KuroTenshi

Divine Hijinks

Rikive stammed slightly as she held the baby close and gently bounced him up and down. "It's okay, it's okay." She whispered, quickly walking out of the bedroom and back downstairs. Maybe Parael was back down there because he could not have honestly turned into a one year old.

First she needed to put a diaper on this baby.

All the kids were sleeping when she returned to the play room and she laid the blonde hair child onto the changing table. She had watched Parael change diapers all day, so she felt like she had a fairly good idea on how to do it. She took off the now giant shirt from the baby and quickly dressed him in the diaper before he pissed or shit on anything else. "Ugh, I should have never come to Midgard." She muttered to herself, picking up the now half naked baby. She carried him with her as she hunted around downstairs then back upstairs for any sign of adult Parael.

There was nothing, not a trace of the full grown man.

Rikive groaned, pressing a free hand to her face as she returned to the playroom. "Okay." She breathed out, gingerly setting the baby down on the ground. She held up a finger and said slowly, "Don't move." She had an idea for communicating between them. If that was really Parael and he still had the mind of an adult because clearly he couldn't talk like one. She found two blocks marked with the letter's 'Y' and 'N'. Should be simple enough.

She returned to the baby and sat down, setting the blocks in front of him. "This block is for 'yes' and this block is for 'no'." She explained, tapping the top of each block. "If thou art Parael, then pick up the 'yes' block." She instructed, keeping her voice down so as to not wake the children.

Divine Hijinks

Rikive jumped when she heard the crying of a child...from upstairs? She frowned, eyes roaming over the children laying down for nap time. They were all present. The only person upstairs was Parael. She hesitated for a moment before getting up and heading for the stairs to see what was wrong. Most of the children were sleeping so they should be fine.

"Parael?" She called out as she walked toward the wailing child. Which again seemed to be coming from Parael's bedroom. "Parael, does thou need my help?" She asked entering into the room. Her pale green landed on the crying baby and panic swept through her seeing him holding the sword. "Again with the bloody sword?" She asked in exasperation.

"Parael! Where art thou? Come put away thy damned sword!" She yelled out for the man crouching before the upset babe. She made a face smelling piss as she gently pried the babies pudgy fingers from the hilt. "There." She sighed, kicking the blade away with her foot while inspecting the toddler for injury.

As she inspected the baby she realized he was draped in the clothing Parael had been wearing. "What in the Nine Worlds?" She muttered. "Parael!" She yelled again, looking around for any sign of him being somewhere in this mess of a room. When he did not respond she turned to look down at the baby.

There was no way...

Rikive leaned down slightly to look into the babe's eyes. "Parael?" She asked softly with a frown.

Divine Hijinks

"Alright." Rikive nodded, looking down at the now sleeping child. She shifted her to a more comfortable position as she hunted for a soft place to set her down. After she laid her down she quickly fetched a rag wet with soap and water to wash the berry juice from the children's faces.

She spent the next five or so minutes chasing down each sticky child to clean them up. Some held still and let her rub the juice off their hands and faces, giggling from the tickling cloth. Others screamed and threw a fit when she finally caught them.

When she was done she announced it was time to sleep. A few of the children went to get the sleeping matts and blankets, they couldn't lift them but at least she found them. Another few minutes were spent laying out matts and blankets and getting the children at least laying down. Some went right to sleep, a few just laid quietly staring off into space with heavy eyes and a few others were pouting. They weren't running around and appeared to be settling so Rikive sat down on a bean bag chair with a soft sigh. She stretched for a moment before settling herself in the chair to watch over the children.

Divine Hijinks

Rikive had to carefully remove the sleeping pups from her lap and onto the rocking chair when Parael called for her help. They continued to sleep in their little fur pile and she trotted over to help Parael with the fae girl. It'd be a lot easier to get through the thick brush if she had something to hack the branches off.

She was getting nowhere fast with that task when Parael asked her to do a much simpler task. Gladly she abandoned trying to make her way through the damned berry bushes and made her way to the stairs. Estelle was the little witch that had been shrinking everything all afternoon, hopefully she wouldn't be up there shrinking all of Parael's furniture.

She frowned when she heard the girl whimpering. Worried she had hurt herself Rikive picked up her pace to follow the sounds. "Estelle? Sunshine art thou hurt?" She called out before entering Parael's room. She gasped seeing the girl about to touch a sword. "Estelle no!" She shouted, rushing forward to scoop the girl up into her arms.

"Thou art too young for a steal sword. Thou must first start with a wooden, practice sword." Rikive chastised the little girl, looking down at the unsheathed sword with a frown. She 'tsk'ed under her breath. "Parael needs a scabbard for that blade." She said to herself before looking down at the young witch in her arms. "Stay downstairs from now on, okay?"

Divine Hijinks

Rikive was mulling over what Parael had told her in the downstairs kitchen, merely exploring the space to familiarize herself with it. What he said about her father made her as curious as it confused her. What did he mean by 'turn him in'? Turn him in to what? To who? It was not her business to ask and even if she did she doubted Parael would tell her. Revealing as much as he did earlier had been a slip up on his part.

What he said about keeping her heritage secret made a lot of sense. None of the humans had taken her seriously when she claimed to be an Asgardian. And...she certainly didn't want a repeat of last night. It was embarrassing to think she could be overwhelmed and defeated by, well, anything. She was a descendant of the most powerful Gods in all the heavens! Thor himself taught her all she knew about fighting! She would never be so easily defeated.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a knock on the door. She ran her hands over the blouse Parael had lent her and made her way to the front. With her hearing it was impossible not to eavesdrop on the conversation. She entered the playroom after it was over and Parael had called out to her.

Rikive stared down at the dirt covered wolf pups with her hands on her hips and eyebrows raised. So Parael had told a white lie himself. These were not dogs, these were lycanthropes. A trio of very rambunctious lycanthrope pups. At least they were just puppies, full grown wolves were a whole other matter. Still, thank goodness her headache had gone.

"Right." She said, cracking her knuckles while staring down at the happy puppies.

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Rikive sat in a delightfully soft and plush rocking chair, gently pushing it back and forth while the three wolf pups slept in her lap. They had a lot of energy, but she had more and was fairly a patient person. So it was quite easy to play with them until they tuckered themselves out. And a little singing had helped to completely lull them to sleep when they had tried fighting the pull of exhaustion.

Honestly, Parael had made it sound like it would be a challenge to look after the pups. It hadn't been that hard at all. Well, except for maybe when it came to matters of the bathroom. One of the boys had just started to go, but only got a little onto the carpet until she whisked him away to the bathroom with a rag held out to catch anymore pee.

That was the only real trouble she had with them. Now she got to take a little break with three little fluff balls sleeping peacefully on her lap. One of them was kicking his back leg a little and another was softly barking in his sleep. It was adorable and made her smile while gently running the back of her fingers over the top of one of their heads. It had been surprisingly fun and when they woke up she'd be ready for 'round two' so to speak.

Divine Hijinks

Rikive was so caught off guard seeing Parael, who she was pretty sure was a man, parading about the kitchen in a dress that she nearly stopped listening to him. Well...That answered the question if he wore a dress last night. If he was wearing one now, he very likely did last night as well. Though now she was left to wonder why?

However she focused less on his appearance and more on his words when he explained why she had drawn her sword. "Oh." She frowned and looked down at her arms. There was a large tear in the long sleeve of her tunic that she hadn't noticed before. Her sluggish mind wondered why they were attacked, though likely there was no good cause. At least she had been able to kill it, if she hacked off half it's skull it had to have died. "The wound healed thanks to my mothers blood. The magic I inherited from her allows me to heal myself of bodily harm." She tapped her temple lightly, then grimaced and instantly regretted the decision. "For head pain caused by too much drinking, it does nothing."

She joined Parael at his breakfast table, picking up the small pills and popping them into her mouth. "I can't thank thee enough for looking after me and taking me in." She said, picking up a strip of bacon to take a cautious bite of to make sure she could stomach actually eating the food before her. "Of course, I will gladly lend my services to pay back what I owe." She ate the rest of the bacon strip and picked up a fork to start eating eggs.

"I am rather fond of dogs as well." She informed him with a small smile. "So it may not even be much of a chore."

Divine Hijinks

The sounds of a conversation penetrated the darkness of sleep and caused her to stir.

Rikive awoke with a headache and very little memory of what happened last night. She definitely remembered the party, meeting Parael and them going from tavern to tavern sampling all of the alcohol mortals had to offer. There was a car with pink whiskers and...She could vaguely remember a fight?

She blinked her eyes open, staring around the orderly room with a mixture of confusion and no shortage of grouchiness. "Ugh." She groaned slowly pushing herself up on the bed. She saw her sword, belt, chain mail and shoes all piled into a corner next to the bed, leaving her in her red tunic and trousers. She ran her hand through her hair and grimaced when it met the mess that used to be a braid. Yanking out the ribbon she started to comb her fingers through her hair when the smell of cooking food reached her nose.

Hair somewhat in order she got up to her feet to head for the door, pausing when she noticed the note taped to it. Whatever 'Google Translate' was, Parael should reconsider using it again. She tossed the note aside and headed out of the bedroom, her bare feet hardly making a sound as she followed the smell of food.

"Parael?" She called out, bringing up her hand to rub at her eye as she entered the kitchen. She blinked seeing him drinking some kind of orange liquid in large quantities, but didn't comment on it. "Good morrow." She greeted him, a curious frown pulling at her lips. "Did I...fight someone last evening?" She asked, pressing her hand against her forehead and trying to drag the memories forth. "My memory grows...fuzzy after the tavern with the Irish car bomb drink. But...I think I remember drawing Winterthorn." She leaned back against a wall and shut her eyes to block out the sunlight coming into the apartment. It was starting to make her skull throb. "My head hurts."

She was silent for a moment before opening her eyes and looking at him in utter confusion. "Did thou...dawn a dress?"

Divine Hijinks

The vampires on top of Rikive hissed in pain and quickly backed away, retreating into the shadows and away from the potential sunlight. Except for the one still drinking from her arm, completely lost to the hunger and high he was receiving from her blood. Her sword arm free she swung it and cut off a chunk of the vampires head. Instantly he released her with a howl of pain, and she rolled back to her feet. He fell to the ground, withering in pain and clawing at his head.

Rikive glared at the group of vampires, now huddled in the shadows like the rats they were. She sheathed her sword and stumbled her way over to Parael, the wound on her arm from the feeding starting to heal.

She stopped beside Parael and gave him a flat and tired look. "Never, am I drinking that much again. Remind me of that oath in the morning." She threw one last look over at the vampires with a growl in her own throat before storming off past Parael. Well as best she could when she was still swaying like a drunk.

Divine Hijinks

"I should get to go first! I found her!"

"Fuck you, I grabbed her!"

Rikive thanked her lucky stars that these people were less organized than a pack of hungry wolves. While they bickered she gripped the hilt of her sword and slowly rose back up to her feet. She taped into her magic, hoping that it would flush out the alcohol in her system so she could bloody fight. If she were sober she could lay waste to these insignificant predators.

She was raising her sword when she heard yelling in the distance. Parael. She had absolutely no idea what he could do but she needed someone to have her back. "I am here!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.

Movement flickered out of the corner of her eye before she was slammed up against the wall again, this time with a hand clenched around her throat and the other pinning down her sword wielding hand. The man who first approached her at the bar was glaring at her, but had a savage grin on his face; revealing his elongated canines. "I'm going to enjoy this."

Rikive bared her own teeth and kicked out with her leg, hitting him in the stomach and sending him flying back into the wall opposite of her. He hit the brick wall so hard it cracked and left an indent where his head and back hit. His nails had dug into her skin, creating small cuts when they were forcibly torn away from their grip.

Gripping her sword in both her hands Rikive let out a battle cry and charged at the group. She slashed at one of them with her sword and the woman screamed as her skin visibly began to smoke and there was an audible sizzle in the air from her flesh burning. She turned to attack another but one of the women jumped onto her back and made her stumble. She tried to throw her off but another of them tackled her to the ground. She yelled in anger and pain when she felt teeth sink into her arm, unprotected by her chainmail.

Divine Hijinks

Rikive stared down at Parael, swaying slightly on her feet even though she was standing in one spot. The mead had been good, nothing compared to her father's of course, but all the same it had been good. And after watching Parael's...performance, she hadn't been able to drink it fast enough. She couldn't tell if she was any drunker than she was before, but hopefully it'd mean that she'd wake up tomorrow with no memory of...that.

She sensed something strange shift in Parael when he closed his eyes and then began to talk to the barkeep about his mother. Even her drunk mind could piece together what was happening and she was impressed. Parael didn't even need a saer's bowl or meditate to see into the future and look at what the Norns had spun. Not at all surprising since Parael was a heavenly being, just like herself.

She leaned against the bar and frowned at his question. "Nothing." She answered him, still speaking in Old Norse. "My mother told me to come and...have an adventure." She said with a wide, loopy grin on her face. "Don't think this was what she had in mind! Certainly not that...display thou performed!" She leaned forward and said in a whispery voice, "To be honest, think she wanted me to come down, find a husband and give her grandchildren."

Rikive burst into laughter until Tony told them their cab was on their way. "Right! Thank thee barkeep!" She shouted at the man, smacking her hand on the bar before moving away from it. She grabbed Parael's arm to pull him with her toward the exit. "I wish to sleep and awake with no memory of this tomorrow. Or I will never be able to meet thine eyes again!" She laughed, throwing her arm about his shoulders as they stumbled outside.

"Where is the car with the absurd whiskers?" She asked him, looking around for the Lyft car. The street was fairly quiet, hardly any cars were on the road. Rikive let out a loud yawn, bringing up her free hand to rub at her eyes. She heard the scuff of feet behind them turned to see a man walking around with one of those rectangles held up to his ear. Dismissing him she turned back to the street.

She suddenly sensed a presence behind her, but before her drunken mind could react hands grabbed her arms and dragged her away from Parael in a blur of motion. Rikive could feel the concrete eating away at the soles of her hard leather shoes from how fast they were moving. It was dizzying to her drunken brain how fast they were moving, but she dug her feet hard into the ground to try and stop whoever was dragging her and tried to rip away from the hands.

Finally her attacker stopped, but only to throw her into the side of a building. She grunted from the impact, her vision swimming from being moved around so fast in her inebriated state. She slid down the wall until her feet hit the ground again and she stumbled, having to grip onto the wall for support.

"You needed help with this?" A woman's voice sneered and Rikive shook her head, blinking her eyes and trying to focus on what was going on around her. Finally she was able to focus on what was in front of her. Five people stood around her in the back alley she'd been dragged into, two men and three women.

Rikive growled and clumsily pulled Winterthron from it's sheath. "Thou will regret this day!" She shouted, waving the sword at the group.

One of them rushed at her and had she been sober, she would have been able to counter the attack. However her mind barely registered the woman before she slammed her hand into her face. Rikive went flying back and slammed into the wall again, her head snapping back against it hard enough that it actually hurt.

"Wow, she sure is dangerous." One of the men snickered as Rikive slid back down the wall, this time unable to land on her feet.

Feeling warmth run into her hair Rikive reached behind her to touch the back of her head. She felt a dampness in her hair and pulled her hand forward to blink down at her fingers. There was a bit of blood staining her finger tips.

The chatter of her attackers suddenly ceased. "Do you smell...that?" One of the women growled out and Rikive clenched her hand into a fist. The demi-goddess looked up and saw all five of her attackers eyes glowing with hunger.

"It smells amazing."