Post by Chirugal on Sept 30, 2004 10:58:14 GMT
I can't wait for Crash Deluxe... so here's what I started writing as speculation. Note to readers: all my stories usually are relationship-based nonsense with a plot kind of emerging as a sub-scenario.
***
Captive
I stirred and woke slowly, pushing up into a sitting position as I opened my eyes.
A completely unfamiliar room greeted me, certainly not my own room at Mondo’s old place – not the room I’d fallen asleep in.
I glared down at my arms, searching for the tiny puncture wound a syringe full of sedative would have left… and found it. There was only one person in my life who was able to piss me off this badly. I had a feeling I was in Tower Town, or worse, Anna’s place in Vivacity.
“Loyl!” I bellowed, scrambling in an undignified rage to the door of the basically-furnished room, which was, as I’d suspected, locked. I kicked it viciously, in no mood to meditate. The Eskaalim within me rejoiced at the adrenaline boost, but I didn’t care. Until I got some answers, I could stay angry. “Daac, get your ass in here now!”<br>
I was checking the window as a possible escape route when the door clicked open behind me. Still clad in the oversized shirt and underwear I’d slept in, I whirled to face Loyl-me-Daac. “Cool it, Parrish,” he instructed me before I could open my mouth.
Cool it! I opened my mouth to utter a sharp retort, fury escalating, but a creeping itch around the scaly flesh at my cheekbone reined me in. I had to calm down, before I gave any more ground to the parasite happily gorging on my negative emotions. With a dark look at my captor, I sank down on the bed and began to count to ten.
Daac waited silently. Maybe he guessed what was going on, or maybe he thought my knees had turned to jelly at the sight of him. I fought the urge to laugh aloud. These days, I was harbouring a secret grudge against that guy.
Though at times, the knees-to-jelly trick still worked.
When I was calmer, I looked up at him, concentrating on the fact that he’d lied about my shapechanging to repress the ever-present attraction that zinged through me whenever he was near. “Explain,” was all I could bring myself to say.
He took a seat next to me, and I fought urges both to lay my head on his shoulder and to leap up and start pacing the room. “It’s been two weeks since you said you’d come,” he told me, mildly accusatory.
Deep breaths, Parrish… “I have the whole of Torley’s, Shadoville, the whole of Jamon’s stretch to run. I can’t just palm that off within five minutes.” Actually, I could – had, even. I’d told Teece he could run it for a while longer, while I took a ‘holiday’. But then my new mysterious journo friend told me that Daac had lied when he’d told me I’d shifted, and I’d waded straight back into the game, with Larry Hein as my informant as to anything unusual with media involvement. One of the ma’soops I’d rescued from Mo-Vay, Wombebe, was still missing, but until I got a lead there was nothing I could do.
Daac sighed. “Do you want your ferals and Muenos to be run by the Eskaalim?”<br>
My blood ran cold at the very thought. I remembered standing over Pas, my Mueno contact, twisting a garrotting wire around my fingers whilst he cowered on the ground. Without my consent, my entire body began to quiver.
“Let me comm Teece.” My voice was quiet and hollow, as if it belonged to someone else. I saw a flash of something run through Daac’s face, and fought incredulity back from my face. He was jealous? How petty can you get?! “I’ll ask him to mind the biz for a while, see what we can do here.”<br>
He nodded, satisfied. “I’ll get you some clothes.”<br>
Once more, I became aware of the fact that I was only wearing minimal clothing, and a slow, burning blush began to creep onto my face. Daac smiled as he stood up and made his way to the door. “It’s good to see you, Parrish,” he told me.
Before I could reply, he was gone, leaving me with the beginnings of Eskaalim-enhanced lust. Oh, great.
***
“Parrish! Where are you?” Teece’s worried face flickered up on the comm screen. “What happened to meeting at Hein’s two hours ago?”<br>
I told him.
“Oh, no. Bad idea.” He shook his head in disbelief. “What if the Eskaalim–“
“Yeah. That’s the point. What if the Eskaalim makes me kill you, Glida, Pas…” I knew what Teece’d been about to say. The possibility of turning into a nymphomaniac with Loyl Daac as a release was altogether too disturbing – and too attractive – to think about. Plus, the Tower Town player was pacing the room out of Teece’s line of sight, waiting for me to finish. As far as I knew, he didn’t know about the non-violent side effects of the parasite, and I wasn’t about to inform him.
Teece sighed. I knew he was jealous – I usually took out my urges on him, even now that he had a partner, a girl called Tingle Honeybee, of all things – but he remained silent. “How long will you be?”<br>
Good question. “Wombat only knows. I’ll be fine. They’re even going to find me some clothes,” I added, with full-on irony. Teece visibly winced – he knew how I usually slept. “If I get to a point where I can make a rough estimate, I’ll comm you. Can you keep an ear out for any word from Larry about the…?” I finished the sentence with a pointed look, letting him know I didn’t want my journalist problem to be common knowledge in Daac’s territory.
“I will. And, Parrish… if you need me…” I smiled at his image on-screen. I was so lucky to have a friend in Teece. Truth be told, I was more than a little jealous of Tingle. Not because I wanted Teece and I to set up house and live happily ever after – I just didn’t desire him enough for that, though I loved him dearly. Just because I was so used to being the apple of Teece’s eye. It was… odd, having Tingle around.
“I know,” I replied, nodding. “Thanks, Teece.”<br>
When I turned away from the comm port, Daac was frowning. I smiled sweetly at him, wondering whether it was my oblique references to Wombebe’s abduction or my rapport with Teece that had him riled up.
“Any word from Larry about the what?” he asked directly.
“Torley’s business. We’re in Tower Town – or, I assume we are. Or are we in Viva? Either way, this isn’t my patch.”<br>
He scowled. “We’re in Tower Town, for now. I’ll leave outfitting you to Ibis.”<br>
My mood brightened at the mention of Ibis, whom I considered an ally, and I resolved to tone down the sardonic edge to my voice. I didn’t want to piss off the one person who might help me out of here.
***
Captive
I stirred and woke slowly, pushing up into a sitting position as I opened my eyes.
A completely unfamiliar room greeted me, certainly not my own room at Mondo’s old place – not the room I’d fallen asleep in.
I glared down at my arms, searching for the tiny puncture wound a syringe full of sedative would have left… and found it. There was only one person in my life who was able to piss me off this badly. I had a feeling I was in Tower Town, or worse, Anna’s place in Vivacity.
“Loyl!” I bellowed, scrambling in an undignified rage to the door of the basically-furnished room, which was, as I’d suspected, locked. I kicked it viciously, in no mood to meditate. The Eskaalim within me rejoiced at the adrenaline boost, but I didn’t care. Until I got some answers, I could stay angry. “Daac, get your ass in here now!”<br>
I was checking the window as a possible escape route when the door clicked open behind me. Still clad in the oversized shirt and underwear I’d slept in, I whirled to face Loyl-me-Daac. “Cool it, Parrish,” he instructed me before I could open my mouth.
Cool it! I opened my mouth to utter a sharp retort, fury escalating, but a creeping itch around the scaly flesh at my cheekbone reined me in. I had to calm down, before I gave any more ground to the parasite happily gorging on my negative emotions. With a dark look at my captor, I sank down on the bed and began to count to ten.
Daac waited silently. Maybe he guessed what was going on, or maybe he thought my knees had turned to jelly at the sight of him. I fought the urge to laugh aloud. These days, I was harbouring a secret grudge against that guy.
Though at times, the knees-to-jelly trick still worked.
When I was calmer, I looked up at him, concentrating on the fact that he’d lied about my shapechanging to repress the ever-present attraction that zinged through me whenever he was near. “Explain,” was all I could bring myself to say.
He took a seat next to me, and I fought urges both to lay my head on his shoulder and to leap up and start pacing the room. “It’s been two weeks since you said you’d come,” he told me, mildly accusatory.
Deep breaths, Parrish… “I have the whole of Torley’s, Shadoville, the whole of Jamon’s stretch to run. I can’t just palm that off within five minutes.” Actually, I could – had, even. I’d told Teece he could run it for a while longer, while I took a ‘holiday’. But then my new mysterious journo friend told me that Daac had lied when he’d told me I’d shifted, and I’d waded straight back into the game, with Larry Hein as my informant as to anything unusual with media involvement. One of the ma’soops I’d rescued from Mo-Vay, Wombebe, was still missing, but until I got a lead there was nothing I could do.
Daac sighed. “Do you want your ferals and Muenos to be run by the Eskaalim?”<br>
My blood ran cold at the very thought. I remembered standing over Pas, my Mueno contact, twisting a garrotting wire around my fingers whilst he cowered on the ground. Without my consent, my entire body began to quiver.
“Let me comm Teece.” My voice was quiet and hollow, as if it belonged to someone else. I saw a flash of something run through Daac’s face, and fought incredulity back from my face. He was jealous? How petty can you get?! “I’ll ask him to mind the biz for a while, see what we can do here.”<br>
He nodded, satisfied. “I’ll get you some clothes.”<br>
Once more, I became aware of the fact that I was only wearing minimal clothing, and a slow, burning blush began to creep onto my face. Daac smiled as he stood up and made his way to the door. “It’s good to see you, Parrish,” he told me.
Before I could reply, he was gone, leaving me with the beginnings of Eskaalim-enhanced lust. Oh, great.
***
“Parrish! Where are you?” Teece’s worried face flickered up on the comm screen. “What happened to meeting at Hein’s two hours ago?”<br>
I told him.
“Oh, no. Bad idea.” He shook his head in disbelief. “What if the Eskaalim–“
“Yeah. That’s the point. What if the Eskaalim makes me kill you, Glida, Pas…” I knew what Teece’d been about to say. The possibility of turning into a nymphomaniac with Loyl Daac as a release was altogether too disturbing – and too attractive – to think about. Plus, the Tower Town player was pacing the room out of Teece’s line of sight, waiting for me to finish. As far as I knew, he didn’t know about the non-violent side effects of the parasite, and I wasn’t about to inform him.
Teece sighed. I knew he was jealous – I usually took out my urges on him, even now that he had a partner, a girl called Tingle Honeybee, of all things – but he remained silent. “How long will you be?”<br>
Good question. “Wombat only knows. I’ll be fine. They’re even going to find me some clothes,” I added, with full-on irony. Teece visibly winced – he knew how I usually slept. “If I get to a point where I can make a rough estimate, I’ll comm you. Can you keep an ear out for any word from Larry about the…?” I finished the sentence with a pointed look, letting him know I didn’t want my journalist problem to be common knowledge in Daac’s territory.
“I will. And, Parrish… if you need me…” I smiled at his image on-screen. I was so lucky to have a friend in Teece. Truth be told, I was more than a little jealous of Tingle. Not because I wanted Teece and I to set up house and live happily ever after – I just didn’t desire him enough for that, though I loved him dearly. Just because I was so used to being the apple of Teece’s eye. It was… odd, having Tingle around.
“I know,” I replied, nodding. “Thanks, Teece.”<br>
When I turned away from the comm port, Daac was frowning. I smiled sweetly at him, wondering whether it was my oblique references to Wombebe’s abduction or my rapport with Teece that had him riled up.
“Any word from Larry about the what?” he asked directly.
“Torley’s business. We’re in Tower Town – or, I assume we are. Or are we in Viva? Either way, this isn’t my patch.”<br>
He scowled. “We’re in Tower Town, for now. I’ll leave outfitting you to Ibis.”<br>
My mood brightened at the mention of Ibis, whom I considered an ally, and I resolved to tone down the sardonic edge to my voice. I didn’t want to piss off the one person who might help me out of here.