Welcome to Gaia! ::

Only yesterday Kniene had returned from a rather long trip back to his home. The effects were still with him, not to mention the exhaustion that always came with so much traveling. He and Sethos probably would have slept for days if the phone's insistant ringing hadn't woken him.

The taxi ride was silent but Kniene needed the quiet. He wasn't sure how to feel, about the arrival of his new 'child'. A child that would have the weight of a long and unforgiven past behind it. Tragic there, but everyone was a little broken, right?

Besides, with Sethos a tall, thoughtful and moody teenager, he missed the experiance of having a child around. Maybe this one would even talk to him, something his son was still learning to do.

"This the place?" The driver asked, slowing to a stop.

"Yes, thank you." He paid quickly, pulling his long gray velvet cloak around him against the chilly weather. It was strange to be back in Gaia, where he was again, old fashioned and excentric. Back home, where there were no cars or alien criminals, he fit much better. But Gaia was home. No helping it.

And there was, supposedly, a child that needed him. He'd taken in Sethos, with his gold snake eyes and strange silence. He would take in this child as well.

Right. Well. He pushed the door open, and his thoughts away. Walking inside, he glanced briefly around the place he'd only been once before, to sign up for the program.

"Hello?"

It was nice to see enthusiasm in someone. Not that he was unhappy with his's son's often silent company. But still, a touch of friendliness could go a long way. He managed a smile, gentle yet warm, and half bowed as the other man entered the room. Sethos mirrored him, without the smile.

"They are, late?" He questioned, clarifying the other man's statement, and exchanging a brief look with his son. That, well, it couldn't be a good sign. Except, of course, that he'd been gone the past week, so it was rather nice that there hadn't been any kind of early arrival. He straightened his cloak, an almost invisible symbol of nervousness.

"The responsibility is an honour." And it was. If anything, Kniene was religiously obligated to take in children. And, after the recent encounter with his Lady, well, he was feeling very religious. And alone. "And our home feels, empty, of late."

Though Kniene wasn't sure what he'd expected the rocket to be like, he was pretty sure he hadn't expected a noise like an angry dragon, and shaking windows. Maybe something more like a polite 'pop'. But this was Gaia! Gaia, land of noise and cars and strange, beautiful new cultures.

So with noise and shaking glass it would be.

Picking up on Archie's enthusiasm, he rushed out the door, Sethos following at a more sedate pace. Outside in the biting winter air, he wrapped his cloak more tightly around him, staring fixedly up at the growing reddish spark. If he was going to need to dodge, someone just might have to push him.

"Is it always like this?" He asked, voice raised to compensate for the noise.

Good landing? Kniene sure hoped so! They were all good landings, right? These were living beings they were talking about. Criminals, sure, but that was the past. Thus the point of rehabilitation. And that meant being careful with the lives within the ships. Or so he'd thought.

The ship was-- steaming, but that made sense, and wasn't quite enough to keep Kniene back from his new charge. Looking from the ship to Archie, he strode forward. A responsibility awaited him. And a life. He was eager to accept both.

"I'm afraid I don't know how we procede." He admitted, voice returned to a normal level. He hesitated, halfway between where he'd been standing and the ship. Waiting.

When Archie moved toward the ship, Kniene did the same, all but echoing his motion. The hiss suprised him, again with the dragon sounds, but he forgot his caution when the baby was revealed.

Dark black skin and pale blue hair, his eyes were closed, and he was curled on his side, deeply lost in sleep. For all the commotion of his arrival, he was completely unaware. Kniene leaned closer, touching a tiny fist with a cautious finger. Despite's Archie's explinations of the process he'd still expected something a bit like the picture he'd been shown. And this little infant couldn't be more different. He looked so innocent.

"He's not what I expected." Kniene admitted.

Sethos had 'arrived' as a child, and Kniene's familiarity with infants was admittedly minimal. It didn't matter. There were instincts there, taking over as he gently picked the child up out of the ship, holding him close against him. For a breath, it was peaceful, a communion of paternal instincts and the child in his arms.

And then the infant woke up and began to scream. A high, thin wail filled the air, the sound cutting. He was not happy to be here.

"I fear I can't even imagine." Kniene admitted, only barely paying attention to Archie now. It was rather difficult to give much notice to anything when there was a screeching struggling infant in his hands. He bounced him gently, making shushing sounds, like he had seen the mothers in the Autumn Guard do. No notice was taken of his attempts at comforting.

"Father, if I may?" It was the first that Sethos had spoken, in a voice like scales on sand. He stepped up beside Kniene, holding out his arms to take the infant. With a relieved smile, Kniene handed the blue haired child over. It was hard to even think when the screaming was right in his ear. And he still had some questions for Archie.

"That would be lovely." He stated, flustered but still in control. Alright, so he'd adopted an angry infant. He could handle that. "As we didn't know the exact time of his arrival-- I fear we aren't overly prepared."

If was operative in the statement about the infant calming down. The wailing had yet to stop, indeed, it seemed to be getting more hysterical. And it seemed that he was trying to beat Sethos with his tiny fists, though the teen was easily ignoring it. He made soft hissing sounds in the baby's ear, a somewhat unique take on shushing.

"My thanks, but I think we'd rather get home as soon as possible." Kniene responded, and then paused, as if considering an idea, "I would like it, however, if we might be allowed to visit you? I am sure it would be benefitial for him to be around others who have been through, or are going through what he is."