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Damn water! Terra thought furiously. She could barely move in the water. And this arrogant, emotionless idiot knew it. An arrogant, emotionless idiot who was apparently immortal and could kill her easily. What a great day this was turning out to be... How was she supposed to know she'd splashed his stupid book? I hope it's ruined, she thought darkly, and decided it was in her best interests to not go to the same shore as him. Because she would probably try to rip up his book, or fight him again. On land, in this mood, she would almost certainly try to fight him, but if the loser really was immortal, it probably wouldn't end well. Not for her. Setting off for the other shore, she decided her clothes could wait. With a string of curses, she stalked into the forest.



((Yeah I know. I was thinking about that, but I figured she wouldn't realize, especially in her current mindset. I totally wasn't expecting it to work, I was just at a bit of a loss. It's really weird having her angry, not really sure what to do about it so... yeah she's just gonna go now ^^ Oh, and also, if I go overboard on the cussing, just let me know. I don't cuss irl, but I figured she definitely would. But I can find some other way if you would like me to stop.))

((K, sounds good, thanks!))

Terra talked as she walked. It really had been an interesting day, hadn't it? "Well I happened to have pulled them off as I was running past him. So I didn't exactly want to follow him over to his deteriorating book and just pick them up, ya know? Sorry about the gardens thing." Zen gardens. Oh. That sounds so much cooler than peace gardens. "There was a reason I was going to leave when I realized what it was, but then you started shifting and Tactful was looking at me like he thought I could do something about it, and well, here we are." Things happen, and you go with it. Such as being drowned. Except not like that at all.

When they arrived at the river, Terra walked over to where her clothes were - er - had been. They weren't there. Maybe it's the wrong place? But glancing around, she could tell it was the right area. And then she spotted them, right where he had been sitting. They were... folded in a little pile? That was so. freaking. weird. A surge of irritation flashed through her. "That creep messed with my stuff." Nobody else would have put them exactly where he had been sitting, right? It was like a neon sign saying "Look! I touched your clothes!" Terra approached the pile cautiously. What had he done to them? She lifted the corner of the cloth with her toe, thinking to find something underneath. Nothing. Hmm. Inside? She shook both articles, but nothing fell out, nothing happened. What kind of person folds somebody's cloths after attacking them? That is just... wrong. It sort of irritated her that he had bothered, actually. And that he hadn't done anything to them. If somebody gives you an opportunity like that, you do something about it, you don't just... fold their clothes for them. Suppressing the irritation this emotionless immortal somehow managed to pull out of her when he wasn't even there, Terra pulled the clothes on. She really wished she could send that telegram to Hell for him...

((Totally meant to put that exit in there before.... heh oops.))

"He... folded them," Terra answered. Couldn't he have put a dead fish in them or something? That would have made more sense. Terra sighed. Forget it. "Well, I don't need to change anymore. You ready to go?" she asked as she walked back over to Penelope, still not entirely sure where exactly they were going. The town, I think... Um. Whatever. "And seriously? You don't need to be worried that you're not normal. Not here," she added with a laugh, thinking about the last few days. Angela's stories about ghouls and mummies, some kind of weird immortal. Even the teachers were all psycho, apparently. "Nobody here is normal."

Ha. "In all honesty, I wouldn't be surprised if he was," Terra replied with a smile. Maybe that explained it actually... Since she apparently "ruined his book," he had to hurt her so that his life would be in balance again or something. OCD. Overly Creepy Dou--Deity.... He was immortal right? That had to make some kind of deity. Although the other word fit better, in her opinion.

"You're right though, you're really not. I mean, other than the fact that you shift genders whenever you make eye contact with someone, you're a perfectly normal person. Well, and you seem really nervous all the time, but that's normal too, I think. Who can say?" Oh, you know what? I probably shouldn't have said that. Dang. Terra frowned. She wasn't normal either, really. Or why would she be here? True, she didn't go around biting people or drowning them, or anything, but still. If somebody ends up here, he's gotta accept the fact that he is not a normal person.

But, where to go? Terra honestly didn't care - she was certain something interesting would happen no matter where they ended up. That had been the trend so far. "Why don't we head back? Maybe we can find some other people doing something fun. And if not, I think I saw some kind of game room while I was wandering around. Oh, unless you don't want to risk changing in front of people," she added after a pause. Terra was no longer entirely sure whether or not Penelope wanted to shift back to male at this point.

Terra grinned while Penelope nervously tried to deny her nervousness. Although she barely even knew her, so she couldn't say anything for sure. She couldn't even say her gender for sure, for that matter, but that's different. "Sure, let's go," Terra replied, and followed Penelope. Although she had no idea what the place they were staying was called, complex sounded better than anything she could come up with. But why would Penelope think she didn't want to hang out with her? If she didn't want to be with her, she would leave. Simple as that. Hmm, whatever. Terra pushed back the still-wet hair that had fallen in her face, and walked back to the... complex... with Penelope.

Pleasant patina pulls apart a holy copper shrine
Like gently creeping mossy claws, scarring all divine.




Peter had been tagging along behind Colleen the whole time, watching with great interest when she stripped. She wasn't wearing a whole lot (it didn't surprise him--she seemed pretty desperate for a man) so he found himself enjoying the view. Women of this century were certainly bold. It was a far cry from the days you could kidnap a girl and hold her hostage for a plate of food while she just screamed and cried and tried to escape the tree without breaking her ankle.

Alas.

At any rate, now that he was actually at the river, he thought it might be nice to take a little swim himself. He hadn't had a bath in a while. Of course, dirt kind of had problems sticking to him but sweat didn't because it was his own sweat. He'd always wondered why his sweat or tears didn't destroy his own skin but one day he'd decided that his regenerating abilities and destroying abilities canceled each other out. And thus, he never thought about it again.

He didn't really cry much, anyway.

So after a moment of watching Colleen, Peter unabashedly stripped to his skivvies and waded into the water. He had managed to put on a few pounds since arriving at Rosentale--he was eating at least one meal a day instead of eating once or twice a week. It was great! But his ribs were still visible and his collarbone stuck out almost painfully. As he lowered himself into the water and swam out a little ways, he could feel the skin on his back pulling taught across where the silver and mercury ink formed the magic seals on his back.

He needed a good massage. It was a pity he'd make the hands of any masseuse fall off before they really even got started.

All the things you think you value, including the gift of life
Will slowly, gently fall apart, 'til the world is right.