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 Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 3:35 pm
Onyx sat under a tree in Tellah's backyard, shaded from the warm sunlight. He still didn't much like shirts because by default they rubbed uncomfortably against the core set in his chest... but with his pale skin, he would get sunburned without one.
So, he stayed in the shade- once the sun went down, he'd do some running around. He looked a bit lethargic and quiet, but he was young, after all.
For now, it was time for the stick.
He eyed the fallen branch dubiously while Adda, his erstwhile guardian hippy-hopped up and down excitedly, dancing as best something with roots for feet could.
He threw the stick, his keen gray eyes following the branch through the air while the dryad frantically scrambled to get under it-
*TWACK!*
The branch came down as dictated by gravity- and clocked the little tree-spirit on the head. Onyx opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again for lack of anything coherent. He made a small "Umf" noise instead, then worried his lower lip a bit as the small creature clamored from under the stick, griping in sour, hurt little tones and rubbing her head.
Seeing as he wouldn't have to assist, he settled back against the tree- a thought came to him: "Why would a -dryad-, of all things, want to play fetch the stick? Wasn't that something... something else did?
He frowned- he couldn't quite remember. He shook his head, justifying it- it wasn't as if he'd ripped the stick off the tree himself; it had just fallen on its own-
His thoughts were interrupted as he felt something rough poking at his hand. Blinking, he looked down to see Adda prodding at him with the stick while uttering little 'chirrs.' He sighed as he took the piece of wood from her, and watched Adda do her excited little dance.
He made sure to throw it easier the next time, and in turn, Adda chased after it a bit more slowly.
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 12:21 am
Days were getting longer and hotter, which mean the time for Onyx to remain outside was getting shorter and shorter. So, contrary to his guardian, he found himself lost in studies while she goofed off, freed from her own schooling. He'd learned, or re-learned (his guardian wasn't sure) how to read with almost ridiculous ease, and mostly liked to be left alone unless he was really entirely confused.
He spent long hours plunked down next to the fan in the room, reading whatever he could get his small hands on, from comics to text books- his guardian had had to start hiding the horror novels and age-inappropriete things. He'd already read one Stephen King, and despite claims that it hadn't bothered him, Tellah had caught him sitting bolt-upright in the wee hours of morning with a wariness that seemed out of place on such a childish place... she figured better safe than sorry, and now he was sleeping regularly again.
Currently, he was paging through one of her old textbooks, but seemed quite bored with the subject, allowing his dark eyes to wander to Adda, who was dragging small objects around and seeing how many of them she could hop over. His mouth twitched slightly as, without so much as a squeak of warning, the dryad stole his book to add to the pile from where he'd laid it on the open on the carpet, but he seemed more amused than annoyed. He sighed and gave up with studying for the moment, laying on his stomach and propping his head up with his arms braced on the ground. Apparently he didn't have much head for the Drama texts after all.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:34 pm
Bathing Adda was always a hassle— the little dryad always squirmed and squeaked in annoyance. If it were just a matter of getting her into the water, it would have been easy, since she liked to splash on her own in anything from puddles to birdbaths. It was the holding still and being washed that was the hassle.
One day while Tellah was away, Onyx got it into his head that since Adda was –his- guardian, after all, maybe he should be the one to bathe her.
He filled the tub with hot water, adding in some bubble bath as an afterthought- maybe the easily-distracted creature could be appeased by bubbles. Then, he had to chase Adda around the house, as she thought this whole business was a game. He’d taken that into account, though- it gave the water time to cool. Once he caught her, he carried the cheerfully squeaking creature into the bathroom, and before she had a chance to realize what was going on, he dumped the dryad into the warm, bubbly water, causing her to let out an undignified squawk.
He was feeling a little smug about his planning, but then the dryad didn’t resurface. And didn’t resurface. He began to worry- she was a pain, yes, but he actually quite liked her. Trying not to be frantic, he began to push the bubbles aside, leaning in close-
Only to get a faceful of water for his trouble as the dryad sent a mini-tidalwave in his direction before she vaulted out of the tub, squeaking triumphantly and leaving a trail of bubbles behind her. By the time the Jumi was done coughing and sputtering and wiping the water out of his eyes, she was long gone, save for a damp trail of prints.
He sighed and began taking off his damp clothes- he was practical, after all. If he chased down Adda, the water would be cold by the time he got back. It wouldn’t do to waste it… so he might as well bathe.
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 2:20 am
Somehow, days were growing shorter as the sunlight seemed to cool. At night it had become chill enough for even the shirt-hating Jumi boy to don one once the sun came down, though he admittedly insisted on something loose and soft. Onyx insisted that anything too rough 'itched,' though in his understated manner, there was a bit of a twitch that suggested it was something worse than anything a rash or the like could cause. Tellah didn't push things.
Tellah had less time to spend with the tactiturn boy; trying to drawn him out of his shell a bit slowed down even more. Onyx was pretty stubborn to begin with, so on top of schoolwork he seemed not about to budge an inch. His guardian would mutter, mentally anyway, that she wasn't surprised he came from a rock, due to his hard head.
Still, with her studies brought new books. And with new books, the Jumi boy was back to his endless reading occasionally interrupted by his dryad's caperings. It was hard to see how the little thing managed to stay on his good side, yet more and more, they almost seemed inseperable. Tellah even caught the two of them frolicking in a late summer rain together. Well, Adda was frolicking... Onyx managed a few half-hearted taps at puddles in his rainboots while getting deluged by a leaping woodspirit. More and more, Tellah didn't understand the young man... But perhaps, she thought, things would be okay after all.
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Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 6:08 pm
Onyx had read in books about babysitting before, enough to know that it didn't actually entitle sitting on a baby, anyhow. So, when Tellah asked him to babysit some other children for her, he wasn't worried- especially when he heard two of them were just eggs.
Hey, he was born from a stone himself- he wasn't all that weirded out from people being born from eggs. Natural childbirth might actually strike him as odder, really.
He hadn't worried at the time, but now that he was nearing the end of it, he was frazzled and wishing someone had warned him about certain things. Like the fact that one of the eggs could and DID float on its own. And that it often drifted off on its own. He muttered darkly to himself, his hands clenching the butterfly net they'd left him with just a bit too tight- Onyx was a patient child, but this was just about his limit. This was the sixth time he'd chased the egg down in the past two hours. He had visions of omellettes as he clamored onto a dresser in order to reach it, as it had finally gotten stuck in a corner.
The real baby was happily asleep on the couch- the one lesson Onyx had learned was simple and patience-breaking. "Do NOT separate this child from his soda can." He'd made the mistake of trying to take it away from the little catboy, thinking he might burst it open while playing with it. Onyx's ears still hurt from the wailing.
With a grunt of effort, he finally snagged the drifting egg, pulling it down quickly to close the bottom of the net before the strangely clever thing could slip free. He jumped down from the dresser and went in search of a pail to stick the egg under. With a rock on top.
Next time, the Jumi thought, he was asking for better payment for doing this.
Meanwhile, Adda was having the time of her life, chirping merrily as she sat on the remaining, still, egg. She always did like sitting on things.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:08 pm
Onyx had been wary to babysit again after what had happened the last time... But after being assured that his charge was a bit less active this time, repeatedly, he'd finally given in. There were only so many books he could read and so many times he could get Adda to play fetch the stick- not only that, but Curbi always avoided him, even though he tried to make up for his rude comment the first time he'd met the pumpkin-rabbite. He just wasn't good at first impressions, apparently.
So, he'd allowed himself to get talked into babysitting again only to find out that he didn't even know the lady who he'd be babysitting for... and he didn't really gather all that much about her from the dropoff either- just a harried-looking woman who'd rushed off mumbling to herself about papers after dropping his charge into his hands. He blinked when he finally got a good look at it- too round and heavy to be an egg and too cold and glossy-smooth as well. He blinked- it was another one... like him, wasn't it? There was nobody around to question, so all he could do is hold the inactive core-stone in his hands and try and shake the feeling that he was holding something brittle. It was a stone, however precious- it wasn't going to break even if he dropped it- from Tellah's horror stories, he certainly knew by now that when he was in such a state he'd rolled all over half the house, the backyard, and heaven only knows where else. But still... still...
Adda frolicking around his ankles, hopping and peeping didn't help matters at all. He actually felt a little grateful that there was nobody else around at the time besides her... nobody that could tell on him or stare as he carried the stone across the room almost as if it were something fragile- or a grenade. He didn't untense until he'd safely nestled it on a cushion. Surrounded by other cushions. On top of a bed. He found a straight-backed chair to sit in and dragged it over to the bed, shooing Adda slightly, as she was bunching the covers trying to crawl up on the bed. He stared at the glossy green stone for a long moment, lost in thought... then reached out to gingerly brush a stray bit of fluff, probably from the cushions, off the shiny surface.
And, thus, Onyx made his acquaintence of Peri that weekday afternoon, keeping an almost paranoid vigilance over the silent stone.
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Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:07 pm
Quest time!
Onyx has proven to be a bit of a loner, only spending time with his dryad or assigned babysitting charges. Lately, however, he's been getting a bit weary of looking at the world from the outside, and has the desire to experience it fully, just once. But his inexperience in dealing with others proves to be a major stumbling block in this endeavor.
During his attempts to connect with others and really experience life, Onyx will fall, but he needs to learn to pick himself up again, and find his place in the world as he knows it.
[Ideally, this quest would include an RP (with another Jumi or someone else) but it's your call. Good luck!]
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