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Post by Sir Fflamm on Jul 13, 2007 22:57:28 GMT -5
As far as he knew it was a rather average day, birds sing, sun shines, all that fluff and happiness. But there was a problem: Torrence wasn't happy. Every day had become the same monotonous drab. Wake up, shower, eat breakfast, school, home, study, work, study, bed, repeat. There were, at times, enough of a moment to eat lunch or dinner, most of the time he simply had a large breakfast. After more than 12 years he assumed this schedule would be revised though college. It, of course, was not.
He awoke this morning exactly 5 seconds before his alarm clock began to ring in his ear and realized that it was Saturday morning. No work. No school. Nothing to do. Just great he thought, another horrible day with absolutely nothing to do. And then it hit him like a brick. There was an assignment in geology class that was going to force him to be at the local museum by ten. Oh well... at least the others would be there. Hopefully they would liven him up a little. He sighed and rolled out of bed. His mom, at 7:45 like clockwork, poked her head inside of his room.
"Oh, Just making sure you were awake, sweety. You know you have to be at the museum by ten, right?" His mom always had exuded that June Cleaver essence. He didn't know if she owned pearls, but it wouldn't surprise him if one day he walked in on her scrubbing floors in high heels and pearls. And a smile. Goodness he hated that smile.
"I know."Torrence scuffled along from his room to the shower where he turned the water on and marvelled that he had any hot water. This, of course, never lasted longer than five minutes. He realized he had better make this quick.
Ten minutes later he drug his feet down the stairs to where his mother was awaiting him with a plate filled to capacity with french toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, and every other protein-packed meat or meat substitute you could think of. He couldn't wait to get out of the house. Maybe he'd be a vegetarian? That might work out nicely.
After eating he ran outside and hopped in his car while opening the cellphone at the same time. He called his friends and hoped they were going to be there, if not, Professor Dahrma was going to seem more boring than usual. The first number on the list:
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Post by Aisu Youkai on Jul 17, 2007 12:37:31 GMT -5
((I'm going to go with something new here. Be patient while I work out the kinks. Can we pretend there's a military base nearby? X]))
J.C. woke with a groan as he tried to roll over in bed. The sheets were already wrapped around his legs awkwardly from the restless night before and prevented him from making it all the way over as he got further tangled in their cotton-y web. Cursing in a non-provanity manner, J.C. stopped trying after serveral seconds and just reached out awkwardly around his body to make a grab for the phone on his bedside nightstand.
The phone clattered to the ground and the half-Latino gave another non-curse at his luck. Somehow making it to the side of the bed J.C. reached down and made another grab for the phone. This time he snagged it (on the third try).
"Jesucristo! What do you want this early in the morning, Torr?" J.C. mumbled into the phone, clearing his throat after the first word to get it working right.
He checked the alarm clock (not currently set) and almost let another curse out. It was going to be a record this morning if he didn't stop now. Sighing explosively he cut off Torrence before he could make a cohorent reply. "Too freakin' early, 'mano. Why ya gotta leave so dang early? The museum, right? Do you have time to run by here? My car's in the shop," he sounded sheepish even on the phone.
Somehow managing to untangle himself from the vine-like sheets, J.C. finally made it out of bed and stood up with a big stretch. He tried not to yawn too heavily into the phone as he listened to Torrence's reply.
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Post by Sir Fflamm on Jul 18, 2007 1:15:49 GMT -5
"Uhm... Yeah! I'll be right there. Well... maybe not... I mean... I don't... Yeah. Yeah, I'll be there in like fi-... ten or fifteen minutes, I think I see some traffic." He always got flustered during telephone calls. He didn't like talking. Not ever really. He mumbled a good bye and closed the cell phone, throwing it into the nearest cup holder where it bounced off of a half-filled coke bottle and bounced under the passenger seat.
Torrence frowned and started the car, he'd have to pick up the cellphone later. He let the car roll back out of the driveway and into the street where another car had to screech to a stop to not hit the poor kid. He gave a friendly wave to the driver who was giving him the "truck-drivers sign for 'it's okay to pass.'" He frowned again and began to make his way through the three blocks it would take to get to his friend's house. Doing so would put him dangerously close to the nearby Ft. Reynold. He hated getting too close because he was always afraid some wild shot would ricochet off of something and come flying towards him. Needless to say he typically drove with his head slunched into his shoulders so as to make himself a more difficult target.
He pulled up in JC's driveway and hopped out of the car. In a somewhat crouched position he made his way to the door and rang the doorbell twice, paused half of a second and rang it once more. When Captain Chavez came to the door Torrence instinctively stood straighter.
"Captain, good morning, Captain." Torrence said with a slight stutter.
"You don't have to do that, son. Hell, most of my ARMY guys don't even greet me like that. That's for those MPs. Just come in. JC is almost ready. What're you two doing today?" Captain Chavez moved aside for Torrence to walk in and closed the door behind the nervous boy.
"Well... we... uhm... have a school thing... and... we're studying rocks." Torrence shuffled his feet a bit and looked up out of the corner of his eye to see Chavez laughing a little. Probably at him. He couldn't help but sound stupid sometimes. He just wished JC would hurry up.
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Post by Aisu Youkai on Jul 18, 2007 2:07:17 GMT -5
"Rocks, eh?" Captain Chavez started.
Oh, no. Here he goes again, J.C. thought as he hugged tight around the corner. He stopped short of approaching his fidgetty friend and amused father to hear what the Old Man had to say this time.
"We used to study rocks... how they felt in your face as you hugged the ground while enemy fire blazed over your head." Cpt. Chavez saw the look on Torrence's face and his mouth twisted into a wry smile. He was scaring the kid again, no doubt. Aa, well. "Not that you want to hear about that anyway." He half turned to look at his son. "You owe me twenty when you get home."
J.C. stared at his father like the man had grown an extra head. What had he done now? He couldn't remember anything important. "Uh, yes, sir. Wha--What did I do?" he asked hesitantly.
"You forgot your number one chore," Ding Chavez leveled a pointed stare at his son. "You know, the one that makes your mother so happy..."
"Oh, shi--!" J.C. stopped short of cursing as he saw the raised eyebrow from his father. He grinned sheepishly and ducked his head as he raced by his father, grabbing Torr by the arm on his way past. "Right, got'cha Dad. Later! Tell Mom I love her!"
J.C. didn't stop until the door was firmly shut behind him and his friend. He locked it with his key, knowing his father was watching on the other side of the door, and then turned around to head for Torr's car.
"You still drive like a mad man on crack?" he asked with a grin, indoor troubles already forgotten.
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Post by Sir Fflamm on Jul 20, 2007 23:17:24 GMT -5
He laughed a bit and moved inside the car. It started up easy enough and he moved it into reverse, letting the car roll out of the driveway slowly. He sighed and was glad that the encounter with the Captain was over. That man always scared the hell out of him, and he wasn't quite sure why. He had just begun to relax when Alien Ant Farm's cover of "Smooth Criminal" began playing beneath the passenger seat. Torrence looked around precariously and wondered where the hell it was coming from, not even realizing at this point that it was his phone.
After a few seconds of looking oddly at JC, he suddenly snapped. Torr moved to grab the phone and after a few precursory swipes and an apologetic tone to JC, he was able snatch the phone and pop up just in time to see the large truck hurtling down the street blaring its loud horn. He grimmaced and swerved back into their lane. The phone had since begun ringing again. He flipped it open.
"He-Hello?" He looked at the road intently while listening for the answer. "Oh you are? Oh we are? We'll be there any minute now Professor. We're only... Oh yeah I know, but... What? No no no, we'll be there in like less than five minutes. Okay... No, I promise." He closed the phone and looked very upset. Torrence turned to JC as he began applying slightly more force to the gas pedal.
"Uhm... apparently we needed to be there ten minutes ago... but don't worry... We'll be on time. I think. He said if we're not there in five minutes he's dropping us from the class." Torr turned his attention once more on the road and pleaded that no policeman would be driving by. Of course there wasn't, the powers that be had plans for these two, and that meant that they needed to be at that museum. On time. They arrived in four minutes and 45 seconds to spare. Torr had even had time to park.
"Nice to see we are being joined by the remainder of the class." Professor Dahrma said as the two ran in. Torrence smiled and waved guiltly and the rest of the class chuckled into their hands. Great. Another wonderful day.
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Post by Aisu Youkai on Jul 21, 2007 1:45:43 GMT -5
J.C. didn't make a move to even indicate what the hell was making that racket. Of course he knew it was Torr's phone, but he had no idea where the hell Torr had managed to throw it this time. Probably underneath one of the seats. Probably his. Sigh.
Surprising, the teen also managed not to react to the near-death incident as Torr reached across to gather up the phone on his own. He merely sat up straight as if coming to attention in his seat and his hand gripped the door's handle a bit tighter as he watched in mute fascination as they swerved out of the way at the last minute. J.C. mentally told his heart to slow down, wondered if Torr could hear it's pounding, then sighed silently to himself as he knew that Torr could hear no such thing.
He stared somewhat blankly at Torr's next words. "Figures," was all he muttered as his best friend put the petal to the metal.
When the car stopped J.C. hopped not, trying desperately not to look eager. It wasn't, after all, the first time he had riden with Torr and seen his life flash before his eyes. You'd think he'd be used to it by now...
J.C. only really jogged into the museum to keep up with his friend. He sighed upon entering it and hearing his professor's words as he slowed his pace to a slow slaunter after having mostly caught up to his friend. He flashed a wide grin to the fellow student body present--especially lingering on the girls of the class--and even managed to get off a light joke in come-back to his teacher's comment. This, of course, earned him a few selective giggles and a prudent look from his professor. Score one for the Latino.
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Post by NekoHitori on Jul 21, 2007 1:49:28 GMT -5
Gena had been resisting the urge to tap her foot for the past 20 minutes. To do so would look unprofessional. Not that there was anything too professional about being a part time worker for the museum, but still.
She felt a bit out of place standing next to the professor, in front of so many others who were her age, wearing the museum's polo shirt and a pair of khakis. Sure, Gena has played the part of museum chaperon before, but that was with elementary and junior high kids, with the occasional high school class. Never for potential classmates. Luckily, she wasn't taking Geology, so perhaps the others won't recognize her.
The part-time employee said a low, "If you would follow me, sir," to Dr. Dahrma before leading the way to the new exhibit in the geology section. 'Just stand in the back and make sure nobody steals anything. That's all you have to do.'
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Post by Sir Fflamm on Jul 21, 2007 2:07:46 GMT -5
Torrence was ready for the day to be over already. He had nearly died twice already. (The first being his run near the military compound, nukes, ya know?) It was not shaping out to be all that good, and the rest wasn't turning out so great either. The doctor was slightly miffed that she couldn't even say anything to her own class, but she understood. The important thing was that the group didn't have to listen to her thick accent all day. Instead they were stuck listening to the museum attendant.
The day went on, more or less as boring as Torrence had predicted. Around twelve they were allowed a break for lunch. Torrence wasn't hungry and didn't tend to be, so he simply wandered around looking at the different stones. It was amazing to him what nature did to make these things. Maybe it was because he never studied that hard, but it could also be because it was genuinely amazing to him. While staring in amazement at the things and idly walking he found himself standing next to their tour guide. The nearby gem was a gigantic sapphire, the prize of the museum apparently. Ladonna Pasnetar the name plate read, Unknown origins discovered amongst Mayan ruins. Reported to be over ten thousand years old.
"Do you know the story behind this one? Something with a name like that must mean something special, hrm?" He absently asked the tour guide.
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Post by NekoHitori on Jul 21, 2007 2:34:32 GMT -5
((I'm going to have to fudge my way through this explanation, aren't I? >.< ))
'What the? Great. Person talking to me. Gaaaaaah!' Covering up her surprise, although her mouth did twitch slightly, Gena looked over to the guy that snuck up on her. He seemed somewhat familiar, but she couldn't quite place him. She mentally shrugged it off, figuring that she probably has a class with him.
"The Ladonna Pasnetar was actually named after two people, the person who discovered it and the person who discovered it's unique properties. Although the sapphire has been put on display all around for the past several decades, we've only just learned about its more interesting properties."
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Post by Sir Fflamm on Jul 21, 2007 8:56:24 GMT -5
"Oh? Like what?" He stared blankly into the sapphire while speaking and listening. It was so beautiful. It caught and held his attention. Then he began to notice the music. It was a soft sound flowing through his head but it was definately something he had never heard before. It sound almost like chimes playing a beautiful melody in his ears.
He shook his head, figuring the music was just a headache on the way, but the music persisted. More than persisted, in fact, it began to pick up tempo and Torrence could now hear a distinct voice. A strong alto sining in a language he had never heard, and even though he'd never heard the language, he felt like he could understand it. He frowned and tried to focus on the girl over the music, which led him to stare a little.
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Post by NekoHitori on Jul 21, 2007 13:12:21 GMT -5
Gen had by then entered into what some of her friends call 'the geek zone,' which renders her oblivious to everything surrounding her except for what she's either studying or explaining. As such, she hadn't noticed Torrence's stare.
"Well, most crystals and gemstones simply fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet light. This one, however..."
Rather than try to put it in words, Gena reached out and pushed the button next to the display that turned off the normal light and turned on a black light. The change was instantaneous; the sapphire had taken on a deep purple glow, which pulsated as though it had a heart beat. The air surrounding the gem began to shimmer and sparkle like light reflecting off a pool of water.
"Fascinating, isn't it?"
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Post by Aisu Youkai on Jul 23, 2007 15:05:44 GMT -5
J.C. was doing a stellar job enticing the girl in front of him into actually paying attention and possibly even liking him. Lunch time couldn't have been better. He got off a small joke here, another there, and soon he'd have this girl--well, not if he showed up, John Conor Chavez sighed inwardly to himself. Yes, go for the dumb-ass jock, sweetie. Not that I care...
Shaking his head, smiling despite what he felt on the inside, J.C. waved with a farewell joke to the pretty girl and watched dispassionately as she clung tenaciously to the arrogant prick. Aa, well, another day, he consoled himself.
Throwing away a few candy bar wrappers (lunch? what lunch?) the Latino boy headed off to find his friend. Now where had that antisocial boy gone off to? J.C. rounded a corner just in time to notice the tour guide hit a switch that caused the somewhat interesting looking blue rock (he knew it was a sapphire, but come on; it's still just a rock) and paused when it started glowing. Now it was an interesting rock. What else could it do?
J.C. only half-heartedly pondered this as he moved up next to the two to stare at the rock in mock fascination. Then he glanced from one to the one people next to him. "That fantastico, eh?" he said maybe a bit too sarcastically.
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Post by NekoHitori on Jul 25, 2007 16:55:41 GMT -5
((Bit character time! Whoo!))
"Aw, tha's jus' 'cause Gen here focuses too much on tha facts, an' none 'o tha fun," an unfamiliar voice spoke up, arm draping casually across Gena's shoulders. Letting out a small yell and jumping out of the loose grasp (in turn causing her to release the button), she quickly turned to face the new comer.
"Jay, what are you doing here?" she asked with an exasperated look on her face. "I thought you had today off."
Jay, blue eyes sparkling as he peered over his shades, grinned lazily. "What? I'm not allowed ta see how ma favorite geek-girl's doin'?"
((Tags someone else.))
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Post by thefallenson on Jul 31, 2007 21:38:53 GMT -5
He was pacing through the museum, clearing his head...contemplating his future. He couldn't believe that the orders had actually come down. They were going...all of them...he made his way through the section dedicated to mans past...dedicated to telling the story of a hundred thousand generations worth of history. His listless wanderings took on a more focused format as he neared the place that displayed artifacts from the Cradle of Civilization...tiny shards of pottery and giant statues...testaments to the ingenuity and creativity of an ancient and powerful people...soon he would be in the remnants of the great ancient kingdoms...a deep and overwhelming sadness filled him as he paced through the artifacts that proclaimed so profoundly his cultures fall from grace...fall from power and prestige. Once the rulers of all...once the mightiest in the world...now his people were goat herders and broken men.
Omran Ishandin was a soldier...and he looked the part. His face was weathered and a deep tan skull covered in a a tightly cut and shaped curl of dark, almost colbalt colored hair. As befit his name his body was strong, and his hands calloused from three years of proving himself in a military that seemed all to ready to round up his people. Yes he was a soldier...and though he fought for his people...it was not through Jihad that he sought to make his voice heard...it was through the flag that clung to his shoulder...a piece of velcro and stitching that meant more to Specialist Omran than any piece of pottery or lost greatness...he was an American...and meant to stay that way.
He was a complex man...and had seen and understood much of the world...the Army had a way of doing that to you. He continued to pace about the exhibits...his mind racing over the concept of war...and how different it was now...how much everything meant, but his wanderings brought him to the Great Sapphire. Another lost relic of an old civilization. He kindly nodded his head to the other patrons as he snaked his way among them. He was truly intrigued by this most curious of stones...in fact he felt compelled to get as close to it as he could.
He vaguely heard the tour guides explination as he peered through the plexiglass case.....he swore in a husky whisper as the thing enthralled him. He was certain that it was pulsing...a heart beating...the thing was almost alive? He just stared....all protocol and discpline forgotten.
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Post by Sir Fflamm on Aug 1, 2007 0:57:29 GMT -5
Torrence looked around at the newcomers, already getting slightly nervous. Especially with the darker colored one. Now, he wasn't racist of course... he was just a very nervous person. Another glance, however, and he realized that the man was a US soldier. All previous thoughts swept aside, he went back to staring at the beautiful gem.
The music in the boy's head began to echo and cascade through his thoughts until he felt as if he could no longer stand it. He leaned closer as the pulsings of the gem began to increase in rate and intensity. The almost-pulsing, almost-breathing that the gem was exuding was becoming erratic and almost violent. The music rose to a deafening volume and became nothing more than a loud sustained pitch in his ears.
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