"And hello and good morning to all who are waking. With the dials set to be around twenty-four degrees Celsius, no one should be staying inside today. Another day of fine weather has been forecast, so break out them skateboards and swimsuits and get out there and enjoy it. While doing so, hear this number by Bild mich perfekt."

The song had no more started playing when his arm stretched out from his bed. The motorcycle alarm clock, that was sitting before his bedside cabinet's lamp, was set to the Bayern 1 radio station soon after it was placed where it was; the chosen station was known to play the time's more popular tunes, with specific information on certain events coming in during commercial. The station was mostly directed towards an audience that was over the age of thirty-five—along with being well over that age, this was the only station that he found himself as liking when he was checking the available radio stations out. He was fast in both silencing the song, sitting up, and stretching after his alarm went off; the act of yawning was done before he threw his bedding from him then got out of bed.

After doing a quickie in making his bed, he went towards his dresser. The first thing that he did that morning? Why, disrobe from what he was wearing then dress in something that was fresh.

"Don-k-t see why I shouldn't wear this." Guyunis said to himself after taking the pair of blue jeans, that were pretty much destroyed from the knee on down, out from the dresser's second drawer.

The pair of light brown cargo shorts, that were pretty much shredded from the knee on down, was slid from his body then thrown behind him. After taking that item from himself, he put the pair of jeans on then went to find himself a pair of socks.

Unlike his bruders, who were using all of the drawers on their dressers for what they owned in clothes, he just used two—the second and third. While looking for a pair of socks, he reminded himself on why this was done. The Meyer's, while giving him pieces of clothing to wear, had never thrown him anything that was either presentable or halfway presentable; it was always something that was ripped or torn in some degree, or dirty and not desirable by the one who owned it, or overly stretched. Of the clothing that they threw him, he only kept four pairs of pants and six pairs of socks. The shirts were either badly torn or stretched out to wear, so he threw them out; the same went with the underwear, which weren't only worn previously by someone, and not cleaned, but also holey. Except for Bile, no one in his family knew of his going around with nothing on underneath his pants to protect his male parts with. No one seemed to wonder about his lack of shirt-wearing; to his knowledge, they thought he thought that shirts weren't his style... which, in a way, was true. After going so many hundreds of years without wearing them, he had grown rather distant in wanting to wear them.

While he still wore the rags that he was thrown by his "former masters", he did have new clothing in his dresser. His mutter had gotten him some new pants on Christmas—one, of which, had to be thrown out after his encounter with his fader's uncle occurred—and she also got him some new pants two weeks later. Lhaklar had also gotten him some new socks, and Bile got him a new belt. Even though he had them items, he still found himself as wanting to wear the rags that he was given by the Meyer's—two to three times a week, he wore one of the new pants, or pairs of socks, that he was given last year.

After grabbing a pair of socks from the same drawer that his pants were in, he went to his closet. He grabbed the chains that he wore each day, which were hanging on the knob of the door, then went into the closet for one of the pairs of boots that were on the shelf. After grabbing the pair of steel-toed, waterproof logger boots, he put them on them started to leave his room.

He stopped just before his room's door when he noticed the item that was hanging on the knob.

"Didn't I put that in my top dresser drawer?" he thought after seeing the flashlight that was dangling from the door's knob.

Since he wore no underwear, and had no shirts to his name, he was just using the second and third drawers on his dresser. The fourth drawer wasn't being used by anything while the top one had odd and end things in it that he had yet to find a home for. The flashlight, that Lazeer "found" for him on the first of the month, was put in that drawer... yet it wasn't in it now. Why was that?

He pondered this for a few seconds before retrieving the flashlight then taking it back to his dresser. After reaching his dresser, he noticed something amiss with it that he hadn't seen earlier. The top drawer wasn't shut all the way. Had one of his bruders come into his room, then played search in his top dresser drawer for something that'd aid them in being able to see before heading down to the kitchen for a drink, or something to snack on during the night hours, and not slid the drawer all the way back in? He made a mental note to ask them this question after everyone sat to eat breakfast; after putting the flashlight back in its drawer, then closing the drawer, he left his room.

Once he was out of his room, he went down the hall to see if the bathroom was available. After knocking, then getting no response back, he opened the door then went in. All the usual things were done before he left; as with the last few days, he made sure to leave the hair that came from the brush in the sink—it was kind of hilarious to see their mutter coming into the dining room during meal hour with a purple, black, and light blue hairball. Yesterday, she asked if anyone had lost a hamster before plopping the ball that she found in the upstairs bathroom sink on the table; Eshal blushed, Hazaar smiled, and he just snickered. Two days earlier, after their mutter took a shower, then found herself as having to dig her fingers into the drain to unclog it, she did the same thing—but, instead of the ball being purple, black, and light blue, it had a few pine green hairs in it. Lhaklar did more than blush after everyone turned to look at him—seeing as he had no hair on his head, arms, or legs, they were fast in putting two-and-two together on where that green hair came from. With his bathroom routine done and out of the way, he left the bathroom then went down the hall.

"Tazir, no. Just no."

"Angel—"

"I said no. I don't want to hear anymore of this. Now is not the right time. Maybe when he's better accustomed to everyone and his surroundings, and is a bit more confident, and experiences less regressions, but, right now, no."

Such a simple conversation had to be remembered right then and there. He sighed after it popped into place then worked to get it back to where it should be, which was in the far back recesses of his mind.

That conversation occurred seven days ago. Like with the time when he overheard his mutter talking to her husband about another party coming to the house to stay with them for a while, he eavesdropped on them while they were talking—but, instead of their being in the living room and he hanging back from the window that was between that room and the dining room, they were in the master bedroom and he was in the upstairs hallway. It was no secret to anyone that he experienced a "regression" after hearing what he did on the thirty-first—after racing upstairs, then going into his room, he found that Lhaklar was still in it. His bruder looked at him then asked what was wrong; instead of telling him what he heard, he said for him to get out. Though looking rather concerned in the face, his bruder did as he instructed him to.

The annoying voice, that plagued him on the twenty-secondth of August, and that he heard and then silenced on August 31, returned with a vengeance on the two days that followed his hearing his mutter and her husband speaking in the master bedroom. He battled it all while going through the motions of being fearful, and nervous, of his mutter's husband and his daughter. On the night of September 1 and 3, he experienced a series of nightmares—his mutter's husband became something like a slave driver in them, and his daughter was nothing more than a little demon with him whenever she saw him; whenever they saw fit to do it, they abused and used him as a servant, and forced his mutter and bruders to do as they were. Even though he had no sleep on September 4, he did have his mutter's company—to put him at ease, she decided to sleep with him. The voice plagued him for half of that day before being silenced; the rest of that day was nice and calm for him, which was a big relief to both him and his family.

On the fifth and sixth, he was a little better, while, on the seventh and eighth, he was back to being his old, former self. The voice was gone, and so were the dreams. His mutter, on September 6, moved back to her room after seeing that he was making a slow return to being normal again.

Like a cruel slap to the face, he had another regression on September 9—the man in the house said 'glad to have you back, son' to him while they were eating breakfast. Along with shouting at him to not call him that, he shot up from his chair then raced upstairs. It took him another three days to get back to normal, and to apologise for what he said, and to make a return to his prior seating arrangement at the table. He hadn't felt any fears, or nervousness, or regrets over speaking or acknowledging the man's presence in seven days now, which was a relief off his and his family's shoulders. The same went on his not hearing the voice or experiencing anymore dreams.

"The decision was made for no one to come over, and stay with us, on the eleventh... I'm glad that it was made because I don't like going through these regressions, or hearing that voice, or having them dreams, or having my life come to a crashing halt." he thought while going down the hallway.

His mutter was sure firm on her husband when the subject of who came over was brought up on the thirteenth, fourtheenth, and fifteenth. Along with being cordial in speaking with him, she snapped at him. She also threw the towel, that she only just took from the laundry basket, to the floor when it was brought up for the record-breaking fourth time on the fourteenth. As far as he knew, no further discussions on the issue were brought up; things between his mutter and her husband were calm for the last two days.

When he reached the stairs, he started down them. He had no more started doing so before stopping then stooping down; his cat, who he had yet to see that morning, was on stall-mode on the fifth step. He scooped her up, gave her a pet, then continued down the stairs. Once he finished his descent, he placed her down.

"Tha-k-t man mustn't be up yet." he thought after putting his pet down on the floor.

He snickered when he remembered how he felt on the mornings that were experienced in June, July, and August. Along with popping out in a rash after seeing that his mutter's husband was carrying, or had carried, his pet from where she was found to a different portion of the house, he grew a tinge jealous towards her wanting to play cuddle on his lap. It seemed that whenever the man went to sit somewhere, or was sitting somewhere, Sabine would come up to get on his lap. On some days, he'd act out his frustration and jealousy on this in private; he'd also come close to crying over the idea of his pet turning to liking his mutter's husband better than he. It was only when Sabine continued to be her usual self around him, and when he saw that the man wasn't out to steal his pet's affections, that he cooled down.

Sabine, though friendly with the man and his daughter, still slept in his room—on some nights, she made a nest out of his hair then slept in it, or just plain slept by his head. She still begged him, and only him, to play with her too. The girlie, or his much older sister, had tried to feed her a bunch of times over the last couple of weeks—Sabine turned her nose to the food given to her, so that, in itself, told him that it was still him that she was close to. As a way to get her to eat on the days when Eshal fed her, he took the bowl up then took it to the counter; the act of his "tampering" with the food that was in it would happen before it was set down. Sabine, without fail, would gobble it all down after noticing that it was he who "made it" for her.

"It's a big place. Don't think you'll find yourself as being bored while being in it. Along with having a lot of rooms in it, and being on a big plot of land, it has a lot of animals living either in or on its grounds." he remembered his mum's husband saying a few days ago, when he asked about the residence that he and his family were to be moved to soon.

According to the man, his home had a dog in it. He met this with mixed emotions; while he was okay with dogs, he wasn't really a dog type of person—the people who had him over the years had robbed him of nearly all interest in them. He had no experience with horses, goats, or sheep, so he had nothing to say or consider about them. He hoped that he'd not be expected to look after them animals—it'd be a shame if he was moved to his mutter's husband's house, then was expected to do manual labor like a servant. He was still clinging to the hope that he'd be treated fairly and be given the same opportunities that his bruders were given.

"Wonder what the weather is like on M—"

He had just entered the dining room when it hit him. Along with experiencing morning fatigue, he was preoccupied with getting dressed and then doing his usual routine to realize that today was the day that he was to hang out with Giovanni. His friend was grounded at the start of the month for mouthing off at his parental guardian—something about his needing to do overtime at his workplace, and not calling Guido to tell him about it. Today was to be the first day in over a week since he had seen or spoken with his friend.

His fatigue and morning activities had also caused him to miss out on detecting the change that was present in the house's atmosphere. There was something in the air that wasn't there yesterday; if he had to put a name to it, something new had come into the house. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know who or what it was, or even hear about it.

The cat must of noticed the change in the atmosphere too, because she was huddled by his feet. On any other day, she'd wander into the dining room, and then kitchen, after being placed down; on this day, she wasn't doing that. There was no begging, or mewing for food, or even the off-wandering from her on this morning. She was just all huddled up by his feet, which was both abnormal and strange. After taking note of the house's atmosphere, then what his cat was doing, he took a breath then stepped forward. He had no more done so before noticing the three people that were in the kitchen.

"Thank you," his mutter was saying to her husband, who was giving her the carton of eggs, and container of hash browns.

"No problem." the man who was her husband said after being relieved of the items that he retrieved for her.

"Honestly," his mutter turned her attention to the room's other party. This party was standing almost directly behind her; along with being as still as a rock, he was as quiet as could be. "we don't go through but so many cartons of eggs a month. At most, it's just two or three."

"With a family of eight to feed, I'm very surprised to hear that." the now-noticed third party replied.

At first, he took the third person in the room as being Hazaar then, when he turned to look at him, he saw that he wasn't his bruder. The same went on his resembling him.

The third party was of the male gender. He was a tall, six foot, two and a half inches; his skin, along with being a dark blue color, was stretched rather tightly on his body. He had an upside down, teardrop-shaped head that had two, oval-shaped eyes in its center. The eyes were a rather bright, silverish-bronze color that was a little odd—never had he seen eyes of this color before. The two holes, that were under his eyes, were like those possessed by Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer; the same went with the O-shaped mouth that was under them.

Whoever it was that was in the room with him, his mutter, and his mutter's husband had a rather muscular body on him. The cream-colored t-shirt, that he was wearing, gave him ample opportunity to see the thick muscle that was on his arms. Even though he wore a pair of blue formal pants, that had a black belt around their waist, he could see the indent of the muscle that he had on that part of his body too. The pair of blue shoes, that were on his feet, were rather formal in design.

Like some of his siblings, the man had suction cups on the ends of each of his fingers. He was about to look down, to ensure that he wasn't about to step on Sabine, when the man spoke.

"I see that he's fared well these past couple of months." the man spoke with a flat, but rather honeyed, voice that gave him cause for concern. Nine times out of ten, people who had a honey-sound to their voice weren't very trustworthy; he automatically placed this to the man.

"He's come a long ways since what happened with his father, and with Tazir and Eshal moving in." his mutter said after turning to see who the man was referencing.

"Glad to see," what the man said next he couldn't decipher. This must be mutual with his mutter, because she turned to look at her husband. A hushed translation occurred between the two before she acknowledged what was told to her.

"All but a few have healed. He's not wearing but so many bandages anymore."

Angel looked at her child; even though she was glad to see him, and to see that he hadn't left the room after seeng that they had a guest, she didn't call him over or ask for him to be friendly with Efagti. For the last two days, she had worried about her son—Tazir had worked his magic on her, and had gotten her to both lower her resolve and agree to having Efagti instead of Cheshire come over. With her husband, and Lhaklar, knowing about what was going on with his stepfather, he decided to see if she'd bend for Efagti coming over. While he knew the risks of what he talked her into doing, he was hopeful that all would go well and that Guyunis would show that he's what she continued to call him—which was a bounce-back type of kid, or someone who bounced back from his misgivings then continued with life.

She didn't know if he was playing off on the phrase, or used it to his advantage, but, he called her out on what she continued to call her son. In regards to his hint-making on his not believing that her son was a bounce-back type of kid, she said for him to watch Guyunis and closely—her son proved her correct by reverting back to his old, lively, usual self six days after his initial regression occurred; on his second regression, her statement on what he was was further evidenced by his making a return to how he use to be in three days time. She knew her children, both biological and not, well and they also knew her well. Her husband, after seeing how quick her son was in returning to how he use to be, had given his head a nod before giving her a rather curt bow; four days after that bow was given, he approached her on having Efagti over.

"Won't be for long, Angel. Just two months. You know Efagti well—he'd not hurt a hair on Guyunis's head. The same goes for the other boys." her husband said two days ago.

"It's not his physically hurting him that concerns me."

"If he bounces back as quickly as he's shown with me, he'll be fine with Efagti coming over. Just have him get use to him... no big talks, or Efagti looming over his shoulder at every turn, or entering or wanting to enter his room at every minute, or even following him wherever he goes. Just have them be under the same roof for a while."

"I'm not sure—"

"Angel, he does need to get to know some of the people that are on my side of the family. Why not start with the more lenient ones? Efagti will be the only one to receive this type of contact with him; everyone else will either be allowed to communicate with him through the phone or letter. Only until you tell me that he's ready will he and the others in my family have contact with one another."

"Promise on that?"

"My last dying breath, My Love."

With his promise made, then self-written and given to her the following day, she agreed to have Efagti and only Efagti over. While what her husband had said was true—Guyunis did need to get use to the family that resided on his potential adopted grand-maternal line—she still worried about her brother-in-law, who use to be a sort of step-cousin to her, being here. What if he started snapping at her son, or caused affairs under her roof to get all topsy turvy for a few weeks in regards to how her sons lived their lives, or created other, unneeded trouble for her and hers during his stay? While she was content in knowing that it was an Ubalki over a Surfeit being here—the Ubalki's were a bit more placid than the Surfeits, and they allowed for a lot more to happen than the Surfeits too—she still worried about what was to happen in the next two months.

At the moment, it was just Guyunis that noticed her brother-in-law. Her other sons, and Eshal, had yet to come down and then see and say hello, or speak a word to him. So far, Efagti had seen that Guyunis looked well, and that his injured back looked better. No ill or discontent words had come from him since he saw Guyunis in the adjacent room.

"G, why don't you go on and feed Sabine before taking your seat at the table?" Angel said after her son continued to stand where he was.

While Guyunis did as he was told, he was thinking about the animal that he scooped up then carried to the kitchen. In the months that he was phoning and talking to him and his father, Tazir had neglected to tell them a few things—nothing on any of the boys owning any animals was said to them. The cat, that Guyunis was working on feeding, was both small and rather beautifully marked; while the quality of the fur was odd, its color was very rich and interesting. The calico color, while not young by any means, wasn't as widely found out on the other planets of the known Universe. Unlike Earth, where it seemed that only the female cat had the calico color, both genders were seen as having it outside of Earth's galaxy. In some places in the Universe, a calico cat was revered, cherished, or highly valued as a pet while, in others, it was looked upon with fear or contempt. It was very well-known that some species took their preference for the calico colored cat so far as to worship them... some even used the cat's shed as a type of medicine, while others ate the cat just to gain a sort of spiritual connection to the world around them.

With Guyunis being slated to be moved to Moas here in the next few months, he'd not have to worry about who to watch out for in regards to his cat. The people in the M-51 Galaxy did nothing but see the animal as being a normal, but rather colorful, pet. The people where he came from, on the other hand, were a good example of the known species who revered, or cherished, the cat for its color and the proposed luck that it gave to its owner—or the people who saw it.

Guyunis took a small, ceramic dish, that was a striped, dark pink and red color, from one of the kitchen cabinets right after entering the kitchen. A can of cat food was removed from the same cabinet about two seconds later. The bowl, after the can's top was popped, was filled then placed on the floor; the animal that's food was just prepared for it was fast in eating it. Guyunis moved to where the dining room table was after feeding his pet.

"Seated two down from the table's head; unless they don't sit by order of age anymore, he'll be sitting between Lhaklar and Hazaar." Efagti thought after the boy sat down.

Angel had shown no negative actions or disdain towards his being here. She was very happy to see him; after he entered the room, a hug was given, then some words were expressed before she went to where the table was. The act of her making the table lengthen to accommodate him, and then making a copy of one of the table's present chairs, was done right after she was before it. If that wasn't answer enough on his being welcomed warmly for his stay then he didn't know what a warm welcome was.

After the rest of her family came down, he'd let them take a seat at the table before claiming the chair that wasn't occupied. Tazir, he was sure, was to sit at the table's head; he thought that Angel was going to sit on his right—unlike the typical married couple, who sat opposite one another when they ate, his brother and sister-in-law seemed to prefer sitting in this way when they dined. Eshal, while on Moas, would sit on her father's left while her brothers would sit beside their mother; until her parents made a daughter or two, Eshal would have the side of the table that she sat on to herself.

"And here comes some of my nephews." Efagti thought after Hazaar and Lazeer came into the room that Guyunis was in.

Hazaar and Lazeer stopped short after seeing the man who could only be the oldest of their father's younger half-brothers. While a million thoughts ran through their heads, none were as prominent as the one on how they witnessed their parents discussing matters on who came over and who didn't these past couple of weeks. Their mother, they had figured, would pursuade the old man, who seemed to be so adamant on having someone come over to stay with them for a while, that letting another come over and then disrupt the way things went under their roof, and cause Guyunis's life to come to a near halt, wasn't needed. It looked like their figuring was very wrong—the evidence on who pursuaded who on who was to come over was right in front of them.

After looking at their uncle, then at themselves, then glancing at Guyunis, they sustained their sighs then went forward. Their uncle had already started coming towards them; as a way to keep their brother, who stiffened after seeing the man coming towards him, from being spooked by the one who was walking towards them, they intercepted him right where the kitchen joined the dining room.

Even though he was a quiet and to-himself type of guy during the morning hours, he mellowed down long enough to acknowledge and then talk to his uncle. Lazeer, though giving a clear showing of how nervous he was, was his old, normal morning self towards their uncle. Their mother, he could tell, was proud of them for doing this. After speaking with their uncle, they turned then went to the room that Guyunis was in. While Lazeer took his usual seat, he decided to give Guyunis a pat on the back then leave the room. He went straight upstairs.

"Hey," Bile, who was coming from the upstairs bathroom, said.

"For him to mosey on up here like he is, he must want a noogie." Lhaklar, who was in the hallway, said. There was no mistaking the playful, evil sound that he had to him; if not for what was going on downstairs, he would of done his usual in either grumbling or throwing a mock-threat on what'd happen if he touched his head, or hair.

"Thought I'd head up here to give you two the warning on there being a "guest" downstairs." Hazaar said.

"A guest? At this hour?" Bile looked doubtful.

"Yeah. Our Uncle Efagti," Hazaar relayed. "And I don't think what's going on is classified as being a normal visitation either."

Bile and Lhaklar sighed, while Eshal, who heard all of what he said, barreled past them then raced down the stairs. Due to her swift exit of the house's second level, she both met and spoke with Efagti before they did.

His brothers' sighs were accurately made. While they enjoyed company—when it was of the friendly, non-soliticing sort, and of the sort that came by after ten o'clock—, they preferred for said company to make note of their visitation either a few hours or days in advance. That way, the house could be made to look presentable, and everyone could be here to welcome them for their stay, and be around in case something happened that their mother might not be able to handle. With Guyunis only just making a return to being like his old, usual self after experiencing two, back-to-back regressions, their uncle's arrival was very unneeded; their father should of known better than to pursuade their mother to having someone come over.

Even though he and his brothers stuck around home to help Guyunis out during his regressions, or had him tag-along with them when he was especially edgey of what was going on around him, they still spent time on their own. One of them vintage car shows was done on the fifth; Lhaklar went to it. Three days later, Bile and he went to one of Karlsruhe's two malls for a quick browse session, which quickly turned into a buying session. On the twelfth, Lazeer spent some time with his friends and, on the fourteenth and fifteenth, Bile and Lhaklar hung around some of their friends. Bile and Lazeer also spent some time in the flea market in Karlsruhe on the second, seventh, and yesterday—after going to the dump on them days, they decided to swing by the place to see what they could sell of what they found. Bile made €54 on one trip while, on the following two trips, he made €65. Lazeer, on the other hand, made €34 on his first visit while, on the second, he made €68; on his third and final trip, he made nice with €88.10.

"And here goes a very possible repeat of April and May. Thought we'd have a little peace before the move from the planet was made but nooooo, dad had to bring him in then ruin any chance of that happening." Hazaar thought before re-entering the dining room, then taking his seat at the table.

Except for the time where Efagti called Lhaklar "Junior", her family was very cordial with the one who was to stay with them for the next two months. She couldn't help but be proud of them; instead of being cold, or nervous and then shoving him to the side, or not wanting him anywhere near them, her sons were both welcoming their uncle to their home and speaking and being around him. After Bile and Lhaklar came down, then did their rounds of speaking with Efagti, everyone sat to have breakfast—her brother-in-law seemed surprised over where everyone sat, and with finding himself as taking the available seat that was across from Lhaklar's. A meal of pancakes, eggs, and sausage was made; between conversation on what was to be done that day, and on how things were going at Efagti's parents' place, these were scarfed down. It was really when the meal was done in being eaten, and when the plates and eating utensils were squared away, when a repeat of what seemed to be the norm between her husband and their oldest son occurred.

Lhaklar, a few years ago, had gained an interest in the papers that were circulated in the Zeta Reiticuli system. Tazir had learned this on the first of the month, after coming in with one of the Trybunel papers then finding himself as not being allowed to read it. She was still under the belief that her husband was allowing him to do as he was with snatching the paper from him; the idea of Tazir not wanting to aggravate, or cause further harm to their child's still-injured limb, was a good one, and one that she did hope was true.

"Looks like he's retained that Paper Thieving habit of his." Efagti said after the Trybunel was in Lhaklar's grasp.

"Still as fast as ever with his reflexes on grabbing the paper from either my grasp or reach." TazirVile remarked.

"Ten minutes and you can have it back." Lhaklar said while opening the paper then taking in what was in it.

"Deal." TazirVile said while retaining a sigh.