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 Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2005 12:08 pm
Wise Men Say, Only Fools Rush In ...
Part I The Dude Captain Morgan had a good morning. Last night, after the nice green eyed human with gentle hands gave him a full body massage, he felt energized enough to go a hunting. Ah ... nothing like a good back rub to make you feel like a kitten again. The outing was successful and he had surprised a green finch. Trotting proudly into the Village, the Captain headed for the Dude's apartment to show off and brag. In his mouth he carried the dead bird, it's head dangling pathetically as he strutted. Greer Greer patted herself, making a quick check that she had everything before she left for the beach. Bathing suit under clothes? Check. Small backpack with notebook, writing implements, sunscreen, water bottle, snacks, and bug equipment packed? Check. Bag of cubed ham? Check. Slipping her feet into her three dollar flip flops, she headed out the door. The Dude Captain Morgan stopped and looked up. Oh, another one of the humans on his list. Proudly, the old cat headed for Greer, the bird still dangling in his mouth. His eyes were sparkling and his tail pointed straight up to the sky, like a flag pole. He strutted up to Greer and sat down in front of her, his no longer twitching prey firmly in his mouth.
'Tell me I am the king of the jungle!' - the cat seemed to insist. Greer Glancing down, Greer caught sight of the Captain and smiled. "Hi there! Back from a grand hunt?"
Kneeling down, she scrittched the small tiger behind his ratty ears, doing her best to ignore the dead creature in his mouth. You never knew when a bird might be a relative of your's these days.
"Hungry?" She pulled out the bag of ham, holding it out for him to sniff. The Dude The Captain enjoyed being petted by people he respected. He curiously sniffed at the ziplock baggie, but seemed unwilling to let go of the bird. Meanwhile, nearby, there was a sound of a door opening then slamming shut and the rustling of someone skipping down the stairs. Greer Oblivious to noises, she opened the bag and laid out the offering. "It's ham Morgan! Honey cured to be specific. I'd say it was yummy, but it's not really my thing." The Dude Ooooooh ... it smelled ... heavenly! The Captain set down his prey and tentatively chewed on a cube of ham. Oh so good! Quickly, the cubes began to dissappear and the cat was emitting the same 'touch my food and die horribly' growling sounds as he was enjoying his snack.
A shadow loomed above the two and then the Dude's voice asked: "Wow Greer, you are taming the beast itself here." Curiously he crouched down next to them, poking at the dead bird: "What'd you catch, Captain?... you better eat it ...." Greer Startled by the Dude's sudden appearance, Greer fell back onto her a** with a suprised squeak. "Oh! Hi Dude. Well, I suppose that's one of the upsides to my needing to eat meat now - I understand your tiger's weaknesses."
Wiggling her toes so she had something to look at instead of her friends face when she asked him her question, she spoke timidly. "I was on my way to the beach to poke around in the tide pools. Would you like to accompany me?" The Dude "Yeah. Hear that, Captain. You the TIGER!" - he fluffed the fur and the cat's head and stood up, offering Greer a hand.
It was cute how shy she got all of a sudden. Considering Greer had never been kissed, she probably never had to ask anybody out, either. Must have taken a lot of nerve. He pulled the girl up from the ground and nodded: "Sure thing!" - he grinned. Greer Greer absolutely BEAMED. "Oh good!" She smiled, hand tingling where it touched the Dude's. Bending down, she grabbed up her bag. "Shall we?" The Dude He had never seen Greer beam before. That was a 1000W smile he just got, enough to put a beauty pageant chick to shame. What was happening with Greer? This was cute! Like ... like high school or something ...
"Yep." - the Dude nodded and stuck his hands into his pockets, walking for the beach. Captain Morgan stayed behind, too preoccupied with polishing off the ham to even look where the two were going. Greer She trotted along, happy to have succeeded so far. Now, what to talk about without making a total fool of herself?
"So... what's your favorite sea animal?" The Dude The Dude thought about that: "Good question. I do like sea lions, but dolphins are really cool, too. And rays. And sharks. Sharks are awesome! I've seen a black tip here recently ... but out of small things I like gobies. And feather dusters. And porcelain crabs."
He scratched his cheek: "But I don't think I can really pick a favorite, ya know? What about you?" Greer She grinned to herself, amused to see the Dude so animated. "Growing up in Seattle I've always loved crabs, since there's so many. Rock, green, and Japanese spider crabs which look like monsters from a fifties b-movie. And sea cucumbers, which have a special place in my heart for reasons I can't explain." The Dude "Oh man, you grew up in Seattle? I'm from Frisco ... errr ... that is I am from Montrey Bay, but most people don't know where that is. And the spider crabs are cool. Friggin huge ... " - the Dude could talk about critters of the sea for hours, if anyone cared to listen. "Taste good, too ..."
He paused then grinned again, considering: "Wow, small world ... I've been to Seattle once on a roadtrip, back in high school. We went to go see the killer whales and the club where Nirvana first played. Pike Place is neat, too." Greer "I love the Public Market!" Greer gushed, always ready to babble on about her hometown. "Mmm, the fresh fruit in fall..." Getting vaguely nostalgic, she mussed her hair and smiled.
"I remember when the Aquarium opened up it's jelly fish exhibt... I was there for hours." The Dude "Jelly fish are pretty cool, especially when there is glass behind you and them. Those bastards can really sting, though." - the Dude sounded like he knew all too well from experience. "And I liked the fish throwers up at the Public Market. And the steamed clams that they make there."
The blue infinity of the ocean opened up as they walked out from under the jungle canopy to the beach. The Dude smelled the air and grinned: "Well, the tide's not coming back in for at least another hour. What do you want with the tide pools? " - he turned to Greer. Greer Greer pulled out her field notebook, "Looking for arthropods, which are pretty much underwater bugs. I need to practice my field sketches." The Dude "You gonna draw them?" - the Dude asked curiously, peeking at the notebook. "Why?" So there WERE underwater bugs after all ... well, hot damn. And he though he knew everything about the ocean ... Greer She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to TRY. I'm hoping for a deep pool with peppermint shrimp." The Dude "Oh, peppermint shrimp! Errr ... those are not in the pools. They are by the reef." - he pointed at the waves breaking at the edges of the lagoon, about 100-200 feet away, at least. "But there'll be crabs ... and sea cucumbers" - he tried to make up for the lack of peppermint shrimp. "I can help." Greer "Oh. Oops." Greer grinned nervously, mentally berating herself for making such a stupid mistake. "You clearly know more about these pools than I do. Care to show me around?" The Dude The Dude didn't really have much interest in the pools because there was usually nothing big and cool in them, just sea urchins and a few stranded damsels. But he nodded and walked out into the wet sand of the lagoon, looking under his feet for a deep puddle ... err ... pool. Ah hell - they were all big puddles to him ... Greer Slipping off her shoes and leaving her bag behind, Greer trotted out after him. "It's amazing how much you know about the ocean. Have you ever formally studied it?" The Dude The Dude turned back at her and smiled, shaking his head: "Nah. I wanted to, but ... well, things came up." He stopped and crouched by a deep pull of water that remained, held back by blocks of dead coral skeletons. He motioned Greer over and pointed at the water.
"Look, tiger tail." - he explained, pointing at a ... thing, about 3 feet in length, that was trying to disappear under a rock, but was quite obviously not fitting.  Tiger Tail Cucumber, Holothuria hillaGreer Greer bent down to look, catching her glasses as they tried to slip off her nose. Since her vision no longer required them to function, she pulled them off and stowed them in a back pocket. "Oh wow! That's neat! I wish I had a camera now..." The Dude The Dude was crouching on his kneed next to Greer, then reached out to grab the unfortunate cucumber. He was not paying attention and when he turned around was surprised to find to amber eyes looking at him, as opposed to the usual black horn rimmed spectacles: "Wow." - he stopped, the unfortunate critters undulating in his left flipper. "You can see?"
Greer was ... pretty. Greer She nodded, blushing a little from the attention. "One of the perks to growing feathers - the bird of prey genes fixed my eyes."
Eyes flicking down to the cucumber, she reached a tentative hand to pet the velvetty squishiness. "That is utterly amazing... especially since my eyeball upgrade makes the texture of it's skin look so very neat." The Dude The Dude handed the unfortunate tiger tail over to Greer, still starring at her face.
"Err ... yeah, tiger tails are neat. They grow really huge, like 2 meters long. They eat sand. If you can see, why are you still wearing your glasses then?" - he explained and asked in the same breath. Greer She accepted the gooey, living tube gingerly, not wanting to hurt it. "Sand? Really? Doesn't sound very nutritious."
Entranced by the feel of the tiger tail in her hands, she shrugged. "Habit I guess. These aren't my original glasses, just facsimiles with regular glass in." The Dude "Well, if you squeeze him, sand'll come out." - the Dude explained, completely convinced that the tiger tail did indeed eat sand. He didn't know about plankton that hung out in the said sand. But back to the main point here: "But you look nice without glasses. And don't these things get in the way?" Greer "If I squeeze him, his guts might come out too." Greer had been rather traumatized at a young age by an unfortunate encounter with a sea cucumber as a child. "Besides, there are microscopic organisms that live in the sand, which are much more eatable."
Startled by the compliment, Greer looked up at her friend and blinked blankly at him. "I look nice?" The Dude The Dude smiled at Greer: "Yep." - he left it at that so as not to cause a panic attack in the geek girl and thus trigger a flight response.
"Now, gimme this cucke here. Aint' no guts coming out, I promise, he's just a tube." He grabbed the squirming echinoderm from her hands and squeezed gently on it. Wet sand came out of both ends and the cucumber started squirming more frantically. "See ..." - he pointed at the sand. Greer Greer frowned, puzzled. The idea that she could look nice was not computing, so she filed it away to be thought about later. Instead, she watched the show and winced in anticipation of impending ickiness.
"They throw up they're stomachs to thwart predators. I know, cause one did it all over me once. It was... not nice. And anyway, bivalves could also be said to 'eat sand', but really they filter the diatoms out of it." The Dude And right on cue, the stomach came out as well, spilling it's white tubes all over the Dude's hands, who looked quite surprised: "But ... wait. It worked before ..."
He looked defeated at the mess on his hands now.
"Why would he spill his guts if he wanted to get away?" Greer Greer closed her eyes, trying not to relive a child's terror. "Just... put it back in the water please. I think the idea is that the predator will eat the stomach while the cucumber makes it's escape. It regenerates later." The Dude Very embarrassed, the Dude put the poor tiger tail back into the pool: "Sorry about that" - he mumbled and stood up. Wah, it had worked before. He squirted water out of one once ... oh how unfair ...
"Erm ... let's go look at that pool" - he finally pointed, still feeling guilty for the cucke. The Dude didn't like hurting things, especially things that couldn't really defend themselves.
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2005 12:45 pm
Wise Men Say, Only Fools Rush In ...
Part II Greer Peeking, Greer was visibly relieved that the barfing creature was gone now. "Sounds like a plan. You know, someone really should study the ocean life around here sometime."
Standing, she stretched and took in the vast view of the sea before them. Utterly gorgeous. Hmmm... "Any chance you can show me where those peppermint shrimp are if we go swimming?" The Dude "Huh? Yeah, I agree. Somebody should. I saw things here that I have never seen before. Maybe it's a new critter or something, Like, one that hasn't been named yet!" - the Dude nodded, excited that the demise of the tiger tail as not being held against him.
"Oh and sure I can get you some shrimp ... can you swim okey?" - he asked, pulling off the bag with diving stuff he had brought along. (Because in fact that was why he had exited his duplex this fine morning. XD) Greer Greer scoffed, pulling off her shirt as she walked back to her bag to discard her clothes. "Swimming keeps one in shape for fencing, so yes, I can swim."
Slipping hurriedly out of her shorts so she didn't have to think about the Dude seeing her in her one-piece blue and green number, she left everything tucked into her bag and returned to the water's edge. "When I said 'someone' should study this place, I actually meant you Dude." The Dude The Dude had not expected Greer to take her glasses off, and he most certainly didn't expect her to start stripping like that. Yes, she did say 'Let's go swim', now that he thought about it. But he didn't know that she had a bathing suit underneath when she decided to take off her shirt all of a sudden! There was vivid imagery there for a sec. Oh, c'mon Dude, just a chick in a swim suit, Since when did that phase you? be cool, man ..
"Erm ... me?" - he finally replied, only half listening to what she was sayiing to him Greer She nodded, oblivious to his reaction. "You already know so much and love it, right? Makes perfect sense, especially with the sea lion-ness." The Dude "But ... I don't know ... well ... I never studied it" - the Dude looked at Greer sheepishly. "I'm just a fisherman." He was walking along side of her into the water, more concerned about what he thought of Greer right now then about his bright future as a marine biologist. What did he think of Greer? he gave the girl a furtive side glance ... she seemed almost unrecognizable now, with her glasses and clothes gone, her usually properly combed hair fussed up when she took of her shirt ... hmmmmmmmmm ... Greer The Dude could have gaped and wolf whistled at her if he'd wanted - the girl was oblivious. "Experience trumps booksmarts any day." She sighed, enjoying the first shiver of stepping into the water. "That's why I never got offered a position on a research team at school. They wanted people who didn't sit in their rooms all day studying textbooks. You're perfectly intellegent Dude, you've just done more with your life than I have." The Dude The Dude was trotting thru the water, listening to Greer talk. Him and research? "I don't even know where to begin, Greer" - he tried to laugh it off.
"Sure, I might see pretty critters every day ... but I don't know what their names are. There are thousands of things living on that reef ... and they are all different. I mean ... yeah ... I got no clue where to start." - they were standing about waist deep in the lagoon now. Greer Greer splashed a bit, smiling. The ocean had always meant a family holiday to her. "All research is is writing down what you see. Keep a notebook. Take or draw pictures. Write down names you know and look up the ones you don't. Context is everything, so write down where and when you saw them. Do that long enough and voila! Research!" The Dude "Err ... okey" - the Dude nodded half heartedly. "I .. I'll think about it." He looked at her splash and decided that they were now deep enough in the water that Greer couldn't easily flee. Taking the mask he was carrying and giving it to her, he quirked his eyebrow and grinned: "I got a question for you, too ..." Greer Greer took the mask, spitting in it to ward of fog and rinsing it with sea water. Holding it away from her and shaking it vigorously, as she didn't relish getting salt in her eye, she cocked an eyebrow at the Dude. "Hmm?" The Dude Now, the Dude was NOT the person to start gushing over something, but ... but Greer knew about spitting into the mask! SWOOOOOOOOOOOON. I mean ... I'm cool. She's cool. You know, whatever.
"What's with the winking back at the cafeteria, Greer?" - he smiled at her. Greer Greer's faced turned several shades of pink at that question, but she covered it up as best she could by hunching down and fiddling with the mask's strap. "Well, I... didn't want you to think... um, that... that I hadn't noticed yours or didn't like it... or something."
Damn it! And she'd been so coherent too! The Dude "And why would you care about that, Greer?" - he tried not to grin too much at this moment. This was great! Greer Pffft. As if SHE knew why. Please. Ask someone who had actually experience with this if you wanted a real answer. Finishing with the mask, she glanced shyly up at him. "Because I'm not very good at this sort of thing, and I wouldn't want you to get the wrong idea."
She really, really hoped that hadn't come out wrong. The Dude The Dude smiled, then reached out and gently pulled out the stray bangs that Greer had tucked it under the mask in all the hurry: "Well, I can tell you that you made my day." - he nodded then turned towards the sea. "Let's go find us some peppermint shrimp." - he switched the topic, probably to Greer's great joy. Greer Since she didn't fall over dead, Greer was pretty sure her heart didn't physically skip a beat, but she certainly understood the phrase a lot better now. Eeee!
Shrimp! Yes, shrimp. Much safer things to think about, those shrimp. "Okay, lead the way!" The Dude The Dude swam off for the reef, in a bit of a euphoric state of mind. He was paddling circles around Greer in his flippers, like a silly goose ... err ... sea lion. The large school of yellow snappers dispersed grudgingly, letting the fool and his date thru. Yes, dammit, his date. YEEEEEEEEEHA! Thank god Greer had to dive up for air much more frequently then he did, because all these underwater backflips must have looked a bit odd to her.
The reef emerged from the misty blue like a glorious living wall, crawling with fish. Greer and the Dude were now in deep water, maybe 25 feet or so to the sandy bottom. The Dude motioned up and dove out of the water to converse. Greer Greer followed as best she could, a strong swimmer due to good muscles but nowhere near as skilled. She only swam laps and was distinctly flipperless. Still, everything was magical below the water, from fish to reef to the feel of the water over her feathers, and it made her fight to stay under as long as possible with each breath. By the time the Dude motioned her to the surface, she was a little lightheaded from the lack of oxygen. The Dude "Hey, so here is the deal" - the Dude turned his head towards Greer, moving the wet dreads out of his face and still grinning for no good reason: "The shrimpies live on corals and they make their living cleaning fish. So we gonna go look for a fish that is staying in one spot. Peppermints are not hard to find - they aren't particularly rare. But " - he pulled his flipper out of the water. "I might not be able to catch one. So it's up to you to get them in your jar if you want. And ... don't touch anything you don't know is safe. But ... that's common sense." Greer "Jar?" She frowned, trying to figure out why he thought she'd have one, smacking herself on the forehead when she remembered her utility belt. "Oh, no, I left my killing jar behind on the beach. It's for the not so nice side of entomology. I'll be a good girl and just look."
She grinned back at him, smiling and good times being infectious. The Dude "Okey, good girl. Let's go!" - he was abotu to dive again, but then remembered: "Oh yeah. I saw a black tip reef shark here a few days ago. If he comes by - don't panic. He's just checking things out. I mean - don't go hug him, but please don't flee, either. Just ... ya know ... act casual."
With that he dove down, because Greer's smile was pretty and he was a bit high on all this ... happy s**t .. right now. And he had to think about things. Greer Greer nodded, taking another minute to breathe before filling her lungs and diving down. Staying close to the surface since diving below ten feet made her ears hurt, she inspected the upper most parts of the reef, leaving the lower parts to the oceanic mammal. The fish wer all goregous, and if she trailed her fingers down a few of the... wrasses? came and nipped at them. She was careful to avoid contact with coral, having learned about fire coral once and nervous ever since. It was so amazing down here! No wonder the Dude loved it - almost as many beautiful and strange creatures as the island's collection of insects.
Now, where were those peppermint shrimp? The Dude The Dude seemed right at home here. He was pocking his nose into crevices, shooing off the curious damsels that were getting in his way and stirring things up. Suddenly, about 13 feet down below the surface he stopped and shot up to the surface for a breath of air, then dove right back again. On the vertical surface of a fan coral there was a gorgeous creature - about 3 inches in length, white and frilly like twisted lace, a red-lined sea goddess was crawling along. Minding her business. This was rare! this was way better then some peppermint shrimp. He swam up to Greer and pointed up.
At the surface, gasping for air the Dude explained: "I bet you never seen one of these. It's a sea goddess. Err ... a nakid sea slug. Come, she's gorgeous. Worth a ton!" Greer Greer followed him up, gulping down air. She needed to stop forgetting to breathe. Her feathers itched a little from the salt, and they would be a mess tomorrow, but who cared. "Sounds neat! Show me?" The Dude So they dove down to the black fan coral and the Dude pointed out to Greer the little beauty, which was still crawling fearlessly over the coral. She was ivory white with a second tier of frilly white flesh above her crawling foot. The delicate scallops were edged in red and yellow and two delicate horns and her gill structure were located above the frills.
The sea goddess was blissfully unaware she was being stared at by thing much larger then herself. After all, she was just a slug. Red-tipped Sea Goddess, Glossodoris sedna Greer Greer admired the little creature for as long as she could, making a dash for the surface at the last moment. Oog. She needed some air. Floating on her back, she focused on breathing for a bit. The Dude The Dude followed Greer up shortly after, surfacing and wiping his face with his flipper. He turned to see what Greer was up to and swum up to her. Mercifully, there was no wind today and the surface of the water was calm and flat like glass. Treading water next to floating Greer, he asked her, a bit worried: "You okey?" Greer Greer nodded, enjoying the oxygen. "I'm fine, I just need to remember I'm turning into a bird, not a seal. More breathing is in order."
Changing position so she was treading water too, she grinned. "That was lovely! Was it a sea slug? Don't they have a funny name?" And... she was a nerd again. Figured. The Dude "It was a sea goddess. I am not sure what the proper name would be. I just know that they are rare and people pay a lot of money so that a beauty like that can die slowly in their fish tank in New York." - he smiled at her.
"Hey, let's get out of the water. I'll find you some peppermints next time" - he suggested, not wanting her to faint form enthusiasm. Greer She nodded again. Oh, he was good with the plans. "I think they're called... nudibranchs? That's they're phylum? Something like that, anyway."
She repeated 'dork' to herself mentally the whole swim back to shore.
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2005 12:59 pm
Wise Men Say, Only Fools Rush In ...
Part III The Dude He let her swim in front this time, distinctly worried about the fainting possibility. And also a bit peeved that he didn't know the name for the pretty thing that he found. Maybe ... maybe he should look that up. But where? He'd ask Aubrey. She was a researcher, too. She'd know. Greer When the water was shallow enough to stand she did so, tugging off the mask and holding it out to the Dude. "Thanks for letting me borrow it - I suppose you don't need such things anymore?" The Dude He took the mask: "Well, I still use it, but you needed it more. I am no sea lion yet." - he smiled then looked up at her: "So waht are you gonna do now ... draw the sea goddess?"
He was kinda curious about this whole "research" thing, if only for the sake of not looking stupid. Greer She smiled, cupping handfuls of water to smooth her hair back from it's funny spikiness. "Nope, you are. I'll help, but I'm just an entomoligist. Ocean creatures are beyond my perview."
Pronouncement made she turned and headed up to the beach, making a beeline to her clothes and notebook. The Dude "Oh." - said the Dude. Well, that was hard ... he ... he didn't draw. Goddesses or otherwise. He trotted after her, catching up: "But I can't draw, Greer" - the Dude teased."Will you draw for me, please?" Greer She shooke her head, doing her best to hide her grin and sound chastising. "We scientist must do our own work, Mr. Carroll, and you'll never learn to draw if you don't practice." Reaching her clothes, she looked for a towel and cursed herself for frogetting it. There was always something! Sighing, she pulled on her shorts and plunked down on the sand, drying her hands on her shirt so she wouldn't get her notebook and pencil wet when she held them out to the Dude. The Dude The Dude sighed in mocking exasperation and sat down next to her, taking the pencil and notebook. "Yes, Professor Greer." He scratched his cheek with the pencil, thinking about what to draw. Then, the Dude got to work. The product was predictably horrid looking. It was a depiction of a badly drawn voluptions woman with a crown and an extremely frilly dress that kinda looked like the scallops of the sea goddess.
"It is an ... ahem ... free interpretation. But I think I got the crucial details right" - with that he pointed at the boobs of the "sea goddess" ... Yes he was in fact begging to be smacked with the notebook. Greer Greer took the notebook back, looked at the picture, looked at him, and sighed. She'd never learned that you were allowed to smack people for being cheeky. Shaking her head, she wrote out an adaptation of the information form she used to record insects, leaving space for the creature's scientific name, common name, habitat, eating habits, predators, and mating habits. "Here, fill this out as best you can." If he was going to tease her, he was going to have to live it down. The Dude The Dude took the book into his flipper and layed back down on the sand: "Common name ... ah I know that one ... Red-Tipped Sea Goddess. Eating habits ... hmm ... sand? Predators ... pretty girls with collection jars .... mating habits ..." - there was a dead silence. Then the Dude looked at Greer with a widest grin: "I'm supposed to watch them do the nasty? Wooooo, Greer. I didn't know research was this kinky. Do you have to fill that bit out for all the critters you collect?" Greer She refused to blush. Patently refused. She'd done it far too much because of him already. Crossing her arms over her chest, she gave him a cool look. "Flip through the pages if you want - I most certainly do. Reproduction is key to all species."
"And for the record - NOTHING eats sand as food." The Dude The stern look from wet Greer without her glasses was too much. The Dude melted and sat up again, siddling up closer to the entomologist. "Okey okey ... sea slugs don't eat sand." - the Dude nodded, trying to keep a straight face then sneakily put his arm around Greer's shoulder. "Now, what was that about reproduction ..." Greer Greer's brain stalled and fell out of gear. What the hell? Glancing between the hand on her shoulder and the very close, very damp, very friendly Dude who smelled good too... luckily, her science lobe took over from there.
"It's key to all speices, otherwise they die out and such, which can be a real blow to their existance." It was a stupid comment, but she didn't care. There was a nice, handsome guy far closer than any guy had ever been to her in her life and she was certainly not complaining. The Dude He was holding onto her gently but firmly. Which was taking quite a bit of concentration because part of the Dude wanted to give Greer a big bear hug and swing her around like a child, for she was CUTE. Instead, he put his chin on her shoulder and put the notebook on her lap: "Here, since it's so important, read me your favorites mating habits. Must absorb the wealth of knowledge like a sponge." - he grinned, the whiskers probably tickling her neck. Greer She blinked, doing her best to get a hold of herself and succeeding enough to get a mean thought. Charm her would he? Ha! Two could not play at that game, but entomology was a power that could be used for evil when needed. Pretending to flip the pages idily, she opened it up to a two page, illustrated spread on Stagomantis carolina.
"I know it's a cliche to like the mating habits of the Praying Mantis, but I can't help myself. It's so interesting! The way the male and female interact, the male leading the female on, her responding, him impregnanting her, her biting off his head, his headless body trying to flee..." She blinked innocently and smiled at the Dude, exuding geeky interest.
"Fascinating, isn't it?" The Dude The Dude chuckled: "I'm so glad you are not turning into one ..." - he exclaimed. "But it does suck for the mantis guy. Hey, at least he doesn't die a virgin. There is something to be said about that ..."
And of course his chin didn't move an inch off her shoulder, in fact, now that she was looking at him, their faces were in a very piquant proximity. Greer Greer blinked, not so innocently this time, and sucked in a breath. "Yes, one supposes. Everyone seems to think so. Still," this was said rather shakily as her hold on herself began to slip. "I'd prefer to avoid decapitation post coitus as a general rule." The Dude The Dude's chin stopped hovering on Greer's shoulder because he was dying from laughter in the sand nearby. Oh this was great. With tears in his eyes, he finally was able to squeeze out: "That ... that's good ... I can assure you, hon, you are not alone in that." Greer Half happy and half upset that she'd managed to dislodge him from her shoulder, Greer grinned and winked. "If you'd disagreed I think I would have had to run screaming."
Half of her was trying to figure out how to reel him back in while the other half thought the whole running and screaming thing sounded like an excellent way of handling her current situation. Apparently her simple, easily understood life was a thing of the past in more ways than one. The Dude He looked up at her, still laying on the sand, his dreads a messy halo around his face: "Even if I disagreed, I'd lie, because it would be a shame to send a pretty girl like you all running and screaming." - he retorted then made a grab for Greer's hand in the sand: "Ah, gotcha!" Greer Greer squealed like she'd been a fangirl all her life, and crashed unceremoniously on top of him. Her brain debated with itself whether she was enjoying this or not. The new bit that liked men and eating meat won out. A lazy smile spread across her face, chasing the startled fear away. "So you do. Dare I ask what horrible torture you're going to visit upon me while you have me in your clutches."
The other bit of Greer watched silent behind her eyes, jaw dropping. She could be warm and sarcastic? The Dude This was the third time today that the Dude was extremely surprised in a good way. And the third time, as everyone knows, was the charm. He put one of his arms around Greer's slight figure and smiled at her, brushing the tangled wet hair out of her face: "May I have the honor of your first kiss, grasshopper?" Greer At that moment her usual self won the battle of self control, which she was very glad about, since that made this flat out her decision, with no other influences to blame it on. Smiling nervously, she nodded. "Yes please."
She'd deal with the 'grasshopper' comment at a later date. The Dude And so they kissed. And it was cute and sweet and short, with the Dude still holding onto Greer like she was a fragile vase, and both of them laying on the white beach of the lagoon. And then they kissed again. And again. And this would have gone for quite a bit longer had the tide not decided to come back in at about that time. Smoooooooooooooch, Homo sapiens Greer Greer yelped, jumping up and scrambling after her now soggy notebook as the impish wave tried to steal it. Inspecting it's sorry state, she muttered a well-deserved "******** me." under her breath before frowning at her soppying sandyness. She'd gone over her sketches and notes with her good pen, which meant they wouldn't run, but it was the principle of the thing. A good entomologist did not allow the ocean to attack their notebook! Come to think of it, a good entomologist probably didn't run around kissing cheeky beach bums either, but what could you do? Turning back to the Dude, she sighed.
"Your precious ocean assaulted my notebook.." The Dude The Dude had helped pick up the precious research things that the Atlantic so sneakily was trying to appropriate, cursing "his ocean" for such an underhanded move. And it was getting so good, too. The Dude really couldn't believe his luck today. But hey, the karma had to be balanced out somehow here, and it just happened to have been Greer's notebook that suffered. He made sad eyes at the grasshopper and offered: "Sorry there. Me and the ocean - we'll have a talk about this tide business." Then he smiled - what a lovely girl has been hiding behind the glasses and the polo shirts and the kill jars. "I can help ... " - he swallowed "redraw the bugs, if you need me to ..." Okey, she was not THAT cute, but he had to offer some words of support. But nothing was cute enough to make him draw. Maybe he could bride Hargun ... Greer She snorted, pretending outrage as best she could in the face of him attempting to make ammends. She focused on the notebook, since thinking about other recent events made her brain have a paper jam. "You'll do nothing of the sort. You think I want to go down in history as the one entomologist that had pictures of butterflies with d-cups?"
Unable to refuse the smile any longer, she grinned, "Besides, I'm a klutz, so I go over my sketches with some really spiffy, rather water resistant pens every night so I won't lose anything. The only thing that was lost was your masterpiece." The Dude "That's too bad. I still say that my sea goddess was pretty rad." - he put his arm around her shoulder, partially because he wanted to fill her warmth next to him, partially to reaffirm to her that they did, in fact, just kiss. Because this excessive fussing over a notebook was nothing but avoidance, and the Dude knew a lot about avoidance himself.
"Well, what do you say, Greer. Enough adventure for one day?" Greer Leaning into him, she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe. Enough adventure for one day without a hot, desanding shower certainly. After that though..." She gave him a speculative once over, and for the first time wasn't sure if it was the old bit or the new bit doing it. "who knows?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 1:47 pm
How Disney puts everything in perspective
The Dude and Aubrey talk The Dude The Dude was hanging out by the beach bar with a purpose. Since the "0" button no longer worked he was trying to get ahold of Aubrey. And last time he met her it was on the beach, by the bar. So he was trying his luck again. Aubrey Aubrey started down towards the bar a bit after six that evening. She was tired from not too much sleep the night before, and a full day's load of labwork. She was hoping a beer and a good long swim might wake her up a bit. She squinted, seeing someone at the bar. She gave a wave as soon as she came close enough to realize it was the Dude. The Dude "Hi Aubrey" - the Dude smiled. He was in a dynamite of a mood.
"How's life!" Aubrey Aubrey smiled back. "Oh, hello Dude. Its okay, I'm just tired." She grabbed a beer from behind the bar and popped the cap, sitting heavily down on one of the barstools. The Dude "Moreau's slave driving you! Poor Aubrey." - the Dude nodded. "I met the new girl, Amaya, a few days ago. She's a nice kid."
Then he realized smth and waved his flippers in the air:"I'm not here to give you trouble, no worry. I was wondering about something." Aubrey Aubrey just shrugged. "There a lot of new things in development," she said, taking a drink. "And I've yet to meet her. She's a cute girl, though."
Aubrey gave a thankful smile and looked over to him. "'bout what?"
The Dude "Amaya is a great kid - she took the news in stride. She was mostly upset that she got lied to, really." - he informed her then put his chin on his flippers, sitting down on a bar stool next to her.
"I was wondering if you would be so kind as to maybe get me a camera. Just, like, a disposable one. But for underwater. And some Audubon identification guides for sea critters."
Aubrey Aubrey picked at the label of her beer. "I'm good to hear that. I didn't even know she was coming until she arrived," she clarified. Though she didn't want to directly express is, taking in a fifteen year old girl was not something she was very happy around.
"A camera? Books? Sure, that shouldn't be a problem. I'll send in an order for all that."
The Dude "Thanks so much! Hey, can I have an air compressor as well, then? I got the tanks to SCUBA, but they are mostly empty. And it's not like I can swim very far in those, ya know? You think Moreau would approve that?" - he really wanted to take Greer diving properly
The Dude watched Aubrey pick on her label, then grinned: "Hey Aubrey ... you know what they say about peeling beer bottles?"
Aubrey "I don't know about the SCUBA stuff. That's up to Moreau, but I'll ask for you, and do what I can."
Aubrey stopped from her label and looked up, trying to flick sticky bits off her fingers. "No, actually, I don't."
The Dude "Thanks! Oh and ..." - the grin got wider: "folks say that peeling a beer bottle means you are sexually frustrated."
Aubrey Aubrey coughed and quickly set the bottle down on the bar. "Oh...." She tried not to blush. "I didn't know that..."
The Dude "Ahaaaaa" - the Dude grinned: "Tell that to Moreau. He's a doctor - he'll know what to do."
Aubrey Aubrey was definately blushing now. "I sure," she mumbled out, giggling a bit.
The Dude "So hey, Aubrey, what do you think will happen to all of us in the end." - he asked. "I mean - some of us are turning into things that don't have arms. And some are turning into things that don't have legs. So ... are they, like, gonna fall off one fine morning?"
Aubrey "We dont' know for sure," Aubrey said. It was useless to lie to them at this point. "All indications show that it varies from individual to individual. A serum reacts differently to everyone. We could give someone else the exact same formula we gave you, for example, and they might change at a completely different pace with different physical effects." She picked up her bottle, and avioding the label, took a long drink. "But to be honest, its certainly a possibility." The Dude "s**t ... that's scary." - he shut up and stared at his toes.
Aubrey Aubrey knew that wasn't what he wanted to hear. "Uhm, if it makes you feel any better, they probably won't just... fall off or anything. I mean, like in your case, sea lions have legs, they are just smaller and constructed differently." The Dude "You gonna give us wheel chairs when" - he stared at his legs "when they fall off, then?"
"And what about arms. I mean ... no legs, no arms - no good at all!" Aubrey Aubrey leaned back, thinking. "If you need them we will, but the animals certainly know how to get along just fine. I'm sure you'll adapt." The Dude "What do you mean - we'll adapt?! Snakes don't read like Cassidy does. But you told us that our mind will not change. So she'll be Cassidy caught up in a snakes' body, unable to read. What she supposed to do then?"
Aubrey Aubrey's eyes narrowed. "If she keeps her human mind, I see no way she wouldn't be able to read. Even if - IF - she loses her arms, I'm sure we can figure something out. There are people paralizyed from the neck down, and they can still do some things. Its not like we just shoot them to put them out of their misery." She took a breath, not wanted to argue. They had a right to be alarmed. "We don't even know if that will happen. And it it does... I'm sure she'll be able to adpat- yes adapt. Do you know some people without arms are really AMAZING painters with their toes. Snakes are nearly solid muscle. Maybe she can use her tail or something."
The Dude The Dude imagined Cassidy as a snake flipping pages with her tail: "Heh ... that's an amusingly ******** up picture right there" - he said.
Aubrey "Hiss from Robin Hood certainly seemed capable of a lot of things," she said into her bottle.
The Dude The Dude's face widened in a grin: "Yeah. you are right. You know, I love that analogy! Thanks!"
Aubrey Aubrey looked surprised. She honestly expected to be chewed out for that one. But she smiled back. "Hopefully she likes Disney, maybe you can tell her that."
The Dude "Maybe." - he grinned. "We'll see. But that's a happy thought right there ..." - he nodded and patted Aubrey on he shoulder: "So, how about it, Aubrey. You want me to bring you anything from the deep in exchange for the camera? Even though it's Moreau's money and I have no qualms wasting that ... but you I like."
Aubrey Aubrey just shrugged and smiled. "Surprise me."
The Dude "Surprise? Hey, that's hard!" - he protested, grinning: "Women always pull this s**t on guys 'Surprise me'. Do we look like mind readers?"
Aubrey Aubrey gave a look of mock surprise. "You mean you guys can't? Wow. That explains a lot."
The Dude "Hey!" - he pouted "If chicks can do that, all power to them. Don't beat up on the weaker sex here." Aubrey She shook her head. "No, no mind reader here. I don't know if I would really want to be a mind-reader around here." The Dude The Dude laughed: "Yeah, you'd get a headache, I can tell you that. But really - whatcha want? A pretty flower? A pet fish? A bird ... though I am not certain how I am gonna catch a bird with these ..." - he waved his hands around. Aubrey Aubrey perked. "I've actually been thinking of setting up an aquarium..." The Dude "Here we go! Get a salt water one and I'll bring you pretty prisoners to look at." - he smiled at her. Aubrey "Allright, deal." She smiled back, feeling a bit better about the day already.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 2:02 pm
[Setting up for the Beachparty RP. Many people got invitations. If your character would wander by, that's cool , this is an ORP.
I figure we'll establish a set post order, and once the Truth or Dare starts, things will change: whomever gets asked the question will be next in order. Once they're asked/dared, they type it out, and then choose the next person to ask truth or dare.
Once this starts, people can post reactions 'out of order' but they won't be waited on, so that should keep things flowing :3 ]
At four O'clock, Ambrose, looking like he had dressed rather nicely (from the clothing that he had brought with him), his hair well groomed, and a nice pair of sandals, appraches the beach bar and takes a seat, waititng to see who will show up.
((STARTING POSTING ORDER:
Ambrose, Vasile, Greer, Pyroth, Hargun, Ian. If you wander in, just come in and post and that's your posting order until the Truth or Dare starts.))
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 2:45 pm
Vasile came down to the bar at four, waearing his swim trunks, sunglasses, an open Hawaiin shirt, and sandals. He was either going very casual, or revelling in the oppurtunity to show off some skin. He had spent the earlier part of the day doing sit-up and spend an ungodly amount of time getting his hair perfect. Brutus was with him on his leash. He waved to Ambrose as he came near. "Hey man, how goes?" He patted him on the shoulder. "Man, you better hope some chicks show up or me and you are going to need to talk. Can I get you a drink?" He tethered up the dog and went behind the bar.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 2:52 pm
Greer trotted into view not long after, arrayed in her capris, flipflops, and a blue-black tanktop that was desperately trying to ride up enough to flash a line of tummy, despite her best efforts to prevent such a thing. Her glasses had been left behind in her room as she didn't actually need them anymore, and anyone who knew her and looked hard enough might find that she'd made a small and entirely unsuccessful attempt to apply some eyeliner. This was as fancy as she got, and was making her visibly nervous.
"Hello Ambrose!" she greeted her friend, giving him a hug and hopping up on a stool beside him. "How are you?"
She was ignoring the unfamiliar man behind the bar until she was forced to converse with him, feeling rather exsposed in her wayward top.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 2:54 pm
Pyroth had not been formally invited to the beach party and therefore was largely in the dark as to the events planned for the day. However, that didn't stop him taking his usual walk around the island. He liked to spend some time in the sun each day, remenicing on the waves. It helped him relax to an extent. Today however, on arrival at the beach, he became aware of a few others already at the bar and raised a single crimson brow.
He recognised Ambrose, but did not recall ever meeting the other man before. He didn't want to interrupt them, never one to barge into conversation, so he made his way over to the bar, with every apparent intention of retreiving a drink with as little fuss as possible. He noted Greer aswell, was something going on today?
If anyone saw fit to greet him, then he'd have a reason to join the conversation.
-Edited-
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:03 pm
Hargun was not in a great mood today... just from the clump of stress that had been eating away at her head. However when Amaya came the other day to hang out it cheered her up enough to bring up the courage to walk outside now with her new transformation.
"Alrighty.. to the beach we go... to be.. utterly STARED at.." she grumbled and threw on the beanie Amaya gave her and covered her eyes just incase the sun decided to shine in her eyes tauntingly when she opened the door.
Down to the beach she went in her two piece sarong, but she felt like wearing a large t shirt over her fuzzy self.. just untill everyone got used to the change. When she reached the bar, she hung her head and stared at the ground, lifting a long arm and waving to Ambrose and Greer. "...hey guys.." she said, and grabbed a seat at the bar.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:09 pm
Ianwas going on his daily trip to the bar. Upon arrival he found that he knew everyone there, except he didn't know the name of the man who was really....Ian hated to think the wordto describe a man - pretty. "Hey," he said smiling slightly. "Didn't expect to see so many people here." He glanced at Hargun and did a double take. It lookd like she had started to change as well. Unsure what to say to her, he forced himself to give her a warm smile. "It'll be alright" he ended up saying. "Don't let it get you down." He hoped she knew he was trying to reassure her about the transformation even though he hadn't been really blunt or clear about it.
Greer was also there. Great, last time they had talked, he had scared Greer off, he hoped his being here wouldn't make her leave.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:16 pm
Ambrose looked up as people began gathering at the bar. Oddly, only two others were actually people he had invited, not that he minded the company, but it might prove for a rather diffrent dynamic than he imagined.
He smiled to Vasile as he sidled up to the bar. "Glad you could make it, Vasile." He smiled. "And I promise..." He gestured as Greer and Hargun approached. "See? Though... I do hope Cassidy shows - I know she got the invitation."
He smiled and looked over at the list. "How about a margarita? Frozen." He replied, jokingly panting and waving his hand in front of his face. "It's damn hot."
He smiled and rose as Greer approached, unable to help himself as he looked her over. "Wow, Greer! You're looking fantastic!" He exclaimed, and embraced her, pausing for a moment longer in his hold as he smelled in her scent and savored the comforting feeling of her body against his. He gestured over to Vasile. "This is Vasile DiRossi."
"Vasile, this is Greer" He give him a significant look.
Ambrose did a doubletake at Hargun as she waved. Maybe it was just a trick of the light or distance, but her arm looked longer than it should be.... But he smiled and waved back.
Seeing Pyroth, Ambrose swallowed wondering how the strange man was doing, and hoping that he wasn't still in a down mood. He nodded towards him, letting him make his own decision as far as weather he wanted this much company.
As Ian approached, Ambrose looked at Hargun again... indeed... there was fuz along the sides of her face, and looking closer, it appeared that her fingers were webbed... with black webbing. His first thought was remembering The Dude's familiar fin-like hands, but they were different - the fingers slender... and suddenly the picture of a bat came to mind, and he gave a flinch, though he tried to cover it up afterwards.
"Well, glad to see so many people showed...." Ambrose started... "Cassidey and the Dude might be showing later, but... well... I was figuring we could try to relax a bit, get to know eachother...." He gave a look and a smile to Greer. "And perhaps have a rather interesting game of Truth Or Dare..."
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:22 pm
Vasile looks surprised at the sudden flock of people around the bar. He only met Ambrose out of the whole lot.
He smiled to Ambrose and let his eyes linger of Greer. Nice pick, Vasile thought. Not really my type, but more power to you, bro. She's pretty hot "Greer! What a pleasure to meet you!" He reached over and took her hand, brining it up so he could brush his lips against the back lightly. "Ambrose has told told me all about you--all good, I promise!" He smiled and started to gather the materials for Amrbose's drink.
You know, this was kind of fun. Cleaning his apartment.. making drinks. Funny what little things you miss when you're used to everyone else doing everything for you.
Vasile was bit dissapointed Cass hadn't shown, but he tried to keep his spirits high. Dude wasn't here, so he could focus his attention of helping Ambrose. I mean, the situation seemed custom made to order.
He looked around to everyone else and gave a brilliant white smile. "Good afternoon folks! Lookie here, Vasile DiRossi - model, movie star, and bartender! What's your poisen?" He asked the group.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:31 pm
Smiling at Ambrose, she raised an eyebrow at Vasile's greeting. For some reason the almost-kiss on the back of her hand made her want to bristle. Being an inherintly non violent person, she settled for a little bit of sarcasm. "Nice to meet you too."
Turning back to her friend as she sat, she fidgited with the hem of her shirt. "Thanks! This is about as dressed up as I can manage."
Turning to wave at Hargun, she kept her smile and greeting steady as she took in the girl's changes. "Le artiste! How have you been?" Poor thing looked pretty gloomy.
She noted the arrival of that Pyroth fellow she'd seen before, and also Ian, who had scared her a bit when they met. Still, being surrounded be people made her not want to flee.
Turning to Vasile, she made her usual, nicely ironic order. "Grasshopper for me, please."
Returning finally to Ambrose, she brightened visibly at his mention of who else might attend. "Sean and Cassidy are coming? Good! Although if we play 'Truth or Dare' with Mr. Carroll around I suspect I'll be in trouble."
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:33 pm
Pyroth noted Ambrose's subtle nod and returned his own. Quite fortunately, he was once again in a positive mood, only really slipping into a slump when he let himself stare into the abyss that lay before him in terms of the future. However, so long as he simply kept his head up, he was fine.
A sudden flash of self-conciousness returned to him as he noted the others gathered around the bar, many of whom he knew. It seemed that a few more of his fellow islanders had also developed features distinctive to their future animal alts, still, that didn't stop Pyroth himself from feeling a little embarressed in front of those who had not yet changed at all. In particular he felt a twinge of inferiority in front of the handsome blonde man, old associations springing to mind.
As Hargun approached the group, Pyroth cast a normal customary glance in her direction and was surprised, though not too suprised to see the changes seemed to have affected her too. Well, the islanders were changing many and fast it seemed, he just wondered when it would all end.
As Ambrose spoke again, Pyroth returned his attention to him once more.
A chance to mingle sounded good, the truth or dare worried him slightly. Nevertheless he nodded mutely and replied to Vasile.
"I'll have any whisky you can reccomend."
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:42 pm
Hargun snorted and tried to smile at Ian.. she could tell he was trying to be reassuring but.. just her mood roared at every word that came from everyones mouth. "Thanks." she turned to Greer. "Not to well.. if it wasnt already obvious. " She scratched her larger ears with her boney, slender fingers then sighed.
She wasnt thristy tonite so she didnt ask for a drink. Socializing and being with the other islanders who knew the trouble she was going through was all she felt like doing today.
Eyeing each person she discovered that there were only two islanders who hadnt changed yet. She placed her finger down on the bar, resting her head in her other arm while etching into the bar's surface, a doodle of a cartoony bat-self.
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