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 Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:37 pm
Eugh.
Stealth sounded disgusted, and she reversed a little further up Althalus' arm until only her head could be seen peeking out of his sleeve. Her eyes glittered at the rain that pattered down outside the shelter of the doorway.
Aw, it's not that bad, surely?
Althalus tipped his head lazily down look at his daemon. He swigged from the stolen bottle of cola with his other hand, and settled back more comfortably into the doorway. He was supposed to be waiting and watching the shop opposite, to log its opening and closing times, and who worked there; useful information possibly in the future. But the weather was against them, and the rain poured down from a steel grey sky whilst people walked past chattering under umbrellas.
Hmmph.
Althalus laughed softly, and knocked his bandana further up on his head. He had to be home by dinner time, but for now... he was quite happy to sit right here.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:47 pm
"It's raining, it's raining!" Walter sand as he danced through the puddles. Oblivion, wearing her rubber boots, still wasn't happy, even though Ice was holding an umbrella over them. He seemed to like rainy days, Ice thought, wondering when that had changed.
"Why don't we go into one of the stores?" Ice finally asked, sensing the daemon's distress by the way her eyes were glowing bright er and brighter red.
"Hey! There's Althalus!" Walter said, completely ignoring his guardian as he headed for the boy in the doorway. "Hi!" He said as he got to the door.
"Why don't you talk with Althalus while I go see if they have towels in the shop?" Ice asked, grinning at both boys.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:59 pm
Straightening up slightly, Althalus smiled cheerfully as Walter appeared out of the bustling crowd, gleeing at the rain. He was a little put out he was so easily noticed, but it was easier for him to notice other Forgotten, he'd realised; perhaps the younger boy had used that?
"Hey, Walter!" He swivelled round in the doorway so that there was a larger drier patch to sit in, even if it meant his boots were out in the rain. Well, that's what boots were for, right?
"How are you doing?" He went on, looking up with bright eyes. "Good weather, huh?"
Stealth latched her tail more around Althalus's wrist, and started laughing. Hard. Lizard-snickers filled the mental air, and she turned her head gleefully to Oblivion.
Yo. Nice..... boots.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:13 pm
'Next time I'm asking for lizard skin.' Oblivion replied dryly. What between this little lizard and the turtle, she was starting to dislike reptiles in general. She watched as Ice disappeared into the store, hoping she would find a towel soon enough. 'Rain is worse than snow.'
"I love the rain. It's almost as good as snow!" Walter said cheerfully as he sat down next to the other boy. For a moment his expression went blank as he remembered the nightmare that Kitsumai had had about rain. Then he turned to the other boy again, grinning. "How's it goin?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:22 pm
Stealth stopped laughing obediently, though her tone was still highly amused. Oh no, I'm sure the rubber is keeping the rain off just fine. She wriggled under the fabric of Althalus's sleeve, her skin an off white to match his bandaged wrist. It's a shame you can't fit in our hideyhole too, though....
"Rain's alright," admitted Althalus grudgingly. "It makes people less likely to look at you cause they're too busy looking at puddles." He grinned, and shuffled again to pull out an unopened bottle of cola.
"You want? It's not trouble t'get more..."
He was trying to teach himself to learn faces better, just like Garrick said, but the blank look on Walter's face was gone so quickly he decided not to comment, instead still smiling aimably.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:30 pm
"Sure." Walter said, not asking, nor caring where it came from. He leaned against the side of the hole, letting Oblivion crawl halfway onto his lap, then covered her as best he could with the folds of his coat before taking the bottle. "Thanks."
The rain felt funny in the back of his head, and he watched it for a long moment before talking. "Do you... um... you're like us, right? So that means you see other people's dreams?" He asked, finally getting straight to the point. If there was anyone he could ask it would be Althie! Especially since Althie looked even older than he had been the last time he had seen him!
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:46 pm
Althalus stopped, bottle halfway to his mouth. See.... dreams? He hesitated, and then took a drink, putting the bottle back to rest on his knee. Stealth had fallen silent, laying her head carefully on the back of his hand.
"I.. don't think I get to see other people's dreams. I mean... I would probably realise if I did, right?" His tone was serious, and he tipped his head to look at the little boy beside him. "But.... I think even if we are all the same, all from the House.... our - " He hesitated again. "Our stories are different? So we can do different things..."
That sounded about right. He'd thought long and hard about what he'd been told; of the Library, and how he'd come from a book. He'd read the excerpt he'd arrived with over and over again, stealing it from its place in Kel's diary and always replacing it without her ever knowing. He didn't think he'd managed to find his power yet, but that Elias, he had made things old without even realising, and the Lysium girl too... and they were just babies! A faint frown crossed the older boy's face for a moment before he shook his head and looked back down to Walter.
"And you see.... dreams?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:53 pm
Walter hesitated for a long moment, obviously deciding on what to say to that. "I see... um..." He looked down at Oblivion, wondering what to say.
'It's too late to back out now.' She told him, obviously irritated by still being rained on partially.
"I see little parts of bad dreams. 'Cept for Kitsu's. Kitsu had a real bad one one night."
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:00 pm
Althalus wasn't qute sure what to say, but he nodded quietly again, taking another drink. Not just dreams, but the bad ones? He'd thought it had sounded like quite a fun thing, I mean, he'd had a dream about giant carrots chasing Daniel around the house once, but the bad ones... that didn't sound nice.
"Was it really bad?" Who Kitsu was wasn't important, and Althalus just kept his tone quiet and serious, the rain pattering down still and people ignoring the two boys sat in the doorway as they hurried past.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:04 pm
Walter shrugged. "It was raining." He said, looking at the rain for a long moment of time, for a moment looking far older than any toddler should. "And Kitsu was a princess, but her daddy was really mean, and so were her brothers, so she ran away." His tone was matter-of-fact, as if reciting a movie.
Then he glanced over at Althalus, grinning slightly, a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "But I still like the rain. Funny, huh?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:15 pm
Althalus looked out at the street, looking thoughtful. "Well..... at least, if it's bad, and you see it too, you can both comfort each other? It must be ...a little scary, I bet, but... at least dreams aren't real. You can always wake up from dreams."
He reached over to tap the unopened bottle on Walter's lap, and smiled again, unsure as to how to deal with this. "And you can't drink that without the lid on, you know."
And at least we are lucky that we each have our other to talk to, put in Stealth quietly, tipping her head slightly and moving further out of Althalus's sleeve. When it's time to wake up.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:19 pm
"Yeah! I went and slept with her after." Walter said, ignoring how Oblivion looked at him for a long moment before lowering her head to his lap again. He wasn't telling the whole truth, but then again, when had he ever? "Is it open yet?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:28 pm
"Well, that probably helped her out a lot, you know. That you did that." Althalus shook himself slightly, and smiled warmly again. He considered asking if the boy saw the nice or weird dreams too, but Stealth snapped at him quickly and privately that if the answer was no it would help either of them to be cheerful.
"And you don't know what this is?" He reached over to grab the cola bottle, and twisted the cap with practised ease, a sharp fizzing noise coming from it as the pressure was released.
"It's a drink, see? Only don't drink it too fast, or shake it, cause it can go boom..."
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:33 pm
Walter nodded seriously. "Ice always gets cans and cups." He explained, taking the bottle and taking a drink. "And then if you shake them up real hard and put them back in you can listen to her curse then slap her hand over her mouth cuz I heard it." He added with a wicked grin. "I know LOTS of bad words from that."
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:40 pm
Althalus smiled. "I get bottles, cause they're easier to carry in a hurry. Plus you can put it away to drink later or use as a cleaner." Finishing his own, he leant the empty bottle carefully in the corner behind him, eyes slightly challenging.
"And I bet I know more curses than you do," He teased lightly.
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