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 Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2006 4:37 pm
~A Conversation Heard While Half-Asleep~
"...but she likes him! Not me!"
"You have to tell her anyway! I've known her for years, Liam. Nothing bad can come from it."
"Says you! He's...cute and charming and everything chicks want. I'm not!"
"Shut up! Yanno, I also wanted to fall in love with a handsome, wealthy, taller doctor! Look where I am now!"
"JULIAN WAS A HANDSOME, WEALTHY, TALLER DOCTOR!"
"That's not the point, dammit! You have to tell her...or at least Chao!"
"Yeahno. I'm not going to tell the only female that ever admitted having slight interest in me...god, no. I don't want to be alone again, Rabid!"
"I know, I know...*sigh*...Liam, you can't keep this a secret. You know what it'll do to you. Should I tell her for you...?
"No! No...I've got it."
"Liam...."
"I'll tell her...eventually."
"Liam...*sigh*...promise me."
"I promise."
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 3:02 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 5:24 pm
~The Vents~
Ike sat on the rug beside his bed, playing a riveting game of war with Skelly.
"Aces are high."
"Oh, right," Ike shook his head to try and clear it, taking the ace and king laying on the rug before him. It was his first time alone in the room, and he was bored enough to start tearing out his own fur.
The thing about the air vents was that they were confusing. There were far too many twists and turns for Reid to ever keep track of, though Axel seemed to always know where he was going and where he was.
Sadly the ninja triune had decided not to join Reid on a quest to find a shorter way downstairs so fourty minutes into a shuffling quest to find a shorter way downstairs he was completely lost.
Reid sighed and shuffled further along, finnally sighting a crack of light. He was bored and confused, at this point it really didn't matter if he found himself downstairs or in the attic, he just wanted to get out.
The slits in the grate didn't show him enough to know where he'd ended up but it was definately a way out. Reid threw his weight against the small panel, willing the screws to give. They didn't.
"Come on... Lemme out!" he growled, throwing his weight against it again. The screws gave way and he tumbled out, taking the metal panel with him.
Ike leaped back at the noise, cards flying about him in an agaitated flurry. It took him only a split second to realize what was happening before he shot forward, attempting to catch whomever was falling out the vent.
"I've gotcha!" he called, laying on his bed and holding his arms and legs up, bent to brace him for the collision.
"Be careful!"
Reid quickly realized he'd ended up in someone's room. Wings fluttering he yelped and attempted to right himself and just fly back into the air vent before he could be seen.
He didn't manage to right himself in time and ended up landing in a pair of hands.
"Sorry! Sorrysorry! I didn't think this was someone's room!" he pushed himself up, balancing on the hands and looking down to further his apologies now that a speedy anonomous escape was out of the question and paused, then lit up.
"Ike!"
Ike laughed richly and placed Reid on his bed beside him.
"Reid! The vents?!" he laughed again and hugged his best friend gently. He was so small now. No normal hugs. No normal anything. Ah well. Reid was Reid was Reid.
"Hi, Reid," Skelly waved from the floor, beginning to pick up the cards that had been thrown.
Reid returned the hug with enthusiam, all four arms included in the motion and laughed with a bit of embarassment and a shrug.
"Yep, the vents. They're awesome! Well... dusty and confusing, but awesome all the same," he shook his head, "except the getting out part, I... haven't gotten that down yet."
Sighting the plush Reid returned the wave, "'lo Skelly, sorry, did I interrupt your guys' card game? I couldn't tell where I was...."
Ike shook his head.
"You didn't interrupt anything. I was bored out of my mind."
"Thanks."
"Oh, you know what I mean," Ike turned to Skelly and then back to Reid, "I don't think I'd be able to do that. I start freaking out in small spaces."
Reid nodded and leant back against his hands, "I don't mind the smallness of it most of the time, it's only when there're no slits or ways out for a long time that I start to freak. But
it's fun and something to do when I don't feel like practising or going outside."
"I guess so," Ike nodded and flopped forward, resting his head in his hands and crossing his knees, "How've you been? Has anything new happened lately?"
"I've been oki," Reid shuffled and shifted until he was mirroring Ike's posistion, "I'unno... I accidently shrunk a plush the other day, but I was trying to make it grow so..."
He shrugged and shook his head again to get rid of the lingering thoughts on his alignment and smiled, "but Mu also found a bunch of new piano songs for me to practice and they've been nice. What about you? Are you still playing the violin?" If Ike was then maybe they could play together sometime.
"That's still better than me," Ike shrugged, "All I can do is this."
He held out his hand, causing a ball of light to hover above his palm before disappearing completely.
"Yuh, I still play violin. It's not so fun any more, though. William kinda helped me, so...yeah." He sighed and gave the violin on the stand in the corner a thoughtful glance.
He loved his violin, but ehat good was playing the it when the talent wasn't his?
"Liam's trying to teach me how to write music. That way, it can be my own. It's...really hard..."
Reid watched closely as the light formed then flickered out of exsistance. "But you can make something..."
As Ike's gaze shifted over to the violin in the corner Reid followed and smiled, "even if it's hard it's awesome that you're even trying. I can barely read music, I don't think I could ever even try to write it."
He paused and tilted his head, "will you write something for me and my piano someday?"
"I can read it...but I can't tell you any notes or anything," Ike smiled, "Yeah, sure. I'll write you something when I get good enough. It might be a while. A long while."
He paused for a moment to think.
"Do you sing at all?"
Reid chuckled and grinned, "I don't mind waiting."
He blinked at Ike's question and had to think about it. "A little..." he'd never sung with anyone, it was more spontaneous little bursts of song when he was alone and needed to hear some sort of sound or when he was listening to his MP3 player and didn't realize he was doing it.
"Alright, then," Ike nodded, "I think you should sing more. I'm sure your voice would be better than mine."
"Malachi! Don't forget," Skelly called from beneath the bed as he dragged out a meticuously wrapped package, about a quarter of his size.
"Oh, right!" Ike flopped over the side of the bed and picked the package up, "I got you this a little while ago." He held the gift out to Reid, his muscles twitching a bit under the weight.
It was a little obsidian sculpture of a piano with marble keys and silver wire detailing. It made sense to buy a piano for a pianist, so he'd spent the last of his allowance on it.
Reid huffed out a breath and cocked an eyebrow at Ike, "that's not true. Your voice has a much better sound than mine," had Ike not moved he would've poked the other Mishap or maybe pestered him into singing to prove it.
But instead he merely blinked as a package was presented to him and sat up, taking it carefully in his four hands and placing it on the bed in front of him to careful open the wrapping.
At the sight of the tiny piano Reid's eyes widened and he carefully traced the details with his hands. He gently tapped the tiny marble keys with the ends of his nails, looking all the more pleased when it didn't ring back at him but instead just echoed his taps.
"Wow Ike..." he breathed, he'd never seen something like the tiny sculpture....
Carefully he place the tiny piano down and, grinning like a maniac, launched himself to enthusiasticly hug his best friend. "It's so awesome! Thank you!"
Ike laughed and hugged Reid back.
"You're welcome. I wasn't sure if it was...too much," the boy nodded, his tail swishing happily, "You may be my best friend, but I'm still not too sure of what you like."
He thought for a moment.
"Yanno? I don't think I've ever heard you play your piano..."
Reid shook his head, "it's not too much at all. And... I dunno, sometimes I don't really know what I like either, or what anyone else likes for that matter. But I like it!"
He blinked and tilted his head, mulling that over, "yeah... huh... and I don't think I've ever heard you play your violin either...."
"Good," Ike smiled, and then pointed to his door, "I wanna hear you play. Is the piano in your room, or at your house?"
He was determined to hear his friend play within the hour, if it was going to kill him.
"My room," Reid replied, grinning as he realized where this was going, "but if I have to play you have to play with me. Or after me, whichever." Though in truth he'd rather do a duet with his friend.
Ike huffed before leaping off of the bed and retrieving his violin and bow from the corner.
"Deal," he smiled. On an impulse, he flopped over the side of his bed again and retrieved a piece of simple, hand-written sheet music with "Ussta Alurl Abbil" scrawled at the top.
"Shall we?" he motioned out the door with his bow.
Reid's glow brightened and he nodded, gathering up the miniture piano in his hands, using all four of them to be sure he wouldn't drop the statuete.
He hopped off the bed and glided to the floor then paused, waiting for Ike to get the door as it was impossible for him to get it with his statuete in his hands.
Ike grasped his violin bow gently between his teeth and opened the door, making his way to Reid's room. He loved the new HQ plans and just how close he and all of his friends were, room-wise.
Reid followed along, flying in order to keep up with Ike's long stride. Thankfully the door to his room had been left open a crack and he was able to push it open with a bit of wing pumping and the use of his shoulder.
A small yellow and black shape froze as they entered and Axel's beady eyes sized up the tall white creature fellow ninja Reid had apparently brought back with him and yipped quizzically. Who is this and why aren't you coming back through the air vents?
"Hey Axel, this is Ike, Ike that's Axel," Reid said and fluttered put his the mini piano down carefully on the bedside table before dropping to the ground and heading over to where his piano sat.
"Hi, Axel."
Ike bent down to the little yellow-and-black...thing and held out his hand to it. It was a cute little...whatever it was. He was soon distracted, though, and scampered quickly after Reid, kneeling beside the piano bench.
Axel flicked his tail at the white thing and poofed away in a cloud of black smoke. A moment later there was the sound of scampering in a nearby airvent. If ninja Reid wanted to risk being exposed it was his own choice, he'd return later when the white thing was gone.
Reid looked up at the air vents, tracking the sound and shaking his head. Axel was so weird sometimes.
Looking over to Ike he grinned and shifted on the piano bench, his fingers were nearly itching to play now, "want to play something together or...?"
"Depends," Ike shrugged, "D'you have any music for duets?" He took a seat on the edge of the piano bench, twirling his bow between his fingers.
Reid looked upwards, thinking before pawing through his small stash of written music that was kept just beneath the piano stoll.
Coming up with nothing he sighed unhappily and shook his head, "I thought I did but I guess not..."
"Well, that's okay," Ike said and placed his rumpled, simplistic sheet music before them on the piano, "You can read music, right?"
It was a stupid question, but he had to ask.
"A bit..." Reid looked it over, fingers twitching a little in anticipation of the keys he was fairly sure the notes indicated before curiously looking up to Ike again, "can you hum a little of it for me? And what's 'Ussta Alurl Abbil'?"
Ike arched an eyebrow and decided to not tell his friend what the title was.
"Piano's the first line, I guess. It goes kinda like...err..." he said before humming the beginning of the piece. It was fairly mid-range and not very complicated, but it was quite pretty with an almost creepy chord progression.
"Key of F," he nodded after he finished.
Reid nodded in time, closing his eyes Ike's humming made everything fall into line. It was always easier to play something when he had an idea of what it was supposed to sound like.
He opened his eyes and nodded, "ahhhmmm...okay," wiggling a bit more he sat up straight and looked over to make sure Ike was ready.
Ike placed the violin under his chin and readied his bow and fingers. He gave a short nod and counted.
"Five, six, seven, eight," he waited a beat, closed his eyes, and began to play.
Reid took a breath and began to play on Ike's count. He relaxed into the song after a few moments when he didn't stumble on the unfamilar territory and the mesh of their sounds sounded like an actual melody instead of a car crash or something equally unpleasant.
Ike opened his eyes upon finishing, wishing that Liam hadn't written something so short. He smiled and nodded to Reid.
"You're good."
Reid returned the smile and leant back against his hands, that'd been fun! "So're you," next chance he got he was going to have track down more duet music so they could do that again.
Abruptly he laughed warmly and his smile stretched to a grin, "we've come far from our candy wrapper roots, haven't we?"
"Not quite," Ike smiled and reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of candy, "For old times' sake?" He took a blood candy and traditionally unwrapped it with his teeth. He held the rest out to Reid.
Reid nearly fell off the piano stool at the sight of the candies. He laughed again and glowed brightly as he took one, mirroring Ike by unwrapping it with his teeth.
He held the empty wrapper up like a toast, touching it to Ike's and prompty squished it, producing a satisfying crunch.
Ike laughed and touched his wrapper to Reid's before crushing it between his hands and rubbing them together. Ah, what a sweet sound.
He laughed again.
"We're insane, yanno that?" he said more than asked and carefully pocketed the rest of the candies.
Reid snickered, twisting his wrapper before crushing it again, "yeah, but we're insane together."
"Always," Ike laughed.
"Ike! IKE! Where is he?!"
"I dunno! He was here when we left!"
"YOU LEFT HIM ALONE?!"
"He's a kid!"
"Exactly! He's just a kid! L'ADRIEN. WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
"Augh...COMING, MUMMY!" Ike cringed and looked toward the door, "I should go before my mum kills Liam. I'll see you soon, kay?" He stood quickly and gave Reid a big hug before waving and disappearing out the door.
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 5:43 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 7:43 pm
~The Date-That-Isn't~
Crow had been standing outside Rabid's room for ten minutes.
"It's not that hard. Just knock on the damn door."
And yet, it was nearly impossible to reach up to the door to try to knock. She didn't like feeling like this - especially not over a boy. Being nervous around people made for awkward situations she would wholeheartedly like to avoid.
"It was your dumb idea. Go through with it, ya big wuss."
Taking a deep breath, Crow knocked on the door.
"Liam? You in there?"
Liam had been sitting alone and shoeless on the couch, doodling his little heart out. He knotted his brow in temporary confusion upon hearing Crow's voice. It didn't take him long to react, though, and he threw his notebook into intangibility before opening the door.
"Yah, I'm here," he nodded, "What's up?"
Trying to ignore another random swoop of nervousness, Crow leaned nonchalantly against the door frame and fixed her face into a calm, detached expression.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie with me tonight - I'll buy."
Careful not to think anything nervous or fluttery, lest he be trying to pry, Crow gave an easy smile to cover it.
"What d'you say?"
Liam arched an eyebrow and half-smiled. Something was up, but he wasn't quite sure what. He refused to invade Crow's mind against her will, though, and so satisfied himself in neutrality.
"Tired of dragging the little big brother out, are we?" he shook his head, "Sure...but I can pay for myself."
"Great! Er - cool. Okay."
Clearing her throat slightly to collect herself, Crow straightened up off the door frame and jammed her hands in her pockets.
"He's busy burying evidence, anyway. Besides, I need to get out more with other people. I'm not what you'd call a social butterfly," Crow said coolly, the faint smile still on her face. Okay, so it hadn't been as hard as she thought it'd be.
"Wanna go now? There's a matinee show for a new horror movie I've been dyin' to see."
Hope I'm not being too pushy with this - how the hell do I ask him out without asking him out?
Liam smiled and nodded in understanding. He knew, what, 5 Gaians at most? Eh. Even if it was going to be some kind of twisted method of self-mutilation, he was going to go to a movie with Crow.
"If you'd like," he began backing into Rabid's room, "but I need shoes. It'll take a minute. Feel free to come in."
He grabbed his boots and sat down in a nearby chair, yanking them up to his knees and starting to buckle them. Stupid mandatory Rebellion footwear.
Wandering into the room, Crow's ghost of a smile twitched a little wider at the sight of the abused wood floor. Deciding not to comment, she stood a bit awkwardly off to one side, frowning at the scuffs in her own boots and the tears in her fishnets. Was she properly dressed for this?
It's not a date. Stop acting like it's a date.
"The movie's called Blood Asylum or somethin' like that - it had a pretty good trailer, so....yeah."
It was a well known fact that Crow didn't do small talk well. Trailing off into silence, she eyed Liam a little conspicuously.
"I like your boots."
"Hm. Haven't seen it," Liam said, taking a second look at his boots. Huh.
"Thanks."
He stood and swiveled his ankle, trying to fit into them better. He was going to need to buy some new shoes some day.
"Should we be off?"
"It's pretty new. They remade it after a video game, I think," Crow said conversationally. Nodding eagerly, she scooted towards the door and held it open for him.
"Yeah, let's go - I can call a cab that'd get us to Durem in time for the last matinee."
Sometimes she really hated going without a car - it was bad enough walking to work every day.
"Ah...I see...but I've still never heard of it," Liam smirked and made his way out the door, holding it for Crow in turn, "I can do one better. Unless you're afraid of motorcycles...I have a rather fast one. We could make it in double time, I think."
He was grasping desperately for reasons to ride his bike somewhere. He had not, in fact, been able to bring it anywhere since he'd arrived in Gaia.
Sauntering out into the hall, trying to maintain her cool air, Crow couldn't help but fidget a little excitedly at the mention of the motorcycle.
"Sounds fine by me - never been on one before," she said, trying to hide the eager note in her voice.
Keep it cool already - you're acting like a fourteen year old. Possibly on Ritalin withdrawal.
"We better get moving, then - the early show starts pretty soon."
"Right, then," Liam turned suddenly and placed his hands on Crow's shoulders, transporting them both to the parking lot. It would make to much sense to simply transport them to a nearby theatre.
He cleared his throat nervously and traipsed over to his motorcycle, head bowed. Without a word, he retrieved 2 helmets from the back, returned to hand one to Crow, and mounted his bike, kicking off the side bucket.
"You're going to want to hold on," he turned back to Crow, "When I say fast...I mean fast."
"Now...which theatre?"
Blinking in slightly disoriented surprise, Crow jammed the helmet on her head and climbed on behind him.
"I'm not worried - I love going fast," she said, though she wrapped her arms securely around him, hoping she wouldn't fall off. "It's the theater near the middle of town - you know, the one with all the gaudy lights and the big neon sign. Cinema-Plex or somethin' like that."
Readjusting her grip slightly so that she wouldn't sink her claws into his stomach if she panicked, Crow looked around at the bike a little dubiously. As interesting as it looked, she didn't see how this thing could stay upright...
Liam turned back and nodded to Crow, quite proud of himself for not thinking anything perverted upon feeling her grab him.
It took him a moment to remember quite how to work the elaborate metal behemoth, but he soon flipped a switch on the handlebars to the highest setting and (in his usual dangerous tradition) kicked the kickstand down and immediately gunned the engine. In the beginning, he leaned forward, hoping that Crow had enough balance to not fall off.
Sure, they were breaking a hell of a lot of laws...but that's what backroads were made for.
Swallowing a surprised squeak, Crow held on tighter and leaned against Liam.
"How fast can this thing go?" she asked, trying to make herself heard over the roar of the engine. This was rather exhilarating, really - as long as they didn't crash headlong into something and splatter the road with their remains. But even then, it might be fun - what was life without a little risk of being roadkill?
"Something over a hundred, I think!" Liam yelled back, not tearing his eyes from the road, "I'm not so good with conversions!" His helmet pushed his earrings into his ears, causing a small amount of irking pain, which wasn't unpleasant. It was because of this that he was forced to temporarily think of Crow as a horrendously unattractive Vavvian male.
Or bad things could happen.
It didn't take long before he saw what could have been the right theatre up ahead. He shifted a bit to try and get Crow's attention and pointed toward it with a gloved hand.
"That's the one," Crow roared, her voice nearly drowned out no matter how loudly she tried to make herself heard.
She wasn't quite sure if she like the motorcycle or not. She kinda didn't, but the fact that Liam was the one steering it.... feeling herself blush for no reason at all, Crow gave a self-conscious (and inaudible) cough and shrugged it off. Some excessive gore and bad one-liners would get rid of the awkwardness she was feeling.
She hoped.
Liam nodded, hearing some kind of noise that didn't sound like screams of agony. He turned easily into the parking lot, leaning to the opposite side to compensate and pulling the bike back down to the normal (and legal) speed. He took a space too small for a car and put the kickstand down as the engine sputtered into nothingness.
"We're here," he said as he pulled his helmet off, suddenly remembering why his trademark hairstyle was what it was.
Climbing off the bike, slightly dazed, Crow tugged the helmet off and smoothed her habitually wild hair down as best she could.
"What a rush."
Wandering over to the ticket booth, she bought her ticket from the half-asleep teenager locked inside and waved Liam over.
"I gotta go use the ladies room - I'll meet you in the theater."
Scooting inside, Crow made a beeline for the restroom and kicked the door open. Wrinkling her nose at the stink of urine and stale popcorn, she glared at her reflection in the dirtied mirror sternly.
"Stop acting like a dork,"she scolded herself, tugging her fingers through her hair in an attempt to tame it. "Stop blushing, and stop being a dork. It's not a date."
Ignoring the stares of the other women as she berated herself, Crow gave a dignified huff and gave them a cool sidelong look before marching back out.
Climbing off the bike, slightly dazed, Crow tugged the helmet off and smoothed her habitually wild hair down as best she could.
"What a rush."
Wandering over to the ticket booth, she bought her ticket from the half-asleep teenager locked inside and waved Liam over.
"I gotta go use the ladies room - I'll meet you in the theater."
Scooting inside, Crow made a beeline for the restroom and kicked the door open. Wrinkling her nose at the stink of urine and stale popcorn, she glared at her reflection in the dirtied mirror sternly.
"Stop acting like a dork,"she scolded herself, tugging her fingers through her hair in an attempt to tame it. "Stop blushing, and stop being a dork. It's not a date."
Ignoring the stares of the other women as she berated herself, Crow gave a dignified huff and gave them a cool sidelong look before marching back out.
Liam smiled and nodded at Crow's statement and did as she said, approaching the teen in the ticket booth.
"One for...whatever that last girl's going to see," he said and dug the gold from his pocket, "I came with her. Really." He thanked the higher powers that the boy was too out of it to think well, apparently, and began wandering down the corridor, attempting to find the right theatre.
He found it soon enough and sighed, marching inside alone and taking a seat near the front, one over from the middle. He kicked his feet up onto the head of the empty chair in front of him and waited.
The outing hadn't been nearly as hard on him as he'd expected...but that didn't mean that it had been easy.
The trailers had already started when Crow scuttled into the theater, tripping over people and spilling their food as she went through the aisles. It took a couple minutes, but she finally made it over to him. Picking off a lollipop that inexpliacably gotten stuck in her hair, she sank into the seat and grinned as the opening credits started to roll. A man looking panicked and beaten was sprinting through a seemingly empty hospital, trailed by another man in a trenchcoat and wielding a bonesaw.
"Compared to what we see on practically a daily basis, this is pretty tame," she whispered over to Liam.
But, she couldn't help but jump and grab at Liam's arm as the creepy music boomed, and winced at the gruesome sounds as the man running across the screen was caught at last and chopped up with the bonesaw, his entrails splattering on the ground.
"Not very subtle, is it?"
Liam simply laughed at Crow's statement, nodding in agreement. It was depressing, how true it was. His interest was peaked when the man was murdered, though, and he almost didn't notice Crow's grip on his arm.
Almost.
He stayed politely still, mentally repeating a phrase in Vavvian.
The movie was gruesome and brutal, and had enough cheap scares to keep Crow on the edge of the seat most of the time. She'd relinquished her grip on Liam, though she tended to lean a little closer than she should have during the tense moments.
Halfway through, as the overly-handsome hero and token female character were being persued by gutted cadavers with their eyes and mouths sewn shut, she threw up her hands slightly and got up.
"I'm gonna go get some popcorn. Watching people being tortured into insanity's makin' me hungry - I'll be right back."
Scooting through the aisles blindly, tripping over her fellow traumatized movie goers, Crow exited the theater.
Maybe we shoulda gone to go see that romantic drama instead, she thought to herself. The movie was a little too like everyday life to really enjoy without being paranoid.
Liam was completely entranced and disgusted throughout the movies. All he kept thinking about was the amazing inaccuracies. Then again, what could one expect from Human movies? He was every so slowlybeginning to get used to the fact that he and Crow were only together...not together.
Her sudden exit jarred him from his dreamy state.
"Uh...alright...?"
Bustling back in with her popcorn and ignoring the glares and mutters from the people she'd already tripped over twice, Crow threw herself back into her seat. Trying not to crunch on the popcorn too loudly, she stared back up at the screen and gaped as the female character started trying to gut the hero with a rusty scalpel.
"Jeez, what a b***h."
Offering some popcorn to Liam, she couldn't help but laugh as the hero tried to plead with the obviously possessed woman.
"Please. Like anyone possessed can actually be reasoned with," she snorted, deeply amused.
Liam watched Crow return and politely refused her offer, resisting the urge to launch into some kind of random explanation.
Upon her statement on the posessed lead, though, he shot her the kicked puppy look, reacting and feeling as if she'd just stabbed him in the chest.
Was I really that bad when I was...oh, you're a bloody idiot. Stop being so dramatic.
He turned slowly back to the screen.
Biting back another laugh as the hero 'mirculously' saved the woman from her possession, she nudged at Liam slightly.
"I'm almost jealous of what you went through," she whispered, a bit oblivious to his response from before. "Gettin' stuck with demons is a b***h."
Taking another handful of popcorn, she watched with amusement as the newly-saved woman started hacking away at the demonic zombies with a handy fire hatchet, getting doused with their blood. It was taking all of her willpower not to make more sarcastic commentary - next time, she'd definitely let Liam choose the movie.
"Thanks for coming, by the way," she added, smiling in a quiet sort of way and looking at him with something like shyness before quickly looking back at the carnage onscreen.
Jealous? JEALOUS?!
He felt a great deal of things from anger to depression slide into his chest and constrict his heart, although his face betrayed nothing. All the things he'd done...she couldn't possibly have any idea. She had control now, for the most part. He never would. He'd never know who he truly w--
"Yeah. Any time."
Watching the overgratuitous bloodshed with a dwindling sense of enjoyment, Crow thought harder on what she'd said. It hadn't been very intelligent, but it was the truth - she tried not to think about it, running a hand over a tendril of the Marque unconsciously.
Her pleasure in the movie killed by her own hand, Crow sat back in her seat and watched it unseeing, thinking morosely.
As the movie ended, Crow blinked in surprise. She'd been so wrapped up in her own thoughts, she'd missed the ending. Getting up and wiping of the popcorn crumbs, she made a slightly disappointed face.
"The trailer was better."
Liam was already standing and peering down at her, fighting the urge to simply walk away.
"I still haven't seen it," he said and forced a half smile. His emotions had been beaten down using brute mental force, and he was feeling a bit better...although he still wanted to get out of the theatre as quickly as possible.
Nodding without really hearing him, Crow walked out of the theater as the flood of mortified peopel fairly ran out. Even the sound of a couple people throwing up their popcorn did little to cheer her up.
"Well, it coulda been worse."
Stepping out into the fresh air outside the movie house, she squinted in the almost over-bright sunlight, and sighed. Could've been better, too.
She turned to speak to Liam again when the bullet grazed against her cheek.
"AH!"
She fell to the ground, mostly out of shock, wincing as the bullet blew through the glass door behind her. Instinctively curling into a ball as the glass shattered, she brushed it off and rolled onto her stomach. Oblivious to the other people's shouts of surprise, she looked around frantically. Another shot blasted over her head, ricocheting off the metal door frame. She gave a curse as she saw a black car with tinted windows speed away, tires spinning on the asphalt.
Shaking with shock, Crow still laid low to the ground as she watched it leave.
"s**t."
Liam, having dropped to his stomach immediately, watched the mysterious vehicle as it sped away.
"Bloody Hell," he murmured, placing one hand comfortingly on Crow's shoulder, the other on his bike, and transporting them instantly back into the room.
Great...more people wanted her dead now?
Shaking violently and wincing as the burned skin from the bullet's near-miss healed, Crow sank to the floor and breathed hard.
"Oh, s**t... s**t, s**t, s**t."
She'd recognized that car.
"No, can't be, can't be." She muttered, trying to stop the tremors of shock. Taking a few minutes to collect herself, she got up and tried to smile at Liam. It came out twisted and fearful, quickly slipping off again.
"Thanks. I...I gotta...yeah. See ya."
Still shaking and deeply frightened, Crow stumbled out of the room and ran back to her own.
That couldn't have been good.
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Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 4:18 pm
~Only Once~
He rested his head in his hands, kneeling on the cold tile floor. What had he done? What hadn't he done? He loved her, of that he was sure. He was also quite sure that he couldn't help her. Not this time around.
He gave a trembling sigh.
What disgusted him was that he had invaded her mind, of only for a moment, to catch a glimpse of what she'd been thinking. It hadn't made any sense, but that wasn't the point. He'd done it. He'd actually violated her mind.
He retched again.
What a loser. What a failure at life!
He stood on weakened knees and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He couldn't stand the taste of salt water. He peered toward the mirror and stared at his own reflection for a moment before wrenching his eyes away in disgust.
It was hideous. His reflection was hideous. No...it wasn't his. It was William's reflection. Or wasn't he, himself, just William's reflection? If he hadn't been taken over...what would he look like? Would he be handsome? Would his personality have been sweeter? Would his life have been so terrible? Would he have ruined as many lives as he did?
He gave a final, trembling sigh before letting go. He dropped to the floor, head buried in his hands, and sobbed. His pain and fear was embodied in the tiny droplets of, what else, salt water that streamed down his cheeks. His gills flared, glaringly obvious in this state. He felt vulnerable. Juvenile. Mediocre. Disgusting.
Men weren't supposed to cry, he knew, but what made him any better than an infant? He couldn't be considered a person before this moment. He wasn't. The entirety of his life had been a total lie. Had he even felt anything before this moment? The thought of suicide passed his mind, but soon cleared. He could not die, and he had made sure of this the first time he had passed on. Why had he been so cocky? Why wouldn't he accpet it as his time? Now there was nothing to save him. There was nothing to pull him from this wretched state.
Or was there?
No...he couldn't possibly...oh, but he could.
What if everyone found out? Well...how would they?!
He sat in indecision, sobbing and gagging on his own tears. This could be considered the most important decision of his life, he was sure...or maybe the only.
That cinched it. He was going to do it. He was going to get his beautiful release from it all. From all of his problems. From all of his emotions. From everything.
He stood and opened his uniform, breaking the stitches of the pocket he had sewn shut so many years before. Fingers bleeding, he removed a small packet, one of many, half-filled with some kind of metallic white powder. He reached into yet another pocket and removed a razor blade.
He set these items on the edge of the sink.
He then made his way out into the dining room, picking up his notebook and removing the pen from its spiral binding. He returned to the bathroom sink and disassembled his pen, then taking the razor blade and bisecting it. He admired his work with morbid fascination.
It was amazing how old routines stuck with you. Like riding a bike.
He opened the packet of powder and carefully shook a certain amount onto the porcelian. The surface had never really mattered to him, and there was no reason to fear disease any longer.
He once again picked up the razor blade and began the meticulous, loving operation of seperating the powder into 3 seperate lines.
This was the final step. The final point at which he could turn back and change his mind; not take the leap into oblivion.
He thought of Crow.
He took the pen in his hand and spun it happily before leaning forward, putting it up to his nostril. Plugging the other with a free finger, he snorted all three lines of the powder in quick succession. He'd built up a pretty good immunity over the years. It took a lot to do anything to him at all.
He suddenly threw his head back, giving a small moan of ecstasy. He'd forgotten how quickly Ald'ebran kicked in. A sinister smile crept up onto his lips as he stumbled backward, dreamily making his way to the couch, his head still raised.
He collapsed onto the upholstery, laughing and revelling completely in the numb, cruel ecstasy that the drug brought.
Only once, he told himself before passing into unconsciousness. He was only going to do it once.
...but he knew it was a lie.
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:59 am
~Riyu's Retribution~Rabid sat on a swing, launching herself fairly high in the air and revelling
in the rush as she flew backward. She hummed a tune to herself, something she was
making up as she went.
Ike was sitting cross-legged on the grass, armed with a packet of
half-blank sheet music and his violin. There was a music stand before him, pushed
down as far as it would go...which wasn't quite far enough. The boy played a single
note and made a move to record it on the sheet music.
"Eurgh...every good boy deserves...ah! F..."
He scribbled down a whole note and began playing the tune he'd
written.After barely escaping Deimos' possible wrath, he decided to walk
around the area again, this time stumbling upon a playground. Immediately he
noticed Ike there and decided to creep around them so he wouldn't get caught.
Unfortuatenly he stepped on a twig that snapped quite loudly.
._.;; "Damn," he thought.Rabid peered over in the direction of the noise and she immediately
recognized the man as the halfbreed whose name she didn't think she'd gotten. Ah
well. She was having fun, and Ike had to learn to deal with his random prejudices.
Ike's head snapped toward Riyu, his violin quite literally
shrieking to a halt. His ears folded back, he force a slight smile and turned
back to his music, continuing to play.Riyu wanted to go fling himself off a cliff. This was
not his day. How many times had he run into trouble in the past week,
including trouble from his own family?! The situation was getting out of hand. He
smiled sheepishly and waved to Rabid."Ehh heh...so we meet again..." ^^;;Rabid smiled and waved, but made no move to stop what she was doing.
"Mister...Mister....errr...hey, you?" Ike inhaled deeply and stopped
playing, "Can you help me with something?"
Len had hade him realise how odd it was to automatically loathe adult males. It was
about time he started working on it.He half smiled and waved back to Rabid. She seemed busy. He
blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. ._.;;
"Um...yeah, sure. What with?""Cummere," Ike said, biting his lower lip gently and pointing to
his sheet music, "I need you to tell me which sounds better. This..." He put his
violin to his chin and played a few notes, causing a sort of vibratto with his
fingers.
"Or this?" He played the same noes again, but sans the vibratto, and ending with a
shrill crescendo that vaguely bordered on painful.Riyu smiled, something seemed a little different about Ike this
time. ^^ "Well, it all depends on what you want
to say with your music!"He sighed.
"That's the problem. Both fit," Ike flipped lazily through the pages of sheet music,
"It's s'posed to be sad. I just don't know...which sounds...more
sad."
You're such an emo b***h.
"Shut up, William," Ike replied absently. He was beginning to get used to
the odd man in his head."Hm...well, then I'll suggest the first one,"
he smiled, "It was far more pleasant to the
ears."That's not necessarily what I want, Ike thought, but said
nothing on the subject.
"Thank you," he nodded and began playting through the entire song. It sounded
done...but was it.
You are a poor excuse for a violinist.
This is your talent...not mine.
Rabid leaped off of her swing, landing in a way that reminded her of Spiderman. She
approached her son and the man.
"I'm sorry," she half-smiled, "but I think I've forgotten your name..."He sweatdropped and held out his
hand. ^^ "Well...name's Riyu!""Ah. Alright," Rabid smiled, "Not sure if I've told you. They call me
Rabid." She had finally mastered the art of introduction.
"How have things been?"
F-A...it's a C...He smiled a bit wider, realizing that perhaps things wouldn't be
so bad after all. "Rabid, huh? Cute name!" =)
"I've been great. Been lost in here, but been great. Yourself?"Rabid snerked, "It's really Charlotte, but...yanno." She peered around the
HQ grounds. It really was a lot more confusing since she'd first shown up.
"Pretty good, I guess. Weird s**t's been happening, but what's new?"He raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Charlotte, huh...? How do you get a 'Rabid' From a 'Charlotte'?""My childhood was rough," she shrugged, "...on anyone who crossed me." She snickered, flashing a fang.
"Mummy? Sing me a B flat."
Rabid did as such.
"Key of F, right?"
"Mmhm."
"Thanks."
"Yup."He smiled at the two of them and almost became chibi with delight-if there was one thing that he could never get over, it was conversations between adult and child...well...subtracting conversations with his own. He recently recalled his demon son getting hit in the head with a rock pet that he was helping foster for a friend and shivered. "You both are quite close! It's great to see that!""He is my semi-biological son," Rabid laughed, "When you go your un-life wanting a kid and never being able to have one...you kind of get attached."
Ike snerked.
"A little bit too attached. She still won't let me stay home alone."
"...but Liam lets him anyway."He laughed and bent down towards Ike. "Well...look at it this way. A parent's job is to raise the child so they can live off well on their own in their own home! However...when the time gets closer...we parents don't want to do it anymore."He wondered if he would ever miss his family if he finally broke away after earning his father's insignia and chuckled to himself. "Probably not..." he thought."Anyway," he continued, "You should enjoy the attention your momma gives you! You'll miss it later.""I know," Ike nodded, "but she almost killed Liam when h--"
"Maaaaalachiiii," Rabid said in a singsong voice, "We don't talk about Mummy's temporary insanity, do we?"
Ike simply snickered and continued playing.
"So...d'you have any kids?"He sweatdropped and decided to ignore the comments about this Liam guy, even though he was just about to question them about the person. He shrugged. "Well, not around here, I don't. I do elsewhere though...-_-;; He's a crazy boy, that one...Eight year old in mentality...teenager in body...@_@ Don't ask...it's a genetic problem.""It's my problem too," Rabid laughed, peering down at her teenage body, "I'm twenty." She smiled.
"What's his name?""@_@ Kaishi. Quite energetic." He blushed at the mention ofthe other young woman's age. If she had any idea how old he really was, though he appeared about 24 and acted even younger than that...she would probably feel disgusted."Ah. Nice name," Rabid said and cocked her head to one side, "You're blushing." She shrugged it off.
"I must say...I think I got off easy with the age difference. Liam? He looks...eh...about as old as me. He's...800 million and something. It's...complicated." She laughed again. Poor, poor Liam.He sweatdropped and tried to supress his blush. "Well...at least you seem understanding of his predicament...?"Seeing as to how Liam probably wouldn't have liked her launching into a detailed explanation of just what, exactly, his predicament was, Rabid settled on simplicity.
"Yeah. What does age matter? As long as he's not a mobile pile of dust, it's all good."He sweatdropped. "Yeah...I guess so. Your bloodline contains that gene too? You can age without physically aging?"Rabid snickered.
"No, hun. I'm a Vampire. we...spasmodically stop growing at one point or another and supposedly only get 'more beautiful with age'. Call it what you like, it's some effed-up form of Vampiric puberty. Liam's just horribly unlucky." "Oh, I see...well, I guess I can kind of understand how he feels..." sweatdrop "Being a half-breed of a unique bloodline doesn't help matters much." x_X"Being a halfbreed of an unknown bloodline doesn't help much either," Rabid snickered.
"Mummy...I can't feel my fingers..."
"Erm...oof. I guess we should go back inside," Rabid smiled and offered Riyu her hand, "It was nice seeing you again."Riyu laughed and shook Rabid's hand. "Yes, it was great seeing you both again! XD Bye Ike!" Riyu smiled. They seemed to be more accepting of him this time around. Perhaps he would stick around this weird world a while longer."Oh! By the way...before you go...does your son like chocolates?" XDIke stopped and turned on the abll of his foot.
"Yes?" Ike replied in the only way a sugar addict knew how. XDD "Then I have just the thing for you. Just got these Swiss chocolates recently. Hope you like em!"He dug out of his pocket a large bag of chocolates, handing them out to Ike. He hoped this would make up for his blunder from their earlier meeting.Ike happily snatched the chocolates (although he was currently unable to make a full fist) and gave Riyu a big hug.
"Thank you, sir!" he grinned and scampered off behind his smiling Mummy.
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:02 am
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 12:55 pm
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:06 am
~An Invitation~
Liam sighed deeply as the phone began ringing. Who the Hell was calling them now? If it was another telemarketer, he was going to blow something up.
"Hello?" he grumbled as he picked up the phone.
"Hello, sir! My name is Ananda Jass and I'm calling on behalf of Mr. Gautier. It is his wish that you b--"
"ANANDA?!"
"Uh...yes...sir...my name i--"
"Oh, cummon. It's me!"
"...what?"
"Liam. It's Liam."
"Short Liam?"
He sighed, "Yes. Short Liam."
"LIAM! It's so good to talk to you! Do you think you and Little Lottie can come over to TAR Saturday night? Jean really wants you here."
"Yeah, sure, anything!"
"Okay! I've...I've really gotta go. More calls to make. Show up or perish!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Laughing, Liam hung up. He was going to bring more than "Little Lottie".
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:58 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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