[MillietheWarrior]

“I’d rather you left my hairy little eight legged friends alone, thank you very much. They eat the flies, you know.” There was no venom or real heat in his words, and he sounded, if his voice was anything to judge by, just happy to be able to talk about the damn spiders again after so long. “Don’t worry; I did enough scaring for the both of us. I even had Nia on edge, and you know how much she loves to push my buttons.” It was true, Nia had been more nervous than Des about meeting Prudii, although des came a real close second. Prudii had been all for dragging his daughter out of that strange, pretty boy interloper’s mansion and giving her a stern talking to, but God help him, he’d seen the love in Des’s eyes when he looked at his little girl, and he knew there was no helping it. Nia was smitten, and Des was in love.

There would be nothing that could break them apart. It made his heart ache and he wished his love had been that strong…strong enough to keep Madeline by his side. He gently smoothed down her hair, running his hands across her neck and back, gently pulling her closer. “I don’t expect anything of you, Madeline. Nothing at all. I don’t want you to tell me what I want to hear; I want you to tell me what you feel from now on. Don’t try to please me; think of yourself first. I don’t want what happened to…happen again. Okay? Just promise me that. It’s all I ask of you.” He gently reached down and nudged her face up with his hand, capturing her gaze briefly, sternly, before he let her tuck her head back into the crook of his neck. He knew she was hiding from him, and maybe from herself. He didn’t mind; he’d give her whatever she needed.

“Des told me…He said that Nia was terrified that she’d be alone. That he’d want to marry her and then change his mind and leave her because she was such a horrible person. She thought she was like you, she thought she wasn’t worth loving, really loving, until Des came along. She cried for the first time that day since you left, Madeline. She cried because she didn’t think she was good enough to be his wife, that she’d drive him away from her. He changed her mind in the end, and I’m glad he did. He saw who our little girl really was, and he loved her for or in spite of it, I’m not sure. She’ll never be alone, not while she has Des. I just want you to know that you can have that too. You’ll never have to be alone, Maddi. Not as long as you stay with me.”

Prudii felt the tear soak through his shirt and seep into his skin. He frowned, gently pulling her away from him and crooking a finger under her chin to lift her head to face him. “What’s this? I thought we were over tears, cyar’ika. Is it because you’re worried my clothes might actually fit you?” he teased, his eyes glowing a deep gold in the light from the fire. “I’d rather face your mother than let you go anywhere without me. You and I can go get your stuff tomorrow. In the meantime…” He leaned forward, tentatively, something uncharacteristic of Prudii, and gently brushed his lips against hers. It was slow, hesitant, and he quickly retreated, looking almost ashamed. “…in the meantime, let’s eat dinner, all right?”

[Kallile]

"I suppose I'll just have to call on my 'Black Knight' to come and get them away from me." She said with a small smile, remembering the day they met and all the insanity that had somehow brought them together. Maybe that was what they thrived on--unstable ground and insanity. "I'm sure you did, you were always good at scaring your squad into submission. I'm sure an unruly daughter was the least of your problems."

She heaved a sigh and closed her eyes back tightly as if it may stop the flow of tears she could feel welling up. "Alright...right now, at this moment, the thought of having more kids terrifies me beyond words. Even though I know you'd be there for me and we'd do whatever it took to keep the depression at bay if it happened again...I'm so scared it would happen again. And I'm scared of feeling that hollowed out and dangerous. And....I think I'd rather talk about it again some other day down the road. I just came back to you, Prudii, for right now I just want to be with you and start mending everything I tore apart." She raised her head back up for good this time and looked him pleadingly in the eyes. Hearing him confirm that she had nearly ruined Nia's now happy life because of the things she'd done did not help the look in her eyes or the flow of tears.

The wet streaks down her face were soon accompanied by a small smile as the corners of her mouth tugged up. 'I wish we were over tears, crying is completely below me." She said with a sigh, and then, "If your clothes do fit me I'm definitely in trouble. It'll take me months to get my girlish figure back."

She was about to say something along the lines oh 'alright, tomorrow' but Prudii's actions made her hold her tongue. She furrowed an eyebrow for a moment as she watched him inch closer until their lips finally touched. He was gone far more quickly that she had expected and Madeline found that all she could do for a few seconds was stare at him. A smile slowly crept back onto her face and she reached up to touch a hand to his cheek. "Gone for all this time and that's all I get? And here I thought you missed me..." Gently pulling his face towards her and leaning in, Madeline gave him a true kiss worthy of husband and wife reuniting after years of being apart.

(9/90)

[MillietheWarrior]

“Well, help from the ‘Tinman’ doesn’t come cheap, I can tell you that,” Prudii rumbled, sounding faintly amused. He recalled the day they met (with a mental grimace at that) and wondered how on earth they ever managed to make it as long as they did. All they’d done was fight, and when they didn’t fight, they traded insults with one another. At the mention of his squad, a shadow passed over Prudii’s face. He thought of Recoil, Kicks and Trinket, three brave men who’d been killed in action long before their time. They’d left behind women who loved them, all of whom had to deal with moving on after their deaths. Prudii couldn’t imagine what that particular feeling would feel like, but he knew well enough what it was like to lose the one you loved, possibly forever. “Yes, and sometimes I regret scaring them. I miss them…All of them.”

Yes, he did, and he’d remembered their faces and their names until the day he died; he said the daily remembrance for his squad every morning, and he’d do that also until the day he no longer had breath enough to form the words. Prudii quickly pushed his sadness to the back of his mind; he’d had enough of that for one day. He wanted only to focus on Madeline, on what she was saying, what they were planning. She deserved his attention, all of it. “If you don’t ever want to have kids again,” Prudii said earnestly. “Then you never have to. You will never have to do anything that frightens or hurts you ever again. And no matter what, I’ll be here. I have all the time in the world for you now.” It was true; he was no longer in the army, but he was still a bounty hunter, from time to time. Thanks to his brothers, he didn’t ever have to work a day in his life, but he still did, to keep the boredom at bay. And farming behind the house in the middle of the country kept him busy most days anyway.

It was a quiet, peaceful kind of life, one that let him work and sweat and keep the sadness at bay by keeping his hands busy in the fields. Her words startled him out of his thoughts, and he frowned, craning his head back to stare down at her with an affronted expression. “Well, hey, I haven’t kissed you since…since you left. I’m way out of practice, okay? But if you wanted to try again, I wouldn’t be adverse to the idea.” Apparently, she did want to try again, because she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. Prudii responded by curling his hand along the back of her neck, his other arm tightening around her waist and pressing her to his chest. He poured all the pent up emotions he’d felt over the years into the kiss; his sadness, his anger, his fear, his longing.

Everything was centered on that one, simple action. He probably would’ve kissed her until the two of them were left breathless, but he was interrupted by the sudden beeping of the stove. He drew back, startled, his body tensing as though waiting for an attack, when he realized what it was. “Damn it,” he growled, sounding half annoyed and half disappointed. “Guess dinner’s done. You’ll never believe it, but I actually know how to cook now. Pretty well too, I might add. So…” He glanced at the kitchen, and then back at Maddi. “…do you like stew?”

[Kallile]

"I don't know, I think I got a fairly good deal on things."

She didn't ask what he meant by missing them, he didn't need to. He'd made it very clear what happened to those no longer battle worthy. The answer was best left unspoken; she had a good enough grip on what had become of them on her own. She hadn't known their respective women well...but she couldn't say she felt for them. She wasn't the one who had lost something out of the blue, Prudii was. And that was what suddenly wrenched at her heart.

"I don't know about 'ever', just...not now. Not until I know the kids I already had. Then...maybe then we can talk again and see what the future might hold." She assured him. It was terrifying beyond belief, but a part of her felt that she owed him. She owed him at least one more child that they could raise together like a true family. He deserved a wife that wasn't a total flake.

To say she was surprised by the passion in his second kiss would have been an understatement. Madeline melted into his arms, curling the arm already draped over his shoulder to lightly grip her fingers into the back of his head while her free hand rested on his chest while her fingers gathered up the fabric of his shirt to keep him close to her. She had missed this. So much.

She jumped when the timer went off, looking at Prudii (who had apparently done the same thing) with a small laugh. "The next major chef, huh? I like stew just fine...I can't wait to taste it." She slid herself off of his lap, tugging gently at his shirt to pull him closer for one last peck on the lips before she let him go. "The silverware and everything still in the same place? I can help set up, if you want."

She turned towards the kitchen and paused as her eyes caught Street and she gave a slight hop. She' forgotten the intimidating beast was there. "Uh, what do you usually do with the cat? Does it just...hang out or what?"

Clearly, someone had been deprived of a pet as a child.

(10/91)

[MillietheWarrior]

“Well, let’s not worry about that now,” Prudii said briskly, trying to divert the subject and wishing he’d never brought it up. He waited until she extricated herself from his grasp, before he hauled himself up out of the chair. He leaned back, his hands on his hips, and cracked his back, waiting until it gave a satisfying pop before he sighed heavily. “I think I’m getting old,” he mumbled, rubbing at his neck. His eyes strayed to the kitchen, then quickly back to Madeline when she pecked him on the lips. He wanted to deep the kiss and show her how much eh missed her, but a Null’s stomach was not to be ignored. Ever. And right now it was growling hungrily as the scent of the stew drifted into the living room. “Everything’s exactly where it’s always been,” he quipped as he strolled into the kitchen and lifted the lid from the stew.

If it tasted as good as it looked, then it would be one heck of a dinner. “Well, the girls got tired of eating out all the time, so I bought a bunch of cookbooks…read them once, and BAM. Instant chef.” It was true; all he needed to do was read something once and he was set. He had instant and total recall, and as long as he concentrated while he read, he could recall the recipes exactly as they were meant to be done without any trouble at all. “I passed on my cooking abilities to Nia, believe it or not. She’s not the best, but she tries. Really hard. Paige…well, I don’t think Paige could cook something to save her life. The last time I tried to teach her, I think she actually burned the water.”

He wrinkled his nose at the memory of his daughter’s first and final cooking attempt; he’d enlisted the help of Chayah and Ruach, Kom’rk and Corr’s wives, respectively, to help Paige try to cook. It’d ended up in an impromptu evacuation of the Skirata household due to a high volume of smoke. It was, frankly, a disaster. At the mention of his ‘pet,’ Prudii glanced back over his shoulder, moving the stew to one of the burners on the side, and flicking the burner that had been cooking it off. “I’m not sure what you mean,” he asked, confused. “What else is a pet supposed to do, other than hang around with us? You had a very sheltered childhood, didn’t you? Don’t you remember our pet spider? It just hung out with us all the time, you know…even if you couldn’t see it. Besides, Street is nice. Go ahead and give him a pet; he won’t bite you, I promise.”

He shot the giant cat a warning look. It had, upon mention of it’s name, lifted it’s  head and strolled over, staring obsessively at Madeline. She was a new person, one he’d never seen before, and he had yet to get a belly rub from her. Street demanded belly rubs from everyone he met, no matter who they were. She wouldn’t be in his good graces until he got his darn belly rub. Prudii sighed from the kitchen, looking faintly amused. . “He wants a belly rub, I’d wager. He’s obsessed over that.” As if to emphasize Prudii’s point, Street flopped down on Madeline’s feet and waved his abnormally large paws in the air, purring like a kitten.

[Kallile]

Grinning, Madeline gave a small shake of her head. "Sounds that way. Unfortunately, I don't have any oil for said 'Tinman'." She wanted so desperately for things to be back how they were those first few days. Before the kids and the responsibility, before their vows...back when everything was out of blissful indulgence and in the name of fun. She rolled her eyes at his retort but stayed standing where she was, staring at Street.

"Well then Paige got one thing from me." Madeline wasn't afraid to admit she wasn't a good cook. She made things "edible". But "edible" and "good" didn't go in the same sentence. Ever. She was proud of Prudii-taking her absence with such stride as learning how to cook for his girls. She realized she was still staring at the cat, now on it's back flailing it's legs in the air, and turned towards Prudii.

"I mean do you...toss it out at night or what? Does it eat when you eat? And that spider was not a pet. It was a harbored fugitive." She said finally reaching down reluctantly. Street was purring, sounding happy, and so delicately she stretched out her fingers and tickled lightly at his belly. When she wasn't instantly mauled, she rubbed her fingers into his fur a little deeper.

Rising back up, Madeline finally crossed over into the kitchen and inhaled deeply. "Smells like those cookbooks worked." She said, taking a moment to analyze the cabinets and remember which one contained the bowls. Pulling out two once she had found them, and then repeating the process with the spoons, she set them down beside the stove and planted herself beside Prudii.

There was a pause then, one of awkwardness and insecurity. Thee big emotional moment was over, now it was back to life as it should have been. While not afraid of the idea, Maddi wasn't quite sure just how comfortable she should be. She'd been back for maybe an hour or two...was she supposed to just glide around like she'd never left?

"Are you still an eat at the table man, or have you converted to TV dining with the rest of the world?" She asked finally. Her face twitched in instant regret; how lame to ask something she felt she could already guess the answer to.

(11/92)

[MillietheWarrior]

“Well, that’s all right, because that old armor was hung up for good, so I doubt it'd need any oil now,” Prudii commented, watching as she stared down at the giant cat at her feet. “Paige got a lot more than your inability to cook from you, Madeline. She absolutely hates spiders…and she used to think she looked ‘fat’ when she borrowed my sweaters too.” He chuckled faintly, crossing his arms over his still broad chest and cocking his head to the side. The lines in his face seemed to have relaxed, if only marginally, but the color in his hair was more pronounced in the light, and the sprinkling of gray at his temples and the very back of his neck seemed to stand out starkly against the black of his hair. His skin too, seemed darker, as if he had, indeed, spent a lot of time out in the sun, sans his armor. There were more scars along his arms and the sides of his neck where his sleeves were rolled up and his collar fell to the side. He’d lived a hard life before Madeline came along, and he lived a hard life even after she’d left.

The bounties he’d taken to keep himself busy (and subsequently, even if he didn’t want to admit it, to keep his mind off his wife leaving him) had been reckless and difficult, and each one had earned him either a hospital stay or a new, fresh wound and scar. Paige and Nia, as children, hadn’t understood why their father went away for a few weeks at a time, or why, on occasion, he’d come back on crutches, or he’d hiss when they hugged him or grimace when they patted his arms or shoulders. He was not the man he used to be, in many more ways than one. While Prudii watched Madeline, Street had taken it upon himself to wiggle on the floor, purring loudly as Madeline scratched his belly. He seemed contended that she’d given him a tummy scratch, and rolled back to his feet, content to follow her through the kitchen and stand just behind her, staring up at her like a cat obsessed with a shiny toy.

“He eats when we eat, yes. And he gets to eat my delicious cooking too.” As Madeline pulled out the bowls, Prudii reached into a lower drawer and pulled out an even larger bowl, one that was white with adorable little fishes swimming around the rim and bubbles on the bottom. “‘It’ is a ‘he’, Maddi. And his name is Street,” he said with a rumbling chuckle, ladling a large portion of the stew into the giant bowl. “And I don’t throw him out at night; he sleeps in the room at the foot of the bed. He’s the best security system money can…well, not buy.” He set the bowl on the ground, and Street gave up staring at Madeline to devour his meal.

Prudii waited until Madeline had set the bowls on the counter, before ladling soup into those as well, and sticking the spoons in them. “I still eat at the table. Not much on the television except negativity anyways.” He carried the bowls over to the small dining table and set them across from one another, motioning for her to sit down. He strolled over to another cabinet and grabbed two glasses, then flipped open the fridge and pulled out a jug of milk, filling both glasses. He set one down beside Madeline’s bowl, then set one down beside his and pulled out his chair, taking a seat. “So,” he began slowly, staring across from her curiously. “Anything you’d like to know about…the missing years, because I have a few questions myself…I’d rather answer yours first, though.”

[Kallile]

"And here I thought you said the army was never going to let you out." She purposefully left out the "outside of a body bag" portion, knowing that the memory of those days would still sting and that the evening had already stung enough. "When did they find a cure?" She asked rather suddenly, the idea of the army bringing back the recently leaked bit of information.

Every turn she made or step she took, she took as if she walked on eggshells as she watched Street. That was one tail she did not want to step on inadvertently...though the way the cat watched her was unnerving. "Street? Name's a little ironic, don't you think?" She'd seen enough cat's lifeless on the side of the road to see the irony, anyway. granted none of them had been quite this large, but it still seemed an unlikely name for a feline of any size.

She took the moment of interest shift to quickly tiptoe past and retreat towards the dining room.

Taking her seat with a small smile, she was reminded of how considerate Prudii could be. It had been rare, years ago, for the joking and teasing to peel away to open and honest consideration. Not until after she had blurted out tearfully that she was pregnant. The thought of how she had told him made her shudder--she should have seen the path their lives had taken barreling towards them from miles away. But she hadn't...and as his gaze fixed on her the comfy dining room setting with a wonderful smelling meal before her suddenly seemed like an interrogation room.

"It's hard to think of where to even begin..." She finally replied after a long moment of silence. Her eyes dropped to the table and began tracking the grain patterns as she tried to think. She couldn't ask for everything--she couldn't simply sit down with some pop corn and see the entire lives of her children play before her eyes. What was important? What did she really, honestly want to know?

"Just three, I guess. For now, depending on the answer to the third. First, did they both graduate high school and move onto college or just jump straight into their adult lives? Second, did they ever have imaginary friends when they were small. And third, do...do you still have their rooms set up like they left them, or have you changed them into something else by now?"

She realized she'd been stirring furiously at her soup while staring down the table and asking her questions; a nervous tick that was remedied by a swift bite. "Damn, you really can memorize cookbooks..."

(12/95)

[MillietheWarrior]

“Yeah, well, what they don’t know won’t hurt them, right?” Prudii mused, staring pensively into the dark soup in front of him. “Mereel…he was the one who really did it. It took him a few years after we all got out, but he finally managed it. He had a little help from some…woman, but I’m not sure who. I tend to tune out his ramblings about females in general. I wasn’t around when he created the cure; I was looking after Nia and Paige, but he brought it over. He also tested the girls to make sure there were no adverse affects on any clone children, or more specifically, Null children, because of all the gene tampering. We were the most…genetically messed up, so to speak, so we wanted to be sure the girls were okay.” He stirred his soup, and then lifted the spoon to his lips, taking his first bite, before he set the spoon back into the bowl; the clang of metal against porcelain was loud in the sudden silence. “They’re fine, by the way. No adverse effects, nothing abnormal about them…well, except Paige’s strangely sunny personality; considering who her parents are, that’s a bit of an oddity.”

He smiled faintly, letting her know it was only a joke (though…not entirely, really) and took another bite of stew. He cast a glance over at Street, and rolled his eyes. “It’s a good name,” he protested. “We actually think Noah tried to name him ‘Steve’ but he got him when he was a baby, so every time he said it, it sounded like ‘Street,’” he explained, pulling a face at the mention of what Street’s name might’ve been at some point. He leaned back in his seat momentarily, his golden eyes watching her with the barest hints of amusement; she looked distinctly uncomfortable, and Prudii wondered if it was him, or the questions he was practically forcing her to ask. Still, he decided, she needed to know all of this, and if he needed to push her to ask, then so be it. “They both graduated, although Nia was a bit of a close call. She hated school with a passion. She also didn’t go on to college. She pretty much jumped right into work as soon as she got out of school; that husband of hers hired her as his personal assistant, and while I’m not sure how they ended up married, that was basically how their relationship began. From there, she got married, which was also a close call, and then had two kids. Fun fact about Des; when he’s in a room full of Null uncles and one worried father, he tends to turn into a general pile of incoherency.”

He smirked at the memory, then leaned forward on the table, steepling his fingers in front of him and placing his chin on them. “Paige, however, is another story entirely. She went to fashion design school, and modeled her own clothing to make a little side money; she sold a lot of her own designs make them to fund her schooling. Then she got in league with your sister, and once Kyrie introduced her to the real world of fashion, she pretty much took it by storm. She’s one of the top designers in the world right now, and is, coincidentally, doing a show in Rome this week, I believe, and then Paris next week, and England the following week. She doesn’t like to model, really, and her talent lies more in designing; it’s probably why you haven’t seen anything but her name on any fashion magazines, or in the news. She loves the spotlight, but she likes to stand behind the ones in it a heck of a lot more.” He thought of his daughter, of how successful she’d become and how much she’d done for herself. She was more than he could ever hope for; both her and Nia were more amazing than he’d ever imagined they’d be.

Her second question was surprising, to say the least, and Prudii smiled. “I think Nia did; his name, believe it or not, was Roast Beef. Don’t even ask me why. I think it had to do something with that being her favorite food at the time. Paige didn’t necessarily have imaginary friends; she loved her stuffed animals like they were her friends. Her favorite was a teddy bear named Mr. Fluffy, which she still brings along with her wherever she goes. I imagine he’s missing some stuffing, his eyes, and probably most of his ears at this point, and is close to falling apart, but she still hauls him along for the ride.” He stopped talking long enough to eat some more of his stew, chewing thoughtfully as he pondered how to answer her last question.

He was surprised by that one as well; he didn’t think she’d be interested in seeing the girls’ rooms, really. They were basically the same as they had been when they’d left; when Paige and Nia had been little, they’d shared a room. But as they grew older, each got their own, and they were as different as day and night. Prudii couldn’t bring himself to touch anything in them, except when he cleaned, but Noah and Scarlet, Nia’s children, would stay in the rooms when they visited. Noah always took Nia’s room, and Scarlet took Paige’s (Although both children complained that the amount of ‘girly stuff’ in Paige’s room was sickening). “Yes,” he finally replied carefully, keeping his voice measured. “Their rooms are exactly the same as they were when they both left, minus Noah and Scarlet’s toys or snooping. But for the most part…they’re the same.” Prudii chuckled faintly, finishing off his stew and his drink in one smooth gulp and leaning contentedly back in his chair. “Yep, memory’s as sharp as ever…Madeline, do you want to see the girls rooms?” Blunt and straight to the point, as always.

[Kallile]

She listened patiently to everything he was telling her, eyes fixated on her stew as she took the chance to eat. It had been a long time since she'd had homemade food--her life had primarily revolved around foods that could be wrapped in some wax paper and carted along with her. Rather Prudii had been a good cook or not she would have gobbled down his dinner hungrily, but by happy chance, it really was delicious. "I swear they switched her at birth..." Madeline mused with a light smile, her shoulders giving a few tremors in silent laughter.

Her eyes turned up at the mention of the new name; her apparent grandsons name. A smile tugged at one corner of her cheek as she mulled the name over in her mind. "Thank god, I could have sworn Nia's kids would be...I don't know...Demonica's and Hellion's. Noah...that's nice." The smile only managed to grow as she heard about Nia's life up until now, narrowly making it through this and that. While it was comforting to know she had a daughter so like her, it frightened her at the same time. "I happen to think you and your brothers have that effect on most people. I just had natural immunity." She grinned more pointedly at him.

That smile faltered a little when it was Prudii's turn to brag on Paige. Sure, she had seen her name in the papers, and ever since the her guilt over the situation had grown. Wasn't it supposed to be every mother's greatest dream to see their children at the top of the totem pole? It was, she could feel the pride boiling deep in her blood...but how was she supposed to express that? It's not like she had helped her along the way. But the mention of Kyrie was what really shook her. Her perfect sister...guiding her perfect daughter into success and fame. Her eyes ll but dove back down to her stew. "I've seen all about her product lines in magazine, it's everything I had wanted for her..." 'And me running away let her have the perfect mother-figure for it'. was what she wanted badly to finish that sentence with. To hold on so tight to those childhood feelings of her own and build herself a safe haven of renewed resentment. But she couldn't, she was here to try and be accepted back into her own family. She couldn't hide anymore.

Her gaze lifted when lighter topics came forth. She laughed aloud at Nia's friend, raising a hand to gently touch her fingertips to her brow to try and compose herself. "Roast Beef?" She echoed Prudii through another fit of giggles. "Alright, now I'm even happier with a name like Noah. Poor kid could have ended up as Cold Cut..." She giggled again at her own musings and wiped away a small tear brought about from it. Her smile stayed strong as he continued on about Paige and she gave a disbelieving shake of her head. "The top designer still totes around her favorite plush..." She breathed out, wanting suddenly to see this teddy bear as if seeing him may somehow show her all the childhood she had missed with them.

As Prudii paused to soak in her final question, Madeline tried to finish off her stew. She was two bites away when he finally began to answer and quickly swallowed both down. She glanced to her drink, perplexed that he would have chosen milk to go with the stew, but took a long swig of it anyway. Before she could even voice her secret fourth question, Prudii was questioning her with it.

She gave him an almost sheepish look, but nodded. "I know it sounds silly but...I feel like maybe I might feel like I know them better if I do. To see the things they loved and collected, the colors they picked, pictures of places they've been and friends they've had, the clothes they might have outgrown..." She paused and frowned as she swirled the remaining milk around in her glass. "Trying to feel like I didn't miss so much, I guess."

She was, however, thankful he hadn't danced around the issue. Madeline had never returned to anything she had run away from before. This whole process of reconnecting was foreign and terrifying...she's need his pushy straight-forward nature to make it through. She'd always needed it, but just been too stubborn herself to see it.
(13/96)

[MillietheWarrior]

“Not quite. Des did have a hand in naming the kids, you know,” he quipped, looking faintly amused. “And Nia’s mellowed with motherhood, if you can believe it. She’s…like a different person when she’s with her kids. Practically another Kyrie, if you ask me. It can be a bit frightening sometimes, especially when she acts so nice. It’s so out of character, even Des is a little wary.” He sighed heavily, his chest rising and falling as he folded his arms over it, and looked away to where Street was just finishing his massive bowl of strew. The giant cat looked up, licking it’s chops, and purred, before it padded over to Prudii and set it’s head on his thigh. He reached down and ran a hand across it’s ears, and the purring grew louder and intensified.

“Yeah…she amazes me. Her and Nia both. Paige being famous, Nia being a mother. They’ve both taken to their new lives so well. Sometimes I wish they were still kids, still needed me, so I wouldn’t be alone…” He stopped himself, glancing quickly up at her, before lowering his gaze just as fast. “Right then…It’s not silly, you know. I mean, you can really get a feel of who they are and were from their rooms.” He stood up form his chair, and Street stepped back with an annoyed grumble, before winding around Prudii’s legs. He reached over and pulled Madeline from her chair as well, his hand lingering on her own briefly, before he promptly turned and strolled through an archway into a darkened hallway, Street following behind. One flip of a light switch and the hall was illuminated, pictures of the girls lining the walls. Pictures of paige and Nia with Prudii, or with their uncles. Riding bikes, or posing for school pictures. Then one of graduation, and one of Nia’s wedding. Paige’s first fashion show, and the day Noah and Scarlet were brought home from the hospital, then another of Des, Nia, and their children all smiling happily and waving at the camera, and even another of Paige and a man with dark hair and dark eyes, and a faint, quiet smile as she hugged his arm and held Sequin in the other.

“Come on,” Prudii instructed, motioning Madeline to follow him as he slowly eased open a door that had a multitude of signs on it that warned ‘Keep out or die’ and ‘Nia’s Room: No Idiots allowed.’ “She was always such a nice kid,” Prudii remarked dryly, quirking an eyebrow at the posters to indicate he was being sarcastic. As the door swung open, the interior of the bedroom was vastly different than the rest of the house. The interior was almost warm (despite the very cold signs on the door) and the pale light, courtesy of the storm, filtering in through the window barely illuminated it, until Prudii clicked on a soft lamp beside the door. He motioned for Madeline to precede him inside. Within the room, there weren’t many pictures. Nia had never had too many friends; she’d been the type to make enemies more often than not. But there were still frames housing pictures that had been special to the girl; her fifth birthday, blowing out candles with Paige with her uncles and family gathered around. Mereel was smiling goofily, and the rest of the Nulls seemed to be imitating him, making funny faces at the camera (All but Ordo, who looked amused)

A picture of her and Des’s partner, Evangeline, Nia smiling grudgingly, and Eva beaming at the camera on Nia’s first day of work with Eva's arms slung around her business suit clad shoulders. Then a picture of Des and Nia, both looking reluctantly at the camera; Nia was in mid-bite with a bagel halfway to her mouth, and Des had just taken a large drink of his coffee. Both looked faintly pained being caught in a picture together. Then another picture of four year old Nia and Paige and Prudii, laughing happily as they grinned up at the camera from the floor of the living room, stuffed animals and teacups strewn about. A myriad of other pictures lined the walls, some recent, including Noah and Scarlet, and others old, from when  Nia was just a girl (Her first motorcycle, prom, her first day of school, graduation, a picture of her and her sister and father on a roller coaster, with prudii's face looking an alarming shade of green). On the walls, there were posters of bands and singers who had been famous back in Nia’s teenage years, and the bed looked rumpled and disheveled, as if someone had hastily thrown it back together. Along the floor, there were old stuffed animals and fairly new looking toys strewn about. Prudii kicked a couple of race cars out of the way of his boot, and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. Noah and Scarlet came over a couple days ago to spend the night, and I never got around to picking up their toys. But this…this is Nia’s room.”

[Kallile]

Lightly pushing her bowl forward to indicate she was finished, Maddi grinned. "Probably for the best, they would have never stood a chance otherwise." She said, her grin becoming more of a snicker that Prudii would surely remember from the days they were first getting to know one another. And then her head began shaking slightly in disbelief and her snicker promptly faded. If only that could have been her...why couldn't she have turned into the glowing picture-perfect mother? She heaved a sigh and stood with Prudii.

She didn't make a move to acknowledge his 'alone' comment--what could she say to that? She wanted to be back, wanted to earn her way back into the family she had helped create. But if no one liked her, if she and Prudii couldn't get over this wall of awkwardness...who know. She didn't dare tell him he wouldn't be alone anymore. It was a promise she wanted to make but one she was reluctant to speak out loud. No, she didn't want to leave again. She wanted to be back where she belonged. Right here; with him. Like they had been. The mere thought made her squeeze his hand lightly, a silent promise that she was there, from now until the end.

As they walked the hall it was hard to take in every single picture, but Madeline did her best. Most left her smiling, a few even earned a small laugh from her as they passed by. But the biggest laugh was earned when pulled face to face with the outside of Nia's door. "Well, you always did say she was like me..."

Once the door opened, however, Maddi froze as if Prudii had just pulled her aside and told her he'd discovered a gateway to another dimension. Hell, another planet. She blinked dumbly at the warm appeal of the room and, after a sharp inhale from forgetting the need to breathe, let her jaws fall a little slack.

"Now...this is definitely not what I expected..." There was a strange tone to her voice; one hard to mark specifically. It wasn't hurt, nor happy nor surprised, but rather a concoction of all of those and more with an extra helping of hurt. The idea that she had one daughter she felt she might have already known best had just been turned on it's head and Madeline was left mentally grasping for straws to figure out what might have gone wrong. "Are you sure Paige didn't bunk in here too?" She asked finally as she moved mindfully away from Prudii and towards the walls.

Her fingers danced out to touch a few of the pictures and often lingered there as if Madeline were trying to feel that missed day through the contact. When her fingers landed on a particular roller coaster snapshot she sputtered in laughter. "The big bad soldier had a big of a weakened constitution when faced with a metal thrill ride?" She teased, though the odd tone still lingered.

"And don't worry about it, I should be one to talk..." She paused, then looked at Prudii. "You said you had questions for me so...you might as well ask some of them while I'm looking."

Truth be told, she just wanted to get the "interrogation" over with.

[MillietheWarrior]

“Kinda makes you wonder about her, doesn’t it?” Prudii quipped as he ambled around the room and picked up the toys scattered all over. Barbie Dolls, teacups, trucks, cars, blocks. All types of things were scooped into his arms and promptly discarded in a large toy box off to the side. “It used to be a little darker than this, but when the kids started coming over, Nia insisted she make it more ‘welcoming,’ so to speak. That, and I think a few of the posters of the heavy metal death band guys made Des more than a little jealous.” He picked up a toy car he’d missed, and tossed it into the box. “Surprisingly, Nia did this all herself. She’s really quite the little homemaker. And she has good taste, much to Paige’s astonishment. She about nearly fainted when she came home and saw what Nia’s room had turned into.”

He picked up the picture of him and the girls playing ‘tea party,’ and smiled fondly, faintly, his eye distant and sad. “It’s pretty much the same as it was though, Maddi. Just…sans the heavy death metal band posters. And screaming, slamming door teenagers, of course. Though I have no doubt Scarlet is going to take after her mother in that respect.” He chuckled faintly, and sat down on the edge of the bed, leaning back on his hands. “Roller coasters are worse than an LAAT on fire, rolling upside down and backwards, thank you very much. And I know, because I'm speaking from experience.” He raised one eyebrow, and looked amused.

“And I’m not the one afraid of a half inch spider, you know. You’re one to talk.” His smile faded as  he finally caught the odd hitch in her voice, the weird way she was speaking, and the fact that she seemed to want to put distance between himself and her. A small part of him urged him to cross the room and wrap her in his arms and make all of her worries go away.. But Prudii had worries of his own, and years of insecurity, loneliness and pain couldn’t be erased in a single night, let alone in a few hours. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest to keep himself from moving or going anywhere.

“All right,” he said at last, his voice loud in the silence of the room. “Madeline…did you ever think about coming back sooner? Like maybe when the girls were younger? Did you ever miss me? Did-did you ever think about me?” he thought about her everyday, every night. He wondered if she missed him, if she loved him, if she cared about him. He just needed to know if she’d done the same.

[Kallile]

"Eighth wonder of the world right here." She said with a snicker as she continued to look around. As Prudii began to clear the mess of toys Madeline frowned and took a step closer. "No, it's alright. You don't have to." Truth be told she didn't want him to. To see toys scattered all over the place...it made things seem better somehow. Like she hadn't missed her daughters whole lives. Like she could still come back and be a mother. Like she hadn't been gone for this long. But in a flash they were gone and Maddi turned back to the pictures in silence.

Her eyes followed him subtly as he moved to sit on the bed, talking about all the things she used to fear the most. Battle, being in things on fire. Everything that could have claimed his life on a daily basis. "Lucky for you, roller coaster deaths are fairly rare." She grinned again. "And half inch spiders are plenty terrifying. All the legs and eyes and tiny little venom fangs..." She gave a small shiver before moving to sit beside him.

She knew this part was going to be coming--it was a question she expected to be answering at least twice more. She heaved a sigh, her eyes roaming to the hands she had gathered into her lap.

"I did." She answered shortly before pulling her bottom lip into her mouth and trying to find the right words. Everything went flying away from her; hiding from this moment just like she herself had done for so long. "I did think about coming back sooner. But...I was afraid. With two small kids...I was sure you would have found someone else. And I know I shouldn't have thought that way but...I don't know. Part of me wanted to believe you picked up and moved on. That I hadn't completely ruined everything. But it just boiled down to the feeling that I needed to keep running, and that would make things easier. It...didn't. That's what brought me back tonight. I had to know. To be able to tell you everything."

A fleeting smile crossed her face and her head bobbed in a 'yes' motion. "I missed you everyday. Tonight...was the first time since you put it on my finger that our wedding ring has been off my hand. Some nights I would have dreams about you and the girls--we'd all be going somewhere for the day. It was always so perfect and then...I'd wake up alone and remember what I'd done. It took me a long time to find the courage to come back to you..."

She looked over to him, her eyes slowly creeping up his arm until her gaze held his. "And now that I'm here I'm just as terrified that this is just another dream I'm going to wake up from."