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 Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 8:31 pm
How long had it been since he'd done laundry? Judging by the dirt-and-grass stained state of the jeans he was wearing, far too long. Especially since they were the last 'cleanest' pair he had. Not to mention... well, boxers worn inside-out counted as 'clean,' right?
Tossing the various clothing items piled beneath his bed into a big bag, Gaius tossed it over his shoulders, yelping as it crashed against his wing, resituated it more comfortably for his limbs, and with his walking stick, headed down the steps from his duplex and towards the central building.
Once inside, after shoving against the door with his shoulder, hands too full to manage the knob, he tossed the bag beneath the nearest washing machine and started the process of sorting laundry. "Jeans cold, whites hot..." he muttered, then paused and frowned. "Or was it the other way around... Whites cold?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 8:57 pm
Natsumi was heading towards the building as well, as chance would have it, taking a basket full of both her dirty clothes, and her new roomates. She had picked up the wife role since Thom moved in, a subconcious act brought on by living with 2 older brothers and a father, only to help her mother keep up with the work. Along with a drive and a need to do such things, she actually found herself happier and more distracted while she took care of Thom, so to speak. Not to mention their trips outside, she was getting better and better at that... This was a huge step away from hiding alone in a duplex just until you ran out of clean clothes, then edging out shaking like a leaf, then hiding under a chair...
She shook her head as she neared the familiar building, pausing as another figure poped into view. Automatically, she stepped back around the corner, heart leaping into her throat as the worst thought entered her mind: Annie. But Reason soon placed the figure she'd seen, some guy at the party, and he'd been around Nita if she remembered corectly. And thus, he was deemed safe. Shifting the basket, she moved back around the corner, swallowing and following his path through the doors, hoping he hadn't noticed her embaressing act of cowardism. "Good evening." She gave him a breif smile, a glance to the chair she'd hid under before, then to a table. Moving to it as quietly as one could with big floppy feet, and got to the process of sorting as well.
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:08 pm
Gaius was just searching for a tag on a pair of superman boxers - a gag gift from one of his old buddies - when the quiet voice addressed him. He practically jumped, stuffing the boxers in the washer reflexively to hide the things. His head turned, looking around for whoever'd spoken, having missed her entry. His eyes fell on the short black-haired girl over at the table nearby.
"Ah, h-hey there... Sorry, you surprised me!" he explained, rubbing at the back of his neck. Talk about overreacting, she probably didn't even care about his choice of underwear.
Another look caught the girl's features... she looked familiar... Was she the quiet girl sitting around the fire with the snake guy at the party... him and the meak one... A froggish guy... Realization suddenly struck Gaius and he smacked a fist into his hand. "THAT'S who he was!"
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:24 pm
Eyes locked on teh colors first, before darting back to her own clothing, mostly out of curtousy... Plus, she didn't need to see that. She was still fairly squimish about most things, but at the same time... Not much else you could expect. It was laundry, heck it was probably nice to know he washed those kinds of things.
"No no. I am sorry to have snuck up on you." She shook her head, giving another smile as she started the pile off with a colored shirt. Her voice was still faintly accented, and more obvious with her use of I am instead of I'm, but it had drastically improved since she first arrived. Over reacting was generally her area, who else freaked out upon realizing men were in their rooms? Yes, she was long since over that but still...
Oh well. Back to piling up, Colors, Whites, Delicates, very mechanical movements for the most part, except a pause at a shirt here and there to check the tag, all of which were Thom's clothes. She certiantly didn't want to accidentally shrink them, or turn one pink... Thom seemed the type to be opposed to wearing pink. She visibaly jumped when he suddenlly spoke out, eyes darting back up, hands tensing on the fabric in her hands. She automatically rose on her toes, then let herself back down with a few mental encouragements. "Eh?" She tilted her head to the side, not too sure what he meant by that... "Who was?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:33 pm
Realizing he'd been rather abrupt with his outburst - she couldn't hear his thoughts, after all - Gaius winced and smiled apologetically. "Um, at the party... you were there, right? And so was that froggy guy, Newt! I remember his voice... I saw him just yesterday, but he looked completely different. All fat and saggy and missing his hair... He must've changed again or something. Looks like he didn't get off on the lucky side this time..."
He shook his head and turned back to his laundry, tossing a mass of shirts, white and color alike, into the washer. Ha, shirts, it had been a while since he'd done laundry if he had those to wash. His wings twitched irritably. Like he could wear anything like that anymore.
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:45 pm
The shirt was set down as he spoke, Natsumi's mouth opening just slightly, she did give a tiny "Yes" to answere that she had indeed been at the party.. but the rest. He was a frog, and frogs ofcourse weren't exactly muscle bound creatures with full heads of hair, but she never thought ahead that far. Poor guy.. To lose your hair... Eck. She felt bad enough when hers was thinning--Oh crap her hair was next wasn't it? Swallowing, she gave a soft "Oh..." Preocupiying herself with a few more shifts of clothing. "Poor Newton." She noted, skillfully tucking underwear under the pile when it came into her hands, especially Thom's... Hers it was just that the man over there shouldn't see, but Thoms she didn't need to see.
She was a tad behind on Gaius in sorting, both with the fact she came in after and that she was a bit more picky with it. "Oh uh..." She spoke up after a minute of silence "I never introduced myself. I'm Natsumi Tanaka." She gave a small tip of her head and a smile in introduction.
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:56 pm
"Yeah, he was all squawt and pudgy and deformed, like some kind of goblin or something," Gaius continued animatedly, taking Natsumi's little noises for encouragement, not worry or polite sounds. "And slimey too! Makes me glad I have my hair at least, but geeze, what's gonna happen to my face? I mean, a horse? If there was some way I could get out of here before that happened... I'd take any chance, really. I already got screwed over with the neck and feet. I mean, how'm I supposed to pass for human looking like a stumpy giraffe?"
He didn't know why, but somehow the girl's quiet nature made Gaius feel babbly, letting his words fall out without much thought. Though at one point when he glanced back her direction, he caught a glimpse of something he shouldn't, something light and frilly, and quickly looked away, blushing, his words stumbling for a moment. "Um, ah... Gaius. Gaius Harper. Nice to meetya... are you..." he hazarded another glance back, relaxing as she wasn't tucking away anything unmentionable. "Are you, uh, foreign? Just your accent..."
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:23 pm
Goodness poor newt... A goblin was one of those ugly thing sin that book, lord of the rings, that Thom seemed to like. Not a good thing, obviously. He just ket going though, this almost stranger. Not htat she minded, but still. She found herself not sure wether she should smile or frown or what, "I uh..." She gave a light shrug, "Lots of girls like horses!" She smiled, trying to offer a bit of encouragement, and completley missing any undermeaning to that statement. Lot of girls did love horses, I mean who didn't dream of getting a pony for their birthday? And if he'd stated the fact he was going to be mroe than a horse, but a pegasus well... 'Course those might be the wrong kind of girls he wanted. Normally one wound up with a 5 year old jumping their back for that sort of thing.
She passed a glance over the neck and feet, best she could anyways, automatically reminded of several other people she'd seen with that sort of problem. "And... I heard that it will fix with more..." She pointed to his leg, remembering her breif encounter with Ian. "More changes... I mean." She quieted down at that note, no one wanted those though. Stop while you're ahead kinda thing. That and she didn't want to think about her own, and what the last one had caused. Ech.
Her clothes were sorted soon enough though, and dumped into seperate washers, and turned on, and Gaius wouldn't have to worry about catching anymore pantyshots from the poor girl. Which luckally she missed, or she'd be beat red now. Gaius. Easy enough. "Ah, yes. I am from Japan." She gave a more solem smile at that, she'd been homesick for God knew how long now.
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:34 pm
Lots of girls like horses! Gaius snorted, dumping detergent into the machines he was occupying. "Maybe, but how many would actually want to date one? Not that I had much luck with Nita, what with her being gay and all..." He sighed and brushed black hair out of his face, turning to shuffle over to one of the nearby chairs. He settled down, shifting until his tail and back limbs were as comfortable as he could manage.
The comment about the serums brought a frown. "Mreh... I'd rather they fix it by changing me back... Hell, I wouldn't mind going back just one stage. At least I'd only have mini-wings to deal with..."
He rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck back over the back of the chair, an odd sight with the arching he could achieve now, and straightened back up, looking at Natsumi with a bit of surprise. "Japan? Really? Wow... well, your English is great! I thought you may have been from a family moved to America or something..."
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 11:16 pm
"I do not know..." She gave a defeated shrug, starting her process by mimicing his actions of detergent and the like. Poor Nita, how embaressing it must have been to have something like that blurted out. 'Course this guy had looked a tad bit embaressed too. "But... I do not think anyone is too picky here." She gave another smile, he was looking fine so far... Minus the neck. The neck was rather... ech. "And it is better than alot of things, like you said you keep your hair... I..." She drifted off with a nervious giggle, and a webbed hand brushing over the remaining silky black strands. "There is worse than that though." She nodded, there was Thom's problems... And Zach wasn't doing well, as much as she feared him. And her own loss...
Going back? If only... She slumped alittle, breifly entertaining the thought of being able to go back in time and not even come here, live at home, have her baby... She quickly stopped that thought process, lest she get all weepy on the poor guy. Just.. Don't think about it, she urged herself, twisting the knobs on the wasters to get them started. There. She returned to her basket, picking it up and moving to one of the chairs to settle in and wait.
Good, distracting conversation. She quickly snatched that up, giving a weak smile that quickly widened with the praise. "Really?" She shifted, setting her hands in her lap and allowing her tail to curl up over them. "Thankyou! I have been able to improve alot here..." She nodded, trying to dig up some small talk "My family is still in Japan... We live next to the shrine, my parents work there. Where are you from?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 11:27 pm
If he'd nearly driven Natsumi to tears, Gaius wasn't aware of it in the least. Today was definitely not one of his emotionally insightful days.
"Yeah, I guess folks aren't too picky... though, you have to admit... I imagine it's a bit easier for a pretty girl such as yourself than it is for a dim-witted guy like me." He chuckled, flashing her a sheepish smile.
"A shrine? Those are some kind of traditional thing in Japan, aren't they? I had a buddie in college who was obsessed with Japan and that animation stuff... He'd probably have loved to meet an actual girl from Japan. As for me..." he grinned rather proudly, arching his neck unconsciously, "I'm from Arizona, though I was living in Pennsylvania since going to university. Never really picked up the accent, though. I was an architect! ...or going to be one, anyways." He coughed lightly, the smile falling a little. "But, I guess I'm lucky, since I'm still kinda doing that here... What about yourself? How'd they drag you away from Japan?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 12:20 am
Ah the poor girl, never quite got over that... And the sooner it got to december, the less over it she seemed to get. But danger had been avoided! Luckally for Gaius, lest he have to learn womanese in about two seconds.
And to add onto that there was a sharp turn of emotions from crying, to blushing. And if that couldn't be seen underneith the already blush tinted scaling, one would notice her sudden rush of embaressment by the sudden turn of her head, a fidget, and a small smile. "Aa.. No, I am not at all..." She protested, fighting that smile. Okay so she had Newt pining over, and she was crushing on Thom... She had no idea if he returned that though, and thus far she'd been telling herself they were just friends. He probably lived with every ol' girl.. Yea. And then Taro, whom she figured didn't like her but he still fit into the whole mess as the 'mah baybehs daddah!' But enough of the lovemess. "I am sure you will do fine though." She offered, not wanting to completley lead him on, but still give a return compliment. He certiantly seemed nice, no reason why he wouldn't get someone.
She looked back to him as the conversation went that less embaressing route, even if it was embaressing in a good way, "Yes." She nodded, "Ours was for Inari, the god of wealth... And rice." she smiled, talking about home was the next best thing to actually being there. She paused to pluck a little keychain off her skirt, holding it up for him to see the tiny stone like fox with a red bandana tied around it's neck. "See." She quieted down to listen to his, "Really?" She feined intrest, though not all too sure what that word was for due ot lanugage barriers it certiantly sounded big and important. Plus, if she got him talking about it she might figure out what it was. She blushed some more as he mentioned doing that here, then asked what she was brought to the island. Stupid Sabin and his... Filth.... Geh. "I... I was going to be a translator, but that did not work out." She shrugged, excluding the rest of the reason she 'ran away from home.'
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Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 12:36 am
He blushed in turn at the assurance. Maybe... maybe there was hope for a girl, somewhere. Rubbing at the back of his neck, he smiled self-consciously, ducking his head. "Th-thanks..."
Likewise, he was grateful for the turn of topic, looking with interest at the little keychain that she produced, though the horse-man failed to see the significance of it. It was... a stone fox with a bandana? Some kind of character? Ah well... He frowned as she briefly explained her own arrival ruse. "That's too bad... I'm sure you would have made a great translator, especially with your talent."
The washers for his clothing buzzed for attention. Sighing, Gaius pushed himself up to his feet, wobbling a little, but left the stick resting against the chair, determined to make the few steps to the machine on his own. One, two-whoop! One of his feet slipped on the tiles, costing him his balance, but Gaius managed to fall forward and catch himself on one of the washers. He cast a quick bashful smile back over his shoulder. "Ehe... I mean to do that!"
Damp clothing was yanked out and stuffed into the bag. Keeping one hand on the line of washers for balance, Gaius went over to the dryers, bag dragging along the ground behind him, and pulled it closer to open again and started stuffing whatever was inside into one of the washers. It was a good thing most of what he wore was durable and already used to this abuse.
"You like food? Uh, I mean, what kind of food do you usually like?" Gaius asked out of the blue.
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 2:36 am
After he got a good look at the keychain she tucked it back where it came from, such strange little symbols for gods just seemed to make sense in her mind. It never occured to her it might not look godly to another person. She shook her head and raised her hands to cover her face out of habit. "I am not that good though." It would have been nice to have a job at the moment.. Something to distract yourself, but still. She'd practically forgotten the little bit of german she learned back in highschool, which left her with just two languages, and she was still learning english for the most part.
She watched him stand, only to flinch as he suddenlly slipped and collided with the washers. She was pushing herself up to her feet, pausing midway as he looked back over his shoulder only to announce that he.. Meant to do that? Her head tilted slightly, setting back in her seat and nodding some, a slightly baffled look on her face. A mixture of wondering if he actually meant to or if that was just a cover up, and her mind still tryign to figure out if she needed to do anything. "Are you okay?" She did atleast give him that.
No sooner had she settled back in that her own washers went off, and up she was, following the same process he did, into the basket, then to the dryer, she fiddled with the settings. There! She spun back around, heading for the chair again. Now for more idle conversation, and speakig of which... Gaius seemed to have that covered. She blinked at the oddity of the first question, wondering if maybe she was missing something, but that was corrected as quickly as the thought entered her head. That made more sense. Everyone liked food, afterall. But now how to answere... "I liked alot of things... Before." She gave a nervious titter, breaking eyecontact breifly. How exactly did you say your new favorite food was a black beatle, and for dessert some crickets? "What do you like?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 6:22 pm
Gaius snorted as Natsumi was obviously being far too modest. Sure, he didn't know what translators actually needed skill-wise for their job, but she spoke English so well, that's what mattered, right? However, her concern over his clumsiness brought a blush and he focussed his attention on the machine starting to spin in front of him, ears twitching back. "Yeah, 'm fine..." he mumbled.
His ears perked back up as she spoke up again. I liked alot of things... Before. The friendly look he'd been wearing slipped a bit, growing gloomy. "Yeah, I know what you mean... I used to be pretty big on red meats and hardy food like that... but things are going vegetarian, it seems. But hey," he perked up again, grinning roguishly, "I figure I can tough it out. They're not going to make me give up what I want to eat, even if they mess with my tastes! Right? I'll just keep forcing it down. Though, I guess it's okay if you don't mind what you eat... I mean, I guess you and Amaya are vegetarians too, since you're lizards... Er, I think?" He shrugged, leaning back against the washers and folding his arms across his chest, eyes still on Natsumi. "Did you find it hard to change your diet?" he asked innocently.
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