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 Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 5:37 pm
[Welcoming RP With Archie Saturn (Smerdle) ]
Knock, knock, knock.
Archie stood outside of Raven's house, his hands clasped behind his back around a little stuffed dog. She had asked him to come over to meet her newest child, Bella's newest sister, and seeing how he couldn't refuse Raven anything - except, apparently, a proper declaration of love - Archie had come. Dixie had offered to watch the kids, only after Archie had promised to try to get a job again. He couldn't wait.
Raven smiled and smoothed out her skirt, leading Madeline by the hand down to the front door. She opened the door and her smile widened "Archie. I'm glad you came, this is Madeline."
Madeline stood slightly behind Raven fidgeting slightly, her spider legs folded close to her body, her guardian had told her that this man was important to her, and Madeline was worried that if he didn't like her she would be left alone again.
"Hey," Archie said, returning Raven's smile and adding a little wave. It had been... two months since the last time he had been here, and as he often did, he wondered why he had stayed away so long. His eyes dropped to the little girl half-hidden by Raven's skirt. "Hi to you too." He said it softly. She certainly looked nervous. He pulled the dog toy out from behind his back with the hand that had stayed there while he had waved and offered it to Madeline. "It's nice to meet you."
Madeline looked at his hand curiously "for me?" She was confused, why was he giving her a gift? It wasn't a special occasion was it? Was she supposed to have something for him?
Raven smiled "yes Madeline sweetie its for you, he brought it as a gift to welcome you into the family."
Madeline took the stuffed puppy from the man's fingers "thank you." she ran her fingers over the plush fur of the toy "'s soft."
Raven smiled and kissed Archie on the cheek "that was sweet of you Chie."
He nodded. "That's why I picked it," he said, still grinning slightly. He wrapped an arm around Raven's waist and gave her a quick sideways squeeze before loosening his grip. "And you're welcome." It was nice to see a child act like a child for once, instead of something that just looked like a child, but stared at you like it knew something about you that you didn't. Archie supposed that phase was coming, since all children on Gaia seemed to go through it, but for now Madeline seemed like she was just scared of him. Hopefully she wouldn't be for long.
"So, what were you guys doing before I got here... late? I'm sorry about that," he added, flattening the hem of his shirt.
Madeline didn't respond this time, simply looking down and rubbing at the soft fluff on the stuffed toy. It was very pretty, it was nice of the man to bring her a present.
Raven leaned onto Archie "We were just about to eat dinner, you have amazing timing luv."
"Oh, good," Archie said. "What are we having?" He watched Madeline pet at the toy and smiled to himself. He looked toward the kitchen. "Is everybody waiting?"
"We are having chicken, and a surprise for desert." She bumped her hip against his.
Archie's stomach nearly rumbled at the thought. He felt bad for a moment that he was going to get actual delicious food when the rest of his family was probably having plain spaghetti tonight, but that quickly passed. "Ooo, a surprise," he teased.
Raven grinned "Yes a surprise, and maybe if you are good, I'll give you some extra dessert later." she winked at him before glancing down at Madeline. "You hungry kiddo?"
Madeline nodded and headed for the dinning room in silence, still clutching the stuffed animal.
Archie kept his mouth shut, but his smirk revealed exactly what he thought of Raven's proposal. He followed the little girl, somehow only just noticing that she had four thin spider arms growing out of her back. Like Doc Ock and Spider-Man combined, except small. And a girl.
Raven followed the two of them to the room where Bella and Ryvan already sat at the table ready for dinner, they really had been just about to sit down to dinner.
Madeline slid quietly into her seat and grasped the fork in her fingers.
"Hey, you two," Archie said by way of greeting. He wiggled his fingers at his daughter and nodded at Ryvan. They were all growing up so fast. "Where do you want me?" Archie asked Raven, eyeing the remaining chairs. It probably wasn't the best idea to sit next to Madeline, not after they'd just met anyway.
"You can sit between Bella and Me hun."
Ryvan looked up at Archie "Can Alek come over next week? We need to play in the backyard before it gets too cold."
Bella grinned at her daddy's welcome and hugged him "Hi, Daddy!" Her tail flicking about in her excitement.
Madeline just kind of watched the family interact. This was her new family and she hopped that someday she would fit in like all of them did. For now she just kind of felt like an outsider in a big crowd.
Archie sat, returning Bella's hug and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I missed you," he said, tugging the end of her squirming tail lightly.
He turned to Ryvan. "Yeah, sure. That'll be cool. It'll get him out of the house." Alek had been having trouble sleeping lately. Maybe Ryvan could help him, or at least find out what was wrong, since he and Dixie didn't seem to be having any luck at it. "I'll bring him over soon."
Bella grinned "yay. missed you too" She giggled when he tugged her tail "silly"
Ryvan mounced in her seat a bit, yay, she was going to get to see her friend again! Maybe this time without his sisters.
Madeline still held the soft toy in her hand under the table smoothing the fur as she ate with the other hand.
Archie turned to his food and tried to eat as slowly as possible. He did an admirable job, considering how hungry he was. In an attempt to make a decent impression in front of the kids, he finished swallowing before addressing Raven. "This is really good." He watched Madeline for a moment, wondering what the girl was thinking about.
Feeling someone's eyes on her Madeline looked up, meeting Archie's gaze. Her former mother had been right about one thing her unwavering gaze was slightly unnerving. She wondered why the man was looking at her, did he want her to pass something?
Raven laughed at Archie's attempt to eat slowly "hungry?"
Archie went slightly wide-eyed when Madeline noticed him looking at her and lightly coughed into his hand to try to cover the fact that he'd been doing so. "Mmm hmm," Archie agreed. "That, and you're just a good cook."
Madeline just continued to watch Archie as he ate, she liked to watch people, it made her feel closer to them.
"Flattery will get you nowhere mister." She grinned at him.
"Well then I'll just have to think of some other way to make you love me," Archie said. They were probably the wrong words to use, but Archie didn't think of the meaning behind them. He picked up his fork and smiled at Madeline for a second before concentrating on his food again.
Raven just nodded and filed that away for a more private moment. She looked down a moment at her plate and took a bite.
Madeline broke her gaze away from Archie and took a bite from her plate.
Archie kept quiet until he was finished, sneaking glances at Raven and the girls around the table as he ate. He imagined his own family there too... minus one, and it made him smile. One day, maybe, his life could actually be like the one he saw in his head.
Raven reached across the table and squeezed Archie's hand "we need to talk later babe."
Madeline looked between the adults confused, the mood int he room had changed, it was uncomfortable at the table now.
He swallowed nervously, any food he had eaten long gone. "Yeah. Okay." Archie thought back on what he had said and suddenly felt much more uneasy over the silence that enveloped them.
Raven glanced around the table, the children had all finished with their plates a moment ago and didn't look like they were about to ask for more. "Anyone for dessert?"
Ryvan nodded, as did Bella, Madeline looked thoughtful for a moment and then followed her sisters in nodding.
Archie cleared his throat. "Do you need any help?" he asked, his voice low. He wondered again what Raven had made for dessert, but he didn't dare ask now. He would soon know what the surprise was anyway.
"Nope, I'll be right back" She stacked the empty plates and went to the kitchen returning with a tray with five bowls on them. Each bowl contained a scoop of french vanillia ice cream, sprinkled with chocolate covered grasshopers. "tada" she winked at Madeline who almost grinned despite herself.
Archie took his bowl and stared into it. Cute. "Thanks," he said. Madeline seemed pleased as well. Maybe he should have bought her a bug instead of a puppy.
Ryvan and Bella had been a bit creeped out by the appearance of insects at the dinner table, but they had gotten used to it within the last few days.
Madeline was thrilled and took a bite of her ice cream, making sure that a grasshopper was included in the bite.
Raven watched the group at the table smiling, this was her family, what she had been waiting for.
Archie picked up his spoon and took a bite, making sure a grasshopper was in his biteful too. He chewed, stopped chewing, looked vaguely confused, started chewing again, and swallowed.
"Are these... real bugs?" he asked. He wasn't disgusted or anything, just curious. Where did you even buy chocolate-covered bugs?
Madeline's eyes snapped up and she began watching the man, did he think they were weird for eating bugs? Raven wasn't weird and neither were Ryvan or Bella, they had said that lots of people ate bugs. Maybe the man was the weird one. Her eyes narrowed and she had the strange urge to bite him and tell him that he was the one who was weird, but she knew it would upset her new mother-thing and so she stayed in her seat.
Raven laughed "yes you dork, what did you think they were?" She glanced towards Madeline a moment, she hopped that Madeline hadn't taken that the wrong way, it had taken them hours to convince her that she wasn't a freak for eating the bugs. She just hoped that this hadn't reversed it.
"Fake ones, maybe?" He had never even thought to imagine what grasshoppers tasted like, but if they all liked them, surely he was missing out. Archie took another bite, trying to keep himself from smiling as he chewed and swallowed again. "They're good." He nodded and kept eating.
Madeline looked back down at her plate and continued eating. The man wasn't making fun of them, good.
"Of course they are good sweetie. I am a genious" she grinned.
"I know." Archie unknowingly kept a satisfied little grin on his face as he finished his dessert and set his spoon in his empty bowl. Bugs. Dixie would be pissed if he even suggested that she eat such things. Without food in front of them or his own naive comments to make Raven laugh, he wondered how long it would be before they got back to whatever she wanted to talk about.
Raven watched Archie as he finished his desert and glanced at the kids. "Alright, bed time for all the little ones. Archie want to put Bella down and meet me in the livingroom?"
"Yeah, sure," Archie agreed. "Night Ryvan," he said to the red-haired girl. "And it was very nice to meet you, Madeline." He smiled at the girls and reached for his daughter. "You ready for bed, Bella?"
Bella nodded and crawled into her father's lap "no bed"
Madeline waved her hand at the man and followed Raven up the stairs, she really didn't mind going to bed, it was dark in her room and the blankets were soft against her skin. It was like being wrapped in a cloud, all soft and fluffy.
Ryvan followed her mother as well albeit slightly more reluctantly. it wasn't that she minded going to bed, but more that she felt she was missing out on something while everyone else was awake.
"Yes bed," Archie said, holding Bella close. He stood and followed Raven, Madeline and Ryvan, turning toward Bella's room at the top of the stairs. Pulling aside the blanket, he gently set the girl on her bed. "Tired?" he asked, figuring he knew what the answer would be.
"no" She pouted "no bed"
Archie's brow furrowed a hair as he kneeled beside the bed. "Well, I can tell you a story, I guess. Do you want to hear a story?"
"long story" Bella grinned, she never got stories, mainly because her mother had learned she wouldn't sleep but would sit up all night asking for more.
"Okay, a long one," Archie said with a nod. "But first, we've got to get you changed." He started to pick her up again. Now where were her pajamas?
Bella grinned, her daddy was going to be all night getting her readyfor bed, and then he had promised her a story, she was never going to have to sleep.
Archie carried Bella over to her dresser, picked out PJs and was about to put them on her when he realized that she was in a diaper, and yes, he had to change it. No big deal, or so he hoped. He had changed many diapers, but those had been covering a baby girl who was actually a 35-year-old man. Baby wipes, new diaper, baby powder. He set the toddler down and started what he hoped would be a painless process.
Bella sighed he was going about this far quicker then she wanted "two storie?"
He chuckled. "Maybe." He pulled her up into a sitting position. "Put your arms up," Archie coaxed, holding up the cutest nightgown he had ever seen.
Her arms went into the air and she let her daddy put the nightgown over her. "thank you daddy"
"You are very welcome," Archie said. He scooped Bella into his arms again and planted a noisy kiss on her cheek as he brought her back over to the bed. In another minute they were settled, Bellatrix under the covers and Archie next to her with his feet hanging off of the side of the bed onto the floor. "Okay, what kind of story do you want to hear? Space story or princess story?"
"Princess!" She liked princesses, she giggled when he kissed her cheek
Archie launched into a wild tale of a beautiful violet-haired, green-eyed girl who lived high in a tower on a mountain until her eighteenth birthday, the day that she found out - from a golden letter brought by a tiny flying bear - that she was Princess of the Entire Universe. Her parents, the king and queen, had been forced by an evil alien (because Archie didn't feel a story was a story unless it involved aliens) to lock their daughter up when she was just a baby, but now they needed her help. The alien knew it was her 18th birthday, and he planned to kill her parents and force her to marry him, so he could be King of the Entire Universe. The princess broke out of her tower room and travelled across the land, fighting dragons and other monsters, and even picking up a handsome future husband along the way, a young man who listened when she had something to say, and was otherwise completely awesome. The alien got himself killed, of course, so the beautiful princess remained fair and pure and had no blood on her hands, and they all lived happily ever after.
Halfway through the story, Archie began to lower and even out his voice, hoping it would lull Bella to sleep. He wasn't sure he had another story this cool in him.
Bella was long gone by the time happily ever after came around, asleep and dreaming of her own prince
[TBC...]
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Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 6:37 am
[Reserved for rp with umbra... waiting on umbra]
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Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 8:30 am
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Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 8:31 am
"Keep up, can-eater," Madeline huffed as she strode down the block, Aleksandr more than a few paces behind her. All she had wanted was to get out of the house, to stop feeling Jack's condescending stares on her back and Dixie's disappointed ones. Alek was the only one she knew she could still boss around, especially in her new, larger body, so there they were, walking down the street toward where Madi vaguely remembered that woman, Raven's, house was. That Ryvan girl had been a... sparkplug, to put it politely. Maybe she would be home. Madeline grinned.
"You're passing it," Alek said. Madeline turned around and her smile melted into a glare that she directed at Alek's finger as it pointed to the house she had just been in front of. "I should knock," he added.
Madeline nodded and followed Alek to the front door, trying to keep her hands from throttling him as he rang the bell.
Ryvan was indeed home, and bored. Her mother and Bella were making cookies in the kitchen and neither her or Madeline wanted to help make them and so they were left to find something else to do which left both girls doing nothing.
Raven however was the one to answer the door, a flour covered Bella walking behind her. "Hello Alek, and you're Madeline aren't you?"
"Hey," Alek said, a smile on his face despite his sister?...aunt?...great grandmother? and her sour expression behind him. "Is Ryvan home?" Although he was far from old enough to be wandering the streets by himself, he thought he was playing the assertive card rather well. Maybe she wouldn't ask where Archie or Dixie were. "Hey, Bella," he added. His jealousy toward the other child had dissipated almost completely over the past few months once he had realized there were more important things in life than his grandfather's constant affection.
Madeline nodded again, choosing to say nothing instead of some insincere sentiment she didn't feel.
Raven nodded "yep she's upstairs in her room., let me know when you guys are leaving, I don't want you walking alone." She smiled at Madeline "you gonna go play with them or do you want to see Ryvan's other sister?"
Bella grinned "Hi Alek, we are making cookies!"
"Cool!" he said to Bella as he jogged past her and started up the stairs. "Yup, I'll let you know," Alek said over his shoulder to Raven.
Madeline's brow furrowed. There was another one? How many kids did this woman need? The twin prospects of playing with Alek or baking cookies with Jack's b*****d daughter didn't thrill her, so she said, "Sure. Where is she?"
Raven smiled and pointed towards the livingroom "she's just in there, let me know if you girls need anything I'll be in the kitchen."
"Okay." Madeline walked where she was directed, speaking before she was fully in the room. "Hey, is anyone in here?"
Madeline looked up from her spot on the couch, the tv was off and she was curled into the cushy arm. Spider legs curled over her body somewhat, almost protective in stance. "I'm in here."
The orange-haired girl peered around the doorframe, brightening when she saw the spider girl on the couch. At least this one seemed interesting. "Hey, I'm Madeline," she said. "Do you mind if I come in?"
"Sure" Madeline smiled a bit "My name is Madeline too." the girl didn't seem too bad yet, she actually seemed pretty nice.
"Really? Funny." The criminal smirked. "Well I guess you don't want me to make up a new name for you so we won't have the same one, right?" Unless... Should she? Eh, why not? "You can call me Danon if you'd like. For later, you know, when you're writing in your journal about how you met this super-nice girl today and you have to write 'Madeline' like a million times and you just go and confuse yourself later when you think you're writing about you." Madeline crossed the room and plopped down on the sofa, the cushions letting out a whoosh of air as a result of her landing. "So, where'd you get those extra legs? Can you climb walls with 'em?"
"Danon, sounds nice." The girl was definatley nice, she liked her. "I was born with them, no I can't climb walls, they suck, only good for making people stare at me and call me names behind my back. I hate them."
"Who calls you names? Your sister has a ******** tail." Madeline coughed into her hand, shrugging apologetically. She supposed it wasn't the b*****d's fault her father was a traitorous s**t. But then again, Madeline herself was being sent away in order to keep this 'family' happy. Why should she care what sort of venom she injected into it before she left? "Sorry, I've known some people with tails who can't be trusted is all. I guess I'm just as bad as the ones making fun of you, judging before I get to know someone." There, fixed. She leaned back into the cushions. "Next time someone says something, hiss at 'em or scream that they're hurting you, even if they aren't." Danon had been affected by people crying wolf his whole life. It was time for a little payback, even if he would never see its effects. "Or if you don't do that, at least turn it around on them. Everyone's got something that makes them feel bad about themselves, you've just got to find it."
She looked up at the girl next to her on the couch and grinned, she wished that she could talk like this girl, Bella was a brat that got everyones attention so she really could care less about what the girl, Danon, had to say about her. Madeline looked back down she smiled a little bit and snorted, she'd never have the courage to actually do anything to someone. And besides the majority of people she didn't get to hear say anything, she just knew that they did. She uncurled a bit fidgeting with the layers of her skirt, it was hot and uncomfortable but it was dark and it was nice and no one was trying to force her into bright flowery colors anymore.
Madeline sighed, pulling her hair back away from her face. She didn't think she would ever develop useful girly habits like carrying around a rubber band for situations like this. "So what do you do around here? We played DDR last time, and now there's cookie baking? I guess you're too little to go out places. I am too," she chuckled.
Madeline shrugged "I do... not much." It was the truth there really wasn't much to do around the Arrikanez household at the moment. "We could watch a movie or something? What do you want to do?" She didn't really want to do either but she was bored.
"Well, we don't have to do anything. We could just talk about stuff." It was fun having a captive and willing audience, one that didn't sneer or tell her she was worthless just because someone they loved more had told them so. "Like why weren't you here the last time when I was?" Madeline wasn't quite aware of the habit most Gaians had of picking up parentless children, even though she knew Alek wasn't Dixie's natural son.
Madeline if it was possible curled in even further into the couch " I wasn't here yet then. I was... somewhere." Madeline never talked about Eden or her family before that, she just didn't "I havn't been here that long."
"Hmm." Something she had said had upset the spider girl and that wouldn't do. Perhaps a minor subject change was in order. "I came from space in a tiny little ship with my sister," the girl said. "My family doesn't like me much, but I'm hoping when they send me away I can meet some nicer people." People who didn't know what she had done and would never find out. People who listened without question. Danon had always found it easy to make friends, it was keeping them that was difficult.
Madeline smiled sadly at the other girl "my other family didn't like me very much either, I don't know about this family but..." 'I don't see how they could' was silent hanging in the air between them a moment "Its sad that you have to go away though, you seem nice."
"I'm happy to leave," the other Madeline said. She didn't comment on whether or not she was nice. That remained to be seen. "I'm sure I'll be home for holidays," she added. "We can hang out or something." Of course, it would likely have to be in secret, like this visit was, but that would be easy enough to arrange.
Madeline noddded, hanging out later sounded very nice.
The criminal crossed her arms and sighed. "So you said you can't climb walls, right? Do you know anyone who can do magic?" Madeline was insatiably curious about the powers that seemed to be an everyday occurence around here. "I wish I could learn."
"Ryvan wants to learn magic, and Raven says she might be able to help her. But I can't do any." The whispered 'I wish I could' was almost silent.
"Yeah, Alek can do some when he plays songs and stuff. I don't think he knows what he's doing though. Woke Ja... Archie out of a dead sleep once, barely playing anything at all. I wonder if we can learn. We should try." Gaining some sort of magic would finally make the past year worth the pain in the a** it had been.
She smiled a bit "that would be nice" it really would maybe they could learn how to do all sorts of different things.
Madeline bounced to her feet as quickly as she had sat earlier and began pacing. "I hope the school they're sending me to has a library," she said. "I don't know the first thing about my inner eye or grounding myself or calling my animal spirit or whatever." She stopped and looked at the other girl. "Do spiders like you? Like more than other kids?"
Madeline shrugged, spiders were kind of wary of her but for the most part indifferent.
The criminal dropped to the floor, reaching in the side of her shoe and pulling out a pen. "Can you write down the address here?" she asked, thrusting out her foot, the white canvas part of her sneaker facing up. "I don't want to have to ask Alek."
Madeline looked at the other girl for a moment and then nodded, taking the pen and writing the adress that Raven had drilled into her head on Danon's shoe. "There you go Danon."
She squinted her eyes at the words on her shoe and looked pleased. "Thanks," she said. "I'll get you mine when I know what it is." Madeline pushed herself back to her feet and sat next to the spider girl on the couch. She sighed. "I'm bored." She looked over at Madeline. "Not your fault. I just get bored easily."
Madeline nodded "I'm usually bored, but there isn't anything to do." The girl sighed "sorry" and fell silent again, fingers toying with the lace on her dress, she was beginning to hate it because it felt almost smothering, but she didn't really know how to ask for different clothes, and she didn't want to be forced into flowery clothes like her former guardian had tried to make her.
Glancing down at her own baggy jeans and button-down shirt, Madeline said, "That dress is... nice. Itchy, it looks like. Did you pick it out?"
Madeline nodded "yeah" She sounded far from pleased at this "It is itchy... and hot."
"Didn't... what's her name... Raven get you some that weren't so formal-looking? I'm sure she would, just ask her. I'll even ask her." The woman might have found nothing odd about sleeping with some worthless piece of cloying, felt-covered s**t, but at least she seemed to be a decent parent. Madeline reached out and poked at the lace on the other girl's dress. "'Cause you can't be wearing that all the time, like a doll."
Madeline blushed, the girl didn't like her clothing? Did she really look like a doll? She sighed and snuggled a bit closer into the couch as if it would protect her from the other girls disapproval.
Thankfully, the blush changed the spider-girl's pale skin enough to be readily noticed or Madeline never would have. "What?" She forced herself to think back to the things that had just come out of her mouth. "Well, you can't! What if you wanted to... I don't know... run around or something?" Talking to girls of any age had been so much easier when she had been a guy. Now everything she said wasn't manly, it was bitchy. "Sorry," she muttered, letting out a sigh of her own and leaning back against the base of the couch.
Madeline shrugged "I'm sorry. I just.." she shrugged.
"Don't worry about it." She pushed her way back up the couch until she was sitting normally. "I won't say anything else about your clothes." Madeline drew breath to speak, but whatever she was going to say was stalled by Alek entering the room.
"Is she... bothering you?" he asked Madeline, the one who didn't live in his house.
Madeline looked up at the boy, it was Ryvan's friend, Alek she thought his name was "no, she isn't bothering me at all." And go away, we were having a nice time. But of course she was too timid to say that last part out loud, only in her head. She looked at the other Madeline "Its okay, you were right anyway, maybe I'll ask."
"Madi, we should go," Alek said, with a certain amount of self-righteousness. "It's dark out."
The criminal shrugged, possibly in response to both of the other people in the room. Turning to Alek, she said, "Ooo, what happens at night, loser?" She looked at the window. "Fine." Madeline stood and brushed at the back of her pants. "Gotta go," she said to the other Madeline. "I'll let you know where I am when I move. I really want to talk about what we talked about some more," she said. Gaining some sort of magical ability, even if it was only a couple of near-useless spells, was certain to make her life a lot more bearable, especially when she was away at school.
Madeline nodded "I'll write you, I promise."
Alek shot Madeline a suspicious look. 'Talk about what they talked about?' What did that mean? Instead of asking, he just nodded and led the way out of the room, Madeline plodding along behind.
Madeline sighed and watched as her new friend left following Ryvan's friend. And that made up her mind, she didn't think that she liked this boy very much.
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Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 8:34 am
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Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 8:35 am
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Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 4:42 pm
There is a letter and a package for Madeline in the mailbox today.The Letter Dear Madeline,
I hope you're enjoying your new home okay! I know you didn't get any of your toys when you moved, so I'm sending you a doll. She's very pretty and when I saw her I thought of you. Unfortunately, she didn't come with a very good dress or a name, so I think that it would be a fun thing for you to give her a name and sew a dress for her.
Please come visit me at the Project House soon and let me know how you're doing!
Love,
Shouko
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:22 pm
[Growth Quest Part One: Letters and Patterns and Fabric, Oh My!]
Madeline looked down at the letter in her hands and tilted her head, she was supposed to sew a dress for the doll? But she didn't even know how to sew. Of course when she had shown Raven the letter the woman had told her that she would teach her how to make a dress using the sewing machine in the sewing room.
---
Which was why Madeline was currently sitting on a stool looking through a big book of doll dress patterns they were all boring, and she could see now what Danon had meant about her not being able to walk around looking like a doll. Which made her even more glad that Raven had taken her to get new clothes. She sighed and looked at the nameless doll, should she put her in a dress like she used to wear or something not so big and lacy?
She kept flipping through the pages, passing pages and pages of boring frilly dresses and things that would look better in a picture book then on a doll. She sighed and switched books to one that had more fun looking dresses and even some patterns to make cloth dolls and smiled when she reached the dress she wanted, it was a simple dress but still very pretty, and it had a ribbon at the middle. She took the pattern number from the book and walked towards Raven who was looking at a bunch of different fabrics. Raven found the pattern booklet easily enough, it was a simple dress, something actually good for a beginner to sew.
With the pattern picked out it was time for fabric. There were silks, satins, velvets and cottons everywhere, in every color that the spider girl could ever have thought existed. It took nearly an hour for Madeline to pick her fabric, the first was too rough, the second to fuzzy, and it continued that way until she came across a gauzy material with spider webs on it in the Halloween isle, as well as a dark red cotton to go under the gauze. Luckily it took much less time for Madeline to pick out a ribbon, silver, and to choose between zippers or clasps for the back of the dress.
Fabric and pattern chosen, it was time to head home. After a quick lunch Raven was going to show her how to cut out the pattern and start sewing.
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Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 6:21 pm
[Growth Quest Part Two: Cutting Patterns]
The drive home was too long for Madeline, she wanted to get home quick so that she could get sewing, she wanted the dress made quickly. But it seemed that was not to be as when they arrived home the first thing Raven did was corral the girl into the kitchen to eat lunch. Bellatrix was with her father and Ryvan was with her best friend Alek so it was just the two of them for lunch which was a sandwich and soup for both of them.
As quick as lunch was it still wasn't quick enough for Madeline. Who fidgeted every now and then though she was enjoying her guardian's food.
After washing their hands Raven took Madeline to the living room and sat them down on the floor and began showing her how to cut out the pattern taking particular care not to rip the tissues that were the blueprint to the little dress they were going to be making.
Madeline found this part of the sewing to be tedious, there were little pieces that had to be cut, and they still weren't as bad as the big ones that wanted to tear on her new scissors. But little by little she got the scraps of tissue cut out from the larger sheet.
And when she was done she was happy, until Raven told her that there was more cutting left to do. Madeline sighed, was this ever going to be done? It just didn't seem fair that it was taking this long when she had been so patient. She had been so good in the fabric store and then on the drive home and she had even been patient through lunch but now this was taking forever and it just. wasn't. Fair.
She was on the verge of stomping her foot, or protesting or something when she noticed Raven was showing her how to pin the sheets of tissue to her fabrics. And thus began the task of cutting out the same shapes over and over again. Joy.
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Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 6:07 pm
[Growth Quest Part Three: Patience]
Finally.
The pattern was cut, the small pieces of tissue were still pinned to the fabric, but the fabric was cut to match. Raven was reading over the instructions a second time to make absolutely certain that they hadn't missed any pieces while cutting that the spider girl might need to make the dress perfect. Once she was satisfied with what she found she set the papers down and looked over at her young charge who was watching a spider weave a web in the window sill, not moving or fidgeting at all. She was always surprised at how quiet Madeline was, especially when compared to her more active children, Bellatrix and Ryvan.
Madeline looked up at her guardian and a faintly sarcastic smirk crossed her lips “are we done yet?” She really was getting bored of this, there was too much just sitting and waiting for the next step, yes she had cut each piece out by hand but that had been boring too and she really just wanted to be done it now.
Raven laughed at her young charge, were all children really this impatient? She certainly didn't remember her other children being so. But then it could also be attributed to Madeline's rather unique initial upbringing. And seeing her charge pout at her guardian's laughter simply made the woman want to laugh even more. Which would not be a good idea considering that she was really trying to get the girl to open up to her.
It really was time to start pinning the pieces together so that they could finish the sewing so Raven started to show Madeline exactly how you were supposed to pin the fabric together, how you made certain to leave a little bit of room on the inside, telling her how the pattern was just a little too big so that you wouldn't make the clothes too small.
Madeline made short work of pinning the scraps of fabric together, her fingers seemed able to move both quickly and accurately enough that there wasn't a problem with consistency. The tiny pins slid into the fabrics easily enough and soon there was a pinned together inside out doll dress sitting in the widow's lap.
Said widow was looking up at her guardian as if to say 'okay I'm done this part, whats next, I'm bored.' and it just made Raven want to laugh. The girl was indeed trying to be patient but she just didn't seem to be able to accomplish that feat easily at all.
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:03 am
[Growth Quest Part Four: Fin]
Raven supposed this was a day of laughing internally at her charge's facial expression which all things considered likely wasn't the best idea but she really couldn't help it as she watched Madeline glare at the machine, as if she were threatening it with what she might do if it dared hurt her. It was likely a good thing that Madeline was so intent on the machine, determined as she was not to get hurt, because it prevented her from noticing the grin on her guardian's face.
The dress was almost done, and Madeline hadn't hurt herself once, Raven had been quite thorough in her showing Madeline how exactly to use the machine and how not to get anything caught in the needle, because that would really really hurt.
A few minutes later and the dress actually was done, Madeline busying herself with trimming off any extra bits of thread that the machine may have left, while Raven went to fetch the doll that had prompted the dress making. Doll and camera in hand Raven returned to let Madeline slip the thing on the doll. It was a pretty dress really, and quite simple to sew. The perfect project for a beginner and luckily it looked wonderful on the dark haired doll that Madeline had received. Raven thought that perhaps she would have to send copies of these pictures to Shouko to thank her for the small figure, and the smile that lit up Madeline's face at the success of her doll.
Raven smiled and clicked off another picture of her charge holding the doll close to her chest. “Whatcha gonna name it Madeline?”
Madeline looked thoughtful for a moment and then replied with “Misa” she had heard the name on a show that had been on the other night and she thought it was a really pretty name. Raven's nod was enough for Madeline to know that her guardian approved of the name even if she didn't realize the reason behind the name.
This had gone well, and Madeline thought that maybe now she could ask Raven the question that had been floating around in her head since her visit with Danon, the name seemed to suit the other girl far more then Madeline did and was far less confusing.
The girl sighed and steeled herself, Danon had been right and her guardian had liked the idea of getting her new clothes and had thought that Danon's comment about looking like a doll was funny, but that didn't mean that the woman would like this idea. “Raven? Can I go to school, with the other Madeline?”
Raven suddenly wasn't laughing anymore.
-tbc outside of quest-
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:16 am
The next morning, Madeline is very sore upon waking and her pajamas don't fit like they did the night before. She remembers dreaming of spiders, and should she look in the mirror she will discover that she has grown into a child.
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:05 pm
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:46 am
January 20th Shopping for suppliesPd with Smerdle and raven arrikanez.Raven Arrikanez Raven looked down at Madeline walking beside her, and the other Madeline on her other side. The girls kept sneaking looks at each other and grinning. They seemed excited to be going to the same school together, it was really the first time she had seen her Madeline this exited. And she was glad she had told Archie that she was taking the girls shopping together, she didn't really care what the girl had done in the past and Archie hadn't seemed all that inclined to tell her either so she hadn't pressed the issue.
Madeline was excited, they were going to go get their uniforms and books for school and then Raven had said she was going to take them to the mall and let them get school supplies and schools for days when they didn't have to wear uniforms. Maybe she would let her get some extra books and she could sneak some books on magic so that they could learn easier on their own before they had to go look at school. And she was even more excited that she was getting to go shopping with her friend. She looked over to her friend to see what she was thinking.
Smerdle Danon didn't look over at Madeline for a moment, a smirk on her lips as she strode forward, eager to start her new life. She found it all too amusing that Jack hadn't told his supposed girlfriend who she was or what she had done, but that was fine for now. She had to be on her best behavior today. It was her word against his now.
She turned to Madeline and smiled. Uniforms and books weren't her thing, even if they did have magic in them, but getting out of her oppressive house was. ladyumbra The people who had arranged the placing of textbooks in the store were idiots. How was Tiwaz supposed to reach the book she needed for classes if she wasn't tall enough to get it. Honestly books should be placed height appropriate for the people in the grades that would be using them. Although Gaia did host a good variety pf species so who knew maybe it was the right height for someone still, it didn't help the purple haired girl any.
With her mother elsewhere in the mall and and Kushiel sitting at top the book in question and smirking at her the young tale found herself out of luck. She'd just have to go find someone who worked there. Glaring at Kushiel she turned on her heel and began to walk away from the shelf. Raven Arrikanez Madeline smiled back and then looked up at the books she needed, all the way up on the top shelf. “Well thats stupid.” And it was, how the hell could they be expected to get the books for their first year from up there, maybe it was a test. If so it was a stupid one.
Raven got the books for both of the girls and smiled. Then she noticed the other girl glaring up at the books, and got her down a set to “Here you go sweetie.”
Smerdle Danon clutched her books, giving Raven a 'thank you' nod instead of speaking. This strange winged girl had most of her attention now, even though the other girl was doing nothing more than getting her books, just as they were. Surely this was someone with power, or at the very least, someone who could intimidate. Danon supposed they were in the same grade, having the same books and all. She sighed. No time like the present to begin sizing up potential allies.
"Hello," she said, trying to come across as friendly and charming as possible while still remaining... female. It was ridiculously easy to slip up, and kids were better than most at spotting things that didn't fit. Madeline hadn't been phased, but others might be.
" I was going to kick it down to her eventually" Kushiel whined and glared at the woman who'd helped Tiwaz. Sure he'd planned to taunt the girl a bit more but he couldn't not help her get the stuff after all he needed to keep her agreeing to take him with her.
Tiwaz eyed the redheaded girl of the female trio. "Hello." Something in this unnamed girl vibrated as off to the tale and under the guise of stretching she unfurled her wings letting the silver patterns on the black membranes glow and change. It wasn't all the young Tale could do but it was a sign that like many on Gaia she was at least slightly magical in nature.
Raven laughed "I'm sure you were" She didn't really care what the pixie had to say.
Madeline looked at the other girl, her wings were pretty and she seemed not to be horribly mean "I'm Madeline and this is.." she didn't know if she was allowed to tell this new girl the name Danon was letting Madeline call her "Well, her name is Madeline too." She wasn't smiling but she wasn't being hostile at all.
"Yes, I'm Madeline," Danon said, confirming the spider girl's guess about which name the criminal would prefer, at least around people she didn't yet know. Her eyes hadn't left this new girl's wings since they had opened, and she was sorely tempted to comment, but she didn't want to seem too eager. Danon tore her gaze away, looking the girl in her odd eyes. "What's your name?" Her request wasn't hostile either, but it was clear the girl expected an answer.Kushiel just frowned but remained silent, there was nothing more for him to say really.
" I'm Tiwaz and it's ..interesting to meet both of you Madeline's." The tale wasn't sure what to make of the two similarly named girls, what if when they went to school together she tried to refer to one and got the other or both, it could be somewhat embarrassing.
" So, are you looking forward to school? Oh and the pest up there is Kushiel" She nodded towards the fairy who shared her looks. " But you can ignore him for the most part."TBC
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 3:56 pm
[settling in aka first journal]
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