Finding time for a day out...

[1st_mistake]

Blues and Kalinka have been meaning to check this place out for quite a while now. It was surprising how often something could keep coming up when you have a pair of twins to watch. Not to mention all the other things both parents tend to meddle in.

But they're here now, with little Mikhail and Ciel. And without any other guards or chaperones.

Comments

[random_xtras]

It's morning here yet, so there's a small crowd of people who like to buy breakfast instead of cooking it and of the people who don't sleep and who decided to spend the night gabbing at the cantina. The smell of food hangs tantalizingly in the air, and an orange kitten is busy herding a pair of tribbles across the floor.

"Just drab a seat!" A brown-haired boy of two grins at them and waves to the babies, then scoops up kitten and tribbles and runs with them behind the bar, where a small woman with fierce brown eyes is holding sway over plates of eggs and meat and bowls of cereal.

She glances over at the newcomers. "Know how ya got here?"

[kalli_cossack]

Well, now they had some idea of the time-zone difference between here and their own universe's Siberia. Although whether that would stay constant was always an uncertainty when dealing with Nexus places.

"Yes. Someone told me of te place some time ago. I regret we have not found time to come here until now."

Ciel babbles her own explanation and Mikhail just waves back.

[random_xtras]

Ah, but this isn't really a Nexus in the true meaning of the world. It's a real world that could be found on a star map if there were anyone to make such things here any more.

The landlady shrugs cheerfully. "Not like it's goin' anywhere. There's a booth by the windows."

[1st_mistake]

It's still not in their universe, which made guessing time zone differences impossible.

"Thanks." Blues holds both of Ciel's little hands to see if she can toddle all the way over to the booth. She can't quite manage walking without support yet.

Kalinka just carries Mikhail over. The other twin is more interested in looking around, and was just napping a few minutes earlier.

Speaking of looking around, the view is interesting.

[random_xtras]

Another toddler, this one a dark-haired girl, shoots out from under a table and darts over to offer Ciel a bright-eyed greeting. "Leia!" she says proudly, pointing to herself. Then she points to her the furry white blanket that's wrapped around her shoulders. "'Larry!"

The blanket squeaks quizzically, and Kalinka will feel a soft brush of innocent, friendly emotion that isn't her own.

[random_xtras]

"Okay!" He turns and zooms back toward the bar, darting between the legs of a massive furry centauresque woman with dark brown bat wings and a horn on her forehead.

"Och!" scolds a small girl in a long skirt who looks like a younger twin of the woman behind the bar. "Ben, laddie, be mar keerful."

[1st_mistake]

"Nice place," Blues comments.

"Da. We should try to come here more often," agrees Kalinka, and then turns her attention towards watching the twins.

The twins are still watching out the window, Mikhail quietly, Ciel babbling away to the stress worm. Occasionally Mikhail will make some sound of surprise or Ciel will point something out as if showing it to the caterpillar-like creature. But for the most part, they're well distracted and behaving.

[random_xtras]

And then suddenly the view is eclipsed for a moment, and then a sandy being with golden hair and eyes is clinging to the outside of the sill with massive draconian or batlike wings and twitching her long narrow pointed ears in a friendly greeting to the babies at the window. She looks to be a girl of around fourteen.

[1st_mistake]

The suddenness startles both twins. Ciel lets out a squeak and hugs her stress worm, falling on her bottom on the seat. Mikhail is just as startled, but manages not to fall over.

Kalinka checks on Ciel and Blues gives the girl outside the window a curious glance.

[random_xtras]

The little boy quickly frees the fuzzy brown critter from where it's jammed itself between a chair leg and the wall. "Shhh, darling. I have you. It's okay."

His pink tribble gives an irate squeak.

"Bob! Be nice! She's scared."

((XD))

[1st_mistake]

As the noise quiets down and the minor crisis passes, the twins go back to their previous activities - Mikhail babbling out the window, and Ciel petting and feeding the stress worm.

[random_xtras]

And here comes Mr. Mini Waiter with a big grin and two tribbles stuck to him. "How's everything?"

[1st_mistake]

"Just fine," Blues says. He's been trying to get Mikhail to notice there's food, but so far the little boy is more interested in babbling at the window.

Ciel, now that her stress worm has been fed, starts to notice there's other food. But before Kalinka gets a chance to feed her more than a couple bites of scrambled eggs, the little girl notices the tribbles. "'Ble!" she says, pointing.

"Da, he has tribbles," says Kalinka.

"'Ble," Ciel says again, and then gives her stress worm a hug.

[random_xtras]

"They're beautiful," says the redhead softly. Then her green eyes meet Kalinka's. "Sorry."

Then she starts as a piercing shriek of laughter comes from the staircase behind the bar. Her husband jumps too, and rumbles a deep growl of protest at the sound.

[kalli_cossack]

The 'sorry' puzzles Kalinka, but before she has time to ask about it the laughter starts. She's startled as well. So are the twins. They just stare, and then Ciel hugs her stress worm. Mikhail loses interest in the food and squirms closer to Blues.

Out of them all, Blues shows the least outward reaction - only a curious look from him - though really he was no less startled.

[random_xtras]

The landlady's suddenly halfway up the staircase. "Jubal! Robbie! Quit ticklin' yer brother!"

Silence from upstairs.

"Dang crazy pups," grumbles the big blond guy, still growling slightly.

"They're just playing," his wife tells him, putting a soothing hand on his.

[1st_mistake]

The twins soon relax, and Kalinka and Blues chuckle a bit as the loud noise is explained.

"They're just kids," Blues says with a nod. "It's going to be interesting to see the trouble ours get into when they're a bit older."

[random_xtras]

Well, if he tugs or shifts the right bit it will go back... otherwise he'll get another shape. And a peek at pictures and such painted on previously hidden faces of the blocks.

Rachel grins. "She's a lovely big buggy thing."

Then she looks at her husband as he rumbles to himself, but since he looks and feels alright she turns back to Kalli and her family.

[kalli_cossack]

Mikhail didn't guess right this time, but the pictures are enough to distract him from being upset because of that. He studies how the thing works some more, pushing on different pieces.

Ciel babbles happily, most of it a completely unintelligible mishmash with only a few near-recognizable snippets of what might be Russian, Japanese, English, or even a fragment or two of German.

Kalinka chuckles. "Yes. She loves the stress worm very much."

Blues decides maybe he can get a few bites to eat while he watches Mikhail with the toy.

[random_xtras]

The toy is specially designed for high IQ babies, and as such it's built with several features of interest. Some of those pushes result in major or minor changes in form. Some get beeps or tweets.

"I see that." Rachel's grin is a little sad, but it's an old sadness. "Best friends are wonderful things to have."

[1st_mistake]

Mikhail's completely distracted by it now, pushing at various parts and tugging at others with a serious expression on his little face as if he's carefully filing away what every single piece of it does.

"Well, I hope they'll have more friends than an oversized caterpillar," Blues comments.

"'Oad!" comments Ciel.

"Or their uncles," adds Kalinka with a chuckle. "Toad is not here," she reminds Ciel, and tries to get her to eat another bite of egg.

[random_xtras]

"Ciel," says Isha. "That's a pretty name." Then she settles down to lay next to this new little friend, purring contentedly. Ben grins and chuckles and then plunks down himself.

[kalli_cossack]

Ciel babbles and then snuggles up to the furry girl, because she is furry and warm.

[random_xtras]

Rachel watches as people walk around the baby pile without even blinking and grins.

[kalli_cossack]

Kalinka smiles. "This happens often?" she asks.

Mikhail's lost interest in any more scrambled egg, and squirms his way onto Blues' lap. The little boy yawns.