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fallingUPstairs__x x Crew
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 Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 5:11 pm
Damien allowed himself a small bit of pleasure as he fell clumsily onto the ground of the alleyway from the fire escape of his daddy's apartment. For once he had managed to get away without his brother following him. Even though he'd considered explaining to Gabriel how him being followed ruined the entire point of leaving, he had decided against it. He didn't want to draw attention to the fact that he thought Gabby was a bit dumber than he was. That would be just awful.
So, unknown to his family, Damien walked very easily through the not-exactly-good side of town, simply taking in all that he could. He found himself growing calmer the farther he walked, since he knew that it was making his house less terrible for his brother and daddy. By the time he was about halfway across town, he was almost acting normal, peering into the windows of a candy store with a grumbling tummy. Not that he expected to get any, but they were pretty nonetheless.
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Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 6:59 pm
Aludra was wandering that night, something that happened to him often, especially when he was busy with his doctor-friend. That night, of course, he was headed home from the Facility, stretching his arms widely and yawning. Unsurprisingly, he'd fallen asleep after various different things that had happened and was now a little bit groggy, hair still in a braid that was now very frizzy.
Like the teenager that he was, as soon as the greed spawn hit the streets, he lit up a cigarette, musing on the recent happenings in his life. One of the most interesting ones, he had to admit at this point, was the fact that he hadn't grown in quite a while. He was pretty sure that when he was a teenager, his growth wasn't suddenly supposed to almost-halt, but maybe there was something in his genetics that was keeping him from getting older. Maybe...
The young man nearly tripped over a small boy who'd been standing at the window to a candy store, dropping his cigarette and stumbling around the smaller male. Shaking his head to clear it and his brain, he knelt to get his cigarette and stuck it back in his mouth, looking at the kid before smiling softly. "Hey there, little one," he said quietly, tail swishing back and forth as he smoked cooly, looking into the window of the surprisingly fancy candy shop, before he pointed his thumb toward it. "Any chance that you're craving one of the sweets in there?"
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fallingUPstairs__x x Crew
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Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 7:28 pm
Damien squeaked as he was nearly tripped over, claws digging rather painfully into the brick of the windowsill to keep himself from falling. Turning, he snarled bravely at the clumsy person. Even if he wasn't worth dirt, it was very impolite to trip over people, and totally worth a snarl.
When the odd-colored man smiled at him in return, Damien pouted in confusion, then turned back to the candy, deeming the man insane. Anyone who did that towards him was, even Gabriel. Especially Gabriel. His tail flicked in irritation as he tried to focus on his ogling, but felt compelled to speak when he was addressed. He turned around with a bit of a stomp, glaring up at the smoking man.
"A chansshe. Itty-bitty," he said, holding two claw-points very close together to illustrate. Damien didn't want to look like he was being greedy or didn't know his place or anything like that. Glancing over his shoulder at the glimmering candies again, he shook his head as he faced Aludra. "Dun wanna waste monies, dough. Dere too nummy for me, nennyways."
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Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 8:54 pm
Even the snarl only caused Aludra to raise an eyebrow at the young humility boy, tail swishing back and forth just above the ground as he did his best to finish off the cigarette quickly. The little wings on the young man's ankles fluttered softly and he gave a bit of an irate sigh as the toddler went back to looking through the window, a painfully strong wave of envy coming over him at the little boy's headwings and the likelihood of how unappreciated they were. If only he'd had them, too...
He shook his head; he wasn't thinking clearly. The humility spawn well knew that if he'd had headwings like that, he would hate them just as much as everything else. [And, as a side note, Aden would love them just as much as everything else.] Aludra took a slight step back when he was stomped at, but still couldn't quite place the appearance of the child. He'd never seen the markings that the young male had, at least not quite like that. But hadn't something happened with the wrath demon...? He wasn't sure. He'd heard something happened to the gluttony one, too.
Aludra smiled and chuckled softly at what the small one said, stubbing out his cigarette and stretching out to drop it in a nearby ashtray. "Really? That's an odd coincidence, since they tend to be too nummy for me, too," Aludra agreed, sighing sadly as he looked wistfully at the chocolates and other delicious treats lingering just beyond a pane of glass. His tri-coloured eyes then shifted to the young boy again. "But I've got a thought for you. Anything that doesn't get eaten goes in the trash at the end of the day. If we buy some, we're also paying too much-" he winced slightly. "-which gives them more money, and that way they're wasting less food. I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't be good to let them do that. What do you think?"
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fallingUPstairs__x x Crew
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Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 9:39 pm
Damien's eyes widened in surprise as the tall man said that the candies were too nummy for him too. Living with Fifth and Gabriel, it had become almost unheard-of for people around Damien to say that they didn't deserve something. The change was a pleasant one, to be sure, and went a long way in warming Damien up to the stranger. He stared with wide eyes, for once completely full of trust (something he didn't even grant his father), and gasped low when he heard the other's reasoning. Those... those chocolates were gonna get thrown out? He turned back to face the poor, doomed candy, brimming with empathy.
Then, decisively, he whirled back around and nodded at the man. His eyes were kept on the sidewalk as he spoke; as much as he had resolved the chocolate issue, Damien still felt too low to keep eye contact for too long. His low voice stuttered adorably as he spoke, tail batting at the pavement like a bashful foot. "Ummm... D-D'ya wanna help me save de candies, Mistew?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 11:56 pm
Aludra was glad that he was actually able to pass on his life-learned wisdom to the younger humility boy. Hopefully that would help the boy start thinking a little bit different when it came to allowing himself to buy things or have things bought for him. He smiled at the little boy and gestured for him to follow as he approached the door to the shop. "I would love to help you save the candies," he said sweetly.
Reaching the not-far door, Aludra opened it up, allowing the small child to enter before he did, tail flicking back and forth on the ground, making a very quiet scraping noise. "By-the-way, my name is Aludra By'arre. Feel free to call me what you wish," the hybrid introduced himself with a smile, letting the door fall shut behind the two of them as he approached the displays as well, looking them over with just as much interest as the boy. "Remember, only some are going to get thrown away, because there are still people who might come in later, so don't get too many."
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fallingUPstairs__x x Crew
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Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 12:49 am
The fact that a rather wide smile graced Damien's face when Aludra said he would help him was a testament to how much he already looked up to the older boy. He'd never met someone who actually understood before, acutally got why he sometimes acted a little funny, but because he had to. The effect was quite refreshing and, mixed with the wonder of being completely lost, had quite the calming effect on the toddler. He almost bounced as he entered the candy store, eyes wide with anticipation.
When the green man introduced himself, Damien stopped halfway through the store and turned to nod at him, raising a hand partway up. "'Lo, 'Ludra Barre. 'M Damien. Dun gotta last name, dough. Sowwy," he said with a slightly apologetic bow of the head before he turned his attention back to the candy. The sheer number of sweet things on display was enough to make the poor boy forget to openly acknowledge Aludra's comment, but he made sure to commit it to memory. His tail flicked happily; 'Ludra really, really understood!
After a few seconds browsing, he pointed to a tray full of gummy worms, looking questioningly up at Aludra. "S-Sowwy, but what fwavor's dose?" he asked timidly, scuffing his feet on the floor.
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Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 8:04 pm
Aludra chuckled softly to himself at the apology over the young boy's apparent lack of a last name. He didn't expect the boy to know that there really was a problem with not having a last name, considering the way that he'd introduced himself, but no matter. The Greed spawn lingered behind Damien, flicking his tail lethargically and making sure to keep it from dragging on the ground or tripping anyone.
The question brought another smile to his face and he knelt down beside the boy. "There's no reason to apologize for lack of knowledge. From what I've observed, people tend to become more irate when you do apologize over those sorts of things rather than simply asking the question," he warned the young one before taking his hand, rearranging the fingers so that he was pointing with the claw of his index finger.
Gently, Aludra tapped that to the first candy on the shelf, reading off the tag and explaining it to the boy. "Gummy worms. They're small and... gel-like. And usually they have two different flavours, which is why they have two different colours." From there, he went on to the second one, and the third, and so on all the way down the long row of the different candies, making sure that Damien full-well knew what they were before he moved on.
---
Gabriel whimpered with the effort as he lowered himself down from the lowest part of the fire escape outside the apartment. When the ladder he was clinging to suddenly elongated, a scream tore from his throat and he accidentally let go, falling a few feet and landing on his tail, promptly crying out once again. After a bit of whimpering and sad faces being made at passer-bys, the young boy finally was able to get up and look around, red eyes still new to the outside world.
But, no time for dilly-dallying. He was on a quest, that he was. He was going to find his brother, and that he was sure of. Reptillian claws scratched at the sidewalk dangerously as he looked all of the different ways that he could outside the alleyway, picking one after a good few minutes of trying to decide. But of course, this was Gabriel's sense of direction, so he was headed off in the opposite direction of his brother. Which was who he was looking for.
Oops.
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fallingUPstairs__x x Crew
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Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 8:27 pm
Damien's eyes widened when Aludra spoke, and he clamped his hands to his mouth, not noticing the small pricks left in his skin. He didn't know that! Oh, dang it, he'd probably made a lot of people angry by doing that! Stupid him! He made a reminder for himself to hurt himself later (something told him that 'Ludra would get upset if he did it now), and opened his mouth to apologize again, only to clamp it shut and make a very firm nod. "Okies. Fank yoo," he whispered, as if talking too loud would make stupid words fall from his mouth.
He blinked when Aludra took his hand, tail instinctively flailing a little in protest. However, Damien didn't pull away, which ended up being towards his benefit as the older spawn told him what each candy was flavored. A small and very hesitant smile grew on the Wrath boy's face, and when they had reached the end he gently pried his hand from Aludra's, bouncing on his heels as he tried to decide. "Um... Um, c'n I have de, uh, de gummie worms 'nd Reesie Peesees 'nd, uh, uh, w-wun a' de peppyminty patties, pease?" he asked with a bashful expression, afraid that he'd requested too much.
- - -
If Lirona hadn't just come back from another date with Ty, there was no way she'd be out this late. However, she was coming back from another date with Ty, so there wasn't really a problem. A small smile danced on her face as she walked home, humming happily to herself as Jake swung the bag of goodies she'd been treated to. Yet another wonderful date courtesy of the older spawn. God, he was wonderful...
A small shape caught Lirona's eye, and she found herself looking into an alley. Having grown extremely wary of such places since her last experience with them, she refused to go in, instead fishing a small flashlight from her bag and flashing into the dark way. However, she quickly dropped it, as there was no lurking rapist in the dark, but just a very bedraggled-looking boy. And a very little boy, from the looks of it.
Fear instantly forgotten, Lira crouched down to look at the child, smiling kindly. "Hey there, honey. Are you okay; you look like you're lost. What happened to you," she asked, looking over his generally scrappy appearance with a motherly eye.
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Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 1:26 pm
The smile on Aludra's face was the epitome of kindness as the younger boy made his requests. Regardless of the lack of current self-harm, however, the young man's eyes were attuned to notice things such as the scars that already littered the poor boy's tiny frame. He gave a weak smile, tail flicking gently behind him. From what he'd gathered of this boy, he didn't hurt himself for the same reason that Aludra had all those years ago. Rather, he would guess that instead of needing it to take out anger and frustration, he did it as punishment. Of course, Aludra's had ended up that way, too, but that's not how it had started.
"Are you sure that's all you'd like?" Aludra offered after reciting the order to the cashier along with an extra chocolate-covered strawberry that he was totally getting for himself and just was going to save until later, which was why he wasn't going to eat it right away. Exactly why.
---
The sudden appearance of the older female caught Gabriel off-guard and he jumped and gasped in surprise, looking up at her with the big red eyes of the kid who'd stolen from the cookie jar. When he realized that the woman was friend-not-foe, however -despite her dark appearance- his tail started wagging back and forth happily, a grin played across his tanned features.
"Hiii!! I'm Gabriel an', um, I'm wooking fow my bwuvver, but I dun'no where he go'ed. He weaveth wike thith a wot, but I got'ta fin' him an' bring him home. A-an' I feww fwom up high, but I'm ruff'n'tuff, so I'm okay!" the little pride boy ranted happily, headwings and ears perking up in a cute fashion, using the charm that he always used when he wanted to get his way.
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fallingUPstairs__x x Crew
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Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 2:36 pm
Damien barely ever smiled as a rule, but when he watched Aludra recite the order in proper speech, he couldn't help but allow himself to grin, even if it was quite small. Aludra was easily the nicest person he'd ever met; the first person who had reacted to his odd and/or destructive habits with understanding and niceness rather than being angry or scared of him. Maybe instead of going to Cat's house all the time, he could start walking to Aludra's. He had been going to visit the silver man a lot recently, he didn't want to contaminate it with his badness too.
At the older spawn's question, Damien started a little, having gotten lost in thought. His headwings fluttered lightly and he wrinkled his nose at the absurdity of the question, shaking his head. "A' cowrse. Dun wanna has too much, 'c-cause dat's bad," he said with a serious nod. After living in an environment where resources were scarce, Damien was careful to never take too much, even if it was offered. Sharing was something good people did.
Tipping his head gently to the side, Damien shyly indicated Aludra's treat. "Uh, wut's dat, 'Ludra? Smells like st'awbees..." he muttered, sniffing gently at the thing. It was certainly fancy.
- - -
A warm smile alighted Lira's face when she saw the child wasn't hurt, and in fact seemed downright chipper. She laughed at his story, even though parts of it worried her. His brother left all the time...? This wasn't the safest place for children when they were with their parents, so the idea of a child wandering around alone made her maternal heartstrings quiver. Without even consciously realizing it, Lira had already resolved herself to finding this child.
Still smiling gently, Lira extended her hand towards Gabriel. Jake reached out as well, entranced by the wings on his head that weren't wings. "Well, Gabriel, do you mind if I help you find your brother? Even if you're rough-and-tough, I'd like to help. Does that sound okay?" she said softly. She couldn't quite place it, but she already had the thought that the best way to interact with this child was to flatter his ego. Don't ask her why she thought that.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 5:26 pm
A smile slighted upon Aludra's own scarred-up face to match Damien's once he saw the smaller boy smile up at him, tail skimming the hardwood floor gently. Tri-coloured eyes flicked from Damien to the server as the older man retrieved the different goodies from their places behind the counter, charging the teenager a resounding twelve dollars, not an unbelievable price considering the fact that he'd gotten the largest of everything that he could have, including a very plump strawberry. Smiling pleasantly at the cashier, he paid with one of his father's credit cards before slipping it back in his pocket, taking the paper bag filled with small, plastic bags of Damien's candy, handing it to the small wrath boy.
Aludra was a little surprised when he was confronted about the strawberry, glancing at it sitting on the counter before it was also wrapped up and placed in a separate bag. He blushed faintly, trying hard to will it away and failing miserably, unable to mask his true intentions to himself. "W-well, it is a strawberry, it so happens. In places such as this, they dip strawberries in chocolate and add confectionery designs to them - swirls and h-hearts and the like. They really are quite delicious," he explained to the small demonic boy, gesturing for the other to follow him as they both left the store, each with a paper bag in hand.
It wasn't a moment after Aludra exited the building that he lit up another cigarette, deeply inhaling the seemingly magical smoke, soothing his frazzled nerves and helping the blush to fade away from his olive face. "So tell me Damien, what is it that brings you to this particular locale? Er... what brings you here?" Aludra asked, correcting himself when he realized he was talking to a toddler, no less one who seemed to have a bit of trouble with speaking as it was. Thus Aludra made the conscious decision to try to make his speech slightly less articulate. At least for now.
---
Gabriel grinned broadly at the pretty female, hopping closer to her to inspect her beautiful clothing, clothes that he knew that he could never have or afford or clean or even steal because they would probably be too protected and too expensive. His tail flicked around a bit before he backed up and nodded, having listened to everything that she'd said while he was busy looking her over for any kind of flaw. There was nothing that he could see, that was for sure. Well, at least. Maybe there was something secret, but he was pretty sure that there wasn't.
"Awridy, I think you'wre def'nitly good 'nuff to hewp me find Daminen," Gabriel stated with absolute certainty, ears and headwings perked up before he very suddenly caught sight of the tentacle that poked out from the girl's side, something that he'd managed to overlook in his inspection. His eyes widened and his headwings tipped backward, red eyes glaring only in an uncomfortable curiosity. Pouting, he reached out to prod at it coldly. "What is dat?"
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fallingUPstairs__x x Crew
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Posted: Sat Oct 16, 2010 8:59 am
Damien happily took the bag of goodies from Aludra when it was handed to him, although he was careful not to look too excited, and therefore greedy. Without bothering to undo the fancy packaging properly, he drove a sharp claw through the plastic, skewering a gummy worm on the talon and plopping it in his mouth. An expression of pure contentment washed over his stormy face as he devoured the treat; sweet things always tasted so good, especially when they came from such a fancy place as this. He ate a few more worms in the same manner before switching over to Reese's Pieces, not wanting to favor one type of candy over the other.
The boy nodded in understanding at Aludra's description of the treat, and looked over his shoulder at the other strawberries still perched under the glass counter as they exited the store. They sure looked delicious too. Looking back up at Aludra, he flapped his wings as the older man lit up his cigarette. "Oh, dat's cool-soundin'. Do you like staw'bees a lotta, 'Ludra?"
When Aludra first asked his question, Damien wrinkled his nose in confusion. This person certainly talked using really big words; he doubted that even Fifth would know what he was saying. All of that succeeded in making the small toddler feel very stupid indeed, but when the question was amended, he shrugged it off. "'M walkin' 'round," he said simply as he swallowed a few more candies. "Gotta walk 'round lotsa so that I don't make my house too bad wif all my bad." A firm nod punctuated that statement, as if it made complete sense. Which of course it did to the angry Humility child.
Lira smiled to herself in amusement as the cute boy walked around her, apparently inspecting her or something. To be honest, she didn't really care; he was too cute, for one, and he needed her help, so she'd put up with any idiosyncrasy. When she was declared to be 'good enough', she laughed and bowed her head respectfully to Gabriel. "Oh, well thank you. Such a compliment!" She laughed again behind her hand, utterly amused by the boy's antics. From the way he spoke, he was more than likely a Pride child, which meant that he would probably be easy to deal with. Her gut instinct was correct; just flatter his ego.
When Gabriel indicated Jake with a surprised expression, the tentacle drew back sharply, wilting slightly under the not-so-kind words. Lira smiled and stroked him soothingly as she spoke to Gabriel. "This is Jake, Gabriel. He's a tentacle, and he's my friend. He's not going to hurt you, I promise, he's very nice. He probably just wanted to see your cute little headwings, because he's never seen anything like them. Isn't that right, Jake?" When the tentacle bobbed its tip in the imitation of a nod, Lira's pleased laugh rang through the air again. "See? He thinks you're cool-looking."
"Now," she said, straightening slightly and looking up and down the small, dark street, "let's get to looking for your brother. Do you have any idea where he went?"
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