A/N - This story came about because a friend and I had a crack conversation about a comic and decided to jump in with some fantrolls. It was started in September 2011, not too long before the 'Cascade' update to Homestuck, so anything that happened or was revealed in the comic after that point that might refute anything in this story does not apply. We did the best with what we had at the time, simple as that. Also, this is slightly AU to some extent so please just try to ignore the super crack-ish parts and enjoy.

~Anica

Things were calm around the manor, as was expected of such a lazy late afternoon. Doc Scratch was in the kitchen making dinner for the three small trolls he was raising. Two young mutant girls and a Highblood boy, none of whom got along very well due to differing personalities. Yet for now they were leaving one another alone, thankfully. Rekera was curled up on the couch in the living room playing some game on a handheld system he had gotten for her after much begging, Illana was presumably in her room staying out of the way of the other two and Rinkou was playing with his small winged snake, a creature he had affectionately dubbed Emil.

Such a peace was not to last, however, as Rinkou left his bedroom and wandered downstairs into the living room. Spotting the black blooded girl he meandered over to the couch and flopped down on the other end of it, staring at her for a few seconds before speaking.

"What'cha doin Rekera?" He asked in an inquisitive tone, moving closer to try and see what game she was playing.

"Nothing." Came the halfhearted reply, the girl too lost in her game to care about what the boy wanted.

"Really? Come on, I'm bored." Rinkou picked up a pillow and tossed it at her with a laugh, hoping she would put the game down and play with him.

"Hey. Leave me alone!" Rekera tossed the pillow back at him and tried to refocus on her game, but that proved difficult as Rinkou smacked her with the pillow.

"But I'm bored and Doc isss busssy making dinner ssso he won't play with me." He hissed, smacking her again in hopes of knocking the system out of her hands and forcing her to take action.

"Ow! Stop it!" Rekera snarled, trying to reach for the pillow only to sink back into her original position as Rinkou pulled it away from her.

"H-Hey...P-Please don't fight..." Illana stood in the hallway that led to the upstairs, hugging her turtle plushie tightly as she watched the two.

"We're not fighting, we're playing." Rinkou said with a laugh as he gently tossed the pillow at Illana.

Glad that she was no longer involved in the 'fight' Rekera went back to her game, ignoring the shy troll as she moved away to avoid being hit with the pillow that had been thrown at her. It wasn't her place to get involved, and if Illana didn't stand up for herself Rinkou would just keep bullying her.

"Awww, you two are no fun." Rinkou pouted as he crossed his arms and looked out the window at the green city beyond. It was all the three had ever known, even being nearly three solar sweeps old, and their home world of Alternia sat in the distance as a giant gray blob that always seemed to raise curiosity in the young male troll.

Doc Scratch had told them some things about Alternia before when they had asked, and it was enough for Rinkou to put together that the two girls were not normal and probably would not have survived long if they had been left on the planet. It made sense why Doc had taken them, then, but why he had taken Rinkou as well was a question that remained unanswered, especially since the boy also knew from raiding various notes and papers in their 'fathers' office with the help of Emil that with the color of his blood he would be considered royalty among the trolls. He had asked in the past too, but the strange man had always found ways to get around giving him a proper answer to the question.

Speaking of their guardian, he stuck his head into the living room from the kitchen before addressing the children.

"Kids, dinner time. Come wash up." He disappeared just as quickly as he had shown himself, knowing the children would come along in a few seconds.

"Yay!" Rinkou rushed into the kitchen and was the first one to reach the sink, standing on a stool to wash his hands before moving to make room for Illana as she put Meelo down and followed suit.

"Finally." Rekera walked into the kitchen with her head still stuck in her game and sat down at her seat without washing her hands which seemed to go unnoticed for the time being.

"So, does anyone want to go out tomorrow?" Doc asked, knowing it wasn't any good for the kids to stay holed up in the mansion all the time.

"Ohh, I do!" Rinkou said excitedly as he took his seat. "Can we go to the zoo?"

"Rekera, Illana, what do you want to do?" Doc looked at the two girls, knowing he couldn't let Rinkou have all the say in things.

"I wanna see a movie." Rekera piped up, never once looking away from the screen of her game.

Illana said nothing, she just stared down at her lap with her ear fins drooping as if she wanted to but was too afraid.

"Rekera, put your game down and wash your hands or you are not eating." Doc reprimanded the girl, tapping his foot on the kitchen floor.

"Busssted." Rinkou giggled.

"And you be quiet young man." Doc shot back, watching as Rekera put her game down on the table and walked over to the sink to do as she was told.

"Busted." She mocked, sticking her tongue out at Rinkou as she returned to the table.

"Now now, I know I have taught you all better than that. Don't sink to his level, Rekera." Doc walked over to the oven and grabbed a pan full of lasagna, starting to dish it out to the kids along with some garlic bread.

"Ssso, can we go to the zoo tomorrow?" Rinkou was almost begging as he looked up at Doc Scratch, eyes wide and a small pout on his face.

"Well, how about we do both? We can see a movie in the morning and then go to the zoo in the afternoon, that way the animals will be awake and you can see them better. Sound good?" He was trying to appease everyone, though if that failed there was always the option of spreading the activities out over the course of the next few days as well.

"I'm alright with that!" Rinkou bounced in his seat smiling because he had more or less gotten his way.

"Sounds good to me." Rekera had returned to the table by that time, picking her game back up and making no further comments.

Illana, on the other hand, looked down at her lap as usual and seemed to be not quite as okay with the situation as the other two but too frightened to say anything. It was a good enough plan, but she really wanted to do something else.

"Rekera, stop playing that game. Put it down for dinner or I will take it from you." Doc scolded the girl, then turned his attention to Illana and knelt down beside her chair so he was more at eye level with her. "What's the matter dear? Are you not content with the plans for tomorrow? It's okay, you can speak up." He was trying to encourage her to be more outgoing, hoping that she would speak her mind instead of keeping what she wanted to say inside like she normally did.

"Nothing'sss the matter, ssshe'sss jussst dumb." Rinkou mumbled, one part of his lip curling up in obvious distaste for the shy girl.

"Rin, don't say such things. One more comment like that and you're in your room for the rest of the night, do I make myself clear?" Doc wasn't going to tolerate that kind of treatment, especially when it would only serve to make Illana worse.

"Yesss Doc." Rinkou sighed, folding his arms on the table and putting his head on them while Doc Scratch talked to Illana.

"Good. Now then, Illana, what's on your mind? Go on, you can say whatever you want." Doc reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder to encourage her to speak, noting out of the corner of his vision that Rekera finally put her game away so as not to get caught playing it further.

"W-Well...T-Tomorrow I...I kinda wanna go swimming...B-But..." Illana hid her face in her plush toy, her ear fins drooping as she curled in on herself like always.

"Swimming huh? Well I think we can fit that in, the pool isn't too far from the zoo." If he could have Doc would have smiled to reassure her, but instead he reached out and ruffled the girl's hair gently to let her know everything was alright.

"I don't wanna go ssswimming, it'sss too cold out. Besssidesss, I don't sssee why the mutant getsss a sssay." Rinkou glared at Illana, the words far more harsh than his usual teasing considering he knew how much the girl was ashamed of her blood color.

"Rin! Room, now. No dinner." That was going too far, and Doc Scratch stood as he pointed at the door to the hallway in a very displeased manner. A little teasing was fine, even normal for young trolls, but Rinkou was getting far too violent way too fast and something had to be done if he was to grow up different from those back on Alternia.

"Fine." Rin pulled his chair out and left it that way as he stormed off up to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

"I swear, that boy is a handful. I am going to go have a talk with him, you girls eat your dinner okay?" Doc shook his head and sighed before walking off towards Rinkou's room to have a long chat with the young man about his behavior.

"I-I'm sorry..." Illana sniffled, burying her face in her turtle and looking so distraught that Rinkou had gotten into trouble because of her.

"Illana, it's not your fault." Rekera comforted as best she knew how from across the table. "Now come on, eat before it gets cold." Knowing the girl would listen she picked up her own fork and began to dig in.