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 Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:46 pm
Liamh grunted as he tugged the patio lounge chair into position. Wiping his forehead and placing his hands triumphantly on his hips, he surveyed the lake in front of him. The sunlight flickering on the surface of the water, the lush foliage around the edges, and the waterfall spraying mist off in the distance just about made this the most beautiful part of the island he'd seen.
He still prefered the comfort of air conditioning, but he'd been bound and determined to break his habits and come out here for some real relaxation. Or at least, once he'd learned exactly how far the walk to the beach was. And so, armed with a good book he'd borrowed and a thermos of cold drink, he'd lugged a chair over to the lake. Time for this blasted vacation he'd been waiting for. Time to forget about the horrors of the mad science and gruesome fates for five minutes.
He flopped down in the chair and pulled out the thermos, taking a small paper umbrella out of his pocket, opening it carefully, and setting it on the edge. Finding his place in the book he let out a deep breath peacefully and lay back. Maybe he'd get a tan this time.
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:03 pm
Emerwyn needed a breath. A deep breath. Maybe more than one, if she could manage.
She took a walk through the jungle again. And this time, she left all of her papers at home. After the ordeal with finding out what had happned to Emelyn, she needed to clear her head. It was quite difficult to keep oneself intact when the two worlds you are trying to live in both cry for attention.
The lake. She hadn't visited the lake since one of her peculiar run-ins with Billy. It was her most peculiar one, in fact.
But there was no sign of the octopus man today. Perhaps he was off rolling around sedated and dry, waiting for rain.
The air around the lake was damp and rich. All of the foliage was so bright and fresh... and delicious. She sat down at the edge of the water, and helped herself to a very large leaf a very large bush had provided her with. The moisture that was locked inside rolled generously over her tongue.
Now here, she could breathe. Here, she could forget.
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:19 pm
Liamh took a slurp of his drink. It really needed some salt... or sugar? around the rim, but that didn't work so well with a thermos. At least he had his darn paper umbrella. He peered over the top of his book at the lake, enjoying the..... view? He turned his head, his eye caught by a motion nearby. What was that?
He arched an eyebrow. Some kind of wildlife? He pushed his glasses back up his nose and twisted in his chair, peering over his shoulder. It looked like a person... a lady? She was half turned away, sitting by the water.
Guess he wasn't the only one looking for some respite out here.
Never being one to let a good chance to break in on internal quietude go by, he braced an arm on the back of his chair, put a thumb in his book, and cleared his throat.
"Hey there. Nice day to be interrupted by sudden conversation, isn't it?" he grinned, hoping he wouldn't end up face first in the lake for cheekiness.
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:26 pm
Large, upwardly protruding ears perked at the sound of the voice. How had she completely missed another presence so close? She turned her torso slowly to it, swallowing a laste bit of the tough leaf. She'd be having fun with that later.
She smiled at the sight of the comfortably positioned man. It looked as though he were on vacation. Emerwyn hoped for both their sakes he did not think this was a vacation.
With a little, light sigh, she got up to her hooves, her long, awkwardly graceful legs bending into proper standing position. When she was within better speaking distance, she addressed him.
"I could not think of a better date." and here, she was telling the truth. Goodness knows she could use the distraction. "My name is Emerwyn." She extended a hand to him.
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:45 pm
His insides jolted for a second as she slowly rose, her ears flicking toward him. Oh. Right.... He'd come within a hairsbreadth of forgetting. He swallowed and breathed easier again. This was a person, a decent human being who was an unwilling test subject. Just like himself.
He kicked himself mentally for his stupidity and watched as she eased to her feet and moved closer. He tilted his head slightly. The legs really were quite graceful, in a long, spindly way. He fought back a little smile and glanced up at her as she drew near.
Straightening up and putting his book aside, he held out a hand to shake hers warmly. "Emerwyn," he repeated. "That's an unusual name, though I think people are missing out, in that case." he chuckled. "I'm Liamh, Liamh Doradan." Pushing his glasses back up his nose again, he wondered vaguely if he should be standing or if he should be offering her the chair to sit. With a little shrug, he propped himself up higher with a leg under him, so he'd at least be more on eye level. A lady usually had problems with having people talk at her torso.
He glanced around. "Date? I hope i'm not intruding, then, if you're waiting for someone. Unless you're not," he scratched the back of his head. "In which case, I couldn't think of a better one either. Barring maybe a sudden volcanic eruption of a roller coaster park in the middle of the jungle, maybe. Pretty rare that, though." He gave a lopsided grin.
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:59 pm
She was glad he'd managed to compose himself to take her hoofed hand. It seemed he was 'broken in' already. What a relief.
"It is a pleasure, Liamh," she said.
As he propped himself to speak to her better, she chose to lower herself to him. She gracefully curled her legs back underneath herself. Her knees stuck out oddl, her body still being caught in transformation limbo, but she had well-adapted herself.
"I am quite alone, or was."
She paused a moment to mull over Liamh's statement, then she laughed quizzically. "I shall have to take your word on that matter."
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:04 pm
He nodded sagely. "Oh indeed. The last time anyone saw a volcanic erruption produce a themepark, everybody died screaming. I think they've banned that sort of thing since then. Natural disasters not being family friendly and all."
"Well, as a matter of fact, i myself was by myself until i noticed i wasn't anymore," he rambled, and glanced at the chair and back to her. "Uh, care to sit? I can move over to the foot...end... part." he gestured at the other end of the lounge chair. "If you turned it sideways, after all, it'd be sort of like a badly constructed bench."
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:13 pm
Emerwyn simply nodded in a strange way, that was not knowing, but accepting. Certainly, I am sure no sensible parents would want their children exposed to molten rock, it seemed to say.
"My thanks to you. However, I find it far more comfortable down here."
His dialogue on the concept of being alone reminded her quite sharply of someone. But it was not the someone who had spoken like that. No, the someone who had spoken like that was from a book. A very special book. It starkly reminded her of Alice, and her 'companions.' And these characters, of course, reminded her of Julian.
Much to her surprise, she found herself smiling at this connection.
"I suppose we are drawn together by similar interests, then. The tide that had us both by ourselves has made us not quite so much so."
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:52 pm
Liamh chuckled, rubbing one of his ears thoughtfully. "It would seem so. Tides are like that though. They tend to pick up all manner of random things, swirl them around until they've had their fun, and then next you know, those random things are all sitting on the shore." He tilted his head to the side, glancing at her. "Waiting to be found by children and old men in funny hats."
He shook his head at himself and grinned. "What're you usually doing when you're not being ambushed near tropical lakes, Emerwyn? Unless this is what you do all day." He folded his hands behind his head, looking at the lake again. "Poetic, of course, but I'd think that would get a bit monotonous."
He moved his drink aside and laid the book down carefully next to it.
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Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 3:52 pm
This man had quite a way with words. It was certainly an interesting way, but all the same. Richard was rather cleverly spoken, himself. Had Moreau taken a liking to strangely spoken folk? Either way, Emerwyn did not mind a bit. It had been so long since she'd been able to have a real conversation with someone.
"I do spend much of my time in the jungle, yes. Running, thinking...
I also write. But, it is becoming increasingly difficult, you see-" she held up her hands here. The four main fingers had melded into two thick hoofed appendeges with little mobility. Her thimb still remained, but they did get weary very quickly, and cramped often.
"If not for the vast number of people inhabiting this island, I'm afraid I would indeed grow quite weary."
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Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:16 pm
"Ooch, sorry 'bout the fingers. Maybe you can figure out a way to strap the pencil on without holding it? Or have a grippy... thing... on the pencil?" He shook his head. "Eh, well... you could always dictate in the meantime. I'm sure those lab mooks would get you a little handheld recorder."
"There's quite a few, isn't there? I think i saw lights on in the duplexes past mine... they must have brought more people in this week. I'm sure they weren't inhabited when i got here.." Liamh leaned back against the chair with a snort.
"Running, huh? In the jungle?" he thought about that. "Isn't it kinda... you know.... dangerous out there? Wild beasts and stuff?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:29 pm
"I know that there are well over fifty of us by now... I have been here for over I year, and still I cannot comprehend how the -man- is able to do this."
She leaned back wondering. Dangerous? Of course it was dangerous.
Her hand instinctibely reached up to the scars on her cheek. One day, hair would grow all over her body. She would never see those scars again. But she would feel them. That, however, was danger she had brought upon herself.
"The only danger here," she said slowly. "Comes from those whom we call our friends. And there is no escaping that danger. And their comradship is worth all the risk."
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Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:40 pm
Liamh winced slightly, noticing the scar as she turned her head and touched it. "Only danger's from each other..." he echoed, trailing off. "Right. I'll remember that." He nodded and threw a mock salute.
"Fifty? Hm. My duplex is number sixty-six, and from what i can tell, there's a duplex for every islander, numerically..."
He leaned a little closer to her. "... and i know i've seen at least two, three buildings lit up after mine. That's seventy or more. I'm not sure where he's getting them, but ol' Sporkenstein up there is busy..." He shuddered slightly. "And i'm thinking i've been here too long already."
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Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:55 pm
Emerwyn shook her head sadly.
"There are always new subjects. Always.
And Moreau is always busy. As long as nature and beauty thrive outside of this world, he will find a way to turn it into something impure and... evil."
Now, she did not think that they would turn into evil beasts, but these unnatural things, these experiments - they were evil. Trapping them on this island, that was evil. Forcing them to turn against those whom they had come to trust - that was the most evil act of all.
She had not pondered the man in so long, and this discussion was bringing forth an anger in her that she had not seen in a while. And it was an unwelcome friend.
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Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 5:08 pm
Liamh glanced out at the lake. "Guess it's always like that, though. There's always going to be the Moreaus out there, even if they're not changing us physically, they're still locking us up, making us what they want us to be. "
He pushed himself forward, reaching over to grab a pebble from the ground. Straddling the end of the lounge chair, he tried skipping it on the water.
It sank with a PLUNK.
"But I guess it's our job to fight 'em... just by remembering who we are, if nothing else. They can't change us completely if we remember who we are."
He scooped up another rock and tried skipping it.
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