October 18, 2011 - 3:39am — GingerNut
It felt strange to be submitting to Friend like this, to just let the enigma take over his voice and body while he watched from his own seeing-eye view. Granted, deal or not, he was on his guard. Friend had been known to break promises... just like Jergens himself did.
Friend himself was enjoying every minute of this, of course. If there was one thing he craved more, it was having control. While tormenting his other self was a close second, but still not as important.
He blinked, groggy and bleary eyed as two nameless deer stared back at him. Friend couldn't tell which was which until they spoke, which only made their present situation all the more surreal.
"Oh thank goodness you're alright!" the nameless on the right exclaimed. Great, so that one was the hell spawn. Friend had to muster up all his self-control to not grimace as the doe pressed her forehead against his cheek "Yew are alright, right?" she asked.
Friend looked up at her and smiled. "Course'. Come on, wouldn't yew have a nightmare after gettin' yer body all ripped up like that?" he drawled, almost dramatically, placing each rise and fall of his cadence as perfectly as possible. He hated talking like this... but it was needed.
"Yer kid was mentioning somethin' about that mask yew were wearin'... apparently it's important?" Christof ventured in, pausing every so often to tear out a clump of fur in his neck. Having a pelt was already starting to get to him, it seemed. Peony simply shot a polite stare at him, though with a pretty fair amount of hidden contempt. "I have a name, y'know." she mumbled.
Of course Friend had been expecting that sort of question. "Oh, hell if I know." he sat up, rolling back his shoulders in an easy shrug. "I feel fine though... nothin' wrong... I'll still take it with though." he stood and took a few steps to bend down and nose one of his discarded antlers away. Carefully, he took the arm of the tattered butterfly mask in his teeth and tossed it upwards, letting it neatly fall on an antler tine. Satisfied, he turned back to the others with a cheeky grin. "So we're still gonna look through this place, right? We're not gonna get all spooked by this?"
Christof grimaced and shuffled from hoof to hoof, genuinely uncomfortable, but he didn't say anything. He kept his mouth shut more out of pride than anything else. Although he would have been much happier to turn tail and wait for Jergens and Peony outside. The doe, on the other hand, was positively giddy with new found excitement. Ugly body or not; they had spent months getting here. She nodded violently, the heavy antlers on her head nearly making her top-heavy. "How long will we be here, ya think?" she asked.
(justlongenoughtogetthisfuckingbuisnesstakencareof)
Friend blatantly ignored his other self's enthusiastic ravings. The thought clanged about in his head and nearly made him lose concentration. "Uh... not sure... Just as long as you're willing, I guess." he nodded, satisfied.
The two deer stared back at him, practically stunned to silence. Friend raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh... what?"
"Oh... nothin' much Jergens it's just..." Christof shuffled back and forth slightly, his expression more confused than anything else. "I've never heard ya say 'you're' before... y'know, with an 'o'..." he fumbled, smiling sheepishly.
Peony nodded in agreement, her ears pressed against her head as she stared up at the butterfly mask on the stag's antler. "Not that it's a big deal or anything." she reassured her father, assuming his surprised expression to be more hurt than shocked.
(shouldntthisbeeasyferya?)
Not with you distracting me it isn't... Shut up Friend shrugged once more and offered another plastic smile. "Eh, guess I'm losin' my touch then..." he chuckled, turning back to the surrounding birch forest. "No biggie. Come on; let's find some deer to interrogate."
Ironically enough, a small deer had already appeared on the edge of the hill, so far away that its features were nearly indescribable. It was a buck, with the obvious antlers, and his pelt was a snow white.
As he came closer, Friend could see that his pictogram lacked the typical golden color that the nameless deer had. Rather, it was of a clear silver hue. The symbol itself seemed relatively normal by their own standards, and it was from this that Friend recognized who the buck was.
"Uncle Crybaby..." Peony whispered under her breath, but said no more as the buck trotted up to them, head curiously tilted to the side.
"I've never seen nameless deer crowded around and acting... civilized before." he mumbled, seemingly fascinated. "Usually they just stand around and scream at each other for a good few hours. Drives everyone nuts."
Friend couldn't help but smile. It looked as if this Crybaby was a bit more, how to put it nicely, blunt, than their own. That was good. It made the angel more reliable in a way. "We're not yer average namelesses, ya could say." he grinned.
The other Crybaby raised an eyebrow and glanced at the piles of discarded fur and antlers that littered the ground. "Wow... Guess you're right." he breathed, looking up at them with a new sort of deep respect. "So you came to visit us? I'm flattered, but there's not much here..." he almost seemed to blush in embarrassment.
The nameless doe stepped forward with a delighted grin. "Yup! Just explorin'~" she chirped. Christof just shrugged and stayed where he was, more or less wondering who the little buck even was.
The silver symbol atop Crybaby's head rhythmically bobbed up and down as the buck nodded in understanding. "You wanna come with me then?" he offered, pointing a hoof back the way he came. "I can take you where there's a bunch of other deer if you want." he almost smiled at the thought, a childish grin tugging at his lips.
"Thanks but... I think we got an idea." Friend cast a glance at his companions to stifle their mumbles of protest. "Come on guys... let's get out of the birch." he urged them forward, trotting ahead.
Peony cast a quick glance at the other Crybaby before following them, her expression apologetic before she pranced off to catch up. The small white buck just stared at their receding forms. "Be careful!" he called to their backs. "Nameless deer don't have a really good reputation around here!"
Christof glanced back in worry and looked over at Friend. "Jergens; why aren't we going with him? He seemed nice enough..." he grumbled, more or less annoyed that he didn't really have a place of authority in-between them. It was pretty obvious that the stag was just tagging along without a real say in any matter.
"Yeah... I mean; we can trust Uncle Crybaby, right?" Peony added in, scanning the area for any recognizable deer she could find. As they trotted past; she caught a small glimpse of an Illrose look-a-like play-sparring with another stag she hadn't seen before. They were too far away to notice the three nameless deer, so it wasn't as if they presented a threat. Even so, Peony couldn't hold back a small shiver at the sight of the dragon doe.
Friend didn't even seem to notice any of the surrounding deer. After all, exploration or not, he had an objective to carry out. While they could look at the scenery all they liked; there really wasn't much time to play around. "Because..." he started explaining, "That wasn't Cry. Ya need to remember that all these deer just look and kinda act like the deer from our place, right? We can't just trust someone just because we know the version we know, right?" If anything, the only similarity that was really between the two copies was their genetic makeup, more or less. Sure, a deer that had a copy here could have a completely opposite personality, but certain biological characteristics would still be intact. If they were to find Bartleby roaming around here, he would still be a hemophiliac. There really wasn't much middle-ground between what could and what couldn't be different.
"I think we should have trusted him." Peony stubbornly argued. Christof just sighed and shook his head, non-confrontational as always... and completely useless. Friend ignored them both, earning himself a confused stare from both parties.
(...yewreallysuckatthis)
The nameless inwardly scowled. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't effectively act the part! Even if he was a fragment of Jergens himself, he was still his own separate entity. If they were truly the same, then their personalities would have melded without any confrontation, unlike their endless squabbling that they did now. Yes; they were the same. But if they were really the same, then none of any of the drama that went between them would have ever happened.
Although Friend himself had to admit that he had mellowed out a tad after the whole 'Smiling' Jack fiasco. Not that he wasn't as mad and irrational as before, but he didn't see any real reason to torment Jergens and gain control when nothing interesting was happening.
But now... Now this was like a final curtain call, the last adventure before the closing. Friend would enjoy every minute, and when he got his own body to work with - he'd give these deer Hell.
Several fawns galloped across their path, their silver IDs trailing along behind, as if they were leashed to their heads. It was surreal to see them a different color, but nothing more.
Actually, there weren't many deer around the area to begin with. The place seemed deserted in comparison to their own forest. Sure, there were two or three scattered about the landscape when the trio finally made it to the lake... but nothing more.
They stood at the edge of the large clearing that encompassed the forest's pond, a clear-cut replica of their own down to the last detail. There were a few deer scattered about... some of whom Friend and Peony could at least recognize by their appearance. Overall; the whole view was rather nostalgic, particularly to Peony and Jergens.
"Pretty sweet, right?"
A loud, heavily projected voice sliced through the idyllic silence that had fallen on the group. Startled, the nameless deer simultaneously reeled around and found it’s source. A small, lanky looking buck stared back at them, eyes wide with obvious curiosity.
He was thin, still growing into his adult form. His antlers were small, and of a warm caramel hue, complimenting his reddish gold pelt. Of course, his silver pictogram was present and accounted for as well. Much of his face was obscured from the typical black dome of an orca mask, transforming his olive green eyes to mere slits. Most notable was probably the patch of blonde hair upon his head, matted in-between his protruding antlers.
Peony stepped forward and instinctively offered a clumsy - but polite bow. She didn't say anything of it, but she had recognized the buck to be the one sparring with the Illrose look-a-like. He must have followed them then... but despite Crybaby's warning; the buck didn't seem to have any malicious intent. "Hello there." she bowed her head respectively, her tone warm and inviting.
The buck just stared at her, and then edged up closer to the nameless doe. A long, uncomfortable pause fell in the group. Just as Friend was about to suggest that they move on the buck spoke, his voice almost like a dull yell. "Did you say something?" he asked, his largish, floppy ears uselessly dangling at the sides of his skull. "Your head was kinda down and stuff, sorry."
So that explained why he shouted rather than spoke. The buck was deaf, or at least very hard of hearing. His ears never seemed to move from the sides of his head. They simply waved about like pigtails, completely useless. He didn't seem ashamed though, or even the slightest bit intimidated. It was almost as if the buck was carrying out a ritualistic routine.
Peony blinked, taking a moment to process the meaning of his words before she smiled in understanding. "Oh... I guess I should be the sorry one then." she apologized.
The buck kept his eyes on her mouth, his lips slightly parted in concentration as he decoded their movements. "Eh, I get it all the time. Seriously." he grinned, absentmindedly shuffling his weight from hoof to hoof. "You know... Everyone all says that nameless deer are really creepy." he stated bluntly. "Even my parents think they're weird... and they're like... some of the most open-minded deer I know, right?" he was starting to ramble, much to Friend's annoyance. Even more irksome was that Peony and Christof had instantly latched themselves onto him.
"So... if yer deaf... then how can ya talk to us?" Christof asked, more or less just wondering whether or not the buck had been born with his disability.
The buck rolled his shoulders back in an eloquent shrug. "Guess I'm used to it. I was born like this, you know? I just read lips and mimic them and… Hell I dunno." he laughed heartily. "Oh yeah... My name is Sect, by the way." he introduced himself, sweeping down in a graceful bow. "Totally weird name, right? Everyone here has a kinda weird name though..." he stopped and looked up at the three with suspicious curiosity. "Whoa... I just realized..." he paused, eyes dramatically widened.
Friend stared back at him. Frankly, it took every ounce of his self-composure to not lurch out and tear this buck to pieces. He already would have if Jergens wasn't holding him back now.
"You're nameless deer!" Sect exclaimed, even more loudly than his last sentences had been. "You wouldn't be nameless deer if you did have names... pf..."
Several deer nearby glanced over to them, but didn't seem the slightest bit annoyed. They were all probably used to this by now... this irritating... yelling voice that just did nothing more than put Friend on edge.
(comeonman...benice)
To Hell with that! This buck was positively unbearable...
"Look. One, we have names..." Friend started, only to be interrupted by Peony. "Of course!" she chirped, completely unaware to Friend's silent fuming. "My name is Peony. You know, like the flower?" she said. It almost seemed as if the doe was talking for the sake of filling up all the lost months she had spent traveling with her father. Even if Peony wasn't as much of a social butterfly as Jergens, she still craved some new faces now and again.
Sect blinked at her for a moment before he smiled. "So you're a girl?" he asked, more to himself than anyone else before he offered the doe a flirty wink and turned to the other two nameless deer. "And what about you two?" he asked.
"I'm Christof..." the stag carelessly swayed from side to side, pointing a hoof towards Friend. "And that's Jergens." he added, almost as a sort of vain attempt to assert himself over the group in some way.
Before Friend could snap at the stag for having the gall to introduce him, Sect jumped back into the conversation. "Did he just say that your name was Jergens?" he asked Friend, his brow arched upwards.
"Um... yeah..." Friend mumbled, his interest suddenly piqued. "Why?"
"That's my dad's name." the buck breathed, blinking slowly.
(...what)
For once, Friend was genuinely surprised. Then again, certain aspects of this buck seemed to match with a sudden, almost ludicrous theory that sprouted in the stag's head. Yes, several of the deer here were similar… but that didn’t mean that their offspring were the same...
Still, there was one thing left to confirm...
"Sect... What is your other parent's name?" he asked, and this time he didn't even bother to mask his voice.
The golden red buck blinked in surprise at the question's ferocity, then smiled uneasily.
"Oh, my other dad's name is Bartleby." he rattled off. "Weird right? Having two dads kinda sucked to be honest... I got bullied for it a lot when I was a fawn... especially since I couldn't play much on account of them being afraid that I'd bleed... You know I'll die if I get cut, right? Really... really sucks..."
And so Sect continued to ramble, completely unaware that the three nameless deer had ceased to add in on the buck's one-sided conversation.
---
Oh yeah.
I went there.
Cry and Illy belong to Munk and Snow... obviously... I didn't just want to have a whole part with nothing but cameos... .w. They'll all be scattered around hopefully.
...God this is crappy... |D I apologize.
...wtf? GIVE ME MORE. @-@
Signature by Roo ♥
..WHAT. o_o
Six; Denied. You'll be
Pega; Heeee 83
^ What they said. o__o Also,
Also, this is not crappy at all. And I feel silly honored to have Illrose mentioned. x'D
Really look forward to read more! :')
Just give me more story. @-@
Signature by Roo ♥
SDfhsdf and I'm honoured as
God why is it always so... hnnngggg -wants to know more right now as well-
Snow; Ohlol I knew I had to
Skits; Maybe tonight if I have time~ Or at the latest, tomorrow .w.
MunkaDunk; Ffff I love Blunt!Cry ;; He was so much fun even if I barely really used him... Thank you so much~<3
fffff this is so good~ 8D I'm
Eeeethankyouuu c8
c8