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 Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 3:31 pm
2.1: [ Indigo's Alphabet Lessons ] [o] All of Indigo's alphabet lessons have been moved to this directory for safekeeping. [o]
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Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 4:59 pm
2.2: [ Indigo's First Numbers ] [o] Indigo had a lot of fun coloring her first ten numbers. She's still having problems getting them straight (four comes AFTER three, and six is BEFORE seven), but she likes counting a lot! We got her counting marbles to play with and she takes them with her everywhere.
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Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:32 am
2.3: [ Diary Entry - Jenner ] Dear Diary,
Who the hell came up with this "dear diary" crap in the first place? Makes you sound like a damned schizophrenic on paper, if you ask me. Oh well--figure if humans didn't talk to inanimate objects, there'd be a lot less of us around.
Dear Diary,
Having Indi around reminds me of when I was an inchling and everything was big, exciting, and shiny. Between her and Tiz I've had my hands fuller than I'd like, but I'm not complaining. Exactly. Having babies around again makes the world a whole lot more interesting, and unlike some people I could mention, Indi's a joy and Tiz does a hell of a lot more than she has to around this place.
Indi's picking up on her lessons right quick, too. I suppose it's something that the 'corp did when they grew her up, because I don't remember human kids ever growing up this fast or learning this much. At this rate she'll be out of anklebiter stage and well into trouble in the next month or so. Don't suppose it can be helped, though; and no sense in crying over spilt time.
I worry about her, though, more than I worry about kids of my own breeding. They can take care of themselves, more often than not. Indi just seems so...I dunno, fragile.
She got in a fight today with another little girl, Hennet's Yeesha. Didn't put up too much resistance, and I couldn't help but thinking there would've been a lot more than feelings hurt if it had been Nex or Tiz at that age Yeesha went after--but not Indi. She just sort of curled up and started whimpering once she got out of it.
I want to think I'm gonna raise her to have a spine and look out for herself. I don't think I can be mean enough, though, not to Indi. That'd just be cruel.
Oh well. All in due time; I've raised half a dozen litters so far and they've all made it. I don't think I'm gonna screw this one up by going a little easy on her.
--J
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 7:09 pm
A child is expected to know certian things at certian ages. In order to obtain rights to their Dragon(egg), they must prove they can meet these requirements. The following sheet is for your child to fill out, with mild help from their guardian, then sent back to D-corp. (PM ot the mule) Also any changes, even minor such as haircuts, should be reported to the D-corp to be logged and filed.
Thankyou,
The Boss.
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 4:55 pm
2.5: [ Diary Entry - Indigo ] Dear Diary!
Mom and I got to go see my dragon egg today! It's one-half as big as I am (one half is one over two!), and the nice mister who showed us around said it was a copper dragon egg! I didn't get to hold it very long, because it was heavy and needed to stay warm, but it was smooth like a dish and heavy!
Mom says copper dragons are funny and like to climb. They live out in deserts and play tricks on people! Mom said when my dragon hatches we'll have lots of fun together!
--Indigo!
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Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:27 pm
2.6: [ Diary Entry - Jenner ]
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Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:48 pm
2.7: [ . . . ] Spring had come blustering in with an early thunderstorm, knocking buds from the trees and dousing most of Barton Town with several inches of rain over the course of a single night. The storms had blown through by morning, though, leaving the earth glittering and new-washed when Indigo and Jenner set out from Jenner's home for Ambrus's apartment. Indigo had NOT wanted to get out of bed that morning, have been kept up all night by the thunder and the lightning, but Jenner managed to coax her out of bed with the promise of a shopping trip--and danishes for breakfast.
So it was they'd stopped off at the mall, sharing conversation about Indigo's lessons over pastries as she'd slowly woken up. Then it was off to buy her a nice new sweater and a pretty wool skirt, along with a dozen hair-ties that Indigo had immediately migrated to her antennae. Though it lightened Jenner's heart considerably to see her daughter playing so, by the time they had hopped the bus to Barton's outskirts, she was in a sour and grim mood. Indigo recognized it for what it was, so instead of chattering aimlessly as was her wont, she simply rested her head on Jenner's lap and let Mom play with her hair.
She didn't know what to expect. She hadn't even known she'd had brothers until Mom mentioned them in passing, which of course led to Indi asking about them, and a subsequent grouchy explanation of Ambrus and Nexeu from her mother. That had been a while ago, though--and Indigo had inquired again about them in the interrim, only to set off another of her mother's screaming fits when Ambrus came up. Whoever Indigo's brothers WERE, they had to be pretty bad kids, to make Mom angry like that! Let alone them not even living in the house...
A sigh escaped Indigo's lips. "Penny for your thought, kiddo," her mom said, running her fingers through her daughter's hair.
"Don't want to go meet my brother," the velvet worm confessed, turning to press her face against one of Mom's jean-clad thighs. "M'scared."
"Yeah, I don't blame you. I don't wanna meet him, either, but some things have got to get done. Besides," if Indigo were looking up, she'd've noticed the very strained expression on her mother's face, "he's got a kid about your age. Some kind of--Short Story, Tall Tale thing. Cute little bugger." Jenner paused a moment, trying to keep the outright malice out of her tone. "An you'll only have to see his ugly mug for a bit, then we'll be goin out to lunch an you and his boy can hang out."
Wait--Mom was going to leave her alone with a strange child? Indigo sat bolt upright, nearly clonking her head against Jenner's chin. "But Mom--"
The demon pursed her lips and shook her head. "Don't, Indi. Just don't. I'm not in th' mood for wranglin right now. Look--I'll give you twenty bucks when I get back, say it's for babysitting the brat. Okay?"
At this, Indigo chewed her lower lip, looking very unhappy indeed. She didn't want to fight with Mom, but she also didn't like the sound of "babysitting the brat", either. What if he threw a fit? What if he was still in diapers? Indigo had never changed a diaper before! But Mom said he was her age--what if he was mean? Could she really babysit someone her own age? "...O...okay, I guess," she mumbled, looking down.
Jenner reached over to ruffle her daughter's hair. "Aww, c'mon. Cheer up. Here, I'll make it fun for ya--y'can pretend it's one of those sleuthin novels you like so much." She placed two fingers under Indigo's chin, raising her daughter's head so she could look the velvet worm in the eye.
"Take really good notes on Ambrus's kid for me. Find out what's his favorite food, his favorite color, what he likes to do, if he's got any little friends his age. Remember 'em for me an we'll talk about them later. Okay?"
Even if she wasn't so certain about this whole babysitting idea, that did sound a little like fun. A hesitant smile crept onto Indigo's lips, and she nodded, antennae bobbing. "Okay. I'll take great notes, Mom! Promise!"
+ + +
Indigo had nearly forgotten about her promise to take great notes by the time the bus stopped and they got off. The neighborhood Ambrus lived in was scary. There were weird smells and scary people everywhere; lots of people in bad clothing who smelled like they hadn't washed in days stopped and pointed at Indigo, chattering among themselves. They ran across a man digging through the garbage outside a run-down wafflehouse; he'd shrieked and taken off running on seeing Indigo, screaming about demons the while.
Needless to say, this didn't look like it was going to be much fun. The apartment building, when they reached it, didn't look much better. Jenner wrinkled up her nose at the abandoned look of the place, the damaged neon sign and the smudges so thick on the glass doors it looked like they were frosted. "Y'd think for someone who takes the kinda paycheck he does he could afford t'live somewhere better," she growled. "Kid's damn near a millionaire, an he lives here."
A millionaire? Indigo perked up at the word, thoughts suddenly tumbling into place. Her brother was a millionaire, but he lived in a creepy place like this, and Mom was mad at him--he must REALLY be doing something bad. Maybe he'd stolen the money from Mom! Maybe that's why she was supposed to take good notes, so she could tell Mom where the stolen money was hidden. Indigo's antennae twitched eagerly at the thought, and she looked up at her mom. "Really? He's really a millionaire?"
Jenner's sour expression worsened and she took a step over to the door, holding it open for Indigo. "Really-really. Maybe not quite a millionaire, but he's got a hefty chunk'a change stowed away in a mattress somewhere. Not that he lives like it."
The door led into a lobby that smelled of cigarette smoke and unwashed bodies. Indigo cringed, antennae retracting to the stubbiest they got to avoid the scent. "Eww," she said under her breath, following Mom across the carpet and past a dejected-looking plastic palm to head for the elevators. Despite being artificial, the plant somehow managed to have that droopy, ill-kempt, unwatered look. Indigo felt bad for it.
Jenner stopped in front of the disreputable elevator, stabbing at the up button with one forefinger. It stubbornly refused to light up the first few tries, until she jammed her whole palm against it and held it down, muttering several choice words as she did. Indigo felt sorry for the elevator, too--but not that sorry, when the doors squealed open and they stepped into the car. It smelled even worse than the lobby, the scent of cigarettes and funk undercut with the weird smell her pee had when she'd had asparagus for dinner. Her antennae scrunched further, and she shielded them with her uppers.
Accustomed to this sight, Mom gave her a sympathetic smile. "Guess they don't have enough money to spend on air freshner, huh?" she joked, lamely. Indigo managed a smile for her.
Mercifully, the elevator ride was short and the doors soon slid open (with another squeal) to deposit them on the fourth floor. This, at least, smelled somewhat better, by dint of the busted windowframe down the hall that let in a frisson of spring breeze. Indigo's antennae slowly unscrunched while Mom stood there and counted doors, before heading down toward the end of the hall and stopping in front of one that looked no different from the others.
Indigo hurried after her a moment later, wincing as she stepped on something icky on the carpet. She'd have to comb her toes once they got home to get that out, and it felt nasty. "Ewww," she said again, louder this time. Jenner was too busy knocking on the door to notice.
"C'mon, open up," the demon muttered, irritably. Indigo pattered over to her side, sticking close by Mom and knotting all four hands in front of her.
The door swung open with a loud creak, and a gold-feathered head popped itself around the doorframe. For a moment, Indigo was taken aback--she was used to bird children like Ligeia, sure, but this was taking it a little too far! He even had a beak; what was DCorp churning out these days?! "'Ello?" the apparition inquired.
Jenner forced a smile. "'Lo, Ame. Is your dad home?" A part of Jenner was sincerely praying that no, he wasn't--though she might have to send Indigo downstairs if that was the case. Her hopes fell, though, as the little bird nodded his head.
"Is 'ome! Will go find 'im!" The other kid disappeared in a flick of peacock-like tailfeathers, leaving the door standing slightly ajar. Indigo looked up at her mother, uncertainly. "Is he from DCorp, too?" she asked.
"Huh?" Jenner had been about to push the door all the way open and head inside, whether or not Ame's shrill cries of "Fatherrr!" were still echoing down the entryway. "Oh, nah. That's Ameretat--he's the kid I was tellin you about before, Indi. Not too different from some of your other little friends, right? Ah heh."
Indigo decided to reserve her judgment on that one, giving Mom a dubious look. The demon shrugged, holding open the door and ushering her daughter inside. "Well, anyhow, no use standin out here. Let's get a move-on." To that, Indigo could at least agree; she really DIDN'T like the hallway and so happily followed Jenner instead, letting the door fall shut behind them.
The carpet in the entryway was mercifully free of yuck, and the apartment... Indigo slowly let her antennae unscrunch all the way, sifting through the air with them curiously. It didn't smell like...anything, except a little bit of cinnamon and the usual smell of people. Did anyone even live here, beyond the weird kid? Jenner had moved on down the hall, so Indigo followed her, antennae waving curiously as she hunted for some kind of scent. Faint scents of food--including cinnamon--from the kitchen, something that smelled like the giraffe kid she'd seen in classes once, blood...
Blood? Indigo hauled up short. "Mom?" she said, urgently.
Jenner was halfway down the hall from the kitchen, and stopped only slowly at her daughter's distressed call. "Yeah, Indi?"
"Mom--I smell blood in the kitchen." Indigo shivered. What kind of crazy place was this? Mom had turned and came back down the hall, sniffing the air (it had never occured to Indigo that humans shouldn't be able to smell as well as she did with her antennae) and wrinkling up her nose. Indigo clasped all four hands before her, antennae twitching nervously and breath held.
At last, Jenner snorted. "Somebody probably just cooked their hamburger a little too rare, Indi. Nothin to be worried about. C'mon."
"We had a kid over with a nosebleed a few weeks back."
The voice, oil and silk and no intonation whatsoever, spoke from somewhere just over Indi's head. She shrieked, leaping nearly her height before darting into the kitchen and diving under the table, slamming her shoulder against a chair as she did so. Through trembling hands cupped over her gray eyes, she saw a dark shape looming over Mom's much smaller form--a tall man, with broad shoulders, and--Indigo shuddered--one eye dead and staring. More than anything, the velvet worm wanted to shriek a warning, but at the same time--!!
At the same time, Mom didn't so much as start, instead turning around to glare up at the much taller man with serious irritation in her bright blue eyes. "What'd I tell you about not sneakin up on me, Ambrus?" she said, hotly. "See, you went an' scared yer sister. You gonna apologize to her?"
Indigo pulled her hands away from her eyes, her shock becoming a different kind altogether. THIS was the evil millionaire brother that Mom had been telling her about? It suddenly made sense why she was so upset about seeing him! With that thought, the velvet worm folded her uppers over her head again, giving a whole-body shiver.
"Ambrus" turned to look down at the shivering child hiding under his kitchen table, staring at her for a long moment, before giving a quiet "hmph" of disapproval. "You can come out here, kid. I don't bite," he said, blandly.
"I, uh, I like it under here, th-thanks," Indigo managed, sounding utterly terrified even to her own ears. She cringed when Ambrus made another hmph sound, but relaxed as he turned his attention from her to Jenner.
The relief was very short-lived. "So are we going?" he asked flatly.
"Yeah, sure. Indi, be good." Jenner rubbed at one temple, before turning and heading back down the hallway toward the door. Indigo bit her lower lip as Ambrus turned to follow, then stopped, looking back at her with that one good eye of his.
"Ameretat's around. He'll keep you out of trouble." And with that, her newfound brother took after their mom and Indigo was left alone in the kitchen.
+ + +
The bird kid was, if it were possible, even weirder in person than he looked. Indigo honestly tried asking him the questions Mom told her to ask, she truly did, but he gave her the strangest answers. Even "what's your favorite color?" inspired a long one-sided conversation in what Indi was pretty sure was a totally different language from English. That was after he'd taken his markers, coloring book, and all and squeezed under the table with her to talk.
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 7:52 am
Indigo seems to be having the following symptoms:
Stuffy nose
Sneezing
coughing
mild Fatigue
Little or No fever
The sneezing seems to be creating the most problems, due to the child's glue spitting ability.
If symptoms persist contact Dcorp for a doctor appointment.
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Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 8:16 pm
2.9: [ A Very Sticky Illness ] One thing Jenner had forgotten about very young children is that the little bastards were germbags. All it took was one of them putting his mouth on a doorknob and then the entire class would come down with a bad case of the sick. Indigo was showing very definite signs of the common cold, with sniffling and sneezing and coughing and refusing to go to classes. Granted, all of this was compounded by the fact the poor kid didn't sneeze the usual mixture of spit and bronchial ick most humans did.
Indigo sneezed glue.
The problem was severe enough that Jenner had bestirred herself from in front of the TV and had spent the last two hours testing out solvents on Indigo's bedsheets, which had been plastered to the walls from a combination of the velvet worm's restless tossing and the glue-sneezes. Of course, this had thoroughly fumigated the room, and Tizzy had "voluntarily" taken Indigo into exile with her downstairs.
"Thorry, Mommy," she mumbled as she shuffled out of the room, still sniffling, a tissue stuck to one of her lower hands. Jenner had just waved her off, grumbling. At least a cold wouldn't keep her down for more than a couple of days, but she'd need to keep Indigo and her gluey sneezes away from anything tearable.
That, or start in on crockery repair. With some elbow grease on her part, the demon was finally able to pull the sheets off the walls and bundle them downstairs to shove in the washing machine. They'd be discolored permanently, it looked like, but at least the glue was dissolving.
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:40 pm
Thankyou for all your hard work with us here at D-corp. Your child's dragon egg is near hatching, and we'd like to have you file another report on the progress of your child. Enclosed is a sheet for them to fill out, you may help them. Also please include any and all changes in your child. Even the smallest detail may become of importance later on. Sincerely
The Boss
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Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 6:08 pm
2.11: [ Growing Up Is Hard To Do... ] 
She smoothed a hand down the front of her pants--a new addition for her, that Auntie Cee had tailored special so she could get them on over her tail--as she walked, finding that she was sweating a little. Maybe it was from nerves; she'd been told her egg would be hatching in a few days, and she wasn't sure what she was going to do when it did. Well, after dying of excitement that she had her dragon, that was. What if it was mean? What if it played practical jokes on HER? Indigo wasn't all stuck-up about her dignity like some people, but even she had her limits for teasing.
Arriving in front of the drop box, Indigo folded up her form carefully--wincing a little at the bleed through the back; maybe she shouldn't've written in marker--before dropping it in. Then she slid her hands into the pockets of her pants, antennae twitching a moment with nervousness before she glanced up and down the hall... And decided better than to see what the other mail might be like, instead ambling away opposite the direction she'd come from. Maybe there'd be a class going on she could sit in on. Or she could go down to the park...
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Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 4:14 pm
D-corp would like to give you free vaccinations and other required childhood shots free of charge, due to a technically difficulty in sending out the letters to notify you of this need.
You will receive a series of vaccinations to protect against things such as chickenpox, mumps, and other common childhood diseases. Along with things your child's DNA would need. Rabies shots for example if they have a chance on getting that.
Do not worry about the late issue of these shots, Dcorp will take all the nessicary precautions to make sure this delay will not cause any problems.
Please contact Dcorp (PM the mule) to make an appointment.
Thankyou.
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Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 4:56 pm
(this is a backdated entry on citrine's hatching, RIGHT)
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Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 4:57 pm
(and this is an entry on getting shots, really)
(actually, long entry, including ameretat, shots, citrine's hatching, the sleepover, and general indigo maundering)
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Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 4:59 pm
2.15 : [ The Miracle of Life ]
Jenner looked over the top of her newspaper, stubbing out the cigarette she'd been working on. Her morning coffee was slowly congealing by her right hand, untouched. "What makes you think that, kiddo? I'm sure he probably just went out fer a walk or somethin of the sort." She looked back down at her newspaper, flipping to the comics.
"But he usually TELLS me before he does!" Indigo made her way over to the kitchen table, hopping onto her usual chair and hiding her face in a pair of hands. There were incautious scuffling and sliding sounds from the doorway before the copper dragon she'd brought home slunk in after her, picking up its feet so as not to trip on any unseen obstacles. Once it reached Indigo, it stopped, sitting down carefully on its haunches and craning its neck to rest its chin on the table. "Wrrf," it added to the conversation, unclear as to why its partner was distressed.
Indigo removed one of her upper hands from her face, reaching over to scratch around her dragon's eyeridges. "And Hebi's gone, too," she added, morosely. "Do you think it's cuz I slammed his tail in the door on accident? I didn't mean to hurt him or make him run away!"
It took Jenner a moment to mull over possible responses to this one. It was pretty obvious to her what had happened, but as far as she knew, Indi hadn't been through one of those classes what taught kids about the birds and the bees. Just as well; Jenner'd wanted to see to that part of her daughter's education herself. No telling what kind of gunk humans would fill a kid's head with. At last, the demon looked up from her newspaper again, folding it neatly before her and tucking her hands under her chin. Her smile was a little cockeyed. "Well, kiddo. Since I figure you haven't been taught yet about the birds n' the bees, I'd better give you 'the talk'..."
+.+.+
In the time it took for Jenner to explain everything to Indigo's satisfaction--and answer all of the attendant and somewhat awkward questions--the dragon had fallen asleep, curled up beneath the kitchen table. Indigo's (somewhat horrified) curiosity was far from satisfied, but she had run out of questions, and so settled for making herself a sandwich while Jenner got back to her paper.
Somewhere between putting on the mayonnaise and layering on meat, the velvet worm looked up from her meal, gray eyes gone round with horror. "...Wait. So the guy puts his--thing, in the girl's--thing... and they... REALLY?" she blurted out, not looking back at Jenner.
The demon turned to the comics, giving voice to a snort of amusement that had nothing to do with that day's Trogdor the Terrible.
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