Changling Families

Family

Nomura sat on the table she and Draal were sharing, drinking her glug, when she noticed him.

"Draal?" She said, "I've been in the Dark Lands for a while so I may have missed something but, um, why is there a whelp in the bar?"

Draal looked over his shoulder at the surrounding crowd, "What whelp? Their problebly with thier parents."

"Um," Nomura quirked her eyebrow, "The changling whelp? The one traded for the Nuñes kid?"

Draal's nonchalant smile dropped like a stone at the same time that notEnrique realized they were talking about him.

"You're a whelp?!" Draal gasped.

"Um..."

"He's only sixteen. Unless the Janis Order changed the age of assignment."

"Um..."

"That's why you asked me to get your glug!?"

"Um..."

NotEnrique had the conscience enough to look a little guilty for his crime.

"Do your guardians know about this?" Nomura asked, "You're barely out of diapers, kid. Where have you been living since they got the kid out of the Dark Lands?"

"Well the closest thing Ah got to a guardian now is a sixteen-year-old human girl who's 'rents didn't notice that their baby sometimes turned into a green rock monster and left the house every day. Ah sleep there when ah can but their folks have kind of tightened security recently for some reason."

Nomura groaned, realizing that this kid was going to ramble before answering her questions.

"Other than that, Bular's been pretty good about throwin' a guy a bone once in a while an' lettin' me sleep in the shop from time to time. His old lady ain't been to pleased about it but she ain't kicked me out either."

"Just get out of the pub, Imp," Nomura growled, "And if I find you in here again you will be in serious trouble."

NotEnriqué laughed, "What can you do? You don't have any authority over me!"

"I don't. But The Trollhunter does. And, if I know my brother, the punishment will seriously suck."

The whelp growled one more time before scampering away, grumbling the entire way out."

LLB

it wasn't until Draal was walking Nomura back to the surface that he said anything.

"What's with the face?"

"What face? This is my face."

"The worried face. That face is reserved for your niece and nephews, The young  You don't even make that face about yourself or your brothers. So, what's with the face?"

"How should I know! All I can tell is that something doesn't feel right," Nomura growled, "Maybe it's that damn whelp. There's something not right about him not knowing where his next meal is coming from or where he's going to sleep. I remember what that was like. Before Walt and Otto found me... And what kind of name is 'NotEnriqué?! That's not a name! It's just-" 

She cut herself off when she's saw the look on Draal's face.

"Don't fucking say it, Draal.  I know what you're thinking so don't say it. Besides, it's my brothers' fault."

Draal just smiled and shook his head as his girlfriend went back to her rant.

LLB

Nomura noticed  the group of  children out the corner of her  eye. It wasn't often that teenagers came into the museum on thier own, let alone with a baby in  a pushchair as Claire had her baby brother with her.