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 Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 8:06 pm
"That's what I said too." He said, the sarcasm playing in his voice and face. "And unless we're all in a loony bin.... or some great Matrix movie, then it's real as far as I'm concerned. I sure as hell didn't imagine the pain of the transformation and how it felt to grow a bloody tail."
Almost as soon as he said it, Ambrose's winced, looking back to Angelina guiltily. He had been trying to downplay that part of it all. He had admitted it hurt, but .... not tried to go into great detail.
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 10:13 pm
"So wha', li' is this some sor' o' cursed island?? Yer all turnin' into were- *animals*?" Billy replied in a high, paniced voice. "y'have t'understand tha's absolutely daft! Let alone scientifically impossible! Ye can't jes'... hop down the evolutionary ladder and then scurry back up where'st y'feel!"
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 11:16 pm
Angelina cringed alittle at Ambrose's words and the sick feeling in her stomach turned. She had no idea how to talk to about this with someone, let alone try to break the news to someone knew. She climbed back onto the couch and folded her arms around her knees and sighed.
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 11:24 pm
Ambrose hesitated a moment as he could smell Angelina's trepidation. He shot her an apologetic look, his confidence waning, feeling torn between the withdrawing Angelina and the increasinly elevating voice (and fear) of the man whom he had only met moments ago.
However, the newcomer's scene was difficult to ignore. His ears pressed harder against his head and he whet his lips, really trying to keep a level head.
Striking a sharp contrast, On the screen Julia Roberts, blissfully ignorant of the scene unfolding around the television, was thoroughly enjoying her shopping spree. But while the Cinderella was blossoming in a world that repreived her of the sordid past, Billy was finding himself in a punishment.
The wolfman before him grinding the reality of the situation that the lack of drugs revealed to him.
"There is no 'were' about it." Ambrose winced. "There is no 'going back' - at will or otherwise. From everything that has been indicated, there is no shapeshifting, no "getting better." Just worse." He had seen the people who had been dissuaded through lies only turn violent when the truth was revealed. But the longer they seemed to go without foreknowledge the worse it seemed to be. And Ambrose refused to cater to that.
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Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:13 am
Billy's mouth opened and closed a few times in a sputtering silence. He staggered backward again, shaking his head befor stumbling towards the door. This was madness! These people where insane! You can't just turn people into animals. Science doesn't work like that! There were all sorts of... complicated... complications in the way! And while Billy didn't understand even the begining of genetics, he knew it was a bit harder than a whim to grow a tail. He was not in the mood.
He wanted his stash back. And he wanted it now.
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Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 12:26 pm
Angelina watched the man go with a frown. She should probably feel more sorry for him than she did, but being here waiting to change... her sympathies for anyone but herself were rather thin at the moment.
She raised an eyebrow and looked to Ambrose, wondering if he was going to let him go or go after him.
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Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 12:36 pm
Ambrose sighed with a shake of his head that spoke of both sympathy and frustration. His hackles finally began to settle down at the man's impromptu and wordless exit.
The unasked question lingered in his mind as well. The man obviously wasn't stable, nor was he handling the shock very well. Should he go after him? But what good would that do other than open himself up for more screaming and looks of horror in the man's eyes. Ambrose considered himself for the most part strong, but seeing onesself reflected back in those eyes... feeling like a freak, an abomination.... each time it strained him a little more. He felt the battling feelings of responsibility and horror of breaking the news to anyone, and almost every time it hurt.
The man needed some time to cool down most likely, and he had more important, closer matters to deal with at the time.
With another, more resolute shake of his head he returned to the couch with Angelina, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leaning to touch his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry.... about all that." A sigh.
"So much for a quiet afternoon." The room still had the lingering scent of cigarette smoke - at least to him, the burn in the couch evidence of the situation.
His eyes traveled to the animal book, now knocked to the floor and open to a section on Lemurs. The answer to the mystery still lay unfound in its pages. He brought his eyes back up to Angelina in askance.
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Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 12:39 pm
Angelina snuggled back down into the couch. "s'okay, not like I can relax right now anyway." She nodded to the Animals book.
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Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 12:46 pm
He leaned more against her, picking the book up off the floor and giving it a cursory brush off.
"Still.... I'm certain that that sort of thing isn't what you wanted to deal with on top of everything else today."
He would do it... he'd flip to the index...
His claw ran down the listing of animal names, all packed together and devoid of any sort of meaning - positive or negative. Just words.
His finger stopped at the G's, scrolling down slowly until he saw the word. Genet. Page 134. Simple enough, right?
With a breath, he lifed the corners of the pages just enough to see their numbering, flipping quickly, then more slowly. Till it was there. He snuck his hand into the gap between the pages, and proferred the still-closed book to her. "It's here..."
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Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 12:58 pm
Angelina shifted in the sofa. She sank low and buries her face in a cushion. "You look first," she muffled.
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Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:08 pm
He couldn't help but smile, even given the tension. She was so cute sometimes, even when she didn't intend to be.
He looked down to the book. Even though it was just an inanimate object, he could swear that it was laughing daringly at him.
He closed his eyes and flipped the book open quickly. Counting to three, he looked down at the page.
And his tension melted away almost immediately as his eyes widened as he looked down at the unfamiliar creature peering out of the photographs on the pages. He blinked, doublechecked the name, and then smiled.
Aubrey was right! It was cute. And catlike... and yet not at the same time.
"Angelina! Open your eyes! Honestly, it's not bad at all!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:16 pm
Angelina whined into the cushion for a second, but then she took a deep breath and looked up. She crawled slowly closer to Ambrose and peered over her shoulder.
She blinked at the weird, glossy-eyed catlike creature that stared back at her. "That?"
She tilted her head. Okay, so it wasn't ugly. But the thought of... you know.. HER turning into that made her shudder. She got a mental flash of her head of hair on the quadpedal creature in the photograph.
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Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:16 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:30 pm
While Ambrose wasn't privvy to the thoughts running through Angelina's head, he could see the unsure look mixed with the reaction that at least she seemed to agree that the animal wasn't a horrid choice.
"Apparently so... unless there is some other sort of 'catlike genet' I'm unaware of..." He smiled encouragingly. "It's an omnivore... not an animal a wolf eats... it's a mammal and fuzzy... and admittedly cute. I will admit that I can think of a lot worse things." He ran a hand along her cheek.
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