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 Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:45 pm
__Part 1
"It's a cup?"
Caleb sighed at the tone of his aunt's voice and noddded. Then realizing he was talking on the phone and thus (rather happily) denied any visual contact, he gave a reluctant affirmative sound. It sounded like "mnnph."
"Use real words, Caleb."
"Fine. Yes. It's a cup."
"Why are you calling me about a cup?"
"No reason. It's a neat cup. It's got juice in it."
"Caleb, are you high?"
Caleb choked and set the cup down, looking incredulous.
"I beg your pardon!"
"Have you been smoking things? Dropping acid? Mushrooms. It must be mushrooms. Caleb, are you taking mushrooms?"
"Aunt Lila, for the love of God, I'm not stoned-"
"I'm coming over."
"Lila, don't you dare-"
"You sound guilty. I'm coming over."
Caleb groaned and shook the phone as though he was trying to strangle it before putting it back up to his ear.
"Don't you dare bring that stupid tox screening kit," he said warningly. "You ruined my childhood with the random tox screenings."
There was no answer for a second.
"If you've got nothing to hide, you'll do a simple tox test. Nothing invasive."
"Lila! For crissakes, I'm not doing a damn tox test!"
"I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
Lila hung up, leaving Caleb to curse a bluestreak and glare at the cup of juice.
"This is your fault," he said to it accusingly. The cup, being logically nothing but a cup, made no reply.
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 5:44 am
__Part 2
"Well, that was embarrassing."
Caleb sat sulking on his couch, arms crossed and glaring at the cup that sat on his coffee table. Not only had Lila come over (with that damnable test kit, good lord), she'd performed her usual Aunt Drill Sargent routine over the condition of his house and himself. And to top it off, she'd tried to dump the contents of the cup!
"God, Lila. Go run in traffic, jeez," he muttered, still glaring at the cup. He leaned forward and pointed at the thing accusingly.
"She thinks you're some kind of liquid psychedelic now," he said tartly. "You better have been worth saving. Really."
The ice cubes that never seemed to melt clinked against the glass innocently. Caleb took this as some kind of positive response, leaning back again and resuming his damaged-pride sulking.
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:53 pm
__Part 3
"So."
"Mm?"
"What's with the cup?"
Caleb's cousin Joshua sat on his couch, feet on the coffee table. He seemed to be engaged in a staring contest with the cup, watching the ice cubes glinting like diamonds in the late afternoon sunlight. Caleb shrugged beside him, reading his book and half-listening to the sensationalized local news on the television.
"I dunno. It's a magic cup."
"I see."
"Yup."
"Are you on something?"
"No."
"No, I mean it. Share."
"I'm not stoned, Joshua."
"You're keeping a cup of juice as a pet. You're obviously wasted on something."
"Josh, drop it."
Joshua leaned forward and made as though to poke a finger into the cup. Caleb, feeling obligated to protect the cup's dignity, leaned forward as well and slapped his cousin's hand away.
"No touching."
Joshua arched an eyebrow and settled back against the couch.
"Imma tell Mom you're keeping a cup of juice as a pet. She'll sneak the tox test on you again."
Caleb snorted.
"Already did that."
Joshua frowned, his sport spoiled.
"Jerk."
"Mm."
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:56 pm
__Part 4
Caleb sat at his computer, patiently waiting for the loading screen to blink off and his game to start. The cup sat on the computer desk, ice cubes drifting idly.
"It's time for you to learn about the little pleasures in life," he said matter-of-factly. The ice cubes clinked against the glass in what he hoped was interest, so he continued.
"This," Caleb said, picking up the cup and setting it in front of his computer, " is called Planet of Battleskill. Lame name, I know. Also hopelessly addicting."
He clicked a few things as a login menu popped up, and he typed over the cup.
"See? This is my character. Level...heh. Level four twilight nymph. I mean...I'd probably be level ten by now....but the ********' monsters aren't level based. An' that's just cruel. It weeds out the non-24 hour gamers without all the fancy cheat codes an' crap."
Clicking a few more thing here and there, Caleb brightened as the game booted up and his character appeared in a darkling forest setting. The curvaceous, scantily clad pixel creature seemed to be hobbled, limping, and bleeding in various areas.
Perhaps Caleb wasn't as good at this game as he'd like to think.
"Yeah...I should probably get some healing elixir or something," he began, pointing to the unfortunate nymph's left arm that seemed to be pointing at an unnatural angle. He was about to click on the map icon when blasting trumpet music played, and suddenly his character was drawn into battle.
"Aw, come on!" he protested, trying to click-escape. The nymph on the screen bravely faced a twisted, mutated creature with a gigantic HP level of...five. After a tense staredown, the monster struck out with a fuzzy tongue, making easy contact as the pixel-nymph tried to evade. The nymph flailed, gave an inaudible screech, and crumpled to the ground. Done and done.
Caleb flushed and closed down the game, pushing the cup back to its orginial place on the desk.
"It's a dumb game anyway," he mumbled, slouching down in his chair.
The ice cubes in the cup tinkled against the glass in almost vindictive juice-amusement.
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Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 10:08 pm
__Part 5
The thing with wednesdays was that they were always a little weird. For once, it wasn't night outside the Drinkables shop. It was a bright and sunny winter day. But for some reason, despite the middle of the day occupation, the closed sign was still plastered in the window and the shop lights were out like...well, like lights. Raife and Neko were nowhere to be found. Sometimes, it was easy to wonder if they ever worked.
"Closed. Figures."
Caleb fidgeted outside the shop, cup in hand. The ice cubes tinkled sharply against the glass, and he glared at it.
"Hey. Ain't my fault they're not open. Be nice," he chided.
The cup made no response. Caleb sighed.
"People must think I'm a nutcase, talking to a cup of juice," he said sullenly. The cup still made no response.
Rattling obnoxiously, the cup debated with Caleb's assessment. It wanted to go in the shop, by any means necessary. A bit of liquid splattered onto the side of the cup before sucking back in on it's own, quickly and absurdly.
"Hey! What the...huh. That's new. Juice-response."
Caleb stared at the cup for a second, seriously deliberating whether or not he'd just seen a glass of juice defy normal....well, he supposed it could be some law of physics.
"Alright. Jeez. I'll knock, happy?" he said, knocking loudly and obviously to prove he was doing it for the cup's benefit. "Cripes. Bein' pushed around by juice..."
As Caleb knocked on the door, it swung open without preamble, not even a rusty creak. Almost as if the door, the shop was expecting them. The cup rattled again, even more violently this time and the liquid shifted in the glass towards the shop. Somehow, however, not a single drop spilled.
Caleb hesitated, but at the suddenly very lively cup's apparent insistance, he ventured forward and inside. He paused for a beat, looking down at the cup.
"Since when do you do anything besides tinkle your friggin' magic ice cubes at me?" he asked it tartly, looking around inside and feeling like a trespasser.
As Caleb entered the shop, there was a flash and a BANG. As if something had completely exploded. Instead of smoke, however, there was the faint and ominous taste of pink in the air, settling over the shop like a cloud, only to vanish seconds later almost as quickly as it came. When everything cleared, Caleb was no longer holding the shot glass he'd been given.
"Are we stealin' stuff? Thas' totally my style."
Caleb yelped and swore a bluestreak, and gawked openly as his little cup seemed to...what on earth had just...holy crap, there was a kid, right there, in his cup-
"Holy. Friggin'. Crap," was all he could manage.
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Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 7:20 pm
___Part 5
{Metaplot}
"So, we going to this potluck thing or what?"
Caleb shrugged, looking at the note curiously. He mouthed the word "Raife" and briefly tried to remember who on earth that was. Failing miserably, he flipped the note over to look for more text but found nothing. He sensed Drucilla's impatient stare burning into his face, and glanced at her.
Drucilla lounged in her cup, ice cubes making a makeshift throne. She sneered up at Caleb, arms folded and fingers drumming impatiently.
"A real answer'd be real great about now," she said waspishly.
"You're a brat, I hope you realize," Caleb said impassively.
Dru splashed in her cup idly, looking unimpressed.
"Wow. That must've taken all your brainpower to come up with, huh?" she asked in a mock-sympathetic voice.
Caleb bristled.
"Hey. You wanna go to this thing or not? I can go by myself, easy," he snapped.
Dru looked at him thoughtfully. One one hand, it would be very vindicating to insult him again, but she'd be left behind and stuck with no one for company. Apologizing as sincerely as she could (which didn't amount to much) and promising to be good meant getting out of this stupid apartment and meeting new, more interesting people.
Dru sighed.
"Sorry."
Looking vindicated, Caleb nodded.
"Apology accepted."
"So that means we're goin', right?"
Picking up the cup and stowing the note in a back pocket, Caleb shrugged.
"I suppose so," he said, going for the door.
Smiling with slight malice, Drucilla slipped beneath the surface of the juice, blowing bubbles. Excellent. The monkey was easy to train, she thought to herself. Put on a sorry face and look ashamed, and he plays right into my hands.
This is gonna be fun.
---
"Aaaah, here we go."
"About friggin' time."
"Watch your mouth."
It was a bit earlier than the note had specified, and Caleb stood outside the shop with Dru in hand. They both looked up at the shop, then around to see if there was anyone else there yet. Neither saw anyone, but then again people were skirting around them - at first glance they pegged Caleb as a druggie who was talking to a beverage, then grew quite alarmed when the beverage started making snarky replies.
"...Well, at least we get free food," Caleb said thoughtfully.
Dru nodded in eager agreement.
"Good. I'm friggin' starving. You can't cook, Caleb."
"I know that. No need to point it out."
Drucilla giggled slightly, taking a seat on her ice cube throne again. Blue eyes stared up at Caleb openly, condescending amusement shining in them.
"Monkey," she said under her breath.
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Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:42 am
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Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:56 am
__Part 7
{Metaplot}
"We're home."
"I wanna watch TV. Caleb, I wanna watch TV. Caleb Caleb Ca-"
Caleb looked down at Drucilla slowly.
"Dru?"
"TV!"
"No. Bed."
"But-"
"Bed, Dru."
"You're not the boss of me!" Dru said, hoisting herself up on an ice cube and glaring at Caleb. "I wanna watch TV!"
Caleb sighed and set Drucilla's glass on the former bookshelf that was now her "room", peeling off his coat and tossing it carelessly onto the floor.
"That pink rain was weird, huh sweetie?" he asked, going about his nightly routine and getting some water from the kitchen sink.
Pouting ferociously, Drucilla sulked in her cup and watched Caleb angrily.
"I want TV," she said, furious. "You get to stay up late an' watch TV."
"Really weird...I wonder why it glowed."
"TV! I want TV!"
"No TV," Caleb yawned, stretching. "Go to sleep, sweetie."
"No! No no no no no no no n-"
"Good night, Dru."
And with that, Caleb blew Drucilla a kiss, and went into his room.
Drucilla gaped as he closed the door, effectively blocking out her noise. Oooh, the nerve of him! She had late-night cartoons to watch, and in the confines of this cup he knew Dru was helpless to go anywhere or do anything outside it.
"Darn," she said, settling back down into her cup. Pillowing her head against an ice cube, Drucilla pouted, then whined, sniffled ineffectively, and pouted some more. It came to no use when her only audience was a half-drowsing Scout on the couch, but it made her feel a bit better at least.
As she began to fall asleep, she wondered about the pink rain briefly, and that stupid glow it had caused.
"Stupid pink rain," she yawned. "I bet it was raid-o-active waste or somethin'."
Putting the thought of it out of her mind, Drucilla indulged in a moment's more pouting before going to sleep.
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Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 8:06 pm
METAPLOT PART II
Here we start our post-pinkopolyptic adventure! For the rest of our metaplot, you'll be on your own personalized RP adventure with a staff member guiding you, post for post until the inevitable conclusion! The faster you post, the faster you get to your goal! Responses must be at least a paragraph, and if you ever go more than a week without responding, you're out! (C'mon, guys. It doesn't take a week to write a paragraph.) These don't have to be as long as the original metaplot #1 and #2, as we're going for more an RP style than a journal style. This could take anywhere from three weeks (four if you're unfortunately with Raife) to three months, depending on how you play this out! LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED, BABY.
In early morning hours a pink glow pulses on the lip of Drucilla’s cup, making its presence known. How curious? In the morning light it would be drowned out, but other little additions have started to blossom.
At the bottom of Drucilla’s cup lay two, small, ruby red, pomegranate seeds obscured by the ice cubes floating in her drink. They seem to do nothing, but lay inertly at the bottom of her cup. The next day, however, lay two more. Interesting. Is this going to keep up? If it does, will it be exponentially?
What is this all about....
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Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 8:36 pm
"You're quiet today."
"I'm coloring."
"Which is usually a loud activity. You exist loudly."
Looking up from her sodden scrap of paper and the chunk of colored graphite that served as her tool in her latest masterpiece, Drucilla stuck out her lower lip in a pout.
"Go get me a peanut butter sandwich!"
"What's the magic word?"
"Now?"
Caleb sighed and picked up Drucilla's cup, bringing it up to eye level (which, considering she was armed with a small projectile, was not really a good idea).
"Drucilla, you know what I'm talking about. Say the magic word."
The only reply was a chunk of green graphite hurtling through the air and glancing off Caleb's forehead, along with a shouted repetitive stream of "PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH!"
"I really should have expected that," Caleb said, wincing and poking at the uninjured spot on his forehead, marked now with a dot of green. He moved to set Drucilla back down on the coffee table again when he noticed detritus at the bottom of Dru's little glass.
"Huh...what are those, bugs?" he asked, mostly himself, squinting at the little things.
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:45 am
Under close inspection Caleb would find they are not bugs, but visibly pomegranate seeds. In fact, hey is that two more? 2+2+2 = 6
By next morning the bottom of Drucilla's cup is completely covered with the red jewels! How fast are these things multiplying? What to do with this sudden spontaneous seed generation?
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 11:46 am
"Drucilla Lilith, what have you been doing? There's more today!"
"It ain't me! They're just...in there!"
Caleb counted the jewel-like seeds littering the bottom of the cup. Six. What in all the high heavens...
"Are you sure? Did you...have a..."
Drucilla, kicking at one of the seeds and frowning, looked up at Caleb.
"Did I have a what?" she parroted, looking grumpy.
"Accident?"
"EWWWW YOU'RE SO GROSS CALEB!"
Drucilla, looking mortified at the very thought, turned her back on Caleb and crossed her arms, chin jutting in the air and face set in an Ultimate Pout.
"I DON'T GO IN THE CUP, THASS GROSS!"
Caleb winced, trying to be reasonable.
"Well- it's just- I mean-"
"GROSS GROSS GROSS!"
"Well, just let me pick 'em out, then!"
"NO!"
"But I thought you didn't want them in there!"
"I DON'T!"
"Then-"
"NO!"
Whirling 'round again and plunging her arms into the juice, Drucilla grasped at one of the slippery seeds and tried to maintain a hold on it.
"It's....slippy..." she said, tongue sticking out in effort, sinking her fingers into the juicy flesh covering the little seed. "Got it! Oh...no...huh... stupid sticky seed-things! Just as dumb as that stupid glowy raid-o-active pink rain junk! STOP BEIN' SLIPPY!"
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:15 am
Oh goodness! It seems the seeds have multiplied ten fold! The whole bottom portion of the cup is now full of pomegranate seeds. It's no longer a subtle layer, but laying an inch thick! If something isn’t done it seems like the seeds may very well take over and oust Drucilla from her cup....which we all know isn’t good.
The clock is ticking and the seeds keep multiplying!
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