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 Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:59 pm
"Any time," Nita answered facetiously, settling in. For once, she wasn't worried about the water spilled on the floor-- Lauren was better, and that's what counted.
[fin]
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Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2006 7:45 pm
[RP - Moving and Meetings: Lauren, Miller, and Nita] Lauren Granger Lauren was pushing a red dolly full of boxes across the paths of the village. The boxes had odd decoratative lettering written in sharpie by mongoose hands. It looked rather badly done as Lauren didn't have as much control of her hands as she had in the past and had to hold the sharpie in a fist. It was a challenge for drawing but the naive mongoose believed she could over come it. With the pain meds Lauren ordered from the lab, pushing the dolly was not as painful as it would of been had her brain been aware of the strain. Lauren was pushing herself way more then she should of been. She was just happy to have muscle mass right now. The girl was pratically skipping with the boxes, being loopy from the pain meds and the new genetics. Miller Milano Miller wandered along the rows of duplexs slowly, his little chat with Gaius had casued him to shy away from his tree today. No need to tempt fate right? He continued along his way passing duplex after duplex with out really noticeing anything.
After a while he started to watch his feet, those strange lightly browned things with clawed tips. He no longer bothered to wear shoes, he could hardly feel the ground now that his feet felt like a pair of leather. And it was while he was stareing at his feet that he bumped right in to Lauren and her trolly of boxes.
"Eguh!?" He stumbled, tripped, and fell over on his face mummbleing an apology with a mouth full of earth. Lauren Granger "HAH! That was HILARIOUS!' Lauren blurted out. She started laughing histarically loopy from the drugs. Her brain didn't even realise what a change in character that was. Lauren looked at the person who fell, which appeared rather comical to her as well. Obviously he was turning into a bird of some sort. Thinking of birds made her mouth water. Miller Milano Miller rolled over on to his back blinking curiously at the sound of some one laughing madly, he turned to regard Lauren again, "Eh Sozzy boutz dat... wazn't watchzen werz Iz goienz..."
He sat up again shaking his shoulders and back loosening what dirt got under his shirt and on his feathers. "Uhhh youz need helpz?" Lauren Granger The mongoose stopped laughing a bit, but still yelped happily in between sentences. "Help would be nice, and required since YOU bumped into ME" Lauren said back playfully. She crawled over a bit and sniffed the bird man playfully. "I'm Lauren" She said with a happy almost predetorial gleme in her eye. Miller Milano Miller sat up more shakeing his head, was this girl mental? He couldn't help but think of that crazy lab coat girl from the hallowen party, least this one wasn't waveing a knife about.
"Aightz aightz I helzp youz!" He gave a yelp that hinted at just a bit of a screech that only helped to send Miller jumping back at the sniffing. "Millarz" he frowned, would he ever say his name right again? Lauren Granger Lauren started laughing at his speach now. "Well alright Millarz, we can't very well move these and all the rest sitting down now can we?" She smiled revealing her canines as she pulled herself up. "Now load those onto here." She stood waiting for the bird to obey. Miller Milano Miller took a moment to slash at the ground with his big toes clawed tip writeing out his name the best he could, Miller "Datz howz youz sez it." He grabbed a few boxes putting them on the dolly again. "Wutz in dezz any waz?" Lauren Granger Lauren couldn't quite understand why the thing wasn't playing the way she wanted. Loopy medication mind made her slow to catch on. But the way he wrote into the dirt gave her the urge to dig, and her mind wasn't there enough to resist. "Oh MIL-URR, not Millarz? Then why did you say Millarz?" Lauren questioned as she bent over to dig more where he had marked. The digging sensation felt so good, momentarily she forgot about the boxes completely ignoreing Miller's question. Miller Milano Miller huffed slightly at her questioning of why he spoke the way he did, "Iz gotz a beakz fo cipez zake!" he rapped a fist on it gently to prove his point... only to realize Lauren was to busy digging to care.
He tossed the last few boxes on the trolly though and leaned over pokeing her shoulder, "Eh! Dem boxz iz readyz nowz." Lauren Granger Lauren stopped digging, remembering there was a person there. "HAH! Say some more!" She said her claws moist with dirt. "Oh moving, yeah right." She wondered how she could forget about such a thing. "Yeah urm come wheel those over here." She motioned happily as she began walking towards Nita's duplex. Miller Milano Miller headed to the other side of the trolly pushing it now with a slight scowl, this slur wasn't funny it was annoying, haveing a beak was not fun.
"Wahz it zo funnzy howz I talkz? Iz diz damz beakz faulzt!" Lauren Granger Lauren laughed pointing to her muzzle. "You take things too seriously. What kind of bird are you anyway?" She patted rubbed the top of his hair playfully. "I have a muzzle and I can still talk the same way." Miller Milano Miller shook his head quickly ruffleing his neck feathers a bit at being pet, "Iz gotz no cluz whatz bird iz gona bez... nevah azked da labz..." he continued pushing the trolly but stoped frowning.
He reached over pokeing at her muzzles upper lips, "Yuz got lipz Iz dun, anz Iz only haz a beak zince lazt week or zo." Lauren Granger Lauren nipped harmlessly at his hand as he reached towards her muzzle. "I've only had this since a couple of days ago! I don't mind how you talk, I think it's HILARIOUS." Miller Milano Miller yelped slightly at the n** makeing a face at Lauren, "Wellz dat makz two of uz foz havin new nozez." He shook his head, "If uz inzezt, iz ztill not laughzing." Lauren Granger Lauren shook her head, "Of course your not. I'd hate talking like tweety bird too. Glad I'm not a bird." She smiled again motioning to her cart. "Come on, just a little longer." Miller Milano Miller stoped pushing standing with his arms crossed scowling at Lauren now, "Yuz not makin mez feelz any betta boutz diz..." He gave the girl a rather agrivated huff. Lauren Granger Lauren just looked at him and laughed. "Okay, I'm Soo Sah-REE!!" She said sarcastically. "Well, I can still understand what you say, except when you said your name. And yeah it could be worse..." She tried to think of something worse, "You could be turning into a ******** platypus or something!" Miller Milano Miller scowled again, this girl had to be on something to be acting so crazy like this. He stoped though thinking and gave what he could of a smirk at the thought of a platypus man. "Okayz diz mightz notz be zo badz den." He started to push the trolly again. Lauren Granger "See emo bird boy. Lighten up!" She walked ahead leading him to Nita's duplex. "Alright, well I really shouldn't carry anything up these stairs since I changed a couple of days ago so pick these boxes up and bring them to the duplex." Lauren ordered as she walked up the stairs, now that was hard on her newly formed legs but she managed. Miller Milano Miller rolled his eyes, "Eemo birdz boyz? Oie..." he shook his head grabbing a few boxes and following her up the steps, "Leazt you could doz iz carry de light onze?" Lauren Granger "Hey! YOUR the one that offered to help as you BUMPED into ME!" Lauren reminded Miller. She opened the door to the duplex. "Here we are! Hey be careful with that one! That's my x-box!!" Lauren demanded. "Nita! I'm back" Lauren warned, "And I brought Millarz, he's helping me move the last of my s**t!" Nita MacNeal Nita shoved her sweaty hair out of her face. She had spent much of the day reorganizing the duplex for Lauren to move in-- making closet space and whatnot. "Millarz?" she asked, going to hold the door open. "Who the hell is Millarz?" Nita's brows rose into her hairline when she saw just who was helping Lauren. "Oh." She blinked, then grinned widely. "So nice of you to help!" Standing on tip-toe, she reached up to give Lauren a quick peck on the cheek. Miller Milano Miller scowled, "Iz zaid Iz help notz be zum zervent for youz..." he eyed the box which she stated was an xbox and was about to comment went Nita poped up in the door, "Niza!? Gah!" He stumbled slightly at the peck on Laurens cheek.
So this is the girl that Gaius can't win out over... He shook his head walking in placeing the xbox on Nita's bed, "Yez nevah tolz me wez goinz toz Niza'z!" Lauren Granger Lauren blinked, "What! I didn't? Why does it matter anyway?" She looked over at Miller then at Nita, "Doesn't everyone love Nita?" Lauren licked Nita's cheek as she went to move some things around as well. "Wow! You've been working hard!" Lauren exclaimed towards Nita, "Maybe you should of just waited we could of had Miller do all that cleaning." She gave a playful wink towards Miller's direction. Nita MacNeal Nita stood with her hands on her hips, surveying the room proudly. "I know! I had to make room for all of your junk," she teased. "Pff. He probably wouldn't do it right anyway." She grabbed a box off the trolly and brought it inside. "Jesus, what's in here, rocks?" Miller Milano Miller moved a few more boxes to the bed if only to give him self something to do while the two girls talked, he caught the glimpes of Lauren licking Nita's cheek and shook his head with a sigh. "Iz notz fan of za wholez orginzin zing... I likz mezz."
He turned to Nita who's comment came across as a bit less then friendly, "Youz ztill mad aboutz zis?" he tugged his cheek mocking the motion he had used on Nita's face when they first met, "Ifz it makz youz happyz iz had ma turnz an I feez lik zhit wizt out youz makin znippy remarkz..." his voice trailed off and he sorta stood in the door looking past the two girls debateing storming out or finishing what he started and then storming out. Lauren Granger Lauren laughed, "Don't make fun of my rock collection!" She pouted a bit then laughed, "No it's not rocks, it's art supplies. But I don't know if I will be drawing anytime soon with these hands." She gave a serious frown if only for a momment but her attention span was short right now. She looked over at Miller, "Hey, what did you do to Nita?" She asked protectively. "Nita what did he do? I can't understand him every time he talks." Nita MacNeal Nita blinked. "What? No, I'm just better at cleaning than most people!" She glanced into the box of art supplies and then over to Lauren's elongated hands. Hopefully she would adjust and still be able to draw... Placing a soothing hand on Lauren's arm, Nita explained, "Oh, I met Miller and some other chick right after they'd arrived. He thought I was wearing a costume and tucked on my cheek fur." Her nose twitched at the memory. "But whatever. Obviously I wasn't wearing a costume." She shrugged and went over to put the box on the desk, next to her notebooks and hand-written surveys. Miller Milano Miller edged slowly towards the door as Lauren started to take a rather sensitive tone to the mentioning of having 'done' something to Nita, closer to the door closer to run.
"Yaz, mez and Shenzi wuz gettinz food stuffz wenz Nita ztoped by tu." He give his own shrug and continued to move boxes making sure to keep an eye on Lauren not knowing how the strange girl would act. Lauren Granger Lauren laughed a bit, "Ah, alright I understand." She went over to where Miller was and rubbed his hair again. "It's over, you KNOW now we're not wearing costumes." Lauren picked up a box and set it down somewhere random. The girl had no sense of organisation but was trying hard most the time to keep things orderly. She noticed Miller's agitation towards her, "It's alright, I won't bite." She said with a gleaming smile showing her canines. Nita MacNeal Nita grinned and shrugged. "Nah, don't worry about it. I've had worse reactions." After bustling around for a few minutes, moving boxes and planning out how to get everything set up, she said, "And hey, thanks for helping Lauren with her stuff." Miller Milano Miller nodded, "Belzeme... Iz knoz now..." as proof he gave one of his feathers a little tug with a bit of a flinch. "Iz painfuz gettinz dez fingz growin inz, like gettin ztabbed byz pen..."
He turned to Nita now nodding, "Iz allz I coulz thinkz of doin after Iz knockzed it ovaz." Lauren Granger "yeah.. uh.. thanks" Lauren said rather reluctantly. She knew being polite was the best thing to do after all she didn't want to upset Nita and while kind of silly, Miller seemed like a nice guy. "And yeah, you made up for it. Want something to drink?" Lauren asked to both Nita and Miller. She was rather hungry and thirsty herself. Nita MacNeal "A drink would be good," Nita agreed, perching on the edge of the bed, wary of the various boxes. Her hair was all frizzed up and struggling to escape its ponytail. Nita tugged on the elastic and ran her fingers through her curls, muttering under her breath when they snagged too much. "And I think there's apples and stuff in the fridge, if you want," she offered. Miller Milano Miller nodded in agreement with the girls, an apple and a drink wouldn't be so bad right now, "Iz takz an appzel if datz okayz?" He sat down now on the floor cross legged rubbing his leg slightly were the leathery material started to stop growing up it.
"Duz growin fuzz hurtz lotz?" random question but he was curious to know. Lauren Granger Lauren nodded, "It's fine, just meat for me anymore. Well I might have the occasional fruit but my stomach doesn't agree with it very much. Plus it's hard to chew." She went to the fridge to get a cherry coke and a frozen mealworm popsicle. Lauren sat down on the floor as well, "Fur does suck, it burns mostly but horns and muzzles are MUCH worse" Lauren cringed at remembering the pain as she gulped a bit of her soda and munched on the frozen bugsicle. Nita MacNeal Nita grabbed a diet coke for herself and tossed another can and an apple to Miller. She made a face at the popsicle; she wasn't thrilled to have them in her freezer, but she would just have to deal with it. At least bamboo wasn't gross! Reclaiming her seat, Nita continued, "Fur was most really itchy for me. And Lauren's right, muzzles really hurt. It's like... having teeth pulled and getting punched in the nose all at once." She winced. "Oh well. Just one more change for me, and then I'm done." Nita actually sounded relatively cheerful at the prospect. Miller Milano Miller caught both apple and soda, he frowned wondering just how difficult of a task this might be. He popped the top to the soda lifting it up and tilting both his head and can back a bit so that his beak wasn't as in the way as it normally was. Still he got a bit of soda on his hoodie which casued him to frown a bit.
"Zoundz nicez... fuzz an allz, fedaz, doz hurtz. Allotz. Likz havinz bunzch oz penz zhovzed outz youz zkin. Mezzy too." He reached up rubbing his beak gently, "Iz knowz wutz you meanz doughz bout da muzzlez, zept mah beeak wuz likz zun burnz onlyz tenz timz worze and gettin punzched in zee faze..." Lauren Granger Lauren caught the face and made one back at Nita playfully. She munched on her popsicle listening to the covo mostly but hateing to sit still. She needed to do SOMETHING. So she got up and started hooking up the entertainment stuff and the widescreen tv. Nita MacNeal Nita gave Miller a sympathetic look, both for the spill and the pain of his transformation. She watched Lauren fiddling with the electronics for a minute. "We should probably work on getting this place set up, then," she said, taking another sip from her soda. She got up and started rummaging through a box that seemed to contain mostly clothing. "You gonna stick around and help, Miller, or do you have things to do?" Miller Milano Miller looked at his apple now nipping at it some before flat out stabing it on the tinny tip of his beak and bring his bottom teeth along it peeling a layer of skin and fruit from the apple. He looked up as Nita spoke, "Iz gotz nothingz to doz zo if uz needz helpz I canz ztay forz bit?" Lauren Granger Lauren was cursing a bit at her electronics. "Damnit, mother ******** television. User friendly my hairy yellow a**!" But after a while of that she finally got things set up. "Yeah... I THOUGHT so!" She told the television and before leaving the controllers all jumbled up and everywhere Lauren looked over at Nita a bit then back at the controllers and put things up in a more orderly fashion. This clean thing was going to be hard but Lauren wanted to do anything she could for Nita. "If ya want to Miller" She said passing by as she went to a box full of her clothing. Nita MacNeal Nita snickered at the cursing, although she doubted she'd have done as well. She hid a grin when Lauren deliberately tidied up. "Thanks, Miller. We need all the help we can get!" Over the next couple of hours, the three worked on making Duplex #42 somewhat more presentable-- and now the home of Lauren and Nita. It would be an interesting experiment.
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Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 3:21 pm
At one point when Lauren is alone without Nita, preferably sleeping, a note is left slid under her door.
"My Dearest Lauren,
Near the beach there is a newly constructed building. I need you to go see the resident, Jordan. Without of course telling him I sent you directly. I need you to convince him that working with me is better than working against me. He is allowing his loyalties to slip, when he had potential to be a great asset to us.
Please Lauren, take care of this for me. I will see that you are rewarded. I will be away on some business, but I will be keeping up to date, and be back soon.
- Dr. Nicholas Moreau"
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Posted: Sun Dec 24, 2006 9:33 pm
[Christmas Gifts] Cody Archer In front of the door of your duplex lies a small gift wrapped in regular paper by a string. There are some words scribbled with ordinary pen, saying: "Merry Xmas. From Cody" ((Cody doesn't remember the number of most of the duplexes his friends live in, so he painted gifts for everyone)) Natsumi Tanaka One of the many Christmas gifts would grace another doorstep, this one happend to come late at night, after the sun had set. A paper crane with red and green painted tips, was placed carefully on the doorstep, a small stone settled on one wing to keep it from blowing away in any gust of wind. Underneith was a folded note, carefully written on torn-off peice of notebook paper.
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Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 6:07 am
On Christmas Morning, you think you hear a scratching at the front of your door. When you do go to check, you find tethered to your door handle a happy, squirming Australian Shepherd dog.  It looks young, but definitely not a puppy, and has not been fixed. It is wearing a collar and an ear tag. On the collar is a metal tag engraved with the name Comet. In the clip holder besides your door, there is a manila envelope with a photocopied page inside: Lineart by Ves, coloring by Kamiki
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Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 8:10 pm
Outside your door is left what is clearly a hand-built simple wooden chair, about medium size. The seat is carved out and in the back, rather than a flat backrest, a large divot has been cut out, with an ample opening in the backrest. A dowel fits through a hole carved in one side, sliding down to a divot in the seat to provide more support when leaned back against. It seems the chair has been specially designed for those with tails in mind… This one is painted red with leaves carved in the wood. While simple, it’s sturdy. On a note tied to it: Merry Christmas! Quote: I know you already have one of these, but I thought if you were entertaining or something, it might be handy... Plus, this one's a bit nicer, anyways.
It would be nice to see you again sometime.
Yours truly,
Gaius
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Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 9:41 pm
Christmas Morning
Lauren had pulled quite a few strings for this morning. She had borrowed a ear piece alarm clock from the labs to ensure she had waken up with enough time to make everything perfect for this morning. And she did.
Outside, a few staff members were undertaking orders on getting ready Nita's Christmas present. All were poised in their positions ready to act when given a signal. Everything was as it should be and Lauren was seeing to it. She had someone come ready with food should Nita and Lauren want to stay in for Christmas breakfast.
The only thing out of ordinary was the scratching at the door.
Lauren hurridly got dressed, and opened the door slightly to give a signal to the staff members. She hurried back to push Nita awake. "Nita!! You HAVE to look QUICK! Something's happening outside!" Lauren urged.
Nita rolled over, mumbling. "What? Lauren, what time is it?" She sat up slowly, rubbing at her eyes, trying to make sense of the noise. Suddenly remembering it was Christmas, the red panda girl dragged herself out of bed. She padded to the door, hugging herself against the chill of the early morning. Out in front stood a largish young dog, a familiar-looking red chair, and.. whatever Lauren had planned.
Immediately as Nita opened the door, the staff members around the lab started dumping fake snow all around the duplex. Lauren looked pleased with herself at this even if she hadn't planned that red chair and the dog. She silently marveled at the design of the chair though. It must of been one of Nita's friends gifts.
And a dog?! Lauren hadn't planned this at all. "What?" She asked Nita as she looked back at the dog.
Fake snow continued to fall over the scene. "Merry Christmas?" Lauren said. She hoped everything here would make Nita happy.
"What the hell?" Nita asked, grinning widely. She craned her neck up and waved at the staff members enthusiastic dumping snow all over the porch. "Well, it's not quite a white Christmas!" she exclaimed, wrapping an arm around Lauren's waist.
The dog jumped up to lick Lauren's and Nita's faces, whining happily and wagging her tail. Nita attempted to brace the dog, peering up into Lauren's face. "So, uh, this isn't from you too?"
Lauren hugged Nita back as the dog came to lick them both in the face, "Um.. the snow is and this is..." Lauren pulled out a box from her pocket and gave it to Nita. Inside was a ruby heart necklace. "But the dog and the chair are from someone else." She laughed a bit at the situation, "santa maybe?"
"Down!" Nita said, although her voice was hardly commanding. She had always been much more of a cat-person. The dog sat at her feet, panting heavily.
Nita opened the box carefully, brushing the fake snow out of her eyes. "Oh my God," she said quietly. "This is absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much." Eyes gleaming, she put the necklace on then stood on tiptoe to kiss Lauren's fuzzy cheeks.
One of the staffmember on the roof coughed. Nita blushed and fiddled with the heart. "The chair must be from Gaius," she said. "He's the one who made that chair for our kitchen area." Picking up the accompanying note, the paper crane from Natsumi, a manila envelope, and the beribboned plastic bag, Nita nodded. "Look at this, drowning in gifts!"
The dog leapt up again, demanding attention. "Er, I guess we'd better get her inside..."
Lauren gave Nita a big hug back and turned around to flip the coughing staff member off. "Bad ugh... what was his or her name again?" She asked Nita. She looked at a paper that came with the dog. "Weird, I don't think I know Abjar. You would think Moreau or Aubrey would sign off on OUR dog. But they have seemed to be busier then normal.
Lauren opened the door for Nita and Comet to get back in. "I love dogs! I used to have some mutts come by when I ran away. I kept one around, named him Mange well cause, he had a severe case of mange. Good dog though." Lauren said as she walked on inside the duplex. It was turning out to be a very nice Christmas morning.
Nita followed, touching the heart pendant gently. "I've only ever had cats," she said, shuffling through the door with her arms full. She placed the various smaller gifts on the table and stepped out again for a moment to haul the new chair inside. "Can I see that paper for a moment?"
"You seem like a cat person. Most of the stray cats scratched my arm and ran away. My dad was allergic to pets so we never had any at my house." Lauren said with the residual venom she always had in her voice when talking about her biological father.
She gave the paper to Nita as she requested. "alright..." She said a little puzzled. "Hey I don't think I ever met Gaius or many of your new friends you made while I was out. Maybe we should have a little duplex warming party?" Lauren suggested to Nita.
Nodding, Nita offered, "I think stray cats tend to be more wild." She shrugged and knelt down to look at the tag on the dog's collar. "'Comet,'" she read. Comet's ears perked up; apparently she knew her own name. "Comet it is," Nita said with a grin, amused.
She scanned the photocopied page, mumbling the information. "Comet, female, just over a year old. Normal, playful, average... huh." Nita stood up and set the page over with her notebooks. "Good; the last thing we need is some souped up dog, yeah?" Grinning, she ruffled Comet's ears.
Lauren's comment caught her by surprise. "A party? Uh, sure, I guess we could do that." No harm in her meeting Gaius, right?
"Come here Comet!" Lauren said in baby talk. Lauren didn't really speak baby talk EVER so hearing it would be quite amusing. "Good girl, Look you have two new mommies here and we'll take good care of you." Lauren thoroughly petted Comet as the dog wagged her tail severely. "Good girl!" Lauren said.
Comet barked a little and licked Lauren's face as she jumped up on her. "I think she liked us." Lauren laughed as she talked, still petting the dog.
Nita was unable to hide her smile or the little giggle that threatened to become gales of laughter. Lauren was usually so tough; to see her acting this way was.. absurd. "I'd hope she likes us! She'll probably get big enough that her not liking us could be a bad thing!" Nita continued snickering as she joined Lauren, her tail curling slightly around the other girl's leg. "We'll have to order a bag of dog-food," she said, wondering momentarily why one hadn't been provided. "And probably a leash," she added, watching Comet bounce around. At least there was a lot of island for running around.
"Yeah, why WASN'T there a bag of food that came with you." Lauren said looking at Comet sternly. This made Comet a little anxious. What did she do? What was this new furry person mad at? She whined a little and sat down looking at Lauren as she tilt her head.
"Oh... MY... GOD, could you get any cuter?!" Lauren said as she tackled Comet. Then Lauren made a effort to tackle Nita as Comet joined the family tackle pile. "I HOPE she's house broken".
Nita cracked up again at the expression on poor Comet's face. "Ah well, probably just an oversi-- ACK!" She squawked mid-sentence, crashing onto the pile and barely avoiding squishing her tail.
"Hey!" She pushed Lauren playfully before sitting up, indignant. "Oh, she'd better be house-trained!" Nita shook her hair out of her eyes in a rather futile attempt to regain her composure. Breathless, she said, "We'd better call in to the labs then and get everything sorted out."
Lauren licked Nita's face as Comet barked playfully. "Alright, alright..." She said as she got off the red panda girl. "We might need a crate too, don't want Comet to barge in on... certain intimate times." Lauren added as she got up and made her way to the intercom.
Lauren was having an awesome Christmas morning and spent much time playing with Nita and Comet before heading out for some food from the cafeteria. She hadn't had such a wonderful family type Christmas since her mother was alive. This filled her heart with warmth and love.
She silently thanked Moreau as the day went on.
[fin]
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Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 11:04 pm
((*hopes it's okay to post*)) Left outside your door is a small package, which appears to be a white trash bag and some red ribbon tied around it. Inside is a red and white blanket and pillow, both made from the same soft fabric. You'll also find a few pieces of chocolate and hard fruit candy. There is also a note in the bag. Quote: You probably don't remember me, we met a while ago. I'm not sure if you celebrate Christmas, but I wanted to give you something. Happy Holidays.
-Lucas
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 10:18 pm
I'm taking advantage of a brief quiet time to get this out.
It's been a weird couple of months. Turns out that Lauren had been in the labs for all those months, with her body rejecting the serum and so her changes were delayed.. which made her even sicker. But she's out now, and she finally changed. It was really strange for a while, knowing that she's been here so much longer that I have, but that I'd changed more. I can only assume that means I'll change for the final time before she does...
I wonder when it'll be? Seems like every time I've just gotten comfortable with myself, with my situation, something comes along and messes it up. My friends change all the time, and those individuals that have met me when they first arrived lose their human appearances all too soon. And what of those I haven't seen in weeks, or even months? Since Halloween, it's been no secret that there have been fatalities...
How far will they go? How long until we're all dead or dying? Obviously our best interests aren't being served. Ripped from our families and all we've known... There are good people here, that I'm so glad to have met, but under these circumstances? Even Lauren.... I don't know. I care for her so much, but sometimes I wonder what I'm doing, especially since I know full well that she supports the labs. And she has her reasons but... I'm such a hypocrite. I told Moreau that I'd help him when I could, but I can't. I don't. I won't. I'm almost afraid to commit this to writing; what would Lauren say if she found out?
I've been so much on edge since she moved in. The duplex is mostly clean, and I can tell that she's trying really hard to keep it that way. But it's not like it was when it was just me. Comet doesn't help either. That dog... is another mystery. She arrived on Christmas morning, for me and Lauren. I don't know why, and rumour has it that there are others. I've never had a dog before. They make me nervous, even the little ones, and Comet is hardly a small dog. Why couldn't the labs have given us cats? Cats are small and clean. At least Lauren gets on with her.
I hear barking. They must be back from their walk.
Nita set down her pen and closed her notebook. Fidgeting with the heart on her necklace, she made herself rise to greet Lauren and the dog as they came in the front door.
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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:07 pm
[Beach, with Sophie] Sophie C. Bell Sophie had made a positive list of things in her mind about the Island in order to drown out the whole you're-gonna-die thought that'd been invading her consciousness for the past few days. Her list? It was...an Island in the caribbean. Yes, it wasn't an impressive list, but then again, Sophie'd lost track of the list at all when she realized that an Island usually had plenty of beaches to spare, and beaches were positive, right? So, heading out of her duplex once again, she followed the paths and wandered around until she found her stretch of pearly white, and trudged out towards the waves, a bit awkward in her converses and jeans. Truth be told, she hadn't packed any tropical island gear, and because of that the most she could do was leave behind her jacket, which had holes in it either way. It was only when she was already out by the water that she realized something: there was nothing to do. She blinked as she stared at the passing waves, tempted to touch her feet to the wet sand but not willing to sacrifice her socks and shoes. She thought about it for a moment: what exactly had she intended to do, anyways? Shrugging, she began to walk down the stretch of sand nearest the waves, watching curiosly as the water shifted in and out. Maybe there'd be some Island store where she could buy a bathing suit or something...oh, wait, she was broke. Nevermind. Nita MacNeal Nita had taken Comet out for a walk around the village, as she still wasn't entirely comfortable out in the jungle with the chance of Annie still on the loose. And even if Comet would technically be protection, she liked the wide open space to run. The young dog dashed ahead of Nita, who was willing, for now, to follow Comet's lead. Nita trotted after her, the handle of the extendable leash dangling from one hand. The pair eventually made it to the beach where Nita unclipped the leash from the dog's collar. Set free, Comet flashed away as quickly as her name implied, chasing bits of nothing and the occasional hopping bird. Nita grinned and shook her head, jogging at a much more sedate pace. She had pretty much zoned out when Comet's barking jerked her to attention. The dog had found a person! The person in question was female, and appeared vaguely furry. Not new then, Nita assumed. "Come back here, Comet!" she yelled, hurrying to catch up. Comet didn't obey, but at least she sat on her haunches, panting at the girl she had discovered. "Sorry about that," Nita apologized, placing a furred hand on Comet's shoulder. "She's just friendly." Sophie C. Bell From the barking, Sophie had almost thought that Gaius was out on the beach with his dog, but as she turned, she was met with not one, but two furry faces. That confused her for a bit: there was the dog...and then...what was that? It talked...what if it was a person?! Coming upon that realization, Sophie did her best not to stare, and laughed nervously. "Oh, uh, no problem at all, really! I'm sure she's really sweet." She crouched down in order to be at eye level with the dog, then held out her hand to it to sniff, trying to distract herself from the fact that she was having a conversation with a fuzzy thing. Maybe some kind of raccoon? She couldn't be sure. "...What kind of dog is she?" Sophie inquired, looking back up at the raccoon thing...raccoon girl. The voice had sounded like a girl's. "She kinda looks like Gaius's." Nita MacNeal Comet licked Sophie's hand in a friendly manner, interested but obviously not threatened by the hint of animal scent in the blonde girl. She panted happily, a strand of drool straining towards the ground. Nita made an amused/disgusted face and automatically wiped her hands on her jeans. "She is," she affirmed, nodding. "Her name's Comet, and she's an Australian Shepherd. Oh, and I'm Nita." She blinked, caught off-guard by Sophie's comment. "Gaius has a dog, too?" Nita vaguely remembered that the newsletter that had appeared on her doorstep the other day had contained a snapshot of Gaius and a dog, but she hadn't realized what significance, if any, it held. Sophie C. Bell Sophie giggled at the sensation of the dog's tongue against her hand, and she wiped the slobber on her jeans before scratching the dog behind the ears gently and then standing up, facing the racoon Nita. So, it had been a girl after all...she really did look like an animal. Was that going to happen to her eventually? "My name's Sophie...and yeah, Gaius has a dog. Uhm...can't remember the dog's name, but he has a dog." She nodded in confirmation, crossing her arms as her gaze wandered in thought. "Hey...you wouldn't happen to know where Gaius lives, would you? I have no idea where to find him." Nita MacNeal Comet took that as an invitation to hop up on her hind legs and lick at Sophie's face. "Hey!" Nita warned, the dog barking once and taking off down the beach. "Sorry, again," Nita apologized, glancing in the direction Comet had gone. Best to let her run herself out. She thought for a moment, then, "I don't remember the duplex number right off the top of my head, but there's a listing by the door to the cafeteria with everyone's name on it." The red panda girl was in the habit of checking the list every few days for new arrivals to add to her directory. She and Kikue really needed a better system for updating... "I haven't seen him for a couple of weeks; I'll have to go over and thank him. He made me a nifty chair for Christmas." Nita smiled at Sophie. "So, you've been here for a while then?" she asked, vaguely indicated her pointed ears and the bit of tail visible. Sophie C. Bell Sophie shrieked in surprise, falling backwards, but didn't seem to bothered by it as with a laugh she stood back up, shrugging it off. She listened to Nita with an interested look on her face. "Really? I didn't know they had a listing like that." Sophie nodded, then put the information in her head for storage, another thing on her list of things to do that will never get done. However, when Nita referenced her time there, she resisted the urge to groan, and nonetheless became very self-conscious: she was starting to get tired of telling this story. "Uhm, actually...no, I got here about a week or so ago." She tried counting back the days, but couldn't quite remember, and decided that it wasn't important anyways. "I was already like this when I got here." Nita MacNeal "Yup, I update my own copy of it when I can. Must have missed you, though." Now it was Nita's turn trying not to stare. "What? But that's impossible!" she began, reminding herself that less than a year ago she would have denounced the whole set-up as impossible. Or at least highly improbable. "Sorry, you sound like you've gotten that a lot already." Nita gave Sophie a lop-sided grin which made her fluffy cheeks puff out even more. "But... how?" Sophie C. Bell Sophie shrugged, then scratched the back of her head. No matter what, people always wanted to know what, how, and why she hadn't been one of the Island's oldbies. "Feral Labs was making this medicine that I was taking, and it made me change after a while." She began to tug at her ears out of some habit she'd just begun to develop, then put her hands in her pocket so as not to look fidgety. "I called the number on my pill bottle, and then they took me here and told me my side effects would be gone in a couple of weeks." She shrugged again, then attempted a weak smile. "I guess you can't trust everything they say, huh?" Nita MacNeal Nita was relieved for a moment, having been imagining Feral Labs with some sort of similar facility on the mainland. Could she really have been away long enough for something like that to happen? She had actually forgotten that Feral Labs was, technically, a legitimate pharmaceuticals company. Marketing to the public.... And she was no longer relieved. "Jesus Christ," Nita swore, reaching up to touch the necklace Lauren had given her. "That's.. well, I dunno if it's really worse than what the rest of went through, but damn. Something like that had never really occurred to me." "Hmph." Nita sniffed. "Yeah, you learn that pretty quick." She shook her head and gave Sophie what she hoped was a sympathetic smile. Sophie C. Bell Sophie stretched out her arms, but didn't seem all too surprised by the reaction. "It's all a little sudden, but I'm trying to adjust...I mean, people adjust pretty well after a while, right?" A thought occured to her that some of them settled into graves, but she tried not to think about it for too long. "This one guy, Jordan...he actually likes the Labs. It's kind of a refreshing way of thought, and it helps, y'know?" Nita MacNeal "After a while, I guess. I mean, yeah. I have my off-days, but..." Nita shrugged. Although she tried to stay positive and had a tenuous reputation as not exactly sympathetic towards the labs, but not rabidly against them either, situations changed. Nita had changed, and her physical appearance was the least of those changes. "Well, I deal," she concluded lamely. There was no good way to unload much more of her opinions without babbling at Sophie for ages, and she didn't want to freak the girl out anyway. At least, not any more than the Island was capable was doing without her "assistance." Nita nodded. "There are a handful of people like that." She hesitated for a moment then continued, "My girlfriend is one of them." Sophie C. Bell "Your girlfriend, huh?" Sophie paused to think about it for a moment, then mentally shrugged: to each their own, she supposed. It was good to see that Jordan wasn't the only Islander with a positive outlook, and it gave Sophie even more hope that perhaps it wasn't that bad a place after all. "So...how long have you been here?" Sophie asked, suddenly beginning to wonder how often people changed. After all, if Nita had been there for years, it would be one thing: but what if she'd only been there for a few months? Nita MacNeal Nita nodded, giving off a faintly aggressive vibe and almost daring Sophie to make something of the term "girlfriend." "Her name is Lauren," she said, trying to back down. The red panda girl had been just a little bit on edge lately, and Lauren (and the labs) were a bit of a sore spot. "Since last April, and it's the middle of January now, so... nearly ten months," Nita said. And guessing where that line of questioning was going, "I've changed three times. There are four in all, but I don't know when the last one will be." She frowned. It had been just about four months since her previous transformation; longer than the other stable periods had been. Sophie C. Bell Sophie didn't want to be the start of an argument, so backed off on the topic of Nita's girlfriend, deciding that it would be something she could ask about providing they met again. Instead, she chose to focus on this new bit of information, something that wasn't quite as negative as dying or losing her mind. She touched a hand to the blackened tip of her nose, then lowered it so she could speak. "Four changes? So it doesn't just gradually happen?" Sophie had thought perhaps that it'd be a slow process that she almost wouldn't notice, but it sounded like she was wrong. "Do you know how long it is before the second change?" Nita MacNeal Nita shook her head, wondering how Sophie's first change had been. Had it been something gradual, or had she changed all at once, having no idea what to expect? Not that anyone really knew what to expect, even if, like Nita, they asked ahead of time what animal they were about to become. "The changes are prompted by injections, five in all. We get injected when we arrive, told it's a vaccine for tropical disease or whatever. It's supposed to start preparing our bodies for the later stuff," she explained. "I changed for the first time about a month after I arrived, and then it was another two or three months before the next one. I think it depends on the person, though." Nita paused for a moment, fiddling with her necklace. "Sometimes... Sometimes the changes don't take. Lauren... She only changed for the third time just before Christmas, but she's been here for over a year. Almost a year and a half now, I guess. She got real sick and was in a coma for a while." She bit her lip, her eyes dark. "No one told me what had happened to her." Sophie C. Bell Sophie nodded, adding the information to her growing Island-Database. So...she had about two months of this before it got even worse? Out of habit, she began calculating how many weeks and days that was, but she shook her head in a mental retaliation, making her stop. She didn't want to know how many weeks or days it would be. All she knew is that it would happen. "I heard that people've died on the Island...you're girlfriend...she's okay now, right?" Sophie turned away, having obviously hit a sore spot. Of all the things she hadn't wanted to discuss, this had been number one. Nita MacNeal Nita's face crumpled and she took several deep breaths to calm herself. "Yes," she said softly, remembering the graveyard at Halloween, and Annie... She gulped convulsively. "But Lauren's okay now. She finally got out, and then a few weeks later she finally changed. She's been perfectly healthy since then." Nita stared down at her bare feet on the damp sand, wondering if she needed to warn Sophie about Annie or if the new girl had already heard. Sophie C. Bell "I see...well, that's good." Sophie tried to be positive: at least the Lauren girl was okay. But even so, there were people dead...she'd heard it from two now... "Hey...shouldn't we try and get your dog back? She's been gone for a while now." Nita MacNeal "Yeah," Nita agreed. "Just... be careful." She smiled slightly, not wanting to make Sophie worry too much. She shaded her eyes and gazed down the beach to see a moving speck that was probably Comet. "Oy!" Nita yelled. "Comet, get back here!" She pursed her lips and proceeded to fail miserably at whistling. Grinning at Sophie, she laughed, "I never could whistle!" Comet galloped at full tilt towards Nita and Sophie, tongue lolling to the side, and kicking up sand with her paws. "Good girl," Nita told her, fluffing up the fur behind her ears and deftly clipping the leash onto her collar. The red panda girl had learned to do that quickly in the last few weeks. Comet wasn't one to run away, but she was certainly enthusiastic about her walks. Sophie C. Bell Sophie laughed at Comet's antics, then rubbed her arms, a gust of air reminding her that she was without her jacket for the first time in a while. "Well, I better go: I think I've still got some things to unpack." Sophie was pretty sure that she'd unpacked all the way by this time, but one could never know, and besides, she wasn't feeling all that social anymore. "It was nice to meet you, Nita." Having said her goodbyes, Sophie began to tread back to ground harder than sand and better shade that the wide open spaces of the beach. It was about time she took her pills, anyways. Nita MacNeal "You, too," Nita said with a brief wave. She really should talk to Gaius soon, she decided, continuing on down the beach with Comet at her side. [fin]
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 6:46 pm
[RP: Catching Up; Nita & Gaius] Nita MacNeal Lauren had gone out, Comet had been fed and otherwise taken care of, and so Nita had a bit of time to herself. After a few moments of internal debate, she took a look at her notes to check Gaius' duplex number and headed out alone. She padded down the village path, nodding vaguely at passers-by. As she approached #62, an inexplicable knot of nervousness grew in her stomach. This was hardly a clandestine meeting, and there was absolutely no need to be nervous, Nita admonished herself. She gave herself an internal shake and knocked on the door. "Hey, Gaius? It's Nita," she called. Gaius Harper After a night of little sleep, the winged horse-man had caught up on the rest he lacked late into the morning. Images of Victor and Zach still plagued him, as well as Emerwyn's haunting, frightened face. Everything was a mess in his head, and the last thing he wanted to do was deal with it. Yet they wouldn't leave him alone... He'd just been in the process of brushing out the knots in his tail, a ritual he'd adopted after his last change, when there was a knock on the door, and a familiar voice that brought with it a whole different set of worries and images. "Nita?" he called, "Er, just a second!" Hopping to his feet, he grabbed one of the shirts lying on his chair, making sure it was one that wasn't too wrinkled, and hurried to pull it on over his head and wings. Giving his hair a quick hand-comb, he opened the door and looked down at the furry, red-haired girl he hadn't seen in weeks. "Uh, hey! I'd been meaning to come see you some time..." he shrugged apologetically. "What brings you over?" Nita MacNeal Nita shifted from foot to foot, waiting and fidgeting with her necklace. She smiled when he opened the door. "Yeah, I'd been meaning to stop by for a while. First of all," she said, "Thanks so much for the new chair! I didn't really do much Christmas stuff, but I really appreciate it." Nita nodded in emphasis. Gaius Harper The half-worried look that'd been in the horse-man's expression faded as his smile brightened. "Really? You liked it? I hadn't heard from you, so I was wondering... I mean, I'm... I'm glad." Ducking his head in a timid manner, he scratched his nose, then nodded. "Uh, Merry Christmas then!" He stepped back, about to invite her in, but his duplex-mate, who'd been sleeping on the pile of sheets at the foot of the bed had awoken at the voices, and sensing a new and unfamiliar smell, came bounding over, right between Gaius' legs, and into Nita. Vixen's tail wagged happily as she snuffled at the red panda, her wagging increasing in force as she smelled not only the girl, but a very familiar canine sent. "Vixen, be nice!" Gaius chided, glancing at Nita apprehensively if she showed any dislike of the dog. "Er, Nita? Meet Vixen... she's a recent addition." Nita MacNeal "Of course! I mean, the original one was lovely, but your carpentry and wood-working skills have definitely improved." Nita grinned, meaning the compliment honestly. Her new chair was quite comfortable. Her eyes widened as Vixen greeted her; she held out a hand to be inspected. "Uh, yeah, this was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. Vixen, is it? Ours is named Comet." Gaius Harper Gaius blinked, surprised by Nita's comment. "Wait, you have one too? A dog? Was it on Christmas?" Vixen, having satisfied her nose and given Nita's hand a proper licking, sat down at her feet, looking up between the two with an inquisitive face. Nita MacNeal "Yup," Nita confirmed, scratching behind Vixen's ears. "At first I thought she was a gift from Lauren, but she had no idea." She peered past Gaius into his duplex. "Do you mind if I come in? The wind's a bit chilly..." Gaius Harper The dog accepted the affection, then got back up and moved around behind Nita and leaned on the red panda's legs, almost pushing her in. Gaius jumped back, realizing he'd been blocking the way. "Ah, right! Er, pardon the mess..." Considering it belonged to an active guy, the place wasn't too bad. There was laundry about, but no leftover food. However, there was a good deal of wood shavings around a project sitting in the corner, and the bed was far from made. Gaius waited until Nita was in to close the door after her. "So... Comet, huh? Weird name... But... How'd you know about Vixen?" Nita MacNeal "Oof!" Nita grunted, lunging forward to catch herself. "Silly dog," she muttered, grinning. "She looks a bit like Comet, really. Same age and type, I think." She cleared off a chair and tucked herself into it. "Well, first I saw your picture in that little newsletter thing, but I didn't think anything of it. I mean, Em's had a dog for months. But I ran into someone the other day when we were at the beach, and she said that at first she'd thought we were Gaius and his dog. So... I started thinking a little bit, and it seemed a bit odd." Gaius Harper The horse-man had begun hurredly tossing clothes out of sight on the other side of the bed, but stopped and looked up, ears alert. "Newsletter? You mean the paper that was left outside a couple days ago...?" He glanced at his desk, where the paper'd been tossed in with a pile of other stuff. He hadn't even bothered to look at it yet, but if it mentioned Vixen, or himself... Digging the paper out, Gaius turned it over, spotting first the photo of himself. He groaned. "Could've gotten a better picture..." Then he scanned down over the articles, his face flushing pink as he read, and finally flopped down on the edge of the bed, hiding his face behind the paper in his hands, utterly mortified. And it was worse, because Nita had already read it, apparantly! "Auuuugh..." Nita MacNeal Nita hid a grin, although her cheek-fur puffed out from amusement. "Aw, I thought it was kind of cute. Really." She had really only barely skimmed the thing, as she'd been on her way to the cafeteria when she found it. She shifted in the chair. "So you're working on some sort of construction thing? I'd heard hammering and stuff over towards the lake, but I haven't been over there recently." Gaius Harper Gaius peaked over the top of the paper, grumbling something about men not supposed to be cute, then finally set the newsletter aside with a sigh. Nothing he could do about it when everyone else had already read it... Thankfully, Nita's subject change wiped the worry from his mind for the time being. "Yeah! We actually made a lot of progress yesterday, despite some, er, troubles... I figured since you had that survey project thing to help people, I could do something too with what I have..." He stood up and offered a hand to help Nita, grinning as he said, "Come on, I'll show you!" Nita MacNeal Nita snickered, her sensitive ears picking up the gist of Gaius' complaints. "Yeah, I really need to get back on track with the surveys, but I haven't been able to find Kikue. I went to her duplex a few times, but she wasn't there." A brief frown creased her face; she shrugged. She accepted the hand up, giving his a quick squeeze. "Sure, lead the way!" Gaius Harper He beamed as she took his hand, though the tilt of his ears belied his nervousness, and his hand lingered on hers a moment longer then needed before letting go. He quickly stuffed it in his pants' pocket and went to get the door for her. "After you, milady!" It was odd. All this time, he'd told himself he was over Nita, that he'd moved on, and having been away from her, he'd come to believe it. But now, with her there... he wasn't so sure. Why did women make things so complicated? He groaned inwardly, a bit of the perplexion crossing his face briefly. Nita MacNeal Nita sashayed out the door with her nose in the air and pretending to hold up heavy skirts. "Sir knight!" she laughed, alluding to their old Halloween costumes. At the bottom of the steps, she waited for Gaius to catch her up; after all, it was his project. Nita was in a facetious mood, unaccountably cheered up, although her earlier nervousness still lingered. Gaius Harper Vixen bounded out the door before Gaius could close it, and ran down, nosing Nita in the tail happily as her master followed down the stairs. And she continued to walk between Nita and Gaius as he led them to the construction site, much to Gaius' annoyance. "It's going to be a theater," he explained. "The idea was Billy's, but most of the actual planning got dumped on me, but that's okay. It's definitely kept me busy the past couple months... That and the smaller projects, like the chairs. I'm working on one for a hedgehog lady right now..." He chatted as they walked across the village, heading almost parallel to the nearby lake. Nita MacNeal Nita twitched her tail out of the way, used to similar nosings from Comet. "Yes, yes, I'm sure I smell fascinating," Nita told the dog. "Wow, Billy?" Nita was frankly surprised to hear that Billy was doing something so... productive. She hadn't heard anything at all about him for quite a while, and that suited her just fine. A theater did sound fun though, and she said as much. "Is anyone writing skits or something? Or are people just putting together random things?" Gaius Harper Gaius chuckled at the surprise in her voice and nodded. "You wouldn't expect it coming from that kind of guy... but I guess he's just crazy enough to go through with whatever he gets in his head. I don't remember how I got dragged in exactly..." he added with a rueful smirk. "Though I remember not wanting him catching me with those tentacles..." To the questions, he shrugged, at a loss for any information. "I guess? Billy was kinda managing that, but I hadn't heard anything much... he's doing tryouts of some sort over by the lake, so maybe that'll result in some kind of talent show? I know a girl who was trying to get a singing group together..." He glanced away, recalling the last conversation with Shenzi, and the aftermath with a pang of worry. He hoped she was doing alright and could come to grips with her new face, at least for the time being. As they rounded the outer line of duplexes, Gaius waved a hand to the familiar patch of grass and dirt, his eyes on Nita to watch her reaction. "Well, this is the place! We've been getting a lot of prep work done, but all the wood is good to go. I was going to start putting some of the top framework in today..." However, the sight that greeted Nita looked far from a busy construction site. It was quite noticeably empty, aside from the great hole and beams of wood sticking out of the ground in it, and the few logs set up for simple benches. No tools, no lumber, not even a wooden horse was there. Nita MacNeal Nita shivered slightly; those tentacles had been around her once, although they had been weak at the time. And then Billy had barfed ink all over her. Ugh. "Cool," she replied idly. Nita wasn't much of a performer, but she would certainly attend any theatrical events that came up. At least it would be interesting! Nita looked around, one brow raised. "Er..." Gaius Harper Nita's reaction was certainly not the one Gaius had been hoping for. His own expression fell to confusion as he finally turned to actually look at the site... Or lack thereof. "What..." Gaius began, eybrows furrowing. He took a step away from Nita, forgetting her in this sudden strange sight. Another step, and another, and then he was running forward to the edge of the shallow pit. "Wh-Where is the wood? The tools?!" he cried, staring about him in dismay. The indents of wood piles were still fresh in the dirt, but no sign of them was anywhere. Everything was bare, even the shovels in the pit having been taken. He ran a hand back over his forehead and mane, mind working to try and make sense of it all. Nita MacNeal Nita trailed after Gaius, peering around the site. Clearly, there had once been tools and supplies; people had obviously been working recently. "I.. I don't know," Nita muttered, joining him at the edge of the pit. "Was there anyone like, vehemently against this project?" she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. Gaius Harper Gaius frowned, still baffled. "Not really... I mean, Zach was lurking around yesterday, but..." He shook his head. There was no way that dragon could have done all this over night! Letting out a low rumbling growl of frustration, he turned back towards the village. Nita's presence was all that kept him from uttering a string of dark curses. "I'm going to have to re-do a lot of work... Come on, maybe we can find some replacements in the storage room..." He didn't wait for Nita, but stalked off towards the village, leaving Vixen to accompany her if she followed. The storage room was part of the cafeteria building, so it didn't take long to reach it. He grabbed at the door handle to turn it, but the thing wouldn't budge. He tried again, harder. The thing just rattled against its bolts. Then his eyes fell on the note taped to the door. Slowly, understanding dawned on Gaius, and with it a rising rage. Even Nita's company couldn't stem the flare of temper that errupted. Throwing back his head, he roared in frustration, a stream of cursing quickly following, half intelligeable between the huffs. "Damn that Duvert! Hruah! That ******** b*****d, I'm going to kill that crap-eating toad-spawn..." At the same time, he'd thrown himself back on the door, this time twisting and rattling the handle with both hands, and then flung himself shoulder-first against the door violently. "DUVERT!" WHAM! "DAMN YOU!" WHAM! "GIVE THEM BACK!" WHAM!The force of the last slam sent Gaius falling back onto his tail, the door no worse for his abuse, but his shoulder ached fiercely. The horse-man clenched his eyes shut, grimacing against the pain and injustice of it all. The labs had taken it away. All of it. Nita MacNeal Nita was quite familiar with the supply closet as well, as it was the source of her often-used cleaning supplies. She hurried after Gaius, struggling to keep up with his long stride. Covering her ears as he yelled, Nita managed to read the short note which was presently being crumpled against the door. So the labs had some objection to the building project... "GAIUS!" she shrieked, torn between covering her ears and trying to catch a hold of Gaius' arm. "Gaius, stop it!" Her heart was racing and adrenaline pumped through her veins. "Stop!" Nita begged, watching helplessly while the horse-man slammed into the door and fell over backwards. She knelt on the floor beside him, in spite of her instincts telling her to flee. "Are you okay?" Nita asked softly. Gaius Harper "No..." he responded sulkily, rubbing at his bruised arm. How could he be? They'd cut him off from the one thing he'd thought would bring his life on that island some kind of meaning... Everyone lives with delusions. We ignore the fact our clothes may be from a factory employing child labor, or the meal we eat came from an animal pumped steroids and chemically charged food every day. Gaius had clung to that fantasy, assuring himself again and again that it was all sacred, free of the lab's taint. And now that veil was torn away, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. He hung his head, clenching eyes against the frustrated tears that managed to escape anyways. "Damn... them..." he managed to croak. Nita MacNeal Nita sat back against the wall, nearly crying out of empathy. This was just plain shitty. People working together, making the best of what they had, wasn't that what they were supposed to do on this godforsaken ********," she murmured. After a moment's hesitation, Nita reached up and brushed the tears from Gaius' cheeks. "I'm so sorry. This is such utter bullshit." Gaius Harper Gaius didn't flinch away from the touch, for once not caring about appearing 'strong' in front of Nita. He was ashamed, but there was nothing he could do. What made it worse was the words in Sabin's note. He could only have known what Gaius had said if he'd been listening, and if he'd been listening, then he'd seen what had taken place between the pegasus and dragon... Gaius had a pretty good idea now why the supplies were gone. Taking a deep, shakey breath, Gaius rubbed the rest of the tears away on the back of his hand. Snuffling, he looked up at her with a kind of forced resignation. "I... think I need a drink," he said. Nita MacNeal Nita patted his arm and gave him a tentative smile. At least he had calmed down somewhat. "What kind of drink?" she asked. "Cafeteria or beach bar?" Gaius Harper Vixen, who'd been pawing at the door, came over and licked Gaius' face in her own attempt to cheer up the man. Gaius accepted the licking and sighed, ruffling the dog's head. "Bar. Definitely bar." He pushed himself up slowly. "Something that'll take me out in one hit, preferably..." Nita MacNeal Nita gave Vixen a quick pat and pulled herself up. "There'll probably be some ice we can put on your arm, too, so it doesn't bruise up too much." She tsked at the beating he'd given his shoulder. She made for the door, back through the village, and out across the beach towards the bar. Gaius Harper Vixen bounded after Nita, casting a look over her shoulder to see if Gaius was coming too. The big guy paused for a moment, shooting the door behind him a glare, and spun around to give it a quick kick. That resulted in a muffled curse, and Gaius came limping after Nita quickly. "It's not bad," he said once he'd caught up with her. "I'm sure it'll be fine." The path to the beach and bar was calm, and the air warm, clinging with the promise of coming rain. Gaius walked in moody silence for a while, mulling over the developments, and his possible options. "...Maybe, if I'd hit it harder, I could've knocked the door down..." he muttered to himself. Nita MacNeal Nita winced at the thudding noise and waited briefly for Gaius to catch up. "Still," she insisted. "Ice at least won't do any harm." She sighed; it was sobering to see the generally cheerful Gaius in such a mood, and there was nothing she could do about it. "I honestly don't think it would have," she said, remembering the time she and Marlow had watched Billy out in front of his duplex. Apparently he had been evicted, with all his belongings strewn about the lawn. He had thrown the largest objects he could at the windows only for them to bounce right back at him. At the beach bar, Nita busied herself by pouring a shot of rum into a glass with a can of Diet Coke. Her drink mixed and stirred, she rummaged about for some ice and a plastic baggie. Gaius Harper Gaius grumbled, reluctantly agreeing with her. The door was pretty solid. As Nita worked on mixing a drink, Gaius flopped down in one of the stools, slumping forward to rest his arms on the bar, but resting his chin on top of them was forever out of the question with his neck. So instead he watched her, letting his eyes wander over the assortment of bottles around. Somehow, something sweet sounded pretty good right now. "Could you make one of those up for me too?" he asked, pointing at the glass, then added with a weak smile, "Er, please?" Nita MacNeal "A'course," Nita replied, although her voice was somewhat muffled. She had been poking though yet another cupboard and finally located a supply of sandwich baggies. "Ah-ha!" she cried triumphantly, holding the box up over her head. She poured the drink for Gaius and put a handful of ice cubes in the baggie. "Couldn't find any twist-ties, so it's just knotted shut." After handing over both drink and ice, Nita pulled a stool over for herself and took a few slow sips from her glass. "So," she drawled, peering over her glass at Gaius. "Why the long face?" A tiny smile quirked the corner of her mouth. Gaius Harper Nita was rewarded for her pun by a couple ice cubes flicked at her. Gaius returned to icing his shoulder as he grumbled, though his mouth quirked up at the corners with amusement. The abused area on the side of his arm was starting to show some color, to his surprise. He hadn't realized he'd hit it so hard... With a bit of maneuvering, Gaius managed to nurse his drink in his free hand while the other held the ice to his shoulder. Tipping it back, he downed over half the glass before setting it back down. "I think..." he sighed, "...I know why the tools are gone. It's because I confronted Zach yesterday when he was making trouble, and... well..." He shifted uncomfortably on his seat, looking at anything but Nita's face. "I... lost my temper. I hit him. It was bad enough that I got buzzed." Shaking his head, he growled, "After that whole deal with Sabin in the labs, I'd been trying to avoid the stupid lizard... And now look what's happened! They took everything away..." Nita MacNeal "It just slipped out!" Nita protested, squeaking when the ice hit her. She flicked one errant ice cube back at Gaius, paper-football-style. She nodded slowly. "Well, ah, that would do it, I guess." Nita stared into her glass, giving him a few minutes. "So... You've had issues with Zach before?" Gaius Harper "You could say that..." The second half of the drink quickly followed the first. He set the empty glass down and sighed again. "I need something stronger-" Suddenly, he felt something bump against his leg. Looking down, he found Vixen, who'd been nosing about the lower cupboards behind the bar, with a tall bottle of some sort held in her mouth, looking up expectantly. Gaius' eyebrows bounced up, but he took the bottle from her, reading the label. "Vodka? ...I guess that'll do." Getting up, he went to the mini-fridge, pulling out the carton of orange juice, and mixed himself up a strong screwdriver, then returned to his seat, carrying the carton with him. "It's his fault. Ever since the start... He first lied to me when I didn't know about the island, then he taunted me after both of my changes, ganged up on me with that Freddie, even attacked me..." He shook his head and took a drink. The dragon was twisted beyond hope, as far as he was concerned. It was almost frightening to think he'd once been human, and been reduced to that, but he comforted himself with the belief that Zach must not have been much of a man to begin with. Nita MacNeal Nita raised a brow at Vixen. That could hardly be normal canine behavior. All of what the horse-man said sounded familiar. Making Natsumi cry, rumors of attacks, and being generally unpleasant... Nita shook her head. "What an a**," she said. "I mean, if there's anything I can do to help you get your supplies back, let me know. I'm sort of in the doctors' good graces, I guess." Nita shrugged, feeling guilty for wanting to exploit that connection. But it was a tenuous connection, based mostly on not wanting to hurt Lauren. Gaius Harper "'Doctor's good graces'," Gaius gave a derisive snort, pouring himself another drink, this time more alcohol than juice. He welcomed the warm, almost fuzzyness in his brain. Yet, it wasn't doing what he wanted, it wasn't making him not care. Gaius had little experience with drinking, at least before the island, but that's what he thought it was supposed to do. Clearly he hadn't had enough yet. Judging from the flush of his face, it was clear the alcohol was working. He took another sip and winced at the strong alcoholic bite. "That doctor doesn't have anything good OR graceful about him..." he grumbled moodily. Then he turned back to Nita with a sudden change of expression. Looking deeply worried for her, he put a hand over one of hers. "I don't want you doing anything that'd put you in danger with them... I don't want any of this stuff I've dealt with to happen to you! You're too... you're too important to me!" Nita MacNeal Nita flushed; her connection to the labs wasn't something she generally flaunted. She finished her drink and after a moment's consideration, poured herself another Coke, straight. Her metabolism had slowed since her last change so alcohol stayed in her system longer. She shifted slightly with her hand under Gaius'. Was he getting drunk already? "Yeah, well," she said lamely, her voice trailing off. Nita figured she had witnessed quite enough horror originating from the labs, even if none of it had been directed at her. Gaius Harper "Just... take care of yourself." Taking a deep breath, Gaius recovered himself a measure and let go of her hand with a bit of embarrassment. "I know I'm not your kind of guy-er, partner... But still, I... like you. You deserve someone better than this walking misfortune I've become..." He slumped down onto the bar, glumly taking another drink. It was a pleasant feeling, the warmth and the seeming tongue-loosening, but how much had he drank so far? How much did it take to get a horse drunk? He didn't recall how much he'd consumed the last time, after Oz's change... "All I wanted... before I came here, was to be a good guy. And now look at what I've become... I get angry, I drink... I even cussed. Whatever happened to the gentleman?" He lifted the glass, as if to have another drink, but grimaced. "The labs... Sabin's taken it all." Nita MacNeal "I do take care of myself," Nita murmured, trying not to feel just a bit annoyed. She had been on the island longer than he had, after all! The red panda girl sighed. "Gaius... You're a perfectly good guy. Anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend or boyfriend or whatever. Everyone gets angry, most people drink, hell, I'll swear up a storm." She stared at the back of her hand, still resting on the bar. "Sabin only took things from you. That's what they ******** do here, okay? They take us away from everything familiar, and they mess with us. You just have to get through it." Nita's voice rose while spoke, finally cracking on 'through.' Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. Gaius Harper The horse-man grunted from his hunched-over position, but the turn of his ears betrayed his attention. He wasn't sure about anyone being lucky, but it was reassuring to hear those words coming from Nita. He really did value her opinion highly. He turned to face her fully, concerned as he heard the emotion in her voice, and could see it clearly in that fuzzy, animal-like, but humanly readable face. His first instinct was to hug her, to tell her it would be okay, it was his fault for being stupid in the first place, but a smaller part of him spoke against that, saying there was a better way to comfort her. So, Gaius leaned over, arching his long neck, and nuzzled the red-headed girl's shoulder with his nose. A sudden cry in his brain jerked Gaius back, realizing what he'd just done. Panic gripped him as he stared fearfully at Nita, wondering what the hell he'd just done. "I-I'm sorry! I d-didn't mean to...!" Nita MacNeal Nita dug her palms into her eyes, wiping away tears that were more from frustration at the situation in general than anything Gaius had done or said. At first she stiffened but after a couple seconds, Nita leaned against Gaius, sniffling. She giggled when he pulled away, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "What, it was cute!" Gaius Harper "It was stupid!" Gaius protested, though he accepted the ruffling, a couple wiry locks falling over his eyes. "I don't know what came over me!" Hunkering down, the horse-man tried to hide his red face in his arms. After a moment of sulking, Gaius tilted his head to the side, glancing up at Nita. "...Thanks. For being here and stuff. I don't think I'd be doing so well by myself." Nita MacNeal Nita grinned wider. "Hey now, sometimes you just can't fight the instincts," she told him, poking his shoulder. "Hey, you're welcome," she said softly, fiddling with a lock of her own hair. Before she quite realized what she was doing, Nita leaned over and gave Gaius a quick peck on the cheek. Gaius Harper Gaius blinked, caught completely off-guard by the little gesture. "I, uh..." He looked back at her, blinking again and looking rather dumbstruck. "You, er... uh..." Words failing, and cheeks bright pink, Gaius ducked his head, emptying his drink as a cover. Nita MacNeal Blood rushed to Nita's face. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have..." She bit her lip and twisted her hands together in her lap. "Damn." Sipping her drink, she nearly choked. The ice had melted, and the soda was flat. "I just... I don't even know anymore," Nita blurted out, shaking her head. Gaius Harper The twitching of his ears between upright and back betrayed the pegasus-man's confusion and nervousness. Nita had been the one to make the move, but he worried he'd done something wrong. Was there something he was supposed to have said? Augh, why'd everything have to be so complicated with girls! What would James Bond do in a situation like this? "Don't... know what?" Gaius asked hesitantly. Nita MacNeal "Bleh," Nita stated, rubbing her temples. "I don't even know what. Everything's just weird right now, with Lauren and living together, and the dog, and Christmas... Plus the labs... I'm rambling and not making any sense." Nita straightened up and shook her head as if that would make her thoughts settle into place. "I shouldn't even be thinking all of this, much less saying it, not to you, of all people..." She sighed, sipped at her drink again, and made a face, having forgotten it was watery and flat. "Ugh." Gaius Harper Gaius shifted in his seat, not really sure what the problem was, except he seemed to be part of it. "Um, er.... I'm sorry?" His eyes wandered back to the bottle of vodka, the liquid courage and escape he'd been indulging in, and picked it up, but didn't pour himself a drink. Instead, he sighed. "Why does everything have to be so confusing..." Nita MacNeal "It's not your fault," Nita automatically replied. "Really, it's not," she repeated, realizing how trite that sounded. "I guess I have a lot of things I need to work out." Nita shrugged, then went to the fridge for another soda. "Damned if I know," she muttered. "Would we complain if everything were boring?" Gaius Harper Gaius glanced up, then back at his empty glass, a smirk tugging at a corner of his mouth. "We probably would... human nature." He winced as soon as the words were out his mouth, but he couldn't help a small chuckle. "I guess some things will never change... I think you're right," he said suddenly, looking up at Nita. "About getting through... To hell with the labs, I'll manage somehow. They'll have to take my hands away before they can stop me from working." The last statement was said with a scowl, staring at one of his hands resting on the bar, which he clenched. "They can keep their stupid tools." Nita MacNeal Nita laughed outright and grinned at Gaius. "Of course I'm right! And I'm sure you'll come up with something." She thought for a few minutes. "Had you taken any of the tools home with you? Like for the chairs you've made?" She quirked a brow. "Worse comes to worst, we have an open-air theater and um, an orchestra pit?" Gaius Harper Gaius snorted as he chuckled. "You're the woman, you're always right! It's a law of nature." "I have a hammer and small saw... just a couple small things. I was stupid and left the box of tools at the site overnight. I was too tired to carry it back," he muttered. Sighing, he rubbed his chin. "The hard part will be the wood... All that stuff already there was handy... I don't know where I'll get more, unless I can somehow use the trees around here..." Shaking his head, he poured himself a small shot and flicked it back, just something to tide him over. "I'll figure something out..." Nita MacNeal "See? At least something around here can be counted on!" Nita stuck out her tongue childishly. "Hmmm." She leaned forward with her elbows on the bar, hands propping up her head. "What about Newt? He might have keys to that supply closet." Nita eyed the vodka bottle. "Hey, might want to slow down a bit or else you'll feel like s**t later." Gaius Harper Gaius pulled a face, but pushed the bottle away obediently. "Eh, I'm gonna feel like s**t anyways... Newt's a good idea, though. I should go find him as soon as I can." Pushing himself to his feet, a wave of dizziness made Gaius grab for the bar edge. Shaking his head to clear it, he moved away from the bar and gave a whistle. Vixen, who'd been rolling about on the beach and chasing birds, came bounding back, stopping only to shake off a spray of sand on both of the islanders. "Augh! Vixen!" Gaius held up a hand in front of his eyes and shot the dog a reprimanding look as she finished. "Stupid dog..." Nita MacNeal "Just be sure to drink some water in a while," Nita advised, clearing away the used glasses and empty soda cans. "Maybe get some more ice for your shoulder, too." She frowned her concern only to end up with sand in her mouth. "Gah!" She spat and rubbed as much sand as she could out of her fur; Nita had suffered similar experiences with Comet during their walks and was convinced the dog knew exactly how make as much of a mess as possible. "Silly thing," she mumbled, glancing at Gaius. "Hey, let me know if you find anyone else who got a dog, too, would you?" she asked, suddenly remembering one of the original reasons she had wanted to visit him. Gaius Harper "Oh, right, ice..." Gaius glanced down at his shoulder, wincing at the purple that color that seemed to have blossomed amongst the red. The door had been more solid than he'd thought. He shook sand off his shirt, glowering at the dog, but as with any pet, it was hard to stay upset for long. Nita's question brought his mind back from wandering. "Huh? Oh! Yeah, the dogs! I think I saw Lucas had one... he's a skinny guy with reddish fur, kinda like yours, looks like a dog. And there was another one I saw around, but I don't know who it belonged to... Geeze, I wonder just how many were given out..." He cast Vixen a wondering look as he rubbed his neck. Nita MacNeal "Ohh, I've met Lucas. He's Emelyn's friend." Nita nodded as she set out from the bar, back towards the village. "So that's at least three, maybe four," she muttered, collecting her thoughts. Definitely from the labs, and probably not just for the simple joy of having a pet. "At least Comet is perfectly normal. Well, I've never had a dog before, but that paper that came with her said she was." Nita shrugged. Gaius Harper "That many..." Gaius said in wonder, more to himself. He'd never really thought about it, but if there were four dogs... maybe even more? What did that mean? He cast a look at Vixen. "Mine... has done some strange things, at least for a dog, I guess... never had one before, so I didn't think much of it. She has this tendency to get into closed places and find exactly what I put out of her reach." Rubbing the side of his neck, Gaius shrugged. "Oh well, she's just a strange dog! But, I have more important things to deal with... Speaking of which, I should go find Newt." One unsteady step followed the other, though the way the ground seemed to roll a little in his vision did little to help his balance, but Gaius was determined to manage by himself. Looking back over his shoulder, he waved to Nita. "Hopefully I'll see you again, and under better conditions!" Nita MacNeal "Huh," Nita stated, peering at Vixen again. All things considered, it was probably a good thing she had a "normal" dog! "Definitely," she replied. "And let me know if you find any more dogs!" With a quick wave, departed for the village: her duplex, Comet... and Lauren.
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Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2007 5:49 pm
The sun set over the ocean, casting orange, red, and purple rays over the water. Nita walked slowly along the beach, Comet's leash in hand. The young dog pelted across the sand to spray Nita with water. Nita laughed, mock-scolding her. "You bad dog, you know you're not supposed to do that!"
Comet laughed and jumped around, more than ready to keep going. Nita clipped the leash to her collar and jogged alongside the dog. Following the tide-line, eventually veering away from the water, farther and farther from the village. Nita balked as the pair reached the outskirts of the jungle, sweating from the humidity within moments.
"Don't worry, Neets, I'll protect you," Comet told her, leaning against her legs and licking her palm. Steeling her nerves, Nita nodded and followed the dog, carefully keeping them both on a well-worn path. Once she was calmer, Nita realized how much she had missed the jungle, regardless of the humidity. Small monkeys and birds shrieked overhead, insects buzzed, the air was filled with the myriad scents of flora blooming and rotting.
A twig snapped. The fur on the back of Nita's neck rose; she stopped abruptly, listening for the vague change that had come over the area. Reaching down for the comforting support of Comet's back, Nita realized the dog had disappeared, as had the last rays of sunlight. A low growl reverberated around her, seemingly from all directions at once. She backed slowly towards a tree, feeling her way. Another snapping twig, another growl.
"Comet?" Nita called softly. "Where'd you go?"
Four eyes appeared glowing from the underbrush. Nita stopped breathing. Eight paws padded determinedly towards her. Comet grinned, laughing at Nita's terror. Angharad inhaled deeply. "Remember, Nita, a dog is only two meals away from being a wolf."
Nita was aware of each muscle twitching, waiting for the exact moment to be released.
In unison the creatures leaped for her throat.
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Island of Moreau Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2007 5:58 pm
From the moment you wake up that morning, you know it's coming. Between the miserable dreams and the telltale itching hot lump in the back of your right arm. Things get worse as the day progresses. You feel hot and itchy in your fur. Your face aches, and you're hungry. After you eat (and your stomach would demand a larger than usual portion), the heat increases - and despite being on a tropical island, it isn't the cause. You're burning with fever. Your body aches, and your clothes begin to feel tighter on your frame as your mucles and even your very bones cry out as your frame thickens - not just fat, but your structure. Your legs shorten and thicken, your torso widens, and your muzzle and face aches as your muzzle finalizes gives you the characteristic red panda look.
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:32 pm
Nita had had a terrible morning, having woken up far too early, shaking and sweaty under the sheets. Her stomach ached, even after eating, and she had found a welt on her arm. It obviously wasn't a bug-bite.
And so she was in a foul mood, moping around the duplex... waiting.
"Goddammit, I hate this," she grumbled, scratching her arm. "And I'm freaking hungry again."
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:39 pm
Lauren had watched Nita closely this morning. Something seemed up with her, but she had failed to notice the bump on her arm. "Not pregnate are you?" She said trying to lighten her mood as she went towards the fridge. "I swear Nita, I pulled out in time." It was dumb humor but at least it helped to amuse Lauren.
"What do you want to eat?" She asked as she pulled some pulled chicken out of the fridge.
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