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 Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:19 pm
There were very few things that Ladon felt were really worth keeping. Years of having your things broken or torn made him less materialistic and less likely to throw a fuss when he or anything he owned got dirty. Things broke. Things ripped apart. Things got stomped on by other people. Objects and things weren’t the only things to become flimsy and fall apart. In time, even friendships were tested, and he hadn’t found many that held up to the test. In both cases, he grew use to just not being attached, but there were a few things he had fought for. The things that lasted in his life were the ones he fought the most for and tried the best to repair, and in those cases, he was fiercely loyal. Someone had to after all. It wasn’t like he would be one of the unreliable people. There was enough of those people to fill a thousand ships and sink them.
It was why, taking the bus out of his way to shopping district, Ladon went to find a Teddy Bear Hospital. Checking the address he got off of Mapquest, he held his backpack and wandered around until, in a completely different place where the stupid map said it was, he found it. Found it and was disappointed to find it was vacant, the chipped sign saying ♥ Teddy Care & Repair ♥ still left. “Just great!” A entire day spent and he had nothing to show for it.
Tired, he caught the bus back home, and leaned back, tired. Night patrolling was really getting to him, and he also had track practice and school that took up all his time. Simple errands were more of a chore, but it was a necessity at this point. Unzipping the flap, he looked at the blue, dog plush sitting inside. “I’ll try fixing you again, buddy.” He told Elliot. An eye was missing, the button in a ziplock in the dog’s lap. It’s arms were poorly sewn and sewn again, and it had patchworks of colors that didn’t quite match the original color. This was the long history of attempts that Ladon’s mother, and when it became too embarrassing, Ladon had worked on to save his friend. By now, the dog looked damaged, worn, and slightly anorexic from want of more stuffing, but now he had a large hole on his side where the entire seem bursted open and was threatening to unravel the entire dog.
Not confident in his abilities, he knew that sewing him up would be a task, but he leaned back and accepted it. Right now, he already had too much on his mind with the Negaverse that Elliot had to take the backseat. Well, side seat right now.
Even on a bus, he grew tired and sleepy, and startled when the name of his stop was called, Thankful, he rose up and slipped his jacket on, before waving goodbye to the driver and stepping into the fresh air. Inhaling deep, he patted his pockets and felt the sensation of missing something. Cellphone….wallet….pack of gum…bus pass. He rubbed his neck and felt a kink in it.
Kink…backpack..ELLIOT!
He swung around in time to see the bus was far off in the distance. Gone, never to be seen again.
Unreliable. Ladon could have DIED right then to think he had been the one to leave his childhood friend behind!!!
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:49 pm
If someone had tried to explain that stuffed animals weren't important, or that they weren't worth anything, Pierrette wouldn't believe them.
The redhead got on the bus to go home after a quick trip to the grocery store: her own pink, cupcake-patterned backpack tight on her shoulders. It must've been the magic of embroidered smiles that led her to sit on that seat with the backpack on it.
Now, normally Pierrette wasn't one to look through backpacks. If there was something suspicious, leave it to to the police, right? But she was a senshi now, so there was that, too. However, none of that was why she looked in the backpack. Maybe the driving had jostled the bag, or maybe it was just a miracle as described before, but there was a stuffed snout sticking out of the bag. Pierrette couldn't help but open up the parcel and look inside. Elliot was well-loved, indeed, that much could be said by his condition. Stuffies that weren't loved had a different wear and tear than this one. They merely got smudged with dirt, and if they were ripped it was by accident or (Heaven forbid) force. The rips in loved stuffies came from wear, from too many hugs or too many nights squeezed tight. Those were the wounds that Elliot had, and he wore them with pride.
Pierrette was surprised by the prize inside of the back, and instantly started to look through it for some sort of identification. It looked like her search would yield no results until she came upon a library card.
"...Ladon... Shepard..." she read, trying to make out the handwriting. "Huh, I've never heard of him." She looked down at the one-eyed dog staring up at her, and she gave him a gentle stroke on his head. "Don't worry, puppy, we'll find your owner."
She picked up the backpack, dog and all, and exited the bus. She practically ran home, already thinking of where she put her extra stuffing.
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 8:37 pm
That night, Ladon didn’t get any sleep. While he did sleep alone ever since Elliot started to suffer from wear, the empty space on the shelf made him aware of what was gone, and what could be gone forever. Elliot was the sibling to his sister’s doll, and they both received and kept their plushes for as long as he could think. The dog had been there for him in elementary to give him company as he waited on the sidelines on the playground, was the thing that he protected and defended when other kids his age said he was too old for it. He fought hard to keep Elliot, and Elliot kept him company when he had to first adjust to staying in a house where his sister and father weren’t under the same roof, ready for him if he cared to walk down the hallway and knock on their doors. Kicked sand, tears, and the occasional flu, Elliot was there, and he lost him.
Feeling horrible, he went to school and even went to nurses just to lay down and rest his head. He couldn’t focus, and was waiting for school to be over so that he could go to the City Transit office to see if anyone found his backpack. He rationalized that there wasn’t anything valuable in there (at least not to anyone who might want to pawn something off) and that he’d fine it. Even if he called up that morning to hear the MTA people telling him they didn’t find anything, he was sure it would turn up. It had to. If it didn’t, it meant his own carelessness had caused his friend to be lost forever.
Worn and troubled, he moved down the hallway, getting ready to head home and then try calling again. Ladon really didn’t want to have a funeral. It was hard enough when he had to bury Gilbert the Goldfish.
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:49 am
Pierrette was lucky that she was cute. She was little, adorable, and sweet-- but this was okay for a girl, not for a boy like Ladon. It was a sad fact, sexism ran through the highschool and often hit the boys harder than the girls.
That was why it had been easy for Pierrette to ask around for Ladon Shepard. The big 'bullies' that often tormented Ladon back in elementary and middle school were more like big grizzly bears to Pierrette. They weren't nice by any means... no, they were nice to the sexy, hot catches, and not the tiny and adorable girls who had yet to grow up (and get breasts). But they were civil, at least, and told her what 'the runt' looked like, and where he might normally be found. It seemed that dressing in typical boy fashion had worked for Ladon, because the boys only chose to make fun of his size as opposed to calling him a three-letter word that was a synonym for a cigarette.
That was why, when Pierrette saw a shorter boy who was as cute as a button, she was able to call out his name with confidence: "Ladon! Ladon Shepard, right?"
The boy was fast, despite being tired from worry, and Pierrette had to run up behind him to touch his shoulder.
"I have your bag," she said, gasping in gulps of air. She had been looking for him all day, and if she had hit another dead end, Pierrette would probably cry.
She was, indeed, holding his backpack. But, more importantly, Elliot was sitting on top of it. He had his eye sewn meticulously back on, and he looked more chubby than anorexic, even if the feel of the stuffing inside was mismatched. On Elliot's side, there was a strip of royal blue fabric that clashed against the rest of his patches, but it was soft to the touch and he was whole again.
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:26 am
It wasn’t every day a girl ran up to him, and naturally he thought he was wanted by a teacher or something like that. Turning, he reared back when he saw his bag, but mostly because he saw HIS stuffed animal – here – in broad daylight. It was a good thing his family didn’t have a history of heart attacks or else he would be a goner. Paling as if he saw a ghost, his immediate thoughts went to what he often thought about. What was everything else thinking? A quick scan showed him that everyone was busy going home, but if given time to pay attention, would stop to wonder why a girl was holding out a bag with a very patchwork dog out to a boy. Taking it would be admitting to much to any onlookers, and he instead grabbed the girl’s shoulder and shoved her to the nearest room he could find. Once he had her and the incriminating evidence inside, he shut the door and looked out the window, checking to see if he’d been spotted. To his relief, no one looked as if they were pointing or gossiping. Even one little rumor could end his life.
“What do you think you are doing? Trying to get me killed?!” It wasn’t a tone his mother would approve of.
Slumping against the door, he breathed out, checking the window again. This girl nearly ruined everything with such a stunt. “What were you thinking in just waltzing up and handing me th- ” His voice trailed as his finger pointed to Elliot, and actually noticed him. His long lost friend was back, and looking as if he just went through Plushie Rehab.
Was this HIS Elliot? Reaching out, he inspected the back of the dog’s head to see the patch he sewn on over and over again, but more than that, he noticed the eyes were tightly fixed back on his face (He can see!), the side neatly fixed. Trailing a finger across the seam, he inspected the handiwork and noticed how much thicker the dog felt ( You put on weight.).
His eyes went up and all intentions of chewing this girl out for her mistake had fizzled out. “You fixed him.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:43 pm
Being in Barren Pines had gotten Pierrette used to suddenly being grabbed and dragged around-- sometimes by people and other times by giant eagles. So, she wasn't too surprised when Ladon suddenly took her by the shoulder and shoved her forward. She was lucky that the door was open, or Pierrette's nose would've connected with the door and most likely left a nasty red stain when she peeled herself off.
As it was, she awkwardly stumbled into the empty classroom and stared at him when he closed and locked the door. Ladon's paranoia was overwhelming, and it made Pierrette nervous. She decided from that moment onward to keep her henshin pen in her pocket instead of in her backpack. She swung her backpack off of her shoulders and held it close to her chest, ready to open it if it was necessary.
Then he spoke, and Pierrette's eyebrows furrowed.
"Excuse me?" she stuttered. "I don't see how this could get you ki--" but he interrupted her, and she shook her head. She didn't understand what was so bad about handing someone a bag. It wasn't like she walked up to him with a giant pile of raunchy DVDs or bad paperback romances.
Pierrette let Ladon take Elliot without a word, a tiny smile appearing as she watched him meticulously inspect his friend. So, this was the dog's owner. She could tell with how his green eyes roamed over every detail, every seam.
"Yes!" she nodded, her curls bouncing in time. "I found him on the bus yesterday. I've heard a lot of names in Meadowview, and I could have sworn that I heard the name 'Shepard'. So, I asked around and figured out who you were. I just sewed him up in the meantime."
She looked down at his bag before quickly holding it out to him. "I hope you don't mind."
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:37 pm
“You WHAT?!”
It might have been a bad thing to have Elliot in his hands when she revealed that she went all over the school looking for him, because he squeezed Elliot to the point that the new fluff was about to push out. It was a good thing that Pierrette knew how to sew in a way to make her stitching strong and that Ladon quickly noticed and stopped, flashing a quick apologetic look to his friend.
He gave himself a moment to breath deep before he willed himself to say the next words as slowly as he could at the risk of exploding. “Tell me – you didn’t – go around with Elliot – asking EVERYONE – Who I was? Tell me you didn’t say that you were returning Elliot to me? That you showed them this?” For anyone to know Ladon's name meant that she probably found the exact same group that knew about Elliot when he was younger and made him ever dread having to go to school. If these same people found out he still had Elliot even while he was in high school, they would be back on him with renewed vigor.
The worry and panic was at the gates, and he only needed the girl to say she did do just that for him to let it all in and all his frustration out. He FINALLY got everyone to leave him be, to just glance at him and not feel bothered enough to address him, and it could all have been ruined in one day. Pierrette’s good deed wasn’t turning out to look that way.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:37 pm
Pierrette stared at Ladon for a good, long time.
"Why are you so worried?" She looked at him like a foot was jutting out of his forehead.
"Your friend-- Elliot-- he was in your bag most of the time. I don't think I ever mentioned him, anyway. You're being awfully rude, Mr. Shepard," Pierrette crossed her eyes, sizing up the boy in front of her. "Paranoia is never, ever healthy."
Pierrette adjusted her backpack and gave a quick nod. "Well, I'm glad that 'Elliot' is back home. Goodbye." With a little huff, Pierrette turned on her heels and walked to the door, her hand on the handle.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:11 pm
He shot his hand out against the door, and as she looked up, gave her a narrow gaze. “Paranoia at least keeps a person expecting the worse.” He glanced back at the door like a soldier looking out for a sniper. “You must be pretty naïve to think that everyone will just be peachy-keen with the idea of a boy having a plush dog.” He spoke to the window, but gave a second to look back down at her, still blocking the door. “What do you think they do to boys in high school who carry stuffed animals? Who just owns a stuffed animal?” His stomach felt as if they had two electric eels twisting about, swirling around, and sending little shocks of painful recollection into his system. “Even for girls, they say they should grow up and are childish. Probably talk behind her back and spread rumors too. For a boy, they just all get together and find the nearest recycling bin or massive puddle to throw him in.” Depending on how many people knew and what the weather was like. “That and wail on him for the rest of his high school life, and heaven forbid if he should know any of them in college.”
He looked back at Pier and this time stepped aside, holding Elliot. “I want to ask you – Promise me you won’t tell anyone about this. Thanks for what you did, but I need you to promise me never to tell anyone I have him.” He looked back down at the dog, taking his other hand to set it upon its head.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:32 pm
Pierrette let out a high-pitched squeak when he stopped the door with his hand. Suddenly the personification of a mouse, Pierrette looked up at the taller boy. Her gray eyes were wide, and she put her hands up to her chest to defend her Star Seed. You know, just in case he magically turned into a youma.
Barren Pines really did have an effect on her.
He spoke, and she blinked. She wasn't immune to the jeers, but she was rather oblivious to it all. She was blessed with this denseness, in a way. She was also blessed with cuteness that kept bullies at bay for the most part.
"If that's the case, then I don't ever plan on growing up," she finally managed to nervously say. She whipped out a keychain that had a mountain's worth of handmade and rescued charms and small dolls. "I'm not a boy, though."
Pierrette suddenly hugged Ladon and Elliot both. It was out of pity, she really did feel sorry for the events that caused this boy to become so paranoid. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have to hide her love of adorable things.
Besides, she learned that if you wanted to hug someone... you should do it. She missed out on far too many hugs at Barren Pines. Never again.
"I'm sorry, Ladon. I won't tell anyone, I promise!"
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:58 pm
Ladon didn’t like being touched. He didn’t touch other people and following the rules, expected the same treatment. If he ever had a passing compulsion to hug anyone, he kept still and waited for it to pass. While some guys would like the idea of a girl throwing herself at them, Ladon again was the peculiar type that froze in place and tried not making any movements until she eventually let go. The fact that they were alone in a empty classroom with a locked door was something he was more aware of now, and the idea of leaving seemed like a pretty good idea.
“It’s okay. I’m glad you won’t tell anyone.” Being released, he gentle set Elliot back into the confines of his backpack. For the girl to not only fix him but to go through the trouble to find him said much. The fact she was a proud supporter of not only plushies, but sewing and collecting also gave her points.
“Thank you for sewing him up and giving him back. You did a amazing job. I…really can’t sew that great.” He tried, and it usually resulted in a few months before Elliot’s insides started pouring out again. “Well, you know who I am. Can I at least know who you are? If you want, I can pay for the repairs. I was looking for a place to repair him anyways when I left him on the bus.” He’d suggest coffee, but he didn’t like the stuff. “Maybe smoothies or something. Whatever, I just don’t feel right letting you do all the work and then having me been rude and all.” It was also good to make sure she was on his side for sure and not risk her spilling the beans about him anytime soon.
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Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 10:57 am
Anyone remember the situation with Tobias? He stole something from her, and proceeded to get asked out on a date.
So, it was no surprise when Pierrette started to blush. She folded her hands together and shyly (it was only a facade, Pierrette was about as shy as a 'screamer' video) looked at the floor.
"Thank you," she smiled. "You don't have to repay me or anything, but I would love to go out for smoothies!"
Pierrette quickly dropped the shy act and looked up at Ladon with a wide grin. "I could teach you some sewing if you want! Oh..." She paused to whisper. "In secret, though. I don't want you to get bullied. That's just awful... having stuffed animals is no reason to bully anyone. I know for a fact that at least one of the jocks has a teddy bear that he still sleeps with. It's just human nature to want to cuddle!"
Pierrette hugged herself.
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Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 12:43 pm
He didn’t want to say that he cuddled. He…kept his stuffed animals in close company, but he knew what she meant. Where he didn’t have the compulsion to go up to someone and hug them, he did have the tendency to embrace a stuffed friend or two, but of course in privacy. While he didn’t have her name, the idea of smoothies was at least something simple enough that he could offer. “Okay, how about meeting at Peachy Keen sometime? Uh..” He reached back into his backpack and then fished out a pen and tore out a piece of paper from his notebook. “…here is my number. I don’t know when you might want to go. This weekend? I mean, whenever you feel like it.” He really didn’t know what her schedule was like or if she even wanted to bother. Wait, why was he whispering! Now she had him doing it.
He handed the paper off to her, aheming as he went back to speaking normally. It made them sound as if they were under cover, though it could come off as a secret meeting. “If you could, I’d appreciate a lesson. I hate having to go to the other side of the city just to find someone to patch him up. I’d rather do it myself.” It meant less money and less of a chance of something like this happening again. Maybe they could just have a simple talk, and maybe if he was lucky, find out which jock had a teddy bear. That sort of blackmail could come in hand to protect him later.
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 9:55 pm
Pierrette already had her cellphone out and was typing down numbers. Then, she pulled out a notebook and scribbled down her own number. With a beaming smile, she handed it to him.
"This weekend sounds wonderful! I'd be happy to teach you all I know," she nodded firmly. "I have the supplies, do you have another little one who needs repair? Oh, it doesn't matter if you don't. I'm sure I can find something."
Pierrette looked around, then back at him.
"If you don't mind, I'm going to head home now. I'm really excited about this weekend."
With a wave she opened the door and quickly disappeared behind it. She didn't want to jeopardize Ladon's secrecy by making a big deal out of leaving, after all.
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 10:31 pm
With a quick exchange of numbers, Ladon was now holding his book bag with a fixed Elliot and Pier’s number with the expectation to go meet her sometime so that they could talk some more and maybe trade sewing secrets. As she happily waved goodbye and walked away, he looked down at the paper and then back out the door. Confused, he looked at his bag and wondered outloud, “Is this just a normal meeting or…ya know?” The D word wasn’t something he wanted to think about, and he brushed the entire thing off as a girl giving a guy a number and that they would meet for simple, clean fun. Now wasn’t the time to start dragging his mind to the gutter like everyone else his age, and he cringed to even think about something so unwholesome. Instead, he thought about how nice it would be to learn to stitch better and finally have the chance to talk about a secret hobby he kept to himself.
Zipping up his backpack and stuffing the number into his pocket, he checked the hallway before stepping out, happier to have his old friend back and also at the possibility of a new one.
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