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 Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 3:34 pm
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Kahlua was never an active slimeh. That day, she felt particularly drained. She didn't realize that she had fallen asleep until she opened her eyes and found that she was leaning very comfortably against Griever.
Griever didn't seem to realize that she was awake, so Kahlua decided to keep still. The jostling in the box had stopped. It was a small wonder that she managed to sleep through it all in the first place. She looked around slowly and found Ifrit snoozing in a corner.
It felt nice to lean against Griever. Even back in Cardi's car, when the two of them leaned against each other, she noticed it. It had a calming effect on her. Well, of course, then he would look at her and talk and that would be the end of the niceness.
I shouldn't have gotten involved with Caz, gloomily Kahlua thought. He was too good to be true. And he was. Yesterday, she would have berated herself for letting her guard down and getting so close to Caz. Or let him get too close to her. But now, she was just tired.
Absently, she snuggled closer to Griever to get more comfortable. His friends have always been mean and insensitive. I thought he was different, but he really wasn't.
She closed her eyes and fell asleep again.
(4)
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 3:50 pm
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"Caz, we need to talk."
Night had already fallen, and Cardi still hasn't returned with Kahlua, Griever, and Ifrit. Everybody was buzzing about it. Caz burrowed deeper in his hammock.
Hue bounced up on the hammock. "Caz! You're ignoring me again!"
"So weird that they're not back yet," Maddie, who was nearby, said. "You think Cardi put them in a breeding tank? Ooh, that'll just be sick..."
Hue giggled.
"Stop it," Caz snapped at Maddie.
Her eyes widened, and she looked to Hue for help.
"Caz! You hurt Maddie's feelings. Say sorry to her right now!"
Caz got off the hammock. "I agreed to be your boyfriend, Hue. Not a lapdog."
Hue and Maddie gasped. Then Hue burst into tears and quickly squished away.
Maddie was furious. "What're you doing, Caz? You've been so good yesterday, and now you're being all disagreeable again! If Hue does something to hurt herself, I won't forgive you!"
"I don't care if she hurts herself," he responded recklessly.
"You should! You're her boyfriend!"
What have I gotten myself into? he wondered. Without a word, he squished away from Maddie.
He found Hue on top of the fridge, moping. "Get down there and let's go back to the greenhouse, Hue," he said resignedly. "It's almost time for bed."
"No! You don't love me! You don't even like me!"
Damn straight I don't like you, he sorely wanted to say. "Of course I like you," he said with a sigh.
"You don't love me!"
"Of course I love you," he said hollowly.
Hue brightened slightly at that. Then she returned to her tantrum. "You don't even know my whole name!"
Do you know my whole name? He doubted it. "Of course I do. It's Huehuetenango."
At that, her expression softened. She bounded down and threw herself at him. "Caz! Oh, I love you soo-ooo much!"
And this is the first day of the rest of my life, Caz thought listlessly as he escorted Hue back to the greenhouse.
(10)
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 3:51 pm
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"Do you think Cardi set down the box and forgot all about it?" suddenly asked Ifrit.
"Shh!" Griever gave him a reprimanding glare and pointedly looked at Kahlua sleeping.
"You sound very protective," Ifrit said in a very Bahamut-like voice.
"Go away."
"Believe me, man, I would if I could to give you lovebirds privacy. But alas! You're stuck with me." Ifrit's very merry expression belied his words.
Griever gave Ifrit a withering look. "There's nothing going on between us."
"Right."
"She gets herself into a lot of trouble that she couldn't get out of easily."
"But you never helped other damsels in distress before, man. Remember when Shiva got stuck between the bricks?"
"I helped her get out of them."
"Yeah, you knocked her right out of the bricks and sent her splat on the ground." Ifrit sighed heavily. "But when she started crying because her shapely little rump was sore, you just walked away. Bahamut had to step in and console her."
"He had ulterior motives for consoling her."
"And you have the same ulterior motives now, don't you?" asked Ifrit wickedly.
"I'ma kill you."
Ifrit shook his head. "Griever, Griever, Griever. If it was Kahlua stuck between the bricks, you would have gently helped her out of them, asked if she was alright, brought her hot chocolate, and sit by her until bedtime."
Griever decided to ignore him. Ifrit wore a self-satisfied smirk. He would've been happy to wipe it off for Ifrit, but he didn't want to wake Kahlua.
(5)
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 4:16 pm
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The box opened. Kahlua sleepily opened her eyes.
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry about that," Cardi said apologetically as she lifted them out. They disorientedly squished onto her desk. "You know how time flies when you're having fun..." she bustled about the study, turning on lights and putting away her things. From the window, they could see it was already dark outside.
Since Kahlua had been in the study before, she wasn't very interested in looking around. Ifrit, on the other hand, was looking around so wildly that he almost sprouted eyes in the back of his head. Even Griever looked mildly interested as he gazed about.
"But I got a nice surprise for you!" Cardi placed one paper plate in front of Ifrit and another in front of Kahlua. "You and Griever'll have to share one plate," she explained when the three slimehs glanced down at the large portion of food on Kahlua's plate and the smaller portion of food on Ifrit's plate.
Griever hesitated slightly, but without a word, he squished over to stand beside Kahlua.
"Have you guys had tofu curry before?"
They shook their heads.
"It's really good. I think you'll like it. I had the chef at the Japanese restaurant slice it in especially tiny pieces."
Warily, they began to eat. Once Ifrit got his first taste of tofu curry, he dived right into it. Kahlua, as she watched him, felt like doing something similar. It was very tasty, much tastier than the leaves in The Basement.
Cardi sat at the desk and watched them eat. "Well, this can just be our little secret. Nobody has to know that you had delicious tofu curry for dinner."
It felt particularly strange for Kahlua to eat out of one plate with Griever. But as long as he was focused on eating and wasn't giving her glares or speaking, she was comforted by his presence.
(5)
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 4:24 pm
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 4:34 pm
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After dinner, Cardi set Kahlua, Griever, and Ifrit into the bonsai tree pot and covered each of them with a large, fragrant petal. Griever belatedly realized they were cherry blossom petals. "This might be a nice change for you," she told them. "Sleep under the stars."
Griever looked out of the window, up at the sky, with interest.
"Sweet dreams," said Cardi warmly before walking away.
Griever was so busy looking up at the night sky that when something moved beside him, he jumped. Turning, he saw that Ifrit had crawled under his petal. "What the hell are you doing?"
Kahlua, who was beginning to doze off, was roused. She glanced over. Her eyes widened when she saw the two of them under the same petal.
"I just wanted to warn you," Ifrit said in his characteristically foghorn whisper.
"If you don't get out of my petal this instant, I'ma smack you so hard that there won't be much left of you to put back together!"
Kahlua squirmed uneasily and averted her eyes.
"I just want to warn you not to get under her petal," Ifrit continued. "Or else, she would smack you hard."
"I'm counting to three! One!"
Ifrit reluctantly crawled out of Griever's petal. "Remember. Observe proper courtship decorum."
Griever ignored him and burrowed himself deep into the soil.
It was a while when he looked up. Ifrit was nowhere to be found. He must have squished off to find another pot. Griever and Kahlua were alone. Why that b*****d, he thought.
(5)
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 4:43 pm
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:02 pm
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Caz woke up to the sound of loud arguments. Struggling to keep awake, he squished away from Hue and their petal.
"Who are you to tell us what to do?" snapped Bahamut.
Latte puffed up. "I'm the leader of all slimehs!"
"You're no leader of mine. Now scram."
Caz squished over. "What's going on?" he asked blankly.
"These summon slimehs," Latte blustered. "They don't understand that the fern pot is off-limits. It's where the dregs of The Basement live."
"Nobody calls anybody a dreg here!" bellowed Bahamut, starting to charge at Latte.
Caz swiftly knocked Latte out of the way. "Stop it!"
"Make me," Bahamut spat and charged at Latte again. This time, he scored a direct hit. Latte went flying and hit a brick wall.
"That's it!" Latte shouted, picking up himself and struggling to look dignified. "This is war! I declare all summon slimehs the enemy of The Basement!"
Bahamut burst out laughing. "Fine by me!"
This is bad, thought Caz. This is very bad. "Latte," he said in a low whisper.
"What?" Latte demanded. "If you have anything to say about these heathens, say them out loud, man!"
"Latte...there are forty-two summon slimehs and only thirteen coffee slimehs..."
"There are fifteen of us!"
"You've thrown out Espresso and outcast Kahlua..."
At that, a look of understanding came over Latte. It was followed by a look of panic. Bahamut gave a self-satisfied smirk.
"W-well, the other slimehs will side with us!" Latte spluttered.
"Who? The booze slimehs? You've outcast them as well," said Bahamut, thoroughly enjoying himself. "The LoTR slimehs? You could try. There are only ten of them, though. Go on. Round up your little army and let's settle this."
Latte backed away. "It'll be a mistake to challenge us," he said, no longer sounding confident.
"No, Latte. I'm afraid you don't understand. It's a mistake to challenge me. And you know what else? I'll be generous and let you continue playing your little nobility game a little longer. But when Griever comes back, that's when things will get ugly."
(10)
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:17 pm
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Griever woke up and was taken aback when he found that Kahlua had slept beside him. Well, she still had her own petal, but she slept quite close to him, a lot closer than where she was the night before.
There came the sound of the door opening. "Good morning," sang out Cardi as she bustled in and set down small plates on the desk. "Breakfast!"
Kahlua was still dozing. Griever thought it would be rude to eat their special breakfast without her, so he nudged her awake. Then he quickly squished over to the desk before she opened her eyes.
Cardi set down two small paper plates again. "Sorry, you and Kahlua would have to share again," blithely she told Griever. "I think Ifrit's a growing slimeh and need all the nutrition he could get...ah, here he is!" she exclaimed as Ifrit squished up on the desk.
"Wow, this is like the second time in a row, isn't it, man?" Ifrit said with a grin.
Griever looked up at Cardi with his best displeased expression. At that moment, Kahlua squished over. "I'm...I'm not really that hungry," she mumbled.
Ifrit gave Griever a dirty look. "Of course you are. Griever is just being an a**. Griever, stop whining like a pansy and just eat."
Since when did Ifrit sound grown-up? Griever wondered, even more disgruntled. "Yeah. Go eat," he half-heartedly told Kahlua.
She backed away.
He heaved a sigh. "I'm not mad. I'm just...well, it's obvious Cardi has enough paper plates."
Kahlua backed away further. "No, that's okay. I'm not really hungry. Really." And then she squished back to the pot.
Griever exhaled. Ifrit glared at him as he chomped down on his breakfast. That morning, they had bread and butter and orange juice, which were brand-new dishes for them. Grudgingly, Griever squished over to eat. When he glanced up, Cardi was looking at him with a disappointed expression.
(7)
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:33 pm
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 8:13 pm
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"Ooh, wait for Griever. I'm so scared!"
The rest of their little circle of elite coffee slimehs laughed.
Some time had passed since Latte's disastrous encounter with Bahamut. He had regained most of his original bravado and was presenting the coffee slimehs a warped version of what happened. According to Latte, Bahamut started hassling him, which led to a tussle in which he royally kicked Bahamut's a**. Then the threat of conflict between the coffee and the summon slimehs.
Caz hoped that gossip would prevail this time and the coffee slimehs would know better than to take Latte's word. He met Harrar's eyes, and then he looked away. Since he and Hue became a couple, he had been avoiding Harrar. He knew that the monocled coffee slimeh was disappointed in his choice.
"Actually, Latte, it doesn't sound good if Bahamut's waiting for Griever," Harrar finally said, adjusting his monocle.
"What're you talking about?" snorted Latte.
"Well...he's kind of their leader. All summon slimehs look up to him."
"Griever is an antisocial...misfit. Yes, an antisocial misfit," nodded Latte. "How could anybody look up to him?"
"Because he's plenty smart and strong." Harrar adjusted his monocle again, making him look scholarly. "You see, the large male summon slimehs have this somewhat boys' club. And they all defer to Griever. And since the slimehs in the club are very influential with the summon slimehs in general, the rest of the slimehs defer to them. Hence, they all defer to Griever."
"That doesn't mean anything," spluttered Latte.
"If Griever disapproves of what happened with Bahamut, Latte, he could decide to turn against us. And that's not something we want to happen."
Frostily, Maddie asked, "So what do you recommend we do, nerd?"
"Calm down things when Griever gets back."
Latte glared at him, displeased at the answer. "You know, you're not really all that smart, nerd. We're not going to pander to anyone. We're the superior pod!"
Harrar didn't reply.
"Caz, what do we do?" squeaked Hue. "What if those terrible summon slimehs get wild and attack us?" she pressed herself against him. It struck Caz how much she behaved like a leech.
He wanted to say that Harrar had a point. But at the same time, he agreed with Latte. Placating things with the summon slimehs before Griever's return means pandering to Griever--trying not to make him upset. And why should they pander to Griever? "There's no proof that he's the leader. Maybe they're just looking for someone to palm off things to. In that case, they're not as strong and united as they seem."
"Yes, that's what I'm talking about," said Latte, pleased. "No, nerd, we will not back down. We will put up a fight. Those summon slimehs are relatively new. They still don't know what we're capable of."
(9)
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 9:27 pm
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 7:29 pm
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 7:45 pm
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 8:01 pm
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The following morning dawned bright and early. Caz busied himself turning over the earthen spot he now shared with Hue. Hue herself had skipped off to another brainstorming/rantfest/ego-stroking session with Latte and the other coffee slimehs.
The thought of Griever still irked Caz. But at the same time, in the harsh light of day, he was starting to have second thoughts again. Harrar was often correct. And there certainly is a lot more summon slimehs. Already tension was mounting in the basement. The summon slimehs menacingly eyed the coffee slimehs, who venomously glared right back.
"Ah, I'm glad to catch you here, Caz."
He turned to find Harrar. The monocled coffee slimeh was pushing his monocle back up. "What's up?" warily he asked.
Harrar looked around, and then he lowered his voice. "What do you think will happen? With the coffees versus the summons?"
"I think we'll drive them out of the greenhouse," responded Caz.
Apparently, that was not the answer Harrar was looking for. Uncomfortably, he shifted. "Well...um...would you tell Latte that I'm...you know, that..."
"That what?" Caz asked somewhat impatiently.
Harrar lowered his eyes. "That I don't want to get involved, too," he said uneasily.
"What do you mean?" demanded Caz. "There's not a lot of us coffee slimehs. If you back out, what'll happen to the rest of us?"
"But I don't agree with this whole thing, Caz!" said Harrar, his scholarly voice belying more than a bit of frustration. "Our status is so arbitrary and this whole thing with the summons...don't deny that you think it's stupid, too!"
Caz ignored that. "If you're not with us, then what'll you do?" he asked coolly.
"I'll be with..." Harrar hesitated. "I'll be by myself. Spend time with Espresso. We won't cause any trouble."
(6)
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