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 Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 6:00 pm
Aure had successfully managed to climb out the window of her room and get to the empty dirt road that she knew led to Ean's house. Or, she was pretty sure. There was no "definate" knowledge there, just a hunch that the big house was probably going to be where she'd find her friend.
Man, Ean's guardian gave horrible directions. She paused to fold her hands and ask any listening gods- but not the weird god from her dream- that mister Arrikanez never, ever be a navigator for any trips she was involved in unless it was fated to go REALLY REALLY WELL. She tripped up the steps to the door and looked for a doorbell; seeing none, she knocked on the door as hard as she could. Which wasn't very hard, seeing as she wasn't too much into the physical side of things.
She tucked her face into the high collar of her white down coat and stared at her shiny, black winter boots. There was salt on them! Oh the horror. Moving to a crouch, the white-clad girl rubbed at the salt covering the toes of her boots with her soft gloves. She really, really hoped that someone would answer the door soon; her left ear appeared to have gone absent without leave.
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:27 pm
Ben didn't answer the door, but she DID get an answer. Behind her. The small toddler slipped up to her back, and rested one tiny, ice-cold hand against the back of her leg. He was wearing nothing against the cold, but he didn't seem to care or even feel anything unusual. He looked somewhat different than last time - Perhaps.... a little... darker. He tilted his head, and eyed Aurelius with something of a childish grin - one that was far more sinister than playful. He spoke.
"Wounded dove at threshold stands, aching heart and freezing hands. Runs the blood where white once flew, innocence be lost anew. Blooded blade on silver grass, know not where this Death may pass. No one there to be awoke, hands to hold, or hands to choke? Red the night and white the day, coming now the price to pay. Look no more for he has seen, soul will never be full-clean."
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:36 pm
Aure squeaked and jumped, turning around and pressing a hand to her heaving chest. Once she saw who it was, though, she dropped all pretense of fear- except for a weird little shudder- and she hugged him. "Lookit, 'm tall," she said, standing up as tall as she could. She was a good head taller than he, although the inch platform on her winter boots probably added to that. "Where's your coat?" Making a face, she burrowed deeper into her own down jacket.
After a pause, she tried to think through the rhyming. It didn't work, though, and she gave up. "'kay, can we go inside? It's really, really cold."
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:43 pm
Ean opened the door quietly, and led her in, following after with a glance back out into the white world before he shut the door to follow his friend. He seemed... odd, somehow. Sick, perhaps? Probably. He had a fever, at the very least. But he didn't seem to care, and didn't draw attention to his illness. Instead, he continued to follow Aure, stopping just inside the living room, eying the television.
"A breath to break the silence, a time to take the prize. Blackened skin around the the ends, he sees through darker eyes."
He moved over to the TV, and pulled down a movie, bringing it to her. Did he want to watch it? Probably. Would he say so in plain language? Probably not.
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Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 4:01 am
Aure shed her coat and boots at the door, sort-of halfway not really wondering where Ean's dad was. She wanted to chew him out for the bad directions! But she guessed he might be asleep, so she followed Ean to the room she supposed was the living room.
...But what's this? S... a... w?... Whatever it was... it didn't look like the Lord of the Rings. She went over to look for the DVD player, locating it easily- but she couldn't read the buttons. "Hey Ean, do you know where the eject button is on this?" she asked, finger hovering uncertainly over the group of buttons.
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Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 6:37 am
Ean did, and he pushed it, the movie already inside [Scream II] popping out. He slid that one back into its case, and slipped Saw into its place. He looked... a little TOO happy to be watching a movie like this for the umpteenth time. Really quite a strange child, he was... He said nothing this time, simply dragged Aurelius back to the couch, and sat there with her, eyes riveted to the screen, and cold little hand holding onto hers tightly enough to prevent her from moving away.
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Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:21 pm
"Ean," she whined, somehow stretching his name into two syllables. "I was looking at that." Aure settled quickly enough, pulling her knees up to her chest so she could rest her head on them and watch the previews. She'd never even heard of some of these movies- once she had heard Grandma saying there was no way in the entire world that Aurelius was ever watching Hostel but that was all her frame of reference contained. And then the dead body faded onto the screen, and she shuddered and hid her face in her knees.
Maybe staying at home and fighting back nausea was a better idea.
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Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:02 pm
Ean's eyes grew fierce with delight. A strange sort of warmth started to creep through his limbs - not unlike a fever - and had soon warmed his body to the correct temperature. His hand was not cold now, but soft and warm like a child's SHOULD be. And he seemed... more relaxed. Less likely to snap at the slightest provocation. More subdued... submissive, almost. This was the first time this had happened in all of Ean's days alive. And SHE was there to witness it. It was a mark of incredible trust. He smiled at her, and all the sinister and creepy was gone. It was the simple, pleased smile of a child. The tape popped from the player all by itself, and the TV shut off. When Ean spoke, his voice sounded... strange. Not like his. No rhyme. And slightly higher in pitch.
"Aure wanna play?"
... And also a good bit more childish as well.
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Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 4:40 pm
Aure was only too happy to go play- her eyes were just about as big as saucers. She had spent much of the movie in some kind of wide-eyed shock, gaping. "Sure!" The change seemed to go unnoticed- except if you looked directly at her. Then you could see that every line in her body seemed to indicate confusion. "What d'you wanna play?" She smiled and slid off the couch, forgetting to place her feet under her so that she was sitting on the floor.
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Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 7:49 pm
He slid off the couch, and turned off the movie, running upstairs, and dragging Aure after.
"Wanna play vet! My daddy's a vet, so I know stuff good!"
He grinned, and darted into his room, then into the huge walk-in closet where Ben had set up a pretend 'exam room' with the aid of magic. The tools and medications looked real, but the pills were candy, and the instruments spelled to be safe for toddlers and children to handle. There was also a spell that Ben HADN'T put on the room, but Uncle Damien had. On the wall, there was a book chock-full of pictures of animals. All Ean had to do was touch one to become that animal. Same with anyone who inadvertently touched it. But since Ean was... not himself... he flipped to the page full of puppy dogs, and smacked his hand flat against the picture of a German Shepard pup. Within moments, he WAS said dog, and scampered around Aure's legs, frisky and playful.
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Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:01 pm
"B'I dunno how to play," she whined, gathering up the little puppy-Ean. Aure looked around for a chair- Ean was heavy- and found one, so she sat. "I'd play if I knew how... but I don't. When you're a person 'gain'll you tell me?" Every once in a while, she would accidentally kick the desk with one of her swinging feet; she was tall, but not tall enough her feet were firmly planted on the ground. After a moment of thought, she said, "'S'nice," and settled Ean down, promptly beginning to look everywhere in the room.
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Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:11 pm
He pawed frantically at the pictures - not meaning for her to touch one, just trying to call attention to it. With a whimper, he slunk over to her, and nuzzled at her legs, giving one or two licks of loneliness. And maybe a little frustration. He padded over towards a set of drawers, and nosed them open to retrieve a stethoscope from inside, and bring it to her. Then a chart. Then a light. Then a coat. Then a clipboard - but that was hard to carry in his mouth.
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Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 10:34 pm
Aure was examining the stethoscope when she remembered what Ean had pawed at first. A book... one of the kind she wanted so bad to read! Placing the stethoscope around her neck, she pattered over to look at it, carefully turning the pages. There were a lot of puppies and kitties and birds... Idly, she poked at a picture of a pretty white dove, remembering something vague about Ean mentioning a dove- and all the sudden, she felt a lot smaller.
"What?" Her exclamation came out as a startled squawk, rather than the childish yell of confusion she'd been aiming for.
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Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:44 am
Ean may have been Aure's friend, but he was now a dog. And a bird... a bird and a dog seldom mixed. He started barking wildly at the animal that Aure had become, and chased her from the room, still barking, hackles raised, and tongue lolling as he ran. FUN!
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Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:51 pm
Aure jumped, which was good, because it got in her in the air and flying. Obligingly- but only because she was too panicked to think to turn around and perch on Ean's head- she flapped clumsily out of the room. Cheater! she cheeped darkly over her wing, but she flew a little higher and faster as she got the hang of it.
When would this wear off? She liked having legs. Flying wasn't fun at all.
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