Meet the Family (Open)

Gav lead Eriyana and Chibi through the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se back to his apartment. Crowds stopped and stared in awe of the massive BadgerMole trundling through the city so nonchalantly.

They soon arrived at a run down building with a green tiled roof. "After you m'lady" Gav said, bowing and gesturing for Eriyana to make her way inside.

He turned back to Chibi. "O.K. buddy, you won't fit inside, so wait out here, alright? Don't wander off or get in any trouble. You understand?" The mole stared at him with its big, wise eyes. "O.K. good. Thanks bud."

Gav dashed inside. "Hey guys, sorry i'm late! Dinner will be ready soon" he yelled.

Eriyana smiled and bowed back before entering the house, looking around quietly and keeping her hands to herself. "I think someone just got nominated for best dad of the year?" She smiled at the joke and stayed out of the way of everyone, stretching her limbs and rubbing her head a bit to make sure it wasn't still sore.

"Well at least my head doesn't hurt anymore." She put the bandages away in her bag, sitting down in a nearby chair.

Gav smiled, dodging around toys and running children.

"Fall In!" He barked, sounding like a very happy colonel. Immediately 14 smiling children lined up. "I'd like you to meet Yui, Yi, Bang, Bing, Kiwa, Tor, Ming, Kiki, Zen, Hina, Gurro, Zang, and Jay... Wait, where's Lin?"

Kiki leaned forward and smiled miscellaneously. "She's out with a boy" she said, stressing the word boy like all little girls do. She giggled. "They're on a daaatteee. A D-A-T Date."

"There's an E at the end of that honey" Gave chuckled. "Does anyone know where the two lovebirds are?" Just then a scream emanated from the front yard. Gav rushed to the door and threw it open. There stood Lin, staring up at Chibi. Behind her, a young man cowered, clutching a book in an attempt to shield himself.

Chibi cocked his head to once side ans stared back at the whimpering children. Gav laughed. "Don't worry, he won't bite! Lin, meet Chibi. Now I believe you have someone to introduce to me?"

Eriyana watched them line up and introduce themselves, smiling at how adorable they were all being. She smiled a bit as they teased lin, and heard the scream from outside. She struggled to contain her laughter when she saw it was lin's date that had done the screaming.

She covered her smile with her hand and walked over to Chibi, hugging him and showing the children he was friendly. "Good boy, who's a good badgermole?" She scratched behind his ears and stood beside him as she waited for lin and her date to explain themselves

Lin recovered first, her friend still kind of in shock. "Hey Gav, who's your friend?" Lin teased.

Gav ignored her. "Hello young man" he said, attempting to shake the dazed boy's hand, "I'm Gav, Lin's 'caretaker.' Who might you be?"

The boy looked at Gav, recovering now. "I'm Voras, Son of Voran, Son of Oxa."

"Heh," Gav scoffed, "a fire bender rich kid, eh?"

"Well, i do live in upper if that's what you're asking" Voras replied.

Gav looked at him. "And what have you two been doing all day?" he asked Lin, who was trying to sneak into the house.

"No fair! No using that vibration sight thingy!" she complained.

Eriyana flinched slightly at the mention of firebenders. She hugged chibi's face and snuggled into his fur, thinking about how much firebending terrified her. She watched lin trying to sneak into the house, staying quiet and keeping to herself, staying next to chibi for safety, in case the boy started firebending to show off.

'It's rare to see someone from the upper ring come down here... wonder what he wants.'

"You didn't answer me Lin, Where have you two been?" Gav said.

Lin shifted between back and forth. "Well, I helped Voras out today. His parents are being totally unfair so he's running away. I told him he could stay with us. You take in kids, so he can stay, right?"

"I take in Orphans Lin, not runaways." He looked back to the young bender. "Get home kid. Whatever you're going through, it isn't as bad as living on the streets. Trust me, I know."

Voras sighed. "Alright. Bye Lin! See you tomorrow!" He yelled back as he started home.

"Bye Voras! Can't wait!" Lin replied.

Gav turned to her. "Yes you can," he said, "and you will. He's trouble. What if his parents had thought i was a kidnapper?"

Lin sighed and went into the house. Gav turned to Eriyana. "C'mon, the food is probably ready."

Eriyana relaxed as she watched him leave, petting chibi again before heading back inside the house with Gav. She followed him back inside the house, leaving her bag by the door and following them to the kitchen. She found a seat at the edge of the table and sat down quietly, keeping her hands in her lap and trying to be polite, not having eaten with such a large family before and not wanting to seem rude.

Zahara walked down the road enjoyin the bustle of the streets. This being her first time in the Earth Kingdom, she stared hard at everything interesting to make sure to remember it. She bought a wooden wind chime from a vendor as a keepsake and continued to walk down the street. She turned a corner and twisted out of the way to avoid a kid running past her, not stopping to say sorry.
'What the-!' she thought as he made a sharp turn around the corner she had come from and disappeared. Huffing, she brushed it off and continued down the street before she stopped when the sun was suddenly blocked out by something large. She looked up and her eyes widened and the bag holding her chimes slipped from her fingers and she let out a choked scream.

Gav finished up cooking as the twins Bing and Bang set out the plates. Zang and Yi finished setting out the silverware just as Gav brought over a steaming pot of rice and some stir-fried vegetables. They all set down at the large table, Hina keeping baby Gurro on her lap so that se could feed him.

"So everyone, I'd like you all to meet Eriyana" Gav announced. He looked over at her, and chuckled to himself when he noticed she was feeling awkward. "Now everyone be on your 'best behavior' alright?"

Yui looked over at the strange woman. "Are you our new mommy?" She asked.

Gav blushed. "4 year olds are pretty much lacking a filter" He laughed awkwardly, trying to draw attention away from the question. "Who wants rice?" he asked loudly.

Suddenly there was another scream from the front yard. "Huh, would you look at that. Better than a doorbell." He rushed over to the front yard once more.