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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Nov 19, 2013 14:36:21 GMT -8
“Good,” Sebastian breathed, almost sighing with relief. He waited a little while longer, but it was getting ridiculously stuffy in that bag and finally popped his head back out for some fresh air. Bright sunlight kissed his eyes and his feathers fluffed up; pinching his eyes shut he shook his head and blinked a few times so that the flash and flare of the light vanished quickly and he could squint out across their new surroundings. He had good timing. He’d waited to pop his head out until they were already walking up the pathway to her house, and if he figured out rather quickly that they were in a populated residential area, with houses not dissimilar to her own and—wait a minute.
He swung his head around, staring at the front door to her house and hesitating as the thought finally sank in. Her house. Right. Well. This was a little awkward. Probably. “Is anyone going to be home?” he asked out of habitual worry. It seemed to be a perpetual state for him to be in today—and it definitely wasn’t how he normally felt about things. However, he began to think about their situation much more seriously, and it really did not sit well with him. Elaine was nice, but it was not every day that someone dragged a talking flamingo home, let alone a full grown stranger because eventually he had to change back. (He had better anyway). Admittedly he did feel an odd, panicky jerk in his heart every time he thought about the concept and he kept feeling these twinges of pain crawl their way up his spine. He guessed he still had some time left before whatever horribly magic this was washed off and fixed his situation permanently, but until then he’d be running around her house as a pink flamingo. If anybody was home he’d imagine he’d probably be shoved into a closet next in order to stay hidden, or stuffed under a bed or…he shivered. He did not want to think about that anymore.
“You live in a nice area,” he said anyway, craning his neck over her shoulder. The inside of the house was probably even better than the outside, but to Sebastian it was impressive nonetheless. “In a good neighborhood. Your family must have some money set aside.”
If only he knew.
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Nov 19, 2013 22:00:37 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends Elaine was glad that Sebby was a little bit impressed. "Of course there might be someone home!" It was the weekend. People either stayed home or went out in her family. It was just that she normally went out, so she had no idea whether or not the others were home or not. But there were worst things for her to bring home aside from a talking pink flamingo. It was odd though, no one else seemed to have noticed his talking, it was just her back at the zoo. Eh, maybe she was just special. All she had to watch out for was her father, he would definitely freak out.
She hoped he was called in at work. She hoped he was gone. She hoped that she could sneak in Sebby without a hitch. "I know you hate the bag. But you have to stay in it until we get to my room, okay?" Elaine knew, she knew that this was an absolutely horrible idea, but oh well! This was now her pink flamingo and she was going to keep this pink flamingo. "I think my dad's home, unless he got called in for work." If she was quiet, she shouldn't arouse her dad's attention. She wasn't her younger brother, she couldn't just be ignored for the rest of her life (not that she wanted that either).
"Thanks!" Elaine knew that she had a nice house, she lived in it everyday, after all. "Where do you live?" Not that she was particularly curious. She pulled the keys out of her pocket and opened the door. "Don't get too caught up in the interior design. If you hear anyone, you're going straight in the bag, clear?"
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Nov 20, 2013 15:00:48 GMT -8
Sebastian blinked. His own apartment was lackluster really. “I pay rent for an apartment,” he explained. “Much smaller than this. But that’s fine. I don’t need anything else.” He paused however, nodding at her last point. “Fair enough,” he said, then clapped his beak shut before he could make any more noise. It was a very telling experience, to step into someone else’s home—whether Elaine wanted him to gawk or not, he found himself absorbing details and taking in the sights, in a way gleaning more information about her life from things most people took little notice of. Needless to say it was warm and comfortable inside those walls, and if he weren’t currently a flamingo he might have felt reasonably welcome inside them. The house was much larger than the one he grew up in too, but it reminded him of his home nonetheless. He made sure however, to stay quiet and kept his head low with Elaine’s blessing. If she heard or caught a glimpse of anyone, he’d duck back down into the bag in a heartbeat.
Half of the time he was keeping an eye out himself, helping her. Finally he leaned closer to her shoulder, lowering his voice as much as possible. “Really just need a room that doesn’t have any people in it. Also I…” he paused. He had seen a glint out of the corner of his eye and twisted his head around to look—there was framed family photo sitting out in the open, it's glass casing catching a stream of light and reflecting it back, that gave him reason to go quiet. It took a second, but when he thought recognized the serious faced man standing behind Elaine and what appeared to be, possible siblings, he almost balked. Sebastian tilted his head questioningly. That guy looked an awful lot like someone he was supposed to know.
Sebastian couldn’t even remember his name. He’d only been “formally” introduced—really it was little more than a here’s-his-office-and-you-should-never-bother him introduction, so of course the name slipped his mind. But every Impedio Society recruit had had his—along with Arcturus’s face--pretty much burned into their mind. There were three people he was never, ever allowed to cross at headquarters. And one was this guy.
But that couldn’t be right.
That couldn’t be Giovanni in that family photo.
“Is that…is that your father? What’s your last name?” He asked hesitantly. Maybe Sebastian would recognize it if he heard it again, but he was almost convinced that the man in the photo couldn't be the same person: one of the three Society leaders.
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Nov 21, 2013 21:01:06 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends Elaine tiptoed quietly inside, though she didn't really need to. Opening and closing the door behind her proved to make a lot of noise, so if anyone really bothered to greet her or see her with her pink flamingo in a bag, it would have happened already. And it didn't, obviously. Maybe they were out, or something? Or they didn't care, that was a possibility (and the more likely one) too. Of course, she couldn't bring herself to care as much when she was trying so hard to be incognito.
Her original plan was to go to her room. Her original plan was also shot to the ground because her room was on the other side of the house and upstairs. She didn't fancy trying to carry this bag any farther than she had to. So she opted to stay in the downstairs area. Which left... well, it didn't leave too many options. Where would they not be disturbed for a couple of hours?
Elaine was getting a bit tired carrying the flamingo in the bag, but she couldn't get him out of the bag until she was sure no one would ever see him in flamingo form. What would they say? She didn't usually steal fluffy pink animals from the zoo (she couldn't say anything about the stuffed toys though, it wasn't so much stealing as it was begging her dad to buy one (or fifty) for her).
"Hmm, what are you talking about?" She turned to look at wherever Sebby's little flamingo head was turned towards. Oh, the family picture, was it? "Mm, yeah that's my dad!" Well, who else would it be? It looked like a family picture. What, did Sebby know him or something? Was that why he got turned into a flamingo - because of some research gone wrong? Ah, and she was suddenly reminded why she wanted to go into the research division in the Society (despite her distaste in working under her father and Arc). "My last name is Darzi-Accurso. Do you know my dad? Accurso?"
Elaine didn't really feel conscious of giving her name away to Sebby - after all, he was going to be her pet, wasn't he?
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Nov 21, 2013 22:50:33 GMT -8
Oh.
Oh shit.
Sebastian’s feathers fluffed up—all of them, it seemed—at once. It didn’t really grip him until seconds later, and by then it felt very much like a punch to the throat. Her father was the same man that helped to lead the Society. A slew of German oaths and swears flitted through his mind, but none of them surfaced; instead a startled squawk burst from his chest, and whether it shocked Elaine or not he carried on anyway. So much for pretending as if nothing had ever happened. What was he going to do if one of the three big names found out about this? “Know him?” he clapped his beak in irritation. “I work for him,” he blurted. Under different circumstances he never would have said as much. But Sebastian had reached the end of his rope as far as his nerves were concerned. He was both defeated and irrationally angry. How in the world had he managed to stumble across the one person on this good earth that was not only the daughter of a fellow Impedio Society member, but Accurso’s daughter? She might as well be Society royalty as far as the world was concerned. And now he didn’t have a chance in hell of living this whole stupid affair down. It would follow him the rest of his life.
“Listen to me,” he said quickly. “You must never tell your father about me. About this. About me being a flamingo. You have to promise me.” He squirmed a little in the bag, both unnerved and anxious to be out, and at the same time, almost wanting to curl inside it and never come out again. That was a new feeling for Sebastian. He was used to meeting trouble and conflict head-on, too eager to punch back. But this was not something he wanted to surface. Ever. It was just all around humiliating. And to be saved by Accurso’s very own daughter?
Dear god.
“Elaine I will do anything you ask of me, but you have to promise,” he insisted. “If your father finds out about what’s happened to me I…” he trailed. He didn’t know what he’d do. “Just don’t tell him. And quick. Find a room.”
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Nov 22, 2013 18:26:16 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends “Hey, what the heck-” Sebby was near having a heart attack - surely just seeing her dad wouldn’t have given him such an impression or have that much of an impact. Elaine wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean - sure, her dad looked scary and imposing and had that sort of presence where he went, but he was… sort of not looking like that in the photo? Maybe they met before and he had a traumatic experience. She wouldn’t put it past her dad to have done something of the sort.
Well, this was interesting. Elaine would be lying if she said she wasn’t pleased with this outcome. “You work for my dad?” Yes, she could just see it now, he would be better than a pet. At first she had just wanted a fluffy majestic pink flamingo, which then turned out to see if she would manipulate him into being something useful. But someone who worked in the Impedio Society? That was even better. This was exactly the thing she needed.
Especially when he was practically pleading her to keep this a secret. Oh, she’d keep it a secret. It was just what he was willing to let her do to him. While he was having his spastic attack in the bag, she had quickly dragged them to the garage/laundry room, which meant they were safe for now. Laundry day wasn’t today, anyways.
“Why are you so concerned?” It was just her dad. Her dad wasn’t so bad. Of course, Sebby probably didn’t want anyone to know of his humiliation. Elaine was just lucky to have gotten some dirt on him. “I’m willing to keep this a secret. You just have to be willing to do whatever I ask, whenever I ask. Got it?”
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Nov 22, 2013 23:16:55 GMT -8
Elaine was smart enough to take him to the laundry room, or maybe even a garage from the looks of it, before shutting the door and resuming their conversation. Sebastian was already riled up enough. Every emotion he could possible feel, including anger and disappointment, raged through him. The typhoon of feeling only grew worse by the time he finally shuffled his way out of the duffel bag and tumbled out onto the ground, his feathers ruffling and loose, and his wings spread, beating at the air in frustration. If he were human he might as well have punched the wall. “I cannot believe this,” he breathed. “Your father is Giovanni Accurso.” He was more or less talking to himself now, and walked right up to the wall and thunked his head against the surface, doing his best to manage a flamingo-glare while he was at it. But at least one of her questions hit home and made him blink. Why was he so concerned?
“Because it is an embarrassment,” he said. “It blackens my name as a Hunter,” Sebastian muttered. Maybe he was being a little melodramatic, but he was trying to reestablish his status as a Creature Hunter, erasing the very demotion that Salvatore slapped him with when he moved him to an Artifact Hunter. He didn’t want to bother with artifacts or special items—he excelled in areas that strictly dealt with combat, and that meant hunting creatures and monsters. And being turned into a pink flamingo? It was not something he needed tagged onto his reputation right now. On top of that, he more or less convinced Giovanni’s daughter to steal something—himself—from the zoo. What if whatever magic had infected him rubbed off on her?
His feathers ruffled again. He grumbled all of this in a series of squawks and light chirps, knowing she could understand all of it and sighing, deliberately falling over onto his side and glaring at the wall, refusing to get up again.
“I have single handedly dug the deepest hole imaginable with no way to climb out. Fine. I’ll do whatever you want Elaine, but for the love of god, do not mention this to your father. Do we have a deal? …also, you might want to give me some privacy soon. For all I know I’ll change back and won’t have any damn clothes on.”
Please.
For the love of all things decent and normal let him have his clothes when he changed back.
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Nov 24, 2013 10:18:41 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends Elaine nodded enthusiastically at Sebby, trying to sympathize with him. Only she was trying, and not so much succeeding. It was a bit difficult to do so with a flamingo that was making a hilarious display. Usually just seeing a human being over dramatic was funny, but in flamingo-form? The best thing in the world, in her opinion. She wondered if Sebby knew just how much she was trying to keep a straight face at this very moment in the midst of his crisis.
"You're a Hunter?" Woah! Woah woah woah - that was so cool! "You're not kidding? What kind of Hunter? A Creature Hunter? Does that mean you fought monsters and killed them? Do you have any stories?" Elaine was keeping her options open as to where exactly she wanted to be in the Impedio Society, so expert testimony on subjects like that was always greatly appreciated. Although she was a little wary of being a Hunter because of just who the consul was in charge of that division. He hadn't really seemed to be a Hunter, even now when he said so. But maybe that was because of his dismay that was being so exaggerated.
She did smile once Sebby agreed. "These terms last forever, though. I won't tell dad anything. Pleasure doing business with you." And now that she had secured her very on pet, she felt that this was indeed worth all the effort she had put into it. It wasn't exactly the pet she was expecting, but once he turned back to his humanly form he would be very useful indeed. Speaking of..
She looked around the laundry room and picked up a random shirt that was just lying there. "Uh, here. I think this is my dad's, I'm not sure what would fit you. It's just temporary, if you want clean clothes I'll go get them now. It's just for if you, you know, before I come back." She closed the door behind her and hoped no one would wander in the room while she grabbed some random Dad clothes from his room in which he was not in right now (he was probably in his study).
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Nov 24, 2013 11:50:44 GMT -8
Sebastian growled. Or really he made a small chirping noise that sounded nothing like a growl, but he couldn’t help that bit. Elaine was suddenly spewing questions about his career and he wasn’t all that certain of how he wanted to answer any of them. She clearly knew about the Society though, and Creatures themselves, which probably explained a lot toward why she hadn’t really batted much of an eye at the thought of a talking flamingo. Yes. That did explain a lot. And he half wondered if her father was as much of a vulture at cutting deals as she was. Elaine had been very nice and all, but he was beginning to think she was a master manipulator capable of cutthroat business contracts. What was this ‘forever’ thing? If flamingos could sweat he probably would have, but instead he tensed and before he could ask, she threw a shirt his way and was gone. Sebastian stared warily at the door as it closed behind her, but left alone with his thoughts realized that he wasn’t just aggravated with the culmination of these events, he was physically uncomfortable.
That itch was back. He shook out his wings and strutted for a few seconds around the garage, carefully picking up the shirt in his beak and tossing it onto one of the nearby laundry baskets. Honestly it seemed somehow insulting to borrow Giovanni’s clothes—he really, really hoped that when he changed back he—Sebastian paused and squawked as pain split through his leg. He actually fell backwards on the ground, losing a few feathers. Blue-white light flooded his vision; pink, crimson and white feathers exploded into the air and then dissipated, melting away. The next time Sebastian shot up from the ground, he had his hand against the back of his head, rubbing out a goose-egg and resisting a growl. New swears spilled from his mouth, but he snapped his eyes open on the last one, throwing his hands out in front of him to be sure that yes—he was human again.
Sebastian didn’t even say anything. He carefully pushed to his feet, testing out his former body and not at all surprised that his bones and joints creaked as if they hadn’t been used in a while. He also quickly realized that yes—thank God—he still had his clothes. The dark hoodie and jeans were there and relatively unscathed. He was still flushed with irritation and embarrassment though, and sighed, walking over to a corner to brood silently in it until Elaine came back. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to wander anyway. The only time he looked up again was when the door clicked open; his gaze slid to it and his shoulders squared, preparing to explain that yes, he was the same flamingo that she had rescued and no she shouldn’t call the cops because he wasn’t a stranger.
Sort of.
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Nov 24, 2013 12:47:06 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends Elaine came back in expecting a flamingo. Elaine came back in not looking at a flamingo and almost nearly screaming in the process. It was more heart pounding shock and surprise. Where was Sebby? Did he run off and found some scary looking guy to replace him or - Oh.
"So that's how you look?" For some reason she thought he would be more fluffy... and pink. But then again she would never quite unsee him as a flamingo, strange as it was associating a human being with an animal. "Well, I guess that means you don't need these~" Since she did not particularly want to put the clothes back where they came from, she just threw them in the hamper and pretended they were dirty.
No need for her dad to know anything that happened today, anyways. As much as she would miss her fluffy flamingo friend, this was for the best, for the both of them. Sebby was back in human form and she, well, she had a new person to do her biding no matter what. "I think dad's at home, so you might want to leave. But I'm sure that we'll be seeing each other soon. Very soon."
But with that smile she wore, well, Sebastian should be worried. Very worried.
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Post by SEBASTIAN E. G. BRANDT on Nov 24, 2013 13:02:58 GMT -8
At least it was actually Elaine that came through that door and not anybody else. He actually sighed, reaching up to sweep his hand through his white hair, managing to look both relieved and flustered at the same time. He had expected some shock, so her hesitation at first wasn’t all that surprising, but he flexed in his hands in the silence that followed, cocking a brow and glancing down at them as if to reassure both her—and himself—that yes, he was human again. Was it weird that it was almost a relief to realize that his hearing was as shoddy as ever once more, that somehow the world seemed a tad more muffled than it had been before? Sebastian plucked a wayward pink feather that had tangled itself in his hair away and brushed a few others off of his shoulders. His gaze slid to hers warily, but he nodded.
“Thanks anyway.” His accent seemed to be back too, as thick and apparent as ever. It was hard to miss a German accent, particularly one that was already mangled by hints of Italian too. He knew his English wasn’t the best, but maybe more out of embarrassment for hearing it again than anything else, he quietly patted down the rest of his clothes and removed any stray downy feathers that were still clinging to him and hadn’t exactly dissipated away like the others. In fact, the only ones that seemed to have melted into thin air were the primaries shed from his wings; he could still see a pile of pink and white collecting at the other end of the garage, a tell-tale sign that yes, all of those things had actually happened to him. However, he was busy digging a few soft down feathers out of his hoodie pockets when Elaine hit him with new heart stopping information.
“What?!”
His head jerked up, startled. “Why didn’t you mention that first?!” He then choked, realizing that he was shouting and then scrambled to the other end of the garage, sweating bullets. “We’ll talk later!” he promised. “If you need me—I owe you—it’s Sebastian Brandt. I’m an Artifact Hunter now but I used to deal with,” he grunted as he opened the door, “Creatures. Just get in touch with me somehow.” And then he was closing the door. He almost ran right across the lawn before he popped back in and muttered another thanks before leaving. He did not want Giovanni to know that he’d been in his house.
Time Stamp: When the hell ever. Notes: Lol that boy BOOKED it out of there. xD
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Post by ELAINE DARZI-ACCURSO on Nov 24, 2013 16:20:04 GMT -8
the city is at war bless the young and rich with designer drugs and designer friends Wow. He really must've been afraid of her father, because Elaine wasn't sure if she had ever seen anyone leave so fast before. Sebastian Brandt, that was his name? Well, she knew she was going to be looking him up fairly soon. "Okay, bye! I'll look you up soon!" She waved at him as he left.
The accent had threw her off a bit, she wasn't really expecting that, she had been expecting his regular squacky flamingo voice. He was very different than the flamingo self he had been, and Elaine was still trying to get used to it. Even when he was gone. But she assumed that he must've had some weight, that he would come useful in some time. But now that it was taken care of, Elaine felt ready to announce her presence into the house.
"Daddy, I'm home! The zoo was really nice, I even brought a bag!" Then she hopped up the stairs to her room, pleased with the deal she had just made and planning just how to use it to her advantage. After all, he had agreed to do anything she told him, forever.
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TERRESA
UNKNOWN ENTITY
RESIDENT UNICORN
小書瑀
Posts: 105
MINI INFO - GENDER: Female
MINI INFO - D.O.B.: HOW DARE YOU ASK A WOMAN HER AGE?
MINI INFO - OCCUPATION: Guardian Kirin of the White Rice Paddies
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Post by TERRESA on Nov 29, 2013 13:16:44 GMT -8
| | | Finished Thread
BUBBLES has been rewarded with TWO RESIDUE and CATHAL has been rewarded with THREE RESIDUE as this thread is now complete. It has been placed in the archives under the 'finished' sub-board. You are more than welcome to PM fate if this thread is not finished or if you are unhappy/unsatisfied with the amount of residue that has been rewarded. Keep up the great work and keep posting with other members.
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