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Post by Lucca on Apr 7, 2010 21:39:03 GMT -5
Felix blinked the last few tears out of his eyes, nodding at Rose and resisting the urge to cry again. After all, it had been a very touching story...a truly great love story. Despite what one might think from his own flings, the Porcupine had a great deal of sappy romantic in him at the end of the day. "Oh, I hope so! Do you come to this place often?" It sounded like a bad pick up line, but Felix honestly meant it. He would love to hear more of her stories, after all, and she seemed happy to have him as an audience...or at least, he assumed that from the fact she was smiling so much.
Felix laughed a bit. "Well, I'm afraid I'm not as good a story teller as you, but you're right about me being into the nightlife. I'm sure I could come up with something." He frowned, face screwing up in what was evidently deep concentration. Most of his stories were about him, since he was the only one he was with all the time, and Felix would be the first to admit he didn't have a very interesting life to an outsider. A party here, a one night stand there, throw in some dancing, a lot of music, a lot of booze (and maybe something a bit heavier), and you basically had the Porcupine's idea of fun.
After a minute or two, his ears twitched and he turned to Rose, smiling brightly again, eyes lit up. "Oh! I know! How would you like to hear...a ghost story? It's one-hundred-percent true, too!"
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Post by Kari Muffin on Apr 12, 2010 10:42:07 GMT -5
Rosemary watched as the man seemed to struggle to concentrate. She wasn't particularly sure what to think of him yet. He wasn't the brightest bulb, but perhaps that was just because he was simple? She had met several Lakelanders. Some where as sharp as a tack and made her look like an idiot, while others were as dim as a burnt out bulb.
She kept her mouth shut until he offered the story. Her eyes lit up as she reached out and tapped him on the nose. "I think that would be utterly splendid. True stories are the best. And I like to collect the true stories that sound like they could never be true."
Her tail curled with satisfaction as she waited. Hopefully he would have an atypical experience that she could potentially draw from. Not many people found the same old experiences interesting unless they had a twist to them. Then again she had never heard a ghost story that didn't have a twist.
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Post by Lucca on Apr 12, 2010 11:54:37 GMT -5
Felix nodded, feeling the first stirring of nervousness in the pit of his stomach. The Porcupine was laid back enough to not get nervous about most things, but then he usually did things he was perfectly comfortable with doing. It wasn't often he branched out and tried something new. (It usually took such effort!) But this would be new to him. No one had ever wanted him to tell them a story before, and he felt he needed it to be interesting.
"Well," he began, and paused, toying with the idea of using a clichéd beginning like "it was a dark and stormy night" or "once upon a time", but that seemed...a little sad, even to his own simple mind. Besides, she wanted the true story, and it hadn't been stormy. But it -had- been night. He'd start with that, then.
"It was late at night, and there was no one else around for miles. Just me and the lighthouse." He paused, tilting his head to the side. "Oh, you've probably never seen the light house...well, back in Selkie, there's this one lake that's really, really big, and so they have a light house, you know, like with a lantern and everything. Actually, I think last year they had some Corvie come in and change out the oil light for an electric bulb..."
Realizing he was getting off track, Felix grinned apologetically. "Oh, uh, anyway. I'd been out at a party - this was a while ago, at least five years - and I was walking home, as I sometimes do. And I was actually not drunk, either, so that's how you know this really happened. So in the lighthouse...wait. No, never mind, we're not to that part yet." He rubbed a paw on his head. "Eh, sorry, I'm bad at this...one...one moment." Felix paused to clear his thoughts and get them together.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Apr 19, 2010 1:00:35 GMT -5
Rosemary waited with a contented smile. She knew that not everyone could weave a story out of nothing in an instant. Even she had trouble coming up with unique stories of her own at times.
"Take your time," she said quietly. "I know not everyone can tell a story on the fly. You don't have to be so nervous around me. Just consider me a friend who you're gossiping to. Because it sounds like you have a wonderful story."
She was interested in this lighthouse thing. She had seen one or two in story books, but never one in actual person. As much as she wanted to go to the Lakes she was always distracted by the other realms. Of course the culture wasn't isolated to the realm but she still needed to go there for an extend period of time.
"Not many people talk about ghosts after all."
She honestly only knew one. And she was fairly certian that he was truly haunted by one.
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Post by Lucca on Apr 19, 2010 11:27:45 GMT -5
Felix turned slightly pink beneath his white fur as Rose was being very patient with him. He grinned at her, coughing quietly into his paw to try and regain some composure. He had the feeling, suddenly, that he was very lucky tonight. Not many other Cards would encourage him to do this, and to listen even when he was stumbling all over the place, metaphorically speaking. "Okay, awesome. Thanks, Rose," he said, and took another sip of the drink the waitress had refilled before jumping back in.
"Right. So there I was, all alone out there...watching the water of the lake lapping against the shore, when I thought I saw something flicker out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look, and there was the lighthouse, which I had been up in before, though not for a long time. As a teenager it was sometimes a good place to go to...to...be alone, you know...if it was late at night like this." Something odd flashed across his eyes, a sad emotion at odds with his cheerful tone, but the porcupine shook the feeling off and pushed on.
"So anyway, I looked up at the light, which back then was still the oil lamp whatever they use now, and it seemed the same as normal...but then I saw it flicker, getting dimmer for a minute, and then get bright again." He frowned thoughtfully, lost in the memory. "And I mean, normal fire flickers too...but this was...different...I'm not sure quite how to describe it, but it wasn't normal. It was like someone was messing with it, you know...and as I stood there watching, it happened again, a few minutes later. But then, it didn't happen again after that, even though I watched for like five more minutes. Anyway, I could have gone on home, but I had this sort of odd...prickly feeling, like I was being watched, ya know?"
His tail wiggled and he grinned. "So I decided to go inside and check it out. I went over to the door, and I knew that like normal, there was a chance it would be locked. I tugged on it and it wouldn't come free, so...I figured it was and turned around, ready to give up. And that's when the first odd thing of the night happened." He paused, a look of awe sliding over his features.
"I heard this...this creaking sound as soon as my back was turned. And when I looked back...the door was wide open!"
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Post by Kari Muffin on Apr 21, 2010 0:02:47 GMT -5
Rosemary leaned forward with fascination. Even if he wasn't a storyteller, what he was saying had a few good tidbits. She propped her chin on her hands as he continued. Well, this was interesting. Where exactly was he going with all of this? How would it end up leading to a ghost? The door opening mysteriously was one thing....
"Go on," she said after his pause. She took a chance to take a sip of coffee. "What happened next?"
There were plenty of other questions she could have asked. Taking it slow, however seemed to be the best way of handling this. Now that he was warming up his flow seemed better, and he wasn't hesitating. Even if he did get side tracked every now and again. She ran a finger along the edge of her cup, waiting for him to continue.
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Post by Lucca on Apr 21, 2010 19:52:31 GMT -5
Felix couldn't be happier that Rosemary seemed to be enjoying the story. She was almost literally on the edge of her seat already! And they hadn't even gotten to the climax! The Porcupine nodded eagerly and continued. "Well, I thought that was a bit weird...but maybe I wasn't alone, you know? I figured someone might have been in the lighthouse anyway, and just didn't show themselves yet. But, as I said, there usually wasn't, so I decided to go check it out."
His golden eyes took on a glazed look as he was obviously deep in the memory. "I walked inside the light house...and it was dark, mostly, except for the light at the top. I called out, to see if anyone was there...now, my quills were standing on end a bit, you understand, wondering what was going on. I still had that weird feeling on the back of my neck, like cold water." A shiver at the memory. "Anyway, no matter how loudly I yelled...no response. And once my eyes got all adjusted to the dimness, I didn't see anyone either. I even looked under the stairs, but it was completely empty. So I did the only thing left...and climbed the stairs. Up, up the stairs, and this whole time, I'm thinking what could possibly be going on? I knew something a little funny was up, but the thought of...of ghosts hadn't crossed my mind yet."
He took a sip of his cocoa; man, but storytelling was thirty work! No wonder there were always water bottles up with the Cards on stage. "Sure enough, at the top, there was no one there either. So I thought, 'Dude, what is going on here?' And then there it was again...that flicker of the light. This time I could see it better, and it was like...like a shadow passed in front of it. But there was still no one there. 'Hey', I called, 'it's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you! Who are you?' And that's when...the light suddenly went out. And it wasn't because it ran out of oil or anything, it was like a wind blew it out...only there was no wind there! The windows were glass and air couldn't get through."
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Post by Kari Muffin on Apr 26, 2010 23:00:45 GMT -5
Most of the time Rosemary had a short attention span. And actually at this moment it was starting to kick in. She did her best to hide it by curling her tail around herself. She hugged it while Felix spoke.
She wanted to know how the story ended. If there really was a haunting. If things had gone badly. Well he wasn't a story teller so he was telling it like he would normally explain things. And then again everyone had their style of storytelling.
It didn't make her any less antsy. It was like being a four year old and sitting on her father's lap begging for more stories about the Outsiders. Except Dad had a prettier voice and.... she needed to stop thinking. She gave her tail a small squeeze as she continued to watch the Lakelander in front of her.
"So... what happened next?"
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Post by Lucca on Apr 27, 2010 18:41:14 GMT -5
Felix was oblivious enough that he didn't notice Rosemary was getting bored with his very roundabout style of storytelling. In fact, he wasn't aware of much of anything, he was so caught up in his own memories. The thrill, the mystery, the fear...it was all rushing back into him like he was up there in that lighthouse again. Man, he should tell stories more often!
He did catch her words, though, and his eyes fairly sparkled with excitement. "Next, I saw the ghost! Just for a second, mind you...but I didn't imagine it. I turned quickly, to go back down the stairs (after all, it was getting creepy in there), and saw a dimly glowing...thing right there, in front of me, before it darted right towards me! I shut my eyes tight, but I felt this...this cold go through me. I can't describe it..." Felix shivered, eyes far away. "It was like nothing I'd ever felt, but it only lasted a second...I looked around wildly for the ghost, but I didn't see it again. Needless to say, I was pretty creeped out by then, so I got outta there, fast! Spade ability and everything...but there was one more thing...like a goodbye present from the spook."
An odd expression crossed his face. "It was like a voice that whispered to me as I leaving the lighthouse...it said...it said 'Lost...you are lost'... Real weird, since I knew exactly where I was! I wasn't lost at all."
Felix was silent for a moment, and then realized Rose might not realize that was all there was to tell. "Oh, uh, the end." He turned to grin a bit sheepishly at her. At best, well, she'd like it...at worst, she'd leave the table and go find someone more interesting for the rest of the night.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Apr 27, 2010 23:10:42 GMT -5
Rosemary stared for one awkwardly long moment. She honestly hadn't thought the story was over until he promptly announced it. Her head tilted to the side with a curious expression. She honestly didn't expect something to be so anti climatic.
Her tail drooped. Well she supposed there was quite a bit she could do with the story.
'You're shameless you know? What next are you going to sleep with the poor fellow and leave him the next morning with the bill?'
Rosemary refrained from rolling her eyes at Forge. He was joking, of course, but still.
"Well that was an interesting story... but are you sure it was a ghost and not someone playing tricks?" She took a long sip of her drink before she continued. "I mean... it sounds like someone could have been hiding in there and playing tricks on you. I know I used to do creepy stuff like that when I was a kid."
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