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 Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:40 pm
Term Paper
"It is time as juniors for you to begin your final paper for your anthropology degree, which as always is a study of some Gaian artifact of your choosing. You must study your artifact thoroughly for a period of one year, take extensive notes on the progress of the charms or curses on the artifact, and if it is deemed safe, use the artifact and document the results. Should the artifact be charmed, it is your task to seek the origins of the charm, and should it be cursed, it is your task to attempt to break the curse. Be careful of artifacts that contain sentient beings in them--these are particularily dangerous. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me. Good luck! Signed, Dr. Boreas."
Kit skimmed over the paper once again, frowning. Where was she supposed to find a unique charmed item? Of course, she could always fall back on her set of Inari's Beads, but it seemed that lately, everyone had a set of their own, and there was no doubt that someone would choose to use them. Ever since the days of Flynn's shop, 'charmed' items were becoming all too common. She paused, pondering if she could ask Dr. Boreas as doing a comparison of these mass-marketed items to something genuine as her paper. She shook her head, folding the paper and sliding it back into its original envelope, then slouched into the couch cushions, rubbing one of her temples.
"Dibs on Death Whisper!" Devan shouted from the next cushion over, standing up in excitement. Kit wasn't exactly sure what his hair color was under the black beanie he constantly wore, but it didn't seem to affect the way she saw the lanky youth whether she imagined him with blonde hair or green hair. Either way, he wore black. He, too, was in her small anthropology class, and seemed to find the very thing Kit had problems with as an easy-out for his project.
"Yeah, you and the rest of the emos in Anthro," retorted Chloe, who was sitting on the dining-room table about ten feet from the living room. She scoffed, mumbled something about corporate Gaia and sewage pipes, then returned to her math homework.
"Hey, now, not all of us wear heavy eyeliner," Kit replied, pushing up her glasses. However, it was to no avail: Chloe had already turned on her mp3 player and was blissfully unaware of the rest of the room's proceedings. Kit shook her head, looking back to Devan. "I dunno, this has me stumped. Out of everything we've worked on, I have no clue what to pick."
"Why not just do the Beads? You did all that work with them over the summer anyway," Devan shrugged, fumbling through his bag for the little cursed dagger he carried around. As he held it in his hand, his scelera turned black and his eyes began to glow violently. He smirked, putting on his best scary face.
Kit, however, was not impressed. "Very intimidating, Devan. Now put it away before the thing decides to make you a giant skeleton and you wreck the apartment again." Devan pouted, but ultimately obeyed, making sure to line the weapon in black silk and purple string. He hesitated before putting it back in his messenger bag.
"I have control of the curse now--"
"Devan, the last time you said that we all nearly died. Put it away until you're far away from here, where you can't damage property and get us sued."
Kit decided to rummage around inside her own messenger back, "Barton University" in big letters on the outside flap. She carefully removed a series of blue-white beads, the orange tassle hanging limply on one side. Frowning, she began to absent-mindedly count the beads in her hand. "I mean, I could do the Beads, but that seems so...boring. I want to work on a paper that means something."
Devan shrugged, hefting his bag over his shoulder. "Then just think about it for a while. I'm sure you'll come up with something. Boreas doesn't want to know about our items for a few weeks anyways. If you want, we'll talk about it later. See ya!" He walked to the door, checking for his cell phone, then left for what Kit knew was his Gaian Lit class.
Kit looked at the beads for another moment, but put then away, heaving her bag on the ground beside her. Having space on the couch, Kit drew up her feet and lay her head on one of the cushions, continuing to stare at the assignment envelope. What to do, what to do?
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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 1:40 pm
You're Drunk
It wasn't that Kit didn't enjoy her night classes--she just didn't appreciate having to get home so late after they finished up. Granted, if she just took the initiative and bolted after the professor said, "Class dismissed," then she could potentially make it home by ten, but Kit always had questions, and so she ended up spending an extra hour or so chatting with the teacher, having her own personal curiosities addressed outside of class so as not to bore her peers.
And so it was nearly midnight when Kit finally unlocked the door to her apartment, running a tired hand through her hair as she half-staggered into the dimly-lit living room. "If I'd have just gotten my hands on a Fallen Wish, I could've ridden home on a dragon," she grumbled, somewhat envious of her fellow students that had decided to become art majors. There was certainly more gold in Gaia's art industry than it's Anthropology field, and Kit felt that maybe she could have made it as an artist, but through it all she never regretted her choice in major. She just allowed herself to inwardly gripe about those with better jobs.
After a moment's ponderings, Kit decided that it was less effort to sleep on the couch, and went to sit in her usual spot when she discovered that the place was already occupied. Silas wheezed, becoming visible again, then gave a frenzied giggle as he turned over on one side, his tail curling up behind him. Kit frowned, and tried to nudge him from her self-proclaimed half of the couch, but he only began to laugh harder, squirming like a fish.
Kit sniffed the air, her nose wrinkling. "You're drunk," she said, crossing her arms.
The night elf began to giggle mindlessly again. "Ohohoho, you don't think I knooooooow that, Kitty?" He pulled himself up by clinging to her torso and planted a kiss on her cheek. "You should skip class for once and come hang out with some friends." He began to laugh again.
"I will when you start going to class again," Kit retorted, pulling herself free from his grasp.
Silas pouted. "Ohhhhhh, quit acting like Chloe, when I've got a...a present for you." He burped before curling back up on the couch. Kit was rather unimpressed.
"Just go to bed, Silas," said Kit, who was still valiantly trying to regain her place on the couch.
"Nonononono, not until you see my presennnnnt," Silas murmured, stumbling to his feet. "I won it in a card game--look."
Kit watched where he pointed, to the kitchen table where Chloe had been doing her homework. On top of the scattered remains of calculus papers was a giant cabbage, quite clearly squishing whatever the other woman had been working on. Kit inwardly groaned--when she woke up, this wouldn't be good.
"Why would you get a cabbage in a card game?"
"It's a maaaaagic cabbage, Kitty," Silas purred, nuzzling up behind her. "Devan says you have to work on something magic...and it's a magic cabbage." Apparently, the thought amused the dark elf, who promptly began giggling again.
Kit sighed, then slid out from Silas's grasp, looking over the thing. She couldn't see anything special about it, other than it's size. "What does it do?"
"Hell if I know, Kitty," Silas responded in between barely-contained laugh. "I knew it until you asked." With a stupid grin on his face, Silas dropped to the ground, snoring before he even made impact. Kit pondered pulling him up to his room so that he wouldn't have to sleep on the floor, but then she remembered how he'd stolen her couch.
Stupid dark elf can go to a chiropractor for all I care, she thought, slumping back to her couch. However, upon attempting to sleep, she found that his snores were rather audible even from across the room, and were also rather good at keeping her awake. It looked like she would have to go in her room after all. Kit growled for a moment, trying to force herself to stay on the couch and not have to move, but it was in vain. As she got up, she glared at the dark elf's sleeping form. Screw the chiropractor, Silas--just go to Hell. And take your 'magic cabbage' with you.
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:04 pm
Cabbagey Chaos
"Silas, would you kindly explain to me why a cabbage is on my kitchen table???"
Kit groaned, curling up into her blanket. Whenever she woke up to the sound of a screaming Chloe, she somehow could tell the resulting day would be ruined. She pulled herself out of bed with a heave, rubbing her eyes with her free hand as the other clutched to her blanket for a moment before letting it fall back to the bed. Shuffling her feet to the door of her room, she yawned, and with a shake of her unbrushed hair she opened the door, stepping into the chaos of the living room.
"There is water everywhere! I can't believe you would bring a giant vegetable into our apartment and place it on my math paper! You have absolutely no consideration for the property of others!" Chloe, in full rage-mode, snapped her attention away from Silas (who seemed particularly hungover) to Kit, sea-green eyes whirling in annoyance. "And do you know anything about this?" Chloe hissed in an accusatory tone.
Kit shrugged, crossing to the refridgerator for her Saturday-morning caffeine boost. "He told me he won it in a card game last night. Apparently, it's a magic cabbage or something." Popping open her can of Red Bino, Kit closed her eyes and took a gulp, closing the refridgerator door after her.
"Kitty's right, y'know--magic cabbage," Silas responded, with a wave of his hands for emphasis. However, when both women turned and glared, he quietly flopped down on the couch, folding his hands in his lap. If anything, he could at least recognize when he was in serious trouble.
Taking a sip from her drink again, Kit gave a critical stare at the cabbage, as well as the slippery wet tile of the dining room. "The cabbage wasn't like that last night, though," she recalled. "It wasn't open or anything like that. No water, either." She peered inside the open leaves of the vegetable, but saw nothing, and shrugged.
"So the cabbage decided it was just going to open up and spill water all over the floor?" Chloe frowned, sniffing. "Sea water, no less."
"Stranger things have happened," Kit said with a nod, accepting the theory and going to sit with Silas on the couch. "Maybe it's some sort of evolving item. Those things change on Fridays, so it could have just been a late bloomer."
For a few moments, there was silence in the small apartment, and Kit nearly reached for the remote to turn on some Saturday morning cartoons. However, Chloe didn't seem to want to let things lie, and so she crossed in front of the television, glaring down at Silas.
"You still haven't explained why you put the stupid thing on my math paper!"
"I didn't mean to--"
"--Chloe, could you please--"
"NO! I want an explanat--"
"--and I was really, really tired, and--"
"Did anyone else notice the little fish girl, or is that just me?"
All at once, the three stopped arguing, peering over furniture and one another to stare at Devan, still standing in the doorway. He returned the glances for a few moments, then walked over towards the kitchen, bending down to be about eye-level with the counter he looked behind. "Come on out, don't be shy," he said in a gentle voice.
Sure enough, the sound of squeaky footsteps could be heard, and soon after a young girl, no more than five years of age, walked shyly into the living room, her rainboots continuing to squeak with each movement. She breathed softly, eyes wide at the arguing three, and lightly, her ear fins began to flap. Her flat nose wrinkled, and she sneezed, afterwards looking down at an open box of Swedish Fish. With a single webbed hand, she dug deep down, removed one, and popped it into her mouth.
"That," Kit murmured, mouth slightly agape, "has got to be the cutest thing I've ever seen."
Chloe peered intently at the girl, her own eyes somewhat wide. "Is she...a Dutchman?"
"She can't be Dutch, her shoes aren't wooden," Silas said, somewhat giggling to himself. However, a glare from Chloe silenced himself again, and he went back to fiddling his thumbs, which for whatever reason made the girl giggle herself. Everyone stopped again, curious now that the thing had made noise. Again, the girl fell quiet, popping another red candy into her mouth.
"What do we do?" Kit finally asked, breaking the silence. She looked from the girl to the cabbage on the kitchen table, and then finally to Silas. "Is this what you meant by magic cabbage?" The dark elf could only shrug, causing Kit to sigh.
"We'll take care of her, of course!" Devan chirped, grinning as his mother-hen instincts took over. He scooted closer to the girl, halving the distance between them, then outstretched his arms for a hug. The girl didn't so much as budge, though her ear fins did flap once.
"The apartment is crowded as is, and none of us can afford feeding another mouth with everything else we have to pay for," Chloe retorted, still staring down the girl. "There are plenty of adoption agencies we can drop her by. They'll make sure she's safe."
Kit frowned, looking away. "Chloe's got a point, I guess--" The girl moved again, and on cue, Kit cut her sentence short. In the girl's hand was another Swedish Fish, but she didn't move to eat it. Instead, holding it with two short fingers, the girl held it up to the light, looking at the three in the living room. She took slow, short steps, nearly stumbling over the living room table, until finally she stood before Kit, looking up at the woman with her big green eyes. Her ear fins flapped again, and she smiled, crawling into Kit's stone-still lap.
She looked from the candy to the woman's red hair, then nodded in approval, moving to take a bite from Kit's head. However, upon discovering that hair was not another gummy treat, the girl frowned, somewhat confused as she clasped tighter to her box of candy, the contents of which were becoming precariously low.
"...You know what? I think we should keep her," Kit finally said, slowly lifting her arms to pat the toddler on the head with a shaky hand. "She can stay in my room so she's out of the way, and I'll feed her. My parents have some gold in a reserve account anyway." Chloe snorted, mumbling something about anthropology majors and their intelligence compared to potatoes, and stood, walking back into the kitchen to do something about her poor math paper. In the meanwhile, Devan came to sit beside Kit, who by this point was, with Silas, attempting to play Peek-a-Boo with the newly inducted family member, who was not amused in the slightest by her efforts.
"So, what are we naming her?"
"We? Nonono, I'm taking responsibility for her, I choose her name." Kit tried to nonchalantly procure her own Swedish Fish from the box, but before she could even reach inside, the girl snatched it away, pupil-less eyes trying to imitate the glare she'd seen on Chloe earlier.
Devan sighed, rolling his eyes. "Alrighty, then, what are you naming her?"
Kit paused, blinking for a moment. "I, uh...haven't gotten that far, yet."
Devan found that he could only laugh, shaking his head. "Well, at least you've got your work cut out for you."
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:13 pm
Seeking Names and Advice
"What do you make of her, Dr. Boreas?"
The centaur gave Mari a good look over, his stare pensive as he examined the girl. She was doing a good job of keeping still, and Kit couldn't tell if her blank stare indicated anything more than it had in the past few days. The girl moved, to dig deeper into the box of Swedish Fish, and Kit thought perhaps the only thing keeping the girl so complacent was the easy access to candy.
"Well, there's nothing cabbage-related on the official list of Evolving Items put out by Dr. Singh, and I've never heard of any myths with a child coming from a vegetable." Dr. Boreas put a hand on his bearded chin, contemplating quietly. "There have been a few stories about children coming from flowers, and of course there's the backstory of Biancamella, but nothing like an aquatic creature from a cabbage." He grinned, somewhat beside himself. "The whole thing is rather fishy, actually."
Kit shook her head, sitting beside Mari on the table. "Is she something I could work with for my junior thesis, though? I mean, technically, she fits the requirements, but you said in the letter to steer away from sentient beings, and she seems pretty sentient." To prove her point, Kit began reaching for the small box of Swedish Fish. In response, the girl sharply pulled the box away, did something akin to that of a hissing noise with her gills, and then resumed her quiet, calculated snacking.
"Indeed," Dr. Boreas mused, admittedly amused by the girl's moments of feisty character amidst the otherwise dull moments. "Does she have a name?"
"Nope," the girl murmured between bites of Swedish Fish.
Kit stared for a moment, wondering if she should be baffled by the girl's first words. "Well, she'd never spoken up until this point, so we thought maybe she was waiting to tell us."
"Nope," the girl repeated, her speaking now in rhythm with her measured bites.
"Well, if she's going to be the focus of your project, then you'll have to categorize her under one of Gaia's species, since she shows sentience and all," Dr. Boreas said with a final nod, clopping over to his desk, adjusted to be taller to compensate for his unique stature. He grabbed a notebook, then returned to the counter where Kit and Mari sat.
Kit paused again, somewhat disbelieving of what she'd just heard. "You're letting me write my paper on her?" She stammered, unable to conceal her smile.
"There's no reason you can't, provided you categorize her so I can send topics to head of the board by the end of the week," responded Boreas as he flipped open to a page, names of fellow classmates and their topics scribbled in tiny writing. "Though I have to admit it changes the nature of your paper slightly, since you can't harness the effects of the artifact other than raising its creation." Kit momentarily glanced over and saw Devan's name next to barba mors, rolling her eyes. What a copout.
"Kit, I need a scientific name for the girl," Dr. Boreas warned, his mouth set in a frown.
"Wait, you want me to name her?" Kit seemed even more exasperated by this prospect than the last. "But I'm just a student. This'll go down in the records for--forever!"
"She's your project. Did you think I was going to walk you through the entire process?" Boreas looked at the girl, who seemed none the wiser for their chat. However, at that moment, she looked up at the centaur, taking time from her snacking to blink quietly.
"You have a horse body," the girl said resolutely.
"How astute of you, my child," Boreas responded, amused by her observation. Then, he turned to Kit again, regaining his serious composure. "A name for the child, Future Doctor Weathersby?"
Kit had never liked being put on the spot, and she all but writhed under her teacher's gaze, putting her focus on the girl so she wouldn't have to look in his eyes. "Well, she's, uhh, obviously she's of aquatic origins, so we can put her in the...Mariner genus, right?" She looked up to Dr. Boreas for his approval, and getting a nod, she continued. "And, uhhh...is there a latin word for cabbage?"
"Not that I can think of, but lactura with the long a at the end means 'from the lettuce," said Dr. Boreas with a sagely flick of his ears. "You could have found that on your own, but I can coach your latin for the purposes of time."
Kit nodded with a gulp, going back to her thoughts. "Okay, so we can call her Mariner lactura, at least as a working title until I make sure there's no word for 'cabbage'." She watched Boreas write for a moment, then peered over his notebook. "Make sure you put it down as a working title, okay?"
"Science is nothing but working titles, Kit," Dr. Boreas said, closing the book and replacing it on his desk. "We're done here, unless you have any further questions."
"Mari," the girl responded, nodding like she'd seen Dr. Boreas do.
Kit found herself unable to figure out what the girl was trying to say, and ultimately could only respond with a "Huh?"
"Mari. That's my name."
"But I thought you said you didn't have a name!" Kit half-whined, beginning to get a headache with all these contradictions.
"Now I do. It's Mari." With that, Mari reached for another Swedish Fish, paused, and shook the now-empty box. "Can I get more, Future Dottor Kit?" Mari blinked, wondering if she'd gotten the title right. It was close, and that was what counted, so she hopped to the ground without giving it another thought.
"A-alright, Mari," Kit said, starting for the door. "But just call me Kit. Or Mommy, if you want to...Either one works, I guess." Kit didn't know how she felt about being a mother, but she supposed she wouldn't know until everything else fell into place. "Thank you so much, Dr. Boreas!"
"Any time, Kit," Boreas said, returning to his work, "And good luck with your academic endeavors."
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:16 pm
Jumping Through Paperwork Hoops
[Fish/Mari]
Kit goes to register Mari at the Liberty Center, and shenanigans occur when she meets Fish, someone who has scales like she does! They go playing in puddles in search of the Dutchman briefly before Fish gets carted to the office for prior shenanigans of his own.
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 2:12 pm
I can haz kiddy pool?
[Anise/Touda/Mari]
Kit and Devan take Mari to a waterpark for some fun in the sun, where she literally bumps into her newest friend, Anise!
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Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:33 pm
Observation Journal 1
In a spiral bound notebook hidden away on one of Kit's shelves, a series of scribbled-down pages records her notes. They read as follows:
Subject: Mariner Lactura, Common Name "Mari"
Stage of Evolution: Toddler
Although it is an untested and condoned practice for the evolving item reports done thusfar, I have taken the subject and immersed it in my own culture--namely, by raising her. It is admittedly difficult to distinguish her apart from a normal child, and althoug her vocals are hardly ever used, she exhibits a sentience higher than any other observed item.
To be continued
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