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Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:49 pm
[ Roleplay: Home! ] Amaya didn't wake the very second the rain had stopped, or even when the drole hum of the electricity came back on. What woke her was the ever growing presence of heat... something that was very, very much welcome.
Green eyes slowly opened and looked around. She lay huddled up next to Rex in the lean-to, her body pressed tightly into him for warmth. Blinking, she slowly pushed herself to a sitting position and looked around. What was that... sound? Rubbing her eyes with the back of her palm, she sat up slowly enough to keep the man next to her asleep for now.
Was that... a hum? Blinking a couple of more times, it took a few minutes before it occured to her exactly what it was. Her eyes shot open and she shook Rex. "Rex! Rex wake up!" The electricity was on! He had to get away... somehow!
Rex actually had a rather pleasant night's sleep. His rest was not haunted by dreams and the cold was fought off by the Amaya sleeping in his lap. He needed that night's slee-- "Huh?! What?!"
He was shaken awake by the lizard girl, and it sort of startled him. Rex blinked, trying to figure out what they hell was going on. "What's happening?" it took him a few breaths to realize the the sun was shining and the roll of rain was replaced by a hum, like a generator or something... A generator?! "Hey! The rain stopped! but whats that other sound?" He sprang to his feet... well.. crawled to his feet and crouched over so he didn't bust down the lean-to. He was half surprised the girl wasn't outside already soaking up some rays.
"What happened? Everything got a happy!" He exclaimed comically. He took a few steps outside into the heart of the camp, crossed his arms and turned back to Amaya, "Quite the way to start off fresh!"
Ian burst into the camp breathing heavily. He was wearing clean clothes that looked like they came right from a fantasy ranger. His hair was neat and combed and he was no longer muddy except for his hooves t=since he had been running to reach the camp.
"Everyone! The duplexes are open!" he panted skidding to a halt by Rex and Amaya. "I was there!"
Then he spotted Amaya, she appeared a lot more green and scaly than before. "Amaya. . ." he had almost caught his breath. "How art thou doing?" he had always liked Amaya and felt that her being here was wrong.
"And Rex was it? Thou should be trying to leave this place. Everything being back means that it is no longer safe."
Lily had been asleep in one of the shelters, she'd stayed at the camp because she didn't want to stay alone out in the jungle anymore and she wasn't sure if Awen would still show up. Not to mention that everyone had disappeared- the note left by Chubbs didn't last through the rain. The weather had finally gotten to her, staying outside for so long was one thing but the rain had gotten her.
Feeling tired and sore, the hum of electricity didn't wake her- what did was the sound of people talking outside. She opened her eyes and made her way to the outside.
"What?" she asks quietly, not really saying it to anyone in particular, her voice is a little scratchy- the first sign she's catching a cold. She stretches a bit before noticing the others. She doesn't recognize them, but walks towards them.
The power is back on!" Amaya excalimed, her paniced tone trying to replace the man's enthusiasm. "It means the staff are back! You need to hide... or... or... something!" She crawled foreward as well, her legs and tail making it a lot more fluid then how Rex crouched. The fact that the sun was shinning and the duplexes were now opened occured to her second. Her main concern was getting the nice man free... she didn't want him to go through the same thing she had. He didn't deserve it.
Then Ian skidded into the camp. She smiled, grateful to see him... then caught the look he gave her. She frowned and backed deeper into the lean-to. Though she was surprised the deer-man even recognized her. The only thing that looked like her was her eyes and the ever-present locket around her neck. The lizard-girl didn't reply to him, too ashamed of herself. Even as Lily woke up and approached them she slunk farther back into the lean-to with her gaze focused sadly on the ground in front of her.
Rex was enjoying the sun, examining the clear skies through the holes of the canopy above when Ian burst into the camp. He jumped slightly, That was sudden.
"They're open?!" Rex said excitedly. He'd only been out here in the jungle for a fraction of the time compared to some of the other islanders, but a shower sounded awfully nice. Judging by the looks of Ian, he'd already beaten them to getting cleaned up. But Ian's statement to him made his happiness die a bit. "Yeah, Rex. Ian, if I'm not mistaken? Nice to see you again." He smiled, the people on the island really were just normal people. He'd learned to look past their animal exterior, unphased. "If the duplexes are open, that must mean the labs are as well." It had become do or die time, if Rex didn't get off the island soon he'd be stuck here... forever.
A girl Rex had yet to meet emerged from a shelter, looking a bit dazed. "Well, good morning! I'm Rex."
He turned back to Amaya, noticing she slowly backed farther and farther into the shelter. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Should he go hide in misery with his humanity, or get get an actual meal, shower, etcetera.
Ian saw Amaya backing further and further into hiding and he frowned. He had recongized her by her locket and clothes, and obviously she was ashamed of how she looked.
Ian turned towardsthe other person that appeared in the camp and he smiled warmly "Hello. I do not think I have had the pleasure of meeting thee. My name is Ian Campbell."
Then he held out a hoof to Amaya "It's alright, don't hide." He was lousy at giving comfort but he would do the best he could.
"I would assume the labs are open," he said without looking at Rex. "I was able to shower at my duplex and it appears as though there is food cooking at the cafeteria."
Lily's steps become less hesitant the closer she gets, this time she hears what's said by Rex in response to Ian. It doesn't take much thinking to realize what they are talking about- what else would suddenly be open? She stops a couple feet away from the others.
"Hello Rex, Hello Ian," she greets the two politely, noting how polite Rex is and the .. unique way that Ian greeted her. She listens when Ian continues, saying the labs must be open and that there is food cooking in the cafeteria.
"Oooh, finally!" she says with a sigh, looking off towards the trees- not sure which direction the duplexes would be, and not realizing that Amaya is hiding in the lean-to. She does look curiously back at it when Ian tries to get her to come out, though.
For a moment Amaya simply looked at the hoof that was offered to her. She looked at it and eventually took it with her overly large, scale-covered hand and allowed him to pull her out of the lean-to. Her eyes remained on the ground, unable to look at any of them.
"Though now that the power is back on, they probably already know you here." She glanced at Rex's torso, avoiding his face. "They might've already got you."
His heart pounded, suddenly he felt like everyone was going to be after him. Chasing him, trying to pin him and stick him with a needle. And both of his options were rather unfavorable. Fight back or give in, blunt and straight forward, no grey area in between.
He new that he should fight, do everything within his power to get off this island, even though there wasn't alot he could do. His gut doubted, it had struck a weak chord in Rex's heart. Food, real food sounded incredible to him. Like coming home from a backpacking trip, something delectable made his stomach rumble audibly.
He was glad to see Lily gained a bit more confidense and approached them with less precaution. She was so lax about the ordeal, she appeared to be fully human but he'd learned not to doubt the impossible anymore.
Rex's eyes widened as Amaya spoke. They know I'm here? Now that's just plain creepy. A serious expression spread across his face as he examined his worn body for any new wounds or punctures. "That's a scary thought... but I guess that there's only one way to find out." He'd decided, Rex waved a hand in the direction Ian had run into camp from, "Ladies first."
Ian smiled at Amaya to try to help her out as she came into the open. "It's alright." he said again, "Thou art still the same Amaya as always." And he turned to Lily and Rex. Nodding at the decision Rex had made. "Please," he said gesturing Lily towards where he had come out of the trees.
Lily started when Amaya was suddenly pulled from the shelter, gasping but managing to strangle it back- though she ends up coughing. She mentally groans at the realization that she's getting sick, and glances at Amaya again. She'd changed so much since she'd been brought here, and it hadn't been so long.
"Amaya, you're alright! And y-you just got here?" she asks after Amaya tells Rex they might have gotten him already, surprised, "How?"
By the sounds of it Rex isn't here on purpose, yet he seems so calm around Amaya. He's obviously handling it well. She looks back and fourth between Rex and Ian when they both gesture in the direction of the village, then tries to act a little more cheerful than she feels.
"I'll have to trust you guys on this," she says in a mock-skeptical voice, "I don't know my way around so well."
"Yeah, theres cameras all over the island." Green orbs finally traveled up to breifly glance at Rex's face. "Just standing here probably got them to notice you... if they didn't already do it while you were sleeping." Her frown increased, just now seeing how impossible getting him off the island really was.
She tried to smile at Ian, but winced at the startled cough coming from Lily. Amaya looked away, fiddling with her claws. "I'm okay." Though as she started walking she hung back a little, only starting once Ian did.
Rex turned to the girl who he seemed to miss her name, "Uh yeah, I washed up on shore a few days ago." The thought of the darkness and tumbling through the ocean clouded his mind. He could almost taste the salt water. "What was your name again?" He questioned politely.
"Cameras? Sheesh.." He sighed, becoming slightly paranoid about this Moreau guy. "I take it the people that run this island are a bit controlling to say the least?"
He followed suit after the girls and bee-lined the direction Ian had come from.
Eventually they arrived in the village and boy did the cafeteria smell good. Rex chuckled, "So since they obviously know I'm here, I wonder if I've got living quarters yet."
Ian had followed them back to the village staying close to Amaya. Rex was right, the other girl hadn't introduced herself. Not that he minded, he wasn't sure how many more names he could remember and put to faces. "If you want a shower, my duplex is that way." Ian ponted and shrugged. He didn't mind letting Rex use his shower, especially if Rex didn't have his own duplex. "Otherwise those duplexes have been previously vacant." He gestured towards some of the other duplexes. "Thou can always just claim one for yerself."
He yawned and looked at the cafeteria yearningly. He wanted a tomato, he hadn't had one of those in a long while. He smiled at Amaya, "dost thou want food or a shower first?"
Lily smiles, "We were worried, Amaya. It's good to see you moving.." she would say 'moving again' but she hadn't really met her before. She glances back at Rex when he explains how he got here, her eyes widening a bit.
"That's awful, atleast-" she hesitates, "atleast you're alright, if being here counts.."
Then he asks for her name, and she frowns. She'd forgotten to introduce herself!
"I'm sorry, my name is Lily" she looks at Rex, then at Ian and Amaya. She hadn't formally introduced herself to Amaya either, and now it seemed like the right thing to do. She slows down when they reach the village, the smell of the cafeteria quite encouraging. Life could return to the somewhat normal it had been before, though she hadn't had much time in her duplex before.
"I don't think anyone was in the upstairs of my duplex," she murmurs, looking towards the unoccupied duplexes- near which she spots her own..
"I wouldn't doubt it." Amaya said, trying to sound a little happy even though she was failing miserablly. "You can use my intercom to contact them... they'll probably get you more clothes too."
Green eyes blinked and looked to Ian. She felt somewhat normal when he was around and really was grateful he was here. "Food doesn't sound too bad, actually." He could probably tell she had lost a bit of weight due to being out in the wild for some time. Even though fruit had been in good supply, it wasn't as nutritious as getting her greens and fruit. Especially apples. And strawberries. Ohhh god strawberries. Her stomach grumbled at the thought.
"Yeah, the rain stopped so I think I'm back to normal... as normal as I can get anyway." She frowned, but glanced back at Lily and gave her a tiny, genuine smile. "Thanks for saving me the night before. You and Chubbs. I dunno if I'd have died there or not... it felt like it, though."
"Oh, that's awfully kind of you, Ian! Thanks for the offer. Let me check out the vacant duplexes and I'll get back to you." Rex jogged down the road towards the empty buildings and checked the name plates. He found Lily's and ran up the stairs, there he saw Avery's name. Whoa.. okay.. Since we arrived at the same time... He ran next door and checked there. His heart gave a bounce and a plummet when he found Duplex 35 with a name plate and writing that scrawled "Rex Vadnais". They really do know I'm here.
He found a key in front of the door, slipped it in the slot and turned. The door opened with a click and he peeked his head inside. He was shocked The entire room was fully furnished with everything he needed for living and it actually looked quite accomidalbe.
He locked the door and slipped the key in his pocket, then ran back other to the group. "Uh... there's a Duplex with my name on it." He gulped, it looks like I'm here to stay." He smiled nervously at the other three. "But a shower can wait, food sounds amazing right now."
Ian nodded and gave a sad smile to Rex. He was sorry he had to stay on the island, but glad he was taking it alright.
He looked at Amaya and smiled. "Yeah, food sounds great. Tomatoes especially for me, but. . ." Ian's ears twitched. He shivered suddenly but he didn't know what from. His knees started to feel weak and he wanted to throw up. "I think. . .I think I'll go back to my duplex. Of a sudden I don't feel very well." He turned away from the cafeteria and on very shaky legs staggeredback to his duplex. He barely managed to make it to his bathroom before throwing up violently.
Lily smiles back at Amaya, not seeming to worry much about how she's changed now, just glad she has a more genuine expression, "I couldn't just leave you there, I'm just glad I came across you, and then Chubbs. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you're up and about too." She watches as Rex jogs off to inspect the duplexes, watching him go right up to hers and then around to another.
"Wow," she mutters, "They're quick.." she trails off. They were either very quick, or they hadn't really been gone the whole time.
She nods slowly, thinking about food. It did sound good, but.. she felt more of a need to rest comfortably and be clean. Maybe it was her stomach making her feel less hungry than she ought to, and she coughs lowly as she watches Ian suddenly leave. She looks back at Amaya and Rex.
"I think I'm going to go to my duplex," she says in a slightly scratchy voice, clearing her throat to try to prevent another cough, "I'd like to get cleaned up.."
She hadn't worried too much about her clothes before now, and her hair she knew must be a terrible bunch of tangles. Oh, how she'd like to be clean and neat again. She waves to them and then heads for her duplex.
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Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:25 pm
[ Welcome Home ] Lily was never so glad to hear the click of a door opening. She didn't take long to relish the moment, pushing it open and stepping into her little house without caring that she was tracking mud into the entryway. She shut the door gently behind her and wriggled her toes in the soft carpet.
"I'm never sleeping without socks again," she declared in a low voice. It didn't make much sense, but sock feet would be better than bare feet until something like rain happened if this ever happened again. Pushing herself from the door she went into the bathroom, knowing very well that the sight that would greet her from the mirror wouldn't be very nice but that a shower would be marvellous. She winces at the tangled mess her hair has become, and the mud on her torn pyjamas and face. Shutting the bathroom door behind her, she stripped out of the pyjamas and stepped into the shower.
*
After getting all cleaned up, Lily took a brush to the knots in her hair. The hot water made her feel less miserable, and she'd almost forgotten what it was like to be so clean after getting used to all of the dirt. Her feet felt slightly sore, though clean and soft from being wet. She was leaning against the wall and sitting on her bed as she struggled to brush her hair. It was a struggle, but she got most of the tangles out before giving up. The next thing she did was find her bags and start digging through for something clean to wear, resisting a mental note that she needs to get everything unpacked and into the dresser.
While trying to find new pyjamas Lily came across her lab coat, partially withdrawing it before realizing what it was. She paused before stuffing it back in and moving her search to the opposite end, now with a better idea of where she should be looking. Already dry, she put on clean underwear and her only other set of pyjamas and then climbed into the bed with a sniffle.
It was wonderful to be clean and in a bed, no matter where it was.
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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:31 pm
[ Roleplay: Think Before you Speak. ] Lily, dressed as comfortably as her wardrobe had premitted in a sweater and jeans despite the warm weather, had decided it was time to get up and get something to eat. The cold she developed in their last days in the wild had gotten slightly worse rather than going away. Clearing her throat to prevent a cough, she walks into the cafeteria with the intent of finding something to eat or drink, juice sounding particularly nice.
Focussed on getting something to drink, she heads directly to where she can. She doesn't take a good look around the room since she's become less worried about running into people after running into so many in the jungles.
Sitting near the door where it indeed felt warmer to her Joliette was picking at yet another ranch doused ham salad. She looks up hearing movement and sees someone she'd not seen since a whlie before the lockout... Name... name... oh yes... Lily, the one Joliette thought was interesting...
"Hello Lily" she says quietly though knowing in the quiet cafeteria it would carry far enough for the woman to hear her. She herself was wearing hte bottoms to her black Gi and the top as well loosely tied around her, her hair was tied back in a ponytail
Lily isn't so much startled by the sound of the voice as she is by the fact her name is used, and it didn't come from a voice she recognizes right away. She turns around and spots Joliette.
"Hello," she says with a smile, though her voice is a bit scratchy, and then turns to quickly get her drink. Her mind quickly runs over what she remembers of the person, she's the one who explained the Island. The first transformed peson she'd seen.. the only one she'd outright lied to about how she got here. Joliette, her name- the name being so unique helps Lily to remember it.
She clears her throat again, taking her juice and walking over to the table were Joli is sitting.
"I haven't seen you in a long time," she says..
"Nor I you, I suppose your vacation hasn't been so hot with the lockout aye?" she says remembering the reason Lily said she'd been on the isle. "Not that anything of this place is a true vacation for any of us..." her voice was quiet, almost withdrawn, the voice of someone who would tend to keep to themselves, reserved, like she had been before coming tot he isle, but unlike last Lily had seen her...
"Did you get a cold from that horrible rain?" she asks noting Lily's scratchy voice
Lily is immediately thankful that she remembered quickly that she'd lied to Joliette about why's she's here, she's not sure how well she could recover from the mention of vacationing if she didn't remember.
"Not really," she agrees, sitting down and taking a sip of her juice. She does notice the change in Joliette's voice, she doesn't sound much like a person who would outright warn a newcomer of what's going on on the Island right now.
"I did, I'm glad the doors all unlocked after the rain stopped though," she says with a slow nod, knowing it'd be dreadful being stuck outside with a cold. "You managed alright during the rain?" she asks, thinking about how the rain had affected Amaya even though Joliette doesn't look quite as scaly as she had.
"I survived the lockout I suppose, but at the same time... It wasn't a good experience, especially losing control" she admits and looks down at her salad pushing it waround a bit with her fork. "The rain was cold, but I guess I can thank not being fully coldblooded yet... " she smiles weakly about that "I'm glad everything opened again too..."
Lily looks at Joli, nodding carefully along with what she says until she mentions loosing control- where she winces slightly. After the experience with Colche, control was her major worry- she has no idea what she's changing into or what she'll have to worry about controlling when the time comes that she changes as well.
"The rain was pretty cold," she agrees, not sure what else to say about the coldblooded comment because of the word 'yet,' though she's glad it's not exactly the same idea as loss of control.
"Any ideas why we were locked out?" she asks quietly, remembering how someone had mentioned the explosion. It was odd to be kicked out and then suddenly be allowed back in without an explanation, though she didn't worry so much about it, happy to be back inside. For all she knows, she'd missed an explanation.
Joliette shakes her head "No ideas, though I haven't run into any of hte long time islanders save David and Awen to get their thoughts about it, though if it's a cruel joke theres only one gormless arse I know of who is THAT cruel" she scowls which in turn reveals her very sharp row of teeth.
"Were you alone during the lockout?" she asks quietly wondering just how many of the group were alone in the jungle
Lily frowns, "If it was a joke it was awfully extreme, and risky- people could really have gotten hurt. It is weird that we all ended up outside, though. I woke up on a roof, what about you?"
She hasn't really thought through it all, but a joke of some kind seems likely. If something happened, how had she been moved to a roof? How had it been assured that everyone had been put outside? If the Island just shut down, why would everyone be locked out? She eyes Joli's sharp teeth briefly, before looking back up and shaking her head to the next question.
"I was alone for quite some time, but then I ran into Colche," she explains, stopping to cough and clear her throat before continuing, "I didn't find a camp until after the rain started, and I wouldn't have found it if I hadn't run into some people."
She pauses, "I think someone mentioned you had a camp with some other people, so you weren't alone, right?"
"I was on a piece of my yacht several hundred feet out from shore, but not so far that the current didn't bring me back... That on it's own seems like a cruel joke to me." She sighs and picks up a chunk of ham and pops it in her mouth chewing a couple times before swallowing the ranch-dressing covered meat. "As for camp, I had one for the first half, and then I left camp to go... hunting... and didn't return to it, was in Ambrose's camp for a very very short time several days later, and then wandered again until Emerwyn found me and she helped me find a cave shortly before the power came back on..."
Lily frowns, "That does seem mean just by itself.." she trails off, thinking about it. She clears her throat again, but it doesn't prevent a cough this time. Taking another drink, she listens to the explanation of camp.
"Ambrose's camp is where I was before the power came on," she says, "And everyone I ran into in the jungle mentioned Ambrose, I think you mentioned him when we first met- didn't you? He's mentioned so often, but I've never actually seen him."
"He spends a lot of time with his girlfirend I think... He's a pretty nice guy" she says "You can't miss him if you see him, he's a wolfman, one might think he's farther along then he is, I think he's 50% or least he was last I saw him..." She was quiet for a moment "I would have stayed at that camp... but I didn't trust myself around others at the time" she added even more quietly
"Oh. I'd imagined he's a nice guy, if everyone seems to like him," she says with a small smile, listening to the description. A wolfman at atleast 50%- it sounds almost interesting, especially with the fact he's mentioned so often.
Her thoughts are pushed in another direction when Joliette continues, "What do you mean?" Her voice is quiet, and she only asks in hopes it not something to do with the change.
"I lost control of myself out in the jungle and almost attacked one of hte others... Got control again before I did... but it terrified me... I was scared to lose control again.. Scared to be around others, waking up next to a dead boar piglet with blood in my mouth, and then nearly attacking someone..." she closes her eyes and pulls her hands into her lap "I was sure if I was around others it'd happen again... so I stayed away"
Lily's hazel eyes widen when Joliette explains, regretting that she asked almost at once. She'd almost attacked someone! More than once. But she'd gotten control back, she didn't actually hurt anyone.
Except the boar piglet..?
How could this conversation connect so much to what had happened with Colche? Of course, she doesn't realize just how much it's related. She takes her hand from her glass. How far into the change is Joliette that she's attacking things?
How long does it take before you lose control?
"A boar piglet?" she murmurs, finally, "How many o-" she stops, thinking about it. When Colche killed the piglet, it hadn't taken long for it's mother to show up and attack them.
"Did the mother boar show up?" she asks, speaking from her own experience and the common knowledge that many mothers are protective she would guess one would have.
Joliette shrugs, "I guess not, I don't know, I kinda did it like in my sleep, I don't even remember leaving camp, but I was a good hundred feet downriver from camp when I woke... " she sighs and lifts her head and leans on the table
"That sight will haunt me for a long time I think, opening my eyes and looking into the lifeless ones of an animal. Blood on my claws, blood in my mouth, and teeth and claw marks on the piglet making it obvious it was ... dead" Her voice never raised in volume as she spoke
Lily looked a little more calm as she thought about it. Why would a mother boar attack her and Colche, but leave Joliette alone? This woman doesn't look much more threatening than Colche, taking down a piglet in your sleep seems much more likely than killing it and injuring a furious mother enough to make it back off.
"That's odd, do you think yo-" she hesitates, Joli seems so upset about the piglet, would asking about injuring the mother in her sleep make her feel worse? She pauses while trying to reword her phrase.
"Were you injured when you woke up?" She asks, if the mother hadn't shown up it's odd, but if she was asleep and didn't know that for sure surely she couldn't take on one without getting injured, even if she doesn't realize it.
She doesn't say anything to Joli's comment about the piglet, it hadn't been a pleasant experience with her but it was because it had proven the control the animal side of them could take. It's better just not to comment on it, in her opinion.
Joliette didn't reply right away, she was thinking about the question as she ate another piece of ranch covered ham "No... Other then needing to throw up I was physically fine" she admits, she'd never previously put much thought into the event, she'd been glad it was over... and that it never happened again
Lily looks at the table, thinking about what Joli says. Colche'd gotten hurt just getting them out of the jungle, if Joli had no control she may not have just run away. It only makes sense, then, that the mother didn't show up. But why?
"It's not your fault," she says, finally- taking the same approach she had with Colche, "I- if you can't control it. But it's really strange that a mother didn't come, we were attacked by a boar after killing a piglet."
Saying it out loud, something sounded strange about it all. She'd never gone back to that part of the jungle after they got to the beach, what did mothers boars do with their dead children?
"Maybe you just found ours," she says suddenly.
If the boar stayed there, it was possible depending on how far away the camp was. If the mother moved it, it was possible depending on where it was moved to. No matter how unlikely it was, or even if it wasn't true, maybe it was something Joliette would prefer to think.
"It is my fault, I only lost control cause I was hungry...I still wasn't eatting what my body was demanding I eat... I was right near the river, on it's bank actually when I woke..." she thought about that possibility, that it'd been their piglet
"Maybe I did, I don't know, all I remember is really vivid dreams and then waking up" she pops another piece of ham in her mouth, she'd been eatting more of the meat then the greens that were swimming in dressing on her plate
She frowns, not eating when your body demanded it is not a good idea, but in the end it's not her fault she's being turned into an animal so she shouldn't be so hard on herself.
The river, as far as she knew, was no where near where they'd been. But it still sounds like a good idea to make it sound like she hadn't done anything.
"I don't know my way around very well, we could have been near a river," she says, taking a hold of her glass of juice again and swirling it around a bit, "If you don't remember exactly what happened, you could have taken it to the river."
She thinks about this idea and nods "Well I much prefer that idea over me having killed it... not great to have woken next to it... but... well yeah..." she looks at the girl "If everyone who works here wasn't gone, I would have easily blamed it in that arse Sabin... but.. well David told me there was noone here but us"
Her split yellow tongue flicked, she'd come to pretty much ignore her tongue, even if brought to her scents of meat and prey. As well as much to her relief, she'd stopped throwing up so much, even if she still couldn't stand the fact that she was no longer vegan
"I'm sorry that happened," she says quietly, truly feeling sorry about it. No one seemed to have a great deal of control over the situation, in the jungle the animal seemed stronger. Of course, she'd survived and she hadn't changed, but everyone she'd run into aside from Rex had.
"No one but us?" she questions, "That doesn't sound very easy, there are so many people working in the labs it'd be-" she pauses, and starts coughing. She really, really didn't mean to say it like that. The coughing doesn't stop as quickly this time, but when it does she breathes in and tries to resume her comment.
"Wouldn't it be hard getting everyone working here out without us noticing?"
Joliette looked at her, she frowns, the journalist wheels in her mind squeeking to life, even she had no idea just how many worked there, how could someone who was just there on vacation know. "We never see... most of the people here..." she says slowly as if digesting Lily's words as she spoke "I only know of the Git, Moreau, Aubrey, the gal who deals with the town hall... and the cook here..."
Lily hesitates, working hard to keep her face calm even though inside she's panicking. Her insides twist in ways that really don't make her feel any healthy, like she's going to be sick.
Why didn't she think before she said that?
"Well," she says, trying not to hesitate in fear of making herself sound even more suspicious, "T-the building is pretty big, and it can't be so easy to do what they're doing here..."
She lets go of her glass and instead holds her stomach, wanting to just go back to her duplex but concerned about making everything worse.
Joliette slowly nods "With Moreaus' high opinion of himself, I wouldn't be shocked if the size of the building is for looks, Em says the mansion is overly decorated.. opulent, a world where money speaks rank" she says trying to remember exactly how Emelyn worded it.
Her tongue flicks bringing back to her a sense of nervousness from the room, she says nothing about that, but watches Lily with a sense of journalistic curiousity, the same curiousity that brought her out in search of Vasile to begin with.
Lily gives a faint frown, and then shrugs.
"I guess that could be it," she says, "Some people do that. Maybe he likes bossing people around, too? He has a lot of control over the people around here, why not there?"
She doesn't sound as confident in this remark as she had been saying there were lots of people, but she relaxes a little bit having a valid possibility, and reason that she could think there are a lot of people in the labs.
Joliette nods and taps a claw lightly on her chin in thought "I suppose perhaps it might be true, Floor 2 seemed to be offices and such..., and then Floor 8..." she didn't look towards Lily directly, her wheels were thinking, she wondered if Lily knew actually more then she was actually telling
Lily nods fervently to show she agrees with what Joli is saying. She glances at her juice, then toward the door, thinking about how much she'd like to just go back to her duplex.
"I'm not feeling very good, I think I should head back to my duplex," she says finally, her voice is low but she certainly looks a little worse than she did when she first arrived in the cafeteria. She grabs her nearly empty glass and moves to stand up.
"All right Lily, I don't want to impede your getting well... Do have soup broth and plenty of vitamin C, being sick is no fun, it was nice to chat with you" She says as she looks up at the girl for a moment and then looked towards the ceiling and spoke very quietly, she was musing to herself.
"Parts of me wish this was just a vacation so Lily could go home, and truly a movie set for me, so I could be selling my scoop, oh well, thats dreaming.. I feel bad for all of us, but nothing we can do... " she picks at her ham once more, her mind was still thinking, but that was something it was bound to do till she'd sorted out the thoughts that were floating around in it.
"I'll do that, thank you," she says, standing up, "It was nice to see you again." Taking her glass with her to go put where any dishes go, she almost doesn't notice Joli's low speech- still slightly nervous about what happened, she doesn't move and holds her breath to try to hear what is being said. She doesn't hear what she says entirely, catching bits and pieces- though she doesn't know what to think of 'scoop' and 'dreaming,' or even if she heard it right.
She decides to just take her chance and leave now, putting her glass in it's appropriate spot and heading for the door.
"Bye," she murmurs on her way back by.
Joliette looks towards her and gives a small wave "Talk to you again Lily" she says not moving to get up as she waved. "Get well" she watched the woman leave and then turned back to her food
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Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:59 pm
[ Roleplay: Another chat with Chana ] Lily walks toward the cafeteria from her duplex cautiously, it was after what some would call supper time in hopes of not running into too many people- she just doesn't feel much like saying something else like she said to Joliette last time she was in the cafeteria.
She makes it to the building without seeing anyone, and then she doesn't get a very good chance to look around the cafeteria as she walks in before she coughs. She's been feeling a bit better, but the cough seems quite stubborn. Keeping a hand to her mouth even when she stops coughing, she takes a look around the cafeteria.
Chana was lingering over her dinner; a salad piled high with all sorts of good (and crunchy) fresh greens, vegetables, and some nuts. Chewing her food was such a loud task she almost didn't hear the coughing.
Chana looked up to see...oh, what was her name?...come in, covering her mouth. "You all right?" she called, concern in her voice.
Lily's eyes widen when she sees Chana, and then she lowers her arm. She'd been a little worried about Chana while they were locked outside, she'd eventually heard of so many people- but not once about this girl. She can't even tell that she's changed right away due to the distance.
"I'm fine," she answers, walking toward Chana, "You're fine. I didn't see or hear about you when we were locked out." The closer she gets, the more she notices the change- though mostly just the slightly fuzzier look. Getting better at not staring, she only glances.
She tries to remember her name, but can't seem to recall it..
Chana frowns slightly. She didn't really believe Lily's declaration that she was fine, but dropped the subject for the moment.
Of course, the other woman - what was her name? - would bring up that horrible experience of the past two months. Chana shrugged. "I only stumbled into Joliette's camp once in the whole time. Mostly I just wandered around getting lost." A brief and mostly accurate summary.
She smiles sheepishly. "Y'know...I know this is non sequitor and a bit rude, but I simply can't recall your name. I'm Chana, in case you forgot too."
"Well, I am glad to see you," Lily says in a slightly scratchy voice, knowing it's not exactly a happy subject, being kept from food and shelter. She smiles, trying to figure out the best way to apologize for how she was when they first met when Chana re-introduces herself.
"Oh! I'm Lily," she re-introduces herself as well, "I forgot your name too, Chana, don't worry." She emphasizes Chana's name in hopes it will help her remember it this time.
"I, er, want to apologize for the first time we met," she continues, biting her lip, "I didn't mean to be so.." she pauses, trying to think of a good word but not coming up with one, "Well, rude, I guess."
Lily. Okay. Not too hard to remember...this time. Chana reached for a pitcher of water on the table and poured a cup, pushing it towards Lily. That scratchy voice...the least she could do was drink.
"It's okay," she said, smiling. "We're both equally forgetful, so forget it. Or don't," she added, giggling.
"Apologize?" Chana was genuinely confused. She'd met Lily such a long time ago, she barely remembered the encounter in the face of all that had happened since. "I don't even know what you're apologizing for anymore," she told the other woman. Nor could she even guess, for she didn't see Lily as being the rude or hard-to-get-along-with type.
Lily takes a seat at the table across from Chana, murmuring a 'thank you' as she takes the water. It does make her feel better about forgetting Chana's name knowing her name was forgotten as well.
She smiles at Chana's 'forget-don't forget' comment, clearing her throat before taking a drink of water. How she hates being sick, especially when it's harder to be lazy about it and you have to take a walk to get a drink or something to eat.
"Oh, well, it's not bad not to remember," she says, setting the glass on the table, "I'm just not very good at small talk, I guess." She smiles. She doesn't remember everything that was said, but she knows that it didn't go very well- which is why she remembered she should apologize.
Chana shrugs. "Small talk is a luxury for people who dislike each other, but aren't stuck living with each other. I'm not sure if we can or can't afford that here."
Depressing statement. Chana frowned at her salad and crunched a few nuts. It really wasn't the same as the bark she'd eaten when the power was off...it lacked that fresh green taste...
Abruptly reminded of crazy Sir Deerboy, and how he described the taste of grass, Chana lost her appetite. Chewing the cud...shudder. She nudged her plate out of the way casually. She didn't want Lily to think there was anything wrong with the food or something...that would be mean.
Lily pauses, considering the statement.
"Or when you don't know what to say," she suggests, "But I guess you're right." She does find the statement quite depressing, if anyone finds out why she's here they may well 'dislike' her- and smalltalk is easier if you know you won't have to see people over and over again. She too frowns, but pushes it from her mind.
She takes another drink of water in an attempt to ward off any coughing, noticing the slight gesture Chana makes with her plate, instead of the effect Chana thought of it has the opposite. She glances toward the food thoughtfully..
Yeah...small talk is a conversation starter, that's for sure," Chana agrees, not noticing Lily's attention for her food. She does, however, notice that the other woman is...distracted by something. At least she's drinking now, and her voice sounds a bit better.
"Something on your mind?" she asks, keeping her tone lightly inquisitive and unintrusive.
"Hm?" Lily looks back from food to Chana, "Not really, I think I might go get some soup or something. Soup's good when you're sick, right?" She smiles.
While she had other things on her mind, that was the most prominant thing, thankfully. And it's much easier to talk about something naturally when you are thinking about it. Besides, she doesn't really think that she's being really obvious with her other thoughts and thinks nothing of deciding to get soup. She stands up.
"I think I will, I'll be right back."
She turns and heads to the counter for soup.
"Yeah...chicken soup's good for the soul, remember?" she commented. Okay...that didn't go so well. Apparently the subject was touchier than she'd thought. Or, Lily was just that oblivious. She'd seen that in kids too.
But Lily isn't a kid. She's an adult, Chana reminded herself and sighed. Things had seemed so much easier when she'd thought this was a camp.
Smiling from the comment, Lily goes and gets a tray to make it easier to carry her food. She makes a stop to get some chicken soup, another to get some orange juice and another for a spoon. It's so much nicer focussing on this, though she still feels the need to be careful about what she says.
She returns to the table with her tray, picking up the glass of water Chana had poured her and setting it beside her juice. She picks up her spoon and tests the soup, wondering if she would ever stop seeming suspicious to people in a normal setting. When they were locked out, everyone was more concerned about other things.
Maybe she's just thinking too much about it, which can only make it worse.
And the awkward silence reigns, Chana thought despairingly. The moment for finding out what was bothing Lily had passed, and if she tried now, she'd look stupid.
She stood up abruptly. "I think I'm done here," she told Lily. "Not that the conversation sucks--it's great, I just, well, um, I need to get ready for Purim."
It was a horrible excuse and Lily probably had no clue what she was talking about, but it was a real excuse. Purim was tomorrow night. And Lily had every intention of spending the night celebrating Esther's bravery and resourcefulness.
She dumped her salad and left the tray before making a hasty exit out of the cafeteria.
Lily looks up, surprised by Chana's sudden decision to depart and how she felt the need to tell her that it wasn't the terrible conversation but rather something.. Lily isn't sure she's heard of before.
"Alright," she says, "It was nice to see you again, Chana." She waves meekly, watching her dump her salad and make a hasty exit.
Is that going to happen everytime she runs into Chana?
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Sabin Duvert Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 2:19 am
The middle of the night.... Lily had heard tell of the transformations from other staff members when she was working on the labs. While she had never been given personal access to the video moniters... she knew what happened. She had seen lab animals' results... she had even had a hand in making the serums themselves. But as the months stretched on, even seeing others around her develop, might have lured her into a false sense of security. You start to feel the skin of you tempels become slippery with a thin layer of the dorsal surface of a frog. Your fingers take on a different shape as well with the same kind of skin dappling up on them. The colors are bright and vibrant, and never colors intended for the human body. This feeling has you rather terrified, so you bring your hands closer for inspection. All these new instincts fill up the crevices of your changing body. Your mouth feels slimier than usual as you now have more saliva glands. A fly zooms by and it is almost as if you have to control the urge not to catch it with your tongue, that feels sticky and swollen. It will likely be hard to talk normally for a few days. Your muscles tense and are also changing...somehow. Your arms ache - like the growing pains from years and years ago, becoing thinner, longer and awkward compared to your frame. Under your clothes, a patch of your skin feels like it is sticking to your pants. You scratch at it but you have no fingernails! All these changes are so new to you and you wonder what else will come in the future...
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Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:35 am
[ The Change ] Lily was asleep, finally starting to get over the cough she'd acquired the last couple of nights in the wild. Her sleep was dreamless until she was awoken by the oddest sensations all over her body. A throbbing in her mouth was the first thing to wake her up, something felt terribly odd and squishy. Her hazel eyes blinked open but she couldn't see very clearly and reaching out for the lamp she could feel her skin seem to tighten and then moisten, particularly around her face.
Panicking, she reached out to turn on the lamp but she ended up knocking the lamp over when pain shot through her arms and fingers while they changed shape and color, where her fingernails should be stinging most. Her eyes widened as she pulled herself from the bed, stumbling to the floor on her knees in another attempt to grab the lamp- she wanted to see what was happening to her. Managing to turn on the lamp, finally, she blinked away from the light and view of her now orange and green hands- seeing only the vivid new colors and not noticing the change in shape or lack of fingernails.
"Bwat tha hell?" she tried to cry out as her muscles started to tense. In an attempt to bite her lip to help through the pain she ends up biting her tongue, causing her mouth to open and reveal its newfound slimy qualities. Realizing that all she could feel is slimy and sore and that she couldn't do anything about it, she decidedly put her head on the floor to wait it out. She waited, but the odd feeling didn't go away. Finally, she realized that it probably wouldn't go away and sat up to review the damage. As she sat up the new salivary glands in her mouth, as well as the swelling of her tongue, were emphasized by a line of sticky spit that had gotten to the floor when she'd rested her head. Feeling ill, she absently tried to scratch her leg, which seemed to be sticking to her pants but her fingers met little resistance.
"Hrr?" she murmured, lifting her hand and finding that her fingers are oddly shaped and orange. Turning her hand over she found why she couldn't scratch her leg- her fingernails were absent. With a terrified look on her face, she leaned against her bed, just staring at her odd hand. It was so interesting with the others, it didn't look so bad.. but now.. now she was turning into something. Something bright and apparently slimy.
A fly buzzed by Lily in an almost taunting manner and she tensed, watching it as it crawled along the fallen lamp's shade before buzzing off into the air again, right in front of her. Though something in the back of her mind was telling her to catch it, to eat it, she realized it in time to clap a hand over her mouth. With a whine muffled by both her hand and tongue, she pulled the blanket from her bed and buried her face in it.
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 10:51 pm
[ Roleplay: Duplex #28 ] Lily had finally decided to leave her duplex, wearing her pajamas after deciding it might be more comfortable for now despite the stickiness. She isn't keen on seeing anyone but she had gotten tired of staying inside, and the evening seemed more comfortable of a time for her to leave. She holds an orange fingered hand up to her mouth as if people could see how slimy and thick her mouth and tongue felt if she didn't. She doesn't make it far from her own duplex, looking around at all of the other duplexes, when she notices that duplex 28 looks a little odd.
"Whr?" she murmurs, looking at the duplex as a whole. The numbers, 27 in particular, seem to ring a bell in the back of her mind but she can only recall that Colche lives in 17. She figures that's probably why she remembers it, the sevens. Curious, she ascends the stairs- realizing the windows were very dark and deciding to take a closer look. What are the odds she'd run into someone looking at a seemingly-sealed duplex at the top of some stairs?
Inside Joliette finishes with developing yet another photo and putting away the light sensitive equipment, she didn't know what time of day it was, she never did seem to do anything but lose track of time when she was in there. She clips the photo up on the wire and walks over to the door, she turns the knob after unlocking it swinging it open and just turning around to walk back in, the remaining light from outside spilling into the dark room the only true light within was red in color. She didn't realize someone was on the porch as she walked to the desk and opened the laptop bringing it out of sleep mode.
Lily freezes just after she reaches the top of the stairs and the door swings open. So it clearly isn't an abandoned duplex, and it obviously belongs to Joliette- who didn't see her. She starts to lean over curiously to try to see in the room, but quickly straightens herself out. Joliette didn't see her, and she intends to take advantage of that! She doesn't need to be talking to people in general, let alone to this person, who seems to have a knack for getting suspicious comments out of her.
She turns around and starts back down the stairs.
She lifts her head after her tongue flicks, a scent, she turns her head and looks over her shoulder "Hello?" she calls in her brit accent towards the wide open door. She abandons the laptop trudging back towards the door... Was someone there?
Lily stops, about halfway down the stairs, when she hears Joliette call out. After considering briefly the idea of just continuing on her way down the stairs and going to her duplex, which is only two buildings and half of a flight of stairs away, she turns around and waves with the hand not over her mouth. Her expression is almost reluctant, which isn't too hard to see even with her hand covering part of her face.
Joliette's small body is soon standing in the frame of the door and she peers down the staircase "Lily!.. " she pauses, her green eyes traveling over the woman's form "Oh my, You made your first change..." she says slowly "Are you all right?", she remembers rather clearly her own change, and vaguely David's, and definitely Emelyn's
Lily watches Joli silently, pausing after her comment and question about the change. She nods at first, then thinking about how not saying anything could make it look like she's not actually alright. Briefly considering if she is or not, she finally sighs and answers out loud, "I'm bine." Her voice is thick and low as she tries to speak. She goes back up a couple of steps since now she can't very well avoid Joliette.
Joliette blinks, it sounds really like Lily's nose is all plugged up or something, she isn't exactly sure why, she didn't... /look/ sick, just changed "Good to hear" she replies with a small smile "Were you looking for me?" she asks curiously since Lily HAD been most the way up the stairs, and she hardly ever saw anyone go up these steps save her and sometimes David
Lily attempt a smile, though it's mostly blocked by her hand, and then promptly shakes her head to the question. She glances back at the windows of the darkroom, "I wass jus' .. looking. I porgot 'is wass pours." Her words slow the farther she gets into her sentence, trying to pronounce things properly. She moves her hand from in front of her mouth to her eyes, shaking her head- well, at least she's trying to speak.
"Well, kinda mine, this isn't my room, I don't live here" she says after a moment "It's kinda a 'home away from home' " Joliette watches Lily's curious actions her yellow forked tongue flicking out and in, she seemed, well nervous... or something, Joliette couldn't quite place the emotion, and Lily's changes well they were definitely different "Do you want to come in?"
Lily uncovers her eyes when Joli speaks, stopping her hand somewhere near her nose and mouth. It doesn't surprise her that this isn't where Joliette actually lives, judging mainly by the dark windows. She looks from Joli to the room through the open door as she considers the offer, it couldn't hurt that much, could it?
"Sure," she says, her mouth looking a little shinier than is natural when it opens. She comes back up the rest of the stairs, finally taking her hand from her face entirely.
Joliette smiles and nods. She noticed the 'shiny'ness but says nothing as she turns and trudges back into the dark unit.
Inside the unit all normal living equipment has been cleared out save one arm chair pushed into a corner, the desk and anything else Joliette could scrounge up to use as 'counter' surfaces. It's dark, lit only by a handful of red colored lights and the remaining light pouring in from outside, a couple wires are draped a foot out from one wall a number of color photographs banging by one or two corners depending on their size hanging from it. On the 'counters' surrounding the room there is photography equipment of all varieties including lenses and her camera. The windows are boarded up with their curtains closed and in the open bathroom which has no door can be seen the large metallic sink that has been installed over the bathtub.
Lily follows Joli into the darkroom, recalling the brief conversation about this duplex as a whole. It has to be why she remembers the numbers, but mostly she remembers being surprised about the existence of a darkroom for one subject as she was just learning how well the Islanders are treated at some points. She looks around the room, noting the windows are boarded up- which obviously contributed to the dark windows that had drawn her here.
"Et's nis..." she says thick and slowly, "You're a potogreper?" She glances at the hanging photographs and cameras, wondering if it's just a hobby or if it was a career, pleased to have even a slight distraction from worrying about how she sounds.
"Photographic journalist actually, or was at least, but I'm gonna try and write before I change too much more... " She sighs "I don't know what my future holds for me anymore, used to be all scoops and stories, now it's developing and changing." She looks around the room. Lily wasn't tooo hard to decipher, a lil... interesting to listen to but not too bad
Lily glances at Joli when she says she's a photographic journalist, but then quickly looks back to the equipment around the room while nodding to show she's listening. She bites her lip, though all she can manage is the inner edge of it, when Joli mentions the future and looks at her hand. What does her own future hold? She's turning into something slimy and she's apparently quite terrible at keeping a secret. Her mind is pushed back when she considers the changes of focus Joli has gone through, feeling it explains her interest in how she 'guessed' how many workers there are here.
"No bon relly knows thet har," she says, looking back at Joliette.
That one takes a her a moment to decipher... But she does get it after a little thought. "You're right, the only thing for certain is we're experiments and we're stuck" she walks over to a counter and picks up a photo, one she'd developed from when she'd first come "I wish when I'd seen this sight, I'd turned around and not come closer" she holds the photo out towards Lily, it didn't bother her that the other girl's fingers looked odd, hell the photo itself already had several claw punctures. It was a zoomed photo of the island obviously taken from afar, and Vasile was running on the beach
Lily nods, watching Joli walk to the counter.
'I wish I'd turned down the job', she thinks bitterly even before she gets a look at the photo. For once, it isn't something she said out loud- though she doesn't bother to try to think of something to say about wishing she hadn't taken a vacation or had been more suspicious about labs at a vacation spot. She holds out an orange hand to take the photo, looking at it with interest.
"Oh," she says, looking carefully at the figure on the beach, "Wbat bought you her?" The way she spoke it sounds like she had had a choice of turning around, and it seems likely it would have something to do with her journalism, especially with a photo from around her time of arrival.
"I heard rumors that the death of Vasile was fake, and that his plane 'went down' around this area somewhere, and I decided to see if the rumors were true... I rented a yacht and left England, and about two to three weeks later I spotted the island through that lens" she points at an enormous telephoto lens standing lens down in the corner, it was easily half as tall if not a lil more then that as Joliette herself "But, I came close, and then Duvert tricked me to believing Vasile was shooting a movie here and I could have an exclusive if I came ashore to sign the right papers.."
"Oh," she murmurs when Joli finishes her explanation, eyeing the giant lens in the corner before looking back, "Thet's retty shneaky." It is quite the story, almost unreal. You'd certainly never be able to guess what you're getting into when you go looking for some truth behind some rumors here.
"So, bour job es why your her," she concludes slowly.
"Basically, I promised my boss a scoop and then left, they aren't even looking for me anymore, least anyone who isn't my mama or papa, or my granparents" she says and leans against the counter "Anyone to search for you?" she inquires
Lily frowns, it's terrible to think about people trying to find you.
"Bow do you know dey stopp'd looking?" she asks, hoping it's a guess and not a fact that her work- which is a reason she's here- had stopped. She reflects briefly on her own family, actually smiling a little bit when she does. Her family wouldn't be looking for her, they knew she was going to work and would probably guess valid reasons for lack of contact and visits. It could be a long time before they even start to worry about her not coming back, and even if she won't see them again knowing they aren't worrying is important to her. She snaps out of it- if she came on vacation, her family would have expected her back long before now. She frowns.
"Wbell," she pauses, "my fambly- my momb and dad.. broder.." she just sort of trails off, after finding out she had to stay here for a long time for work she'd already come to terms with knowing she wouldn't see her family for a long time and it was much better to not think about how she wouldn't..
Joliette pushes away from the counter and walks over tot he desk pulling out a magazine from the top drawer, it's title /World Weekly News/ screaming loud and clear across the top, On the Cover, her photograph and the small writing for the description reads 'World Weekly News Journalist Still Missing ' She flips through it and hands it open to Lily tot he article
/After an extensive search the search for missing Photographic Journalist Joliette Rigiel has been called off. It is with the combined efforts of Feral Labs and Interpol that an large area of the ocean has been combed. While authorities are no longer on the hunt for the journalist, the woman's family has informed World Weekly News that they will never give up searching for her
Joliette's whereabouts will remain a mystery and at this time her file will be put with the Interpol's cold case files as she is not legally considered dead for a few more years and hope remains she will return. /
Lily blinks as Joliette goes and retrieves the magazine, looking surprised when it's opened to an article and then handed to her. She reads it over once, looking up from the text to Joliette- how did she get this? None of the information in it seems like something you'd want to know, for various reasons.
"Wherd you get thiss?" she looks back to the article with a frown.
"That among about five or six more that had similar articles about the search for me were part of my Christmas present from Moreau" she says "Some present huh, that and an ipod, and I already have an ipod, I brought one with me when I came here" She doesn't sound overly impressed with the gift, though honestly with everything else she'd gotten, especially the darkroom stuff, she did count herself lucky in that regard
Lily's expression turns surprised at the mention of a Christmas present from Moreau, wincing at a brief thought about what horrible things she'd have had to expect as a gift- nothing would be a relief. Though Joli doesn't sound too impressed, it doesn't make it any less surprising.
"He gabe you prebents?" she asks, even managing a surprised tone.
"Yes everyone got something, David got a santa suit, a glued on beard and a foosball table, I'm not sure what others got, but I know everyone got something" She looks around her "Most of this was gotten for me as well, so I could continue my photography" She takes the magazine again and drops it in the drawer closing it again not really wanting to think more about that article right then
"Bow," she mumbles, handing the magazine over, "I guebs dey wand to be kind ob nis to bepel here.." Most people here, anyway. Aside from the unhappy articles and a beard glued to a face, it isn't too terrible sounding- of course, it's far too much effort to say so. She looks around the room again.
"It's good you bet to keeb doig this," Lily says, she doesn't need a good look at too many photographs to know that Joli must be very good at what she does.
Joli smiles "I think I'd go crazy if I couldn't, this is my life, it always has been, ever since I was twelve, I never even looked at romance, never dated, I was always too busy with studying or work.. That's changed here, but still..." she pauses and pushes a curl of hair out of her face "What did you do for a living?"
Lily nods, smiling when Joli does, and following along her little story. It is very good that she gets to continue with photography, then. Something familiar in these kinds of situations is always good. But then a terrible question she's never even thought about before is asked and her expression flashes shock before she moves her gave somewhere a little less obvious and attempts to resume a more natural expression.
"B-be?" she murmurs. Her mind reels- what did she do for a living? She can't just say I worked here for a couple months helping do to you guys what's happening to me too, now.
"I wass a student," she answers, thinking back to before her job, "I dibn't finish bor a cabreer yet.."
It wasn't too bad- it was mostly true.
Joliette nods a student was a good thing to be... "Sad that all your studies are for naught now... Perhaps you can find some way to apply them here, that's what I did, I take photos all over the isle.. I had one of the explosion, but my camera was destroyed while we were in lockout"
Lily relaxes a bit when it seems her story is going unquestioned, relieved.
"I dont know 'bout dat," she murmurs, "I stubied scibence." She hopes Joli can make the leap to not wanting to apply science somehow to the Island, thinking mostly about the science involved in their changes since that is what she had worked on with her studies. She looks back at Joliette when she mentions the photo of the explosion.
"Thab's too bad."
"Hard to say, perhaps one day you'll find something, I'd go stir crazy if there was nothing to do..." she leans against a counter again looking up at the woman. She decided right then that she was going to have to develop a nice picture for her, like she had all her friends at christmas time
Lily nods, frowning, "I know wbat you mean." All she'd had to do was meet people, mainly enjoying that for the chances to look at their transformations. But she'd been getting less concerned with that, and something seemed different after her own change. She stares at one of the counters as if it would suddenly give her an idea of something to dedicate time to.
"Well I need food, one thing the wild taught me is I can't let myself get too hungry, especially if I want to keep control of the beast" Joliette sighs at that thought and then pushes away from the counter "You are welcome to join me if you want"
Lily looks from the counter to Joliette and nods, reminded of her own instincts that so far only really seemed to be trying to eat a fly. But she shakes her head at the invitation, "I thik I'll jus' go bor a bwalk.." She'd left her duplex to be outside after spending so much time inside, and she can still go do that.
"All right, sounds good, you take care huh" Joliette says reaching and taking the keys off the end of the counter and giving Lily a smile
"You tboo," Lily says with a small smile, "Tank you bor .. teh tour." She takes a last look around the darkroom before heading for the door.
"It's quieter in here, less prying eyes, I know what it's like after the first change" she followed the taller female through the door pulling it shut after her and making sure it was locked
Lily waves back as she heads in the opposite direction, directing herself to trees rather than to buildings this time.
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Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 11:47 am
[ Roleplay: $2,687,432.89 ] Chana had been hiding out in two places since Awen told her about Jamal being in the cage. The first place was her duplex, but after a few days, she couldn't stand being indoors any longer.
The other place was the river. There was something about the water bubbling and running over rocks and sand that was calming. That and she could identify a few different kinds of edible plants to snack on.
But right now all of the beaver girl's attention was focused on one thing. Fish. She was standing knee-deep in the water with her jeans rolled up past her knees (to keep them "dry") trying to tickle fish into her hands. So far, it wasn't working.
Zach walked down the side of the river, careful not to get too close to the running water. Other than the sound of the moving water and the occasional splashes from farther downriver, there was silence.
He looked up when he saw a girl wading in the river. He stopped, carefully planting his feet in the soft ground to avoid stumbling, and called out to her. She looked rather normal, if a little hairy...
Cupping his one hand near his mouth, he shouted a short greeting. "Hello!"
As Pyroth left the jungle, his thoughts were racing to an extent, how bad would those predatory instincts get if he let them? It was worrying to say the least. However, his train of thought was derailed by the sight of a few islanders down by the riverside, one of them was unmistakeably Zach, whom he had spoke to before, the other, female, was unknown to him.
Tilting his head slightly in puzzlement, he shrugged and headed down towards them.
Lily had started feeling a little better after her change- mostly because the swelling in her tongue had gone down enough to speak more naturally. After staying as isolated as she could, she's decided to go for a walk outside- heading for the river because to her it seems like more people would go to the beach and she feels like being around some water.
She stays near the edge of the river as she walks, not sure about if she wants to actually get into the water, which is what keeps her walking. It isn't far before she spots some people ahead of her, and though she hesitates she decides not to turn around. Without calling out a distinct greeting, she only gets closer.
Jamal had felt a little better after the meeting with Pyroth, but not much. He was still very bitter about a great many things. Typical.
Deciding that Pyroth's jaunt towards the river was the best idea, he had followed, only doing so without (or at least trying to do so) without the coyote man knowing. It was when the sound of voices grew to the uncomfortable trill of several persons that he stopped, deciding against openly walking into the group, and instead lingered in the security of the jungle. He recognized a few of them, but didn't want to get involved with whatever was going on. He wasn't a social butterfly to begin with and the tiger only amplified this feeling tenfold. Perhaps they'd all leave and he could have a dip in the river on his own.
For now, he stayed a good distance away, but could still hear the conversation and could see bodies moving about near the river bank thanks to his improved vision.
The tiger approved. It was like he was stalking his prey.
Suddenly the peace and quite was interrupted as the sound of a jeep engine approached. Moreau drove the jeep, with another guard in the car with him. Moreau knew that there were others here too, as he looked down at the personal tracker he had. Good, he thought. He wanted to wait till as many people were around as possible.
The Jeep came into view and stoped next to Lily, who was approaching the group of islanders. Moreau smiled at her.
"Ms. Delaney, I had to come personally and inform you of some unfortunete news. Your stub for your back pay for your time as a member of my staff was misdelivered to Duplex 25." Moreau looked a bit sad at this, but it wasn't his clever acting. It was obvious.
"Of course I was generous and decided not to charge you the $2,687,432.89 in serums you broke that day. Your making that cost up to me right now I suppose." Moreau snickered
"How has it been on this side of the fence instead of the other? I hope your first change wasn't too unpleasant, we picked your serum because it was the only one that you suceeded in not breaking that day." Moreau gave a final grin, as the motor was running, he was prepared to leave as soon as the other islanders started approaching.
Moreau of course made sure that this was in earshot of everyone else and spoke loudly. He had to over the jeep after all.
Lily stopped in her approaching the others when the sound a vehicle came to her ears, not thinking right away that the only person it could be would be the person she'd like seeing the least she looks around for the source of the sound. Her eyes widen when she sees who is in the driver seat and her first reaction is to turn and flee.
She only manages to turn around when the jeep pulls up by her, forcing her to stop. She looks up at Moreau, but immediately finds herself unable to look him in the eyes when he suddenly smiles at her.
Why does he have to be here, infront of others?!
Lily does look up at Moreau when he explains of a misdelivery to Duplex 25. She just stares dumbfoundedly when tells her exactly how much money she cost him.
More than two and a half million?!
"I- wha-" She doesn't manage to say anything. What is she supposed to say? Did he even really want an answer from her?
"Interesting," she finally says as a response to all of what he has to say, trying not to sound dumbfounded or frightened. The grin he has is terrible enough without knowing that you're not even trying to mask what would make it wider. While not pleased, it's an honest response- she's found all of the changes interesting, and knowing why she's turning into what she is is also kind of interesting.
She glances at the others around them, feeling sick.
She doesn't get to say anything else before Moreau speeds away, leaving her being approached by the bystanders.
Chana's first reaction when she heard someone calling out was to be friendly. She'd reached up a furred and clawed hand to wave at the man whose voice she didn't recognize.
But by the time she heard the jeep come up, the beaver had caught enough scents that Chana was annoyed that so many people were intruding on her private time.
Then Moreau --that crazy doctor-- started speaking to Lily. Chana had gaped and listened to him talk, dumbfounded. Lily had...had worked for Moreau!? And...it seemed something had gone wrong and that was why Lily was here, changed.
But she liked Lily, as a person. Chana had been prepared to stick up for her friend...until Lily answered Moreau calmly, saying that the changes were "interesting."
"Interesting!" Chana called out to her. "Is that how you feel about all of us and what we've gone through too?" The raw hurt was clearly evident in her voice and her face. All of this information at once...it was almost too much to take in.
Jamal had to hold back a growl that wanted to force it's way between his gritted teeth. That woman was a STAFF member? And she was still ALIVE? And that...that was the infamous Dr. Moreau? A lightning bolt of anger passed through his body.
He flexed his fingers, digging the tips of his claws into the flesh of his palms as he forced himself to not move. Jamal would have given anything at that moment to wrap his hands around his scrawny neck and show him what happens when you give a man such as Jamal a deadly predator's serum. To twist that neck and hear the vertebrae snap and to tear the veins and arteries...
There was no way to allow a staff member to live among them unscathed. It was Jamal's personal mission to poison the entire island population's opinion of the staff one person at a time. Lily spoke of the changes as being 'interesting'...INTERESTING?! He'd show HER interesting!
Pyroth's ears perked instantly at the sound of the approaching jeep, such a civilised noise, a link to the far off world of the city. It grated on his nerves like nails on a chalkboard, all the moreso when he spotted who rode in the jeep itself. He growled very faintly to himself, he had refrained from placing blame on Aubrey but the doctor, he was another matter entirely.
The half coyote moved that tiny bit nearer to where the jeep came to a stop, his mind suspended somewhere between predatory and civil, on edge, his eyes on the armed guard that accompanied Moreau.
However, before Pyroth could formulate any kind of plan, the man spoke loudly to Lily, well within hearing range of those gathered, talking about an accident which had cost a fortune to the labs. It took him a moment to realise that the girl to whom he spoke must have been working up at the labs, helping to orchastrate whatever eventual fates they came to. A predatorily satisfied smirk sneaked across as he noted her greenish skin, oh if anyone deserved it, it was one of the scientists.
He didn't say anything yet however, merely watching the drama, amused by someone else's misfortune for a change. But when she simply stated "Interesting" as a retort to all Moreau had to say, he couldn't supress his hackles rising up along his back. This was far from interesting.
Attempting to shout had caused a bit of pain in the side of his face. The slightly swollen area where Billy had punched him was still sore, but luckily that bizarre hand of his was unable to do as much damage as a normal hand would have. Zach had taken care of it as best he could, but he'd once more lost his ease at the sight of changed islander. Instinctively he rubbed at it, ignoring the twinge of the bruise.
He looked up, snapping out of his thoughts, to see that the woman was hairy for a reason. She had claws. He grimaced, though he immediately winced afterward thanks to the pain in his jaw.
Zach was oblivious to the sounds of the approaching people, but the loud roaring of the jeep engine he couldn't avoid hearing. He turned around, surprised to hear the sound of a car. He listened intently as the driver talked with a slightly strange-looking woman next to his car. Something about money, and serums... she was one of the scientists here?
He turned to the woman in the river, who was shouting angrily, and then back to woman who'd been addressed as Lily. "Hey, you!" he yelled, echoing Chana's sentiments. He fought to ignore the pain he got from yelling. "You've been helping these doctors?"
Valentine had been talking downriver with Cass when she spotted the commotion. Normally, she'd mind her own business, but on the island everything was different. On the island, it was crutial to know as much as one could.
She came jogging upriver just as the jeep sped away. Staring after it with a mixture of curiosity, longing, and anger, she waited until it sped out of view, and then turned to the nearest person - who happened to be Zach. Crap. Their last meeting hadn't ending so fantastically.
"Hi Zach!" she chirped, attempting to seem casual. "What just happened?" As she waited for crucial information, she did a bit of surveying. Several people here had strange features, such as claw-like fingernails or green skin. A couple of those people were furry...very furry. Revulsion rose in her throat as she realized that those people who were no longer human were in the exact same boat as Cass, the girl she had just met. Moreau had worked his "magic" on all of them.
All the action seemed to be centered around one woman, the one with green skin. She looked uncomfortable, as if she wanted to just run away. Valentine would have bet anything that she had done something she wasn't supposed to, and it had affected the other people on the island.
Lily watches Moreau speed away bitterly, not wanting to be left alone with such a crowd of people around her. It doesn't surprise her that he's done this to her, after wasting that much of his money it doesn't seem beyond him to make her stay here as hellish as possible. She avoids look at the approaching people, instead watching where the Jeep went- until she hears a familiar voice yell to her in an obviously hurt and angry tone. She reluctantly looks toward Chana, where she sees the others are also coming with angry looks on their faces.
"I didn't mea- I-" she stammers, her eyes moving from Chana to the terrifying and angry looking Pyroth. Then to the source of a second yell, from another person she'd never seen before. Part of her felt maybe they, excluding Chana, shouldn't be angry because they'd never met her, but the harsh reality of the situation is that she's helped put them where they are and she knows it. What the hell is she supposed to say to them?!
She takes a defensive couple steps backward and away from them, despite knowing she wouldnt be able to escape, "I-" she hesitates, knowing there's no use denying it after that display. Would they believe Moreau would play such a trick on her? "Y-es." Her eyes fall on Zach, answering his question because it came last. Her voice isn't steady and her tone is obviously a little panicked and afraid. She doesn't do anything when she notices Valentine, she looked a little out of the loop but Lily knows that obviously won't last.
Chana felt a headache coming on. On the one hand, she wanted to protect her friend from all these people. On the other hand...Lily had helped make these goddamned serums!
She trudged over to the riverbank and sat down, not caring now that she was soaking her jeans that she'd worked so hard to keep dry mere minutes ago. The beaver girl simply sat there, staring at Lily with disappointment and shock. In her mind she asked herself why such a nice girl would do such things...and then brought up all the ways Lily could have been hoodwinked and decieved.
Why did the two lists have to even out? "Why?" she asked out loud, looking right at Lily.
Jamal listened to Chana's bitter words and Pyroth's growls and was heavily pleased to see than they weren't any happier than he was. Good. Excellent even. This woman had to be taken out and the more people who were mad at her, the better. Even Zach looked riled.
He shifted slightly in his hiding place, keeping an eye on the leggy blonde who had just come in for just a moment before turning to look at Lily. Hmm...unchanged. Perhaps not as bitter as the rest of the group...
Jamal etched the woman doc's facial features into his mind for later us; The tiger wanted to be sure he knew his prey.
Pyroth watched with a sort of contented smirk, Lily was clearly upset by the angry crowd in the area. Good. He knew he was a spectator on the events, but wanted to make it clear to her, just by being there, what she helped to create. If he didn't know better, already aware of the riskiness of excercising your right to violence on the island, he'd probably have been up for giving a working demonstration of the lovely fangs he'd been given by the labs.
As it was, he refrained, simply hanging back on the outskirts of the group, watching intently. He wasn't about to question Lily yet, in fact, he had every intention of leaving soon. Let her know she had been observed and that her ruse was known. Maybe that would worry her more.
He paced ever so slowly round the outside of those gathered, impatient.
No way would he ever accept an ex-scientist as an equal. She could have walked away from the project when she knew what it was about, but no, she had only made things worse.
"I hope you rrrrot here." he snarled, his tone more growl than speech. He wasn't interested in hearing a defence, all that would be to do would be to save her skin.
Zach glanced at Valentine as she addressed him, losing his annoyance in favor of nervousness. Had she still not seen any changed islanders? She seemed unfazed by the river girl's unusually furry features, and the ex-scientist's green skin. There was always the possibility that neither of them were actually changing into animals at all...
"Valentine! Look!" he exclaimed desperately. He let go of his sore jaw to motion at the two women, though for a moment it seemed he could barely see them himself. "This is what I was talking about! They're... well, you can see them, right? They're turning into animals! And that... that green girl is helping!"
He focused again when Lily stuttered out some answered. So, she didn't deny it. He had nothing further to say to her, and simply turned back to Valentine again, a troubled look on his face. He didn't want to be crazy.
Valentine focused back on Zach, looking slightly melancholy as he pointed out the furriness of the river girl, and the green skin of the other woman. "Yes...I can see them, Zach. I'm sorry, um, about calling you crazy earlier." She licked her lips nervously as she went on. "I, um, just met Cassidy." She said the sentence as if it explained her apology, which in a way it did. The girl was living proof that Zach wasn't crazy, though everyone who was gathered in this location could be explained away as hairy or diseased, if not normal.
Pity crept in with melancholy, as well as doubt. The green girl had helped them all turn into animals? That meant she had worked in the labs, worked on whatever-it-was that turned them into animals. The knowledge of that must torment the people gathered, especially if they had once trusted the girl. Valentine knew that from experience. Could the girl also have worked on something that would turn her into an animal? Valentine shuddered and hoped that she would never have to go to the labs again. God, she hoped she wouldn't be turned into an animal. Zach said that she would, though, that she had been given a shot. She shuddered again.
"Who's that, Zach?" She asked, pointing to the girl in the river. She seemed particularly betrayed by the ex-scientist.
Lily watches Chana, her expression making Lily feel just as upset as the other angry expressions and shouts. She covers her eyes with one green and orange hand, though she keeps the fingers open so she can see through. Caught between a rock and a hard place, all she can do is explain herself. Answer Chana's question. "It was a high paying job I was qualified to do," she answers, thinking back to the ad she'd seen for the job several months ago, her voice sounds steadier but the tone is a obviously masked panic. In an attempted defence she makes one thing clear, "I don't work there anymore!" While this was a;ready clear from the way Moreau had spoken to her, she feels that it needs to be stated, even if in the end it wasn't her own choice that led to her leaving the job. She looks back at the source of a growling curse, taking another step backward- why couldn't they all have stayed oblivious forever? Surely she'd have improved her acting and story if given the chance!
Chana just stared at Lily with the same tortured expression. "Same with the job I thought I was getting," she replied.
This was simply too much! She knew Lily wasn't a sadistic b*****d like Moreau! And yet...there was simply no way Lily could have worked here and not known what was going on.
But Lily was also a friend, and clearly turning into some animal as well. Didn't that make her an islander, not staff? Chana wrestled with the facts, trying to figure out what she thought of the situation.
Pyroth merely snorted at Lily's defense of herself, ignoring the hypocrisy of doing so. After all, hadn't he compromised a significant number of lifes for his own pretty well paying job? It didn't matter to him at the moment though, his vision was clouded over by his anger.
You don't work there now, but you did. That's all that I'm interested in. he thought to himself.
He didn't say anything else though, he felt that any other comments of his would be ultimately superfluous. With another brandish of his fangs, he turned on his heel and stalked off back to the duplexes.
Zach was so surprised to hear her apologize that he didn't realize it till a good few moments after. "I mean, I don't know what they're becoming, but they - what?"
He recalled Cassidy. Oh, man, that must've been a real shock for Valentine. He looked down at the ground for a moment to collect his thoughts, his waving hand becoming a fist as he drew it back. "She's... well... I'm not sure. The man in the jeep called her Delaney."
He looked over his shoulder at the greenish woman, and shrugged. "How could you not know about all this? Look what you've done to these people... you're not even sorry, are you? They're just 'interesting'."
He took care not to include himself in his pronouns.
Valentine looked down, sheepishly, and continued. "Yeah, I fell in the river when I first saw her." She wasn't too happy about her horrible behavior, and she twined a piece of drying hair around her finger. Her clothing was still damp, but it was substantially drier, due to the hot tropical sun.
Her gaze followed Zach's back towards Delaney, the ex-scientist, making sure she knew who that was from now on. She was surprised to find herself agreeing with everything Zach said, though personally, she knew what it was to be on the intellectual side of a scientific experiment. She didn't notice his omission of himself. In fact, if it wasn't people they were experimenting with, Valentine probably would have supported the research. If it hadn't been her Delaney might have experimented on...
She surprised herself even more, then, by laying a hand on Zach's shoulder. "This may come off as cold and heartless," she told him, "but it is interesting. It's painful, it's horrible, but it's also interesting. I don't agree with what she's done, and I don't agree with her motivation, but I see where she's coming from."
Lily looks back at Chana, staying silent as everyone else falls silent. No one around her was very happy, Chana looked conflicted and she gets a bad feeling from Pyroth's furious expression and stalking off. She crosses her arms, holding onto them, trying to make herself look and feel less helpless. The next question was a logical choice, and her eyes move from where Pyroth had turned and gone to Zach.
Is honesty the best policy? Is there any way to make it believable that she didn't know what she was doing? Even if she hadn't been told what they were doing, surely she'd have figured something out from doing her job. She can't insult their intelligence by saying she didn't know.
"I- Of course I knew," she admits bitterly, her tone evolving from panic to a more defensive one- no one is going to defend her except herself, she can't just take the angry yet valid questions without trying to defend herself in some way hoping that someone may look past it and not hate her. "I am sorry!" she says automatically at the next accusation, she doesn't comment on the 'interesting' bit- admitting she did find it interesting probably wouldn't help her right now. How was she supposed to control being interested in a project she'd helped with for so many month? She hadn't been given much information on the subjects, seeing it first hand was interesting and enough to make her realize how naive she'd been. Lily's eyes go back to the blonde woman who'd showed up after Moreau had left, looking shocked to hear someone taking her side even just on this minor detail.
"Sorry." Chana snorted and stood up, pants dripping water and riding low enough to reveal her flat little tail. She was hurt, she was proud, she was utterly confused.
"Sorry," she repeated, "is not going to cut it." She looked at Lily accusingly. "I thought we were friends. Couldn't you have said something? Instead of waiting for him to do it?" she demanded, angry.
She watched the one-armed man and the blonde woman out of the corner of her eye. She hadn't heard of either of them...and they were clearly new, but not brand-new here. The beaver girl toyed with the idea of going up to them and saying "Hi, I'm Chana and I'm turning into a beaver." She could almost imagine the Islanders Anonymous scene, Chana thought cynically.
Jamal decided that now would be a good time to come out, seeing that Moreau didn't seem to be coming back. He could let this woman know exactly who she was going to have to deal with.
The black man slowly slunk forward through the brush, making surprisingly little noise as he parted the branches and stepped into sight, his mouth curved into a sinister predatory smile when he looked Lily's way.
"So -you- be Lily," he drawled with amusement thick on his tongue. "I heard 'bout you from someone, but it's a shame we didn't meet sooner." He was being highly sarcastic, yet he continued to smile at her in an eerie 'I know your secret' sort of way.
He didn't say anything to the others gathered around, but gave them each a look of acknowledgement.
Zach studied Valentine's face a moment before gingerly prying her hand off his shoulder and stepping back. He smiled a tight-lipped smile, but his brown eyes didn't reflect amusement in the situation. He looked away toward the trees as he mused aloud. "Huh... Maybe Moreau will give you back that finger."
He frowned at the ex-scientist. She didn't look sorry. He looked over at the girl on the riverbank. A tail. Oh, yeah, definitely not human any longer. That girl seemed to know a great deal more about Delaney, so he merely rubbed at the side of his face again tenderly and listened.
Jamal's entrance was startling. Zach turned sharply to see him enter through the jungle, and nodded at the look the man gave him and everyone else there. "Did you break out?" he asked curiously.
Valentine had known she was out of line with her comment, but she certainly hadn't expected the response she got from Zach. She recoiled as if she had been hit, clenching her fists. Without thinking, her hand flashed out in a slap, coincidentally aiming for the same jaw of Zach's that had been punched by Billy. "I didn't mean I agreed with what Moreau is doing," she gritted through clenched teeth, "after all, from what I can tell he's going to turn me into an animal too. I wish everyone could go back to being human. But the fact that he's managed to slim genetic science down to such an art is interesting. In the hands of someone else, someone kinder, this could be a breakthrough in metamorphism!"
Valentine heard Delaney's apology, but it sounded defensive and not altogether believable. Instead, she turned her attention to a new arrival. He didn't seem to have any excessive hair, but it still looked as if he had been changed. Zach's comment about escape confirmed it in Valentine's mind. She could only assume that he had done something to one of the scientists. Good for him, she thought. She flashed Jamal an uneasy smile, then shifted her weight on her feet anxiously, as if she was going to run away at any moment.
Lily looks back to Chana when she scoffs at her apology like statement, feeling very small and pained when Chana continues to say that they were friends in a manner suggesting they weren't anymore (not that it surprises her.) She stares at Chana silently for several seconds, trying to decide how to reply.
"It didn't come up," she says decidedly. Chana didn't need to know that she'd lied to the person it had come up with, and probably would have if it had come up between them. Though she knows what she says is entirely true, she knows that it only makes sense that she'd not have told the truth if it had come to it. She doesn't need to think about why she'd waited for Moreau to spill the beans, in her mind she let herself think he wouldn't tell. Her naivety has gotten her into a lot of trouble in the past several months.
Her head turns when she notices something moving, Jamal revealing himself without so much as a warning rustle from the leaves. The sinister smile on his face making her uneasy, she has to try hard to not step backward. Though surprised that he says he's heard of her, she doesn't show it- instead standing still.
Break out?
Her gaze goes from Jamal to Zach and back again, tempted to ask what they're talking about but not daring.
Chana's attention was caught by Jamal as well, and her eyes widened slightly. Had he broken out of the cage? Or...had someone set him free? Either way, the Jamal she faced now sent shivers up and down her spine and made her want to run. Stubbornly, she ignored those feelings, and simply nodded at him.
She knew well that occupation hadn't really come up with Lily...they'd never had too long a conversation. Still...wasn't obstruction of truth something there had been court cases over?
"I'm sure you worked hard to keep it from coming up," she commented coldly. "You could have spent all this time telling us that yes, you might have worked for Moreau, but that you're one of us now. You might even be able to tell us some things to expect from these changes."
Chana's eyes teared up slightly. "All you thought about was yourself and how to protect yourself." Her voice wavered slightly, and a couple tears rolled down to be lost in her fur.
"They let me out. Why, I ain't sure, but I ain't gonna argue," he answered Zach, his tone bearing more amusement than showed on his face. "Dat's just damn fine wit' me."
He was going to say more but he saw Valentine's hand go out to slap Zach and he automatically snarled at her and gave her a very pointed glare, not thinking anything of it. He was tired of inter-islander violence, mostly because he'd been dealing out most of it at highly inappropriate times. Lily coincidently didn't count as an islander at the moment.
"If ya'll wanna fight someone, perhaps ya oughta focus on da staff," he said heatedly as he stalked over to Valentine, the snarl showing his sharpened fangs. He did not look like he was joking at all. "You gonna be jus' like the rest of us, lady, so you best not piss off people 'o' you gonna have a lonely life. Trust me, I ********' know 'bout dat." He said that in a low, seething manner as he got almost up in her face. "There ain't NUTHIN' int'restin' 'bout watchin' yer nails pop off 'n' then havin' bone push through yo skin so ya bleed like you think you ain't neva gonna stop. I don't know where you came from, but s**t is diff'rent herr, I promise you dat." Jamal snorted and pulled away from Valentine, whirling now to face Lily.
A leer replacing the snarl as he gave the ex-technician a sickly sweet smile and lifted a hand to indicate those who were assembled in the clearing. "You lab peeps like ta lie, dontcha? They -all- like ta lie."
He glanced at Chana, giving her what might have almost qualified as a sympathic look had he not seemed to be vibrating with repressed anger. "This b***h ain't no diff'rent then Aubrey or Moreau. They all lie o' gonna lie at some point...this one jus' slipped by until her cover got blown."
Zach's attention had been so preoccupied with Jamal's appearance and answer that he didn't see Valentine's reaction coming. He screeched as she slapped him right across the recently-bruised side of his face, and immediately shielded it with his hand, eyes wide and tearing up with shock. He tried to move his jaw, but it hurt too much at the moment to bother trying to say anything. He left it hanging slightly open, as it had been when he cried out.
He continued to walk away from Valentine like a wounded animal, staring in shock, until his back was up against a tree. He watched Jamal sidle up to Valentine and threaten her, silently cheering the tiger-man on, though his jaw continued to hurt furiously.
The furry girl's words was definitely wearing Delaney down, so he looked to their argument instead, wondering what would happen. He figured Jamal was right about the staff - they were liars.
As soon as Valentine's hand made contact, it started stinging, and she hissed and rubbed her palm. She hadn't expected his face to be that hard. It truly surprised her when Jamal got up in her face - in fact, it scared her not a little. The slap was a reflex, of a sort. She had been angry, and just...swung. She expected it as much as Zach did.
She backed up as Jamal approached, searching desperately from side to side in order to find a way out of his path. Even without the fact that he was partly changed, large man + black = bad situation for her. "I am focused on the staff," she retorted. "I'm focused on the fact that it's Moreau's fault Zach could make that rude, uncalled for comment about my finger." Her defiance died down a notch as he went into detail about his transformation. She didn't know what to say to that, so she said nothing at all. "And I don't know where you come from," she muttered, "but s**t ain't so different that humans don't have a soul. Leave her alone. She can rot by herself." Her meaning Lily. The woman clenched her hands, and with visible difficulty, got her anger under control.
Chana's questions make her think, the only redeeming thing about being the one to tell them what she was would have been that she said it, owned up to it. It may have made her look more like she was sorry. But part of her still doubted it would have helped much with some of them.
"But I am," Lily exclaims, "I didn't know what to expect, I wouldn't have been able to tell you anything!" Her voice is desperate now, someone needs to believe her, someone needs to understand. Chana may be right to accuse her of being selfish, but she couldn't see any good coming from telling everyone outright about her last job. It didn't matter on the Island- or so she told herself, but she knew hiding it wasn't working in her time as an Islander. It'd been so troublesome to keep it to herself. What would Joli think when she found out? Joli is the only one she'd actually lied to..
Her stomach feels like it's tied in knots when she sees that Chana has started to cry. She listens to Jamal tell off Valentine, and then doesn't verbally respond to Jamal's sinister smile and accusation covering all of the staff from the labs. Lily does take a step back this time, and another at Valentine's terrible comment, thankful and hurt at the same time, wanting to just go away. It's obvious no one is going to listen to any explanation she has.
Chana watched Jamal nervously. There was just too much about him that made her wary now. And Lily looked like she was going to try and run away. Sighing, the beaver girl walked over to her...surreptiously avoiding Jamal.
"But we didn't know that, Lily. There's so much that could've been different if you'd just told us..." Chana bit her lip. She didn't want to repeat herself too many times.
Up close, it was even more shocking and horrifying to see how Lily had changed. It was...disturbing, really, seeing all the little things that weren't quite right.
She smiled, and changed the subject quietly. "How was it really?" she asked, gesturing towards Lily's features.
Jamal had no sympathy for Lily. In his books, she was as bad as the other staff members...she, however, was getting what she deserved. He advanced as she stepped back, his expression never wavering from it's icy countenance. Valentine was mostly ignored; he'd deal with her later if he wanted to.
"You're jus' sorry ya lost yer cover," he hissed lowly to Lily, whiskers flickering forward as he spoke, eyes glinting menacingly. "How does it feel ta like one of us? Get called a freak yet?" He curled his lip in disgust. "At least ya get ta see up close what you ********' did ta all of us. Nice 'n' close. Aubrey got ta see too, only she got da bruises 'n' cuts ta show it. Did ya get ta mess wit' my serum?...maybe I should thank you fo' dis s**t."
He pointed an accusing claw at her, eyes half-lidded in a challenging stare.
Zach's eyes darted toward Valentine. He trired speaking. It still hurt, but he could get some words out, a little distorted. "Wasn' so uncall for, considerin' you ugree wiv him an' his isane sperimentin'..."
He didn't want to get attacked another time - this wasn't his first islander injury, anyhow, between Rex's new claws and Billy's fiery temper. He glanced back the way he came. The village was that way, and no one was blocking his path. He eagerly backed away and left as silently as he could. He needed an icepack, or something. His jaw would probably be killing him a whole extra day now.
The four remaining islanders' bickering continued to echo through the forest as he walked away. He didn't look back - he didn't want to witness the scene if Jamal got riled up enough by the ex-scientist to do with Lily what he'd failed to do with Aubrey.
Okay, she'd had it. Turning back to Zach, she narrowed her eyes angrily. "I don't agree with his experiments, you ignorant sonofabitch. Didn't you hear me say that?!" She would have charged after him, but she figured her life would be forfeit to Jamal if she did so. Instead, she crossed her arms and spat in the direction he left. She didn't look so classy at that moment, but she was too angry to care.
She knew she needed to calm down and get her anger under control. She didn't exactly feel like being calm, though. She stared at Lily, Chana, and Jamal in turn, then with an angry growl-turned-screech, she stormed off through the jungle to the west in a huff. She was going to find the bar and get good and slammed. Maybe she would wake up and everything would be a dream.
"You didn't know I was a lab technician either," Lily responds to Chana, "You found out I didn't know these things at the same time you found that out, now." It's her only defence for that comment, but she can't do anything except agree with Chana on the second thing. Things would be different if she'd told people, but was it the optimistic different Chana was suggesting or the pessimistic different Lily had imagined? Lying never leads to good... if she had told the truth, even if everyone was this angry with her, she'd have that on her side.
She turns back to Jamal, "No- well-" she almost responds to his accusation. Her first impulse is to deny it, but she obviously didn't want to be found out. Maybe in the end it would be a relief to have her secret out, but for now it's just a terrible thing that all she feel about it sorry it happened. Her eyes widen when he gives a vague explanation of what happened with Aubrey, taking a great step backward- if Aubrey could even get cuts and scratches then she can't hope that he couldn't do anything.
She quivers at Chana and Jamal's questions. She takes a moment to think about how to respond, surprised and unprepared for a question like that. When she finally overcomes this she says the first word that had come to her mind to describe her transformation, finding it kind of ironic that it's suitable to how they probably feel about her now. She watches Valentine storm off before she replies to the two remaining.
"Slimy," she snaps, looking at Chana, and then back at Jamal, "Oh yes-" her tone is an 'I-give-up', sad sarcastic one, with little anger- "Of course, because I worked on all of the serums, and am actually the one responsible for everything happening on this Island." She takes another step back as she speaks, and glances back to Chana briefly before turning around and heading back in the direction of the duplexes.
Chana was embarrassed by how bad Lily clearly felt after all of this. As the red-haired woman left, she raised a hand as if to stop her and call her back, but then dejectedly lowered it. They all needed some space after this, Lily most of all.
She glared at Jamal. "You can't judge her just because of a job she had! Your reaction is exactly why she wouldn't tell us!" Chana gave him another glare before stomping back over to the river.
There was still daylight left...and she still meant to have fish for dinner. Jamal could go hunt somewhere else, she thought savagely as she reached after a salmon.
Jamal was so focused on Lily that he didn't pay any attention to Zach or Valentine's leaving, giving the ex-staff woman a threatening growl as she snapped back at him sarcastically. Not only was she an ex-staff person, but she wasn't very smart.
His predatory instinct urged him to chase after her like he had done to Em, but he had been paying close mind to the tiger's thought patterns and managed to refrain. He'd settle for giving her the creeps for now.
"I'd be careful, Lily," he drawled, his tone as much seething as it was cruel and calculating. "One of these times ya might turn yer back at da wrong time. I know who you be now."
Chana's snapped reaction to his treatment of the woman made him snarl at her and whip his head around. "I kin' judge her fo' ruinin' people's lives, Chana. Unless you LIKE bein' how you is right now." He gave the woman a leveled, chilled stare. "She's jus' anotha' puzzle in dis ******** up place. Seems like what -you- said hurt her mo' anyway."
But whatever. The tiger's dislike of social situations and Jamal's hatred of the staff had combined to an intolerable high. He needed to get out of here and relax. Maybe snap a few animal necks like Pyroth suggested.
Without a word, he slipped away into the underbrush again, melting into the darkness with surprising ease and soon the soft crinkle of leaves could no longer be heard as his footsteps took him away from the river.
Chana cringed slightly at the venom in the tiger-man's tone. And at the fact of what he said. She probably had hurt Lily worst of all today...she'd have to apologize.
She sighed. Why did life have to be so complicated all of the time? And now the sun was setting. She'd have to head back soon.
Chana reached into the water, resolving that this would be her last try. She scooped the fish up into the air and, startled at her success, tried to grab it. The fish twisted and squirmed in her grip and finally wrenched itself free and back into the water. Chana glared after it.
"Why shouldn't I be surprised that I can't even catch a stupid fish," she muttered to herself, and turned to follow the river home again.
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Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 9:19 pm
[ Roleplay: You've Got Mail. ] Joliette wandered out of hte shower in the duplex she shared with David rubbing her long curly mass of hair with a towel. S letter on the dresser catches her eye "Mail? why would we get mail... noone knows we are here" she muses and walks over picking it up "Lily.. from Feral?" her brow furrows and she puts the letter down for a moment, she'd have to give it to the girl. She wanders away and pulls on her clothing her attention drifting back tot he letter several more times. After a moment of indescision she snaps of hte letter between her claws and leaves the duplex, she headed next door and up to #28 into her dark room though she left the door ajar... She stood inside the door and stared at that letter for a long time... She already had her suspsicions about Lily, though nice enough of a person, the journalistic wheels never stopped turning. A moment later she used a claw and started to pull it open.
Her eyes skimmed the pages she pulled out and widened slightly, her lips persing in a line, especially when it listed the serums Lily had worked on "I knew it...."
After her encounter with Moreau and all the worst possible people Lily is feeling positively terrible. The taunting from ... whoever that man had been when she left makes her a little nervous but for now she hopes that word hasn't gotten too far yet. After the way Chana had reacted she felt bad, and knew now that everyone would find out and she wants to be the one to tell Joliette, not let her find out from some other person.
Goodness knows she's been suspicious enough around her.
When she makes it back to the duplexes, instead of heading for her own she heads for number 28- though she briefly glances past it to number 25 wondering if she should try to get her mail before someone opened it. She doesn't when she sees the door of 28 ajar, and instead heads up the stairs.
"Joliette?" she calls when she reaches the top of the stairs and reaches for the door.
Joliette was engrossed in the contents of the letter, she was still standing several feet inside the door "It's open" she says distractedly, her eyes were skimming the list of team serums again, her yellow tongue flickering a few times
Lily murmurs to herself to work up the courage to admit she's been lying to the one person who she's seen the most and has been friendliest to her. She opens the door and steps into the room.
"I have to talk to you," she says quietly, sounding rather anxious. She eyes the paper that Joli is holding, but doesn't realize what it is right away.
Joliette looks up finally noticing who it was who entered her darkroom 'I would say that would be an understatement' she thinks to herself and then replies "Come on in... How is the... vacation going" she folds the paper and turns wandering over and dropping into her armchair
She gives Joli a nervous smile, staying near the open door while watching Joli move to the armchair. Lily frowns ever so slightly at the mention of the vacation, and clears her throat.
"That's actually what I came to talk to you about," she says finally, her voice lowering a bit when she continues, "I'm not on vacation- er- I wasn't here on vacation, I mean.."
"Oh I know, you worked with serums in the lab" she said in a calm voice pulling her small laptop into her lap atop the folded paper. opening it and powering it up
Lily starts when Joli bluntly tells her she already knows that she worked in the lab, her expression somewhere between surprise and disappointment, "O-oh... well..."
She couldn't even tell Joliette herself, how fast does news travel here? Lily takes a step back toward the door, considering just leaving before she has to face another round of interrogation and accusations, more justly from this person than from the others.
"A question for you Lily" Joliette says tapping away at her laptop "What did you think when that insane doctor wanted a combination of a grizzly, a wolverine and a tazmanian made?" she has yet to raise her voice, it was more... journalistically sound mind to keep calm in these situations, her experience led to further cooperation from the people she wanted information from
She stops in her backing away when Joli suddenly asks her a question, and an unexpected one at that, in an unexpected tone of voice. Her expression changes to a more curious one- is this what she normally does. "W-what?" she stammers, "I don't know-"
Her mind bounces between wondering at Joliette's reaction and what she'd thought about making a serum that's a combination of three different animals.
"Surely you must have had some opinion about that project, it had to be different from working on any just ordinary serum that passed through your hands" her voice stayed even and she looked up with her eyes though her head remained tilted down and her hands still typing.
"I-it was," Lily says cautiously, still not sure how she should react. Something had to be important about this serum, she can't remember any mention of the recipient of said serum by Joliette, though.
"It was a challenge, I guess," she says slowly in the same cautious tone, "It sounded impossible..."
Maybe being honest now would make up for being dishonest before? But why is Joli asking her these questions? She can almost predict a bad outcome from answering them, for most journalists don't just do 'interviews' for no reason, do they?
"Honestly, I personally would have thought everything happening here was.. impossible" Joliette stops and leans on her elbows which she puts on her legs then rests her hands under her chin "Did you have any predictons in your own mind how it would effect the subject it was given to? you know, like behavioural or the like?"
"I thought so too when I found out," Lily says, shifting her weight on her legs a bit. After her experience with the others, it's unsettling to be dealing with such a calm reaction. Admittedly, they were less accusing kinds of questions than she had before, but so unexpected from bother her own imagination and the experience earlier.
"I didn't really think about that," she responds, again honestly.
"Is this how you normally react to this kind of thing?" she asks suddenly, only brave enough to ask instead of answer questions because Joliette hadn't gotten visibly angry, "By asking questions in that calm way? Is it a habit from being a.. photographer-journalist or whatever?"
She noded and then pondered the returned question for a time... "I'll admit I would have prefered to have learned it from you, and yes calmness always has gotten me answers faster then yelling, I think the saying goes something like 'you atract more flies with honey then vinegar'. I'll also admit that I'm not thrilled about hte factor you worked for that insane man, however to bring people here, or to trap them here was not your doing, you were just crazy enough to go along with making those serums. I hate what I'm becoming, but yelling at you isn't going to answer that, I can't say David will like it or react the way I did when he finds out one of hte persons who made his serum is our neighbour though"
"I tried," Lily murmurs quietly when Joli says she'd have prefered to hear it from her, though she knows that even if she had word would have gotten to her one way or another and she'd know why she decided to tell her. She nods along with Joliette's explanation, easing considerably when she says she knows that yelling won't help anything despite the statement that follows it.
Someone has some degree of understanding, thinking more rationally, not asking why she didn't have moral issues with her job. She could almost start crying, after being so stressed out and then meeting this.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she says finally, stepping back to lean against a clear wall, then reconsidering what she said, "No... I'm sorry I lied to you."
"You aren't the first person who lied to me here, somehow I doubt you'll be the last, I don't understand how any of the doctors or labtechs here justify all this, though I'm sure hte git would simply shrug it off, I suppose money has a way of making someone turn and not see. I didn't see Komodo on the list of serums you worked on, so I personally don't believe I have anything directly to hold against you.." she wasn't going to speak for David though "But I'll tell you this so your curiousity can be satisfied... Grizzly, wolverine and tazmanian lend to a rather scary temper... I should know" she reaches up and pulls her shirt sleeve aside showing the still fading but nasty bruise on her upper arm and shoulder
Lily bites her lip at Joli's statements, knowing that she's probably right about the lying and she considers explaining her own experience with it but holds back for now. She thinks about the money- money she'd made and would now never see. Her gaze is away from Joliette by the time she explains the temper the combination serum has given Chubbs, and it's a fit distraction for a moment as she looks to the bruise on her arms and winces.
Then what Joli said hits her. A list of serums?
"Wait," she says, "You have a list of what I worked on? That's how you found out? Where'd you get it?"
Joliette sits silently for a moment and then puts the laptop bck on the desk beside her arm chair and lifts the folded paper, pulls the envelope to the top "Lily Deleny, Duplex 25... you'd think people of that rank aruond here could adress things to the right duplex..." She holds the pepers towards Lily "You got paid hansomly, I can see why a job here would be... attractive"
Joliette lives in Duplex 25? That is much too convenient, and she considers commenting on reading other peoples mail but thinks better of it. She reaches out and takes the papers from Joliette, with a nervous laugh about being able to address a letter.
"I'm sure it got where they wanted it to," she says, knowing it wouldn't be beyond Moreau to do such a thing intentionally after showing up by the river with so many people around- especially when he mentioned how he knew the letter didn't go to the right place.
"The money," she hesitates, "is why I came, I guess- but I didn't know what I would be doing until I got here."
"Well, I live there, and I had wonderings about you for a while now, and David lives there and he's the one who got that serum, so it's not improbable that it was purposeful. Money is attractive, scoops often sell nicely , I would have had that opportunity if the git hadn't fooled me." She pulls the laptop back into her lap looking at hte screen for a moment and typing for a half a minute then saves the file and closes the laptop, she'd show her love the important parts of that letter later
"I'm not surprised," Lily admits, for she has infact been aware that she's been a terrible liar and been acting suspicious around Joli. There's something about how casual Joli is, she still feels uneasy about her calmness and the odd casual typing that was going on when she was being questioned, about one specific thing no less. Directly blaming her or not...
"I'll just go, then," she says, watching as Joli types up something again, holding tight to her mail, "You must be busy..." She doesn't sound very convinced, but her tone hasn't really sounded very confident throughout the conversation.
"Not really, I'd only just got here when you arrived, but I wont hold you here" she stood up her yellow tongue flicked and she walked towards Lily... Had she heard the ruccous earlier she would unlikely have been quite so calm, but.. sometimes it was better to fear the one that was calm, it was hard to tell exactly what was going on in their mind... And Joliette knew this.
"Ok," Lily says, heading back toward the open doorway again, watching Joli approach with a flickering tongue and not feeling any better about it. Has she been too comfortable with her, or is she just being paranoid?
Of course she's being paranoid, several angry people made sure of that.
"Bye," she says, turning and heading out of the door, now eager to get back to her own duplex and just.. hide or something. Two things were taken care of by her visit here, Joli knew and she found the mail that had been delivered to the wrong duplex.
Neither, though, came about how she would have liked.
Joliette watches her leave then scoops up her laptop opening it again and reading what she's typed... a copy of most of the letter that accompanied that stub, thank god for photographic memory and fast fingers... even with those stupid claws which slowed her just a touch, she walks from the darkroom locking the door behind her and heads home to #25 turning off sleep mode settings as she went
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Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 9:43 pm
[ Home Alone ] Lily got to her duplex quickly after her talk with Joliette, feeling drained and paranoid after the day people found out how she really ended up on the Island. Chana's anger and tears, that black, cat man's threats, the comments of the others and Joli's odd calm questioning all stuck in her mind. When she got inside and closes the door safely behind her the first thing she did was lock every possible lock on her door. Instead of moving away from the door she leaned against it and sunk to the floor, her head tilted so she can look up at the ceiling.
"Well," she whispered to herself, "Everyone knows now, and everyone hates you."
She didn't speak again for a couple minutes, crinkling the paper clutched in her hands.
"More than two million dollars," she breathed finally, "Almost three million..."
Of all the times to be clumsy, she had to be holding two and a half million dollars when she decided to fall. It'd have been embarrassing enough to just fall over in the presence of your boss, why couldn't that have happened instead? She'd have recovered from the embarrassment and maybe not allowed near too much expensive equipment for a while...
"But no," she mumbled, her mind moving to her decision not to tell anyone.
"Should I have, shouldn't I have?" she asked herself, "Would I have? Maybe."
She thought about how she'd been acting around Joliette, how suspicious and how bad at lying and acting she'd been. If someone hadn't figured out enough was suspicious to force her to talk, surely she'd have gotten to a point where she'd have told someone on her own. Would things be different? She snorted, telling people you were fired from turning them into animals probably wouldn't have made much difference. Saying she walked away from the job might have been better.
"No, they'd have found out," she grumbled, "I'm sure it was entertaining for everyone back at the labs."
Her eyes roved around her room, looking for a camera. Feeling tired and alone, an outcast from her former professional life and the people associated with it and an outcast from her current private life and the people associated with it, she leaned against the wall- now situated in the corner by her door. She drifted off to sleep after a terrible day, looking at one of her green and orange hands, which was holding onto the mail that'd been sent to Joliette, on the floor beside her.
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Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:13 am
[ Roleplay: Talking to Dr. Lockheart ] Lily Delaney After sleeping against the door to her duplex by the wall, Lily hadn't woken up feeling the most comfortable. Paranoid or not, she knows she won't be doing that again. After some thought, she'd come to the conclusion that you need food, and that if she doesn't want to run into people sometime in the evening would probably be the easiest time to avoid people. Not to mention she's been feeling more comfortable in the evenings. Lily makes it to the cafeteria without running anyone, and is feeling quite lucky when she finds that part of the town hall building empty. She relaxes a little bit and heads for the food, deciding that a sandwich of some kind may be the easiest and quickest thing to have for now. The way she carries herself makes it quite evident that she's feeling nervous. Aubrey Lockheart Aubrey breezed into the cafeteria, clipboard in hand and labcaot billowing out behind her. She was trying to finish up the orders for the village before Moreau sent James back to the main land.
"Want something done right you have to do it yourself," she mumbleed quickly going to one of the stock cubbards and pressing her thumb to panal to have it click open. She didn't even stop to look around until the paranoid tingle raced up her spine that told her she should be wearly of Jamal.
She looked over her shoulder to see who was out and about and her eyebrows darted up when she caught sight of the girl in the corner. "Miss Delaney...." she said akwardly, forcing a friendly smile. Lily Delaney Lily is in the middle of picking up some bread when she hears someone enter the cafeteria, and she turns herself right around to see who it is, for it is likely to be easier to leave if needed if she doesn't need to turn around. Her hazel eyes widen when she sees that it's not an Islander, but a staff member. And not just any staff member.
Though her expression is surprise, her emotions are a mix of relief and nervousness. Would the subjects be the only ones upset with her? She hasn't seen any staff members other than Moreau since she was 'fired,' and that hadn't ended well.
"Dr. Lockheart," she murmurs in a way of greeting, trying to look less surprised but unable to surpress her nervousness. Aubrey Lockheart Aubrey cleared her throat and closed the door to the cabinet. "Hello." She tapped her pencil on the clipboard nervously, looking the young woman over carefully.
"How... I mean.. uhm.. how are you?" She let a sympathetic concern slip in her voice, not wanting to sound comepletly cold or ignorant to the situation. Lily Delaney Lily keeps a hold on the bread slices in her hands, watching the nervous tap of the pencil on the clipboard, not replying to the second greeting. Her eyes lift from the pencil to Aubrey's face when she asks how she is, looking thoughtful as she searches for what to say. "Fine," she answers but her tone is not convincing, especially if you know what happened, and almost sarcastic. She hesitates before asking quietly, "How are you?"
It's the polite thing to do, no matter how awkward. Aubrey Lockheart Aubrey didn't hide her expression of skepticism when she said she was fine. Her eyebrows raised and her eyes quickly darted to look at the green scaling appearing on her skin. "Oh..."
Aubrey slowly sat down at one of the tables. "Stressful," she said honestly. Lily Delaney Ok, Aubrey isn't leaving... but she doesn't seem angry and it sounds like she's being honest. Lily knows it could be worse, and takes a hesitant step forward, still holding the bread which is getting a little sticky from the skin on her fingers.
"Oh?" she murmurs, wondering if she should ask about it after not being questioned on her own answer. Of course, a dishonest answer is usually to avoid follow-up questions.
"Why's that?" Lily asks finally, sounding as curious and sympathetic as she can while in her own current mood and state of mind. Aubrey Lockheart Aubrey shrugged. "Dr. Duvert little lockdown experiment totally derailed several things I was working on." Aubrey pulled down the silk scarf arond her next to show off the bandages. "Mr. Reedy wants nothing more to kill me now since that happened. So I've mostly been cleaning up that mess. Plus some problems with Mr. Woodrow."
Aubrey clicked her fingernails on the table's enamel. "How are you... adjusting?" Lily Delaney Lily takes a couple more steps towards Aubrey, looking surprised at the casual mention of Duvert's lockdown experiment and she opens her mouth to ask about it when she is shown the bandages, which quiet her.
"I know that feeling," Lily comments sadly, her voice more sincere, after Aubrey says a Mr. Reedy would like to kill her, recalling the threats she'd gotten from the black man that appeared out of the brush by the river, as well as the scary looks she's gotten from.. another scary looking man.
"I don't think I can adjust," she answers the question, much more honest than her previous answer, making it over to the table and sitting at the end away from Aubrey but considerably closer to her now. She sets the bread on the table. Aubrey Lockheart "Mr. Reedy is a loose cannon. I'm worried something serious will have to be done... before someone else gets hurt. Or worse."
She watched over Lily for a second, frowning. "I'm sure things will get easier, Miss Delaney..." Aubrey tried to sound comforting. "I mean, you're just on the other side of the fence... but its not like any of us are going anywhere, you know. At least now you don't have to work!" The older lady gave a very akward laugh that quickly faded. Lily Delaney Lily shivers a bit at the description of Jamal, being around a loose cannon, as Aubrey had called him, when everyone was so angry with her doesn't sound very appealing. She gives a small smile when Aubrey attempts to comfort her, having mixed feelings on what she says.
"Early retirement?" she comments, "Really early.. but I didn't mind the work so much, I thought the idea was interesting.." she pauses, thinking about what she's saying, "Think, I guess. But so many unwilling people.. forever.." She stares off at the wall, thinking about the 'forever' part. When she'd taken the job, she had signed something saying she wouldn't leave until the project was complete. It never was going to finish, was it? Aubrey Lockheart Aubrey's nail tapping soft and she sighed. "Its.. I don't know. It's not easy, but you have to just detatch yourself."
Aubrey scoffed. "Look at me.. talking about detatching. I'm the one trying to connect with all these people." Aubrey winced a little, realizing 'these people' now included Lily. "I'm unsure where I really fit anymore. I'm trying to help them as much as I can. But Moreau is right, they are never going to.. not hate me." Lily Delaney "Detach," she murmurs, looking down at her orange and odd-shaped fingers. She'd never thought about the subjects, not as people- it was easy when you weren't allowed to know much about them. Part of her told her that is why a lot of the people will probably be upset with her. She glances back up when Aubrey comments on 'these people,' also catching that she is now one of them but still finding the word to seem appropriate.
"At least," she says thoughtfully, "You can avoid them, if you want to." She pauses, wanting to say something better than that but finding it hard to be comforting. Being in a paranoid and pessimistic state of mind about everyone hating her makes it harder for Lily to find something to good to say about it to someone who is openly in contact with the subjects but still works in the labs. Aubrey Lockheart Aubrey picked at her nails with a sigh. "I can.. if I wanted to," she admitted. "But I don't to. I want them to establish lives here. And I want to be a part of it." She shook her head. "I know that sounds really silly. But I do. I think this would work more as a community if people could just realize the order of things."
She chucked. "I guess that is pretty ridulous, huh?" She shook her head. "But,I mean.. I know they are angry with you. But I think you should try to...amend things. I mean... I have my enemies, but some people are rather civil to me. And, well, I knew more about what was going on here than you did. Hell, half the people are here because I signed off on their forms." She buried her head in her hand, almost in a shameful manner. Lily Delaney "A community," she repeats, "It's nice that you want to be a part of life here despite what people think.."
Ok, that sounded odd coming from her. Lily straightens up a bit as she thinks about it. Everyone she'd met was so nice, she does want to be a part of the community- that could be part of why she's so concerned. After a thoughtful pause she mumbles, "I guess I do to. And at least you're honest with th-" she stops before correcting herself, "us, I guess pretending I didn't work here before wasn't a good way to gain trust. I want to fix things, but I don't know how I will, yet."
She thinks about how Chana had looked at the river, the one person she'd talked to before that was there. Lying, or hiding the truth as was the case with most, really hasn't worked. Aubrey Lockheart Aubrey sat back and comtemplated. "Yes, perhaps trying to hiding wasn't the best plan on action." She popped her knuckles. "Personally, I think people will thrown by your apparatant... apathy? I could only guess because you weren't screaming and hollering and throwing things at the main gate that you were, in a way, accepting what was happening."
Aubrey smirked again. "You kow, all I do is try to get people to accept it. And here I am saying you accepted it too quietly." Lily Delaney "I didn't want to make anything worse, I guess," Lily murmurs in explanation of how she'd somehow stayed so calm, "I knew I'd costed a lot of money-" she winces, reminded of the $2.6mil- "Well, I didn't know how much until recently. Not that I'm strong enough to cause any damage, but I expected punishment of some kind... And I figured people wouldn't really like a staff member so I just.. didn't say anything to anyone."
She pauses, thinking about her silent acceptance of what has happened, "But I know there's nothing I can really do about it. Why fight it?" Aubrey Lockheart "No, you can't do anything about. And I'm not saying you shoud...fight per se. I just think the islanders woud relate to you better if you seemed...angry?"
Aubrey stopped and looked at her curiously. "Aren't you angry?" Lily Delaney "I- ye- I guess," she stammers a reply, not sure what to say. She isn't angry with anyone but herself, who had stumbled around the lab while carrying such valuable equipment. Is she angry about Moreau choosing this as a fit punishment?
Any anger she's felt has been overcome by other emotions, mostly shock, denial and fear. When she'd arrived, her curiousity, fear of being found out and the shock of where she was had stopped her from really being in a rage about it. The conversation by the river she'd been too dumbfounded by what he said around so many people.. not to mention he's rather intimidating to her, after all he's done.
So, then, why isn't Dr. Lockheart? she wonders.
"You're a lot easier to talk to than I'd have guessed," she says after her long thoughtful pause. Aubrey Lockheart "Am I?" she said, with a small smile. "I try, I suppose. What would have made you guess otherwise?" Lily Delaney "Intimidating status, maybe," she answers, "Mixed messages about you, too. And I never really met you before.."
"I don't think I would have if I wasn't here, would I?" she asks suddenly, sounding not accusing but curious as she asks her question. Aubrey Lockheart Aubrey blinked. "Who's to say. I suppose you're right.. I do know more of the subjects than I do my own staff."
She looked comtemplative for a moment. "Hmm, seems like my priorties are skewed at times, I guess." Lily Delaney "Maybe," she says, partially agreeing, "You said we're not going anywhere, if .. if it includes staff they'd be important too. But they have work and each other.."
Her eyes fall back on the bread by the table, reminding her of her hunger before she looks back up. She's considerably calmer now, with her mind not focussed majorly on her worries. Aubrey Lockheart Aubrey tapped her nails, watching the girl. "I should leave you to your meal..." Lily Delaney "Ok," she says hesitantly, "It was nice to meet y- er- see you." It is somewhere between meeting someone new and seeing someone you'd already known. She picks up the bread she'd put on the table absently so she can continue with a sandwich if she'd like to..
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Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:54 pm
You awaken from disturbing dreams to any itchy sensation, one that you can feel almost all over your body. The first thing you notice is that the room is more humid, you notice that they seem to have installed humidifiers and turned up the heat a bit to keep the air... wet and almost jungle like. You look down at your skin and see that it appears to be dappling again but over more of your body this time. It almost seems like it spreads from your face and from your hands. You notice that it seems to grow on your arms up to your elbows, with a blue underside. Your new skin able to absorb water through it instead of drinking it, though that is not essential... yet. You see your fingers change further, to a deeper even more distinctive orange color. Much of your skin becoming slippery now. You can feel the changes occurring in every part of your as your tongue seems to painfully readjust in your mouth. Attaching itself to the front, not the back, of your mouth. The glands in your mouth now generating the sticky saliva needed to catch insects. As the changes finish you notice how comfortable the sticky and moist air is to your new... body. As the new instincts and these new sensations remind you that you are very much now part amphibian.
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 4:20 pm
[ Roleplay: Colche's Birthday ]
http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=2846661&page=5
Lily comes in at the end of page 5, and stays until page 8.
Summary: Finding herself a little too comfortable in the humid air in her room, after a change she's taken alright so far, Lily decides to leave. She comes across a birthday party for Colche, and can't resist going in. She doesn't say much, and is soon uncomfortable enough to leave- but not before wishing Colche a happy birthday.
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Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 7:43 pm
[ Info Post: Lily's Weekend ] Lily will remain in her duplex most of the weekend, perhaps leaving to do some laundry or go for a walk near the river. She's also working up the nerve to go talk to some people, explain herself- particularly to Chana.
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Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 9:24 am
[ Reserved: Secret PM ] Reserved for future posting of secret metaplot PM :B
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