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 Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 5:05 pm
"So anyways, where to first? We just finished with the Oceans area; up next is either the Desert Terrarium or the Forests Section." Zemel said, eyes focused on the map as he and his sister made their way along the path, pausing at the fork in the road. This was their first time not staying with Mom when they went somewhere, which in Zemel's opinion, was more scary than anything. What if something happened, like if they got lost or something? What if they fell into one of the exhibits? It was a zoo, after all, and he'd seen about that teacher...
"Hmm...deserts are BORING. What's there to them, besides sand and more sand? Let's head to the forest, where there'll actually be animals." Ginger said, walking along side her brother, balancing on the curb. Of course, she was completely ignoring the fact that, since this was a zoo, there would be animals in almost every exhibit. She grinned, mind made up as she headed down the left path, pausing once to make sure her brother was following.
Zemel sighed, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he followed his fellow blonde. "Hey, slow down some, Ging; there's no rush, you know." he said, stopping to watch the red pandas for a bit. Sheesh, what was the point of coming to the zoo if you didn't stop to see the animals?
Ginger rolled her eyes, flopping down on one of the benches. "Fine." she said, giving a melodramatic, drawn-out sigh. Did he have to take so long? At this rate, they'd be here for, like, ever! She'd already seen the little red pandas when she walked past the first time; what was so interesting about them eating leaves?
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 5:15 pm
Charlie wasn't sure how he'd wrangled kid-duty that day. He wasn't even really sure how Anise and the furry little Touda had managed to become more than test subjects and somehow wormed their way into the family. Nevertheless, here he was. At the zoo, of all places. This whole reward them for letting you inject them thing was starting to become questionable.
"Ooh! Lookie!" Anise squealed, pointing her finger up ahead and then dashing off without even waiting for Charlie. Touda was perched on her head, leaning forward to see where they were scampering off to.
The little pigtailed girl skidded to a stop at the red-panda exhibit, climbing up on a bench to get a better view. "Lookie, Touda! They look like you!"
"Do not." The mononoke informed her from the top of her head. "I'm way better looking."
"But they're furry!" Anise insisted. Touda growled and jumped off of her head with enough force to send the little girl stumbling into the other occupant of the bench. "Sorry!" Anise exclaimed, wide-eyed, looking at Ginger.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 5:31 pm
Ginger's eyes widened as the little girl stumbled into her. She looked at the little girl, offering a grin. "Nah, it's cool, don't worry about it." she said, waving her hand as if to dismiss the incident. "Didn't hurt me none, anyways." Aww, wasn't the little one adorable? With a face like that, Ginger couldn't even think of being annoyed.
Zemel turned, ears perking ever so slightly. Was that a...nah, couldn't be. He was probably just hearing things. Still... "You okay?" he asked, directing the question to both of them. He leaned against the fence, eyes glancing around the area. He didn't see any animals outside of the ones being held in the exhibits...hm.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 5:41 pm
Anise beamed at the twins, enjoying the attention. "M'alright!" She assured them with a little tilt of the head that made her curls bob adorably. "I'm Anise." She added, and was about to further her introductions when she spotted Touda. In the panda exhibit.
"Touda!" She shouted, her eyes getting wide as saucers and her expression turning to one of despair. "Touda! Get out of there!"
"I like it here!" Touda shouted, sticking his tongue out at a nearby panda.
"Oh no." Anise turned her big brown eyes on the twins. "Touda went in the panda cage." She informed them, assuming they wouldn't be able to see him. It didn't even occur to her that people might think she was seeing things.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 5:51 pm
Ginger grinned. "I'm Ginger, and that's my brother Zemel." she said, motioning to her brother as she mentioned him. She then blinked, looking into the cage. Odd, she didn't see anyone... aww, wasn't that adorable? The little girl had an imaginary friend. "Well, I'm sure Touda won't get hurt...red pandas are pretty friendly." she said, giggling once.
"It's nice to meet you, Anise." Zemel said, smiling and bowing his head once. He blinked, almost hearing a whisper of someone else speaking. He rubbed at his ears; ugh, what was with him today? He looked over at the panda exhibit, his eyes still not registering anything. Must have been the wind or something, then. Still.... "Touda?" he asked, looking at the little girl, curious.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 7:21 pm
"S'nice to meet you too!" Anise grinned. She was reassured by Ginger's assertion that pandas weren't dangerous and Touda probably wouldn't get into too much trouble. Plus, she didn't mind being the absolute center of attention at the moment. "Touda is my..." She paused, not sure how to describe it. Touda was fluffy like an animal, so he couldn't really be her brother, right? But he wasn't a pet. He would get so mad if she said he was a pet! Plus, pets didn't talk as far as she knew. Though Tok, her stuffed animal, sometimes whispered to her at night. "Touda is a mononoke." She informed Zemel. "S'like a ghost, I guess." She shrugged.
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 3:42 pm
Ginger returned the grin, a small giggle escaping her lips. She had no problem doting attention on Anise. She tilted her head curiously at the foreign word. Mononoke? What in the world was that, besides "like a ghost"? She thought a moment, then dismissed it; it was an imaginary friend, so why couldn't it be an imaginary species? Silly Ginger, going and over thinking things.
"Hmmm..." Zemel said, looking thoughtful. He'd never heard of a mononoke; he'd have to look into that. Still, there couldn't be anything actually there, could there? He didn't see anything, so he must have been hearing things. Then again, it was totally possible that something was indeed there.... Argh; mental circle! "So, where is this 'Touda'?" he asked, curious. Maybe he'd notice it if he knew where to look?
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 4:29 pm
"There." Anise pointed straight at Touda and shouted, "Touda! Get outta the cage!"
"No!" Touda shouted back, swinging from a branch cheerfully.
Anise sighed and looked at Ginger pathetically. "It's just not fair. How come he gets to go and play with the pandas and I cant?" She crossed her arms over her chest sulkily. "Touda gets to do fun stuff cause nobody can see him to get him in trouble for it."
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 5:17 pm
Zemel looked, seeing nothing but a slightly swaying branch. He squinted, which didn't help a bit. He could still hear...something... but it was far off and distant, like a radio set on the AM setting.
Ginger offered a small smile. "I'm sure we can find some fun stuff to do without climbing into the animal cages." she said, standing to her feet, eager to get going...somewhere. "You been to the petting zoo section yet?" She asked, looking down at the younger child.
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 5:59 pm
"Huh-uh." Anise responded, taking the older girl's hand. Most children would be anxious about their guardians losing them and not being able to find them, but while Anise was fond of the brothers Harte, she was far more fond of attention. Also, Ginger and Zemel were a lot less likely to make her sick by sticking her with needles the way the brothers did. "Can we go there?" Turning to glance back at the panda cage, she stuck her tongue out at Touda.
"HEY! Where ya goin'?" He shouted at her, irritated that she was no longer paying attention to him. It was a lot harder for him to get attention because most people couldn't see him. Then again, it was a lot easier for him to get away with all sorts of trouble. So in the end it all evened out.
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 6:48 pm
Ginger smiled, wrapping her hand gently around the smaller hand. It didn't even cross her mind to ask a guardian if it was okay, or to notice that their wasn't an adult near them. "Of course we can go." she said, smiling as she started walking slowly. "C'mon; they've got plenty of animals their you can pet and play with." she said, grinning.
Zemel shook his head, rubbing at his ears. "I'll come with you two." he murmured, his voice sounding a bit off as he followed after them, quickening his pace to catch up. "After all, have to make sure you guys don't get into any trouble, right?" he added, offering a playful little half-smile.
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Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 9:05 am
Anise skipped cheerily alongside Ginger, all thoughts of her guardian gone from her head. Charlie followed behind unnoticed. He didn't particularly mind that Anise had apparently found herself a pair of babysitters. The twins looked harmless enough and it gave him a break from the kids, which was almost always welcome.
"Where do you live?" The little girl asked, swinging her arm so that Ginger's swung along with it.
Touda, not liking being left behind, slipped out of the panda enclosure and bounded up to the three. He took a big leap, landing himself on Zemel's shoulder and grinning furrily to himself. Why walk, when you can ride?
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 2:07 pm
Ginger smiled. "I live on the west side of Durem, near the graveyard." she answered, gently swinging her arm along with Anise's. By "near the graveyard," she meant that you could see tombstones a few yards away from their fence in the backyard. "Where do you live?" Now she was curious; maybe if the girl lived near them, they could play together!
Zemel let out a squeak as something landed on him. He glanced, but didn't see anything. He could feel it though! He took a deep breath, trying not to freak out. Just keep walking, just keep walking.... "H-hello...." he said softly to the invisible thing on his shoulder.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 3:03 pm
"We live in a big building." Anise answered. She didn't quite grasp the fact that it was an office building with apartments at the top. Especially since she'd never been in any of them, only the basement lab where she and Touda lived. "Daddy lets us come out and play if I'm a good girl." Meaning if she let them pump her full of experimental drugs. Anise didn't quite grasp this fact either, yet. "Sometimes being good makes me feel sick." She added as an afterthought.
"Oi! Anise! Tell this one hi for me." Touda shouted.
Anise turned so that she was walking backwards, facing Zemel with the invisible Touda on his shoulder. "Touda says to tell you hello." She said obediently. "If he were nice he'd thank you for letting him ride on your shoulder. But he's not very polite." She added.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 4:05 pm
Ginger nodded, though something about that seemed....off. How did being good make someone sick? That didn't seem right. Still, now was not the time to ponder such serious things; they were there to have fun after all. She then giggled, glancing back at Zemel. How cute; he was playing pretend now, too! "The petting zoo should be right around this corner." she said, smiling down at the little girl.
Zemel glanced at the shoulder that held his invisible writer. "Um, I can, well, I can sorta hear you." It was fuzzy and faint, but still intelligible for the most part. He felt kind of stupid talking to someone he couldn't see...but he couldn't very well ignore him, could he?
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