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 Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 12:12 pm
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 Slimeh RP
 *dances a jig* The RP begins here! Yayness! ^^
There is a slew of slimehs here, but the RP focuses on four slimehs in particular: Kahlua, Griever, Caz, and Ree. The story unfolds from their perspective. There are other slimehs mentioned also, but they're just secondary characters. Here, anyway >.<
I have to focus on only four characters or else I'll lose track of who's doing what @_@ But I do try to give each slimeh a distinctive personality. Each of them is a unique slimeh, after all. And each has a story to tell. Not all of which will be chronicled here.
There are a few things you migh be interested to know about Crewel Manor slimehs. Some of these things have come up in the RP ^^ I mostly note them here lest I forget about them and start contradicting myself. These characteristics are NOT universal to all slimehs. Don't feel like you have to comply to these for your own slimehs. Only the slimeh deities have the power to lay down characteristics like those. The characteristics below apply only to my slimehs. When these slimehs were put together, they formulated their own culture ^^ However, if you're interested in borrowing a concept here for your own RP, you're welcome to do so.
>These slimehs call themselves "slimehs" or "silkehs."
The story behind this: I've gotten used to calling silky slimes as silkehs or slimehs (sorry for butchering the name, Meriko! >.<). I kind of integrated that into the RP as a dialect thing. You know, like how people in the south would call "shopping carts" as "buggies" or how people in the east coast would call "vacuum cleaners" as "sweepers." No, I'm not usually a netspeak person ^^;
>They may be considered to speak with a southern drawl xD
>They can speak to each other, but they can communicate to humans only by squeaking. Of course, humans have absolutely no idea what the squeaks mean. Slimehs, however, can understand humans. Crewel Manor slimehs effectively communicate with Cardi by nodding or shaking their heads.
>The slimehs are vegetarian. They usually eat leaves and drink water.
>They move around by squishing. They don't have legs and feet.
>They don't have hands either, and they move things around by pushing them, dragging them with their mouths (yes, they have mouths), or looping things around themselves and then squishing about.
>These slimehs mate for life. Well, they're supposed to xD Couple slimehs are expected to stay faithful to each other.
>These slimehs sleep with a flower petal serving as a blanket.
>"Official" couple slimehs sleep under one petal.
>Each slimeh comes with a plant (or, in rare cases, a particular accessory, like a mirror). The plant is a part of the slimeh. It is taboo to mess around with another slimeh's flower (or even with one's own flower, actually).
>Slimehs like to sleep in dirt (they call it earth), grass, or sand, which corresponds to the base they came in.
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or spot errors (yes, I'm aware my parallel form can be hopeless ^^; ), please let me know via PM or even in the slime chatterbox ^^
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 12:41 pm
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Crewel Manor
 Crewel Manor is my (okay, my avatar's) home. My personal RPs take place here. You may be familiar with some parts of Crewel Manor if you've read some of my previous RPs ^^
All one will see outside Crewel Manor is a tall, black iron gate and equally tall, white stone walls. When the gate swings open, however, it reveals a two-hundred-year-old home. It was painted in white, but over the years, the white had faded and peeled to give the mansion its vintage look. Ivy also grew and covered parts of the walls.
Crewel Manor's front lawn is by no means manicured. Oh no. There are some places that are unkempt, but they only added to the manor's rustic appeal. The enormous trees that grew all over the place added to the manor's mystery. In the middle of the lawn sat a fountain with an angel statue for a centerpiece. Nobody could remember the last time when the fountain spouted water, and currently, moss half-covered the statue. The young lady of the house enjoyed scrutnizing the angel from time to time.
The sweeping driveway leads up to red double doors. Lift the black iron knocker and let it fall to let the people of the manor know that you are here. Behind the door lies a variety of rooms, marble floors, sweeping grand staircases, and several objets d'art.
Tiptoe quietly, as the house is inhabited by several children. Some of them may welcome you. Others, however, may be irritable or playful and are prone to pull pranks on the unsuspecting victim.
But the main areas of the house is not the main concern here. Inside the study--don't upset anything; it may look like a mess, but I know where everything goes--there is a revolving bookcase. No, you don't need to pull any elaborate levers or yank on any particular book. Just gently push against any side panel, and the bookcase will swivel to reveal a staircase leading downstairs.
Underneath Crewel Manor, in the basement, lives a coterie of silky slimes. They occupy an entire floor that is devoid of partitioning walls. Sections are demarcated by elevated floors and gossamer curtains. Here and there, you see slimehs playing in little playgrounds, snoozing, bopping along to boomboxes, or simply bouncing about. Some of them blink at you; don't be afraid, they're usually not dangerous. You might notice a group of slimehs clustered around little card tables, playing Triple Triad. These are the Final Fantasy VIII slimehs xD
At the far side of the floor, you will find a little greenhouse. Here the slimehs can play in freshly turned earth or bounce among various types of plants. There are even a few hammocks. |
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:25 pm
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Kahlua
 Kahlua is one of the silky slimes that I'm RPing. She has several versions, which you see in the randomizer here ^^
I have a soft spot for the name Kahlua because it's the same name as my office computer (which spawned this whole slime naming theme for me). That, and I used to drink kahlua a lot xD Hurrah for living in college dorms.
Kahlua could still remember the day when she first arrived at Crewel Manor. She held the distinctive title of being the firstborn. Cardi, the manor's mistress and their main owner, listed her as the first silkeh to be made. Technically, however, all coffee-named silkehs were considered firstborns because they were the first batch to move into the manor.
Kahlua was perfectly happy in her home, and so were her pod sibs (brothers and sisters from the same litter xD). Crewel Manor's basement was plenty spacious, and they had plenty of toys to keep them busy. She was actually content just bouncing about in her freshly turned earth, thinking deep thoughts.
Then the alcohol slimes came. They were a rowdy bunch and would often pass out at unexpected times. This caused the coffee slimes to distance themselves, under the argument that firstborns are more distinguished. Suddenly, Kahlua was mistaken to be an alcohol silkeh by her very own pod sibs. Perhaps it didn't help that she was not as outgoing as her pod sibs. They were always hyperactive, bouncing about. She wasn't.
And the new batches of slimehs came in. With each influx, the atmosphere in The Basement (after a while, it was referred to with capital letters) became more and more different from its original atmosphere. And with each influx, Kahlua is always questioned: are you a coffee slime or an alcohol slime? The other slimehs didn't know how to treat her. Should they treat her with respect, as they do with the coffee slimes? Or should they treat her with exasperation, as they do with the alcohol slimes (the slimes that came after the alcohol slimes were more decent)?
To Kahlua, it didn't really matter. So what if she was a coffee slime? She knew some of her later sibs were actually older than her (Cardi had them made that way). And she didn't like how her pod sibs carried themselves with snobbishness. Really, now. They were all siblings. Couldn't they just get along?
But Kahlua is a shy silkeh slime. She was too afraid to speak out. So she spends day in and day out quietly bouncing on her freshly turned earth.
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:43 pm
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Ree
 Ree is one of the silky slimes that I'm RPing. Ree has several versions, which you see in the randomizer here ^^
When I ordered monocled silkehs using places in the Lord of the Rings as a naming theme, LadyD pointed out that I MUST have Lothlorien xD So she threw in this adorable pale blue silkeh <3
Lothlorien is called Ree for short. I'm still debating whether Ree's a male or a female >.<
It was not fun being nearsighted. Ree's pod sibs said Cardi had them manufactured that way. Hence, it was Cardi's fault that they were nearsighted (and they made sure all monocled silkehs were aware of this grievious grievance).
Ree was aware of the biggest question in The Basement: is Kahlua a coffee slime or an alcohol slime? But Ree had a bigger question: gender. For now, Ree had to be content being categorized as a male. But he desperately wished Cardi would bring in a silkeh sexer or something, to determine whether he's truly a he or a she.
Now, this is not as big a question as Kahlua's status. Silkehs were more content debating Kahlua's status than Ree's gender. As far as they're concerned, Ree's a he. But he was not fully convinced.
"Well, how do you define yourself?" sensibly asked Harrar. Harrar is one of the more interesting silkehs. He was a coffee slime and used to be the only monocled silkeh around. People usually deferred to Harrar when they have hard questions. More irreverent silkehs (like the booze ones) viewed Harrar as a nerd.
"I don't know," replied Ree in pure bewilderment. "I feel...asexual."
"I can't believe Cardi lost the paperwork about your gender."
And this made Ree more miserable.
Lately, Ree's finding himself watching Kahlua a lot. There was this mysterious, intriguing air about her. Also, Ree found her cute. But he never dared approach her for two reasons. One, he was insecure about himself (how could someone not know his own gender?!). Two, he knew that Diablos, a GF slime, liked Kahlua as well. Diablos would undoubtedly kick Ree's a** if he finds out that he was competition.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:56 am
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Caz
 Caz is one of the silky slimes that I'm RPing. He has several versions, which you see in the randomizer here ^^
Caz's short for Mocha, which is my favorite coffee in college. I don't drink it too much anymore, since I discovered iced chai tea latte (damn you, Starbucks!). Anyway, he was also one of the first silkehs I ordered ^^
Caz considers himself a hardworking slimeh. He turns his earth (and friends' earth sometimes) every morning, waters his flower (and friends' flowers sometimes), and tidies up anything that needs tidying before having a good time with friends. They would swing on hammocks while reading or talking, bop along to boomboxes, or do whatever fancies them.
So Caz really couldn't understand how some slimehs could be so lethargic *coughboozeslimehscough* And this is what he's trying to explain to Kahlua. "It's not that they're later-born, it's just that they're..."
"They're what?"
"They're lazy!"
One of their pod sibs, Hue, would always tell him to drop it. "Kahlua'll never understand," her melodious tone was punctuated with a sigh. "I think she has sympathies for those booze slimehs."
Everybody told Caz that Hue likes him. He doesn't really know how to handle it. He wished he felt the same way, but he doesn't. He knew he wanted something more than what Hue had to offer. But what?
Until he figures that, he'll just keep on working and partying and perhaps learn how to play Triple Triad.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 8:08 am
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Griever
 Griever is one of the silky slimes that I'm RPing. He has several versions, which you see in the randomizer here ^^
Final Fantasy VIII is my favorite game. Ever. Final Fantasy VII comes really close, but FF VIII wins because of its romance component (yeah, I like X-2 too). Anyway, Griever is quite special because he's always in the game, but he never showed up for battle until the very end. A very special GF, indeed ^^
Nobody knew how to deal with Griever. He wasn't outwardly cranky, like Diablos. He wasn't into destroying things, like Ifrit. He wasn't into smacking people around, like Bahamut. So until other slimehs figured out what made Griever tick, they tiptoed on eggshells around him.
Griever didn't get it. He just wanted to be left alone. What was so hard to understand about that?
The social hierarchy in The Basement intrigued Griever. Everybody kept saying that birth order (he thought of it more as arrival order) did not matter, but why then did everybody defer to the coffee slimehs? Why did coffee slimehs always demand to have their way? And why the heck did the booze slimehs adopt a defeatist attitude?
Griever thought the whole social hierarchy thing was utter crap. But he didn't really care about voicing his opinion or whatnot. It wasn't that he was afraid. It was that he didn't really care at all.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 8:31 am
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The sound of the swiveling bookshelf woke Kahlua. While blinking her sleepy eyes, she watched Cardi shuffle down the steps. The mistress of the manor paused for a moment to watch Mattari bounce up and down on top of the fridge. She then poked Mattari with the blunt end of her pen. The slimeh giggled.
Doesn't that slimeh ever sleep? Kahlua wondered. She had a feeling Cardi favored Mattari and any silkeh that bounces up and down a lot.
Kahlua watched Cardi shuffle towards the greenhouse, where the silkehs slept. Kahlua's sleeping spot was close to the door. She was afraid of the dark, so sleeping close to the door was ideal for her. That way, she could have some rays of light from the play areas. She slept with the LoTR slimehs. They loved to read before going to sleep, so they needed the light as well. The coffee slimehs got the prime spot in the middle of the greenhouse. The summon slimehs were all brave and fearless, so they slept way in the back, where it was pitch-black. The alcohol slimehs slept anywhere they landed.
Cardi continued shuffling towards the back of the greenhouse and flicked on the lights.
The summon slimehs woke up in alarm. Then some started grumbling, some bounced up and down irritably, and Diablos softly snarled. "Aw, quit grousing," Cardi responded and poked at Bahamut Zero's flower. "I should've ordered this in black," she said half to herself. Then she sat down and began to examine Diablos' flower, occasionally taking down notes. It was black, like most of the flowers in the area. Kahlua wondered if Cardi chose Diablos' flower to irritate him even more.
Kahlua continued to watch as Cardi studied Siren's flower, then Whiskey's flower, both of which were black. Whiskey had fallen asleep by the summon slimehs. Then Cardi picked up Diablos and critically examined him. Diablos continued to softly snarl. Finally, the mistress of the manor rose and turned out the lights.
There was a collective sigh of relief from the summon slimes as they squished back into their sleeping spots. As Cardi headed out, Kahlua desperately tried to catch her eye.
It worked. Cardi smiled and patted Kahlua. "G'night dear," she said before closing the greenhouse door.
Kahlua bounced up and down a little before she happily settled back to sleep.
(7)
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 10:48 am
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Ree shifted slightly, jostling The Hobbit, which fell over and landed on Gondor with a squish.
"Hey!"
"Sorry," said Ree apologetically.
Gondor wiggled out from underneath the book. He was a relatively big slimeh and didn't need much help from Ree. He adjusted his monocle. "Something going on?"
"Cardi was just here, examining the slimehs at the back of the greenhouse."
"Oh, that's all?"
"Do you mind?" came Isengaard's huffy tone. "Some slimehs are trying to sleep here!"
"Sorry," both Ree and Gondor tonelessly said. Then Gondor followed up with, "What else did Cardi do?"
"Well, she examined the black flowers..."
"You think there's something wrong with black flowers?"
Ree shrugged. "How would I know?"
Just then, a melodious voice reached them. "Goo-oondee," Hue sang out. "Are you going to the fridge?"
"No, not really," Gondor responded.
"I want chocolate milk," Hue said in her little-girl voice. "Won't you get me a glass, Gondy?"
Ree and Gondor looked at each other. "Alright," the gray slimeh sighed, squishing to the ground.
Ree settled back into place. Hue usually got her way with any male slimeh. But she never asked for anything from Ree. That disappointed him a lot. Maybe she didn't think of him as a true man.
His eyes darted towards Kahlua again. She had fallen asleep underneath her flower. With a sigh, he settled back to sleep.
(6)
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 11:20 am
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"I still think Cardi should've examined us," groused Latte the following morning as he, Hue, and Caz munched on leaves for breakfast.
"Us?" asked Caz.
"Coffee slimehs, of course!"
"Now, now, Latte," gently chided Hue. "Cardi must have a special reason for examining the summon slimehs instead of us."
"I mean, Orsi has a black flower also," continued Latte as if Hue didn't speak up at all.
Caz took a drink of water. "I think Hue has a point. The summon slimehs have their own special characteristics, after all."
Latte raised his eyebrows. "You think there's something wrong with them? I heard Cardi mentioned that Neo Bahamut's flower isn't what it's supposed to be."
The three of them glanced towards Neo Bahamut. He was one of the more formidable slimehs, so any gossip about him was whispered.
Hue shrugged. "Maybe. What do you think, Caz?"
Cardi's visit was the talk of the morning. She only visited them every now and then, so her appearances was something different from their everyday routine. Slimehs endlessly pondered over why she inspected Diablos and the black flowers. Siren was continuously questioned. Whiskey, on the other hand, was still dozing. And nobody had the nerve to talk to Diablos. He was in an even crankier mood because his sleep was disrupted.
Coffee slimehs always reminisced about how Cardi used to visit them everyday. And that was what Latte started getting into. "Remember how Cardi used to play with us all the time?" he asked before Caz could answer Hue's question.
"Yeah," sighed Hue. "I miss those days. There's just so plenty of us now that Cardi can't play with all of us anymore."
"There's plenty of slimehs," corrected Latte. "There will always be only fifteen coffee slimehs."
Latte was considered the leader of the slimehs. As far as Caz was concerned, it was a self-appointment. But Latte was his best friend, and he would stand by him through thick and thin. Latte was a stauch believer in enforcing the prestigious status of the coffee slimehs. "We must have a nobility," he vehemently told Caz one day.
"You know Kahlua will disagree with you."
"So?"
"Kahlua has Cardi's favor."
"But Cardi's not here all the time anymore."
Despite Caz's lukewarm reception of Latte's philosophy, he was considered the right-hand man. He took his role seriously. There's really not much need for it, though. The Basement slimehs were a peaceful bunch. Except for the occasional rowdy booze slimeh or one of the summon slimehs getting out of hand.
"I don't know," Caz said in response to Latte's emphasis over the fifteen coffee slimehs. He busied himself taking a sip of water again. Latte's philosophy always unsettled him. He didn't know when he would get used to it. "I don't know."
(10)
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 5:00 pm
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"Do you think Kahlua's a coffee or a booze slimeh?"
Without taking off his headphones nor turning towards Ifrit, Griever responded, "Both."
"Hrm," said Ifrit, obviously dissatisfied with Griever's answer.
"I say she's a coffee slimeh," said Bahamut as he busily set about burying himself in his earth.
"But Madagulpa and her friends make such a big deal about Kahlua being a booze slimeh. Don't you think there may be some truth to their argument?"
"Jealousy, I say," Bahamut answered, now half-buried in his earth. "Pretty females despise other pretty females. It's a biological thing."
Griever was getting tired of the conversation, but he didn't feel like moving to a secluded spot, either. "You can debate about it until the cows come home, and you'll be nowhere near to answering it. So drop it."
Ifrit squished in front of Griever to peer at him. Now Griever could see that Ifrit borrowed a monocle from some nearsighted slimeh. Perhaps to make himself feel scholarly as he debated whether Kahlua was really a coffee slimeh or a booze slimeh. "How goes the brooding today, Griever?"
He grunted in reply.
"Whatchu listening to?"
Griever wondered how Ifrit became his closest friend. Maybe it was because they were the same bulk and have similar interests, such as music and Triple Triad. But Ifrit talked so much that Griever always pictured burying him deep into the ground. Much deeper than the depth at which Bahamut was burying himself. "Nothing," he grunted.
"But you have your headphones on," pointed out Ifrit.
"My boombox is not turned on."
"Well, turn it on, man."
"Go away."
Ifrit and Bahamut exchanged a look. "That time of the month again, Griever?" asked Bahamut conversationally.
Griever gave him a look that would have stopped a lesser slimeh in his tracks.
Ifrit began to bob up and down restlessly. "I feel like breaking something today. Wanna trample on some flowers in the greenhouse with me, guys?"
"Go ask Diablos," invited Bahamut. "I'm sure he'd love to go with you."
"Hell no. Today he's sourer than Latte's face is when a non-coffee slimeh bumps into him." Ifrit continued to bounce up and down. "You know, I say we enforce a new world order. Overthrow those snobs. What do you think?"
"Leave the coffee slimehs to their games, Ifrit," said Bahamut. "It's not like they're bothering us or anything."
Griever knew that nothing would come out of Ifrit's suggestion. Ifrit made it five times a day. He settled deeper in his earth and continued to brood.
(9)
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 10:52 pm
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The inequality in The Basement always struck Kahlua. And she knew it didn't stop between coffee slimehs and non-coffee slimehs. Within coffee slimehs, there was also a pecking order. Latte and Caz were naturally at the top of that pecking order. Their friends, which were all coffee slimehs, were also up there by association.
At the bottom of the pecking order were the anomalous slimehs. Nobody really knew what to do with the four Ragnarok slimehs (nobody had any clue what Ragnarok was), so they were isolated--way before the other cohorts of slimehs came in. And Espresso--well, Espresso was just alienated by everybody. He didn't even sleep in the greenhouse with everybody else. Hue claimed that he frightened her so much that she could not sleep. So Latte ordered him to sleep outside the greenhouse. Espresso had to set up his earthen spot in a flower pot by the stairs.
"He's not normal," argued Madagulpa--known as Maddie to her friends. Kahlua never got the "Please call me Maddie" so she knew she was not considered a friend by Madagulpa.
Sadly, everybody echoed Madagulpa's sentiment. Espresso was the only slimeh with sharp teeth. To make matters worse, he was incapable of normal communication. All he did was chomp at the air with his sharp teeth. Also, he constantly purred, like a motor.
Kahlua was afraid of Espresso at first, too. Then one day, she happened to look into Espresso's eyes and saw the loneliness in them.
From then on, she made a point to be with Espresso for a little while everyday. He rarely left his flower pot because of other slimehs' reception of him. So Kahlua would hang out in his flower pot with him. Soon, she found his purr soothing. Sometimes, she would even fall asleep beside him. He also liked harvesting leaves and would always look happy whenever they had meals together.
That particular day, Kahlua was particularly stressed by all the talk over Cardi's visit. Most of the slimehs were talking about what might be wrong with Neo Bahamut, Diablos, or black flowers. Some--mainly the coffee slimehs--were grousing about why they weren't examined. Kahlua just wanted to get away from it all. Hanging out with Espresso in his flower pot was especially soothing that day.
She didn't realize that she had fallen asleep until she woke up. Espresso covered her with a petal to keep her warm. He snoozed nearby, underneath his flower. Outside the flower pot, Gin softly snored.
Kahlua sleepily blinked her eyes and looked around. Everybody had retired to the greenhouse. Even Mattari, who was always awake, was nowhere to be found.
She was thinking about how long she slept when she heard the bookcase swivel. Glancing up, she found Cardi tiptoeing down the stairs. This time, Cardi saw her right away.
"Playing so late, I see," Cardi observed as she patted Kahlua and then Espresso. He happily purred. She glanced at the two of them for a moment. "Well, you guys can save me a trip to the greenhouse." Deftly, she scooped up both of them and headed back towards the stairs.
There came a little squeak. Kahlua's and Espresso's eyes popped open. Cardi lifted her foot. "I'm so sorry!" she said in horror as she backed away.
Gin looked terrified. Well, he had every right to be, as Cardi almost stepped on him. Even though she was wearing slippers and he was a fairly large slimeh, she was big enough to squish him to death. He blinked up at her with huge, scared eyes. Kahlua thought if he was a female slimeh, he would've burst into tears.
Cardi scooped him up. "I know just the thing to calm you down," she said with a nod. Then she carried him, Espresso, and Kahlua up the stairs and through the swiveling bookcase. It swung shut.
(12)
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 11:09 pm
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The LoTR slimehs were still awake, reading. Ree was primarily awake because Kahlua had not retired to her earthen spot yet. He was waiting for her to emerge from Espresso's pot.
He knew that Kahlua visited Espresso everyday. It was part of her charm. He wished he could hang out with them as well, but Espresso intimidated him too much.
Ree was half-listening to Gondor and Mordor debate the virtues of Bilbo Baggins when the bookshelf swung open and Cardi appeared. "Cardi's back!" he exclaimed.
There was a general murmur among the LoTR slimehs. It caused a few other slimehs in the greenhouse to stir and sit up. They watched with interest as Cardi hovered by Espresso's flower pot.
"Hee. Maybe she's gonna stick Espresso and Kahlua in a breeding tank," snickered Hue. "Can you imagine what kinds of babies they'll produce?"
A retort sprang to Ree's mind. Before he could speak, however, Caz said quietly, "Lay off, Hue."
"But--"
"Cardi's picking them up!" exclaimed Isengaard.
They all hushed. Maybe Cardi will put Espresso and Kahlua in a breeding tank.
There was a collective gasp in the greenhouse when Cardi almost stepped on Gin. Tequila burst into tears. Then everybody watched, thunderstruck, as Cardi scooped up Gin and disappeared upstairs with him, Espresso, and Kahlua.
"She took them with her!" came Latte's enraged gasp.
Ree squished out of the greenhouse with his LoTR pod sibs. "Nobody's been taken Upstairs before," came Gondor's awed voice.
"Nobody," echoed Mordor.
Ree felt sick with worry. "You think she'll do anything to them?"
"Of course she would," answered Gondor.
"They'll be okay, right?" When there was no answer, Ree turned to his pod sibs. "Right?"
They all mutely shrugged. Then they turned back to watching the bookcase, as if it would re-open at any moment.
(7)
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 6:01 pm
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"I can't believe she took them with her!" Latte seethed for what seemed like the hundredth time.
Caz was getting weary of Latte's incessant whining. But just as he was about to speak, someone growled, "Shut up."
"Yeah," piped up another gruff voice. "Or Griever'll bury you so deep, it'll take years for you to tunnel yourself out."
The first voice belonged to Griever himself; the second belonged to Ifrit.
Caz watched Griever give Ifrit a speak-for-yourself look before settling into the little indentation he made in his earthen plot.
"I...the nerve!" Latte's voice came out in a hiss.
Caz wondered if Latte lowered his voice to avoid the threat. "It's getting late. Let's just go back to sleep," he said wearily.
Hue nodded. "Yeah, Caz has a point. It's not like they'll be coming back anytime soon, anyway."
Some slimehs heeded Caz's suggestion, settling back into their earthen plots. Latte was still grousing under his breath and casting dirty looks in Griever's direction. Caz knew nothing would come out of it. Although Latte would not admit it, Griever intimidated the hell out of him.
Caz glanced over at Griever, who was already sleeping. He intimidated the hell out of Caz, too. It would suck to be enemies with him. Him and the large male summon slimehs, for the matter. They all seemed to stick together, like some elite boys' club. Sometimes, Caz would think about how fun it would be to hang out with them, perhaps pick up some Triple Triad tricks. But of course, Latte and the rest of his friends would not hear of it.
Some slimehs chose to stay awake. The LoTR slimehs, for instance, popped on their monocles and resumed reading. Occasionally, they would glance towards the bookshelf. Ree didn't even bother hiding the fact that he was concerned. He's a good guy, Caz thought.
In reality, he didn't really have strong feelings about Kahlua, Espresso, and Gin being taken Upstairs. He knew Cardi wouldn't hurt them. He also knew that Cardi favored Kahlua. Espresso and Gin might have just been at the right place at the right time.
But he was awfully curious to know what was happening to them three.
(7)
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 6:20 pm
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Scrutinizing his morning cup of tea, Bahamut looked more like a benign monk than a large, destructive, purple slimeh of doom. Griever half-expected him to spout some Confucian wisdom. Instead, Bahamut said, "You really showed him last night, Griever."
He simply continued munching on his breakfast leaves.
"We sure did," rumbled Ifrit. "You can only listen to that jealous pansy for so long before you get fed up."
"It would be a pain in the a** putting up with Latte now, though," continued Bahamut.
"Are you kidding? He can't touch us. We're...we."
"Yeah, like that's meaningful."
Griever glanced towards the stairs. "They're not back yet."
"Who?" asked Ifrit.
Griever gave him a look.
"Oh. Them." Ifrit wolfed down the rest of his breakfast leaves. "Maybe they're not coming back. Ever. Maybe Cardi has this evil laboratory Upstairs and messes with slimehs. Maybe that's why Omega's so messed up." At that, he sniggered, spraying bits of chewed leaves.
"You know," Bahamut told him. "If you just keep quiet, slimehs would be more impressed with you. Just keep your mouth shut."
More and more, Griever was starting to appreciate Bahamut as The Voice of Reason. Especially when Ifrit was around.
Unfortunately, Ifrit appeared to have latched on to an idea. "I say we go and rescue them. What you guys say? We'll get the two other Bahamuts..."
"They have names..." Bahamut began to interject.
"Whatever. We'll get the two other Bahamuts and we'll bring those three guinea pigs back here, where they're safe. What do you think? Huh? Huh?"
Bahamut rolled his eyes and resumed eating. Griever snapped on his headphones to listen to the silence.
(8 )
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 6:50 pm
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Kahlua had never been to Cardi's study before. Neither did any slimeh. They were moved to the basement via a large blue-and-yellow box and never had a chance to see any part of Crewel Manor.
Kahlua, Espresso, and Gin were placed at the base of a fairly large bonsai tree. The tree was then placed by a window, where they could look out at the backyard. Espresso loved it. Gin was particularly excited at sleeping in the rays of the moonlight.
After examining the bonsai tree and the backyard, Kahlua grew restless. She wanted to explore the rest of the room. So she squished her way up to a filing cabinet, up the printer, and onto Cardi's desk.
The optical mouse intrigued her. She was squishing her way across the desk to approach it when Cardi picked her up. "Hmm," she said, adjusting what looked like two monocles perched over her nose. Then, still holding Kahlua, she jotted down some notes.
Kahlua wiggled, but it was clear Cardi was not going to let her go. So she resignedly stayed still as Cardi continued to examine her and scribble things. Finally, satisfied, Cardi set her down and approached the bonsai tree.
Kahlua looked at the notes with great interest and found that there was a column of her characteristics alongside a column of Diablos' characteristics. Curiously, she squished about to flip to the previous pages. It took some feat, because she had to wiggle back and forth and then jump to turn the pages. Nothing really caught her eye, so she continued wiggling and jumping for a while. But then, something made her stop.
Custom-colored and special slimehs are sterile, said Cardi's scrawled handwriting. Only normal-colored slimehs are able to breed. And below it were lists of normal and sterile slimehs. Kahlua was aghast to find several slimehs under the sterile column. They included Espresso and the Ragnarok slimehs.
They can't breed at all? she thought, horrified. But...but...that's so unfair!
She continued to scrutinize the list. As she went down the names under the sterile column, her heart grew heavier and heavier.
(6)
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