ic The Competition

[Avenger Assembled]

"No, you get some sleep," said Ashley Tran in a friendly sort of way, careful to keep her voice low enough that she didn't alarm the small baby she was holding as she paced the Claremont campus. With her helmet and jacket off (or rather, in her motorcycle's storage), she could have been any adult visitor to Claremont's campus. Well. Most of them weren't wearing sunglasses just in case anyone should happen to pick her out as a former student twice over; and few of them were carrying a baby. 

 

"We'll be fine...this is not more dangerous than the mining planet!" she added seriously. "You have been up with the baby all weekend. Get some rest, babe." She hung and smiled down at Phillip, who was going through a phase where he only stayed quiet when his mother was holding him. So naturally he immediately started bawling his bright blue eyes out, crinkling his little tomato face, and otherwise throwing up a storm. "Sssh, sshh..." She flushed slightly as she sang to the baby, thinking how easy her mother had always made this look. 

 

Well she'd told Carmen what to expect when they met, even if she hadn't actually seen the baby before - babies cried, what could you do? 

[MoonSimply]

The air was beginning to chill as Summer was quickly fading into Fall. Even then, she could sense in the air rain showers that'd be coming later in the evening. It wasn't that there would actually be one potentially, but something about how her feline sense of smell and such made it so Carmen Arrache just kind of felt these sorts of things. Honestly, if she wanted to confirm such was even correct, Carmen could have just as easily checked her phone or watched the news to see what the forecast was. Unfortunately, sometimes that sort of cat like personality could make her a little bit lazy at times.

 

Carmen could see her, Ahsley, otherwise known as the current Patriot, coming up with what appeared to be a small child in her arms. This perked the brow of the young feline appearing woman, laying down on a bench by the front of the women's dorm building. She hadn't expected Ashley to be a mother, unless she wasn't, and it was someone else's kid. It didn't appear like that weirdo demon man's kid, but it could have fooled her as she got up, stretching before she stood once more. Fall weather meant that her varsity jacket could be work without any issue, feeling nice and comfortable for her.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hi Carmen," said Ashley, looking unaccountably nervous as she approached with her crying cargo. "Ssh, ssh, it's okay baby, it's okay..." Carmen might not have had a lot of experience with kids but she was reasonably sure this was a particularly tiny baby, perhaps no more than two or three weeks old. "Sorry, he's still getting used to Earth gravity." Up close, Ashley looked just a little more tired and a little more frazzled than Carmen could remember seeing her outside of a combat situation. 

 

"You remember when I said Fa'Rua and I were going away for a while?" Gradually the baby settled down to fussing, and Ashley stood close enough that Carmen could see him closely. The baby had fluffy dark hair on top of his head, big dark eyes, and distinctly visible pointed ears. "Well...we decided to do something we've been talking about for a while. This is - my son, Phillip Tran. I just call him Phil," she added. "After my father."