Room 210, Saturday Morning

[smilestopscars]

Ezra did not know there was anything weird going on on the island. You could have even said he was blissfully unaware. That really wasn't going to last for very long.

But, he was awake and he'd showered, and the door to the hallway was open while he lazed about flipping through a magazine he'd picked up somewhere. Celebrity gossip about hot people he didn't really care about. Mmmmm.

It was quiet. It wouldn't be for long.

[ooc: Open door, open post, beware the tiny Sagishis invading the island because they will steal all your small stuff, for real. SP warning for the next bunch of hours, though.]

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[bouncy-foxkit.livejournal.com]

After a breakfast that he hadn't paid for in town, Zeke had set off to find his parents. Finding his parents had been easy enough; they'd both been in town the night before and Mom's scent trail had returned to the dorms only a few hours before.

But Mom's scent continued up, while Dad's was more concentrated on the second floor. That made it easier to figure out which parent he was going to bug first! Why put more effort in when he could just make Mom come to him.

So he was going to take the open door as an invitation (as he would have a closed door, or a locked door, because they were all functionally the same to him), he sauntered inside and surveyed his father in all his teenage glory.

Yeah. Not much has changed. "Dad, I need money for breakfast."

Liar.

[smilestopscars]

That was new.

Ezra squinted at him over his gossip rag. "Aren't you a little young to be at a high school?"

He was also ignoring that 'dad' part for now, because what even.

[bouncy-foxkit.livejournal.com]

"I'm so smart and charismatic, they skipped me a few grades," Zeke lied smoothly, rolling his eyes. "The smarts came from Mom. Obviously."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra put his magazine down on the bed while he raised his eyebrows at the boy. "Probably," he said, "and that's really who we should be getting you back to, as well, I'm sure."

As he moved a little, he caught a scent.

... He squinted some more.

[bouncy-foxkit.livejournal.com]

"So, what you're saying is that I'm lucky Mom has a weakness for pretty guys," Zeke said easily, wandering around his father's room. No reason, really! Just, you know, checking out the territory!

...For, say, loose bills and anything interesting and small enough to fit into his pockets. Like, say, that. His hand blurred out, almost too fast to be seen and fractions of a second later, one of his jacket pockets was slightly heavier than the other.

[smilestopscars]

"Put that back," Ezra said, raising an eyebrow. Look, maybe he was almost too fast to be seen, but Ezra had were-senses and he was a seasoned thief. "Where'd you come from, little fox?"

[bouncy-foxkit.livejournal.com]

Zeke contemplated playing dumb for a minute, then reluctantly put it back. His dad was never fooled.

"Well, Dad, it feels weird explaining it to you, but when two people think the other person is really hot, sometimes they come together in a beautiful, wonderful way that doesn't involve any clothing or items of protection," he said.

If he was a few years older, he might have added that alcohol had been involved in at least part of that decision, but his parents had not yet decided he needed to know that detail about his conception yet.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra did not ask if this kid had just called him Dad. He knew what he'd heard.

So instead, he asked, "Is this a Fandom thing? Am I being Fandomed?"

See, he did have some activity in his brain, too.

[bouncy-foxkit.livejournal.com]

"Is 'Fandomed' a verb?" Zeke asked. He debated telling his Dad about the other kids he'd met in the park, but...nahhh. Let him trip over that whenever they showed up. "I don't think that's actually a verb, Dad."

Be less helpful, Zeke, really.

[wingedfoxlet.livejournal.com]

Her parents probably would have said Ruby was too small and too young to be out on her own, but Ruby knew better. She was four and she was a Very Big Girl, and she could follow Dad's scent without asking anybody for any help.

Of course, as soon as she found his room she promptly forgot what she was going to say. Or maybe she'd never had much to say to start with. It was hard to tell sometimes, with Ruby.

"Hiiii," she said from the doorway, and then stood there for a long moment chewing on a finger and smiling at him hopefully.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra had more of a grasp of what was going on, now. And that was good, because it meant he could respond to a suddenly appearing child with an easy, approachable smile instead of squinting.

"Hey, little one," he said, giving her a little wave with his fingers. "Looking for me?"

He'd already caught the scent because this time he knew to expect it, to look for it.

[wingedfoxlet.livejournal.com]

Ruby smiled back, both because she was happy to have found him and because she was not immune to all of the effects of her father's smiles.

"Uh-huh. I went through the blue thing and came out n a park near some big boys and they smelled like me and said you were their dad too, but then I zaccidentally losted them but now I found you," she explained. Then she went over to climb up next to Ezra on his bed. "I wasn't scared at all."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra's composure was great, meaning his face didn't even twitch when she said boys, plural. That was neither here nor there. He'd deal with it later. So, he reached over and ruffled her hair a little bit. "Of course not. And I'd tell you not to go through strange portals, but I know that's probably not something you'd take my word for."

He caught a glimpse of her back, about then.

"Oh, hey. Wings."

He had an idea about what those meant.

[wingedfoxlet.livejournal.com]

"Like Mom's," Ruby nodded, twisting her head to see their tips and preening just a bit. "'Cept, guess what? We tried and I can fly waaaay further than she can."

Alana had cursed a lot about that particular discovery.

"And I don't go through portals most of the time."

[smilestopscars]

"Good girl," Ezra decided. Good enough for him! Because he was terrible at being responsible. "Have you seen your mom here yet? Or did you come straight to me?"

[wingedfoxlet.livejournal.com]

Ruby smiled again at the praise. "Straight to you 'cause your room was closer," she said. "Do you know where Mommy is?"

She didn't sound too bothered about it, either way.

[smilestopscars]

"One floor up, I think." He weirdly wished he could have sounded more certain. "We can go get her a little later."

Look, maybe she was with Johnny right now, and while he wouldn't have minded a piece of that action, he was not so sure he wanted to spring this little girl on that situation.

Also, he was missing some crucial information right now.

"Hey, you wanna remind me of your name?"

[cabeswaterkids.livejournal.com]

Ezra was a busy person this morning. After getting her bearings and picking a few flowers (because they smelled good!), Adele was at Ezra's door and knocking as loud as she could with her small hands.

[smilestopscars]

"Jeez, you don't have to be so loud," Ezra complained, as he came to the door, and opened it. And then peered down. "Wow, you're adorable."

She was.

"Which one are you?"

[cabeswaterkids.livejournal.com]

"What do you mean which one am I?" she asked, putting one small fist on her hip. "I'm me, Daddy! You know me."

[smilestopscars]

Goodness, that, too, was adorable.

"I know, I know, sweetheart," he replied, just barely keeping his urge to laugh in check. He crouched down to be more at her level. "But sometimes Daddy forgets things. So, please humor me this once, princess."

[cabeswaterkids.livejournal.com]

She sighed like Ezra was just asking oh so much of her.

"I'm Adele," she told him very matter of factly. Her tone suggested she was proud of her name. "Adele Branna. But no one uses my middle name less I'm in trouble."

[smilestopscars]

"I know it's a hardship to have to tell me, and I'm grateful," he replied. Even if that exasperated sigh had been really cute. "Thank you. It's a lovely name. I'm sure your mom thinks so too."

Um.

[cabeswaterkids.livejournal.com]

She shook her head at him.

"No, you're all wrong again," Adele told him, looking skyward like some unknown deity would help her. "I've got a dad and a dad. Two dads!"

[smilestopscars]

"Right."

He hadn't expected that. On second thought, he knew he should have.

"You're going to think I'm the biggest bonehead there is, but I need you to help me with one more piece of information."