[Journal] Duplex #1 - Ambrose Maurlias & Angelina Swanson

[Angelina Swanson]

"I dunno...its okay." She knocked with the knocker. "Where the hell did it come from?"  

[Ambrose Maurlias]

His ears lowered a bit more. "From Moreau... I would guess. Who else could order it?"

He shook his head and smiled down at the handmade figurine. It would - at the very least - be an easy landmark to describe his living quarters to others. Maybe it wasn't so bad.

He was just thinking how he would have to dig up some more clay for Hargun as he opened the door when he stopped mid-step. The wolf decor didn't stop at the knocker. There were at least half a dozen lupine statuettes around the room.

"Hoo boy." He sighed. Talk about a statement.

In addition, thre were also several small wrapped packages on the bed... a basket of bath products... and the dresser and closet doors were slightly ajar.

He strode into the room, looking about, a bit overwhelmed.  

[Angelina Swanson]

Angelina stepped in, blinking at all the new editions. "Since when do mad scientists give...Christmas gifts?"

She looked around and in a very childlike manner asked, "Hey, did I get anything?"  

[Ambrose Maurlias]

Ambrose shook his head, a bit bewildered still. "I suppose since they have all their projects going as planned." He said with a note of distaste.

He picked up one of the wrapped gifts on the bed, feeling at the paper. It felt like a book of some sort.

He glanced over to her, deciding perhaps he shouldn't question a gift horse and all that. "I don't know...." He flipped through the short stack of presents on his bed - all with the same name on them - his.

"Well... these are mine.... but maybe there's something in your duplex? Here - I'll tell you what. I'll wait to open mine.... and you go check and we can open them together?"  

[Angelina Swanson]

Angelina's eyes widened and she gave Ambrose a quick kiss on the cheek and bolted out the door.

...she came back a few minutes later with a small box. "I got something!"  

[Ambrose Maurlias]

Ambrose waited patiently while she dashed out the door, arranging the gifts around him - including the envelope from Joliette.

He looked up as she came back in only a few moments later. "That was fast!" he grinned.

He patted the bed next to him as he looked over his small stack, picking up the first wrapped item. Tearing off the paper with his claws - which he had discovered to be quite useful in the unwrapping process to reveal.... the title "WOLVES" emblazoned across a large book.

"Wow.... I'm starting to notice a theme..." He said scratching the back o his head.

He looked at the big basket of bath supplies. "Perhaps I should double check these.... they are't doggie shampoo or anything are they?"  

[Angelina Swanson]

Angelina snerked. "Why did Moreau give YOU the girly bath stuff and not me."

She dig into her box. "ROCK ON!" She tossed the box over her shoulder and pulled out the iPod and the headphones. "Maybe Moreau ain't so bad." She scotted back and leaned on back on the headboard and began to click through her music selection.  

[Ambrose Maurlias]

One of his ears flicked back in mock insult at the bath comment. He heaved a sigh. "Perhaps he watches us a bit too closely." He said ruefully. He rubbed an appreaciative thumb over one of the large conditioner bottles, unable to hide the wag in his tail. "Well.... I suppose I can share them."

He looked over at her box. "An Ipod! Nice!"

Tearing through the wrappings on the next two packages revealed a very similar result as the first. Two more books on wolves - with big full-color photographs and volumes of text. They were placed on the shelf next to the books he had brought. Hargun's handmade statue was given a place of reverence on the bedside table.

"I don't know if I'd go to that length." He said finally.  

[Angelina Swanson]

Angelina shrugged and stuck in her headphones, still clicking through her new music, nodding along and watching Ambrose.  

[Ambrose Maurlias]

His ears perked as the music started.

"Perhas the iPod was a gift for the two of us." He said with a small chuckle. "Too bad the music is likely exclusively for... uh... you." He spoke up.

As he put away some of the items, and resituated some of the statuettes, he blinked as he encountered the closets. He rushed to the drawers with an equally excited grin.

"NEW CLOTHES!" He bounded up to Angelina. "I got new clothes!" His tail was wagging frenetically.  

[Angelina Swanson]

Angelina grimmaced and quickly passed over the Avril tracks.

"New clothes?" She quirked an eyebrow. "I feel gipped."  

[Ambrose Maurlias]

He stuck out his tongue. "well, you haven't been here as long." He justified.

Finally, he sat down with the envelope from Joliette, cutting open the envelope with a nail. he withdrew a beautiful photograph of the beach. He smiled. "How thoughtful." He commented. He had always loved the beach here - especially after today.

He set it on his desk, and finished situating things.

Looking around the room with his hands on his hips, listening to the music of Angelina as she jammed on the bed, he nodded. It was finally looking less like a hotel room. It was... a measure of acceptance, he realized - in more ways than one. He finally had made the effort to personalize the room beyond just a standard hotel room. And, to boot... everwhere he looked there was something wolf-related - wiht all of the statuettes Moreau had left. But he was forced to admit - it was better than it was. And... after all of the discussions with the others.... he really didn't have it as bad as many of the others as far as his animal. He sighed. Whoever would have guessed what his life was like now.

Finally, with a gesture to Angelina, he grabbed his bath things and pulled her after him for some good 'clean' fun.  

[Ambrose Maurlias]

Ambrose stretched in bed early the next morning, eyes closed, a huge smile on his face. Content, he lay there after the good stretch, feeling the warmpth from beside him and letting the scents fill his nose. Primarily, raspberries and.... other indications of the previous night's activities that had made an excellent followup to the day's.
The raspberry smell was from one of his new bath oils that they both had enjoyed the night before - finally washing away all of the sand and seawater. His fur was soft now, detangled, and clean. And his body was relaxed.

Memories washed over him of his Christmas. What a wonderful day. Finally, it seemed, just spending time with Angelina - things were feeling better. As right as they could be given the situation. He felt they had gotten past the awkwardness.... even last night... wow... last night she had brought something up that had still weighed on him a bit despite the nature of earlier in the day. Perhaps it had been inspired by the Red Riding Hood book he had been given, or perhaps... something else, but Angelina had gotten that coy look on her face in the dusk of the room, and called him a Big Bad Wolf in a positive manner... and... proceeded to kick off some.... rather adult playacting.
Afterwards, and after a damn good time.... he had confided in her that it really reassured him.... that she certainly still loved him... not despite what he looked like, but that she could still find him attractive... sexy. She had replied that it had almost surprised her too - but that he was hers, and that love truly could conquer all - that he was still beautiful and sexy to her.

And his heart leapt. Despite the initial separation, despite ... obstacles and him thinking her lost... to the point of starting to try to move on... love had brought them together... and kept them together.

He knew that they could get through this. They weren't going to ask about what her serum was... She was right - if it was something unfortunate, then it could dampen their time together now. Their last days... weeks... however long... with her still fully human. They would and could cross that bridge when it came. And they would persist.

Without thinking, his tail thumped on the side of the bed and he smiled, stretching again. He could smell whisps of scent from the cafeteria again. Always a plesant thing to wake up to.

Quietly, and with a small kiss on her sleeping forehead, Ambrose went to go take his morning shower - delighting more than a straight man should in his new bathproducts, and put on some of his new clothes - khaki pants, a nice polo - both that fit him extraordinately well, and slipped quietly outside, a wide smile on his face. He felt good - his entire body did. And he refused to let the drama of the outside world crack that today.  

[Anjali Frangipani]

((Let me know if this is interrupting anything - I'll delete it if so ^^; ))

It was late, but there was a small plastic pot filled with soil on Ambrose's doorstep. A bow of simple gardening twine had been tied around it, and a small green seedling was sprouting in the center of the pot.

The pot was sitting on a note:

Dear Ambrose -

Thank you for your kindness. I hope the holidays found you well, inasmuch as that is possible here - please forgive the lateness of this gift, but seeds do not sprout on any schedule but their own. This sprout will grow into a zinnia plant with yellow flowers. Simply place the pot in sunlight and water every three days or so.

~ Anjali  

[Ambrose Maurlias]

Holiday Cheer and Fencing!

Amaya had wandered her way to the cafeteria once more... this time she wasn't hungry, but hoped to catch someone there. Maybe Joliette was still around or something. She pushed opened one of the doors and looked inside... no one. Sighing, she walked in and headed to the buffet to grab something to snack on before heading out once more.

Ambrose was just on his way to the cafeteria when he saw a familiar face. His tail lifted and began to wag, the smile on his face widened. Amaya - just someone he had been hoping to see. And hopefully, unlike the last time he had been in a good mood - it wouldn't be ruined today.

"Amaya!" He called over to her, quickening his step. "How are you doing? Happy Holidays!"

"Hm?" The lizard girl turned around, spotting Ambrose just in time to stop herself from shoving a candy cane in her mouth. "Ambrose! Hi!" Her frown quickly faded, replaced by a broad grin. "Happy holidays to you too and I'm doing alright... what about you?" She had been hoping to run into her 'big brother' today to wish him a good holiday and thank him for the wonderful gift.

He grinned at the striped treat. "Glad to hear that - I really am. Haven't seen enough of your smiling face recently. C'mere and give your big brother a hug!" He said, holding out his arms. Ambrose seemed probably the happiest she had seen him initially in quite some time.

"And the gift! Thank you so much! I know how much time you must have put into the cute little thing!"

After shoving the candy cane into her pocket she giggled and gave him a tight hug, hands almost as big as his entire back when they were combined. "I'm glad you liked it." She blushed slightly, which seemed to stand out more against the green scales around her eyes and cheeks. "And thank you for the wooden pumpkin! I love it!" Wow, this had to be the happiest, most upbeat conversation she has since she got to the island.

He returned her squeeze with a smile before mussing her hair as they parted.

"You do? I'm glad! You know you're harder to think of a gift for than you might think." He said in a mock-scolding tone, shaking a finger at her. "But! It sounds like things were ultimately a success. Unless you're just humoring me...." He looked at her critically, but his smile belied his good humour.


"Oh?" Amaya looked surprised, thinking herself as rather easy to get for... but that was besides the point. "I am not humoring yoooou." She rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue before laughing.

He laughed, echoing hers, his tail wiggling back and forth. "Well good then! Beacause you could tell me if my gift was crappy. But I'm glad to hear it wasn't."

His hands went to his hips. "So. How was your Christmas aside from that? Having a good time? Eat good food?"

"It's been pretty well, though Moreau tried to ruin it for me... I didn't let him get to me." Amaya pulled the candy cane from her pocket and shoved the straight end into her mouth, sucking on it and taking it out whenever she talked. "Aside from that things have been the norm, I was actually wandering around to find you."

Ambrose frowned. "Get to you?" Did he want to know? "He made a.... strange gesture to me - I'm not sure if it was supposed to be a good idea in his mind, or if he was just trying to put my condition in my face, but I discovered a wolf knocker on my door... and several books and statuettes on wolves in my room." He shook his head, mystefied. "I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it all - it's kind of overwhelming - especially since they're all so... well... realitically carved."

He caught himself. "But I LOVED the plushie - no hesitance in that at all. It was very cute - and a wonderful gesture. And it looks like you lucked out - running into me. Was there something else you wanted to see me about?" His eyes shone. "fencing perhaps?"

"Hard to say what his real intention was with all of that... though he did give me an iPod, I'm still hesitant to use it. The other thing he got me was iguana skin boots or something." She waved her hand, obviously not wanting to dwell on the subject. "But not even the iPod can account to the gifts you guys made me." Amaya smiled, popping the candy cane in and out of her mouth out of habit. "And actually, yes. I havn't been practising as much as I should... but I kind of slacked off since I figured you needed to stay with Angelina for awhile..." Her voice trailed off. "How is she doing, by the way?"

His brows furrowed at the mention of Iguana skin boots - while he had been questionable about the gifts from Moreau - at least the wolf ones - there was no question in his intent to make Amaya uncomfortable.

"An iPod? Wow. Angelina got one of those as well. She didn't find anything wrong with it to my knowledge. And I got some new clothes and bath stuff - which was appreaciated.. not that that makes any of this alright, of course. But I had only packed two weeks' worth, so that was good."

He crossed his arms. "Well, we'll have to get back on that, young lady." He smiled knowingly at the Angelina comment. "And... she's doing better. She's even been out a time or two now. And we had a great day yesterday together." He left that at that.

"I could get the epees from my room if you like... or we could just finalize the footwork with perhaps a few adjustments if you'd prefer?" He glanced quickly at her changed feet.

Amaya smiled, nodding. "I'd like to try the epees... though I'm not really sure if I can hold them or not. Doesn't hurt to see, I guess." Even though most people seemed to be loosing the ability in their hands or their hands altogether, she was gaining them... and it wasn't neccisarily a good thing. Most objects were made for hands a lot... LOT smaller then hers and she found even the simpliest taskes rather difficult.

Ambrose nodded. "Wait here and I'll go get them."

He turned around and headed quietly back into his duplex, fetched two of the epees from his closet, and returned a few moments later.

"Alright then." He sat down on one of the benches. "Show me your footwork first." He winked. "I'll make any necessary corrections... or allocations... and then we'll try the epees."

"Alright." Nodding once more, she started on her footwork. This time she didn't go off the balls of her feet at all, but did the best she could while staying on them. Her knees remained bent slightly to help her keep balance and even her tail, which turned and stuck out straight with her movements, was helping her to keep from falling over.

Ambrose watched her carefully, nodding. He visualized some bouts in his head, thinking about the purpose of the footwork.

"Alright, Amaya. We're going to try it like this for a time. I honestly don't know if we're goign to have to make modifications to your footwork later... if anything changes any more. Or if even this ends up slowing you down. I know it might be tough to learn and then relean something different... but for the time at least it looks like you've got it down. I can tell that you had been practicing. So! Onto the actual swords!" He smiled, and picked one up for each of them, handing one to her hilt-first.

He took his in his right hand, holding it out so she could see how he gripped it like he would something delicate as opposed to wrapping his fingers around it like a bat or a club. "You hold it carefully - using your index finger to guide it more than anything. The epee should be an extention of your arm - not a weapon you'd smash about like a baseball bat."

Hesitantly, Amaya took the hilt with three of her fingers and her thumb. "Hmmm..." After looking at how Ambrose held it, then at her own hand she tried to mimmick what he did but with her fingers more then her palm. It was still kind of difficult, but hopefully her hands wouldn't change any more then they already had... oh god, that would be horrible. Shaking the thought from her head she tried not to think about it and focus on the matter in front of her.

Ambrose masked a wince as he saw Amaya trying to make accomodations for her significantly changed hands. He felt sorry for the girl, but she had such spirit - she wasn't letting it get to her, and he would be damned if he would crush her spirit.

All of them were changing - most of them at different rates. The key was to find accomodations - ways to get around or even use the changes to continue to do the things that were important.

"Yes... that's right. If your fingers are long enough I don't supposed you'd even need to use your palm at all. It should give you more control. You can't control something wiht your palm."

He moved her fingers just a little on the hilt of the epee, and then stepped back with a smile. "Now, I want you to close your eyes and hold out your arm with the sword. I want you to feel your grip on the hilt, and move it around a little bit. Think of this as an extention of your arm. You can reach much further - but you still have all of the control, all of the movement if not more."

Amaya did as she was told, holding out her arm with the epee and closing her eyes. She bobbed it up and down and side to side, trying to get a feel of it. It felt rather odd holding something that large even though when compared to your hands it was like a slightly larger-the-average knife. But she wouldn't let it get to her, not now and not ever... if she did, she wasn't sure if she could even remain sane anymore.

Ambrose nodded, letting her get a feel for it for a few minutes before finally speaking up.

"Good! Now... let's combine that with the footwork!" He took his epee and stood next to her, dropping into stance with the epee out in front of him, held at a theoretical opponent's chest hight.

"I want you to imagine that there's somoene in front of you about your height. Point the tip of your epee at their chest... and then advance..." He took a few steps forward in stance. "And then retreat..."

Opening her green eyes, Amaya watched him before looking out in front of her. Someone her height? ... Wow, her feet made her taller then she used to be. Noticing this, she held her epee up higher to where someone's chest would probably be. After making sure her stance was okay, she advanced a few steps and then retreated back a few steps while still holding the epee in front of her.

He watched her from the corner of his eyes and then nodded. "Wonderful! You're catching on!"

He moved aside, then stood about five paces in front of her. "The next thing you will need to learn is the parries. There are eight of them, and we'll go through them. This will be the next thing that you will need to practice. Between them, you can block just about anything that comes your way." He smiled. "But first, we'll practice them without any contact - you'll want to get used to how they feel.

And Ambrose began to demonstrate them slowly first to show her the different angles. Then, he started again at one, having her mimic them alongside him.

While Ambrose showed her them, she let her arm drop to her side. Holding her hands up was tiring, having not really gotten used to the weight of them for extended periods of time. Though as she had to mimmick him, her hand went straight back into the same position so she could copy him as best she could... of course, messing up a few times like any student would.

He eyed her off hand. "Aah, according to regulations, you have to hold your hand up and away from you like mine." He wiggled his left hand. "Your entire body is a target area for the epee - and your only defense is your skill with the blade. It is against the rules to try to block yourself or the sword with your offhand - so you must hold it away from your body."

He made corrections with the parry angles - making sure she had the right angles and corresponding parry numbers. Then, he stood a few paces ahead of her, and turned to face her again. "Now we'll practice them in different orders." He winked.

And he proceeded to call out the number of the parry, followed by the correct one- doing it with her at first for several rounds before just calling out the number without demonstrating it.

For the most part she stayed silent like she had in her earlier lessons, only speaking up to give an "okay" or "alright" and to nod. She would never admit it, but she missed going to school and learning... unlike most of the people on the island she had never been able to even graduate highschool. These lessons, even though they were kind of rare, made her feel like she was somehow completeing her schooling even when she wasn't. Following his instructions the best she could, Amaya put her heart and soul into the lessons whenever they happened.

He practiced the parries with her for a while, until finally incorporating those with the advance and retreating footwork before calling it a day with a wide grin.

"You're doing relaly well, Amaya! I can really tell you're focus is in the right place. And I really have been enjoying teaching you. Practice those parries and keep up wiht the footwork.... and we'll push it further next time. And I'll tell you what. You can even hold onto that epee to practice with until we see eachother next." He winked at her and went to give her a pat on the back.

It was only really with practicing with Amaya that he realized how much he had missed fencing - he had been spending so much time with Angelina that he hadn't practiced in some time. He'd have to make up for that some later today - perhaps another trip to the beach. After breakfast.

Amaya grinned wide at his approval and compliments. "Okay!" She nodded, excited and feeling rather accomplished now that she had her fencing lesson once more. "Thanks for teaching me, your a great teacher." She got out of stance, letting her arms to her sides.

He smiled. "You're a great pupil! I can't take all the credit." He patted her on the back, setting down the epee.

"And keep on me with the lessons! We're going to turn you into a great fencer!"

The lizard girl nodded, still grinning. She should head back to her duplex and bask... maybe fiddle with that iPod. "I will, and tell Angelina I said hi, okay?" After giving her brother and teacher a hug she parted and started to make her way towards her duplex. "I'll catch ya later, Ambrose!"

"I will be sure to do that! You should meet her soon!" He said, squeezing her back with a smile. "I was glad to run into you, Amaya! You take care and don't hesitate to visit!"

He waved as she headed back before picking up his epee and continuing his walk towards the cafeteria and, ultimately, breakfast.