Welcome to Gaia! ::

From the shop, Thu Aug 04, 2011...

Eranas: Alphonse has a big butt.

Epine de Rose: ...And he cannot lie? =O

Alphonse: *looks up from eating a bunch of cheese* ... M... m-my arse is not big. ;-;

Nigel: *wanders by as someone is talking about his rear-end* .... It's another bugman! O:

Alphonse: I am not a-- *turns around and blinks quickly* ... Oh, my. An Umbreon...?

Nigel: *pauses* ..... << Yeeeesss? You know what that is? : D *tail wag, but looks a little confused, he's not an eeveelution so has no idea what he is*

Alphonse: *looks him over carefully, brows furrowed* Yes, of course I do. And for the record, I am a Volbeat, not a... a bugman.

Nigel: Oh! Well, I do realize that some know of pokemon while others have never heard of them. I don't like to assume. And the 'other bugman' I referred to actually isn't a pokemon. And I was my master's only pokemon, so please forgive me but I don't really know what a volbeat is. My name's Nigel, by the way. *offers his hand to shake, then glances down at it, realizing it's rather dirty* Hm.

Alphonse: ... Yes, well. I've made it a point to be informed. It's rather odd you don't know, though; are you from Johto? Ah, in any case -- I've heard many others refer to Volbeat as fireflies, if that term is more familiar for you. And my name is... Alphonse... *looks down at his hand and lets out a horrified squeak, immediately thrusting a wipe at him* ... Please take this. I insist.

Nigel: Oh, do you own lots of books? I heard there is a library somewhere. I don't know where I'm from. I do remember he owned me when I was just a little eevee. We spent a lot of time outside, with his 'pack'... doing pack things... *obvious nostalgic expression and grin goes with his lazy tail wag, which abruptly stops a moment later* Yes, I'm sorry... I spend so much time roaming the halls I rarely even get my hands washed, what a sorry state, right? I just can't help but terrorize the Groundskeeper though, he hates when I dig in his garden. *cackles and sighs a little but then takes the wipe, sniffs at it just to be sure* Alphonse. That name suits you. How do you manage to keep yourself so neat and tidy? And clean? Are you friends with one of the janitors or something?

Alphonse: *lets out a disbelieving laugh* A library? I do hope you don't mean here. If you do, you'll have to let me know when you find it. *blinks at Nigel's story, glancing down at his tail as it starts to wag... but then his eyes snap back up to Nigel's face when he continues, and he shudders delicately at the mention of the Groundskeeper* It's safe, that wipe. And thank you. *laughs, again disbelieving* Really, I may as well be the janitor myself -- I do most of the cleaning around here. I'm beginning to think this place hasn't seen one in years. It's like a mythical creature.

Nigel: Well I always had the impression that the firefly I mentioned was rather bookish and always has some sort of book under his harm, but I don't know him very well. *enjoying Alphonse's reactions to some of what he's saying, obviously used to more delicate living, and not sure whether the volbeat is disgusted with him or not* I see, well perhaps if they hire you, you won't have to worry about it quite as much. Staff always seem healthier than anyone else, right? I don't get the feeling that caring for our well-being is a requirement to work here, so you may be right.

Alphonse: Ah? He is a firefly? I'd quite like to meet him. I haven't seen many others here. *and he wrinkles his nose at that* They don't care about us. I doubt they would look for help amongst us, either. *in a lower voice, after casting a quick look around* And certainly not from someone who has stolen what little cleaning supplies they do have...

Nigel: Well I've seen him hiding. You can't miss his glowing hands! ^.^ *shrugs* And perhaps the fact that some of us can't cope without their help thins out our ranks and makes them happier. You seem to be doing all right though. *hunches a little, conspiratorily* And who knows, maybe they'd value your ingenuity. Don't take my word on it though. They might get mad that you stole from them. *rubs his ear thoughtfully*

(Lol, I noticed that too! Paragraph style will be easier on the eyes though. I'm thinking I can break up their replies in the first post if I use Nigel's 'thought' color, goldenrod? )

Umbreon's keen red eyes rarely miss a thing, and quite frankly, insects are generally low on the food chain. Nigel couldn't help but watch Alphonse carefully, even if it was out of the corner of said eye. The volbeat's subtlest movements and expressions were always plain, if not downright dramatic; it was interpreting them that was most fun. Alphonse's attention, switching from curious to sour was indeed puzzling. Then the unmistakable glance at his ears (or perhaps he's looking at the fedora, my pride and joy?). What, then, was he upset about? Nigel was clever, but only in basic ways. This was what made Alphonse's complexity so intriguing, and amusing.

Nigel's was an easy smile. "Some would be tempted by an easier life, sidling up to the staff. Someone like yourself would benefit most from that kind of relationship, don't you think? Someone like me on the other hand," he shrugged, straining the bindings of his jacket's recently hand-stitched shoulder, "I clean up nice, but for different reasons. My boy and I, we were on the other side of the 'law.' You don't have to worry about me being a snitch to anyone." He had a loose tongue though, he'd never deny that. Funny thing about affability though, it made him approachable to even this upper-class hypochondriac volbeat, someone whom was so obviously out of his league.

(Don't worry about it Nir. I didn't mind, and I wanted to archive that part of the RP for his RP Log either way. :3 But we -do- have other RPs to start, Alphonse and Photinus need to meet. x3 )

Affability only goes so far. That's where cleverness comes in. Or the truth. But not everyone would care to know the whole story, and perhaps this time he had said too much. Perhaps Alphonse was just trying to make sense of it all. A place like this, paranoia can be useful. But it can also keep people from getting any stronger. Paranoia never replaced a good ally!

"No, I'm not trying to recruit you or anything if that's what you mean." Something in his grin communicated the humor of such an idea. "Well, maybe in a way 'pack mentality' is what it is. You and I were both once pokemon. I don't know what that counts for, but I don't think much differently than I used to."

He shrugged, losing the grin. "You're right though, we're strangers. Everyone here is a stranger." He subtly leaned away from Alphonse and glanced away; he realized he was probably walking a fine line now. He frowned a little and rubbed his ear where the hat rested against it. The ear flicked. What was fun to him before was obviously not so amusing to the volbeat. At least he hadn't done some obnoxiously canine things to him; he used to tackle bugs all the time... Trying to keep Alphonse off his guard was complicated. And since he really had no goal in this conversation - he had only been passing by - the effort seemed a little ridiculous. Oh, maybe that's why he's so suspicious.

Again he shrugged then unfolded the crumpled towelette to stretch it between his hands. It was unmistakably unusable, but his hands were clean. One thing I love about how things are now is I don't have to lick my own feet to clean them off. He chuckled a little. "But if anything I kinda owe you for this, right? So, it's no big deal, but you know..."

(Just to warn you, Photinus might be terrified of him initially. xD )

We don't owe each other anything... "Then, we're on equal terms." He put the towelette away in a pocket; there wasn't anywhere else to put it, and it was nearly dry anyway. Alphonse was still obviously wrestling with something internally, fidgeting, but he had yet to flee nor to so much as budge. Nigel's expression as he watched the volbeat was unmistakably curious, almost eager to hear what he had to say. No doubt it was something exceptionally important.

Oh! Oh. Really? This guy doesn't pull his punches! If the umbreon's cringing wasn't enough of a reply, he struggled to form a verbal one. "Ah." His smile was still there, but weaker and a frown had joined it. Did it hurt? Needles didn't really hurt. Changing hurt: it was slow, constant. Learning to use his body had been like learning to use the body of an umbreon, but far more complicated. Speech: confusing but fun, just another game. Ah, pain... pain was nothing compared to...

"Of course it hurt." He pointed to his shoulder, where the fabric had been ill-repaired. How can one patch up acid burns? "This hurt more. The pain was all at once. When I was changing it was constant, but hurt less. Probably adds up to about the same." He took a deep breath, took some time to regain his composure. He nodded, more to himself than anything. "Being alone hurt more."

(I'm probably going to have to write a vignette about what he was just remembering. xD The post would have been way too long. )

(Oh that... and that his species, Photinus, is eaten by the other species, Photuris. That other DNA tended to bring out the predator in people that received it. Which lead to many of his fears... Poor screwed up lil guy... >< )

Why did they even bother with all that therapy after the change? Were they working to some specific goal? Was I a failure? How could we all have been failures? What if... what if being sent here was just part of the experiment? If so, well, why wasn't his master to be found? Was he somewhere else? Was he such a success that they hadn't put him here? To Nigel, it wasn't possible that his master might have been the failure when everyone else had moved on to the next step.

Hearing Alphonse's words brought the smile back, not just to his face, but to his whole countenance. "We aren't alone. Yes, that's it." His tail wagged briefly, pleased that Alphonse realized his point of view.

"Oh, the shoulder!" Nigel glanced at it, wishing his jacket would had been spared. When it had begun to melt, he had quickly tossed the jacket aside, but later retrieved it when the damage had been done. Now he wondered briefly if he could somehow get it replaced, or patched up in a more tasteful way. "Well, there was this pretty girl, a human, and we were attacked by a..." He frowned a little, picturing the beetle-black exoskeleton, and glanced at the volbeat. There was no way he was going to say 'bug,' no matter how it had reminded him of one, it certainly was not an insect. "I'm not really sure what it was. But it was very tall with wicked claws," he motioned with pantomimed talons, "and it drooled a lot, but its drool burned..." his jaw jutted out and to the side. He brightened, grinning cheerfully. "But we killed it! Or rather, I think she did, I'm not sure, I passed out... If I didn't already have a master I'd follow her anywhere." Without shame, he was a picture of near-worship.

(Hm, I guess I would consider them as something else - another kind of firefly. I don't really know anything about volbeat but if they live in swarms and work together then I'd put them in the same social category as Photinus [the species]? I'd also say that since the arrival of the gijinka, Photinus [the patient] has discreetly tried to research about pokemon and may have at least heard of volbeat, even if he couldn't identify one standing in front of him. ^^

Oh... I reread Nigel's post. The part, 'Had he been a failure?' I had written wrong and so changed it to 'Was I a failure?' Narrative was supposed to be rewritten as internal dialogue. Kinda changes the meaning of the paragraph... xD; )


Nigel made a dismissive gesture. "Oh this happened a month or more ago. If it was going to kill me I wouldn't be here right now. Since that time I have heard that what happened is very rare, though there are some strange creatures and extremely dangerous patients that live in the bottom levels." He took on what might now have become a familiar expression, "As for my wounds, I was found by a nurse..." He trailed off; another pretty lady to save him. He was so lucky. "My jacket and shirt were not so lucky. But I haven't learned to do many things with my hands yet. As you can see." He briefly pointed to his shoulder and shrugged. "Have you met any of the staff?"

He was hesitant to ask Alphonse anything distinctly personal. The volbeat seemed unwilling to say much about himself but he didn't mind asking about Nigel. Lucky for him the umbreon had nothing he cared to hide.


(I can't give detail on the encounter with Anesha, details aren't available yet. I don't even know the nature of her abilities or if he would have scarred.)

( That's good. He doesn't need more trauma right now. Not that anyone does! Perhaps all the fireflies should get together and start a new, er, rather small, swarm. x3

Yes, totally my fault, sorry about that. ><; And I'm glad about that, sounds like Anesha should be able to keep Nigel from bleeding and melting to death. I am not sure how they would have saved them... alien drool is supposed to burn through until there's nothing left. xD; )


"Suspicious?" Nigel rubbed at the same ear. Suspicious how? He probably doesn't believe me. I probably wouldn't believe me either. "Yeah, it does sound pretty far-fetched, doesn't it." Not that he could really prove it outside of baring his chest, and even then, lots of things can burn and melt flesh.

Alphonse was looking rather bitter again and Nigel just couldn't figure out why. Jealousy? Something about the staff? Their clothing? He almost grinned: Re-thinking applying to become staff, maybe? His tail wagged a little, "Nice how? Nice like a girl's, or nice like yours?"


( Ah, somewhat similar problem here, only in reverse. In my RP with Anesha it's difficult because his injuries took place in May. So I've had to assume he's well, but making little mention of it in RP, despite the fact that burns are actually very painful and can last a long time. Good thing Nigel just hides pain well. Yeah, that's it. : D )

(Yay for plot ideas! We could prod Col and/or post in our plot thread/s. owo <3 Yes. I would prefer Nigel not to lose his arm. Though it would be an interesting plot point. Just... everything that's happened since would be null and void. = A=; )

"Well," Nigel balked. More suspicious than the experiments that created us, or how we're hidden from society like those monsters are hidden from us? He smirked faintly, Yes, I'm all right.

"Ah, yeah, yeah, that might be rather feminine," he agreed. "I've seen men with long hair though." Perhaps if Alphonse had cleaner hair, it would seem more feminine? It seemed rather well-groomed... was that the difference? Cleanliness? How amusing! So he really was jealous! Or perhaps the operative term was, 'resentful.'

"It's not as if you would have admitted to anything. And maybe someone else did the murdering..." That offhanded comment was not so offhanded. He wanted to prod Alphonse this time.