you that lots of times already."

[Murkus]

[Front Door]

"Well, except me. I'm the perfect father figure. Right, Lucy?" Adir glances at her. He tries not to have a little laugh at her display. "So strong. Chip off the old block, here."

"Wait... Child stuff?" Adir blinks. "Well, dang, G'nichi! I thought you were too young to be a dad!" How did that happen?

[Bun in the Sun]

"Well, that's just it, isn't it? I'm pretty sure most of those times were unprompted," Adir points out. "But I'd never seen you staring at her quite like that before. Can you blame me for being a little curious?"

Adir spreads his legs and tries to pick up Sakura and pull her in front of him so her back is against his front. He'll wrap his arms around her middle.

[Keeper]

Front Door

"Woah! Very impressive, Lucy." G'nichi says with a sage nod. Though Adir's comment has him sputtering.
"I am! Well I'm not but Nala and I aren't there yet! My house is haunted by a number of fey-spirit-children."
He pauses.
"They also look like dogs." G'nichi is always beset upon by troublesome canines.

[Gullara]

[Bun in the Sun]

The dryad chews her lip. She's really being backed into this! "I don't know. I like to be around her and talk to her. She's so smart and eloquent. And she's so wonderful with the kids; they love her. And I guess I look forward to seeing her each morning. And okay, she's not just pretty, she's beautiful. Like, hello? That hair. And her eyes are so striking, and-"

"Oh my god. Is this a crush? Do I have a crush on our nanny?" Sakura puts her face in her hands.

[Front Door]

Lucy grins broadly. She's got her dad's smile alright. "Uh huh!" She tries to jump and latch onto Adir's arm.

[Murkus]

[Bun in the Sun]

Oh geez. Adir had thought there might be a physical attraction there, and he kinda figured that was relatively normal for people in a long-term relationship. It's natural to look at other people sometimes, and it was fun to tease out Sakura's thoughts. What he didn't consider was that Sakura had actually caught feelings for the rabbit nanny.

"It- I mean-" Adir is caught off guard. For the first time he sounds more unsure than calm and amused. "It kinda sounds like it."

He studies the other woman. I mean. It was easy to see what Sakura meant. He had to agree with her on most points, even.

Wait, what was he thinking? This was so weird! This is his wife!

"...Darn it. This is kinda weird," Adir frowns. "And we were gonna take her to dinner, and now that seems weird, and- and- Should I be, like, actually worried? Sakura?" He sounds a little self-conscious. Now Calanthe just being around is gonna be weird. Goddamnit. "I mean, is this something we oughta talk about more seriously?"

[Front Door]

Adir does some bicep curls as his little daughter dangles from his arm.

He laughs uproariously at G'nichi's reaction, probably swinging Lucy about a bit.

"Well, my house is also haunted by a number of children. Although mine look like deer or vegetation. What, you want my help tossing them out? Getting them to do their chores? Making them behave?"

[Keeper]

Front Door

"Well, no. To throwing them out." G'nichi curls his claws as he tries to put into words the extremely weird circumstances of his housing situation.
"My good friend Karaglen rescued them from the Pit after they'd been taken by the fey. She told me the best way to heal the damage to their souls is to keep treating them like normal children. One of them remembered his name after a night at my house. It's just uh. Well." He gesticulates aimlessly. "I don't really know how normal mammal children are raised so I don't really have a frame of reference for that?" He's also fairly sure that someone with fey children would probably know how to handle them better than him. Or Kara. Or his own parents.

[Gullara]

[Bun in the Sun]

"Adir!" Sakura turns towards him, brow furrowed. "Are you crazy? There's no one I love more than you and I literally have your baby in my belly right now. No you don't have to be worried."

She huffs. "You're the one that dragged this all out. It wasn't weird a week ago. So what if I maybe have a crush on her? I'm not some silly little girl. It can just mean I like her a lot, you know?" She pokes his shoulder. "I'm not going to treat her any different, and you shouldn't either. She's been great for us to have around, so don't make it weird. Okay?"

[Front Door]

Lucy's enthusiasm slips away when she hears what G'nichi describes. She drops from her dad's arm and clings to his leg instead. "Taken? Like Ca-, um, like Blue was?"

[Murkus]

[Bun in the Sun]

Adir winces. Okay, that was a fair rebuttal, mostly. "I get it! I do! It's just... it's just bizarre to realize you might have a crush on someone else, do you know what I mean? How am I supposed to feel? I thought we were just having fun! Being attracted and having feelings are different things."

"I mean, I'll admit," Adir glances up at the bunny. "I understand how you feel. She's been great. Like... gaining a friend."

"I won't treat her any different. But I'm not the trouble here!" Adir pokes Sakura in the side of her growing belly. "I'm not the one with the crush! I mean, how would you feel if I said I had feelings for her? Personal, sexual, or otherwise? You'd have some questions, wouldn't you?"

[The Front Door]

Adir puts a steadying hand on Lucy's head. He frowns a little. "Damaged souls, huh? Are they... weird? Dangerous in any way?" This sounds like it's a lead-in to another suggestion related to helping them.

[Gullara]

[Bun in the Sun]

"But I wouldn't have said anything if you never dragged it out of me." Sakura protests. "I don't know if I woulda even thought anything. I've never had a crush on a girl before. I probably wouldn't have even noticed."

[Keeper]

Front Door

G'nichi picks up on Lucy's reaction and makes note to avoid dropping any more specific details.

"I mean they're children with the bodies of dogs with smoky heads." That's pretty weird.
"Ummm. Well they've never tried to steal my name. And Kara has been watching them pretty closely and I don't think she's ever had to stop them from doing that but they theoretically could? I'm not really an expert on fey."
G'nichi also can't really stop them from coming and going they're just kind of you know. Ghost dogs.

[Murkus]

[Front Door]

"Well, it's not exactly my area of expertise, but I could still attempt to apply some fatherly wherewithal to the situation," Adir suggests. Maybe he could at least help them feel like kids. It sounded like an odd predicament. "If you want, you could ask more specific questions about them, or... I dunno, I could come over there?"

[Bun in the Sun]

"I sure noticed something," Adir points out, a bit more mildly. It was hard not to spot Sakura's staring. "If you weren't careful, she might have, too. I think you kinda already were thinking things, Sakura, it's just... you hadn't quite put it together yet for what it was. I feel like... getting to that point and then not saying anything would have been way worse."

[Arkhosia]

[Bun in the Sun]

My my, this conversation has taken quite an interesting turn. And a rather energetic one at that, too! Energetic enough that Calanthe looks over from the kids at Adir and Sakura, a curious look on her face. She doesn't seem scandalized or surprised or anything, so those keen ears probably haven't caught anything distinct, but she's noticing something is going on over there.

[Gullara]

[Bun in the Sun]

The dryad crosses her arms. "I don't know. I think you're making a bigger deal out of it than you need to, though. So I enjoy her company and she's great. And my brain has been working over these..." She saves a hand indistinctly. "Gay thoughts. So then I latched on. It doesn't actually mean anything. I can also just like her as a friend you know. It might not even be a crush. I'm probably just way overthinking it because of this conversation."

[Keeper]

Front Door

G'nichi (who by the way is in theory still discussing all of this on their front stoop) gives a low hum as he considers it.
"Well I know Jeb went to your Spooktober party so he'd probably consider you a friendly face. And I can't imagine any of them being scared of you or anything so I can't see any harm in you paying them a visit. You'd just have to be experienced with child-wrangling which I'm fairly sure you are. And good at being surprised."
That's the thing about yeth hounds.
They like jumping out and saying Boo.

[Rebonack]

[Front Door]

There's a sound.

Distant.

Faint.

Muffled.

As if heard underwater, distorted and strange.

The sound of a dragging chain.

Or, perhaps more specifically, the sound of someone trying to cover up the sound of a dragging chain.

G'Nichi will recognize it immediately. That's the sound of one of the yeth children skulking around invisible. Depending on how discerning G'Nichi is, he'll probably be able to tell it's Annie. Her chains are fine, woven things, almost rope like. Quite different from the heavy links of Jeb or the jagged scraping noise Wilbur's make. Annie is somewhere nearby, but given that the ambient temperature hasn't begun to drop and nor has a sense of ill ease settled over the area she probably isn't gearing up for a spooky bork.

Just lurking.

She wasn't supposed to leave the house.

[Murkus]

[Front Door]

"That I am. Uh, do you wanna come in for a little? You can tell me a little more about them?" Adir will suggest.

Adir is too keen-eared not to notice that strange noise, but he isn't really sure what to make of it. His ears flick up and he glances past G'nichi around the yard. "Did you hear that?"

[Bun in the Sun]

"Well, maybe you're right..." Adir admits. Perhaps he was getting her all worked up and 'crush' was going too far. She was right, it was a silly thing to actually worry about. He glances up... "Oh, crap! She's looking over here! Quick, act natural! Don't think about her hair!"

The stag, for his part, will smile and wave. Perfectly natural.

[Gullara]

[Front Door]

Lucy clings closer to her dad. She could hear the sound too; her hearing is as sharp as her dad's. "It's one of those monsters!"

[Bun in the Sun]

Sakura looks back and finds Calanthe looking right at them. "Adir! Don't say stuff like that!" She shoves his shoulder. So much for acting natural.

[Keeper]

Front Door

G’nichi is about to step inside when he hears the noise. With a small groan he turns away from the door to face the woods around him. He plants his hands on his hips and announces loudly,
”If you come out now you won’t be in trouble.”

[Arkhosia]

Woblin Sleepover

► SHOW SPOILER

[Woblin Sleepover]

"Um. There are beetles," Tuskfang says. "Very big beetles. Big enough that goblins ride on them. And there are cave-crickets. But they're not big enough to ride on. Goblins eat them."

[Woblin Sleepover]

"Oh my gosh. You eat the crickets? Bleh!" Cernunnos sticks his tongue out between his fangs. He remembers the big beetles being pretty cool, but he doesn't remember that.

"Oh my, giant beetles?" Calanthe's eyes light up. "That's extraordinary! Although perhaps not a surprise, admittedly. Did you kids know that beetles are amongst the most diverse group of insect we know of? They serve an incredible array of roles in our ecosystems - predators, decomposers, herbivores, even parasites..." She counts the roles off with her fingers. "I imagine yours might prey on the crickets?"

Bun in the Sun

Calanthe seems a little confused as she regards the two, but she offers a friendly smile and raises her hand in a wave. Some kind of light-hearted teasing or goofing around, she assumes, turning back to play with the kids. Whew, that was close!

[Rebonack]

[Front Door]

Uh oh.

Busted.

"I tried so hard to be quiet how did you know!?" comes a voice that's half way between surprised and petulant in the way that only small kids who were trying to get up to no good can manage. Her voice sounds like what one might expect from any little girl about Lucy's age, though the source isn't clear.

At least not right away.

There's a... shape. Like mist. Something seen vaguely. A flitting shadow out of the corner of the eye. A headless black hound, lithe and leggy, with strangely serpentine tail that someone has, for some reason, tied a great big pink bow around about a third of the way down its length. In spire of the fact the creature is clearly and obviously headless it gives the strange impression that one can imagine a ghostly hound's skull where her head ought to be. She's draped in fine, woven bronze chains that tinkle against the ground as she moves.

The yeth hound is moving carefully, flitting from one patch of shade to another as though she finds the sun distasteful.

It would appear as though a dog followed G'Nichi.

[Morty]

[Woblin Sleepover]

"They're not bleh, they're tasty," Tuskfang protests indignantly. "Uncle Grimip cooks them really well." He looks up at Calanthe again. "Um, guess so. Grapok says they eat topsiders who get lost in the tunnels but I think he's making it up."

The twins will likely remember that Grimip is Reelshka's brother and Grapok is one of his children. They visited them in Underside.

[The Big One Oh]

Once Asp has folded down and gone to sleep, Wenomir steps into the middle of the room.

"As the final entertainment of the birthday party, Ambrosia and I will display our swordsmanship skills," he announces. "Rest assured that our weapons can be rendered harmless so we're in no actual danger."

[Murkus]

[Bun in the Sun]

Adir expels a wary breath. Nailed it. He glances down. "I don't know if that was necessarily acting natural. Well, maybe it was for the two of us. You're always trying to beat me up. I'm just used to the abuse."

"See what I mean? She totally bought it!" Adir wags a hand at the bun. He finally looks at Sakura a little more seriously, and his brows drop a little. "...Sorry. The wisecracks just roll out automatically when I'm a little nervous."

"I guess it's not something we really need to worry about, huh? You're probably right."

Woblin Sleepover

"Calaaanthe, don't put Tuskfang to sleep with gross bug facts," Cernunnos protests. He still looks pretty skeptical about the crickets.

"How are Grimip and Grapok and everybody doing, anyways?" Gwydion asks considerately.

[Front Door]

Adir leans down and gently pushes Lucy a little further behind his leg, at least at first. Then G'nichi draws the creature forth. Man, this is even weirder than the stag was expecting.

"Don't be scared, baby," Adir tells Lucy. "I don't think this one is a monster." He glances at G'nichi, eyes a little harder. "You need to be more careful who you bring along to my house, though."

The stag clears his throat. "You don't mean us any harm, now, do you?" He calls to the fleeting being. "What's your name?"

[Shadowcaller]

[The Big One Oh]

Could they now? Ambrosia knew that Wenomir's sword could do that but it seemed like he had misunderstood something that she had said about Jihye. But he wasn't too far off the mark so she wasn't going to comment on it.
It did feel like Wenomir was wrapping swordplay in a civil discourse that felt alien to what she had come to associate with the craft. But perhaps it was better than how her teacher had taught her which likely wouldn't have been alright with Cessie either.

She stands ready near the middle of the courtyard and as Wenomir approaches she raises her Jihye and places her other hand on its guard as she gets down into her stance. Ambrosia then locks eyes with Wenomir as to signal that she was ready.

[Keeper]

Front Door

"Annie!" G'nichi says with an exasperated tone. It seems he wasn't 100% sure it was her.
He turns to Adir, looking embarrassed. "Sorry, Adir. I didn't notice she was following me."

G'nichi goes over to her, spreading his wings wide so she could take shelter in their shadow.
If she approaches he will attempt to snatch her up so that he might hold her in an affectionate but grumpy parent sort of way
"Following people is rude." he tells her. Though he leaves it at that; he had promised her she wouldn't be in trouble if she came clean.

[Gullara]

[Front Door]

Lucy clings to Adir's leg and just watches the situation for now. She's still pretty nervous.

[Bun in the Sun]

Sakura nods firmly. "That's what I'm saying. Let's forget about it, okay? And besides, I want to watch the kids play some more." She pushes herself to her feet and brushes off her dress. "I'm sure I've already missed some of Lucy's stunts." She giggles.

[The Big One Oh]

"Oh, awesome!" Cora exclaims. She scampers over to the side with other people, situating herself next to her brother and then watching Wenomir and Ambrosia eagerly.

[Rebonack]

[Front Door]

"Because I'm SNEAKY!" the yeth hound helpfully clarifies, then gives a little whoop as she gets scooped up. "I'm Annie! Jeb said your house was fun so I wanted to see it. I didn't mean any trouble being stuck in G'Nichi's house all the time is BORING."

Just the worst.

Sitting around and guarding the same place all the time is terrible.

Spooking people is way more fun.

And she managed to spook that other kid at least a LITTLE so that's probably good enough for now. Lucy will likely get the weird impression that Annie is looking at her, though given that the hound lacks a head completely there's just that imagined ghostly dog skull peering at her with empty eyes. It's almost like a day-dream super-imposed over reality.

There...

But clearly not.

"Has your house got any flowers?" Annie asks. She likes flowers. "The ones in your hair don't count. Are you dryads? Have you got a tree you sleep in like the dryads in the parks?"

[Arkhosia]

[Woblin Sleepover]

"They're not bleh, they're tasty," Tuskfang protests indignantly. "Uncle Grimip cooks them really well." He looks up at Calanthe again. "Um, guess so. Grapok says they eat topsiders who get lost in the tunnels but I think he's making it up."

The twins will likely remember that Grimip is Reelshka's brother and Grapok is one of his children. They visited them in Underside.

Woblin Sleepover

"Why Cernunnos, when have I ever lulled someone to sleep with gross bug facts? If I wished to do that, I could simply grind a powder from some poppies and valerian root," Calanthe counters with a playfully dismissive wave of the hand, as if her joke was based upon some common fact that everyone should know. "And for what it's worth, eating crickets is far from uncommon. Plenty of cultures do so, and I believe they're a wonderful source of protein. Not my style of meal though, I must admit."

[Morty]

[Woblin Sleepover]

"Bugs aren't gross, they're cool!" Tuskfang stomps his foot. It seems there will be no agreement between the two friends on this subject. "I dunno what protein are but I like them." He looks over to Gwydion. "They're all doing fine. Uncle Grimip is trying to grow a beard and Grapok is dating a boy. I asked Heegda if she's going to date a girl or a boy but she said she doesn't know yet." Heegda is Grapok's twin sister (goblins having twins as a matter of course).

[The Big One Oh]

Wenomir holds the Answer in a fool's guard and circles Ambrosia slowly, observing her. Then he begins the bout by suddenly rushing forth and aiming an upwards sweep at her. This is something he's been teaching Cora - strike quickly and decisively. Even if your strike doesn't connect, the enemy might be on the back foot. He's moving much more quickly than Cora usually sees him move, though.

[Murkus]

[Front Door]

Adir puts his hands on his hips and observes this peculiar affair. "Right... Jeb," Adir is having trouble remembering a headless dog from the Spooktober bash, but maybe he was in disguise.

He glances slowly down and puts a steadying hand on Lucy's shoulder. "It's okay Lucy. I don't think she means any trouble, even if she looks a little scary. You can answer if you want."

[Woblin Sleepover]

"You definitely wouldn't need magic to put anybody to sleep. I bet you can put the babies right out," Cernunnos decides. Well, partly because Calanthe has a very soothing voice, but he's not going to add that. "Sorry Tuskfang, but you're gonna have to keep cricket munching to yourself."

"Dating a boy, huh?" Gwydion looks a bit confused about that.

Cernunnos is gonna have to stick out his tongue at that one too. Whether he finds other boys gross in that regard or dating altogether remains unclear.

"Dad always jokes about growing a beard or a big mustache, but he says mom wouldn't give him any kisses then."

[Bun in the Sun]

"Forget about it? I dunno, babe. Let it be? That, I can do," Adir agrees. He'll follow her up, carefully grabbing his tray of drinks in the process. "You watch if you want. I'm gonna go join them. Plus, I told the kids I'd make lemonade." Actual fresh-squeezed lemonade is a real pain, and he's not letting it all go to waste! He'll head in their direction. It's likely the kids break off for a moment to grab some icy glasses with a chorus of mostly well-mannered 'thank-yous' before hurrying back to play.

Adir likely will add to the mayhem by propping a kid or two on his shoulders at a time and jumping in the air in a giant arc over the sprinkler - though he still doesn't quite clear it, even with some frankly superhuman hops.

"Dad, do Calanthe next!" The lad in trunks points at the bun. He looks at their nanny, smiling and wild-eyed with a bouncy childish excitement. "It's great! He goes super high!"

"Hey, kid. I'm sure Calanthe doesn't want me toting her around like luggage."

"Aw, c'mon! Try it!"

[Keeper]

Front Door

"Well would you rather I stick you with a babysitter?" G'nichi asks Annie forebodingly (despite currently giving the faerie dog scritches).
Of course he wouldn't ever say that he tries to keep them at his house because the possible danger of letting a bunch of faeries out into the city unsupervised. He tries very hard to keep an air of confidence in the children around them.