Apartment above Groovy Tunes, Saturday Morning
Rinoa After a great deal of thought, Rinoa had decided not to chaperone prom; things were awkward between her and Squall, lately, and she couldn't decide if dragging him out to dance was going to help matters or make it worse. (Not bad, just ... awkward. They were long overdue a conversation, but she kept putting it off.)
She might have remembered what prom was likely to carry with it, in tandem, but she'd been away from Fandom long enough that it had slipped her mind entirely. Which was why she was sleeping in and not making breakfast for the possible invaders ...
Ruby Ruby didn't know this place, but she wasn't worried. She knew her Mommy and Daddy were both here, and so it was exactly where she ought to be.
Mommy said that Sorce-resses always acted like they were s'posed to be where they were, and it worked for her. Ruby wasn't a Sorce-ress, not a real one, but that was okay because she was a dragon instead. A fierce one.
She was gonna knock on the door and bounce on her toes and wait for Mommy to answer it already because she was hungry and they had exploring to do!
Rinoa Rinoa had grown up quite a bit since her days of playing at being a revolutionary -- well, okay, she liked to think she'd grown up more than she had, shhh -- but she still didn't wake up easily. At least she no longer punched people who surprised her. That was progress, right?
She was grumbling as she managed to pull herself free of the wonderful, warm covers and trip blindly towards the door. Yanking it open, she squinted at the tiny girl on the other side, and -- oh! Right.
"Hi there," she said, crouching down with a grin. Either a very cute new neighbor wanted to borrow some sugar, orrrrrrrrrrr maybe ...
Ruby Totally not a neighbor.
"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" Ruby cried, launching herself at her mother like a tiny pint-sized missile. "I was out exploring! I found a portal! I didn't know where to find you except I did. Just by using my mind."
She was the most resourceful dragon ever.
Rinoa Rinoa scooped the girl up in her arms, all of her morning crankiness forgotten. Amazing, how quickly and utterly you could love someone. The girl fit in her arms and belonged there.
"Hi, pumpkin," she said, in lieu of admitting she didn't know the girl's name. Still no elegant way around that mess. "Hey, Squall? We've got company."
Squall Squall was, of course, been sitting on the edge of the bed by now, fully awake. He sighed.
(... I should have remembered.)
"So we do," he agreed. He gave the girl his best smile. "Good morning! How are you today? Would you like some pancakes?"
Ruby Ruby tilted her head at the strange man who was hanging out with Mommy.
"Who are you?" she asked, clinging a little more tightly.
Rinoa Oh, that hurt. She had had kids with other people before, but even Sylvie had waved hello to her Uncle Squall. This girl ... thought that he was a complete stranger!?
"This is my friend, Mr. Squall," Rinoa said, because ... who even knew what title he might have, in whatever world she lived in. "Can you introduce yourself?"
Ruby Ruby was wriggling down out of her Mommy's arms so she could come up with something long and complicated like her actual fussy name. Ugh.
"Lady Julia Lee Caraway-Starsmore, at your service," she managed, with a wobbly sort of curtsy. Just like Mommy always insisted she said it.
Quickly followed by, "I'm a dragon."
Squall Well, that answered that question.
Squall got to his feet and stood at attention. "Your Ladyship," he greeted her with a bow. "I'm pleased to meet you. Squall Leonhart, at your service."
Ruby "'M not a ladyship," Ruby insisted. "You don't gotta bow. 'Less you're scared. I'm fierce."
Ruby focused for a second, then blew out a stream of flame from her lips.
"Wanna see my wings?"
Rinoa Right. In some world, Rinoa apparently had a child with Jono, and they both stopped speaking to Squall entirely. So much so that he was a complete stranger to their daughter. How did that make any sense?
It being ridiculous didn't make the child any less adorable. Especially not with her insistence on being a dragon.
"Are your wings big and fluffy like Mommy's?" she asked, before panicking that this girl didn't know her mother was a Sorceress.
Then again, the kid blew fire and popped out wings. Hard to imagine that had never come up.
Ruby Ruby squeezed her eyes shut and made a noise that, for a moment, made her mother very, very afraid that she was actually just soiling herself.
And then two tiny wings popped out of her back. They were a dark purplish red, and webbed, almost like bat wings. More decorative than functional, from the size of them.
"Mine don't fly," Ruby sighed. Totally unfair, that she didn't get wings that flew.
Squall Squall actually burst out into an almost-grin, watching her. What would be an appropriate response, here? How did people talk to children?
"Of course they don't, not yet," he told her. "Drink your milk and eat plenty of vegetables, and they'll grow big and strong, like your mother's."
Rinoa That ... was utterly adorable. "I think your wings are much prettier than mine, anyway," Rinoa confided, kneeling down to brush her finger over one of them.
Was that part of inheriting Jono's mutant abilities? Or would any child of hers be able to manifest wings? She hadn't seen Sylvie or River create any, but that didn't mean they couldn't. And Pluma had been featherkinetic.
It was there, petting her maybe-future-daughter's wings, that a thought struck her. Caraway. Not just Starsmore, but Caraway-Starsmore. She'd used the name for years, sure, but she'd given it up when she ran away from home. There was no saying she couldn't go back to it ...
but what if, instead, she'd never left? What if Lady Caraway had been a Protectress of Galbadia, and not a teenage revolutionary? It would explain the name. And not being on familiar terms with Squall.
Lady Caraway had promised to find him again -- to cross time and space -- and somehow, had kept that promise. It made this girl into a tiny miracle.
Squall "Both of you have pretty wings," Squall told them. "They're just different. Lady Rinoa has the prettiest angel wings, and Lady Julia has the prettiest dragon wings. I don't have any wings."
Except the ones he'd painted on his jacket. It would probably be a good idea not to let the kid see those.
Ruby "'M not Lady Julia," Ruby said, making a face. "I'm a Ruby dragon, all big 'n scary."
Hence the nickname. She liked being a Ruby much more than being a Lady Julia.
Squall Squall nodded. "You are. Good. A big, scary dragon like you can take really good care of your mother. Is that your job? I'll bet it is."
Rinoa So, it was going to be delicate, trying to call Jono and tell him they had a daughter with that daughter just standing right there, you know, looking chirpy and probably not wanting to know that her father had no idea she existed.
At least Jono had a phone, now. That was helpful.
She punched in the numbers and waited through the rings. Maybe other kids had already found him. That might make the explanation shorter, at least.
Jono Even if the kids hadn't found him, it was difficult for Jono to miss the influx of young psionic signatures that generally meant a tiny person invasion. He already sounded half concerned as he answered the phone.
Maybe he was kind of hoping this wasn't a, "Jono, we have one," call, yes. Not that he wasn't certain he'd love this one as much as the rest.
//Er... hello?//
Rinoa "Hi, sweetie," Rinoa said casually. Jono was just going to have to forgive her; she was trying to sell a happy marriage, here. "Have you had breakfast yet? Ruby showed up, and she says it's not safe to keep dragons hungry."
There was a decided GRRRRRRR from the background, possibly loud enough for Jono to hear, as the fierce Ruby Dragon stalked its prey. (That prey being a very, very amused Angelo, who was delighted to be making new friends.)
Jono //Um.//
That was the 'um' of a man who had no idea what the hell to make of being called 'sweetie' by Rinoa, but who kind of figured, hey, at least he had his answer, there.
//You know, I haven't?// For some reason. //What does our... Ruby dragon...? Want for breakfast? I'm at Hannibal's at the moment.//
Rinoa "She hasn't really elaborated," Rinoa said, her tone still light, "but I'm hoping it's not the dog she's trying to stalk."
Her dog, but if Ruby didn't recognize her, then maybe she never had Angelo in that reality? Or maybe Ruby was years down the line, long after Angelo ... ugh, she wasn't even putting words on that thought. Best to sidestep the matter entirely.
She turned away slightly so she could ask, "Would you want to meet up, somewhere in town? Or are you still working on that ... project-thing of yours?"
There was no good way of asking if maybe he had other kids hanging around that he needed to attend to, first, was there?
Jono //The project-thing in question so far amounts to two teens of my own, and one calling me uncle and seeking me out because his parents aren't on the island,// Jono explained, after a quick psionic peek around the place to make certain he wasn't missing anybody else. //All old enough to not need me around at all times to hold their hands. We can meet somewhere in town, if you'd like.//
This one sounded like a small one, if they were dancing around this the way they were.
//How young is this one? Just say yes or no, younger than ten?//
Rinoa "Absolutely," Rinoa laughed. "No question about that. Maybe we invite Mr. Squall along to brunch, so he doesn't get lonely."
Weird, that he wasn't Uncle Squall. But in that world, she hadn't ever tagged along on SeeD missions, so they hadn't even met before coming to Fandom to investigate a rift.
But the important bit there was that there were only three people in her house. Pluma, River and Sylvie were apparently taking this year off.
Really, it was helpful that Ruby was too young to actually think there was anything weird about Mr. Squall sleeping over when Daddy wasn't home. Some other Rinoa was presumably very grateful about that.
"Luke's, say in half an hour?"
She doubted they'd be the only awkward family present.
Jono //Luke's is just fine,// Jono agreed. If it was what Rinoa wanted, then who was he to argue? It wasn't like he'd be eating any of it. //I'm looking forward to meeting the little dragon.//
And he was marginally terrified as to the reasons they might call her that. He came from a long line of firebreathers, after all. (Preplayed due to RL.)