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 Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:35 pm
Jove puffed up, all impressive-like. But it really wasn't ghouls he wanted to impress, maybe deep down he wanted to impress Ren. After all, he was a pretty little ghost, not all that scary, not incredibly smart, or graceful, and it wasn't often he felt like he could do something really well. So when Ren mentioned impressing anyone, it struck Jove's deep desire to do just that.
And Ren made it sound like fun. Maybe he could learn to dance really well, and next time there was a noisy dance, he could play too. His fluffy tail wagged a few times. Then he bounced up to his feet and jumped onto Ren's back, walking around his wings in circles a couple times with those little pokey feet before patting the gryphon's head with his paw.
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 9:03 pm
The puffing up made Ren grin, though he stifled it behind a hand, sliding his eyes to the side to look at the puppy. Jove was flouncing around now, looking happy, his tail flopping back and forth. Ren felt little pokey paws on his back, then one against his head, prodding.
"What?" said Ren teasingly. "You want me to teach you now? Well, I would, but you see, you're in puppy form, and I can't really teach a puppy how to dance. Well," he added, somewhat as an afterthought. "I probably could, but it wouldn't be very fun, and you wouldn't learn anything very well."
Grinning, Ren twisted a hand up, tilting his body to the side to roll Jove from his back. Careful not to squish him, Ren turned over, onto his side for a brief moment before he sat up, sitting cross-legged on the bed. He took both of Jove's paws in his hands, holding him up to balance on his back legs and swayed him from side to side gently.
"You're dancing, you're dancingggg~" Ren said lightly, laughing, but he let go after a moment, patting Jove's head.
"I'm hungry," he said. "Mind if I make some dinner for myself? You don't eat, do you?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 10:46 am
The pup slid right off Ren's back, and then with hardly a moment to bounce away, he found himself once again with both paws snatched up by Ren. What was with the boil and his paws? The tip of his little tongue stuck out as he attempted to maintain his footing on the soft bed as he was tugged around by his front feet.
Ren was right, he wasn't learning anything.
He scowled at the consolation head pets, but then his expression quickly turned to one of extreme confusion. The sort of expression that bordered on hurt-looking when worn by a pup who was so small and so fluffy. Of course he ate! Didn't everyone? Not having to eat didn't diminish the enjoyment of a good meal, not when he could enjoy the smells and the tastes just as well as the living.
His little ears fell, did Ren not want to eat with him?
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Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 8:46 pm
His ears had flopped down. Why had they flopped down? Ren blinked. "What's wrong?" he asked, with some confusion, his hand stilling on Jove's head. "What'd I say?"
Ren backtracked. Rewound. Then asked, somewhat hesitantly "Is it because I said you don't eat?" He gave a sheepish shrug, pushing up one of Jove's ears as if to try and get the boil happy again. "I'm not a ghost or a wisp, so I don't know whether they eat or not. I kinda just assumed they didn't. But hey," he added cheerfully, scooping the puppy up into his arms and rolling him around a bit before setting him down again. "If you do eat, I would love to have you join me. After all, it's much more fun eating with someone than eating alone, right?"
Sliding off the bed, Ren rummaged around for a pair of shoes. When he couldn't find any decent ones, he shrugged, slipping on a pair of fluffy slippers, and then turned back to Jove.
"You gonna come?" he asked him, offering the boil a smile. "Although you probably should change back to human form now, so it's easier."
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Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 9:13 pm
The ear Ren pushed up just fell flat again as Jove continued his unhappy stare, and then both ears slowly perked up again as the gryphon verbally back-pedalled. He gave a little huff, Ren knew more than he was giving himself credit for. After all, they shared cookies.
His serious face was hard to shake off, even the round of playful manhandling wasn't enough to make him crack a doggy smile, but he stopped looking so discouraged. He even gave a little tail wag when he was set down.
Ah, yes... He would want to be in his human form. The transformation was much easier for the pup after spending so much time in his other form, and the glow that accompanied his transition was only present for a couple seconds before he sat as a little boil, not a little puppy. Except... He was a rather naked little boil. The glow didn't entirely fade from his cheeks as he pulled Ren's blankets up to his chest, effectively hiding his scrawny body from view.
So there was at least one downside to gaining more control over his transformation. He didn't stop to consider the end result.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:20 am
The ears were cute, even when Ren's attempt at pushing them back up quite literally flopped. He grinned down at the puppy, fluffing him up a bit before he took a step back, glancing around for where he had stuck his skellyphone. When he finally found it, buried underneath a heap of clothing (thanks a lot, Rhys, Ren thought, eying the sleeping lepus a few feet away), he turned back to the bed and found -
- a little boil, rather than a little puppy. Jove had shifted, and was now sitting on Ren's bed. The only thing was that he didn't have any clothes on. Not that Ren particularly minded; he wasn't a very overdramatic person, nor was he particularly concerned about the appearance of others, so nudity in general to him was not that big of a deal. Or rather, it wouldn't have been had Ren not caught side of Jove's side before the boil tugged the blankets up, his cheeks tinged a pale pink.
"What..." said Ren slowly, eyes moving to Jove's left side. "Are those?"
He couldn't see them now, Jove having pulled the covers up, but Ren moved back across the room, tugging at the blanket. "Jove, what's on your side?" he asked.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:57 am
Jove gave Ren a confused look, the furrowed brows saying "What are you talking about?" He clutched the blanket tighter as the gryphon stared. Seriously, what was up with him right now?
The pup's eyes widened as Ren crossed the room and reached out, but he didn't whine until he tugged on the blanket. He was starting to feel very uncomfortable, small and vulnerable without any form of protection...
All those small and vulnerable feelings dissipated in an instant when Jove realized it was the bruises alarming his friend. The pup shrugged in what he hoped was a most casual manner, the marks were nothing more than marks, and as far as he knew they had always been there. He didn't want Ren to be worried though, so with more blushing and a disgruntled frown he shifted and let the blanket fall just enough to allow Ren to examine his side.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:15 am
At first Ren didn't think Jove would let go of the blanket. He was a stubborn puppy, not to mention he was still mostly a kid and therefore not as open as Ren was about being naked (which was a good thing, Ren thought). But after a few moments of tugging, Jove let his shoulders lift and fall in a shrug, a small scowl on his blushy face as he moved part of the blanket.
Re stared. Then stared some more. They were bruises - really big once, thick and purplish blue in color and spreading all down Jove's side, across his ribcage and extending down to his skinny waist. Ren reached out a hand, hesitating at first before he gently and very lightly brushed his fingers over them. They did not seem to hurt Jove; on the contrary, he seemed very calm (except for the whole stubborn blushing thing), and Ren had a feeling that these bruises were not anything new.
"Where did these come from?" he asked Jove, his tone mildly horrified and slightly disturbed. "Do they hurt? Are you all right? Did someone hit you? How long have you had them? Is someone bullying you? Why didn't you tell me? What are these? Where did they come from?"
That last question had been unnecessary, considering he had already asked it, but Ren was not paying the whole amount of attention towards what exactly he was saying.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:51 am
Jove was very uncomfortable with the staring, but a part of him understood that it was necessary for Ren to realize the marks weren't a big deal. He merely twitched when he was touched, fighting back against that surprising ticklish sensation as Ren's fingers ran lightly over his skin.
His scowl got worse as he was bombarded with questions, although he still refused to meet Ren's eyes. How was he supposed to answer when half of the questions required a yes, and the other half a no? He couldn't even shake his head without giving the boil the wrong impression, and brushing them off in entirety would make it seem like maybe he had been hit and was being bullied, and was just afraid to talk about it.
His scowl got more intense. Like he would let anyone bully him like that! He huffed in an exaggerated sigh, and shrugged again. Hopefully that answered most of Ren's questions. The gryphon could see they didn't hurt, he didn't know what they were or where they had come from, which precluded the bullying and being hit. And since when did Jove actually tell anyone anything? The older boil really didn't have anything to worry about.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:07 pm
The bruises did not look recent, at least. Nor were they warm to the touch; not that Ren had really expected them to be - Jove was a wisp, after all, and the skin was very cool underneath his fingertips. And other than a small jerk of his body away from Ren, Jove did not seem to be particularly distressed over it. Which made Ren wonder A.) Just where exactly had the puppy gotten these bruises? and B.) Why didn't they hurt?
The only answer Ren could get from this was that heavy scowl on Jove's face. It was obvious he was used to the bruises, and Ren's eyebrows drew together as he examined them. If he was used to them, then how long exactly had he had them? Jove did not seem bothered by them; did he even know why he had them? Ren glanced at Jove's face. It did not seem like he did, which meant that these bruises had probably been a part of him for a very, very long time.
It worried him, stupidly. There was nothing he could do about the bruises, but that didn't mean that Ren liked them. The unhappy frown on his face was proof enough of that.
"Well..." he said with a sigh, exhaling slowly as he stepped back, moving around to his dresser. "I don't think you know where you got them, do you? So let's not worry about it for now."
Rummaging around in his dresser for a bit, Ren pulled out a long sweater. His pants were way too big for the puppy to wear, and he couldn't walk around starky, but for now the sweater would work well enough. It was even too big for Ren, which meant it would probably fall to about Jove's knees.
"Here, Freckles," Ren said, smiling at him as he tossed the sweater onto his head. "Something to wear."
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:27 pm
Ren seemed to get it. Most of it... Maybe.
The pup's ears turned forward as he watched the gryphon go through his drawers, and made a happy grab for the sweater when it was tossed at him. More clothing! He felt a little guilty for taking the sweater and pulling it on with such eagerness, not when he still hadn't given Ren back that other sweater he had been loaned. The pup had thought about it, on several occasions, but each time he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He would end up pulling it on and snuggling in it with a book, or digging it into a cozy little sleep pit in his natural form, or just hugging it for a minute before putting it away again.
Once clothed in a more or less suitable fashion, he slipped off the bed. The sweater was not merely large, it looked positively huge on the little pup. He had to push up the sleeves and straighten the collar so it wasn't hanging off one shoulder, but his movements were full of satisfaction. This was a nice sweater too.
But before they could do anything about dinner, Jove trotted to Ren's side and stared at him with great focus for a second before reaching up to touch his face. More specifically, the older boil's freckles. It was a light touch, eerily close to the exact motion Ren had used earlier in examining his bruises. Then the pup tilted his head with not even the slightest amount of snark or sarcasm in his expression. "See, it's just like that," it seemed to say. Maybe with that Ren would really get it.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:35 pm
Yup, he'd been right. The sweater was enormous on Jove, nearly falling off of his shoulders. It was even bigger than the other one he had lent the boil (which, come to think of it, he hadn't gotten back yet, but Ren did not particularly care; Jove could keep the sweaters if he wanted; it would not bother him either way), falling just past his knees. It seemed to please Jove; though the puppy was still not smiling, there was a satisfied look to his face and his movements indicated he was pleased with the sweater.
"Ready now?" Ren asked him, smiling. The smile faltered, however, when he felt a cool hand against his cheek. He stopped, staring down at Jove. What is he doing, exactly? Ren wondered, his brow flickering as Jove's fingers - slender and delicate, slightly bony - moved over his cheekbones, then over the bridge of his nose. A poke. Realization dawned.
"My freckles?" Ren's eyebrows rose, lashes fluttering as he attempted to look down at his own face - an impossibility, of course, but a knee-jerk reaction that made him slightly cross-eyed before he looked back at Jove. "Is that what you're talking about? My freckles...oh." Ren blinked, his mind working to understand just what the puppy was trying to communicate. "My freckles...you're trying to say the bruises are like my freckles?"
If that were true, then Ren was slowly gaining an understanding of the puppy. Jove was used to the bruises; they were as much a part of him as Ren's freckles were to him. A smile crossed Ren's face, and he reached out, ruffling the puppy's already fluffy hair.
"All right, I get it," he said lightly. "Let's go eat."
Slinging an arm around Jove's shoulder, he towed him towards the door and out into the hallway.
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Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 9:21 am
The pup nodded with relief. He really did get it this time, and it was one less worry on Jove's mind. The bruises might have been little more than a birthmark as far as he was concerned, but it was still a source of embarrassment. It wasn't normal to have such extensive bruises just be there all the time, and like some were self-conscious about their freckles, he was like that with his marks as well.
Knowing that Ren wasn't going to make a big deal of it anymore made him feel better. He couldn't pinpoint that feeling as trust, not just yet, but that's what it was. He trusted his big brother more than ever, having shown the worst of himself all in one day and still come through it wearing the older boil's sweater and going with him to dinner.
With a little tail wag he leaned against Ren, for once not shrugging aside the arm.
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