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 Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:37 am
Montmorency
An old warehouse, Aberfall, Guaxa
Sunday, September 24th, 2006 | 1:21am GuST
Morry reveled in her silent movements. She had been out of commission for so long that the simple things were almost overwhelming. She was larger now, and her camouflage didn't fail nearly as much as it had when she had been Sylvester's. She was back with the Maker now, and in exchange for the information she had provided about the child, she had received an upgrade.
She still had her tail and strangely humanoid back legs and the indicators on her head still changed colors with her moods - something she wished she could control - but she possessed one new feature that was taking some getting used to. Arms.
The Maker had built her a complex maze, filled with traps and obstacles that tested and trained her new appendages, and it seemed that this would be the first time she made it through without incident. It was a good thing too. No one was around to bail her out if she failed.
She came to the last hurdle - well, it wasn't a hurdle in the strictest sense, it was a row of those slender, metal bars, designed to swing across... with your hands. Morry would have inhaled a deep breath to steady herself if she had possessed lungs. As it was, she eyed the bars warily before leaping toward the first one and grabbing it with a soft clink. Nine clinks later, and she was at the end. Imaginary cheers filled her head, and she might have started making crowd noises like a teenager raised on ESPN if she hadn't chosen that moment to look up. The Maker. Morry dipped into a low bow and received a rough, but affectionate, pat on her cold, metal head in return.
"Very good," Anderson said. "It's time for you to go home."
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:57 am
Sylvester
Smerdle's House, Outside Aekea, Gaia
Monday, October 2nd, 2006 | 12:02pm GST
Sylvester's ear twitched. Flies. His stupid cousin had left a sandwich in the yard for close to a week and now there were flies. He was sure he had never been such an a*****e before he had grown. It wasn't even like she had an excuse; she was too young for science projects... too young for school even! He wrapped an old plastic bag around his furry hand and picked up the bologna and mold on wheat, confining it to a place where it wouldn't smell up the property anymore.
School. Smerdle had hinted that she was going to start sending him, way back when, and he might have welcomed the experience. Um... way back when. Yeah.
Now he knew how to read (sort of... okay, not really) and could go places on his own and school seemed like the farthest thing from fun he could think of. Still, he worried about the consequences of ignoring his education. If he didn't go to school, would someone come find him? Force him to go?
His ear twitched again, but this time it wasn't due to flying insects. Something was in the bushes. Something that shouldn't have been there.
"Hello?"
There was a brief trilling and then a familiar voice. "Hello, Sylvester." Montmorency slid from the thick trees and strolled over to the Tale's feet. He was surprised to see that she really could stroll now, because in addition to the legs she had always had, she now possessed a pair of thin, seemingly delicate arms.
"I thought you left." Sylvester couldn't help himself; he smiled a bit as he spoke.
The little machine responded with more pleasant whirring and a sparkle of bright color from the lights embedded in her head. "I returned so that we could go to Guaxa together. So that you would not be uncomfortable."
The Tale nodded. He felt reassured, with Morry by his side. Smerdle had done just fine without him the last time. His trust was misplaced, his confidence false, but the part of him that knew this kept quiet. He needed to get away from the influence of those... twins. The queen's life depended on it.
Sylvester didn't think to question how she seemed to know he had been planning a trip to Guaxa. He followed her into the copse of trees that marked the portal to the parallel world. By the time he recalled her actions as strange, it was too late.
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:58 am
Smerdle
Smerdle's House, Outside Aekea, Gaia
Monday, October 2nd, 2006 | 1:47pm GST
It was only supposed to have been a short nap, but when Smerdle opened her eyes and reached up to rub at them, she knew she had been out for much longer than the accepted definition of "nap."
Someone was singing in her yard.
Several minutes later, she found out it was Sylvester.
"You load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company stooooooore..."
Something wasn't right...
"Sylvester?"
When he turned, a flash of panic spread through Smerdle, settling in her stomach. "It's you again, isn't it." It wasn't a question.
"Who?" The doppelganger's face shone with its creepy, plastic smile. Flies from the moldy bagged sandwich in the thing's hand buzzed around his face, but the boy didn't blink.
"Nevermind." Smerdle sighed. "Stop singing and come inside." She was fairly certain the real Sylvester would come back, it was just a question of when. Smerdle just hoped the creepy clone was a better babysitter than he had been the last time.
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Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 1:54 pm
Interlude
October 2006
After following Montmorency to Guaxa, Sylvester spent about two weeks there. He skimmed a few Guaxan histories and relaxed on the grounds, but also spent a bit of time with the queen and was introduced to Quin's teenage daughter Raquel, who had graduated early from her boarding school.
Sometime during this same trip, Raquel had a seemingly chance encounter with Anderson Vaes, a young man who told her he was new to the castle, having just accepted a position as a library guard. In truth, Anderson is a member of the Peasants, a group that wants nothing more than to depose the queen to make way for their own leader. Raquel was unaware of his intentions at the time, and after several more "random" meetings, covertly arranged by Anderson, the two began seeing each other secretly.
Halloween 2006
Sylvester arrived back at home with Morry. On October 31st, his cousin Brownie went through a dramatic growth spurt, becoming even more of a pain, if that was possible.
January 2007
Over the next few months, Brownie became increasingly agitated, until she finally decided to take matters regarding her missing father into her own hands. On January 20, 2007, she left in search of Chucky.
Sylvester continued his life as normal, delivering blood matches to Guaxa and visiting the planet in person more and more often. Quin came to trust him over time and began to reveal more and more of what he knows of the Peasants and the political history of Guaxa. Sylvester developed a mild crush on Raquel, but never voiced it because of her (then public) relationship with Anderson, who - with the assistance of Montmorency, Sylvester's robotic pet - remained a Peasant spy.
May 2007
Brownie and Chucky returned home, the cabbage that would become August in tow. On Brownie's journey, she committed a murder that she couldn't remember. Chucky left behind Tobias and Magnum, two insect children he was taking care of while he was on the island of Kupuul. An elderly man named Winston took the children in and reportedly continues to raise them to this day.
August 2007
Chucky and Smerdle, with the 'help' of two Furies, Ben and Era, discover that they are actually twin siblings, somehow born nine years apart. Together, they are Keokuulku, and are closely mindlinked, even going so far as to use each other's eyes when necessary. They are still working out exactly what they can do, and it's definitely an ongoing process.
The metaplot.
Somewhere along the way, Sylvester was transported to a fun illusion world, where he had a grand ol' time with blood and death.
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Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:13 pm
Sylvester and Keaira
The Pet Shop
Barton Town, Gaia
"Do you think August would like a pet?" Sylvester pulled his scarf tighter around his face and turned toward his cousin. "A hamster or a fish or something?"
Brownie shrugged. "If you don't care that your mother'll kill you."
"I don't care that my mother'll kill me."
"Then, yeah. Sure. He's sharing mine, but maybe he'd like something of his own. I never asked."
"You wanna come in with me?" the Tale asked. Ever since the recent...weird experiences he had gone through by himself, he had been reluctantly using his blade-winged cousin as a bodyguard. What she lacked in muscle she made up for with unpleasant attitude and visual intimidation. Still, Sylvester doubted anything bad was going to happen in a pet store.
Brownie apparently agreed. She shook her head and pointed at a music store across the street. "I'll be over there."
Sylvester nodded, pulling loose the scarf he had just tightened and pushing open the door.
Kea hummed merrily as she skipped down the streets toward the pet store her mother had promised to take her too, much to Eight's dismay. They already had so many pets! The house would explode if they tried to fit in more! Nonetheless, Eight just couldn't say no to dear little Keaira.
That and Alex had said no...so she refused to be the bad guy and also say Kea couldn't at least look at the pets.
"Kea, wait up." Eight called, hurrying after the preteen just as the succubus Tale paused to open the door and skip right into the pet shop. Siiiigh. "What am I going to do with her." Eight said with a sigh, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Ever since she'd grown up she'd been acting odder than ever! She was even asking for the attic to become her bedroom!
Keaira's hair shifted from its natural black and purple to bright, bubblegum pink, spikey and standing up like a cartoon character. Yep, she was excited. So many cute adorable little animals! Her eyes were practically glowing with excitement....oh wait, they actually were glowing. A little trick she'd picked up recently. "Eeee! Look at the puppies and the kitties and the baby birdies and the guinea pigs and the hamsters and the gerbles and the little piggy over there and and and and..." She hurried across the store to each animal she spotted and named, clearly more excited than a child her age should be about going to a pet store. Especially one dressed like a lolita. She was in the middle of petting a chattering guinea pig when she saw him.
...Well come on! How can you miss Sylvester? He's a giraffe!
"Whooooa!" Kea's mouth hung open in an 'o' shape as she quietly followed behind the giraffe, peeking around him on whatever side he was looking away from like a younger child.
Sylvester wandered from the ferrets to the fish to the birds, finally stopping in front of a cage full of brightly-colored parakeets. It was one thing to bring home a gecko or turtle or something, but a tweeting, pooping mass of feathers? No way. They were cute though, and there was nothing wrong with looking at them.
He stuck his fingers through the bars of the cage, and had just managed to coax a little shiny yellow bird closer to him, when he felt eyes on the back of his head. He turned slightly, catching Kea's cotton candy hair and eerie eyes for a just second. He spun on his heel, the yellow bird he had abandoned giving an angry chirp.
"Um... can I help you?" Normally he wouldn't have sounded so put out, but this girl seemed to be more than she was letting on, with the hair and eye thing. He didn't want to even think about what she was capable of. Better to show her right away that he wasn't playing around.
Kea's hair went from bright pink to long, straight and white. It stood on top of her head like a little girl who'd been so terrified the hair on her head was standing on end. Oh no! She'd been caught! Abort! Abort! The giraffe had spotted her!
And he talked!
"Are you reeeeeally a giraffe?" Kea asked, standing up on her tiptoes and turning her head as if looking for buttons or zippers to the giraffe costume. "You're like Mister Birdy Man! Only he's a bird and you're a giraffe! And he's a pirate! And you're not! And he's a big, funny birdy! And you're...not a birdy!" She couldn't say someone wasn't funny if she didn't know them!
"Not really," Sylvester said, leaning away from this slightly familiar, very hyper person. His eyes widened at her changing hair before his brain decided that it was pretty cool after all. "Mister Birdy Man?" He reached out a hand and poked his palm into one of her spikes. "How are you doing that?"
The succubus blinked. "Not really? Whaddya mean?" Her hair shifted back to its normal black, sans purple, but now it stuck up straight in a clump almost like a question mark. How cute! But it was her hair's way of showing her confusion to a higher extent. How odd! Maybe he really was a man in a suit! Weeeeird! Why would someone run around dressed as a giraffe? "Yeah! Uh...his name's..." She paused to think. What had her mommy called him? Tibby turkey? "Tybalt!" Yeah! That was it!
When Sylvester reached out to touch her hair it was once again spikey. They were somewhat shorter spikes and they were electric blue with tints of purple and green in them. "Huh? Doing what?" She blinked a few times, however the last time she opened them they were no longer glowing with excitement. Now they were both lilac. "This?" She ran her fingers through her hair a few times, ruffling it up until it suddenly spread out like a curly brown fro that would make a black man jealous. "I dunno. It just happens."
"I mean... I came out of a book. My mom's a human. And I don't eat leaves. Well, I do, but not the ones on trees." He pulled his hand away, a bit afraid her hair would somehow turn into a giant knife or a handcuff or something. "I met a Tybalt once." It had been a very long time ago.
"Oh," was the only immediate comment he had on her hair. "Your eyes too... you can't control them?" The glowing had stopped, but he had certainly noticed it. "I'm Sylvester," he said, looking for some sort of recognition. There was something about this girl... For a moment he wished he was still as good at identifying other Tales as he had once been.
"Reeeeally? I did too! I played hide and seek with my mommy and scared her!" She giggled at the memory, although it was somewhat hazy for her. "Oh, really? I ate a leaf once by accident. It tasted funny." She probably meant lettuce from her mother's salad that had dressing on it.
Keaira shook her head a little, the fro falling apart to change to long and silver to her waist like a girl she'd seen in a picture once. "I can control it, but it just happens." When she looked up at him and smiled her eyes were their natural silver and dark violet. "I'm Keaira! It's nice to meetcha, Sylvester!"
Sylvester smiled. Well, at least he knew why he wasn't running from this odd girl. She was a Tale too! "Cool," he said. "I didn't play anything. I had a job to do." His memories weren't hazy at all. He had always had a job, he just hadn't known what it was when he was younger. "So..." His fisted right hand bumped lazily against his leg as he tried to think of something to say. This Keaira seemed awfully intent on asking him things and keeping him backed into corners. "I need a pet for my cousin. For Christmas. Like a snake or a bird or something small. Have you seen anything cool?"
Keaira shrugged. She had a job to do too, she just didn't know it yet! Boy, you'd know when she found out! Slutosaurus would appear! But if the giraffe ran out of things to talk about Kea would more than gladly provide a new subject for them! After all it was her job to keep people pleased! She was about to open her mouth and say something after Sylvester started looking awkward. He must've been shy!
"Oh! Yeah! Uh...some stuff! Like that ferret!" She pointed at a group of adorable ferrets running around their little home. "Orrrr that iguana!" A lazy iguana flicked its tongue at them. "Oh! Or those rats! They're cuuuute! Or those hamsters! And the guinea pigs!" At some point Keaira had taken hold of Sylvester's hand to drag him to each animal.
Sylvester reached out his free hand and flicked a finger lightly at the glass in front of a nearby guinea pig. He nodded, the girl's enthusiasm over such an ordinarily boring task making him more at ease. "Maybe. My cousin's still small. I don't want to be the one cleaning up after this stuff." He looked around, his height advantage shortening his search. "There. Let's look at the puppies." Brownie could walk a dog, right? His mother was going to kill him.
"Oooh! Puppies!" Keaira squealed excited, looking around to find them. They were exactly the reason she was even here! Her mommy had said she could look at the puppies! And she knew Eight wouldn't be able to resist the charm of an adorable, fluffy puppy. She'd even actually keep her promise to clean up and do everything for the puppy. "Yeah! Everyone loves puppies!" She cheered, dragging the giraffe away from the guinea pigs to the area where the puppies were yipping and playing and looking overall adorable. Ahhh! They were so adorable!
Eight was nearby looking fearful. She knew Kea was going to bring one over here eventually. Keep her busy, Sylvester!
"Yeah, they are pretty cute," Sylvester agreed. A grin split his face as he kneeled in front of the pen. "My other cousin doesn't like puppies," he said. "Or maybe it's just dogs she doesn't like. Either way..." He leaned over and lifted a little squirmy yapping coal-black-with-white-spots puppy up to eye-level. The dog stilled instantly, probably weirded out by the feel of furry fingers against its own short coat. "Cute?" he asked Kea.
Kea blinked. "How can she not like puppies?" What a crazy girl! Not like puppies! Pfft! Insane! Keaira gasped when Sylvester picked up a puppy, clapping her hands together and hopping up and down on her toes at the sight. It was so adorable! Eight was groaning and slapping her forehead from where she was waiting. Oh, great. The boy had introduced her to a cute one.
"She's adorable!"
"She doesn't like anything," Sylvester said, rolling his eyes. "Actually, she just doesn't like things that don't explode or beat people up or shoot things or look like Zachary Quinto," he added, cryptically. "Whatever." He cradled the puppy like a baby, moving his fingers away when the little dog started flexing her jaws in a strange display of puppy bravery. Sylvester looked down at the dog, then back up at Kea. "I might get her then," he said with a nod. "Look at that one!" He pointed. Time to play 'Find a Puppy for Tonks So She Doesn't Steal Mine.'
Once again Sylvester had her confused. Who was Zachary Quinto? It sounded like this one creepy director she'd heard of! What was his name? Quintan Terentino? Something like that. "Yeah! And get her a pretty collar!" Kea giggled, looking down at the puppies again when she saw them standing up with their paws against the pen looking for attention now that their playmate had been taken. Awww! It was then that she saw her.
The most adorable little white terrier puppy.
"Eeeee! Mommy mommy mommy I want this one!" Kea squealed with delight and gingerly picked up the little puppy so she wouldn't scare her. How cuuute!
Mommy? Sylvester looked from the puppy Kea was squealing at to the woman who seemed to be reacting the strongest to the girl's begging. Whoops. Whoever Kea's guardian was didn't seem to want a puppy at all. He stood quickly and stepped over to a nearby rack full of collars. Spinning the rack a few times, he ended up choosing a bright green collar that looked as though it had been made of raincoat material. He watched Kea and Eight out of the corner of his eye as he held the collar up to the puppy's dark fur.
"But Kea we--"
"But she's so cuuuute!" Kea whined. Eight frowned and looked around; this kind of scene was the last thing she wanted to have in public, especially when Keaira was already having fun with her new friend. Kea held the puppy up so Eight could marvel at her adorableness of the puppy she was already dubbing Coconut.
"Kea I...we...we already have so many pets." Eight's argument was getting a bit weak. "Just go back to your new friend." She sighed in defeat, plopping down on a small stool next to a pen of guinea pigs. Aw, weren't they sweethearts. Kea giggled and hurried after Sylvester with her soon-to-be-new puppy squirming and licking in her arms. She sure was energetic!
"I win!" She giggled again.
Sylvester laughed. "Do you ever lose?" He held up the collar. "I'm getting this one and her." He shifted his shoulder as he said 'her' and the puppy--who had dozed off in the crook of Sylvester's arm--gave a weak, sleepy bark. The Tale looked around guiltily. "I'd better pay before my cousin gets back."
The little succubus' hair went flat and black and long, looking almost like the girl from the ring. Obviously this was her pouty hair. "Sometimes." She said with a sigh, but when the puppy started batting at her hair it immediately went blonde with huge ringlet curls like a porcelain doll's. What a cutie! She was so keeping Coconut! When Sylvester spoke again Keaira grinned. "Bright green on black? Cool!" As she spoke her hair changed back to its original color, black with a purple stripe, only the stripe was now the same color as the collar she was being showed. In fact her hair was now highlighted with it. "Oh, really? Is she the one you're getting the puppy?"
"Nope," he said, walking over to the register. Nevermind that he probably needed some sort of carrying case for vet visits or a leash or food or any number of other things. Surely someone could take care of all of that later. "She wanted me to get a mouse or a cat. Something small or independent. She's probably going to be mad." He didn't seem upset by this, and only a bit of his earlier guilty look remained. Sylvester was definitely more pleased than anything else at the thought that something he did would make his cousin angry. "Do your dogs have shots and stuff?" he asked the cashier.
The young man behind the register nodded. "I would also recommend this starter pack for twenty dollars. It comes with a leash, food and water dishes and a couple of cans of the kinds of the food we sell at this store."
"'Kay," Sylvester said with a shrug. He set the puppy down on the counter, where she promptly stumbled to her feet and hopped over to the laser barcode scanner, intent on blinding her little puppy eyes. The Tale separated a few bills from the stack of cash he pulled from a coat pocket and handed it to the man.
"Oh. You must have a lot of cousins like I do then!" Kea smiled and played with the puppy in her arms, teasing her with her fingers. Eep! She had teeth! At least they didn't hurt, they were still little! And she was only playing so it probably wouldn't have hurt anyway even if the puppy's teacher were larger. "Oh, really? A mouse would've been cute! Why didn't you get one of those?" She gestured to the cluster of adorably chubby mice nearby. Oh well, she loved puppies more! Especially after 101 Dalmatians!
When Sylvester asked if the dogs had their shots Keaira's hair stood on end again as it had earlier. "Shots?!" She hugged the puppy. "Puppies have to get shots? But those hurt!" Obviously she didn't understand these types of shots didn't hurt the puppy and that they were actually necessary.
Kea calmed down eventually, shown by her hair and eyes actually going to their natural state, and peeked over the counter to see the starter pack the man was talking about. Cool! She didn't need to stand on her tiptoes and hop to see things anymore! Yaaaaay! She giggled as she watched Sylvester's puppy play with the barcode scanner, putting her puppy on the counter to watch them play together.
Man, this girl would probably suck at poker. It was possible she would be even worse than Sylvester himself, which was saying something. With time though, she would probably make one of the coolest spies ever. He wondered if she'd ever met Ono. Together they would make even better spies!
"I wanted to make her mad," he said, grinning. "And don't worry about the shots, the puppies need them. I don't think they remember them anyway," he continued, trying to be reassuring.
The little black puppy crouched down low, her docked tail wagging with excitement at the appearance of the new little dog. Sylvester moved to the end of the counter, gathering up the leash and bowls he had been talked into purchasing.
"What's all that?" a distinctly put-out voice asked from Brownie's spot nearer to the front of the store. Her blue eyes lowered to the puppies on the counter as she approached the Tales. "You were supposed to get a friggin' lizard or something, not a dog!"
"August needs something more awesome than a lizard," Sylvester explained, his voice low and rational. "Like a dog he can ride. Right?" He turned to Kea for confirmation. The little black puppy was too small to ride now, but if her giant paws were any indication, she wouldn't be for long.
Why would Kea be playing poker? She was a young child! She could probably learn to bluff though like her mother, who usually acted the opposite of however her hand should make her feel--or just acted giddy and idiotic the whole time until the end where she could get cocky and kick a**. A spy though? That'd be fun! Kea could become ANYONE!
"How come you wanna make her mad?" The little girl asked, clearly confused. She blinked and stared up at Sylvester--that kinda hurt her neck but that's okay. It was to be expected when the person you were talking to was a giraffe. She gasped and hid behind Sylvester at the sudden voice yelling at him, her hair a startling shade of white to show her fright. Who was that? Huh? What? Eep! Scary lady with bladed wings! Keaira peeked around Sylvester, frowning a little. She didn't sound nice--and why would someone want a lizard for a pet?
"Huh? Right!" Kea grinned. "Puppies are better!"
"Who're you?" Brownie asked, completely dropping the argument. Whether she was bored by it or just secure in her awesomeness, no one would ever know. She narrowed her eyes at Kea's white hair. "Are you makin' fun of me?"
"No. She's not. D'you see why I want to make her mad now?" he whispered to Kea, a smirk plastered to his face.
"We should go," Brownie said, her eyes never leaving Kea. She just couldn't bring herself to trust any of the people who were made like her cousin. They weren't... normal.
"I'm Keaira." Kea murmured, her voice muffled by how close behind Sylvester she was hiding. When the mean girl's eyes narrowed at her and she was accused of making fun of Brownie her hair got red and spikey. "N-no!" Sylvester to the rescue! The succubus tale looked up at him and nodded a little, letting go of him in an attempt to stop looking like such a frightened child.
Keaira couldn't help but stick her tongue out at Brownie, what with the way the older girl was still watching her. What? Take a picture! It'll last longer! Yup...she's Shauna's sister alright. "My mommy needs to buy my puppy anyway...it was nice meeting you, Sylvester! Uh...Sylvester's cousin!" Yay new friend!
Brownie was sorely tempted to stick her tongue out as well, but instead she turned and stalked out of the store, leaving Sylvester to carry his new family pet as well as all the puppy's belongings.
"You too! Bye!" Sylvester said with a smile and as much of a wave as he could manage with his hands full.
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:15 am
Sylvester
Smerdle's House, Outside Aekea, Gaia
Monday, March 16th, 2009 | 5:28am GST
It was quiet. Things were always quiet now in the daytime. When he had first returned there had been noise, the muffled giggling of that neighbor girl and the boy named after the month, but now they were gone. The cops had come the day they had left, had told Sylvester and his mother and uncle there was a body across the street and had they seen anything and how could they not have seen something and, fine, had they seen this girl? Brownie. He remembered her. He remembered Mom, Chucky, Brownie, but not the kid with the month. They had needed to be reintroduced.
That cop had been mad, but Sylvester had told the truth. He hadn't seen anything. He hadn't heard anything.
His mother told him he had bought the dog for the boy named after the month, and even though Sylvester couldn't recall, he assumed it was true. The dog's name was Pepper and she was a better friend than Morry had been, mostly because dogs couldn't talk and they played fetch without complaint. They also didn't betray you and leave you obligated to take care of people you shouldn't have been obligated to take care of at all. An added bonus: Dogs didn't actively participate in plots to overthrow the government.
Quin slept on the couch downstairs, a silent wraith when he was awake, only speaking to Sylvester when he needed something he couldn't find on his own. At night, he tossed and turned and wailed 'Lisa' and 'Mara' and 'Raquel' in a hollow, plaintive voice. Sylvester's mother flinched at the last name, he knew. She was the only Raquel left. Quin's daughter was dead. The man's hair, once long and thick and blond and arguably his best feature, was cut short and uneven and had turned a shining white in response to his grief.
Nan was the same as always, if a little older. She smiled and told jokes and welcomed Sylvester's company when he ventured across the hall to her room, the room that had been Brownie's but was now strewn with garlic and voodoo dolls of varying sizes and liquids and things in thin glass pipettes.
As the days went by, he found himself in the older woman's presence more and more. Although he remembered his uncle and mother, he could recall little else about his old life, and he could tell it weirded them out. Nan had been there when he had changed and she had seen why it had been necessary. The queen dying in Quin's arms, shot by his daughter's lover. Sylvester's very purpose gone. Nan understood.
It seemed impossible, but something positive had resulted from this whole mess. Sylvester got to play all of his favorite old video games again for the first time.
It was still very quiet this morning, even after all of this thinking. Everything was smaller, but he paid it no mind. Sylvester's home had chafed before, but he knew there was nothing to be done about it while he was still too young to take care of himself. The cold air tickled his exposed fur, making it stand on end. He wrapped a thick blanket around his shoulders and padded across the hall. As he opened the door, Nan's beady eyes fell upon him and she smiled.
"What is it?" he whispered, not yet noticing the change in his voice, the change in him.
Nan carefully placed a test tube on the table in front of her as her smile grew wider, making her seem almost young again as the years were negated by her happiness. "Nothing, dear. Your skin has simply caught up with your mind."
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