Home Sweet Home [Elliot]

[Ruka]

It had been a long day, and Danny was looking forward to some time to relax after walking--or running--pretty much all day. He slowed as he neared the short gate, pausing to flick the latch open before pushing the door aside. He gave Elliot some time to follow him in before closing it and latching it closed again. "The neighbors think I've got a dog. Gotta 'keep up appearances', or what ever the expression is," Danny explained, shrugging. The people living around him had probably seen a big dog come and go, or playing in the yard, but never with its master. Even so, they never bothered asking questions. And even better, it meant he didn't have to worry about remembering to lock the door. No one in their right mind would try to break into a house guarded by such a large beast. Well, that and he didn't have anything worth stealing, expect for maybe the television.

Danny twisted the knob and pushed the door open, flicking the light switch on before stepping back to let Elliot in.

No sooner had he stepped into the living room, he heard a small scuffling noise that almost made him curse. Someone had broken in while he was out. Well, actually they hadn't, since the door had been unlocked. There was a figure reclining on the couch, but he couldn't make out who it was in the din. Danny quickly ran a hand along the wall and turned the light on so he could get a better look.

"You really should lock the door, you know," a man's voice said, the English accent prominent. "I'd feel better about leaving you by yourself."

Light filled the room to reveal a young man about Daniel's age watching him, his head resting on his hand. Danny stared and blinked a few times before yelling "Dad!" and practically tackling the poor man.

[Jisa]

Timidly, Elliot followed Daniel, feeling the deep effects of exhaustion and the after effects of excitement fill her body and her mind. She listened to the sound of Danny’s idle chatter. He seemed really upbeat, and not bothered by much at all. Her eyes were still wide, in awe of his house, even as he opened the door and turned on the lights. A scent, similar, but distinctly different to Daniel’s filled her nose as she stepped into the house. She fought the animal instinct to bristle and puff up to twice her size. This wasn’t her house, and she wasn’t a cheetah. It was hardly her business whether Daniel lived with someone else.

Still, she couldn’t get her senses to dim it down a bit. She trained her eyes on Danny, to see his reaction, and got the feeling that he wasn’t expecting company either. Elliot quieted her breathing in anticipation and stuck close behind Daniel.

The man’s voice was thickly British, taking Elliot by surprise. It reminded her of home, a long, long time ago. His words also told Elliot that he wasn’t any threat, especially if he worried about leaving Daniel by himself. The resemblance was slight, but still there.

As Danny launched himself at his father, Elliot remained in the doorway, unsure of what to do in this situation. She felt like she was intruding, but she didn’t exactly have anywhere to retreat to at the moment. So instead, she cast her eyes down, and waited.

[Ruka]

His son's initial 'assault' had knocked the breath from his body. Luckily, Danny jumped back to his feet, which gave Emil a chance to catch his breath before the first wave of questions could begin. Already, Emil had a good idea of what they would be, so he prepared answers.

"What'cha doing here? I mean, not that I'm unhappy about it or anything," he added quickly, plopping down in the crook of the 'L'. "And how come it's taken you thirty years to come visit me?" the younger shifter asked, pouting. In Emil's defense Danny hadn't gone to Europe to visit him either. But then again, Daniel couldn't fly over and visit his father and other relatives when ever he wanted.

"Sorry. A lot of things came up, most of which would take a good few hours to explain in detail," he explained calmly, "and as for what I'm doing here, I'm going to college again." That wasn't the whole truth. The anniversary of Layla's death was approaching, and he didn't feel like listening to his brother's condolences for--literally--the hundredth time. Before Danny could reply, Emil turned his attention to the young woman lurking in the doorway.

"Hullo there," he began, getting to his feet and walking toward her. "My name is Emil. Who might you be?" he asked, extending a hand to shake with Elliot before motioning toward the couch. "No sense in you standing there like some sort of outsider. You're a..." He paused for a heartbeat, thinking. She didn't have her air of perfection a vampire had, nor the feral eyes of a werewolf, and she certainly wasn't human. She seemed too shy to be a member of the fair folk. Or a pixie, for that matter. "Shape-shifter, no?"

[Jisa]

Thirty years? The idea of immortality was not new to Elliot, but the thought of Daniel being older than that, when he looked like he did, really hammered it home. Masking her apparent surprise, Elliot watched, in curiosity at the exchange between father and son. It was so easy and casual, the type of conversation Elliot doubted that she’d ever be able to have after everything she’d been through. She looked down at her worn clothes, wondering how shape shifting allowed clothes to still be on the human body. Not that she was opposed to the idea. It was certainly better to the other option. As she picked through ’safe’ thoughts, the conversation had gone on, and now the attention was on her. She fought the panicked instinct to turn tail and run when Danny’s father approached her, and kept her ground, giving him a polite smile.

“Hi, I’m Elliot.”

Her voice was a little more weak and breezy than she had hoped for it to be, but she’d work on that soon. Wavering slightly, she took his hand in hers, ignoring how small and weak hers was compared to his. The fact that she, too, was a shifter didn’t help the unease in her stomach of knowing that he was too. At least Daniel had bee half human. Elliot waited as Emil paused, discerning what she was. The idea that he could gauge it was surprising. But hadn’t she known that there was something about Daniel? When she was in the zoo?

“Apparently,” She managed, giving a small laugh, “So that’s what Daniel tells me.”

Slowly, deliberately, she eased her way to the couch, and took a seat on the edge.

[Ruka]

Elliot was awfully flighty. The poor girl probably had a reason. But no matter what she'd been through, she was safe now, and didn't have to worry anymore.

Her response didn't surprise the elder shape-shifter all that much. Unlike himself and his son, she was really as old as she looked. She probably didn't even know what she was until recently... Which meant it was her parents' fault for letting her sort everything out herself. It took a lot to make Emil angry, and shifter parents leaving their children to fare alone was on the list of things that made him want to hit something. It was irresponsible, and above all else, cruel. Though Emil couldn't say he knew how she felt, he could imagine how hard and complicated her life must have been. How hard and complicated it might still be, for that matter.

"Good to meet you, Elliot. I take it you look your age," he replied at last, voicing his earlier thoughts. He pushed aside his anger and gave the girl a slight smile, a rare sight.

"Oh yeah. Dad, Elliot's your daughter now," Danny cut in, grinning at his father's thinly veiled surprise.

Emil felt he should've expected it. He had been planning for the past few moments to ask Elliot if she wanted help learning how to use her new-found powers, but it seemed his son beat him to the punch. "...Fine by me." It really didn't bother him. He'd lived a long time, and it took more than a sudden adoption to get to him.

[Jisa]

Elliot made an effort to calm her frayed nerves and put the top down on her so called instincts. She had hoped they would have faded away with her cheetah form, but apparently three years of acting like something else can take a while to erase. By chance, or practice, she detected the white hot anger in Emil, but forced herself to stay put and take a deep breath. Emil had been nothing but welcoming to her so far, why would he have any reason to lash out at her? Elliot returned his smile and nodded; the thought that she might look like this forever was really strange and incomprehensible at the moment.

Danny’s interruption brought a blush to Elliot’s face, surprised at how simply he worded it. She found that she didn’t have the words to explain anything, so Elliot waited, hands in her lap twisted together. Quietly Elliot let out a breath of relief. Warmth welled up in her chest. Was this what it was like to be in a real family? Did families just take everything in their stride and hope for the best, helping each other out? If not, Elliot was glad that she was part of this one.

“Sorry about blind-siding you about that.”

Elliot apologized trying to hide her slight grin.

[Ruka]

Danny was glad the whole matter was settled. To be honest, he had been a little worried. His father wouldn't have refused 'adopting' Elliot, but he might have gotten a just a tad ticked off that he hadn't been given any warning.

"It's fine, honestly," he replied, laughing slightly. He'd always wondered what it was like to have a daughter. And he didn't even have to endure late nights and running around on two hours of sleep taking care of an baby. Shortcuts!

"I ought to get goin', got a paper to write," Emil explained, rising to his feet and stretching. He'd beaten Danny and Elliot to the house by nearly two hours. Since he had nothing else to do at the moment, he'd taken a quick nap, figuring his son would turn up sooner or later. He added after a moment, "I noticed the fridge was nearly empty, and I know you hate shopping, so I picked up a few things for you. I had time to kill." With a slight grin and a wave, Emil headed for the door.

Danny's face lit up. He hated grocery shopping because it was so boring. Oh, but if his father had done the shopping... That meant there would be healthy stuff. Even so, Daniel was glad he wouldn't have to go shopping tomorrow. "Thanks!" he called after the older shifter, waving in return.

When the door closed, Danny turned back to his new sister. "Wanna go see what he got for us? I'm kinda hungry," he added, nearly jumping to his feet.

[Jisa]

The pent up tension in Elliot's shoulders drained away when Emil confirmed that she wasn't a problem to him at all. Honestly, she didn't know what she would have done if he hadn't been okay with it. Dealing alone might have been a nightmare. This time, she let her small smile show. Even though Emil had been nothing but nice, Elliot was surprised to learn that she was even more relieved when he announced his departure. She'd have to work out her feelings sometime, because constantly wondering the causes of her emotions was really strange. Elliot's world was still strangely muddled.

Elliot didn't miss Danny's apparent joy at his- their- father picking up some shopping for them-him... whatever. Politely waving at the retreating figure of her new father, Elliot couldn't stifle her giddy smile. Life had taken a wild turn, but she was glad it had.

"Sure,"

She answered, not quite sure whether it would suffice as an answer, but deciding that it would have to anyway. Less enthusiastically, she got to her feet. Elliot wondered how anyone could express joy so energetically. Of course, she understood how people could find joy in the little things in life; surviving a day had been one of the many of Elliot's simple miracles.

[Ruka]

Today was just getting better and better. First those cute otters at the zoo, then gaining a little sister... And to top it all of, his father came to visit! Although, Danny was pretty sure he had another motive other than just to visit. Emil never did anything on a whim, at least not from what the younger shifter knew about him. Well, what ever it was, he'd figure it out later. Time to check out the kitchen.

He didn't want too cook anything. It would take too long to decide on something, and then there was an eighty percent chance he'd end up burning it anyway. There was a bunch on bananas hanging on a hook off to the side, but Danny didn't really like them all that much so he left them be. Instead, he peeked into the cabinets. Oh, Poptarts. He pulled the box out, eyes scanning the outside. Strawberry. It wouldn't have been his first choice, but it was certainly better than blueberry.

After he'd opened the box, he turned back to the cabinet for a moment. Just as he'd thought, there was a box of Cherrios off to the side for the next morning. His father was a very organized person, so Danny had figured he would have put all the breakfast foods together.

Pulling one of the shiny silver packages from the box, he offered them to Elliot first. "Want one?"

[Jisa]

Elliot followed her new brother into the kitchen, trying to keep wary surveillance of her surroundings to a minimum. Getting used to being human was something that would take a while. In a way, Elliot was surprised that she learned to trust Danny so quickly, after all that she’d been through with people during the past few years. She supposed that it was because he was also a Shape Shifter. Either way, the adjustment would be made easier with someone to help her along with life.

When Danny picked up the Poptarts, Elliot remembered, with a smile, that she used to love them. She noticed the amount of healthy foods that were in the kitchen. Memories of before Africa became clearer, slowly revealing themselves. Despite her interest in Biology, she’d never been able to afford a healthy lifestyle.

“Yeah, thanks.”

She replied, taking the packet and tearing it open. Before putting them in the toaster, she looked over her shoulder at Danny.

“Mind if I use the toaster?”

Elliot asked, unsure where her fiery personality had gone. After all, this was his home, not hers and it paid to be polite, at least.

[Ruka]

Out of the corner of his eye, Danny noticed he'd left the cabinet standing open. As he rounded the corner of the island, his foot skimmed the edge. It startled him a bit, but his shoes saved him from any pain. He made a mental note not to come stumbling into the kitchen half-asleep. He was sure to bump into the island again if he did. Maybe it would be best to tape something soft along the corners. My God, I'll have to childproof the house for myself. That was a depressing thought. He was old enough to be someone's grandpa.

"Go ahead," he replied, briefly wondering why she'd bothered to ask. This was her house now too, for as long as she wanted it to be.

Now the problem was finding the toaster. Danny wasn't even sure it was in the kitchen. There were still a few boxes lying around from things his grandparents had sent him that he had yet to open, mostly because he only remembered they were there just before he fell asleep. At least the boxes were all labeled. "But we'll have to find it first," he added, tossing his package of poptarts on the counter before heading for a box by the doorway helpfully labeled 'kitchen' in neat cursive.

Thankfully, the box was closed up with duck tape rather than the clear kind post offices usually used. That stuff was a pain to get off. Inside was a row of five or six plates and the same number of glasses, all surrounded in styrofoam. And off to the side...

"Here it is," he called, triumphant. He placed the small black toaster on the back counter next to an outlet and plugged it in. As he went back to retrieve his own snack, he made his request. "Please don't let me forget about the rest of the box tomorrow."

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