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 Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:46 pm
Her enthusiasm was encouraging. She held such a unique view on the entire situation and it made him less anxious about his own views. It was cute how she thought of Moreau as her father. It made him see it wasn’t all doom and gloom. People could carry out normal lives here, couldn’t they? The thought of living life out as a half-animal/human hybrid was still something he needed to become more comfortable with.
“Really? It doesn’t always hurt? Does it get easier over time? What’s it like- if it’s alright to ask?” he was full of questions and he didn’t want to get on her nerves, but she was confirming that Jordan should not have been so quick to believe a few instigators over Doctor Moreau.
He was petting Comet more happily again. “She’s such a sweetheart. Did she come to the island with you?” He was grinning as he scratched behind her ears.
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:58 pm
"oh it hurts" Lauren admitted. "There is really no way it couldn't hurt. But you can always requests anesthetics and it's over before you know it." She listened and tried to answer his questions to the best of her ability, although they were numerous so it was hard for her to get to them all.
"Dealing with it gets easier over time. Imagine being able to hear better, or smell emotions. It really is a different world." Lauren was starting to get a bit preachy. "Humans really are inferior as far as animals go. They are violent, distructive, and weak... no offense" She realised that the person in front of her was a human. When did she get these thoughts about humans? Was she really developing such a deep prejudice towards them?
"But changing, it's hard to explain. It's painful yeah but damn it's worth it."
She smiled at how Comet was getting along with Jordan, "She likes you." Even more questions came, "No she didn't come with me, she was my Christmas present. I had nothing back then."
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 9:09 pm
“I’m sorry to bombard you with so many questions. I'm usually not so chatty, but I don't know.. you've gotten me to open up, which is rare. I guess I feel more comfortable around you." he petted Lauren's dog as he said that last part. "And no offense. As far as I know, I’m the only human not in the labs.” But before he could scan his comment it was out there. He’d just given something away and it was too late to think twice about it.
“They’re really accommodating to us, aren’t they?” That was the first time he’d grouped himself into the populous. “I bet that was intense when you could suddenly smell emotion or hear beyond the human spectrum.” She made the changes sound like such a good thing and he was believing it. “So… being afraid of the changes will only stress me for no reason, hm? Wow.. you tell it so differently than anyone else. It’s great to hear there’s a positive side to all of it.”
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 9:20 pm
Lauren shook her head, "The others, they focus too much on what they have lost. But I geuss I just look at what I gained." She shrug her shoulders and gave a chipper smile, "And I'm happier for it. Look we have anything we could want, as long as it's not anything that can be used for violence. We have a whole different world to experiance, we are catered to our every need and desire." Lauren leaned foreward her eyes widening.
"You're not alone and there is no need to be afraid. Hell if I had the chance to be you again I would. My first change was so awesome." She sighed.
"It is beyond your wildest imagination." She admitted in awe. True thinking of what she had become, compared to what she was before made Lauren totally feel committed again to the labs. It was as Moreau knew this is what she needed to become strongly tied to his side again.
Lauren started to get up, "I better be going. I'm sure Comet needs to go." She called to her dog who very reluctantly left her new favorite pal. She gave him a lick before she set off. "I live in Duplex 42 now, anytime you need me you can call. I think you have a lot to think about." Lauren headed out the door.
"And... if you need someone to be there when you change, I'll be there." Lauren did Moreau's bidding, now there was only to let him think about things. She too had some thinking to do.
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 9:34 pm
“Amazing! This is the first I’ve heard any of this side!” Which served to reinforce a positive attitude about this entire situation. “It’s refreshing to hear from an upbeat person as yourself, Lauren. You’ve given me a lot to consider. I need to think about the positive, because Doctor Moreau cares for us and he wants to protect us and see us happy.” He was smiling brightly now. That was a first for his island life as well.
When Lauren made the comment about wishing she could be him and experience her first change again, he couldn’t help but laugh. It must have been something great to experience if she wanted to repeat it!
Jordan was likewise feeling more committed to the labs as well. How could he not with such an inspirational speaker! “Wow.. I think I’m actually looking forward to this now! This really is my second chance as he promised.” Again, more tidbits of information slipping as he’d let his guard down.
“AAaaaaw.” He said playfully, giving Comet a hug and Lauren one as well. “Thanks, Lauren.. I mean it. You’ve really given me a new perspective.”
He nodded at her kind offer to see him through the changes and got the door for her. “I look forward to seeing you again sometime. You, too, Comet.”
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:21 pm
Wildlife Rescue! Colche
The first rays of dawn kissed her dew kissed cheeks but she did not waken. She was happily curled amongst the tall grass, her mind away with the fairies, even the soft snuffling sound didn't wake her, infact, she wasn't woken until she felt a sharp pain in her side, and then it was too late to react to anything.
Deep blue eyes flashed open as the boar charged her with it's ivory coloured tusks, she jumpped as those tooth like blades peirced through her side, only half awake, her eyes dazed and fear over taking any other reaction she tried to run, which was perhaps the most foolish thing to do as the boar once again charged ehr catching her legs from under her with it's heavy headed charge. A frightened sound escaped ehr maw then, it wasn't a cry of a human, it was the whistle like call of a cub in need as she scrambled away from the large pig. She slowly realised, the youngster she had killed wasn't alone. Was she about to become lunch to this creature? She squeeked again, a high whistling tone quickly followed by a slow squeeky sob as the unrelenting boar charged ehr again, catching her already bruised and bleeding side once again,s eh fell then, her head clipping off the ground.
She felt so dizzy, sick, her eyes blurring as she lashed about helplessly. Her flailing slowly stopped though as she blacked out, the boars squeelings miles away, so many miles away.Jordan Essex Jordan had dared to venture outside earlier in the morning, since it seemed more likely not to run into anyone. The young man was becoming uncomfortable around the subjects, not for the fact of what was happing in the project, but because his interactions weren’t bringing him more than strife. He was responsible for his own actions, but it seemed his actions in the company of the subjects was causing him to act unprofessionally in moments of weakness and that was how he’d been punished by Doctor Moreau. And his last meeting went terribly. He’d just been seeking some quiet time on the beach, but that had been too much to ask for.. he was still sore from the cow’s hooved kick to the crotch.
He’d wanted to burn off some of his aggressions in the workout room. He’d never set foot in it, but it was what he needed, Jordan resolved. It meant going through the jungle and passing through the village as well, but at this early hour he’d be fortunate not to run into anyone. He wasn’t going to last too long if he didn’t find a way to vent his frustrations in a healthy way. He already knew he wouldn’t last on his own without Doctor Moreau’s assistance. Working out would be a way to keep Jordan out of trouble and on the right path to getting into the doctor’s good favor.
Unfortuately, things don’t always go as planned. A cry from the jungle and very close to his position. It was unmistakably a cheetah’s cry, when they’re lost or scared and calling out for another cheetah. Jordan had thought about ignoring it and moving along, but his conscience wouldn’t allow him to. With a groan, he wiped his hand across his face and sped off towards the crying… and then it stopped?! Crap.. He ran double-time. Even if it was difficult to do so in pants, Jordan ran. Some poor animal was injured.
Of course, this was not what he expected to see…. No, definitely not what he wanted to see. It was a cheetah alright… just… it was one of the island’s subjects- and the cheetah had been attacked alright, by a nasty-looking boar. There was no time to think, to react, nor to hesitate. It was his responsibility to take care of this himself.
With the only thing he could use to distract the boar, Jordan took off his right sneaker and threw it at the boar. Well... that wasn’t too smart… the cheetah was no longer the focus of the boar’s attention, but now Jordan was… Colche The boar hadn't of coruse expected to be asailed from some wheer else, had Jordie arrived a moment later it would have once again charged and pushed the unconcious cheetah girl in to the pool, but it's attention had been drawn and the last thing it expected was a human.
Now this pig knew things, it was no spring chicken. It knew that humans carried guns, it knew that it had no real predators on this island, and it also knew if it should take a chance or turn tail and flee.
This human had appeared and thrown something, this was really enough to startle the beast in to thinking maybe the human would have artilary! He'd seen his brethren killed before by guns. All thoughts of the slender predator were washed away as it bolted off in to the undergrowth from whence it came.
Colche's head finally hit the ground fully, she could hear nothing, though her lest breath inwards before she passed out completly told her that the boar had gone. She'd wake up and everything would be okay, wouldn't it? Her lips parted in a quiet cheetah call for help, whispered from her barely parted lips. She didn't even know if anyone was there, her world fadeing to black amidst her faint call. Jordan Essex It.. worked?! Jordan was surprised by the boar’s hasty retreat. He was afraid that he’d have an angry, rampaging beast on gunning for him, but it would have been justified to stop the attack. Jordan was grateful that it hadn’t charged him. He quickly collected his shoe and knelt by Colche. Her faint chirp worried him more. What happened to her? He was naked in the middle of the jungle. This was new as the others he’d met still wore clothes in their advanced stages, provided they still could. Maybe she was one of those? Luckilly, her long black hair kept her somewhat modest in his presence.
“Miss, can you hear me? Are you alright?” he shook her shoulder while he spoke in a loud, firm voice. His first thought was to check her pulse, taking her wrist in his grasp. There was still a heartbeat. Good. He was hesitant to move her, but he did so, only to shift the cheetah onto her side, to keep her from choking. He held her head level in leui of anything to prop it up.
“Please be alright.” He whispered to himself, patting her cheek gently. It was dangerous and foolish, but he couldn’t let her sleep in case she’d suffered head injury. He leaned his ear close to her muzzle to listen for her breath. It was faint but her chest was rising and falling.
He cursed loudly as he was afraid she was going to die if he didn’t do anything. She would be too heavy for him to move unconscious alone. He rolled her onto her back and sighed. “Please let this work…” the thought finished in his mind and please don’t let her bite my face off…
He parted her muzzle and administered CPR in hopes that she would regain consciousness. Colche "Owowowowwow" just to confirm that she was indeed alive, Jordans breath pulled her from the unconcious mess she had fallen in to. Her blue eyes looked blearily upwards at Jordan her brow furrowing, she didn't know who this was, her head fidgeted slightly as she searched for the boar, her nose twitching. Her head slipped back to the ground slowly "piglett gone?" she questioned fidgeting slightly, her short muzzle turning to look at her side.
the boar had managed to make a couple of puncture wounds in her side but they wern't bleeding excessively "owow" she muttered again. her tongue reaching out to the two softly seeping wounds, she stopped mid lick though, her toungue sticking out between her lips, those perfect blue eyes focused on Jordan, her brows lifting high as if she had suddenly realised that the man was there, that he was acctually there, taht it wasn't just a figment of her over active imagination.
Her tongue slowly flowed back in to her stubby maw and her nose twitched taking in the mans scent as she attempted to sit. "awowow" she hissed, though not at Jordan, as she had moved, her legs had moved with her, one was fine, only bruised, the other though was clearly broken, her foot limp from her ancle. Her ears flattened against her head her dark blue eyes full of big damp tears. Was this man here to help her? Maybe he was fromt he labs? Maybe Aubrey had sent him? "Hurts" she squeeks, her voice quickly followed by that soft whisteling cry of the cheetah. Jordan Essex Worry had filled his mind, but suddenly there was a response. He backed off from her enough to give her some space. He’d be shocked to find some strange person nearby had he been in her position. Calmly, Jordan stepped back a few feet, nodding to her question. “Yes, piglett’s gone.” He’d remembered the Winnie the Pooh reference from his childhood, but even if he hadn’t pork is pork.
Jordan stood ready to help out as soon as he was certain that she wouldn’t lunge at him in a hostile frenzy. The muttered words of pain made him take a step forward, but he was cautious to stop himself after one. “Are you going to be alright, miss?” he asked when she looked up and he tried to remain stoic, even though the cheetah girl with her tongue sticking out from her mouth was very cute. He couldn’t allow himself to smirk or even giggle in the event it would cause her to lash out.
When she moves and squeaks in pain again, he can’t just stand idly by and let her cry. She was in obvious pain and she wouldn’t get very far on her own. Jordan knelt down beside her, on the side that appeared more bruised than the other leg. “Please, don’t be afraid. I’m going to help you.” He said softly, taking her arm and wrapping it around her shoulder. “On the count of three, I’m going to help you up and we’ll get you home.” He reassured her with a genuine smile. Though he was hardly fearless in the situation, it was amazing. He felt like a rescue ranger in one of the many wildlife documentaries he’d seen over the years.
“One… Two….Three…” and with that he pushed himself up, doing his best to raise the cheetah as well. He knew this would hurt for a moment, but with him taking up the slack on her bad side, they could manage. At least he hoped. Colche Colche nodded softly at the man as he helped her to her feet. She leaned against him her small tufted ears flattening tightly against her head. She lifted her leg a little though found it difficult to hold her foot away from the ground before it dropped and dragged painfully on the floor. Furrowing her brow she holds tightly to the tall man her face crinkled in an unhappy frown. "nono..no home please" she squeaks tears rolling down her cheeks, pleaseplease" she bit her bottom lip, her big blue eyes begging the man.
"No village..Please...” she trailed off, she didn't want to go to the village, she didn't want to step foot in her duplex. The man had come from the direction of the beach; she knew there was a little hut there, the beech bar? Maybe if she went there she would be okay? She attempted to straighten her twisted foot again lifting her toes from the ground but the ankle was limp.
She pouts and sniffles, so much for becoming a wild cheetah, she had hardly lasted forty eight hours alone before she'd managed to get herself injured. She knew instinctually that the break in her leg would mean she would not be able to hunt, even if she wanted to. Her sweet blue eyed gaze fled to Jordan again and a weak, sad smile played on her maw. "Please, not villiage..Please.." Her ears twitched and a ragged purr rolled from her chest as she begged the man. She didn't even know his name, but he had saved her thus far! If only he would allow her not to go to the village. She couldn't face her duplex, she wasn't sure if she ever would be able to. Jordan Essex “Why don’t you want to go back to the village? That is where you live, isn’t it?” he glanced down at her limp ankle. He couldn’t leave her out here and he didn’t know where else she could go if not for the village. It made him wince with as the thought of any injured animal made him cringe. She was desperate to be anywhere but the village. What had happened to make her so afraid? That wasn’t his business and he didn’t inquire further, but something had to be done. She obviously needed medical attention.
With a heavy sigh he resigned not to fight her and backtracked away from the village. “It’s going to be alright. We’ll get you somewhere safe.” Colche Her ears flattened against her head once again as he questioned her motives. She didn’t want to tell anyone what she did; she didn't want anyone to know what she had done in her duplex. She was about to make up an excuse when he spoke again casting away her words as she was forced to hobble in the direction of the beach.
The little cheetah girl smiled as she held tightly to the taller man her broken toes occasionally touching the floor causing her to wince. "Safe" she whispers trying to keep her foot off the ground her tail swaying lightly. Although she was in pain, she had found someone willing to help her. Someone she didn't even know. Sweet baby blue eyes looked up at the man and she smiled happily, her lips curving in a smile that just didn't fit with the usually somber expression of the cheetah. "Thankyous.." she nudged his chest thankfully with her nose as he assisted her through the jungle the pain in her limbs distracting her as she walked, but at least this man was helping her! She didn't even know his name, though in her mind she quietly dubbed him as a 'white knight' he was white and a hero after all. He'd saved her from the dangerous boar and now he was whisking her away to care for her. He was definitely knight material, a hero in her eyes. Jordan Essex He’d supplied her with a means of not sharing what had happened. Perhaps that was for the best at the moment. Priority one was to get her to a safe point where he could call for assistance and the only place that had come to mind was his own duplex. He didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. He wasn’t going to waste precious time arguing when he could just take action and some responsibility for the situation.
“You’re welcome.” He couldn’t but smile at the cheetah’s own smile. The way she nudged him in thanks made him chuckle happily. An affectionate big cat. “What’s your name, if you don’t mind me asking? I’m Jordan, by the way.” Conversation would make the walk pass more quickly, plus, it helped to know the names of those he’d be living with on the island.
“It’s a good thing I was at the right place at the right time, huh? To be honest, I didn’t expect to see anyone out and about this early. I’d been on my way to the workout room. Lifting weights is great exercise and it helps burn off tensions.”
He’d hope to get her talking as well, distract her from the pain in her leg. It was an effective technique usually. If she was talking then her mind would be focused on other things than the incident and the injury. Maybe she’d open up and tell him what had happened that was making her so afraid. He’d been there, but that was behind him. He’d learned his duplex is where he is supposed to be. That is his home. Jordan pondered if she was in some sort of trouble.. Colche "Colche" She stated rather simply to his question as to her name, her baby blue eyes fixed on the man "Jordan" she purred happily and nodded, the name suited him though at the same time she dubbed him Sir Jordan, the white knight. She wasn't sure if he'd appreciate the idea though she would no doubt end up saying this at some point in time.
"Wantta be wild, not very good at tho.." She trails off as if that was enough of a reason as to why she was out in the middle of the jungle being attacked by a boar. She lifts one paw like hand and draws it across her eyes clearing away the pained tears with her tawny furred fingers. "You saved.." she trailed off again, she honestly couldn't think of any other way to thank the man, other than t try and smile and not be too much of a burden though her broken leg was slowly becoming too heavy to continue to lift.
The scent of water and the beach came to her nose as they traveled through the Jungle and she hazarded a guess as to their destination. "Goin' to beach?" she tilted her head curiously, maybe the man knew something about the beach she didn't although she had runt he length and breadth of the island new things cropped up all the time.
Her toes caught on a tree root as they came through a particularly thick part of the jungle and she winced slightly holding a little tighter to Jordan as she suppressed the urge to simply break down and cry, he was being very brave! He'd saved her after all the least she could do was try to be brave too and make it to where ever he was taking her. Jordan Essex “That’s a very nice name, Colche.” Repeating names was also good. Repetition was always good for the memory. “Tell me, Colche, why do you want to be wild? Don’t you instinctively know how to be wild?” He was very curious. It was becoming a morbid fascination about the changes, how they affected people, and quite honestly, it was all for his own selfish reasons.
He smiled when she’d half-commented on him saving her. “It’s alright.” He wiped a tear from her cheek. “You’re safe now. Everything is going to be okay. I promise you that.” Oddly enough, Jordan was happy to be doing this. He felt like he was doing what he what been brought here to do. He felt purpose, not simply waiting around and meeting random people. This was what it was about. He couldn’t help but beam with that realized purpose.
The jungle was thinning and he knew they were close. The salty breeze was obvious even to a human nose. “Sort of. We’re not going to the beach per se, but that’s where I live. From there, we’ll get you situated and the I’ll call the labs for their assistance. I’m afraid I can only do so much.”
He’d felt her tug on him when she was caught on the tree root and he stopped. “Are you alright? Do you need to stop a moment?” It was obvious she was holding back more tears, the way she’d winced from the pain, who wouldn’t?
“We’re almost there.” He smiled reassuringly. Colche She smiled again when he said her name was nice, though his next question, she had to pause to think what he was asking her. She lifted a clawed paw like hand and sighed "Not what I used to be" perhaps this was a rather cryptic reply, especially for her, she wasn't usually a very deep thoughtful person. She was running away from something she feared, the fear that’s he might hurt something, someone else, she had killed her poor defenseless little rabbit after all! She'd killed a boar too before the bigger boar had tried to take out her life! She was confused; she didn't know what she was supposed to be. "Instinct?" Colche tilted her head, she'd never really let her instincts take over, she liked being a princess, she had wanted to be like everyone else. But the shock of that little furry body at the foot of her bed had made her run in to the wild without a moments thought.
She sniffled and nodded to his reassurances lifting her leg once again as they continued on tot he beach. There was a duplex on the beach? She didn't know that the island had all sorts of secrets. Smiling she nodded some "S'okay..Be okay" she takes a deep breath biting back the painful tears that her broken paw was causing her.
"Jordan nice, good, thank you" she whispered looking up at him her deep blue eyes almost holding a touch of worship in them. The little cheetah girl always had been one for hero worship and with his rescue Jordan had become her hero. Jordan Essex The answer struck him as odd. Not what she used to be? Well… of course she’s not what she used to be. Soon enough, he’d be able to say that himself. Had there been deeper meaning to the cheetah girl’s understated comment or perhaps was he trying to read too deeply for something that was obvious?
“Instinct: what comes naturally to you. Being a cheetah, I bet that you love to run, don’t you? That’s instinct telling you to be free like the wind. I bet there’s other things you do from day-to-day that are also on instinct. Purring, for example.”
He kept the pace slow but steady. The salty breeze was stronger and the foliage was thinning out. Walking on sand like this was going to be tricky. Jordan could only wonder what was going through the girl’s mind as they reached the edge of the jungle and the beginnings of the sandy expanses of beach.
She kept thanking him and as much as he hadn’t done this for credit and acknowledgement, it was appreciated all the same. It was making him blush a bit in embarrassment. “It’s alright, Colche. I’m glad to be of service.” He looked back and forth to see where they’d come out at and proceeded towards his duplex. The beach atmosphere was so much nicer than the jungle. He took a deep breath of salty air and exhaled cheerfully. “I love beaches. The sun, the surf, the relaxing cool breeze. I just don’t like the humidity too much. Never have. It makes everything feel hotter and muggy. Thank goodness for air conditioning.” He added a soft chuckle, sweating some. Colche "Instinct." She mulled the word over, her tongue lapping out across her lips as if she was tasting the word deciding if she had what he called instinct. She was actually quite surprised he knew she was a cheetah, he wondered did he know she was a princess cheetah too?
"Yes.." She couldn't think of more of an answer than that really though when asked did she like to runs he nodded. "Love racing" she purred ever louder for a moment her sweet blue eyes dancing merrily, she did love to run. That was instinct then? She didn't understand that these things were instincts; she thought they were simply natural things, things she was supposed to do. "Instinct?" she said it again, a slight tilt to her head, a question of the power of instincts, was that why she wanted to be alone so much? Was that why she killed things even though she didn't want to? Was that why she sometimes broke in to swift paced runs for no reason? Too many questions!
Her damp black nose absorbed the scent of the beach as they padded on to it, her one good foot sinking in to the sand slightly. "I love beach" she nodded. "Good, happy place" She smiled weakly hobbling along the sands. "Beach is favorite place on island" she paused and contemplated "in world" she purred happily, as small as her world was the beach had to be her most favorite place upon it, she wondered, did Jordan live on the beach then? She couldn't help but imagine how wonderful that was and while her mind was busy, her paws hurt less. How wonderful would it be to live on the beach? It was always beautiful on the beach.
"Hot, not too bad" she nodded once, her naturally thin fur kept her pretty cool though if she was hot that what shade was for! "I loves the beach" A slow nod again as she glanced out at the deep blue surf with a slightly happy sigh, though she was briskly reminded that she was injured as her foot touched the ground accidentally and she squeaked, that high whistling chirp of a pained cheetah. Jordan Essex Jordan was curious to the extent that she knew her animal. The concept of instinct was obviously knew to her even though she seemed rather far into into her changes. It was amazing that she could have become a predator and still be so gentle and calm around even a stranger, no less a human like himself. So, she must have bonded with her animal so tightly that they’re in homogenous harmony or she was quite possibly unaware of animal’s nature. Fascinating! It was most definitely excellent field knowledge.
“The beach is good to cool down. There’s nothing quite like an ocean breeze to make you feel relaxed. One of these days I’ve got to swim in the surf. It’s been one of my favorite pastimes to spend the day at the beach and swim till I feel completely blissful. Then I let the waves carry me to shore.” He grinned wide at the reminiscing. “Though, this is the prettiest beach I’ve ever seen.”
He stopped for a moment when she chirped. “Oh, are you okay? We’re almost to my duplex, then we’ll get you off that paw. Not too much farther, I think.” Colche Of course colche didn't really know all that much about cheetahs so her instincts just happaned occassionally. Her wide blue eyes smiled as she nodded to Jordie's reassurances. "uh huh" she puurred softly trying to stay brave even though her foot was hurting alot now. She licked ehr lips in an uncomfortable manner as she lifted ehr leg as high as she could to stop it from bumping the ground ehr tail lashing irritably though. "No run" she seemed very depressed about this. She really did enjoy running though she didn'ty know that it was instinct that drove her to zip around at speeds up to seventy miles per hour.
She peersd down the beach, was that a duplex? He lived in a duplex on the beach? She faintly and silently wished she could live in a duplex on the beach. How amazing would that be? She smiled to herself holding tightly to Jordie on this the last stretch of what seemed like an eternity long journey. "Joprdan very nice." she purured. "Helped much, like hero" she whispers, glad she had found somone to help her even though she had been out and away from the civilisation she knew. Jordan Essex The duplex was indeed within sight now and he maintained the pace, though eager to call for assistance from the labs. He lacked anything suitable to treat the girl. She liked to run on the beach, like a cheetah in the desert. That image popped into his head and it made him grin.
“You’ll be up and running in no time. I’m sure they’ll take great care of you and have you back to perfect health quickly.” Her kind words made him fidget and turn rosey in the cheeks. Hero? “Nah, I’m not much of a hero. I’m just a big lug with a big heart.” He rubbed the top of her nose with a thumb. “Besides, if I was a hero, I’d have a hero’s name. Jordan’s not much of a heroic name.” he laughed “Not like Superman. Now there’s a people’s hero.”
Their destination was closing in and soon enough, they’d arrived. It was a bit of a challenge helping Colche inside while keeping a firm support on her. The inside was kept at a cool temperature and she’d hear soothing music filling his quarters.
“We’re here. Home, sweet, home. Now let’s get you off this leg.” He smiled, leading her to his bed and helping the cheetah to rest comfortably. He used his pillow to prop her leg up. “Is that better?” Colche Jordies protests of none heroism just wouldn't be heard by the little cheetah girl "Silly! Of course hero! White knight" She nodded an affirmative, she was quite stubborn that way really, she didn't usually take no for an answer.
As they stumbled in through the duplex door Colche couldn't help but wonder why he lived on the each! What a wonderful place to live. The soothing music was wonderful to her small fluffy ears and she could smell the seas briny waves in her nostrils even from inside. What a beautiful place to live.
Finally as she was sat, her leg perched happily, she let out a slow long relaxed sigh and glanced around the duplex her big blue eyes searching the place for the sweet soothing music. Looking up at Jordie she smiled sweetly before turning her attention to the wound on her side. Now that the walk was over her mind was taken back to the fact that she was in fact injured and the wound at her side had been slowly bleeding since they started staining her soft tawny fur a rather sticky black red colour which she licked at distastefully, her arm curled over her head like a big kitten as she cleaned away the blood ever so slowly. That was of course before she got fed up of doing that and gave it up as a bad job to speak to Jordie again, though once again her tongue peered out between her lips, a quite distasteful look was on her face this time though "tuck" she pulled her tongue back between her lips and opened and closed her mouth a few times. Jordan Essex White Knight, how amusing. He was doing nothing more than his job and this girl had turned him into a hero within the matter of minutes. It wasn’t unappreciated by him, but still, he couldn’t help but wonder what made him so special to be praised.
“I should call the labs now. We need to get you seen, so those wounds can be patched up and that leg can be looked at.”
She was being exceptionally brave. That had made the trip quicker. As he’d punched in the numeric sequence for the labs, he looked back at the girl, hoping she was alright. She wasn’t bleeding too badly, but who knows if there was internal damage.
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:22 pm
Seth Callaghan At that paticular moment in time, everything moving was a potential threat, something to be watched and kept an eye on until it was proven to be safe. Every moving leaf or branch in his line of sight was paid attention to, and he was bright eyed, his tail stiff, sniffing the air carefully for any signs of danger. This was one very alert aggitated thylacine to say the least.
"Urr-rrr-rrrt!"
Ever since Seth had watched Oz change at the construction site, his instinctive drives had kicked into overdrive and would not keep quiet. The animal was frightened and nervous, it wanted to be alone and safely back in it's own 'territory'. Seth had left his whiskey bottle behind also, and so he could not drink any to quieten the drives down. It wanted to run and hop away, he wanted to walk. He literally had to keep forcing it out of his mind in order to keep level headed and sane. At least, he assumed it was apart from himself. He refused to accept that an animal was part of him, and refused to believe anything else other than he was the same as he always had been, physical changes or not.
"Damn thing... god I'll be happy when I get out of here and see the back end of this..." He muttered to himself as he continued to venture along. The creature within had run right through the jungle and taken him out onto the beach, calmer at the open land where it could see further. Seth took a deep breath and loudly sighed, seeming happier to regain some control once again.
He flopped down onto the beach sand and stared out towards the ocean, just trying to calm himself down.
"Urrr... bloody stupid island and it's stupid screwing around with people. Someday I'm going to get off this thing and just..." He rested his head back on the beach and stared up at the cloud-less sky, lost in his own thoughts for now. Jordan Essex Jordan was feeling fantastic! His meeting with Lauren had done a world of wonders for him, plus she had an awesome dog which made their encounter even more enjoyable. No one else had put everything into perspective the way she had. It was all doom and gloom with the others he’d met and it was a pisser to say the least; but, when the mongoose had reassured him and made his fears diminish some, he was left with a positive feeling. Even if he did have to become an animal at some point, there was a silver lining to all of it. The labs wanted to make the subjects more comfortable, they cared for all of them (even Doctor Moreau had specifically said that he cared for Jordan), but most of all, and the deal-maker, Jordan got to retain his freedom- as much of it as was possible as a tool of the labs. Ignorance is bliss.
He’d been feeling so good that today he decided to swim. Swimming had always been one of those simple joys for the young man. Having been born and raised in Tampa, Florida, he was only an hour’s drive from some of the finest beaches ever. Clearwater beach had always been a personal favorite and Cocoa Beach on the east coast was great. He recalled swimming with a school of fish literally leaping out of the water, but he rarely visited that side of the state unless it was to see friends and relatives he never cared to be around.
He was swimming like a fish himself, loving the feel of the cooler water washing over his skin. He kept diving underwater, taking a lung’s capacity of breath and would ride the current, loving how that felt.
When Jordan surfaced for a mighty breath of air, he shot up like a rocket, having pushed off the bottom. That was always fun. Ah, the simple joys in life. He shook his head side-to-side, his wet ponytail smacking his cheeks. A wave caught him and took him closer to shore. This was the life alright, spreading his arms and legs and letting the natural flow wash him ashore like a log. Seth Callaghan As Seth heard the loud splash sound in the water, he immediately sprung to his feet, stumbling backwards due to the suddeness, and crashed down on his butt once again. He stared at the water, wide eyed and wary, half of him wanting to run off into the jungle.
"Urrr..."
Instead, he got to his feet once more and vigorously shook his head, scolding himself for being so jumpy. There was no reason to be, and not everything was something to be afraid of. The thylacine-man moved down further onto the shoreline once he was calm enough, and looked around the area, wondering what had caused the noise. If it was a fish, it would mean a free meal.
Instead, he saw a man, washed up on the shore. Seth's ears fell, no free food for him today. Then another feeling began to rise up within him, this one a feeling of dread. Here was a normal looking person, no changes... could he have washed up on the beach from some ship wreck?
He tentatively moved forwards, walking down to the shore, approaching the man from his left side.
"Hie, you there... are you alright?" He stood on the balls of his feet, ready to retreat if necessary. He was quite a bit more jumpy than he used to be... Jordan Essex As always, Jordan thought he was alone on the beach. It was like his backyard afterall. Someone was coming or going at some point and it was alright, but he just wanted some alone time when he acted so carefree. It was embarrassing to be seen bodysurfing by one of the subjects when he’d been so sure that he’d been by himself this time.
He stood up, dressed in a pair of black shorts with silver trimming. He was on cloud nine, even with the interruption and smiled at the transformed man. “Hey there. Great day isn’t it?” he stretched his arms wide and into the air, arching his back. My the sun felt so wonderful on his exposed torso. Jordan cracked his neck by rolling it to the side and wrung some of the water from his ponytail. “Man, this place has THE best beach I’ve ever been to.”
Jordan was ecstatic about his swimming endeavor. It was great and he hoped to do this on a regular basis. It was the best exercise afterall and he felt like he was getting out of shape. The dripping wet man didn’t think to be wary of this man, since he’d come towards Jordan in the first place. “I’m Jordan, by the way.” He smiled jovially, extending a human hand. “How’s it going?” Seth Callaghan Seth stared at the man like he was crazy. He was so carefree and relaxed... like this was some holiday or something. The initial fear that he had washed up on the shore had been quelled, but... he still seemed like he didn't know what was going on, he was too aloof and happy for that.
"I'm doing alright, well as alright as somebody in my position could be doing," Seth muttered. "What are you doing here anyway? It might be a good beach, but - this is no island resort. We're all in very real danger here, you know. I'm not sure if you know yet, or not, but..." He trailed off uncomfortably.
"Call me Seth. Erm, how'd you get here? You need to get out of here, fast..." Jordan Essex He’d played his embarrassment off well, he thought. He wasn’t in any type of mindset to be afraid of these hybrids today. Jordan was riding the high that wouldn’t stop rising. Jordan just smiled. He couldn’t help it. He was so alive, discovering ways to take his mind off of things, but it seemed he was going to be a rare breed. Too many, he suspected were wrapped up in their doom and gloom. Despair was for the weak.
“Oh, what’s wrong?” he asked neighborly, as if this man had been his friend for some time, as if he were someone he borrowed money to freely and hung out with on the weekends watching a game and guzzling beer. Then the inevitable came! Oh heaven no! Woe is me! What was this guy preaching the doom report to him? Nevertheless, it wasn’t going to be allowed to phase him today. No! Not. To-day.
“I’m just here taking a swim. Great workout, y’know?” Jordan chuckled at the doom and gloom. It was amusing for some reason. Maybe because he’d been there and had resolved not to fall back into that unescapable well of depression. “I know this isn’t a hotel resort, but why should I feel like I’m in danger? If you mean that we’re in danger of getting some bad sunburn, I guess that’s the most I can be afraid of. I don’t have any sun block, but this sun feels so great when you leave the water.”
However, that last question… that one… that one was not so easily avoided. Lying was the defense for that one. A lie hidden behind a friendly smile. “Oh, I’m here for a marine biology field study.” He had no problem letting that little white lie out. He’d almost gone to the University of West Florida for marine biology. “I’d live in the water if I could, y’know.” His smile only broadened. He seemed to ignore that last part of ‘getting out of here fast’ entirely. Jordan Essex He’d played his embarrassment off well, he thought. He wasn’t in any type of mindset to be afraid of these hybrids today. Jordan was riding the high that wouldn’t stop rising. Jordan just smiled. He couldn’t help it. He was so alive, discovering ways to take his mind off of things, but it seemed he was going to be a rare breed. Too many, he suspected were wrapped up in their doom and gloom. Despair was for the weak.
“Oh, what’s wrong?” he asked neighborly, as if this man had been his friend for some time, as if he were someone he borrowed money to freely and hung out with on the weekends watching a game and guzzling beer. Then the inevitable came! Oh heaven no! Woe is me! What was this guy preaching the doom report to him? Nevertheless, it wasn’t going to be allowed to phase him today. No! Not. To-day.
“I’m just here taking a swim. Great workout, y’know?” Jordan chuckled at the doom and gloom. It was amusing for some reason. Maybe because he’d been there and had resolved not to fall back into that unescapable well of depression. “I know this isn’t a hotel resort, but why should I feel like I’m in danger? If you mean that we’re in danger of getting some bad sunburn, I guess that’s the most I can be afraid of. I don’t have any sun block, but this sun feels so great when you leave the water.”
However, that last question… that one… that one was not so easily avoided. Lying was the defense for that one. A lie hidden behind a friendly smile. “Oh, I’m here for a marine biology field study.” He had no problem letting that little white lie out. He’d almost gone to the University of West Florida for marine biology. “I’d live in the water if I could, y’know.” His smile only broadened. He seemed to ignore that last part of ‘getting out of here fast’ entirely. Seth Callaghan A loud disgruntled snort was Seth's next reply. This man was either incredibly naive, or unaware of the issues on the island.
"You want to live in the water?" He shook his head. "With a wish like that, the bastards who run this operation would be only too happy to oblige." He paused. "Whatever the people told you to get you here, it was a lie, all of it. I'm currently trying to find a way off, myself. I think I've almost got it, too... You should get out while you still can, before you encounter your first change."
"Oh, by the way, know where I can get a shovel? There's a construction site in the village, but... there's usually people there, and they're usually watching." Jordan Essex Jordan found this far too amusing. Lying his way through this meeting was going well and it was becoming fun. He had to lie to protect his truth, his dirty little secrets.
“Oh yeah! I’m here to study the Gulf Stream and the resident sea life. How could I say no to a two hundred thousand dollar grant for my work? Did you know the currents of the North Atlantic move clockwise and that in the South Atlantic the currents move counterclockwise? Fascinating isn’t it?” the best way to confuse a potential threat was to dazzle them with knowledge, distract them with overwhelming facts. “Most people don’t realize that marine biologists study plant life as well as marine fish and mammals. “Sea lettuce and slime weed are interesting enough, but coral reefs are great too. Down in Key West there’s plenty. Most people don’t realize that coral reefs are alive.”
He was enjoying this. It was easy enough as living in Florida all his life had given him these facts of the environment. Jordan was pulling random facts from books and it seemed to be working as long as he could keep up the momentum. He didn’t let the escape attempt skip by his attention. He’d heard, but chose not to acknowledge it.
“Oh I’m sorry, this must be very boring to you. No, I’m sorry I don’t know where you could find a shovel. Why would you need one if the construction site already has one?” he was fishing for information. Information was valuable. Seth Callaghan Another sharp grunt escaped Seth, and he pinned his ears back as far as they would go. He heard the waves rolling onto the shore and with his acute magnified hearing, it sounded like rolling thunder. The man had to glance at the beach for a moment just to assure himself that the sea was calm, not wild like his hearing perceived it to be. Just another thing to get used to, he supposed.
"I don't get it, why are you telling me this? I couldn't care less about sea currents, they're of no great significance to me. They would be if I was sailing outta' here on a raft, but I'm not doing that, not a chance in hell. There's no bloody way in hell I'm gonna sail a shonky made raft way out woop-woop to contend with the sharks. I'm not leavin' and doin' all that work just to become food for some stupid bloody shark."
"People who don't know coral that reefs are alive are dumbarses. Of course they're alive, who doesn't know that." He shook his head in disbelief. "There's The Great Barrier Reef, a coral reef two states north of where I used to live, its the largest coral reef system in the entire world. You've probably heard of it. Anyway, you'd have to be Tweedledumb-arse himself not to know that the bloody thing is alive and teeming with life. But that doesn't interest me too much, I'm no marine biologist. My job was Network Management, quite a step away from that."
The man then sat down on the beach so he could begin to scratch at an itchy spot behind his right ear with his foot, not even giving a second thought that the action might look weird to the 'newcomer'.
"Why do I need a shovel?" He mused. "Well, let's see. That's because-" He quickly cut himself off and scowled. "No, forget it. I'm not gonna bother explaining that one. If you're not even gonna accept and listen to what I told you, there's no point in telling ya' what I am doing. Besides, if you work for them, I'm essentially giving my ideas away to the enemy, aren't I." Jordan Essex The ploy had worked flawlessly. He was snared in his web of deceit and would believe what he’d been told. Albeit, the information was thrown out rather haphazardly and with few pausing breaths, but he likely wouldn’t ask many more questions at this point in dread of receiving another earful of useless facts about sea vegetation. And hat was that about a raft..? It’d worked so well that the man even went on a tirade about stupid people not knowing about living reefs. He nodded politely as he let the man speak. Anything to take the focus off himself. This was good stuff.
“Really now. This isn’t a bad place. The humidity is a bit much for my tastes, but other than that, what’s so bad about it that you’d need to build a raft to risk life and limb?” he was a bit surprised at himself for saying that, but it felt good to say it. He wanted to be a good boy, not a trouble-maker. “You’ve just got to find that one thing that makes everything else bearable. For myself. That would be swimming. A good swim purifies the mind and rids the body of all stress. There must be something you’ve found that takes the edge off.” Jordan arched a brow at Seth sitting down to scratch behind his ear. That was different.
He wasn’t sure if Seth was grunting at him in displeasure and disdain. The pinning of his ears certainly didn’t come as reassuring. He was looking around as if nervous about something. It hadn’t occurred to Jordan the surf could be so loud to non-human ears,, but the twitching was making him wary. This subject was already speaking of an escape attempt and he wasn’t all too keen on the labs either. Seth seemed to be an upstart. Such pattern of behavior would come to no good in his mind. He had to be good. He couldn’t be associated with anarchists willing to go to whatever desperate lengths to bring chaos to scientific order.
However…
Jordan scoffed a bit offended by the agitated man’s attitude. “I take it you dislike the labs.” He was going to make the man uncomfortable by pushing the focus onto Seth. “What’s so bad about what they do? They provide a better life for people who would otherwise be punished by society. We have freedom and we are given comfort on a tropical island. Some people have made their peace and have found happiness here. I’m not your enemy unless you want me to be. I know it takes some people longer to adjust than others.”
Jordan was becoming more accepting of using the pronouns ‘we’ and ‘us’ –as to include himself- since talking to Lauren. And maybe his pretty speech had been more for his own benefit, but Seth was intent on being stand-offish. “You’re assuming a lot about me and you know what they say when you assume: you make an a** out of you and me.” Seth Callaghan Seth was liking this person less and less. With the way he was carrying on, it sounded like he was quite the advocate for the island's scientific project - perhaps he was a staff member? A lab technician? A spy? He didn't know and couldn't tell for sure. He had never seen the island's actual staff out and about on the island itself, outside of the Feral laboratory fences. If the labs had sent a spy, then they knew for sure about his planning to escape... not good. But whatever the case was, Seth felt quite strongly that he couldn't trust this person any more at all. If he was in favour of the labs, Seth and Jordan were on separate pages and would never be friends.
"The humidity is fine I suppose, if this were dry heat like the summers back home, I would keep on getting nose-bleeds. But one can escape the weather in general if they go back to their duplex." He stated, thinking about his housing on the island, and thinking that it would be a nice safe place to be right about now.
"What's so bad about this place?" Seth raised an eyebrow and was silent for a moment, then made a sharp amused grunting noise. "You really have no idea, don't ya. Poor b*****d. Only once you experience your first change, you'll understand. But I ain't buildin no raft, I told ya' that already. No, I got a much better idea."
He was angry, but still wanted to tread about his words carefully, especially if this was a spy from the labs. Okay, so he knew about the escape attempt... he could keep going on about it. But the plan itself? He wouldn't just blurt that out to anyone, especially not to a staff member, or somebody who liked being here.
He thought about Jordan's next statement, not seeming any happier. His ears flicked with his annoyance, and he narrowed his eyes.
"You bloody bet I hate the labs. The bastards." He spat out the last part, as if spitting out some vile acidic taste in his mouth. "Bunch of snakes, that lot are. You sound a lot like that crackpot old fool, Dr Duvert or whatever the s**t his name was. All the staff here have delusions of grandeur, that they're advancing scientific knowledge by stealing people from their lives and turning them into animals. Where's the advancement that? I was earning at least $54,000 a year in my job until I got stuck here. What do you achieve by turning people into stuff that's neither a person, nor an animal? Bloody nothing, that's what!"
When Jordan mentioned freedom and happiness, Seth's anger and frustration rose tenfold. Perhaps not just at the statement itself, but because of his pent up anger since day one. The man rose to his feet, the animal within rising with his anger. He cantered backwards on the balls of his feet, his claws kicking up a little sand with the movement. He jerked his head forwards as he did so, and made a sharp snapping gesture at the man with his crushing jaw, making a loud agitated guttural noise in the process. The movement was defensive, the noise was pure threat. His tail was stiff and his lips were curled back into a snarl, the human side of him temporarily forgotten.
It took him a few moments to calm down somewhat from this state, and afterwards he shook his head, still seeming as annoyed and angry as ever.
"Don't you understand what the hell is happening here, mate? How can you not see the bigger picture? We're prisoners on this island, we can never ever go home. If I don't escape, I'm destined to live the rest of my life here, doing nothing day in, day out, being nothing more than a stupid Thylacine. I'm sorry, but that's just not how I pictured my future. How is that freedom? Freedom to move around perhaps, there's cameras around all over this bloody island to watch our every move. But if we were truly free, they'd let us leave again don't you think?"
He narrowed his eyes and turned his head away, going quiet once more. When he spoke again, he sounded much quieter, calmer, but the tone of frustration still remained.
"I don't want to be here, I was tricked into coming and lied to. This place has taken everything away from me. If you don't choose to fight against them and accept the face that they're consigning you to this fate without your say in it, then you're as good as dead already." Jordan Essex The sentiment was mutual. This agent of unrule and disorder was nothing less than disrespectful towards the labs and to an extent the very subjects inhabiting the island. What an utterly clueless fool, assuming he knew nothing of the island’s true nature. Fine. Let him believe whatever tale his chaotic mind wished to believe. It was certainly none of his concern what the man chose to accept by his misled assumptions.
What had begun as a lie to dissuade this angry test subject from getting too close had turned into a game where Jordan was now a marine biologist and obviously thought to be on the island’s staff. He personally didn’t know who this Dr. Duvert was, as he’d only heard the name mentioned by Awen. No loss at all. The fact that there were cameras posted at any point in the jungle and that he’d gotten Seth to mention an escape attempt was good enough. Wit any luck, his actions would aid in the downfall of this one-man revolt before it could even begin.
Angry. Hostile. Bitter. How dare he stand there and badmouth Doctor Moreau’s work! The sheer insolence of it all was infuriating for himself. In all fairness, he’d been given fair warning there were those who supported the labs, but they were greatly outnumbered by those who would see pain and suffering come to the lab staff.
“You hate the labs, but you’re perfectly alright using the resources they’ve courteously provided. You sleep in a bed provided by the labs. You eat the food provided by the labs. Face it: without the leadership of Doctor Moreau, you and every other subject WOULD be dead- or worse.”
He’d purposely used the word subject. It was meant to strike him in the face. Certainly, Jordan was one of the island’s subjects, but by no means did he have to tolerate the livid ravings of a malcontent.
Jordan lurched backwards following Seth’s intimidating jaw-snap, gasping out of surprise. He tried to remain composed. Seth was testing him, but he couldn’t allow himself to succumb to such weakness as an angry outburst. It was a combination of things making Jordan so adamant about the lab’s work, fear being a primary motivator. Fear of being punished once more, the fear of being ripped apart by one of these beasts, the fear being forsaken to fend on his own in this savage land.
“I am seeing the big picture. Betraying Doctor Moreau is a fool’s game. Fighting him is no different than an act of treason. How long can you stand alone against him before all your fight is extinguished? Do you honestly believe others will stand at your side? Human nature is to be an opportunist. They’d shiv you in the back and leave you for dead the moment they thought they could get ahead without you. I’ve made the decision to work with him, not against him. I value my life.” Seth Callaghan "What are you?" Seth growled, ears pinned back, flattened at least as much as he could move them at this time. "You work for these bastards or something? Cuz' you sure sound like you're right up there with Dr Duvert with the way you're carrying on right about now. You'll change your tune once you find out they've thrown you out into the cold to deal with this garbage just like the rest of us."
He paced on the hinds of his feet, moving onto the expanse of beach several feet behind Jordan's back.
"This is stupid," A mocking snort escaped him and he held his tail high and stiff. "I told you, I don't want to be here. If I was allowed to leave this place, believe me, I wouldn't use any of this Moreau idiot's stuff. I've never met him personally, but he's not much of a leader. Seems like he's left this place to anarchy. He even allows a rabid wolf to run around rampantly on this island."
He narrowed his eyes at Jordan's last statement and growled. "You think I'm alone in this idea? Hell mate, you've no idea, do ya. There's people all over this place that feel the same way, I've been around here long enough to know. The only reason they haven't risen up and done anything noticeable is because they don't have a good plan - well I do." He said the last part pointedly, teeth bared.
"Not all people are selfish opportunists. Some yes, but in a prison situation like this they usually band together and strategize together. It's called survival. This isn't some weekend retreat, not some holiday in the park. You're a prisoner, trapped like a rat and destined to live here forever if you don't do anything about it. And if you're just gonna sit there and take it, no, if you want to continue being mindlessly loyal to the very bastards who keep smacking you in the face, your loyalty shall weigh you down like concrete blocks tied to your feet. And you will be left behind." Jordan Essex It was becoming more difficult to hide his anger from the dissenting thylacine man with every vile word he uttered. Jordan grit his teeth as Seth disappeared behind him. The only reason he didn’t turn around was to keep him from having the satisfaction of knowing he was bothered, nor was he going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he hadn’t met Dr. Sabin Duvert.
He cleared his throat and choked down some of his anger before speaking again. “What I’m doing here is quite frankly none of your concern.” he turned around to face Seth now that he had some small measure of composure back “I’m afraid to inform you that you’ll be left in the cold when you realize how wrong you are.”
His eye twitched at the ‘Moreau idiot’ comment. It struck a cord deep inside him, especially since the mind-warping was having a chance to nestle and worm into his swayable mind. Everything after that caused the corner of his lip to twitch and curl. “You’re wrong!” he couldn’t say it in a civil tone. He just couldn’t listen to this man’s degrading badmouthing of the man who’d given him a second chance at life to prove himself by being a part of his island project’s facility. “Doctor Moreau has done nothing more than bring order to anarchists like you, but it seems even some are content to continue being rebels without a clue!” Jordan’s left fist flexed and uncurled quickly.
At least now Jordan knew to beware any wolves on the island. He knew what to be on the look-out for.
“Perhaps, logic would tell you that their plans haven’t worked because they were doomed to fail from the beginning. You have a plan, huh? You have the plan that will save you and all the other malcontents from this sanctuary? And then what? What will you do after that? You’ll fail.”
He felt compelled to defend Doctor Moreau, for his own reasons. Seth was an aggravating individual who couldn’t possibly understand Jordan’s situation, not that he’d become privy to such knowledge.
“You know nothing of me. You won’t know what I’ve been through. I owe Doctor Moreau more than you could possibly understand and if that frightens your short-sighted mind, then I truly pity you. We are all here for our own reasons. We are responsible for our actions and we’re here to take accountability for our sins so that we may be born again without blood on our hands.” His fervent speech had come even as a surprise to himself, but it got his point across, stated that he was not going to stand idly by and simply absorb this verbal berating. Seth Callaghan A grin crossed Seth's maw at Jordan's rise in anger. He wasn't normally one to enjoy somebody else's annoyance, but this guy had just made him so mad. Seeing him begin to crack made him pleased inside, although he couldn't exactly work out why. Part of him felt superior to this unchanged person, his animal instincts also seemed to be enjoying this baiting game.
"Anarchists, ey? Rebels? Is that what you think I am?" Seth scoffed. "I didn't do bloody anything to deserve getting stuck here, nobody did, not even you. Unless you're a murderer. Or is that the reason you're really here?" He smirked. "What'd ya' do, kill a bunch of people?"
"Come on mate, come on, out with it." He began to badger the other man. "What stupid trick did they pull on you to sucker you into coming here? What'd they do, promise you an island holiday? Your own island resort? A job with attractive pay? Or perhaps they were offering to pay you some outrageous sum of money for something valuable?" He chuckled for a moment, then sighed, taking on a more serious look.
"This Moreau bloke ain't the law, believe me there. He's not somebody who's going to be kind to you, just look at me for proof of that. I never heard of him before I got suckered into coming to this dump. He's no saint, he's not some judge saving us from a doomed existance. I was just fine before I got here, I didn't need saving from nothing. No..." He shook his head. "This Moreau guy's nothing more than a criminal. He's a crackpot scientist breaking every human rights law there is. And if somebody uncovered what he's really up to here, boy would the s**t hit the fan, lemme tell you." Jordan Essex “You know nothing.” Jordan took on an eerily calm tone from his sudden outburst. He didn’t have the usual sunshades on him to hide his eyes and if looks could kill… “I don’t care why you’re here. Forget about that life you left behind. You dream of going back to them? Forget it. You’re here and that’s that.”
His fists flexed and unflexed more rapidly. Beneath the eerily-calm exterior was boiling every urge to let go of his inhibitions and lower himself to the level of a common street thug. He just wouldn’t shut up. He just couldn’t cease badmouthing Doctor Moreau…
“You’re not innocent. You belong here, like the rest of us. Don’t blame the labs, don’t blame the doctors for your failings. This is the grand product of our own design. We brought this fate upon ourselves, now deal with it and quit whining. You sound like a child. Oh it’s not my fault I’m here...! I’m a saint! It’s everyone else who’s causing my strife!” He –of course- was also speaking from personal experience as well as chiding this foolish, deluded man.
“I wasn’t tricked here. I realize that. I was content to say that it was someone else’s fault I’m here, but that’s bullshit and we both know it. I’m here for what I did and that’s all you or anyone needs to know.” He was slowly approaching the thylacine man, keeping his eye contact direct. Seth just wouldn’t shut up. He kept talking, saying things to rile his contempt.
He stopped close to Seth, aware that he could tear him apart if he so chose to, but his safety came second to defending the good name of his benefactor, his savior, his protector. Jordan grit his teeth angrily as Seth just had to provoke him further. Criminal?! Crackpot?! His fist clenched and didn’t loosen. Anger seized him, despite the consequences. That was it…
“SHUT UP!!” he roared at the top of his lungs and without further hesitation, Jordan drew back his white-knuckled fist and punched Seth square in the nose. Seth Callaghan Before Seth could reply or retort back at the man with more of his logic, findings or other personal opinion, he was knocked backwards by the sheer force of the blow. He squeezed his eyes shut and made an unhuman high-pitched noise in pain and he stumbled back, his feet desperately clawing at the ground to try and regain balance. It didn't work for very long however, and he thumped down on his back once he lost his balance entirely, landing on his tail in the process, causing him to yipe in pain once more. He reached up to hold his nose, which was now bleeding from it's left nostril, and then he snorted, sending smatterings of blood over his nice clean (but unironed) ********..." He muttered. "What the hell was that for?"
He pinned his ears back and bared his teeth at Jordan, then rose to his feet again, brushing the sand off his clothes. He wiggled his stiff banded tail for a moment, assuring himself that it was fine.
"Fine, fine, I get it. You made your point, congratulations, you're an arse and you want to stay here. I get it." He flattened his ears and pinched the bridge of his nose with a clawed paw. "b*****d..." Jordan Essex Jordan couldn’t think straight. He was running on anger and that was telling him to kick Seth’s a**. He delighted in seeing the man struggle for footing as he was propelled backwards. It brought him joy to see him suffer. He cracked his knuckles and did the same for his neck, trying to appear intimidating in only his bathing suit.
His breathing had become hard and his bare chest heaved as he was riding on a dangerous high. “What else do ya wanna say? Go ahead! Speak your mind! I’d love to do that again!”
In his mind, Jordan was both justified and slightly confused as to why he’d struck another subject. Yes, he was defending the doctor’s good name and that of the labs, but to resort to such brutish behavior was unbecoming of him. He hadn’t experienced this level of anger since his wild temper flares as a teenager.
“You’re pathetic, a sad little man. I knew it was only a matter of time before I met someone like you. I’m glad we met because now I have no doubt where my convictions lie.”
Jordan huffed at the last verbal attack. So it’d come down to name-calling? How sad…
“You still don’t get it and you never will. You’d better hope to find some friends fast, cuz I’ve got some of my own and we’re not gonna tolerate this sort of behavior from people like you.” Seth Callaghan "Yeah yeah, bucko, I get it, you're pissed. Big deal." Seth said in a flat annoyed tone, glaring at him, resting his arms at his sides once more, his body posture giving every hint that he wasn't interested in a game of fisticuffs. "Give it up, I'm not going to fight you. If you want to get in trouble from your Dr Moreau friend by bashing up one of his 'precious subjects' to a state of unconsciousness, then be my guest. Or perhaps you're so mad that you want to kill me? I really couldn't care less if you decide to do that, it's of no real consequence to me."
He pinched the bridge of his nose once more and rubbed his snout. It smarted, and probably would for days.
"I don't have any more to say to you - there's no point. I'm wasting my time. You're just going to keep on believing whatever the hell you want. If you want to remain blind, that's your problem. It's totally fine by me, not my responsibility to look after you."
If Jordan's intent was to strike fear into the thylacine man, it had failed. The threat at finding friends to rally up against him didn't do much to his current mood. He just flicked an ear in annoyance and dismissively waved a paw in Jordan's direction, turning to head away from him, intending to walk away and journey across the beach-head. He had a territory to get back to and sniff out, anyway.
"Have fun with that one. I personally don't care how many friends you have." He stopped, turning his head to glance back at Jordan once more. "What can you possibly do? Kill me and make a fur coat out of my pelt?" Jordan Essex Despite anything Seth could say, it rang in his ears that if he anted to get into trouble, he could continue beating on one of Doctor Moreau’s subjects. He stared at his still-balled fist and cringed at the thought of being punished- again!
“Oh god.. what have I done..?” he thought, staring wide-eyed as his fist unfurled and his fingers flexed sorely. He allowed himself to succumb to a blinding fit of anger.. for what? Words that could have been ignored? He could have just walked away, but he didn’t. He chose to stand his ground and make a scene. No doubt the entire thing had been captured on camera.
“Let me leave you with this to think about: “The secret of success is constancy of purpose.” Benjamin Disraeli said that and it’s been a guiding force in my life. It’s clear neither of us are faltering from our purpose, so we’ll just see who is successful when it’s over.”
The comment of killing the man made him cringe. He wasn’t a murderer and didn’t want to see any death. That was enough. He was tired of listening to this usurper and turned his back to him.
“Urgh…. Just… leave me alone..” he huffed without anything better coming to mind. He and trudged down the beach in disgust. So much for having a good day. Seth Callaghan Seth noted with some curiousity that Jordan seemed quite worried as he had mentioned the guy getting in trouble from Moreau for punching him. He also noted that Jordan had acted a bit like a small child would when they were told that their actions would be reported to their parents. While it might have seemed like something little, Seth began to ponder to himself whether that same suggestion could be used against him again in future. It was certainly valuable to know...
"It's not a purpose. It's just what is." He shrugged. When Jordan requested for him to leave him alone, the thylacine man nodded and set off down the beach, moving off on his own way.
The thylacine instinct also made a mental note that the beach was NOT an ideal territory to claim in the future.
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:55 pm
"You've been bad, you've been a bad bad boy Jordan," these are the words you swear you hear in your dreams. Distorted dreams brought to harken your change, as the next serum courses through your body. Of course, these aren't totally in your head, but they are playing on a frequency you don't quite hear with your conscience brain. Encouraging these dreams.
"You'll have to be punished." is the last thing you swear you hear before you wake up in a sweat. After a short time of sweating profusely your changes begin.
Your stomach aches at you, as you feel something moving around in there. You touch your stomach and feel, odd lumps under the skin, visibly not noticeable but you can feel them. Your gums ache, and as you move your tongue over your teeth you feel them changing and reshapping into sharper more canine teeth. The sides of your face itch as hair sprouts long the side, white and soft, creating sideburns.
Your ears point up, as they grow more sensitive, of course, anticipating this the frequency has already been adjusted to an inaudible level, even for enhanced hearing. Your nose grows more sensitive, as the whole world around you seems to come alive with smells and sounds.
This is not the oddest thing to happen though, even as the skin on your palm and soles of your feet thickens and darkens. Becomming strong pads, as you watch the shape of your fingers and toes change, the nails becomming sharper as the skin shapes around them, till they are distinctly canine claws. You feel the skin of your legs up to your stomach and your arms itch as you begin to sprout thick fur white fur.
Your most bizarre change is not any of these, even as your private parts change, growing sheathed and dog-like. Then your tail bone aches as it grows and also grows fur with it, curling up into a distinctly dog like tail. A second injection wound joins the first, as you find one distinctive canine part of your brain enhanced, devotion to the alpha male. You've received your third loyalty serum injection... you'll make a fine pet for Moreau, someday.
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 5:17 pm
Running. Running. Running! He had to keep moving with no place to hide. Never-ending walls rose to the heavens with the twisting turns and abrupt dead-ends keeping him from the exit. The footsteps were close. He was being chased through this veritable maze by armed guards led by attack dogs.
I am loyal to Feral Labs
Jordan stared at the impossibly tall wall before him, panting for breath raggedly. He didn’t know where to go. He’d been running for hours and they hadn’t let up. How could they not tire out after the exasperating pursuit??
Feral Labs is my owner.
“He’s this way!” Jordan’s eyes widen with dread as he heard one of the guards announce.
Moreau is my owner
He froze for a moment, hearing the deep barking growls of those vicious dogs rapidly approaching. They’d tear him apart if they found him.
I want to be a good boy.
“You’ve been bad, you’ve been a bad bad boy, Jordan.” he heard another guard shout.
They kept shouting that at him. He was a good boy! He wanted to be a good boy! Why couldn’t they understand that?! He didn’t mean to be bad. He didn’t want to be bad.
I deserve whatever happens to me for betraying them.
“I’m sorry!” he found himself shouting, giving away his position. “I’m sorry!” he repeated, cupping his hands around his mouth like a megaphone. His own voice reverberated against the mountainous walls, deafening him for a few moments. Jordan hadn’t heard the walls shifting, nor the footsteps behind him. He did –however- feel the tentacles slithering around his wrists and then his ankles, pulling his appendages back.
“Hey! What the hell?!” he struggled in vain.
Twisting his head around frantically, his eyes widened in horror at the sight of Richard restraining him, grinning in a display of fangs. The tentacles squeezed tighter, restraining Jordan’s arms behind his back.
The dogs were closing in. The guards in tow. He couldn’t move. This was it. He was trapped with no resolution for escape. They’d take him away and lock him in prison. Jordan screamed, thrashing about in time to see Seth approaching him rather quickly in an animalistic run, fist clenched and raised.
“Lights out, mate!” the thylacine man announced all-too smugly as he reciprocated the punch to the face with much more intense force than Jordan had been able to muster against him.
I like serving Moreau, he cares for me
Everything went black. The world faded into hazy mists of the subconscious. Then, there was focus. Jordan recognized where he was. He was back home- on the mainland that is. It was the lab he’d been assigned to during his year’s employment at Feral. He sat at his work station. Vials of blood and other genetic samplings were in the spin cycle of a centrifuge. The cleansing smell of sterilized lab hit his senses with a relaxing response. He’d felt uncomfortable in the sanitary medical environment. He was living the dream, doing what made him happy in life. He’d survived college, moved into his field of interest, and had finally made it into the big leagues. Oh yes, life was good. Nothing could go wrong now. Nothing could have spoiled his arduous efforts that established his career.
He was employed by a great corporation, his co-workers were wonderful people, and his direct superior in the lab had become someone he respected over the past few months. Bruno Moretti had been welcomed as part of the team and as lab alpha as it were, though it took some time to properly warm up to him and open up to the new employee. Moretti was an Italian man, though the accent conflicted with what Jordan had been told by his superior. Far be it from him to question Moretti’s character, especially when he held higher station. Mr. Moretti had shown the lab assistant interest and over their time together had worked to open the troubled man’s mind. He’d formed a bond with Jordan, even gained his trust. It escalated as far to friendship, something Jordan had only ever known with animals.
Jordan felt a bit uncomfortable. He couldn’t figure out why. He’d felt fine just a moment ago. A prickly heat on the back of his neck burned and intensified. He touched the back of his hand to his forehead. He was hot, burning up. Sweat beaded off his brow, down his flushing cheeks. Jordan tugged on the collar of his shirt and heard a jingling of metal. Quizzically, he looked down and found a silver chain around his neck ending with a red metal heart with white paw prints on either side.
“What the heck?” he lifted the heart closer and saw the name of his childhood companion, Snowflake, etched on the front side. He gasped, wide-eyed and tried to tug it off his neck, but it wouldn’t budge. If anything, it felt as if it were tightening on his throat.
He leapt from his stool, knocking it over and jostling the table. The young man was becoming panicked and spooked by the dog tag. What was happening?! He was burning up! So hot! So very hot! Jordan ran for the door, but it wouldn’t open. He banged on the door, screaming for help, but his cries went unnoticed. Fists unclenched and pawed at the door, desperately. It was becoming harder to breath as it felt like he was roasting alive.
“Let me out of here!!” he screamed at the top of his lungs “Help!! Somebody help me!!” but the more he yelled, the tighter the chain around his neck felt. It tugged and he fell backwards. Breathing frantically, he looked behind himself to see several feet of chain link latched onto his neck. It pulled even harder, cutting off his breath entirely no different than a dog’s choker chain.
His left hand gripped the chain firmly, yanking against the holder. It was no use. He couldn’t breathe and creating slack on the chain had been unsuccessful. His other hand clutched at his throat and his eyes went wider at the caress of studded leather. The lack of oxygen was making it difficult to remain coherent. The heat flared to unbearable levels.
The dog tag, the choke chain, and the leather collar didn’t add up, but he had little time to figure it out. A figure shrouded in darkness –or perhaps his vision was fading as he was losing consciousness- stepped forward, drawing the length of chain towards him. Jordan was pulled to the ground by the strength of the chain’s forceful pull, every attempt to stand resulting in a more painful tug that felt like needles being driven through his neck. The more he resisted, the stronger he was pulled, now dragged across the floor. His lungs burned as hotly as his body, gasping for breath as he tried to remove the collar in vain.
Jordan was on the verge of passing out from suffocation and from the pain he experienced. It was excruciating. And then it was over. The chain let up and fell to the tiled floor with a clang though the collar remained tight. Lying on the floor, he gasped for breath, air burning his oxygen-deprived lungs for the first few minutes. Eyelids were so heavy and body drained. Jordan reached out and felt a laboratory counter, hefting himself to his feet. He needed out. The burning had ceased, but he still needed out.
Tentatively, he stepped forward and was met with resistance. As he looked back, the chain was now attached to the wall, detaining him, trapping him in the lab, within his work.
“You’ll have to be punished.” Came a voice from nowhere.
Jordan shot up terrified to a sitting position, drenched in cold sweat. He felt his neck and was slightly relieved that it had only been a dream, though there was a lingering pain from the injection’s p***k and his stomach ached..
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Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:30 pm
Jordan's First Change Jordan Essex Jordan had come into the village seeking out medicine to quell the pain in his stomach. He wasn’t exactly nauseous, but it hurt just the same. It felt like odd lumps moving, but there was definite movement- agitation from stress? That bizarre nightmare had shaken him and he was in a heavy, cold sweat since. Stress would explain that. He was somewhat afraid of Richard and he was fearful of what might happen for punching Seth in his snout.
The walk from his duplex on the beach, through the jungle, and to the cafeteria area had been much more difficult this time. He’d clutched his stomach the entire time. He wanted to get this over with ASAP. Once he’d gotten a hold of a bottle of Tylenol, he fumbled shakily with the bottle. He wiped beads of sweat from his brow, but his forehead was covered in more perspiration immediately.
He needed water with the pills and carried himself into the cafeteria. He seated himself with a bottle of water and the pills setting infront of him. He held his stomach once again, letting out a groan of discomfort.
Jordan fumbled to open the bottle of water, spilling a little on the table ad on himself in the process. He took a sip and popped the pills, following it by another sip. He just wasn’t feeling so well. Sophie C. Bell It had taken a while for Sophie to get out of her duplex: she wasn't even exactly sure how long she'd been sulking. Either way, she figured the best thing she could do would be to apologize to someone, be it Gaius for not taking his news so well, or Marshall for giving him news that he didn't take so well. She didn't know where they would be, but figured she could always check the cafeteria, since that's where she'd met them. It was a stupid idea, and she knew it, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try it. However, when she opened the doors and peered inside, she had no such luck. There was, however, another man, and he might know where the other two would be. So, shyly, she came up to him, wringing her hands together before she was able to speak. "Hey...you didn't happen to see a penguin man or a pegasus guy, did you?" She tried not to notice that he was eating pills, just in case he was the kind of person who did it on a regular basis and would get offended. Jordan Essex He turned his head up to her, taking note of her nervous posture and at first glance, he thought that he’d met another fully human person, but that was quickly crossed out as he noticed that she had changed a little. After noticing she wasn’t human, he looked back down.
“Sorry, I don’t know either of them. Are you in some sort of trouble?” he motioned his face at the fidgeting of her hands. He was a bit curt with the new face initially due to not feeling well. He felt his stomach ‘kick’ and lurched forward, quickly taking another sip and popping another pill.
He really wasn’t feeling all too well. Was he sick?
“Dunno if I can help, but is something wrong?”
His jaw hurt a bit and he lifted his hand over his mouth, rubbing on either side of his mouth with his thumb and forefinger. Sophie C. Bell Sophie blinked, then put her hands behind her back, only now noticing that she was even fidgeting. "No, actually...I just got on the wrong foot with them this morning. I just wanted to talk to them." She watched as he took yet another pill, then got the distinct feeling that something was wrong. "I don't think there's anything you can do...but are you okay? You're not looking too good, uhm...what's your name again?" She sat down opposite him, and if she'd known him better, would've checked his forehead for a fever. "I don't think it's healthy to be taking all those pills...maybe you should just relax and go rest a bit." Jordan Essex Jordan nodded as she explained why she was looking for the two. “I know about getting off to a rough start with people here. It’s probably best to give them some space and let them boil down before engaging them again.” He remembered the meetings he’d had and shook his head “Sometimes, people here just have bad days. I wouldn’t take it personally.” He rubbed his thumb and forefinger over the bridge of his nose and then in the corners of his eyes.
At her question, he shrugged a bit, still rubbing his eyes. “I dunno.. I’m not feeling so great. I hope I’m not catching some jungle disease..” he tilted his head back and closed his eyes for a moment, applying more pressure between his eyes.
“I’m Jordan.” he answered, letting his head back down. “It’s just Tylenol. I know how many I need to take. Any more or any less and it’s ineffective.” He was getting a little cranky in his responses which surprised him. “I slept earlier, but resting isn’t going so well today.” Sophie C. Bell Sophie got the hint: he was in one of those bad moods that people get here, and she should back off. However, she couldn't help but think that there was something she could do to help. "Uhm...I'm Sophie..." She responded, crossing her arms as she tried to think of a way to help the poor guy. "...Did you try eating something healthy? Like an apple or something? That might work," she suggested, gesturing to the cafe line to make her point. "It might be that you just have a lack of nutrients in your system." Jordan Essex He nodded once more at her suggestion. “Maybe.” He lifted the water bottle shakily, chugging down most of the bottle at one time. He was really sweating and bad. As he emptied the bottle, he pressed his hand against his cheek, so the palm was putting pressure on his aching jaw. He scratched just under his ear. The man had a five-o-clock shadow, but amidst the brown of his stubble, white flecks had sprouted down his sideburn line.
He stood up, holding his stomach and walked over to the food line, giving everything a look-over. Nothing seemed to terribly appealing, but he picked up an apple as suggested. Maybe he just needed something in his stomach.
Sitting back down, he was about to bite into the apple when he exclaimed a painful ‘ow’. “Dammit! I bit my tongue! That hurt a lot!” he licked his tongue around in his mouth, over his teeth and his eyes went wide. The tips of every tooth was much sharper than it had been earlier in the day. Sophie C. Bell Sophie nodded, putting her hand on her chin in a sage-like manner. She didn't mention it, but she stared for a moment at his stubble: he couldn't be that old, could he? She watched without a word as he went over to the counter, took her advice, then came back. It didn't even strike her as all that odd that he had bitten his tongue with his enlarged teeth. "Yeah, I know what that feels like," she said, casually plopping her chin in one hand as she rolled her eyes. "I bit my lip today and it started bleeding-Wait..." She straightened her posture, then looked at him closely. "I thought you didn't have any side effec- I mean, results from a, uhm...serum." The girl shook her head, confused: he'd looked normal just a moment ago...maybe she'd just missed it... Jordan Essex He scratched more as the white was growing and spreading to give him snowy soft sideburns. Like with all itches, once you start with one, they spread and that it had. His ears were now giving him grief. And… was there something going on with his nose? It was becoming a shade darker then another till it was a light earth brown in color. His nose stretched a bit and the nostrils had lifted some, giving his human nose a less-than-human look.
He was breathing a bit harder as his stomach hurt a little more for a brief moment, causing him to lurch forward, sending his shades flying onto the table. His ears tugged against his head as they elongated in his hand. His eyes were closed, enjoying the scratching, which felt reeeeeeeeeeeeeally good. He wasn’t aware that anything was wrong until his hands began to hurt –specifically in his fingertips- as he scratched a bit to deeply and yelped. His eyes snapped opened and he began to panic as it dawned on him.
Jordan whipped his hands back to see the skin darkening on his palms. The terrified look in his eyes said it all. His lip curled back, revealing his enlarged canines and sharper teeth.
“No.. No. Nononononononononononono!!” he leapt back, thrusting the chair out from underneath him, staring at his hands, wincing as he clamped his eyes tight. Sophie C. Bell Sophie's eyes widened, and she stumbled as she stood up, running around the table as best as she could considering that she was shaking. "Oh God...Oh God Oh God Oh God...You...you're changing, aren't you?" The look on her face was nearly as terrified as his was, and she frantically looked for something to do to help ease what was going on. From what she had gone through, this was the end of it, but somehow, from the look on his face, she could tell it wasn't quite over yet. "What do you need, Jordan? W-what should I do?!" She stood beside him anxiously, clenching and unclenching her hands: she had no idea how to handle what was happening to him. She had barely handled it happening to herself. Jordan Essex “Yersh! I’m changiiiiiiiiiing…” he grunted out through gritted fangs as they filled out his mouth, her exclamations ringing painfully loud in his shifting ears. His alien nose twitched as he could smell her, smell the tense fear.
He gripped his right wrist in his left hand, cringing at the pain that coursed through him. The nails were darkening, thickening… growing longer! His breathing only became harder as he was crying out in pain, the skin on his fingers growing up and around the base of the lengthening claws. He couldn’t see his fingers thickening, but he could most certainly feel it and the calloused padding on the palms of his hands thickening and expanding into sensitive pawpads.
Jordan held his head to the ceiling, hissing through his fangs as he trembled in pain. He’d been told about the changes, about the pain, but nothing could have prepared him for this. The pain was excruciating. The claws of his left hand dug into his right arm which only caused him to grip tighter and those claws were burying into his arm.
Tears were welling in his clenched eyes and they rolled down his cheeks. Suddenly there was a pain in his feet and he dreaded the same thing was happening as with his hands. Jordan was shaking as he knew he needed to take off his shoes and grit his fangs so tightly he bit into his lip with his canines. He took a few quick, sobbing breaths and RIPPED his claws out of his arm, wailing horribly as he did.
He staggered backwards and tried to balance himself so he could bend over to remove his shoes. The toenails were digging into the toe of his shoes, his feet themselves were feeling swollen and tight. As he bent over his stomach kicked in pain and he fell head first onto the floor.
"Gert! GERT MY SHOES ORFF!" his growling speech was slurred in his panicked, fang-clenched attempts at speaking. Sophie C. Bell "Oh, God..." Sophie was in a panic, and the changes weren't even happeing to her. Of course she remembered her own change, but it hadn't been this fast and it certainly hadn't been this violent. She stifled a yelp as he fell forward, and worked quickly to untie his shoes and pull them off, trying her best to be a help and not a harm. She pulled her jacket off and shoved it into his hands so that he'd have something to grab onto other than himself, then knelt down beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder as she frantically looked him over. It couldn't get worse...could it? "I-It'll be okay, Jordan...It'll be okay..." she murmured, shaking. She told him this both for his sake and her own: she needed to tell herself that it would be okay, that this guy wouldn't just roll over and die with her tending to him. "...Now, w-what else do you need me to do?" She asked, doing her best to keep her voice calm. Jordan Essex This was his punishment for being bad. That thought raced through his pain-buzzed mind frantically as Sophie worked to undo his shoes, relieving the pressure minorly. His feet were swollen and swelling before their eyes. Just as his fingernails had done, his toenails were darkening, thickening, and their bases enveloped by the skin of his stretching toes. The claws had pushed through his socks, the fabric stretched out the fibers were weakening and snapping. The soles of his feet darken, like the palms of his hands had, becoming thicker with sensitive padding.
He wrung the jacket tightly, screaming in pain. His own voice was painful to his sensitive ears, but if it weren’t so painful he wouldn’t have to express it vocally. He squeezed her jacket tightly, his knuckles turning white as he clenched it for dear life. It hurt like nothing he’d ever experienced before.
Itchy! He was itchy all over! White hairs were sprouting on his arms, paw-like hands, legs, and contorting feet. He had to scratch and he did, trailing clawmarks on his arms as he did. He clawed at his pants, scratching and tearing at the fine material of his dress pants, shredding through the material to scratch at his legs. He ripped and tore the material off up to his knees, painfully leaving clawmarks everywhere e tried to aleve horrible the itchyness.
“Make irt shtop!” was all he could muster in a growling yell. Sophie C. Bell A new thought came to mind, and Sophie stumbled to her feet, running to the counter and grabbing some napkins and a bottle of water. Rushing back, she pressed a few of the napkins onto his arm to stop the bleeding from before, trying not to hurt him even more in his thrashing. She readied the napkins for the new scratches he was making, white hairs pushing up in between his frantic hands, but she knew that it would probably be better to stop him then just do damage control afterwards. "Jordan? Listen to me," she said in her imitation of a calm voice, hoping he could hear it over his own screams. "Y-you can't keep scratching at yourself like this. It's hurting you." She never actually moved to wrench his claws from their targets, as that would be too invasive, but still tried to talk him out of it. She shook her head with dismay: it didn't seem she was being a very good help at all. "I wish I could make it stop," she replied forlornly, both scared and worried for the man. The more she watched him writhe, the worse she felt, and the more she was reminded that eventually, it would be her screaming in pain. Her hands began to shake, and she wanted nothing more than to run away, but she forced herself to stay there and be with him, just in case she could be a help at some point. Jordan Essex His socks shredded from his enlarged feet as they grew longer and longer still. The fur grew in fairly quickly, a thicket of white covering the red scratches he’d caused. It still itched, but the majority of that sensation had passed. His bottom lip trembled as he looked at her. The poor girl… she’d been traumatized by his painful metamorphosis.
Jordan whimpered as he tried to move on his raw-as-exposed-nerve pawpads- claws clicking on the tile floor. He slid her the jacket, snuffling as he tried hard to hold back the tears to no avail. He was on his paws and knees as he moved himself towards her, believing it to be over. He lunged forward once he was close enough, hugging her tightly and laying his head on her shoulder.
“I-I‘m shorry..” his sore gums and new fangs were making him sound awkward. He hoped that he’d get used to it so he wouldn’t sound like a lisping child. He held onto her, not wanting to let go. He was embarrassed to have been so degraded infront of anyone like this. Sophie C. Bell Sophie tensed up, not expecting such a close interaction, but decided that he must've still been a bit delusional from the pain and let it pass. "It's okay...at least it's over," she responded, pressing the cold bottled water to his face to allow the cool sensation to calm him down. As a mother might do to her frightened son, she gently put a hand on his upper back, rubbing up and down gently to comfort him. "...You are okay, aren't you?" She pulled away to get a good look at his expression, as well as what the changes had done to him. It was certainly way worse than what she'd been through, and she sympathized for Jordan, even though she barely knew the guy. "Here..." She opened the bottle of water and offered it to him, hoping that some hydration would help at least a little bit. The relative silence lulled her into a sense of security, and her muscles relaxed. She, too, was relieved that the storm had passed. Jordan Essex It had lulled him into a false security. His defenses were dropping. He hadn’t anticipated any further changes after a few seconds. Jordan sighed uneasily, shaking from the experience.
“I-I don’t know.. I’m scared.. it hurt all over..” he was saying these things without thinking what effect it would have on her.
He accepted the water, sipping slowly, cautiously and swallowed. It was very cold on his aching gums and sensitive fangs, causing him to make a pained face. It was then he felt something very strange in the one place he did not expect to feel such sensation. His head titled to the side, his right eye twitching as he let out an awkward yelp. His lip pulled to the side as he gasped, panting a bit, trying to not focus on it. It was…. changing… down… there.. and he felt something very odd follow, like a blanket of fur surrounding it. It made his nose wrinkle as he felt VERY awkward.
He just looked oddly, trying to play it off. “I-It’s nothing!” he says quickly, but before he can think of anything else, his spine aches and he arches, pressing against her as he howls in pain, gripping her tighter. “Ow! OW!” his spine actually bulged at the base as the extension pushed outward and curled, more white fur appearing till it looked like a fluffy white feather duster sticking down the pants leg of his shredded pants. Sophie C. Bell Sophie nodded, giving Jordan a weak smile. "Well, as long as you're okay-" Jordan's clinging caused her to stop in mid-sentence, and her heart began to race again: it wasn't over. She looked him over, trying to see some other movement in his limbs that would indicate change, but nothing occured to her until she saw the extra puff of white fur appear from his pant leg. She blinked, having some idea of what it was, but looked over his shoulder to the bulge from his backside to make sure. Once he had quieted down, she decided to tell him what had just happened. "Jordan...don't, uhm, freak out or anything when I tell you this, but...you have a tail." Jordan Essex It wasn’t over?! For the love of…! That was pain! He let go of Sophie to tentatively reach back, feeling the bulge in the seat of his pants. His eyes widened in shocked horror as he felt lower, going from cloth, feeling where his claws had shredded, and then… fur! Very soft down fur and a curling tail.
He took a deep breath and looked down, lowering the back of his pants-turned-shorts and tugged on his tail as gently as he could, yowling at the red hot poker searing jolts that shot through him. He pulled his curly tail as easily as he could up the pants leg so it could hang above the waistline of his shorts.
“Oh god… I have a tail…” he felt it resume its curly position and it even touched his back once or twice, which creeped him out.
“Ish irt over yet..?” he waited, paranoid, but nothing more seemed to change.
His mind reeled in the surrealness of it all, looking horrified at what he’d become. At least what he could see. His face would come as another shock all together later. He sat on his knees infront of Sophie. His expression reflected his regret for her having to see him change and for his embarrassment at being reduced to such pain infornt of anyone else.
"Pleash... don't be shcared.." he said that for both their benefits. "I think irt's over." Sophie C. Bell "I'm not scared," she replied, putting her best effort into sounding the part. "I was just...worried, you know? I've never seen that happen to someone before." Sophie couldn't help but stare at his tail after it had come out and curled up: it reminded her of one of those husky dogs she'd seen somewhere... "Are you sure you're okay?" Sophie asked, getting onto her knees and then standing up, bending over to pick up the scattered paper towels she'd brought earlier and walked over to throw them away, pretty confident that she could leave him alone for a second. She walked back, then held a hand out to help him up if he needed it. "Well, at least you know why you were sick," she said, laughing weakly as she tried to smile. It was so much for her to take in one day, but then again, she didn't have it as bad as he did. At least her 'tail', if that's what it was, was only a hairless nub. Jordan Essex He didn’t know how to respond to that. Was he okay? He’d just changed. He hurt in every fiber. He gathered the shredded pieces to his pants and set them on a nearby chair while she took care of the paper towels.
Great, he was her first transformation. That brought back the memory of seeing Awen freak out as she begun her own transformation and he wondered how she was. Boy, she’d be surprised to see him now.
He didn’t answer her if he was okay. He honestly didn’t know. “I hate to ask this.. can you.. tell.. what I’m.. are there any hints as to what… I’m becoming..?” he looked on pleadingly, hoping she could answer. The fluffy curly tail might have given him the answers he sought if he’d been in a better state of mind.
Jordan nodded. “Yeah.. I guess that’s how it feels just before the change..” he was so unnerved by his own change. The pain, the terrible pain. The fur covered his scratches, but they stung. He accepted her hand and winced as he lifted himself off the floor. Reaching for a chair at the same time, he twisted it sideways and sat down, pulling another chair close to keep his sore paws off the floor.
“This’s going to take some adjustment..” it was then his stomach growled- loudly. It hurt, but it was hunger pains. Holding his stomach, he smiled weakly. “I guess the changes take a lot more out of you.. I’m suddenly hungry.. and everything smells good..” he had caught the wonderful wafting aroma of hamburgers. Never had they smelled so good before. A bit of drool dribbled down the side of his mouth. Sophie C. Bell Sophie helped him put his feet in the other chair once he'd settled in, then pulled up a chair of her own, sitting on it backwards so that she could lean forward on it's back. "Uhm...I dunno. The tail makes me think of one of those husky dogs with the curly tails and all that...but you never know. I mean, no one's told me what I'm supposed to be..." she admitted, putting her chin in the palm of her hand as a quizzical gesture. "But, I suppose then again I haven't been here long enough to ask anyone..." She blinked at his sudden hunger pains, then began to laugh, both because it was amusing and because it was a good nervous release. "You want me to go up and get you something?" Sophie asked, standing up in her chair. After all he'd been through, she really wouldn't mind. Jordan Essex He nodded eagerly. “Yes, please…” he wipes the drool away with the back of his paw then made an ‘ew’ face as it clung to his fur. “Those hamburgers smell so good. You don’t have to put them on bread. A big plate of hamburgers would be great, please.” He forced an awkward fanged smile.
“I’d do it myself, but my feet are a bit sore..” he wondered silently how the hell he’d make it through the jungle on these bare paws. His legs were.. a bit unusual. They were sort of between a normal human’s and appeared to be somewhat more digitgraded with the large canine paws. He wiggled his foot-paws and jerked a bit in response.
“Thank you, Sohpie..” he tried to make it seem not as bad as it actually had been, trying to bite the bullet past the pain, for her sake. Poor girl… having to witness him writhing in pain.. changing into something less than human. Sophie C. Bell Sophie smiled, then gave him a thumbs-up signal as she began to walk towards the counter. "One plate of burgers, coming up!" Quickly, she went through the line, picking up four patties before coming back. She would've gotten more, but she figured that there was no way he could be that hungry, and didn't want to waste food. Sitting back down, she put the plate on the table within his reach, and went back into her slumped posture, yawning. "It's no problem, really...just what any person would do." Sophie lazily wondered why she'd even come here in the first place, since she wasn't hungry, but by this point she'd forgotten. Jordan Essex Oh that heavenly scent assaulted his flaring nostrils and he awkwardly grabbed one in both paws, piercing it with his claws as he fumbled to hold onto it. He brought it to his lips and his fangs tore it apart much easier than his human teeth could have, quickly scarfing down the first. Picking up the second, barely having swallowed the irst, he took another bite in his ravenous hunger, tilting his head at her yawn. “You okay?”
Oh his stomach thanked him, even though there was that odd feeling floating in the pit of his belly. His fluffy tail wagged happily and that caused him to choke on a large chunk of meat, completely unprepared for that. Sophie C. Bell Sophie yawned again, but shrugged it off, trying to sit up. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine..." She slumped in the seat of her chair, closing her eyes, and for a moment, it seemed she was totally unconscious, until she jerked herself awake, blinking to refocus her eyes. She then looked to Jordan and laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry about that...you see, I'm a little narcoleptic." She sighed, rubbed her nose, and decided to finish the story. "Funny thing is, that's how I got here. I started taking these pills state-side so that I wouldn't fall asleep randomly, and, well...one day I woke up like this." She lifted her arms to gesture that she was talking about her current appearance. "I called Feral Labs, and they sent me here. I arrived this morning, actually." She bent over her chair, her gaze wandering as it darkened. "It's all been a little much, honestly...I didn't even know-I thought I was going home in three weeks..." Jordan Essex He was polishing off the last of the hamburgers (the third he’d practically eaten whole!). He was listening curiously as he tried to will his tail to stop its sore wagging. Ow, that was definitely going to be sore for a while.. so a dog, huh..? He’d have to do some research later to pinpoint which breed he was. His fur was white, but he hadn’t known of any husky that was pure white, though, there were a limited number of dogs with curly tails… American Eskimo dogs, huskees, and samoyeds first came to mind. His mind was a bit distracted to think clearly.
Jordan had finished the burgers and his nose twitched still. There was juices and grease on the plate, quickly picking it up and licking them off sloppily. He licked his lips as the plate was set back down, listening to her story, coughing at the mention of pills and Feral Labs. Well, that was an interesting twist!
“Oh god… you only just got here this…” his nose twitched again and his head shifted back over to the food “…morning?? I’m so sorry you had to see this on your first day here..” his tail wasn’t waggling as much at the moment, which was good, right?
“Oh wow..! Uhm… Forgive me for not knowing what to say.. still.. uhm.. you know..” he wiggled his claws at the end of his fingers, not finding the proper words. OH! There was hamburger juice on his laws too! Jordan sucked on his claws, whimpering as he did. Sophie C. Bell As the dog-like behavior was not lost on Sophie, she began to giggle, wiping her eyes and what would be tears. Oh, how easy it would've been to just collapse and sob all of her frustrations to this man that she barely even knew...but, alas, she didn't want him to be worried. "It's okay, really...at least I knew what was happening to you before-hand...otherwise, I'd be really freaked out right now." She brushed the hair out of her face, then slumped back down to her chair, not having much else to do. "I can't believe the labs would do this to innocent people, though..." Jordan Essex He’d been taking pills when she came in and he nodded at how she could have mistaken that for her situation. He forced a smile at the mention of the labs. Maybe… just maybe… he could turn her to a more positive outlook on the entire situation. Jordan reached over and patted her shoulder, keeping up the fanged smile.
“It isn’t all bad. Not at all.” It seemed a bit hypocritical of him to say that so soon after her witnessing the transformation. “The labs are doing this for the benefit of all. They care for us.” His brows dipped a bit giving him a serious, but gentle expression “I can’t lie to you that it hurt. But, the soreness will go away and I’ll adjust to this.”
His tail wagged happily at the thought of the labs. Doctor Moreau was so nice and he really cared for Jordan. That made the dogboy very happy and comforted. “Please, don’t let anything I’ve said or done today to reflect poorly on the labs or the staff here. We live in comfort and it’s not like the labs are ogres. They’ll order things you request. And, there’s plenty to do here. There’s a lot to do in the village. They’ve seen to it that we’re well taken care of and given plenty to occupy our time. There’s an entertainment room nearby and an arcade room, I hear.”
He was smiling through the pain. Giving her the ‘speech’ was making him feel good. Jordan gently took her right hand in both his paws and grinned. “Try to enjoy your time here.” He left out the part of malcontents and a killer loose on the island. Sophie C. Bell Sophie listened to his little speech, but she was still confused: all that pain and such and he was supporting the labs? She took what he had to say and thought about it: all in all, he was right. Dr. Duvert had been kind to her, even if he'd been lying at the time, and it did seem that everyone was well provided for. "You really think so?" she asked, her tone still unsure but slighty accepting to the idea. After all, if his loyalty could stay true after going through all that, then maybe the labs weren't so bad after all. "I mean, you don't want to go home?" Jordan Essex “This is my new home. I’ve accepted that and I don’t look back.” He lets her hand go and taps his nose gently with a claw. “Those hamburgers… they smelled so good to me. You think you can smell good things as a human? I smelled our fear.” He grins “And hamburgers.”
“Think about what we’re gaining here:” he was thinking back to what Lauren had told him in his duplex “we’re going to surpass any human limitations, be able to smell things no human can know, hear things that no human could hope to.” He gently tapped his pointed ears. “I’ve met a girl who was homeless. She was given a home here. She doesn’t look back either. For people like us, who have something to gain, we appreciate what the labs are doing. Many of the people here –unfortunately- only look at the negative side. Why? Because they don’t know what they’re gaining. They’re afraid. I’ve been afraid too, but I don’t want to go back. No, sir. It hurts, but pain is only temporary.”
Jordan was loading it on and grabbed her hand again. “Please don’t let others get you down here. You have friends here. People who know what you’re going through.” Sophie C. Bell Sophie weakly grinned, trying not to blush at the fact that he was holding her hand. She hadn't seen this kind of confidence in the others...all she'd seen in them was despair. Jordan, however, seemed to give her hope, and now that she mentioned it, she could smell the hamburgers, too. It wasn't something she noticed, nor was it as drastic as she might have thought, but the change was there, and she knew it. "I...I guess you're right. It's just a little hard to adjust to in a twenty-four hour time span, you know?" She shook her head, chuckling to herself, then stood, breaking away from his hand. "I really should be going...I never finished unpacking," Sophie explained, half of her begging to be rid of the cafeteria scenery, and half of her wanting to stay just a bit longer. "See you later, okay?" She began to walk towards the door, when suddenly, she remembered something, and turned back around. "I'm in Duplex 10 if you need me, okay?" She called out, waving good-bye. "It was really nice to meet you, even if there were some complications!" And, having said that, she opened the door, and began to walk out, a mental map to her duplex already appearing. She needed time to think things through...and more importantly, take a nap. Jordan Essex Jordan smiled even more brightly. His tail was going for the gold as he’d won her over. This pleased him greatly as subconsciously he knew he’d just done the doctor’s work.
He took note of her duplex number. This girl could become an asse for the doctor’s cause if she were to be persuaded infallibly that the island wasn’t such a doom and gloom end-all graveyard devoid of hope.
“I hope to see you again, Sophie.” He waved to her as she departed.
When he was sure she was out of range- and her scent was fresh to his nose- so he knew she was definitely gone. He leaned himself over the cafeteria table and sighed out in pain, whimpering as his claws scratched across the surface’s top. What a day.. He’d have to think about doing something for the pain- and for that matter, how he was getting home, through the jungle, without hurting like hell.
That smile crept across his mouth as his tail wagged again. He’d done good. He was a good boy.
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Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:19 pm
Jordan thought the painful part of the transformation was over. Was he wrong. After Sophie had parted from his company, he sat there propped on two chairs, wondering how he was going to make the trip through the jungle on such sensitive paws. The cafeteria wasn’t a place he could stay, though the swirling medley of delicious smells was most tempting. He knew that he’d have to be home by light’s out and this predicament was precarious in its nature.
He breathed out softly, raising his paws to his face. Doing it out of habit, he wasn’t thinking about the pawpads being so raw and on-fire, whimpering lowly. The claws had tapped against his skull with dull click, eliciting an understated ‘ouch.’ That would bring laughs if it had been a sit-com. It had finally happened to him. His body had changed and it was frightening, yes, but at the same time, it was also a relief. It was behind him now and if something had gone wrong, Jordan knew Doctor Moreau would have helped him. The fact that Doctor Moreau cared for him came as comfort, as it was nestled in his mind (amongst other phrases hidden more deeply).
His paws fell from his face, staring at them as the new claws wiggled, clacking together once or twice. Yeah, it hurt to do that. How was he going to be able to write like this? Jordan would have to practice using his new paws, especially before Doctor Moreau gave him his duties. He rubbed the thumb of his left over his right paw pad, trying to soothe the ache with an up and down motion.
“You brought thish on yourshelf, Jordan. Doctor Moreau wouldn’t turn me into an animal unlessh I desherved it.” He said it as if it had been his original thought.
He glanced up at his much larger paw that were once his feet and slowly moved his right onto the floor, wincing at the contact.
“Eeeeeeeeashy.” He hissed through his fangs, then lowered the other with the same exhalation of breath. He carefully leaned over for his shoes and just stared at his paws a moment, thinking how he was going to manage this. He resolved to scoop each one up with both paws holding either side of the shoes and tucked them under an arm. The tatters of the lower legs of his pants tucked under the other arm.
He rose cautiously, and tentatively took his first step. He winced and huffed, but persisted to take another step, despite being shaky with his footing. Each step was slow and meticulous.
“You can do thish.” That lisp was starting to bother him, but there was nothing he could do about it until he got used to the fangs.
Every step was hell. It was like walking on fire. His pointed ears flick as the new sounds hit him all at once. Wonderously awe-struck he looked around and his nose twitched, smelling the village in a new way. So many people and he had no clue which belonged to the particular scents hitting him. It was intense, but it also served to distract him from the pain in his sensitive paws.
It was like Lauren had said.
The walk through the jungle was slow-going, but he could smell the animals and hear them close to the point of being able to pinpoint their direction, not merely guessing which direction. His claws kept stabbing into the ground and pulling up the dirt underneath. He used the trees as a crutch to keep from falling, moving from tree to tree till the dense foliage had given way to the sandy beach. He’d smelled the salty air before the foliage had broken at the beach. His nose was in the air in all directions, sniffing every new scent with curiosity. The crashing surf was a bit louder than he’d have liked it to be, but it was amazing.
He looked at the doorknob of his duplex and pondered how he’d manage this task. His arms were full and his paws didn’t seem quite up to the task. He had to get in and lay down, rest his sore body and he was so close to doing that. With some difficulty, he wrapped his paw around the doorknob, whimpering as his paw pads were burning and opened the door as quickly as possible.
Inside, he dropped the contents under his arms and made a bee-line for his for his bed.
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Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:32 am
Maryke Jimenez
It had been a relaxing day so far and Maryke was quite thankful for that. Sure her feet still hurt, not that that wouldn't be expected. Afterall Richard had sliced and diced his way into excrutiating pain for her, but aside from that the day went by without a big worry. She had gotten pain reliever from the labs and was now stretched on a coach in the entertainment room with her feet propped up on the little table, with no one else nearby. Not that company would have bothered her, she was really indifferent on whether or not another person there was minded, but the solitude really was nice.
That and she could have full reign over the tv without someone else whining about her choice in film. Right now she was watching 'Gone with the Wind' and making it a point to repeat every line that Scarlett O' Hara said.
"....and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again!" She repeated while watching the screen, raising a fist up in a climatic gesture. She inwardly laughed at herself, but hell she could be as silly as she wanted.
It wasn't like there was anyone around to see.
Jordan Essex Jordan had slept pretty well after his first transformation, even if it was only for five hours. Being off his feet- er paws- had let the rawness of their sensitivity swell done a little. It still was quite tender and with each cautious step he whimpered, biting his bottom lip, biting into his lip a few times. Apparently, he looked like a husky to Sophie, but his all-white fur was curious to that particular breed. Usually they had darker patches thrown in, not all white like his arms and legs.
He wanted to know what he was. Either morbid curiosity or just peace of mind, Jordan wanted to know what sort of dog Doctor Moreau would have him be. Thinking of Doctor Moreau made his tail wag against his will. That was something he’d have to get used to. Every happy thought made his tail wag.
The entertainment room, he remembered, was stocked with books and magazines. Surely, one of those could give him a lead. That’s when he encountered his nemesis: the doorknob! From the inside, it’d sound like an animal scratching at the door, and for the most part it was. His claws kept getting in the way of holding a solid grip and it was frustrating. Soft whimpers rose from his throat as he tried to take hold of it. Finally snagging it, he bit his bottom lip deeper as he stifled a loud whimper best he could. That hurt! The doorknob had been thrust against his tender pawpads.
Pushing the door open, he heard the familiar movie playing and there was someone reciting its lines. Not wanting to be a bother, he slipped in quietly. On pads it was easier to be quiet than as a loud human.
Of course… there was something else Jordan hadn’t had time to adjust to. His tail. The door had closed on it. Any attempt at stealth had failed when he yowled in horrible, horrible pain that arced his spine like flaming-hot pokers jabbing repeatedly. Maryke Jimenez
Maryke hated Ashely, she always had. And everytime she got to this point in the movie, the pinacle where she thinks she can get through it but is preverablly b***h slapped because she has to go back to the one man she's toyed with and....
Maryke didn't have a chance to finish her thought flow. With her fist still raised to the air, her ruffed ears twitched as a sound drifted towards them. Her eyes widened before she even had a chance to distinguish what it was. But she turned towards the door she saw that it was closed, so maybe she was just imagining things. She turned back to the tv, trying to once again immerse herself in the rural south. So much so that she didn't hear anyone enter the room.
Not until she heard a long, high pitched yowl. At which point she screamed and jumped off the couch as if her a** had suddenly caught fire. When she turned her head back she saw a dog like man screaming in pain which only made her scream even more. And then SHE really WAS in pain as she had jumped onto her feet in the first place. The same feet that had cuts littered about them and was still swollen and bruised. The same feet that was now making her scream even louder in pain.
Jordan Essex He scrambled quickly to remove his tail from the door, rubbing his ever more sore tail. The claws raked through his fluffy white fur. The door closed behind him and her shriek hit his very sensitive ears like a thunderclap at ground zero. He jumped back startled himself.
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow…” he whimpered as he held onto his tail. “I’m very sorry!” he spat out “I just changed yesterday and…. Ooooooooooooooooooow… my tail got slammed in the door….” His eyes were welling with the makings of tears, as he held his paws over his ears.
“I’m very sorry to disturb you.. I was trying to be quiet.” His poor tail wasn’t wagging. It hurt. Pain was anything but happy. Jordan wasn’t sure if she was going to attack him or what, but he pressed himself against the door just in case he needed to bolt. Maryke Jimenez
The ruffed fur covering most of Maryke's body looked like it had just been into the dry, on full blast, with all of it standing on end and her hair looked like someone had taken a balloon and rubbed it repeatedly on her white strands of hair. Quite frankly, all of it was frizzy or puffy and she odd with it.
"Wha....what...." she managed, trying to process what all he had just told her. Maryke wasn't normally a screamer. She was known for keeping her cool and being level headed in ANY situation, including big scary man animals, hell with Jamal she barely bat an eyelash. But since her previous change she was about ready to piss herself and pass out when someone else even raised a claw towards her.
Damn those lemur instincts!
"It's fine," she said quickly, trying to smooth down the fur as she hobbled over to him, her poor feet still in great pain. "Are you okay?" she managed, reaching out a arm to help him.
Jordan Essex He nodded softly, feeling a bit less tense as she calmed. Not feeling so threatened, he was able to take stock of her. She had white fluffy fur too, but she most definitely wasn’t a dog. By the way she’d leapt into the air was she some sort of long-tailed cat? The ears didn’t quite fit that of a traditional cat. Why was he trying to figure out what she was?! Oh yeah… it was the white fur. Like his white fur? Maybe a bit poofier. Fur. Dog. That’s right. He was here for the books. It took a moment to get back on track.
Jordan’s paws lowered from his ears slowly, ready to cover them again if she started screaming. It was his own fault, though. He yowled first. Jordan’s fortunate it was someone with sharp claws and ferocious fangs to match. This was only his first change and there was so much for him to acclimate to.
“I think so.. but that really hurts..” his ears flicked, ringing some. He kept his eyes on her, though he wanted to see the condition of his poor abused tail. “I’m Jordan, by the way.. I’m so sorry to scare you. I just came in here for the books.” Maryke Jimenez
Once she assured herself inwardly that this guy wasn't in real trouble then she breathed a sigh of relief and stood back a little, still watching him intenetly however. Her black silky tail swung back and forth behind her as she processed what the hell just happened.
"Yeah.....it looks like it would hurt," she said blankly as she shifted in her stance. Her feet were now throbbing! "Maryke," she said as she made to hobble back to the couch. "It's fine, books are over there," she pointed, "Have at it."
Jordan Essex He was anxious again. He was being forced to interact with so many new people, forced to talk with so many others. It had become more overwhelming since transforming. Jordan didn’t want to be seen by others yet. He was self-conscious about his appearance. Always concerned by what he looked like. Transforming infront of someone was humiliating. It was that moment of weakness no one was meant to bear witness to. He wondered how the hell he’d be able to work out in a gym now. His mind was easily distracted right now, what with the pain and his anxieties of how others will react to him. He wasn’t exactly making friends.
“Thank you..” he said in a low tone and wanted to just skirt past her over to where the books were neatly arranged. What luck, she’d gone back to her movie. What was that playing? Oh it was familiar! It was something his mom used to watch. Crap! That brought a sniffle to his nose. His eyes were no longer covered by his shades. Since his nose had changed they fell lower on his face. He made quick work to wipe away any beginnings of tears before Maryke could have a chance to see.
In his haste, he walked quickly over to the books, forgetting to be careful of his large paws, stumbling a few times and catching himself along the wall. “Dammit..” he muttered, feeling so utterly useless at the moment. “It’s just walking.. you can do this.. just on larger… fee—paws..” Jordan sighed audibly, unconsciously, as he stumbled his way to the books. It hurt to walk on them and tripping on himself took everything not to yelp again. He didn’t want to freak her out again.
He passed a claw finger over the spines of the books, scanning for any one of them that could be useful to him. Maryke Jimenez
Maryke ignored him for the most part, finding her attention had turned back to the movie. It was one of those films were it was hard not to be drawn into. Even though it was reaching the end and she had seen it a dozen times, she still enjoyed it. Perhaps it was because she loved the fiesty lead or had a crush on Rhett since she was a kid, who knew. But in any case she sat back and watched the screen though occasionally her eyes ticked back over to him.
When he muttered and complained about his feet she couldn't help but chuckle at that. "At least yours aren't becoming hands," she said looking down at her own, "I'm turning into a freaking monkey thing for chrissakes..."
Jordan Essex Books of all varieties and on just about any possible subject. Avians, fish, rodents. Ah! Canines! He went to grab the book immediately, but managed to fumble it with his claws. The book began to slip forward and he tried to catch it, slowing its descent on his pawpads. He carefully pulled the book towards him and secured it, though it didn’t feel good. The book had fallen onto tender pawpads- on the corner. He was struggling with these changes alright. Hopefully it got easier with time.
She’d heard him and had the audacity to find it amusing! He hrmphed as he fumbled to slip the book under his arm. That seemed the easiest way to carry it without his claws getting in the way. At he knew for sure she wasn’t some breed of feline.
“Do you know what sort of primate you’re becoming?” he hadn’t been sure what else to say at the moment. Hand-feet seemed rather weird, but who was he to say what was weird? Maryke Jimenez
At his 'hrmmph' she let a coy little smile slip to her lips. Oh he would learn soon enough, just like she had to. Just like they ALL had to. It didn't matter who you were before you came here, it didn't even matter what you were now becoming, because in the scheme of things, the grand picture...what mattered was that every islander here was royally ********. Bittersweet with a cute little cherry on top.
"Yup a...." she paused, trying to rememeber the name. While most people around here was obessed with what they were becoming, Maryke on the other hand was not. It would be painful and she would want to die, that was all that mattered to her about these stupid changes. But the name finally came to her, "Ruffed lemur...or something, yeah...I think that was it."
Jordan Essex Book in possession, he looked for a place to rest his dogs, as it were. Floor it was going to be. Padding cautiously around the couch, he pondered a moment how he’d do this. He leaned over to set the book down when it slipped from his grasp, a ombination of the fur and those claws. He immediately looked up at having disturbed her again, looking for any sign that she was upset and immediately apologized.
“I’m so sorry.. I’m trying to get used to these things..” his voice warbled as he clicked his claws together “It’s my first change and I’ve only been this way for a few hours…” the poor boy looked like he was going to bawl as he wiped his furry arm across his face.
He lowered himself as best he could, but fell onto his rear in a clumsy display. Luckilly, his tail was curled upward, so he didn’t fall on it. It just made the soreness flare up again. “Oooof… sorry.. I’ll try to be quieter..” Maryke Jimenez
Again her eyes tore away from the screen, but lucky for him it was just as the credits were rolling. "It's fine...wait you just changed a few hours ago?" Maryke frowned. Inside her head she could see her own last change. How she'd been alone inside her duplex while her body ripped itself apart to form into, into this thing. It made her look at him with sympathetic eyes.
"Hey don't worry about it," she said patting him on the back, the only thing she could think to do. Maryke wasn't exactly someone who comforted others. Girl scout she was not. But there was something unifying about this place, the fact that they were all being screwed in together. It was moments like this she was reminded of that fact. "Look, movie's over anyway....are...you gunna be okay?"
Jordan Essex Jordan fumbled with the book. Claws made it difficult to open books, or for that matter turn pages. He crossed his legs with a whimper, knees practically resting on top of his fresh paws. The book was laid in his lap and he held one end of the cover with a paw while pulling it open with the left paw on the top cover.
He sniffled and nodded, looking up the forward and credits in the front page. “It all happened at once. I was so embarrassed when it happened.. some new girl walked in one me right before it happened.. it hurt so much..” he definitely felt a tear that time and wiped his paw over his eyes, stifling a sob.
His tail wagged when she patted him on the back. That felt oddly good. His eyes even closed as he enjoyed it while it lasted, letting loose a contented sound. “Uhm… it’s just going to take some adjustment. It hurt a lot when it happened, but I guess that’s what I have to go through to be a good boy.” The last comment slipped out before he could screen it. What was going on with him? Maryke Jimenez
She nodded as she listened. Oh yes, the pain. By the looks of his changes she wouldn't doubt that it hurt, greatly. She continued to pat his back, evening going as far as rubbing the tense muscles in a circular motion. Maryke really did feel bad for the poor guy. She had the sudden urge to continue to rub his back and console him, which was....something she wouldn't normally did. Her fur bristled. She wasn't used to all these strange feelings coming at her at once.
But at that one comment she froze. "Be a..............good boy......?"
Jordan Essex He leaned forward, rather enjoying all the attention. He even forgot about the book, letting it slip from his lap. His back arched and his tail wagged faster. Oh man she was good at back rubs! Who didn’t love a good backrub? But this was like tension-reliever times ten! His eyes remained closed and his nose twitched. His jaws opened and a soft panting was released. He didn’t even think about it. He was lost in the recesses of his mind.
But then it all stopped rather abruptly. His ears twitched in initial response to the lack of stimulus and he slowly opened his eyes, giving a whimper that suggested he’d been enjoying that very much and didn’t want it to stop yet.
He rubbed his face with the back of his paw and tilted his head backwards with a big smile on his face. “What’s that? Awwwwww.. what’s wrong? That felt sooooo good. I don’t think I’ve ever had a backrub as good as that in my life.” His tail wagged back and forth hopefully. He didn’t even pay his book any mind. Maryke Jimenez
Had Maryke brushed up on her lemur knowledge she would have realized that most of her new characteristics, like the fear she displayed with Richard, or the sense of unison amongst the islanders, and now how eager she was to comfort Jordan was traits of the animals she was now becoming. Of COURSE she wasn't like that before the changes, because she wasn't a lemur before. And now she was coming some. Half her pysche was now lemur like even.
"Oh nothing," she manged, still stroking him, she shifted in her position, using the new sitting range to scratch him along the back then giggled. "Well....I do strive for excellence." Her tail began to wag slowly back and forth then twitching. She even had the urge to use her teeth in helping calm him. What a strange thought! She wasn't sure why she enjoyed this so much, this act of stroking and rubbing his back, but the lemur inside her knew why this was so pleasurable.
Maryke was simply grooming him.
Jordan Essex Oh heavenly joy! It began anew and with even more vigor than before! It was so very soothing for his wildly-racing mind. In fact, this had been the only thing he’d been able to give his full and complete attention to in some time. His neck rolled around as it felt like every bit of tension in his spine was melting away. His eyelids were falling on their own accord, halfway for a few a few minutes. His smile revealed his large canines and soon after he was panting again. He was drifting into the depths of his mind that had been tampered with, unaware of anything he was doing. It felt good. Feeling good made him happy. Being happy meant being a good boy. Being a good boy is what Doctor Moreau wanted of him, because he cared for him so much.
He could feel the goosebumps on his arms and he shivered as a spasm rode up his spine from his tail. His legs unfolded and started to part further away from each other. He leaned forward a bit more and his arms propped him up set between his legs.
“Thaaaaaaaaaaaank yoooooou…” he mustered the words hazily, feeling himself in such utter bliss. “You’re so nice…” his tail was going on hyperdrive, like a hyper fluffy featherduster. He mumbled under his breath that he was a very good boy and he was shifting his shoulders and his back in the general direction of where her paws were massaging. He was quickly becoming so far gone that he was murring and whimpering for more like a dog. Maryke Jimenez
It was like having a big dog! Maryke had never been allowed to have a pet when she was a kid, especially a dog. Her mother always said that they were disgusting creatures that carried germs, and that was that. It put an end to her childhood fantasies. Oh if her whore of a mother could see her now! She continued to rub, the position she was sitting in making it easier for her not to hurt her injured feet in the process.
At his thanks she couldn't help but giggle. And to be told that she was nice, SHE, miss cold hearted b***h herself, it made her grin goofily. "You ARE a good boy!" she announced happily. She wondered if he could do any tricks and then she remembered something. Tricks...! the theatre......! She had promised Billy she'd try to find people, why not try now too.
"Jordan...?" she asked, slowing in her rubbings slightly, "Does the good boy know any tricks? "
Jordan Essex His buzzed mind was on cloud nine. His left leg was even twitching and then it was thumping! THUMPING! His paw was kicking and spasming as it bumped the floor. Deep down, a part of him was aware of what was happening, but that part was so overpowered it was like a minute voice screaming into a void. He was acting just like any of his dogs he’d ever had in his life. Scritching and petting and rubbing their bellies. OH! Belly rubs! That sounded good!
Even she thought he was a good boy! That made him slip even more into the comfort of happiness! His tail laws wildly fluffing against her as she sat behind him. He didn’t think he could have felt any better. Jordan’s mind didn’t quite understand what was happening to him, but that didn’t matter. A dog’s hedonistic tendencies overrid any care to question WHY it felt good.
His tongue had even lolled out of his mouth, between his fangs. He tilted his head at her question, not opening his eyes. He had zoned out, much like in a trance of infinite pleasure. “Mmmmm… ungh…” he grunted as her hands slowed “…I don’t know what tricks I can do… want to be a good boy…” Maryke Jimenez
YES! She had him, which was fantastic because she felt that once here her former life had been stripped away. She was madam, her self inflicted job was to basically convince others to work for her and do exactly what she said. This whole recruiting for the theatre thing wasn't that much of a far cry away from it. Her tail continued to sway and flick all behind her body as she thought about it. That was one aspect of the former job she did like. The persuading.
"Yes, good boys do tricks, but we can work on them...we can...I don't know figure out something," She said. Her mind raced. What exactly could he do? What would be entertaining? As she thought her hands moved upwards and she unconsciously began to scratch him behind the ear.
"Fetch...what about fetch?" she asked
Jordan Essex “Good boys do tricks..” he repeated. There was no desire to stop this. His trip to the entertainment room had been completely derailed and any thoughts or concerns about which breed of dog he was being transformed into was on hold.
She had him right where she wanted him. As long as she kept this up he’d be putty in her hands. A happy fluffy ball of tail-wagglin’ putty. It felt really good when the back of his ear was scritched. It was amazing how sensitive he was all over. Unfortunately, that – in itself- had its own drawback. As with any male dog, they often had a common reaction to such intense stimulus, even if it was simple pettings. Jordan had changed down there too and he began shifting on his rear, fidgeting and adjusting his shredded pants-now-shorts into a more comfortable position.
He imagined himself playing fetch. That sounded like a good game. Fecth was something he loved to play with his own dogs! Now he was his own dog! That illogic seemed logical.. right?
“Feeeeeeetch…” he drew out the word as she scratched deeply behind his ear. Maryke Jimenez
"Yes, yes" she agreed, nodding her head as her ruffed ears twitched a bit. She saw his shifting and assumed that he wanted more. She used her nails, raking them behind the ear, enjoying the idea of having her own 'dog' even if the dog was, well a man dog. Briefly she remembered the old saying, all men are dogs, but somehow she didn't think the author that coined that phrase envisioned this. Jordan surely didn' t look like he could do any harm.
When he repeated fetch she jumped to her feet like she was a kid at heart, and it was no surprise considering how playful and social lemurs were. But her feet were still wounded, so she quickly winced and hissed out a breath. Recovering quickly she looked around and then hobbled over to the book shelf. Grabbing one at random, which iroincally was 'Call of the Wild' she threw it across the room.
Pointing at it she yelled, "Fetch boy Fetch!"
Jordan Essex He definitely wanted fetch now. It was too much to resist! He leaned forward awkwardly and rose onto all fours, which was a bit of a task, but with his legs semi-digitgraded he was able to manage without the same difficulty a human would have had. When the pettings stopped, he opened his glazed eyes to see her with a book. His tail wagged as e was gone. He was not in control of himself at the moment as he chased after the book. He sniffed at it and it did smell like wood, or at least a product manufactured of wood with ink splashed on it. Jordan picked up the cover of the book in his jaws and trotted back over to her, laying it down as he sat on his haunches and wagged his tail. Poor Jordan. So mindwarped and used for others own goals.
“ARF!” he let out a human-sounding bark as his tongue hung out. Maryke Jimenez
"Good boy! You're such a good boy!" She said happily as she leaned forward and scratched him behind the ears. It was really hard to distinguish that this was actually a man, or was. She couldn't help but see him as a dog that talked. She remembered, when she first arrived that there was a dog at the island, but that dog was passive. Or was it a coyote...? She really couldn't remember. Her attention was still on this man dog.
"Alright let's try it again, hmmmmm....further," she swung her arm back as far as she could and let the book fly. It didn't go that much further but it was something.
Jordan Essex Mmmmmmmmm… she rewarded him with happy scratches behind his ear. He really was a good boy! He was a very good boy! His tail wagged excitedly as she praised him. How humiliated he would be if he’d been aware of this behavior. Moreau had proven that hypnosis was effective. It was taking effect on the dogman’s mind, proven by the subliminals that played repeatedly in his duplex. Moreau’s methodologies were quite notable and so were Maryke’s. She’d lulled him into a trance-like state by over-stimulating his unfocused mind. Kept in a constantly-suggestible state made it easy to manipulate Jordan, even if Moreau had not anticipated anything quite like this.
Jordan soaked up all of the attention and praise as he pounced after the book, galloping strangely, a cross between what a dog would and what a man is capable of. It was a smaller book, but he still wasn’t able to pick up the whole thing in his jaws. He nosed the book open and took the cover in his mouth, flapping the pages and retrieved it back to the lemur woman. However, this time, he wanted to keep it. Dogs loved to make people work for it in fetch. Maryke Jimenez
When he didn't give back the book that time Maryke's tail curled over her back twitching back and forth, but not in the happy sway it usually help. "Okay boy....gotta give me back the book...that's the whole point in fetch," she said, trying to grab it from his jaws.
Jordan Essex He jumped back, almost grinning with his semi-human mouth, that book dangling from his jaws tauntingly. He stepped back, wagging his tail. Just like his own dogs had when they got into a playful mood, he too lowered his front quarters and raised his hindquarters and barked.
In the back of his mind he was screaming for this to end. The sheer humiliation! And no doubt it was being caught on tape. Whomever was watching the surveillance feed was likely having a good laugh at his expense. Maryke Jimenez
"Jooooooooordan," She whined, her ruffed ears flattening, "Give me the book! This isn't how it's supposed to be played!" Finally an idea struck her. She had never owned a dog before, so she didn't know about the nature of the 'fetch play', but she did know basic wants and needs and of course what made people tick. It had to be the same way for animals.
She let go of the book and crossed her arms. "Fine, if you won't give me the book then..." she quirked an eyebrow, "No more scratches.....and yanno....I was almost gunna give you a belly rub....guess I won't now..."
Jordan Essex The way she spoke his name rang in his ears, making him wag a little less. In his tranced state he resembled more dog than man and acted the part quite well. The changes helped his human mind continue the illusion. His ears twitched at that threat and he whined as well. Padding up to her and dropping the book at her feet. He looked up to her and panted happily, sitting on his haunches. He raised a paw limply as to beg for forgiveness.
“Arf.” He tilted his head to the side, in expectation of scratches and belly rubs. Maryke Jimenez
"Now there's a boy," she cooed, ignoring the book and squatting down in front of him to give what she promised. She first started by scratching behind his ears, using her feminine nails appropriately. She then scratched his chest then his belly over what he was wearing. Oh well, still counted right. Once she felt she had done a good job she sat back a little.
"I think you can really work well, we can get you started on more fetch then who knows...." she gave a dry laugh, "We'll have you standing on a bouncy ball and jumping through hoops in no time."
Jordan Essex Oh no… jumping through hoops and balancing on a ball?! His mind was trapped in a soundproof cell within his own psyche. What the hell was she doing to him?! He wasn’t a circus dog! He’d been brought here to work in the labs, not to be put on display like a carnival side-show. Jo-Jo the Amazing Dogboy! Engagement lasts a limited time!
But that was a far cry from what he was thinking at the forefront. His hazed mind was focused on the dog-like hedonistic behavior flooding his fragile mind. Maryke gave wonderful scratches, from his ears down his chest and his stomach. It got his leg thumping again.
He murred and in an act that would surprise both he and the lemur, he licked her. Maryke Jimenez
That certainly had taken the former madam off gaurd. She made a long unintelligable sound which was more like a 'uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuughblegh', not that anyone would be able to make sense of that. She wiped her mouth and quickly jumped back, hurting her feet and knocking herself into the bookshelf as well.
"What are you doing??" She asked, more angrily then she would have wanted. She should have known he would have done something like that. He was afterall, turning into a dog. But still the act surprised, shocked, and disgusted her all at once.
Jordan Essex Jordan groaned… the sudden outburst struck in his mind and he brought his paws to the sides of his head. “Hunh?” he blinked, looking dazed and very confused. Whereas he’d been locked in his own mind he was unaware of what had happened in the past minutes that had passed since they’d played fetch.
He was coming out of it and fell back onto his rear, biting his lip as his tail was bumped. “Hey… what’s wrong, Maryke..?” he pushed himself up and got onto his footpaws. “Man… it feels like I blacked out.” He was lost and had no recollection of their games. “I hope I didn’t do anything to you. I’m…” then he realized the tugging in his shorts and blushed profusely, quickly covering his crotch with his paws and turning around. “Oh geez! Uhm… uh.. I’m very sorry!” his ears flicked and turned a bright shade of red. Maryke Jimenez
"Nothing's wrong it's just you...you, " And then she noticed that he was speaking coherrantly again which made her only frown in confusion before...he continued. When he stopped and blushed she instinctively looked down before he covered himself. Her eyes widened and she felt herself getting hot from mild embarrassment. She certainly hadn't noticed THAT before. Maybe....she went a little overboard with the belly rubbings.
"Uh.....it...." she looked around. Okay how the hell was she supposed to get out of this one. Let alone figure out what the hell just happened. "You don't.....remember anything?"
Jordan Essex He shook his head gently. “No, I’m sorry. I…” he pointed to where the original book he had was “… was over there.. and then everything kinda gets fuzzy from there..” he turned himself to the side. It was difficult to talk to someone when he had his back to them.
“It feels like I was dreaming.. or something.” His tail wagged. “Something about being a good boy and belly scratches..” he blushed again, turning a shade brighter in his embarrassment. He noticed the few books on the floor and blinked again. “Are you hurt? Did something happen? I hope I didn’t black out and try to hurt you.” He brought his paws nervously to his mouth “Nothing like that’s never happened before and I’d hate to think I experienced a side-effect from the changes that would hurt anyone..”
He walked over to her and offered his paw to help her up. “I’m really sorry if I did ANYTHING to hurt you.. you’re such a nice person..” Maryke Jimenez
She took the paw offered to her and got up to her feet, standing to her full height. Her black silky tail was now curled over her back in a '?' formation, obviously previewing what was on her brain. He reallly didn't remember anything. For more nefarious reasons Maryke knew she could definately play around with that. She could rile him up and get him to do whatever she wanted. But......she frowned.
She actually LIKED playing with the dog boy. For one she really did think he could be an assest to their little islander show and for another, well it was fun. She never had a pet, and damnit why couldn't she at least PRETEND to.
"Oh it was nothing...." she really couldn't explain away the books, at least not with anything that he might find plausible so she didn't touch on it. "You didn't hurt me, I'm fine...reallly...as for what happened, well you were just reading and I finished the movie...that was it."
Jordan Essex He smiled as she was alright. That was very good. “I’d dread to think of anything bad coming to pass because I acted strangely without knowing it.”
He went to pick up the books and noticed one cover had fang marks in them. “Geez.. these aren’t chew toys.. looks like someone doesn’t like Call of the Wild. ” He shook his head and chuckled, re-shelving them. He held the canines book under his arm. He’d take it home and continue his reading at a later point.
“Thanks for keeping me company, Maryke. I think I should head out though.” His tail wagged. Deep down, he knew, Jordan didn’t realize he knew. “It was a pleasure meeting you.” He smiled as he casually padded towards the door. Maryke Jimenez
"Pleasure's all mine," she said, her usual response to that phrase. She watched him leave and then flopped back down on the couch. Somewhere deep down inside she felt bad for not telling him. But...no, no she was in no way OBLIGATED to tell him. Besides, after all he'd been through, finding out he was like a little lap dog, well that wouldn't do him any good. Yeah, Maryke thought as she settled back down, she was doing him a favor. Just like any 'nice' person would.
This certainly made her feel better at the game just played.
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Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:48 pm
Jordan Essex Jordan was finding it a bit difficult to focus on his reading, not because of the mood of his duplex. The music that filtered in posed a very studious environment condusive to reading. His mind was racing. He really wanted to know which breed of dog he was, but more than that, the pain from the recent changes was still there, only lessened over the past days since it ocurred. The new sounds and smells were a bit distracting, but did they ever propose new insight to his world! He loved being able to actually smell the wind and know someone had been through recently.
Cautious of sitting on his tail, the klutz that he was proving to be in the adjustments to his new body, he was sitting sideways on the entertainment room couch, with his changed, fur-covered legs dangling off the side and kicking back and forth idly. It was all-too strange walking around without shoes, but he'd have to come to terms and try not to step on any sharp twigs. Ouch!
He was reading through the book on canines, but his mind kept trying to guess what that sound was or what was he smelling this time, so he's spent twenty minutes already reading and re-reading the first entry in the AKC book on registered competition breeds. Tommy Christian Tommy strugled as he made his way toward the entertainment center. His hips still hurt like hell from the previous day's change...that, added to whatever drugs the labs had given him during his month long stay, has made the poor bat-man rather ill and sore all over. Regardless of this minor hurdle, Tommy studiously maneuvered his way toward the building he knew and loved. It was his place to watch movies in the dark at night. A distraction from the world around him. ...his cave. The bat-man squinted at the dying sunlight for a moment while he allowed his legs to rest. Ever since the change, his legs could no longer fully support him anymore. The labs had delivered a walker to his duplex though in the middle of the day while he was asleep. He pressed down heavily with his palms on his walker's handles, using his arms to support most of his weight as he slowly closed the distance to the door. At last, he opened it and stepped inside...it was bright in there. Someone else was using the room...someone else was in his cave. Tommy instinctively let out a quick burst of echolocation despite his extreme desire not to and was granted a quick picture of the room in his mind. There...on the couch...human...? Not sure yet...who is he?Jordan Essex Finally, the first dog had been ruled out. There was no way he could be transforming into an affenpinscher. They had stark black fur and his was most definitely the opposite. The next dog, afghan hound was listed as he studied the respective picture a moment.
His ears twitched, his nose snuffled. New scent! Oh my god! New scent! His mind was abalze all over again and he looked around, sniffing the air urgently as it was important to know exactly what it was. His ears twitched again and he glanced towards the door. Someone new?
Jordan shifted his sunshades, but they didn't exactly sit right on his face anymore, so they slid back down the slope of his nose, stopped from fallign off his face only by his broader nose. The book was lowered into is lap as he waited in great anticipation to put a face ot the scent. He perked up as he watched Tommy enter. He was preparign to greet Tommy when the air was suddenly filled with a very shrill high-pitched screech that hit him like a mac truck.
He dropped the book and his paws rose to his ears immediately. Jordan let out his own sound: a wincing whine of ear-piercing pain. Tommy Christian Tommy winces as the bood lands with a loud bang, his large ears amplifying the sound ten-fold. Though he was able to distinguish the the whine...and that confirmed it...not human. Were there any left? How many had come in since I've been gone...how many more lives ruined? Tommy looked over the face that greeted him over the top of the sofa and grimaced himself after realizing that he had caused pain. "I...I'm sorry. I can't help doing that sometimes..." he said softly, more than a little embarrassed. He moved his walker inside a few more steps, his thin, oddly shapped legs barely supporting him at all. Jordan Essex Once the sound had diminished, he took his paws down from his sensitive ears and got a clearer look at the batman. He didn't overreact as he had in the past, he was a bit awe-struck at the man's transformation. Sinewy-long fingers and webbed arms. 'He must be in some pain to need a walker'. He thought to himself.
"No no.. it's.. alright. These ears aren't used to loud noises yet." his nose twitched again, taking in the scent of the batman. "I'm Jordan." he offered, picking up his book and closing it. If it wasn't one thing it seemed it would be another keeping him from ever reading. What a cruel joke. "Don't worry about it, though. It's really alright. I understand if it comes naturally." he put it out there so the other guy wouldn't feel bad. Jordan scooted over on the couch to give Tommy room in case he was so inclined in sitting there. His tail curled on top of the couch's arm to keep from sitting on himself. Tommy Christian "Tommy...Tommy Christian," the bat-man replied, eyeing Jordan's arms as he moves the book. He's far along...wonder how many times he's been injected. Tommy just shakes his head at the thought, wanting to keep his mind on anything but that subject. "Heh...I can understand completely, with ears like mine, I don't miss much," he says with a small grin while slowly moving toward a chair near the couch. He pauses for a moment, "Oh...you're reading, I'm sorry. I was just going to watch a movie or something, but that's alright." His eyes stared longingly at the chair, his legs aching. Ah, what the hell...I need to eat anyway. He continues on to the chair, glancing at the many titles of book around him, wondering if one would help pass the time. "What are you reading...I mean, if you don't mind me asking." Jordan Essex "Hi, Tommy." he smiled, repeating the name to commit it to memory. Jordan chuckled and nodded. “No, don’t let me stop you. “Feel free to watch anything you like, Tommy. This is a public place after all. I only came out here because I got antsy and needed to get out. Had to walk the dog.” He chuckled again, but more nervously and it died off after a few seconds. No doubt that bit of bad humor was not appreciated. Jordan patted the couch. “You look like you need to sit and there’s plenty of couch for two.”
He held up the book “Not at all. I don’t mind. This here is just the AKC book on registered official competition canine breeds. It’s good reading, but I’m having a bit of some trouble keeping focused long enough to complete a page.” Tommy Christian "Thanks, man," Tommy says with a smile, trying his best not to show off his razor-like teeth...though this is hard due to their size. He gives a half-hearted chuckle at the joke, knowing how it's easier to make light of a difficult situation. At least some of his behavioral science classes had stuck with him. Being near the DVD's it doesn't take long for Tommy to pick one out. Who Framed Roger Rabbit seems like a good choice, if only for a background noise while he socialized. It took him only a moment to load the DVD in and turn on the television. Though one may think his 'hands' would hamper this, he has had plenty of practice with this motion over the past few months. His only worry was trying to hold himself up with his elbows while he worked. After this, he turned and eased himself into the couch with a grown. His small legs crossed themselves. "Yeah, I hear ya...it's hard to concentrate with everything going on around here..." he says before looking back to Jordan's book. "Trying to figure out what you're becoming?" he asks while fishing a medical packet of blood out of his short's cargo pocket with the claw on his thumb.. Jordan Essex Jordan just smiled, trying to be genial and chummy. It was likely that Tommy didn’t share his views on things and he had to be on his good behavior. The last time he’d let himself succumb to an emotional outburst Jordan had punched Seth in his snout as hard as he could, yelling at the top of his lungs. That happened a day before his change and he was beginning to believe that he would have remained human if he hadn’t resorted to such violence. Yes, in Jordan’s skewed mind, he believed that he was transformed as punishment for physically lashing out at one of the test subjects he was meant to live amongst but not necessarily interact with.
Jordan had taken note of some of the DVDs, such as Gilligan’s Island and his grin grew at the amusing irony. He loved the show and it made him think of Doctor Moreau as the professor. Thinking of Moreau made his tail thump happily and eagerly, but that could simply be played off as liking Tommy’s choice in movies. “Awesome choice, Tommy. I love the weasels in that movie. I can’t help but laugh at their antics.” It was soul pain to talk anything other than he would in the presence of Doctor Moreau himself, but he had to remain incognito and undercover amongst those who cost him his humanity. Yes, it was his fault for striking Seth, but Jordan was justified! He was defending his alpha’s good name!
“You gonna be okay, guy? We gotta look out for each other, y’know, so if there’s anything I can do… you want the couch? I can sit on the floor. I don’t mind.” He responded to the groan with convincing, feigned concern.
He just nodded at the last comment. “It’s not really what’s going on. It’s all the scents and sounds that set my mind on fire. When I take a simple walk through the jungle, I paint a picture no human can ever imagine.” He smiled, showing his enlarged canines. He tapped a claw once on the book cover “Yup. I’m gonna look through every single entry time and again until I’ve narrowed down the possibilities.” At the blood his eyes widen but he tries not to look disgusted. After all, he may be eating kibbles and bits from a dog dish soon enough. Tommy Christian Tommy glances from the tail to Jordan's face as it thumped away. He couldn't help but grin at that. "Yeah, it was always a favorite of mine, ever since I was a kid back home," he says as his grin turns into a sad smile. He shakes his head though, "Hmm? Oh...nono, not at all. I um...I just changed recently 'n my joints are still sore as s**t is all...but um, yeah...thanks though." Tommy continues fumbling with the packet of blood, trying to open it like one would a Capri Sun. After a moment he glances from the package to Jordan, "That nice, huh?" he says without much emotion. "Well...can't say that I know what you mean though...my eyes still suck 'n my nose hasn't gotten any better...and don't get me started on my ears, heh," he says with a slight chuckle. "But...anyway, try looking up sledding dogs maybe?" he says while glancing at the fur and the tail." After saying this, Tommy reached out with his foot to pick up the DVD remote. It takes him a few attempts, but he eventually hits the play button and turns the volume much lower. Jordan Essex “I was like… seven or eight when it came out. My mom took me to see it and I laughed so hard. The main villain was scary for a kid though, y’know? Had nightmares for weeks.” Jordan nodded at the batman’s confession of recent change, knowing all too well about that and from the looks of it this wasn’t his first change. Not that he was intending on letting him know that he could sympathize with that. He was hesitant to say anything on the subject. He needed to be a good boy! Good boy! And talking about confrontational and controversial subjects with people who couldn’t understand would only invite hostility again.
Jordan pulled up his legs underneath him and just smiled. It was easier to smile and be not get into a fight. Hold back anything that could get him into trouble and swallow it. “Oh man. I love being able to hear and smell things I couldn’t before. It’s just… so amazing.” He was trying to keep the enthusiasm down to a low boil. No point in totally giving away his hand, but he couldn’t help but attest that he did approve of the hightened senses. “But.. it must be harder on others.”
“I was told I look like a husky… but I don’t know of anything white huskees. They’ve always had some other color blended in: black, gray or brown. Never just white.” Jordan thought to himself that he could just go straight to the working class dogs, but what if he were incorrect? Then he’d look foolish! He had to be scientific stubborn about it. Tommy Christian "Yeah, I hear you...I always had to leave the room at the end when the guy got flattened...scared the s**t outta me," he says with a chuckle. With a slight popping sound, Tommy finally gets the large straw into the blood pouch. He takes a few swigs from it before closing his eyes and sighing. "It's never fresh..." he mutters under his breath. Blinking with surprise at his own words, he just shakes his head and looks back to Jordan. "Hmm? Oh! Yeah...well...I used to think opposable thumbs were amazing, but...yaknow..." he says once more without any emotion. Stop it Tommy...the guy's just trying to be friendly. God knows you need some friends right now more than ever...just talk to the guy and quit bringing up the goddamn changes!"But anyway...I dunno...I've seen albino huskies before, but they're not the only type of sled dog out there...damn...what was the name of that one breed..." he says as he thinks out loud. Jordan Essex It’s just a V-8. It’s just a V-8. He chanted in his mind. It’s not a pouch of human--- (or animal) blood! Other than the blood thing, Tommy was taking the bait wonderfully! This was easier than he thought. You catch more flies with honey… he mused.
“Well… if it makes you feel any better.. I slammed my tail in that door the other day. I was trying to be quiet when a nice woman..” he paused purposefully, trying to look in thought. Of course he hadn’t forgotten her name, but a classic pause was priceless. He dragged a claw across his cheek. “Maryke. Yes, that’s her name. She was in here watching a movie.” He lifted the book “This is what I’d come for too.” Knowing who knew who was valuable. Learning who liked which subject could prove interesting and an asset of sorts in later meetings and scheming- or the quelling of such scheming.
“Really? You’ve seen an albino husky? That must have been some treat. It’s a good day if I see a brown one. They’re so beautiful.” Don’t play the part too well. Leave him thinking you don’t know what’s going on. Sure, domesticateds are commonly known by most people, but don’t tip your hat. Keep a few tricks hidden under your hair. Tommy Christian Tommy sips at the bag once more, too hungry to be self-conscious anymore. Strangely enough though, he too tried to think of it only as a mundane...pouch...of V8. "Heh, that's gotta hurt like hell...Haven't gotten any...extra additions myself. I don't think most bats have much of a tail," He says with a shrug. He glances up at the mention of Maryke. "Hmm? Maryke...yeah, heh...I know her. She came a couple'a weeks after I did...by...helicopter I think. She likes her drink," he says with a chuckle. "Haven't seen her lately though...wonder how much she's changed," he says mostly to himself. He tries to picture what he looked like back then and almost cries out when he finds it gives him some trouble. He holds it back though as Jordan continues. "Yeah...always liked them. I couldn't have a pet back at the Academy, but when I got out I wanted to adopt a husky...that or maybe a Malamute," he says with a smile and a nod. Jordan Essex “You think slamming a finger in a car door is painful? There’s no knowledge of pain until it’s been your spine slammed shut in a door. This thing has a mind of its own too, so I can’t really control what it does.” Oh yes… that’s right. Be cool. “I scared poor Maryke half to death when it happened too. I can’t remember ever screaming quite like that before.” Good, good. We have confirmation of a connection. “Well… the best way to describe her… she has fluffy white fur on her arms and legs too. And she mentioned her feet are turning into hands because she’s turning into a….” another tactical pause. Don’t show too eager to remember the species. Some people might become offended by that. “…ruffed lemur?" he quirked a brow, tapping a claw on his lip "Imagine me with boobs and a longer tail and poofy white earmuff ears.” He couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at that image. “But she doesn’t have paws.” He waved them gingerly through the air.
“I used to have a pet husky too. You’ll probably laugh at what he was named. We called him Snowflake.” He said proudly. “Man, that was a great dog. He was my best friend as a child. We romped, rolled, chased squirrels together.” He laughed at that last part, scratching the back of his head. “Kids, go figure.” Tommy Christian Tommy chuckles at that. "s**t, I bet...can't say I've had that experience though...but...what, you can't control it at all? Goddamn, remind me to play poker with you some time," he says with a grin. The grin falters a bit at the mention of what she's turning into, "Lemur, huh? Well...lucky her, I guess. There're worse things out there..." The grin comes back in full force though as he does imagine what Jordan says. "Hah, I bet," he says, laughing. "Nah, not as bad as mine. We had a chow named Elvis at one point...nicest dog you'll ever meet...of course, that's probably because he was abused by his previous owners...we found him on the side of the interstate and took 'em in. Well...my mom did anyway...it took my dad some convincing, but he ended up loving that dog too." Tommy smiles to himself as he remembers those times. Jordan Essex "Not at all." he grinned "Like I said, it's got a mind of it's own. It really starts wagging when I think of something that makes me happy or say when I'm out walking and something really hits my senses just right.. BAMMO. Wag-town." he laughed. That was... a bit too friendly, no? Too late to go back. He had to roll with it and keep focused. "I'd be the worst poker player. If I was a gambler, then I'd be sunk. This tail o'mine would be too much of a tell, but hey.. if you EVER do have a game, I wouldn't mind joining in. Maybe we could get a bunch of people together, grab some snacks from the caf and make a night of it. I'm sure there's enough interest in something like it. Even if just to hang out and meet new people, right? Set up a weekly or bi-weekly gathering time?"
Wow.. that was slick. And it'd come out of nowhere. If he could get such a gathering of people together, then he'd be primed to learn more about the subjects, gain their trust, become one of them. Yes! He could assimilate himself into their little society. Heheheheheh...
"Hey, there's an upside to being a dog. I can walk myself and play fetch with any stick I find and if I had a frisbee I could throw it around on the beach and I'd never have to fight to get it back." his grin faded a bit though at the mention of an abused animal, but he persevered through it. "I'd like to see some of those abusive jerks turned into dogs so we could show them what it means to be the one in control."
Tommy Christian Tommy just nods and grins along with Jordan as he talks. Goddamn, I wonder how much the dog has affected his mind? I know it happens to some people...it happened to Joliette...but I dunno...he seems awfully...happy. Stop it Tommy. Just 'cause everyone's not as morose as you doesn't mean s**t...you could learn a thing or two from this guy."Hell, I wouldn't mind...actually, I know a guy that'd be interested in doing that. You meet a guy named Richard? He's an older looking guy...has two tentacles coming out of his back? A big card player, that one," he says with a nod. That's it Tommy...make friends, be sociable...'cause boy, you're going to be here for a looooong time. SHUT UP! No! I'm going to get out...one way or another, I'm gonna get out."I dunno...I wouldn't wish this s**t on anyone...ugh, goddamn, I'm supposed to be starting my sixth semester at USAFA right now..." That's great, you blew it. You had to bring it up, didn't you Tommy? Well s**t...maybe he'll stick around out of pity you schmuck.Jordan Essex "That's great! We can spread the word somehow. Yeah, word of mouth will get us a good group, I'm sure. HEY! I bet we could requisition some poker chips!" Did you just say requistition?! YOU IDIOT!! . However, the mentioning of Richard made that thought quickly go bye-bye as his eyes widened and he fidgeted nervously. The fear was apparent in his eyes. Truth-be-told, Jordan was afraid of Richard and he feared what he could do to him. He'd been too liberal with the information and Richard could potentially blow this scam wide open! "We-we've met." he nodded sharply. "Y-yeah, if he knows how to get this started, th-that'd be great." Jordan was almost trembling at the thought of those tentacles watching his every move and trailing over his skin.
He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose a bit to hard with his clawed fingers, more like jabbing his his face in fumbling movements. He took a deep breath in his sudden panic. Tommy Christian Tommy just grins at the word requisition. Being a military man, he knows exactly what it means (to him anyway). That is, to "borrow" without asking. It was an inside joke among most cadets at the Academy, which made Tommy wonder just what Jordan's story was. This thought gets pushed aside though at Jordan's sudden change in attitude. This guy's been acting weird all night...what the hell is up with him? Damnit Tommy, stop trying to sabotage every goddamn social situation, eh? You're tellin' me you didn't notice how he reacted to Richard's name?Tommy just quirks a brow and looks over Jordan as he pinches the bridge of his nose and takes deep breathes. Damnit I need to talk to Richard about this guy...don't say anything that'll give you away thyough...just act natural and give friendly concern...that's it. "You alright, man? You look like you need some air," he says with a feigned concern. Jordan Essex Jordan gulped a deep breath, forcing the lump in his throat to throb. Oh god.... not good. NOT good! NOT ******** GOOD!! He knows Richard! He's FRIENDS with him!! CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP!! Jordan looked up again and nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright." he forced a smile "Don't worry about me. I just..." his mind was too panicky to think of anything! So he let it hang on that.
He looked over his shoulder at the movie, givign himself a moment to compose himself- if that was even possible..
His claws fidgeted, on all four paws, flexing and twitching. "I'm good." he tries to reassure. "So poker sounds like a-go? Think he could talk to the labs and get something like that? I don't think anyone wants to play for acorns." it was a terrible swing and a miss. Tommy Christian Tommy just watches Jordan with a calm eye for a moment before giving a smile and a nod. What the hell was all that about anyway? Ah well...gotta put him at ease. "Yeah, I hear ya..." he says in an understanding tone, letting his own words trail off as Jordan's had. As Jordan began fidgeting...claws, paws, and the like, Tommy began to get nervous. He couldn't explain it, but something about Jordan moving around like that just unnerved him. He's awake...RUN! FLYFLYFLYFLYRUN!FLY! Tommy shuddered as he felt a familiar sensation building up in him...a few echolocation bursts in rapid succession. Somehow though, he managed to notch up the frequency on them somewhat, hoping it'll be out of Jordan's hearing range. As the pictures slammed into his mind, Tommy closes his eyes tight and shakes his head with his mouth open, muttering out a "goddamnit..." After a moment though, he looks back to Jordan, distracted, "Hmm? What? Oh...yeah...I dunno, I'm sure we can find something in the game room...they probably already stocked this place with some." Jordan Essex Two panicking animals is what they were. Nothing more at that moment, nothing less. Good thing he wasn't pumped with more animal hormone or he might've pulled a panicked mad dog and attacked Tommy in a fit of self-defense. His heart was fluttering with anxiety again. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, his body language was letting on. His body stiffened up in case he needed to bolt (or even leap off the couch). His footpaw claws were clicking absent-mindedly as they fidgeted. Clack. Clack. Clack. As if he were a dog walkign slowly on linoleum.
He arched his brow at Tommy when he opened his mouth but heard nothing. He blinked as if the batman had intended to say something or if he was hurt. "Hey.. you're not having a heart attack are you..?" and then Tommy muttered, which his ears did catch as they twitched.
"Oh. Yeah. Game room. We should definitely check it out. Know anyone else we could get to join in?" he was having difficulty maintaining his facade under the pressure. As panicked as the dogman was, there wasn't need for it- yet. Tommy Christian Control...control...don't let the animal get to you. Brains, breathing, blood...control it all...calm. Be calm.. Slowly, Tommy's breathing began to calm down as he repeated a mantra he had memorized from his favorite book. "N...no...no, just...things on my mind, sorry," he says with a half-hearted smile. The quick echolocation bursts slowed down and finally stopped completely. With a sigh, Tommy leaned back in the couch and stretched his fingers out, calming him even more. The joints made small popping sounds. "Hmm? Oh, um...I think pretty much anyone'll join in, if only to keep themselves busy with something...but offhand...Gaius would probably play...maybe Seth..." he shrugs, still trying to shake off his nerves. He took solace in the fact that Roger Rabbit wasn't having it any easier with the Judge coming after him in the bar. Jordan Essex At least he wasn't the only one with something on his mind and nervous as hell. It didn't come as much comfort because undoubtedly, he'd given away his position in a new encounter that had the potential for garnering allies. He needed to build up his power base of trusted allies before someone came after him. But, how well could any of them be trusted?
He shook his head and grunted in disgust at himself. He had to stop thinking that everyone was out to get him... but with a murderous wolf on the loose and predatory test subjects capable of snapping his leg off, he was warranted in his paranoia. The gimpy bat couldn't hold up in a fight against himself anyways, but he had Richard as an ally! ARGH!
"I'm afraid I haven't met Gaius, but hey. Any reason to meet a new face, eh..?"
Oh beautiful. He knew SETH?! He'd just gone from screwed to 'you sunk my battle ship'. His right paw clenched and unclenched. It was getting even more tense in the room. At least he hadn't made up a false identity in Tommy's case.. and he hadn't for Richard either.. so even if Seth told either Jordan was a marine biologist, so what? Ohoho. But... what if they were all good friends? Crap.. Then the odds were threeagainst one. Not odds he'd bet on.
It wasn't likely Tommy would take the news well once he learned Seth had been injured on Jordan's behalf or that he so avidly supported Doctor Moreau and the labs. Richard was bitter on the subject. He was reminded of the old Laurel and Hardy phrase 'Well, this is a fine mess you've gotten us into!'
He had to know... "Soooo... are you good friends with Seth and Richard..? I have to say we can all could use a confidant and trusted ally. Tommy Christian Tommy finally found the nerve to look back to Jordan after the after "images" of the echolocation had died down. Still, as he looked at Jordan, he couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable he seemed. Maybe it was just the paranoid bat in him, but the guy was odd. He sighs inwardly as he sized the man up. Could probably take me out easily with those arms and teeth...s**t, anyone can in my current situation. God, what I wouldn't do for normal arms and hands...I'm so goddamn weak like this. What was the point of all those ******** pushups if I was going to turn out like this..."Gaius is a good guy...yeah..." he trails off as he notices another shift in Jordan's composure. What the hell did I say now...? Ohh...Seth too? Christ..."Seth? I met 'em once or twice. Guy's deadset on getting out of here...by the most elaborate means..." he says with a slight chuckle. "Richard though...I dunno, he's alright I guess. I don't know him too well," Tommy lied, realizing that there must be bad blood between the two. Jordan Essex Uncomfortable much? Yes! This was a bad situation and he was being too fidgety and antsy. Dammit! The art of bluffing and chicnery was lost on him. He didn't know what he was doing. Hiding from people who'd want to see him hurt...
He tugged at his shirt and his claw got stuck in the cloth. He panicked and tugged his paw frantically, tearing the cloth to free his claw from the black silk. He was losing it in this one. He was so screwed anyways so might as well go down in a blaze of horrific defeat. It was all so simple: make an ally! And he screwed it up by trying it on the one guy who knew both people he was on less-than-friendly terms with!
He was breathing hard and gasping as he tried to avoid eye contact. This was embarrassing. Now he thinks you're psycho.. great..
"I... please... I... I'm not like this.. normally.. just... have things on my mind... I'm sorry... I'm not crazy." yeah.. the crazy are lways the first to deny it! "Please... could you not mention my name to them when we get this poker thing going?" Tommy Christian Tommy watches the the once-human squirm, first fidgeting with his shirt, then tearing it and finally stuttering with near panic. Just what the hell is wrong with this guy? I mean...first he's all calm and amiable, now just panicked beyond belief. He's not crazy, I know crazy...just paranoid maybe...maybe for a reason, I dunno. What the hell's he hiding? He doesn't want me to mention his name now...what's the best response to this? If I agree too quickly, he won't believe me...but I don't think he's in any condition to answer me if I asked why...Christ, this is ********, man...sure..." He says hesitantly, trying to make Jordan believe that Tommy thinks there's just something wrong with him instead of the true suspicion inside.
"Why don't you get some air 'cause you don't look so hot...you may be coming down with something."Jordan Essex Tommy was giving him an out. He wasn't even questioning him. Good! He needed to flee while he still could, before he acted truelly irrational. He believed the batman's word and nodded and he pushed himself off the couch and strecthed his semi-digitgraded legs legs. He looked at the floor then had the nerve to look at Tommy, offering a paw. "Thanks. I appreciate it."
"Y-yeah, a breath of air sounds good.." he fidgeted a bit more before remembering the book. Well, not so much remembering as it had been spotting it lying on the couch. Jordn picked it up nervously. No doubt he was paranoid, not only about the others, but of what punishments will come his way. He wasn't being a good boy. No, sir he wasn't. Tommy Christian Tommy studied Jordan as the dog-man clawed at his out like a drowing man clutches a life preserver. He just nods and smiles when he speaks again. At first he just looks down at the offered hand, not knowing what to do with it, and then as it clicked he mentally kicked himself. He stretched out a forming wing toward Jordan. It'll be an awkward hand-shake, but a hand-shake nevertheless. "I'll catch you around, Jordan," he says amiably enough, though his mind raced about the possibilities of his new friend. Jordan Essex Even if Tommy had normal human hands, the shake would have been awkward for Jordan. He was still gettign used to grasping with his new paws and this was as good practice as antything. He tried hard not to scratch Tommy with his claws, trying to make the shake firm and assertive. A lot could be said from a hand shake.
He nodded. "I'm sure we'll see each other around. I'll know where and when to find you, too." he smiled a bit. That was good, right? "Uhm, so whenever you have the time or see anyone you know would be into the get-together, spread the word and I'll do the same. Seeya."
He left as calmly as he could, but as soon as he was out the door, it could be heard his claws scrambling on the ground into a run. Tommy Christian Tommy's hands would seem frail to Jordan and he tries not to wince from the firm handshake. After that, he just nods and grins at all the right times, "Yeah man, totally. Rock on." His grin drops as Jordan walks out the door and his sharp ears hear the running. He lets out a sigh and leans back in the couch. "******** hell..." he mutters to no one. In the background, he hears Roger Rabbit say something about this hitting you like a ton of bricks. "You're tellin' me..."
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 6:47 am
Jordan drummed his claws on the composition journal. He’d been fumbling to hold a single pen in his paws and it wasn’t working so well. That, however, wasn’t what had him agitated. He needed to keep his identity low-key. Any affiliations to Feral Labs had to be kept under wraps as far as the other islanders were concerned. He’d been loose with his lips in his human days on the island and that had caused him avoidable consequences. That being said, Richard knew. Jordan feared Richard. Their first encounter left him frightened for what the man had been becoming and for the potential of what he could do to the young man.
He couldn’t silence Richard if Tommy were to ask about him behind his back. He said that he wouldn’t mention Jordan’s name, but still… it nagged at him. What if…? That connection was disconcerting. Richard was Tommy’s friend! The same Richard who was nothing less than the Boogey Man to Jordan. Scary, unnerving, distressing tentacle-beast Richard. And then Tommy also knew Seth?? Hell! This was bad! At least Tommy hadn’t been given a fabricated semi-truth like Seth had, so even if he happened to say anything to the batman, there would be no discrepancy. Richard, though, remained that discrepancy, the one who could destroy his veil.
He’d try to recruit Tommy as an ally, not in the same way he messed with Sophie, giving her the sunnier view on the island as Lauren had for him. This island was crawling with dangerous people and he needed protection. Sure, Doctor Moreau was the top dog, the alpha, who gave overall protection from the dangers, but when he could not be around, Jordan needed people nearby that could be there in a heartbeat if hell broke loose.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do about this.” He thought aloud, unaware he was being monitored in his duplex. “You’re a real genius, Jordan. Oh what a web we weave when at first we practice to deceive.”
With so many test subjects on the island it was inevitable that this would happen. Both Richard and Seth were not on the best of terms with the dogman and that could produce some very uneasy possibilities if they banded and turned a potential ally against him.
Jordan laid his head down on his desk and sighed. Such stress was so unnecessary. His changes had come the day following his attack on Seth. That had been several days ago. Jordan was now working under the impression that if he hadn’t assaulted the thylacine man he would have retained his humanity. This thought has only been in his head the past day or two, a result of stress caused by adjustment to his changes. It was a punishment Doctor Moreau had spoken of, one that he did not want to administer. Seth had forced Doctor Moreau to turn Jordan into an animal. Even though that was not true and Jordan was responsible for his own actions and his canine fate, the illogic was sound to the scared young man. He wouldn’t resort to violence again. He couldn’t risk further punishments. He had to be a good boy.
Jordan had to prove to Doctor Moreau that despite Seth and Richard he could control himself. He’d run with his tail between his legs when he discovered the connection between Tommy and his threats.
“There has to be something I can do… someone who can protect me you can’t be here, Sir…” Sir being Doctor Moreau. Jordan’s eyes welled with tears. His bottom lip trembled. “I’m sorry I’ve been so bad… I wanted to show you I could be trusted and I failed you, but still you give me another chance.” A tear streamed down his cheek and onto the black and white cover of the paper journal. “I want to prove I’m worth your time and love. I want to be your good boy…” his tail waggled weakly, but it wagged nonetheless. He’d been bad and he was fully aware of that, like a dog who’d been caught red-handed eating out of the garbage. “I’ll do whatever it takes, whatever you tell me to. I’m going to devote myself to you completely, Sir, and earn your forgiveness. I’ll do anything. Anything…”
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:04 pm
Jordan Essex This was not a good day. His stressful and worrying ways were going to catch up to him if he didn't stop. Jordan had been crying in the privacy of his duplex. It was the initial fact that he couldn't easilly write in his composition book that set it off. His journal was where he dumped all his excess emotional baggage and sealed it away on a paper prison. Without the full use and dexterity of his paws, he was festering in his unwanted emotional state. If Richard leaked to others that he worked for the labs, it would spread like wildfire and he'd be hunted down, no doubt.
He'd hauled himself out to the beach. It wasn't any trip for him, just a step outside. But, he liked to travel down the beach. Jordan had a spot. With his new nose, he knew where it was, roughly. It was HIS spot. His beach. Well, at least he liked to think so. Living there certainly helped enforce that thought process.
He sat with his knees pulled close to his chest, huddling them in his arms wrapped around his legs. The ocean breeze felt good whipping through his furry arms and legs and over his pointy ears. His claws clicked as they tapped one another on their tips. His nose twitched every time he snuffled, getting a strong scent of salty air and any particular smell the wind carried at the moment. Kim Nguyet It wasn't a good day for Kim, either. After weaking up in sweat from that horrible nightmare and being unable to fall asleep again, now she found herself with an horrible fever. It would have been smarter to stay in her duplex, but it was getting way to hot in there. So, she decided to head to the beach, hoping that the breeze would help make the fever go down.
There was no ipod, no portable game systems, nothing else but herself, as she walked into the sand, finally seeming to find a nice spot in a shade, and sitting down. The feel of the cool sand on her warm skin was almost heavensent. Jordan Essex The wind was against him, so he didn't pick up her scent easilly and it really wasn't until his ears twitched with the early alert that someone or something was there. With his luck, it'd be that killer wolf on the loose. The thought frightened him that he would ever have to deal with a killer, no less one that could physically tear him in half.
Jordan rubbed his face and sighed in resignation that he wasn't alone. If this was the wolf, then he wasn't in the mood to be kibble that easy. Standing up slowly, he he kept himself at a half-crouched stance in case he needed to bolt. These dog's legs had to be good for running, right? Even if he was uncoordinated in his new body, he had to find out one way or another. His fluffy tail stiffened and he spun around, forcing his legs to spring forward in a bounding motion away from the water and he fell flat on his face.
"Ooof!" he exclaimed, face-planting in the cooling sand of the later afternoon. Kim Nguyet Kim's hearing wasn't as keen as some others, so the sound that Jordan made when shifting positions where lost on her. It was only when he felt face-first in the sand that the girl finally heard, and almost jamp to her own feet in alarm. Instead, she stiffened and alarm and looked around, finally spotting the man.
Working herself to her feet, she took a few steps in his direction. "Hey..." She said, softly. "You're alright... ?" She was pretty good at this falling on your face thing, and it wasn't really fun. Jordan Essex He spat out sand as he pushed himself up to a crouching stance. Well, this was new. Tense situations were good for bringing out new talents and skills one may not have been aware of. He definitely would have thought that was cool if he wasn't scared out of his mind.
Then it clicked... "Wait... a feral wolf wouldn't ask if he was alright... would one?" he muttered. He looked around, ears twitching to locate the origin of the voice and what he saw was most definitely not a wolf.
"Not really, but that's okay.. at least I'm not dog food.." tense situations were also good for bad jokes that weren't funny. Dusting the sand off his clothes was easy enough, but he was somewhat surprised when the grains didn't cling to his fur like it would with most canines. Was this a hint to his breed or just a coincidence? Kim Nguyet Kim simply rose an eyebrow in silence. Why was this guy so on edge ? It wasn't like she made a daily habit of kicking other people's asses.
The simple thought of her, a small and tiny little girl, being able to kick someone's a**, was pretty amusing.
"Well, allright..." She wasn't too sure what to say. Jordan Essex He took stock of her and padded closer in the sand. What... was she? He tilted his head curiously, bringing a claw to his mouth and scritching. He couldn't tell at all.
"Hello, miss... uhm... would you mind telling me your name? I'm Jordan. Jordan Essex." he was being rather formal all of the sudden, wasn't he? "I'm sorry for that embarrassing scene you had to witness. I thought you were someone else and it made me a bit jumpy. I'm sorry if I startled you in turn."
He continued to pad closer to her, curiously studying her. He had to know: what was she?! But he couldn't just ask her outright. That would get him beaten. Kim Nguyet "That's fine, really." She answered, hoping this would help him calm down. "Im Kim." She thought it was a bit useless to give out her full name... especially here on this island.
Thought she was someone else ? Was the man in trouble with others ? He didn't really look like someone who could attract trouble, however. How puzzling. In fact, he looked almost like a cute puppy with the way he was paddling around, but of course, she didn't mention THAT. She just sat in the sand again, for once wearing shorts and a tanktop, longing to feel the coolness of the sand on her legs again. "It's kind of rare to see people here this late..." Jordan Essex He was still wearing his silk shirt that he'd torn on his claw the night before in his meeting with Tommy. It'd be noticable the closer he padded and he came within ten feet of her and stopped his advancment as she sat down.
"Hello, Kim. I'm fond of the beach. It's like a home for me." stating the truth without giving out any information was fun and it kept him safe. His nose twitched. He was sniffing her. Taking her scent. The more scents he'd register, the odds were greater he would know if that feral ever came near. "It's a sanctuary where I like to sit in thought. The breeze carries my troubles away." he smiled, showing off elongated canines. "The stars are beautiful when they do come out."
Jordan was fidgety as usual wiggling the claws on his paws, tapping his sides as he sat on his haunches. "What brings you out here?" Kim Nguyet There was something oddly... cute about all this. Almost like when your best friend's new puppy came over waddling to you curiously. Was the man already... this affected mentally ?
"Yeah, it's true." She agreed. "I wasn't feeling too good, so I thought some fresh air might help this fever I have..."
It didn't seem like she was getting better, however. In fact, now she seemed to have an headache, too. Just great. Jordan Essex "Sometimes some cool air and a bit of company can do wonders for the mind and the body." It hadn't ocurred to him that the fever was an onset to a change, as he hadn't experienced that symptom. He padded coser, tentatively. She wasn't a threat. And if she was, she must be like on the level of some kung-fu granny ninja who kicks the hell out of the baddest-assed supervillain in all those action movies.
"I'm here if you need some company." he smiled kindly. His tail wagged as he sat down in the sand nearby. "I hope there's not a flu going around. That would be a terrible epidemic. I haven't met any other dogs, but I know from personal experience they get real mopey and lethargic- and cuddly." he chuckled. "Dogs are such big, lovable babies sometimes."
His footpaws wiggled and stretched out, displaying the soft underpadding. Kim Nguyet "Yeah, I hope not. I don't really want to wind up sick or bed-ridden or in an hospital, or something." She chuckled. "I get sick very easely..."
"I never had a dog, really." She sighed. "My apartment was too little to have one and keep it happy. So my mom didn't want us to keep any pets beside birds. She had two budgies last I've known..."
The pain was so far away in her mind that she didn't quite place it at first. The bump on top of her head slowly started to grow, relatively painlessly as she attributed it to her headache and rose her hands to rub her temples, but it was when some inexplicable pain hit the front of her face that she finally understood, and that the memory came back to her.
"Oh... no, no... Sh-" The word was deformed into some kind of hiss of pain as her face began to push forward, and she clenched her teeth to bottle in a scream. She had experienced sinus pains before, but it was NOTHING like it. It felt like someone was litterally stretching and trying to rip her face off. Jordan Essex He listened intently. Anything to distract him from his own worries. It was easy enough to get them to open up to him. That was the fun part of the game. The island was becoming a social experiment that was tearing him apart.
“Oh, I’ve owned dogs. They make great friends and pets. I meant that as far as I know I’m the only one of this island becoming a dog.” He chuckled nervously, scratching at the back of his head.
No way… did… no ******** way her horn just moved! No….. this can’t be.. is she…? Jordan’s eyes grew wide as he gasped silently. Oh god.. she was changing?! He could imagine all-too well what she must have been feeling. He’d been popping Tylenol infront of Sophie just before his change. It was his turn to bear witness to the metamorphosis. Her exclamation confirmed that she was preparing to change. He said damn near close to the exact same before it tore through his body.
He gripped her hand tightly in his paws. “Kim, listen to me. I’m here for you. I think you’re starting to change.” This was wild, intense even. His heart raced as he breathed harder, trying not to lose it. This was the first change he’d witnessed. Well, Awen fled from his sight as her final change had begun but this was different. “We’ll get through this.” His voice wavered as he wished he’d stayed home. Kim Nguyet She made no movement to move her hand, but the free one went to touch the still-forming beak, hoping to stop the pain, but it only made it worse, as she snarled a bit at herself for the lack of forsight.
"I... undesthand..." The words came out oddly, distorted - and very pained. "...if you whant to lheave..." She didn't want to be there, at least not like s**t. She hated when others saw her sick or in pain. Deep down, she hated the pity that came with being so frail physically, and even emotionally to an extent. She wouldn't force him to stay... she wouldn't force him to see this. Finally, her nose and face seemed to settle, but with another jolt of pain and a sickening crack, it was her neck's turn to extend. As the vertebraes rearranged, she couldn't bottle her scream anymore. Jordan Essex “I’m not leaving you alone.” He affirmed, his voice wavering further, feeling the tears well again. This was hard to watch. His paws squeezed tighter as she could feel him tremble. He was holding her hand for her as much as it was for him. He tried to smile for her, to be reassuring that it’d be alright, but he couldn’t do it. He was terrified of the changes. He had claws erupt from his fingers shortly before his hands became paws! “We’ll get through this together. It’ll be over soon. Be strong, Kim. It’ll end in a few minutes.”
He was trying hard not to burst into tears at the sight and sound of her pain. It was so hard. A part of him knew he had to witness this. To help him with his own fears of the pain the changes brought he had to be strong himself and endure alongside her. The cracking vertebrae made him cringe fiercely as he bit into his bottom lip with his canines. He was crying now, not able to watch any more. His eyes clenched tightly, sobbing, whimpering as only a week ago he’d screamed in horrible pain as another watched. Kim Nguyet Tears where starting to roll on her own face as well, as she wordlessly slid closer and burried her strange new face into Jordan's chest. She felt so cold now, a sharp contrast with how she had felt mere minutes before. As much as she didn't want him to see... it was doubtless that she needed him right now, even if they had never met before. Her first change, lost into the jungle with no one there to know or care, was still too fresh. Her eyes changed, unseen from both, from a deep brown to a unnatural, bright yellow.
The pain in her hand made it slip from Jordan's hold and fall weakly on the cold sand. Her pinkies grew, became stronger, more flexible, as the webbing spread and strengthened itself. Her arms where doubtlessly wings, and it was painfully clear.
And then, another webbing started growing, at one of the worst possible place. She cringed as the pressure in her shorts became worse and worse, the webbing pushing them down as it grew. At least her modesty was intact.
When it was finally over, she did nothing but cry, nuzzling against the comforting warmth. She couldn't see herself, but the pain had given her a decent idea... and she didn't like it. One of the last bit of humanity she had, her face, was surely gone. She couldn't even pretend to be human anymore, or somewhat recognize the person who would be staring back at her in the mirror from now on. She wasn't human... she was a pterodactyl. A dinosaur. A reptile. Ugly... probably unwanted in the "pack". Alone. All alone... beside one.
The only thing she had left that seemed human was, oddly, her hairs - parted oddly at the middle, where the horn and the beak where lining up, but otherwise strangely intact. Jordan Essex He held onto her for dear life. He couldn’t let her go- not now and probably not soon after her change. He rubbed the back of her head and held his face in her hair, sobbing uncontrollably. His claws rubbed up and down her back as he tried to comfort her. “Shhhhhhhhhhh….” He couldn’t speak any words that would bring resolution to the pain. There was nothing he could say that wasn’t a total crock of s**t.
He trembled harder as she continued to change. This was insane. His fears. The pain. He’d only just met this girl and they were now huddled as if they’d been through the Apocalypse and back. He was truly afraid to let her go as she nuzzled his chest, one of the few places on his body that was both unchanged and furless.
“I’m here for you…” he whispered into her ear.
Jordan hugged her closely, pressing their bodies tightly together in empathy. The knowledge of how traumatic the changes were made him experience a kinship for her that transcended words. Even though her changes were more drastic than his had been.
“I’m not leaving you until you tell me to..” he whispered once more, shivering, finding little comfort in their huddled warmth. Kim Nguyet She didn't answer - couldn't answer. The wild sobs made speaking pretty much impossible at the moment.
The hug made her feel sightly better, even if there was still a slight pain - the changed parts of her body where definitively sore, but she didn't care. The pain was nothing next to what she had just experienced, she could put up with it.
"I-Im shorry..." She somehow managed, between sobs. Why did she had to be so weak ? Why did she had to cry... now he was crying, too. Jordan Essex He wanted to be strong for her but failed. How could he be strong for her when he could not be strong for himself?
"You have nothing to be sorry for.. I had to stay at your side.. I know how much it hurts.. I only changed a week ago.. it was my first time.. I couldn't leave you to suffer alone.." he kissed her head gently, not knowing where that had come from. Was it supposed to make her feel better somehow?
He was careful of the changes to her arms, moving slowly and cautiously when he rubbed her back. He just held her in his arms, keeping her safe. Right now, he did feel like 'Sir Jordan the White Knight' as Colche had dubbed him when he rescued her in the jungle.
"You're safe now.. it's over.." he stared at his paws. Those long, black claws. It wasn't over by a long shot. Kim Nguyet Kim finally looked like she was starting to calm down, as the sobs slowly diminished to silence. She didn't seem ready to leave the cocoon of warmth that Jordan's body formed around her, however, but she straightened her head and peered up sightly, her yellow eyes still glimmering with tears, and her cheeks covered with water.
Gently, slowly - unsure of her own hands and not wanting to hurt him with her movements - she rose an hand and whipped away what was left of his tears from his cheeks with one still normal finger. Thankfully, unlike her feet, she had no claws to worry about on what was left of her hands. Her scaly skin was so cold against his.
"T-Thank yhou..." Jordan Essex He had to show her he was being strong when Kim finally was able to look at him. He smiled weakly at first, giving only a mere glimpse of his canine tips, but as he noted her yellow eyes, his smile widened and more of his white fangs came into view.
He choked back a sob as she wiped away his tears skillfully. The pain of change scared him, but she did not. He trusted her that she wouldn’t even scratch him with her elongated fingers.
Jordan reciprocated the gesture, using the downy soft fur of the back of his paw to dab away the water on her cheek, gently blotting at her cheek carefully. The fur brushed down her cheek like a puffball of gentleness. He used a claw to wipe away a tear at the corner of her yellow eye.
“Your eyes are so beautiful.” he kept smiling, hoping that she would believe him. He was being genuine after all. They really were a rare sight to see. He kept stroking the back of her head, raking his claws gently through her dark hair like a comb, letting them gingerly graze her skull. “I’m sorry, it’s probably not the right thing to say.” Kim Nguyet The fur was so soft... it did help with calming her down, and she blinked a bit when she noticed him smiling.
"My... eyhes ?" She gave some kind of odd smile herself. "Mahybe." She couldn't see them, after all. She wasn't really sure that they where beautiful, and even less that she looked even sightly beautiful as a whole, but it wasn't really the time to start talking about that. He did not need to know the fear that threatened to eat her inside. Jordan Essex Seeing her smile was a positive step. It meant he was doing something right. He really didn’t want to let her go. Nodding gently, he continued his fanged smile. “Of course, if you want to keep such magnificent eyes a secret from the world…” he took the blue stylish sunshades off of his face- something rare for him to do- and carefully placed them on her face. “Those look good on you, but I like seeing pretty things flaunted.” He was trying to make her feel better. He wanted to. He had to.
Jordan resumed holding her against him. His fur did feel good against someone else’s skin and continued gently stroking her cheek as it was showing success. “I’ll be here for you anytime you need a friend.” his face wasn't hidden from her. Though it was still human in some respects, his more canine nose, teeth, and ears made him feel more like a dog than a human.
His fluffy tail wagged side to side, knowing he was helping. Kim Nguyet Kim didn't look like she wanted to let go either, and made no effort to do so. Even if she didn't know if it was true or not, it made her feel better.
She looked a bit confused as the glasses where put on her face, and, with lack of external ears to hold to, the end simply felt down to the side and the glasses wound up in a vertical position, instead of horizontal, and not covering her eyes at all. And for some reason, this amused her greatly, and she let out a small chuckle as the retrieved it.
"I don't thinhk that's ghonna whork...." Her distorted speech definitively held some tint of amusement to it, as she put the glasses back in place. Jordan Essex Jordan let out a giggle at the light-hearted comment. “Guess you’ll just have to make everyone jealous, then and show off a bit. They’ll have to live in envy of you and wish they had pretty eyes too.” It was feeling good to make her feel more comfortable. The fear and the tension the changes had brought was still there and both of them were dangerously teetering on the precipice of falling back into that frightened mindset, but it had to be staved off.
He adjusted the way he was sitting on his haunches, letting himself slip onto his rear with a soft yelp as he sat on his tail. He pulled her gently against him, letting her be more comfortable against him in a position that wasn’t straining his semi-digitgraded legs. The way they were now positioned, they could gaze out to the ocean, the beautiful horizon shimmering with late afternoon sunlight that reflected off the water in inspiring vibrance. He wrapped his right arm around her waist as he held onto her, caressing her cheek still with the back of his paw.
Jordan wanted to say something, but he was suddenly at a loss for words. He'd not let go. That said more than words at the moment. He was knight. I'm Sir Jordan, the White Knight. he mused. Kim Nguyet The woman let herself be repositioned freely - not quite having gathered the strength to do broad movements on her own, just yet. Jordan has her total trust, also - he wouldn't hurt her. He couldn't hurt her.
Worries and pain slowly seemed to melt away in warmth, and fleeing into the soft sounds of the ocean as the waves hit the shores. It didn't seem like her hearing had improved all that much, but the view was crystal clear to her.
"Now you're exahgerathing a litthle bit." She said, not mad, but still amused. Jordan Essex His tail wagged and made dull thumping sounds in the sand. He grinned at her amusement. As long as she was happy he was happy. Jordan was pleased that he hadn’t harmed her in the repositioning. She was limp as he had moved her, but he kept holding firm. It wasn’t a good idea for her to be moving too much after a change. He’d had to trek from the cafeteria, through the jungle and to his beach duplex after his first change. The pain, the agony, the cursing. He shivered, almost wincing as his footpaws twitched at that memory.
This was nice. Sitting on the beach with someone. No confrontation. No yelling. No fighting. Just two people comforting one another in their time of need. His pawpads rested on her exposed stomach. Soft and spongy. They twitched and flexed now and then in nervous reflex to his paws. He was careful not to scratc her bare skin with those sharp claws.
He grinned as they looked out to the water. He lifted his chin to sniff at the scents carried on the breeze.
“I’ve been told not to argue with pretty ladies.” He commented with the intent of bolstering her spirits “but you can keep the glasses if you’d like. They really don’t fit me so well either.” He chuckled. “They make me look like a librarian the way they slide down my nose.” Kim Nguyet Now that was just plain pushing it, but Kim said nothing. She didn't want to think about... that right now. She wanted to forget for now, and just calm down for a moment. She would probably be fine on her way home once she recovered a bit more - her feet had not really changed, after all, so there would be no pain when putting weight on them. She had gotten so used to walking barefoot, ever since the change before this one, that she could pretty much walk bare footed in the jungle with no pain.
"I allhready got some that ah can't wear ahnymore... I don't need tho start a cohllechtion." She laughed a bit. "But ill tahke them if you rehally want me to." It seemed like the item was precious to him, so she gave him a second chance to think if he really wanted to give them up.
She gently shifted to rest her head on his shoulder, her face brushing against the fur on the side of his. It was almost a balm to the sore skin there. "I never notihced the ocean chould be so beauhtiful befhore..." Jordan Essex Jordan sighed contently. He knew the comment was pushing the limits, but anything to make her feel better. At least it seemed it made her feel better. He rubbed his paw over her stomach, up and down in slow soothing motions. He used his other fluffy paw that was stroking along her cheek to slide to her chin, rubbing a claw over her chin and near her lower lip as he rubbed under her chin. He really didn’t think about it and it didn’t occur, in the moment, that it could be unwelcomed attention.
He chuckled along with her, imagining her with a wall of sunglasses from around the world. “I’m sure. Even if you don’t wear them.. I’d like you to have them as a reminder of the friend you have in me. A token of friendship.” If he got desperate, he could always ask the labs for another pair, but that was neither here nor there.
Jordan smiled as she settled in, trusting him enough, relaxed enough to lay her head on his shoulder. It made him smile brighter. His paw on her stomach flexed as she did, his digits spreading wider to cover more area. Kim could feel each individual pawpads on each canine finger, plus the main one on his palm. Again, without thinking, he tilted his head to the side and nuzzled her cheek ever-so-gently.
“I never really thought about it much before either, but it is.” He didn’t think mentioning he used to live near beaches would be constructive. Mentioning home wasn’t for the best. Live in the moment and look forward. “It’s really spectacular the way the sun shimmers on the water.” Kim Nguyet Normally, all those shows of affection would have turned Kim into at least an oversized pterodactyl-raspberry, and she would have shyed away from such open displays of affection, since she hadn't really had been on the receiving end of them before. But right now, she didn't care. She needed it - needed the warmth and the soothing touch more than anything else in the world.
"Okay, then." She said softly, but she would not reach out for them - Jordan would need to give them freely. She'll feel a bit guilty if she just snatched them. "Yeah, it is... it's almost as if the light is dancing on the water... See ?" She pointed at the waves. "They're dancing..." Jordan Essex If he were psychic, he’d agree with her. He was often shy around other people. He’d spent so many years around animals that he’d lost touch with humanity and isolated himself and his emotions. Animals were unconditionally loving, unlike humans who often used and abused someone’s emotions for personal gain. This was new to him. He was treading unfamiliar waters and he'd have to admit to himself that he liked it.
He thought it was odd that she hadn't taken the sunglasses, but smiled anyways and taking her hand he gently set tem in her grasp. "It's so amazing..." he said in awe, nodding, watching the lights dance like the aurora borealis of the ocean. "They're dancing just for us, wanting to make us feel better." How stupid did that sound?! Jordan couldn't help but feel a bit flush as he said that, his cheeks a bit redder than before. Warmer as well. Kim Nguyet She held the glasses a bit closer to her, peering to look at the spectacle that was unfolding in front of them. As stupid as it sounded, she couldn't help but think that he was right. They had to be, right ?
She reddned a bit as well as the situation started to finally dawn on her. She had never been physically this close to a man that wasn't her father. It made her shy a bit, but she didn't want to go. Not as long as he would let her stay here, that is. She... liked it. Jordan Essex There was no denying Jordan was blushing beet red. He couldn't hide it even if he tried. The white fur lining his face illuminated the apple tinted redness. He was naive enough, but he too was realising this was cozy. It was a great feeling being so close to someone like this. Then he realized that he had his paws on her bare skin and it made him wiggle a bit.
Jordan nudged her cheek gently with his, whispering softly. "How're you holding up?" his paw flexed on her stomach. "I'm..." he bit his lip, looking shy as he usually would "I've.." his words were getting stuck in his throat, so he just hugged her gently. "I needed the comfort as much as you did.. thank you for staying with me."
The lights were incredble. They dazzled him for sure. "Maybe we should get you home, so you can rest. I'd be honored if I could walk you to your duplex. And.." he was choking on his words again. "..if you don't want to be alone just yet.." he blushed harder, trying to hide it under a paw now, which only brought more attention to it. ".. I could keep you company for a little longer... I know that I wish someone had been there for me during my change.. And you must be tired." he was stammering like a high school kid, but in their short time together, they'd been through so much. Supporting one another. Kim Nguyet Her brown scale did hide her own red cheeks sightly, but not completely. The way he blushed was so cute, and she couldn't help but smile, not realizing she looked pretty much the same.
"Shure." She said, slowly working her way to her feet. "I don't mhind. Im a bit thired, but not that bhad..." Talking was a bit annoying - stupid beak getting in the way.
Company did sound like a good thing. Still holding the precious sunglasses, she went on her way, leading him to her duplex.
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