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Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:54 pm
Anjali was shivering now, her skin covered in goosebumps as prickles - not pain, just something like a bad case of pins-and-needles - swept up and down her body. All the hair on her arms was standing at attention, and she realized the hair on her legs was growing back at a bizzare rate - all to stand up straight, with a faint green tinge.
"I think it's happening," she mumbled as she heard people come up, not inclined to look at them when her body was changing right before her eyes.
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Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:06 pm
Antony's eyes widened and she didn't know whether to vomit or to help. But how could she help? She dropped to her knees and moved towards Anjali, forgetting entirely about her lack of clothing.
Ignoring Jamal for the most part due to the initial shock of the entire situation, Antony shushed him violently, turning to glare at him. Part of her wanted to keep watching, but the other told her to look away or face the possibility of being sick.
On top of that, she didn't know how to be comforting in this situation. In the back of her mind, she remembered the simple phrase that would always make her feel better. "I'm right here... You're safe."
It was a surprise to hear herself speak such... heartfelt words, but they seemed to be the right thing to say at the moment.
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Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:13 pm
Jamal was taken aback by her shushing and was going to growl back some sort of retort, but saw the odd glinting of green upon Anjali's skin. He didn't remember that last time he'd seen her...
"No ********' way," he said in a hushed voice, eyes turning wide as dinner plates as he hobbled painfully a moment, then took a knee since it was easier on his injury. "She's not...no...tell me she ain't..." His eyes searched Antony for confirmation of what he was trying to say.
No. She couldn't be changing. There was no way. He couldn't help but turn back to stare in disbelief.
Anjali was one of the few people who had been on the island longer than he had been that hadn't transformed yet. He had decided that she too was in the same boat he was; the serums just didn't work on people like them, but to see her changing before his eyes shattered that illusion. He didn't want to believe it.
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Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:20 pm
Anjali did glance up at Antony's words, and offered her a wan smile. "Thanks," she said, then shivered again as another wave of discomfort hit her. Her hands tingled again, then suddenly lost all feeling and control, going numb in an instant. Her fingers hung limply.
She looked at the other person to try and clamp down on the panic, and realized it was Jamal. "Jamal... I'm sorry," she mumbled, looking ashamed. "I was the only one left so old... wasn't I..."
Something was happening to her nails, and she winced as the discomfort squirmed into them. Still no pain... but the keratin in her nails was changing color to red, deep red. And something was happening on her head, too, at the roots of her hair, a very odd sensation as though she could feel every strand in a far more sensitve way than ever before possible...
Experimentally, she sort of flopped her trembling fingertips together and winced as the tips of her misshapen nails sagged completely, then began to ooze an odd, sweet-smelling substance that fell in sticky strands. "Sundew sap," she said, and her voice sounded very far away. "It'll attract bugs to eat..."
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Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:34 pm
Antony glanced between Anjali and Jamal when the former addressed him, raising an eyebrow at him for an explanation.
This transformation was too much for her, so she busied herself by putting her shirt back on and wafting the Stench of Jamal away from her.
Somehow, her eyes moved to look at Anjali's fingers on their own, and soon she was unable to tear her eyes away from them as they grew. Then there was sap.
"s**t," she muttered, unable to really grasp the entire situation. Jamal looked about ready to s**t his pants, and she had promised Anjali that she'd protect her. In reality, she had no clue what to do and felt entirely helpless.
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Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:43 pm
Jamal didn't know what to say to Anjali. Why and how could she be apologizing to him right now. He had no idea how she could even focus on anyone else but her own body, which was betraying her before the audience of three sets of eyes.
"I can't watch this," he suddenly said as a fierce tremor struck his own body, catching his voice harshly so it came out choked as he pulled himself away. He half ran, half stumbled towards the ocean in a blind panic but as his feet struck the slightly harder, damp sand that lingered at the edge of where the water reached, he just sort of crashed into a sitting position and inwardly curled in on himself, arms going up over his head and neck in almost in an instinctive manner as he forced his chin to his chest.
His stomach heaved painfully as did his lungs, both threatening to overpower him with either a guest appearance of his early meal or hyperventilation from panic and sudden exertion.
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Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:54 pm
Anjali cringed not only from the strangeness of the change, but from the reactions of the others. "It's okay... I'll be okay," she managed, her voice still sounding far away. "You don't have to... watch..." Turning away from them and the fire, she hunched in the darkness, staring at her hands.
Sharp pain - she'd been waiting for it, but still jumped and gritted her teeth - shot up each finger as the bones lengthened and changed, human cells twisting into something not quite plant... but not quite human, either. She brushed one of her hands into her leg and felt, with those sudden sensitive hairs, that the greenish skin was a bit harder, and waxy. Like a leaf.
She wasn't sure how long she huddled there, forcing herself not to whimper or cry for the sake of Antony and Jamal. The weirdest thing besides her hands was her hair - she really could feel it now, an odd but not uncomfortable sensation of confinement from the braid. A spot-check told her that the tips of her hair had developed the same sticky strands, clumping together into larger fused masses at the ends.
Sundew... drosera...
And then, suddenly, she could move her hands again, and did so, tentatively.
A bug, attracted by the sweet scent of the gooey nectar her fingers and hair were now secreting, flew blissfully into one of the globs before she could stop it - and simultaneously, she was hit with an odd crawling of hunger, a desire to lean forward and lick the struggling bug up and into her mouth and...
"No," she said, firmly, turning away and flicking her fingers violently until the bug flew free. She kicked sand over it with one foot, and slowly the longing vanished.
A bizzare sense of relief flooded her. It had happened... it was over. There was nothing more to dread for now.
Nothing more than this.
"I... I think it's stopped," she said, carefully, still not turning to look at the other two. She would not inflict her presence on them until they were ready.
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Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 1:04 pm
The tattooed woman glanced over at Jamal at his statement, eyes gaining a bit of surprise at the tone of his voice, worry taking over when his body shook. He had gotten up before she could stop him, and she simply watched as he fell apart, stumbling towards the ocean.
A wince hit her when he fell, but her attention was caught by Anjali. She was the one changing after all, and she had promised.
Luckily, Antony had missed the rest of the transformation thanks to Jamal's outburst, watching cautiously as Anjali dealt with the insect. Swallowing, she looked from the freaking out Jamal back to the freakishly calm Anjali.
Props for Anjali's keen ability to keep composure during her transformation.
Antony didn't want to think of how she'd react when... if she herself changed at all. Optimism, two weeks weren't up...
"How... Do you feel?" She asked tentatively, tearing her eyes from the gooey fingers to the darker woman's face. Hopefully she was okay, because Jamal didn't seem to be handling it too well.
She had accepted the fact that people on the island were going to look different, were going to change, and to Antony, she viewed them as 'body modifications,' conveniently forgetting that they weren't exactly voluntary. Whatever kept her sane.
Another glance was sent in Jamal's direction, lips curved downwards in a frown. "Anjali, I'm going to help the hysterical one right quick," she didn't like how he was acting, and with an apologetic look towards Anjali, Antony turned and chased after the black man.
With her luck, Jamal would try and drown himself.
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Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 1:28 pm
Jamal huddled on the cool, damp sand, shaking every once in awhile. Seeing a person as normal one day and then running into them the next day changed was bad...but to watch it was horrifying.
"She...she wasn't 'spose ta change...no...all wrong," he mumbled in a keening wail, muffled by his arms and chest as he remained in a curled position, the rush of blood in his head making his ears ring.
Maybe he hadn't really escaped the serum...Anjali had been there longer than he had and she was just NOW finally getting the effects. They hadn't forgotten about her....they probably hadn't forgotten about him either.
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Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 7:43 pm
Antony closed the distance between her and the curled up Jamal easily, and she instantly sank to her knees next to him, reaching out to rub his back in a comforting motion. She didn't know how he'd take to a hug, and decided that this would be the best way to start off.
"It's over Jamal..." The tattooed woman whispered before crawling in front of him and gently wrapping her hands around his wrists to pull them from his face. "She's safe... You're safe..."
But you still smell, a voice in her head was quick to remind her. It was brushed aside almost immediately
Her eyes watched him with concern, her thumb absently caressing the insides of his wrists as she held them still.
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Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 7:54 pm
He flinched at the initial touch on his back, fleeingly wondering if Anjali had come over, and made an odd noise...a mix of a grunt and raspy whine. He didn't want to talk to her or see her, let alone be touched by her.
The tuggings at his wrist met resistance when he didn't immediately drop them, instead tensing and actually giving a low growling noise as he grit his teeth behind the 'curtain' he made.
"Don't," he said in a low, strained voice that sounded harsh.
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Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:00 pm
Her hands released his wrists immediately, falling to rest on his knees as she remained silent for a while, contimplating what to do. She decided to go with a subject change.
"Am I to take that as a raincheck on the de-smelling of Jamal?" Antony said woefully, a look of mock mourning settling on her features. Absently, her thumbs restarted their motions on his knees, but other than that, she did not advance on him further.
He was much bigger than she, and Antony had yet to see him violent. Now was not a time to find out either.
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Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:07 pm
It was probably a smart idea to not continue to pull on his wrists, as he probably would have gotten angry...as anger almost always seemed to follow outbursts of fear in the black man for some reason. Anger of of showing his fear? Or just anger that needed a spark in order to be set off?
"I kin sleep alone. Ova' herr or sumthin'," he rumbled heatedly, a detectable seriousness to his voice that was not meant to get sympathy. He wasn't sure if he wanted to share the fire tonight anyway. Not with Anjali there. How was he to know if she'd suddenly sprout an extra arm or head out of the blue at this point.
His side smarted painfully as his lungs started to calm and resume a normal breathing pattern, but they hurt from being constricted in such a cramped position. His stomach, however, continued to rumble and twist obnoxiously.
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Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:19 pm
"Personally," she began. "I'd rather you didn't, and besides it'll probably make you feel better."
Antony gave his knees one final rub before removing them to tug off her shirt, which she balled up and chucked far up the beach. Away from the rising water.
The water was already beginning to crash up around them as the tide came in, a small smile coming to the woman's lips. "My hands are magic~," she crooned, hoping to lure him out from his hiding place behind his arms.
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Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:26 pm
Under any other circumstances, he probably would have jumped out of his turtle huddle and mowed her over to be the first one in the water, then would wait expectantly for her to get out to where he was. Tonight, however, he gave a huffing snort and only parted his arms so one eye could be detectable from the little shelter he made.
He didn't say anything.
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