[PRP] Two Friends and a Baby

[demon_pachabel]

You were out for less than 15 minutes, Phaedrath lamented as Alosha twisted her freshly washed hair out of her face. I was, she agreed, as though she wasn't hearing the actual complaint that her lifemate was making. I promise I still have something clean to change into, too. It was very much like the woman to somehow attract a dirty accident or nasty chore, and this one had found it's way all over one arm and her back, and it had put quite the damper on her plan to be on time.

Instead, she was quite fashionably late. All the fun had really started and for a while, Alosha found a door to linger by, taking it all in. It was all good fun, after all, and perhaps she would have made a more striking entrance if she'd come wearing the mess that had been, more or less, dumped all over her. You would not! Phaedrath protested, and if she hadn't found somewhere cozy to settle in elsewhere she probably would have made sure to keep Alosha away from any potential disaster.

The only people capable of being more of a magnet for messes than her, however, were children, and she'd been eying one settled in the lap of a mostly unfamiliar young man for several minutes now.

Despite her height, the small woman had a way of crossing a room in only so many steps, carefully stepping through and around people to lean on a table that was very much taken. "And here's my date!" she greeted with a broad smile as she settled in (perhaps on purpose) between Ay'ril and F'rin, nudging the former with a shoulder, offering a half-wave to the latter...and then (perhaps jokingly) focusing quite pointedly on Ayona.

Teiha

 

[Teiha]

Brothers Ay’ril and F’rin (with baby Ayona in his arms) had been sitting with an empty chair between them, both all but fixated on a pair moving across the dance floor. During the moments when they were distracted by food or Ayona, they mostly ignored each other. Still, their moods were up.

As Alosha placed herself comfortably between them with her familiar greeting, Ay’ril grinned and nodded his welcome. F’rin was a tad nonplussed, staring for a moment until he realized that the young woman had come not for him or Ay’ril, but for Ayona. The force with which the babe flung her arms out toward their company was a clear indication that the two ladies were well-acquainted. He glanced at his brother, who was clearly pleased with Alosha’s presence, before offering his niece to her. Clearly Ay’ril was feeling especially generous at the moment, for he gave them an introduction: “Alosha, this is my brother F’rin. F’rin, Alosha.”

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

"It's nice to meet you, F'rin," Alosha nodded again to the young man (though he was in all fairness older than her), balancing Ayona in her lap as she held the child's hands to keep her from completely toppling into her. "Have you had a chance to dance, my dear?" she asked the babe before leaning back a little farther so her head nearly touched Ay'ril's shoulder.

"What about you? You ever dance at these?" she inquired. Whatever tension existed between the brothers was clearly lost on her - or perhaps it was purposely being ignored for the sake of the lady of the hour she was holding.

Teiha

 

[Teiha]

The little girl shook her head; no dancing yet tonight. She didn’t seem to mind, however, her smile remaining wide and bright.

Ay’ril shrugged. “Sometimes. When I do, this little lady most certainly gets the first dance.” He reached around Alosha’s shoulder to boop Ayona’s nose with an outstretched finger, then petted the child’s hair, tucking it back behind her ear. “You?”

As he’d already done so several times that evening, F’rin stared wide-eyed. For all the shock of his younger brother finally noticing a woman… the possibility that his older brother might be doing the same nearly short-circuited the poor boy. A’myl was definitely the biggest prude of the three, but to F'rin's knowledge it’d been a very, very long time since Ay'ril had even really spoken to a girl... yet he seemed to be very familiar with this one.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

The way he looked at his daughter gave Alosha a very specific type of warm and fuzzy feeling in her chest - it was simply so pure.

Straightening back up, she leaned in so she could rub her nose against Ayona's with a grin almost as wide and bright. Though there was no true competition there. If there had been, Alosha wouldn't have even been considered a competitor. "Well aren't you a lucky girl!" she informed the toddler before glancing back to Ay'ril, smile unchanging. "I enjoy dancing! These parties are a good excuse to just have a good time - and I happen to enjoy the music."

As she spoke, she adjusted her hold on Ayona and rose to her feet. "And I'm going to steal away the lady of the hour's first dance so you can't have it," she stated, more teasing than anything else. "Unless there's a protest?" she looked pointedly to said lady-of-the-hour.

Teiha