Her lips were black as a bleak December night, though the distant twinkle in her gray eyes remained.
They were all in the parlor. Brom’s green hazel eyes were glued to his copy of Ebonics for Dummies. Keegan and Marina were sprawled on the floor next to him playing battle ship. Three month old Kyriel looked upon the game with rapture, and every now and then, to her mother’s amusement and her aunt’s annoyance a battle ship would mysteriously ignite.
He was still the first to see it. Brom's lips, though much accustomed to smiling now formed a soft frown as they observed the girl's descent of the marble stair.
Keegan and Marina looked up from their game briefly to acknowledge the apparition.
“She certainly doesn’t get that fashion sense from me,” Marina said loftily, her heart shape mouth forming a pout as Keegan sank yet another of her battleships.
Keegan peered at the girl through the long curls of her fox fire hair. "Change it," she said curtly. Then she continued her game.
.
The girl continued down the steps unheeding, stopping only to rub the belly of the enormous white tiger sprawled across the first landing.
As she neared the ground floor Brom closed his book and approached the girl, extending a helping hand.
"I'm not sure this is what Keegan meant by 'progress' my dear," he told her kindly.
"I know, but, I think I need a radical change to make this work. I..."
"Is she still wearing that crap?" Keegan asked.
She stood rather abruptly, and scorched her way toward her lover. (Marina took this opportunity to take a good look at Keegan's side of the battle ship board ignoring her niece's shrieks of indignation)
Brom sighed, "Yes Keegan, but this is a bit beyond our control..."
"Beyond my control?"
"Keegan..."
"WHO DO I HAVE TO KILL TO KEEP EVERYTHING WORKING AROUND HERE!?"
The fire place exploded producing a parlor full of soot, mini flames, and...other consequences.
When the explosion had subsided Marina was in the fish tank, Brom was shielding the young woman with his cloak, Zareb Ray's tail was on fire, the battle ships had disintegrated (which probably meant that Keegan won), and Kyriel was holding up a small poster with a 01 on it. (The 10 was upside-down, but everyone knew what she meant)
The tiger was the first to recover. Zareb Ray put out the fire with a quick wave of his tail and, with a withering glare at Keegan, sauntered up the stair muttering curses.
Brom emerged with the young woman from under his apparently flame retardant cloak, and Marina was commiserating with the fishes on the woe inherent in their respective lifestyles.
"Well," Brom said after taking stock of the situation, "I have been wanting to renovate this room for a while."
"I wasn't joking," Keegan murmured as she extinguished the ember balanced precariously on Kyriel's nose. "You know what's expected Amma."
"Yes," sighed Amma Asil. "Yes I do."
TempestRising Community Member 
|
|
