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Post by cacophony on Sept 13, 2010 23:42:05 GMT -5
Fox Greyson hated the sea. He hated the smell; he hated the salty, sandy grit that invaded every square inch of clothing and skin. Most of all, he hated the idea of being swallowed by it. While leaning on the rail that separated the side of the road from a shear drop-off cliff, he fixed his gray eyes on that endless mass of blue and imagined being lost in it- Imagined the mountainous, merciless swells. Being helpless in a bottomless drink, and the great mysterious titans moving beneath him like shadows...
Grayson shuttered as he shook himself free of those thoughts, "enough of that," he muttered, "or there will be dreams." He reminded himself that he was there for a reason. He pulled out the coffee stained moleskin and ballpoint from his back pocket and clicked the pen repeatedly a few times before thumbing through his notes. A little eavesdropping at the local inn diner had tipped him off to a rumor of a strange creature being spotted on this coastline. descriptions had varied, but the location of the siting had been consistent.
This was the spot. His pathetic little Honda Civic waited just up the hill with its emergency lights on. He would camp out in his car when the sun set if he had to, but he refused to wait longer than that. eighteen hours by an unfriendly looking ocean cliff was a lot to ask for, even from himself.
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Post by scribblerrigby on Sept 25, 2010 3:39:04 GMT -5
Andy had dared her to catch a fish.
Andy was an asshole.
It was probably his sick little way of helping her get over her fear of the ocean, but it had backfired so hard. Earlier that day, she had tried to jump in from his fishing boat while he and the boys were looking on, but her feet wouldn’t even leave the deck. She had been shaking badly, only thinking of sinking, being sucked under by that insane, churning mass of water.
If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, she had broken down crying afterward.
She had come back later that day - jumping off of the sheer drops of the nearby cliffs, diving down to the waves, and playing an odd game of chicken with the spray. It was less about the boys on the fishing boat, and more to prove to herself that she could indeed face the ocean.
Her latest dive was her closest yet, but a rogue wave had crashed against a taller rock jutting out of the ocean, sending a heavy spray straight towards the panicked bird girl.
“No, no, nonononono!” She couldn’t do it. She wheeled about and flew as high as she could to look for a spot to rest, dry off and rethink her plan. She decided to land back at the overlook, from which she had also jumped on most of her tries.
She swooped back down towards the edge of the cliff, grabbed the rail, flapped madly to regain her balance, and pulled herself upright. Perching for a moment, she peevishly fluffed her feathers to clear it of the salty water– UGH . She started to sing softly to calm her nerves, and stared around her area with bright orange eyes.
What she saw made her hurriedly choke her tune with a small “eep!”
Marlee had assumed nobody ever came up here – people had always sped by on the road without a second glance. This usually made the spot the perfect place for her cliff-diving adventures. But this time, there was a pale, taller man standing barely fifty feet from her perch, thumbing through a small notebook.
There was no way he wouldn’t notice her at this distance (and with this smell, she had to remind herself, as the others would never hesitate to bring it up). Her mind went into frenzy – fly away, and definitely be noticed, and possibly photographed; stay, and probably be confronted…was there another option? She didn’t know! People tended to freak out when they saw her, anyway…she did her best to make herself as small and unnoticed as possible.
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Post by cacophony on Sept 26, 2010 21:49:27 GMT -5
Fox had his nose buried in the little notebook as though he were reading intently, but really he was crossing and uncrossing his eyes at the scratchy writing out of boredom. This was the hardest part of monster hunting... the waiting. There was a strange humming in his head that he hadn't been aware of until it stopped... but up until it did, he was momentarily overcome by a strange feeling of warm euphoria and a quickening of his pulse. He was about to get up and move back to his car (clearly, he was more exhausted that he realized,) when he happened to catch the massive silhouette of a bird with a human face looking in his direction out of the corner of his eye.
Instantly he froze. At a glance, she looked like she was about to take off. He couldn't tell if it would be at him or away from him. Slowly, so as not to startle her, he moved his head to look at her more directly, then he placed his hands carefully on the rail as if to brace himself, "Hi," he said in a small voice, "before you make a move- assuming you understand me, that is- just know that I'm not here to hurt you or expose you or anything like that..." he said slowly, "I uhh..." He what? He hadn't thought this far ahead. The most he had expected out of this expedition was a sighting... MAYBE. Here he was, talking to what appeared to be a siren... or possibly a harpy. He was doing his best to interpret her features and the look she was giving him, despite the bad light and those distracting eyes. He fidgeted a little with his pen, "My name is Fox Grayson and I came out here because I wanted to talk to you..." he said, losing a bit of his breath at the end of that sentence. He smiled a little, trying his best to look encouraging, "what's your name?"
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Post by scribblerrigby on Oct 4, 2010 1:32:04 GMT -5
Marlee was relieved – the man with the notebook seemed to not have noticed anything unusual. But the relief was short-lived as the man turned slowly around to look directly at her. She started, instinctively squaring her shoulders and fluffing up her feathers. Her claws clicked anxiously on the rail and she narrowed her eyes and turned her head to stare from one eye as the man slowly approached.
“Before you make a move- assuming you understand me, that is- just know that I'm not here to hurt you or expose you or anything like that..."
She hesitated. He said he wasn't going to hurt her, after all...“I understand you…” she said, slowly. Still, her feathers remained on end.
"My name is Fox Grayson and I came out here because I wanted to talk to you... what's your name?"
“Marlee!” she blurted out, surprising even herself, completely wrongfooted by his demeanor. She tilted her head and blinked slowly. “You’re not running away. You…wanted to talk to me?”
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Post by cacophony on Oct 8, 2010 10:58:42 GMT -5
His heart leaped when she spoke, a mix of adrenaline and elation, "Marlee," he said quietly, his eyes still wide, "what a lovely name," He was having a conversation with her. Leaps and bounds from what he had expected. 'ok, don't be weird,' he thought.
“You’re not running away. You…wanted to talk to me?”
"Yeah," he said as calmly as possible, "I did..." but now he was tongue tied. There was no casual way of bringing up the topic; 'hi, what the heck are you?' would seldom come up in polite conversation. In situations like these, there was one thing that always worked for him, whether it was introducing himself to beautiful women or engaging the person sitting next to him on the plane. He patted the side of his jacket with one hand, then finding the pocket, he reached in and pulled out a box of crackers; his favorite, in fact. The Wheat crackers from Carr that tasted more like cookies. He gingerly removed one from the package for himself then offered up the box, "Care for one?" He said casually as he bit into his own.
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Post by scribblerrigby on Oct 13, 2010 0:10:02 GMT -5
She giggled softly and blushed at the compliment
"Thank you! Hey, don't freak out, okay?"
Her feathers were flattening again. He was seeming like the kind of guy that wouldn't hurt her. In fact, she thought, she might be freaking him out more than he was freaking her out! His eyes were HUGE! "Please don't freak out!" she repeated.
She gasped and her face brightened when he pulled out the box of crackers. Seconds after they first met, and he already knew the way to her heart. She sidled along the railing, eying the crackers, careful to move slowly as to not scare this poor man.
"I LOVE those crackers!" The understatement of the day.
She hopped down and walked slowly towards him. Her claws tapped on the tarmac. She paused, studying her feet and small, vestigial wing claws hidden in her feathers.
Talons would be a rude first impression, she finally decided. So would rushing towards the food. She gleefully held out her wing, instead.
"I'd like a couple, please!"
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Post by cacophony on Oct 16, 2010 11:28:38 GMT -5
He blinked and looked down, shaking off his stare, "sorry. I wasn't really expecting to meet anyone out here today," He admitted. When she moved closer, he adjusted his crouched position so he could be more eye level with her. After a minor struggle with the narrow box, he managed to extract three crackers. As he placed them on her outstretched wing, he couldn't help but discretely brush his fingers against the feathers. Amazing. It was like confirming your favorite superhero was real. Childish, though it may be, it was putting things into perspective for him. Yes, she was real, and there would probably be others. He smiled at her, thrilled that the ice breaker had worked again.
He bit into his own cracker, "So, Marlee, where are you from? Do you live around here?" He asked casually. He wanted to take notes in his moleskin, but thought that might be rude. They had only just met, after all.
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Post by scribblerrigby on Oct 25, 2010 13:48:38 GMT -5
He wasn’t freaking out!
Her face lit up eagerly, she beamed and shoved the crackers into her mouth. “Thank you, very much!” she grinned; politely remembering her manners after somewhat impolitely finishing her food.
“So, Marlee, where are you from? Do you live around here?”
She fluffed up and settled down, picking absently at the ground with her claws.
“I live here and there, really. I have friends around town that let me stay with them and give me food and stuff. I didn’t live here before, though. It was some rich place in Arizona…but I like it here, better!"
She smiled.
“So how about you, Fox Grayson? What are you doing all the way up here?”
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Post by StantonBros on Dec 26, 2010 17:54:45 GMT -5
"I do hope she's alright" Cut said worried to his brother, "I mean, you can let me talk to her right?"
Paste sighed at his brother, "dont worry, she's not a little girl like you think she is."
"But she's deathly afraid of water" Cut objected.
"Dont worry, if she is in some severe emotional distress, we can..." Paste paused before continuing, "we can take her our house and order a sardine pizza and make a transition."
The hot rod then rumbled down the road, the salty air spraying on it's resale red paintjob. Paste's expert eye scanning the sheer drop for the formerly frightened bird girl.
"I find it illogical that she would go out here after her 'situation" Paste said
"I know Lili, she will be here." Cut said mentally.
The hazard lights of the Honda Civic caught the lawyer's eye and he immediatly parked next to the little hatchback.
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