((@ Dreizehn: I have to agree with Graxdon that Spring wouldn't really know what happened between Winter and Nathaniel so you should edit that third paragraph a bit.

Wavikz will not be returning. I'm going to rethink the role of the villain and let everyone know what'll be going on when I've decided. The villain is a very influential role so it is vital that whoever plays that role be on the same page as myself in terms of the development of the plot. I'll probably end up taking up the position myself to prevent any further confusion.))

Summer smiled at the twins and took over the details of the seasons. "Well, we're from a small town's no one has every heard of. I'm twenty-one and Spring here is sixteen. Let's see, what else? I like water sports, especially surfing, lemonade, and warm, sunny days," he told them, quickly coming up with a lie to explain where they were from. It sounded like a fairly good excuse for not going into detail about where they were from. He just hoped that they didn't press the issue.

He couldn't help but to wonder if Winter was going to return downstairs and join them with their guests. He looked towards the stairs, wondering if the humans would find him rude to go up and check on his sister. He knew that Spring could handle herself with them, she was social enough to hold up conversations while he was gone. He just didn't want Winter to miss out on meeting new people, it was part of the goal of them being sent to Earth.

"Pardon me for a moment, I'm going to see if Winter would like to join us. She should be meeting you all as well," he told the group. He walked up the stairs slowly, trying to figure out what to say to her. Talking between the two of them had always been difficult. They were just too different in many ways.

When he finally reached her bedroom door, he tentatively knocked on it. "Win? You want to join us downstairs? Some of our neighbors are here and we really should try and be friendly," he called to her through the door.

Iku blinked. Someone else who liked reptiles? "Snakes, by far. I like the Australian taipan, and the African black mamba. I used to have a baby grass snake not too long ago, but Walter, my pet snake, ate him," she said, matter-of-factly. "Lizards come second, and the only reptile my sister will ever go near is the one in the attic that we found last year. He's actually very small, and can fit into the palm of your hand with only his tail hanging over." She said, then listening to Summer speak about him and Spring. "Nobody really ever hears of this town, either. I kind of regret it, knowing that nothing ever happens here. Sure, there's maybe a party once a year or something like that, but nothing cool happens," she explained.

"Twenty-one? I wouldn't have guessed," Aiko interrupted her sister's longest chain of words since the previous year or two, then looking at Summer with a newfound respect. "We're also sixteen. Maybe, if you're not super smart and skipped a grade, we'll be in some of the same classes, Spring. That will be fun, right?" She said, trying to not let her hatred of school reflect in her voice. She waved Summer off as he excused himself. "Alright. Tell her we have some amazingly good brownies down here, yeah?" Iku turned her eyes back to Spring. "What are your favorite reptiles?"

Looking surprised, Wren grimaced a little, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry, you've probably heard that loads of times right?" He chuckled quietly bfeore glancing thoughtfully around, enjoying the gentle breeze. It kept the temperature cool, not too hot or cold, just perfect. Jerked out of his thoughts, he nodded quickly with another smile. "Sure, and yeah, it's Wren. C'mon, this is the quickest way to get there" He grinned, heading down the street again, pausing to make sure Fall was fallowing him.

((I'm so sorry it's been ages since I replied >< I got taken on a school trip I didn't know about until the day before, then work piled up in huge coursework >< Sorry for no notice!))

Autumn looked confused,"Not really," He frowned,"Sorry Wren, I'm socially awkward," He walked slowly along, trailing behind Wren by a few feet,"Stop walking so fast..." He sighed, not being used to moving around so much. Groaning, Autumn quickened his pace, but still was trailing behind. He looked around,"This town's pretty big," He mumbled. Then, his aura became more sneaky,"I can easily get away from my siblings here." He mumbled, chuckling.

Winter jumped when Summer knocked at her door; she had been too absorbed in thought to hear his approach. At first she feared it might be Nathaniel coming back to harass her again but it was Summer's voice that came filtering through the door instead. She thought that perhaps he might be concerned for her well-being but instead it seemed he had come to ask if she'd like to join them downstairs.

Sighing, Winter raised herself up and went to slide the lock back from the door. Upon opening it, she was confronted with the tall, lean figure of her brother. It had been a while since she'd really spoken with him face to face and she wasn't very enthused to be doing so now. "Is the one named Nathaniel still here?" she asked in a cold voice, "He came up here earlier you know to spy on me. I won't socialize with a creep like him."

Winter shifted her weight and looked up at her brother as she waited for him to respond. Old memories came unbidden to her mind of a time long ago when they were young children and Mother Nature's only seasons. The two of them had been playing, Summer joyfully chasing his younger sister about, when Winter stepped on a thorn and began to cry. Summer gently pulled the thorn from the soft flesh of her foot and bandaged it with a bit of cloth torn from his sleeve. She could even remember him brushing away her icy tears but the part she remembered most clearly was her riding home on his back and him turning his head to look back at her with a reassuring smile on his face.

The flashback ended as quickly as it came, leaving Winter wondering what had prompted it. That event had taken place a long time ago and world's apart. The two of them had grown up to be very different individuals. Would it ever be possible for them to bridge the gap between those years? Winter longed for the simplicity that was her childhood. Adult life and additional seasons seemed to have made things so much more difficult.

((Sorry I didn't post earlier like I said I would. I forgot to the other day and then got stuck doing family stuff.))

Summer was relieved when Winter opened her door, letting out his breath he had been holding. There was a part of him that half-expected her to ignore him completely or yell at him to go away. Maybe he was making progress of some sort with her. As she didn't actually let him into her room, he just leaded against the door frame.

He furrowed his brow, confused when she spoke about Nathaniel. He hadn't realized that Nathaniel had even been upstairs. "Wait, he was up here? Are you alright?" he asked, suddenly very worried about her. He knew she didn't like many people, she was even more particular about people being in her room. She always had been. His overprotective big brother instincts were starting to kick in and he wanted to find out exactly what happened. "He's still here, but I can kick him out if you's like," he told her reassuringly.

Summer looked down at her, wondering when the two of them had talked like this last. It had been years. He missed it. They used to be so close, when it was just the two of them. Now they had to deal with their younger siblings, which for the most part was a full time job on its own, more with Spring than Autumn, who didn't associate with him.

"When did life get so complicated?" he murmured, more to himself.

Dawn sat in her room, wondering what had happened. She recalled going and visiting the new neighbors and handing over the bad batch of cookies. Then she had run home for some reason. She simply couldn't recall why, but she moved to her dresser and pulled out a notebook. "I might as well write down the events so far, today." She began writing, but it still felt like something was missing. She shrugged the thought away and eventually she put her notebook away. Her mother called up the stairs, stating that they were leaving for the day. Dawn smiled, finally, she would have the house to herself for a little while.

((I saw you posted earlier but didn't get a chance to reply since I had to leave after I saw it. >.<))

Winter gave Summer a dark look, "You didn't hear me scream?" she asked indignantly, quite certain that the whole house should have heard her yell. Still, Summer seemed genuinely surprised by the news which made Winter wonder if he was telling the truth. "Anyway, he came up to lecture me about how rude I was and apparently watch me dress. I feel violated but I'll live..." she replied, watching Summer's face for his reaction.

She considered Summer's offer to kick the man out. She would have liked nothing more but wasn't sure what the right thing to do was. She was quite certain that Nathaniel's behavior had been inappropriate, even by human standards, but wasn't quite sure how humans usually dealt with such a situation. Were she back in her own domain she would have ordered the man's removal instantly, why was she second guessing herself now? Winter shook her head, "I don't know..." she admitted at last quite uncharacteristically.

She was still trying to figure out what to do when Summer asked, mostly to himself, when life had become so complicated. Winter chanced a sideways glance at her older brother. If only he understood... For Winter, complications began with the arrival of the youngest season. No longer was she the center of affection. Instead she had been pushed aside to make room for a younger, more lively and affectionate being, which left Winter feeling hurt. Pain lead to solitude and solitude lead to musing, but in the end it all turned to jealousy and contempt.

Wren looked surprised as the other seemed to admit he was socially awkward. After laughing quietly, he shook his head slightly before shrugging a little. "Don't worry about it! I don't mind" He answered cheerfully before pausing, blushing a little and slowing down his walking pace. "Sorry...My walking pace tends to be running for others, too much energy y'know?" He apologised quickly, still grinning at the same time and nodding at the comment about the town's size. "Yeah, it's got everything we need, but it's surprisingly smaller than other towns, there are huge cities that make our town look like a dot on the earth" He chuckled quietly before raising an eyebrow at the other's chuckling. "I take it you lot don't get on much then? Mind if I ask why you moved here, all together, if you don't really like each other?" He asked curiously.

Scratching his head nervously, as he was a horrible liar, Autumn twisted it a bit. "Well, it's like a punishment from our mom since we don't really get along." He laughed nervously looking around quickly to find something to change the subject. Surprised, he quickly added,"There are bigger ones? We should go there another time." His face twisted into a small pout as his stomach growled,"Ek, I'm so hungry..."

Summer felt bad for a moment for not hearing Winter scream, looking after his siblings was his responsibility. "Sorry, Win. It might have been when we were just outside the door, talking to...um, actually, I'm not quite sure who it was," Summer told her, suddenly finding it odd he couldn't remember who it was he was talking to earlier. He pulled himself off the door frame and wrapped his arms around her for a hug. It felt a little awkward, hugging her, it had been a while since they had any contact like this.

"Alright, I won't kick him out, but if you change your mind, let me know," he smiled down at her. He was glad that she decided not to kick him out, maybe it meant she was going to try to be social. He was doing his best not to push her, that wouldn't work with her. Past experience told him that would make her retreat to her room, refusing contact with anyone. "I can also kick his ass if you'd like," he grinned down at her, mostly teasing.

((sorries about length and how long it took me to respond...classes end next week and then finals after than...too much to do in such little time...))

((I hate my life sooo much right now. I seriously sat here typing up a post for a half hour and it just got lost. Sorry, this reiteration will probably be nowhere near as long or good as the other one. So mad... T_ T))

Winter's brow furrowed. She still couldn't believe her brother found it alright to invite people he didn't know into their house. Why take Nathaniel, he was the perfect example of why not to, sneaking around like a little weasel in places he didn't belong. She didn't get the chance to express this concern to him however before she found herself wrapped up in Summer's arms.

A wide range of emotions surfaced in response to the simple action. First and foremost came shock. It had been years since they'd so much as touched, let alone shown any sort of affection for one another. Second came distrust that he was only doing it to lure her into going downstairs. Then came a warm sensation as she realized how warm his body was pressed against hers. And finally a sort of warming of her heart, even if only a tiny bit. Consciously lifting arms that hung straight down at her sides, Winter wrapped them around Summer, hoping that he'd get the true meaning of the gesture, even if it did feel a bit awkward.

After a moment, brother and sister disentangled themselves, leaving Winter's usually pale cheeks stained with a rosy hue. "Thanks," she said, rather ambiguously. She was sure that everything would go back to the way it had been as soon as all four seasons were combined once again however she was glad for the few minutes she and Summer had spent together, just the two of them like it used to be. Quite surprisingly, a smile appeared on Winter's face both in reaction to the hug and his final comment about Nathaniel, "Oh, I'd love to see that!" she said, not joking in the least.

Spring nodded her head in response to Iku's short list of what consisted to be her favorite reptiles. "Oooh, I like all of those. Can I see your friend one day? I'd love to meet him at some point." She smiled warmly curious about Iku's little lizard friend that resided in the attic of their home. "Does you father know about him? Maybe you could build him a little terrarium somewhere if you haven't done that already."

She tapped her chin leaning back as she thought over which she considered as her favorites. "Hmmm... Now that was something I wasn't ready to answer. I really favor all of them actually for their unique attributes. Buuut-" She dragged out the last part of her sentence to pause and consider her favorites once more. "I really like green and black mambas, green tree vipers, basilisks, chameleons, and water dragons." She nodded her head in affirmation to her selection, her eyes then going over to Summer as he excused himself.

Aiko began to talk about school and the probability that they would be in the same class. Spring liked the idea very much to have familiar faces as well as two potential friends friends share the same classes as her. "No, I haven't skipped a grade or anything. I have a lot of trouble with math actually. I hope that we're in the same class." She smiled and glanced at the two twins before continuing. "Anything you should warn me about before my first day at a new school?" Spring wanted to be prepared for what was to come her way tomorrow, as well as hoping to expand her knowledge of this foreign place. She did after all, want to blend in as best as she could.

"So what are your favorite subjects, Aiko and Iku?" She wanted to include both of them in the conversation and to keep them talking. Her eyes strayed to the brownies that the girls had brought for Spring and her family. "Oh yeah! Do you two want some of these?" She began to get up in order to serve them all brownies and some sort of beverage. "Milk right? That's what goes best with chocolate things, yes?" She pondered the thought as she went to open the refrigerator and peer inside.

[ Incredibly sorry for the late reply. ]

Iku's eyes grew bright with happiness, then died down as Spring talked to Aiko about school. "Prepare to be extremely bored. Bring things to doodle on, and don't get on Mr. Hill's bad side. I'm already there, but it doesn't bother me much because I don't care." Aiko nodded, and then added, "Or Mrs. Weaver's. She's a very nice teacher if you have her, and you'll get fairly high grades if you do your homework. Remember last year, Iku? She nearly went crazy, and threw her pens across the room at this one boy who never did his homework, and finally pissed her off. She had him suspended for eight school days." She shook her head, and Iku clicked her tongue. "School is boring, for the most part. Unless you have Mr. Stamm for all the sciences and Mr. Higgins for all the mathematics, because they're plain crazy and awesome."

Aiko smiled and took a brownie, handing one to Iku and then resuming her position. "Do you guys have milk?" Aiko elbowed Iku hard in her ribcage, glaring at her. "You can't just come into someone's house and ask them for their things!" She whispered angrily, and Iku stuck our her tongue.

((Note, I said that he was in the kitchen earlier)

Nathaniel set out the plates and began dishing out the pie, having simply been listening to the conversations of the others. As the pie laden plates were passed out, with two set aside for Summer and Winter he smiled and said, "Bon apetite, hope you enjoy." Just before he dug into his own his phone rang and he stepped into the hall to answer it. After a brief conversation he came walked back in saying, "So, Iku, Aiko, I've seen you two in school before, but never talked to either of you. Ya know, Mrs. Weaver didn't snap at that kid over missing homework, she was going through a tough divorce with her husband after she finally got sick of the abuse. I know because I was in the neighborhood and heard him hitting her. That was when Mr. Weaver was sent to the hospital with a broken arm." Nathaniel smiled cheerfully at Spring and said, "They're definitely right about Stamm and Higgins, they can get kinda crazy."

⊱ A new villain has been created and added to the NPC section of the front page. The final paragraph of the plot has also been updated accordingly and the town map has been revamped. Please take a moment to view these changes! ⊰

((@ Graxdon: I think people got confused since he said something about going off to the bathroom and he wasn't really saying anything. You're involving yourself in the action a bit more now though so I think you should be okay.))

Smiling to Nathaniel as he served some of the pie, she nodded in his direction. "Thank you, it looks delicious." She wasn't lying as she eyed the baked good he had brought. As he excused himself out into the hallway to answer his phone, she looked back to the two females that were with her.

Spring had noted the brief glimpse of happiness that had made itself apparent on Iku's usually solemn face. The topic having turned to school was one that Spring guessed Iku rather stay away from. She would have to talk more about reptiles with Iku later she decided. She listened as Iku informed her about 'doodling' and about one of her possible instructors.

"What will Ms. Hill do if I get on her bad side?" She had to ask curious as to what this woman was capable of. "Oh, sorry." Spring blushed slightly as she realized she had cut in before the twins had finished telling her about the other instructors that would be there. She looked to Aiko as she began telling her about Mrs. Weaver, her eyes going wide as Aiko told her about the male student. "Is that normal behavior?" She asked the two slightly alarmed that an adult would act this way. Again, she blushed as she murmured her apology, "Sorry again." She certainly had a bad habit of interrupting before others were finished speaking. It was one issue that she would have to work on.

She was curious about Mr. Stamm and Higgins, especially since Iku had taken a liking to these two. She would end up meeting them tomorrow as well she was sure. "I'm guessing you like Science Iku?" She asked turning to the girl before looking to her twin and asking, "What about you? What class do you like?"

Her questions were cut off as Nathaniel had came back into the kitchen and added to Aiko's story about Mrs. Weaver. She blinked unsure of how to respond to the additional information she had just been given about one of her tentative instructors. "Uhhh, does that sort of stuff normally happen here?" She smiled slightly as he remarked about the male instructors. "Are they favorites of yours as well Nathaniel?"

As Iku asked about milk she realized that she was still standing with the refrigerator door held open. She had absentmindedly forgotten about the milk as the twins had started talking to her about school. Giggling softly she reached in and grabbed the milk as Aiko scolded Iku. "It's alright Aiko, I don't mind. I was grabbing some anyway."

Spring liked the twins quite a bit and found them to be entertaining. Grabbing glasses from a cabinet she put them down onto the counter and filled two of them for the twins before sliding them in their direction. "Did you want some as well?" She asked Nathaniel looking in his direction briefly before looking back at her own glass and filling it.

[ Will edit post later. GRAXDON, HOW THE HELL DOES YOUR CHARACTER KNOW EVERYTHING? :/ ]

((@ Abomination.: Please be careful how you word things, I'd rather not see another argument in the roleplay. V_V))

((Nathaniel happened to be there, jeez dude chill))

((@ Graxdon: The same goes for you as well. It's okay to disagree on things but please deal with them calmly and maturely.))

Aegis sighed yet again as he stared up at the clear blue sky. Today he had sent his "helper" out to get a feel for how the seasons were adjusting to their new home but he couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit jealous that they would be in Spring's presence and not he. For now however, he kept his eye on the blue overhead and did his best to rid his mind of any feelings of restlessness or jealousy. It was both simple and also quite difficult. It was quite easy to get caught up in the beauty of the blue in the sky but as soon as he thought of beauty, then he thought of Spring. It was quite a circular dilemma...

His musings were only interrupted when a pair of teen boys wandered into the park. They didn't seem to notice him however and wandered off in what seemed to be the direction of the cafe. It took a few moments for Aegis to realize that one of the boys was in fact a season--Autumn to be precise. Aegis had never met the boy face to face but he was quite certain that that boy was indeed him though his informant would likely be able to confirm this fact for him more clearly. Aegis waited for the two boys to sufficiently distance themselves before pulling the cell that his "friend" had so graciously provided him with from the pocket of his jeans. Clicking the speed dial as he had been instructed to, Aegis waited patiently for the other end of the line to pick up.

The conversation was brief and confirmed his suspicions. Autumn indeed had gone out, opting not to stay and eat pie with the others. This was quite an interesting development. He was so certain that Autumn would have liked apple as well... Aegis frowned and leaned back against the tree he was sitting beneath. It seemed he had misjudged the third season's character and it would take time to work out that puzzle. At least the other three remained with his informant. Hopefully he would learn some valuable things about how the Seasons were getting on in the human world. Aegis was quite enjoying it despite himself but he wasn't sure that was the case with the other seasons. Banishment to the human world was meant to be a punishment so by definition he doubted that they should be enjoying themselves here.

As the siblings came apart, Summer was pleased to see a softer, warmer look on Winter's face. It had been a while since he had seen such a look upon her face; the sight of it bringing another smile to his face. The girl was truly beautiful when she opened up to others. If she kept that up he'd have to beat up a lot of human boys, keeping them away from her. "Anytime, Win," he told her, not wanting to make a big deal of their little exchange. He wanted to keep this relationship up this time.

He had to laugh at her next comment. "Only if you really want me to, you'd have to ask nicely," he lightly teased her, trying to keep the atmosphere light. He wasn't sure if she wanted him to beat up Nathaniel, but he would if she truly wanted to. Frankly, he wanted to get the other boy's view on what happened, but he'd never say it to Winter. She'd accuse him of taking sides again.

He always felt that one should hear both sides of a story before making a decision. It was how he ruled over his kingdom and it worked for the most part. Right now, however, he would rather keep restoring his relationship with Winter.

He looked down at Winter. "So do you want to go down and join the others, Win?" he asked, feeling that he had left Spring alone with their guests for long enough.

After writing down a few things in her journal, Dawn looked out the window and sighed. Today was just one of those days where she wanted to go out for a walk. Perhaps, since this was the last day of Summer, she should go to the beach. She got up from her desk and searched through her dresser for her bathing suit, but eventually gave up when she couldn't find it. "I guess I'll just go for a walk. It should be nice in the park today." She said absent-mindedly as she grabbed a small purse off the corner of her desk. She wandered down the hall and out into the day. She took a deep breath and smiled as she turned and walked down the street, heading for the park. It would be at least a couple of minutes before she would get there, so she took the time to take in her surroundings. If she ever got the chance, she would leave this town, just like her older sister had, but she would still live near a beach.

Winter's smile faded slightly when he informed her that seeing Nathan get pulverized by her older brother would only occur if she "asked nicely." Winter wasn't one to ask for help, nor was she one to beg. It seemed like the annoying human would get off this time...

Winter hesitated when Summer asked her if she'd like to go downstairs and join the others. Her usual reaction would be a quick and decisive "no" but at the same time she wasn't entirely certain she wanted to sit upstairs alone in her room listening to the others having fun downstairs. But then there was the problem with that creepy human... She had already made it her goal to avoid the man at all costs and going downstairs would likely lead to him.

Decisions, decisions! Winter wasn't used to having such a difficult time deciding how to spend her day but Summer was making her feel a bit guilty... "I'll come down for a bit..." she resigned at last, "But I have to return some library books this afternoon so only for a little while." At that she walked over to where she had thrown the books on the floor and quickly snatched them up, "Don't expect me to eat any pie though," she added hastily, still banking on the theory that it had been secretly poisoned.