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 Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:19 pm
In Which Monty writes the first entry in her Journal of Regina
Dr. Montserrat Hector hadn't the slightest idea on how often she'd be able to use the new book she bought for herself. Regina seemed to demand attention round the clock, and if left alone for too long... well. Regina was still nursing her hand, which had been bitten by her Eastern Indigo dam. It was damn lucky that Monty was paranoid enough to only keep snakes that had been drained of their venom, otherwise... well. Small blessings were to be counted, thank you very much. As it were, after a thorough cleaning and a serious discussion about staying out of her lab when Monty wasn't there, they were both sitting in the living room.
Regina seemed to object to any sort of furniture, and instead, she opted to sit with her hand cradled in her lap, ocassionally licking the wounded appendage, smack dab in front of the television. Something was on the television that interested Regina, but it wasn't cartoons. Monty would tell you flat out that she does not even remember buying Live Free, Die Hard. Especially not for her toddler to watch.
When she tried to turn it off, Monty became very aware of just how those fangs hurt, and it wasn't something she wanted to deal with again. So, Regina sat back and watched Live Free, Die Hard, while Monty thumbed through the very empty journal she'd bought at a bookstore. Monty picked up two journals, actually, but right now didn't seem the best time for Regina to try writing in her own journal.
Something exploded on the screen, and Monty watched Regina scoot back a few feet, ears going flat into her messy hair and (Monty assumed, since she couldn't actually see her face) eyes growing wide. After the initial shock wore off, her girl scooted forward again, ears perking up cautiously in preparation for another explosion to go off. When one didn't... She giggled.
Cackled, really. There was nothing giggly about the sound Regina made.
Smiling a little to herself, the good doctor flipped to the front page of her empty Journal, and wrote in a careful cursive script. The Journal of Regina, written by Dr. Montserrat Hector. When the title had been written in place, Monty found herself doodling little flowers and bones. Not exactly fitting considering the girl in front of her who was cackling over Bruce Willis smashing someone's face in, but... well.
Flipping the page from the title to the next empty spot, she started writing, eyebrows beginning to furrow inward in a contemplative pose.Live Free... I fear for my snakes with this little girl.
There's nothing safe about Regina when it comes to smaller things. Especially since I'm certain she has a vendetta against Iaga, my favorite and oldest Eastern Indigo girl. In all fairness, it's understandable that Iaga bit her, and thank Heavens the venom was drained before I brought Iaga home to begin with.
I have no idea how Regina got into the lab by herself anyway. It was locked, and I would've heard the door opening and closing anyway, I was just in the kitchen. It seems I can't keep my eyes off her, for the sake of her safety.
Regina seems to be just fine if someone's with her, but she isn't an outwardly social creature. She's met two little girls since she was first... born? Sprung forth from the leaf. A girl named Naida, with a fish tail, convinced her to go sledding. It was quite a sight to see the big tough-as-nails tot brought down a couple notches.
And she did it without much of a fight, too. I was proud.
There was another little girl, we met her and her mother at the grocery store. Apparently she's some sort of plant-based Eden. She hasn't seen either of them, or anyone else, since those initial meetings.
I worry about her violent streak. The other day she tried to bite me for trying to take away her plate before she was done. Instincts, maybe? I know dogs shouldn't be messed with when they're eating, but just how much of Regina is run on pure instinct?
I hate to make her sound like an experiment, but I can't help myself. I'm a scientist, after all, and observing is what I do. I feel awful for it, but my own instincts demand that I keep observing.
Besides. She is my daughter, and I have to learn what to do and what not to do, right? This is a whole new playing field compared to raising my other two girls. They were human and easy to figure out. Regina's... not so much.
I might need help.
I don't want to call him.
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 5:36 pm
In Which Regina Discovers Animation
This was weird. No, really, it was! Regina sat in front of the television, chewing on a bone that Monty had (after a few hours of arguing and pouting) given her after dinner, gnawing away happily. Her teeth ached, and the few that were still coming in hurt unless she was chewing. The television was playing another movie, but this was.... different. Ridiculous. It was bright and funny and had music and dancing and angels... It was an animation.
It was 'All Dogs Go To Heaven 2'.
The dog on the screen, Charlie, a german shepherd, was singing animatedly into a halo he'd swiped from another angel. Chewing on her hambone, Regina found herself slowly singing along. The first time, she hadn't known the words, but that was a few hours ago, amidsts the fighting and pouting. And now, she realized that the words to this song, even if she didn't know what they meant, came rather easily.
Putting the bone in her mouth and clamping her jaws down hard, she crawled to the VCR, which had been moved to her level after Regina showed Monty that she could work it without breaking it like a big girl, and hit the button with the funny little arrows that pointed to the left. The movie went into reverse, rewinding to the beginning of the movie, and Gina crawled back to her spot, gnawing away while she watched.
"It's hard to explain, Itch. This joint is supposed to have everything, to be the best, but it's too... I don't know. It's too..."
Regina grinned a little to herself, mouthing along the words to the song as the German Shepherd went into his opening number. It was a fun song and after watching the beginning at least ninety two times (not that she could count, but that sounded like a good number, don't you think?) it wasn't hard for Regina to follow along the words.
"It's too heavenly here! It's too peaceful and paradise-like. Straight and narrow, and much too nice-like. Endlessly sunny and clear! It's too heavenly here..."
Monty, having been in the kitchen most of this time cleaning and writing, frowned when she heard that song again. This was the seventh time Regina'd rewound it, if she was rewinding it, and she paused to wonder why the girl didn't watch the whole movie. Maybe the VHS was skipping or freezing. Monty wiped her hands on a towel and walked into the living room quietly, the question dying on her lips when she saw the scene in front of her.
Regina, holding the ham bone in her lap, was swaying to and fro. And in the tiniest little voice, low either from misuse or by nature... Regina was singing along. She was singing along to a movie. No wonder she kept rewinding the song; Regina liked this song. Grinning a little, Monty leaned on the wall and watched, listening hard to hear the little voice.
After the angel's choir had finished their little bridge, Monty's grin grew wider at Regina's antics. The doberman tot tossed her head back, and practically howled the verse out along with Charlie on the TV. "They're all so saintly! I just can't relate, there's gotta be an exit through that pearly gate! Behold the canine who's been cut down in his prime! I may have done the crime, but I can't do the tiiiiime... 'Cause it's too heavenly here! All hallelujahs and hosannas. It could drive anyone bananas! I'm going out of my head! This place is deader than dead! I'll give you eight to three, it's too heavenlyyyyy...."
As the angels echoed their Hallelujahs, Monty found herself contemplating the difference between Gina and other, normal little girls. Any other child would've got up and danced along to the music, and stumbled over the words, but Regina had shamelessly rewound and rewound and rewound again until she could chant the words without messing up. And instead of dancing, Regina sat plopped down in front of the TV, swaying to and fro but not moving past that.
"It's too heavenly here!" Regina finished, holding the note as long as she could and ending in a sharp howl. Then the music abruptly cut out, and Regina leaned forward to rewind it again. Monty smiled a little.
"There're more songs if you watch the whole thing, Regina." She offered. Regina frowned, and looked back at Monty suspiciously. "I promise. They're fun songs, too." She held her hands up. "Monny's honor."
"..." Regina nodded at her quietly, then settled in to watch, chewing on her bone again. Monty grinned, and turned to go back into the kitchen. She was learning something from Regina every day.
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Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:37 am
In Which Regina Is Required To Write
"Is stupid."
Monty sighed and rubbed her eyes with a free hand, tired of the argument. She'd been fighting with Regina on learning to write for the past couple of days, and while Regina could write legibly if she tried, she didn't want to try. She thought it was stupid. Of course, the child thought most things were stupid, so this wasn't that big of a surprise to begin with. Monty looked at Regina tiredly. "Baby, all I want is for you to write something in this book, okay?" She poked the page. "Why don't you write about your friend Naida, hm? You liked her, right?" She offered, smiling.
Regina glowered at her, and looked longingly at the television. Monty had shut it off (and her movie!) when she deemed it time to 'write'. Which was stupid. She could've waited until after the movie, at least. With a small sigh and shrugging shoulders, Regina picked up the pen and put it against the page. "Then watch movie?" She asked, looking over at Monty hopefully.
Monty smiled and nodded. "Yep. Just write in your book and then we can watch your movie, okay?" She straightened up. "I'm going to go in the kitchen while you write, okay? So you can write anything you want." Monty stepped back after the toddler nodded, and started to go into the kitchen. She stopped at the doorway when she heard Regina ask something.
"What if I spells somethin' wrong?" Regina had asked, looking over her shoulder at her. Monty smiled and shook her head a little, amused.
"We'll work on spelling later, sweetheart. Just write whatever you want." Monty smiled encouragingly at her, then disappeared into the other room. Leaving Regina to glare ruefully at the leather bound book Monty'd picked up for her. This one was brown, like her ears and her skin. A stark contrast to the green one and the red one that Monty wrote in all the time.
Her ears flattened into her hair, and grumbling all the while, Regina started to write. Midway through writing, however, she got bored and put the pen down, picking her crayons up to scribble. Monty came in to check on her a little while later, and poked her head over her shoulder, blinking owlishly. "... You're spelling words wrong, sweetie."
"I don't care." Came the blunt reply, as Regina wrote with the pen. In fact, she wrote the words 'i don't care' on the paper, and picked her red crayon up, scribbling on a mouth. Then she slammed the book shut, and took off out of the chair, going to the television to turn her movie on. "Movie now Monny!" She chirped, flopping down in front of the TV.
Monty sighed, and opened the book curiously, looking over the entry. She grinned a little when she saw the scribbled picture, and closed the book, looking over at the girl who was staring wide-eyed at the television screen, watching a movie.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 4:50 pm
In which Regina goes on a grand adventure.
"Don' wanna go."
Monty sighed, fingers coming to the bridge of her nose and pinching hard. She'd been arguing with Regina for the past couple weeks on this trip, and when it came down to it, it didn't matter whether Regina liked it or wanted to go or not. She was going, because Monty had to go and she was not leaving her with Carl for an undeterminable amount of time. That was that. However, it didn't make packing the girl's clothes any easier. "Regina, we've been over this--"
"Can't stay at Naida's?"
"I'm not leaving you with Naida and Laura for an undetermined amount of time, Regina." Monty rolled her eyes, and picked the girl up. "Look, our taxi's here. We have to go." She said, looking at Regina. Regina sighed, and wiggled down, grabbing her suitcase.
"Still don't wanna go." She mumbled, dragging her suitcase outside. Monty nodded a little, sighing, and rubbed her eyes.
"Me neither, sweetheart." She mumbled, grabbing her own suitcases and carrying them outside. After the suitcases were put in the trunk, Regina and Monty crawled into the taxi that'd take them to the airport where her brother, Ian, was waiting. A grand adventure, Monty was sure Regina'd enjoy it once they were gone.
It was getting gone that was the hard part.This is the Hiatus post I promised in the Eden thread. I promise, I'll return soon.
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 11:25 pm
In which Regina returns with a few bumps, bruises, and a new appreciation for electricity.
To be written at a future date. >.>...
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:29 pm
Of Escaped Turtles and Cookies
Starring Monty, Regina, Naida, Bal, and Laura.
Coming soon.
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:33 pm
Of Oddly colored Invitations and Excitable Montys. ((Part 1: The sending of an invitation.))“Regina, no!”
The young Doberman-tot grimaced and carefully extracted a very large bone from between her teeth, opening her mouth as wide as it would go to take the thing out. It was an ‘artifact’, whatever that was, and apparently Monty decided this bone, for one reason or another, was not a chewing bone. Which made Regina pout, but return the bone to where it came from.
Monty sighed from the doorway, arms crossed over her chest, and held her hand out. “Come on, I’ve got something for us to do together.” She smiled, gripping the brown hand in hers gently. Regina frowned, ears perking curiously, and watched Monty as they walked. After a few minutes of silence, she couldn’t contain herself.
“What.” Regina had become monosyllabic for most things, barely speaking more then a few words at a time. It was worrisome to Monty, but she seemed perfectly happy, if a little quiet, so Monty quelled the urge to force more words out of her. Regina watched her with narrowed brown eyes. Last time Monty had suggested they ‘do something’ together, it meant a bath. Ugh, all that water and stinky soap and shampoo that made her eyes hurt!
“We’re going to write an invitation, and you get to decorate it, Regina.” Monty said, crouching down and poking Regina’s nose with a bright smile. “Would you like to decorate it for me, Gina?” Regina regarded Monty curiously, frowning. Decorating meant glue, and glue was sticky, and sticky meant bath time, and baths were awful. But the look Monty was giving her made her second guess herself. It seemed very important to her Monny.
“’kay.” She said after a brief hesitation, nodding. “I decuh-rate.” Regina said, offering a lopsided smile to her mother. Monty straightened up with a smile, and led the way into the living room, where construction paper had been set up for Regina to play with. Regina went right to work, decorating the card Monty had given her. Inside was a bunch of funny words, but Regina didn’t bother trying to read them. They weren’t important, making the card pretty for her Monny was important.
Regina wasn’t sure when Monny became her Monny, or her mother. The change had been gradual, from seeing Monty as an owner, to a guardian, to a mother. Whatever the change had brought, Gina didn’t like letting her mother down. She wanted to make her smile. The card would make her smile, no doubt about it.
While Regina decorated the carefully concealed plea for help, Monty watched from the couch, hiding behind her newspaper while she watched the toddler decorate with her ears down in concentration and her face scrunched up. As much as she loved Regina, and she loved her as much as she possibly could, the girl was quickly becoming too much for her to handle. It was like having a dog and a child all rolled into one package, and she was wearing herself out trying to take care of her and work so they didn’t have to worry about money.
It’d taken a lot of consideration before Monty even began to see this as an option, and even when she’d realized it, she didn’t want to do it. However, the other day, when Regina had all but tore apart her laboratory chasing a ball… well.
Monty needed help.
Some time later, Regina leaned back on her knees, craning her neck back with a big smile of little fanged teeth. “Done, Monny.” She said, rising off her knees and grabbing the carefully decorated card. It was all sparkles and cut out shapes and Monty couldn’t help smiling, which made Regina’s grin even wider.
“It’s perfect, Gina.” Monty said, leaning down to kiss her forehead while taking the card. “Why don’t you watch a movie while I make dinner, okay? I’ll drop this in the mailbox on the way.”
“kay, Monny.” Regina bobbed her head shortly, and wandered over to the VCR, putting in a movie and plopping down in front of the TV. Monty watched Regina for a brief minute, and smiled in a gentle way, walking outside to the mailbox. She eyed the envelope, on which the address for Carl Messing was written, and sighed.
“I hope you can help me, Carl.” She said, pressing her lips to the envelope and dropping it into her mailbox. Then Monty put it out of her mind, returning to the house to make dinner for herself and Regina. In the back of her mind, she worried, but she wouldn’t let Regina see that. Regina didn’t need to know until Carl showed up.
If he showed up.
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:53 pm
Of bathing, stinky soap, eye-hurting shampoo, and a dress. ((Part 2: Getting the reply, and giving Regina a bath.))“Don’t wanna!”
The protest was a high-pitched shriek, a result from the Doberman tot who was currently trying to escape between Dr. Montserrat Hector’s legs. Monty sighed, and grabbed Regina smoothly, hefting her up and avoiding snapping teeth with the air of a woman who’d done this far too often. “Put down! PUT DOWN!” Regina snarled, flailing all four limbs in an attempt to wiggle her way free. Bathing was, to put bluntly, a damn pain in the a**.
That morning, in the mail delivery, Monty had the pleasantry of receiving a reply from her cousin, Carl Messing, who had agreed to come that night for dinner to meet Regina. Whether or not he agreed to Monty’s insane request depended on that meeting, and she wanted Regina to at least smell nice, if she had to insist on looking like Little Orphan Annie with fur. She’d gotten her a nice dress, but whether or not Regina wore it was based solely on if Regina took a bath.
Obviously, they were in disagreement as to whether or not the dress was a good thing. “STUPID DRESS STUPID BATH NO DON‘T WANT!” Was it kind of sad that that was the most Monty heard out of her in one go in a while? With a deep sigh, Monty carried the shrieking child into the bathroom and closed the door, locking it behind her and setting Regina down. “Don’t wanna.” Tears had welled up in Regina’s eyes from frustration, but it made Monty wince anyway.
“Regina, you have to take a bath--” She began, only to be cut off by a scream that ripped free from Regina’s tiny but very capable lungs. Monty fumed, and crouched down, pulling Regina to her gently and catching her chin when she tried to look away. “Regina Hector, you stop that this instant.” She said sharply, glaring at Regina. The dog in Regina that demanded obedience winced and made her look down. “We have a very important guest coming, Gina.” Monty went on to explain, starting to undress Regina as she spoke. Regina didn’t fight her. “And I want you to look very nice for our guest, because he wanted to meet you for a long time and he’s just gotten the chance to, okay?”
Regina sighed, and looked at Monty seriously, her expression solemn. “Hate baths.”
“Yes, baby, I know.” Monty laughed a little, and went over to the bathtub, dipping her hand into the water and nodding. “It’s still warm.” She said, lifting Regina into the tub and holding out the washcloth. “You wash yourself, and I’ll do your ears and your hair.”
“Soap stinky.” Regina felt obliged to point out, squirting some of the body wash into a washcloth. She began to scrub at the pads on her feet first, getting the dirt free from her toes, and worked her way up all the way to her ears. She rubbed the washcloth along the outside of her ears, then took a deep breath, and threw herself under the water, splashing water everywhere.
Monty yelled, and threw a towel over her so she didn’t get wet, laughing. “Regina!”
Regina righted herself, and wrung the washcloth out, then covered her eyes with it. “Stingy shampoo!” She demanded, holding the washcloth against her eyes so the shampoo didn’t get in them. Smiling, Monty crouched down on a towel and washed Regina’s hair, itching behind her ears for a spot she always missed. This was the most success Monty had ever had giving Regina a bath, and damn if it didn’t make her feel like a capable mother.
Hair shampooed, conditioned, and rinsed free, Monty rose and took Regina out of the tub, wrapping her in a towel and unlocking the door. “Bedroom, Missy.”
“Dress?” Regina made a face, walking with Monty to her bedroom to get dressed. There, on her bed, was the offending garment, all pink and ribbons and bows. Good god, how she hated it. “Don’t like.”
“I don’t care, Regina. Dry off while I get it ready.” Monty left Regina to get dried off while she got out her underwear, and righted the dress, untying the ribbon sash that went around her waist and the ribbon for her hair. “I want to brush your--”
“No.” The tone really left no room for argument. Monty sighed.
“Well can I at least fix it?”
“…” Regina looked over, narrowing her eyes, then nodded shortly. “No brush.” She said, drying off and grabbing her underwear to put them on. Those on, she went over to Monty, and let Monty make her up like a doll in a stupid pink dress with a stupid pink ribbon and a stupid pink hair thingy. Her ears twitched back and forth at the offending headpiece, but Monty got it to stay.
“There.” Monty leaned back, grinning, and hugged Regina. “You look beautiful.” She said, standing up. Regina looked towards a mirror against her door, and made a face.
“Dumb.”
“No, beautiful.”
“… Pff. Dumb.” Regina rolled her eyes, and started to walk out of the room. “Movie!”
“Yeah, you can watch a movie.” Monty snorted, and went downstairs with Regina, breaking away from her to go wait out on the porch for her cousin Carl while Regina watched a movie. While Monty was outside, Regina’s curiosity got the better of her, and her ears perked up, listening for gravel crunching under rubber tires.
When she heard it, Regina bolted from the living room to the door, peeking out as a green Mustang pulled into the driveway. Ears erect and eyes wide, Regina watched as someone emerged from the car.
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:09 pm
Of Meeting Carl and deciding Blue is much better then Pink. ((Part 3: Meeting Carl.))Carl Messing, six foot two and all limbs, at least that’s how he looked, got out of the 1992 forest green Mustang, a big grin plastered on his goofy face. “Cousin Monty!” He threw his long arms open, walking up onto the porch and yanking Monty into a hug. “It’s great to see you, Monty!” The brunette set his cousin down with a big smile, kissing her cheeks. “Where’s the kiddo?”
“She’s inside watching a movie.” Monty said, returning the embrace with a smaller smile. “I’m so glad you came, Carl. I’m… I’m going nuts.” She laughed a little. “I’m not used to it just being us, you know?” Her arms wrapped around herself, and Carl nodded understandingly, hugging her. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” She asked quietly, hugging him.
The man leaned back and grinned, nodding. “Sure. I love kids! Come on.” He started to walk to the door, and froze when he realized it was slightly ajar. The wide grin turned into a knowing smirk, and he began to walk to the door in exaggerated steps, making Regina’s eyes grow wider with each closer step. She started to scramble back away from the door just as the man yanked the door open. “Aha! I spy a little spy with my eye!” He said, throwing his arms out, and then making binoculars with his eyes. “And what a lovely specimen of little spy it is!”
Regina yelped, and flailed, falling back onto the floor. She stared at Carl, eyes wide, and bit down a giggle. She covered her mouth, brown eyes gleaming, and got up carefully, brushing off her dress. Carl grinned, and went inside, followed closely by Monty. He crouched down, holding out his hand. “I’m Carl. I guess I’m like, your second cousin, but you can call me Uncle Carl if that’s easier.” He said, beaming at Regina.
Gina nodded, ears folding back, and shook his hand. “Regina.” She said, withdrawing her hand and crossing her arms behind her.
Carl glanced back at Monty, amused. “Strong silent type, isn’t she.” He said, straightening up and nudging Monty. “Go order pizza, cous’. Give us a minute alone.” Monty nodded, and walked to the kitchen to order pizza. Regina watched after her, then looked at Carl. Carl looked back at her, they both remained silent for a minute. After a minute, he gave up, and spoke first. “So, Monty told me you like All Dogs Go to Heaven.”
“Charlie.” Regina grinned, nodding. “He‘s got ears like mine.” Carl laughed, nodding, and held out his hand.
“Well, you know, I used to love that movie. I haven‘t seen it in a while though, if you wanna watch--”
Regina grabbed onto his hand and yanked him into the living room, nodding quickly as she went. “Charlie, Charlie!” She said, rounding on him and bouncing. “An‘ Itchy too!” Carl snorted laughter, and nodding.
“Alright, we’ll watch it.” He said, plopping down on the couch and pulling Regina up next to him. Regina grabbed the remote, and hit the play button. Naturally, All Dogs Go To Heaven was in the VCR. It was, after all, her favorite movie. Monty peeked in on them after ordering the pizza, and seeing that they were okay, she went to leave. However, she picked up on a conversation, and stepped into the living room closer, frowning.
“… So your Mom picked that dress out, didn’t she.” Carl was muttering, watching the movie. Regina nodded, making a face.
“Is stupid. An’ she gave me a bath.”
“Oh, no.” Carl laughed, looking down. “With the bad shampoo?” Regina nodded, huffing. “Well, you look very nice, Gina.”
“Nuh uh.” Regina scoffed. “Stupid. Lotsapink.”
“… Yeah, yeah it is.” Carl nodded. “Lots of pink.” He laughed. “Maybe next time we can convince her to get you something blue.” He said, watching the TV. Regina nodded again.
“Bloo’s nice.” Regina agreed, watching the movie. Monty smiled, and shook her head, walking out of the living room. Any doubts she might’ve had about Carl, of all people, helping her raise Regina… well, they were long gone now. Carl’d be the best thing for both of them. Regina already loved him, and he’d been in the house all of five minutes.
She just hoped Carl could reign in his extra activities around the girl. The last thing she needed was two convicts in the house.
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:23 pm
The addition of a second parental unit must mean they're prepared for twice the trouble - the next morning dawns to find Regina has grown into a tough kid!
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 7:46 pm
In which there is a party of the Halloween persuasion.
Starring Gina, Carl, and numerous other Eden kids and their guardians!
The grounds of the Project had just been finished with a few last minute decorating details. The décor was frightening without being uninviting and all the refreshments were placed about in their appropriate places, much of the refreshments were within the maul of fake cardboard swamp monsters and other fearsome (but not too fearsome) beasts. It was a time to be festive, have fun, and make new friends. The goal of this was to touch base with the new and the old and perhaps to perhaps strengthen any old bonds that had been formed. As far as Shouko was concerned that was exactly what needed to happen.
The games that were set up were the following: bobbing for apples, pin the fangs on the vampire, and so on. A small haunted house was set up near the Gazebo, though the haunted house was more a small tent-maze with various scarier decorations set up within it. All in all it seemed as if people would have to try very hard not to enjoy themselves and even harder to be bored. There was atmospheric sounds playing in the air to enhance the mood of the party.
So, now she played the waiting game. Nothing could possibly go wrong today, the mood of the day was just right. Everything seemed to be in place, except she couldn't stop fidgeting with the hem of her 'Good Witch' costume.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Carl Messing glanced over at Regina, grinning wide, and nodded. "Sure I'm sure. It'll be great!" He exited the black sedan that he'd bought for the sole purpose of chauffering Regina around when Monty was busy. Since meeting Regina, he'd gotten easily sucked into a routine where it was only him and Regina. Monty had gotten a contract that involved working all day and most of the night, until Carl shoved her off to bed. Regina helped when she could, but she got bored with research quickly.
When Carl found out about the invitation, he begged and pleaded with Monty to let him take Regina. After a few hours of begging and pouting, she relented, only a little guilty that she couldn't go. She didn't like dressing up. Carl, however, loved it. And after introducing Regina to Jim Henson and the Labyrinth, their costumes had been decided. Carl glanced down at himself, adjusting the leather jacket he was wearing. Carl had agreed to go as Jareth, Goblin King of the Labyrinth, and Regina came as his little Heir, the Goblin Princess.
Regina giggled at Carl's wig, and shook her head, climbing out of the car. She'd agreed to wear a dress, and it looked like something out of a horrible fairy tale. A leather 'corset', which was little more then a piece of leather that zipped up in the back, and a ratty skirt. She had a leather cloak on as well, black leather like Carl's jacket. Her hair, known to be crazy, now sported a tiara at an odd angle, and a bunch of sticks and twigs. She had dirt smeared on her face, in an attempt to look truly ghoulish. "I look okay?" Regina frowned, tugging at her ears, which blended into her crazy hair easily. Carl laughed, nodding.
"C'mon, Regina." He schooled a haughty expression over his face, and Regina mimicked him, walking into the headquarters with her Uncle Carl, like they truly were royalty.
This was going to be awesome.
The pink haired girl glanced up from Nah only to see a very regal looking pair wandering on into the area. She raised a hand and offered a friendly wave, greeting as a good hostess should, at least people were finally starting to arrive rather than not coming at all.
“This’ll be a good party, I hope.” She said mostly to Nah who was in closest hearing distance. “Going to go check on some last minute treats I have cooking up! Go say hi.” With that she wandered off without much more to say because she, herself, had much to do in order to make sure the party went smoothly.
Nahuel waved meekly at the girl, who looked like she might bite him, and prayed for a distraction. Not that it wasn't a cool costume, it was just that she looked downright terrifying! But he could never admit that.
Why wasn't there anyone here who he recognized?
He scanned the immediate surroundings and studied the other boy in a fedora. Rabbit ears?
"Owen!" he called, waving.
Teagan kept to the wall, still a bit out of Shouko's good graces. He slipped a pair of dark shades on, completing his makeshift Matrix costume. Normally he would have gone for something a little more extravagant, but since he hadn't been working much outside the project house lately it wasn't something he had the cash to burn on. For now he was planning to keep a low profile for the night and try not to annoy either of the girls. He'd helped with the decorations and setting up, but he wasn't sure yet if he actually wanted to stay
Regina had yet to spot anyone she was even the slightest bit familiar with, and while her face was schooled into a haughty, regal expression, she was a little anxious. She waved to the woman who must've been Shouko, and another boy who waved, and then glanced up at Carl. "There's a lot of people here." She muttered, frowning and looking around. "But I don't see Naida." She'd been looking forward to seeing her fishy friendd, too. Carl smiled a little and squeezed her hand.
"Maybe she just hasn't come yet." He looked around, and spotted the snack table, grinning. "Come on, let's get something to eat, alright?" He looked down at Regina, who nodded and led the way. She spotted someone standing near a wall, and frowned curiously, sniffing towards him.
"I'll be back." She muttered to Carl, breaking away from him and walking over to Teagan, stopping a distance away and crossing her arms in front of you. "Are you hidin'?" She asked finally, scrunching her face up to regard him suspiciously. Nothing subtle about this puppy, oh no.
The lemur cracked a smile, moving his shades just long enough to wink. "Yep," he told her bluntly, "I pissed off the girls. It was all a big misunderstanding of course." His tail swished back and forth anxiously, betraying his nerves. He glanced around at the newest arrivals. While he didn't recognize some that didn't really mean much, there had apparently been a lot of newbies during his bout of drunken stupors. "Don't tell Shouko I'm back here, okay?" he asked, "I'll uh, give you some smokes or something if you keep quiet." Or some candy, probably less likely to get him in trouble with the kid's parents.
"Girls?"
Regina looked around, ears twitching in her hair and rattling a few of the leaves stuck there. "Which girls?" She asked curiously, looking back at Teagan. At the mention of Shouko, she snorted. "Ohh." Older girls. Blegh. She wrinkled her nose at the mention of smoke. While she didn't get what smokes were, exactly, she knew the smell. It was awful and burned her nose a little.
"I won't tell." She scoffed. "I ain't a snitch." She'd picked that up from Carl. It was never good to snitch on someone, because it got lots of people into trouble. She looked him over, a little amused. "So what'cha do?" She asked, crossing her arms again with a grin. "Didja throw mud at 'em or somethin'?" She learned fairly quickly that girls, or at least Monty, did not like to be hit with balls of mud.
Tea couldn't help but laugh at the idea of chucking mud at them. "Nah, a little worse than mud," he conceded, trying to think of the best way to phrase it to a kid, "I uh, well." He scratched behind one of his ears, at a bit of a loss for words. "Oh, I know. You know when a boy and a girl really really like each other and they kiss and... stuff. Well it was her and Tyyne, maybe a little close to the same time and not exactly discrete." That still sounded more slutish than he had hoped.
Regina blinked owlishly when the lemur explained what he'd done, and frowned slowly. Then she made a face. "Why would you wanna kiss a girl anyway?" She snorted. "Especially two girls. They're gross." Naturally, Regina didn't understand the big deal about dating. Monty hadn't seen fit to explain it to her, and Carl hadn't been on a date since moving in, so she didn't have reason to wonder about it. Except for that one time in that movie where the guy kissed the girl. Blegh.
And of course, Regina didn't count herself in with the 'gross' girls. She was hardly a girl at all, thank you very much!
He had caught no undue attention or any attention at all it seemed. The teen couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing as he was used to at least having some form of attention upon him. The teen nibbled on his lower lip where a ring pierced it and then continued to move forward ever further into the proverbial lion's den. There was a snag in his plan. Now that he was here what did he do? Did he mingle and get to know others? Did he just stand apart and listen in on the conversations? There seemed to be a rather juicy buzz in the air or at least the scent of it by the way people behaved that were near the boy with the ringed tail.
Idly he drifted over to get a better grasp of the situation.
While Regina had been talking to Tea, a few people either approached, moved closer, or drifted by. She noticed each one, though she didn't outright look at them. Her ears simply twitched towards the direction, then her attention was back on Teagan. However, someone had gotten close and didn't seem to be moving. She frowned a little, feeling the fur on the back of her ears prickle, and turned her head curiously, glancing over at a teenager with a metal thing in his lip. She frowned a little, narrowing her eyes curiously, and tilted her head. And then she did what any person would probably do. Maybe.
She waved at the person.
Tea glanced at the approaching guy. He was a little shorter than the lemur himself, but that wasn't saying much. Most people were. He wasn't too worried about himself, but he did get a little closer to Regina. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and, after checking to see that Shou wasn't looking his way, put on in his mouth. The lighter he grabbed with his tail, flipping it into the air before he caught it and flicked it in one motion. Task accomplished, he tucked it away and turned his attention back to Regina. "They're not so gross when you're my age," he said bluntly, "They're soft and nice."
Regina hadn't noticed Tea get closer to her, if she had she would've laughed. Pff, like she needed protecting. She could kick butt! ... Or Carl's butt, but he might've let her win. ... If Carl let her win, she'd be awfully mad at him! Her ears perked up when she turned back to him, and she made a face at his comment. The cigarette didn't bother her, at least not yet. Neither Carl nor Monty smoked, so it wasn't something she'd been introduced to. She watched him light the cigarette curiously, and then shook her head. "Girls have cooties." She snorted at him, like he was unaware of the danger he was putting himself into. The cootie was clearly a viral disease spread by girls.
"And boys have poisonous snakes in their jeans," Tea snapped back without missing a beat, reciting what a particularly weird church teacher had told him once. He'd had nightmares for weeks after that one. "Gotta watch out for them, makes them do crazy things," he said with a decidedly unhidden grin.
"... Nuh uh." Regina stared at him, brown eyes opened wide. "Poisonous snakes gotta stay in their cages, my Monny says so." She said matter-of-factly, snorting at him. "Boys have cooties too, they just have different kinds of cooties." She made a face. "But those're probably just as bad as poisonous snakes." She said, eying him. She took a step back. "Don't give me your cooties please." She stuck her tongue out, and grinned at the same time, giving her a sort of dog-with-its-tongue-hanging-out effect.
"I won't, pinky swear," Tea said, flashing her a crooked gesture of the pact. He took a drag on the cigarette and, very thoughtfully, exhaled in the other direction. On the subject of the snakes, he nodded, "Yeah, that's why you always gotta make sure they keep their pants on."
"If a boy took down his pants in front of me I'd smack him." She snorted, crossing her arms stubbornly. "Not gonna get attacked by some stupid poisonous snake. Got bit once, thank you." She huffed, rubbing at her arm where one of Monty's snakes had bitten her. She looked up at him. "Hey, what's your name?" She blinked owlishly.
He laughed, nearly swallowing the cigarette in the process. After coughing a bit he took another drag, holding this one a bit longer to calm his nerves. "Teagan," he told her, "I work here sometimes. You?" She looked a little familiar. Belinda maybe? No, she was darker than that one had been. Mystery. Had he met her before? Seen her around? He didn't know.
"Regina." Gina grinned at him, and looked around. "I never been here before. Not that I can remember, anyway. But Carl saw the invitation and said we oughta come." She said, brushing at her skirt absently. She looked at Teagan again, blinking. "What'cha do here?" She asked, looking around the house curiously. What was there to do on a normal day? Today, sure, there were lots of things to do, but it couldn't possibly be like this every day, right?
"I fix stuff," he admitted, "Odd jobs, pretty much whatever's going wrong that day. You know, the roof, the plumbing, the greenhouse." He cracked a smile, remembering the days when he used to be the one destroying the place. "I used to be a gymnast. Can't do it so much anymore though, thanks to this stuff," he admitted, raising the cigarette purposefully.
Regina nodded, looking around again curiously. This time imagining what it must be like when something breaks. Brown eyes turned back to him again at the mention of gymnast. She blinked. "What's that?" She asked, frowning. "A gymnast. Do they fix gyms?" She furrowed her brow curiously, then eyed the cigarette. "Why d'you do it then?" She blinked. Regina hadn't been introduced to the wonderful world of addictions, being a kid. If something was bad, then it shouldn't be done in her eyes. Well... most things. The really bad things, anyway.
"Gymnasts do flips and things," he explained, glancing with her at the cigarette, "It's um, hard to explain. There are some things that look really cool when you see someone else doing them but then when you try it, it's really hard to stop." He thought for a moment about how to make it seem bad, the way people had tried to do for him, "If I don't have one of these every couple of hours I get really mean and feel really sick."
She stared at him in wonder. Flips and things. She grinned a little, and nodded. "Cool." She muttered. She frowned a little, eying the cigarette, and sniffed, rubbing her nose. "It smells funny." She said, looking at Teagan. "Monny gets grouchy when she doesn't have coffee. Is it like that?" She asked, frowning. It was easier for her to understand if she could connect it to something.
"Tastes funny too," Tea laughed, "Kind of gross actually, but you stop noticing after a while." He thought about it for a minute. "That's not a good thing though," he added quickly, hoping he hadn't made the idea seem more appealing. It was kind of like caffiene, that was another one of his vices. "Yeah, it's almost exactly like that, not a good thing to start."
She nodded, making a face. "Gross." She muttered. "I don't think I could ever do that." She said, eying the cigarette. "It'd make my nose funny, I bet." She rubbed her nose, and grimaced. "Coffee's gross too. Monny let me have some once. Tastes worse then mud." She said solemnly, snorting. Monty had been careful about Gina not getting any caffeine. She was a handful enough for the two of them without caffeine to add to it.
"Good, don't try it," he told her with a dry smirk, "These things are going to kill me one day." A thought struck him suddenly. This was a Halloween party right? With costumes and things, so she probably didn't dress like that normally. She was probably another one of Eden's vast tomboy population. "What're you dressed as?" he asked, not wanting to guess something and have it be wrong.
"Oh, I won't." She promised, nodding quickly. "I don't wanna die." She made a face, and then the face disintrigated when he asked her just what she was. She grinned wide, and put her hands on her hips. "I'm Princess Regina, of the Goblins!" She proclaimed, nodding quickly. Then she turned around, looking for Carl. When she spotted the wig, she pointed. "That's King Jareth. Really, it's my Uncle Carl, but don't tell him I told you." She whispered loudly, grinning. "He wants to be Jareth today."
The teen in the Zorro mask waved back but didn't move away. He behaved in a casual manner even if the ring-tailed teen had moved closer to the younger girl in a protective manner. The lip-ringed teen didn't seem to give a single care about it. He didn't focus his attention to just these two but his gaze roamed about trying to pick out the differences between himself and these others. The teen only half listened to the conversation between older boy and young girl.
It took a lot for "Zorro" to keep himself from outright laughing at the conversation he was half-privy to by virtue of lingering nearby.
He should talk to someone. The two closest to him seemed wrapped up in their own little conversation but why would he care? So he turned toward them and edged a bit closer. "S'up?"
Regina hadn't been so into her conversation that she'd missed the boy with the pierced lip when he finally spoke to her and Teagan, after standing there and looking around. She looked over, and offered a small smirk, shrugging. "Nothin'. Who're you?" As tactful as a badger to the face, this one. Regina didn't seem at all suspicious of the boy, turning to face him with a curious smile. He was here, right? So obviously he couldn't be bad, since this was a place for good stuff. Her logic was infallable!
Although it's too subtle for anyone to detect just yet, something strange is going on. Maybe you feel a change in the air pressure, or a shift in the winds.
The gazebo has begun to creak.
Naida had never been to a party before. Looking around her, she was not sure that she liked them. There were lots of other children there, mostly older than her, and unrecognizable in their bright masks and swirling dresses. The air smelled strongly, like the chocolates and caramels and fruit-flavored candies in the bowls, and the hot sticky breath of children who had been eating them. She could smell the familiar night smells underneath it, too, like wet grass and trees and that sort of stiff smell that comes when it's chilly out. She hugged her jacket closer to her and curled her tail up to her chest.
"Mommy," she said, meaning to ask if they could go home or if she had seen Regina around, but Laura didn't hear her. She was in her wagon, which put her lower and further back than she needed to be to ask anything quietly. Suddenly she wished that she had asked her mother to carry her instead of riding in the wagon, even if it did make it harder for her to look for Gina.
Her mask began to itch around her eyes, so she pulled it off and held it in her lap. She didn't much like wearing a mask, even if she did like her costume. She was dressed as Violet from The Incredibles, who was a nice girl with long black hair who could turn invisible. Naida had thought that the costume would turn her invisible, too, but that wasn't true.
But -- there was Regina! Over by the table with all the candy, with two boys much bigger and taller than her. Gina was bigger too, she realized with a sudden lump in her throat. She grew? How was she supposed to talk to a big kid?
Before she had quite worked the thing out in her mind, Laura gave a pleased laugh and turned around to smile at her. "Hey, look at that, sweetheart!" she said, "It's Gina! Isn't she big now?," and before she knew it she and her wagon and her costume were over there, not invisible at all.
"Hi, Gina," she said, and she could feel her cheeks turn pink and hot. Was she excited or embarrassed? She couldn't tell. "You're big!"
The sound of shattering wood fills the air as the gazebo buckles, sending a shower of splinters first into the air, and then into the ground as some unseen force sucks it into the earth. Left in its place is a strange pool the consistency of quicksilver, and anyone close enough to peer into its depths will see the strange patchwork layout of a far-away country reflected within it.
Every sound stops. The world falls strangely silent, like all the air has been sucked out of it. The form of a woman rises slowly out of the pool, beautiful and young, with long green hair. She surveys the gathering of partygoers, a look of utter disdain on her face, and focuses in on the red haired teen that no one has ever seen before now.
Recognition flashes in her eyes. She raises a single, shaking finger and mouths a single, silent word:
"You."
She plunges back into the pool. Noise returns in a cacophony - a thousand years of bird song, the sound of trees growing and dying, a baby's first cries, the crackle of fire as it consumes the entire world. And then there is the wind, strong and swift, the winds of the Garden that brought them out and are now calling them back. It is only felt by those who were born of leaves - their guardians don't feel it at all - and it draws them swiftly towards the rippling pool of magic.
Well, that was unpleasant. Garrett's sensitive ears are raped by both extreme silence, and the overexposure of sound. He buckles over and covers them at the first sign of the return of noise, which really doesn't help his situation when it comes to the swift wind pushing and shoving him toward the pool of magic now not a few feet away.
He digs the thick soles of his cowboy boots into the ground and spreads wide his wings, but this doesn't seem to deter the wind at all. He still skids across the ground even with the buffer of his open wings. The boy visible winces as the noise gets even louder, and when his hands cupped over his ears do nothing to muffle the sound anymore, he gives up, and lets himself be taken.
Unlike his friend, Nahuel had no wings to buffer against the wind. He was slowed a little by virtue of how he fell - Being upwind of Garrett, he was first pushed against his friend, and then once Garrett gave up fighting the wind, was carried along with the other boy.
"Woah!" he exclaimed, reaching up to hold his hat more securely against his head. This was his last conscious action before the pool was beneath them and the strange, quicksilver liquid and the strange land within it swallowed them both up.
Gina had been ready to answer Naida when It happened. Her ears sunk into her hair quickly, she grimaced in pain when silence turned into loud loud noise. She reached up to cover her ears, and spotted a pair of Cowboys. Curious almost overwhelming the urge to go to the pool, she wandered towards them, stumbling a little to fight off the need to dive headfirst into the pool and wherever it was going.
Lucky for her, they seemed to be going that way, too. She followed them, and sunk into the pool with a yell. Her last conscious human thought was of Carl, and what he'd do when he realized she was gone.NOTE: I only included the RP posts that were relevant to Regina in some way, shape, or form. This was an ORP.
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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:58 pm
In which Gina is not Gina.
Starring Gina, Nahuel, the Macaw Queen, and Garrett.
Here!
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