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 Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 9:55 am
"He's---" Darcy started, but for once, her brother interupted her. Aaron seemed to be irritable, maybe he had gotten tired of his sister's complaints, or maybe it was because he'd just gotten bit. Knowing Aaron, it was the latter.
"Darcy, do you think you could be patient for once?" The preteen asked, a pained look on his face. Normally Aaron was good with children. This boy was different. The toddler was obviously blind, his pale blue eyes were never focused. And he had especially sharp teeth, as Aaron had found out first hand--literally.
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 7:58 pm
Cristophe just wanted to go home. He did not want to be crashing around Durem caves in the middle of the night. He had chicken blood on his face and his head hurt from dealing with clients. He had wanted to just do his job, go back home, shower, and then hit the hay. But what you wanted and what you got were two different things- he knew this. Life was funny like that.
The tall man slapped his flashlight, the beam flickering feebly in the dark. This was all because of that stupid letter! He had honestly thought the letter was a joke or a scam. But what else would most people think about a letter instructing them to go to a cave in the middle of the night to pick up a kid? He had been half-tempted to throw the damn thing away without a second thought but for some reason...he felt compelled to keep it. So he had folded it up and stuck it in his pocket and promptly forgot about it. Until he got off work, anyways.
Yes, Cris had wanted to go back to his flat in Durem, shower up, and then hit the hay for the night. But like he had felt compelled to keep the letter, he felt compelled to check out the Caves. It was almost as though he was...drawn to them somehow.
His flashlight went out and he gave a heavy sigh, running fingers flecked with dried blood through pink-dyed hair. "Hello? I'm here to get mugged or given a kid or whatever..." he called tiredly, trying to feel around in the murky darkness of the cave. Normally, Cristophe was good-natured, if not a bit smarmy at times. But tonight...he was tired.
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Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:32 am
Aaron hardly seemed to hear the man as he spoke. He was too busy trying to force a muzzle on the toddler that'd just bit him. Usually, Aaron was the nicer of the twins, usually he was the one everyone liked. Not tonight.
Darcy nudged him with an elbow, before looking to the man. "I assume you are Cristophe." She said, in that mysterious knowing way of hers. Aaron dropped the muzzle, and the polite smile he customarily wore was back on his face. "I am Darcy, and this is my brother, Aaron." Darcy explained. "Oh--this is your new son." She gestured to the toddler. The child was being securely held by the hand.
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Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:39 pm
Cris shook the flashlight again, feeling inwardly satisfied when a pale beam flickered on to dully illuminate the cavern. He wasn't afraid of the dark by any stretch- he worked after the sun set quite frequently. No, he merely disliked not being able to see for s**t. He glanced over to the twins, inclining his head at the question.
"That's the name my ma gave me." he replied. "It's, ah, nice to meet you." It wasn't unpleasant, anyways. It was just...different. Odd. It wasn't every night you wandered out to the caves to meet with a couple of kids.
He swung the beam over to the boy. Was...was that a muzzle they had been trying to wrangle onto him? The older man slowly raised a brow. "Is there a reason that you were trying to muzzle a toddler?"
Wait. Back up a second; forget the muzzle.
Did they say...his son?
"Are...are you serious? My child? You were serious about that?" he sputtered. The man looked around as if expecting to see hidden cameras somewhere. But there was something about the way the girl talked that made him think that they were serious; very, very serious. "Why me, though?"
Cristophe wasn't a horrible person- he had a steady job and a roof overhead. He could cook and though he lived on his own, his apartment wasn't a total pigsty. He also somehow managed to keep his cat, Mudge, alive and well (though he couldn't say the same for his plants). The man though...he just didn't see himself as being a responsible parent. Why anyone would entrust a child to him was beyond his comprehension.
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:53 pm
"He bit me, sir." Aaron said in the tone that clearly said he was having trouble admitting this. He showed the man his arm, where it was still bleeding. Ouch. "We didn't want him biting the other children--but he seems to--well. Maybe we taste better."
Darcy didn't answer him for quite sometime. She pried the toddler's hand from Aaron's, and led the boy to Cristophe. "He's blind. I assume you know what that means. He's also a zombie." She said in her flat, blunt way. "Something went wrong with the experiment and..." She gestured to the child. "He's the result."
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 11:28 am
He looked at the boy. Then he looked at the girl. Cris was about to say that kids tended to bite and as annoying and bothersome as it was, it didn't really warrant muzzling the boy... But then the silence broke as the girl started speaking.
A zombie. Huh. Well that was...something. "Huh." he said out loud, surveying the kid.
He didn't seem as shocked as one would expect. But, when you live on a world like Gaia that's filled with centaurs and grombies and the odd alien, a zombie...wasn't necessarily that odd. But then again. Cristophe may have been biased- he did raise the dead for a living (mostly for reading wills, providing closure for grieving families and extracting extra testimony for criminal cases granted, but a zombie was a zombie).
He let out a low whistle and eyed the boy. "Born- or created, I guess- blind, I take it? Can't imagine what it'd be like to live a whole life in darkness..." he murmured. It gave him the chills.
So. He...was expected to take care of this kid. Well, who more qualified than someone who worked with the dead regularly? He let out a long breath as he debated just turning and leaving. He didn't know how to parent a kid, let alone a blind one. Let alone a zombie.
"He's...not transmissible, is he?" he said, throwing another glance to Aaron's chewed-on arm. "He's remarkably well-preserved...I take it he won't rot much, huh?
He paced a little bit in font of the boy. he hoped the kid didn't end up rotting. Old corpses didn't exactly smell nice. the kid was different, though. He had a musty, earthy smell...a sort of neck-ruffling smell that evoked a vague primal urge to back away rapidly. He reached out to take the kid, but once he noticed the boy's nose twitching, he drew it back. Maybe...it wasn't wise to stick out a limb that smelled of chicken blood.
"So I guess I'm in charge of him and that's that." he mulled, rubbing his chin. He wasn't sure how he felt about that but considering the odd compulsion he had to keep the letter and then come out here in the middle of the night...
"Hey kid, you need a bandage?" he said, frowning at Aaron's arm. Infectious or not, zombies could leave a painful wound. He pulled a bandanna from his back pocket and offered it to the boy. "That looks...painful."
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Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 3:35 pm
Aaron and Darcy exchanged looks, both of them knew this had been the right choice. Cristophe was the best man for this job, raising a zombie. They had studied him for quite sometime.
"He's not transmissible." Darcy said flatly, shaking her head. "You needn't worry about becoming a zombie if he bites you. Though, he is--"
"I'm afraid he is still quite dangerous." Aaron said, wincing from the pain in his arm. "You'll probably want to keep him away from younger children, and keep any pets you have at home safely put up. Maybe warn your neighbors to keep their pets inside." The boy paused, shaking his head. "He won't rot. He'll remain the way he is.." Aaron took the proffered bandanna and tied it around his arm with his free hand. "Thank you," he said.
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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:00 pm
As Cris looked at the baby, he figured that it made sense they'd pick him. He had wondered why they'd go with him but given the nature of the child...who better to care for him than someone who routinely dealt with zombies and was versed in the lore and truth of the undead? He still wasn't sure how he felt about all this, though. It wasn't so much the 'chlid of the walking dead' thing that bothered him...it was just the plain 'child' thing that did it. He had no clue how to raise a well-adjusted kid! The only expirience he had wa with Mudge, his cat- put out food and water and change the catbox weekly and the cat flourished. Kids...were complex. A lot more complex.
He'd have to buy some parenting books tomorrow morning. They couldn't hurt, anyways.
"Well, at least he isn't plague-ridden. That makes thing a little easier." he remarked. That was certainly a relief. Most zombies raised from the grave these days weren't infectious anyways. The only real plague rats tended to be scientifically created (look at G-Corp and their two fandangos, after all) these days. "But yeah, bites hurt like hell. I'll watch my fingers. I have a cat but Mudge goes outdoors a lot anyways and is like, the king of climbing crap."
When people bit, there was usually some subconscious degree of restraint...even with kids. But zombies...they bit because they needed to feed so there was no real restraint most of the time. He'd have to keep an eye on the boy.
"I'll keep an eye on him." he agreed.
He smiled at Aaron as the boy took the bandanna. "It's clean; never had to use it. It'll keep crud out of the wound until you get home. Clean it out ASAP, okay? Infectious or not, the human mouth has all sort of bacteria." he said, wagging a finger.
He surveyed the boy one last time. The muzzle was starting to seem like a good idea after seeing the wound on the boy's arm. "You have...any suggestions on how to get him home without losing my fingers..?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 2:55 pm
Aaron nodded gratefully. "I will do that, sir," he assured the man with a smile. He handed the man the leash he was holding. "You can take him home with this," he said calmly. "Once you get home, you'll be safe to take it off. In theory. He'll probably want to sleep."
"He is still--" Darcy began, but again her brother interrupted her.
"He will be different from other zombies you've dealt with," Aaron explained, shooting a 'Shut up!' glance at his sister. Darcy always said the worst things. Why couldn't she be better with people? You'd think by now that she'd have improved... "He will grow quicker than most, and well... Like most of the kids we've had here, he has an ability. When you learn what it is, send word with Jaella."
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