The Park (but also Il Pollo), Saturday Afternoon

[firstofitskind]

So the thing about being married to a cryptozoologist whom Fandom occasionally saw fit to transform into a tiny cryptozoologist in training?

Meant that Liam's day today was mostly spent 'training' - which, as far as Verity was concerned, involved things like hide and seek (though she was disappointed by the lack of pit traps), finding random things that could be used as weapons (Liam's pockets were overflowing with rocks, sharp sticks, and one actual ninja star he was pretty sure belonged to Beau), and just plain running off only to do something like drop down out of a tree and ambush him.

Now he was in the park, with a cup of tea (his third, today, because the caffeine seemed sort of necessary), and Verity was... somewhere. He wasn't too worried. It was a small island, she didn't run off for long, and if it came down to it, she did have a tracking device he could use to find her.

[ooc: so, so open!]

Comments

[bookbeltof_love]

The radio station wasn't far from the park so, after Nina napped (reading stories to a bunch of invisible people was tiring!) she wandered across the street, a tiny wisp of a thing with messy blonde curls and big eyes.

She'd found the playground and that had kept her occupied for a bit because, with no one else around, it had been great fun to swing and climb and giggle that she was a queen, but eventually Nina got lonely and so she drifted away from the playground to see if anyone else was in the park.

And there was! And, even better, as she got closer she realized it was daddy!

"DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Hope you didn't mind that small child wrapping herself around your legs, Liam.

[firstofitskind]

Mind? Mind?

He'd spent a good part of today's 'training' specifically on the lookout for a tiny child who might be Nina, because yes, he'd heard that radio broadcast.

And there she was, a little blonde hurricane launching herself at his legs.

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted, laughing. "I heard your story on the radio this morning."

[bookbeltof_love]

She giggled, grinning at him.

"DID YOU LIKE IT?????? WAS IT REALLY MAGIC THAT LET YOU HEAR IT??????????"

[firstofitskind]

"You bet," he confirmed. "I liked the part about Miss Rey and her Dad."

Was he going to tease Rey about Anakin being referred to as her Dad? Maaaaaybe a little.

"I guess it was sort of like magic, but not really," Liam said. Did you want an explanation of electromagnetic waves, Nina? Because that was what was going to happen if you asked.

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina was going to clamber up onto his bench and snuggle against him rather than ask about that.

Though she'd cheerfully listen to that lecture.

"THE SQUIRRELS WERE FUNNY!!!!!!!!!"

[firstofitskind]

He loved you dearly, Nina, volume and all, but he was admittedly more than a little glad that teenage-Nina had learned how to modulate said volume without giving up any of the exuberance.

"They are," he agreed, wrapping one arm around Nina. "And they have a very important job, writing the stories that people tell on the radio." Liam had a healthy respect for the squirrels, even if they were sometimes uncomfortably nosy.

[bookbeltof_love]

She kind of came with too modes right now: whispers or shrieking.

And the occasional normal volume sentence.

Nina gave a happy sort of sigh.

Then her tummy rumbled.

[firstofitskind]

As ear-splitting as the shrieking was, he did actually prefer it to the whispering, since the latter seemed to come with a lot of worrying about getting in trouble, judging from the radio broadcast.

"Don't suppose the squirrels gave you breakfast?" he asked with a sigh, absolutely knowing the answer.

[bookbeltof_love]

Look, out of sight out of mind was a great way for a college to treat a toddler, right?

"WE SHARED BEER NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!" she said brightly, tilting her head back to beam at him.

[arboreal_priestess]

There was another small blonde, though she was less running around and more hanging upside down, bat-like, from a branch.

"Who're you?" Her face was covered in a variety of greens and browns (dirt, mostly) because she'd been practicing her camouflage. "And whaddaya want with him?"

She looked a little suspicious. Mostly because she hadn't decided if she wanted to share Liam yet. She always had to share at home and she'd quite liked not sharing anything so far.

On the other hand, Liam was an adult and Verity kinda wanted a friend her age.

So yeah. Assessing.

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina stared up and up at the girl, then gasped in delight.

"ARE YOU A NINJA?!??!!!!!!!!!!!!"

What? Answer the questions? Nah.

[arboreal_priestess]

No no, this was way better.

"Better!" Verity said, swinging slightly. "I'm a...crytpazolagist."

That sure was a word, kiddo.

[bookbeltof_love]

It sure was!

"WHAT'S A CRYTPAZOLAGIST????????????" Nina asked, awe-stricken.

[arboreal_priestess]

"We keep stuff safe that science doesn't believe in yet," Verity answered matter-of-factly. "So the Covenant can't come get them and make them all dead and probably us, too."

[bookbeltof_love]

That... that was a lot of things Nina didn't understand.

"IS SCIENCE LIKE MAGIC?????????" she asked. "AND WHY IS THE CHURCH GOING TO MAKE EVERYTHING DEAD????????????"

Covenant and Convent were the same thing, right?

[arboreal_priestess]

...Maybe? And it was the Covenant of St. George, to be fair.

"Cause they think anything that wasn't on Noah's Ark is a monster that's gotta be killed," Verity said, still in that same matter-of-fact tone of voice. "They killed the last unicorn in Europe. And don't be silly. Science is science and magic is magic."

Helpful there, Verity.

She flipped herself off the branch, landing in a crouch on the ground. It was hard to explain the facts of life when you were upside down.

"You look like a Price, 'cept your eyes are wrong. Are you a cousin?"

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina looked distressed.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY EYES??????????"

[arboreal_priestess]

The trees above him rustled. You know, in the wind, maybe.

Okay, there wasn't any wind at that moment. So possibly more like 'rustled, as if there was a small girl-child in the branches, preparing for an ambush.'

[firstofitskind]

Liam sipped at his tea, innocently unconcerned. Yes, there were some leaves rustling up above him, but that was clearly due to the breeze.

What else could it possibly be, after all?

[arboreal_priestess]

Nothing! No one! Wind, only possibly explanation.

The wind also giggled, apparently. That was a thing the wind did as it crept closer.

[firstofitskind]

Giggling wind, hmm?

Well, that was a new one. Naturally, it was curious enough that Liam looked up.

Was that a flash of blonde in the tree up above? No, surely not!

[arboreal_priestess]

Pffft, impossible! How could there be? Did you not see how well she was hidden, Liam? She had smeared stuff on her face to be camouflaged! Camouflaged!

Remembering the hair would come in time

But at least the rustling and the giggling stopped when Liam looked up, the tree going very still.

[firstofitskind]

Well, if he couldn’t see her, then she was well-hidden, soooo...

“Hm,” Liam said to himself. “Must be my imagination.”

[arboreal_priestess]

Yes. Yeeeeessss.

Verity waited for another five minutes, breathing slowly and counting her heartbeats the way Daddy had told her - with surprising patience for a small child.

And then she dove out of the trees yelling, "AMBUSH!!!"

[firstofitskind]

Liam was just glad he'd conveniently put that tea down at just the right moment, because-

"Augh!"

Oh noes! He was being ambushed!