For some, the art of the hunt was a "thrill" thing. Something to gain a trophy, or a high out a moment that would otherwise be boring. For others, it was for survival. Something to gain food for the table, or to keep warm on nights that were cold. While he was both of them things, he mostly leaned towards being a survivalist than a thrillist; while he kept various items from his hunts—the antlers, pelts, skulls, hooves, etc.—, he was mostly out to gain the meat that was on the animal that he brought down. His mother had put a considerable amount of time and effort in on training him and his brothers on the activity that he was doing. Their lessons had started at around nine hundred and twenty years of age; on the weeks that they were on vacation from school, they received further lessons.
"How to properly track, trap, run down, bring down, and collect the necessary items that are needed at home," he listed while sitting where he was. "How to not get hurt, and treat the injuries that one gets during the hunt, and how to keep watch of your surroundings, and collect the items that one wants to keep as a trophy—these are what she put the most emphasis on in teaching us."
Most of their lessons were given to them via word of mouth; only after learning them were they allowed to go with her on a hunt. At first, they learned how to hunt by watching how she did it then, after she felt the time was right for them to become involved in the lesson, they gave it a try. Momma, as he called her, hadn't just sat on a rock, watching them fail or get injured during them first dozen hunts; she joined them on their first three hunts then she took a step back to watch as they did the trade that she taught them how to do. If something came up, or she noticed that one of them was about to get hurt by the animal that they were trying to bring down, she'd rush in to either run the animal off or end the hunt by offing it herself. He came close to getting gored in the side by a Wildebeest on the second solo-hunt that he was allowed to partake in; if not for his momma, he would probably not be here today. His mother had rushed in to run that Wildebeest off then she saw to taking him home; instead of preventing him from hunting again, she said that he was to allow the experience to settle before heading out to try again.
Like his brothers, it took him around five solo-hunts before he was successful in taking the animal that he was hunting down. He still had the Caribou antlers that came from that hunt; his mother had seen to his keeping them as a reminder of his taking down his first even-toed ungulate.
Only when they were declared as being fully trained hunters were they allowed to go out on their own to hunt.
"While the loss of the animal that you've tracked, or were hunting, is the most annoying part of the activity that you're doing, the most boring part is the waiting game. With some animals, it's much too dangerous to track or run them; when you find traces of something that's too dangerous to track or run down, you wait in a tree. Use brains over body; your brain and body are the most important parts on you, so don't let them get injured during a hunt." he remembered his mother telling him and Lazeer when they were younger; at the time of their being being told this, Bile and Lhaklar were already given the verbal lessons, and were starting Part Two of their training in how to hunt. He and Lazeer had only just begun their verbal lessons.
He smiled when he remembered what he and Lazeer did during them early-given verbal lessons. Due to their feeling a bit jealous over Bile and Lhaklar being allowed to hunt with their mother, they turned their attention towards the insects—they used them as a sort of "training" aid to the hobby that their mother was teaching them about. Their mother had laughed herself silly over their antics of jumping on the insects that they saw, or of their stalking or "jabbing" at the insects that were ambling by the concrete walkway that ran around their then lived-in apartment.
When he asked for permission to hunt earlier that morning, he hadn't figured in the fact that warmer temperatures had only just settled over his family's side of Germany—the animals that either migrated to warmer areas, or were hibernating, had yet to return or wake from their prolonged sleeps. He spent two hours of wasteful time, searching for an animal to catch, bring down, then take home; only after 10:30 struck did he grow frustrated over the lack of finding anything to hunt. The retrieval of his communicator, the question of whether he could change where he was, then the teleporting to where he was now was done; so far, he had seen doodley squat of what he wanted to hunt. While frustrated, he was telling himself to be patient.
"All I'm seeing are birds!" Hazaar thought. Instead of going to Africa, a place that he was familiar with, and that he knew the fauna of, he asked for permission to go to Asia. His mother had given him her blessing after listening to him complain about how little game there was in their part of the country—naturally, he was to stay in the shield, and return home in one piece.
His primary target was a large-type mammal. Something that would feed a family of eight, and might cause his father's jaw to drop from the place that it was hinged to on his face. So far, all he saw were birds and insects—the latter, of which, was driving him up a damn wall! He didn't know if it was the simple fact of the humidity—it had to be right high where he was—, or if it had something to do with what he did with his hair that morning, but he knew that they were annoying the fool hell out of him! He also saw a bunch of rodents, and there was no way in hell that he was hunting or taking any of those home. A rodent, even a bucketful of them, wouldn't keep a family of eight fed. Shit, a rodent wasn't even a snack in regards to him and his family! He was after either a species of antelope, a large primate, or a wild cat; one or the other would keep his family fed, and he'd also have a little something extra to keep for his troubles—the pelt or, if he brought down a species of antelope, the pelt and antlers.
Other than the time where he "allowed" Lazeer to drag him along with him when he was looking for frogs and amphibians, he had never set foot on Asian soil before. This was his first, official, hunt in Asia and, so far, he wasn't liking what he was seeing. Birds, birds, and more birds. Insects, insects, and more insects. Rodents a-plenty... He had yet to see a single even or odd-toed ungulate, wild cat, or primate, and here it was, going on noon. The fact that Vietnam was known to have a rich diversity of fauna was the reason for why he was here; there was said to be around three hundred and ten species of mammalian life in Vietnam... he had yet to see a single one of them cataloged species.
"Maybe it's too hot, and humid, for anything that's over forty pounds to be out?" he speculated to the area's lack of mammalian life.
That couldn't be it. Vietnam had two thousand, three hundred, and sixty rivers and about thirteen small lakes in it. There were plenty of water sources for the animals to take a refreshing drink from, or to wallow or rest in. His butt had pretty much made itself at home on the branch of a tall tree that overlooked a portion of the Mekong river, which was the only river that he knew the name of here. He had just thought of it then teleported to its location; about twenty minutes of foot-travel ensued before he found a suitable tree to climb then sit and wait on for something to amble by that was appropriate to hunt down then take home. The river was approximately a hundred yards from him; not that far to throw a spear, or spot an animal coming closer.
"Vietnam's been experiencing a sort of crisis with torrential storms, and heat waves, for the last three months... Maybe that's the reason behind there being no animals around."
That couldn't be it. Animals were smart; they'd find higher or safer ground during a storm and they'd also stay in a relatively shady area when the thermostat rose to the over-uncomfortable category. Certain parts of Vietnam, about two months ago, had also experienced a week to two weeks of extremely cold weather too, so the animals in them parts had probably gone off to warmer areas where there was food, water, and shelter. With the population being what it was in Vietnam, the animals in this region couldn't of been hunted to extinction or driven out of their natural homes; with only a billion humans on the planet, there were plenty of animals around. The same went on there being plenty of space to travel and explore.
"Been sitting here quietly, so I couldn't of scared anything off, or given anything a warning to my presence. What I did with my hair wouldn't cause anything to detect my presence either—I used no chemicals or sprays that give off an odor; I just used beads and that hair glue stuff that I've been getting for months now." he thought.
The beads, that were in his hair, couldn't be giving off a shine—the leaves of the tree, that he was sitting on, were very abundant, and were keeping him well-hidden, so that couldn't be the cause of his not finding anything to hunt. The glue, that he used to connect the one strand of hair to the rest of his hair, was odorless, so that couldn't be it on why nothing had yet to be seen either. Maybe it was something that he hadn't detected—maybe a predator was in the area, and was causing the area's other wildlife to be wary of this spot. Like with the other forested areas on Earth, Vietnam had long since bounced back from what it was before all the plagues and natural disasters occurred—animal life was able to re-establish itself, and regain its numbers; some of the species that disappeared in some places had made a come-back to repopulate them areas. If he read correctly, there were new discoveries of animal and plant life happening all the time in the forests that were on either side of the Mekong; a species of deer, around five or so species of fish, a species of wild cat, and a dozen or so species of insect were discovered in the last five years here. With the area being this teaming in life, he should of seen, heard, or n—
Crack!
He stiffened. The spear, that he had in his hand, was poised... He was ready should something amble by, or come within good reach of sight. His every muscle grew taut; his eyes swept left, then right, as he searched for the cause of the crack—which only came from a twig or branch being stepped on—that he heard. He sat like this for nearly five minutes before deciding that he was wasting his time—a branch or twig fell from one of the trees then snapped after colliding with the ground or whatever it was that stepped on it had gotten spooked by what it stepped on. He lowered his spear, which he made soon after arriving in Vietnam by simply stomping his foot down on the ground, then sighed. It looked like that day's hunt was all for nothing; maybe it was time to cut his losses then go home. His mother could always make something at home, or pick something up from a restaurant or store for them to eat that night; there were other days where a hunt would be more successful.
Leaves and bark dropped to the ground as he stood. Instead of swinging from branch to branch, or using the jump then grab technique to get down from the tree, he just jumped from the branch that he was sitting on. His left hip, which had yet to heal, and was still giving him considerable trouble, sang after he landed. There was a barking sound to his left right after he landed; it was followed by the sound of leaves and underbrush being stepped on. He saw the hint of orange for just a second; it looked like his former assumption of a predator being in the area was correct. He shook his head, held his spear at-the-ready—who knew, maybe he'd need it to fend off a predator who was disturbed or something—, then started on his way towards the Mekong. He was drenched in sweat; he saw no reason in not throwing some water on himself before heading home.
"Wasted a whole morning," he thought as he dipped his hands into the river. "Go home, take a shower, hear the old man rant some, then head out to get the shit that I usually get each month."
He was throwing some water on his face when, to his immediate right, nearly out of view, appeared a mahogany-brown head from which sprouted a set of stout, upright antlers. Instead of turning to look at the animal, he decided to continue what he was doing—the water was cool and refreshing; maybe the animal was attracted to his actions with it or, quite possibly, was just curious about him. Either way, if it left where it was, he'd be able to hunt it. He threw more than four handfuls of river-water on himself before pulling his arms back. His red t-shirt was pulled from his back then thrown into the water; he got it wet before pulling it from the river then putting it back on. The animal, he noticed, had taken a few steps from where it was. The antlers, he noticed, had an extra buttress on them that was quite thick; along with looking to have three forks to them, they were about sixteen inches long. The animal had a mane of dark to slate gray fur on its neck, while its base color was dark brown; quite interestingly, it was flecked with white spots. If he had to make any guesses on how old it was, he'd bank on it being a young adult... and on it being of the male gender.
He continued as he was for nearly five minutes before snapping his ground spear up then throwing it. The animal, as expected, turned to flee after he turned to face it. His spear whizzed by the air after he threw it; he winced after both it and the animal disappeared into the forest. While he was fast, the animal was faster. He cursed then, for no reason at all, made himself a new spear; he went into the forest that the deer disappeared into for, again, no reason. Maybe he was hoping to find his original spear embedded in a tree, or the animal that he tried to bring down. He entered the forest while swatting at the new trove of insects that suddenly formed around him; if not for this sudden drive and curiosity to check into the area where the animal disappeared into, he would of gone home.
"Momma always said to look into the areas where your hunting weapon disappeared into; you don't want to leave an animal that you miraculously took down behind, and you don't want to leave sharp objects that one could harm themselves on behind either." he thought after entering the forest.
Either his luck had turned for the better, or he went into the forest at the right time. A large, robust, muscular, and flexible animal was just ambling by; he speared it before it could get away. The animal, he noticed, had a dark mahogany head; the hind quarters, tail, and half of the forelegs were that same dark mahogany color while the rest of the animal was yellow. The tail was about two-thirds the length of the animal; it was quite hairy. While the fur wasn't soft, or long, or fluffy by any means, there was a lot of it. The animal's feet were broad, while its legs were short and strong; it had large and broad ears that had rounded tips. At best, it weighed around twelve or so pounds—much too small for a family of eight... but he could very well keep it as a trophy.
The real prize, he noticed, after taking in the animal that he just speared, was ten yards away. Somehow, he managed to nab the animal that he originally saw and threw his spear at. It was a two-for-two type day; his waiting had paid off with not one but two kills and, wouldn't you know it but he might just be able to get the robust animal stuffed then put up in his room. He was, without a doubt, going to keep the deer-like animal's unique pelt, hooves, and antlers; maybe, if there was enough to go around for everyone from this one animal, he'd be allowed to keep the whole head as a trophy. He sent the robust animal to the basement first then went to examine the animal that he saw and threw his first spear at.
"Don't see how I wouldn't be allowed to keep the pelt, hooves, and head." he thought after reaching the downed animal then giving it a good looking-over. "This thing has to weigh over a hundred pounds, easy!"
A growl sounded nearby, which caused him to say the spell that sent the larger of his two kills back home. He followed suit immediately. The tiger, that was eyeing his kill, made a disgruntled sound before moving off; he was in the process of going into the house that his family lived in when the predator came upon a doe of the same animal that he managed to take down. Nature sometimes provides for both hunting parties, he would of said if he saw the cat take down the doe.
Before going into the house, he discarded the spear that he used to take the smaller animal down with. He smashed it to pieces, then dug into his pants pocket for the keys to the house. Once the keys were in his hand, he withdrew them then inserted the appropriate one into the door's lock; when the door was unlocked, he let himself in. While the cool, refreshing AC was enough to stop anyone who was outside, sweating his balls off in a tree while waiting for some animal to amble by, he stopped for another reason. Either someone did a lot of shopping, was doing some heavy-duty cleaning in his, or her, room, or he was in the wrong house. There were a lot of bags in the hallway that came off the foyer. When he looked in the living room, he saw that there were a lot of bags in there too. Even the dining room, which looked so like that of his family's own, was full of bags.
Though curious as to what the bags contained, he sustained his urge in wanting to look in them—he was still not sure if this was the house that he and his lived in; it'd be quite nice to see an article in the paper about his being arrested for mistaking a house that he thought was his, and about his going through bags that were left out and about in said house, now wouldn't it? Instead of looking through the bags, he called out to whoever it was that was in the house.
"Hey! Anyone home?"
"Yeah! Me!" a feminine voice, that belonged to none other than his sister, replied. He sighed after realizing that he was in the right house then listened as someone came down from upstairs. His sister entered the dining room a few seconds later. After entering the room, she stopped then eyed him. She then said, "I hope you didn't touch anything—I've yet to go through it."
Well, that answered the second question that he was wondering: the bags belonged to his sister, who obviously did some shopping. With the exception of the time when his mother went out to purchase all of the house's smaller appliances, and most of the extras that were in the house, he hadn't seen so much excess in plastic bags before. The day after Mr. Leinart helped them in getting the house, its utilities and main furnishing, and the car, his mother made the decision to take them out to grocery shop; after getting the groceries, then coming home to put them away, she went out to do some personal shopping for the house. It cost her a mean, pretty penny, but she did all the personal house shopping in one day; while she was "allowed" to take the items that she purchased from their bags, she wasn't allowed to put them away. They "helped" in setting some of the things that she purchased away about an hour after getting home from purchasing their usual monthlies and, of course, checking out the town.
He was so instantly reminded of that first, official day that they started living in the house that he almost believed that he was experiencing a sort of Deja vu. If not for his sister, he would of gone around asking if his mother was home.
"I thought Bile reeked when he came in... The smell that's coming from you is ten times worse." Eshal said, jotting him from his shock, and thoughts. He blinked his eyes then turned to look at her.
"What do you expect for me to smell like? I've been in a hot and humid environment all day." he said back.
"Daddy'll have you going upstairs the soonest he sees you." Eshal said. "You need a shower, and badly too!"
With the fingers of her left hand, Eshal pinched her nose shut. His sister used her other hand to "wave" the smell that she was detecting from herself. Seeing as he couldn't help, or stop himself from doing it, he lunged at her. Eshal squealed as she leaped back; he couldn't help but smile and laugh at her response to his attempt to "hug" her. After lunging at her, he removed his shirt; he flung it over his shoulder, smiled at his sister again, then went towards the basement, where his two kills were. While he was quick in going to the door that went to that room, he was slow in going down the stairs and in going towards his two kills—his father was standing by the washer and dryer; his cellular was "stuck" to the side of his head.
"Uh, well, I'd say pallet wood would be the best for that chamber." while he saw his son, he didn't turn to acknowledge him. With this being the only place where clear cellular reception was a near-fire guarantee, he couldn't afford to do that. The chambers that were beside the ones that Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer were using as bedrooms were long since set-up for them while the one that was beside Bile's wasn't ready. Too much was going on for him to check into and then give out the orders on what was to be added to it; the only thing that was different with it was the lack of furniture... It was gutted of all furniture over a week ago. With Bile being one who liked rustic-made things, and with rustic-made shelving being difficult to track down, he was leaning towards the chamber that was to the left of the one that was Bile's having something around pallet wood shelving in it—that was the only thing that he could think of to put in it in the form of shelving.
This was the first time in over a week that any work was done on the chambers that sat to the left of the ones that his sons owned as bedrooms. With the neighbors, and the "president" of the country, showing up to do their "intervention", and with all of what he faced after that "intervention" took place, he wasn't allowed to do much of anything. Worry over losing his family had clouded his usual confident feelings; worry over losing his loved ones had caused him to close up to most everyone; and worry over being kicked out from under the roof that his family was living under had caused him to cease going to Moas... If not for growing a little ballsy yesterday, he wouldn't know a thing of what was going on at home, or with his family. Along with this being the first time that he had returned to doing any work on the chambers that sat to the left of the ones that were his sons', this was the first time that he had used his cellular; he was, in a lot of ways, taking advantage of the decent vibes that he was feeling.
If that intervention had shown him anything, it was to never cross his wife or try to show her up when it came to the boys and their needs/interests... It also showed him how nosey the neighbors were, and how much of a jerk he was during the first month that he and Eshal were living under the roof that Angel and the boys were under. He loved Angel and the boys; he shouldn't be trying to undermine his wife from being the mother that she was use to being with them and he shouldn't be disrespecting or trying to hurry the six months that he and his family were to reside on Earth either. Be a parent, yes, but don't hurt the ones that you love while doing so, that was one of the many lessons that he learned a week ago.
He, Lhaklar, and Guyunis had spent around two hours in the town's community center before returning to the house. Lhaklar had spent around a quarter of what he was given while Guyunis spent nearly half of what he was given. Eshal, in stark contrast, had spent every cent of what he gave her. While he was a little reluctant in sending her off to shop a building on her own—normally, he'd have one of his staff, or, if she was with friends, one of the parents of her friends, to accompany her on her shopping trips—, he had made the decision to do so after seeing how safe it was in the area where Angel and her sons had "set up shop". There was a protective shield over their area that kept his power-hungry nephew, and any and all of his enemies, out, so everyone was safe to go by their own without having to do but so much shoulder checking. Eshal had only just returned to the house; Guyunis had spent around an hour to an hour and a half in the house after returning from the community center before heading out again. Bile had come in about two hours ago... Of course, he reeked of that marijuana crap; as per request of his, his son went up to rid himself of that smell. Bile went off to spend some time with his friends after showering; what he was doing was beyond him... He hoped that he wasn't smoking, or getting into trouble. He didn't know where Lhaklar, Guyunis, or Lazeer were; judging by the two animals that were in the corner, and his shirt-less secondborn son, Hazaar had only just returned to the house.
At the moment, he was on the phone with Synjin Cholol—a young Goblin in his service who seemed to know his stuff on home decoration and remodeling. If he wasn't there to personally oversee the remodeling and decoration of his residence's chambers, Synjin would be appointed the job. After having the chamber gutted of its furniture, then sitting around, waiting for him to return home so he could ask him some questions on what type of shelving and display counters were desired to be put in it, he made the decision to call him; with the exception of the probable pallet wood shelves, he was on the fence on what type of display counters would be put in the room. Like with Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer, Bile would have three display counters in the chamber that he'd use to display his models and hunting trophies in... the issue on the type that would be ordered and then put up wasn't known right now, though. He was willing to stick his neck out on having Mr. Cholol choose the counters for his son.
"I'll see what I can find then phone you after its been ordered, then set-up, sir." Synjin Cholol said.
"Thank you," he said in return. The call was ended on that note; after pressing the END-button that was on his phone with his stylus pen, he turned to speak to Hazaar, who had since gone over to where the two deceased animals were. "Had more than a decent hunt I see."
"Up to a few minutes ago, wasn't doing so hot." his son replied. "Think a tiger was scaring everything in my area away."
Hearing Angel give their son, who was in his very young teenage years, permission to hunt was startling. If not for the bit that was in his mouth, he would of said something about Hazaar being allowed to hunt... which would of probably landed him in the hot seat that a husband who crossed his wife would find himself as being forced to sit in. He was glad to see that his son was back, and that he was uninjured. The same went on his hunt being a successful one. Hazaar looked a little hot, and sweaty, but he was fine. He had worried all during the time spent in that pawn shop, and community center, about Hazaar; he was glad that the worry was all for nothing.
"Decide to be an ambush hunter, or were you out and about the entire time?" he asked.
"Don't think I'll be sitting anytime soon—used a tree for all of two hours before deciding to head home. Came by these after making that decision." his son replied.
"Going to see to removing everything from them animals yourself, or are you looking for your mother to do that?" he asked.
"I've got that on the larger animal—think I'm going to get the head preserved on Bambi. I'm going to see about getting the smaller animal preserved." his son responded.
When one collected from their kills, the area around them never stayed clean. He wasn't but so surprised over the basement getting a bit messy after he and his son spoke on his hunt, and on the two animals that he managed to bring down. Instead of heading upstairs, to his usual "post" on the living room couch, or on one of the dining room chairs, he sat on one of the basement steps then watched as his son went to work on the two animals. Hazaar went upstairs only once; when he came back, he had a large knife, a cooking bag, and a square of plastic on his person. The smaller animal, which had a resemblance to a weasel, was put in the bag quickly; his son went to work on the larger animal after the smaller one was squared away.
A few months ago, he found himself as wondering what his sons collected from their hunts. He had wondered if they acquired a taste for organ-meat, or if they just discarded the organs that they took from the animals that they brought down. Either Hazaar had a taste for organ-meat or he was collecting the organs from the larger animal for someone else; a perfect cut was made down the center of the animal then the organs were carefully removed. Hazaar took the heart out first, then he removed the liver and kidneys. Hazaar, quite surprisingly, discarded the intestines. His son removed the head and neck of the animal next—and quite perfectly too! The head and neck were placed on the piece of plastic; Hazaar rolled them them up before returning to his kill. The pelt was removed next. Hazaar draped it over the dryer carefully before returning to his prize.
"Shouldn't be but so surprised." he thought as Hazaar started using the knife to cut chunks of meat from the animal. "Angel was born and raised in the wilderness—in Greece. Her lessons on survival started at an early age; looks like she's passed that knowledge to the boys well."
It took about an hour before his son was done with the cultivation of his deer. The basement was a soaked, bloody mess, but his son looked pleased with what he did in collecting what he could from his kill. He saw to the task of getting his son a few plastic bags and pieces of plastic after the final collection of meat occurred; when he returned to the basement a few minutes later, he gave his son these items then stood back as the cultivated items were put away. He helped his son in taking the meat and organs to the refrigerator; Hazaar only returned to the basement to clean the floor, and to collect what he wanted to get preserved. When he returned to the kitchen a few minutes later, he looked dog-tired and in desperate need of a shower and rest.
"Here, let me relieve you of this." he did the only thing that he could think of doing after seeing how tired his son was. He took the two things that Hazaar wanted to get preserved, then said that he'd see to getting them preserved for him, then said for him to head upstairs to shower and rest up.
"Thanks," Hazaar said, then started for the stairs.
Thanks to his sister, he and his wife weren't left in the dark about what happened in their town's community center between their daughter and her friends and Lhaklar, Guyunis, and the alien man. Aloisa, who started working as a guard for the community center nearly ten years ago, had seen the entire thing unfold on one of the monitors that were in the building's security room; she hadn't beat around the bush in calling him, or in telling him what she saw. The first thing that he did after getting home from work? Go right up to see Letta, who was reading a hefty women's fashion catalog in her bedroom at the time. His daughter did the best that she could in pulling a front; she claimed that she did her best to stay clear of the alien man, and that she wasn't involved in the bullying of the two Irene boys. His oldest daughter was grounded for two weeks—for not doing as she was told and for bullying.
He had never been one for anyone ganging up on another and he was very against the notion of a group of people ganging up on one or two others. It was wrong, it was degrading to both parties, and it gave quite a nice reputation to both the bullies involved and the ones who were raising them. Aloisa had said something about Petra and Kai being the ones who started the bullying; if that was true then maybe he and Ima should consider keeping Letta from the two. He and Ima were trying to raise their daughters to be good, respectable people, not people who took advantage of others, or did their best to make the lives of people who were smaller or less fortunate than them, or had mental or physical handicaps, miserable.
He arrived home at 2:30. The alien man, who, from what he was told, had one hell of a temper tantrum on the secondth of June, after Mr. Klied, Mr. Kaiser, and Mr. Abbing went over to see what was going on in the Irene house after hearing a lot of yelling and screaming coming from within the house, was on his way to the mailbox at the time. The man, as seemed to be his usual, collected the mail then went back to the house. A FedEx van pulled up in the Irenes' driveway about an hour later; he was still reeling from the surprise that he saw after noticing that it was Guyunis who did business with man who was driving it. Two boxes, one being normal in size while the other being longer, were taken into the house after the boy signed the paper that was on the clipboard; it seemed that Miss. Irene, or one of her sons, did some online or catalog shopping earlier that month.
Ima came home with a lot of papers to grade about an hour after he came in, while Jolanka just came in with a bad cut to her arm. Letta was currently all "cooped-up" in her room, with nothing to do but stare at the walls and watch others as they went by their lives. Since his wife was busy with her papers, he went to work in looking after Jolanka's injury.
"Ouch!" Jolanka winced after the antiseptic touched the wound that she had on her elbow.
"From rough housing with the boys again?" he asked. Even though Jolanke was a girl, she typically only hung out with the boys. She was a sort of tomboy, or someone of the female gender who exhibited characteristics or behaviors that a boy would usually show.
"No, fell from my skateboard." his daughter, who had a dark skin complexion, dark eyes, and short, dark auburn hair, replied.
"Mum and I've been telling you these past few years to be careful with that skateboard." he said with a sigh. The skateboard, that his eleven year old daughter just mentioned as using, was given to her two Christmases ago; she used it whenever the weather was decent.
"The board just went back on me after I finished grinding a rail," Jolanke explained. "It got me a good one, eh?"
"That and more." he replied.
"Anything happen in the 'hood today?" Jolanke asked.
"Of any high-deal interest? No, not really." he replied. "Letta was grounded."
"For what?"
"For going against your Commander's order in staying away from the alien that's living in Miss. Irene's house." he said, then added, "And for bullying two of Miss. Irene's sons."
"He's out an' about?" Jolanke asked. "The alien, dat, he's out an' about again?"
"Seems to be. I'll probably be needing my AK-47 here soon—Mr. Alien was seen in the community center today; Lhaklar and Guyunis were with him."
Two days after the intervention occurred, Mr. Klied came over to give him the scoop on what was to happen in their neighborhood for the next six months. Not only did it look like the Grün Bach subdivision was to have two extra aliens living in it for a while but it also looked like Miss. Irene and her five sons were slated to be removed from the planet in November. He, honestly, had mixed feelings about that. He wanted yet didn't want the Irene family to go; the neighborhood would go back to being its normal, quiet self with little to no high-interest activities happening but it'd be lacking one of its people that made it seem sort of special. The alien activity that was happening on his side of the planet would probably cease almost all together, but the planet would be lacking its protector and her five sons. Miss. Irene was a fine, and pleasant, woman, and her sons were a good bunch; they would be missed after leaving, he was sure of that. He had a concern over what would happen after she left for whatever planet the alien had in mind to take her and her sons to: what would happen to Earth after she was gone? Would she be forced to stay away, or relinquish her duties as its protector, or would the alien man allow her to retain her ties to the planet and allow for her and her sons to return to it from time to time?
Mr. Klied had said nothing on whether Miss. Irene, or her sons, would be allowed to continue any friendships that they made and he also didn't mention anything about whether the alien had any intentions on taking the shields that were over the eastern hemisphere down after November came around. He was quite sure that the date of the expected removal from the planet was going to be a low one for both him and everyone else who lived in the Grün Bach subdivision... for everyone on Earth, actually. The planet's protector was leaving, and the fate of the planet would be in the air; he was telling himself that six months was a long time to confront these mixed feelings, but he knew better... For some, six months went by very fast. He was hoping that the months between now and November went by slow.
In a way, he cursed himself for not being available to attend the intervention. He and his wife were at a school-run dance at the time; they were chaperoning, having a good ol' time, while the neighbors were squaring off with the alien man. From what he was told, President Leinart was also involved in the intervention. President Leinart was the one to bring the intervention to light; if not for his arrival to the house, and his verbal altercation with the alien man, Mr. Klied, Mr. Kaiser, and Mr. Abbing wouldn't of gone over to see what was going on. President Leinart had stayed at the house longer than the neighbors, so he probably knew some of the answers to the questions that he was concerned about. Since he didn't know the man's number, or address, he was left to his own devices with his concern.
"There you go," Almeric Carver, a tall, muscular man, who had long, medium-auburn hair and blue eyes, said after wrapping the wound that his daughter had on her arm.
"Thank you," Jolanke said.
"Sounds like the cavalry's coming to town," Almeric said after hearing Miss. Irene's car horn being blared.
Thanks to the major spill that happened in the beverage aisle, and a colleague of hers, who stopped her to chat about the probability of the weather finally returning to normal, she was a bit late in getting home. A bunch of wily teenage boys were throwing and kicking a hacky sack around in the store about ten minutes before her shift was slated to end; their playful antics had caused four of the store's wine bottles to fall from their shelves. Instead of admitting their mistake, and paying for the four bottles, and the contents that spilled out on the floor, the boys ran off. It took her forever to get that aisle clean; with everyone being busy in either stocking shelves, working the registers, bagging groceries, or taking in inventory, she was the only one available to clean up the mess.
After cleaning the mess, she clocked out then started collecting her things. She had only just reached the parking lot when the voice of Leoni Danneberg reached her ears. Leoni was a newcomer to U-Krop-It, and she was more than thrilled to be working alongside her; the girl, who was just barely out of her teens, went on and on about the weather and about how much she was hoping for everything to calm down so she could go camping with her family next weekend. Instead of being rude in cutting their conversation short, and in saying that she really needed to get home, she listened to her jowl. After nearly twenty minutes, the talking stopped; Leoni went on to talk to someone else while she went to her car. With the exception of the electric bill, regular phone bill, cable bill, and the bill for her cellular being paid, she hadn't done anything else that needed to be done that month.
She was met by the usual sight of her husband when she reached the front door. Tazir gave her an inquiring look for only a second before smiling then saying 'gotcha'; he stepped out of her way then followed her into the house after she went in. She did her usual in giving him her purse—her husband smiled, then slung it over his shoulder; he took it to the kitchen then placed it on the counter, where it remained until she returned to retrieve it a few minutes later. With this little action being noted, she wasted not a second in grabbing the seat of his pants, or in planting a kiss on his cheek, after he left the kitchen and dining room area.
"Good boy," she said, teasingly.
"Woof," TazirVile replied.
"Stop it." she retained the giggles that wanted to come out.
"Make me." TazirVile said in return. He smiled, grabbed her in a hug, then lightly pushed her back. "Unless someone's doing the sneak-routine in returning home, it's just you, me, Eshal, Guyunis, and Hazaar who's home."
"Good to know that I won't be attacked by a ravenous husband." Angel replied. "Curfew's at seven; the house'll be full by then."
"Up to fifteen, twenty minutes ago, Guyunis wasn't here. Hazaar came in at around noon." TazirVile gave his wife the scoop on when some of her sons returned home. "Eshal only just got in when Hazaar returned."
"Oh, Eshal went out on her own?" Angel asked.
"Gave her some money to blow after Lhaklar, Guyunis, she, and I reached the community center." TazirVile replied. "You know how teenage girls are—once that money's in their hand, they run and they don't look back or give in to consideration about waiting for others."
"True," Angel said. She started up the stairs; her husband followed behind her almost like a shadow.
"Don't suppose you or any of the boys made any orders by catalog recently?" TazirVile asked after they reached the second floor's hallway.
"Mmmm, yes. Thanks for reminding me—I did place an order for something a few weeks ago." Angel answered.
"A van pulled in the drive at around the same time that Guyunis got in; he signed the paper that the man showed him then brought in two boxes."
"You know where he put them?"
"All I know is he brought them up here. If they're not in your room, they're in his."
Her efforts in finding anything by Airbourne, the old, Australian band that Bile and Guyunis seemed to be rather fond of, were for nothing. None of the stores that she went into had anything by them on their shelves, so she was forced to go to the local library—she used a computer to make an online purchase. While it took her a while to figure out the machine, and while she needed some help in figuring out how to actually do an online purchase, she was successful in finding and then purchasing four of the band's eight albums. After making that purchase, she made the decision to do an online search for items that Guyunis would like. Her adopted son's birthday was coming up... She didn't just want to buy him something that wasn't his style, or that he'd use or have an interest in maybe once or twice. Around €200 was spent on that boy for his birthday; she had a feeling that he was going to flip after seeing what she found and then ordered for him.
With the exception of the Airbourne CD's, she had plans to just hide everything that came in the mail until Guyunis's birthday—he'd get all of what she ordered for him on the twenty-seventh of that month.
She was relieved to see that the two boxes, that came in the mail today, were in her room. They were resting rather comfortably on her bed. Other than their being upside down, neither were opened. She opened the smaller one, removed the four Airbourne CD's, then sent the rest of its contents to her family's underground storage. She only opened the longer box to see if everything that should be inside was inside; after seeing that the rest of what she ordered was where it was suppose to be, she sent the box to the same place that the other one was sent to. With them two matters squared away, she set to donning a more comfortable set of clothing.
"And what do you think you're doing, Mr. Surfeit?" she asked. At the time of her closing her bedroom door, there was no one in the room with her. Tazir had either used a form of his Time Warp ability to get in or he took advantage of her checking out the boxes' contents to hide himself.
"Getting ready to watch my wife undress." her husband, who was seated on her bed, replied. "I've been a very excellently behaved man today—think I deserve a little strip tease."
"If that's true then you'll be awarded it tonight when we go to bed." she said. She opened the door then gestured for him to leave. While her husband grumbled over the loss of seeing her undress, he obeyed her in leaving the room.
She did what she needed to do in her bedroom quickly then left, with the pure intention of going down to see what was needed for the pantry. She was quick in discovering that this wasn't to be done so quickly—Eshal grabbed her attention right after she left her bedroom; she found herself as being dragged to her adopted daughter's room where, for the next thirty minutes, she was treated to being a sort of spectator. Along with listening to Eshal talk of her shopping trip in the community center, she looked at the items that she showed her. Her adopted daughter showed her almost all of what she got with the money that her father gave her to spend.
Eshal was a very girly-type person, so she wasn't but so surprised over seeing or hearing that she spent around two hundred euros on dresses, blouses, slacks or other feminine bottom-wear, and shoes. Eshal had also gotten herself a few discs of music—like any other teenage child, she knew how to work the machine that one used to get a sample of the music that they weren't sure of—and a purse. Most of what her daughter got for herself was jewelry-based; around four necklaces, five bracelets, and three rings were purchased from the community center. Eshal admitted to spending the final bit of what she was given to shop with on lunch; a hamburger, and some fries, were purchased and then consumed before she, and her many shopping bags, went home. No issues were encountered on Eshal's end during her shopping trip; Angel was glad for this. Her daughter couldn't just remain in the house for the entire six months that they were slated to be on Earth; she did need to spread her wings and venture out to be her age.
After spending thirty minutes with Eshal, Angel went downstairs to see about the cabinet and refrigerator situation. It took her around twenty minutes to list everything that was needed for the house. Supper looked to be squared away; it seemed that Hazaar's hunt was marvelously successful. After listing the items that were needed for the cabinets and refrigerator, she went into the living room, where she found her husband, who looked to be quite preoccupied with the bundle of letters that were on his lap.
"Had enough of the news and soaps?" she asked after sitting beside him. There was a sleek, gloss black, flip-top video player on the coffee table; the small stack of discs, that were beside it, looked to contain family-run footage on them.
"Yep." TazirVile replied. "It's going to be a long, boring six months if there's nothing for me to do other than watch the news and soaps that're aired on the channels."
"Quite wise of you to head home for some things that'll keep you preoccupied during our six months here." she said.
"Yep." her husband said. The bundle of letters, that he was preoccupied with, must be very important; with the detection of his giving her the cold shoulder, and his looking so "busy" with the letters that were on his lap, being noted, she stood then left the room. She started plans for that night's meal right after entering the kitchen.