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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 12:19 pm
Yin was nervous. He had spent the past several days agonizing that Ulmuka had sent him a shirt, and an equal amount of time trying to decide when he would wear it. Should he wear it on the trip to Alexander’s house so that he looked somewhat presentable? Should he wait to wear it in case they had some sort of welcome home event for Alexander and he needed to be slightly more dressed up?
He actually preferred to think about his clothing. It meant that he was not focused in on the fact that he was probably going to meet more than a score of ghouls on this trip. All ghouls that he was obligated to be on his best behavior around, and treat them with the utmost respect.
The night before had been the worst however. He had taken Princess Eva to Miss Xiu-Ying’s room to stay with her, and the look she had given him had all but shattered his heart as he walked off. He would be back for her, but still…that look…
He had went to sleep easily enough, which was the benefit of over-exhausting yourself with training (he had to make sure he did a some extra in case he was unable to at Alexander’s home), and woken up a bit earlier than usual, his worry about being late not allowing him to sleep too long.
So now he was walking up to the Undead dormitory. He was wearing his shirt that had the simple slash through it from Sparrow’s blade, his brand new shirt, spare pants, wrappings, and the shirt that was still faintly bloodstained from his broken nose carefully tied into a bundle by still more spare wrappings, making a fairly convenient bundle to tote around. He had also tucked in his library book (which was officially checked out to him for the duration of the year after he had rechecked it out so many times and had proven that he really was working through it).
His nerves gnawed at his stomach. What in the name of the Great Mantis am I doing? Maybe it was not too late to cancel this trip.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 1:18 pm
Alex was, true to his word, sitting outside of the Undead dorms, reading a book. Or at least, he was trying to read. He was just so excited about getting to go home, the anticipation of getting to be with his horde again, it was too distracting. He ended up having to read whole lines of text over and over again before finally being able to focus on the words and having them sink into his brain. Finally, he gave up, and closed the book and sat there quietly waiting for Yin to arrive so that they could be in their way. He pulled out his eyephone once in a while to check the time, but that only seemed to make the night go slower, so he stopped doing that.
Eventually he pulled his book back towards himself, determined to read this time and make the evening go by faster so that dawn could come and he could be on his way. Well, rather, on their way, rather, since Yin was supposed to be coming with him, and in the last few days had not approached Alex to say that he wasn't coming, so he could only assume that the weremantis still was. He hoped that it hadn't been a bad decision on his part to invite Yin along. His family would be very accepting, he was sure, and he had given his mom a complete run-down on any personality quirks Yin had that he thought she should be aware of. She had been very understanding, and had even promised to keep the twins in line, which was worth pretty much all of Alex's undying appreciation forever.
He really had the best mom.
Finally the night was coming to an end, and here Yin came, right on time. He reached over and grabbed for his bag, unzipping it to slide the book in with his clothes that he had packed, before pushing himself unsteadily to his feet. Even though he had some worries about what the weekend might bring, he was mostly happy, and the fact that he got to share his family with his best friend was just the candy glazing on the baked brains for Alex. All he could do was hope that it wasn't a complete disaster.
He waved to his friend happily, then reached out with a foot to hook onto his skateboard and pull it towards him so that he could step on and roll over towards Yin. No need to make him walk all the way to the door when he could meet him half way.
"All ready to go?" He grinned happily, stopping the skateboard with a foot to the ground. He was clearly incredibly excited to be on their way.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 1:43 pm
As I shall ever be. "I am ready," he confirmed. He could not match Alexander's smile, nor could he stop himself from thinking about possible escape routes. If he just flat out rand Alexander could not catch up with him, especially not if he headed into a forest where the zomboil could not navigate with that death trap of his. Or he could become ill. The trick would not be making himself throw up, but rather doing it when Alexander could not see what he was doing.
No, he had to stop thinking about it like this. Treat it like a duel. It is you versus them, and if you run than you lose. It is just a zombie family, how bad can it be?
Yeah, a zombie family full of ghouls.
So maybe he planned on all but gluing himself to Alexander's side so he would never be alone with them. And hey, if Alexander's room was the only one with a heater he could always pretend to be too cold to socialize. That was actually a fairly decent plan. Still, he was apprehensive by the time they passed through the school's gates, glad that with the faint light it might be a little easier to hide how petrified and nervous he really was. "So, where is this...train?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:10 pm
"Great!" He replied, and away they went, Alexander coasting along on his skateboard with his bag in hand and Yin walking at a steady pace beside him. Once they were through the gate, Alex veered in a new direction, slowing down as they came to a hill and just walking the skateboard a long with one foot on top and one foot on the ground so as not too roll ahead of Yin and leave him behind.
"It's not far. Further away then the Maul, but it shouldn't take too long to get to. My mom bought our tickets and they should be waiting there for us, so we'll have to go to the booth and grab them before getting on the train itself." Yin still hadn't actually asked what a train was, so Alex assumed he already knew.
Since it was a bit of a walk though, he asked the other boil. "It's going to be about three hours once we get on the train before we'll be getting off again. If you have any questions about my family, names or descriptions, anything really, I could tell you along the way? That way you can be more prepared. I know that thinking about how many of us there are might be a little...overwhelimg.." He grinned, though he supposed they could find other things to talk about along the way if Yin didn't want to discuss Alex's family.
"I don't actually know what my mom has planned for the weekend, but don't be surprised if the whole family is gathered when we get there, or if she has some kind of big get together happening at some point. They'll pretty much jump at any opportunity to get the whole family together."
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:45 pm
The maul was not too far, and honestly it would be a good chance to get some of his energy burned off so he nodded, and waited until they were past the hill to break into a slow jog, enjoying the rhythmic pounding of his feet as they made their way toward the "train." To pick up their tickets. One more thing that Alexander's mother had purchased for him.
At the mention of how huge Alexander's family was Yin's mouth went dry. Why did he keep finding it necessary to bring them back up? Did he really want to spend three hours listening to the family he was going to have to face for four days? Could he risk not listening to the zomboil talk about them? "Perhaps you could tell me about your immediate family? The ones that live with you and I will be expected to know."
An entire crowd there to great the zomboil when he came home? The very idea was almost absurd. "Maybe when we get there you should get off first so they can greet you?" And I can slip away until they begin to disperse... They were passing the maul now, the walk going by much quicker without Yin carrying anyone and Alexander on his skateboard.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 3:39 pm
Alex's grin got bigger when Yin started to jog, suddenly feeling like he didn't have to slow down the rolling of his skateboard and quickly kicking off to keep pace, possibly even pushing it to go a little faster then Yin, then a little faster again, relishing in the fact that for once, he wasn't going to be left behind.
"Immediate family? Will do!" There was actually plenty to talk about just with them alone, and they were really the most important, but he wondered where he should even begin! It was a good thing they still had a ways to go to the train station so that he could think it over.
He was rolling past the maul now, bringing his foot down to push off and make himself go faster. Stupid maul and it's stupid bad memories. They were already over half way to the train station, which was admittedly quite close to the school probably for a reason.
Why would Alex getting off the train first make a difference? It wasn't like the train was dropping them off right on his door step! He supposed Yin wouldn't have known that, however. "Oh, uh, well we are going to have to do some amount of walking once we get off of the train, but it's not too far, and I wouldn't be surprised if my dad was at the train stop when we arrive to help carry our things." Not that they had much to carry, but his mom would have sent his dad along anyhow, and he was a pretty stubborn guy once Alex's mom had told him to do something.
The train station was fast approaching now, and it looked rather busy with plenty of people entering and exiting the building. Must have been a popular weekend for travel or something. Alex just shrugged it off mentally and continued to roll along, pointing to towards the station, complete with train sitting on the track out front. "That's where we're going"
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:01 pm
Alexander was going quite a bit faster than usual but Yin merely sped up, letting the zomboil stay ahead of him but not getting left behind. By the time that they were in sight of the train station he had actually gotten in a good morning run, and his breathing was on the heavy side. The zomboil pointed out where they were going, a building that was a busy hive of activity, and some giant...thing next to it blowing smoke. At least they had arrived without getting lost, and if Alexander knew how to stop his rolling death trap they would be in good shape. It looked confusing, so he planned to play it safe by sticking close by the zomboil.
"It would probably be nice to meet your father first," Yin said, perking up ever so slightly. Meeting a boil one on one would not be nearly as stressful as say...meeting them all at once. He could probably handle the father just fine. "Does your father enjoy walking? I mean, we do not have too many things to carry, and I would hate for him to go through all of that trouble for no reason."
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 7:17 pm
Alex was now just letting his skateboard coast gradually and slowly to a speed much more fathomable for him to stop without seriously injuring himself. Once it was barely rolling along any more, he put down a foot to stop it completely, and even then it nearly slid out from under his foot, making him fight to keep his balance. He didn't seem at all put off by this, however, since he was pretty much used to it by now.
Conveniently enough, he had come to a stop just outside of the train station. He bent down to scoop up his skateboard and unzipped his bag to shove it inside, before beginning to make a move towards the doors, and answering Yin. "My dad? Uh, ya, he doesn't mind walking at all" Alex shrugged, there would be more time to talk about his dad later, but then hesitated, wondering if he aught to offer Yin his hand again. He then decided that if Yin felt it was necessary he would probably say something or just grab a hold as he had done in the fog outside of the haunted house.
So he made his way into the building, meandering around the bustling crowd that were both entering and exiting the building. Once inside he scanned the room, looking for the 'Will Call' booth where he could pick up the tickets his mom had already paid for. Spying it off to one side with no line up, he began making his way towards it, stopping once he was standing in front and giving his name to the ticket ghoul. A few moments later and she was handing him an envelope, so he smiled and said thank you, then opening the envelope pulled out a ticket for Yin and handed it to him. "Don't lose that. You'll need to show it on the train and if you don't have it they'll kick you off." He was being serious, but he was still smiling happily away.
"Our bags are small enough that we should be able to take them on board, but if you'd prefer you can throw yours in the cargo hold?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 8:11 pm
Thankfully when they entered the building Alexander headed over to an area without too large of a crowd, allowing Yin to safely trail after him. Alexander walked up to talk to a ghoul, and then he opened the envelope and handed over a small piece of paper.
Then he told him not to lose it.
Yin stared at the slip of paper, gripping it tightly in his hand. Why had Alexander trusted him with something so important? "I can carry my things," he said somewhat distractedly, eyes darting between the zomboil and the ticket. He did not want to just throw his things away, it was unlikely that they would be taken but they did contain the library book and his new shirt. "What do we do now?" He was rather confused as to how coming to this building was going to get them to Alexander's family home.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 8:26 pm
Alex nodded. He didn't really like throwing his stuff below with the rest of the cargo either. Never knew if you were going to get it back or not. "Ok, well, since we aren't going to get our stuff checked then we can just..get on the train!" He smiled, nodding towards the door and beginning to walk towards them.
It was just as he had suspected. Yin didn't know what a train was. It wasn't surprising, but it was a little bit sad. He hoped it wouldn't cause any problems. It would just be fantastic to find out that Yin had a fear of giant moving machinery now, just before they were about to leave.
Once outside, the atmosphere became much louder. People were yelling there farewells to others who were already on board, and the train itself was hissing to life. Alex leaned down a little and pointed towards the train. "That's what's going to take us home." He grinned, though a little apprehensive of what Yin's reaction might be. "Let's go, we wouldn't want it to leave without us." And so he made his way to the train, and climbed aboard, waiting for Yin to follow before handing his ticket to the conductor to receive a hole punch, then moving on so that Yin could do the same.
Moving further into the train, he began looking for empty seats. Finding two that were across from each other, he made his way over towards them, lifting his bag to shove into a compartment above the seats, and finally flopping down into the seat with a sigh.
It was time to go.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 8:35 pm
Huh. So that was the train. It was noisy and huge, but Yin figured it Alexander was willing to crawl into a giant thing that was spewing smoke it had to be safe. And hopefully warm. So, feeling like ever the obedient hazmutt he followed the boil, climbed aboard, and noticed that he was supposed to hand his piece of paper over.
The piece of paper that Alexander had told him not to let go of.
Alexander had let go of his, but what if it was a zombie thing and zombies did not need to hold onto their pieces of paper? Somewhat panicked Yin held his out, but refused to actually hand it over. The conductor glowered at him and pulled at it. Yin held onto it. Pull, clutch harder. Finally the conductor hissed at him, raised it a bit to read it from there, and punched it with him still holding it, shaking his head at him the entire time and mumbling something venomously under his breath.
The little tussle with the ticket had allowed Alexander to seat himself, and Yin was headed toward him when a rather large ghoul came from the opposite direction and plopped down across from Alexander. The weremantis froze, unsure of what the proper protocol was. He turned, caught sight of the conductors face as he glowered at him,, and turned back around, searching for an open seat.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 8:48 pm
Alexander was looking out the window, blissfully unaware of his friends struggle with getting his ticket stamped. His attention was caught, however, with movement and somebody plopped down in the seat across from him. He turned to look, and frowned.
That was not Yin.
He pursed his lips, wondering if he should now just get up and find a new place. He didn't really want to get up and move his things, so iunstead, he decided to be a little more forward, and leaned towards the large ghoul. "Seats taken." He growled, annoyance flashing in his eyes. A lot of the time other people didn't really want to have to deal with zombies, and would back off if given the choice. Alex pointed to another empty seat not far away. "Why don't you just go and sit over there."
The ghoul just looked at him dumbly, before finally shifting herself to her feet and wandering off. Alex smirked in satisfaction, thinking that every once in a long while, being undead had it's uses. He then craned his head around to find Yin. Seeing the other boil just standing there not doing anything, he hissed ."Yin, sit down here now! Before somebody else takes the seat." He wasn't angry or anything, just trying to instill a need to move quickly into his friend.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 9:03 pm
Way to start off a trip Yin. He hurriedly took the seat before giving the zomboil a reproachful look, he knew how to get his own seat thank you very much. He settled his belongings onto his lap and, ticket still clutched firmly in his hand, sat there for a moment. "You did not have to force her to move, I could have stood."
He was actually happy to be sitting there, but Alexander had been ordering him, which really was not all that unusual, but he had been grouchy while doing so, and Yin was already stressed enough.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 9:19 pm
Alex wanted to give Yin a look. A look that said 'are you jacking crazy?'. But instead, he just shrugged. "She was happy to let you have her seat, I'm sure. And there was no way in hell I was about to make you stand the entire three hour train ride." If anything, Alex would have stood up and made Yin take his seat instead, but thankfully, it didn't have to come to that.
To try and put the weremantis at ease, he smiled at him. He probably would have reached over and given the weremantis a pat on the hand or shoulder as well, but he told himself that was probably a bad idea, and refrained from doing so.
An announcement over the ickycom was informing the passengers that the train would be departing in five minutes.
"This is it~" He said happily, "Oh, and if you want anything to eat, I'm sure there will be a food trolley going by at sooner or later. I can get you something?" he said with a hopeful lilt in his voice. After all, he still owed Yin dinner after he carried him to the Maul. Free meals that were eaten under a restaurant table did not count, in Alex's opinion.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 9:50 pm
"Thank you," the mantodae murmured a bit belatedly. Alexander had been looking out for him after all, and he was letting his nerves get the better of him. It would do him no good to go into this in a bad mood. He tried to focus on his breathing for a little bit, trying to let Nurse Cricket's words play through his mind, but an announcement came on. Five minutes. He worried at the ticket with his thumb. He still had five minutes to think about getting off of this train and running back to school.
At the mention of food his stomach purred its approval with a low rumble but he shook his head. "You are too generous Alexander, you have done too much for me already." His stomach gurgled in protest, but he shushed it. He no longer required food as he once believed, and he was filling back out a bit. His ribs were still visible, but they did not stand out as much as they had been, so obviously his fear training was working.
He tensed up as the train blew its whistle, a short, warning blast, and then tried to pretend like nothing at all was wrong. "So, about that family of yours..." Smooth Yin, very smooth.
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