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Part One

Emer sighed as she nerviouesly pulled a lock of dark hair over to the side, checking how it looked in the reflection of the elvator door. She squeezed her eyes shut, Orphues was going to have lession with Kale, He wasn't going to look at her twice, not like he ever did... She smiled down at Kale as the doors opned and they started down the hall, his ears twtiching happily as they started out for class. He liked class, he still remmbered how much fun he had with Kat in her class. He let go of Emer's hand and ran up to the class room door, bursting in. "Orphues!!!?"

The room was wonderful, it was a huge room much like an indoor forest, trees stretching out as far as one could see. If you look really close though one could almost see where the walls were. Orpheus was reading over some notes that he had on a clip board in front of him, every now and again look up into the trees. He turned his head at the excited and familiar voice, "Kale!" He called, smiling brightly, "Wheres your Mum?"

Emer stepped in behinde Kale and smiled a little and waved. Kale looked up and grined, "Here she is!" he said pleased as he begain to run around the green grass between the two adults, his arms out streached as he made airplane noise. "Hey Orphuies. What is on the lesson plan for today?"

"No doubt one of the odder lessons that I have ever put together that is for sure." He said joking as he walked over to Emer, smiling at her, "Thanks for getting him in so early. I figured I could squeeze him in before some of my other classes since hes well behaved enough that we can get the class done in the alloted time."

She tilted her head as she looked over at him curiouesly. "What do you mean? What is he going to learn to do?" SHe heald her hand out and Kale curved his path and skidded to a stop in front of her grabbing ahold of her hand with both of his. He smiled up at Orphues. "Yeah, what do I get to learn about today?"

"Stick out your tongue and show it to your mother." Orpheus told the giraffe child a little bit of a grin on his face.

Kale tilted his head and then tuck his tounge out at his mother and Orphues, the tip to a quarter of the way back was black, and the rest of it was pink, it was a little longer then most peoples but not overly much. Emer looked over at Orpues, arching an eyebrow. "Okay.... it two toned... I already knew that."

"Not just that its also prehensile, as in if he practices he will have the ability to pick things up with it." He explained, no doubt the idea that the child could use his tongue as an extra hand would no doubt end with Emer punching him but... it was something that Orpheus found to be interesting and wanted to see if it was something Kale could do.

Emer's eyes narrowed as she watched him, as if expecting him to start laughing and tell her it was a joke. When it finally dawned on her it was she shuttrted a little, "And what kinds of things are you planning on teaching him to pick up." She looked down at Kale, "No picking things up that you don't know where it's been." She said pointing her finger at him. Kale's tounge was sticking up touching his nose, his eyes slightely crossed as he looked at it fascnated. He didn't know it could do that. He looked up his eyes huge not quite understanding why he was suddenly possable in trouble.

"Things that I've hidden up in trees and in the dirt of course. The best things to pick up with his tongue are the ones that have been on the floor." He said, keeping a straight face despite the fact that he was joking around with her.

Emer's eyes went wide, smaking his arm. "Not funny." She growled softely, the lock of hair she had pulled to the side falling dwon between her eyes again. Kale slipped his tounge back in his mouth looking around on the ground, "What kind of things?" He asked as he knelt down to see if he could find things in the grass, his tounge sticking out inching to the emrled green grass.

"We are going to practice first with some stuff I have on the table over here. After that the fun part. We will combine something your are already good at with the tongue thing." He said, grinning and pointed at the tree they were standing under. Up in the branches were a bunch of small, glass spheres that seemed to glitter in the early morning light that came down through the glass ceiling.

Emer stopped reaching down for Kale when he looked up the stood again. Emer looked relieved that her son wouldn't be digging threw the dirt with his tounge. Kale grinned when he saw the shiny spheres. "Wow, thos are really pretty!"

"Once you figure out how to better use that tongue of yours it will be a sort of catch game, you will use your power kick on the base of the tree to knock them loose and try to catch them with your tongue before they hit the ground. How does that sound?" He asked, moving over to where he had a table set up.

Kale started to walk with him, his dark eyes bright and wide and excited. "That sounds like fun, so how do we start?' Emer watched them for a little bit before slowly creeping out.

"First try out your tongue out on the items that we have here." He told him, sitting down in one of the chairs, motioning to the other one on the other side of the table. There were various objects, a fork, a spoon, a pencil, and other random things like that.

Kale sat down, running his hand over his mowhawk, looking carefully at all the objects. He slowly opned his mouth sticking out his tounge nudging the fork with the tip, struggling to get it under the fork.

Orpheus laughed, "I am sure this will be a useful skill for nothing else but grossing out your mother." He told him, laughing. He was sure Kale needed only to pick something up and wave it at Emer. The idea of faces she would make had him almost laughing.

Kale started to laugh, thinking about all the ways he could freak out his mom. He tilted his head to the side and slowly aquaredly wrapping it around the steam of the fork, his eyes crossing agaisnt as he lifted it up infront of his face "Tinda lithed this?" he asked, his speeched made lispy from having his tounge sticking out.

Orpheus gave a laugh, "Yep, exactly like that. Good job."

Kale let go of it and it claterted agaisnt the table top. He grinned whiping his mouth with the back of his hand, his feet kicking back and forth. He tried the pencial next, but only managed to push it across the table no matter how he twited his head or tounge. He kept trying even to the point of pushing the pencial right off the edge of the table.

Orpheus was able to catch it then held it out to Kale, "You want to attempt to write something with your tongue?" He asked of the boy, putting a clean sheet of paper on the clipboard and held it out to him.

Kale giggled and nodded, "Yeah, that would be a nifty trick." He leaned forward, wrapping his tounge around the penical, then swivled his head towareds the paper, slowly skratching at it, making unsteady wobbly strokes. At the end he pulled away and if you looked really close you could see Kale. The Giraffe boy frowned when he looked at it taking the penical out of his tounge's grip. "It's not very good."

"Like anything else it will come to you with practice. Imagining be able to fill out your homework with your tongue." Imagine the look on Raven's face if she saw that... he grinned a bit that that mental image.

That put the smile back on his face, his dark eyes glittering, "That would be lots of fun. Momma didn't seem to like the idea though. Will she like it that I can do this?"

"Not a clue, she can't really complain about skills that are natural to you." Especially when she was the one that gave Ligeia his first skirt.

He smiled, taking the pencial with his tounge and tried again, this time writing it a little better. He grinned happily, "How did I do that time?"

"Its easily readable so I think that you did really good." He said, looking the paper over that was in front of him, "What do you want to try next... Ah!" He reached over to pick up a bowl and sat it in front of Kale. Some pretzels, "Ok. This should be easy and tastey." He said then set a a bottle of water open in front of him, "Eat and drink."

Kale grinned, clapping his hands. He reached forward with his tounge, wrapping the black ruff part easily around a loop of one of the pretzles drawing it into his mouth chunching happily, Holding the bottole in his hand he twisted the top off with his tounge, wrapping it around the bottole he lifted it up, the water splashing down soaking him, sputtering as he grabbed it with his hands and putting it back down on the table.

Orpheus couldn't help but laugh, "Not to bad." He said, "I can get you a towel if you like."

Soaked and sputtering still he shaking his head as whiped his face with shirt. He didn't see how a towel would dry him off any better then his shirt. "It's hard to dronk with my mouth open and my tounge sticking out."

"Maybe draw the top of the bottle into your mouth so you can close your lips around it?" He sugggested.

He nodded, wrapping his tounge around the bottole pulling it to his mouth and closed his lips around it before tipping it up. He still sputtrted, but did better, quickly putting the water back down, coughing a little.

"There you go, a lot better and less soaked then the last time." He said, clapping for the giraffe child.

He finally stopped coughing his cheeks a little red, but he was smiling, thrilled that he seemed to be doing so well. "Now what? Can I try catching those sparkles now?"

"Sure if you think that your ready and want to give that a shot." Orpheus said, rising up to his feet, "Five of them, that is how many you need to catch and you can have as many tries as their are sphere in the tree." There were a lot of them so he was sure that there would be more then enough chances for him to get the amount he needed.

Kale reached in, moving his hand around the bag feeling what all was in there. The tip of his black tounge stuck out as he moved his fingers back and forth finally pulling out a silver man ring with an emrld set in the center of it. He grinned when he showed it to Orphues. "I like it, you like it?"

Kale slipped it onto his middel finger, though it was still very loose. There was a quite knock before Emer slipped back into the class room, her eyebrows raised questioningly. "So, how did it go? Is class over? Or am I too earily?" Kale bolted over to her, wrapping his arms around her legs tightely, "Momma! I want to show you what I can do!"

Emer grinned at Orphues, a little color creeping into her cheeks. She ruffled Kale's mohawk as she looked down at him grinning. She nodded, "Alright. Show me what Orphues taught you. I hope you haven't been digging aroun in the dirt with yur tounge....."

Kale giggled as he shook his head. "No, I wrote my name, and then he let me ahve a snack, and then we played catch!' He cheered happily.

Emer looked up at Orphues eyebrows raised. "Catch?"

Kale ran from Emer's side, looking up in the tree, he could see a few more shinys in the tree. "Momma! Momma! Watch me!" He yelled as he hoped up and down.
Emer turned and waved taking a couple steps closer so she was standing next to Orphues. She waved so Kale would know she was watching.

The boy kicked the trunk of the tree, making it shiver and shake, a shiny ball falling fast to the ground. Kale dodged forwared, wrapping, catching it by wrapping his tounge around it. "Thud-da!" He called the ball still held by his tounge, his hands up to show he hadn't used them.

Emer's eyes looked like they where about to pop out of her head. She tilted her head to Orphues a little as she watched Kale contuie to show off. Catching several more, missing one or two every now and then. "And the writing and eating? With his tounge too?"

Emer blinked, shaking her head. When she looked back up at Kale she relized he was standing there waiting for her approvel. She immedatly started clapping and cheering. "Well done! I could never do something so cool!" She hollard over to him. Before she started to walk towardes her son she gave Orphues a dark look, "I'm taking Leigea shoping." She hissed.