Welcome to Gaia! ::

If it weren't for the fact that he just couldn't fall back asleep, Joshua would still be in bed right now. Having been rudely woken by another horrible nightmare, he eventually just gave up and got out of bed for the day. Oddly enough, he had been feeling achy all day in addition to his exhaustion, but he couldn't figure out why.

The tall man walked across the center of the village, the pains in his body bothering him enough to request some more pain killers. He didn't understand what he could have done to cause these pains, he was sure it wasn't just because of his age.

After getting a small bottle of aspirin, he placed it in his pocket and began to head back to his duplex, entertaining the thought of making a quick detour to the cafeteria for some food.

Joshua almost didn't see the other man leaving the cafeteria, nearly walking into him - thankfully, he's learned to walk while looking down slightly so he wouldn't run into anyone. Of course, most people weren't so short that he had to crane his neck too far, but looking straight ahead he was bound to overlook someone turning a corner or entering rooms.

"Oh," he said, surprised to see someone so... human looking. He wondered how much about the island this man knew about... at least he wasn't running away in terror. "Hello. I assume you are new here?" he asked.

He reached out and shook the shorter man's hand in greeting. "My name is Joshua. Used to be Professor Rivers before the island, but..." he shrugged slightly, wincing a little at the pain in his stomach. Now that he thought about it, it seemed to be getting worse.

"So, how long have you been here... Marshall?" he asked, moving to sit down on a nearby bench. He moved slowly, carefully lowering himself to take a seat. He was starting to feel a little sick, and his face seemed pale.

Joshua almost smiled when Marshall called him Professor, but the pains in his stomach were getting more severe. "Actually, I... I'm not sure... my stomach is... ughh..." he broke off with a groan, clutching his stomach, trying to make the pain stop even though he knew holding it would do no good.

Fur began to spread over his body, white and yellow with darker orange spotted patterns decorating his fur. It began on his neck, spreading up to cover his face, horns and ears, and then downwards, over his shoulders and chest, all along his arms and legs.

Despite the itching it caused, Joshua himself didn't seem to take too much notice. Instead he was struggling - and failing - to restrain his cries of pain, it felt like something was trying to burst through his stomach. "Oh god..." He knew what was happening, though. He recognized it, he was changing again - what else could cause him this much pain?

The hooves on Joshua's feet began changing, the hard nails growing thicker and looking less like toes and more like cloven hooves. His ears stretched out longer, thinning out and becoming more movable than a human's ears. He screamed out as his neck grew longer - thankfully, not as much as the first time, but it was still extremely painful, like someone was grabbing his head and pulling as hard as they could.

His tail was next, the fur at the end becoming longer and his tail growing out further. It looked much more like a tail now, and it swished wildly behind him, twitching uncontrollably.

An odd sensation filled his mouth then, still painful as his tongue swelled and grew longer, becoming darker and almost black in color. He couldn't fit all of it inside his mouth anymore, the appendage hanging out of his mouth as he screamed.

It seemed to be almost over...

"I... I..." Joshua tired to say, 'I don't know,' but he couldn't catch his breath long enough to get out the entire sentence. Of course, if he had said yes, he would have been wrong. A jolt of pain shot down his spine and he gasped, falling forward off the bench and onto his hands and knees. His back seemed to arch downwards, his entire torso pushing forward, his spine shifting to make for an awkward posture.

But it didn't end there, and the worst pain of all came back full force around his abdomen. Two small, stubby arm-like appendages burst forth from his sides, twitching from the new muscles forming. They pushed against his white button down shirt painfully, and he quickly pulled it open, buttons popping off to allow less restraint on the... things... growing from his abdomen. Joshua could do nothing but stare in horror as the nails on the small stubs grew thick nails on them, similar to the ones on his feet, but smaller.

When the changes finally stopped, Joshua felt queasy - the combination of the transformation and the sudden growth of these new... things becoming too much for him. He managed not to get sick - yet, anyway - still in too much of a state of shocked to react properly. His whole body ached as much, if not more, as it did the last time... and this was only his second time.

It took a few moments for Marshall's words to register that he did, indeed, just speak to him. The normally calm Professor seemed to still be in a state of shock and at a loss for words, but slowly he was collecting his senses again. "Wha--" he tried to talk, but it was difficult to form words now. His tongue was too big to fit inside his mouth and when he tried to talk, it sounded like he had a cold. Joshua struggled to form his words correctly.

"What... what are they..!?" Some part of him knew what the appendages looked like, but his mind couldn't accept what he was actually seeing. "I'm... I'm supposed to be..." Joshua trailed off and lifted a hand up to grab one of the small legs, gasping out in pain when he gripped it too hard. He immediately let go.

They were real. They were attached to him. He couldn't seem to control them very well, every now and then one of the small stubs would twitch suddenly.

He looked up at Marshall as if he expected the other man to have some sort of answer for him. This wasn't in any books he's read about giraffes.

Slowly, Joshua got back onto his feet - he used the bench to support himself, having difficulties standing up straight. His hips were positioned awkwardly now, and he felt unbalanced, like his center of gravity was off. He looked down at himself again. "They said... I was supposed to be a giraffe..." That had, at least, given him an idea of what to expect; but not this...

He didn't understand what was going on, feeling completely unravelled by this new development. Maybe there had been some sort of mistake? How many times have they tried to turn someone into a giraffe before? What if he was just a test subject gone wrong? Could they fix this what was wrong with him?

"I... yes, I think I could use some help, please..." he replied slowly to the younger man. Joshua's mind was having a difficult time adjusting to his changes this time - and to think it was bad enough the first time... He almost felt ashamed that Marshall had to see him like this. It wasn't like him at all - but then again, he didn't look like himself anymore, either. "If you could just get me to my duplex, I... I think I will be alright from there."

"I'm in duplex 43... it's on the bottom floor," Joshua said, glad that he wouldn't have to walk up any stairs. He wasn't sure he would be able to right now - not alone, at any rate. He tried not to lean his weight against the shorter man, resting his hand on Marshall's shoulder as they began to walk towards his duplex. He took careful, slow steps with his heavy hooves.

Joshua was slightly taken aback by the question. Teach? Oh, right. I'm a teacher. Was a teacher. "I taught English Literature," he murmured his reply, still trying to get used to his longer tongue. It was strange to be talking about something so normal during such an... abnormal situation. But Joshua liked normal. Normal he could handle. But this... was almost surreal.

"Do I?" Joshua asked curiously. He never thought that English teachers spoke a particular way - or at least, he didn't think that he spoke in any particular way. He was grateful that Marshall hadn't freaked out too badly in front of him. Joshua thought that would have just made things worse, as he was already having a hard time with it.

When they arrived at Joshua's duplex, he unlocked the door and pushed it open, carefully lowering his head to step inside the room. His neck had grown only very slightly more, but it still made the room feel even smaller than it was. He definitely needed another place to live. What if he changed again, and his neck grew even more..?

No, don't think about the next change. Not yet. Just deal with one thing at a time.

Joshua had curled up his tongue to fit inside his mouth, but it only made him feel like he had something too large and thick inside his mouth. It was uncomfortable, but he figured he would have to deal with it for the sake of not disturbing others who saw him. "Thank you for helping me, Marshall... I am sorry you had to see that," he said, his speech a little slower than normal to get used to speaking all over again.

"Okay... thank you again, Marshall, for your help," Joshua said, and he watched as the younger man walked away before closing the door. With a sigh, he locked it. He wasn't ready to see anyone quite yet. He glanced at the intercom. He wanted to talk to one of the doctors on the island, but now that he was back in his duplex - his home - he suddenly felt how very tired and worn out he really was from the change.

He walked over to his bed, neck and back arched forward to keep from hitting the ceiling and to keep from stumbling too much. Joshua carefully lowered himself onto the mattress, moving to lay on his side, still the most comfortable position and the best way for him to fit most of himself on the bed. For a moment he worried that he would be to restless to sleep, despite how tired his body felt.

But it was in that moment - before he even realized it - that he succumbed to slumber, eyes too heavy to keep open anymore.

The cafeteria kitchens had been a mess of activity since early morning, much to Delia’s annoyance. In the middle of the chaos was Gaius, up to his arms in food stuff and happy as can be. The kitchen! It was so huge compared to what he had always had at home! Even his dad’s house with the large floor space was dwarfed by the caf facilities. Of course, that made sense since they were feeding an entire island!

Gaius hadn’t been given free-reign of the kitchen of course, to his disappointment, but the space he’d been given by Delia was more than adequate, and he’d managed to snag a couple extra stoves after the cafeteria staff were finished with the standard lunch food.

By early afternoon, the aroma of exotic foods wafted from the kitchen and even from the cafeteria itself as Gaius set out dish after dish of his hard work. He’d taken full advantage of the new cookbooks the labs had provided. Several of the tables were taken up with ‘themes’; Mexican on one table, Chinese on another, as well as some basic barbecue and grilled stuff and good ‘wholesome’ food that would normally show up at family gatherings around the holidays. And in the midst of it all he set a decent-sized sheet cake, iced white with red lettering reading “Gaius – Happy 25th.” Gaius stood back and regarded his work with pride. Sure, it wasn’t the same as getting special treatment from his family and friends back home, but the chance to play in the kitchen made up for that.

All this was open to the public. If any islander happened to stop by, they were more than welcome to partake in the food as they pleased, even if they didn’t hang around for the ‘party.’ Gaius figured, with all that was happening on this small island, everyone could use a treat.

The tall guy made a beeline back into the kitchen, hoping to wash the stains off before anyone arrived.

Gaius reappeared through the swinging kitchen doors, in the act of tugging his apron off. He missed Marshall at first, his mind on making sure the food wasn’t attracting flies, and the warmer stuff wasn’t burning in its’ trays.

Humming to himself, Gaius picked up a bit of chow mein that’d spilled onto the table and dropped it back into the bowl – hey, his hands were clean… enough – and took a step back to survey the preparations. It was then he caught sight of Marshall. A bright grin split his face from ear to ear and the big guy hurried across the room, nearly tackling his shorter friend in a big bear hug.

“Marshall! I’m glad you could make it!” He said, releasing the guy from his spine-cracking hug and ruffling his hair with a hand. “What do you think? I’ve been working all morning!”

Gaius laughed, rubbing the back of his arm over his forehead. Working in the kitchen all day with the stoves had left him feeling over-heated, but he paid it little mind.

"Hey! Why make you work when I can make better food myself? If I left this to you, we'd be having microwaved pizza!" he teased, taking the present in his hands. He picked at the taped-together paper before looking back up at Marshall with a hopeful smile. "'s okay if I open this now, even though the party hasn't really started?"

The birthday boy tore apart the newspaper with fervor, eager to see the gift. At this point, he probably would've been thrilled to just get a rock! The fact that he'd managed to make friends in the three weeks he'd been on the island who were willing to give him anything was enough. It even dulled the homesickness that'd been nibbling at the back of his mind.

The paper fell away to reveal a soft plush toy penguin, little blue feet sticking out below the pudgy white tummy, and a strapping bowtie at his throat. Gaius blinked at first, then broke into a grin and threw an arm around Marshall's shoulders. "Thank you! It's great!" His grin was geniune, though Gaius was just a little confused. He hadn't made the connection between the penguin and Marshall's animation work, not having had a chance to see it yet.

Gaius held up the penguin in both hands and turned towards one of the tables, proclaiming as he went. "As my first (and probably only) birthday present, he shall have the place of honor!" He pushed aside a bowl of salsa to set the penguin atop a stack of plates beside the cake. "It's only fitting for such a well-dressed-"

Gaius stopped mid-sentence, wincing visibly as a bolt of pain raced up his back, as if he'd overworked himself.

Gaius straightened back up, managing a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I must've done something in the kitchen that's catching up with me..."

Another bolt from the base of his spine sent Gaius stumbling forward, his legs giving out beneath him. He managed to catch himself on the edge of a table. His breath came in short gasps as the pain in his back escalated until he was sure his spine was tearing itself out of his skin. It wasn’t too far off from what was actually happening. The tailbone worked itself free, like a revolting worm pulling itself from his back, each vertebrae cracking audibly as they flexed, and new ones grew rapidly. Gaius let out a whimper as he bit his lips, fighting to not cry out. Uncontrollable tears trickled down his cheeks. The mass poked itself over the back of his pants, unable to go anywhere else, and twitched painfully.

“Ahhh gawd!” Gaius bellowed as the movement sent his mind reeling with pain from the new and too-sensitive nerve endings. His hand gripping the table was bone-white at the knuckles, everything tensed with agony.

Even as the growing tail writhed, a pulling, burning sensation grabbed at Gaius’s ears. They grew larger, cartilage growing rapidly and stretching the skin over it as they pushed up and up.

“Make it stop…” he pleaded. “Please, make it stop…”

It felt like someone had just punched him in the face. Bones compacted and flattened, spreading in ways they shouldn’t as his face reshaped itself.

An unholy scream erupted from his throat as a new and wholly disturbing pain flared between his shoulder blades. The violence of it caused him to lose his grip on the table and he fell against the hard surface, tipping it over and falling to the floor with a din of dishes and food. Quickly-knitting bones and tendons sent agonizing heat throughout his back, his entire body protesting the new and unnatural growths thrusting themselves from his skin, twitching and flapping awkwardly as they responded to unfinished nerve signals. Outside his shirt, the miniature wings were only visible as a bizarre mass of wiggling bumps beneath the fabric of his shirt.

Gaius’s body shook as he curled up into a tight fetal position in the midst of spilled Mexican, eyes clamped shut and teeth gritted. He didn’t even notice when, during the process, thick black hair bushed out from his new tail and down along the back of his neck.

His ears attempted to flatten back, only managing to twitch slightly, and a whimper escaped the grown man, no longer human.

His friend quivered under Marshall's touch, still closed off from the world in his own little pocket of his mind that wasn't feeling the dull pain that still pervaded his body. Part of him that was still fully human and didn't believe anything that had just taken place was real. It was just a bad dream, that was all.

All dreams must come to an end, though. Something in the spilled foods got into Gaius's flattened nose, making him sneeze. The violent action sent another throb of pain down his body, but nothing compaired to what he'd just gone through. He pulled himself up, finally opening his eyes, and rubbed at his face, noticing the strange placement of his mouth, and the odd sensation of his tail brushing against the floor behind him, but he still didn't want to believe it. Not yet.

"Ungh... geeze, what truck hit me..." he groaned. He looked around him, finally noticing the mess he'd made, and slowly leaned over to pick up the gooed plushie. He held it in front of him, then looked up at Marshall sadly. "I'm sorry... I... ruined your present..."

Gaius frowned, brows furrowing, as Marshall continued to sniffle and cry. He reached a hand over to squeeze Marshall's shoulder. "Hey! Hey, it's- it's okay..."

No, things were not okay. A spazztic flap of the fleshy limbs on his back made that clear. The blissful shock disappated, leaving Gaius painfully aware of his different body.

He sucked in a shacky breath, still holding Marshall shoulder, and lowered his eyes to the floor. "How bad is the damage?"

Gaius managed a weak smile and glanced up at Marshall. "Heh, is that all? From the way it felt, I would've thought I'd have bits of bone sticking out of me or something..." He ran a hand back through his hair. Marshall was right, it even felt longer, and flopped through his fingers. His hand brushed the tip of his ear and he paused, running a finger and thumb over the smooth mass, his eyes distant.

"It's... I don't know what I feel... Except... different. I feel different. But... you're right. I'm still Gaius."

He let his hand drop into his lap, and stared down at it as he flexed the fingers. A small chuckle escaped him. "Heheh... I'm not making any sense, am I?"

Gaius chuckled again, reaching over to ruffle Marshall's head again. "I'm not the only one not making sense then!" The fact that he was managing to smile despite the tear marks on his face heartened Gaius. At least he wasn't staring in horror or running away. It helped Gaius feel normal, at least a little.

He pulled himself up to his knees, muscles protesting, and winced. The half of him that'd been on the floor was caked with all kinds of mashed food. Most of the dishes had scattered everywhere, ruining their contents, and the cake sat lopsided, broken into several pieces. Gaius sighed, face falling. "What a waste..."

"I should clean this up... I don't want to have to leave this disaster for whoever's the janitor."

What a time to stroll in. Sid's luck with eating in the cafeteria had so far been terrible, but as he walked in with a lit cigarette between his lips he had no idea of what had transpired. Marshall he knew, but his previous contact thus far had been limited to getting him to drag Marshall home. So for all he knew the horse-faced guy was just another islander he hadn't met.

The food all over the place, that gave him some pause. He slowed his pace, took the cigarette from his mouth, and when he was close enough he nudge a fallen piece of cake with the tip of his cane.

"This is a bad time, isn't it?" he asked, raising the cigarette as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

Gaius looked up from where he was piling broken plates, ears perking up slightly. He instantly recognized the old fellow with the cane as the one he'd seen at the beach bar with inebriated Marshall. It didn't occur to Gaius that his very recent change would make him unrecognizable.

"Hey! You're the bar guy!" he said, getting to his feet. "Thanks for your help with the vodka!"

"Uh... well, I guess you could say that..." he winced, looking around at the mess. "Still, there rest of the food is still good if you want some."

Gaius's greeting gave Sid the mental kick he needed to place him, and the changes... After a few seconds of shocked silence his burning mouth and watering eyes reminded to exhale. He was, for the moment, oblivious to the fact most people didn't take kindly to having cigarette smoke breathed in their faces.

"Whoa," he gasped, and almost in the same half-breath he tried to recover. "Glad to be of service, yeah... You've... You look..." His eyes drifted down. "Well, I'm jealous."

He killed the nervous laugh he was about to emit by taking another drag off the cigarette. That gave him a little more time to put on something close to a poker face- and to actually listen to what Marshall was saying.

"Birthday?" he said, looking blank. He was, perhaps, trying too hard, but the surprise was genuine. "Whose?"

During the entire transformation, and even after, there was one change Gaius had not paid much heed to, if he had noticed it. Sid, however, did a masterful job of shining the proverbial spotlight on it. Gaius followed his eyes down, blinked once, twice, and then made a funny grunting sound of suppressed surprise edged with horror as his face turned a red to match the salsa smeered on his shirt. Suddenly, sitting down seemed like a very good position. One he would like to take. However, there wasn't a chair at hand, leaving Gaius standing in embarassment.

Sid's question brought a sheepish twinge from Gaius, who held up a finger. "It, uh, was mine... At least until I started growing a tail." He looked away, brushing a hand up over his head and feeling terribly self-conscious about his appearance. Here he was, another Tommy. Another Zach.

"Hell of a way to celebrate 25 years..." he muttered.

"Yeah, well, it could be worse," Sid said, his tone a bit darker than what he intended. He was having a hell of a time keeping his emotions in check, or at least less obvious. He'd lost track of how many times he'd said that on the island, though before he had no idea what he was up for. Every time he set foot in the cafeteria he ran into a total buzzkill. Another drag off the cigarette helped to get his bearings. He'd almost pushed all those unpleasant thoughts aside by the time he exhaled.

Sid watched Marshall struggle not to laugh for just a moment before he shook his head. "Show a little consideration, man. You gotta at least hold off on the johnson jokes for, I dunno, what's prudent?" He looked to Gaius for help. "Few days?"

"Worse?" Gaius frowned anxiously. He hoped it wouldn't get any worse.

He turned, following Sid's eyes to see Marshall trying his best not to crack a gut. Gaius blushed, leveling him with a stern look, and gave his pants a tug up, though the tail kept 'em from sitting comfortably. "Great, getting laughed at from both the front and rear..."

As his tail gave an indignant twitch, the little growths on Gaius's back decided they'd been ignored long enough and went into a flurry of activity, mainly in the form of spazming flaps. "Gyah-ah! What the hell is that?!" Gaius jolted straight with a yelp, and arched his spine back as the limbs slapped themselves silly. In short order, Gaius had his shirt off, exposing the winglets, but try as he did to turn his head, he couldn't get a good look at what was flailing about on his back. The sensation was probably the most disturbing thing he'd felt in his life, even worse than the tail or other areas. "Wh-what is it?!" he asked anxiously, hoping the other two could help.

Sid stepped up, examining the wings closely, even squinting. He took his cigarette from his mouth, and for one frightening moment it looked like he intended to poke them with the smoldering tip. Instead he leaned back and gestured vaguely At Gaius' wings the same hand.

"Nah, that's about right," he said between another drag. "All they're missing is breading."

Another beat, and he sighed, realizing he was going too far. So he added, "Ah, don't worry about it... They'll probably grow out. No ********' clue what has wings and all that, though." Time to gesture vaguely at Gaius himself.

"Chicken wings?! What?" Gaius spun around futily, trying to see his own back. That proving useless, he reached back a hand and caught at one of the little limbs, wincing as the new flesh protested the abuse. It felt... strange. The shape and texture was definitely like one of those little chicken wings you'd buy at the supermarket, only dry and with skin. And warm. But besides that, he could actually feel with the little thing. He could feel the pressure of his fingers on it, and the muscles twitch against his hand.

As he absorbed the new discovery, Gaius's face went from one of stunned surprise to skepticism and mild curiosity to a sickly expression, like his stomach wasn't sitting well. He slowly pulled his hand away, letting the little limb snap back to it's half-curled state, and remained staring at the table in front of him without seeing it. He slumped forward, catching himself on the edge of the table.

"What... What are they doing to me?"

Sid had no further crass comments, at least not yet. His cigarette was getting close to the filter, but he kept at it. "I asked," he said, the words once again exhaled with smoke. "They're not candid about it, believe me."

He ruined his oh-so-together facade once more by taking a very long drag. The rush of nicotine was something, if not quite what I wanted.

Gaius took a deep breath and looked up at the two, grateful for the support, and at least Sid was down to earth.

"I... don't think I want to ask. I might end up getting Sabin, and I... don't want to deal with him. Not him or his pet."

The changed man straightened himself, wings flexing slightly as he rolled his shoulders, and ran a hand over his face. What a hell of a day.

His eyes drifted over the table, falling on a plate of barbequed ribs. He picked on up, turning it over in his hands. It was still warm, and smelled good, but Gaius found his appetite lacking.

"What a waste of food..." he sighed wistfully. "Maybe I should just leave it out for whoever comes by..."

"Well, if you're not gonna eat it, I'll take it," Sid said. They weren't exactly words fit to be accompanied by touching piano music, but it was his way of trying to make the best of the situation. He'd come there to try and find something to get his stomach to settle, and even if he wasn't aware the consequences of the choice he was going to put the party food to good use... and later antacids, lots of them.

He turned back once he'd grabbed a plate. "But, c'mon, seriously, it could be worse. You could be, like, some kind of insect or something. In any case-" he paused to bite into a chicken wing, and continued speaking with his mouth full, "wah cah eh-ee of uh do buh-" he swallowed. "But deal with it?"

As far as he knew he still had plenty of time left before he proved himself a hypocrite. A long time, he hoped. At least he hadn't let the question of how long slip out.

"Yeah... 'deal with it.' I guess you're right," Gaius nodded to Sid. "But it doesn't mean I'm gonna accept it anytime soon."

Yes, he'd have to step up the plan with Antony. He wouldn't be like the others and give up just because he was 'marked' now. Hell, maybe if he got back, he could still fit in... All that really set him apart were the tail and 'wings.' The ears he could hide, and he hadn't seen how bad the change to his nose was yet. Optimism springs eternal.

A small smile crossed Gaius's widened face and he gestured to all the stuff set out. "Help yourself! The other table is still good at least, and we managed to get most of the cake off the floor..." He glanced back at Marshall. "You should have some too! After all, it's still a party, despite everything else. I'd like you to enjoy yourself at least."

"Whatever you wanna do man," Sid said. He saluted Gaius with a chicken bone and turned to pack as much food as he could on to the plate. His cane was transferred to the crook of his arm for the process, and likely no one appreciate the careful balancing act involved just with keeping his weight off the bad knee.

"I can't tell you how to live or think," he said as he worked. "But at some point you gotta realize that even if you weren't trapped on some kind of nightmare island, sooner or later life would sneak into your bed and wake you up in the most degrading manner possible. All you can ever do in those situations is close your eyes, take it like a man, and never speak of it again."

He slid his cane back to his hand and very carefully balanced the plate of food with the other. "On second thought, that's a terrible metaphor, forget it. Anyway, no offense to you fine gentlemen, but I've come to the conclusion that some malignant higher power doesn't want me actually eating in here so... Yeah, I'll just be going now."

It was going to be a hell of an effort, and he was likely going to lose half the food before he settled for eating on the stairs of his duplex, but he'd be damned if he'd ask for help.

"See ya guys. Thanks for the food." He turned and made his way for the door. Just as anticipated, an eggroll jumped ship along the way.

'Take it like a man.' Gaius sighed. Easier said than done. He scratched at the hair behind his neck absently and looked at Marshall.

"Huh? Oh, right..." They'd been able to tidy some of the mess up, but there was still a good deal of junk on the floor that would more than likely need a mop to clean. While Gaius loved to work on cooking, he wasn't much one for cleaning afterwards. He flashed Marshall a grateful look and nodded. "I think... maybe that's a good idea. You don't mind...?"

"What? Of course I want it!" Gaius said, grabbing up the little plushie from where it sat. It was still covered in gunk, which was likely not doing good things for the white belly, but Gaius was sure he could figure out a way to clean it up. "It's my birthday present! The food just gives him character!" He nodded with finality.

"It seems we've all gotten tossed around today. I'm sure he could use a good bath as much as me." Gaius smirked, bits of meat sauce and other foods still clinging to his pants and hair. "I think that's what I'll do... Once I grab some food for the road."

He shifted Sno Cone to the crook of his elbow as he took up a plate, not letting the silly plushie out of his grip, and gathered up some of the food he'd prepared, piling on an extra helping of the appealing-looking salad and a bit of the veggie medlee he'd made for the less meat-inclined. And, for good measure, Gaius cut himself a healthy piece of cake and set it on another plate which he balanced precariously atop his forearm.

He gave Marshall a grin as he began his careful movement towards the doors. "If you can, try and save the rest of the cake. We can share it later some time."

The air was getting colder as it drifted in through his open door. The sun had long since started it's descent from the afternoon, and was swiftly dipping down behind the jungle. Liamh turned his head over from where he'd been lying, his neck bent at a funny angle off the foot of his bed, and gave a sharp inhale as he woke himself up.

There was the momentary disorientation as he rolled over and sat up, rubbing his eyes and neck and wondering what the monkey he was doing in Buenos Aires and where his kidney was.

"Oh, right," he muttered. "The resort."

He got up and shut the door, glancing around. Unpacking could wait a while, right? It wasn't like he was going anywhere immediately. He still wanted a chance to look around this place, even if he *had* slept half the day away. He gave a shiver, chilled from resting. First? Pants.

A few minutes later he thumped his way down the stairs, stretching and yawning in the evening air. Good thing he'd been innoculated, since the mosquitos were likely to be coming out. Maybe he'd explore... INdoors.

He headed across the main area towards the buildings in the center of their wheel of civilization. He thought he saw a few people moving around, but none close enough to warrant greeting. Moving to the building, he pushed his way through the doors and glanced around. Nice clean corridors, the occasional potted plant, nothing much. He wandered down farther, poking his head into a more open room, one that looked a bit like a lounge.

A lounge with a LARGE flatscreen TV.
It sat there on it's entertainment pedestal like some dark rectangular god, demanding all approach and pay homage.
And that was an offer Liamh couldn't refuse.

Locating the shelving unit(s) lined with DVDs, videos, and Xbox games, he crouched down and began rifling through it. Now THIS was civilization, he thought with a grin.

Ever since his conversation with Nita earlier, Gaius's thoughts had been naggling on Marshall. He wanted to know how his friend was doing! So, as evening came on, Gaius had gone to Marshall's duplex and knocked on the door.

No luck.

Cafeteria? The same. He'd even stopped by the arcade. The only other place Marshall could possibly be in the village was...

"Of course!" Gaius snapped his fingers. "The movie room!"

He hurried on over, taking deep breaths of the cooling air. The building was just up the way a little, he could even see the door open, a figure sillouetted against the light. He could just make out the brown hair and light build of his little friend, though from his view the nose was still hidden.

"HEY! Marshall!" he called as he approached.

Liamh had collected a fair-sized stack of deliciously entertaining possibilities next to him, categorized by media type, date of release, and urgency of consumption. He'd pare it down later, he thought, sticking another plastic box on the DVD pile. He hummed the ThunderCats theme to himself as he eagerly traced a finger down the next row of possibilities. It was like a whole video store along these walls, only free... So beautiful, he just might cry.

"HEY! Marshall!"

Liamh's head popped up, staring at the shelf for a moment before turning and glancing over his shoulder. Invad - er, other guests? He tilted his head, straightening his glasses and leaning backward from his crouch to get a better look around the doorway. Well, an orange vest was there, at least. He gave a shrug and let his attention be drawn back to the siren call of the Xbox titles. Ooo... Shiny.

Gaius slowed as he approached, glad to have finally found his buddy. "I've been looking all over for you!" He frowned, wondering why Marshall wasn't looking at him. "Hey, you okay...? I'm sorry I haven't been around to see you lately, I've been busy with this new project I'm working on..."

He moved into the doorway, trying to see Marshall face-to-face. "You're not angry at me, are you?"

As of yet, Gaius had not noticed the blonde guy over by the DVD's, or how very human he was.

Liamh glanced over his shoulder again, noticing that there were two now. He flicked his glance away for a moment, but did a doubletake. Was he seeing things? One of the guys seemed to have long pointy ears. He squinted and pushed his glasses back up. Eh. Must be some kind of costume thing. Fantasy convention? Cosplay? Sweet.

They seemed to be having some kind of important discussion so he glanced away for another moment, but he figured it would be impolite to eavesdrop.. Maybe he should say something.

He glanced over his shoulder again and raised one hand. "Hey... there..." He smiled winningly. Maybe they wouldn't be too annoyed if they hadn't seen him.

Gaius blinked. The... nose... No, it didn't fit. Marshall wasn't supposed to have a deformed, blackening growth in the middle of his face. He was supposed to be the smiling, overly-energetic guy who would tell him everything was okay. Gaius felt suddenly sad, reflected in the sag of his face and in his eyes. He placed a hand on top of Marshall's head. "Hey, remember what you told me? You're still you, even if you look different... I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." He offered an apologetic smile. "I'll do better next time. I promise."

His ear twitched at another voice, one he wasn't familiar with, spoke up from behind the couch. Gaius looked up, blinking at the guy waving, and raised his own hand hesitantly in a small wave. "Um, hey!" It never occured to him that Liamh might be the newest Moreau Island virgin.

Liamh chuckled, covering his self consciousness. Well, this was awkward, wasn't it. At least they knew he was there, now.

"Heh. Sorry 'bout interrupting, just figured y'oughta know someone was lurking back here. You know, so i don't suddenly jump out and give anybody a heart attack..."

Blast. Schmoozing powers activate, already. Go-go gadget say-something-cool-already-dammit...

"So, you two wanna use this room? I was just lookin'.... man, they've got EVERYTHING in here. Makes it almost like civilization, eh...." He smirked, glancing away at the shelf again.

"Nah, sorry for bothering you!" Gaius waved a hand at Liamh's explanation. "We can head out-" He was cut off suddenly by Marshall's mood swing. Gaius blinked, following slowly until he was standing behind the couch as Marshall babbled about obscure entertainment. An amused grin crossed his face. Now that was more like the guy he remembered.

He didn't notice Marshall's squirming as he turned to look at the blonde guy, his nostrils flaring as he unintentionally tried to take in his scent. "I don't think I've seen you around here before... Been on the island long?"

"Kotatsu Attacks Bombay? Sweet! Uh, wait, is that the one with the alien girls who try to saw open people's heads? No, no, that's something else..." Liamh eyed Marshall's nose sidelong as the guy vaulted the couch, but his demeanor didn't change. "Wait, why's a heated table.... nevermind." He tipped his head back a bit and laughed. "But yeah, man! Lookit this stuff. I bet some of this you can't even GET anymore..." He held up a box with giant fanged rabbits mauling a truck driver on the front cover, in gruesome black and white.

Liamh tipped his head up, looking upside down at the other guy who'd walked over to the couch. "Ah, i got in a little while ago, you?" He grinned upward.

Yeah, so what if they're walking around with prosthetics? That's kinda cool. I mean, whatever floats your boat, right? Maybe there was some kinda party... or they came in from a movie set? This place would be great to film on....

Gaius couldn't help rolling his eyes at the two geeks and chuckled. "Gee, should I leave you two alone?" He grinned teasingly and leaned over the back of the couch to tap Marshall on the large nose. "Now I know where the rest of mine went!"

Since Liamh was acting so calm, Gaius had no reason to suspect what was going through his mind at the moment. Instead, he walked around the couch, giving what space there was a critical look before shaking his head with a grin and turning around to pull up one of the easy chairs. As he did so, his tail gave a casual swish back and forth. Gaius settled back, fidgeting a bit as he tried to get his back comfortable with the pinned wings.

"And Marshall's right... about three weeks or so. Maybe a month? It's hard to tell sometimes... Seems they've trapped a bunch of people here. I keep running into new faces all the time!" Gaius shook his head, his ears flapping a bit, and looked up at Liamh. "At least you seem to be enjoying yourself despite everything, which is good! Everyone needs an escape from reality sometimes, huh?"

"And they've got the ENTIRE Bruce Campbell Appreciation Collection. Totally gotta have a zombie madness marathon one of these days. All zombies, all the time, until we can't feel our fingers." Liamh said eagerly with a manic expression.

"Ooo, yeah, i was perusing their anime collection. I was totally gonna watch, er, Ninja Scroll and some Evangelion, uh... right after some other stuff..." he eyed the pile warily, hoping the girly shoujo boxes with pink labels were far enough into the stack to not be noticeable. Hey, what wasn't to like about cute schoolgirls in short uniforms with crazy hijinx?

"Three weeks, huh." That was about how long he was slated to be working here, he thought. "Trapped is definitely the word," he chuckled wryly. It would be so easy to stay longer - he himself was already thinking - planning, even - to ask for a week vacation after the work was up. "They're making it a popular place. And yeah, it's gonna be a pain, but at least it's a nice location to be stuck in, if you've gotta." He wondered vaguely if they were working on-site too, instead of just vacationing. Would make sense - they'd need a lot of staff to get this thing up and running. Most likely he wouldn't be seeing much of all this gorgeous location, stuck in flourescent lighting and closed in walls for three weeks working on the networking stuff, but hey, at least he had a great view to come back to.

He reached over and gave Gaius a quick pat on the shoulder. "Ah, escaping reality. That, my friend, is exactly why we're here. Gathered before this flat-screened, liquid crystal monolith, we make supplication and recieve endless brain-numbing entertainment goodness. All hail modern living, eh?" He grinned, glancing at Marshall with a gesture.

He really did wonder what sort of event had prompted them to get up in those weird getups.

Gaius groaned, rolling his eyes in a blatant fashion. "More zombie flicks? I don't know what it is with you and movies about gory undead stuff... If you two want to watch that, fine, but you're not going to get me to!" He folded his arms, firmly standing behind his view. "If you want me to stay, you'll just have to choose something different!"

"Besides, there's so many better movies available!" He gestured to the shelves with a hopeful grin. "Can we pleeease watch something other than cheesy horror?"

Liamh folded his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes at Gaius. "Bah, spoilsport. Okay, what would YOU pick, Orlando?"

He glanced from Gaius to Marshall. "We'll totally have a zombie marathon later in the month. Halloween and all, you know?" he grinned evilly. "Unless we wanna start with the 1950's B-horror stuff and work our way up to the really scary...."

He glanced over at the pile and the shelves with an appraising glance. "Hmm. Action, drama, sci-fi, anime, what're we up for?"

"Fine... Fine. We can watch zombie movies later." Gaius rubbed his head wearily. "Just not tonight... I'm fine with anything else you two want. Sorry to be selfish, but I've had a long day cutting wood, and making furniture to fit the other Islanders looks like it's going to be harder than I thought..." He rolled his eyes and grinned at Liamh, expecting the guy to know what he meant. "Who'd have thought making chairs to fit tails would be so difficult? 'Course, that's not something you'd normally learn anywhere else! Besides I've never made anything besides a bookcase..."

"Woo, you're on..." Liamh leaned over to high-five the guy with the black nose, then glanced back at the elf-ears fellow.

Chairs to fit the what now?

Liamh raised an eyebrow. "Yeeeaaah, i never was good with building stuff." He wrinkled his nose. "Great that you can, though, making stuff for everybody else must be rewarding. I'm lucky if i can set a card table up without it collapsing. Gimme a nice VCR to program, and i'm your guy." He folded his arms behind his head proudly.

"Eh, IKEA's not too bad, just the nicer stuff tends to be pricey! But still, great for a budget appartment..." He shrugged. "And I'll keep you in mind if I ever need help with programming, uh..." He blinked, realizing he hadn't even asked the blonde guy's name yet. "Er... sorry, I think I missed your name...?"

At Marshall's suggestion, Gaius tilted his head, one ear tilting back in confusion. "Mono-nookaay? Is that one of those Japanimation things?" He shrugged. "Well, I guess if it's in English, and not too girly, it'll be fine."

"Aaaahhh, Mononoke! The ultimate anime classic. Good old Miyazaki stuff." Liamh tilted his head, trying to get a good angle to read the back of the box from where he was sitting. "Eh, it SHOULD be the subtitled version... unless it's the dubbed - good lord, i hate dubbing. They always pick the lamest voices for the characters, and the dialogue is never the same..." he sighed.

At Gaius's query, he turned, eyebrows arched, looking over the top of his glasses. "Oh, right, I'm Liamh. Liamh Doradan. Pleased ta make yer aquaintance, Orlando." he held out a hand for Gaius to shake, and turned his head to nod at Marshall. "And same to you, Bruce," he grinned cheekily.

"Well, whatever," Gaius chuckled. "I just prefer to watch my movies, not read them. If I want to read, I'll go find a good book!"

Gaius accepted the shake warmly, engulfing Liamh's hand in his own and giving it a good, firm squeeze. He quirked an eyebrow at the nickname, though, unfamiliar with the pop culture reference. "Who's Orlando? And... Bruce?"

His smile brightened proudly at Marshall's comment. What he'd told Ambrose the previous day about making friends on the island was the truth, and maybe the wolf man was right about starting an adoptive family... It made things easier to handle. Still, Gaius wasn't about to let Marshall get away that easily with his teasing, and reached a hand over to noogie him playfully.

Liamh grinned. "You actually get used to subtitles after a while, i've learned to prefer it. Never learned to like coffee, but gimme the subtitles."

Liamh smiled, rubbing his hand a bit after Gaius' enthusiastic handshake. "Well, Marshall and Gaius, then. Got kind of a Roman thing going there?" He smirked. "Emperor Gaius and 'Martial' Law?"

He removed his glasses and looked at the lenses in a pre-movie clearness check. "Eh, you know, Bruce Campbell, god of B-horror zombie movies? And Orlando Bloom?" he said, polishing them on his shirt.

"Orland Bloom?" Gaius gave Liamh an odd look and scratched at one of his ears. "He was that guy in that Pirates movie, right? The one the girls were all crazy over?" He wasn't sure how he felt being compaired to him... He'd never considered himself the 'pretty boy' type, and was sure he'd panic with that much female attention.

"Hey! My puns aren't that bad!" He protested with a laugh, settling back down in his chair. It was impossible to sit comfortably. If his wings weren't getting in the way, his tail was getting crunched under him. He grumbled to himself. There was a reason humans weren't supposed to have tails, and it was easy chairs!

Liamh shook his head, grinning, as the video started running and the screen flickered to life. The first musical advertisements started to run. "Hey, if you can't pun with the big dogs...." he cackled, inspecting his glasses and then setting them back in place.

"Yeah, Orlando Bloom's been in quite a few movies recently, Pirates, LoTR," he pronounced the letters alphabetically, "and... you know, uh, that other thing... i'm too lazy to remember what exactly." He shrugged, his eyes fixed on the screen. "Hey, do the have any microwave popcorn or something? And how do you two feel about M-S-T-3-K'ing movies, sarcasm-rays on full or check 'em at the door?"

"'MST3K?'" Gaius tilted his head, confused by the term. "Uh, I haven't seen it, and I'm not much one for commentary unless I'm listening to the extra features..." He rubbed his flat nose and chuckled.

He watched his friend start to get up and waved a hand. "Marshall knows where to get the stuff, and if you two are going, can you bring me back a coke? I've just gotten comfortable and don't want to have to work around my tail again!"

"Eh, never saw Elizabethtown - that must be why." Liamh gave a snort. "But Mystery Science Theater 3000, now that's high quality entertainment," Liamh said grandly, "They do all sort sof horrible old sci-fi movies, do really funny jokes and commentary. You should see it sometime."

He stood up and cricked his neck. "Junk food run sounds friggin' awesome, I'll help carry it if Law here can show me where it is." He grinned at Marshall and glanced at Gaius. "Anything else with that coke? We'll be back in flash, and then get down to some serious cinematic influx."

Gaius waved them off as the string of trailers came to an end, his attention on the TV screen. "Yeah yeah, just a drink will be good. Careful to watch where you're going out there!"

Liamh gave Gaius a glance as they headed for the door. Why was he keeping that weird tail thing on if it was bothering him? Had to be some sort of bizaare anime thing... the lengths some fans would go to, really.

Bishies.

"Yeah, Mom," he called back to Gaius. "We'll look both ways before crossing the street..." He chuckled to himself as he followed Marshall's flipper-shoed footsteps out of the entertainment room. "If we hurry, we won't miss the beginning with that tentacle monster..."

Liamh folded his hands behind his head, grinning at the nickname. The friendly punning and sparring made him feel a lot more at ease than he'd been since the moment he stepped out of the helicopter.

"Before?" he said, with a slightly bewildered tone of voice. "Ah, I'm in data security. Mostly network stuff, making sure internal communications aren't disrupted by firewalls and that all the wifi stuff is locked down tight. Never know who's gonna be out wardriving with their pringles, you know." He grinned. He'd never stooped to that himself, of course... But if this place didn't get any connection out in the Barracks, he might be tempted to go pirating around the 'Offices', so he thought.

"What about you? What do you do when you're not hangin' out here? Lemme guess, you're one of those 'net stock traders who made their first million by the time they were 20, right?" He laughed. "If so, i'm totally going to pretend to ignore you while sucking up."

Liamh trudged along behind him, squinting to see the path ahead of them in the dim lighting from the buildings. "Eh? Get laid off? They send you here as part of a severance package or something?" Liamh raised an eyebrow, hands still folded on his head. "Cartoonist, huh.... You know, what's to stop you from still drawing it? Even if they fire ya, they can't stop the creative process..." He raised a fist skyward, still draping the other arm over his head. "If the art's still in ya, they can't take it, man!" he cackled for a second, then was silent again.

Liamh stopped in his track, letting his arms slide slowly to his sides, with a confused look. "Can't go home?" He reflexively pushed his glasses up his nose. Webbed? Couldn't he remove the prosthetics? There was something funny going on. Funny strange. Funny like he'd been hearing the joke over and over, but missing the punchline.

"..... There something going on? You mean you don't have anywhere to go? Dang! Dude, we'll totally set you up, i mean, I'm gone every few weeks, but i keep a pretty clean place..."

Liamh held the door open. "Ahhh, i've been wanting to find out where the Caf was, i'm gettin' hungry.."

Liamh let his thoughts wander for a moment while they foraged, running over the various things he'd heard from them since he'd met them - all of less than an hour ago, all together. It wasn't even the things he'd heard, it was... something in how they acted. That creepy Duvert guy had had that vibe about him as well. Something definitely seemed out of place... Liamh stared down his nose for a moment, then picked up on a word he recognized.

"Mmmmmm." he said appreciatively. "Wii."

"That whole separate handed thing is totally either gonna rock, or suck monkey. Gotta hand it to them, though, they know how to turn the industry upside down." He glanced around, snagging a couple bags of things - pretzels and some bbq potato chips - and rummaging around for anything more substantial. Nachos sounded really good right now, nachos and peanut butter and guacamole.

"Wait, no internet? Aw man!" Liamh had rewound the last few words from Marshall in his head after a moment, and snapped out of his peanut-guacamole daydream with a horrified look. "I'm gonna go insane, i swear! I'm already behind on my forums and my blogs and my mail and my webcomics! Not that m'favorite has updated for like, a month, but whatever..." He scowled, crinkling the bag of chips.

As the glass plate carousel spun lazily and the first sudden POP! noises of kernelly deaths were heard, Liamh leaned against the wall and munched a stick of jerky he'd rummaged up. "That son of a motherless goat! - You went to Katsucon?" Liamh grinned. "Er, i read the usual, you know - Penny-Arcade and PVP, GU, Ctrl-Alt-Del, VGcats, Questionable Content... couple of other awesome ones, Wapsi and Scary-Go-Round and that one with the cute penguin." He took another mouthful of dried meats and chewed thoughtfully. " 'ats th' one tha 'asnt upda'ed in li' a monf.."

He reached over and grabbed a couple other bags of candy and looked around for something to put their haul in.

Liamh glanced over his shoulder with the jerky hanging from his teeth like a cigar. "Uh, you okay?" He found a paper sack to stuff the chips and pretzels in and hoisted it. "Ah, sounds like the popcorn's getting close to done. Better get back before Gaius loses his appetite from the tentacle demon."

He paused, thinking about that, holding the jerky stick next to his mouth and wiggling it in a rather Groucho-Marx-esque fashon. "Well, maybe that would be a good idea after all, more for us..."

"Hentai, hentai, everything's hentai with you," Liamh ribbed him, sighing dramatically. "Ah! Sodas. Right. I'll grab 'em. Err...." he set down the bag and turned this way and that. "Uh, where do they keep 'em, and whaddya want?" He crossed his arms with his fingers pointing both ways like the scarecrow in search of a brain.

"Aye aye, Cap'n!" he threw a salute and wandered toward the giant steel fortress. "Thar be a bilge-scuttlin' scallywaggers off the starboard... plank...." He went over to rummage in the refridgerator, producing a couple of cokes, oranges sodas, and a pair of rootbeers for himself.

"Cold cold cold," he muttered, juggling them in his arms as he quick-stepped back over and arranged them in the bottom of the sack. "Okay! How's the popcorn? We all set?"

Liamh breathed in the tropical night air, mosquitos temporarily forgotten. He hefted the bag to a more comfortable position and took long legged strides back in the direction of what he hoped was the recreation center. "Heh. Well if nothing else, we've got junk food and i've figured out where the Cafeteria is."

He glanced over at Marshall, squinting. "Schnoz? Oh that thing? I dunno, isn't it some kind of..... beak.... thing? Could use it for a, like, chocobo costume?" he chuckled. "Or Sam Eagle? Have anything else?"

The guy was leaning forward in his seat, eyes locked on the flashing images playing across the screen, a stunned expression on his face. He didn't even acknowledge when the two entered until Marshall spoke up, which got a twitch out of the guy.

"What in the world kind of cartoon is this?!" Gaius asked with something between reverence and accusation. "It's bloodier than any action movie I've seen! The kid took off a guy's arm with an ARROW! And that pig thing? What was up with that?! How can they show this kind of stuff to kids? It'd be sure to give them nightmares for months!"

Liamh set down the sack of treats and started unpacking, giving Gaius a weird look. "Man. You've never seen anime?" He turned to Marshall. "He's never seen anime? He doesn't know. Aw man." He turned to Gaius again. "Gaius.... there's something we gotta tell you...."

He handed the orange sodas to Marshall, and then held out the coke to Gaius. "Gaius, anime isn't for kids. Well," he glanced at the tv screen. "Some of it is, some of it isn't. It's an art form in Japan, it's meant for all ages. And some of it is really not for kids. Lotta blood and violence and sex and more violence and ninjas.... "

He sat himself down on the couch. "Of course, a LOT of anime, even the lighthearted funny ones, all have messages like," he raised his hands in a 'big drama' gesture, "Don't kill the planet, or Human Nature is Like This, or Death and Life is like This, or other philosophical things. It's kinda cool." He grinned, glancing at the screen again. "Mononoke is about the struggle between mankind and the natural world - the animals and the environment and our place with them, and what we do to them to save ourselves, and how both sides are right in their own way. It's..." he paused. "It's about balance between man and nature."

"With a lot of blood." he cracked open his root beer with a quirky half-smile.

"Aaaahhh..." Gaius said with a note of understanding, though he still looked perplexed. "Japan sure makes some weird stuff..." Not that it was a bad thing, of course. Gaius had to admit that he was enjoying the movie, even if the combination of animation and adult-level violence and themes was a bit off-putting, and some of the characters were really strange-looking...

He reached over the table and felt around, eyes still on the screen, until his fingers found the unopened coke and pulled it toward himself, popping it open with a hiss and sipping from it. As they watched the movie, a thought made Gaius chuckle. "Heh! Better not show this to Sabin. He could get ideas for another serum from it."

"And I don't think the labs really appreciate whatever 'balance' there's supposed to be between man and nature, judging from this place..." he muttered, shoving a handful of popcorn into his face.

"Sabin, Sabin, that's that weird guy with the long white hair and the bright orange shorts, right?" Liamh asked, chewing on bbq chips and fruitsnacks and washing it down with the rootbeer. Labs? Did they mean the medical wing of the resort office? He wrinkled his nose at the sense-memory of the sterile rooms.

On the screen, white wolves appeared to wreck havoc among the caravan of oxen and riflemen. Rain and gunfire and blood and cattle hurtling over cliffs flashed across the screen.

"That guy's capable of wearing color?" Gaius flashed Liamh a surprised look before turning back to the screen. "He was all in black getup when he picked me up from the hellicopter... But yeah, he's got the white hair. And a crazed grin, for that matter." The man gave a distasteful snear. "He also lies through his teeth, just like his pet Zach. I don't take lightly to having the wool thrown over my eyes... Besides all the pain I've gone through because of their project..."

Liamh tore his eyes away from the screen with great effort, the epic animated battle reflecting in glowing miniature on the glossy surface of his glasses in true dramatic anime fashion. He looked at the other two, who were still staring at the scene.

"Wait, what? What's he lying about?" Liamh frowned, his brow furrowing. "What project?"

The little hamster in the little wheel in his head picked up the seed and started running. "Wait.... wait, are you saying that... they, like.... test drugs on people here?" He looked at Marshall. "Is that why you said you can't leave?" An eyebrow arched incredulously. "They, like, lure people here and then do some kinda chemical warfare stuff on 'em?" He shook his head, his brain spinning some kind of zombie virus warfare flick in his head.

Gaius was staring at Liamh with utter disbelief, the movie completely forgotten at the moment. His mouth hung open slightly, the soda poised half-way. "You can't be serious..."

He looked at Marshall, then back at the blonde fellow sitting there. "But you didn't even say anything! How could you not have noticed these?!" he cried as he tugged at one of his ears violently. "You took everything so well, we thought you'd already been told the truth!"

Liamh tipped his head and blinked. "What, those are attached?" He glanced at Marshall, looking him over, and then back to Gaius. "Seriously? I thought it was some kinda weird convention thing. Haven't you ever been to one of those? ...... probably not." Liamh shook his head. "So, wait, you're just kinda.... mutating?" he took another look at Gaius's ears, reached out, and poked at it. He felt warm flesh, and the ear twitched away from the tickling finger reflexively. He leaned back against the couch, still staring, and blinked a few times.

Then he tipped his head back and laughed. He put a hand over his face, still laughing. "Ahahahh... man... you're not kidding, are you? Hahahah. That's so freaking sci-fi." he pulled off his glasses and wiped his eye, his head still tipped back against the couch. "I swear i knew that was gonna happen someday if i watched too much Twilight Zone.... hahahhhh..... well, except i didn't, but... hahahhh..." He leaned forward and shook his head again, trying to find his face to put his glasses back on.

"... D*mn..."

Gaius flinched at Liamh's prodding, but let him anyways. If he needed physical proof... But still, it was hard to see the guy, this quirky nerd they'd only just met, go hysterical. It made Gaius's already long face fall farther.

"And the ears aren't the worst of it..." he sighed, lowering his head.

"What Marshall says is the truth... ask anyone who's been here a week. It's an experiment to turn us into animal-people things... I guess mutating is a good word. Everyone gets an injection when they arrive... The labs pass it off as some anti-virus... that apparantly just sets us up for the later stuff. A wolf-man I met a couple days back said there's a series of injections... Marshall and I have both had our second ones... and... well... you can see we don't exactly look human..." he hung his head ashamedly. It was one thing to be self-conscious of his appearance, but to have to point it out to someone made it far more vulnerable.

"I dunno what they told you you're doing here, but whatever it was... it's a lie. I was brought here for a job that isn't real, and they've done the same to others." He looked up at Liamh with dark, sad eyes that begged for his forgiveness. "...I'm sorry, Liamh. I'm really sorry you're here."

Liamh took a couple of deep breaths and wiped his eyes again, setting his slightly smudged glasses back on his nose. He looked up with a lopsided, sheepish grin. Dang. Well, HE certainly felt like a putz. He looked them over again, examining the strange details with a completely different set of perceptions. Yeah, that was pretty hard to miss, now that he factored in the possibility of there being people with ACTUAL animal parts growing out of them.

He leaned back again, still absorbing the info they were dumping on him... he took another deep breath and glanced at Gaius. "Hey, it's... okay," he said, rubbing the back of his head. The poor guy looked like he felt so bad. "Well, i mean, it's not. Unless it's all a big prank, in which case i WILL KILL YOU BOTH LATER." He shot them dark looks over his spectacles. Then he slumped slightly again.

"But really, i don't think you came out here just to mess with me. And i've been getting weird vibes since i got here, i just....." he hunched up a bit, looking annoyed. "I just jump to my own conclusions, i guess." He smirked. "Really sorry about, uh.... thinkin' they were... fake, you know?" he looked sheepishly back at Marshall. "And the beak comment."

He pulled up his short sleeve and looked at the injection mark. "Well. Looks like they got me too. " he poked at it for the first time, after being careful with it for hours. "Dang. Looks like i won't be reporting for work on Monday."

Gaius chuckled slightly, amazed that Liamh could still be so perky despite everything they were telling him. He had to admire that show of character.

"Hey, don't worry, I just assumed you'd seen changed people already... just, uh, be careful about staring, everyone here is kinda sensitive..."

His expression darkened suddenly at the mention of that name. "Zach..." he growled the name like a foul curse, his hands clenching. "If anyone on this island is a b*****d, he's the one. I hope he gets what's coming his way..."

Gaius shook himself, trying to get rid of the harsh feelings. Liamh was warned, that was enough. He didn't need to go into his colorful history with the crazy lizard. Instead, he gave Liamh a sheepish, anxious smile and scratched at an ear. "You, uh, doing okay? This is a lot to take in and all, and we don't mean to be throwing you in the deep end... You just kinda have to learn to swim as you go, I'm afraid."

"Thanks, guys... i mean, this has gotta suck monkey arse for you." Liamh scratched his chin, despite there being much there to scratch besides bone and one or two stubble hairs. "Zach, eh. Dragon? I'll keep an eye out. I haven't seen him.... haven't seen ANYBODY, really," he contorted his face in a strange thoughtful grimace. "I kinda slept all day - i just got in around, like, one or two this afternoon.... took a nap after i got my crap up to my room." he shrugged, looking sheepish again. "Congrats. You're the welcome party."

He glanced at Gaius and Marshall. "I'm not sure it's really sinking in, frankly," he admitted. "I mean, i'm willing to accept it as what serves as reality right now, but... i guess it doesn't really CHANGE anything for me, not yet. Maybe once it's more real, it'll catch up with me, but..."

He glanced at the screen out of the corner of his eye. They'd missed a chunk of the film, one of his favorite parts with the god's pool, and he wasn't sure how he felt. It was really out of place. He really just wanted to keep enjoying his evening, continue on like nothing had happened, and figure out the whole mess later. It was like laundry. He could just heap it in the corner until he had to wash it all. He wrinkled his nose and glanced away again.

"So..... you guys really sure all this is happening? I mean, if i wake up tomorrow and you're all still here..."

"I wish it wasn't happening..." Gaius sighed. He could understand how Liamh felt, some people had to carry stuff for a while before it finally hit them. Gaius just hadn't been one of those people. It was kinda hard to 'deal with it later' when he'd been faced with two dangerous animal-people snarling in front of him.

He shifted in his seat, feeling warm and emotionally taxed, and the pinned wings were cramping under the bandages beneath his shirt. Any attention he'd had for the movie was long gone, and it was doubtful he could handle another one.

"Listen, Liamh... If... tomorrow... you need help after it 'sinks in' and everything... just call me in duplex 62, okay? And Marshall's in 59." The big guy pulled himself up slowly, easing himself to his feet, and cast the TV one last glance. Someone standing on a rooftop with fire... Gaius shook his head, a dry chuckle escaping him as he turned away. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn in for now... Maybe we can have a proper movie night another time, like Marshall wants."

Liamh nodded at Marshall. "Yeah... We'll start him on Cowboy Bebop or something... or maybe Ranma 1/2," he added, an edge of his cheeky smirk creeping back through the fog of creeped-out disorientation. "If he likes cute little red-head girls." he shook his head and gave an amused snort.

He reached over and gave Gaius a light cuff on the shoulder. "Thanks, man. If you suddenly get called at 4 AM and all you hear is some incoherant screaming, that's probably me. I'm in 66, feel free to swing by sometime. Both of you," he nodded at Marshall. "And we're still having our Zombie Flick night. It's October, you've gotta have at least one."

He glanced at the screen again. "If you guys are taking off... i, uh... i might stay here for a few minutes... might finish this, you know." He cleared his throat slightly. He really didn't want to face the silence of his duplex right now, and he still had half a film to stave off sleep or thinking. Mostly thinking...

Gaius noticed Marshall get up out of the corner of his eye, and a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He appreciated that Marshall would give up a good movie just to keep his silly friend company. He didn't say anything, though, glancing back at Liamh instead with a smirk and a wave. "Enjoy the movie, and take care of yourself!"

The horse-man ducked out of the entertainment room, waiting a moment for Marshall to catch up before trotting off towards their duplexes. Once they were a short ways away, Gaius smacked Marshall on the back of the shoulders. "Hey. Thanks," he said, still looking ahead of them. A small half-smile had finally surfaced on his face.

Waving as they left, Liamh let out a sigh and slumped back on the couch, letting his attention drift back to the screen, where somebody was talking to somebody else. Oh good, a fight scene was coming up... He scowled and pulled the junk food closer in reach. Time for some action.

Just as long as he didn't have to think for the next hour... or however long... he'd be fine. He eyed the stack of anime next to the TV and shoved some more chips in his mouth. Maybe a couple hours.

"For giving up your movie to come along, of course! Unless you didn't actually want to stay there and watch the rest of it..." Gaius shrugged, looking away. "I just appreciated the gesture. That's all. ...It's nice not to be alone."

Gaius's face fell. "Yeah... I feel bad for him too... that was my first time having to tell someone else about the truth... Wonder if the others feel like this when they meet us..."

He sighed and rolled his shoulders, loosening the tensed muscles, and tilted his head back to look up at the stars as the two walked. "I think I saw myself in him... Still human, innocent to everything, and no idea of the pain..." It was a sad thought. "And he's only gonna remember me looking this way... I think I understand the 'Orlando' nickname now, at least."

The crunch of twigs and grass beneath his shoes drew Gaius's attention back down to earth. He gave a small forced chuckle. "What, don't trust me out after hours?"