Sleeping on the job

Rosie had fallen asleep at the kitchen table, and in her place a five year old was half curled up on the chair breathing easily. She looked so cute and innocent as she simply slept there in "dream world". In reality, Rosie was up in Valhalla visiting her lover while her body stayed down below and simply looked innocent and childlike.

((anyone can join and find her.))

"Hellooo...?"
A faint voice could be heard around the corridor, almost ghost-like. Despite living in the academy for a while now, it was still unnerving to navigate his way around. Every corridor seemed to look the same as the one before - it was impossible telling what was there.

He came across a room to see a shape snuggled up on the chair. Unable to resist the urge of curiousity, he tiptoed towards it tentatively. Upon seeing the young, childlike face, he giggled. "Awww, you're cute," he smiled. Peering around to see if anyone was there, he wondered if he'd be allowed to touch the child. Hesitating, he poked the child in the side, before dashing behind the table, peering over it to see her reaction.

The small body shifted, gave a whine and turned away, her bright eyes looked around and she began to cry. The adult Rosie had been in a very close discussion with her deceased husband, and had suddenly been forced to be awake. she hadn't even realized that she had fallen asleep, but now... now....


The girl tried to stop crying, she couldn't help but to be upset... She tried to look around for what had so suddenly woken her up.

As the girl began to cry, Lunie gasped in horror. "Oh no! I'm sorry! Don't cry, I'm very sorry!" he panicked, jumping immediately to her side. "Did I woke you? I'm sorry!" he apologized profusely, not knowing whether the girl would understand him much.

Overlooking her with wide eyes, he wondered who she might've belonged to. After all, she was unattended. In an attempt to soothe her, he raised a furry finger and tried to softly tickle her sides. "See! Is all okay," he assured her.

The girl peered at him with blind looking eyes as she had tried to wipe them while she was crying, she vaguely could make out what the boy was saying, but she had a slight ringing in her ears from coming back far faster than she was used to. She stared at him with those blind eyes as children do when their confused and trying to figure everything out.

When the furry fingers tickled her sides she let out a scream and fell to the ground off the chair. "OH NO THERE REALLY IS A TICKLE MONSTER!" She started to giggle though and ran over to the pantry to run from the pantry trying to see if he would actually follow her and play the game. Her eyes were bright and she moved well enough that someone could assume that she wasn't blind at all. She just let out another giggle watching him.

At first, Lunie was discouraged at her initial fear - had he really frightened her that much? Just as he was about to splutter another onslaught of apologies, he heard a giggle, and immediately smiled in relief. Was this an invitation to a game? He loved games, not to mention he was rather confident in his ability to chase.

Dropping down to all fours, he crawled against the surface of the floor, towards the direction of the girl. "I'm gonna get you...!" he teased, giggling. Upon seeing her, he made a small pounce for her, his arms outstretched.

The girl tried to get away, but he had her. She was giggling, "OH NO THE TICKLE MONSTER HAS ME!!!" she giggled trying to get away from him, but not really trying hard enough.

The girl was squirming giggling gently, "Nooooo he's going to get me!!!!!" she was laughing hard, almost ready to start coughing because she was laughing so hard.

Being called a 'monster' brought back a few unpleasant memories, but he brushed them out of mind for something far more entertaining. He was relentless with his tickling: under her arms, beneath her chin, and at her sides. "I got yooou!" he laughed.

Seeing as she was just about to run out of breath, he stopped, looking over her. "Hehe..." he panted, relaxing himself. "You're fun," he smiled, sitting onto his knees. "Want to do it again?"

"bye bye tickle friend." the girl giggled as a light wrapped around her, suddenly a much older version of the girl was there laying where the small child had been, "uhh... hello umm... 'tickle friend'..." she gave a small smile up at him. She was blushing slightly, she hadn't meant for him to see this side of her. "I ... um.... are you... uh... hungry?" she asked slowly getting herself up.

Bye? He looked baffled, tilting his head. He hadn't wanted her to go yet, he had only just met her. He didn't even know her name! Shielding his eyes from the light, he peered tentatively to find an older woman where the girl had been before. "...Huh?" he squeaked, peering closely at her. He wasn't sure what had just happened, but this woman seemed to have an air of familiarity with her.

"Tickle friend..." he echoed quietly. Pausing, he looked up at her. "Where did the little girl go?" he asked, still trying to wrap his head around the situation. There was a light, and then she was suddenly replaced. At her latter question, he smiled shyly. "I'm not very hungry," he admitted. "But thank you!"

"She's right here... all grown up..." the woman said looking over Lunie. "Thank you for playing along with me... I really appreciate it when people take kindly to me when I'm a child," she stated.

She moved over to the sink and washed her hands slowly, looking down at them, contemplating the body she was in. She didn't want to go on like this. It was the same thing over and over and over, the same story, the same types of people, the same heart break. She refused to let herself get emotionally attached this time, but then the image of Ndale came waltzing through her mind, and she realized it was too late, especially since she had fallen in love with probably the shortest lived creature of any that would actually make its way in as a student or teacher.

She gave another sigh and looked over at Lunie, "Are you sure hun? I thought I heard your stomach growling, and I'm the cook after all, so it would be no trouble at all making you some sort of meal..."

Lunie looked around, finding no sign of the young girl. "All.. grown... up?" he repeated, peering up at at Rosie, then suddenly realising. "How do you do that? Is it magic?! Wow, there is so many magics here!" he exclaimed, still staring. Breaking into a sheepish giggle, he looked away, embarassed, generally not used to adult attention.

Following closely behind her, he heard a slight sigh from her, and he looked up worriedly. "Aaisen oos? Are you okay?" he said, accidently letting his native tongue slip. At her question, he gave atentative smile. "I'm okay, I not really hungry." As he said this, his stomach let out a quiet gurgle, much like a disappointed monster. Giggling nervously, he looked away. Hunger was a feeling he had become accustomed to shrugging away, so he felt rather awkward under her glance. "Thank you anyway!"

"It's not exactly something I enjoy doing..." she answered natively to him, not bothering with English at this point, she really didn't feel like talking in English, she really didn't think many people spoke this particular language and so she decided it was best to speak like this if she were to talk about anything remotely close to her past present or possible future.

"I don't care what your mind is saying, you shouldn't deprive yourself of food, you'll probably feel like you have more energy if you allow me to help put you on a proper diet." she offered, she didn't like letting anyone who she was taking care of in any way shape or form walk away hungry.

"You can speak it!" he gasped, returning to his native tongue. Shock was clearly written on his face - his eyes were wide, his ears were straight up and his jaw gaped open. Of course, there were valid reasons behind this shock, the most prominent being the fact that she was a human that knew the language of Feluis. There was also the fact he hadn't heard that language spoken in so many years - even his own species had resorted to English. "I can't believe it, you know it! You speak it! It's been so many years, and..."

Blinking, he realised that she had continued to speak. He hung his head guiltily, but even then he couldn't help but feel that the food should be preserved for others that needed it more. "I'm very sorry! I don't want to use your supplies though, but I may eat some if it would make you happy!" He bowed down towards her, regarding her almost royally.

"My friends never leave my presence hungry. I would be most pleased if you would eat with me. The supplies are here to feed you and the other students, and there is more than enough here. There is enough to feed two small armies on top of the whole of Japan." She laughed. The language seemed to be spoken so naturally from her human body. She gave a smile to him, her eyes seemed light and airy, but she was holding something back as she did with all her acquaintances.

He didn't know where or what Japan was, but Lunie was simply overjoyed at Rosie's kind offer, as well as her extraordinary language skills. It had been too long since he'd heard words like them... "Yes! I'll eat anything that you'd be inclined to prepare, if it pleases you" he drawled, still bowing his head down. Hesitating, he added, "But not corpses. Please, I do not want to eat the dead!" He knew there were others that did it, and it baffled him completely. How could someone devour another body without feeling guilt or shame? It was barbaric.

He smiled back, uncertainly yet rather flattered by her presence. His eyes became distracted as he peered towards all the cupboards and sinks and tools. "...What would you make?" he asked, his head spinning from all the choices.

"How about you tell me what your most favorite food in the world is and I will do my best to make it." She said gently to him, she sounded mother-like to him, and yet she sounded distant, like she didn't want to get attached to him. She walked to the sink and began to wash her hands to ensure that his food was prepared properly and safely. She didn't want to make him, or anyone else sick. Rosie smiled over her shoulder at him.

At her suggestion, Lunie stared into space, chin resting on a raised arm, as if asked the most perplexing conundrum of the century. His favourite food in the world?! How would he know until he'd tried all the food in the world? It was a tricky question indeed. "I, uhh..." He peered around the room, hoping for some sort of clue. He tried to remember back to foods he used to eat, but all he could recall was scrounging the forest floor for precious edibles and picking the occaisonal apple. He remembered raking through bins of the streets, gagging from the awful stench of leftover bodies.

Blinking away the horrid memories, he thought of a time when his mother would lovingly prepare a meal for him each morning. He smiled hopefully. "Lettuce!" he chirped excitedly. "With... With honey. Please! Honey is so good and sweet!" Despite the rather meager meal, the feluis seemed overexcited to try it, obviously not accustumed to the culinary heights reached in the kitchen.

Rosie gave a smile, and began to prepare his "salad" for him, "Do you want anything like chicken or something like that on your salad?" She asked as she began to put a decent amount of lettuce into a good sized bowl. She certainly didn't want him to be hungry at all.

Lunie began to giggle at her offer, almost as if she just cracked a joke. A chicken! On his salad? It was a humerous image indeed, and a rather strange one too. He couldn't imagine why the chef would want to place poultry on his dinner, but the feluis was fond of chickens, and especially their rather colourful feathers that he'd use in crafting his costumes. Plus they didn't run very fast when he'd try to catch them.

"Yes," he smiled. "A chicken! On my lettuce! That would be most outrageous, but lots of fun!"