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 Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 12:23 pm
Her body raised from the ground as Varu talked about his ability to date women. Sure, anyone could do it! Even Tepin could date a girl, but that didn’t mean she’d enjoy it. She continued to listen as she made her way down the bank, picking a half submerged tree trunk to climb onto.
“The one that got covered in spiders? Nah, her butt was big.” She stretched out on her log, now able to see deeper into the water without particularly scaring the fish away. “Like, way big. Too big. And right in my face.”
Her nose crinkled, that day was not fun in the slightest, thanks to a certain someone.
“Oh,” She didn’t know that Varu was that thoughtful-- he had all the angles of their vacation covered, even down to getting Godly babysitting for his sister and a house sitter for the cat. He really put his all into everything, didn’t he? “Then I won’t worry. I just hope he doesn’t maul the chair.”
She gasped when the fish flew out of the water, her red eyes following its arc before watching as the fish bounced off the ground for only a moment. It then landed just past the mud, flopping about in a pitiful attempt to live.
A frown returned to her face. The poor guy didn’t want to get eaten!
“His name is Stan.” She informed her guardian, though her eyes stayed glued on the fish, “And he has a wife and kids.”
Really, couldn’t they just eat berries or something?
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 2:52 pm
"She v'as pretty," he defended absently, eyes tracking the fish around him. Valeriu certainly didn't think any part of her was too big. "I v'ould not mind it," he added more softly, frowning down at the waters.
No. He wouldn't mind having someone once Tepin and Sydni left to live their adult lives. He glanced at Tepin, and a bordering-on-Tezcatlipoca grin played at his lips.
He could be a brat, too.
"Your mother v'as pretty as well," he mentioned offhandedly, hiding a grin and luring a fish closer. "And I do not think she likes her husband very much. Maybe..." He trailed off suggestively, and inside he felt gleefully evil.
Too much of Tezcatlipoca had rubbed off on the boy. His hands darted out again, and another fish joined the first.
"There. Mrs. Stan. The kids are orphans now," he declared decisively. "After this, they v'ill go into a foster home, spend years jumping from therapist to therapist. Stan Junior v'ill eventually overdose on drugs, and Fredina v'ill become pregnant at the age of thirteen v'ith octuplets, running her life into the ground."
Two more swipes, and two more fish - "Let's save them from such a sad fate, da?" he asked, wading back to the shore.
Better to eat them now instead of letting them self-destruct later, right?
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 7:28 pm
“Likes him enough to dump her kid for him.” She replied, mimicking his offhanded tone with a glare; the motion was not appreciated, at all.
“My mom has giant tits.” She informed him, looking down into the water and seeing only fish zipping by. “But she probably has an STD or something.”
Her look went back to him, wondering if he even knew what that was, “I was a one night stand, after all.”
It was easy to slander one’s own mother if one’s love interest was after them, after all.
“If that fish could live to be thirteen years old,” She observed as she pulled herself from her perch on the half sunken log, “Then it would have lived a full and long-lived life-- and deserves eight fishie babies.”
Her sneakers dug into the muddy sand of the beach as she followed him towards the pile.
“Fish don’t even take care of their kids do they?”
She watched as the newest fish continued to flop uselessly as the others slowly suffocated.
“Maybe my mom’s part fish. I'd let you eat her.”
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 7:45 pm
He peered contemplatively down at the girl next to him, tying the fish together by the tails with a long piece of twine.
She'd realize, one day - her mother wasn't a bad person. Misguided, lost, confused - just another victim of the City.
Seriously, he held up one of the fish. Considered the strange face on the dead animal, before matter-of-factly reaching over with it to plant a big, fishy kiss on Tepin's cheek.
"Fish lover," he annointed her, before trotting smartly back to where the fire pit was dug into the ground, hanging the fish off of a stick stuck handily in the ground.
"If your mother is part fish, then you are part fish. It all makes sense, now. I cannot believe I did not realize it before," he murmured dramatically, retrieving some firewood and crouching down before the pit, deftly striking a dark stone against a lighter one as sparks flew.
"V'ell, perhaps this is a good thing. If v'e run out of food and hunting is scarce, you can be our emergency food supplies, da?"
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 8:14 pm
She gaped as the slimy cold feeling of fish lips pressed against her face.
She continued to gape as he walked along with the fish.
Only once he had started to work on a fire did she rub angrily at her face, glaring back at the camp.
“GROSS!!” Her exclamation seemed to startle the birds, with many calls and the sound of fluttering wings in response to her yelling.
She then trotted back to his side, taking time to kick dirt at him as he explained her lineage of fishiness. She was most certainly not a fish! She was a living, breathing woman. Varu just seemed utterly convinced otherwise- he completely refused to look at her as one.
“I’ll let you eat me tonight. “ She sat down, crosslegged opposite him, staring him down, “I’ll even return the favor.
Would he even know what that means?
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 8:33 pm
He barked out a laugh at her squawking, getting the fire to take to the kindling and carefully nurturing the tiny flames licking at the dried leaves from the kicked dirt.
"You're the one who v'as so concerned about Mr. Stan," he reminded her smugly. "Having an affair v'ith your own kind is natural. Although he v'as much too old for you."
He sat back on his haunches, adding a few branches to the pit. Despite all that happened, Valeriu was...content. Happy. At peace. One with natu-
He choked, for the second time that day.
There was once a time where such things would have flown over his head. But one did not hang around Quinn, Ciro, and the twins without learning a thing or two, let alone reaching full maturity.
He shot a glare back at her. She knew. She knew exactly how embarrassed it got him, to hear that kind of talk.
"I should have fixed you v'hen I had the chance," he muttered, dropping his gaze back to the fire stubbornly. "The vet told me to, but no." The final log was added to the flames.
"V'hy?" he ventured after a moment, fixing her with a curious look. Curiosity killed the cat, but...
He couldn't understand it. He thought they'd been over this. Maybe - maybe he could help her see. If she understood her own reasons for liking him, she'd realize her feelings really were just those for an older brother.
"Explain it to me."
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 9:11 pm
She frowned-- how was she supposed to put it into words? Tepin wished she could just send her feelings directly to him so that he could understand.
She pulled her hair over her shoulder awkwardly, looking at the ends intensely as she began to unwrap the bundle. Refusing to look at him, she concentrated at her task at hand-- suddenly it had become dire that she undo her hair bundles.
“I dunno howta say it.” She admitted, her fingers deftly working at the linen wraps, “But like…”
She frowned deeper, tugging at the cotton more forcefully.
“I just wanna be with you. All the time. And I dunno, but…”
The first bundle undone, she now looked at his face with a bright red colour tinting her face.
“Murphy kissed me.” He would die as soon as they got back from the forest, “But the only thing I could do was think ‘I wish it were Varu instead.’ ”
She then grabbed the second bundle, working on it with less vigor than the first.
“And that’s not something you think about a brother. You don’t think that way about Syd, it’s just not normal. I didn’t think of anyone else then. Not even Izzy. Just you.”
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 9:29 pm
He frowned, scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
His first thought: that Murphy was a dead man.
His second thought: perhaps kill both twins, just to make sure one wasn't left in misery.
This was...this wasn't something he had dealt with, ever before. She wasn't his sister, but he'd adopted her. He knew - he knew it was because of the aging. She wouldn't be so focused on this if she'd grown up like a normal girl.
He had to get her to see that. She couldn't stay focused on him. She had to think about living a normal life, finding a normal, good man, doing normal girl things. Of course, he'd kill any man that even tried anything before marriage.
"You v'ant to kiss me that badly?" he hummed, frowning. "Fine. I shall prove it to you."
He moved, around the fire like a shadow himself; leaning over to give her a quick, careful kiss. Mindful of his fangs, and mindful of the fact that this was his adopted stray. Pulling back, he gave her a serious frown, flicking her nose even as one hand dropped to fiddle with her freed hair.
"You see, now? Icky, da?" he prompted confidently.
He paused. Remembered. Eyes narrowed as another name was added to his mental checklist, right alongside Murphy's.
"Who is Izzy?"
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 10:03 pm
Her face lit up when he said what he had. Even if his intentions were less than what she had hoped, the end results would be the same, right?
It felt a million times better than it had with Murphy. Whether it was because of the technique, the feelings, or the person… it was just so much better now that she had expected it, and because it was with Valeriu. That was the kind of thing that she wanted to do every day from now on.
But then her mood was ruined by a flick to the nose. She grabbed at it defensively, pouting at him from under her hands.
“T-That’s dirty! That didn’t count! You ruined it! One more!” Her expression dropped drastically as the meaning of his words sank into her mind. More than trying to convince her… He must have thought it was gross. After all, he only saw Tepin as a sister… So to him… To him, it really was gross to have kissed her. Of course he’d never want to do it again.
Frowning deeply, she turned away from him, pulling her hair in front of her chest to grasp at it awkwardly.
“He’s a boy I know. “ Her lip jutted out, she really didn’t feel like talking to him after being called ‘gross’. “We’re gunna garden together.”
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 10:17 pm
"Of course it counts," he shot back, flustered. "No more freebies."
"And no cabbages!" he forbid the moment he heard gardens mentioned. "I do not v'ant to be an uncle yet!"
This boy, Izzy, planned to make a garden with Tepin, did he?
Valeriu did not approve.
"Hn," he grunted, pulling the rope of fish over to begin the tedious and messy process of cleaning.
He wasn't annoyed. He wasn't distracted himself with physical work.
"But...but it is good, I suppose," he finally tacked on, blowing some scales off of his hands. "You deserve a good man. And if he isn't a good man, v'ell..." The bones of the gutted fish crunched with an ominous, protective snap in his fist.
Valeriu would not let any but the best date his princesses.
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 10:32 pm
Cabbages? She didn’t get it. What did they have to do with anything? Cabbages were good enough! They were tasty with certain foods, and they were so healthy! Why would Vale not want cabbages?
She diverted her eyes when work began on Stan’s body. That was disgusting enough, which was made even worse by the fact that she had seen poor Stan swimming around just minutes before.
“He’s good.” She fiddled with the ends of her hair as she tried not to look (Or smell) the gutting of the fish. “He refuses to fight, even despite everything. And he took me out for tea.”
“I was playing with him at the park a few weeks ago. He was the boy with the brown hair and stripes. We went out again later two weeks ago or so.”
She fiddled some more, turning her head away from camp to avoid seeing the poor fish, “And he’s cool with me growing. Just gotta wait for his turn.”
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 10:42 pm
"His turn?" The detail confused him. He vaguely remembered the boy, remembering thinking it was cute that they were playing together.
It sunk in.
"He's a Godling?" His ears flew up, startled, giving her an outraged stare. "You are dating another Godling?"
No! Tepin deserved a normal man! Not one that could stab her in the back at any moment.
"How do you know he v'on't betray you, that he is not tricking you?" He frowned, but there was nothing but worry in his eyes. "People, in the Game - it is not..." He scowled down at Stan, sticking the cleaned meat on a stick to roast over the fire with his brethren.
"Sometimes, they are not v'hat you think. I do not doubt that he may be a good man, but it is just as possible that he may be lying. I do not v'ant you to get hurt."
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 10:51 pm
“I’M NOT DATING HIM!” She shot back just as quickly, her face turning a bright red. “Maybe after a while, then--”
Her frown returned, and she hazarded a look to his face. “I might do it. I don’t know!”
After all, Valeriu had no interest at all. It was useless to keep trying to win him over.
“He won’t do anything. He couldn’t. I talked to him about The Game, and he was almost shaking. He’s just scared.”
She sighed, looking at their dead fish that were now cooking on the fire.
“He doesn’t want to fight, or to win. He just wants to grow plants. He honestly wants nothing to do with The Game. And neither do I.”
Tepin stretched her legs, braiding her hair absentmindedly.
“He’s just a normal kid.”
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 11:02 pm
"I trust your judgment," he finally conceded, pushing himself to his feet. "Just...be careful. V'ith luck, you can both stay out of this," he waved vaguely at the jungle around them, "and stay out of harm."
Of course Valeriu would trust her judgment. It didn't mean he wouldn't be tracking this boy's every move, however. Trotting over to the river bank, he kneeled down to carefully wash his hands free of the mess left behind, burying the bones and heads in the dirt while he was at it. Absently, he scratched at the new freckle-marks upon his shoulders, straightening back out.
"I tell you now, though: no sex before marriage," he declared quite firmly, hands digging into his pockets as he strode back over. "Or else he v'ill join Murphy in the afterlife."
This was Valeriu's vow.
He peered down at the sitting girl, before raising a foot to poke at her back with his toes.
"Now come on! It is v'arm, and sunny, and hours of daylight left. Let our fish family roast in peace and come play in the v'ater v'ith me!"
He could tolerate the 'swim suit' as long as he could cheer her up.
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 11:15 pm
Her look could only be one of pure confusion.
Did people really still think that way?
Did seventeen year old boys really think that way?
Valeriu was so weird! No one was going to bother to get married! What if they got married, and sex just didn’t work for them? Of course, with his thinking, they’d have to stay together. That was the kind of guy he was-- you never started anything if you were unable to finish it.
He was going to live a very boring life.
Her mouth dropped open as the words left his mouth, though. Swimming? She looked down at the mess of hair that covered her chest and back.
Damnit.
“You say this after I untie my hair!” Quickly she pulled it up, groping along her hair until she had formed a messy but high ponytail, tying it with the cotton that had previously held her hair in place. Because she had pulled her short hair up as well, it stuck out in some places and curled madly in others, but at least it would (attempt to) keep her hair out of the water as she played.
He wasn’t forgiven for calling her gross. Not yet. It would take much more than just swimming for that.
Still, she jumped up to her feet, fingers fumbling with her jeans’ button before shedding her pants near the fire pit. The shirt lasted a mere fraction of a moment longer, before she was tugging off her sneakers and socks and grinning wildly at the water.
Even if the suit clung dangerously close to her skin, it didn’t matter. It was just sibling affection. He saw her as gross, after all.
“It’s warm, right? Since it’s the jungle?” She had trotted over, and was now looking at the water cautiously. She wanted to jump in head first, like real kids did, but she didn’t want to have certain parts become any more obvious than they already were.
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