welcome to your new hell, Welcome to the Menagerie. Or as we like to call it, Dome Sweet Dome! We are an eight-year strong futuristic shapeshifter and sci-fi creature roleplay, dedicated to bringing you a world unlike any other; a world in which your character has become an experiment and must fight for survival in a domed city, cut off from the rest of the world. Choose to be any animal in your fight for survival in an artificial world built by the Keepers as they subject you to experiments beyond your control. Choose to wander the world inside the walls alone, as a Rogue, or find safety in numbers in one of the groups known as Rings. How will you survive?
60 - 65 ºF
blustery with scattered showers spotty sunshine
YEAR 2309
shift bans.
» Cougars (aka Puma, Mountain Lion, Panther)
» All Tiger Species
» All Lion Species
» All Wolf Species
» African Leopards
group bans.
none.
encouraged !
FEMALE CHARACTERS! create a RETRO or ANTHRO and get 250 CP + a free skill! read me for more info!
last updated: april 19th, 2016
Click on each Ring or Retro group image to view their ranks!
GROUP UPDATES
CARNARING
Jocelyn Edelwolfe is the new Alpha! Seija Mulviene is the new Beta, and Grey is the new Delta. Lead Hunter is now Boone Haywood, Head of Border Patrol is now Noelle Ndango!
FALLENRING
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FULSIRING
Fulsi has a standing treaty with the Nakoma, granting limited access to their fresh water.
NAKOMA TRIBE
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ANALOYA PRIDE
a while back, the Analoya suffered a suspicious poisoning of their river, luckily with few casualties; the Bellator are suspected of having taken part in it, and there are whispers that Pride leader Wanderer is talking alliance with the Nilda for access to their clean water.
BELLATOR HERD
As new leader of the Bellator, Loril has instituted some rank changes. See this thread for more information!
LAWAII FLOCK
no updates!
NILDA PACK
no updates!
CARNARING QUICK STATS
ALPHA -- Jocelyn Edelwolfe, Clouded Leopard, played by IronChild
BETA -- Seija Mulviene, Spotted Hyena, played by Seija-chan
DELTA --Grey, Mackenzie Valley Wolf, played by Kriss
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Post by Persephone Todd on Dec 26, 2014 3:20:43 GMT -5
Hot food was seriously the best. Not that Persephone could tell any more that that bowl she was carrying was warm; her skin had already adapted. What she did know was that she was more alert than was normal at this time of day, at this time of year.
And so she ventured out into the twilight, the soup clutched close to her chest. Autumn was marching on and the day was coming when Seph would start sleeping a week or more at a time and be useless and foggy in between. In the meantime, she was always trying to cram in one more round at something, in case it was the last. Tonight it was stargazing. It was a quieter sort of activity, so she’d slipped off without any buddies. The original thought was, if she did crash out here, Kearie or Zora would most likely come find her. While hunting a good car to perch on, however, her eye caught a smidge of yellow. The blotchy anthro had to get closer to be sure, but her mouth curved slyly when her suspicions were confirmed. It was too good an opportunity to pass up.
She’d seen Soren a couple of times since the incident. The big guy always seemed wildly uncomfortable and she’d let him off with just a passing ‘hello’ or the like. Whatever was up with this chap, it wasn’t something to pursue in front of other people. This was the first time she’d run into him alone.
Seph kept having to remind herself that it has really been a big fluke. But curse it all if Seph has convinced herself long ago that no boy was ever going to fall for her, which made it so easy to exaggerate any chance of the opposite being true. She hadn’t been kissed since before the dome, which was seven or so years ago. To be fair, for the first few years the only boy she’d been around was Emile. There’d never been any romantic feelings between the two of them, once Seph started seeing him as more than just a knight in shining armor. Which was strange, since they were both basically parents to April.
Beyond her romantic frustration, though, Seph was just really curious. Why did Fishboy lose it when the ocean was brought up? What did snogging have to do with it? It hardly mattered that maybe that was none of her business; if she could find out, she was going for it.
It was a delicate thing to approach someone so timid. She didn’t want him to run off, so she approached as quietly as she could. At the same time, that meant she might startle him…which kind of sounded fun. Big guys like him getting all jumpy was just precious.
She set the soup down on the trunk of the rusted sedan he sat on. “What’s up, Buttercup?”
Post by Soren Forde on Jan 3, 2015 19:23:52 GMT -5
At that time of the evening it was generally rare to find the large anthromorph around the district. Since he guessed it was probably about a Wednesday, Soren would normally be on patrol or out on a hunt. However, the bandage wrapped around his arm gave away his reasons for being so idle. Whilst it had been a while since the fight, the blood loss had affected his thinking and for the next week or so he was on limited duties. Soren had already managed to survive the past few days doing no work at all but it was beginning to wear him down. He was fidgety and on edge, all the pent up energy wishing to be released. He had also had a large amount of time to think and that was one think Soren never wanted to do again. His usual solitary nature meant he’d spent most of his time away from the other anthros, reading the few books he had found in the dome, or simply just breathing. Words had been scarce for the man, other than the odd ‘hello’ to a fellow Nakoma.
He’d seen Persephone. To say it was awkward was quite an understatement and Soren wished he’d never played the fool in the first place. She was the one that mentioned the ocean, but blaming her would get the pair nowhere. There wasn’t even a pair anyway. There was just him and then there was her but they were complete separate beings and Ren wanted to keep it that way. At least, that’s what he continued to tell himself every time he was forced to mutter a greeting or smile over at her in passing. Other than that there had been no contact. He should think it a good thing, but Soren couldn’t ignore the nagging part of his brain that secretly wanted to speak with her again. Perhaps he shouldn’t have just run out the way he did. Then again, Ren didn’t want to have to delve into the details of his murky past in order to get her to understand.
The sunset was turning the sky orange as Soren watched it from his neat little perch. He remembered his parents owning a sedan at one point in their lives. It was so long ago and the car trips had always caused him and his sister to fight. They fought so much before he finally left, abandoning them for his grandparents. That was wrong though; they’d forced him to move to Australia. A boy terrified of the ocean could never live in a fishing village. A boy born to kill needed to be removed from the peaceful village.
So caught up in his thoughts was Soren that he barely noticed the figure approaching him. It was only when she set her bowl down that he turned to see Persephone’s highly recognisable figure standing by the car. The hot dinner had been a welcome pleasure for the man and he’d gulped it down quickly. Seeing Seph’s bowl beside him only made him wish there was enough for seconds. Soren spent most of his life wishing there was more food; he always seemed to be hungry.
Frowning slightly at the nickname, Soren then forced himself to smile a little. He had hoped to speak to her after all and so it was best to act welcoming. Something about her seemed a little off though, but the fish boy couldn’t quite work out what was the cause. “Just in time to watch the sunset I believe,” he said, nodding his head towards the sky. The sky was the furthest point away from the ocean that one could get and Soren silently wished he’d been given an avian shift instead of an aquatic one. “What a beauty,” he murmured as an afterthought, his features softening into a calm expression. Soren was unsure if it was in reference to the sky or his company, but he preferred to leave such thoughts untouched. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of last time.
OOC | perhaps this mistletoe won't take an entire year to get done xD
Post by Persephone Todd on Jan 7, 2015 1:07:00 GMT -5
He didn’t seem startled. In the twilight, her eyes couldn’t even pick up the displeased curve of his mouth. No doubt there would be uncomfortable emotion at some point during this. Seph caught herself thinking that would be amusing.
There was an abundance of tall individuals in the tribe, and Seph was going to take this opportunity to not be the one looking up, for once. She scrambled onto the trunk, then the roof of the car, grunting absently in response to his comment. Odd that fishboy would admit to that sort of sappy thing. Not because he was a guy; at one point, she probably would have thought of it that way. But this was the Menagerie, and everyone was trying to act tough regardless of gender. Plenty of people got oddly philosophical when the sky did its daily color show, but this wasn’t the kind of place they shared those thoughts often. Especially not bashful giants like this chap.
The anthro girl fished a half-squashed matchbox out of her pocket and shook it, in case anything was alive inside, then sprinkled some into the bowl. Soup nights were a good time to have backup bugs, especially since they were some of the few foods nobody expected you to share, or even accept when proffered. In the past, Seph would have been just the same; she’d been the sort to completely lose her composure in the presence of insects. Antonia wasn’t going to allow the possibility of her drawing unwanted attention if she panicked, nor rejecting legitimate food sources. Eventually Seph had had to face the problem so everyone in the group would stop throwing spiders at her. She now regarded the whole situation as hilarious, especially after what had happened when Antonia tried to cure April of her fear of heights.
Perhaps the silence had already gone on long enough to make her companion uncomfortable, but Seph went ahead and took a mouthful of food. She needed to think. Soren was quiet, and already showed some inclination to run rather than face embarrassment. In fact, it had been stupid to try and startle him. She needed him calm. He needed to stare into the sunset and feel the calming vastness of the world and how small a speck he was in the universe or whatever. Jumping right to the burning question could just make him shut down.
Small talk it was, then. Maybe show a little concern for his well-being, if that didn’t just make him feel coddled. “Come do this often? Or is this just to kill the boredom while you rest up?” Just in case, she held the bugbox out in silent offering. “How’s that comin’ along, by the way?”
[ - female - 22 - british - nudibranch - 5'6" - heterosexual - single - ]
Post by Soren Forde on Jan 11, 2015 23:42:32 GMT -5
The silence rolled over the pair like a wave but Soren made no attempt to remedy it. In truth, he was quite happy not talking, and he much preferred it to the other possible options. The sun was still setting and he thought it might be getting dark very soon. Thankfully his eye sight was more than equipped to deal with lower lights, but perhaps Persephone’s was not. Of course, she didn’t appear to have eyes at all so maybe she used something else to see. It was a rather odd thought and Soren immediately silenced his mind, instead turning it to thoughts of the sunset. It was best not to question the looks of an anthromorph, though somehow he couldn’t do that in regards to his own visage. His reflection still terrified him.
As Persephone joined him atop the car, Ren thought it might be a good idea to show some kind of emotion. In the simplest manner, he looked towards her and gave her a slight smile. It was quite an accomplishment; receiving a smile from the brooding fish-man was a rare thing indeed. He noted that it wasn’t exactly difficult to smile at the woman. Somehow, it came naturally, and it was a strange feeling for the Norwegian. He wasn’t use to this kind of happiness, one that was so natural and yet so confusing. Of course there was the chance he had screwed it up beyond repair the first time they had met. If so, Soren cursed himself. Then again, she was sitting here beside him and that had to be a good sign.
Frowning at the box, Soren’s head tilted slightly to the left as his eyes narrowed in on the contents. “Bugs?” he murmured softly as Seph sprinkled them on her dinner. It wasn’t as if it was the first time he had seen someone eat bugs, it was just rather unexpected. Bugs weren’t usually something a sane person put on their food and yet here was Persephone, sprinkling them on as though they were merely grains of salt. Did anthromorph experiments affect one’s appetite too? It hadn’t for Soren but all of their kind were incredibly different from one another. Perhaps the Keepers had worked out how to do all kinds of things to the shapeshifters. Soren was just glad he never had to be a fish again. Even thinking about swimming in the ocean made his stomach churn.
Soren glanced sideways at Persephone as she asked him questions. At the offer of the bugs, he shook his head slightly, waving his hands in a declining motion. As much as Seph seemed to enjoy them, Soren thought he wouldn’t quite have that acquired taste. Instead he merely smiled a little, turning back to face the other anthro. “Resting is not my strong suit I’m afraid,” he replied, grinning a little apologetically. “I’m on reduced shifts until I’m all healed up, which should be pretty soon.” His expression softened in a sort of thankful manner as he looked over at the girl. It was understandable, since she had been the one to help him that day.
That day. That was not a good day for him. Soren wanted to apologise for his actions but the words escaped him even as he tried to form them in his mind. There was no way of expressing his apology, perhaps because he felt he didn’t need to express it. Whilst part of him regretted it, another part didn’t. Sure, he kissed her because he had blacked out and was hallucinating his ex-boyfriend, but he had also been so intrigued by the strange woman the moment he saw her. He refused to call them feelings, because at that point they still weren’t, they were merely a curiosity and a genuine trust in her. He didn’t understand why that trust came so easily, or why he found her so likeable. She just happened to be that way. She was the complete opposite of Mike; she was so gentle and soft spoken and altogether strange. But she was like him so perhaps she understood what it was like to not recognise your own reflection.
Regardless of how she felt about the incident, Soren knew he at least wanted to continue talking to her now. Words. He needed to use words. He didn’t often do such a thing but he felt obligated to make an effort for her, lest she become bored and leave him alone forever. “So Seph, you fix up anyone worse off than me this week?” He regretted his words instantly. Surely he could have asked something a little more interesting. He had to run with it now. All he could do was hope Persephone understood his social ineptitude.
Post by Persephone Todd on Jan 18, 2015 19:38:19 GMT -5
He declined the insects gracefully. Other than that one incident, it seemed he wasn’t one to react strongly to things. Persephone nodded, sprinkled a few more in her bowl, then after a pause dumped half the contents of the box in. She wasn’t likely to need them for much longer, so might as well use them up. A beetle started floundering in the broth, which Seph quickly popped into her mouth.
As she suspected, Soren wasn’t thrilled with his situation. But everything was going fine, and he spoke of his misfortune playfully. A genuine smile, that was a promising. “Good, good. As long as someone’s keeping your butt in line.” To the west, a few pinpricks were visible. Seph stared up at them, crunching on carapaces and considering her next angle. Before she’d gotten anywhere, however, her companion took the initiative. Immediately she looked at him, rewarding his bravery while also signaling with one hand that her mouth was full.
This was a rare, good spell to be asked that question. Plenty had asked it before, not realizing it wasn’t something that could always be discussed casually. Seph simply omitted any recent emergencies. For one thing, discussing the dead and injured was a wildly uncomfortable, especially with people like Soren, who always faced the possibility of joining their ranks. Meanwhile Seph hated to revisit any dire situation with patients to know every det. It wasn’t just the ones that had died; people screamed and flailed, begged for friends or help or death, completely lost their mind in pain or fear. And then there were the people who knew the wounded, being eaten away by worry, or always inquiring after friends they weren’t allowed to visit, or wanting ail of someone who had died while they were absent…Seph tended to block out those memories any time they started to surface.
Fortunately, there’d been none of that lately. “Let’s see, uh…some girl fell through a rotten floor somewhere, broke a couple of ribs and got all bruised up…other than that, it’s really just been people got roughed up in a fight, like you were.” It might have been good to wait and see if he would try talking again. After all, Fish Boy had shown possible interest in what she did. He’d just happened to pick one topic that could go places Seph didn’t care to go.
“How 'bout you? Kiss anybody else this week?” She froze after saying it, brow furrowed. It seemed like she’d meant to hold off on that topic for a bit longer. That would have made more sense. With a mental shrug, she downed a few more bites of supper. At least he wouldn’t ask about the terrors of her job now. Seph was more concerned about the possibility that she wasn’t going stay coherent out here as long as she’d thought.
Post by Soren Forde on Mar 11, 2015 1:46:56 GMT -5
It was rather odd watching someone eat live bugs, and Soren wasn’t entirely sure if he was comfortable with such an act. He was aware of various anthros having habits to do with their shift animal and Persephone was already rather odd in a sense. Perhaps bugs were the natural diet of whatever strange creature she shared her DNA with. After studying her quite thoroughly in their first meeting, he was still caught up on working out what exactly it was that Persephone had shifted into. He figured it was some kind of bug or possibly strange sea creature, but he couldn’t be sure. His knowledge of fish only extended to what could be caught off the coast of Vardo, as well as his own shift. Even then his shift had terrified him; the entire concept of being underwater terrified the man.
Following her gaze, Ren wondered if the woman could even see. Though she had no visible eyeballs it appeared that her vision was good enough. She had fixed his arm up well enough in any case. He merely nodded in response to her remark, his smile softening a little. Despite his initial discomfort he didn’t mind sitting with Seph in such an environment. Though he had wanted to be alone that evening, he was warming to the idea of company. At least she was smart enough to stray away from bringing up their previous encounter.
His question had been a genuine one and he was interested in her answer. Sure, he had seen people worse off than him many times, but recently he’d had a habit of really getting banged up. No blind rages though and that was a good sign. He hadn’t had one of them since the war. The memory stung him and he had to consciously stop himself from flinching as his mind passed over the thought. Soren wasn’t ready to revisit that just yet.
Turning his gaze back to her, he was unsure whether to watch Seph’s mouth move or look into where he eyes should be. He settled instead for looking somewhere in the centre of her face, that way she probably wouldn’t know quite where he was looking. Ren frowned slightly at the mention of someone falling through a floor but quickly shifted into a more comfortable and neutral expression.
Persephone’s next remark shot through him. Straightening up, Soren’s eyes widened and he stared at her a few moments before recovering. He opened his mouth to talk but abruptly closed it when he couldn’t quite think of anything to say. Seph simply went back to eating, throwing Soren into a whirlwind of confusion. What was her angle? He hadn’t stayed long enough to work out what her actual reaction to the kiss was, though he could guess it wasn’t positive. So why was she bringing it up all of a sudden? Was she trying to exact some kind of revenge for his unwanted advances? Soren thought that somehow she wasn’t quite that cruel.
There was only one thing he could do and that was to play it cool. “Actually no,” he said matter-of-factly, turning his gaze back to the horizon, his lips forming a straight line and his eyebrows raised. “And you should know that not all of my first introductions happen quite that way.” He smiled, offering up a small laugh as he turned back to face her. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable though Seph. That was the last thing I wanted to do…” His voice faded out as he turned back to the stars that had grown in number. At least he had apologised for it all now, and that meant his conscience was clean. Whether or not she wished to comment was all up to her.
ooc |Fuleao Because I got bored... Also because I ship it waaay too hard xD
Post by Persephone Todd on Mar 17, 2015 23:07:34 GMT -5
As soft as she was, it was possible that Persephone’s time as a healer had created a callous streak. She was more likely to just try and forget the horrors, but she wasn’t always outside the dark humor and detachment that plenty of her comrades seemed to resort to. At any rate she thoroughly enjoyed getting him to break his façade, and she enjoyed being able to munch her dinner as if she were innocent.
When he did speak, though, he seemed terse. That poked a hole in her self-satisfaction. It was fun, but then again she didn’t want him to shut down. It lasted only a moment, however, before he laughed and apologized for the smooch. Still, she stopped eating to zip up her jacket. With no heta production it wasn’t much, but every little bit could help.
Persephone could have toyed with the chap more. But again there was that delicate balance. It seemed ideal to make sure he knew there were no hard feelings. “Psh, doesn’t really bother me. Most action I’ve got since I got here.” Which was exactly why she didn’t trust her feelings about the incident. She really wasn’t mad. That was about all she knew for sure…on her side, at least. The question of what had sparked his actions was still a burning mystery. If it had been because of the blood loss, Seph highly doubted that was all there was to it. All her other theories had even bigger holes.
He hadn’t tried to change the subject, and he’d laughed and smiled a little. Perhaps she could probe a little more. Better to talk everything out now, instead of having to dredge it all up again later. “Gotta say I'm curious, though. I mean, dunno if you just get particularly interesting when you're lightheaded, or I'm just brilliantly sexy all of a sudden, or maybe you get wildly turned-on when you think about th…” She looked at him a moment, lower lip held between her teeth. She wasn’t going to get answers if she set him off again. “….about certain geographical features? Basically, if that’s not how intros normally go down for you, what happened that time?” She also directed her attention back to the horizon, hoping to remove pressure as she removed her gaze.
[ - female - 22 - british - nudibranch - 5'6" - heterosexual - single - ]
Post by Soren Forde on May 31, 2015 21:35:29 GMT -5
Letting the silence drift between them, Soren kept his eyes fixed on the stars that illuminated the horizon. As she spoke, he wasn’t sure what his reaction was meant to be. Was she joking around? He supposed, and so he let his lips curl upwards slightly again into a soft smile. It was an odd sort of thing to say but Persephone seemed to be an odd sort of person. Then again, he didn’t mind that particularly. It was a nice change of pace from the crowd he was used to hanging out with. He had always been the odd one wherever he went, and he supposed he still was and there was nothing wrong with that.
Soren had moved from different states of weird throughout his life, but he felt as though being an anthromorph was one of the strangest. When he was a child, he was the strange child that hated the water, and then as a teenager he was the weird boy with a weird accent. Each time though he’d found something or someone. Now, he was the anthromorph who had killed anthromorphs – not that any of them knew. Regardless, Ren felt like an imposter, especially around people as kind-hearted as Seph. At times like that he was filled with a longing to reveal his secret but that would only end with his execution – something he was not ready for.
The fish boy assumed his companion would speak again, and so he let her move around in her thoughts. He didn’t quite feel like talking but he also felt like he had to. Somehow he had to explain to her what had happened, justify his actions in her eyes and earn her forgiveness. He knew he had been completely out of line but he had also been completely out of himself. When thoughts such as those consumed him he lost all control – just like the blackouts that turned him into a creature of pain and death.
There it was, she spoke again and this time Soren’s gaze turned to fix on her. He continued to watch the space where he assumed her eyes were – the confusion of her visage still made him nervous. Her words however, caused him to frown. What was her angle? Clearly she wanted some kind of explanation but it would take Soren a few moments to decide if he was ready to give one. Didn’t he owe it to her though? Perhaps, but Ren was still unsure. He hadn’t admitted certain things to himself and admitting them to Persephone was another thing entirely.
Her gaze removed from him, Soren allowed himself to continue moving his eyes over her, taking in the features and trying to imagine what she would have looked like before the Keepers. He thought she would have been quite beautiful, even if what he imagined was completely wrong. Even now she fascinated him, but in a different way than if he’d known her before. Was that a bad thing? Soren thought perhaps not. Maybe she would’ve seen him differently had she known him before the Keepers. Pondering those kinds of things was often harmful but Soren’s mind couldn’t be controlled in such a way. Still, it made him smile to think.
The silence had sat between them long enough, he thought. “You can, uh, mention the ocean. I won’t lose it,” he murmured, laughing softly. “I’m, um, I’m thalassophobic. Water kinda freaks me out a bit. And yet, a lot of my past involves water so it’s a bit of a problem sometimes. I just, sometimes I freak out more than normal. It brings back memories of places, people and such and I guess that’s what happened.” Soren paused, not quite wanting to continue. Anymore delving into the past and he would lose it again. Thoughts of Mike crossed his mind but he pushed him away, not wanting to mention the man to Persephone. He wasn’t quite ready for that kind of truth just yet. “But I mean,” he added, “your beauty may have had something to do with it.” He grinned over at Seph, a sly sort of crooked grin, his eyes softening as he gazed at her.
Post by Persephone Todd on Jul 12, 2015 0:59:47 GMT -5
It occurred to her, as she waiting on him, that he’d looked her right in the invisible eyes. Not everyone did that. It was like they thought they were somewhere else, or maybe it was like how people would doggedly avoid looking at anything unusual about a person. Newer folk at least tended to look more at her mouth or flicker oddly about. She appreciated that.
He was talking about water, but Persephone didn’t even notice she could barely hear him. Not until that last comment, at least, which made her pause eating for about one second. That was how long it took her to decide he was definitely lying. Following her joke, or cushioning her feelings, whatever. If anything, Seph was pretty in the way a…..a granite countertop was pretty. That was a sufficiently splotchy comparison.
Of course her mutations weren’t really the root of the problem. Like so many others, she’d deflected compliments from the day she was old enough to figure out that’s what she was supposed to do. Same with not seeing anything nice about herself. It had always driven Lizzy crazy. She’d always tell Seph to just stop, like it was something she could switch off. It hadn’t even been important; left on her own, she’d had much bigger things to worry about. But Lizzy had acted like it was awful. God, Lizzy had made everything a big deal, wanted to fight everything. And she was right half the time, but Seph had just wanted to lay low and get through things. Eventually her sister had caught on and been less direct. “Don’t floccinaucinihilipilificate encomiums,” she’d grin. Seph would smile back and pretend the scolding had been softened by the jab at Mum’s word-a-day calendar. They’d always used to keep a lookout for some oddball word to abuse. Soren probably would be good at it, using words like….what was it? Glassophobic?
A clattering sound interrupted the laundry list of ridiculous words her thought had gotten trapped in. As Seph’s eyes refocused, she looked down and realized she’d dropped the spoon, and had started to slump forward a little. She straightened slowly, turning to offer Soren a sheepish smile. How long had she left him hanging?
The line on his face was kind of funny. Like a huge, dramatic scar in a cheesy action movie. What animal had he said gave him that? Butterfly something….must have been some darn scary butterflies…nono, it was a mark. A marking from a…the name had butterfly and fish in it. So he was like her. Yeah. That made sense in an aquarium, after all. Also why she felt so calm right now. Just watching fish, just floating with them….no that would mean small, trapped, blind, suffocating and somewhere, underneath a rock or something, they were saying to get away from that. Her thoughts jumped to……music instead, and for a few moments she could see her surroundings again as what she only thought was a tune rang in her mind. No fireflies. Disappointing. The spiders were crawling up her arms now, they needed food and there was nothing. Seems there was a cliff though oh crap.
The bowl of soup clattered down the windshield. Seph slid after it, landing in a limp heap against Soren’s thigh.
o.o.c. – Yeah I was going more for half-dreaming instead of tripping, but whaddya do man. Also that word calendar thing is all your fault. XD
[ - female - 22 - british - nudibranch - 5'6" - heterosexual - single - ]
Post by Soren Forde on Nov 12, 2015 20:40:21 GMT -5
The fact that the other anthromorph was somewhat tuned out went unnoticed by Soren. It wasn’t until he realised they’d been sitting in silence for quite a few moments that he thought perhaps something was up. She hadn’t responded to his comment in any sort of way and it made him think that perhaps she just wasn’t interested at all. Then again, Soren wasn’t sure he was interested at all. What had happened last time had messed with his head and he figured that he had screwed up any sort of chance at even a friendship with the strange fish-girl. Just his luck, of course, and it probably served him right. She was better off without him regardless, especially with his shaky past. If she found out any of his history within the dome Persephone would certainly never speak to him again.
The sun was gone for good now and Soren was thankful for the cool breeze. Norway had made him more than accustomed to cold weather, and Queensland had messed with that entirely. Still, he could never go past a good bit of snow. The fish inside him longed for warm, tropical weather, and Soren fought that tooth and nail. His natural instinct was the enemy to the man just as it had been his whole life. While part of him longed for the ocean and open water, the other part wished to be as far inland as possible. The conflict within his soul was almost unbearable at times, but sitting with Seph he found himself focused on her instead. His mind wandered only barely, while his eyes moved across every inch of her. She wasn’t repulsive. The Carna had lied to him about the anthromorphs. The Carna had lied to him about everything.
As the spoon dropped, Soren’s face fell and he regarded his companion with slight worry. “Seph?” He murmured her name but she made no response, furthering his anxiety. She slouched a bit but then straightened again and looked up at him. He offered a small smile in response to hers, thankful that she was back in the land of the living once more. Perhaps he had simply overreacted. People were clumsy sometimes and even Soren was known to drop things every now and then. He was being irrational. Persephone was evidently just tired since it was quite late and he imagined she had spent most of the day patching people up. Ren on the other hand had done next to nothing since he was still off hunter duty for a while. So whilst he was wide awake, the other anthro was probably more than ready for some sleep.
Once again silence filled them, and Soren turned his gaze back to the sky. The constellations were all different under the dome. There was no Southern Cross or Orion’s belt to make him feel at ease. Soren wasn’t even convinced the stars were real. The Keepers tortured them in so many ways it only seemed right that they’d steal the stars away too, replacing them with imposters or spies loyal only to them. Even the stars were enemies now.
It wasn’t until he saw in his peripheral vision the slumped figure that Soren realised something was going on. He turned just in time to wrap an arm around Persephone as she fell onto his thigh. The corners of his lips immediately turned downwards and his brow creased as his eyes scanned her body. Grabbing her food, he placed it behind him on the hood of the car, out of the way. He shook her gently, whispering her name close to her ears, but she didn’t stir.
“Shit,” he cursed, lifting her head up. He had intended to check her pupil response, but suddenly realised that was impossible due to her mutations. Feeling her pulse, Soren sighed relief. At least she was alive. “Oh come on Seph,” he whispered again, shaking his head in mild annoyance. Nothing seemed to go right when he was around her. Clearly the universe was sending him a sign out of malice. “Can’t you punish me later universe,” he mumbled, looking up at the sky. Exhaling, Soren knew he could hardly leave her there.
Keeping one arm around her, he placed the other under he knees and lifted her off the car fire-fighter style. She was so light but she remained slumped as he slid off the hood. She appeared to be in some kind of deep sleep. Maybe she was just really tired after her long day. Or maybe something was terribly wrong with her.
Once he was off the car, Soren stood still for a moment. What was he even going to do with her? He didn’t even know where her bed was so he couldn’t take her there. No one else really seemed to be up anymore, other than a few scouts but they would be on the borders, far from his current location.
Instead Soren decided to channel his inner Bogan, walking up to the nearest Ute. The car was run down but its cargo tray was relatively clean. It appeared someone had had a similar idea, since there were already a few blankets and pillows lying around in the tray, causing a slight smile to cross Soren’s face. “It’s like being back home,” he sighed, lifting Persephone over the ridge and onto one of the blankets. He then swung himself over and into the tray, crouching beside her. Arranging her on the blankets, he propped her head on a pillow and covered her with another blanket. Once again, he quickly checked her pulse and made sure she was breathing, before he settled in the opposite corner of the ute.
It was incredibly late and Soren had no idea how long she would be out for, so he covered himself in a blanket to keep warm, but kept his eye fixed on Seph. He’d pulled all-nighters before so this was easy for him, but worry continued to nag at his stomach, causing it to churn. “Please be okay.”
Post by Persephone Todd on Dec 18, 2015 20:12:29 GMT -5
In between the typical nonsense, it did occur to Seph that she was completely vulnerable right now. Or at least, the thought ‘bad’ blinked in and out of her train of thought. The what, the why, and the solution always drowned in the ensuing panic, diluted as it was. And then she’d forget completely, only for the cycle to begin again. She never even managed an answer; there was suddenly something warm next to her, and that was that. She instead made two attempts to make a grocery list, only to get interrupted by a neighbor’s incomprehensible voice, then a convoluted set of what she thought were mnemonics to remember the French word for ‘spoon.’ She was in the middle of a montage of tile floors she’d seen in her life when the heat suddenly abandoned her. Seph thought she protested, when in reality she did nothing more than exhale inaudibly. Stupid dog. Couldn’t remember his….her….his name, couldn’t call them back. But she knew she didn’t feel like blacking out again. She reached this conclusion right before and right after blacking out for another couple of minutes.
A hand snaked out from the blanket, thudding against the wall of the truck bed. She tried the opposite direction. Nothing, but at least the way was clear. It took half of a minute for Seph to drag her hands into position and lift her torso just enough to haul it forward and then collapse again. She almost gave up after that, but with some faint grumbling she sent her hand out again. It slapped faintly over something, which proved to be warm after a testing pause. The effect was like a slow-motion pounce; Seph dragged herself against the heat source and latched on, pressing as close as possible.
A few minutes passed before it even occurred to her that this heat source probably had a…person-ness. A name. That. A thing that should be identified. Her rhinophores reluctantly poked into the cold, twitching at the closest swatch of skin. Familiar, but about 15 feet of fog stood between her brain and the answer…Soren.
Whoa, what.
That jolted a little more clarity into her, which wasn’t saying much. When did this happen? Surely she could at least remember getting…was this a hookup or did she have a boyfriend now? What time was it? Should she kick him out before someone noticed? God, was she on duty this morning? Because she was not feeling it, a thought that ultimately convinced her to settle in and just accept the situation. She forgot lots of things when she as like this. Besides, if some guy wanted to cuddle her, Seph wasn’t going to complain. Although, by now he’d probably noticed she was awake, so she might as well acknowledge him. Craning her head back, she offered a sleepy smile. “Mornin’.” She strained upward, clumsy mouth catching on Soren’s jaw before planting on his lips for several seconds. The kiss ended with a contented sigh as Seph snuggled back to his chest.
If he responded, Persephone barely heard him. Her thoughts were little more than how warm and contented she was and how she might punch anyone who told her to get out of bed. Actually, no, if she was this out of it, she probably wouldn’t be bothered. They’re leave her alone here with Ozy….or maybe this was Kearie? Maybe it was time for the weekly meal….no, this was Soren. Right.
Wait, what was he doing here? The last thing Persephone could remember was sitting out in the junkyard with him. With a little searching, the rest of their interactions arose. Maybe it wasn’t that she couldn’t remember their relationship progressing this far….maybe it actually hadn’t? It didn’t help her make sense of all this; if anything, it made his presence even more confusing. If it was the case, though, it did make one thing abundantly clear.
Seph peeled her face away from the warm of his chest and looked up. “Th….that wazn right, wuzzit…” None too gently, her hand swiped at his mouth. “There. Fr’get that. Yeah.” Thinking the mattered settled, she tried to settle in again.
o.o.c. – It hasn’t been that long she just thinks it’s the morning.
Post by Soren Forde on Feb 18, 2016 23:05:23 GMT -5
Gaze was locked on the sleeping figure as Soren fought of the will to sleep. He could feel his eyelids drooping, his head starting to sink lower and lower but he willed his body to fight it and stay awake. He wasn’t even totally sure if what Persephone was doing was even sleeping. She’d seemed to have simply passed out. Her vitals were all right as far as he could tell. It would certainly be easier to check if she had eyeballs or something but Soren instead decided to believe she was totally fine. Just sleeping. She was just sleeping. But he was not allowed to sleep.
Surely enough though the minutes passed and Soren’s head sunk down, his eyes closing. In his sleep he moved into a more comfortable resting position, though his legs had to be curled up in order to fit inside the tray. His sleep was somewhat restless and every so often he’d briefly awake, try and sit up but fall back into a dream. In his dreams he was underwater mostly, struggling for breath but also not struggling. He was receiving oxygen, but his brain told him to suck in and he did, filling his lungs with water. Mike wasn’t there and for the first time Soren was almost thankful for his absence.
Unaware of the movement beside him, Soren slept on as Seph tried to reach out. If he’d been awake he certainly would have stopped her from trying to sit up. It wasn’t until her hand slapped against his side that he came back into the world, eyes slightly opening. He jerked away slightly at the surprise of it but then half-smiled as Persephone lunged towards him, snuggling into his chest. Was it right for him to allow this sort of contact? Then again, he could feel her body was cold so he decided it was only right to let her share some of his own body heat. Soren was unsure why she was so cold but assumed it had something to do with her strange shift form.
His eyes were closed again, settling into their silent comfort as though it were a commodity. Then again, to Soren it really was. Physical contact wasn’t something he had had in a while. He wasn’t the hugging kind of person, but being close to someone was still something he enjoyed. He enjoyed Persephone’s company, as strange as the whole situation was, and he wasn’t ready to push her away just yet. Besides, it was still dark so there was no fear of being spotted by the rest of the tribe. At least for another few hours they would be safe in their own companionship.
Something tickled his bare neck and he opened his eyes suddenly, thinking it was a bug or something. Instead he saw Seph’s antennae things poking around at him. What was that? Did she smell or something with them? Soren instantly wished he’d paid a little more attention in biology during high school. He recalled studying something like that in his marine science class but he honestly couldn’t remember any of it. School seemed like such a long time ago. It was a distant memory, something that had occurred in a past life.
Watching her feel around filled the man with curiosity. He realised he still hadn’t asked her what her shift form had been. It wasn’t a usual question for their kind to ask, since sometimes it was quite obvious, but in Persephone’s case her mutations were a strange sort of thing. Soren had the same experience. Few people knew about the rare marine life found in the Great Barrier Reef so they were unaware of the origin of his markings. His yellow hair and the slight yellow hue of his skin also sparked inquisitiveness from others and whilst he was occasionally happy to fill them in, talking about the ocean itself was difficult for him.
Morning? Soren frowned down at Persephone, curious as to why she thought it was morning when the sky was still dark. Perhaps she couldn’t actually she. Soren was still unsure about the logistics of that but remained too embarrassed to ask. She caught him by surprise as she moved upwards, planting a kiss on his lips. Unable to stop himself, Soren closed his eyes and leant into it, reciprocating softly. The kiss lasted a few moments before Persephone resumed her position curled into his side. He blinked a few times, unsure of what had just happened. He’d thought himself to be way out of line back in the medical bay but now Seph was kissing him back.
Persephone’s strange condition also led Soren to believe he was almost taking advantage of her. She was clearly out of it and he definitely should have broken off the kiss. But part of him was glad it had happened and enjoyed kissing her back. Did that make him a bad person? If it did, he was no worse than he already was. The problem was more than he hadn’t allowed himself to get close to any of the other Nakoma anthros for a reason. If he let this continue it would only end badly.
“Seph…” he murmured softly before trailing off. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say, he just felt unable to continue the thought.
Caught off-guard again by Persephone’s muttering, he shook his head slightly. He looked down at her, right into the area her eyes should be, hoping she really could see and that she would be watching his eyes too. As her hand swiped his mouth he frowned again. Her words were slurred but he understood them and for some reason they caused a pang in his chest. She settled back down and he was silent for a few moments.
“I don’t think I can forget it,” he whispered softly, more to himself than to her. He wasn’t sure if she’d be able to hear it or if he even wanted her to hear it. Regardless, Soren was certain that he wouldn’t be able to forget the kiss nor did he want to. This creature beside him was strange but also beautiful and he was captured by the sheer curiosity of her being. Soren wasn’t exactly ready to let her slip away just yet. Perhaps she was worth the risk. There was only one way to find out.
ooc | Soren refuses to actually admit he likes her so he shall say it all cryptically instead