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 Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:13 pm
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It was almost a full 24 hours when Kahlua, Espresso, and Gin returned to The Basement. Cardi set them down in the greenhouse entrance.
Of course, this caused tension between Espresso and the rest of the slimehs. It didn't really become apparent until Cardi left. Espresso glanced around, his eyes hopeful. But when he saw the hostile looks of the coffee slimehs in the middle of the greenhouse, he dejectedly turned around and began the long squish back to his flower pot.
Kahlua returned her pod sibs' hostile looks with one of her own and squished after Espresso. After a pause, Gin followed them, too.
Ree couldn't take it anymore. "I thought you guys cared about what happened to them," he said in disgust as he plopped out of his earthen spot and onto the ground. "Isn't that what you've been gossiping all day?"
Latte and his cronies coldly eyed him. "Espresso is dangerous," said Latte. "I'm not going to jeopardize the safety of everybody just because he's been...somewhere."
"He never hurt anybody. What evidence do you have that he's dangerous?"
"What evidence do you have that you're male enough to be all macho?" twittered Madagulpa. This caused Hue and Java to giggle. Even Latte cracked a smile.
"Oh, that's just low," came Bahamut's deep voice. "Is that how you coffee slimehs fight your battles? Character defamation?"
"What are you talking about?" demanded Madagulpa, her voice not so confident anymore.
"I'm talking about how Ree raised a valid point and you just ignored it completely."
Ree had enough. He squished out of the greenhouse and towards the flower pot, where the three newcomers were already roosting. Behind him, he could still hear the raised voices of the other slimehs. They grew fainter and fainter as he approached the flower pot. "They're just being a**...asshats," he said lamely, embarrassed to cuss in front of Kahlua.
She looked up at him and smiled. "Hey Ree."
"Hey," grunted Gin as he squished aside to give Ree space.
Ree thought he saw a look of gratitude in Espresso's eyes. He may be unable to talk, but his eyes convey his feelings very well, he thought. He was suddenly sick with shame over how he stayed away from Espresso, like everybody else.
Kahlua opened her mouth as if to speak, then caught herself. After a long, awkward pause, she smiled again. "Would you like to hear about our visit to Cardi's study?"
His eyes widened. "You went to her study?"
"Espresso and I sat by this window that overlooked the backyard," piped in Gin with his gravelly voice. "I've never seen anything so beautiful."
Espresso happily nodded.
Ree settled down in his spot. He relished the prospect of spending the night hanging out with Kahlua.
(9)
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:45 pm
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"Maddiiieee," implored Hue. "Bahamut's just being an a**. You know how those summon slimehs are like. They're savages!"
Caz busied himself turning over his earth, as if it could distance him from the previous night's events. It was a nasty situation. Nobody realized it at first, because everybody was too busy arguing or cowering. Then Diablos bellowed, "I'ma smack the next slimeh to open his or her big, fat maw!"
That was when everybody realized that a nasty situation just erupted.
Latte was going to retort, but Caz stuffed a petal in his mouth.
All night, the air had been so thick that Caz could've easily cut it with a blade of leaf. And the following morning, there was a mass exodus for the greenhouse exit. Everybody was eager to get out in the open space and tend to their own businesses.
With an uneasy feeling, Caz noticed that several slimehs would avert their eyes whenever they caught his. This is not good, he thought.
"Don't you think so, Caz? Caz!"
"Think what?" distractedly he asked.
Hue pouted. "That Bahamut was terrible. He's such a big meanie. You and Latte should do something about him."
Caz straightened and met Hue's eyes. "I don't think he did anything wrong."
Her eyes popped open. "What?" she gasped. "You heard what he said! He had absolutely no right to talk to Maddie that way!"
"Damn straight he had no right to talk to Maddie that way," huffed Latte as he came up behind them. "We need to have a talk with Bahamut, Caz. And with Griever and Diablos, too. Set them straight and remind them of their place."
"You should!" squeaked Maddie. She was still trembling with indignation over the memory.
Caz concentrated on turning over his earth. "I think we should wait until things blow over. Talking to them now would only make things worse."
"What?" spluttered Latte. "We need to set them straight right away! Show them that we're in charge here!"
"It's not a matter of showing who's in charge," responded Caz. "It's a matter of shutting up when you're supposed to shut up. The whole thing started over something stupid and escalated because of more stupidity."
His three friends stared at him in shock. Latte stiffened, and Maddie blushed beet red. Then Hue sighed. "Maybe Caz has a point. We really don't have to bother ourselves with such...commonfolk."
"Commonfolk!" exclaimed Latte. "I like that!"
Caz didn't like it at all. But at least they dropped the issue.
(10)
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 8:25 pm
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Griever's visit to Espresso's flower pot the following morning had nothing to do with shownmanship, despite Ifrit's triumphant proclamations like, "This gives us a leg up over those coffee slimehs. We can overthrow them anytime!" Rather, Griever was curious. For as long as he could remember, Espresso slept outside the greenhouse.
He was no stranger to the misery in Espresso's eyes. Sometimes we can't win 'em all, he had thought. Besides, Espresso had a pretty female slimeh hanging out with him.
But now he was grotesquely fascinated by the coffee slimehs' revulsion over Espresso. They were so revolted by him that they did not even give him a welcome-back reception.
He did not expect a small party to be in Espresso's flower pot, and he was sorry he came over. Aside from Espresso, there was Kahlua, Gin, Ree, and Tequila. The five of them were eating breakfast. Kahlua and Gin were regaling Tequila with stories of their adventure Upstairs.
Griever had also forgotten that Espresso could not talk. Well. A lot of good that'll do me, he thought, starting to turn away.
But the slimehs had already spotted him. "Griever!" excitedly Tequila said. "You're joining us? This is great!"
"Yeah, Griever, come on in," said Gin in his gravelly voice. "There's enough leaves and water to go around."
Reluctantly, Griever came over and took a spot between Kahlua and Tequila. He noticed that Tequila was still warily eyeing Espresso and was trying to stay as far away from him as possible. But Espresso didn't notice it. His eyes conveyed only happiness over being surrounded by several slimehs.
Throughout breakfast, Griever absently listened to Kahlua and Gin animatedly relay their adventure. They described Cardi's study and the bonsai tree in hideous detail. But he noticed that Kahlua's expressions of excitement were forced, especially alongside Gin's.
After breakfast, Kahlua and Griever found themselves squishing towards the greenhouse together. Kahlua had to turn over her earthen plot; Griever just wanted to get away from the throng of jabbering slimehs. Ree, Gin, and Tequila were still yammering away when they left.
"Why does Espresso sleep so far away from the greenhouse?" suddenly Griever asked.
Kahlua jumped at the unexpected sound. "Why?" she echoed.
Griever waited for an answer.
"Hue said she was too afraid to sleep with Espresso around," Kahlua said, her eyes narrowing in anger. "So Latte ordered him to sleep as far away from the greenhouse as possible."
"And nobody said anything about it."
"What else was there to say?"
Griever snorted. "I kind of expected better from you, princess." And he was tired of slimeh interaction. He squished ahead to the greenhouse.
(9)
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 8:49 pm
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Kahlua's blush had not yet cooled down. She was still indignant over what Griever said. To make matters worse, she didn't even realize what he was getting at until he was out of sight.
Do something about it? There's nobody else in The Basement who spent more time with Espresso than me! But she knew only all too well--and painfully--what Griever meant. She had thought about it herself a million times. She could have told Latte that his actions were unacceptable. She could have told Hue to get off her high horse. She could have done something so Espresso wouldn't be sleeping outside, by himself.
She was having a headache. On top of what Griever said, she had been repressing memories of what she had seen in the notebook. She couldn't bring herself to tell it to anybody. And last night, seeing Ree so friendly and happy, almost broke her heart.
It's so unfair, she thought. Snobs like Latte and Hue can breed and reproduce and populate The Basement with their snotty kids. And nice slimehs like Ree can't have baby slimehs at all.
Immediately, however, she felt bad at having such angry thoughts about her pod sibs.
As if her thoughts came to life, Madagulpa materialized beside her. "I see you've been hanging out with the rowdy commonfolk," sniffed the orange slimeh.
"The what folk?" Kahlua asked slowly.
"The commonfolk!" Madagulpa looked at her up and down. "I really don't know why you keep fooling yourself and everybody else. You're no coffee slimeh. You're a booze slimeh."
Madagulpa had been vicious before, but she was classy vicious. Now she was just downright vicious. Ree had told Kahlua about what happened in the greenhouse last night. "I'm not talking to you when you're like this," Kahlua muttered, squishing past Madagulpa.
"Fine! It's not like you're our pod sib, anyway!"
"That's enough, Maddie!" came a sharp voice.
Kahlua turned around. It was Caz.
(7)
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Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 11:01 pm
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Espresso knew Triple Triad. That was really something. It was not long before he, Ree, Gin, and Tequila were playing.
Ree was glad to see that Tequila was warming up to Espresso. She was nowhere near as affectionate as Kahlua was, but she was close. Ree sensed that she was getting along with him mostly for Gin's benefit. He racked his brain for any knowledge about goings-on between Gin and Tequila. They make a cute couple, he thought.
Part of him was still aglow over spending so much time with Kahlua. Last night, they slept next to each other. There was a shortage of petals for blankets, but none of them were willing to return to the greenhouse. Kahlua offered to share a large petal with Ree, but he refused. He knew all too well that two slimehs of different genders snooze under one petal only when they were committed to each other.
Well, Gin and Tequila didn't share a petal, he thought.
Then another, more uneasy thought struck him. Maybe Kahlua thinks I'm female, so there's nothing wrong with sleeping under one petal, he thought with alarm.
That particularly stung, given Madagulpa's snide remark the night before.
As he was mulling over these issues, he caught Diablos' eye from across the room. The slimeh was scowling. This wasn't anything new; Diablos was always scowling. On that day, however, Ree felt that Diablos' scowl was more menacing than usual. And it was aimed especially towards him. He didn't know whether to be happy or afraid. If Diablos was indeed scowling at him, that meant he viewed Ree as another male and a rival for Kahlua's affections. But that also meant that Diablos was likely to smack him around.
"I have some good gossip," Tequila was saying. "I heard Hue likes Caz!"
"She does?" rumbled Gin without looking up from his cards. He and Espresso were having a particularly challenging match.
Ree liked the booze slimehs. They were mellow and fun to be with. But he had to admit, sometimes, they could be slow. "Yeah, she's been crushing on him for quite a while now," he said.
Slow, but not that slow. "Oh darn," Tequila said. "Everybody knows it already?"
"Yeah," Ree hedged. "But it's good gossip, though."
Espresso wom the match against Gin. He bounced up and down happily.
"Great game, man," said Gin. "I really need to take lessons from you. Have you played with any of the summon slimehs?"
Espresso shook his head.
"Well, why don't we schedule a friendly match with them sometime? But before that, you have to show me how you kicked my a** at that last match."
Ree was filled with sudden admiration for Gin. Clearly, Gin wasn't one to discriminate against fellow slimehs. And Tequila was watching Gin with her eyes aglow. Ree had a feeling it wouldn't be long before the two of them would actually be sharing a petal.
His thoughts returned to Kahlua. Maybe it's high time I talked to Harrar.
(10)
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Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 11:19 pm
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Caz gave Maddie a dark glare. "What's going on here?"
"Just Kahlua being all snooty, as usual," she responded.
"You were being verbally abusive, Maddie."
She stared at him in shock. Kahlua, meanwhile, uncomfortably looked away. "What is wrong with you, Caz? Latte talked about this. You've been so disagreeable lately!"
Suddenly, Caz was tired of it all. "It's my duty to maintain peace around here. And you need to stop harrassing other slimehs, Maddie. Do that one more time and..." his voice trailed off. He really didn't know what he would do if Maddie harrassed anybody again. They didn't have contingencies for habitually noncompliant slimehs.
Maddie seemed to interpret his voice trailing off as something sinister. She backed down. Shooting one more hostile look at Kahlua, she squished to the greenhouse. Caz knew that Maddie would sit on her hammock and rage for the next two hours or so. It would not be long before all slimehs in The Basement are aware of Kahlua's supposed transgressions.
"I'm sorry about that," he said to Kahlua once Maddie was out of earshot. "She's just in a really cranky mood lately."
"She's always cranky," tonelessly Kahlua said.
"Yeah, well..." Caz's voice trailed off. The two of them stood together in silence. Then he blurted out, "I'm sorry about what happened with Espresso last night, too. He should've had a better reception than that."
"Are you apologizing for everybody, or just for yourself?"
Caz was taken aback. "What do you mean?"
Kahlua looked down at the ground. "I don't know what I mean. Forget it."
Yes, who am I apologizing for? Caz wondered. "I guess it's just for myself, huh?" he said after a moment's pause.
She faintly smiled at that. "You're not half-bad, you know?"
"What about the other half?"
His tone was playful and teasing. But Kahlua's faint smile vanished. "I just think this whole thing with Espresso...we're all guilty, really."
Just then, Hue's voice reached their ears. "Caz! What's going on between you and Maddie?" She materialized beside him.
Kahlua turned to go. "See you later."
Caz wanted to ask her more questions and talk to her a little longer. But Hue's presence changed the atmosphere. He watched Kahlua squish away.
Hue went on as if Kahlua wasn't even there. "Maddie was really upset, Caz. But I think if you say sorry to her, she'll forgive you..."
(10)
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Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 11:40 pm
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"Have I got news!" came Ifrit's voice.
"Lay it on us," said Bahamut.
"There's a love triangle going on between Caz, Hue, and Kahlua!"
Bahamut looked disgusted. "You call that news? That's idle gossip."
Seeing that Bahamut wouldn't give him the reaction he wanted, Ifrit turned to Griever. "Interesting turn of events, huh?"
"Yes. I almost fell over from shock."
Bahamut cracked a smile while Ifrit looked disgruntled. "Is that sarcasm I hear, Griever? If I don't know any better, I say that's the first emotional thing I've heard out of you!"
"Sarcasm is not an emotion," said Ifrit, eager to get away from his now-dull news.
As Bahamut and Ifrit debated the necessary and sufficient conditions for identifying emotion, Griever returned to listening to the silence inside his headphones. With the right-hand slimeh, huh?
He realized he had a high regard for Kahlua in the past. She was one of the popular slimehs, but she was always nice to everybody. But the more he knew about her, the more he realized she wasn't as upstanding as he thought she was. She kept mum about something that she knew was not right.
And now she was getting more embroiled in the other coffee slimehs' affairs. She doesn't have very good decision-making skills, observed Griever.
I guess Diablos is gonna be pissed about this, he thought.
He listened to the silence in his headphones a little longer. Then he decided he felt like having a Triple Triad match.
(5)
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 10:42 am
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Kahlua's encounter with the power coffee slimehs still shook her. It was too much excitement for one day. And to begin with, she already had enough excitement to last her a few months.
As she turned her earth, she mulled over Caz's character. He's such a nice guy, she thought. The guy whom everybody considers to be his or her best friend. Too bad the power coffee slimehs got to him first. And he's cute to boot. She noticed him right away, from the moment they were placed in an envelope and carried out of the silky slime lab from which they were manufactured. Everybody just gravitated to Caz from the very beginning. And of course, the overpowering slimehs were the ones who got to spend time with Caz. They intimidated the less outgoing slimehs, who went and formed their own little groups. Kahlua supposed that she spent too much time keeping to herself that she wasn't able to form lasting bonds with any of them. It bothered her only when she saw other slimehs having fun together. But at the same time, she liked being by herself.
Kahlua could feel other slimehs' eyes on her as she turned her earth. It was really nothing out of ordinary. Slimehs have been staring at her a lot since the booze slimehs barreled in. But this time, she felt everybody stared at her more than usual. A couple of times, she saw slimehs staring at her and whispering to each other out of the corner of her eye. I guess Madagulpa vented already, she thought with an inward sigh. Kahlua hated conflict. And the whole conflict brewing in The Basement was just so senseless to her.
Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore, and she squished out of the greenhouse to go to Espresso's pot. When she got there, she was taken aback at the number of alcohol slimehs that joined Espresso.
"Kahlua!" Ree exclaimed. "You're back!"
She squished over and playfully tapped against him. She always liked Ree. They would talk every now and then, especially since she snoozed with the LoTR slimehs. "So what's been going on?"
Ree bobbed up and down. "Well, Gin's friends joined us, then Tequila's friends, and before I knew it, it's a crowd in here! But it's all good. Look at how happy Espresso is."
Kahlua turned to see several male alcohol slimehs clustered around Espresso, talking. The conversation in the flower pot centered on the trip Upstairs and on Triple Triad. Some alcohol slimehs still looked wary of Espresso, but she could tell that they would warm up soon, like Tequila. "That's great," she said warmly. "Espresso's been lonely for so long."
Ree bobbed up and down even more. "So what've you been up to?"
"Nothing special," she said evasively.
Just then, Whiskey squished up to them. "Hi Kahlua," she squeaked.
"Hi Whiskey. Lively party, huh?"
Whiskey nodded. Then she said, "It's so nice here. We're thinking of settling down here for good. You know, like our little sleeping spot. We really never had one..."
"That's great," Kahlua agreed with a smile.
Whiskey looked around nervously. "Kahlua, maybe it's not such a good idea for you to be hanging around here too much. You know, just in case other slimehs would mistake you to be a booze slimeh even more."
Kahlua was taken aback.
"Whiskey!" Ree said in a tone of shock and anger. "This has been Kahlua's spot before any of us! Espresso's a good friend of hers!"
Whiskey nervously shifted from side to side. "I...I'm sorry. I'm just...Kahlua's always having a hard time because of us booze slimehs. Slimehs questioning her and stuff. Everybody knows she's a coffee slimeh. If only we booze slimehs weren't around...well, I didn't mean it in a mean way. Really!"
"I hate that word!"
At Kahlua's outburst, everybody in the flower pot turned towards her.
"I hate how you're all called booze slimehs! It sounds too unkind! You're alcohol slimehs, and there's nothing wrong with you!"
Silence descended. Nobody knew what to say. Kahlua was trembling.
The sound of the swiveling bookcase interrupted the silence. It ended with a bang! And then there came an unfamiliar voice. "Hey! Jelly bags!"
(15)
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 11:15 am
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"There's not jelly bags! They're silky slimes!"
"I thought they're called silkehs or slimehs..."
"That, too. But they're not jelly bags!"
A teenage boy with longish blond hair and brilliant green eyes sprinted down the steps. He seemed to move in leaps and bounds. "Can I play with them? Can I, can I, can I?"
"Be careful, Leo! You might step on them!"
"What'll happen if I step on them?"
At that, slimehs in the main area began to hastily squish away from the guy named Leo.
"They'll rupture and die!"
"Oh..." Leo looked around him with great interest. "Have you ever ruptured a slimeh, Mom?"
This made the slimehs squirm in discomfort.
Cardi made her way down the stairs, her arms loaded down with what looked like large rolls of paper, bolts of fabric, long sticks, and a pail. "No, and if you step on one--heaven forbid--you'll be grounded for far longer than the last time you were grounded!"
"Oh..."
"Now help me with these wallpapers and stop stomping about."
Ree had forgotten all about the little conflict brewing in the flower pot. So did everybody else. They were too transfixed by the little event that just happened. It was the first time they saw a human other than Cardi.
Leo took the supplies Cardi carried and clattered over to a far wall. Slimehs made a mad dash to get away from him.
"See how smart they are," fondly Cardi said. Relieved of her load, she made her way to the flower pot. "My, you're all crammed in there, aren't you?" she said thoughtfully as she leaned over to scrutinize them.
Kahlua squeaked. At that, all the booze slimehs began squeaking, too. They were excited at this rare opportunity to talk to Cardi. Cardi never really understood slimeh talk, so they had to be content with squeaking at her.
"I have just the thing," Cardi said with a nod. She straightened and turned to Leo. "You can start working. I'll be right back."
"With cookies and milk?" Leo asked hopefully.
"No, that'll come way later."
"Aw..."
Cardi went up the stairs. When Ree followed her with his eyes, he saw that the bookcase was left open. Faint rays of light streamed down the steps.
They all looked at each other in the flower pot, completely uncertain as to what Cardi would do. The loud, clattering sounds that Leo made didn't assuage their queasiness.
Finally, Cardi returned with another teenage boy. They carried a large fern tree. The pot was large enough to accomodate Espresso, all the booze slimehs, and perhaps even all the LoTR slimehs as well. The new teenage boy moved aside the flower pot and put the fern tree in its place. Then Cardi gently shook the slimehs into the fern pot.
"Yeah, I don't think the pillows would work for them, Mom," the new teenage boy said. When Ree and the other slimehs got settled, they got a good look at him. He was as tall as Leo, with short, dark brown hair and equally dark brown eyes. While Leo had a ready smile on his face, this one had a more serious expression. But his stance was relaxed. "That'll just suck all the moisture out of them."
"See, I told you they're jelly bags," called Leo.
Cardi shook her head. "Yeah, I think you're right," she told the brown-haired teenage boy.
As Cardi and the brown-haired teenage boy continued to talk, Ree saw something flash out of the corner of his eye. When he turned, he found that Leo was waving a wand around. Wallpapers rose by themselves and proceeded to plaster themselves on the walls.
"I'll get them ready in a moment," the brown-hair teenage boy said with a nod.
"Great. Thanks, Teve." Cardi turned. "Leo! What did I tell you about using magic?"
"That it's a many spledored thing?" he ventured.
Ree looked around, and his eyes widened. The walls were no longer white. Instead, they were dark, dark blue, with tiny silver stars that glittered. With the moss-green tiles, it looked like they were outdoors.
Leo waved his wand again, and the bolt of fabric unrolled itself and rose to the ceiling. There was a cacophony of oohs and aahs among the slimehs as they followed it with their eyes. The fabric had the same design as the wallpaper, and it covered the ceiling and stayed there.
Cardi sighed. "I can't say it's not convenient. But really, Leo, true work builds character."
Then Ree found himself looking at the open bookcase once more.
(16)
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:27 pm
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"I can't believe Cardi's doing this to us!" hissed Latte.
"She isn't doing anything to us," pointed out Caz.
"Exactly!" Latte paced in front of his hammock, clearly agitated. "Why is she ignoring us? And giving those...outcasts a fern...!"
"I can't believe she favors Kahlua so much!" cried Hue. "Why her?!"
Then Harrar, who usually didn't talk, spoke up. "I'm betting she doesn't even recognize Kahlua. I mean, think about it. To other species, members of one species may all look alike," he explained as he adjusted his monocle.
Latte stopped. "That's it!"
"What?" tiredly asked Caz.
"Maybe Cardi doesn't recognize us! Maybe she thinks everybody in that flower pot are coffee slimehs! After all, only Espresso is blatantly different, and she knows he's a coffee slimeh. Maybe she thinks everybody hanging around Espresso is a coffee slimeh too!"
"How could she assume that we hang around Espresso?" burst out Hue.
"The nerve!" continued Latte, shaking in outrage. "For those booze slimehs to pretend to be us!"
Harrar exchanged a nervous glance with Caz.
"So what do you think we should do about it, Latte?" asked Caz coolly.
Latte took this as a sign of Caz's cooperation. He bobbed up and down excitedly. "We'll just have to take that fern, of course! It's rightfully ours!" at that, he gave a satisfied nod. "Yes, that's what we should do!"
"I'll tell Maddie and the gang," said Hue excitedly, bouncing off.
Once Hue was out of earshot, Caz said, "No."
Harrar sensed trouble was brewing. He quietly squished off.
"No what?" blankly Latte asked.
"We're not doing that, Latte. She didn't give it to us. She gave it to them."
"She thinks she gave them to us!"
"Nobody can read Cardi's mind. You're just twisting things around to fit what you believe."
Latte puffed up. "I am sick and tired of you being so disagreeable all the time!" he bellowed. "And to think I've been covering up for you all this time with Hue, Caz! She keeps getting upset that you're not returning her feelings, and I keep telling her to be patient. But I will NOT cover up for you anymore, not when you're like this!"
Caz was bewildered. How did the subject turn to Hue? "That's not what we're talking about."
"What is wrong with you?! Are you really taken with Kahlua?!"
"What?!" he said, astonished.
"Answer me!"
Caz took a few deep breaths, buying time as his mind worked furiously. How the hell is he going to straighten this mess? "Listen," he said more calmly, hoping that Latte would follow suit. "If we take the fern from the booze slimehs and Espresso, we will antagonize everybody."
"That's not what I'm asking!"
"You can't deny that there's been tension between coffee slimehs and non-coffee slimehs, Latte. One more push and all hell will break loose," he continued as if Latte didn't say anything.
Latte stared at him.
"There are only fifteen coffee slimehs, and probably only thirteen will side with us. Kahlua and Espresso won't be part of this." His thoughts drifted to Harrar. After Harrar's display, he doubted the monocled coffee slimeh would side with Latte, also. "There are fifty-eight non-coffee slimehs. You do the math."
"They can't go against us," Latte blustered.
"Normally, they won't. But with the recent events..." Caz let his voice trail off.
Latte backed down. "Fine. They get to keep the fern," he growled. He began to squish away from Caz. "It's not like it's a nice fern, anyway."
(14)
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Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 12:11 am
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Griever had no interest in the coffee slimehs' affairs. In fact, the more he thought of it, the more he was convinced he knew more than what he cared to know about their affairs.
"Do you have music playing?" asked Bahamut. The two of them sat together with their headphones on. When the raised voices of Caz and Latte reached them, Bahamut switched off his own boombox to listen.
"No."
"Damn, these coffee slimehs sure know how to create drama for themselves, don't they?"
Griever didn't reply.
"No perception of privacy, either. Too bad Ifrit's not here to see. He's outside watching Cardi and her kids, isn't he?"
He grunted.
The two of them sat together in companionable silence.
"I guess it's only a rumor, that love triangle between Caz and Kahlua and Hue."
Griever stared at Bahamut.
Bahamut gave him a grin. "Oh, I know you're interested. You've never spoken to any female slimeh before. You know, I always thought you look at Kahlua a great deal. Well, not as much as Diablos does..." his voice trailed off. Then he shook his head. "Damn, that chick's gotta be incredibly dense. All these male slimehs ogling her..."
Griever began to squish away.
"Hey! Come back here!"
Him, getting involved in the madness that is the coffee slimehs? And Kahlua even showed that she's not much in the character department.
"I hit a nerve, didn't I?"
If Bahamut says one more word, I'ma smack his lights out.
Bahamut caught up with him. When he glanced over, the purple slimeh simply gave him a big, fat grin. He might be a mind reader, Griever thought.
"Say, what're they doing now?" asked Bahamut suddenly.
Griever glanced towards the stairs to find Cardi and Teve setting down large pillows by the fern.
"Let's come closer and check," said Bahamut.
Griever hung back, not particularly interested in what was happening. Not if it involves interacting with all the slimehs in the fern pot.
Bahamut glanced at the slimehs in the fern pot, glanced back at Griever, and grinned.
If he gives me another one of those big, fat grins, I'ma smack his lights out, anyway. Just then, Griever noticed something pale blue slinking up the stairs. He squinted. It's that androgynous guy. "I think he's going to get out," he said out loud without meaning to.
But Bahamut was already out of earshot, squishing towards the fern. Griever half-wondered if the purple slimeh would get stepped on by that boorish kid, Leo. Everybody else knew better than to be on the ground, close to the teenage boy.
Griever glanced back towards the staircase. Now he saw that the androgynous slimeh was almost at the top. Where is he going? he wondered. Part of him seriously considered going after the guy. But then again, he always thought that guy sometimes bordered on silly, making goo-goo eyes at Kahlua.
And part of him didn't really care much.
(10)
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 3:17 pm
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Cardi and Teve didn't carry in just any set of pillows. They carried in little water pillows. They were made of thick plastic, filled with water, and covered with gossamer cases. The slimehs could rest on them without fear of getting dried out or whatnot. Or as Teve warned.
Cardi and Teve piled the pillows around the fern, so the slimehs could slide down the pillows and onto the ground. Already a bunch of alcohol slimehs bounced up and down on the pillows. "They look so happy," Teve observed.
"They do, don't they?" fondly Cardi asked.
Then Leo asked excitedly, "So do we start bustin' up the place now?"
Busting up the place? Kahlua exchanged confused looks with the slimehs around her. They went through all the trouble of renovating The Basement just to bust it up?
Cardi's reply didn't calm them, either. "Let's leave that for another day. It's so nice outside. We should go ahead and take that field trip with the little ones."
Leo groaned. "But that's so boring!"
On the other hand, Teve lit up. "I'll get the boxes," he volunteered.
Kahlua was overwhelmed by curiosity. She squished up to Cardi. Being the trusting soul that she was, she gently nudged Cardi's foot.
Cardi looked down. "Aw, Leo, here's the little one I was talking to you about," she said, picking up Kahlua and patting her.
Leo bounded over and peered at her. "But she's just an ordinary red jelly bag!"
Kahlua looked up at Leo, frightened. He was so close that she could see the different shadings of green in his eyes.
"Stop scaring her. Isn't she a darling?"
"Can I have my own pet slimeh too, Mom?" asked Leo, looking around eagerly. Slimehs squished further away from him.
"Not today, Leo."
Teve returned with a very large box. "Okay. All set."
"Great," Cardi said enthusiastically. "Pile them all in."
And then Kahlua found herself tossed into the box.
(8 )
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 3:29 pm
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Ree had never seen anything like it before. It was large, fuzzy, and blinked at him with large, emerald-green eyes. It had black fur, four legs, a long and swishy tail, and triangle ears that splayed back. It also steadily hummed, like Espresso.
It held out a paw and tentatively batted at Ree. He squeaked in fright as he rolled backwards. This seemed to interest the black, fuzzy creature more, and it padded closer to him.
Ree trembled like he never trembled before as the creature sniffed him. Then it batted at him with a paw again. He went rolling further back.
I shouldn't have left The Basement! he thought in terror.
The longer he looked at the open bookcase, the weaker his resistance became. Finally, when he couldn't resist the lure any longer, he stealthily squished up the stairs while nobody was looking. It was hard for him not to watch what was going on. And it was harder for him to explain why he wanted to go beyond the bookcase. Maybe it was because of Madagulpa's mean comment. Maybe it was because Kahlua offered to share a petal with him without thinking about the consequences.
Maybe he finally saw an opportunity to search Cardi's study for himself and look for clues about his gender.
Ree reckoned it was all three.
But he had not gotten far into the study when this large, fuzzy creature appeared.
Suddenly, the creature let out a sound. It was unlike anything Ree heard before, and he thought he had never heard anything more frightening in his life. But what really caused him terror was the sight of the creature's long, pointed teeth. Ree squeaked and squished away as fast as he could.
Unfortunately, it was a futile attempt to get away from the creature. Suddenly, Ree felt the creature's jaws close around him. Everything went black.
(5)
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 3:43 pm
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It was not fun being in a box with seventy-two other slimehs. The box jostled every now and then, too, hinting that they were moving. Latte was definitely not happy being mashed against booze slimehs, LoTR slimehs, and Ifrit. And since they were so packed tightly that they could not move, Latte could do nothing but squeeze his eyes shut. Ifrit simply gave him a menacing glare throughout.
Caz smoothered a laugh as he watched Latte's expression. When Latte moved his eyes to glare at Caz, he immediately turned to Kahlua, whom he was mashed up against. "Are you doing okay?"
She managed a nod.
"I bet we'll be there soon." Caz could feel Hue's eyes on him, but he didn't look her way. When Cardi, Teve, and Leo were putting slimehs in the box (Leo was throwing them in at an alarming pace), Caz saw Hue make a mad dash towards him. Without thinking, he hid behind Neo Bahamut's massive build and planted himself beside Kahlua. He sensed Hue was upset.
But he didn't care. He liked Hue as a sister, and nothing more. Sure, he saw other slimehs watching her a lot, and he kept hearing comments about how lucky he was. The bottom line is that he didn't have any romantic feelings for her.
He looked down at Kahlua. It wasn't so bad being mashed up against her. "I was pretty worried when I saw Leo peer at you so closely like that. Like he's going to swallow you or something."
"I was scared silly," she admitted, embarrassed.
"You're lucky to be Cardi's favorite."
"Oh no, I'm not her favorite," Kahlua protested. "I just like saying hello to her a lot. You should try it sometime. She likes it when slimehs say hello."
Caz could only laugh.
"What?" she asked puzzledly.
"Oh, nothing."
Just then, the jostling stopped. Slimehs uneasily looked at each other.
And then the lid of the box opened. When they looked up, they saw a pink sky.
(7)
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Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 3:30 pm
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