firstofitskind | MHA #6, Sunday Evening

MHA #6, Sunday Evening

The last two days in the Kincaid-Price household had been, uh, interesting. First and most obviously, there was the appearance of some animal but not actually animal visitors. There had been Kestrel, of course, and then there'd been who had shown up claiming to belong to Verity:

"Jack."

"Your name is Jack."

"Yup"

"Jack the jackalope?"

"Yup."

The talking part of which wasn't even as startling as it might be for most. And that was because of the mice. Which led to the other really interesting thing: once they'd figured out that these animals- daemons- were in fact extensions of human souls, two schools of thought had immediately formed: those that believed the new arrivals needed to have names bestowed upon them so they could be properly worked into the canon, and those who believed that, as part of their gods, they were already covered, namewise.

That the daemons would likely disappear either tomorrow or in a few days, as is typical with Fandom, Did Not Matter, as it had been pointed out that They Have Always Been There, You Just Did Not Know It. Therefore, they would continue to exist once they've disappeared.

"For does NOT the Pilgrim Priestess search high and low for he God of Empty Rooms and Cold Regrets with no sign of him nor proof he still lives? Is not our entire life based around the faith of That Which We Feel But Can Not See?" remarked one of the acolytes early on in the discussion.

So that was the background noise as Liam (and Kestrel, who wasn't really much help per se but had Opinions) was in the kitchen, preparing some Ginataang Talong with some Deep Fried Cauliflower on the side. The eggplant had finished simmering and now it was just a matter of waiting for the deep fryer to finish as they waited for their guests.

[ooc: for thems that live here or are coming for dinner!]

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"Come on," Liam said, gesturing for... everyone... to follow him down the hall. "I'll show you to their room." He stopped in front of a door, behind which could be heard several high-pitched voices raised in feverish debate.

Rapping on the door sharply, he waited a moment before pushing it open. The sight there was certainly something to behold. There was, of course, the Barbie Dream House that had been converted for their use, and in one corner there was a Nintendo Switch and a pile of games. And in the center of the room were currently two overturned empty Kleenex boxes, each with a mouse dressed in scraps of fabric and adorned with beads, feathers, and other tiny knicknacks perched on top. Behind each box stood even more mice, perhaps a dozen or so on each side. At the sound of the door creaking open all of those voices had stopped, and approximately three-dozen sets of beady inkdrop eyes swiveled to look at whoever was daring to interrupt them this time.

"Go ahead, Kailani," Jo said politely, holding back because mice tended to be nervous around her for some reason.

"Oh, I'd sorta hoped that was the wine and not real," Danny admitted faintly.

Kailani cleared her throat for some reason. "I've brought you a rock," she said, holding it out to just...the center of the room, not wishing to accidentally insult a leader by not picking them out immediately. "With our gratitude for being invited to your home."

Steve shrugged at Danny.

A long moment of silence, punctuated by more of that ink-drop blinking.

And then a chorus-swell of "HAIL!" from about three dozen tiny voices. More hails followed, though these were more individual cheers.

"HAIL THE ROCK!"

"Hail the Gift of Stone!"

"HAIL TO THE FEAST OF GRATITUDE!"

"They like it," Verity said. Helpfully.

Liam privately hoped they weren't going to expect someone to bring a rock every time they visited now.

"Guys," he said. "These are our guests for the evening. Danny and Jo," he nodded to the pair in question. "And Steve and-" he stopped, realizing he didn't actually know the otter's name.

"Kailani," Danny supplied helpfully. "It's Hawaiian, of course."

He sort of made is sound grudgingly fond.

"It means 'sea and sky,'" Steve added with a grin. "Very Navy SEAL without being a seal."

"I'm much more portable," Kailani said, grooming herself.

A mouse in a headdress made with a lot of spangly feathers made its way over to the assembled group. "Hail!" she cried. "Praise and Welcome to the Guests of the Arboreal Priestess and the God of Distant Stars!"

"HAIL!" cried the congregation.

"Praise and Welcome to the Divine Selves of those Guests!" she cried, bowing to Jo and Kailani.

"HAIL!" the rest cheered.

Some of those 'hails', Liam noticed, were maybe a little grudging. Clearly they were coming from those who'd been on the losing side of the debate.

Still, maybe the fact that they'd apparently reached a conclusion meant dinner would be a reasonably quiet affair?

(He doubted that, somehow.)

"I have cheese and cake in return for bringing guests into our home," Liam said, placing said cheese and cake in front of the congregation.

"HAIL!"

"HAIL THE BRIBE!"

Yeah, the mice knew what Liam was about.

"And, I guess some cookies," Danny added like this was the weirdest thing in his life. Because it was. It was.

"Hail the cookies," Steve said teasingly.

"HAIL!" All the mice were enthusiastic now.

"Look what you did," Verity teased. "That's one of their favorite things."

Several of the mice had started an impromptu dance recital with the cookies. 'Dance' was an important ritual in the worship of the Arboreal Priestess, after all.

She raised her voice to be heard over the joy. "Jo and Kailani are guests," she reminded. "And no harm will come to them under our roof."

"Hail to the Divine Predators!"
"Hail to the Bringer of Cookies!"

...Oh no. Danny had an epithet now.

At least there was no firespinning with this dance?

... Because Liam had hid the matches sometime around mid-morning yesterday, when the theological arguments had started to really ramp up.

"Awww, look at you, making friends with our mice," Liam teased Danny.

"Oh, this is gonna be a thing here, isn't it?" Danny said, sighing. He'd totally give them more cookies for the holidays, though.

Jo laughed at him like the cruel kitty she was.

"Totally a thing," Steve said with all the false sympathy. "Sorry, Danny."

"Absolutely a thing," Verity confirmed. "And will be passed down through Aeslin generations."

She'd mentioned that Aeslin never forgot anything, hadn't she?

Edited 2020-10-05 02:04 (UTC)

"... Did she mention that they never forget anything?" Liam said, making her narrative text.

You were basically obligated to keep them in cookies, now, Danny. Obligated!

"Ahem," came the sound of a throat clearing from... Liam's forearm. "You've forgotten to introduce me."

"Sorry," Liam did have the grace to look a little sheepish at that. "This is Kestrel," he said, for... Steve's benefit, really, since Danny had met her yesterday. "Jack's around here somewhere..." he frowned, looking back into the hallway for the jackalope.

"Hello again, Kestrel," Jo purred, looking around for whoever Jack may be as she brushed up against Kailani's side.

Steve did not jump. He just went very alert for a moment--and so did Kailani.

"Aloha, Kestrel," he said.

Edited 2020-10-05 02:28 (UTC)

"Jack is a jackalope," Verity explained with a sigh. "I didn't name him."

"The name Jack has belonged to heroes and tricksters of old," said a voice from the door as the antlered hare hopped through. "It is a fine and noble name and requires no apology."

"Jackalope," Verity said, throwing her hands above her head.

The mice immediately began whispering amongst themselves again.

"She's a little salty about the name," Liam stage-whispered. While also kind of absurdly grateful that the focus was momentarily shifted from him and his very-much-not-from-Earth daemon.

Edited 2020-10-05 03:59 (UTC)

"It's a nice name," Danny put out there. He wasnt supressing a grin at Jack the Jackalope at all. Honest.

"It is," Steve agreed, definitely grinning about Jack the Jackalope.

Verity just glared. "I see you, McGarrett," she muttered. "Jack, whack him in the ankle."

Jack just ran a paw over his ear. "No," he decided. "I also want a rock. Or a cookie."

"You'll spoil your supper if you have a cookie," Liam chided.

Did jackalopes care for Filipino food? He had no idea. "Don't suppose you've got another rock on you?" he asked Kailani.

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