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 Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 6:31 pm
"Don't like your hair? Why's that?" She sounded genuinely baffled as she picked up a hairbrush from her desk drawer before moving over to stand behind Calder, contented with watching him work until he can settle down enough for her to start on his hair. He looked like he was making decent progress with the Minipet beds - marking the wood was a smart idea and she found herself smiling at that; if he needed to be graded at the end of the day, she would give him credit for that for sure!
Standing behind him, however, she saw that there seemed to be even more twigs entwined into his hair than she had originally thought... If that was even possible. He sure put in a lot of effort to keep his hair looking messy like that!
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 6:41 pm
He sat on the ground as Lizzy examined his hair. A small water beetle moved over his ear and back into his hair and a few pebbles could be seen tangled inside. Still, despite the dirt, the grass, the sticks and leaves, the hair was soft, glistening, and a soft petal white. His eyes stayed down at his task, something to let his hand and attention be occupied by what she was asking, and he reached over to start working, looking ahead in the instructions to get an idea of where he was going. His family had largely been a trial and error type of group or he was told how to do things. Written instructions were a new thing for him, namely because kelpies didn’t do written instructions. Paper got wet and torn and turned into a mess. Speaking was much better, and not all of his kind were literate. Luckily he was, but the directions were a little confusing.
He pressed one block of wood against the other and fished out a nail. "My hair……" He shook the jar before finding a nail, pulling it out. "…….is too pretty." His brow creased as he looked at the nail, before lining it up where he felt it should go. "……….it's disgusting." He took the hammer and hit the nail hard.
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:19 pm
"Too pretty?" Lizzy's eyes widened ever so slightly (seemed like she was starting to get less surprised with every 'surprise' Calder presents to her) as she eyed the crawling water beetle. She twitched before reaching in and plucking it up between her thumb and index finger, tossing the insect over to Rosenthal - who was more than happy to, well, take care of it. Especially since it came from the Kelpie he was starting to hate.
The killing of the water beetle is a warning! A warning to that white haired pony boil... The Pata-Pata flew up to Lizzy's desk and made himself comfortable. Then, he started to stare at the Kelpie, unblinking... Unmoving.
"Shouldn't you be glad that you hair turned out so well?" She can't understand why anyone would want to purposely mess up such naturally beautiful hair! A frown tugged at her lips as she sighed, "Disgusting...? Right, why don't you tell me more about Kelpies then. You seem to be proud about being one." She remembered how he seemed almost desperate for her not to 'think badly of Kelpies' after the drowning attempt, "Are Kelpies not meant to have lovely hair?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:56 pm
He hit the hammer hard once more, and once more again, making sure it was deeply embedded in the spot. He then reached his slender fingers into the jar, finding another nail. He thought a moment, about his mother and father in his mind's eye, and slowly nodded his head. "All kelpies have gorgeous hair and retain a natural beauty through their lifetime. Even the oldest ones retain their charm even with the signs of age." He was reciting common knowledge of his kind to her. He set a nail on the other end of the board, and lined up his hammer.
"My parents both have gorgeous hair. My father has straight black hair, sleek and well oiled, though he usually keeps it up. My mother has white, wavy hair. She leaves it wild and …..it smells of bluebells." He hammered hard once more, pausing for a moment as he hit the nail deep into the resistant wood.
"A kelpie who is pretty is a kelpie that will eat. You can't catch anything if you can't attach anything to you. We're not monsters who grab and catch and chase. We don't have claws or scales, many faces or many arms, or let out bellowing screams that stun our enemy. We attach humans." He paused, and then reached in for another nail, looking to the instructions.
"Lizzy, what does your kind, your clan, do to get Fear?" He asked, not turning to meet her eyes and letting her see the back of his head only.
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 8:42 pm
"So... You are normal for your species. Good looking, even," She simply replied, an eyebrow twitching upwards as she resisted the urge to use the word 'pretty' on him although it was more accurate a description. However, while he had answered her question, it only caused her to be even more confused than before, "But if so, why do you hate your hair? I mean, if it helps you to attract humans and drown them?" She assumed they drown them at least.
His question caused her to blush lightly as she started to twirl a lock of hair around her fingers; its not as if she isn't proud of her family or species, but unlike Calder, her family was based on Halloween. Few had the chance to actually go into the human world - her mother had, on a few occasions and before meeting her father, but she refused to tell her anything about the place! Then again, its only fair to reply him honestly, since he did tell her about his kind...
"Well, most of those in my family stay in Halloween their whole life as seamstresses, really," She nodded slowly, lowering her gaze, not sure how she should feel about that since she wanted to do that as well although gathering FEAR from humans is a respectable job, "Either way, to start, we're born as spiders but its normal for us to take on a more human appearance soon after that... Few are born as males - we're more of a female dominated species - for a good reason too."
She looked up, her tone becoming serious, "While succubus and incubus are famous for seducing and then devouring their prey, we do something similar. We seduce male humans and suck the life force out of them, basically. Some, however, had decided that seducing is too much work and that catching humans by getting them caught in webs is much easier and gathers more FEAR since female humans are useless to us and most of them are allowed to go free... Free to spread the terror, anyway. Why do you ask?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 9:32 pm
He finished another side, pulling on the two pieces of wood to make sure they were in place, and then took another piece, setting it to make the third side. He knew seamstresses, but none like her kind. The seamstress he knew was an old doll woman made of cloth and had thread for hair. A old ragdoll of a woman with sweet words but always lost one of her button eyes. Still, she had been kind, and he was always impressed by her skill. He wondered what magical clothes and things Lizzy could make, and if he liked her job. His kind often hired seamstresses because of the fact their clothes always tore and because the needed to look fitting for the human world. While some of them got away with just being nude when appearing as a humanoid around humans, it was best encourages to dress nicely. Sadly, not too many kelpies could afford much of anything.
"Seamstress sounds like a nice job, but you want to be a seamstress?" He wondered why. Glancing, he looked a little at her from over his shoulder, stopping in his bed making to catch her eye. "If your kind seduces, you must look good for humans. Is it……..for demons……do others like you – even when you look that way?" He wondered about it. Were demons ones to think differently than monsters. For monsters, they relied a lot on their power, their looks, because they did not attack with weapons or magic. They were the brutes of the HalloweenTown world, and he loved it. It was just that none too many seemed to like him.
He turned back to his half-made bed, and reached for the hammer again, but didn't start hitting just yet. "........did any of them hate you for looking pretty?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 9:57 pm
"Yes I do! When I do get there, it will be my life goal accomplished... What I'm capable of now is really nothing compared to what my mother can do, however, so I always try to work on my own little projects whenever I'm free," She looked back at him when he turned around; there was no hesitance in her voice as she spoke, just a hint of stubbornness; she didn't even use the word 'dream'. Its her goal in life to become a seamstress, and she's proud of it.
"Well..." She frowned slightly as she finally decided that Calder was still enough for her to start pulling twigs out of his hair without making him uncomfortable. Standing behind him, she started to remove the twigs, pebbles and other odd things that were in his hair, trying her best not to hit him with the hair brush in her hand as she worked, "I guess its normal for my kind, so you are liked as long as you have something to show for it... Like you are able to gather the most FEAR, or you can make the prettiest dresses. Those born with a pretty face but do nothing except live off the family? Those are disliked - mother wants me to grow up to be a useful Demon. She hates how some races think Demons do nothing but have others work for them - it is a stereotype that I am determined to break."
Her tone grew a little sharper before she calmed down again; it was obvious she had inherited her mother's will, so to speak.
"However, no... I don't think I've been hated by other Demons for looking pretty," She finished with a tilt of her head, fingers running through the boil's amazingly soft hair; despite the mess it was it, it was surprisingly easy to handle. A second's pause followed before she stopped what she was doing, "Have you been hated by other monsters for looking pre- good?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:26 pm
Something to show and do well. He didn't have that. Not now anyways. He wasn't old enough, and aside from going to school, his parents had few expectations. Well, aside from not having him kill anyone. They did hope he would make friends and be happy, but he wasn't really doing a good job of that. He wanted to work hard to be liked, but he felt a lot of people in school just were naturally good at it. He didn't get how. Christof was liked by a lot of people and the guy was a pack mule for everyone else. Still, despite being violent, ghouls and boils alike were friends with him. Even RILEY, the ghoul that was as bland as toast, was surrounded by people who adored her. He didn't get it, so it had to be something else.
He had stopped making the bed, looking at the half-creation in his hands and looking at the instructions without really looking at it. He was avoiding Lizzy's eyes, and he looked away when he leaned in to look at him. It seemed while she had been playing with his hair, cleaning it, he had been looking down, a deep frown set and his brow creased as he looked at the little bed that he was trying to make. He wasn't even doing that great at it. He'd fail. He'd fail at this and everything else.
When she asked, he paused and then slowly nodded. "There weren't a lot of monsters where I lived. The only kids were some fauns." It had been the only time he saw anyone near his own age, and he hadn't even cared that they weren't kelpies. They lived further in the woods and his parents had told him not to stay around them, but he tried to make friends. He tried hard.
He took the hammer and started to on the last side, finding a nail and hitting it hard, his brow creased downward as he thought about it. "They didn't like me." Clearly for said reason. He remembered when they said it. When they grew tired of having him follow them around and whatever little games they could play. His first teasing. The hair. The clothes. His complexion. Everything was pointed out. All of it was 'disgusting'.
He reached for another nail, and hammered that one in too, and another, and added a forth just for the sake of hitting something. He then paused, wondering if he did it right. It…sorta looked like the picture.
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:46 pm
Sometime durring Calder's walk, the eye in his coat pocket had rolled about, dry and frustrated by his poorly planned attempt at eves dropping. There was a tiny moth-hole that allowed SOME view, but very limited.
Sitting in the bushes by the building, Christof took turns closing his remaining eye to spy on Calder and trying to block out the headache the split-imaging was giving him to try to finish a bit of homework. Finally, Calder had returned to Lizzy's dorm, and while the Kelpie was crouched, with great concentration he was able to roll the dislodged eye from his pocket, wincing as it hit the floor. Ugg, the lint and dust was stinging, but it would be alright in the end. He closed the text book and squeezed his remaining eye shut once again, concentrating wholey on rolling around and under a piece of furnature where he could spy with a better view.
Hell's Bells, he should have tossed in an ear! He could only read snippits of lips moving, but it was easier to watch their actions and expressions... talking talking talking... ah! Good! She had given him something else to do finally! The Kelpie wasted far too much time talking. Alright, he had the hammer and... she was brushing his HAIR!
This wasn't Igoring! This was... Ghoul Time!
Finally, he had had enough, scurrying up the ladder to crouch outside the window, mostly hidden save for peaking in with his remaining eye. He tapped the window, and then ducked.
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:56 pm
"Oh?" Was her only response as she waited for him to finish speaking, brushing his hair in the meantime. She was gentle with her brushing, the same way her mother was gentle with her hair; it was oddly soothing for her when her mother brushed her hair, and judging from the tone of Calder's voice, Lizzy couldn't help but hope it was doing the same for him. It sounded to her like Calder needed to love himself - or something along those lines anyway.
"That's why you find your hair 'disgusting'?" She raised an eyebrow as she pulled out another twig from his hair before combing it down, "I actually find it great that you match the description of what a Kelpie is supposed to be... Pre- Good-looking, alluring... Attractive enough for humans to want to come to you before you end them. I guess what your fellow monsters think of you is important, but its time to break the stereotype."
She frowned slightly as she found another pebble in his hair; how did he even keep something like that in there for this long? She kept brushing his hair, even as she spoke, "I like you. I mean, I'm not a monster but I've liked you since that truth or dare game where you pulled a poem out of thin air. That was pretty good - I mean, I can't do that. I'm no good at writing original stuff..."
Hearing the tap on the window, she almost tugged Calder's hair in surprise. She eyed the window warily before sighing softly and standing up, moving over to it. She looked out, making sure she wasn't going to hit anyone, before opening it. She sort of knew who it was without even looking.
"Christof?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:09 pm
Combing his hair was soothing. The soft brushstrokes were something he grew up knowing. He had been born with hair, even a small tuff of it, and his parents both took their time combing his hair and, when he was able, letting him play with their own manes. When he was older, his father taught him how to do hairstyles, using both him and his mother as guinea pigs. When he allowed it, when he was younger, before the fauns insulted his hair and made him realize what others must have thought of him, he would have his hair combed, first by a brush, and sometimes by his parent's fingers. It helped him sleep at night, and they'd give him a goodnight nuzzle before letting him rest.
He felt relaxed now, comforted, and he wondered why he went so far to tell Lizzy these things. Then again, it wasn't like he had anyone else to talk to. It was why he was concerned about his looks now. He had few people he could call friends, and he wondered if this was why. Everyone must think he was disgusting.
The pat the door jerked him, and he winced as his hair was almost tugged, and then when the hammer nicked his finger. He didn't make a noise, and Lizzy went up to check while he sucked his thumb a moment. When he heard Christof's name (Who else would have gone to the window?), he reached for another piece of wood and breathed in deep. He – he had to get back to working. It was one thing to tell Lizzy these things, but Christof wasn't really the emotional type. He'd laugh at him. He didn't want to hear what Christof thought of how he looked. It would probably hurt.
"Tell him to use the door like a normal person." Calder called over his shoulder, going back to work.
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:26 pm
Christof immediately ducked down, as though he could hide under the windowsill, but there was far more hunchback than the ledge of stone would hide. CANDLEJACK!
Warily, he glanced up, face red and brows furrowed as he pointed inside. Well, he had been caught, hadn't he? No point in trying to come up with an alibi. He caught Calder's expression through the window, as well as the wounded finger and his eyes (eye) narrowed further. It seemed he wasn't quick to just out and talk, still, despite the Kelpie's insisting.
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:47 pm
"You're missing an eye," Lizzy informed him, pointing at her own eye to make her point; yes, she was pointing out the obvious, but she was in a middle of a meaningful conversation with Calder and Christof had to interrupt! Then, hearing what the Kelpie said, she chuckled lightly, "He's right, you should use the door like a normal person..." Still, she took a step back, allowing the Igor to enter if he wants to.
"So... What's with the missing eye?"
Pugs had found it, mistaken it for a ball, and had started to chew on it happily; it proved a good distraction from Calder's "walk" experience.
"And what's with interrupting Calder while he's working on the Minipet beds I asked him to help me with?" She didn't sound angry, but there was a 'don't worry, he's in good hands' tone to her words, "He also agreed to me touching his hair although he didn't like people touching it... I say he's doing his job rather well."
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:58 pm
Calder looked about, spotting the eye and frowned at it. An eye?! Was...Was Christof spying on him? Last he knew, the boil did not just miss his eye here and there and had it when he left him on the ladder to die! Him and his stupid plan to not tell Lizzy anything. Thought it was cute, didn't he. Then he came here to check on him. He probably didn't even think he could do anything which was just mean. All of it was mean. Christof was being mean, but then again...............Christof was his only friend.
The boil glared at the eye, but perked up suddenly at what Lizzy said. She was being so nice, and he turned to beam at her. "Really?" He said, surprised he was getting a good grade. HAH! He looked at the Igor with a smug expressions. "See! I can do things! I'm not worthless at all." he picked up his pet bed and held it up. "See. I made this." And it was, for the most part, like the picture. It was a tad bit slanted though and might not be perfectly even, but it was a bed. He at least got it to LOOK like it was supposed to. Then again, the instructions weren't that hard.
He set the bed back down, and looked at the other two, his mind still thinking of what Lizzy said. She seemed to like him. Did that mean only monsters didn't like him, or was Lizzy just strange. She did let a stranger that nearly killed her into her room to watch over her pets and hold a hammer. Hmm. Still, he liked to think he wasn't all that bad.
Setting the bed aside, he leaned over and whistled at the dog. "Dog thing." Was it a dog? It was rather ugly. "Uh....Smushy." Ugh, he hated dogs. "...give me the eye, please." Or maybe eat it. That would be funny and would show Christof not to leave body parts around.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:47 pm
"And he made it himself too... That's fine, right, Christof?" She saw it as a job well done (for the most part) but it would be best to get the Igor's opinion on things too... Should she go fish out a pen and paper for him then? She eyed him, wondering if he was going to enter or stay outside all day - she was fine either both options, really. Of course, there was also the 'leave' option, but... He looked set on observing Calder?
Pugs was pawing the eye-ball (no puns intended) happily when the scary pony boil addressed him; his voice made him freeze, head slowly turning to face the Kelpie with a rather sorrowful expression. However, he understood what the boil wanted and decided that it would be for the best to just... Go with it. Slowly, the Puggle took a few steps backwards before pushing the eye towards Calder with its nose, eyes not leaving him due to fear.
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