The Park, Friday Afternoon

[furnaceface]

Jonothon had awoken from a nightmare this morning. That much... that was nothing new. Of course he'd awoken from a nightmare. He rarely slept for the nightmares. That had been a constant for nearly as far back as he could remember, several lifetimes over. It was just... that particular nightmare had seemed all too real, the faces of people that he'

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[glacial_queen]

There was perhaps one thing that might perk Jono's mood up? And that was the little colorful sunburst that was being sent to him on a proto-psychic thread.

[furnaceface]

That was exactly the thing Jono needed at right about that moment. The day had started bad and had gotten horrid pretty quickly, and so a quick breath of sunshine in the back of his mind...

//Sunshine? Kayla, Sunshine!//

He'd know that little sunburst anywhere, and was sending back a burst of psionic music in blues and purples and the smell of fresh laundry in return.

Or... how he imagined what fresh laundry smelled like. It had been a while, but it was a warm and comfortable smell all the same.

[glacial_queen]

After a few minutes of cheerful baby-babble, Karla and Kayla came into view, and with that, the gentle brush of Karla's mind against his in greeting. Karla carried Kayla in her arms, though the toddler was squirming to get down and run to her uncle. Strapped to Karla's back were her bladed sticks, polished and sharp.

[furnaceface]

It was Kayla that drew Jono's eyes first. Nothing personal, Karla, but the little girl was basically his whole entire world when she was nearby, and he'd missed that unconditional burst of affection from her terribly, lately.

He was already on his feet and making his way over to greet them both when the second thing to catch his eye gave him a moment's pause.

//Carrying your sticks around today, luv?//

Uh-oh.

[glacial_queen]

"According to Hannibal, there are some ugly-looking things about," Karla said, voice deliberately light. "I thought it might help to have something handy to keep anything like that at bay. At least until we can figure out a way to get home."

By this point, Karla doubted that was possible, but she was going to keep trying. She and Raven hadn't brought children to the island to deliberately expose them to danger.

Kayla didn't care about any of that. Kayla was leaning out of her mother's arms, hands outstretched towards Jono. "Up! Up!" she demanded. "Want up!"

[furnaceface]

Jono was leaning forward now, making grabby hands for Kayla, because up was absolutely doable. And he was maybe just a little on the ecstatic side, because look who was talking at him! She'd used words like want! And up!

//Portalocity is being... Portalocity again, then? And Raven can't just teleport you back? That's never a good sign.//

Ever.

[glacial_queen]

She was almost two now! She had lots of words now. Some of those words were ones Karla really wished she hadn't picked up. Especially since everyone on the Estate knew where she'd gotten them.

"Nope," Karla said, the 'p' crisp and popping. She handed Kayla over, giving her daughter a fond smile as the little wing-nubs on her back waggled in excitement. "Of course not. That would make things too easy."

[furnaceface]

//It's gonna get to be the same for you as it was for me,// Jono teased, hiking Kayla up onto his hip and ignoring a stab of pain just under his shoulder where he'd been skewered through. Again.

He really needed to stop doing that.

//Every time you come to the island, it'll be fire and volcanoes and death from above. Last time, it was alien abductions. That was fun.//

It had not been fun.

[glacial_queen]

Oh, Jono. You should avoid being skewered. It wasn't good for your health.

"Alien abductions?" Karla asked, raising a brow. "It sounds exciting. I'm so sorry to have missed it."

She sounded as sincere about the excitement as he had the fun. Kayla decided that Jono's nose needed grabbing. Hair and leathers would be next.

[furnaceface]

Jono's nose was excellent for grabbing! He had so very much of it, after all.

//It ended in a naked romp around an alien ship, vaporizing large numbers of the bastards with my face,// he shared, giving Kayla a little, careful bounce while he was at it and scrunching up his face playfully at her.

His health would cope. He'd just get Hannibal to disinfect it later. Maybe stitch him up so he didn't have fire coming out from behind him again. He had a bad habit of that one that he could probably stand to kick.

[glacial_queen]

That was why she loved it so much! It was so big in her little hand. And it made him make funny faces! She laughed and babbled at him more, happy baby noises interspersed with the occasional word.

"You always have the most enjoyable parties," Karla said dryly. "I suppose I'll forgive you for not calling to invite me along just this once, but you have to promise the next time you're having naked murder parties, I get to come."

[furnaceface]

//If there'd been a phone on the ship, you know you would've been the first one I called,// Jono promised. //Unfortunately, since all I was kidnapped with was the skin of my own arse, that one would've been a toughie. Next time, though, definitely.//

He gave Kayla another bounce, sending her a little tune that... kind of sounded suspiciously like Pearl Jam. So sue him. He'd had a long day.

[glacial_queen]

Kayla started weaving her own song around it, a far simpler melody, of course, but one that worked fairly well with the tune The Music was sharing with her.

"I suppose being naked as the day you were born counts as a decent reason for not calling," Karla declared. "But only once. Possibly twice if I'm in a decent enough mood. After that, I'm going to have to insist you turn your ass into handbag."

[furnaceface]

Don't call me daughter, Jono improvised, leaving little pauses and openings in his song for any toddler interjections that Kayla might have to offer. All the while giving Karla a wry look.

//You know, it'd be a bloody sorry handbag. There's not even all that much there to work with in the first place.//

It was still a great ass, but it had been far more impressive back when he'd been huge and blue and had fists like twin hams.

[glacial_queen]

*I'm Kaywa!* That was the next line because that was her name! She was so good at this.

Karla, however, remained unperturbed by his look. She'd been on the receiving end of those for years. Instead she just craned her neck around to examine said ass. "Well, it's at least big enough for a phone," she judged. "Maybe a coinpurse. A spare key if you're really feeling ambitious."

[furnaceface]

That... that was actually the best next line there could ever possibly be, right there. Jono was impressed.

The picture kept will remind me... don't call me daughter?

//... How big are your spare keys these days, exactly?//

He just had to ask, okay?