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 Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 5:57 pm
Mauli rested one hand against the bathroom wall, trying to steel herself. Her other hand shook, gripped tightly around one of those fancy-shmancy pregnancy tests. Not like Mauli needed it... It had only been three days since the accident, and already her lower stomach was slightly rounded. The pirate SM bit her lip, pulling her hand away from the wall and sitting down on the toilet lid. With her free hand, she rubbed her stomach, murmuring softly as she stared at the results of the test.
"s**t..."
It was positive. Mauli tossed the tube-like machine into the trash, glaring at it momentarily, then held her head in her hands and sobbed. She sat there for what seemed like forever, just crying and shaking and trying to think things through. What would she tell Lenta? She hadn't even spoken to her mother about what she and Isto had done. How would she break it to Isto? He would kill her... And what about Slush and Shiro? And Endy? Oh god, Endy... She'd laugh at Mauli forever for this. Remy wouldn't think twice about ignoring her... and what of her other siblings?
Even worse, what would she do about the child? No other SM had gotten pregnant before... Mauli had to be the trial one. All because of rum. Stupid, shitty rum. There was no more in the house, thankfully... She winced, staring down at her stomach. Out of nowhere, Mauli began running through a list of the things around her, trying to find something sharp. There was a razor on the sinktop, and some soap... She could... No! This was stupid. Stupid! How could she think about hurting herself at a time like this?
You didn't want to hurt yourself, you stupid git... You wanted to hurt the child.
No. Shut up. No! Mauli let off a dry sob, standing and wiping her tears on the back of her hand. She had bitten clean through her lip, and blood was trickling down her chin and inside her mouth. Tearing a sheet of toilet paper from the dispenser on the wall, she held it up to her lip, whimpering at the sharp pain and the sting of the blood. Then, she tossed the sheet into the toilet and washed her hands, not bothering to flush. It was her bathroom... No one else would see, and Mauli was too distraught to worry about it. She opened the door, stumbling into her bedroom, then started rifling through the clothes in her closet. She'd have to find something large... Aha! Mauli tugged a baggy shirt from its hanger, then took her shirt off, pulling the new one on instead. Now, to find Isto... Mauli ran out of her bedroom, dashing down the hall and stairs towards the main room on the first floor.
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 4:36 pm
((Long @__@))
Isto, however, was blissfully oblivious to Mauli's condition at the moment. The accident had left his mind days before, not that there was much to remember of it anyway. He had been far to drunk that night to even remember Mauli entering his room. So forgetting was easily done. Aside from avoiding Mauli as much as possible, his life had gone on as normal.
At that moment, Isto was in the living room playing team chess with Jack, Corr, and Banda. All four were seated on the floor around the coffee table, Isto and Corr on one team, Banda (the reigning house champion) doing his best to help Jack, who was surprisingly not drunk, and very irritable because of it. Someone had disposed of ever bottle of alcohol in the house, including his private stash, so Jack was not a happy camper. Which was why Banda and fervently trying to help him win the chess game. Sadly, they weren't doing very well.
The game was quickly coming to a close, but, at a warning glare from Banda, Isto and Corr had begun to purposely make bad moves in the hopes of Jack at least catching up. Not that Jack was stupid, or even bad at chess, he was just distracted because he wasn't drunk. And by silent agreement the other three decided it would be better, considering his current mood, if he won. Much safer, anyway.
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 4:59 pm
Mauli stopped halfway down the stairs, lifting her thumb to her mouth and chewing on her thumbnail with a vacant expression. Then, the expression lifted, and she continued on her way down towards the living room, though this time much, much slower in footfall. She wouldn't like to disturb anyone, especially in her condition... Not like it mattered. The giant, baggy shirt covered the small bulge in her stomach, so no one could see, but Mauli was still beginning to get paranoid. As her feet hit the final step, she sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat as she realized exactly what she was doing. She was going to tell Isto... the gay man with a boyfriend... that she was carrying his child from an alchoholic night of love from which they both came away without realizing what had happened.
Lovely.
She turned and stepped into the giant living room, tilting her head to one side as she spotted the group around the chess board. Gulping slightly, she stepped closer, one foot at a time, until she was standing beside the coffee table. She lowered herself to her knees, watching the game silently, waiting for any oportunity to pull Isto away. It was like she was playing a game of her own.
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 5:30 pm
Jack had just finished his move when Mauli arrived, and Isto was busy considering his own. He was silent, eyes wandering the chess board, then finally moved a knight to take Jack's remaining rook. Only then did Isto look up, pointedly ignoring the Jivvin anthro's scowl as he turned to Mauli. Mauli. Crap, she'd cornered him. Isto's grin faded slightly, but he quickly replaced it. As far as the rest of the family knew, nothing had happened between him and Mauli, so he had to keep up that appearance.
For a while he was silent, watching her curiously. He frowned. Something was obviously wrong; she had been crying, he could tell, and he lip was cut. He murmured for Corr to take over, to which the little caracal...thing eagerly agreed, then climbed to his feet. Without giving the others a chance to notice Mauli's expression, he took her by one elbow, steering her back towards the stairs and whispering. "What happened?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 6:12 pm
"I..." Mauli managed to murmur, then trembled, trying half-heartedly to pull her arm away from Isto's hand. After they were a sufficient distance from the others, she shook her head, stepping away from him and putting a protective hand around her stomach. The motion brought a jarring, familiar voice up from underneath her swirling thoughts, and it snickered, leaving traces of red across her eyes.
He's going to do it for you.
"No!" She hissed softly, glaring at the ground as thoughts of a raging Isto filled her mind.
First the razor, now a giant metal hand... He could rip you to pieces.
He won't. He wouldn't. He... No. Mauli glanced up at Isto, forcing a weak smile to her lips as she bit down a scream.
"You're hurting my arm." She managed to gasp out, instead of the shout she had intended. The smile stayed, though now it was pained, matching the furrowed brow on her forehead.
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 6:22 pm
Isto had failed to notice the protective gesture, more concerned with the faint red light rising in her eyes. Had she been drinking again?? Not likely, considering what had happened, and even less so when one remembered there wasn't a drop of alcohol in the house. And...now she ws talking to herself, hissing under her breath. Isto raised an eyebrow, watching her warily. What the heck was going on..?
Mauli's whisper stung much more than she had probably intended; Isto was always making the extra effort to avoid hurting anyone with his metal hand. Immediately her released her, staring silently at his hand for a moment before dropping it to his side. "Sorry....accident..." Clearing his throat, he glanced back up to her, still frowning faintly. "What's wrong? What happened...?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 6:32 pm
It hadn't actually hurt... Mauli just needed a distraction. Stupid voices. She rubbed her elbow with her free hand, keeping the other on her stomach. As long as she could keep him at bay, it'd be okay... Too bad he had already asked again, and now there was nothing she could use to distract him. Taking a deep breath, Mauli began, her voice hoarse as she explained what had happened, starting from when she woke. Yeah, like that was gonna help her when he went ballistic. Good job, pirate.
"I... When I woke up, nothing was special, y'know? I went down, ate breakfast, then Fenwrit commented that I was getting fat. I know he insults people and all, but never me... He's always sucking up to me. I went and checked it out, and..." She took another breath, blinking furiously and trying to keep back a fresh wave of tears.
"I... I wasn't getting fat. It was too low. I ran out to the store in Mom's car... Got one of those tests, y'know? And..." Another ragged breath, and then, her voice dropped to a low whisper.
Take a look around, whore. It'll be your last.
"I'm pregnant." She ended dully, closing her eyes in rebellion against that annoying little voice.
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 7:32 pm
Even before she finished speaking, Isto knew what she was going to say. His blood ran cold, mouth slightly open in shock, staring in disbelief at the pirate SM. She couldn't really be.... But..why not..? It all made since, and...and she wouldn't joke about this sort of thing. The tears, the huge shirt... He didn't even know what to say, so many different thoughts filled his mind. More than anything he wanted to deny it, to say the...child didn't exist, and so it wouldn't. But...
Minutes passed before there was any reaction from Isto. Subconciously he shook his head, eyes still wide in a mixture of shock and disbelief. Finally he seemed to snap out of his daze, eyes refocusing on Mauli. He swallowed once, cleared his throat, then looked away, staring past Mauli to the wall. "...I'm sorry, I...damn..."
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 7:49 pm
Mauli snorted, cracking her eyes open to look at Isto.
"It was both of us... Mainly me. Now.... i've just gotta take care of what I started." She said nothing about him. After all, he could drink as much as he wanted... She was the one that had to go apologize for something long forgotten and get stuck in the room. Staring down between her feet, Mauli shrugged.
"I mean... Well, look at it this way. We're the first SMs to have a child." She managed a weak grin, but it was soon replaced by that look of hopelessness she had come out with. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes again, rubbing her right temple with the tips of her fingers.
"I'm sorry, Isto..."
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 8:17 pm
Isto forced a chuckle at the comment, though it was obvious his heart wasn't in it. He was distracted, dazed, fervently trying to remember the details of the night to explain... to explain to Slush. He snapped out of it enough to reply, shaking his head slowly, turning his eyes back to the pirate SM. "No...no... it's not your fault... Or, to be honest, I can't remember who started it. Equal blame..."
He lapsed back into silence, then suddenly turned away, heading up the stairs to get his jacket. "I....I need to go tell Slush...ah... I'm not sure how long I'll be gone... Shouldn't be more than a day.."
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Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 7:22 am
"I understand..." Mauli whispered, not bothering to look up as he trounced up the stairs. She had her own explaining to do... Especially to Lenta. She hadn't spoken to her mother since the 'accident', so Lenta had no idea what her daughter had gotten herself into. She followed Isto up the stairs, though peeled off towards Lenta's room instead of trapsing along to his.
This whole thing had 'Sucky' written all over it.
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Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 7:19 pm
Isto continued up the stairs even after Mauli had turned down the hall, alternating between rushing and moving as slowly as possible. He wanted to leave as soon as possible...but, at the same time, never wanted to leave. He did NOT want to be around when Mauli told Lenta what had happened. But at the same time, if he left... that would mean he was going tell Slush.
Sure, Slush HAD to know! That wasn't even debatable. But...he would be...furious? hurt? At least those two, if not something even more drastic. What if he just left...? Isto's blood ran cold at the thought. Slipping into his room, he snatched the jacket from where it was hanging on his chair, then immediately slipped back out and headed downstairs. It was his fault this had happened....at least partially. He'd have to face Slush sooner or later. And the sooner the better.
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Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 7:40 pm
"Tha 'uck?" Lenta's voice rang out from her room, making Mauli wince. Her mother laughed from inside, the laughter continuing as Mauli placed her hand on the doorknob. A quick turn, and she was through, closing it behind her and sitting down on Lenta's bed. Lenta was perched in a chair by a small desk, her feet propped up on the desktop and a phone squished in between her ear and shoulder. At the sound of the closing door, Lenta spun in her chair, flashing Mauli a grin and holding up one finger, signalling for her to wait a moment. Then, she continued talking, buffing her nails on her shirt as she did.
"I don't think she'd do that though, Jek... Rai's responsible enough, especially for being hyper like that all the time." A pause, then Lenta laughed again. "No, no, i'll take care of it. They just need a bit more coloring, s'all. I c'n balance it out, no problem." Another pause. "Maybe it was... You know. Well...... Yes, it'll all work out. Yeah, i'll see you tomorrow then." She smiled softly, placing two fingers on the reciever of the phone before looking over at Mauli. Jek never said goodbye...But that was fine with Lenta. She pressed the 'End' button, tilting her head at the sight of her dismal daughter perched on the corner of her bed.
"What's up, hun?"
Mauli bit her already-scabbed lip, causing Lenta to raise one eyebrow. The teen Gaian slid her rolling chair over to the bed, resting her hands on her knees as her eyes caught Mauli's. The pirate SM took a deep breath, her eyes shining with unshed tears as she related what had happened in the past few days to Lenta, excluding the part about finding out that she was pregnant. For a long moment, Lenta was silent, and Mauli knew she had seriously screwed up. Lenta reached over and gripped Mauli in a hug, resting her head on her daughter's shoulder. Mauli let off a small sob, burying her face into Lenta's shirt, her whole body shaking.
"You messed up, Mauli..." Lenta murmured, stroking Mauli's head. "I'm here for you, though. Just know that."
"That's not it, though!" Mauli choked out between whimpers, clenching her jaw and shutting her eyes. "Mom..."
"Hmm?" Lenta said absently, twirling a lock of Mauli's hair around one finger. Mauli scowled, sitting up suddenly and grabbing Lenta's hand, then tugged the baggy shirt up slightly and pointed to her lower stomach. Lenta paused, staring down at the blatant expression Mauli had given, then looked up.
"Y'mean...?"
Mauli chewed on her thumbnail, her brow furrowing. Lenta grinned, then laughed, shaking her head.
"Mauli Raybrandt Thermopolis... You got yourself pregnant." Lenta wasn't sure whether to scream or congratulate her daughter, so she settled for both. "How... Yeah, well.... Whatcha gonna name it? We need a baby shower! I'm going to be a grandmother and it's only been a little over six months since you were born, and dammit Mauli, this is so sudden! ******** laughed dryly, then hugged her mother again, listening to her babble on about how to prepare for the new member in their lives. And it suddenly didn't seem so bad.
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