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When Lore found this odd looking letter sitting on his desk, he wasn't sure quite what to think. But when he opened it, the first thing he'd done was call all his bandmates and let them know they'd gotten a gig.

A gig. At that club the cat boy's guardian owned, or whatever. He wasn't great at paying attention to minor details like that. He was thrilled at this sort of publicity though. He was pretty sure that club was busy every single night ever since the cat boy's broadcast. He himself had been sorely amused by the kid's singing. After all, he was the vocalist of his band. How could he not find this kid great entertainment? Painful, but entertaining. He wasn't sure if the kid would ever improve though.

This was a great opportunity not only for his band though. But for Artemis as well. He wanted to meet other kids like her, even though she was still a baby. Couldn't hurt to start now, right? Build up some strong friendships so that when she got older, public opinions would be easy to ignore. That's how it was for him. He had to stick with people like him to ride off all the people that downcast him and said he was a loser.

--

When all the details had been settled through e-mail, the date was decided. And the boys were ready for their little gig at the now big-shot club thanks to a certain attention-hungry shine-spot.

Lore and the boys had agreed they would get there a little earlier so that Lore could try and converse with the owner lady about letting their kids meet up. How shocked would she be to find that a nineteen year old was in possession of a Song baby. He was a little nervous, sure he hadn't knocked anyone up. But it was still slightly awkward thinking about it.

When their van arrived at the back entrance of the club, Lore had Artemis wrapped up in a giant dark purple blanket; it seemed to be her favorite color and it helped blend her wings in anyway. It was easy enough to hide Artemis from the prying eyes of the world cause they could wrap her up and take her anywhere and hardly anyone would notice, just another teenager with a baby... A baby that looked nothing like him... Regardless, Lore also lived in a house. So privacy was pretty easy to come by. Just close the curtains and that was that. So generally, he was unafraid of taking her anywhere, only sharing her existence with someone who wasn't family (because yes, his band was family too) was the tricky and worrisome part. And he was ready to take precautions.

Handing Artemis off to Uncle Ling, Lore knocked on the back door hoping to see the woman he'd seen on t.v. so they could have a chat about kids while his band stayed back in the van with their equipment.

Lore was semi-startled at the awkward start and go of the man who had just burst from the back door and was trying to speak. He simply let him finish up his bumbling words until he called for Mara. The woman, he was going to meet her now! He took a breath, nervous and excited.

But when he saw her, how disheveled she seemed and unkempt. He was surprised and somewhat amused by the contrast of her on TV. The cat boy really must be such a handful considering the short period of time he'd seen him on TV. And that alone was already rambunctious. Maybe Artemis shouldn't meet him...?

"It's cool, no explanation needed." He smirked. "Nah." Was his reply about the drink.

When she invited him in, he hastily stopped her with one hand in the air as if to halt further action. "Er, actually I was thinking maybe I could talk with you alone for a minute." He rocked nervously on the balls of his feet while anxiously awaiting her answer. What a weird request, right?

Lore chuckled. That's right. He remembered now, Cas was the cat boy.
"Outside's fine. You don't have to groom yourself." He laughed. "No judgment here." He said with both hands up. He got judgment enough for being so young in a band that was getting close to hitting the big time, maybe? And also having kid that wasn't necessarily blood-related to him. That would be more judgment at one time than he could handle.

Boy, that kid sure was making mayhem in there. He wondered if by the time the band had to go on, things would be okay. He wondered if many people would come. Or even be interested in his band playing opposed to this kid who seemed to know how to get people's attention.
"It's cool." He shrugged. And found this the perfect opportunity to bring up children.... "Kids can be a handful, yeah?"

Though on the contrary, Artemis was pretty good about things. But perhaps it was because she spent most of her time with him. He couldn't imagine if he'd have to let someone else take her for a day or two. That would be bad. She would get cranky.

"I have one too." He blurted out. It was the only way he could seem to bring it up. But she might not immediately assume that he meant... Had one like her, kind of have. She would probably assume he meant he knocked some groupie up and had a kid. Haha. Even inside his head, he made himself laugh. Keeping things lighthearted, that was the way to keep a grasp on life.

Crap. He really did just blurt it out. She didn't even know what he was talking about though. Maybe it was his chance to change the subject away from kids. She had enough on her plate it seemed. What would this kind of news do to a woman like her? It seemed like she couldn't handle any more pressure.

Would what he wanted to talk to her about cause her more stress? Or relief? He would be relieved if he were in her shoes. To find there was someone else out their with a kid like theirs. Fine then. He would just spill the beans and hope for the best. Hope that her kid's publicity wouldn't rub onto his. He didn't want reporters and people checking up in his business and Artemis. Wow. Protective father much? He need to relax, take it easy. If those things came, he would be chill about it. Not act all uppity-uptight about it.

Maybe publicity would be good. For his band as well. Those thoughts aside... He drifted back into the back alley he was standing in with Mara.
"Well... You know how... Well, your kid. He's different?"

He paused. Here goes that leap of... Whatever it was. Cause it sure wasn't faith. He breathed in. "I got one too." And out came the words with a big exhale.

What now?

Crap.

Here came what he was expecting. The silent judgment. The freaking out in their mind speil. The awkwardness of being that kid, only this was different. He wasn't that kid. The idiot that didn't use protection. He was a different kind of idiot entirely. The ignorant youth that decided to keep a child dropped on him, when really. He could've just plopped her one someone else's doorstep and pretend he never laid eyes on her.

Crap. What would this woman think of him now? Bad father for bringing his kid practically everywhere he went? Naive for thinking he could raise a kid? Not like he didn't have help, but hey. Still naive.

Crap. Well now he had to break the ice again of this 'seriously, you?!' atmosphere that was beginning to envelop him with the older woman. "Yeah... That's kind of why I was so eager to accept the gig you offered us." He nodded slowly as if to say 'yep, there it is'.

"I was hoping... Thinking... Maybe your kid... My kid. They could, you know. Chill out together. Hang. Maybe be friends." He shrugged. He was throwing out suggestions here lady, give him a break! He was young, not completely clueless to reality.

Lore's entire mood changed at once at her last words. He had received consent, agreement. And that was far more than enough to cheer him up plenty from the awkward conversation.

Gladly wishing to leave it behind, he perked up.
"Yeah, I brought her." Smiling dorkishly at the woman before turning around and calling out to the van. (The boys had been watching through the darkened windows the entire time, laughing.) "Yo, get out of the van guys. She's cool." She, meaning Mara, was cool enough to be okay with Artemis.

He turned back to her. "Just a heads up, I want to keep her on the down-low. So I'd appreciate if you kept you know... Me and her private."

Ling brought over the bundled up girl who had begun to get cranky from being away from her daddy. Even though she had been with the guys, they were too distracted by daddy's conversation with the lady to keep her entertained. Her arms outstretched to clutch around Lore's neck, there she was back home and staring at the odd lady in front of them. Her green lizard-like eyes gazing softly at her for a long moment before she turned her face and cuddled it into her daddy's neck.
"Here she is." Lore said, bouncing her as if that were her hello to Mara. "Her name's Artemis." He beamed. It was the first time he'd shown her off really to a stranger, though at least now she would be less of a stranger.

Artemis was mildly intrigued by the woman that was talking to her, but stayed quiet and cuddled against her dad's neck. Her eyes always watchful. Lore chuckled. "She's kind of shy around nice people."

"Yeah, that'd be awesome." Beginning to follow the woman inside, but before he was fully inside he turned to Ling. "You heard the lady, set up." He said half in command and half jokingly.

"Ay-ay, Cap'n." Ling laughed, with a salute of his hand as the others had already begun taking things out of the van. Ling turned to help them.

Lore wasn't quite sure what to expect from this Caspien kid. He'd heard all the noise that had managed to escape the back door. He heard the yelling. And he saw how disheveled Mara looked upon coming outside. Kids will be kids...? He guessed, that was the saying anyway. He wasn't worried about Artemis though. She would adjust, eventually. Maybe. He hoped.

This would be the first time for her, meeting another kid like herself. And he sorely wished for it to go well.
"Oh yeah, while we're playing, you wouldn't mind watching over Artemis would you? Or Caspien could... He's gotta be older than her." From what he remembered of seeing those clips, he was certainly older than her. Not sure if it was good to leave a baby in a kid's care, but look who's talking. "She's not difficult to handle, just antsy when she's away from me too long and isn't around anyone she likes very much." At this, he laughed. Because it was painfully, hilariously true.

The boys nodded in acknowledgement to Mara's information before returning to lugging their instruments and drum set through the back door.

Lore followed Mara tentatively.
"Thanks Ms. Mara." He still felt like he should address her accordingly, she was older after all. And he wanted to show her a sense of respect. Mrs. might sound rude though. He laughed at this in his mind.

Artemis didn't care too much about what was going on. In fact, she had no idea she was meeting someone special. She simply thought this was just another show daddy was doing, and they were getting extra nice treatment for it.
"Awesome, sounds great." Lore beamed. He knew she'd be busy, so Caspien would have to play baby-sitter. He wondered how Artemis would feel about it.

Time out. Lore snickered. This guy who had answered the back door earlier, he seemed like a funny character. One Artemis would like, and was he right about that or what. Artemis lit up at the sight of him, smiling quietly as though only to herself.

When they reached the office, his first instinct was to take Artemis by the window to view the stage. He bounced her a little and showed her the view. "See that, Art? Dad and your uncles are gonna be playing music on that stage tonight." Artemis clapped her hands twice with glee. Music. She loved music. And then she tightened her grip around her pops.

It was indeed a really nice office too. Lore nodded his thanks again to Mara. "I guess I'll let her breath a little." He decided that in this space, it would be safe for him to let Artemis out of the blanket that managed to hide everything from the world. And she sensed this too. Her wings fidgeted impatiently under the blanket's hold. Excitement filled her eyes, as she'd never been allowed to take the blanket off in public places.

Underneath the blanket was Artemis in all her black jeweled glory, wearing a rock t-shirt and a blue baby-skirt. Lore held her out and up, so she'd be able to stretch her small (well really they were about the same size as her entire body) black and purple wings out before he put her in a more comfortable position on his arm. Much better. What great accommodations, she thought. She liked this Mara-lady for providing such great care for her and papa.