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Post by Morgan on Mar 26, 2020 17:26:16 GMT -6
They both got a glass of lemonade (with a thin coffee straw for Millicent) and sat down for a while. Millicent went on and on, telling Morgan all kinds of stories about what happened in her life while Morgan was at work, both of them sipping lemonade in-between talking. As soon as they felt cooled down again, the pair got up, turned on the music, and continued the dance party! The person working at the lemonade stand was also jamming out by the end of it, when Morgan was finally convinced that the harachiu had learned to dance even better than she had before, and to the 'cue' word as well.
The pair was finally done with the dance game, with the Harachiu looking super pleased. They practiced her flight again, still laughing about particularly ridiculous looking dance moves from earlier (Morgan was HORRID at it- not an ounce of beat in their body).
[30] - [End of 'Dance']
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Post by Morgan on Mar 26, 2020 17:31:05 GMT -6
Morgan smiled at Millicent after they were done practicing. Millicent was still young and was getting pretty tired, so Morgan knew that after this last thing, they were going to need to go home again today. "Millicent, we'll head home and pick up dinner on the way after this, but I want to teach you something else." Millicent did that standard 'crossing her arms and giving Morgan the stink eye' thing that had become her signature, and Morgan chuckled at her. "I brought the feed buckets, not the ones at home, but some like them. I want to teach you how to feed the critters on the estate. That's right. CHORES!" Morgan said, wigglings their hands like they were the boogie-man. "It's time for you to earn your keep, missy." Morgan said, grinning.
Millicent was TOO EXCITED to be mad about 'chores'. She'd been wanting to help out for a while now!
[31] - [Start 'Feed']
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Post by Morgan on Mar 26, 2020 17:40:08 GMT -6
Morgan was pretty shocked at Millicent's reaction- they had been expecting her to boo. Most children did NOT like chores, but it would seem that Millicent was pretty different. Morgan brought her over to the buckets that they had sneakily set up while out training a houluh the other day. It wasn't like anyone else came out to this specific area anyway. "I put a specific pull rope on each bucket at the house. All you have to do is reach up and pull the ropes. You've been with me every morning for a long time, and each night. Those are the times that the creatures on the estate are fed, okay?" Morgan explained. Millicent's winged buzzed excitedly. She was so happy about this entire thing.
Now that Millicent knew the gist, Morgan had to give her the cue word. "The cue word is 'Feed', okay?" Morgan said.
[32]
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Post by Morgan on Mar 26, 2020 17:43:59 GMT -6
Millicent didn't even mind the presence of a cue word this time, she was just so happy to be able to help. It was time to work with her on which types of rope meant what thing. They learned this first out there at the park, and Morgan kept working with her. "Feed the houluh!" They'd say, and then she'd work on that. "Feed the tat-lungs!" Millicent was getting very good at telling which ones were which. "Feed the izer!" Morgan said. Morgan had made sure to label each one with a silhouette of the creature that the feed was suitable for, to help her along.
She was tired that day, so they went home, picking up dinner along the way. That night, Morgan asked her to help with the feeding, and they got in some literal practice. She did very well for her first time, and Morgan figured that she was learning it fairly quickly because they had already basically been doing this together for a long time.
[33]
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Post by Morgan on Mar 26, 2020 17:52:14 GMT -6
The next morning, the practiced again. Millicent was beginning to see why this was going to be difficult, she was hard to rouse up out of bed on time. However, thanks to the alarm going off and annoying her until she got up, she finally did, and went out to go help Morgan feed the creatures. She was already quite good at it, and with both of them working on it, they got it done in half the time. They went to the park later that day and began working on the feeding thing again. Millicent was starting to get pretty tired of it at this point, so they worked on other things that they had worked on recently.
Morgan broke out the boom box and they had another little dance party too, while they were working on the feeding buckets. That way she wouldn't be so bored. They left for home that day, and that night did the feeding of the pets again.
[34]
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Post by Morgan on Mar 26, 2020 17:55:44 GMT -6
This went on for two weeks, and during that time they went out to the park each day. They worked more on the feeding training, and Morgan even showed her that they had found her some grammar books with pictures in them. Millicent did not know how to read yet, but she stared those books down curiously as Morgan read to her, showed her what the picture was doing, and she repeated the more advanced grammar than she had been using. She corrected Morgan a few times, if only because she was catching on to the 'rules' that Morgan read to her incredibly quickly. Just because she couldn't read yet didn't mean that she wasn't very smart.
They went on, working on the feeding trick and her grammar until finally Morgan was sure that she had gotten the feeding trick down pat. She was pretty much waking up and doing it herself in the mornings!
[35] - [End of 'Feed']
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Post by Morgan on Mar 26, 2020 18:05:21 GMT -6
There was one more thing that Morgan had on their mind for teaching the harachiu for now. It wasn't that they were going to stop, undoubtedly they would be working on her ability to speak for a long time (honestly, weren't all beings continuously working on their speech?) but Millicent had come a long way in a very short time span, and they figured it might be a good idea to let this 'stew' for a bit and see how she did. For now, though, Morgan wanted to teach her the VERY basics of riding mounts; starting with riding on Morgan's lap on the Tsetse.
Morgan had taught this to a houluh recently, so perhaps with luck Millicent would learn it just as quickly or quicker, seeing as she was a lot more intelligent. They brought the tsetse, walking with it, and brought Millicent as well. "What is that!" She asked.
"This is the tsetse. It's a mechanical mount." Morgan explained. "I want to teach you the basics, upon which we will teach you even better, of mount riding. With help at first."
[36] - [Start 'Ride On']
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Post by Morgan on Mar 26, 2020 18:10:27 GMT -6
Of course, Millicent was hecka excited already. She really wanted to be able to ride a mount of any kind, even if it was in Morgan's lap, as Morgan continued on to explain. "You'll be on my lap at first Millicent, until we are sure that you can keep balance on your own." Morgan was pleased that Millicent was so excited. "But there's not any creature small enough to listen to me!" Millicent said, and Morgan realized that it was one of the bigger sentences she's said to this point. Wow, she really was learning to speak, wasn't she? Morgan was super proud.
They made it to their usual spot, and Morgan picked Millicent up, and sat her on their lap while getting onto the Tstse.
Millicent was too excited to really complain about the fact that she didn't particularly like being put into a position. "Alright, so when I pat my leg, I guess that'll be the cue." Morgan said.
[37]
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Post by Morgan on Mar 26, 2020 18:13:46 GMT -6
Millicent accepted this, and Morgan made sure that she was balanced. "Hold onto the loops of my pants. In the future, you'll have a lead that you can hold on to. Use your knees to hold on as well, and work on your balance, okay?" Morgan waited for an affirmative from here before starting up the Tsetse. They didn't have it go yet, much to Millicent's frustration, but she did as she was told, making sure to be properly seated. "Alright, we'll start really slow, okay?" Morgan said. At this, they started off, that usual 'two miles an hour' that Morgan decided on when they trained Todd first.
Millicent was doing fairly well, perhaps it was mostly because she was used to maintaining balance while flying and such. Morgan made sure to warn her before speeding up a bit. Yes, she was doing quite a bit better at this than Todd. Morgan slowed back down, and they got off of the Tsetse, and worked in the grammar books again for a while.
[38]
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Post by Morgan on Mar 26, 2020 18:20:15 GMT -6
At the end of that day, they walked the Tsetse home. This became an every day thing, the new every day thing, as Morgan worked with her on her balance and riding skills while on their lap so that they could make sure that she was going to be okay. They'd go out to the park with the Tsetse, Morgan would pat their leg, and the harachiu would fly on up to sit down. Millicent found this SUPER fun, she loved to ride. Morgan could tell that she was already seeing herself on the back of some small animal. She'd told Morgan about a dream she had where she was flying on a bee, even!
After a few days, Morgan felt comfortable enough with her to have her ride with them on the way home. They slowly got the speed at which she was confident up higher and higher- Morgan wasn't going to have it be too high though.
[39]
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Post by Morgan on Mar 26, 2020 18:29:30 GMT -6
The riding training and the grammar work continued on for a couple of more weeks. Both of them were having a lot of fun with Millicent's newfound budding independence, it was, after all, part of her growing up Morgan thought! She finally got to where she could accept 'equillion-running'-like speeds on the Tsetse, and Morgan couldn't help but be proud of her. She had learned it quite well, and very quickly, though it did take a couple of weeks.
Millicent's grammar was getting more and more excellent. She was growing her vocabulary every day, and undoubtedly would continue to do well in the future. However, Morgan was having a hard time teaching her more of the difficult concepts in the books that Morgan read to her in the evenings- it would be easier if she knew how to read. For now, however, this new Normal that they had made felt nice for both of them.
Morgan brought her out on lots of rides, whenever they had a place to go.
[40] - [End of 'Ride On'] - [End of 'Speak'?] - [The Pair Go Home for Now.]
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Post by Morgan on Apr 7, 2020 21:38:26 GMT -6
Morgan decided to take Millicent out for breakfast one morning and then out to the park again for the first of a few self-defense lessons they were deciding upon. Part of the issue with growing up, Morgan knew, was needing to learn to defend oneself and how and when to do it. The harachiu wasn't a human child, and because she was small, she might be picked on a little more. Morgan wanted to cover their bases before possibly finding a school for her. It was going to be tough work, but Morgan didn't want her ot be tutored only, like Morgan was.
"Alright Millicent, ru-r-remember when we talked about self-defense?" Morgan said, nervously.
Millicent perked up immediately. "Oh, yes! Am I finally going to get to learn how to punch?!" Millicent was... Unexpectedly excited about this. That was a little abnormal. Then again, violence was one of those 'cool' things in media, wasn't it?
[1] - [Start 'Punch']
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Post by Morgan on Apr 7, 2020 21:52:45 GMT -6
"But first, w-we're gonna talk about when you should fight, and when you shouldn't." Morgan said, voice very flat. Then they spent the next thirty minutes speaking with Millicent, who looked a little bored but who nodded every now and again, about talking things out, the power of words (and thus why Morgan taught her to speak first before deciding on this), and the fact that she was small and was always going to be small, so she didn't need to start any kind of fights because winning was going to be near impossible. After Morgan was finally convinced that she understood that concept, Morgan stood a bit back, looking the harachiu up and down.
It was hard to admit to oneself that they wouldn't always be there to take care of a child. "Alright. A hund'erd percent of punching is gonna b-be h-how you hold your fists, and how you stand." Morgan said.
[2]
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Post by Morgan on Apr 7, 2020 22:00:12 GMT -6
Millicent pretty well immediately frowned and threw a 'punch'. "I thought it was all about throwing punches!" She said, excitedly 'boxing' at the air. All wrong, mind one, but Morgan chuckled at her anyway. They couldn't help it. She pouted a little bit, and then crossed her arms. Morgan waved her off. Then, they slid their right leg back behind them, and crossed up, holding their right leg sideways for support and the left leading leg vertical to them. Then, they turned their shoulders to the side, and held both hands up in front of their face. Millicent's eyes were practically sparkling from her vantage point upon the table.
"That's SO COOL Where'd you learn it?" Millicent said, her hands formed into fists in front of her face.
"Pops taught me." Morgan answered, quietly. Then they squared up again. "You're not south paw, so I need you to do ec-exactly what I'm doing."
[3]
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Post by Morgan on Apr 7, 2020 22:22:28 GMT -6
"What is south paw?" Millicent asked, curiously.
Morgan smiled from behind their fists. "South paw i-is just a fancy way of saying left handed."
"What is 'handed'?" She asked. Full of questions today, but it was important that she understood what they were talking about.
Morgan was anything if not patient. "Handed is... Well, what hand people tend to favor when doing stuff. I am le-left handed. Normally I'd stand the 'other way'." Morgan explained quietly, flipping stances, and then back. "But I've s-seen that you favor your right hand. So you'll be standing like this. Le-let me help you." Morgan moved out of stance, and walked over to help her get into stance. Millicent took to it like a river to a basin.
Morgan couldn't help but smile. Yeah, she was doing well. "So, put your hands up, and let me see your hands." Morgan said.
[4]
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