Familiar
Who: Sloane and Animikee (NPC) When: Late Morning Where: Sloane's Childhood Home
Sloane had woken up that morning with a huge grin on her face, she had kissed Will Stone after he had dropped her off from a date. The very thought of it made her feel giddy and excited because it wasn't just a high school fantasy come true, it was a life time fantasy come true. There hadn't really been an extended amount of time, in Sloane's life when she didn't find herself thinking about Will Stone. Even when she had gone to school in New York.
Throwing a pair of sweatpants and a loose fitting sweater on, Sloane headed over to her parents. It had become a custom of hers to go over to her parents place every sunday morning and have breakfast with them, her brothers started showing up and eventually it became a family thing. Not to mention today was Father's Day and Sloane had one that needed hugging.
"Morning!" she called into her childhood home, not surprised to find it filled to the brim with people and animals. Her parents and brothers had all gotten their Familiars on Thursday and while she was happy for them Sloane couldn't help but feel a little envious. (Not to mention a little nervous that she might not even get one.)
"Hey, Sammy!" her father said with a bright smile, looking up from the little white bunny in his lap.
"Dad!" she replied with a huge smile, making her way toward him and giving him a hug and laying a kiss atop his head. "Happy Father's Day!"
Every year Sloane and her brothers would ask their father what he'd like for Father's Day and every year it was the same. 'Your company is enough.' he'd reply with a contented smile. Eventually they stopped asking and just started giving him tools and various other things until one year put a stop to it all. Now it was cards, hugs and spending time together as a family.
"Nothing yet Adi?" her oldest brother Cary asked, looking up from feeding the tiny fawn that had shown up a few days ago. Sloane just shook her head and shrugged, lifting one side of her mouth in a half-hearted smile.
"Aw, no need to cry Puck! Yours'll show!" Luke pipped in, sitting beside their father he reached up and mussed Sloane's hair. The nickname was derived from 'Puck Bunny' which Luke had given her when she was still in high school, crushing on Will and trying to learning everything she could about hockey. She shot him a nasty look and swatted his hand away. "Maybe its a goldfish! Having trouble traversing the roads of Scarlet Oak."
"Luke, leave your sister alone." their mother's voice came in a warning tone as she entered the kitchen, she gave him a look that silence his laugh. Luke rolled his eyes and went back to stroking the feathers of his own Familiar currently perched on the back of his chair, a majestic and slightly hilarious Bald Eagle.
Edith Messinger's own little familiar, a beaver, followed behind her. "And yours will show dear." she added reassuringly.
Sloane smiled and gave her mother a hug and kiss too. Almost at once she was bombarded with the different voices of her family and their Familiars trying to put her at ease. That she would probably get one eventually. While she appreciated the effort, Sloane couldn't take all the voices in her head. "Can we eat?" she asked a little more sharply than she had intended, instantly apologizing and explaining herself.
The rest of the morning went pretty well, they ate breakfast and they sat around talking. Her mother pressing for details on her date with Will, he father and brothers grumbling about how they didn't trust the situation. 'What kind of guy takes 11 years to finally ask you out?' Cary asked with folded arms, Sloane just rolled her eyes and smacked the back of his head playfully.
After giving her parents hugs and kisses, Sloane skipped through the rain to her car; stuffed and a little sleepy. Throwing her things into the tiny car, Sloane turned her head to the sky and let the rain fall on her face. It was one of her favourite things, it made her feel more alive and closer to her element. She couldn't help the little smile as she extended her arms and let the rain dampen her hair and clothes.
"Hello, Sloane. My name is Animikee, it means Thunder," came a smooth, female voice. It made Sloane jump and she looked around wildly. "And I'm your Familiar."
Upon hearing the words, Sloane let out an audible squeak of delight, but she still couldn't see her elusive Familiar. "W-where are you?" she asked bursting with excitement.
"Down here," Animikee said with amusement, crawling out from underneath the car. "I thought you could see me."
Looking down, Sloane squeaked again. A small brown otter stood in front of her, it had raised it's head and was looking at Sloane. "H-hi, it's nice to meet you," she said in an awed voice. A wide range of emotions over coming her; happiness, relief and excitement all melded together to create a bouncy Sloane.
Animikee laughed in her head. "You too, kid. Sorry it took me so long to get here, your house isn't exactly the easiest to find."
"No, not at all! At least you're here and safe," Sloane kneeled down on the wet concrete and looked at Animikee, taking in her wet brown coat and the way she cocked her little head to the side. "Animikee, right? That's a pretty name."
"Thanks, but you can call me Anim if you want," she said, nodding her small head, which made Sloane suppress a laugh. "It can be a bit of mouthful."
All the Elemental could do was stare at her little Familiar, trying to hold back tears of joy and relief. "You can cry, kid, I don't mind." the little otter came closer to Sloane and nuzzled her hand reassuringly. She laughed and let a few tears drop before, reaching out and stroking Anim's coat.
"I take it you've heard why I'm here, something big coming and all that?" Anim asked, looking up at Sloane with little brown eyes and something akin to a smile.
"Yeah, yeah I have," She answered with a laugh, shaking her head and standing up. "Do you want to come with me? I'm going home, I gotta get ready for something tonight. I can tell you all about it." Sloane added, peering at the little otter before she realized her family would probably want to meet her Familiar.
"First maybe you'd want to meet my family? Don't mind Luke, he grows on you eventually." She laughed and them motioned for the otter to follow her back into the house.
Introduced and accepted with enthusiasm, Animikee took to Sloane's family immediately, laughing with the other Familiars and trading stories with the family. Eventually Sloane took her home and rehashed her life, including everything that involved Will, to which even the otter was surprised to hear took so long to happen. That made Sloane laugh and she knew she'd have to tell Will at some point, knowing he'd get a little kick out of it too.