[FIN] Natural Selection: Cottage Style (Seth, Dacj, Eli)

[AnimeEyeshime]

Dacj's most pressing problem was probably the fact that, due to the tangle, she was due to break into giggles any time now--Seth's tail was just close enough to a couple of her tentacles, and she tried very hard to concentrate on anything but the tickling. Of course, the rest of the tangle was presenting complications too, but it was always the tickling that did her in...

"Um..." The sound of the spinner was heard. "Yellow right foot!"

Dacj couldn't help but groan at the news--that wasn't going to be an easy one. She reached, going over one of Seth's arms in the process, but it was an awkward position for that particular tentacle-pair and she didn't feel very stable--her legs were too far apart and she wasn't really used to this kind of acrobatic balancing. And the problem of the tickling hadn't been solved at all. She sucked in a breath, feeling herself tremble with the effort of staying up, but she wasn't going to give up yet. She was a tentacle monster, she couldn't lose at Twister of all things!

But her valiant rallying spirit was shattered when she was distracted by the sound of the front door to the Cottage slamming shut, and down the kraken went, tumbling and inevitably taking Seth with her--they were too tangled up for either to escape the other's downfall. "Argh!" she cried, her legs wiggling at being able to be free again instead of tensely held in sets of two. "I can't believe it," she said, with a sigh. She made little effort to untangle, she figured the cheetah had a better chance of getting out if she wasn't moving around too much.

Phoebe was giggling, only to abruptly stop. "Eli!" she cried, waving. Dacj slowly turned her head to the living room door, where her older brother was very pointedly covering his eyes. She couldn't even imagine the thoughts running through his head--this time was probably worse than the one in the apartment...

"I think you're doing this on purpose."

"I think you have really bad timing," the kraken retorted, crossing her arms as she still lay on the mat, giving Eli the best skeptical look she could muster--not that he was looking. It was the principal of the thing, though. "Seth won?" she added, not sure if she meant to be reassuring or not.

"I am so glad to hear that." The kuppy did not actually sound relieved. "Tell me when it's safe to look."  

[elfgurl1234]

Oh geez. Why did I agree to this game again? Seth wondered to himself, waiting impatiently for Phoebe to call out the next spot. When the jellyfish girl declared right foot yellow, the cheetah Hyte was only mildly relieved of his previous uncomfortable positioning. The tangled knot was still entirely weird (didn't help that she had to reach over him to get to a yellow), and his arms were tiring from the strain of holding him up this way. Both were trembling with the effort to stay up, but neither wished to relent.

And then the inevitable happened. There was the distinct sound of the front door slamming shut, and then the next moment both Hytes were down on the ground. Of course, this did nothing to untangle the knot the were currently stuck in. "Ack! Stop wiggling around so much," he said, trying but failing to undo the mass of limbs.

"Eli!"

Seth froze for half a second before deliberately continuing to undo the tangle. Really, of all people to come in at this moment it had to be Eli? "Hello, Eli," he greeted, not looking over at the kuppy until after the two had managed to separate. "I think I might have to agree with Dacj on your sense of timing." The cheetah Hyte stood back up and helped Dacj back onto her 'feet' as well. "It's safe to look now by the way."  

[AnimeEyeshime]

Dacj accepted the hand up with a nod and quick 'thank you' before setting about untangling herself and stretching her tentacles on their own, one by one, to limber them out before real cramping set in. The last thing she wanted was to limp around the house because she'd been thoughtless. And Eli would be fine, the silly drama kuppy...

"I'm not sure I believe you," Eli was saying, hands still over his eyes. Dacj rolled her eyes and made a 'harrumph' sort of noise, hands on her hips.

"It's fine now," she insisted, her clubs unconsciously mimicking her hands, making an unintended humorous sight.

Eli moved his fingers apart to gauge the authenticity of the statements, then dropped his hand with a very pointed look at the kraken. She answered him with a belligerent look of her own, and he shook his head. This was not a good pattern... At this rate, he'd have to talk to Mom about it. "So. Twister." He glanced at the plastic mat on the floor. "And Seth won?"

"Yup. Didn't see that one coming, did you?" Dacj said, her annoyance softening now that her brother seemed to be acting reasonable. "Bragging rights, Seth! Most people can't say they've beaten a half-kraken and half-jellyfish at Twister~"

"Most people don't know a half-kraken or a half-jellyfish let alone both," Eli pointed out. "Still, I guess it's an accomplishment..."

"S'more than you could do," Dacj teased. The kuppy shuddered.

"Really? Do we need to rub it in?" he asked, plaintive.  

[elfgurl1234]

"It was a close game," Seth replied, his tail hanging limply behind him. While the appendage had certainly been an aide in the game, it definitely was not meant to be used in that way. "You two were tough opponents." Actually, had Eli not entered when he did, the cheetah Hyte might have even been the one to lose. It was tough call given where they had been at. "So, do anything interesting so far today?" he asked Eli, figuring the kuppy wouldn't want to think about the Twister game anymore.  

[AnimeEyeshime]

"Nothing much, just doing some packing," the kuppy said, with a shrug. "Actually that's why I'm here--I still have tons of stuff upstairs in my old room."

Dacj whistled. "Have fun with that. Shimy's sentimentality over your stuff had her keep your room the same, but she definitely did not dust anything. I'd grab some cleaning supplies before you head up."

"Advice acknowledged. I'll try and clean up as I go along," he said, with another shrug. He paused, before adding somewhat suspiciously, "Are you planning to move into my room?"

Dacj looked the picture of innocence. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Eli. A room in this house goes empty, and I will just continue to room with my beloved older sister, sharing our bunkbed."

"She has the top bunk!" Phoebe chimed in. "She said it was easier to practice ceiling-hanging from there."

Eli facepalmed, at which Dacj sniggered. "I'll stop asking. Really, I will." He looked up and glanced from Seth to Dacj. "So did you guys have anything else planned, or...?"  

[elfgurl1234]

"I don't think there was much planned in general, although I believe that question goes more to Dacj," he said with a smile. "As far as I'm aware today was mostly just a hang out thing. Do you need some help with your room perhaps? It might take quite a while if you try to do everything by yourself." Dacj might not think it a bad idea to help out either-- especially if she really was interested in taking over the vacated room after the fact.  

[AnimeEyeshime]

"Nope, my nefarious schemes ended with Twister, more or less~" the kraken said, stretching her arms out and wiggling her fingers now.

"I wouldn't mind the help," Eli admitted. "If you don't mind boring..."

"You weren't here earlier--you haven't seen the Cottage truly boring," Dacj informed him, shaking her head. "Packing's better than nothing to do. Phoebe, go fetch some boxes from storage?"

"On it~!" the jellyfish said, happy to have a part to play.

*
They'd all set to work, the others often having to ask Eli what something was, or which box it ought to go in. Phoebe, with her youthful energy, was set to cleaning tasks, while Eli sorted clothes from the dresser and Dacj and Seth were assigned to closet-sorting and bookcase knickknack chucking. "You know, I'd ask why you have a crystal ball in here but honestly I'd rather not know," the kraken said absently, reaching for some of the clothes in Eli's "keep" pile to wrap the orb in for safe transport.

"Watch out for the spellbooks in the back--hmm, maybe we should have Seth handle those," Eli said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to, even with your magic sealed off."  

[elfgurl1234]

"Sure, just choose the magical dud to be the guinea pig," Seth said with a small laugh, reaching back into the closet to grab the mentioned spell books. They felt harmless to him, but he supposed that was the reason he was asked to handle them in the first place. "Good news. No explosive reactions," he said with a smile, dusting the books off before packing them away. There were certainly many interesting things stored away in the kuppy's room, the crystal ball being only one out of many odd objects and artifacts. It was actually quite an interesting place to clear out.  

[AnimeEyeshime]

Eli breathed a barely audible sigh of relief, and Dacj gave him a questioning look. What on earth was the kuppy doing with something that dangerous, that Dacj might seriously have been hurt... "That's always good," Eli said brightly.

"You know, after that, I think maybe I'll do something less likely to potentially harm me if you've got more weird stuff in there," she said, backing away from the closet slowly and opting to sit on the bed, surveying Eli's room, which she was only half serious about moving into. Still, having one's own room did have benefits...it would be a lot easier to have her own room for romancing purposes, for example... She had no desire to scar her elder sister's innocence, and the tree house wouldn't be very comfortable in the winter. "I bet Seth's glad you're finally moving out," she said finally with her usual wide smile.  

[elfgurl1234]

Seth arched a brow at Eli's sigh of relief. "What, were you unsure of the dud effect?" he said jokingly. "Sheesh, I was only kidding about acting as your guinea pig you know. Perhaps I should stop the packing here."

Despite his expressed 'concerns', the cheetah Hyte continued to clear out the closet, figuring he might have been the safest of the three in dealing with this stuff. He was caught off guard however by Dacj's casual remark. "Oi, you make it sound like he's a pain to have around," he threw back with a small laugh. Although really, with as infrequently as the kuppy stayed over anymore it was already almost as if he had moved out. It would be interesting for things to finally return back to 'normal' though. If that was even possible anyway. So much had changed since they had first moved into the apartment... He shook his head lightly to clear it of the random thoughts.  

[AnimeEyeshime]

"Isn't he though?" Dacj said, tone gone lofty in what seemed to be a vague attempt at Missy's usual speech inflections. "Always flailing and making mountains out of molehills..."

"Keep going and you are so not invited to the housewarming party," Eli said, tossing a wadded-up ball of t-shirts at his sister, who squeaked and managed to pluck them out of midair with one of her clubs before they could properly hit her.

"Housewarming party? That had to be Mom's idea. In which case if you don't invite me, Mom will be really pissed at you~" Dacj continued lightly.

"I know, I know. You're her favorite," Eli said, sticking out his tongue.

"I just think the most like she does," Dacj said, objecting to the remark of favoritism. "She likes you plenty. Also, you're the only one with a confirmed grandchild, so you've rated high on whatever minor comparison scale might exist."

"Kitten doesn't get me rated lower?" Eli asked, with a laugh of polite skepticism.

"Mom hasn't actually met Kitten yet, so that might've helped..." Dacj admitted, scratching her head absently.  

[elfgurl1234]

Seth chuckled at the conversation. "Kitten's not so bad," the cheetah Hyte replied, reaching down to grab another spell book which had gotten separated from the rest. "So long as Kitten doesn't venture down toward the lab, everything should be fine." As he dusted off the book, he found himself rather tempted to flip through the pages just to see what was actually in these things. He didn't know if that might set off some odd reaction though, so despite the temptation he didn't chance it. "So, a housewarming party, eh? Know when it'll be?"  

[AnimeEyeshime]

At the suggestion Kitten might venture into the lab, Eli and Dacj exchanged horrified glances and both made a note to themselves to remind their mother to reinforce the entryway. It was less the tentacle monsters Dacj was worried about--well, rather, she was worried for their welfare. Kitten could likely defend herself well (since she didn't seem to have a phobia as Eli did) and she seemed more likely to be capable of causing large amounts of damage collaterally. It would be to everyone's benefit if the bull-in-a-china-shop future daughter of Eli's stayed far, far away from the delicate experiments and lifeforms housed in Philomena's lab.

"No idea," Eli said in response to Seth's question. "It'll depend on Kamiko's schedule, I think--soonish?" He opened another drawer and began packing the light vests it contained into the quickly filling clothing box, before adding, with a raised eyebrow at the cheetah, "So when's the wedding?"

Dacj found herself suddenly very interested in the pile of Japanese mooks stacked beside the nightstand, flipping through one absently. He couldn't have waited until later to bring it up? Not that she was going to do anything silly, but really, salt in an open wound much? And he was the empath!  

[elfgurl1234]

Seth chuckled. "Soonish works." Oddly enough, he was caught slightly off guard by Eli's return question. "Hm? Ah, the, uh, details are still being decided," he replied, putting away the spell book in his hands with the others. Which was basically his way of saying he had no idea.

Despite the amount of time that had passed since Noe's kidnapping, no further planning had really been made in regards to their wedding. Originally they had been planning to have it during the summer, but... the summer was quickly whiling away. The cheetah Hyte frowned ever so slightly at this realization as reached back into Eli's closet for more belongings. He would need to talk to her about that later.  

[AnimeEyeshime]

While Seth was brooding over timing, Eli and Dacj were making faces at one another--Dacj displeased and Eli's of a 'you were asking for it' nature. The minute the cheetah seemed to pay attention to them again, they'd gone back to very innocently performing their previous tasks--Eli folding clothing; Dacj messing around with the magazines.

"Let Mom know when you do have something...or else," Eli said dryly, though he was sure he didn't need to remind Seth.

"Speaking of date setting..." Dacj had discovered Eli, at some point in time, had put those glow-in-the-dark plastic stars on the ceiling in what looked to be proper constellation patterns, and she set about picking them off one by one with her clubs, standing on the bed. "I promised the Highlands I'd take them to the beach. You guys want to come with us?"