Colors of Love

Twenty-Eight

February, 1993

The next month and a-half after Yule was more than a lil rough, considering everything that just kept rolling off the presses, so to speak. After the confrontation over having half his heritage Hidden from him for so long, Richie hadn't heard from his mother since she'd stormed out in a huff. He'd heard from Dan, Wendy, and even Rich, Sr. since then, but it was like Georgine'd fallen completely off the face of the Earth. Even though he was still pissed at her, he was honestly starting to worry about her, and with equally damned good reason.

        Nekos and Zorros alike were unfortunately oft abducted with the Intent to use them as either studs or mills, depending on whether they were Doms or Fertiles. Considering that none of the rest of her family'd heard from her in all that Time, even they were Beginning to think the worst. That was that she'd been abducted when she was distracted, and she was now in some serious trouble that she couldn't get herself outta.

        But even more unfortunate than the possibility that his mother'd met that kinda trouble was that there was nothing the young Neko could do. Since he wasn't nearly as experienced, he couldn't even attempt Scrying to try pinpointing her location and welfare that way. Course, no matter how much he Wished he could, he'd other things that required his attention on a daily basis, so he couldn't devote himself to just that. He'd a family to worry about, after all–and that wasn't counting Poison's new album, which was finally due to be released just five Days after his twenty-third birthday.

        Luckily for him, his father wasn't nearly the heartless bastard that he coulda been, considering the circumstances. Elvin Rikki was far better at Scrying, given how old he was and how much Time he'd had to perfect his various Crafts, so he swore on his Honor and very Life that he'd start trying to find her. What he didn't realize was that his father'd a completely different motive for making such an oath that he wouldn't have thought of at first. And that motive was that–in knowing he'd the potential to royally lose Control of himself, if he didn't like the answer he got–he wanted to prevent that very thing from happening.

        Distracted by the various familial and professional obligations that he'd committed to, Richie decided to simply trust him to keep his word. He still didn't like the helpless feeling he was left with, but knowing he was on the case, so to speak, at least let him sleep at Night. That allowed him to dive head-first into learning more of Poison's older works that were bound to be played on the upcoming accompanying tour since their album'd moved on to being mixed and mastered. Even though the tour wasn't supposed to kick off till April, he still needed to get to work on learning those riffs. That Time'd disappear quicker than he realized, if he wasn't careful–that much was proven by how quickly Bobby's second pregnancy'd seemed to fly by after they'd met just over a Year ago.

        When the tour did kick off, there was still no word from Georgine, and none of the Elves'd any Luck in finding her thus far. At that point, the Elvin man said he was gonna take the puzzle to his parents, 'cuz they might be able to find the missing piece that none of them could, so to speak. That being said, he reassured his youngest son and saw him off, praying that he'd have good news for him the next Time they talked.

        "Good Goddess," Richie panted as the band all but tumbled offstage after what felt like their hundredth show.

        "Yeah, I know," Bret chuckled breathlessly. "Wears ya out, but gives ya a rush ya can't get anywhere else, right?"

        "No fuckin' shit, man," he agreed. "I dunno how Bobby was able to do it with the twins out here on the road with him, too, right after they were born."

        "'Cuz Elvin Rikki and Sirena'd babysit for me to hit the stage and when I really needed to sleep," Bobby laughed. "Well, when Duff wasn't with us and did that, himself."