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 Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:02 pm
Reserved
TR Halloween Rp
Event bombed
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:04 am
First Solo Entry: Getting A Haircut
In the home of Charlene Phillip Dartsmoore, one can be assured of two things – the booze is Dartie’s so don’t touch it without her offering, and also that you aren’t allowed to have what she considers a crappy haircut for long. So it was that soon as Absinthe’s hair grew in enough for her to do something reasonable to it (it is rumored she may have used a biiiiiiit of magic to help it along). Soon as she’d gotten all of Absinthe’s green hair to all the same length, she decided it was time the former monk (for he was obviously not one of those anymore) got a style change. She’d let him pick out a style he liked out of a reasonable set (she wasn’t going to let the child choose any damn thing on the planet) but he had only wanted one.
Hair just like Bailey’s, that’s what he’d said (took a bit to get out, particularly since he wasn’t very verbally advanced) and so it was done. The sides weren’t as detailed in shaving – that may have looked well on the elder sibling but the younger had a different face and complexion, and Sinny’s didn’t work with the funny designs. With the decision done, it meant it was time to get his hair cut. Most parents would prefer to take their young-ins to a professional. Dartie practically was a professional.
Absinthe wasn’t a bit scared when it came time to do his hair. He was a fidgety little creature, so Bailey had to sit by and hold him still for the majority of it. But the tot didn’t cry or freak when he heard the clippers go on, or even cry about having his head shaved partly. It all seemed totally normal to Sinny – but then, he considered everything normal unless it involved people outside of his family. At that point, it went from normal to ‘interesting’.
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:05 am
A New Arrival
Bailey Bacardi was not in the habit of checking his mother’s mail – mostly since she almost never got any. That was her business, regardless of how often she said she didn’t care. However, some cases were just too important to ignore. Dartsmoore had been away for the day on business – most likely meaning she had been too fed up with Kahlua’s whining to stick around the house and had gone to a bar. Charlie was off somewhere, most likely catching up with an apparent old friend of his who’d arrived in town. Kahlua had finally shut the hell up and gone to his room to mope and so, as per expectations, Bailey was left to watch Absinthe.
Sinny was in the living room taking a nap when the mail arrived, so Bailey just went in to get and sort it before going back to spend time with his brother. There wasn’t much mail, usually, apart from the local ads and the occasional magazine someone in the family subscribed to. But that day there was another letter, one written to Dartsmoore. Since his mother so rarely got any mail, the red snake boy was more than curious about this odd letter. Dartie had often said that if she had secrets, she wouldn’t have them sent in a way so public so anything mailed to her was open game. The only condition to people being allowed to read whatever mail she got was that if it actually obligated the owner to something in some way, whoever opened the damn thing had to do it. This also included getting poisoned or going to pick up a kid, which in this case it was.
The strange envelope had been from some “Seven of Seven” place and had pretty much said Dartsmoore was to come and take in a kid. Okay. Well, he opened the letter so it was his duty to go and collect her – that was mother’s rule and that was how it’d be. So, of course, he had to go and pack up Sinny – Kahlua was safe home alone so long as he was warned he’d be alone and told to behave himself, but Absinthe was not safe left alone in a house with only Lu. Dartie and Charlie may not want to pay much attention to Absinthe but they were capable of babysitting for short times, whereas Kahlua was not.
Soon enough they were inside of a creepy institutional looking building and Sinny was clinging shyly to Bailey’s shoulder. The toddler was usually quite open and happy but now he was rather frightened. Bailey too was somewhat stiff and straight standing – this place reminded him way too much of his former self, former life, and that was rather unpleasant.
The technician who was going to hand off the kid was shocked and appalled to see a child coming and claiming he was to take charge of another child! The idiocy!
“Go away you two brats! This is a business!” the bewildered tech grumped, trying to wave them off.
Calmly, his words stiff, Bailey held out the letter. “I am here to retrieve a child that was sent to be in my mother’s care. She is presently unavailable and I agreed to come and take our new family member home. If you would just allow me to take the child, we can be on our way.” His tone and words sounded far beyond those of his apparent age – and as this was Gaia, the tech started to question if the kid may really be a kid at all.
After a bit of a staring contest between the dumbfounded technician and Bailey, the small girl was brought out. She was a scared looking little thing, with purple skin and soft feathery wings that were wrapped tightly around her. The oddest thing about the girl wasn’t even her horns or funky appearance – it was her strange little eyes that reminded Bailey of a fox. She was silent and reserved as she took the boy’s proffered hand and followed him out of the building.
Once outside, both Bails and Sinny felt much more at ease. The toddler gently reached out and lightly prodded the girl’s horns. Her eyebrows rose in a show of surprise but her eyes didn’t seem to change, remaining strangely closed as she emitted a little “eep!”
Bailey looked down at her, a little surprised. “Are you okay? Sinny didn’t hurt you did he? He’s just never seen horns before.”
Turning up to face Bailey, the girl was almost shaking in terror about possibly getting yelled at, until she heard his soft words and saw the gentle concern on his face through her strange eyes. At that point, her expression changed from fear to wonder to complete joy. This person wasn’t a hard cold nasty who didn’t want her!
“Yaaaaaaaay!” Immediately, Bailey’s midsection was engulfed in a huuuuuuuuge hug from the small girl, “I was soooo scared you wouldn’t like me and that you’d be meaaaaan! But you’re niiiice!”
Sinny cooed with joy to see the other child so happy – happy was something he easily registered – and Bailey was more than pleased to see her cheerful. Absinthe leaned over to play with the girl’s horns a bit more, smiling and squeeing as he did. She didn’t mind that at all and even giggled at it!
Bailey grinned at the girl now. “So………did they give you a name there?” he asked her quietly.
At that she shook her head, pouting a bit. “Nope.”
“Hm….well that means we won’t have to rename you, and you can get named in true Dartsmoore fashion – I’ll try to find something nice for you.” He assured her, which was the final note before they walked home (the girl skipping all the way in anticipation for having a name)
*~*
“Ebony, that’s a pretty girl’s name. And Ebony Secret’s a brand of drink so mother shouldn’t object to that. And for her middle……….”
“What about Morgan from Captain Morgan’s?” Kahlua suggested from his spot on the couch where he was reading a book and looking over at the computer where the new girl, and Bailey were seated.
“Morgan’s a pretty one. What do you think, kiddling? Does Ebony Morgan sound good to you?” Bails asked, teasingly grinning to the little girl. She reminded him quite a bit of Elly and he already had thought of Elly as a little sister, so this girl was fitting in with him quite nicely.
“Yeeeeeees! Ebby’s a pretty name!” the newly dubbed Ebony said happily.
“Ebony! It’s E-BO-NY!” Kahlua grumped loudly. Did she really have to mispronounce it?
“It’s all right to have a nickname, ‘Lu. We all have them. We can call Ebony Ebby if she likes.” And it seemed she did, from her squees, hugs, and nods.
*~*
Charlie was confused a bit when he came home to find a new kid in the house and his cousin not even home yet, but he didn’t much care so long as she behaved. Dartie was even more lax about it. “K, what’s her name and which room’s she getting?” was all she needed to know after she was informed that Ebby was their’s. So the girl was already on her way to perfectly fitting into the Dartsmoore household.
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:08 am
Shopping Triiiiiip! <3
Things in the Dartsmoore household always seem to start with someone having a bright idea about something or someone. And recently, it had mostly been Bailey having the ideas. The boy was the main caregiver to his two youngest siblings – Absinthe Chartreuse and Ebony Morgan, both of which he tried to ensure the safety and happiness of as best he could. His guardian may provide the money, housing and general home backbone, but Bailey was the really familial one. So, of course, it was him who made sure Sinny and Ebby’s rooms were suited to them, and who decided they lacked any real ‘flair’.
Absinthe had a simple room like the other two boys, but he seemed to be lacking something, in Bailey’s estimation – a toy or something he could latch onto and call his own. And Ebony, being the only girl, deserved to be able to pretty up and fancify her room to her heart’s content. He also thought the child might need a toy or five to cuddle up with at night, since she was so very affectionate. That’s why he decided to pack up the duo of siblings and take them to a toy store.
Bailey was rather glad that Ebby was too excited to ride along on his shoulders, because he’d never be able to hold her right as well as carrying Sinny, with his own small stature. The ex-criminal gently shifted Absinthe to his right side so he could give the left arm a rest and hold Ebby’s hand with it. The girl skipped joyously, her hand clasped in that of her eldest brother. Bailey had decided to just take them straight to the plushies, as that was really all either child would enjoy. Ebby needed something she could snuggle and Sinny needed something he could safely nom on without hurting his teeth or completely ruining the toy.
How many toys the two had oo’d and ah’d at, he couldn’t say. The lust spawn loved most anything she found, even if she wasn’t quite sure she wanted it, and Sinny wasn’t exactly picky. There was one thing that had caught both of their eyes though, one plushie that both toddlers showed an actual interest in.
It was a small, stuffed octopus plush, made of a smooth stretchy material. The ever jumpy Ebby had been the one that first spotted the creature. There were many of these octopi, all in various colors and patterns. However, only one had been a solid bright purple color with an aquamarine underside. Ebony had thought it was quite adorable and snuggly (not the greatest toy but she liked it a good bit).
The second his sister held it up, Absinthe’s eyes had lit up and he’d made immediate grabby hands for the purple plush. Bailey was a bit surprised to see him show that much excitement and desire over a toy – he was usually just smiley and willing to nom on everything. Ebony blinked from her littlest ‘big’ brother to the toy in her hand. She’d wanted it, but it seemed so did Sinny. None of the others were the pretty colors this one was and Bailey had said he didn’t want to get multiples of the same kind anyway since that might lead to confusion over whose two was whose.
With a soft smile, Ebby gave the plush one last gentle squeeze, resigned in her decision, and handed it over to Absinthe. Immediately, he squeaked with delight and put one of the tentacles in his mouth. From that point in the excursion, Sinny was just laying there contentedly with the tentacle in between his teeth. And because she’d been mature and gave up one of the plushies she’d chosen, Bailey let Ebby get 5she wanted instead of 4 (one of which was a snake plush that Kahlua ended up taking a few days after they’d gotten it. But she had 4 plushies so she didn’t care that much and Bails promised to take her to get a few more later on). So really, everyone ended up happy in the end of that little excursion.
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:13 am
The Aufwabit
One could not say that Charlene Phillip Dartsmoore was a particularly strict mother. She liked certain things in a certain fashion, but was usually reasonable in her requests. However, something that was a bit of a pet-peeve of hers was if a child above the age of 5 or 6 couldn’t at least read a little. Kahlua had just naturally picked up on things, listening particularly while Bailey was trying to pick up the language at first. And Bailey, having previously been an adult, only had to learn the specifics of the language versus his old one. With Ebony and Absinthe, this wasn’t quite the case.
Being that way meant that either Bailey, Charlie, or Dartie herself would have to teach the kidlings how to read. Seeing as the former was more child friendly, patient, and gentle, it was deemed he would be the best to do their tutoring. So, the red child had set himself on the task and began it. And it was probably best to start with first things first.
Ebony, being a more musical child, picked up on the letters with the alphabet song after a few tries. Absinthe, however, kept mixing up and getting parts backwards. It often ended up with the small monk going ‘ABCDEFP-SQCDPFP’ and then blinking a few times and giggling. The boy also seemed to end up refering to it as the Aufwabit but that was acceptable. Sinny had trouble saying other things.
However, when it came to writing, the tables were turned. While Ebony struggled a bit, mixing up certain letters and getting frustrated, Absinthe picked up on the neat little shapes and lines. His writing was actually more fluid and free than his sister’s, which was a little surprising at first. But given his past as a monk (not that Bailey really knew of that), caligraphy and penmanship were second nature to him.
After a few days – or maybe it was weeks, Bailey didn’t quite keep track of start and finish dates – the two were adept enough to be able to write and remember their names, as well as their phone numbers. Though, Ebby had to mentally sing to remember hers and Absinthe just had to write it or punch it into the phone. Well, it had worked out a bit, at least.
Ebony’s Workpaper:  Absinthe’s: (Image to come)
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Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 1:40 pm
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Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 11:09 am
A basket arrives just a few days short of Christmas, in the same manner as the basket that had originally arrived with the request to be filled. Many goodies are inside! Quote:  A Soft Plush...or maybe a bit more?  Another plush- made by Shayleigh herself…well with a bit of help for Gam…  A green Santa Hat to keep your head warm  Two Christmas Ornaments for your tree (wont open until after New Years…I forgot to upload the images to photobucket and left my laptop at home) And finally a candy cane for those busy gums! Happy holidays!
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 8:50 pm
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 9:26 pm
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Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 8:54 am
Quest time!Quote: 1. Life means suffering."To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too."Life is imperfect. Over the course of several days, Absinthe will endure an unusual stroke of bad luck and misfortune; or, at least, it will appear this way to him. What sort of challenges he is made to overcome can vary, but at least one should have a lasting impact that awakens in the boy his sense of humbleness that he once had as a monk toward the world's pain at large. While he can receive limited help from others (he is, after all, just bridging on childhood) he has to be enlightened on his own terms, not by anyone else (ex. no bedtime story life lessons, ;D). In short, Sinny will come to realize the world for its imperfections, and eventually accept that not everything will be wonderful for always. Good luck, young Hiccup! May the world shine on you once you are past this week of bad luck!
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Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 2:25 pm
Sinny's Unlucky Week
It had been a very bad week for Sinny so far – which, by most people’s standards, probably wasn’t that bad but the kid didn’t exactly have much going on for him at all so it seemed much worse to him. It had all started on Monday when he lost Poos.
The Hiccup had been in the process of waking up when he noticed his favorite plush omnomnomtoy was not present. How odd! He usually didn’t sleep without Poos so where could it have gone? Did the stuffed octopus just get up and walk away in the middle of the night? Maybe he should call for it!
So after several minutes of looking around, calling for his stuffed friend, a semi-annoyed and groggy Uncle Charlie wandered in. “It’s a stuffed animal. It will not reply or come back, no matter how hard you call for it. Now shut up, it is ten thirty in the morning and I am trying to sleep.”
Of course, Sinny found this very distressing and plopped back on his covers to pout as the older male walked out of the room to head back to his own. The hiccup sat there for a few minutes, pouting and being sad. Not only had he lost Poos but he’d got yelled at! Having never been really reprimanded or scolded before (Charlie and Dartie didn’t have much involvement with him and Bailey never scolded) he didn’t quite know the difference between getting yelled at and getting scolded because someone was tired and you were being loud.
After spending an hour or two presumably pouting (though he dozed off for the most of it so it was really only like five minutes) the boy had finally wandered down to breakfast. Usually Bailey made breakfast, but he had been a bit under the weather lately, spending a lot of time in his room. And Ebby, though she could bake, hadn’t mastered cooking yet so the two toddlers were stuck foraging for food, particularly since no one in the house was either awake or capable of cooking.
They managed to find some leftover spaghetti from the previous night in the fridge and Ebony nuked it so they did end up eating, but still it felt odd to Sinny. He always had a nice fresh breakfast and only ate leftovers as snacks when he was super hungry. It was somewhat offsetting to have to eat them as a real meal.
The rest of the day progressed rather uneventfully after that, particularly since after about one, Dartie got up and could take them out to eat, or phone up for delivery. But the stream of bad luck continued, even though it’d settled for the day.
Four in the morning on Tuesday would be considered veeeeeeeeeerry late (or early) to most people. For anyone in the Dartsmoore house, it was still a reasonable time to be awake. However, for some odd reason, Sinny and Charlie were the only one’s still up. And, being that he was pretty much the only one still up in the house (since Sinny kinda of wandered in and out of his room and wasn’t bugging him much) the man decided to put on a horror movie.
The closest Sinny got to good luck in that aspect was that Charlie found the movie too boring and stupid to sit through all of it, so it got turned to an episode of some show where they blew up cars and things after about three of the movie’s killings. However, the damage had already been done and though Sinny wasn’t exactly scared of death he was rather scared of pain and being chased by strange people with things to hurt him.
Initially, the hiccup forgot about the scary movie, content to sit on the floor and watch the explodies with his Uncle. However, when 6 AM came rolling around, the time when he’d usually be going to sleep, the green haired boy found himself unable to stay asleep. Images of crazy men in hockey masks with big whirring chainsaw ran through his mind, chasing him down hallways where he always ended up backed into a wall where he woke up screaming (or well, the Sinny equivalent of it which was whimpering and sobbing).
After not getting any sleep, Tuesday’s luck was kind enough to the boy to have the only bad thing happening to him be lots of falls. Now, him falling wasn’t exactly unusual – he wasn’t particularly well balanced to begin with and did fall down a bunch. But he usually didn’t get scraped up and today he was getting all sorts of bumps, scratches and bruises. And he still hadn’t found Poos! Dartie had at least shown Ebony how to make oatmeal in the microwave so they had a decent breakfast at the very least. It wasn’t Bailey’s cooking but it wasn’t leftovers either.
Wednesday was back down to lows again. He hadn’t gotten any sleep for the second night in a row and when Sinny went to dress after breakfast (he usually did) the boy found his favorite shirt (which was always reserved for Wednesdays for some reason) to have a big rip in it! And the pants to go along were no where to be found! With a small pout, the boy looked around for something else to wear since his shirt would need to be sewn up and only Bailey could do that. And Bailey still didn’t want to come out of his room. Neither did Kahlua but he usually didn’t anyway.
The day had continued with him getting hit by a soccerball three times while at the park (the boys playing were either really mean or really clumsy). He’d also ended up getting stopped in the slide (his body just hadn’t wanted to go too far into it) and he hadn’t been able to get down in time to miss being kicked by Ebony and her maryjanes. The girl hadn’t meant it to be mean, just hadn’t known he was stuck, and it had ended up pushing him the rest of the way down in the end but it still hurt. And he’d gotten those nasty woodchips in his pants and shoes when he landed and those were very uncomfy. By the time they were heading home from the park, he was pretty positive that he had half of the wood chips in his socks and it was really itchy, scratchy, and uncomfortable.
Thursday Absinthe found himself in a big bit of trouble. After another night (or morning, rather) of being unable to sleep, he’d gone wandering about the halls. Since he was bored and sleepy, he’d wandered into the playroom to borrow some of Kahlua’s books to read and see if that’d help him. The words were big and hard for him, particularly in the dim light of the reading lamp, so he didn’t exactly get far in the book he’d grab off the top of the shelf. Thinking there might be something better on the bottom shelf of the rickety little bookcase (Lu wasn’t one to tell his mother if any of his belongings required repair so it was in pretty shabby shape) the boy had tried to pull one out.
The resounding crash when the entire bookcase collapsed was enough to wake up the very heavily sleeping Kahlua, Ebony, and draw a startled and jumpy Charlie out of the living room like lightening with a frightening fiery look in his eyes. Sinny’s Uncle, of course, was the first to arrive and he was a bit miffed but didn’t scold this time. He just took a few deep breaths and leaned against the wall for a bit to try and block out old war images or something before he headed back out to the couch. Kahlua’d been next, rushing in, a furious look on his face. He knew better than anyone in the house what was wrong with his bookcase, forbade ‘the droolmonster’ from touching it, and was already particularly grouchy from being sick.
“YOU STUPID LITTLE BRAT!” he roared, voice hoarse from his cold. “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS? I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH MY STUFF! I’LL WRING YOUR NECK FOR THIS YOU-“
A hand was quite suddenly placed on his shoulder, cutting off the redhead mid-sentence. Charlie had already wandered back to his movie, and Ebby’d only toddled in to check for a moment before going back to bed (she’d done so while Kahlua was yelling), and Mom wasn’t even home. So that left only one other person for it to be. The ice god whirled on Bailey and expected to tell off his brother, when he came face to chest with a much taller, and not very awake looking teenager.
“Ho-ly carp.” Kahlua gasped, his rage vanished at the shock of seeing the older boy actually OLDER and not quite his usual cheery self.
“Go back to bed, Kahlua. And you as well, Absinthe.” The red skinned criminal croaked, his voice even worse off than his brother’s. “I’ll clean up.”
Sinny shyly crawled out from under the books after the redhead had grumpily trudged back to his room. He stood and watched in the doorway for a moment, wondering why Bailey sounded so funny (his voice difference was more obvious than Kahlua’s partly because it had dropped when he grow and also because the red boy was sicker). The hiccup stared in silence for a bit as his big brother slowly cleaned up the books, obviously not feeling too hot during the whole affair.
In his room, Sinny curled up to sob and pout a bit more. Kahlua usually wasn’t a particularly friendly kid and was grouchy but he had shrieked at him and was nastier than usual! It was very upsetting. It was also upsetting that Bailey had been so quiet and dismissive besides being too tall and sounding wrong. It worried him, the thought of his big brother (for he never thought of Lu like that) not being friendly to him anymore.
For the first time since Tuesday morning he was able to sleep but it was an awkward and worried sleep. By the time he woke up, it was late into Thursday afternoon and the books had already been picked up. Ebony was helping Uncle Charlie to repair it and Mommy ended up taking only Sinny out that day. He’d not wanted to go to the outdoor park again due to the awful so they went to an indoor one. Still, his bad luck followed him, causing the boy to slip off of the jungle gym and swings a lot (and Dartie wasn’t like Bailey and wouldn’t carry him after a bunch of falls as they were minor).
Sinny didn’t even want to get out of bed on Friday. He had no Poos, he hadn’t been able to sleep, and it was way colder than usual. However, falling out of bed after one attempt to roll over too many, the boy found himself having to get up. And when he did, he was able to see out the window and see the utterly nasty weather.
It was neither snow nor hail out there, but icky nasty sleet and ice. Attempting to venture out for a bit just to get some exercise, Absinthe discovered how cold and nasty weather like this could be. He was up to his thighs in slush, he kept slipping and sliding on ice just walking around outside of his house, and it all just kept falling as much as he did! Even Ebony hadn’t wanted to venture out into the messy nasty stuff, and she liked most any kind of weather.
Curling up inside, Sinny spent the rest of the day feeling cold and icky and stuck inside. An all around unpleasant thing for him, to say the least. And considering when Kahlua started actually wandering in and out of his room for soup, he kicked his little brother in passing as much as possible, things were really starting to suck.
Saturday, Absinthe woke up late and didn’t feel so well. However, what he noticed that was worse, when he got up to play, was that he was alone. Kahlua was apparently feeling better and had followed his mother and little sister out to buy a new bookshelf. Uncle Charlie had been dragged over to his friend Ixxie’s house for a minor holiday get together and since she wasn’t getting many customers and wanted company. So that left Sinny pretty much alone, save for the uncharacteristically reclusive Bailey.
The toddler had absolutely no idea what was wrong with Bailey except that he was feeling funny. But, feeling lonely and not wanting to venture into the still kind of yucky outside all by himself, he decided to go pay his big brother a visit. Nudging open the door, he was surprised to see the red teen not in bed. However, the adjoining bathroom was open and there were awkward retching sounds coming from it. Sinny recognized that noise from that one time he’d eaten too much before going on a faster ride at the carnival – it was that gross hurting feeling of food not sitting right. And that had only been once and while he was dizzy – Bailey wasn’t even on a ride and it was happening!
Sinny waited patiently for his brother to come out of the other room. Bailey still had a bit of water on his face from washing his mouth out (well come on, puking’s gross, who wouldn’t wanna wash their mouth out?) and was staggering a bit when he came out. His hair was messed up, out and unbrushed, and he seemed unable to properly keep his eyes open. Plus, his skin was a bizarre color somewhere between red and green.
Leaning against the wall, the bigger boy half smiled down at his little brother. “Hey kiddo…” he croaked, voice barely above a whisper. “You prolly shouldn’t get too close. You dun wanna get sick like me. I think I got it from ‘Lua ‘n I dun want you or Eb’ny getting it. Bein sick sucks.”
Absinthe blinked a few times and pouted. “No one’s home…”
“What, they went out wiffout getting’ you up? Poor thin’. Well, I’m sure the couch and video games are free right now. Do you want me to set them up for you? I’m in no condition for touching food but I can prolly set up a few games for you to amuse yourself with. S’at work?”
Sinny nodded softly. He didn’t wanna make Bailey come out and set things up for him but he also didn’t wanna break the games trying to set them up himself. And given his luck that week, that seemed the most likely thing to happen. So, staying out of the way as he was bid, the hiccup watched as his big brother staggered out to the living room to set up the Wii. His movements were slow, pained and he kept having to stop to hold his head and cringe a bit. It was rather saddening to watch, and it was all for Sinny (something that sort of hurt the toddler to think about).
“I showdja how to pick games right? That should at least have enough options to amuse you for a bit. Night again Sin. Don’ get in no trouble, kay?” and with that, Bailey went back to collapse into bed.
He spent most of the rest of the afternoon just playing along with the games he found on their Wii system. It wasn’t as fun as playing with his brother and sister, or at the park, or going out with friends, but it was better than sleeping all day or being bored. His luck decided to be at least nice enough to him so as to keep the child from breaking the system, the worst it got was him having to see Bailey sick and losing most of the games he played (but then, Sinny lost quite a lot anyway. He wasn’t a very good gamer).
By the time Kahlua, Ebony and Dartie got home (they spent the day actually doing stuff for a change), Absinthe was fast asleep on the couch. The Wii had been turned off, most likely by Bailey coming out to check on his brother, and all that had to be done was put Sinny to bed. The boy felt weird going to bed earlier than usual but he was really tired for some reason, and he was having trouble breathing for some odd reason.
Sunday, the final day of the week since Sinny had started to have bad luck, was turning out to be the worst from the moment the boy woke up. He woke at about ten AM, not feeling particularly well and had to wander into the bathroom to toss his dinner from the previous night. His head and tummy felt yucky beyond anything he’d ever felt before, and all he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and make the pain go away with sleep. He tried it and it worked for a few hours, but he woke up feeling hot, sick and uncomfortable. That ended up in him having to set up a nice cool shower (he at least had figured out how to do that on his own, which was good) and going back to sleep afterwards.
At about 3, Ebby poked her head in to check on him (since she was used to seeing her little big brother up by that point) and noticed how red and coughy and sneezy he was (since Sinny had woken up the third time he’d started feeling extra congested). So, she’d done the logical thing to do at that point – called Mommy to give Sinny medicine like she gave Kahlua and Bailey. The medicine was inky black, looked quite possibly alive, and smelled like the Bog of Eternal Stench, but he gulped it down and was out again for the next six hours.
When he finally woke up again after the seeming spell the meds had put him under, the boy found himself feeling better enough to…well, lay in bed for a while and stare at the ceiling. At that point, he internally felt he had two options – wallow in self-pity, or think over the past week and try to find something worthwhile in the whole mess. Mommy talked about life always having lessons even in the bad stuff so maybe there was something good and he’d missed it.
Well, he’d realized how lucky he was to have never previously been yelled at or scolded. The fact that it was rare enough for it to be really upsetting when it did happen. And he’d found he didn’t need Poos to sleep (even if it was pleasant). He’d also found that horror movies were scary but explosions were cool, but that didn’t really matter much. What else, what else.
The biggest lesson that finally dawned upon the toddler was this: Being sick sucked a**. Only, probably in other terms. But it was awful. And having to do anything when you felt like that was almost torture in a sense. Medicine was gross, even if it did help. And anyone who would take care to not once but twice get up to help their baby brother when they felt that shitty was most definitely a good person. What what did that mean to Sinny? He’d already known that Bailey was cool and the awesomest big brother he could possibly want.
What was he supposed to get out of learning how much it sucked to be sick and that his brother was a nice guy? Well, he could try to be more like Bailey and be nice to people even at a bit of cost to himself. He could also try to be a bit more sympathetic towards people who were sick? Previously it had just seemed like they were lazy or grumpy but now he was starting to see why they were like that. And there were all kinds of sicknesses that weren’t exactly like this one but still sucked and couldn’t be treated with funny swamp juice or special machines. And that sucked even more than being sick and taking meds sometimes.
Vaguely, as he dozed off, thinking of all of this, the child seemed to remember something in the back of his brain. Be it a story he’d heard once and forgotten or a memory from another time, he couldn’t be sure. But the boy remembered a child whose mother had died of a strange sickness, who had gone off with his elder brothers to become a monk and devote his life to helping the needy and studying herbal remedies for the people of his village. A boy who had wanted to travel the world when he got old enough, not only to see the beauties of the world but to see the ugliness and become a wiser person because of it. A boy who may not be the same anymore, in a new life, but who would certainly still try, in his own way, to make life better, even if it wouldn’t be in the exact ways of the young monk’s intention.
~~
When Absinthe got up the next morning, a few things seemed to have changed. He found that Poos had been placed on his bed again during the night (the plush’d seemingly been hiding under it), his shirt was sewn up, his pants found, and there was a warm bowl of soup on his bedside table. He still felt sick, and the weather wasn’t exactly nice again, and Kahlua was still a huge grouch, but he could handle that. After all, one can’t have everything they want. Sinny grinned as he softly took a sip of his soup and had to drop the spoon again cause it was too hot and burned his tongue. Well, he may not have learned exactly the lesson he should have, but he’d learned something. And Bailey, it seemed, was bigger and better so that was a plus. After all, who else in the house would be able to cook for him, sew, and would bother hunting under his bed to find a stuffed octopus. Well, it could be the red skinned criminal that was sleeping in the next room, but then again, it could also be the somewhat gruff war veteran that had been noticing his nephew’s very odd week and felt like trying to help. The world may never really know…
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