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Well, wouldn't you know my dad didn't bat an eye when I brought those two french kids home with me.  Of course he had met us as the sky path met the earth, but he acted like he kind of expected something and they really didn't have anywhere to go (they told me that they could just camp out like they had before -- sure, two thirteen year-old kids out there with the bears, the elves and the random scorpion man Ariel's brother hasn't found -- when they could be at my house).  Our house is larger than it looks, fu dogs and all, and my dad just opened up two extra bedrooms complete with their own footlockers and quilts and everything.  My parents, always ready for guests I guess.  He told them he would be watching out for them for a while until more decisions were made.

They were still a little shaky, a lot of serious magic had affected those two.  They seemed glad to see my dad, one of them had even heard of him in the elven lands.

Then my Mom came home (you know she had had one of those days when I capitalize "mom") and my dad suggested that he and she order some clothes for the two over the internet, prior to starting them in summer school.

My mom thought that was a great idea, and that my dad had made a good choice in waiting for her to help.

The twins didn't have a good idea of what kids were wearing in our time.

We ordered the boy some khaki pants and some indigo blue stonewashed jeans, along with a couple blue shirts and a red polo shirt.  When we went to order his sister some clothes, he started to clear his throat.

He had decided that he needed to talk to us about how we dressed "like elves" and ... well, he didn't get through the "and" part of it before my Mom started to glare and his sword cut him off.

From what I'd heard, I always thought of the sword as something that would just get him into trouble no matter where he was, not save him from making a pretty harsh insult.

My dad whispered to me, mind to mind, that the sword was warning him that he was about to insult a rukh who happened to be "of a certain age" (a french saying for a mature woman) and that were she a chaos creature, they would flee right now.

My dad interrupted with a word, while everyone was tongue tied (more or less).  He suggested that things may have changed more than the young man knew, that he needed to go to school and see how people dressed before he said much more, and that we would dress his sister with full regard for modesty.  She got some khakis, a pleated dark gray skirt, a couple-three blouses and a jacket.  I gathered that her brother didn't approve of women in pants, but he was about to get some real surprises.  Made me glad we didn't have MTV (we didn't have cable then) -- it would have been too much for him.

My dad suggested he might like a hair cut, and the young man declined.  He was sure that his hair was ok (and you could read his mind that "the more noble among you" surely didn't have the short hair he associated with bond servants and thralls. My dad told me to cut out reading surface thoughts and made a note to have a talk with the sword about its unwitting rebroadcasting.  Turns out that was a one time sort of thing, a side effect from its shock at seeing mom in a fell mood.  She had taken care of something for Sand, but the mood was still on her until she started playing with the baby).

They both got some conservative footwear, dad wanted them to look at the other kids before they got sneakers or doc martins or anything else.

The first day of school was funny.  His sister had a blouse that covered her arms to mid forearm (a threequarters sleeve) and since it was brisk, she wore her jacket and her long skirt.  She would have just covered herself in mist and grayness, but dad suggested that it wasn't the right look for school.

Anyway, the poor kid was in shock at the way people dressed, not to mention he began to realize that no one but him had hair like his.  Before long he had pulled it back and tucked it inside of his shirt.  The teachers were all kind with him (they had talked with dad before and were impressed with the kid's manners), but he realized that he really didn't look like the other kids.  He asked to go to the barber as fast as he could after that.  Mom took him to one of the sidhe -- that story comes next -- but he got the point.

He had remedial math and English, as well as a modern French class and a world history class.

She had advanced math (algebra), science, world history and modern English.

I sat with him through his first day of classes and Ariel sat with his sister.

But I had other projects besides babysitting two kids my own age, and so did Ariel.  We had aiki-ki practice and a kendo instructor to spend more time with, not to mention some other things.

Anyway, about that trip to the hair dresser.

Mom decided to give in and go to see this high fairy type.  She thought that what the kid really needed was a glamour -- one that made his hair look one way while he could keep his hair the way he was comfortable with.  Maybe this fall he could cut it, once he really was more at home.

So in they went.  What I didn't know is that this guy had been after mom for ages to let him do her hair.  She was famous or infamous with the local fairy court, especially after dad had told her she couldn't just break the curse on Ariel's family and then eat all of the sidhe who came to dispute the choice with her.  One of the runecasters in the court read the futures about then, including the one where she destroyed the entire court, bitter and glad, seelie and unseelie.

Not to mention, dad is famous for some of the things they've done.

Anyway, they haven't mixed socially with the local magic types, but that doesn't mean they aren't noticed.

When mom asked for the kid's hair to be taken care of, the fairy demanded that as part of the price (of course he wanted the full cash fee, with bonuses, in addition) she would have to let him do her hair.  Things smoldered, especially when he started talking purple and green stripes (I had no idea that things would spontaneously combust around mom), but her hair got done.  Gold, red and yellow stripes, in a bob cut that looked like someone had tilted a bowl on her hair and then started cutting.

The kid got his hair weaved into dreadlocks (no one could see them) and a glamour that made him look like a young Tom Cruise.  Pierre (that is the use name that fairy has) told him that Cruise was "like unto a god ..." and that the look was perfect.  Of course the kid would rent Waterworld to see what Cruise looked like, but we eventually got that straightened out with a mirror that reflected the glamor ("glamour" when Pierre was talking about it), but you should have seen that kid learn about videos, and Tom Cruise and Waterworld and more.  Sheesh.  I'm not a big Tom Cruise fan (I missed his work, back when I was a shadow vampire) and neither is Ariel.

Anyway, when mom saw the hair cut she shifted into rukh form, healed and shifted back and her hair was back to normal. I was afraid that she was going to be angry and it would spill over.  She just laughed.  I don't know if Pierre got the last laugh or not, since the look caught on among the sidhe and elves and suddenly the "rukh look" was in, even on the continent and in the old country.  Even more, those who saw my mom the way she is these days all assumed she was hiding "the look" to keep others from discovering it (a rukh can do that with shapeshifting).

Well, Pierre made money hand over fist with all the celebrities (the usual elves, sidhe and the like, even an occasional nature spirit and sylph) who came into his shop.  Even a couple faye aware actresses got "the rukh look."  Who knows when that trend will end.

Back to the kid.  The sword started getting over its shock, so mom enchanted it into a pin that the kid could wear with him to school (to get it out of the house).  In trouble it would spring to his hand.  He also had to wear the ring (so he would know it was real trouble).  He started wearing his boots some days, sneakers the others, and got to enjoy real socks.

Not to mention he and his sister both started learning about taking daily showers.

But that leads into the next story.