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 Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 9:08 pm
Where's the ******** 7-11?! "Shiiiiit..." Jamal grunted and stretched his legs out amongst his disheveled bed sheets as he sat up against the headboard, peering blearily out the window and watching the slow sunset through the makeshift curtain he made with a beach towel. It had to be close to six or seven...he wasn't sure. What he was sure of, however, was he had smoked up a good quarter of his remaining pot stash in the span of a week. He'd just finished off his last rolled joint, the pencil eraser sized end dangling precariously between his fingers as he coughed and rubbed his face, his eyes smarting slightly from how positively bloodshot they were. "Man...***** gotta eat," he announced loudly to an empty room, flicking the joint remains into a small cafeteria bowl he'd nicked from the dining area, and rolled off the bed. The room positively reeked of what he'd been smoking, but he'd never notice or even care...the fact that the smell was not entirely that of marijuana was completely missed. Probably smoked one of his laced joints by mistake. All he saw were the garish flashings of his alarm clock which he had put so far away from his bed that is had really lost any real purpose other than to be used for the time; like hell he was ever going to have to set the damn thing to wake him up...he'd get up whenever he woke up, not when a ******** clock tells him to. Jamal tripped over a shirt he'd flung on the ground last night and swore as he managed to save himself from taking a chair to the face. It was then he realized he was pretty much naked. Not like he was expecting company anyway...but he figured that he'd best get dressed at least half-way before tromping out into the jungle in search of food. As he tugged the baggy t-shirt on over his head, he humed a jumbled rendition of "Changes" by Tupac, forgetting half of the chorus as he slipped on his untied shoes and practically oozed over to the door. It was some miracle that he made it outside without help, but he found himself wondering one thing. If a brother wanted a frozen cherry coke slushie...where the HELL was he going to find one? And so, it was then that Jamal decided to take a jaunt across the island in search of a 7-11, the thought of the frozen drink combined with a frozen pizza (nevermind he had practically NO way of heating said pizza) heavy on his mind.
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 5:52 pm
Awen knocked on Jamal's door. She smiled softly waiting for an answer. She had just realised that Jamal must not have known about the big party, Awen barely knew! She waited bouncing on the balls of her feet for Jamal to answer.
And waited.....
....
and waited....
....
...
..
.
Awen sighed a little bit. "Guess he's not home..." She sighed but had come prepared for such an event. She took out a pen and piece of paper from her pocket and began scibbling a note.
Quote: Hi Jamal! I just had a thought that you might not know of the big Halloween party on the island. Heck I didn't even know if it wasn't for Emelyn telling me the other day. Appearently invitations were sent out awhile ago.... and I assumed we just didn't get them because the staff was busy with other things and forgot to send the new islanders a pair of invites. So...uh yeah. I came by to see if you wanted to go with me. There's supposed to be costumes... but since I didn't have time to make one.... but a party should still be fun huh? I know you said you were worried about meeting new people... because it can cause problems.... but I'll be there! If all else fails we cna leave the party and I can school you at some games, sound good eh? Well, you should get this before the party is over, so I'm gonna be there. I hope to see you... Yours truly, Shorty
With that Awen slipped the note under his door and went off towards the big tent.
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 9:07 am
Happy ********' Halloween "God dammit!"
Jamal stumbled into the party area as he tripped over the end of his costume and nearly went headlong into one of the supporting poles for the tent. Instead, he managed to grab wildy at a chair and stablized himself, saving himself much further embarrassment and a bloody nose. He pulled himself upright and quickly sent a glance around the gathering space, wondering if anyone had seen him.
The black man was encased completely in a white sheet, which coincidently, matched those found on all beds in the duplex buildings. He'd ripped two lopsided tears at the top for eyeholes and a small one for a mouth. He might have been a somewhat decent ghost if he had decided to keep his jewelry under the sheet; instead it lay over top of the sheet, pulling down heavily on the top of the sheet at his shoulders. Also, he'd somehow managed to tie his do-rag over the sheet as well. So, instead of a plain white sheet ghost, Jamal had made a sick parody of one. He didn't think it was that bad of an idea...but perhaps the fact that he was just a little stoned when he put that costume on didn't help."Jamal!" Awen grinned and jumped from her seat across the tent. She had disappeared back there when the Dude had turned his attention to Greer when she entered. Awen had been quietly sitting observing the scene.
Awen set down her plate of almost-gone goodies and strode over to him giggling. "Nice costume!" She hadn't really expected him to make a costume for the party but thought he wouldn't have one as she did. "Got my note then? I almost thought you weren't going to show." Jamal shifted his sheet around so most of the extra was trailing behind him instead of in front whilst taking a look around, then paused as he saw several pairs of eyes focused on him.
"Ain't you never seen a ********' ghost b'fo?" he questioned loudly, though it was mostly directed at Emelyn (at least in his mind) because he knew her. His tone was light, with a hint of amusement and mock-severity. Any odd animalistic qualities he saw were automatically attributed to Halloween.
However, his attention diverted as Awen called his name. He nodded to her. "What up, shorty. Yeah, I got ya note...I didn't have no idea this was goin' on." If he could have preened, he would have. "I made this b***h ma self." Awen grinned a little. "Well it's better than my costume anyway!" She shrugged a little bit as she had none at all. She giggled a bit. "Classic but with your own.... flare, huh?" She giggled and tapped his 'bling' at the word flare.
She wondered if Jamal would actually taek to noticing the changes in other people... or if he would dismiss it as Halloween things. That was after all one of the reasons she slipped him the note in the first place.
The Dude put his flipper protectively around Greer and puffed up a little since he was supposed to be protecting her now from the newcomer.
"We'll just say it's costumes for now, okey, hon? IF he even asks. Don't worry." - he patted he ont eh sholder.
Waving at Jamal and Amaya, he grinned: "'Sssup, bro! You ghost's all gangsta even in after life ... I'm the Dude, and this lovely lady here is Greer. Nice to meetchya. Come join us, both of you." Jamal laughed a bit. "Yeah, got a little Jamal flava...I ain't yo average ghost." He clumsily tried to shift the eyehole into a better position while looking back at the group.
"What up," he said, maybe a little stiffly, to the blonde haired man. "Da name be Jamal. Yous got a diff'rent kinda name...Ain't heard no one called Dude b'fo."
Awen grinned up at the tall man. She looked back to the group and her smile softened. she was actually feeling out of place now that she was the only one without a real costume. But she ignored that awkward, not fitting in, feeling and just went with the party.
She glanced over and saw Emerwyn enter the party she smiled a little to her but made no formal greeting. She wasn't sure what to say to her after the awkward parting last time... Soon she just turned ehr attention back to Jamal and the other group.Ambrose smiled politely to the newcomer, Jamal he said, through the thick ... ebonic... accent. "Nice to meet you, Jamal. Emelyn said she'd previously met your aquaintance." Ambrose tipped his feathered hat politely with a smile.
"And I like the ghost costume. Good job making do with the short notice - you arrived after the formal invitations I presume?" Given he hadn't changed yet... and the invitations went out a few weeks ago. Jamal more or less stared at Ambrose, even if he didn't really mean to outright.
"Uh...yeah," he said, stumbling through Ambrose's 'extensive' use of vocabulary, not having a real strong idea of what was just said. "I knows Em. Lives upstairs. And no one sent me a note 'bout this party...found out from Awen."
He nodded to the blue hair girl and poked her seeing a slightly less cheerful look on it than was there previously. She jumped a bit feeling Jamal poke her, she chuckled softly and poked him back. She looked over to Ambrose and nodded a little bit. "Well I figured that he didn't get an invitation because I hadn't either. I just sent him a note incase no one else told him about it... I kinda... wanted him to meet the... islanders that have been around longer...ya know?" Hinting at the obvious without actually saying it. She didn't really want to push something on Jamal again, because he might get annoyed instead of just thinking she's trippin. Ambrose smiled encouragingly to the two as they took off dancing. Things were actually starting to feel better around here - the obvious overshadowing problems aside. At least he could safely say that he felt happy for his two friends as opposed to jealos.
"Well, I'm glad you could make it to the party, Jamal" Ambrose smiled. "And you too, Awen - I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting either of you before tonight.
Ambrose turned to the concessions table and picked up a plate, putting a couple of the small finger sandwiches on it, munching on one of them as his date had wandered off and wasn't around to share a dance with. "Have you tried some of this? It's quite tasty." Ambrose smiled. "Though I fear they may have gone a bit excessive in the Halloween-themed food.... I'm not sure if the bugs there are supposed to be a joke... or not." Or perhaps a jab at some of their changing appetites. "Regardless, I have heard that some people in other countries eat them" He gave a grimace at the thought. "But I haven't exactly tried them myself..." The black man eyed the insect-laden table with a great deal of apprehension, his nose wrinkling underneath the sheet as he approached the table to peer at the rest of the food. "I sure be hopin' no one gonna eat those. Where I come from, we stomp da s**t outta them things...not serve 'em up in a damn bowl."
He prodded one of the finger sandwiches, expecting to see a leg pop out of one of them. She laughed at Jamal and Ambrose's reactions to the ants. "They really aren't that bad boys!" She proclaimed and grabbed one from the bowl. She held it up. "It's chocolate after all, right?" She popped it in her mouth a chewed. Take that for bravery Jamal, she grinned.
"I can't believe you two big strong men are afraid of a little chocolate covered ant." Her eyes flashed to Jamal letting him know this is yet another time she was showing him up and she knew it.
She pointed to the jello. "But if you want something safe the jelloy stuff is great." Grabbing another glass of punch she sat back waiting for Jamal to be done. She was going to be nothing but skin and punch if she kept this up....Then he walked up to Jamal and Amaya and smiled at the blue haired girl: "You wanna try this dancing thing? Dont' worry, I'll lead. Want to try?" - he asked nonchalantly. She blinked a little bit when The Dude approched her and asked to dance. "Well.... I..." She hesitated another minute and glanced briefly up to Jamal. "Sssure....why not? But..uh... I can't really dance at all...so..yeah...""Uh uh, shorty. Jamal ain't skerd of no bugs. Get dat straight," he said with attitude, moving his hand away from the sandwich that be poked and leaving it there. Seems he wasn't big on manners.
Or big on the musical choice. A groan and a expression of dismay were both muffled accordingly by his costume as the latinesque music started to blare.
"...what kinda party be this anyway?" He glanced around the room again, looking for something he might have missed. All the parties he'd been to had....other...sorts of festive qualities that this one was sorely lacking. "Ah, but here in lies the beauty of dancing with me. I know how, more or less. So you just follow my hands. And it'll be fun, I promise."
He took her hands into his flippers and did an easy spin. A very easy spin, where the girl just, kinda, folows along. It worked out quite well.
"Seee ... easy!" - the Dude grinnedShe laughed a little bit as she was spun. "Easy...." She smiled a bit. She was a little hesitant but looked closely at his flipper. She hopped that she wasn't going to get these...
She stopped and looked over to Jamal. "It's jsut a classic party ya know? And I was only kidding about being afraid of ants.... afraid of a little shorty, maybe, but ants? Naw.... Hey you don't mind if I...take off a big with uuhh...Dude here do you? I'll be right back I promise?"
She was worried at leaving Jamal alone, though he was older and much bigger she felt like she had him under her wing as far as island stuff goes and she'd rather not make him feel left out either... Jamal watched Awen be whisked away and shrugged. He went back to browsing the table, picking through things here and there and taking what looked to be safe onto a plate. Despite his distrust of the food, his plate grew overburdened rather quickly.
Now he just needed a drink. When he spotted the alcohol, his eyes lit up.
Bingo. "Easy as pie." - he nodded and dragged Awen off to the dance floor to join Greer. Man, Greer was really shaking those gills. Hey, better view form here anyway. The Dude was spinning Awen carefully for the most part of the dance, b/c it was the most fun part of dancing anyway, but when they didnt' spin, he had a conversation going:
"So Awen, why is your hair blue?" Awen was grinning ear to ear. With The Dude leading this really wasn't too hard. Though she did...step on his toe every now and then, not that it would hurt much if at all.
Shrugged a little bit at his question. "I don't know. Because the chemicals in the work a certain way when you apply it to your hair it dyes it?" She wiped the stupid smile off her face at her lame attempt at a joke. "Well, see... I don't really know." She laughed. "That sounds stupid but... yeah. I was in like grade eight and saw a box of blue dye on the shelf at Shoppers... I bought it and dyed my hair and kept dying it blue ever since. I just.. like it I guess?"Jamal wandered over to a table with his food and booze, plopped in the nearest seat, and kicked his feet up on the table while beginning to chow down. He tried at first to shove it through the mouth hole in the sheet, but all he managed to do was to make a huge mess. With each try, he grew more frustrated until finally he threw the sheet up over his head, drapping it like a hood, and ate partially uncovered. The Dude smiled: "Fair enough, Awen. It looks nice!" - he sent her for another spin. "So how'd you end up on the island? And how do you and Jamal know each other?"
From the corner of his eye the Dude noticed Jamal's move and decided to come hang out with the black brother once he's done with this song. Greer seemed to be twirling happily with Ambrose and the Dude liked to socialize. Esp if he could chalk off his flippers on Halloween for today. The Dude was not the fun of the inevitable "Welcome to the Zoo" speech.She faltered a little bit. "I came to the island for therapy..." Her hands gave a nervous twitch against the Dude's flippers. "Hydrophobe...." She said softly.
She didn't really want to get on that subject right now so she just went on with the second question. "Oh I met him in the gameroom while back.... and..." She was going to say how she had saved him from the jungle because he was lost..but decided against it. "met up with him in the jungle later. I... told him about the ...experiments but he.. thought I was trippin." She sighed a bit.
Speaking of trippin..... Awen tripped over the Dude's feet and this time didn't stop herself. Her hands slipped out of the Dude's flippers and she ended up face first on the floor.
..."Ow..."As they all danced, Jamal sipped his beer and observed. Not only could they not choose good music, but they also couldn't dance. He wasn't sure which was worse. Hydrophobe ... the Dude pondered that whispered confession. Hydro meant water, phobia, as far as he understood, meant fear. But being afraid of water? That didn't compute in the Dude's mind. How can one be afraid of water. He must have misheard what hse whispered. So preoccupied was he with thinking about it that he didn't pay atteniont and let his charge clip
"Oh s**t!. Sorry, sorry ... sorry man" - he bent over and helped her up, looking totally mortified for such a finsih to the song. He looked liek an as, while AMbrose had finsihed his dance iwth a smooth little spin ...
"Very sorry ..." - he said one more time, sounding resigned She slowly got up. "It's...okay my fault my fault." She gave a little embarrassed smile. "But that's enoguh dancing for me I think.... th-thanks for the dance." She bowed her head a little bit and ducked away. She flopped down beside Jamal and sighed. "You know I think someone up there just hates me man..."Jamal pulled his feet from the table and gave Awen a sympathetic shake of his head. "I saw dat...you a'ight? That dancin' s**t you guys do is dangerous. Too much twirlin' and s**t," he chided, sliding her his plate that had a cookie of some sort on it that she could have if she wanted it. "Crazy white people."
He winked as he said the last comment, hoping to make it look like he was just messing with her. He didn't really mean to offend her.
She glanced over at the Kareoke machine and jumped up. "OH!" She had just thought of something. She rushed over and flipepd through the list. "Does anyone mind if I....?" The Dude grinned at Jamal and jocked: "Who you calling white?" - there was an overly wide grin there. One could say that he might have waited half his life time to pull a line like this on a black guy. "What, if it doesn't have word Ho in it, it's not music" - he grinned.Awen heard the comment which the dude spouted to Jamal and frowned a little in worry. Quickly to draw attention away she tapped the microphone to the kareoke machine. "Um... yeah I guess this is on."
She shifted her weight a little bit looknig to the people there with an embarrassed little smile. "I don't really know how good I am.. but in the mood to uh... sing something. I don't know why but this song sort of popped into my head and well uh... yeah...."
She looked back to the machine and fumbled a little bit. "Okay so I do...um..this button?" The music of her song "Poison- The cover version by Groove Coverage" started quite suddenly and rather loudly. She yelped a bit and jumped back to the mic. "Well I guess it was that button." She laughed slightly....
She started the song her voice seemed nice...if a little shakey...
(I wanna love you but I,but I better not)
Poison
(I wanna love you but I,but I better not)
Poison
Your cruel device
your blood, like ice
One look, could kill
My pain, your thrill...
She started picking up and seeming more confident now. Taking the mic off the stand she started to get into the song now...
I wanna love you but I better not touch
I wanna hold you, but my senses tell me to stop
I wanna kiss you but I want it too much
I wanna taste you but your lips are venomous poison
Your poison running through my veins
Your poison
I don't wanna break these chains
(I wanna love you but I,but I better not)
Poison
Awen was by this point moving and grooving to the beat and even gave a little wink in Jamal's general direction, though with the people around who knew who it was too....
Your mouth, so hot
Your web, I'm caught
Your skin, so wet
Black lace, on sweat
I hear you calling and it's needles and pins
I wanna hurt you just to hear you screaming my name
Don't wanna touch you but you're under my skin
I wanna taste you but your lips are venomous poison
Your poison running through my veins
Your poison
I don't wanna break these chains
She set the mic back on it's stand blushing profusely. She shakily wandered back down and took the cookie Jamal had offered earlier going back and nibbling on it silently.
what had gotten into her?Jamal's brow quirked as the Dude more or less interrupted the conversation he was having with Awen but flashed him a smooth smile and shrugged.
"It ain't gotta have ho no where in it to be good. Need something wit' a ********' beat. Something ya can feel in ya' chest."
He glanced up as the music cranked on and sat back, wondering what Awen was going to sing. He'd never heard it before...that he remembered anyway, but the lyric alone were enough to catch his attention. How...seductive. The black man was faintly amused watching her sing and he caught the wink. Ambrose looked up as Awen began singing, respectfully watching with a smile. "Nice work, Awen!" He called to her when she finished, clapping.Awen took a long swig of her punch still blushing. She finished the cookie off and giggled a little bit. She honestly didn't know what had gotten into her at all on stage but she smiled faintly to Jamal but when she got eye contact shelooked away blushing some more.
She wondered vaguely if someone had spiked the punch when she wasn't looking or if she was just on a natural buzz or.... maybe she was trippin? She snickered at the thought.Jamal chuckled mentally, playing cool and casual while Awen lit up like a damn christmas tree, and took another gulp from his beer.
"Yous neva told me ya could sing," he said nonchalantly, though a small smirk peeked at the corners of his mouth. "And what a song..ain't heard it before. You lookin' a little heated up."
It was fair enough to say his interest was perked at this point...not that he minded. If things were headed where he thought they were, he wouldn't mind maybe taking advantage of it.Awen gulped softly tittering nervously. "Well uh.... I never had an opportunity to sing until now? And if you were paying attention instead of crashing around in the bush you would have heard me in the jungle!" She decided to try to clam with a little matter-of-factly sort of speech.
But it didn't help much so she took another sip of her punch at the heated up comment. "Uh.. well you know.. um the lights up there get uh..pretty hot you know..." She smiled a little bit. "The song is... I don't know it is just.... I heard it somewhere and well it has a good beat anyway..."He glanced over again at the newcomers. "Seems like there may be even more budding romances on the horizon" He smiled.Jamal shrugged, again keeping his nonchalant manner, and tugged his ghost costume back on properly. "Yeah, prolly the lights," he agreed, though still he couldn't help but grin a -little- behind the safety of the sheet. Privately he was almost congradulating himself; he still had game, apparently.
Romance? Maybe...but knowing Jamal, it was going to take more than just a little bit of blush and nervous giggles to shake him into keeping anything serious. However, he was not one to object to some fun. That part was up to Awen just like it had always been for any other girl.After taking a nice deep breath Awen finally managed to get the blush to go away. she glanced a little over to Ambrose. She had felt eyes on her and heard something but couldn't quite make out what it was..... Probably not important anyway.
She gave Jamal a nice big smile. "So... Are you enjoying the party so far? What about the island? Have you met many more people, besides at the party I mean? I cannot believe how many people there were here, I met a large chunk of people just at the party!" She settled back into her normal self, no seductive just happy comfortable freidnly Awen.Wandering back into the tent came a white-haired man that Awen met previously that evening. Sabin, still bedecked in the Victorian cloak strode confidently in, surveying the grouping of some new faces with an attentive grin. A wonderful mix of people he hadn't met yet on the laboratory side of things. There was, however, the young blue-haired girl that he had given the willies earlier. Admittedly, now with the company of her previously missing chaperone. With a predatory grin, Sabin walked in their direction. "Helllo again Awen." He grinned, displaying his fangs. "Ah Sabin!" She smiled a little bit and motioned for him to sit. "Where did you run off to? I didn't realise you even left...." She looked betwee nthe two for a second before... "oh! Um... Jamal this is Sabin, Sabin this is Jamal." She smiled glad everyone was getting aquainted, though knew it lacked the warm fuzzies....Jamal more or less ignored Greer and Ambrose. He wasn't impressed with the younger blonde for various reasons...the girl, he didn't really have any sort of prejudice against yet. Except her costume was really realistic and that was vaguely worrisome.
"The party's a'ight, I guess. Not too busy though...brotha's used to partyin' in packed spaces, ya know. As fo' meeting people, I ain't met no one really b'sides herr at this thing," he drawled, adjusting his bling around his cloth-laden neck. "Ain't many people on da island though...and I prefer da nighttime. No one out then really."
Jamal eyed the newcomer and gave him a nod. "What up?" "The night..." She smiled. "It's really nice on the island Jamal. You should stop by my duplex sometime, I'm usually up at night...." She meant it in a purely innocent way but due to her song earlier and how things were progressing, she blushed a little bit before rambling.Sabin nodded and stretched out a hand to Jamal. "Glad to meet you, Jamal" Sabin commented with an odd glint in his eye. "Been enjoying your time so far?" He asked. Jamal chuckled. "A'ight. Maybe I will," he said in response to Awen's invitation before looking at Sabin and his extended hand. His expression grew somewhat guarded, but he shook hands with the stranger, remembering vaguely that someone had mentioned that this Sabin guy was one of the Dr's lackeys.
"It's been a'ight I guess...but yous guys are lackin' a damn 7-11 'round here," Jamal commented, somewhat seriously, propping his feet back up on the table.Sabin met his hand with a particularly firm grasp. The smile (or the intensity in his eyes) didn't falter to Jamal's comment, almost setting his stilted responding laugh off as creepy. "Yes... well, unfortunatley with a group of only about twenty or so of us, the cafeteria's about as close as it gets." Awen rolled her shoulders a little bit at the tension Sabin had created. She looked between the two and stood up quickly. "Say! Does anyone want something from the snack bar over there? Uhh... I was just gonna go refill my punch so..." Even though she still had plenty of punch left... Lame excuse Awen...
She noted the fact she had taken to that word way too much lately 'lame'. She pushed that thought aside. "Jamal?" She smirked a little bit hopingto clear some tension he had. "I could bring you over some of those ants you happen not to be afraid of?" "That's some s**t, man," Jamal commented to Sabin, displeased by the fact that the man wasn't at all sympathetic. "Brotha ain't used to not bein' able to get a frozen pizza 'n a slushie wheneva I want it." He completely disregarded the fact that even if he had a frozen pizza, he wouldn't be able to cook it.
Again, his gaze darted to Awen as she stood up and stammered something about punch and those damn chocolate ants. "Go 'head and bring 'em. I ain't gonna eat them though. That s**t's nasty." Sabin chuckled. "I take it then, that you've tried them already?" He quirked an eyebrow. "But anyway, from what I've heard, requests can be put in through the labs and they can order things for you. So I'm sure they could get you a microwave or something with which to cook frozen pizzas... or there's always pizza day in the cafeteria." He rolled his shoulders in a shrug. "I could also suggest branching out, but from the sounds of things, you don't seem too keen on trying new foods." With no request from either of them she left for the snack table. Rummaging around at what was left of the food she made a small plate. Honestly she had had enough of this stuff herselfbut maybe if she brought a little bit of everything they'd pick at it a bit...
While she was away Awen got to thinking of how she was acting with Jamal, that song...everything. she shook her head and sighed to herself. What was she honestly doing? Jamal.... he was really handsome, and she enjoyed his company and...damn he was hot.... but... Really was she fool enough to fall for his smooth act? She had known guys like that before and if they stood for anything Awen knew Jamal wasn't really looking for anything serious... Tht's not really how Awen would want her first.... She blushed.
Barely knew this guy and already she was thinking about? She shook her head. Lack of sleep, the damned humidity or just the stress from the island was obviously getting to her. She wouldn't even be thinknig this sort of thing right now back home. Not.. that she didn't have these thoughts but...she just met him really! And even if... He wasn't looking for serious anything, he makes that clear enough... maybe she should just ...back off before she got herself into asituation she didn't know how to handle.
Turning back to the boys and brought her plateful of snacks. She didn't seem quite so cheered as she had been before. This thing really got to her now. She set the plate down on the table and smiled. "There you go, lots of choice guys." She said the cheer in her voice so obviously fake. She sat back down in her seat and tried to act like nothing was up by sipping her punch.
She just caught the last words of Jamal. "Oh you're going then?" She gave him a half smile. "See you later then I guess Jamal, it's probably better if you didn't just eat this junk food stuff anyway."When presented with all the snacks, Jamal was pleased, but a little miffed only because he was trying to get away from the strange guy who kept giving him odd looks now and then. He smiled at Awen though. "Thanks, shorty. Imma be right back, a'ight? Then maybe we can get some real music up in herr." She gave him a genuine smile now. "Alright Jamal sounds like a plan then." Really seeing his smile she couldn't help but feel a little happier and hearing that nickname of her's some of her doubt lifted as if she was intoxicated ith it. She never had a nickname back home after all... "Well, you go find yourself some food then that's more tasteful to you." Sabin nodded to Jamal. "I'll be seeing you!" He called after him as he departed with an aire of 'I know something that you don't'. Turning to Amaya Sabin picked up a rather realistic-looking finger-shaped sandwich and crunched down on it after flashing her a fanged grin. "Well, I seem to have caused enough disturbance for the moment. I shall leave you to your food, young lady, and return at some later point." He winked at her before turning and heading out to the night air again. "Oh but I...." But it was too late Sabin and Jamal both had gone. "....wasn't hungry..." She sighed heavily and looked a the plate she brought back.
Suddenly once more very alone she was left with her thoughts, and her food. "Great..."She mumbled to herself and grabbed one of the cookies feeling a little miffed. "Just great...."
She was left alone for the moment and her thoughts weren't getting any more uplifting. She concentrated really hard willing for Amaya or Emelyn or Lauren to come into the tent and save her from her thoughts. But... she didn't quite see any of them.
She shifted her weight in her chair and just buckled down. Humming another little tune to herself.
"I've lost my battle before it starts
My first breath wasn't done
My spirits sunken deep into the ground
Why am I alone?
I can hear my heartbeat
Silence all around....."
The cookie crunched a little as she bit into it.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Awen shook her head after a short while. this was a party damnit she was supposed to be having fun. She always does this, over analize things. She was going to change on this island anyway, why not loosen up a bit? She giggled a little bit at the thought. Maybe.... just maybe...
She smirked a little bit. It would be... interesting anyway, but shook her head. Whatever will be....will be. Yes or no, do or don't. Only time will tell. Besides she was probably just getting ahead of herself... With seeing everyone change around her she knew it was only a matter of time before she did too. Her mind must be rushing.... she wanted to get everything from a normal life as she could, she supposed, before she started changing as well...
She just... wanted to stay normal. Failing that, she wanted to experience everything normal that she could while she could. After all, who knew what could happen once you've changed fully? But it's not like Moreau was changing people completely into animals...right? Her stomach knotted at the thought. Just... animal traits...right? After all No one seemed to be shrinking at all, at least not much.... Hargun didn't seemed to be shrinking to the size of a bat or anything. So yeah...just...the traits of certain things...
Way too deep for a party wasn't she supposed to be lightning up? She glanced back to the stage. Well.. few people were milling about, it doesn't seem like anyone was really dancing.... hmm.... just to cheer her up maybe....?
She moved over and flipped back through the listings. "Hmm..." After awhile she chuckled. "Well I figured it wouldn't be there anyway but still..."
She hopped back up and took the mic. "Alright, well the machine doesn't have this but I figure to honour a little bit of my Canadian roots So A Capella it is. Sorry, it's lame, cheesey....but I used to love this song. Canada's Really Bigby the Arrogant worms." She giggled a little bit at the stupidity of this all but... it cheered her up.
"When i look around me,
I can't believe what i see
It seems as if this country
Has lost its will to live
The economy is lousy,
We barely have an army
But we can still stand proudly
'cause canada's really big
We're the second largest country
On this planet earth
And if russia
Keeps on shrinking
Then soon we'll be first
(as long as we keep quebec)
The usa has tanks
And switzerland has banks
They can keep them, thanks
They just don't amount
'cause when you get down to it
You find out what the truth is
It isn't what you do with it
It's the size that counts!
Most people
Will tell you
That france is pretty large
But you can put
Fourteen frances
Into this land of ours
(it'd take a lotta work, it's take a whole lotta work)
We're larger than malaysia
Almost as big as asia
We're bigger than australia
And it's a continent
So big we seldom bother
To go see one another
But we often go to other
Countries for vacation
Our mountains
Are very pointy
Our prairies are not
The rest is
Kinda bumpy
But, man, do we have a lot
(we gotta lot of land, we gotta whole lot of land)
So stand up and be pound
And sing out very loud
We stand out from the crowd 'cause
Canada's really big!"
She laughed to herself a bit. "Thanks for indulging this poor homesick Canadian."
She hopped off the stage feeling much happier.Lauren was gone for longer than she expected to be from the party. First there was the bathroom, then she stepped outside and hung out in a tree watching the moon by herself for a bit. She loved that she could see the moon out here, and the stars those were things she couldn't see in a city of smog and things she missed of her first life.
What was she on now, number 3? It was a wonder she stayed sane, well for the most part. There were those bouts of being a bit sociopath but the mongoose was taking that ugly part away from her. Faster than she was comfortable with sometimes.
Walking back into the tent hearing Awen singing a funny song Lauren clapped. "WOOHOO!! Go Canada, never been there but I heard that... it's big." She laughed at the stupidity of that statement. Jamal returned shortly after Awen's last song, looking decidedly more chilled as he strolled. He reeked faintly of some sort of smoke that clung to his costume that anyone near him could smell. It was likely Jamal didn't care. "Darn straight!" she shouted over to Lauren. She laughed and went to grab some more punch. Her throat was extremly dry.... she looked over and saw Jamal coming back to the party and waved a bit.
"Hey Jamal, have a good supper?" Frrom where she was currently she couldn't smell anything. Jamal slithered into an open seat in Awen's general vicinity and flopped his arms over two chairs on either side, making himself comfortable.
"Uh...yeah. Yeah, it was real good," he lied from behind the sheet, softly chuckling to himself. "I heard ya singin'...yous like the weirdest songs." She smiled lightly sitting across from him. Still just away from the smell, but she caught a whiff of...something. Not knowing exactly what it was she just let the smell slide.
"Yeah it was just a stupid little song that I learned in highschool... I wasn't feeling very well once you guys left so I decided to cheer myself up by singing something stupid..." She shrugged a little bit with a smile. Jamal nodded thoughtfully, or at least in an attempt to look thoughtful, as he sprawled there. "Where you be from, exactly?" he queried, missing the part about her feeling bad for now. He was, however, curious where she hailed from. Maybe she was from his old hometown?...well, probably unlikely, but still. "Chatham, Ontario." She smiled proudly at it. "It was a decent sized city...but not too big like Toronto or anything... Had a really good ringette and girls baseball team...." She grinned a little bit... she had been on both teams after all.
She shrugged a little bit. "Well... It's not really that special but it was a nice place to grow up anyway.""Oh," was his only reply. He had no idea where Ontario was, let alone a city in it.
The black man was getting restless though; he kept fidgetting and looking around at the mostly empty tent. Seems like the party was winding down for the most part...and he couldn't blame them. This whole event really wasn't his kind of scene, plus his costume was starting to annoy him more than amuse him.Awen noticed his fidgetting and sympathised. The party was sort of getting dull.... and it was getting sort of late. She rolled her shoulders a little bit wondering what to do about it. "Don't seem very comfy in your costume anymore huh? See, that's what is bad about these things, costumes always get uncomfortable...""Yeah, true dat," he agreed, shifting more in his seat until he finally decided to tug his costume off. The man didn't see much point in keeping it on...it was late and it was likely that anyone who was going to show to the party had already, thus seeing the costume. It dropped into a puddle of white at his feet and he kicked it so it fluttered feebily into the air and dropped just a few inches away from its original position.
"Didn't do much hall'ween bullshit back home. Aint got not money o' time for that. Wun't safe to go out anyway." "Ah.. I've always loved Halloween. It's a time where people get to be...." She blushed a little back thinking about her first stage preformance. "Someone they're not really..." She was glad the costume was off though. It was sort of silly to begin with and yo could never see his face really with it on."People ain't always needin' hall'ween to act like somethin' they ain't really. People do it all da time. At least, what I seen." He shrugged some and leaned forward so his elbows were propped on his thighs, his hands clasped, and he rested his chin on his hands. "Gotta do it to get by sometimes. Ain't nice...truth always better than a lie, but...gotta break a few rules now and then."
He chuckled though and glanced at her. "But I knows you meanin' just like dressin' up silly and whateva. Most people ain't runnin' 'round wit' sheets on 'n stuff." She blinked a little bit. She felt really stupid at that point for she really didn't mean all the costumes. She sat back in her chair shifting her position and crossed her legs grinning a litle bit. "Yeah costumes and stuff..."
She couldn't relate at all with Jamal right then with what he said. She always had people who she could trust around her and she rarely was in a situation where she had to lie. And... well... she never was lied too very much at all. Or.. maybe she was just too naive?
She fidgetted a little bit before standing up. "You wanna... I dunno get out of here or something? I think I've seen a little too much of this place right now..."Dammit, of all the nights it had to be this one. After going back to her duplex she had accidently fallen asleep for a few hours. Cursing herself under her breath, she made her way slowly back into the tent and looked around for Hargun. Was she even still here?
Spotting Awen and some man she didn't know, Amaya took a few steps forward but stopped herself. What if that guy didn't know...? There was NO way in hell she was going to do 'tha talk' again. Maybe she should just find Hargun without them seeing her... "A'ight...we can roll out if ya want. It's 'bout time for the party to end anyway, I figger."
He got to his feet and kicked his costume away under a table. The man didn't notice the scaley-faced girl at this time. After going and comming from the party so many times over, Hargun didnt know weither or not she was there and wandered around the village area for a while and caught sound of the tent and the inhabitants finally. She strolled down and crept in.
She could hear Awen.. and someone she obviously hadnt met. She attempted to look with her poor eyes and finally caught sight of Amaya's bright red hair.
She lifted and a 'wing' and waved, hoping shed see her without being required to shout out. She smiled and turned to leave taking a couple steps towards the door with Jamal before noticing Amaya. "Oh, hey there Amaya." She looked up to Jamal and smiled a little bit. "This is Jamal, Jamal-Amaya." She paused a second. "She's sixteen, but older on the island than either of us." She figured she would get that out of the way before anything got brought up. Though she was fairly certain Amaya had been safe from Jamal to being with... she was just making sure, mistakes canbe made after all...? Lauren stepped out from lurking unoticably in the shadows when a while after observing Jamal and Awen... they appeared to be flirting. She wasn't sure how she felt about that but didn't trust Jamal around Awen for some reason.
She waved towards everyone, "Hey! Actual people here at the party now!" She waved to Jamal, "Hey, I'm Thorn." She gave him a predetory smile, hopeing to imply 'hurt my friend and you die' from her glare. As she looked around the tent she caught sight of Hargun's wing-like hand and smiled. But as she went to run over to her she was cut off by Awen. Wincing she forced on a smile and waved her long, clawed fingers. "Heh... hi Awen. Jamal."
Why was she telling him her age? Why was that relevant?
... ANYWAY! s**t. She didn't want to blow the two off but Hargun was over there and she needed her and... crap.
"Hi Thorn!" Yes, a distraction! After waving to her friend she sloooowly began to wiggle her way towards Hargun. Hopefully they wouldn't notice... even though the many plastic guns around her clicked everytime she moved. Jamal peered at Amaya's face, an odd expression flitting over his features before a smile cracked. "What up. Nice costume," he quipped, indicating the scales, then glanced over to Lauren who had seemily come out of the woodwork.
"Hah...now everybody be showin' jus' as we gonna leave," he said none-too-softly, giving the strange blonde a once-over and determining her to be too young without even asking. Plus the fact that she was practically leering at him...well, whatever. He'd dealt with frigid bitches before. "Yo," he said in response to her greeting, giving her a stiff nod. She smiled awkwardly at "Thorn" and Jamal, distracted too much to really say anything to Amaya to leaving. She didn't want Jamal and Lauren to fight this early though, she really looked up to both of them for strength and yeah... "Heh.. um, hey Lauren, having fun?"
She looked up to Jamal. "Well if you want we don't really have to leave if you want to stay and try and get this party back up and running...?" Lauren smiled at Awen and Jamal, "Awww, why ya leaving for?" She kind of had a clue, or geussed something about that but asking the question might make it akward to them, which is what Lauren hoped for. Her slitted eyes still glaring on Jamal, arms crossed as she tried to look as tough as Lauren could.... forgetting that she was dressed as Dorothy. But at least it was an undead gothic lollita Dorothy! Awen shrugged a little bit. "Change of scenery. I've been here almost all night and was getting a little bored to be honest." her excuses seemed extremely valid. Indeed Awen was naive to the fact that leaving a party together was something to be gossiped about. She didn't even seem to note Lauren's suspisions of it actually. nice in her own little bubble of ignorance. Jamal shrugged. "Don't matta' ta me...but it sorta got a little cold in herr," he said to Awen, giving Lauren a neutral, casual glance. Frankly, he wasn't scared of the little blonde girl and no amount of armcrossing and glaring was going to do it. s**t, he'd beat the s**t out people before. He didn't appreciate the standoffish nature when the girl didn't even know him and it irked him sufficiently that he shoved his hands in his pockets to make fists instead of drawing them into the open air.
Not that'd he ever hit a girl unless...well...they deserved it. Lauren backed down a tad, still on guard. "Ah, well yeah I can see that." She hands in her apron pocket, rocking on her feet. This situation turned akward, why would she care if Jamal and Awen went away together and maybe they weren't.
Thorn suddenly felt bad for jumping to conclusions, "Colder outside." She said to Jamal feining ignorance. For a moment Awen frowned at the hostle nature seeming to be radiating from the two. She should have guessed something like this would happen, but why did Lauren glare at him like that in the first place? Why did she start this stuff now at the party. Awen shifted her weight a little bit.
"Well... uh..." She wished she could just say something and those two become friends but she knew that wasn't going to happen. "Well, I was thinking about heading tothe gameroom or my room for some games' she grinned up at Jamal. "So I could own his a** again...." Leveling her gazeshe still held a smile for Lauren. "So it shouldn't be too cold inside right?" Despite Lauren's change of heart, Jamal's good mood was effectively ruined and that was a feat considering he'd been high as a kite after he returned from "getting food". He wasn't up for anymore social nonsense at the moment. At least, not anywhere that people usually congregated about this time of night.
"Listen, shorty. Yous can stay and hang wit' these peeps if ya want...brotha's headin' fo' the beach or somethin'. Ain't feelin' into staying 'round herr for right now."
He grabbed his do-rag from the mount of sheet on the floor, having forgotten it was over his ghost costume, tied it back on tight over his cornrows, and retrieved his 'bling' from the same source, carefully arranging it back over his neck. "Oh but..." She started, she really didn't want to just leave Jamal alone. She wanted to talk to him and maybe help his mood a bit, after all it was sort of her fault for letting all this happen.... but the beach? Why did he have to go to the beach...?
She sighed a little bit and looked up at the big man. "Well.... if you want to Jamal..." Her mood with all this conflict had successfully been dashed as well. She was concidering just going back to her room and kicking some a** with Kilik to try to improve her mood. Maybe..even call the night entirely. She wasn't sure at this point.
"But I don't think I'll be sticking around anyway. Like I said in need of a scene change..." Lauren felt accomplished in fending Jamal off of Awen, for now anyway. "Yeah, bet he wanted to make it real warm for you." She said as he started to walk off.
"See ya, don't drown or anything." Lauren said after him, not really meaning it.
She hoped Awen wasn't too mad at her, but she needed to protect her if possible. If Jamal was after more than booty he could wait. Jamal ignored Lauren completely, even though he really wanted to smack her. He, however, addressed Awen.
"Well, dat be up to you. Brotha's goin' to the beach...I ain't forcing no one no where." The last sentence was said very pointedly for Lauren's benefit before he turned and headed away from the tent and melted into the darkness. For a second she watched Jamal leave before turning to Lauren. She wasn't exactly...happy. In fact she seemed to be quite... upset and angry. Her expression couldn't decide on one single thing so it decided to look angry, but lke she was going to cry all at the same time.
"What is that supposed to mean Lauren!?" She burst finally. Oh god, now she felt like a heel. Normally that wouldn't happen she would gloat in her accomplishment of causing discord but not now, she upset Awen.
"Um," Lauren bit her lip then let it explode out, "He was looking at you like a piece of meat, I saw it, I know guys like that." She didn't really mean it in a racist way, she would be the same to a white guy who looked at Awen like that.
Damn, she got herself into a mess. Awen sighed heavily. "Jamal is my friend Lauren." She said sternly. "Sure he looks at me but so what? Maybe a little attention is good for a change!" She tried to calm herself down, mentally count to ten. She got to On-
"I mean t's not like I would really do anything, for god's sakes I just met him besides all the other stuff happening on the island. And despite what he may seem like at first glance he's really more of a gentleman than you think. I mean he refused t look and hit on me before because he thought I was too young! I mean that sort of says something about a bit of his morality, so I'm not really worried about anything happening against my will, besides I doubt the Doc would condone that kind of stuff huh?" She really was ranting wasn't she? She knew she was probably just stressed about everything and finally just snapping but..she just..couldn't help herself. "All my life Lauren I've been nothing but the friend. Or the goody two shoes. The innocent one. So guys kind of cleared away, they didn't want that hell we all know what they want. But for once, foronce my rep as a goody two shoes sn't known and a guy actually noticed me! Sure iIm going to flirt and god damn me if I love the attention! But I would like to think that I had a bit more respect from you to trust me to make my own decisions Lauren. I am a freaking adult, after all. And who knows what I'll be turning into, I mean even if I did make the choice to sleep with Jamal, that's one: my choice and two: maybe one of the only things that will make me more human. I mean there are so many things I haven't done and god damnit I've lost the opportunity for all of them. Moreau is taking away my humanity so what the hell is wrong with trying to stay human with human feelings as long as I can!?"
She suddenly ran out of steam, completely at a loss for what to say. This pause finally got her to realise what the hell she was really doing. She just... Oh god she was an idiot.... Lauren.... She didn't mean to yell at Lauren. She.... oh no... Lauren was near tears, what was that... tears? She held her head down her hair over her eyes, feining a sneeze to wipe the water away.
"I... I.... I..." She was stuttering this was hard to say, "I'm sorry I just don't know. I got protective. You know how aweful guys can be on the streets, seemed like every guy I knew was always looking to break in a new girl, one by one." Oh gods... not those memories, anything but those... block block block....
"I was tall enough and tough enough to fight them off, always stood up for my friends. Geuss that's why I got tough all of a sudden. You're right, you're an adult, I'm the kid here... even though only technically one year from it and adult or minor doesn't seem to matter where I'm from. But yeah, sorry... I just hell I don't know but sorry." She felt bad...really bad. But she still didn't want Awen to sleep with Jamal and didn't quite know why.Awen's mouth moved for awhile with no words coming out. She had never thought to see Lauren, younger than her but the toughestperson Awen had ever met break down like that and almost cry. And she caused it.... Her stupid.... stupid words.... How could she... What could she.... She was stuck between a rock and a mighty hard place right now.
"L-Lauren..." She said much softly her voice shaking. A couple of dropplettes of water fell from her eyes. "I.... am so sorry." She knew it would never be enough... "I never grew up like you did, I never had to face...what you did. I never...had to be tough...."
She paused a little bit and tried to smile for Lauren. It was..feeble, but she managed one. "I really do appreciate the intension Lauren. I know you're jsut trying to protect me.... and god I am so sorry for shouting at you...."
But she couldn't leave it at that she just had to explain.... "I guess it's just been a lot of stress I've been burying in video games lately and.... I'm jsut terrified of what's going on here. I...yeah I cling to Jamal because... he makes me feel normal. He didn't believe me when I told him the truth. I'm sad he didn't but I'm glad too. Because when I'm with him I can forget that I won't be able to leave this place. He makes me forget my worries and questions and nightmares of what's going to happen to me, to everyone here. I just.... want to be normal Lauren. I mean I know you're really excited about all this. And as much as teh Doctor is helping me with my phobia, I assume anyway, and other people on the island I am still terrified. I guess well yeah.... I just want to be normal.... flirt like a normal person... have fun like a normal person... tease and joke and play like a normal person. And yes I can do those things with anyone...but Jamal is the only one I know who is still normal.... and he arrived about the same time as me... That really means soemthing to me and I don't know why."
She hung her head and turned heading out slowly. "But...hell that's really no excuse for yelling at you, you were just trying to help..." She coninued on her way, but not quite out yet. "I'm sorry Lauren.... god damnit i didn't men to hurt you..." Lauren shrugged, sniffling a bit. "I'm not hurt..." she lied, to Awen and herself and now was starting to feel better... like something got hit that was needing to be hit for a long time. "Ima.. fine... yeah... I'm fine" She smiled a bit. "Nah, shout at me all ya want. I deserve it and I can take it. I'm sure you won't loose what's important of yourself, no one can take that from you. Maybe try thinking about that will make ya feel better. Just don't turn towards escapes that will end up biting you in the a**." She wasn't really sure what to say.
Moreau was a good guy... right? God if he was so good, why did he hurt everyone? "Don't be scared, that'll get ya no where fast." Her mind scrambled for the right words... nothing came out. "You really are wonderwful Lauren." She said smiling over her shoulder. "I'll take care not to yell at you again, okay? And hey, i'm always scared, I've been scared about other things at other points in my life... I'll get over this eventually...." She paused a second and took a ncie refreshing breath.
"Moreau will help with a few fears soon enough. I guess just next time I see him I'll get the truth from him, instead of having to sit and wonder and worry...right? he's helped a few people already...adn I can tell other's lives are better here. I just... have a lot left behind. But, like always, life goes on, right? We'll live through this, at least I think we'll live through this..." She wasjust jibing the whole process.
"So no worries. but honestly I'm heading out for a bit. I think I definately need some kicking a** with a big stick time...." She gave a little wave over her shoulder and moved back for her duplex. Lauren bit her lip hard... was smiling and went to hug Awen. She pulled away afterwards letting her leave. "Thanks... it's nice having a friend." Jeez, Lauren was so soft and squishy on the inside right now.
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 5:50 pm
Uh....WTF Naked Girl?! The humid air of the island was starting to take its toll on Jamal now after yet another week was passing by of his time spent on the island. By now he figured it would be growing cooler and closer to the snowy season back in Detriot and he missed it to some extent...it was just too damned hot here. In hopes of beating the warmth, he had retreated to the lake for a good float. The man couldn't swim properly and so didn't dare pass waist deep water. Instead he was content to kneel on the sandy bottom and let the water lap up to his shoulders as he sat there, eyes narrowed as the sunlight reflected off the water. He was shirtless, which was appropriate for swimming, but he was not wearing swimming trunks. Instead he was wearing track pants with snaps up the sides. Jamal hated shorts unless they were the long baggy kind and he had none to wear because he'd come to the island with only jeans. He needed to remember to put in an order for some proper basketball shorts. The thick jungle passed against her body like it was nothing, she never even put ehr hands out to press away the greenery she simply walked through it. This of course caused her to gain a scratch or two from pssing branches but she didn't seem to notice, she had felt worse, much worse. The smile on her face kissed her eyes as she headed for the lake her hair falling over her shoulders like a great black waterfall hiding, luckily maybe, her chest, as the thought had yet again passed her by to get dressed this morning. her cool blue eyes sifted through the breaks in the greenery and finally the breath of water reached her nostrils and she puured. Pyroth had once before taken her to this watery paradice, to watch the 'sprites' make the water shine. A teeny giggle escaped her, though this quickly stopped as she tripped over a tree branch and came tumbling on to the spongy bank with a groan of dissaproval "owie" she whispers never noticing there was a person int he bushes while she nursed a aching elbow. Jamal grumbled to himself, mention of "goddamn bitches" passing his lips as he rose to his feet in the water and traced a hand across the water at just below his navel. It was pretty quiet there at the lake...yet again another unsettling feature of this island. He was not used to quiet at all. Luckily, perhaps, his back was turned to the nude woman who tumbled down the bank and her whisper was so soft that he didn't hear it. The faint rustling of the brush had been noticed, but he'd simply put it off to be the wind or some passing wildlife. Colche tilted her head softly, what was that peeping out of the water? Her elbow suddenly became the last thing that worried her. The thing, the creature that lurked in the water, was rather decerning. Biting her bottom lip, then ultimately her tongue as it stuck out and she became thoughtful, wondering what she should do about the strange half creature. At this point, Jamal moved and she frowned, it was a human, or at least a bit of one, where the rest of him was was quite beyond her recognition. Brow wrinkling and a deep unhappy crease coming to her forehead, she pouted and watched in silence. Was she dreaming? Had something come to get her? It must be a dream, how did anyone make their body dissapear. A shiver ran down her spine and at last words came out "Man?" she bit her bottom lip roughly, she definately heard her own voice, and the taste of blood, irony blood, upon her tongue affirmed that she was indeed awake, it was so strange, where was the rest of the person? Jamal whirled abruptly, hearing the soft-spoken query of "Man?", sending a wave and flurry of water into the air as he moved. He all but goggled at the sight of the naked woman on the shore. It took him a moment to realize that this wasn't some beautiful naked 21 year old coming his way, but a very -young- teen whom was naked and his eyes widened and he whirled back around so his back was to the girl, his tattooed chest heaving as he gave a loud "WHOA, WHAT DA ********!?" of surprise. Oh s**t, he was going to be in trouble. Ooooh s**t. This was SO not his fault. Colche jumped back in surprise at the shout stumbling backwards only to find her back then ultimately her head against a rather large tree "owie" she exclaimed dithering all the more now as she watched the man with wide blue eyes, eyes which screamed of fear. She hadn't been 'sworn at' since she came to the island and old words rushed through her mind so she couldn't help but call out "NO WORK! NO WORK!" she called curling up against the tree her jet black hair covering her like a long silken blanket "no work, bad, no work, no work!" she mumbled having little or no clue what else the half a person had said to her only picking up on the one word. Jamal palmed his face, his ears burning red with shame. Under any normal circumstances, he would have been...frankly...delighted to be faced with a naked woman. But not someone so HORRIBLY underage. He was sure his a** was grass if any of the officials on the island found out. First murder and then what? Some sort of sexual offense with a minor? HELL NO. "s**t man, I ain't sure why yous yellin' 'bout work," he spoke through the space between his hands, still with his back turned. "But brotha ain't lookin' fo' work or givin' yous work or whatever yous thinking. Brotha wants yous to get some god damn CLOTHES." He didn't know that she was practically in a fetal position under a tree. Colche shiverd quietly listening tot he whole ramble of words that he spoke, though 'no work' was heard and she peeped out fron behind the long black hair, big blue eyes still frightened of the person in the water "Cloathes, seventeen" she whispered receeding back in to her flock of hair just incase there was rebuttal for this sentence. Licking her lips she once again started to edge towards the darkness, the dark was safe, it was always safe, this man, this person was strange, strange compared to the others, why did he shout? She felt so alone suddenly, she wanted pyroth, or ambrose, oror, or, or anyone to show up to help her. She wanted somone to take her away again, away from this situation that frightend her so. "Don't care if yous be seventeen. Ain't RIGHT for a man to be lookin' at dat sorta thang if they as old as I be," he replied hotly, shaking his head. "s**t man...put on my shirt or somthin'...yous ain't s'pose ta be runnin' 'round like dat!" He flailed a hand back over his shoulder, trying to point at a black t-shirt that was lying in the sand in a jumble. It was big and baggy, like all his other clothing, and would be better than nothing for Colche to put on. Hell, he could get another t-shirt. Colche peeped once again, what had the man pointed at. Her gaze drifted to the huge black T. Pausing, only for a moment she scrabbled for it in a twist of dust and twigs quickly slipping in to the T-shirt which hung off her slight figure like a nightgown. "Cloathes" she whispers wrapping her arms around ehrself in a very defencive possition as she watched the rather loud man. She blinked once glancing at the tree and the place she had evicted. perhaps she could run away, escape in to the dark, but, but what if he punished her, she didn't want to be shouted at any more "no work?" she asked preying for an affirmative on this question, preying she wouldn't be shouted at, was this a dream? was she about to go back to the cold? to the wall? to the darkness where light was the enemy, had it all been a dream. "please, no dark, no cold" tears rolled down her cheeks, her body scrunched together her knees tight to her chest, the baggy T covering her right down to her ancles now. "please" she squeeked, awaiting a reply. "I don't know about no work, lady. I ain't workin'...I don't know whos be workin' 'round this place," Jamal said, growing exasperated. "Yous got the shirt on yet?" His voice was slightly more level and calm time this around, noting now that the girl seemed...not right in her speech. Was she mentally ill? Mentally challenged? Just a plain mental case all around? The words dark and cold didn't make sense to him in the context she was using them so he didn't ask. She just seemed to blather on in fragmented sentences that were harder to understand than Emelyn's long and complicated words. "Cloathes on" she whispers, sniffling a touch, she still weapt slowly, her body still tence and wondering if she was to be punished still. Men punished, noone had done it here, yet, but maybe, maybe Aubrey was wrong, maybe the other men were just nice because they were fuzzy, this one didn't look at all fuzzy, maybe this was why she was heer really, to be punished, she had done so many things here. Her heart skipped a beat and she bit her bottom lip, causing it to bleed again "no dark, no cold" she whispers again waiting for the man to turn and deliver to her her punishment for all she had done on this island, in this new life. He turned slowly, hands still at his face, and carefully peeked between the fingers until he saw that, yes, she had put the t-shirt on. Well, it would work for now...He dropped his hands down into the water and gave a huge sigh of relief, then crossed his arms. "It ain't dark or cold 'round herr...I ain't understandin' you," he said, brow cocked, this attitude somewhat harsher than he meant it to be. "Why you runnin' 'round wit'out clothes. Yous just a kid." Colche stared at him dumbly. She was far from stupid but words meshed together alot for her, she never truely understood every word in anyones sentence. Her fear put a foggy cloud over her mind though and his stance made her cringe. An arm went up automatically before her face hiding those frightend blue eyes and showing the healed white scars on her arms, though they had faded some what with the new intervention of spots they were still there clear as day "no hurt" she mumbled her slender frame shivering visably. Jamal boggled at bit at the sight of the spots. What the hell were THOSE? And why was she so afraid of him? "I ain't gonna hurt no one," he said, clearly confused, dropping his hands to his sides and stuffing them in the waistband of his pants. "'Specially not women." Colche peered past her arm looking at the strange black man with frightend eyes "not fuzzy, ambrose fuzzy nice ambrose" She frowned a bit, wondering if she could trust somone who didn't belong to the fuzzy genrethat this island seemed to have "promise no hurt?" she asked at last her arms wrapping around her knees as she stared at the male before her, frightend, untrusting, wonderign what she was to do, should she run, she was frightend of running away from men, so frightend, she really didn't know what to do, she wished somone fuzzy would turn up, fuzzy equald nice in her book, none fuzzy people were still scary, especially when they shouted and frightend her. Jamal didn't know ANYTHING about fuzzy...wait...Ambrose? Oh yeah, he had the wolf knight costume...thing....right? "I ain't gonna hurt no one. Promise," he said, cocking a brow, thinking mentally "as long as you don't piss me off...", as he slowly sloshed forward toward the bank, moving slowly because the water was weighing him down. Colche watched the black man move in a struggling manner, her arms shifting slowly to hersides, her eyes always wide and still a little frightend. She swallowed hard, he certainly wasn't like ambrose, or even pyroth for that matter, he was scary and she didn't know why. She felt the light hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and she frowned "Colche" she whisperd after a pause and a time watching him move, she looked at him expectantly her brow still furrowed in deep creases. She wandered why she gave her name to this man, he reminded ehr so much of her old life when she didn't really have a name, or at least it wasn't said very often. He finally freed himself of the water and stood dripping at the edge of the lake, the pants nearly sagging off his behind. Thankfully, boxers obsured any sort of indecient exposure. "What be Colche?" he said as he wiped some moisture from his brow, his face crunched into an expression of confusion as he looked at the oddly spotted, half naked femme. "Be that yo' name?" Colche's mind was in a real muddle with this guy. He stood above her towering over her, or so she felt, even the dripping water felt rather like it was aimed at her. She nods her head timidly, frightend, she had heard the word name in there if nothing else. Huge cool blue eyes watched the large black man, she resisted a pout, simply cowering in to herself "name" she squeeked, still feeling rather intimidated by him and his strange language. Colche...why was that so familiar to him.... Then it dawned on him. "You be Colche," he said with sudden realization as he paused to wring some water from the waistband of his pants. "Awen tol' me 'bout you." He also remembered that Awen had said something about Colche being....not right. It made more sense to him now why the girl had been running around stark nude. Colche picked up Awens name some where amongst the babble, but she physically calmed at least a little "Awen nice" she whispers watching jamal with a little more of a curious stare now. Why wasn't he fuzzy? All the men around heer were fuzzy, it made them nice in her eyes. She licks her lips and tilts her head, she was curious to the name of the large scary man but the words had still never been taught to her. Instead a light curiosity flitterd past those huge deep blue orbs and she licked her lips "you no fuzzy" she had asked the question before, but perhaps he didn't understand that fuzzy meant nice. She shifted slightly, showing her slender arms once again revealing the long healed lines that at the moment interrupted the strange brown spotted pattern. "Yeah, Awen...nice," he said, still cocking a brow at the young woman. What was -wrong- with her. "And no, I ain't fuzzy. 'Cept fo righ' herr..." He pointed at the spare moustache above his top lip, smirking as he did so. Of course he didn't understand what Colche meant with fuzzy meaning nice OR that she meant fuzzy like an animal. "I'm Jamal." "Ja..Mal" she mimiked calming a little. he was indeed fuzzy above his lip, but she squinted at it and fully realised it wasn't the type of fuzzy she expected. Her brow creased. She wished somone else was here, this meeting was prooving to be rather more taxing on her muddled mind than she had expected "Not fuzzy like Ambrose" she stated fidgeting a bit wrapping her arms around her knees her big crystal blue eyes peering at him. What could she say to him now? It had prooved futile simply to speak the way she usually did around the others and his mess of strange slang was simply hurting her head. Could she, or should she run away from this strange man? Or would he punish ehr for doing so? The fear of reprimand sliced through any ideas of moving so she sat still stareing at him still a little frightend of the none fuzzy male. "Yeah, Jamal. Yous got it," he said, trying to be a little more friendly, since it seemed to be calming her down a little. That and he was hugely uncertain what to do about the half-naked girl who didn't seem all right in the head. Why was she out like that and who was supposed to be watching her; surely she needed some sort of assistance to get through the day. When she spoke again, he recognized the name Ambrose, though he had a hard time putting the name to a face. Ambrose....ambr- OH. "Oh yeah, I knows Ambrose...ah lil' anyway." He didn't get the fuzzy part of the sentence though. Why the hell was she so concerned with that? Colche smiled a little then, he knew ambrose? Maybe. She started to have the faintest incling that this was one of those people whom thought she was insane, or worse simply stupid. She hated that, so she set her jaw solid and acctually glared at him "No fuzzy, no nice" she stated acctually sticking her tongue out at the outspoken black man. Possibly the first rebelious thing she had done in her life she just performed before somone who terrified her. She suddenly realised she had performed this task and backed away a bit, frightend she would be scolded for speaking out of place. Her brow still crinched though and she pouted rather resolutely, she wasn't stupid, he was just not nice like ambrose or pyroth, they were nice and they were fuzzy. Her mind linked the two things together, maybe when the black man becanme fuzzy he would be nice too? It would happen soon enough she supposed, it happend to everyone. Jamal let his brow rise once more. "Uh, a'ight then..." he said, at a loss of what to say. The girl looked like she wanted to run away and he wondered why she just didn't do it. Not like he was going to care. Colche glanced at the man one last time, if she ran now she could probably get all the way back to her duplex and he'd never catchher, seh had been running alot lately, her leg mucles had become strong. She bites her tongue and watching Jamal for a second longer she stood almost like a bold of lightning and ran off in to the trees, she took a thought to discard the Tshirt before she scarperd in to the jungle, she didn't want repercussions of having the mans T. She kept running not stopping and preying she wouldn't be caught or told off because she ran away, the black man frightend her but she didn't know why, maybe it was because he was so loud or that he swore at her, she shivers, "no work" she mumbles as she breaks through the jungles treeline and makes a run for her duplex, where it was safe. Jamal watched her flee, a hand rubbing at the back of his neck out of complete confusion. He didn't understand what was wrong with that girl or why she was so afraid of everything. He didn't chase after her until she had disappeared, and that was only to get back his shirt. God this island was strange.
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 5:52 pm
A Fine Time for a Visit Awen slowly walked along the duplexes. Counting the numbers down as she passed. It had been a little while, Awen hadn't seen Jamal... or in that case anyone... since the party and she was feeling rather low with herself. She shouldn't have stayed to argue with Lauren. Jamal had obviously hinted Awen should come with him....
She sighed as she got to duplex 7. She turned to the door. But not only that she had had a lot of time to think about her relationship with Jamal. How it conflicted outside feelings. She had resolved to herself, for now at least, nothing firm was going to happen. Just... for now. But that wouldn't stop flirting or anything of the sort... that was just fun....
She knocked on the door of the duplex, hopnig that he was home this time...From inside the duplex, loud rap music of some sort was blaring as Jamal paused in mid-push up, thinking he heard a series of knocks at his door, and grumbled. When was he ever going to get his workouts back on schedule?
He got up, wiped sweat from his brow with a small towel he had draped over a chair, and flung that over his shoulder as he went for the door, clicking the pause button on his tiny radio so silence fell on the duplex. He was shirtless and without his pendants for the moment, both laying in a heap on the table, exposing his intricate tribal tattoos to the open air.
With little ceremony, he opened the door and was mildly surprised to see Awen standing there. Awen smiled softly up at the big man. She had to have been interupting something.... Great he was home but it was totally a bad time. She gave him a small apologetic smile. "um... Hi" She said sheepishly. Her eyes darted across his tattoo... she loved the design of it and loved looking at it and it gave a good cover to look at... but she quickly brought her eyes back up to his. "Am I...interupting anything? Sorry to bug you...."Jamal's brow quirked somewhat as Awen's gaze passed over his chest and he held back the urge to flex to see what her reaction would be. Though, as the thought passed his mind, she was looking at his face again so even if he had, she wouldn't have seen. Oh well.
"Hey shorty," he said cheerfully enough, though still his brow was raised. He wondered what had brought her out his way...certainly not for what he was hoping, of course...but the guy could fantasize, neh? This abstinence garbage sucked massively. "Jus' workin' out, that be all. Ain't interruptin' nothin' too impo'tant."
The man move away from the door and gave her room to come in, if she wanted.Awen nodded a little bit. Working out.... well that does make sense after all. He was well enough toned and shirtless and.. guys did work out shirtless when they could get away with it right? She didn';t really know about all guys but Jamal obviously did. Let's see out of the...four or so times she's seen this man twice he had his shirt off. She almost giggled but decided not to and just let a smirk pass her lips as she passed Jamal into the room.
She stepped in a little bit looking around his duplex it was....quite interesting.... but nothing really she hadn't expected. She paused a little bit her back still to him. She had a reason for being here. Awen turned on her heel to face him studying a moment before.... "Jamal... I'm.... sorry for the other day. You know at the party... I didn't mean to let you go alone."Jamal shut the door to the duplex and wandered over to his table where his shirt and whatnot were lying, picking the tank up for a moment before deciding it was dirty and he might as well just wear it since it could be washed later. As she turned, he tugged the tank on, leaving the jewelry on the table.
He listened to her talk with respectful silence before leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. "Ain't nothin' you gotta be sorry fo'. Yous...just had otha' friends ta talk to. I ain't mad 'bout it....brotha just ain't got any otha peeps 'round herr to talk to, ya know." Well, that and he was feeling like his 'game' was grow a little rusty at the slow as hell pace things seemed to be moving. He was too used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted. She shifted her weight a little bit. Awen had been afraid he thought that. "Actually... I didn't stay to socialize with them...." She said carefully. "I was acutally.... well ... yelling at Lauren for how she was treating you." She continued quickly. "It wasn't fair for her to just jump on you like that. She doesn't even know you and really shouldn't have. But she's been through a lot in her life and was just trying to protect me, her friend. She didn't really mean anything against you specifically, I mean if any guy would have been.... well she would have done the same. I'm not saying it was right because it really wasn't but justthought to let you knwo she's not really a bad person, just tough...like you. I hoped you two would get along because, well, I look up to both of your strengths. But like I said before, it wasn't right what she did and I wasn't staying back to chat it up... I was getting mad at her.... but I.... feel really bad for leaving you all alone." Finally she finished and was able to take a breathHe nodded occasionally as she rambled, still leaning against the wall his his arms crossed over his chest. He remembered the rude blonde girl when her name was spoken and got a distinctly sour expression on his face.
"I ain't so big on fightin' females, otherwise she'd been laid out on da floor faster than anythin'," he said finally, and he looked like he meant it too. "People gotta know betta' than shoot s**t they ain't ready to back up. 'Bout da only reason I leave 'er alone because you like 'er."
He shrugged then and adjusted his head wrap. "But anyway...look, it a'ight yous didn't come. Jus' went to da beach 'n' bitched at da ocean..."She nodded a little bit. Completely unerstanding he meant he would hit her. "I know Jamal, and really I appreciate you holding back and all." She smiled up at him. Maybe, even a little, he did actually like her- outside of just body. After all he took enough concideration to leave Lauren alone after all, and she did harass him quite a bit.
"Well, at least the ocean can't talk back to ya." She nodded a little bit, though shuddered at the thought. Sure it couldn't talk back but it definately could have tidal waves that sweep the island, under currents that would pull you under to take you far offshore and drown you, it had sink holes and drop offs and a whole slew of creatures just waiting for you as their mid-day meal. Awen flexed her fist a little bit. She would not start all this here....
She relaxed a little bit and shifted her weight. Having said what she came to say she really didn't know... well... what else to say. She looked around the room. "Nice layout." She commented, though that felt so generic... 'um, really. I mean mine's pretty dull I just left it how it was for the most part. Feels like a hotel room really.... But I didn't think to bring anything and well, I can't really rearrange the funiture or anything..." Again her small stature came into play for that little obstacle"I ain't never really seen an ocean b'fo...it was a'ight, I guess. Real quiet...ain't somethin' I be used to either." Again he shrugged, but he looked like he was loosening up somewhat. He saw how she seemed to do the opposite, however, at the mention of the water. "You ain't a fan of it though, I be guessin'."
At the mention of his room, he grinned. "Thanks. Em didn't 'preciate me movin' s**t 'round at first...but she be a'right wit' it now. If yous lookin' fo' help, I kin maybe help. Place be bad enough how it looks now...ain't no problem in makin' it a little betta'"Awen turned back to Jamal and smiled brightly. "Once i figure out exactly how I want my room to go I'll remember to give you a call." She shifted ehr weight. "And yeah not a big fan of the ocean." She just decided to leave it at that. She didn't want Jamal to think she was even weirder than he already did.
"The place isn't... so bad though." If you ignore the egotistical, rude doctor and the fact that people are mutating around the island, and how you can't leave and.... yeah it's not so bad. "Good food, nice people, for the most part, anyone else would call it an ideal vacation spot hm?" "Ocean ain't dat bad, but dat be yo' problem," he said with a shrug. "But anyway, yeah. I'll move yo' s**t fo' ya, just let me know. Can't stand dis place how it be lookin' at first."
At her mention of it being a vacation spot, he wrinkled his nose. "Ain't really ma idea of a vacation, but...yeah. It ain't dat bad if yous take in all of da stuff, I guess. Bugs be both'rin me most o' da time."Hmm the bugs were a problem actually. "Maybe if you buzz the main office they'd get you some bug spray or something?" She couldn't help a little chuckle. "Honestly it's not my idea of a vacation either but... ya gotta do whatcha gotta do hm?"
She thought some more. "After all, the entertainment room has been getting restocked with new movies and things you know? The Doc does do a lot to keep us entertained. He tried forthe party thing, you know?" "Sounds like da Doc jus' tryin' to suck up...but I ain't seen him since I got herr. He eva' leave dat damn castle o' his? Gotta ax' him some questions 'bout when I'm ready ta go home...ain't gonna be fo' awhile yet. Ain't safe..."
Yup...he still believed he could leave when he wanted. The poor b*****d needed a reality check. Awen looked a little surprised and disappointed hearing what he said about going home. She turned and moved to look out the window of his duplex. What could she say? He didn't believe her before, even after the party there is no chance... But, once again she found herself having to try. "Jamal..." She sighed softly. "After awhile it won't be safe to leave the island..." Jamal snorted and waved a hand in the air as though dismissing her tone and moved to rummage in one of his dresser drawers, producing some cheap candy he'd gotten from the cafeteria...M&M's from the looks of it. He offered some to her.
"O'course it'll be safe. They ain't gonna be lookin' fo' me no more back in Detriot...figger I be dead o' sumthin." She took the M&Ms and smiled a brief thank you. "Detroit, Toronto, Barrie, London, Paris, Tokyo.... It won't matter where you go if you get off the island Jamal I assure you it won't be safe at all for you in awhile." Awen popped a few of the M&Ms into her mouth. "Not after what the Doc is going to do." He lifted a brow as he practically inhaled a handful of the candies. "Doc doin' this ta help, ain't he? Why he gonna make things worse?" She glanced up at him and shook her head. "I already told you once before Jamal." She said kind of flatly. "You're not believing me but that doesn't change the facts. Didn't... some of those people at the party have...too realistic costumes? The scales, the fur the feathers...don't you think some of them seemed just too real?" He blinked slowly, peering at Awen almost suspiciously now. "People come up wit' good costumes," he said, though there was a slight hesitation to his voice. "I once seen dis dude...s**t...he got all dressed up like a ********' cow o' some s**t like dat. Horns 'n ev'rythin'..." She turned and looked right into her eyes. "But why would every one of them be dressed as an animal *and* something else?" She paused a second. "Why would the Dude go as a ghost, but have flippers? Why would...whoever it was in the wheelchair go as a classic alien with scales and feathers? Why would Andy go as a musketeer wolf? And Hargun? Wasn't her bat costume just a little too...realistic? Think about it Jamal, why would everyone have an animal costume plus another one ontop of that? One or two people maybe, but all of the islanders?" "...maybe it be a theme?...and we just ain't knowin' 'bout it?"
He wasn't trying to be stubborn, really...he just didn't believe that people were turning into animals. It was impossible, unless you were in some badly made horror movie about werewolves. She shook her head. "Emelyn was the one who told me the information on the party. If there was a theme she would have told me. Listen I didn't want to accept it, I don't want it to be true." She said getting a little heated. "But I am *not* trippin' and I'm completely serious." She sighed a little bit and cooled her tone. "But I guess it doesn't matter if you believe me or not. You'll know eventually..." Jamal shifted uneasily as she got a flame of irritation to her tone and he sullenly popped a few more candies in his mouth, an icey silence falling on th room. He was a born skeptic...it wasn't his fault. But it was going to take him watching someone change or seeing HIMSELF change before he was goinog to believe any of this. She smiled a little up at him. "Sorry." She said softly. "It a'ight," he mumbled, though it sounded a little stiff, and rolled the back up to save the last of the chocolates before he chucked it onto the table and slumped over to his bed to sit down.
"Look, I ain't tryin' to be a d**k, but dis all seems ta be impossible. I ain't tryin' to make yous feel bad o' piss yous off or nothin'. I gotta see it ta believe it. Dat's jus' how I roll." She nodded a little bit. "I know... I didn't quite... believe it either. I really understand. It's a lot to take in or not being the case. I'm just... really scared about it all and i can't talk to the others about it because ...of how they are. I mean you're the only other person I know that's not changed at all and.." She suddenly lunged forward and hugged the big man. "I guess I'm just...really...scared of thiswhole place." Jamal was, needless to say, surprised by her sudden lunge and even more such now that her arms were wrapped around his chest. Not like he minded...s**t, any contact with a female was good on his books...but the mood wasn't right for him to try and be a little sneaky. Instead, he was going to make a wise-a** remark, but the expression on her face and the tone of her voice actually made him decide against it. So instead, he wrapped her up in his arms and lended a sympathetic ear.
"Aw shorty, it'll be a'ight...you ain't needin' to worry," he said with a bright smile, trying to lighten the mood. "Worryin' ain't gonna make nothin' better." She looked up to him and seeing that bright smile. She had honestly expected him to crack wise, or push her away or something. She felt a lot better when she felt his arms tighten around her. He did care more than his persona ever let her guess. He also did have a point... worrying really.. wouldn't solve anything. Whatever would happen will happen, she couldn't stop it anyway. But she didn't want to let go just yet. She gave him a soft squeeze before smiling softly.
"Yeah... I guess you're right Jamal." She bit her bottom lip a bit. "Thanks for...being here for me." "s**t, we both in this togetha', pretty much, if s**t be goin' down," he said with a slight chuckle, still grinning. "And I ain't got no otha real friends 'round herr otha' than yous. Gotta look out fo' my shorty...Even though' yous makin' me look bad all the time wit' yo knowin' so much 'bout the island."
The last was said with a bit of mock-disapproval, but he couldn't help but let the corner of his mouth curl to show his jest. She did fit pretty nicely in his arms, but...just about any woman would do that. He was vaguely surprised she didn't let go though. She leaned her head softly against his chest, being a bit too short to actually reach his shoulder. 'My shorty' he had said. Something about that set a flutter inside of her. "Well... I gotta keep you on your toes right?" She grinned. "Would get boring otherwise really." She couldn't help but giggle a little bit. "Gotta let a brotha win once in awhile, otha'wise ya break his pride," he said with the same mock-disapproval while at the same time sloooooowly tightening his grip on her back. Hm...this was almost like a game....what would be get away with? "Women do a good 'nuff job makin' me look bad as is, ya know. Don't gotta double-team me wit' bein' smart 'n being clever." She looked back up at him with a slight grin. "But then how would you ever get better if I just let you win hm?" Her heart sort of jumped a bit when he tightened his grip. "Besides I don't think you're looking bad at all..." What was she doing...? She couldn't help the smirk on her lips or her playful tone. He feigned innocence there, glancing up towards the ceiling for a moment before looking back down at her as she rested snugly against his chest. "That be a'ight...you ain't always gotta let me win...brotha'll win on his own, if yous wanna play it that way," he said with a bit of a challenge to his voice.
Speaking of winning...Hmmm...what dis? Gettin' a lil' playful now? he thought, inwardly pleased. However, he remained cool and gave her a suave brow-lift. "Hmm, brotha always tryin' to look his best, ya know," said the black man in a smooth, easy manner. "Jus' in case he meets up wit' a pretty lil' thang and they don't run away..." She laughed a bit at his challenge. "Sounds like a good game then..." She loved rallying herself to any kind of challenge like that. One on one compitition...even if this isn't the type she's used to.
She giggled at his comment before looking seriously up at him. "Well I don't see why any girl would run away from you..." She raised an eyebrow of her own. "Besides aren't you the one whose supposedto be a 'playa'. What kind of 'playa' has the ladies running from him all the time.""Some women can't handle da heat," he said loftily, though it wasn't meant to be a serious answer by far. The whole situation had him far too amused for him to give any truely serious answers. "Brotha's a playa, but can't play game on girls that don't wanna play, if ya know what I mean. Game's a two sided thing, believe it o' not."
Jamal lightly loosened his grip for a moment before dropping his arms just a tad slower about the small of her back, but they didn't wander any lower. He was still testing the boundries....he liked -this- challenge.A small tingle ran up her spine as his hands dropped. They stopped before anything at all but she still felt a slight kick start in her heartjust thinking that they might have... "Well that would make sense, the game going both ways after all. Otherwise it wouldn't be playing just really be illegal." She was sort of serious but all together joking. She was...bad at jokes... And flirting for that matter.... "I dunno though... " She said trying to get that subject back onto something less..icky. "I prefer the heat to the cold personally.""Hmm..." he said in a ploy to sound thoughtful, hardly looking put off the fact the subject had been changed or the fact that her jokes might potentially be bad (he didn't really mind them...lord knows he's told enough bad ones in his life). "Prolly good you ain't mindin' the heat then...I ain't doin' so good wit' girls who like the cold." He looked down at her to gauge her reaction to all of this.
Still no resistance on her part....this was getting interesting, alright. He knew there had to be a point when she would say enough was enough. But what would do it...she seemed oddly complacent to the fact that his hands were down further than they previously were and he'd felt that little twinge run up her spine. She had to have liked the shift.
Cautiously he let one hand rub the small of her back very softly while looking nonchalant.She just bit her lip softly not knowing what to say next at that comment. She..honestly couldn't think of something to say. She opened her mouth a second to try and get words to come but...nothing just a 'heh'. She was wondering what was going on with her, or really what was going to happen next. This was such a sudden shift forward.
But she couldn't help it. She honestly just loved being in his arms and it felt really comforting to feel him rubbing her back. Buta responce? Like heck she would know what to do or say by this point. she just looked up at him with a little smile."What's wrong, shorty? You awful quiet all of a sudden," he teased, looking down at her with an impish glint to his eyes, still gently rubbing her back like it was nothing at all. "Run outta things ta say?"
Hmmm....no rejection...though she seemed a little bit like she was a deer in headlights. Like he said, game was a two person thing. Maybe if he let it go for a few, she might be willing to try a bit of experimenting herself. Her mouth worked a little bit with no words. Finally something came out. "I... Well yeah I.. think I did. I..don't really know what to..." Say? Do? She really wasn't sure how to end that sentence so she just left it opened ended. Really she didn't know either. What she did know was he had finally turned the tables around on her, and unlike him, she had no witty come back or non-chalant attitude to fall back on.
Her arms moved slowly to wrap around behind his neck. It was just more comfortable that way anyway. Her fingers traced along the back of his neck softly.He was well aware of the fact that he indeed switched things up a bit and he was 'winning' as it were and it was clearly shown so in the continued impish grin that shone in his eyes and now flittered over his mouth. As her hands played at the nape of his neck, it was his turn to involuntarily shiver.Awen grinned a little bit finally having some ammunition to have against him. relieve a bit of her awkwadness within the situation. "Cold?" Her eyebrow rased cooly this time."Maybe," he remarked casually, as he dropped his chin a bit and with it also went his hands but only a smidge lower. Always testing his boundries, it seemed. He wasn't that bad of a guy, really. He'd stop as soon as she protested...he was definately -not- a rapist by any means. "Cold ain't no good though...we can't be havin' none of that. 'Specially not in da jungle..."
He leaned in a bit, doing so nonchalantly again, still looking down at her with that silly look to his eyes. A tad lower, how long was she going to let this game last...? She smiled up at him. "Of course not... a jungle is..no place to be cold." What was she.... really. She was... flustered a bit but was happy about it. Was it the contact, that look in his eyes or just... the whole Jamal-ness of him that made her practically putty? She didn't really know. And wondered vaguely if she cared."Dat's right," he said in agreement, though now his voice held a softer quality to it, almost as though he didn't want to scare her away. Her vivid violet-esque eyes seemed uncertain, as though she was having second thoughts. Still....
Words were growing strained between them both, he could tell...the tension in the room was definately very clear...he knew what he wanted but wasn't sure if that'd fly well with her. Maybe a kiss now? She was so light and lithe in his arms; it reminded him vaguely of home in a way, as strange as it sounded.Looking up to the big man the confusion slowly seeped away. Something within him stirred her. Despite his superficial playa persona Awen felt something genuine, something...more real. She ignored the part of her that was saying 'that's just what he wants you to think', because something in his eyes really..hit home. Many things people could easily fake... but the eyes were hard to put a lie to.
Awen leaned in closer to the man tightening her hold in a soft squeeze momentarily behind his neck. Though from her height she couldn't do too much more, intent was clear enough...Intent was all he needed.
Jamal tilted his chin down and leaned in, closing the distancing between himself and Awen until his lips planted on hers, doing so in a manner so soft it was almost like a brush of a feather at first.
He continued to hold her in his strong embrace, his hands again motionless as they pressed lightly into her back, bringing her body closer to him.She held the kiss a few moments. Her heart raced as he pulled her even closer to him. She traced her fingers on the back of his neck before just holdingonto him again. she knew what would happen...but she could hardly believe... It felt so right so real. It was comforting in his arms and feeling his lips to hers she could forget everything and for an instant at least and just get lost in this feeling. This normal feeling, this human feeling...Jamal kissed her again, this time a little more assertive in doing so, his hands slipping down on either side of her hips; he wasn't really aware they had done so. It was possible he was losing himself in the moment, as it were.
The brush of her fingers on his neck sent a tingle down his back, which he enjoyed far more than he probably should...but he couldn't help it. It had been awhile (at least in his opinion) since he'd had a pretty girl in his arms.Awen blinked a little bit at the more aggressive kiss. The logical step obviously, but as he slid his hands down she couldn't help a blush. Her movements however weren't as stiff as she felt at that point. One hand moved slowly the tips of her fingers dragging gently along his skin tracing up his neck and jawline to rest softly upon his cheek.He broke lip contact with her as her fingers played against the smooth skin of his jaw and cheek, his eyes opening again to look at hers in, surprisingly, a very non-predator manner. He smiled faintly and lifted one hand from her hips to brush a stray strand of hair from her eyes. That same hand brushed her cheek also, but traced down her neck and collarbone before again wrapping firmly about her waist. As things progressed, he started to wonder if Awen was going to reject ANY advance from him at this point.She looked into his dark eyes and saw the softer, real side to them. This was no look he had really given before, and wondered if he even gave it often at all. She half closed her eyes again feeling his hand brush against her cheek softly and trace down. She took a deep soothing breath and opened her eyes again.
"Jamal..." She said really softly, still half lost in this haze. She nuzzled against his cheek softly. trying to keep this feeling but..knowing... knowing... She pulled her face away slowly from his only to stare back into his eyes at more of a distance. "I... I should probably...um... get... uh... going..." Those words cut her quite a bit even if they came from her own lips. She wanted to stay but... she didn't want things to get too out of hand. "I was... actually just...on my way to get something to eat too when I stopped by...and...um...yeah..." There was the old awkward Awen back...He had apparently spoke too soon.
"Ya don't gotta go if ya don't wanna," he said, trying to keep disappointment from his tone by masking it with an understanding inflection. "But if ya wanna...that be a'ight too." As he spoke, he kept eye contact with her but then averted his gaze and loosened his hold on her so she could move away if that's what her choice was. If she had somewhere to be or if she was growing uncomfortabe...well, so be it.Her brow furrowed as she bit her lip softly. "Jamal... I." She what? She knew there were words but they wouldn't come to her. She gave him another long squeeze before letting go but not backing away, letting his arms stay loose around her. "I've grown to really like you in this short time...but... I... don't want anything... too much too soon..." She looked away at this. "I just don't...really rush into these sorts of things and..." She quickly turned back to him with wide eyes. "It's nothing against you at all, youare really amazing, handsome, strong and...really comforting to me. I just don't want things to go too far... right away...that's all."He nodded faintly, feeling the rush of all of the previous minutes drain slowly from his system with each breath. Jamal didn't really understand Awen's hesitant nature...but then, they were from two completely differently places. "Rushing" into things was completely normal where he was from. Besides...this meant more possibly experimentation with other island inhabitants, perhaps, if she didn't want anything serious.
"I kin respect dat," he finally said after a pause, looking back down at her with a more clearer, less 'lost in the moment' expression to his features. "I ain't about makin' no one uncomfo'table."She smiled softly up to him. "Thanks..." She said in a soft tone. "I'm sorry if... I disappointed you. Maybe...um... do you want to go get something to eat with me?"
Awen felt a little hurt herself. He had shifted back into a cooler disposition. That thoughtful flicker in his eyes panged into Awen. She knew that she just could have messed up something... but what else could she have done? She really wasn't ready... as much as she's grown to care for the big guy she still hardly knew him and... She just took that step back out of his arms, the excitement once more draining away.But she kept a smile on her face, thinking back to the moments before kept her from sinking too far into self doubt.Yeah, he was disappointed, but there were worse things to be and he knew it. So, for now, he would just play it cool until her mind changed...but as far as he was concerned, nothing was serious between them. She seemed so unsure of herself in those few moments and Jamal preferred a woman who was more confident and knew what they wanted. He couldn't, however, deny a certain fondness for her.
"Sure, brotha could go fo' some food," he answered in an easy manner, nonchalantly moving his hands up to adjust his hairwrap.She smiled brightly. "Great!" She started for the door. "I went by earlier and the smells were pretty good I think they had some kind of special cooking today but I'm not sure..." She opened the door a bit and waited for him.
Looking at him she was smiling but inside half a frown formed. She knew eventually, if feelings kept progressing between the two... what she would want from Jamal. But it didn't seem to her Jamal wanted anything serious at all. There were moments when she saw something deeper, but this non-chalant exterior reminded her all too much of his seemingly womanizing nature. She maybe didn't seem confident with him, only because she didn't know how to handle him. She knew what he wanted.... but she knew she wanted something more concrete. She couldn't understand his views, she would never understand the play persona, but she supposed they were just from two different worlds. And she was afraid... that might just make all the difference..."A'ight...sounds good...been eatin' junk all day. Need somethin' real in ma belly."
He moved away from the bed and stopped at the table to get his jewelry, which he doned quickly, then joined her at the door. Jamal looked, for all purposes, like he'd forgotten about their little exchange there in his duplex...but something continued to nag at him as he shut the door, locked it, and escorted Awen off to the cafeteria.
Another trip to the beach might be in order later.
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 9:53 pm
Fancy Meeting You Here Evening had fallen on the island by the time Jamal sauntered down to the beach, arriving later than planned because he had stopped to get something to eat. The black man was feeling somewhat mopey and ill-spirited throughout the day and figured the beach would be a nice private place to rant and b***h; his duplex obviously didn't hold sound that great because Emelyn heard him moving things about in those first few days and surely he was going to be loud and obnoxious as he complained...and probably the topics of choice weren't really ones he was up to sharing. <******** dis place," he snarled bitterly as he trudged through the sand and stopped just at the edge of the water, feeling a horrible backlash of homesickness washing over his being as he stared out over the calm waters. He glared at the faintly speckled sky as he stood there, his hands jammed in his pockets. The quiet nature of the island made him long for the traffic noise of home...the yells on the street...hell, even gunshots and the sounds of sirens. This place was nothing...it was almost unreal in how primal it looked here.
But his being on the island was HIS fault and he knew it. Still, he didn't care to think about it.
"Might as well jus' let the ********' cops take me in...dis place ain't nuthin'. 'least I gets ta see ma fam'ly...get peeps who know who I be. Ain't no one know me herr. NO one. They ain't gotta clue. Ain't no one herr that undastands. ******** they figger out I killed a guy...s**t. Ain't no one gonna want to deal wit' me." He balled his fists in his pockets briefly before relaxing them and crossing his arms over his chest as he turned on a heel and tromped back up the beach a few paces, then turned back to face the water and flopped down in the sand.
He tried to deny the fact that he was homesick...Jamal did NOT get homesick (at least in his mind). It wasn't cool...it wasn't gangsta to miss your family, friends, and hometown. s**t. He was from the streets of Detroit, stared down more gunbarrels than he could remember, and peddled more dope than 75% of the drug culture there.
But was this how he wanted to spend a great deal of his life? Trapped in a ******** jungle with people he couldn't seem to connect with under the threat of some psycho white b*****d who was supposedly ******** with people's appearance? He wasn't sure if he believed any of the doctor business...but something had been nagging him since Awen's last visit. Some of those costumes at the party were pretty damn realistic...
"It all bullshit," he grunted into the silence, not paying attention to his surroundings for the most part. He was too lost in his musing. Awen still angry stormed onto the beach. Her eyes were set into a watery glare as she couldn't even see where she was going. Her food touched the softer surface of the sand but right now her anger and pain was overpowering her fear. One foot infront of the other she didn't even notice if anyone else was there. Something hard hit the toe of her shoe and she looked down. A rock was now a few feet infront of her. Damn thing.... She focused much of her anger into that rock and went to grab it. She glared out at the ocean water and whipped the rock as hard as she could. She didn't stop glaring until she heard the "plunk" of the rock hitting the surface.
Her brow twicthed feeling cheated. That was whooley unsatisfying. Her face screw up a moment before she stood right at the edge of the water and shouted as loud and as long as she could. When she couldn't hold the scream any longer she just collapsed onto her knees crying. She had... finally had it....Jamal cursed under his breath and slumped forward so his chest rested against the flat of his thighs, arms crossed and propped on the knees. He needed to get over this bullshit. Give it a day and he'd be alright. Maybe smoke a few blunts...drink a couple beers...
An abrupt scream shattered his 'peace' and made him jump due to how loud and close by it seemily came from. He did swear out loud this time, irritation heavy in his facial expression as he got to his feet and sprayed sand all over, some of which went into his shoes and down the back of his pants. He growled and shook it out of his jeans as best he could and tried to ignore the sand dunes in his sneakers.
"God dammit, jus' leave me da ******** alone," snapped the black man to no one...or rather, to the sand. He was ready to just go home, say ******** the world, and get so buzzed and/or drunk that he'd pass out and wake up in the morning with a new day ahead of him. However, he did hear now the sounds of crying and that made him pause in his temper tantrum.
So, being the curious b*****d he was, he slunk over towards the sound and saw a darkened figure down the beach not far away. As he approached, he thought he saw a sheen of blue in the faint moonlight.
"Awen?" he called cautiously, lingering a distance away in case he was wrong and he could run off before they made him look like an idiot. Awen gasped, half from pulling in a sob the other from surprise. She looked around quickly for the body to the voice. Had she just heard things...? She knew that deep voice anywhere but.. She wiped the tears from her eyes so teh shadows wouldn't blend together anymore.
"J-Jamal..." She said in a wavered tone. She all of a sudden felt embarrassed and stupid for having screamed so loudly and now blubbering like a baby. She sniffled and held back anymore tears. She tried to get up but, in a combination of Awen's clumsiness, her weakened state and her not being used to sand she fell back onto a knee once before standing up.
"what..what are you doing out here?" She said still surprised. She hand't seen anyone before and had just assumed.... "Bitchin'," he said as calmly as he could muster, floating uneasily at the distance at which he stood from her. "'bout the same thing you be doin'...well, minusin' the cryin' part....I kin leave, if ya want. Beach is good fo' yellin' unless there be people 'round."
He absently dusted sand from his palms, feeling distinctly uncomfortable for some reason. She shook her head a little bit. She...didn't want to be alone, not truly. But she felt the tension around Jamal and she hesitated asking him to stay.
Instead she just cracked a smirk. "Yeah Jamal, too macho to cry huh? Hey at least you still have that up on me, eh? One out of five, right?"
As if that moment...that kiss in Jamal's duplex hadn't happened. At lunch they had settled back into their normal routine too. Awen's stomach clenched but at least Jamal was her friend...at the least. "Betta than none outta five," he quipped back immediately, though the usual jest that would accompany that comment was missing. His mood was too rotten really to muster anything other than a lackluster smirk. Jamal decided to avoid the crying topic, feeling it would be poor taste to joke about it when she -was- obviously upset enough to be sobbing on a beach when she professed to HATE water.
However, that didn't mean he couldn't be concerned. He sort of slunk in her general direction slowly, pausing to make sure she wasn't going to blow up or anything.
"You gonna be a'ight? Dat was a loudass scream...half da time I can't even do it dat damn loud." She looked up to him as he apporched but looked down, loosing her smirk or smile or what have you along the way. "Yeah well, they've always said I had some set of pipes on me." She mumbled barely even caring to recall that memory. She was really just avoiding the topic. She didn't know if she was going to be alright or not.
"Just got into another argument." She muttered finally. "I've hardly ever gotten into arguments before I came here..... and now..." She just sighed heavily and looked up to the rising stars. "Doesn't...doesn't really matter."Eventually he made it so he was about three or so yards away, his sillohuete oulined against the sand by the moonlight, and jammed his hands back in his pockets.
"Mmmhmmm," he drawled, in reference to the 'set of pipes' comment, agreeing with it, but cocked a brow at her comment of arguments. Those weren't so bad...hell, he used to live for those sort of things.
"s**t changes...can't always like ev'rybody, ya know. I ain't so cool wit' mosta da otha peeps herr neitha. Peeps gonna disagree sometimes." He meant well by that comment, but it was probably far from reassuring. "I jus' avoid 'em. Dey wanna talk, dey come find me..." Awen shifted her weight a little bit and decided to just sit back down. "Maybe..... but I don't like upsetting people..." She traced her finger in the sand. For now she was too wrapped up in other things to care about the water, though know her mind was starting to acknowledge the sound of the waves and the smell of salt.
"But I don't want to be alone either." She added rather quickly. "I just..want to please people, make them happy... I like being around people when they're happy and it hurts to see someone else upset and just kills me when I've caused it." She took in a deep breath through her teeth and made another fist feeling the sand sift through her fingers.
"But they just...make me so mad.... they're denying other people the truth. They're just ignoring it and going along with whatever lie the Doctor strings out next.... They're helping the Doctor by lying to other people.. by the way appearently we're on a movie set now." She rolled her eyes. "But they b***h at me saying how I'm looking at it all wrong. They just don't get it... Enabling the lies is just as bad as making them up yourself, which makes them no better than the Doctor!"Of course Jamal was appropriately confused, knowing few of the details that went down, but damn it...he would save face for as long as he could. He was pretty good at bullshitting, if he might say so.
"Ya gotta unda'stand dat people ain't never gonna see things da same way...they gonna take it dif'rent ev'rytime. You might not be tryin' to start nuthin' but maybe they seein' it like you is."
He paused, trying to straighten out the mess that was Awen's last statement about the Doctor and lies and whatnot. Not all lies were bad...but it was so hard for him to really take a side on this whole thing. He wasn't going to believe the Doctor was out to ruin anyone's life until he saw it happening. Deciding not to even ask about any of that, he slipped down into the sand where he was standing, still three yards away. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Awen noted how Jamal stayed three feet away and somewhere it hurt her. She hoped she wasn't scaring him off or anything... Maybe stopping what was going on the other day made him just back off...?
These thoughts definately weren't helping. She sighed heavily hating to agree with Jamal's words. "Yeah I know but..." She sighed heavily and brought her knees to her chest wrapping her arms around herself. "I don't know... doesn't matter I guess. Nothing.. I can do about it."
She paused from her own selfish thoughts and remembered Jamal seeming upset. She looked up to him. "So what's got your goat?"His distance really had nothing to do with her other than he figured she needed her space. She had no idea though and he hadn't passed a thought that she might take it wrong.
"Jus' tired of dis ********' island already," he said honestly, figuring it wasn't good to lie when she just ranted about people lying to other people. "Feelin' like I ain't got no place herr...missin' da bright lights n'stuff."
Jamal's face set into a hard glare, though not directed at Awen. She nodded a little bit. She really knew the feeling of being sick of the island. She edges over to Jamal to finally sit beside him. If he moved...then he moved. But for now she just leaned her head against his shoulders. She knew she just ranted about lying but..she knew Jamal would never listen...and she just wanted to feel...normal right now. She'll curse herself later...
"So, you're going to get the Doc to send you back soon? Or at least somewhere else, another city?" She asked softly.He didn't move away; he had just been sitting off to the side because she might have needed space...and apparently that was not the case.
At the mention of being sent away, a rueful smile appeared over his previously stony expression. "Maybe....I jus' ain't feelin' righ' herr. If I go back, I probably gonna get in trouble again...them damn cops gonna find me soona' o' lata. My options ain't dat good herr or if I leave, if what yous been sayin' is true 'bout what the Doc is up to."
Jamal said the latter carefully in hopes of not trying to irritate Awen into thinking that he thought she was making this all up. The Doctor's plan for the black man wasn't going to be clear until he started showing signs of transformation...he could just be lucky?...he really didn't want to believe any of this nonsense was going on though. She mauled something over in her mind a long while. It had always been bugging her in the back of her mind. She debated asking though... She just nuzzled his shoulder a little bit thinking.
After a few more moments hesitation Awen glanced up at Jamal. "Why...are the police looking for you anyway...?" She asked purely with simple curiosity and stark innocence.Jamal effectively froze as the sentence passed her lips, his eyes darting out to stare at the dark horizon as he tried his hardest to not look phased by the inquiry. He was not really in the mood to let out his little secret. He "mrrred" uneasily.
It had been an accident, of course...well...an accident that he killed the guy. He shot the guy on purpose but the fact that the bullet hit a major artery was pure bad luck.
"Uh...stupid things I done," he answered lamely, hoping she wouldn't ask further. Awen wondered still...but he had made it clear he didn't feel right answering. she slipped her arms slowly around him. "It's okay Jamal, you don't have to say. Sorry I guess I was just curious."
She held him but in the silence that followed the waves were more apparent, the smell in the air distinct. She knew and began to tremble. She gave a small squeeze to Jamal, wishing they weren't near the ocean...He was grateful she didn't pry; he wasn't comfortable with explaining his woes at that moment. As she wound her arms about his middle, he relaxed and dug the toe of one shoe into the sand, still staring out at the water.
However, when she started to shake bad enough to where he could feel it also, he glanced over at her and draped an arm over her shoulders, tugging her gently closer. He wasn't sure what the problem was...cold?...upset still over her argument...or was that water fear finally acting up? He gave her a questioning look.
Awen smiled briefly feeling his arm wrap around her shoulders. She looked up to give him the smile when she saw the look he gave she turned her eyes back to the sand. "I don't like the water..." She mumbled softly. "You know..scared of it and all..."
Still shaking she gave Jamal a big hug, and kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for helping me out. But... I think I'm going to head to my nice dry duplex." She stood up slowly and brushed the sand from her pants. "You really are a wonderful person Jamal... no matter what you've done... you really are a good person."
She gave him a warm smiled before turning and walking away. Her heart beat slower as she moved futher away from the waves, the salt and Jamal. She calmed down and stopped shaking. Hey... .at least she was getting used to this water thing...He patted her on the back as she hugged him, then let her go as she moved away.
"You be a'ight. Jus' get some sleep o' sumthin'," he said quietly as she got up. "Prolly gonna get movin' myself inna minute."
As she sauntered away, he returned his gaze to the horizon and stared at the moon's reflection on the slightly rippled water. You really are a wonderful person Jamal... no matter what you've done... you really are a good person....he shook his head some. Somehow he didn't believe she'd be thinking that once she found out.
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 9:54 pm
Finally the Brick of Realization Hits Taking a moment to be indoors for food, Greer sat at one of the cafeteria tables wolfing down cubes of steak. Having only her lower set of teeth she couldn't really chew, and so was forced to eat her meat the way she prepared it for the Dude's cat. This would have made her self-concious, but luckily no one else was in the room at the moment.
She apparently spoke too soon. Jamal sauntered into the cafeteria looking somewhat sullen and moody, dressed in baggy jeans and an oversized black t-shirt with what looked to be the front view of a gun with the barrel pointed at the viewer...below that was some sort of graffiti-style writing that read something along the lines of "Dare me" in white lettering. His jewelry was all there in full force, but his doo-rag was gone, exposing his somewhat frizzy braids.
He went to browse the selection of food and grimaced. Dammit...never anything he wanted. After a bit of an argument with one of the cooks, the black man settled for some kind of meat sandwich and a plate of chips. Glancing up from her food, Greer froze for a moment when she saw the man come in. ...she'd met him at the Halloween party briefly, hadn't she? God, what was his name... bah, she had no idea. He hadn't freaked out on her back then, which could be chalked up to plenty of things that didn't mean he wouldn't freak out now. Meep! Her human fears mixed with her hawkish testiness, and adreneline was soon pumping into her system.
Tugging nervously at the side lacings of the black halter top Emelyn had made her, Greer did her best to smile around the beak and waved to the new arrival. Please let this go well! Jamal turned to look for a place to sit, half-hoping Awen was around so he could avoid the rest of the island population (well, the males anyway). However, he was greeted instead by a wave from a vaguely familiar face. What was her name...Gren or Gwen or something like that... And...why was she still wearing her halloween costume? The feathers and beak were eyed with mild apprehension, but he decided to ignore it. Maybe the woman really liked halloween....
"Yo," he said, picking up step to approach her table, giving her a stiff nod and trying his damnest to not outright ask why she was still in costume. "Mind if I sit herr?" So far, so good. Greer wanted to hope this meant the fellow knew about the island's dirty little secret and was dealing with it, but prepared herself for the worst just in case.
"Not at all. Please!" She continued to smile, gesturing at the open seats. "I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name, Mr.-?" "Thanks," he practically grunted and slipped into a vacant seat, his plate more or less haphazardly tossed onto the table in front of him. "Da name be Jamal...it a'ight you ain't 'memberin'. Can't say I 'member yo's otha' than it beginnin' wit' a G. You was at the hall'ween deal, righ?"
The black man picked at the top of his sandwich hesitantly. After halloween, he'd been leary to eat much of anything thanks to the bug-snacks that had been put out with the regular food during the party. She nodded, tossing a few more bites of meat in her mouth and taking a sip of water. "I'm Greer. How have you been?" "Yeah, dat be it...Greer." He smirked, proud to have remembered at least some close version of her proper name, and peeled a bit of crust off his sandwich.
"I be a'ight...but dis island be givin' me da creeps allova sudden. How long yous been at dis place?" "Yeah, this place can be a bit unsettling at times." She rolled her eyes, chuckling a little. "How long have I been here? Hmm... almost three months now, I think. Wow. I hadn't realied it had been that long."
Frowning, Greer stared past Jamal's shoulder lost in thought. Three months... her mother probably thought she was dead by now. Mummy. "Oh...I guess dat be a long time. I heard that dis place ain't dat old...so you onna da older peeps then." Older as in not age, but as in how long they'd been on the island...hopefully she understood.
"So...uh...yous must be likin' hall'ween," he said before finally picking his sandwich up and taking an experimental bite. She blinked, jotling back to the present. "What? Older? Um yes, I'm one of the original islanders, as it were. I believe Ambrose beats me out for the title of numero uno, but it's pretty close."
She was babbling, which meant she was getting nervous. Eating a little more, she winced at Jamal's last comment. Ah. Crap. For once Greer wished she had less of a need to tell the truth. "You mean the beak and feathers? They're... they're not a halloween costume."He arched a brow over his food, pausing before he took another bite. "Yous had 'em at the party. I figgered they be part of the party. Yous just like dressin' up like dat then?" Man...and people thought HE was weird.
A nervousness rose in his chest though. An uneasiness that reminded him vaguely of Awen's repeated insistance that there was something fishy going on here at the island. He sort of glanced at the long feathers draping from her arms, straining to see them better and prove to himself they were fake. She shook her head, running a nervous hand through her hair and supressing the urge to hiss or flee. "No, they're not a costume. They're attached. Part of me."
Extending an arm, she put her hand in front of him and pointed at the feathers on the back of it with her other hand. "Feel. They're growing out of my skin." Jamal lifted his brow so far that it was liable to disappear into his cornrows. As the rustling feathers were put in front of him, he stared. They....did....look like they were attached to her skin. He didn't see any glue, any tape, any staples.
"No ********' way," he said, a tone of disbelief coloring his tone as he hesitantly reached out to touch a few of the dark feathers. As they moved under his touch, yet remained firm to her skin, he suddenly recoiled, then gave her an accusatory look. "This ain't real...no way." Ambrose really didn't have much reason to spend much time in the entertainment room. Admittedly, he had wanted to go back and check to make sure that there weren't any other nature books that might be useful to him before he really sat down to read. He had finally made the vow to himself that he would read up on wolves, it finally having sunk in just how in for it he was.
Finding nothing, he traveled to the cafeteria, now thorougly hungry.
As he entered, however, he saw Greer and... that new strange person who had been in the ghost costume at the party. He gave a nod to the man and a wave to Greer, picking up a big stack of meat from the lunch line before wandering over hesitantly, eying the .... black individual's reactions. He had barely spoken to him at the party - and he had seemed rather drunk then. But he had been here long enough... so he had to know the rundown... right?
Some part of Ambrose's upbringing also still gave him apprehensions. As much as he would deny being a racist, he just quite simply never really interacted much with black people where he was from...
Putting on a smile, he set his tray down with a nervous laugh. "This seat isn't taken... is it?" Greer took her hand back, taking in a shaky breath to fight back the human tears in her throat and the prideful hawk rage boiling in her chest. "I wish I were lying to you, but I'm afraid I'm not. Whatever you were told about this island was a lie. We're all experiments here, and we're all being turned into animals."
Hearing a familiar voice, it was all Greer could do not to jump out of her seat. "Ambrose! Come sit." Joliette capped her camera not figuring on using it in the cafeteria. She had waited for Hargun to get far enough away that it was doubtful the batgirl wanted to add anything to their conversation and then walked into the cafeteria... Her eyes were on her camera as she reset it's settings after being reloaded Jamal ignored Ambrose when he came in...ignored him when he got his food...but couldn't ignore him as he spoke up and grabbed the disbelieving black man's attention. The man's reaction was immediate. His eyes were thrown wider than he ever thought possible and he nearly jumped backwards over the table behind them at the site of Ambrose. What. The. ********. He barely heard Greer's explaination.
"You...you...." he said in complete stammering gibberish, his mouth working like a goldfish. "Dis ain't funny. AIN'T FUNNY."Ambrose's tail immediately went from wagging to Greer's enthusiastic invitation to Jamal's extreme reaction. But, biting the inside of his cheek (and afterwards realizing that was probably a bad idea), Ambrose seated himself.
Today, if nothing else, was certainly proving to be a test. If he could make it through all of this.... he'd be okay... right? Or perhaps it would break him... no... no, he had enough support here... enough strength of personality. He'd persevere, some hurt feelings aside.
Maybe Moreau was right, though.... if he ever went home again, though, Ambrose didn't think he'd be able to live with this sort of reaction from everyone he ever encountered. The only other option would be holing up somewhere... and how was that preferable to here... where at least there were people who could be his friend... and who could honestly understand what he was going through and not just feel awkward and - at best- treat him like some sort of cripple.
Ambrose swallowed again, organizing his thoughts as he turned to Jamal dead-serious. "It isn't intended on being so.... J.... Jamal, was it?" He reached back in his mind for the name. He started slicing the steaks before him. "I'm.... not sure if you remember me - you seemed to be somewhat drunk at the time... or even if you do if you recognize me... but we met at the Halloween party last week." He said, looking over to Greer.
At least, he thought, he was saving Greer from doing this alone. Jamal was, apparently, not quite informed. And he'd been here for some time already. After taking a long shower, and changing into actual clothes, Vasile realized he was hungry, and a bit lonely. He was slowly getting over his aversion to cafeteria food, so he let Brutus out for a short walk, then headed over, hoping Ambrose, Cass, or Amaya were there. Taking one of Ambrose's hands hostage, Greer tried to put down the feathers that were fluffing defensively at the back of her neck. "No, it isn't, but it's the life Doctor Moreau has given all of us. I'm sorry you had to be here."
Engrossed in the conversation, she didn't notice the entry of a girl she had yet to meet into the cafeteria. Joliette looked up "Oh.. theres people here" she said quietly, she really only did recognize one of them even if their previous introduction was a brief one. "Hello" she said working up her confidence and heading towards the group Jamal stared at Ambrose none too discretely, his face paling considerably.
"You...yous dat sword carryin' guy...? No ********' way. Yous ain't lookin' like dat at dat party...I knows I musta been a lil lit-up....but ******** no."
He almost glared at both Ambrose and Greer in succession, but the appearance of a normal human caused him to pause and sigh a breath of relief. He did not like this joke and he'd be damned if he didn't knock a b***h out if they kept this up and it didn't seem like the new girl was privy to the joke. The appearance of Vasile, however, was hardly comforting. He had a tail for christsake and Jamal could see it from where he stood, hands crossed defensively over his chest as he stared down the group of half animal people.
"I ain't findin' dis funny. Who put yous up to it...so help me if it been Awen, brotha gonna have some words..." Hands balled into fists as he spoke, a dangerous glint taking hold in his eyes.Ambrose squeezed Greer's hand back in reassurance, giving her a sidelong apologetic glance for having to deal with this over a meal before turning back to Jamal.
"I... I'm sorry, Jamal. No... I wasn't like this at the party... well, not fully at least." He said, putting his free hand to his temple. "But honestly. THis isn't a joke. I wish it were. I wish that these were just costumes that we could take off as we wished, and that we could return home when we wanted. But it's not. And it's going to happen to all of us." He drove the point in. "I'm turning into a wolf... Greer a hawk." His eyes caught two figures emerging through the door and he smiled to Vasile. Excellent! Another friend in the know who might be able to help, especially seeing as how he had been in the dark for so long as well. And the young boat woman as well who, at least, seemed to be taking all of this quite well.
Ambrose picked up his fork, and took a large bite of steak, flashing his long, curved canines as he opened wide for the large bite. Greer was an inately calm and peaceful soul, but when agitated found the hawk's vicious, predatory nature hard to control. Rocketing to her feet she knocked her chair back, hissing and practically spitting. "This isn't a ******** joke, you a**! This is real! That shot you got when you first arrived wasn't a vaccine, it was a serum praparing you to change! You're mutating, just like the rest of us, so you better pull your head from your rear and goddamn realize it!"
She wanted to tear something living to pieces, but Ambrose's hand in hers pulled her back to herself. Righting her chair Greer resumed her seat, quietly fuming as she swallowed her food. Self-centered b*****d! Did he think this crap was all about him? Joliette slowed near the table... Had she walked in on another arguement, it seemed like it. She bit her lip and closed her eyes for a brief moment taking a deep breath. She was only a few feet away but didn't want to interrupt for lack of a desire to get her own head bitten off... She didn't think that would be literal but still...
On another note she had only focused on what was ahead of her, she had not heard the star enter the cafeteria behind her Vasile seemed to have walked right into the middle of an argument, and while he didn't know what was going on, he certainly didn't appreciate the attitude the Greer-person was taking with this other guys he had yet to meet.
"HEY!" he said, rushing forward past Ambrose and Joiliette, coming up to Greer. "Don't talk to him like that! If you hadn't noticed this is all pretty hard to swallow, okay? And some of us had a LOT of bullshit shoved down our throats to deal with!" He gave her a stern look, knowing all too well what it felt like for people to get mad at you for not believing what SHOULD be impossible to beleive.
But then he took a deep breath and something seeemd to click. He spun around abck to Joliette. "YOU! You're the paparatzi chick with the baot!" he said pointing. "How they hell did you find us! They took your boat, the bastards!" Vasile was still pretty tightly wound up from this morning, and his frustration was showing. "No. No no no NO NO. Dis is BULLSHIT. I ain't playin' dis ********' game. I AIN'T GONNA DO IT YOU ********' GOT ME. Dis ain't real!"
Jamal wanted nothing more than to run over to Greer and yank all her feathers from her 'costume' or to tear off Ambrose's 'fake' ears or to pull out his fur....but instead he settled for a violent kick at the chair he recently left. The chair didn't go far; it left the ground for a few seconds before crashing loudly into another table with a metallic clang.
When Greer leapt from her chair, he turned his attention to her and his hands flexed back into tight fists, eyes narrowing dangerously into a fine icy glare. He wanted to sock her in her loudmouth face and it showed by the tension in his body language.
A sick panic started to swirl in his stomach despite his best intentions. He could NOT let them get to him like this. This was not real. Ambrose looked back and forth as suddenly three people began yelling. He knew it was hard to deal with, but he could smell the tension rising.
In a moment, Ambrose was on his feet as well. trying to separate Greer from the large, and violent-looking black man. Vasile wasn't helping things by yelling at Greer as well.
"Whoawhoawhoawhoa!" Ambrose said loudly. "Calm down! Everyone!" His hackles were bristled, his ears pressed flat. "We're not enemies here!" Ambrose remembered the Dude's argument with him that was now a long time ago.
His eyes went from Greer to Jamal. Vasile appeared to have been diverted by the short woman. Papparatzi-? But he pushed the thought from his mind at the moment.
"Yes, this situation SUCKS. Yes, this is real. Yes, it's hard to sink in." Ambrose looked to Vasile. "Vasile wouldn't believe it until it happened to him. Somewhere, I think he did believe, but he wouldn't dwell on it until it was too late. I don't know if that was a better way or not. But the fact of the matter is we're all in this together. Jamal. You are welcome to put me to the test. Tug on my tail, whatever. Or wait until it happens to you and let that shatter your worldview."
Ambrose took a few deep breaths, trying to keep the emotions that started to fire under the surface down where they belonged.Finishing her food, Greer glared at Vasile through slitted eyes and only barely registered his change. "This isn't your battle, pretty boy. Go do what you're good at and kiss the girls, hmm?"
Turning back to Jamal, she slowly stood again and pushed her chair to the side, giving herself space to kick and move. In back of her head Greer could hear her human self trying to persuade her to be calm and rational about all of this, but the hawk would have none of it. For the first time since her change the animal was in full control, and as much as the angry confidence and potential for violence scared her it intregued her as well. It was a strange situation, finding yourself protesting and rubber necking at your own actions, completely unable to stop them.
"Back off Ambrose, I can take care of myself. The big man is afraid and wants to take it out on us." She sneered at Jamal, adjusting her balance unconsciously as her sharp vision read the nuances of his body language. "Well? What're you going to do?" Joliette was now completely distrcted away from the main arguement, she narrowed her eyes at Vasile "I Mr. DiRossi am NOT a paparazzi!" she said firmly and with a touch of distaste as if she were going to spit the word out "I AM a photo journalist who happened to follow a rumor that disappearances in this area were NOT what they seemed to be, and what did I find? You, but in case you haven't noticed I'm now in the same boat as you are, and that's not the Princess!" she hated that term and hated it even more when it was applied to her Vasile looked with distaste at Joliette. "Photojournalist? You've got to be kidding me? Call it what you like, but a rose by any other name, my dear."
He just shook his head then looked back to Greer. "You got an egg stuck up your a** or something, Greer?" Greer was pretty right. He -was- scared. ******** terrified. But his answer to fear had always been one thing: violence. And now this mismatched mess of a human being/hawk had peaked and shattered the delicate dam he had put on his temper.
"Oh, so yous wanna throw down? FINE. Bring it," he snarled gutterly, setting his jaw while wishing he had a knife on him. He did not normally challenge woman and he didn't normally fight them physically either....but if she wanted to start writing checks her a** couldn't pay, then fine. He'd been yearning for a good brawl anyway and if the twig thought she could bring it, then fine. Jamal had a feeling it wouldn't get that far though; there were too many bystanders.
He ignored Ambrose for the most part, though at the tail-tugging he smirked sarcastically. "Then get yo' a** ova herr and let me yank," he said without any sort of politeness to it. "********' prove to me dis ain't just a bad drug trip." Ambrose had been more worried about Jamal being the threat since he saw him ball his fists, but as Greer stood up, bitched at Jamal and then Vasile for just trying to explain that they were all having a hard time, Ambrose did a double-take, turning to stare at Greer. This wasn't the sweet, meek, friendly Greer he knew. What the hell was going on? Ambrose admittedly hadn't seen her much since her transformation, but when he did he had never glimpsed THIS.
The snarl (and growl) was becoming more evident in his voice as the conflict was rising all around him. Ambrose may be many things, but he was not a coward. Perhaps a bit too overconfident in many situations. Albeit his chivalric nature was confused as Greer appeard to be trying to start the fight.
"Greer... what in the hell has gotten into yo-" He was cut off at Vasile's snide remark.
"Vasile!" He snapped, aghast at the vulgar insult to her avian nature.
HIs blood was pumping with the yelling, and he was feeling his temper boiling dangerously high. But he took some breaths, determined not to lose it... not to lose. He wasn't an animal!.... really....
He turned to Jamal, after giving Greer a warning glance, his respect for the man actually going up a few notches at apparently at least being willing to step up to the challenge non-violently. Even if it was laced with expletives.
"Fine." Ambrose said, and walked closer to Jamal, facing him. Feeling awkward turning his a** towards him, he settled for turning sideways, giving everyone in the room an "I'm watching you" look. "Knock yourself out." She hissed at Jamal through her beak and teeth, seeing red and ignoring Ambrose. No one challenged her in her territory, which this was since as they'd discussed earlier she'd clearly gotten here first! She'd tear his eyes out with her feet-
Talons at the ready, she paused for a moment to respond to the movie star. "Just a little tired of being a nice, quiet little mother figure who holds every one's hand and tells them it'll be okay while the doctor's injection mangles my face. I haven't been angry about any of this for a full three damn months, so you'll have to forgive me if I think I'm a little entitled." Greer snarled venomously back at Vasile, envisioning her hand breaking his nose with a well-thrown punch. Imagine the rain of blood that would rush down his face...
Horrified, Greer grabbed fragile control of herself. What was she doing? She didn't hurt people! Shaking her head in an attempt to clear it, the woman frowned and tried to stuff her murderous intentions back into their box. Joliette fumed, she hated it she really did, but lashing out at someone when it was not self defense was not her style. Certainly she could if she wanted she had the training, but for now she bit her toungue in anger. Her eyes left the 'star' and moved to the others and watched Ambrose move closer she hoped for some calm soon... "Look here, Birdbitch," he said to Greer, crossing his arms. "You have a right to angry, but don't be angry at... him." Yeah, good going, Vasile. Pick a fight defending a guy you've never even seen before. But oh had Greer hit a sore spot. All the time people got angry at him- yelled at him fo rnot believeing. And how stupid that made him feel. And how.. used. "Blame that limey excuse for a doctor who runs the place! That b*****d almost gave me a concussion today!" When Greer didn't try to punch him, Jamal's hotblooded, raring and ready to fight disposition lessened somewhat. If anything, the woman looked conflicted; either she was scared to fight now or she decided against it for other reasons. Well, whatever.
Ambrose snared his attention again for the most part and Jamal gave the wolfman a look boardering on disgust that slowly morphed into an expression of impending meltdown as the blonde boy got closer. He didn't even have to tug on his tail. Jamal could see the fur rippling with his movements, held fast at the roots...the fangs that were firmly embedded in the man's jaws when he spoke with a canine-like growl to his syllables...and the tail that flicked and twisted without any outside forces. The black man's eyes searched Ambrose's face for a moment, struggling to see anything there he might even remember from their brief meeting at the party.
"My ********' gawd...jesus christa'pher christ...." he whispered after a pregnant pause, hands unfisting and now splaying over his face as he fought the urge to scream. Jamal understood what Awen meant now and understood why she had the urge to yell the other night on the beach. "G...get away from me. Jus' go. Jus' go ova' wit' dem." He turned his back on the group and dropped his hands to brace himself against one of the tables, leaning over it and breathing heavily as a wave of nausea swept his body."Greer! You have every right to be angry! Hell, I'm tired of feeling guilty for saying that my problems matter too! But for God's sake direct your anger to the right party! This isn't Jamal's fault! This isn't Vasile's fault! Vasile's right! It's the Doctor's. And I know as well as anyone that he's untouchable as far as we can discern. But taking it out on your friends isn't the answer. It's letting him, and the damn Animal DNA that's coursing through your veins win." Ambrose barked. "I came dangerously close to getting into a fight with the Dude months ago. ANd I wasn't even as far 'developed' as either of us are now. But it scared the s**t out of me. And the last thing I want to see happening is us - ANY of us - giving into these impulses! The Greer I knew would never say things like this!"
And it was true. The Greer he knew was nothing like the woman before him. A small part of him, that Ambrose immediately felt guilty for even thinking, was almost glad that things hadn't cemented between them. No - that was horrible! This WASN'T her. This was what Moreau had done to her... he just hoped... desperately hoped... that animal instincts wouldn't take over Emelyn.... or... him.
Breathing, he turned back to Jamal, finally sensing that the tension might be begining to break. Jamal's critical eye was passing over his fur, his features... and the angered smell took on the acrid smell of fear as Jamal backed up.
But... with Jamal's fear and, furthermore, cry to send him back with the other 'freaks' in not so many words, Ambrose felt like he had been kicked.
Glancing backwards, but not moving, he took another steadying breath of his own. "Jamal..." He said more softly... "I'm sorry.... I ... I hate being the one to have to break this to people. I truly am. Just... just know that you're not alone here." Ambrose almost reached out to put a comforting hand on his back, but he paused, his hand frozen midway between them, looking at the contrast of fur and claws against the smooth skin of the fully human man before him.
He was a freak. Even if he was among others like him... there was no escaping that thought that became painfully obvious as he stood there, seeing the contrast between the two of them. "I wasn't blaming Jamal, I was just-" Greer made a frustrated sound and tried to cover her face with her hands, jerking back from her own touch when her fingers brushed her beak. What had happened to her? This wasn't her body, this wasn't her temperment...
Eyes showing too much white as they flicked from Jamal to Vasile to Ambrose, she backed up skittishly, nearly falling over a chair. "I'm sorry, so so sorry! I didn't mean to- I would never- I-" She cut herself off, unable to finish a sentence and let them know the terrible things she'd been thinking. Wincing at Ambrose's chastizement, she held up her hands to ward the others off as she continued to retreat.
"Jamal, Vasile, please forgive me. I'm so sorry I said those things! Ambrose, I- don't hate me, please? Please?" Her voice was small and nervous as she bowed an apology to the female she didn't know. "I need to go. I'm sorry. Excuse me!"
Greer turned and ran, bolting from the communal area and back into her room. She couldn't stay any longer- for every word she'd said the hawk had snarled and shown her what these stupid challengers would look like mangled underneath her talons. Yelling was one thing, but if she ever hurt another person she could never forgive herself, animal thoughts or no.Joliette was close to running herself, "what happened to the 'friendly' people Ambrosse had said inhabited the village" she whispered to herself, these certainly didn't seem to be them. Least not at this vantage. Her eyes darted from person to person and she held her ground from running... "O-okay" she said nervously and stepped out of the bird-lady's way, she wouldn't have likely stood in the way even if the woman hadn't said anything to her Vasile sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I remembered why I hate cafetaria food," he mumbled, and headed back out the door, giving a frustrated look to Ambrose before he disapeared out the door. And at this probably very inopportune moment, the Dude walked into the cafeteria. He looked tired and down. He had walked the perimeter of the island up and down, then SWAM around the entire island. And nothing! Not even a trace of the yacht ... How did Moreau do it, anyway!? How could on make an entire yacht just dissappear!?? Deep in those thoughs and miserable from all the fruitless searching, he almost ran into Vasile on his way out. Wow, Vasile looked like friggin Legolas ... huh? ... but then he heard the various shouting coming from the back and concentrated on that.
Jamal was panicing in the corner, Ambrose was saying something loudly, all agitated, Joliette was half frozen in the corner with her camera ... and then there was Greer, her feathers flustered, looking like a very pissed off chicken.
WTF?
"Hey ... erm ..." - he walked up to the group and next to Greer. "What's everyone so angry about?" Jamal didn't know that Ambrose was behind him still or that the blonde boy was in a long-suffering internal battle as he compared his furry hands to Jamal's normal human flesh. His ears were ringing painfully as blood rushed out of his face, giving him an ashen complexion. The departure of Greer and Vasile were not noted at all...he was too busy falling to his knees there at the table side, his forehead pressing now against the cool edge of the table as his hands pulled across the table top until they clutched the same edge that propped his head up.
For once in his life, he felt broken. Even after he murdered the guy that got him in this mess, he never once felt like he wasn't invincible; he was clever enough to get out of that situation. But now he'd put himself into something he had no way out of.
He swallowed hard, feeling bile rise in his throat, and let his hands fall from their perch into his lap as he kneeled at the table side. They stayed there for several breaths before he suddenly took one hand and crossed it to the opposite shoulder, his fingertips feeling around until he felt a small bit of raised skin where he'd been injected at. Jamal touched it softly, sliding the finger tips across it a few times before starting to, for all purposes, claw madly at the site.
"Get it out....get it out," he moaned to himself in an increasingly crazed tone as his nails started to rub the spot raw. He couldn't handle this anymore. Ambrose forcibly pulled himself out of his thoughts as Greer had reality crash around her. Turning, he looked to her and opened and closed his mouth. "Greer.... I... don't hate you. What's happening to us is terrifying.... just... don't let it win.." He finished finally, the growl gone from his voice, left only with a cold ache at the scene he had seen fall around him.
He winced to Vasile as he departed, holing up his hand in a dejected wave as he exited.
"And they are friendly, Joliette... usually.. Honestly... just a bad time." Ambrose sounded tired... but more than tired he felt disturbed. Greer was the last one who would do something like that. He could smell her fury, feel her at the cusp of violence... how could that happen to them?? They were all at a breaking point - nerves on HIGH
And it was then that Jamal really did break... falling, clawing at his arm, where the poison had been pumped into his veins. The liquid that would soon rob him too of his humanity. Everything that Ambrose had felt himself was suddenly made real by Jamal's actions, the denial turned fear.
The part of Ambrose that yearned to be a hero screamed at him to not allow this man to fall into his own misery... into madness like his duplexmate had.
With a flurry of action, Ambrose seized Jamal by the shoulders, forcing him to look him in the eye. "It's there. It's not going anywhere! I know how badly you want to wake up, to make all of this go away, to have never have come! And I know how much the reality of this terrifies you! It's closed in around me like a nightmare - betrayed by my own skin because of what they've done to me. But you HAVE to hold out! .... We need eachother... we can't let eachother break to this." He pleaded in a strangled yell. Joliette nodded slowly at Ambrose's words, "Okay" she said meekly she sat down on the nearest chair her nerves severely rattled as it all started to sink in. She stared directly at the floor looking in shock as she heard Ambrose's words to Jamal Digging...clawing...scratching. Whatever it took, he had to get it out. He couldn't do this. He was a ******** human being, not some experiment.
But he was literally shaken from his task by Ambrose's actions, his gaze only meeting the young man's because he was forced to. The fright that reflected in the black man's eyes as he looked upon what he'd probably eventually have to deal with was evident beyond any measure.
Ambrose's words were muffled and hardly distinguishable to Jamal. Nothing made sense anymore.
He did this to himself. This was payment for what he did back home. He was sure of it now.
He deserved this. His eyes held Jamals' with an intensity for a few more moments before he released him from his grasp and took a few steps back.
He wasn't helping.... Like a slap in the face Ambrose realized that he couldn't help. Not right now. THe fear in Jamal's eyes that filled Ambrose's nose told him that... only worsening with Ambrose's touch.
He wanted so much to be the hero..
To help people through this at the very least if he couldn't help himself.
But he was too much of a freak to do so. He had hoped that, at the very least, he could still be himself - keep himself to his goals and be a good person despite the fur and fangs. But looking at the fear in the man's eyes as he was confronted with not only a monster, but his future... Ambrose's heart was wrenched into his stomach.
"I'm sorry..." He mouthed. "I'm so sorry!" He backpedaled, eyes stinging. He turned, and leaving his meal behind, fled back to his duplex. Joliette looked up as Ambrosse sped past her and then looked towards Jamal, she couldn't think of what to say, and just looked at him the look in her eyes was like her whole world crumbling away Jamal wasn't even aware of the girl's presence anymore. He was a ******** goner. It was all over.
"I can't be herr..." he said out of the blue, getting to his feet in a very clumsy manner (he almost knocked his head into the table). "I can't do dis. I can't."
His head pounded severely as he weakly and slowly headed for the door. Jamal needed to go home
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 4:24 pm
((This occurs the same night as the "Brick of Realization" post))
Jamal stumbled into his duplex and collapsed to his knees just after slamming the door shut, his eyes blurring from unshed tears that threatened to fall. "Dey can't do this," he moaned as he slowly leaned forward until he was huddled on the floor with his forehead pressed to the carpet, head covered by his hands. "They can't...I ain't no ******** animal..."
He'd brought this on himself. This was some sort of sick payment for what he did...Doctor Moreau's form of justice, perhaps. Maybe he was even in on this with the police and they figured this was the best way to ruin his life. He knew he was never going to go home...Awen had been right all along and he was too stupid to believe her. He should have just sucked it up and went along with it, but he'd never believed anything until he saw proof.
The man cowered on the floor, feeling more miserable than he'd ever felt in his life. He wanted to die.
Jamal remained on the floor like that for some time, silently sobbing into the carpet while rocking gently to and fro, until finally he couldn't find it in himself to keep doing so. Slowly he uncurled and righted himself so he was once again kneeling and started up at the ceiling with a hopeless expression on his face. His life was over.
He wanted nothing more than to go to bed, but the sickening panic in his stomach wouldn't allow it. He would get no sleep tonight.
Jamal crawled across the floor, reaching one of the corners opposite of the door and leaned back into it, drawing his knees tightly to his chest and draping his arms over them. It was then that the sore spot on his arm that he clawed earlier in the cafeteria twinged painfully, reminding him of his "solution" to the problem. Fingers once again traced up his arm to find the strange patch of skin and he started to dig his nails in and drag his hand downward, tearing at the already tender flesh.
This was going to be a long night.
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 4:36 pm
Awen appeared on his doorstep quite suddenly. She heard no sounds coming from within, no lights..nothing. But she knew- she knew- what was locked inside. She had heard of the comotion in the cafe. It knotted her stomach to know what had happened. She cursed herself for not being there for him.
She hadn't heard the full story, who ever hears the full story though. But she knew there was a big breakdown, almost fight and that Jamal was involved. She wished she had not taken the time to catch up on her gaming the day it happened.
With much hesitation she finally knocked on hte door. "Jamal?" She said cautiously.
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 4:42 pm
From inside, Jamal lifted his head at the sound of the voice and the knock, but hardly any other form of recognition crossed his features. He'd spent the night curled in a corner of the room, knees drawn to his chest with his arms folded over them. This eyes were red and swollen, matching the red and raw arm that was was draped on top where he'd spent the entire night futily clawing at the skin there as though that would suck the serum's contents from his body.
He had gotten no sleep and looked the part as well as still wearing last night's clothes. Jamal didn't say a word; he just peered at the door for a moment and then buried his head again in his arms.
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 4:50 pm
She heard no answer from within, but she knew.... he had to be there. Where else could he be? Awen didn't bother knocking again. "Jamal... please." She rested her hand on the outer doorframe. She wouldn't let him alone, not like this.
"Let me in Jamal, please. I heard what happened in the cafe..." She said softly. She placed her other hand on the door softly. "I'm sorry Jamal... I'm so sorry."
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 4:57 pm
He heard her plead again and heard the door jar ever so slightly as she put her hands on it, but he didn't want to see anyone. No one on this island could stop the misery he'd found himself in. There was no reason for her to be sorry because this wasn't of her doing. She tried to warn him.
He had just refused to believe it and that was his fault.
He did get up though, feeling like a zombie from a lack of sleep and an overload of devastating experience, and floated closer to the entrance until his hands rested on the flat wood of the door and he rested his forehead against the cool wood. Jamal's breathing was heavy and shakey, as though it took great amounts of energy just to inhale and exhale.
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 5:09 pm
She felt the door move back to her hands and heard the breathing. He wouldn't let her in.... He wouldn't talk to her. But he needed her. Something was screaming to her not to leave him alone, though his silent inaction said he wanted her to leave. She knew she couldn't let that happen, he couldn't be alone now...
"It's hard..." She said softer now that she knew he was right a the door. "You want to keep denying, but you've seen the truth now. There's no one you can relate to, nothing but an island full of mutations. You think it's your fault... you messed up, you agreed to come here." She paused for a moment. "But that's not true. Despite what your decision was it's Moreau's fault. He's the one who started this sick experment. He's the one that's at fault not you. But most importantly Jamal...." Her fingers curled slightly on the door. "You're not alone. I am here for you..."
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 5:23 pm
"I deserved dis," he mumbled weakly with a note of hysteria from the other side of the door, his forehead still pressed to the rough wood as were his hands. "All dis bullshit....payback fo' what I dun."
"Dr. know what I did...he know. Dis be his justice. He knew I be a bad ********' person. It be an accident but dat dun matta' none." His voice cracked painfully as he felt his knees go weak again, probably from sheer exhaustion, and he slithered down along the door until he was on his knees again in front of it, his hands dropping in his lap but his head still supported on the door.
"I ain't meanin' ta kill no one, 'specially him. It be an accident...but da ******** died and them cops and the Dr. knows it be ma fault." He paused, closing his eyes tightly as the memory of his friend lying on the pavement, bleeding freely from the hole in his heart. He wanted to beg Awen to believe him, but he was so conflicted that he just shuddered and fell back from the door. "I put this on maself...but I can't do dis...ain't gonna do it." The hysteria rose in his voice, quavering the normally smooth and low-intensity timbre into something eerie and unsettling. He definately was messed up.
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 5:44 pm
Awen's breath caught in her throat. Did she just hear what she thought she heard? Jamal had he really... killed someone? For a moment she froze what could she say to that. She had never known anyone who...killed someone else. But... but it was an accident. Jamal said it was an accident.
"Jamal.." Her voice was a little shakey but a definate caring quality to it. "Jamal listen to me. Moreau isn't punishing you for what happened. He is a twisted b*****d. If he took you to punish you for what you did, why did he take me? What did I do so wrong that Moreau had me brought here for this psychotic game? Jamal.... don't blame yourself for being here it's not your fault."
She turned to the greater matter, one she wasn't rightly sure she knew how to address. She hoped she would do alright. "It was an accident." She said so softly. "You said it was an accident. It's not your fault. You... you are still a good person Jamal."
Her hand slid down and off of the door to rest numbly at her side. "Please Jamal let me in..." She repeate her request from earlier.
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