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quietsnooze
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Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 5:25 pm

Quest time!

There's no doubt Nero likes his summer - but what about winter? As snow hits the ground and the wind is chillier, how does Nero react? Does he bundle up tighter than the Michelin man, sit by the toasty fire, and mope in hopes that warm weather is around the corner? Or does he discover that, hey, his white stuff is great, and making snowmen and snowangels is fantastic fun, as is riding down hill on a sled?

Whatever Nero decides, chronicle a few days of winter weather, and Nero's reaction to them.

Good luck, fishy one!

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 5:57 am

Quest post 1/3

First snowfall

Winter was something Nero had only ever heard about and seen on tv until now. A summer baby the betta child was used to lush green grass, warm sunny days and animals everywhere. Fall had come too soon taking away some of summers heat but amusing Nero by making many leaves change to colours that matched his skin and fins. Using a plastic rake to make leaf piles to jump in had been good fun for him. Now though summer and fall had both past leaving Nero only with winter. The air was cold now, most of the animals had gone away and the trees has no leaves. Winter was well.. boring.

Then in the middle of one night Nero woke up needing to pee. The finned chill standing up in his tank bed, water rolling off his skin and nose taking his air while the gills on the side of his neck stopped functioning. As he climbed out of bed and onto the plastic that surrounded it Nero’s dark eyes were drawn to the window and he blinked slowly. Then with a rush, fins all a quiver he raced to the glass not bothering to get a towel to dry off with first.

Snow! The fluffy stuff he saw on the tv sometimes it had come and was covering the ground and the trees and everything. Nero was amazed hat had quiet it was considering how much of it was in the air and the fact that it was sticking to his window too. Though it was cold and gave him goosebumps Nero pressed his face against the window pane and
Watched the snow fall until his breath fogged up the window.

Winter wasn’t going to be boring anymore because now there was snow and that meant they could do all the tv things you did in snow. The bubbles from his toy bubble gun his papa gave him might even turn into icy bubbles that floated, that idea of course being Nero’s favorite, his excitement over snow still not overpowering his obsession with bubbles.

Too excited to go back to sleep and need to pee forgotten for the moment Nero grabbed the plastic gun in question off his dressed and bolted for the door. His papa was going to have a baby soon and needed sleep but Shy would wake up and take him out of course. Toddling as fast as his chubby little legs would carry him Nero made his way down the apartment hall and then into his older brother’s room.

“ Shylock wake up the snow came winter isn’t boring.” The dark skinned betta hiccup sounded very young still but his words were better thought out then when he’d first made requests to his brother usually in questioning one word sentences. “ Please Shylock I want to touch snow” Careful of the others whip like and spiked tail Nero poked at the side of his green haired sibling’s face. “Pleeease” he whispered.

Eventually Nero got his way although not as quickly as he would have liked . He also wasn’t very happy about being even more bundle up for winter than before. Now there was a fuzzy scarf and mittens over his webb fingered hands and extra clothes. He felt too warm and unhappy and he wasn’t even going to be able to touch the snow. Shylock had insisted though and Nero couldn’t very well argue with the bigger boy; besides he was still young and naive enough to believe that his brother knew everything.

Once outside, though without his toy as he’d forgotten it while getting dressed up, the finned that was thankful for the extra wrapping though as the chilly night wind combined with falling flakes still managed to seep in and stalk some of his warmth. His tail being the lead covered flared displaying colourfull fins only to Shylock before clamping closed to stop the feeling of cold pinpricks as snowflakes fell on it.

“ I have to pee” Nero commented a few minutes later when the wonder of walking in the light white stuff had had worn off a bit and he’d poked at the snow with un-mittened fingers briefly. It was nice stuff and might be fun later but now he really had to pee.

When all was said and done though Nero found that what he loved most about his first snow was not the snow itself but the early morning hot chocolate that came after it while he cuddling with Shylock and tried to get warm again. This had always looked like the boring part about winter and snow on tv but Nero supposed that the tv could be wrong sometimes.

Eventually the hiccup dozed off again to dream of hot chocolate, snow that wasn’t cold
and floating ice bubbles.

words: 801

ladyumbra

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ladyumbra

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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 8:19 am

Quest Post 2/3

Winter’s teachable moments

Nero was curled up in a comfy recliner watching tv. In flannel pajamas specially made by his aunty Blaice the hiccup was toasty warm but could still move plenty and his fins weren’t tucked away or scrunched up. With a bowl of grapes on his lap and a small cup of hot chocolate with multi coloured marshmallows on the tv tray beside him Nero was quite content to spend the incredibly snowy day sitting and watching the tv.

On the tv was the newest part in a special series on Earth’s Cirque, normal circuses and other similarly styled performance type places from all over the galaxy. Given where he lived Nero had found the performance episodes o he’d watched for far pretty fun and it sort of made him wish he was bigger so he could try stuff too. For now he’d just watch though and see what he liked best so he’s know for the future what to try first.

On screen there was a deafening crack of thunder and a torrential downpour fell from sprinklers on the ceiling. The water rained down into a large pool set into the stage. From a shadowed place up above a performer emerged and hurled themselves out into the air. The costumed woman fell, a flash of silver in a dark storm, a glistening raindrop. She plummeted towards one of the many trampolines ringing the pool. Just a few feet above it she flipped to land on her feet and bounce back up like a rain drop bouncing off the street in heavy rain. Soon several men and women joined her and bounced up and down on the decorated trampolines, they were all little drops of water, raining down, splashing up and falling back to the ground.

As the program went to a commercial Nero thought they should have played a snow themed episode today given the storm that had trapped him inside. It was the newest thing he’d learned about winter, snow not ice but just plain only snow could hurt you if wind was pushing it fast enough. That and the fact that it sometimes got so cold it wasn’t safe to go outside no matter what you wore because you’d freeze up and die. Nero’d argued at first that’d he’d know if he was too cold but his papa told him that the sort of cold that froze you like that you didn’t feel, that you though you were warm and then you just fell asleep and were gone.

Nero wasn’t so young that he didn’t understand the idea of dying and being gone forever. He wasn’t always sure on the specifics or why it happened just that it was bad, was sometimes and accident and always made people sad. Not wanting that to happen he’d agreed to stay nice and warm inside with the tv, his family and thoughts about things winter had taught him.

Only able to focus on one thing at a time though Nero’s attention was soon back on the tv screen as the commercials ended and the performance began again.

People mimicking ball lightning flew across the sky from trapeze to trapeze. They were majestic and nearly faster than Nero’s eyes could watched as they jumped and swayed, leapt and caught, alone and in pairs. A peal of thunder reverberated throughout the stage and the audience physically watching oohed. It was as if there really was a storm in the place and it was alive. Nero was a bit jealous then although he’d seen shows at home before.

Suddenly someone fell from above, they were suspended and trailed by a silver length of rope. Precisely timed and carefully placed backlighting made them appear to glow as if they were a bolt of lightning silvery white with a yellow afterglow.

As he watched the performance Nero nibbled on his grapes peeling their sour skin off with his teeth and eating it first before the juicy and sweeter fruit he’d nearly finished the entire small bunch he’d been given by the time the next commercials came around. Looking down at the bowl Nero though his grapes sort of reminded him of small green bubbles which made the boy giggle.

Winter had taught him new things about bubbles too, that cold air made them fall faster, that they never froze over and that snowflakes usually popped them even if they were falling very gently in no wind. These things had made the betta child sad because bubbles were special to him and they just weren’t very good outside in the winter. He’d grudgingly stopped taking his favourite toy outside then because of that and the fact that it could crack from the cold, something else the fish child had learned.

Getting a bit annoyed at the thought Nero’s fins rippled in pre flare motion before the tv screen flickers and the sound got quieter signaling that the show was back.

Now on the stage a young boy was twirling around. In a white and grey costume with matching long strands of streamer like fabric the ribbon dancer was a whirling dervish, wind incarnate. He stopped to lean forward for a moment and stretched out letting the ribbons flare towards the audience and camera.

Both the crowd and Nero instinctively leaned back as if they had been lost to the magic of the performance. If they wind blew at them surely they must move. Elsewhere on stage other performers reacted to the wind as well shifting foreword and swaying as if unable to fight it's strength. Wherever the little wind boy went he was the ultimate power it seemed, the unstoppable force.

Slowly though the rain became lighter then stopped altogether, the pool no longer rippling from the raging torrent. The wind died down and from wherever it came the thunder gave a last almost hollow boom. As the last vestiges of the storm faded away so did a it’s living embodiments and then the screen went dark and credits were rolling.

Nero clapped as if he were at the stage at home then looked over at his Papa who was curled up on the couch. The winged man was smiling and Nero knew he was thinking about his father who was a performer here.

Spending lots of time in the house instead of outside playing had taught Nero to read, at least in his own mind, what the expressions on his papa’s face meant. He supposed he’d sort of learned it because if winter since it made the cold weather happen. That, the betta boy thought was a good thing he’d learned because of winter.

There really were more good things he’d learned than bad things though, like how he could breath on his bedroom window and write down what he'd dreamed about when he woke up or how if you went outside in winter you automatically got a warm bubble bath when you came back inside.

His papa said there was still a lot of winter left to come though so Nero guessed he was probably going to learn a lot more before it was all over

Words, 1, 192

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 10:28 am

Quest post 3/3

Winter according to fish

Nero grinned with pride as he finished colouring his ' winter is' picture. It was supposed to be fun by thinking about things that reminded him of winter but also good for him becuase his Papa was helping him write out the words he said. Well his Papa wrote them on another piece of paper and then Nero copied them with his own webbed hands onto his paper. It was just them together for this project which the finned child liked a lot. He loved the rest of his family especially his new little sister Maion but there were times when he wanted his Papa all to himself even if it was for learning.

Picking up his childish but hard worked upon and well thought out masterpiece Nero carried it to the fridge and placed it under a juice jug shaped magnet before he stepped back to look at it. There were only five things on the paper but they were the first five he'd though of and all that would fit.

First was gifts for which he'd drawn and coloured a little red and green present. Christmas was in winter and there's been lots of gifts for that both at home and fake ones in malls, all the talk on tv had been about gifts too. Shylock's friend Taylor had also had a birthday in winter so there'd been some non Christmas gifts too that Nero had seen.

Next was snow, it hadn't been there all winter but there was tons of it everywhere now. Nero found it good and bad, fun and boring it just depending on his mood at the time and if it stopped him from doing things. The betta child knew his snowflake was badly drawn but it was so very hard to try and draw a good one, they had so many little details and stuff and they were soo tiny, even the biggest he'd seen could fit on his thumb.

Underneath Gifts on the paper was a light blue circle of ice. Nero knew you could make ice in the summer but it happened all by itself in the winter. He'd gone skating on it once and met Taylor's twin, slipped on some on the stairs and bit his lip, as well as licked an icicle hanging outside and gotten stuck. Ice was weird part of winter and Nero wasn't quite sure if he liked it most of the time or not yet.

Next to the ice was picture of his family, minus Maion who was too small to draw, he'd even remembered to put in his papa's wings and his and Shylock's tails. Plus'd he's made his father extra tall becuase he was the tallest in the family. Winter meant going and doing a lot of things with his family or staying inside and doing things with them. Not that Nero had ignored them in the summer but the colourfully finned toddler had been more keen to play with other children then and swim and do his own thing. The cold and holidays had reminded him of why he loved his family so much.

The last things on the boy's list was a black and white striped scarf and a purple mitten becuase winter meant you had to wear special clothes to stay warm. They were only for outside though becuase they were too warm and made you feel heavy if you wear them inside.

The pictures weren't perfect and his letters were all slanty but for the most part Nero was happy with what he made and he at least knew what he'd meant by it and that was enough for him.

words: 611
grand total 2604

ladyumbra

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exipotic
Crew

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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 3:13 pm

Quest time!

Nero is getting to that age. You know the one. Where girls are starting to notice him and he's noticing them. There's a girl at the local pool that he's seen a lot and finally he works up the courage to go talk to her.

It's going well right up until her 'boyfriend' shows up and starts shoving Nero around. Upset and angry that he was being shoved around, he relies on instincts and pushes back. When that's not a deterrent for the older boy, they get into a fight. A fight where Nero is the victor and the other boy has some serious injuries to his face.

Disturbed by his own power, the amount of anger that he showed, Nero runs off to the ocean and hides there. It's there he'll find his center or even more fury from the waves. Does he calm down and come back to win the girl? Or does he let the fury of being a potential fighter win?

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 1:21 pm

Quest part 1

Nero had ventured away from the CDL grounds to go to nearby local pool to swim. He didn't have to worry about dealing with Connor there, she was a decent friend but the gator girl was too rough and aggressive even in play for him, and the local swim center also had Clara. Clara of the faintly glowing skin and wide eyes and pretty laugh. She wasn't quite human but Nero hadn't gotten up the courage yet to talk to her and ask her what she was. He wouldn't even know her name yet if he hadn't her some of her friends call her by it.

Something held him back when he saw people he found like her. Not that Nero had found a lot of people like Clara thus far, in fact it was only recently he'd started to notice people like that at all. Nero wasn't sure why but something in his stomach got all twisted up and he found himself frozen, able to watch these special people he found himself drawn to but never make contact or even if he did Nero was never able to really say what he meant.

Today would be different though, today the Betta had steeled his nerves and he was going to make an attempt to talk to and actually connect with her.

Swimming along the bottom of the pool, thankful he didn't need to come up for air, Nero made his way over to Clara in order to pop up beside her with a smile. " Hello."

Despite the way his stomach rolled and his rings quivered just a little Nero discovered that Hello and the conversation that followed it weren't nearly as big a deal as he thought they could be. The dark skinned boy was actually able to relax while he and Clara talked about swimming techniques and school and what it was like having older siblings. Not exactly subtle for it wasn't in his nature Nero did take the opportunity to show off while they chatted. He briefly fully extended his colourful fins, with the decency of at least feigning a stretch, pleased with the grin it elicited from the girl. The Betta tried not to be overwhelming as he did anything he could while they talked and swam to keep Clara's attention on him, to show her how interesting and nice she was. Nero didn't know if this was how courtship was supposed to go but he was giving it his best shot.

After a while Nero suggested they grab a snack, from once of the cart vendors that always hung around the pool. Clara agreed and things were going well, she was holding his hand, which felt oddly warm including his webbing, at least until a shadow fell over both of them.

" Who're you and why are you touching Clara?"

Nero stared up at the menacing and somewhat impressive figure cut by an older boy with fox ears and a fluffy tail that indicated he certainly hadn't been swimming recently. Nero's fin's quivered and something inside the boy stirred. " We're friends" Nero supposes it's technically true now " she isn't saying no." They were only holding hands it wasn't really a big deal, besides who was he to be glaring at them like that?

" I'm saying no," the kitsune declared and before Nero could register the threat there were strong hands on his chest pulsing him back. The Betta let go of Clara and rocked back on his heels but didn't fall. He exercised too much by swimming to topple that easily. Anger clouded the hiccups vision and he flared his fins in anger before darting forward and shoving back. He would not be pushed around!

Nero doesn't really remember much of the fight that came afterward, just snippets like ' not your girlfriend' and ' I'm not afraid of you' There are brief memories of fists and feet flying, the sting of hits landed on him and the satisfaction of his own knuckles connecting with Clara's..something. Nero does remember the yank on his tail being the last straw and sending a well aimed fist, he's no fighter but living on the CDL grounds you pick stuff up, into the other boy's face. Nero's clearly recalls the sound of crunching cartilage over the excited noises of the gathered crowd and he knows what warm blood on his hand feels like.

It was then when everyone fell silent and no further attacks came his way that Nero realized what he'd done.

Scared and wholly unsure of even himself now he had bolted and taken the fastest route available to the beach. He couldn't go home right now it felt wrong and there was something inside him suddenly unsure if his family could still accept him after that outburst. Especially because a tiny part of his brain kept repeating' he deserved it.' Right now Nero comfort and he was most likely to find it beneath the ocean's waves.

Words: 831

ladyumbra

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ladyumbra

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Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 7:41 pm

Quest part 2

Though a strong breeze made the sea choppy Nero noticed only minor turbulence. When swimming he was not the sort to skim the surface unless he had a reason to like when tubing or trying to surf. Betta were, according to something his papa had looked up, prone to swimming at the bottom of the areas they were in and even hiding beneath underwater foliage and the like. What it meant for Nero was that he tended to swim well below the surface of whatever water he was in and thus was less subject to the rolling and pitching at the top.

Still what was important right now for the hiccup was that he was surrounded by water and cut off from regular people. People like those who had recently watched him get into the first real fight of his life. Something that weighed heavily on Nero's mind. He was prone to fits yes and had been since he was very small but he had never felt such rage before. Even the bouts of fear that had temporarily paralyzed him in the past were nothing compared to this. Nero had wanted nothing more but to beat his opponent until the other couldn't fight back. In a way he had accomplished this goal.

It made him nervous though, because what if he got mad at someone that didn't deserve that. The hiccups conscious was already asking of the kitsune had deserved the beating he got. Nero did a few somersault as he thought about that. The other boy had no right to push him or to tell him if he could or could not hold Clara's hand. He might have liked her too but she hadn't said anything about her being his.

That caused a bit of tightness in Nero's gut as he chased some sort of neon green puffer fish around a jagged rock formation. Clara had said nothing during the fight that he could recall, or beforehand when it had been just pushing and she hadn't tried to chase after him when he ran either. Clara had done nothing at all, just let them fight over her and waited to see who won. She had made no choice when doing so would have prevented the fighting at all. When he thought of Clara now Nero didn't feel any longing at all just cold indifference tinged with disappointment.

No matter how much Nero swam, be it deep in the water or amongst the frothy and choppy surf, and thought about his predicament he always came back to three things. He didn't want to hurt innocent people, if he had to do the fight over he still and he was never speaking to Clara again. fins fully flared he was still very much a bundle of rage and frustration.

By the time he tired himself out and flopped upon the shore Nero had come to the conclusion that he still wasn't ready to talk with people he was attracted too but that he did need to talk to his father about this. The Hiccup knew how he felt about today but he also knew that another opinion was needed. Perhaps only then could his feelings be tempered.

Words: 536

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 8:47 pm

Quest part 3

zane played by dgcakes

Nero was still on edge , fins quivering when he finally made it home. This had not been a good day and it probably wasn't about to get much better. The betta needed to about that had happened today and there was only one person in the house he felt he could discuss it with.

Zane was home, stretched out on the couch and reading over a manuscript draft for Rune. The angels of the house had gone to the spa for a while - Rune wanted to investigate - and Maion was down for a nap, snuggled down in Zane's lap. Shylock, meanwhile, was out somewhere.

The dark skinned male glanced up from his book, raising a brow at his son. "Hey Nero. What's wrong?"

The dark skinned boy leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the living room, it felt safer there, a part of him nervous that his parent would react badly to what he had to say. Not that he'd ever really seen him mad before. " I broke a guys nose today" he admitted quietly " I kind of liked it, I'd do it again." Nero was sure if he had to repeat that fight he could have found a way to win without doing that and he was also sure that that rage that had surged up in him would convince him to do something worse.

"Good job." Zane said with a shrug, closing the manuscript and turning to the boy. "Now tell me why and I may or may not do something about it."

Now Nero stared at at feet but clenched his fists " there was a girl, she wasn't worth it though." he'd decided that earlier on. " We were fighting about her."

"Oh?"

The boy sighed" we were just walking, away from the pool and he showed up and started pushing me, telling me to stay away from her. I pushed him back and then " Nero shrugged " It just sort of happened until i broke his nose." he had been shocked then, was still a bit shocked now, he wasn't used to sudden surges in anger that strong and while he felt justified now he didn't know what to do about if it happened again. if something else set him off and he hurt someone that didn't deserve it

"Happens." Zane commented, reaching down to carefully put Maion in her bassonet and stand up to hug his son. "Was he seriously hurt besides that?"

"Well did you beat the ever living crud out of him?"

Nero looked thoughtful trying to piece together what he did remember of the fight and judge based off how much pain he was in from the blows that landed on him " well he could walk but he's going to be bruised and sore for a while" Nero was sure of that.

"Then don't worry about it." Zane told the boy with a careful pat on the head. "You could have done much worse."

Nero frowned "but what if it happens again and I hurt someone who doesn't deserve it" he looked up in concern "I've never been that mad before I wanted to hurt him so much." Though he was comforted by his father's presence Nero's fins rippled violently at the memory 'I wanted to make him suffer until he couldn't fight back."

"Well you'll have to learn how to handle your anger." Zane told him. "WHy don't you go grab some grapes and come sit on the couch with me?"
Nero nodded " okay" he smiled a little as he went to fetch the grapes, though he'd grown a lot since then Nero still remembered his first day here and his first experience with grapes.

Zane sat down again and idly pet Maion's hair. "If you aren't good, I'll have to ship you off for training." he called to his son as a joke.

Nero laughed softly to himself on his way back into the room, a stem of grapes lay on a bow he carried in one hand " Send me where? I don't think anywhere takes people like me." The boy's eyes strayed to his sister and he smiled again "she need training already" he teased. He loved Maion but she was a very bossy baby.

"You'd be amazed. They trained me, they'll train you." Zane pointed out, "And yes. She'll be even worse when she's bigger."

The betta child sat down and plucked a grape off the stem " I have special needs" like a tank and his family especially shylock. He wasn't clinging to them all the time but he did need them.

"So did I. I had to be able to spend a lot of time with Kyin between my trainings. It might be good for you. Or I could show you." Zane pointed out.

Nero looked thoughtful " I don;t want to go away but I don't want to take up all your time either." Because his papa and Rune and Maion and Shylock needed him too. It was perplexing although he was a bit curious about the people who'd made his father into what he was.

"I could still try to help you though."

" I'd like that" It'd help his nerves as would swearing off going near people he was attracted to. They were too much trouble, stirred up too much in him.

"Just relax, Nero. It's not the end of thew world."

The boy nibbled a few grapes while nodding " If you're sure."

"I am. The boy shouldn't have pushed you."

Nero's hands clenched into fists at that " He had no right" the boy agreed

"No he didn't. Now relax. You punished him"

Nero breathed out slowly and tried to relax before looking at his father again " I'm right to be amid at Clara too, she could have said something or done something, she could have picked one of us."

"She could also have known better than to get in the middle of a fight between two crazy boys. There are many reasons a girl won't jump a in fight, Nero. You don't yet know all of them."

"I guess" he intended to hold firm in his beliefs that Clara was equally as responsible for the fight as that boy and that she was decidedly not worth it and he was never speaking with her again

"Anyway, why don't you go to your room? Your Papa finished laundry earlier and you have clothes to put away."

Nero wrinkled his nose at that, bah laundry, still doing something normal would probably give him time to think " Okay" he smiled again a little " and thanks for not getting mad"

"No problem." Zane assured him, reaching out to rock Maion a little.

In his room Nero would think more as he folded and put away his clean clothes. Things had gone fairly well and though the future was uncertain the hiccup felt assured he could face it and it wouldn't be alone.

words, 1,159
Quest complete

ladyumbra

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