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 Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 3:47 pm
His eyes opened a margin wider with the reaction. He had been pleased with the pings of life he felt underneath his finger tips but he had not expected them to simply open. The eyes stared back at him and he simply muttered an "aa." Before glancing at the clatter that had risen from the pod No had been poking at. An interesting
No was flailing from the incident and making inaudible sounds. Waits was unsure if they were brought out of concern, though honestly he didn't much care if they were. He swept towards the toy, mindful of the mess upon the ground - not from the juices that had splattered along with but from the gaping mouths that might go from imitating fish to getting bitey. Favorite finally joined them and made to pick up one of the heads which the alchemist did as well. And interesting experiment, perhaps? He pondered why the Mother might have these collected in such a way or if these were in perhaps the way these humanoids had actually grown. Or something else.
He began wishing he could ask her, pick her brain and learn from her. Perhaps if he went looking for her. Then he thought about it, recalled why he didn't in the first place when Lurks mentioned her and gave up the idea. But.. well, with new information...
Something to save for another time. "Clean them up," he instructed Favorite while lazily waving a hand to kind of indicate what he wanted to be done, "but keep that one, I'll see if I can keep it for later." There was still much to explore before he got too tired.
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 3:52 pm
"I hate you," Lurks Beneath said, a startled venom in his voice, "you are the worst, and also I hate you." He pulled away, choosing to pace behind Qarah as he looked at the original. "I think so. It asked sweetly." Lurks chittered to himself, and wondered if the Original would eat later, once Qarah asked its questions.
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 7:32 pm
His question unanswered--and what did it matter, since its answer had no bearing on what he could do about it?--he hesitated, and resumed his rocking before he answered, violently scrubbing his hair to shed an imaginary insect, some current of air too close to scuttling legs for comfort. "Do I--yes," he said warily, as if the wrong answer might bring about pain. "I... I read." He didn't ask why. It felt unwise. If it had been Lurks, perhaps he would have--the first one's brand of torment seemed too childish for elaborate conversational traps--but he he trusted the newcomer even less than he did Lurks.
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 10:44 pm
His pace was soon growing sluggish, his body creaking and tired from walking and moving. Waits shifted his shoulders with a crack and frowned and sighed. Perhaps he should soon find his brother or locate that room of carvings to sit for a spell. There was a third option though, and his eyes slid briefly to the two lumbering creatures behind him. Hm.
Everything was put on hold, however, when the room opened up to a vast imagery of vines. But it wasn't just those that took his attention but the red flowers that bloomed all around. Waits grinned and ushered the pair into the area.
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 11:16 pm
"I am the worst," Qarah said serenely, hugely satisfied. "I am the worst and you and I are in this lair together." "It reads," and Qarah sounded delighted. "What does it read? What do you read?" It leaned in closer, tasting the air again. "What do you require to be alive?" It had never maintained a human before, and now this one was their responsibility. It did not trust Lurks to remember to tend to the Original all the time; when Lurks got bored, it suspected, he might forget. Qarah considered itself far more diligent. The Sage would be pleased with it.
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 11:32 pm
The urge to burst into frustrated, crocodile tears was almost overwhelming. He made a secret resolution to hide the original, and perhaps dress some of the stupid ones and teach them to speak, too. "Don't break him," Lurks hissed, petulant still, "he does not deal well with many many questions, you know. He does the rocking and the shaking, and you have made it worse. I wonder if he will fall over?" He hummed under his breath, tapping his chin with a bony hand. At least the Mother liked him the very most, as much as she was capable of liking anything besides destruction and reaping and sorrow caused. "Do not make him fall over. I am not sure the Original could get back up."
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Posted: Fri May 09, 2014 11:24 pm
"And what have you two been up to." Came a bored creaky sigh from behind. It was hard to say it was really a question about the actions of the two scavengers while he had been wandering elsewhere in the temple, there was a severe lack of affliction in his tone. There was even a placid look in Waits' eyes as he stared upon the two and the plaything they had been arguing over.
Which had been how he found them in the first place, followed the sounds of raised voices and hisses while he continued to wander. Even after he had returned his way to the room of carvings that held the rich history of their clan. The alchemist had gone to collect two more of the dumb humanoids for the sole purpose of carrying him around; he had gotten tired and his feet a little sore. Favorite and No had their hands full as it was and were also currently adorned with their last exploits of discovery; they were now wearing flower crowns made of the red flowers and vines, which Waits had figured would be an easy enough way to transport them. And they had made them so well too, such quick learners.
Favorite had also done very well in ripping a few petals to smaller flakes. And though it would have been more ideal to wait until they had been dried out, the horseman had gone ahead and rolled a small portion of it in one his small pieces of hemp. Just to try it at least, perhaps fresh it would give a delightful sting to the throat.
But here he was now, licking the end of the parchment to seal it in place as he was surrounded by a small collection of faces that very much seemed to match the one that they were fussing over.rejam they would say hi but they're a little dumb
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Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 8:53 pm
He was spared from answering by the arrival of a third, but it would be laughable to describe this as a relief. He made a desperate, cornered-animal sound somewhere in the back of his throat and closed his eyes tight at the sight of the shambling corpse-dolls that were supposed to look like him, naked save for their incongruously-cheery flower crowns. He'd caught the tail end of Waits rolling up something to smoke, and this, too, drew a frustrated noise out of him. It seemed like the stupidest thing in the world, among his bruised knees and hunger pains and the ever-present sensation of things crawling inside his clothes, but if Lurks had offered him a cigarette out of his horrible hands instead of food, he'd probably have taken it. He was, in fact, as Lurks had correctly surmised, rocking and shaking with increased fervor. At this point he was almost certain that he'd rather have dealt with the sort of titanic acid-spitting beasts America had seen fit to convey in crayon drawings. At least those things were straightforward, and sudden, and quick. The anticipation was unbearable, especially arriving, as it did, on the heels of his solitary confinement in the crawling room, the place where rest was impossible. Arriving amidst the constant, constant fear for his daughter. Amidst his unanswered terrors over the word "training." "What did you mean training," he begged, without opening his eyes. "Please."
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Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 10:58 pm
"Waits!" he squeaked, waving in greeting, appreciating how much he'd helped the stupid ones improve already, and plucked a flower off the crown of one, and instead tucked it behind his own ear, smug. "Qarah is being cruel to it," he explained, "and might break it with soooo many many questions!" Lurks Beneath fluttered back to where the Original sat, curling and sad and restless. It asked a question, and the Scavenger had no answer for it, but he had already ignored it once. "I don't know," he replied. "But the other is training a not-so-stupid stupid, that is all." There were so many, now, in this little room, but he didn't want to leave. Lurks reached out to gently pet the Original again, humming in that cicada-chirp way. "You are so sad."
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Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 1:43 am
"I will not break it," Qarah said, a little petulantly. "It is interesting and I have many questions to ask it." "He is training some stupids," it explained brightly to the Original, gesturing at Waits. "You see, they are learning quickly." It intended to go and investigate the other's training, sooner rather than later. Then it would have answers to dole out as rewards for good behavior. It congratulated itself silently on its cleverness in this plan. It looked again at Waits, then, and found him rolling something to smoke. Oh. It frowned. Was Waits going to smoke that in the room? The beetles weren't going to like that. Qarah wasn't terribly fond of the idea either. It huffed and rose in a flutter of robes. "See that you do not break it either, it is rocking and shaking a great deal," it instructed them imperiously, as though it had authority. Then it swept out of the room, head held high. It would go and explore the lair. There were clearly places to explore.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 1:35 am
Even from the chatter of the two scavengers, Waits did not miss the disheartened groan from what the two were calling the Original. He gave the scared thing a glance, even a small little grin for the noise before he turned back to his brother. He did not know what it was for but it was amusing in the least to hear it make it; his two creatures hadn't made anything like that as of yet. (No made a protest close to it when Lurks took one of the flowers, having worked so hard on it).
"Questions lead to answers, it would be nice to know what he knows." Waits informed his brother as he got his two feet back on the ground. At least it seemed Original could at least speak, unlike those two - four? more? - which would make things easier. More helpful, but he could see the point his sibling was making with his little shrieks and flustered explanations. Too many was frustrating, especially if at once.
"We will not break it." The alchemist replied to the retreating Qarah, though he couldn't hold onto that promise. "She did say we could play with it though." And that was very much what he intended to do. (Interesting that they couldn't seem to all three be in one room for too long, was it him? Or did he just seem to luck out with catching the tail end of a bickering session between those two?) As for his little project, it was tucked away behind an ear for now for later use.
He intended to join his brother and flutter about the Original. But then suddenly saw the pile of white coats and headed towards those instead. No and Favorite, ever the tag-a-longs followed while the two new little test subjects stared unfocused at the ceiling.
"What have you learned, Lurks?" Waits asked as he toed at one of the piles.
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