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 Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:22 pm
"Don't be stupid...Its your birthday...You don't have to." Marshall said with a small smile. It was strange feeling; losing all sense of normalicy and basic reality. But it felt...okay. It wasn't a good feeling, but, seeing it happen...and seeing that Gaius was still Gaius...Marshall felt nearly...okay.
"Re...Remember what I said before? About...If you fall away...I'll pull you back...I meant it...So...Even though today you don't have to...Yeah. You're making perfect sense, man."
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Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:31 pm
Gaius chuckled again, reaching over to ruffle Marshall's head again. "I'm not the only one not making sense then!" The fact that he was managing to smile despite the tear marks on his face heartened Gaius. At least he wasn't staring in horror or running away. It helped Gaius feel normal, at least a little.
He pulled himself up to his knees, muscles protesting, and winced. The half of him that'd been on the floor was caked with all kinds of mashed food. Most of the dishes had scattered everywhere, ruining their contents, and the cake sat lopsided, broken into several pieces. Gaius sighed, face falling. "What a waste..."
"I should clean this up... I don't want to have to leave this disaster for whoever's the janitor."
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Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:43 pm
Marshall smiled, trying to wipe his face on his now stained sleeve. Marshall finally realised he had his knee in a chimichanga and his wrist in a puddle of Tortilla Soup. "Heh heh..." Marshall chuckled lightly, standing up himself.
"Oh, c'mon, its not a total waste..." he said, as he walked over and took and handful of cake, taking a bite of it, "I mean, c'mon...The cake's still good...Needs Ice Cream though." Marshall said.
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Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 10:14 pm
What a time to stroll in. Sid's luck with eating in the cafeteria had so far been terrible, but as he walked in with a lit cigarette between his lips he had no idea of what had transpired. Marshall he knew, but his previous contact thus far had been limited to getting him to drag Marshall home. So for all he knew the horse-faced guy was just another islander he hadn't met.
The food all over the place, that gave him some pause. He slowed his pace, took the cigarette from his mouth, and when he was close enough he nudge a fallen piece of cake with the tip of his cane.
"This is a bad time, isn't it?" he asked, raising the cigarette as soon as the words were out of his mouth.
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Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 10:42 pm
Gaius looked up from where he was piling broken plates, ears perking up slightly. He instantly recognized the old fellow with the cane as the one he'd seen at the beach bar with inebriated Marshall. It didn't occur to Gaius that his very recent change would make him unrecognizable.
"Hey! You're the bar guy!" he said, getting to his feet. "Thanks for your help with the vodka!"
"Uh... well, I guess you could say that..." he winced, looking around at the mess. "Still, there rest of the food is still good if you want some."
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Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 10:53 pm
"Hey Sid! Try the cake!" Marshall said, picking up a few spilled bowls with his free hand. He sighed as he found Sno-Cone, dyed green with Guacamole and Salsa. He didn't say any thing though. It didn't feel...right to.
He picked up the plush toy and layed it on the table, making sure not to look at it. Wiping his hands on one of the few remaing clean Towels, Marshall looked back at Sid.
"So, here for the Birthday, right?"
Maybe if I pretend like nothing changed...Nothing will...Right?
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Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 11:07 pm
Gaius's greeting gave Sid the mental kick he needed to place him, and the changes... After a few seconds of shocked silence his burning mouth and watering eyes reminded to exhale. He was, for the moment, oblivious to the fact most people didn't take kindly to having cigarette smoke breathed in their faces.
"Whoa," he gasped, and almost in the same half-breath he tried to recover. "Glad to be of service, yeah... You've... You look..." His eyes drifted down. "Well, I'm jealous."
He killed the nervous laugh he was about to emit by taking another drag off the cigarette. That gave him a little more time to put on something close to a poker face- and to actually listen to what Marshall was saying.
"Birthday?" he said, looking blank. He was, perhaps, trying too hard, but the surprise was genuine. "Whose?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 11:20 pm
During the entire transformation, and even after, there was one change Gaius had not paid much heed to, if he had noticed it. Sid, however, did a masterful job of shining the proverbial spotlight on it. Gaius followed his eyes down, blinked once, twice, and then made a funny grunting sound of suppressed surprise edged with horror as his face turned a red to match the salsa smeered on his shirt. Suddenly, sitting down seemed like a very good position. One he would like to take. However, there wasn't a chair at hand, leaving Gaius standing in embarassment.
Sid's question brought a sheepish twinge from Gaius, who held up a finger. "It, uh, was mine... At least until I started growing a tail." He looked away, brushing a hand up over his head and feeling terribly self-conscious about his appearance. Here he was, another Tommy. Another Zach.
"Hell of a way to celebrate 25 years..." he muttered.
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 4:47 pm
Marshall sighed, feeling increasingly depressed. He knew that Gaius' birthday was ruined. There was no way around that.
I wish there was some thing I could do...Any thing? Please?
This was right before Sid made a comment about...Some thing. Marshall didn't really get it, but he looked up. And he saw it. A tail. A freakin' tail standing out of the back of Gaius' pants. Marshall raised his eye brows with a familiar look on his face. This look was biting both of his lips and suffering irregular breathing. He held tight to the plates that fell, trying his hardest not to do one thing:
DON'T LAUGH DON'T LAUGH DON'T LAUGH DON'T LAUGH!!!
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 9:35 pm
"Yeah, well, it could be worse," Sid said, his tone a bit darker than what he intended. He was having a hell of a time keeping his emotions in check, or at least less obvious. He'd lost track of how many times he'd said that on the island, though before he had no idea what he was up for. Every time he set foot in the cafeteria he ran into a total buzzkill. Another drag off the cigarette helped to get his bearings. He'd almost pushed all those unpleasant thoughts aside by the time he exhaled.
Sid watched Marshall struggle not to laugh for just a moment before he shook his head. "Show a little consideration, man. You gotta at least hold off on the johnson jokes for, I dunno, what's prudent?" He looked to Gaius for help. "Few days?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 9:57 pm
"Worse?" Gaius frowned anxiously. He hoped it wouldn't get any worse.
He turned, following Sid's eyes to see Marshall trying his best not to crack a gut. Gaius blushed, leveling him with a stern look, and gave his pants a tug up, though the tail kept 'em from sitting comfortably. "Great, getting laughed at from both the front and rear..."
As his tail gave an indignant twitch, the little growths on Gaius's back decided they'd been ignored long enough and went into a flurry of activity, mainly in the form of spazming flaps. "Gyah-ah! What the hell is that?!" Gaius jolted straight with a yelp, and arched his spine back as the limbs slapped themselves silly. In short order, Gaius had his shirt off, exposing the winglets, but try as he did to turn his head, he couldn't get a good look at what was flailing about on his back. The sensation was probably the most disturbing thing he'd felt in his life, even worse than the tail or other areas. "Wh-what is it?!" he asked anxiously, hoping the other two could help.
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:04 pm
Marshall looked up from the tail, seeing the small buldges on Gaius' back. He didn't even recognise them until Gaius took off his shirt in a panic. They looked familiar, almost like he had seen them hundreds of times before. He wasn't exactly sure WHAT they were, but slowly the gears in Marshall's head started to turn.
"...Chicken Wings?" Marshall said. He then realised what a crappy thing that was to say, and quickly tried to fix it, "But, um, y'know, they're proably not CHICKEN wings but y'know I think they're definatly wings but um uh..."
Smoooth...
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:13 pm
Sid stepped up, examining the wings closely, even squinting. He took his cigarette from his mouth, and for one frightening moment it looked like he intended to poke them with the smoldering tip. Instead he leaned back and gestured vaguely At Gaius' wings the same hand.
"Nah, that's about right," he said between another drag. "All they're missing is breading."
Another beat, and he sighed, realizing he was going too far. So he added, "Ah, don't worry about it... They'll probably grow out. No ********' clue what has wings and all that, though." Time to gesture vaguely at Gaius himself.
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:32 pm
"Chicken wings?! What?" Gaius spun around futily, trying to see his own back. That proving useless, he reached back a hand and caught at one of the little limbs, wincing as the new flesh protested the abuse. It felt... strange. The shape and texture was definitely like one of those little chicken wings you'd buy at the supermarket, only dry and with skin. And warm. But besides that, he could actually feel with the little thing. He could feel the pressure of his fingers on it, and the muscles twitch against his hand.
As he absorbed the new discovery, Gaius's face went from one of stunned surprise to skepticism and mild curiosity to a sickly expression, like his stomach wasn't sitting well. He slowly pulled his hand away, letting the little limb snap back to it's half-curled state, and remained staring at the table in front of him without seeing it. He slumped forward, catching himself on the edge of the table.
"What... What are they doing to me?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:38 pm
"I...I really...I really wish I knew. I wish one of us would've been smart enough to consider asking what we were turning into...I mean..." Marshall fell silent, really wishing he knew what to do. He didn't plan on this today. He just wanted to enjoy a birthday with a freind. Maybe eat some decent food. But that was shattered. Most things on this island were.
Slowly, Marshall took a few steps towards his freind, and put his hand on his shoulder, not even caring what little snide comment Sid would make, "H-Hey...Remember? We're in this together, 'kay? So...You're not alone. So...So don't be scared, okay?" Marshall said with a weak smile.
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