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 Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 2:38 pm
Ambrose's 'new' outlook on the situation was helping him maintain a more positive outlook in the mornings. Things weren't so bad, and things would get better - they had to. After all, it would be ridiculous to suppose otherwise. And with starting to teach Amaya fencing, things were even better.
Brushing his teeth after having showed and gotten dressed, Ambrose's mind wandered towards breakfast as the cafeteria smells that were already wafting to his sensitive nose.A pile of papers and a book clasped to her chest, Greer walked swiftly from her door to Ambrose's, doing her best not to run. She didn't really want to see anyone she wasn't planning on meeting right then, but that was no reason to scurry around like a scared mouse. Mice were for eating, not being.
Raising a feathered hand she knocked quickly on her friend's door, almost dropping her sheaf of notes.Ambrose hurredly spat out the toothpaste and rinsed his mouth, half-jogging to the door. Who was paying him a visit this morning? Was Amaya back for more lessons? The Dude? He hadn't seen him since the whole Greer thing....
Opening the door with a smile, he did a doubletake at the woman... bird... that stood before him. Unmistakably Greer, and yet.... undenyably different. Part of his stomach seemed to reach up and grab his heart in a tight fist. This... this didn't work at all with what Ambrose had decided for himself - that a further transformation was ridiculous - impossible even. Greer's legs were almost entirely different, her nose a hard yellow, and most of all - her arms... full pinions grew from them and they had begun to distinctly resemble a set of wings.
Unlike everyone else who had begun to change on the Island... these were no longer superficial changes... with something like these, clever makeup, shaving, surgery... things like these couldn't be blown over.
Ambrose's thoughts spirialed before he even realized he was staring, his face washed to a paleness, his voice lost before he even managed to fully get out the "Hi Greer" That was on his lips before his eyes fully communicated to his mind that while, yes, the person at the door was Greer - it was a distinctly different Greer.
Finally, after the moment would have obviously been a strained, awkward one, his voice returned, this time fetching back a "Greer... My god... I'm so sorry.." He whispered, stepping back and holding the door open for his friend. "Hi Ambrose." she said quietly, trying not to react to his staring. It was shock, and it was to be expected. Still, she couldn't help but think that Sean hadn't reacted so badly. Stepping inside, she dropped her papers on his bed, more because of a loss of grip than anything else.
"It's okay, really." she sighed. She was going to have to talk about the change before she could discuss construction, which was her reason for coming here. Damn. She'd been holding out a faint hope that she'd be able to avoid it. "Mind if I sit on your bed?" He shook his head quickly to attempt to jog his mind into working properly. "Yes - yes, of course you can." He replied, closing the door behind him and going to her side.
"I.... I'm sorry, Greer. I know that wasn't what you need now." He tentatively reached a hand up to put on her shoulder. "I just.... I know it probably sounds ridiculous.... but... with how long it had been since any of us had gotten our second injection... I was starting to hope maybe it wouldn't get any worse for any of us... that he'd let us go home if we could feign normalcy." He swallowed. Somewhere, the back of his mind pointed out that he hadn't changed yet. That maybe, MAYBE he had received his third injection and he hadn't reacted to it. Greer had changed much later than he had. That had to be it! His heart wrestled a little freer from the cold grip that had taken it.
But what about Greer? She... wasn't so lucky... or maybe - maybe his thoughts about the further changes not being too bad - maybe they weren't? Her nose was a different texture... there were more feathers on her arms, but could those theoretically be cut in a pinch...? How much of a change from before was this really? Her arms were still there - and not much longer - just the feathers that grew from them. The beak, though.... was it hard? Did she still have teeth...? He looked over her face analytically.
"Was... the change very painful...?" He almost didn't want to ask. "I mean... your arms have longer feathers from them... but your arms are still all there - your body isn't that much different, really... is it?" He hoped she would confirm his suspicious, but part of him knew better.She grimaced, sitting down and her face in her hands. "Really, really painful. I dreamt and felt like I was on fire! If you can avoid having your body hair replaced with feathers, I recommend that you do."
Dropping her hands, she looked up and smiled at him ruefully. "I'm sorry Ambrose, but I've changed immensely. I no longer have an upper set of teeth, my toes are tipped in talons, my legs are either hard, scaled, and yellow or coated in feathers, and when Sean picked me up yesterday he said it felt like I weighed less, so my bones have probably begun to hollow. Oh yeah, and my vision is pratically telescopic."
It hurt her to describe her changes to him, to crush out that last little glimmer of hope that Ambrose had that maybe this all wouldn't be real. If she could have pulled it all off like a costume, jumped up and yelled "Just kidding!" she would have, even if it meant he hated her for the rest of his life. Better that he was free and happy, even if she lost him. If she could have traded something to the Doctor for Ambrose's freedom, she would have in a second. He didn't deserve this.
"I'm sorry Ambrose. I really am. I wish I could make it not so." He nodded slowly, wishing that this were a dream, that the both of them could wake up - and have it not be real. That genetics really couldn't be stretched this far. His eyes darted momentarily to the books on wolves and wild canids that sat on his desk, the lamp having been decisively placed on top of them.
He tried to force a smile at her description, but it came out looking more like a toothy wince. "At least.... I should be able to avoid that part..." He responded to her advise. "But... I might be getting a whole lot more of that body hair, however..." He said with a shudder.
"They didn't even offer you morphine? Like the Dude got for his first change?" He asked, imagining the pain that she must have gone through to have the quill-like bases of the feathers squeezed through the pores of her skin.
"And did you notice when you got your injection?" Maybe more of them had recevied their third... maybe since this was such an experimental process, this wouldn't happen to all of them. Maybe they would stop where they were.... His mind seized on that thought like a lifeline. He was still relatively normal. Normal enough for people to pass off his features as a costume or within the realm of human possibility.She shook her head. "I just lay down, went to sleep, and woke up in the middle of the night full of pain and changes." Greer reached out a hand, wrapping her fingers around his. In an odd way, she was glad she was comforting him more than the other way around. She was still shaky about the change and liable to break down if she was shown too much sympathy. It was better this way. Easier to hold together when giving someone else strength.
"I'm sorry, I didn't come here to worry you - want to dwell on happier things?" He squeezed her feathery hand back, feeling worried, and at the same time, angry at himself for thinking about himself and not Greer's situation.
this... won't happen to me. I'm going to stay normal! His mind emphasized, sinking its claws deeper into denial. But I can try to help Greer through this, be here for her. Things will work out -for me, for all of us. They have to.
He turned to her with a ghost of a smile. "Happier things?" He nodded, sucking in a breath. "Happier things sounds good. As long.. as long as you can assure me thatyou're OK, Greer...?" She smiled, nodding. "I'll be okay. Being well taken care of."
Gathering up her papers and the book on construction, she turned back to Ambrose and started handing him things. "These are my plans for the butterfly house. As co-foreman I need you to look them over before we start anything." Projects that took your mind off things were lovely. "Good.... And... I'm here too, I mean... I promise not to focus on me" He winced. "If you need to talk. I can help."
As he turned to the papers, his mind was no exception: seizing on the chance of a distraction, something that it could put to work with - solving the problem of his floundering for something productive to do as well as distract him from the underlying situation, he shuffled through the papers, his eyebrows raised, impressed with the level of detail.
"Wow, you've relaly been looking into all this, haven't you?" Ambrose had never done anything more complicated than construct a bird house in shop, but the blueprints seemed fairly straightforward when he sat down and looked through them. Easy enough to break down into managable tasks. "These look really good, Greer. It's a big project! But... I think it's do-able. I mean... all of the instructions seem very clear..." He turned to her with a smile. "This is something we can really all do - build together. Make something!" He grinned at the title. "Co-foreman, eh? That certainly sounds important." She chuckled and nudged his shoulder with hers. "I promise to come sobbing to you should I need it." The hawk whistled at her when she said this. She did her best to ignore it.
Blushing a little at the praise, Greer looked down at her hands. "I take notes compulsively, and since I don't have a background in construction I figured detail could only help us. I'd hate for my bad plans to shoot this project in the foot. And yes, co-foreman is a very important job. It means you take half the blame when things go wrong."
She grinned at him, winking. "Good!" He nodded in approval, his mind now determined to keep the mood positive. "What are friends for, after all?" Friends. Just that. Although the group of friends he was building around him were becoming a close circle to him - especially the pack-building instinctits unwittingly budding in Ambrose's genes.
He barked a laugh at this. "Ooooh, I see. Shifting the blame, Eh?" He teased. "But that's fine - I can take it. But! We're not going to screw up - not with plans this solid." He tapped on the plans for emphasis after having finished reading them over.
"So, other than taking the blame for screwups and manual labor, what do you need me to do next?" He asked.She cocked her head, thinking. "Hmmm, well, I think I may have found a good spot to build - I would like to show it to you at some point. And taking an inventory of our supplies would always be good. Free for either of those things?"
The hawk in the back of her mind scoffed. It ticked off a few things Ambrose could do for her- Greer nearly choked. Ambrose smiled. "That sounds great! We can go by the site and talk about the ... orientation of the building, and then I can go help with inventory - set aside the material we'll need in particular. I don't think we'd want to move it out to the site all at once... the wood might rot, or the screen rust if we move it out there too early and don't finish it." Greer nodded. "Sounds perfect. Shall we?" She stood, gesturing towards the door. She expected the hawk to be upset they were moving away from a bed, but it made no protest. Thank goodness. It could go away now. Far, far away. Ambrose nodded, gathering the plans up for her and headed quickly to the door so he could open it for her.
"Ladies first." He smiled, bowing slightly in his gesture as he swung it open before her.
Always the chivilarous knight, our Ambrose. "Thank you, good sir." Greer teased lightly as she passed him, doing her best not to listen to the hawk's cheeky suggestion that he was only holding the door so he check out her butt. Sean, sure, but Ambrose? Never. After she walked out, he slipped out after her, not bothering to lock the door anymore - a habit he had stopped a few weeks back when it clicked with him that the only people onthe Island he would really want to keep out could get in even IF it was locked.
He jogged a few paces to catch up to her side and smiled as he let her lead the way. "You know... as sad as it is, this entire time I've been on the Island, I've yet to foray into the jungle? You'd think that the temptation of adventure might have lured me out long ago, but ..." He shrugged and shook his head. "I have yet to really go much more than the village, the beach, and around the perimeter to the cliffs. I guess with everything else, there's been more than enough adventure..."You haven't been into the jungle yet? You fool! It's absolutely gorgeous: tons of plants, birds, insects..." Her voice trailed off as she took a moment to orient herself and lead them to the area she'd found a week or two ago. "I'll have to take you bug hunting with me at some point. Continue your education." He grinned. It did sound fun. "I know! I feel bad - it's like this whole... well... jungle just waiting to be explored. I am surprised I haven't." He picked his way after her, stepping over roots, and trying to avoid thorns and any suspicious webs all at the same time. Brushing a branch out of the way he followed along her. "Bug hunting?" He had never really considered that before, but it did sound like it could be fun. Spending more time with Greer, hunting after insects - it could be like a huge scavenger hunt, combined with an adventure into the jungle. "Sure! That sounds like it might be fun! Looking for rare - or even new types... spotting them... and all that. What else have you seen out here? You've been in the forest a lot bughunting, right? What else lives in here?"Breaking out of the underbrush into the natural clearing about five minutes from the village, she stopped and spun around. "This is it! What do you think? Will it work?"
She was grinning, suddenly incredibly happy. Being outside in unconfined spaces seemed to really elate her hawkself. Resisting the very strong urge to grab Ambrose and, uh, celebrate, she focused on describing the island's animal life.
"Parrots, parakeets, love birds, lots of feathered squaking things. There's some small primates too, and different types of rodentia. And bugs, of course, but if I start listing those now I won't stop for awhile. Lots of little lizards, snakes, bats, frogs, salamanders and various other beaties that half of me now considers food." He smiled, looking around the beautiful clearing. There was a lot of native vegitation here, including some very pretty flowers that he had no idea where to even begin with as far as names went. And it was open - a large fallen tree spread across the ground served as an explanation as to why. A few smaller seedlings were sprinigng up in its wake, but nothing too dense to build around. He glanced down at the plans, turned them a bit and then grinned as he saw an orientation that should work. "This looks perfect, Greer! I bet you could have been an architect if you weren't so enthusiastic of an entomologist" he said to her with a wink.
He listened to her as she listed what she had seen. "Wow" He commented, and began to resent his not exploring earlier. "even primates? I really should wander out here more often - I'd love to see them." He caught on her last statement, though. "Are.... have you actually been having cravings like that..?" He asked, suddenly wondering if his own appetites might change even more than they already had... Greer rolled her eyes. "Flatterer. I have no training in archetecture, and certainly lack the engineering skills. All I did was pull these sketches out of that book and get really lucky with a location."
She made a face. "I have, but so far have resisted them. Not that it's suprising, since those are the main food staples of Harris' Hawks, but... if you ever seen me grab a lizard without thinking and start to chew on it, smack me would you? Eating steak is bad enough." Remembering something Sean had mentioned along these lines, she gave Ambrose a sidelong glance. Should she bring up the possibility of wanting to eat each other? Ambrose shrugged. "Still, better than I - or most people I bet- could have done. And you did more than just pull designs from a book."
He put his hands in his pockets and looked around the clearing, listening to rustling noises off in the underbrush. "I'll be sure to do that." He winced, a small ball of fear starting to form - would he have those cravings as well...? No... he hadn't changed again, and he wouldn't let himself start to think on that as a certainty. At least Greer seemed to at least be able to make light of the situation...? "Heh.... But I'm sure it won't come to that!" ....right? She rolled her eyes but let the argument drop. She doubted he was going to see reason on this. As for the gastric issues... "Hopefully not. I especially hope we won't start trying to eat our friends."
Greer winced. She hadn't meant to bring that up.Ambrose stood stock-still. That thought had never even occurred to him. Ambrose was too wrapped on what he HAD read about wolves described them as very social animals, a healthy wolf never having attacked a human, and overall pleased (as much as one could get) with the selection - even if he wouldn't admit that, especially to do the doctors. But, one thing he hadn't thought on, beyond the relief of not having to deal with being something cute and docile that would certainly be a challenge to his masculinity, was that he was becoming a predator.
But they weren't all going to be humans, were they? He had seen a pair of antlers sprouting from Ian's head... and there were others becoming small furry animals, too, weren't there. Ambrose paled.
"But... it won't come to that!" He said with a masked note of fear. "I mean.... we might resemble animals.... and... well.... we might even start picking up some ... quirks... but... we're all still people." Ambrose hadn't had cravings for any living animals yet, thank God - just a penchant for the steaks and meat in the lunchroom. And it won't change! He hammered again. Greer felt like an a** for even thinking it. Poor Ambrose! Of course her dear friend would take such a suggestion hard. "No, I'm sure it won't!" she said quickly, wrapping her arms around his waist in effort to give comfort. The hawk approved of the action, but not the motive. She supressed a growl at herself.
"I'm sorry Ambrose, I shouldn't have mentioned it. Let's go do inventory, hmm?" He was warm and smelled quite nice. Stupid bird hormones.He gave her a small smile. "No... it's alright... I just... That hadn't even occurred to me, to be honest. But... I can see where you might get that.... I mean, I haven't had the cravings for actual live animals... and if it gets to that point... then the next step..." He shook his head. "It won't happen. We're still people - and we always will be." He thought to what Greer mentioned of her sort of hawk's diet, and then to her downstairs roommate, and Amaya. She would be in the same boat as he would if predatory instincts did kick in. But that was a ridiculous thought. And he did take comfort in this - that notion seemed a world away from where he was.
"It's allright, Greer." He smiled. "Really. I honestly don't think that's going to happen." He reaffirmed genuinely. "And inventory sounds wonderful! Lead the way, fearless leader" he winked. Chuckling, she released her friend and headed back towards the village. The hawk whined in the back of her mind- nooo! Wanna be outside!
"So, I'm thinking of starting a betting pool on whether or not I'll be able to fly when I've gone through all my changes. Sean says yes- what do you think?" It was a lame distraction, but hey.Ambrose raised his eyebrows and looked her over again. "You said that The Dude mentioned that you weighed less....? And your plumage on your arms is filling out..." As much as he hated to look to the future of more changes... "Well.... assuming that the procedure IS actually successful in furthering our resemblance to animals more than it already has.... maybe..? I mean... if you weigh little enough and have broad enough wings... you could at least glide?" He smiled. That did sound amazing...
Ambrose's mind was distracted on the walk back as he looked over Greer. Even with the feathers and begining of a beak, she was still quite attrac-
As his foot caught over some thorny brambles and he tumbled face-down into a patch of thorns and spikey leaves. She nodded. "Gliding will probably all I ever do, if that, since flight muscles take a lot of eating to keep strong."
Trotting along, she heard a small crash and turned, not particularly concerned. "What was- Ambrose!" Racing to his side, she tried to help him up, only succeeding in getting her feathers caught in the thorns.
"Ow! Ambrose, are you al- ouch, damn! okay?"Ambrose yelped as his face struck the ground, some of the small thorns scraping his face.
Slowly, he pushed himself up, and made a hissing noise as he drew in air between his teeth, trying to prop himself up without sticking himself more on the thorns that seemed to be caught mercillesly around his ankle. "owowowow.." He winced, trying to sit up. "Oh geez - Greer- no, they're sharp - aaaahhhh" he whined, feeling rather humiliated for managing to get himself into this situation. He should have been paying more attention!! That's what he got for thinking things like that. She was taken, and so was he.
He sighed pitifully as he looked over to her, a few small cuts across his face, and his leg wrapped in brambles. "What a mess." He said with exasperation. "Guess I'm not really cut out as a jungle explorer". Suppressing a giggle at his pitiful state, Greer went to work on pulling the brambles off of his leg. He was so adorable! "Everyone gets tripped up by nature at some point. And he, at least we know now that we need to make sure this path is clear before we begin building."
Balancing on one foot, she used the talons on the other to slice through a particularly stubborn coil of thorns. Useful little things. The hawk smiled knowingly: boys always needed someone to look after them. Ambrose smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as she sliced through the brambles clinging to his leg. "My savior!" He said with a bit of a laugh. "And hey, those things are really useful, aren't they!" He marveled, never having really thought before about the utilitiy of the 'adaptions' that they had developed.
He lifted a hand to the side of his cheek where he had a few small scrapes, and looked down to see that, yes, he had managed to cut his face. So smooth he thought with a humiliated sigh.
"But that's a good point - it's not too far out - and will be even faster with a path. Maybe lay some big flat stones from the village to the construction site. Make it easier to get the supplies out there, and make it so people can find the location as well."
He brushed himself off and slowly got to his feet, glaring down at the offending vines. Stupid plants. "I promise I won't be nearly so much of a klutz if you take me out bughunting." He offered with a wince.She watched him check his wounds and smiled. A-dor-a-ble. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure it was my fault, distracting you with my luscious behind."
Greer grinned. Joking. She was joking. "You look fine, and you're not a kultz. No one with your fencing footwork could be."
Crossing her arms, she grinned and nodded towards the village. "Why don't you walk in front so I can keep an eye on you?" Ambrose blushed a deep pink as her words hit the mark closer than she probably knew.
He smiled and shrugged, shaking his leg once more to make sure it was disentangled before shoving his hands back into his pockets. "Yes... well... they don't exactly have thorny vines at UMass to worry about, but I'll keep my eyes open now." He winked.
"And yes, ma'am." He grinned, taking the lead. At least he had paid attention and could find his way back from here.
As he walked, however, Greer would see a small wagging tail nub rubbing back and forth against the back of his pants. Despite the embarrassment, he was enjoying himself. Greer followed cheerfully after him, admiring the view and wondering about the blush. Had he actually been looking at her butt? The hawk preened at the idea while she was amused by the prototail wagging. Spending time with Ambrose was an odd mix of feeling like an adult and laughing teen. Always fun and confusing.
"So, when are we going to start all this building?"He glanced back quickly as they breached the treeline and was once again back in the 'civilized' world of the cookie-cutter buildings. It was a drastic change from sylvan paradice to the unfeeling mechanical world of an apartment complex.
"Good question..." He drug out as he headed towards the supply room. "I'm not exaclty doing anything, if you catch my drift. Other than that party in a couple of weeks."
Greer nodded. "Yeah, me too- wait, no! I have that book I need to read!" She'd completely forgotten about Emelyn's writing and had yet to sit down with it. If she bumped into the girl again and hadn't read any of her work, she'd feel like a moron.
"I'm sorry Ambrose, but I got a book from Emelyn that she wrote, and I haven't even glanced at it yet. It would break my heart if I gave something like that to someone and they didn't read it- would you mind if I abandoned you for a bit?" "Emelyn writes?" Ambrose asked with a note of curiousity, and a small impressed look. He felt bad that he had spoken with her a few times and yet honestly knew very little about her.
... Perhaps it was a defense mechanism. He liked her from what little he had seen of her, but with his decision, and her appearance being so close to the woman who his heart yearned for, he felt that things could very easily become complicated.
"It's fine." He smiled. "It's rare that we have things we need to do around here. Go - have fun. I'll grab some food from the cafeteria and go through these plans with the supplies - try to pull aside what we'll need, and set out the stuff we'll need first." He answered with understanding.
"Go! Have fun!" He waved her off, and walked off to do the things he said he would. "Thank you!" Greer gave him a quick hug and beat a path back to her room. She hoped she liked this mysterious genre of 'fiction'...
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 2:43 pm
Greer closed the book she had been reading, setting the finished tome carefully on the floor before flipping over on to her back so she could lie on her bed and stare at the ceiling. Woah. Who knew fiction could be so engrossing? Emelyn was a wonderful writer in her opinion; granted she wasn't an authority on science fiction since this was probably the first non-educational book she'd read since literacy had required an adult to do the actual reading for her, but still. It was a good story, despite the scientific impractibility of making insects large enough to cause one-on-one damage. That, she had realized quickly, was not the point. She wasn't reading a textbook, academic monograph, or graduating thesis. Fiction, even science fiction, was not really about facts and figures no matter how much it utilized them. It was about characters, about a story. It had been a very long time since she had read a story, and now she wanted more. She'd finished the book in four hours of solid reading and enjoyed every minute of it. It hadn't been very long compared to some of her textbooks - only four hundred pages or so, but Greer doubted that its length was the only reason she'd steamed through it so fast. She'd really liked it. Not that she didn't like her entomology reading, but memorizing facts didn't fire the imagination quite like a desperate struggle of human vs. bug survival did. And the characters were so engaging: she'd found herself shouting at the main character to get a clue when she didn't notice how much her friend cared about her, eeping quietly when it looked like the woman might get eaten. There were times she hadn't cared this much about actual people! How could fictional characters elicit such a response? She knew it couldn't be the hawk DNA, since they weren't exactly known for their rich written heritage, so it was clearly a side of herself she'd never realized she had. Man, the things she'd been missing! Taking another ten minutes to stare unseeing at her ceiling and analyze what she'd just read, Greer grabbed the book again and opened it to the first page. Losing herself in the story had been wonderful, and since she didn't really want to go outside right then and deal with any possible meetings, her usual way of avoiding thinking about issues was not an option. Another four hours and Emelyn could have her book back, as long as she gave her a new one.
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 11:59 pm
 Anjali Frangipani You couldn't work all the time.
Anjali, as had become all too common in recent days, had run out of work to do. They were waiting on this supply from the mainland that hadn't come yet, or that plant shipment that hadn't arrived, or... any one of a number of excuses. Excuses, excuses everywhere. Anjali was beginning to suspect that it might be a conspiracy, something designed to force her out of her routine and make her respond to what was going on. She'd seen the pleased smirk on Doctor Duvert's face when he'd told her she was part of the experiment too, and wouldn't put it past them to watch her emotional reactions just for kicks, sick as it was...
She refused to be used. Not like that, anyway, not in what ways she could still help. She was going to be a lab rat; she refused to be entertainment as well. So when work ran thin, Anjali had taken to plunging into the jungle and losing herself in the plants that needed no tending, that grew wild and thick. Being able to explore essentially pristine island forest had been a draw for her originally, hadn't it?
And now it was another sort of sanctuary.
Right now, Anjali was absorbed in an orchid clinging to the side of a huge tree, apparently growing either parasitically or symbiotically, she couldn't quite tell yet... but it had quite a perfume. She made small notes in her dirt-smudged notebook and tried to relax. While she hadn't cracked emotionally again yet, she felt tense, watched, all the time. Her shoulder muscles were tight and achy - but she felt she could loosen up, just a bit, here. After all, they couldn't be watching her even in the depths of this place... could they? Greer Cassenwari Tramping through the jungle without shoes on was an interesting experience, but due to her new nearly-hawk feet it was the best way not to damage her shoes. After finishing reading Emelyn's book in one sitting, Greer had strapped on her utility belt, grabbed her notebook and net, and set out into the jungle for a nice twilight bug hunt. She didn't think too many people would be out in the wilds around this time, and besides, she'd just stayed still for five hours straight. Too long not to be moving. Too long indoors. She needed excercise, and wasn't in the mood to find out her feet wouldn't let her jog anymore.
Her wing-length feathers made her bulkier than she was use to, and the woman was forced to abandon her usual tricks of slipping through the dense growth and stay on the more clear, path-like areas. This meant she was more likely to come across another islander, but again, she didn't expect anyone to be out. Hmm, maybe she should go take a gander at some of the local orchid population. They always attracted some interesting arachnids, and she hadn't drawn any of those yet-
Greer skidded to a halt, unsure what to do. Her orchids were already entertaining an exotic looking woman she had never met before, who was still very human. She gulped. All her old social insecurities came flooding back, and even the hawk's more prominent influence of strength and need to interact couldn't overcome a nerdy girl's fear of rejection. She was very much an other now, and she had no idea how those who hadn't changed yet would react.
"Oh, um, excuse me." she managed shakily. When in doubt, be polite. Anjali Frangipani Anjali jumped at the sound of another voice - she hadn't been expecting that, not out here! "Ah! Oh..." She turned quickly, and her eyes widened at what she saw. A... apparently young woman.... or... mostly... woman...?
She blinked, realizing too late that she was staring, and had been for almost thirty seconds. "I'm sorry, where are my manners?" Anjali quickly inclined her head in a respectful nod. "I am Anjali... and you are...?" Questions like 'why do you have feathers?' and 'what happened to your face?' could come later - although she suspected, with a twisting feeling in her gut, that she knew the answers to those already. Greer Cassenwari She was staring, but it didn't hurt as much as when Ambrose had done it. Strangers who were still human were allowed to stare for a bit, it seemed.
"I'm Greer. Greer Cassenwari." she mirrored the woman's nod, casting around for something else to say. "I'm sorry to have startled you, but I wasn't expecting to see anyone out here. Usually I'm the only one poke at the orchids."
What she wouldn't have given for a nice cup of tea right then! They were so calming, and gave you something to do when you couldn't think of the right thing to say. Anjali Frangipani "Greer... that's an interesting name." Anjali nodded towards the orchids. "You made this path, then? I was wondering. I'm sorry if I'm disturbing a private place, but these specimens are truly exquisite." Her voice had a lilt to it, as well as a British accent. She hesitated.
"Ah... you're... here for the experiment, then?" Anjali said, finally, trying to put it as delicately as possible. Greer Cassenwari She nodded, smiling, as Anjali's polite mannerisms put her at ease. "Yup! I'm an entomologist, and this particular stand has some really nice Misumenopes formosipes living in it. Nature belongs to everyone, so please, don't feel I'm chasing you off."
She chuckled at the woman's question. Impressively put. That more than accent meant she had some English in her background. Well, at lest she didn't have to be the one to explain the whole sordid mess to her. "Yes, sadly, I am. One of the first to get this far through the change, as far as I know. Are you?" Anjali Frangipani "Misumenopes formosipes... you'll have to forgive me, I'm no longer as up on my etomology as I was while at university. Although, if it redeems my education any, I think these are fine examples of domingoa nodosa," Anjali added, smiling. She felt a bit more at ease. A fellow explorer and seeker of knowledge - and, really, she knew a bit about bugs herself, simply as an offshoot of her botany studies. "I was studying to be a botanist," she added. "But now I am simply a gardener... supposedly." Anjali looked down suddenly, as if avoiding something.
"... I suppose I am also part of the experiment," she said, finally, her voice tight. Greer Cassenwari "Ah, sorry, that would be the yellow crab spider. I've spent nearly my entire adult life in either universities or scientific arenas, so I'm only recently learning not to speak in latin classifications all the time. You've certainly go me beat on the plant names though! I was lazy and only ever picked up common names."
Greer looked calm and still a little nervous, but internally she was extatic. Someone who was on her wavelength! Who understood her need to babble in Latin and her interest in knowing all about random flora and fauna! Well, not necesarrily, but it was highly probable. Oh, that would be so cool!
"I... I'm sorry to hear that, really. Still, it's a pretty little prison we have, isn't it?" Greer smiled encouragingly, wanting to cheer this new aquaintance up on general principles. Anjali Frangipani "Pretty, yes... but rather marred by that last word." Anjali shook her head, then reached up with one hand to adjust the headband holding her bangs back. "You are... becoming a bird, then?" she said, lamely, feeling rather silly about stating the obvious but unable to come up with any pat, socially acceptable way to put it. Greer Cassenwari Greer nodded. "That I am. A Harris' or Bay-Winged Hawk, to be precise." Sticking the end of her bug net in the ground so it stood up on it's own, she leaned back against a nearby tree and gestured vaguely. "Feel free to give me a full clinical interrogation: I won't be embarrassed and I'll answer all your questions to the best of my ability."
She didn't really want to offer that, but she knew that in Anjali's position she'd be itching for a carte blanche to question, and if she was going to be social she might as well go for the whole she-bang. Anjali Frangipani Anjali shook her head. "I appreciate your willingness, but... you couldn't answer the questions I have, honestly," she said, quietly. "Although, if you don't mind, I will ask how you came here... and what your hobbies are other than the obvious, and other such common chit-chat. We might as well be in some arboretum enjoying a stroll before going to the theater. So terribly normal... and nice," Anjali added, wistfully. Unless Moreau decided to transform a whole troupe of actors, there would be no more plays of an evening for her. The realization was sudden and hit harder than she expected. Greer Cassenwari She liked this woman more and more by the second! "Oh, not at all, I'll try to answer any question you put to me. Um, well, I've always wanted to be a field entomologist, but never managed to find a researcher who would give me a space on his team. I'd been working in forensic entomology for about five years when I recieved a letter from Feral Labs saying they were forming a research team to do a multi-year study in the Amazon, and my name had come up as one of the final candidates. I thought coming here would be like taking a test: a chance to prove I was worthy of the life I always wanted. So I quit my job, sold my apartment, and kissed my mother good bye before hopping on a plane with no regrets... and as odd as it may sound, I'm actually rather happy here. I didn't really have any friends before I came here and the hawk DNA dragged me out of my shell. Sad, I know." She smiled, moving on to happier things. "As for hobbies, well, I fence, read, spend time with friends, drink tea, look after my pet insects, and currently I am attempting to build a butterfly house with the complicity of anyone I can talk into lending a hand."
Greer shook her head, smiling a little. "I'm sorry, I ramble. What about you?" Anjali Frangipani Anjali blinked at the sudden deluge of information - a bit more than she'd asked for, and all at once, but that was all right. "Feral Labs... yes, that was the name on the job posting I answered," Anjali said with a sigh. "As I said before, I was once studying botany in university, got quite high up actually... before I decided it wasn't what I wanted to do. I wanted to work with plants outside in good solid earth, not tiptoe around a white sterile room with sprouts clinging to sample vials." She shook her head. "Not that the scientific knowledge doesn't serve me well, but I prefer gardening - which is what I was hired here to do. I still am, actually; I get paid a fair salary and have the supplies I need... if not the plants, just yet. I'm working on landscaping the Village at the moment."
She paused, then sighed. "Greer, do you know anyone else that's part of this whole ordeal? Are there many on the island? I haven't been the most social of people lately," she admitted. Greer Cassenwari "You're going to landscape the village? Thank goodness! That place is frighteningly sterile." Ah, gardening. She'd never been overly good at it, but had always respected anyone who could convince plants they wanted to grow where they put them. Growing up in Seattle, Greer had always been overly partial to nature.
"Other people? There're lots. Going on twenty total, I think, but personally I know..." she closed her eyes, counting, "Five well and am aqauinted with maybe seven others. And honestly most of my socializing was due to well-timed hunger more than anything else." Anjali Frangipani Anjali's eyebrows raised at the mention of numbers. She'd seen all the duplexes, of course, but so many already. "I see," she murmured. "And... no, nevermind." She wasn't ready to ask yet. Not yet.
"Yes, I'm going to be landscaping the village," she said, instead. "Eventually it will blend right into the jungle again. No more foul clearcut jungle and cookie-cutter bland duplexes - I was thinking windowboxes, if not climbing vines, on the buildings." Greer Cassenwari Greer raised an eyebrow when her companion cut herself off, but left it alone. No sense in pushing if she didn't want to ask that. "Your ideas for the village sound great! I'd offer to lend a hand, but I've never been good with plants."
Hmm... Greer idly toyed with her notebook. You needed a well-tended collection of flora to make a butterfly house really work... "Any chance you might want to do some work on the plants in our butterfly house once it's finished? It won't really work without a gardener's skill." Anjali Frangipani "A butterfly house?" Anjali looked interested. "Greenhouse-style, or... well, no, I suppose in this literal hothouse environment you wouldn't need glass, would you? Only mesh." She shrugged. "If I am allowed. It sounds like it could be an interesting challenge, cultivating heavy nectar-bearing flora." Greer Cassenwari She nodded. "Exactly! Which is really good, since we're all going to have enough trouble not harming ourselves with hammers, let alone moving large sheets of glass." Confused by the 'allowed' comment, Greer was about to ask when her stomach rumbled. Bah, digestion.
Smiling ruefully, she collected her net, "It was very nice to meet you Anjali, but hunger calls. Would you like to join me in the cafeteria?" Anjali Frangipani "Ah... no, thank you, but I may seek you out later, if you don't mind? I'd like to keep going here." Anjali wasn't ready for more people. Not yet. Soon, maybe, but one was enough of a step for today, and the path ahead looked quite inviting. "Thank you for the welcome, Greer - I'm in duplex #15, if you'd like to come and visit sometime for tea." She grinned and stood up. "Enjoy your meal."
With that, Anjali was gone down the path, further into the jungle, with still more to think about.
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 3:37 pm
Ensconced in the lower branches of a tree near the edge of the cliffs, Greer stared out at the sky and wondered why she was there. She'd never been drawn to climb trees or go to the top floor of buildings like some: not to say that she'd been afraid of heights, simply that such things had never occured to her. While some children had found their eyes drawn to the sky while visions of piloting aircraft had danced in their heads, she'd caught beetles and looked up their names. Flight was a way for bees to get to flowers and the wind was for dispersing baby spiders. Ever since her most recent change, though, she felt the need to get outside as soon as she could in the mornings, if only to feel the wind in her feathers. She liked being higher up, and seeing as much sky as she could at one time. She longed for open space with dry heat, where she could spread her wings and- Greer hugged herself, closing her eyes until the thoughts of flight faded. Not having a fear of heights, and not having a fear of jumping off a cliff and plummeting to your doom were two completely different things. What if the hawk's yearning to leap into the sky outstripped the growth of her wings? She'd never survive a fall from such a height, and half of her arms were still human! She liked the beach, and certainly had no wish to lie broken and bleeding on the sand until one of her friends found her. What if they thought she'd tried to kill herself? She shuddered, the wind suddenly cold. She'd hate to be thought of as a suicide. Opening her eyes again, Greer sighed and forced herself to stay still and just appreciate the movement of the clouds. No, she had willpower. No jumping off of cliffs without full wings for her. Heck, even when she had full wings there was a distinct chance she would be avoiding the cliffside. She'd start by jumping off ladders.
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 8:08 pm
Greer Cassenwari Perched in a large tree over looking the cliffs, an aged green parakeet was watching the scene below him with intrest. It seemed a rather large, somewhat malformed example of his bretheren was trying to judge his chances at flying in his current state: he was crouching on the ground at the cliffs' edge, talons dug in firmly and feather-stripped hands gripping the edge. He peered over the side, breathing steadily and taking in the faraway view. The parakeet shook it's head. It was always sad when the big predators got mauled like that without being killed. He'd probably been a graceful, vicous beast before the front half of his wings had been taken from him. Now he attached himself to the ground, trying not to be afraid of the air. Hopefully he wouldn't try to fly. Old birds didn't fancy watching suicides. Focusing on not hyperventalating in fear at the thought of someday jumping off this very cliff, Greer was unaware of the parakeet's mistaken assessment of her, as well as anything else that might come along at that point. It was a very long way down. Amaya Vaughan Amaya sat lower on the cliffs, a comic in hand as her feet kicked back and forth below her. A few tiny pebbles fell from above onto her pages and she raised a brow, looking up while sheilding her eyes from the sun. There was someone up there...? Greer Cassenwari A small blur of motion attracting her attention, Greer's sharply focused eyes flicked from the blue on blue horizon to the girl sitting on a ledge below her. She blinked, brain freezing. The mental shift from trying to steel herself against her fears to being all social and nice stalled her speech center for a moment, requiring a random pre-written, rather dumb-sounding cue card to be read instead of a formulated sentence. "Amaya! What are you doing down there?" Amaya Vaughan Blinking, she tried to focus on the form above her but the sun kept her from seeing it clearly and only got a shadowed figure. The voice was familiar, though. "Greer?" Amaya rubbed her eyes and looked back down, realizing she wasn't going to be able to see her. "Nothin', reading and thinking... what're you doin' up there?" Greer Cassenwari "Contemplating flight." Clearly her brain had caught up with current events, since otherwise she probably would have said something to the effect of thinking about throwing herself off the cliff, which probably would have upset the little one. Greer frowned. Spending time with her hawk bit always made her brain a bit muzzy. "Want to come up and join me? I have news." Amaya Vaughan "Flight?" Amaya blinked, her eyes widdening as she looked back up at Greer in surprise. "... Alright." Greer had changed, haden't Ambrose said so? She hesitated for a moment, scared of what she might see. Letting out a sigh she placed her comic between her lips, clear of her sharp teeth, and climbed up to meet Greer rather easily. Greer Cassenwari Greer scooted back from the edge to give Amaya space once she reached the top, doing her best not to look too suprised at how easily the girl scaled the rockface. Wow. Yay for claws, apparently. Sitting carefully, she put her hands behind her back and held her arms at an angle that masked her wings. She'd practiced the gesture in the mirror. The beak and feet would be enough for her young friend's first look at her. Amaya Vaughan Upon seeing Greer she froze, not sure of how to react. Slowly she got into a comfortable position to sit beside her, taking the comic out of her mouth and letting it lay between her long, clawed fingers. Green eyes couldn't seem to look at her foster-mother, not wanting to stare or scream or cry but... it was hard not to. And she was scared.
Her mouth opened to say something but only a labored breath came out. A few more minutes passed before she finally muttered the only word that seemed to be able to pass her lips. "Well... poop." Greer Cassenwari Greer chuckled, raising a hand the ruffle Amaya's hair. "Aren't we eloquent today?" Amaya Vaughan Amaya laughed slightly and finally forced herself to look up at Greer. "Sorry just... scared is all." She looked back down at her lap and brought her JTHM comic over her mouth as she talked. "Cassidy changed too. It just... scared me a lot." Green eyes narrowed slightly in saddness. "'Cause it's gonna happen to everyone..." Greer Cassenwari Greer put an arm around the girl's shoulders, smiling warmly and hoping she wouldn't be too bothered by the wings that stretched down to her elbow. "That it is, but your change is still a little ways off now. No sense in worrying over things that haven't happened yet." She marveled at herself, amazed how easily she fell into mother-figure mode. The hawk must have decided Amaya was part of her pack. Thank goodness - feeling compelled to chase the girl out of 'her territory' would have killed her. Amaya Vaughan "Yeah... guess your right." She set her comic aside and fell into Greer, thankful for the comfort. "I've been trying not to think about it but no matter what I do it seems to come into my mind." Greer Cassenwari Greer rubbed the girl's back, enjoying the role of comforter. It seemed to be easier to deal with someone else's problems instead of her own these days. "What's been bothering you in particular?" Amaya Vaughan "I dunno. Just... I guess loosing the face I was born with and a piece of what mom and dad looked like with it." She looked up at Greer, now pretty unphased by her new apperance. Changes seemed to be getting easier to deal with. "I already miss looking at the stars and I don't know if being cold-blooded is going to get worse and... I'm rambling." Greer Cassenwari She smiled sadly, nodding. These worries she understood. "Considering the circumstances we're all in, I think you're entitled. You should have heard the stuff I said to Sean that first day after changing... geez. I have no idea why he was so nice and put up with me, but he did say some very wise things. Ramble all you want little one, but remember that changing on the outside doesn't have to mean changing on the inside. When my hands turn into wings I'll probably lose the ability to do most of the things I love to do, but I'll still be me." Greer tapped Amaya lightly on the nose. "As long as Amaya Vaughan looks out at the world from those emerald eyes, no amount of scales can take anything away you want to keep. And with the power of a good bonfire I bet you could see the stars again." Amaya Vaughan Amaya listened in silence and smiled once Greer was finished. "Thanks... that makes a lot of sense." She looked up at her and smiled. Greer Cassenwari "Thanks, that's why I'm plagarizing it." She winked at the girl and gave her shoulders a squeeze. "So, are you sufficently cheered up for me to yell at you for climbing up and down cliff faces without safety equipment?" Amaya Vaughan A laugh escaped her lips as she pushed away with a mock glare. "Hey, what about you?" Amaya flexed her claws and toes with a grin. "I've got built in kleats now." Greer Cassenwari "As do I," Greer wiggled her taloned toes, "and they're damned sharp and make me very glad most of my legs are armored now. But claws or no, cliff climbing is very dangerous. As a pseudo-parental figure it is my job to worry over your physical safety. Even if you are very good at it." She attempted to look serious and chastizing. She was too cheerful to pull it off. Amaya Vaughan Not knowing what to really say, Amaya settled to sticking her large, iguana-like tounge out of her mouth at her before hiding it once more. "Sorry, this is just a nice place to hang out and think. The rocks are nice 'n warm too." Greer Cassenwari Greer sighed, not knowing enough about how to be forceful to be able to win the arguement. "Just be careful, okay? No unnecesarry risks." She ruffled the girl's hair again, grinning. "Lovely tongue." Amaya Vaughan "Yes m'am." Amaya nodded and kicked her feet slightly, frowning at mention of her tongue. "I hate it. It's big 'n yucky and I can taste emotions." That was only the second time she admitted to someone about her new ability. Greer Cassenwari Greer cocked her head, trying to puzzle through Amaya's pronouncement. When no answers came to mind she gave up and asked her question. "What do you mean you can taste emotions?" Amaya Vaughan "... I dunno." Amaya shrugged and looked up at her. "I can't explain it." She flicked out her tounge, trying to taste Greer's emotions. Greer Cassenwari The entomologist's mind raced, trying to solve this odd little puzzle. She knew next to nothing about lizards, but if she had to hazard a guess based on insects... "It might have something to do with pheremones and the like. Or more persiration meaning fear. Hmmm. Have you done any research?" Amaya Vaughan She shook her head quickly. "I saw a book on lizards in the entertainment center but I was too scared to pick it up." Amaya looked down, ashamed. Greer Cassenwari Sliding a feathered hand under Amaya's chin, Greer gently lifted the girl's gaze up to hers. "That's okay - I imagine not everyone is comforted by research the way I am. I'd recommend taking a look at it, though. Knowing what to expect can be a lot nicer than drowing in a million what ifs." Amaya Vaughan Amaya looked up at Greer and then down again. "I... guess so..." She frowned and fidgetted with her clawed hands. Greer Cassenwari Greer smiled. "You don't have to if you don't want to, it's only a suggestion." Brushing hair out of Amaya's face, she put on her best listener look. "Why does learning about your animal worry you so much?" Amaya Vaughan "... I dunno." Amaya shrugged, looking down at her lap. "It should'nt as much as it does, but I can't seem to even look at the cover of the lizard book because it scares me that that's what I'mma be one day?" It was more of a question the an answer as she looked back up at Greer. Greer Cassenwari Greer sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. It was bad enough fearing the loss of your humainty: she couldn't imagine also worrying about the type of creature she was turning into. "It might be, or it could just be the understandable fear of not being human anymore. Goodness knows that little thought's been giving me some nightmares lately." Amaya Vaughan "Yeah..." Amaya sighed and kicked her feet more, grabbing her comic and looking at the cover. "I guess I should look into it then..." Greer Cassenwari Greer chuckled at the comic book the girl held. "You don't have to, really. The upside to finding out what exactly you're turning into is learning the really neat stuff that goes along with the icky. There always is some." Amaya Vaughan "Yeah, I suposse so. I guess tasting emotions is kinda cool... and climbing is easier." Amaya smiled slightly and looked up at Greer. "Do you... know exactly what your turning into now?" Greer Cassenwari She nodded. "Yup. I'm on my way to becoming a Harris' or Bay-Winged Hawk. The only really social bird of prey as far as I know - the females are dominant and they live and hunt in packs like wolves. A fair trade for all this meat consumption, I think." Amaya Vaughan "Packs?" Amaya blinked in surprise. "I didn't think any birds lived in packs..." Greer Cassenwari "I don't think any other predatory birds do - non-predatory avians have their flocks, but that's more like a school of fish than a pack. I think it's rather nice." Greer smiled, absently playing with Amaya's hair. That was decidedly Sean's fault. Amaya Vaughan "Huh." Amaya blinked and looked ahead at the treetops, kicking her feet slightly. She didn't seem to mind or notice that her hair was being played with, but either way it didn't bother her at all. "Well, I guess turning into a lizard can't be... THAT bad... right?" Green gaze looked up at Greer for reassurance. Greer Cassenwari "Certainly not!" Greer smiled, giving Amaya a quick hug. "You're not becoming anything that eats anyone else, right?" Amaya Vaughan "No, I don't think so." Amaya blinked and frowned as something occured to her. "But what about you and the others? We won't start... eating each other, will we?!" Her eyes went wide in panic. Greer Cassenwari Seeing the girl's panic, Greer gave her a longer hug, shaking her head. "No, of course not! We're not becoming pure animals, after all. We'll still be us, and we'll still have control over what we sink our teeth in to." She concentrated on being soothing and assuring Amaya of things she wasn't really sure of herself. Amaya Vaughan Amaya returned the hug, trying to bury her head into Greer's chest to make the thought go away. She wanted desperatly to beleive her but didn't know if she could... I mean, she had cravings so everyone else must have had them. Greer Cassenwari Greer rested her chin lightly on Amaya's head, making soft soothing noises. "We'll all still be partially human, right? So not only will the our people bits reign us in from eating anyone else, other's people bits will make our animal bits not want to eat them. Few animals are true maneaters." Amaya Vaughan "Yeah..." Amaya nodded, mostly to reassure herself. "Okay. Your right." She sniffed back tears that had wanted to push through, but hadn't been able to. Greer Cassenwari Greer smiled into Amaya's hair. "This will all work out, I promise." Making that little vow stay true was going to take a lot of work. Amaya Vaughan Amaya nodded again and sat up, grabbing her comic and tucking it in the back of her belt like she had seen Julian do. "Well, I need to do. Gotta eat and then get some sleep." The sun was already starting to set, so she would probably have to take her meal to her room again. Greer Cassenwari Greer nodded and stood, offering a hand to help her companion up. "Sounds like a plan. Mind if I walk you back?" Amaya Vaughan Amaya took the offered hand and stood up. "Sure!" She grinned and started to climb down, her clawed fingers and toes gripping on the rocks as she scaled down backwards. Greer Cassenwari Greer frowned, watching her descend. "I meant walk back on the land route!" she shouted, having no intention of going down the cliff face. "Goof! I'll see you back at the village." Shaking her head, the hawk woman turned and trotted home through the woods. She wasn't read to tempt he luck on the heights quite yet. Amaya Vaughan Amaya laughed as she descended, landing on the ground once more with a short leap once she was close to the bottom before getting onto the trail in the jungle. "Sorry! It's faster that way and I love climbing." Ther renewed love for climbing didn't see too odd to her, she had loved to climb trees as a child.
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:28 pm
 Chuckling to herself as she finished off some jerky, Greer flipped the page of Emelyn's book for the third straight time in four days. She really needed to go see the author and trade this book in for another two or three, but ever since she'd seen Amaya a few days ago she'd had a hard time getting out of her room. She adored her adopted daughtery-girl, but speaking with her had just served to drive home how different she was from everyone else now. That and having to essentially console a second friend about her change had been suprisingly tough. What she really wanted was for Sean to randomly burst into her room and sweep her off to some cheerful place where she didn't have to think about all this and could just enjoy his company, but she sincerely doubted that would happen. She hadn't seen him around much lately, and besides, no one's timing could be that perfect two times in a row. Shaking her head to clear it, she attempted to continue her reading. Just lose yourself in the book... The story ended all too soon, and Greer was once again alone with her own thoughts. Her permament cheery spin on life seemed to have abandoned her, letting the darker feeling to seep in. Must be social interaction that kept her happy these days: it was like a drug. You were fine if you didn't use it, but once you started god help you if you stopped... No, damn it, that was a stupid thought. Of course she was glad she had friends and such now, no matter what the cost. But it was strange, thinking upset, bristley thoughts nearly every time she wasn't actively focusing on something else. Was it the hawk affecting her, she wondered? Is this what happened to a human mind as it was melded into that of a killer - to be able to end the life of another creature willingly did you need to resent your friends and the fact that the face in the mirror was no longer yours? Greer hissed angrily, shutting the book and tossing the jerky away as she stood to pace her small room. It hadn't felt this small when she'd first got here, but she couldn't make herself go outside when she thought people might see her. The hawk was getting upset by this, but she promised it she'd go out at night. Not that the diurnal beast was happy with that either, but that's all it was going to get. It wasn't as if she go cold at night anymore. Her metabolism was far too high for her to run anything but hot. Besides, she didn't resent her friends. She adored her friends. She did resent the doctor, though. If there was anyone she wouldn't feel guilty about sinking her talons into, it was him- Horrified she could even think that, Greer slipped on to her balcony and sat on the floor, curling into a ball in the corner to keep herself small and hard to see in case anyone was looking. ********. She was turning into a monster, and not just on the outside. Screw her previous assessment that her short time as an entomologist was worth this transformation - it wasn't. Nothing was worth becoming a killer. Flight was a wonderful thing, but couldn't she have turned into a nice bird? The hawk sniffed at her weakness, not sure it deserved her. Greer squeezed her eyes shut but wouldn't let the tears flow. That would be giving in.
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:33 pm
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:35 pm
Greer stood on her balcony in the early hours of the morning, watching the sky go pink from the morning sun. She needed to get out more, feathers or no feathers, but it was hard to make herself do it. There was an ache in her chest from being strong for her friends, from the tears she'd refused to cry the day Sean had taken care of her like she was a sick five year old. She didn't want to meet anyone else, didn't want to have to explain what had happened and that yes, it was all going to be okay. From what she knew from others she had a feeling she was dealing with depression, and was almost mad at herself for it. Sure, she deserved a little wallowing in self pity considering, but she didn't like it. She wanted to go out, see her friends, and get things done. Hadn't Emelyn praised her for not hiding in her room? Whatever would her author friend think of her now... Hissing at disgustedly at herself, she went back into her room, slamming the sliding glass door behind her. She'd never been so sad and angry at the same time, never wanted to break things before. Every time Greer looked at a piece of glass she wondered what it would feel like to slam her fist through it. God, what was wrong with her? She'd never had a want to cause violence before, let alone have such vivid thoughts of doing it. Was this the killer instinct of the hawk lashing out? Becoming internalized because she wouldn't take it out in the hunt? Glancing at the bed, Greer's train of thought derailed itself as she took in the outfit laid neatly out on top of her neat sheets. It was her dress, the sea goddess dress, that she'd sketched a picture of and then left on her desk. Her Halloween costume! They'd made it! Picking it up, she examined all the pieces, giggling at the horned headband and the nest of gills that sat on the rump. It was all very well made, and the dress top was an honest to god corset complete with laces and boning. Getting into it was going to be hell, but it was going to fit her like a glove. She noted that the shoes she'd sketched weren't there, but that was just as well since she'd been going barefoot nigh constantly anyway. The party was tonight, wasn't it? She grinned. In this dress she could get out and put on a brave face for her friends: make a few apologies for disappearing as well as enjoying herself. Just what she needed to get herself out of her funk. She hoped.
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 8:41 pm
..Halloween Partay pt.1.. Greer Cassenwari Greer approached the tent slowly, seriously regretting her choice of outfit design. The bloody skirt was shorter than she expected, and her attempt at a hairstyle kept getting in her eyes. She wanted a jacket. It was a good thing the weather was so warm, otherwise she would have been feeling both exposed and shivering. Mostly, she hoped Sean was there. He was the only one who was remotly going to get it. ((Outfit design: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v142/green_jewel/work/Greercostume.jpg )) The Dude XD The Dude took a mini quiche thing from Awen's plate that she was offering and put it into his mouth "Yeah ... these are good! So what are you for halloween?" - he stared curiously at teh blue hair. "An anime something or rather?" Then he turned around and saw Greer donning the show girl costume: "Whoo, girl!" - he waved at her from behind the towels. "Holly s**t!" Greer Cassenwari Resisting the urge to blush, Greer walked over to Sean. "Hey you! No attempt at costuming, hmmm?" The Dude XD The Dude pointed at the towels: "I do. I'm Towlie ... from South Park XD. But hey, compared to you this aint' a costume at all. WOW. Are you a show girl or something?" Greer Cassenwari Greer cocked her head, frowning. "South Park? What's that?" She'd never been a TV watcher. "Erm, no, not really. I'm a sea goddess." She turned around, showing the frilly long back skirt and the clump of gills perching on her rump. "See?" Emelyn The entrance of the couple caused a beam to light up across Emelyn's face, and she pushed her plate away from her as she nearly stumbled over her heels getting away from the table and towards the transformed two. "Dude! Greer!" She hurried, heels clicking, over to them. "I'm so glad you're here!" The Dude XD "Ah ... well, nevermind that, long story" - he pulled off the towels from his head and put it on the chair next to them. Circling around Greer, the Dude nodded appreciatively at the extrnal gills but still didn't get it: "Sea goddess ..." And then a little light bulb went on "OH. Oh, the red-tipped sea godess. OF COURSE! Oh man, this is, like AWESOME!" - he tugged on the gills then put his flipper around Greer's waist. Then Emelyn came into the picutre, clad in a cute little playboy number: "Hey Em." - he grinned at her, too. "I thought you were a hedghog, not a bunny?" - he teased. Greer Cassenwari She giggled at his reaction, leaning into him and reciprocating with a half-wing around his own midsection. "It was either this or the obvious choice of a bug." Turning at the sound of Emelyn's voice, she slid from smile to gape in three point two seconds. "Em! Hi! ...wow. You look great." Emelyn She raised an eyebrow and rested two cuffed hands on black-clad hips. "Everyone keeps saying that. However... note the ears." She flicked one of the brown felt curls. "Hedgehog ears." And she turned to show them the back of the costume. "And no fluffy bunny tail. I'm a playboy hedgehog." She turned to Greer, beaming. "Thanks! And you look fantastic. Did you make that yourself?" The Dude XD "Oh, my bad, playmate. Who's the Heff? Or are you a freelancing hedghog?" - the Dude winked at Em, entertained by all this. Greer Cassenwari "I designed it, but one of the island's employees must have made it. All I know is that I put the sketch up at the beginning of the month and this was on my bed this morning. If I'd made it the skirt would have been lower and the top a bit higher." Bah to seamstresses and their liberties! Smiling, Greer gestured approvingly at Em's outfit. "In any case, I think you have the Most Sexy Hedgehog Award nailed." Emelyn Emelyn was sure that two things were very evident to anyone in the tent: firstly, that her blush was a permanent fixture to this costume, and that Emelyn White... did not laugh softly. "Yes," she said, when her laughter died down, "because I have such a heavy competition in the sexy hedgehog category. Although I think we may have to duel it out in the just plain sexy category." She wrinkled her nose at the bird woman, noting that what the others had told her was true- Greer really had hit 50%. "And I'm ALWAYS 'freelancing'," Em said, raising her eyebrow sarcastically, "But I came with Ambrose, if that's what you're asking. ...Oh!" She'd almost forgotten. "Greer, I didn't know you were going to be here tonight, or I would have remembered! I have a gift for you!" The Dude XD "I dunno, Sea Goddess, I think the lengths are just right." - he shrugged nonchalantly. "And you came with Ambrose? Excellent!" - a Cheshire grin spread out on Dude's face. "Where is the dog, btw? And what have you all been up to here?" - he looked around for hte blue haired girl and the dark haired child he saw when he first entered. Where'd they go? Greer Cassenwari "Hey, if you can you have to dress sexy as a girl on halloween! It's practically the only time you can get away with it without too much censure." She smiled, rasising an eyebrow. "Present? Oh, speaking of stuff that would have been brough had we known the other would be here, I need to return the book I got from you - and run off with as many more as you'll let me. Fiction is great!" Greer snorted, poking the sea lion in the stomach. "You would." Emelyn "You liked my story?" Emelyn's eyes went wide, and joy burst from a small star that lived inside, where her dreams were stored. "Oh, now I'm so glad I got you a present! Well, not 'got'...made." She gushed. "I heard you grew wings, and figured that would make it insane to get a shirt on. So I cut a few tank tops up the sides, all the way from the bottom to the armholes- and then fixed snaps to either side, so you can put them on like a tunic, right over the wings, and then snap them in. ...I only made two, in case you didn't like them." She looked around for Ambrose, only to shrug at the towel-clad Dude. "I honestly have no idea. ...He snuck a grasshopper onto my plate, and then vanished." Emelyn "You liked my story?" Emelyn's eyes went wide, and joy burst from a small star that lived inside, where her dreams were stored. "Oh, now I'm so glad I got you a present! Well, not 'got'...made." She gushed. "I heard you grew wings, and figured that would make it insane to get a shirt on. So I cut a few tank tops up the sides, all the way from the bottom to the armholes- and then fixed snaps to either side, so you can put them on like a tunic, right over the wings, and then snap them in. ...I only made two, in case you didn't like them." She looked around for Ambrose, only to shrug at the towel-clad Dude. "I honestly have no idea. ...He snuck a grasshopper onto my plate, and then vanished." The Dude XD The two sexy ladies were clearly involved into conversations the Dude knew little about. Oh well. Too bad Ambrose split ... "He put a grasshopper on your plate? That's not smooth" - he grinned, then let the two ladies to talk and concentrated at the snack table Greer Cassenwari Greer squealed, leaving Sean to give Em a quick hug. "That's wonderful, thank you! You have no idea how long it takes me to get dressed in the morning. You're such a sweetie!" Emelyn "Oh, you're so welcome!" Em said, enjoying the strange, albeit brief sensation of being embraced by wings, before standing back and noting that the Dude had... mostly extricated himself from the conversation. She realized she was monopolozing the couples time, and decided to bow out. "Well, I'm sure I'll see you guys later tonight- but right now.. I think I have to go find the wolf." She winked, and waved as she clicked off on her heels. The Dude XD His mouth too proccupied by snacks at the moment, the Dude jsut waved good bye with a flippered hand and then folded it into a thumbs up sign when she mentioned Ambrose. Greer Cassenwari "Good luck pup hunting!" Greer waved to Emelyn and joined Sean by the snack table, giving him a speculative look. "Em and Ambrose, hmm? Been playing match maker?" The Dude XD "Me? Naaaah ... just put in a few obviously good words about wolfboy to Em. That's all. Didn't think anything woudl come of it, actually" - he grinned and poured himself and Greer a cup of punch. "Pretty empty here ..." Greer Cassenwari Greer rolled her eyes, trying not to shudder at some of the buglike snacks. "Suuure. You'll forgive me if I have a hard time imagining you as innocent." Accepting the punch, she glanced around the empty place speculatively, the hawk suggesting some sordid ideas. "Guess we'll just have to make our own party." She said lightly. The Dude XD The Dude smiled and toasted to Greer: "I think that at least Em is independant enough to not give a lick about what I was saying to her. And Ambrose, well, he just needs a hug really badly." "Guess so." - he walked over investigatively to the sound equipment. Greer Cassenwari "Oh hey, what have you been up to lately? Sorry I have been around, but I haven't really been keen on showing off my feathers." Glad to get away from the tramatizing snack table - those poor, innocent bug effigies! - she followed him towards the dance floor. "Dare I ask what you're doing?" The Dude XD "I've been diving around the island. The more I do it the better I get at it. It's a visious cycle." - he smiled at her softly: "I'm glad you not only showed off your feather todays but packaged him very spectacularly!" As they were talking he located the song he was looking for on the list and punched in the number. The raggae sounds of "Red Red Wine" began streaming form the speakers and the Dude grabbed Greer's hands "Wanna dance?" Greer Cassenwari Greer sighed dramatically. "Just wait until I get the full wings. I suspect they'll be good for bapping." Chuckling at the song choice, she began to sway a little to the beat. "I dunno - do you know how to dance?" The Dude XD "You be the judge" - he smiled and twirled her a bit dramatically, then went back to just, you know, dancing XD The sounds of UB40 were easy dance music, the reggae beat making it quite obvious when to move. The Dude danced a bit clumsily due to the extra long feet, but did a pretty good job to not step on Greer's feet As tehy were dancing, the Dude's eyes got somber: "What a bizarre place this is. Hedgehog playmates, hawk ladies, wolf men. And then this pretense for normalcy ... a Halloween party ..." Greer Cassenwari Giggling as she was twirled, she settled into the steps and followed his lead, sashaying her hips as her latin dance background dictated. Dancing was always more fun when you had someone you cared about to share it with. Especially if they didn't mind if you made a fool of yourself. "Bizarre, yes, but most of life is generally." Greer shrugged, always ready to point out the upsides of what was, for her, and overall positive occurance. "At least they're letting us have a chance to enjoy ourselves and not locking us in labs or cages." The Dude XD "Yeah. 'Supose so." - he twirled her again and as the music died down, another song started up. This time it was "Is This Love" by Bob Marley. The Dude didnt' put it on. Must have been some nice random glitch in the equipment. That or the place was haunted by music savvy ghosts. "Still, I'm used to not give a s**t. But the more people change the more it's wieghing down even on me. Because I can't forget how they all looked like when they were human ..." Greer Cassenwari Smiling at the new music choice, she chuckled to herself. Someone must have made a 'Dude' mix. Greer sucked in a breath, not overly happy to be talking this specific topic. "Oh. Well. Yeah, I guess that would be hard." She looked away, not sure what else she could trust herself to say. The Dude XD The Dude twirled and dipped Greer, except his eyes were not smiling: "That's why I've been in the sea so much." - he explained. "Pretty chicken of me." he nodded. The few final chords of Marely's guitar finished and it was silent in the tent again. Greer Cassenwari "Does my appearance bother you?" she asked in a small voice. The Dude XD He smiled at the her the best he could: "Well what kind of a question is that, grasshopper?" - the Dude petted the raven hair and then poked her nose ... beak. "It's like asking me 'Do I looke fat in this', ya know?" Greer Cassenwari She shrugged, retreating to the sound system to make a music choice. "I'm sorry, it's just, well, Emelyn is the first person who's seen me that I haven't had to console about my new look. Cheering other people up about me turning into a bird kind of wears on me, you know?" Glancing at the choices, she pressed the button for Johnny Cash's 'Man in Black' and returned to Sean's side. The Dude XD "Hey, I think I took it pretty well, considering" - he said quietly. "I made you smile back then. Who all told you it's so bad? Ambrose?" As "Man in Black" started to play, he presed her closer to him, trying to be mindfull of the feathers: "We don't have a Man in Black here ..." It was an interesting choice. What was she trying to say by that? Greer Cassenwari "You took it wonderfully. Had it been anyone else who first found me, I'd probably still be curled up and shaking on my bathroom floor." Resting her head on his chest, she sighed. "Of course Ambrose took it poorly. It's Ambrose. I love the boy, but there are days I want to smack him into reality." Shrugging, she swayed with Sean to the music. "True, but I just love this song." The Dude XD "Oh wow. Thanks." - he smiled. "That's a great compliment." He didn't add more about Ambrose. Greer was right. Ambrose was a boy. Maybe Em would be able to grow him up a little ... "I love this song, too. I know another Johnny Cash song that fits like a glove here. "I walk the line". Know that one?" - he petted the feathers on her head. "'S hard though ... walking the line and all. I thought I've seen it all but even for me the island starting to wear on." Ambrose Maurlias As if speaking his name summoned him, a blue-tabard-clad wolfman emerged from outside the tent, smoothing back his hair and looking around. Seeing Dude and Greer dancing he smiled and raised a hand in greeting, putting his hands in his pockets and strolling in, looking about to see who else was about - not wanting to cut in on them if they were... 'busy'. Judging from his mannerisms he seemed to be in a very good mood - and quite dashing in a full-blown musketeer outfit. Greer Cassenwari "Glad you like it." Smiling up at him, she nodded at his song suggestion. "That's also a good one, which we should definitely play after this one finishes. Cash is, as they say, the man." Turning her head, Greer caught sight of Ambrose and waved back. "Hey you!" she called out to him. The Dude XD Speak of the ... well ... wolf. Sean saw him walking in right away and saluted with his flipper. Man, everyone had super cool costumes ... He gave a sad glance to the set of towels laying on the chair. Woudl anyone get it or should he jsut stop bothering? For a few second the Dude wished for a nice dashing outfit, but it past fast. "Em's been looking for you, Aramis." - he smiled Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose's face split into a huge grin at the Dude's comment as he walked closer to the pair on the dancefloor, adding a bit of sway to his step as he did - hoping to kind of go with the beat. "You like it?" He asked, spreading his arms out to give him a better look at it. The costume DID seem to really fit him, both in design as well as cut. "I have to had it to them, at least they did a damn good job with the costumes." He cocked his head at the Dude's outfit. "What are you?" "And I Saw Emelyn just a little bit ago - but we've been enjoying mingling as well during the party." He looked at Greer's costume. "That's very pretty! I... some sort of devil...?" He asked, wincing, knowing that it couldn't be what it was meant to be." Emelyn Em saw Ambrose at several paces away- she'd been drifting over near the karaoke machine, debating whether or not she should sing... when she saw the dashing musketeer enter again, a confident look about him. She walked towards him slowly, letting each step look longer than the last as she kept her head up and smiled, hoping he'd notice her coming. Greer Cassenwari "Red Tipped Sea Goddess, actually. It's a type of sea cucumber, as well as an inside joke pretty much only Sean's going to get." She smiled and stepped away from her dance partner for a moment to show off the rest of the outfit. "Very squishy sea creature, don't you think? And you look wonderful, monsieur. As does your playhedgehog." Jamal_Reedy "God dammit!" Jamal stumbled into the party area as he tripped over the end of his costume and nearly went headlong into one of the supporting poles for the tent. Instead, he managed to grab wildy at a chair and stablized himself, saving himself much further embarrassment and a bloody nose. He pulled himself upright and quickly sent a glance around the gathering space, wondering if anyone had seen him. The black man was encased completely in a white sheet, which coincidently, matched those found on all beds in the duplex buildings. He'd ripped two lopsided tears at the top for eyeholes and a small one for a mouth. He might have been a somewhat decent ghost if he had decided to keep his jewelry under the sheet; instead it lay over top of the sheet, pulling down heavily on the top of the sheet at his shoulders. Also, he'd somehow managed to tie his do-rag over the sheet as well. So, instead of a plain white sheet ghost, Jamal had made a sick parody of one. He didn't think it was that bad of an idea...but perhaps the fact that he was just a little stoned when he put that costume on didn't help. The Dude XD The Dude pointed at the set of towels on one of the chairs: "Well I was Towlie but it's hard to dance in that. Ever seen South Park? And yeah ... red tipped sea godess ... and a prety one she is!" - he squished Greer and then turned her around: "Check out the stratigically placed gills!" Ssmiling at Emelyn when she arrived he then announced: "Well now we have a regular party going. As romantic as it is to dance with Greer in an empty room, this is a party. Glad to see both of you. " "And who the ******** is that .." - he pointed at the ghostly apparition. Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose grinned widely. "That's rather cute - I've never seen one of those... sea goddesses, but you certainly look like no squishy sea creature to me. I'm surprised you didn't choose an insect of some sort." Ambrose was rather surprised that an entomologist turning into a bird chose to dress as an anthropomorphized sea creature, but perhaps that was part of the irony. AMbrose beamed as Emelyn approached, waving her over. "Emelyn! There you are!" a mischivious look crossed his face. "Enjoy your snack plate?" He slipped his arm gently around her waist as she arrived, letting his eyes signal his appreaciation to her playing up the playhedgehog act without outright leering. "And it's wonderful to see you as well, Dude! There's music, dancing, good food, good people - and wonderful costumes.... but.. no... i've only caught a few episodes I'm embarrassed to admit. I don't recall a "Towlie"." He smiled apologetically. Turning to the door as the clinking metal sound came, he was surprised to note a third person attending that he had not yet met. While covered primarily in a sheet, the bling he was sure to have recognized before - as the dark skin. "Who's that?" Ambrose turned to the three people he was next to, assuming that he was the only one unacquainted with him. Emelyn Em narrowed her eyes at the sheet-clad figure, knowing who it was due to the 'accessories'. "Ah. That would be Jamal. He's my neighbor." She said to the assemblage, before turning and whispering to Ambrose, "And yes, I certainly found the little 'treat' you left me." She socked him lightly in the arm. "That's for that!" Then she looked back at the other couple pleasantly. "We should call him over- I'll introduce you. Although just so you know... he doesn't know about the transformations yet." Awen Zyn "Jamal!" Awen grinned and jumped from ehr seat across the tent. She had disappeared back there when the Dude had turned his attention to Greer when she entered. Awen had been quietly sitting observing the scene.
Awen set down her plate of almost-gone goodies and strode over to him giggling. "Nice costume!" She hadn't really expected him to make a costume for the party but thought he wouldn't have one as she did. "Got my note then? I almost thought you weren't going to show." Greer Cassenwari Rolling her eyes at her butt decoration being shown off, she slipped out of Sean's grasp and back under his arm. "Dork. I'm glad you like my recreation of a nudibranch, but geez!" "Doesn't know?" Greer frowned at Emelyn, snuggling closer to her sea lion to hide a shudder. "This is going to be bad." Jamal_Reedy Jamal shifted his sheet around so most of the extra was trailing behind him instead of in front whilst taking a look around, then paused as he saw several pairs of eyes focused on him. "Ain't you never seen a ********' ghost b'fo?" he questioned loudly, though it was mostly directed at Emelyn (at least in his mind) because he knew her. His tone was light, with a hint of amusement and mock-severity. Any odd animalistic qualities he saw were automatically attributed to Halloween. However, his attention diverted as Awen called his name. He nodded to her. "What up, shorty. Yeah, I got ya note...I didn't have no idea this was goin' on." If he could have preened, he would have. "I made this b***h ma self." Awen Zyn Awen grinned a little. "Well it's better than my costume anyway!" She shrugged a little bit as she had none at all. She giggled a bit. "Classic but with your own.... flare, huh?" She giggled and tapped his 'bling' at the word flare.
She wondered if Jamal would actually taek to noticing the changes in other people... or if he would dismiss it as Halloween things. That was after all one of the reasons she slipped him the note in the first place. Ambrose Maurlias "Your neighbor?" Ambrose asked, chewing on his lip at the bad news. "Even after speaking to you and apparently the blue-haired girl who seemed to be rather in the know?" He scratched the back of his head. "Well... it IS Halloween. It may not even come up if we don't want to worry about the shock factor during a party." He grinned at Emelyn's punch. "Well I couldn't resist. There is a whole bowlful on the table - not that I have the desire to try one, mind you." He winked. "Besides, that was the trick. The treat is still to come." Ambrose waggled his eyebrows at her teasingly. Ambrose smiled awkwardly and raised his hand to the newcomer's defensive retort. The Dude XD The Dude put his flipper protectively around Greer and puffed up a little since he was supposed to be protecting her now from the newcomer. "We'll just say it's costumes for now, okey, hon? IF he even asks. Don't worry." - he patted he ont eh sholder. Waving at Jamal and Amaya, he grinned: "'Sssup, bro! You ghost's all gangsta even in after life ... I'm the Dude, and this lovely lady here is Greer. Nice to meetchya. Come join us, both of you." Emelyn "He's in denial, I think. I was the first person he saw, and he still doesn't believe anything's up," Em whispered to Ambrose. "And a treat, huh?" She grinned. "I hope it's a nice one." Jamal_Reedy Jamal laughed a bit. "Yeah, got a little Jamal flava...I ain't yo average ghost." He clumsily tried to shift the eyehole into a better position while looking back at the group. "What up," he said, maybe a little stiffly, to the blonde haired man. "Da name be Jamal. Yous got a diff'rent kinda name...Ain't heard no one called Dude b'fo." Greer Cassenwari Taking a deep breath, Greer stood up straighter and squared her shoulders, trying not to lean on Sean for strength so blatantly. Nodding to Em's neighbor, she smiled. "Hello! It's nice to meet you." Glancing at the sound system, she nudged her 'protector' with her hip. "Should we put on some more music?" Emerwyn Emerwyn finally steeled herself up to come to the Halloween "Bash." She found the whole thing overall out of place, and really didn't want to go. But, seeing as she had requested a costume (which she never tried on til this night) and she needed somewhere to go to get her mind off of Ian, here she came. The room was bustling with activity. Almost everyone she knew, and then some, were there. She all of a sudden felt self-concious about her costume, as she did when she first got her new, more revealing clothes. She was dressed as a Dryad, a tree nymph. She had fake bark covers on her upper legs and arms, and part of her torso. Her top was a green and brown corset piece with "leaves" along the top, covering her chest. She was wearing a very small green "leaf" skirt, with brown stockings, which cut off at the ankle. Her feet were bare. She had heavy green make-up around her eyes, and actually took off her glasses. Leaves were in her hair, as well as green highlights. A flower choker wrapped itself delicately about her neck. Overall, she was very impressed with the costume, and that's why she actually got up the nerve to wear it. When she walked in, she immediately began drifting towards the drinks. She figured she'd wait for someone to talk to her. Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose smiled politely to the newcomer, Jamal he said, through the thick ... ebonic... accent. "Nice to meet you, Jamal. Emelyn said she'd previously met your aquaintance." Ambrose tipped his feathered hat politely with a smile. "And I like the ghost costume. Good job making do with the short notice - you arrived after the formal invitations I presume?" Given he hadn't changed yet... and the invitations went out a few weeks ago. Ambrose looked up as yet another Islander arrived - Emerwyn - one of the women he had only met briefly - and by the looks of it had already begun her change- though he didn't notice it immediately through the leaves of her very interesting plant-themed costume. Awen Zyn Awen grinned up at the tall man. She looked back to the group and her smile softened. she was actually feeling out of place now that she was the only one without a real costume. But she ignored that awkward, not fitting in, feeling and just went with the party.
She glanced over and saw Emerwyn enter the party she smiled a little to her but made no formal greeting. She wasn't sure what to say to her after the awkward parting last time... Soon she just turned her attention back to Jamal and the other group. The Dude XD The Dude smiled: "Really? Well, that's what everyone's calling me, though, Jamal. Hold on, lady's calling." He turned to the sound system and put on "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley "Sorry, babe, last Marely song, I swear. Don't worry about a thing ..." - he took her hand and dragged Greer off to dance. Greer Cassenwari Waving to Emerwyn and chuckling, she let herself be pulled into a dance. "You can't not like Bob Marley, but after this I want a fast song. Girl's got to stretch her legs, you know?" And show off her skills. The hawk whispered. Jamal_Reedy Jamal more or less started at Ambrose, even if he didn't really mean to outright. "Uh...yeah," he said, stumbling through Ambrose's 'extensive' use of vocabulary, not having a real strong idea of what was just said. "I knows Em. Lives upstairs. And no one sent me a note 'bout this party...found out from Awen." He nodded to the blue hair girl and poked her seeing a slightly less cheerful look on it than was there previously.
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 8:44 pm
..Halloween Partay pt.2.. Awen Zyn She jumped a bit feeling Jamal poke her, she chuckled softly and poked him back. She looked over to Ambrose and nodded a little bit. "Well I figured that he didn't get an invitation because I hadn't either. I just sent him a note incase no one else told him about it... I kinda... wanted him to meet the... islanders that have been around longer...ya know?" Hinting at the obvious without actually saying it. She didn't really want to push something on Jamal again, because he might get annoyed instead of just thinking she's trippin. The Dude XD "I love Bob Marley. I'm glad they have him here. Been missing him badly ..." "Fast song? Erm ... I gotta wanr you here, sea goddess, that I canot salsa. I can swing. But not salsa. Well I can try. But you'll have to do the booty shaking bit. I'll just twirl you around for hte boys, eh" - he kissed her on the forehead. "And you know what, I think we might want to split up for a bit and get everyone else dancing. You go for Ambrose, i go for the blue head. How does that sound?" Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose smiled encouragingly to the two as they took off dancing. Things were actually starting to feel better around here - the obvious overshadowing problems aside. At least he could safely say that he felt happy for his two friends as opposed to jealos. "Well, I'm glad you could make it to the party, Jamal" Ambrose smiled. "And you too, Awen - I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting either of you before tonight. Ambrose turned to the concessions table and picked up a plate, putting a couple of the small finger sandwiches on it, munching on one of them as his date had wandered off and wasn't around to share a dance with. "Have you tried some of this? It's quite tasty." Ambrose smiled. "Though I fear they may have gone a bit excessive in the Halloween-themed food.... I'm not sure if the bugs there are supposed to be a joke... or not." Or perhaps a jab at some of their changing appetites. "Regardless, I have heard that some people in other countries eat them" He gave a grimace at the thought. "But I haven't exactly tried them myself..." Greer Cassenwari Smiling, she nodded. "Flip on the Gypsy Kings and it's a deal. Not that I mind dancing circles around you." Winking, she left him and swirled over to the musketeer, linking an arm through one of his. "Hey, Emer, mind if I steal the pup for a dance or two?" Jamal_Reedy The black man eyed the insect-laden table with a great deal of apprehension, his nose wrinkling underneath the sheet as he approached the table to peer at the rest of the food. "I sure be hopin' no one gonna eat those. Where I come from, we stomp da s**t outta them things...not serve 'em up in a damn bowl." He prodded one of the finger sandwiches, expecting to see a leg pop out of one of them. Emerwyn Emerwyn smiled at Ambrose. She remembered him. He hadn't changed. He was quite a gentleman. She took one of the finger sandwiches tentatively. "I don't know. All I've been able to eat lately is salad." She laughed at the bugs comment. "It wouldn't surprise me." Emerwyn saw Greer approach. She looked very different. It seemed she was even farther along in her transformation than anyone else. She wasn't shocked or surprised at all; she had gotten too used to all of this. "No, not at all. He's all yours." The Dude XD "Sure grasshopper." - he walked to the sound system to punch in three Gypsy Kings songs in. Then he walked up to Jamal and Awen and smiled at the blue haired girl: "You wanna try this dancing thing? Dont' worry, I'll lead. Want to try?" - he asked nonchalantly. Awen Zyn She laughed at Jamal and Ambrose's reactions to the ants. "They really aren't that bad boys!" She proclaimed and grabbed one from the bowl. She held it up. "It's chocolate after all, right?" She popped it in her mouth a chewed. Take that for bravery Jamal, she grinned.
"I can't believe you two big strong men are afraid of a little chocolate covered ant." Her eyes flashed to Jamal letting him know this is yet another time she was showing him up and she knew it.
She pointed to the jello. "But if you want something safe the jelloy stuff is great." Grabbing another glass of punch she sat back waiting for Jamal to be done. She was going to be nothing but skin and punch if she kept this up....
She blinked a little bit when The Dude approched her and asked to dance. "Well.... I..." She hesitated another minute and glanced briefly up to Jamal. "Sssure....why not? But..uh... I can't really dance at all...so..yeah..." Ambrose Maurlias In the food's defense, the only insects were limited to a single bowl, and while many of the other treats looked appropriately 'spooky' - none of the rest contained anything questionable. Ambrose smiled to Greer, giving her a full bow, removing his hat. "It would do me pleasure, milady." Turning back to the rest of the group. "You will have to pardon me for a few moments, friends. But fear not, I shall return." He grinned and took Greer's hand. "Althought, I must maintain, I am no 'pup'." He stuck his tongue out. "I have already begun the journey into my second decade." He laughed, eating up the 'persona' of his costume. Ambrose smiled to Greer as they stepped out onto the dancefloor, his movements carrying the grace of many years of combative fencing - trained to watch a partner or opponent's movements and respond accordingly. The Spanish music with the quick beat reflected in the quick steps. "I'm glad to see you doing so well, Greer. You two seem quite happy." He smiled, stepping in time. Jamal_Reedy "Uh uh, shorty. Jamal ain't skerd of no bugs. Get dat straight," he said with attitude, moving his hand away from the sandwich that be poked and leaving it there. Seems he wasn't big on manners. Or big on the musical choice. A groan and a expression of dismay were both muffled accordingly by his costume as the latinesque music started to blare. "...what kinda party be this anyway?" He glanced around the room again, looking for something he might have missed. All the parties he'd been to had....other...sorts of festive qualities that this one was sorely lacking. Greer Cassenwari Laughing, she shook her head. "D'Artagnan was young too, as I recall. Pup is only an insult if you want it to be." Moving into a slower version of the salsa so Ambrose could keep up, she took a moment to not think and just enjoy the music. "Thanks, but my good cheer can pretty much be chalked up to Sean being here. Prior to today I've been a bit of a recluse in hopes I wouldn't have to meet any new people. Self pity is a terrible thing." Getting into the dance and moving faster, she grinned at her partner, starting to tease him. "You seem to be doing well yourself - got a girlfriend and everything." The Dude XD "Ah, but here in lies the beauty of dancing with me. I know how, more or less. So you just follow my hands. And it'll be fun, I promise." He took her hands into his flippers and did an easy spin. A very easy spin, where the girl just, kinda, folows along. It worked out quite well. "Seee ... easy!" - the Dude grinned Awen Zyn She laughed a little bit as she was spun. "Easy...." She smiled a bit. She was a little hesitant but looked closely at his flipper. She hopped that she wasn't going to get these...
She stopped and looked over to Jamal. "It's jsut a classic party ya know? And I was only kidding about being afraid of ants.... afraid of a little shorty, maybe, but ants? Naw.... Hey you don't mind if I...take off a big with uuhh...Dude here do you? I'll be right back I promise?"
She was worried at leaving Jamal alone, though he was older and much bigger she felt like she had him under her wing as far as island stuff goes and she'd rather not make him feel left out either... Jamal_Reedy He went back to browsing the table, picking through things here and there and taking what looked to be safe onto a plate. Despite his distrust of the food, his plate grew overburdened rather quickly. Now he just needed a drink. When he spotted the alcohol, his eyes lit up. Bingo. At the mention of Awen going off to dance, he shrugged. "Go 'head. I ain't minding none." Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose followed her steps - he had had enough dancing experiences between high school and college socials and parties. Between that and his footwork from fencing he was reasonably competent - but didn't have anything all that special incorporated into it. "And I suppose that 'Pup' will suffice." He said with an overexaggerated musing. "D'Artagnan was a man by the standards of the time - albeit a young one." He smiled back. "And you have nothing to feel bad for, Greer." He said with a firmness to his voice. "You are a lovely young lady, and have a wonderful boyfriend yourself." He gave a bit of a self-conscious shrug himself as he did a spin to a crecendo in the Gipsy Kings' rendition of Hotel California. "Emelyn is a wonderful girl - she and I really got to talking the other night." Greer Cassenwari Greer giggled. She had a boyfriend! God, was she fourteen? "Em is wonderful! Writes like a dream." Twirling, she accidently swung into Ambrose, blinking as they were suddenly chest to chest. "Oops! Um, sorry." The Dude XD "Easy as pie." - he nodded and dragged Awen off to the dance floor to join Greer. Man, Greer was really shaking those gills. Hey, better view form here anyway. The Dude was spinning Awen carefully for the most part of the dance, b/c it was the most fun part of dancing anyway, but when they didnt' spin, he had a conversation going: "So Awen, why is your hair blue?" Ambrose Maurlias The music was really flowing through Ambrose, and he was becoming more alive on the dancefloor. A wild smile was on his mouth, ireverently displaying his pronounced 'fangs'. "And you dance marvelously!" He laughed as she spun into him, only half-teasing. She really was doing well up to that point. "But I have yet the honor to read her stories, unfortunately" Ambrose confided. Awen Zyn Awen was grinning ear to ear. With The Dude leading this really wasn't too hard. Though she did...step on his toe every now and then, not that it would hurt much if at all.
Shrugged a little bit at his question. "I don't know. Because the chemicals in the work a certain way when you apply it to your hair it dyes it?" She wiped the stupid smile off her face at her lame attempt at a joke. "Well, see... I don't really know." She laughed. "That sounds stupid but... yeah. I was in like grade eight and saw a box of blue dye on the shelf at Shoppers... I bought it and dyed my hair and kept dying it blue ever since. I just.. like it I guess?" Jamal_Reedy Jamal wandered over to a table with his food and booze, plopped in the nearest seat, and kicked his feet up on the table while beginning to chow down. He tried at first to shove it through the mouth hole in the sheet, but all he managed to do was to make a huge mess. With each try, he grew more frustrated until finally he threw the sheet up over his head, drapping it like a hood, and ate partially uncovered. Greer Cassenwari Grinning, she dipped her head at the compliment and started swaying to the music again a few moments before stepping back and and continuing to dance. Blame it on the hawk. Switching back to the safe topic of Ambrose's girlfriend. "It's great! I've never really read fiction before, and after one book I think I'm a devoted fan." The Dude XD The Dude smiled: "Fair enough, Awen. It looks nice!" - he sent her for another spin. "So how'd you end up on the island? And how do you and Jamal know each other?" From the corner of his eye the Dude noticed Jamal's move and decided to come hang out with the black brother once he's done with this song. Greer seemed to be twirling happily with Ambrose and the Dude liked to socialize. Esp if he could chalk off his flippers on Halloween for today. The Dude was not the fan of the inevitable "Welcome to the Zoo" speech. Ambrose Maurlias "Never read fiction before??" Ambrose asked with mock-scandal in his voice. "Well, admittedly, I didn't read for pleasure much until Angelina gave me some 'reading assignments' - though when I did I found I did quite enjoy them. Many of them were subjects that I had never really explored much before meeting her - things that caught my interest that I was always too embarrassed to properly explore." He chuckled awkwardly. The song was wrapping, and as it did, he took her gently by the hips and twirled her with a dashing smile. Awen Zyn She faltered a little bit. "I came to the island for therapy..." Her hands gave a nervous twitch against the Dude's flippers. "Hydrophobe...." She said softly.
She didn't really want to get on that subject right now so she just went on with the second question. "Oh I met him in the gameroom while back.... and..." She was going to say how she had saved him from the jungle because he was lost..but decided against it. "met up with him in the jungle later. I... told him about the ...experiments but he.. thought I was trippin." She sighed a bit.
Speaking of trippin..... Awen tripped over the Dude's feet and this time didn't stop herself. Her hands slipped out of the Dude's flippers and she ended up face first on the floor.
..."Ow..." Jamal_Reedy As they all danced, Jamal sipped his beer and observed. Not only could they not choose good music, but they also couldn't dance. He wasn't sure which was worse. Greer Cassenwari " 'Too embarassed to properly explore' hmm? Dare I ask what that means?" Smiling back at Ambrose, she laced her arms around his neck and followed him through the last chords of the song. He really was a cutie... Gah! Damn hawk. The Dude XD Hydrophobe ... the Dude pondered that whispered confession. Hydro meant water, phobia, as far as he understood, meant fear. But being afraid of water? That didn't compute in the Dude's mind. How can one be afraid of water. He must have misheard what hse whispered. So preoccupied was he with thinking about it that he didn't pay atteniont and let his charge clip "Oh s**t!. Sorry, sorry ... sorry man" - he bent over and helped her up, looking totally mortified for such a finsih to the song. He looked like an a**, while Ambrose had finished his dance with a smooth little spin ... "Very sorry ..." - he said one more time, sounding resigned Awen Zyn She slowly got up. "It's...okay my fault my fault." She gave a little embarrassed smile. "But that's enoguh dancing for me I think.... th-thanks for the dance." She bowed her head a little bit and ducked away. She flopped down beside Jamal and sighed. "You know I think someone up there just hates me man..."
She glanced over at the Kareoke machine and jumped up. "OH!" She had just thought of something. She rushed over and flipepd through the list. "Does anyone mind if I....?" Jamal_Reedy Jamal pulled his feet from the table and gave Awen a sympathetic shake of his head. "I saw dat...you a'ight? That dancin' s**t you guys do is dangerous. Too much twirlin' and s**t," he chided, sliding her his plate that had a cookie of some sort on it that she could have if she wanted it. "Crazy white people." He winked as he said the last comment, hoping to make it look like he was just messing with her. He didn't really mean to offend her. Ambrose Maurlias "Oh!" Ambrose's face flushed. "Nothing like that! Just... science fiction, fantasy... Harry Potter... that kind of thing" He said laughing. "And you are quite the dancer, Greer - seriously! Even when not drunk!" He joked. "Care for another, or should I return you to The Dude before he breaks his neck over there." He winked teasingly. The Dude XD The Dude grinned at Jamal and jocked: "Who you calling white?" - there was an overly wide grin there. One could say that he might have waited half his life time to pull a line like this on a black guy. "What, if it doesn't have word Ho in it, it's not music" - he grinned. Awen Zyn Awen heard the comment which the dude spouted to Jamal and frowned a little in worry. Quickly to draw attention away she tapped the microphone to the kareoke machine. "Um... yeah I guess this is on."
She shifted her weight a little bit looknig to the people there with an embarrassed little smile. "I don't really know how good I am.. but in the mood to uh... sing something. I don't know why but this song sort of popped into my head and well uh... yeah...."
She looked back to the machine and fumbled a little bit. "Okay so I do...um..this button?" The music of her song "Poison- The cover version by Groove Coverage" started quite suddenly and rather loudly. She yelped a bit and jumped back to the mic. "Well I guess it was that button." She laughed slightly....
She started the song her voice seemed nice...if a little shakey...
(I wanna love you but I,but I better not)
Poison
(I wanna love you but I,but I better not)
Poison
Your cruel device
your blood, like ice
One look, could kill
My pain, your thrill...
She started picking up and seeming more confident now. Taking the mic off the stand she started to get into the song now...
I wanna love you but I better not touch
I wanna hold you, but my senses tell me to stop
I wanna kiss you but I want it too much
I wanna taste you but your lips are venomous poison
Your poison running through my veins
Your poison
I don't wanna break these chains
(I wanna love you but I,but I better not)
Poison
Awen was by this point moving and grooving to the beat and even gave a little wink in Jamal's general direction, though with the people around who knew who it was too....
Your mouth, so hot
Your web, I'm caught
Your skin, so wet
Black lace, on sweat
I hear you calling and it's needles and pins
I wanna hurt you just to hear you screaming my name
Don't wanna touch you but you're under my skin
I wanna taste you but your lips are venomous poison
Your poison running through my veins
Your poison
I don't wanna break these chains
She set the mic back on it's stand blushing profusely. She shakily wandered back down and took the cookie Jamal had offered earlier going back and nibbling on it silently.
what had gotten into her? Jamal_Reedy Jamal's brow quirked as the Dude more or less interrupted the conversation he was having with Awen but flashed him a smooth smile and shrugged. "It ain't gotta have ho no where in it to be good. Need something wit' a ********' beat. Something ya can feel in ya' chest." He glanced up as the music cranked on and sat back, wondering what Awen was going to sing. He'd never heard it before...that he remembered anyway, but the lyric alone were enough to catch his attention. How...seductive. The black man was faintly amused watching her sing and he caught the wink. Ambrose Maurlias "Agreed!" Ambrose concurred, strolling with Greer over to the refreshments table, picking up one of the paper cups and ladling Greer some of the Witch's brew before making himself one of the glasses. He quirked an eyebrow at the 'both' comments, but brushed it off, assuming that she was referring more to friendships than anything else. "We are becoming quite a close-knit little 'family' here" He smiled. Ambrose looked up as Awen began singing, respectfully watching with a smile. "Nice work, Awen!" He called to her when she finished, clapping. Greer Cassenwari "That we are." She sipped her punch, inordinately glad he'd ignored her little comment. "It seems I've officially adopted Amaya as the daughter I never intended to have." Toasting Awen with her cup, she nudged Ambrose with an elbow. "Who's the girl who just sang?" Awen Zyn Awen took a long swig of her punch still blushing. She finished the cookie off and giggled a little bit. She honestly didn't know what had gotten into her at all on stage but she smiled faintly to Jamal but when she got eye contact shelooked away blushing some more.
She wondered vaguely if someone had spiked the punch when she wasn't looking or if she was just on a natural buzz or.... maybe she was trippin? She snickered at the thought. Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose spluttered a little around his drink. "Daughter? Really? Here you go making me feel young again. She's adopted me as an older brother." Despite the age-related comments, however, Ambrose seemed proud of this. "I've never had a younger sibling before, actually - though if I did, I'm sure that he or she wouldn't be half as nice as Amaya is. She's a good kid - and I feel bad for her being here. But I'll try to look after her as best I can." He nodded to stage, gesturing with his cup. "That's Awen... and that's about the extent that I know about her - I only met her here tonight. But at least, unlike that Jamal fellow, she's aware of everything." "So are you going to perform for us tonight, Greer?" Ambrose asked with a devilish grin. Jamal_Reedy Jamal chuckled mentally, playing cool and casual while Awen lit up like a damn christmas tree, and took another gulp from his beer. "Yous neva told me ya could sing," he said nonchalantly, though a small smirk peeked at the corners of his mouth. "And what a song..ain't heard it before. You lookin' a little heated up." It was fair enough to say his interest was perked at this point...not that he minded. If things were headed where he thought they were, he wouldn't mind maybe taking advantage of it. Greer Cassenwari "You have, huh? Does than mean I'm your mum too? Can I yell at you to clean your room and punish you if you do stuff I don't like?" Greer nudged him with her hip, sipping more of her drink as she teased him. "Sorry lovely, but I pretty much only perform for Sean now. If you want me to do another public table dance you're going to have to give me a really good reason to." Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose snorted "So why am I her brother and you her mother? Shouldn't you be more like her older sister? I'm not that much younger than you are." He sniffed playfully. "Besides" He said, poking her in the ribs "I think it would be more likely that I suggest that you clean YOUR room." "Besides. I meant the karaoke." He said, nodding to the now vacant stage. He glanced over again at the newcomers. "Seems like there may be even more budding romances on the horizon" He smiled. Greer Cassenwari Greer rolled her eyes at him. "It isn't just chronological time - I think she thinks I'm much more mature than you. Or something." About to say something snarky about the room cleaning suggestion, a huge yawn nearly dislocated her jaw. Wow! She hadn't realized how tired she was. Shaking her head, she gave Ambrose a hug, wishing she could also give him a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry cutie, but I seem to need to go get some sleep. Good night!" Waving goodbye to Ambrose and the others, she trotted home, looking forward to releasing herself from the confines of her corset. Pity Sean couldn't come along.
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 9:07 am
The Dude The Dude had run up the stairs to Duplex #4. The ligth was on in the little side window and he assumed that meant Greer was home. Carefully he knocked on the door: "Hey Greer ... you there?" - his voice was asked. Greer Greer was standing on her balcony, watching the sky again. She'd lost track of time, just staring at the vault above her as it changed and flowed. Blinking, it took her a moment to remember to think. "What? Yes, I'm here. The door is open!" she called over her shoulder. The Dude The Dude walked in and closed the door behind him, proceeding to the small balcony in the back. He did his best not to step on anything in the darkness and finally stepped out into the moonlight: "Look at you, grasshopper ... " - he said, with warmth in his voice. "Moonstruck?" Greer Smiling up at him, she shrugged. "I guess. How are you?" The Dude "I was looking for you ... you okey? You kinda vanished..." - he put his arm around her and pulled her to his side. Yeah ... it was pretty romantic out here, in the moonlight, surrounded by the jungle sounds and smells of strange flowers. Greer She sighed happily, leaning into him. "Yeah, just... I don't know. I've been thinking too much lately. Makes me scared and grumpy." The Dude "Me too. I have been thinking way too much. It makes me angry and depressed." - he brushed her feathers with his flippered hand. And then, in a very un-charachteristic gesture, he buried his face in her hair. What lovely dark hair it was, too. "But I think you are beautiful. Never worry about that." Greer Greer closed her eyes, relaxing under his touch. "Thank you... I don't quite know why, but I needed to hear that." The Dude "You are very very beautiful." - he repeated and then leaned against the wall of the duplex, pulling her along with him. "I wish I could take you away form this accursed island and meet your Mom and all that jazz. I hate Moreau for this." It was so hard to explain properly what was on his mind and NOT hurt the grasshoppers feelings. That he would never want to do. Greer Wrapping her arms around his waist, she took a moment just to soak in his warmth before speaking. "I know. You're not happy here. I understand." And she did, really. She understood why everyone was unhappy here, being more confused by her own acceptance more than anything. It would be pure huberis to think she could distract Sean from the horrors of losing his life and becoming an experiment for some mad man. Still, she found his words caused an odd, hollow ache in her chest. The Dude "I'd be plenty happy if it were just me ..." - he explained. C'mon, suck it up and be a man. "But don't worry. It'll all work out, right? it always does ... " he swallowed a lot fo things he wanted to talk about now. He's only whine. That'd be no good. Greer Greer frowned and pushed away from him, just enough so she could look up and see his face. "If it were just you? It'll work out? What are you talking about?" The Dude "I don't care if i turn into a sea lion. I love the ocean. I love being part of it. But watching you change into something that is not you ... it's hard." - he said honestly to her. "I didn't realize what it would do to me until your last injections. Then I imagined what the future held. And it's hard to accept. I like you because you are Greer. But ... soon you'll be a bird. I know you will still be Greer inside ... I know it quite well. But outside, you will be a hawk, with hawk's eyes. And I think I am being too honest with you for my own good" - he tried to smile. "And whiney." With that, he put his flippered hand against her face and brushed her cheek with his thumb. Greer She smiled up at him, continually suprised another human being could be so concerned about her welfare. "I... I'm okay, really. What's scaring me these days is the fear of how people will react to how I look now, and if there's one thing I'm used to it's worrying over social stuff. I've never been a bird person, but there are worse things I could be. And besides," she gave him a squeeze, "becoming a hawk helped me meet you." The Dude "Always look on the bright side of life ..." - he whistled, getting ahold of himself. Stupid moon, stupid emotions. "I am afraid that it'll get harder and harder for us to to persuade our human minds that the animal faces we see are still human inside. I wonder how deep this change will go ... because you see, most animals cannot express emotions the way humans can ..." Greer She cocked her head, confused. Was this the same man who had given her the 'you'll always be you' pep talk that first day after her change? "True, but, well, the pack animals will still want social bonds, right? I know Harris' Hawks have packs... do sea lions?" The Dude "I am not talking about packs and animals being solitary and what not. But can animals smiles? Can they laugh? Will we be able to? When my face becomes that of a sea lion, will you still find it interesting to looks at? Or will it be like you are embracing a dog?" - he explained. there was confusion in her eyes and he was praying that she wasn't taking it the wrong way. He liked her, he still like her, despite the beak and feathers and what not. Well, he didn't like the beak, but Greer's dark eyes made up for it. That is why the Dude was so worried as to what would happen when those eyes, too would be gone... Greer Greer smiled sadly, wishing she had her mouth back again for a moment so she could kiss him and make his worries go away. Working with what she could do, she released his waist, wrapping her arms around his neck instead and standing on her tiptoes to get as close to eye-to-eye with him as she could manage. "We're not becoming entirely animals as I understand it, so yes, I think we'll still be able to laugh and smile. And honestly, I think you're more handsome now than when I first met you, so I sincerely doubt more sealion-ness will be that much of a problem. I really like you, Sean. A greater ability to swim isn't going to change that. I'm willing to try and make the bird/lives with fish thing work if you are." Tilting her head carefully, she gave him a light kiss on the nose with what lips she had left, moving slowly to avoid catching him with the sharp beak. The Dude "WOW. You make a guy into a believer." - he joked, relaxed and happy now. Somehow he need to hear that. From her. Everything is gong to be alright. It was, after all, okey to let go. To care. To not be afraid to loose someone who weaseled her way under his security blanket. "You are awesome." And with that he kissed her back on her lower lip. He was not as careful about the beak, because he was not aware how sharp it was. As the result the Dude scratched his nose, but not like he cared. Greer She laughed softly, leaning back. Even worried he was a sweetheart. "I do what I can. Thank you for worrying over me." The Dude "I still wish I could take you away from here. The ocean is so deep and wide, one can forget there that one is trapped. So half the time I live under that illusion ..." - he said quietly. "Pretty grasshopper. You've had such a hard time ... I am sorry." Greer She shrugged, suprised her calves weren't aching yet from all the standing on tiptoe. Was that a bird thing? "We're all having hard times in our own way, and I do have you, Ambrose, Amaya, Em, and the rest to keep me company. If anyone should be apologizing it's me, since I've been spending so much time hiding in my room for fear of having to explain to anyone else why I have a beak on my face. With all the time I've been spending staring at the sky, I completely understand your need to be swallowed by the Big Blue." The Dude "Is the sky calling you?" - he wondered. Greer "It might be. And the hawk bit could just be getting really fed up with how much time I spend indoors." She wanted to give him a more concrete answer, but didn't really have one. She'd always liked the outdoors before, but lately had been craning her neck to look up so much it had started to hurt. The Dude "I can't bring myself to come to my duplex half the time. I'd rather stay on the beach ... so I understand what you feel. Maybe we should look for a better place for you to live." - he just wanted to be close to Greer now. The sense of impending doom had been replaced by the sense of precious time running away ... Greer "A better place?" To avoid cocking her head in what had been a natural gesture for her before but now struck her as oddly avian, Greer snuggled her head under his chin. "What do you mean? I'm not very skilled in intracactus nest construction." The Dude "Yeah, but there's gotta be a nicer place then these duplexes on the island. You liked the cliffs. I remember you liking the cliffs. You said the wind was nice there ..." - he petted the long feathers on her shoulders gently. Greer She nodded into his chest. "I do, but I'm still a fan of beds and chairs. And, well, I like the idea of having a space marked out as mine, you know? I don't know if I could live in a tree on top of a cliff." Why was he bringing this up? The Dude "Oh yeah ... i understand." - he answered. Still there was something wistful by the way he spoke of the ocean and the wind. "I do not know what will happen with me once Moreau gives me the next shot. I might just move to the beach ... I think. If I do, will you feed the kitty?" Greer "Of course! I have to protect Mei Mei." she joked, trying to cheer him up. The talk of living quarters made her mind stray to the odd houses she'd seen when she first arrived on the island, particularly the ones that had seemed to be on stilts. "And I'll spend as much time at the beach as you're willing to spend out of water. Sean, is there something bad in the duplexes?" The Dude "What? What do you mean ..." - he looked at her. "There are cameras, I think. And ..." - he paused. "I've been thinking ... how did they inject you for the past two times. You were in the duplex, right?" Greer Leaning back again so she could resume eye contact, she nodded. "Yes. While I was sleeping." A lightbulb went on behind Greer's eyes. "Do you really think moving out of the duplexs can protect us from anything? The Doctor owns the island!" The Dude "I .. I don't know. Beds also have their advantages ..." - he petted the feathers again. they were soft and dawny still, except on her arms, where they felt more like true wing feathers. "And I just ... if I can delay him from sticking that needle into you again, I'd like to ..." Greer Greer honestly had no idea what to say. The last person to show this much concern over her welfare was her mother, and for all his kindnesses wasn't expecting it from him. It was if he was trying to protect her, or something. While the hawk busied itself with bristling at the thought a male could be a protecter, the human woman spoke. "I'm going to be okay, really. I'm honestly more worried about all of you and what the next injection will bring. Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment but... why are you so concerned about me? You cared before but you've never wanted to whisk me away to safe haven." The Dude Huh? Oh oh ... the Dude swallowed hard and tried to carefully back track into safe waters. The talk with Emelyn the previous day set him a bit on edge about this whole love business. "Well, you are my girl. Of course I'll care for you. Any guy would do the same thing." - he assured her with a smile. Greer She had an odd feeling there was more to it than that, her lack of relationship experience was enough to write it off. "Ah, okay. Just try not to take any hits, er, shots for me- you'd look really funny with feathers." The Dude "Erm, as much as I'd like to, I don't think we can do that" - he said, with a touch of dissappointment in his voice. Greer "It's just as well, really. Changing into one animal is enough for me." Calves finally beginning to complain, Greer eased herself back down onto flat feet and to her natural height. "You know, for all your calm and bluster you're really just a big sweetie." The Dude He sat down on one of the chairs that Greer had dragged outside a long time ago and pulled her to sit on his lap: "Well, gosh, you ruined my cover ..." - he grinned then added: "But you are wrong. I am a violent vagabond. I gave the good doctor a sore jaw." Greer "You hit Moreau?" She settled happily on his lap and applauded. "My hero!" Wrapping her arms back around his neck, Greer nuzzled his cheek as a kiss substitute, finanlly sitting abck and grinning. The Dude "Yeah ... well ... it was for you." - he half joked. "And I wouldn't be so happy yet. He can knock people out by word alone. He told me to sleep last night and I collapsed onto the floor. And somehow I doubt that that is the only thing he will do to me for redecorating his face ... but no use worrying about it yet ..." - he shrugged. Greer Greer heard the hawk let out an angry hiss, and realised the sound had come out of her mouth too. Her blood boiled. "He did WHAT?! The next time I see that man..." How dare a male PRESUME to injure something that was hers? Her taloned feet flexed, stretching themselves out for a fight. Shaking her head, the entomologist tried to get a hold of herself. Since when was she violent? The Dude The Dude first blinked, a bit chocked then grinned: "Wow there, grasshopper. You don't want him to tell you to sleep, too ..." He was very amused by the little Greer fluffing her feathers to defend him. "But thanks!" - he pokedher beak with his flippered finger. Greer She had a very strong urge to snap at the finger, but Greer managed to tamp it down. "Urg. Not that I'd ever side with Moreau against you on anything, but I have no idea where that came from. I've never had images of me eviscerating someone dance through my head." Using concern as a way to push the hawk's thoughts of violence to the side, she frowned at Sean and lightly patted his hair. "You okay?" The Dude "Must be the hawk." - the Dude grinned. "God knows, I usually don't try to hit people either. And yeah, I'm peachy. I feel like a million bucks, though, for getting the chance to do that. I will imagine the surprise on his face for the rest of my life ..." "But I think my little outburst not only got me in trouble, but Aubrey as well ..." - he added. Greer It was a good thing he was fine, since they'd seen her ability to see to a cranial injury before. Still patting his hair, Greer frowned with concern. "Aubrey? Why would the Doctor be upset with her?" The Dude "Well, according to Amaya, who spent all of last night watching over my zonked out self, Aubrey helped carry me over to my duplex. And Amaya thinks Moreau was very much not pleased with that ..." - he was very happy to be fussed over by Greer and woudl have purred, had it not be utterly un-manly. Greer At the mention of Amaya taking nurse duty, the hawkwoman smiled. "That's my kidlet! Poor thing was probably rather tramatized. I'll make a point to talk to her later." Nuzzling his head, Greer rested her cheek on the top of his dreds and sighed, still playing with his hair. Ah, the social tendencies of pack animals! "Yes, I imagine Moreau would be rather put out with Aubrey at the moment. Poor woman. Why does she do it to herself? Is the Doctor really worth it?" The Dude "Yeah, say thank you from me again. That was really sweet of her ..." "And Aubrey ...well ... I don't know what's inside her heart and whether she will forever think that Moreau's the s**t. But I am worried what Moreau might do to her now, you know. He's insane. He might inject her with something as punishment. That's what I'm worried about." Greer Greer felt the protective anger rise again, and had to take a moment to let it pass before she could speak and be sure she wouldn't say anything she would regret. "That would be horrible, but possible. He definitely the sort of person who believes 'either I can have you or no one will.' Is there anything we can do?" The Dude "You asking me?" - he pointed at self then pondered: "Well, we can at least try to get ahold of her ... see how she's doing. If one disregards the injections that she had done, she was nothing but nice to us, you know?" Greer Greer nodded. Aubrey had been amazingly nice to her. "I'll try and call her soon - I promised her a girl chat, anyway." The Dude "Well, there we go ..." - he nodded. Greer Greer tried to say something, but found herself interrupted by a large yawn. Hrmph. Resting her head on Sean's shoulder for a moment, she sighed. "I think it's my bed time." The Dude The Dude grinned wide and said jokingly: "Well, what do you know, it's my bedtime, too! Let's just go to bed, grasshopper ... we'll see what tomorrow brings. Maybe I'll be furry tomorrow." And with that the two left the balcony and went inside. And while the infrared security camera in Duplex #4 was functioning perfectly, it is frankly none of anyone's business what happened that night.
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 11:47 am
Greer Cassenwari Greer slipped out of her room at a decent, social hour, trying to get herself to be okay with seeing people again. It was fifty-fifty chance she'd bump into people in the cafeteria, it being a brunchy time but not quite lunch, and if she were lucky there'd only be one or two eating at most. As it was, she nearly sighed with relief when she saw that the village eatery was empty, and so felt confident enough to fill a large bowl with rabbit stew and sit down at a table to eat it. Hargun Aikason Hargun had been out and about near the river and such; exploring a little today. She needed a little bit of fresh air to rid of her homesick feeling she so suddenly obtained when she had been talking to the Dude and Amaya, learning about the Halloween Party incident. She hummed lightly to a song as she made her way back to the village area. When the cafeteria came into veiw, she heard someone else in there eating, and decided to pop in. Company.. she needed some company. However, once stepping inside and spotting Greer, she tripped over one of the chairs, sprawled over on the floor in shock from Greer's appearance. Greer Cassenwari The sound of crashing furniture made her jump, and before Greer knew what was going on she was crouched on top of her table with her feathers fluffed and her talons flexing. Swallowing the hiss in her throat when she scanned the room for the disturbance, she quickly hopped down to the floor and hurried over to Hargun. "Hey are you ok- woah!" She stopped halfway through offering her a hand up, rather shocked by Hargun's changed appearance as well. Hargun Aikason Hargun shakily stood up, having to use the collapsed table to help her up. Amaya told her Greer and Cass were the other two that changed, but she truly wasnt expecting to see it. Wow. Greer was so much different from the day she met her when she had absolutely no changes. If it weren't for her voice and tiny resemblance to Greer, Hargun wouldn't have been able to recognize her. "Yea.. uhm.." she swallowed and nodded quirkishly. "Im.. Im okay Greer... wow." she said, taking a deep breath, and slowly walking towards her feathered friend. Greer Cassenwari "Yes, well, wow to you too." Greer tried to smile encouragingly, gesturing to the table she'd been sitting at. "You okay? Why don't you sit down and I'll get you some water." Bustling over to the food line, she collected said liquid in a glass and went back to the table, offering it to the shaken young woman. Hargun Aikason "Heh.. thanks." She grinned and sat down next to Greer's seat. She nodded and took the glass carefully setting it down on the table with her webbed hands. Although it was hard to pick things up, she found a way to work with her hands to hold things in one position. She took a few slow gulps and set the glass back down and looked at Greer. "Phew. Some way to enter the cafeteria, eh?" she laughed with a somewhat red face. Greer Cassenwari "The most energetic reaction to my appearce yet." She laughed, eating more of her stew to calm her shakily alert nerves. Down feathers, down... "So, how have you been doing? In general, I mean." Greer nodded towards the artist's webbed and distorted hands. "You seem to have changed a bit yourself." Hargun Aikason "Ive actually been doing quite well.. gotten a bit homesick lately though. Im sure itll probably go away soon though." she poked the two black hrons on her head that were unexpected when she changed. "Yea.. changed. And I definately wasnt expecting it on Halloween night. So.. when did you change?" she asked and took another sip of her water. Greer Cassenwari "Halloween? Rough." Greer made a face, shaking her head. "I changed... at the beginning of the month, I think. Dunno. I've been rather spacely lately." She'd been rather avoiding people for more than lately, but no one wanted to hear that. She smiled again, perversely glad she'd bumped into someone she knew, who was as changed as she was. She was a bad person. Ambrose Maurlias The next morning, after taking a well-needed shower and dressing, Ambrose actually braved a trip to the cafeteria by himself, mentally congradulating him for summoning the courage to do so, but secretly hoping not to encounter anyone new. As he poked his head into the large room, his tail tucked as he saw two figures sitting at a table. However, moments later when he realized that it was Greer and Hargun - two of the only people on the Island who had changed about as much as he, he relaxed a bit and whet his lips. After a moment's hesitation, he padded towards their table (not quite ravenous just yet as he had not been up for all that long), his toenails clicking on the tile floor. "G... good morning, Greer... Hargun." Ambrose said quietly with a small nervous smile. Hargun Aikason "Wow.. that was quite some time ago." Hargun looked pretty suprised. "Heh.. its good to be spacey. Im constantly thinking about the stuff going on. I need a good break from this place." she snorted and finished off her drink. I should find something to eat, but I shouldnt eat any bugs in front of Greer... she probably wouldnt take to it very well. she thought and couldnt help but smile at the thought of Greer lunging at her head, pecking her unmercifully. And then Ambrose came in, her smile faded, and she nearly choked on the last trickle of water. "Ambrose?! Oh my god, is that you?" she squeaked and blinked at every clicking step he took. Greer Cassenwari Greer chuckled. "I think we could all use a break from the island. For eighty, ninety years..." Her voice trailed off at Hargun's reaction, and she turned her head slowly towards Ambrose, steeling herself for calm. The last thing the pup needed if he'd changed, which judging from the artist;s reaction he had, was her jumping out of her skin- Woah. It was a lot to take in, but Greer made a friendly smile spread across despite her shock. "Heya pup. How are you?" Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose swallowed, Summoning every ounce of courage to stay fixed to the spot at Hargun's reaction. He should have expected it - just because she had changed already didn't necessarily make it any easier to be confronted with someone who almost looked to be more animal than human. when it happened to you, unless you faced a mirror, you didn't have to look at it. "Y..yeah... it is." Ambrose said meekly. "Just... yesterday." He said in a half-explanation. He matched Greer's forced smile as she turned to him, his ears lowering and his tail giving a couple of slow wags. "Hi Greer. I... well... could be better." He said, almost regretting it as soon as he said it after the Dude's reprimand for the slightest indication of his unhappiness compared to what Greer was going to be facing. "But that seems to be the general state of things here... for all of us" he finished, trying to save. Hargun Aikason Now confirmed it was him, Hargun tried to calm down a bit and turned to a weak smile. "Im sorry bout that Ambrose.. two.. shocks in one day. Soon Im going to need therapy if this keeps up. Not used to seeing everyone changed THIS much yet." she sighed, knowing she may have made things a little moody just from freaking out. Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose shifted nervously from one foot to another. He was obviously making Hargun uncomfortable (at least that's how he intrepreted it). And he wasn't exactly "comfortable" with himself yet even. She, although she had gone through two transformations herself, at least still had her own face. He could easily see how he would be frightening to her - showing her what she could expect to come. Like Hargun, Ambrose had been dwelling too much on their fates. "I'm sorry. I..." He ran a hand through his hair. "I realized I wasn't as hungry as I thought I was just yet. You two take care. I'll... catch up with the two of you later. I need to go check on something real quick." He finished lamely, unable to dredge up a concrete excuse on the Island where time was rarely an issue. He gave the two a final wave and turned, heading back to his duplex. Greer Cassenwari "Ambrose, wait-" Greer raised a hand to stop him, but let it drop as he fled the cafeteria. Poor thing. She knew exactly how he felt. Finishing her stew, she bussed her tray and gave Hargun a sad smile. "Would you mind if I continued my reclusive ways?" Hargun Aikason "Sure go ahead." She sighed. "Ill.. just stay here.. find something to eat then head out." Oh, this was all her fault. Why'd I have to spaz? I need to learn to keep it together. Honestly.. Im such a wimp. she thought, and scavenged around the cafeteria for her 'little friends.'
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 1:51 pm
Greer Cassenwari Greer stood in her doorway, unable to step in and shut the door behind her. The hawk had had enough of sitting inside all day, and was damned if it was going to let her do it again. But after those two little confrontations in the cafeteria, Greer really didn't want to go out and possibly bump into another akward moment. She needed to be outside, but somewhere she knew she would have trouble... Glancing around her room, her sensitive eyes came to rest on the book Emelyn had given her. That's it! She could go visit Em and get more books to boot! Excellent plan. Scooping up the tome, the woman trotted quickly over to her friend's duplex and knocked on the door. Emelyn "Come in!" Emelyn called from the bed, where she was stretched out on her side, writing in her journal which lay beside her. She'd long since kicked off her boots, and unceremoniously folded pillows propped up her arm. Greer Cassenwari Greer poked her head in, smiling. "Hello! Am I disturbing you? I can come back." Emelyn She sat up, a pillow unfolding up against her back as she did so, and she shut the diary. "No, not at all. Come on in!" She stretched over from the bed and plopped the diary down on the desk. "I'm just musing. Pull up a chair." Greer Cassenwari Greer did as she was told, sitting and holding out the book she'd brought along. "I wanted to return this, and beg some more of your writing off of you. I really liked it!" She also wanted to discuss Ambrose, but wasn't sure if Em knew about his change yet. Emelyn Em's eyes widened noticeably, and she sat up, pushing the pillows out of the way as she took the offered notebook text. "You liked it? Gah, how flattering!" She said, beaming as she held the book to her front. Greer Cassenwari Greer nodded earnestly. "It was wonderful! I read it far too many times. Not that I'm a literary expert or anything, but I think you're an excellent writer." She flexed her talons, her newest unconscious sign of tension. "So... have you seen Ambrose recently?" Emelyn As much as she would have liked to suck more praise from the woman- a writer is a needy creature, after all- there were more important things being said. She put the book with her diary on the desk, and sighed, a slight, knowing smile on her face as she looked at Greer. "Yes. I was with him before he changed. He was feeling ill, and he thought it was because of the Halloween party. That he'd drank too much. I would have stayed with him, but we had a stupid fight. So I left. And then he transformed. ...Amaya and I..." she paused, wrinkling her brow in thought, "I don't know if you know Amaya- I just met her myself then. ...She and I went to Ambrose's at the same time, and we were the first ones that saw him changed." Greer Cassenwari Greer let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. She and Amaya saw him first? Good. "Yes, Amaya and I know each other quite well. I'm not exactly sure how, but I've manage to become an adopted mother figure for her. Odd. Anyway, I'm glad you two were there for him. Had it been anyone else, well, I'd be even more worried about him at the moment." She gave a half smile, distracting herself with the preening of her hand feathers. Emelyn "Yeah..." Em said, sighing. "I'm worried about him too. I can't tell whether he's taking it really well... or terribly, at this point." Greer Cassenwari She nodded, running a worried hand through her hair. "I just saw him for all of three seconds in the cafeteria, and he practically tore off when Hargun reacted to his change badly. Poor boy. There are days even little Amaya takes this all better than him." Shaking her head, she looked back up at Emelyn and apologized. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be heaping my worries about the pup on you." Emelyn "It's perfectly alright," Em assured. "We have to be able to come to each other to talk about things like this. Especially when we're worried about our friends. ...I know that Sean is worried about you." She hoped she wasn't betraying a confidence by telling Greer this, but somehow doubted that the lovable sea lion would mind the concern of two women who cared about him. "...We spoke at the party. He seems... the most distraught I've ever seen him. I'm so sorry to tell you, but I figure a part of you already knows. He's just concerned about you." Greer Cassenwari Greer nodded. "Sean came over last night, and we talked for awhile... I certainly appreciate his concern, even if I don't entirely understand it. Have I come off as particularly fragile lately? I mean, I know I haven't really been out and about in a week or two, but still." All that talk about 'getting her away from all this' from her sealion had done nothing but confuse her. Emelyn "I don't think there's any weakness or frailty to it. Not that I expect any of us to deal with a transition without any difficulty..." she recalled her own self-imposed hermitage of several weeks, and fell silent for a moment, "But you've been handling things as well as can possibly be expected. I really don't think that's why he's been having so much problems..." She recalled her conversation with The Dude, and tried to vocalize what she'd thought about it, "I think what he's been having such a problem with is the 'why you'? Why are you turning into something that may take away your hands... that changes you so much. He didn't plan for all the changes. For all the coping of what will happen to you." Greer Cassenwari Greer cocked her head, trying to understand but smacking into a brick wall halfway to comprehension. "But... but it's me changing. Not him. Why would it bother him so much? I understand concern for someone you care about but... gah. I dunno. I don't think my brain can get this." Emelyn The realization of how foggy the view was between Greer and her understanding of her relationship hit Emelyn quite strikingly. "But... Greer..." she explained, still not entirely believing that the woman didn't know. " ...He... loves you. And when you love someone, what happens to them affects you, as well. In fact, sometimes, it's worse. Because you can deal with what happens to you. You can cope with the changes, or internalize- but when something happens to someone you love, you're... so helpless. ...When Mizzie was diagnosed, I wished so much that it had been me, and not her." Greer Cassenwari Greer blinked for a moment. But love was something you did in a family and- oh. Wait. Yeah. "Oh. Okay. Really?" She would have prefered to ask Em why, but something told her that was a question to ask someone else. Man. How had she missed that? Well, he hadn't said, and she wasn't quick with the social stuff, but you still think she could have noticed. Huh. Well. Huh. Shaking her head, Greer latched on to the rest of what Emelyn had said, trying to recover from looking like an idiot. "Yes, I know about that feeling. I went through that with my father but, I mean, why would he-" she bit her tongue. Emelyn Emelyn realized that this wasn't easy for Greer to grasp, and that something was... holding her back from a full realization. So she edged forward and put her hands on her knees, leaning towards Greer. "Why would he what?" She urged, wanting her to follow through on her statement. Greer Cassenwari She shrugged, feeling uncomfortably inexperienced. "Before I came here, I'd never really had friends, let alone whatever it is I have with Sean that makes him put up with my oddness. I've spent my life in books while he's traveled all over, heck, he's even been married! There are days I find myself wondering what he's doing with me in the first place, so why would he want to love me?" Emelyn Emelyn laughed, hoping the sound didn't make Greer feel that she was being trivialized. "Oh, Greer. I can't believe you don't know. You're wonderful. And beyond that, he sees something in you that he needs. He's such an easygoing, happy person- and he needs someone who can compliment that in him- have a good time, but also teach him something new. Ever since he's been with you.. .he's been inspired. I think you help him find some purpose for the island. I mean, he's practically turned into our own little marine biologist. You can never catch him but around the reefs. That has a lot to do with you. You're a muse." Greer Cassenwari Greer blushed and nodded a little, pretending to understand. While the hawk had caused her to enjoying spending time with people, it hadn't helped her quite get their inner workings. "Okay. But- okay." Emelyn "Well, no need to understand it all now," Emelyn said, still sensing the obvious confusion behind the still so human eyes. "I'm always trying to get straight to the ending, straight to the point, the understanding... but really, we're going to be here a long time. And you don't have to rush anything. You'll understand what he sees in you, and what you see in him, with time." With that, she rose, and started going through the drawers of her desk, looking for the stories she'd been writing for something long enough to satiate Greer. Greer Cassenwari Greer sighed, pulling up a knee to rest her chin on. "I guess I just feel a little bad. I really really like him, but a sweetheart like Sean deserves a girl doesn't have to have every little aspect of relationships written out for her with diagrams just to get it." Emelyn She shuffled through the drawer, and looked behind her shoulder at Greer, who was still sitting in the offered chair. "Eh, it gives him something to do." She teased, winking at her friend. "What else is there to do on this island? We're all stuck here- people who take a little more concerted effort are high in demand here." She pulled out three notebooks. "Alright, these aren't as long as the other one," she said, turning and 'walking' up to the hawk-woman on her knees, "Just because... well... I don't have any of my old stories here on the island. I had to write all new ones," she laughed, and dropped the notebooks into her lap. Greer Cassenwari She rolled her eyes, sticking out her tongue at Em. "Glad I help pass the time." "Ooo, thank you!" Shuffling through the notebooks, Greer beamed. "What are these about? More giant bugs I hope?" Emelyn "Erm.. no, actually," she laughed. "This one is about a species of animal who, every once and a while, one is born sentient. And after a while, there are enough sentients that they start their own village, and they create a religion based on that they were given their sentience to take care of the others- what they call "the little ones". But then, there are some that believe they are superior, and should leave to find a life of their own. ...And then this one is about a man who joins a cult, and finally decides that he wants to try to live his life again, but he's been married to a woman in a mass-marrying ceremony... so he takes her with him, to try and give her a life again. " She pointed to the last notebook, the smallest. "Aaand... that one's not finished, but you can certainly start to read it. I've been working on another one for a while. It's about a girl who starts a bordello out of high school with the girls in her school who don't have any aim for their life- mostly so as to get them to their ideal lives, by getting them money, and additional schooling, or whatever it is they're lacking." Greer Cassenwari Greer nodded, itching to read them. "They all sound very interesting, and I'll probably tear through them fast enough to have them all back to you in a week. The insect one will probably always be my favorite, though. Oh! Before I forget, could I grab those shirts you said you made? I've been looking forward to easy dressing for two days now." Emelyn "Oh of course! I should have tried to find you earlier. Sorry about that." She went for her dresser, and pulled out three folded packages of material from the top. "Here...they're all tank tops- the white one and green one have snaps on the side," she unsnapped one to illustrate, "and this one is one I actually finished today. It's black, and you have to tie it up with the shoelaces. ...I thought it looked a little fancier than the snaps," she laughed. Greer Cassenwari "Eee! They look so neat!" Greer gave her friend a quick hug, and then accepted the clothing. "Thank you! I'm going to feel so fashionable wearing these!" Gathering up the books and shirts, she bobbed her head in thanks and headed towards the door. "I should head back to my room before I camp out on your floor to read these." Emelyn Emelyn laughed. "Well, I'll see you later, then. ...Or, probably not until you're done reading. I'd say take your time with them, but I know you. ...So I'll get working on another one," She said, smiling, still sitting on her knees as Greer opened the door to leave. "Enjoy." She said, and then waved as the door closed behind her friend.
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 8:18 pm
Greer She'd tried to stay in her room, really, but the hawk wouldn't let her. It wanted outside, and the balcony just wouldn't do. Changing into the white top Emelyn had made for her, Greer went out for a wander, letting her feet choose her destination while she mulled over her most recent conversation. While she would be the first to admit she had no skill with relationships, she wondered if she really could have missed Sean's feeling like that. What if Em was unconsciously assuming things? Greer knew her sealion liked her well enough, but love was a big jump- Greer glanced up, realizing she'd managed to walk herself to the beach while not paying attention. Ah, irony. The Dude This morning the Dude had walked Aubrey back to the Feral Labs and stopped by the cafeteria to have some food. He arrived back to the beach maybe twenty minutes ago and was now sitting under a palm tree cross-legged, and writing something in the yellow notebook Greer had given him a while ago. Next to him was a book on marine invertbrate identification and the Dude was periodically looking up something in the book. A large white stone was keeping the guide propped open and prevented the pages from being moved around by the ocean breeze. he was so into his work, that he rally didn't notice Greer come up. Greer Catching sight of Sean, the entomologist smiled to herself. She'd make a scientist of him yet! "Being a good student?" she asked, walking over to him. The Dude He looked up surprised and smiled: "Student? I suppose so. I was just writing down the differences in scallops between the two sides of the island. I am not sure if it's something in the water or not, but the electric scallops are only on the west side, but not by the Feral Labs. Maybe they are pumping hot water into the ocean there ... who knows. How are you, grasshopper?" Greer "Good! I'm being social today." She smiled and sat down beside him, nodding approvingly. He was doing research! Neat! "How are you?" The Dude "Good. I just talked to Aubrey. Moreau broke up with her, it seems. She's ...sad. Oh, and I saw Ambrose and he's changed, too. Had they injected him three days earlier, he would have been the perfect werewolf for Halloween ..." "I like your top. Did Em make it for you?" - he added. Greer Greer frowned, nodding. "Yes, I've seen Ambrose too, although he hightailed it out of the cafeteria before I could really talk with him. I'll have to grab him later. And poor Aubrey! Now I really do need to have a talk with her..." "Hmm? Oh yes!" she raised her arms, showing the snaps on the side. "Amazingly easy to get in and out of. I have another one with snaps and a black one with side laces. Em such a sweetie! I just saw her." The Dude "Yeah, Em's a very nice girl. You guys are, like, buddies now, heh ..." - he nodded. "Where you looking for me by the way? Or were you just taking a walk on the beach?" Greer "Just letting my mind and feet wander, actually. The hawk won't let me stay inside today." Greer fidgited with her hand feathers, unsure whether to bring up what Em had told her. Love wasn't something she really knew how to deal with. The Dude "The sea lion is not letting me get out of the water, so I understand." - the Dude grinned, all relaxed and happy to be just hanging out with the grasshopper. Beak or no beak, she was still wonderful. "Oh hey, randomly - you know how Moreau decided to take his revenge on me? he took away the alcohol at the beach bar. I bet my secret stash is gone, too ..." Greer "Took our alcohol? What, is he trying to divide us over the loss of booze?" Greer chuckled, shaking her head. "For a guy who spends his days studying us, I don't think the good Doctor knows his subjects all too well." The Dude "I think he's just trying to show how much of a benefactor he truly was. And that it's not just Aubrey ... or maybe he think that I can't live without booze and weed." - the Dude shrugged and closed the notebook he was writing in, setting it aside. "I asked Aurbey this morning and she let it slip that apparently all Moreau's projection as to what will happen to us are based on experiments he did on rats. What a comforting thought ..." Greer "Well, that certainly explains his warm demeanor." Greer smiled ruefully, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Poor, poor Aubrey. The foolish things love makes you do..." Crap. Where had that come from? The Dude "I know. Aubrey's like a butterfly in Moreau's net. It's sad ..." - he put his arm around her now that she was sitting nearby. "It's a touchy situation in so many ways." - he sighed, a lot of thoughts regarding Aubrey floating thru his mind. She was their key to freedom ... and yet to unlock their cage they'd have to exploit her. And that wasn't right ... Greer She leaned into him, resting her head on his chest. "I want to help her, but I'm afraid I'll just make things worse." Phew! She'd never been so happy not to be on the same page as another person before. The Dude "Yeah ... me too. Touchy situation ..." - he sighed and kissed her hair. It was nice on the beach, in the shadow of the palm tree. The hot tropical sun was filtering thru the foliage and the ocean breeze made the heat perfectly bearable. Greer Smiling a little at the kiss, she closed her eyes to doze for a bit. "Can everyone stop thinking so hard and just enjoy life? Please? I'm trying to do it but people kep tripping me up." The Dude "You sound like me ..." - he mused. "Actually I talked to Em about that at the party. It's interesting, but it seems like no one is willing to actually deal with our situation. Me, you, Ambrose, Em ... everyone ... we all find some way to avoid thinking about the future now days. I think it's some kind of psychological thing. or maybe it's because we are all have some animal instinct in us already ... who knows. " Greer She laughed darkly. "The last time I worried about the future I ended up here. Forgive me if stressing over things I can't control does not appeal." Greer opened her eyes, sitting up a little more but staying under his arm. "I'm sorry, I just don't know what worrying over the future would do. I mean, it's not as if we could get off the island and get back to our lives, right?" The Dude "Oh now, I am not saying it's bad. Of all people I'd be the last to say that, hon. Life will bring what life will bring. Fate's fate ..." - he looked down and dug his overgrown toes into the hot white sand. "But it kinda sucks to feel helpless all the time ..." Greer Aww, he did the toe thing! She used to do the toe thing, when she had toes... shaking the thought away, Greer poked him gently in the belly. "That's what research and construction are for. To not feel helpless." The Dude "And diving, and the parties and catching bugs ... yeah, I know." - he dug in his toes even deeper. "I'm okey. Don't worry ..." Greer Greer frowned, wrapping him in a hug. "I care about you, so I can worry all I want. You sure you're okay?" The Dude "Oh yes." - he smiled broadly and nodded overly energetically. "Peachy keen. When should we start on the butterfly house building, ey?" Greer It was a change of subject, but she didn't mind. "Whenever we can get a few people together to get the first chunk started, I suppose. Think I could drag you out of the water for a spell?" The Dude "Sure, I'll most certainly come and help. Suppress the sea lion for bit there ..." - he grinned and patted her back. "Do yo have a building plan yet?" Greer "Yup! And supplies, a plot picked out, tools- everything we need to start building except for manpower." She leaned into the backrub, enjoying the contact. "Ambrose will still lend a hand, won't he?" The Dude "Yeah, I'm sure he will. He said his hands, despite the paw like appearance, are still perfectly functional." - the Dude nodded. "Where's the plot?" Greer "About five minutes from the village, in the jungle. A really pretty place." Her muscles itched at her, wanting to move. "I can show you if you'd like." The Dude "Sure! Let's go!" - he jumped up and offered a hand to pull Greer off the white sand. Her hands were warm, soft and human. For how long would they remain that way? He chased away the morose thoughts with a shake of his head. Greer Wondering for a moment if he was shaking his head for the same reason she seemed to do it these days, Greer accepted the hand up and kept a hold of it once she was on her feet. "Shall we?" The Dude "Lead the way, Miss Cassenwari" - he smiled, trotting along her side. Greer She chuckled, heading into to the jungle. See? They could enjoy themselves, no matter how much Moreau was against it. Greer counted that as a win.
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 8:19 pm
"I ache for the touch of your lips dear, but much more for the touch of you whips dear! You can raise welts like nooooobody else, as we dance to the masochism tango! Dun-dun-dun!" Greer knew perfectly well that she couldn't sing, but that's what showers were for. Since the growth of her flight feathers had tacked on an extra two hours to every shower she took due to the care they required, she'd traded in her daily fifteen minutes under the spray for spounge baths and washing her hair in the sink. About once a week, though, she set aside the necesarry time to do a full wash, and soon found she enjoyed the time she spent preening immensly. Washing had always been a practical thing for her, quick and easy, with no real conotations of enjoyment or relaxation. Now, though, she actually looked forward to her shower time, and so was always in a singing mood as she shampooed and conditioned her feathers. She fervently hoped no one ever caught her at this. "You caught my nooooooooooose in your left castenet, love! I can feel the pain yet, love, everytime I hear drums! And I envy the roooooooooooose that you held in your teeth, dear! With the thorns underneath, dear, sticking into your gums!" Never having been a pop music kind of girl, Greer was left with a choice of her belting out her father's dance music or her mother's sung comedy. She was currently working her way through the punnish stylings of Tom Lehrer. So why did she like showers so much now, anyway? She suspected the hawk had something to do with it: birds depended on clean feathers for survival, and so were huge neatniks. It could also be that it was a very clear vestige of her more human days, and so gave her found memories. Eh, who knew? If nothing else they were some very relaxing alone time, and the singing was fun. "I'm at your command! Before you here I stand! My heart is in my hand... ew... it's here that I must be!" Chuckling, she shut off the water and stepped out, letting the worst of the water drip off before carefully drying herself. The key to taking care of her feathers was not ruffling them, keeping them moisturized, and taking the time to preen and straighten them. Pulling on her capris and one of the shirts Em made her, Greer went to the balcony to sit outside while she saw to her half wings. It took a full hour to see to them properly, which did not bode well for when more of her flight feathers came in. She'd be spending half her day just keeping her wings in order. Despite this exasperating thought, the entomoligist continued to hum 'Masochism Tango' under her breath, enjoying the heat. It was a strange life, but it was hers, and today was one of the good ones.
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