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 Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 3:48 pm
Colche looked at the wall and smiled "wall" she puurrs and looks at greer with a nod she turns to leave pausing for a moment she bites her tongue and takes a deep breath "Thank" she pauses again obviously wracking her brain for that word "yooo" she smiles and clinging to the glass covered box she shuffles out of Greers dorm making her way back down the stairs and back towards her home, number seventeen, her little haven.
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 3:55 pm
Greer waved at the girl as she left, shutting the door. Sighing, she kicked off her shoes and flopped on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Ugh, tired and yet not. Turning her head she watched her insects move in their cages, thinking about other things. Sean. Ambrose. And the feeling of the wind in her feathers.
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 2:44 pm
Attached to the front of your duplex door is a handwritten note with the Feral Labs logo in the top left corner.
In a flowery script, the following message is written:
The Invitation You are cordially invited to a meet and greet Halloween costume party to take place Halloween night. The staff will be setting up a tent just for this occasion and will be catering, of course. We know that you most likely did not pack costumes, so if you will just leave a message with the staff (through the intercom) to let us know what you would like to dress as, we will be able to procure a costume for you. ~Aubrey heart P.S. - I spoke with Dr. Moreau and he has OK'd your requests for additional nature books as well as getting lumber and supplies to build your butterfly house! We will get both of them to the town hall within a couple of days.
((OOC: The Halloween party will take place in a separate thread in the guild that will be made for the event. The event will last in real time from Friday Oct 28 till the end of actual Halloween, Monday the 31st. Feel free to come and go at your leisure. If you would like to get artwork of your character in costume, we can post it in the first post or two of the event thread - PM the art to Sabin Duvert and he will collect it to post when he builds the thread.))
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 7:18 pm
 Tromping in from a quick location-scouting expedition for the possible butterfly house, Greer pulled the note off of her door and brought inside with her, dropping it on the desk for a moment. Pulling off her sneakers, she took them to the door and shook the worst of the jungle muck off of them before setting them on the stoop to dry out. Heading back inside and shutting the door, she ran a bath and stripped off her clothes, examining the many small cuts and scratches she'd sustained looking for a good building spot. Close enough to be easily reached by the village but with a little distance so the building of it didn't bother too many people and it could be a peaceful, secluded spot when finished. She'd found a perfect area about five minutes jaunt from main village area, semi cleared by a treefall maybe a year earlier that had plenty of plants perfect for butterflies, while lacking trees too tall for building over. Now, if only Doctor Moreau could find it in his heart to let her build... Hissing as she settled into the hot bathwater, Greer let herself float for a moment as the heat seeped into her muscles and cleaned her wounds. The cuts stung a bit, but all in all the bath felt very good. Pity she didn't have any bubble bath - she'd always liked the sweet talcum powder smell of her usual brand. Reaching down on to the floor where she'd moved the note from the desk, she sat back and to read it while the days aches and pains were dissolved by wet heat. Ooo, a halloween party! She hadn't been to one of those in years - from high school on up it was too much of a social event for her to feel comfortable attending. Not that she didn't enjoy Halloween, quite the opposite: she had a yearly tradition of renting her favorite horror B-movies that night and staying up till five in the morning with them and popcorn. Mmm. As much as she enjoyed that, she would be happy to to forgo that tradition for this party. Especially if Sean could be convinced to wear something interesting... Shaking her head herself, Greer's eyes scanned down the page- and froze. Wait, what had that p.s. said? She read it again. No way. No. Freaking. Way. Moreau was okay with the building of the butterfly house. And would provide tools. And materials. Eeeeeeeee! She put the note back down on the floor so she could do a little splash dance of joy in the tub without getting it wet. She was going to build a butterfly house! Well, she, Ambrose, and anyone else she could drag in were going to build a butterfly house! She had no idea how you went about constructing said butterfly house! Hopefully Aubrey could be convinced to locate some construction blueprints or something, otherwise this would be a very shoddy building. Mmm, excellent, things to do! And she was getting books, which meant research, which meant joy. This might be the best note she'd ever recieved... Leaning back so her head got wet as well, Greer closed her eyes with a smile. Mmm, good day. But what to dress up as for Halloween? Hmm... a bug would be the obvious choice, but she wanted to do something interesting. Hopefull Sean would wear something interesting. And small. Eee, odd thought! But speaking of Sean... oh! She had the best idea ever! She'd mention it over the intercom in the morning. She really hoped they could produce the costume, cause she would look so cool... Mmm, good bath. Greer stayed in the water until it went cold, leaving its comfort reluctantly.
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 9:36 pm
Greer Dressed in full fencing gear, which had been made especially tricky due to the mixing of back zippers and sensitive feathers, Greer stepped up to Ambrose's door, shifted her mask to her other arm, and knocked. Please, please let her ten minute zipper struggle not be in vain! Ambrose Ambrose had been taking things easy the past couple of days, staying mostly to himself and his throughts - which, unfortunately, often proved to be a volatile combination. Earlier this morning after waking and washing up, Ambrose had decided to get his mind off things by occupying his mind and burrying himself in one of the books he had brought with him - and he had been relatively successful - able to block out the real world (as fantastical as it was to earn the monicker "real") and all of the internal conflicts. With the sudden knock on the door, however, Ambrose was wrested from his thoughts and the building tension as young Mr. Potter was seeking answers and snapped suddenly back to his duplex room and someone at the door. Placing his bookmark carefully into place, he left the book on his pillow and opened the door to a surprise: Greer in full fencing gear. "Greer!" He smiled amicabaly. "Come for that rematch?" He grinned, all conflicting emotions thoroughly bottled. Greer "No, no, I just enjoy sweating to death in white canvas." She grinned at him, nodding. "Of course I have! Grab your gear and get your butt out here." Ambrose He mirrored her grin. "Come on in, I'll just be a moment!" He grabbed his fencing gear from its reverant spot in the closet, ducked into the restroom and emerged about five minutes later dressed in a matching outfit, epee in hand. Greer Greer stepped inside, bouncing on her toes and doing her best not to drop her mask and epee. Turning to her friend as he came out of the bathroom, she nodded approvingly. "All set?" Ambrose "Definately" He smiled. This was what he needed. Fencing was a wonderful catharsis for Ambrose, and a match fight even more so. "Thanks so much - I fear I might have been becoming a hermit till you showed. I haven't done much in the way of being social the last couple of days." He grabbed his mask, tucking it under his arm and set out the door - heat be damned. Greer Trotting next to him, she chuckled. "I know what you mean. I thought I might take some 'me' time and it turned into a 'me' couple of days. On the plus side there is a very faint possibility I found an unknown species of phasmid and I definitely found a great place to build the butterfly house." Ambrose "Oh really?" He smiled, his attention unwavering. "I'm glad to hear that! Were you able to catch one of them? And that's great about the butterfly house. I was serious about offering to help." Greer "Yup! A matched set!" She beamed, resisting the urge to do a quick little victory dance. "Pity no one will ever know." Bumping him playfully with her hip as they walked, she laughed. "Oh, you better have been, cause I am certainly going to need it. Especially since Moreau has okay'd the plan and the supplies should be here any day now..." Ambrose Ambrsoe gave her a sympathetic smile. "Well.... maybe they will! I mean Moreau's story for you is that you took the research job here, right? Could he publish things for you?" He shrugged. "At least you can get your work off the island potentially... unfortunately I seriously doubt they'll ever hold the Olympics here. And even if by some fluke of improbability, I'll be so far out of good practice with a trainer that it would be moot." Greer Greer shrugged, continuing to make a concerted effort not to get her hopes up. "Maybe, but he's never struck me as the kind of guy willing to help a fellow human being out." Giving him a sympathetic smile as they entered the main clear area in the middle of the village, Greer headed to one end when speaking over her shoulder. "I'm sorry about that Ambrose, I really am. Is there anything else you might want to do?" Ambrose He shrugged with a frown. It was true. "Aubrey maybe then? .... Assuming Moreau would let her publish it. He might have to have at it with a team of code crackers to make sure there isn't some sort of hidden SOS in your paper." he winked. Ambrose shrugged and shook his head. "I wish there was, Greer. I really do.... but you're in the same boat as I am. I'm sorry about bringing it up - there's nothing you or I can do about it, I was just bitching." Greer Greer smiled, saluting and donning her mask. "You'll find something, I'm sure. Are you any good at teaching? Maybe you could start a fencing school? I'm sure Amaya and some of the younger ones would enjoy it." Ambrose He chuckled and shrugged. "I never really tried to be honest." He replied as he secured the mask around his head. "Maybe it would be worth a shot. See if anyone's interested." He settled into an en guard position, and the drifting thought that he hadn't had a match with Greer (or anyone for that matter) since before he changed... the day he changed as a matter of fact. At least he wasn't feeling nearly as itchy now. Maybe he would do better this time around. He saluted her with his epee and then set back into the ready position. Greer It was an interesting match, to say the least. Ambrose was better with the weapon and more serious than Greer, clearly enjoying the pace and movement. She moved as fast as her stiffened leg skin would allow, slightly distracted by the feathers on the back of her neck chaffing at the jacket zipper. Her opponent was clearly trying to aid her by reining himself in, but his improved reaction time tended to cancel it out. Greer grinned behind her mask. Always the gentleman. As with the last time they'd fenced she lost most of the time, but enjoyed herself greatly and managed not to smack him with the side of the blade. Ambrose Ambrose's adrenaline and heart was pumping - this was what he missed. He breathed in the air of competition, and while he did hold himself back some against the opponent who was still a bit unsteady with the weapon, it was difficult. On some occasions, he would give his right arm to have another competing epee fencer here - but on the other, he woudln't wish that on anyone. And he was lucky enough that there was A fencer here - sabre aside. Finally it was time to call it quits and he tore off the mask, literally panting. Despite his entusiasm - and he had gone much longer than his last bout where he had tired out more quickly in the heat, coupled with the incessant itch - there was still only so much of fencing in the tropical heat and humidity, sheathed in heavy white fabric over fur that one could take. "Good matches, Greer. Thank you." He said between breaths. "How... how about some water. And once my hunger realizes it's safe to come back - some food as well?" Greer Pulling off her mask, Greer took a moment to pant. Goodness those things got confining, particularly in tropical weather. "That sounds like an excellent plan." Ambrose He nodded, breathing for a little bit more before finally peeling off his fencing jacket. Embarrasingly, the thing was damp, and the fur around his neck and back was clumping with sweat. He grimaced. "I have to apologize. I must reek. I'm used to the Northeast." Greer Greer smiled, making a cheeky show of sniffing him. "Meh, you smell like a boy. Thankfully nothing beyond that." Carefully unzipping her jacket, she freed herself of canvas and her chest protector, which left her shirt rather... sculpted due to heat and dampness. Doing her best not to be self conscious about it, she trotted towards the cafeteria. Ambrose "At least better than a wet dog, right?" He shoved off the embarrassment and hoped that the cafeteria woudln't be too packed. "Water it is!" And he headed after her. Greer She laughed. " Much better." Pushing open the door, she made a beeline for the liquid section of the serving line. Ooo, orange juice! Ambrose "Oh that looks wonderful" Ambrose exclaimed, grabbing a bottled water and twisting off the top, guzzling some of it down before coming up for air. "Ahhhh..." He said with a smile, setting down the gear by one of the tables, and grabbing one of the trays. Greer Greer followed suit and plunked down her stuff, getting another glass of juice and a plate with two steaks on it. Plopping down at the table next to her gear, she cut off a hunk of meat and began to chew it. Mmm, steak. Ambrose Ambrose joined her with a similar selection of food, and began slicing up the steak into thick, bloody strips, then spearing them with his fork, and chewing contententedly. After chewing and swallowing several bites, he finally spoke up again. "Is it just my imagination, or has the cooking been getting better?" Greer Three quarters of her way through her first steak, Greer looked up and nodded. "Something's changing - I'm starting to enjoy eating animal flesh." Ambrose Ambrose looked up, thinking on this for a moment. "I guess you're right... it's us... not the food." For a moment, he almost seemed to lose his appetite, but his appetite soon found him and threatened him to continue eating or else. "You used to be a vegeterian, didn't you?" Greer Greer nodded sadly, finishing the first slab of meat and diving into the next. "Born and bred. I never ate meat because, well, I wasn't used to it. And now the thought of a well-seared steak makes my mouth water." Ambrose He watched her for a little as he ate. "Did you do it for health reasons? Just the way you were brought up...? Or the thought of eating animals...?" He asked plainly. Greer She shrugged, chewing. "How I was brought up. Dad was a veggie and he did the cooking. I was just used to it. I did try meat once, but..." she shuddered a little, remembering her old revulsion. "...the feeling of it in my mouth was so odd. So icky. So I never ate it again." Ambrose He nodded. "I've heard that people who go without it for a long time can literally become ill when they try it... or nauseated by it. Honestly, even before all of this, I never tried being vegeterian, so I wouldn't really know. But a lot of my friends in high school were vegeterian." Greer Greer chuckled, consuming more meat. "It's just what I was raised with, you know? Between my Dad's cooking and living in Seattle, it was really easy. Actually, the first time it became an issue was trying to find stuff to eat at the DC's at Umass." Ambrose "Aaaaah." He smiled, nodding knowingly. "I've heard people are pretty veggie out on the Left coast" he grinned, finishing off his pile of meat and sliding his tray away, stifling a yawn. No, he wasn't going to go sleep off this big meal again - predator or not. And even if he hadn't noticed putting on any weight, he wasn't about to get lazy. Greer She grinned, polishing off her meal as well. "Oh yeah. We're all hippies and tree-huggers." Ambrose He smirked. "well, that's the way that people out East tend to paint it at least. Though I'm sure that's not quite the truth." Greer She shook her head, catching sight of a slightly ajar door she hadn't noticed before. "No, there are tons of meat eaters out there. Covered in Korean barbeques and Russian bakeries. Besides, on the West Coast we're all told Yankees are snotty with sticks up their bums, and we both know that's not true." Pointing to the door, she raied an eyebrow. "What's that?" Ambrose He laughed, thinking of the stereotypes, and shook his head a bit. "I suppose not" he said, ironically reflecting on how his life had been before Angelina, and how his parents and most of their friends were. He glanced out the door and pursed his lips. "Hunh. I'm not sure.... want to go take a look?" He stood up, offering her his hand. Greer Greer accepted the hand up. "Sure! I love a good adventure." Ambrose "Excellent" He beamed and bussed their trays before heading out and around to the open door to the supply room - much bigger than he remembered, and now positively stacked with boxes and crates. There were fresh tire tracks in the dirt road around the building - leading both to that room and the entertainment room. Greer Greer gawked. "What's all this? Our supplies?" Ambrose Ambrose blinked and inspected the contents of one of the boxes - full of tools. "M... maybe.... Did you ask for them?" He turned to her, surprised and looking rather positive. Greer Greer bounced, pulling open another box. "It is! It's everything I asked for so we can build the butterfly house! Aubrey is so wonderful, although I really don't want to know what she had to do to convince the Doctor to get all this stuff." Ambrose Ambrose grinned. "So we can do it? Build the butterfly house? That... wow, that should be a lot of work - which is good! I... It will feel good to make something I think." He smiled. Greer Extremely excited, Greer pounced on her friend with a hug. "Oh Ambrose, I can't wait! Thank you so much for coming up with the idea!" Ambrose Ambrose smiled widely. "It was my idea?" He asked, honestly not quite sure about all that. He squeezed her back. "I have to warn you, though. I've never exactly built anything like this before...." Greer Keeping her arms wrapped around his neck, she leaned back to grin at him. "Neither have I. We're in so much trouble." Ambrose He gave a wincing snicker. "Well... maybe we should see what else they've brought us while we're at it...? I think we've done enough work out in the sun for today at least anyway. And we can't exactly start building before we have a plan of action." Greer "Excellent plan!" She released him rather reluctantly. God, what was it with her and this touch thing? Turning to one of the unopened boxes, Greer tore it open. "Are we going to have to root through all of these or do you have a plan of attack?" Ambrose Ambrose glanced over. "Oh! I meant in the other room. We'll definatley have to take inventory of what we've got soon, though... and someone better than I will have to make blueprints." He winked. Greer Greer replaced the box top, blushing slightly. "Oh. Right. I knew that." Rolling her eyes at the wink she headed towards the other room. "Find me a ruler and I'll see what I can do." Ambrose He chuckled. "No problem, birdie. I'm sure there's one in a box around here somewhere..." He glanced around all of the crates. "Pardon me if I didn't pack one for my two week stay here" he winked. Greer "Birdie!" she snorted in annoyance. "Grasshopper I'll deal with, bug can be used by a select few, but birdie is out of the question, pup." She crossed her arms and attempted to glare. Ambrose He smirked. "Tit for tat." He winked. "But I'll settle for bug for now, I suppose" He heaved a mock smile and headed out towards the entertainment room. Greer Greer rolled her eyes and stepped into the entertainment room, quickly ignoring the expensive entertainment system for the glorious new book collection. She ran right to it, lovingly caressing the spines. Oh, she was in heaven! Ambrose "Oh wow..." Ambrose trailed off as well, noting immediately the HUGE selection of nature books. He swallowed and wandered towards the shelf, thumbing through the categories until his finger paused on a book on wolves. It sat there, almost challenging - rather thick and nicely printed. The word "WOLVES" brandished plainly down the spine. Did he want to know that much? was it admitting things? And if he read it, would he start to 'notice' things that weren't even there...? He stood for a moment, his finger lingering on the shiny finish of the thick paper dustjacket. Greer Greer might have been thinking about such things as well, but she'd spent her entire time on island pining for research material, so this sudden glut distracted her from more cerebral things. Insects, check. Pirds of prey, check. Ooo, construction! "This is so... oh I am such a nerd!" Ambrose He looked back over his shoulder. "Hmm?" He asked, with a strange look. "what did you find?" He looked back to the book. Well, he did ask for it after all, didn't he? With a breath he slid it from the shelf and paged through it. There was both a lot of text AND a lot of really superb photographs. He'd read it back in his dupled. He tucked it under his arm and walked over to see what she had found. Greer "Bugs, birds and building." Already having claimed four books, Greer bit her lip. She really should leave some for other people... "Is it bad I want to steal them all? Ambrose He laughed at the aliteration. "Sounds like your kind of thing. Glad that you found waht you needed. And I don't think that anyone else will be needing those particular subjects. I have yet to see anyone else sprout feathers OR antennae for that matter. And if they want to know about bugs, I am sure that anyone can point them in your direction." He teased. Greer Greer stared at him. "You mean... one of use could turn into an insect? That would be so cool!" Ambrose Ambrose just... boggled. "You're serious?" he asked incredulously and then shuddered, patting his book. "I think this is muuuch preferable in my opinion." Greer Greer blushed, turning back to her book selection. "Well, yeah, I mostly serious. I mean this is me we're talking about. Bugs aren't really the unknown." Ambrose He smirked, and then nodded. "Understood. Well... it was a great afternoon - Good fencing, good food and good conversation." He smiled and hugged the book to himself. "I should probably get back and shower... and then I think I'm going to give this a serious read." He gave her a final half-salute. "Good luck planning out my manual labor." Greer Greer smiled wickedly. "I'll save the most horrible stuff for you. Happy reading!" Ambrose He stuck his tongue out. "Lovely! Just what I prefer." He waved and headed back to his duplex and towards the muuuch-needed shower. Greer Greer smiled, shaking her head and limiting herself to only two more books before she too headed home.
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 8:22 pm
Damn. She was trapped. With only six books she shouldn't have been able to pen herself in, but Greer was a champion at getting messily lost in research. Her floor was covered in haphazard piles of papers, all notes on specific subjects ranging from construction, to ornithology, to the basics of foundation construction. The books lay open to random pages somewhat near their corresponding note drifts, their pages bristling with impromptu book marks. She'd been reading for nearly two days straight, soaking up information, and was only now attempting to organize and decipher it. What she really wanted now was a snack before she continued hacking away at the jungle of knowledge before her, but had no intention of treading all over her vague attempt at organization to do it. She would have to forge a path to her door before any escape attempts could be made. What to organize for freedom? Her three main subjects were the default of insects, birds of prey, and construction. Bugs were easy and enjoyable enough, but that could be done at any time and a true examination to see if her phasmids were a new discovery or not would take far longer than she wanted to spend now. The building manuals would be easy enough to organize into groups she understood, but she really wanted Ambrose to help her with that just in case her understanding was as off about the subject as she suspected. That of course left her on-going attempt to determine what species of raptor she was turning in to, which she had narrowed down either the Red Shouldered Hawk, the Harris' or Bay-Winged Hawk, and the Ferruginous Hawk. With any luck, she could get herself a line of clear floor space while answering her species question at the same time. Greer had narrowed down her suspects to these three species of hawk due in major part to their coloration and diet. They were all fairly similar, escpecially when juviniles, and certainly went along with the indications she was currently displaying. The challenge now was to see if there were any other areas where they differed that she could use to draw a parallel to her current condition. Crawling through the sea of notes, Greer pulled the bird of prey textbook into her lap as she sat and did her best to shuffle her notes into a semblance of order. It was a pity she didn't know which habitat her hawk species went for - that was the most striking difference between the three possible choices she could see. She shuffled the papers again, reading over her notes... size, coloration, number of eggs, diet, habitat... no, nothing stood out. She read them over again, and blushed. She'd completely forgotten to look at mating habits. Silly Sean. Setting the papers aside, she flipped the newly-deflowered book open to the section of the Red-Winged Hawk, finding the usual notes about mating for life and keeping territories. Hmm. Didn't sound too much like her. Right, on to the Ferruginous Hawk... ah, this one was a little more unique, a breeder who changed mates every year. Common for other animals, but generally not for birds of prey. That might explain the flirty harem thing, but only sort of. She flipped to the last suspected species, the Bay-Winged Hawk, also known as Harris' Hawk. It was a lovely, simply colored creature with a distinctively striped tail. It's adult markings matched her own, as did its appetites. Its desert habitat was a bit worrying - a Seattle girl was not the sort of person who could handle an extended lack of precipitation. Her eyes drifted down to its mating habits. "Unique in its pack hunting and tendency towards polyandry..." Oh. Hey. Well. "And we have a winner." she muttered under her breath. Food time. Thought later.
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 9:13 pm
Amaya Vaughan Amaya grunted as she slammed another piece of driftwood into the sand, manuvering it around until it stood up sturdy enough on it's own. After making sure it would stay up she stood back and looked at the project she had been working for the day. Three large pieces of driftwood stood up in the sand, two small ones and a larger one inbetween them. "I'm sorry, but this is the best I can do for now..."
She trailed off and kneeled on the sand, taking from a large pile of rocks she had collected and placing them around the base of the driftwood to give it extra incentive to stay standing. Greer Cassenwari Greer trailed to the beach, looking for Sean but not planning to admit it if anyone asked her. The last person she expected to see there was Amaya, and walking in on the girl's conctruction efforts had never even crossed her mind. "...hello?" Amaya Vaughan "Hm?" Green eyes shifted from the rocks she was laying up to Greer, the usual smile not even attempting to spread across her face. "Oh, hey Greer." Today was one of the few days she couldn't even force herself to grin. "How're you doin'?" She continued to lay rocks, shoving them at the base of the driftwood and wiggling them to make sure they kept it sturdy. Greer Cassenwari "I'm good." She watched the girl's actions silently, trying to puzzle them out. Finally, she had to ask, even though it was clear she was intruding. "What are you doing?" Amaya Vaughan "Making makeshift graves for my parents. I realized that from now on I won't be able to visit them anymore so..." She trailed off unable to make herself finish her sentence, her voice catching in her throat. Greer Cassenwari Greer was stayed quiet, watching for a moment. "Can I help?" Amaya Vaughan "Sure." Amaya moved over some, opening a spot next to her as she continued to set in the rocks. Her voice seemed devoid of emotion, the only thing keeping her from breaking down and crying was probably her own will. Greer Cassenwari She mirrored the girl's work, arranging as best she could. "How long has it been?" Amaya Vaughan "10 years today." The young girl let out a shaky sigh, obviously holding back and keeping herself busy with the rocks just to keep herself from really focusing her entire mind on what today really was. Greer Cassenwari Greer reached out and put a light hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know how you feel." Amaya Vaughan Amaya stopped what she was doing and let her head hang, shoulders shaking slightly. "I always get a feeling it's my fault..." She took a breath inbetween sentences. "I know it's stupid but... they went out the night before my birthday to get my birthday present... b-because if they bought it any sooner I would find it." A hoarse laugh escaped her mouth. "They were out shopping for me and having a night to themselves when... when..." Her voice choked and she couldn't finish her sentence. Greer Cassenwari Oh no. She had her own issues with the death of her father by cancer, but she couldn't imagine living with something like that. Holding out her arms to Amaya, she offered a hug. "Oh honey, you can't blame yourself! Your parents clearly loved you very much." Amaya Vaughan Sniffing, she let herself fall into Greer's embrace. How come Greer was always the one around when she ended up needing comforting? "I know b-but I can't h-help it." She choked out between short, almost silent sobs. It had been 10 years since she started to cry at around the same time on the same day... gradually it was getting harder and harder to cry over it which scared her. She wanted to cry, especially for her parents. Greer Cassenwari "Shh, I know." Greer closed her eyes, mimicing the motions her mother had gone through for her when she was fifteen. "If there was I way I could've died instead of my dad, I would have. It's a horrible, natural feeling. But it wasn't your fault." Amaya Vaughan Amaya nodded, unable to really respond as she choked back a few more sobs. "I-I know... but you can't help b-but feel that you could've done... s-something to prevent it." Greer Cassenwari Greer gave the girl a big squeeze and then held her at arms length, giving her a sad smile while she wiped away her tears. "Of course not. When my dad was in the hospital I practically stuck a needle in my arm in an effort to get them to give him a blood transfution in hopes that would make him better. He had heart cancer, so it wouldn't, but that didn't stop me from trying." She nodded to the construction project. "You are a very loving daughter to torture yourself like this building these. Why the beach?" Amaya Vaughan "I'm sorry..." She sniffed, sitting up but letting Greer still hold her. "'Cause the view." Her head turned around to the ocean, the sunset just starting to reach the edge of the waves. "Dad never did like the beach even though my mom did... but we all loved the sunset, so I figured they would like it here where they could watch it every night." Greer Cassenwari She smiled, smoothing Amaya's hair behind her ears. "That's a lovely sentiment. Mind if I stay and share it with you?" Amaya Vaughan "Sure." Amaya finally gave a small smile.
Shortly after, a yawn escaped her mouth and she started to lean into Greer. Paired with crying and the sun setting, she was starting to get rather cold and felt anemic. Her eyelids slowly started to drop, shoulders sagging. Greer Cassenwari Greer smiled, tugging the girl into the crook of her arm. Poor thing had had a bad day, and was becoming reptilian besides. She needed to get warm. "Come on you, let's get you home so you can sleep." Amaya Vaughan "Nnnn..." Amaya squeezed her eyes shut hard to wake herself up a bit. "Mmkay." She stood and let out another yawn, looking down at the three posts she had made for her father, mother and grandmother. A small prayer ran through her mind for them even though she herself wasn't at all faithful, it was just a habit she had picked up over the years since her parents had always been. Green eyes trailed back up to Greer and she smiled again. "Thanks Greer..." Greer Cassenwari She smiled, putting an arm around the girl's shoulders and turning them back towards the village. "Anytime. We islanders are practically family after all. The experiments must take care of their own." Amaya Vaughan She laughed slightly and nodded as they walked, being a little taller then she initially was when she arrived due to the fact that she now had to walk on tiptoe. "Yeah..."
As they reached her duplex, she unlocked the door and opened it slightly, a rush of hot and humid air pouring out from inside. "Thanks again, Greer... your kinda like the mother figure I've been missing these few years." Giving a goodnight and a wave, she vanished inside her duplex. Greer Cassenwari Greer blinked, just barely remembering to wave good bye. Her? A mother figure? Woah. Her feet turned her back to her duplex while her brain whirred. How the heck had that happened? She needed to talk to one of her boys.
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:24 am
Greer The mess wasn't as bad as it had been yesterday, since there was now a connected series of paths from the front door, the bed, the bathroom, the desk and the sliding glass door to the balcony. Truly, a great improvement. Greer was lying on her belly in the middle of the floor, shuffling through her construction notes in an effort to organize them. She really needed to talk to someone who knew something about building. The Dude There was a knock on the door and then the Dude's voice clarified: "Knock Knock!" Except maybe it wasn't the Dude ...cuz the voice sounded funny, a little muffled maybe? Yeah ... maybe this wasn't the Dude at all... Greer She didn't even glance up, too absorbed in trying to puzzle out what one of her notations said. Why had she written something about iguanas...? "It's open! Come in!" The Dude The door opened and the Dude's head poked in. He grinned from behind the bushy whiskers and said: "Hey, you! If someone says 'Knock Knock' you are supposed to say 'Who's there?', grashopper." Greer "Hmm?" Greer finally raised her eyes from her paper, still confused by her own handwriting. I mean really, what did reptiles have to do with frame construc- "Sean!" Greer completely forgot whatever it was she'd been trying to decipher and beamed at him, attempting to stand. One of her legs was asleep, though, so it just crumpled when she put weight on it. Meeping, she slid back down into the papers. "Oof. Hiya. Who's there, then." The Dude The Dude opened his mouth for a sec to say something serious but waved the proverbial flipper at the matter and instead followed the trail of free space towards Greer. "Banana!" - he announced, crouching on the floor next to her, not particularly careful about avoiding all this paper stuff on the floor. Greer Greer winced at all the piles he displaced. Oh well. She'd shuffle them again later. Far better things to think about now. Smiling at him, she quirked an eyebrow. "Banana? Banana who?" The Dude "Knock Knock!" - the Dude rested his chin on one of his flippers, trying to hide a grin. Greer She frowned, relocating a pile so she could stretch out her blood-starved leg. "That's not how it goes." The Dude "Oh, c'mon, humor me." - he grinned, taking her stretched out foot in his flippers and took off the flip flop she had on. He clumsily but carefully started massaging the prickly toes. "Knock knock!" Greer Anyone who gave foot massages deserved to be humored. "Who's there?" she sighed happily. The Dude He chuckled and the blue eyes sparkled up with amusement: "BANANA!" Greer Greer rolled her eyes, smelling something fishy going on. "Banana who?" The Dude "Knock knock!" - he grinned manically wide at her. Greer She gave him her best mock glare. "Who's there?" If this went on much longer she was going to need something to throw at him. The Dude He looked down and pretended to be horribly involved with Greer's foot then looked up at her and chuckled: "Orange!" Greer All she had on hand was paper, books, and pens. Damn. "Orange who?" The Dude He put her foot down and placed the flip flop back on it, then said, laughing: "Orange you glad I didn't say banana?!" Greer Greer groaned, leaning forward to slap his leg with one of her hands. "That's horrible!" The Dude "Yeah!!!" - he nearly purred from the corniness of the joke, and the fact that he slapped. Then, nodding at the horrible mess around them, the Dude petted Greer's leg next to him and wondered: "What''s with the papers?" Greer "Research!" she said happily, clearing a space next to him so she could snuggle in close and poke him in the tummy. "I've been learning things. About birds." The Dude The sealion happily put his flippers around the ladyhawk's shoulders and puled her close: "Birds? I thought you liked bugs?" Greer Greer grinned, kissing his cheek and holding up a feather hand. "But that's not what I'm turning into, is it?" The Dude "Oh yeah ..." - he realized. "Yeah, that'd be a good thing to check up on. So what are you gonna be? Figure it out yet?" - he gently petted the feathers on her hand, pondering the same question. Greer She looked around for a moment, trying to locate the birds of prey book she'd spent most of yesterday reading. Papers, papers, more papers... there it was! Greer leaned forward, grabbed it, and settled back against Sean. Opening the book she flipped it to the pertinent pages. "This one." she pointed to the photograph of the Harris Hawk. The Dude "Oh, COOL. Is this an eagle or something?" - he stared curiously at the photograph. Then he grinned at her: "How'd you figure it out? Do the feathers match or something?" Greer "A Harris' or Bay-Winged Hawk." Greer recited, having already memorized the contents of the page. "And yes, the coloration matches, as does the diet and, uh, social habits..." Oh hey, look, something she didn't want to talk about! Neat. The Dude "A hawk, huh?" - the Dude scratched his chin, trying to remember what he knew abuot hawks. Well, he ever saw them floating gracefully in the sky above the Sierras or sitting on telegraph posts, looking grumpy. "Where's this Harris hawk from?" Greer Yes! He was ignoring the social thing! Greer gave him a big hug in appreciation. "North American desert areas. Like Arizona, Texas, the lower, drier bits of Cali, and Me-hi-co." The Dude The Dude grinned at the hug and bent down to kiss Greer: "Desert hawk, huh? I wonder if'll you be able to fly. That'd be wicked cool." Greer Only Greer could spend a full day reading up on birds, trying to figure out what kind she was turning into, and manage not to think of what that meant about the possibility of flight. "Me? Fly?" she squeaked. "That WOULD be cool!" The Dude "Heh, you didn't even thin about that one, did you?" - he wusheled her hair, amuzed by the surprise in her eyes: "You'd be, like, the first human to full fill a century long dream, ya know? If it works that is ..." - he stared at the hawk picture again: "It looks fierce. And free. Nice wings ..." Greer Greer gazed her hands for a moment, trying to imagine them as wings. It didn't work. Giving up on that, she returned her focus to the much more real Sean, smiling at him and giving him a kiss. "It would only work if my bones got all hollow, which I imagine would hurt like hell, and if I learned to conqure the basic human fear of throwing oneself of cliffs and such." Glancing down at one of his flippers, she sighed. "Pity it's not a coastal hawk - they can stand to enter water." The Dude "Yeah ... pity that." - he brushed her hair and smiled, a bit sadly: "I bet desert hawks don't like water very much at all. Get's their pretty feathers all messy, huh?" - he sighed. "And the bones becoming hollow sounds strange. But maybe it will not hurt. I mean, there are no nerves inside bones to tell you about what's happening, right? But if they would become hollow, then you'd be so fragile. Like a butterfly ..." - the Dude tried to smile encouragingly at the entomologist, but his blue eyes ended up just looking worried instead. Greer Greer shuddered. Nerves or no, the experience of her bone tissue going from solid to hollow with supportive struts was one she'd just as soon avoid. She smiled up at him, noting both the worry and attempt to make her feel better. He was such a sweety. "Ooo, speaking of butterflies, Ambrose and I are making a butterfly house! It's going to be neat! Do you know how to build stuff?" She pushed the subject of painful transformations quickly aside. The Dude The sea lion within bared teeth at the mention of a competing male, but the Dude shrugged it off. he was only 25% sea lion and weird thoughts like that were still fairly easy to control. "Building a butterfly house? Errrr ... no, I got no clue, but I can help, if you need." - he shrugged. "Is that, like a big cage for butterflies or something?" Greer She clacked her teeth a little, trying to think of a way to explain it so he'd understand. "It's like... a big net enclosed garden that butterflies and other insects can be kept in. Real house or building sized. In the more temperate areas they're full on enclosed tropical greenhouses, but it's warm enough here that it can be open air. It shouldn't be too hard to build but, well, the biggest project I've done before now is making a short-lived pillow fort." The Dude "Ah, gotcha! Well, I attended shop back in the old high school days, so you know, I am capable of hammering things together and drilling and what not. I have no clue how to build houses, though. I think the biggest project we had to do was card table." Greer Greer laughed. "Well if we need a place to sit I know what to put you in charge of. Man, between you, me, and Ambrose this may be the most ill-advised construction project ever. I'm reading up on it, but I'd prefer practical skill." Snuggling closer, she assumed her 'professor' voice. "So Mr. Carroll, have you been keeping up with your studies?" The Dude The Dude looked sheepish for a sec: "Huh? Oh, the notebook? Well ... I don't have the guidebooks yet, grasshopper. But i've done plenty diving, though, to check up on my subjects. The dolphin pod has moved on, which is sad, but the mackerles are probably moved and they kinda follow the food. But the black tip is still here. I saw him twice by now. Thankfully he mostly stayed on the ocean side." - he updated Greer on the reef gossip, then added: "Hey, actually, I've been meaning to talk to you abotu this Mr. Carroll and Sean business." He paused, figuring out how to go about it: "I'm not a fan of being called "Sean Carroll", but I understand that it is weird to call the guy you make out with "Dude". So ... how about another nickname? Or if that's not good, then, well, I suppose whatever works, then?" - he smirked. Greer Greer nodded as she followed his report, resisting the urge to tell him the comings and goings of the island's insect life. "Oh, you didn't hear? There are guidebooks in the entertainment room off of the cafeteria. Lots and lots of them..." she trailed off, reliving the beautiful sight. Frowning at his name request, Greer cocked her head. "I suppose, although I'm not very good with giving people nicknames. Why don't you like people using your name?" The Dude "Really? Sweet! Well, I go get them, then and be agood scientist and all." - he nodded then got back to the subject at hand "Well, It's hard to explain, really. Sean Carroll was a bit different from the guy you see now. And the past brings back bad memories for me. I kinda lost that name along the road. But it's not a big deal ... Really." - he got quiet, then shook his head: "You know, I sound like a big whiney baby right now. Just ... call me Sean. Forget I said anything." He squeezed Greer's hand and put his head on her shoulder. Greer Greer smiled, kissing his forehead. "If the name thing really bothers you I'll call you whatever you want. And if you want to talk about the past I'm here for that too. Or not. Either way." The Dude "Well, technically it's about time I should be getting over certain things." - he said. "Technically." His head was still laying on Greer's shoulder and he was starring blankly at the picture of the hawk on the floor, not really seeing it very much. Greer She rested her head on his, smiling sadly. "Some things you never really get over." The Dude "Yep." - he grunted. "Supposedly that builds character and what not. Anyway. What other neat things can your hawk do? Except survive in the desert." Yeah, that was a lame attempt to switch topic but who's keeping score ... Greer Crap. Did he have to bring that back up? "Oh, you know, hawk things. Fly. Hunt. Lay eggs. They, uh, they hunt in packs, which is cool! Birds don't usually do that." The Dude "Really? I thought sparrows did everything in packs" - he grinned, starring more coherently at the picture, trying to imagine how Greer would look like with a beak. His left flipper was wrapped around the girl's waist and the right one was petting the feathers on Greer's hand. "Sealions hang out in packs. I think they hunt by themselves, but nobody really knows. They are very social dudes. So it's good that your bird is a social one, right? We'll have an interspecies romance goign on" - he chuckled. Greer Greer giggled a little at the ticklish feeling of his flipper on her hand feathers. "Flocks and packs are two different things. Birds of prey are usually solitary predators or pared life mates. They aren't the sort to gang up on rabbits and lizards - generally they go out and kill by themselves." Realizing how non-cozy that sounded, she quickly highlighted the positive aspects. "But yes, it really is lucky that I got one of the few social hawks. Ironic too. I'd hate it if I suddenly stopped liking you because of my feathers." The Dude The Dude laughed: "Oh that's sooo schweeeeeeeet." He squeezed Greer for that, and countered: "And seriously, I kinda hope we are all still human enough to have a grip on all these animal behavior stuffs as we change? I mean, imagine if someone got turned into a deer and then Ambrose had to deal with constant impulse to eat them, ya know? Not fun." Greer She made a face. "Ugh, you're right. And I thought just having the impulse to eat meat was bad enough! I mean, Harris' Hawks eat reptiles - what if I start longing for a slice of Cassidy or a side of Amaya! Eep!" The Dude "Yeah!!! Hold on - is Amaya turning into a snake, too?" - he asked, surprised. Greer Greer shook her head. "A lizard of some sort. Something scaly with long toes. And I apparently remind her of her mother." The Dude The Dude nodded about the 'Amaya turning into a lizard' info as acknowledgement then chuckled: "Congrats! Not comfortable with that, huh?" Greer She shrugged, rubbing nervous fingers over the membranes on the flipper aroung her tummy. "Yes and no. I just think a girl who blames herself for the loss of her parents deserves someone better with people than me." The Dude "I think you are good with people. Whether it's hawk DNA or tropical sun, but you've really come out of your shell since I met you." - the Dude joked, then asked: "So she blames herself for their death? Did she explain why?" Greer She blushed, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Thanks. That means a lot to me." Greer sighed, watching her toes as she wiggled them. "They died on her birthday, when they were out buying her present." The Dude "Oh maaan ..." - he sighed. "I can see how she'd put blame on herself. You know, I can talk to her about this, if you want me to?" Greer Greer shook her head. "That's sweet, but I'm okay working with her on it, what with my experience in this area. Besides, would you want someone randomly talking to you about a major loss in your life?" The Dude "Well, I suppose it's not the most cheery of conversations, but Amaya is a good kid. I'd do it for her sake" - he grinned "But since your are the mom figure, you'd be better anyways. Boys have cooties, did you know?" Greer Greer hissed a bit at the 'mom' comment, reaching back and poking him in the tummy. "Really? Goodness. I knew they smelled but I didn't think they carried diseases!" The Dude "Yeah, but Amaya is at the age where boys not just smell, they are vile. And I am kinda a boy, I suppose." - he smiled. "Hey, I got a question. You think the hawk DNA was what brought you out of into the dating circle? I mean, as much as I'd like to dream it was my charm and good looks ... " he trailed off. Greer Greer bit her lip. This was a question she really didn't want to answer. "I think... I think it pushed me to act on things I already felt. Cause if it had just been the hawk genes talking, I probably would have, um..." Her face burned and she couldn't bring herself to finish. The Dude "Eh? Whatcha blushing about? It's good that the hawk pushed you in the right direction. I mean, the dance on the table is a vision I will not forget for a while." - the Dude grinned, thinking the reason Greer was fretting was due to the "hawk made me do this" fear. And silly girly sentiments of deep love before first kiss etc. etc. Greer "Er, well, that is, um, Harri's Hawks are really social." she mumbled, hiding in his chest. The Dude "Huh?" - he asked and put his armd around the ever-so-bashfull Greer: "You mean you got yourself a swinging hawk?" - he snorted "Oh, that's funny!" Greer Frowning she socked him in the gut. "It is not! I don't want to date more than one guy!" The Dude "Hey hey hey ... one at a time or, like, one forever?" - he laughed, defending his stomach with his flippers. "Cuz I might object there..." The Dude scooped up the pocking bird lady and kissed her. "Oh c'mon, tell already what so SHPECIAL about this desert hawk of yours! Suspense is killing me." Greer "One at a time is more than enough, thanks, especially if they're anything like you." She sighed, ruffling her hair. "They're polyandorous. That means the females are dominant and collect harems of two to three males to create their packs." The Dude "Holy s**t, no way!" - the Dude snorted, clearly do not realizing the gravity of situation. "Go hawk girls! How do they keep their boys in line, though? Are they twice their size, like the praying mantis?" Greer Greer began to contemplate murder, but stopped when she realized Sean outweighed her enough she'd have to cut him into pieces to be able to move the body. "They are a bit larger, but mostly the males are just more docile than the females are. They live to serve or something. That and if they don't bow to a girl's wishes they don't get to mate, which wild animals take real issue to." The Dude The Dude made a "scientific face": "Ah ... so they get them hooked on sex, I see, I see. Very clever. I knew a few girls like that ..." He grinned at Greer wide, seeing the mad sparkles in her dark eyes and the thinly pressed lips. Greer Greer's eyes narrowed, her hawkish anger mixing with her very human ire. "Oh did you? How nice. Glad you'll be used to such manipulation then. Maybe you can teach me?" The Dude "Man, you look gorgeous when you are angry!" - the Dude poked Greer in the nose: "You mean you feel like you need to have three boys around you? Hawk's burning desires giving you headache?" Greer She closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her hand. "No I... urg. I hate having part of my mind think things I don't agree with. I wouldn't really mind the rest of it but... ugh." She opened her eyes and looked up at him, clearly worried. "What happens if I start hitting on other guys? Will you be mad?" The Dude "Hm ... that's a good question ..." - the Dude scratched his beard. "But before we worry about that ... since we are talking about mating habits." He paused, still grinning to himself about the "swinging hawk" buisness. "I think my sea lion can totally top your hawk over here..." Greer She frowned, the hawk bit fluffing possessively. "What do you mean?" The Dude "Well, your hawk lady gets three boys to boss around ... but my sea lion gets a harem of fifteen chicks, come May. TOP THAT!" - he grinned at her wide, pocking her back at the stomach. Greer She shook her head ruefully, trying to ignore how upset this pronouncement was not only making her hawkself, but her real Greer-self as well. "Oh grand. So we're each going to want to claim the other without sharing and multiple partners besides? This is going to get... messy." The Dude "Hey, love conquers all." - he waved his flipper around, not to worried. "Besides, we are human. And we got brains and inhibitions and morals and stuff. I don't think we can just get suckered into the "doing it like they they do it on the Discovery Channel" stuff." He patted her on the shoulder: "Oh, don't look so down, grasshopper. Who knows WHAT is gonna happen to us here ... I say weird animal attractions should be the least of your worries when you might grow wings and a beak ..." Greer "A beak!" she squeaked, hands flying to her face. "But, but, I like having lips!" The Dude "Okey okey, no beak, don't worry" - he pulled Greer close and was petting her head. "I am talking out of my a** here. I don't know what's gonna happen. No one does." "Here, let's put your pretty lips to good use here" - he grinned and kissed her. Greer She smiled, putting her arms around his neck. "At least it's a nice a**." The Dude "Thanks. Yours, too." - he smiled and kissed her again. Screw this worry stuff. Avoidance is bliss. They'll deal with s**t as it arrives. Greer She giggled. "Awww. Aren't you sweet?" she kissed him back, sighing. "Can you keep me from thinking about scary stuff from now on?" The Dude "Sure. Avoiding problems is my speciality." - he pulled her down on the various papers around them. "Step one - fill life with happy s**t - like making out and sunsets." Greer Greer chuckled, kissing his nose. "Ooo, I should be taking notes." The Dude "No no, no notes. Notes are anti-Dude. Its quite intuitive, hon." - he rested his head on one of the various books on the floor, the flippers pressing Greer's slight frame to himself. "Now, let me concentrate on your lips over here..." - he trailed off, getting busy. Greer Greer was more than happy to allow him said concentration, returning the intrest. "You said step one - are there more?" she asked, coming up for air. The Dude "I'm sure they are but we can think of them some other time." - was the cheeky answer. The Dude's flippers were in all kinds of places, nothing too forbidden of course, for he remembered being kicked in the jewels quite vividly. But they were most certainly all over Greer's back. And by that we mean the broad definition of the word "back". Greer Greer's eyes snapped open and she attempted to sit up, hands on Sean's chest. "Um, your hands are on my butt." The Dude "That's bad?" - he didn't move his hand. "But it's nice!" - the sea lion pouted. Greer Greer turned mulitple shades of dark pink. "Thanks, I think." The Dude The Dude patted the butt jovially: "I say nice things are meant to be admired. I am admiring the general shape and bouncy-ness." Greer She rolled her eyes, still blushing a bit. "Glad you like it, but you'll have to forgive me for not being used to the attention. Uh, do you think I could have my rump back?" The Dude "Well, okey." - he moved his flippers back to her waist: "But I think it likes me back." Greer Greer raised an eyebrow. "Dare I ask what gives you that idea?" The Dude There was a flash of white from behind the whiskers as the Dude smiled: "Male intuition." Greer She snorted. "Male intuition huh? Is that the same thing that makes you drink, smoke weed, and afraid to wash?" The Dude "No, all that is just my style. And I am not afraid to wash. I spend so much time in water, I'm brine pickled." - he defended his Dude-ness. "Hey, out of curiosity here - what is your ... how shall I put it ... base plan?" Greer "I have no idea." she looked puzzled. "What the heck are you talking about?" The Dude "Oh, you know - first base, second base, homerun ..." - he winked at her. "I'm mostly curious about the, ya know ... waiting times." - the cheeky b*****d clarified. Greer Greer cocked her head, taking a moment to realize what he was talking about. This was a question she'd never even remotely encountered before. "Err... are you asking me how long you have to wait until I'll let you in my pants?" The Dude "Wow, way to hit the nail on the head here!" - he was startled by the directness: "Don't get me wrong, 'm not rushing things here at all. You are the lady, you lead." He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. "But I do think that your tush and me could be best friends!" Greer She laughed despite herself. "All right, you and my bum can get to know each other better, but be nice." Greer blushed a little and looked down at his chest. "I've never done this stuff before." The Dude "I am aware of that, grasshopper." - he pressed her close and petted the dark hair like she was a child. "It's not scary or anything, either. I promise" - he chuckled. "But I can see how it can seem deeply embarrassing." "Anyways." - he sat up, and leaned on the edge of Greer's bed, holding the blushing grasshopper gently: "Enough of making you red as a beet." Greer Greer smiled, giving him a quick kiss. "I'm not against it or anything it's just... well... I don't want to get things wrong." Ugh, she felt like she was fourteen. Damn it. The Dude "Ah." - the Dude chuckled. "Hey, not to sound corny or anything, but you can just let your hawk guide you. I think she figured things out pretty well until now." with that he patted her on the back. "After all, she's got big goals here, right?" Greer She gulped a bit as his hand brushed her back feathers. "She does, but I'd just as soon not get pregnant, thanks." The Dude "Dear god, me neither." - he shook his head to that statement: "But the genius of humanity has come up with quite a few gadgets to assure that is not the case. Now, there is a triumph of mind over nature if anything else is." Greer Greer laughed, tickling his belly. "I'm glad you're with me on the non-breeding thing. Ah, horse condoms! That was the best class." The Dude "Huh?" - he blinked. "Horse condoms?!" Greer She laughed harder, taking a moment to gulp air before she could respond. "I took human anatomy as an undergrad, and one day the professor, who was REALLY into sex ed, began that day's lecture which was on contraception by saying that she had been planning to get up early that day and stop by a gas station to get condoms to show to us, but had woken up late and so grabbed one of her husband's instead. She was a tiny little woman in her fifties, and so when she held up this condom and just let it unfurl nearly her entire height, we freshmen were all suitablly horrorfied. And then she winked and said 'He's quite a guy!' We died. She explained it was a horse condom and class continued." The Dude The Dude laughed, too: "Oh that's great! Way to go granny!" Greer Greer nodded. "She was wonderful. Ended that day's lesson by throwing condoms at us and saying we could all have an orgy right there in the lecture hall if we used them. I got a glow-in-the-dark one and a strawberry flavored one." The Dude "WOW. I knew collage was fun, but I didn't know it was this much fun. I so totally missed out!" Greer Greer shrugged, still grinning. "Mostly it was just that class. The dental dam taste tests were a riot!" The Dude "I bet the straight guys just loved having to taste those things ..." - he chuckled. Greer Greer giggled, hiccuping a little. "Mint was voted best flavor hands down. Those things are so odd! But hey, at least I got some practical knowledge out of that class, like how to apply a condom with my mouth..." She trailed off. Oops. Hadn't meant to mention that! The Dude "NO WAY." - the Dude's jaw fell open: "If you don't 'mind me asking, how in hell did you guys practice that?" Greer "On dildos." She scrutinized her hands. "It's actually pretty easy. I won the race for fastest and most complete application. She gave me a free pass on one of the homework sheets." The Dude The Dude was laughing very very very hard for a while: "Oh god, that's great, girl. I got nothing over here to say to that, man. GO YOU!" Finally he got ahold of himself and squished the champion. "This is, like, the best Greer story ever!" Greer She laughed nervously. "If you tell anyone else you're dead!" The Dude "Oh yeah, I know." - he chuckled, patting her on the shoulder. "Just the fact that you not only participated, but friggin won just floors me." Greer Greer chuckled, fluttering her eyelashes at him. "I told you the hawk didn't make me do anything - just took away some of my inhibitions." The Dude "Hooray!" - he joked, then kissed her forehead: "It's nice to know that it's Greer who likes me, not the hawk. The hawk would have made me catch snakes for it." Greer "I imagine the hawk can catch it's own snakes, honestly." She smiled, stretching a little. "But what assurances do I have that it's Sean that likes me and not the sea lion? You could have gotten a confused strain that thinks I'm a fish or something." The Dude "Huh?" - he blinked. "Well, I suppose that is a fair question. I really do not think that the sea lion genes have done much to me yet, except for the whiskers. Maybe because I don't really have many inhibitions?" - he grinned and poked her nose then continued: "I think you have cute tail feathers and really pretty eyes. Is that good enough of proof that sea lions are not involved?" Greer She made a show of thinking this over. "You never know. The sea lion could be an a** man." The Dude The Dude grinned: "I don't think sea lions understand a concept of a**. They don't really have one ..." Greer She rolled her eyes. "Oh all right. I suppose I believe you." Greer grinned and snuggled her head on to his shoulder. "Next thing you're going to tell me is that the hair petting fetish and the nose poking things are all you too." The Dude "Hey!" - he protested. "You are a tough one to persuade ..." And then he petted her head and poked her one the nose. Greer She laughed, snapping her teeth jokingly at his finger when it withdrew from the nose pokage. "If you provided some scientific proof, I'd be more likely to believe you." The Dude "Erm ... sea lions don't have long hair and they do not have fingers to poke each other on the nose? Is that good enough?" Greer "Mrph. I suppose." Greer ran a lazy hand through his goatee. "So, are we planning on doing anything today other than flop around on the floor of my duplex?" The Dude "Hmm .. good question. I'd say now, but I think you wanted to build a butterfly house and I suppose I should be a good hawk boy and help out." he snuggled closer because strangely, being petted as if one were a dog felt good. Sea lion genes? Mayhaps. Greer She smiled, petting his head. "Thanks, but I need to work a few more things out with foreman Ambrose before building can begin. How about we grab food, bathing suits, and hit the beach?" The Dude "Okey!" - he stood up and offered his hand to help Greer up as well. "Let's do that."
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 5:40 pm
There's a spot on your back, a quarter of the way down from your shoulders and right on your spine, that you can only reach with the very ends of your finger tips unless you are a contortionist. Because of this, it is the one place you can't scratch without looking like a complete and total fool, and so when your skin is feeling malicious it will start up a driving, impossible to ignore itch just there. Since her change, though, Greer had found she could reach the feathers that grew in that spot with the moisturizing conditioner she smeared over hair and plummage after swimming so they wouldn't dry out, so long as she was willing to pinch something vital enough it made her vision spotty if she held her arm like that for too long. She worried a little that she might give herself brain damage or something, but she moved fairly quickly and besides, if she let those feathers dry they would itch, and might fall out. The last thing she needed was to turn into a hawk with a bald spot. A hawk... she sighed, stepping out of the shower and drying herself off. Sean had taken her grudgingly confessed news very well this morning, which could have been because it didn't phase him or because he hadn't really understood. He was such a sweetheart but there were times... I mean, he clearly wasn't stupid but... well, it was probably her fault for not saying things correctly. They'd figure out later if it came up. No sense in worrying a perfectly good time to death. Yes. Wiping the condensation off of her mirror, Greer stuck her tongue out at her reflection and brushed back her damp hair. Her neck feathers were sticking out at funny angles, like her hair did when it got cut too short. Cowlicks. Evil things. Speaking of... she blew her bangs out of her eyes. She wondered if any of the island's residents was a closet hairstylist. Shimmying into her clothes, Greer opened the bathroom door and surveyed the paper carnage that her room had become. She had let the mess pile up, but no longer. Cleanliness would be hers! And melodrama too, apparently. Grinning to herself, she began the organization, first changing loose papers into piles and then stowing the piles in the boxes under her bed. The books got tossed on the comforter and she left her duplex behind for the beach. The sun, the sand, the view, it all helped her think. Besides, there was a path to the cliffs at the end of it that she thought she might like to follow, just to see them again. Feel the wind. See the view. Try to imagine jumping off and soaring while her mind told her she'd just plummet to her death. The first step of learning how to fly, besides growing wings, of course, was getting used to the idea that you could do it. Humans had a tendency not to be wired that way. Not that she was afraid of heights, but it was going to take her a bit to be able to hurl herself off high things. ...maybe she could start with a safety net?
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 9:21 pm
Emelyn Emelyn didn't know why her feet had carried her to the beach. ...She'd been walking for what seemed like the entire day, and now that the evening was just starting to thicken, something had caused both her feet and her mind to wander to this strip of white sand and shallow water. She didn't know what she was looking for. Ever since she'd had that conversation with Ambrose in the mess hall, she'd felt- like she was lost, or at least like there was something she was overlooking. She sat down on the sand and drew her knees up to her chest, her arms stretched over them, her hands dangling out towards the ocean. She looked for a glimmer of a face, peering up over the water at her- but there wasn't anyone there. ...She hadn't seen him for days. Greer Cassenwari Greer skipped down to the beach, returning to the edge of the island by herself this time, looking forward to watching the sunset. Splashing around in the water with Sean early that day had been loads of fun, even when he distracted her long enough to get her knocked over by a wave, but now she was looking forward to a quiet moment by herself with the scenery. Tromping happily out of the jungle and on to the sand, she stopped for a moment when she saw an unfamiliar woman sitting and watching the ocean. Apparently she wasn't the only one who sought this pretty place out for solitude. "Hello! I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything- I can leave you be if you'd like." Emelyn Emelyn jumped at the sound of the other woman's voice. She calmed in an instant, however- she'd been startled, not frightened. (A distinction she always hoped was made when others came upon her in that dazzled state- especially as she saw fear as a sort of weakness.) "No, not interrupting. I think I'd have to be doing something to have it be interrupted." She smiled genuinely at the pleasant looking, already beginning to change woman. "I don't quite know what brought me down here." Greer Cassenwari Greer smiled, sitting down on the sand next to her. "Well I like it because it's a beautiful scene and has good conotations," she waved her hand at the view, "If you're quiet here, you can almost forget you're turning into an animal and kind of enjoy yourself, you know?" She rolled her eyes at herself, holding out a hand in greeting. "Sorry, I babble. I'm Greer!" Emelyn From the moment she'd sat down, Emelyn had decided that she liked her. She was open, optomistic, and not like the scads of shy denizens she'd seen or half-met, slinking back to their duplexes and the away from the harsh realities of the island. Except for her brief self-confinement that she'd imposed on herself as punishment for essentially siding with Moreau, Em had mostly accepted what was happening, and started to enjoy her life again. ...Underneath it all, and no matter what had happened to her, Em believed that life was essentially fair. And good. So it was a refresher- not unlike the cool, salty sea breeze that blew her hair and still-forming quills away from her face as they sat... to meet someone who seemed to be like her. Then she said her name. Greer. It was like a picture-show in her head- remembering the conversation with Ambrose- and how he'd said that someone named 'Greer' was ... with him. Sean. The Dude. And how Ambrose had said her name with almost a sad sort of longing. Or was it something else? Em didn't know, but the picture show faded to black, and she was left staring at the woman once more, wondering how she should feel about her now. In the end- and after what was only a few moments, she stuck out her hand- deciding... not to decide. "I'm Emelyn. Nice to meet you." And she meant it, despite all her tumultuous feelings. "I've heard a lot about you." Greer Cassenwari Greer shook the woman's hand and chuckled. "That sounds nicely ominous. I'm afraid I can't say the same." It was wonderful to meet someone - especially one who'd already begun to change - who could flash a genuine smile. It was one of the reasons she enjoyed spending time with Sean so much, as the goofy fellow was nearly impossible to sustain bad feelings around. The island needed more upbeat people. Emelyn "Not ominous," Em replied, pulling her goggles up off her forehead and pushing them back among her quills- it was an old affectation that mostly just kept her hands busy when her mind- or feelings- were otherwise occupied and tangled up, "Just true. I've heard about you from... Ambrose, and ...the Dude." She paused, her eyes darting out over the surface of the sea again. "I'm surprised he didn't mention me," she said. Greer Cassenwari "Ambrose and the- oh Emelyn!" Greer smacked herself lightly on the forehead. She was such a doofus. "Yes, yes, I'm sorry, I'm just really horrible with names, especialyl when I have no face to associate them with. What did Sean call you? 'A very cool chick I had to meet'?" She smiled apolegetically. Of course the first thing she'd do when speaking to a nice person is stick her foot in her mouth. Honestly. "It's all the latin names I have rattling around my head. They don't leave room for much else." Emelyn "Latin names?" Em said aloud- but as soon as the words cleared her lips, her brain clicked. "Oh that's right. You're an entomologist. That's so fascinating. ...You know, when I was a little girl- four or five, I wanted to be an entomologist. ...Then I discovered mosquitoes, and my love for bugs was crushed," she said, laughing. "No pun intended." She stretched a bit on the sand. "...Is that how you came to the island? And if you don't mind my asking- what species of bird are you going to become?" Greer Cassenwari Greer nodded. "Yeah, I think the only reason the skeets didn't drive me off is that we don't really have them in Seattle. Going to Massachusetts for college was a very itchy proposition." She kicked her sandals off and dug her toes into the sand. Mmm, grainy! "That is how I came to island orignally, yes: I thought I was competing for a spot on a research team. This sadly turned out not to be true, but this island has more than enough insects to keep me happy. And I'm turning into a Harris' Hawk, which is a pack hunting desert predator. How about you?" Emelyn She watched Greer as she spoke, and noted the way she kicked off her shoes to dig her toes in the sand. It seemed to Emelyn like Greer was the sort of person who delighted in even the simple, everyday joys- and that sort of innocence made her... very appealing, Em decided, finally making her mind up about something that had to do with her new acquaintance. Even though the Dude's relationship had come as a shock to her, and she'd noted the sort of... regret in Ambrose's voice when he talked about the young scientist, Em started to understand the worth of her: why she had seemed to enrapture so many. Emelyn made most of this decision subconsciously- for she was always assessing people, and reading them, almost without realizing it, and applying it to making each person as comfortable as possible when they were around her. Em took a single, droopy quill that hung near her eye, and rolled it absently between her thumb and forefinger towards Greer. "Hedgehog. Good ol' fashioned humble hedgehog. Sad to say, it suits me rather well." She ruminated on Greer's answer. "I would think a hawk would be sort of upsetting to you... I don't think you'd be very keen on eating your life's work, after all. But perhaps you'll be able to fly. That would be... amazing," she said. Greer Cassenwari Greer cocked her head, trying to conjure up a mental picture of the creature Emelyn was becoming. All that popped up was a cartoon from Monty Python. "A hedgehog sounds neat! I must admit I don't have a lot of experience with said beasties. How's it working out so far?" To the idea of her becoming an insectivore, she shook her head quickly. "Oh no, Harris' Hawks don't eat bugs! They eat meat- mostly rabbits and reptiles. It's been quite a change since I was an avowed vegetarian prior to the injections, but thankfully no cricket-munching is involved. As to flying... I really don't know how I feel. Good in a scary way, I think." Emelyn "Good in a scary way," Em repeated, musing... "I like that. I'm going to have to write that down. ...I'm a writer," she explained. "So don't pay any attention to me when I say things like that. But at least that's good," she said, segueing back to the conversation, "I actually didn't know that hawks didn't have insects as part of their diets. Makes sense, though, with their being larger predatory birds. ...I've always wanted to be a falconer- there was this one painting, by a German artist, I think, that I used to carry with me in postcard form- the Falkonerin, with a woman in such a strong pose, with a falcon on her arm. Both just looked out from the card with an expression like 'Bring it on." She smiled, knowing she was going on, but not much caring. She stood to stretch, planning on wading in the water at some point- but not willing to take off her steel-toed boots for a few minutes longer. She looked down at where the barefoot Greer still sat. "And it's going well. The hedgehog, I mean. I've always loved them- they're such... strange animals. I mean, they're omnivorous- they're defensive, and yet they also have these wonderful attacks." She gestured to the quills. "My change has been going rather smoothly thus far, as well- not much pain involved. Although I can imagine when these quills come in full force, that won't feel very nice.." Greer Cassenwari "Oh you are? Neat! Yes, feel free to use that and whatever else I say if you care to." She smiled through her suprise, not at all sure why anyone would like the uninspired babble that fell out of her mouth enough to write it down. At the falconry mention she chuckled. "Care to learn on me? Harris' Hawks are very social and so a favorite of such people. My textbook says I'm going to be very easy to train." Shuddering at thought of quills pushing through her skin, which was right up there with bone hollowing in strange transformations she felt would result in great amounts of unwanted pain, she stood too. "Well the change seems to be suiting you, if it helps any. Are you off?" Emelyn "Oh no," she said, explaining for her sudden move to the vertical, "I just wanted to stretch- and I've sort of been debating dipping my toes in the water. I didn't bring my bathing suit, or I'd go diving again. Have you been along the reefs? They're absolutely magnificent." she recalled her own trip down to the beautiful sight of the ring around the island... but then, her mind answered her before Greer would ever have a chance to: Of course she's been down in the reefs. Sean would have taken her, as well. She smiled away the thought, pulling off one of her great behemoth boots. Greer Cassenwari Greer nodded, confirming her thoughts. "Yup! Sean took me and inspired my halloween costume. I haven't been diving diving though, like with tanks and stuff. That would be... eek." She looked uncomfortable at the thought of being trapped below the water with only a tank to sustain her, not entirely sure if it was a small case of claustrophobia or her hawk bit getting worried. Emelyn "Make you uncomfortable to be beneath the water?" Em asked, curious, as she yanked off the other shoe. "Well, want to go wading? I think I'll walk for a while before I go back to the village. ...These days it seems like the days just... drag. So I might as well go slowly." She tied the shoelaces together and hooked the boots over her arm as she rolled her pantlegs up, still looking up at Greer from her folded-over position. Greer Cassenwari Greer smiled, trying to shrug it off as she grabbed her flip flops. "Somewhat, I suppose. I'm just a big fan of having easy access to air." Ooo, someone who was bored! She perked quickly, not appearing calculating only because she'd never learned how. "Are you looking for something to do?" Emelyn She nodded. "Somewhat. Why? Did you have something in mind?" Greer Cassenwari "Well..." Greer thought for a moment, trying to decide the best way to phrase it. "You know how you said you wanted to be an entomologist when you were little? Well Ambrose and I, with the looped in help of Sean, are building a butterfly house near the village - any chance you'd like to lend a hand? We need all the help we can get!" Emelyn "Well, I'd love to help," Em said, noting the woman's clever use of her own professed old passion for insects in her 'pitch', "But I warn you- I'm not very good with larger building projects. To be very honest. But if you have something little and fiddly that you'd need help with as a part of that, like delicate work- I'm quite good at that aspect." She brushed a quill out of her face- they were always falling in the way, and kicked up a little water in a spray off her toes as she went through the gently lolling seawater. Greer Cassenwari "Excellent! My evil plan progresses." Greer grinned cheerfully, sloshing her feet in the water to wash off the sand. "Perhaps you can help with putting the screening up once the major framework is finished? Honestly none of us are that versed in building, so it'll be a pretty interesting time." Watching Emelyn enjoy the water, Greer tried to pick up a sea shell with her toes. "So what sort of stuff do you write?" Emelyn "Certainly! I'd love to help. Especially since you're already thinking of going to the trouble of creating a little niche to deal with my particular ineptitude." She laughed. "Writing? Well... I write everything. How my day is going, what I think about people, about what's happening, what I think, what I hope... and then, when everything else is empty about me, I write fiction. Lots of it. Although I suppose I'll never be published, now." A little sadness crept in her voice. "Ah well. At least I'm accomplishing something, here. Life has to be more than just fame." Greer Cassenwari "Fiction huh?" Greer finally gave up and bent down to pull the half-scallop shell out of the sand with her fingers. "Any chance you'd let me read some?" Emelyn Em smiled. "I'm flattered!" And she was. She'd resigned herself to the idea that she'd be writing for herself for the rest of her life- no longer did she dream about people all around the world appreciating and loving her writing... but at least now, with this magnanimous offer (and she hoped that was what it was, rather than... a gesture), some of that dream drifted back. It was smaller, and less grandiose than the original- but she believed that it would be a seed... as dreams often were- this tiny kernel of pleasure and hope could grow into the grand tree of wishes, dreams dripping from every branch. Who knew that in the ashes of a broken dream, such a plant could grow? "Really... any time." She said, curling the corners of her mouth up in a friendly, open smile. Greer Cassenwari "That's be great! Any specific area of fiction?" She didn't really read much outside the realm of the textbook, but enough other people seemed to she thought she ought to try. Besides, her companion's feelings of loss about never being published echoed her own about her phasmid discovery. Emelyn "Oh, I'm not discriminatory. I've written about... people being married in cults, to science fantasy epics about girls who discover that everyone has a monstrous Guardian to their name." Her eyes lit on the shell that Greer had been worrying in her fingers, caught by the lovely colors as she spoke. "Do you write much?" Greer Cassenwari "Woah... sounds interesting! I'll leave you to assign me reading since I don't really know what I'd like." Noting Emelyn's interest, she held out the shell to her as a gift. "Me? Write? Um, not really, unless joting down my research counts. I'm a scientist, not an artist." Creative juices were one thing Greer had always assumed happened to other people. Emelyn "Thank you!" Em said, turning the gifted shell over in her palm. The abalone-pink inside shone up at her, and made her happy. "Well then, what is your specialty? Besides entomology, that is. Are you a field researcher?" Greer Cassenwari "Well, sort of. I've always wanted to do field research - it was a dream of mine - and I thought that coming here would give me my chance to do so. When I finished grad school, however, the only job I could get was in forensic entomology, which is icky." Greer grinned, happy the girl was so taken with the shell. "Although considering what I've been doing with myself the two months or so since I got here, I guess I am a field researcher, if not an official one." Emelyn "True. In a strange sort of way... you're sort of following up on your dream," she thought aloud. She continued in this vein of outer-dialogue. "...Do you mind being here? I mean, you were trapped just like the rest of us, but how do you feel about it all, now?" Greer Cassenwari Greer gave her a considering look. "Are you interviewing me for a study, hmm?" She shrugged, twirling a foot in the lapping waves. "All in all this has been a really good experience for me. I never had friends before, and now I'm best friends with Ambrose, close to Sean, and have been pronouced a mother figure by a sweet girl named Amaya. The loss of my father hurts less today than it has every day previous, I'm confident and cheerful, and there's always another insect around here that needs to be cataloged. I do miss my mother and would have prefered to have a say in coming here and being injected, but... as much as I feel like I ought to I can't regret arriving on this island." Emelyn "I'm sorry for prying," Em said, while taking Greer's words into consideration, "It's just that I'm still trying to make up my mind about everything here... and sometimes, the best way for me to come to those conclusions are to see what the atmosphere is. Your opinion as another... captive, is basically part of the atmosphere. It's really... fascinating, in a sad sort of way, how differently everyone feels about being here. You'd think that everyone would hate it... but some people are seeming to flourish here." She placed a sympathetic hand on Greer's arm, noting that there were red-brown feathers at the joint of her wrist. "I'm so sorry about your father. ...My sister recently passed away. I know how terrible it feels to miss something that seems like it should still be such a part of you." Greer Cassenwari She smiled softly, appreciating every one of Emelyn's words and especially her gesture. "Losing him made me hide from the world, and getting trapped as a science experiment on a tropical island made me wake up again. I'm really rather odd, aren't I?" Shrugging off such deep thoughts, Greer nodded and patted her companion's hand with her other one. "I'm sorry to hear that, even if it does give us something in common." Emelyn "You're not odd at all," Emelyn said, feeling more for this woman than she'd expected to. In some way, she'd been determined not to like her- or at least to latch on to her bad qualites and illuminate them for the sake of her own petty jealousy. But really, she didn't know that jealousy was even what the emotion was. ...Had been. ...It was confusing, even in her own head, and she turned herself away from thinking about it so as to turn back to the moment. "Sad thing to have in common. But I know what you mean. When Mizzie died... I felt like my whole world had collapsed. That was how I got here- I took the boat our grandfather left us, and took it out so I could be alone. The same storm that brought The Dude here brought me- and I just... continued out feeling like I had before I left, until I discovered that this research is to cure cancer. At least... that's what they've said. So I feel a little like I'm doing something important- like I'm attacking Mizzie's killer. ...She died of cancer." Greer Cassenwari She smiled gratefully at Emelyn's pronouncement of her non-weirdness, her face freezing when she told her how her sister had died. "That's how my Dad passed too." Greer said quietly, squeezing her hand. "They said cancer research? Really? The Doctor is a manipulative bas-" she bit her tongue, keeping her swears to herself. Emelyn She reveled in the warmth of the gesture, and squeezed Greer's hand back. At her exclamation though, she stopped in her tracks, ankle-deep in the surf, and turned to her. "What do you mean?" Greer Cassenwari Greer frowned, resisting the urge to throw up her hands and rant. "I mean, well, how can this stuff help cancer patients? Wings and quills aren't going to stop cells from multiplying out of control. How could he say that to you?" Emelyn A sudden pain cropped up above Emelyn's left eyebrow- a radiating, pulsing burn that echoed, as if it were looking to escape. Em put two delicate fingers up to press at it, hoping it would subside back to the depths in which it came. She was barely aware that she was still standing in the shifting water. "I... I don't really know, exactly. But he's obviously mutating cells, and isn't cancer just mutating cells? Maybe he's going to try and reverse this, when we're changed... or maybe he's just learning about how cells mutate." The point in her head pulsed. Greer Cassenwari Greer bit her lip, worried she'd just shattered this poor woman's sense of comfort. Open mouth, insert foot as always. "I suppose... admittedly cancer is not my specialty although I did read up on it with my father... are you okay?" Emelyn She shook her head- almost violently... or perhaps it just felt that way because the pulse above her eyebrow seared at the motion. "I'm fine. I just have a searing headache," she explained, rubbing her palm across her forehead. Her fingers grazed the edge of her goggles, and the flexible quills that were bundled up around them. Greer Cassenwari "Oh sweetie!" Greer put her hands on Emelyn's shoulders, trying to help steady her. "It's okay, we were all lied to. Do want to go back to your duplex and lie down? Should I get you some aspirin?" Not that she had any idea where she would procure such medicinals, but at the moment she would have promised to track down nearly anything in an effort to fix her mistake. Emelyn "No... I don't usually take medication. I can make headaches go away by will, usually. ..And I wasn't lied to. I was brought here by a boat accident, so I wasn't even tricked here. Moreau asked me to volunteer for the experiment, and I did. I'd do anything to cure cancer." ...She still couldn't accept that Moreau had said what she'd wanted the most in the world, next to Mizzie being back... to help kill that which had taken away the most important person in her life. She'd rather be a martyr... than a captive. Greer Cassenwari Greer sighed, at a loss of what to say. She was no cancer specialist, but she still couldn't see how this sort of experimentation could produce a cure - mainly because that would imply the good Doctor had a shred of human decency in him and she didn't allow him that. Still, she had no wish to be the one who tore apart Emelyn's safe cocoon of belief, especially since it was tied to the loss of her sister which she clearly keenly felt. Greer was a scientist who'd never mastered the art of social skills: she understood and mostly spoke the truth. For once, though, she understood the need to avoid it for the sake of another. Putting a gentle arm around her companion's shoulders, she turned Emelyn back towards the jungle. "Let's get you back to the village, okay? Get you some food and me some of your lovely fiction to gobble up." Emelyn Em nodded, this time noting that the motion didn't send her into paroxyms of pulsing pain- so she figured whatever it was must have eased up. "Alright," she said, trying to go back into the normality of the earlier conversation. "I think I have one you'll like. It's a story about an insect-like species... a science fantasy story I've been working on." And so they walked off towards the village, hands still around each others shoulders. Perhaps... a friendship had been wrought. Greer Cassenwari "Ooo!" Greer said appreciatively, more than happy to follow the non-upsetting path of speech. "Are the bugs good or bad? Either way, I'm there!" As they left the beach, walking side by side and carrying their shoes, she couldn't help but smile: Sean was certainly right about this one. Cool chick indeed.
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 5:55 am
The Change - 50% Greer yawned, pulled on her pajamas, and curled into bed. Her one regret before she fell asleep was that Sean was not there with her. Two nights and she was already attached to falling asleep in her arms. Goodness. She'd felt a little warmer than usual that day, but had chalked it up to too much sun. She certainly hadn't felt... ill. That was why she couldn't understand why she awoke in a hospital bed. "What... where am I?" she asked, but no one seemed to hear her. To her left stood Doctor Moreau and Aubrey, the red-haired man looking bored while the woman scanned charts and shook her head. To her left stood Sean and Ambrose, neither of them in a good mood. "What do you mean there's nothing you can do? You're a doctor! Surely there's something?" Ambrose yelled, but the forceful emotion behind his words was sorrow, not anger. The handsome young man's eyes shimmered, and he gnashed his pointed teeth. Moreau waved a hand airily. "I'm sorry, but the cancer has already eaten away at her for too long. If we had caught it sooner, perhaps, but now..." he shrugged, clearly tired of being expected to care. "Aubrey, man, c'mon. This is grasshopper here! You've got a lab coat and science- make it work." Sean spoke with his usual non-chalance, patting Greer's hand where it lay small and brittle on the sheet. The chestnut-haired woman only shook her head and made apologies. "Like the Doctor said, if we'd caught it sooner... but no. I'd like to help her, but I can't." Moreau shrugged again. "She's only brought this on herself." " What?!" Ambrose shrieked for her. "It was her own fault," the Doctor repeated, examining his nails, "for joining the program. She knew the risks when she signed on." "I didn't-" Greer tried to say, but Sean turned and gently shushed her. "It's okay grasshopper, don't strain yourself. We'll do what we can." She wanted to grab the Doctor's arm, make him look at her, make him say these things to her face, but she couldn't move. The b*****d sighed, continuing to speak to Ambrose like a great lord would speak to a child. "She knew there was a chance she might not come back - that's one of the dangers of field work, but she did it anyway. Left home. Abandoned her family." Ambrose's face split into a snarl, his humanity flaking away as he truly turned into a wolf. He made a move to jump across the bed and tear Moreau to pieces, but Sean reached out a hand - no flipper, he was back to his human self - and held the beast at bay. The Doctor's voice rang out once more, stopping Greer's heart. "Like father, like daughter..." She sat up, screaming. Her mother ran into her room and wrapped her arms around her shaking child. "Shhh, hush, Greer, hush. It was only a dream..." "Papa, I want papa!" the small child sobbed. The room smelled like smoke. "Papa's gone away and left us child." "No!" "You're leaving me too, aren't you Greer?" She looked up into the ancient, pain-lined face her mother had never worn. Each mark was one she had caused. "No mama, never!" "But you are! Far away, like a little bird. Far away where I can never find you..." the air was black with smoke as her mother stood, pushing her six-year-old body down into bed and trapping her under the covers. "Mama! Don't leave me!" Greer sobbed, beating at the covers that were as heavy as lead. Smiling kindly, her mother kissed her on the head and turned around, walking away through the flames. "I haven't gone anywhere little one. It's you that's gone." "Mama!" "...like daughter, like father." Moreau finished in a sing-song voice. Shaking his head he waved to Aubrey, who brandished a needle and injected a dark, swirling liquid into her IV. As it sped towards her veins, Sean smiled and patted her hair. "Sleep well, grasshopper. Say 'hi' to my wife for me." "Sean..." she tried to say, but the liquid had already slipped into her arm, turning to a searing gold on contact with her blood. "I won't forget you Greer." said the wolf-Ambrose softly. She started to cry. "Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home..." the Doctor said mockingly, finally looking at her. Greer's tears made him smile. She whimpered and burnt up, everything turning to ash.
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 8:58 pm
You wake to feel your legs on fire. You watch as slowly the skin seems to be hardening and yellowing, the burn spreading all the way to the bone as your toes reshape into sharp talons. The burning spreads up your body as you begin to sprout feathers around your legs and up your body, it seems to take forever. The hair on your body completely gone to make room for the feathers you'll be growing. Your arms ache as well, with the same burning sensation as long painful feathers begin to slowly grow out of your and along down them... giving you a mok wingspan almost. You feel your mouth ache painfully as the teeth begin to fuse in your mouth and forcing up your upper jaw. Your lips harden and join them becomming one mass You feel your nose shift too as it begins to harden, becomming similar, but not as thick as the lip/teeth part of your beek. Your eyes tear up, as the pain even inhabits them as you blink once, and your vision is more keen, you blink again and it gets even more keen, then again, as your vision, especially the detail far away gets more and more precise. The room begins to feel a bit... claustraphobic as a bit of your bird like instincts sink through. After the long and painful ordeal, you can see what has happened to you, as you are now about as much bird, as you are human. ((Once you do your reaction post your free to role play in the main thread again. Welcome to stage 3!))
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 10:28 pm
Greer slid off the bed, still smouldering from the flames that had swallowed her childhood home and wrapped in a fire blanket. No... no, that was wrong. She'd never been burnt when she was six - her father had swooped into her room and snatched her out before the fire had reached her. She remembered burying her face in his nightshirt, trying not to choke on the smoke as they followed her mother to safety, and then being embarrassed when the firemen had seen that she still wore footy pajamas.
Where was she then? Home? No. She shook her head, gasping at the swimming pain. Ambrose... Sean... Aubrey... Mor- the island. She was on the island. In her duplex. Wrapped in her blankets and lying on a floor that just yesterday had been strewn with papers. She was in her room. Alive. No hospital bed. No cancer. No injections. Greer struggled to free herself from her twisted bedclothes, gasping as something caught and pulled, searing her arms like her skin was peeling off. No injections, no injections!
She kicked savagely at the swaths of fabric, screaming as her toes caught and pulled the sheets. God, it hurt like her toes were being broken off, but right now freedom was more important than pain. She needed to be able to stand, to stretch, to flee- the blankets keened as her talons sliced through them, and she scrambled to the bathroom, shaking off the shreds. Every step was pain. Her skin was stretched and burning, her knees throbbing when she tripped and fell. Getting to the bathroom, she skidded on the tile and crumpled in front of the sink, whimpering and hating herself for it. She was stronger than this - after all, it was only physical pain. Her heart wasn't bleeding again.
Closing her eyes, she raised her arms to grasp the cool porcelian of the sink and attempted to bit her lip, more confused than upset when it didn't work. Stand. Look in the mirror. See what had happened. No injections. Nononononono- stop it! Strength. Calm. Breathe. Stand. She gripped the sink, pulling herself up. God it hurt! How she supressed the scream of pain as her skin seemed to crack and strain all over she had no idea - maybe she didn't, but no one came running. Once she was mostly upright she leaned all her weight on the bathroom fixture, gulping air as she waited out the pain and prepared herself for what she was going to see in the mirror when she lifted her head and opened her eyes. All that blood. Only open, vicious wounds could cause her this much anguish. She was surely a walking lump of lacerated flesh...
Greer stared at her reflection, wondering idly if she'd screamed again when she saw her open mouth. Her nose and upper lip were a beak, the rest of her face still human. Her legs were those of hawk done large: yellow, armored, and tipped in talons. There were more feathers, so many more, and she could feel them trapped and pushing against her pajama bottoms on her upper legs, as well as more thickly down her spine. On her arms were the true marvel and/or horror: from shoulder to elbow her wings had sprouted in earnest. The heavy flight feathers pulled on the skin they grew from, causing it to pulse with a steady burn. She was not injured. There had been an injection.
She lay on her back on the tilted bathroom floor, too choked with silent tears to obey either her stomach's demands for food or her mind's attempts to get her out of the confined space. It hurt to move, to think, but the tile was cool and made her skin burn less. Her scientist mind reasoned that part of her feeling hot was a bird's higher metabolism kicking in, but she was in too much bewildered pain to care. She was growing wings, well and truly growing wings. She hadn't thought about the possibility of flight before Sean had brought it up because she hadn't thought she could grow wings. Not really. A coating of feathers, sure, but not wings. A bird's wings were made in large part out of the bones that made up land creatures' hands. Greer was not crying because of the pain. She was mourning the emminent loss of her fingers and thumb.
No more drawing. No more writing. No more eating utensils, insect nets, hammers, shells, cameras, glasses, books, videos, doors, toilet paper, shampoo, soap. flowers, stones, insects, Sean, Ambrose, fencing, starfish- nothing. They weren't gone yet, but they would be. More than the loss of her face, which was not entirely gone behind the beak as long as her same pale amber, frightened human eyes blinked there, the loss of her hands would be the end of her. For when they went so would everything she did with them, which was her entire life. Greer Cassenwari would die the day the hawk grew its wings.
It was a heavy price to pay for finally realizing her dream of being a field entomologist, which is something the Doctor had given to her whether he meant to or not. Was it worth it? Yes. God yes. And even when she was more bird than woman the creature that had been her would be taken care of here. Befriended. Loved. That was worth it too. As soon as she could she would seek out Aubrey to make sure that a note of her death would reach her mother if it hadn't already. Better that she mourn her daughter's passing than she forever wonder what befell her. The least she could do was set her mother free. Closing her far too sensitive eyes, Greer cried herself to sleep: full of pain, full of sorrow, full of loss, and somehow full of hope.
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Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 10:26 pm
The Dude The Dude woke up and stared at the cloudless sky. He had been spending less and less time in his duplex, preferring the wide outdoors to the square confines of human civilization, no matter how luxurious. It was still early in the morning and he was laying under a low leaning palm tree in a remote corner of the beach. Yawning, the sea lion man stood up and walked up to the water to wash his face. So, after washing his face and brushing his teeth, the Dude headed back to the village, looking around on his way for the streak of red fur. He hadn't seen Captain Morgan in a few days, and, while he trusted his cat to manage just fine, he was starting to get worried. As the Dude walked into the village square, he saw the tomcat sitting by the door of Duplex #4. "Hey furball." - he smiled and ran up the steps to the apartment. He scooped up the red beast and quietly knocked on Greer's door, not wanting to wake her up in case she was still asleep. Greer She heard the knock on the door from the bathroom, thinking she had imagined it for a moment, it was so soft. Sitting up carefully, she winced as her skin pulled, incredibly grateful that the burn had dulled to a background throb. Ugh. She felt like s**t. That's what happened when you spent most of the night on the bathroom floor, she guessed. "Who is it?" Greer called a gravelly voice that grated on her throat. The Dude "The guy with the stupid knock knock jokes. You up?" - said the voice from behind the door, and Captain Morgan meowed to announce his presence as well. Greer A faint smile crossed her face. This was either going to be a good day or a horrible day, depending on how Sean reacted. Better him than someone else to see her now, though. "Yeah. Door's open." The Dude The Dude sat the cat down and walked in, expecting to find Greer in bed, but the bed was empty. It was a bit worriesome that she didn't come open the door, too. Seeing the light in the bathroom he headed straight for that, opened the door and stopped. He hadn't expect to see what he saw, but then he kneeled in front of the crouching hawk woman and kissed the hawk nose: "Hey there, grasshopper. You have quite a plumage going now ..." he petted the feathers on her head and arms. No, he didn't really know how to react to this all truly, nor what he thought about Greer's new features, but this was really not about him. The grasshopper had probably had a hell of a night. And he was gonna make her feel better about it so help him God. Greer Closing her eyes at the kiss, Greer laughed hollowly in response to his comment. It was going to take her a little time before that particular nickname didn't bother her anymore - the vivid memory of her dream last night would need to fade. It wasn't his fault that her mind had used his likeness for its own devious purposes, but this soon after it was a little hard for her not to hold it against him. "Yeah, plummage." She opened her eyes and looked at him, trying not to cry. "It hurt like hell. My legs and feet are all weird now too-" she bit her lip, staving off a rant, and hissed when her new top beak sliced a neat gash in her flesh. She was going to need to learn to be more careful. The Dude He turned around and grabbed a tissue from the small Kleenex box nearby, pressing it against her now bleeding lip. "I'm sorry it hurt. And don't even worry about weird this or that. We are all weird here, remember. Poor darling ... I'll beat up Moreau for you when I see him. Does it still hurt?" - all that was said with perfect sincerity. Putting his flippered paw around Greer's shoulder he sat down on the tiles next to her. The Dude was too afraid to really hug the bird girl, he didn't know whether she was still in pain. Greer Her skin tried to yell at her for the jostling, but Greer ignored it and leaned lightly into him. "No, that's okay, you don't have to beat up Moreau. I knew this was coming." She sounded very tired. Not like this, not like this! Her mind sobbed, but she quashed it. No ranting. No screaming. Her eyes burned, but Greer resisted the urge to cry. The Dude "You are too brave, sweetheart. You can cry, you know? Nothing wrong with leaking a little bit. It helped last time, remember?" - the sea lion man pushed a loose strand of Greer's hair behind her still human ear. "Do you want me to carry you over to your bed so you can lay down? Or is cold tile better?" Looking at the girl in profile, the Dude's eyebrows furrowed. The creature in front of him was still undeniably Greer, but the new change was drastically different from the second injection changes. Back then it was a few feathers, some scales, a patch of fur. But all in all they still had looked human - human faces, human voices, human flesh. This was different. While there was still plenty human features left, the ochre beak on her face was alien. So where the wings. He wondered if the rest of her body was covered by feathers now. And what he thought about it all. Far out. Far ******** out ... It all felt like an quirky fairy tale - a girl turning into a hawk. Very unreal. Greer Greer took a shaky breath, shaking her head on his shoulder. "If I cry now I don't know if I'd ever stop..." Her stomach growled and her head swam. She needed out. She needed food. "I'm starving. Can you help me get to the cafeteria please?" The Dude "Sure"- he scooped her up and stood up. "You weigh less now, I think. That's ... odd." - he commented, a bit perplexed. "Does walking hurt?" No, this was still Greer, but she was distant now. Scared? Angry? Afraid of rejection? Maybe all those things, he thought. Greer She whimpered as the action jostled her flight feathers, still the most tender part of her new form. "It did earlier, but that's mostly because my skin was still tender. The talons are going to take some getting used to." She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck, but her new feathers wouldn't let her. The Dude When she whimpered, he apologized profusely: "I'm sorry I'm sorry sorry about it." Then he carried her out of the duplex, the red cat in tow and went down to the cafeteria. "You want your steaks, right?" - the Dude asked, standing in front of the table with the breakfast foods. The still quite human cafeteria lady gave the two a look and went back to reading the Soap Opera Digest. Greer She closed her eyes when they went outside, not wanting to see anyone else who might be around. Opening them again when the light beyond her eyelids dimmed, she marveled at how amazingly clear everything was. "Yes please. Meat. And water please." The Dude "Okey" - he sat Greer down on one of the chairs as gently as he could and went to get meat and a big galss of water. The lunch lady stood up, handed him a wrapped up plate of steak from the heat case. Both did their best to ignore each other's existence and the Dude brought the food to the table. "Here you go." Greer Smiling as best she could, Greer gulped down half the water before tearing the wrapping off the plate and attempting to eat a steak. It didn't work. Embarrassed, she carefully put the meat back on the plate, her hands shaking badly. "Could I have a knife and fork please?" The Dude]"Oh yeah, shoot" - he stood up and brought them over. "I'm a moron. Sorry." as she was eating, he took the water glass and filled it up, then wend to grab the scrambled eggs and sausage links for himself, too. "Can you cut or should I cut it apart for you?" - the Dude asked, looking at her shaking hands. Somehow he had a sinking feeling that he was doing everything wrong right now ... he should be saying something, telling jokes. But instead he just patted her feathers and smiled a bit croocked: "Where do you wanna go after you eat? Duplex? Beach? Cliffs?"[/quote]
[quote="Greer A tear of frustration slipped down Greer's cheek as she shook her head, wiping the moisture away with an angry hand. "As long as I have opposable thumbs I can cut my own meat." Realizing how harsh the growl had been, she flinched and looked up at him as she slowly cut her food into small, easy-to-swallow bites. A full set of lower teeth was useless without its upper compliment. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. Somewhere quiet where no else is would be lovely... the cliffs would do if you don't mind." She couldn't go to the beach or her duplex right now. Too many memories of what she had been. The Dude "Okey." - the sea lion man smiled and nodded his head, but the growl wasn't lost on him. It chased the already fretting and worried man even further. The strong feeling that he was doing this all wrong intensified and the Dude looked sheepishly down. Erm ... crud ... ah ********, let's just eat. They were both hungry and Greer just had one hell of a night. Don't worry about it ... everything always seemed better with a full stomach. To keep away awkward silences he smiled: "I haven't been to the cliffs in ages ... the wind is strong there ..." Greer Greer lowered her eyes to her plate again, concentration on making the steak cubes disappear. She was behvaing badly, but it was hard to stop herself. She desperately wanted to be strong, to survive this on her own, while at the same time wanted to hide from the world in Sean's arms while he made the badness go away. It was hard to be twenty-seven when you wanted to be cared for like you were five. Finishing her first steak Greer cubed her second, working mush faster now that her hands were steady. Must have been hunger tremors. Setting aside a third of the danity chunks on the table for Morgan, she made herself stop cowering over her plate and show her companion a geniune smile. "It is, but I think that will be nice. I've always liked the feeling of the wind in my hair." Putting down her fork, she reached over and placed a hand lightly on one of Sean's flippers. "Thank you." The Dude Hungry for the meet, Captain Morgan jumped onto the table and sniffed excitedly at the offered morsels, the proceeded to swallow the steak without chewing it much. "Oh good" - he nodded at her statement about the wind. "Good good ... and no big deal. Erm ... yeah. Sorry if I am being a big dork. A bit of a new situation, ya know." - he patted her hand with his other free flipper, then tickled the feathers on it ... "Ready to go or do you want more water?" Greer Greer smiled and scritched the greedy cat, swallowing the last of her meal in a similar fashion. Suprising herself with a small giggle when Sean tickled her hand feathers - Finally something didn't hurt! - she nodded and stood carefully, manovering free of the table before picking up her glass and her plate. "You're doing a wonderful job, really. Let's be off - I hate feeling like an invalid." The Dude "Okey, proud one. Is that hawk or hot Arabian blood in you?" - he stood up after Greer, leaving the cat to sniff around on the table for any missed meat particles. Greer She sniffed haughtily, rising on to her tip-toes gingerly to give them impression of pulling herself to her full height. "If you have to ask I don't believe you deserve an answer." Grinning and winking, she lowered herself back down on to her feet and bussed her cutlery. The Dude "Okey okey ..." - he smiled: "Gotcha, bird of pride ... errr ... prey." Then the Dude took Greer's hand into his and they walked out of the cafeteria, leaving Captain Morgan and the cafeteria lady behind. Wild animals didn't belong indoors anyway. The were walking for about 20 minutes thru the jungle along a narrow path leading towards the south of the island. Since the path was so narrow, they couldn't walk next to each other, which was a bit of a conversation killer. But that was just fine for the both of them, as neither had any strong urge to chit chat. Instead, with Greer in the lead, and the Dude following her shortly there after, each was deep in thought. The morning sun was starting to warm up the air and the jungles was full of sounds: parrots screeching in the tree tops, an isolated far away grunt, rustling of leaves and chattering of small monkeys in the nearby guava tree. Finally, the blue of the ocean opened up in front of them and they walked out form under the canopy onto the small open area at the highest point of the cliffs. Far underneath the waves of the Atlantic were crushing against the basalt of the cliffs and a few sparkling white seagulls were circling overhead. Greer Greer immedieatly went to the edge of the cliffs and sat, sniffing the air and soaking up the view. It was amazing she could still breathe through that thing. A part of her, much louder than it had before, gleefully regaled her with the wonders that were her's for the taking if she was willing to give up the safety of the ground for the thrill of flight. It urged her to lean over the edge, to look down at the waves that crashed against the rock below, and imagine the frightening joy of hurling herself towards the water to be caught by an invisible hand that would hold her up high and keep her from plummeting to her death. Her human self shivered and vowed to have none of it. "At what point are we no longer ourselves?" She asked in a far away voice, lost in thought. The Dude The Dude watched Greer perch on the edge of the abyss and thought again about how much of a hawk she now was. Wild and free, soon to fly away into the blue. It was a startling visual picture - Greer soaring in the air like the seagulls above them. It looked both horribly awkward and majestic. And unreal. This feeling of how unreal their life was becoming has been creeping up on the Dude all morning. So when Greer asked her question, it echoed his own thoughts. Sitting down next to her cross legged, he folded his arms across the chest and answered: "I don't think we will ever loose ourselves. But I'm an optimist." He also wanted to add that for the past decade he has been trying to loose himself and hasn't succeeded yet, so he didn't think some sea lion DNA would achieve what large amounts of LSD couldn't. Greer She turned away from the view and back to Sean slowly, like it was hard to do so. The view just looked so darn neat through her new vision... "But what happens when I lose my hands? When my bones stretch into struts and my shoulders widen to accomodate the attachment points fort he flight muscles?" She held her hands up in front of her as she spoke, memorizing every weft and nuance of them for a time when they were gone. "What happens when I lose the things I love? What makes me me?" The Dude "I'd say that if you loose your hands, then you can use your feet. I once saw a story about an artist who lost his arms, and learned to draw with his feet instead. And ... and if you end up irreversibly loosing the things you love, then ... well ... there are other things one can love. One adjusts. Your hawk is so proud and strong, you can channel that energy and will to live into happy thoughts and making lemonade ... from Moreau's lemons, may he rot." - he tried to look sure and certain, but this was a hard thing to talk about even for him. One can ignore the darkness only for so long, but eventually it catches up to everyone. Seeing a beak on Greer's face seemed to have been the Dude's wake up call. Even though he was doing his ultimate best to hid the fact. Greer She shook her head. "No, then I'll be someone else instead of me. The hawk wants things I don't, does things I can't. A Greer who can't keep an insect notebook isn't the Greer I am." She didn't want to be thinking these depressing thoughts or speaking in this crushed and quiet tone, but she couldn't make herself stop. The hole in her heart her father's death had left was aching, torn open once more by new friends and too much stress. She loved it here, was the happiest she'd been in thirteen years, but that didn't mean she wasn't afraid when she thought she could see the death of her soul on the horizon. "I lost a piece of myself before. I've done that. I just never thought I'd lose it all." The Dude "But you cannot just define yourself by one thing, Greer. If you cannot hold an insect book, then one can figure out a way around it. You can memorize it. You can have Aubrey put it on film, so that you can watch it on a screen instead. It may feel right now as if the rug has been pulled from under you, but it's just shock. You think you can't live without something, but you can. Because you only have one life and you can do it." - he said with a little bit more conviction now, then paused and added with a bit of a sigh: "Not to drag me into the situation, but when my wife died, I felt like the world was over. Did a lot of stupid things to kill my guilt and loss. But eventually I found other things I can love and live for in this world. And yes, this is different. But humans are flexible things. We adjust. That's what makes us human." Greer Greer blinked, finally escaping the numb bubble that had been surrounding her since she woke up. God, she was callous, selfish git. "Sean, I-" she wanted to apologize for being morose and complaining, to thank him for putting up with her, but couldn't figure out how to pharse it right. Sighing, she slid over to him and wrapped her arms around in him in a warm hug, ignoring the complaints from her feathers. Smiling sadly, she rested her head on his shoulder. "You're right. Thank you." The Dude Oh wait, no he wasn't trying to guilt trip her at all ... "No no, sweetheart, that was just and example of ... erm ... perseverance of happy s**t. I am not trying to make you feel bad about you talking here. You should talk, let it all out of your heart." - he petted the raven hair that was now heavily interspersed with bay, downy feathers. Greer She smiled faintly at the petting - even in her horrible dream, it had been calming. "I'd rather talk about happy things, honestly. Like.. like my vision! My vision is really cool. And the talons on my toes will be real useful should I need to defend myself or do some impromptu gardening." The Dude "Okey .... fair that. But if you feel the need to talk about unhappy things again, please do so. Not to sound like a girl, but talking helps" - he kissed her forehead. "How far can you see?" - he added, looking around and trying to find a good test." Greer She blinked, looking out at the view and making an effort to focus on the farthest distinct point possible. Not used to such clear sight, it took some doing. "There's a pod of whales out there," she said, pointing, "I can see three spouts." The Dude "WOW." - he was impressed. "Where?" - he strained his eyes, scanning the horizon, but saw nothing. Far out. Greer "There, see?" she pointed again, the gesture plenty clear to her. "There goes two more. I think that's all of them, but it's hard to tell at this distance." The Dude "Yeah ... okey I'll take your word for it" - he gave up, a bit frustrated. All he saw was the blue horizon merging with the cyan sky. "Pretty ******** awesome, these eyes of yours ..." Which gave him an idea in his mind. And escape plan. But he would have to wait to share it with her for later, in a very careful and sly fashion. Greer She nodded, dropping her arm and snuggling her head back on his shoulder. "A lovely consolation prize, to be sure. Pity I had to sacrifice kissing to get them." she grumped, somewhat jokingly. "You were so good at that, too!" The Dude "Hmmm ... well ... I dunno, we can try to work around the problem or we can explore other options, Miss Hawk." - the Dude snorted, pleased by the compliment. Bummer about kissing, that is true, but those eyes of her just might be a ticket to bringing Moreau down ... Greer She raised an eyebrow. "Other options? Like showing you how far down my feathers go?" She chuckled to herself, any plotting completely beyond her at that moment. The Dude "Yeah, for example that" - the Dude shrugged innocently then added hastily: "I mean, you are probably hurting pretty bad still, hon. I'm just joking, don't worry about any of that at all." He was a guy, but even his mind didn't need to dwell in the gutter that much. "Just trying to cheer you up." Greer "Which you are succeeding in." Grinning, she sat back and gestured at herself. "Heck, you even managed to get me outside in my pajamas! Your powers of persuasion must be in overdrive today." In all actuallity, she was grateful for the joke. It was good to know she was still human enough to warrant his attentions. The Dude "Oh, your sweet words are making me blush." - he waved his flipper with a dead pan expression on his face. Not like anyone could see his blush, dark as he was. "Come here, little hawk person." - he scooped her up, trying not to damage the feathers, and kissed her on the forehead: "As much as I miss the sweet lips, it's not the making out what keep me aroudn you. So don't worry about that, okey?" Greer Ignoring the dull complaint of her arms, she snuggled into him. "Yes'm. Won't think of it again." This was why she loved the island. She was happy and safe here.
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Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 11:10 am
Greer crossed her arms over her chest, frowning at the offending scrap of cloth on her bed. She'd always liked her t-shirt. It was a bright, snappy lime color, with v neckline that was still modest, and had always fit comfortably. Now the beginnings of her wings had made it the enemy. Pants still weren't a problem. Her pajama bottoms had an elastic waist and could be used as long as she was careful about the talons. Her capris were also still wearable, due to their looseness and her possession of a belt. Tops though... they were a bit of a problem. She'd already had to convert her pajama tank into a halter by ripping the spaghetti straps from their connection points on the back of the shirt to get free of it for her shower, sliding the wayward article of clothing down her torso and past her legs to finally shed it. Showering had been interesting too. Nothing quite as relaxing as crouching half in, half out of the stall in effort to wet her hair and keep her feathers dry. Her back was still a little sore from the contortions that had been required, but other than her hand feathers she'd managed to reach her goal. It was a good thing only the hair on her head was still present - being avian as opposed to mammalian was going to make keeping clean with less washing much easier. So, how the hell was she going to get her shirt on? The beginnings of wings weren't stationary, she'd found: like her tail feathers, which had also grown and filled out, they could be moved and flexed somewhat with the muscles beneath them. Maybe if she could fold and streamline her long feathers carefully enough and move her arms just right- ha! Yes, it was working! Wait, no, ack no getting stuck- good, bad, yes, meep, okay... ow! It had taken her twenty minutes, but she'd managed to get her shirt on. The sleeves bunched at the shoulders, pushed up by the feathers, but that couldn't be avoided. The important thing was, she could still get dressed. She was impressed with herself. Pulling on her capris and securing them with her belt, Greer finished off her outfit, leaving her feet bare as she padded out on to her balcony. The skin on the bottoms of her feet had yellowed and hardened like the rest of her non-feathered legs, and her taloned toes would surely shred her sneakers if she tried to wear them. Flip fliops might still be an option, although the clack of her clawed feet on the concrete balcony spoke against it. Crossing her arms on the top of the railing, she leaned her weight on the metal bar, watching a few small birds flit through the air. She wanted to join them. She wanted to eat them. Hissing, she closed her eyes and soaked up the sun. She wanted to be human again. Maybe Sean was right, maybe she wouldn't lose herself just because she lost her hands. Maybe. If she made enough of an effort to hold on. She'd managed not to fall apart completely after her father had died, hadn't she? That had been emotional hell - this was just physical change. A day and the burn in her skin faded, give it some more time and the despair should fade as well. Opening her eyes, Greer enjoyed the breeze, lifting her face into it and smiling faintly. She wouldn't be the same, but she could still be her. A soft chirp from her room made her turn and go back inside. She still had Mei Mei, didn't she? She had her insects. Her life. Her friends. She could be stubborn and pigheaded. She could spit in the Doctor's smirking face and not let him win. If she could get a shirt on despite her wing feathers, she could still be Greer no matter how hawk-like she looked. Taking her pet cricket out of her cage, she let the insect inspect her new form curiously. Okay, it wasn't the soundest hypothesis, but she'd take what she could get. It wasn't as if she was publishing a paper.
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