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 Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 10:55 pm
The tiger had been watching the leaf for a very long time. She hadn't approached it in some time, deciding to take a nap for a bit, and somehow the object had changed. It was now sprouting sharp things around its body, as if someone had tried to do something to it and it was guarding itself.
But no one had been around, had they? Qing was actually somewhere other than the living room at the moment, Anandi was looking over her notes for a final, and... they were the only ones, weren't they?
The cub tiptoed a bit closer, and lowered her large head toward the plant. The leaf looked to be okay... She sniffed it for good measure.
A little too closely.
The sharp thones pricked her poor, soft, vulnerable nose right where it counted, and she roared in pain, backing up quickly as she inwardly started cursing childishly in Chinese.
Anandi poked her head out of her room, glancing toward the loud creature. The anthro didn't look particularly happy, her ears drawn back toward her head in anger.
"Quiet down," she demanded, clutching a wad of paper in her fist. "Maybe HE can't hear you, but I can. And I need to pass this test otherwise Daddy's cutting my funds for Christmas shopping."
The cub looked over her shoulder with a horribly sad face, her gold eyes wide as saucers. After a moment, she looked back toward the potted leaf across the room.
Her tail dropped. Ugh... she always hated those sad kitten faces. She was a sucker for them, and she swore that every child in the WORLD knew as such. Turning her eyes toward the object in question, she raised a brow at the new development.
Okay, that was rather weird...
"QING!! GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE!" she hollared, stepping out of her room to see what had happened. Did the alien boy do something to hurt the leaf?
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:19 pm
There was a loud thump from inside Qing's room, and seconds later he appeared in his doorway, looking even more disheveled than usual. There was a rainbow striped sock hanging from one of his antennae, and several neon post-its were stuck to his clothing and face. He was carrying a heavy science textbook, which he stuck the sock into and set down on the couch before actually coming over. "Yes?" he asked, trying to sound innocent. "What is it, Nana?"
Then he saw the leaf, and the innocent act vanished, replaced by shameless intrigue. "Oh! I did not know it wourld do that!" he exclaimed, kneeling so that he was on eye level with the top of the pot. "How rlong werre these herre? Did you see what happened? Rroses have thorrns, but therre is no stem, no rleaf- and the thorrns arren't parrt of the rleaf, arre they? So strrange!"
Rather than being upset, he seemed actually excited. Nobody at the biology department had expected anything like this!
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:25 pm
Anandi blinked a few times, not too surprised with his reaction. Of course he'd be in awe... But that wasn't the point.
"Did you DO something to it?" she growled, her tail bristling slightly. It was a wonder why exactly she cared, but at the moment, it felt only natural to be concerned. She felt something coming... she just didn't know what. "I swear to the GODS that if you kill that thing..."
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:38 pm
"Do? Nothing morre than what I usuarlly do," Qing replied absently. He'd been dilligently misting the leaf every day, just enough to make it moist without drowning it. He'd been watching it and taking extensive notes, not that there had been much to note as of yet. This was the first real development since they had planted the leaf, and it was a doozy! For a moment, Qing felt slightly guilty not to have noticed it earlier. But Anandi wasn't the only one with looming finals, and he simply couldn't afford not to do well on them.
He prodded one of the thorns gently with a fingernail. "It doesn't rlook rlike the rleaf is hurrt. But," he added, "it's harrd to terll frrom out herre." Even leaning in, he could only get so close to the leaf, and the glasses he was wearing didn't help much.
"Ah! Just a minute," he murmured, sitting back against the table. His eyes closed, and he held his hands at his center, trying very hard to focus, and having a difficult time of it. But if this worked, it would be worth it.
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:44 pm
She was about to comment on the 'more than usual' part, but for once decided to let it go. Instead, she folded her arms across her chest and rested her weight on her right leg, causing her hip to lean out a bit. What was he doing now?
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:52 pm
Shifting wasn't especially difficult for Qing, but it did require focus, something the alien only got in bursts. His eyes were squeezed shut for several long seconds before he opened them again, satisfied. Now there weren't just two eyes, but four- he had added a pair on the ring and middle fingers of his left hand, right at the tips. The doubled vision was something his brain wasn't quite sure what to do with, so he closed his real eyes. Feeling better, he showed the new ones to Anandi, winking with one of them, and then set them as close to the leaf as they could get, wiggling his fingers between the thorns as best he could.
"Werll," he murmured, "the rleaf rlooks rlike it's arlive. It doesn't rlook rlike the thorrns arre attatched." Frowning, he looked over at Anandi again, though his eyes were still closed. "But how is that possibrle?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:06 am
Instead of answering, Anandi just stared in shock, her jaw slacked open. Did... did he just put... EYES on his fingers...?! She felt a little dizzy and sick, especially as she began to wonder how that even worked.
She tried to say something, but only gibberish came out, the freaked girl hardly able to form an actual thought. Turning around and taking a few deep breaths, the anthro tried to calm herself down before attempting to do much else. Closing her eyes, she exhaled slowly one last time, leaning against the couch for a moment for support.
Then, she grabbed one of the pillows, and quickly smacked Qing in the face with it.
"WILL YOU WARN ME BEFORE DOING GROSS THINGS NEXT TIME?!" she shrieked, continuing to attack with the pillow.
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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:18 am
Unable to really see Anandi's reaction, Qing was unaware of what she was doing until he got a pillow in the face. His eyes- all of them- shot open in surprise, and he swayed on his feet, the double vision making him dizzy. Fortunately he hadn't forgotten to include eyelids for the finger eyes, so he closed those instead, wiggled his fingers free from the pot, and sat down on the floor again.
"Was something wrrong?" he asked, oblivious. It wasn't like he hadn't shifted in front of her before. And eyes weren't gross. She had eyes, after all. Maybe not on her fingers, but eyes were eyes! "I needed to see! And the rleaf rlooks fine! But I don't know wherre the thorrns came frrom." That was the strange part... had the soil contained seeds that had sprouted from his consistent watering? It had looked like ordinary soil... why hadn't he thought to test it earlier?
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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:23 am
It happens fast. The thorns grow taller, thicker, wider, and overlap each other until the leaf is invisible beneath them. A red flush spreads over the plant - when it has completely covered the thorns, they now more resemble a rose bud.
And then the rose blooms, revealing what the leaf has become...
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Reply
![[Qing]'s avatar](https://a1cdn.gaiaonline.com/dress-up/avatar/ava/96/32/5a9cc1e4663296_flip.png?t=1482027109_6.00_00&a=1&i=10017763&s=stand&f=front)
