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 Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 7:57 pm
Lixxie was, understandably, quite nervous. It was for this reason she was skulking in the far back corner of the waiting area, though it wasn't working. It seemed to be deserted in a noontime lunch rush, which didn't bode well for a queasy girl who didn't seem particularly pleased to be here. Most likely, the hospital-like atmosphere worried her. Hopefully, that was it. She took a deep breath and settled into a chair, sitting on her hands lest they begin to shake. There didn't seem to be a desk where she could inquire after the adopting-a-cabbage thing. If there were, there would be a very empty waiting room and hopefully she would have already left.
But there wasn't. No point in worrying... maybe she could begin work on her Arcane History 101 final essay. That would work, or at least occupy her head. She pulled the thick black binder out of her backpack and opened it to the very end, where a neon pink flyer glared out at her.
She settled in for what could be a very long wait.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 8:14 pm
By whatever magic governed the Sisters of the White Cloth, the long wait amounted to not very long at all. Somehow they always knew. Either that, or the nun-like sisters obsessively checked the waiting room every five minutes. The door to the nursery opened and a prim woman in her twenties entered. She had an austere beauty, her hair dark against pale skin. She was dressed like any of the other sisters, blue striped dress and white hat and apron, but if Lixxie had ever seen another sister she would have known that this one's dress was cut from darker stripe than the others.
In a cool voice, the woman addressed Lixxie. "Can I help you?"
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 8:18 pm
Lixxie slid down in her seat a little. This lady reminded her of a nun from Catholic school, the one who always yelled when Lixxie stumbled and dropped the scissors all over the floor. "I don't know if I'm in the right place... I wanted to see about... getting a cabbage?" Her voice seemed to come out like molasses, slow and stuttering. "The... the instructions weren't clear... ma'am." She slowly put away her binder; either way, she'd be moving, and she didn't want to lose a semester's worth of notes.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 8:20 pm
The sister was nonplussed. "We take care of and adopt out the infants here. Cabbages can be obtained at the laboratory." She sounded disdainful of the lab, strange behavior for a supposed employee.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 8:21 pm
Lixxie sighed. How had she known? "Do you know how to get there, ma'am? Could you please tell me?" She hugged her backpack to herself, looking up at the woman in confusion.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 8:29 pm
Without even the tiniest crack in her icy composure, the woman stretched her right arm out and pointed. "The other side of the garden, next to the sign reading Lab." It was enough to drive Lixxie to a breakdown, but despite her coolness, the sister was not cruel. She added, "You may take these forms iwth you," and went to retrieve a set of adoption forms from a brown plastic pocket mounted on the wall.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 8:33 pm
She nodded, keeping her head down. Of course. Of course. It had to be somewhere obvious, didn't it? "Thank you, ma'am," she said politely, standing up and walking quickly in the direction that the woman had pointed out. Lixxie almost forgot her backpack, but doubled back for it at the last second. In a feat of concentration, she found the lab and walked in, looking around for a moment to find who she was supposed to talk to. A blonde girl sat at a desk... that would be a good place to start, right?
"Um, excuse me," Lixxie said, trying to keep her mortification from showing in her voice. This was so difficult! She was confused already, and no one was even talking at her about scientific stuff yet.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 8:46 pm
Ariko had been quietly playing Freecell at her computer, which she knew to be a waste of her time, but the lab was slow today and she had to be out in the waiting room to accept a shipment of supplies Dr. Caspar assured her was going to be coming any minute now. It was not precisely the most glorified of duties and Ariko needed to kill some time.
She did not look up from her game at Lixxie's voice. If anything, she was colder than the unidentified sister, and just as pretty, but a good dozen years younger. In Ariko's mind that made her even more attractive. Certainly teenaged girls had an advantage to their wiles. The term jailbait applied. "You can leave the packages here. Do I need to sign something?" Ariko asked, annoyed, moving a short chain of cards. If she did not have to sign, she was going to have fierce words with Dr. Caspar about reasonable use of laboratory staff time. She did not like Dr. Caspar, and neither did Dr. Akari, which was a card in Ariko's favor.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 8:49 pm
That was even worse than the scary lady she had left back in the adoption center waiting room. At least she was nice about it, sort of. Polite. She didn't know. But this was a lot worse! Definately! "I-I'm not leaving packages," Lixxie said tearfully, drawing back a step. Maybe this was a bad idea! Maybe she should go about the normal way of acquiring a child... but the thought of that made her shiver. She steeled herself and said, somewhat hoarsely, "I am looking into getting a cabbage," though her voice tilted upwards a little towards a question near the end of her statement.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 8:58 pm
Ariko swallowed a sigh. Akari would be so cross if word got back that Ariko had scared away a potential client. Again. She made one more click, sending her cards cascading up to the foundations, and forced a smile onto her face. The effect was a bit like Wednesday Addams at summer camp. Like Dr. Akari, Ariko simply did not do friendly smiles. Sexy, yes. She had studied enough of Dr. Akari's old modeling photos to be able to do that one just fine. Friendly, not so much.
In a cheerful tone as false as her smile, Ariko asked, "Which of our services did you have an interest in?" She indicated the brochures in front of her desk with her hand. She could not see them from her position, but she knew they were there. At least, they had been there a few days ago when she last bothered to check. They could have been emptied by now, but Ariko doubted it. The laboratory did not get that much traffic.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 9:01 pm
At last! A question to which Lixxie knew the answer. There was no way she wanted to pass down her own genetics to a child, so she said, "A cabbage with a baby already inside." This lady didn't really look friendly... was she in the right place? She should really stop being such a child, anyway. The green-haired man had asked her to stop being afraid of other people (although he had been a great deal less polite than asking) and she was generally a good girl who listened to others.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 9:16 pm
Ariko twirled the end of her ponytail in her hand. Easy enough sell. "Certainly, if--"
She never got to finish. The door in the far corner, clearly labeled "Do Not Enter - Laboratory," burst open. Ariko simply froze mid-sentence in surprise and disappointment, the fake smile fading from her face. The man who emerged was both tall and loud for his Japanese heritage. "Aricchan!" he exclaimed exuburantly as he emerged, stretching his arms out wide. He was wearing a white labcoat and grey pants, stereotypical lab attire. He had an ID tag affixed to the coat. His black hair was spiked and he wore thick-rimmed black glasses, emo style.
"Iijima-san," seethed Ariko quietly, emphasizing the formality.
Whatever he had intended, Iijima stopped it when he saw Lixxie. The door swung shut behind him and locked automatically. Iijima's arms were still stretched out in his grand entrance. "Oh," he said simply. "Are you working?"
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 4:01 am
Lixxie looked in the direction of the black-haired man, as she guessed he wanted the people in the room to do. After all, he had made such a loud entrance- how could he not want people to look? But then, maybe he was running somewhere in a hurry? Apparently that was wrong, as he loudly greeted the lady at the desk.
"Um... I can go, if you want," she said, scuffing the toe of one shoe against the ground. "I mean, I can... come back another time, if you want me to go now." She hesitated and looked down at her feet.
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 8:47 am
"Hey, no, everyone's welcome here!" exclaimed Iijima, sliding across the tiled floor to Lixxie. He reached out a hand in greeting. "I'm Iijima, call me Iji!" Behind the desk, Ariko scoffed in disapproval, and Iijima winked at her. "Don't mind Ariko, she's in training to be a sex kitten."
It was times like this that Ariko wished she had been born Japanese. When she blushed, it showed on her pale European skin like rose petals in milk. Her entire face went red. Surely not. No way. Iijima had read her diary. Like any other young teenaged girl, she was about to die right then and there of embarrassment. Of all people, Iijima! Her mortal enemy!
Iijima's hand was awaiting Lixxie's response.
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 11:36 am
"Hello, Iji," said Lixxie cautiously, shaking his hand. "I'm Elixabeté, but called me Lixxie, please." She turned pink at the rest of his comments, feeling sympathetically embarrassed for the other teen. "I thought, uh, sex kittens..." she paused to stifle a nervous giggle "...had to be friendly?"
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