"A bobo! A real live bobo! Daddy, you told be they didn't exist. Can we
take him home with us?"
[Better than most reactions I've gotten, at least.]
"No, princess, he's a living being and has the right to make his own decisions."
"But Dadeeee..."
"No."
"Okay...Mr. Bobo, will you play with me?"
"Ja."
"What?"
"Yes."
"Do ya speak somethin' other than English?"
"Yes."
"Will ya teach me?"
"Alright."
Eri ran off to her father. "Daddy, daddy! The nice bobo's gonna teach me how to speak Belent!"
"What?"
Hal interjected, "That's the language bobos are supposed to speak in their culture."
"But I was just going to teach her German."
"So teach her German. Belent is an imaginary language anyways. She'll never know the difference."
"So, Eri, what do you want to learn how to say?"
"Candy!"
"Süßigkeit."
"Suh-beeg-keet."
"Close enough. What else?"
"Do you want to play?"
"Möchten Sie spielen?"
"Moe-chan zee spell-an? And do you wanna?"
"Ja."
"What does ja mean?"
"It means yes."
"Oh. Ok."
"Can we play jawaku?"
"What's that?"
"I play it all the time with Daddy. He gets down on the ground and gives me a jawaku-back ride."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Too many people have treated me like an animal to have me do that."
"Then they're waki-heads. How about tumblies?"
"How do you play tumblies?"
"Mr. Lantern said that earth has a game like that. I think he called it akerrobaddiks or something like that. You try to do twisty stuff with your body and show your friend how to do stuff."
"Acrobatics?"
"Yeah! That's what he said."
The next two hours were spent with Kurt teaching Eri increasingly intense tumbling routines. She was agile enough to teach him a few things as well. Kurt slowly realized that he would probably wear out before her. The weather wasn't helping him any. It had started growing hot and muggy, and there was a charge to the air. It started raining outside. Eri cringed, then clung to Kurt like a wet limpet.
"What's that?"
"What's what?"
"The water falling out of the sky. What's making it do that? Make it stop. I'm scared."
"It's just rain. It's perfectly natural, nothing to be scared of."
Eri loosened her grip and considered letting go.
BOOM. ruuUUUmble. scrEEEEEEee.
Eri clung tighter than before, accidentally getting her claws into Kurt a little bit.
[Great. The child has never seen rain, and now she gets stuck in the middle of a thunderstorm.]
Eri started sniffling softly, but as the noise continued it soon grew into a full scale wail. Hal appeared dragging Rhaulen behind him, who seemed to be about ready to start hyperventilating.
BOOOOOOOOM. rUUUUUUUmble.
That one had to be within half a mile of the house. The flash lit up the whole room for an instant. Kurt noticed that Eri was no longer clinging to him. He turned to see her and her father clinging to each other. Both were shaking badly. Eri was still crying and Rhaulen looked like he was trying very hard to be brave for her and trying not to wet his pants.
Hal looked outside, then looked at the Liharu. He tried to talk to them.
"Rhalen..."
"Rhalen..."
"RHALEN!"
"...yes?"
"It's just a thunderstorm. They happen all the time here. Nothing to be scared of."
"Then they can't hurt anyone?" Rhaulen looked like he was stuck
between fear and relief.
"Only if you go stand out in the middle of an open field or
something. We're safe here."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Rhaulen calmed down a little. Then he tensed slightly, as he thought of something. "Kurt, is he right, or does the fearless man gloss over the danger yet again?"
"He's right."
As the evening went on, both Liharu finally calmed down, though it took most of the night before they stopped jumping at the sounds from the storm outside. Dinner was a great success, and after dinner things calmed down as soon as Kurt convinced Eri to stop trying to pretty him up with ribbons and glitter. As Rhaulen left he appeared to have a brainstorm.
"Hal, there's a few guys that are always going on about how fearless they are. What exactly is and isn't safe in a thunderstorm? I'd love to take them down to one and watch them jump out of their skins."
Hal gave details, then added, "but if you really want to make it good, stop down withing about half a mile of the Northland antenna. It's isolated enough that none will see you, and the antenna will attract any lightning so you'll have no worries about it hitting you as long as you don't wear any metal."
The thundersorm had passed, though it continued raining. Hal and Kurt lured the Liharu outside, though both were still scared of the rain hitting them for a little while. Before they left, though, Kurt had Eri jumping in mud puddles.
[Better than most reactions I've gotten, at least.]
"No, princess, he's a living being and has the right to make his own decisions."
"But Dadeeee..."
"No."
"Okay...Mr. Bobo, will you play with me?"
"Ja."
"What?"
"Yes."
"Do ya speak somethin' other than English?"
"Yes."
"Will ya teach me?"
"Alright."
Eri ran off to her father. "Daddy, daddy! The nice bobo's gonna teach me how to speak Belent!"
"What?"
Hal interjected, "That's the language bobos are supposed to speak in their culture."
"But I was just going to teach her German."
"So teach her German. Belent is an imaginary language anyways. She'll never know the difference."
"So, Eri, what do you want to learn how to say?"
"Candy!"
"Süßigkeit."
"Suh-beeg-keet."
"Close enough. What else?"
"Do you want to play?"
"Möchten Sie spielen?"
"Moe-chan zee spell-an? And do you wanna?"
"Ja."
"What does ja mean?"
"It means yes."
"Oh. Ok."
"Can we play jawaku?"
"What's that?"
"I play it all the time with Daddy. He gets down on the ground and gives me a jawaku-back ride."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Too many people have treated me like an animal to have me do that."
"Then they're waki-heads. How about tumblies?"
"How do you play tumblies?"
"Mr. Lantern said that earth has a game like that. I think he called it akerrobaddiks or something like that. You try to do twisty stuff with your body and show your friend how to do stuff."
"Acrobatics?"
"Yeah! That's what he said."
The next two hours were spent with Kurt teaching Eri increasingly intense tumbling routines. She was agile enough to teach him a few things as well. Kurt slowly realized that he would probably wear out before her. The weather wasn't helping him any. It had started growing hot and muggy, and there was a charge to the air. It started raining outside. Eri cringed, then clung to Kurt like a wet limpet.
"What's that?"
"What's what?"
"The water falling out of the sky. What's making it do that? Make it stop. I'm scared."
"It's just rain. It's perfectly natural, nothing to be scared of."
Eri loosened her grip and considered letting go.
BOOM. ruuUUUmble. scrEEEEEEee.
Eri clung tighter than before, accidentally getting her claws into Kurt a little bit.
[Great. The child has never seen rain, and now she gets stuck in the middle of a thunderstorm.]
Eri started sniffling softly, but as the noise continued it soon grew into a full scale wail. Hal appeared dragging Rhaulen behind him, who seemed to be about ready to start hyperventilating.
BOOOOOOOOM. rUUUUUUUmble.
That one had to be within half a mile of the house. The flash lit up the whole room for an instant. Kurt noticed that Eri was no longer clinging to him. He turned to see her and her father clinging to each other. Both were shaking badly. Eri was still crying and Rhaulen looked like he was trying very hard to be brave for her and trying not to wet his pants.
Hal looked outside, then looked at the Liharu. He tried to talk to them.
"Rhalen..."
"Rhalen..."
"RHALEN!"
"...yes?"
"It's just a thunderstorm. They happen all the time here. Nothing to be scared of."
"Then they can't hurt anyone?" Rhaulen looked like he was stuck
between fear and relief.
"Only if you go stand out in the middle of an open field or
something. We're safe here."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Rhaulen calmed down a little. Then he tensed slightly, as he thought of something. "Kurt, is he right, or does the fearless man gloss over the danger yet again?"
"He's right."
As the evening went on, both Liharu finally calmed down, though it took most of the night before they stopped jumping at the sounds from the storm outside. Dinner was a great success, and after dinner things calmed down as soon as Kurt convinced Eri to stop trying to pretty him up with ribbons and glitter. As Rhaulen left he appeared to have a brainstorm.
"Hal, there's a few guys that are always going on about how fearless they are. What exactly is and isn't safe in a thunderstorm? I'd love to take them down to one and watch them jump out of their skins."
Hal gave details, then added, "but if you really want to make it good, stop down withing about half a mile of the Northland antenna. It's isolated enough that none will see you, and the antenna will attract any lightning so you'll have no worries about it hitting you as long as you don't wear any metal."
The thundersorm had passed, though it continued raining. Hal and Kurt lured the Liharu outside, though both were still scared of the rain hitting them for a little while. Before they left, though, Kurt had Eri jumping in mud puddles.