Past someone's bedtime. (Aiden, and open,)

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei walked down the hall to his room, carrying Aiden in his arms. Poor kid was already out cold. Wei retrieved his key, and tried to compensate for the sudden shift in his center of balance as the backpack slid off his shoulder. Wei gently kicked the door open and entered. Shifing Aiden to one arm, Wei pulled back the bedsheets and set Aiden down. Wei tucked the boy in and set his backpack down at the foot of the bed.

"Good night, kid. We'll try again tomorrow."

Wei got an extra blanket from the closet and settled down on the floor, trying to sleep.

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden barely moved when he was set in the bed, only rolled over onto his side. After a few minutes however, his eyes slowly opened. Whimpering softly, Aiden sat up and looked around. For a moment, he didn't know where he was but then he saw Wei on the floor.

Crawling to the end of the bed, Aiden unzipped his backpack and pulled out a small pair of pajamas, red, with spaceships on them and a blue toothbrush with a tiny tube of toothpaste. Carefully stepping out over Wei, the boy padded softly to the bathroom, shutting the door when he entered. Stifeling a yawn, Aiden changed into his pajamas and then did his best to fold his overalls and t-shirt up.

He climbed onto the toilet seat and then perched on the edge of the sink, running the toothbrush under the water. He gave his teeth a good scrubbing, until his face was covered with toothpaste, and then rinsed and spit. He splashed his face with water and then hopped down, drying off with a towel that hung on the wall. He was a very efficient little kid, making sure that he left no mess before swithcing off the light and heading back to bed.

Aiden put all his things away and then grabbed the blanket and crawled, not into, but underneath the bed. He had gotten used to sleeping there so that his mother could not find him when she got home in the mornings.

Besides, he felt safer being closer to Wei.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei had noticed the small feet run to the bathroom. No surprise there. He waited for the sounds of sheets rustling as he climbed back in bed. A few seconds later, there was no sound. Wei rolled over and noticed that Aiden was under the bed.

"What'cha under there for?" Wei said, rolling over to the bed and peering at Aiden.

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden lifted his head slightly.

"'Cause then no one will find me. An' I won't get in trouble."

He lay his head back down and closed his eyes. He was silent for a few minutes and then,

"Are you gonna be here in the mornin'?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei smiled. "Of course. And why would you get in trouble? No one is going to find you in my room. I'll keep you safe from bad people." Wei wondered why Aiden wanted no one to find him. But if there were people looking for him, and those people were bad, Wei would have a few things to say about it.

[Aiden Rennure]

"'Cause afore the accident, my moms friends an' my mom would come home an' they got mad 'cause they said we were bein' too loud. So if they couldn't find me then they didn' yell."

The tired child opened his eyes and scooted over until his head was sticking out. Gently placing his hands on Wei's face, Aiden looked hard at him.

"I gotta know somefin' okay? An' I don't want you to tell stories, I gotta know for real. When I sawed my mom and bruvers at the accident place, they didn' move. An' I heard the amulance man say that they were gone."

Aiden sighed and then continued.

"Miss Millie from across the hall said that they were in a better place, called Heaven. But I gotta know somefin'...is my mom really gonna come back? Did that man outside tell me the truth or was he just bein' mean and tellin' a story?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei sighed. He felt the little hands hold his face. Wei was always honest about everything. A few times it nearly cost him his reputation. Once it almost cost him his life. But all those times, the truth had come so easy. Now that he came face to face with this little kid, he didn;t know how he was ever going to get the truth out of his mouth. At last, it came.

"No, Aiden. I don;t think she ever will come back. I think that man told you a story to get the money from your peanut bank. But, I don;t think that your coming here was an accident, either. There are good people here at the Greater Jedi Order. I think you might find a new mommy here. And your new mommy will be even better than the old one. "

Wei paused. "I think you might even find a daddy. And all the brothers and sisters you could ever want. What do you say to that?"

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden's face fell and his eyes grew large.

"She's not? He was lyin'?"

The little boy scuttled underneath the bed. He barely heard Wei. SNiffling sounds drifted out from the "hiding" place.

"No I won't! I won't never find another mom! They all leave, everyone leaves!"

He crawled as far back as he could and scrunched in the corner, crying. Now he knew for sure. His mother wasn't coming back and neither were his brothers.

"I...I want my moooom!"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei felt tears well up in his eyes, too. "Aiden, I'm sorry. I didn;t mean for you to cry. I just had to tell you the truth. And not all of them leave. Some of them stay. It wasn;t your mom's fault she left. In fact, I think your mom would want you to find a new family to live with. All mothers want their sons to be happy. Don't you agree?"

Wei wanted to do something to make Aiden feel better, but all he could offer were words.

[Aiden Rennure]

Though Wei could not see it, Aiden nodded. Then he remembered where he was and voiced his answer.

"Yeah. But if she wanted me to be happy, why did she go?"

Aiden stayed in the corner, curled in a ball, taking quick, short breaths. Every now and again he would wipe his eyes but they would just fill again. He felt empty everywhere except for his chest. His chest was hurting so badly. What if he was dying too?

"I think I'm dyin'! My chest hurts, right here."

Aiden put his hand on his chest, next to his heart.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"You aren;t dying. You are just very sad. It's ok. Sometimes we do things we don;t want to do. Like when your mom went away. She didn;t want to. It was an accident. I'm positive that if your mom had a choice, she would not have gone away. But bad things happen sometimes. But, when they do happen, we have to try our best not to get too terribly sad. Becuase if you get too sad, you are sad all the time and it is very hard to be happy again. Like the Sith."

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden didn't know what the Sith were but he didn't ask then. Instead he crawled out from under the bed and into Wei's lap, clinging to him.

"I can't stop the sad. It's just there. And it hurts."

He pressed his face into Wei's neck and started crying again. His sobs were muffled by the man and Aiden found it comforting to hug him.

"D-do you have a mom?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Yes I do. But she lives far away. I never know where exactly she is because my family always moves around. We have a large cart that is pulled by a large animal and every night, we fold out the shelter. We cook on an open fire. We only go to towns when we need food. But I came here to be a Jedi. Some day, you can come with me to find my mom. We are a little alike, yes?"

[Aiden Rennure]

The boy nodded, and lay his head on Wei's shoulder.

"Yeah. But your mom is still there. An' my mom is gone."

He sniffed again and wiped his nose on the sleeve of hjs pajama shirt, a habit that all children seem to have.

"But what about now? What do I do without a mom? What if I can't find one?"

He looked up, his eyes confused and worried. All he knew was that he had always had a mother and now she was gone. He didn't know what would happen to him. Aiden hadn't known any other children, besides his brothers, and so he thought that without a mother, he wouldn't be able to survive.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei sighed and pushed his glasses up onto his nose.

"Well, until we can find a mom for you, you will stay at my place and I will take care of you."

Wei looked at Aiden and smiled.

"You won;t come to any harm, ok? You'll be just fine."

[Aiden Rennure]

"Really?"

He looked doubtful, like he didn't believe Wei. But then Aiden nodded.

"Okay. I like that idea."

Snuggling closer, a weak smile crossed Aiden's face.

"Do I hafta go to bed right away? I don't wanna right now. I just wanna sit here for a little minute."

OOC: PM'd ya 'bout something:)

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Ok. you can sit here if you want." Wei let the kid get comfortable in his lap.

"Me and you can be friends," Wei said, brushing the boy's hair out of his eyes.

[Aiden Rennure]

"Yeah! Best friends!"

He smiled now, a full smile. Aiden still missed his mother but he was too young too fully realize what it meant to be dead.

"I never had a friend before. 'Cept my brothers. An' they didn' coun't 'cause I had to look out for them."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Look out for them? You must have been a very big boy to look after your brothers." Wei laughed softly.

"We will be best friends. And I will take care of you. Ok? And you will count as my friend, even though I am taking care of you. Best friends do that, you know? Take care of each other."

Wei sighed. "Ready for bed yet?" Wei yawned.

[Aiden Rennure]

"I am a big boy! I can ride a big boy bike all by myself!"

Aiden smiled proudly. He mulled over going to bed.

"Ummmmm...nope. Let's stay up all night! Never go to sleep, not for the whole night or day!"


He patted Wei's hand, assuringly.

"Okay?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei's face screwed up into a thinking gesture. "You think you can handle it?" Wei smiled.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE IT?" Wei said louder, tickling Aiden;s tummy.

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden dissolved in a fit of laughter, throwing his head back and squirming, attempting to get out of the reach of Wei's hands.

"Ha ha ha...y-yeah...ha ha ha ha!"

His face was going red and Aiden thought he would burst.

"Take this!"

Rolling over, Aiden jumped onto Wei, pushing him over, and began to tickle back, still giggling madly.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"ha ha! Hey! No fair!" Wei landed lightly on his back and picked Aiden up so he was high in the air.

"What you going to do now?" Wei asked, tickling Aiden with his thumbs.

[Aiden Rennure]

"Ah!"

Aiden shrieked as Wei lifted him up. He couldn't remember when he'd had so much fun.

"Ah! Ha ha ha ha!"

The child wriggled around, trying to get free of the grip. He couldn't roll away this time, there was nothing to roll on. He surrendered to the tickling until he could take no more.

"I...I'm gonna blow up!"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Oh, you will not." Wei quit tickling him and got him in a bear hug.

"I'm going to keep you squeezed up so tight, you can;t blow up."

[Aiden Rennure]

"Aaaagh! Now I'm gonna blow in!"

Aiden laughed and then made a "fierce" face.

"Wah ha! Super strength!"

Aiden started to move his arms apart, trying to get loose.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei threw his arms out wide, allowing Aiden to get free.

"Gosh, but you are strong."

Wei cradled the boy in one arm and began to poke at the boy;s ribs.

"Let's see how many ribs you have." Wei poked a this ribs.

"One....two....threeeee..."

[Aiden Rennure]

The boy grinned triumphantly.

"Hey! That tickles! Ah ha ha!"

It didn't tickle as bad as before and Aiden was curious. No one had ever counted his ribs before!

Giggling, he watched, the suspense before each poke forcing more laughter.

"Mmhmmmha ha! I get to count yours after!"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Ok, then." Wei laughed.

"Four....five....six....seven...eight...nine....ten !" Wei laughed.

"Ten ribs...unless I missed one. Maybe I should count again..."

[Aiden Rennure]

"No!"

Aiden pushed Wei down and lifted his shirt up.

"It's my turn now!"

The little lad started to poke Wei, just as he had been poked a few seconds earlier. Grinning, he watched Wei's face.

"One.....two...three...four....five..."

This was almost as much fun as being counted!

[Pheonix Planesrender]

Pheonix heard some rather... interesting noises comeing from a few doors down. She walked out and over to the door and knocked. The noises got louder so they couldn't hear her. She knocked louder then reached out with the force to try and find who it was. Wei and some one she didn't know. The noises stoped a moment followed by alot of laughing. She knocked again quickly before they started up again.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei tried not to laugh. Wei's fathe rused to count his ribs when he was little. Even now, now that Wei was 17, a ful 13 years, he could not help but laugh and try to keep his ribs from being counted.

"Stop! That tickles!"

Then there was a knock at the door.

"Hold on, buddy. We got a visitor." Wei set Aiden to the side and got up to answer the door. on the other side was the dark elf Wei had helped before.

"Pheonix! Did we wake you? Me and Aiden were just goofing off," Wei said, motioning for Aiden to come to the door.

"Aiden, this is Phoenix. Phoenix, this is Aiden."

[Aiden Rennure]

"Look out! It might be the bogey man!"

Aiden ran to the door , though he stayed behind Wei's legs. He smiled shyly at the stranger and gave a small wave.

"Hidey ho!"

[Pheonix Planesrender]

Pheonix bit her lower lip and shruged. A confused look was on her face as they talked. The common was still a bit strange to her. She was only able to understand the last part. The introductions. She looked down at the young boy, smiled and nodded. She kneels down beside the boy and looks at him. She stares into his eyes for a moment. She then smiles again and stands up. She opens the connection between Wei and herself agian.

'He has lost someone. Might I ask who and if he is alright?'

Her words echo through Wei's head even though her mouth is not moving.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Yes. His mother. he is happy for now, but he really wants a mother. WE are counting each other's ribs. WE can teach you numbers in the common tongue."

[Pheonix Planesrender]

Pheonix gave him an odd looked.

'Counting ribs? What are you not sure that you have all of yours.'

Pheonix pokes him just under the ribs on the side where most people are ticklish. She smirks at him.

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden grabbed Phoenix's hand and pulled her inside.

"C'mon! C'mon! I'll show you the game we were playin'! It's really fun!"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shrank away from the prodding finger. "Do come in."

Wei helped her inside. "Aiden on 3! 1...2...4!" Wei laughed and tackled Phoenix, pinning her down.

"Aiden let';s see how many ribs she has! You count!"

[Pheonix Planesrender]

Pheonix looked up at Wei as he pinned her to the bed. She started the laugh and strugle with the male jedi. He was holding her down and was alot stronger than she was. She glanced over at the boy.

'Is there a reason you are pulling me into this?'

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden giggled and began poking Phoenix in the ribs, gently, so that it tickled.


"Ooooone! Twoooooo!"

He was laughing harder than they were. He couldn't help it, this was so fun!

[Pheonix Planesrender]

Pheonix wasn't ticklish but desided to humor the boy and started to laugh and squirm. She was still unable to move much because of being pinned to the bed by Wei but was still able to squirm a little.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Faker." Wei siad through the connectoin he had with Phoenix. "But you are bound to be ticklish somewhere"

Wei looked at Aiden. "Try counting her toes!"

[Aiden Rennure]

Delighted with that idea, Aiden moved down to her toes and started tickling them, not bothering with counting.

"Like this?" He shouted to Wei, though they were both on the bed.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded and smiled broadly. "That's the way."

[Pheonix Planesrender]

That was it for Pheonix. She was laughing hard now. She strugled with Wei untill she got one arm free. She quickly wraped it around his neck and pulled him to the right, knocking him off blance. She then jumped up and sat on him, hiding her feet from the young boy.

'What now, human?'

Pheonix grinned and started to tickle him. She motioned for the boy to help her out.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Hey! What did I do?" Wei said before he was consumed by an overwhelming urge to laugh. And laugh he did.

"Oh....my gut hurts...cuase I'm laughing so much!" Wei siad, trying to get a hold of Phoenix's hands to stop the tickling.

[Aiden Rennure]

Delighted, Aiden pounced on Wei, tickling as fast as his tiny fingers could move.

"We got the Cap'n! It's mutiny!"

Throwing his head back, he let out an over-exaggerated "evil" laugh and doubled his tickling force.

Oh but this was good.

[Pheonix Planesrender]

"Thats it"

Pheonix started ticking both at once. She kept her left hand on Wei and reached her right hand over to the young boy. Her smile was wide and had a tint of fun evil in it.

'Now your both mine'

[Wei Wu Wei]

"What? Ange'll kill me if she hears what you just said!" Wei said, jokingly.

"Let's both get Aiden now." Wei focused on tickling the the kid's sides.

[Pheonix Planesrender]

Pheonix lets go of both of them and sits down on the floor. She watches the two, laughing the entire time at them. It reminded her of when she had observed the humans and their living styles back on her home planet. Playfull and loving. She closed her eyes a moment and tried to imagin the dark elfs doing that. But she couldnt. It was useless. no dark elf would ever do something like that except for herself. She sighed, her smile fadeing away.

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden screeched and tried to get away but they had him. He was laughing so hard he couldn't talk. He concentrated (as much as he could, considering) and rolled over, off the edge of the bed. Quickly, Aiden scooted under the bed, out of the reach of tickle hands.

"Ha! Can't get me now! I'm in a invincible fortress! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

[imported_Lance Stormrider]

::Greenish eyes could be seen shining through their window as Lance disguised in his strider tunic observed this game they were having...they reminded him of his childhood...he then crawled back on the roof of the LQ and ran back to his room before he would go noticed.::

[Pheonix Planesrender]

Pheonix looked out the window just in time to see a cloak disappear. She quickly ran to the window and flung it open. She climbed to the top easily because of her elvish grace and her training in climbing steap walls like that. She flip to the roof and ran after the person that was getting away. She jumped for him and grabed ahold of his waist, tackling him to the ground.

[imported_Lance Stormrider]

:: Lance gets tackled to the ground but with the aid of his butt leaps her in the air and just in time his kicks her feets to make her flip away the strider spins to his feet and throws a few shruikens while she's flipping away..not wanting to give away his identity he throws a smoke bomb on the ground and the figure had vanished from the scenary::

[Pheonix Planesrender]

Pheonix coughs a few times untill the smoke disperses. She looks around quickly but finds no one.

"What the? Who was that?"

She runs to the other end of the building and looks over the edge. Nothing. She walks back to the side that she climbed up and drops down to Wei's window. She flips in and looks down outside. She shrugs slightly and looks at the two that were on the bed. They were giving her some odd looks. She just shruged again.

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden had clambered back onto the bed when Phoenix jumped out the window but as soon as she came in he dashed back under to the tickle-free zone. Grinning, Aiden began to plot a cunning plan to take over the bed...and maybe the whole quarter.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei laughed and got down off of the bed.

"Escape? There is no escape."

Wei went to the edge of the bed and lifted. "Pheonix, hurry and get him out!" Wei said laughing.

[Pheonix Planesrender]

Grins and runs over. She grabs the young boy and tosses him back on the bed once it is down. She jumps on the bed after him and sits next to him, tickling him.

[Aiden Rennure]

"Ahhhh! No fair!"

Aiden spit out between giggles. Suddenly he stopped and raised a finger to his lips.

"Shhhh...listen!"

His eyes grew large.

"There's a monster outside! In the hallway!"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"See there? Ha!" Wei jumped on the bed, landing partly on Aiden, partly on Phoenix. then he flung himself over to where he was laying down next to Aiden.

"Are you ready for bed yet? We been at this for hours."

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden shook his head.

"I can't sleep with a monster outside! That's suicide!"

He looked at Wei and Phoenix with big, pleading, pathetic eyes.

"Would you go make sure it's safe? Please? Both a you?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei got up and went to the door. "Ok, I'll go beat up the monster, you just stay there."

Wei assumed a fighting stance and carefully opened the door and stepped outside, looking to the left and right. No harm in humoring a little kid, right?

[Pheonix Planesrender]

Pheonix grins evily and walks out the door. She comes up behind Wei and tackles him to the ground, pinning him and starting to tickle him.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"THERE IS THE MONSTER!" WEi said, looking at Phoenix. "It's a tickle monster!"

Wei laughed and tried to get up.

[Aiden Rennure]

Now was his chance!

Aiden leaped from the bed with grace equivilant to that of a drunken monkey. Picking himself off the floor, he ran to the door and slammed it.

click

Pumping his fist in the air, part of his victory dance, Aiden began to sing.

"I fooled ya! I fooled ya! Na na na na naaaaa na!"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei got up and knocked on the door. "Aiden, please let us back in."

Wei searched his pockets, but his room key was not there.

[Aiden Rennure]

"I took over the kingdom fair an' square!"

Aiden called back. Looking around with a smirk, he went and sat on the couch turning on the holoscreen. Pushing the volume up to the halfway point, he pretended to ignore the calls from outside.

"I can't hear ya!"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei frowned and wondered who had put a holoscreen in his room and when they had done so. Then he shrugged. Oh well. It was a nice present to have. He wondered why he had never noticed it before.

"I guess I'll just have to try to use the Force." Wei concentrated on opening the lock. Wei turned his hand, and the door unlocked.

"That was sure hard." Wei would make sure to ask Navaria to teach him how to levitate things with the Force and such as that.

Wei opened the door and entered, moving over to the holoscreen and turning it off.

"Well, then. What do you have to say for yourself?"

[Aiden Rennure]

The boy stared at his hands, which were suddenly very interesting. He looked up at Wei with innocent eyes.

"Um...hello?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Hello?" Wei was unimpressed.

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden nodded his head uncertainly and then smiled.

"Yeah...Hello."

He waved a little in greeting, the smile plastered to his face.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Well, I did not like being locked out of my room. I would like an apology, if you don;t mind."

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden lowered his head scowling.

"It was jus' a game."

He muttered to himself. Sighing, the boy lifted his head and tried to sound apologetic.

"Sorry."


OOC: sorry it took so long, had a busy week:(

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei ruffled the boy's hair. "That's fine. Sometimes, though, you have to think about how other people will feel about you doing something."

"No worries though. I'll help you out with all that stuff. Like manners, and consideration for others. People like it when ytou are kind and stuff. ok?"

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden nodded, glad that Wei wasn't mad anymore.

"Okay. But I was jus' playin', I didn' mean to make you feel bad."

He jumped up and grabbed Wei around the legs, hugging him. His voice was muffled as he spoke.

"So you forgive me, right?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Of course i forgive you! That's what best friends do, you know." Wei removed the bnoy from his legs and stretched and yawned. "I'm tired. Let's get some sleep, ok?"

[Aiden Rennure]

Aiden made a sour face and sighed.

"Do I hafta?"

He whined, tired but still trying to delay sleep.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Well, it would be good for you to. When we are tired, we sleep. No need to fight sleep. It makes us cranky. Your face is already looking pretty cranky. Besides, you grow when you are asleep."

Wei picked Aiden up and set him down in the bed. "Sleep is good."

Wei turned and went to the door to talk to Phoenix. "Thanks for playing with us. I know he appreciated it. I think he's going to go to sleep now. Good night."

[Aiden Rennure]

"No I'm not!"

Aiden called from the bed to Phoenix. He sighed and got under the covers. He rolled over onto his side. Onto his tummy. Onto the other side. Onto his back.

"I can't sleep. Let's go to the zoo!"