"Yeah, but it's a different realm!" Schadel shot back. "So he's like James, because he doesn't know about Earth stuff! That's what a lot of the year reapers are like, too."
James frowned. He knew that he didn't know what the others were talking about, but he didn't want it to be that obvious. He scooped Dami in his hands and held the little duck sheepishly in his lap.
"Nothing's... wrong with being from another world," he mumbled. "Or planet. Or place."
"Realm? Wait, no, just...what's a planet...?" he finally asked, more baffled even than before. "And nothing is wrong, brother! We love you if you are an alyen or not!" As if to prove this, Engel came over and gave him a big hug.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"Planets are the brightest stars you see in the night sky," Edward explained. "Earth is a planet."
He turned to James. "It's not bad that you're from another planet," he reassured his brother, also giving him a hug - albeit a little more hesitant than Engel's. "It's just different."
"Different's cool!" Schadel agreed, wasting no time in joining the hug.
"Whoa, James is from the stars?" he said, eyes widening. "That's SO COOL!"
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
James felt small in the arms of everyone else, but it was comforting. His shoulders scrunched up, since there wasn't much else to do but receive the gesture, since his arms were occupied with holding Dami. He smiled.
Damascus, who had fallen silent to listen to Schadel and Edward, finally peeped up, nestled in James' hands and between the hugs.
"Martians sounds really scary." He mumbled, eyes wide. "And James, you might be like me, but I'm sure your realm is even better than mine if it looks anything like Prussia! But I won't talk about being different any more if you don't like it- don't worry."
Gently, he nuzzled James' hand with his bill, his little eyes shining.
Last edited by ChristenedPages on Mon Feb 11, 2019 4:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Oh!" James drew Damascus closer into the group hug. "N-no, uh. I mean, I don't mind. I just... I feel bad when I don't know what you guys mean about a lot of things. But you can keep talking! I don't uh, I don't need to know everything."
Boris chimed in from his place in the group hug, around the edges.
"Ja, that's great! It doesn't matter what you don't know. I have neighbours from Russia, and Poland, and all sorts of places, and even if they don't know everything, I don't know everything either. And... what I think I mean is... I like learning things from them. And if you're from a faraway world, that's maybe even better."
Boris stepped out of the cozy huddle. That was too many nice things said consecutively. It was time to leave the group hug, before people started coming to conclusions.
He shifted somewhat uncomfortably, looking at the trees in the near distance. He needed to relieve himself, but he was not going out there alone. It was stupid, and he knew it was stupid, but he couldn't stop thinking about bears. There weren't any last time, and there wouldn't be any this time, probably, yes, there definitely and absolutely wouldn't, but he had already jinxed himself into thinking about them, and now the image wouldn't leave. Boris was not going alone.
But nobody could know that was why. So he devised a plan of very clever misdirection. Boris put on a brave face, and spoke to the group, in his supremely careless, laidback way.
"I have to go pee. I'd rather go by myself, but I don't want to make you all worried after last time. So I'll let someone come with me. Just so nobody else gets scared."
Yes. This was definitely going to fool everyone.
Bad souls have born better sons, better souls born worse ones -St Vincent
Schadel pulled back from the group and eagerly raised her hand. "I'll go!" she volunteered. She wasn't scared of the dark, and it would be fun to go for a walk with Boris! She gave him a big grin as she waited for him to agree to it, but then Edward left the hug and spoke up from beside her.
"You can't," he said.
She frowned. "Why not?"
"Because you're a girl," he argued.
"...I don't get it."
"Girls can't go to the bathroom with boys," Edward said. "It's against the rules."
Her frown deepened, only to be replaced by a big grin a second later. "I got it, then!"
She thought long and hard - all for about thirty seconds - and changed her form so she was a young boy roughly everyone else's age; her black hair and silver eyes remained constant with her new form. She changed up her outfit, too, to match her new form.
"There!" she exclaimed. She took childish delight in hearing her new voice - it was always fun changing up her form. "Now I can go with Boris!"
Edward crossed his arms and shook his head, William dangling from one hand. "You're still a girl."
"But if an adult showed up, they wouldn't know!" Schadel protested, puffing out her cheeks. "They'd just think I'm another boy, too, and wouldn't have a problem!"
Edward gave her an aghast look. "You're supposed to do the right thing when no one's watching, Schadel!"
Her shoulders slumped.
"You're right," she finally admitted. "Blanx would want me to follow the rules, even if I don't like them all that much."
Edward let out a sigh of what sounded almost like relief.
"Someone should probably stay with Schadel," James said, looking over to Edward. For some reason, he didn't have a good feeling about Edward and Boris going off into the forest. Not after how they almost got lost before, and had trouble communicating.
He looked down at Damascus. "We could go with Boris... we just have to make sure no one's left alone. Mum always said travel in pairs."
Edward got the implied message. He wasn't sure he felt all that good about letting everyone else go off without him, but Schadel did need someone with her. And even though they had a rocky start, he was kind of starting to like hanging out with her.
...Especially since they both seemed to like the same stories.
He turned to Schadel, who was looking pretty down at the thought of staying alone. "I'll stay with you," he told her. She immediately perked up. A second later, William nearly fell out of his hand when she pulled him into a tight, happy embrace.
"Okay, then that's what we're gonna do," James said, standing up with Damascus still in his hands. "You guys stay here and I'll go with Boris," he announced, before turning to his brother, who probably had to really go by now.
"C'mon," he said, grabbing another bag of the white puffs to use for making a trail to not get lost. He didn't question how another had appeared as he began to lead the way. "We don't have to go far."
"So it's just going to be the two of us," Schadel realized, giving a little nod to herself as she pulled away. Edward still couldn't get over how much she changed what she looked like - he wasn't used to people suddenly looking different, and especially couldn't get over the fact that his sister now looked like she could be his brother.
"Yeah," he agreed, clearly distracted.
Schadel folded her arms and thought for a moment. "What do human kids do to have fun, Edward?" she asked. "I know we're playing truth and dare, but that's for a lot of people. There's only two of us-" She gave an excited gasp. "Can we play with each other's hair? I've seen the kids near my home do it all the time! They sit on the front steps and braid it, and make cute little flower crowns with flowers from the park!"
He stared.
"That's what girls do, Schadel," he slowly said.
She frowned. "Why don't boys do it, too?"
He faltered. "We...We just don't."
"There has to be a reason!" she exclaimed.
He thought for a moment.
"Maybe it's because our hair isn't long enough," he hesitantly answered, not quite sure what the other reason could be. He knew other boys saw it as girly, but there wasn't anything wrong with girls - his mom was a girl, and there was nothing embarrassing about her.
"I don't know," she said, tilting her head to the side as she looked him over. "I think your hair's long enough for a little braid, and mine is, too - and I can always make it longer! And I don't think hair length matters with the flower crown, either, since you just need to make sure it sticks on your head."
She paused.
"Can I pleeeease make you a flower crown and braid your hair?" Schadel begged, scooting closer to him and staring at him with big gray eyes.
Edward gripped William tighter in his hand. "I...uh...I guess."
"Yay! Go sit on the log over there, and I'll be right back!" Edward did as asked, watching as Schadel hurried on over to the other side of the clearing and grabbed flower after flower from the ground. Edward placed William in his lap and waited for her to return.
When she finally did, her arms were filled with flowers of every color imaginable. She plopped herself down beside him, quickly getting to work on making a flower crown for him. For someone who had never made one, she was doing a surprisingly quick and nice job with it.
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