I've Just Seen a Face [G&U]

[Noralei Harris]

[Continued from here.]

Stepping through the front door into the Harris household was like stepping into a new world, for some. Right past the front screen door was a miniscule closed in porch, all but wallpapered with hanging baskets and flower beds tended by Nora’s mother. There were vivid bursts of color wherever one looked, and it was obvious that they were very well cared for. Past that was the living room, only slightly bigger than a postage stamp compared to the Raines house, with a loveseat, a couch, and a reclining armchair, in the colors of blue, green, and gray, consecutively. The designs on the couch and loveseat didn’t even remotely match, and the recliner’s sinking cushion made it obvious it had seen batter days.

The floor was hardwood and was obviously weathered, having been scratched up and polished multiple times. The walls were the only redeeming factor of the room- they were painted a rather charming ivory, and the baseboards were black. On the far end (far being only a good fifteen feet, mind) there was a weathered entertainment system and a TV- the new flat kind, which they had bought only recently after the old one died. It was a decent size, considering the room it was in.

Nora tried not to think about now small her house must seem to the twins, opting instead to warn them. “My dogs are a bit loud sometimes, but they don’t jump, so don’t worry...” As she shut the door behind her, the barking started, practically on cue. From the stairs came Regina, the Dalmatian puppy, and Zib emerged from the master bedroom soon after. An irritated woof came from the kitchen, signaling that the Australian Shepherd currently residing in it was not planning on joining the meet and greet extravaganza. “The Dalmatian puppy is Regina, the ball of white fur is Zib.” Regina sniffed around the twin’s feet while Zib ran in circles around Nora’s legs before they switched, then set upon each other as Regina jumped on the other dog playfully. Nora rubbed the top of Zib’s head, and then petted the puppy, smiling and cooing at them like a doting parent. They left almost as soon as they came, bounding for the back door in anticipation of being let out. “Hang on, they want outside.” She skirted around the furniture and passed into the back room, a tiny outlet that connected the living room to the backyard and the laundry room. Nora whistled for Lola before letting all three dogs out into the backyard, closing the door behind them.

Turning, she was ready to go back to the twins- until she saw the giant Siberian cat sitting on top of the dryer, staring at her with a look that would melt the face off a lesser being. “What.” She glared back, and it narrowed its eyes. She opened the door for him, and he blinked at her again, so she shut it. Leaving the back room, she was about to direct the twins to the kitchen for popcorn- until the aforementioned cat let loose a loud yowl of disapproval. Turning with a sigh, she found him sitting at the back door- the one she had just closed- and opened it for him. He stared at her for a moment before finally disappearing out the back. With Viktor and the dogs outside, Nora would have to keep a close eye on her chickens if she brought them out of their run for the twins to look at.

Finally back in the living room, she gestured to the door directly behind them, to the left of the front porch- That door led to the kitchen slash dining room. She passed through it and stood in the kitchen, which was painted a mixture of blues. With a yank, the teen opened up the pantry, rummaging around for the popcorn box. “You guys can look in the fridge for drinks for when the slurpees run out, I think there’s some soda in the bottom drawer. If not, I can pull a case out of the garage.” She found the popcorn box and pulled it out, bumping the doors of the pantry closed with her hip. “One bag, two bags, or one for each of us?” They’d need two bowls anyway, one for popcorn with M&M’s and one without.

[OOC: Ridiculously long due to my lack of internet. Do not feel obligated to match this.]

[Gabriel & Uriel Raines]

As the hat was placed on his head, Gabriel stuck as many poses as e could while walking, pushing a bike, and holding a slurpee. Uriel nodded in agreement with Noralei's words, laughing. "Yes, yes.. stunning in.. cloche.." He said, shaking his head at Gabriel who gave a stunning grin in return.

At all the questions about the baby, Gabriel grinned. "Well, she's almost three months pregnant, and our family's always believe in not finding out gender till it's born, or naming it. Mom always gets a feeling though," Gabriel added with a chuckle.

Uriel continued on, with "We make up a list of names we like so she has something conclusive to choose from, or we look at it and pick a name." He said, nodding. At the mention of a good Doctor, both perked up. "Ooh! Yeah, she needs a doctor, we'll have her call your mom and they can talk!" He said, excited himself.

Both were excited about their new baby sibling, knowing their parents were a little nervous, but excited as well. At her asking if they were excited, they looked at her like she was crazy. "Are you nuts?!" "We love babies!" They cried at once, grinning at her.

As they made it into her house, both looked around with wonder, before grinning and petting the dogs lovingly once the dogs seemed to trust the smell of the twins. Pick up dogs? Them? Nooo. As she let the dogs out, and then let the cat out, Uriel went to follow it, just looking out the window sadly. "Can we go meet the rest of the animals.." Gabriel went and joined his twin pressed against the window, gazing at the animals forlorny and still in Noralei's hat.

"Please.." "Please.." They both asked in unison, turning to give identical pouts to Noralei. Obviously, the popcorn and drinks would have to be put on hold. Both their slushies were sitting on a counter, forgotten in lieu of the animals. Animals. They saw a chicken coop, and three dogs, and a cat, and they were happy. Happy as could be. Look at all the animals!

It was like a dream come true for them, sort of. Also, her house was just so cute! They'd initially wanted to just look around it and investigate it - well, until they'd seen the animals, at least..

[Noralei Harris]

Noralei didn’t realize she had totally lost the twin’s attention until she turned to ask her question again and realized they weren’t in the kitchen behind her. She should’ve suspected something was up when they didn’t answer her, but she thought they were just being quiet. Well, she’d never make that mistake again. She sat the popcorn box on the table and went to the back room, smiling as she spotted them staring out the window. When they turned and pouted at her, she let loose a peal of laughter before stepping down and shucking her flip-flops back on again. “Of course! I love to show them off.” She was just worried that they wouldn’t be able to handle all the barking.

Opening the door to the backyard, she ushered them out before closing the door behind her. The light in the yard kept shifting, the breeze making the elm tree’s leaves dance above them. The dogs turned and all but bounded over, but this time Lola pushed her way to the front and sat down directly in front of the twins, staring up at them in a manner that commanded attention. Regina was busy sniffing around Nora’s shoes still, signaling that she wanted a walk. Zib was busying himself by sniffing behind the boys, licking any hands left unattended at their sides.

Nora moved farther into the yard and sat on the grass, letting Regina climb into her lap. She decided now would be a good opportunity to introduce them further. “The one in front of you is Lola, and she won’t let you move until you pet her.” True to her word, the moment either of the twins would try to pass her, she’d cut right in front of them and sit down again. “We named her after the character in ‘Damn Yankees’. Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets... She’s very demanding.” Zib had lost interest in the twins and now was watching Viktor, who was sitting in a lawn chair on the far side of the yard, having jumped the divider fence into the ‘playground’ side.

Pointing to the dog, she whistled and snapped her fingers, causing Zib to jump up and run over. He sniffed her face and laid down next to her as she petted him with one hand, Regina with the other. “Zib is my Dad’s dog, the only boy of the bunch. He’s rather excitable. We found him wandering around Pilot Ridge, so we took him to the shelter. But my Dad really liked him, so when no one claimed him, we took him in.” Zib had taken off once again and was sniffing around at the side of the fence, likely looking for a place to go. He disappeared around the elm tree a moment later.

The Dalmatian was now eagerly sniffing at the twins, bouncing slightly but not jumping on them. “Regina is Guylan’s, for the time being. We got her because of a huge influx of puppies at the time around his birthday- a puppy mill in the neighboring county got closed down and there were so many dogs they had to forward some of them to our shelter.” Almost all of the puppies ended up adopted in the end- in fact, a load of German Shepherds and a few collies were taken by an organization for seeing-eye dog training. “He wanted a puppy, and he’s been taking care of her very well. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?” Nora asked Regina, rubbing behind her ears as she came bounding back. Nora noted she was looking to the other side of the yard.

Glancing over, Nora realized Viktor was stalking through the grass, aiming himself at the twins. “Augh. Viktor, get!” She shooed at him, but he turned and hissed at her before continuing to the twins. “He’s my sister’s cat. Don’t try to pet him, he bites.” Lola, who was staking a claim to the twins, growled at the cat... and then promptly got scared off as Viktor puffed up and sputtered back at her, waving a paw at her face. The dog hid behind the twins as Viktor advanced, then sat by Uriel, glaring at him in a manner most foul. “He’s such a bully. I love animals, but I loathe that cat.” Marilee was the only one he seemed to like, and when she was around he turned into an angelic being. But the moment she left, he was a raging ball of fury and claws.

She decided with Viktor so close she wouldn’t direct them to her chickens. Their run was in the corner of the yard caddy corner to the elm. “If I let my chickens out he’ll go after them. Stupid cat.” In all honesty, she really just wanted him to drop dead.

[Gabriel & Uriel Raines]

They followed her out, Gabriel having finally taken off Noralei's hat and leaving it inside - you never know, they could very well end up dirty if they decided to play wrestle with a dog - it happened with Royce all the time. Naturally, the last thing he wanted was to get Noralei's hat dirty.

As she led them outside, they were both practically shaking with joy. The moment Lola sat in front of them, they crouched down, hands all over her and any other animals that dared get to close to their loving, scratching, rubbing hands. At the introductions, both took Lola's right paw gently, shaking it as if introducing themselves before continuing to rub her ferociously.

Gabriel turned from Lola to Regina, so there was one twin rubbing each dog. "Aww, you're Guylan's? Well, look how wonderful he's been doing, you look happy and healthy as could be!" He cooed, grinning to the dalmatian. They'd also, of course, momentarily rubbed Zib when he was there, before he'd bolted off to Noralei, then a tree, then back to Noralei.

They loved them. They loved all the animals. Look at them! Maybe they should get another dog. A bigger dog! They were getting a baby, and while the twins were gone, they'd need something better than tired Merlin and excitable Royce. Although, both boys knew they would both be very protective should anything happen to their pack - Merlin and Royce could both take care of their own, always.

At Noralei's sudden disgusted noise and trying to shoo something away - Viktor - they looked at the cat that was glaring at Uriel, who almost immediately gasped. He rose, letting the cat smell of him before scooping his up rapidly and rubbing lovingly on an already-purring Viktor. "Lookatchoo! Lookitchuuu! You're so cute!" He cooed, scratching the cat in all of cats' favorite places to be scratched. Behind the ears, anywhere they can reach with their face, between the shoulder blades and all down the spine..

Gabriel rose, moving over to Uriel and Viktor, and cooing just like his twin, petting the cat. "How could you hate this little ball of fluff?! He's just so cute! Aww, listen to him purr..." It was obvious Noralei's choice in friends were complete and total softies. Obviously completely worthless except for showering love onto anything that was cute and fluffy.

At the mention of the chickens versus Viktor, Uriel piped in, "Oh, we can let him in.. or I can just hold him." He said, stroking the cat lovingly, Gabriel having gone back to rubbing and loving on Lola, as she was basically sitting on his feet.

[Noralei Harris]

Noralei watched with horror as Uriel scooped up the cat and held him, expecting a loud yowl and a flurry of claws and teeth that would end in disaster, bandages, and several gallons of hydrogen peroxide. Instead, Viktor began to purr loudly as the younger twin rubbed him down, resulting in a stare from Noralei that could be construed as murderous. “He’s not cute! He’s... evil.”Nora muttered, watching as the other twin joined in with the petting. Viktor didn’t seem to mind at all- in fact, it looked like he really was enjoying it, and not just spiting Nora. But that was just her being paranoid.

Considering the twins had a good handle on him, Nora decided to try her luck at petting him. Scooting over, she reached out and tentatively tried to brush her hand over the cat’s back. The result was Viktor turning to her and baring his teeth, hissing in a manner most foul. Once she withdrew her hand, he was back to purring happily. “I see how it is. Stupid cat.” She muttered, crossing her arms and glaring at him. He was like this with everyone outside her family- all her friends absolutely loved Viktor, no matter how much she tried to convince them that he was the psycho cat from hell.

However, at least with Uriel holding him she could get him inside without getting all scratched up, as usual. “Yeah, you put him in. I’ll go get my chickens.” She rounded up the dogs and herded them into the fenced off part of the yard that held Guylan’s play set, so they wouldn’t bother the chickens. They were content enough to lounge in there as Nora headed to the coop, peering in to see two of the three nestled in the top section. She cooed to them and smiled, and almost immediately clucking noises were issued back at her.

Opening the door in the top, Nora scooped up a chicken from inside, revealing it to be Lucy. “Oh, there’s my Lucy~!” She cooed, almost forgetting the twins as she sat her back on top of the box. She ran her hands over her back and checked her feet, then pulled her wings open carefully to check her feathers before petting her again and setting her on the ground. “C’mere Jude, stop fussing.” She muttered, pulled the squawking black and white hen from the box. She turned her head all around and, once she was satisfied, allowed herself to be checked over. “I’m making sure they aren’t pulling their feathers out or molting, that’s a sign that they’re stressed.” With that, she closed the trapdoor and then opened another larger door set into the chicken wire of the run. Under the hen house was Prudence. “Oh Pru, what’s wrong dear.” Nora asked, pulling her out from her hiding place to pet her. She was met with resistance and a lot of flapping, and she paused, waiting for her to calm down before extricating her.

Nora saw the reason for her hen’s discontent as soon as she moved her- she was sitting on an egg. “Oh Pru.” she muttered, pouting as she brushed her hand over the chicken’s back. “It’s not going to hatch, Pru. We’ve talked about this.” They did talk about it, frequently, even. She picked up the egg and gently placed it on top of the henhouse, nuzzling Prudence as she clucked in what seemed to be a forlorn manner. “Oh, my poor dear...” Once she sat Prudence down, she joined her sisters, all of whom were exploring the yard and pecking randomly at the dirt. “The brown one is Lucy, the black and white ribbed one is Jude, and the pure white one is my dear Prudence, who is distraught as usual. She can’t seem to understand her eggs won’t hatch, no matter how many times I tell her so.” She said, pulling open a feed bag sitting to the side, which was filled with crushed corn. It was only half full, but she was certain that her father had another bag in the garage.

Picking up a handful, she held her closed fist out to the twins. “You want to try feeding them? Jude will eat out of your hand, and I’m sure Lucy will after a bit. But Prudence is too skittish for it unless it’s me.” Prudence seemed to be the exception to everything. “They won’t peck you or anything, promise. Guylan feeds them all the time.”

[Gabriel & Uriel Raines]

At her saying he was evil - and not cute - both twins looked at her with risen, 'we don't believe you,' eyebrows. They continued rubbing lovingly on the warm, purring ball of fluff and happy. How could anyone think this adorable ball of cuteness be evil?! Look at him! He was adorable. They wondered if Royce would eat Viktor..

As Noralei came over and tried to pet Viktor, they both looked curiously at the cat before laughing at Nora's failure with her cat. Well, apparently Viktor could hold his own - and they were sure Royce was smart enough to avoid a hissing clawing biting ball of fur.

Merlin would just try to lick the cat to death, cleaning it and nuzzling it consistently.

Uriel went back to the door, easily keeping the cat in one arm as he opened the door with one hand. He set Viktor down gently into the house, before heading back outside and shutting the door behind him. He moved over Gabriel, who had followed the dogs, and was leaning over the fence, petting Lola, until the chickens were released, at least.

Watching her coo at Prudence, they both rose an eyebrow at each other. Noralei was just too cute. "Why don't you let them hatch their eggs? You'd have another chicken and Prudence might be a little more okay with giving up all her eggs for the nomification satisfaction of people." He was pretty proud of his word - nomification - but didn't dwell on it as food was held out for he and Uriel.

Uriel stood back, letting Gabriel moved forward and take the seed, him eagerly putting it into his hands. He crouched down, more onto the chickens' levels, and just held out his hand, waiting. Uriel just eyed the chickens suspiciously.

At being told they wouldn't bite, Gabriel laughed, Uriel speaking. "Oh believe me, animal boy over there wouldn't care if they did." He commented, watching as Jude toddled over almost immediately to begin pecking food bits from Gabriel's hands.

Gabriel believe that - especially for wild animals - if you wanted to befriend them, you let them know they wouldn't hurt you. Gabriel had once had a pet fox - he'd sat outside for almost an entire day, proving to the fox he wouldn't hurt the poor creature. Finally, at dusk, he'd offered a hand, slowly, to be smelled of. The fox had leaped forward and bitten him, and when Gabriel didn't react, the fox realized - this boy would take care of him. Gabriel introduced the fox to Uriel first, and then they smuggled it inside, determined to keep it a secret from their parents.

Their mom, having magical mom powers, knew by dinner.

But they were allowed to keep it,and the fox finished growing up covered in love, and trusting the twins - and only the twins. They day he'd died was very sad and traumatizing for both the poor boys, but naturally, they'd moved past it by now.

[Noralei Harris]

Gabriel’s question surprised Nora, and she blinked for a moment before realizing he probably didn’t realize that none of the chickens were male, despite Jude having a boy’s name. Either that or he didn’t understand chicken anatomy, which was perfectly fine- she just assumed someone who loved sciences as much as he did would understand avian reproduction better. “Without a rooster the eggs will never hatch. They aren’t fertilized.” She had a tough time understanding it when she was young too- she thought that all eggs had baby chickens inside. That was part of the reason she started becoming a vegetarian.

Giggling as Gabriel took the corn, she watched Jude rush over and push Lucy out of the way as she eagerly pecked her way through the corn. “Shoo her off if she doesn’t let Lucy in. She’s a bit bossy.” She took her own hand of corn and held it out to Prudence, who looked around before pecking erratically, as if she was expecting an ambush. But Nora sat slowly and cooed at her, watching her to make sure she was okay. Her eyes cut over to Jude and Lucy at regular intervals, making sure they played nice. A bark from Lola made Prudence scurry off, but after a few seconds she returned to Nora, stepping into her lap before nestling into it, clucking at random as Nora emptied her palm on the ground and began to pet her.

When Nora was younger she wasn’t nearly as determined as the twins when it came to animals. The only time she remembered wanting to keep a cat animal was when she was five or six- she let the dogs into the backyard and discovered a baby fawn in the other side of the enclosure, under the slide of the swing set. Apparently the gate blew open during the night, letting the fawn in, then blew closed. The mother was nearby- she could jump the fence, but her baby couldn’t. She tried to get the fawn to come out, but in the end she went and got her Dad, who called the police office. They called the humane society and they tranquilized it before taking it back into the woods.

Once Prudence was certain that no harm would come to Nora, she left the girl’s lap and joined her sisters, lingering behind as they finished the feed in Gabriel’s hand. Lucy turned around and saw Prudence, flapping her wings at her, and Jude followed suit. Lucy flapped back, and once they were all done flapping they seemed content enough to start clucking with each other. Nora leaned against the fence and the chickens wandered over to her, vying for her attention as they pecked at her clothes, looking for more food. “No more my dear, sorry.” She told Lucy, who was exploring the ground under Nora for any lost corn.

Turning back to the twins, Nora smiled brightly and gestured to her brood. “I don’t need any more chickens anyway. These lovely ladies are just fine.” Jude had discovered the wonderful wooden bead on Nora’s necklace and was pecking at one, Nora took it off and held it up so Jude could look at it better. When the other two saw it, they all gathered, standing at various places on Nora’s leg as they all took turns pecking at the necklace. Nora giggled. “Besides, they’re very easy to entertain.”

[Gabriel & Uriel Raines]

Gabriel periodically waggled an elbow at Jude, making sure they got a fair and even amount of feed. At her words, Uriel couldn't help but laugh, leaning against the fence near the dogs, one hand lingering down and petting whatever dog came closest. Of course Gabriel knew, and Gabriel's laughing rolling of his eyes admitted it from his own mouth.

"Of course, but why don't you get them a rooster? Satiate the matronly, womanly need in them!" He said with a chuckle. As Prudence came over, he watched the fluttering happen, and offered some seed to Prudence as she nudged her way in.

Once it was all gone, he rose, moving to stand next to Uriel, smiling at Noralei. At the mention of not needing anymore, he nodded, understanding. "Makes sense." "Poor girls.. just want to be mommies." Uriel added with a smirk.

As they saw that the chickens were easily distracted, both twins grinned, glancing at each other and exchanging a silent moment, before looking back to Noralei. Gabriel decided he wanted to share an interesting fact, though both twins started in unison.

"Did you know that.." "Did you know that.."

They both trailed off, all but glaring at each other as they chuckled it off. "You go ahead." Gabriel offered, Uriel shaking his head. "No, please, you go." Before he whispered softly, so only Gabriel and his excellent hearing could hear, "It's your subject anyways."

Gabriel nodded, smiling back to Noralei. "Did you know chickens have DNA in the nucleus of their red blood cells? And, to make that fact actually interesting, keep in mind that humans don't have nuclei in their red blood cells at all." He said, nodding intelligently.

Uriel nodded. "I remember having to do an essay on that once.. it was dreadful.." He mumbled, still eying the chickens warily as the clucked and clucked and pecked and wandered about Nora's feet.

[Noralei Harris]

“Oh.” A blush crept up to Nora’s face and she found herself looking down, embarrassed. She had misunderstood Gabriel entirely, and now she probably sounded like she was stuck up and was trying to make him sound stupid. She busied herself with checking the nests in the henhouse, discovering another egg in Lucy’s nest to sit up next to Prudence’s. Making sure there was enough water in their run and some feed in their try, she closed it up again and worried her lip. “I just... I don’t know.” She wasn’t sure why she didn’t get a rooster- she supposed it was selfish of her not to, keeping them all secluded like that. But she had all the girls since they were chicks, and only Prudence seemed interested in being matronly. The others were just interested in being fed and preening themselves.

As the two of them started in, Nora looked up from her chickens and waited expectantly, looking back to Lucy, who was pulling the necklace from her, as they figured out who was going to talk. Once Gabriel spoke up again, Nora listened, her eyes bright with curiosity. “I didn’t know that.” She said, nodding appreciatively at the fact. “That’s rather strange. Do you know why?” She was always willing to learn more things about chickens- most of the things she did know were about slaughterhouses, and therefore the topic was not for polite conversation.

Nora glanced to the side and picked up Jude, who was flapping angrily at Prudence, and frowned at her, deciding it was time for her to go back in. she put the necklace back on and scooped up the squawking chicken. “Jude, there’s no excuse for meanness.” She muttered, putting the chicken away as she remembered a fact to rival Gabriel’s that was appropriate for the current topic. “Did you know that the chicken is the closest living relative to a T-Rex?” She told Guylan that and for days he would chase them around the yard yelling ‘Chickasaurus!’, a habit Nora had to make him stop after Lucy got tangled in the fence trying to run away from him.

Once Jude was in their pen, the other two birds seemed to want to join her, so Nora put all three of them back. “I can’t keep them out too long with the dogs in the side yard, or else they all start acting up.” Nora let the chickens rest in their run for a moment and get adjusted again before letting the dogs into the yard. Lola raced for Uriel immediately, butting at his legs to signify she wanted petted at that very moment, whereas Regina and Zib languidly made their way to the back door and sat by it. She waited for Lola to be satisfied before opening the door, letting the dogs in.

“Zib can’t be out too long either, not with all that fur.” He needed a haircut and a bath- she’d put that on her to-do list. Regina and Zib bounded up the stairs, the former probably to go sit in Guylan’s room while the other to get a nap on the foot of her parent’s bed. Lola went into the laundry room and Nora had to race in behind her and pull her out- she had a nasty habit of sleeping on top of the dirty clothes. “Ah, no. You know better.” She directed the dog back to the living room, where she hopped onto the armchair instead, huffing at her owner.

Nora paused at the back door, unsure of what to do. Did they want to lounge outside, or come in? She didn’t want to come across as pushy. “Uhm, anything else you two want to look at out here, or...?”

[Gabriel & Uriel Raines]

Gabriel backpeddled. "Oh! Oh no, I just mean, if you don't want anymore chickens, that's fine! I was just wondering if it would help make her happier." Great. Way to screw up Gabriel. Uriel smirked, shaking his head slightly.

At her asking if they knew why, they both looked at each other. They.. they didn't. "Something.. about their development." Uriel half-made up, shrugging a little. At her little tidbit about the chickens and dinosaurs, they both grinned, pleased.

"It's true! It's because they have this certain bone that only T-rexs had, and they have no proof it developed separately in the chain downwards, therefore, they have no proof they're not, therefore, they are for now." "Also, Uriel started, wanting to feel smart. "They discovered this bone in a huuuuge dinosaur that we thought for the longest time only walked, because it's shaped much like a triceratops - sort of - but they found this bone that means it flew."

A flying triceratops. What? But Gabriel nodded, confirming it. "Not precisely a triceratops shape, but yes, that's it." He said, patting Uriel lovingly on the head, Uriel beaming, before batting away Gabriel's hand with a laugh.

Once the dogs were released, the twins rubbed any dog that got too close. At the knowledge of the fur and the heat, all of it being too warm for the dog, they nodded understandably. As they wandered in behind Noralei and the troupe of dogs, they chuckled at the chastising, and stuck their tongues out at the dogs.

"We're good. Inside, to the popcorn and drinks and Across the Universe!" Gabriel cried with a valiant arm, striking a pose, Uriel pushing him over. Gabriel stumbled a little, but caught himself, coming up from behind Nora, grabbing her - gently - by the shoulders - and guiding her back towards the kitchen. "Now! Where were we?" He asked with a smile, making sure to shut the door once all the dogs were inside, and all three people.

[Noralei Harris]

With wide eyes Nora listened to the twin’s story of a flying dinosaur, nodding as her facial expression transformed to an look one would see on the face of an elementary school aged child. Her eyebrows shot up and she tilted her head slightly to the side, her eyes getting a faraway look in them as she tried to picture a flying triceratops. She couldn’t picture it, and perhaps that was a good thing. That sounded like the stuff of nightmares. She had insomnia for weeks after watching Jurassic Park as a child- she was terrified Velociraptors were going to open her door and eat her in her sleep. She ended up crawling into bed with her sister, who would complain about it all the next day.

But Guylan would certainly enjoy hearing about it, so she logged it away to tell him later. He’d probably spaz about it, and she had a feeling dinosaur toys would be thrown into the backyard to test the theory. She’d have to make sure his window screen was in before she told him.

Snickering as Gabriel patted Uriel’s head; Nora couldn’t help but admire the twins and their close bond. She was never like that with her sister- they tolerated each other and were nice to each other, of course, but they never said things in tandem or finished each other’s sentences and thoughts. Marilee’s kindest act to her was painting her fingernails and plucking her eyebrows. In return, Nora would let her sneak out without telling her parents and would unlock the door for her when she was locked out of the house.

Getting steered through the house made Nora laugh and she weaved back and forth, grinning as she directed his steering into the kitchen. “Popcorn, drinks...” She chimed, scooping the popcorn box up off the table before looking at the box and noting it was kettle corn, not the buttered kind. “Oops, hang on.” She opted for the sweet version rather than salty and pulled out a bag for herself before pulling the second popcorn box from the pantry- the buttered and salted kind. “Just pop it in the microwave and press that spiffy looking popcorn button and it’ll be fine.” She informed them before opening the refrigerator. Her slushie had melted on the table, since she had accidentally left it in the sunlight. Pulling out a bottle of lemonade flavored vitamin water she sat her choice of drink on the table before dumping the slushie cup down the sink. There was only a little bit left anyway, so she didn’t feel too bad about wasting it.

“There’s soda in the fridge, vitamin water, milk, Kool-aid...” She offered while bringing two of the large plastic bowls out of the cupboard, offering one to the twins so they could add M&Ms to their popcorn.