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 Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 11:42 pm
Natsumi pulled back as he woke up, she looked a bit drained form the previous night, as people often did after crying too much. Stressed, to put it simply.
Atleast Thom was okay though. She nodded, "Yes... Taro left after you fainted." More so passed out, but fainted was the most accurate word she knew. "Are you okay?" she folded her hands in her lap, looking a bit concerned. She couldn't help but feel responcible, if she hadn't made Thom promise to protect her he wouldn't have bothered fighting Taro.. And then he wouldn't have been knocked out like that.
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:05 am
"Fainted?" He grimaced. He did not faint. At that, he hadn't the slightest idea what had happened at all. He was beating the s**t out of that Taro guy, and then the buzz on his neck... He lifted a hand to the back of his neck, playing his fingers thoughtfully over it, but soon shrugged and let his hand fell. "Bit stiff from sleepin' on th' floor. An' my jaw 'urts a tad. But I could be worse. 'E left without any more trouble? Whatsisface?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:27 am
Stiff? She knew the feeling... Her hunched position was making itself more and more apparent when she tried to move. She nodded, "Taro...Yes, he did." Her head hurt... She had no idea what to do with Taro.
It didn't matter right now though.. Thom was here infront of her, he had to be delt with first. "Is there anything I can be doing to help?" Hm.. That hadn't sounded exactly right, oh well.. as long as he managed to understand what she said she hardly cared right now. She was too tired.
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Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 10:35 pm
Her english was a bit mangled, but Thom got the general idea of things. He shook his head, offering a faint grin. "I'll manage fine, I'm sure." With some effort he climbed to his feet, stretching once more before offering Natsumi a hand up. "Well, that went... well."
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Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 10:58 pm
Natsumi nodded, idly chewing her lower lip. Her eyes caught the movement, glancing up at his hand, and pausing a moment before her mind caught up with it. Only making it more obvious just how many thoughts were running around in her head. She gave a tiny nid, and a light sniff, before taking his hand and using him to help her pull herself up. "Thankyou..." She bit her lip again as she felt it start quivering. Don't think about it don't think about...
Atleast she had managed to assume he didn't mean well in it's actual useage. Normally something sarcastic threw her off, but.. That had been anything but well. She tried to offer him a smile, "I should... Get a shower." she nodded some... That sounded nice nad distracting. And she wasn't exactly working up the best smell after such a dramatic situation.
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Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:26 pm
Thom forced himself to keep smiling as he helped Natsumi to her feet, pointedly avoiding her eyes. She was going to cry. She was going to cry. Goddammit, he hated when women cried. And when men did without a very, very, very good reason. But she didn't cry! And she was suggesting a shower, which meant it was time for his exit. "Yes, right, me too.. I'll be downstairs if y' need anythin', alright?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:49 pm
"Mm...Thankyou..." she nodded, giving a tiny hiccup as she held back her wish to start crying again. Part of her didn't want him to leave, her head hurt, her heart ached... and apparently, she was fat. Which unnerved her. She wanted her brothers, or a hug, or chocolate.
Dismissing those for now she walked with him to the door, giving him a small bow of goodbye "Thankyou... again."
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Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 12:30 am
"Just keepin' a promise," he quietly replied, pausing briefly at the door. However, after a beat, he nodded slightly in response, heading out the door and down the stairs for his own duplex. "You take care, Natsumi."
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Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 12:38 am
"Thankyou..." She repeateted the word for the billionth time, slowly closing the door. Promise... Right. She locked the door, hearing the reassuring click before turning to slowly make her way to her bathroom.
Just calm down... Clear your thoughts... Don't cry.
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Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 12:41 am
Alec Derring Having decided not to venture out into the ocean after his newest change just yet, Alec made his way down the familiar path he always took towards the large, freshwater lake near the village. Hesitant to swim in salt water with his new gills, the teen went to a place where was confident he could relax and feel safe.
Nearing the water's edge, he winced as he treaded his rubbery feet over the pebbles that lined the shore; the rocks as well as any other debris on the jungle floor now felt more like broken glass to his sensitive soles. Bravely striding until he was emersed to the bark on his knees, he took a moment to stare out at the still surface of the water, enjoying the scenery and the silence. Alec Derring Content that he was alone and was therefore unlikely to be disturbed, Alec continued his slow decent into the water. As it reached his chest he dove out slightly, wading a few feet away from the edge of the lake with his neck strained at a very awkward angle as if he was still hesitant to emerse the new openings around his neck.
Finally, after inhaling a huge gulp of air for good measure, the shark boy dunked his head underwater and waited with minimal movement of his limbs.
And waited.
At the point where he was going to pass out from oxygen deprivation, his head shot upwards with a loud splash as he gasped for air. "Well tha' was stoopi'." He grunted, treading water once again. The cool water had definetly left a tingling and very odd feeling as it sloshed into the folds of gills but he hadn't breathed a single breath while under there!
.... maybe they were defective.
.... maybe HE was defective.
... Does that mean he was going to die? Alec Derring Alec sat there treading water for quite some time, watching birds swoop by far above his head as they made a path towards a shore of the island. He looked around at the jungle also, squinting dramatically at the harsh light of the sun though he was grateful it was receding behind the tree tops soon as time passed by. It was like he was almost expecting or wishing someone would appear on the shoreline as if they could help him with his 'problem'. What were they going to do? "FIX" the gills? Hold him under until he was sure they actually worked?
Why didn't everything come with instruction manuals!? Not that he ever even bothered to read a single manual that came with any of the crap he'd bought back home. Why bother? Waste of time. He wasn't even taught how to play the drums properly, he just one day saved all of his cash (and stole the rest from his pop's wallet) and bought a set, then taught himself.
What was he doing? Oh right, doing the swimming thing.
"Fookin op'n things on me neck." He grumbled out loud. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi had, once again, been going after bugs.. But this time during the day, so as not to have an unfortunate run-in with the island's local dragon... again. So it was paranoid, she really didn't care at the moment... Afterall, she was hunting bugs.. That was much more to worry about than being paranoid.
She neared the lake, eyes catching on a little beatle on the ground. She smiled to herself, bending at hte knees a bit.. Then.. go! She fell down, trying to clasp her hands around the beatle. However, without an ounce of practice she was far too slow.. and the beatle simply buzzed up a few feet.
Again! She was determined.. She couldn't just call Newt and ask him to catch her some bugs, she had to do it herself. Though it was a wierd goal, it was a goal none the less. And so... completely focused on following this beatle she pounce and missed it all the way up the little trail to the opening of the lake. Not even noticing the fact there was someone in the water.
Again! she pounced, giving a little "oof" as she hit... "I got it!" she squeaked in excitment, lifting hte squirming beatle to pop in her mouth. And.. that's when she noticed just how close to the lake's shore and what was in the lake she was. She paled, ceasing her chewing as her heart seemed to stop. One, someone had seen her.. and.. Two, holy HELL what was THAT? Some lake monster? She stared, wide eyed a moment, still settled on her knees from the bug-pouncing. Her mind raced, before suddenlly landing on one thought. Just how rude it was to stare nad how mad peopel got at you when you did. And with that, she abruptly locked her eyes to the dirt infront of her. Alec Derring Alec had heard the person coming from a mile away, the rustling and noise they were making wasn't as bad as the weird movements. As they neared he could recognize it as being Natsumi but.... what the hell was she doing? All he could see was her bobbing up and down, pouncing at the dirt. Narrowing his black eyes and straining to see what she had apparently lost or found or something, his light pikced up the light reflecting off of a flying beetle's back. He smiled a bit in amusement as he watched her chase it until the moment she finally cought it..... and promptly ate it.
His eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets, smile dropping immediately to an unbelieving stare. Just then he noticed that she'd caught sight of him as well, and for a moment the shark-faced teen stared in absolute horror, a mirror image of his friend, for much a different reason. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi stayed frozen for what seemed to be the longest while... Whatever it was, it wasn't yelling or tryign to eat her... Or maul, or anything. Tenitively, she peered back up, wanting to apologize for staring but... she couldn't talk. She had a beatle in her mouth... Speaking of which, seemed to come out of it's little shock and start trying to find freedom. Yes, it was moving. Her eyes seemed to widen more, her face almost looekd green, her stomach turned.
No choice.. she had to chew it or let it go cause it wasn't about to stay in there the way things were going. She quickly, and frantically, turned away, covering her mouth and chewing as fast as possible. Beatles weren't exactly easy to fast-chew, but she certiantly gave it a good shot. Then, she gulped hard, letting out a breath of air.
Now.. To face the person-thing that had just seen her... Just turn around... No matter what signals her brain tried to send to do so it apparenylt wasn't working, as her back stayed towards the individual. Alec Derring No way... she didn't just do that... Alec stared for a long time, seeing Natsumi look away but still unable to get over the fact that he'd just watched her stuff a bug into her mouth. A BIG bug, not even one of those sissy ones. He was almost hoping she'd spit it back out in utter embarassment as he was still unable to look away, though as she turned her face away again he knew what she was doing.
"GAH-YUCK!" Alec squawked and sunk quickly into the water like a child presented with brussel sprouts for a dinner's main course. Staying underwater, he figured he'd give her time to finish the 'meal' before he'd try and say hello. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi flinched at his outburst, all fear of his form was lost as her own habits seemed much worse. That and the fact he hadn't tried to eat her... That was a pretty big plus. Sure he was.. frightning, whoever he was, but everyone here was still human. Right?
She tried to force some words out, nothing... then all at once it all came rambling out as she spun around, blushing by now as she was rather prone to doing. "I-I.. It... It is like a peanut. Well.. cruncy.. like one. It tastes much like shrimp or-or... other.. seafood!" her voice was hitting all sorts of nervious pitches, she still wasn't quite over the emotional dramas from the past few days... along with pregnant mood swings and the fact her sweaters weren't exactly working as well as they used to be... Well. She was prone to a bit of squeaky jabber.
She had paused for the breifest of moments, before it seemed to dawn on her that what it tasted like hardly mattered.. it was still a bug. "I can not help it!" A last ditch excuse. Alec Derring Alec shot his head up just in time to hear Natsumi's nervous stuttering, grinning wildly at her attempts to justify her actions. Sure, he was acting extremely immaturely for his age but he was also playing around with the situation a great deal. He knew it was mostly out of necessity and that everyone would eventually succumb to their instincts once in awhile. Still, it was always fun to tease, especially such a sheepish girl.
After he'd listened to her excuses, he tried not to let out a laugh as he responded. "Ew Natsumi, thas gross! Issa juiceh bug!" He bobbed in the water a bit as he finally let out a chuckle, not realizing that she probably couldn't recognize him now. Natsumi Tanaka She promptly covered her face, blushing more as she squeaked out.. something. God only knew what she had said, and even he was probably baffled. It was some jibberish, probably a mix of japanese and english only muffled by the hands covering her mouth.
Then things started catching up with her, first of all.. they knew her name. But the biggest thing was that hardly-english accent of his that stood out over everyone. Or atleast to her it did. Her hands slid a bit as she started staring again, "Alec...?" she finally questioned, breaking the whole hilarity of teasing her with her sudden realization, and sounding almost worried. The Lake-monster was Alec? The somewhat attracive, though she'd never admit to thinking so, Alec?
He had said he was turning into a shark though... hadn't he? That did pretty much explain it. Alec Derring Alec's smile fell a little until it was more of a saddened expression compared to the humor it had held a moment ago. "Ye, s'me." He answered much quieter than his previous outburst, though he still managed to smile. It wasn't her fault, afterall.
"Ye beeteh watch ye bouncin o' ye fall righ' inteh th'lake!" The teen snickered though he made no effort to approach the shore. He was starting to understand what her initial reaction had been about and figured it was best he keep his distance until her body language showed that she was comfortable with having him around. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi frowned some, shocked at the changes... How horrible it must have been, she couldn't even begin to imagine such changes happening to herself.
His words broke her thought process though, as she managed to catch something about bouncing and lake. She peered down, suddenlyl noticing just how close she was to the water's edge. "Aa!" she squeaked, jumping to her feet. Amazed she hadn't noticed she was kneeling in damp dirt. "Aa.. My skirt... It is wet..." she frowned, having sat back on it when she turned around to finish her 'meal.' She reached back to try and brush it off, oh man it had dirt all over it too now... Which seemed to completely pull her attention away from Alec's changes. Alec Derring Alec sunk into the water up to the bridge of his nose, watching the asian girl fret over her skirt for a moment and all the while feeling a bit awkward. "S'no' tha' bad." He sheepishly added after peeking his mouth out of the surface of the lake. What was hte big deal with girls getting their clothes dirty anyways? Natsumi Tanaka "Nn..." she whined a bit more, Okay so it wasn't that big a deal but... Wet was uncomfortable, and now she had to go through all the trouble of washing it and blech. Dirt always felt gritty too...
This was all ignoring the fact she'd just eaten a bug. Speaking of which, a small buzzing creature caught her attention, her face went blank as she followed it with her eyes, her head turning along with it. It was but a breif moment of hypnozation, but enough to lean her foreward a bit. She then snapped out of it, giving a distasteful look to the fly, before her new leaned in position and a large belly offset her balance. Her eyes widened as she tried to catch herself, but failed. She let out a loud "Eek!" before hitting the water. Not that it was deep where she was, but it was more than enough to get her attention.
She squeaked, hoisting herself up out of the water on her hands and knees, the water reaching her elbows. She looked rather pathetic, eyes wide, her sweater and skirt now soaked and dripping, and her hair half dampened and trying to cling to her face.
This was not her day apparently... Alec Derring Alec started to lauhg as he watched Natsumi's expression change, catching on quicker this time at exactly what her attention had been drawn to. Don't tell me she's's going to do it again. He grimaced lightly, still finiding it humorous that she was getting to the point where she couldn't even ignore a passing fly for fear of missing a potential meal.
He watched her lean closer towards the water as he peered after the insect, seeing the potential mishap before it could occur. "Uh..." He started slowly, about to audibly announce his caution until he saw he was too late. With the loud splash, the punk teen became worried and quickly swam over to the floundering girl with more speed than he'd thought was possibly out of him. Unfortunately, the water soon became too shallow as his foot nudged the muddy lake floor, so he opted to stand up and walk the rest of the way. "Ye ekay?" He asked when he'd come within feet of her, calmer now that he could see she was alright though he still offered a grey hand to help her up. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi nodded at the question, peering up at him. She looked a bit suprised at first, quickly trying to hide it the best she could. It was still Alec... Still her friend. She wouldn't let some changes, though drastic, in his appearance to affect that... She smiled slightly, taking his hand after the pause and awkwardly trying to get to her feet. She nearly slipped back in once, but managed to catch herself with his help. She was quickly realizing her weight changes were becoming more and more awkward with each month.
"Thankyou." she finally seemed to balance herself, awkwardly scooting herself back onto dry land. She turned back to him, grabbing a side of her sweater to try and ring it out some. The wet article of clothing wasn't doing any part of it's job, it losts it's initial fluff and thus her pregnancy was easily apparent. That and it certaintly wasn't keeping her warm.
She offered another smile, trying to pick up some sort of conversation to lift the increasingly awkward feeling in the air. "Aa... Were you swimming?" Well.. that had sounded better in her head. Of course he was... What else do you do in the water?
Somethign green caught her attention, her eyes locking on it. Was that a.. leaf? Maybe he'd gotten one stuck to him while swimming? Alec Derring Alec did his best to ignore the strange glances he was receiving, though he was finding it harder to liven up the conversation that was quickly going stale out of the uneasy rift between the two.
Just keep smiling. She'll get used to it, just keep smiling.
"Ah ye.." He meekly replied to her question, twisting his torso around to gesture to the large lake surrounding them. He was almost hesitant to admit what he had actually been doing before she arrived but figured poking fun at himself could possibly help the situation a bit. "A' was actualleh tryin teh... figgeh ou' 'ow t'breathe undeh wateh." After a brief pause he continued his train of thought. "No' much luck. Maybeh a'll 'afteh ask Awen o' somethin."
Realizing his mumbling wasn't helping, he decided to shift the spotlight from himself. "Wha' are ye doin' 'round 'ere?" The answer was obvious from her insectivorous actions but he felt it was polite to ask anyways. Natsumi Tanaka It's Alec, it's Alec... She wanted so very bad not to be frightened by his look, still she couldn't keep it from playing with her mind. She was getting used to it though, slowly but surely.
"Breath under water?" she echoed, suddenlly curious... He could do that now? That was actually rather interesting, even to her. Swimming back home had always been fun.. and the water was pretty, but then you had to come up for air after only a few seconds.
"Aa.. Well. I had been Hungry..." she laughed nerviously, blushing brightly suddenlly. Her shoes slushed as she shifted her weight. Subject change was good right about here, "So... You can do that?" she pointed to the water, "Breath in it?" Of all the unbeleivable things that came with changes, this had been the first one to intrest her. Alec Derring "A' guess." Alec answered unsurely, not even positive himself that he was able to do such a thing. It sure didn't seem like it after he'd tried it himself. "Thas wha' these aw fo', righ'?" He craned his neck to the side and pointed lazily at the symmetrical slits in the skin, even goes as far as poking one with a gingerly touch. The idea of being able to breathe underwater sounded pretty cool to the punkster teenager, though he still wondered what it would feel like and if it really was as hard as it apparently was for him to acheive. Maybe he really would have to go speak to Awen.
"Since when did ye 'ave a taste fo' bugs?" He smirked, scratching at the bark on one of his elbows. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi tilted her head to better see the gills, she'd seen enough fish in her lifetime to know most fish parts. Had to know for cooking.... Wait, did that mean Alec was going to be edible.
Luckally, he had spoken about her taste for bugs by the time that thought hit her, to both of which she paled and went wide-eyed. That had been by far the most disturbing thought she'd ever had about the island. Shoving it out of her mind, she continued to fluster about the bug comment."A..Ah... I..." She stuttered, Of all things did she have to need ot eat bugs? Dirt would have been better... "Bugs.. used to scare me... But then here, and then I had met Newton-san.." her blush increased as she tried her best to answere his question, not quite realizing that he was just teasing her. Alec Derring Alec raised an eyebrow (as best he could), his expression a sharp contrast to Natsumi's embarassed and flustered stuttering. He wasn't interested so mcuh in her newly-acquired taste for insects as he was with the mentioned name, one that he admittedly didn't recognize. Curiousity peeked.
"Newt'n?" He slurred and glanced behind him, finding a sufficient shallow spot to sit in where he'd at least be able to be submerged to his ribcage as a conscious effort to remain hydrated. Natsumi Tanaka "Mm..." Natsumi nodded, shivering some as she continued to try and wring out the sweater. Atleast it wasn't too chilly... "Aa... He is the" She paused, trying to remember the word he had used. "Custodian." she nodded firmly, finally starting to calm down.
The reminder that Newt had gotten her started on all this was somewhat reassuring. It reminded her that she wasn't the only human here eating bugs. Plus, Alec's attention wasn't on her at the moment... So it was giving her more time to calm down and collect her various thoughts."He wears a mask." she then cupped her hands over her face as though she had a gas-mask like he had.
Of course she didn't realize just how wierd it might sound to say she had met a custodian wearing a gas mask in the middle of the night who then ate bugs with her. Alec Derring Alec smirked a bit and raised an eyebrow again in a more exaggerated expression. A masked, bug-eating custodian? Assuming his definition of the word 'custodian' from memory was correct, the description of her new friend was painting a pretty odd picture. This "Newton" sounded like a real weirdo but then again, Natsumi wasn't always that great at interpretting thoughts into words he could understand. "Thas coo'." The teen nodded regardless, not wanting to devalue anything she'd said no matter how unintelligable it might have been at the time.
Lifting a hand out of the water to rub moisture onto his shoulders, he seemed to notice the fact that she was beginning to noticeable shiver. "Ye need dry clothes." The sharkboy said with a sort of chuckle, lifting himself up to amble out of the water and onto the shore. Perhaps it was time his mini-bath was over as well. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi seemed fairly releived that what she said had gotten across... Atleast she assumed it had. Though cool wasn't exactly somethign she was expecting, atleast he hadn't been confused by it. So she nodded, lowering her hands with a small smile.
She gave a soft laugh when he mentioned dry clothes, in one of those 'you think?' moments. "Yes... I do." she peered over her wet and slightly dirty clothes, having gotten nowhere in ringing the sweater out. She was thankful he had said something though, it gave her a polite out to get back home and change... Along with a warm shower. She paused to wait for him, since he seemed to be getting ready to head back she figured they would walk together. And hopefully there'd be no awkward hugging this time. Alec Derring Even if Alec had somehow fully intended to leave alongside Natsumi a moment or so ago, he looked very unsure of his decision now. As Natsumi made to leave, he even looked as if he was about to sit back down on the shore of the lake. Something about the calm waters made him feel at peace for once since his horrendous change and he just couldn't give it up.. yet.
"A' d'n realleh feel up teh a walk ye', on sec'n though'." He almost sheepishly explained, finally taking a seat on a dampened tree stump. He strongly hoped she wouldn't mind, especially for the sake of a guilty conscience. "Good t'see ye though. A'll see ye 'round?" The teen looked ashamed as he spoke but a stern resolve in his mind wouldn't be broken. He was staying put. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi blinked as he simply sat down again, looking confused even a few seconds after he spoke. She quickly replaced that with a smile, hoping it wasn't something she'd done... She decided not to think like that for the moment. Even if Alec wasn't exactly the type to flat out say that something was wrong, he didn't seem the type to ask to see her around if he didn't want to. Maybe he wanted to try that neat gill thing.
She nodded, "That is okay." She let her smile widen, having reassured herself it hadn't been anything she'd done. "Yes... See you around." she mimiced the phrase he had used, able to guess what it meant easily. Though she picked up some of his accent when repeating it... Which only made it sound wierd, Japanese + Irish...
She gave a small wave, turning to head back down the trail. Pausing only once when a bug nabbed her attention as it flew by. Luckally, the urge to get warm overcame the instincts to follow the bug, so she snapped out of it and hurried down along the trail.
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Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 12:42 am
Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi shifted uncomfortablly... Her sweater idea was workign less and less, though the 3-month olf pregnancy magazine had given her some useful tips... Still, she didn't have many resources. Not like she could go out and buy some baggier clothes here.
Oh well... Today would be good. She'd distract herself, once again, from every problem that was trying to present itself to her... Taro, Alec, her baby and her own changes. It was all ignorable for now, she could deal with it later...
With that, she started up the stairs to Kikue's duplex, gently tapping on the door as she got there then waiting. Yamamoto Kikue Kikue sat in her desk chair, busily outlining the remaining entries to her databse of Island subjects. She had been reserved again, avoiding human contact for another handful of days. Once she started to become reclusive, it was so much harder to break out of her shell and reach out again. What's wrong with me?Tabbing into a new entry, Kikue began keying in what happened to be Natsumi's name. She had a post-it pad on her desk, listing the names of Islanders she'd recently met. Natsumi was the last that needed to be entered. But I don't know the kanji for her name... Kikue propped her head up on her good hand, clicking through various kanji in the list. I don't even know her animal, or much about her. I've been doing poorly with following up on what I need to know about each person...Suddenly, there was a soft knock on her door. Kikue nearly jumped out of her chair. Quickly dusting off her yukata, she hustled over to the door of her duplex. Who could actually be knocking on her door? Maybe it was Nita... Cracking the door openly slightly, Kikue peeked outside. The sharp sunlight and humid air hit her face hard, but she forced herself to focus. "Yes?" she asked, before she had properly registered who was there. The small Asian girl she had seen before, with slight changes accenting her eyes and face, looked back at her. N...Natsumi!Kikue pulled the door open wider. Breaking into a surprised smile, she said, "Natsumi-san! It's good to see you again!" Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi let out a small breath and gave a smile when Kikue opened the door. There had always been the chance she'd have gotten the wrong duplex, it had been dark afterall...
"Yes.." she nodded in agreement to Kikue's words. "I.." she trailed off, suddenlly realizing she could speak her native language with this girl. It seemed so wierd to be speaking Japanese again. "I hope I'm not intruding..." Scratch wierd, it felt good... Technically she had spoken to Taro in Japanese, but that had been like speaking to a wall... And that had been completly dramatic. Yamamoto Kikue Kikue had almost not expected Natsumi to revert so smoothly back into Japanese. But hearing the words again, Kikue felt more than relieved. Quick to move into her native language, she answered Natsumi : " No no, not at all. I was just typing on the computer...it isn't anything much, though. Won't you come inside?" As Kikue pulled the door open wider, a strange sensation hit her. A sudden defensive feeling writhed in her gut, making her want to bar Natsumi's way into her duplex. She didn't want the girl coming inside. This was Kikue's room after all -- Wait, what? Confused by her own feeling, Kikue stammered incoherently for a moment. She raised a hand to her forehead, giving Natsumi an extremely apologetic, as well as embarrassed, look. " I-I'm sorry...I don't know...what's wrong. I think it might be...the animal." She wrestled with her own compsure, trying not to let Natsumi think it was her fault in any way. What was it? What were these instincts trying to tell her? That I don't want anyone in my room...like it's...my place. It was never like this before...it HAS to be the changes! Are leopards like this? Are they territorial? Is that what's happening to me?Flushing red in embarrassment, Kikue slipped outside and closed her door softly behind her. She gripped the doorknob behind her until it felt like her knuckles must be white. " S-Sorry...I think...it's my animal, making me feel this. I think we should probably go to your room instead..." Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi smiled, about to come inside before.. well. It changed. The nice welcoming feeling had suddenly vanished into thin air. So she stopped, withdrawing her foot from the doorway.
She watched Kikue curiously, about to offer coming back someo other time before she spoke. "Aa.. I see." She smiled softly, taking a few steps back, slowly so as not to fall down the stairs. She knew all about animal instincts making you do things you just did not want to do... Like eat a big beatle infront of your friend. Yes, things like that. "It's okay." she reassured, turning to take a few more steps down the stairs to try and make her friend more comfortable. Maybe if she wasn't near her room then she wouldn't feel so upset?
Natsumi bit her lip some at the next part.. Her room. Eh. She paused to think about it... No, she didn't wan tto go back there. The room was still a bit messy since she'd been avoiding it except for sleep since Taro came there... Part of her feared he'd come back. Or worse, if he was sitting there waiting if her and Kikue went there? Kikue would have been able to understand him... And, even compared to eating bugs, Natsumi couldn't think of anything more embaressing. "How about we go for a walk instead? The island's kinda pretty if you think about it... The beach and the flowers, it can be very nice..." she nodded, looking hopefully to Kikue. Yamamoto Kikue Kikue was extremely grateful to Natsumi's reassuring words. Forcing a smile, she nodded and quickly locked her duplex door, since she would be gone. She felt much better at the thought of a walk, and joined Natsumi in going slowly down the steps. " A walk is a good idea...I've been cooped up inside a lot." Biting her lip, she exposed one of her long canine teeth without realizing it. " The instincts can be so strange. I've felt that one before, when I invited Nita over to my duplex...I think it might be a territorial issue. I can't remember what I read about the leopard." Knowing she was blushing slightly at the thought of being at the mercy of her feelings, Kikue shook off the thought. She wanted to focus on Natsumi, and speaking Japanese with her already helped her do that. It felt so good to speak it again...so right. " I'm so glad there's another Japanese on the Island," Kikue said softly, smiling at Natsumi. " To speak Japanese again feels so calming." Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi nodded, reaching the end of the steps and turning in a direction so they could keep their slow paced walk. It was nice to be out... Though.. Rather hot with that sweater she had on, she tried to ignor that. She wasn't too sure which direction she had chosen, she wasn't really paying attention. Subconciously, her new instincts would be leading her towards the hottest and sandiest place ont he island; the beach.
"I understand completely, but.. I've seen worse." she gave a soft laugh, covering her mouth. "Much worse." Not that she'd let out what that was, but eating bugs was hands down much worse than not wanting people in your house. She broke her train of though, letting her hand fall since she'd finished laughing "You're a leopard then?" She hadn't realized but.. she'd never asked. "So cute..." she clasped her hands together, grinning widely.. She'd had a normal sort of leopard plushie back home. Of course, she had alot of plushies back home. "I'm sorry though... The instincts must be a pain." She quickly added, hoping she hadn't been too upfront about calling it cute.
"But yea.. I am too." A Japanese girl, she mentally added "My english isn't too bad but all these accents can give me a real headache..." she covered her mouth once again, giving a soft laugh. Alecs was the first painful accent she thought of. Yamamoto Kikue Kikue unconsciously noted the direction they were moving in, noting that they were heading for the jungle...the thought made her uncomfortable, but she knew what lay on the other side of that thick band of trees and foilage. The beach was there, and that was something she was okay with. The openess of the area, while not as good as the cliffs, was still a comforting thought. Kikue nodded silently at the mention of instincts that were much worse. She had only to guess what others had to go through at this point. She hadn't even changed much; only once. Who knew what it was really like to be someone like Ambrose, or Colche? Pyroth? They were all so much farther along. Their animal instincts were probably solidified into their minds... Kikue supressed a shiver. It was Natsumi's exclamation of a leopard being cute that made Kikue break into a smile, and then blush a little. Already she had claws and teeth; she thought she scared people sometimes. Laughing, she got out, " Cute in pictures I guess...being one feels so strange." She held out her hands to Natsumi, where the sharp claws had already grown. Then she smiled again too, pointing at the thicker, longer, and sharper teeth that had grown into her mouth. " I thought I might have looked like a 'vampire' when I first saw myself! ...At least I'm not scary to you; I was afraid I would be." Kikue couldn't hold back with her question. Glancing over Natsumi's body, she noted her face most of all -- the Egyptian-like accents around the girl's eyes stood out most. " Do you know what animal you have?" Kikue then noticed something else : something like a bump under Natsumi's sweater. It wasn't very noticeable, but even with that quick yet observant glance, Kikue's mind began turning. Was that...? Could that actually be... She pounced on the feeling and held it down. It wasn't her place to ask about something like that... If it were even true. Smiling brightly then, Kikue nodded and laughed. " I know. I was in England for some time, so I heard many accents. Even still, I haven't heard them all, so it can still be hard." Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi felt her mood lightening already, it was almost like being back in highschool with her old friends... Minus the current topic of discussion. She looked over the claws, giving a thoughtful look. Couldn't cat's retract their claws? She kept that to herself though.. she didn't want ot talk about future transformations. That was a bit too forboding to think of. "No, not at all..." she paused, looking her over again "Well now that you say it..." she gave a light teasing laugh, "No. You should see my feet! I think I'm turning into a shovel, not an animal."
She smiled as they made their way through the forest and onto the bright sandy beach. Somethign about it made her feel more comfortable... Though alot of people liked the beach, so she simply wrote it off as that. "I have no idea what I am... I haven't asked. And I can't even begin to guess." She certiantly wasn't going to ask now and have to face that.. jerk, Sabin. Shrugging all that off though she paused to kick her shoes off. "I hope you don't mind." Yamamoto Kikue " Wow!" Kikue said, looking interestedly at Natsumi's feet. What kind of animal had feet like a shovel? It must be hard to walk like that...hard enough with claws, but what about no toes?Being on the beach calmed Kikue considerably. She, too, shook off her sandals, exposing her clawed feet. " I don't mind at all!" Pushing her toes out, she realized she wasn't very fond of the hot temperature of the sand. But, it didn't bother her too much...especially when there was water to cool off in. Kikue looked wonderingly at Natsumi, a look of hard thought crossing her face. " I don't think I know enough animals to guess yours...you could ask the labs if you really wanted to know...they told me what mine was. A snow leopard; a leopard that lives in the moutains." Her cheeks flushed a bright red. Reaching up to her shoulder carefully, Kikue paused with her claws around the yukata fabric on her shoulder. She didn't know if doing what she planned to would offend Natsumi. She hoped it wouldn't. Pulling the fabric down carefully, she exposed the dark birthmark-like spots beginning on her shoulder : they ran down her back. " Some of my changes are hidden," she admitted quietly. She only then remembered her whitened bangs, and self-consciously brushed them out of her eyes. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi smiled, leaving her shoes there.. Not like anyone was going to steal them. Heck, most people were losing the ability to even wear shoes. Her feet, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy the warm temperature of the sand. The gritty soft feel was pleasent too. With that done, she paused to wait for Kikue to finish as well, taken aback by the sudden action but thenthe little colorations revealed themselves nad it made sense. She let out a soft "oh" and smiled, nodding. "Yea," she paused to hike up one of her sweater's sleeves, showing off her speckled arm. "I know I have scales so some sort of lizard or something..." she almost grimanced. Lizards weren't quite as cute as Leopards... but atleast she wasn't a spider or something creepy like that.
With that, she pulled the sleeve back down, moving up towards the edge of the waves, and turning to head down one part of the beach, stopping and slowing to meet Kikue's pace. "So, you said you lived in Tokyo right? Is it really that crowded?" Okay so it was a fairly dumb question... Everyone knew tokyo was rather crowded, but it was conversation.. And she hardly remembered being there. Yamamoto Kikue "Hmmm," Kikue murmured, nodding at seeing Natsumi's arm. It did look scaley...a lizard might make sense. She wondered secretly what instincts had surfaced in Natsumi already, but it didn't feel right to ask such a question so openly yet. Kikue knew her own action could have been too bold; luckily, Natsumi was not offended as far as she could tell. She kept the slow pace with Natsumi's, strolling down the beach near the water. Carefully Kikue moved enough out of the sand to feel the cooler, wet sand under her feet, and that offered some comfort. The ocean was cool today. It brushed lightly over her feet as she walked, letting Natsumi walk where she was comfortable. Kikue couldn't help a bit of laughter. She nodded enthusiastically. " Tokyo is very crowded, especially at rush hour. It's hard to get anywhere because the subway is so full of people. It isn't unusual to be up against a wall in the subway, with a wall of people around you. Still, I love it there..." Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi simply walked for now, until they needed to head back. It felt good to move around again, back home she would walk everywhere.. But here, there wasn't much to walk too. She felt herself getting more and more lazy.
"I would have loved to have visited more before I left. Farest I ever went, even with my friends or my brother, was the bigger areas of Kyoto. Ofcourse it was pretty nice where we lived. Quiet, except for the tourists." Yamamoto Kikue Kikue's memories floated up into her mind's eye. Immediately she thought of her mother, of the shrines in Kyoto that she had loved, of so many things... " What was it like to live in a shrine? I've always wondered." Kikue smiled. " My mother loved the old shrines. When we were in Kyoto, we visited them often. I miss the serenity of those places." Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi gave a thoughtful look.. it was hard to really say since she'd never lived anywhere else. "I always loved it... Mom made me clean and cook all the time, but I always had so much fun with her. When I got older she let me help serve some of the food in the resteraunt, and sometimes I was even able to play as one of the backups in the traditional dance shows. Never a big part, but just being involved and all the kimonos and makeup was so much fun!" she smiled softly, almost sadly.. Talking about it both made her feel happy and sad. on one hand, they were such happy memories.. On the other it made her homesick. Still smiling though, she thought of another question "What school did you go to?" Yamamoto Kikue Kikue smiled, lost in her own whirl of memories. She thought of her own mother, of their times together...times she longed to repeat just once more, but would never be able to. She wasn't sure if there was truly a 'heaven,' or an after-life at all, but she hoped okaasan was looking down on her now. What was she thinking? There was no way to ever know... " I love the traditional arts and clothing," Kikue said brightly, clearly impressed with Natsumi's ability to perform in such a dance. " ...I went to an international school in London. I was actually born in England; my father was a Japanese diplomat attending to the embassy there. We returned to Japan after some years abroad." Kikue smiled again, knowing her past probably sounded at least somewhat exotic. It never seemed that way when she thought of it herself, but she knew it must be occasionally to someone else. Especially Natsumi, having always lived in Japan. I wonder how different it would be if I had been born there...I don't think it would change the fact that Mother is gone. It's stupid to think about it that way in the first place...Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi was indeed impressed, listning intently. "Aa wow, that's amazing." she paused to think, there were some peopel from england here right? Wasn't Thom one? Her memory failed her for the time being. Had he said just the book was from there, or that he was too? Either way, that wasn't important now. "What was it like there?" Yamamoto Kikue Kikue let the waves wash over her feet as she walked. " Well," she started, " it's a crowded place, kind of like Tokyo in that regard. But it's very different from Japan. The streets are much wider and more open, and there aren't as many people. Almost everything is in English : I learned it alongside Japanese when I was very young." She broke into a smile, and even stifled a giggle. " The food isn't very good at all...at least, not the real English food...it tastes very bland. Not like Japanese food." There are people from many nationalities there, unlike Japan. Many of them speak their own language. It could be confusing at times. I know small words from a few other languages because of it." Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi nodded, once again listning intently. It was all very interesting... The other places of the world. She often had tourists pop into the shrines, so she knew of different nationalities... Kikue's mention of food brought on a nice time for a topic change though, before this conversation died. "It sounds like fun..." she nodded, giving a pause before switching incase there was anything left to speak on that. "What foods do you like? My friends always made fun of me for eating umeboshi..." she gave a soft laugh, figuring that was probably the oposite of bland foods. Yamamoto Kikue Being such a fan of Japanese food, Kikue was only to happy to switch the conversation to it. " You like umeboshi? I like it, but not too much of it. My favorite food is shikasashi. I love it! They actually have it here, in the mess hall. Isn't it strange?" Kikue stifled laughter again, not letting herself wonder if, somehow, the labs had found out that she liked it and brought it to the mess hall because of that. That was silly... " I love sushi and sashimi," Kikue admitted, as if her declaration of her favorite food didn't make it obvious. Natsumi Tanaka "They have it here?" she really needed to pay more attention apparently. "I'll have to get some, i haven't had any in so long." she paused to look over the ocean. "I like shikasashi.. sushi is okay too." Her conversation was broken as she watched a seagul suddenlly fly past them, jumping back some at it's sudden swoop by, then watchign as it landed. Yamamoto Kikue Kikue watched the seagull very intently, cocking her head slightly at it as it patrolled the beach in front of them for food. Kikue's rounded ears twitched, yet she didn't move. Something was very distracting about the bird...the way it bobbed its head; the way it constantly moved. Kikue was completely entranced for a moment, before shaking her head and looking back at Natsumi. She smiled softly, a bit confused by her own actions. " Yes, it's there...it doesn't taste as good as home, of course, but it's still good. I've been having a lot for some reason...maybe the changes." Kikue put her arms behind her head quietly trying not to look at the gull. But it was as if her eyes were drawn to it. She shut her eyes hard before opening them again. " Do you like...any anime, or manga?" Kikue asked, although her voice sounded preoccupied. The gull... Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi nodded, it was easy to beleive that food wouldn't be the same here... But still, it was nice to know there were some familiar foods here. She was suprised she hadn't noticed them yet though...
She breifly noticed the look Kikue had given the bird, "Anime? Oh Uhm... I never watched it myself, but my brother loved it. He had all sorts of toys and videos." Yamamoto Kikue Kikue knew the question may have sounded childish to someone else, but she had found that many anime and manga could be much more mature and sophisticated than at first glance. She was a bit surprised to hear that Natsumi had little interest in it. That thought alone broke her concentration on the gull, which had already begun to look faintly threatened. It flew off. " Really? I had brought some with me since I thought I would be here for some time...do you like it at all? Maybe we can watch some, some time." A smile spread gently across Kikue's face. Natsumi might not take to the offer, but the thought of watching something so native to both of them together made Kikue hopeful. It was then that she noticed it again : a strangeness about Natsumi's sweater, implying something that Kikue didn't dare mention openly. She tried not to look like she was staring, but only remembered after her glance had lengthened into something like a distinct 'look.' The bump under the fabric might be nothing, and yet... Kikue broke her line of sight and tried to look at the sky or the ocean distractedly. Oh gods I feel awful! I hope she didn't see me doing that... What am I thinking? That's so rude! Flushing slightly, Kikue looked around for the gull to quickly find a way to change the conversation. Unfortunately, it was gone. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi'd never really stopped to take intrest in it, the only thing htat had drawn her intrest was the toys of her brother when she was younger. She always wanted to play house with them, but alas.. He wouldn't let her near them. Though now, she could hardly blame him. Those things were expensive and as a child she'd have destroyed them in some way.
But when she got old enough for it, she'd gotten too wrapped up in her own highschool dramas of getting good grades and looking good...
"I would like that." Natsumi smiled, if anything it would remind her of her brother whom she so very much missed now.
Natsumi shifted under Kikue's sudden stare... feeling suddenlly nervious. She hadn't noticed had she? If she did.. well. Natsumi knew it wouldn't go over as well as any of the others. She wasn't sure why it had gone over so well... Or why none of them had asked where her husband was.
Swallowing, she clasped her hands together infront of her, letting them sit over her stomach in hopes to destroy whatever idea Kikue might have been getting in her look. "So which ones do you have?" Yamamoto Kikue Kikue noted Natsumi's clasped hands over her stomach. It only served to solidify Kikue's assumptions...which made her feel worse. Something was definitely there, at least in the sense that Natsumi was trying to hide it -- which meant it was no bump made by her sweater. Oh...gods. I feel horrible. I wish I hadn't noticed this now...She quickly latched onto the new topic of conversation, dipping her clawed feet in the water as it continued to wash over her skin. " Actually, I have several with me..." It sounded so hollow. Kikue knew she wouldn't be able to begin asking openly about what she suspected; it was so rude that the thought of doing it made her stomach squeeze. " Most of them are shoujo anime...but they're very interesting. Have you heard of 'Shoujo Kakumei Utena'? I really like that one. Most of them are on discs, so I could bring them over some time." Kikue's thoughts on the matter momentarily distracted her from her suspicions. The mental image of sitting with Natsumi in a room, watching anime and giggling about some silly thing on the screen made her long to do it. She had never done anything like that with another girl, or anyone at all really. It seemed like it would be fun... " It would be like...a 'girl's night,'" Kikue said, breaking into something just shy of a grin and stifling a little laughter. It sounded childish. But fun. She hoped Natsumi would think the same way. ...Which brought around all of Kikue's thoughts on the girl walking placidly next to her, trying to hide something that was quietly becoming obvious to Kikue. Kikue wanted to say something; to reassure Natsumi somehow. She didn't know how. Or what the other girl would think. Before she could stop herself, she asked softly, "Is everything okay, Natsumi-chan?" Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi tried to think back.. Utena? Hm. It definatly sounded familiar, though not from her brother. "I don't think I have. Of course my brother was into all those.. fighting.. things." She gave a tiny giggle, "I guess... 'Boys will be boys,' ne?" She mentally hoped she got the old american saying right. And if she had, that Kikue knew of it. Though, Kikue seemed to know more about english than she did...
She bit her lip when Kikue mentioned a 'girls night.' A grin tugged at her face. She wanted so very much to sqeual and offer to bring candy. But she tried to reassure herself that she was an adult now and needed to act like one. "I would love that." She finally admitted, giving a soft 'teehee.' She started making a mental checklist of things she could bring... nail polish, shampoos, She could get some Shikasashi from the cafeteria.
She had noted that Kikue had said to 'bring them over,' no doubt due to the instincts. Not that Natsumi cared, but it seemed like a good thing to remember and keep track of.
"Mm?" she blinked at the sudden question. She hoped that Kikue had meant that due ot the fact she bit her lip... or maybe in the sense that was it okay for them to do that at her house. Or... Well, The one she didn't want to hear. "Yes, everythings fine." Whichever it was, she felt that responce about covered it. Yamamoto Kikue Kikue nodded heartily. " I'm not really a fan of the fighting anime...unless it has a good plot and interesting characters..." Relieved and somewhat excited at Natsumi's enthusiasm in the idea, Kikue began plotting exactly what to bring over. Utena? Tutu? Everything she had? She had some old Japanese movies too; some were a little scary but had good plot... Natsumi-chan might not like scary movies... Kikue had pictures from home, and her journal -- she could bring those things, too. If only she could play her violin, she could play something for Natsumi...or even write a piece for her. Kikue glanced self-consciously at her bad hand; it was no longer bandaged, but depending on how she moved it, jolts of pain would shoot up her arm. If only I could play...It didn't matter. She had movies, and anime, and books -- all in Japanese, that she could share. ...But it was Natsumi's answer to Kikue's lingering question that brought her to a halt. Natsumi's answer -- there was such finality to it, and strength in some way. A kind of reassurance. She doesn't want to talk about it...I understand. Would I want to? Probably not...yet...Kikue stopped walking. Turning slowly, she looked into Natsumi's expression. Sighing a little, Kikue turned her eyes out to the ocean. " Natsumi-chan," she said quietly, " I try not to think about what this place means too often...about not going home." Looking back over her shoulder at the girl beside her, Kikue flicked her fuzzy rounded ears. " You are the first person that I've met who can understand me in ways that others here can't. We are from the same place...I want to be able to be good friends with you." Emotion was welling up, as much as she tried to beat it down. She turned around fully now, facing the other girl. " ..I want you to be able to trust me." Kikue tilted her head slowly. She didn't let the claws on her hands deter her : she gathered up Natsumi's hands in her own for a few seconds, looking at her. She bit her lip. " ...You're not afraid of me. I'm not afraid of you, either. No matter what." With that, Kikue let go of Natsumi's hands, and placed the girl's hands back around her stomach, like Natsumi herself had placed them only moments before. It was all that could be done when it came to this : to simply tell the truth. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi looked on ahead, nodding as Kikue spoke. Once again her thoughts wandering over just how relaxing and refreshing it was to hear her own language. It wasn't too bad here right...? Even if Taro was here.. Natsumi had good friends. heck, she had more friends than she ever had back home. Maybe that's what came with being stranged somewhere.. But no matter what the reason she was still very thankful for them.
She paused when Kikue stopped, turning to look at her curiously. A part of her already seemed to know where this was going... She ahd noticed. Here it was.. The you're a dirty whore and discraced your family talk, right? She'd avoided such a talk for so long after all... Running from it, straight into a trap. This island.
"We are Friends." Sh emanaged to note during Kikue's pause, atleast she assumed they were now. Maybe not best friends but... They'd get there eventually, right? She flinched some as Kikue looked back at her, biting into her lip.
Whaat Kikue had hadn't been what she expected, not even close. Natsumi blinked, choking suddenlly. Her eyes tried to water up.. Even she didn't think poorly of her? No one did? What.. What if her parents would have accepted her? What if she idnd't have to be here? What if Taro really had meant that he hadn't meant to leave... What..
She gave a little hiccup, covering her face with her hands quickly. Don't think about that. "Y-You know then?" Aaa... Why'd she have to be so obvious? Yamamoto Kikue Kikue fought to keep her own emotions in check. She gave Natsumi a small smile, and then...she hugged her, tenderly. Something she had done so rarely in her own life. She could smell Natsumi's hair, a touch of ginger and lavender -- it must be whatever she washed it with. It smelled pretty. Kikue pulled back after a few moments, her hands on the sides of Natsumi's shoulders. Kikue didn't know how old she was, but by looking at the girl's face was any clue, she was probably young, too. Which means, it might have all been an accident...the baby.Yet Kikue could never allow herself to be so cruel as to let a decision in Natsumi's past -- a decision that Natsumi may or may not regret, even now -- keep a friendship from forming between them. She smiled softly again. " It's okay, Natsumi-chan. I could only guess at such a thing...but I am not afraid of you. I want to be close to you. I support you. I promise." Kikue held out her pinky finger, the first half of a promise that she was ready to make. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi blinked as she was pulled into a hug, smiling behind her hands. She would have returned the gesture, but the way she had positioned herself ceased her from moving her arms now that she had been hugged. It was comforting though... Just what the doctor ordered, so to speak. She'd longed for a hug for days now... So her eyes watered even more now that she'd gotten one.
She gave a soft sniff as she was let go, still covering her face. She nodded some in thanks, moving her hands at Kikue's pinky offer with a wise, wobbling, smile. She paused to white at her eyes with one hand, and the other to take Kikue's pinky and shake it with her own. She sniffed once, giving a tiny pause as her mind ran over something... Before she realized, who really cared about formalities? They were turning into mutants. With that, she reached out, wrapping her arms around Kikue and giving a soft held-back sob. "Thankyou... I'll.. Do the same." She wasn't exactly sure what she could promise Kikue that woud amount to the same meaning that she had just done... But.. Atleast she could offer. Yamamoto Kikue Kikue held her back, allowing herself the brief second of support. She'd couldn't remember the last time she'd given someone a hug, or had been given one. It was a distant, faint memory. Yet this was real; was now. So she held on. She let Natsumi break them apart at her own pace. Kikue could only guess what Natsumi was feeling -- as if the shock of the reality of the Island wasn't bad enough, to be feeling the strain of a pregnancy at the same time? Kikue was young, but she understood much. That very thought was heavy on her mind. Natsumi must regularly be a wreck. After she let go, Kikue broke into a smile. She didn't know everything that Natsumi would need, but she didn't think staying out for so long in the sun was going to help. " It's getting late," Kikue observed, nodding at the sun above them. " Maybe we should get something to eat...then sleep." Kikue suppressed a yawn on the word. Her altered schedule was making it hard to be up constantly at the times "normal" people were. A sheepish look flashed across her face. " The leopard makes it hard for me to stay up if it isn't near dawn, or dusk." Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi clung for a moment, the last hug she'd had was whens he left for "America." Her parents, her friends, her brothers... She missed them all so much. She wanted to know how they were doing and... Wait. Taro... Taro had seen them.
She carefully let go of Kikue, stuffing that thought away for later. Right now.. Kikue was here, Kikue was her new friend.
"Aa.. Yes.." She sniffed once more, whiping at her eyes again. For the moment, she had forgotten the baking heat of the sun, but that feeling was back now. She vaugly hoped she wouldn't start to smell any time soon. That sounds good. She gave a small laugh at the mention of the strange sleep habits, Kikue sure did know alot about her animal... It made Natsumi curious to know her own. But then she'd have to go ask, and she still didn't feel up to that. "I wonder if mines been whats waking me up at night." She quickly explained the laugh with a smile. With that, she turned, looking back the way they'd came... Suprised at just how far they'd gotten. "I guess we should get our shoes, huh?" Yamamoto Kikue Kikue smiled and laughed a little herself. " Maybe it is. I didn't even think of it at first...Nita pointed it out to me. Then I read a bit more and realized that must be what it is. It's still strange, though." Natsumi's wondering thought reminded Kikue that the girl didn't know her animal. Some type of lizard, she's thought. The scales attested to that. But what did all of this, the Island, mean for Natsumi's child? ...You can't start to worry about this, Kikue. You need to keep yourself focused.She nodded, and began ambling back towards her sandals with Natsumi. The sand looked like it must be baking; Kikue was glad for the coolness of the water. Once she was to her sandals, she dipped her feet back into the water one last time before slipping them on. In the angled light, wet with water, her claws stood out starkly. ...Kikue pushed the thought away, waiting contentedly as Natsumi got herself ready. While she wasn't looking forward to the walk through the oppressive jungle, at least her room was on the other side of it. She already longed for the coolness, as well as darkness, of it. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi had edged closer to the wet sand as the day had gone on, though a bit suprised just how well her feet were taking the heat... Especially with the added webbing on the side she would have thought them to be more sensitive. But her feet would be there to ponder about later.
She made idle conversation on the way back to their shoes, eventually reaching them, she knelt down to go through teh awkward process of folding up her feet to stick them inside the shoe. "Alright, ready." She announced, standing up.
And with that they headed off to the cafeteria, for some food then to part ways and move back to their homes that were so far away from home.
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Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 6:17 pm
After being with Kikue her head was flooded with thoughts of her old home... Her family, her friends... What if they hadn't cared? What if she could have just ... stayed there. She wouldn't have wound up here... Taro would have come back to her, or atleast thats what he said hadn't he?
She frowned, running a hand through her hair... That didn't matter now. Nothing about that mattered... What did matter was that she was here, turning into a lizard of some kind.. and pregnant. Her hand fell from her hair to her stomach as that wonderful kicking feeling came, as though the baby seemed to know of her distress and was trying to cheer her up. She told herself that was impossible. However, if it had been it certiantly had worked. A smile broke on her face as she stared down at the baby... She still hadn't thought of a name, but she figured maybe she'd wait for the actual birth. To see if it was a girl or a boy first.
Kikue's words came back to her as she thought over the child... About how she wasnt afraid... It hit a nerve for the to-be mother... She'd realized on the way back to her duplex that the reason she was here, the reason for everything that had happend here was driven by her fear. Her fear of rejection... And that fear had only put her in worse and worse positions. Leading up to her lastest, crying in the bathroom when Taro had shown. She'd tried to run then... But no more. Which meant she had to go help him like she'd promised.
... Tomorrow.
Her eyes migrated to the book she had brought along for reference.. incase she'd forgotten anything and needed to brush up on her english. She'd used it once or twice when she first arrived, but now she felt more confident... and she figured he needed it more, therefore she was ready to part with it. But that would wait until tomorrow.
Her stomach still twisted at the thought of seeing him... What he'd say, and if he really thought she was fat... her scales, how ugly were they?
Another "kick" distracted her. She smiled lightly... That didn't matter. Nothing did. Not Taro not the island... as long as her baby was healthy. And all those thoughts about Taro would wait, for now she was ready to slip off to dreamland.
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Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 8:03 pm
Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi sighed, stepping into the place that had so recently been under construction. She was wearing a sweater, sleeves rolled up due to the fact she'd been baking in the midday heat. She had an old english book in her arms, the one she had brought along just incase she happed to forget some basic word arrangements, and it sufficed as a small dictionary too... She was glad that she hadn't found a need for it for herself, but at the same time very unhappy as to what use it had come to.
"Not good, not good..." she mumbled to herself, looking over the good 50 more dupleses set up... There was no way she could find himin all this, even if she had promised to help him...
And with that thought, the thought of escape.. and excuse to just leave the whole thing behind her, her courage died then burst into flames. Her stomach filled with proverbial butterflies.. and.. Maybe a few real ones, who knew now a days. She turned away from the buildings, if she saw him.. she'd just say she couldn't find him, and that way... she could avoid him liek the plauge until her feelings subsided and she felt she could be nice and civil towards him. Maybe even be friends... But, that wasn't now. Taro Hirohito H e wasn't even thinking of her when he left his duplex. He was been intent on more exploration, he hadn't gotten much before and things more important like video games and re-arranging his room to a set up he more preferred took precidence over learning the lay of the land or practicing is english. So when he saw her familiar figure retreiting he was taken off guard.
For a moment he thought about just ignoring her... by now he'd grown more resentful and angry towards her. She'd come out here just to cheat on him with that guy. But the thought was quickly replaced by the hope of talking with her about the movie.. she'd probably know what was going on, who had what roles, who the director was.
"Natsumi-san!" He shouted to her, taking his one step down and walkng out toward her a little.Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi flinched. Her courage had melted into the ground, and so now he chose to pop out of nowhere. Damn you small island coincidences. She swallowed hard, spinning around to lock eyes with him. Her somewhat determined expresion broke upon eye contact, her eyes falling to the ground. "Here." She held out the book, with a long silent pause while he made his way over to get it... She woul dhave brought it over, but for whatever reason her legs didn't want to move. What did he think of her? Her scales.. Her pregnancy... Her fat. By the time he got there, she found somethign to say "... I'm not fat." Taro Hirohito T aro realized that she was going to make him walk over, starting toward her with a sigh. He reached her in time to hear her comment. He looked down with a scowl of shame. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings..." He'd just been trying to make her laugh, couldn't she tell he was just playing?
Really.. he did think she'd gained some weight... maybe she was doing it for her role. Some actors did that. He stood awkwardly for a moment, taking the book and looking down at it... basic english. This was definatly more useful then that damn Translator machine or his pocket travel dictionary. He needed something to teach him the basics before that could be helpful.
He scratched his shoulder slightly, finally looking up more so he could see her face. He frowned a little - what he thought had been a bruise before looked like some of that elaborate scale make-up, like Ian had. "So..." Another moment of awkward pause... "I found out this is all for a movie... how'd they get you here? They told me I was going to be going to the Peace Corps."
It was stiff small-talk, in all honesty, but it was something. He wanted to demand some anwers - like exactly who was this Thom to her.Natsumi Tanaka She shifted uncomfortably as he stared. Stop looking... She kept her eyes on the ground until he said.. that. A MOVIE? She stared at him, mouth falling open ever so slightly. This horrible place was some simple little movie? No... This place hurt. It hurt her... and her friends.. Alec. Oh god, Alec. His recent changes had completely put her on edge in anticipation to her own. She felt so bad for him... And even worse that the changes had made her so nervious around him.
She just stood ther ein silence for a moment... Who on earth would be cruel enough to tell him a lie like that? "A.. Movie? Who told you that?" Taro Hirohito T aro was a bit confused by her reaction. Was he not supposed to know yet or something...? "A guy... um.. Ian. He had big horns and red skin.. and a tail. Kind of like yours, but longer. He said I'd be getting an animal costume too."Natsumi Tanaka Ian? No.. That.. wasn't the Ian she knew. It sounded alot more like Zach... But... Zach seemed rather creepy, not the kind of person to joke around. Plus, Taro had said his name was Ian. Well. That didn't matter now. What mattered, was making sure he knew what was going on. Even if she was unhappy with him, she didn't want to see him get suprised by something like this.
The whole idea of someone telling him this was all just a movie was unnerving, it wasn't somethign to joke aobut.. It was horrible. "It... It's not a movie." Crap, why did she have to tell him. She frowned, finding the guts to look him in the eyes. Telling herself this was important, no matter what her feelings were. "If I could take these... things off... I would. But I can't. The shot you get when you come here, it's some.. science thing, to turn you into an animal. Everyone... into an animal." Taro Hirohito H is eyebrows quirked upward. For a moment his heart beat hard when she looked into his eyes, but he quickly squished those emotions. Not now, it didn't matter, she was a cheater, remember she was a cheater. However the words that spouted from her mouth were... complete non-sense.
"The... no, that was a vaccination. For SARS or something.. aaaahh.. wait. Okay." He suddenly grinned, noding dramatically and leaning in slightly, giving a stage whisper. "Is that the movie plot? That's cool!"Natsumi Tanaka Somehow the word "cool" tied into Alec's changes... In her mind, he had seemed to laugh at her friends horrible problems. None of this was cool... This was not some big funny joke. She frowned, along with that one question in her mind kept begging to be asked. Why did he leave her? And did he mean that... When he said he was sorry? Or was he lieing like everyone said he'd always been doing?
She shook her head some, trying to focus. Her mind was blurring again, her heart was starting to ache...She wanted to cry. Not this time though.. Not again, or atleast not infront of him. "No..." she sighed, trying to figure out how to make this actually sound real. It was hard to beleive, she knew but... Aha. "Look." she stated quickly, turning around to show him her tail. With that, she gave it a sharp tug flinching some when she did so... That had hurt more than she thought. "It doesn't come off." Taro Hirohito T he sudden show of tail pulling set Taro a little off guard. She had tugged rather hard... but maybe glue..? Without thinking he reached forward to touch it himself, blinking in slight wonder.
He ran his hand up along her tail, intending to reach it's base. The texture of the scales... the temperature.. the feeling. It was... He stopped just a little shy of the base and pulled his hand away as though he might have been hurt. His eyebrows creased and he reached out to lightly hold Natsumi's arm, turning her so she faced him. He looked intently at her forehead, reaching up to touch that as well.
He couldn't hide the expression of sudden horrified disgust, still holding onto her arm. "What... is this..? Are you lieing?" His head felt slightly as though it were spinning. Everyone was lieing to him. Peace Corps, a movie... now turning into animals.
Which was truth?! In this moment of confusion he forgot he was supposed to be angry with her, looking to her with an expression of being lost. She'd tell him the truth, wouldn't she? Honest Natsumi...Natsumi Tanaka She pulled her hands back infront of her before he managed to reach her tail. She visibally tensed as his hand went up it, her heart skipped a beat and her face flushed. The tail wiggled in responce, trying to escape the forign touch, and retreating to pull up against the back of her leg. No one but her had touched her tail yet, and it felt.. strange. Like someone touching the side of a leg or something. She wasn't sure if it felt good or bad, though.. for now, she dubbed it bad as he had gone the wrong direction up the scaling, though her scales weren't paticularly sensitive to this.
She turned her head away from him as roughly pulled her around to face him. Her stomach tightened, not only had the sudden touch startled her but once again, she was struck with the feeling of not wanting him to see her again. Her throat was next to tighten, as she bit into her lip to work up the courage to speak again. "I'm sorry..." she choked out, the urge to turn and run form him was increasing. And his look wasn't helping. "I wouldn't lie about... this." She paused, before finally looking straight at him, lightly trying to tug her arm away. "I'm not lieing, I have scales. On my arms too. I have webbed feet and I eat BUGS." The last part came out at an awkward pitch.. She was losing it again. Don't cry, please don't cry.
After a pause, she muttered softly "Why'd you have to come here?" Maybe it was guilt... Maybe she felt that the part of her that wished to have him back had gotten here. Whatever it was, the idea that he too would turn into some hidious monster made her sick to her stomach. Composure... She mentally scolded, she was definatly failing this calm-woman role. Taro Hirohito H e looked at her blankly as she had her little outburst. Very, very slowly, the information was sinking in. People here were turning into animals. Natsumi had a tail and scales. This was going to happen to him.
No, no... this couldn't happen to him... not this. He was rich, he was here for a good cause in the first place. No, it couldn't happen to him. It didn't help matters that it was still... so hard to beleive, even coming from Natsumi. He looked at her sharply when she asked her question. He was confused, he was a bit frightened.
"I came here to serve for the Peace Corps... so I could get into a better college and come back to you." Resentment, hurt. He'd done this for her and now he was going to turn... no, no he wasn't. It was just a shot for SARS. But still, he couldn't keep the hot anger from rising up within hi chest. "Why didn't you wait? Were you here when I went to see you before I left? Didn't you get my letter?"
He had poured his heart and soul out into that letter... like he never had before. It'd been pages long expressing everything he could ever feel. Now... now that was gone. She hadn't gotten it, she hadn't read it and there was no chance now, really for her to read it unless they got mail on this crazy island.. and besides it wouldn't serve any good now, she was cheating on him with that guy.
"Why couldn't you have waited for me?!" He would have been back soon and then... but that was impossible now. His heart ached so badly he felt it might just stop.Natsumi Tanaka She let out a sigh as she watched the information sink in, taking that moment of shock to get her arm away from him. Then taking a few steps back so he wouldn't grab her again. Her eyes were trying to water up, threatning to burst forth in another fit of tears. Her head hurt again, telling her to just turn and run and face him later... But if she'd realized anything yesterday with Kikue it was that she needed to stop running from things.
She choked when he spoke though... Com back to her? Letter? She didn't need to be here? She could have been back home? He hadn't avoided her? Her eyes widened. That was too much for her. She wobbled some, looking as though she very well might faint. "Wait...?" She questioned, breathlessly. "How could I wait...? You... You were gone. You ignored me... I had no choice!" she fisted her hands at her sides, almost trying to convince herself of what she was saying. That was right.. She had no choice but to try and come here. This wasn't her fault, this was his fault. Atleast.. That's what she wanted to beleive. Taro Hirohito " Ignore you? When did I ever do that?" His fists tightened at his sides. "I told you I loved you, didn't I?" Of course he was referring to the time when they had... well.. he felt a small stir of emotion as he remembered THAT night.
He sighed and reached up to press his palm against his forehead. This was all muddling so much. He was extremly confused about all of this, and part of him still couldn't believe that what Natsumi said was really going to happen. He was somehow magically immune, he had to be.Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi swayed some again, don't faint... please... she mentally pleaded with herself. "After.. graduation. I called you, i even went all the way to your house! I had no choice, I had to go or they'd find out about--" She fell into silence abruptly. Her heart felt as though it had stopped... She hadn't told him yet. She didn't want to tell him now. She didn't even want him to be here now. She took a few steps back, debating running again. That option was sounding more and more likeable as this went on... Taro Hirohito T aro pressed his lips together. "I went away for a little bit.. I had to, I didn't want to bring you shame... I didn't even graduate. Would you have really wanted to stay with someone like that?"
He tilted his head to the side as she stopped, his attention caught by this little faulter. A secret, a secret, but what? "Find out about... what?" He looked at her blankly. What had to be hidden so much that she'd have to leave her home...? A small notion itched at the back of his mind and he ducked his head.
Was it beacuse she wasn't a virgin anymore...? That was kind of stupid, she could have kept it a secret.Natsumi Tanaka That was it? He hadn't graduated so he had ran off from her? The first word that came to mind was 'idiot.' Ofcourse he hadn't passed.. he never attended classes. That came as no shock to her... What did shock her was that he had cared enough about shaming her. And while somewher ein the back of her mind that touched her heart, that was covered up with pure irritation. "Idiot." she muttered, lower lip wobbling. "Of course I would have...." she locked her eyes to the ground, edging a few steps back.
She was confused... She had no idea what to think about him or what to do. Her feelings were still hurt... but at the same time she felt that maybe they didn't need to be. And this, along with his general density, and pregnant hormones were slowly edging away the reserved girl's composure. Before he asked about what... Part of her felt like he should have noticed by now. Everyone else had. Even her sweater wasn't hiding it. She stared at him a moment... Before somethign seemed to snap. "About me being PREGNANT." She shouted the last word, looking generally upset as a few tears finally made their way down her face. She wibbled a moment, before turning to walk as fast as she could away from him without flat out running away. "You've got your book... I need to think. Leave me alone." She wasn't sure if he'd follow her or not, but just in case she called that over her shoulder.
She'd done what she promised... Now... She had to figure out what was going on with her life. Perhaps it was time to face everything she'd been tryign to ignor since she left Japan... Taro Hirohito I t took a few moments for the words to sink in, long enough that she was quite far away by the time he registered and connected information. She had looked chubby but.. he'd honestly just thought she'd gained weight since coming here. He made no attempt to follow her, rooted to the spot holding that damn book.
Pregnant.
No. He shook his head even though there wasn't anyone to see. No, no, no, nononononono. NO. Yuck. No. Bad! Terrible! He didn't.. no NO WAY! He was too young! He still had too much to do!
Or wait... WAIT! That Thom guy, the one she'd cheated on him with! It felt like flame suddenly burnt through his veins. He tightened his grip on the book, teeth clenching. That... that...
"Whore!" He cursed quietly to himself, throwing the book down violently and kicking it as hard as he could across the grass. A few pages were torn lose immediatly and went fluttering on the island breeze. He picked up the book in a huff and stormed back to his duplex, slamming the door shut violently enough that should anyone be upstairs they would feel it.
He threw the book down again immediatly.
So much was happening, too much all at once! Lies! What was the truth?! Deception and hurt!
Silently Taro vowed to kill Thom. Even if nothing was true, even if he wasn't involved. Taro needed someone to direct this hatred and hurt at, the man that Natsumi had ran to was a good enough target.
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:36 pm
Thomas Brinley The day had not been promising. After another series of nightmares involving bus wrecks, broken glass, blood and monstrous snakes, Thom had given up on sleep and set about pacing his room, all too aware of the swollen injection mark on his arm. He was slightly feverish, mildly nauseous, and both sensations only continued to worsen as the day wore on. But nothing more. Later in the morning he had thrown caution to the wind, deciding perhaps this was not what he thought it was and heading out to the beach for a refreshing swim and run on the sand. Exercise. Exercise always made him feel better, and the thought of the cool water was most welcoming to his fevered body. He ran, he swam, he wasted a good hour or two on the beach, and he felt utterly miserable for it. Maybe he was just coming down with something... The flu, something, anything at all. He would just go..rest for a bit... He retreated back to his duplex, dropped to sit on the bed, and there paused, lazily scratching an itch near his shoulder. It was only when his skin began to peel off that he drew his hand back, staring in horror at the patch of black scales developing on his shoulder. From there the changes progressed rapidly. Flakes of skin fell to the ground as scales spread along his arms and legs, patches of hair soon following as the scales moved up the back of his neck. He hissed through his teeth as a dull pain began at the back of his neck, lips parting in an agonized shout despite his best efforts as the vertebrae in his neck began to shin, to mold, stretching shape and skin in a downsized mimicry of the cobra's hood. At the same time, he felt his nose shifting, changing, the pain from the center of his face joining that at his neck to nearly blind him. And then there was a lull, and he was left with only the dull throb of past pain and the continued itch of scales still moving along his skin. Exhausted, he fell backwards to lay on the bed, asleep almost instantly. Hours later, sore from the facial changes and still feeling the occasional scale pop up here or there, he awoke and, reaching over, tapped the number of Natsumi's duplex on the intercom. He didn't feel like moving, dammit. Let her come to him. He didn't dare look in the mirror just yet. "...Natsumi?" Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi, luckally for Thom, had been hiding aroundin her duplex again. She'd been avoiding leaving for fear of happening into Taro, after their incident... She didn't want to hear what he had to say about her pregnancy. So, she had been sitting on her bed, eating some chocolate icecream she'd picked up and hoarded a few days back from the cafeteria.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when her intercom piped up, nearly choking on a mouthful of icecream. She pulled herself ot a sit, coughing and hitting her chest to try and fix where she had inhaled the icey chocolatey goodness. "Th-" She coughed again, "Thomas?" She flinched as her voice wheezed out, coughing weakly a few more times as her throat tried to completely clear. He sounded.. miserable. She set the icecream aside, scooting closer to the intercom to hear him better and make sure he could hear her. "Are you alright?" Thomas Brinley He grunted slightly, shifting awkwardly where he lay. The back of his neck was still throbbing painfully, and he now became aware of an identical throb at the base of his tail. He hadn't noticed any change there before... His neck must have distracted him. "N-not," he paused when his voice wavered, cursing himself mentally and taking a moment to clear his throat before trying again. "Could...be better, t'be 'onest... Mind comin' down?" Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi frowned at the phone, nodding a bit even though he couldn't see. "Yes... I will come right down." She stood, a few scenerios of what could be wrong were running through her head. Taro and the fact he was prone to stupid actions was one of them... But that didn't fit. Which left Thom either being sick, or what was bound to happen sooner or later... his next change.
Whatever it was, he had asked her to come down. So without a further thought, she rushed out her door down the steps and to Thom's front door. It was a quick trip, she paused outside it though. Her worry urged her to rush in but... Her mind begged her not to be so rude and to knock and wait instead. What ended up happening was a mix of the two, she gave a light knock, then opened itslowly. Poking her head in. "I am here..." she annouced softly, timidly.
She was right. He had changed. More scales... She stepped further into the room, closing the door behind her. It wasn't too bad... Just... Whatever was wrong with his neck now. Her eyes immediatly locked on that bit, frowning some. Still... It wasn't bad as Alec. She could deal. Swallowing hard, she moved all the way over to the man's bedside giving him a soft, worried, smile. "Can I get you anything?" She fidgeted with her shirt some, as she waited for his responce. Thomas Brinley He lifted his head slightly, and managed to summon a smile from somewhere, nodding stiffly in greeting. With some effort he sat up, grimacing at the discomfort this brought to his already sore tailbase, but ignoring it. Instead, he chuckled softly, spreading his arms in a gesture to himself. "...Not so bad, right? I mean, I 'aven't looked in a mirror just yet, but I've still got m'--" He grimaced, hissing through his teeth in discomfort as the pain in his tail suddenly doubled. Before long, the pressure was enough that he forgot about Natsumi and fell to his knees to lessen the pain, gritting his teeth against a second cry as lengthened and widened to nearly the width of his torso. The muscles along his stomach began to shift and contort, leaving him feeling terribly nauseated once more. The transformation trailed on, agonizingly slow, and finally there was a second lull. He didn't bother to look up this time. Natsumi Tanaka Her smile widened... Always good to look in the bright side, right? She nodded to his not so bad before everything cut off. She lost her smile, looking worried to his grimmace. "A..are you..." she failed in completeing her sentance as he shifted suddenlly, she took a step back, raising her hands to her mouth to suppress a startled squeak. Last thing he needed was her screaming...
However, she couldn't hold back her horrified expression as his tail shifted and expanded. The sight of something that was supposed to happen over time suddenlly forcing itself into action unnerved her in every way. Maybe she'd just seen too many monster movies with her friends... But this wasn't a movie, no matter who told certian people that. And she could only imagine just how much that had hurt... Her assumptions to this were confirmed by the look on his face.
As everything seemed to stop she simply stood there, covering her mouth... She had no idea what to do... Just that she needed to do something. Anything. "Thomas...?" she questioned timidly, pulling her hands away from her mouth and kneeling so she could see his face. Worry was etched into her features, her hands held awkwardly in the air as she was unsure where to put them next. Thomas Brinley It wasn't over, he knew, eyes closed against the changes that had just taken place. No, a light tingling in both feet told him that much. It was worse than he thought, then... He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and manuvered around to sit normally once more, though he leaned forward slightly to keep the weight off the base of his tail. The rest of the now much longer apendage spilled around his side and hung off the edge, the tip making contact with her leg and, out of instinct, twining around her ankle. He opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, and fell silent as he felt an unmistakable ripple of pain from both legs. As one they began to change, though the process proved much more rapid in one than the other. The changes in his right foot were visable: his toes, or the area that was once them, rolled back and vanished into his foot, leaning only a slightly more forward protrusion in place of his big toe. His foot shortened, lost most of its definition, but was still vaguely recognizable as a foot. The process was a slow one, lasting a span nearly twenty minutes, most of which had Thom tensed up and gripping the mattress beneath him for dear life. And then it stopped, and the pain leveled out, leaving him sore, but not unbearably so. The other leg, on the other hand.. The changes were slow. Terribly slow, visible only a strange ripples or contortions for the most part. If one checked back every half hour or so, there would be more visible changes, but at present it was primarily strange twitches and ripples beneath the skin, all of which brought a particularly terrible pain to the cobra man. However, with the rest of his changes complete, left with only the one leg twitching and spasming as it underwent its own transformation, he was able to focus on Natsumi, clearing his throat before trying once more to speak. "Some k-kind of...p-pain killer, may'aps..?" Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi watched, and cringed as the tail fell over hte side of the bed and proceeded to wrap around her ankle. She bit into her lip fairly hard, almostbreaking the skin as she held back a startled shreik. The world infront of her blurred for a moment... She held it back again. Now was not the time to pass out. She swallowed, deciding to let the tail stay wrapped around her ankle for the time being. She felt she owed Thom alot... And, if that meant letting his scaley tail go around her ankle then... So be it. Atleast it wasn't slimey like she had imagined all snakes before... It was simply smooth, nothing more.
She covered her mouth again, letting her teeth off her lip finally to leave a reddened imprint. Luckally she had moved it or she would have bit right into it when she saw his legs ... doing something. She couldn't even find a word for it. Her stomached turned as his limbs seemed to mutate, all too slowly right infront of her eyes. Time seemed to fail her as she simply struggled to keep herself from passing out, somehow finding herself unable to look away.
His voice broke her thoughts, she nodded slowly. Painkillers... Right. she wobbled some as she stood up from her knelt position. Pausing with his tail caught her from moving. Biting her lip, she knelt to carefully unwrap the appendage, still slightly creeped out by it... But she had to get painkillers now. "I will be right back." she offered him a wavery smile, before hurrying out his door with a few stumbles, up the stairs, and to her duplex. She waited til she got upstairs to visibally cringe in responce to the changes that had just happend, giving a tiny squeak if only to stop the urge to scream, before digging through her bag for some pain killers... landing on some Tylonol she had hoarded away from teh cafeteria for her own changes. Now.. To grab a glass of water and head back down. Thomas Brinley While she was gone, Thom inspected his changes as best he could, avoiding the still twitching leg but letting his hands move over the rest of his altered form, paying special attention to the strange formations at his neck and the alterations to his right leg. The neck was nothing to take notice of, really... Odd growths that may hold a clue to his exact species, but otherwise didn't seem to have a purpose. His leg... His leg was still whole, still good, there were just a few alterations to his foot. Presuming the other wound up this way, why... He would be able to walk. He would be able to walk! Despite the furious pain in his left leg, he was grinning by the time Natsumi returned. He accepted the glass of water and medicine with a word of thanks, popping a few of the pills into his mouth and downing half the glass before he returned his attention towards the girl. If these took the pain from his still-changing leg, too, he'd be fine for a while... They could always go watch the games. He was too sore to do much else...though he was very hungry. "So... all in all... 'ow's it look?" Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi found a spare glass, filling it with water and then heading back down the stairs.. slowly. For one, her weight was offblance thanks to the ever-growing fetus, and she wa sin no mood to go falling down a flight of stairs... Secondly, she was still trying to compose herself.
Still it wasn't a long time, and so she immediatly walked back, pushign the door shut with her foot, and moving over to offer him the retreived objects. She offered a half-hearted smile to his grin.. He was taking it rather well. She knelt next to his bed, resting back on her heels in a traditonal japanese form of sitting. She placed her hands on the side of his bed, only to jerk her hands back when they hit a few bits of hair and abandoned skin. She cringed some, before looking back to him.
She delayed a moment, wondering if he was seriously asking... Well... He was a creepy snake-man with somethign wierd on his neck, but... truthfully. "It.. could be worse." she admited, with a soft smile. Letting her curiosity get the best of her as she reached a hand towards the.. thing.. on his neck, pausing and jerking her hand back with a blush just short of reaching it. "I am sorry... May.. I?" she bit her lip, hoping she hadn't been too bold. Thomas Brinley It could be worse... He couldn't quite decide if that was a good thing or bad. He already knew it could be worse. His legs were still in tact, after all, even if one was too busy spasming and twinging to listen to him. But how did he look? When she jerked away, he blinked, returning his attention to her and quirking a brow. "Hmm? Oh, 'elp y'self." It couldn't hurt anything. Natsumi Tanaka While he could be worse.. There were several things that kept her from saying he looked fine. The biggest being the neck-hood. Next was the fact that bits of his hair was missing... Including the bit on his chin. Too bad, she'd liked that part...
She smiled slightly when he gave her the go ahead, timidly reaching her hand back to trail her fingers softly down the edge of his new hood, noting just how interesting he felt now... She couldn't remember ever touching an actual snake. She Seemed to zone out as she did so... Well, it was really there. Somehow in the back of her mind she had tried to think it wasn't... But no. Definatly there, whatever it was. Her fingers traced along the smooth scaley skin, until she hit one of the chest scales. Only then snapping back to reality, face going blank when she realized just how far she'd travled.
She flushed, pulling her hand away as though he might have burned her. She hadn't meant to go that far... "It is not bad..." she offered him a small smile, pushing herself to her feet as she did so. "Is there anything else you need?" Yay for subject changes. Thomas Brinley It wasn't an unpleasant sensation, having someone touch the half-hood. Indeed, it was almost calming, and thus most welcome in counteracting the unnerving pain in his twitching leg. He remained silent, rather enjoying the light touch, but jumped slightly when she snatched her hands back, the quick movement startling him into a hiss of disapproval, lip curling to bare fangs that hadn't yet arrived. Almost immediately he caught himself, giving her an apologetic look as he shook his head. "I think I'm all right now..." He hesitated, glancing down to his left leg. There were some changes... Nothing serious. It was just taking a long time. "I want to look in th' mirror," he finally announced, sliding over to the edge of the bed. Walking would be painful, sore as he was. But he wanted to see. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi was a bit startled by the hiss, but it stopped before it had really started... So she let it go. She nodded, smiling some. It was good that he was alright.
She shifted as he moved. "A-Alright..." she bent down, holding out an arm for him to lean on, he could take it if he wanted to. After what she'd just seen happen with his leg... She wasn't even sure if he could walk. Her mind was still spinning from the whole thing. Thomas Brinley He slowly slipped off the bed, placing his weight first on the right foot, then on the still-twitching left. The right was sore, but held well enough; the left...the pain was intense, rocketing up his leg and spine. Immediately he lifted the visibly spasming leg, closing his eyes and hissing through his teeth rather than shout or curse as he would much rather behave. Once the shock passed, he accepted Natsumi's arm and, with her help, made his way to the bathroom, holding his left leg slightly off the ground. He flipped on the light to find himself framed in the mirror and froze, stunned. A moment passed before he realized he was holding his breath and exhaled, releasing Natsumi's arm and stumbling forward to brace himself against the sink, eyeing his reflection critically in the mirror. He looked...very different. But he was still there. He was still recognizable, even if his nose had changed a bit and his goatee...was gone?! Thom frowned, eyeing the bare chin, but decided the strange black scales along his cheeks made up for it. His eyes were gold now... And the hood. Still frowning faintly, he lifted a hand to again inspect the formation on the back of his neck, noting absently that the hair that had previously been there was gone. And his ears--his ears were gone? How was he hearing if his ears were gone?! He spent a good number of minutes inspecting his altered appearance, and it was only when he caught a glimpse of Natsumi in the mirror that he remembered her, glancing back over his shoulder at the girl. "...Could be worse," he replied, cracking a grin once more. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi frowned lightly in concern, helping him to the bathroom then stepping back as he inspected himself. She stood there, quietly, patiently. Glancing over the new features to his back idly while she waited...
After a good bit of time, he looked back at her. She simply looked back, a bit concerned... but then he grinned. To which she returned a smile, giving a nod. "Yes." It could be worse... at that, she held her arm back out incase he wanted to get out of the bathroom. Thomas Brinley He accepted the offer, taking her arm and hobbling back to sit on the bed once more. Thom was silent for a long moment then laid back, wincing at the pain in his leg and shifting to lay on his side. Between his twitching leg and his sore tail, this was easiest. "I think I'm just goin' t' rest for a bit... See if I can sleep through th' leg thing, shouldn't 'urt as badly when I wake up." He paused briefly, watching her thoughtfully, and finally yawned, murmuring, "Stay?" To be perfectly honest, the change terrified him. His new appearance terrified him. The prospect of more nightmares terrified him. For the present, Thom was reduced back to a six year old who had bumped his knee and just wanted someone there telling him it would be alright. He trusted Natsumi. He had protected her. Maybe she would protect him for a day. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi stood beside his bed, watching him get comfortable. She nodded when he said he was going to rest, getting ready to turn and leave when the word 'stay' stopped her. She blinked, not having expected that... but smiled warmly, and nodded. He was scared... Just as scared as her or anyone else would be... Though he had done a perfect job of hiding it until that. So she had no problems staying to just keep him company and comfort. She owed him, if anything. Maybe some of those pregnancy hormones were helping as well... Who knew.
She brushed some of the hair and lost skin from the bed, before taking a seat in the now clean spot. She placed a hand on Thoms shoulder with a smile. It's what she would have wanted if she were in his shoes.. or scales in this case. "Mm." She gave another nod "Rest." Thomas Brinley He merely smiled in thanks, saving his words for later, and closed his eyes. Sleep was slow in coming due to the pain from his leg, but eventually it did draw him in. He dozed off, leg continuing to twitch spasmodically while he rested...slowly hardening and shrinking with the passage of time.
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Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 9:09 pm
Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi awoke some time later, suprised to find herself laying down beside Thom on his bed... Not that she hadn't done it before, but last she remembered she'd simply been sitting next to him.
Shrugging it off, she pushed herself to a sit... her bladder urging her to borrow his bathroom, but something caught her leg and caused her to stop. A breath caught in her throat staring wide-eyed at Thom's new appendage that had manuvered itself around her leg in their sleep. Biting her lip, she carefully started to slowly untwine it... Pausing everytime he stirred. She figured he needed his sleep after such a thing. Thomas Brinley His tail was reluctantly to release her leg, and reacted instinctively by twining further along it while she silently struggled to free herself. Her movements soon grew to the point that they woke Thom, but he merely cracked an eye, watching her in amusement and fighting a smile while he pretended to sleep. He was sore... The soreness one received after a long work out. But it wasn't unbearable. Indeed, he was just happy that his leg was no longer twitching. A bit of soreness he could deal with. Natsumi Tanaka She fought it a moment more, only causing it to get up higher... Before it finally passed her knee. At that, she froze, letting out a tiny squeak at the sensation. Not good. It was too high for her tastes... and trying to get it off obviously wasn't doing any good.
Without a clue what to do with it, she moved her hands to her lap, fussing with her skirt as she stared at the black scaley thing, slightly flushed from that odd feeling of cool scales slowly moving their way up her leg.
After several moments of staring, she came up with nothing... She'd just have to sit there til it moved on it's own and.. as for going to the bathroom... She'd just have to pray her bladder outstood his tail, or buy him a new bed. She prayed for the first of the two options. Thomas Brinley Poor Natsumi had given up and, from his odd perspective, seemed positively terrified, which took all of the fun out of the situation. Yawning widely as he 'awoke', he stretched his arms out over his head. After blinking twice, he glanced over to her, quirked a brow, then looked down to his tail around her leg, hastily unwrapping it. There. He was a good boy, see? "Sorry about that." Natsumi Tanaka She shifted a bit as Thom sat up, freezing once more when the tail tightened at her movements, apparently refusing to let go of it's warm cozy spot. She tried to ignor it... Smile at Thom, and just pretend it wasn't there. But the smile came out crooked at tense.
She let out a breath as the tail left, quickly moving her legs so they hung off the bed and fussing with her skirt that had falling up some. "N-"She squeaked, pausing to steady her voice. "No... I am sorry if I woke you. Are you feeling better?" She turned back to him with a smile, starting to relax again. It only took a moment for her bladder to remind her the first reason she had needed up, to which she placed a hand on her stomach and stood. Only waiting long enough for an answere before scooting back to his bathroom. "Excuse me." she noted as she went in, breifly hoping he didn't mind her using his bathroom. Though she didn't feel she had much choice at this point. Thomas Brinley "Nah, it's fine." He waved away her apology, yawning and sitting up. "Still a bit sore, but much better, thanks." He quirked a brow at the sudden departure, chuckling softly and shaking his head. He was in a surprisingly good mood for having changed the night before. Between realizing that he could still walk and the amusing situation to which he'd awakened, the day was off to a fairly good start. Yawning once more, he shifted to swing his legs off the bed, making as if to stand, but almost immediately sinking back down. In that brief instant he was awake completely, staring across the room at the wall. One foot was flat on the floor...one wasn't. But by the way he was sitting, both should be. Both feet should be on the floor. His good mood was gone, eyes dull and unblinking as he stared across the room. As long as he didn't look, there was a chance. His leg felt normal. Perhaps his foot was just asleep. That was all. He couldn't feel it. Yeah, that had to be it... Where was the floor..? As long as he didn't look, both legs were still normal... Natsumi Tanaka After a moment, there was a flush, then running water, before the door opened again. Natsumi fussing with her skirt and then up to her bed-head. Stupid hair... Not wanting to be perfect when she awoke.
Oh well, that aside she figured it was about time to do what she had done before... Say her goodbyes, and head off for a shower while Thom got his. She moved back to him, smiling some. "I will be go--" she paused suddenlly, eyes locking on the difference between his two legs. It wasn't too bad it had just been a slight attention grabbing suprise... "Ing." She finished, snapping her eyes back to him. What do you do when someone has a physical impediment? Look away and pretend it's not there, of course. "Maybe we could watch the football videos today?" She smiled a bit wider, deciding now was a good time for a topic change... and Thom definatly liked football, maybe it would cheer him up from the whole change thing? Thomas Brinley Natsumi was back, was speaking to him. Thankful for the distraction, he glanced over, but his frown only deepened when she paused. The hesitation was unmistakable, as was her expression. For a brief moment he met her eyes, only to pull his gaze away with a sigh and glance down towards his legs. Might as well see the damage. For a long moment he was silent, staring down at the deformed leg as if he expected it to pop off and be right as rain beneath it. When no change was forthcoming, he took a deep breath, exhaled slowly and, again thankful for the chance of subject, nodded. One hand rose to grab the headboard of the bed, and between bracing himself on that and the aid of his still relatively whole right foot was able to stand. But from there, he wasn't the least bit sure what to do. His left foot, if it could even be called that, hung a good distance from the floor. Pride demanded that he make the walk on his own. Reality insisted that such a feat, at least at this point, was impossible. Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi bit her lip, her brain spun suddenlly... Should she offer him help? She wasn't sure right now. Something about the whole thing warned her his man-pride was in danger... And growing up with only one other female in her family, she knew well enough not to harm the sacred man-pride.
But what to do instead of offering help? She had absolutly no clue. Which resulted in a noise simmaler to an "um" but much less formed, and a twitch of her hands as though she was about to offer an arm but then resisted. After an awkward moment, she finally half-held out her arm, not thinking of anything else she could do other than just leave him there... and that wasn't in her nature. Thomas Brinley The silence stretched on, and Thom hardly moved while he debated his next action. However, when she offered her arm, he snapped from his daze, straightening up. Cracking a smile of thanks, he nonetheless waved away the offer, making his way across the floor in a series of short hops. It was ungainly at best, but the TV wasn't far and the DVDs were on top of it, so he could risk the attempt. Reaching the TV, he braced himself with one hand, flipping open the case and removing the first DVD with the other. Once everything was set and running, he returned to the bed in the same manner, gesuring for Natsumi to do the same. Once he was relatively comfortable once more, he retrieved the remote and hit play. And the first match began. Natsumi Tanaka She lowered her arm with a bit of a smile, just glad she hadn't offended him. She stayed where she stood as she watched him hop across the room, frowning some at the sight. It was wierd.. To see Thom reduced to such a state. Ever since she first met him he'd always seemed so... Strong? Athletic? She wasn't sure what the word was but whatever it had been it hadn't included him hopping around a room with some wierd thing protruding from his neck.
She brought her smile back when he turned around, saving her thoguhts for later. Now, it was Thom-time, and... Apparently he wanted to watch the game now. She couldn't blame him, so for once she let her shower wait and slipped back into the bed. She settled herself in a seated position with her legs tucked under her, and slightly to the side, and her hands folded neatly in her lap. She gave a wary glance to the man's tail, before the click of the movies playing caught her attention. She paused only breifly to offer Thom an enthusiastic smile, then locking her attention on the screen. This would be good... Right? Thomas Brinley Sadly, it was not. From the start things began a downward spiral. There was the usual prematch banter, announcers discussing the odds of the match to be played while the teams warmed up. The opening ceremonies would begin shortly, da da, da da, and on. And then there was a brief announcement, and as one the crowd rose for a moment of silence. A moment in honor, it was explained, of the six members of the British team who had perished in a bus wreck not long before, of the others who had been killed or injured in the accident. The names ran along the screen, Thom's among the first six. And then, after a short while, the crowd sat and, on a much more subdued note, the match began. Thom didn't move from the moment the announcement began, and even after it passed it was some minutes before he reacted. He took a deep, somewhat shakey breath, leaning back against his pillow and turning his gaze towards the ceiling, eyes unusually bright... Natsumi Tanaka Nope. not good. Natsumi's eyes widened as Thom's name came apon the screen... He was.. dead? His family.. His friends. They all thought he was dead. Even if he somehow made it off the island they'd never bleeive it was him. What if they had told her family she was dead...? As the announcements slowed to a stop she breifly imagined her own family mourning her death. It filled her with a great feeling of dsperation to get the hell off of there...
And Thom... how he must feel. Probably the same... Along with his change. She felt her heart twist with empathy, turning to look at him. He looked about as well as she had guessed. Leaning towards him some, resting her palms on the bed. Swallowing hard, "Thomas...?" she questioned, her voice hardly above a whisper with unsurity. What do you say to something like that? Oh sorry you're dead? Thomas Brinley He took another shakey breath, exhaling slowly, and closed his eyes against what looked suspiciously like a tear. However, he masked it with a bitter chuckled, letting his head loll back against the wall, though his eyes remained closed. "That's just th' final blow, isn't it? 'Alf th' team's dead, th' other 'alf'll never play again--I was th' lucky one. I was th' ruddy lucky one, and 'ere I am spendin' the rest of my bloody life on some island with one leg 'alf th' size it should be." Sitting up suddenly, he reopened his eyes and clicked off the game. Maybe he would watch it later. Now? Now he wanted to walk. His eyes scanned the room, searching for a makeshift crutch. Who had been on that list? He couldn't remember exactly.. Aaron? No, Aaron was alive. Aaron was alive, but injured to the point that he would never play football again. As was Thom. But he was sure, if they had both been back home, the first challenge following the fight would be to be the first to walk again. And in honor of his friend...he was going to win that challenge. Natsumi Tanaka She listened quietly, biting into her lip as he spoke. The tone he had reminded her of how she'd felt when Taro showed up... Sure these were two completely different situations, but the general feeling was the same. That the last inch you can take feeling...
Debating something as he sat up, she bit into her lip harder, taking a deep breath and going for it. A bit nerviously, she wrapped her arms around him sideways, turning her head some to the side when it came to rest apon his shoulder. She vaugly noticed the game was still on, but it wasn't important right now. She shut her eyes in a bit of a nervious reaction as she hugged the man.
It was a risk for her... Made her heart quicken at the thought of somehow offending him, or doing something wrong. The general thought of getting him mad or being rejected in general. But her first thought remained. When she felt that way.. this is what she had wanted. So just maybe... Thomas Brinley He couldn't walk on his own just yet... He needed something to help him relearn. A crutch or a cane of some sort. His possessions were terribly limited. He hadn't exactly packed for the island, much less known he would need something to aid his walking. Maybe he could break one of the legs off the table... The hug startled him back to the present and, his focus lost, allowed the reality of what had taken place to set in once more. His friends were dead. He was presumed dead. He couldn't walk. There was no going back. Pride held him still for only seconds before he gave in and returned the hug, eyes reclosing as he ducked his head. He wasn't crying, of course! Just...fighting the urge to..and only sort of failing... Natsumi Tanaka As he returned the hug, she felt her awkwardly sized stomach get in the way some... Atleast it wasn't too bad. Her heart stilled it's nerviousness as he returned the hug, letting out the breath she'd been holding. Good.. She hadn't misread him. As she relaxed, she simply kept the hug there, as Kikue had done with her. Admitidly, this was much different than Kikue's hug. But she'd still stay there until he seemed ready to stop.
After a moment, she figured she should say something... She tried to get some thoughts going in her head, and then translate them to english. It took a moment, but she got something. "I.. Know I am not much but... We are friends." she paused to place some more words correctly. It would have been hard enough to figure out what to say in Japanese, let alone a second language... Still, she was trying. "I would like to help if i could..." She frowned some, that wasn't right... She knew there wasn't anything she could do about what was upsetting him. Opening her eyes so she could try and read his responces to what she was saying, she shifted letting out a light sigh. "I mean... Whatever friends do... yes? But... I am not sure what. I can not do anything." she admited, feeling her throat tighten suddenlly as she admited being powerless. The island was scary enough as it was, but Thom had pretty much saved her every time something went wrong... And now she couldn't do anything for him. "I am sorry." she finished, looking down towards the bedspread, just wishing she could somehow wave a magic wand and fix everything. Thomas Brinley The hug was decidedly awkward, given Natsumi's stomach getting in the way of things, but it was a comfort, and Thom was thankful. He would have been quite content to have no one say a thing for a good long while, but when Natsumi spoke the plans changed a bit. He snapped back to his senses enough to draw back from the hug, but continued to avoid her eyes throughout her brief offer, instead fixing his gaze on the television, though he didn't actually comprehend anything that was taking place on screen. Finally, however, he pulled his eyes away, returning them to her. He cleared his throat and cracked a smile, murmuring a quiet 'Thanks'. That was all. Anything else would likely have produced more of a reaction from him than he would have liked, and he really couldn't think of a way to change the subject at such a time. He couldn't walk. He was dead to the world. His friends were dead or seriously injured--and even then, he wouldn't see them again. What was there to smile about? Natsumi Tanaka Natsumi looked back as he thanked her, offering the best reassuring smile she could muster under the circumstances. She wasn't as quick to pull away, leaving one hand on his arm and staying fairly close. Somehow, it felt as though it'd be better to just stay there. Though it was purely a gut feeling, and she'd pull away quickly if he showed any discomfort just on her sheer nerviousness that she'd do somethign to make everything worse.
The movements on the TV caught her attention, along with cheering and some booing as someone called a "combo shot" and then a striped man was calling something a "foul." While she might have understood a bit better if this wer ein Japanese, there was no such luck. And soccar-english 101 hadn't been offered in her school. She looked nervious a moment, before looking to Thom curiously. "What do they mean by.. Combo shot.. and foul?" wasn't that a word for birds? She just hoped he wouldn't mind answering her in his current state... Still a subject change was welcomed. Thomas Brinley Though the hug was gone, the touch lingered still, for which Thom was thankful. It was a reassuring feeling, a sensation that went back to childhood and before, just knowing someone was there within arms' reach if needed... Nonetheless, he was very thankful for the subject change. He seemed to snap back to his senses, taking a moment to wipe his eyes before focusing on the screen, voice only hinting at his present mood as he replied. Regardless of the announcement at the beginning of the match, this was still the World Cup, and that meant it was to be enjoyed. And so, grateful for the distraction, he lapsed into an explanation of exactly what was going on, continuing in such a manner throughout the match, and the next, and the next...
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