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 Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 8:12 pm
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Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 7:31 pm
Tommy: Tommy's been staring at the intercom for the past thirty minutes, trying to formulate his thoughts...trying to build up the courage to talk to one of the men who ruined his life. With a sigh he presses "0" on the keypad.
Sabin Duvert: A rather nasal-sounding female voice spoke up after the button was pressed and a few mechanical beeping noises. "Feral Laboratories.... what do you need?"
Tommy: "Yeah hey...is Sabin in?" he asks, a little nervous.
Sabin Duvert: "Dr. Duvert? One moment... I will see." And the line went silent for a few moments.
Then, another beep, and the familiar French voice. "Tommy~! It has been some time, has it not!" There was a bemused tone in the voice. "I hear you've been out camping!"
Tommy: The bat-man grins despite himself. Something about the guy just tends to crack him up. "Yeah, yeah...and from what I can tell, it was 'cause of you that I'm still alive right now. The batman bandaid was a nice touch."
Sabin Duvert: Sabin chuckled. "Well, we couldn't very well have you losing to the elements out there. Glad you liked the bandaid. And you made it through. But, I must say, your plan of action wasn't exactly the brightest of things that you've ever done."
Tommy: He sighs, remembering that day, "Yeah...well, who'da thought he'd pull that freeze trick out of his a** like that...but anyway, I digress. I've gotta couple favors to ask you."
Sabin Duvert: "Yeah.... that came as a surprise to me as well..." Sabin responded hesitantly. "But what is it that you had in mind?"
Tommy: The ex-cadet makes a not of the hesitation, surprised that Moreau wouldn't have told something like that to the other doctors. "Well...yeah, um...my recent change wasn't all that uh...well to be honest, it blows a**. First thing I've gotta ask you is: can I get a supply of blood down here and some crutches?"
Sabin Duvert: "I can probably manage something with the blood... but it might take me a few days." A wry smile crossed Sabin's face. that wasn't the truth, but it might make for an interesting scenario. "But! There might be a compatriot in misery not far from you. Duplex 55. He might be able to assist you until I am able to get you a supply."
Tommy: "Well, I'll do just about anything to get something with real sustinance. That nasty juice at the bottom of the raw steak tray just isn't cutting it...but...Duplex 55, you say? ...don't think I've met the guy there. What's he turning into?"
Sabin Duvert: Sabin grinned. "A flea!" He responded with a bit too much exuberance.
Tommy: There's a pause on his end of the phone, "...you're...oh God are you serious? What's the goddamn scientific advantage of that!?"
Sabin Duvert: A chuckle responded before Sabin actually gave voice. "Well, to be honest I didn't develop that serum. And what advantage? Think about it, man! Combining DNA from something as alien as an insect? It holds all sorts of interesting possibilities. And the strength to size ratio of most insects - or jumping distance in teh case of the flea... all sorts of unanswered questions."
Tommy: "But...a flea! I mean...s**t..." he trails off, suddenly wondering if he was so bad off, "Well...yeah alright...I'll have to talk to him. There's one last thing I'd like to ask...it's um...it's rather personal though..." he suddenly seems more than a little nervous.
Sabin Duvert: "You're welcome to ask. I can't promise much help. I will put it bluntly in that you're not exactly Mr. Popular on Moreau's list."
Tommy: "Well yeah, but I was hoping you'd have enough sway to make it happen...I can always help you out in return. I'm sure you're always looking for willing experiment subjects..." he says this last part quietly.
Sabin Duvert: "Well, I can't say or promise anything until I know what it is that you want." Sabin responded. OF course, if Sabin needed an experimental subject, willingness was almost never an issue.
Tommy: "Yeah...it's nothing too big, I just...well...I want to know if my parents think I'm dead or not...and um...and if they're still holding out for me...I want them to...to change their minds..." he almost chokes out, getting somewhat emotional.
Sabin Duvert: "Honestly, Tommy, in your case we didn't even need to fabricate a backstory. Your plane going down did the job for us. Quite easy that, seeing as how authorities can't exactly troll the entire Atlantic looking for bodies. So, whatever the military's policy in declaring death after being missing for so long would be what would happen in your situation."
Tommy: "Yeah...I know...I just wanted to know for sure, that's all."
Sabin Duvert: "Well, I can see if I can gather some information to see if you've legally been declared dead yet or not, but ultimately Feral Labs is not going to interfere in the process. We don't need to in this situation, and doing so would only raise suspicions."
Tommy: Again there's a pause while Tommy tries to compose himself. "I uh...no...I understand...it's just...it's been bugging me for a while now...and uh...and well, being out in the jungle...and my recent change, well...it's kinda opened my eyes..." he chuckles humorlessly, "Speaking opening my eyes though...I'm sure you'd be happy to hear I did my first echolocation the other day."
Sabin Duvert: "Really?" Sabin asked, his attention piqued. "How fascinating. I would imagine that that ability will only develop more with time and subsequent injections."
Tommy: "Well...I read up on the bats, and it turns out that they emit the noise from their nose...I think anyway...and if you've seen my nose since my last change...well...you get the picture."
Sabin Duvert: "It's hard to miss." Sabin teased. There was a smile in his voice, but not a malicious one.
Tommy: He juct chuckles, "Yeah...tell me about it. I made that short blond haired guy feint the other day...but anyway, yeah...I haven't been able to reproduce the...the sound I guess and when I did do it...I've gotta say it was the weirdest thing I've ever experienced."
Sabin Duvert: "Well, learning to use new ... properties... might come slowly at first. Stretching muscles you never had before as it were. But I'm sure it will come up. Maybe you can figure out what you were doing at the time and try it again."
Tommy: "I dunno, I'll have to try then...gotta keep myself busy somehow since I don't have a computer...oh, hey one more thing though...I..." he pauses for a moment, this seems to be hard for him to say. "I uh...you can return my...piano...I um...I can't play it anymore...unless I learn with my feet," he says in an attempt to be humorous, but it just ends up sounding sad.
Sabin Duvert: "I... am not sure if I can do that, Tommy." Sabin said, and despite Tommy's depression, Sabin couldn't help but feel a warm tingle. He was very pleased with his bed-switch. Not that he had much of a choice anyway given the size of the piano (other than getting a smaller one.... but that was the point!) Now, the piano stood as a constant reminder to the deformed bat man of what he once had. And Sabin was not able to take that sweet torture away.
"Besides! I bet you could learn to be quite adept with your feet. Haven't you ever seen those Ripley's believe it or not shows? The men born without hands can learn to play with even human feet!"
Tommy: Tommy chuckles to himself. He wasn't angry, just still depressed. The piano didn't remind him of the bed he no longer had...he had to make do with worse before...sleeping in those tmper tents was always a b***h. No...the piano was just a constant reminder of the simple joy of creating music right out of arms reach. "You're still a b*****d," he says in a way that conveys endearment moreso than an insult.
Sabin Duvert: "So I've been told." Sabin responded wtih the same degree of mirth.
Tommy: "Well...alright, I'll let you get back to...whatever the hell you guys do for fun up in the labs...probably kicking midgets or making babies cry or somesuch...but uh...yeah, thanks, Sabin."
Sabin Duvert: "Ah, my favorite pasttimes." Sabin said longingly with a grin. "And you take care, bat boy!"
Tommy: "Heh, will do....Tommy, out," he says with a grin of his own. His troubles always seem easier when he makes light of them.
Sabin Duvert: "Ten Four." Sabin laughed and hit the disconnect button. A small beep signified that the call was over.
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Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2006 7:46 pm
Tommy Christian Tommy props a deformed foot up on the table in front of him, the big toe (now a thumb) moves around a bit. His eyes seem a bit glazed over as he's watching the movie he's seen no less than thirty times. Thoughts pass through his mind like salmon in a muddy river as Bruce Campbell kills deadite after deadite in his supurb role as Ash in Army of Darkness. He absently cracks the knuckles of his right hand with his thumb, wondering just what time it is...he's starting to become less groggy so it must be nearing night time. Seth Callaghan Seth spent practically all day between lounging and sleeping in his duplex, but just could not shake the sore and stiff feelings throughout his body. No matter how he lay on the bed, or how much he slept, it would just not go away. Finally, towards the later half of the day, he had had enough of it - and decided to do his best to ignore the situation, or at least distract himself. So, he had taken off to the Recreational Room where he had played pool with Maryke some days ago, carrying his laptop with him out of habit. At least there, he could distract his mind with whatever media they had there, whether it be DVDs, or one of their video game consoles.
He was wide awake as he made his way across the village and into the room, seeming a little surprised as he noticed that there was somebody else already there. And they were a... paticularly strange looking character. He found himself standing in the doorway of the room, staring at the fingers of the person for a few moments.
"Still can't get used to these people..." He thought to himself as he finally shut the door behind him. It took him another few seconds to work out that the occupant looked vaguely familiar.
"...Tommy?" He finally asked. "Geez... what the bloody hell happened, mate? You certainly look a lot different." Tommy Christian Tommy snaps out of his daze as his large ears hear Seth enter the room. He reaches over with a spindly digit and presses a button on the remote...damnit, missed the pause button...he tries again...and misses...and finally on the third try he gets it and the movie pauses. A picture of Ash kicking the head off a skeleton dominates the screen. He glances over at Seth and for a second wonders why he looks so freaked out...and then of course the truth hits home. Goddamnit...I'm ******** hideous... he thinks to himself as he gives Seth what used to be an amiable grin. Now, with his teeth...well it doesn't look as nice. "I uh...they got to me again...'bout a week ago or so..." Seth Callaghan "Only a week ago?" Seth shook his head. "A lot of change in a week, I say. How often does it happen?"
He took a seat on the lounge next to the man and glanced at the television. He set his laptop down on his lap and raised the lid, turning it on.
"You don't look that bad. Well maybe the fingers are a bit extreme, but apart from that..." He shrugged his shoulders, trying his best to indicate that he didn't see it as a big deal. "So what is this movie anyway?" He raised his left hand to his jaw area, frowning. The irritating soreness was beginning to get worse. Tommy Christian Tommy glances over at Seth...the guy looked kind of sick. He just shakes his head and looks around for where he put the remote. "It only takes about a day or so to change...but this is my second one in a few months...I think it's been...about three now." "But I dunno, it looks like someone beat me in the face with a frying pan..." he shakes his head, trying to dissuade his urge to b***h about his problems, "Yeah...what...this movie? You haven't seen it? Awww...it's one of the best. It's called Army of Darkness. One of the funniest B horror movies out there." Seth Callaghan "I've never seen it," Seth admitted. "But if you say it's good, I'll give it a fair go. Some horror movies that make an attempt at being legitimately scary come off as being pathetic, but if this film is funny and knows its pathetic, it might be worth watching."
He glanced to the wall, where the bookcases containining literally thousands of DVDs stood near to the ceiling. "I still can't get over their DVD collection here. I'll have to nick some of them later. Do you know if they let us do that?"
He paused awkwardly as he pondered a careful response to Tommy's statement about changing.
"Three changes in only a few months... that's gotta be a hassle." He did not like the information at all. "What do they plan to do with you, er, us after it's over?" Tommy Christian "Oh, it definately doesn't take itself seriously," he chuckles at the the picture of the guy kicking a skeleton's head off. "It's part of a trilogy...the first one was trying to be scary...just gory and funny...the second one was a mix between horror and comedy, and the third one...this one...just gave up." "Heh, yeah, it puts my collection to shame...though I don't think they'd care if you took one...I mean, even if they did...what're they going to do?" "Well...three injections...two actual changes...and I've got no ******** clue, really. From what I've seen, once you're done, you're done...you just live out the rest of your life here...are you um...are you feeling alright?" Seth Callaghan "I'm fine really," Seth began. "It just feels like somebody socked me one in the face. I think I left my air-conditioning up too high, I'm sore all over, actually, and--"
Seth never finished his sentence. At that moment, he tensed up in pain, his face began to shift, flesh and bone beginning to twist out of shape, his jaw making a sickening loud crunching sound as it shifted in it's sockets. His nose and jaw began to grow and extend forward, leaving the man with a rather alarmed expression on his face. He quickly moved his hands to his face and gripped onto his jaw, groaning loudly in pain.
"What the..." He managed to get out, his eyes wide and his fear very apparent as retreated off the couch, as if it would help some how. His laptop fell out of his lap as he stood, falling onto it's side, making a loud smashing noise as it hit the hard ground. The topside of the case was cracked, and the monitor lid came off its hinges, the screen going quite dead. But at that time, Seth did not notice that at all.
"Uhh... rrr..!!" He slurred, his breath coming out in short uneven rasps. He wanted to speak, to cry out in objection or express anything of what he was feeling right now, but his jaw hurt him too much to make more than a few incoherent sounds. Tommy Christian Tommy is about to hit the play button on the remote when he hears Seth's initial groan of pain. He looks over and imediately, his eyes go wide, "Holy s**t...I ********! Sit down, man...sit ********, it'll be over soon...goddamnit...why ********!" Tommy tries to place a hand on Seth's shoulder and help him sit back down, all the while attempting to give some comfort to the painstricken man. Seth Callaghan Seth was only vaguely aware of the hand on his shoulder as he stumbled back, his left foot stepping on the broken screen of his laptop as he moved back. The LCD screen's thin glass made a cracking sound as it was stepped through, the top layer of plastic looking quite ruined now. The device itself was way beyond repair.
Pain suddenly shot through his feet - but not because he had stood on the monitor. His toes were shifting, their very shape rapidly changing. Solid dark nails emerged from where his toenails had been, forcefully ripping through his socks and the ends of his shoes, protruding out through the holes they had made. The new feet caused him to wobble and he lost his balance, harmlessly flopping back down onto the lounge. At the same time his hands had shifted and changed shape, the same dark nails on the ends of his fingers.
"What the bloody hell is happening...??" He hissed, disoriented and confused. As his ears grew larger and a little higher on his head, sound was magnified. The TV volume seemed blaring in his ears now, and he winced slightly at the noise.
"Why is everything so loud..." He groaned finally. "Stop yelling... aargh!!" His back began to spasm as his tailbone unfused, the stub of a firm tail growing from the base of his spine. Then finally, his entire figure changed, leaving him somewhat skinnier than he had been before. He curled up on the lounge and groaned, his body tense as the changes had finally finished. Though he didn't know that, and lay there, bracing himself should anything further happen. Tommy Christian It was all Tommy could do to not freak the hell out and run. Was this how I looked!? Dear GOD! Seeing an actual change from the other side is almost too much for the bat-man to handle. "C'mon...just...Jesus...nothing's going to make this feel better besides waiting it out...just...just try to relax and it'll be over soon," he says, horrified to find himself repeating the same shitty non-helping lines that others had said to him when he changed. Seth Callaghan "Waiting it out...?" Seth groaned, his voice muffled thanks to the position he was currently in. Everything was still sore and his jaw ached especially, but less so now. He felt no more sharp pangs in his body and finally braved sitting up again once it was over, his pawhands clumsily pushing him up.
He groaned as he put a hand to his forehead. Nothing felt right or sounded right any more. He looked down at his hands and promptly froze up, a brief but startled yelp suddenly rising up in his throat. He had felt himself change, sure, but actually seeing the changes for himself was a completely different thing.
"It looks terrible..." He lowered his head, looking dejected, suddenly feeling quite concious of his appearance. "I probably look like a bloody freak." He lifted his head to glance at Tommy with barely focussed eyes and a dazed expression. "What does it look like...?"
"Since when when did I give a rats arse about what people think of me...?" Tommy Christian Tommy just shakes his head and sighs. He stares down at his own hands a moment before looking up at Seth, tired. "Jesus, Seth...what the ******** you want me to tell you? It looks like your head went through a goddamn taffy machine. But in all honesty, it doesn't look that bad...I mean...I've seen worse first changes...you've still got your teeth...you look like you're more than likely going to be a mammal...no fur yet...I...wait, hold up a second..." Tommy reaches over with a foot and picks up one of the dvd cases he was planning on watching later and tosses it over to Seth. "Open in up and see for yourself...you should be able to get a decent reflection on the back of the dvd." Seth Callaghan Seth took the DVD case from Tommy, raising eyebrows slightly at the fact that the other man had picked it up and handed it to him with his feet.
"Yeah, it was a stupid question wasn't it... sorry." He sighed as he clumsily pawed at the DVD box, trying to open it with his newly changed clawed fingers. He scratched slightly at the box casing, his claws clicking across the opening side a few times. The DVD case slipped from his hands, bounced off his leg and flopped onto the floor beside his fallen laptop. He reached down to pick up the DVD case in one hand, his attention falling on the crunched and contorted monitor that USED to be attached to his laptop.
Seth looked quite sad upon the discovery of this, and picked up the twisted screen, sighing, his shoulders slumped.
"Just bloody great..." He murmured. "What am I supposed to do now?"
The question of his appearance was forgotten for the time being. Tommy Christian Tommy eyes Seth's new tail as he bends over to pick up what was left of his laptop. Jesus...wonder if I'm ever going to grow something like that... He shudders and shakes his head. "******** man, no...it's not stupid...sorry, I um...that's the first time I've seen a change...from someone else's perspective anyway...I mean...goddamnit...it's just so ******** uh..." he trails off when he sees the laptop. "Did a number to that thing, didn't you? Well...I'm sure the hard drive is still working...and I don't see why you couldn't ask the labs to get a new one..." he shrugs some, stealing glances at Seth's newly elongated face. Seth Callaghan "Horrifying? It was horrifying to experience and feel." He grumbled as he looked down at his toes, not seeming to notice at all that he was being looked at. "Eh, what am I saying... I guess you know all about that already, you poor b*****d." He reached down to touch the claws poking out of his shoes and muttered. "I'm going to need new shoes, bugger it..."
He wiggled the toes for a moment, wanting to confirm whether or not they were real. When he discovered they were, his heart sank. He picked up the remains of his laptop and sighed.
"Indeed, it is totalled. I certainly did that much," He hated to admit it as he looked over the remains of the small computer in his claws, his expression sullen. "But you're right - the hard drive can be yanked out and salvaged. The rest is nothing but spare parts now though. At least I can rip out the RAM chips, but..." He stopped mid-sentence, feeling more and more hopeless as he went on. "Bloody hell, first changing into an animal and now this - I don't know what's worse. The laptop can be replaced at least, but..."
Finally, he gamed another chance at standing. He was wobbly on his feet at first, but quickly discovered it wasn't so hard to stand on both feet once he had made his stance just a tad wider than usual. It would take some getting used to. He looked down at his feet once again, not liking what he was seeing one bit.
Now he knew what it felt like for Tommy and the frog-guy to be changed against his will, to be robbed of his humanity. He hated it - and he regretted ever yelling out in surprise upon first laying eyes upon Newt.
"My god," He said after another moment, looking back up at Tommy. "We really have to get out of this place..." Tommy Christian Tommy just watches Seth try to go about standing again, a defeated look upon his face. "Yeah...like every bone in your body exploding out in different directions..." he grimaces at the memory. Quickly he tries to change the subject, "I've got some sandals back in my duplex I'm never going to need again if you'd like..." he trails off once he hears Seth wonder what's worse and quickly bites off a quip to accompany it. Instead he just reiterates, "Well...just call up the staff on your intercom 'n they should be able to hook you up." "...tell me about it..." Seth Callaghan "Haha, sandals would have to do... anything is better than this." He considered taking off his shoes to get a better look at his changed feet, but part of him just did not want to, especially if they looked anywhere as weird looking as his hands.
"The staff will give you anything? Anything at all?" He pondered. "I'll keep that in mind. You wanted a laptop too, right? I'll go ask for a couple. I don't suppose they'd let us have building supplies, wood or a shovel, would they?" He muttered. "At least with wood, I could build a raft and sail out of here..." Tommy Christian "Yeah, seriously...my feet won't even fit into any sort of footware now..." he looks down at them and one of the 'thumbs' wiggles around. He shakes his head before looking up to Seth with a sad grin on his face. "But yeah...they were able to give me an electric grand piano, so why not a laptop or two? I've got an external hard drive in my duplex, but no computer to hook up to it...and...to be honest though...I wouldn't bank on a raft. They'll spot what your building before you get the frame up." Seth Callaghan "Drat..." Seth's face fell. "Makes me wonder what they would notice and what they'd shrug off." He glanced down at his claws again. "What the hell kinda animal am I gonna turn into anyway? It looks like it's capable of digging... would they care if I started doing that? Surely they wouldn't care if people started doing stuff that their animal normally does."
"I mean, the claws hurt right now, but then again so does the rest of me. I don't know what I'd acheive by randomly digging holes in their island, but..." He shrugged. "It'd be something worth trying if it means getting out of here..."
"Sorry to interrupt your movie watching anyway..." Tommy Christian "Well...little things they don't notice...you can trust me on that," he says conspiritorially, "But...I dunno...I'm guessing mammal...maybe...carnivore definately...but I'd find out for sure what you're turning into before you go off digging holes...unless you really are having an urge to do that." He looks over Seth for a moment before shaking his head. "No man...no reason to apologize. Not like it was your fault...besides, heh, I've seen this movie close to thirty times." Seth Callaghan "Nah. I don't have any desire to go dig holes around the place." He had to shake his head at that comment. "Why, do I look like some kind of carnivore thing that digs?"
"Did you ask the lab people about what kind of animal you're turning into?" He wondered. "I'd ask Dr Duvert, but well... he'd probably just lie to me all over again. He's lied about pretty much everything so far right from the beginning, so why should now be any different?"
He turned his attention to the floor and crouched down to pick up the few loose components that had fallen out of the laptop when it broke. He couldn't identify what all the pieces were exactly, but a few of them looked like broken silicon card pieces, probably from the motherboard. The man didn't know what he was more unhappy about - the fact that his trusty computer was broken, or the fact he had begun the process of changing into an animal. Tommy Christian Tommy cracks his neck from side to side, making slight popping noises. He slouches a bit more in the sofa and looks up at Seth before replacing his weird looking foot on the table. "Yeah...I asked him before my first change. He said he wanted to make a game out of it...gave me a bunch of clues. First one was a bird in a cage, second one was a packet of blood. Well I put two and two together...flight, needs blood...vampire bat. About a day or so after I guessed it, I have my first change...so...nah, he probably won't lie to you about what you're changing into but he sure as hell will make it a pain in the a** to find out." Seth Callaghan "Yuck." Seth mumbled, a mild expression of disgust on his face. Though whether it was because of the cracking sound that Tommy's neck made, or because of the information he was just told concerning how Tommy found out what animal he was becoming was uncertain.
"They... sent you a bag of blood?" He asked, one eyebrow raised. "Vampire bat? I thought those were fictional. Out of dracula films and those places." Tommy Christian Tommy just sighs and nods, "Yeah...one of those medical bags...it's all I can drink now..." he shudders some at the thought, "But...yeah...they're taking away my hands and taking away normal food...gotta love 'em." "Hmm? Nah, they're real enough. Though they mostly inhabit central and south America. From what I hear though, they're actually nice animals..." he says, sounding almost hopeful. Seth Callaghan "And they eat blood?" Seth took a small step back away from Tommy. "I'm sure they're nice animals and you're a nice guy, but I'm not going to be very happy if you decide to start taking a bite out of my arm if you get hungry and want a snack..."
"I suppose it's worth a shot asking what I'm going to turn into..." Seth admitted. "I'll ask for two laptops though, and leave one of them on the door of your duplex or something. Meanwhile, I think I'm going to go - my jaw is killing me, and I should get a new laptop right away...."
"Have fun watching your movies." He grinned. "You'll be hearing from me again." Tommy Christian Tommy gives Seth a look as he back away. He sighs and shakes his head, looking back to the frozen image on the television screen. "Yeah, well...you and everyone else I tell about that...it's not so different from one of the many other goddamn carnivores you see around here...I...ugh...sorry...yeah...take care man. And...be sure to look in the mirror...it does wonders for your psyche. Doesn't do to internalize everything and pretend nothing happened." Seth Callaghan "Hey, no worries mate," Seth said quickly. "I'm sure you're not going to take a bite out of anybody. It was a stupid comment actually, I'm sorry if you took offense to it."
"Heh..." At the comment about looking in the mirror, Seth shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure if I'm ready to look in the mirror just yet. I'm sure I could still pass as a person, apart from these stupid looking claws... but damn it, I need to lie down or something. Everything is aching and it's like somebody ran over me with their car..."
He picked up what other remains of his laptop that he could find, and then he headed for the door, giving Tommy a wave.
"Take care..." He paused hesitantly, trying to search his mind for some words of encouragement. When he could think of none, he sighed. "We'll think of somehting. Until then, see ya around."
And with that, he stepped out of the Entertainment room, intending to head back to his duplex area.
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Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 10:47 am
Rp with Richard and Gaius
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Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 10:48 am
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Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 8:14 pm
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:28 pm
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 11:04 pm
Tommy Christian Tommy had awoken about twenty minutes ago from the floor of his duplex. No matter how hard he tries, it seems as if he will never get back to sleeping at night. The only reason why it took twenty minutes to get out of his duplex is due to the complex procedure of putting on his pants, shirt, and jacket. For a moment he wonders how much longer he'll enjoy even this simple comfort though. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he pushes theses thoughts out of his mind. I hope no one's in the entertainment room... he thinks to himself as he lists the many movies he still wants to watch. He opens the door to the cool air of dusk and makes his way past the row of duplexes...and stops. He looks around as his large ears detect the sound of trouble. Looking up, he sees a duplex with its door open... "The hell...?" he says outloud as he makes his way to the opening. Joliette Rigiel She'd yet to calm, in fact she was still on her rampage, to say she was destroying things would likely be an understatement. The interior of hte duplex was in shambles, and Joliette was still in there, she did not notice the presense of another Tommy Christian Tommy slowly peaks his head inside the duplex to see Joliette destroying everything in sight. His eyes go wide as a rush of near panic invades his mind. <******** clenches his eyes shut as he forces these thoughts to flit away before he slowly opens them again to take stock of the situation. Slowly he enters the duplex. "J...Joliette...? Jesus...are...are you alright?" Joliette Rigiel With a low growl the Komodo turned slowly, it's tail moving back and forth in an obviously irritated manner, not at him, but just the way she was feeling in general... She said nothing verbally as her yellow tongue flickered Tommy Christian Tommy froze, fear practically wafting off of him. He opens his mouth to speak...once...twice...a third time...and nothing comes out. Finally, after nervously clearing his throat, out comes at least a few words. "J...Joliette...it's uh...it's me...Tommy...I...I changed since you last saw me...but I uh..." he trails off, not knowing just how to calm down a komodo dragon. Another thing hampering his thought process was the strong desire to spread his fingers and just run away. After a sigh to help calm himself he manages to speak more clearly. "Christ, Joliette...look at yourself...look at what you're doing...how can this help matters?" Joliette Rigiel A low growl and she watched him a moment before slowly moving in his direction her claws digging intot he shredded carpet under her like there was nothing there. Her human side still buried under the anger the Komodo was venting.
His obvious fear didn't do a whole lot for the situation either Joliette Rigiel She stops in her tracks, she's not talking yet, but she however quiet, a low growl, and then she closes her eyes, her claws digging into the shredded carpet, her head looking down just a touch before her eyes open and she just watches him. She felt like yelling, just bellowing at him... he yell at her again, it was likely she might Tommy Christian Tommy stares at Joliette for what seems like forever before he speaks again. This time though, the anger is gone and he just sounds tired. "Jesus Christ..." he mutters out as he leans against the wall with a sigh. "I'm sorry for yellin' at you, Jolie..." he says as he looks down at her. "I ******** talk to me? Let me know that you're still there...and not the...the ******** animal that those bastards want us all to be..." Joliette Rigiel "You realize... it's been a year" she says, her voice raspy, she had yet to let her defences down, as it was the Komodo still had most of hte control. She was a battle between feelings just then as he stood there and she stayed where she was Tommy Christian "...a year..." he states, "Yeah...I know...a year in this hell hole...a ******** year in this godforsaken shitstain on the face of scientific history. And you're going to let them beat you...aren't you? Just give in to what they want. Destroy everything that you once were...and still are. 'cause that's all this is. Behind the claws, the wings, the feathers, the fangs...every goddamn thing that they hope will make us less of who we are...we're still there. I'll be damned if I let you just wallow in self pity and despair while they sit back in those ******** labs and laugh...I know who I am...do you?" Joliette Rigiel "Who said anything about wallowing... I"m venting" she dug her claws in again for a moment before backing up a step "I.. I would rather hurt objects... then islanders... which I've done before" it may or may not be obvious she was fighting to stay in control Tommy Christian Tommy knows a threat when he hears one, regardless of her intentions. He just nods a few times, "Hell of a vent...Want me to leave you alone then? Let you finish destroying any ties from before you got here," he says while nodding in the direction of the ruined photographs. After a moment, the bat-man just sighs, "Jesus...I'm sorry...it's not my place and I've got no clue what's going on with you right now...lemme just leave..." Joliette Rigiel "Photos aren't from before.. those are upstairs, those are from here, I made them here... in my darkroom" her eyes shifted at the photos and then back and then she closed her eyes again she relaxed just a little bit though it was visible "I know others have it worse then me... I just cant seem to keep in control" Tommy Christian Tommy sighs again and slides down the wall so he's sitting more at eye level with Joliette. "...I...Goddamn I'm sorry...Joliette...it was arrogant and stupid of me to think I knew what was going on...*sigh* Why don't you tell me what's going on?" He asks lightly, hoping to get her to vent through speach instead of violence...maybe to help her get control that way. Joliette Rigiel "I've been here somewhere around a year" she says and watches him leaning against the wall "I came to this area looking for someone, following a tip... I am... or was a photographic journalist... wrote for all sorts of publications..." her eyes wandered a moment and she was quiet, a soft low growl creeping out before she continued "I was vegan, was... before the Git" her voice semi harsh, and rather bitter as she explained
"We've been locked out, forced to live in the wild, tortured in a sense" she stops digging a claw into the mass of shredded carpet "I've more then once lost control when I didn't want to, when near someone... it controls me more then I do it" Tommy Christian Tommy, though nonchalant looking on the outside, is rather concerned and ready to leap up and away from Joliette at the slightest hint of agression. Thankfully though, he has a strong grip on his emotions and instincts. He just nods a few times, "They forced me to live out in the wild...after I made an attempt on Moreau's life...damn near starved out there...I know what you mean by torture...that's all this place is..." he trails off, urging her to continue. Joliette Rigiel "I just ... can't ... keep .... control!!!" her claws dig in the carpetting her one means to vent without hurting anyone "It wants meat, I never did, but gave up trying to fight it... when we were locked out I refused for the longest time, and thats ... thats when I lost control the first time... I dont remember it... but I am pretty sure I hurt a friend... physically..." she wont look at him, make eye contact after her final confession in that sentence Tommy Christian Tommy's own fingers twitch at this outburst, ready for flight if need be. He shakes his head, hoping it went unnoticed as he keeps his calm exterior. "What about now...? You're no longer in the jungle...you no longer have to choose between starving and killing...what about now?" Joliette Rigiel "Thats just it.. I'm living out there, usually not in control, I hunt my food... my prey... It wants control, it takes it any time it can" she didn't know how he could do it, keep in control, be able to live with everything without going... batty for lack of a better term... her voice wasn't soft, not mean-harsh but obviously straining if nothing else Tommy Christian "Have you tried doing anything else? Human contact...just...talking with other people...doing anything that makes you feel more...human. Heh...Hell, I spend hours every day just watching the movies I loved back home. You have no idea how much that helps me keep sane..." he grins to himself as he takes stock of just how many movies he has watched over the past week. Joliette Rigiel "Do something that makes me feel more human... I never did watch movies, I wrote... and.." she moved, but not towards him, towards the door "Come, I show you my last attempt at being.... normal, like before here" she was still in at least a semi crouch as she left the duplex and headed for the stairs to the upstairs unit that was boarded up Tommy Christian "You wrote?" Tommy's interest piqued as she said this, sparking a long loved hobby of his own, "What kind? Anything besides journalism?" He stands and follows her. And...despite the awkwardness of the situation, he still found this strange conversation comforting. Just...talking...human speech...nothing more...nothing less. Joliette Rigiel "No, just journalism.." she stated and moved up the stairs to the landing, the light above hte door was dark, out... Around the door handles... scratches, obviously from her opening the door... She unlocked and opened hte door with some diffifulty and pushed it open, she flicked a switch on the way in and a light turned on, however it wasn't a normal light, it was a darkroom safety light, it it shone red light, a low red light... however if one were to look around they would see darkroom equipment EVERYWHERE, most of it fine and normal, a few empty bottles on their sides in various places around the room, one she'd dumped out cause it had a large puncture in it from a claw... and hanging from a wire that ran the length of hte room twice, photos, dozens and dozens of photos, most of them, littered with holes from her trying to develope them Tommy Christian Tommy walked inside cautiously, at first a bit nervous. He had never been inside a dark room before. He looks around in awe as he goes from picture to picture. "These are amazing, Joliette..." he says and pauses as he sees a picture of a woman...with the same shade of jair Joliette has. It takes him a moment but he finally realizes who it is...the photographer, herself. "Oh...God..." he mutters out. Suddenly, he remembers his own pictures that he has...all locked away on the external hard drive in his room with no computer to show them. And for once, he's glad it's dark as his eyes water up. He wipes away the few tears with the back of his distended hand and he shakes his head. With a look of pure admiration, he smiles at Joliette, "They're beautiful." Joliette Rigiel During hte time that Tommy was looking at hte photos, a soft whirring sound filled the quiet dark room, not a sound she could hear but she didn't care so long as the display of hte monitor of hte laptop loaded, "They are good, but, claws dont help.. at all" she mumbled as she keyed in passwords to get to her desktop "I used to be able to do many of those... now I have a very hard time doing even a few..." she was sure she was gonna lose the ability all together at some point... "Some have too many memories too... I dont know why I developed them all" Tommy Christian Tommy's sharp ears heard the sound and he quickly searched for the source. After a moment he just shakes his head and looks to the laptop. "...I used to play the piano...hell, I've got a full sized one in my duplex...after my most recent change though, it's almost impossible for me to play even the simplist of chords. I'd give anything to be able to play again..." he mutters out. "Every day I wake up, I have to see it...though I can't use it any more...but...something about it...I can't bring myself to get rid of it. I dunno...too many memories," he says with a slight smile. "Jesus...I just wish I had some pictures of home...I've got 'em all here...but no way to access them. My laptop was lost out at sea when the jet crashed." Joliette Rigiel "Uhm, thats easily remedied..." she points a claw at the color printer, dark and dormant on the desk, obviously powered down. "I want to be what I used to be, I want to be me... but I can't I just cant" she balled a fist staring at hte laptop for a minute "I can't do this, I can't look at this stuff right now" she stabbed the button and closed it again she was silent pushing hte laptop away from herself trying to keep control Tommy Christian "Don't force it then...just...don't give yourself up completely. That's all I ask...fight it for as long as you can...and...and if you uh...if you ever need someone to talk to...yaknow...someone you can just...vent with..." he says as he grins nervously, "you can always talk to me..." He looks into her eyes, longing the human contact...missing the feel of holding another human being close to him...he shakes his head at the thought...not now...not now. Joliette Rigiel "hard" she walked to the door "I have to vent, I... I can hardly control it, .. Thanks though ... I'll try to remember" she fumbles with the lock for a moment beofre stepping back out and sitting on the deck Tommy Christian Tommy stepped back outside, smiling slightly to himself, "To be honest...this has helped me also...we need to talk to eachother sometimes...I think it helps us keep level. I...heh...have a good night, Joliette..." He wants to embrace her in a hug, not knowing what said hug would mean, but wanting to do it anyway. He tenses a moment as he looks at her but soon he just lets the tension go. He won't do that now...maybe ever...but not now. Joliette Rigiel She nods closing her yes , her stomach grumbling slightly "I have to go..." she says a moment later... "Have to..." she didn't elaborate, she didn't want to tell him she lost control most often when hungry... She closes the door after he's out and heads down the stairs Tommy Christian Tommy just stares at the door for a moment and sighs. "I hate this ******** place..." he mutters out and then begins chuckling, "IHTFP...I'm here to fly planes...I hate this ******** place...I choose the latter." He grins to himself as he turns and walks off, repeating those five words to himself...the mantra of a cadet at the Academy.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 5:08 pm
Tommy Christian Tommy stares blankly at the television as he lets his mind wander during the movie he's seen no less than ten times. Snatch is playing right now and he gets a sudden sense of loss as he thinks of watching this movie with his friends back at the Academy. Every day is the same...get up in the evening, watch movies till dawn, drink blood...I hate this s**t.With a mutated toe he pushes the pause button on the remote and leaves it as such while he pokes open a new blood packet with a straw like a capri sun. Alec Derring Alec wheeled determinedly towards the entertainment room that day as if the trek meant his very survival, figuring the extra effort would be a good form of exercise. Today was for relaxation and for once he felt like indulging himself in the luxuries provided by the Village possibly in the form of a movie or videogame. With any luck he'd have the room to himself.
As he reached the building the boy struggled to swing the door open himself, the coupled task of opening the door and holding it as he wedged his cumbersome chair inside was proving to be a challenge, to say the least. Unaware that anyone else was present, the sharkish teen grumpily cursed as the door banged into the wheels as his grip slipped over and over until he finally managed to enter the room in one piece. Tommy Christian It takes him a moment, but Tommy is finally rewarded in his efforts to poke a hole in the blood pack. He takes a long sip of it and lets out a satisfied sigh. "Don't care what it is...this s**t's good..." he mutters to himself. At the sound of the bumping and cursing, Tommy turns around and stares for a long moment at Alec. Immediately his heart rate began to speed up and he gives a quick burst of ecolocation by way of a quick burst of air through his nose. This only provides a bit of disorientation instead of any useful information though. It takes him a second, but he finally manages to calm himself. Still, he wasn't sure what he should do. Pretend like he didn't hear Alec wheel in? Say hi? Or just hope he doesn't recognize you...hah...that's a laugh. Poor guy though...the changes hit him hard this time around...no legs. ******** hell. His heart reaches out to Alec and he finally musters up the courage to say something. "Long time..." Alec Derring Alec barely got settled in his seat again once he was inside the entertainment room before he felt a presence in there with him. At first he was too busy fidgetting with the towel laid across his lap to worry about who or what it was but the mumbled voice caught his attention in its familiarity.
For a moment the sharkboy merely stared at the monstrosity on the couch, unable to place the face to the voice that was nagging at his mind. The blood; he could smell it very strongly despite its sealed package but it wasn't enough to urge him into a state of hunger. Thankfully he'd eaten another lunch already. Marble-black eyes rolled to see the emaciated frame from the side of his wedged head but again, he said and did nothing. He must've considered the thing less than a threat or perhaps he indeed recognized the greeting, but the irish teen slowly began wheeling a circle around the couch to park himself near the tv.
Man. Time wasn't kind to anyone these days. Tommy Christian Tommy just watches as Alec wheels himself toward him. At first, he wasn't sure his intentions, but relief soon flooded his mind when he saw the sharkboy just sidling up near the tv. "Jesus...they didn't take any mercy on either of us..." he says softly before looking to stare at the picture on the screen. It's of Brad Pitt in Snatch, acting as the gypsy like Pikey who's about to knock out a large boxer. "How're you holdin' up, Alec?" he asks slowly, a sudden feeling of deja vu creeping into his mind. Wasn't this how they're last meeting started? And didn't their last meeting end...roughly? Hell yeah it did...I have the very large scar on my left shoulder to prove it.His extremely long fingers fiddle with the remote near his feet as he speaks. Alec Derring The aquatic seemed subdued in his maneurisms as he settled into his wheelchair seat to see the tv better. He wasn't really watching the movie as much as he was finding comfort in the act of staring at the tv, no doubt finding it hard to think of anything proper to say. The two could've been considered enemies if one looked at it in the negative twist, but a common situation seemed to keep the air in the room a still and quiet one.
On any other occasion he probably would have begun spouting threats and insults by now but the boy could barely even lay eyes on the straggly-limbed man to his side. After a long pause, his jaw opened to speak slowly and deliberately. "'Am ekay." He quietly uttered the response, picking at the fibers of the towel while keeping his eyes ahead. He felt ashamed. Ashamed of how he looked and ashamed of how laid back Tommy was acting given the circumstances. He couldn't bare to face any of it. "Joost... muddlin alon', ay. An' ye?" Tommy Christian As laid back as Tommy seems, the ex-cadet is anything but. For the past month or so, he has done nothing but veg out in front of the tv...the entertainment room becoming more of a second home to him. With it's dark cool interior. It's just his way of dealing with it, not that he'd ever admit that to himself. Let the hours upon hours of someone else's imagination work itself over on him. Don't think about what you look like, don't think about how little you can function now...just flow with it. Just flow. His eyes show a little of this complete and utter submission, that is if one can get past the almost zombie-like gaze he has from staring at the tv too long. It takes him a moment, but soon some life comes back into him as he looks back to Alec. A slight grin comes to his face. "You know, I think I still have a few of your teeth stuck in my shoulder," he says jokingly with no malice intended. He's hoping he can break the ice this way. Show that he wasn't holding a grudge against the shark man. His eyes go vacant again as he speaks once more, "But...yeah...I'm uh...I'm just waiting...that's all...just waiting." Alec Derring Alec tried his best not to look at him directly just yet. The teeth, the smile, the face and hands. They were all like the accents on a dying willow tree, at least that's what the features reminded him of most. Although the superficial questions were starting, he wondered deep down how Tommy was really faring with the changes. In truth, he couldn't decide if he would rather Tommy cope better or worse than he himself was; if you could even all it coping.
It was inevitable that he'd bring up their past altercations of course. What else did they have to talk about? Reminiscing over the 'good ol' days'? In a weird way, their fighting was about the only thing they had. "Heh..." He chuffed a chuckle, feeling the urge to apologize but without doing so. It wasn't that he enjoyed the memory, he just simply wasn't sorry.
As the airy voice trailed off, the teen was urged to glance over at the man as he spoke. As his mind wandered to the possibilty, he scanned the dark, cool room before unconsciously asking the nagging question. "Ye.... go ou', righ'? From 'ere?" Tommy Christian Tommy shakes his head with a sigh, trying to clear it. Why was it becoming harder and harder to think straight recently? Inactivity will do that to a person I guess... He looks back over to Alec, no longer all that concerned with how he looked. At least not to Alec. Strangely enough, out of all the people he's met, and all that's happened between them, he still considers Alec a friend. Who knows why? Maybe it's just because they both shared common experiences, or just a mutual understanding? Tommy likes to think so. "Do...I go...out..." he mused, pronouncing each word carefully, "I wake up around six...seven o'clock at night...I can't help it any more...I don't even try to set my alarm any earlier...it just doesn't work. Then I come here...and...and I just kinda...watch movies. Sometimes I like to spend the day in here, sleeping..." Tommy trails off for a moment, the fog in his mind clearing a bit. "Oh God I miss the sun," he mutters out longingly. Alec Derring Alec frowned, the exaggerated expression showing mildly on his already-downward curving mouth. That couldn't be healthy. Althought by the look of his odd freatures it was becoming a little clearer as to what he was becoming. The face especially reminded him of a B-grade horror movie version of an everyday bat. Although it was easy to consider the idea that his seclusion was not just by choice but by nature of his changes, he still couldn't accept that a life like that was fruitful.
"Ye no' missin' much." The shark-teen mumbled the response in an honest bluntness. The sun was nothing but an irritation to him anyways now, considering the rate at which his skin lost its moist sheen. Tommy Christian Tommy stretches out the fingers on his right hand, trying to improve the circulation through them. The bones give off slight pops as he does so. After a moment he looks down at the wheelchair and shakes his head. "Yeah..." he sighs out, "I hear ya...not missin' much...that's the worst of it too...all you can do is just...wait..." he says, showing again his complete and utter submission to the system. "I went to the Halloween ******** up thing that was...just proved what we all really are to them I guess. But yeah, I haven't done much since." Alec Derring Alec visibly winced at the mention of the Halloween bash, especially since he'd recently had to face that 'place' recently with Amaya. The scents, the emotions were all still fresh in his mind though he'd done well to deal with the upset rather than ignore it like he had before. It was better to know that others felt the same.
The mood was darkening in the room and the teen knew it was no good to bask in a pool of sorrow, even though he had company. More of a reason to try and move on, he thought. "So." The boy suddenly broke out from his own quiet, turning half-way in his chair to now look at the man he was beginning to feel less malice for as time went on in that place. "I' was me behth-deh, ay? A' go' a gift from th'labs. Woul' ye believe?" He spoke in such a way that it was unclear whether he was being amusingly cynical or simple jesting, though his expression seemed to forcibly lighten. Tommy Christian Tommy blinks a few times, forcibly pulling himself out of his own pit of dispair. It was hard. It always was. There doesn't seem like much else to do though, but wallow in it. Maybe it's just the lack of anything bright to make the place seem better. Being locked in this cave of his has taken it's toll on Tommy. Finally, the bat-boy grins, showing off his own fangs, "Really? Happy birthday, man...how old're you now?" "Wait wait...they gave you a gift? Oh God, can't wait to hear this one." Alec Derring "Eigh'-teen." The boy sat up straighter in his oddly-customized chair, thankful he didn't feel the sharp pain of his dorsal fin jamming into anything when he did. It looked like he was almost proud by the toothy half-grin he made while responding and Tommy's reaction only egged on the beginnings of a good mood. "A' rubbeh duckeh 'n a box." At this, he started an enthusiastic chuckle. Tommy Christian Eighteen...Christ, was he that young? I had no idea...goddamnit I hate this place. Though his grin falters a tiny bit, it comes back in full force soon after. The chuckle is contagious as Tommy himself begins laughing too. "Oh s**t, that's great," he says with genuine mirth. It stops soon though as Tommy suddenly looks disorented. He shakes his head and rubs one of his large ears with the palm of his hand. Alec Derring Alec let the amusement linger on for a moment longer as he glanced towards the tv again, remembering there was a movie on. Man it felt good to laugh about something, considering the sad meeting with Amaya recently. As the teen glanced back over at the mutated man beside him, hr noticed a certain odd look in his eyes. Furrowing whatever brow he could, he slowly raised a finger questioningly. "Ye ekay?" Tommy Christian Tommy shakes his head again and lets out a soft groan. "Ugh...yeah...it's just...being half-bat ******** sucks," he says with a slight chuckle, "This echolocation thing ******** with my head every time it accidentally happens...I get this scrambled picture in my head that makes no damn sense." Alec Derring On account of the fact that he wasn't entirely sure what Tommy was talking about, Alec looked more than a little confused by the offered explaination once he'd received it. "Bat-eckeh-wuh?" He mumbled under his breath, still watching the man closely in case he decided to suddenly pass out or something. He wouldn't put it past him.
In an attempt to relate himself to the situation anyways, the sharkboy nodded and motioned to the folds of skin at the sides of his neck. "These thin's still baffle th' fook outteh me." Tommy Christian "Like...sonar...it's umm...goddamn it's ********' weird. Sometimes I can make a sound come out of me...kinda like a dog whistle...and these huge-a** ears kinda pick up the sound and it...it lets me see all around me...without seein'...I dunno...like I said, weird." Tommy shakes his head again, throwing off the afteraffects of the disorientation. He chuckles as Alec shows off his gills, "Same here man, I'm just glad you're able to breath out of water...by the way, are you still living in your old duplex? Or have you moved into one of those fancy ones by the water?" Alec Derring Alec looked like he was caught off guard by the question, having never even considered requesting to be moved. By the water? How would that help? He liked where he lived below Nita, although he hadn't seen that snubby girl for a long while. Then again, constant broken sleep to take baths was catching up on him. "Uh... neh... a' mean ye, 'am in me same place." A hand was raised to scratch at the back of his thick neck in a nervous habit. "Fanceh?" Tommy Christian Tommy just shrugs at that, "That's what I'm guessing...hell, the things seem to be built literally on the water. I bet you could just slide out into one of the rivers or lakes from your bed. They looked nice anyway...heh, I saw some that were built up high too...wonder if I'm gonna need one of those soon." Alec Derring The youngster finally felt the need the voice his concernas Tommy kept on with the topic of the apparent 'speciality houses' that were available to the lucky bastards who needed them to live. It was funny that luxury suites would be provided to those especially deformed. "Bu' a' d'n wanneh move." He slowly began, picking at the freying fibers of the towel laid across his lap. Why should he uproot? For convenience? Come to think of it, it would probably suck to wake up a dried up prune, dying on the floor of his barren duplex. "Can' theh joost... pu' me tub next t'me bed instead?" The boy looked over at Tommy for a reaction, somewhat hopeful in his childish idea. Tommy Christian Tommy looks over at the wheelchair-bound shark-boy as he voices his concerns. He nods a few times and lets out a sigh as he threads his hands behind his head as he leans back. "Yeah...I hear you. I'm pretty sure they'd give you a tub or something to put next to your bed. Heh...though knowing Sabin and his sense of humor...they'd probably either take away your bed complete or just give you a kiddie pool...Though it'd be nice to have a bed again. You know they gave me a piano they knew I wouldn't be able to use in a few weeks and took away my bed...ugh...sleeping on the floor's a pain in the a** after a while." He shakes his head a few times. Alec Derring "Took aweh ye bed?" Alec wrinkled his snout and gave the bat-man a weird look. Why would they do that? Perhaps as a punishment, though... what a weird punishment. "Ye, a' remembeh abou' ye piano..." His voice trailed off in an incomplete thought as he remembered his cherished instrument and its untimely demise. The sad part was that he hadn't even mustered the nerve to toss out the rubble that was now shoved into a corner of his room as a silent reminder. A pang of regret and then numbness. It had to be done. Tommy Christian "Yeah...God knows why...ah well, the next time I...the next time it happens, I'll probably be hanging from the ceiling," he says with a weak smile. Tommy sighs and glances down at Alec's wheelchair and refrains from asking about his drumset. "But yeah...ugh...I um...hey, Alec...do you...uh..." he pauses a moment, clearly not comfortable with the question, "Do you ever have troubles...you know...controlling um...the other side of you?" Alec Derring Alec understood the relevance now of taking away a bat-man's bed. Just another jab at the unfortunate changes of the person. Then again, they weren't unfortunate to the Staff, were they? No. THey relished in watching it all from the comfort on their human skin.
At Tommy's question the boy glanced up quicker than he had intended, the gesture twitchy and nervous. His 'other side'? The unsatiable hunger triggered by the scent of blood and food and god knows what else? The worst part wasn't the doubt that that was the worst effect of his serum, no. The worst was not being able to remember the instances when he had lost his control. "Otheh side?" The teen's eyes looked wild but fearful, though he made no indication that he was feeling any different than before. "No' yet..." He promptly looked away, back to the tv. The movie was almost done. Tommy Christian Tommy also just stares at the television. The scene of a failed fixed boxing match and the Pikey's revenge. He shakes his head as Alec answers and sighs. He shudders slightly as he thinks of that creeping feeling in the back of his mind. His newly aquired nocturnal needs...the taste of blood changing...longing for the feeling of opening up an artery and just letting the blood flow into his awaiting maw. With a start he looks up and to Alec, "I uh...sorry...It's just been getting to me lately...that's all." Alec Derring "A' try no' t'think abou' i'." He solemnly replies with much less emotion this time. He supposed that compared to others, he was rather lucky. His 'urges' must be fairly mild because he could barely recall any instance where he felt totally controlled by some unknown will. Maybe he was lucky or maybe it wasn't his time yet. His mindset just wasn't ready for anything like that yet.
In expectation of the credits to follow shortly, the young sharkboy became restless. The conversation wasn't helping at all. As he gripped the rims of his wheelchair, he glanced over at Tommy for a short moment. "'Am gonneh 'ead back. See ye 'round." Before any objections could be made, he was already turning his chair around. Tommy Christian Tommy looks over at Alec with a frown as he begins to turn the wheelchair. He's about to say something, but then just sighs, "Yeah...seeya man...Listen I uh...it was good talking to you," he says with sincerity. Tommy looks back to the credits and feels oddly...empty. Void of emotion. Tommy closes his eyes, leans back against the sofa, and tries to clear his head of all thoughts too. Alec Derring The teenager offered nothing more than a simple "Ye." as he started off in the direction of the doorway, not bothering to look back as he exited the building. It was sad that Tommy felt that he needed to lock himself in that place all day and on account of the fact that he didn't quite understand the man's changes, he didn't blame him for the most part. Unfortunately the little chat had turned out to be more depressing than he needed, his good mood having been sapped away exponentially.
As he wheeled for home he reached into the sleeve behind and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper Amaya had given him. Maybe it was time to consider that support.
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 11:16 am
Tommy Christian **New RP** Tommy pads slowly across the sand. It's the only way he can anymore, what with the shape of his hips. Sure, he could move faster, but that'd require him to almost waddle...and he'd be damned if he did that. So...slowly, he pads across the sand. His thoughts drifted back to his talk with Alec. Shaking his head, he still wonders why he's up so 'early.' If by early, you mean an hour and a half away from sunset...yeah. He forced himself to get up so he can see the sun...it's been so long. The smell of the ocean carried him down the sandy beach where he now walks. He's not looking for anything inparticular, just...walking. Joliette Rigiel In a secludded little corner of hte beach where plenty of sun lit the warm sand lay Joliette, she nearly had fallen asleep by this time as the sun soaked her scales. She was glad not to be taken over by the komodo's desires anymore, even if it was at a cost. She didn't notice anyone's approach Tommy Christian Tommy just keeps walking, finding to his dismay that the sun has started to bother him. He quickly looks around for a shady area to rest a moment in and finds one easily enough. As he makes his way over there, he squints as he sees a strange form on the ground, "...wha...?" he mutters to himself as he walks closer. It's a giant lizard...a...komodo dragon. But that hair....Oh Jesus...For a moment he's not sure what to do. Walk away slowly, wake her...? Finally, with a shake of the head, he just leans against a palm tree in the shade near her and slides down the length of it to a sitting position. Joliette Rigiel The breeze brought to her a familiar scent and she opens her eyes and lifts her head off the sand, her yellow tongue flickering she looks around her until her eyes landed on Tommy "Hi" she says with a nod of her head, last she could remember seeing him, she was in little to no control of the Komodo Tommy Christian Tommy opens his own eyes and squints at the glare of the sun. He looks back down to Joliette. Tommy himself isn't in the healthiest of mindsets, having been cooped up in the entertainment center for almost every day the past few weeks. At least, that's what he likes to tell himself. Tommy's heart rate goes up for a moment as he sees Joliette awaken, but it soons goes back down at her greeting. "Hey," he says softs as he looks over her quadrapedal body. "Jesus...I'm sorry, Joliette..." Joliette Rigiel She was silent a moment and then nods "Yeah... I know... I'm a monster... Stupid Ferral... Not much I can do about it though" she trudged across the sand making a trail in teh sand behind her from her tail Tommy Christian With a groan, Tommy himself gets up. He rubs his odd hips for a moment before looking over to her. "...Hey...listen...I'm sorry...that was a d**k thing to say," he apologizes with a frown, "I...I wanted to talk to you...and...s**t, I've just made an a** out of myself, didn't I?" Joliette Rigiel "Talk to me? About?" It was obvious she had far more control then the last time he'd seen her "And it's ok, don't worry about it, I'm sure there could be worse reactions out there... I just hope not to experience one" Tommy Christian "s**t, with a face like mine, I hear you. I had this one guy feint on me...but...yeah...," he trails off, remembering that unfortunate incident. "But...wow, you seem...better. I mean, you don't seem so...What I'm sayin' is...you seem much more in...control." Joliette Rigiel "Control? oh... yeah David insisted I get help... some help huh, control with a price" she paused and stopped near him looking up at him "You? ou been ok?" Tommy Christian "I...um...God...I dunno. With every passing day it gets worse and worse...harder to, to, to...make...make coherent thoughts. You know?" He says as his speech picks up pace and he gestures with his overlylong hands. "I've been spending...so much damn time in the entertainment room with the lights off...s**t, it's taking over my mind, Joliette...I really think it is...and I...I can't do anything about it..." he says this last part in a shuddering whisper. Joliette Rigiel "The animal? I know how you feel, I fought it... you saw the results of my fighting against the beast, it's not fun..." Her eyes watched his long fingers she'd hate to be in his postion, but then she hated her own too... Tommy Christian "I'm just terrified...Every day, all I do is wait...wait for the next change...scared to death what it'll do to me mentally. I mean...does it ever get better? How did you handle it?" Joliette Rigiel "Thats just it Tommy, I just about didn't handle it, I fought the Komodo instincts constantly. In the end it won, it had control most of hte time, I didn't have much control, I only do now cause the labs gave me some kind of injection to control it all." She stopped and looked around them "I honestly can't say Im the best for that kind of advice" she admits as she turns her head back to him Tommy Christian "Yeah...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up...I just don't know what else to do...that's all." He shakes his head in silence for a moment before he looks back to Joliette. "You uh...you still have that computer and printer...right? Would you mind...I mean...would you care if I brought my hard drive over there to uh...to print out some pictures...of um...of my family...?" Joliette Rigiel "Yeah I have it, but I'm gonna need help to get it from the darkroom I still can't reach it's door handle, and it's atop the desk, both it and the printer... I think I can use the computer part itself once it's like, on the floor and open... I haven't tried... even though I've been encouraged to try" She nods Tommy Christian Tommy nods a few times in thought, "Hmm...alright...You uh...you want me to help? I've got nothing better to do at the moment," he says with a slight grin, "That...and I want to see if I have any strength left in my hands." Joliette Rigiel "Okay, lets do that then" she nods her head and turns her large body and headed at a lizardy pace for the village "It's above the duplex" Tommy Christian Tommy grins to himself as he follows along as best he can behind her. It was nice to be able to help another person, "Rock on, lead the way." Joliette Rigiel Joliette moved in silence, looking around as she moved, moving in and out of secluded places, she was still very much avoiding people as much as possible, she was still afraid of reactions. Eventually she stopped at the stairs that led up to the dark room and looked up at the boarded duplex. "It's on the desk... bring it down here" she tipped her nose towards the lower duplex with it's newly added rope and wood handle pull Tommy Christian Tommy nods as he looks up at the duplex, "Alrighty..." he says moreso to himself as he makes his way up the stairs and into said duplex. It takes him a good five minutes up there, trying to manipulate the wires and bundle up all the necessities in one easy to cary package, but he finally manages. He comes down the stairs warily, being very cautious about how he places his feet. "Phew...not too bad...haven't lost all that much strength...where to now, boss?" he says with a grin. Joliette Rigiel Joli had opened the door with the new 'handle' and left it open, she was in teh darkened duplex, the only real light being that which came in from the open door as teh curtains were closed. "Just put it down here on teh floor and uhm if you can open the lid... then you need your hard drive.. is it external?" Tommy Christian Tommy does as he's instructed, visibly relaxing in the darkened enclosed space. With a groan, he places it down on the ground, separating wires and the like. Using mostly just his thumb and the bottom of his index finger he is able to plug in all that needs such things. He stands once more and there are a few audible pops from his hips, "Alrighty...Yeah...mind if I run back to my duplex to go get it? It's not too far away." Joliette Rigiel "Yah go grab it, it's gonna take me time to get this thing running anyways... lack of fingers and all... going to have to be all claws" she nods looking up at him a moment before starting to attempt to run the laptop. This in itself isn't easy without fingers, more then once she had to stop and back up cause her claws poked more then one key when they shouldn't have when typing in passwords and the like. Tommy Christian Tommy nods a few times and slips out into the evening air. It takes him a little while, but he finally reenters Joliette's duplex with a backpack over one shoulder. "Here we are..." he says as he lets it slide over his shoulder, arm, and fingers to the ground before starting to open it up and taking out the external hard drive. Joliette Rigiel By the time he'd returned she'd finally finished loading everything up and she was currently looking at her esktop which was littered in a couple dozen icons of files and folders. "The plug spot is in the right side I think" she says turning her head to look up at him Tommy Christian "Alright, cool...lemme just...plug this in," he says as he gets down on his knees to do just that. It takes him a few tries with his oddly shaped hands, but he finally manages it. With a soft whir, a grin light blips up on the hard drive showing it's working. Tommy grin from ear to ear, suddenly extremely excited. In the new folder that should pop up, Joliette would find a few folders. Music, games, writings, and finally: pictures. Joliette Rigiel "Music, what kind of music are you into I wonder" she muses getting journalistically curious as she scans the folder names "Writings? Interesting... Aha I presume you want photos" she says as her eyes land on the last folder on the list and with a lot of diffuculty selecting it "I swear I'm going to have to find a new way to do this..." Tommy Christian "Oh...all kinds I guess. I've got a lot of classic rock...some heavy metal...a bunch of newer stuff...a little bit of rap...no country though," he says with an overly exagerated shudder. He grins as he watches her work, "Nothing too great in writings...a few poems, a couple of short stories...and a lot of papers I did for classes. A genuine smile crosses his face as she opens the pictures folder. There are over a hundred photos there. Quite a few marked in a folder called "Basic Training," others in "funny stuff," and a large majority of them are in the "friends and family" folder. Joliette Rigiel "Ok photos... now we get a little technical here" her voice half kidding and half serious as she minimizes the folder and eventually manages to boot up her photo program, and after even more time manages to get the folder selected to browse, all the thumbnails popping up on the screen one at a time, the thumbnails loaded in at least 150x150 pixels each so it was quite visible which each was Tommy Christian Tommy just watches as she works. He takes a quick intake of breath as he sees the first small photos pop up on screen. "Christ..." he mutters to himself in awe. He sniffs and looks away for a moment, trying to keep his emotions under control. Joliette Rigiel "Not bad, not bad at all" of course, she didn't hear his mutter, it was too low of a tone for her hearing to pick up, she was commeting at the quality of the photos as they moved past on the screen "You have paper for these?" Tommy Christian Tommy looks back to the screen as she scrolls through his pictures. They show his family in various degrees of mirth. From a day at a theme park to drunken merryment from Mardi Gras. They also show Tommy...back when he was human. The bat-man just stares at these for a moment before replying. "Hmm? Oh...uh...no, not really. I was hoping I could steal some from you," he says with a sheepish grin. Joliette Rigiel Joliette chuckles lightly "Desk, second drawer down, black package in there, upstairs in the darkroom" she rests her head on her paw and watches his movements, she'd finished watching the images flip by Tommy Christian "Sweet, thanks I owe you big time for this," he says happily as he makes his way out of the duplex to gather the paper from the darkroom. After a few minutes he returns with the package and begins loading some paper into the printer. "There we are...cool," he grins. Joliette Rigiel The paper that had been loaded into the printer was high quality photographic printer paper "Ok, what photos do you want? You have a large selection of photos here" She looks back and forth between him and the screen littered with thumbnails Tommy Christian "Oh...jeez, hmm...I don't need too many...just a few of the group pictures I guess..." he trails off as he starts to point out the ones he wants. A couple are just him and his family. There's one with just him and his older brother, drinking and having a good time. And the final one is of himself, decked out in full service dress on top of a mountain, grinning into the camera. Joliette Rigiel Joliette nodded and slowly started loading each one he pointed at, eventually getting them to print out, she did them all full size to the paper, but she didn't remove any from the printer, she didn't want to poke holes in them by pulling them from the tray with a claw. She did all this in silence, making sure each picture was clear and well colored with the program first, a while later all the ones he requested were done Tommy Christian Tommy just watches, amazed he's finally able to see this. Finally, when they're all printed, he sets them on the floor carefully to dry a bit. He then looks to Joliette with a look of pure happiness on his face. "Jolie...I can't tell you how great this is...thank you so much..." he says, somewhat choked up. He turns away to wipe a tear with the back of his hand. Joliette Rigiel "Not a problem Tommy, honest, I only have a couple photos myself of hte past... before this island, and one of hte few of my family is from a magazine... I'm glad you have better" she nods her head and her yellow tongue flickered as she watchs him "You going to be ok?" Tommy Christian Tommy looks back to her with a smile. "Yeah...it's just...heh...this is the longest I've ever been away from home. I'm just glad I've got something to remember them by now...goddamn I miss them. Heh...if only they could see their son now...a real flyboy," he says with a chuckle, but it's obvious there is absolutely no humor in it. In fact, he seems more on the verge of a breakdown than anything. After a moment though, he seems to be able to pull himself back together. Joliette Rigiel "I know the feeling I hate these guys for taking everyone from their families, and misleading the families too, thats what they did to mine" She grows silent and then shuts the program down and eventually the laptop "These people dont have what I believe to be human dignity... at all" Tommy Christian Tommy sighs as he begins packing up his own stuff into his backpack. "Human dignity my a**...they're goddamn monsters...s**t, they may look human...but I swear they're more of a monster than you or I could ever be..." he says as he threads his fingers through the backpack strap and leads it up to his shoulder. "Anyway...I...I gotta thank you again," he says softly as he picks up the photos and looks them over, "You've made this place so much better...thank you." Joliette Rigiel She nods and is quiet for a moment "You are welcome, I'm glad I could help someone to feel more at... home here" she looks at hte laptop and with difficulty closes it "Would you do me a tiny favor?" she asks making a face, not that a komodo making a face looked anything but rediculas when it wasn't meant to be a angry face Tommy Christian Tommy stares at the laptop for a moment before looking back to Joliette. "Yeah sure, anything," he says with a chuckle at the face she was making. Joliette Rigiel "Could you put these back on the desk upstairs? I have to solve my doors and counters problems before I can do it myself" She sounded rather defeated when she admitted this "I'd really appreciate it" Tommy Christian Tommy nods as he goes about putting the laptop and printer into a neat pile for easy carrying. "Yeah sure, that's no problem," he says eagerly as he hefts it up. It looks rather weird as he's holding it mostly with his forearms while his fingers just out to the sides. He begins to make his way back to the upper duplex to put the stuff away. Joliette Rigiel She follows him out, least to the bottom of hte stairs, and while he's n the darkroom she stares up at the stars above, she wondered if her own family were watching the same stars. Tommy Christian Tommy exits the duplex and takes a deep breath of the night air, suddenly feeling refreshed. "Ah...that's nice...anything else I can help you with Joliette?" Joliette Rigiel "No... not really, just thinking is all... I'm glad I could help you though" she nods looking from teh stars to him "I hope you are ok overall" Tommy Christian "Yeah...yeah I think I will be...just gotta take it one day at a time, that's all," he says with a nod. "Anyway...I've gotta get back to my duplex to get something to eat...I have a um...a special diet I've gotta stick to..." He smiles once more at her and all of a sudden has the sudden urge to hug her. This notion is quickly pushed away though, thinking how awkward that would be both physically and emotionally for them. "I'll...I'll catch you later, hmm?" Joliette Rigiel "all right yes, You stay safe" she gives a smile and then after a moment she retreats into the safety of her duplex, it'd been a long day Tommy Christian "Yeah...you too." He sighs before hefting up his backpack and walking slowly back to his own duplex.
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Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:11 pm
Here I am...it's almost eight A.M and I still can't sleep. Well...I guess sleep isn't the right word. I mean, yeah...I've been able to sleep...kind of, but every time I wake up in a cold sweat about an hour later even more tired than before. Maybe I'm getting sick...s**t, I dunno. With the amount of mucking the labs do to us all, it's a wonder more of us don't die of these "complications" we've all been hearing about. I wonder if that's what's happening right now...I wonder if I'm going to wake up next time somewhere else...instead of a cold sweat. Heh...that'll be a relief. Anything...to get some sleep. In a bed...oh, that'd be nice.
What's that noise? Heh...oh...the're trying to be quiet..don't know why they don't just buzz me. Maybe my system can't take it...oh goddamn I feel terrible...a sharp p***k in my neck...a warmth spreading through my veins...and I slip. Down and down...my parachute doesn't open as I begin to fall. There's my Ocean...rushing to meet me. My eyes shut as I hit the water.
I open my eyes, a white ocean--I see
No one, anyone, everyone but me.
They cast me down a corridor; doors thundering past.
They Roar for more Toxin. I'm Jetsam, I crash.
I batten down my eyes as they destroy my Ocean,
Piece by piece, through reasoned erosion.
The rip out my eyes, and my Ocean is gone.
I have seen my last, Sunset at Dawn.
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Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 6:34 am
Christmas is in the air~ But unfortunately, Tommy's dreams are not of Sugar Plum Fairies... but something darker, scarier and horrifying. He wakes up in a cold sweat, shaking from the remnants of his nightmare before Christmas..... only to find that the nightmare has only begun. His hands ache, his hips are incredibly sore.... and almost immediately after waking, his change begins. a thick webbing begins to grow between each digit in his hands, and then all along both sides of his arm. It stretches, thickens and and discolors to a dark brown. When the webbing finishes growing, you feel your hips ache as your legs, momentarily, disjoint, the flexibility increasing drastically, allowing your legs to swivel around completely backwards... likewise your big toes gain in strength, allowing you to, if you wish, grasp something with your feet much stronger than your hands now can... and support your body weight. Finally, your back itches as thin, bristly fur covers your shoulders and over the top part of your back. 
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Island of Moreau Vice Captain
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