[PRP] A quick run to the store [Tule/Beth]

[Smerdle]

As much as Beth disliked her father, she doubly hated being left alone in the house while her sisters got to go out. True, she wasn't exactly alone even with no one else at home since the house was a living thing, but it was still lonely. Shirley's brand of babysitting included gifts and snacks pushed up through the floorboards in Beth's room, but the house would never be able to carry on a conversation or tell a story.

Today, Beth had positioned herself underfoot all morning, and her persistence paid off when Robert spontaneously decided he needed milk and eggs for some sort of dessert-like concoction he had seen on the Food Network. Beth tugged on his pant leg as he searched for his keys and was rewarded with a sweeping lift into the air and a sudden drop into her stroller.

"Behave," Robert warned. And then they were off.

Outside the supermarket, Beth had been transferred to a cold, metal bin, her warm, squishy stroller stuffed into another, larger bin that was attached to the one she was in. She tried to look around as they entered the stark, white store, but most of her view was taken up by her father's chest. Bo-ring.  

[Basil Brett]

"Don't forget cigs and beer!!!" were the departing words Arthur and Tule got to hear as they left the house. The short blond man rolled his eyes as he carefully placed the young infant in the passenger seat of the van. He knew she shouldn't be in the front, but seeing as the van had no back seats, he was left with little to choose from. At least he had been able to find a secondhand car seat.

Artie was hesitant in bringing the small child, but he knew he couldn't leave her in the house all the time. Especially with the folks he lived with. So, garbed in a tie-dye sun dress, Tule sat in the car seat, chewing lightly on her fist. Luckily, the golden-eyed youngster was quiet most of the time, and seemed unfazed by the bumpy drive to the store.

In truth, the young girl was entranced by the scenery passing by as they drove. How could the world move so fast? She decided she liked it slower. Like when Artie took her for walks in the garden.

Now this was new! Tule had never been to this place before. It was large and cold when they stepped inside. And it smelled of chemicals and produce. Wrinkling her nose, she clung to Artie's shirt as she looked around.

Soon, she was sitting in a cold metal basket and staring at Artie's shirt, which was pretty and colorful. But not what she wanted to look at. What was going on? Why were they here? And where was her book?

Oh, there it was. She clung to it, the worn leather cover and the smell of parchment and dust.  

[Smerdle]

Robert had been standing several feet away in front of the Wall of Milk for a while. Beth could see him, right... there. She brought her chubby pointer finger and thumb up to her eye and was just about to faux-mash her father's head between them when she caught sight of a shiny yellow girl in the same sort of half-cage as she herself was, being pushed along by a man (ew) in a obnoxious shirt. She might have ignored the pair if the little girl hadn't also possessed a pair of pale, pretty wings. Excellent taste. Beth had never seen wings on a little girl, not to mention the fact that Beth also liked tiny people. They made her feel less tiny herself.

"Ay!" she called, clumsily clapping one or two times to get Robert's attention. "Bobbobbobbobbob." Beth knew quite a few words, even how to string some of them together into sentences, but she found that simple was best when dealing with Robert. He turned and she pointed at the other child. Closer.

Robert obliged, placing two or three different varieties of milk into his cart. "Hello there," he said as he pushed Beth nearer to Artie and Tule. His accented voice was hesitant and quiet. Robert hated striking up conversations strange new people, but preventing Beth from having a tantrum was worth a little discomfort. "Your daughter is quite lovely." Great, now he sounded like a creep. "I mean... um." He glanced down at Beth as she leaned her torso over his wrist and reached a purple hand out toward the other girl and her book. Robert chuckled. "Sorry. I was just following orders."  

[Basil Brett]

Artie had been contemplating on how many brands of orange juice the store had, and which one Denny actually would drink, when another cart was pushed over. He looked up to see another young girl and older man. He chuckled as the man stumbled over his words. He often made errors like that himself. He had even gotten smacked across the face once.

"Not a problem. I figure a ***** probably wouldn't come right up and speak to me."

He grinned and looked over to the two girls, getting a good look at the other child for the first time. Arthur had by no means grown up sequestered, but purple was not a shade of skin he was used to seeing. He could recall a Mitch Hedberg joke on the subject, though.

"And thank you. Tule's a sweet little girl, though I find getting used to parenting to be a bit... sudden."

He had no idea if the other gentleman would catch his meaning. More likely, he'd assume Artie was a kidnapper. Seems they were both making a great impression.

"I'm Artie, by the way. Arthur Harris. And this is Tule," he said finally, with a gesture toward the towheaded youngster, who was currently clutching her large book to her chest with chubby hands.

Tule was indeed interested in the other girl, and gazed upon her with wide golden eyes. She wasn't about ready to let someone else touch her book, though.  

[Smerdle]

"Yes... probably not," Robert said, slightly more confident now that the other man hadn't just walked away at his approach. "I would assume they'd be sneakier." He looked down at Beth and shook his head. Why was he contemplating the behavior of *****? "I'm Robert. Bob. Violet. It's ironic, I suppose," he said, his eyes on Beth the whole time. "And, yes. I was not ready to be a parent either. I'm still not. This is Beth." He looked up with a small smile. "She and her sister appeared out of... things. And I have a third child who came on a train. Gaia is a strange place." He didn't add anything about the fact that he was quite strange himself, deep down. In spite of the red eyes, he could certainly pass for human and Robert wanted to keep it that way.

After a few more half-hearted lunges toward Tule, Beth decided she couldn't reach. She sat back and waved instead. This would have to do. Earning everybody's trust was the first step in Operation: Touch Fluffy Wings.  

[Basil Brett]

Content that her precious novel was safe from unwanted clutches, Tule settled back in her metal seat. She placed the book next to her, where it could be reached quickly if necessary. She then waved tentatively back at Beth before her attention turned to the two speaking men.

Artie was perplexed, but also somewhat hopeful. This other child had arrived mysteriously, just like Tule. Maybe Bob would be able to answer some questions he had.

"Appeared out of ....things, you say? Er, what kind of things?"

He hoped he sounded nonchalant, and not as if he were hanging on every word the other man said.  

[Smerdle]

"Duff grew from a leaf and Beth here just showed up one day. She was a strange puff of blue and green gas for a bit, then she grew a face, and one day she just sort of became a little girl, I guess. She matches the face in the gas, so I assume they were one and the same. I didn't actually see it happen." He left out the part about how he had painstakingly avoided Beth once he had realized what she was bound to become. It wasn't as though he was mistreating the girl now, so Bob considered the information irrelevant.

It all seemed rather fantastical now that he said it aloud, but, well, Artie had asked. "I have heard many Gaian children come from places you wouldn't expect," he added with a slight nod.  

[Basil Brett]

Tule watched as Artie's face took on a new expression. She tilted her head to the side and wondered what he was thinking.

Artie himself was delighted at his luck. Here was someone who had gone through the same thing he had. He hadn't even had to look for someone to tell him why a child had suddenly appeared at his house. Strange coincidence, it seemed, but perhaps it was just good luck.

"Tule was the same way! All of the sudden, there was this little floating splotch of color in our house. We saw her in it after a while, and then one day, she just suddenly became a little girl."

He turned and ruffled Tule's pale hair.
"One of my housemates thinks we've all gone crazy. Seems we've been sheltered from some of the strange things Gaia has to offer."  

[Smerdle]

Bob didn't have much to say to that, considering he was probably one of the 'strange things' himself, so he simply nodded. Halfway through his nod, he considered Artie's words and swapped the motion for a brief shake of his head. "I doubt we're all crazy," he said. "My main question has been 'why me?' It seems the powers that create these infants are the crazy ones, if they're really picking parents out of thin air." He smirked. "I don't mean to sound so negative, really." He reached out a hand, intending to pat Beth on the head with it as Artie had with Tule, but the look she turned up at him prevented him from doing so.  

[Basil Brett]

Arthur blinked, surprised at Bob's words. He hadn't even thought of it like that. Why had he been chosen? Lord knows that he had never really been a success at anything else in his life. He himself was surprised that they still had their house. And besides, he had never had a kid, nor did he have any intentions of doing so. Unless he met the right woman.

"You.. you have a point there. I never even considered that. And I can't help but wonder who it is who gave us these kids, let alone why?"

He thought for a second before adding, "And why I'm finally learning about it from some stranger in a grocery store. No offense, of course. I'm just confused."

He ran his hands through his hair and looked back at Tule, who was sitting and watching Beth with a bemused expression on her little face.  

[Smerdle]

"None taken," Robert said. "I never figured I'd be talking about this sort of thing either." Truthfully, he wasn't even inclined to talk about it now, although he felt a twinge of jealousy that it seemed this man had received a comparatively well-behaved gas-baby. Bob didn't know what possible purpose Beth could have in being here. She didn't even have wings like Tule. Being purple certainly wasn't a talent. "I didn't even know there were any more kids like Beth. They don't seem to--" he waved his hands around slightly, trying to find words to describe what he meant. "They don't seem to have come from the same mold," he finished, gesturing at Tule.

Beth stared back at the other girl. What? She had tried the old 'grab something from the other kid to get them to react' tactic, and when that hadn't worked, she had been all nice and waved and... Beth sighed. She wrapped a fist around a small tube of goat cheese and lobbed it out of the cart, aiming for Bob's foot.  

[Basil Brett]

Artie had been about to reply when the small purple child threw what looked like a stick of cheese at Bob's foot. He winced as he watched it land and tried not to chuckle. It was pretty funny, but it would be impol....

His thoughts were inturrupted by the sound of giggling. He looked over at Tule, surprised, and sure enough, the young girl was giggling. Artie frowned, but had to focus even harder not to laugh himself.

"Tule, that's not polite."

Tule looked up at Artie with her big gold eyes and raised her eyebrows as if to say, 'You wanted to laugh too.'

Arthur turned back to Bob.
"You alright?"  

[Smerdle]

Beth looked up from where the cheese had landed and fixed her eyes on Tule. Excellent. She grinned a semi-toothless grin and gripped the plastic-covered metal bar in front of her, teetering back and forth with satisfaction.

"Oh, yes," Bob muttered. "I'm fine. Her arms are pretty weak." Whether or not Bob believed there was a baby alive who could actually hurt him by throwing grocery items was unclear. He bent over to retrieve the cheese, turning his attention to Beth again just in time to prevent her from tipping a loaf of bread over the side of the cart. "I think that's enough," he said quietly. He placed a hand over both of Beth's.

"No," she said, but despite her disagreement, she stopped rocking.

Bob smiled. "Beth doesn't like me very much." He placed the cheese into the cart next to his carton of eggs and far out of the girl's reach.  

[Basil Brett]

Artie grinned, not exactly sure of how to respond to that. He hadn't thought about it, but what would have happened had Tule not liked him? She didn't like Jay very much and really wasn't fond of Denny, who felt the same way toward the kid. But Tule had always been attached to Artie, and she liked Van a lot, which suited the young artist. He was getting very good at drawing wings.

"Perhaps it's just a phase? My parents said I was like that when I was her age."

It was true. As hard as it was to imagine himself being a pain in the a**, his parents had plenty of stories to tell.

"Tule doesn't like two of our housemates," he added, hoping that would help somehow.

Tule, hearing her name, looked back at Artie.
"Go?" she inquired. She was getting bored and wanted to go back to the house.

Artie shot her a look that told her to be patient. She pouted back at him but gave in, instead deciding to pay attention to her large book.  

[Smerdle]

"Yes, I, um," Robert said. "We should probably be going." He didn't want to make too much of what Tule had said and the millions of things the child might have meant by 'go,' but he was ready to leave the store as well. What had started as a quick trip to pick up some groceries had turned into a constant and unpleasant twinge of jealousy. If he was meant to have a child, or children, he certainly didn't want any with phases.

"It was lovely to meet both you and Tule." He stood awkwardly for a moment, wondering if he should give the other man his phone number or take some other parental action. Who knew whether or not Artie actually wanted his child associating with the purple hellion seated in Bob's own cart. As if she knew he was thinking about her, Beth reached out and poked his hand where it rested on the cart's handle.