Welcome to Gaia! ::

---------------------------------------------- Flat Share Chatlog 001


|TheOrc enters the room|

[TheOrc] |Lizz, what's the matter?|

[AnimalFriend08] |The connection is totally creeping|

[TheOrc] |That's not my problem. I was just in a dungeon and you're message is blinking on the screen all the time. I would have received one of those epic items, you know?|

[AnimalFriend08] |So it's you telling me that you're not downloading porn again?|

[TheOrc] |...it's not as if I did it THAT often|

[AnimalFriend08] |Nah, just daily|

|DrLove enters the room|

[AnimalFriend08] |Hi Eric|

[TheOrc] |Hey|

[DrLove] |What's up?|

[AnimalFriend08] |Just wanted to stop one of you downloading stuff. I need the connection steady, I'm downloading music and I paid for it.|

[TheOrc] |I said it already, it's not me. I'm just...playing!|

[DrLove] |Err...it's not stuff, it's for my studies.|

[AnimalFriend08] |Yeah, sure.|

[TheOrc] |Studying females? *g*|

[DrLove] | ;D |

[AnimalFriend08] | -.- |

[AnimalFriend08] | You know, I'll be visiting this congress about healthy nutrition. |

[TheOrc] |We know.|

[AnimalFriend08] |Let me finish that off. I need one of you to care for my mantis pet, Cinderella|

[AnimalFriend08] |Stop laughing, Eric. I can hear you!|

[DrLove] | I can't. I need to study for an exam. |

[AnimalFriend08] |Alright, so it's you, Frank. I'll introduce you to her care tomorrow.|

[TheOrc] |Wait, what? I didn't listen, I have something else to do.|

|AnimalFriend08 quits the room|

[TheOrc] |Nooooooooo|

[DrLove] |Sorry pal, tough luck. Can you send me that file you're downloading?|

---------------------------------------------- Little Girls Arent't Easy


"Are you sure you didn't take drugs or something?" Eric growled as he was interrupted learning. Once a month he took some time to look at the books and right then the big fat guy... "I-I saw her alright. She just...well..oh no..." Frank mumbled and fumbled around with his slightly sweaty shirt. He was so freaking nervous. Lizzy would kill him if she heard about the fire and...the girl?

A little someone was sitting right in the corner of his room in front of the balcony. Her arms were crossed and she looked at him as if she had laser-eyes to turn him into a giant meatball. Eric swallowed hard as he turned to look into the room as well and shook his head. "And there's no chance that you stole her from a kindergarten to say that she's your new girlfriend?"

Frank punched Eric's shoulder. "That's not funny, alright. Look at her freaking behind. She's a mutant or something, like a - mantis-girl." His brain was trying to erase the fact that Lizzy must have known about this and just went away to leave them alone with the transformation. She would probably grow very quickly and eat them.

"What's her name? Girls tend to like me." Eric put on a cheesy grin and entered the small room. "She appeared, ok? She doesn't have a name." The medical student didn't mind but knelt down to look at her. She was wearing a strange helmet - or did that stuff belong to her body? "Hello little one. Where do you come from?"

The girl just glared at him and didn't say a word. Her arms were wrapped tighter around her body and her legs attempted to kick at him. Eric's smile vanished as he got up. "Doesn't seem like a normal girl to me." "What are we going to do about Lizzy? She'll be back tomorrow!" Frank was literally out of his mind as he walked around the room and had even forgot about his favourite video game.

"Don't worry, everyone loves chocolate. Let's look at the fridge if there's some left and then..." "Nope." Eric frowned. "You ate it - AGAIN?" Frank shrugged and opened one of his drawers. Something like a half-eaten Snickers appeared and was thrown right towards the toddler.

The girl tried to cover her face with her arms and only glared at the strange object. That was just too much for her. A stiff whimper was followed by quite a lot of tears.

"Do something, quick, she cries!"
Frank jumped around wheras Eric just shrugged. What the hell were they supposed to do?

---------------------------------------------- Chocolate Factory


Free tour! the brochure had said.

Educational! the brochure had said.

Fun for the whole family! the brochure had said.

It hadn't mentioned the veritable smorgasbord of sweets that the children would be offered before even starting, or the guide with the smile glued to his face, or the purple top hats all the kids were given (free of charge, of course) or the cheery little jingles that played over the loudspeaker.

Ranza was loving it.

Eshaa was in hell.

The parrot girl was happily pressing her nose to the glass, watching a worker assemble an enormous chocolate dragon. It had sugar glitter scales and a gold truffle eye.

"The chocolatezilla," Eshaa read off the plaque, "Is our signature item. It contains roughly ten pounds of chocolate an other confectionaries and is a staple at birthday parties across Gaia."

She had never seen, or eaten, a chocolatezilla, but the idea of it made her slightly ill.

"Can we get one?" asked Ranza.

"I don't think so." she replied.

David was having a little bit of trouble that a third hand would have greatly assisted with. In his right, he held a clipboard with a stack of half-filled-out forms attached. in his left, he held a pen and a huge mug of thick cocoa that had been forced upon him upon entry to this strange place. He would have preferred coffee, but years of company training had made him understand the benefits of humoring the higher ups...and if he wanted any chance to score the high paying inventory management job being offered at the huge chocolate factory, refusing their product would probably be a bad call.

Two hands were coping with the paperwork decently fine (though a few sheets bore spill marks), but the small boy playing at David's feet could definitely have used a taming hand. Feeling a brush on the back of his leg, David peered down around his shoulder just in time to see Aaron pull a sticky lemon gumdrop out of his mouth and thumb it onto the back of his black slacks.

"What the-" David balanced precariously on one foot and raised his affected leg up. The entire back of his left leg was covered in a yellow, red and purple pattern of stuck on gumdrops. As he watched, a red one fell off, and Aaron grabbed it, lifting it up to his mouth.

"Aaron! Don't put things that have touched the floor in your mouth!" David reached down and snatched the gumdrop from where it was impaled on one of Aaron's claw-like fingernails. When did kids finally realize that the floor was filthy? He sincerely hoped it was soon as he picked Aaron up with a little effort, taking the opportunity to toss his cocoa in the trash-can. After the upcoming tour into the factory itself, David had the feeling that it would be even harder to lift Aaron up.

"At least do something with her..." Lizzie's words still echoed in Frank's mind as he shoved some sugar-coated peanuts into his mouth. After all he wasn't fine with the decision that he had to take care of this freaking mutant girl, but he had had no choice. And then he had noticed that advertisement on the internet which sounded as if he could bear it for a day. All kids loved chocolate, didn't they?

Dalal stared at him with narrowed eyes and then turned her attention back to the ground which was plastered with sweets and chewing gums of all kind. She still moved kind of wobbly, because of her inward turned feet and the large behind, but she refused to take the fat ones hand. He smelled.

Frank offered some drops to the girl as a peace offer, but all he got was a snort. Women were always afraid of him, but this little one literally seemed to hate him. Great.

Luckily there were other people around. Pointing at Ranza and Aaron he pushed Dalal forward a bit. If she played he could go around without her. It was a master plan. "Look Dalal, there are some other children over there."

Ranza new better than to press the issue. If mom had said no to the dragon, then she'd just have to find some other way to get it. She hopped down from the window and looked about, wondering what else there was to do here.

She spotted other children nearby, and that was exciting, because Ranza didn't really have any friends. Nahuel had friends, and Orli had friends, but somehow Ranza just hadn't gotten to make any because she always clung to her brother.

But now, she really wanted some, only after she had realized their absence.

She ran over to the first girl she saw, who was standing next to what had to be the biggest man she had ever seen. The girl had four legs, and antenna sticking out of her hair. But, Ranza had feathers, so it was all good fun.

"Hi!" she said happily. "I'm Ranza!"

Hearing the sound of children behind him, David seized upon the chance to put Aaron back down and pat him forward towards the others. "Go play, we'll get some chocolate or somethin' once I finish up these papers." Turning back to the clipboard, he sneezed, the aftereffects of spending too much time with his face pressed up against Aaron's...feathers catching up with him.

Aaron followed a twisting crack in the floor over to the two girls, eyes fixed on not stepping too far to either side of the crack, resulting in him walking quite suddenly into Dalal's behind. Looking up, he blinked.

Frank smiled as his plan worked out and another feathery something ran towards the little girl at his side. Was this a freak show? Actually it reminded him of a cosplay of some sort where he had been Darth Vader and looked awfully ridiculous.

Dalal looked at Ranza curiously. She was quite colourful and appeared to be nice. Straigthening up a bit she balanced her weight and cocked her head to one side. "Dalal." The toddler replied and looked at the feathers with interest. She totally seemed to ignore the man who was with her.

It was just that moment when somebody bumped into her back. The girl stumbled and almost hit Ranza who was standing in front of her. Glaring eyes turned backwards and widened as she noticed that the stranger who had pushed her was male.

A quite scary hiss escaped her lips as she glared at him. He had feathers too. Did he belong to Ranza? What kind of stupid place was that? "No!"

There had been a looming sense of doom to the object of lingering within a chocolate factory. Olivier could feel the dryness of his mouth from the moment the smell had wafted through the air. He could sense the sickening nature of chocolate, and all it had to offer with is sugar, and its variety, and its mass quantity. His head had been spinning as he passed through the door, accepting whatever promotional artifacts were given with mild disdain.

That morning he had found a brochure advertising free tours, which had naturally led to some curiosity. He had sat down on the floor of the old junction, ate his jam carelessly, and listened to the jabberings of three excited (well, two) kids blubbering about chocolate. It'll be fun!, Caps had insisted. Button had ignored the matter entirely, but Luc, the strange little beagle-boy, had made up for the lack of enthusiasm by bursting into glee about the industrial matters. It had been striking that a child who had so recently come into consciousness would have any idea as to the inner workings of a factory, but Luc had masterfully gone off on the potential mechanical abilities and what wonders they held. In the long run, there had been no protest. Olivier, Pockets, had been bombarded with the request for the venture. Despite his better judgment on public appearances, he had ended up agreeing simply to have some peace with his jam.

Unfortunately, as they passed through the doors, he had grown to regret it. Everything had seemed to happen in a flurry of excitement. Caps had darted off in one direction, carrying Button away with her and promising to bring back a lot of chocolate. Luc had almost immediately pressed his face against a window to meticulously analyze something he had 'thought he had seen'. The people walking all about seemed to swirl, and Olivier felt dizzy from the sheer rush of anxieties. He felt almost as if he had been swindled into attending the fantasies of two immature beings.

He needed to work on being more assertive, that was the lesson he had gathered out of the ordeal. With a sigh, he had stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and had hurried off to gather Luc. The only one of his crew remaining in view.

"And so the ..." Luc had been mumbling to himself, as if preparing for an advanced lecture. He had paused only a moment to look away from the window and glance towards the advancing young man, nervous and fidgety. It was enough to make him laugh. He seemed so grumpy.

"Get this over with." Olivier had grumbled, scratching his ankle with the tip of his shoe. His eyes had flickered in every which direction until again returning to the small, strange child standing in front of him. They barely knew one another, and every look seemed to encompass that distant peculiarity. "Take that hat off, you look stupid." He had murmured about the little top hat, which sat upon the baseball cap the boy donned.

"Caps likes it." Luc had stated bluntly, licking a tooth before grasping his wrench in his hand. He had waggled it carelessly, grinning from cheek to cheek. "You want it?"

"No." Olivier had murmured under his breath. He had heaved a greater sigh before rubbing his temples. The day was proving long. Reckless. Mindless. There was no plan. There was nothing, and that was enough to bother a man such as himself, who was settled into the realms of strategy, order, and logic. "I don't want it." That purple top hat. It was almost creepy.

"You sure?" Luc had persisted, removing the thing and twisting about his ball cap. "Because I'll ---" He had stopped dead in the middle of his sentence. His nose had wriggled, and without further statement he had dropped the hat to begin running.

"H-hey! Hey! Don't just run off like that!" Olivier had howled, staggering along after the boy. He had tripped and caught himself a dozen times while trying to keep up with the boy, but, in the long run, he had fallen against the floor.

Luc had spotted children. Without mind or thought, he had made a quiet approach, standing a short distance to look around. There was the large chocolate dragon, which seemed interesting, and a variety of other things ... But there was something interesting afoot with the looks of the small group of young kids congregating. Again he had licked a tooth. He had set his wrench back into his cover-alls before rubbing his lanky shoulder and biting down on his lip. Indeed, he did find something interesting there, as any child would. Play. The object of play.

Olivier had pushed up, crawling towards the boy before grasping the back of his shirt. He had breathed, laughing bitterly. "Don't run off in crowded places; it isn't safe." He had frozen a moment. Oh, god. Caps and Button had run off - what if? No. Caps was a woman, not a child. They would be fine. Button wouldn't run off like Luc had, that was a guarantee.

Quietly, he had stood up, fighting to keep a hold on the kid. "That's rule number one: don't run away unless I tell you it's okay."

Luc had not responded, his ears perking up as he gave the chocolate dragon glance, then the crowd again. He seemed confused as to which was more interesting to approach.

"What are you looking at?" Olivier had began, glancing up himself. His face had grown long with mild surprise, as if he hadn't been expecting something different than what he had found. "Oh. So it isn't a machine."

Luc had given a quizzical look to the man before gulping. Without a word, he had turned to head for the chocolate dragon, only to pause again and rebound for the group. He had stopped, remaining put.

"Be my guest; we got all day." Olivier had insisted, folding his arms across his chest. "Go play." Play. Good! He could sit down, regather his senses, formulate a form of order to the immense chaos that seemed to have taken over his day. It was the perfect scenario in his mind. And it saved him from the possibility of more promotional chocolate.

Go play. Go play? Luc had seemed all the more confused by the matter and his feelings of interest, but before he could ask about it, he had felt a shove against his back and he had gone staggering towards the little group, his baseball cap falling off of his head and rolling against the floor."A-ahroo!"



Aaron looked at the angry Dalal for a second, blinking once more, before smiling widely and stepping to the side. A hat skittered to a stop beside him, and without looking at it, he hooked it awkwardly on his foot and tossed it upward, barely catching it. He then looked at it, very carefully, rotating it and peering at it from all angles before turning it inside out and then right side out again. Then, he held it out to Dalal, still smiling.

"You should apologize," said Ranza, staring the bird boy down. He had feathers like her, but his feathers were dark and she was colorful and therefore hers were better. She was a middle child, so she knew her manners. And besides, he was a boy, and a strange one at that, and therefor inferior.

Someone barked. What?

Ranza looked over at the dog boy and picked up the hat. She examined it, decided she liked it, and plopped it down on top of her top hat.

"Finders keepers," she said to the dog boy.

Whereas Frank wondered if the other parents thought that he had a breeding partner which looked like a mantis, Dalal was completely occupied with her task of not freaking out. Why was that one with the feathers smiling so stupid and where did all the people come from?

This was indeed her first trip to the outside besides going to the supermarket with Lizzi and so she was wondering if everybody was just as stupid as her caretaker. But wait...that girl seemed alright until she had taken the hat which had been offered to HER.

Anyway. There were two boys who didn't seem to know about their own stupidity and there was only one way to deal with them. Ignore them. Yes.

Turning to Ranza Dalal smirked a bit and pointed at the hat. "Nice."

Aaron's eyes cut over to the rainbow-y girl wearing the cap and his smile faded a little. He hadn't been giving it to her. She didn't need something to hide weird things sticking out of her head. How greedy. He would have to set things even sooner or later. Taking out his colourful pocket calculator, he stuck his tongue out to the side of his mouth, chewing on it as he punched numbers before his smile returned and he stuck it back in his pocket. Turning to view the boy with long flappy ears, he stuck out a chubby hand in silent greeting.

Luc's head was spinning as he gave himself a moment to recuperate. His fingers had attempted to smooth out his wild hair, which had only again proceeded to fluff itself out in its awkward manner. Almost habitually, he had licked one of his teeth again, as if the protruding extension of his mouth were somehow part of a habitual ritual. In worrisome wonder, he had searched for his hat, finding no avail until he had witnessed its soft colors atop a head other than his own.

His eyes were wide and perplexed with an unusual stare towards Dalal and Ranza, who he had noted were seemingly ... Playing with his hat? It was a feat from which Luc was uncertain if he were to allow. The hat was his, and it had always been his. Finders Keepers was not applicable to something he deemed a vital extension of his body. The hat was for thinking, and for taming his hair, and for many other things his mind dared not process. He could not permit the rule of Finders Keepers, which he had learned early enough in life to understand what it entailed.

With his eyes fixated on the hat, he had shaken his head sternly. "It's my hat; you can't have it." His voice had been firm and decided on the matter, though his tail had sunk low in the manner of fear. Fear of something. "Give it back or I'll ---" What would he do? It seemed a delicate situation, and when he glanced back towards Olivier, he found the man hardly flinching. He was only paying so much attention as to keep the situation low key. Luc could read that. He was on his own with this.

Before he could continue with his demands, he had found a pudgy little hand extended in his direction. His ears had perked somewhat at the silent greeting, which had thoroughly appeared more polite than that of the colorful girl and the four-legged one who had seemed to disregard entirely. Luc had hesitated but a moment to check his hands for filth before extending his in the same manner, as if he truly thought the object of greeting was simply the extension of a hand or something of that sheer nature. A weary smile had been born upon his face as his feet scuffled the floor. Occasionally his eyes had seemed to calculate, shifting back to Ranza and Dalal anxiously, then towards Aaron again.

"I like it," said Ranza, adjusting it on her head. She looked at Dalal "How does it look?" Her big brother Nahuel had a hat. Maybe it was about time she got one for herself, after all! And this one was already nice and worn in.

She frowned at the boy who was trying to take it back. "You really want it?" she asked, a bit crestfallen. He didn't seem so bad. He hadn't bumped into someone and not apologized like the boy with the black feathers.

She looked back at Dalal again. "Do you want to try it on?" she asked.

Aaron's eyebrows bunched up. The boy with the weird ears was supposed to shake his hand! Were all other children this weird? He hadn't had that much contact with other kids aside from wide eyed stares from those sitting in the basket next to him when David brought him to the supermarket with him. These children weren't staring, but they also didn't seem to understand what you were supposed to do. That colourful girl was not supposed to take the hat that he was giving to the girl with the weird head things. He dropped his hand in frustration.

Dalal watched her caretaker wander off towards a nice lady which handed out chocolate before she turned her attention back to Ranza and the bunch.

"Finders Keepers." Dalal echoed the words of Ranza to stress that she shouldn't give it back to the boy - never! The hat looked quite used though and actually she didn't want to have it at all. She already had some stuff on her head and the hat would only disturb her little antlers. "No. You can have it. Better for you."

Glancing at Aaron's calculator the mantis girl wondered if it was some kind of magic thing like Frank's computer. He used it all the time and she hated it, because she was abandoned and had to be silent when he played. Lizzi also very regularly hated the computer. "You can play with his stuff." She added as she turned to the dog boy.

Luc's ears had drooped at the defiant nature. Finders Keepers. Finders Keepers. He did not want to accept the mantra at its value; it was invalid as far as he was concerned. Yet, he could not bring himself to be forceful. He stood a reluctant target, making no measure of defense. Occasionally his fingers had scratched at his head to ruffle up his hair. Each little twist of his fingers only brought the strands to stick up a bit more in their own zany and dirty way.

His stomach had turned at the sound of Ranza's words. Did he really want it? "Yes. Uhm ... " His tail had twitched, wagging a few short strokes before ceasing. His nose had then wriggled as he, almost begrudgingly, whispered a 'please'. He was beginning to feel rather naked without the hat on his head.

Yet, Dalal's words served as a reminder of the situation. His face had grown ill with pallor as he gawked at her. A finger had quaked as he grabbed his wrench, clutching the handle for sake of his distress. He had only bitten his lip, allowing his eyes to graze each individual almost analytically. One seemed silent. Did he talk? The girls. The girls seemed ... He wasn't sure, but he just wanted his hat back to begin with!

Witnessing Aaron's hand drop, Luc had gathered a sense that he had done something incorrect. His face had grown long with curiosity; then, suddenly, he had worked up a nerve to say his name - or what he had been told his name was to be.

"I'm Luc." He had shuffled a step backwards, releasing the handle of his wrench in a mild attempt to ease the tense nature of his nerves.

Ranza looked at the hat again, judging its worth. If the boy really wanted it, then it had to be valuable, but it didn't look valuable to her, and she felt like someday she'd find a more suiting hat, anyway. This one didn't really go with her style. And it sort of smelled. She handed the hat back, but felt a little smug. She had made him plead with her, and that sort of power over someone else had felt good.

She turned her attention on the next set of windows overlooking another room, and ran along the hall towards them. The workers were assembling a massive gingerbread castle.

"Woahhhhhh," she said, climbing onto the handrail for a better view.

Aaron looked at the nervous boy for a second, tilting his head back and forth in acknowledgment, his black hair flopping in the process. Then, without any warning, he ran after the colourful girl, his sharp toenails clacking along the floor in the process. David made a double-take, then wandered along after him, muttering a distracted "Careful, Aaron," along the way.

Dalal wondered if it was alright now to go away and sit down at the kitchen at home and just look out of the window. But actually Frank was just looking at her at that moment and made the toddler feel uncomfortable as he smiled with lots of chocolate around his mouth. She'd better follow Ranza for sure.

So she wobbled towards the rail and clutched her hands around it tightly. Her behind was really not nice to her, but after all she had something the others hadn't. "Why do they make it?"

Dalal made sure that she was standing close to Ranza but far away enough from the boy.

Luc had breathed a sigh of relief has his trembling hands clutched his hat. Quickly, he had covered his exposed head, twisting it into its crooked fashion and smiling with satisfaction. He felt better. His naked head was clothed; his wild hair had been tamed, and now he stood the boy he was, and that certainly left him feeling more comfortable and settled. His tail had wagged happily as he fiddled with it again, taking a few steps backward before freezing. His eyes had locked with the sight of the massive gingerbread castle, and, hesitantly, he had began to follow after the group. He had only paused a moment to get Olivier's wave of approval.

His nose had twitched as he scurried along, eying the mammoth and edible structure from behind the window. His ears had perked up wildly as he slid under the railing, pressing his nose against the window. It seemed such a meticulous activity, and almost fun. "What is that thing?" His voice had piped as his tail wagged feverishly. "What are they making?"

"Looks like a castle!" shrieked Ranza, scrambling for a better perch on the railing. One of the workers had a gun that shot streams of icing now. (Ranza knew what guns were because they were in some of the movies Nahuel watched.) Another was sticking on little candied jewels. She pressed her hands against the glass, wishing it would just disappear and let her at the treasure, but had no such luck.

She looked down at Dalal and shrugged. "Cuz it tastes good, I guess." She'd never really thought of that before. Why did anyone make sweets other than for the pure enjoyment of them?

Aaron, frustrated that everyone's wibbly wobbly feathers and fur were getting in the way of his view, clambered up upon the railing as well, but froze when he finally looked down. Eyes snapping back and forth, he could barely keep from panicking. So high up! What if he fell?

Dalal wrinkled her nose as the others stepped onto the railing. She knew quite well that she wouldn't be able to get up there with her behind and so she decided that standing on the railing was indeed a stupid idea. Turning to Ranza she nodded and then looked upon Luc as if he had said the most stupid thing ever.

"Castle. Of course." In fact she hadn't known about it as well, but Ranza appeared to be a very knowledgable person and Luc appeared like he was a loser.

Luc's lip had twitched anxiously. His eyebrows had been raised towards Dalal as he heaved a breath and pressed his face against the glass again. His ears had drooped with the distant idea of potentially being, well, stupid. Yet, he disregarded the matter and took a greater interest in what was being constructed.

A castle.

He had never seen a castle before, but it looked amazing. And tasty.

Luc had licked his lips, leaning back to slip beneath the railing and away from the window. His tail had wagged as he gave a goofy smile. "Wonder if they have a plane." He said in idle thought. "But why would they make something that big if they're just gonna eat it?"

Ranza, who was a bit more schooled in all this (or, at least, liked to think she was,) looked disdainfully down at Luc and rolled her eyes as best a toddler could. She was getting tired of the boy's stupid questions and insubordination.

"Cuz that's the point," she said, slowly, in case he was too dumb to understand it if she said it fast. There was a boy in their apartment building like that. He was bigger than her brother Nahuel and didn't talk. Sometimes he chased Ranza down the hall, and then she shrieked because he scared you.

"If it's big, there's more to eat!" she said happily, pressing her nose against the glass. It looked so yummy! Ranza decided that if she was ever in the market for the castle, she'd want a gingerbread one with icing between the bricks and rock candy windows.

Aaron shut his eyes tightly as he fell forward, blindly sticking his arms out in panic.

Oh no oh no oh no-

His palms touched the hard glass, and his eyes cautiously opened. He was leaning against the very SOLID window. He wasn't falling. Breathing a deep sigh, he adopted a face of nonchalance and gazed down at the castle like everyone else, beginning to drool as the icing was spread on the roof.

It was that moment when Dalal saw Aaron hit against the solid window that she decided to wander off a bit. Her legs were still a bit difficult to manage so she tried to attach to the railing.

Perhaps she was able to find something even more interesting and then everybody would say "Woooow" and she would be the master. Unluckily she was seen by something large and very fuzzy, which was indeed a person in a costume, who was supposed to cheer the children up and sell some chocolate to the parents.

Dalal didn't know that of course. That's why she screamed at the top of her lungs!

....

---------------------------------------------- Flowery Madness


"What's that?" The girl asked the big man, who was sweating in the shadows of an oak. He had settled there to have some peace, but actually a few seconds ago Frank had noticed that something was itching around his back. The curious girl didn't make it any better. Why didn't she wander off and play with the flowers around and be happy? She was an insect, she needed this stuff - flowers, sun and such, right?

Dalal was far more inclined with the small ants which climbed up Frank's back and were about to eat him. She chuckled a bit at the thought that they had to eat a loooong time then. Still, she decided to move away a bit and pick a nice flower to collect some of the ants for home. Wobbling away from the large tree she moved into the field of flowers and looked around for something nice.

"Is that your Daddy?" came a small voice behind the insect girl. Quincy, concern crawling over his small features, stood just a little way off of the flower patch. He squirmed a little at the prospect of speaking to a girl, his slip on shoes that were ever so comfortable bowed inward mimicking the girls stature. The tail, however, was a different story. It halfheartedly waved to and fro, a sign for optimism. Quincy flattened his ears as much as possible before gesturing over. "He looks hurting."

Aaron ran over to the small pup and, in a coffee powered action, he pulled the boy into his arms. Legs facing back and head leaning forward. "Hey there, Fuzz-Face."

His tail moving double time. "Daaad... Stoppit." Quincy giggled as he squirmed out of his guardian's grasp, pulling his RAF jacket back into place after the debacle. Aaron reached down and ruffled the pup's hair before grinning brightly.

"Hey there, precious. That your dad?" He repeated the question, pointing to Frank, before smacking his son's back and walking over. "Play nice!" He called over his shoulder before slumping down next to the large man. "My name's Aaron and that one's yours?" He asked pointing to Dalal. It wasn't long until the unsuspecting guardian felt an itch climbing up his back.

"I'm sorry about Dad. Sam gave him coffee." Quincy paused and looked down at his feet before rolling back his shoulders and clicking his heels together in a small salute. "Sorry, miss. My name is Quincy, may I ask you of your name?"

Dalal didn't turn around right away, but squeezed her eyes tightly to find a nice flower. As she picked up a red one with a nice yellow interior she turned to face the stranger. It was a boy. Indeed one who looked like a dog and she had already met a dogboy once and he had been stupid.

"No." Dalal said as she glanced at his swagging tail. She tried to appear as firm as possible. "He is just with me."

A quite scared expression crossed her face as Aaron passed them so swiftly. The girl indeed wasn't used to people who moved that fast. As he had gone away she was quite relieved and considered to talk to the dog boy for a moment. "Liz says coffee's bad. Yes, you can ask."

What was that feet clicking for? Dalal frowned.

Frank instead huffed a bit as Aaron sat down beside him and nodded. "Yeah, my one. She appeared and now I have to take care of her." He felt the need to scratch his behind, but after all it was a hard thing to do when sitting and there was somebody close by. His face twitched slightly.

"Not your dad then? Like a sitter?" The pup looked between the large man and the mantis girl, assessing. He noticed the ornamental, or so he assumed, green head bit and the green insect body connected to her. The boy then looked to his own tail and perked his ears up in curiosity. Dad and the large men were different too. He beamed, concluding with, "I see," Quincy leaned it a little bit, wanting to be polite but he couldn't keep this to himself. "He's muuuch bigger than you. And, you're nicer looking. Not your dad then."

Quincy paused and sniffed the air slightly, tail slowing to a stop, why did she have a flower? His stance faltered, feet moving back to normal as he looked from left to right wondering about her name. "Well..." He supplied. "What's your name? Unless you're okay with me calling you miss." His nose wrinkled at the offer. Formality fit like a second skin but it was a little weird when you still don't know the others name.

Aaron reached a hand back to scratch at his neck. "Boy in blue is mine. Odd kid he is. Found him and it felt right... you know?" He brought his other hand to his mid back and scratched.

Dalal wondered if she was able to get out of the conversation by simply staring at the flower she had picked. She enjoyed looking at it for a few seconds before the silence she had created became awkward. Narrowing her eyes she glanced at Frank and nodded slightly. "Yeah...sitter."

She recognised the compliment as something nice, but didn't say anything else about that matter. It appealed to her that it could be a quite interesting thing to be called miss all the time and so she moved her nose a bit higher and stated: "Miss is ok with me."

Standing became quite exhausting to her, because of the large back she was carrying. But sitting down would be strange if she did it out of nothing. "Sit!" She demanded and pointed at the ground below Quincy's feet.

Frank huffed. "Nah, actually I had to take care of my roommate's mantis and poof - suddenly Dalal was there. It seems like we don't get along." A scream escaped his lips as something had bitten into his leg. While trying to get up he cursed quite loudly.


Quincy stood patiently, swaggering his posterior appendage lightly as he waited for a response. This girl was either very slow or rather interested in flowers. The pup sniffed the air; small black nose twitching was he did. A blink followed by a small scratch to the belly and then another blink until finally, Dalal responded.

“That’s interesting…” He commented on the status of Frank. “And… I’ll still call you miss but knowing your name as well would be preferred.” He shuffled about and looked at his easy slip on shoes, wiggling his toes slightly in patience. “You are rather slow…” Quincy commented before catching himself. “On responding to questions.” Tacked on quickly and smoothly. “Are you like an Ent?” Quincy had barely finished his question before the command ran through his ears, ringing through the silver fur and the effect was instantaneous.

The boy fell to the ground, landing on his haunches faster than he thought he would. That was…an odd sensation, driven out of shock no doubt. Quincy’s tail stopped moving and he looked up at the mantis girl, still as stone, for a few moments. He obeyed authority and right now, Dalal was more frightening than any brigadier he had heard of. He wiggled a little as he attempted to relax in the flowers. The smell was a tad bit overpowering. He gave a small whimper, a hard look set on his face but still innocent and slightly questioning.

“Why do I have to sit, miss?” Quincy asked tentatively and politely.

Dalal felt a bit uncomfortable inside as she made him wait, but as he asked her if she was an Ent her eyes grew wide. She had no idea what it was, but it didn't sound absolutely compelling to her. It sounded like something with only three letters and usually important things had complicated names. At least she thought so. As she noticed that she had been slow again, she coughed a bit and then decided to answer. "No. Do I look like Ent?"

Actually she hoped she didn't look like one. Her legs started to ache and so the toddler was pleased to see that Quincy settled down in front of her. Moving to sit as well she shrugged. "Because I said it. Easy." That was fun. Finally she wasn't the small stupid one but was able to say something and somebody actually did it. "Why do you ask so much?"

Quincy felt the blood rush to his cheeks in embarrassment. Did Dalal look like Tolkien’s mythical walking, talking and not to forget frightening tee people? Most certainly not, but she definitely instilled the same fear and air of power. He bent his head into the lapels of his Flight Jacket, ears flattening slightly against his skull. He twitched his nose and made eye contact with the other toddler. "No, you don’t. But you’re all…" He flexed his fingers in the air a tad in search of a word. "All…commanding ish. You’d make a great general."

The toddler jumped a bit at the question, turned into an accusation within his own mind. ”I ask questions because I’m interested, it makes conversation and I like to know things.” Quincy shrugged before fiddling with a piece of grass. ”It helps to know people. They could be friends and help when you need them or they could be not so nice and it’s good to know your enemy. Or it could be just nice to know things.” He watched Dalal maneuver her large appendage to the ground in something akin to awe, wonder or plain confusion. He wanted to ask why she had the large green addition but apparently he had used up his allotted amount of questions.


Dalal couldn't help but smile at the comment. She knew what a general was. Frank had told Lizzi, his roommate, that she was talking to him like a general when they had a fight once. Lizzi won the fight and Frank cleaned the kitchen. So it had to be an extremely powerful thing to be!

Although Quincy was a boy and made her feel a bit uncomfortable because of that, he obeyed to her orders. Dalal felt save enough to answer a bit nicer because of that. "Ok. Go on. Ask more then." If he asked she was save. While he was talking she was able to look for some more flowers she wanted to bring Lizzi. Gently she picked up a yellow one. Her antlers twitched slightly.

Quincy was taken by surprise at Dalal's openness towards his questioning behavior... This girl sure did change opinions a lot. He placed a finger on his lips, considering the mantis toddler and bit the inside of his cheek. Quincy assumed that the only reason behind Dalal's indecisive behavior was because she was someone of great stature, like a general or a commander, and she didn't want to give it away. The dog like boy subconsciously wagged his tail at the thought.

Quincy paused once more; scratched his head and behind his ears, enjoying the tingle it sent down his spine. Thinking, thinking and wondering until Dalal's pseudo command cut in. She wanted more questions? This 'miss' was certainly a puzzle.

"Ummm..." He stated and looked around at the flowers. "What is your favorite color, miss? Or better yet, why are you picking flowers?" Didn't girls only get flowers because they were sad? He was about to ask but remembered that the girl did not like people to assume, such was obvious by earlier conversation.


"I collect these for Lizzi." Dalal answered. Thinking about her own reply she continued. "She lives with me and Frank. Eric lives with us too. We are..." A slight frown crossed her forehead, before the toddler seemed to remember the complicated word Lizzi had taught her. "...community?"

Quincy probably wouldn't understand it, but that wasn't much of a problem, because he was a boy and he seemed to do what Dalal wanted. "I don't know about favourite colours. What's yours?" The question game was alright, but she needed more flowers. Walking was stupid and when she moved she could catch the attention of Frank again - something Dalal wanted to avoid.

"I know a game. You get flowers for me and I say if they are pretty!" That was an awesome idea. Dalal smiled broadly.

Quincy's brow furrowed at the word community. That was a new one. The boy's features screamed perplexed and slight discomfort of no longer feeling sure of himself. He brought a thumb to his chin and thought, eyes gazing skywards as he thought of how to respond to that. "But not a family." He stated slowly and swept a hand over the petals splayed out before him. Dalal brought a whole new perspective with her. She was smart and authoritative, like any good general should be. Also, she didn't have a dad but a sitter and she lived in a comootity...Whatever that was.

The boy hopped at the question, looking down at his RAF jacket and then the sky. He loved the sky. He smiled broadly. "I like the color blue.". He pondered and watched a passing cloud. "Like the sky at night or anytime really. I wanna be up there someday."

His reverie was cut short when Dalal smiled and offered a game. "Flower fetching..." Subconsciously Quincy began to wag his tail once more. Games were fun and Dalal wasn't frowning or looking unimpressed anymore. "Okay!" He shouted and jumped up and grabbed the nearest flower. It was a pale pink and kind of falling apart, mostly because he must have sat on it. "How's this'un?"

Dalal rolled her eyes. Lizzi did that when Frank had said something she didn't seem to care about. Family. Who needed that if you had a community? That was probably much better, because it sounded more difficult to obtain. She wasn't quite sure though, but those doubts were to remain inside her head.

"Up in the sky?" The girl frowned and shook her head. "Why that? I mean...there's nothing cool." Perhaps it was a boy's thing. Dalal wondered what one wanted to do in the sky with clouds and that stuff. It didn't appeal to her at all.

Anyway she was happy that Quincy responded so willingly to the game. He was alright for a boy, because he did what she wanted him to do. Perhaps he was a girl secretly dressed as a boy? But then again...no, he did too many stupid things for being a girl.

Wrinkling her nose as she saw the pink flower Dalal shook her head. "No, look at it! It's so ugly and broken!" Not knowing about politeness or actually caring about someone's feeling the mantis girl simply exclaimed what she thought. "Get another one!"

...

---------------------------------------------- Let's Go Swimming


...

---------------------------------------------- You're my Barbie girl


Something pink was disturbing Dalal's inner peace. She had been humming and moving from side to side happily. The dvd Lizzi had given to her had become her favourite. Since Frank wasn't fond of Bollywood music Dalal had settled down in the living room and made her rings and bracelets move.

Now there was something disturbing which made the little girl hit the pause button. A strangely coloured package was handed to her. As she looked up she was able to see a grinning Frank. "Dalal! My user stats! Do you remember how we recorded you?"

Dalal indeed remembered. It had been a stupid thing to do and she had sounded very squeaky and not as firm as she usually did. She knew that because Frank had shown the video to her afterwards. "Yes. Go away, I want to watch Bollywood." The girl said and stared at the plastic given to her. Inside was a doll with long blonde hair and a cheesy smile. She had large boobs and was dressed with sunglasses, a jeans and a small tanktop.

"What's that?" Dalal asked and started to open the package. It was a bit hard to do so Frank helped her by using scissors. As the doll was free Dalal tugged her hair. The Barbie's head moved along.
The girl frowned. "Does she dance?"

Frank finally answered. "It's a Barbie doll, Dalal. You can play with her and dress her up. It's a present for you, because I earned a lot of money because so many people visited my blog. You play as if she would dance."

Dalal looked at the doll. It was a present from Frank therefore it had to be stupid. Otherwise, the doll looked pretty. Far too pretty for her likings.

Wrinkling her nose she pushed the play button and continued to watch her movie. "We play later."

Frank smiled and left the room. Quickly the doll was pushed below the blanket. That Barbie would suffer for sure.

It would appear that Dalal is a very particular girl, and with a guardian who doesn't quite understand her, she's probably bound to feel out of her element most of the time. So, it's time for the girl to experience things the way SHE wants them to be!

For one bizarre day, things go exactly the way Dalal wants them to. For 24 hours, it seems the world is on its head, and Dalal stands victorious. What happens? Does Dalal catch on and wonder what blue moon caused such a thing, or does she take advantage of the situation and make it work for her? It's up to you!

Have fun, little one! This day is yours! heart

---------------------------------------------- I want to break free


Gwendolyn's slightly dirty face was rubbing against the cool glass of the red car's window. Her head and the formerly nice blonde hair were making a nice rythm and Dalal just imagined her to be one of the girls in the movies who were just awfully bad at dancing. The thought made her grin.

Autumn had been spreading its disease onto the wilting leaves and they were coloured in all kind of colours Dalal had never expected them to have before.

"Where do we go?" She asked as she looked at her driver, Lizzi, with serious concern. This day was far too nice to end in the same way and she wondered if Lizzi would force her to go swimming again or something similar horrible she wouldn't enjoy.

The motherly woman just did as she had before. She smiled in a manner which made Dalal quite furious. It was...so..pleasing and knowing and absolutely unfair. But she refused to say anything and just pouted silently until the ride was over.

They had paused in front of a large building with some huge posters on it. Dalal peeked out of the window and tried to make sure that she got a good overview before Lizzi opened the door and helped her to get out of the car. "I want to know what it is!" The mantis girl finally demanded. Her lower part hated cold and the car was warm and she wouldn't go anywhere if it wasn't useful. Besides she didn't like Lizzi to play the role of the almighty one.

"That's a cinema, dear. We're going to watch an awesome movie and you can get some popcorn or ice cream, whatever you want." Lizzi answered and managed to drag the little package of toddlery goodness out of the vehicle. Dalal still appeared quite grumpy. That just wasn't fair, she was just told these things out of sudden and nobody explained them, nobody gave her a reason for the change of manner.

Dalal felt the need to cry.