Braddocks and Hansons
Diana waited for everyone to be seated, then said:
"Ike, would you like to say grace?"
"Sure, Mom. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this food we are about to eat, may it bless our bodies, and may Mom be doubly blessed for the effort she made in preparing it. Amen."
A chorus of 'amen's followed.
"This dinner looks delicious, Mrs Hanson," Leroy said.
"Thank you. And please, call me Diana."
"Certainly."
Before them was roast lamb, vegetables, a small salad and some pasta. The pasta and the salad Diana had prepared at the last minute, as she naturally didn't know until later that day that they would be having guests for dinner.
"So how many games did you to end up playing anyway?" Miette asked Zac and Oliver.
"Five," Zac replied.
"I beat him!" Oliver said triumphantly.
"Once."
"I still beat you."
"Bet you can't beat me again."
Mouse
Mouse had fed her family before the meal started, which had consisted of different things. Setting limits on Fafnir's hunting, milk for Sidhe, and some crusts for Nevyn. Sparra had taken care of herself, as she always did. She bowed her head with the others when they said grace, and whispered a quiet amen. This was...nice.
She listened with half an ear to the boys bickering, before swallowing her mouthful of food. "You two sound so much like half- grown wolves, it's insane. Except the game in question is a bit different. Or I think we should hope so. Cos otherwise, you'd both be sporting bitemarks. Um. I'm Mouse by the way. Are you with Oli and Mi?" Mouse looked at Leroy curiously, and then blanched as she felt his emotional state. "Whoa, you are *stressed*. What's your job? Last people I felt were that tight were some feebies in Washington. And feebies are just plain funny, cos they live in a paranoid state of mind. Which makes playing with them fun, if you don't get caught. Which obviously I haven't or I wouldn't be here. And I'm going to be quiet now, because I'm getting odd looks." Mouse looked down at her plate.
Taylor and Walker
Taylor had his eye on Mouse as she spoke every word. There was something about her... he just didn't get. And he couldn't put his finger on it.
Walker cleared his throat.
"I believe, Leroy, that if you wish not to say too much about what you do it is your decision. Jane, or Mouse isn't wuite used to social occasions... she's spent quite a number of years of her life living with the animals."
He glanced at Taylor.
"Which at least we can understand. Has Isaac told you our each individual abilities, or did you know through the tournament commitee?"
Mouse
"Hey, animals are nicer then people. They don't get evil, they just are. And it's easier to feel with them then with people. They feel as deep, but pain always passes." Mouse's eyes went distant. "Sorry. Spidery thoughts." Mouse ran a hand through her hair. "Guessing, since you're alien, or at least YIRAAS, you can pick up the subtext there." She half-smiled, then shook her head. "And it wasn't just with animals. I didn't drop out for six years. I've spent time with people...just not often. So, tournament thingie. Sounds good. Sounds like fun. Going in it, Mi?"
Miette, Oliver, Zac, Isaac and Leroy
"Umm, I don't know," Miette replied. "I'm defintely going to watch, but I don't know about competing."
"Oh come on," Zac encouraged. "It'll be fun!"
"I wouldn't know what to do."
"We'll show you."
"Yeah, come on Mi," Oliver encouraged. "I'm competing."
"You don't have much longer to register," Leroy advised. "It's starting this week, and you have to be in before then."
"Actually, they had to be in last week," Isaac said.
"I know. But I believe I can pull a few strings," Leroy smiled. "And, no, Mr Hanson, I can't say that I have been introduced to all your powers. And yes, Mouse, I'm with Mi and Oli - I'm their uncle, and an alien also. And I have been a little stressed lately. I always thought I was doing pretty good at hiding it though. I'm simply in need of a holiday right now, but you know how it is, what with my line of work there aren't too many opportunities for holidays. However, Tanya gives an awfully good mental massage which is brilliant for relieving stress, and I think I may ask her about one next time I see her."
Mouse
"I can always feel what people feel. It's why I do prefer to stay the heck out of cities. All those people, their emotions and thoughts pressing in on me...S'why I travel so much. America has lots of lonely roads where the only living things is an occaisonal bird, or rabbit. But a girl gotta eat." And then I'm also tracking the Spider, who's somewhere round this town. With a collar. She bent her head back down to her dinner to hide the vengeful smile she felt at that thought. Helpless as she had been. She'd go hunting again tomorrow. He was hiding...but mice ate spiders all the time. She'd find him, she would. Mouse concentrated on projecting soothing emotions so Diana didn't pick up on her inner turmoil. Man, living with another empath was tiring.
Taylor
Taylor almost choked on his foot at the mention of the Spider. Walker cast him a warning glance. He leant toward Leroy slowly.
"Quite a story comes from her past with the man, though she does not know him well at all," he whispered as a small warning only Leroy could hear.
He sat back at look at Taylor who was watching Mouse again. He cast a nervous glance at Ike, before setting his cutlery down on the table.
"I think... umm. I'm just going to get some fresh air," he nodded to their guests with a smile, before stealing a glance at Mouse and leaving the table.
His father and the others watched as he left the room, and they heard the front door open and close.
Mouse
Mouse felt Sidhe strop against her ankles, and sighed as the kitten filled her mind with images. Hunting. Lots of hunting images. Stop it, would you? We go tomorrow, but you stay here.
Wanna come! Wanna hunthunt with Mouse. Hunt the bad twolegger. Sidhe whined.
No, staying here, nice and safe. Sidhe sunk her claws into Mouse's ankle in frustration, and Mouse yelped in surprised pain. "Sidhe! No claws!" Do that again, and you'll be very sorry, little one.
No fun! Feed me.
"Um. Cat," she said to Miette and Oliver's looks. "Wants to go hunting. Since she's only a kitten, I'm telling her not. That and the fact the thing she wants to hunt is Nevyn. She's annoyed. And pain. There is much pain." Mouse winced slightly as Sidhe bit her. "Stop that!" Mouse finally got from her seat and picked the kitten up. "Scuse us." Mouse headed outside, a protesting kitten tucked into her arms, hands firmly holding her front paws away from Mouse's body, and under her head so she couldn't bite. /Brat! Bad bad bad!/ She tapped Sidhe's nose firmly.
Wanna hunt! Ooh, hiya cat two legger! We go hunt? Pleasepleaseplease! Mouse looked up startled, she hadn't even realised Taylor had left this way.
"Um. Hi. Bad cat," she said simply as if that explained all. "Ow." She shifted feet, as the bitten ankle protested her weight.
Taylor
Taylor closed his eyes and frowned for a moment as he realized the second thing he'd wanted to get away from was right behind him. That was before she said 'Ow'.
He turned to her, an expression of worry crossing his face.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, concerned.
His eyes turned to Sidhe, complaining that she wanted to hunt.
He scratched his forehead, not for the first time really wishing he didn't have the language power. It would be better if Jess or even his mother had it - that'd lift such a weight from his shoulders.
But there was still something about Mouse that kept him going...
Mouse
"Ankle. Bad cat. Scratching and biting, and if Fafnir smells my blood on her, there wil be no more cat. You alright?" Mouse's brow furrowed in concern, and she let Sidhe slip from her arms and streak away as she took a step closer to Taylor. "Cos, I'm getting very mixed vibes here." Mouse tilted her head slightly to the side and watched him worriedly. Hurt and confusion, and a bit of self pity. Worry...for her. Oh, wow. Mouse hissed in pain as her throbbing ankle decided to make itself known again, and sat down on the ground, taking her shoe and sock off so she could look at it. There was blood, but not so much. And her tats were still good...she would cheerfully have throttled the kitten if she'd mussed them. She tilted her head back to look up at Taylor. "I'm so gonna declaw that kitten. Or something. Cos, this stings like the bejeebers. Grrr muchly. You alright, Tay?" She realised he hadn't answered her previous question, mainly cos she'd babbled, but he didn't seem to mind the babble.
Jessica
Jessi perked up at talk about the tournament.
"I can't wait, it's my first one. Though I am a little sad that I've gotten too old for Camp this year. It'll be nice to have a change."
Taylor
Then Taylor realised he was staring.
"Ah... yeah, yeah. I'm ok," he insisted, raising his eyebrows as he squatted down next to her.
"It's only a little scratch," he said softly, eyeing Sidhe as he hovered his hand over her ankle - not touching it.
"If you want a band-aid or something I'll get one for you. Otherwise... I might go for a walk. Where's Sparra and Nevyn by the way?"
Hansons
"It's funny. The year you're no longer able to go to Dream Walker camp is the same year I get invited to Telepathy camp," Avery said. "I'm so excited!"
"Just don't you start practicing any new trick on me without my permission," Zac warned.
"Never fear, Zacky-dear. I've been in your head often enough to know that it's not safe in there."
"And just how often have you been in my head?"
"Too often," Avery grinned.
"Avery," Walker warned. "What have we told you about respecting people's privacy?"
"I haven't poked around in Zac's head in years," she defended. "I'm just teasing."
"Hmph."
"Personally, I'm a little worried about our little Mouse," Diana cut in, changing the subject. "She's attempting to hide her true emotions from me. And if I were any less experienced she may have succeeded at that."
"I'm sure you'll figure something out," Walker said, patting her hand. "You always do."
"Hmm. I can see I should defintely try to give her some lessons. I'm a little divided. On the one hand, I don't want her to be shielded like that from me - not when she feels the way she does. On the other, she needs to learn to do it properly."
Diana sighed.
Mouse
"Nah, it'll be good." Mouse put her sock and shoe back on, quickly lacing up the tatty laces. "Sparra's found herself a mate, so she'll most like stay here when I move on. Nevyn's around somewhere. He can look after himself. He's a very big, mean rat when something tries to hunt him. Good survival senses. Just, hadta get out. For a bit. That huy, Leroy? He's hiding something, I can feel it." Mouse put her head down on her arms. "Damn, but I wish I could give this to someone else. Cos, that guy's got deep, dark feelings. Iffin you go for a walk, take Fafnir, please? Spider still round, and even if he don't have his power anymore, that doesn't stop him tranking you or something. Physical can work just as well as mental."
Taylor
Taylor shook his head and sat onto the front step.
"The Spider's cleared out for a while," he sighed, "I don't know where he's gone, but I know he's up to something."
Sensing Mouse was confused, he explained.
"There's... I have a couple of friends down at the main park that have been keeping an eye on him for me. They saw him leave, followed him from Tulsa. Just yesterday."
He closed his eyes as they rolled to the back of his head, and fell backwards onto the porch. He sighed, just trying to let his body relax.
Mouse
"Ah, well. That's good, right? Cos, that means he's not here. INstead, causing other people trouble, only probably not so much now." Mouse was glad Taylor's eyes were closed as a look of intense frustration darted over her face. Dammit! She'd been so close. And Fafnir would be howling mad, she knew it. But she could help Taylor with the stress. Man, it was just radiating from his body. Mouse closed her eyes and touched the tip of his shoe, concentrating on sending the felings she classified as warm fuzzies down into him. Soothing and calming feelings. She'd done it often enough with her family, it was only a bit harder with people. She exhaled slowly, concentrating on bringing her breathing in line with Taylor's.
Taylor
Taylor couldn't stop a grin crossing his face. He knew what she was doing. He took a deep breath and went along with it.
It wasn't so much that he'd been under a lot of stress or anything, it was more worrying about what was to come. He knew the Spider had wanted either Ike or Leroy for something, and he wasn't someone known to just 'give up' so easily.
At least it lifted a weight from his shoulders to know he wasn't around for a while.
"He'll be back," he sighed finally.
Then he looked up at Mouse.
"Thanks."
Mouse
"That's alright." Mouse ducked her head to hide her blush. She wasn;t used to being thanked. "I'm going to head back inside." She rose to her feet and stepped up to the door. "Have a nice walk." She tilted her head slightly, just breathing in the night for the moment. It was calm. Quiet. And it didn't think. That was good. "Bad things come around. You just havta wait until they go. Or run like bloody hell to leave them behind." Mouse broke the solemness deliberately, flashing a quick devilish grin at Taylor. "But I meant what I said before. Take Fafnir. I'm sure your parents would prefer it."
Taylor
"I... might not go for a walk after all," he replied suddenly.
He hesitated, looking out over the street.
"I might just go and stir up the Ka'Millens," he grinned.
Then he stood from the porch, smiled at Mouse, then headed around the side of the house to find their 'dogs'.
Mouse
Mouse shook her had and headed back inside. "Very bad cat," she said quietly as she slid back into her place at the dinner table. "Taylor's with the Ka'Millens," she told Diana and Walker. "Decided against the walk. Which is good at this time of night. Fafnir's round back too. Playing, which is rather odd seeing how Fafnir is. But he likes Tay, which is also much odd. Doesn't like people, and guys even less so."
Walker
"Well, Taylor does have a knack with the animals," Walker smiled at her, continuing to eat.
"At one point when he was little no one could touch him, or they'd soon find they'd be swooped by a bird, or bitten by a dog. That normally happens if gets moody with somebody. Or he needs to pay someone back for something," he glanced at Ike.
Mouse
"I can identify with that. Having a rat is very useful. Small, mobile, and they can do this cool thing where they slide under doors cos they squash their ribcages flat." Mouse put her hands together to demonstrate.
"Wow, that's so cool," Mackies said excitedly. "Can I get a rat, Dad?" He turned to Walker hopefully.
Braddocks, Isaac and Diana
"Ooh!" Miette gasped suddenly, staring.
"What?" asked Isaac, trying to see what she was looking at.
"That... that..." she pointed. "I saw it move!"
"Huh? Oh! Flavian! That's Tay's pet fuzzle. I believe he likes to nap up there."
"Hmph. As long as he doesn't moult up there," Diana said under her breath.
"What's a fuzzle?" asked Oliver.
"It's a pet," Leroy explained. "And I belive I saw a couple of ka'millians?"
"Yes, you did," Diana smiled. "I'm impressed, other than those with certain powers, not many people can pick a ka'millian from a glance."
"I've had a lot of practice."
"I don't understand," Miette said. "Fuzzles? Ka'millians?"
"Well, Mi, when the ship crashed at Roswell, we had our pets with us too," Leroy explained. "Of course, it's understood that we must taken even better care of these pets than Earth pets - after all, we want to avoid exposure as much as possible."
Miette nodded.
"Are there just fuzzles and ka'millians?" asked Oliver. "or are there others?"
"There are a couple of others," Leroy answered. "You should be able to see them all at the tournament. If you decide you want to get one though, Oli, remember that we travel a lot."
Mouse
"Fuzzles are happy little critters. Like feathers." Mouse blinked placidly. "And the ka'milliens did confuse me. They looked like dogs, but they sure do not think like dogs." Mouse smiled wryly. "That really shoulda tipped me off that there was more then met the eye to the house."
Jessica
Jess smiled. "Hey, do you guys remember that mutant girl, Kitty something-or-other? She had a weird pet, I think his name was Lockheed? He was some sort of alien dragon thing. He was so cute though. Taylor had fun talking to him, if I remember right." Jess giggled at the memory.
Miette, Isaac, Oliver and Leroy
"Mutant?" asked Miette.
"There's some humans which have developed like, this extra chromosone or something," Isaac said. "They call themselves mutants, but unlike us, they don't have one central orgainsation. There's a few of them around. We converse with this one group called 'X-men'."
"It's pretty awesome," Zac said, his eyes glittering. "They have powers to, so sometimes we compete against each other."
"Oh."
"Are they gonna be at the tournament too?" asked Oliver.
"No," Leroy replied. "That's just for us. At one stage YIRAAS did consider allowing mutants to become members, but there is just so many of them, and they're so diverse in their mindsets. Some simply want to live, others are out to take this planet for themselves. We're better off just trying to manage our own. But the X-men are good people, and we've struck up a good relationship with them."