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 Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 4:21 pm
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 8:15 pm
Early one afternoon, after Aubrey finished with all the labwork for the day, she changed out of her labcoat and into some more comfortable clothes and headed down to the village. She frowned as she felt apprehension - should she be afraid to walk so openly in public? She knew the sleep command and all, but she new any attack to harm her would hurt her more emotionally than physically.
Thankfully, there didn't seem to be too much activity going on. Walking up to Duplex #12, she adjusted her grey beret and knocked lightly on the door.
"C'mon in." - the Dude's voice grunted from behind the door. "S'not locked, man."
Aubrey stepped him, trying to look calm and friendly. "Hi, Dude," she said, closing the door behind her. She hadn't seen him up close sense she gave him the injection, and she tried now to staire. "H..how are you?"
The Dude literally jumped and turned around, looking startled. he hadn't expected to see Aubrey here, of all people. He thought Ambrose was coming by to chat.
"Hello, Dr. Lockheart." - he finally said out of him. "To what do I owe the honor of your visit?" He quirked his eyebrow and sat down onto the corner of his bed.
"Aubrey, please.. if you wouldn't mind," she corrected him with a half-smile. "Anyway, uhm...sorry if I'm disturbing you..." she reached down in her bag and pulled out a small peice of paper. "A cash amount of $5,000 has been deposited into your parent's bank account. In you name, of course. But I had Feral Labs send me a receipt," she held out the cash depoit receipt, signed and dated by some guy named Learoy McMillian, who you guessed was a Feral Labs employee on the mainland. "I just thought it might make you feel better to know."
There was disbelief in the Dude's eyes at first, then he quickly stood up and walked up to take the receipt form Aubrey's hands with his disfigured hands. He looked at the receipt then looked up at her. There was a warmth in his blue eyes: "Thank you. Thank you so much, Aubrey" - he smiled.
Aubrey smiled back, a breath of relief escaping her lips. "You're welcome, Dude. I guess, well..." she scratch the back of her head, the guilt slipping back into her voice. " I guess it was the least we could do for you..."
Neatly folding the receipt in half and stashing it in the pocket of his red trunks, he looked up at Aubrey again: "Yeah, let's not talk about that, Aubrey. But thank you very much. Thank you. they need the money. I might not be much of a caretaker, and they still have my sister out there, but I know the squid business hasn't been that great recently."
"Well, I guess I should be going. I just wanted you to know. If you need anything else, just let me know. Oh - and your list should be coming soon. I promise."
With a sad smile the Dude almost nodded to that, but before she walked out the door he grabbed her shoulder to stop Aubrey:
"I'm sorry. I know this is your job and you are not the one who thought this whole thing up. And I think that, if the circumstances were different, me and you'd be great buds. But ..." - he paused, letting her arm go, and sticking it into his pocket. "... but you didn't get to see Cassidy and Greer wilt when I had to tell them the news. It's a harsh thing to watch peoples lives shatter." - he grunted grimmly.
"Maybe my life's not a big loss, but having to tell them about it ... brings out a lot of resentment out, you see."
"So yeah. Thank you and see you around, Aubrey."
Aubrey tried not to cry at the blow-off, no matter how tactfully said. She just nodded curtly and headed quickly out the door. "See ya," she muttered out before the door closed behind her.
CRAP.
The Dude's hand was still holding the receipt in his pocket. She did him a favor. A HUGE favor. And he snubbed her like that. With a resigned sigh, he opened the door and followed down the stairs after her.
Grabbing fleeing Aubrey's hand he stopped her: "Christ, this is like kicking a kitten. Hold on there, Aubrey."
He was too nice for his own good and any one else's too.
Aubrey was surprised that the Dude came after her. She stopped when he grabbed her hand and she turned around, taking a big breath while trying to compose herself. Her emotions were starting to get into trouble with Moreau. And she could face having both the islanders AND her beau pissed at her because she couldn't detatch herself. In truth, she felt almost ashamed to be speaking with Dude. After he peaded with her to reconsider her tactics, the first subjects she was in charge of she had litterally played ******** roulette with their fate. And worst of all, she ******** over Timothy who hadn't said more than a few words to her. They were both young... so young.. and they would never be the same again. And it wasn't even a "Cute" animal. No. She was cruel. Downright cruel. And nothing could excuse that behavoir.
Okey, so here was Aubrey standing, looking dumb struck and terrified at the same moment. GREAT. What was he trying to do here, anyway? Weren't they supposed to be wearing her consience down, for the benefit of the rest?
He let go of her hand, not sure what to say himself now.
CRAP CRAP CRAP.
Then, with an impish smiled, he grabbed Aubrey's nose with his finned hand.
"BEEEP beep" - then, laughing, the Dude scampered up the stairs again.
Aubrey's eyes widened and then she just stood there and blinked a few times, a bewildered look on her face. She finally let out a uneasy laugh, a bit of relief coming over her. Aubrey pulled the strap of her bag up back up on her shoulder, then gave a smile and a wave to the Dude, heading back down the stairs, feeling a bit better about herself. For now.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 9:34 am
Love And Destroy
... or how the Dude looses it. The Dude meets Karma and realizes the uncanny resemblance that she has to his long dead love, Maria. His own nerves taught as the strings of a violin, he now has to tell Karma about the true purpose of her stay on the island. He butchers it. There are tears and the Dude's sense of reality is blurred. Read all about in Karma's journal, page 2, post 6.The Dude ran up the steps of his duplex swung open the door and slammed it loudly behind him. He was visibly shaking, his eyes red and glinting fevershly. It had taken everything he had inside of him to walk away smiling from Karma. How could this all be happening. Why was she on the island. Of all people - why her?! The Dude stared grimly at the wall of his studio and punched it with his fist. There was a dent in the dry wall now, the cheap plaster rained onto the carpeted floor. His right hand convulsed with pain but he didn't care. Somewhere here there were skillfully concealed cameras. Maybe Moreau himself was watching him at the very moment, enjoying the spectacle and the pain that he had caused. Furious, he picked up a chair and threw it against the wall, screaming: "I HOPE YOU DIE ALONE, YOU SICK ********!" "I HOPE YOU ARE BURIED ALIVE, AND WATCH YOUR FACE BE EATEN BY WORMS!!!" He kicked the chair, sending it sliding across the carpet and plopped down onto his bed, still swearing, his deformed fingers clawing at the sheets. "I hope your nose falls off from leprosy. I hope the woman you love leaves you for another woman. I hate you, Moreau." There were tears in the Dude's eyes as he screamed at the ceiling. His usually calm face was twisted and teh lightly sharpened teeth in his mouth were bared. "I HATE HATE HATE YOU!" Rolling over on his stomach he buried his face in the pillow and started to cry. All this rage was pointless, the destruction only made him feel more powerless. He was nothing but a broken man, unable to deal with the pain of others and his inability to help. The ghosts of the past were knocking on the door again. Moraeu's evil, the darkness that only a twisted human soul can create was drowning him. The Dude couldn't do anything about the darkness last time, and he was powerless to stop it again. He couldn't deal with seeing the face of a woman that he lost a long time ago and watch her suffer and cry. He couldn't deal with that - it drove him mad. He used to not care, watching darkness of this world walk by him every day. He thought that as long as they left him the sunsets, he'd be okey. The beauty of the nature is like a drug - it was always there and it soothes the pain inside his heart. But now the wounds had been brutally ripped raw again, all the stitches again, his innards bleeding, festering and hurting. Why did that girl have to wear the face of his dead wife? Why her? Why Maria? Why was it all back again ... The Dude couldn't handle the real world any longer. With few trained motions he had rolled a joint and lit up. ******** reality. ******** Moreau. ******** feeling powerless. ******** all this. Let's float ...
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 9:37 am
Killing Me Softly... or how one drowns in sorrow ...Blue
Above him there was the blue.
Deep, calming, infinite.
Not a single cloud blemished its vastness. The color itself - he could loose himself in its depths, drown in it, his lungs slowly filling up with the blue. There were no faces out there to haunt him. No clouds to form into shapes his memories would recognize. Majestic and endless, the sky was covering the ocean like a shroud of light. The Dude was floating in the water, face up, arms and legs outstretched like a water bug. With slight adjustments in his position he could float like this for hours, watching the blue. Letting his cannabis clouded mind and the slow movement of the waves carry him wherever they wanted.
Today he was thinking about Maria.
It had been seven years since she died. He was half a world away from the ditch where her body had been found, floating just like this in the green water. Her eyes had been eaten away by insects, her little body was bloated and grey. Under the mercury lights at the coroner's she hadn't even looked like Maria. She had floated in that ditch for three days before the men who worked the strawberry fields reported the body. Yet another victim of hate and fear, of W.A.R. and the accursed ayrian purity. Her butchers were never brought to justice, her death - never revenged. The ocean's mists crawled over the strawberry fields again, covering the tracks, clouding the memories of everyone around him, making them not care. It was his fault she had died, it was his fault that her murderers ran free. Her ghost should have haunted him till his death, but Maria was never vidicative. Instead she set him free to live a new life. It had been seven years ...
But now Karma appeared, wearing the face of his dead love. Karma ... what a strange name. Good Karma ... Bad Karma ... Which one was she? The eternal cycle, the memory of bliss and sin carried thru generations - Karma. Karma had caught up with him yet again. An unlikely reminder of his failure, a bizarre punishment for his weakness. A girl with crimson eyes. Emelyn was right, of course - one shouldn't let the ghosts of the past get the better of you. Let the past be the past. There was nothing to be done about it. But to see Karma cry was more then he could stomach. No matter how many differences he pointed out to himself in his mind, his heart kept coming back to the same crimson eyes, the same raven hair, the same soft lips. This was silly. He need to get this over with. Karma was not Maria. She was 10 years younger then him, she was lost and alone and she needed friends. Not the burden of his neurosis. Maria was dead. He was over that. Done. Finished. He'd be over Karma, too.
Just a little more time inside the blue ...
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 9:38 am
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 9:55 am
Knock Myself Out ... or how the Dude accepted failure and smoked the peace pipe.Please read the RP in the temporary RP thread, pages 1- 10 or click HERE The Dude sat down on the sand and touched his jaw. Ouch ... Thorn really zwonked him here. He scratched his matted hair and lit up a joint. Hmmm ... it was so close. He almost got the chance to clobber Moreau. If Thorn hadn't jumped him, that is. Those beady little eyes, the red hair, the perpetual sneer on that skeleton's face ... monster, dictator, manipulator, devil. The one who took their freedom away, who played with their lives as if they were rats ... GAH, he hated him so much! Ahhhhhhh ... hmmm ... good weed though ... What would the Dude have done with Moreau, anyway, had he gotten ahold of him? Clobbered him with a bottle, that's it. Screamed at him a bit. But the Dude couldn't hurt anyone, couldn't kill anyone, no matter what they did. He'd probably not even have the guts to kick him in the groin. Cuz he was a wuss and a looser and a damned hippie. Been there, done that. He puffed on the joint for a little bit, feeling the gloomy thoughts creep back out from under broken branches and the shadows of the palm trees. Oh nooooo ... not thinking about it right now. He took another long drag and flopped back onto the sand, starring at the cloudless sky. Ahhhhhhh ... Greer looked really cute drunk. Funny girl, this Greer girl! And that Ian guy ... deer swords wtf??! ... Oh look, a seagull! Looking dumbly at the brid, the Dude made smoke rings escape his mouth. They floated away, twisting and fading into the blue ... hehehehehe ... mad, he wished he could make ships withhis mouth, like Gandalf. Far out, man. Gandalf was the BOMB. Worshipped the herb with the best of them. What'd he call it? Pipe weed? Maybe that's why Sauron never got the power over him. Gandalf didn't need no One Ring. He made his own ... heheteeeheeeeeee Helooooooo seagull!!!
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 10:00 am
I Get Carried Away
... or how the Dude got a wee bit star struck and then messed it all up. The Dude It had been maybe a week since the Dude had last seen Emelyn. A lot of things had happened since then and the Dude kinda forgot about the girl and the note he left under her door. But today, as he was walking down the stairs of his duplex, he realized that he hadn't seen the pretty brunette in a while. Wondering what was up and worrying whether she had already found out the truth and how she was taking it, he walked up to her duplex and knocked on the door.
"Emelyn? Hey, are you there? 'S me. Errr ... the Dude."
Before she had a chance to reply and open the door, the Dude hid his flippers behind his back, so that, in case she didn't know anything, he wouldn't scare her senseless right away. he couldn't really hid his whiskers, but hoped that they would judt look like stubble. Longish whitish stubble. Emelyn Emelyn was at her desk, folded over a pad of paper, writing for what had probably been hours- she'd lost control of time sometime after the four-page long diatribe on why she was completely alone, and how it was entirely her own fault. She would have to ask Moreau for a proper diary, she thought- thinking also as soon as she did that she truly had... let herself belong to him. She was even starting to casually make lists of how Moreau could make her life easier. "Is it important, Dude?" She called out, not wanting to open the door to anyone who already knew about her conversation with the doctor... The Dude Hmmm ... that caught the Dude by surprise. He really didn't have much to say to Emelyn, except the usual spiel that he had given to the others about how Moreau was a d**k but they should love life anyway, because things turn out somehow. The tiredness and the edge in Emelyn's voice made him think she probably either knew already or was suspecting something. "Well, not really. Just wanted to show off my new flippers and figure out whether you ate yet" - he finally answered, stepping from one foot to the other, debating what to say next. Emelyn Emelyn leapt to her feet, and was at the door at a span of seconds- her stomach was twisting, but she had to see what he looked like. She'd had a ...deathly, morbid curiousity about the transformations that were going on outside her self-inflicted prison... partly because she knew that she'd be undergoing one herself, but mostly because she felt somewhat responsible for what was happening to everyone. By being a willing participant, she felt like she was signing over the lives of everyone else who still wanted to fight this. She swung open the door. The Dude The Dude hadn't expected such a response, he was standing there, looking surprised, his blue eyes a bit wide. Seeing the feverish glint in her eyes, he smiled wide and tried to sound as relaxed and chill about the situation as possible: "Hey Em!" Taking his right flipper arm from behind his back he waved at her and teased: "What's the hurry all of a sudden? I thought you were busy?" Amaya Vaughan "Ohhhh, I see." Amaya finally peeled her head off the table and folded an arm under her chin to rest on it as she pet Captain Morgan with her other hand. "I'm not missing much. I stayed at the orphanage for almost three years after my gran'ma passed on. People don't exactly want a 15 year old kid who's just gonna grow up and leave soon anyway, y'know?" She turned her head so she could lay it sideways and look up at him, smiling. "Thanks... I'm just glad I'm not the only one here or something." The young girl paused, frowning for but a moment. "I just really don't like being alone. Not having any family or friends or anything. Kinda makes me like it here, despite the 'Doctor Dolittle gone crazy' thing." She then quickly added: "Though it's not like I'm just gonna roll over for him or anything. You still have family back home, so I'll try my best to get you back there. Pops would want me to try and fight back, no matter how subtle it may be." An almost forced laugh escaped her lips as she looked back over to the Captain.
Bright green eyes trailed Vasile as he left, then went to Timothy as he got up. "See ya Timothy, nice meeting you." She gave a slight wave before letting her arm flop back onto the table so she could resume scratching the large fluffy cat. "Oh yes." Amaya smiled at Hargun, liking the girl who seemed to fall around her age. That was nice, least she might NOT be the youngest one here. Absently, she wondered how old she really was but didn't get time to ask as the red-head stood up and patted her on the back. "See ya Hargun and thanks." Her hand rose once more and haved before flopping back down. Ah, petting a cat. One of lifes most simple pleasures.
It was then that she realized she had been the only one who didn't get anything to eat. Feeling awkward she stood and bussed the cup off coffee that had long since gone cold. After silently grabbing merely an apple and a can of Pepsi she returned to her seat and set the apple down as she opened up her soda. For some reason she had never been one for sitting down and eating a large meal, only taking snacks throughout the day when she started to get a little hungry. Amaya then noticed Vasile and Dude kinda of... skidaddle at the same time and as she looked at the door she asked Ambrose and Ian almost in a whisper; "Hey... is something going on with Mister Dude and Vasile?" Green gaze looked back to them, a little worried. Oh god, what if they were having a fight? Emelyn She swallowed back a ream of shock and ran her hand back from her forehead through the mess of hair she'd not combed in two days. "Not busy. Just feeling like a martyr." She smiled, but it was small and mostly false. She hadn't expected him to look so...well, like an animal. It was obviously still him, but those flippers were certainly real. "I'm so sorry, Dude." She said. The Dude Em looked like a mess. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was standing even more then usual. Putting his hand on her head, he wushled her hair, still looking confused: "What'cha sorry about? That Moreau's a monster in sheep's clothing?" He stopped, now not certain what she knew and what she didn't know about the revelations of the past week "What do you know about all this, anyway? Did you talk to Ambrose or to Greer or something already?" Emelyn "I haven't spoken to anyone," she said, tipping her weight to be supported by the grey doorframe, "...since Moreau." She hadn't known until moments before by Dude's words and his still-kind manner towards her that he hadn't known about her meeting with the 'monster in sheep's clothing'. So she didn't relish his knowing about it now; but it wasn't to be helped. The Dude "What do you mean since Moreau?" - the Dude's eyebrows furrowed. He looked at Emelyn, wondering. "Did that d**k do something to you, Em?" - he finally asked. "I mean, beyond injecting and being turned into a fluffy kitten business that he's doing to everyone here." If the doctor had no qualms about turning innocent people into beasts, god knows what else he was capable of. Emelyn "Oh, I don't even know where to begin, Dude." She said, her voice... not full of emotion, but rather, completely devoid of it. All the conflicting terrors of emotions that had been flowing through her mind for the past few days was all sitting on the pages on her desk, a written account of her soul. "Do you want to come in? ...Or do you prefer to be outside, now that you're... well... changed?" The Dude "I can come in ..." - the Dude looked clearly worried now. What did Moreau do to this girl? The monster. Did he implant creepy spider eggs into her, ala Alien? Or informed her he was turning her into a naked molerat or something? The Dude wouldn't put it past Moreau. The hate that he felt after his conversation with Karma flared up again ... Trying to get a hold of his emotions, he followed Emelyn into the duplex. Emelyn Em went into the room first, glad for the fact that she wasn't staring at the very...different features of the Dude, and sat back down at the desk chair she'd spent all afternoon in, leaving him the sheet-tossed bed to sit on. The notebooks were still splayed across the desk, and she swiped them into a top drawer with a jerking motion, before turning back to the flippered, furry man. She didn't entirely know how to start, but he looked... concerned, to say the least. "I don't want you to worry about me," she said, hoping she was interpreting his expression right. "Above all, I don't want you to feel sorry for me, because pretty soon, you're going to hate me- and I don't want to remember this look on your face." ..."A few days ago, Moreau invited me to his mansion, and we had a long...talk." She found that after this sentence, she couldn't entirely keep eye contact with those baby blues- still so unchanged, and so instead focused on a point on the bed where she'd distressed the sheets into a molehill of fabric as she continued to speak. "It wasn't just me, actually. It was... Thorn, a blonde woman. I hadn't met her before. He invited us for dinner, and to talk with us. ...I thought it was so he could give me a way home, or to talk about billing for having a boat come pick me up or something. But it wasn't that at all." The Dude The Dude was looking at Emelyn's pretty but tired face intently. The filtered light from the partially closed blinds casted stripey shadows on her face and clothes. Her hair was frizzy and shining like a halo around her head, held away from her face by the ever present goggles. There was a haunted look on Em's face, and the Dude couldn't figure out the reason why this girl was feeling so guilty about something. She was not the reason for his transformation nor Ambrose's. At least he hoped not. Her grave words didn't make much sense to him at first, but he was simply letting her speak, listening to all she had to say about this. Because clearly, she had spent the past few days thinking about what she wanted to say. Emelyn "...He told me everything that's going on here. What the experiments are about, how he's doing them- for some reason, he just came completely clean with us. He told me what I'm going to become, and that he wanted me to be on his side about this." She resisted touching her lips with her fingers, or to let the emotion start to creep back into her voice. "I think he's just tired of everyone hating him." She smiled slightly- the first genuine smile she'd had in days, but it was gone again in a moment as her next words crept into her head- she knew what she was going to say. "He wanted me to be on his side, to understand why he's doing this to everyone." "We fought... I didn't want to understand, I wanted him to let me go. God, so much was said," she murmured. "How terrible is it?" She said, a strange question to ask. "How terrible is it to do this to people, to turn us into creatures, and to... torture us, even for the greater good? But I did it." She was rambling, now. The Dude Looking up at Emelyn, listening to her story, the Dude's facial expression stayed mostly concerned. Moreau didn't want to be hated? Oh, what a joke THAT was. He smirked to himself at that. The doctor was a pathetic creep. A vermin by any other name. Now, after he had them all of them caged on the island, he wanted to be loved and appreciated ... The Dude rolled his eyes and continued listening to the story. When Emelyn was finally done, her voice trembling from emotion, he looked up at her and smiled almost gently: "You silly girl. Why again am I supposed to be hating you? Because you decided that what the doctor is doing somehow was important to you and you were willing to volunteer for it? I will not hate you for that. Geez. Why would I, seriously?" Emelyn At that, she couldn't help but connect back to his eyes, staring through the blue emotion that swam in hers. She didn't know what to think of this man... who had such depth of character, hidden behind such a strange exterior (even stranger now, she noted...), and who could forgive what she considered a trespass against him. "Because..." she said, finally succumbing to the urge, and putting the ends of her delicate fingers to her lips, speaking through them, "by agreeing to do this, it almost feels like I'm betraying everyone else." Like you, she refrained from saying- even though he was the main person she was afraid of disappointing; he was the person she knew the most on the island. "It wasn't as if I'd asked to be injected initially, either, or to be brought to this island- but the 'sign on' to this devilish, macabre project also seems like a write-off to anyone else who doesn't have something to gain by selling their soul to Moreau..." The Dude The Dude stood up and walked over the few feet to the chair on which Emelyn had been sitting. Crouching down in front of her, he took her free hand. Patting it reassuringly, he looked up at the girl thru the blond cables of his dreadlocks and spoke: "Listen ... listen here ... Em. I am just a simple guy and I do not know whether Moreau's madness is good for the world or not. I have my doubts. But what I do know is that he should be doing these experiments on willing subjects. If he is actually making an effort to find and persuade people for his cause - that's good. He SHOULD be doing that. It would make me extremely happy if he would populate the rest of these duplexes with volunteers, like you have chosen to be. That way he doesn't have to kidnap people any longer. He will not have to break more lives. That's all I'd ever hoped to prevent here, truly." He patted her hand again and smiled again: "So don't kill yourself ... you did nothing wrong." Emelyn Em didn't know what to say, except to bring her trembling fingers down to touch the downy fur that covered his skin, and to feel like she'd been absolved of a supreme sin. "Thank you..." she said, feeling things she'd not expected to have to deal with... or even to understand, ". ..You know... you don't look so different, after all..." she said, softly, and brought her hand up to his browned face, tentatively. He hadn't pulled away from her yet, so she allowed her fingers to touch the surface of his skin, and to see that he was still human, underneath it all. All the time, she kept her eyes locked with his- wanting to look away, because she was so confused... but somehow not being able to break the lock. The Dude Oh oh. Okey, this was not fair. Painfully aware that his face was burning hot, and hoping that this new dark skin wasn't making it obvious that he was red as a beet, the Dude swallowed hard. The only thing he could see right now were a pair of blue eyes, phosphorescing in the twilight of the room and Emelyn's face faintly appearing in the background. Trying to somehow regain composure after such a sweet yet underhanded move, he stammered: "You are very pretty, too." Errrr ... that didn't come out right. Emelyn Emelyn pulled her hand away from his face, and her eyes jerked to the floor, breaking the lock of their stare sharply. "Ha, well, I haven't been turned into a hedgehog yet," she murmured, pretending that nothing had just happened, and moving her body around so she was facing the desk again. The Dude The Dude's stomach dropped. Very lame of him. EXTREMELY UNCOOL. What was he, a thirteen year old with raging hormones, now? ******** A. But how damn pretty this Em girl was at that moment! Those eyes ... wow. Clearing his throat, the Dude stood up and planted a carefree smile on his face: "Heh. Sorry about that, Em. Got a bit star struck. Won't happen again" - he assured her, chuckling and put his flipper in the pockets of the trunks. "Hey, wanna go get a bite to eat? I think you've angsted enough for a few days here. If you are gonna be here your entire life, might as well enjoy the stay, you know?" "And hedgehog, eh? I betcha this spiky hair of yours is gonna be all pins and needles" - he finally reacted to her words. Emelyn "Don't even worry about it," Em said, referring to the 'starstruck moment', "Just pretend it didn't happen." She said, and turned back to face him, a smile on her face to try and convince him that she already had forgotten about the incident. "And yes... a hedgehog. I just hope the spines don't hurt coming out," she said, wincing at the idea. She was afraid to ask him if his transformation had hurt at all... she could remember what Ambrose had looked like, and the agony he seemed to be going through, as she and Thorn watched his entire transformation through the monitor at the mansion. She stood. "Food... would be sublime. I've been in here for..." she paused, debating whether or not to tell him... but finally finished, "days." The Dude The Dude looked at his flipper, pulling his right hand out of the pocket: "Well, I took painkillers after the injection and they still hurt a lot. I mean, 's probably not childbirth kinda pain, but it's not pleasant. Maybe Moreau can give you morphin, ya know? Since you are a volunteer and stuff. That way you'll get to sleep thru it all." He flexed his deformed hand and put i back in the pocket. "Days? No wonder you look like Kate Moss." - he grinned like a Cheshire and headed for the door. Emelyn She gasped, mouth wide open in a kind of smile. "Oooh, take that back," Em said, grabbing for a pillow on the bed and launching it through the air at the Dude. "I am no twig," she said, and laughed as it decked him clean in the back of the head. The Dude His mood lifted instantly after he was decked by the pillow. Still grinning like a maniac, the Dude picked up the cushy white thing and launched it at Emelyn. "Oh really? Whatcha want me to say, that your a** is out of this world?" With that he bolted out the door and hollered from the stairs: "Let's got, Miss Universe. Lunch's almost over." Emelyn Em didn't have time to duck- she was too busy laughing at the innate cleverness of the 'a** is out of this world' joke tying in to the 'Miss Universe' one... just the fact that he'd jokingly called her that was essentially him saying something was 'out of this world'.... so she got smacked in the face with the downy pillow. She laughed and ran after him, taking the steps two at a time and hoping she wouldn't barrel down them headfirst in her enthusiasm. The Dude Well, let's continue then, becasue I am havign a blast. There was Thai food for lunch in the cafeteria. Grabbing his tray, the Dude happily put a double dose of spicy seafood salad on his plate, followed by a side of crab cakes. Sitting down on a table, he waited for Emelyn to join him. "So how did he persuade you, anyway, Em? I mean ... if you do not mind telling me, that is" - he asked curiously. Emelyn Em took a seat across from him, her tray filled with anything that she could get her hands on that wasn't spicy... but in those few cases where it just looked too good to resist, she'd also loaded up on breaded rolls, to soak up the intensity of the flavor. She'd suffer through the spice for the taste of that glorious seafood. "Well," she said, pushing the silverware around her tray with her thumb, an idle gesture, "it wasn't him, so much as that other doctor- Aubrey. She explained all the good that these treatments can do, and it just made me think... what a hypocrite I was being. I want all those things to be cured, as well- but I can't see how they can, if people are so determined to follow the mainland's ethics. What's right... what's wrong." She paused to ask herself why she wasn't telling him the truth. There was no reason to exclude the whole truth from him... except maybe the hope that if she didn't bring it up, she wouldn't have to dwell on it. But she didn't want to lie to him. "And she said that they were trying to cure cancer." She said. "My sister died of cancer last year." It was a simple statement, but each emotion that richocheted around each word was more complex than anything else she'd ever attempted to say. The Dude As Emelyn was talking the Dude was listening and picking out the shellfish away from the salad. "Yeah, I can at least see Aubrey being extremely persuasive. Moreau is an inhuman beast. But Aubrey ... she believes him, believes his research and his final goal. And she is very human, and a very kind girl. Without her, this place would be much more of a prison then it is." - The Dude said and quirked his eyebrow. He himself was only half believing the noble goals that Aubrey was claiming. The scientists had lied to all of them before and there was no reason why they wouldn't do it again. Only this time they were trying to win their victims over. But the Dude didn't want to say that to Emelyn. It was much better that a life was being sacrificed for a noble goal, not for a whim of a madman. Particullarly if it was to atone for a death of a sibling. "I didn't know you had a sister" - he said quietly. "I am sorry to her that, Emelyn. So you really have no one left in this world anymore, huh?" - he looked up at her, the eyebrows furrowed in a grim expression. No wonder she was willing to give up her life so easily. Looking back down, he pocked at an squid tentacle with his fork. "You might be right. Maybe we are all being selfish. I mean, I know my life is really not worth that much, and I haven't really done much with it either. If sometimes in the future, somebody will live because I grew a pair of flippers, then i suppose it's good." Emelyn "Everyone's life is worth something," she said, "and we're still all more than just test subjects. Or martyrs." She laughed- a single, huffing chuckle that remarked at, of all things- the lack of humor in it all. "And no... not a soul left in the world that has ties to me. There weren't that many to begin with," she said. "And I tended to always be far away from them... but I don't think I'll be travelling much anymore- even if I weren't trapped here on the island. It used to be that I was travelling away from something, stretching my limit on some sort of... 'rubber band' of my life that had one end firmly anchored to where Mizzie was. ...That's my sister," she explained, hoping she wasn't sounding...insane. "And I could pull and pull at it, and get so very far away... but was always eventually snapped back to where I started out. Ever since Mizzie's death, though, it's been like that rubber band has... snapped. So there's no real reason to pull at it." The Dude The Dude was polishing his food at an extraordinary speed as he was listening. The chewy texture of the squid and the scallops seemed to be just right for him now. He used to like fish before, but he liked it cooked. This stuff looked quite fresh to him, maybe only boiled for a few minutes. And yet it tasted so good. Must be the sea lion in him ... "I know exactly how it feels when that rubber band just ... snaps." - he said finally. "It's hard. It must be even harder if there is noone to run to, when you loose someone so dear. I am sorry, Em." He pocked at the salad again then added, to try adn light up the situation: "" "Well, at least you are kind get to make it up now, I suppose. Right?" Emelyn "Yeah, I suppose so," she said, her eyes on the Dude as he wolfed down his food... or... rather 'sea lioned' down his food. She'd been hearing people talk about his transformation- and that of the others on the island that were starting to transform, but hadn't had an opportunity to see anyone other than Ambrose- and not a one, firsthand. It was still a little surreal to see a man that was part sea lion. She hoped he didn't notice her staring. "...Sorry to subject jump, but I've been holed away for a while... and haven't gotten to see anyone out and about. Is everyone changed, now? Or is it just you... and Ambrose?" The Dude Realising that he was so preoccupied with stuffing his gullet, that he was not being very sensitive, the Dude put the fork aside, but Emelyn had already switched the subject. yeah well, maybe for the better. he didn't want to think about his past right now. The present provided enough headache already ... "Well, I don't know for sure, but thus far I only saw Ambrose. But I'll ask around. Or you can. I have seen Greer and Cassidy recently, and they seemed to be all human still. I only changed myself a few days ago. I suppose I just wanted to get it over with, and look that p***k in the eyes, so I went and got my injections myself. Kinda jumped the gun, you know?" - he scratched his scruffy cheek then pushed a plate towards Em. "You should really eat, you know?" - he smiled at her Emelyn She rolled her eyes and grinned, taking a bite out of a crab cake to appease him. "Well, I'm sorry oh mighty Dude... some of us aren't very well-versed at talking and eating at the same time." She took another bite out of the delectable seafood cake, thinking that even if Moreau's policies were a little skewed... his food was delicious. "Lord, I love seafood," she murmured, putting her hand up to talk behind while there was still half-masicated crab rolling around in her mouth. "...And you asked for your injection early? ...Did you actually tell Moreau off?" The Dude "No" - the Dude sighed disappointed "I got Aubrey instead. I almost made her cry with my snide remarks there, I think ..." He apused, taking a sip of OJ. "I want to see Moreau's face so badly. I sure would like to re-decorate it." He squeezed his fin arm into an awkward fist, then let go. There was anger in his eyes, and his lips were pressed together. "Well, probably not with these arms of mine ..." - he admitted. "Not like I would get very far, anyway." "It's just that ... there are so many new kids on this island now. Karma, Julianne, Timothy. All have been lied to. And I am the one stuck telling them the news. ******** Moreau. He should hire a full time psychiatrist for this study of his. To keep his subjects away from nervous break downs ..." Emelyn "Oh god, there are more on the island? That's terrible. ...I wish Moreau would start looking for willing test subjects. They'd not be too hard to find, I'd guess." She looked down at her food again and took a bite of some unnamed noodle dish that she almost didn't want identified. "...Are you going to stay angry?" She asked, quietly, after she'd swallowed the bite. "I mean... you're probably going to be here for a long time." The Dude "I don't know. I'm not really a violent person ... like ... at all. But a few days ago ... I kinda lost it. I had to tell this girl, Karma ... that she was going to become an animal and that she wasn't going home" - the Dude looked down, hiding his face, his fingers grabbing onto the fork with such ferocity, his black fingers were turning white. "Thing about Karma ... she reminds me of someone. And she cried. God, she cried! I can still remember her little shoulders trembling when I was holding the poor girl. I couldn't handle it. When i got her calmed down, I went home and broke a few chairs and screamed at the walls a lot." He stabbed the fork into a squid tentacle and sighed, looking up at Emelyn like a kicked dog. Forgetting about the cameras all around him, he finally blurted out. "I just wish Moreau had brought anyone but her here. ANYONE but her." Emelyn "Why?" She asked, shell-shocked by the wild look in his eyes- the most human thing about his face was transformed by the fire behind them. "Why anyone but her? What's different about her?" The Dude The Dude put his fin over his face, kinda hiding from view, only one of his eyes visible from behind the chocolate membranes. He looked tortured, as the memories of the past came welling back up with a vengeance. C'mon, Dude. Happy thoughts. HAPPY THOUGHTS. That was a long time ago. Other life. Nothing you could have done. "She looks like my dead wife." - he finally grunted. Emelyn A cloudy, numb cloud floated over her expression, freezing all the muscles of her face and bleeding a white, dead pallor into the color of her eyes. "I'm sorry." She said, both for his loss... and because she hadn't known he'd been married before. Her body remained perfectly still- but inside, she had recoiled, vowing never again to let her emotions overtake her- and certainly...never to touch him again. The Dude He looked down again: "It ... I ... I can't talk about it. It took a lot of years of self medication to get over all that. And maybe I am seeing ghosts. And they don't even look that similar. Only their face. But just the thought that Karma is gonna be hurt and that I, again, can do nothing to prevent it. OH ... that one's a real bummer. But you know ..." - he was trying his best to get ahold of himself. Falling apart like a ninny, in front of a girl who just a few moments ago was throwing pillows at him. Frag. How did they even end up on this subject. He should have just lied ... let the past be past. Emelyn "I understand. Ghosts can come back to haunt us every hour that we're awake... but that doesn't mean we want to acknowledge that they're there. It's one thing to know we won't ever forget them... but another to try and bring them out into the open air." She looked down at the remainder of food on her tray- it didn't look good to her anymore- in fact, it didn't even look like food- just random shapes and colors that amalgamated into a heap of...nothing. A lot of things felt like nothing these days. She stood, picking up the nihilistic tray and giving him a fleeting look- hoping he didn't see the cloud in her eyes. "I'm not feeling very well," she said, "so I'm going to head back to my room." The Dude "Yeah ... you are right." - he was still looking down at his chest, his hands in his pockets, legs stretched out. Time with Maria had been the happiest time of his life, but her death was forever hanging over his head like a curse. Well, more like the circumstances of her death. And what he did and didn't do to sat things straight. He numbly saw Emelyn pick up her tray and carry it away. Then she turned around and there was a very strange expression in her eyes. I'm not feeling very well ...The Dude jumped up from his chair and walked after her: "Hey, wait ..." Emelyn She heard his words, but her feet understood their meaning before her brain did- they stopped, and refused her another step as he caught up with her, while her brain was still trying to process what had happened. When he'd gotten to her side, it finally clicked, and she shook away some of the cloud that was circling her head- but the 'storm' hadn't gone, completely. She looked up at him, waiting for him to say why he'd detained her. The Dude Oh, this was an extremely delicate situation, and the Dude realized that. How to explain a few things without sounding like a total a**? Or worse - a creep! He cleared his throat and tried his best: "Em ... when I say that that Karma looks like Maria, I don't mean that I THINK she's Maria." - he was delicately avoiding the scary word 'wife'. "She is not. Their voice and personality are very different. There is no one in this world that will be quite like Maria. But ... there are a lot of people in this world. And I am not exactly the 19 year old boy that married his high school sweetheart anymore, you know? I'm a sea lion now" - he grinned. "Anyway, you go lay down, feel better. Blame it on the spicy food." - he tried to smile nonchalantly. Emelyn It took her a moment to find the words... but when they came, they were soft and even, without even the characteristic pauses that were so regular of Emelyn's speech. "I don't know what you think you have to explain to me. I understand. I just think I've made some mistakes around you. I didn't know your situation, and I think I've been so confused about mine that I've been vulnerable. I'm sorry for that." She looked down, and saw the tray, still in her hands. She couldn't take that with her... so she went to go put it back on the table. The Dude The Dude looked crushed for a bit there. Then he shrugged it off and nodded: "Yeah, well. Erm ... okey. I suppose i am sorry, too, Emelyn" - he sighed. Emelyn "You don't have to apologize for anything. You didn't do anything wrong. If anything, you made me feel a lot better, today. I thought I'd betrayed you." She put the tray down on the table, and turned to leave.. but not before she gave one last look back at the Dude... who looked like he'd been stomped on and left for dead. She hoped it wasn't because of her. "Are you going to be okay?" She said, her voice lapsing into that soft, almost otherworldly undertone. The Dude "Aha. Been there, done that." - he saluted her and then turned to go bus his own tray. Man, why did things like that just NEVER go his way. Easy - because he was a looser. And a wuss. And he was talking about the wrong topic to the wrong girl. Promising himself to avoid any talk of past lives to any other girl on the island in the future, the Dude looked back to watch Em leave. Yep, there goes that ...
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 1:41 pm
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 1:43 pm
The Sage Begins
... or how Captain Morgan meets Brutus Captain Morgan Captain Morgan was laying lazily on one of the chairs inside the cafeteria. Fat from the scraps the lunch lady kept feeding him, he was smiling into his whiskers, all around pleased with this new way of life. While he missed the fresh breeze of the ocean, and the slow roll of the boat, the fresh fish heads and the naps on the stern, he was an adaptable kitty. And slowly but surely, he was adapting to this new twist in his fate. Brutus A tiny, 8-pound miniature pincher wandered abuot the "streets" of the village. The ocean was scaring him, so he didn't accompany his master there this afternoon. His nose was to the ground and was rapidly approaching the cafeteria as the smell of food became stronger. His little, spindly legs made a light tapping sound as his toe nails hit the concrete of the cafeteria's porch. Another smell assulted his nose and he looked up, spotting a large red fluffy creature perched on one of te chairs. Brutus's stub of a tail twitched and he approached, his diamond collar catching the sun and sending shimmers of lights around the porch like a disco ball. Captain Morgan The scruffy red cat looked at the dog with his evil eyes, but tried to ignore the creature. He knew exactly what this was - a dog. A small, spindly dog to boot. Captain Morgan equaled dogs like that to a little bit less then roaches. He maintained his dignity on the chair. Brutus Brutus stepped over to the chair, sniffing at the bottom of it with his nose, which was as far as he could reach with all four legs on the ground. This thing sure smelled interesting. Dirty, but interesting. Of food and smoke and ocean and so many other smells the dog had never encountered. He jumped up, placing his front paws on the chair and getting a closer look Captain Morgan Captain Morgan had expected that his evil eyes were enough of a deterrent to keep the pest away. But this one seemingly didn't know better. Feeling very full and content with himself, he didn't want to move and exert the energy necessary to put this vermin into place. Instead, he hissed lazily at Brutus, showing off nasty teeth and probably less then pleasant mouth odor. Brutus Brutus recoiled at the hiss. For a moment. He took a few steps back, wuffled a bit at the cat. But he wasn't ready to give up yet. Obviously he was just playing. He came right back, placing his paws back up on the chair, his ears perked high and playful, and his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Captain Morgan Captain's eyes narrowed into tiny slits. His ears fell back and the fur on his neck stood straight up. IT ... WAS ... DROOLING ... ON ... HIS ... CHAIR. There were sparks coming out of the cat's eyes. He looked ready to eviscerate the miserable punk of a dog. He was giving it one last moment to reconsider and flee. Brutus The clueless puppy wuffled at the cat, leaning forward and nudging his belly with his nose. Play with meeee ~Captain Morgan The strike of the claws was lightning fast. The cat barely missed the pincher's eyes, but it shredded his long muzzle and lacerated the nose. It was merely a b***h slap on Captain Morgan's part, who was now standing on the chair, ready for the next strike, this time for the throat. Brutus A shrill YIPE! cut through the air, and the small canine went flailing backwards. So hard, in fact, the miniscule pup handed hard on his back, causing another yip of pain as he thrashed abuot to regain his footting. As soon as he felt all four paws of his back on the ground he went running towards the beach at a fun run, his tiny nub pressed hard into his backside and his ears plastered to his head. Captain Morgan Captain Morgan followed him, not ready to give up his prey. That glitzy dog collar would look great on his own neck, he had decided. Graceful like a black mamba, he jumped after the injured pup, careful to avoid ground at all costs. There was still something about this ... earth ... thing that bothered the Captain. There should be water there. NOT dirt. Brutus Brutus's ears perked, and he looked over his shoulder to see the monster chased him. He attempted to make a break for shelter, diving towards a table, but his manicured claws were slippery and didn't give very good traction, even on concrete. Captain Morgan His paws extended, Captain Morgan pounced his prey and bit Brutus on the neck, as if this was a mouse, not a pincher. He growled to himself in satisfaction, feeling the dog wriggle under him. Quote: Brutus let out a painful, mournful yelp. It was loud, especially considering the size of the animal, and the attacked pup screamed and fell to the ground, trying to roll over submissively on his belly. Captain Morgan "GROWRRRRR" - said Captain Morgan and jumped back onto his chair. The stupid collar wasn't coming off and it was no fun to hunt if the prey was trying to play dead. His tail high, like a flag he hissed at Brutus. Brutus Brutus's stub of a tail was pressed firmly into his backside as he scrambled away from the monster, running as fast as his little legs coudl carry him towards the beach to find his Daddy. This was the worst day ever. Captain Morgan Stretching out like the tiger that he was, Captian Morgan watched the vermin flee. He was going to drag this out. Make it fun. But the sparkly collar - it was his. Only a matter of time.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 1:44 pm
This Agression Will Not Stand!
... or how Kamiki gave Anya a chance to have fun with her favorite "Lebowski" quotes. The Dude The Dude was reading a book in his Duplex and pondering about his conversation with Emelyn and how it all went so wrong. Damn, he and his big whiney mouth. Did he have to drag Maria up? Why ... WHY in heaven's name did he tell Emelyn about Maria ... ... Looser ... Vasile There was a very impatient tapping at the Dude's door. When opened, a beautiful, though very pissed looking young man was standing there. One hand was planted firmy on his hip, and the other was holding a very meek looking, and bandaged, tiny little dog. The man's green eyes were blazing with fury, and his jaw was clenching. The Dude Too lazy to stand up from his bed, the Dude hollered: "Come in, 's not locked." he had shorts on, so he was even DECENT. He rolled around from his stomach to his back to see who it was and closed the book. It was a text book on Californa Sea Lion. Vasile Vasile sighed in annoyance then swung the door open with force. He stormed in, his whole aura radiating fury. But it faltered for a second as he saw the man, his face falling and his eyes widening. "Good lord, man," he managed to stutter out before spinning around. "Can't you at least put a shirt on" ya chubby b*****d. Why the hell was he in makeup just to lounge around the hotel room anyway? He turned back around after a few breaths and held his dog forward. "Are you the owner of that red flea-ridden excuse for a cat?" The Dude The Dude gave this new arrival a confused look, then grudgingly stood up from his bed and scratched his butt with the right flipper. He would have never done that in front of a lady, but this was a guy - who cares. "Or what, your virgin eyes are gonna go blind?" - he quirked and eyebrow at the handsome man in front of him. When bandaged brutus was trusted into his face, and Captain Morgan accused of the crime, the Dude chuckled. "Hey, be glad he didn't eat your bejeweled rat here." Vasile "GLAD?" The man looked livid. "Ya know what - forget this incharacter crap for a second, mister. Do you know who I am?" He shook the bandaged pooch for emphasis. The Dude The Dude was clearly amused by this. He took the pack of cigarettes from his night table and lit one, preparing for the long haul. As a sign of peace he gestured to offer the pack to the pissed of diva with the pooch. "Who you are? Hmmm ... let me think. Someone from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy?" Except you got the wrong bachelor pad, pretty boy. I'm not into chest wax." He let out a small cloud of smoke thru his nostrils. Yes, the Dude was enjoying every bit of this. Vasile Vasile's eyes grew wide as he batted the hand away that offered the cigarettes. "Queer EY -" he huffed at, seemingly at a loss for words. Finally he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. But then suddenly he started coughing. Hacking, actually. "Please..." he got out between coughs, "please don't smoke around me. The Dude The Dude's grin grew even wider. He put out the cigarette and patted the hacking man on the back: "There there, sorry about that. Didn't know you'd be so sensitive." Vasile set his dog down and staightened up, straightening down his shirt then running his fingers through his hair. "Thank you," he grunted, then looked back down to the pincher. "So, what do you plan to do about Brutus?" The Dude "Errr ... what do you mean?" - the Dude blinked at the other guy innocently. Vasile "My dog Mister... whatever your name is. There is... at least a thousand dollars worth of vet bills I'm going to have to pay once I get to L.A. thanks to your damn cat... how do you expect to pay for that, sir?" Meanwhile, Brutus sniffed around the Dude's room and lifted his leg, peeing on a small rug between the bed and the doorway. The Dude Oh, a few month ago this would make the Dude break out into cold sweat. That is why it was such a pleasure now to be able to smile carefree and wave his hand around, saying: "Oh, I'll be sure to have my accountant contact ..." Then he stopped in mid sentence, the unlit cigarette dropping out of his mouth: "Not on the RUG, man!" Vasile Vasile looked surprised at the little dog finished his business. He learned down and opened his arms to the little pup. "Oh come here, Brutus..." he sang in baby-speak. The dog skittered into his arms and Vasile stood back up, hardening his expression. "He gets that way when he's upset. And he's upset because I'm upset at you. And he's injured," Vasile said it not as an apology, but just a simple, scientific explaination. The Dude The Dude glared at the wet rug, then at the embarrassment of a pet this new guys was ... COOOING to ... in a speechless despair. "What the ********, man? I mean, what's wrong with this dog. It just peed on my rug and you are petting it?! My rug! Look at it! It's all wet and stinky now." - he whined, pointing at the spreading puddle. Then, in a heart broken voice he added: "It really tied the room together ..." Vasile Vasile looked insulted. "Serves you right. Your cat almost killed my dog!! His damages are worth FAR more than that ratty excuse for floor covering." The Dude Still looking all distraught at his rug the Dude put his hand on his forehead: "Maaaan, I ******** sleep here, man. And there isn't any cleaning lady no more, since Cassidy threw in the glove. So now I'll get to mop up urine. Thanks a ******** lot." - he was still sounding whiney about it all. "And the Captain wouldn't have harmed your pooch if it hadn't bothered him, I'm sure. He has too much dignity to interact with things like Brutus over there. God, look at it. How can a thing so small pee so much" - he pointed at the ever expanding puddle. Vasile Vasile puffed up, but for a moment, a glimmer of fear passed over his eyes - "Wait - what do you mean no cleaning lady anymore?" The horror. The Dude The Dude looked grimmly at Vasile. Oh no, he was NOT gonna be the one to break the news to this guy. The blond diva was so gonna cry and he was SO not gonna be the one to provide a shoulder. Just the thought of having to comfort a crying gay guy made the Dude shudder inside. Not that there was anything wrong with being gay, but it yeah ... He instinctively moved away from Vasile and finally answered: "Err ... I'm sure you'll be provided with one. You a movie star or something?" - the guy sure acted like one ... Vasile Vasile looked at the Dude like he was the most stupid person he ever saw. "Yes. Being this is a movie set... did you just now realized who I am..." His eyes lit up like suddenly everything made sense. "Oh goodness, that explains your attitude. I know I'm not usually down here with all the supporting cast, but no, this isn't his stunt double. I am Vasile DiRossi." He smiled a charming smile and then held out his hand to the man. The Dude The Dude shook the other guy's hand, still utter incomprehension in his eyes. he was clearly not impressed: "Err ... hi there, Vasile. I'm the Dude here. That's ...errr ... my stage name. Yeah." Letting go of the hand, he gave the rug another grim look and headed for the door to find Cassidy and figure out form her where he can get a mop and some Pinesol or something. Yep, he had just totally ignored Vasile's existence. Vasile Vasile's well-plucked eyebrows furrowed at the man as he walked out on him. "Excuse me, I'll need your real name, sir, so I can have my accoutant contact you abuot the vet bill...?" he called after him. The Dude The Dude turned around: "Eh? Oh yeah. Erm, please send the bill to Doctor Moreau. He's my benefactor here, so he's taking care of everything. He will not be hard to fin - he's the guy who gave you the shot. Or was it Aubrey who did it?" "No, it was Doctor Moreau.... wait - how do you know abuot the shot? Who is this Aubrey person?" His expression perked. Aubrey - that was a female name. He had yet to even meet a female yet.... besides the cafeteria lady. The Dude "Everyone gets a shot." - the Dude sighed and shrugged. Oh no, he was not gonna be the one to explain this to Vasile. He had done plenty already. Not his job. Nope nope nope. "And Aubrey is Dr. Moreau's assistant. I'm sure you'll meet her soon." Where was Cassidy? Or a mop. He'd just settle for a mop. With Vasile in tow he entered the laundry room. Ah, there it was!
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Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:38 pm
Enter the Lady Hawk and the Serpent of Canada
... or how everyone learned a little bit more about each other The "I never" RP is posted here by the most awesome Sabin Duvert! Read it - it's fun! http://arania.kamiki.net/Gaia/DrMoreau/Ambrose/NEW RP 25 - Greer change.htm Furthermore, the Ambrose/Dude RP on the Beach shortly thearafter has also been posted, in Ambroses's diary, see p13 top most post. And what does the Dude think about all this? *crickets*
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:03 pm
Science Genius Girl
... or how Aubrey makes a point and the Dude makes a point, as well. The Dude The Dude was sitting on top of the bar dangling his feet. There was a glass of ice next to him and once in a while he was putting an ice cube in his mouth and crunching it. A wet mask and a small wooden box were laying next to him on the counter, and he himself was deep in thought. It seemed the reason for that was a picture frame he was holding in his right hand. The frame was soaking wet and dripping onto the sand. The Dude himself was pretty drenched as well. Aubrey Aubrey came walking up the beach, enjoying her now-daily custom of having a drink and a swim after finishing the day's work. Moreau had recently been 'struck with inspiration,' and therefore there were hundreds of new serums to be made, tested, tweaked, retested, and analyzed. Today, Aubrey went through nine hours and seven lab rats.
But finally Moreau told her to take the rest of the day off and she jumped at the oppurtunity to be outside. So changing into her swimsuit, she decided to head over to the bar and make herself some refreshment before hitting the water. Someone was there already, so she hung back until she saw who it was. Didn't take her long to see it was the Dude. Moreau had mentioned something about a verbal altercation between him and Ambrose previously, and Aubrey wondered if she should go over or not. But her curiosity and concern finally got the better of her and she walked up, giving a friendly smile. "Hi there," she said, waving as she approached. The Dude The Dude looked up and saw Aubrey in swim suit a sarong: "Hey Aubrey. You alone?" he asked, tensing up. Aubrey Aubrey blinked - suddenly remember the last time Dude saw her he caught her making out with Moreau. One of the downsides of being able to watch everyone on the monitors is you forget you see them alot more than they see you. She blushed a little. "Yes." The Dude "That p***k letting you walk among the wild beasts all by herself?" - he grinned and made a scarry face at her. Aubrey Aubrey opened her mouth to defend him - but bitterly she remember he was most likely off teaching Lauren and not watching the monitors anyway, so she just let herself smile and nod. "Maybe I'm sneaking out. I'm feeling dangerous and wild" she said with a smile. The dude, once you got over the weirdness of the changes, certainly didn't look very threatening. The Dude "Yeah, well, you better be prepared, because Cass grew some scales and a snake tongue yesterday and she isn't pleased. Did you guys miss in your little questionaire that she hates creepy crawlies of all kind?" - he scratched his beard and put the picture he was holding aside on the bar, face down. Aubrey Aubrey frowns and scratched the back of her neck. "You know most of the original guys were allready arranged for by the time I got here.." She didn't know why she still felt the need to justify herself to them. But the Dude certainly knew how to hit her buttons with just a few words. "I..I'll go try to talk to her. Last time I checked she was walking with Mr. DiRossi." The Dude "No no, you look like you came here to have some time off, Aubrey." - he jumped over the counter. "So have some tiem off. You have dark bag under your eyes. The p***k must be slave driving you ..." The Dude smiled then added: "DiRossi? Is that the new gay guy with the rat dog? I think Cass can handle him ... it's good for her, to be out and about, ya know? I'm hoping she'll adjust. "sides, she really doesn't look so horrible at all. Her eyes look freaky amazing ..." Aubrey Aubrey smiled. "Thanks. Yeah, work has been hard, actually. Its not all just morbid facination with watch you all squirm you know?" She thought for a moment. "Surprise me," she said, indicating the drinks.
Aubrey snicked at his comment abuot Vasile. "He's not gay!" Don't you know who he is? He's like a totally famous movie star. They were calling him the next Leonardo DiCaprio." The Dude The Dude scratched his cheek and stared for a moment at the bottles in front of him. Then, he picked up the Malibu Coconut Rum and went on rummaging in the fridge. Having located a small can of pineapple juice, he poured the two liquids together in a glass and put it in front of Aubrey: "Here. I got no clue what's the name for this, but it's pretty good. " "So he's actually famous? That's great." - he added with a sour expression. "And not gay? Well, he looked flaming to me ... you sure?" Aubrey "Thank you," Aubrey said, and took a long drink.
"Yeah, he's pretty famous. Er, or was. Well, I guess he still will be..." she trailed off, then cleared her throat. "Oh yeah, he's not gay. At least, well, I guess I'm not sure but, uh... " Aubrey blushed a bit again, and grinned behind her glass. "He likes women, too, at the very least. Trust me." The Dude "Heh ... you girls would actually go for him?" - the Dude was amused by this. Well, so much for Timothy's crush ... didn't even have to talk to this Vasile anymore AND he got his duplex cleaned. SCHWEEEET. "What's the attraction? He seems the kinda guy who sees his own reflection in the pretty girl's eyes, ya know?" Aubrey Aubrey shrugged. "I dunno. I wouldn't go for him, of course. But he's, you know... pretty handsome." She took another drink. "Oh hell, the man's beautiful. I don't know anything abuot him, personally, really." The Dude "Heh, no wonder I thought he was gay. He's just so damn ... pretty." - it was said with a certain shudder in the Dude's voice. "Anyway, you know what his ******** dog did? It peed on my rug! Damn chihuahua ..." Aubrey "He's a miniature pincher," Aubrey corrected, then bit her lip. "Sorry abuot your rug, though. I can get you another!"
She thought for a second. "But didn't your cat like... try to eat him? I heard one of the lab techs who was pre-vet in college talk abuot having to stitch up a dog - I assumed it was Brutus." The Dude "It' not a matter of a new rug. I liked the old one. Some poor guy back in China wasted a few days making this one. It was his hard work he put into it. 'Sides, it really tied the room together ..." - the Dude put an ice cube into his mouth and crunched away on it. "And afterwards your pretty boy petted and cooed to his ... pincher, was it? Approving the fact that his pooch just defaced a perfectly good rug." "And I bet Captain Morgan was just acting in self defense. If that things pees on rugs left and right, who knows what else it can think up. Maybe it tried to pee on the Captain himself. It's lucky to have gotten off easy. My cat takes no prisoners ..." - he added proudly. Aubrey Aubrey just chucked and shook her head. "I'm sorry. I.. I can try to clean up your old rug then?" The Dude " 'Sokey, already got that taken care off. Too bad this DiRossi guys isn't gay, though. Cuz in exchange for having my room cleaned I was supposed to hook that one guy up with DiRossi" - the Dude grinned wide: "Never had to play matchmaker for two guys before. Which, you know, it's cool. As long as they stay away from my persona." *CRUNCH* went another ice cube Aubrey Aubrey sputtered a laugh into her drink that was very quickly dissapearing. "Oh my goodness, you're kidding?!" Aubrey shrugged. "I dunno, I think it would be cute. I'd like to see some matchmaking going on here..."
She set her glass down on the bar and her eyes wandered over to the picture Dude set down. "Wossit?" she asked, pointing. The Dude "Do I look like a match maker?" - the Dude pointed at himself and grinned. "I'm already the resident shrink and cheer upper. Ya know? I think trying to do love love s**t on this island will only cause horrible consequences." He looked at the picture and shrugged: "It's for Emelyn. I fished it out from her boat this morning ..." Aubrey "Did you know Madison Moreau is a shrink? Seriously? LIke she had an office and everything. Maybe you could try to send people to talk to her?"
"And besides," she said with a smile, looking down. "Anyone can be a matchmaker. You probably didn't know that- , er, well.. nevermind." Aubrey was going to say that he was the reason Moreau and her hooked up, but something told her that he probably wouldn't find that story nearly as romantic as she did.
"Oh?" She looked over the picture and tilted her head. "What is it? Can I see?" The Dude "Madison? Errr ... okey. Somehow I doubt she'll be good at this explaining thing ..." - the Dude shrugged then took the picture. "I don't know who this is. She looks kind of like Emelyn, doesn't she? I think ... I think it's maybe her sister ..." - he passed the picture to Aubrey. There was a photo of a smiling brunette under glass. It was actually quite badly damaged by the salt water, but the face was still pretty recognizable. "This photo and that box over there was all I could find that looked like personal items ..." Aubrey Aubrey took the picture and looked it over. "You pulled this from her[/i[ boat...?" She passed it back. "Thats really sweet of you, Dude." The Dude The Dude didn't expect a comment like that: "You think? Wasn't trying to be sweet ..." He took the frame carefully in his hands and put it back on the counter: "I was just curious. Ya know? Trying to kill time ..." Aubrey Aubrey shrugged. "Its thoughtful. Not a trait every guy tends to have." She finished her drink and moved around the bar to make another. "It's not a bad thing. You're a very likable guy, you know?" The Dude "Why, thank you Aubrey!" - the Dude smiled and toasted her with his ice cube glass. "Trying to be the best mother I can be over here. Got lots of crying children to take care off. Hey, since you there, can you give me an OJ? No alcohol, just the juice ..." Aubrey Aubrey nodded and poured him a glass of orange juice, and haded it over to him. "I like talking to you guys," she blurted out. "The lab techs aren't all really the most... interesting people." At least she was being honest. The Dude The Dude looked surprised at Aubrey: "Really? WOW." There was a pause. "I mean, that's nice of you Aubrey. I suppose. But ... you can see the obvious problem of the experimenters and the experimented upon hanging out, right? Not everyone here is happy about the changes." - he took the glass from her hands, looking at her face. "Or are you thinking about joining us?" - he then quirked his eyebrow Aubrey Aubrey shrugged and sat heavily down on the stool. "I know you guys hate me. And I can understand why..." she frowned, trying to phrase what she wanted to say without misleading the Dude, or pissing off Moreau. "But you don't have to hate me by princlpe. I mean, I guess this doesn't have to be Us vs Them." She made a new drink and sipped at it. "My hope is one day - whether you hate it or not - is to accept your new life here. And I'm offering to be a part of it, if you'll let me." She shrugged. "Maybe I'm just being optimistic."
She looked up at him. "Joining you? You mean the subjects?" Aubrey shrugged and dropped some ice cubes in her drink. "I don't think Moreau plans on turning me into anything." She shrugged. The Dude "Yeah, you are right, sorry." - he hid behind the OJ glass. "You are a good girl, Aubrey. You are. No matter how hard I try I cannot hate you on principle. But I'm a wuss and I got nothing to loose ... wow, that rhymes ..." Aubrey Aubrey smiled - genuinely smiled. "I've been talking to Moreau about different ways to find subjects, too. Did you hear about Colche?" Aubrey "I found her in the slave trade," she started. "I know that sounds absolutely horrible - but hear me out. This woman has been locked in a dungeon since she hit puberty. And prostituted out. By. Her. Father." Aubrey's eyes seemed to be burning from anger just talking about it. "This woman... she doesn't understand anything. She thinks she has to sleep with men to eat. She doesn't know what a toliet it. She can barely feed herself."
Aubrey rubbed her brows, still in shock from it all. "Basically she's not a teenager anymore and her Daddy's little business was staving off so he tried to sell her on the illegal market.
I mean, I know you're going to say this is slavery. But think about it. This woman has been abused her whole life. She'll have everything provided for her. Food, shelter.. hell, respect, friends..."
Aubrey looked back over to the Dude. "I mean... thats okay, right? I mean.. if we didn't get her, could you imagine where she would be otherwise?" The Dude The Dude was quiet, starring at the juice and wishing that'd be vodka in it after all. "Damn." "Yeah, I suppose turning into a squirrel is not so bad after all ... you did a good." - he clearly didn't know what to think of this all. What was better, indeed? Much to think about ... "She might really hate men now ..." How could somebody do such a thing to his own daughter. Maybe some men had been turned into beasts a long time ago, without the need of injections ... just on their own. But not even an animal wold have done something like that. "That's true evil," she muttered. She didn't say it, but obviously she was implying Moreau wasn't that bad. "I hope she'll end up.... okay in the end." Aubrey's mind flashed to her conversation with Moreau about asking to take more people from the slave trade, and then to Moreau's plans to expand the island facilities already. She grew distinctly quiet. The Dude "Good luck with that" - the Dude muttered. Aubrey "You know Lauren and Emeryn, you know... don't hate me and Moreau," she said, changing the subject. "I mean, Lauren's getting schooling from Nick and everything." The Dude "I know" - the Dude nodded. That reminded him of a certain conversation he ha with Emelyn in a twilight of her duplex. And two blue stars. He stood up, walked around the counter and poured some vodka into his glass after all. Sitting back down, he took a long sip of the screwdriver. "I've talked to them both about it. Told them that there is no shame in that. That it's good and all." - he trailed off. Aubrey Aubrey quirked at an eyebrow. "Really?" She looked surprised. The Dude "Why are you surprised? If they are willing to volunteer, that's good. That's their choice. That means they are here willingly as opposed to against their will. Neither of them have much family to loose, ya know ..." Aubrey Aubrey shrugged. "You guys sure seem to have a problem with me for working with him, I figured you would have a problem with, well, them working for him is all."
Aubrey looked back out the ocean. "I think I need a swim." The Dude "Well, Emelyn and Lauren aren't injecting us." - the Dude pointed out the settle difference Aubrey Aubrey looked up. "Oh yeah? You might want to ask Ian who gave him his injection." Aubrey looked a bit bitter. The Dude "Huh? Who did?" - he didn't understood, taking a sip from his glass. Then the wheels inside the blond head began to turn: "Wait ... you mean ... no, Emelyn wouldn't do that!" - he said completely convinced. But Lauren ... would she? He quirked his eyebrow at Aubrey in a silent question. Aubrey Aubrey snorted. "No, not Emelyn." Maybe not bitterness. Jealousy perhaps? "Lauren... Thorn. Whatever her name is." She swallowed a big gulp of her drink. "Do you have any idea how long it took Nicholas to fully trust me? Do you know how hard I worked for it?"
Aubrey then looked to Dude and sighed. "you probably wouldn't understand." The Dude The Dude sat his glass aside, looking very dark and brooding. Thorn ... injected another human. Ian. The weird guy with a goatee he met here a few days ago. She injected another human. She took his life in her hands. Changed him. Took away his freedom. How could she?! How could she have done it?! Didn't she realize that this was not a game but lives she was toying with?! It was almost to hard to believe ... He took a sip of the screwdriver. Would Emelyn do something like that, too? She wanted to help Moreau cure cancer, no matter the cost. Would she inject another human being, take away their lives, so that her sister's killer may be tamed? That thought filled the Dude's heard with cold even more then the news about Thorn did. "I ... err ... what?!" - he stared bewildered at Aubrey. What did she just say? Aubrey Aubrey threw her drink down her throat like a shot. "I said do you have ANY idea how long and hard I worked at gaining his trust? And Lauren comes along and..and.." she stopped and shook her head.
"And anyway," Aubrey stood up and went to make another drink. She looked agitated, and obviously the drinks were starting to get to her. "What the hell was that susposed to mean. 'but they are injecting us'? So, like, I could still work for Nick, and support what he's doing, and all that.. but just because I'm the one with the needle you hate me, but you're willing to go off and risk drowning to get her a damn photograph?" She pointed to the waterlogged photo. "You'll make cheap shots at me, but not her. That makes no sense. How hypocritical..." The Dude "Huh? What?" - the Dude was caught completely off guard and confused here. "Wait ..." Oh oh, her nose was red. Great. "Wait, what does this have to do with Emelyn now? She isn't injecting anyone. Her sister died of cancer and you stupid people told her that you are trying to cure cancer here. So she said - okey, I'll help. Wha'ts so bad about that? Thorn however ... wow ... I didn't expect that from her. I suppose I should be taking cheap shots at her too from this point on" - he looked sad. Aubrey "Stupid, thats nice, Dude," she mumbled. "Of course I told her about the cancer research. Here' s a newsflash - THERE IS CANCER RESEARCH!" Aubrey looked angry for probably the first time he's ever seen. "I have a medical degree, with a focus on stem cells. Between stem cel research and the gene manipulation we're doing, and what we're learning about cels and DNA and how thay work here... its only scratching the surface what could be done! Us "stupid people" didn't lie to her. Tell her anything that's untrue."
She lost concentration on the drink she was making and just looked down at the glass, and the bottle of random liquor she had grabbed, forgetting what she was doing. "So why is SO BAD that I'm helping? But for some reason its WRONG for me to want to help, but its perfectly okay for Emelyn to? Just because she doesn't physically inject the patients? Supporting... thats basically the same thing?! Do you think I get off on that or something??" The Dude The Dude wasn't agreeing with Aubrey there, but he knew that he had to calm her down here before she started breaking bottles. So, grudgingly, he stood up and put his arms on Aubrey's shoulders. Turning her around away from the counter he sat her down on a stool and hopped onto the bar opposite from her: "Aubrey, Aubrey, Aubrey ... shhhhh ... here, drink water. I'm glad that you are helping. I'm glad that you are not a p***k like Moreau. Honestly. I'm really glad about that. But I do not think that this is what this little tantrum i about. You want somebody to bring you a gem from the bottom of the sea, that it?" The Dude wushled the mousy brown hair with his flipper hands. Aubrey Aubrey pouted, and plopped down on the chair with a sigh. "I just don't think its fair how you think abuot me, what I'm just the same as her," she said. "I support Moreau, and I'm a bad guy. Em and Lauren support Moreau and you said - and I quote - 'good for them'"
She took a few sips of water, pouting some more. "And he's not a p***k...." she turned her face away from the cameras, "at least not all the time," she mumbled. The Dude The Dude folded his arms on his chest and grunted. Okey, fine, let's be frank here. Tears and pouting aside, this girl was totally missing the point. "Unlike Emelyn and Thorn, you have the power to change things, because you are Moreau's next in line. If you wanted to, you could get us off this island. You could call in the police and have them arrest Moreau. But you are so in love with him, that you have silenced your consiousness, just to be by his side. He is using you, Aubrey. It's plain as day. Like he is using everyone else on this island." Aubrey Aubrey's eyes went WIDE as the Dude laid it out for her. Call the police on MOREAU? She shook her head unconsciously.
She just sat and stuttered for a moment. "He... he... he's not using me," she got out. "He loves me!" The Dude The Dude quirked his eyebrow: "He said that? Or is it your assumption?" Aubrey Aubrey stood up quickly - which was probably a bad idea considering her drinking, because she stumbled a bit and took hold of the bar. "Yes he told me," she snapped. "you think I would... assume something like that? Me? Assume someone actually loved me?" She snorted, shaking her head. The Dude "Ah." - the Dude sounded not too convinced, but the certain despair in Aubrey's eyes made him realize that she was gonna bawl for real in about five second. That or punch him in the face. "Oh, come on now ... Don't give me that. I think you are very lovable girl, Aubrey. I think you just don't give yourself enough credit, you know?" - he patted her on the head, and tried to push her down to sit again "Look at you - you are all pretty and smart and adorable. C'mon now. Maybe you are right, I'm wrong. Maybe I just don't know Moreau the way you do or whatever." Aubrey Aubrey slowly sat back down. She shrugged off the compliments, knowing full well that he was just placating. Amazing how sweet and nice and 'honest' guys get once a woman's upset. "I certainly hope not," she finally said, a tinge of humor to her voice.
She looked back over the beach, and took a deep sigh. What was she arguing about again? The Dude PHEW. Ah, s**t, now he felt like a total d**k. And he didn't know what to say now, at all. The Dude kinda shriveled up and jumped off the bar to sit down. There was silence for a while in which the Dude was killing himself for being an a*****e to a girl who just wanted to be his friend. On the outside, it looked like he was trying to build a card house out of coasters. The crickets chirped. Finally he gave Aubrey a side long look and asked: "You've ever seen a butterfly fish before?" Aubrey Aubrey snapped out of her own little world and looked over to him. "Huh?" She grimanced. "I mean, uh, no, I don't think so." The Dude The Dude grabbed the mask that was laying next to him and the snorkel. Then he walked up to Aubrey and stretched out his hand: "Can I show them to you, please?" - he asked politely. Aubrey Aubrey chewed on her bottem lip, still trying to look pouty. "I suppose so," she said as she relucantly took his hand. The Dude Dragging Aubrey after him, the Dude walked for the water. It was still reasonably light out, but the dusk was starting to settle in as the sun was creeping towards the horizon. As he walked into the water, the Dude started to speak, rapidly so that he doesn't get interrupted: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was a d**k back then, Aubrey. Sorry, man. Really sorry. I've got no business to tell you anything. You are happy. You are happy when Moreau is around. And that's what counts for you. It's stupid and selfish to try and tell you of our plight. To help us you'd have to betray the one thing you actually love. So ******** this. Everyone chooses their side and everyone carries the consequences. You chose yours. And you love Moreau. You cannot do anything about it. And it's just sucks to be us. Life's life. It's never pretty. If it weren't us, then some other shmuck would be here in our place. You do not do this because you hate us. So I'm sorry. Let's just go diving, hon." With that he let go off her hand and shoved the snorkel and mask into her hands, then, without further comment, dove into the water. His face was distorted. He ******** up again. Yes, she was evil for turning Cassidy into a snake. But he couldn't play the consiousness thing any longer. It was just vile - to toy with someone like this. At least he couldn't do it today. Maybe tomorrow he'd get his balls back. But not today. And as long as he kept under water, she really couldn't talk to him any longer. Which was goo by him. Now, to find some butterfly fish - he opened his eyes and looked. Even if it wasn't obvious at first. his eyes have changed. They no longer stung under water, and his vision was much better, even without the mask. Still human, but better then normal. Aubrey Aubrey listened to the Dude, opening her mouth a few times to say something, but he was talking too fast. So she just made a few whimpering sounds and tried to sort out in her head what she was trying to say.
Before she could fully form a coherant sentence in her head, he had shoved the snorkel into her hands and dived into the water. Hesitantly she pulled the mask over her head, positioned the breathing tube in her mouth and tried her best to follow him.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:05 pm
Presents for the Lovely Maiden
... or how the Dude brings Emelyn gifts from the sea. The Dude The Dude walked up to Emelyn's door and knocked on it. Trying not to get too agitated about the conversation he had with Aubrey, he simply wanted to give Em the things he was able to recover from Wilhelmina. See how she was. And be on his merry way. "Knock knock. It's the Dude." - he said. Emelyn Em had been just about to go out- she had an appointment, actually, with the doctors. So she was already near the door when she heard the Dude's voice. "Just a minute," she called, walking to the door. When it was opened, she couldn't help but smiling- she was getting more and more used to the look of the transformation. "Hello there." She was glad to see him- but hoped whatever it was that he wanted was quick. The Dude The Dude smiled back and showed the two things he was holding behind his back: "I come bearing gifts" It was a rather drenched and salt eaten picture frame and a small box on which some barnacles already decided to take up residence. Emelyn At the word 'gifts', Em perked up noticeably... but then squinted her eyes at the offering of two hard-to-distinguish items. They looked as if they'd been pulled out of the sea... and with that realization, it clicked instantly what they were. That was her jewelry box- she wondered how everything inside had fared. She'd never expected to see her grandmother's pearls again. But they were forgotten again, as soon as she took the picture frame from Dude. "This... is Mizzie." She said, softly, and tried very hard not to cry, as she looked back up at him. "Thank you so..." she couldn't finish, as a knot in her throat had begun to form. In her hands, the salt-eaten picture frame still sat... housing, behind clouded, algae-covered glass... the photograph of a young woman with short brown hair, a soft, happy smile... and the same blue eyes that stared back at Dude now, filling with happy tears. The Dude Well, he kinda expected that this was gonna make her happy, but he didn't expect to see tears. And those big shining blue eyes again. What was it with girls and their eyes ... why did they do things like that with them?! The Dude stuck his hands into his pockets and grinned to cover up nervousness: "Well, not a problem. Wasn't too hard. Your "Wilhelmina" is a pretty big boat though ... a crying shame she ran onto a reef like that." - he nodded, trying to figure out what to do now ... Emelyn Having the conversation brought back to 'normalcy' - and having the time to get over the initial surprise, Em wiped at her eyes with quick resolve, smiling as she did so, and swallowing back the lump of emotion. "It was a good size- but so old and beat up... it wasn't good for much else but fishing." She paused to think of the Wilhemina, lurched up on a reef... and laughed at the imagery. "Old girl probably has more fish in her now, though, that she has her entire life. ...Thank you, for this.." she said, having to mention it. "This means a lot to me." The Dude "It's okey girl. I figured it would. That's why I went a-diving. Where are you going to now? Can I come?" - he smiled at her again. Emelyn Em had turned to place the items inside, on her desk... and was glad for it, for she blushed with embarassment... or was it shame... at his request. "Actually," she said, turning (and hoping that the color had gone from her face) "I'm headed for the labs. I have... an appointment." She said. The Dude "Ah. You gonna get your second injection, hedgehog?" - he stiffened up, remembering what Aubrey had told him about Thorn. Emelyn She would have been blind not to notice the transformation in his stance and his expression- and she took it as a sign that he was...disappointed in her, or juding her. "I don't know, actually. I was just asked to stop by for an appointment." The Dude "Ah. Erm. I've heard that Thorn ... I mean Lauren ... has been injecting new subjects for Moreau." - he started. "You ... you gonna do that, too?" Emelyn "What? She's been injecting people? That's... well, a little sketchy." She said, for lack of a better word. "...No, I could never inject someone else. I can't even look at the needle while it's going in." The Dude "Oh, good." - he smiled at her again. "I knew you would never do that. Well, I suppose I'll be going ..." Emelyn "...Alright," she said, glad he hadn't said anything else about her appointment. "I'm going to be down on the beach tomorrow night. I've not really had a chance to go swimming yet. So if you're around... well, maybe you should show." She said, hoping she didn't sound like she was asking him anything inappropriate. The Dude He he he ... SCORE! The Dude positively lit up: "Sure, I'll be around! Did you know that there is a beach bar there now? One could check that out, too." "Well, good luck in the labs." - he waved to her and walked over back to his own duplex. There was a definite spring in his step as he walked.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:08 pm
The Dude talked to Ambrose on the steps of his Duplex. It's in Ambros'es jounral and I'll spare you the copy in here ... see p 13, 4th post form the top if you are ueber curious - the summary woudl be that the two decide to set up Vasile and Timmy. BAD BAD BOYS!
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:10 pm
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
... or how nothing much happens The Dude The Dude went for a bit of a swim after his conversation with Karma. His cat had
decided to follow Karma back into "town" and now he was stuck all alone again.
Waiting was hard ... and after talking to Karma a lot of thoughts were filling his
brain again. So instead of thinking he swam out to the reef, and was diving
around there, hoping to harpoon a fish. From time to time his whiskered head
was sticking out of the water and he was looking back to the beach ... checking
it for signs of life. Emelyn It had been an eventful day for Emelyn... she'd taken the time to actually take a
mini-tour of the island. To show for it, she had tired feet, messy hair, and a thin
sheen of sweat on her skin. So there wasn't much to do but take that swim she'd
been looking forward to. The water was clear, and the sand was warm... and the
sun kissed the top of the water, sending a splash up as she dove down into the
water, having already waded out onto a deeper shelf. As the water hit her face,
and rushed up to meet her skin, Em wondered if that had been a face, sticking
up from the water that she'd seen... The Dude The Dude's head popped out of the water again and he saw the reflective glare
of the goggles on top of Emelyn's head. Ah, there she was! He was about to
happily paddling over there, but stopped and dove back into the water. Gotta
think here for a bit ... he made a flip backwards in the water, seriously enjoying
his new flipper hands and feet which made swimming so much easier. Maybe let
her swim around for a while ... so as not to appear too ...weird? Or was it weird
to let her swim around for a while? Maybe she'd seem him and saw he was ...you
know ... being a stalker? Ah ... whatever, let's just say hi. Be cool and all that
jazz. Popping up onto the surface to get some air, the Dude dove again, but this
time made a straight line for Emelyn's last location. Emelyn The stress seemed to wash away, being beneath the blue, island waters. The
further down she went, the colder and cripser everything seemed, in comparison
to the sunkissed warm surface waters. She forgot all about her aching feet, and
all the thoughts that had been running through her mind as she'd walked
through the jungle... and let herself sink, enjoying the feel of the cool wet
against her skin. After not too long... she wouldn't be able to feel anything
against her 'skin'... but that was a negative thought, and she let it sink away,
lost in a cascade of bubbles that escaped her lips. And then, for the first time,
she opened her eyes, and blinked, getting used to the feeling of the water. She
could have brought the goggles down onto her eyes, but didn't even think about
it- they were such a part of her that they almost wern't there. And what she saw,
once her eyes were used to cutting through the waves- was a familiar form
coming towards her. She waved, and then made a beeline for the surface, to
gasp at a fresh breath of air, hoping that the Dude would come up to join her. The Dude It was strangely cool to see a girl dive underwater. It was a sight every time
because the depth gave the skin a blue tinge and their hair formed into strange,
liquid shapes. Watching the girl float within the blue, the Dude forgot about the
"need to breath". And then Emelyn waved at him. Whoops, so she knew he was
here. Heh. The Dude surfaced rapidly, like a wine cork, with a splash and a gasp
for air. And smiled: "Hi there!" Emelyn Em tossed her head back to get the masses of wet hair out of her face, and took
a big swallow of breath. She kicked her legs beneath the water, a slow, steady
tread to keep her surfaced, and moved her arms in easy circles. It didn't seem
like the Dude had to do much to keep afloat, however. Emelyn smiled, still
blinking water out of her eyes. "Hello! How long have you been out here?" The Dude The Dude still grinned like a moron and answered without thinking: "All day!"
Oh crud, he did sound like a stalker. "I mean, I am harpooning fish over there" -
with that he raised his right arm above the water, showing a primitive spear
harpoon made out of a bungee cord and a thin aluminum pole. Hmm ... it was a
bit hard to converse in the middle of an ocean. The Dude dove down for a sec
and reemerged again, having the water moved his blond dreads out of his face
for him. "Wanna see?" Emelyn "Sure!" She said, taking a look at the makeshift spear. "Lead the way. ...Unless
you think there are fish around here." she said, teasing.
"No as far as I saw, there are only mermaids over here." - the Dude grinned at
Emelyn, then pointed at the waves breaking about 50 feet away from them: "The
fish are by the reef. Can you swim that far? You want a mask or something?" -
he had left his on the sand, but it wasn't that hard to go get it. Emelyn She couldn't keep the smile from spreading across her face- mermaids had
always been her favorite fairy tale, growing up- and she'd never told anyone,
but she'd always imagined that she was one, when she was little. She'd get into
a pool and let herself sink to the bottom, and try to swim with both of her legs
together, hair flowing out in every direction. "No thanks, I'm a pretty good
swimmer," she said, "...Although I think you could probably swim circles around
me these days." The Dude "Yeah ... I love these things" - the Dude waved his flippered hand around "Don't
tell Moreau, though." - he added with a wink and dove down again. They headed
for the reef. Slowly as they were approaching, the sand below them became
slowly replaced with little coral formations, the little brothers and sisters of the
proud wall of limestone that was encircling the lagoon. Bright blue damsel fish
darted away into their crevices when the two humans approached and a school
of minnows dispersed like a shattered star, only to reform again behind them.
From the sunlit depth of the lagoon, the reef finally emerged, bustling with life
and color. The Dude had to resurface a few times on the way here, but he didn't
speak, just kinda waited for Emelyn. Now, though, he popped out of the water
and looked at Emelyn: "Here we are. You ever dove around reefs before?" Emelyn "No," she breathed, set aback by the wonders beneath her. "No," she repeated,
"but they're... beautiful." She'd been all around the world, but for some reason,
had never taken the opportunity to visit ay reefs. "So... have you caught any fish
yet?" She whispered, feeling as if regular-sized voices were inappropriate here. The Dude "Huh? Oh, not today ... the b*****d grouper I was stalking over there gave me a
flipper and buggered off into the deep. But erm ... a word of warning here -
stuff is pretty, but it's better not to touch much. Anemones can sting and every
rock is someone's house." - he smiled at her. "Erm ... I mean, I don't need to kill
pretty fishes in front of you here. We can just, you know, dive around so you can
look" Emelyn "That'd probably be best," she said, looking down at the beautiful denizens of
the reef. She actually breathed a sigh of relief that she wouldn't be seeing any of
them harpooned. "I'm just glad that I'm not going to turn into some horrible
carnivore," she said. "Well, I mean.. anyway," she said, and made a little dive, to
prevent her from saying something else stupid. She kicked away from the
surface, turning her body away from the Dude as she swam. The Dude 'Some horrible carnivore' - the Dude smiled into his whiskers about that
statement. Hey, if he had to live of sashimi for the rest of his life, he was peachy
keen with that. The Dude dived after Emelyn, mostly watching her move around
the corals as opposed to watching the corals themselves.
Below them, in the white sand by the reef, a large tridacna shell was sitting, it's
rainbow lips outstretched into the water, filtering. When Emelyn approached it
first turned less brilliant and then hid it's lips into the shell, closing it tight. A
spooked emerald crab scurried off over the closed shell and under the shelf of a
sunset colored sponge. Then, above them, a shadow moved across the blue. Emelyn Emelyn remembered what the Dude had told her- look, but no touch- so she
kept her hands to herself, using them instead to help propel her past the
marvelous sights. She couldn't see the Dude- but supposed that he must be
behind her. She hoped he hadn't been offended by her slip of the tongue earlier.
...Maybe he stayed at the surface, she thought- and so she turned to make sure
that the hybrid man was behind her. She was distracted, however, by the
movement of a dark shadow above her head. She jerked to the Dude, and made
a gesture- quite simply 'what was that'? The Dude Above them, appearing larger then it really was a sting ray floated thru. The two dove for a while longer, not talking as one could hardly talk under water and then Emelyn tired out an headed for the shore. And the Dude went of to chase his grouper.
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