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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 28, 2008 22:30:05 GMT -5
"Are ya'll even payin' attention?" Lance's eyes snapped opened, and for a moment he swayed as disorientation hit him. Had he just... dozed off for a moment on his feet? Lance groaned softly. "Yeah," stifling a yawn, he motioned a mechanical hand toward his vividly bloodshot organic eye. Quickly he found this a grave mistake with his uncontrolled strength, and he yelped, cradling his face. Ears drooping slightly, Bunnie sighed. "Thaaat's why Ah don't use m'left hand to do that." "As opposed to the hand I can use," Lance snapped, glaring at her through his glowing digital eye. With a sympathetic frown, the half-mechanical rabbit merely shook her head. "'Fraid that's a problem ya'll need to work out." "Story of my life," the wolf muttered, gingerly rubbing the organic side of his forehead and smacking his lips. Man, he felt utterly dead on his feet. Stepping up closer to him, Bunnie looked up at his face with concern. "Hey, are ya'll alright there?" "M'fine," Lance muttered, unsuccessfully stifling another yawn. "I just--" he wound up being interrupted by yet another yawn. "--I just... haven't been sleeping well."
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Post by Leda on Sept 28, 2008 22:43:50 GMT -5
Elsewhere, a tiny squirrel toddled through the forest, wincing and whimpering at the sting in his muzzle. He'd been periodically prodding it to see whether or not it still hurt. And each time, it had. Ray frowned and wiggled his tender nose. Just how long would it take for it to go back to normal? He also hoped Tails wouldn't keep making him play that game. Or maybe just not let the blue one play with them. They'd been doing just fine before he showed up... But if given the choice, he'd still rather play something else. Even without getting injured, Ray had found that game difficult to participate in. It was around then that the child realized he still didn't hear Tails' voice anywhere. Stopping and looking around, the squirrel twisted his ears this way and that in search of the kit's familiar sound. But there was nothing. Ray's breathing sharply escalated, and he turned in a full circle. Where was Tails?? Had he gone missing, or had Ray simply gone the wrong way trying to get back?! Upon having turned to frantically search in so many directions, the boy was horrified to find that he no longer knew which way he'd come from. Tears quickly flooded the squirrel's eyes. He was all by himself, and didn't know where he was. Again. With a frightened sob, Ray turned and scrambled up the closest tree, curling up on the lowest branch. Hopefully someone would come to find him... But that plan hadn't panned out the last time... Ray's golden little body began to shake, and he buried his features against his dirty, tattered gloves. Mommy and Daddy couldn't find me. What if... she... can't find me either?? The longer he dwelled on the terrifying thought, the louder his cries echoed against the trees.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 29, 2008 13:51:22 GMT -5
Bunnie merely sighed over Lance's lethargy. "Maybe we all just oughta call this here lesson off for the day." "I'm fine," Lance insisted with a shake of his head. "I'm just tired, that's all." "So tired ya'll're fallin' asleep on yer feet," Bunnie placed her hands on her hips stubbornly. "You'll be fallin' over on yer lil' ol' snout." Growling softly with agitation, the wolf gave his head a quick shake to fight off another strong urge to let his eyes slip close. "Doesn't matter. I can't sleep with all this %#$@ing armor all over me anyway." Bunnie groaned at his stubbornness. She didn't even want to be here in the first place, and now it seemed she was caught in an uphill struggle; yes, he needed guidance. But what good were her efforts going to be if he couldn't even pay attention? Dealing with someone who had no idea of their own strength, much less how to control it, was twice as bad when they were tired (she knew she'd certainly had her fair share of groggy accidents). She shook her head again "Hon, Ah'm afraid that's another problem y'gotta wor--" the rabbit trailed off mid-sentence, one of her considerable sized ears twisting as it picked up what seemed to be a children's crying not far away. She let loose another exhale. "Hold that thought. I gotta go check on sumthin'." Turning around she began walking off toward the source.
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Post by Leda on Sept 29, 2008 14:12:31 GMT -5
Though the wait felt agonizingly long, at least it wasn't another three days. Ray's sobs and hiccups and wails had apparently drawn nearby interest -- and luckily not from a predator. The squirrel's tiny ear twisted at the sound of a snapping twig, and his face quickly followed. When his eyes fell on the rabbot that'd come to investigate, Ray let out another wail (mostly in relief) and reached for her with desperate, grasping hands.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 29, 2008 23:17:02 GMT -5
Finding the tiny squirrel hadn't been hard with all the wailing he'd made. Stepping up beneath his tree branch Bunnie placed both hands on her hips and tilted her head. "Honey, how did ya'll get way out here?" she asked. Even as the words left her mouth the length of her legs began to extend, bringing her up to the same level as Ray and wrapping her arms around the eagerly awaiting boy. "Come on, it's alright, let's get you down..."
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Post by Leda on Sept 29, 2008 23:26:28 GMT -5
As soon as she'd scooped him up, Ray clung tightly to her body with both his arms and legs, and pressed his face firmly against the side of her neck. " T-TAILSBROUGHMEOUTTOP-PLAY *hic* AN'THEB-BLUEMANHITME *sob* ANDTH'LADYMADEITNOTH-HURTSOMUCH *whimper* AN'ITRIED'AFINETAILSAGAINAN'HEWASGOOOOOOONE!!" The squirrel's already rigid grip became even tighter around Bunnie's body, illustrating his utter terror.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 30, 2008 21:57:29 GMT -5
"Shhhhh, shh shh, it's alright honey, calm down," Bunnie said, gently rubbing the boy's back while retracting her legs to normal length. "Tails prolli just wandered off with Sonic figurin' ya'll'd be alright." Continuing to cuddle him and stroke softly at Ray's fur in an effort to calm him down she turned and began walking back to where she'd left Lance.
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Post by Leda on Oct 1, 2008 20:23:24 GMT -5
It took a while, but eventually the squirrel began to calm back down -- although, that may have been connected to the fact that he was getting tired and had developed a headache. Regardless, Ray's cries died off, and the white-knuckle grip he held his savior in relaxed. All in all it looked like he was now in need of a nap, and rested his cheek against Bunnie's shoulder.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Oct 2, 2008 0:44:14 GMT -5
Still stroking gently at the squirrel's fur, Bunnie soon found her way back to where she'd left Lance. The wolf, as she found, had sat himself down in the grass and was leaning forward, his head hanging in an awkward position and his eyes closed. "Lance?" Bunnie called in an effort to stir him. "Mmmpherblegm...." he muttered in response. "LANCE!" "Huhwha?!" he snapped back up, starring at the rabbit and the squirrel she was holding. He blinked sleepily and yawned. "What's with the kid? ... He's not part of the training is he?" "What?! No!" Bunnie said. "We ain't doin' that today. Go home'n lay down, Ah gotta take care of the tyke."
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Post by Leda on Oct 2, 2008 19:31:45 GMT -5
During the walk back to where the lessons had been taking place, Ray had in fact dozed off into a light sleep, and rested limply in his caretaker's arms. However, her shout to awaken Lance had also awakened him, and Ray whined and rubbed his eyes. The boy sleepily pushed himself upright, a string of saliva spanning the space between the corner of his mouth and Bunnie's shoulder fur. Ray blinked and yawned. He hadn't quite returned to coherency enough to recall the trauma from only minutes before. All he knew was that he was still sleepy, and his belly was rumbling. The squirrel blinked his quasi-glazed eyes until they focused on the top of Bunnie's leotard. Without a word of indication, his tiny hands wrapped around the edge and began attempting to pull it away.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Oct 3, 2008 21:39:32 GMT -5
Ignoring the drool on her shoulder (she could always wash it off after putting the boy to bed), Bunnie patted lightly on his back. "I'm sorry hon, Ah didn't mean to startle ya'll." she said, taking his hand away without much thought and shifting his weight on her arm.
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Post by Leda on Oct 3, 2008 22:04:22 GMT -5
Letting out a muted groan, Ray yawned and grabbed at Bunnie's leotard with his other hand instead. " Milkies."
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Post by Jamie Lee on Oct 4, 2008 0:17:35 GMT -5
The rabbit's ears drooped a bit and redness stained her face as she tried stopping him again. "Honey there... there ain't no milk there." Lance had started to doze off again when he caught the exchange. Lifting his head back up he quirked his brow and snerked.
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Post by Leda on Oct 4, 2008 0:25:40 GMT -5
Ray gazed up into Bunnie's face with a wounded expression, and his tiny ears folded backwards. His lower lip quivered, and unlike the other times he'd cried, this one was surprisingly quiet. The squirrel gasped a pair of breaths in succession and pawed at the rabbot's chest in futility. "M-Milkiiieeees..." he whimpered as fresh tears began to trickle past his eyes.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Oct 4, 2008 0:37:02 GMT -5
Bunnie shot a glare at Lance, then bit her lip in sympathy for Ray. "Ah'm sorry, honeybunch, I just... I just don't have any there for ya..." Lance, meanwhile, was now covering his mouth to hold in his laughter.
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Post by Leda on Oct 4, 2008 0:43:31 GMT -5
The boy peered up at her for a few more seconds, as though hoping she'd suddenly change her mind, but eventually flopped forward and pressed his face into her shoulder, despite the pain it caused his still tender muzzle. Somehow, being denied his milk just made his belly rumbled harder. Ray's muffled weeping and repeated requests intermittently escaped into the air when he wasn't choking for breath.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Oct 4, 2008 0:50:46 GMT -5
" Shut it Lance," Bunnie muttered, stroking at Ray's fur in an effort to calm him. Pondering over what to do she sighed. "Come on hon, let's see what there is in the kitchen..."
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