SO many good ones but I have to go with 40. "The kids. They ambushed me." -Raos
Portia probably should have been worried when their walk lasted over a bell. Her husband was just going to take the kids out for a bit, to get their energy out so they wouldn’t be so wild during the lady’s business discussions regarding the orphanage. But true to his word, he -did- return before dinner was to be served. Just...not how she likely imagined they would return.
Not one. Not two. Nor three or four.
Five. Five bodies, completely covered in mud. Tidy little dresses and cute little pinafores, ruined with smears of loam and bits of moss. Carefully picked slacks and shirts were adorned with splats of cracking dirt, shaped surprisingly like small hands. Twigs decorated all of their crowns, from copper to snow. Tallest to smallest, it was a collection of sheepish little smiles that were the family’s last hope at defending against Portia’s ire.
Raos had at least managed to wrangle the three smallest ones, their little tanned faces marked with the Shroud’s warpaint. The twins were still in the midst of combat, pulling at each other’s hair and ears, bearing their little pearly whites and shooting daggers at each other. Luna, while hungry to continue their fun, had already caught sight of her mother’s assessing stare and had gone quiet, partially veiled by Raos’ much larger form.
Ravi, bless his soul, was hellbound on getting out of his father’s hold in favor of sharing his new delight with his mother. Look, Momma! Body paint! You can have some too! Just don’t eat it, Momma. I already tried. It tastes nasty. There might still be some stuck in my baby teeth.
“They ambushed me,” Raos offered. “I turned my back in the meadow for a moment, and it was all over.” The Nunh had managed to keep most of the mud contained from the waist down, but there had been some unfortunately casualties in the form of smears along his sleeves, and a hefty smudge of dirt in a Ravi-hand shape on his cheek. The golden-eyed Nunh glanced down at Luna, tilting his head towards Portia and arching a brow. C’mon, girl. Help him out here.
“...m’sorry, Mama. It was just a little bit of fun.”
The twins stopped briefly, their daytime stares owlish as they finally noticed their mother looming in the distance. Their younger minds were less swift than their older sister, but even their ears fell against their wild hair. “Ssssorreh, Mama. Jussst wanted t’ play,” Laras spoke, the young boy more willing to engage compared to Sana, who merely stewed and burrowed her face in her hands.
Ravi, on the other hand, had no idea that anything was wrong, and merely stretched his muddy hands out towards his mother, releasing a loud and proud “AHHHHH!” to contrast his siblings.
Their father winced at the screech that rang out from his youngest, hoisting the boy higher and tightening his grip. “I’ll understand if I’m banned to the couch,” Raos rumbled, cringing a bit when his son all but shoved his fist in his father’s face in a desperate effort to be freed. “You can’t take us anywhere...can you?”
