A New Environment

“Lavender? Raspberry? Alright?” Shadowy Servant cooed as he held his babies in his arms. They squeaked and squirmed as their parents were walking to Silver’s master’s shop and home. It would be nice, to be there for a little bit, having moved to be closer to the Queen after the whole fiasco and Silver Lining’s adventures. They moved rather quickly as they approached their destination, a brand new shop with a loft at the top, making it bigger than it seemed. People were already lining up and talking up a storm as they approached, waving to the two Dropzillas as they entered the premises.

“Ah, Silver! Hold on, let me get Father!” a feminine voice called out. There was a faint, “Father, they’re here!” in the back before two humans came rushing out, a young teenaged girl and a much older man. The man grinned as the two Dropzillas approached.

“Welcome back, Silver Lining,” he greeted. She did a small bow before gesturing to her two children, who simply looked at the man curiously. He beamed. “These are your children? Oy vey, so lovely! I wonder what they’ll look like fully grown?”

“They’re cute,” Velvela noted, grinning. They peeped and squirmed in Shadowy’s grasp.

“Come in, come in! We can meet you upstairs, I’m a bit busy at the moment I’m afraid, but we can talk during dinner.” She nodded, knowing their dinners were usually late, and motioned for Shadowy to head upstairs. They made their way to the loft upstairs, the creaking floorboards interesting the babies as they cooed and peeped some more from Shadowy’s arms. Eventually they reached the top and she went to where her room would normally be, closing the door shut once everyone else was inside.

“Here, go, run free,” Shadowy said as he put the babies down. The cat and the weasel mewed and yipped as they surveyed the area, before dashing off on clumsy legs to explore. Silver sat on the bed and watched them for a moment, getting her violin case to tune while Shadowy sat on the chair closest to the table, watching them vigilantly in case they did anything. They weren’t really doing anything, though, just romped and played like they were in heaven. Their squeaking and yipping was music to Silver’s ears as she smiled to herself, tuning well until she hit the right notes. She did a little test with the scale before playing a happy jig, causing her children to yip even more and play rough. “Ah! Careful!” Shadowy said as he moved to get up, but before he could they dashed off to get into things. Lavender Potpourri the weasel went into the drawers, pulling them with his tiny paws before climbing inside with growls of approval. Raspberry Syrup the cat decided to rush to his mother, meowing as he leaped onto the bed and pawed at her tail. She smiled wider as she played, letting the music flow.

“Oh, that’s a nice tune- oooh no you don’t!” Velvela giggled as she quickly closed the door before the children could bolt towards it. They whined as they stumbled to a halt, looking at the new girl with indignation and curiosity. “Aww, they’re so cute! I’ve been practicing carving violins while you were away, Silver. Wanna see?” She nodded as she played and eyed the girl as she showed the violin piece to the children. They cooed and peeped as they walked over clumsily, pawing at the wooden instrument and rubbing against it. “They like it!”

“Very pretty,” Shadowy commented.

“Thanks! It’s not polished yet, so it needs to go through that before it can be sold. Someday, it’s going to be like that instrument your mom is playing, you two!” They tilted their heads to the side before glancing at Silver in unison. They then squealed and began to rub against the wooden piece some more, leaving behind streaks of jelly. “Aw, hey, no, don’t slime my work! Hold on…” She took the unfinished violin away, ignoring their whines as she wiped off the jelly with a cloth. “Anyway, I’m free for now, can I play with the kids?” Silver nodded alongside Shadowy at that.

“Yes, of course! Go play, go play!” he insisted. The babies squealed with delight and, once she put away the unfinished violin, began to rub against Velvela’s leg and climb all over. The teenager giggled as she handled them with care, soft expressions on everyone’s faces as they either watched or played. It lasted for hours before Faigel came to tell them dinner was ready. The babies absorbed the food ravenously as they adults and one teenager chattered about this and that. Silver, since she couldn’t talk, just watched her children while nodding and listening to everything that was going on. Her heart was glowing as she watched her children. What beautiful babies, a handful, yes, but they were so, so precious to her. And she could tell, they’ll love her masters just as she loved them.