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 Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2005 7:32 am
I''m feeling much better now. Can''t believe I was sick for so long... It''s been at least a couple of weeks. I normally -don''t- get sick. At all. This is the first time in my life... Probably why it lasted for so long. But, eh, better now.
Not much else to report, really. I''ve been stuck in bed, so...yeah. The teddy bear thing is still working for Cody. Getting better by the day, in fact. He couldn''t care less that I''m not there as long as the bear is. ...That didn''t exactly come out right, but you get the point.
''Course, now we have to drag an orange teddy bear everywhere with us, but it''s worth it, I thnk.
What else, what else... The Veela''s still gone. I''m gonna start looking for her again, now that I''m well... I hope to God she hasn''t had that baby yet. Or, more importantly, that she hasn''t torn it apart and tossed it in a lake.
On that note, I''m going searching. Hope for good news.
--Isto
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2005 7:34 am
((Just a reminder, this is -old- xD; Transferred from his original log for plot reasons. So yeah <3)) quietsnooze Isto's Key Event________There's something that's been lying on the top shelf in Isto's room for a long time now. He'd never paid attention to it, but ever since he got that key, he's been desperate to find out what it fits into. He finally decides to pick it up, and sure enough, it fits.Isto unrolls the scroll. It's a letter. " Dearest Isto, I hope you didn't open this prematurely. We meant for this to be opened once you were old enough to understand. If you're not.. roll this back up, hun! .. Okay, so you're still reading. We love you very much, and we always will. Your father and I cannot be part of your life physically, but we know that an amazing human will fill in our place, maybe do an even better job raising you. You are special. Every Skull Monkey is special, but you are moreso. Especially to us. Your paw is SPECIAL. We do not know how you grew up with it, but I hope you realize that its what makes you you. No one else has one. I bet you're the talk of the neighbourhood! And I'm sure some nice girl fancies you, but I hope its because of who you are, and not what you look like, of course. I hope you're getting along safely, haven't gotten yourself into *too* much trouble.. I bet you take after your father, in that case. Take care, son! We wish you best throughout the rest of your life. Hoping to see you again, Mum and Daddy "
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:41 am
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:42 am
XBear He had to get out of the house and away from X. Couldn't have her tainting another young mind of the house now could he? A highly out of reach goal, but for Slush, anything was possible. With his 'little gemstone' in his arms with a baby death grip on Isto's old stuffed shark, a previous gift from Slush, the SM pushed open the door with his foot and entered the building. Bicolored eyes peered around the moment they entered, sharknose stuffed in her mouth as far as she could manage. Tourmaline was however quite unaware of her 'mother's' current mindframe and plan of action. Keep the 'sponge' untainted for as long as humanly possible. And hence they were here. Moofuls Isto entered only steps behind him, looking altogether out of place with a diaper bag slung over his shoulder. The absence of his tag-along centaur did nothing to aid his appearance either, what with the occasionally wary glances as if he expected to trip over something that really wasn't there. A small rag near the elbow of his metal arm completely the ensemble. The sudden arrival of their 'little gem' meant egg fluids had gotten absolutely everywhere, and some of those everywheres weren't easily reachable. The metal was oozing. Add this mixture to an unfamiliar building and unfamiliar people, and you didn't have the happiest of Istos. But there wasn't much that could dampen his spirits for the day. Not that it was completely impossible. "Why did we have to leave so quickly again? And why am I carrying a pink diaper bag?" XBear "Because Tourmaline is a sponge." He explained simply as he flopped down on the couch as carefully as possible before continuing, "And because you're the 'big strong man' in the relationship lovely." A cheeky grin followed the comment as he tried to pry the shark away from Tourma's grasp so that the shark would not become lodged any further into her throat. The result was a piercing shriek from the little girl. Slush ceased all attempts immediately and the little SM girl was left in his lap clutching the shark. "She hasn't let go of that thing for hours..." Slush muttered, eyeing the child suspiciously. "Dari didn't super glue her to it did he?" Oh how he'd kill him if he had... Moofuls "Tourmaline and her shark weigh more than this bag, Doom." He pointed out, but left it at that and sunk onto the couch beside his husband, dropping the dispaer bag on the floor beside it. Cringing at the shriek, he muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'loud' and set about attempting to free his arm of the remaining egg goop. "Dari hasn't been anywhere nea her, lovely, and there was nothing on it when I gave it to her. She probably just liked it." Nonetheless, Isto sent the baby girl a wary glance. "And Cody still clings to anything he can get his hands on. Maybe she's the same way. Gods, I hope not," he added with a grimace, remembering back to the weaks without sleep. Please, please not another Cody... XBear "No they don't." He protested before returning his attention to the baby, who was glaring at him for his previous attempt to steal HER stuffed thing. Who did this person think he was anyways? Before Slush could respond to her glare, Tourmaline's attention was captured by Isto's voice. He sounded familiar! Moments later her bicolored eyes moved to the shiny-ness attached to that one. Giving the pink one a sideglance, Tourma carefully and quickly dislodged the arm closest to Isto and reached for his metal one. It was shiny! "MEEEEEEBBB!" She screeched, claiming it too far for her to reach and simply claiming it in general. It smelled familiar too. The pink SM cringed at the shriek and mentally muttered a string of curses before scooting closer to Isto and the strange smell coming from his arm. "I bet it's your eggy arm..." Moofuls Isto shrugged. It wasn't important anymore. He was sitting bag free, and Slush still had to hold baby and plushie. He won. Wincing at the shriek, Isto took an extra moment to be sure his elbow had stopped oozing and obligingly offered his metal hand to Tourma. Anything to keep back more screams. "At least that's some plus side to it? Assuming she doesn't latch onto it like she did the shark." Sighing, he glanced down to the soggy rag in his good hand, idly flipping it around to find a dryer spot. "I don't know how I'll ever get all that egg crud out. Hope it won't smell too bad..." XBear "Unfortunately," Slush commented sadly, "It already does smell..." The Skullmonkey tried not to laugh while giving his husband an apologetic smile, but this instead caused a snort and some muffled giggling. Tourmaline didn't seem to care one bit about the smell and immediately grabbed onto a finger and began shaking it while squealling shrilly. "Eee eee EEEEE!" The last squeal was followed by a set of gurgling giggles, which were silenced once she attempted to shove Isto's finger into her mouth. If it were fun to play with then then it would obviously taste good. Just like her sharkie. Her 'mother' however had other plans and Slush quickly pried the finger away from Tourma's mouth. "No no, that's dirty... and... yolky." He tried to explain sweetly. It was a lost cause. The moment the finger started going in the opposite direction that she wanted it to go in, her bottom lip began to tremble. Then the sirens and waterworks started. How dare he take away what she wanted?! Crying seemed to be the only thing that worked around these parent people. Moofuls "Well...worse, I meant." It did smell pretty bad. Sighing, Isto merely quirked a brow at Slush's undignified snortgiggle, but managed a smile after a moment. He'd just have to find a way to clean it out. And soon. Isto couldn't have cared less that Tourma was trying to devour his fingers, and actually pulled a face when Slush said they were dirty. They most certainly were not! His fingers had stopped oozing long ago, and he had washed them since, so there. It was only his elbow now...yeah. And then the shrieking began. Groaning, Isto plucked the baby girl from Slush's grasp a set her on his own lap, wiggling his metal fingers infront of her face for a moment before just giving up and stuffing his thumb in her mouth. It was worth a try, at least. XBear "Hey!" Slush protested when their daughter was snatched from his lap and transferred to his husband's. "She'll get salmenella..." He muttered, eyeing the two absently. Ha, she had won. The sparkly thing was now hers and hers alone. Gumming on it fiercely, the baby Skullmonkey chortled somewhat through the familiar tasting metal. Now she had her sharkie and her sparkley too! Fantastic. Tourmaline gloated, tail curling to wrap around the tail of her stuffed shark. All hers. Moofuls Ahh, blessed silence. Grinning smugly at his accomplishment, he slumped down in his seat, idly toying with the end of Tourma's tail with his normal hand. "She'll be perfectly fine. She floated around in that crud for long enough, right? Trust me." Actually, Slush was probably right, but anything to keep Tourma from screeching right now. They would have to find her some shiny otherthing to keep her amused... Isto wondered if they made metal pacifiers. XBear Looking around to see just how dark it had gotten, Slush wrapped his arm around Isto's waist and gave him a light squeeze before standing up. "We should go back, it's getting dark..." Tourmaline didn't seem to notice, but yawned slightly before resuming her chewing on the metal finger. Attention most definately occupied for now. Moofuls "Aye, we should..." Timing hated them. Get one child quiet, and then return home to the others, who were undoubtably whining by now about their parents running off with the new born. Sighing, Isto climbed to his feet, pausing and glancing down to the diaper bag before just grinning and starting for home, holding Tourma and her shark in the crook of his good arm while she busied herself with his metal thumb. "You get to carry the bag this time."
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:43 am
No, no... I'm overjoyed, really. She's a beautiful baby... Everything I could have hoped for. I still can't believe she's really our daughter. Our flesh and blood... it's too good to be true.
And then reality sets in. Now, I'm not complaining, but... Well, let me backtrack.
Tourmaline 'hatched' back on September 4th, just three days after Slush's birthday. He and I were trying to decide on a name for her at the time, actually.
It wasn't one of those slow, methodical hatchings like you'd imagine. The egg just shattered!...all over me. I had been holding it at the time.
I still haven't gotten all of that crud out of my arm. At least it's stopped stinking...for the most part.
So, we found ourselves with a bouncing, shrieking baby girl, and nothing to call her by. And then Slush takes a good look at her and bursts out with 'Tourmaline!'
I mean, really. Tourmaline.
Apparently it's some gemstone that I've never heard of and comes in shades of pink and green--Slush showed me a picture to prove it.
So, Tourmaline. And Sandia, which means 'watermelon' in some language or another. Spanish, I think.
Rocky Watermelon, hehe.
It's, ah.. Taken some getting used to, I'll admit. It's not the first thing I would have chosen, but Slush wanted something 'elegant and queenly', to use his words.
I'm not good with elegant and queenly. I let him pick.
But the more I think about it, the better it suits her. Tourma's already declared herself reigning princess over the household in a sense, something Vi's not happy about. Seems like she enjoyed being the only girl more than she let on.
Maybe they'll come to a compromise once Tourma's older? ...Guess we'll have to wait and see.
The time since Tourma's hatching has been relatively uneventful. Slush and I learning to cope with three infants at the same time...
Thankfully, Cody's not nearly so clingy anymore, as long as he's got his bear with him, and L'aven's already started walking. It's not surprising, really. He was in that egg for so long.
I am very pleased to say that Tourma's not nearly so bad as Cody used to be. She is very clingy--someone has to be holding her, or she has to be holding something (preferably both at once)--but she doesn't single out either of us, meaning, between us both, we manage to get enough sleep.
Of course, sex life is gone, but that's nothing new. ...Seeing that written makes it worse.
I think I might cry.
It'll come back. Right? Right. Once the shorties grow. ....Ah, crap. Maybe Doom and I can take a weekend vacation or something. I'd hate to leave the kids, though... It'd just feel awkward.
'Course, we'd get over that pretty quickly, I think.
Still, they are very young... But Faust could help watch them, you know? And Violet. Tourma's content as long as someone's holding her, Cody's fine (for the most part) while he has his bear, and L'aven... Actually, I'm not sure I've ever heard L'aven cry.
I dunno. I'll ask Slush about it, maybe. But I think life's a bit too hectic right now for us to sneak away, between the shorties and my job and the Veela search.
She's still missing, by the way, but I'm trying. I have a feeling I'm getting there... Maybe. Slowly? Hopefully.
And, there goes the Cody alarm. Until next time.
--Isto
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:44 am
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 5:10 pm
Jen leaned over and grabbed the 'J' block from the toybox. Jim was staring up at him from behind Mop kitty with big wide eyes. "It's ok you ken, were're perfectly safe here." He put the block on the floor in front of Mop Kitty and started digging through the toybox for other blocks. There weren't many left after the whole 'treasure in the backyard' game that happened a while ago, but there were enough. The little orange infant Sm watched curiously as Jen fished an 'N' and an 'I' from the block pile. "I was gonnae spell your name for you, but I cannae find all the letters." He grinned at the infant. "I have a 'J', see that's a 'J', and an 'N' with the sailboat on the back, and this here's an 'I' that's a vowel... er... for some reason or other I cannae remember why." Jim watched and then let out a laugh and pointed at Jen's confusion. "Aye, you're a right wierdo you are." He scooped Jim up in a hug causing the infant to errupt into a fit of giggles. There should have been the not-so-familiar roar or a motorcycle to signal the new arrivals, but there wasn't. There hadn't been for a while now, in fact. A few weeks, at the very least. But motorcycles, as Slush had pointed out, were not the place for infants, let along half-horse one who couldn't sit correctly on it.
Isto really, really missed his motorcycle.
However, the wait of Slush's warning lare following him and Cody towards the garage had been enough to convince Isto against it, and he had vouched to walk this time. The sight was about the last any sane person would have expected: A metal-armed, mohawked, DNA-tailed man carrying an orange teddy bear and obediently trailed by an infant centaur. It most certainly won him a few stares along the way.
Isto didn't mind. He was used to stares by now--and, actually, had come to enjoy them. Amusing close-minded people.
And then they had reached HQ, and the stares were gone, and Cody was clinging defiantly to one leg of the orange teddy bear while insisting that his father hold it nonetheless. Muttering good-naturedly under his breath about a certain hooved shortling, Isto pushed open the door and stepped inside, holding it open until Cody entered behind him before letting it swing shut and turning for the living room.
He paused in the doorway when he noticed the pair already there, trying to place them and failing miserably. Though the man did look familiar... And then it clicked, and Isto's head snapped up, grin a mixture of surprise and confusion. "Jen?! S'that you?"
Cody, on the other hand, was interested in this pair only in that they might pose some threat to his bear. With a quick tug, he pulled it free--and was nearly flattened by it in the process--then, shoving it off of him, looped an arm around its neck and clung it protectively to his chest. Only then did he bother to inspect this pair, peering shyly around from behind the bear's head and his father's legs. Jen had ben tickling the infant when he heard his name called out in surprise... without looking up he knew who it was and as he did look up he felt his good mood slipping away from him faster than he cared for... and he would have frozen in place if all of a sudden Jim hadn't started screaming at the top of his lungs with Isto and cody's unexpected appearance.
Pride and Past forgetten in place of Jim's needs, Jen smiled up at Isto and nodded as he gathered Jim to him. "Shhhh there you. It's just Isto... and someone he brought with him." Jen smiled at Cody. "Shhhh, he's just like me... look, in fact he's a friend of mine." Jen leaned over and scooped Mop Kitty up as he stood to face Isto... "Here..." He tucked the kitten doll up next to Jim as the infant subsided into a whimper and continued to cling to the front of Jen's shirt which was wet from tears.
With the screaming stopped, Jen turned his attention to Isto and Cody. "Eyob! How are you? Havenae seen you in a long time." With Jim's screams, all greetings were forgotten; Isto grimaced, Cody shrieked. In a heartbeat the infant centaur's cries were enough to rival, maybe even drown out the young SM. His teddy bear discarded on the floor, Cody latched onto one of Isto's legs and refused to let go even when Isto tried to pick him up--after all, ANYONE could be tugging him away from Daddy. His eyes were closed. He couldn't be sure.
And then he realized one of those hands was undoubtably metal and released his grip, shrieking until Isto picked him up and sobbing against his father's chest until the other infant quieted. Gradually falling silent to Isto's murmurred reassurances, the young centaur pulled away just enough to send a suspicious glare back over his shoulder towards Jim. Evil little thing, scaring him like that. The nerve.
Isto, on the other hand, found the situation altogether amusing, if a bit annoying. However, once both children had quieted, his grin returned and he closed the distance to his friend, absently shifting Cody in his arms--carrying a centaur was awkward. Cody didn't seem to mind, however, and had by this time turned his eyes back to his teddy bear, staring quietly back at it and wondering just how he'd get it back. "Aye, it's been a while, hasn't it? I've never seen you fifth... Congrats on that, by the way. And I've been pretty good," he added, glancing down to Cody. "Family life has it's stresses, but I'm happy. How've you been? And who's your shorty?" Jen started to kick the blocks back into the pile of toys in the corner... "I've been ok. Could be better could be worse." He tried to move Mop Kitty so that Isto could see Jim better but there was no shifting the kitten doll from the infant's grip, and there was no shifting the infant from the front of Jen's shirt. "Jen half smiled half rolled his eyes, "This is Jim, he's kind of my ward, though I guess you could call him my son. He sort of chose me." He nodded at cody. "This one of yours? He's very cute." Now that the other infant had stopped being scary, Cody was ready and willing to get back to lugging his bear around--and possibly playing with that pile of blocks Jen had just nudged away. The centaur squirmed until Isto took the hint and set him down, immediately trotting the short distance to retrieve his bear, only to return to hovering near Isto's side. Bear held tightly to his chest, he stared over at the pile of blocks, weighing the risks at approaching him. That monkey thing could always start screaming again.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Jim," Isto replied, nodding cheerfully to said SM. "And yeah, thanks. This is Cody." He gestured down to the little centaur, who wasn't paying attention at all, far too engrossed in the blocks. Chuckling softly, Isto returned his attention to Jen, cocking his head to the side. "He's...well, he's been ours since birth. The centaurs stayed with us for a while, Cody came, and--" he shrugged. "They left. So here we are." Jen gave a sad smile and nealt down. Still clutching Jim to his chest, or rather letting Jim cling to him, he opened the toy chest and stepped back. "Well as long as he's happy where he is that's all that matters I suppose." He laughed softly as he watched Cody standing behind Isto, and as he laughed Jim relaxed his grip a little and leaned back to look up at Jen.
"Well there you are. Welcome back." He pointed over at Isto with his free hand. "See, not so scary really." The infant leaned against Jen again but turned his head so he could look wearily over at Isto. "It seems a little strange to me sometimes that he should have a skull already, but that's the way that the newer Sm's are born." He scratched Jim's back. "He's a nice little guy even if he's a bit skittsy around new people."
Cody positively beamed in thanks as Jen opened up the chest and, after a moment's hesitation, quickly closedthe distance to it, dragging his bear along with him as a shield. However, upon reaching it he reluctantly set the bear down and carefully situated it alongside the toy chest before picking up a pair of blocks. It was time...to create! Mwehehehe...
Smiling hesitantly, Isto waved slightly when the young SM finally looked over, brightening up to reply to Jen. "Aye, I'd thought he looked a bit small to be a 'child'. I haven't met any of the newer SMs, I'm afraid. He's the first." He sent a warm smile towards Jim, then chuckled. "Sounds like Cody. He's not so bad now that he's got his bear, though." Jen sat himself and Jim down on the floor again. He smiled over at the fact that Cody seemed to enjoy the toy pile, even as depleted as it was. He pried Jim's paw from his shirt but didn't make him leave the comfort of his lap. "See look, that's Cody and now he's playing with the blocks. He's got a bear like Mop kitty." Jen made the plush in suspect dance just out of Jim's reach, but Jim didn't seem to think the lunge to the toy was safe just yet.
Jen smiled up at Isto... "There's cookies on the tray on the table there if you or Cody would like, and there's more than enough room on the floor, lest you want to sit up higher." He ruffled Jim's ear fur and picked him off his lap. Jim suddenly found himself within arms reach of both the Kitten plush and Jen, and after a short inner panic he decided that he was ok that way... for now... and he set himself to watching Cody play with the blocks from behind Mop Kitty.... Cody had lots of toys of his own at home, but he also had stupid annoying siblings who he had to share them with. Here there was no Tourma or L'aven! And even if there was a little monkey thing, Cody wouldn't mind sharing. The monkey didn't seem as mean as Tourma was. Once he had constructed a crude pyramid with a few of the blocks, Cody picked up another and glanced back over to Jim, watching him curiously for a moment before taking a step or two towards him and holding out one of the blocks.
"Thanks, maybe in a bit.. Cody has a tendancy to hoard cookies, so we should prob'ly wait until we're about to leave." Yawning absently, he dropped to sit on the floor as well, more at eye level with, well, everyone there. And then he didn't have anything to say. It had been so long... "So, what've you been up to since...er a while ago. Anything exciting happen? Aside from Jim?" Jim gripped Mop-Kitty with both front paws and wide eyes. He wasn't sure about this other kid. Dad had said that this other kid was like him, and that now he was playing with the blocks... Did Jim want to play with the blocks too? He gave Mop-Kitty a quick hug and then leaned out to take the block. Once he had it he sat there with it... not sure that he was allowed to play here.
"Nothing much really. I kind of hung around the house like a wet towel until we started this place up, my Mum and aunt and cousins... It was a great kickstart for me I guess. I cleaned and played at being handyman though I'm nowhere near as good at that kind of thing as Mum and Tam." He smiled to himself as he remembered trying to build the dock to the boat. "You can still tell which parts of the place that I built cause they're not quite all there... or are crooked as all get out." He laughed. "Lately this place is all set up and running right along so it's been nice having him around." Jen pointed at the little orange Smo sitting very still with a block in his lap. "How many kids have you got now? I hear it's a fair few...." Cody squealed his approval when Jim accepted the block, immediately turning around and prancing back to the small pyramid. Flopping awkward down beside it, he reached for another block and resumed carefully building the structure, assuming Jim would join him. "Daaab flupth grav."
"Ahh, that sounds like fun." Leaning back against the couch, Isto craned his head to look around the room, then out towards the window and the dock. "I haven't had a chance for any real projects. Busy with work and the shorties and such. Got a job in the Past as a blacksmith... S'pretty cool." Returning his gaze to Jen, he laughed, straightening up somewhat and rubbing the back of his neck with his normal hand. "Well, we hadn't meant to wind up with so many... It just sort of happened. Not that I don't enjoy having them aruond, but yeah. Er, six, to be honest." When you ignored the fact that Gwen was presently missing. "And four of then infants. S'exhausting, but well worth it. I like being a dad." Jen gave a sad smile. "Yeah... I can imagine you as a good dad... You were always nice to me and Diro and the others... " He turned his gaze and his thoughts to the two infants. "But that's a lot of kids." He laughed suddenly. "I have enough on my hands with that one, I couldnae imagine many more... even one more I couldnae do it."
Jim watched Cody build for a moment and then looked down at the block in his lap. It ha a letter on it but he didn't remember which one. One more look at Cody and Jim decided that there was nothing to fear right now. He pushed the block off his little lap and then slowly pushed it over to Cody's tower with his little nose, stopping about a half a foot away. He sat himself down and then surveyed the tower with critical eyes... where should his block go? "Kids're nice." Isto shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "Better than teenage angst, anyway. But it's good having the old lot around, too.. I get along much better with everyone now that I'm, er...comfortable with me. You and Mauli are the only ones I haven't seen recently, though not for lack of trying. I couldn't find you at Tawn and Sarabi's wedding," he added, quirking a brow. However, after a moment he laughed as well, then mock-groaned and fall back against the couch once more. "Gods, you're telling me. It's not so bad anymore, because Vi and Faust can help with the shorties too. It used to be that Cody wouldn't so much as let me out of his sight--me--and wouldn't sleep for more than five minutes at a time, either. That was torture." He grimaced, then smiled, nodding to the bear. "But I gave him that old bear, and now as long as he has it, he's fine."
Cody didn't know his letters yet, nor did he care to. To him they were just pretty designs to make the blocks more interesting--because, really, blocks weren't all that interesting without them. But they could be stacked! Cody glanced up from his 'tower' to send a pleased smile towards Jim, , then promptly knocked down the pyramid so they could rebuild it together, picking up one block to start again. "Foog plaad grem!" Jim gave a yelp as the blocks toppled over, and he tried in vain to stop them from falling as the blocks fell down around him. He sat himself up in a small pile of blocks and stared wide eyed at Cody... who would want to destroy something so well built? Then when Cody spoke Jim's eyes went even wider if that's possible... He kept his eyes on Cody, "Daaaaaaaadd....."
"Just help him build it again. He wants you to help him. Nothing can hurt you here." Jen leaned back against the chair behind him and pulled his legs up in front of him. Resting his arms over his knees he sighed. "Jim's still in that clingy phase. I swear he hasnae let me out of his sight since I found him." He half grinned... "It's kind of nice though, to have someone that needs me and me alone. I like it." He smiled over at the two infants again. "My Mum calls us JimJen. She pokes fun at my name choice by purposely confusing them all the time as well. I just cannae explain that that's 'is name. I dinnae ken why it just is." He stopped as he realized he was babbling...
Jim leaned forward and pushed the blocks out of his way. Proping himself up on his knees he pushed a block over to where he thought the bottom of the new structure ought to be. Cody blinked. What was wrong with knocking down the blocks? That was half the fun of it! You build a tower, you admire it for a minute, and then you knock it does and build another one! And he had almost been done with the first one, so it would be more fun for Jim if they just started over again. Still confused, Cody picked up a block and set it near Jim's, beginning a new. "Dub dub dub...tee." He grinned.
"No, I know what you mean." Smiling, Isto nodded his agreement, not at all bothered by the rambling. He had a tendancy to do the same when talking about Cody or Tourma...or his motorcycle, for example. "So, you and Jim... I take that to mean there's no one...er..else?" A bit nosey, yes, but c'mon! They hadn't spoken in nearly a year. Isto had to catch up, right? Right. Jen paused at Isto's question and thought for a second, and then making a decision he smiled to himself... a sort of half sad half determined smile that told more than any words could... This 'half smile' was then followed by a grin and an embarassed laugh. He reached up and ruffled his hair (a very un'Jen thing to do) and looked directly at Isto. "No. I guess that I just havnae found the man for me." He laughed. "I really should just get out there and date probably but... " He shrugged. "I guess I've never been one much for socializing, and now there's Jim..." He pointed at the Sm infant in question and shrugged again.
Jim frowned at the budding tower for a moment before glancing up at Cody and grabbing another block and placing it next to Cody's. Then he grinned. This was fun. "No, too ba tee?" He grinned at Cody again and then began inspecting blocks for a certain shape. Isto smiled faintly in understanding and, nodding, turned his gaze to watch Cody and Jim. After a moment, however, he chuckled and glanced back over, shrugging lazily. "Ah, well, no rush, is there? At least you've found happiness, even if it's not where you expected." His smile faltered somewhat, and again he shrugged, returning his eyes to the infant SM and centaur. "Hmm. I have a few friends you might like. People I met here and there... Maybe I can set you up with someone?" Quirking a brow, he grinned, gaze flicking back to his friend.
"Blurft!" Cody exclaimed, pleased that his new friend had opened up enough to talk with him. Positively beaming, the young centaur picked up another block and carefully placed it atop two of the others, being every-so-careful to arrange it exactly right. This was going to be the best tower ever! Jen laughed before he could stop himself... and then he thought about it for a second and realized that it wasn't such a bad idea. "well.... I, um... I dinnae ken what to say. I guess you could. I mean... " He blushed. "You know me best of anyone, how sad is that?" He smiled as Jim bluted out yet another nonsense phrase. "Whoever they were they'd have to ken about Jim and whatnot, since I'm not gonnae let him get let behind just so I could give someone else the chance to fill his shoes." He stopped.... was he this desperate?
Jim turned over block after block after block, and then he found it. There was a monkey on this side of this block and this was the block for the top. "EEEEENNNnnn!" He squealed with a grin. "Eeen an teeeeepi." He clapped his front paws a few times before he stopped suddenly. Cody wasn't a monkey... he dove into the block pile again until he found a picture of a horse... he picked up the block and held it out for Cody to see. "Teeeepi too?" Laughing, Isto nodded his agreement. "Not sad at all! I'm glad nothing's changed, you know? It's like...so much time's passed, I was scared you'd have changed, or I'd have changed, and we'd have ended up yelling at each other from across the room or something. But that didn't happen." Smiling, he nodded once more, fixing his gaze on Jim. "No worries. I'll ask around, and be sure to mention Jim. I have a couple of guys in mind, actually, but I dunno if they're dating anyone at present or anything. But we'll see."
One of the few benefits of having Slush drag him out to nightclubs before the shorties had come around: more new friends than he rightly knew what to do with. Let Slush dance, Isto was happy just to talk. Good times. Hm.
Cody took a moment to peer closely at the block, then gasped and pointed an accusing finger at Jim, recognizing the block thing as something relatively like him. Cheering with the accomplishment, he tapped Jim lightly on the skull, then pointed over towards Isto. "Daaaaaaaaakey!" Not that Isto paid him any heed, but Cody didn't mind. Daakey wasn't his dad's normal title anyway. Calming somewhat, he turned to the new block and, after staring at it for a moment, carefully took it from Jim, eyeing the horse curiously. And then, all of a sudden, Cody screeched and threw his hands up in the air, prancing a circle around Jim and giggling fit to burst. "Cdee gaab fruft pree vrum!" Jim shreiked and covered his face, at first in fight at Cody's antics, but soon enough he started to giggle from inside his paws. He threw his paws wide and let himself fall backwards giggling all the while. Once his laughing calmed he reached up with a paw and tapped his skull like Cody had... *taptaptap* "Dunk-dunk-dunk" And he went into the giggles again, apparently in the correct mood, anything could set the little infant off. He kicked out and his foot connected with a rouge block. He sat up to see what he had kicked and realized it was a block. "Kika..." He turned to Jen. "Daaaaad?"
Jen laughed. "I cannae believe that I just gave you the ok to set me up." He laughed and shook his head in disbelief. He thought back on his and Isto's friendship and thought to himself that he had never yelled at Isto... he'd never really yelled much at all. "I've missed our friendship." It was true. He'd missed having someone who kind of understood.
Cody was all but doubled over in jiggles, alternating between prancing circles around the young SM and just sitting and laughing, the position making him seem more half dog than horse. After a short while he calmed somewhat and returned his attention to the 'tower', but would frequently burst into giggles again, only to point out some new design on the blocks before carefully placing the block on the growing tower. "Daa gumpt babdid."
"Someone has to if you're too lazy to get out and do it yourself." He flashed a teasing grin, but it soon faded to a warm smile as he nodded his agreement, sighing idly. "Aye, so've I. I know I'ev already said this, but it's really good to see you again. Really. I've been worried that you were...dunno, mad at me. You and Mauli." His smile faltering slightly, he shrugged. Jen sighed... "play Jim... I'm nae mad at you. People cannae be condemned for making decisions for themselves. That's absurd." She shrugged. "And it's not that I'm too lazy." He scowled and mock frowned at Isto... "I'm just... I dinnae ken really... just scared I guess would be a good word." He laughed. "It's not right I ken, but that's it. I'm a coward."
Jim sighed at his dad and turned back to the blocks... "Gumpt babdid?" He looked at the block... surely that was a sailboat not a gumpt babdid.... "Eeesa babdid no." He pulled the block down to look at it better. "Eeesa gumpt babdid gooba" and that set him off laughing again, only this time he chanted 'gumpt' a few times, then he reached up and carefully placed the block back on top of the tower where it had been before. Next he picked up another block, inspected the picture and held it up for Cody to see. "Neesa?"
Isto's smile returned and he nodded in thanks, briefly turning his gaze to watch the antics of the baby centaur and SM. However, as Jen continued, he laughed, glancing back to his friend with a cheeky grin. "Ahh, you wuss. But I know what you mean. You, of all people, shouldn't be scared, though. You'd have guys latching onto you." He waved a hand vaguely towards Jen, then, laughing again, returned his eyes to the shorties. "It's worth the risk in the end. Most things are."
Cody had never seen a sailboat, and probably wouldn't have been able to say it correctly even if he had. There wasn't much he -could- say correctly just yet. He didn't mind, though. He knew what he was saying, even if no one else did. Yupyup. "Gumpt gumpt gumpt..." Snickering, he nodded his approval at the placement of the block, then turned his attention to the new one, eyeing the goose on it curiously. He had seen one of those before! "HONK!" And the giggling resumed. Jim threw a paw up to the front for his skull. The pad of his foot made a thumping noise and he laughed. "HONK DONK!" and he put the block on the tower next to the previous one. He didn't know what a goose what and he didn't know why Cody had honked, but he liked it. He liked the sound of HONK and the sound of the thump of his skull. "HONK DONK! HONK DONK!" He looked over at Cody and pointed at his feet "DONK Tippa!"
Jen shrugged. "I still think that coward sums me up better than wuss." He ran his hand through his hair to straighten it. "Yeah... I ken..." He pointed to Jim. "I've already got guys clinging to me." He gave a short laugh. "Risks risks risks. They seem to get along though." He was gazing over at the two infants building a tower out of blocks that anyone over two feet tall would consider second rate toys... but they looked like they were having fun. What on earth was a honk donk? Or, more importantly, who CARED?! Giggling fit to burst, Cody reached for another block, but paused when Jim pointed down to his hooves. Blinking, Cody followed his gaze and absently tapped a forehoof. "Tip'aaa? T'paaakadonk!" Grinning, he clapped his hands, resuming his odd prancy trot just for the sake of his hooves clacking against the floor...and likely scuffing it in the process, but oh well.
Isto rolled his eyes. "Not what I meant. But it's just as good, granted. In a different way." Smiling, he nodded his agreement, laughing when Cody resumed the hop-skip trot. "Aye, they do. Cody hasn't met many kids outside of the house. And L'aven doesn't talk, and he's not too fond of Tourma. S'good for him to play with someone his own age."Discontinued for timing reasons.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 4:03 am
I was never able to find the veela. She didn't stay around the area after she left our house, I guess. There was no trail to follow...
Pretty hopeless, all in all. but even with that, things worked out much better than expected.
I found the baby two days back when I was heading to work. I think she may have originally been left on the porch, but had rolled/crawled off into the bushes... That's where I found her, anyway. Asleep, curled up in a dirt-smeared blanket (probably of her own doing, mind).
There was a note, too, which I found on the doorstep. It's why I thought to look for her at all, actually--I probably wouldn't have seen her otherwise. Actually I wouldn't call it a note. Only two words: Gwendolyn Mairi. But that was enough, neh?
And so Gwen arrived. I have to say, she was in better shape than I'd ever have hoped, what with how long that Veela had her. But apparently she had at least intended to take care of the baby; her clothes and blanket were flashy and expensive, if dirty, and she had that half-starved look of one who hadn't eaten right for a few days, but after we fed her, it became clear that she'd quickly recover, and had likely been fine until recently.
The Veela got bored, I guess.
So she's here... And healty aside from being a bit underfed and a few scratches here and there, which she probably acquired crawling around the bushes. However, that's not to say she avoided all scarring...
I don't know, it's hard to pinpoint what's wrong. It might just be how different she is from Cody, not to mention the other shorties.
She's a very quiet baby, hardly ever says a thing, but she cries often... And then won't be quieted. You try to calm her or cheer her up, and she just screams all the louder. She only ever calms if you just leave her alone.
I blame the Veela.
She just seems so...distance already, you know? She's too young to be like this. It's just eerie after dealing with the other shorties... Cody, who's been clingy and walking for ages; Tourma, who's already declared herself queen; and L'aven, who, though he never makes a sound, has been active since we received his egg. His -egg-.
Gwendolyn isn't. She sits and she watches--distrustfully, at that. And she never talks, and she cries if you try to play with her, and... Damn, I really don't know what to do.
Maybe it's just the change? She's only been here a couple of days now, and I'd say she's about Cody's age, give or take a few days. It'd be unnerving for anyone, right?
Whatever the case, I'm determined to get on her good side before she gets much older. Cody'll help. He seems to like Gwen, even if she cries almost any time they're near each other. I can probably recruit L'aven, too. He's quiet. Gwen'll like him...right?
Should probably wait a bit before trusting her and Tourma together too much, though. Something tells me they'd have a screeching contest just to spite us. Ah, well.
In other news, I finally got in touch with Jen again. It was... well, great to see him, of course, but weird at the same time. I haven't spoken to him in almost a year... Certainly not since Slush and I eloped, and that was last November. So it was just awkward.
He hasn't changed, though... Except that he's got a shorty of his own now. A young SM he adopted named Jim. Cute kid, very clingy. Like Cody was, but better and worse at different points.
Jen seems to enjoy the company, though, and I don't blame him. We're going to meet up again soon, I think. Take the shorties to the park or something. I've got his number now, so he can't avoid me. Ha >3
And that's really all there is to say. Everything else is going great. And Jack's finally shown up again, so even X is happy. Good times. Let's hope they stay this way.
You know, with the exception of not-so-cheery Gwen.
--Isto
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 4:04 am
So, Gwen's been here for a week or so now and, honestly, hasn't changed a bit. Still cold, still quiet...though she has lightened up a bit on the crying. Now she just sort of glares...and then gets annoyed with you and cries.
So scratch that.
However, I've managed to make her smile.
The weather's already getting cooler, and winter means I'll be spending months indoors, so I've been spending a lot of time outside lately while I can--and the shorties have been keeping me company. Just lounging around the lake, picnics and the like:
Cody and L'aven sticking leaves on Faust's 'wings', Violet trying to keep Tourma from eating rocks, and Gwen just...sitting there glowering at everyone, usually with me trying to cheer her up. And failing miserably.
But, a couple of days back, she smiled. In one of those eerily convenient moments, a butterfly landed on the blanket beside her (she shrieks if you set her on the grass) and Gwen was absolutely...enraptured, you could say. She just sat there and stared at it and...well, smiled.
Eventually it flew away, but the smile remained. For the afternoon, at least. And we've managed to keep it around by taking her out in the garden every so often to look for more butterflies. There're always one or two around nowadays.
And then yesterday we got her this stuffedbutterfly toy and she's been in a much better mood. Smiling, if only faintly, and crying only if you try to take the butterfly away. But we're used to that, because Tourma's the same with her shark.
What's the deal with our children and plushies?
At least L'aven's sane. Though I think he may be mute... He never makes a sound, even when he cries. Silent tears. That'd be our luck, poor kid.
I love my family.
--Isto
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 4:05 am
Skull Monkeys don't have parents. The ones around here, anyway. The ones from the old HQ. My generation. Yeah, we don't have 'real', blood parents. We were created by mixing DNA in a laboratory by Quietsnooze. We had a creator. Not parents.
I had parents. This is nothing new to me. I've known for a while now--well before I reached fifth, anyway. So a few months past a year. I had never really thought about it before. They had given me up for their own reasons, and that was fine. I was happy with Moo.
Recently I went back to Moo's to get some of my belongings, because I really only brought clothes and a bit extra when I moved in here with Slush. A long wait, I know, but there wasn't much use for it until now.
Anywho, I was over there cleaning out my old room and found the letter me blood parents left with me. Read through it, recognized it, packe it away. But it's been on my mind, off and on.
And then I got one of those "It's a -----" postcards saying Sarabi had her babies--two boys, Adam and Dalton. And, naturally, this made me think to the last time I had spoken with Sarabi, when she mentioned she was expecting twins.
"Because Skull Monkeys always have twins, Tawn says," were her words, I remember.
Skull Monkeys always have twins.
Right there two things clicked. Firstly, Mauli and I hadn't had twins with the whole, er...Kailee incident. Had there been another child she never told me about. Still born, or...?
I had arrived late at the hospital. It was entirely possible. Or had there never been another child? And, if not, why?
It could be either... And I'm inclined to blame myself for either loss.
Compare Kailee to Tourmaline, for example. Kai's....normal. She's much, much more like her mother than like me. As far as wel know, she has no metal whatsoever.
Tourmaline, on the other hand, has little bits of metal here and there, meaning who knows how much inside. It seems strange that mauli's child would have escaped the metal when Slush's did not.
Would Kailee's twin have been like me? And is that why the child is not here today...?
It's just.. Gods above, if I had known, I... I don't know. What if Tourma... Something could easily have happened to her, you know? But after Kailee, i thought the metal wouldn't pass on. And now I learn that Kailee should have had a twin, and that Tourma could have died in the egg, and I don't even know what to think anymore.
It'll have to get in touch with Mauli, ask her about it. If there was a child... I know I shouldn't dwell on it now, but I can't help but feel responsible. If I had thought about it before, or know there should be two, or...or anything, maybe I could have done something about it.
Ah, well... If Slush finds out I'm sulking about my arm again, he'll get upset, so moving right along... Where was I?
Second point: I have a twin. Or should, anyway.
I, unlike the other 'original' Sms, have parents. And if Skull Monkeys always have twins, and they had me... it stands to reason that I have a sibling, right? But then, where is he or she? And why was I the one they sold at auction...?
Yesterday I went to HQ and dug through the old records: backgrounds on all the SMs, who they live with now, where they live, etc. The records are available to anyone. Or, at least, each SM has access to his own file.
Respect the privacy of others...unless you have permission from Em or Tawn to dig through the other files. Moving on.
Found my file, dug through a few papers. I had a bit more than most other files, I noticed. Auction papers, mostly. Legal crud. Found one contract signing me over to the HQ--my parents signatures were there, as was QS's. Found an adoption certificate from when Moo took me in. That gave me a smile.
A second run through ot the actual info sheet revealed what I was searching for. On these 'profile' sheets, there's a small box in one corner labeled 'Obtained by:'. On most forms, this box simply has two or three or four sets of numbers representing certain DNA stocks from which that particular SM was created.
On mine, there was an address. No name, no phone number--just an address.
I haven't had a chance to look into it yet. Between work and the shorties and general home life, I've just been too busy. But soon... Well, we'll see.
For now, I'd better go. I've been writing for long enough, and Tourma started shrieking a few minutes ago, meaning, as she hasn't shut up yet, that Slush is probably near tears. Poor guy.
Ahh, babies...
--Isto
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Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 4:00 pm
So. I met my parents.
...
Ah, ******** this.
--i
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Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 8:48 pm
People who sell their son at auction certainly can't be perfect, neh?
Their house was nice. I'll give them that much. Small, but comfortable. Much further south than we are. I liked it. False sense of security.
I probably should have given them some forwarning, now that I think about it. But after meeting with them, it's probably better that I didn't. They recognized me immediately when they answered the door. To say they weren't happy to see mewould be vastly understating the situation.
Had I let them know I was coming, I'm sure they'd have found a way to avoid me.
As before stated, they weren't too happy to see me. My 'mother' answered the door, slammed it in my face. Fifteen minutes of ringing the doorbell later, my 'father' answered, yelled at me for a while, slammed the door.
I'm persistant.
And when they didn't answer after another ten minutes, I broke the doorknob and walked in.
I love my arm sometimes.
Another shouting match ensued. My dear father was threatening to have me arrested, mother was half hiding behind him, and I was trying to convince them both that I wasn't a lunatic and just wanted to talk. Eventually they calmed down, but they wouldn't answer anything I asked, and they kept staring at me as if i were some mass murderer.
It... I don't understand it, I... What did I do? Why did they give me up, and why did they treat me like a..I don't know, like a monster? And why did they keep my brother if they were so anxious for me to be gone..?
Because that's all I learned from them. That I do have a twin--a brother. They told me he had moved out some time back, and they gave me his phone number. And that was all. They refused to say any more, and soon after I left.
They didn't even give me his name. Hell, I don't even know their names. They were written on that adoption form, but I can't remember what it said, nor do I want to. Nor do I want to...
So I'm left with a phone number... Couldn't hurt to call, I guess. Maybe this guy'll actually speak to me.
I wish I knew his name...
...
They sounded so nice in the letter, too.
--Isto
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 6:13 pm
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Isto stared down at the phone, willing someone to answer. It was his second call for the day; the first had proved fruitless. After the meeting with his parents, paranoia was insisting they had given him the wrong number, or had even 'warned' his brother that he might be claling. His rational side assured him that his twin was just out of the house.
Ring.
Ring.
Click. Someone picked up. "Hello?"
Isto glanced down at the scrap of paper in his hands--a name he had gotten off one of the forms in his file. "Irokez?"
A laugh. "Yeah, it's Dan. Who's this?"
A pause, and Isto allowed himself a shakey laugh of his own. "You're not going to believe this, but..."
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 10:02 am
...Well, it was better than the thing with my parents. Loads better, in fact.
His name's Danton and...honestly, he's a lot like me? Not so much in appearance. Well, kinda. Same build, same facial structure, but his hair's blue and sorta spikey, and his tail's blue but with the same pattern as mine.
And then there's the whole no-metal-arm thing. But he does have this small metal plate on his cheek, and claims that he used to have many more. Just like Tourmaline.
The first meeting went great. We talked on the phone for a while and he took the news surprisingly well. Neither of us are terribly fond of phones, so we agreed to meet at the SMO.
I gave him directions. Apparently he'd never heard of the place before.
So we met, and we talked. He's a lot like me... It's kinda weird, when you think about it. Something to be said for twins, I suppose.
As I said, he's a lot like me, but...calmer? Not really. Less...spontaneous would be the word, I guess. I'm more laid back, he likes to talk, but he thinks things through and I...don't so much? Most of the time, anyway.
Lost my train of thought. Um.
So, yeah, it was fun. I could ramble forever about this and that, but that would be extremely boring. So there you go.
Oh, and I got in touch with Mauli. Kai never had a twin. Feeling a bit better over that.
--Isto
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 10:04 am
Within three days of each other.
Violet's grown, Cody's grown, Gwen's grown, and Tourmaline grew, too. L'aven looks a bit older, but nothing drastic, and Faust is acting like the adult he is... Aside from the OCD-neat freak thing.
It's kind of nice...and then kind of not. Toddlers sleep better than babies, and, thus far, aren't nearly as clingy as them, which is good.
But toddlers...well, terrible twos, you know?
They're into -everything-, and they can talk now. So, we're getting about thirty arguements a day between Cody and Gwen alone.
Ahh, children.
I really am enjoying it, though. It's one thing to have a bunch of babies crawling around--quite another once they're toddlers.
Toddlers will actually have conversations with you...to the extent that they can. They develop interests, personalities...
It's hard to explain. But you know what I mean, right?
It's getting kind of crowded now... Well, no, it's not, but all of the shorties will need their own rooms soon.
They're all staying in the nursery for now, along with X and Jack's daughter, Stazja. There's plenty of room there...for a bunch of toddlers.
But children will want their own rooms, and I feel bad taking up so much of X's house. Slush insists she doesn't mind, and X herself has to me the same, but...
I don't know. I'd really like us to get a place of our own. Maybe some time around Christmas..?
That'd give me a bit more time.. Maybe take on a second job now that the shorties as a bit older.
I know X would chip in if I asked, but... I'd rather not. She's done enough for our family already, you know? It wouldn't feel right.
We'll see. I'll talk to Slush about it.
Gwen and Cody are at it again.
--Isto.
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