thenearshore | [catch-all] place your past into a book

[ Perhaps this isn’t the best possible introduction to prayers this incarnation of Minerva’s ever had, nor is it the most appealing. But when a prayer went out for a sitter for a pair of fussy nine-month-old twin girls, Tatara couldn’t help but volunteer -- and he’s dragged Sakon along with him.

It’d sounded fine enough at first! Sure, he’s an only child with no experience with children who can’t yet form sentences or walk independently, but how hard could it be?

...A bit more so than he’d initially planned for, it turns out, as both girls are bereft from the moment goodbye kisses are given and that front door closes behind the quickly-fleeing parents. Oh my. Screaming babies are most definitely not a sound he’s used to -- especially with the shrill, ear-piercing wail these two seem to have. At this rate, he’ll be tone deaf before the night’s over! Wincing at the noise, he asks: ]

I vote we divide and conquer -- one for each of us. Deal?

Huh??

[Sakon looks at Tatara in distress, barely able to hear him over the screaming. Deal? What deal? Run and never look back?]

I can't hear you! They're really loud!

[He's kind of impressed, to be honest. That's a big sound to come out of something so small.]

[ Running and never looking back would definitely be the Ideal, perhaps, at this rate. Unfortunately, they kinda signed on for this, and... welp.

Tatara moves to one of the screaming girls and plucks her gingerly from the floor, planting her on his hip, bouncing gently and shushing while stroking her pigtailed hair. He’s hoping to lead by example, here, gesturing discreetly to Sakon. ]

Uh.

[He's supposed to pick one up?! They're so little! What if he drops her?!

Well...actually, things can't really get worse, so he might as well try. He manages to grab the other girl under her arms and hoist her up, which just causes more screaming.]

OH NO! WHY ARE YOU SO SAD?!

[Because that's going to get answered...]

[ ...Okay someone please make sure Sakon never has children. Please. His bellowed concern not only further upsets the twin he holds, but the one on Tatara’s hip as well, who had only just started to calm.

But! It’s fine. This is fine, everything is fine. Everyone makes innocent mistakes like this, right? It’s a quick fix. A simple lesson: ]

Shh... [ he smooths back his little girl’s hair, bouncing her as he sidles up next to Sakon to provide an example. ] Hold her like this, nice and close, and talk to her in a quiet voice.

[ Yeah, like the one the shinki can probably hear over all this wailing. ]

They’re just sad because their parents are gone. It’ll all be over soon!

[ ...He hopes. ]

Right...quiet...

[At least he thinks that's what he heard Tatara say.

He tries snuggling the baby and rocking her, but nothing seems to work. The poor little thing. It tears at his heart that she's so sad, even as it tears at his eardrums.]

It's okay. They're gonna come back, I promise...it's okay...don't cry...I'm gonna cry...

[He really is.]

[ Amazingly, Sakon seems he's a pretty quick study. He's not nearly as bad at this as Tatara had momentarily feared, taking to rocking his little girl, snuggling her close without any further guidance.

Unfortunately, that doesn't prove too effective.

But oh gods no, please don't let him start crying, too! Tatara ca n only console so many at once! He sidles up alongside his taller shinki, hoping that reuniting the twin girls, (at least in part), will aid in their comfort.

It doesn't work. At least, not initially. But as the god turns his head to try and talk to Sakon's twin, his own spies something shiny poking out from his shaggy, wispy hair and grabs without a modicum of strength control.

...It's Tatara's cartilage piercing.

For a moment, his face goes pure white from the pain. Whimpering, then, in effort not to simply scream: ]

Sakon... p-please help...!

Wha--?!

[Sakon looks back and forth between Tatara and the little girls, trying to figure out just what he can do about this. He doesn't have enough hands for this!]

Uhhh...

[This is kind of an emergency situation. No time for thinking! Gotta do something!

He sets the little girl he's holding down on the floor, which just off the screaming again, but at least it frees his hands up. He carefully lifts the other girl out of Tatara's arms, which doesn't make her stop tugging on the piercing, but it at least changes the angle.]

C'mon, let go... I'll give you candy! We can go get candy!

[ Actually, Sakon’s instinctive response helps considerably. At least with him taking over the little girl in Tatara’s arms, that frees up a hand to try and g e n t l y pry her adorable, teeny-tiny iron fist off of his silver earring.

Which eventually does happen, thank every deity ever. The god takes a moment to simply breathe again after that, running his fingers over the piercing, checking for blood. Nothing? Good. ]

Let’s... try this again, shall we?

[ A sheepish laugh, and he plucks the now-wailing little girl Sakon had set down a moment ago off the floor, cuddling her close.

...On the other side. The one without the exciting, tempting shiny hoop. As he bounces her a bit, shushing intermittently, he speaks a little louder than usual to ensure his shinki can hear him. ]

There should be toys somewhere nearby. Do you see any?

Toys...toys...

[Sakon keeps bouncing the little girl he's' holding as he looks around the room. There's definitely stuff everywhere, but whether that's because the girls were playing with it or because their parents didn't bother to clean anything up before they bolted is anyone's guess. Eventually, he spots what seems to be a stuffed rabbit (pink, rather worse for wear, and suspiciously damp) lying on the floor. He leans down carefully to pick it up, trying not to drop the girl, then holds it up for her.

And she immediately tries to bat it out of his hand, fussing loudly.]

No?? Uh...

[He holds it out hopefully to the twin Tatara is holding.]

[ Okay so, that doesn’t seem to be working at all. Strike two; but they’re not defeated yet! ]

Hmm... [ A thoughtful pause. Though, how he’s able to concentrate with all this wailing is nothing short of astonishing. ] Ah! They have snacks, don’t they?

[ Some sort of thin, wafer-like animal crackers, if he recalls. Though he hadn’t wanted to make a mess of their poor kitchen, he decides drastic measures might be in order and -- little girl in tow right on his hip -- delves far enough in to retrieve a plastic-wrapped tube of the treats. ]

See if she’ll take this. [ He suggests, inching one out for Sakon. He’ll try with his own twin as well. ]

Oh hey, cookies!

[He takes the cracker and holds it out to the little girl, who grabs it and shoves it into her mouth, mercifully stopping all the noise. Sakon beams and turns her towards Tatara so he can see.]

It looks like she likes them! [He looks back at her.] Is it that good? Should big brother eat one?

[ And now Tatara knows where the phrase “silence is golden” comes from:

It’s this. This right here.

He knows the moment the wailing stops, (even if his ears are still ringing a bit from it), and sighs in no small or discreet fashion as the two girls promptly mash the cookies into their respective mouths, silencing themselves. It’s as though the heavens just opened up, and a choir of angels started in in full-blown Hallelujah Chorus. Tatara’s even afforded the moment to laugh a bit at Sakon’s enthusiasm, though the question leaves him fixing his shinki with a nervous look.

He hates to be a party-pooper here, but... there’s a quiet shake of his head. ]

We should probably leave as many as we can for these two. [ But if they make it out of this unscathed, he’s absolutely okay with taking Sakon out to dinner as a reward. ]

Aw.

[Sakon pouts a little bit at that, disappointed.]

I guess you get all the cookies, Your Highness.

[He bounces the little girl, who is still finding cookie crumbs to shove in her mouth. Since she's not screaming (for once), he takes the opportunity to back up to the couch and flop down on it. Which probably leaves more crumbs on the cushions than anyone would like, but it's probably something these kids' parents are used to by now, so...]

So we keep feeding them cookies until they fall asleep?

Sorry, sorry... [ He says with a sheepish laugh. Tatara hates to rain on his shinki’s parade; especially knowing how much food Sakon can pack away. ]

When it’s all over, I’ll make it up to you, I promise. [ Mainly because he hadn’t planned on both of them losing their hearing today, but also because the temptation for a shinki to sneak in even just one cookie has got to be something fierce.

Of course, they don’t look all that appetizing from Tatara’s angle, where his little girl has just freshly changed hands with her treat to grasp onto his shirt, smearing a veritable drool-and-cookie-pâté all over white fabric. Lovely. At that, he sighs a little, but continues right along with keeping her planted on his hip nevertheless. ]

That’s one way to go about it.

[ And a preferable one, given the silence they still exist in now. ]

I think it’s fine, if it works!

[Sakon grins and puts his feet up on the coffee table, settling in and making himself comfortable. Now that the little girl (now happily leaving cookie crumbs all over his lap) isn't screaming, life is good. He pats her on the head and she actually doesn't seem to mind.]

Did you hear that? He's gonna make it up to me! What should I get, huh?

[He bounces her and she giggles, but no answer is forthcoming.]

[ When they’re not screaming, the two girls are actually quite cute -- even with cookie-mud caked around their lips. Tatara might be finding himself growing relatively attached. ]

Mmm... that’s good, isn’t it? Would you like another? [ Then he gasps, playfully exaggeratedly. ] I have an idea! Let’s take the whole bag, and go see your sister!

[ Setting the bag between them, he sits next to Sakon. ]

They say ‘a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’, but apparently that applies to children as well.

[ He comments, idly toying with his little girl’s pigtails. ]

[Sakon looks at the bag out of the corner of his eye, but no! Willpower! Willpower, Sakon!]

Yeah? You know, you feed me an awful lot. After my heart?

[He grins at Tatara, then looks back down at the little girl he's holding.]

Is big brother ready to be a bride? What's he gonna do?

[ Well, he feeds Sakon because shinki are always hungry, and this one in particular seems to appreciate his cooking both openly and thoroughly, but...

Sure. He’ll play along, just for fun. ]

And~? Would that be a bad thing?

[ He’s never been “after a heart” in his life, but Tatara’s not above some harmless flirting. Especially not while he bounces his little girl on a knee briefly, just to see her smile, and then kisses her forehead. They’re cute when they’re not deafening! ]

Nope! Somebody's gotta make an honest man of me someday!

[He laughs, clearly enjoying himself. And the best part of it is that Tatara seems to be enjoying himself, too. That's really the most important part. They've both had a rough time of it lately, but Sakon's more worried about how Tatara is holding together than his own problems. He'll get by, but it's his job to make sure Tatara does, as far as he's concerned, both as a shinki and as a friend.]

[catch-all] place your past into a book

July 22nd, afternoon; Prayer 39

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