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 Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:25 pm
 The tiger that shouldn't be....is.... Joshua looked confused when Tianara spoke. She sounded.....upset. He hadn't meant ot make her upset. He'd been trying to reassure her. He watched as she disappeared into the bathroom. What had he said wrong this time? Frowning as he tried to figure it out, he stared at the bathroom door.
There was no sounds coming from the small room so Joshua suspected she'd just gone in there to be alone. But why? He couldn't help but hear the small voice she'd spoken in repeated over and over in his mind. The silence stretched out, the pair wrapped up in their thoughts.
Finally, Joshua could take it no longer. He had to know what he'd done wrong. And fix it, fast. He didn't like Tianara like this. So he rose, padding to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Tianara?" He called softly. "Are you alright?" His voice was clearly worried.  The tiger that should be....isn't....
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:57 pm
There was no response from behind the bathroom door for a long time - in the midst of her thoughts, Tianara had begun to doze off, and Joshua's voice had startled her. She stared at the door with wide eyes, her heart beating fast and her breath coming light and quick. Finally realizing what was going on - and remembering why she'd come in here in the first place - she got to her feet, wincing as the muscles tingled back to life.
Her cheeks were wet, she realized dimly. At some point while she'd been thinking, she must have cried. How humiliating. Rubbing the evidence away quickly, she turned towards the door.
It creaked open, and Tianara looked out at Joshua. Her eyes were still a little too bright, and she looked very wan, but she managed a weak smile in his direction. "Yes. I'm fine," she replied quietly. "Just...tired."
And that was even true. She was very tired. Unusually so, even. All she wanted to do was sleep, and stop feeling so hurt and confused and moody. That would be nice.
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:04 pm
The tiger that shouldn't be....is.... Joshua waited patiently. He had almost decided to knock again when Tianara opened the door. He frowned when he saw her. How had he upset her that much without realizing what he'd done? He felt like the world's biggest fool. "I'm sorry." He said, not wasting time. Confusion still showed in his amber eyes though. He wasn't sure what he was apologizing for. "I didn't mean to upset you. Whatever I said, I'm sorry....." The tiger that should be....isn't....
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:12 pm
Tianara looked at him for a long moment, and then she shook her head slowly. Her hand rose - for what reason she wasn't sure - and then it fell again. "You don't even know," she said quietly, her voice sounding a little lost. "You don't even know. Don't apologize, Joshua. It's nothing you did." Those dark blue eyes remained on his face a moment longer, and then she looked down. "It's
(I'm)
nothing."
She slipped past him, trying to ignore the funny little jump of her heart when she brushed against him, and went to the bed. Curling up on the farthest corner of it, she closed her eyes again. She just wanted it to be over already.
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:19 pm
The tiger that shouldn't be....is.... Joshua's frown only deepened, hearing her quiet voice. It tore at his heart, seeing her like this. He half-raised a hand to stop her, then sighed and followed her, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I don't think it's nothing." He said quietly. "Something's wrong. I just.....wish I knew what I'd said wrong." It was eating away at him. What could he have said? He'd told her she wasn't a bother. Why was she acting as if he had said that. 'I'll never understand girls.....' He thought to himself. For the most part though, that didn't bother him. What bothered him now was that felt he'd hurt Tianara - And he didn't even know how!
((I'm off to bed. Nightz!!)) The tiger that should be....isn't....
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:42 pm
((OOC: Night, my dear!))
Tianara merely looked up at him, her eyes half-lidded now because she was so strangely tired. "It's nothing you did," she repeated in a sleepy voice, emphasizing the important part. And it wasn't - how could she blame him for recognizing the truth, and being the one forced to say it? It was simply how things were, that was all. Joshua was merely the last in a long string of folk who knew she was useless, or in the way - from Mrian to her own human parents.
"It's not your fault," she mumbled sleepily. "I'm just so..." She trailed off, her lashes lowering as she sighed. It felt like too much effort to finish her sentence, and her eyes closed instead. On a long breath, she sank into a cold, troubled sleep.
She didn't notice the nervous tension building up in the room - something that would have been a sure sign otherwise. Maybe inside, something in her head was screaming Danger - her unusual depression and moodiness, the nervous tension in the room, and this strange urge to sleep should all have tipped her off, but she was too deep in the symptoms to see them.
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Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:08 am
Mac was excited to hear her say spaghetti. "Wow, thank you so much!" he was happy to have her cook for him. He got up and began to set the table.
Mike nodded in agreement, "Sweet" was all he said. He helped Mac with the table setting. After that, he sat back down in the chair and began to whisper to Mac, "Hey, I brought some stuff".
Nira giggled excitedly, half hanging off her chair, "Oh sweet joy! Finally this place will get a little shook up" she said as she sat back up in her chair and regained composure. "Lets see how our little hero's handle it" she said as if everything were a game.
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Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 7:42 am
The tiger that shouldn't be....is.... Joshua wondered about the emphasize. If it was nothing he'd done, then why had she suddenly started acting like this when he'd been talking? The questions chased themselves around his mind, with no answers to be found. He opened his mouth to ask another question but realized Tianara had fallen asleep. With a quiet sigh, he reached out to brush her hair back gently. "Sleep well. Tianara." He murmured quietly, hoping things would look better in the morning.
In the silence of the room, Joshua shifted uneasily. He rubbed one forearm in a nervous gesture. The longer he sat in the quiet, the more he felt something was wrong. It was all wrong, in a dangerous way. A suspicion formed in his mind. Rather than ignore his suspicion and turn out to be right, he moved on the bed so that he faced the window. He would rather act and be wrong than not act and be right. He stared out the small cracks in the blinds, a challenge. He recalled hearing Tianara say that the sleeping were easy targets for a Dark One. Well, if he was right about this feeling and it was a Dark One out there, Joshua was not about to let it have Tianara.
Aria chuckled, hearing Mac's excitement. "So excited over a simple meal?" She asked teasingly. "You'd think you never ate or anything." She didn't hear the whispers, too focused on the cooking. She clattered around the kitchen, a smile on her face. A delicious smell soon filled the kitchen. The tiger that should be....isn't....
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Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:43 pm
Mac leaned in to hear Mike, "Yeah? Like items?" he asked.
"Yeah, 5 potions, 3 crystals, and our talkers" he said as he handed Mac one of the vials on a necklace, "Just so we can talk" he explained, he then proceeded to hand Mac 3 potions.
Mac took them all with confidentiality, "Alright" he said. They both knew what they wanted to say.
They both had a look of unease, "We should protect this place" Mac said, and at that, they both concentrated and then energy surged and hardened around Aria's home. The dome of protection pulsed green and blue once before becoming invisible. Double protection meant that this place was even more protected than Joshua's cabin.
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Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:53 pm
The tiger that shouldn't be....is.... Aria stiffened, freezing as she felt the energy surge. Sh frowned, turning to face the two boys, the place where she'd felt it emmanate from. "What did you two just do?" She asked, searching for the feel of the energy. "Oh! Nevermind then. Okay. Thanks!" Her frown changed to a smile as she felt the dome. Relaxed once more, she turned back to the stove and the food that was cooking. The tiger that should be....isn't....
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Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:04 pm
Mac smiled when Aria resumed her cooking. He walked up to her and the food on the stove. He bent down to smell the steam, and sighed happily, "I miss your cooking" he said to her.
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Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:40 pm
There was nothing to be seen outside, of course - but the sense of nervousness was beginning to slowly morph into a feeling of dread. All the classic symptoms Tianara had warned Joshua about were there, and the creature was closing in. It must have been all that Joshua suspected, because there was simply no other explanation for the emotions now running rampant in the room.
And yet, Joshua's challenge was not being taken up.
Although Tianara had not mentioned any capability on the part of a Dark One to actually be intelligent enough to ignore a challenge in favour of someone easier to take over, perhaps she simply had not told him everything. And at the moment, she was far easier prey.
The girl shifted on the bed and let out a low sound, a little bit like a whimper. Even in a sleep so deep it was almost unnatural, she could feel the darkness sweeping over the cabin, and she was afraid.
The fear and the horror and the violent emotions swept through along with the shadows, just as they had before, attacking Joshua just as they had the last time. But it was less than the time he had challenged it and it had responded - obviously this time, he was not the focus.
Its attention was all for the other, weaker target, currently writhing in her sleep as she struggled for an awakening that would not come.
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Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 4:54 pm
The tiger that shouldn't be....is.... Joshua frowned as the feelings in the room increased - But not in the way he'd been expecting. Hearing the whimper, he glanced back at Tianara, his worst fears confirmed. He'd thought the DDark One couldn't refuse a challenge. Yet it had, attacking Tianara instead. Horror welled up in him as he realized it. The girl was easy prey for the Dark One when she was like this.
A snapping determination appeared in his amber eyes in a strength he rarely showed. No. This could not be allowed. He crawled closer to Tianara on the bed, pulling her to him, holding her close. He recalled that the contact had seemed to help her last time. He reached for her mind, trying to remember what it had felt like before. It was hard, much harder than trying to reach the merfolk. It was like trying to find her in a fog bank. But he searched, trying to push all the good feelings and memories he could find down the tenative link. He wasn't even sure if he was doing it right, but it was the best he could think of right now.
Aria chuckled, waving Mac away. "Oh stop it. It'll be ready in just a minute." She grabbed a heat pad, putting it on the table so the pot wouldn't burn the wood. Then, with a pair of oven mitts, she carried the pot to the table and set it down. The pot was filled with spaghetti, the noodles coated in a meat sauce, veggies mixed in as well. She served first Mac, then Mike, then finally herself. Sitting down, she smlied at the pair of boys. "Enjoy!" The tiger that should be....isn't....
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Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:20 pm
((OOC: I'm off to a meeting, but I'll be back in a couple of hours (hopefully) and I'll post then!))
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