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 Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:03 pm
“Yeah, you’re in good with the labs. I don’t see why they wouldn’t let you have your old duplex back. Where else can they let you go?” He turned around and stood up, sitting back onto the bed where she had the basket waiting.
It smelled good to him, even if the bread on the sandwiches was stale, it smelled so good to a dog that hadn’t eaten in days. He sniffed at it hungrily, taking a sandwich and scarfing it down, quickly taking another and a banana, then an apple. He ate all of it in a matter of a minute or two, being so ravenously hungry. His stomach thanked him but he’d eaten too quickly and hiccupped.
Knowing Thom had the laptop made him worry. Jordan’s a** was on the line. And then it started making sense: Thom had come back for the rabbit Jordan had prevented him from eating… he shuddered at the thought that Thom had devoured Thumper. And to spite the dogman, he’d taken the laptop only because it had the Feral Labs logo on it. It was useless to him, though. “I guess all we have to do is track him down then..” he made it sound so easy but he won’t be able to use the laptop. It’s wrigged to respond to my chip and it requires my fingerprint, and on top of that, it also requires a password that I personally entered.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:12 pm
"Yeah.. I suppose we do.." Lauren said loosing interest again. She caught herself back in yesterday, back in the fight. She then caught herself even earlier, to Christmas and the fake snow Lauren had set up, to the necklace she had given Nita. She knew she had done something really shitty to rip that necklace off of her neck and throw it in the lake but damnit it felt right at the time.
Her eyes gazed inward and outward Lauren appeared like a zombie for a bit. She had lost her love, she did love Nita. And she never told her. She wouldn't get to either.
A tear ran down her cheek again, it was so hard right now. It was like Nita had died.
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Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:25 pm
She'd been so vibrant and dead-set a moment ago and in the few minutes that he'd gorged himself on the ocntents of the picnic basket. He'd never gone through a break-up before so he didn't know just how devastating it felt, but he wanted to comfort his good friend. She was one of the only people -aside from Awen, Colche or Kim- that he actually could enjoy being around. He had to do something for her.
She was crying and his heart sank. Jordan scooted to her side again and gave her a tender hug. "I know it's hard.. hey.. I.. uhm.. I really don't want ot be alone right now.." he looked off to the side, not quite sure if she'd even go for the idea. "You're welcome to stay here with me for a while." his paws patted her on the back. "I'd feel safer with company I can trust. We'll get your belongings and store them here." he put on a carign smile for her. "How's that sound?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:35 pm
Normally, Jordan's touchy feeliness would get to Lauren and set off alarm bells. But the abused side of her brain wasn't working and the mongoose who craved socialisation and sleep piles found it comforting. She hugged him back. "I don't know... I do need to be around someone. I'm more afraid of myself than anything right now." And she should be, right now suicidal thoughts were not creeping up but the fear of them kept them at bay. She was certain they would come back eventually. That or the need to hurt others, to inflict pain so that she could see them share it, so she wouldn't be alone. She didn't need to do that to Jordan, he was already in pain.
And she wasn't sure enough in herself to know that she wouldn't if he had shown none. All this guarding wasn't necessary however as Lauren had changed, but the ghost of the past were still there.
She pulled away from his hug, "Sure? I don't know... I can't see myself going anywhere now." Her voice was still listless and weak, "And I'll probably need a good swim soon too.
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Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:46 pm
“My door is always open to you.” He smiled weakly as she pulled away. The company would be pleasant. “It can get lonely out here.”
It was forward of him to presume she’d take to his closeness. More than his loyalty was being amplified. The canine urges to be there for family and loved ones was intensified with the changes. His already-present caretaker’s predisposition to help others through whatever means was only being enhanced further. To that end he just wanted to be there for his few friends that made life on the island more hospitable. The majority were always talking about bringing down the labs this and burn them down to the ground that, like at the truth or dare at the construction site.. It really made him fearful of his life, being for the labs. Hell, he didn't have much choice as he did work for them! He'd chosen to stay loyal to them -as far as he knew. The labs kept him in the good life and would continue to do so if he didn’t keep screwing up.
His own vane insecurities were making him weak. People needed him. His purpose wasn’t lost. Now more than before, Jordan had to find the strength to be the rock, in spite of the frightening mutations that had erupted from his stomach.. For himself; for his friends; for Doctor Moreau, Jordan had to suck it up and deal with it. Easier said than done.
At the mention of swimming, though, he really perked up. "I love swimming.” He flashed a fun-loving grin. “It’s nice living on the beach, actually: The breeze, the water, the privacy.." Jordan wagged his tail and gently rubbed her back with his large fluffy paw. He really hoped that he could help her feel better, though he knew it would take time for her to heal. “And, if it makes you uncomfortable, I can sleep in the bathroom and you can have the bed.”
(TBC/In progress)
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Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 11:08 pm
At some point over the night, a small note is left on the door addressed to Lauren: Quote: Lauren, Sorry to hear about your troubles with Nita. Your things have been moved to Duplex 14 if you choose to use it. We wish you the best.
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Sabin Duvert Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 10:56 pm
Jordan Essex She was kind, considerate, and loving: three reasons that made this particular visit all the more difficult. Well, three reasons after the primary issue. Jordan wasn’t straight. He wasn’t even bisexual. He was certifiably gay. He’d even said so to it in the presence of that jerk of a heifer, Freddie.
At the time of their first meeting on the beach that afternoon, Jordan’s own painful trauma from the changes was all-too fresh in mind and body. His empathy for her plight had become an emotional moment for the both of them as Kim had transformed in his arms. They’d both cried as they clutched the other tightly. It wasn’t love he was feeling, but an empathetic understanding of the changes’ pains that had led to something it wasn’t meant to. He hadn’t meant to lead her on this long, but he couldn’t live this lie any longer.
Her duplex was in sight and Jordan’s step slowed. He could turn back now and continue to live the charade, but it wasn’t fair to either one. He couldn’t live with himself. He’d acted so strangely out of empathy and had done things that he wouldn’t have otherwise. He’d thrown her the birthday party to make her feel better and things got out of control from that point. Then… there was Valentine’s. He hadn’t even remembered that day until she’d come to his modified duplex with a basket of food. He wasn’t sexually attracted to females, plain and simple. The one instance where he had –how to say- engaged a female in that manner deep in the jungle, had been an unfortunate side-effect of the loyalty serum in conjunction with his serum. Letting Kim down easily was going to be difficult. It was a double-fisted KO.
He knocked gently on her door, head held low. “Kim. Please open. It’s Jordan.” he said loud enough for her to here in distressed apprehension. Kim Nguyet Kim hadn't really done much that day. Mostly slept. She hadn't really slept well lately and spent most of her time in her duplex, curled up in bedsheets. When she heard the knock on the door, she pondered just ignoring it, but when the person spoke...
The pterodactyl left the comfort of her blanket and went on to open the door. "Jordan... ?" It was then that she noticed the changes, his overall demeanor... "Oh dear, are you allright ?!" Jordan Essex He couldn't bear to face her just yet. It would be easier if he didn't have to see the sweet face show hurt. Yes, both his physical body and his demeanor were different. He turned his head slightly to the left, huffing a sigh. He wasn't even sure how to say it. Could he just come out with it or subtly build up to it? Considering subtly wasn't his strong suit..
"May I come in for a bit, Kim? I.. I.. have to talk to you." he clenched his eyes and bit his bottom lip. He hadn't meant to toy with anyone's emotions. That just wasn't who Jordan was, yet, it had happened. Kim Nguyet What was going on... ? Kim simply nodded and moved out of the way, leading Jordan inside and pulling a chair for him to sit down. She decided for the bed, once again burying herself in a bundle of sheets. Everything had been so cold for the past few days. The tv and consoles where closed, and the open manga on the end of the bed proved that she had been most likely reading.
"Are you okay... ?" She repeated, hoping to get an answer this time. Jordan Essex He took the chair, turning it sideways so both his tail and his tummy paws could be unobstructed. He leaned his weight on his right arm, on the back of the chair. His gaze remained low. This was so hard to do. The words were choking in his throat as he tried to force anything out, even to answer her simple question.
"I've felt better, Kim.." Jordan fidgeted his paws, taking a few nervous breaths. "I'm actually here because I've got something difficult to say and I thought it'd be easier if I came to you.. you may not like me after what I have to say.." he finally looked up and around, noticing the new tv. So, at least she'd be able to play her Wii now. "..I hope there's some way that we can be still friends afterwards.."
Jordan laid his eyes on her, lying in bed and his stomach knotted terribly. "Kim.. I never meant to hurt you.. you're so sweet and it kills me inside to know that I've brought you suffering with what I have to say.. I know I wouldn't be able to take it well, myself.."
He scooted his paws on the floor, more nervously, taking a deep breath before continuing "That day we met on the beach.. I'd only changed for my first time the week before.. the painful memories were still very fresh and it broke me.. I was empatheitc to your own pain and.. I'd like to continue our bond as friends.. but.." he choked, wiping his paws over his watery eyes "Kim.. I never meant to lead you on.. you were so happy.. that's why I got your information from the labs and threw the surprise party.. I wanted you to be know you have friends who care and understand what you're going through.. and last week on Valentine's.. it was nice to be near someone.." he gripped the sides of the chair tightly, bracing himself for the hard part, clenching his eyes shut "Kim.. I'm.. gay.." Kim Nguyet The more he kept on speaking, the less the pterodactyl girl wanted to hear it. That was it, he was gonna dump her, she realized as he went deeper and deeper in the problem. The words where too familiar - the same used by the one person that had turned her down long before she had come here. This was wayyy back in high school, but she remembered the words well. They had been almost the same - about how sweet and nice and all that she was, but no, ill'd rather hang myself than being seen dating a geek. It was the gist of it that she had kept in mind for the last few years. Halfaway into his little speech, she frowned a bit - both at the mention of requesting info from the labs (They where going out telling personal info to anyone who requested it ?!? Of course, she had an hutch, but now this was confirmation) and at the fact she wished he would just end it already so she could possibly mend the rift she could already feel forming into her heart as soon as possible and now dwell for years as she had done on the first attempt.
But she could never expect what he ultimately said. It hit her like a ton of bricks. Gay. Now, she had nothing against gays - she had a gay friend back in the mainland, and she was at the very least bi-curious herself - but that was something she had never experienced. She'd been lead on - for what ? Why for ? While she had feelings, she had not planned to act upon them further than a friend. HE had been the one who had came out with all those bells and whistles and confessed LOVE to her. She had planned to keep it as a friendship, at least for then, but once he had confessed, her feelings had taken over. She'd allowed herself to be strung on. It smelled a bit heavily of bullshit in her head.
Pain quickly was replaced by anger. That was it ? What a way to end a relationship - come out of the closet ! A storm was brewing inside, but it was kept in check - as much as she wanted to lash out at him like the queen of all bitches, he looked... well, damn, he looked like he was gonna collapse in a heap at any moment. And yelling at him would be like kicking a puppy - a bit too harsh and hardly constructive.
She curled the blanket around her frame a bit closer - had it actually gotten colder in here, or was it her mind playing tricks on her ? Her face had settled in an unhappy frown. "You're... gay." She finally said, after what seemed to have been minutes of silence. Jordan Essex Jordan nodded at her question. "I am.." he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. "I'm so sorry.. please.. get mad at me or yell at me..hit me.. something.. I deserve it.." his ears twitched as he lowered his head, wipining the droplets of blood away on the back of his white paw.
He choked on the lump forming in his throat, sniffling and whimpering "I never meant to hurt you.. I'd never been close to anyone before and I didn't know what to think.." his breath wavered, white-furred chest heaving and falling with panicked breath. Kim Nguyet Kim frowned more, leaning in to look at him in the eye, despise how hard he wanted to avoid her gaze. Her yellow eyes where harder than usual - a sign of the storm brewing inside.
"I've had half a mind to do that." She admitted, not intending to lie like he had. "But it's not going to change anything, Jordan. And it's hardly going to make me feel better about all this. Im not going to sugarcoat this - I am hurt. I can't pretend to be okay, and I don't understand. You didn't have to go that far to make me happy. You didn't have to pretend to love me - I had feelings, of course. I... never had someone care for me this much here, on this island, and it reminded me of something I had lost by coming here. Still, I had been hurt before, and I was perfectly happy to have you as a friend and not say anything. But you came out and..." Lied to me. b*****d. "...confessed, and my own feelings got out of hand. I don't understand how you openly lied to me so easily about something so big when it was far from even being needed. I know you where trying to make me happy, but I didn't need it. I was perfectly happy as we where, even if there was the possibility for more. I had not planned to bring it up for some time, if ever. But... you did. Im not too sure why... One of my best friends was gay. He never pretended to love me to make me smile. He never needed to."
Her voice had raised a bit - she took a moment to breathe, and calm herself down before continuing. "Is there anything else I should know ?" Any other lies forthcoming ? As of right now, she wasn't sure she could even trust him. "And... how much did they tell you ?" She added after a moment, referring to the labs. Jordan Essex He cringed at her amger, but he'd brought that onto himself. Jordan winced and fell backwards off the chair, landing head-first with a 'dull thud' on the floor. He didn't bother getting back up. He just cringed even more, pulling his arms over his head and tucking his head into his chest. He was sniveling and whimpering likie a frightened puppy who knew it had chewed up master's favorite pair of Italian loafers. "Th-they didn't tell me anything d-directly.. I- I was given a folder.. I-I'd asked.."
He was scared out of his mind, that intense level of scary where one feels they're about to piss themself. In retrospect, it was a bad move to mention the labs. She was like the others? She hated the labs, wanted to burn them down too? "I-I'm so sorry.. I'm so, so sorry.." he rocked back and forth as the tears began to flow down his cheeks. Kim Nguyet She sighed a bit. This was getting... extremely awkward. "Look... calm down, please ? It's just, they never asked me and im a bit ticked they openly gave out information without asking me first." They could have least have done that. Not that she was sure she would have agreed, but still. For all she knew, it might have had prevented this damn mess. She didn't move to help him up or to comfort him - she was in no mood for that, and she was pretty sure all she would do would be kick him while he was down instead of actually helping. At any rate, her patience was dwindling.
"Calm down." She repeated, again. "You're making a mess out of yourself with something that's definitively not worth it." It was useless to be so upset over a stupid lie. She wasn't going to cut him any favor, but she was trying to control herself and not smack him into a bloody, furry pulp, which she figured was favor enough. Jordan Essex He tried to control himself. He tried to get a hold of himself. Jordan had turned a rare friend into an enemy. The huddled ball of fur tried hard to calm his breathing by not speaking, for one, though he listened well. He sniffled more as he withdrew his arms from his head and peeked up pathetically. He was in his place, on the floor, simpering like the animal he was becoming. He didn't know what to. Jordan didn't want to make a false move. Kim was livid and for good reason.
"P-please don't hate me.." Jordan wiped the tears from his eyes with his fluffy pompom paws. He'd been so deceitful and conniving to her, as he had been to so many others. "Sh-should sh-should I just leave..?" his tail hung limp between his legs as he waited for her response. Kim Nguyet While he collected himself, she remained silent, having finally started to think that it was just plain useless to try to calm him down. In a sense, it was. She wasn't sure why she was bothered - possibly the small ashes of feelings, the last thing left behind of the deep feelings she has had for this man until he had dared step in her den and admitted his lies. One small side was glad he at least bothered to admit it and not keep her roped in deceit, and it was probably the only thing that had saved him from the full extent of her rage. That, and the pterodactyl's instincts which had come into play - it was useless to waste energy on something that was already done, especially with how she obliviously was a bit under the weather physically. She couldn't even find it in her heart to call him a friend now, for obvious reasons. Kim didn't like liars.
She remained silent for a moment even after he spoke. In the meantime, her glare had detached from him, and turned toward the wall, the blanket molding her slender form almost perfectly with how tight her grip of it was, as if willing the cold - and the whole damn world in general - to just go away.
"Yes." She finally said, the anger in her voice replaced by coldness. She made no movement to look at him or lead him out - he could find the damn door by himself. Jordan Essex She'd turned her back to him, clenching her blanket and his heart sank. Jordan bit his bottom lip in a useless attempt to still its movement. His black nose flared as it took in deep breaths of air and exhaled them roughly. He was on the verge of crying again, his eyes narrowing as they welled with salty tears.
Slowly, he crawled himself to the door, head hung in shame and his piece said. Whereas he wouldn't have one thing on his conscience, he now had something worse to addle with guilt. His paws shuffled on the floor as Jordan dragged his sorry carcass across her carpet, till his trembling arm reached for the knob. "I'm sorry.." he spoke softly, looking back one last time before he slunk outside. The closed the door gently and Jordan fell to his paws and knees, growling at himself as he stormed off towards the jungle, leaving behind a trail of tears. Kim Nguyet She remained still until he was long gone, then, finally, her rage unleashed - she ripped the blue sunglasses from her neck and threw them as hard as she could manage at the opposite wall, visibly happy when the plastic shattered into what seemed to be a million pieces, and laid down, slamming the pillow over her head to hopefully muffle down the angry scream - which sounded more like a shrill sheik with now her beak managed the sound.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:04 pm
Jordan Essex New RP Jordan had come down to the river that afternoon to relax in the water. He could have stayed on the beach to do that, but everytime he'd try to relax there, someone was there and it wasn't always pleasant interactions, except for the case of Awen, really.
All his new fur made wearing more than a pair of shorts out of the question and even then, it was uncomfortable. Jordan was self-conscious enough about what his last change had done to him, but he wasn't willing to walk around nude. He kept his shorts on even as he'd stepped his paws into the water's muddy bank.
The water in the river was cooler than the beach's water and that made him feel at ease. Anything to keep himself from having a heatstroke in this oppressive humidity. He was understanding how it felt to be a snow dog in Florida.. and it wasn't a fun experience. "Oh man..." he sighed with relief as the cool water rushed over his legs.Chana Cohen Chana was enjoying herself in the river, as usual. Yes, she was still unhappy about what Zach had said, but she could take out that agression easily on the fish. They had learned to fear her...but that only made her more pleased when she caught them.
She came up briefly for a breath and tossed the fish onto the bank where she'd left her clothes...what clothes she wore nowadays, which consisted mostly of a baggy shirt.
Then something white caught her eye a bit downriver. Curious, the beaver ducked under the surface again and approached whatever-it-was in safety. Jordan Essex He eased himself into the water, hissing a bit at how cold it felt against his double-coating of fur. Jordan hadn't bene fond of the tropical climate when he lived in Florida, but now that he was mostly coated in the Samoyed's multi-layers of fur, he enjoyed it even less. He was waist-deep in the water now and splashing water on his chest to acclimate to the temperature before fully submerging himself. His little tummy paws wiggled as the water splashed over them, making him roll his eyes a bit. They moved when his arms and legs moved and they responded to stimuli.
Jordan looked about him. Another advantage to the river was the shading provided by trees near the water's edge. He jumped everytime his tail hit the cool water, laughing at himself. He was happy to be here. Even if he'd already known that, his tail was certain to let him know with it's willful movements. It had a mind of its own after all. Chana Cohen Chana stopped short when the white thing - man - got into the water. For a moment she thought it was Stewart. Then she saw the...um...tummy paws. The incredibly creepy tummy paws.
Well, everyone knew the island was twisted. She couldn't hold him to blame for his appearance.
The beaver's head broke the surface once more several feet from Jordan. "Enjoying the water?" she asked politely, with the hint of a giggle in her voice. She found it difficult to sustain negative emotions, even if she was faintly disturbed by some things, when the beaver was able to swim and cavort in the water. Jordan Essex His ears twitched as he listened to the rolling water, but he also heard movement and assumed it was a fish or two. Jordan felt good here and always so naive to think that he's alone, despite knowing how many people inhabit the island, he felt less self-conscious for a fleeting moment. The Samoyed stretched his arms above his head, groaning happilly as his back arched and popped once or twice.
His arms fell forward, paws clasped together, flexing his claws. A grand smile crossed his face. Despite a few drawbacks here and there, the island had some nice places to hide from the world, referring to the population of subjects.
His ears twitched as he heard something swimming closer to him and then came the sound of breaking water, followed by a friendly greeting. Luckilly, he was far enough into the water that he hadn't fallen over. That would have been embarrassing and possibly offensive to act surprised. Instead, he turned towards the voice, spotting the beaver and smiled softly. "Oh hello. Why yes I am." he folded his arms across his wiggly smaller paws. Chana Cohen The beaver decided that she liked this guy. He didn't scare and he was polite. Two points in his book. She paddled a bit closer.
"I'm Chana," she offered. "It's always nice to relax in the water on a hot day...fish?" she asked, holding the trout she'd just caught out to the dog-man. Jordan Essex It was always a treat to meet someone new, especially someone so polite and happy. Maybe everyone on the island wouldn't hate him after all.
"I'm Jordan." he smiled from ear-to-ear, letting out a giggle as she eagerly offered up a fish. Of course, he accepted it politely and immediately sniffed at it. "Thank you very much, Chana." He'd overlooked his little paws in the moment of generosity as he took a nibble, ears perking up as it tasted good! "Mmmmmmmmmm..!"
Taking a bigger bite, and swallowing, his tail wagged, causing him to smile more brightly. "Oh yes, I need to cool off frequently when I step outside or I overheat quickly. The river is a lot cooler than the beach- and it has friendlier people." Jordan giggled. Chana Cohen Chana giggled. "That's very sweet of you, Jordan," the beaver replied, pleased that he had accepted the fish. Yet another point to him. He really was sweet...in a puppy dog kind of way.
"Ah...your fur must be rather thick then. I know how inconvenient that is," she added with feeling. It really was nice to meet new people who were friendly. That just made everything go so much smoother. Jordan Essex The dog part of him wanted to finish it as quickly as he could before anyone else could eat his trout, but Jordan fought that urge to gorge on the fish, eating it slowly and politely in such friendly company.
"It's Samoyed fur. They're cold-weather sled dogs with two coats of fur." Jordan shook his head and suddenly had the urge to sacratch under his left ear, closing his left eye as he smiled, leaning his head into the pleasurable scratching. Chana Cohen "Really? That's pretty neat, a sled-dog!" Chana exclaimed. Yes, she was a sucker for things like that. Balto was one of her favorite movies.
But it was faintly disturbing to see him give in so completely to the dog. Just...unsettling, especially since he didn't look like he'd finished changing yet.
"Come here often," she asked, trying to lead him away from her uncomfortable thoughts. Jordan Essex She found it more interesting than he did, that was for sure, but Jordan wasn't going to shoot down her enthusiasm. He'd finished scratching and shook his head again. It felt weird how his ears flapped against his head.
"I actually have only been by the river one other time, I think. This is my first swim here, though, and I'm glad I came out this way. I live out at the beach, so it was a bit of a walk. It still feels odd sometimes to walk without shoes, but I get over it." he added with a chuckle, rubbing his stomach. "That trout hit the spot."
He dunked himself under the surface dipping his face down first, coming up a few seconds later, wrinnging out his long, white-streaked hair. "Man, that feels so good!" Chana Cohen The beaver chuckled at his antics. "You can usually find me out here," she offered. "I fish almost every day."
She didn't ask about his living on the beach. But there was something about it that set off a warning bell.
"Well, it's nice to feel appreciated," she teased as he commented about the fish. He was so funny! Jordan Essex "I love swimming. Best excercise there is. That's why I liked the beach so much, but the river's so much cooler." he drifted a bit into a shadier spot and treaded water. "It's worth the walk out here and I like the excercise, so I'll have to start coming out here more often, if my company isn't a bother."
His tail wagged above the water as he let him float on his stomach. "You're one of the nicest people I've met and I don't make friends easily." Chana Cohen Chana shrugged. "Swimming's one of the best exercises that the majority of people can do, 'cause the water makes it easy even for a very heavy person to move."
"And your company's no bother at all, and it's certainly not my river, so of course you can (and should) come around more often."
The beaver splashed a bit as she considered what he'd said. "Well...I guess you must've met some of the less-friendly people here." Jordan Essex He kicked his hindpaws, propelling himself forward, slowly as he kept his head above water. His tummy paws.. were kicking too.. helping him swim? That felt so weird.
He kept on smiling. Jordan was enjoying himself so much. No confrontation. No stress. Water all around him. He was happy. "I'm glad to hear that." he was responding to her comment of Jordan's company. "Swimming with friends is always more fun, anyways."
"It's been one adjustment after another and I've met some people I'd probably try to avoid, but there're nicer people, like you Chana, I've met too. I'm just trying to get along now and stay out of the way." Chana Cohen Chana smiled and shook her head slightly. He probably wouldn't say the same thing if he ran into her while she was...well, during that time of the month.
"I suppose it can be," she mused. "I don't really swim with people unless if I happen to see them out here."
She was a bit unsettled by his compliments, but covered it by climbing up onto the bank by her shirt and fish (which were starting to smell). Was he flirting with her or something? Because if he was, she was staying loyal to Stewart! Yes he was cute and polite...but there was something very unfinished about him.
And no way was she training another virgin boy. One was more than enough! Jordan Essex Jordan hadn't been flirting with Chana. He'd been trying hard to keep his damn mouth shut as much as possible to avoid saying something stupid about the labs or about the changes themselves. His own recent change was toning him down from the labs-lackey zealot that he'd been parading himself around as. Jordan was simply enjoying the water and the company of someone who didn't want to kick his tail into next week.. or try to kill him again.
Trying to be nice was all he could do to avoid blurting something stupid to turn another potential friend into an enemy. He'd been good at that lately and wanted to be like them. He didn't want to have the labs breathing down his neck all the time. He didn't like being their gopher and he wasn't fond of becoming a lapdog for Doctor Moreau, even if everything about him betrayed that errant thought.
He courteously averted his eyes to the tree line on the other side of the river as Chana walked onto the bank. He'd been successful in not saying anything stupid -he hoped- but he feared that he'd overdone it like everything else. He was so worried about being accepted or angering others that he would overdo it and turn them away or anger them to the point of frustration.
"Going?" he commented curiously, splashing about as he kept his eyes averted. He'd become self-conscious lately and knew that he didn't want others to see him like this. He could have just died when Chana had seen him intitally, but she'd been polite about it to say nothing. Chana Cohen "Well, yeah," the beaver admitted. "It's no offense to you or anything, but I need to get these fish down to the cafeteria to be cooked or preserved in some way before they really start to smell." She smiled sheepishly.
"Perhaps I'll see you around some more though?" Chana offered as she tugged on her t-shirt with no sense of modesty whatsoever. There really wasn't much to see, considering there was fur over everything. Jordan Essex He was relieved to know he hadn't offended her and waved to Chana as he kicked himself further from the shore. She was nice. When Jordan wasn't being a total tool of the labs he could be a decent person. For the first time in a while, he'd had a relaxing swim. "Oh yeah. That'd be bad."
"See you around." It had gone better than most of his meetings with the others, but he still felt like he'd said or done something wrong. Maybe it was his own insecurities playing on him. Chana Cohen Chana quickly gathered her catch up into an old bag - she had learned early on that fish, if they aren't quite dead, might jump out of a bucket - and stood. She waved cheerfully to Jordan before turning her feet to a familiar path. She even whistled as she headed back down to the village.
All in all, a good meeting and a good day's catch. Jordan Essex Jordan was more at peace following his positive meeting with Chana. He'd proven to himself that he didn't have to be a total tool of the labs 24/7. He could try to be himself and live in peace on the beach. He didn't have to get into people's faces and lecture on the labs being their savior. Their could be hope for the young dogman yet- provided he didn't do something stupid along the way.
Feeling pretty good about himself, despite his freakish growths, Jordan swam to his heart's content, burning off a lot of stored energy- just like the dog needed to- and pent-up frustrations from prior meetings. [fin]
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Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 10:09 pm
Jordan Essex Jordan had stopped by the beach bar earlier in the day and had been killing time. He needed a drink badly, though he was more of a social drinker and a lightweight- and he'd already had three strawberry daquiries. He liked the fruity drinks most. He was feeling nice and warm all over, numb, tingly, calm at last. The more sedated he felt, the less his tummy paws moved and the less he was reminded they were even there, except for the occassional movement when his legs kicked against the barstool or his paws slid across the bar top. He was on his fourth now and was playing with some peanuts, lining them up for whatever reason, most likely boredom. He'd gone heavy with the liquor to fruit mix so he was really feeling the effects. Richard Harrison Richard had been drinking for most of the afternoon. It had started as just a way to break the writer's block but soon what little Scotch he had stashed in his duplex was gone. Richard really wanted to wash that encounter with Maryke out of his mind. Both the "Cat thing with boobs" comment and various visions of her and Billy kept sneaking up on his brain. So with flask in hand, Richard was going to the beach bar, completely unware of his surroundings as he shuffled through the sand. He was dimly aware that someone else was at the bar when he sat down at the bar. "Grab me a scotch will yah?" He fiddled with the cap of his flask. Jordan Essex He'd felt just terrible for hurting Kim and losing her as a friend, but he had to be true to himself in the end. It wasn't fair to prolong a farce that would have scarred her more in the long run. That was another reason he needed to forget, to keep himself from wallowing in despair. She had every right to be angry with him.
His cascading hair blew in the breeze as he picked up one of the peanuts. "Everyone I've met here is like one of you peanuts.. some taste good and you want more, but others are bad and relations crumble.." he crushed the peanut, not really much coherency to what he was saying, though it had made sense to him. "Oh.. look.. that was my friendship.. gone.." he scooped up the others and popped them in his mouth, gnashing them spitefully.
When Jordan had heard the request, he'd reached for the scotch as per the request, holding it out behind him. "Here." he muttered, not paying attention to whom it was.
He went back to lining peanuts up again, this time making two rows. "Lauren likes me, Colche likes me, Awen likes me.." he frowned and took a bigger pawful scoop of peanuts and piled them. "Oh look.. and here's everyone else who hates me!" Richard Harrison Richard looked at bottle, it was some 7 year blended crap. "Bah!" he exclaimed and pushed the bottle away so it teetered dangerously on the edge of the bar. He looked over at his companion who appeared to be talking to the peanuts. Abstractly he realized it was Jordan but the alcohol blocked the rise of disgust and pity he usually felt at the sight of the dogman. He giggled, "Playing with your food Jordan?" He rose and cross to the other side of the bar, trying to remember the location of cabinet where the good liquior was stored. Jordan Essex Nor was Jordan concerned by his current company. He was there to be mellow, or try to be at least, so Richard's presence didn't trigger the usual 'flee' response.
"Yeah.." he glanced over at the drunken cat-like person "..something like it.. just thinking how everyone here hates me and stuff.." he picked up some of the peanuts from the 'they hate me' pile "But, I get the last laugh this time.." and he dumped them in his mouth, crunching them loudly and -again- spitefully. "Sorry.. I think I ate your peanut.."
Jordan washed down his salty treat with a big chug of his pink drink. "So why does everyone gang up on me all the time, Richard? I'm not a bad guy. I want to be liked by friends and have someone who gives two craps about me. Why can't I have that too, huh? What do I gotta do before people stop treating me liek the enemy...?"
Ah, the joy of the drunken rant. Richard Harrison "I don't eat peanuts any more." Richard stated from with his head inside the cabinet. His tail swishing behind him. He came up to the bar with a bottle of 12 year old scotch, not the best but he wasn't quite in the state of mind to savor the best. He filled the tumbler. Richard just listened to Jordan's rant, nodding vaguely his eyes more on attention more on the glass in front of him. "Why don't they like you?" he asked absently as his sipped his drink. Jordan Essex Jordan laughed as Richard said he didn't like peanuts anymore. He'd named one of the peanuts Richard for being in the pile of people who didn't like him. He picked up another one and thought of Seth. Another guy who didn't like him, even if he used the excuse that he'd been punched. That wasn't the point. The punch had been a reaction to what the man had been saying. "I'm sorry I hit him.." he thought aloud then ate the peanut "Oops.. I ate Seth.."
"I don't know why people don't like me.. thought maybe you'd know, since you don't like me either.."
Jordan pushed the nuts aside and laid his furry arms on the bar counter, then resting his head on them, staring at the bottles of liquor. "I think I'm drunk.." Richard Harrison Richard chuckled, "Its alright, Seth's an imbecil that going to get himself killed anyway." Richard took a gulp of liquor and coughed, blinking his eyes at the burning. In a stirring show of generosity Richard poured a glass for Jordan and shoved it at Jordan. "Like you? Of course not! After all Moreau's done how can I respect a man who respects Moreau? Its just not respectful!" He laughed at his cleverness of using a single word so many times. Jordan Essex He didn't have high opinions of Seth either, but whatever. Like Richard said, he's gonna get himself hurt or killed because he's an imbecil. That brought a smirk to his face. "Yeah.. he's totally building this statue of Moreau and he expects me to believe that it's all legit.. yeah right.. I wouldn't trust that man if my life depended on it.."
Jordan sniffed at the strong liquor and wrinkled his nose at it. Instead, he picked up his daquiri and sipped from it with a pleasant 'yum' of approval.
"That's all..? You don't like me because I'm not trying to burn down the labs like everyone else..? TCH..! That's kinda stupid, y'know..? There's worse reasons to hate someone.. but because I don't hate Moreau..? Lame.. real lame.." he turned his head to the side so he was looking at Richard through one eye. His left eye was closed because that side of his face was buried in his fur. "I don't think that's fair to judge me based on that.. we're really not so different.. we both got creepy things coming out of us.." Richard Harrison Richard wobbled, and fell onto a stool. Squinting he extended a clawed finger at Jordan. It wasn't very stable, he couldn't decide between pointing at Jordan's nose or eye. "He tortures you and you love him. Now thats scary. Klingfilters synndrom, thats what that is." Richard shook his head with disapproval. "He's n'uthing but trouble and pain." Richard leaned on one hand, supported by a elbow. Jordan Essex He snorted in defiance of the man's accusations. He remained lent over, careful of his tummy paws, giving them clearance underneath the bar top. "You don't know me.." came the classic drunk line "Maybe I don't wanna get into any more trouble.. didja ever think about that..? I'm not gonna bite the hand that feeds me.." though he had on several occassions, hence his corresponding punishments. "You think you know everything.. and everything about everyone... You're a jerk and a mean old man.."
Jordan's cold, wet, black nose flared in drunken frustration. And he scoffed with no other. Richard Harrison "Bah! Suit yourself." Richard wasn't in the mood for arguing with Jordan. The drink had mellowed that angry aggression that seemed so near the surface of his mind lately. "Young people just don't remember when it wasn't just happy and sunshine. Don't see why freedom is important why they all had to fight for it. Where are the heroes now eh? Who's gunna die for the souls, for that right." Richard slumped over the bar. Not really paying attention to the incoherent rant that was dripping from his mouth. He finished his drink then swirled the ice in the glass. His tentacles had gone limp behind him. Overwhelmed by the alcohol. Jordan Essex Jordan had been succumbing to the effects of the alcohol as well, excpet in his case, it was making him sleepy. His furry arms made great pillows to rest his head on and with one eye already closed, he was starting to lose himself as sleep beckoned him. His right eye closed, then opened halfway, muttering "Whatever.." in leui of more coherent response.
"Yeah, yeah.. old people only talk about the good old days and how they single-handledly won whatever war was being fought.." he snorted indignantly. "I was born in the nineteen-eighties, not the eighteen-eighties.. and I bet you remember when you could buy as moon pie and an RC cola for a nickel.." he'd remembered his own dad talking about times before Jordan's own and it was pathetic to hear them whine about 'the good old days'. Not to mention very annoying. Richard Harrison Richard growled a little at Jordan's protestations. "Young un. Remember history wasn't hostory to ever one." Having enough of the delerious dog man Richard stood. He steadied himself on the bar. He looked at all the fruity drinks the doggy had consumed and giggled. "HeeHee, Your gunna wish was you dead in dur morning." He slurred. He messily filled his flask, overflowing it. "Now dish here, no hang over." He waved it infront of Jordan's face before staggering off in the direction he thought his duplex was. Jordan Essex He was having trouble even keeping focused on Richard's bitter words about the past and how Superman had fought the Kaiser in a race with the nuclear bomb- or something like that. He was really floating away in a world all his own now. Jordan's other eye closed and he was falling into alcohol-induced sleep, nose flaring and twitching as he passed out on his arms, on the barstool.
He didn't even hear the last part of Richard's words, nor know Richard had even left. All he did know is that he was content and calm. He'd drank his troubles away for now and that's what he'd come here to do. His tail wiggled a bit as he slipped deeper and deeper into unconsciousness.
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Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 6:17 pm
Jordan Essex Jordan hadn't ventured out this way before, which seemed odd since he loved to hike the nature trails and blaze new paths. Walking aimlessly along the beach, he'd been lost in his own world once again and not paying much attention to where he was, until he'd found himself at the base of the rocky ledges that comprised the cliffs higher up. Following his need to explore into unknown areas, he was fascinated by the unexplored turf, actually picking up his speed to a liberal jog. Making good time, he found himself nearing the beautiful sight of the cliffs oveerlooking the ocean. Jordan tilted his nose to the air, taking a deep sniff of the wind.
It was fantastic up there. And cooler, which was a plus, because his double-coating of thick fur was killing him and making him itchy. Jordan took a seat on a big rock, situating himself untril he was mildly comfortable.
"Wooooooooow.." he muttered to himself in amazement of this view. Not even in Key West had he seen anything this majestic. The white-furred dogman leaned forward, propping hiomself onto his arms, elbows rested on his knees. "So peaceful up here..."
Jordan closed his eyes as he let the breeze wash over him. Shenzi Thompson Shenzi was making her way up to the cliffs, feeling incredibly bored. She'd just woken up with a heavy headache, and wasn't sure what day it was. So she decided to come up here, simply for the lack of any better ideas. But, as usual, it seemed, she wasn't the only one with similar ideas. A dog man was sitting there, covered in white fur. Not someone she had met before, so she was a little wary. Not many people had seen her most recent change, and she had frightened Gaius, who had already known her. That had hurt, though she wouldn't admit it. Who knew how this guy would react? She approached him slowly, her paws quiet as her tail swung behind her. Jordan Essex Jordan was self-conscious of his latest change as well. He didn't want anyone to see him like this and covering up was almost impossible as well as painful. With so much fur covering his body, it was too uncomfortable to wear more than a pair of shorts in public. That was out of vanity and decency- for himself and the others around the island. Walking naked, even if he was fairly kept decent with all his fur was still an awkward ocncept. Not wearing shoes for almost two months was still something he was getting used to, but public nudity... he wasn't prepared to make that leap. He'd brunt the uncomfortable heat of the fur for as long as possible. Even if he wanted to hide the wiggling paws that had erupted from his tummy.
Jordan fluffy tail wagged happilly behind him in enjoyment of the sceneery, the cooler altitude, and the peacefulness of the surroundings. His ears twitched in reflex to the chirping birds and he was losing himself in that all-too enjoyable game: what's that scent. He was oblivious to Shenzi's approach. "Man.. I love it up here so much.. maybe I'll have to spend more time up here.." he continued to talk to himself. Shenzi Thompson Since he hadn't noticed her, she didn't say anything. Instead, she just looked out over the cliff, her changed eyes sweeping across the horizon line. Even with the almost microscopic sort of vision her eyes were starting to see, all she saw was water, water, and more water. Oh joy. Shenzi jumped though when he said something, unsure if he was speaking to her or not. "Yeah, it's really pretty, easy to think up here." She said after a moment, taking another step closer to him, eyeing the log as a good place to sit. Jordan Essex He was a bit startled by her announced presence, but nothing that outwardly spooked him. He simply turned his head around after his ears perked and smiled kindly. "Oh, hello there." he spoke softly, trying to play it off as if he had been talking to her. "It's my first time up here."
Jordan almost scooted around towards her in a manner of friendly gesture, but hesitated. He dropped his gaze back out to the ocean, wanting not to appear to have stared at her. It seemed other people had gone through some peculiar changes in addition to him and his mini paws. He folded his arms over his chest in an attempt to hide them from her in case she did move any closer. Only when he was certain he was hiding his disfigurement, he shifted on his rock slightly towards her.
"I'm Jordan, by the way." naturally, he wouldn't extend a paw at this moment, even if it seemed unfriendly. He didn't like being seen as a freak. He was vane. Shenzi Thompson Shenzi gave him a friendly smile, though, as usual, the expression looked very odd on her transformed face. "I'm Sshenzi. Dobrrý den, Jorrdan." She said, a slight hiss and growl to her words. "Yeah, it'ss jusst rrelaxing to come up herre. Eassy to think, no rroofss or crrowded sspacess or anything." Jordan Essex He hadn't been sure what she'd said for a couple words after introducing herself, but he didn't want to look foolish by asking, so he smiled to her nicely, nodding in agreement.
"It's nice to make your aquaintance, Shenzi. It's been a while since I've seen a new face." how stupid had that sounded? It possibly went to show how isolated he'd been in his interactions or his activity on the island.
"I've been in need of places to 'hide' as it were. Just to escape from things and forget everything for an afternoon. Know what I mean?" Jordan leaned forward, picking up a modest-sized rock and flicked it close to the edge of the rocky shelf. Shenzi Thompson Shenzi squatted down, the position coming easily to her bare, feline legs, with her tail trailing on the ground behind her. "The change sstill chassing you, huh? Iss it rreccent?" She asked, giving him a sidelong look from the corner of her eyes. "Makess ssense though. I havn't sseen much of anyone rreccently." She said, the tufts on her ears drooping a little while the ungainly, ugly things on her back fluttered slightly. Jordan Essex He nodded softly to her question. This change was chasing him alright, except the change he wanted to hide most arrived before the rest of him could. They'd been inside him for six long weeks, continually moving and kicking, giving him terrible stomach pains since his first transformation on the path ot being a Samoyed.
"It's been about two weeks now, give or take. It's been difficult to deal with this one.. sure, the fur and the paws, yeah, I've been making due.. I can't write legibly nor wear much more than shorts without having a heatstroke, but.. yeah.." he trailed off. His arms folded tighter across his chest. Jordan was finding himself gunshy at the moment. The changes really were hard to talk about, weren't they? He was realizing that now in a new light.
"I've been trying to keep physically active: swimming, jogging, hiking to all places across the island, wieght-lifting at the gym.. getting myself outside has been keeping me from dwelling too much on things." Jordan offered a kind smile. Shenzi Thompson Shenzi smiled in sympathy. "It'ss been at leasst a month forr me, not ssurre beyond that. Memorry lapssess." She said, mentally swearing at her hissing sibilants. "I guesss I'm lucky, don't have to worrry about getting hot yet." She said, giving off a short, unmirthful laugh. Sure, some things with the change seemed nice, but overall, she still had a ******** beak, tail, and naked chicken wings. "I havn't been a** active lately a** I'd like." Shenzi admitted reluctantly, not wanting to even try singing with her changed voice. Jordan Essex The topic of working out and excercise was a good diversion from the changes. He didn't want to dwell on how Doctor Moreau had made him inject himself with his own serums prior to his most recent change.
"It's my own need to get back into shape that's been keeping me active."
He wasn't exactly out of shape, but he wasn't the athlete he used to be. It was more than that though. The Samoyed that he was becoming needed regular excercise -no, a lot of excercise. He was becoming what had traditionally been used as a sled dog and he was in his third stage of development, though this renewed need to become physically active once more had really begun in the past couple weeks.
"If you'd like a workout partner, I'm game. It's good motivation for me as well and some competition makes everything that much more fun." Shenzi Thompson Shenzi smiled at his offer, liking the idea. They were both in the same boat, of sorts. "Alrright, that would be nicce." She said, with real feeling in it, and not just the sort of 'That's-nice-but-it-won't-happen' sort of thing. Granted, they'd probably have different ideas on how to work out, but she was open to new things. "I might be a little weirrd about it, though. Old rroutiness prrobably won't worrk a** I am now." Shenzi said, a small chuckle escaping her throat, though it had a little bit of humor in it this time. After a moment, she sat down next to him, her legs in front of her with her knees to her chest. "Sso, Jorrdan. Got a lasst name to go with the firrsst?" Jordan Essex "It's okay. Anything can become a workout routine as long as it keeps you moving and active." Jordan was pleased to hear she was open to the notion of a workout partner. Anything that kept him fit was good. "It can be a bit rough at first, but if you really want it bad enough nothing can stop you. It was for me after a few years of neglect. I used to have much more tone to my body and I let my body slip to pursue college."
He was sounding like someone from an informercial trying to sell this even though she'd already agreed. Half of it, though, was having the willpower to do so, the other half was getting psyched. "I'll admit I used to do some pretty heavy weight-lifting and intense swimming and running, when I was more active in my athletic days." Jordan watched her as she moved closer to him, sitting down next to him even. "Oh, yeah." he chuckled at her question. "It's Essex. Jordan Essex." he smirked, saying it like James Bond. How lame, he mused. Shenzi Thompson Shenzi nodded in understanding; before the island, she had stretched every night, and practiced her dancing at least two hours every other day. She had barely even stretched since she'd gotten here... "Yeah, cutting on exerrcisse can really hurrt you. I dancce, or ussed to, at leasst. Had a band, too." That made her ears twitch again, but she shrugged, deciding not to think about it. Leaning back on her palms, her nails digging into the dirt, she looked up at him, the slit pupils in her blue eyes obvious. "Sso what elsse do you like do do? Can't imagine you completely quitting exerrcisse forr college." She said, grinning slightly. Jordan Essex He scratched at his ear idly while listening ot her, finding it interesting that she had been a dancer and in a band. He'd only been a star athlete in high school that went onto professional traniing in veterinary and zoological sciences. It was good enough for him, but he did become envious of others who didn't cram four subjects at a time so they could reach their happiness. Jordan often wondered -before the ilsand, that is- what his life could have bene like if he'd continued his athletic pursuits and stayed at the peak of physical fitness.
Those thoughts came back to him. Jordan stared longingly out at the water as he imagined himself becoming a beloved athlete, praised and worshipped by the masses, but he simply sighed. When Shenzi asked what else he did, Jordan wasn't sure how to answer that without tipping her off to his lab connections. "I.. well.. I've spent the last six years earning degrees in veterinary medicine and zoology..." that was innocent enough, right? "..and.. I'm thinking of opening a clinic in the village.. I'd be sort of a doctor for injured animals and the people here, as well."
Jordan turned slowly to her, afraid of what she'd think, putting on a weak, nervous smile. Shenzi Thompson Shenzi's ears pricked forward slightly at that admission, ever the feline motions. "Rreally? A clinic? A frriend of mine wanted to do ssomething like that with herr boyfrriend. Aisslinn Derrry? Have you met herr?" She asked; she was positive Ais' had brought up the fact that Brian was interested in it too. Maybe the three could help each other out with it. "But yeah, that'ss cool. Wass neverr into the doctorr sstuff, but it'ss a good thing to do. Only thing I everr did wass ssing and dancce. Kinda hoping the hisss fadess." Shenzi said, though someone could tell from her tone of voice that she doubted it. Jordan Essex "I've met Aislinn. She helped me..." he paused, frowning at what she did help him with and shook his head as he didn't want to think about it at all. He didn't want ot think about how mad the pteradactyl was now and the friendship he'd screwed over. Jordan held up his paws "It's difficult to write legibly anymore, so she helped me out. She seemed nice." He sighed again. Jordan felt like he was nothing more than a jerk lately and that ate at him deeply. He was only making lives miserable by acting so out of character- but... he supposed that was partially the natural effect the island had on people.
"Sometimes I feel like I've wasted my life with all of this animal nonsense." he muttered with annoyance to himself "But, there's nothing I can do about that now, but use the knowledge I have to help those around me." He'd leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and cupping his furry chin in his paws. She could finally see what he'd been hiding from her sight if she glanced at his stomach, at those wiggling, tiny paws that had emerged from his body. "I guess I shouldn't be complaining, though... I'm sorry." Shenzi Thompson Shenzi looked over her shoulder at her own hands, claws, when he told how how Ais had helped him. She at least was somewhat lucky; birds had flexible claws, so she could still write. Not that she really needed to, but still. "Aiss' iss cool. Only perrsson here I've met sso farr that hass any ssensse of fasshion." She said jokingly, grinning at her own apparel; vivid, hard to forget colors in a pair of close capris and a simple tanktop, the wings not allowing for much more. When he leaned forward, though, she saw the little paws, and frowned slightly. "You've got two pawss from yourr belly." Shenzi said, stating the obvious, though she didn't mean it in that way. Wait... Ais'! Aislinn had the two things from her belly, too. Did that mean he was going into a centaur? Dogtaur? Jordan Essex "Clothing's not really an option for me anymore, unless you consider the yeti look fashionable." he tried to joke back. "And I'm not about to walk around naked.." he didn't like how the material of the shorts rubbed wrong in his fur, but he was too proud to streak while he still had a choice in the matter. At least the shorts that he'd chosen to wear were breathable and meant for outdoor activity. But it did make him uncomfortably warm. "I think that I'd actually manage to repel more people away from me.." he almost whispered the last part "It's not been an easy adjustment for me here.. and now.."
As he was about to mention the protusions from his stomach, she'd beat him to the punch as he gripped them to cease their movement for at least now. "Yeah.. I thought I was six for weeks. Turned out it was these things moving and kicking inside me for almost two months.." Jordan had no clue what was happenign to him and having met Victor he was scared there was something wrong with his serum. Shenzi Thompson "Oh, going naked issn't so bad." She said teasingly, grinning at him. "Orr, you could get one of thosse ssarrong thingss, the wrrap arround sskirrt. That'd prro'lly worrk quite well." Shenzi couldn't imagine the dog man in a skirt, but it was still an amusing thought. "Aiss' hass got them too. Little legss, I mean. Frrom herr belly." Shenzi said quickly, patting her belly lightly with a fingertip. Aislinn also had to use a walker just to get around, but they had something in common at least. Jordan Essex Jordan couldn't hold the laughter back at that comment. Was she trying to urge him to go around naked? It was highly amusing to hear it and the sound of his own laughter was comforting. Jordan didn't have a whole lot to laugh about anymore. Jordan tilted his head dcown to Shenzi, playing along with her, and smirked "I know I make this look good, but I think you just want to see me strip." he laughed heartilly again, feeling all his tension pushed aside for now.
At first he thought she'd meant a thong and that made him laugh even more about it as he pictured himself walking around in a vibrantly-colored speedo that showed clearly against his stark white fur, curly tail poking out the back wagging happilly. He actually laughed so hard that he fell backwards off his rock, legs hanging over the makeshift seat as he didn't even bother to pick himself up. "I haven't laughed like this in so long. Thank you so much." he chortled and broke out laughing again as he imagined himself in ther speedo, strutting his stuff. "I don't think anyone wants to see me in a lime green speedo." he sputtered between choking laughs. Shenzi Thompson Shenzi put on a sly look, grinning broadly still. "Jusst sso ssmokin' good, I can't rressisst." She said, laughing as she gave him a wink, the laugh sounding more human then her voice currently did. When he fell over from the laughter though, the grin was still on her face, and she raised an eyebrow. "Am I that funny? Maybe I sshould apply a** the island comedian. I'm ssurre I could get dozenss of sspeedo-wearring men tail chassing me." She said jokingly, but her face was a mask of seriousness. Until he mentioned himself in a lime green speedo. A titter escaped, before she let out a loud laugh, holding herself up with her hands at the idea of a fur-man in something so skimpy. "Though it would probably be more comfortable for you then shorts, I think I'll have to pass up that idea." Jordan Essex He just couldn't stop laughing as he pulled himself into an upright sitting position. Jordan licked his paw and made a sizzling noise as he touched his tail. "You know it. I'm just too smokin' hot to touch. Everyone will have to live in torment knowing they can't compare." he threw his head to the side, his long locks of white-streaked hair cascading through the air with a paw running through his bangs to the back of his head. She was stroking his vane ego even if she was only playing. He needed this when he felt so insecure about his body and he leaned back, strutting a premadonna stance. "Some of us are just born with it." he smiled.
At the next comment, Jordan suddenly flushed hotly, the reddening in his cheeks a stark contrast to his white facial fur. He fidgeted and his eyes went wide, blushing incredibly as he sat up immediately, covering his stirring crotch with his paws at the imagery of dozens of speedo-clad men -in his mind, muscular men- tail-chasing after him. It was embarrassing as he didn't know how to tell people his sexuality without getting disturbed or disgusted reactions. In fact, the only two who knew were Freddie and Kim.. and well.. that was enough to write volumes.
Jordan kept himself leaned forward and his paws folded over the material of his shorts as he chuckled along with her. "Yeah, I'm sure that I'd be more comfortable in a speedo too. It's the perfect designer wear for this setting and climate." he tried to keep the laughter going. Shenzi Thompson She let off another laugh as he did the corny thumb-to-waist-giving-steam gesture; it was cheesy and over used, but definately appropriate for the situation. "Mm-hmm, of courrsse, they jusst envy everryone elsse of their ssteamynesss." When she saw the blush on his cheeks after the mention of speedos, she raised an eyebrow. Either he's gay and in denial, or a total virgin and embarassed. I doubt it's the second, since he was strutting with the 'steam' a second ago. After that went through her head, she grinned mischieviously, deciding to try something. Certainly outgoing, it would also determine what she thought. If not, it might be a little embarassing, but she'd done worse, much worse, things in her life. Her grandparents had probably written down every one to hold against her every time she visited.
She grinned, leaning towards him, her face an inch or two from his as she grinned broadly. "Infinately morre comforrtable."Jordan Essex Jordan couldn’t help but smirk at the griffon girl. Shenzi was hitting all the right buttons to move his vanity into full gear again. She was making him feel good about himself where he hadn’t been able to.
Of course, feeling good and knowing he’d been hot stuff –and still was, to a degree- had left an impression on his mind. He tried not to strut about like the c**k of the walk more recently in life, but hell, when else was he going to get that opportunity if not here on the island? He was in the prime of his life, good looking- for a dog, and he was at that time in his life where his body wanted to sow its oats --- into a pretty fine piece of prime beefcake.
OH MY GOD SHE'S HITTING ON ME!! ran through his mind. His eyes went wide and he nervously smiled, trying to be friendly still. He whined a bit as she gave Jordan cause to wonder if he'd led her on at all in the past few moments. He hadn’t meant to if he had and he certainly didn’t to break another person’s spirit. He wiggled on his rear an inch or two back, nervous about this, leaving his tented shorts uncovered. A bead of sweat rolled down the center of his forehead down to his cold, wet, black nose, which wriggled in response. He suddenly felt like he was in the Twilight Zone as punishment for his recent tryst of lies. He’d finally come out to others and now he was being hit on? “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.. but.. I’m…” he tried to say it, wanted to say it, had to say it “..gay.” Shenzi Thompson Shenzi started grinning in triumph as she leant back, folding her arms across her chest with a smile. "Thought sso. Ssorrry if I put you on the sspot." She said, her smile turning sympathetic. "Leasst I got you to ssay it out loud though, rright?" She said, giving him a pat on the hand. "But nahh, wass jusst tessting ssomething." Shenzi said with a crooked grin. She was sorry, but at the same time she wasn't. She wasn't the sort of person that minded flirting when she really felt nothing, but it was the easiest way to make sure of what she thought. Jordan Essex Jordan chuckled neervously as she backed up and vaguely explained things, giving Jordan the opportunity to scramble to his paws and hide his embarrassment in a slightly unstable crouch upon his haunches with his paws across his midsection. By the grinning, he wondered if she’d enjoyed making him confess his sexuality to her. “Yeah.. it’s.. uhm.. it’s alright.” His brow arched slightly. “I guess you did get me to say it.. but.. at least you’re not freaking out.. so it’s cool..”
Jordan steadied himself by laying one paw on the rock he’d just been sitting on. Jordan was being more cautious not to have a repeat incident, as to avoid anymore misunderstandings, bruised feelings, and lost friendships. At least Shenzi wasn’t transforming.. His smile was lost for a moment, but he literally shook it out, making his ears flap against his head and he was grinning along with her. “Again, I’m really sorry if I led you on at all.. I didn’t mean to, if I had.” Shenzi Thompson She let out a small laugh, grinning still. "What I'm guesssing iss it'ss ssomething you don't rreally want to admit, but ssaying it can't hurrt. I'm bi mysself, sso it'ss all cool." At the second apology, she grinned again, waving a hand. "Nah, nah, it'ss fine. I joke arround like that with my frriendss." Jordan Essex "It's not something I told anyone about till after I'd been on the island. I didn't want to bring it up, but this jerk Freddie.." he grrrrrrrr'd, clenching his paws as he steadied himself on his haunches. "She pressured me until I had cornered myself and it just came out. Oh, that embarrassment wasn't enough. She had to pour salt in the wound and berate me about it!" he shook his lowering head. "I even tried to help her after she'd been so nasty to me.. long story short.. I was kicked in the crotch in the middle of the jungle and just left there cringing in pain as she walked off saying some rather nasty comments.."
Jordan sat down on the rocky floor, scooting himself up against the rock. "I've been gun-shy about saying anything about my sexuality since.. it's gotten me into trouble a second time recently.." he rested a paw on his cheek as it wasn't that long ago the event he spoke of was what resulted in Kim hating him. "..I did something stupid.. and misled someone.. a friend.. she'd changed in my arms a week after my own first change, leaving a trauamtic memory fresh in mind.. it wasn't love, but the bond people experience out of empathy for the painful changes.. and I wound up leading her on.. I threw her a birthday party and we even spent Valentine's together.. but it was a lie and I knew it. When I confronted her about it, I expected her to be furious, to hate me.. she'll never forgive me and I can't ask her to forgive me.. I lost a good friend-to-be because I wasn't honest about my sexuality upfront.. I just wanted her to know she has friends who care for her, but it got out of control.."
Jordan couldn't believe he'd just confessed that to her. He'd had the sense not ot name names, but still.. "I'm a monster for what I did.. and I'm so sorry.." Shenzi Thompson At the mention of the name Freddie, a twisted smirk came onto Shenzi's face. Pig-person. Oh, she hadn't seen her for awhile, not that she particularly cared to. Her face was a little too butch to look at and stay polite. Ignoring the fact that she had a detestable personality. When he started talking though, she gave him a sympathetic look, and a quick hug. "Yeah, I can underrsstand that. I mean, I didn't go thrrough it, but an old frriend of mine did. Sshe came out to be a lessbian when we werre frresshman, and two of herr besst frriendss altogetherr sstopped talking to herr, sso sshe's kinda hard to get closse to now. But we talked often enough before I got dumped herre." She said, finishing on a sour note, but giving him another hug. "Jusst trry not to worrry about it, it'ss not ssomething everryone acceptss. My grrandparrentss want me dead becausse of how I've "sshamed" them, sso you'rre not too bad off." Shenzi said, flashing him an encouraging grin. Jordan Essex The hug came as comfort. He was able to talk to Shenzi on a level he hadn't been able to talk to anyone else. It was nice. Knowing someone who could relate to the issues of sexuality made him feel less guilty about what he was and what he'd done. "So I guess we'll have sleepovers now and dish about all the cute guys on the island." he laughed, hugging her titghtly, rubbing his paws along her back as he clung tightly. Beneath the laughter he was hurting.
"I'm sorry that your family treated you like that.. my family never knew and I'm afraid to think how my dad would have taken that.. he was also my high school coach for three years and I was on the football team. You can imagine the scandal that would have caused." Shenzi Thompson She tightened her arms around his shoulders, getting the idea that he definately needed some comfort right now. Some of her friends had had problems with this, but living in New York tended to broaden your views. "In some ways, I guess you were worse off then I was. My parents didn't care, my dad at least. My mom was a little uncomfortable at first, but my grandparents, on my mom's side, were totally dead set against it, since they didn't want my mom marrying an american. But I can see why there might be just a little bit of scandal in your predicament with a football team." She grinned though at the sleep over joke, laughing. "Sure, why not." She doubted he was being serious, but she didn't mind if he was. She'd had gay friends before, had done as much before. Not that there were that many cute guys she'd seen around. Jordan Essex He'd always hidden himself under the stuffy exterior of a young man striving to be a professional, which left little time to explore who was deeper and come to terms properly with that. He needed to give himself some time to be less of a stick in the mud and let himself be a bit more free. After the pact that he’d made with Lauren about not denying your desires and ignoring inhibitions, this –as he rationalized- met that qualification.
“I went to school in a little redneck town in Tampa, called Seffner. It was bad enough the others went out of their way to torment those weaker and who were different, especially if they weren’t their definition of people. I was an important player, so I had to think about the team, as well as not making my dad look bad. No pressure.” He scoffed mockingly.
“Cool!” he responded happily to the comment about getting together from time to time. “I’d really appreciate that. I need someone I can talk to and let loose around, who’s cool with me being gay and all. I’m usually putting on the suit and tie routine and well… I think I’ll lose my mind if I can’t vent once in a while.” He smiled brightly, definitely feeling better them ore he talked to her. Shenzi Thompson Shenzi gave him an enouraging smile and another hug. "Venting is a good thing. Keeping all the s**t inside isn't good for you, makes you go nutty. Though I think you'll just get nutti er when you let loose." She said teasingly, poking him in the side. "Maybe we just needa get you a boyfriend." The blueberry said, laughing. "But yeah, we can do whatever, whenever. Long as you promise one thing. Got any problems, talk to me. Got it?" Shenzi said, waggling a finger mock-threateningly at him, as if she'd beat and torture him if he didn't, before breaking out in another peal of laughter. Jordan Essex He couldn’t help but laugh amusedly with her at the offer of finding him a boyfriend. “I’ll be careful to let go in doses till I’m used to dealing with it. It’s not just an adjustment for me, but for everyone that I’ve met so far. They know me as the stuffy, uptight guy. Won’t they be surprised, huh?” And it’d help him be less of a putz, too. Repressing that part of his life had made him so unhappy and stifled, but now he felt like a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
“You bet, Shenzi.” Jordan mock-saluted her, smiling from ear to ear “Wow.. I feel so good right now, like an entirely different person.” He just couldn’t hide his excitement at that moment. “You’ve really made my day, you know that? Not only did I get some great exercise, but I’ve got a new friend and workout partner, and a confidant.” He wiggled his footpaws happily. He didn’t feel like the grunt enslaved by Feral Labs, but someone who was finding new ways to keep life from crushing him underfoot. Shenzi Thompson She smiled brightly at him, tucking a strand of hair behind one of her ears, not without a little bit of difficulty. "Don't worry about it, you'll be fine. Everything always works out in the end, though most of the time it doesn't seem like it." Shenzi said, nodding sagely while carefully standing up, pushing herself up with her tail. "Assuming these damned wings ever do anything besides look like pre-cooked KCF buckets." She grumbled, giving them another glare, though that was more out of habit at the moment. Turning back to Jordan, she gave him another smile and hug. "I'm gonna head back to my duplex now. I'm in 78, so if you ever wanna hang out, just buzz me or something." She said, giving him a little wave. Jordan Essex Her encouragement and positive atitude made him feel even better. "You're right. Things will work out." He rubbed the underside of his mini paws, understanding what she meant about appendages growing into something more. "I'm sure everything will make more sense in time."
Jordan waved back to her, noting the duplex number. "It was great meeting you." he called out as she parted company and used the rock as leverage on the bumpy rock beneath him, re-taking his seat overlooking the ocean. Everything would work out. Fin
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Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 8:39 pm
An offer he can't refuse... Moreau had been busy, very busy, with catching himself back up around the labs. But he'd recently recieved a report, apparently Jordan hadn't turned in any data in a few days. He patched himself into the radio system, and called to Jordan's duplex. "Hello Jordan. What is going on?" Jordan had been sitting on his shredded bed, the one that Lauren had eviscerated in a fit of madness following her break-up with Nita. He was wondering how she was doing after they'd found the note from the labs tagged to his door. He'd have to check up on her soon. For the moment, though, Moreau had patched through to his duplex and he nearly jumped off his bed. "Oh, Doctor Moreau.." his voice wavered as he scratched at the back of his neck nervously. "Uhm.. uhm.. what exactly are you referring to in particular..?" he was afraid as hell to admit his duplex had been broken into and the laptop stolen...Moreau heard the ... reluctance in Jordan's voice. It wasn't hard to tell he was hiding something, "I haven't been recieving any new research from you in a few days now..." Jordan felt the urge to cringe in fear in the farthest corner of his room again.. He was terrified of giving the doctor any sort of bad news. He bit his bottom lip in reluctance to speak on what happened, clenching his eyes tight as he knew he couldn't escape this, no matter how much Jordan desperately wanted to avoid this. "I... I'm sorry, sir." he lowered his head in shame. They could employ methods of getting it out of him in much harder ways if he didn't cooperate- or at least he speculated as much. "I..." he took a deep breath, getting himself prepared for the boom. "I haven't been able to, sir..."Moreau turned his head quizicly, obviously Jordan couldn't see this, but it was Moreau's reaction to the ambigious statement. "And why not?" he said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice. He choked on the words, but had to force them out without stammering on them like that psychotic amphibian Newt. "It was Thom, sir.. he broke into my duplex.. tore the place apart.. and.." he muttered the last part "stole the laptop.." He winced autimatically, in preparation for the incredbile weight about to come crashing upon him. "I know because I caught trace of his scent..""He what?" Moreau said, his face turning redder as his tone turned angry. He tapped his fingers angrly against the desk. "Why oh why Jordan would you let that happen?" Jordan didn't want to admit that he'd been out and forgotten to lock his duplex, nor that he'd gotten drunk with the boys at the construction site. He sighed, awaiting the inevitable punishment. "Lauren was here when I discovered it was gone.. she said she'd help me get it back.." "Good... because you are going to have to.get it back..." Moreau tapped his fingers on the desk. "I'll make it your responsibility to find him... and beat it out of him if you must. Bring back that laptop to me... or I can't forgive you Jordan." He didn't liek the sound of that. Not being forgiven and carrying the grudge of Doctor Moreau on his shoulders for the rest of his life?? That made an icy chill race the length of his spine, forcing out a terrible cold shiver. "I'll look for him. I'll do whatever it takes to get it back, even if I have to risk my own life in the process.." had he just that?!"Good... I'm glad to hear that. Now, don't waste any time, and no matter what I don't want the information on that laptop out there." Moreau counted his lucky stars the laptop only included information about the loyalty serum, though it would be devistating to have that get out it wasn't like it would have some lab destroying information on it. But if Aubrey where to find out... "Get it back Jordan." Moreau said sternely. There was no option in this. He hadn't locked his door. He'd gotten drunk and had let this happen because of his screw-up. And.... the best part of it... Doctor Moreau had given him permission to use as much force as neccessary. Jordan sneered as he wanted a chance to get back at Thom for eating his pet rabbit, Thumper. Poor thing hadn't even recovered from the injury Thom had caused. "I'll find him. I'm pretty sure I know where to locate him..""Good, though if you need help with that just radio back to the labs. We always know where you all are." Moreau sneered. "Don't fail Jordan. Goodnight." He felt like a henchman from any number of Bond movies, where the big boss tells his lackeys not to fail. This was definitely one of those scenarios where there were indeed much worse punishments than any of those fictional characters had to face. He clasped his paws in his lap and knew there wasn't much time to waste. When Doctor Moreau wanted results, he wanted them yesterday. "I'll be more careful than last time.." he rubbed his bandage.
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 3:25 am
Jordan fails to retrieve the laptop from Thom Jordan had been informed by Moreau to hunt down Thom, to use as much force as needed, and to retrieve the laptop, and failure -as usual- was frowned upon. He had to act fast to maintain a level of secrecy and although he couldn't find Lauren, he did the next best thing. There were very few people that he trusted on the island, and just as few that he'd trust with his life. He'd come to Awen seeking her aid, not really giving her much of a choice in the matter as he'd dragged her along, saying that he needed her help, but hadn't gone into deep detail on the matter- yet. She'd know about the laptop soon enough. Jordan simply needed numbers against Thom at the moment and he was willing to place his life, his faith into her hands at the moment.
He'd led her into the jungle, despite the inherent dangers, though this was the most likely place to find the cobra. "We need to remain as quiet as possible. I'm sorry for being so quick about this, but there's not much time to explain." he whispered to Awen, making sure she was keeping nearby. The routine was simple: go to bed, wait for Natsumi to fall asleep, sneak out to spend the night gathering supplies, and return the next morning before she knew he was gone. He had gotten surprisingly good at sneaking away without waking her, which could be both a good and bad thing, though, considering the situation, Thom saw nothing wrong with it. While the island slept, he was busy raiding the various buildings of the village and, rarely, a trashcan or two. He wouldn't be caught dead shuffling through trash in broad daylight. The supplies had better be worth something.
His evenings now occupied, daylight was reserved primarily for sleeping, and today was no exception. The cobra was curled up in the lower branches of a tree, dozing in the sunlight that spilled down through the leaves. His arms were tucked down beneath him, chin resting on the coils of his tail, and, as per usual, his eyes were wide open, staring off at nothing in particular while he rested. Dee, meanwhile, was where she almost *always* was at this time of day-- binoculars at the ready, messenger bag at her side, and gaze lifted towards the forest canopy. For this, her first week, she had been concentrating primarily on avifauna, but wouldn't pass up an opportunity to tackle (sometimes literally) any sort of creature that crossed her path. With each sighting, she would jot down a few notes in her latest journal, then continue down the game-trail.
So far her sightings were typical for a Caribbean island, but still energizing nonetheless. Sabin's comments about 'rare and unique species' weren't terribly true in the birdwatching department, but the morbid wonder she was beginning to develop regarding the darker side of the island grew with each villager she met. This mission was intended to be short and sweet. The hard part was finding that miserable snake! Jordan would then be authorized to beat the living tar out of Thom if need be. He sneered with pleasure at Doctor Moreau's words. He wouldn't be punished this time for utilizing violence. Jordan was going to enjoy beating the information out of that damn snake- if he had to. He was concerned about bringing along a friend as back-up, though most others would laugh at him in the grips of Thom's deadly coils, much like Newt had.. stupid, psychotic frog..! His paws clenched at the memory of that encounter.. Newt could have rescued him from the unconscious Thom, but instead awoke the slumbering snake when he tried attacking poor, defenseless Jordan!
He kept his nose to the air for any traces or indications he was on the trail. He was on enemy soil and the fight was being brought to the king of the jungle. Jordan was at such a horrid disadvantage. If he failed, the consequences could become his loss of life.
The dog's pawpadding allowed him to walk quiter, but he was paranoid that he'd already alerted Thom to his presence with his very movement onto the snake's turf. Dee growled under her breath... for some reason, there just weren't many birds about. Perhaps she hadn't gotten accustomed to their feeding schedules and locations? It would just take time, and she would eventually adjust.
But today, Dee felt in need of some instant gratification, and she had brought along a secret weapon. Normally, she scoffed at birders who used recorded songs to attract wildlife, but right now she was confident that she was alone. And besides--no harm, no foul.
...right?
Dee stopped in a small grove alongside one of the game trails and sets her bag down beside a tree. Kneeling amongst the soft forest floor, she fishes around in the satchel and pulls out her iPod and a small external speaker, which she sets on a nearby stump. Dee thumbs through her playlist until she comes to her birdcalls section and selects 'Alarm Calls.' Since they were used to alert other animals of the presence of predators, these short, high-pitched chirps and squawks could attract many different species of birds, as well as other woodland creatures.
She adjusts the volume, hits 'play', and soon a number of sharp bird-calls are echoing through the forest. It'd been unusually quiet in the jungle that day. A fact that truly unnerved Jordan and tested his grit. He was a cowardly lackey of the infamous Doctor Moreau, but he'd been ensured -with the surprise in his serum- that in later stages he'd be more readilly equipped to defend himself as well as the doctor. Why couldn't that day be today?
The eerie quiet was taken as a bad sign that perhaps there was a predator worse than Thom nearby. Perhaps the she-wolf, Annie, again.. he desperately hoped not. And now there was a tiger going about killing guards?! This was becoming a dangerous environment to be in for a sled dog. Not only was it even more miserably humid in the canopy of trees, there were plenty of locations for ambush. Thom hadn't struck Jordan as someone who'd enlist help, so he took comfort in that fact.
There it came, the sudden cacaphony of birds. Shrill and high-pitched. Out of nowhere. That.. that could not be good at all. The commotion was enough to freeze him in his tracks. Jordan turned around ot the manta girl who'd be shanghaighed for this possible suicide mission, lifting up a hand as if to tell her to stop her movement. "Wait here for me and if it gets rough, you're not obligated to wait on me." he whispered and crouched down.
Moving forward- and alone- through the brush, the thickly-furred dogman was doing his best to keep a low profile, slinking, crouched down, like many commandos he'd seen in those old war movies. He was in this deep and there was certainly no turning back from here. He kept his nose to the ground, picking up an unfamiliar scent. If there was any justice in this life, it wouldn't be someone or something that would tear him apart. Up in the tree, Thom napped on, enjoying the odd silence that laced the jungle. That is, until the bird calls began. As the calls sounded from a short distance away, the cobra twitched, tongue flicking out once before his eyes refocused. Briefly his gaze fixed on a stick a short distance away, then lifted to scan the area for the damned troublesome birds. Stupid little featherballs, interrupting his nap...
His tongue snaked out a second time, and Thom frowned, again scanning the branches of the surrounding trees. There weren't any birds in the area. Not enough to be making those calls, anyway. Birds had a distinctly horrible smell to them. No, there were no birds, but there was a distinct smell of...human. Some guards, perhaps? But that didn't explain the bird calls...
The cobra stretched languidly along his treebranch, then clamped both hands over--where his ears would have been once upon a time, frowning around for the source of the noise. Letting his arms fall, he started through the close-knit treetops towards the sound, picking his way in near silence towards the irritating calls. All too soon the source became visible in the form of a woman and a speaker, and, with the sounds almost directly below him, Thom found himself hard pressed not to throw a branch at woman who had woken him. "Would you turn off that bloody noise? Some of us are tryin' t' sleep!" The woman yelped and attempted to leap to her feet, but a cylindrical piece of branch caught underneath the heel of one of her boots and sent her rolling backwards. As was so common for her, she landed straight on her rump.
Dee stared up at the giant snake, eyes as wide as saucers. This...wasn't exactly the sort of creature she had been meaning to attract. "I-I'm sorry! J-just a moment.." Shaking and muttering a variety of apologies, she shifted over and started grappling for the iPod. "Really, I'll go now..." She starts to drag the gear back to her, but in her haste she accidentally hits the 'random' function...and the machine begins to cycle through her *entire* playlist.
Seconds later, the 1812 Overture is blaring throughout the grove. Dee yowls and YANKS out the speaker cord.
She looks back up at the snake-man with a gape-mouthed horrified-surprised expression.
"Sorry."There were birds making a ruckus and yet he didn't smell the foul things anywhere near him; though, without anymore warning than the abrupt change in jungle sounds, an orchaestra was playing!
Jordan paused in his crouch and stood up, quizically squinted his left eye as his head tilted to the side, trying to figure out what was going on. "What.. the hell..??" he spoke in more than a whisper. Was someone out there and in danger? Was this their way of signalling for help? This wasn't part of the plan! Whoever was out there had already compromised the mission!
Clenching his fangs and his fists, Jordan resolved -against his better judgment- to move on the sound. It was so loud there was no mistaking where it had come from. He took off like a bolt through the jungle, tearing through the brush at a frantic pace. Was he really a hero like Colche held him so highly as? Jordan sighed in resignation that he was either altruistic or insane.
He didn't bother stopping when the music cut out. That gave cause to move faster. Oh, but how he loved moving this fast! Faster than he had ever been able to run before! And he loved the feeling of it! Or, at least the surfacing canine mind loved this. Jordan was frightened that he was already too late.
The unfamiliar scent was stronger now! He was nearing the grove Dee had been playing her bird sounds and he smelled the faint twinge of disgust rise in him as his fur bristled. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong! He was closing the gap far too fast and had to slow his momentum as he pushed through the brush into the adjoining grove, coming up from behind Dee.
There wasn't much time to take stock of the situation. Jordan's cold, wet black nose twitched and sniffed the air, looking down at the... HUMAN?! Oh dear lord, he hadn't seen another human islander before.. so this must have been what it felt like for them, when he was still human. He was panting hard as he'd pushed himself so hard to get there as fast as possible and it was a mixed blessing to see the human unharmed, but her look of fear made him leery and self-conscious as he made a fumbling attempt to hide his stomach with his arms.
"A-are you ok------ay?" he panted out, leaning forward to rest his paws on his knees absent-mindedly, looking at her. He knew this had to be difficult to see him of all people. As if the birds hadn't been bad enough, there was now a symphony playing in his ears. Admittedly, Thom might have enjoyed the music had it not been blaring in his ears, but presently, already peeved from being woken, it wasn't what he wanted to hear. He relaxed a touch when the music cut off, but his frown deepened at the expression of utter horror on the woman's face. She was still entirely human, as he had expected... A new islander, perhaps? Had she even seen a changed one before? This certainly wasn't the best introduction to the truth of the island.
He lifted both hands in a gesture of innocence, but before he could apologize for startling her, Jordan, of all people, appeared in the area as well. Thom raised a scaled brow, cracking a grin at the sight, and lifted a finger to his mouth to gesture for Diane to stay quiet--or, at least, not to give away his presence. This done, he snaked back along the branch towards the trunk of the tree, and from there carefully made his way down to the ground, watching the pair lazily from a short distance away. It was the sudden nature of Thom's appearance that had rattled Dee the most... not his outward appearance itself (though the latter wasn't anything to sniff at either.) When the canine islander bursts onto the scene, the woman jumps a second time, dropping her gear onto the leafy ground and clutching at the pendant around her neck.
"I... yes... I'm a-allright..." she stammers, eyes flicking from Jordan to the covert snake and back again. "I...am sorry for the noise. I didn't think anyone w-was around." Jordan took a deep breath, shaking his head. "Nono, I'm sorry to frighten you.." He stood upright and for a moment she had a clear view of his free-moving tummy paws from his stance, even though he made the attempt at hiding them all too late while offering her a paw with his free arm.
She was absolutely terrified. Was he so hideously deformed that humans found his current form repulsive. Jordan tried hard not to show the slightest bit of hurt by the reaction, little had he known Thom was skulking about only meters away. He remembered this look. It was his own terror when he'd first met Richard and it stuck with him even today. He genuinely hoped that she wouldn't be scarred by his appearance, such the vane man-turning-dog that he was.
"I'm so sorry for startling you.. My name's Jordan." he kept his helping paw out there, not inching closer lest he frighten her more. "I understand if you're afraid by what you're seeing and I sincerely wished we could have met under better circumstances."
Jordan was trying to play it cool as if he'd meant ot be in the jungle frivolously all along. However, Jordan noticed how she kept looking at him and then something behind him. He wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but he wasn't so naive as not to take the hint. The Samoyed slowly turned his head ot the side as he dreaded what he would see. He was unnoticed for the moment, but with the glances that the woman kept sending his way, it couldn't go on much longer. However, he remained where he was, watching curiously from where he 'stood' as Jordan apologized and made his introductions and so forth. And then Jordan glanced back his way, and it was Thom's turn.
The cobra offered a grin in greeting, making a point to flash fangs simply for the scare it would undoubtably bring Jordan. Moving away from the tree, he approached the pair at a lazy pace, long tail following in a distinct 'S' behind him. "Jordan! So kind of you to barge in uninvited an' interrupt a perfectly good apology. But that's fairly typical of you, issn't it, draggin' yourself into other people's business?"
Thom sent the dog man a pointed look, then swept past him to nod an apology to Diane. "I apologize f' scarin' you, but I was nappin' not far from 'ere an' your...noise woke me. Regardless, I'd be careful with such a thing in th' jungle, were I you. You wouldn't want to attract th' wolf." "Ah..." Two unique sightings in one day, Diane. You should be thrilled!
Already Dee can sense that she's stumbled into something a bit more than just a fun little happenstance meeting in the tropical Caribbean woods. She hadn't meant to disclose the cobra's hiding spot... between him and the fluffy dog fellow, he was more imposing and (for all she knew) venomous.
When Jordan offers his paw, she accepts it with a firm--if still-quivering--shake; a certain amount of politeness is hardwired into her programming. She has definitely seen his 'tummy paws', but looks a tad more confused than frightened. Victor had a reason for his extra limbs...what's going on in this poor fellow's DNA?
"I'm Dee...and th-that's okay. I'm starting to get used to it..." She manages a weak grin and eyes Thom, already looking a bit more curious at his individual features as well. Whether this was a good sign that she was starting to cope with the reality of her encounters, or was becoming increasingly detached from said reality remained to be seen. "I was just trying to attract some birds, but thank you for the w-warning." Dee had heard of the wolf...and that creature's attention was the last thing she wanted.Wasn't this a twisted development. Jordan possessed the bittersweet luck of the devil himself. He'd been lured directly to Thom, as it had seemed the snake had been so as well, while having an unchanged human bear witness to them both inhuman test subjects.
Jordan held tight onto Dee's hand, shaking himself. Thom was no one to trifle with lightly. The snake was deadly as any predator on the island and it made Jordan wince. The bandage from the bite wound was still there, to cover the still-healing holes made in Jordan's shoulder from the cobra's fangs. It blended in with his fur, but it was visible at a second glance. He didn't want to make a scene infront of the woman, but if he didn't conduct business now, it would be no better than failure, as far as Doctor Moreau was concerned.
The less-than-threatening white-furred fluffball placed himself between Dee and Thom, feeling the need to protect her from this danger. The dogman’s expression was a mixture of fear and stern anger. Quite an odd cocktail of emotion. He was angered by the slick words of the scaly thief and murderer. Thom was good, there was no doubt about that, but there was no way in hell Jordan was going to be upstaged by this act. He wanted to tear into him for eating his rabbit.
“Thom, how nice to see you again.” The not-so-calmed disdain slipping into his words “I have business with you.”
So far so good.. keep it together Jordan.. "Jordan!" Awen panted as she saw only the fluffy white fur through the gaggled of trees, she noticed the human but there didn't seem to be any danger around so she let her annoyance surface through concern. "What *huff* the *puff* heck!"
When Jordan had told Awen to stay behind she had no intention of doing as told. Something wasn't right and Awen had to find out what. The manta girl hadn't put much stock into the note she recieved from Richard about the dog acting weird but when he had abducted her from her nice watery duplex and into the steamy hot jungle she was not very happy. Concerned and curious perhaps it may have started with but when he took off and left her in an area of the jungle she wasn't familiar with, no way of escaping should Annie or whoever decide to attack because of the lack of knowing where a river was and her damn flippers preventing her from running she was definately angry with the pile of fur.
The manta ray crashed through the line of trees seperating her from the rest, just in time to trip on a rock or a root or something of the sort and fall to the ground with a resounding thud. There she lay for a few moments trying to catch her breath. The hike wouldn't have been so bad back in the day when she just had lungs, but since her last transformation breathing air was hard enough let alone a frantic hike to catch up to a crazed hound. The woman's chest burned with every breath she took which didn't help situations.
Proping herself up on one arm she pointed to Jordan with the other hand. "Don't ever.... leave me... like that again!" The wind was starting to come back to her as she was able to take better breaths. "What if Annie would have showed up? I can't get away on land you know!"
Someone had indeed woken up on the wrong side of the lake that morning. She had kept herself locked away in a foul mood ever since the valntines incedent and when she'd been dragged from her seclusion for some sort of emergency, without explaination, then left in the middle of the woods alone... well it just wasn't pleasent."Thom," he offered in reply to the woman's introduction, managing another polite nod before Jordan stepped between himself and Dee. The sheer fact that Jordan was actually standing his ground rather than fleeing for cover, quite frankly, amused Thom to no end, and it showed in the form of a half-smirk as he watched the dog man, shaking his head and opening his mouth to reply--
And closing it once more as Awen came rushing from the surrounding jungle. What was all this? He could go days without running into anyone at all, and, now that he actually wanted to sleep, here came three little nuisances to keep him from his rest. That seemed to be his luck. At least they weren't trying to shove him out of a tree as Miller had. "I wish I could say th' same, though I 'ardly think you've believe me if I did. I'm sure this 'business' can wait. I'd like to get back to my nap before another normie decides th' jungles a good place to blare symphonies.""Normie..." Dee mutters with a frown, quicker to come down from her anxiety high with this encounter--even though her islander count had tripled in the last few minutes. "There's that fraggin' word again." She cranes her neck over Jordan's shoulder to regard the snake. "You know, I may not have scales or fancy gene therapy(er...yet...) but I'm not just some poor schmoe they dragged off the streets."
It still hasn't occurred to her that 'normie' is a term for her state of change, or lack thereof.
Dee glances over at the manta girl and then back to the boys. "What the heck is going on?"Three's company, but four's a potential funeral pyre waiting to happen in the jungle of the island. The tension was mounting as Thom was spreading a word Jordan had never heard before. “Normie? What kind of offensive slang is that supposed to be?” It didn’t sit well with the dogman and he didn’t appreciate Thom being such an a** about Dee, him, or humans in general.
It was difficult to outright say what he needed to in the presence of the group, but he’d be damned if he let Thom slither away. “You have something that doesn’t belong to you and I intend to get it back. So, do us all a favor and make this easier on yourself. Just return what you stole from me.” He let go of Dee’s hand as he took a bold, assertive step towards the cobra. He wasn’t playing around. His very livelihood was on the hinge of getting the laptop back from Thom. He wanted to appear the bigger person in this matter and so far, he was already seemed to be a step ahead.
He couldn’t elaborate much more on the matter with Dee and Awen’s presence, but he’d hoped that if he played it correctly he could resolve this without much more fuss. What a naïve dog.Awen pulled herself from the ground. She smiled awkwardly at the human woman. "Sorry..." She said nicely. "I'm Awen, nice to meet you." After her introduction was said however, the manta turned her head towards Jordan.
"Is that what this is about? He stole something from you? Why not jsut ask the labs for a new one?""It's not meant t' be offensive," he snapped back, lip curling. None of the three had ever heard the term before? He was fairly sure he wasn't the only one who used it, though perhaps others were using it in a derogatory sense. He hadn't meant it entirely, though. "It just means you're normal. 'Aven't changed. Which, in turn, means you 'aven't been 'ere long, an' can't be expected t'know much about the island. If anythin', it means I should 'ave more patience with you than with this fool," he added towards Dee, jabbing his thumb at Jordan.
"To answer your demand," he began, fixing his attention back on Jordan, "If you're talkin' about th' rabbit, I'm afraid I don't 'ave it anymore." Thom flashed a grin, patting his stomach almost affectionately. "It was delicious, by th' way." He was sure Jordan already knew the rabbit was gone, and, likewise, he was sure Jordan was now speaking of the laptop. But he didn't have to admit to having the later, and mentioning the former would likely provoke some sort of amusing reaction from the dog man. Thom had the upper hand.Dee shied back a bit as the snake claps his jaws, but out of embarrassment more than fear. She'd heard the word before--Billy used it several times--but it still struck a nerve. Cowed, she flashes Awen a small, nervous smile. "My name's Dee..and likewise."
The woman takes a step to one side, closer to the rest of her gear, as well as the manta girl. Slowly, she starts to pack up, eyes flicking back up now and then to the confrontation.Thom's explanation of the term 'normie' only elicited an annoyed "Hmph." from Jordan.
Jordan growled at the cobra for even mocking the death of his rabbit. Paws clenched into fists as he nearly flew into a furious rage right then and there, but for the sake of Awen and Dee, he restrained himself at the limit of restraint for this contemptable slithering creature that once may or may not have held some manner of humanity to him. All Jordan knew now was Thom was jeopardizing his way of life, even after the fact of becoming a sled dog was taken into account. “You ate Thumper.. and for that alone I’d like to see you pay through the nose for, but that’s not why I’m here for..” he was being riled into anger, his breathing rising in his throat as he was almost through entertaining this façade.
He didn’t even turn his stare from Thom when answering the manta girl. “It’s not something that I can just replace, Awen..” he tried not to be curt, nor short-tempered with his friend “He’s in possession of something that he shouldn’t be and it’s my fault for not locking my duplex. It’s also my responsibility to get it back…” he trailed off, a bit fearfully as he didn’t know what would happen if he didn’t retrieve it.
“I’m so sorry you’re in the middle of this, Dee. I apologize for the scene, but my tail’s on the line here.”Awen sighed a bit as she looked at the scene she shuffled her way infront of Dee hoping to put herself in the way if anything goes wrong. It seems the new islanders were always subjected to some form of trauma in their first little while.
"Jordan why would your tail be on the line?" She looked up to the snake man and didn't think she recognised him. The only snake she remembers seeing was the one with the pretty swings ages ago. "Why don't you just give it back to him? Honestly it can't be worth all this hastle...""I don't have it," he repeated stubbornly. Thom watched the three with clear disdain, glancing from one to another to another and back. As amusing as Jordan's anger was, the whole meeting was a waste of time. Thom would have much rather gone back to sleep, or done something equally productive. Sleep was certainly a better use of time than tolerating the dog's presence.
...But the opportunity was just so hard to pass up. "But if it's so important to you, an' you've been instructed to get it back, there must be somethin' particularly useful on it, which really gives me no reason t' give it back to you. Assumin' I do 'ave it, of course, an' we've already decided that I don't. If I did 'ave it, I certainly wouldn't 'ave kept it close at hand. Tossed it in th' river, or fed it to Jamal, per'aps. Why don't you dive down his throat t' retrieve it?" It was all a game now. How long could he provoke the dog before Jordan snapped and Thom was allowed to defend himself?Dee fidgeted, unsure of what to say or do. Part of her was screaming to run away--this didn't concern her, nor did she want to find herself amidst a tussle between two creature folk. Sheer curiosity, stubborness, and a little bit of concern for all involved (even though she had just met them) kept her in place. She took the opportunity to study the three, taking mental notes so she could sketch and jot down her observations once she was clear of the drama.
The integration of Thom's cobra features fascinated her, not the least of which his 'hood' and atrophied legs. Jordan's extra set of limbs, on the other hand, were also curious...and she was interested if they would continue to develop. Awen's manta ray aspect was brilliantly displayed, from a scientific stand-point.
When Thom continues to needle Jordan, Dee snaps out of her curious repose and begins to fidget again.“You’re lying.” He called Thom out on his bold-faced lie of not having the laptop. “I detected your scent on the case and Lauren was there too. She knows you stole from me.. from Mor—“ he caught himself before he could finish saying Moreau. He was being pushed to the edge of tolerance quicker and quicker with each jolting taunt of the b*****d. “HE knows too..” Jordan added for dramatic effect.
His eye twitched in irritation at the continued insults and adulations. His fists were going white, though, covered in so much fur, that was indistinguishable. He had, no matter how many twisting and turning lies he wanted to sputter. “You’re a miserable piece of garbage! You ate my rabbit when I was nursing him back to health from the injury you caused, then you trash my duplex and steal from me!” Jordan couldn’t take much more of this. He was about to let loose on Thom as much as he didn’t want a scene infront of spectators. If he didn’t do something it was no better than giving up. His nose flared with each deep breath as a growl rumbled in his throat. His leg muscles tightened. Jordan stared Thom down, narrowing his eyes in absolute contempt for this slippery character. And Jordan pounced at Thom, fist clenched and drawn back, hoping to strike a good blow before he was KO’ed."Oh for crying out...." Awen crouched down close to Dee and sighed. She didn't want to let this go on but she couldn't quite get involved at this point. She gave a sad smile to the only human amongst them. "This honestly happens less than it seems..." At least so the manta girl would like to believe.
Awen was puzzled though at Jordan's words. The only thing she could think of to complete this lost sentance and anyone that would need such emphasis on 'he' would be Moreau. He hadn't ever acted like this around the girl before and she wondered what had happened. The note that Richard had sent Awen, asking her to find out Jordan and Moreau's connection came to mind. Was there more to it than the girl had realised? This really wasn't the same guy she'd met what seemed like such a sort time ago.
"Jordan! Come on there are other ways to resolve this!" Though she knew it was too late for anyone to heed her words."Of course I'm lyin', you idiot," he retorted, rolling his eyes. "Do you really think Jamal would swallow a laptop?" Oops, had he just said that aloud? "Though, if he knew it was Moreau's, I'm sure he'd try," Thom noted, chuckling dryly. It had been all too clear where Jordan was going with the word, and it was also very clear that Jordan didn't want the other two knowing what was being discussed. Thom, on the other hand, had no such desire to keep the topic secret.
The outburst that resulted from the dog man was enough to startle Thom, at the least. The cobra raised a scaled brow, eyeing Jordan contemptously as he ranted on. And then Jordan fell silent and crouched ever so slightly, and that was all the warning the cobra needed for the impending attack. As Jordan lunged, Thom quickly jerked back, hood spreading as he hissed a warning towards the dog. Avoiding the initial attack was easy enough simply by drawing back into a coil, but any further ones might be a bit more difficult, especially as he'd rather avoid just strangling Jordan while the women were standing there watching.
For now, he was strictly on the defense. Hood flared, the cobra readied himself for a strike, shoulders slightly hunched, arms spread at his sides in an almost-mimic of the hood. His tail looped in a coil about him on the ground, tensed in preparation of an attack. If Moreau was backing Jordan, Thom wasn't going to attack unless he absolutely had to. ...If the dog man had any sense, Thom though, Jordan would back down now.Dee only had a few moments to attempt to digest the information that was being spat around before Jordan pounced.
"NO!" she cried involuntarily. Dee was well aware of what serpents were capable of...and Thom looked like a perfectly scaled-up version. Not that Jordan looked weak...but against venom and strangulation, he could be in real danger. She could hardly know that Moreau's test subjects, if based on venomous beasts, were always 'detoxed.' In her mind, this poor white canine man was a goner.
Was the laptop *really* worth risking his life over?Thom had easily moved out of the way, which meant Jordan’s momentum propelled him past the cobra, to crash on the ground behind him, on the shoulder that was still healing. “AAAAUUGH!!” Jordan screamed at the top of his lungs as he felt the still-opened wounds tear. This, of course, resulted in blood dripping down the re-opened wound, over his shoulder as a stark contrast to his brilliantly-white fur.
Jordan winced on the ground. He wasn’t fast enough to land a blow against the damned cobra and he hurt too much to get up. His pride was abused and his livelihood was going to take a killing strike from Doctor Moreau, whether or not Thom was merciful to spare him any pre-punishment suffering. Jordan’s breathing was rough, choking on the failure as he clutched the opened wound, pulling himself painfully raising his torso off the ground. There was no way he could force Thom to divulge the location of the laptop without being able to beat it out of him.
He wanted to stand and attack Thom again, but he’d risk tearing the wound further and the pain was partially debilitating as it was. That and he knew what could happen. Jordan didn’t want either Awen, nor Dee to witness the brutality Thom was capable of, so he remained there on the ground, pathetically defeated, staring with fear at the snake’s backside."Don't worry... nothing too serious happens. The doc's can put us to sleep with a spoken word or touch of a button. We're too expensive as subjects to let us kill eachother." She reassured Dee. Though that never meant that the islanders couldn't harm eachother. When she saw the action pause momentarily, Jordan's bloody shoulder and Thom poised for attack she stood up and took a small step towards the two, palms raised showing she didn't want to get into the fight.
"Alright boys that's enough, alright? You two are really worse than kids on a playground. Mr.. um. Well snake guy please just go on your way, Jordan you chill too. We're going back to the village and you're going to explain some things, like why you're bloody well picking a fight with this very strong looking guy. Then we'll see about getting that laptop back." She looked up at the snake and sighed. "I really don't know what you have against Jordan, or why you stole that laptop, this island has enough damn problems as it is. But whatever that's not the issue can you at least agree for things to end here, even if its just for now? This really can be settled with no more violence, alright? Come on guys, you're probably scaring the heck out of the new gal over there...""Don't worry... nothing too serious happens. The doc's can put us to sleep with a spoken word or touch of a button. We're too expensive as subjects to let us kill eachother." She reassured Dee. Though that never meant that the islanders couldn't harm eachother. When she saw the action pause momentarily, Jordan's bloody shoulder and Thom poised for attack she stood up and took a small step towards the two, palms raised showing she didn't want to get into the fight.
"Alright boys that's enough, alright? You two are really worse than kids on a playground. Mr.. um. Well snake guy please just go on your way, Jordan you chill too. We're going back to the village and you're going to explain some things, like why you're bloody well picking a fight with this very strong looking guy. Then we'll see about getting that laptop back." She looked up at the snake and sighed. "I really don't know what you have against Jordan, or why you stole that laptop, this island has enough damn problems as it is. But whatever that's not the issue can you at least agree for things to end here, even if its just for now? This really can be settled with no more violence, alright? Come on guys, you're probably scaring the heck out of the new gal over there...""That was it? That was the entire fight? The whole spectacle was rather pitiful, when it came down to it. Several seconds passed before the cobra began to relax, slowly straightening to a more natural pose and sending a skeptical glance Jordan's way. He half expected Jordan to whirl around as he had their first meeting and try another foolish attack, but there was nothing. No, the dog man was just sitting on he ground, bleeding from a shoulder and sulking. And Thom hadn't done a thing.
Momentarily ignoring Jordan, Thom turned his attention to Awen, frowning down at her. As usual, he was being made out to be the bad guy. Sure, he had provoked Jordan, but Jordan had been the one to actually attack, and Thom had been kind enough move aside rather than counter, which probably saved them all a lot of stress and, in Jordan's case, pain. "I think th' one you should be talkin' to is 'im, miss," he muttered, jabbing a thumb towards Jordan. "'E attacked, not me, an' 'e's th' one more likely to try again. I'm perfectly 'appy to be on my way if 'e'll bugger off an' leave me alone."
Chuckling, he glanced towards the dog man. "In fact, I think I'll do that now while 'e's busy cryin' about 'is shoulder. 'Ave a nice day." He sent a sneer Jordan's way, but his expression was polite enough as he turned back to Awen and Dee to nod a goodbye, immediately afterwards turning to start through the trees, back for where he had been napping. Maybe now he would be able to sleep.Dee's shoulders slumped in relief that the violence of the situation was (so far) extinguished. "Crazy-a** goddamn island..." she muttered, watching Thom. Hesitant to prod anyone for more information on just what was going on, she rubs her temples and then gives the snake a weak wave. "Yeah, I don't understand what that was about, but enjoy your nap. I'll leave the speaker home next time."
The woman turns to Jordan, her hands on her hips. She bites her lip at the sight of the scarlet blood on his white coat. "I...have a small first aid kit in my bag. Do you need some help?"Jordan was absolutely humiliated once again by Thom. He was bested by the better person, or at least someone who was further along and had more experience with advanced changes. Semantics, either way. Jordan was a dog and not some wild beast. He wouldn't be fortunate enough to successfuly combat such formiddable opponents, even if he'd been ensured by the doctor Jordan would be able to defend himself and Moreau one day. It was the surprise in his serum.
He pounded his fist on the jungle floor in defeat, trying to hold back the obscenities. This was so bad for the dogman. Doctor Moreau had promised punishment for failure. Jordan wasn't going to act foolhearty and get himself nearly killed once again. He waited for Thom to depart before he rose painfully from the ground, holding his left paw over his right shoulder in a feeble attempt to keep the blood from spilling over. His fur was stained red as was the surrounding fur as he walked towards Dee and Awen, head lowered in shame.
"I'm so screwed.." is all he muttered, clenching his eyes tight. "What was so important about a damned laptop Jordan." Awen said partly in a tone of concern and part of accusation. "Life perhaps wouldn't have been risked but you could sure do damage to yourself in the process. Why did you attack, there was no reason for that. Honestly Jordan, your surprise me." She shook her head.
"There are smarter ways of getting what you need back. It's still possibly you're not screwed." A small sigh parted her lips as she spoke more calmly. "You are turning into a canine hun, if your nose doesn't work yet I'm sure there are others who could help you sniff out what was stolen. You don't have to rush in flailing punches around. That's just not the Jordan I know."
Turning to look at Dee she couldn't help a small smile. "Really sorry about all this. You shouldn't have been caught in such a bad position here..."Dee blushed a bit and waved a hand. "Thanks, but it was technically my fault for attracting them both in the beginning. I've been in worse scrapes before...possibly not as odd, though."
She looks over at Jordan. "And why are you so screwed? You should listen to your friend here...she sounds quite intelligent. I'm sure there's another way.""It wasn't just an everyday laptop, nor can what's on it easily be replaced.." he glanced between them both, then behind himself in paranoia to assure himself that Thom was indeed gone. He didn't trust the cobra not to sneak-attack him. “I’m sorry that I’m not at liberty to tell you more. Please, you just have to trust me. It’s a bad thing that it’s not in my possession.”
He glanced back to Dee. “I’d appreciate that offer of first aid, thank you.”
He couldn’t believe that he’d torn the injury in such a stupid, headstrong display, but Thom got his goat and bad. Jordan was nothing more than pathetically comical to the snake and he was so easily goaded into attacking. Surely, he should have realized that he’d have failed against the more nimble, fluid movements of the cobra, but there was so much at stake not to take the chance. There was nothing left to do but to accept his fate from Doctor Moreau. He couldn’t pull the information from Thom if his life depended on it- and Jordan feared that it may.
“I’m sorry. Neither of you should have had to have seen that. I really don’t know what’s going to happen now.” He was scared and it showed. Jordan was trembling in fear- no terror. He’d already been tormented psychologically by the main man and now there was the looming punishment that could possibly top anything that’s happened to him thus far. Awen moved right up to the fluffy white dogman and tapped on his head lightly with a fist. "Hello? Is Jordan's brain in there? Or are his ears in a temporary state of not hearing?" She stepped back and crossed her arms. "Snif it out Jordan. You're a dog aren't you?" She shook her head slowly. "Listen we're going to have to talk about this. I don't know what Moreau has done to you or threatens to do but it's not right. I don't know of any islander who seems to fear for their life by that mad man's hands. We fear the changes and the accidental deaths, but you look like you're on the chopping block hun. So stop sulking and start smelling. Shouldn't you canines be able to snif things out? Surely you'd be able to find its scent? Stop looking like you're doomed because your not."Dee adopts a grim expression as she listens to Awen try to talk some sense into her compatriot. As the manta woman chews Jordan's ear, Dee extracts her little med kit and picks her way over to the canine. She knows basic first-aid, and has had to patch herself up from minor scrapes on several occasions. This,however, looks a bit over her head...but she'll try to do her best.
"Sit still, pup...this may sting," Dee kneels next to Jordan and squirts a bit of hydrogen peroxide on a sterile pad, then begins to wipe the area of the wound, trying to clean it and get a better look through all that fur.Jordan remained still so she could tend to his injury, hissing sharply as it stung. Following the initial stinging, he settled back down. He’d let Awen say her piece uninterrupted, but didn’t appreciate the way she spoke of Doctor Moreau. The truth –to Jordan- was he’d caused the doctor to become irate with him, from the very reason he was brought to the island to the laptop incident occurring.
“Yes. My senses have improved a lot, but I don’t even know where to look. That’s why I came to the jungle. This is really bad.. as bad or worse than the reason that brought me here.. I was responsible for keeping that safe and I let him down again.” Jordan was possibly saying more than he should have. With cameras everywhere, he should know by now to be careful what he says to the others, especially in the presence of one of the newer residents.
“Awen, I’m sorry I dragged you into this. You’re my friend. You were the first person other than Doctor Moreau that I had the pleasure of meeting. I’m really sorry for causing you problems today. I was afraid to come alone, though… he nearly killed me the last time we met..”The manta quirked a brow at that. "He would have gotten zapped before he got the chance. He doesn't strike me asthe type to have clawed out his own chip or anything.... So I doubt death would have been in order. We're too expensive as lab rats to let die. But don't be sorry for dragging me along, you're my friend and if there was trouble I could actually help with I'd be more than happy to."
She moved back and leaned against a tree watching Dee start to fix up the dog's arm. "Well, in any detective movie I've ever seen they start at the scene of the crime. The laptop probably has your smell on it, as well as the snake's. Follow the snakes scent away from your duplex." She shrugged a little bit at what seemed so obvious to her.
It nagged at her very badly the view that Jordan held Moreau in. Sure she was friendly with Sabin, but that was different. She didn't idolize him, she didn't believe he was perfect and were he the one at the top in charge she'd probably hate him as much as she does Moreau. But he's not, so it's different.
"Listen Jordan, I'm all for having sympathy with the labs... a lot of the techs were probably tricked onto this island before being told the full extent of the project... but what is the deal with you and Moreau? He's the one that organized all this. I enjoy the way I am now, I love the gifts I have, but that does not excuse the lives he's ruining. People are hurting, scared and dying. They come for tropical vacations, therapy, research expiditions and god only know what else. So far as I know no one ever asked for this, I'm sure there would be plenty of people willing to undergo these changes. Just go and find some of the more serious furries and otherkin. Feral Labs is smart, they could find a way to cover those people up just as much as they cover up the disappearences of everyone else here. So why trick people, take unwilling subjects? He's the master mind of this all and although he's done much good for me, I still resent being tricked into it and I sympathise with the others who are less accepting of their changes. So really, Jordan, what is the deal with you and Moreau?"Dee also quirks an eyebrow, listening quietly as she works. She's full of questions for Sabin, and Moreau as well. Perhaps letting the good Doctor's guard dog do some talking will clear up a few things.
She discards the current pad, and sterilizes another. "You may need new sutures, Jordan...All I can do is bandage it, but it won't be pretty." She presses the pad against the wound, then reaches for a small roll of gauze.
As she wrapped and pinned the gauze into a bandage, Dee felt very much like a...veterinarian.“Thanks. If it gets me home without bleeding all over myself, it’s a good job.” He replied to Dee’s efforts, pondering if it was even safe to mention more in the presence of the unchanged human. But, he caved, not wanting to anger Awen to the point she distrusted him.
Jordan lowered his voice to a whisper, wary of the cameras. “After high school, I spent six years earning my AS in veterinary medicine and my BS in zoology.” He figured if he was going to tell a story, it was going to be told right. “Caring for animals is what I’d always wanted to do with my life. My mother saved all my life so she could send me to good schools to get a proper education. I’d acquired a job at a local small-time zoo back in Tampa and in my stay had risen to the rank of staff. That was great, but after a while, I needed something more. I was struggling to pay the bills and my life hadn’t been exactly what I’d wanted from it. That’s how I came into contact with Feral. The promise of a better life, especially the pay, kept me quite comfortable over my one year of employment. I was honestly horrified by what they were doing, experimenting on animals. But I was too afraid to leave and I sucked it up to live the life that I’d wanted. I could buy what I wanted and still remain in comfort. However, it came to an end when I came into contact with a co-worker who duped me into stealing for him. I as told that I was being transferred after my detainment and that I’d be working for the labs at three times my previous pay. That laptop…” he paused a moment “..was part of my work here on the island.. and by not getting it back.. it’s just as grievious an offense that landed me here.. so you see why I was so adamant about getting it back, even if I had to beat it out of him..”
Jordan looked to them both. Now they knew a side of himself that he’d striven to hide from the others. “I’ve told both of you this in stricktest confidence. Please, this doesn’t leave us.”"That still doesn't explain this admiration for Moreau." Awen seemed unimpressed by his story. She already knew he had worked for Feral, which meant he had to do something to mess up to land him on the island in the first place. "You're avoiding my core question here Jordan.
"And of course I'm not spreading your past around. But going around getting into fights in Moreau's name is worse than telling people you used to work for Feral. I warned you for a reason not to tell people, and just having them know you made a mistake wasn't it. You're landing yourself in more and more hot water Jordan." She paughed and moment looking at him with the same hard look she had been before dropping into concern. "I just want to know why you're throwing yourself into harms way like this. Getting the laptop back in one thing, but I've heard you've been preaching Moreau's name as good to a few people. That's putting you in mortal danger. The labs may be able to control guys like the snake, but there are others who are a bit craftier than him, and another who like Annie has no chip. So really Jordan I'm asking you as your friend to be honest with me. Why are you being so stupid and risking your life over that b*****d?"
Awen didn't mean to ignore Dee, she really was helping but there was something she ws missing with Jordan and he avoided her questions enough without her side tracking adding to the distraction. She'd have to talk to the woman later, have a better introduction and chat probably. But for now she really just needed the dog to answer her damn questions.Dee was doing fine, all things considered, and didn't think she was being abused or ignored. She was simply confused and wishing she could do more for Jordan. "I won't say a thing, Jordan... but thank you for trusting someone you just met." She puts away her little kit and loops her bag around her shoulder. "I'm afraid I don't have much else to offer, in the way of information or suggestions," she sighs. "As you've probably guessed, I haven't been here too long."He nodded towards Dee. "You've been helpful and I hope that you'll have more pleasant experiences." Jordan extended his paw to the woman who’d just tended to his wounds. It wasn’t easy being the new person, nor having to witness some of the acts that transpire on the island. “I’m not usually so high-strung. I apologize for the scene I’ve caused here.”
However, he didn’t appreciate the questions Awen was asking. Not one bit. Jordan was naïve, but not stupid. He knew she was friends with Richard and he delighted in terrorizing him at every moment he got. He shrugged his shoulders at her interrogation. Jordan didn’t like her association with the evil man. He was an upstart and a corrupting influence. “I’m not perfect and I’ve made some mistakes, but we all have.” He shot a suspicious look. If she was fishing for answers to give that miserable old codger, she’d have to try much, much harder.
Jordan wasn’t interested in playing twenty questions and he stood once he was sure Dee had finished. “This isn’t the time, nor the place to have this conversation.” He tried to blow it off for now, but he was certain, if Awen was anything like Richard, she’d harp him over and over again for the answers. “We shouldn’t stick around here much longer anyways.” Jordan sniffed around for the way that he’d come and began to backtrack his path, glancing backwards, giving his black nose a tap. “This way.”Awen sighed heavily and shook her head. That was definately not the same islander she'd met only a few months ago. If the manta didn't know any better she'd say he was turning into a mule. She moved closer to him and leaned in slightly as he started forward. "Fine Jordan but seriously. I'm your friend, and if you don't trust me enough to say when we get a chance alone I'm really going to worry. I care about you hun, I want to know why you're risking your life."
The manta honestly and sincerely wasn't planning on telling Richard. Even though his note had been on her mind she wasn't about to abuse the trust of her friend like that. General gossip she'd probably pass along, but not a secret so in deep. If the wrong people didn't know about Jordan's affiliation and find out because of the newsletter... She would never be able to forgive herself if someone like Jamal went after the poor dog. She wouldn't ever risk that. But if Jordan didn't see that in her, it was worse than she would have thought.
"Can you point me in the direction of the nearest river? I don't think I'll be able to make the hike back to town." Her skin was positively flaking off by this point and her breath seemed a bit more ragged, even if she'd been learning to focus and concentrate on it more.Dee brushed off the seat of her shorts and nodded, tossing a thumb over her shoulder. "Back that way, Awen...I passed over one on my way here. Just follow the game trail.
"And Jordan...if you don't mind me butting in, but you seem like a nice fellow. You're considerate, and you're not stupid, but from a third perspective you definitely sound brain-washed. You're Moreau's guinea pig, but he's not your master, and I'm disgusted at them for whatever they did to turn you into this." She wasn't referring to his appearance, naturally.
"I hope to be able to talk to you two at another time...when we're all calm and rational. I'm in Duplex 29."Jordan was about to answer that he'd lead Awen to a river, but Dee had considerately informed her, which made his life easier. He liked Awen a lot, she was a good friend, actually she and Lauren had been his only friends for some time. Perhaps he should have been less suspicious of her, but he was merely erring on the side of caution. It was hard being Jordan. He was the Doctor’s pawn and trying to be what Moreau expected him to be so that he could survive this life- and remain in comfort. He didn’t know how he wanted to respond to Awen, so he simply didn’t, walking past her.
Dee had hit the target on the nose and that made him a bit worried. She was sharp, but kept it on the down-low that she was so close to the truth. “Thanks.” He forced a smile “You’re nice and considerate as well.” He nodded to what was said last. “Yeah.. maybe we can get together and have a better time in a more hospitable situation.”
Assuming Awen would part his company for the river, the dog of Moreau disappeared into the foliage of the jungle, backtracking on the path that he’d taken."Thanks Dee..." Awen smiled. "We'll meet up again when things aren't so crazy. Special Duplex 1, by the lake." She gave the two a wave and a smile. "Take care guys!"
Turning the manta went down in the direction that the other woman was kind enough to point her in. Right now she just couldn't wait to slip back into the refreshing life giving waters of the island and put all of this on the back burner of her mind for now.Dee sighed, slightly surprised despite herself at the return of silence to the grove. With a quick check to make sure she didn't miss anything she, too, departs.
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 11:23 am
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:42 pm
With recent developments progressing as they were, Jordan was realizing that he'd been burning his bridges at both ends since his arrival, as he stared helplessly at the jagged chasm looming below. He was becoming a dog and acting like the doctor's faithful pet: a lunatic at times and a fanatic at others. It was justified to stay in the labs' good graces, but that was becoming a losing effort. He'd sacrewed up several times, but this latest took the cake for sure.
Then, there was the epiphany that he'd lost his family and would never see them again. Dealing with life on the island had been hard enough without bringing his family into the picture. There was Christmas and the sadness that it brought along. No family, not even a present at his doorstep, and never again would he be human.
His meeting with Thina had prompted such thoughts and he wondered if his parents even knew he was missing, if they’d tried to contact him. They probably thought he was dead and that was probably for the best. As much as he wanted to let them know he was okay, Jordan couldn’t bear the thought of them knowing he was changing into an animal possibly only five hundred miles from home. They’d ask questions and that would lead to them being ‘silenced’.
Jordan hadn't contacted Seth like he'd agreed to, till now. He'd been suspicious of him previously, but now he didn't care what he was up to. As much as it felt, Jordan was no different than any of them. He'd been using the labs as a shield to hide behind, as he acted high and mighty. The memory of that encounter was abyssmal. What had he been thinking? He was going to get himself killed like Awen feared with his zealous fanaticism of the labs. The labs were a nightmare for him on the mainland, but since he'd arrived, Jordan had tried to used them to his advantage and failed. He wanted to change his ways and make amends for his grievous actions one at a time and he was considering what he'd been doing thus far. This wasn't him. This wasn't what he wanted for himself. Jordan was being turned into a tool for the labs to discard when his usefulness had expired, like Richard had said time and again. Such conflicting thoughts were shaking his loyalties with the labs who kept him safe and in comfort.
He'd contacted Seth and asked the thylacine to meet him at the far end of the beach. He needed to talk to him seriously about important matters. Jordan's tone was somewhat despondant and distant. Whether or not the man would come, Jordan would be waiting where he asked to meet. Seth wandered out of his territory with an almost limping-like canter. He wasn't injured or anything, but with the speed he was currently going at, his feet were telling him to hop, to bound, while he wanted to move his legs as he had always done. Since his last change, he had been sore and aching all over for the past number of weeks. But as the pains faded, he felt more comfortable and even found walking easier. The tail gave him superior balance and he had finally begun to see it's use.
That still didn't mean he liked it, however.
The bipedal-thylacine hesitantly paused as he reached the edge of the jungle, nervously peering out onto the beach. What did Jordan want? Did he find out about the real plan? Was he going to clobber him like he had done before? Or had he come through in the end, and had received the wire cutters? He didn't know. Curiousity drove him onwards, and he stepped out into the open, casually walking across the hot sand. The direct heat of the sun beating down on him felt invigorating. He almost wanted to lie in it, put his head down, and go to sleep. But no, he had come here for a different reason, and needed to keep on going.
It didn't take him long to reach the edge of the sand, the ocean lazily lapping at the beach sand under his feet. Seth placed his heels down, standing on the entire length of his foot, and raised his head to the air to sniff. It was something a thylacine might do to extend it's sight range, but for an already-bipedal creature, the motion just looked plain silly.
He was here somewhere... his scent was in the air. The man quickly glanced around the beach, but saw nothing. Perhaps he was early?When Jordan had meant the far side of the beach, that's really what he'd meant: an isolated tract of sand that he suspected was unmonitored. It was away from the jungle and away from everything else in general. The precaution was just to be on the safe side, give the thylacine a sense of comfort and ease of mind. This could very well or it could go very, very bad. Either way, he wanted Seth to feel comfortable around him. That -alone- was a tall order.
He'd given Seth some time to reach his end of the island as he bemusingly considered it, but even so, he hadn't seen Seth yet and was beginning to wonder if he thought it was a trap. Given their fractious first meeting, he couldn't fault the man for being suspicious; but Jordan wanted to square things away, given the opportunity, so he kept his hopes up. There were things he wanted to say that needed to said.
He sat nervously on the sand, in his black running shorts. The water was lapping at his hindpaws and he was becoming restless. He was fighting the urge to go swimming or to race up and down on the beach, just to burn off some of the anxious energy. Samoyeds were active dogs and became bored very, very easily, so the waiting game was chewing at the n** of his tail.
He looked so utterly calm and non-hostile that it would strike some as bizarre. At least the ones who'd seen the side of him that had emerged on the island. He was fighting what he was becoming and trying to prevent that part of himself from fading, that side of himself he felt was fading due to the labs' mechanizations. "Where the s**t is he..?"
Seth shook his head and wondered the question to himself, turning one ear away from the ocean to get a better listen all around. He had a good nose, and began to put it to use. Turning his snout up to the air, he began to sniff, his nose taking in mostly nothing else but the scent of low tide.
"Bugger...." He grumbled. "Unless..."
There was a craggy rock area on the far side of the beach. He had taken Gaius there just a few days before he had changed yet again. It was a good place to chat, as there were virtually no cameras there at all.
Seth set off down the beach. And soon enough, he noticed... somebody very white. Jordan? He didn't know. He wasn't in the rocky crag area, but near enough. But, it didn't look like Jordan... at least from what he could remember anyway.
"Hie!" He called out to the man. "What are you doing here?"Jordan sighed, feeling like he'd been stood up, but willing to give him ten more minutes and then he was going home. This was proving to be a disappointment. Seth had every reason not to come and he was going to have to deal with that fact if he didn't show. He tucked his head down between the legs he pulled to his chest. Jordan didn't want to think negatively about the man when he had asked him out here for constructive purposes, yet he sighed as he dwelled on what he'd lost. He no longer wanted to be the pariah. Hew didn't want ot be an outcast of the island.
He was in quiet reflection, rubbing the front of his legs while the ocean breeze pushed over him. Jordan wondered how he'd react, if Seth would think he was lying again.. He didn't want to be that monster. The labs were good to him, but had taken so much.
It was then he heard the call from down the beach and looked up. His brow cocked at the sight. Was that Seth? So he'd changed too... fantastic..
Jordan waved a paw back to him but remained quiet for the moment, instead flagging him over.Seth was immediately stiff, tense, and wary. Who was this? he really didn't know. The thylacine was wary also, it screamed 'danger, danger!' in his head, but he chose to ignore it and proceed down the beach, toward the strange white animal-man.
"Er, hi there." He said casually. He said nothing of why he was here - he didn't want to make the other man suspicious. It did not occur to him that this man in front of him was Jordan himself. "I'm just... strolling around. How about you?"Was this really Seth?! He looked so different. It was difficult to tell by the face as it wasn't what he remembered. The tail was more recognizable than the face. Just as Jordan didn't immediately know if it was Seth, the thylacine seemed to be having similar trouble knowing who he was. Soon enough Jordan wouldn't know his own reflection. The apprehension rose. He didn't know for sure!
Jordan spoke softly, unlike in their previous meetings. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage. "Hi." he gave Seth a soulful look of a man pondering life. "I won't say no to the company, if you want to have a sit." He was afraid to ask if it was Seth...Seth shrugged. "Sure, why not. I've nothing else to do for now, so..." He moved down on all fours before sitting his butt down in the sand. "This place is so boring, isn't it. I've got absolutely nothing to do."
He sniffed the air. Jordan's smell was so strong now. The thylacine man raisesd an eyebrow at his company, staring at him for more than a few minutes, finally shaking his head.
"Jordan?" He queried. "I recognise the feet, but.... what the bloody hell happened to you?"He said nothing as the man seated himself on all fours, offering only the slightest shrug to the initial question. So unlike what he remembered of Seth. Jordan studied him as well for the next few minutes as they mutually remained silent in surprise. How was he going to begin this? It sounded like Seth and even smelled like the thylacine.
Jordan was more nervous about their meeting. He didn’t want anything detrimental to happen. This could be his one and only chance to rectify matters peacefully. So he tucked himself in tighter to his body, huddling his white furry body even if it made him uncomfortably hot.
Jordan nodded softly as he tilted his gaze to the sand. “I was worried you wouldn’t show up..” he rested his chin on his knees. “Thank you for coming out here.. I thought it was the only place they wouldn’t hear us..” his voice hadn't -and wouldn't- risen from the soft, civil tone.
A shiver raced up his spine as Jordan gave Seth a pathetic look. He opened his mouth to say more, but the words were caught in his throat. Then Seth would hear the words that would likely kill him and everyone else who hated the labs. "I was so wrong... about a lot of things.." he couldn't face Seth as he said that. "Why wouldn't I show up?" He wondered. "I've nothing to fear on this island, nothing at all." He smirked. "If anything, this island would probably fear me, especially now." He lifted his head and yawned, extending his jaws to their full 100° limit as if to prove the point. He shuddered slightly with the movement and closed his jaws again, rubbing his forehead. "I'm fine. I can't say the same for you, though... that coat of fur looks bloody uncomfortable."
He listened carefully to what Jordan was saying, and pulled his lips back in a frown as Jordan stated that he was wrong about a lot of things.
"I hate to be the one who said I told you so," He said, "But I told you so."
"There's not much you can do about it, I'm afraid." He said as casually as he could manage, though he couldn't quite hide the fact he was suspicious. This man had punched him in the face several weeks ago just for stating the truth about the island. He wondered what had happened to bring his opinion around full-swing in the other direction.
"So the Doctor isn't as friendly as you thought he was, ey?"“There’s the first time we met..” he sighed regrettably “and I slugged you.. because I was acting like a stupid twit..” Jordan winced and didn’t doubt Seth would be feared with jaws like that. It looked he was well-equipped to disable anyone who’d be stupid enough to repeat Jordan’s assault, though.. that was unlikely anyone else would be so fanatical.. and then before he could finish the thought, Lauren popped into his head. Yeah.. she wouldn’t hesitate to knock someone’s block off.. “A fur coat this thick on a tropical island is torture.. but it’s nothing compared to this..” Jordan showed Seth the wiggling paws extending from his stomach for a moment before resuming his huddled pose.
“I know.. you warned me.. others warned me.. and I deserve more than an ‘I told you so’ but I guess that I’m getting what’s coming to me, huh..? I’m so ashamed of myself..” he covered his face in his paws, gritting his fangs in frustration. “I asked you to join me out here so I can apologize to you in person.. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done in the name of the labs.. I’ve been terrified of them and what they could do to me, so I tried to be something they wanted. But it’s not what I want.” He finally lifted his head, glancing solemnly towards Seth.
“I didn’t know who else to turn to. I know it has to sound crazy, but I’m serious. I’m scared as hell at what’s happening to me. I broke down a few days ago when I realized everything the labs have taken from me: my humanity, my family, and if I don’t do something soon, I fear my sanity will crumble under what the mental torture I’ve been put through..”
Jordan pulled back the fur on his left arm, revealing the two sloppy injection sites that had left some scarring from the fierce jabbing. “He…” Jordan choked on the emotion that was building “he sent guards to my duplex two weeks ago and told me that I had to inject myself.. I was terrified.. I didn’t want to.. but the alternatives were motivation enough..” he tucked his head between his legs and huffed indignantly. Seth initially just listened to Jordan, nodding at his words, seeming rather relaxed and calm. But as Jordan showed him the... things sticking out of his sides, the thylacine instincts went into overdrive. The man almost literally fell over as he sidestepped, jerking back away from Jordan's arms, his eyes fixed on the extra appendages.
"Urrrr-rrrrr rrr!!" He made short quick guttural noises, which almost sounded like coughing barks as he retreated away from the other man. "What the bloody hell are those?!"
"I accept your apology..." He said after a few moments, seeming to calm down, but didn't seem any less wary of the arms. He found himself staring at them as he continued listening to Jordan, gritting his teeth, grimacing at the sight of them.
"The doctor made you inject yourself?" He raised an eyebrow. "What the hell for?"Seth’s reaction was expected. Hell, they freaked Jordan out with their every movement. He was becoming a freak of the doctor’s design. The noises he made and the surprised, defensive aggression put him on edge, but Jordan couldn’t hold that against him. He would have been scared of that sight on anyone else. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.. Moreau said there’s a surprise in my serum..” he rolled his eyes and grumbled. “These things were inside me for six weeks, kicking, moving and waiting to burst free.. they’re paws, just smaller.. I can’t hide them either. I’m hot as hell just wearing shorts.”
“Thank you, Seth.” He nodded in acknowledgment to the acceptance of his apology. “I was hoping that we could even become friends, in time, that is after I’ve earned it. I’m sure it’s hard to trust me. I have to make up for how I’ve acted. I’m treading on thin ice, burning my bridges at both ends and it’s come time for me to choose a side before I’m left with nothing. I’m not exactly in good standing with the labs.”
Jordan tried to keep his freakish appendages hidden in his fur. He didn’t want to disturb Seth more than they disturbed himself. The answer was simple to the thylacine’s last question. “Because he could. Because it’s what he wanted.”"That's pretty dumb. And poor reasoning - doing something because he can?" Seth made a disgusted grunting noise. "He sounds as manipulative and as depraved as Doctor Duvert." He paused. "You haven't met him, have you? He's one of the other blokes in charge - crackpot old fool he is. He has a really silly looking top hat, too." He growled, muttering more to himself now. "One day, I'd just like to... knock it off his big fat head..."
Seth made a loud frustrated snort and shook his head. "So you're not in Moreau's good books any more, ey? Does this mean we're not building the statue of him any more?"“I knew of Moreau before I came to the island.. this is his revenge.. I was naïve to think Feral Labs was a better opportunity.. it was a year of hell. I quickly learned of their experimentation on animals and it turned my stomach. I was too afraid to leave, so I did one better. I stole from them. I was going to take classified documents as my way of giving Moreau the big ‘screw you’.” Jordan flashed a fangy grin as if he was actually proud of that- and right now, why not? After Moreau learned he’d failed in retrieving the laptop, his a** was grass. That was as bad or worse than the original offense, so as long as he was screwed there was no harm in disclosing this. “I had an accomplice and we were busted before we could leave that room.” Jordan had nothing to lose and just maybe he was playing for the wrong team.
He had to pause, take a breath, collect his thought. The sounds of the waves crashing on the nearby rocks was soothing. The beach was soothing, in general. The only staff he’d had any contact with was Doctor Moreau. Jordan knew the name Duvert, as it was mentioned a few times by others.
“I’m not sure they’d give me anything more than a swift kick in the a** at this point. I lost something important to them- rather it was stolen from my duplex and I failed to retrieve it. Moreau said it was the same as the original offense that landed me here, so I’m in hot water once I have to deal with that mess.” Jordan shrugged. "Sure, they could punish me, torture me further, even do worse than I can imagine, but as I see it, there're paws coming out of my stomach, so they can sit and rotate." he said that last comment with venomous intent.
Let them find it on their own. He was through injuring himself for them. He was their tool and their pawn for this long, but it was coming to a point where he'd have to decide where he stood. Seth listened quietly through all of Jordan's explanation, still staring at the extra paws growing out of his sides. Okay, they weren't going to lunge out and attack him, but they were still quite unpleasant to look at, and inwardly he was glad that nothing like that had happened to him. Although, his own changes ranked pretty high on the 'awful' scale...
Seth frowned in thought, pondering how close the story was to his own. I'm here because I stole too," He began. "Only I didn't steal from Feral Labs - I stole FOR them - an article from a museum. Or rather, I had a friend working in a museum, and he stole it for me to ship here. I was basically nothing but a mule. If it ever leaked back home, I'd probably be tried for Grand Theft, or treason. I don't suppose I could go home even if I wanted to. Especially not now, why just look at me. Where would I go if I escaped?" He shook his head. "Hrmph."
"I don't consider this stuff a punishment though - it's just downright stupid. We're prisoners here, they trap us like prey because we're gulliable - just about everybody I know here was promised something, and the labs never came through. Then they keep us prisoner here and experiment on us because it's convenient. They're twisted bastards with nothing better to do with their time." He snorted.
"There's no point in escaping now though." He snarled. "Why, just look at me, and you. Where the hell are we gonna go after that? What then?"The staring was making him feel self-conscious again. He knew he was becoming a mutant freak, but the reaction caused him to hide them as best he could as they wiggled into view. It hurt him visibly to smush them against his body, but he didn’t need Seth freaking out and going feral on him.
Seth’s story was so close to his own that it was frightening in comparison. One stealing for Feral, the other stealing from Feral, while each other’s partner-in-crime got off scott-free. “It was this or prison. Not that I had a choice in the matter. He could have sued me, ruined me financially for the rest of my life in legal battles. This isn’t much better, but at least I’m not getting shivved in the shower..” he shook his head at the morbid possibilities “My parents would be so proud of me: twenty-five and a felon.. I wish I could see them.. though.. I can’t imagine they’d react to my appearance any better..”
The scary thing was Seth made sense. They were being imprisoned no matter how flowery the speech was about them being taken care of or given what they want on request. Their lives were nothing more than playthings to these people. “It’s like that old Eagles’ song.. Hotel California.. 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device. And in the master's chambers, they gathered for the feast. They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast.’ Sounds like a pretty good summary of the situation to me.
Jordan looked back and forth, worried someone might be overhearing this. He was pretty much committing treason by talking this way. He leaned closer to Seth, looking for a sign of hope. “What if there was a way, though? Is that even possible?” His expression was desperate for a positive response. “They watch us like hawks from their ivory tower and can buzz us before we know what’s happened.” His lips trembled. “Anywhere is better. I’m going to die of heatstroke before I’m twenty-six. I have to crank down the AC just to keep cool and I've even been sleeping on the bathroom floor because the bed is too hot with all this fur. It's cruel to change into a sled dog on a tropical island.""My parents would be no more proud of me, don't worry." Seth scowled, flicking his ears in his annoyance. "Duvert told me that he told my friend and my parents that I nicked off after getting the cash reward for the crap I stole. Or rather, carted across here like a drug mule. Lying manipulative b*****d." He spat the last sentence out like acid, or something equally as vile tasting. "So they think I'm either spending it up big somewhere, or dead. I don't know..." The subject depressed him and he quickly pushed it out of his mind.
"I haven't heard that song, but eh... its accurate." He frowned and scratched the back of his head. "Is there a way to what, escape? Probably, I dunno..." He shrugged, glancing out towards the ocean.
While he had a plan that had a good chance of working in motion, he wasn't just about to say that. Especially when Jordan had been so eager to help him build the Moreau statue a few weeks ago. He seemed genuine enough, but for somebody to do a 180° change of opinion in such a short period of time made him feel quite suspicious. He had tricked Jordan into believing he was for the labs before. Maybe he was tryign to trick him now?
"I can tell you though, every escape plan has failed thus far."He felt like there was an answer, a way out of this and off this island. He’d never thought that could be possible, but his hopes were being raised and then the crushing reality thast all escape attempts had failed hurt deep, like a hot knife through his body. His expression had gone from desperation to momentary hope and back to desperation.
Jordan –for his part- wasn’t trying to con the man. He’d called Seth out for genuine reasons, though he knew convincing him of that after the way he’d acted was like pulling teeth from an alligator. Jordan was no longer pretending to be someone else. He was finally being himself, but he had to crawl out of the hole he’d dug himself into. Digging? Dogs were good at digging.. Samoyeds were avid diggers, in fact! But.. was it feasible..? What could come of digging a hole on an island? His train of thought was drifting. His mind wandered back to their first meeting. Hadn’t Seth mentioned something about shovels? And the construction site? It was a long shot and it sounded completely insane, but what if..? What’d they have to lose? He blinked at Seth, then stared blankly at his paws. Was their any way to make a connection, something that would make more sense than digging a hole?
“Hey!” he whispered, looking at his paws. “Oh.. no, that probably wouldn’t work.. no, nevermind.. it was nothing..” Jordan sat himself back down and huddled into himself, looking back out to the ocean in defeat. "I suppose I've got it better than you in one sense," Seth grunted. "The Tasmanian Tiger happens to be a marsupial that comes from the driest continent on the planet. Er, besides Antarctica of course." He quickly corrected himself. "But yeah, some people call Australia 'the land of perpetual summer'. The animals are more than used to the heat, drought even. I keep having weird desires to go bask in it during the middle of the day, so I guess the animal is OK with it. I certainly don't mind it, even if it is a little humid."
He watched Jordan carefully and noted that the man seemed thoughtful as he glanced at his own paws.
"What wouldn't work?" He seemed intruiged. "Nothing's only nothing if ya' don't say what it actually is."“I’ve lived in very similar climate all my life, but I’ve never had two coats of thick, arctic fur covering my body. I don’t like the tropical climate. I dislike it even more now.” He shifted his body around. Just talking about it made him more uncomfortable. “The sad thing is, my home is probably only five hundred miles from here.. maybe a little more.. I’m so close that it’s mocking me.”
Jordan wasn’t sure if he should even waste Seth’s time with something so stupid as digging holes with his paws. He hesitated to say anything for a few seconds after he was asked. Was it more of a side-effect of the canine urges? Or could there be some actual validity to it? How would digging a hole help anything, though? And it’d have to be deep enough underground. Would they dig too deep and drown before they could escape a collapsing tunnel? He shuddered at the thought of dying underground from suffocation.
He looked back to his paws. “I was just thinking if it was possible to dig. I dunno if it’s just the foreign DNA that’s changing me talking here, but would they stop someone from digging if it looked like it was normal behavior taking over?” it seemed so inspired and even more insane. "I was told I'm turning into a Samoyed.. they're notorious for digging holes, even tearing up entire yards if given the chance." his tail wagged as if looking for approval of such a simple canine desire.Seth's jaw tensed at the word 'dig' in Jordan's sentence. He held it tight, clenching the teeth together, his entire form going rigid also.
Was Jordan mocking him? Several questions ran through his head as he sat there, silent, almost disbelieving of what was just mentioned. Did Jordan know about the plan? Did Gaius blab it to somebody else, or had Jordan been listening somehow the entire time? He HAD been near the man's duplex when the horse-man and him had met on the beach... Or maybe this was all a ruse, and Moreau had sent Jordan to mock him. He wouldn't put it past the lab staff if they already knew about it. Was the whole idea doomed before it had even began?
Seth made a mental note to tear into Gaius and scold him when they next met.
"s**t..." He thought to himself.
"Uh, dig? Dig where? And why?" Seth broke his silence, trying to make the idea sound like it was the silliest thing he ever heard. "I dig holes for burying stuff in. Like, my alcohol stash. Vodka, whiskey, beer bottles for example. Though beer tastes crap when it's warm."
"But digging? That's a crap idea." He watched the other man carefully now. "Where did you get an idea like that?"
Jordan felt stupid for saying anything. He suddenly looked down, almost sulking at making an a** of himself infront of the more advanced-in-change thylacine. He became even quiter after his suggestion had been shot down.
“I’m sorry.. I guess it is a pretty dumb idea..” he sighed deeply out of suggestions. “I don’t know where or why.” He honestly responded, slightly in confusion. Dogs were domesticated creatures and having knowledge over them was fairly common even for someone without his credentials. He had a few ideas of what to expect. The increased activity was no coincidence and only a first step in the process. He was becoming a sled dog, a Samoyed, bred for generations to be used for manual labor. An active breed that constantly had to occupy itself, lest boredom lead it more destructive activities.
“All I know is I’ve been more active than I have been in years and it’s started in the past few weeks and really kicked into high gear after my last change into this. I run. I swim. I work out till I’m sore and exhausted. And I like it. There’s a new part of me.. or an old part of who I used to be.. that’s being fueled surges of energy. I can’t stay still for too long. I have to move around. I’ve been exsploring everywhere I can just because I have to run. The more I do these things the more I want to do them. I don’t know if my human mind for lack of better description, is losing out to these increasingly powerful urges, but it’s becoming harder to ignore them.”
He was struck with the notion to explain in greater detail what he perceived was happening to him. It was hard enough to keep himself from diving into the water or when he was waiting for Seth, running up and down the beach.
“Digging just made sense. A stray fear of losing my humanity?” He said as he unconsciously scratched at his ear with a paw, leaning into the scratching with his eyes closed. "I think its the animal mind that's messing up your patterns, that's for damn sure. I used to be a night owl, lazy, and surf the internet. Now I'm just lazy, there's no internet here, and I take lots of walks. I like having land, but claiming it almost seems bloody pointless. What am I gonna do, build a house on it?" He shook his head and snorted. "I can safely say that I think I've lost my humanity too. The looking like a bloody Tasmanian Tiger part is obvious. But apart from that? Walking around claiming land is weird. And I can fit so much stuff into my face now, I could probably win a place in the Guiness Book of Records."
"I certainly can't eat any of the rubbish I used to eat, like pizza or whatever the hell, you name it. I just chuck it straight back up, or have to lie down and feel like crap for the rest of the day." He scowled as he thought about it. "Alcohol still seems to be fine, you just chuck it back up anyway if you drink too much. On the other hand, I've developed an immense liking for rare steak, and meat in general. It's fortunate there's so much of it served up in the cafeteria, let me tell you that."
The cogs in Seth's head began to move as Jordan mentioned his desires to dig. Thylacines were cunning, calculating, and very intelligent problem-solving creatures, mostly due to their hunting style. Perhaps it was the instinct that made him think such thoughts, perhaps it was the man himself. In any case, a grin slowly spread across his maw as a brilliant idea made its way into his mind, and he looked up at Jordan once again.
"Say... I might have a use for that digging after all." He began. "I wouldn't mind a good hole, for a hoard I mean. If I could keep my entire stash in one hole, that'd be really useful. It needs to be about, oh, I don't know..." He pondered for a moment.
"Say, about eight to ten feet deep?"Jordan shook his head after scratching his ear, making his ears flap against the sides of his head. “My diet’s definitely changed. My first change, I wanted more savory, juicy meats.” A bit of drool formed at the corner of his mouth and he promptly wiped it away with the back of his arm “And now, I still crave it, but with the increased activity, I’m fighting myself not to gorge myself. I drink more water, eat less food –despite still feeling hungry. I didn’t eat for four or five days after my last change and when I couldn’t fight it snymore, I let myself gorge..It’s weird.. like.. I’m being told to prepare myself physically.. but for what?”
“Unfortunately, I’ll eat anything and everything that smells good. If it’s edible and it’s in sight, I have to keep myself from scarfing it down, like if I don’t, then someone is going to steal it from me and eat it first.”
He felt better when Seth smiled. His tail wagged, uncontrollably, in response. He didn’t feel so stupid when Seth mentioned that it could useful to him and he blinked at the measurements that he’d given. That was a big hole. More like a bunker. “Hoard?” he asked, not sure what he could mean by that. Being useful made him feel important to the team, whichever side that happened to be, but digging a hole with his paws.. deliberately giving into some canine urge that would later become stronger and harder to resist.. but then.. there was the pact with Lauren and how they agreed to give in to their instincts/urges/what-have-you brought on by the changes, so it seemed less detrimental overall. “Uhm.. okay!” his tail wagged feverishly as Seth was actually warming up to him- at least from Jordan’s perceptions. “Where? When?”Seth chuckled at Jordan's statement, genuinely amused. "I never owned a dog, but I know they love food, and how. If you're not going to get fat, if you're happy to run around like a crazy git, then I say eat whatever the hell you want. I sure as hell do. Or did, at least..." He glanced down at his belly, remembering how fat he used to be when he had first arrived. He was pleased it was gone now, which was one of the only small good things about his changes. "You're fortunate that you're an omnivore, though. Just don't eat too much chocolate because it'd probably end up killing you." He shrugged. "I heard about it once, a dog's liver can't handle it or something."
"Yeah, I have a hoard." He nodded and began to explain. "I bury useful stuff in the ground all the time. If I have to live out in the jungle one day, well hey, at least I'm going to be well-equipped."
He seemed a little taken aback as Jordan happily agreed to dig a hole for him. He had almost expected a comeback, an insult, maybe annoyance at the very least. But a happy agreeing response? He wondered if this was a genuine attempt at making amends, or driven by the man's own animal instincts.
"I don't know where to put a dig hole for my stash yet, but I'll let you know once I've found a great spot to hide my stuff." He grinned, seeming quite pleased with the events occuring. "I wanna make it hidden, but in an accessible place. D'ya know what I mean?"“I already feel like I’m so out of shape and getting fat.” He poked his non-existent belly he perceived as more of a gut, to illustrate that point, tugging on it. He hadn’t had a problem with his image until the past few weeks. He was vane and that quality of his personality was being amplified. “I’ve got to lose weight and get back into my peak form.”
“Being an omnivore just means there’s more to make me fatter.. and yeah, chocolate would make me very sick. Not sure about now, but later it’d definitely be lethal to me. Good thing too. Means I won’t be tempted to eat something so toxic.”
At the explanation of Seth’s hoard, he understood- kind of. “Oh, yeah. I getcha. I think. Like how a fox buries it’s meal so it can eat the rest later, except with possessions in your case.” He nodded. “Alright.”
He was happy because he felt like he’d accomplished more than he’d set out to do. In the short time of their uninterrupted chat, Jordan was left with the impression that he’d made proper amends and won a new friend from a fractious acquaintance.
“That all depends how secret you need this stash to be.” Jordan scratched his furry chin. “The deeper jungle is probably a good place to dig, but that comes with its own set of dangers. I doubt you’d have to worry about cameras though. Doesn’t seem like they’d have reason to go that deep.”he tilted his head in thought. “Hmmmmm… I’m not sure where else would be a choice spot. Maybe a cave?”"There's cameras all over the place, trust me, I've heard them. In the duplexes, in the cafeteria, in the jungle, near the cliffs. Everywhere. 'Cept I haven't heard any around here, so we're safe." He rotated his ears slightly as if to confirm the fact. "Pity sand's not anything stable to be digging in. It'd cave in first high tide. No good..."
"If you want to find out where the the cameras are, do something random, stupid or unexpected. Such as... I dunno." He shrugged. "The point is, the person controlling the camera will refocus it and then you can hear the lens mechanism whirring pretty damn easily. Then it's simply a matter of moving in, and..." He made a sharp biting motion with his powerful jaws, causing them to make a loud chopping sound as the jaw snapped shut.
"Nah, nah." He waved a dismissive gesture with his right paw. "A cave isn't good. Too rocky, too far away from my duplex. You'd bugger up your claws and rip 'em to shreds in a matter of minutes trying to dig through the rocky bits in a cave floor. Some flat land with loamy yet firm soil would be a good place to dig. I thought about digging such a hole myself, but... I haven't found a good spot yet. That's why it's better for me to just let you know when I've found somewhere good."He was astounded how well they were getting along. Seth was an alright guy as far as he was concerned and Jordan was seeing just how much in common they had. They were both brought to the island for theft, their partners were nowhere to be found, and both parties were being distorted in inhuman ways unlike some of the others experiencing ‘cleaner’ changes. “I misjudged you big time and I can’t apologize enough for striking you. You’re a really decent guy, Seth.”
Listening to the warnings of cameras, he thought that was rather considerate, but doing stupid things to gather their attention may not prove to be the best thing in Jordan’s case. Jordan was getting the impression that he’d been working at this more than a few days, which gave him confidence in the man’s words. He was gutsy if he was willing to put himself out there, to become a subject of interest to whomever was working the cameras. He was hanging onto his words in hopes that he could somehow avoid the cameras more effectively, without making a scene. A coincidental act of taking another route was simple enough to accomplish that, right?
The thought of tearing out a claw on rocky ground make him wince and hold his paw in the left. “Ouch.. okay, no caves.. and sand is way to unstable for digging.. soft soil.. soft soil…” he took in a refreshing breath of ocean air through his black canine nose, closing his eyes in thought. “Leeeeeet’s seeeee.. soft soil… somewheeeere secluded… hmmmmmm…:” he re-opened his eyes with a thought “How ‘bout newar the base of the cliffs. There’s still some jungle cover, but if you ever had to hide, there’s caves you could lay low for a while. Think that’d work?” "Yeah, digging a hole out of sand is a bad idea. Harder to cover up again, easy to kick in and fill. Anything you dig would cave in with sand." He frowned, pondering to himself whether he was talking too much and giving anything away. Jordan seemed genuine enough, but if this was all a plot to find out what he was up to, maybe he was screwed already...
He sniffed the air. The tide was coming in soon. That would result in an unfavourable outcome for this spot soon enough.
"Near the base of the cliffs?" He said, sounding highly curious. He'd never been there before and he would have to check it out soon enough. "I've never been there - you walk around the island much? I've never really noticed you wandering around, especially not around my bits of land. And I own a lot of land too, and spend a lot of time outdoors."
He seemed almost... proud of the fact. The animal within was certainly proud, it owned a lot of territory so far, and remained unchallenged to it. He once again got nagging desires to wander away and claim even more, but quickly pushed the thoughts out of his mind.
"Er, is it far away, then? Or close to the duplexes and the Labs building?"He loved this spot, well, being near the ocean that is. It was somewhat distracting at moments, diverting his attention to the water every now and then when the breeze carried a strong scent. He sat himself down on his rear to firmly secure him to that spot. If he continued to kneel or be in a position he could dash off easily, he wasn’t sure if he’d be too tempted to run or dive into the water. He was ignoring the desire to move about. This was too important to interrupt with running and romping.
“Yeah, I’m always exploring lately. When I first came here, I looked around but mostly stayed to the beach. Now I’m all over the place and running everywhere. Literally. This body was built to run and it’s really hard to deny that feeling. It’s awesome pushing your body as hard as you can to get up to a good speed.” Jordan grinned, quite proud of himself. “Going through the jungle, without a care, dodging and weaving trees, jumping over the obstacles in my way.” Jordan’s tail wagged at his daredeviltry. So far he hadn’t gotten injured with his reckless abandon.
“Uhm… what were we talking about..?” he scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed to lose himself in his canine revelry, with a nervous chuckle “Oh yeah! The cliffs seem to be a good spot. It’s kind of at the edge of nowhere, seriously. The cliffs overlook what I can guess is the southern? edge of the island. You have to go through the jungle to get there, but it couldn’t be any further from the labs. It’s a good hike for me from here, so you wanna prepare yourself for a good walk and might want to make a day trip out of it.” "I'm inclined to disagree about pushing your body as hard as it goes to be fun," He grinned. "But I believe you. If you wanna run around like a psycho, and it's not harming anyone, go for your life." He paused, thinking for a moment. "Though I find it odd that I haven't smelled you around the place."
"I'll have to check it out," He said as he rose to his feet. "Anyway, I should be off. I'm getting hungry and I should take a nap this afternoon before wandering around again this evening. I'll check it out and come back here when I've found a spot to begin digging. That sound good to you?"Jordan couldn't help but laugh. He was acting like he had when he was younger, indulging in his athletic prowess. It was showing off as much as anything, but he was pushing himself to achieve physical heights. “I’m making the change for the better. I don’t want to hurt anyone else in the name of the labs.” The Samoyed extended his big fluffy white paw. “Friends?” he smiled, showing off those elongated canines in the friendliest of smiles. It seemed genuine enough. But this could end either well, or very badly. If Jordan was truthful in regretting what the labs were doing, he would be distrusting and shunning a potential ally - which was entirely stupid. On the other paw, if this was a ruse and Jordan was just trying to gain his trust, if Seth gave too much away, he was basically giving his plans away to the labs themselves. He felt awkward. Like he was between a rock and a hard place. This could either go very well, or very badly, and he wished he knew what to do.
Jordan would be pissed to hear that Seth was trying to use him before, to obtain contraband supplies from the labs. He would also be pissed off to hear that Seth had been intending to use him to dig the hole. But if he was genuine, he could be let in on the tunneling plan, perhaps even land a very useful paw in it. Or six, judging by the looks of what he was turning into.
Seth pinned his ears back and sighed in resignation. He reached out with his paw and took Jordan's in his, shaking it.
"Sure thing, friends." He grinned after a moment. Though he couldn't quite hide the fact he was troubled. "I'll let you know as soon as I find a digging spot." He broke off the hand shake and began to move away.
"See ya around, then?"He was in the dark about Seth’s plans. He remained unaware there was any attempt to use him against the labs. As far as Jordan knew, there was just that plan to erect a statue and his fervor for that was waning for the project. Jordan would now find himself in a very precarious position from here out. He could be used against the labs, as he was beginning his dissent and that left him as a target for Moreau, any of the lab techs, Lauren. He knew this meant turning his back on the protection of the labs and making powerful enemies if they learned of Jordan's treason. The terror of Feral Labs had lain dormant in his mind just as those wriggling paws had remained trapped within his belly for weeks, scratching and kicking to be released, so was released the other side of Jordan. The part of him who knew this was wrong.
Being forced to inject himself, his body distorting further from human had delivered a shock to his system. Jordan had chosen to enter dangerous territory by announcing his dismay of the laboratories and for their work. This bold move would prove to work in his favor or destroy him in the end.
He’d hoped that Seth wasn’t regretting this as he watched the ears flatten, but assured himself he was still wary from previous encounters. That made sense. He’d just have to prove he wasn’t screwing with him this time.
Jordan smiled at those words. He’d turned an enemy into a friend and Jordan felt he was on the right path now. “Sure thing. I’ll be around.”
Jordan casually waved to Seth as he began to move away.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:05 pm
Nita MacNeal Spring was just around the corner, and the days were just starting to get really warm. As usual Nita had woken up before dawn, fed herself and Comet, and took the dog out for a walk. With nothing much else to occupy her, by late morning the red panda girl found herself walking along the beach. Comet ran ahead, chasing little sand-hopping birds and having epic battles with clumps of seaweed. Nita usually retreated to her duplex to sleep away the midday hours, but Comet was still so full of energy it seemed mean to confine her indoors. Wishing she'd brought a book, Nita settled against a dune. The shade it provided blocked most of the sun, which would quickly become too warm for Nita's taste. Even until her second change Nita had spent a lot of time at the beach (since the fur kept her fair, freckled skin from burning), but now, fully transformed, the sand and saltwater weren't terribly appealing. Red pandas weren't fond of swimming, it seemed. Nonetheless, Nita got comfortable, curled on her side with her tail wrapped around her body. She knew Comet would alert her if anyone approached. Jordan Essex Jordan was wondering if he'd really be able to turn on the labs if it ever came down to that. His candid apology and subsequent talk had revealed a few things about the dog that he'd been afraid to tell anyone so far. Jordan was still quite surprised he'd said any of that to Seth, although genuine, it was a shock that he was acting defiant towards Doctor Moreau and the labs. Was it him or was it the foreign DNA affecting his mind? Samoyeds were known to have independent minds and were notorious for defiant and/or manipulative behavior. Some are known to be willful, obstinate, and even displaying dominance, wanting to be the boss, and will make others prove they can make them do things. Samoyeds have to be shown, through consistency, that you mean what you say.
In any case, he had too much energy to focus on the matter entirely. The urge to run was becoming even stronger the more he indulged in it, as part of his renewed fitness regime. Jordan was being compelled to run, swim, lift weights. He had so much more energy since his last change and there was lamost not enough time to burn it all off. Exhausting himself in the name of pumping his body back into shape didn't seem like a bad idea at all, even if it was the canine DNA telling him to do so. He was vane and knew he'd let his body slip into what he considered ruin, though not fat or horribly out of shape, the view of his body was driving him to work harder to regain his physique to his athletic days of high school stardom.
Dashing down the beach was a white mass of fur. The feel of his long, white-streaked hair whipping behind him in the breeze was fantastic. His legs aching from the burn was magnificent. Powering down the strip of sand, he was nearly compelled to drop to all fours for better traction and that thought seemed odd to the part of his human mind that was losing out to the canine. He didn't drop, not yet. There were a few things that seemed a bit odd to him, but for the most part he was embracing his new life all-too firmly. He slowed himself at a distance. Jordan was awful at stopping suddenly once he'd gotten himself into a run, so backing off the pace about ten yards from the new face was prudent.
He waved, offering a friendly "Hello!" pumped on sunshine and adrenaline. He was hot in all that fur, but it didn't seem to stop him from being active. Nita MacNeal Comet tore down the beach from the opposite direction. Running! Another dog! Wait-- by Nita! The young dog skidded to a stop, mirroring Jordan. Heyyy, the dog-person was familiar! Her tongue hanging out, Comet approached Jordan for a healthy sniff. All the commotion woke Nita; she sat up blinking. Where was she? After a brief moment of disorientation, she remembered: she was on the beach, Comet was running... Nita jerked to attention, alerted to the second, unfamiliar presence. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Sorry, I must have dozed off." The girl grinned, glancing back and forth between Comet and Jordan. "Have you two met?" Jordan Essex As Comet neared, he recognized the familiar dog and sniffed the air to make sure it was her. Confirming what he thought, Jordan knelt down scruffling the fur around her neck and ears with his canine paws. He was happy to see her, as his tail was waggling at hyper-speed. He tilted his head slightly in confusion. Jordan had thouht that Comet was Lauren's dog, but she was with someone new- at least to him. "How ya been, Comet? Haven't seen you in a while!" he rubbed his fluffy cheek against hers in friendly canine meeting.
Jordan had gone back to playing with Comet until Nita spoke back and with a grand nod, he smiled. "Yes! Me and Comet are best buddies!" Anyone Comet liked seemed to be a good person he could trust- or so that's what the dog mind rationalized. "Are you watching her for Lauren?" he asked innocently. Nita MacNeal Comet sat grinning, her fluffy tail smacking against the sand. It suddenly occurred to Nita that if she didn't know this islander, but Comet did... They must know Lauren. s**t. That realization was quickly proved true. Nita coughed slightly, working on brushing the sand from her hair. "Ah, not... exactly," she said carefully. "I, um, well... Comet is my dog." Her eyes flicked to the side. "You're a friend of Lauren's then?" Jordan Essex Jordan continued to lavish attention upon Comet, so happy to see her. His paws ran down her neck and back, scratching her gently with one paw, while the other was busied giving her chin scritches. His tail was moving and thumping almost as much as Comet's. "You're such a good girl, Comet. Been staying out of trouble?" he was enjoying talkign to her like a person. Well, he felt more on her level than the last time he'd seen her. He'd understand her more in the coming weeks that would twist his mind and bring more changes.
Jordan was confused and blinked at that. He thought that Comet was Lauren's dog the whole time. His curiouity piqued, he had to know her name. But he'd introduce himself first. "I'm Jordan, by the way. I live out here. Imagine my surprise to have such friendly visitors today!" he smiled and nodded at her next question. "Yup. I know Lauren. You must know her too." that was rather stupid to ask, but oh well. He didn't put the peices together yet. He was clueless that this was the Nita that had caused Lauren to coem running to him. Nita MacNeal Comet whined happily and proceeded to slobber on Jordan before trotting over to Nita and flopping onto the sand. Jordan. The friend Lauren had mentioned during that disaster of a Valentine's picnic. Pro-labs. "Yes," Nita replied, her voice catching oddly in her throat. "I know her. Have you... Have you seen her lately?" Hopefully it wasn't too obvious she was avoiding his question. Jordan Essex She seemed rather concerned for Lauren. Had she gone missing?? As Comet moved back over to Nita, he gave the red panda girl a stark look of surprise, standing to his full five-foot-nine height. His tail settled in mutual concern for his sanity-challenged friend. Jordan was beginning a dangerous path away from the labs' way of thinking, but only Seth was privvy to that knowledge and Lauren would kick his a** till he reaffirmed his dedication. The staff could do worse.
"I haven't seen her since she left my duplex. She came to me, distraught and in tears, following her break-up and stayed with me for the night. The labs re-assigned her to a new duplex pretty quick too.. she's in duplex #14 now."
Jordan moved closer to Nita, his cold, wet, black nose twitching and wriggling. The sea breeze was carrying some strogn scets as usual, but the closer he got, the more he thought he smelled omething- no someone familiar. His chin lifted into the air slightly as he sniffed like a dog. And his tail wagged. It semlled so familiar, but it seemed like an after-thought of a lingering odor. "You kinda smell like her." he spoke bluntly. And upon stating that, along with Comet being Nita's dog.. Nope. Almost had it, but it was lost. Wait... wait... OH! Ding! Ding! Ding! His mouth opened in a slight 'oh' as he ventured a guess. His thick brow furrowed in query. "By any chance is your name Nita?" Nita MacNeal Nita leaned over to scratch Comet's shoulders. The dog was finally getting tired from her hours-long romp. "Fourteen," Nita repeated, wondering what had happened to Lauren's original duplex. The labs must have moved someone into it once Lauren was living with Nita. At least she'd had somewhere to go... She shifted nervously in the sand, watching Jordan's nose. "Yes," Nita said finally, turning her face away. Jordan Essex He'd only heard Lauren's side of the story. From what he understood, she'd been told to die of cancer. That.. just seemed so unconscionable. She was the reason that Lauren had come to him in tears. The rock had broken because of this insensitive girl. He moved closer still cautiously. He didn't want to frighten her off with the wrong impression. Yes, from what he knew of Nita she was out of line, but.. what if there was more to it?
He padded towards her and sat himself in the sand. It was too late to hide his deformity from her, but he made the attmpt to hide the wiggling tummy paws under his arms anyways, though it was uncomfortable. "Look.. Nita.. I don't know what to say." he looked up at her, not in anger, but in confusion. "I really don't know what happened and it's not my business.. I was there to comfort Lauren because she trusted me enough as a friend.. and I have to ask.. did you really tell her to get cancer..?" there was only one way to ask that and it was directly and bluntly. Nita MacNeal Nita shifted slightly again, preparing to flee if Jordan started to attack. She eyed him carefully, taking in his slow movements. Okay. Not trying to hurt her. The little paws emerging from his stomach caught her eye; her own stomach lurched. What the hell were they doing to this guy? Nita forced herself to face Jordan. Her jaw dropped. " What?" Nita asked, bewildered. "Did I tell her to get cancer? What the hell kind of question is that?" Cigarette smoke blown into her face. Nita snapping, lashing out verbally--"That is not what I said. At all." The red panda girl shook her head for emphasis. Jordan Essex She was nervous. Was it because he'd guessed who she was? Or was it talkign about Lauren that had set her off? He didn't know and he was hoping that it wasn't something Nita had heard about him through a third party who was on bad terms with him.
Jordan put up his paws defensively with the pawpads facing out. "Whoa, whoa.. that's what I was told. I'm sorry." he nodded softly. Lauren had been upset when she incoherently sobbed, but that one line had been stated clearly and with effect. "I don't mean to cause problems.. it just.. yeah.. that was my reaction too.." he fumbled for words, scratching at the back of his neck. "I'm sorry things didn't work out." he offered his condolences, petting -or rather pawing- the back of Nita's paw in offering sympathies. "I don't hold anything against you. Like I said, I don't know the story."
"Hey. Nita. Do you mind me asking something?" he looked back and forth and then behind him, trying to make sure they weren't being watched, but he wasn't sure. So, he lowered his voice. "Are you as fanatic as Lauren is about the labs?" he looked ocncerned by that statement, as if he was afraid it would be 'yes'. Nita MacNeal Nita took a few deep breaths, finally understanding that Jordan wasn't about to leap at her throat or yell at her. She shrugged jerkily, resisting the urge to yank her hand away. He'd said he understood. He wasn't leaping to conclusions. Of course, what Nita had actually said wasn't much better. She knew she had said some horrible things, but she wasn't a vindictive person by nature. His question provoked an eyebrow-raise. "No," she said quietly. "And, ah, it was rather a bone of contention." To put things mildly. Jordan Essex Jordan fidgeted with his paws nervously. The Samoyed looked down at the sand. He wasn't sure what to say. Why'd he have to ask that!! He was scared now of what she might think of him. What if she had heard something about him? He didn't want to scare anyone by mentioning his ties with Feral, but he wanted to break away from them and had to be very, very careful about what he said and what he did. "Has... uhm... what I mean to say.. uhm.." he'd been liberal with his words around Lauren and if those two, Nita and the mongoose, had been as close as he thought... "In case you've heard anything about me.. that is.." he clenched his eyes. His ears twitched in frustration. "I.. uhm... don't.. exactly..." his voice lowered even more "..I don't want ot be controlled by them anymore... but Lauren would kick my a** into net week if she knew.. when I mentioned my last change.." he shuddered at what happened regarding that, looking around paranoid even moreso.
Jordan lifted his head, tears welling in his eyes. He didn't know what to say beyond the stammering. Nita wasn't with the labs. Maybe she'd understand, right? "I'm afraid of what else they'll do to me.." Nita MacNeal Nita watched Jordan curiously. Frankly, she hadn't heard anything about Jordan, from Lauren or anyone else. The two of them hadn't exactly been confiding in each other. But Lauren had suggested that Jordan was content with his lot in life, and loyal to Moreau. "Ah...," she said, her voice trailing off into an uncomfortable silence. What did he want her to do? As far as Nita was concerned, the labs did what they want. It sucked, but they just had to put up with it. Like Dr. Duvert confiscating all of the construction supplies. "I'm sorry," Nita told him. "Really. But... What can I tell you? Nothing reassuring, that's for certain." Her last statement was muttered wryly and followed by a rather derisive sniff. Jordan Essex Jordan wiped his eyes with the back of his arm, sniffling into his fur. He really didn't know what he'd intended by telling her anything. He was afraid of turning on them, but he was even more of what they're turning him into. It seemed they were all in the same situation, just to varying degrees. It was perobably a bad idea to pursue it any further. Lauren was so psychotically-zealous about the changes and that honestly scared the hell out of him. His own changes frightened him. The mongoose girl had told him that she'd love to experience the changes all over again, but would she be so fanatical about it if she had the equivelent of chest-bursters erupt from her stomach. The answer to that would likely scare him.
Nita was right. What could she possibly do for him? She had her own life, she'd been through her own changes, and now he was sniveling like the coward.
Jordan cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure. "I'm sorry about that. Didn't mean to emote all over you just then." he put on a forced smile, reaching over to rub Comet's tummy. He had to change the subject to something more positive. That wasn't hard at all. Even though they were weighted down with stressing issues of the island, Comet was always happy and carefree. "You live in duplex fourty-two, then? Do you think it'd be alright if I came by every now and again to play with Comet? I'd even take her out for runs." Of course, he'd be running with her in just as much amusement. "I love dogs.. just not becoming one.." he added softly.
Jordan was smiling. For real this time. He was like the neighborhood kid that always wanted a dog but his parents wouldn't let him, even though, as a young boy, he did have one. "It wouldn't be any bother to me and you wouldn't have to worry about anything happening to her. She's an energetic dog and I need the excercise myself." he flashed his canines, tail waggling excitedly. Nita MacNeal Nita felt bad for the guy- she really did. But she couldn't help thinking that he was Lauren's friend... and had considerable ties to the labs, whether he wanted them or not. It would be better to avoid him... And she couldn't reassure him as to his fate. She'd tried that, when she'd had to tell people what was going on. 'It's not so bad here,' and 'You get used to it.' But she couldn't do that anymore. The change of topic was an acute relief. "Well...," Nita began slowly. So much for staying away from him. "I guess so. I mean, it would help, and she does seem to like you." She fiddled with one of Comet's ears; the dog was stretched out on her side, seemingly quite content with the amount of attention she was receiving. Jordan Essex He should have kept his mouth shut. Things were going well until he mentioned Lauren. STUPID!! Stupidstupidstupid!! Then, he had to ignore the warnings of Awen on several accounts to never mention any connections to the labs! It just seemed though.. In his mind, it made sense.. Perhaps it was too much to ask for too soon to find common ground with Nita and build a friendship. He’d pretty much mucked that up well without realizing it. He could have kept things to himself, played dumb, but that wasn’t his style. He didn’t want to continue lying and deceiving others to weasel information out of them. That never ended well and it had paid him back doubly each time negatively.
His excitement thrived to her gradual concensus of visitations, though her hesitation noted. It made him worry she’d heard about the things he’d taken part in, messing with others for the favor of the labs. It made him sick that he’d resort to begging for favor of the monster that scared him almost as much as Richard, if not more. But Richard was pretty damn high on the fear scale. “You’ve got nothing to worry about from me. Honestly, if me knowing Lauren is going to be an issue, I understand. And –again- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you in any way, not that it was any of my business to ask you that.” ‘That’, of course, referring back to Lauren saying that Nita told her to get cancer.
“Look, I don’t want to cause trouble for you. I actually had hoped to meet you at some point, to at least place the name to a face. Maybe to even become mutual friends over time. I’m really sorry I brought up Lauren or… the labs. You’ve got enough on your plate without me making your life uncomfortable. I do appreciate you granting me visitations to see this sweet pup. You don’t know how lucky you are to have her.“ Jordan had feared that he’d never see Comet again after the break-up and that broke his heart. Why’d he have to suffer because they couldn’t get along? Selfish much? Yeah.
“You seem nice, Nita. And to be quite frank, I’m afraid of my changes. Being around Comet helps me be more at ease with what’s happening to me. That probably sounds stupid, huh?” Nita MacNeal Nita had no idea if this sort of tentative friendship would work. This Jordan guy seemed nice, and Comet liked... but ultimately he was Lauren's friend. And Lauren demanded loyalty- to herself and to the labs. Jordan said he was afraid, he didn't want to be a pawn anymore... and that Lauren would kick his a** when she found out. How resolute could he be, either way? "It's- It's okay," Nita told him, although it wasn't, exactly. At least she knew the kinds of things Lauren was apparently telling people about her. Fantastic. "Well," she said, addressing his latest comments. "Not really stupid. I sort of did the same thing... Not that there are any actual red pandas around here. But I read about them, so that I could some idea of what to expect. Dunno how well it really worked, but it was.. a coping mechanism, I suppose you'd call it." Jordan Essex She was tolerating him, for either his own sake or for fear of her own safety. Either way, Jordan was picking up some mixed vibes, but wasn’t thinking like she was. He didn’t know Lauren like she did, nor was he aware Lauren was Moreau’s spy and only associating with him to appease the doctor. Perhaps he should have kept that in mind before saying anything to Nita. Jordan was naïve and trusting of others unless given reason to doubt. He could have chosen his words better and pretended not to know Lauren at all, but Jordan was an idiot in times discretion was required.
“I did my research after my first change as well, with only a few clues to go on. I had no idea which breed of dog for a while, until I was physically told face-to-face.” He shrugged it off. “But, yeah, I shouldn’t talk about this stuff. Sorry.” He looked about idly, not certain what else to say to her.
The tension was there and it was creating a barrier. He should have expected that. Maybe he should have just backed off when he smelled Lauren. He was paranoid about her and the mongoose’s tight connections with the labs. That was enough to send an icy jolt up his spine. He was quickly becoming concerned about this meeting. It was leaving him less at ease. He wasn't hiding it well either. Nita MacNeal Nita wasn't precisely thrilled with his presence- after all, this was the person Lauren had run to. What if he mentioned meeting Nita? She didn't want to get in the middle of whatever friendship they had, and considering how his allegiance to the labs seemed to flip-flop, it could be dangerous (or at least un-wise) to spend too much time around him. She shrugged. In the past she had had quite a few awkward conversations with others about their changes... Sid came to mind. "S'okay," Nita mumbled. The sun was hot on her hair and fur; it was nearly noon. Nita stifled a yawn. "Hey, um, I usually sleep around now," she explained, apologetically. "I should probably get back to my own place..." Jordan Essex He was nervous. No doubt about that. Until he’d mentioned Lauren, it had been going better. This couldn’t keep going well. Eventually one would say or do something that would worsen the tension and Jordan was walking on such thin ice now that he didn’t need this. There was enough on his mind without dealing with someone who was going to react so distanced to anything and everything he said. It made him frown. He’d tried to be friendly. He’d even tried to improve the overall mood, but Nita had obviously made up her mind about him, judged him unfairly for his association to her psychotic ex-girlfriend. Nice. Jordan didn’t need to be around someone like this who would view him as a potential threat.
His mood plummeted. He stood up silently, dusting off the seat of his shorts. He was turning off the friendliness, just as she was keeping herself distanced. Whatever. Screw her. Nita’s loss. He’d offered friendship. She was being cold. Two could play that game.
“Yeah. No problem.” There was no emotion in it. “I should get back to my run…” he scratched Comet behind the ears as he curtly turned away from Nita. He wasn’t looking for trouble, so it was best to just let it be for now.
"Seeya around." he waved a paw dismissively over his shoulder. Nita MacNeal Nita frowned slightly at Jordan's sudden change in mood. Ah well, one couldn't be friends with everybody. She gave a mental shrug and stood as well, making a valiant (and not terribly successful) effort at brushing the sand out of her fur. She clicked her tongue and Comet rose from her semi-somnolent state, stretching out. The dog made a whuffling noise as Jordan stalked off and whined softly at Nita. Why was the friend going away? Nita's muzzle quirked into a wry smile. Apparently Comet thought it was just fine to be friends with everyone! "Bye, Jordan," she called, although her voice might not have reached him. This time shrugging her actual shoulders, Nita turned away, and, with Comet at her side, padded home.
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