The Park; Saturday Afternoon [04/13].

[died8yearsago]

After what happened at Tightpants' that morning, Rosa was actually reluctant to go back to her own apartment. The last time something like this happened, she'd come home to find two kids claiming to be the result of some happily-ever-after bullshit from two different exes. The relief she felt when she opened the door and found no one there but her dog was significant, but she was still on edge. Just because they weren't there didn't mean they weren't out somewhere else. It was enough to almost make her want to lock theh door and not come out all weekend, just to be safe, but Arlo 2 would still need to go out.

"You are so lucky I actually like you," she told the dog, as she strapped on her harness and leash and headed for the park. Holding her breath and likely glaring at anyone under the age of fourteen that even came close to approaching her.

Just when she got to actually enjoying something this messed up island did, it threw this at her again.

But thank god Tightpants' kid wasn't hers, too. Which was kind of a weird thought, really, if she broke it down, but at the same time, no, it really, really wasn't.

[[ open for all your park-related needs, of course! Thread with Etnys chronologically last, tho! ]]

Comments

[civilized_badass]

From somewhere behind Rosa, someone was approaching fast, preparing for a tacklehug. She hadn't seen her mom in a while, after all, and there she was, walking the dog.

"Mooom! Arlooo 2!"

This was going to be a good surprise!

[died8yearsago]

Nope. Noooope. This was the exact opposite of a good surprise, and Rosa, who'd been glaring at someone on the other side of the park who might have actually been a student, might have been a surprise kid from the bowels of alternate universe hell, who even knew?, and was therefor distracted, was being tacklehugged by a small person who called her the M-word and knew her dog.

Goddammit!

"I'm not your mom, kid," Rosa grunted, trying to squirm out of the hug as best she could because even she knew that shoving kids to the ground was not a good look. "Get off of me."

[civilized_badass]

Some kids might have been upset by this, but Etnys knew her mom.

"You just don't know me yet," she said with the voice of a ten-year-old who Knew Things. She also held on to Rosa with the strength of a child who had missed her mom.

"Mother gave me breakfast so now we can go and do something badass."

[died8yearsago]

Rosa looked down dismally as Arlo 2 was clearly not helping things by coming over and sniffing at the kid's feet, so that now she was not only wrapped in kid arms, but also Arlo 2's leash.

The sound that escaped her was a rumbling groan that almost didn't even sound human.

"You don't know me, either," Rosa informed her. "Whoever you think your mom is, I killed her when I broke things off with your other mother."

And she did not want to know who that was, she did not care who that was, but the brain was going to do what brains do, especially detective brains, and try putting at least a few things together anyway. At least that detail seemed to cut out half of the possibilities.

"Out of curiousity, though," she said, "what's your stance on soup?"

Goddamn Soup Girl. But that was who she'd spent last year with because of the pollen, so there was a weird sort of twisted sense to that.

[civilized_badass]

"Soup?" Etnys looked confused. "Is this some detective thing? "

She let go, a little reluctantly, and pushed her gloved hands into the pockets of her leather jacket and tried to assume a cool pose.

"I mean, why should I answer?"

[died8yearsago]

Well. If this kid didn't even really know what soup even was, or why she was referencing it, then at least That Other Rosa was doing a good job of raising her right.

But the questioning and the cool little posturing was going to earn her an eyeroll. "Cute," she said, in a tone that suggested she didn't think it was cute at all, as she carefully extracted her legs from the leash Arlo 2 has wrapped around them. "Please tell me you actually have a place to stay, though, because I might actually feel bad about leaving some random kid to sleep out in the wilderness."

She'd tried that here once as a kid, after all. It had not gone well.

[civilized_badass]

Etnys crossed her arms. "I'm going to stay with mother and she'll make me tea and we'll watch entertainments. Or Nancy Meyers movies."

It hurt a bit that her mom behaved like this, but she wasn't going to let that show.

"You promised me a cool knife."

[died8yearsago]

"I didn't promise you anything," Rosa reminded her. "I'm not your mom."

But the irritation with having to emphasize that point paled in comparrison to the new exciting little details that were confirmed in that brief little moment. Gloves, when it wasn't exactly cold enough for them. Tea. Entertainments.

"Stay with your mother, huh?" she asked, through a tight, clenched jaw. "Lemme guess. The same one that works at the flower shop?"

[civilized_badass]

"It took you that long to figure it out?"

She crossed her arms.

"I mean, you haven't been around for a while since that drama at Cousin Antyan's birthday party, and people really did talk, you know. Mother has actually been really upset."

[died8yearsago]

Jesus, there was some real backstory shot here, too. Rosa grunted. "'Mother' is always fricking upset."

And this was ridiculous. Absurd. Insane. Which is why it absolutely had Hot Leaf Water written all over it, and if it honestly hadn't been for Tightpant's kid this morning, she'd be marching straight over to that flower shop right now and ripping her a new one.

Right now, she just needed to simmer for a moment in nearly immobilized fury.

On second thought, no. No, she definitely needed to give her a piece of her mind on this one, let her know in absolutely clear, no uncertain terms that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with this before she could even try to use it against her....somehow.

"You want a knife?" she asked, already turning to head that way. "Go bug Blackstone at the forge. Mama's got some fucking skulls to crack."

[civilized_badass]

Etnys sighed. "Ok, but when you've stopped fighting I want to see your weapons. Where's the forge?"

[died8yearsago]

"You're, like, what? Six?"

Rosa was so good at kids.

"You can figure it out."

[civilized_badass]

"Yeah, but it will take longer and I might get lost," Etnys said, rolling her eyes to hide that she really needed a hug now.

"Mother will get upset if you let me get lost."

Yeah, Rosa, you were right 'mother being upset' was a recurring thing.

[died8yearsago]

"Like I said," Rosa rolled her eyes right back and would vehemently deny any similarity in the two expressions, "she's always upset. Who cares? It'll be fun. Get out, explore a little. Like, I don't know, have an adventure. Go be a kid. Being by yourself for a hour or two isn't going to kill you."

What kind of B.S., uptight nonsense was Hot Leaf Water raising this kid on, anyway? Like a goddamn nerd.

"You might even enjoy it."

Shock! Gasp! Yeah, it was not hard for her to imagine what kind of no-fun atmosphere this kid was stuck with, and it almost made her feel a little bad for her.

Hot Leaf Water as a mother.

Nobody deserved that>
.

[civilized_badass]

Etnys did like adventures, and she did like doing things her mother didn't want her to, but right now she really wanted her mom, and mom was being weird.

Maybe she could try and break into her apartment later, if she could figure out where it was, like a detective.

"Ok," she said, shrugging. "See you later."

She turned around and headed, without knowing it, in the opposite direction of the forge.

[died8yearsago]

And Rosa actually did think about telling the kid she was going the wrong way, but...nah. She'd figure it out. It wasn't even a very big island. Maybe she'd find something even better.

It did start to register that the kid had asked about knives and weapons, though, so maybe the kid wasn't all that bad, after all, but that didn't exactly matter, because she wasn't going to have anything to do with her.

And she had to go make sure someone knew that, too.

[mages_suck]

Fenris had no idea what to do with a child, especially this one, but there was a playground at the park so he took her there in the hopes it might appease her.

Kia took one unimpressed look at the playground, pouted up at Fenris and complained, "There aren't even any weapons here, Dad!"

Fenris gave her a contemplative look. Perhaps she was his child after all. "No, but there's playground equipment. You could play on it." He looked over at the trees, sighed, and pulled his belt knife out and handed it to her. "Or you could go practice knife throwing. At the trees only. Not other children, adults, or random passers-by."

He felt that part was prudent to add. Especially if she was his child.

Kia grinned and took the knife, skipping her way over to a place she could chuck it into the trees with surprising accuracy for a four year old. She gave a gleeful little cheer every time the blade sank in.

Fenris eyed her approvingly. Ok, this wasn't so terrible.

[died8yearsago]

Okay, the little green kid with Fenris (gee, wonder whose that could be?) digging knives in the trees might have gotten a little eyebrow-lift of approval from Rosa, too, as she waited for Arlo 2 to get her nose out from some hole in the dirt that she found suddenly fascinating.

It was kind of hard not to find little kids stabbing trees with knives a little heartwarming, really.

Rosa clearly had very normal priorities.

[fjord_hybrid]

Kia glanced over when she felt eyes on her. She paused when she saw it was another adult but.. that jacket. She left off throwing her knife to bounce over with a happy grin that showed very clearly how she'd just lost her first baby tusk. "Hiiii! I like your armor! It's very black. Dad's is mostly brown with some green and then some brown and metal! Did you make it? Can I pet your dog? Does it bite?" She became very serious, remembering a rule. "I'm not allowed to bite things back, Dad says."

[died8yearsago]

See, and then the kid had to go and ruin it by actually talking. Rosa's nose wrinkled a little.

"No, I didn't make it," she said. "No, you can't pet my dog. Yes, she bites."

Please ignore the fact that Arlo 2 was now very into sniffing at this girl with an eagerness that was the exact opposite of something that bites, and was entirely all about cuddles and possibly puppy kisses.

"And that's good advice. Because I bite, too."

No, she wasn't actually going to bite a kid.

...unless she earned it.

[fjord_hybrid]

Kia was trying to be obedient and not pat the puppy but the puppy was climbing up on her and trying to lick her face. "Daddy?" she called uncertainly.

Fenris came strolling over, rolling his eyes. "If she bites you first, you can bite her back," he said to Kia with remarkable patience.

He glanced from Rosa to the little girl in a leather jacket. "You got a tiny little impossibility of your own, huh?" he said, commiserating.

[died8yearsago]

And shoes. It should never be forgotten that Arlo 2 would not stop until she licked all the shoes.

"Not yet," Rosa said for narrative consistency, sucking in a breath, before sliding her eyes over speculatively at Fenris. "But congratulations on your new bundle of joy."

[fjord_hybrid]

"Fjord's," Fenris said automatically, "Not mine."

Kia rolled her eyes dramatically. One hand stealthily reached out to pat the puppy as if she wouldn't totally get caught. "I'm both of yours."

"That," Fenris said stoically, "is not even remotely possible in any world." He looked at Rosa, "'Congratulations' isn't exactly the word I'd use. I hate this island."

[died8yearsago]

"Yup," said Rosa, emphatically, which was pretty funny considering her tune just last night. "But at least they're only here for a few days."

"She's cute, though," she offered, after a second of eyeing the kid to make sure her dog was still unbitton. It was a lot easier to say that when they weren't actually yours.