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 Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:14 pm
Classes were going as they usually did before the holidays. It droned on and yet the air was tense for mid-terms and anxiousness for the days off for Christmas. Damaris and some classmates of the same age had just herded out the door of one hallway as the older students slowly slipped into it.
As usual, she wore one of her many buttoned dresses with the large pockets, buttoned at the sholder, and one of the various oddly decorated and colorful leggings. Her shoes were fashionably (as was the latest fashion amongst her and her friends) sloppy and her teddybear bow-biters were blinking red and blue with every step. Her backpack stared back at anyone behind her with a large, manically happy cat's face and some dozen clip charms from the local pizza place's prize bins clipped on the zippers in the mystic feng shui of little girls. Though, admittedly, sometimes she swore she saw her father wander off to work with a charm or two clipped to his belt loop.
It was on one of these random salmon swim that she accidently bumped into Alex's elbow. She blinked as she was pushed and shouted at him.
"Hey! Gee, at least say sorry!" she called after him.
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:19 pm
Alexander immediately recoiled from the very loud little girl's voice, his hand reflexively going to the evil eye pendant around his neck which he clutched tightly and backed away a couple of steps.
None of the other kids at DCorp really talked to him unless he was on one of his latest rants in the middle of class, so when someone DID take notice of him, he was immediately suspicious.
...even if he HAD bumped them with his elbow.
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:23 pm
Damaris stared at him. What was he doing? Was he scared? Maybe he was just confused at who was talking to him. Perhaps talking to him some more would make him realise he elbowed her?
"Heeeelllooo...? You're supposed to say 'I'm sorry!'" she waved at him. "Are you even looking at me? Who made your elbows so pointy, anyway?"
Her other little friends laughed and waved at her as they left to their next class. She waved them off and waited for him to respond. Perhaps most other little girls would have just let it pass, being used to the older children ignoring them, but Damaris was used to strange older men. This one wasn't much different. He had that same look in his eye that her father did when he was particularly squirrely. She wrinkled her nose and just had to ask.
"Do YOU take med'cine?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:29 pm
Alex took another step away from the little arm-flailing lizard girl, his eyes widened and magnified hugely behind his glasses. "Who--Who're you?" he asked at last. "How'd you know about the medicine?" His mom had only picked up those pills this morning!
Was she some sort of spy?? He'd certainly never seen her in any of his classes before. Nevermind the fact she was clearly younger than him and all...
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:35 pm
Well, it didn't seem polite to say "You look just as crazy as my dad", but also it would be hard to tell just who she was insulting there. But she was right, at least, that was one thing at least she could understand. People who take pills were usually controlling something... people with the flu took medicine to fight off a virus, her father was taking pills so he wouldn't turn into a savage beast and devour people... and this boy was probably somewhere between those two points. Now she had a bit more to work with and she nodded to herself sagely. A look of determination and understanding came over her face.
"Ooooh," she nodded. "So you DO take med'cine. It's prolly 'cause you're sick or somethin', right?"
She started walking towards him, the bow-biters blinking playfully at her shoes as she adjusted her backpack slopping down her skinny shoulders. She pushed the hair from her face and introduced herself.
"I'm Damaris Draque! What's your name?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:40 pm
"They're a study aid, I'm not--" he shook his head forcefully to stop from talking. No, no, he had to stay calm. He couldn't panic or he'd tell them everything they wanted to know straight up-front. Not that he had any sensitive information, but what he DID have was HIS information and he would be damned before "they" would take it from him.
In perfect cadence with her steps toward him, he matched them with steps away from her, keeping a distance between them as his eyes fell worriedly to the blinkie things on her shoes. GUH! What were those supposed to be??
Behind him, his tail unconsciously twitched and began to fan itself in defense.
"Alex..." he told her warily. "M'Alex...."
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:46 pm
She thought THIS was funny. He acted like she was from another planet, she started giggling and tested with another step as she watched his tail begin to fluff.
"Does your tail foof when ya get scared?" she giggled. "When I get scared I swish my tail around, like this!"
She wiggled her long tail back and forth behind her. "Rrrrr, scary! Do you think I got cooties or something?"
Temptation was too great, she took stomps toward him now experimentally.
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:49 pm
With each stomp he gave a spastic little cry and another jump backwards.
Two jumps and he'd dropped his books. Three, and he nearly tripped over himself.
"Gahhh, what do you WANT??" he wailed, shielding his face with his hands. "Where'd you COME from??"
Any minute now, he expected plasma beams to appear out of nowhere as more of her alien mothership race warped into the hallway and blasted him into nothingness.
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:53 pm
Now it was time to talk business. She attempted the kind of interaction she saw her father use at bank tellers, cashiers at the fast food places, and customer service. She knew THAT at least got some things done.
"You HIT me, remember?" she looked up at him. "I was walkin' down the hallway and you GOT ME with your stupid, pointy elbow! When are you gonna say you're sorry? It's like you think I'm from Mars or something. Want me to be from Mars? Okay, I'm from Mars!"
She took both hands and pointed her index fingers skyward with her hands at each temple, pretending to have antenna. "Beep beep, take me to your leader! This is illogical! Why have you inflicted harm upon me?"
Melodrama seemed to work for her father, would it work in this situation?
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:00 pm
What was left of the sliver of composure he had dissolved when she began her martian act. He knew it! HE KNEW IT!!!
"ALIEEEEN!!!" he wailed, pointing at her and turning to flee. Instead, he managed to stomp on his own tail and collapse to the hallway floor in a heap. Not even pausing to lay where he'd fallen, he began to half-crabwalk, half-scramble away from her.
"I'm sorry, okay?? I'm sorry! STAY AWAY! STAY!!" he commanded futilely, his voice high and panicky. One of his tailfeathers had come out from the force of the fall and laid limp and lifeless on the floor. It was DISINTEGRATING HIM WITH ITS MERE PRESENCE!!
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:12 pm
"Beep beep! Your behaviour is highly illogical, this does not compute! Explain!"
She did her best not to crack up, this guy really thinks she's an alien? This couldn't be true! But, damn, this would be a total blast if it was! She was about to try her song and dance about terraforming Mars when her father came around the corner in the hallway.
"Damaris? Aren't you a little too young to be dating older men just yet?"
"I'm not dating! Boys are yucky and this one thinks I'm a-"
"Well, you're refering to them as 'this one', so that's enough reassurance for the both of us," S-D said taking her hand and looking at Alex with suspicion as though it was HIM who was trying to impress her. "And YOU young man are too young to be breaking hearts."
"He didn't break my heart, Dadda," Damaris said. "He says his name is Alex and he takes pills like you!"
"Oh, really?" S-D looked at him with even more suspicion. "Does he turn into something terrible when HE doesn't take his medicine...?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:27 pm
Alex curled into a whimpering trembling ball, grateful for the presense of an adult, but then immediately not trusting him when it was clear he'd formed an alliance with THE ALIEN. Was he controlling her or was it vice-versa?? Ohgodohgodohgod, he needed to get home and post his findings on his newsgroups! They had to know there wasn't much time before the invasion started!
"Alexander...?" a professional voice with a warm edge that he quickly recognized said. Lifting his head to goggle at the DCorp counselor, Alex all but flung himself at the poor man.
"Aliens!" he whimpered, clinging to his leg with his arms and legs in a crushing bearhug. "EVERYWHERE! They're everywhere! We've gotta get out of here!"
"Oh, that again, is it...?" he said, trying to sound nurturing and also looking like he was trying not to roll his eyes. Over the past few months, he and Alex's outbursts had become quite well-acquainted with one another. "Then we'd better escape, I suppose." he said, attempting to walk.
Having a panicked peacock on one's leg did not make it easy business, either.
"Alex...you're getting too big for this..." he grunted, taking a step and then pausing to draaaaaag the leg with Alex attached to it across the floor. Step, draaaaag. Step, draaaaag. All the way toward and into the staff elevator. "Has your mother picked up that prescription for you yet?" was the last thing heard to be said before the doors swiffed closed on the ridiculous scene.
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 6:06 pm
The following day, she had nearly forgotten about Alex until one of her friends at lunchtime brought him up again. They were all at the table with their various lunches in paper bags or boxes. Damaris was enjoying her usual blueberry muffin when she spoke up for herself.
"He's not my boyfriend!" she protested, not even blushing. "He hit me in the hallway and he started acting funny. All I did was play with him."
"You didn't leave, after," noted one of her friends. "When Marky tries to kiss you you hit him."
"Marky tries to kiss everyone," Damaris rolled her eyes. The others started giggling. "I'm prolly not even gonna ever see him again, anyway."
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 6:21 pm
Sharika cruised through the lunch line, grabbing a little of this and a little of that for her tray. She was SUPPOSED to have had lunch with the rest of the older students before the little kids' lunch period, but Logarth had decided he'd had enough of class and decided to take them for a fly instead.
He was currently on time-out in the stables and SHE was starving. When she'd picked up everything she wanted, she scouted the tables, looking for any with a vacancy.
Oh look! There was one! Right across from that stripey lizard girl talking to her friends! Trotting over, she took a seat.
"Heya!" she said a split second before grabbing up her tuna sandwich and tearing into it.
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 6:25 pm
"Hi!" Damaris grinned. "Are you coming in for seconds?"
Damaris and her friends watched her with curiosity, not many of the older girls so much as gave them the time of day, particularly older siblings. Damaris seemed to recognise her face from somewhere, but couldn't exactly remember where. She watched Sharika and then looked at all the things the dog girl had piled on her tray.
"Wow, you really eat all that!?"
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