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 Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:26 pm
"You are being an incredible downer. And you need a bath. Sick people need baths. It's healthy. You can finish your soup in there." He set Sydni down, then stepped over to Vale, and frowned at his frozen stature.
"Time to get up, Vale. Bath time. I'm not cursed, and Sydni can wait in here." He braced himself, then reached down to grab Vale, and pulled.
It didn't work so well. Vale's lack of compliance and his lack of muscles made things challenging.
He gave up after he tried a second time.
"Fine. Finish your soup. And take your medicine. Then tell me what you need. Me and Sydni are going to play games!" He looked at the girl.
"What games do you like?
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:51 pm
For a brief moment, Vale was incredibly smug. Even sick and weak as a kitten, Quinn still couldn't drag him off the couch.
And then he realized he couldn't kick Quinn out of his house. Smugness gone. He uncurled, stretching back out now that his mission of passive-aggressive resistance had been accomplished. He quickly swallowed down the medicine, following it with some soup - the stuff tasted nasty.
It tasted even worse mixed with soup, to his dismay.
Sydni, however, was nothing but smiles now. Not only was her brother being taken care of, Quinn was staying for longer than anyone else had!
"Game?" Her eyes lit up. "Airplane!" She held her arms up excitedly. She always played airplane with her brother.
Vale couldn't help but grin at his little sister. "She likes being the pilot."
"Stay ee'n the room." He sipped down more soup. It had gotten cold, but he hadn't eaten anything for a while. "Or else I v'ill beat you down," he added, offhandedly.
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Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:54 pm
"Airplane? Alright." Quinn bent down and pulled her onto his shoulders, lifting her easily. He wasn't strong, but he wasn't so weak he couldn't carry a two year old. "Where are we traveling to, pilot? Are all systems go? Engines ready!" He began making 'bbbbbbb' noises with his lips and stretched his arms out, running around the room. "We're gaining altitude!" He ran up the stairs, and around the second floor with her.
After a while of running around and laughing, they dived down for a landing and he set her on the floor. He thought for a moment. Vale had his soup, his medicine, a couch...He was alright, for now. It was time to be nosy! He opened up a random closet, and pushed aside a few photo albums, looking at a few books that were hidden behind them. Quinn liked books; while not being the most brilliant child, he liked to read alot. There were three of them, and he pulled them out.
"Look, Sydni! Books! Does your brother ever read to you?" He let her hop back up onto his back and walked downstairs to Vale again, sitting on the floor and setting the books down with a thud.
"Hey. Catnip. What are these?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:36 pm
To say that Vale had his ears finely attuned to the antics of Quinn and his younger sibling the minute they left his sight was an understatement.
His nerves were shot long before they returned, even with Sydni squealing and laughing in sheer glee to have such a loud plane. Compared to Quinn, Valeriu was like a stealth bomber - fast and secure, but near silent. She couldn't decide which was more fun - Vale had his ears for her to pull on and direct him, but Quinn had these feathers...!
"Varu read!" she chirped in response, peering down over Quinn's hair at the books. She immediately pointed out a particularly worn and beaten tomb, covered in patchy red velvet and embossed with golden lettering. Her hand reached to touch it happily, and Vale himself leaned over to pick it up, smiling inwardly at the cover even as he scowled at Quinn for snooping further.
"Da, I read to her. This ee's our family's book of fairy tales, from Romania." Vale himself never put much stock in it, even as a child (or so he told himself) - but he held a certain, intent fascination for the stories nonetheless. "Sydni enjoys them."
"The others..." He scrutinized the other books, dragging a thinner, hard-bound volume towards himself and flipping through it. "The one there ee's my grandmother's collection of letters. This one? I do not know."
He'd never seen it before. That wasn't too unusual - their house had books stashed everywhere. His mother had been an avid reader, and his father didn't have any qualms about showering his wife with used and rare books found out with the street vendors. Some of them weren't even in a language he recognized, and the only other ones he had any interest in had been the architectural books currently stacked in his room.
"Hn." He shrugged, shoving it back away, before reaching out and stealing his sister back single-handedly to sit safe and snug within his arms.
Mine.
"Do not call me Catnip, or I v'ill rip your face off," he answered offhandedly. It didn't have much heat behind it - it just didn't feel the same as when Ciro -
Nevermind.
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Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:53 pm
Quinn allowed Sydni to be taken away, picking up the third, mysterious book and opening it up to the first page. It was a man's handwriting- but it was neat enough.
I don't understand how he couldn't have found this. He spends enough time in the closet.
What?
... The closet.
Oh! I get it now. It's a gay joke.
So. My first job was simple. I hate journals, and I hate writing down everything, but someone told me that it helps in stressful situations.
And if this doesn't qualify, I don't know what does.
"Vale, your dad sounds like a creeper. What did he do for a living?"
But anyway, my first job. God, the details are all jumbled up in my head, now, it all happened so fast. My partner was nice enough; but I'm not sure that's a good thing, not in this line of work.
"This sounds like a detective story, but it's all handwritten. How could you have not seen this before?" Quinn decided to read the next part aloud.
"I'm not sure how much I'm exactly allowed to put on paper, but the whole point of a journal is that no one's going to read it, right? I just hope Marie doesn't get ahold of this. She'd probably be upset, and I don't want to be kicked out of the house before--" Quinn froze, and paled.
"What is this. Where did you get this." It wasn't a question. It was the beginning of a freak out. "You're messing with my head. You did this on purpose. This is why you had me deliver your soup, isn't it? You just wanted to mess with me. Real mature. Real smart."
Quinn, how could he have known you would have gone into his closet?
The godling ignored him.
"What the hell is this?" He flipped through the rest of the pages. "They're all filled. All of them. You went to that much trouble just to mess with me? That's low. And how did you know my full name, anyway? I've never told you my name was Quinton. How do you know it even is Quinton? What if it was just Quinn? Then you'd look stupid, wouldn't you. Writing my name wrong in a book that you meant to use to mess with me. Stupid."
He glared at Vale, and avoided looking at Sydni; he didn't want to frighten her, he wasn't angry at her.
"And using your sister to lure me in, too, just for this sick prank? Funny." He threw the book at the other godling's head, away from Sydni so as to not hit her. "Keep your stupid book. I'm going home. I bet you're not even sick."
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 9:01 am
"My dad v'as not a creeper!" He huffed, settling back while Sydni flipped through the illustrated pages of the book of fables. "That ee's not even his handwriting."
If it was his dad's handwriting, nobody would be able to read it. Except maybe his mother - but even his father couldn't accurately guess whether or not he himself had written an 'r' or a 'v'. It made following the grocery list very, very difficult.
His brows drew down at Quinn's sudden change, bemusedly wondering what had happened.
"V'hat? V'hat are you talking about? Have you gone ee'nsane again?" He scowled, even more bewildered at the shift in attitude and the rambling. "I did not even know your name ee's Quinton, you ee'diot." He growled. "Here you are, going through my family's things, and you accuse of me of messing v'ith you?"
He couldn't...he couldn't get angry. Even with Quinn gone nutso again, all he could feel was tired. No energizing, vengeful anger, no outrage - just tired. He shook his head wearily, even as he caught the book thrown. It left a sting in his hand.
"V'hatever. Think v'hatever you v'ant. Go, then," he muttered tonelessly, looking down at both books now resting on his legs. Past, present, and future, all in front of him.
He wished the future looked more like the past. But he hadn't believed in fairy tales in a long, long time. No happily ever after in those pages. He was alone, save for his sister, who was staring up at him with those amazing eyes that jarred him every time. She patted his face in concern, worried that he was sad, and looked between him and Quinn in confusion.
Just what was going on here?
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Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 1:39 pm
"If you didn't write it, then who did? Marie is my mother's name. It says Quinton. Right there. You had to have written it. I can't believe you!" He hissed unconciously. "I don't understand what you could possibly gain from this."
Nothing. I don't think he did it, Quinn.
Then who did?
Quinn hissed again. "Fine. I'm leaving." Before he could pick himself up to do so, however, he saw Sydni's face, and paused. He didn't want to betray her, and he had said he would stay.
He stared at Vale angrily.
"Fine. I'm staying, at least until you're better." he picked the book up, and continued reading.
I don't really have much else to say... Dana's coming over for dinner tonight, Marie's cooking. She's such a great cook.
"Hey Vale, what was your Mom's name?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 2:34 pm
"Make up your mind, already," he grumbled, ruffling Sydni's hair in reassurance. The girl squealed a no! at the brotherly move, hands flitting to brush her locks back to order.
"I think you are ee'nsane. Not even v'omen have as many mood swings as you." He stretched his legs out more comfortably on the couch, now enduring the indignant tugs to his hair by Sydni. A yank on his ear had him quickly moving to put the girl back down on her own two feet, sweeping his tail up and over his knees and away from her vengeful hands. He tried to muster up a frown towards the girl, but the petite glare on her face had him unobtrusively staring back up at the ceiling.
"Sydni must really like you." He shot Quinn a wry look, folding his arms over his stomach and fingers tracing the design on the velvet and gold of the storybook. "She only acts like a brat around people she likes."
"Brat," Sydni shot back, plopping back down next to Quinn peevishly. She stared at the book he read as if she too could read it, blatantly ignoring her older sibling.
He snorted. Girls. They could be so testy. Mess with their hair and they hated you for life. Just wait until he started scaring her boyfriends off. Then she'd really be angry with him. He tilted his head at Quinn's question, mildly curious. He had to think for a minute - it wasn't often he'd heard their real names.
"Her name ee's Dana, and my father's name ee's Andrei. V'hy?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 7:49 pm
Quinn glanced at the pages. "The guy in here talks about your mom, too. It says 'Dana's coming over for dinner tonight.' and a little bit further down, 'Living across the street from your partner is convenient, I guess.'" Quinn frowned. This journal/diary/whateveritwas was not making him a happy camper. He didn't like being confused.
Hopefully their son doesn't beat Quinn up again. What was his name? Valeriu.
Quinn paled.
Last time they were together, Quinn got a bunch of bruises on his arms. Andrei's kid cried for about twice as long, though.
Quinn looked slightly triumphant.
I'm worried about my son's attention span.
Quinn frowned again.
Is that even what I'm supposed to write about in these? I don't know.
Quinn did a double take.
"Son? What the hell?" He shoved it in Vale's face. "Look. Read this part. Read it. What it says. Read this."
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:10 pm
Valeriu did not appreciate having a book shoved in his face - especially when that book had been thrown at his head not too long ago.
He glared, but snatched the book from Quinn's annoying little paws. He glanced over the words dismissively, grinding to a halt a second later, and then perusing more carefully from the beginning. A frown began, ears perking up and hardly believing what his fevered eyes were reading.
"This ee's your father's journal," he confirmed, as if the very words themselves were strange and foreign on his tongue. He'd never really bothered to think if spawn like Quinn actually formed from two human adults. In all honesty, he'd assumed the boy had sprouted from the ground, garish and offensive from the beginning.
It crept up on him, a dawning horror that became clearer the more he thumbed through pages, seeking out their names from one sentence to the next.
They'd met before. Their parents had met before. It wasn't unusual to know that, they were neighbors after all. But he'd never heard of Quinn, or Quinn's dad. His parents had never spoken of them, he'd never seen them.
This didn't make sense. The more he read, the more confused he became.
"V'hat does this mean?" This journal, in a house where he'd never heard Quinn's name before. This man, talking about his parents like they were friends, familiar and well-known. He didn't like it. Not one bit. He had half a mind to shove the journal right back into the closet and never think about it again.
Subconsciously, he knew - it would change everything. And he hated it already.
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 2:34 pm
Quinn snatched the book back from Vale, and set it on the table. He didn't want to think about it. His father was not an easy subject.
"I don't know. I don't care, right now, because I have to do the job I was brought here to do." He swooped over and grabbed Vale, pulling him off of the couch before he could find something to hold on to. "It's bathtime, Catnip!" He attempted to drag Vale to the other room.
"Hey, Sydni, Tickle him or something. Something that will make him easier to drag. He needs a warm bath to get better!"
Quinn didn't want to think about his father. He didn't want to think about the journal or whatever it was, and he didn't want to think about his father.
He also didn't want to think about his father.
Quinn, I-
I don't want to hear it. I'm busy taking care of my sick patient!
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 2:50 pm
Valeriu had thought he'd won that particular argument far earlier in this game.
He'd thought wrong.
"I do not need a bath!" Hissing, he dug his fingers into the hardwood floor, scrabbling to latch onto any object. He curled, twisted, ground his feet down, and thrashed in his best imitation of a fish, a warning growl breaking loose from his throat. "Let go!"
He loved baths, really he did. Possibly even more so, now. Water was his friend. But he'd be damned if Quinn threw him into it! He caught his sister's eye - and realized he was screwed.
She smiled at him. The innocent, sweet smile that said she still had not forgotten that time he'd ruffled her hair. The two-year-old held the heavy fairy tale book in her hands, watching her brother's weak struggles that nonetheless impeded Quinn's efforts. Watching the tail that lashed across the floor.
She smiled. He realized it too late. The book dropped.
A moment later and he was curled limply, tail crooked and biting back whimpers.
"Brat!"
"Easy drag," she informed Quinn, scuttling past her temporarily disabled brother and hooking a hand back on Quinn's jeans happily.
Oh, the terrible twos. Valeriu knew now what they meant.
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 3:04 pm
Quinn took the opportunity to yank off Vale's clothes down to his underwear, grinning happily when he saw the rainbow on the other godling. He dragged Vale into the bathroom, and began running a nice, warm bath. He lifted Vale up and plopped him inside, plugging the drain.
"The water will fill up the bathtub. And you might want to take off your underwear, or they'll get all wet." For once, Quinn took the high road, and decided not to wait around for this to happen.
"You, sir, are going to sit right here and soak in nice warm bath water. Me and Sydni are going to go read fairy tales." He paused, then gave Vale a meaningful look. "And, as you learned, the book can also be used to punish naughty kitties who don't take their baths." He looked at Sydni, then back at Vale with a serious expression. It snapped quickly to a smile, and he left, shutting the door behind him.
"Okay, Syd! Let's read a story!" He picked up the book, and flipped to a random page. "Once upon a time, a young newlywed couple moved into a new house. What they didn't know was that a witch lived next door! The wife was pregnant, and suddenly got a huge craving for all sorts of vegetables..."
He continued reading for a while, until they had finished the story and he assumed Vale had had enough time soaking in the bath tub.
With Sydni trailing along behind him, he slammed open the door without much ceremony.
"Bath time over! Where are the towels?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 5:29 pm
Quinn was the one that flew over the cuckoo's nest. Without a doubt.
He stared at the shut door. Glared, really. It was going to fly back open at any minute, Quinn rip-roaring into the room to rip off what was left of his dignity and jump out the window with it.
Again.
But no avenging rainbow appeared that moment. Nor during the next moment, nor the few minutes after that. He relaxed, inch by cautious inch, until the water was lapping at his shoulders and his head was leaning against the cold porcelain ledge. He didn't care about his boxers at the moment, didn't care if they got wet. He had more where those came from.
He'd been avoiding moments like these. Where it was quiet, and he had no choice but to sit and think. His sharp glare drifted to the tiling of the floor, shifting restlessly up to the sink, darting back to the faucet. He sunk lower into the water.
Ciro. His parents, and Quinn's dad. Quinn in general. His poor tail.
He saw them all in the water, and angrily closed his eyes to it, dipping down below the surface and flattening his ears. He toed the faucet off when it was high enough, resurfacing to shake out his hair with a sigh.
Luckily, Quinn barged back in soon after, and he transferred his glare to its rightful place - Quinn's face.
"Ee'n the cabinet," he grumbled, studiously sinking lower in an effort to submerge all visible skin below the water. Bubbles or not, it made him feel better. Now, of all times, he was all too aware of the consequences of his state of undress, and it irked him to no end. "There ee's a bathrobe ee'n there, too," he added more helpfully in a not-so-subtle hint. He wasn't about to direct Quinn to where his room was, god help him. That boy was not allowed near his bedroom.
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 6:16 pm
Quinn nodded, and opened the cabinet, pulling out a towel. He dropped it on the floor, then walked over to the tub and reached into the water, pulling the drain. He took the opportutity to also run his hand along Vale's leg as he pulled his arm out, grinning.
"You left your underwear on? Well, I guess we can just dry them off and they'll be fine. Sydni, make sure he takes them off, and then go lay them on the porch or something, okay?" He pulled out a towel, and used it to hold Vale by, dragging him back to the couch.
"Now, you're sick, so, I'm going to have to dry you off." He then proceeded to attack Vale's hair, a look of pure gleeful menace coming over his face. He leapt over him on the couch and began shaking the towel violently through the other boy's hair. "Sydni! Grab me the bathrobe, will you? Otherwise he'll be all naked." He finished with Vale's hair, and attacked his torso. "These boxers are soaking! You're getting it all over the couch!" He got up and glared. "You were supposed to give those to Sydni. Why didn't you?"
Quinn, you dragged him out here immediately afterwards.
Details!
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