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Post by Ialu on May 12, 2008 22:27:49 GMT -5
"Haha.. right..," Ialu replied completely unenthused. Still, he needed a shower, and it would be an even worse idea to take one the next morning when all the boys crowded in to take one before class started. He sighed and walked over to the locker area, slowly stripping himself of his uniform jacket. Next he unbuttoned his shirt, pants, slipped out of his socks... all until he was completely nude. He felt suddenly vulnerable somehow, especially since Keiani was so near. The boy fought down a shiver as he slipped into a shower 'stall' and turned the knob so to hot. At least the steam would cover him? And thank the gods Kei was near blind.
Still still, he blushed red etched over his olive cheeks giving him some color to him. He let the water run down his back as he took out the braids in his hand, carefully placing the beads on the shower's shelf for soaps and the like. He shook his locks a few times, and ducked his head under the water, shutting his eyes and gently rubbed his scalp, then put some soap in the palm of his hand and rubbed it through his hair, making large piles of foam.
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Post by Keiani on May 12, 2008 22:41:52 GMT -5
As Ialu moved towards the locker areas Kei followed, figuring that since the hooks had gone with the walls (he assumed) they were leaving clothing over there. It made sense that way, at least.
He probably would have been out of clothing faster than Ialu by sheer virtue of not seeing any reason to pause, except that as usual buttons didn't like him. He swore the stupid things were conspiring against him, and after a couple moments of struggling he paused, starting again more slowly to get the stupid things undone.
By the time he had the stupid shirt undone Ialu seemed to have finished, though luckily it took a lot less time to get the rest of his clothes off. Nice thing with -those- not being full of buttons to annoy him. He carefully set his clothes down where he would remember them, and headed slowly towards the showers, discerning where the dividers were by spotting the blob of his roommate and heading to near him, feeling for the clear walls and slipping into the stall besides Ialu.
Luckily the water fixtures were all the same, and only a moment later he head steamy water streaming down onto him. The Er Rit relaxed, reaching up with his hands to push his long hair out of his face and arching a little into the hot water, enjoying the feel of it streaming down his body.
For a few moments he stayed that way, then he reluctantly moved from the water's warm embrace, leaning down to grab at his soap. Too bad he needed to get clean, he could stay under the water like that for hours.
Or at least, he tried to grab his soap. It skittered away from his fingers, flying under the divider (apparently it didn't reach the floor) into Ialu's stall. Kei mentally cursed. "Hey Ialu? Could you hand me that back?" He asked, poking his head out of his shower stall. "I'm being a klutz again."
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Sal
Level 3
SWOOOOSH!
Posts: 167
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Post by Sal on May 12, 2008 22:58:53 GMT -5
I grin back at Kei and grin even wider when the two leave the room. Well, that made Kei happy, at least! There's hope for them yet!
I hum a little and pick up the palm-sized orb just as it flashes a new message: 'Exploding is fun at least ~.^ Been doing anything interesting?' I snicker and instead of answering, I send him a burst of color that we'd decided to signal each other that we're alone. Then, I wait to see if he's somewhere where he can talk as well.
The color has barely faded when Adrian's face appears, floating in/above the crystal, and his hand waves. "Hey, sexy! Where'd the kiddies go?"
I grin at him. "Shower! Ialu mentioned it, and I told Kei he had paint on his fur, so he left too! No further than the truth, either!"
"Oooo, shower party?"
"Nah..." I roll my eyes at him. "They don't think the way we do! Anyways, I've got a Situation, here." I proceed to explain what's going on with Kei, Ialu and the two older boys.
Adrian bites at his lip a moment. "You need me to come over? I think I can make it."
I shake my head. "Your granny'll freak if you leave right now. I think I can handle it for the fair, but I would like you to be around when I finally get Mother to let me come here... And not just for moral support!" I grin again and flick my ears at him.
He grins and then growls a little. "If any of them try anything on you..." He mimes twisting something to shreds, cursing a little and I giggle, nodding.
"I'll let you know, gorgeous!"
Relaxing now that the important stuff has been mentioned, we move on to other, random topics, judiciously sprinkled with double meanings and puncuated with laughter.
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Post by Ialu on May 13, 2008 23:01:18 GMT -5
A blaze of red formed on the egyptian's cheeks as he fumbled with Kei's order. The soap had slipped near his feet right under the spray of water, making the bar extremely hard to grip. After a few seconds a an array of frustrated growls, he finally picked up the soap and stretched his arm on the side of the plastic wall to hand it back to Kei. He had done mostly his best to keep his eyes completely forward.. somehow it seemed awkward to look at Kei's body in the shower even though the Er Rit had changed multiple times in the room.
Quickly now, Ialu finished up washing the soap off his body and ran his hair under the shower head one last time before turning off his water. He jogged over to where his towel was hanging, wiped off his body briefly before wrapping it around his waist, and wrung his hair of excess water, also shaking the locks like a dog. He wasn't particularly found of water, since he grew up in the dry desert areas of Cantana. He especially hated it when water got in his ears.
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Post by Keiani on May 13, 2008 23:22:28 GMT -5
Kei just grinned in the Ialu-blob's general direction as his soap got back to him, then moved under the water again. He was feeling like he needed a good long soak, and with the absense of a bathtub he was taking his time.
Or at least taking more time than he normally would. If he took too much time that would probably mean Ialu heading back without him, and the mere thought of something happening to his roommate because Kei couldn't be arsed to get his hind out of the water made him feel instantly guilty. If he inadvertantly caused something like that...
Well getting out at least somewhat normally timed would make it so he didn't have to worry about that.
Instead of losing himself in the heat of the water, he kept an eye on the Ialu blob to the side, washing and going through his hair quickly enough that he had a little time to simply stand there and soak. It was all too soon that Ialu was moving away from the showers, and with a disappointed sigh Kei let himself stay there just a little longer.
The water spilled over him, and with an effort he reached out to turn it off, carefully grabbing his things and moving to walk back over to the towels, moving painfully slow to keep from slipping on the wet floor and wringing his hair out a little. Stupid cold air, especially right out from a warm shower.
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Post by Ialu on May 14, 2008 22:37:17 GMT -5
Ialu heard Kei's wet feet slap the tiles right behind him, and he turned around involuntarily. He mentally cursed at himself as a very naked roommate appeared in front of him still dripping from the shower. He could feel a blush taint his cheeks as he watched a droplet roll down the middle of Kei's chest. He turned around swiftly, still feeling himself go red, and cleared his throat.
The Egyptian boy used to his advantage that his hair was still sopping wet, so he moved over to a pile of neatly stacked hair towels, rubbing it over his head thoroughly. He was glad that his hair wasn't as long or thick as Kei's who he was sure took forever to dry. "So... you and your brother..," the words slipped out of his mouth and he winced. He didn't want to pry. They hadn't really talked about family. In fact, they hadn't really talked about anything personal to each other other than school related things. He barely knew his roommate, and somehow that bothered him.
He slowed stopped rubbing the towel over his hair, and flipped his head right side up staying quiet to listen to the Er Rit speak.
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Post by Keiani on May 14, 2008 23:12:44 GMT -5
Kei had no idea that he was making Ialu uncomfortable. If he had he probably would have whisked a towel over himself immediately, but as it was there wasn't anyone else in the room at the moment to offend with his skin, so he just set about drying off. Which mean toweling off himself enough to be decent for a moment, then twisting around to start on his tail, muttering to himself.
As Ialu asked the question he paused, reaching up to run the damp towel over his hair " Me and Sal? We're really close, we've always been. Same with Rin. It's always those two dragging me around and getting me into trouble." He paused, a nostalgic grin flickering over his face "I probably would have spent all my free time in bed if it wasn't for them. And I doubt mother would've ever let me outside. Definitely never would have gotten to go up into a treehouse!"
He shifting around, using the wet towel to get most of the rest of the water from the fur of his tail and where it had dripped onto his body before glancing at the Ialu blob with a half frown as he realized that he really didn't know much about the other boy. "You don't have any siblings, right? It's different than just friends. Even when they're annoying I always know that I can count on them. It's..." He paused, searching for the right word, "It feels a lot safer that way, most of the time."
For a moment he let his mind wander, then the cold air bit at his skin and he realized that the towel he had set carefully aside was far to wet for him to want back on him. "Um, where did they put the extra towels? They have stuff all moved around today, probably because of the walls."
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Post by Ialu on May 14, 2008 23:31:40 GMT -5
He smiled bitterly. It had always just been his mom and him for most of his life. He couldn't even remember the color of his father's eyes anymore. But he was glad it was like that, because his mom and him were best friends. "Uh.. yea. It was just me and my mom. I just.. I miss her, and I'm happy that you get to see your family, but I'm also really jealous too," the boy admitted, absentmindedly reaching for a fresh towel and walking it over to his friend.
When he noticed he was doing, he stopped, and gulped. "H-here you go..," red flooded back to his cheeks and the tips of his ears under that messy black hair. The tan boy felt suddenly shy, being so close to his roommate, as he handed over the towel, careful to not let their hands touch.
"A-anyways.. we should be getting back...," he moved away again, feeling relief as he picked up his clean clothes that he could change into.
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Post by Keiani on May 15, 2008 0:15:13 GMT -5
Kei frowned as Ialu answered, managing to hide the look and hoping that Ialu hadn't seen it, but inwardly still wincing. It couldn't be fun on his roommate, with Kei having his whole family right there at hand. Even if his family had been far away they could have paid for a portal and been there within a day if he ever needed him. It was a security he hadn't ever doubted and it hadn't really sunk in that Ialu didn't have that until right at that moment... It made him feel guilty, even though he knew that it wasn't as though he could really change any of it...
"Your mom's really nice, I could see why you would miss her a lot." Kei said, feeling utterly awkward and immensely grateful as Ialu handed him the towel and gave him something else to concentrate on. "Thanks."
He probably should have been a bit miffed at Ialu bringing it to him... but he wasn't. With Ialu it wasn't a coddling thing, or at least it didn't ever seem like it. Just seemed like the other boy had done it without thinking... And from the odd note in his voice he probably was distracted. Maybe still by thinking about his mom? Kei couldn't think of anything else that could possibly be making the other boy stutter, and there was no one else in the room.
"Yeah, we probably should, wouldn't want Sal to get worried or anything." He answered, cuddling into the towel for a moment before slipping into his pants, keeping the towel with him to rub more water from his hair and tail for a moment. He probably looked utterly ridiculous now.
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Post by Ialu on May 15, 2008 22:26:41 GMT -5
Ialu pulled on his pair of pants and pulled the drawstrings tight, tossing the used towels in a nearby basket. He sniffed feeling like he had somehow killed the mood with what he had said. He shuffled his feet, staring at the ground as Keiani changed into his set of clothes. He looked up when he thought that his roommate had finished and burst out in a fit of laughter at how poofy the Er Rit's hair had become from the static of the towel. Snickering one more time, he moved close to the clothed boy and grabbed a small brush from a pile of Kei's things. "Want me to brush it?" He blushed, feeling tentative as he had gotten closer.
Keiani gave him a surprised look which only made him turn redder. "Sure, I tend to struggle with it on my own anyways," Kei replied with a smile. The tanned boy nodded and kneeled on the bench so he was a little bit taller than Keiani. He ran the brush right down the middle of the back of the nearly blind boy, careful not to tug to hard. With his other hand, he took up portions of hair to brush over. "I used to do this for my mom all the time, " he contemplated aloud.
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Post by Keiani on May 15, 2008 23:32:21 GMT -5
Well, apparently 'ridiculous' had been the right word, if Ialu's laughter was anything to judge by. Had it been his siblings laughing he probably would have started throwing towels at them and pouting... but he was instantly relieved that Ialu was laughing. Obviously whatever had gotten him stuttering hadn't been something that had lasted... Maybe he should ask the other boy about that...
He was distracted from questioning with Ialu's question, and he blinked at the other boy for a moment, ears flicking in surprise. He hadn't expected that... But with how long it always took him to get his hair looking right it definitely wasn't an unwelcome gesture.
As Ialu moved up onto the bench he just stood where he was, ears flicking through the poofy white of his hair and his tail swishing lazily. He'd have t brush that too, but that was alot easier to do by himself.
"Sal and Rin usually help me with mine." He admitted, letting his eyes half close and completely failing to keep himself from starting to purr softly at the feel of the brush through his hair. He couldn't help it, he always loved having his hair be brushed and... Well for some reason this felt different than when his siblings brushed it. Different in a way that made him feel like he should be embarrassed and he had absolutely no idea why, since somehow it was making him purr even more than having his hair brushed usually did so it couldn't be a bad thing...
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Post by Ialu on May 17, 2008 16:54:03 GMT -5
Ialu stuck out his tongue and furrowed his eyebrows in concentration as he worked on a rather large knot in Kei's hair. He made small strokes so that he wouldn't hurt his roommate. "Just tell me if I'm hurting you," he said as the knot's tangles loosened a bit. Finally getting it out, his face brightened and he started on the other side of Kei's head. It was an amusing sight since only half of the Er Rit's hair had been brushed. So one side was a poofy mess of tangles and the other was smooth and silky. The lanky boy chuckled a bit, taking up a portion of Kei's hair.
He could hear the boy below him purr, which made him blush. Because he was the one making his friend make that noise.. and the sound was just... cute. He pouted at himself for making his hands flustered and he fought down the embarrassment with the clearing of his throat.
The Egyptian could feel something whack at his face, and he stopped what he was doing. It came again, and this time he could see that Kei's tail was swishing about in contentment. He let out a sort of giggle and tried grabbing at it. "Kei! Stop your tail!"
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Post by Keiani on May 17, 2008 19:29:26 GMT -5
Kei had just relaxed more, just half listening when Ialu spoke and making a noncommittal noise in answer. It wasn't like he expected Ialu to really hurt him, and if he did... Well they were knots, and Kei tended to pull at his own scalp so much that his severely doubted Ialu could do any worse.
And besides that the other boy was obviously being careful, the Er Rit liked the feel of hands through his hair. It was... Well he didn't really know what it was but he liked it. Enough that he didn't really mind Ialu's obvious amusement, probably at the mess his hair had become from the short shower. Maybe he could have said something... But at the moment he was about to Ialu cleared his throat, and Kei figured maybe the other boy was using that to try not to laugh. No use mentioning it then, and the Er Rit couldn't see any other reason that would have made his roommate need to cover up a noise. Not with just brushing Kei's currently rather wild hair.
The albino's tail flicked again as Ialu spoke and Kei blinked in surprise, blushing brightly and laying his ears back as he realized that he had probably been impeding the other boy. That was nice. Ialu was trying to help him with his hair and his tail was back there beating on him! "Sorry!" He exclaimed, trying to flick his tail out of the way and blinking in surprise as it hit Ialu's hands instead, or at least that's what it felt like through the thick fur. "It has a mind of it's own most times... I should probably pay more attention to it." He said, barely twisting around so that he could see the Ialu blob with his good eye and give the other boy an apologetic look.
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Post by Ialu on May 17, 2008 19:50:58 GMT -5
The tail brushed along Ialu's hand and his reflexes caught up to it, gripping it lightly in his hands. He chuckled lightly as he brushed the messed up hairs at the tip. Getting those, he moved on brushing from the bottom of the tail and all the way up. Kei's purrs grew deeper making the smaller boy feel slightly flustered again. As his brush moved the base of the tail, the Er Rit would purr louder, and would decrescendo as he moved up. He cleared his throat, and quietly moved back to Kei's head, face completely red.
Finished up the last strands of hair, he ran his fingers through the locks one more time, enjoying the feel of the silky strands in between his fingers. "Done." The boy tucked his own damp hair behind his ear, and took a few steps away from his roommate, feeling bashful again. he gathered his school uniform from the bench and headed for the door. "Back to the room... I guess.."
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Post by Keiani on May 17, 2008 20:16:05 GMT -5
Kei jerked in surprise as Ialu actually kept hold of his tail. With how much the other boy avoided touching people he wouldn't have expected that... Or maybe to Ialu a tail seemed the same way as hair did? Ialu didn't have one, so maybe it was just totally different.
The albino shivered a little bit as the brush started moving through the fur of his tail, purrs starting up again almost without him noticing. Nope, even with just the brush running through the fur this was definitely different from getting his hair brushed. That was nice... this was sending tingles through his body. Tingles that seemed to get more and more as Ialu's brush moved up his tail and he couldn't stop himself from purring in response. It felt... He wasn't sure what it felt, but whatever it was he liked it. Maybe it was because tail was more like skin and less like hair? That had to be it. He couldn't think of any other reason that it could be feeling quite like this, and even the skin explanation didn't really explain things. What was it about Ialu helping him instead of his siblings that made it so... Different?
His tail twitched in disappointment as Ialu finished with that, though having him go through his hair was almost as good. Kei didn't say anything, just concentrating on not accidentally accosting the other boy with his now silky tail and letting himself keep up a soft steady purr. Even though with Ialu's fingers ran through the albino couldn't help but shiver.
"Probably a good idea" He said, after a pause, barely shaking his head to clear it and moving awkwardly up from the bench. Really he wouldn't have minded Ialu messing with his hair more, and they were obviously safe in here right now... "Sal might be getting worried. Maybe. Though I guess he would come down here if he really was" He shook his head again, grinning weakly at Ialu. "Thanks for helping with my hair though. I'm usually hopeless at it."
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Post by Ialu on May 17, 2008 20:37:54 GMT -5
"S'okay...," Ialu mumbled and shuffled his feet. He hugged the pile of clothes closer to his chest, as the awkward tension filled the air. "Then.. we'll go." He started out of the shower room, and down the hall and slipped into their room with ease. Sal was on the ground clutching his stomach, holding his mini-portable-crystal ball, and Ialu caught sight of a handsome looking boy in it before the smoke filled in, clouding the ball. The boy's lip quipped into an unamused expression and he stepped over the brown haired Er Rit. He set his dirty clothes into the hamper by his bed, jumped on it and stroked at Seb who was half asleep on his pillow.
He only just saw Sal and he already felt annoyed by him. Though, Sal's happiness with his assumable lover was envy-inducing, Ialu thought as he tucked his arms together, covering his face with his forearm. He watched as Kei entered the room, and he closed his eyes letting the two have their time together.
Tomorrow was the festival. He felt his the pit of his stomach churn and he bit his lip as he imagined his steps on stage. They had rehearsed so much, but he still had a high possibility of just blanking out right when he walked on stage. With the sound of the two brother's laughter and talking, and Seb's content purring, the Egyptian was lulled into sleep.
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Post by Keiani on May 17, 2008 22:11:21 GMT -5
Kei could help letting his ears droop at the tone in Ialu's voice. He had seemed fine before... But Ialu was probably exhausted. He had been before the shower and now he'd just spent time helping Kei get himself in order. The Er Rit felt vaguely guilty as he followed Ialu out the door, forcing most of it to dissipate by reminding himself it had been Ialu's idea, but still...
He blinked in surprise as they actually came into the room, having been half expecting his brother to be worried. Sal seemed more recovering from laughter over something or another... Which was probably a good thing, right? Kei couldn't even see the orb, so he just assumed that maybe Sal had been reading, or maybe thinking on something.
It vaguely occurred to him that his brother might know more than he about the whole thing with Ialu touching his hair... But he couldn't really ask with Ialu right there and there was no way he was leaving the other boy alone. So instead he just bounded over to his bed, curling up on it and looking down at Sal with a slight grin. "What were you doing while we were gone?"
His ears flicked towards Ialu, and he thought that he could hear the other boys breathing lapse into sleeping... But it wasn't possible to tell for sure without getting closer than the other would likely be comfortable with, knowing Ialu.
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Sal
Level 3
SWOOOOSH!
Posts: 167
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Post by Sal on May 18, 2008 18:45:49 GMT -5
The door opens as I laugh at something Adrian says about his group of friends, and Adrian glances towards the sound.
"Whoops! Time to go, gorgeous!" He waves, grinning, and the orb in my hand returns to being a normal-looking smoky crystal marble.
I sit up after Ialu steps over me and flops on his bed, closing his eyes. The tension coming from the boy make my ears twitch. Hmm? Did something happen? I turn to look at Kei. Yup. Wonder what, though Not that Kei would be able to tell me, without knowing how to say it!
I look upwards as my brother curls up on the bed above me and grin. "Oh, nothing much. I was just talking to a... friend of mine!" I don't quite know how to explain Adrian to Kei yet, but I suppose I have some time to figure it out.
"Now that your roomies safely asleep... are you really alright with him, Kei? He seems alright to me, but if you have any problems, you should speak up!"
I ask Kei a few more questions about the school, but still can't think of a good way to bring up Blondie and the Stalker.
After a few minutes, there's a knock at the door. "Salvatore? Keiani? Are you two still awake?" I cringe as Mother says my first name, but stand up. I open the door a little and grin and her. "Trying to keep it down, though, Mother! Kei's roomie is asleep!"
Mother smiles and peeks into the room, nodding as she sees what the place looks like and then looks at Kei. "Kei? It's pretty late right now, so we'll have to leave. I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to take you boys out for some dinner! Your brother and I will be back tomorrow, alright?"
I try my best to look crestfallen, but Mother shakes her head. "No, Salvatore. I can't let you stay the night. I know you two would like that, but rules are rules."
Sighing, I go over to Kei and give him a tight hug. "I'll be back, Kei! I swear! Don't forget to lock the door after we leave, alright?"
I ruffle my brother still damp hair and Mother gives him a kiss on the cheek before we walk out. I feel bad about leaving them right now, but what could I say? Mother wouldn't really understand what's going on, especially since the three of us don't know the details ourselves!
Still...
((I figured that since Ialu is asleep now, that this would probably be a good point to end the "day" and start heading to the next? I'll let Tai post the real closure if she wants, before time-skipping to the next day!))
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Post by Keiani on May 19, 2008 21:10:11 GMT -5
Kei curled up tighter on the bed as they talked, trying to keep pace with his brothers questions. He had meant to ask Sal about why things might feel different with Ialu being the one messing with his hair... But there had never been a good place to get it into the conversation and he honestly wasn't even really sure what he was asking anyways.
That and he was rather exhausted, maybe not as much so as Ialu was, but still rather ready to fall into sleep.
At least being sleepy had meant that he wasn't as worried when their mother poked her head into the room. A little disappointed that Sal couldn't stay... but at least it wasn't likely that the blonde would be attacking them during the night. And hopefully wasn't likely to know how to pick locks even if he did.
Kei rather sleepily said goodbye to them, making sure to click the lock soundly shut and wandering back to bed, rather absently noting in his mind that now his hair was all mussed from how Ialu had set it, and not really knowing why that made him feel a little disappointed. It wasn't like it would have lasted him sleeping anyways.
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Kei sighed, ears flicking as someone hissed something from the other side of the stage. They hadn't figured out how to best fit a headset over his ears... but then the stage manager had realized that even if he couldn't wear a normal headset, he could hear far better than they could hope to... So instead of it being over his ears he had it simply looped around his neck.
He was just glad that his white fur made it impossible to go onstage for scene changes. The albino wasn't sure how that would have even worked, with him not being able to see the markings on the floor for placing... Not that it hadn't been suggested, but luckily he hadn't had to do more than point out the inability for him to be 'ninja' (as a lot of the other stage hands were terming it) and hadn't even had to go into that his vision in the darkness was little to none.
So instead of a set job, he somehow found himself being the one who hovered between the greenroom and the costume room, making sure that people were going down when they were supposed to and bringing things to backstage if they were forgotten. The play hadn't actually started yet... But with all their practicing he was sure that it would be fine.
His ears flicked as he caught a familiar voice, and it took him only a moment to recognize Ialu, and he automatically shifted towards the voice, seeing a flash of costume that he was pretty sure was his friend and moving carefully towards him through all the people. They only had a moment but he was pretty sure Ialu was nervous, and saying something to him couldn't hurt.
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Post by Ialu on May 20, 2008 20:46:45 GMT -5
Ialu mumbled the his lines to himself as he changed into his outfit, mere leaves sewn together somehow by the costume department. His stomach was fluttering nervously, and he was glad that he hadn't eaten anything that morning since it was sure to come right back up. The boy wrenched his hands together and twitched his nose, not used to all the makeup that was put on him. There was so much glitter too! The other actors were chattering to one another, making vulgar jokes as teenage boys do. Ialu rolled his eyes and sat down on a wooden crate, taking deep breaths.
He knew his lines, he definitely did! But what if he went on stage and everything just blanked. The auditorium was already sold out, as he had heard from the director. Parents, teachers, students and girls from the Luumina Girl's Academy were all shuffling in now. The Egyptian groaned.. he just made things worse for himself.
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