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Post by Milo Ventimiglia on Apr 15, 2011 9:39:19 GMT -5
After Tara had slipped off to sleep, I carefully extracted myself from the chair so I didn’t wake her, then tucked the towel in under her chin. I paused, wondering if I should look for a blanket, but that would require rummaging around in someone else’s house for something that didn’t belong to me. Instead, I brushed the hair from her face gently. I wasn’t sure if I would have done that had she been awake. After all, I didn’t know how far this…was it a relationship? … was going. As I quietly exited the room and nodded to Eddie, I reflected that I felt much more comfortable with the idea of dating Tara, if it came to a proper courtship thing. I was ten years older than her, but physically, I was sixteen. Dad had said I would age normally from this point until I hit a certain age, and then I would just stop aging, the way I had done before. Damn, this was all so…normal…to them… I thought, my chest tightening painfully when I thought of them. My parents, my sister…would I ever see them again?
I reached Mauve and Gerard’s place shortly before dawn. Looking around furtively, I made my way to the door, senses alert. There was no way they could have heard me actually walking; I had a knack for walking as quietly as any cat, especially when I was barefoot or wearing sneakers. Nobody was awake. Having determined this, I entered the house quietly and locked the door. It operated by fingerprint scans; everybody had one, so it was nothing fancy to them. Man, I was home safe…I had made it… “I see you’ve returned without my coffee jar,” a crisp voice said from the doorway. I jumped. God, how could I have missed her? With hearing like mine…geez, I really did have selective hearing.
“M…Mauve, I can explain,” I said, a little shocked. Normally it was Gerard waiting for me. At least I knew what Gerard would do. Cuff me maybe, yell. He had grabbed me by the collar once and had shaken me, but that I could deal with. Mauve’s face…she looked calm, but disappointed. A little upset. Angry, but coldly so. Yet I could also see sympathy there, and her gaze softened as I looked down at my feet. I didn’t see her face after that, obviously staring at the tip of my tail, which I had curled down and around my feet. “Gerard woke to check on you. He knew you would do this…I told him I would deal with it. He had an early start at work this morning, but I’ve warned him not to say anything when he gets home. It’s time you and I had a little chat. Come and sit with me.”
Okay, this sucked. Unlike the usual crap with Gerard, I had no idea what Mauve was going to do. I sat down anyway on the couch across from her, scratching my wrist and fidgeting. Mauve had a cup of coffee in front of her. She sipped it, then looked up at me. “I’m not going to yell at you. I just want to understand. I have never had children…I mean, don’t get me wrong, I know teenagers are supposed to be rebellious. But you’re a special case, Milo. You came here and were forced into this life. And my husband…well he doesn’t help. I had a big fight with him this morning. I don’t like to fight, but he knows that I get my way when I want it.” She threaded her fingers through her hair, combing it, a thoughtful look on her face. “I’ve only known you for a week. But…I was so scared when you disappeared. Do you not think about others? Did you not think that maybe we took you in…a slave no less…and cared for you as a son, adopted you as our own, did you not think that we didn’t care about your welfare? If we didn’t care, we wouldn’t have bothered with all the protocol. We would have sold you. You are…were…worth a lot of money. When slavery was legal. You’re an attractive, young healthy male, a rare species no less. There are so few of you.”
I was feeling worse and worse, like a rotten piece of shit until she mentioned ‘so few of you’. My head shot up. “Mauve…you’ve made me feel really guilty, and all but…so few of me? You mean there are others?” She tilted her head, frowning, then looked as though she decided not to continue with her guilt trip. “Yes, there are. There is a family, apparently. One of them is a storm chaser. I inquired after we got you. They are it, though. I’ve never seen them, but they live here. I don’t really know what you are Milo, or what they are…all I know is that they have tails like you.” “…I can’t…believe there are…” I felt almost breathless, and I stared at the floor again, thinking hard. “We can talk about this later. I know how much this must mean…” I lapsed into a bit of a sullen silence. Sometimes, my adult nature shone through. But at other times, the teenage emotions just took over. It was a bit of a struggle to behave maturely sometimes, but in the end, Mauve guilt tripped me into apologising to her and to Gerard later, and into doing a shitload of chores for the next week. She did, however, tell me that I was free to go out as long as I did my homework (back to school for me, which fucking sucked) and was back before ten on a school night, and midnight on the weekends. She also wanted to meet Tara. I had no idea what to say to that. I gave her a monosyllabic mutter as an answer and went off to my room to consider what she had told me. More of us?
I was lucky that Gerard not only accepted my apology without more than a nod and a thank you, but also that they let me go out the day after to see Tara. She had sounded better on the phone, though she had cut off something that she was about to say, and, ever the curious personality, I had spent a little while mulling over what it might have been. ‘I lo…?’ Huh? ‘I lotus…?’ What the fuck was I thinking. Maybe she was about to say ‘I love eating grass’. Not ‘I love you’. Surely. Why would she say that to me? She didn’t know me very well. Nah. ‘I love chocolate’. That must have been it. Or coffee. Coffee! Of course! She had Mauve’s jar, and I had promised Mauve that I would return it.
The day was much cooler than before. In fact, it was cold. The scent of snow was getting much stronger, and I found myself looking up at the clear skies and wondering just when it was going to change into winter. I had heard that it could happen very suddenly, or gracefully. The weather was unpredictable. Almost all of the leaves had fallen from the trees now. I put my hands in my pockets and crossed the road, stepping onto the sidewalk beneath the twisting grey branches of the trees. A few coloured leaves clung on for dear life…a life that had been sapped out of them mercilessly by a simple fact of evolution and strategic survival. I don’t know why I did it, but I stopped for a moment and approached one of the trees. Mauve had given me gloves; I pulled one off and put my hand against the tree. I closed my eyes, feeling the smooth bark beneath my palm…and sensing something else. It was life. I probed further with my senses. How was I doing it? I don’t know. Well, I didn’t know back then. I do now, of course. But anyway…the tree’s energy was there. Its life energy: sluggish, but there. I slowly pulled my hand away and looked up into the branches. I would never think of a leafless tree as ‘dead’-looking again. “Hang in there, buddy,” I said to it, feeling like a real dork, especially when a kid blinked at me in confusion.
Tara was sitting on the bench she had promised she would be at, looking a bit desolate. I was standing in the middle of a park not far from the road she was sitting across from. “Hey,” I called out, lifting a hand. A leaf drifted down from the almost-barren canopy above, settling on top of my head. I grinned, leaving it there for laughs, then shivered. I was a wuss when it came to the cold, having grown up in sunny California. I did enjoy the cold more than the heat, that was for sure, but this wasn’t the sort of cold I was used to. I started walking towards Tara, and I was maybe ten feet away from the road when I sensed something strange, and yet familiar, behind me. Whatever it was, it uttered a low growl. I stopped dead in my tracks, swallowing hard. A soft, chilly breeze swept through the grass.
Slowly, carefully, I turned around, unable to see now what Tara was doing. My hackles rose; the fur on my tail puffed up a little, and I felt my muscles tense. A strange animal stood next to a tree, not far from where I was. At first, I thought it was a dog. A she-dog; I could smell that she was a girl. A German shepherd, until that reality blurred and disappeared in front of my eyes. I later learned that I could see through glamour spells. After all, I am a faerie, as fucked as that sounds. She still resembled a canine. A strange one. A wolf, definitely, but her ears were a little bigger, smaller than a German shepherds, but a bit bigger than your average wolf’s. Her features were fine; she was almost feline in that respect. She was no bigger than a small wolf, and her fur was shiny and black. A tail which looked a lot like mine twitched behind her. It was far too long in proportion to her body for her to be a cat or a dog, or even both. Wolf tails don’t even reach the ground. Cat tails are longer, but they, too, are shorter. This creature was something out of a … um … faerie-tale, and she was simply beautiful. Stunning. Dangerous. Green eyes blazed. Had I not been staring at her sharp, long fangs, I might have recognised her for who she really was. But all I saw was madness, confusion and…well, those fangs. She was baring them at me, her lips drawn back in a fearsome snarl.
She ran at me. I held my hands out, and took a step backwards, my heart beating so hard that I thought it would break the fuck out of my chest. The animal’s paws hit me on the chest, sending me flying backwards, her teeth scissoring the air in front of my face. I tried to protect myself, using my hands to cover my face, but she went for my throat instead. I could feel her hot breath as her teeth closed around my scarf and clanged against my metal collar. She growled in frustration, chewing, her claws scrabbling on my chest. I managed to shove her off. She didn’t weigh a lot. The creature fell onto her side, then sprung up, my scarf stuck in her teeth. She worried it back and forth, snarling and hissing like a cat. Then she did something else strange: she began walking in circles, snapping at herself and darting in all kinds of directions. She was mad!
People had gathered to watch. I looked for Tara, my eyes full of worry. “I’m not hurt,” I told her quickly. I touched my throat, which felt bruised and had a few cuts, but the collar had ironically saved me from having my neck torn apart. “Someone shoot that beast!” a man shouted. “Wait, no,” I gasped as a woman raised some kind of weapon, maybe a gun. Probably a fucking laser gun; it was, after all, 2100. “It attacked you, kid, it’s gotta be done,” said the woman, rolling her eyes at me. “Are you as mad as it is?” “Is it rabid? I thought we’d eradicated rabies…” “She’s not…she’s not rabid. I think she’s confused,” I protested. Why was I protecting her? She had attacked me. But her scent clung to me, and I felt strange, as though I knew that smell. It was wild, untamed, distinctly that of an animal, but also of energy. A lot of energy. Her energy, but also something else too. “She’s mine, she’s just a little weird. I got her from a rescue,” I lied. I gave Tara a look, begging her to understand even as I wiped blood off a cut on my hand. Her teeth must have gotten my hands, too, but the wounds would heal very quickly. “Whatever, put a leash on the darned thing,” the woman snapped. “Or I’m callin’ the authorities.” The crowd began to disperse, muttering amongst themselves. I shrugged at Tara. “Uh…so I don’t know why I rescued her. She tried to bite me!” My eyes went back to the creature, who was trying to dig in the ground with her snout. It would have been funny if it was a Youtube video or something, but this wasn’t some comedy or America’s Funniest Home Videos. This was a real creature, and I could smell her confusion. Ever thought you could smell emotions? I definitely could at times.
“So, it’d be pretty stupid to go near her, right?” I said. “Yeah. I’m just as nuts.” I approached the animal slowly. She looked up, her green eyes wide. She cocked her head to the side, a movement which almost made me melt. Blackie did that. It was so innocent that I almost didn’t react in time when she lunged for me again. But oddly, this time, she snapped her jaws shut before she got to me and landed neatly in front of us. She sat down and didn’t move, her head cocked again. I didn’t dare pet her. “There’s something weird about this whole situation,” I said. “Something fucking weird.” I didn’t mention that I also felt weird, as though there was something tugging inside me. I shook my head. The animal suddenly bolted up and dashed away into the trees, her gait graceful and speedy.
“That was strange,” I mused. “Was that strange? But I feel it was the right thing to do…to save her, I mean.” Now I felt like a total idiot. I scratched under my collar and looked over at her. "You don't look very happy...what happened?"
((OOC: I think I’ll have her come back at another point too. Probably have Milo actually transform. Maybe he goes out at night, kind of sleepwalking in a way, and she is out there. And he changes for the first time then wakes up back at home, with a few weird dream memories and dirt all over him. Probably naked too haha. Jackie has gone a bit crazed and wild. It’ll wear off. Could be fun to have Milo changing at night and not realising, a few times, before Tara finds him one night and maybe they both realise it’s Jackie at some stage after they realise Milo is transforming into the same animal. I think at some point Milo would want to ask Tara a bit about her transformations too, and would be jealous until he learns he can change too, just not into a bird!))
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Post by tessa on Apr 19, 2011 2:58:50 GMT -5
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
At first I saw Milo coming towards me and I waved back, deciding he would probably come to the bench to meet me and I wouldn’t have to move. Good, all I wanted to do was sleep then anyway. It was a bit chilly outside and I shivered gently. Benches weren’t exactly warm, by the way. I was looking at something else, waiting for Milo to get there. People were walking towards me and past me, birds flew overhead and the sky was a glacial blue colour. Small white clouds floated across the city, about to join with the dark wall of rain coming our way. It would be there in a half hour I surmised inwardly, wondering if there was any real way to know if I was right. I doubted I had done the math correctly. Know why? It was a guess. I had seen rain before and I kind of just estimated. Perhaps it was my animal instincts?
Where was he? I turned to check how long Milo was going to take to get to me and sighed in annoyance. He wasn’t getting anywhere standing there like an idiot. He slowly turned around and my attention was grabbed. I followed where I assumed his gaze was headed, and saw the dog beside a tree. It was just a dog, I thought, shoo it away! Why was he goofing off with dogs at a time like this? I rolled my eyes,
“Ugh, leave it alone.” I grumped, casting my gaze off to the side. The snarl snapped it back to the wolf. Oh, shit, maybe he was in trouble? I stood nervously, my hand still clinging to the arm of the bench, one foot forward as if I were about to run to his aid.
The dog launched at Milo and I took a step forward. My first instinct kicked the shit out of me. I tried to shift into a raven but it felt like someone had just taken a bat to my head and I staggered, falling as if my knees had been kicked from under me. It felt like I had only tripped, because I stood very quickly afterwards, as if nothing had happened. The only side effect was that I was dizzy and a bit embarrassed. Trying to shift had taken a lot out of me that I was not expecting. My eyes had changed colour and a feather floated from my hair, but that was as far as I had gotten. Shifting takes a lot of energy I soon realized, and being sick does not help anyone trying to shift in any which way. I shook myself as I crossed the street towards Milo, prepared to jump in if needed, but by that time the short attack was over. I slid in beside Milo as he defended the beast from the bystanders, assuring me that he was safe. I reached out and grasped his arm as he spoke. I wasn’t fucking getting in the middle of this.
I let Milo deal with the dog. It was cute, I’ll give it that. Vicious, but cute. Especially when she cocked her head to the side like she had, and I have to admit I had a soft spot for dogs. “You saved her because you’re a good person, Milo.” I said softly, voice weighted with exhaustion even through my half smile. I watched the animal take its leave, still hanging on to Milo’s arm. I knew I was doing it but I didn’t give a shit. I was kind of hoping he would take the hint. He was nice and warm too, so that was a bonus. I rubbed the tip of my nose with my sweater’s sleeve, satisfying a nervous itch.
“Upset?” I said, “Oh, yes, unhappy. I am, a little bit.” I admitted, watching the place where the dog had gone. Milo was right, that was really weird… I turned to look at him for a moment. I sighed in frustration, “I got fired today. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I need a job, I need to pay rent.” Rent wasn’t even high! How was I going to have a job without my high school diploma? Nowadays you needed a fucking university degree to take a shit, let alone get a job. I clung more tightly onto his arm and guided him gently away from the park. “It’s not too bad I guess… I’ll figure something out. Maybe someone in the apartment will hire me or something…”I mused, walking very slowly. Whatever, that could wait. God I was so tired! I smiled up at Milo; it was his turn to talk for a bit. “What about you? How are you?”
((hope its okay! It might suck a little bit, sorry DX the Jackie thing sounds solid, I like the idea a lot! Hehe, Tara is really trying to send him a hint XP))
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Post by Milo Ventimiglia on Apr 24, 2011 10:34:50 GMT -5
Tara’s comment about being a good person made me smile and blush slightly, and I bowed my head, trying to hide the fact that I was going a bit red. “Yeah thanks,” I said under my breath. I always did try to do the right thing. Well, most of the time. But this hadn’t just been a general act of kindness, even though I would have been upset in any situation if they had tried to kill a dog in front of me. This had a different…feel about it. She was very close to me now. I could smell her, feel her warmth and her beating heart. It felt good to be close to someone, especially after what had just happened.
I won’t lie; I thought she was angry with me when she first said she wasn’t happy. It was kind of stupid. Why would she be angry? I was feeling pretty shitty anyway, so any negative comment was enough to make me think of the worst. I was only slightly relieved when she explained further, and I put an arm around her and stuck my other hand into the pocket of my jacket. It was fucking freezing out here all of a sudden. She began to lead the way out of the park, and I followed mutely while she vented. I was listening pretty intensely, something which is sometimes hard for me to do – my mind is so active, I can be a bit scattered at times. But with Tara at that point, I was genuinely trying to search for ways to improve her situation. So, with all of that in mind, I missed the fact that it was beginning to snow and also that she had finished talking and had asked me a question.
My head rose after a moment’s silence, and I slowed down a little, my arm still in hers. “Uh…say is it snowing?” I cocked my head and looked up, then extended a gloved hand. “I rarely get to see snow,” I said softly, unintentionally evading the question which I probably would have tried to evade anyway in any situation. I felt pretty bitter and I didn’t want to add to her problems, as much as I wanted to whine and bitch about it. Everywhere, people were looking up. Most of them looked dismayed, but children exhilarated in it. “Let’s go and build a snow man!” one girl cried out. “Hang on Kitty, it’s probably just a dusting, won’t go far today,” a man who I assumed to be her father grumped. “I gotta get to the bank. Come on, let’s go.” “Awwww, but daddy!” Her big eyes teared up. I felt a wrench of sympathy, then turned away. It wasn’t as though I could make it snow any further, and by the looks on other people’s faces, the onslaught of winter wasn’t exactly welcome. Having grown up in a partially arid environment, I wasn’t used to the lack of enthusiasm that came with such a beautiful, unusual event to me. Of course, I say that now, but after years of living in the Midwest, I now realise just how horrible snow can be. Evil stuff except at the start. But anyway, back to my story.
There was no point avoiding the question forever. We crossed the road onto the sidewalk, walking past a bank guarded by all kinds of technology. I felt a buzz of electricity and power as we went by. It was odd how easily I could ‘smell’ energy, and feel it on my skin and even within. Bizarre. I took a deep breath and pulled one of my gloves off, then replaced it, then began fiddling with the ends of it.
“Look, I don’t feel great, but I’m here with you, and…” I realised how stupid I sounded, but I kept going. “Well, I like you, Tara. You’re sweet, but you’re fun and feisty. You’re my kind of girl,” I said with a slightly cheeky smirk, and I raised an eyebrow at her to accentuate my point before lapsing into quiet contemplation for a few moments. We crossed another road, stepping over the magnetic strip which public transport used. A lot of cars also used it, because hovering used less fuel, but I had read that a lot of safety research had gone into it: if a car was confined to the strip, it had no way of swerving out of oncoming danger. It had taken a lot of trials to enable the car to leave the strip at will and utilise its wheels or, in some models, a hovering mechanism. This was 2100, not 3011. Huh, well, to me this shit was unbelievable and I had seen hovering skateboards lately, just like in Back to the Future. I say those old Sci-fi guys had their ideas stolen.
I continued, “So I’ll be honest. I hate this place. Not the snow, though…” I thought it looked very pretty. I wouldn’t think that in a month. “And not you. But I don’t wanna talk about me, really. What are you gonna do about this job? I wish I could help. I think Mauve and Gerard might let you stay a few nights if it ever came to that, but they’re uh…they’re kind of strict, especially with girls. They’d lock me in my room to make sure I didn’t uh…er…well you know, knock you up.” This time, my grin was embarrassed. “But I’ll help you find a job, whatever it takes. You know, Hawkeye wants some staff. He told me to come for an interview…before we vanished. I hope he hasn’t hired someone else, but we should check it out. It’s retail, I know…and ice cream means little angry kids and their angry parents, but hey, it’s money, and he says he pays pretty well for what it is. What do you say? Not bad for a couple of high school kids and ex-slaves,” I said ruefully. I was avoiding thinking about it right now, but I knew I would have to seek something more permanent in case I was stuck here. I was a qualified actor. Surely I could audition somewhere and network with people. I had noticed that a lot of non-humans had roles in films, some of them starring roles. Some were famous, although some were slaves who had sold their ‘freedom’ for a chance on the big screen. Whatever freedom they had had as a ‘free’ non-human, that is.
We were standing outside a bakery and a few clothing stores when the snow turned into a light rain shower. I brushed water droplets off my coat as we stepped under the cover part. “Man, I never thought I would complain about rain after all the droughts back home,” I said. “It’s great and all, but I’m cold...ugh-” Pain shot through me suddenly. I grimaced again and leaned on a bench outside the bakery, then sat down on it. My muscle suddenly felt weak and sort of strange, hot even. Or was that my head? Sweat broke out on my forehead just as my head started to ache. Suddenly, everything was too loud…way too fucking loud. I clenched my fists, then flexed my fingers and scratched at my arms Energy surged through me violently, then vanished abruptly, leaving me feeling fatigued. I recognised the symptoms. I had felt like this before sometimes, mostly at night when I couldn’t sleep. It only ever lasted for a bit, and never as bad as I felt now, so I hadn’t told anybody. I had assumed that it was anxiety or some form of panic attack bought on by insomnia and the knowledge I had to wake up early to go to work or travel.
I kind of hunched over on the seat for a few moments, shivering, before the pain and the weird feverish feeling started to subside. The ringing and loudness dimmed. I had really good hearing, but I had since I was born. Was it just me, or did it seem even sharper lately? Nonetheless, my hearing never caused me this much issue. Not unless I was overhearing something I didn’t want to hear. “God, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” I mumbled, my voice shaky and weak. “I’m fine…I’m fine now.” I nodded at a couple of concerned citizens who had approached me. “Really, thanks, I’m fine. Just uh…a panic attack,” I told them. They finally left me alone, but it was kind of nice to see two humans show an interest in helping me, especially when my tail was so visible. My collar was partially hidden under my coat collar.
The weakness in my limbs was the last thing to go. I was disturbed to see electricity crackling over my tail fur, but it too disappeared. I put my head in my hands and attempted to explain to Tara something which I had no clue about myself. “Sorry. Man that’s never happened so badly before. It’s happened before, back home I mean, and once so far while I was here, but it never got so bad. I never found out what it was. I never went to see a doctor about it, but it happens sometimes at night. It seems to be more frequent. These past few years. I feel kind of like my muscles are on fire, and I have all this energy, this adrenaline, then I get tired and feverish. Thank god it’s snowing, I feel much better because it’s colder.” I finally looked up at her, worried that she would think I was even freakier than usual. “I didn’t scare you did I?”
((OOC: That’s just his body readying to transform. Once he changes a few times, it’ll go away, although the fever is normal for all that energy build up, and he and Max can get pretty feverish before they change, but Max rejoices in transforming and doesn’t fight it. Milo probably will, meaning it’ll hurt until he accepts it…once he realises what’s happening of course! I didn’t know whether to time skip it or not, but I felt she should reply to that and to the part about her finding a job and that first.))
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Post by tessa on Apr 25, 2011 2:47:38 GMT -5
As I spoke I kept my head low, looking at the ground that passed smoothly and swiftly under us. Wind blew snow down my collar and onto my back, which was how I found out that it was snowing aside from Milo’s glee inspiring announcement. It wasn’t anything that would really stick, though, I mean; sure it accumulated in the grass but it was more like microscopic ice pellets than actual flakes, and that almost always melted once the cold snap passed. The snow had a round shape to it, like the little foam pellets that come in some packaging, and so it was very dry and powdery. I brushed some out of my hair and straightened my posture, twitching my coat forward to shake the nasty stuff out of my shirt. I agreed with the looks of deceit and of distress that adorned the people around me but I didn’t react to my feelings as much.
What was one more inconvenience, really? That’s all this snow was. At least I know this one will eventually go away. Winter was usually a clusterfuck of storms. We lived too close to the great lakes so there was always the possibility of ice storms, which were the worst, but over the years the Canadian government finally replaced all the power lines to an underground system, which helped prevent blackouts. Black ice and white outs killed idiot drivers every other day so as long as you didn’t do anything stupid you were fine there. They had a petition shortly after the magnetic lanes were put in for transit to get them removed and have the old tire-busses put back into service. They were all fine and dandy in the summer but come winter and early spring, when the roads were congested with snow, the magnetic strips became ineffective and all but paralyze the city. But this snow was nothing; just a reminder that winter still existed, that there was more to it this year than just a bitter wind.
“Yes… it is snowing.” I said glumly, “but this is nothing. I’d suggest you get yourself winter boots soon though, unless you want your fucking toes to freeze off.”
We passed a bank but that wasn’t uncommon in Wonder City. There were lots of banks here including some ancient companies like Scotia Bank and the Toronto Dominion banks could be found in this huge city. They were pretty high-tech and intimidating and bank robbers were rare if not extinct. I didn’t even have an account of any kind with any bank, yet. I looked around for one once but my income wasn’t enough and I was also a slave so I got rejected. I didn’t think I would get an account really but I thought I would try. I might go again when I get a good job.
I turned to smile at Milo, the corners of my mouth pulling my face into a rare happy expression. “Heh, well if I’m going to be someone’s type of girl I’d much rather be yours.” My heart skipped and I swallowed dryly at that comment, hoping that Milo didn’t think I was being too sentimental. “Some people think I’m a royal fucking bitch and can’t stand me.” I looked around at the city for a moment, trying to look for signs that people were looking for workers. There were a few signs but they all said ‘humans only apply’ in them. I was sure the Prime Minister would deal with that after a bit of pestering from the public. She gave us freedom and we’re going to demand more and more. You know that saying; give a mouse a cookie and he’ll want a glass of milk? Well, we’re going to want our glass of milk.
I looked up at Milo and then back ahead of us as we walked, pressing in closer to him for warmth as the rain started in. I knew the “snow” was going to melt soon. “You’ll learn to love to hate it,” I said, kicking the thin layer of snow on the sidewalk, smearing it into the wet concrete. I paused thoughtfully. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it or anything…I’m pretty gassed that we got sent back here, honestly. But I do want to hear about you…however, I also like talking a lot. So it works out well for now, but,” I sighed and wriggled my shoulders nervously, “you can talk at me as much as I talk at you.”
Did he not feel comfortable talking to me? We had only just met I guess but I felt pretty comfortable talking to him... I focused on the path ahead of me, quieting down to see if he would say something if I gave him a chance to.
My eyes widened when he offered to help me find a job. “You would?” I said, “Milo, thank you so much!” I gasped, becoming speechless for a moment. I would take anything, despite the fact that working with children was probably not the best career choice. I was so busy musing over his offer that I didn’t catch his complaining about the rain, and my thoughts were cut short when he hunched over a bench.
“Milo? Milo!” I said, rushing forward and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Milo are you okay? God you’re so fucking warm… ouch!” I pulled away sharply as a shock of energy bit at my palm. I shook it as if fanning off a burn and watched worriedly as he seemed to recover. It was…odd… it kind of reminded me of when I shapeshift… the heat and the weakness, that is. Weird. But no that can’t be possible he would have shifted. Unless he was resisting it... I frowned darkly down at him. “Yes, actually, you scared the living shit out of me! THAT happens often? And you didn’t tell anyone before?” I fumed. But getting mad at him wouldn’t help any, so I controlled my emotions and wrapped my arm around his shoulders with a calming sigh. “Okay…well let’s catch a bus back home and just relax for today okay?” I said, sitting beside him. “Holy shit…” I grinned, “you’re so warm!” I said, sighing and snuggling into him. “We’re going to go home and just relax for a while. Bum around on the couch and watch the shit that’s on the TV, right? It’s probably just stress or something…” I ranted worriedly, rubbing his back with the palm of my hand, “I didn’t give you my cold, did I?”
((OOC: I hope this post was okay. If you want me to slip a time skip in there I can? Or you can in your next post. ^_^ up to you. ))
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Post by Milo Ventimiglia on Apr 28, 2011 23:17:23 GMT -5
Tara was angry, and I didn’t really feel as though she had any right to be angry. Okay, I was being pretty sulky. She was just worried, after all. I smiled weakly when she snuggled up close to me. “I’ve never had a cold,” I admitted. “Just allergies. Hay fever. That’s the closest I’ve come to a cold, so I don’t know why I would start now…then again, maybe this is just an illness that my kind get? Maybe it was an allergy to something?” I looked around, then got up and let her fuss over me while we walked to the bus. “You know, when I was like, ten, I was skateboarding around some construction sites with my friends, and I fell off while trying to show off. Um, there were these girls…but anyway. I was ten, okay? Anyway I fell off and cut myself. I’ve always healed pretty fast. Like really fast, come to think of it. But I got cut on something that I thought was iron or steel or something, but it burned really bad and it wouldn’t heal for weeks. It was my knee so I limped around for ages. Felt pretty weak for a while too. That’s happened to me a couple of times but that’s it. I totally thought it was tetanus or something, you know when you’re a kid and you freak out over the stupidest shit? I wasn’t due for my vaccination for a few years yet. But anyway it was just weird, and I did have a fever for a few days. Mom kept me off school and yelled at me for ages about playing around the construction site. I remember it so well because of how unusual it was.”
I hadn’t cut myself this time; although the weakness and fevers were consistent with my injuring myself a couple of times on metal, the adrenaline rush was definitely different and I had suffered from this weirdness more than a few times. I would learn later that I had an unfortunate allergy to iron, like all faeries. Not as bad as most, considering I had never been back to my kind’s real world, but bad enough to affect me.
We did what Tara suggested: we went back to her place and fucked around for a while doing lazy things like watching movies and making fun of them, and I felt much better in her company. Still, in the back of my mind, there lurked an anxiety about what had just happened, the dog creature I had seen, and the loss of my family yet again. Tara herself had her own things to worry about, and I could tell just by looking at her. But we did have fun, and being with her always improved my mood.
It was a few days later when the first incident happened. I saw Tara during both. She didn’t get the job with me at Hawkeye’s ice-cream parlour (another attack of allergies, only it attacked Tara this time, not me), much to my disappointment. Hawkeye took me on, which was a relief, because I totally needed the money. I had a whole lot still stuffed in my pocket from my world, but it wouldn’t last long. I had stashed it away somewhere safe in my bedroom. Gerard, in all his caring, trusting ways, would probably think I had stolen it from some hapless fool on the street. I loved Hawkeye. He was a funny guy, if not a little gruff sometimes, and he took a liking to me straight away. He didn’t, however, like Tara coming into his shop too much. “I’m afraid all that uproar’ll scare off the customers,” he grumped at me on my first day. “You can take her out an ice-cream, but she’s gotta stay near the door. At least until I find out what’s ticklin’ her nose.” I saw the dog-cat (or whatever she was) again that night. She followed me home, her ears perked every time I turned to look at her. She showed no aggression this time, only interest, and I let her follow me to my front garden. She stopped there, sniffing around. “That’s right, my territory. Well, Gerard’s,” I agreed. “He probably pisses on every corner, too.” I expected her to pee there too, but she leaned down and hissed quietly at the earth, teeth bared, whiskers flaring. I raised an eyebrow as a sparkling mist came out between her jaws. It smelled strong, like, well, like electricity if that can possibly have a scent, and somehow I knew that she had just left her own mark there. “Okay, and that’s not weird?” “Milo, who are you talking to?” Mauve said behind me. “Whose dog is that?” “She’s not a dog, look at her tail,” I said. The creature took one look at Mauve and fled into the park across the road, then into the trees. “Her tail? What’s so special about her tail? Come on, come inside, it’s starting to snow again. I don’t want you to get a cold.” “I can’t get colds,” I sighed, but I followed her anyway. It was indeed beginning to snow. “I got a job.” “At that ice-cream place?” She shot me a look until I had taken off my shoes and placed them by the door. I rolled my eyes. “Yeah there,” I said more amiably once she had looked away again. “Not bad pay for retail.” Something like $50 an hour, which equated to, by my calculations and research, $16 an hour back in my time. That was pretty good in America for retail.
I went upstairs quickly and changed into some warm pyjamas, then sat on the window sill and looked out at the snow. It was thicker than it had been a few days ago, but Tara didn’t think it would last long again. It drifted down onto the leafless trees, piling up wherever it got a chance, then falling lightly onto the ground. It smelled delicious, like fresh, chilled water from a natural spring. Ontario sure had more exciting weather than California. The sun went down completely, and I went down to eat. Mauve insisted that we eat as a family, which pissed me off because I didn’t think that they were my family at all, but I didn’t complain. Gerard grunted a few questions at me about my new job, Mauve wanted to know about Tara and school, and me, well, I just ate my food and gave short replies. I was sixteen, that was my job, right? “It’s your birthday in a couple of months,” said Mauve. “Would you like to have some friends over?” “Mauve, are you asking a teenager to have a party in this house for his seventeenth birthday? Are you slightly insane?” Gerard said rudely. Mauve glared at him. “Cut it out, or get out,” she snapped. They had been a little tense since I had come back. Mauve might seem to dote on me sometimes, but she didn’t take any crap from either me or Gerard. “Milo, you know that we don’t want a giant party with alcohol. No alcohol.” “Nah, I don’t really have many friends,” I shrugged. “I don’t really want a party anyway.” “No friends?” Mauve asked, suddenly alert. I told her so little about my life that she snatched at any morsel that I threw at her. “Um, well I don’t know, I’m new, it takes time, and they’re all so…so…” Immature. “Insular. Boring.” Except Tara. “All they care about is getting laid and gossiping. No one talks about anything intelligent.” Except Tara. Mauve looked surprised. I wondered if she was thinking again that I was pretty weird for my age. I went quiet again and they didn’t pester me anymore.
Mauve and Gerard watched me heap a third helping onto my plate. They knew I was a huge eater, and, out of guilt, I had already told Mauve that I would give her some of my wages for the groceries. I was defiant of Gerard’s dick personality, but I still appreciated that they fed and took care of me when I wasn’t even their real kid. She had refused. Their wages were way above average for middle-class people. “Sorry, I’m more hungry tonight,” I confessed. “No, eat as much as you can, I’d rather there weren’t leftovers in the fridge,” Mauve urged. Gerard snorted and got up, going to the living room. Mauve didn’t bother to stop him. I saw her tense up, but she shrugged it off a second later. “You keep eating. I’m going to clean up, since someone else isn’t interested in helping.” She shot Gerard’s back a look, but he didn’t notice or hear over the blare of the TV. “I’ll clean up when I’m done,” I said, adding to the contradiction that was me. I ate the rest of the food. Surely, surely, I should be full by now. I made some toast, then ate some fruit, then cooked more food.
I still went to bed hungry. I had eaten enough for ten people. How was I so skinny all the time? My stomach was flat. I felt more energetic tonight, and I paced around my room for a while. A lonely howl echoed through the howling wind outside. I went to the window, straining to hear her. It was my canine-feline admirer. She was out there, calling to me. I was convinced. I turned the lights out and sat on my bed, my tail twitching. She howled again, the sound still far away. I coughed, feeling my throat tighten. For some stupid reason, I wanted to reply to her, but Mauve and Gerard would think I was nuts if I howled like an animal out of the window. What the fuck was I thinking?
I must have sat in the dark listening to her for a good hour before I tried to go to sleep. I tossed and turned for a bit. It was so hot in here. Everybody had temperature regulators in their houses, but I was boiling hot. I sat up, shivering and sweating. Not this again… Pain lanced through me. I fell off the bed and onto the floor, shaking violently and curling into a ball. I was suddenly short of breath, so I started hyperventilating. What the fuck is wrong with me… My room lit up. Odd, but I was glowing. Or was this some fucked up, wild dream?
At some point, I remember getting up to open my window. Gerard had removed the locks, since he probably figured that I wouldn’t sneak out the window because it was predictable and also because it was so cold out. The rest is a blur. The pain grew so bad that maybe I fainted or something, and then it was day time, and I freezing cold.
Something wet slid across my face. I opened my eyes, confused. Something whined, and I groaned when I realised that a dog was licking my face. “Eww…gross…that’s so gross!” I pushed her away. Yep, you bet. It was her, that damned … whatever she was … standing over me looking somehow smug and innocent. Bright green eyes laughed at me. God they were so familiar-looking… Chase me, let’s play, her gruff barks and yelps told me. All animals spoke to me, and generally they said simple things. Except some urban animals who had picked up human behaviour. “No, go away. How the…” I sat up. I was lying in the snow in amongst a bunch of trees, and fuck I was cold! Not to mention completely naked…
“Oh my god!” I bolted to my feet and covered my front half, looking around wildly. I was wearing fucking nothing, except of course my stupid collar, which was freezing cold on my neck because it had been in the snow. I could see the back of my house a few yards away, partially obscured by trees. I shook snow from my tail. There was only a thin layer on the ground, but enough to make my feet feel frostbitten already. “What the fuck, how the fuck did this…oh man this is shameful.” Green-eyes barked at me. I swear she was giggling. “Go away! Ugh!” It took me some time to clamber back into my window. I had no idea if anyone saw me. Probably not, unless they were out in their yards. My house backed onto a bunch of trees, and behind those trees was a creek. Thankfully, a lot of the trees were also evergreen conifers and pines which would have obscured me even more. I was very quick to shower, then get into some warm clothes. I was also very, very tired, but not so tired that I couldn’t go to work. Mauve and Gerard seemed pretty unaware of what had happened. I was almost as unaware. What the fuck had I been doing outside in the early morning, naked?! Where had my memory gone? Had I slept walked? I vaguely remembered feeling sick and feverish the night before, but not much else. I had opened the window… What is going on here?
Whatever it was, it had to wait, and I had to get to work. Mauve wrapped me in a coat, gloves, and a scarf, then sent me off with some lunch. “Have a good day,” she smiled. Gerard drove me on the way to his work, and dropped me off with barely a word. Whatever. Work went fast, luckily. I learned a bunch of stuff. I also learned that kids’ parents are worse than the kids themselves. Hawkeye was a decent boss, and he even bought me a coffee to perk me up a bit. It worked, kind of, but I had to eat a hearty lunch to really get me back on my feet.
When I finished, the first person I went to meet was Tara. She was just outside the ice-cream place, but of course not too close to the door. I handed her a free ice-cream, ignoring the fact that more light snow was falling onto the melting snow. “So, how’s the job search going since yesterday?” I asked, genuinely worried about her lack of a job right now. She had been searching around, and I had been trying to help out, but I knew crap all about this city and the job seeking agencies, so I was almost completely no help. My expertise was limited to ‘Wanted: Sales Assistant” signs in the windows. Of course, I had no intentions of telling her what had just happened to me. No way was I gonna embarrass myself further. It was weird enough that dogs barked at me, wagged their tails, growled or tried to pull at their leashes to get a sniff at me every time I walked past. I figured that even though I had showered, I probably smelled like ‘Green-eyes’. She had, after all, been licking my face. Maybe she had even kept me warm as well. I suddenly felt bad for chasing the laughing animal away bad-temperedly. And, promptly, she showed up just as Tara was replying to me. She stood there, tongue lolling out of her mouth, her eyes bright with interest. I tried not to look at her.
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Post by tessa on Apr 30, 2011 17:52:36 GMT -5
I had tried to get a job with Hawkeye, but when I walked into the store, specifically near the freezers, I began to sneeze. It sucked balls. I would have totally loved to be near my favourite food all day long. Though the same kind of thing happened if I spent too long in the freezer sections of some grocery stores, and I didn’t stop to think I might have an allergy to the coolant until Hawkeye pointed it out later on. Hawkeye was pretty cool about it though; he seemed genuinely upset for me that this stupid allergy was the only thing between me and employment. He even sent out a copy of my resume and everything to some store owning buddies of his. His cousin owned a little Bar&Grill a few blocks away and was looking for some waitresses or waiters that were willing to become bar tenders. It was a place traditionally integrated but it was rare humans ever ventured inside. I had low hopes for actually getting that job though and put it almost completely out of my mind as I searched the city for possible employment. There was literally nothing for paranormals, and I got chased out of places when they found out what I was. That night I was sitting on my couch, staring off into space, wondering what the fuck I was going to do with myself, when I got a call from Hawkeye’s cousin, the owner of that Bar&Grill I was telling you about.
I was ecstatic! I squealed and jumped up, did some sort of weird little happy-dance, and promptly rushed to my closet to find and fix up my dressiest outfit. We had set up a time for an interview the next day just before the evening rush. They didn’t open until noon, since they didn’t serve breakfast, and didn’t start serving alcohol until five in the evening. I was so excited I barely slept!
I want to be able to say that I was all cool and I had it covered, that I knew exactly what I was going to say to all her questions and that I wasn’t sweating like a pig on the chopping block, but I can’t. I was terrified. I wriggled and bounced my leg the entire ride on the bus and as I waited for her to answer the door, I stood and tapped my fingers on the side of my leg. The woman was nice but strict, definitely a business owner. We shook hands and she introduced herself as Mrs. Caveney and invited me to her office, where I sat rigid and wriggled my toes inside my shoes.
“So, Miss Gerow.” She said, “you are a paranormal slave?” “I was a slave, yes.” I answered. The woman nodded, “Ah. And now you are free?” “Yes.” I said again, and a knot formed in my stomach, making me feel ill. Damn it, I should say something more! Mrs. Caveney continued, “Right. So what did you do as a slave?” The womans black eyes hardened and I could tell she had many instances where she wished she didn’t have to ask that question. I smiled, “I was a waitress. My master owned a small bar on Fort Street and I worked evenings and weekends. I worked hard for him and I was never late. I’m good handling drunks, I remember orders perfectly and I’ve never gotten any complaints. I worked there for a year and--” “Did he fire you because slavery was abolished?”
The sharp question made me stiffen and stare at the woman with blank, scared eyes. “Y-yes.” I replied quietly. A brittle silence hung between us, and I was sure that she had already made up her mind. She examined me thoroughly from under a serious mask. I was scared I had lost the job, maybe I wasn’t assertive enough, maybe she was looking for someone who wasn’t such a loser or maybe something about the way I reacted to her questions put her off. I wish I had been. I blew it, I thought glumly. Mrs. Caveney shook her head, as if she didn't believe what I had just said.
“What an asshole," she sneered, "I hope you belted him one.” I watched her as her mouth quirked into a friendly smile, and I chuckled in relief. Mrs. Caveney crossed her legs and leaned back in her office chair, folding her hands on her knee. I relaxed and colour flushed back into my face, and I suddenly became aware of my heart beat. “Now just a few, um, personal questions: what species are you? We like to know in advance if you have any dire medical needs, including anything that has to do with your species, because we try to accommodate our workers where at all possible. We have one employee who needs to be drinking water all the time so he’s allowed to wear his aqua pack when at work, and another whose skin cannot be in direct contact with artificial light for too long so he wears a mask. Stuff like that.”
I nodded, trying hard to hide a huge grin. “I am a shape shifter. Raven form. I am allergic to something that has to do with keeping frozen food frozen, and I’m not sure what it is yet…as far as I know I have no other outstanding medical conditions.” My voice was light with excitement through the rest of the interview, while Mrs. Caveney kept her cool under an amused smirk.
I could have skipped all the way to Hawkeye’s. I don't think I have ever been so happy up until that point. I mean seriously, how could I be depressed? I just had an interview that went relatively well as far as I knew, and now I was meeting my boyfriend… and he had ice cream!
I gave Milo a huge smile, and flashed Hawkeye an enthusiastic thumbs up as I licked a chocolate chunk from my ice cream. “Mmm!” I said, reaching forward and hugging Milo with all my strength. “You sure know the way to this bitch’s heart; this shit is fucking yummy! Thank you.” I smiled up at him and peeled myself away, though I still remained very close.
“Um. Well the job searching went well, I just had an interview at a restaurant, and I think it went okay. How was your day?” I asked, finishing off the ice cream so it was disappearing into cone and began shivering.
I stuffed one hand into my pocket and grinned up at him. Suddenly I wondered if he thought I looked nice in my outfit. I never worried about that before. Although, I have to admit that even at that point I was feeling suddenly compelled to dress up for Milo, to try to make him light up when he saw me. My clothes weren’t exactly nice but they weren’t threadbare rags, at least. I was wearing a pair of black cotton dress pants and fitted blouse under a small black shawl. Over that was a winter coat, and under my pant legs were an ancient pair of winter boots.
I adored Milo. My stomach tensed up with anticipation, and I took my free hand from my pocket and grabbed his hand insead. He looked distracted… but I was also distracted. I don’t know exactly why I did it, but I was simply fixated on him; on his face, on his lips and I couldn’t look away. I took another step towards him and stood up on my toes and reached as much as I could, kissing him finally--- after all this time of thinking about it and worrying and becoming scared of it--- on his soft, gentle lips. It wasn't an impressive kiss. I got scared halfway through and pulled away. But the touch was all I needed to get my pulse racing. I didn’t let go of his hand, even though I wanted to to hide my face from his incase what I had done wasn't okay.
“Hey, um…that dog is still following you?” I asked him. My voice cracked and I cleared my throat, flashing him a shy smile, hoping the change in subject could cover my embarrassment. It wasn't a bad embarrassment, not at all! But I still blushed. I turned back to the dog and broke off a piece of my ice-cream cone, knelt down and held it out to her. “Do you want some? It’s tasty; it’s a waffle cone! They’re the shit!” I turned my head away from the dog to look up at Milo, smiling warmly “so… does she have a name?”
(( hope this was okay. I don't think they've kissed yet have they? I tried to imagine what Tara would have thought. I figured Milo would be surprised, but I imagine he would be the kind of jerk to have soft lips in the winter time :/ mine get all chapped up. It sucks. DX))
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