Chapter Four
Nick Jesse and Rin were spending the remainder of the 日 at Jesse’s house with his eight cousins. Just as Nick remembered they were all very energetic. Jesse’s family of cousins was actually composed of Naretains (Jamaicans). Most of them had the accents to prove it, with a few with Faconick accents, Jesse included.
The cousins worked in the same family business, which included music, 音乐 videos, armature short films, photography, and even video games for those who knew programming. The business was called R-Y Digital, based on how almost everything was made digitally. It made for very good pay, though still spread thin on the nine members.
Of the males there was the oldest, Aaron, a very tall and masculine Thirty-seven dark slate hedgehog with very pale blonde surfer-style hair, a 鲨鱼 tooth necklace. Aaron led his siblings, most of them that is. Everyone chipped in with the money but he organized and took care of taxes. He was definitely the one in the best position to leave the family but never did. He mainly was involved in working the video games, but did some work in the Short Films as well.
The 秒 oldest was Nolan. He was the same color as his older brother and was twenty-three himself. He had grey eyes, but his hair was also blond. His spines were the longest of the siblings, which he was proud of, but found to an inconvenience most of the time. He was one of a short few in the family that did not work in the main business. He worked at a Restaurant instead. He would help out in projects if prompted but he enjoyed being independent.
Morgan, the eldest girl, at twenty years of age, was a dark blue, with long black hair, and two short spines and two normal-length spines. She handled 摄影 most of the time, but also helped out with recording for the Short Films. She had the assistance of her close friend Olace, who was all but announced to be her boyfriend. She was also the only one in the family who had a current romantic relationship.
The first sets of twins were Tegan and Ben. They were both nineteen and handled programming and editing for the movies, 音乐 videos, and video games. The two were not always together but they were a sort of pair. Tegan was white with green eyes, and Ben was green with green eyes. Ben was bald, and Tegan had short blonde hair. They were the most outspoken, though Tegan had learned to control her mouth quicker than Ben had, speaking their mind on whatever matter they thought they needed to. They were very straight-forward, and got into fights often with the other set of twins, Rictor and Tia.
Rictor and Tia acted the most like actual twins and looked it. The two were both involved in making 音乐 Videos, they were both pale light yellow with dark red hair and light red eyes, and while there was only one other religious sibling in this family, they were very much so. Unfortunately this is what they argued with Tegan and Ben with often, and due to them both being eighteen now there were many occasions where they talked about leaving the family out of feeling unwanted. They had yet to do so.
The largest oddball in the family was Poppy. She had only two long spines that curved at the ends, fading from her deep grey to a pale green. She was bald since birth, and had one green eye and one light turquoise eye. 罂粟 was very eccentric and handled most of the Short Films in the directing process. And for a seventeen-year old she did well. But she also had quite a few ticks, such as thumping her foot in specific patterns, and constantly wanting to dye her 毛皮 to different colors, which she did often but always had reverted to her natural ones.
And then there was Jesse. Due to Jesse being the cousin and not sibling of his family, while 罂粟 was the most strange, he stood out the most. He did not have the accent, and he did not work in the family business. Most of Jesse’s life was spent in his Cousins’ care. He was six when they adopted him.
Jesse’s life however was spent 更多 with Kal and Nick. He met Kal when she had 评论 on one of the Short Films he helped in (in his free time), and recognized her on the street. After talking for a while Nick met up with the two of them and they bonded. Originally he stayed with his Cousins most of the time, but he felt less different when around his two friends, since they were in smaller numbers and not as fast-paced.
Rin became very well-acquainted with Jesse’s family, instantly fitting in. Within ten 分钟 罂粟 had befriended the identity, under the influence that Rin was Irish, and they two were 写作 up a Film.
Nick was visibly uncomfortable. He sat on one of the many sofa’s inside the house, while loud 音乐 played in all rooms. Jesse was in his room, 或者 at least that’s what Talon assumed, so he had no other person to socialize with, not that he wanted to at the moment.
Nick was tense. Kal seemed to have head problems too conveniently for his liking. Jesse told him about how she 说 that she did not remember the police-kidnapping which was suspicious enough on its own. Then her inability to concentrate while talking about her own possible abilities made it seem almost as if she was trying to pretend things were normal.
‘Maybe that’s all she wants,’ He thought. ‘to be normal… live a normal life.’ Granted Kal had talked about enjoying a 更多 action-filled life but how much so? When the moment finally came Talon had to admit despite all the caution and worry, he was enjoying the 邪恶力量 events, the small adventures. But for Kal, was she instead feeling dread? It could be affecting her, maybe Jesse as well, much 更多 than Nick, and in a 更多 negative way emotionally.
‘It’s not like we could avoid this… someone was in danger, and they would have found us eventually anyway.’
“Or would they?” his questioning self asked. “If I had let Rin to Arma-9 they wouldn’t have even known that I was alive, 或者 Kal, 或者 Jesse. Would they have searched for us later on?”
‘Maybe…’ His thoughts replied, ‘But it’s not up for 辩论 anymore. We’re in this mess now. We have their drives, their prisoner, powers, and 更多 importantly their attention.’
“But… would we be able to make a truce? They want Rin. If they were so concerned about us we would have been in their clutches right?”
‘Not necessarily. We were hidden this whole time without them finding us but that doesn’t mean they didn’t care.’
“Am I willing to lead Kal and Jesse into this?”
‘I’m only going along with whatever they agree to, no 更多 或者 less.’
“But this could kill everyone. My parents could die.”
‘We… we will fight them then.’
“But why now? Why our powers now? If it’s not the drugged-food then it’s just manifesting… but if it is…”
‘Then they really are in on it.’
“It make sense. Why would we all live near each other? Rin crashing here was a stretch to begin with, but why would they have us live close together if they were hiding us?”
Nick was coming up with no good 答案 fast, and the only ones that seemed logical 或者 plausible were emotionally and morally scarring. He needed something cold, fizzy soda 或者 cold water, as long as he could use it as a drink and splash on his face.
His vision was so blurry while in thought that when returning to the real world he almost forgot that people were around him, and completely forgot about the 音乐 all-together, which made its return all the 更多 irritating. It even made him growl briefly.
With the occasional wave to Jesse’s cousins, Nick made it to the refrigerator. It was placed 下一个 to the island with the boom box causing his misery on top. It took quite a bit a restraint not to yank out the chord right then and there, but this was not Nick’s house, so he got his drink and walked outdoors.
What Nick did not expect to see was Jesse sitting on the backyard porch as he exited the house. The backyard led out to a very open field that exited to a long lake. Rin and 罂粟 were currently filming on the lake itself. Jesse was sitting across from them but it did not look like he was watching.
“Fresh air 或者 avoiding the, uh, rhythm?” Nick asked his friend.
Jesse was not very chatty. He remained silent, looking downward. His ears were drooped over slightly and his hands were cupped together, almost like he was praying. Nick recognized his friend’s expression and asked “What’s wrong, Jesse?”
Jesse sighed, “You know what that means right? If our families are in on the whole thing? It means this is all fake. For all I know my cousins are hired mercenaries that have been protecting me my whole life, your parents are government agents, and Kal’s are probably the reason we exist. Science experiments. Do we even have biological families; IF this is all happening?”
“It’s happening all right.” Nick replied reluctantly, “That doesn’t mean that they’re in on it though.”
“How could they not be?” Jesse turned to Nick. “Even if they are our families that means that we were experimented on and they knew. But 你 and Kal know what a mom and dad are like, 你 have that, fake 或者 not. I don’t…” He looked back to his 前一个 stare then up at the lake. “You remember when we tried to figure out my ancestry once? For that History project?”
Nick nodded, and Jesse continued, “We never found out where my parents’ graves were, 或者 even their names. All I knew was that these people were my cousins. Have I met my Uncles 或者 Aunts? No. Could I find anything about them? No. So if I don’t have Uncles 或者 Aunts, how do I have cousins? If I don’t have cousins, how do I have parents?”
“You’re guessing that now?” Nick hated sounding cynical 或者 indifferent to anyone’s problems, but sadly that is often how things came out. He often cringed whenever he realized how insensitive something he 说 was, and this was one of those times.
“Of course not!” Jesse snapped still in a relatively low voice. “But before at least there was some kind of possibility that someone had 答案 about where they were. Now we pretty much have the 答案 and the answer is that we have no families.”
Jesse stared off at Rin and Poppy, no doubt having some kind of flashback. He did not stare for long, he even winced when turning away. “I can’t… look at them, Nick.” He covered her forehead and eyes, almost as if in shame. “Whenever I do I want to scream and demand, but when I think like that I just feel guilty. Maybe 你 can wait but I’ve either got to ask them soon 或者 just… forget… somehow.”
Nick always had issues with being emotional. He could be defensive, 或者 angry, sometimes happy, but while he understood sadness, he rarely cried. It was the hardest to convey emotions when doing so for someone else’s benefit, in this case Jesse’s. Nick tried to think of if his parents were in on it but nothing emotional happened. He pictured them standing in front of him in some kind of containment chamber, and had no emotion. He hated himself for it.
Taking his mind back to the real world, Talon decided that he should at least try to comfort Jesse. “Maybe 你 should go take a nap?”
Jesse was not the type to think the worst of people, so while he did feel a bit patronized 由 this comment, the blue-slate hedgehog remained calm. “I doubt it…” he replied. “Maybe that would work, I dunno.”
Nick knew that Jesse needed something more. “Maybe… 你 could try talking to them. It might make it easier.”
“I can barely face any of them let alone talk, Nick. Nolan 说 hi and I walked past him. Ben saw that and tried to ask what was wrong with me. They know something’s up.”
Talon sighed, “I… 你 know…” he stopped his stammering a moment so that he could get his message across fully. “Biological family 或者 not, you’ve lived with them all your life, right? 你 care about them, you’ve been to their parties, you’ve eaten together. Doesn’t that make them family?”
Jesse cupped his hands again, this time against his forehead. Slowly he nodded though his emotional state did not convey an increase in happiness. Nick did see that he was starting to help though.
“For today… just forget about it all. Today, tomorrow, however long we have till this catches back up to us, Kal, you, me, we’re all still normal, and Rin’s just that crazy cousin that you’re always trying to pick up.”
That last bit caught Jesse off-guard. He leaned back while starring at Nick, wide-eyed. “Are we talking about 你 或者 me?”
“I 说 ‘you’re’.” Nick replied faintly sternly.
“Fine with me, as long as I can say ‘you’re’ always trying to pick up Kal.” Jesse chuckled while standing back up. Nick rose with him. “I guess we can do that for now. Not really sure how long it will last but it’s worth a try… I’m gonna go check out the movie.” The shirtless hedgehog began walking towards the lake, turned and 说 “Thanks Talon.”
Nick nodded back to him, smiling genuinely. Still though, this was only a temporary reaction. All of this was temporary. Something would happen that would change all this. Nick did not bother denying it. And Kal’s strange attitude would have to be addressed soon. He hoped it was just stress 或者 shock.
The grey hedgehog looked to around the house until he found a clock. The time read 5:31 P.M. Normally Talon would wait until six 或者 seven before leaving one of his friends’ houses but this time he had no desire to stay. Also, while it was getting to be the longer days as Summer neared, it was still nearing night time, and Nick wanted to walk 首页 before he needed a flashlight.
Tia noticed Talon making his way to the exit and walked over to him. “You’re heading out?” She asked.
“Yep…” Nick waited for a response before he grabbed the handle.
“The music, right?” She assumed.
“Well… yeah, but something else too.” Nick replied. “Just a lot on my mind.”
“Need someone to talk to about it?”
Nick became partially surprised 由 her concern. Why was she interested? It definitely would not be romantic. ‘Ew,’ he thought, barely controlling a cringe. Was she wanting to find out about the powers Nick had 或者 the others had? His suspicious side was getting the best of him and he could feel it. He would need to break away now.
“Maybe some other time.” He 说 finally, trying to sound as little offensive as possible. “I’ve got some thinking to do before I tell anyone.”
Tia looked perplexed for a moment, then nodded “Alright, take care.” She patted him on the shoulder then walked back to the others. Nick opened the door and walked down the street.
The hedgehog kept repeating his thoughts over and over about Kal, Jesse, powers, Arma-9, Rovor, the families, with no healthy conclusion. However when he thought over the topic of powers the third time down he realized that he had not felt a build-up of him black energy recently. Even though he was not near the nine-hour mark he would always at least feel it building up beforehand.
It took only a few removals of conclusions to come to his own that being at Kal’s house and Jesse’s house caused the suppression agent. But he had not eaten there. At this point he would have liked to since his stomach was beginning to bother him, but he had seen no evidence of them doing anything to him. Maybe his body was beginning to adapt so that he could control it better… maybe…
Jesse decided that the best way to get back to normal was to get involved in the new Short Film that 罂粟 and Rin were 表演 out. Of course they had no script 或者 plot, this was simply for fun. 罂粟 would often do these very short films and have the actors overact for hilarity. They often got the second-highest hits online.
This play was beginning as a comedy. 罂粟 had Jesse and Rin sit in a row-boat the family owned on the lake while Jesse sang a terrible serenade, which was ironic since he actually had a rather good 唱歌 voice. Rin was pretending to compliment his “beautiful” singing, as the two acted out cliché love-story tropes in parodies of 流行的 romance 电影院 and novels.
As the two flailed about, almost knocking the 船, 小船 over, 罂粟 kept an unemotional stare whilst recording. She could not afford to laugh lest it be picked up 由 the microphones. Her gaze drifted to the water for a moment giving her an idea. She gave the signal for them to pause, sending the two “love-birds” into fits of laughter.
“Okay, now Jesse you’re going to pretend 你 see something in the water, and you’re both going to lean over to see what it is, and then…” She motioned for Jesse to come over. Without any care about his pants being soaked, Jesse stepped into the water, only going a foot 或者 so down, and walked over to Poppy, who whispered something in his ear.
Jesse staggered back with widened eyes and a red face. Rin did not notice because she was still laughing. “I… no No way!” He protested while still red.
“Too afraid to l-“
“I’m not-…” Jesse did not finish his sentence. Poppy’s unbelieving smirk saw straight through him.
“Go on. No one will find out till it’s seen by… millions of people.” 罂粟 could not help but chuckle at her idea.
“And if I do go along with it?” Jesse questioned, only partially interested.
罂粟 put a fist to her lip, looking down at the ground pondering. “Hm… How’s Fifty Mobiums sound?”
Jesse staggered back again, this time almost tripping back into the water. 罂粟 pulled him back before he fell. “Uh… Okay.” Jesse was not one to adore money, but money was useful for cars, games, food, clothes, 或者 just to have around in case of a bad day. Unfortunately he also was not one to tell someone no if they offered him something, at least with very little resistance. “If you’re joking…”
“Go on.” She turned him around and shoved him back into the lake. He landed on his feet, making small waves pass through the clear blue-green liquid. Trudging and half-grumbling back to the 船, 小船 with swishes and swashes, Jesse hopped back in and got into position.
罂粟 got behind her video camera and motioned for them to continue. “What’s that over there?” Jesse asked while looking over the boat.
“Huh?” Rin acted out (and though she would not say aloud she actually thought he saw something for real at first, forgetting about the acting). She two went to the side of the boat. Lower and lower it went as they learned over to look at the nonexistent item. Both of them braced their arms strongly at the rim of the boat, with Jesse repeatedly hesitating for a 分裂, 拆分 second, not wanting to ruin the timing.
Now Rin was looking over at the water and unable to notice Jesse at all. He silently moved back from the boat, and attempted to slowly walk over towards her. The Identity in cat form was still preoccupied. During this very slow moment, Jesse’s mind began to wander. Instead of continuing his task his mind went to Nick’s talk with him about going after Rin 或者 Kal. And right now the identity was the one in front of him.
And so his mind wandered further. Rin was, in a sense 或者 at least in cat form, attractive. Her personality and attitude was the sort of naivety (or at least he thought) that many guys found attractive, but unfortunately 更多 so exploitable for various reasons. All the hedgehog was doing now was watching her and barely even being conscious of that. But his subconscious did notice and repeat the “attractive” echo in his mind.
This was not helped 由 the suggestion that 罂粟 gave him “Put your arms around her and say ‘My dearest’.” Even in a 幻想 Jesse was reluctant to do such a thing.
Yes Rin was visually attractive, shapely, big blue eyes, friendly smile, but for some reason Jesse began to feel light-headed, almost ill. He was realizing where his mind wandered to. At first he gave it no mind, after all there was nothing wrong with those sort of thoughts was there? 或者 was there? He was barely keeping himself debating. Was thinking about Rin like that okay? And why wasn’t he thinking about Kal the same way? Was it because Kal was his friend from years ago? That was probably it, not to mention that while very pretty, Kal never showed the openness that Rin did.
But what would she say, 或者 think of him, if she knew that he was thinking that? Jesse was not foolish enough to assume she would be flattered. Perhaps flattered that she had their anatomy correct, but could he honestly think that she would be pleased that he was fantasying about her? What would happen if she knew? Well if she did find out, there would be an effect, and that would last forever.
‘What does Rin know about other romances though?’ was his question. ‘If she already knows what… this feeling is, then this won’t be new, but… what am I doing if I’m the one who teaches her that? Would she want to know that?’
He had to stop himself. Jesse was far from a pure-minded young man, in fact he unfortunately did not mind starring at attractive females on occasion, but those were strangers, people he would not see again. While even that could be wrong in its own merit, thinking about a friend, close 或者 not, that way was beyond the limits he was willing to break.
Twelve 秒 had passed during this fantasy. Jesse had not moved at all, and Rin was still preoccupied though she was beginning to wonder how much longer she was supposed to be looking for nothing. As Jesse returned to the real world he clumsily stumbled 前锋, 期待 and tripped on one of the oars. The 船, 小船 toppled over and they both fell into the water.
罂粟 zoomed the camera in to get a good look at the soaked mobians who seemed not to be in sight anymore. She was not able to locate them while zooming in so she zoomed out. Then the female hedgehog noticed two sets of feet under the toppled-over boat. 秒 later the 船, 小船 walked on to shore, before Jesse and Rin sat it down on the ground, giving each other a congratulating nod.
This was not what 罂粟 had expected but it worked and she enjoyed it all. She could hear Rin asking Jesse “Was that part of the plan?” as they walked over to her. Jesse simply gave 罂粟 an uneasy stare then turned back to Rin answering “Not really.”
Rin chuckled, not noticing that her eyes were turning turquoise. Thankfully she was squinting during the chuckle so it was only barely noticeable. “What was the plan?”
“Oh… I’m sure Jesse will tell 你 one day.” 罂粟 winked at her cousin, who looked away in irritation.
“Oh… kay, where’s Talon?” The identity inquired obliviously.
“He left.” Jesse informed bluntly.
“Why?” She pouted while they began to walk into the house.
“Tired I guess.” Jesse shrugged. “I noticed him walk out the front about ten 分钟 ago.”
“Aw…” Rin slouched, dragging her feet slightly. She looked quite disappointed… and then instantly her spirits lifted with a perky “Oh well, we’ll see him tomorrow.” And the three mobians made their way to 编辑 the video footage.
Nick was actually feeling a bit tired. He entered his house and was greeted 由 two very 交叉, 十字架 parents. “… Hi?” He kept his distance with a worried and confused look on his face.
“Where were 你 all day?” His mother asked.
“Kal’s… then Jesse’s… then here.” He replied still cautious.
“We were informed 由 the school that 你 regularly leave in the middle of Class for hours at a time. Do 你 have an explanation?”
Nick gave a relaxing sigh. In truth he was actually stressed out but he needed to appear like he was 更多 tired out and depressed then guilty. “I’ve just been… getting really weird-feeling. It happens at random… I think.”
“Weird how?” His father asked.
“I feel kind of nauseous, my head hurts, my teeth hurt, and I get really stressed. So I go to the bathrooms.” He noticed that they were going to say something and quickly added on, “I make up for the work I miss, and 你 can check with my grades if I’m doing badly because of it.”
“Why didn’t 你 say anything if it was such a bit problem?” Mrs. Falon questioned.
“I just…” He sighed again while sitting on a left-out chair from the Dining Room. “I thought I could handle it. I just thought I was getting overstressed because of Schoolwork. I wanted to give it some time before saying anything.”
“According to your teachers it’s happened three times.” Mr. Falon informed, “Once Yesterday, twice the 日 before. And I saw 你 sneak out of the house yesterday and this morning. Was there somewhere 你 needed to go to take care of this problem?”
‘Great now they think its drugs.’ Talon thought. ‘I’ve got to convince them. I’ll think up the rest later.’ “If 你 want me to stay 首页 when it happens I’ll do that. I just didn’t want 你 guys freaking out. If 你 see me sneaking out again 你 can ground me 或者 something.”
“Nick, do your 老友记 know about this?” continued his father.
“Yeah… I told them this afternoon. They noticed and wouldn’t leave me alone till I told them.”
“And if we talk to them they’ll tell us the same story 你 did?”
“I doubt they’ll know the details, but they’ll know I was feeling bad.” Nick barely kept his tone calm. He could only hope that his 老友记 would give the excuse that he would. He doubted it.
“… Okay.” Mrs. Falon nodded in belief of her son’s story and lightened up, if only slightly. “Did 你 eat at Jesse 或者 Kal’s?”
“Neither. Any food?” Talon winced in expectance of no leftovers. It was Six now and they ate at Five almost every night. He doubted this was different.
“We had Chef’s Salad. Everything’s in the fridge.” Mrs. Falon answered. “Do 你 think 你 can eat?”
“I NEED to eat.” Nick emphasized visibly stressing 由 his tensed fingers and widened eyes. He did not wait for a reply before quickly walking to the Refrigerator.
After compiling a satisfying meal, and soon regretting the egg-taste in his mouth, Nick decided that it was time for him to go to bed. He had not worked out 或者 overstressed his body, but he did spend quite a bit of time being stressed and stress can tire people out. He fell asleep swiftly and soundlessly. His parents looked over as he plopped on his 床, 床上 concerned and confused.
His sleep was uninterrupted for the most part. Unfortunately he was going to have a startling dream. The window opened. This in itself was not enough to grab Nick’s attention. The cold air coming through sent a chill to his side, so he turned over, pulling the soft covers over his mouth. Then he heard a creek on the 床, 床上 followed 由 feeling pressure, weight, in his area of the bed. It felt like someone was standing 或者 sitting there.
Nick groggily looked up. The person was barely visible in the dark but he could make out the shape of her face. The side 毛皮 and hair, and the only barely glowing eyes that most felines had. “Kal?” He questioned faintly. The person in front of him did not respond to her name, 或者 显示 any acknowledgement.
She took out something from behind her. At first it looked like a knife, but when it got closer it appeared to be a needle. Talon attempted to struggle out from under her feet to throw her off-balance but he felt too weak to do so. He raised his hand to guard himself, and Kal lunged the needle at Nick’s neck.
Morning… Nick awoke. He was sweating and breathing heavily, with an occasional cough thrown in. He did not scream but once he noticed that he could 移动 again he flew off the 床, 床上 and checked all around himself, especially his neck, for needle-holes. He turned to the window. It was sunny outside, a warm morning, but the window was closed.
Relieved that he was at least not able to prove that his body was tampered with Nick sat against his bedside still panting. He pulled over one of the fallen blankets from his bed, using it as a towel for the sweat on his face. It was good that he had not showered yet since his arm pits had now stained his 衬衫 with an unpleasant odor.
“What 日 is it?” He murmured to himself. Talon got up calmly now and made his way to the bathroom. “Yesterday was Saturday so today’s Sunday. Okay.”
A warm 淋浴 helped calm him further and it gave him time to think about what happened. ‘Weird dream… Didn’t expect to have Kal do that in a dream of mine.’ Nick had dreams involving Kal before, except for that most of them involved bizarre adventures to save magical kingdoms while Jesse was their donkey 或者 sometimes Nick was; basically any regular dream that failed to follow logic. Of course there was the occasional romantic dream, but Nick often avoided these.
The grey hedgehog got out of the 淋浴 and decided that he should go see Kal, just to see if she was feeling well. His 厨房 was empty. “What time is it?” He looked at the clock, it read 6 A.M. on the dot. “That means I got up at… five thirty?” Realizing that no one was near, Nick decided that he would continue speaking through thoughts.
‘Guess waking up from that dream energized me. Mom and Dad won’t be awake yet, which means I get my own food.’ He made his way to the 厨房 and opened up the house freezer. 《冰雪奇缘》 威化饼, 华夫饼 were inside unopened and fresh. Nick thought little about this while yanking them out, tearing the plastic bag, and shoving two into the nearest toaster.
He was not patient in his wait for the minute-and-a-half that it would take for the 威化饼, 华夫饼 to ready themselves. Talon wanted to get to Kal’s house as soon as possible. While waiting for the 威化饼, 华夫饼 to finish he tried to go over things he needed to do before leaving while walking about the house to see if anything would be triggered.
He noticed that the dishes were done so thankfully he would not need to do that. It made sense since no one had eaten yet that morning. He checked the laundry. There was one half-full basket of unfolded clothes but he could not tell if they were clean from his distance of two feet. He hoped they were not going to be his problem in the future.
While checking to see if the trash was needing to be taken out Nick remembered how 交叉, 十字架 his parents were when they found out that he was sneaking out. ‘I should leave a note,’ he thought. The hedgehog quickly jotted down where he would be at, giving the reason that Kal was not feeling well the other 日 and he wanted to check if she was feeling better. In hindsight he doubted his parents would believe his story due to it being so early, but at least he would not have a guilty conscious.
After finishing the note and setting it neatly in an envelope on the Dining Room table, Nick put on his shoes, got his phone, and stepped outside. Upon leaving the nice warm house his body reacted accordingly, stinging his nervous system with the chilly air. Regardless of it being near Summer, the morning was very brisk.
Once Nick had gotten a 夹克 on he made his way to Kal’s house. The three houses of the trio (or 更多 if Rin was considered) were not close enough together that a regular walk was necessary. In fact it would take about half an 小时 between each one, with Nick’s being the furthest away. This did not bother Talon though, he liked to walk long walks. It was peaceful, as well as good exercise, and being one of only around ten in his neighborhood currently awake at the time, it was very quiet.
Nick had almost forgotten about the strange dream he had. Unfortunately having one’s thoughts to themselves was prone to the mind wandering, and Talon’s wandered to the dream. ‘Wonder what she’ll think about it.’ He pondered in a somewhat humored tone. ‘Or maybe… maybe I should keep it to myself. Don’t want to stress her again.’
And then he was there, at Kal’s house. The trip seemed shorter than normal, much shorter in fact, but then again he had been pondering for quite a while. That often shortened things. “Time to go in.” He thought aloud.
Nick placed his hand on the wood of the front door, then stopped before knocking (regardless of the fact that there was a doorbell he forgot to use). “Wait…” He checked his phone. “Six Fifty-two… She’s definitely asleep.” With a sigh Nick decided to sit on the front steps. He was thoroughly annoyed with himself for coming over so early. ‘How did I not think about that?’ He sighed. Then an idea came into his head. ‘Think… wait, Rin! Maybe she knows, she 说 she doesn’t sleep.’
Nick concentrated on calling the identity… somehow. ‘Rin? Hello?’ He waited for an answer but nothing came. ‘RIN!’ He yelled in his head. Still no reply. ‘Maybe she figured out how to sleep.’ He hoped. ‘Regardless its silly to think that someone can talk through psychic links… wait what?’
Nick stopped trying to figure out what was happening. When Kal woke up he could check, and if something happened to Rin, Kal would know something about it. He became very bored though and decided to flip through some games on his phone. They kept his interest for a good half-hour, but he wanted to wait a little longer. Eight-o-Clock was the time Kal got up normally and it was only Seven twenty-five. 更多 waiting.
‘Maybe they all slept over at Jesse’s.’ He considered. ‘They were having a blast over there and we’ve stayed over there before.’ When thinking about Jesse’s cousins Nick did feel a slight bit of guilt for how he rejected Tia’s offer to stay over longer. Something about her tone just seemed hopeful somehow. ‘Oh well… if they are over there I’ll have to walk over regardless.’
Nick wondered what the film that Rin and 罂粟 were making would be about. He did not get to see it in the making aside from knowing it was near the lake, so in at least a week, if not longer, he would see it pop up on an internet video.
This reminded him of the talk with Jesse. Jesse 说 that Nick had parents, a real family, and that if this was true, Jesse’s stretched-out family would be fake. But that did not change the fact that it would still be terrible for Nick if he found out that his parents adopted him. Jesse’s family did adopt him so he would be used to it.
‘What was the point of adopting us though?’ He thought. ‘If we were c-… wait… if we were born from someone else that means that Jesse might have an actual family… maybe even mine. We aren’t too different after all.’
Nick could not hide that he actually felt excited at the idea of searching for long-lost parents. He almost forgot entirely that there was a chance he did not have long-lost parents, and that his current parents were his biological ones. He could always do a DNA test. He was surprised that the idea had not come to him before. It was within his nature. Perhaps it was that he felt guilty about doubting them with no reason to that kept him from doing so all these years, but now he had a reason to doubt.
Nick got up. It was starting to get warmer so he took off his jacket. He did not want to leave it on the ground 或者 carry it, but at the same time he did not like the idea of wrapping it around his waist. To him it just seemed odd and not of his liking, so he held it, making sure it did not touch the ground.
A rumbling started up in front of him. Talon looked up, it was some kind of red cloud. It was one cloud, though lightning did appear around it. It looked almost like wa- Nick blinked and just after he blinked the 云, 云计算 was gone, replaced 由 normal rainclouds.
It seemed odd to say the least. Talon was speechless. He knew that he had seen the cloud, so where did it go? Was it behind the others? That was the only thing that made sense… supposedly.
“Thaaaaaaaaaaat was weird.” A familiar voice noted from above him. Nick looked up. There was Rin, sitting on the rooftop. The black 毛皮 ball of energy leapt off the roof and climbed down the side of the house, using the rain-gutter to keep from making a splat. She landed on the cement crossing her legs, and rising with her arms up in a “ta dah” motion.
Nick rolled his eyes, but faintly smiled as he gave a clap to the performer. Rin took a bow. “Did 你 see that?” She asked whilst walking over.
“The cloud?” Nick assumed, and hoped.
“Yep.” She replied in her normal perky tone.
“Yeah… don’t suppose 你 could see it from up there could you?”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “I could… always try flying up to see.” She added a chuckle.
“Think anyone would notice?” Nick asked.
Rin paused and gave him a half-confused stare “I didn’t actually mean that.”
“Why no-“ Nick then remembered about how he tried to call her. “Oh yeah, I tried calling you, why didn’t 你 reply?”
Rin listed off “No cellphone, out of earshot, distracted, 唱歌 in the shower…” numbering the options on her fingers.
“You take showers?” Nick doubted. Why would she need to take a shower? It wasn’t like her species needed to. 或者 did they? What did he even mean 由 species? Maybe it was the black fur. Rin’s shade wasn’t dark to the point where if she closed her eyes you’d think she had none, but it was a near-black grey. Probably the only thing that could 显示 up would be bleach.
Rin was still numbering things off when Nick realized that she had not stopped. “Okay I get it. 你 were busy.” He conceded to keep her quiet for a moment
Rin just shrugged. “Actually I don’t really know if I was. When did 你 call?”
Nick thought about it for a 秒 but realized that it was not really that important now that she was here. So he shrugged and 说 “You’re here now, so I doubt it matters.”
“Aw, thaaaanks.” She grinned, squinting her eyes the same way she always did when especially happy, and of course giving that faint illusion of her eyes going from blue to turquoise.
“Is Kal here?” He continued, barely noticing Rin’s gratitude. “I wanted to see how she’s doing after the headache thing yesterday. Did her mom have at her? She seemed on edge two.”
“Yes, yes, and yes.” Rin replied.
Nick paused, processing her answers. “The… 秒 one wasn’t a question.”
Rin paused, and 由 the slight tilt from her head and widened eyes, Nick took it that she was now processing. “Oh… What was the first question?” She asked sheepishly, ears laying back in embarrassment.
Nick put his fingers to his forehead, rubbing his temples “I wanted to see if her headache was gone.”
“Oooooooooooooh.” Rin stretched this a few 秒 longer then bluntly interrupted herself with a quick “Dunno. She went to 床, 床上 early, and she’s not up yet.”
“How bad was the argument with her mom?” Nick continued.
“I didn’t listen in, but she seemed all flustederd… flusteraderd… flus-… flusterda-“ Rin’s tongue was twisting, so Nick intervened.
“When do 你 think she’ll be up?” He was still rubbing his temples. No matter how used to Rin he was after a month’s time, her super amount of ADHD irritated him.
“I could go get her up if 你 want.” Rin smirked. Nick knew what that meant. Rin would become some kind of furry alarm clock.
“I’ll wait.” He denied holding his hand up like a stop sign. “So Insomni-cat, anything besides clouds that distracted you?”
“I listed around twenty just a 分钟 ago.” Rin informed, pouting slightly with disappointment that he had not paid attention to the entire thing. Nick felt very little guilt.
“Okay which of them was the best?” he shrugged.
“I watched a video last night where it had a Track-runner. So I tried to run the same distance on the roof.” The feline announced proudly. “I did pretty well… my legs felt really funny though.”
“I’m not surprised.” Nick considered checking if she was vibrating like many people did when tired out and standing but his conscious thankfully stepped in to stop him, as well as the logical side of his brain yelling ‘Uh, idiot, don’t look at her legs!’
“So when did 你 get here?” The blue-eyed catgirl questioned.
Nick sighed when reminded of how early he had gotten up and how tired he was now becoming. “Around five thirty I think. I woke up from a pretty weird dream.”
“Oooooooooooooooooo what happened in it?” Rin pressed.
“Well Kal snuck into my room in the middle of the night and tried to stab me.”
“Oh…” The reaction Rin gave reminded Talon of a large truck screeching to a halt. He could almost hear the effect too as he saw her lean 前锋, 期待 three inches, her eyes wider than before. The hedgehog would have felt bad for telling her something that could upset her if Rin had not asked to be told in the first place.
“Well 你 asked.” He reminded.
“Yeah…”
Nick Jesse and Rin were spending the remainder of the 日 at Jesse’s house with his eight cousins. Just as Nick remembered they were all very energetic. Jesse’s family of cousins was actually composed of Naretains (Jamaicans). Most of them had the accents to prove it, with a few with Faconick accents, Jesse included.
The cousins worked in the same family business, which included music, 音乐 videos, armature short films, photography, and even video games for those who knew programming. The business was called R-Y Digital, based on how almost everything was made digitally. It made for very good pay, though still spread thin on the nine members.
Of the males there was the oldest, Aaron, a very tall and masculine Thirty-seven dark slate hedgehog with very pale blonde surfer-style hair, a 鲨鱼 tooth necklace. Aaron led his siblings, most of them that is. Everyone chipped in with the money but he organized and took care of taxes. He was definitely the one in the best position to leave the family but never did. He mainly was involved in working the video games, but did some work in the Short Films as well.
The 秒 oldest was Nolan. He was the same color as his older brother and was twenty-three himself. He had grey eyes, but his hair was also blond. His spines were the longest of the siblings, which he was proud of, but found to an inconvenience most of the time. He was one of a short few in the family that did not work in the main business. He worked at a Restaurant instead. He would help out in projects if prompted but he enjoyed being independent.
Morgan, the eldest girl, at twenty years of age, was a dark blue, with long black hair, and two short spines and two normal-length spines. She handled 摄影 most of the time, but also helped out with recording for the Short Films. She had the assistance of her close friend Olace, who was all but announced to be her boyfriend. She was also the only one in the family who had a current romantic relationship.
The first sets of twins were Tegan and Ben. They were both nineteen and handled programming and editing for the movies, 音乐 videos, and video games. The two were not always together but they were a sort of pair. Tegan was white with green eyes, and Ben was green with green eyes. Ben was bald, and Tegan had short blonde hair. They were the most outspoken, though Tegan had learned to control her mouth quicker than Ben had, speaking their mind on whatever matter they thought they needed to. They were very straight-forward, and got into fights often with the other set of twins, Rictor and Tia.
Rictor and Tia acted the most like actual twins and looked it. The two were both involved in making 音乐 Videos, they were both pale light yellow with dark red hair and light red eyes, and while there was only one other religious sibling in this family, they were very much so. Unfortunately this is what they argued with Tegan and Ben with often, and due to them both being eighteen now there were many occasions where they talked about leaving the family out of feeling unwanted. They had yet to do so.
The largest oddball in the family was Poppy. She had only two long spines that curved at the ends, fading from her deep grey to a pale green. She was bald since birth, and had one green eye and one light turquoise eye. 罂粟 was very eccentric and handled most of the Short Films in the directing process. And for a seventeen-year old she did well. But she also had quite a few ticks, such as thumping her foot in specific patterns, and constantly wanting to dye her 毛皮 to different colors, which she did often but always had reverted to her natural ones.
And then there was Jesse. Due to Jesse being the cousin and not sibling of his family, while 罂粟 was the most strange, he stood out the most. He did not have the accent, and he did not work in the family business. Most of Jesse’s life was spent in his Cousins’ care. He was six when they adopted him.
Jesse’s life however was spent 更多 with Kal and Nick. He met Kal when she had 评论 on one of the Short Films he helped in (in his free time), and recognized her on the street. After talking for a while Nick met up with the two of them and they bonded. Originally he stayed with his Cousins most of the time, but he felt less different when around his two friends, since they were in smaller numbers and not as fast-paced.
Rin became very well-acquainted with Jesse’s family, instantly fitting in. Within ten 分钟 罂粟 had befriended the identity, under the influence that Rin was Irish, and they two were 写作 up a Film.
Nick was visibly uncomfortable. He sat on one of the many sofa’s inside the house, while loud 音乐 played in all rooms. Jesse was in his room, 或者 at least that’s what Talon assumed, so he had no other person to socialize with, not that he wanted to at the moment.
Nick was tense. Kal seemed to have head problems too conveniently for his liking. Jesse told him about how she 说 that she did not remember the police-kidnapping which was suspicious enough on its own. Then her inability to concentrate while talking about her own possible abilities made it seem almost as if she was trying to pretend things were normal.
‘Maybe that’s all she wants,’ He thought. ‘to be normal… live a normal life.’ Granted Kal had talked about enjoying a 更多 action-filled life but how much so? When the moment finally came Talon had to admit despite all the caution and worry, he was enjoying the 邪恶力量 events, the small adventures. But for Kal, was she instead feeling dread? It could be affecting her, maybe Jesse as well, much 更多 than Nick, and in a 更多 negative way emotionally.
‘It’s not like we could avoid this… someone was in danger, and they would have found us eventually anyway.’
“Or would they?” his questioning self asked. “If I had let Rin to Arma-9 they wouldn’t have even known that I was alive, 或者 Kal, 或者 Jesse. Would they have searched for us later on?”
‘Maybe…’ His thoughts replied, ‘But it’s not up for 辩论 anymore. We’re in this mess now. We have their drives, their prisoner, powers, and 更多 importantly their attention.’
“But… would we be able to make a truce? They want Rin. If they were so concerned about us we would have been in their clutches right?”
‘Not necessarily. We were hidden this whole time without them finding us but that doesn’t mean they didn’t care.’
“Am I willing to lead Kal and Jesse into this?”
‘I’m only going along with whatever they agree to, no 更多 或者 less.’
“But this could kill everyone. My parents could die.”
‘We… we will fight them then.’
“But why now? Why our powers now? If it’s not the drugged-food then it’s just manifesting… but if it is…”
‘Then they really are in on it.’
“It make sense. Why would we all live near each other? Rin crashing here was a stretch to begin with, but why would they have us live close together if they were hiding us?”
Nick was coming up with no good 答案 fast, and the only ones that seemed logical 或者 plausible were emotionally and morally scarring. He needed something cold, fizzy soda 或者 cold water, as long as he could use it as a drink and splash on his face.
His vision was so blurry while in thought that when returning to the real world he almost forgot that people were around him, and completely forgot about the 音乐 all-together, which made its return all the 更多 irritating. It even made him growl briefly.
With the occasional wave to Jesse’s cousins, Nick made it to the refrigerator. It was placed 下一个 to the island with the boom box causing his misery on top. It took quite a bit a restraint not to yank out the chord right then and there, but this was not Nick’s house, so he got his drink and walked outdoors.
What Nick did not expect to see was Jesse sitting on the backyard porch as he exited the house. The backyard led out to a very open field that exited to a long lake. Rin and 罂粟 were currently filming on the lake itself. Jesse was sitting across from them but it did not look like he was watching.
“Fresh air 或者 avoiding the, uh, rhythm?” Nick asked his friend.
Jesse was not very chatty. He remained silent, looking downward. His ears were drooped over slightly and his hands were cupped together, almost like he was praying. Nick recognized his friend’s expression and asked “What’s wrong, Jesse?”
Jesse sighed, “You know what that means right? If our families are in on the whole thing? It means this is all fake. For all I know my cousins are hired mercenaries that have been protecting me my whole life, your parents are government agents, and Kal’s are probably the reason we exist. Science experiments. Do we even have biological families; IF this is all happening?”
“It’s happening all right.” Nick replied reluctantly, “That doesn’t mean that they’re in on it though.”
“How could they not be?” Jesse turned to Nick. “Even if they are our families that means that we were experimented on and they knew. But 你 and Kal know what a mom and dad are like, 你 have that, fake 或者 not. I don’t…” He looked back to his 前一个 stare then up at the lake. “You remember when we tried to figure out my ancestry once? For that History project?”
Nick nodded, and Jesse continued, “We never found out where my parents’ graves were, 或者 even their names. All I knew was that these people were my cousins. Have I met my Uncles 或者 Aunts? No. Could I find anything about them? No. So if I don’t have Uncles 或者 Aunts, how do I have cousins? If I don’t have cousins, how do I have parents?”
“You’re guessing that now?” Nick hated sounding cynical 或者 indifferent to anyone’s problems, but sadly that is often how things came out. He often cringed whenever he realized how insensitive something he 说 was, and this was one of those times.
“Of course not!” Jesse snapped still in a relatively low voice. “But before at least there was some kind of possibility that someone had 答案 about where they were. Now we pretty much have the 答案 and the answer is that we have no families.”
Jesse stared off at Rin and Poppy, no doubt having some kind of flashback. He did not stare for long, he even winced when turning away. “I can’t… look at them, Nick.” He covered her forehead and eyes, almost as if in shame. “Whenever I do I want to scream and demand, but when I think like that I just feel guilty. Maybe 你 can wait but I’ve either got to ask them soon 或者 just… forget… somehow.”
Nick always had issues with being emotional. He could be defensive, 或者 angry, sometimes happy, but while he understood sadness, he rarely cried. It was the hardest to convey emotions when doing so for someone else’s benefit, in this case Jesse’s. Nick tried to think of if his parents were in on it but nothing emotional happened. He pictured them standing in front of him in some kind of containment chamber, and had no emotion. He hated himself for it.
Taking his mind back to the real world, Talon decided that he should at least try to comfort Jesse. “Maybe 你 should go take a nap?”
Jesse was not the type to think the worst of people, so while he did feel a bit patronized 由 this comment, the blue-slate hedgehog remained calm. “I doubt it…” he replied. “Maybe that would work, I dunno.”
Nick knew that Jesse needed something more. “Maybe… 你 could try talking to them. It might make it easier.”
“I can barely face any of them let alone talk, Nick. Nolan 说 hi and I walked past him. Ben saw that and tried to ask what was wrong with me. They know something’s up.”
Talon sighed, “I… 你 know…” he stopped his stammering a moment so that he could get his message across fully. “Biological family 或者 not, you’ve lived with them all your life, right? 你 care about them, you’ve been to their parties, you’ve eaten together. Doesn’t that make them family?”
Jesse cupped his hands again, this time against his forehead. Slowly he nodded though his emotional state did not convey an increase in happiness. Nick did see that he was starting to help though.
“For today… just forget about it all. Today, tomorrow, however long we have till this catches back up to us, Kal, you, me, we’re all still normal, and Rin’s just that crazy cousin that you’re always trying to pick up.”
That last bit caught Jesse off-guard. He leaned back while starring at Nick, wide-eyed. “Are we talking about 你 或者 me?”
“I 说 ‘you’re’.” Nick replied faintly sternly.
“Fine with me, as long as I can say ‘you’re’ always trying to pick up Kal.” Jesse chuckled while standing back up. Nick rose with him. “I guess we can do that for now. Not really sure how long it will last but it’s worth a try… I’m gonna go check out the movie.” The shirtless hedgehog began walking towards the lake, turned and 说 “Thanks Talon.”
Nick nodded back to him, smiling genuinely. Still though, this was only a temporary reaction. All of this was temporary. Something would happen that would change all this. Nick did not bother denying it. And Kal’s strange attitude would have to be addressed soon. He hoped it was just stress 或者 shock.
The grey hedgehog looked to around the house until he found a clock. The time read 5:31 P.M. Normally Talon would wait until six 或者 seven before leaving one of his friends’ houses but this time he had no desire to stay. Also, while it was getting to be the longer days as Summer neared, it was still nearing night time, and Nick wanted to walk 首页 before he needed a flashlight.
Tia noticed Talon making his way to the exit and walked over to him. “You’re heading out?” She asked.
“Yep…” Nick waited for a response before he grabbed the handle.
“The music, right?” She assumed.
“Well… yeah, but something else too.” Nick replied. “Just a lot on my mind.”
“Need someone to talk to about it?”
Nick became partially surprised 由 her concern. Why was she interested? It definitely would not be romantic. ‘Ew,’ he thought, barely controlling a cringe. Was she wanting to find out about the powers Nick had 或者 the others had? His suspicious side was getting the best of him and he could feel it. He would need to break away now.
“Maybe some other time.” He 说 finally, trying to sound as little offensive as possible. “I’ve got some thinking to do before I tell anyone.”
Tia looked perplexed for a moment, then nodded “Alright, take care.” She patted him on the shoulder then walked back to the others. Nick opened the door and walked down the street.
The hedgehog kept repeating his thoughts over and over about Kal, Jesse, powers, Arma-9, Rovor, the families, with no healthy conclusion. However when he thought over the topic of powers the third time down he realized that he had not felt a build-up of him black energy recently. Even though he was not near the nine-hour mark he would always at least feel it building up beforehand.
It took only a few removals of conclusions to come to his own that being at Kal’s house and Jesse’s house caused the suppression agent. But he had not eaten there. At this point he would have liked to since his stomach was beginning to bother him, but he had seen no evidence of them doing anything to him. Maybe his body was beginning to adapt so that he could control it better… maybe…
Jesse decided that the best way to get back to normal was to get involved in the new Short Film that 罂粟 and Rin were 表演 out. Of course they had no script 或者 plot, this was simply for fun. 罂粟 would often do these very short films and have the actors overact for hilarity. They often got the second-highest hits online.
This play was beginning as a comedy. 罂粟 had Jesse and Rin sit in a row-boat the family owned on the lake while Jesse sang a terrible serenade, which was ironic since he actually had a rather good 唱歌 voice. Rin was pretending to compliment his “beautiful” singing, as the two acted out cliché love-story tropes in parodies of 流行的 romance 电影院 and novels.
As the two flailed about, almost knocking the 船, 小船 over, 罂粟 kept an unemotional stare whilst recording. She could not afford to laugh lest it be picked up 由 the microphones. Her gaze drifted to the water for a moment giving her an idea. She gave the signal for them to pause, sending the two “love-birds” into fits of laughter.
“Okay, now Jesse you’re going to pretend 你 see something in the water, and you’re both going to lean over to see what it is, and then…” She motioned for Jesse to come over. Without any care about his pants being soaked, Jesse stepped into the water, only going a foot 或者 so down, and walked over to Poppy, who whispered something in his ear.
Jesse staggered back with widened eyes and a red face. Rin did not notice because she was still laughing. “I… no No way!” He protested while still red.
“Too afraid to l-“
“I’m not-…” Jesse did not finish his sentence. Poppy’s unbelieving smirk saw straight through him.
“Go on. No one will find out till it’s seen by… millions of people.” 罂粟 could not help but chuckle at her idea.
“And if I do go along with it?” Jesse questioned, only partially interested.
罂粟 put a fist to her lip, looking down at the ground pondering. “Hm… How’s Fifty Mobiums sound?”
Jesse staggered back again, this time almost tripping back into the water. 罂粟 pulled him back before he fell. “Uh… Okay.” Jesse was not one to adore money, but money was useful for cars, games, food, clothes, 或者 just to have around in case of a bad day. Unfortunately he also was not one to tell someone no if they offered him something, at least with very little resistance. “If you’re joking…”
“Go on.” She turned him around and shoved him back into the lake. He landed on his feet, making small waves pass through the clear blue-green liquid. Trudging and half-grumbling back to the 船, 小船 with swishes and swashes, Jesse hopped back in and got into position.
罂粟 got behind her video camera and motioned for them to continue. “What’s that over there?” Jesse asked while looking over the boat.
“Huh?” Rin acted out (and though she would not say aloud she actually thought he saw something for real at first, forgetting about the acting). She two went to the side of the boat. Lower and lower it went as they learned over to look at the nonexistent item. Both of them braced their arms strongly at the rim of the boat, with Jesse repeatedly hesitating for a 分裂, 拆分 second, not wanting to ruin the timing.
Now Rin was looking over at the water and unable to notice Jesse at all. He silently moved back from the boat, and attempted to slowly walk over towards her. The Identity in cat form was still preoccupied. During this very slow moment, Jesse’s mind began to wander. Instead of continuing his task his mind went to Nick’s talk with him about going after Rin 或者 Kal. And right now the identity was the one in front of him.
And so his mind wandered further. Rin was, in a sense 或者 at least in cat form, attractive. Her personality and attitude was the sort of naivety (or at least he thought) that many guys found attractive, but unfortunately 更多 so exploitable for various reasons. All the hedgehog was doing now was watching her and barely even being conscious of that. But his subconscious did notice and repeat the “attractive” echo in his mind.
This was not helped 由 the suggestion that 罂粟 gave him “Put your arms around her and say ‘My dearest’.” Even in a 幻想 Jesse was reluctant to do such a thing.
Yes Rin was visually attractive, shapely, big blue eyes, friendly smile, but for some reason Jesse began to feel light-headed, almost ill. He was realizing where his mind wandered to. At first he gave it no mind, after all there was nothing wrong with those sort of thoughts was there? 或者 was there? He was barely keeping himself debating. Was thinking about Rin like that okay? And why wasn’t he thinking about Kal the same way? Was it because Kal was his friend from years ago? That was probably it, not to mention that while very pretty, Kal never showed the openness that Rin did.
But what would she say, 或者 think of him, if she knew that he was thinking that? Jesse was not foolish enough to assume she would be flattered. Perhaps flattered that she had their anatomy correct, but could he honestly think that she would be pleased that he was fantasying about her? What would happen if she knew? Well if she did find out, there would be an effect, and that would last forever.
‘What does Rin know about other romances though?’ was his question. ‘If she already knows what… this feeling is, then this won’t be new, but… what am I doing if I’m the one who teaches her that? Would she want to know that?’
He had to stop himself. Jesse was far from a pure-minded young man, in fact he unfortunately did not mind starring at attractive females on occasion, but those were strangers, people he would not see again. While even that could be wrong in its own merit, thinking about a friend, close 或者 not, that way was beyond the limits he was willing to break.
Twelve 秒 had passed during this fantasy. Jesse had not moved at all, and Rin was still preoccupied though she was beginning to wonder how much longer she was supposed to be looking for nothing. As Jesse returned to the real world he clumsily stumbled 前锋, 期待 and tripped on one of the oars. The 船, 小船 toppled over and they both fell into the water.
罂粟 zoomed the camera in to get a good look at the soaked mobians who seemed not to be in sight anymore. She was not able to locate them while zooming in so she zoomed out. Then the female hedgehog noticed two sets of feet under the toppled-over boat. 秒 later the 船, 小船 walked on to shore, before Jesse and Rin sat it down on the ground, giving each other a congratulating nod.
This was not what 罂粟 had expected but it worked and she enjoyed it all. She could hear Rin asking Jesse “Was that part of the plan?” as they walked over to her. Jesse simply gave 罂粟 an uneasy stare then turned back to Rin answering “Not really.”
Rin chuckled, not noticing that her eyes were turning turquoise. Thankfully she was squinting during the chuckle so it was only barely noticeable. “What was the plan?”
“Oh… I’m sure Jesse will tell 你 one day.” 罂粟 winked at her cousin, who looked away in irritation.
“Oh… kay, where’s Talon?” The identity inquired obliviously.
“He left.” Jesse informed bluntly.
“Why?” She pouted while they began to walk into the house.
“Tired I guess.” Jesse shrugged. “I noticed him walk out the front about ten 分钟 ago.”
“Aw…” Rin slouched, dragging her feet slightly. She looked quite disappointed… and then instantly her spirits lifted with a perky “Oh well, we’ll see him tomorrow.” And the three mobians made their way to 编辑 the video footage.
Nick was actually feeling a bit tired. He entered his house and was greeted 由 two very 交叉, 十字架 parents. “… Hi?” He kept his distance with a worried and confused look on his face.
“Where were 你 all day?” His mother asked.
“Kal’s… then Jesse’s… then here.” He replied still cautious.
“We were informed 由 the school that 你 regularly leave in the middle of Class for hours at a time. Do 你 have an explanation?”
Nick gave a relaxing sigh. In truth he was actually stressed out but he needed to appear like he was 更多 tired out and depressed then guilty. “I’ve just been… getting really weird-feeling. It happens at random… I think.”
“Weird how?” His father asked.
“I feel kind of nauseous, my head hurts, my teeth hurt, and I get really stressed. So I go to the bathrooms.” He noticed that they were going to say something and quickly added on, “I make up for the work I miss, and 你 can check with my grades if I’m doing badly because of it.”
“Why didn’t 你 say anything if it was such a bit problem?” Mrs. Falon questioned.
“I just…” He sighed again while sitting on a left-out chair from the Dining Room. “I thought I could handle it. I just thought I was getting overstressed because of Schoolwork. I wanted to give it some time before saying anything.”
“According to your teachers it’s happened three times.” Mr. Falon informed, “Once Yesterday, twice the 日 before. And I saw 你 sneak out of the house yesterday and this morning. Was there somewhere 你 needed to go to take care of this problem?”
‘Great now they think its drugs.’ Talon thought. ‘I’ve got to convince them. I’ll think up the rest later.’ “If 你 want me to stay 首页 when it happens I’ll do that. I just didn’t want 你 guys freaking out. If 你 see me sneaking out again 你 can ground me 或者 something.”
“Nick, do your 老友记 know about this?” continued his father.
“Yeah… I told them this afternoon. They noticed and wouldn’t leave me alone till I told them.”
“And if we talk to them they’ll tell us the same story 你 did?”
“I doubt they’ll know the details, but they’ll know I was feeling bad.” Nick barely kept his tone calm. He could only hope that his 老友记 would give the excuse that he would. He doubted it.
“… Okay.” Mrs. Falon nodded in belief of her son’s story and lightened up, if only slightly. “Did 你 eat at Jesse 或者 Kal’s?”
“Neither. Any food?” Talon winced in expectance of no leftovers. It was Six now and they ate at Five almost every night. He doubted this was different.
“We had Chef’s Salad. Everything’s in the fridge.” Mrs. Falon answered. “Do 你 think 你 can eat?”
“I NEED to eat.” Nick emphasized visibly stressing 由 his tensed fingers and widened eyes. He did not wait for a reply before quickly walking to the Refrigerator.
After compiling a satisfying meal, and soon regretting the egg-taste in his mouth, Nick decided that it was time for him to go to bed. He had not worked out 或者 overstressed his body, but he did spend quite a bit of time being stressed and stress can tire people out. He fell asleep swiftly and soundlessly. His parents looked over as he plopped on his 床, 床上 concerned and confused.
His sleep was uninterrupted for the most part. Unfortunately he was going to have a startling dream. The window opened. This in itself was not enough to grab Nick’s attention. The cold air coming through sent a chill to his side, so he turned over, pulling the soft covers over his mouth. Then he heard a creek on the 床, 床上 followed 由 feeling pressure, weight, in his area of the bed. It felt like someone was standing 或者 sitting there.
Nick groggily looked up. The person was barely visible in the dark but he could make out the shape of her face. The side 毛皮 and hair, and the only barely glowing eyes that most felines had. “Kal?” He questioned faintly. The person in front of him did not respond to her name, 或者 显示 any acknowledgement.
She took out something from behind her. At first it looked like a knife, but when it got closer it appeared to be a needle. Talon attempted to struggle out from under her feet to throw her off-balance but he felt too weak to do so. He raised his hand to guard himself, and Kal lunged the needle at Nick’s neck.
Morning… Nick awoke. He was sweating and breathing heavily, with an occasional cough thrown in. He did not scream but once he noticed that he could 移动 again he flew off the 床, 床上 and checked all around himself, especially his neck, for needle-holes. He turned to the window. It was sunny outside, a warm morning, but the window was closed.
Relieved that he was at least not able to prove that his body was tampered with Nick sat against his bedside still panting. He pulled over one of the fallen blankets from his bed, using it as a towel for the sweat on his face. It was good that he had not showered yet since his arm pits had now stained his 衬衫 with an unpleasant odor.
“What 日 is it?” He murmured to himself. Talon got up calmly now and made his way to the bathroom. “Yesterday was Saturday so today’s Sunday. Okay.”
A warm 淋浴 helped calm him further and it gave him time to think about what happened. ‘Weird dream… Didn’t expect to have Kal do that in a dream of mine.’ Nick had dreams involving Kal before, except for that most of them involved bizarre adventures to save magical kingdoms while Jesse was their donkey 或者 sometimes Nick was; basically any regular dream that failed to follow logic. Of course there was the occasional romantic dream, but Nick often avoided these.
The grey hedgehog got out of the 淋浴 and decided that he should go see Kal, just to see if she was feeling well. His 厨房 was empty. “What time is it?” He looked at the clock, it read 6 A.M. on the dot. “That means I got up at… five thirty?” Realizing that no one was near, Nick decided that he would continue speaking through thoughts.
‘Guess waking up from that dream energized me. Mom and Dad won’t be awake yet, which means I get my own food.’ He made his way to the 厨房 and opened up the house freezer. 《冰雪奇缘》 威化饼, 华夫饼 were inside unopened and fresh. Nick thought little about this while yanking them out, tearing the plastic bag, and shoving two into the nearest toaster.
He was not patient in his wait for the minute-and-a-half that it would take for the 威化饼, 华夫饼 to ready themselves. Talon wanted to get to Kal’s house as soon as possible. While waiting for the 威化饼, 华夫饼 to finish he tried to go over things he needed to do before leaving while walking about the house to see if anything would be triggered.
He noticed that the dishes were done so thankfully he would not need to do that. It made sense since no one had eaten yet that morning. He checked the laundry. There was one half-full basket of unfolded clothes but he could not tell if they were clean from his distance of two feet. He hoped they were not going to be his problem in the future.
While checking to see if the trash was needing to be taken out Nick remembered how 交叉, 十字架 his parents were when they found out that he was sneaking out. ‘I should leave a note,’ he thought. The hedgehog quickly jotted down where he would be at, giving the reason that Kal was not feeling well the other 日 and he wanted to check if she was feeling better. In hindsight he doubted his parents would believe his story due to it being so early, but at least he would not have a guilty conscious.
After finishing the note and setting it neatly in an envelope on the Dining Room table, Nick put on his shoes, got his phone, and stepped outside. Upon leaving the nice warm house his body reacted accordingly, stinging his nervous system with the chilly air. Regardless of it being near Summer, the morning was very brisk.
Once Nick had gotten a 夹克 on he made his way to Kal’s house. The three houses of the trio (or 更多 if Rin was considered) were not close enough together that a regular walk was necessary. In fact it would take about half an 小时 between each one, with Nick’s being the furthest away. This did not bother Talon though, he liked to walk long walks. It was peaceful, as well as good exercise, and being one of only around ten in his neighborhood currently awake at the time, it was very quiet.
Nick had almost forgotten about the strange dream he had. Unfortunately having one’s thoughts to themselves was prone to the mind wandering, and Talon’s wandered to the dream. ‘Wonder what she’ll think about it.’ He pondered in a somewhat humored tone. ‘Or maybe… maybe I should keep it to myself. Don’t want to stress her again.’
And then he was there, at Kal’s house. The trip seemed shorter than normal, much shorter in fact, but then again he had been pondering for quite a while. That often shortened things. “Time to go in.” He thought aloud.
Nick placed his hand on the wood of the front door, then stopped before knocking (regardless of the fact that there was a doorbell he forgot to use). “Wait…” He checked his phone. “Six Fifty-two… She’s definitely asleep.” With a sigh Nick decided to sit on the front steps. He was thoroughly annoyed with himself for coming over so early. ‘How did I not think about that?’ He sighed. Then an idea came into his head. ‘Think… wait, Rin! Maybe she knows, she 说 she doesn’t sleep.’
Nick concentrated on calling the identity… somehow. ‘Rin? Hello?’ He waited for an answer but nothing came. ‘RIN!’ He yelled in his head. Still no reply. ‘Maybe she figured out how to sleep.’ He hoped. ‘Regardless its silly to think that someone can talk through psychic links… wait what?’
Nick stopped trying to figure out what was happening. When Kal woke up he could check, and if something happened to Rin, Kal would know something about it. He became very bored though and decided to flip through some games on his phone. They kept his interest for a good half-hour, but he wanted to wait a little longer. Eight-o-Clock was the time Kal got up normally and it was only Seven twenty-five. 更多 waiting.
‘Maybe they all slept over at Jesse’s.’ He considered. ‘They were having a blast over there and we’ve stayed over there before.’ When thinking about Jesse’s cousins Nick did feel a slight bit of guilt for how he rejected Tia’s offer to stay over longer. Something about her tone just seemed hopeful somehow. ‘Oh well… if they are over there I’ll have to walk over regardless.’
Nick wondered what the film that Rin and 罂粟 were making would be about. He did not get to see it in the making aside from knowing it was near the lake, so in at least a week, if not longer, he would see it pop up on an internet video.
This reminded him of the talk with Jesse. Jesse 说 that Nick had parents, a real family, and that if this was true, Jesse’s stretched-out family would be fake. But that did not change the fact that it would still be terrible for Nick if he found out that his parents adopted him. Jesse’s family did adopt him so he would be used to it.
‘What was the point of adopting us though?’ He thought. ‘If we were c-… wait… if we were born from someone else that means that Jesse might have an actual family… maybe even mine. We aren’t too different after all.’
Nick could not hide that he actually felt excited at the idea of searching for long-lost parents. He almost forgot entirely that there was a chance he did not have long-lost parents, and that his current parents were his biological ones. He could always do a DNA test. He was surprised that the idea had not come to him before. It was within his nature. Perhaps it was that he felt guilty about doubting them with no reason to that kept him from doing so all these years, but now he had a reason to doubt.
Nick got up. It was starting to get warmer so he took off his jacket. He did not want to leave it on the ground 或者 carry it, but at the same time he did not like the idea of wrapping it around his waist. To him it just seemed odd and not of his liking, so he held it, making sure it did not touch the ground.
A rumbling started up in front of him. Talon looked up, it was some kind of red cloud. It was one cloud, though lightning did appear around it. It looked almost like wa- Nick blinked and just after he blinked the 云, 云计算 was gone, replaced 由 normal rainclouds.
It seemed odd to say the least. Talon was speechless. He knew that he had seen the cloud, so where did it go? Was it behind the others? That was the only thing that made sense… supposedly.
“Thaaaaaaaaaaat was weird.” A familiar voice noted from above him. Nick looked up. There was Rin, sitting on the rooftop. The black 毛皮 ball of energy leapt off the roof and climbed down the side of the house, using the rain-gutter to keep from making a splat. She landed on the cement crossing her legs, and rising with her arms up in a “ta dah” motion.
Nick rolled his eyes, but faintly smiled as he gave a clap to the performer. Rin took a bow. “Did 你 see that?” She asked whilst walking over.
“The cloud?” Nick assumed, and hoped.
“Yep.” She replied in her normal perky tone.
“Yeah… don’t suppose 你 could see it from up there could you?”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “I could… always try flying up to see.” She added a chuckle.
“Think anyone would notice?” Nick asked.
Rin paused and gave him a half-confused stare “I didn’t actually mean that.”
“Why no-“ Nick then remembered about how he tried to call her. “Oh yeah, I tried calling you, why didn’t 你 reply?”
Rin listed off “No cellphone, out of earshot, distracted, 唱歌 in the shower…” numbering the options on her fingers.
“You take showers?” Nick doubted. Why would she need to take a shower? It wasn’t like her species needed to. 或者 did they? What did he even mean 由 species? Maybe it was the black fur. Rin’s shade wasn’t dark to the point where if she closed her eyes you’d think she had none, but it was a near-black grey. Probably the only thing that could 显示 up would be bleach.
Rin was still numbering things off when Nick realized that she had not stopped. “Okay I get it. 你 were busy.” He conceded to keep her quiet for a moment
Rin just shrugged. “Actually I don’t really know if I was. When did 你 call?”
Nick thought about it for a 秒 but realized that it was not really that important now that she was here. So he shrugged and 说 “You’re here now, so I doubt it matters.”
“Aw, thaaaanks.” She grinned, squinting her eyes the same way she always did when especially happy, and of course giving that faint illusion of her eyes going from blue to turquoise.
“Is Kal here?” He continued, barely noticing Rin’s gratitude. “I wanted to see how she’s doing after the headache thing yesterday. Did her mom have at her? She seemed on edge two.”
“Yes, yes, and yes.” Rin replied.
Nick paused, processing her answers. “The… 秒 one wasn’t a question.”
Rin paused, and 由 the slight tilt from her head and widened eyes, Nick took it that she was now processing. “Oh… What was the first question?” She asked sheepishly, ears laying back in embarrassment.
Nick put his fingers to his forehead, rubbing his temples “I wanted to see if her headache was gone.”
“Oooooooooooooh.” Rin stretched this a few 秒 longer then bluntly interrupted herself with a quick “Dunno. She went to 床, 床上 early, and she’s not up yet.”
“How bad was the argument with her mom?” Nick continued.
“I didn’t listen in, but she seemed all flustederd… flusteraderd… flus-… flusterda-“ Rin’s tongue was twisting, so Nick intervened.
“When do 你 think she’ll be up?” He was still rubbing his temples. No matter how used to Rin he was after a month’s time, her super amount of ADHD irritated him.
“I could go get her up if 你 want.” Rin smirked. Nick knew what that meant. Rin would become some kind of furry alarm clock.
“I’ll wait.” He denied holding his hand up like a stop sign. “So Insomni-cat, anything besides clouds that distracted you?”
“I listed around twenty just a 分钟 ago.” Rin informed, pouting slightly with disappointment that he had not paid attention to the entire thing. Nick felt very little guilt.
“Okay which of them was the best?” he shrugged.
“I watched a video last night where it had a Track-runner. So I tried to run the same distance on the roof.” The feline announced proudly. “I did pretty well… my legs felt really funny though.”
“I’m not surprised.” Nick considered checking if she was vibrating like many people did when tired out and standing but his conscious thankfully stepped in to stop him, as well as the logical side of his brain yelling ‘Uh, idiot, don’t look at her legs!’
“So when did 你 get here?” The blue-eyed catgirl questioned.
Nick sighed when reminded of how early he had gotten up and how tired he was now becoming. “Around five thirty I think. I woke up from a pretty weird dream.”
“Oooooooooooooooooo what happened in it?” Rin pressed.
“Well Kal snuck into my room in the middle of the night and tried to stab me.”
“Oh…” The reaction Rin gave reminded Talon of a large truck screeching to a halt. He could almost hear the effect too as he saw her lean 前锋, 期待 three inches, her eyes wider than before. The hedgehog would have felt bad for telling her something that could upset her if Rin had not asked to be told in the first place.
“Well 你 asked.” He reminded.
“Yeah…”
I was breathing deeply at the time from my running " Stop following me Marcos", i screamed at him. "But your the princess i must protect you",Marcos replied."protect this fool" i started to run but that stupid dress i tripped on it."still don't need to be protected", he reached out i his hand."fine, 你 can co...". He covered my mouth with his hand. "Shh i hear something".he pulled out his sword and held it back. The five gurads came out holding some bluue long haired guy. He came down and circled Marcos and me. Blue guy said"This calls for one thing... Celebaration."Well, aparrently his name was jess,prince jess aqua."so your from the capitial"he asked."yes, i left because it was boring and i didnt belong there." Marcos rapidly 说 "but we're going back tomorrow". I turned my head fast "What, no i'm not"'.
Reason #1
Rachel's weakness is Dark magic, therefore, Sonic can erect a barrier around Rachel to protect her from the Dark magic in the atmosphere around them. (this cant, however, protect her from Dark energy directed at her 由 an attack)
Reason #2:
The only thing that Sonic can't do, is swim, henceforth, Rachel, being part mermaid, can work with sonic when forced into an aquatic environment.
(once again, please, no hate comments, this is an "opinion article", so i would appreciate it if 你 would keep yur hate 评论 (if any hate comments, tho i cant see how 你 could have any hate 评论 with something like this) to your own thoughts. thank 你 very much!)
Reason #2
DRAMA! IT NEEDS TO STOP!
Listen this club is mean't for its members to have fun interacting with one another's 粉丝 characters. when i joined i wanted to escape the drama of life to feel happy in this corrupted wourld we all live in. when i left for a couple of months i left hoping that everything to stay the same, but when i got back everyone left and the everyday drama of life seeped into the club. I didn't think i would have to rant about drama in a Sonic Club but it seems that i have to and i think that the club's creator would not be happy about the drama to. So please stop the drama not later but NOW!
Listen this club is mean't for its members to have fun interacting with one another's 粉丝 characters. when i joined i wanted to escape the drama of life to feel happy in this corrupted wourld we all live in. when i left for a couple of months i left hoping that everything to stay the same, but when i got back everyone left and the everyday drama of life seeped into the club. I didn't think i would have to rant about drama in a Sonic Club but it seems that i have to and i think that the club's creator would not be happy about the drama to. So please stop the drama not later but NOW!
Name:Donatello
Last Name:Darkness
Most used nickname: Donny
Age:19
Birthdate: 19 years 以前 XD
Hair color:Gray
Eye Color:Purple
Outfit: gray 夹克 & pant. Purple shoes and shirt.
Likes:Art, cooking, nature, friends, SOME family members, and trys to get along with his sisters
Dislikes:STACY. Bad people, killing,geting in people's way, Shopping with girls and having to pay for them (XD) ECT.
Nicknames: Donny (most used) Lil' Brother (used 由 his little sister who's somehow bigger than him, Fergie) Donny-boy, Don, Don the doenut man (used 由 Dio...Once XD)
Weird fact: Some how, his name is close to Donnie from TMNT and has the same color. Purple. XD And the name Donatello
爱情 life: 你 STALKERS. T3T
Other: He was once a fugitive. He tells everyone is name is Donny because he dosn't like his real name. He was named after is father. Almost always chased 由 Stacy Light. :3
Last Name:Darkness
Most used nickname: Donny
Age:19
Birthdate: 19 years 以前 XD
Hair color:Gray
Eye Color:Purple
Outfit: gray 夹克 & pant. Purple shoes and shirt.
Likes:Art, cooking, nature, friends, SOME family members, and trys to get along with his sisters
Dislikes:STACY. Bad people, killing,geting in people's way, Shopping with girls and having to pay for them (XD) ECT.
Nicknames: Donny (most used) Lil' Brother (used 由 his little sister who's somehow bigger than him, Fergie) Donny-boy, Don, Don the doenut man (used 由 Dio...Once XD)
Weird fact: Some how, his name is close to Donnie from TMNT and has the same color. Purple. XD And the name Donatello
爱情 life: 你 STALKERS. T3T
Other: He was once a fugitive. He tells everyone is name is Donny because he dosn't like his real name. He was named after is father. Almost always chased 由 Stacy Light. :3
WARNING: This is from BORDOM!!!
1.) There's nothing really to respond to in it.
2.) The person always skips mine and acts like they forgot, so why allow them to do it in another one of their RP's?
3.) I flat out hate the person who made the RP.
4.) I don't feel like it.
5.) The person who made the RP is boring.
6.) I don't think it's appropiate.
7.) Your 问题 involves ladies that act like sluts.
8.) I don't know the definition of a certain word and I don't feel like looking it up.
9.) I'm busy.
10.) The 问题 includes rascism.
1.) There's nothing really to respond to in it.
2.) The person always skips mine and acts like they forgot, so why allow them to do it in another one of their RP's?
3.) I flat out hate the person who made the RP.
4.) I don't feel like it.
5.) The person who made the RP is boring.
6.) I don't think it's appropiate.
7.) Your 问题 involves ladies that act like sluts.
8.) I don't know the definition of a certain word and I don't feel like looking it up.
9.) I'm busy.
10.) The 问题 includes rascism.
