Post by Fetch and Carry (Liz) on May 11, 2007 14:12:12 GMT -5
Also known as "What Liz worked on instead of her short story" ;D
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Fetch felt dirty. Not surprising considering she just spent two hours in the Bone Gnawers’ garage trying to attune herself to something that was scraped off of a bane.
Definitely not the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
She took out her keys and unlocked her apartment. Her brother was sitting on the couch playing a video game. She looked at the TV and snorted.
“Maybe you should try going outside and playing baseball instead of playing it on the TV screen,” Fetch mocked.
“Says the Garou that needed help opening the new jar of jam this morning,” Aaron retorted back, swinging the game controller. “Look at that! Homerun!” Fetch smirked at her brother and was about to make another smart comment when she noticed something move on the couch.
“What’s that?” she asked. A little black and white fuzzy kitten yawned and started to clean itself.
“A cat,” Aaron said. “It’s not staying,” he quickly added. “I found it around one of the Gypsy traps. I guess we trapped its mother and it was looking for it. It’s so little; I didn’t want to leave it outside. So I brought it in.”
“And bought out most of the pet store from the looks of it,” Fetch said, noting the pile of pet supplies on the kitchen table.
“Sindy is out of town this weekend, so no one can take care of the cat until Tuesday,” Aaron turned of the game and picked up the cat and walked to the kitchen. “You can’t starve the poor thing,” he said, petting the kitten. He looked at Fetch and sniffed her. “Why do you smell like cheap liquor? “
“I was hanging out with Grandfather Nicholas at the garage and they had an accident with their still. Why are you changing the subject? You could have called Trisha or given it to a random little girl on the street. Why is the cat still here?” Fetch rooted though the cupboards looking for something to munch on. As she picked up a box of cereal, it emptied itself out of a hole at the bottom.
“I see Mouse has been by,” Aaron said, pouring kitten milk in a saucer.
Fetch looked at her brother. “Oh, I see.”
“What do you mean ‘Oh, I see?’”
“You’re mad about my totem.”
Aaron sighed, “God damn it, Riley. This is not about you. I like cats. I noticed the kitten mewing near one of the traps and brought it home. I’d admit I was toying with the idea that maybe, just maybe we could keep it. But since you are being such a bitch about it, I guess I was wrong.”
Fetch rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Look, I’m sorry. You just don’t understand…”
“Of course, I don’t fucking understand!” Aaron snapped. “How many times do you have to say it? I get! I don’t understand anything about totems or why I have to share my food with mice. I don’t understand why you go off at all hours of the night ‘on sept business’ which I know is total bull shit half the time. And I don’t understand fucking why you have to work for some evil corporation that is so dangerous that you can’t even drink their beer. No, I realize I don’t fucking understand.” Riley looked at her brother and then closed her eyes.
“Leave the room,” she said, though clenched teeth.
“Riley…” Aaron started and realized that he went too far. He grabbed the cat and quickly left his sister in the room.
Fetch stood in the kitchen trying to keep her rage under control. It wasn’t often that she had to deal with it. But the events over past few weeks had managed to build up. Breathing deeply, she managed to not frenzy and rip the place apart. Fetch left the kitchen, took a shower and changed her clothes. Feeling a bit better, she knocked on her brother’s door.
There was a long pause. “Yes?”
“You want to go get a beer or something?”
“Are you sure that you should be going out in the state you’re in?” He opened the door. The cat was no where to be seen. “I think we have some Bud in the fridge.” Thankfully, there was some in one of the bottom drawers. Fetch watched Aaron cleared the cat stuff off of the table and the two of them sat down. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes as brother and sister drank from their beer bottles.
“You can keep the cat if you want,” Fetch finally said, peeling the label off of the bottle.
Aaron shook his head. “We don’t have to. Wouldn’t that piss off your totem?”
“You shouldn’t have to worry about that. That’s my responsibility, not yours.” Fetch took a sip of her beer. The silence that filled the room was much less awkward
“Do you ever regret it?” Aaron asked suddenly
“Regret what?”
“You know. Being Garou. Before going through your first change, you always used to talk about going to college. Getting away from Pensacola and living your own life.”
Fetch thought about it for a moment. How could she explain to him, that though she had to give up some things, what Gaia has given her in return was so much greater? The truth of the matter was, he didn’t really understand. “Sometimes,” she lied. “How about you? You ever regret not going though your first change?”
“Nah,” Aaron said, taking a pull from his bottle. “Well, sometimes,” he amended. “When Alex was living with us, I was trying to fix this girl’s laptop. I couldn’t figure out what the hell was wrong with it. I checked it for viruses and everything. Alex noticed I was fighting with it and disappeared into his room for a few minutes. When he came back, he told me what was wrong and how to fix it.”
“Did it work?”
“Yeah. But man was I pissed. I’ve been fighting with it for hours and all he had to do was go have a chat with the computer. Had I gone though my first change, I would have been able to do that.”
“Yeah, but you’d also have to do all of those other shit jobs that Theurge have to do. I could never be a Theurge. Too much BS to deal with. Almost as bad as a Philodox. ”
“And I’d have to go deal banes too.” Aaron set his empty bottle down on the table. “How is he doing?”
Fetch didn’t have to ask about who he was talking about. “Not good. All he does most of the time is sit on the couch and listen to NPR. I get so mad at him sometimes. I just want him to do something. Anything besides sit there. Though he did get out of the house for that first change incident.”
“Maybe I should take him out for a beer or something. Get him away from all of this saving Gaia stuff.”
“You? Take FM out for a beer? You two never got along.”
“Beer cures all.” Aaron said, with an Irish Accent.
Fetch laughed. The kitten ventured out of Aaron's room and wandered around the living room. “So what are you going to name the cat?”
Aaron shrugged. “I’ll figure out something. I should probably find out if it is a boy or girl first.”
“Or you could do what Mom did and pick out gender neutral names.”
“I might be a bastard but I’m not that cruel.” Aaron got up from the table. “Wii Bowling?”
“Sure. I’ll go kick your ass at Wii bowling.”
“Ha! You wish.” Aaron said as he turned on the TV.
______________________________________________________
Fetch felt dirty. Not surprising considering she just spent two hours in the Bone Gnawers’ garage trying to attune herself to something that was scraped off of a bane.
Definitely not the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
She took out her keys and unlocked her apartment. Her brother was sitting on the couch playing a video game. She looked at the TV and snorted.
“Maybe you should try going outside and playing baseball instead of playing it on the TV screen,” Fetch mocked.
“Says the Garou that needed help opening the new jar of jam this morning,” Aaron retorted back, swinging the game controller. “Look at that! Homerun!” Fetch smirked at her brother and was about to make another smart comment when she noticed something move on the couch.
“What’s that?” she asked. A little black and white fuzzy kitten yawned and started to clean itself.
“A cat,” Aaron said. “It’s not staying,” he quickly added. “I found it around one of the Gypsy traps. I guess we trapped its mother and it was looking for it. It’s so little; I didn’t want to leave it outside. So I brought it in.”
“And bought out most of the pet store from the looks of it,” Fetch said, noting the pile of pet supplies on the kitchen table.
“Sindy is out of town this weekend, so no one can take care of the cat until Tuesday,” Aaron turned of the game and picked up the cat and walked to the kitchen. “You can’t starve the poor thing,” he said, petting the kitten. He looked at Fetch and sniffed her. “Why do you smell like cheap liquor? “
“I was hanging out with Grandfather Nicholas at the garage and they had an accident with their still. Why are you changing the subject? You could have called Trisha or given it to a random little girl on the street. Why is the cat still here?” Fetch rooted though the cupboards looking for something to munch on. As she picked up a box of cereal, it emptied itself out of a hole at the bottom.
“I see Mouse has been by,” Aaron said, pouring kitten milk in a saucer.
Fetch looked at her brother. “Oh, I see.”
“What do you mean ‘Oh, I see?’”
“You’re mad about my totem.”
Aaron sighed, “God damn it, Riley. This is not about you. I like cats. I noticed the kitten mewing near one of the traps and brought it home. I’d admit I was toying with the idea that maybe, just maybe we could keep it. But since you are being such a bitch about it, I guess I was wrong.”
Fetch rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Look, I’m sorry. You just don’t understand…”
“Of course, I don’t fucking understand!” Aaron snapped. “How many times do you have to say it? I get! I don’t understand anything about totems or why I have to share my food with mice. I don’t understand why you go off at all hours of the night ‘on sept business’ which I know is total bull shit half the time. And I don’t understand fucking why you have to work for some evil corporation that is so dangerous that you can’t even drink their beer. No, I realize I don’t fucking understand.” Riley looked at her brother and then closed her eyes.
“Leave the room,” she said, though clenched teeth.
“Riley…” Aaron started and realized that he went too far. He grabbed the cat and quickly left his sister in the room.
Fetch stood in the kitchen trying to keep her rage under control. It wasn’t often that she had to deal with it. But the events over past few weeks had managed to build up. Breathing deeply, she managed to not frenzy and rip the place apart. Fetch left the kitchen, took a shower and changed her clothes. Feeling a bit better, she knocked on her brother’s door.
There was a long pause. “Yes?”
“You want to go get a beer or something?”
“Are you sure that you should be going out in the state you’re in?” He opened the door. The cat was no where to be seen. “I think we have some Bud in the fridge.” Thankfully, there was some in one of the bottom drawers. Fetch watched Aaron cleared the cat stuff off of the table and the two of them sat down. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes as brother and sister drank from their beer bottles.
“You can keep the cat if you want,” Fetch finally said, peeling the label off of the bottle.
Aaron shook his head. “We don’t have to. Wouldn’t that piss off your totem?”
“You shouldn’t have to worry about that. That’s my responsibility, not yours.” Fetch took a sip of her beer. The silence that filled the room was much less awkward
“Do you ever regret it?” Aaron asked suddenly
“Regret what?”
“You know. Being Garou. Before going through your first change, you always used to talk about going to college. Getting away from Pensacola and living your own life.”
Fetch thought about it for a moment. How could she explain to him, that though she had to give up some things, what Gaia has given her in return was so much greater? The truth of the matter was, he didn’t really understand. “Sometimes,” she lied. “How about you? You ever regret not going though your first change?”
“Nah,” Aaron said, taking a pull from his bottle. “Well, sometimes,” he amended. “When Alex was living with us, I was trying to fix this girl’s laptop. I couldn’t figure out what the hell was wrong with it. I checked it for viruses and everything. Alex noticed I was fighting with it and disappeared into his room for a few minutes. When he came back, he told me what was wrong and how to fix it.”
“Did it work?”
“Yeah. But man was I pissed. I’ve been fighting with it for hours and all he had to do was go have a chat with the computer. Had I gone though my first change, I would have been able to do that.”
“Yeah, but you’d also have to do all of those other shit jobs that Theurge have to do. I could never be a Theurge. Too much BS to deal with. Almost as bad as a Philodox. ”
“And I’d have to go deal banes too.” Aaron set his empty bottle down on the table. “How is he doing?”
Fetch didn’t have to ask about who he was talking about. “Not good. All he does most of the time is sit on the couch and listen to NPR. I get so mad at him sometimes. I just want him to do something. Anything besides sit there. Though he did get out of the house for that first change incident.”
“Maybe I should take him out for a beer or something. Get him away from all of this saving Gaia stuff.”
“You? Take FM out for a beer? You two never got along.”
“Beer cures all.” Aaron said, with an Irish Accent.
Fetch laughed. The kitten ventured out of Aaron's room and wandered around the living room. “So what are you going to name the cat?”
Aaron shrugged. “I’ll figure out something. I should probably find out if it is a boy or girl first.”
“Or you could do what Mom did and pick out gender neutral names.”
“I might be a bastard but I’m not that cruel.” Aaron got up from the table. “Wii Bowling?”
“Sure. I’ll go kick your ass at Wii bowling.”
“Ha! You wish.” Aaron said as he turned on the TV.