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 Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:50 pm
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Griever never had reason to be afraid, or even wary, of any female slimeh. But when he woke up in the morning and saw Kahlua's eyes glaring at him from between her indentation in the earth and her petal, he experienced something between wariness and fear. "Mornin'," he said in a tentative voice that sounded strange, even to his ears.
Kahlua glared at him a little longer and then stormed off the pot.
Griever felt like hiding under his petal, but his sense of bravado prevented him from doing so. Groggily, he tried to think back to the events of the previous night. There was the shiney slimeh...and the sugar candy...and Kahlua trying to get at the sugar candy too...and the shiney slimeh snuggling on top of him...
At the memory, he groaned. After a few minutes, he squished off the pot to look for Kahlua.
"Hey," he said when he finally caught up to her, at Cardi's desk. "I don't know what happened last night, but it's not what it looked like..."
She gave him a withering look.
"Will you just listen to me?"
"I don't see why I should," huffily she said. "Why do you have to explain yourself to me, anyway?"
At that, Griever caught himself. Yeah. Why do I have to explain myself to her? Suddenly, he was embarrassed the likes of which he never felt before. He turned away. "Fine."
(4)
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:59 pm
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Yeah, why does he have to explain himself to me, anyway? Kahlua thought vengefully. It's not like I care what he does with that shallow, overbearing, annoying shiney slimeh!
To cool herself, she began to get busy leafing through Cardi's notebook. The task of turning pages kept her busy, but her mind continued to wander. I wish I don't have to be around him. Such a jerk, pretending he doesn't care and being all goo-goo-eyed over some shiney slimeh...
Suddenly, her eyes fell on a recent entry in Cardi's notebook. Custom slimehs can still breed. Only special slimehs like the Ragnarok and the domo ones are sterile. Her eyes widened. But that previous entry said custom slimehs are sterile! That's great! Ree and other customs can still have kids!
At the thought of Ree, her spirits fell again. I wonder if he's back. And we've been gone an awful long time...
Kahlua suddenly brightened. Why didn't I think of that before? If Ree escaped The Basement, he probably went through here! Maybe I can actually go look for him!
At that, she squished off the desk. It was probably her desire to escape her current dark situation, but suddenly, she was inspired to go exploring. I'll go look for Ree, she thought as she squished towards the door. And when I find him, it'll be time to return to The Basement, and everything will go back to normal...
The door suddenly opened. Kahlua looked up in mute alarm as she saw a giant foot bearing down on her.
(5)
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:26 pm
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"We're not getting anywhere with eight slimehs against four dozen."
Latte glanced up from his sumptuous brunch. "What're you talking about?"
"Harrar is not going to help us. The Ragnarok slimehs are not going to help us." Caz took his time sipping his water before looking at Latte's reaction.
"What makes you think the Ragnarok slimehs aren't going to help us?" blustered Latte.
"It's going to be obnoxious of us to ask them for help after the way they've been excluded from our group, isn't it?"
"Well, this is a different situation. We're in trouble! It's their duty to help us! And don't forget the LoTR slimehs!"
"Yeah!" squeaked Maddie.
"Yeah!" echoed Hue.
Caz kept his eyes on the water. "Well, actually, Harrar was our best connection to the LoTR slimehs--"
"I saw him cuddling with Rivendell!" Hue piped up.
"--and since he's not joining us, I think it's unlikely we can get the LoTR slimehs to help, too," Caz managed to finish as if Hue didn't speak up.
It was clear that Latte was furiously thinking, trying to find a way out of their picklement. "W-well," he blustered again. "That's really no big deal. The eight of us can take on a hundred slimehs at any time!"
There was a sudden burst of laughter from behind them. They spun around to see it was Bahamut with his two brothers, Neo Bahamut and Bahamut Zero. Caz had to admit, he was more than a little intimidated. All three of them were large, formidable slimehs. The three of them alone could probably trounce eight slimehs.
"This is pathetic!" exclaimed Neo Bahamut. "This is what you're telling us we're up against?"
"I know, I didn't mean to insult your abilities..." Bahamut said amidst his guffaw.
"Go tell him, Latte!" squeaked Maddie.
Latte stared at the three Bahamuts, his eyes wide with fear.
"Yeah, why don't you tell us, Latte?" invited Bahamut Zero.
"I..I don't have to tell you anything!" he spluttered.
The three Bahamuts laughed even harder.
Hue siddled close to Caz. "I'm scared. They might hurt me," she whispered.
Caz slowly realized that all slimeh eyes in the basement were on them. He nervously glanced at Latte, who tried to look like he was ignoring the Bahamuts and tended to his brunch.
"Well." Bahamut raised his voice. "I guess the verdict is pretty clear, huh? And we don't even need Griever to step in!"
A few slimehs began to titter. It grew and grew, until there was a smattering of laughter around them. It came not only from the summon slimehs, but from the LoTR slimehs as well. Caz wanted to disappear. But Latte continued with his false sense of bravado, eating his brunch.
Bahamut turned to Caz. "Since your brave and fearless leader chooses to stuff his face, you'll just have to relay to him that I don't want to see his pompous mug acting all high and mighty. Or else." And with that, he and his two brothers sauntered off.
Their circle of slimehs were silent. Finally, Latte said in a hiss, "The nerve! Well, the fight hasn't started yet!"
So that's how it ended, huh? Not with a bang, but with a whimper. "No, Latte," said Caz. "That was the fight. It's over."
(12)
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:38 pm
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In an instant, Kahlua was shoved out of the way. Griever wrapped over her and stared up at the intruder, his eyes wide.
"I'm so sorry!" said an unfamiliar voice. A guy with startling blue eyes and strange green hair crouched down. "I didn't mean to step on you! Well, almost step on you..."
Griever growled.
"So sorry, man. Is this your mate? I didn't mean to scare her. Or you, actually. I'm so glad you saved her in time. You got a nice mate here, little lady..."
At that, Griever squirmed uncomfortably. He wasn't impervious to Kahlua's embarrassment, either.
The guy seemed to be busy with something, because he got up and went over to the desk. She began to squirm away from Griever.
"You could've been hurt! Why were you heading for the door?" he asked angrily.
"What's it to you?" she snapped back. "Why are you yelling at me? You don't care about me!"
That infuriated Griever. "Why are you assuming I don't care about you?!"
The two of them stared at each other. What did I just say? he wondered numbly.
And then Kahlua looked away. "Well, I just..." her voice trailed off.
"Okay, here ya go! Brunch!" said the guy with green hair as he returned to them.
Griever stepped forward to protectively cover Kahlua again.
And then, much to his unexplainable happiness, she snuggled up to him.
(6)
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:52 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:59 pm
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The coffee slimehs' fall from their pedestal didn't really become clear to them until after a few days had passed. Suddenly, slimehs who deferred to them ignored them. And slimehs who stammered in their presence before were now completely at ease and even slightly amused. And when Hue wanted to go to the temple, she magnificently failed at making two LoTR slimehs give up their cart for her.
"We got here first. Wait for your turn."
"Don't you know who we are?" she demanded, puffing up.
"Yeah, you're two slimehs who came in after us for a cart," they responded, snickering as they wheeled off.
"Caz!" Hue wailed. "They were so meeeean!"
"Let's wait for our turn," he said wearily.
"But that's so unfair!"
"We have to play by everybody's rules now, Hue." He was suddenly aware of other LoTR slimehs and summon slimehs behind them, also snickering at Hue's little tantrum.
She burst into tears. "You and Latte didn't even have a chance to fight those mean Bahamuts!"
"If I don't stay by your side, they'll hurt you," he said hollowly.
That made her brighten up. "Oh yes! Oh Caz! I love you soooo much!"
As Hue draped herself all over him, Caz's thoughts went to Kahlua. It's been several days since she and Griever and Ifrit were taken away, too. He knew that she would be pleased at the outcome of things. The coffee slimehs could no longer afford to be high and mighty now. Latte had launched into a seemingly permanent sulk over it.
(5)
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:33 pm
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Over the next few days, Griever and Kahlua continued to spend time together. But it was nothing similar to when he rescued her from the green-haired guy's foot. Both of them were careful about maintaining their distance.
At first, Griever was shy and annoyed with himself for being shy. It was not something he was used to.
But at the same time, he felt ridiculously happy over spending time with Kahlua. Even though Ifrit was giving him a hard time about it.
"You're taking things slow, aren't you?" asked Ifrit one day when he managed to corner Griever by himself. Cardi went to the temple and took Kahlua with her.
"What're you talking about?" Griever asked derisively.
"Oh, you know what I'm talking about, you lovesick boy." Ifrit went to give Griever a full-body noogie.
"Cut it out!" he snarled.
Still snickering, Ifrit straightened himself. "So, how did it happen?"
"You're like a silly girl gossiping," Griever snapped.
"Ah, but we both agree something gossip-worthy happened, huh? You can't wait to sleep under the same petal with Kahlua, can you? Can you?"
"Go away."
"How'd she handle your little explanation for what happened at the deity Meriko's workspace?"
"We haven't talked about it," he mumbled.
"Ooh..."
Then Griever caught himself and glared at Ifrit again. "I'ma smack you if you don't hide your ugly mug from me right this instant!"
(5)
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:05 pm
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"How was the temple?" asked Griever after Kahlua and Cardi got home. They were on the desk, eating out of one plate for dinner. Cardi had set down three plates, but Griever and Kahlua fell into the habit of continuing to eat out of one plate. Despite Ifrit's loud snickers and blatant comments.
"It was okay," she answered. "Quiet. There was nobody from the basement."
They continued to eat. Then Griever mumbled, "It's been a while since we left," he mumbled.
"And won't everybody be surprised at you two," snickered Ifrit.
Kahlua blushed while Griever ignored him.
After dinner, Ifrit squished off to his secret spot. They now knew that it was a shirt wrapped in plastic, which served as a giant pillow for Ifrit. Cardi meant to return it to a store, but never got around to it.
"I'm glad you had fun at the temple," mumbled Griever after a short period of silence.
"It would've been more fun if you...and Ifrit...are around," Kahlua said shyly.
"Um," Griever squished uneasily from one side to another. "That time in Meriko's lab..."
Her face fell.
He hastily continued. "I didn't know what came over me that time. I...I sometimes think it was the candy."
She didn't meet his gaze. "It's okay."
"I mean...I wasn't looking at that shiney slimeh that way."
"It's okay," she repeated, still not meeting his gaze.
"No, I know it bothers you."
Finally, she reluctantly nodded. "Yeah..." then she said in a whisper, "It doesn't bother me anymore, now that you cleared it up."
(5)
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:18 pm
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Latte was wasting away. Bereft of his power and glory, he lost appetite and would spend nights pacing back and forth outside. Not that his social countenance changed. He continued to ignore the Ragnarok slimehs, give Espresso withering looks, and essentially puff up with importance quite often.
But without an audience, his demeanor really got him nowhere. And so he continued to waste away.
"You need to eat," said Caz as he shoved a bunch of leaves towards Latte one morning.
"Caz is so caring, isn't he, Latte?" cooed Hue.
Latte bleakly looked at Caz. "You're lucky to have such an adoring mate."
Hue twittered.
Caz chose to ignore that. "You going to eat or not?"
With a melodramatic sigh, Latte took a bite. "I'm not hungry," he then said.
A burst of laughter came from the back of the greenhouse, from the summon slimehs. Latte's expression darkened.
"For somebody missing their friends, they're awfully happy," muttered Caz.
Latte brightened. "Wanna pick a fight with them?"
"No."
Latte slumped.
As each day went by without Kahlua returning, Caz became more and more anxious. What were they doing? Why have they been away for so long?
Recently, a buzz began going around about another slimeh, Ree, missing. It slightly amused Caz that in all the ruckus over the coffee and the summon slimehs, everybody overlooked Ree missing. Only after the confrontation had completely blown off did slimehs start buzzing.
The current theory was that Ree got lost at the temple, where Kahlua and Griever were held accountable for rounding up all slimehs. That, of course, did not explain why Ifrit was taken away as well. Maddie and the other coffee slimehs especially relished the thought of Kahlua getting punished over losing Ree.
Caz wasn't adverse to the prospect of Griever getting punished. But the thought of Kahlua hurt only added to his anxiety.
(6)
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:41 pm
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"Exactly twelve days," said Ifrit as he squished back and forth in the bonsai pot. "Twelve days since we left The Basement. What do you think is happening down there?"
There was no answer.
In annoyance, Ifrit turned to see Griever and Kahlua cuddled in one big indentation in the earth. "Hey."
Vaguely, Griever turned towards him.
"People are probably wondering what happened to us," Kahlua ventured.
"Thank you, Kahlua. That's exactly what I was looking for. Not like this boor here. Honestly, I don't know what you see in him..."
Griever cuddled Kahlua closer and ignored Ifrit. Since their little talk about what happened in Meriko's workspace, things between the two of them had gotten much better. They continued to take things step by step, and there were still rough spots. But overall, Griever was very satisfied with their situation.
Except Ifrit was now getting tired of being the third wheel and have tried to make up for it by demanding all their attention all the time.
"Maybe Cardi forgot about us," said Ifrit with a frown.
"Isn't it late?" Griever asked pointedly.
"It's not that late," responded Ifrit, refusing to take the hint.
"Well," Kahlua began. "Ifrit's stories about the Triple Triad matches are entertaining..."
"And I got more where those came from!" Ifrit exclaimed. "Like this one time, between Ixion and Shiva--"
Griever glared at Ifrit.
Ifrit huffed. "--but I guess Griever here wants to spend some quality time alone with you, so fine. I'll be all by my lonesome. Over there. By myself. Cold and alone."
Kahlua and Griever watched him squish off. "He's been sleeping all by himself--" she began.
"It was his idea to begin with," he grumbled, squishing back towards the indentation.
She began to squish towards her spot. "Well, okay, it's late..."
Griever shifted from one side to another. "You can stay there if you want, you know..."
At that, Kahlua's eyes widened, and then she blushed.
"If it's okay with you," he said quickly.
She quickly nodded. "Okay," she said timidly.
And they slept under one petal.
(8 )
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:48 pm
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The following morning, Cardi returned them to The Basement.
"If you two slept under one petal sooner, we would've returned sooner," grumbled Ifrit as they descended the stairs in Cardi's arms.
"Go away," Griever grumbled back as he protectively cuddled Kahlua. She happily snuggled up to him.
Cardi set them in the flowerpot. "I'm so happy for you two," she warmly told Kahlua and Griever. Then she waved to everybody else and went back upstairs.
Espresso and all the alcohol slimehs clustered around them with a babel of questions. "What happened?" "Where's Ree?" "Why were you away for so long?!" "Did Cardi punish you?"
Ifrit was in his element. After being the third wheel for a while, he enjoyed all the attention from fawning female slimehs.
Amidst the hubub, Kahlua and Griever stole away to have breakfast. On their way to the greenhouse, they spotted Caz and Hue.
"Oh. They're back," said Hue unenthusiastically.
"Glad to see nothing changed," responded Griever.
Hue flushed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Kahlua looked at Caz. Even though the time between them seemed like forever ago, she still had an emotional reaction to seeing him with Hue. I'll forget, she thought as she averted her eyes and crept closer to Griever. In time we'll all be back to normal.
(5)
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:00 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:12 pm
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"How are you holding up?"
"I'm happy," Kahlua said with a smile.
"I'm glad."
"Well, I'm happy for the two of you," said Bahamut jovially. "I always knew the two of you would end up together. All that sexual tension!"
"Bahamut..." Griever began in a warning voice.
"You never warn me like that anymore," grumbled Ifrit.
They were amidst the summon slimehs, who regaled them with stories of how Latte was no longer the leader of slimehs. Griever was happy to hear this. It seemed everybody had come to their senses about the coffee slimehs.
The summon slimehs have also welcomed Kahlua as one of their own. Everybody was very excited over Griever and Kahlua being together. Well, except for a handful of female summon slimehs whom Bahamut reported as being very upset. And Diablos, who had maintained his distance from them.
Levi nudged Kahlua away from Griever. "Since you're part of the family now, you must learn the Triple Triad tricks that all female summon slimehs know."
Kahlua and Griever looked abashed.
"Aw, you embarrassed them," said Bahamut fondly.
When Kahlua was taken away, Bahamut turned to Griever. "Have you talked to Diablos yet?"
"Why should I?"
"Well, he's not happy about this, of course."
"That's his problem."
"Griever..."
"I'm giving someone a courtesy call for taking away the girl he had been ogling?"
Bahamut gave him a long, measuring look. "You're really taken with Kahlua, aren't you?"
"Go away."
At that, Bahamut snickered. "I shouldn't be saying I told you so, but..."
"I'ma smack you if you don't shut up."
(6)
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:22 pm
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As Kahlua and Griever nestled under one petal that night--amidst catcalls from Ifrit and Bahamut--she cast a glance towards Diablos. The summon slimeh averted his eyes.
"Is there something wrong with Diablos?" she asked with concern.
Griever frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean...he looks so...mad..."
"Pay no attention to him."
His abrupt tone took her aback. "Okay..." tentatively, she snuggled up to him.
After a long pause, during which Kahlua thought he had fallen asleep, he grumbled, "He likes you."
Her eyes popped open. "What?"
"Diablos likes you," he grumbled again. "That's why he looks at you a lot."
"Will you two lovebirds pipe down the sweet nothings?" yelled Ifrit. "Some people are trying to sleep here! You don't have a flower pot all to yourself anymore!"
Lots of summon slimehs giggled.
Kahlua blushed. In a lower voice, she asked, "I don't think that's it. Maybe there's really something wrong with him."
"I'll tell him to stop staring at you."
"No! Don't do that!"
Griever didn't look happy. "You want him to continue staring at you?"
"No, I mean..." she sighed. "Oh, never mind."
After a longer period of silence, Griever mumbled, "Well, you're very beautiful, and it's no secret that Diablos likes you."
"Oh..." Kahlua blushed, but she snuggled up to him more.
"But stay away from Diablos. He's bad news."
At that, she had to smile. "Okay."
(6)
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:28 pm
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