ATH Not-So-Temporary Thread

[Felixitous]

Trigger laughed. "Oh, honey, that's not my choice. Besides, maybe if he comes to the park, he'll get rid of his cooties. Who knows?"

Once at the park, she held Tokka most of the time, trying to get him to enjoy the nice day. Aiden had even tagged along with Clover and Basil, the former seeming none too thrilled, and the latter eagerly walking along, her mallet in hand. Lisa showed up with a small boy behind her, who peered shyly around her legs.

"Hey guys!" she shouted, dragging him along. "Hey, this is Dorian. He doesn't really know how to socialize, so I thought I'd give him the opportunity to learn."

Trigger smiled at Dorian. He was an Altiva, like her. "Hey, kiddo. I think I remember you. Welcome to the group."

He nodded and tried to continue hiding behind Lisa, but she smiled and disappeared. "You're going to have to make one friend before you can find me!"

He frowned adorably, looking lost. His hair was light and silvery, and he wore a tribal skirt with designs that represented his clan, the same one Trigger's father came from and led. Out of pity more than anything else, she took his hand and pulled him into the small ring of children.

"Here you go. Come on, talk to people, make some friends, even if they're a little younger than you."  

[Lady Mimicry]

Ban approached Dorian first, taking his hands into her own. She smiled genuinely at him and pulled him further into their circle. To Zero, she reminded him of an angel; cherub-faced and lovely. The white sun-dress and dainty white slippers she'd chosen to wear added to the illusion. Ban's cerulean eyes glowed when she spoke to the newcomer, her fair complexion reddening with a blush of delight.

"I'm Ban," she said, "you're my friend now, okay?" Brushing a strand of blonde behind her ear, Ban pulled him to the playground.  

[Felixitous]

Dorian was medium-skinned, like Trigger, and a fleshy tali swooped down out of his skirt. He blushed as Ban touched him. He'd been the outcast in his clan, hence why Lisa had taken him in. He knew she had a boyfriend now, and thought it was weird. He was also somewhat afraid he wouldn't like him, and Lisa would get rid of him to be with her stupid new boyfriend, and--all these thoughts rushed through his head in but a second, moving on to bigger and greater fears, like what exactly this weird little girl was trying to do, and what if she yanked his hand clean off? and they would find out about him and not like him anymore, and--

Trigger plunked him down in the grass, smiling. "Have fun, kids."

She walked away with Tokka in her arms and sat on the bench. She brushed some of his hair away from his face and kissed his forehead with a sigh.

"So, I've noticed you look at Clover a lot. You like her, do you?" she asked teasingly, sticking her tongue out a little. That would be cute, but Clover was way too old for him. She had been fixing gunshot wounds by Tokka's age, so even more than physical years, she was way beyond in her mind, too.  

[Lady Mimicry]

Once Ban reached the swings, she turned to Dorian and pointed at the seat.

"Sit," She commanded, "I won't hurt you, I promise. Stop looking scared." With effort, Ban finally convinced Dorian to sit down, but his obvious trepidation wasn't overlooked.

"I'm going to push you, okay?" Giving him a shove, she watched the swing move forward, then backwards. She pushed him again till he started swinging higher and higher. Either he'd be horrified or happy. She was hoping for the latter.

Tokka fiddled with his bandages and shrugged. "She makes me happy," he said, "But she doesn't like me looking at her, mommy."  

[Felixitous]

Dorian clung to the swing's ropes. He was officially horrified. He knew he was going to slip, and down he'd go, break his neck, or worse, someone would have stuck a pencil or something in the ground and he would impale himself on it--

And then he noticed that he was sort of having fun.

Trigger smiled and hugged him. "That's just Clover. See? Over there?"

Clover was in the middle of intimidating some teenagers with the effects of unprotected sex. Her finger flew in the direction of Trigger several times, followed by what could only be interpreted as her even-more-serious-than-normal face, accompanied by outstretched hands clenched in angry claws. She could be heard yelling "Would you want that to come out of your girlfriend?! Would you?!"

Trigger snickered. "Don't worry, she's talking about me, not you."  

[Lady Mimicry]

Suddenly, Ban stopped swinging and pinched her nose. She hadn't thought about the disastrous effects of visiting the park with allergies. When Ban sneezed, she nearly knocked herself over. Then, she couldn't stop sneezing.

Being part time mage, young too, Zero wasn't positive if she'd even have the abilities he possessed, since she wasn't a full-blooded time mage, but today, her sneezing caused a chain reaction of aging. On the children and herself.

((Noter: They're ALL there! Saber, Froot spawn, etc...cause I'm lazy.))  

[Felixitous]

Trigger blinked as Tokka suddenly sprung to full adult size in her lap. She screamed and pushed him off without thinking. Over where she was, Clover was beating the hell out of the snickering teens, utterly unashamed of herself--for the moment. She quickly stole a young couple's picnic blanket and wrapped it around herself, stomping back to the shop.

While she was an adult, Lucy and Logan seemed stuck as teenagers. Lucy's hair was shock-white, where Logan's was slightly muted. Lucy didn't seem to care that he was naked, or older. Logan, on the other hand, looked mortified and hid behind some trees.

Now, Dorian. Dorian had taken off, now that his wings were fully-sized, flying into some trees to hide. "OH GOD LISA WHAT DO I DO?" could be heard shouted shrilly from where he was while a few of the single girls in the park giggled.  

[Lady Mimicry]

Tokka winced, the bandages around his arms were constricting. Realizing that he was naked, he blushed furiously and floundered for cover, grabbing the tattered rags of his clothing and attempting to cover himself. Albeit poorly.

"What happened?" He shrieked, surprised too at how his voice had altered.

"Dude, I'm ******** ripped!" Saber yelled, jumping around enthusiastically. Yes, he was naked, but he wasn't bashful at all. Instead, he swung his sword over his shoulder and walked home, proudly.

Justus, Gabriel and Adair had also grown, but like Lucy and Logan, Gabe and Adair stayed as teenagers. Justus' hair was long, reaching his knees and his chin was scruffy. He didn't mind being naked. In fact, he quite liked it.

Adair blushed and Gabriel just pointed and laughed.

Ban, meanwhile, walked to the tree Dorian had hidden himself in. She'd taken the remains of his ripped skirt against her, covering her. "That was unexpected," she admitted, "I wonder what happened..."

Zero, however, knew. "Well, now," He said quietly, "I guess Ban has the time mage gene."  

[Felixitous]

Trigger looked at Zero. "Well, s**t. Does this mean they're all going to sneeze and then wham, they'll all be in their eighties or something?" She walked over and found Lucy and Logan, removing her jacket so poor Logan would stop being so abashed. Lucy, on the other hand, strutted around, sticking his hands in his imaginary pockets and whistling nonchalantly. Trigger grabbed him by the tail and yanked him back, sighing.

"Zero, they are all your kids, I swear."

After she dragged the troupe home, Lucy sat on the couch, slightly disappointed that he was now fully clothed.

And then everyone heard this delighted shriek from Clover's room: "I can reach the top shelf!"  

[Lady Mimicry]

While Zero tried to explain their abilities as time mages, more specifically, how to control these powers. Gabe, having nothing better to do, decided to harass Lucy. With a pocketful of tic-tacs, he tossed them at Lucy's head. When they ran out, he'd resort of spit wads.  

[Felixitous]

Lucy sighed and stretched, then nonchalantly chucked the remote at Gabe's head. "Really? What in the ******** is your problem with me?" He shook his head and slunk down on the couch so his head was protected and continued to watch tv. Logan sat down next to him and laid his head in Lucy's lap. Neither really cared how gay it looked. It was just how they were, what with being twins and all.  

[Lady Mimicry]

A week later, Froot Loop's children had discovered their individuality. Justus' had given himself dreadlocks and braids, colorful beads and feathers woven into his hair, he'd gotten snakebites and his clothes resembled silk pajamas.

Gabriel hair was short, shaved close to his head. He'd gotten a bar code tattooed across his neck and had taken to wearing simple black clothing and yellow tinted sunglasses. He'd taken up smoking too.

Adair hadn't touched his hair, still crimson and shaggy. His preference of clothing, typical everyday clothes; jeans, t-shirts and a red scarf he'd grown fond of.

Neither Gabe, Adair, nor Justus had been home the past four days, Adair being responsible enough to call Aramis and Froot Loop once in awhile.

It was still early and Justus crept inside. His eyes were bloodshot and he reeked of sex. Sneaking into Trigger's room, he searched quietly for Trigger's pills.  

[Felixitous]

Logan was the only responsible one of the bunch, it seemed. He stayed home most of the time, doing...well, no one really knew. Lucy, on the other hand, was at least as bad as Froot Loop's kids, if not worse. He came home once in a while, smelling like smoke and sweat. He didn't appear to have been sleeping at all. Every time he made an appearance, the bags under his eyes grew deeper and deeper, and one early morning, he came home smiling right after Justus, and promptly collapsed on the floor.

In Trigger's room, she didn't even notice that anyone had entered. She was passed out, curled around Zero. In her closet, Justus found a little trapdoor. Maybe her stash was in there?  

[Lady Mimicry]

"Dorian," Ban whispered, "I think Lucy's dead." Scooping Lucy off the floor, she laid him across the couch and sighed. She was thankful for Dorian, everybody else seemed caught up in their own problems. Tokka didn't talk anymore, just played handyman around the house, Lucy wasn't home anymore...hell, she'd prefer Justus at this point.

"I wish this could've been reversed...too late now."
***
Kneeling beside the trapdoor, Justus brushed his fingers across the wood. Well, lets give it a shot. Lifting the latch, he descended the stairs!  

[Felixitous]

Dorian, now strong and rather dashing, easily helped move Lucy, who swatted at them lazily, claiming with something of a slur that he was all right. He was still rather quiet, but at least participated in most of Ban's scheming. He even smiled every now and then, and hoo boy, was he pretty then.

He chose to talk now, though. "I think this would have happened even if he grew up on his own. You shouldn't worry about it too much."



Down the steps was a whole other world. Mechanical parts of all shapes, sizes, and varieties lay scattered everywhere, and there was a somewhat ominous concrete slab with restraints on it somewhere in the middle. As he stepped further in, he heard something move. A little blond head peeked out halfway form behind the slab, innocent doe-eyes peering out at him.

"Who are you?" it whispered. It sounded cute, whatever it was.