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 Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 7:41 pm
Bix had been stewing over one of only a few thoughts he'd had in the past week. He hadn't heard from Jerry or Sasha and he was still holding onto the small slip of paper that started it all. The bunk room was awful for alone time. Thankfully during the day most of the Lifers went to the lab but duties there were still available for those who didn't want to spend another day in a row clearing insanity monsters. Bix had secured a duty of minipet exercise and feeding. Apparently, like real pets, many were mopey and distraught with being ignored during the Insanity infestation. They now were booking solid shifts of minipet care (though it also maybe had to do with all of their need to play with something small and cute). Bix had managed to snag a 2 person shift and decided it would be a good distraction and finally some nice time without anyone around. kuromeez Got a minis shift. Meet me at labs. Havent hung out in a while
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 11:03 am
Gale, unlike Bix, had no idea what slip of paper was still in Bix's mind, nor had he even had time to contemplate the fact that he had not seen his best mate in what appeared to be a long time. Instead, his focus had lain mainly with two things: trying to stay awake to keep the nightmares from coming back, and doing his work to keep himself distracted. The first hadn't worked out so well, since he was working himself practically to death (no pun intended) and was more exhaustion than actual human, if that were even possible.
The unexpected text from Bix, however, came right when he was trying to figure out how to keep himself occupied for the next several hours, since he did not want to sleep and his next shift was not until later on that evening. He blinked down at the screen of his mobile in some surprise, tilting his head, but then he tucked the phone into his pocket and headed towards the labs.
"Hey, Bix."
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 11:23 am
"Hey Gale." Bix was genuinely glad to see Gale. They hadn't hung out in foooooreeeeeveeeerrrr and they were alive, thankfully, after the last mission. Gale looked tired, on edge, but Bix thought better than to mention it because he knew that everyone looked the same. He also looked harried, white stubble showing over his face and circles under his eyes. The albino hunter was grabbing minipet food and tossing it into the cages of the crazier, uglier pets. He saved the cute pets for last since those you could play with. "We haven't hung out in a while. Everything... normal? Okay?"
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 2:14 pm
He could not remember the last time he had even seen Bix. Or anyone else, for that matter. Gale reached up a hand, rubbing tiredly at his haggard face and feeling as though he could collapse right then and there. And he probably would have, were it not for the fact that he had already summoned Jinhai and was using him as a sort of cane to keep himself propped upright.
Bix himself did not look nearly as put together as he usually was. His hair was messy and unkempt, his eyes were bloodshot, even redder than they normally were, and his the lower half of his jaw was covered in pale white stubble that showed he had not shaved in quite some time. To put it mildly, he looked almost as exhausted as Gale felt.
But he was pleased to see him anyway; seeing Bix meant that at least one thing was all right, even if everything else was wrong.
"Normal," said Gale, and shook his head a bit, his hair falling about his face. He picked up a bucket of food and began making his way down the aisle, tossing snacks into the cages as he went.
"Define normal. I don't think I even know what that is anymore."
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 5:31 pm
"Normal. You know.. killing monsters with magical weapons, lives on the line, feeding strange horrific pets made out of FEAR made real." Bix chuckled a bit and threw some food into the pen with the strange vegetable pets. Their tongues and eyes rolled and lolled and he shuddered and left them in the cages. "I actually.. I wanted to talk to you about something." Bix suddenly spoke softer. He seemed to glance around, though no one else was there, and his hand sunk into his pants pocket. "It's kind of outside the... normal."
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 5:45 pm
"Oh," said Gale, and tossed a bit of cookie into one of the cages that held something that looked as though it were all hair and no body. It made a soft growling sound against the bars and poked its head towards him. "Well, in that case, then yes, things are normal..."
He trailed off a bit, glancing over at Bix. He looked uncharacteristically serious for once, and a tad uncertain, and Gale frowned a little, turning around entirely with his hand still holding the bucket of treats.
"What's up?" he asked cautiously. "Is...is something wrong?"
Did I do something stupid again? his head thought irrationally, but Gale very hastily shoved that thought aside. This was not about him, this was about Bix.
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 5:55 pm
"Kind of?" The albino shook his head. "I'm not sure if something is wrong. I think.. yes." He slowly pulled his hand from his pocket and there was an old piece of folded paper. "Just look at this. Tell me what you think." Bix unfolded it, without much of a glance, and held it out for Gale to read. The other hunter knew his full name. They were close enough for that. Bix stayed silent, scarcely breathing while he waited for Gale's opinion. 
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 7:23 pm
Stepping over to Bix, Gale leaned on the top of his rifle as though it were a cane, peering down at the item he held in his hand - which was a scrap of paper, folded and wrinkled and yellowed. It was obviously just a piece, ripped from something else, and it was barely legible, but Gale squinted at it, smoothing it out.
One name in particular jumped out at him.
"...that's...your name," said Gale. "That's...Ferdinand Wilkins, Jr. That's you, isn't it?"
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 7:44 pm
"Yeah that's me. And it says 'Breeding Program'." Bix frowned. "Jerry is on there too. And Sasha. Apparently when they were clearing the labs they found this. I wasn't there.."
Bix finally got along to some of the cuter minipets. He opened a cage and pulled out a super fat looking cat with a large curly mustache. Thankfully it was pretty much exactly like a cat. It purred and rubbed on his face and he held it and scratched it around the ears.
"I don't even know what that means. But I do know my mother and she's not in the least bit... Deus." She went to church and didn't like ouiji boards or tarot cards. "And she's alive. You know I realized the other day that I am an awful awful son?" Bix's eyes looked moist but he wasn't crying. "I up and left her.. and my dad. They lost my little brother and then they lost me. I'm.. I'm awful. I didn't even think of them."
The slip of paper had clearly bothered Bix, giving him time to stew over every little detail of every moment with his family.
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 7:51 pm
For the life of him, Gale could not figure out why Bix's name would be on a list with Jerry and Sasha's under the heading Breeding Program. The date listed read 2/12/2000, which was a long time ago, but it didn't make sense. He squinted closer at the paper, smoothing it out as best as he could with his thumb, but that did not make things clearer.
Bix's voice sounded awful. Gale leaned back, giving his friend a hard look.
"You are not," he said clearly. "an awful son. Don't even say that. Unless you've committed some sort of heinous crime towards them, you are not an awful son."
A small black creature in the cage beside him rattled the bars, clearly hungry, and Gale poked a few treats in, not even looking at what he was doing, his eyes focused back on the paper. He did not want to ask the next question that came to his mind, but there seemed to be no other option.
"So does this...does this mean that one of your family members was in Deus?" he asked, pressing his lips together.
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 8:02 pm
"I guess so." Bix now had the mustached cat wrapped around his shoulders since it had decided that was where it felt like being. "Thing is Jerry didn't know his parents and Sasha said she only knew her dad. My mom is my mom but my dad is actually not my real dad." Bix looked at his feet. "My real dad died when I was little. My mom said it was a car accident on the way to work." Was that a lie of some sort? Was he a hunter? Or maybe he did die in an accident and it was just his side of the family? Was he 'gifted' like the rest of them? It was the most thought he'd ever put into his biological father.
"I was small. He was Ferdinand Sr. They changed my last name when they got married. My mom was crazy about gossip and thought it would make life easier."
Bix finally pulled the cat off of him, claws tugging on his coat. He had to detach it foot by foot before putting it back in the cage. The next cage had a cat with wings on it's butt. It unevenly hovered around the room.
"It was never a thing. My dad, the one that raised me, was my dad. The dead guy was never a thought. So its got to be him.. or his side. My mom is not at all anyone to be involved with this stuff."
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 8:13 pm
Ferdinand Sr. No matter how much he looked at Bix, thought of Bix, he had not ever - and never would be - a "Ferdinand" to Gale. He had only ever seen him as just "Bix."
Because that's who he was.
"Do you think..." Gale started, then stopped, wondering if he should even go there. He did not want to upset Bix further, since he could tell the other was already on the verge of losing it, the combination of everything weighing down on his shoulders.
Then he felt awful for even thinking of himself and his own problems when clearly Bix had much more pressing matters.
Gale exhaled slowly. Then he just gave it up and asked. "Do you think maybe your biological dad was...a hunter?"
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 8:34 pm
"i don't know.." Bix had several winged cats eating out of his hand. "But whatever it is or whoever he was. Deus seemed to be involved in my life before I knoew about it." And maybe that was the worst part of all. What if they were doing this now? Influencing and steering hunters into having children, or even sending others out into the world to do so. Was his whole life some Deus scheme?
"Sasha called Dr. H. He was out doing .. something. He's supposed to meet with us when he gets back." Bix's jaw clenched. "I hate that guy. I really hate him. But i need some kind of answer."
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 8:38 pm
Despite the fact that he knew Candace had a thing with Doctor H, despite the fact that he cared deeply for her, an involuntary shudder of disgust shivered up and down Gale's spine, and he shook his head, just once, as though trying to clear it.
"Doc H is a git," he said firmly. "But he'll give you what you need."
Gale really hoped that was true. He took a hobbling step towards his friend, reaching out to touch his arm gently, pressing his lips together.
"Look, Bix," he said, a bit awkwardly. He had never been good at this sort of thing before. "I know...I know things are...well, what they are, but...for what it's worth, you're still the best mate I've ever had, no matter what."
Then he flushed brilliantly, hastily turning away to busy himself with the minipets in the next cage.
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 9:05 pm
"Thanks." Bix smiled as much as he could in a bro way when Gale affirmed their friendship. He'd usually crack a joke or be goofy but he didn't know what to say all of a sudden so instead he focused on shoving the flying cats back into their cages.
"Hey just in case we don't get much information do you think if you come across anything, in Death, you could let me know?" Death were supposed to be information gatherers. Other than Life they got access to most of the computers and files. "You don't have to go out of your way but if you find anything weird, can you let me know?"
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