spellbinders | An Eggciting Day

( There's some hesitence in Emil's actions, but he reluctantly lets the wriggling mass down on the ground. They wobble over on their four legs, stepping sloppily in their excitement to sniff at Lalli some more.

Eventually, they stand up on their hind legs like an attentive gopher and pap one of his knees twice. You pass, thin human. )

I think it likes you...? I don't really know how to read it yet. ( Emil will eventually get the hang of this tiny thing, but today isn't that day. Simultaneously, the little Elto stares up at Lalli, snoot wriggling. Entertain him, interesting one. )

[What does a knee pap mean... What do two mean? It wasn't as harsh as all the hitting Emil's cousins had done, which felt weirdly promising on top of Emil's (sort of) assurance even if he wasn't all that pleased with anything here in general.]

Mrh. At least it's not rampaging anymore.

[Alright, lizard, what now...]

...Is it supposed to be looking at me this much? Stop that.

[Ugh, what was it that these lizards liked... Well.]

Emil. Burn something.

( ........uh. )

What? Why?

( Usually people are telling him NOT to burn things sooooo... )

[Don't??? Question him?]

They'll like it.

[Look, he's slowly warming up to the idea of the lizard baby being a person... Funny how taking into consideration what these Palai have been like makes one remember they're individuals.]

Here -- [He wrestles with his leg, then pulls out a sock. Seems to be pretty beat up, anyways, it won't be missed. Burn it!!!]

( Well, when you put it that way... Emil looks at the well-worn sock and suddenly it combusts, curling in the heat. Setting it ablaze isn't especially hard. Dude, you need new ones.

The Elto almost snaps their neck looking first at Lalli and then to new crackling sound. What's this? Something new, something intriguing? They can't help but be curious. They approve of this smokey, wriggling new toy -- it must be papped.

Time to get back on all fours and waddle to this fire to investigate, which may or may not be the smartest idea...Emil hopes you know what you're doing, Lalli and lizard. )

[Lizard probably doesn't, but Lalli's fairly confident. He lets the sock dangle a little -- also sidenote it would smell horrendous wouldn't it -- but when the Elto wanders closer, he dances it out of reach again -- then hums. He focuses on the smoke first since it's much easier, and thinks the spiritual equivalent of sweet nothings at the coiling spirits, drawing them further from the fire that birthed them. It isn't something he's practiced much -- when was he ever going to need to shape smoke? -- but every Finnish mage knows how to speak to nature as well as listen. He tries to tie it into something familiar to make it even easier on him, so the lizard will the greeted by a very small, very wispy lynx circling around.

And then he has to also beg the spirits of fire to not eat his other hand, that would be great if you could spare him, oh strong, capricious flames, he'll find a more fitting offering than a sock next time, promise.]

( Don't worry, Emil found out recently that he can stop fire too; be proud of his accomplishments. He'll make sure Lalli isn't burned too badly, even if he did instigate a disgusting sock aroma in his room.

Both the lizard and their father apparent are staring at the magic display with equal intensity. Elto Jr. keeps dipping their nose at the smell of the smoke but also lifts it up to investigate the tiny smoke lynx. They bounce off of their front feet to attempt to pap at the new friend, tail circling as they go round and round after it. How come it's so fast and they're so slow??

Emil, on the other hand, is less cognitively engaged and is instead staring at the smoke creature intently. Woah. That's new. )

How did you do that? ( HE'S DUMBSTRUCK please be nice...... )

[This is indeed a good thing, because trying to communicate with two different kind of spirits and taking a guess at how to entertain a lizard... Let's just say he wouldn't be giving the fire spirits their due diligence.]

I asked. [He sounds more tiredly amused than judgmental at the moment. Not burning probably helps.] The spirits listened. Smoke likes becoming shapes.

[And the spirits are actually pleased to be able to drop to the floor and trot in front of this baby. It's fun!! Follow, tiny baby. Try to catch it now that it's low, where smoke does not naturally thrive.]

( Don't mind if they do. Their haunches wiggle, not unlike a cat about to pounce at prey, and they perform a magnificent belly flop onto the smoke figure. They remain immobile -- they can't let it escape, it's theirs now!!

Emil has squatted down, amused at the lizard's fascination with the moving thing. At least it seems like it's chilled out, not so ready to investigate everything that exists within their eye's path. )

I didn't know you could do things like that. ( There's the vaguest understanding that ~spirits~ are involved with how Lalli does his groove thang, but this definitely isn't the magic he's used to him utilizing. ) It's actually kind of pretty. How it moves, you know.

( Not that he can see it anymore now that the lizard has coveted this creation as their own. )

[Man, lizard babies are so much easier than human babies. Lalli releases his focus on the smoke with a thought of thanks, then turns his attention to the fire. Quiet, quiet... Actually, he'll dangle it closer to Emil and hope he takes the hint. Please put it out, Lizard Papa.]

Hunh. Is it? [Pretty... That's sort of funny, coming from a Swede.] It's easy. It already moves that way if you take time to watch it.

...What do we do with i -- them? You're both calm now.

( The Elto is indeed preoccupied more than a normal baby might be. They're still insistent they captured the smoke thing, remaining in their spot until they undoubtedly forget and move onto something else they can pap.

Onto the issue of the sock -- Emil puts the fire out after a moment, not yet used to what all that entails doing mentally. Now that the magic show is over, all that's left to focus on is the awful smell of food and smoke that hangs in the air. )

Make sure to get rid of that thing. ( Like...he doesn't put it past Lalli to put that back on. ) I don't know though. I guess see what all they do next.

( Your baby is a creature, not an object!! It's also time for Emil to make sure he's composed since...yeah, he was being a little dramatic earlier. )

I guess before anything else they need to be called something other than 'lizard'. A proper name.

[Lalli considers the remains of his burnt sock, then tosses it off to the side so it lands close to the door. He'll take care of it later... And he'll work on getting its twin off now, too. One nasty sock won't do him any good.]

Lizard... [They are a lizard tho...] Lisko.

( Socks as a birthday gift are boring but that's the direction Emil is heading in with this gremlin.

He knows what Lalli's saying based on how it sounds so different as compared to the rest of the translated sentences he says, even if it's not a word that's in his vocabulary. So you wanna name the baby in your language, huh...and here he thought Lalli'd be an absentee parent. )

If it's Lizard then they'd be Ödla. Since I'm the one taking care of them, after all.

( lalli will win this fight easily because that's how much i care about not having to copypaste this stupid Ö all the time )

[really fuzzy long socks with cute patterns..........]

Pffuh. Grock, grock.

[IT SOUNDS LIKE GROSS DANISH TOAD LANGUAGE TO HIM]

I calmed them down. Lisko.

( CONSIDER IT DONE, FUCK

Don't you use his own made-up word on him?? Emil chuffs and gives Lalli a Look -- you're pretty sure of yourself for someone who didn't want anything to do with this little chore, sir.

That's not exactly a bad thing, though. Moving in the direction that's opposite of running away -- whatever direction that may be -- is good news. He'll concede this time, even if Lisko sounds...not amazing. )

Fine, Lisko. Just don't compare Swedish to that lizard-speak again. ( Since that's truly his headcanon for how these lizards sound now. )

[Maybe he's sure because he's ALWAYS RIGHT, gosh. Anyway, this is good news, Lisko, your name is Liskooo. He has saved you from the grock grock. Smug, Lalli crouches down and lightly pats at their lizard baby's head before moving to sit on the edge of the bed.]

Lisko. [gesture gesture, pay attention to him] How smart are you?

( Lisko time. They perk their head up at the sudden movement...well, if they caught smoke thing once, they can catch them again. They get back on their four clicking and clacking feet, suddenly ready to investigate this new wiggling thing. This magic hand that is begging to be papped!

They quickly shimmy over to Lalli and the bed, hopping onto their back two feet to put their front feet on the side of the bed. One of those little lizard paws paps Lalli's thigh. They still like you, thin magic thing.

The newly dubbed Lisko is staring at him attentively, black eyes not very emotive yet still staring with an obvious interest. )

[Ahh, that's...something! Not cute, because he's not capable of finding that sort of thing cute just yet, but he isn't overwhelmed or annoyed by this development. Little confused lizard paps are acceptable.]

Aha. Not very.

[But that's okay, and he gives them another headpat for their efforts. Then, with a considering hum, he points over at their paw-claws.]

Don't hit.

( Emil's to the side, on high alert -- if the papping becomes too intense, he'll scoop the critter up.

In the meantime, Lisko looks at Lalli's finger a bit crosseyed. This doesn't entirely scan with them. Does he want another pap...? Does he want a whap? Instead they hone in on that slender digit pointing at them and reach for it with their small claws.

What do you want them to do with this, buddy? Because surely you don't want a zap. )

[ah.

what does he do when he's caught.]

...No?

[Right??? Like, it's a gentle touch, but it's a touch... Give him back his finger. Maybe he'll try to brush off the lizard fingers...]

( Oh no, Lalli's ensnared -- time to step in. )

Hey, stop that! No, Lisko. ( Lizard Dad is here to pick up the stiff creature that's determined to stay where they are even though they are but a small lizard that weighs about the same as a sack of flour and the human is stronk. They let go of Lalli's finger but continue to click clack at him. Lizard Dad is okay, but the thin one is more interesting. )

It's -- Lisko's just curious. I'm sure they'll try to get into and sniff out everything.

( He's still committed to making sure they don't bother Lalli, but Lisko seems like a very determined critter, made obvious by how they're still wriggling expectantly, hoping to investigate him further. )

[Bless Emil... Lalli pulls his hands back to himself, head tipping as he studies this click-clacking creature to try and understand it. The gentle compliance wasn't so bad, but Emil's words are worrying, and that wiggling...]

Mrh.

[Still unsure, he gets to his feet and approaches with narrowed eyes.]

Hold them still.

[...as much as you...can... But Lalli's still edging closer. There, now he's in inspection range, even if it means he's brushing against Emil in a few spots. Hi, little Lisko. Is this better?]

You can't grab or hit.

[His command is more of a mumble, this time. Seems he's accepted that the poor thing's just too young to comprehend that right now. Worth taking note of his rules, though, since he's sacrificing so much with this light lean on Emil's side.]

( Lisko stops their squirming as Lalli gets closer -- yes, that's exactly what they want!! There's an instinct within them that says they need to grab a hold of his nose to also pap it (the shape is nice, they like it). Once they look into Lalli's eyes, however, their click-clacking ceases.

There's some sort of understanding between the two and Lisko goes a bit limp, though their front claws instead find solace attaching themselves to Emil's arm. Thank goodness they're the thick, squared kind and not the pointy, limb-piercing kind.

Speaking of Emil, he's just sort of stuck awkwardly frozen making sure he touches nothing else lest he set off some Lalli alarm again. )

You can't tell them not to grab. Babies do that. It's some sort of...good thing? ( Emil might be good with kids but that doesn't mean he knows shit about actual development stages. ) They should learn what 'no' means so we can tell them when something is bad or dangerous -- or if you don't like what they're doing.

What? Why do they need to grab?

[He's reasonably sure he never grabbed things. Then again, he still constantly grabs things -- often things that are not actually his until the moment after he grabs them. Hmn.]

Puhhh. Teach them 'no', then.

[it's that simple

it's also extra dumb because he's satisfied with how Lisko is currently acting...]

( If this lizard was somehow actually theirs, a majority of their DNA would definitely be Lalli's. )

It's how they learn...or something! They just can't grab anything dangerous.

( Lisko looks between the talking humans, aware of the sounds but not at all understanding of what they mean. They wriggle themselves around to attach themselves to Emil's sweater, hanging on like a koala. Thick human is nice to cling to, even if he doesn't smell as magical -- the lack of nature stank makes up for it. )

I don't know how long it'll stay...you know. Babyish. It won't last forever as long as they learn quickly.

[He gives an approving hum at that koala-ing. Yes, very good, cling to Emil. That's the right one.]

...It isn't so bad. I guess. Right now.

( That's not a bad answer. It's actually a really good answer, as far as Emil's concerned. A little bit of that stress in the back of his mind disappears -- hopefully, he won't have to be pulling the lizard off Lalli anytime soon.

Lisko doesn't dislike hanging onto the thick human, but it's also boring. They turn around crawling back down amid protests from said thick human to not rip his clothes. They're careful, okay? Calm down.

At least, they might think that if they had the capacity for language yet.

The bed is more interesting. They can see both humans and pap at the soft mattress, which is much better than the hard floor. At the same time, they can see so much but there's nothing to play with up here. Entertain them, humans!! Rolling onto their back, Lisko looks up at the too with unblinking eyes, legs wriggling even if there's no surface for them to click-clack on. They are a growing lizard who needs to be mentally stimulated. )

I...don't have any idea what that's supposed to mean. ( Yeah, Emil's lost on this display of a gesture; god damn lizards are weird. )

[what a precious... This is some Good Shit, excellent decisions, tiny lizard. Not that Lalli has any idea what's happening, he's just watching with vague interest. Wow, look at them go. That's some wigglin'.]

I don't know. I really don't speak baby.

( So helpful. Emil sits next to it, making sure both it and Lalli have ample room to...do whatever they need. He speaks a little baby, but he's also semi-fluent in cat -- and he knows that stretched out, exposed-tummy pose usually means they want a tickle-rub.

He hesitantly pokes their softer underbelly, which causes a little more motion in those continuously open and closing feet. A cautious scritch scritch, harder to do on a bumpy lizard belly. Even more wriggles.

It's not until he rubs their tiny tummy in circles that they thrash their tail and make pre-verbal gurgling noises, more akin to Lalli's blub blub guess than the eventually agreed upon scratchy frog vocalizing. )

Lalli, I think it's laughing. ( This is said couched in tiny giggles and maybe one embarrassing mini-snort. This is too precious, holy shit. )

An Eggciting Day

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