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 Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:33 pm
Jove roughly shoved past crowds of students as he ran down the hallway, the hard bumps jarring his sore shoulder and causing protests and loud shouts to echo behind him. Classes had just let out for the day, and there were only too many students for him to dodge as he ran in a panic.
Today he had been cornered almost immediately after class, by a couple students who had attempted to bully him in the past. It was nothing new to the pup, usually he could scowl it off and run away, but he hadn't expected the sudden ambush. So when he found himself trapped, and realized he was going to be grabbed, he broke free and ran.
The students had chased him for the first few yards, but then they gave up, and it was Jove's fear alone that pushed him to run on. He had nowhere in mind as he struggled to get away from the crowd of people in the halls, the only thought running through his head was that he desperately needed to get away.
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:05 pm
Ren supposed it had been a bad idea to skip out on class, but at the same time he had felt mildly ill. His sleep schedule, which was now completely screwed up, had resulted in a minor headache, and he was slightly dizzy. So instead of attending classes he had spent the afternoon laying out on the lawn of the school, attempting to nap. It had worked, for the most part; the late afternoon sun was warm and soothing, and for a few short minutes he had managed to doze fitfully. It was only after his skellyphone vibrated noisily that he awoke, reaching sleepily into his pocket to retrieve it. One glance at it made him recognize the caller immediately - his sister - and he stuffed the phone back into his pocket. But it was too late by then; he was already awake, and so, with a sigh, Ren pushed himself to his feet, intending on going back to his room.
Making his way through the throngs of students just now leaving class, Ren reached a hand up, rubbing the back of his neck. A flash of teal caught his eye, and he turned his head, spotting a very familiar little boil a few feet away. Jove's back was to him, his shoulders hunched over as he stood near the edge of the school, and Ren, feeling tired and a little loopy, crept up behind the puppy. A faint smile crossed his face - just what he needed.
"FRECKLES!" he called out joyfully, and flung his arms around the puppy from behind, squeezing him tightly.
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:43 pm
If the first ambush had been the trigger, Ren's well-meaning attack marked the end of his brief run. His eyes went wide as he saw the hands reaching to grab him, and it didn't even register in his mind as his brother before he was jerked to a sudden halt. The psychological effect was dramatic and immediate, the pup seemed to gasp for breath before vomiting up a startling amount of dark red blood.
The shaking began almost immediately afterwards, as he regained his senses and coughed fitfully. Had it ever been that bad before the island? When he had been alone in that terrible fog, he had heard things that terrified him, and when he ran the invisible blow had been just as violent. He had never been so caught up in that mindless fear before...
As the fear petered out to a stunned and shaky feeling, Jove took stock of the situation, and realized it was Ren who had caught him. Of course it was. When had Ren not been there for him?
His relief was short lived. He forgot that he was supposed to run to his brother if he ever got scared. The thought hadn't even entered his mind, he had been too frightened to even think about it.
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:32 pm
Right away Ren knew something was off, something was wrong. Jove's body jerked abruptly in his arms, his little chest heaving, and then something horribly red spattered the ground, staining the pavement crimson. Ren stared at it, frozen and unable to move even as he felt Jove's body start trembling violently. So red, so very red...
Horrible images flashed into his mind, all mixing together, sliding and colliding into his memory; fragments from the island, from his parents, the darkness again -
Ren shook his head, clenching his teeth together. His legs suddenly felt unsteady, and he removed his arms from around his little brother, his eyes wide with fear and a stunned horror.
What...have I done..?
What had just happened?
He swallowed. Hard. Forced a small smile. "H...hey, J-Jove..."
I only wanted to say hello.
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:40 am
When Ren withdrew, Jove fell to his knees and stared at the ground. He didn't blame his brother for the terrible reaction, he could sense it was linked to the same psychological problem that sent him running in the first place. Being hit- no, caught, had felt like it had on the island, those floating voices had worsened the issue and set him back farther than when he arrived at the school in the first place.
The pup whined as he stared at the pavement, sitting down and weakly pushing himself away from the terrible red patch on the ground. Towards Ren. His ears almost disappeared into his hair with fear and shame, his tail tucking itself under him. Please let Ren forgive him for not being able to think...
He backed right up until he bumped against Ren's leg, almost sitting on his brother's foot.
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:34 am
Ren's eyes were still on the red spatter on the ground, the color already beginning to fade darker. Around them, the bustling, noisy voices of the students passing by seemed to blur and merge into a jumble of messy, indistinguishable noise. For a few moments he couldn't do anything except stare; stare and wonder what on earth had gone wrong.
Then he felt something bump against his leg, and Ren, shaken abruptly out of his somewhat stupefied mindset, glanced downwards. Jove, sitting on the ground, had scooched backwards until his back was against his leg, practically sitting on his foot. It took Ren several seconds of blinking and staring before he bit his lip, slowly crouching down and sliding his arms around Jove's shoulders.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, and kiss the side of his head, closing his eyes briefly. Ren did not know what had happened, but apparently none of them were as good as they thought they had been.
We need a distraction, he thought. And he kindasorta had an idea.
Sliding his arms gently under Jove's legs, Ren pulled him up against his chest as he stood, carrying his little brother as he stepped away from the redness and moving towards the more deserted areas of campus. As he walked, he looked down at the puppy, a concerned expression on his face.
"...what happened?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:02 am
Ren was sorry? What for? Jove was the one who had messed up, running aimlessly without any sense of direction or self-preservation.
He whined piteously as Ren kissed him, looking up with a smudge of red on his lower lip. The whine hardly let up as he was hugged, and then scooped up, and he gave none of his usual protests over being picked up where others could see him. The pup did quite the opposite, firmly pressing his head against Ren's chest and grabbing a handful of his shirt in one hand.
Jove couldn't meet Ren's eyes. "... Scared," was all he said.
There wasn't much explanation he could give, being grabbed hadn't hurt him, it just... winded him. As much as it was possible to wind a ghost. And he had no idea how it translated to throwing up.
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:20 pm
Ren held Jove tightly against his chest as he walked, feeling the younger boil cling to him, his face buried against his shirtfront. It caused a pain in his chest to know that something had happened to his little brother, something enough to scare him badly enough that he had run and not gone to him. And to cough up all that blood...Ren had not even known ghosts could cough up that much blood, though he now did not see why he had thought otherwise. Despite being a ghost, he was still flesh and blood - the evidence of that was in Ren's arms.
He heard a word; low, and barely audible, but still enough for Ren to be able to hear him. "Scared?" Ren repeated, and hugged Jove closer, pressing his face into the boil's hair. "Don't be scared. I'm right here. I'm always right here."
They had reached the outskirts of the school now, and there was no one around, most of the students off with friends or gallivanting around in their dorm rooms or going out places. On a weekend like this, no student wanted to stay in the school buildings, which meant that the campus was virtually deserted. Ren stopped underneath the shadow of a large tree, setting Jove down gently and kneeling in front of him. There was a smear of red on his bottom lip, and Ren reached his good hand up, rubbing at it gently with his thumb, his other hand lightly holding Jove's wrist.
"Scared of what, Jove?" he asked him quietly. "Scared of what? What happened?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:50 pm
Jove didn't like the metallic taste in his mouth. Even if he was only a ghost now, he was once a real breathing creature, and like many ghosts his body remembered it better than he did. Well, bits and pieces of it. The fact that it seemed to repeat parts of his death whenever he was hurt or scared just made everything more confusing for the pup. He couldn't even relate it to what his friends might go through when they were hurt, because they bruised and bled in a logical pattern.
He closed his eyes tight as he was carried farther away from the building, waiting until the sounds and conversations of other students were long gone before daring to glance up at his brother.
When Ren sat him down and reached towards him to wipe his lip, Jove jerked back reflexively before he caught himself. It was just Ren, and the gryphon would never hurt him... Another little tremble ran through him. The pup couldn't stop these physical reactions from happening, no more than he could have stopped himself from running away in the first place. He could only hope that Ren understood, and didn't take it as a sign of mistrust.
Another little whine escaped him, how could he say what he had been afraid of? One second he was about to be grabbed, and the next he was terrified and running. And he wasn't going to tell Ren he had been bullied. That wasn't the problem. He whimpered again, a sad little noise that bordered on despair, reaching up with the hand Ren wasn't holding to scrub at his eyes with his knuckles before they could tear up. He was never going to get better at controlling himself...
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:29 pm
Ren had half expected Jove to move away, but he slid his free hand to the back of Jove's head to hold him steady while he wiped away the blood with his thumb. It took him a few moments, but after a bit he managed to get it all off. He pulled his shirtsleeve down over his hand gently rubbed at Jove's bottom lip, making sure it was all gone before he dropped both of his hands. His little brother was rubbing at his eyes now, and though there were no tears, he seemed on the verge of them, which made Ren's heart ache. He reached up, pulling the little hand away, and pressed his fingers against the side of Jove's eye, wiping away what had started to be a small tear.
"Didn't I tell you to come to me, silly puppy?" he said softly. "I gave you my pin; that means I've always got your back, no matter what."
Ren wasn't sure he was going to get any more out of the puppy, so he pushed himself to his feet and wrapped his arms around Jove's shoulders, hugging the boil against him. He stood there for a moment, fingers delving into his little brother's soft hair before he stepped back. The wind teased at his hair, tugging a few strands free.
"Say, Jove..." Ren said, his head tilted back, his eyes gazing upwards. "Do you wanna touch the sky?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 10:03 pm
Jove stubbornly rubbed his eyes again. He wasn't going to cry, not now, in front of his big brother, and not ever if he could help it. Adults didn't cry.
He looked up with an unhappy face, sniffling ever so slightly in a noisier impression of his usual scenting of the air. It was good that Ren had been right there outside the school. When he said he had Jove's back no matter what, it must have meant even when the pup was too lost in his fear to go seek out the gryphon on his own. It was an illogical thought, of course Ren couldn't just magically be there whenever Jove was freaked out, but it comforted the pup nonetheless.
When they stood, Jove leaned into the hug for a couple seconds, satisfied that there was nobody else around, and he could unwind in that warm, comfortable embrace. He secretly loved it when Ren played with his hair, so much he almost refused to admit it to himself let alone anyone else. Maybe it was because he had been a lap dog in his previous life, bred almost entirely for love and petting and companionship, that the act of being petted was both comforting and immensely satisfying. It soothed the last bits of his frayed nerves, so when Ren spoke up again he looked up to follow the gryphon's gaze.
Touch the sky? Like... flying? His little ears fell back with a hint of apprehension as he watched the clouds, but when he looked back down at Ren his expression was trusting, and he gave the slightest little nod.
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:12 pm
The wind tousled both of their hair, and Ren's eyes were closed as he stood there, inhaling the scents of the day. The dizziness and mild nausea he had had earlier had mostly dissipated due to the fact that his concerns had turned to Jove instead of himself. His little brother was by far one of the most important people in his life now, and he hated to see him so...off. Ren himself knew he still wasn't the same, even though it had been several weeks already since the field trip, but they were both getting there. Slowly. Very slowly. But getting there.
"Yes," Ren said, turning his face back to Jove's. "Do you want to touch the sky, Jove?"
There was a tangible pause while he waited. At first he thought that the boil would say no; his ears had flattened back against his head, which was a sign of anxiety, but when he looked back at Ren his expression was...very different. Ren felt trusted. He ducked his head, pecking a quick kiss to Jove's forehead, then took a step back.
"It's easier if I fly in my natural form," he said, somewhat apologetically, and then, carefully, slowly, so as to not scare the boil, Ren closed his eyes and shifted.
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 6:57 am
Jove had never seen Ren's natural form before, and even with the advance warning it scared him. So much that he took a stepped backwards until his tail bumped the trunk of the tree, and then he plastered himself against the bark. His eyes were wide as he opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it without a word.
Ren's gryphon form was HUGE.
Slowly he peeled himself away from the tree and approached his brother, reaching out tentatively to pet his fur and feathers. He had never seen a gryphon in it's natural form before. Were all gryphons that large, or only the freakishly tall ones like his too-tall brother?
He crouched down to examine Ren's eagle-like talons, head tilting and holding up one of his own hands for comparison. Then he poked some freckles, walked a circle around his brother, and finally leaned against his shoulder, feeling the fur against the side of his face and fingers. Ren had the same scent in this form too.
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:35 am
He had never shown his gryphon form to Jove before, and he had forgotten just how big he was. Ren's wingspan alone reached a massive fifteen feet across fully extended, and his back paws were heavy, twice the size Jove would be in his natural form.
Turning his head, he watched his little brother back up until he hit the tree, his eyes as wide as saucers. Ren lowered his back legs, moving into a seated position, his tail curling around his feet and his wings tucked neatly against his back. He didn't want to frighten the poor boil, so he sat there quietly and waited. After a few moments - a few long moments - Jove came hesitantly closer. Ren let him pick up one of his feet, slightly amused at the difference in size, but his eyes fluttered a bit when Jove stepped near, pressing his face against his side. He tilted his head, nuzzling his beak very gently against Jove's cheek before his wings fluttered a bit.
"Climb on," he said and managed a very bird-like smile. "Let's go flying."
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:49 am
The pup pulled back when Ren's massive beak approached his face, but the touch was gentle. He reached up to touch the beak, wondering what it must be like to have such a solid face. And could Ren feel it when he touched him there?
He tilted his head, scrutinizing the gryphon's back before jumping up.
It didn't work. The pup landed on his belly across Ren's shoulders with a huff, not quite gaining the right balance to remain on his friend's back for very long. His body caught on Ren's wing for a second as he slid sideways towards his brother's tail, but instead of halting his fall it merely turned him around so that he landed on his head next to Ren's hindquarters. How embarrassing.
He let out a tiny growl as he sat in the grass, rubbing his head and dislodging a leaf that had gotten stuck in his hair. If Ren laughed at him, he would never eat cookies with him again. Ever.
Looking at his brother again, he gave Ren's backside a shove as if to say "Get up! I can't do anything with you sitting like a lazy lump!"
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