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 Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 4:38 pm
 Library Shenanigans - PortiaSurprise of surprises, Barnaby is actually at school (and in the library, no less)! A run-in with Portia at Meadowview High. (AWOL)
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:00 pm
Get Your Motor Running - EllieA pizza delivery to a car garage may have some interesting results when Barnaby meets up with fellow bike fanatic Ellie. (FIN)
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Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 12:15 pm
Tis the Season - ElzoWhen the baseball team can't book the indoor batting cage, Barnaby is forced to hang out in the mall and watch people, and in the process, meet Elzo. (FIN)
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Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 12:17 pm
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 2:51 pm
 Introducing: Minnie Mouse
Aaah, it was good to be home.
Freshly showered and feeling much better for it, the redhead hummed softly under his breath as he exited the bathroom, padding across the tiled floor and onto the carpet of his "room." After the neighbours had complained about the noise level, Barnaby had volunteered to move all of his things down to the basement in the hopes of helping keep the peace. His mother, what with working shifts, didn't need her free time taken up by complaining couples.
He had come to like his little basement retreat, despite the fact that it got a little cold in the winter, but that was what the carpeting and the heater were for. It gave him a small amount of privacy, kept the noise down (partially for his neighbours, and partially so his mother could sleep on her time off), and he got an awesome television all to himself.
The last bit was especially pleasing, mostly because meant he could watch whatever movies he wanted downstairs without having to share the television. After the little escapade in the movie store, Barnaby hadn't been so sure that he wanted to watch these movies with his mother. If there was really as much gayness as Charys has said then he wanted to be somewhere where he could fast forward without his mother asking him if he was uncomfortable about something. He wasn't uncomfortable about gay people, he just wished they wouldn't be so gay in front of him. There was a difference.
Regardless, he had aimed to come home, shower, and start with the one that Jesse had been so rabid about (best get it over with first if it was the worst one).
Or at least, that was what he had hoped to do. There was an unfortunate wrench in his plans in the form of a one hundred pound plus dog.
Minnie Mouse didn't exactly live up to her name. In reality, she probably should have been named "Bear" or "Fang." Even "Killer" would have been fitting. The Tibetan Mastiff mix was three parts fur, one part love, and all slobbery dog kisses. She was currently taking up the (slightly) squishy brown couch in front of the TV, stretched out in what could only be described as a very characteristic dog sleep. Barnaby could have sworn if he listened close enough he could hear her snore. Normally, she'd only take up three quarters of the sofa, leaving him half a cushion to squish into a watch his movie. But today she seemed to be reveling in his absence and was taking up every possible square inch of the couch. For a moment, Barnaby could not help but be jealous. He would never be able to emulate that kind of total sofa domination.
There was silence for a moment as the redhead studied the situation. Given the current standing (Dog -1, Barnaby- 0), he had a number of options available to him. He could try and force her off the sofa, but that would mean trying to haul her off by her collar and she would sulk in her corner all night if he did that. What he could do, however, was wake her up, and then attempt to distract her off the couch. With a wicked grin, Barnaby picked up one of her infamous squeaky toys and headed over to the couch. It took all of his intestinal fortitude not to giggle as he reached out a single finger and gently brushed the hairs in between the pads of her toes. On the third stroke she groaned, and by the fifth she was starting to stir. Encouraged, Barnaby continued what he was doing.
And then Minnie Mouse cow-kicked him in the face.
The redhead mad a disgruntled "oof" sound as he landed on his bum, but his grin was back instantly when he noticed that the mastiff was now looking at him with unamused brown eyes. "Hey, hey, Mini Wheats, you want this?" Barnaby squeaked the toy and the dog's ears perked instantly. "Yeah? Well GO GET IT!" Chucking it over his shoulder, the teen only had a moment to duck before his canine friend bounded off the couch after the airborne toy. He only had moments to reclaim his territory and he dived for the sofa with the same zeal that Minnie leapt for her toy. Barnaby was on the sofa in ten seconds flat, crowing his victory into the cushiony seats.
Haha! Dog -1, Barnaby - 2
His victory, however, was short lived, as he'd only just rolled onto his back when Minnie jumped onto the sofa after him, squeaky toy clenched tightly in her jaws.
"Arg! Get off me you fat wad! I have to watch this movie!" Barnaby complained, trying to shove the dog off buy she only wagged her tail at him. She did, however, let him get comfortable on his half cushion before she settled on hers with a contented grunt. The teen sighed and rolled his eyes. Might as well let her stay now that she was here.
Barnaby's mother found the pair of them curled up together on the sofa several hours later, Minnie's head resting on the boy's him, and all four pairs of eyes glued to the television as half-naked men fought for their honour and their lives. (It really was like a bad porno, wasn't it?)
She smiled to herself as she closed the basement door quietly and went back upstairs.
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 2:52 pm
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 6:15 pm
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Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 1:47 pm
The Mouse Brigade - YahyaAfter meeting up with Sue, Barnaby and Minnie Mouse take a trip down the hallway to visit Yahya. (In progress)
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Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 6:29 pm
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 8:46 pm
Definitely not girl trouble...
"Barnaby, you're awfully quiet tonight."
The redhead looked up to meet his mother's concerned gaze and after a moment gave a small shrug. "It's nothing, really. I'm just... thinking about stuff, you know?" How could he tell his mother that his closest friend, work partner, and overall bro had a leather pants fetish and could summon a jungle at will? That wasn't exactly the kind of stuff that most people brought up at the dinner table. At least, not when they expected some kind of advice from their parents.
Evelyn's gaze softened a little, and she fixed him with a gentle smile. "Is it something you want to talk about?"
Barnaby tried his hardest to look nonchalant. He didn't want to lie to his mother. Real men didn't like to their mothers, especially when their mothers were like Evelyn Price. But he was certain that talking to her about Jude's sudden change to Sailor Sagittarius would be akin to revealing Spiderman's identity. There were some things you just didn't do, couldn't do, even if your parents were involved. It was best to just let her off as gently as possible, to prevent her from worrying about him. This wasn't the kind of thing that worrying about could help.
"I just have a couple of things on my mind, that's all. I'm sure it'll all be okay in a little bit, but I gotta sort of... think about it, you know?" It sounded lame even to his own ears, but he tried to sound as convincing as possible. He didn't want his mother to worry.
"If you say so. But you'd let me know if you were having school trouble, right?"
He dropped his eyes to his plate at the question, knowing what kind of expression that topic would inspire no matter how he tried. School trouble. His mother never made it sound like it was his fault, never even tried to imply that there was something wrong with him, but that didn't make it any less of a touchy subject. Just because Mr. Price wasn't here to scrutinize his report card didn't mean he didn't feel his father's disapproval. The redhead used the excuse of eating to cover up whatever bitterness he was sure had crept onto his face. Only when he was sure his expression was neutral did he chance a look up at his mother's face. Thinly veiled concern, he decided with an internal sigh. Well, he had better set the record straight before she got too worried.
"No. No, it's not school. Or work," he added, when his mother opened her mouth again. "If it was something... that I thought you could help with I would say it. It's something that I have to deal with on my own."
She nodded and went back to eating. Barnaby breathed a small sigh of relief and went back to his food. At leas that was the end of it.
"Is it about a girl at school you like?"
... Or not.
Barnaby coughed, a frown forming on his face. "No, nothing to do with girls either." He didn't like the almost dubious look she gave him, but she said nothing more on the subject. The redhead left her to watch television upstairs and headed down to his room, flipping on his own his own television to flip through channels. Minnie joined him on the couch the moment he got comfortable and Barnaby didn't have the heart to kick her off. The TV provided a much needed distraction from the thoughts that were swirling around his head, and it wasn't until he lay in bed that he was forced to think about The Freezer Incident.
As he lay there, staring at the ceiling and absently stroking his dog's head, he found that thinking about it wasn't helping at all. He knew what Jude had done. He had seen it with his own eyes, touched it with his own fingers. But that didn't make it any less weird. With a huff, he glanced down at his mastiff, to find a pair of brown eyes staring back at him.
"I don't know what to think, Minnie," he admitted quietly. She wagged her tail at him. Barnaby grunted, but he couldn't help but grin. "Is that your idea of advice?" As expected, he got no answer, but for some reason he felt a little better. Closing his eyes, he rolled over and felt Minnie get comfortable against his back. He would think about this more in the morning.
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 8:49 pm
Just Two Guys and a Truck - JudeSome explanations are in order, especially regarding the sudden appearance of The Jungle and Robin Hood. Barnaby expects some answers from Jude. (FIN)
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Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 4:34 pm
I'll make a man out of you!
They say hindsight was 20/20, but Barnaby was certain his was definitely not that good, it was better. He had spent nearly two weeks doing what Jude had aptly described as "Man Up or Man Out", a training regime designed to get him into shape. The redhead certainly thought he was in good enough shape before, what with the baseball team and the other sports he played, but apparently "good enough" just wasn't, well... good enough.
Thus, every night, after both work and school, the redhead told his mother he was "going out with his friends" and headed off to the designated meeting location. Sometimes they stayed in the city, other times Jude drove them out to a place a little less out of the public eye. During the truck rides too and from their destination the bluenette quizzed him on everything he thought Barnaby needed to know. They covered all kinds of topics, topics he needed to know to ones he was just interested in to ones he wished he had never even heard because he was out of brain bleach. All in all, he was starting to wonder if Jude listened to that one song from Mulan every day just to get himself in the right frame of mind. What was it called again? Oh, right. "I'll Make a Man Out of You."
It was surprisingly appropriate, for a Disney song.
While baseball may have given him the added bonus of being able to swing a bat, it certainly hadn't helped him at all with his boxing. Neither, he would like to point out, had the introductory karate classes. Jude was good at boxing, and apparently even though they were friends that didn't mean the bluenette was going to go even the tiniest bit easier on him. In fact, he seemed to actually hit him harder just to try and get him whipped into shape. Naturally, when Barnaby had complained Jude had called him a pansy. The redhead had countered by saying it was hard to keep making up stories for black eyes. After that, Jude at least made an effort to avoid hitting him in the face. Sometimes.
And then there were the transformations. They'd gone over that more times than Barnaby cared to remember. How to say it, when to say, how to avoid being seen because you were supposed to have a secret identity (like he didn't know that one). He'd watched Jude Henshin up – because that was apparently what was called – and he'd watched him change back over and over until he was sure he was going to see those damned leggings in his nightmares.
"It's kind of ridiculous, you know," Barnaby told Minnie one night as he lay staring at the ceiling, his dog's head resting on his chest. "Holding up a pen so you can transform into a super hero. I bet Batman never had it that bad." Truthfully, the thought of how Robin or Batman got out of their business suit and into a tight, spandex costume was a little disturbing, and he tried not to think about it any more than he had to.
But despite the near constant aches and pains from the regime that Jude was putting him through, the redhead felt surprisingly good. It was nice to feet wanted, he decided, by someone other than your mother. It was nice to think that one day he may actually be able to go out and save people and kick some a** in the process. It was nice to be doing something other than looking for things to fill the seemingly endless and lonely hours of his day.
And that was why he came back, day after day, humming the Mulan song under his breath when he thought nobody was listening. Because while he may have been swift as the coursing river and have the force of a great typhoon, he definitely need to work on having the strength of the raging fire. Oh, and that bit about being mysterious as the dark side of the moon. Can't forget that.
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 4:59 pm
Twilighting - DelphineWhat am I? Say it. OUT LOUD. Otherwise known as Barnaby runs into Delphine at the park. (FIN)
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 5:03 pm
Mother of All Guilt - JudeJude hangs out with Barnaby's mom. Hot chocolate and marshmallows occur, and Barnaby acquires a new cat. (FIN)
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Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 5:12 pm
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