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 Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 1:36 am
Ring......Ring.....Ring "Drats Rico.....Pick up......." Em muttered before the answering machine kicked in.At the sound of the tone she said "Heya Rico....Its Em. I'm calling about Lunaria..... she's been rather sad lately, and I think it might help her to talk to Ziggy- can we try to set up a time for that to happen? Alrighty- thanks, later." Then she
hung up the phone and turned to Lunaria. "There you go sweety, I'm sure Miss Rico will call back soon and we can set up some time for you with Ziggy" Lunaria: *looks down and thinks to herself* I don't think it will help. They don't want much to do with me...... They gave me away after all, and don't really have time to visit me. And the one time I saw Ziggy- Soya ran up and pulled his attention before I had a chance to talk to him *heaves a sigh and looks up at Em* Umm... Ok....can I go take a nap now?*looks concerned* Sure thing, I'll let you know when she calls back Lunaria: *wanders off to sleep
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Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am
Apricots woke up and groaned as she heard her cell phone ringing. She looked up through her muffed hair that was still pulled up, and wiped her mouth of the drool was there every morning. (((Ewww, gross! amirite?)) She got up and looked around her room slowly. It was a mess. Rico hadn't seen the floor in 5 days. Clothes, blankets, stuffed animals, paper, receipts, all dispersed as if a bomb of junk had literally gone off and left her a victim.
The phone ringed. This caught her unfocused attention, and she immediately thought, "What if something is wrong with the store? Oh crap! I forgot to do the Rose Illumen! It's probably Noxi, there to yell at me." At this thought, she promptly decides not to answer the phone, and go back to sleep.
....
Hours pass, and Rico finally got up, pushing a sleeping Ziggy off of the bed. Rummaging through the nearest pile of clothes, she found her cell and clicked it open to see that she had received one phone message, and one text message. She looked over at Ziggy, and back at the phone sighing. Scratching her head, she opened the text message first.
"Omigod! You have been selected to win 2 free Nano iPods!..."
She didn't finish reading it, and instantly hit delete. Since when did annoying pop-ups send you text messages, how did they even get your phone number, was there some sort of conspiracy... and more importantly, wasn't there some unfinished work I needed to do for the shop? All these thoughts ran through her mind, and the only one that stuck was, "I'm hungry." Sighing, she dialed for her voice mail and began brushing her teeth. Shockingly, Emerald's voice came on instead of an angry Noxi to her relief, and played her message. Ziggy stretched and listened intently.
Rico rinsed out her mouth, and splashed some water on her face, then toweled it dry. Looking at her hair she figured it was good enough and looked at Ziggy, "Well, this sounds rather serious, don't you think? Maybe I have been working you too hard Zigzag." She ruffled his hair playfully.
Ziggy listened thoughtfully, and looked up at Rico, "I think, I should definitely spend a day with my little chikita. I haven't had much time, you know?" He absentmindedly brushed a paw through his hair. "It's hard being a kit, man, cha."
Rico stifled a laugh, and nodded, "You're right Ziggy, let's give you a day off, and give her a call. I'm sure she'll be very happy to spend a day with her dad."
Ziggy looked confused for a second, and then nodded with a laugh, "Oh chah, me." He stretched again, as Rico dialed up Em's number and waited for her to pick up.
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Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:29 am
Em was seated quite firmly in front of the computer, staring at her screen with a look that could kill. The open photoshop file seemed to take no notice, its cheerful colors speckled with white that defied her brush glowed from the screen. Really, who would have thought that coloring a bloody picture on the computer would be so difficult. All the tools, the colors, trying to think of light sources and shading, skin tones, eye colors, making the colors work together,and hair. How precisely did one shade hair to make it look real, with the highlights, and shadows, and all the different shades that comprise hair.....it was a nightmare.
Reaching up to rub her temples to assauge the migraine begining she heard the phone start to ring from somewhere in the vicinity of her bedroom. With a sigh and a final glare for the computer she swivled her chair around, stood with a stretch, hearing the vertabre in her back pop all the way down.
She managed to take two steps before she realized that the second and third rings of the phone were closer than the first.
Just as she realized this she saw Illeyana streaking across the front room, running full tilt with the ringing phone. Knowing what was coming, Em used her precious seconds to turn her back towards the huge foof chair sitting behind the computer desk, and taking up most of her horribly messy living room; knowing Illeyana was gonna pounce her.
With a flying leap Illeyana launched herself at Em bowling her over backwards onto the soft cushon of pillow behind her with a laugh, dropping the phone in her lap, which was just now begining its fifth ring. "Phone Emmy! Answer it, answer it, tell them I say hi!"
Shifting the exhuberant kit to one side, Em snatched at the phone with her other hand, barely answering it in time, she sounded gave a breathless "hello!?!", with Illeyana still giggling in the background "
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:56 pm
Apricots almost hung up, she hated giving voice mail messages because she always sounded confused, mainly because she was confused. Why should she talk to a machine? But at the last minute, there was a click and a rushed "hello?!" with some giggling in the background. Rico recognized the giggle at once, and said, "Hey Em! It's Rico, callin' you back. Sorry about the long wait! I got your message, and I think it would be a fabulous idea for Lunaria to get a chance to spend some quality time with her dad! Ziggy's really excited about the idea too! He said he want's to take her to the beach for a day, if that's okay with you? And, of course, with her? I can pick her up and drop her back off at the end of the day after I get off work from the shop? Or we can maybe even have a sleep over and we can bake those brownies we never got a chance to do last time? Do you think she'd like that?"
Rico crossed her fingers that Em would trust her with one of her girlies, and looked down at Ziggy, and winked.
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:03 pm
Glad to have picked up the phone in time Em was pleased to hear Rico's voice. Em nodded to herself as Rico talked, hesitating a bit over the idea of Lunaria at the beach with Ziggy. Before she could answer Illeyana jumped up towards the phone.
Sure Miss Rico can come make brownies with me! She already said she would,and then we all got distacted. But you were ok with it then
Em heaved a sigh, and then took a deep breath before answering her hyper little kit " Illeyana, I will think about it. But right now the adults need to talk. So IF you want me to think about letting you make brownies with Miss Rico you need to go play, AND stay out of trouble, while I talk to her"
"YAY!" As Illeyana did her best to not bounce to hard on Em she said into the phone "I'll see you soon Miss Rico!" and then ran off to play, thinking she'd go convince Lunaria to play hide and seek with her.
"Wow, I wish I had a quarter of the energy that kit has sometimes! Anyways, I'd obviously love for Lunaria to have time with Ziggy. Ummm... I know he loves the beach, and I know he IS her father and everything. But I'm not too sure about him taking Lunaria to such a dangerous place. She doesn't know how to swim yet...." Em stops and bites her lip, trying to think of how to phrase her question without being offensive " I'm a bit overprotective, and Ziggy seems a bit.....welll....easily sidetracked at times. But then again I don't know him all that well, I haven't seen him around alot lately....which come to think of it is odd becasue I see you all the time."
Taking another deep breath Em realized she'd reached her decision" I trust you Rico, and I know you wouldn't suggest it if you didn't trust Ziggy. So I'll extend that trust to him, he may take Lunaria to the beach, on the condition that he helps her learn to swim. I know that wether or not she knows it, Lunaria needs this time. And Illeyana would love the chance to make brownies wtih you, as I'm sure you've heard."
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:20 am
Apricots could hear the hesitation in Em's voice, "Trust me Em, one thing Ziggy knows about is the ocean. I'm sure he could teach her to swim, and how to be safe. I know this great place, with tide pools as well." She looked over at Ziggy and winked again, "So how about I come by and pick her up and drop them off at the beach? And when I pick them up I'll give you a call to check in? How's that sound? Oh wait, hold on one sec..."
Ziggy was now very much excited. He leaned in and grabbed Rico's hand to get his attention, "So, we like, get to go surf? Awesome! Oh cha, I'm gonna catch some waves with my little wahini!" and with that, he darted of to get his surf board.
"Ziggy! ZIGGY! ZIGGY!"
"Wha-at?"
"You can't take her surfing Ziggy, she doesn't know how to swim. I thought you could show her some tidal pools and maybe collect some shells," Rico sighed.
Ziggy was in shock, "She doesn't know how to WHAT? Not any kit of mine. How can she be like, expected to survive or whatever, without the necessary skills?" He was shaking his head.
"Ziggy! Kits aren't born with the innate ability, you have to teach them. That's your job, you are her dad after all." Rico went into the bathroom and grabbed two towels, a bottle of sunscreen, and headed back to the bedroom to place them in a basket saved for beach trips.
"Okay, sorry about that. I'll pack them a picnic lunch of yummy snacks, and trust me, everything will be fine," She looked over at Ziggy, who was now dragging a foam boogie board over near the basket, and running to get some other things. Rico couldn't help but smile, "He may seem airheaded, but there is some substance there. What it is, I'm unsure, but I know it's there."
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:38 am
Em listened to all the bumping and dragging, wondering what was going on. At Rico's final comment she burst into a happy, full bellied laugh. "I can accept that. I'll let Lunaria know to get ready, and I'll see you and Ziggy soon. Oh and I appreciate the check in call" Em laughs a bit sardonically " I know I'm overprotective."
Finishing up the call Em went to find Lunaria, and as usually found her curled up on her puf chair, nose deep in a book. " Heya hun! Good news! Ziggy and Miss Rico are on their way over. Your dad is gonna take you to the beach today, spend some time with you, and teach you how to swim! Hows that sound?"
Lunaria looked up from her book, taking a second to pull back from her wonderful world of fantasy " Beach? Swimming? But Em.....my books will get all wet!"
Em sighed and shook her head "No they won't, because you'll leave them home" At Lunaria's stricken look Em quickly ammended what she had been saying " or rather you'll leave all but one at home. I know I can't leave the house without my books, so I shouldn't ask that of you. And as for going, you need some time out of the house, and Ziggy sounded really excited about time with you. So you pick which book you want to take, then you need to go find one of my mesh bags to take, so you can collect some seashells, I'm sure you'll be facinated with them. I'll go pack what else you need."
As Em headed off, Lunaria marked her place in her book, and climbed up with a stretch. She was feeling very unsure about this whole idea, but it seemed it would make Em happy, and who knew, maybe it would cheer her up as well. It was certainly nice to hear that her father wanted to spend some time with her. She'd certainly been starting to wonder if anyone would notice her....ever. Digging around in the junk drawer she came up with one of Em's little black mess bags, and set it down beside the bag Em had packed and left by the door. Wandering into her room she thought for a miniute, then grabbed a small ziploc bag out from under her pillow. She spent a moment looking at the fine, shimmering iridecent powder within before looking around to make sure neither Em or Illeyana was around before darting to hide it safely between the pages of her book, settling down to read it again while waiting for Ziggy and Apricots to come over.
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:52 am
Rico clicked her phone shut, and looked at the pile of stuff Ziggy had brought to put beside the basket. "Ziggy, why would you guys need a phonebook? Or a pez dispenser for that matter?" She picked it up and shivered. Those things gave her the creeps.
Ziggy jumped up and snatched it delicately out of her hands, "She needs to learn like, about her dad or whatever. And what if I forget my phone number?" He looked at her indignantly, "I wouldn't put it past me."
"Ziggy, whats our phone number?"
"867-5309."
"So, why do you need the phone book again?"
"Oh, right!"
Rico sighed, and looked at the basket, there were 2 towls, a blanket, some sun screen, though they probably wouldn't use it , and 2 pairs of sunglasses, and 1 pair of child sized goggles. Also, seemingly out of place were 4 small, but heavy stones and a small soft clothe bag. Next to the basket was a small ice chest with some juice, a few cans of soda, 2 turkey & cheese sandwiches, 1 tuna sandwich, just in case, a bag of gold fish crackers, a few lunch size bags of chips and finally a large piece of chocolate cake for the 2 of them to split. Next to those were 1 foam boogie board, a boom box with a small CD case and a very big Umbrella.
Rico nodded, and said, "I think that's everything. Let's get this loaded in the car, and get on our way!" Ziggy nodded enthusiastically.
A moment later Rico, Dimitri, and Ziggy had loaded the car and were now on their way. After about 10 minutes of driving, they reached Em's house. Dimitri was enveloped in looking over Rico's taxes to make sure she didn't miss anything, so her and Ziggy got out and knocked on the door.
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:49 am
Em is once again seated at the computer, fighting with her photoshop once more. She turned towards the door at the sound of knocking, seeing Illeyana run to answer it before she could even get up.
"ILLEYANA, WAIT"
Illeyana opened the door then turned to look at Em who was rushing over towards the door "Yeah?"
Seeing that it was Rico and Ziggy, Em gave them a quick smile and turned to Illeyana. "How many times do I have to tell you not to knock on the door hun, I don't want you answering when you don't know whoes there"
"But Em, I heard you tell Luna that Miss Rico and Ziggy were comming over. So I thought it was them. Plus, if they are knocking on our door, they know us, so they aren't strangers" Illeyana smiled and looked pleased with her logic.
Mentally making a note to try to further explain the concept of strangers to Illeyana, she turned to address Rico and Ziggy. " Heya guys, welcome, come on in, please excuse the mess and, um, try not to trip on anything." Turning she lead them into her small very cluttered apartment. If one looked closely they could see the mottled brown of the carpet through the scattering of clothes, books, school books, movies, games, controllers, school papers, random recycling, fast food bags, and possibly something living underneath all that. Illeyana is bouncing around nearly tripping Rico and Ziggy as they head towards Lunaria curled up reading on the poof, who has somehow managed to not notice anything that has happened.
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:00 am
Rico looked in at the apartment and for a brief moment was reminded of her home, "Sweet pad!" She said with a smile and walked in, careful not to step, or trip on anything. Ziggy had no problem maneuvering his way through, and instantly found Lunaria sitting on a poof.
He hopped up and looked over her shoulder, "Hey kiddo! Ready to go?" He smiled his crooked smile and nudged her gently with his nose.
Rico smiled at Em and Illeyana, "Hey there girlies, how are you today?" She gently patted Illeyana, and gave Em a hug. "It's been too long girl."
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:14 am
Lunaria screamed slightly, bouncing away sending her book flying when the warm big furry thing jumped up beside her, it was MUCH to big to be Illeyana. "Oh! Urms.... Hi...umm... sorry."She returned a slight smile when Ziggy nudged her, blushing furiously. "Yeah, I think I'm ready" She walked over to her book, turned it over gently, found her page and marked it, managing to discreetly make sure her little baggie of powder was where it should be.
Em returned Rico's hug, having noticed how well she handled the mess. "agreed, nice to see you"
Illeyana wormed her way between the two of them, nearly knocking their legs out from under them. "Hiya Miss Rico, you said on the phone we could make brownies, you said we would before then got distracted, do we get to make them soon? You mentioned it on the phone with Emmy, I heard you!"
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:22 am
Ziggy screamed as well, but then realized that it was only himself that scared here, and cocked his head trying to read the title of the book, "What were you reading there? Are you going to bring it with you to the beach?" His eyes were wide with excitement.
Rico grabbed on to Em's shoulders as she tried to balance with her feet nearly being knocked out from under her and couldn't help but laugh, "I did, I did, I did. And we will soon, that I promise!" She winked at the cute little kit and looked up at Em, "Okay, so Dimitri and I are going to be going over some paper work at the store, I'll go and pick them up around Sunset in time for dinner." She looked over at Lunaria and asked, "Are you as excited as your dad here?"
Again, Ziggy looked confused and then laughed and nodded, and then said, as if letting others know, "Yeah, me?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:36 am
Lunaria sees Ziggy trying to look and turns the book so he can see it. "Its a collection of fairy tales, the Grimm versions, I've only just started it. And yes Miss Rico, this sounds like it will be alot of fun." Lunaria knew the last part of her statement felt a bit forced, but could only hope no one else noticed it.
Em helped to catch Rico, shaking her head at Illeyana. "Sure, that sounds good to me, just call me and let me know when your on your way back please. Oh! and I packed a bag with towels, sunscreen, a first aid kit, emergency contact list, and such for her- its by the door."
Illeyana pouted as she realized that Lunaria got to go out without her and that she didn't get to bake brownies. "Aw...does it have to wait!?! With Lunaria gone I'll be all alone!"
"Its ok Illeyana, you get to have some special time with just me, won't that be nice?" Em said in a reasoning tone of voice.
Thinking about it Illeyana realized that Em had a good point and smiled "YAY! I like that idea! Now you'll have time to play tag with me!"
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:45 am
Rico snapped her fingers and looked over at Ziggy, "Why didn't I remember a first aid kit?" She looked back at Em and said, "I already got some towels such, but we'll take the emergency contact list too." She picked up those 2 things and headed for the door. "Oh and just call me Rico hon. "Miss" makes me feel old, like I already have wrinkles...and... no husband." She stared off into space for a second and then snapped out of it.
Ziggy bounded for the door and looked up at Rico, "What's our phone number again? I forgot."
"Ziggy, you did not! You know our phone number!" Rico sighed, shifted wait and looked Ziggy in the eye, "Ziggy, what's our phone number?"
"867-5309, doy!" Ziggy rolled his eyes.
Rico sighs, "Ziggy, you're not making a good case for yourself," She rolled her eyes and grabbed a pen from a pile on the floor, "Do you mind if I use this real quick?" She added her name and number to the list and handed it to Lunaria, "I'm trusting this in your paws little kit... your dad, well, he's a good guy. Just a little.... um, special." She smiled her most convincing smile and headed out to add the first aid kit to the stuff in her back seat.
Dimitri looked out the window, and asked, "Can you guys hurry up! I'm seeing some serious errors! You don't have any receipts from the past 3 months!"
Rico smiled, and said, "We'll get to that when we get to the shop asap, okay? Say hi and be nice to your sister."
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:00 am
Em watched the exhange between Ziggy and Apricots with worry evident on her face. Lunaria caught the look and after taking the list from Rico she said " Em, its ok, I'll be fine, trust me!" With a smile and a cuddle nudge for Em she headed out to the car after Rico. She was surprised to realize she was getting excited. She only became more comfortable seeing that Dimitri was in the car, out of all her siblings she could trust her brothers to care for her. She fairly bounced out to the car. " Heya Dimitri!"
Em stood in the doorway trying to convince her heart that it was NOT having a heart attack and that it WOULD keep beating. For some reason Rico's smile only made her worry more, or maybe that was the horrifying images of Lunaria drowning while Ziggy tried to remember his own phone number. Swallowing hard she did her best to smile, bending down to grab Illeyana and hold her close. " You guys have a good time! Be careful Lunaria, Ziggy, PLEASE take good care of her!" Her voice nearly broke as she beseached ziggy for the saftey of her kit, she ducked her head, wiping away the errant tears on Illeyana's soft fur.
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