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 Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 12:28 am
[Private Thread for Neko and DS. Don't post unless you're one of us, please! heart ]
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 12:45 am
Neko peered up from the address written on the piece of paper she held in her hand to the house that stood before them. It looked like the house she'd visited that time she came by to pick up Demare, but one could never be too sure when that was almost a year ago. She flicked her tail a little bit as she glanced down at her son who was holding her hand tightly, and then to the right of him at the young child pouting beside him. Demare had wanted to come by himself, but Neko thought it would be a good idea for them all to go. Manior needed to meet new people, and she owed DS a visit.
"You don't have to be in my sight the whole time, but promise me you'll behave," she told the halfling child. "This is someone else's house... I'm responsible for any damage you do."
Demare rolled his bi-colored eyes, his two wings twitching with annoyance. He shrugged his shoulders in a 'whatever' responce before dropping his bandaged arms to his sides and slowly stepping toward the front door. How long had it been since he'd been here, anyway? The last time he visited was... early summer, wasn't it? So long ago... nearly a year. Would Karan be mad at him for not coming sooner? ...Would he even forgive him for not keeping his promise about the caravan? The young child might not even understand what had happened to it, much less would the story even be believable.
'A dark lord from the demon world destroyed it.'
Yeah. That would go over well.
"Dema-bra!" Manior called out to the child with a giggle before releasing his mother's hand and stumbling after his brother, "Way fo mee!"
The little cat boy toddled his way after the halfling, his tail lashing about curiously behind him.
"I'm not waiting," Demare huffed, stopping at the door and giving it a couple of hard knocks. "Hurry up if you don't want to be left behind."
"Oh for crying out loud..." Neko sighed, shaking her head a little bit before taking a couple of quick steps forward and scooping up Manior into her arms. That boy...
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:08 am
DS scooped Bob off the floor, where the infant had been playing with some strange sort of rattle that looked totally alien. It had been a Christmas present, though from where DS wasn't totally sure. The fishbabe protested, sinking her gums into the sleeve of her mother's arm until the rattle was back in her possession. Sighing wearily, DS scuttled over to the others playing in the living room.
"Sorry, but it's vacuum day. Think you can scoot outside?"
Looking at her playmates, Linnea nodded solemnly. "We can move."
"You can't really play a board game outside," Karan pointed out, trying not to act annoyed. He was only a few spaces away from winning. All he needed was double fives!
Of course. And why did they have to go outside? "Could you play in the kitchen then maybe, or in one of your rooms? This is the first chance I've had to vacuum in a while."
Giving a long-suffering nod, Karan dropped the dice on the board. To his shock, they landed on double fives. "Cool."
Awwww, Kar won this time. Xue was soooo close! sad
"You can still play for second, if-" Karan was cut off by a loud rapping noise.
How odd, they weren't expecting anyone. It must be the mailman, DS decided. "Karan, could you get the door please, while I get Bob her lunch? It it's Lloyd, tell him I'm not home."
"Yeah." He left the task of setting up the game in the kitchen to Linnea and Xue, who would probably play for seconds anyway. Xue was the kind of person who didn't want a game to end, even if he was losing. They would probably be at it for a while. All of a sudden, winning didn't seem so great.
Karan yanked open the door. "She's not home- oh."
Well then, that was certainly... unexpected.
"Hi."
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:25 am
Demare immediately quirked a brow at the door's abrupt opening, followed by the odd remark. Was that any way to answer a door? Of course, he'd heard Neko respond with a quick 'we don't want any' with a slam at the end on numerous occassions. There was something about the boy that answered the door, however...
The correction he made confused him for a moment. A more proper greeting... but the tone held a tune of familiarity. The child knew who they were?
"Um... hello," Neko said with a smile, adjusting the squirming child in her arms. "I hope we're not disrupting anything, coming unannounced. Is your mother home?"
The halfling tilted his head to the right slightly, squinting his eyes a little bit.
That can't be...
It... no. No way.
It HAS been an awful long time, Demian...
But... he would have said something, wouldn't he? He would have... tried to contact us... Wouldn't he?
Maybe he didn't know how to.
'Or maybe he thought it wouldn't be important,' Demian thought to himself. Still, he had to be sure.
"K.... Karan?" he finally spoke up, his eyes widening a little bit. Without realizing it, his left hand reached up to grasp the tripple-cresent pendant his friend had given him the last him he saw him.
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:45 am
Of all the people to come to the door, Karan wouldn't have thought of these in a hurry. And that in itself said something. Of course, he'd wanted to see Demare, for some time. But before, he never really had much say in anything. And after all he wanted to do was curl up into a ball and hide. Part of him still wanted to do that.
The gods, as DS was fond of saying, had a rather twisted sense of humor. Karan knew this firsthand, but that didn't ease the uncomfortable silence.
"She... she's home." It was easier to answer the adult's question first, though not so easy to abstain from commenting on it. But there were other things to think about. Even when replying he didn't look at the woman in front of him. Instead, his eyes were locked on the too-familiar person in front of him.
The person who didn't seem to recognize him much. That stung a little, despite him knowing why. It was partly his own fault too, after all. He was the one who was ignoring the change, or running from it, and from everyone else. This was inevitable, he supposed."
"Yes," he finally answered, followed by yet another lengthy pause. "I..."
"Lloyd, I've told you before, I'm just not-" DS appeared behind Karan in the doorframe, halting as she took in their visitors. "Oh, excuse me. Neko-san, was it?"
Inwardly, she sighed. The timing certainly could have been better, but what else was new? At least the house was in decent shape. "I was wondering what was taking so long. Please, come in."
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 2:00 am
"I'm sorry about not calling first," she said with a nervous laugh, her ears flatting down against her red hair a little bit. "I couldn't find your number, and Manny wanted to get out of the house. I was thinking about you, and thought maybe now would be a good time to visit since I'm not under house arrest anymore..."
She flicked her tail a little bit as she looked to the white haired boy, her gold eyes looking a little mischievious as she took notice to the children's awkwardness. This was a little amusing to her, considering she knew full well that Demare had been waiting practically a lifetime for his friend to grow up a little bit.
"This is Karan, ne? My my... you've sure grown up since the last time I saw you. Sure a handsome young man now, ne?"
Demare's black eye moved to glare at his guardian while his white eye stayed fixated on his friend. This really was Karan... He'd finally grown up. They could finally talk to each other, and completely understand one another.
You're not going to let me through, are you?
Of course not, you fool. Just sit back and watch like you usually do.
You're... you're such a...
Such a what? A jerk? A p***k? A b*****d? Say what you want, you little wuss. Anything you say isn't news to me.
His feathered wing dropped down a little bit, drooping as if sad.
"It's been a while," was all the demon could say at the moment, not really sure what else could be said. Karan was older now... surely he would be different. Would his growing affect their friendship, much less his judgement?
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 2:19 am
"No problem, none at all," DS lied conversationally. It wasn't much of a lie anyway, since now that they had arrived she realized how starved for adult company she was. Naita, in her mind, did not count. So she nodded, leading the company into the house. "So this is your little bundle of joy?" She waved at Manior, admiring his resemblance to his mother. "Hello there."
A bit of color came to Karan's cheeks at the compliment, and he quickly turned away to hide it. What was he supposed to say? It wasn't like he'd done anything special, taking whatever credit that seemed to be handed to him would be silly. So he did what he had fallen into the habit of doing, namely declining to respond.
A while? Yes, it had been that. Another pinprick stuck Karan, this one of guilt. Was Demare angry with him, for avoiding him? It was true that neither of them really exerted a huge effort so see one another in some time. Could he have been more open? Probably. He could have gone to the headquarters, or asked DS for the address. But he didn't, and that neglect rested heavily on his shoulders.
"It has." Couldn't he say anything of use? Try to make up for what was looking more and more like a glaring error on his part? "How are you?" he asked, in a weak attempt at conversation. "You, uh..."
None of this was really helping at all, was it? One hand moved to Karan's waist, to fiddle with the charms that hung there, primarily the silver sliver that had been gifted to him. He had promised himself that he wouldn't do exactly what he had been doing. Which hurt more, breaking his promise to himself or the fear of losing a friend? Did it matter?
"I'm sorry," he added, the apology half-meant for himself.
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 2:49 am
Manior's ears perked up a little bit as he was taken notice to, a hand bolting up into the air and waving excitedly.
"HAWO!" he cried happily, his tail thumping against Neko's arm several times as it began to flick left to right quickly. Who was this lady, anyway? Was it a friend of kitty-mommy's?
"Yes, this is Manior... He goes by Manny, though," she said with a proud smile before carefully setting the toddler down. "The little runt gave me a few problems at first, but he's growing up fairly well. Knows just how to get his way with everything..."
The cat demon looked around for a moment, wondering where his fire plushie had gone. His mind quickly wandered off from the thought of the toy to the bushy tail behind kitty-mommy's friend, however.
"Woofy?" he questioned, pointing to DS' tail.
Demare flinched at the words. Karan was struggling just to speak, it seemed, and then... an apology? The child turned his eyes toward the ground for a moment, his arms folding across his chest. There was no reason to appologize... No good reason, at least.
Turning his half closed eyes to Karan again, Demian did something a little unusual. He closed his two red eyes, and shut Clare out of his mind completely for a moment; the closest to being alone as he could. After all, this went completely against his character to say what he wanted to say.
"Listen... you're not the one who should be sorry..." he sighed, frowning a little bit. "...I... I'm the one who should be. I wanted... I just....."
Demian was never good with words. This only proved it.
"I... I missed you, Karan." For a moment, the boy actually looked sad. "I missed you a lot. But some things happened, and I couldn't come back here to see you."
He clenched a fist tightly, opening his eyes a little more as he managed a genuine smile for the first time in a very long time. "Y-you... you look good, though. A n-nice surprise... I was expecting to see a baby who might have forgotten about me today."
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 3:08 am
It was impossible to not melt. Even though she was exhausted, exasperated, and ready to take a nap, DS grinned. "Hello to you too," she almost purred. At Manny's question the smile flickered, finally settling at one that was marginally less radiant. "Woofy? Oh... no, not quite."
By the time they made it to the living room the board game had thankfully been put away. While the carpet was dusty, at least the chair covers had been washed recently. Bob was on the couch, held tightly by Xue. The Porcelain was under strict instructions to not move and yell if anything happened, and DS was comfortable with that. When given an important task Xue was extremely dedicated. It helped that Bob was sucking one end of her rattle and not paying much attention to anything else.
It felt so good to hear Demare talk. Karan didn't even realize how much he missed his friend until that moment, when everything suddenly felt so much better. He wasn't the only one who messed up, he wasn't the only one who wasn't sure what to say, and most importantly, he wasn't alone.
"I know. About things happening, anyway." Things were always happening, always getting in the way. There was really no way to go around it, or to get used to it. Shaking his head a little cleared it, and hopefully espressed his feelings as well. "Don't worry about it."
And that would be the last on that subject, he hoped. Then again, with what was said next he would almost rather go back to talking about blame. "Please don't," he started. "Everyone says things, and it's just... I mean, what do you say to something like that?"
It was the first time he actually expressed his confusion, though certainly not the first opportinity. But Demare had done the same thing, in a way, so perhaps he would understand.
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Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 12:46 am
Neko blinked a few times, pondering Manior's train of thought. Why would he think DS was a dog...? Oh, right...
"You'll have to excuse him," she sighed lightly, running a hand through her short, flipped hair. "Whenever he sees a bushy tail, he immediately thinks of one of the pups. Xiao gets called that all of the time, and he's a fox."
Manior giggled childishly before looking around the room again, wondering what else he could spot. He toddled toward the couch, seeing something on top of it, peeking his gold eyes over the cushions the best he could.
"Hawo?" he questioned, his tail curling up a little bit with curiousity.
Demare winced a little bit, his head starting to hurt from holding Clare back. He thought about that for a moment, wondering what his other half would say, and then thinking about how HE would respond if someone complimented him.
"Well... I tend to put things off. I acknowledge the fact that someone is praising me, but say nothing in return. Clare, on the other hand, usually says something like "thank you" or "so d"--...."
Oh... s**t.
"I mean..."
...Well, how would he get out of that one?
"...Most people say "thank you", to be nice. Or polite, whatever they like to call it." The halfling held a hand to his head, wincing again. "Or they smile, or... something like that. I guess so long as you're not egotistical about it, no one really cares what you do. Just a simple "thank you" usually works."
Demare shook his head a little bit, the demon releasing his other side once more. He knew he wouldn't be hearing the end of it later.
"But enough about that. When did it happen? Was this recent, or have I really been gone THAT long?" he asked, raising a brow before dropping his hand back to his side.
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Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:16 am
DS laughed it off. "It's quite alright, Neko-san. When Xue was a bit younger he thought that the Talaye were horses, because they were big."
Xue nodded, not at all upset by this. After all, horsies were big, and the furry things were big, so the furry things were supposed to be horsies.
After a couple more moments he looked up at DS. Xue wants to play with the fuzzy kid! gonk
To Manior he tried to wave, but was buried under blankets and a fishbaby. Instead he projected a greeting, mixed with probing curiosity.
A tail moved, and Bob pawed at it a little, letting her drool-soaked rattle drop onto the couch. Then she noticed a furry tuft a few inches away, and grabbed that instead, yanking it hard. It was stuck on something!
"Yeah?" Karan frowned momentarily. Demare seemed confused about something. Maybe he had a friend named Clare, or a family member? He'd never been to Demare's house, but was under the impression that it was almost as crowded as his own.
"I guess thank you works." With a shrug Karan stepped further into the house, purposely walking by the living room. "When... a while ago I guess. Not that long," he added quickly. He didn't want Demare to get upset.
He needed a change of subject, and fast. "Uh... who's Clare? Have we met?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 1:41 am
At the projected greeting, Manior was only puzzled, but not afraid. He blinked, tilting his head to the right as his ears swivvled about, tiny fingers pulling on the couch cushion as he tried to see more of what was up there. A pale looking doll, and...
"Eh??"
Something had grabbed onto his tail, his lower half rising just a little bit when it was pulled. Peering over his shoulder, his gold eyes became fixated on the tiny fingers that were wrapped around his extra limb, trying to figure out who they belonged to. His attention had caught on to something else, however, as his knows picked up a familiar scent. Sniffing the air a couple of times to be sure, he began to purr, closing his eyes and looking forward again. Struggling a bit, he managed to pull himself up onto the couch, allowing himself to be guided by his nose, sniffing himself right up to the fishbaby and into her stomach. That was the source!
Opening his eyes, he grinned and cried out, "FISHIE!!" Content, his tail began to twitch in the baby's hand as it started to swish left and right, his ears perking up. He wrapped his arms around the baby and Xue, rubbing his head against Bob's head gently like a kitten, purring wildly. Oh, the heavenly smell of fish...
Demare nearly fell over upon hearing the question. Thankfully, that was due to almost tripping over the first step inside, so he could play it off. He didn't expect Karan to remember the conversation he'd had the last time he saw his friend, much less even understand what it all meant. However, he had no idea how he was going to answer that question without it being a complete and utter shock, particularly after it seemed to him that Karan was still trying to adjust to his own changing.
"Clare is..." he started out quietly as he stepped past the living room after Karan, stopping after a moment as he thought about it again. What if explaining it all scared him? What if Karan would want nothing to do with him after he explained he wasn't who he thought he was? What if... he wouldn't accept him as being Demare anymore after finding out he was two very different people?
Ugh... Demare really hated all this doubt. He turned his bi-colored eyes toward his guardian for a moment, remembering what she told him after finally learning of his little secret. She'd said that he needed to start trusting others if he ever wanted to have any real friends, as trust was something that came with a strong friendship. Trust was binding, and not as easily broken as he percieved it to be. She also said that things were very different in this world, and people were more accepting of their surroundings than they used to be. That he would never know what people would think of his two souls until he told someone about himself.
Not everything was meant to live in the darkness.
"Yeah... actually," he finally said, turning his eyes toward the ground before looking back over to Karan. "You've met..."
Demian...?
The demon didn't respond to his other half. "You actually know him quite well."
You... you can't be serious.
"Maybe in a little bit, we could go see him. Right now, however... I would like it to stay my turn to spend time with you."
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:36 pm
The fuzzy thing moved! Once it was next to her Bob could see that it was attatched to a sort of small fuzzy person. Still holding the bit of fuzz she had in her hands as tightly as she could, she slapped the couch with both of her tails and giggled. The fuzzy person was funny, and made funny noises! And felt good, too.
Help! Xue is squished! D:
Of course, the Porcelain was stuck, since he couldn't wiggle away with fishbaby in his arms, and he was absolutely not allowed to not hold fishbaby. So he settled for twitching uncomfortably.
Could the kitty pleeeeease not squish Xue so much? sweatdrop
"Are you okay?" Karan was quick to question, holding out an arm to possibly be used for steadying. It seemed Demare didn't need it though, so he shrugged and continued down the hallway, not even stopping at the entrance to the living room. His own room would probably be more quiet, and better for talking. Besides, despite the useful advice he'd gotten, he really didn't want to have to deal with the adults for a little while.
For such a seemingly simple question, Demare was having a difficult time answering. Did he hit a sensitive spot by accident? Some questions seemed innocent enough to the asker, but had worlds of hidden meanings to the answerer. He could probably relate, though unless someone asked about being delusional he couldn't think how.
"I'm sorry..." What was he sorry for? It was time to really talk, not just wallow in whatever funk he was in. "I didn't mean to pry, or anything."
But he actually did get an answer. So they had met? That was a little reassuring. Maybe if he tried hard, he'd be able to remember, but for some reason he was drawing blanks. It must have been quite some time ago then, since the further back he thought, the fuzzier things got. But if he knew him well...
"That sounds good," he answered, ready to drop the issue. "I've got some stuff in my room, games and junk. Do you want to do something special, or, I dunno... whatever?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 3:17 pm
"Mra?" Manior mewed, perking his ears up and lifting his head to peer at what was holding the baby. He blinked a couple of times, his gold eyes gleeming with curiosity as the cat boy studied the doll. This wasn't a normal dollie, since it appeared to move on its own. It could also speak! Releasing the baby, he moved his hands to pat lightly at Xue's face, wanting to see if it would blink or bite.
I can't believe you... Clare told the demon, almost in disbelief. You can't keep deciding things for the both of us! What if I don't want him to see me this way?
What's your problem? It's not like you have anything to worry about, Demian huffed. Why were they even having this conversation? Besides, you want to be with him today as well, right?
THAT'S NOT THE POINT, the angel shot back. The point is that you didn't ask me if we should let Karan see us like this. You didn't even ask HI--
Give me one DAMN good reason why I should be asking YOUR sorry a** for permission to bring him to MY FREAKING MIND!
IT'S MY BODY TOO, YOU a*****e!
Demian was speachless for a moment. Clare just...
Demare thought about Karan's question for a moment, not exactly sure of what kinds of things people did together. When they were babies, they just played around with toys and babbled at each other. The last time he visited, they colored in the book he gave him and exchanged a few gifts. So... what were two kids supposed to do?
"What do you usually do?" he asked instead, deciding that since it was Karan's house, it would be better he decide what to do. Oddly enough, that was one thing he didn't mind giving up control over.
Look... Now's not the time for this, Demian sighed. Calm down, and get yourself together... Karan has a right to know and understand the truth. You told me that yourself.
Clare started to whine. I know that, bu--
He'd find out eventually, anyway. If he's really our friend, then... like he said, he'd be our friend no matter what.
...I know...
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 6:11 pm
Xue did not blink or bite, but he did try to move his face out from under Manior's probing fingers. That didn't feel particularly nice, and althought Xue didn't usually care about manners, he felt it was rather rude.
Could kitty please not do that? stare
Oh no, the fuzzy thing was pulling away! To keep it anchored, Bob took the tail she was holding and put it where she inevitably put all things- in her mouth. It tasted hairy, but not unpleasant, and she began chewing contentedly.
Not noticing her daughter's new teething toy, DS pulled a chair out from the kitchen. "Please, have a seat Neko-san. Can I get you anything? There's some coffee, tea, juice... and some fresh corn muffins and blackberry jam."
What DID he usually do? The question was so simple, but Karan had a difficult time thinking of a good answer. All of the things that came to mind- board games, drawing, the kite he was building with Xue, they all seemed babyish or boring. Since it was the first time he'd seen Demare in quite some time, he wanted to make a good impression. But how could he do that without seeming dull or childish, and without fibbing? Even if Karan wanted to lie, nothing good came to mind.
"Come on in." They reached the door, and saying that gave him a chance to stall for a few seconds. Inside, the room had been changed slightly since Demare's last visit. The cot that had once been there was gone, and in its place was a large mattress, flat on the floor. The cot opposite was still there, with a few boxes underneath. The dresser was still there as well, but it had been painted a dark shade of blue. Dusk chittered from his cage, and Dawn and the koi swam happily in the small glass tank nearby. The walls had gone from white to a soft gray, and a few poctures and diagrams had been taped up around the room. In the corner was the remains of the cardboard box, torn and battered, and a thin frame made of chopsticks and hot glue leaned against it.
If he'd know about Demare's visit he would have tidied up a bit. As it was, all Karan could do was shrug in apology. He took a seat oh his own bed, folding his legs, and looked up at Demare. "Do? Nothing much. Sometimes I play with the others, but it gets boring after a while." That was the truth. "I guess I've just been doing whatever everyone else has been doing."
That sounded pathetic, but it didn't name specifics and it wasn't a lie, so Karan let it be.
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