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 Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 10:32 pm
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 10:40 pm
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 11:01 pm
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 11:05 pm
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Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:38 pm
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Ambrose Speaks with Greer and the Dude
He runs into them on the beach and admits to the feelings he'd had, and apologizes.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=1140460&page=33
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose woke up early the next morning, the issues in his mind buzzing and refusing to let him sleep. Ambrose was normally up before dawn, but since coming to the lazy, laidback schedule on the Island, he had let his punctual, routenized self slip. But today, maybe for once, he wanted to turn back to the subtle reminder of his old life. He slipped on a pair of windbreaker pants and a t-shirt, his good running shoes, and left his fencing gear behind for once. While fencing was his passion, he wasn't opposed to a good run from time to time, and perhaps it would mean actually seeing more of this Island that they would be on for the rest of their lives.... No. Not to think of that. He set off towards the West-side beach first, and started to slowly make his way around the Southern side of the Island, following the thin sandy strip until it became only a thin strip of land between the jungles and a cliff face over the ocean. He would need to speak to The Dude soon.... him or Greer.... or both. Ugh. He really had made an idiot of himself, hadn't he? He hoped that he hadn't screwed anything over from what had happened at the drinking party. It was obvious they liked eachother. And he would be damned if he would be half the a** of his brother, hitting on women who obviously weren't interested, or were interested in someone else. They were better suited for eachother anyway - after all, they were both at least 5 years older than he was. He breathed in measured huffs as he jogged, making his way to a second sandy stretch on the East side of the Island.
Greer Cassenwari Letting go of Sean's hand, Greer ran full-out, enjoying the rush of adrenline that hit her bloodstream in response to her flight. "Come on slow poke! Hurry up!" She laughed, breaking out of the jungle and on to the thin beach - and missed smacking into Ambrose by an inch and a half. As it was she attempted to skid to a halt, stopping only because she threw herself off balance and sat down hard. "Ooof! Morning Ambrose." Owwie. Now she had bruises too.
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose was rather quickly jostled from his revere as the woman of his thoughts nearly ran headlong into him - causing him to wonder for a split second if she had tumbled out of his proverbial thought bubble. "Greer!" He exclaimed cleverly. "What... wow, I wasn't expecting to run into you here!" Speak of the devil, or DevilS in this case - he thought as he notied the Dude following shortly after him, patting after her on his webbed feet. It was as if fate itself had decided that he get this out into the open NOW. But talk about being on the Spot... wherever to begin, now faced with BOTH of them. "Greer... I... well. I was actually looking for you... maybe both of you... but.. well.. I ... thought I should probably try to explain myself...after that night." He winced, gesturing awkwardly.
The Dude XD The Dude emerged out of the jungle, trotting along: "Hey, I'm injured over here. Did we miss it?" He looked to the east where the sky was now turning pink and yellow. "OH, good!" Then he realized that Greer was in fact sitting on the sand right next to Ambrose, who was sayign something to her. The Dude trotted up and pulled the grasshopper off the floor then hugging her from behind and looked at Ambrose. "Hey Ambrose! I am not sure whether you have been officially informed yet. But guess what - I think Greer's hot!" - he grinned wide. With that he turned his face back to the east, waiting for the sun with great anticipation. It is up to the debate whether that was done because of the Ambrose/Greer kiss memories or because the Dude just felt like stating the obvious.
Greer Cassenwari Dusting the sand off of her trousers, Greer leaned back into Sean, frowning at his little 'declaration'. Where did that come from? "Sean, did you smoke something when I wasn't looking?" Turning back to Ambrose, she smiled. "Talk about what?"
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose looked between Greer and the Dude. He tried to make his expression look more like a smile than a wince when the Dude promptly declared Greer 'Hot'. "Yeah.... " he scratched the back of his neck in his nervous manner. "About that.." he hesitated, feeling quite on the spot. "I... I wanted to apologize - for my actions the other night... and I think I've been making Greer feel uncomfortable. Maybe... er... maybe she's been trying to play oblivious - which would make sense to me.... and... well... I'm really glad for the two of you - that two of my closest friends have at least found eachother and are happy." He rambled, running his shoe around in the sand."
The Dude XD The Dude was listening only half ear to what Ambrose was saying at first, but the wolfman's words made him turn around. With a perplexed expression on his face, he very intelligently grunted: "Huh?" There WAS something to be uncomfortable about between Ambrose and Greer? Gah, stupid patchy memory.
Greer Cassenwari Greer sighed. Well, at least she'd figured things out somewhat before this. If she'd still been completely oblivious this would have been worse. "Trust me Ambrose, I wasn't playing. I am this stupid. I just barely figured stuff out yesterday, and that was only because Aubrey pretty much explained it. Please keep in mind I'm relationship illiterate." She wanted to give the wolfboy friendly hug, but had a feeling this was not the time. Somewhat embarassed with all the attention, she began to fidgit with one of Sean's flippers. "I... I really don't know what to say. I've never dealt with this sort of thing to the nth degree."
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose swallowed and nodded, his hands seeking out something to fidget with as well. He wasn't exactly well versed in this... he had been on dates before, but other than his four year relationship with Angelina, he hadn't had much more expierience in this whole thing recently. Especially not dealing with feelings of liking someone who liked somoene else, and feeling rather guilty about harboring those feelings to begin with. He flicked his attention momentarily to the Dude, warily, hoping not to get a flipper-fist to the face. "So... ah... well... I'm glad that you understand... I think." So she hadn't known then? He had thought he was being pretty obvious, but he wasn't going to hold that against her. "I guess.... I guess what I'm trying to say..." He took a deep breath. "I want you to be happy. I...well... I didn't realize precisely how close you two were until the beach party. I... well... I think you're great. For all the reasons I stated the other day and more." He looked to the Dude. "And you're a great friend." He sighed. "I think... I don't know, Maybe I'm feeling rather confused. I... I really miss Angelina... I miss having some one to hold, and someone to hold me. I feel guilty even considering looking in new places, but at the same time I'm so used to her being there that It's hard dealing with things without having someone... like her... there.... and... well... It's just such a damn frustrating and unique situation. We didn't break up, there was no closure... " He shook his head, realizing he was rambling. "I guess... I mean... this just says it's not time yet. Maybe that's what fate's trying to say." He looked to them again, hoping that half of his rambling made sense.
The Dude XD The Dude totally forgot the sunrise at this moment. He let go of Greer and looked at her, then looked at Ambrose, still way perplexed: "You guys had a thing BEFORE the party? I thought you only kissed during it ... " It was strange how he didn't seem to be mad about it yet. More perplexed. Of all people on the island, Ambrose was the very last one on his list of guys chasing tail. Didn't he profess his undying love for Angelina only a week ago? Almost got into a fight about it, too, when the Dude had suggested moving on.
Greer Cassenwari "What? No!" Greer shook her head furiously, clutching at his hand. "No, nothing happened. Ambrose just... well... tried to tell me he liked me the day after we kissed on the beach and I was an utter moron and completely missed it." She winced, realizing how that had sounded. Damn it, she was so bad at this stuff! "I mean, crap. Ambrose, I'm not insulting you, really..."
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose took a step back; even though the Dude's tone wasn't angry, he had the right to be mad at the drop of a hat. "I... well... She's right - nothing happened. I just... well, I tried to talk to her... and realized soon after that if she had any cognizance of what I was talking about or had any sort of inkling in response, she would have said something.... I guess it was eating at me for a while... I mean..." he shook his head and sighed. "I don't know what I'm feeling. I DO miss Angelina. To no ends.... and I DO love her... I just... well... It's been like a month and a half - and I know that that's nothing in the scheme of things... but... I guess it's starting to sink in just how long I might be here" He frowned, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I mean... I wish I knew what she was thinking.... does she think I'm dead? Is she looking for me? I love her... I always WILL love her.... but... ARGH! I hate this uncertainty. How long do I wait? There's no right answer, and no answer makes me be able to sleep soundly at night." He huffed. "I ... well.... I guess I'm lonely. I mean, I've got friends - which is wonderful. Without you guys this would be a million times more difficult... but I'm lonely in the other sense....." His face flushed. "I'm not used to being single. And, well, I guess my mind started putting things together behind my back... things Greer and I had in common. I'm sorry, Dude. And I'm sorry, Greer. I don't want to screw up our friendship."
The Dude XD "Wow, you miss Angelina and feel lonely and that is why you decided to rebound on Greer? Of all the women on this island you choose a girl who never even had her heart broken yet?" - the Dude bristled. "And then you tell me about it, in front of her? Why ... why are you doign this? Do you want me to fight with you or something like that?" - he pleaded, not sure waht one was supposed to do in such a situation. "All was good, nothing had even happened ... and then you had to make things this awkward, Ambrose. Why?"
Greer Cassenwari "Sean, Ambrose, please! Please don't fight!" She tried to sound strong and compitent, but the words came out sounding like a frightened little girl.
Ambrose Maurlias "What??" Ambrose's voice came out in a squeak. "I.... rebound? Dude... I... what... I wasn't trying to hurt her! Anything but! And I'm telling you two becuase I thought that you deserved to know! And to tell you that I hoped you could be Happy! I'm not trying to start anything! I'm trying to close it!" He held his hands up, palms out defensively, taking a step back. "You win! You won before it started, Dude!" He was starting to really regret he had said anything at all. The last thing he wanted was for things to get awkward.
The Dude XD "I'm not fighting ..." - the Dude said defensively. "And I don't care who wins here ... I didn't even know it was a contest." He opened his mouth to say a whole lot more stuff, but saw Greer's frightened face and totally forgot what it was. Why were they fighting again? Because Ambrose thought Greer was hot and butchered telling her that? Hell, after that dance on the bar Ian and Vasile probably thought Greer was hot, too. That thought put things a little bit in perspective ... "Sorry, grasshopper ..." The Dude looked at his feet then remembered the sunrise. Turning his face to the east, he looked up at the now orange skies and pointed for everyone: "Look guys, it's coming ..."
Greer Cassenwari Something in her bristled at the 'won' comment, but Greer was too worried to pay it any attention. She snuggled under Sean's arm, watching the sunrise and looking for comfort.
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose sighed, slumping his shoulders and returning his hands to his pockets. Despite the fact the argument had died down, he couldn't get past the feeling that there was silent resentment to his bringing it up. He turned his attention to the rising sun, squinting into it as the orb painted the clouds over the seas in brilliant colors. It had been some time since he had watched the sun rise. His heart ached even more as he thought of the last time that he had woken up intentionally early to watch it with someone by his side. Instead of a woman, he leaned up against one of the trees, and it was certainly no substitute, watching Dude hug Greer. It was official... he really, really missed Angelina. He turned before his eyes could well up. "I... I should probably get back. I'll leave you two be." He commented, his voice gravely.
The Dude XD "No, you are not. You are gonna come over here, dork, and watch the sunrise with us." - the Dude let go of Greer and sat down on the sand, motioning Ambrose to come, too. Oh, do not misunderstand, the Dude was still plenty ticked off at wolfboy. "Because I don't want you to hate me for stupid s**t, like breaking apart your imaginary romances that never actually happened. We have to live on the same island here."
Greer Cassenwari Greer looked at Sean, beaming. He was officially perfect. Walking over to Ambrose, she grabbed both his hands and started pulling him over to the future sea lion. "Sean is right and I continue to be an idiot. Now sit, watch, and enjoy yourself or I'll break your shins, Pup." Sitting down next to the dredlocked one she tugged on her friend's hand, encouraging Ambrose to sit down on her other side. Sean was going to get a thank you dance for making this better tomorrow night.
The Dude XD "You better believe it, too. She can KICK!" - the Dude pointed at the big blue spot on his right leg
Ambrose Maurlias Amrbose lifted an eyebrow and looked back over his shoulder as the dude invited... well, more like demanded, he to return. But he was right, he didn't want to screw things up and stalking off feeling sorry for himself wasn't helpful. "I don't hate you, Dude. Really. That's what I'm trying to say." He gave a small smile and plopped onto the ground besides them. He declined to comment about the imaginary romances part, knowing it would probably just start an argument. He looked indignantly to Greer. "Pup?" He gave a mock scowl, forcibly lightening his mood. "Though shins aside, you DO still owe me another epee match. You can't get out of that." He smiled, hoping internally that things could just... go back to the way they were before he complicated things.
The Dude XD The Dude smiled when Greer went to get Ambrose then turned back to the east: "Thanks, man." - he said mockingly at Ambrose, still frazzled for some god unknown reason. Something about harems ... with Ambrose ... GAH, his memory sucked. Just watch the sun, Dude ... "By the way, for the record - rebounding is not a bad idea for you. There are other girls on this island, you know? Like ... Karma, she's nice. Or Emelyn ... they are both about your age ..."
Greer Cassenwari Greer stuck her tongue out at Ambrose, looping an arm through each of theirs. The bird in the back of her mind nearly purred. Why did that make it happy? "Yes, pup. You're still a baby at twenty after all. And I assure you, I have no wish to avoid beating you at your own game." There we go, much better. She could handle social stuff as long as it was on the positive side of the spectrum. She turned her face towards the rising sun, cheerful and flanked by friends. Her mother wouldn't have recognized her.
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose shrugged at the Dude's comment. "I've only met Emelyn briefly.... but... I don't know.... I mean... she looks a lot like Angelina..." he tried to avoid looking directly into the sun. "I worry that if I started something with her that it would get awkward because of that. And I've yet to meet Karma... It would be weird to go up to her and say 'Hi! I'm Ambrose! I just got separated from my girlfriend of four years. I hear you're single!' " He snorted. He looked over to Greer as she looped her arm around hers and leaned against her. "I'm not that young" he replied indignantly. "But you're on for the match. YOu need to see about ordering Sabres, though. Teach me how to beat you at those." He winked.
The Dude XD "You don't need to say that, dork. Just say "hi". Both of them have been holed up in their duplexes for the past week, unwilling to come out. If not for your sake, do it for theirs." - he shrugged. "Or just walk up to Em and tell her "Hi, would you mind if I hug you for a while here? I promise to give you backrubs in exchange". I say it's a pretty fair trade ..." The Dude put his flipper on Greer's hand on his shoulder. It was warm and nice and the brown feathers moved a little in the breeze. His mind migrated back to the feathers along her spine and the violent reaction she had regarding it. The Dude coudlnt' figure out why she would have kicked him for trying to tickle her. S' not like he was violating her virginity or something ... Pondering that, he was gently petting her dawny hand feathers with his thumb.
Greer Cassenwari "Teach you to best me? Please. As if I could." she smiled, shaking her head. "Yeah, listen to Sean. He's a real smoothy. If the backrub thing doesn't work just find her most prized possession and dump it in the ocean." Enjoying the colors the sky was turning, she giggled a little at the ticklish sensation illicited by the petting of her hand feathers but didn't try to stop it - it wasn't that bad. Ah, lovely. She should spend every morning like this, watching the sun rise with her friends. Well, mabye sans the pre-dawn revelations.
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose nodded, smiling over to her. "We'll see.... It will require some thought at the very least. Maybe I'm not ready for all this." He added quietly. Shrugging, he settled back and watched the play of colors across the sky, feeling good being around them. Friends. Some corner in the back of his mind smiled and wagged its tail, happy to be forming the preliminaries of a pack. He sat with them for a good twenty or thirty minutes before finally getting to his sand-covered feet. "Well, I should really be heading back now. You two take care. I'll be seeing you around." With a wave, and a much better attitude than the last time he tried to walk off, he headed back towards his duplex.
The Dude The Dude waved good bye to Ambrose and then promptly put his arm around Greer. Talking about Emelyn to Ambrose had brought up his own memories of the blue eyed girl. He wondered how she was and how she was dealing. Emelyn was a very lovely girl indeed, but ... he kissed the raven hair of the girl next to him ... he liked the grasshopper better. MUCH BETTER. The Dude brushed aside Greer's hair and bent down to kiss her. "I like you." - he professed for no good reason |
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Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:15 pm
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 11:55 am
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 2:43 pm
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:41 pm
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Ambrose was getting back to his room after fencing on the beach. He really had needed the time alone to clear his head. So much was happening... and yet not at the same time. A lot to think about regardless, and despite his recent affinity for being around people or having people to talk to, that seemed to be resulting in a lot of conflict recently - between Greer and the Dude to Julian and his... issues. Vasile and Cassidy were having their own issues with relationships. He was getting along well enough with Hargun and Amaya - as friends... which was fine! - but he was so lonely in a different way.... that he was not planning on seeking out to fill any time soon. He had decided this. Defiantely.
Regardless, he was trying not to let it get to him. Really.
As he jogged up the stairs on the way to the shower, he saw a note attached to the door. He snatched it off the door, went inside and plopped down to read it, a towel slung around the back of his neck. Costume party? Mixer?
Skepticism and criticism immediately popped to his mind. With all that the staff was doing to them, they were running a mixer? His anger boiled away soon after it ignited. It was Aubrey who sent out the invitations, and he DID believe that she was trying to make their stay as comfortable as possible. And he WAS curious about the other islanders. The drinking party that had occurred the other night had actually been rather fun - much better than the aftermath of the first one where he and the Dude had nearly gotten into a fight. Maybe it could be fun... He and Angelina had had a lot of fun with Halloween in the past - it was a blast of a holiday....
And before he knew it, costume concepts were tumbling through his mind. He went to take a shower, thorougly happy with the more entertaining thoughts of a costume as opposed to difficult social issues, angsting about what was happening to him and being imprisoned on this Island away from his friends, family, loved ones, and his future. By the time he was out of the shower, toweled off and dressed, a smile was actually on his face, his tail nub wiggling as he went to the intercome and pressed 0...
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 9:21 pm
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Reserved for RP with Greer
Fencing, Chatting, Books and Butterfly houses
Greer Dressed in full fencing gear, which had been made especially tricky due to the mixing of back zippers and sensitive feathers, Greer stepped up to Ambrose's door, shifted her mask to her other arm, and knocked. Please, please let her ten minute zipper struggle not be in vain!
Ambrose Ambrose had been taking things easy the past couple of days, staying mostly to himself and his throughts - which, unfortunately, often proved to be a volatile combination. Earlier this morning after waking and washing up, Ambrose had decided to get his mind off things by occupying his mind and burrying himself in one of the books he had brought with him - and he had been relatively successful - able to block out the real world (as fantastical as it was to earn the monicker "real") and all of the internal conflicts. With the sudden knock on the door, however, Ambrose was wrested from his thoughts and the building tension as young Mr. Potter was seeking answers and snapped suddenly back to his duplex room and someone at the door. Placing his bookmark carefully into place, he left the book on his pillow and opened the door to a surprise: Greer in full fencing gear. "Greer!" He smiled amicabaly. "Come for that rematch?" He grinned, all conflicting emotions thoroughly bottled.
Greer "No, no, I just enjoy sweating to death in white canvas." She grinned at him, nodding. "Of course I have! Grab your gear and get your butt out here."
Ambrose He mirrored her grin. "Come on in, I'll just be a moment!" He grabbed his fencing gear from its reverant spot in the closet, ducked into the restroom and emerged about five minutes later dressed in a matching outfit, epee in hand.
Greer Greer stepped inside, bouncing on her toes and doing her best not to drop her mask and epee. Turning to her friend as he came out of the bathroom, she nodded approvingly. "All set?"
Ambrose "Definately" He smiled. This was what he needed. Fencing was a wonderful catharsis for Ambrose, and a match fight even more so. "Thanks so much - I fear I might have been becoming a hermit till you showed. I haven't done much in the way of being social the last couple of days." He grabbed his mask, tucking it under his arm and set out the door - heat be damned.
Greer Trotting next to him, she chuckled. "I know what you mean. I thought I might take some 'me' time and it turned into a 'me' couple of days. On the plus side there is a very faint possibility I found an unknown species of phasmid and I definitely found a great place to build the butterfly house."
Ambrose "Oh really?" He smiled, his attention unwavering. "I'm glad to hear that! Were you able to catch one of them? And that's great about the butterfly house. I was serious about offering to help."
Greer "Yup! A matched set!" She beamed, resisting the urge to do a quick little victory dance. "Pity no one will ever know." Bumping him playfully with her hip as they walked, she laughed. "Oh, you better have been, cause I am certainly going to need it. Especially since Moreau has okay'd the plan and the supplies should be here any day now..."
Ambrose Ambrsoe gave her a sympathetic smile. "Well.... maybe they will! I mean Moreau's story for you is that you took the research job here, right? Could he publish things for you?" He shrugged. "At least you can get your work off the island potentially... unfortunately I seriously doubt they'll ever hold the Olympics here. And even if by some fluke of improbability, I'll be so far out of good practice with a trainer that it would be moot."
Greer Greer shrugged, continuing to make a concerted effort not to get her hopes up. "Maybe, but he's never struck me as the kind of guy willing to help a fellow human being out." Giving him a sympathetic smile as they entered the main clear area in the middle of the village, Greer headed to one end when speaking over her shoulder. "I'm sorry about that Ambrose, I really am. Is there anything else you might want to do?"
Ambrose He shrugged with a frown. It was true. "Aubrey maybe then? .... Assuming Moreau would let her publish it. He might have to have at it with a team of code crackers to make sure there isn't some sort of hidden SOS in your paper." he winked. Ambrose shrugged and shook his head. "I wish there was, Greer. I really do.... but you're in the same boat as I am. I'm sorry about bringing it up - there's nothing you or I can do about it, I was just bitching."
Greer Greer smiled, saluting and donning her mask. "You'll find something, I'm sure. Are you any good at teaching? Maybe you could start a fencing school? I'm sure Amaya and some of the younger ones would enjoy it."
Ambrose He chuckled and shrugged. "I never really tried to be honest." He replied as he secured the mask around his head. "Maybe it would be worth a shot. See if anyone's interested." He settled into an en guard position, and the drifting thought that he hadn't had a match with Greer (or anyone for that matter) since before he changed... the day he changed as a matter of fact. At least he wasn't feeling nearly as itchy now. Maybe he would do better this time around. He saluted her with his epee and then set back into the ready position.
Greer It was an interesting match, to say the least. Ambrose was better with the weapon and more serious than Greer, clearly enjoying the pace and movement. She moved as fast as her stiffened leg skin would allow, slightly distracted by the feathers on the back of her neck chaffing at the jacket zipper. Her opponent was clearly trying to aid her by reining himself in, but his improved reaction time tended to cancel it out. Greer grinned behind her mask. Always the gentleman. As with the last time they'd fenced she lost most of the time, but enjoyed herself greatly and managed not to smack him with the side of the blade.
Ambrose Ambrose's adrenaline and heart was pumping - this was what he missed. He breathed in the air of competition, and while he did hold himself back some against the opponent who was still a bit unsteady with the weapon, it was difficult. On some occasions, he would give his right arm to have another competing epee fencer here - but on the other, he woudln't wish that on anyone. And he was lucky enough that there was A fencer here - sabre aside. Finally it was time to call it quits and he tore off the mask, literally panting. Despite his entusiasm - and he had gone much longer than his last bout where he had tired out more quickly in the heat, coupled with the incessant itch - there was still only so much of fencing in the tropical heat and humidity, sheathed in heavy white fabric over fur that one could take. "Good matches, Greer. Thank you." He said between breaths. "How... how about some water. And once my hunger realizes it's safe to come back - some food as well?"
Greer Pulling off her mask, Greer took a moment to pant. Goodness those things got confining, particularly in tropical weather. "That sounds like an excellent plan."
Ambrose He nodded, breathing for a little bit more before finally peeling off his fencing jacket. Embarrasingly, the thing was damp, and the fur around his neck and back was clumping with sweat. He grimaced. "I have to apologize. I must reek. I'm used to the Northeast."
Greer Greer smiled, making a cheeky show of sniffing him. "Meh, you smell like a boy. Thankfully nothing beyond that." Carefully unzipping her jacket, she freed herself of canvas and her chest protector, which left her shirt rather... sculpted due to heat and dampness. Doing her best not to be self conscious about it, she trotted towards the cafeteria.
Ambrose "At least better than a wet dog, right?" He shoved off the embarrassment and hoped that the cafeteria woudln't be too packed. "Water it is!" And he headed after her.
Greer She laughed. " Much better." Pushing open the door, she made a beeline for the liquid section of the serving line. Ooo, orange juice!
Ambrose "Oh that looks wonderful" Ambrose exclaimed, grabbing a bottled water and twisting off the top, guzzling some of it down before coming up for air. "Ahhhh..." He said with a smile, setting down the gear by one of the tables, and grabbing one of the trays.
Greer Greer followed suit and plunked down her stuff, getting another glass of juice and a plate with two steaks on it. Plopping down at the table next to her gear, she cut off a hunk of meat and began to chew it. Mmm, steak.
Ambrose Ambrose joined her with a similar selection of food, and began slicing up the steak into thick, bloody strips, then spearing them with his fork, and chewing contententedly. After chewing and swallowing several bites, he finally spoke up again. "Is it just my imagination, or has the cooking been getting better?"
Greer Three quarters of her way through her first steak, Greer looked up and nodded. "Something's changing - I'm starting to enjoy eating animal flesh."
Ambrose Ambrose looked up, thinking on this for a moment. "I guess you're right... it's us... not the food." For a moment, he almost seemed to lose his appetite, but his appetite soon found him and threatened him to continue eating or else. "You used to be a vegeterian, didn't you?"
Greer Greer nodded sadly, finishing the first slab of meat and diving into the next. "Born and bred. I never ate meat because, well, I wasn't used to it. And now the thought of a well-seared steak makes my mouth water."
Ambrose He watched her for a little as he ate. "Did you do it for health reasons? Just the way you were brought up...? Or the thought of eating animals...?" He asked plainly.
Greer She shrugged, chewing. "How I was brought up. Dad was a veggie and he did the cooking. I was just used to it. I did try meat once, but..." she shuddered a little, remembering her old revulsion. "...the feeling of it in my mouth was so odd. So icky. So I never ate it again."
Ambrose He nodded. "I've heard that people who go without it for a long time can literally become ill when they try it... or nauseated by it. Honestly, even before all of this, I never tried being vegeterian, so I wouldn't really know. But a lot of my friends in high school were vegeterian."
Greer Greer chuckled, consuming more meat. "It's just what I was raised with, you know? Between my Dad's cooking and living in Seattle, it was really easy. Actually, the first time it became an issue was trying to find stuff to eat at the DC's at Umass."
Ambrose "Aaaaah." He smiled, nodding knowingly. "I've heard people are pretty veggie out on the Left coast" he grinned, finishing off his pile of meat and sliding his tray away, stifling a yawn. No, he wasn't going to go sleep off this big meal again - predator or not. And even if he hadn't noticed putting on any weight, he wasn't about to get lazy.
Greer She grinned, polishing off her meal as well. "Oh yeah. We're all hippies and tree-huggers."
Ambrose He smirked. "well, that's the way that people out East tend to paint it at least. Though I'm sure that's not quite the truth."
Greer She shook her head, catching sight of a slightly ajar door she hadn't noticed before. "No, there are tons of meat eaters out there. Covered in Korean barbeques and Russian bakeries. Besides, on the West Coast we're all told Yankees are snotty with sticks up their bums, and we both know that's not true." Pointing to the door, she raied an eyebrow. "What's that?"
Ambrose He laughed, thinking of the stereotypes, and shook his head a bit. "I suppose not" he said, ironically reflecting on how his life had been before Angelina, and how his parents and most of their friends were. He glanced out the door and pursed his lips. "Hunh. I'm not sure.... want to go take a look?" He stood up, offering her his hand.
Greer Greer accepted the hand up. "Sure! I love a good adventure."
Ambrose "Excellent" He beamed and bussed their trays before heading out and around to the open door to the supply room - much bigger than he remembered, and now positively stacked with boxes and crates. There were fresh tire tracks in the dirt road around the building - leading both to that room and the entertainment room.
Greer Greer gawked. "What's all this? Our supplies?"
Ambrose Ambrose blinked and inspected the contents of one of the boxes - full of tools. "M... maybe.... Did you ask for them?" He turned to her, surprised and looking rather positive.
Greer Greer bounced, pulling open another box. "It is! It's everything I asked for so we can build the butterfly house! Aubrey is so wonderful, although I really don't want to know what she had to do to convince the Doctor to get all this stuff."
Ambrose Ambrose grinned. "So we can do it? Build the butterfly house? That... wow, that should be a lot of work - which is good! I... It will feel good to make something I think." He smiled.
Greer Extremely excited, Greer pounced on her friend with a hug. "Oh Ambrose, I can't wait! Thank you so much for coming up with the idea!"
Ambrose Ambrose smiled widely. "It was my idea?" He asked, honestly not quite sure about all that. He squeezed her back. "I have to warn you, though. I've never exactly built anything like this before...."
Greer Keeping her arms wrapped around his neck, she leaned back to grin at him. "Neither have I. We're in so much trouble."
Ambrose He gave a wincing snicker. "Well... maybe we should see what else they've brought us while we're at it...? I think we've done enough work out in the sun for today at least anyway. And we can't exactly start building before we have a plan of action."
Greer "Excellent plan!" She released him rather reluctantly. God, what was it with her and this touch thing? Turning to one of the unopened boxes, Greer tore it open. "Are we going to have to root through all of these or do you have a plan of attack?"
Ambrose Ambrose glanced over. "Oh! I meant in the other room. We'll definatley have to take inventory of what we've got soon, though... and someone better than I will have to make blueprints." He winked.
Greer Greer replaced the box top, blushing slightly. "Oh. Right. I knew that." Rolling her eyes at the wink she headed towards the other room. "Find me a ruler and I'll see what I can do."
Ambrose He chuckled. "No problem, birdie. I'm sure there's one in a box around here somewhere..." He glanced around all of the crates. "Pardon me if I didn't pack one for my two week stay here" he winked.
Greer "Birdie!" she snorted in annoyance. "Grasshopper I'll deal with, bug can be used by a select few, but birdie is out of the question, pup." She crossed her arms and attempted to glare.
Ambrose He smirked. "Tit for tat." He winked. "But I'll settle for bug for now, I suppose" He heaved a mock smile and headed out towards the entertainment room.
Greer Greer rolled her eyes and stepped into the entertainment room, quickly ignoring the expensive entertainment system for the glorious new book collection. She ran right to it, lovingly caressing the spines. Oh, she was in heaven!
Ambrose "Oh wow..." Ambrose trailed off as well, noting immediately the HUGE selection of nature books. He swallowed and wandered towards the shelf, thumbing through the categories until his finger paused on a book on wolves. It sat there, almost challenging - rather thick and nicely printed. The word "WOLVES" brandished plainly down the spine. Did he want to know that much? was it admitting things? And if he read it, would he start to 'notice' things that weren't even there...? He stood for a moment, his finger lingering on the shiny finish of the thick paper dustjacket.
Greer Greer might have been thinking about such things as well, but she'd spent her entire time on island pining for research material, so this sudden glut distracted her from more cerebral things. Insects, check. Pirds of prey, check. Ooo, construction! "This is so... oh I am such a nerd!"
Ambrose He looked back over his shoulder. "Hmm?" He asked, with a strange look. "what did you find?" He looked back to the book. Well, he did ask for it after all, didn't he? With a breath he slid it from the shelf and paged through it. There was both a lot of text AND a lot of really superb photographs. He'd read it back in his dupled. He tucked it under his arm and walked over to see what she had found.
Greer "Bugs, birds and building." Already having claimed four books, Greer bit her lip. She really should leave some for other people... "Is it bad I want to steal them all?
Ambrose He laughed at the aliteration. "Sounds like your kind of thing. Glad that you found waht you needed. And I don't think that anyone else will be needing those particular subjects. I have yet to see anyone else sprout feathers OR antennae for that matter. And if they want to know about bugs, I am sure that anyone can point them in your direction." He teased.
Greer Greer stared at him. "You mean... one of use could turn into an insect? That would be so cool!"
Ambrose Ambrose just... boggled. "You're serious?" he asked incredulously and then shuddered, patting his book. "I think this is muuuch preferable in my opinion."
Greer Greer blushed, turning back to her book selection. "Well, yeah, I mostly serious. I mean this is me we're talking about. Bugs aren't really the unknown."
Ambrose He smirked, and then nodded. "Understood. Well... it was a great afternoon - Good fencing, good food and good conversation." He smiled and hugged the book to himself. "I should probably get back and shower... and then I think I'm going to give this a serious read." He gave her a final half-salute. "Good luck planning out my manual labor."
Greer Greer smiled wickedly. "I'll save the most horrible stuff for you. Happy reading!"
Ambrose He stuck his tongue out. "Lovely! Just what I prefer." He waved and headed back to his duplex and towards the muuuch-needed shower.
Greer Greer smiled, shaking her head and limiting herself to only two more books before she too headed home.
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Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:40 pm
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RP with Emelyn
Ambrose had been nose-deep in the borrowed book on wolves through most of the previous night. It started as a morbid curiousity - wanting to know, and yet not at the same time. The concerns still clung to him that somehow reading about them would increase the effects psychosomatically.... then on the other hand, maybe if he knew wolves better, he could more readily discriminate between a 'whim' and some aspect of the genetic manipulation. In the end, he had read through most of the book and studied the images fervently late into the night. It really was fascinating, and all in all - though he may not admit it - he considered himself relatively lucky with his animal 'assignment'.
Finally, after having slept in the next day, he woke up, showered, and followed his stomach to the cafeteria, leaving the book behind. He didn't know anyone else who was turning into a wolf - and so he doubted that there would be any pressing need for anyone else to read it.
He walked down the food line, weighing down his plate with a big chunk of pot roast, some steak strips, and a dinner roll before taking a seat at one of the tables.
By the time she came into the main seating area, her plate was a veritable smorgasbord. She didn't have time to wonder how she'd stomach it all, however, since her eyes alit on a figure sitting not ten paces away, bent over a tray. It was the same man she'd seen on the video. Because she'd seen such a personal moment in his life, she almost felt badly about being in the same room as him- she wanted to leave, sort of like an apology for witnessing his pain and horror. But they were going to be on the island together for a long time, if not for life? so she might as well get over her discomfort. As was the 'Emelyn way'? she tackled it, head-on, and sat directly in front of him, plopping her tray on the table.
"Hello."
Ambrose looked up, startled at Emelyn's sudden appearance. "Oh!" He said, then hastily swallowed the food in his mouth and dabbed at lips with the napkin apologetically. "I'm sorry, you caught me off-guard." He then did a doubletake - almost not recognizing her - he had only met her but briefly over a month ago, and certainly before her changes. She was one of the lucky ones - with relatively mild affects. "Emelyn? I... wow, I haven't seen you in quite some time... How... how have you been?" He asked genuinely, gesturing to the seat that her tray was in front of.
"Sorry to interrupt," she said, getting comfortable in the seat with a minor adjustment, "..It's just that I figured we'd seem quite antisocial if we sat at separate tables..." she indicated to the rest of the cafeteria with a sweeping arm gesture, "while there's no one else around." Her expression was sweet and wry- just short of winking, and she picked up her fork and stabbed a nice long sprig of broccoli with it. She'd not transferred it to her mouth yet, before she answered his question, so she let it hang in the air, the cutlery twirling between her thumb and forefinger like some sort of baton.
"And I've been? fine, thanks. I've been better, but I've definitely been worse. ?And you?" She tacked the question on in a way that sounded as if it had been an afterthought- but really, she'd been wondering about how Ambrose had been doing since that day at Moreau's mansion, and she'd watched the tape of his transformation, and of the agony he'd endured. She still remembered how much it had terrified her? and how her fingers had remained locked to her lips, vertical and shaking.
He waved off her politeness. "No need to apologize. There is no entertainment in eating alone. Although you'll have to pardon my... ah... choice and quantity of food of you do share my company." He said with half a note of apology, and half a joking grin.
He pondered the answer to that loaded question. He remembered that the Dude had mentioned that Emelyn had decided to try to make the best of her situation... and he was glad of it. At least he hoped he hadn't taken things to the extreme that Thorn had. "I... well... I can't say I'm doing particularly well ..." he began a bit too honestly. "I mean... I feel alright physically now... I'm being fed, they're providing for me.... but..." He winced. "I'm not exactly happy with the whole situation." He glanced over to her, taking in the spiked bangs, the wet nose.... "What about yourself...?"
"Oh." she said simply, putting the fork back down on the tray, and chewing the large sprig in her mouth. It was awkward for a moment as she chewed, unable to say more than the single-syllable exclamation until it was all down. Once it was, though, she looked at the man sympathetically- and in truth, she was looking at the man, for she still had the tendency to let the animalistic features blur, and to see someone as the human they used to be. More often than not, she didn't realize she was doing it.
"I'm sorry." And she truly was. "I keep forgetting that there are others on the island who aren't? volunteers." She said the word apologetically, an almost sad smile on her face as she faced a man who had a life that had been ruined by these experiments.
"And I'm? alright. Coping, slowly." She said it softly.
He glanced to her, chewing thoughtfully and finally nodded. "I... I have nothing against the 'volunteers' here... I just wish that the ONLY people here were volunteers." He said with a sigh as he stabbed at another strip of beef. "With all of the funding he must have, he should be able to have a better screening process, even IF he can't reveal ahead of time what the project is." He frowned.
Glancing back to her and acessing her features he nodded. "I'm glad to hear that.. It... takes quite a bit of getting used to. And I fear I'll go through the same thing again when I receive my next injection. It's frightening - no matter how much I try to get used to the concept. I don't know how much of me is going to be left when this is all over - physically OR mentally - and I know he said we'll still be intelligent and can speak.... but what about little things? Instincts? Will it change who we are?"
He shook his head. "I"m sorry - I've.... I've just been thinking about all this too much I believe. And sat down with a book on wolves last night..."
"God?" she laughed, almost a nervous huff of a laugh, "I don't even want to think about that. ?I don't even know if I'm still human now," she said, betraying her professing that she didn't want to think about it, and doing exactly that. "And I don't know if I entirely want to be a hedgehog all my life. ?God, it will last our entire life, won't it?"
She felt a little embarrassed that she'd not thought all of these things through- but really, she had- it was just that she'd been so long suppressing the ideas and the possibilities behind it all.
He winced, and nodded. "From what they say this isn't exactly a one-way process. And that if they stop partially through it's even worse - can potentially mutate our cells and give us cancer." He finished bitterly.
"So even, theoretically, if we could escape or convince one of them to let us go, we're still screwed. AND because of this not exaclty being legal, they can't let us off the Island, even afterwards, or it would raise eyebrows to say the least. And that's assuming one could even reintegrate back into normal society after turning into an upright animal." He glared down at his plate. He always got bitter when he started reflecting on the exact nature of the project. He knew it was fruitless, and he knew that complaining would get him nowhere, but sometimes it just helped to rant.... a catharsis of sorts.
He then realized, belatedly, that this might not exactly be helping Emelyn in the least, and he looked back up quickly, sheepishly. "I... I'm sorry. I'm sure that's not what you wanted to hear."
The word stopped in her ears, and pounded with a hollow resonance. Cancer. ?She'd long believed that, despite what it was, and all the terrible things that it meant, as a word it was actually rather mellifluous, flat? almost smooth, as it came off the tongue and drifted through the lips. Who would know that such a beautiful expression of the English language could carry with it such? heartbreak.
"No, it's alright," she said, "whether or not I hear it, it's still going to happen. But I hadn't heard that.. stopping would give you cancer."
He looked up to her - the veracity in his eyes. It was the truth - or at the very least he believed it to me. "I heard it first from Aubrey, and then Moreau confirmed it. They're doing genetic manipulation in a living organism, rewriting our DNA.... they said if they stop the injections then our molecules could become unstable... or something like that..." He winced. "Regardless of the specifics... they said that it might not be within a week, but that there is a high chance that we could start.... breaking down in a year or so."
"Honestly..." He said quietly. "That thought has been one of the things that has scared me the most. Even if we could escape, or be rescued, or they were shut down.... that's what fate would serve us. Something tells me that what they're doing here is rather outside the realm of any other studies. I doubt anyone else would know what to do to 'save' us."
His thoughts wandered to Angelina again, and his face looked even more sallow under the fluorescent lights. "So even if I could escape.... and see her again... it would only be to have to say goodbye again... and make her watch me die." To say nothing of the almost guarenteed agonizing death.... he thought to himself.
It surprised Em that Ambrose was thinking of escape, even after all this time. And whoever this 'she' was? by the look in his eyes, and the way his face had drained of all color- he obviously had something to get back to. In that moment, Emelyn envied him more than anyone in the world? for even if he were in the most pain of his life, trapped on this godforsaken island? he still had someone to think of, someone to at least imagine escaping to. Em was all alone.
"Well, I was told that these experiments will actually cure cancer. ..It strikes me as odd that they could both cure and create."
He shrugged heavily. "they said they're 'familiarizing themselves with genetic manipulation' by these experiments. That by knowing it better they could tackle cancer someday. But it seems a rather roundabout way to do it if you asked me. Not that I'm a geneticist by any means... and perhaps you would think me ignorant for saying it, but I don't understand how transforming people into... animals... especially so many of us, constitutes medical research in understanding the human genome." He glowered.
"Roundabout..." she said the word quite softly, and until it cleared her lips, she'd not realized the word had been aloud. She looked up at Ambrose, who was glowering in his seat, his canine features skewed along with his still-human expression. "That's why I said I'd volunteer for the experiment," she said, suddenly feeling the need to explain herself. "Moreau asked me if I'd get the second injection voluntarily... and we fought. But he said that he was trying to cure cancer, and I decided that my life was worth that."
His eyes were drawn back to hers, and he faltered. He felt sorry for her, and immediately saw how Moreau had tricked her.... but on the other hand who was he to make someone miserable when they could possibly have found some saving grace to be here. "I... well... they might be. I just... well... I'm no scientist." he reiterated weakly. "Those have just been my thoughts. The only part of what I said I know from what they told me is the repercussions if the injections stopped."
He scratched at a patch of fur on his arm, a constant reminder of what was happening, and a silent promise that there was more where that came from.
Em nodded, mostly to herself- she still believed that this had a purpose- and in truth, it did. However, she still didn't understand how personal an objective it was. By becoming Moreau's martyr, she was essentially freeing herself from the guilt and the pain of Mizzie's death. There would come a time that she would realize that being Moreau's guinea pig wasn't going to keep Mizzie's death from being a senseless one... but until then, she sat, sold into a faith that was supported entirely on hope... and on guilt.
She noticed his scratching, and a smile found its way back to her face. "Maddening, isn't it? The worst is trying to keep yourself away from scratching? well, anyplace but your arms." She said, laughing, and knowing that Ambrose would understand the meaning: the fur certainly didn't stop in the visibly accessible places, after all.
Ambrose acutally laughed at her comment and nodded. His mind clung to the chance to divert itself from going through that painful cycle once again. "It's true." He winced. "And especially when you get an itch on somewhere difficult to reach... like your back. It... well... it's hot here, and I sweat.... and under the shirt it clumps and..." He trailed off, certain that he was probably delving into far too much information than she wanted to hear, and changed the subject.
"What have you been doing since you arrived? I saw you... a long time ago it seems now... not long after I had arrived myself.... and you mentioned your crashed boat..."
Emelyn certainly understood the embarrasment and the itch- but she noted, by the way he described his discomfort... that he'd come out with much more hair during this transformation than she had. In fact, she recalled back to the tape from Moreau's camera that had captured his change... and realized that she'd 'gotten off' much easier than he had. Perhaps it was Moreau's way of rewarding his volunteers, she thought. But in truth, she doubted that the self-possessed man awarded that much thought to his subjects. Even his 'favored' ones.
"Well," she said, eating in between her words, for she realized she was famished, "after Moreau made his? proposal, which was rather soon after I got here, actually," she pondered aloud, "?Anyway, after the proposal I felt so guilty for saying yes, and I pretty much holed myself up in my cabin. The only person who drew me back out into the sun was the Dude," she said, hoping that she hadn't added any inflection to the way she'd said his name that would indicate any feeling one way or another. "And after the transformation? well, I don't know. I think I just realized that I can't stay there forever." She didn't mention that it was mostly because she still felt human, and beautiful? because she knew that would change, and wasn't willing to base the entirety of her self-esteem on those now-fragile qualities.
He listened as he plowed his way through the pile of food in front of him.
"The Dude is good at that.... seems to be rather concerned about most of us here." Some of us a bit more concerned with than others, admittedly.... "Ironically he's done a pretty good job of trying to keep our minds off of the changes and the imprisonment. But it's no small task. And he seems to be rather... distracted... now a days, anyway." He sighed, his mind going back to Greer, his belated realization of his feelings, the guilt that followed shortly thereafter, and the entire, embarrasing situation.
Just looking up into Emelyn's blue eyes framed with rich, brown hair made him think of Angelina... and how dearly he wished he could see her again, how much that he wished that he had never signed up for that damndable study.
"Distracted? What do you mean?" Emelyn looked up from her food with a puzzled expression darting through her blue eyes, and wrinkling up her brows in confusion. She'd not had a chance to see the Dude in over a week. "Is he okay?"
"Okay?" Ambrose asked incredulously, then realized that she had by her own admission been spending most of her time indoors.
"Oh he's fine... just... well, rather focused on Greer in particular recently." The itch moved to the back of his neck, and without thinking he reached back to scratch at the soft fur that grew there.
She dropped her fork in surprise. "Oh. I..." she gave a small, mostly forced laugh. "Clumsy..." she ran her fingers through what used to be solely her hair... running into small, sharp objects at the same time. "Damn," she whispered, but it wasn't for the sake of the brief pain.
His eyes lingered on her - her mannerisms spoke of anything but a casual accident. He knew very little about how the Dude and Emelyn had gotten along, but if he wasn't mistaken, he could swear that her actions bespoke of disappointment in The Dude's attachment.
He pursued his lips, taking one of the last bites of his 'breakfast' to quell his words before he could properly mull them over. He knew how she felt...
"I'm sorry..." He seemed to be getting his foot wedged in his mouth in all kinds of ways today. He certainly wasn't doing much to lift the poor woman's feelings here.
"Sorry?" She said, feigning ignorance of what he was implying. But by the look in his face, he knew exactly how she felt. "Yeah, well... I think I set myself up for that one."
Sympathy was on his face as he reached over and patted the back of her hand. "It's a small island after all, and supposedly we're stuck here for life." he commented simply with a strange note of bitterness.
He stood up after that - he needed to get his mind out of all these depressing thoughts. Staying up most of the previous night reading about what might happen to him hadn't laid a good groundwork for this day apparently. Maybe he should try to get some more rest. It wouldn't be hard with the less sleep the night before and a belly full of meat.
Funny, she thought- those words don't seem very comforting. "Well, anyway... I should probably get back to my room. I left my diary open on the desk, and it's doubtless wanting a few more sentences." She smiled at the gallant, older man. "Thanks for the dinner conversation."
Ambrose nodded in understanding. "Take care, Emelyn. If you ever want to talk... I'm here." He finished, and before bussing his tray he gave a gallant bow.
"Thank you as well. It was good running into you again" He smiled genuinely.
"And you as well. ..Ta," she said, and turned back to her food, her thoughts stewing.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 12:39 pm
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((ooooh mannnn..... jsut hit a button and lost eeeeverythign in a massive entry I was writing -,- ;;;; ))
Ambrose stretched, shaking away the last dredges of sleep that clung fiercely to him. The stretch however, along with the smells from the cafeteria that he could sometimes smell from his room which got his stomach on the side of wakefullness and the sounds of morning birds helped fend off the warm bed syndrome that had been getting increasingly bad these last few weeks. At least, between the birds and the smells, Ambrose had mainly stuck to his usual morning habits of rising shortly after dawn that he had kept himself to so as not to miss out on any useful part of the day... despite the fact that most of his days here had usually been spent doing nothing particularly productive and being frustrated about that fact.
The mornings, for Ambrose, were also typically met with a strange disorientation as his mind seemed to be subconsciously refusing to believe every morning that the new reality he faced was true, that he was physically becoming an animal... that he was stuck here - in this room that still seemed so foreign to him. Perhaps that's one reason Amrbose hadn't taken the effort to furnish it with anything personal save the photograph. IT looked like a hotel, and Ambrose was refusing to let it be anything other than a temporary residence. But often, when he first opened his eyes, the first thought on his mind would be why his apartment bedroom looked different... only for the truth to catch up wiht him a moment later - reluctantly hoping that if it waited - then this all wouldn't be here. Only sometimes it was something less pleasant that reminded him of his situation - like the squaking of birds that certainly weren't from New England - now much louder.... or, the worst - the brush of the bedsheets against his fur. There was no way that he could block that out - despite how hard he squeezed his eyes shut, or imagined someone next door had bought an exotic pet. That cold wash of truth always succeeded in overcoming morning sleepiness.... which he wondered if it might have somethign to do with the fact he had read that wolves tended to be noctournal (not always - range, temperature and they prey they were after could vary a wolf to be active at dawn/dusk... or even diurnal). He was apparently becoming something of an expert... well.. as much as one can be after having read most of a book on wolves, and another he had found the otehr day on wild canines that had a good section dedicated to wolves. But no matter how he read - the denial was still in action. He read the books like a textbook - an interesting one admittedly, but refusing to integrate the knowledge about wolf behavior as aspects that might be insidiously worming their way into his own psyche. That, in all honesty, he was actually currently PART wolf in every sense of the words.
After all... he was a human. How much could a person truly become an animal? The surface changes that he had underwent so far was no more than anyone else on the Island.... to speak none of the fact that he had been the first to undergo them. THey had never done this before. Maybe the reason he had been stable so long was because this was as 'bad' as it would really get - despite what they were told. This was stuff of science fiction. It was one thing to have people sprout a few patches of fur or scales, to crave different foods, and minor things like the other changes, but a complete other one to develop further - to truly CHANGE and no longer look human at all. There was no way that their research was this advanced... he would have heard of something with lesser animals where ethics were more lax. Maybe he had in fact already received his third injection in his sleep and nothing had happened. Or that the rest of the injections would just cement in a few more minor changes and stable out as nothing too bad or damning.... and Moreau would let them go home - Before his friends, family... and Angelina thought him dead and had moved on to the point that his return would cause a major disruption. SOmewhere he knew that this was a futile hope, but it was a hope - and something he could cling to. Something that meant maybe he could see Angelina again. That his waiting for her, holding onto the knoweldge that she was alive and they could be together again would come true - and that he should be the loyal knight - and remain true to his Love - and that that would be rewarded.
And.... as much as he would be loathe to admit it, his changes were not that bad at this point. He could look in the mirror and still see his OWN Face - his eyes, the shape of his jawline, HIM. He was not so different that a loose friend would even have difficuly recognizing him. There would be no question that he was human - sapient and intelligent. He might have a few periphery changes - pointed ears, fangs - but nothing outright inhuman. Hell, if this really was as bad as it got, he could shave the fur, crop his ears, clip his nails and have a dentist cap his teeth... and then he could regain that precious normality. No one would know the difference. Except for him. There were some strange food cravings (and an increased metabolism with that), and increased vocal capacity, but... he coul live with that! And even more so - as he discovered with his latest match with Greer - the bogus explanation that had snared him to begin with had SOME truth to it - his metabolism was faster... his endurance was better than it had ever been before... and even his reaction speed was quicker. With this... he could return home maybe... and live a normal life.
But what if it did work... what if he looked in the mirror in the months to come and saw the face of a wolf - the face that had looked at him from countless pictures in the books he had been reading. Admittedly... the wolf was a noble creature - more so than most people through history had given them credit for - he leaned the more that he read. They were beautiful animals.... but it was one thing admiring a photograph, or seeing one in person, and a complete other one to see that face... in the mirror. To think that people would see him as an animal... a BEAST. He might know that wolves were intriguing animals - that would never harm a human, that were intelligent and social and playful and affectionate to their mates... but most people didn't. Most people still played into the age-old stereotypes of maneating beasts - or who attacked livestock and were a pest. And Ambrose's appearance, his demeanor of control and a gentleman... that was something so vital to him that was being threatened.
Regardless, at least among the Islanders - most of them either had underwent their own changes or knew about them from someone else - and he didn't feel bad walking out in public showing his own signs of change. At least here. And now that there were so many, maybe he woudln't have to give anyone else 'the talk' again. There was a significantly lower chance that he would be the first to encounter a newcomer who would be frightened of him... think him a freak... or have to give another poor person "the Talk" - and be the one to shatter THEIR world. But would that stay the same if he changed more? He WAS one of the first to change... and that meant that if it DID continue... that he would always be more developed than the majority of them. The newercomers had it easier in that the path had already been breached - people already knew what they were going through and welcomed them. But if he was removed again - became more animalistic compared to the ones currently here... or ones that had not yet even arrived... as MOreau had said that this would be a big project. New arrivals might come when he had completed his change... even people who would live here might see him as a beast. While they might say that they understand what he's going through and say they know it will happen to them too, what people say and what people thought could be very different- Ambrose was well aware of that.
How could he cope with this... if it is all true... the question that he was avoiding. But as with even normal situations, when Ambrose was going about his morning routine - showering especially - his mind wandered towards dangerous territory. Unlike many here, Ambrose was dealing with more than just the idea of changing... (although with him there was the aforethoguht can of worms of how much he had built up his appearance as being vital to himself.) There was also the primary issue of being cut off from the real world - as he spoke about to Emelyn... Angelina... fencing and the Olympics... his parents. He had thought about all these things. He had told himself ways to deal with it - hope, acceptance... not being so selfish... but his mind kept returning to it. There was no happy answer. IT wasn't a happy situation. Unlike at home, where he finally discovered that he could stand against his parents, leave home and support himself - get their approval later his own way - there WERE no actions he could take here. He really was stuck. He didn't even want the approval of Moreau. Sure, he didn't want his IRE, but... he was a prisoner. He could continue to delude himself - live a life that he didn't believe. He had done that before back home - living the life of a happy, well-adjusted preppy son - being who his parents wanted to be and not what he himself felt. That had caused so much conflict internally.
So ... should he face the facts? He was stuck here... and start to adjust his life? Find new meaning... or continue to cling to the old ones. He didn't want to lose himself.... lose what made him him. He had finally started coming to terms with that - and above all, he did NOT want Moreau to have the credit of being the one to change him - OR the genetic altercations. HE was Ambrose - HE made his own decisions. HE was in control. That's what he was about. THAT was something of his nature he refused to let go.
Alright, that was progress. He was in control of his life. Moreau could change his setting, his appearance, but HE could dictate WHO he was. And at least he wasn't alone. There were people to interact with, people he could express himself to... Even IF he looked like a wolf, he could control his dress, his hygene... he could still be a gentleman.
So where did that leave him? He smiled as he reached a conclusion in his mind. He would remain optimistic. If he didn't change any more - then there was the hope that the experiment was finished - that this was as far as one could conceivably change the structure of an adult person. That maybe he could go home. That it would all be over, a passing nightmare. HE could surgically get rid of all of the physical aspects and be normal. A happy ending to a truly unbelievable story. He could remain loyal to Angelina and maintain hope. He could do that until he either went home (if it had been a few months and no change had occurred - he could talk again to Aubrey - see if he had in fact received his shot - and nothing had happened!) At least... until he changed. IF he changed again - to the point there was no way to pretend to be normal again, then there was no way they'd let him home... and he would have to face the facts. If that happened - that would be his signifier. He would... if that were true... probably never see her again. He would NEVER stop loving her... and he would NEVER forget her. But... he would have to face that the chance at his own life was dead...and that those on the outside would think that he was dead as well. And then, then he would look at who he was... who he wanted to be, and what he refused to change. Until then... there was hope, and he was Ambrose.
Ambrose stepped out of the shower, dried off, and did his usual primping ritual - but with perhaps a bit more enthusiasm today. IT wasn't for nothing.
After getting dresed in a nice, clean set of khaki pants and polo shirt, he put the books on wolves up on his shelf. He wouldn't look at them again yet. Not unless he had to.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 1:34 pm
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RP With Amaya on the Beach
In which Ambrose finds a new, eager pupil to begin teaching Fencing
Amaya Vaughan Amaya let out a long sigh, eyelids sagging behind the large orange visor she wore. She lay on a towel at the beach, allowing the sun to warm her scales. Normally she would never do this but the need to be in the light and get warm was overwhelming and day by day, getting harder to control on her own.
Today was the first day she had given up her modesty to actually bask in the sun and not in the privacy of her room.
And... it wasn't that bad, really. After awhile of being alone she completely forgot the horrendously SKIMPY clothing she wore. God, were they skimpy. Like a whore working on the corner or something... Well, in her eyes anyway.
BUT for the moment everything was good and almost normal and she closed her eyes to let the bright afternoon sun warm her.
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose was feeling much better for once after a morning of soul-searching. He had a plan of approach. He could deal with what was happening to him and around him. For today at the very least. He could put off the burden of thinking about the possible repercussions, and tell himself that there was still hope. He had eaten a filling meal of ham, bacon and eggs, and a crossant, and had returned to his room briefly to get his fencing gear. After all, if he had hope and might someday return - he wanted to keep himself in practice. And, then, he headed towards what had become his favorite spot - the beach, overlooking the ocean - the warm sand under his toes, just close enough to the jungle to give shade - but the breeze coming off the ocean still hitting him as well. And that didn't even touch on the gorgeous scenery. This was the kind of thing people paid to see, quite literally. Appraching his normal spot, he saw a familiar figure out tanning - young Amaya. He smiled. He liked the girl - she was grounded despite her age, and friendly all the same. He felt protective of her, and really was starting to see her as a little sibling he never had. "Amaya!" He called out with a smile and a wave. He usually didn't see her outside of her long skirt and turtleneck despite the heat on the island, and he was glad to see her enjoying the beach.
Amaya Vaughan Ambrose? She leaned her head back and smiled, hand going up to wave just as her modesty devil gave a quick slap to the side of her brain.
LOOK WHAT YOUR WEARING!
All of a suddened large green eyes widdened and she squealed, grabbing the towel from beneath her and wrapping it around her form as she bolted upright. She wasn't EMBARESSED or anything just... scared? Amaya couldn't find a word to describe it and never had been able to since she developed the strange phobia after her parents had passed away.
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose paused, immediately looking awkard. What was wrong? She was acting as if he had seen her nude. He turned around out of politeness, but was primarily confused - especially in retrospect to Colche parading about blithely wearing nothing more than her own skin. "Uhm... I... I'm sorry? IS... something wrong?" Maybe there was a tear on her clothes in an embarrasing spot? "I didn't mean to bother you - I, ah, had just come out to work on some footwork."
Amaya Vaughan "No! No no... I uh..." Amaya let the towel drape on her shoulders and pulled her legs to her chest, wrapping it around them. "I just have a... uh... modesty... issue..." She looked down, embarassed by her reaction and let her long toes sink underneath the sand so she didn't have to stare at them.
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose slowly glanced back towards here, starting just with the periphery vision out of the corner of his eye. "Ohh." He said softly. "You have nothing to be embarrased about, Amaya.... and you're wearing a lot more than many girls would to the beach." He smiled softly, glancing quickly at her short and cutoff t-shirt. Hell, he had seen girls in school wear less than that. Not to even get into cheerleaders.
Amaya Vaughan "Yeah, I know." She frowned and wrapped the long beach towel around her chest, tucking it in to help cover her more before turning around to face him. "It's a stupid fear... phobia... thing I've had for awhile." Her shoulders gave a small shrug and she stood up, finally spotting the fencing gear he carried. Amaya's brow furrowed and she looked at it for awhile before finally giving up on figureing out what it was on her own. "Hey, what's that?"
Ambrose Maurlias He shrugged, smiling supportively. "I'm sorry about that... at least you do... understand ... it's irrational, right? There isn't anything you should be ashamed of. Though I am sorry that I startled you." He looked over to where she gestured and his face brightened. "That?" He smiled widely. "That's my fencing gear. Do... you know anything about fencing?"
Amaya Vaughan "Of course, I know it's ridiculous... I just can't get myself to think any other way." Amaya laughed nervously and approached him.
"Fencing? Uh... aside from the metal face mask thing and the Zorro footwork, no. Your a fencer?" She looked up at him, eyes full of surprise and curiosity. She'd never met someone who fenced before...
Ambrose Maurlias His grin widened. "Well, you're on the right track at least" He said, walking over and picking up the equipment to bring over to her - showing her the mask and the epee. "I do Olympic-style epee fencing." He emphasized in his mind the "do" instead of "did." "It's a wonderful sport. Focuses on agility and precision instead of brute strength. Quick mind and quick movements. Have you ever done anything like martial arts.. or something like that?"
Amaya Vaughan "Nope!" She grinned, showing her sharp teeth. "Been a lazy do-nothing bum my whole life." A small laugh escaped her and it seemed like she was starting to forget about her clothing once more. "I'm always up to try, though." This was pretty interesting and definatly something to pass the time. She'd be a fool to turn something like this down.
Ambrose Maurlias He smiled and dismissed the claim to laziness. "Well, I'd say it's similar in mindset. IT's great - really helps your self-confidence to be able to stand up to someone - even in verbal situations. And of course it's great physically, and a wonderful stress relief." He picked up the extra epee, handing it to her handle first and exalted in the possible chance to teach someone! To have someone new to practice with. "Would you like to learn? I'd love to teach people. I miss having more people to spar with, and it's a fantastic sport."
Amaya Vaughan "Sure! I don't mind picking up anything new to take up some time around here." Amaya blinked and took the epee. She wiggled it and poked the blade, inpecting it all over since she had never seen one before. Oddly enough it wasn't sharp like she had thought and actually bent under pressure. How odd...
Ambrose Maurlias He beamed. "Awesome! I'd be happy to show you!" He gestured to the epee. "Feel free to take a look at it. You probably won't hurt it. And you can see, it's got a blunt tip so it won't do any serious damage. You might pick up a few bruises if your opponent gets a bit overenthusiastic, but... nothing serious. You wear the mask to protect your eyes, and just in case the blade breaks - the same reason you wear the vest." "It's pretty safe, but like any sport, there are always extenuating situations you could get hurt - like the blade breaking at a bad time - it can be sharp then... or tripping and hurting yourself and the like. Sound like something you'd be up for?" He wanted to make any possible risk obvious up front - it was pretty safe, but he had come home with bruises plenty of times - and serious competitions almost always resulted in bruising. Contendors didn't go easy on opponents. But this wasn't like that.... Damn he missed competitions. ((And class just finished smile - I'll respond again when I get home))
Amaya Vaughan "Of course! Bruises are nothing new to me. When you live in the boonies of Amish Land their seriously nothing to complain about." She smiled, the thought of being back home getting her homesick but happy at the same time. "So uh... what do you do exactly? I've seen Zorro but... I highly doubt that's what really goes on." Amaya raised a brow and looked up at him.
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose smiled. "Glad to hear it!" Good! She wasn't afraid of the potential of bruises, and his respect went up a couple of notches. "Well, as far as what you do - it's based after rapier fighting like you saw in Zorro. But, as it is a sport now, there are restrictions. Primarily..." He picked up the other epee and mask. "Protective measures. Like I said - they don't want lawsuits or anything, so you fight with blunted blades and wear protection. You learn maneuvers - parries, thrusts, ripostes, lunges - much like they would have actually used for rapier duels way back when, though. And with a live blade - one that still has a sharp tip - you would probably be able to do some damage to someone. SO its kind of fun as you can picture yourself as a swashbuckler." He gave a bit of a self-conscious grin. "But there are more differences. For example, your "arena" is a thin strip called a "piste" - it makes sure you always face your opponent and you can't circle around them. You also always compete one-on-one. And you never use your off-hand." Ambrose took the classic fencing pose, waving his left hand a bit in the air to draw attention to it. "You keep this hand back and out of the way - so you can't use it to block the other person's rapier. That's another difference between modern olympic fencing and actual rapierfighting. They would sometimes have a dagger in that hand, a mailed glove, or even a second rapier." He gestured back to his blade. "And I practice epee fencing. There are three types: epee, foil, and sabre. Epee is my favorite because it's the style that has the widest area of target - and in that sense is more accurate to actual rapier fighting as there are no areas of the body that are out of bounds. Foil fencing uses a similar blade, but the only valid target areas is the torso. Sabre fencing you can use the whole blade of the sword instead of just the tip, as it is supposed to mimic a real sabre that has an edge, but you can only hit you opponent on the body from the waist-up."
Amaya Vaughan Amaya listened in silence, the epee she was holding still pointing skyward in her grasp as she wiggled it slightly as she listened. Huh... this was a pretty cool sounding sport. Too bad there was never anything like this where she lived aside from the occasional horshoes or cow-tipping which... weren't really sports at all. More like pastimes for extremely bored teenagers and small children.
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose's day was certainly looking up - between his decision to stay positive and have hope unless he did infact change again, and being able to not only chat about fencing, but really go off one it with Amaya really put him in his element. Scales and fur was the last thing on his mind. "So!" He concluded after the basic run down. "Any particular questions?" He grinned.
Amaya Vaughan "Hmmm..." Amaya thought for a moment, letting the epee fall to her side. "Not really, no." She smiled up at him, also forgetting about her modesty... for the moment.
Ambrose Maurlias He nodded with a smile. "Well, wonderful!" He offered her a hand up. "Before you ever touch the blade, though, you need to lean some footwork." He dropped back into the fencing stance to show her, drawing attention to the distance apart and width of his feet, and where he kept his weight on the balls of his feet. "And of course- if you can think of anyone else who would want to learn, we can get a group going." He thought back to Greer's suggestion about teaching fencing. "We'd have to petition Moreau for some more equipment... but he can afford it." he gave a wry smirk.
Amaya Vaughan Amaya took the offered hand and set the epee down before hesitently undoing the towel and setting it aside. She'd have to get over he fear SOMETIME... plus, it would probably just get in the way. Green eyes watched his feet then she took up the same stance on the tips of her toes, much like how she walked. A frown passed over her features as she forced herself to put her entire foot on the ground. She always found it so awkward standing on the whole of her feet.
Ambrose Maurlias In Ambrose's defense, he didn't look twice as she took off her towel. Aside from correcting her stance a little bit. "That's it. Now put your weight on the balls of your foot - like how you like walking" He smiled. "Don't lift your heel completely off the ground - there we go.." He had her adjust her stance correctly, then stand normally and drop back into the stance a few times to try to ingrain it in her muscle-memory.
Amaya Vaughan "Okay..." Amaya followed everything he instructed her to do, sometimes finding herself going on the balls of her feet again but quickly forcing her heels back onto the sand. She didn't realize how second nature walking on her tiptoes had become until now.
Ambrose Maurlias He nodded approvingly. "Staying on the balls of your feet isn't too bad in this, actually - it's where your weight remains during the match regardless. But with movement, sometimes you can move quicker by moving in a heel-to-toe way with your front foot. Your back foot stays mostly on the ball the entire time." Ambrose refused to think about the changing applications of stance with a changing foot or posture. Things weren't going to get any worse. One Amaya had the stance down, he worked with her a bit on how to move forward and backwards in the stance. Once again, first demonstrating and then guiding her through it, making corrections where she needed, but also metering it out with encouragement. He seemed to be both enthusiastic and patient at the same time.
Amaya Vaughan Amaya nodded and kept silent for the majority of the time, only saying small things like "okay" and "alright" as she learned. She was one of those quiet, obidient students that normally were never seen above the crowd but sometimes had the most potential. Ambrose was a good teacher too, the lack of being yelled at or being called stupid was a definate plus.
Ambrose Maurlias He kept up the drills for about ten or twenty minutes, finishing with standing across from her and taking up a stance as well. "Now, when I advance, I want you to retreat - keeping the footwork I just taught you. And when I retreat, you advance. Got it?" He said with a smile, knowing that the interactive part like this would be much more interesting. He kept things pretty basic at first, one step forward, one step back, two forward, one back, and then started playing with it a bit, advancing more quickly, or about five or six steps in one direction before changing directions, and then just keeping up the movement pretty constantly. Once again, he was encouraging her, laughing good-naturedly with some of his tricks - making a game out of it with a "gotcha" here and there. Or, when she kept up with him, a "aha - you're too quick for that, huh?"
Amaya Vaughan At first her footwork was slow, eyes on Ambrose then on her feet as she slowly retreated and advanced. After awhile she began to get a hang of it, though at times she would find herself going on the balls of her feet again and would force her heels back down. Amaya laughed as he taught her, the worries from the past few days slipping away like they had never even been there.
Ambrose Maurlias He reminded her a few times to keep her eyes on his, but overall, he was very supportive. And enjoying himself as well. There were few things that Ambrose could truly just be himself and enjoy himself. He worked with her for another good ten or fifteen minutes before clapping her on the shoulder with a smile. "I think that's good for today, don't you? You're making some great headway! Keep practicing your footwork and next time we'll go over it again and actually get to the epee." He winked. And another one on the side of the epees. He mentally grinned imagining a scorecard against Greer. Though she could teach her sabre as well if she liked. They could get a whole competition thing going on maybe.
Amaya Vaughan Amaya smiled and nodded, picking up her towel. Her scales seemed to go mostly down her back, working there way around onto her arms and face... it was another reason why she wore rather hefty amounts of clothing. After drapping the towel on her shoulders she grinned up at him. "That was fun. I can't wait to start learning with the epee." The grin was genuine, something that seemed to appear less and less recently.
Ambrose Maurlias Ambrose swelled with pride and confidence. "That's awesome, Amaya! I am really looking forward to showing you! I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about it!" Not only did he have a surrogate little sister, but she liked fencing! He was on cloud nine. He gave her scales a quick look over - they actually did look pretty neat on her. He wouldn't trade her, given, especially with what little he knew of lizards and snakes versus what he knew and liked about wolves - but it was cute. "You're off to a great start, too!" And he looked sincere. She was taking the lessons seriously, and was honestly enthusiastic. That was the best combination he could ask for - even in place of natural talent. "And don't hesitate to track me down and demand lessons whenever you want" he winked. "And we should see about getting you a set of gear custom-fit courtesy of Moureau's bank account" He grinned. "I'm sure he will." "Anyway! I'll see you around, Amaya!" He waved, and set off back towards the village.
Amaya Vaughan Amaya gave a small laugh and nodded. "I'll be sure to track you down and maybe I might get enough courage to actually ask Moreau sometime." She was openly honest about her fear of the doctor, why wouldn't she be? Most of the people on the island hated him or feared him anyway... her feelings of him were a mix of both.
"Bye Ambrose, thanks for the lessons!" The young girl waved as he walked off in the opposite direction. She would pay her respects to her parents for the day and then head off to grab a bite to eat.
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Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 7:00 pm
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Greer hits 50% and Planning for the Butterfly House
IN progress
Ambrose's 'new' outlook on the situation was helping him maintain a more positive outlook in the mornings. Things weren't so bad, and things would get better - they had to. After all, it would be ridiculous to suppose otherwise. And with starting to teach Amaya fencing, things were even better.
Brushing his teeth after having showed and gotten dressed, Ambrose's mind wandered towards breakfast as the cafeteria smells that were already wafting to his sensitive nose.
A pile of papers and a book clasped to her chest, Greer walked swiftly from her door to Ambrose's, doing her best not to run. She didn't really want to see anyone she wasn't planning on meeting right then, but that was no reason to scurry around like a scared mouse. Mice were for eating, not being.
Raising a feathered hand she knocked quickly on her friend's door, almost dropping her sheaf of notes.
Ambrose hurredly spat out the toothpaste and rinsed his mouth, half-jogging to the door. Who was paying him a visit this morning? Was Amaya back for more lessons? The Dude? He hadn't seen him since the whole Greer thing....
Opening the door with a smile, he did a doubletake at the woman... bird... that stood before him. Unmistakably Greer, and yet.... undenyably different. Part of his stomach seemed to reach up and grab his heart in a tight fist. This... this didn't work at all with what Ambrose had decided for himself - that a further transformation was ridiculous - impossible even. Greer's legs were almost entirely different, her nose a hard yellow, and most of all - her arms... full pinions grew from them and they had begun to distinctly resemble a set of wings.
Unlike everyone else who had begun to change on the Island... these were no longer superficial changes... with something like these, clever makeup, shaving, surgery... things like these couldn't be blown over.
Ambrose's thoughts spirialed before he even realized he was staring, his face washed to a paleness, his voice lost before he even managed to fully get out the "Hi Greer" That was on his lips before his eyes fully communicated to his mind that while, yes, the person at the door was Greer - it was a distinctly different Greer.
Finally, after the moment would have obviously been a strained, awkward one, his voice returned, this time fetching back a "Greer... My god... I'm so sorry.." He whispered, stepping back and holding the door open for his friend.
"Hi Ambrose." she said quietly, trying not to react to his staring. It was shock, and it was to be expected. Still, she couldn't help but think that Sean hadn't reacted so badly. Stepping inside, she dropped her papers on his bed, more because of a loss of grip than anything else.
"It's okay, really." she sighed. She was going to have to talk about the change before she could discuss construction, which was her reason for coming here. Damn. She'd been holding out a faint hope that she'd be able to avoid it. "Mind if I sit on your bed?"
He shook his head quickly to attempt to jog his mind into working properly. "Yes - yes, of course you can." He replied, closing the door behind him and going to her side.
"I.... I'm sorry, Greer. I know that wasn't what you need now." He tentatively reached a hand up to put on her shoulder. "I just.... I know it probably sounds ridiculous.... but... with how long it had been since any of us had gotten our second injection... I was starting to hope maybe it wouldn't get any worse for any of us... that he'd let us go home if we could feign normalcy." He swallowed. Somewhere, the back of his mind pointed out that he hadn't changed yet. That maybe, MAYBE he had received his third injection and he hadn't reacted to it. Greer had changed much later than he had. That had to be it! His heart wrestled a little freer from the cold grip that had taken it.
But what about Greer? She... wasn't so lucky... or maybe - maybe his thoughts about the further changes not being too bad - maybe they weren't? Her nose was a different texture... there were more feathers on her arms, but could those theoretically be cut in a pinch...? How much of a change from before was this really? Her arms were still there - and not much longer - just the feathers that grew from them. The beak, though.... was it hard? Did she still have teeth...? He looked over her face analytically.
"Was... the change very painful...?" He almost didn't want to ask. "I mean... your arms have longer feathers from them... but your arms are still all there - your body isn't that much different, really... is it?" He hoped she would confirm his suspicious, but part of him knew better.
She grimaced, sitting down and her face in her hands. "Really, really painful. I dreamt and felt like I was on fire! If you can avoid having your body hair replaced with feathers, I recommend that you do."
Dropping her hands, she looked up and smiled at him ruefully. "I'm sorry Ambrose, but I've changed immensely. I no longer have an upper set of teeth, my toes are tipped in talons, my legs are either hard, scaled, and yellow or coated in feathers, and when Sean picked me up yesterday he said it felt like I weighed less, so my bones have probably begun to hollow. Oh yeah, and my vision is pratically telescopic."
It hurt her to describe her changes to him, to crush out that last little glimmer of hope that Ambrose had that maybe this all wouldn't be real. If she could have pulled it all off like a costume, jumped up and yelled "Just kidding!" she would have, even if it meant he hated her for the rest of his life. Better that he was free and happy, even if she lost him. If she could have traded something to the Doctor for Ambrose's freedom, she would have in a second. He didn't deserve this.
"I'm sorry Ambrose. I really am. I wish I could make it not so."
He nodded slowly, wishing that this were a dream, that the both of them could wake up - and have it not be real. That genetics really couldn't be stretched this far. His eyes darted momentarily to the books on wolves and wild canids that sat on his desk, the lamp having been decisively placed on top of them.
He tried to force a smile at her description, but it came out looking more like a toothy wince. "At least.... I should be able to avoid that part..." He responded to her advise. "But... I might be getting a whole lot more of that body hair, however..." He said with a shudder.
"They didn't even offer you morphine? Like the Dude got for his first change?" He asked, imagining the pain that she must have gone through to have the quill-like bases of the feathers squeezed through the pores of her skin.
"And did you notice when you got your injection?" Maybe more of them had recevied their third... maybe since this was such an experimental process, this wouldn't happen to all of them. Maybe they would stop where they were.... His mind seized on that thought like a lifeline. He was still relatively normal. Normal enough for people to pass off his features as a costume or within the realm of human possibility.
She shook her head. "I just lay down, went to sleep, and woke up in the middle of the night full of pain and changes." Greer reached out a hand, wrapping her fingers around his. In an odd way, she was glad she was comforting him more than the other way around. She was still shaky about the change and liable to break down if she was shown too much sympathy. It was better this way. Easier to hold together when giving someone else strength.
"I'm sorry, I didn't come here to worry you - want to dwell on happier things?"
He squeezed her feathery hand back, feeling worried, and at the same time, angry at himself for thinking about himself and not Greer's situation.
this... won't happen to me. I'm going to stay normal! His mind emphasized, sinking its claws deeper into denial. But I can try to help Greer through this, be here for her. Things will work out -for me, for all of us. They have to.
He turned to her with a ghost of a smile. "Happier things?" He nodded, sucking in a breath. "Happier things sounds good. As long.. as long as you can assure me thatyou're OK, Greer...?"
She smiled, nodding. "I'll be okay. Being well taken care of."
Gathering up her papers and the book on construction, she turned back to Ambrose and started handing him things. "These are my plans for the butterfly house. As co-foreman I need you to look them over before we start anything." Projects that took your mind off things were lovely.
"Good.... And... I'm here too, I mean... I promise not to focus on me" He winced. "If you need to talk. I can help."
As he turned to the papers, his mind was no exception: seizing on the chance of a distraction, something that it could put to work with - solving the problem of his floundering for something productive to do as well as distract him from the underlying situation, he shuffled through the papers, his eyebrows raised, impressed with the level of detail.
"Wow, you've relaly been looking into all this, haven't you?" Ambrose had never done anything more complicated than construct a bird house in shop, but the blueprints seemed fairly straightforward when he sat down and looked through them. Easy enough to break down into managable tasks. "These look really good, Greer. It's a big project! But... I think it's do-able. I mean... all of the instructions seem very clear..." He turned to her with a smile. "This is something we can really all do - build together. Make something!" He grinned at the title. "Co-foreman, eh? That certainly sounds important."
She chuckled and nudged his shoulder with hers. "I promise to come sobbing to you should I need it." The hawk whistled at her when she said this. She did her best to ignore it.
Blushing a little at the praise, Greer looked down at her hands. "I take notes compulsively, and since I don't have a background in construction I figured detail could only help us. I'd hate for my bad plans to shoot this project in the foot. And yes, co-foreman is a very important job. It means you take half the blame when things go wrong."
She grinned at him, winking.
"Good!" He nodded in approval, his mind now determined to keep the mood positive. "What are friends for, after all?" Friends. Just that. Although the group of friends he was building around him were becoming a close circle to him - especially the pack-building instinctits unwittingly budding in Ambrose's genes.
He barked a laugh at this. "Ooooh, I see. Shifting the blame, Eh?" He teased. "But that's fine - I can take it. But! We're not going to screw up - not with plans this solid." He tapped on the plans for emphasis after having finished reading them over.
"So, other than taking the blame for screwups and manual labor, what do you need me to do next?" He asked.
She cocked her head, thinking. "Hmmm, well, I think I may have found a good spot to build - I would like to show it to you at some point. And taking an inventory of our supplies would always be good. Free for either of those things?"
The hawk in the back of her mind scoffed. It ticked off a few things Ambrose could do for her- Greer nearly choked.
Ambrose smiled. "That sounds great! We can go by the site and talk about the ... orientation of the building, and then I can go help with inventory - set aside the material we'll need in particular. I don't think we'd want to move it out to the site all at once... the wood might rot, or the screen rust if we move it out there too early and don't finish it."
Greer nodded. "Sounds perfect. Shall we?" She stood, gesturing towards the door. She expected the hawk to be upset they were moving away from a bed, but it made no protest. Thank goodness. It could go away now. Far, far away.
Ambrose nodded, gathering the plans up for her and headed quickly to the door so he could open it for her.
"Ladies first." He smiled, bowing slightly in his gesture as he swung it open before her.
Always the chivilarous knight, our Ambrose. "Thank you, good sir." Greer teased lightly as she passed him, doing her best not to listen to the hawk's cheeky suggestion that he was only holding the door so he check out her butt. Sean, sure, but Ambrose? Never.
After she walked out, he slipped out after her, not bothering to lock the door anymore - a habit he had stopped a few weeks back when it clicked with him that the only people onthe Island he would really want to keep out could get in even IF it was locked.
He jogged a few paces to catch up to her side and smiled as he let her lead the way. "You know... as sad as it is, this entire time I've been on the Island, I've yet to foray into the jungle? You'd think that the temptation of adventure might have lured me out long ago, but ..." He shrugged and shook his head. "I have yet to really go much more than the village, the beach, and around the perimeter to the cliffs. I guess with everything else, there's been more than enough adventure..."
You haven't been into the jungle yet? You fool! It's absolutely gorgeous: tons of plants, birds, insects..." Her voice trailed off as she took a moment to orient herself and lead them to the area she'd found a week or two ago. "I'll have to take you bug hunting with me at some point. Continue your education."
He grinned. It did sound fun. "I know! I feel bad - it's like this whole... well... jungle just waiting to be explored. I am surprised I haven't." He picked his way after her, stepping over roots, and trying to avoid thorns and any suspicious webs all at the same time. Brushing a branch out of the way he followed along her. "Bug hunting?" He had never really considered that before, but it did sound like it could be fun. Spending more time with Greer, hunting after insects - it could be like a huge scavenger hunt, combined with an adventure into the jungle. "Sure! That sounds like it might be fun! Looking for rare - or even new types... spotting them... and all that. What else have you seen out here? You've been in the forest a lot bughunting, right? What else lives in here?"
Breaking out of the underbrush into the natural clearing about five minutes from the village, she stopped and spun around. "This is it! What do you think? Will it work?"
She was grinning, suddenly incredibly happy. Being outside in unconfined spaces seemed to really elate her hawkself. Resisting the very strong urge to grab Ambrose and, uh, celebrate, she focused on describing the island's animal life.
"Parrots, parakeets, love birds, lots of feathered squaking things. There's some small primates too, and different types of rodentia. And bugs, of course, but if I start listing those now I won't stop for awhile. Lots of little lizards, snakes, bats, frogs, salamanders and various other beaties that half of me now considers food."
He smiled, looking around the beautiful clearing. There was a lot of native vegitation here, including some very pretty flowers that he had no idea where to even begin with as far as names went. And it was open - a large fallen tree spread across the ground served as an explanation as to why. A few smaller seedlings were sprinigng up in its wake, but nothing too dense to build around. He glanced down at the plans, turned them a bit and then grinned as he saw an orientation that should work. "This looks perfect, Greer! I bet you could have been an architect if you weren't so enthusiastic of an entomologist" he said to her with a wink.
He listened to her as she listed what she had seen. "Wow" He commented, and began to resent his not exploring earlier. "even primates? I really should wander out here more often - I'd love to see them." He caught on her last statement, though. "Are.... have you actually been having cravings like that..?" He asked, suddenly wondering if his own appetites might change even more than they already had...
Greer rolled her eyes. "Flatterer. I have no training in archetecture, and certainly lack the engineering skills. All I did was pull these sketches out of that book and get really lucky with a location."
She made a face. "I have, but so far have resisted them. Not that it's suprising, since those are the main food staples of Harris' Hawks, but... if you ever seen me grab a lizard without thinking and start to chew on it, smack me would you? Eating steak is bad enough." Remembering something Sean had mentioned along these lines, she gave Ambrose a sidelong glance. Should she bring up the possibility of wanting to eat each other?
Ambrose shrugged. "Still, better than I - or most people I bet- could have done. And you did more than just pull designs from a book."
He put his hands in his pockets and looked around the clearing, listening to rustling noises off in the underbrush. "I'll be sure to do that." He winced, a small ball of fear starting to form - would he have those cravings as well...? No... he hadn't changed again, and he wouldn't let himself start to think on that as a certainty. At least Greer seemed to at least be able to make light of the situation...? "Heh.... But I'm sure it won't come to that!" ....right?
She rolled her eyes but let the argument drop. She doubted he was going to see reason on this. As for the gastric issues... "Hopefully not. I especially hope we won't start trying to eat our friends."
Greer winced. She hadn't meant to bring that up.
Ambrose stood stock-still. That thought had never even occurred to him. Ambrose was too wrapped on what he HAD read about wolves described them as very social animals, a healthy wolf never having attacked a human, and overall pleased (as much as one could get) with the selection - even if he wouldn't admit that, especially to do the doctors. But, one thing he hadn't thought on, beyond the relief of not having to deal with being something cute and docile that would certainly be a challenge to his masculinity, was that he was becoming a predator.
But they weren't all going to be humans, were they? He had seen a pair of antlers sprouting from Ian's head... and there were others becoming small furry animals, too, weren't there. Ambrose paled.
"But... it won't come to that!" He said with a masked note of fear. "I mean.... we might resemble animals.... and... well.... we might even start picking up some ... quirks... but... we're all still people." Ambrose hadn't had cravings for any living animals yet, thank God - just a penchant for the steaks and meat in the lunchroom. And it won't change! He hammered again.
Greer felt like an a** for even thinking it. Poor Ambrose! Of course her dear friend would take such a suggestion hard. "No, I'm sure it won't!" she said quickly, wrapping her arms around his waist in effort to give comfort. The hawk approved of the action, but not the motive. She supressed a growl at herself.
"I'm sorry Ambrose, I shouldn't have mentioned it. Let's go do inventory, hmm?" He was warm and smelled quite nice. Stupid bird hormones.
He gave her a small smile. "No... it's alright... I just... That hadn't even occurred to me, to be honest. But... I can see where you might get that.... I mean, I haven't had the cravings for actual live animals... and if it gets to that point... then the next step..." He shook his head. "It won't happen. We're still people - and we always will be." He thought to what Greer mentioned of her sort of hawk's diet, and then to her downstairs roommate, and Amaya. She would be in the same boat as he would if predatory instincts did kick in. But that was a ridiculous thought. And he did take comfort in this - that notion seemed a world away from where he was.
"It's allright, Greer." He smiled. "Really. I honestly don't think that's going to happen." He reaffirmed genuinely. "And inventory sounds wonderful! Lead the way, fearless leader" he winked.
Chuckling, she released her friend and headed back towards the village. The hawk whined in the back of her mind- nooo! Wanna be outside!
"So, I'm thinking of starting a betting pool on whether or not I'll be able to fly when I've gone through all my changes. Sean says yes- what do you think?" It was a lame distraction, but hey.
Ambrose raised his eyebrows and looked her over again. "You said that The Dude mentioned that you weighed less....? And your plumage on your arms is filling out..." As much as he hated to look to the future of more changes... "Well.... assuming that the procedure IS actually successful in furthering our resemblance to animals more than it already has.... maybe..? I mean... if you weigh little enough and have broad enough wings... you could at least glide?" He smiled. That did sound amazing...
Ambrose's mind was distracted on the walk back as he looked over Greer. Even with the feathers and begining of a beak, she was still quite attrac-
As his foot caught over some thorny brambles and he tumbled face-down into a patch of thorns and spikey leaves.
She nodded. "Gliding will probably all I ever do, if that, since flight muscles take a lot of eating to keep strong."
Trotting along, she heard a small crash and turned, not particularly concerned. "What was- Ambrose!" Racing to his side, she tried to help him up, only succeeding in getting her feathers caught in the thorns.
"Ow! Ambrose, are you al- ouch, damn! okay?"
Ambrose yelped as his face struck the ground, some of the small thorns scraping his face.
Slowly, he pushed himself up, and made a hissing noise as he drew in air between his teeth, trying to prop himself up without sticking himself more on the thorns that seemed to be caught mercillesly around his ankle. "owowowow.." He winced, trying to sit up. "Oh geez - Greer- no, they're sharp - aaaahhhh" he whined, feeling rather humiliated for managing to get himself into this situation. He should have been paying more attention!! That's what he got for thinking things like that. She was taken, and so was he.
He sighed pitifully as he looked over to her, a few small cuts across his face, and his leg wrapped in brambles. "What a mess." He said with exasperation. "Guess I'm not really cut out as a jungle explorer".
Suppressing a giggle at his pitiful state, Greer went to work on pulling the brambles off of his leg. He was so adorable! "Everyone gets tripped up by nature at some point. And he, at least we know now that we need to make sure this path is clear before we begin building."
Balancing on one foot, she used the talons on the other to slice through a particularly stubborn coil of thorns. Useful little things. The hawk smiled knowingly: boys always needed someone to look after them.
Ambrose smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as she sliced through the brambles clinging to his leg. "My savior!" He said with a bit of a laugh. "And hey, those things are really useful, aren't they!" He marveled, never having really thought before about the utilitiy of the 'adaptions' that they had developed.
He lifted a hand to the side of his cheek where he had a few small scrapes, and looked down to see that, yes, he had managed to cut his face. So smooth he thought with a humiliated sigh.
"But that's a good point - it's not too far out - and will be even faster with a path. Maybe lay some big flat stones from the village to the construction site. Make it easier to get the supplies out there, and make it so people can find the location as well."
He brushed himself off and slowly got to his feet, glaring down at the offending vines. Stupid plants. "I promise I won't be nearly so much of a klutz if you take me out bughunting." He offered with a wince.
She watched him check his wounds and smiled. A-dor-a-ble. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure it was my fault, distracting you with my luscious behind."
Greer grinned. Joking. She was joking. "You look fine, and you're not a kultz. No one with your fencing footwork could be."
Crossing her arms, she grinned and nodded towards the village. "Why don't you walk in front so I can keep an eye on you?"
Ambrose blushed a deep pink as her words hit the mark closer than she probably knew.
He smiled and shrugged, shaking his leg once more to make sure it was disentangled before shoving his hands back into his pockets. "Yes... well... they don't exactly have thorny vines at UMass to worry about, but I'll keep my eyes open now." He winked.
"And yes, ma'am." He grinned, taking the lead. At least he had paid attention and could find his way back from here.
As he walked, however, Greer would see a small wagging tail nub rubbing back and forth against the back of his pants. Despite the embarrassment, he was enjoying himself.
Greer followed cheerfully after him, admiring the view and wondering about the blush. Had he actually been looking at her butt? The hawk preened at the idea while she was amused by the prototail wagging. Spending time with Ambrose was an odd mix of feeling like an adult and laughing teen. Always fun and confusing.
"So, when are we going to start all this building?"
He glanced back quickly as they breached the treeline and was once again back in the 'civilized' world of the cookie-cutter buildings. It was a drastic change from sylvan paradice to the unfeeling mechanical world of an apartment complex.
"Good question..." He drug out as he headed towards the supply room. "I'm not exaclty doing anything, if you catch my drift. Other than that party in a couple of weeks."
Greer nodded. "Yeah, me too- wait, no! I have that book I need to read!" She'd completely forgotten about Emelyn's writing and had yet to sit down with it. If she bumped into the girl again and hadn't read any of her work, she'd feel like a moron.
"I'm sorry Ambrose, but I got a book from Emelyn that she wrote, and I haven't even glanced at it yet. It would break my heart if I gave something like that to someone and they didn't read it- would you mind if I abandoned you for a bit?"
"Emelyn writes?" Ambrose asked with a note of curiousity, and a small impressed look. He felt bad that he had spoken with her a few times and yet honestly knew very little about her.
... Perhaps it was a defense mechanism. He liked her from what little he had seen of her, but with his decision, and her appearance being so close to the woman who his heart yearned for, he felt that things could very easily become complicated.
"It's fine." He smiled. "It's rare that we have things we need to do around here. Go - have fun. I'll grab some food from the cafeteria and go through these plans with the supplies - try to pull aside what we'll need, and set out the stuff we'll need first." He answered with understanding.
"Go! Have fun!" He waved her off, and walked off to do the things he said he would.
"Thank you!" Greer gave him a quick hug and beat a path back to her room. She hoped she liked this mysterious genre of 'fiction'...
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 5:08 pm
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Ambrose got back to his duplex later that evening, much in need of a shower. He was still a bit dirty and sweaty from his first walk into the jungle earlier in the day, and needed to wash the cuts. That combined with a long day of inventory in the supply room he was full of wood dust and felt grimy.
It had been a long day, he reflected as he let the water wash away the periphery grime, but rewarding. It had been a long time since he had felt so productive, especially since coming to the Island. They were going to build a butterfly house - and that was something. The supplies that Moreau and Aubrey had ordered looked like they'd be perfect. He had expected having to make out an additional request list based on the plans that Greer had drawn out, but in fact there was plenty of materials to spare - enough for another building project if they finished the current one.
There was even stepping stones that should be more than enough to make a trail from the village to the building site. ... So no more unfortunate accidents happened, he thought ruefully as he carefully washed the scrapes on his cheeks, hands and shins. At least they weren't bad, but they were badges to his klutziness - and distraction. His face reddened again as Greer inadvertantly stumbled on the real reason he hadn't been watching where his feet were going.
Even with her feathers and beaklet, Greer was an attractive woman, with a great deal of personality. He found it exceedingly easy to speak with her, and be himself. Maybe it was just the environment that he had grown up in, but other than Angelina, Ambrose had not really found any other women that he had felt that comfortable around, or who were actually intersted in speaking about more than just superficial subjects and were more concerned with image than substance.
Of course...speaking of both.... Greer's metamorphosis. It really had shaken him, and he felt like a heel for that showing to her when she probably needed his support. What would he have done if it had been the other way around? He would have felt horrible! But it seemed so unreal - even after all he had seen on the Island so far, He didn't think that the doctor would actually be able to change them that much. A smattering of feathers and fur here and there... that was one thing.... but everything he knew of genetics and what was Real said that what had happened to Greer was impossible. And yet it had happened to her.
He thought to the wolf books sitting on his desk, wondering for a brief moment if he should turn his attention back to them, especially after what Greer mentioned of cravings for small animals. That meant that the personality changes were increased in her second stage along with her physical appearance.
But no. He had made a decision and he was going to stick to it. No matter what happened around him, unless he himself changed, there was hope. That didn't mean that he was cold to their changes - not in the long run. But he would NOT give up hope - on Angelina, on Fencing, on the Olympics.... on going home until he was beyond hope of fitting in. As long as he could look in the mirror, and see HIS face looking back.... hope of going home was still there. He could deal with the changes he had underwent so far. Technically they were minor enough that were he to go walking down a street, he'd get funny glances, but no one would assume it anything but a costume. With some minor modifications, he could be normal. Hell, in a way, he felt like it almost gave him a dangerous edge - with the teeth, the growling. He was a predator.
He reached over and turned off the knobs and ran his hands through his hair, squeezing out the excess water. Surprisingly, even after the long day, he wasn't particularly tired.
Brushing his hair and his teeth, Ambrose dressed again and headed back out into the village to see what was going on.
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