Welcome to Gaia! ::

.:Harte Pharmaceuticals:.

Outwardly, the building was unimpressive in it's impressiveness. At least, it looked like all the other twenty story high glass and steel concoctions in the city. It didn't appear to be anything but reflective windows and gleaming metal. There was absolutely nothing to hint at what lay inside. The door was the sort that was opened by a pair of polite doormen who carried automatic assault rifles and were inclined to make lousy overly-cheerful jokes at people coming in and out. The door also had a single number 9 painted on it in gold script: The building's address.

Inside, the lobby was a lot like any other upscale lobby. It was huge. There was a water feature and lots of sleek seating in the middle. There was a sleek receptionist's desk at the far end done in the same rich hardwood as the rest of the lobby. The woman sitting behind the desk was not only sleek as well, but blonde and remarkably proportioned. She also didn't seem to feel the need to button the top three buttons of her blouse. Next to the desk were a set of security turnstiles that were activated by little badges, each badge nicely color-coded to denote security-access. Beyond the security checks and the men with guns, the building continued to be quite nice, though in more of a high-tech science way than an opulent wealth-induced coma way.

Harte Pharmaceuticals was not a bad place to work, all things considered. They paid well and their benefits packages were through the roof. They even provided housing for their employees, the top five floors of the building were apartments. The very top floor was the penthouse where the brothers Harte resided. And really all the job required was a high level of intelligence and competence and loyalty coupled with a low level of moral scruples. Not that hard, really. Did we mention the benefits package? Of course, anyone who entertained the prospect of finding work elsewhere tended to dissapear, never to be heard from again. But hey, who would want to leave anyways? Especially with those benefits.

It was, however, below the building in a subterranian off-grid honeycomb of labs where the real work got done. The security was tight, necessarily so considering the research that took place outside of the public eye. This was no mere product testing. And it was down in this warren of white walls and whiter coats where the brothers Harte could usually be found.

"They're all dead."

"All of them?"

"The ones that aren't will be in another six hours."

The Harte brothers frowned matching frowns of irritation. The data in front of them did not contain the hoped-for numbers. In fact, the numbers weren't even close to what had been hoped for.

"We need new subjects." Robbie said after a prolongued pause.

"Yes." Agreed Charlie. "Seeing as how all our old ones are dead."

"Well, that too. But look, Charlie. We're testing on fully mature subjects. Their tissue clearly can't handle the treatments. The regenerative potential just isn't there. We need to go younger. We need pre-adolescents. The younger the better."

Charlie thought about it for a moment. "People keep an eye on their kids. Especially babies. Theres no legitimate way to go about it." It wasn't that he was opposed to the idea, just that it might take some finessing.

"I don't think we'd need a lot of them. Look, if we can each come up with one youthful subject it would at least be enough to see if it's a theory worth further testing."

Charlie snorted. "Where the hell are we going to find a couple of babies just up for grabs?" It wasn't like they could get kids from D-Corp, where their sister had gotten her adopted daughter. D-Corp monitored their creations and Vienne had forbidden them from touching her Anataela.

Robbie frowned. Charlie was always the more practical of the two, pointing out the realistic drawbacks to the madly exciting plans Robbie was inclined to propose. It wasn't a question of morality but rather a matter of realism.

"Where? Where are we going to find kids?" Robbie parroted back. "You are going to pay a visit to the elusive Dr. Akari, being the more trustworthy looking brother."

"Akari?" Charlie knew the name but couldn't pull her body of work to mind.

"Akari. She grows cybernetic cabbages that hatch babies. And once you buy a cabbage nobody is going to follow up up to find out what you've done with it."

"So you want me to pick up a cabbage?" The sheer idiocy of that comment made Charlie's lips quirk in amusement. "A cabbage. So we can hatch a baby. To test serum 34 on younger tissue."

"Yes." Robbie narrowed his eyes at his brother's gently mocking tone. "That is exactly what I want you to do."

"And just what are you planning on doing?"

"I have my own sources." Not like it was any big secret. Charlie was aware of Robbie's gambling addiction and Robbie was aware that Charlie was aware. Charlie even knew that in the high-stakes underground games Robbie played (and lost) in, money was not always the preferred currency. Gambling away his family's money was not the only thing Robbie enjoyed. He enjoyed women, too. And men, on occasion. Especially if those women and men were not always... willing at the beginning of the night. It was the game, the hunt, the chase that excited Robbie. There were few things he liked better than a good, thorough seduction. And rough sex.

Charlie sighed. He didn't exactly approve of Robbie's gambling and whoring, but he had his own vices that made him loathe to call his brother out. "I didn't think you gambled with kids." He finally said.

"Oh, we gamble with all sorts of things." Robbie replied. "Look, you leave that part to me. You just go see Dr. Akari and get yourself a cabbage and I'll... do my half. And we'll both provide a test subject and then we can get this project back on track."

"Fine." Charlie agreed. Ultimately, younger tissue was really their most realistic option at this point.

.:Life imitating art:.

Reality was sometimes far, far removed from expectation. The cabbage, for instance, had only been getting fed with a mixture of water and serum 34 for a day or three before it hatched. Of course, nobody was to know that within that cabbage a plush brown figure had laid curled around the bigger flesh-and-blood inhabitant. Nobody was to know that the toy had actually absorbed the serum. The plushie knew, in it's plushie brain. Because toys weren't actually supposed to have consciousness and so when, in the dark and leafy womb, it's button-bright eyes had sort of been able to see and it's stitched together mouth sort of managed to move, it had merely curled tighter around the little girl who was clutching at one of it's arms and gone back to sleep. She was still sleeping, it wasn't time to come out yet. And then, suddenly, the time was at hand.

Neither Charlie nor Robbie Harte had any particular talents in seeing ghosts or spirits. Their line of work dealt more in the flesh of the - well, living might be a poor choice of words. But still, the bodies were solid even if they were reanimated and prone to rot. Wearing gloves and a goodly amount of protective gear, the two made their way to the underground labs, more specifically to unit 7. They checked on the cabbage first, which seemed to be fine. A little twitchy, but that could be an aftereffect of the serum and besides, both men were eager if a little trepidatious to see what was in that burnt looking crate. It had been sitting in the oxygen rich environment of it's half of the unit for a lengthy enough time that whatever was inside should be subdued. Then again, there was always the question that since whatever it was had to be exotic, they didn't even know if oxygen levels effected it.

"Everything has to breathe something, right?" Robbie had asked while donning his helmet.

"I suppose thats true." Charlie had reluctantly agreed, hefting the crowbar in his hand.

In fact, opening the crate was the most magnificent sort of anticlimax. The two would have been better served to be observing the cabbage, whose leaves were now unfurling slowly and wetly like a rain-soaked rose. A hint of pink could even be seen shining through from the inside. It was a lovely little display. Sadly, they missed the whole thing.

"Easy, easy now." The brothers took turns muttering to one another as they approached the crate. It gave a half-hearted thump and then remained still. Charlie set his crowbar to work and in short order the door of the crate was gaping open. That was when pandemonium broke loose.

"There's nothing in there!" Charlie shouted. "The damn thing is empty! Is this your idea of a joke?" He demanded of his brother.

"Joke my a**!" Robbie leaned down to peer into the crate as well. Nothing but deep claw-marks gouged into the walls. "What the hell!" He exclaimed, just as angry as his brother.

In point of fact, the crate was indeed occupied. Or at least, it had been. To eyes that were able to see it, the occupant was a small and fluffy looking cross between a fox and a rabbit and god only knew what else. To eyes that were also versed in Japanese folklore, the creature would have been recognizeable as a mononoke. Unfortunately, those eyes had to have the knack of seeing ghosts and spirits and the like. The brothers Harte were, as we said earlier, lacking in that particular skill.

The mononoke who had been residing in that crate had tensed when he'd heard voices nearby again. Who were they? What did they want? He recognized the voices from earlier, they were the last ones he remembered hearing which led him to deduce that they had probably bought the crate from that fat and greasy voice from before. Which was all well and good, at least they didn't kick it and bang it around as much. But still, living in a crate was a miserable existence. The creature was fairly certain there had been something before he'd been put inside, but he couldn't remember what it had been. All he had was a half-remembered name that he'd clung to the whole terrible time he'd been in that awful box. So when the door to the crate had finally opened, the little mononoke had done what had come naturally. He bolted. Unseen, right between Charlie's legs.

Safely out of the box he perched trembling on the cot that was in the room, watching the two men. They didn't seem that bad and they had opened the door. So he decided to reserve judgement. They also didn't appear to be able to see him, and he wondered if that was normal. Until a soft and barely detectable squeal of outrage caught his attention. Turning slowly, the white ball of fluff and glowing orange eyes stared in fascination at what was happening on the other side of the glass wall.

The cabbage had managed to unfurl itself completely and it's inhabitant was sitting up, dripping wet from cabbage-birth-fluid and clutching an admittedly disturbing looking doll in her arms. The tip of one of the doll's pointy ears was in her mouth and she was sucking on it as if seeking comfort. Huge brown eyes shone from under sopping brown curls and she looked rather like an adorably wet kitten. The child's eyes roamed about her surroundings before she noticed the two men who were definitely not paying attention to her. She also noticed that she was wet and cold, gossebumps had risen on her little arms. The lower lip quivered and the face squenched up in preparation to voice her displeasure.

The mononoke got there first, though. Her howl of outrage was swallowed by a suprised little gleeping noise and a chubby baby hand reached out to grab at his fur clumsily. The mononoke didn't know if he liked this, but he didn't seem to have much of a choice. Her grip was iron. Vivid orange eyes stared hard into soft brown ones until finally one of them found a voice. "Hiya." The mononoke said.

"Hhhh.." The little girl answered, eyes going bigger. Then a sassy little smile crossed her face, lighting it up. "H-Hiya." She replied with a bit of a baby-lisp. The iron grip on his fur turned a little softer as she stroked clumsily. This, the mononoke decided, he could get used to.

"I'm Touda." He said, puffing his chest out a bit in pride as the girl's eyes shone with delight.

"T-Touda." She repeated obediently.

"Hey Robbie!" From the other side of the glass wall, Charlie had finally noticed what was going on. Well, sort of. He didn't see Touda but what he did see was a dripping little baby who appeared totally engrossed with empty space in front of her.

"What?" Robbie asked irritably from inside the crate where he'd crawled to get a better look. His head popped out and his eyes swiveled to where his brother was staring with a sort of rapt look on his face. "Oh, great."

Charlie had already started for the other half of the room where he swept the little girl off the table. He didn't see the mononoke scowling up at him because, well, seeing the mononoke just wasn't an option at this point. "Hello there, sweetheart." He chucked the little girl under the chin and she giggled. This was better. First the fluffy thing and now the big men were paying attention to her. Maybe they would make her warm and dry.

"Oh no." Robbie said, coming over himself. "You were right. She's a girl." His eyes had a sort of glazed look similar to that of his brothers. Apparently the cute was too much to resist.

"She sure is, isn't she?" Charlie answered, bouncing her a little in his arms. "Did you figure out what was in the crate?"

"No. But I'm going to get to the bottom of it. Nobody screws me out of a bet."

The little girl let out a delighted burst of laughter. Neither of the men realized that it was because Robbie had a Mononoke balanced on his head making faces.

.:RP Log:.

I Can Haz Kiddie Pool? - a trip to the water park

.:RP Log:.

Parks and Spirits - Touda escapes to the park and meets Antony

.:Things best left unseen:.

It was nighttime. They could tell because all the lights except for the night-light were turned off and they'd both been tucked into their beds. But something was... not quite right. Both Charlie and Robbie had seemed agitated all day, they hadn't even bothered to try and run any tests on Anise. They'd barely paid attention to the children all day. And they'd forgotten to lock the door.

"Psst." Touda's vivid orange eyes peered up at Anise. "They didn't lock us in. Lets go explore!"

The little girl thought about this, looking around the room. "I don't wanna get caught." She whispered. "What if they catch us? Then we'll be in trouble and something bad might happen."

"Pshh." The mononoke responded. "They wont catch us. Don't you want to see what else is down here? Maybe there are other kids like us!"

It was a tempting prospect. Life in the lab was not exactly exciting. Save the few times that one or another of the brothers had taken them out on adventures it was really horribly boring. Anise was starting to feel the rub of having nothing to do but twiddle her thumbs.

"C'mooon..." Touda whined. "Be brave."

That did it. Anise squared her shoulders and picked up Tok. "I am brave." She told him, her tone defiant. "I'm braver than you are." She added. She put up with the needles and proddings that Touda refused. Though, uneasily, she was aware that there was something wrong about it.

"You are not!" He was quick to reply. "I snuck out! Thats braver than you are."

"Stupid." Anise muttered under her breath, her hackles up. With a little huff and a stomp of her foot she was out of bed and heading towards the amazingly unlocked door. Touda was quick to leap lightly onto her shoulder, wrapping his tail firmly around her neck for support.

"You're the stupid." He said lamely, more interested in what was beyond the long white hallway that was revealed when she opened the door. Theirs was somewhere in the middle, labeled with a painted black number 7. Other doors were evenly spaced along the hallway, partially illuminated in the flickering flourescent lights. The far end of the hall held a slightly larger door that had a little black security keypad.

Anise looked from one side to the other. "It doesn't look like much." She told Touda doubtfully. "It's just doors. And we can't even go out of the hallway, that door down there is locked."

Touda leapt off of her shoulder and scampered down to the end door. Raising himself up on his hind feet, he sniffed at the black security box. "Come here." He ordered Anise.

She made her way down the hall with a little frown. "You don't get to boss me around." She told him irritably, but she obeyed nevertheless, her curiosity piqued. He jumped onto her shoulder and their combined height brought him face to face with the security panel. He sniffed. "Nope. We can't get out this way. Lets see whats in the other rooms!"

Anise narrowed her eyes and padded barefoot over to the nearest door. Touda moved to perch on the top of her head, and from there raised himself to his hind legs, bracing his front paws on the little square window set into the door. "I can't see anything. It's dark. Try the door."

The door was locked, as were the next three doors they tried. The fourth, however...

"I can't see in here either." Touda said as Anise jiggled the handle. It turned and the door swung inward. "Ooh.." The mononoke whispered, leaning forward to see into the darkness.

"Onward and upward." Anise whispered back, taking a step into the room. There were soft mechanical sounds and faint rythmic beepings. Neither of the two even thought to seek out a lightswitch, too excited at the adventure and too worried about getting caught. The dim lighting from the medical equipment gave off faint blue and green and red glows, not enough to illuminate from a distance but enough, up close, for them to make out two cells laid out just as the ones in their room were. And a figure in each cell, hulking in the corners, silent.

"What are they?" Touda whispered.

"I don't know..." Anise replied, squinting into the shadows. "Lets get closer." She began walking towards the cells.

This time it was Touda who expressed hesitance. "I don't know, Anise. They're awful big looking."

"Don't be such a baby." Her voice was barely audible as she approached the plexiglass. Her tiny hand raised to rest against the clear wall. And then all hell broke loose.

----------

"It was big, whatever it was." Touda said breathlessly once they were safely back in their own cells in their own room. Well, back in Anise's cell where they both slept more often than not.

"It was..." Anise shuddered and hugged her knees close to her chest. "It was big and it left slime marks on the glass."

"You don't suppose..." Touda began hesitantly.

"Suppose what?"

"Suppose thats what they're trying to do to you?"

Brown eyes widened as Anise paled with fear. It couldn't be, could it?

.:Taking A Stand:.

"No." Liquid brown eyes were hard for once. Determined and stubborn. The cherub's mouth was set in a firm line and her arms were crossed around Tok. The stuffed animal whispered into her ear, encouraging her, unheard by anyone else.

"Now honey, we've been through this before." Charlie cajoled. "It's just a little poke and then you'll get a lolly." Anise was usually fairly biddable, even if she was sometimes reluctant for the treatments. But so far the brothers Harte had been encouraged by what they had seen and neither of them wanted to stop the procedure.

"I said no!" Anise said again. Ever since she and Touda had snuck out of their room, ever since they had seen... had seen... she didn't want to think about it. Didn't want to think about what it was Charlie and Robbie were doing down here. What they were doing to her.

Touda came up behind Anise, orange eyes flashing and lashed his tail. She was finally standing up to them and he had every intention of backing her up. "She said no."

"Of course she did." Charlie frowned in irritation, but the expression was quickly wiped away, his face resuming it's usual friendly amiableness. "Don't worry, honey. You know it doesn't hurt." He approached her, smiling, syringe in hand.

All hell broke loose.

"TOK!" Anise screamed, panic laced with fury coloring her voice. There was a sudden sort of shifting and then the room was filled with a suddenly huge Tok. Not only that, but the giant stuffed animal with it's macabre grin was swinging it's bulky arms, knocking over tables and breaking vials. Anise clung to it's back, arms wrapped tight around the creature's neck. Touda leapt onto the giant plushie as well, digging his claws into the cloth.

Alarms sounded, both loudly and irritatingly and silently, secretly. But by the time the specially cleared security team made it to the small lab with the two little cells, all that was left for them to find was an unconscious Charlie laying sprawled on the floor, a lot of broken glass and a hole in the wall where the door should have been.

------

"Wow. Did that really just happen?"

Touda and Anise were huddled up together inside one of the metal play-tubes at the nearby park. Anise was shivering, despite the warm air of a summer night. She clutched at Tok, returned to his normal size, and rocked back and forth, sucking on the stuffed animal's ear.

"Tok said he could fix it." Anise replied in a small voice. "I didn't know thats what he was going to do, though."

"Tok said..." Touda trailed off and swished his tail. Before, when Anise had made vague references to the toy whispering things to her he had written them off as nonsense. Now, though... Now was not the time to get into details.

"We can't go back, can we?" The little voice trembled. "They'll be so angry and they'll hurt us and, and... I've ruined everything." She didn't burst into sobs, but it was clear that she wanted to.

"Shhh... it'll be alright. We'll figure something out." Touda said in his best attempt at reassurance. She was probably right. They probably couldn't go back to the lab. Even if Charlie and Robbie weren't angry at the path of destruction they'd left in their wake, they would just go back to the experiments on Anise and that was no good. No good at all. "It's late." Was the only thing Touda could think of to say. "Try to go to sleep, we'll figure it out in the morning."

Anise curled herself around Touda, using Tok as a pillow and soon her breathing became slow and regular. Touda peered out into the hot summer darkness, eyes glowing like flame. They needed a plan, somewhere to go. Unfortunately, he was just as alone and scared and clueless as Anise.

.:Test's House:.

Test's house proved to be a sort of boarding house. It was long and narrow and tall, in a row of other long, narrow and tall houses all made up of brick. Not ever having really been inside a house before, both Touda and Anise found themselves rather enchanted.

Test was almost as pleasant a suprise as her house was. A lean woman with eyes that spoke volumes and thick black hair, she smiled at the two in the sort of way that immediately puts people at ease.

"Hello, Church." She said, glancing from Touda and Anise to the tall man who had brought them. "What have you got for me today?"

"Test, meet Anise and Touda. Kids, this is Test. I told you about her." He removed his big coat and the nature of the odd lumps became clear. Church had wings. Big, feathery white glowing angel's wings. Anise's eyes went round as saucers.

"Nice to meetcha!" Touda replied for both of them, since Anise seemed rather distracted at the moment. "Church said we could stay with you?" This last was said with a bit of suspicion.

She smiled, allaying the mononoke's apparent fear. "Of course you may. I have one empty room, if you two can share."

Sharing, as it turned out, was not a problem at all.

"There are others staying here too. All I ask is that you respect them, and they'll respect you too. We don't go prying into other people's business. If someone wants to tell you how they got here, they will. No questions, though. Alright? And none of the other boarders will ask you questions either."

Anise, who had pulled her attention away from Church's wings long enough to listen, nodded. Not asking questions seemed fair enough, but it awoke a spark of fierce curiosity. What kind of place was this, really? What kind of people lived here, that their pasts were such secrets? "That sounds fair." She finally found the words to reply.

"Good. You have to be back here before dark, thats when things get locked up. If you're not back, you'll just have to find somewhere else to sleep. We don't open our doors when the sun goes down."

Again, it seemed like a fair but curious rule. Touda and Anise both nodded, their perplexion written clearly on their faces but they both refrained from saying anything. Instead, they exchanged a complicated system of eyebrow waggles. The sort of facial communication people who are close come to share.

"Now, why don't we get you two something to eat. You look half starved." Test bustled the two into the kitchen and went about spooning up two bowls of oatmeal, adding raisins and cream and sugar.

"Church, a word, if you would?"

Leaving Touda and Anise to their meal, the two adults stepped outside.

-----

Later that night, Anise and Touda lay curled up together in one of the beds. The room was spare, but clean and comfortable with two single beds on either end, cream colored walls and a distinctly feminine tea-rose motife.

Anise stroked Touda's fur absently, feeling safe and warm for the first time in a long time. "I guess we're lucky, aren't we? To have a place to stay."

Touda let out a sort of purr and flicked his tail idly. "Yeah, I reckon we are."

"I wonder what Robbie and Charlie are doing, since we're gone. D'you think they're looking for us?"

"Dunno. Not me, at least." Bright orange eyes blinked, gleaming in the moonlight streaming through lace curtains. "You, probably. They put so much of that medicine stuff in you, they probably want to know whats happening."

Anise thought about this for a moment. "Nothings happening. I feel fine."

"Thats good, at least." The mononoke yawned.

"We have to go back someday, though."

"Why would you say that?"

"I dont know." Anise yawned as well. "I just... think we do. Someday. I want to know what they did to me, at least."

"Not tonight, though."

"No, not tonight."

"Good. 'Cause I'm tired."

Anise patted Touda one last time, her eyes drifting closed. "Me too."

.:Transformation:.

She was having The Dream again. The dream where she was back in the lab, and they were coming for her. Dark and dripping, mouths gaping in silent, angry screams. Their fleshless hands outstretched, reaching... reaching...

Anise woke with a scream. Her arms and legs were throbbing and her breath came fast, between frightened hiccuping sobs. She felt disoriented, confused. Something was wrong, something more than the dream. And Touda's familiar furry presence wasn't nestled against her back like it usually was. Something was definitely wrong. "Touda!" Anise called out, trying to calm herself. It was only a dream... it was only a dream. Except that this time, the feeling of unease chased her into the waking world and oh, where was Touda?

There... a dim red glow in the corner, by the other bed. Shivering despite the warmth of the night air, Anise wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and climbed out of bed, crossing the room.

Someone was sitting in the corner, knees drawn up to his chest.

"Who are you?" The little girl asked as the boy turned his head.

---------------------------------

It had woken him earlier, the pulling ripping sensation that was utterly foreign to him. It hadn't hurt, exactly. But it had felt strange. Something... something was happening. The sensation had driven him out of Anise's bed and across the room to his own. Whatever it was, he didn't want to wake her up.

Then... the jewel on his forehead had emitted a burning light. It felt like someone had placed the very sun itself in his skull and tears had come to the small mononoke's eyes as the room was washed in an orange-red light. Whatever it was, it seemed to be happening only to him. He was the only one in the world aware of how the ripping sensation was stronger. So much stronger that it crowded all other thought from his mind. There had been no room for anything beyond the disorientation and the feeling of pressure as he was pulled apart. Blessedly, he'd blacked out then.

When Touda had come to, he knew immediately that something was different. The proportions of the room were all off, things lay at the wrong angle. He stretched and then sat upright in a flash.

Arms... legs... the boy stared down at his body, the moonlight illuminating dark, furless skin. Human hands. Human feet. He reached his human hands to his head, felt silken hair and a metal band. This was all wrong. All wrong. And yet, even as his mind and body rebelled against the sudden changes Touda felt as well a surge of excitement. Was he a human boy now? Would people be able to see him?

The nausea from the suddeness of change and realization hit him and five minutes later found him curled up on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest and rocking back and forth as thoughts flew through his mind swiftly and unbidden. He could scarce control them.

And then a voice, small and familiar, calling him back to the present. "Who are you?"

---------------------------------

"Touda." Touda said softly, turning his head to look at Anise. Something was different about her. "I'm Touda." He repeated softly, anchoring that one fact into his brain with the words. He was still himself. He was still Touda.

"Touda?" Anise's voice was thin and drawn, he could tell she'd been having bad dreams again. "What happened to you?" The girl flopped down on the floor next to him, luminous brown eyes staring in wonder. Tentatively, a small hand reached up to run a hand through his hair and Touda closed his eyes, drawing in a breath.

"I'm not... I dont know." He shrugged faintly, both dismayed and elated at how easily the movement came to him. Opening his eyes, he regarded Anise. "I changed. You did too."

She looked down at herself, the longer legs and arms, and shook her head. Her ponytails were also inexplicably longer. She still clutched Tok. He, at least, was unchanged. "I did. I'm bigger."

He found himself smiling at the suprise in her voice and tentatively reached an arm around her shoulders. It was strange, being bigger than she was. Anise snuggled into him with a little sigh.

"I had that dream again."

"Ah."

"And you weren't there and now you're... different."

Was he? Was he really so different? "Nah..." The redhead said quietly. "I'm still Touda. I only look different."

Anise sniffled softly. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure you're still a brat." He tweaked one of her ponytails and got an indignant little smile.

"I'm not the brat. You're the brat." Anise let out a long, dramatic sigh. "And now that you're bigger than me I've lost any advantage I might have had."

Smiling at her attempt at humor, Touda got shakily to his feet and pulled her up with him. Standing felt wrong to him. Walking felt even more wrong. Not having a tail to balance you out was terrible... how did people live like this? "C'mon, squirt." He said, wobbling towards the bed. "Lets get some sleep. In the morning we can figure out what we're going to do. I'm beat."

"I'll bet you are." Anise said, a bite to her tone. "You did more growing than me."