Manipulated (Zakkol and Forlorn)

[vibrantsystem]

Theo cast a look at the sandwich, and felt his stomach drop. He had spent quite a bit of money on that bread loaf, but oh-well. Sophie was aloud to treat herself, even if Theo did find it rather rude that she had done so without his permission. Even though Theo rarely touched the peanut butter, he still had it for some reason. He preferred to use things such as cream cheese when he was making a sandwich, as pretentious as that may sound, but he wasn't going to admit that to Sophie. 'No thank-you,' he said, politely declining the offer. He wasn't really in the mood for such a crude creation.

 

[Forlorn]

Sophie shrugged and finished half the loaf without hesitation. Despite her small figure, Sophie ate ravenously, most likely due to only eating vegetables and fruits. She rarely ate meat, but picked the bones clean when she did to avoid wasting any of the kill. She had a deep respect for all animals, and when she killed anything it was swift and as painless as she could muster. A splotch of peanut butter painted her lips, making Sophie grab a napkin. "When we arrive, we'd better be cautious" She uttered.

 

[vibrantsystem]

'Yes,' Theo nodded, agreeing wholly with Blaire's statement. It seemed like the best idea. But Theo wasn't exactly feeling the most clean he had felt in a while. A shower seemed to be a good idea at the current time, for him, at very least. Sophie didn't ever really seem to develop and unpleasant odor. Maybe she did, and Theo didn't notice it, but he wasn't sure at all.


'Right, well, if you're ready, let me have a shower, I guess,' Theo murmured weakly before leaving the room. 'By the way, help yourself to any foodstuffs you want, you hear?' He yelled from the hallway before progressing to the bathroom.

 

[Forlorn]

Sophie blushed at the thought of him showering. She quickly smacked herself for being so perverse, yet she couldn't help but crack a smile. Never being exposed to humans-males included, Sophie was interested in his anatomy. Shrugging, she responded "Ok, Ill take one after you". Grabbing a flower pot from outside and filling it with dirt, Sophie sprouted the first flower that came to her mind; a red clover. She the blushed again, for red clovers helped fertility. "What is wrong with me? What is this feeling anyways, I've never experienced it before" she whispered, flustered. Sophie observed the delicate foliage, dragging her soft fingers over the jagged jade leaves. She let out a sigh, the feeling as growing. It felt like it was eating her, and yet she had not a clue what the feeling was.

 

[vibrantsystem]

Theo showed quickly before changing into a new set of clothes and walking outside, looking for Sophie, where he found her with a flowerpot that Theo had abandon long ago. Or he had lost it. Either or. He didn't particularly remember the patterns on it, so it didn't really matter. What was interesting though was the plant within it. It was a red clover. Which seemed nice enough. And odd choice for Sophie to grow though, Theo thought. He would have pictured her as more a tulip kind of person.


'Shower's free, if you wish,' Theo said, casting a look at the pot and then at Sophie's face. There was something she wasn't sure about. He could see that. He wasn't sure what it was though and didn't wish to pry.

 

[Forlorn]

Sophie was scared she may have been bitten by something, a snake perhaps? Giving a quick nod, she ran to the bathroom and turned on the shower. Undressing, she examined her body in the mirror to see if any abnormalities were present. Her heart raced in her chest, which made Sophie worried. Getting in the shower, she let the water beat down on her and the steam cleanse her of her distasteful thoughts of Theo. But why were they distasteful, she wondered. Sophie shrugged, she figured as long as she didn't act upon such ideas she would be fine. Wrapping a towel around her, Sophie walked out of the bathroom and asked for some more clothing.

 

[vibrantsystem]

'Oh, yes,' Theo said upon being questioned as to if Sophie could have more clothing. Why would she not be able to? Unfazed, Theo told her to go down the hallway and find the guest room, which was the second on the right. That was where Sophie would find spare clothing.


Heading back outside, Theo sat down on the ground, beside the flowerpot that Sophie had manifested the red clover in. The orchard was still there, fir Theo was sitting under an apple tree at the very moment. An arrow was in the bark of the tree-a sign the Gin had been there several days earlier. Standing up, Theo pulled the arrow from the tree and examined it. The tip seemed to be made of some kind of metal, which was seemed to have been dipped in something. Theo had a guess at what it was. He wasn't going to touch it. Theo discarded it, throwing it into the woods.

 

[Forlorn]

Changing into a very baggy green shirt and the smallest cargo shorts he owned (which was still fairly big) Sophie walked outside and stated "we need to leave soon I'm sure the Gin are swarming this area, they'd expect us to come back here. Looking at Theo, and how he delicately inspected the arrow, Sophie was swamped with the same odd feeling. Her body went rigid and her pulse quickened, leaving Sophie frightened. She began shaking. "Theo, what's wrong with me? I think I might of been but by a snake or something, my pulse is racing and I'm sweating and I cant control my thoughts. I've never felt this way in the wild before" she stared into his eyes, hers widened and darting each and every which way. "Help" she pleaded

 

[vibrantsystem]

Theo bit his lip when Sophie described her symptoms to him. He wasn't sure of what it could possibly be, for that wasn't really his area of expertise. At all. Not one bit. He was only really familiar with the common cold and flu season rolled around each year, he never forgot the symptoms of that particular illness.


'Um,' Theo said awkwardly. 'It is probably nothing. Mostly likely you're just not used to spending so much time around other people and all of this technology and these materials and such,' he said, fumbling to invent a reason.

 

[Forlorn]

Sophie scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "Well, if it keeps up I'm seeing a doctor" she teased. Stretching her arms, Sophie exclaimed: "we should go now, before the Gin make a second appearance"


She was still perplexed with her odd "sickness". Had she eaten something foul? Sophie shrugged and waited for Theo to respond

 

[vibrantsystem]

Theo nodded in full agreement to Sophie's idea regarding leaving the house. 'We really should, yes. My parents don't live too far away. Half an hour with we are lucky concerning traffic, so we should be fine trying to get there. For the most part.'


With that, Theo progressed back into the house, making a motion for Sophie to follow him as he entered and made his way to the garage, where he opened the door to reveal a hideously cluttered room with an extremely nondescript car in the middle.

 

[Forlorn]

Traffic? The concept was but a faint memory, a speck of sand in a sea of recollections. Her parents never drive anywhere, they kept themselves-as well as their children- holes up in the same dismal apartment that reeked of smoke and filth. Scratching her head, Sophie shrugged unable to remember the meaning of the word. Filling Theo, she was greeted by a room littered haphazardly with items and random belongings. "Um, what even is this room?" She inquired

 

[vibrantsystem]

Theo smiled widely at the question regarding the room. 'This,' he said, inhaling deeply, 'is the garage. Or the junk room. Either or. There is some interesting stuff in here, but most of it utter rubbish,' he said, gesturing to one of the corners, where a large bookshelf could be seen. It seemed to have wine glasses on its shelves for some reason, along with a full bottle of wine. One Theo had never opened, even though he did have a taste for the alcoholic liquid. 'See that? Dunno why it is arranged like that. It just is. Anyway, do want to get in the car?' Theo asked, indicating the vehicle.

 

[Forlorn]

Sophie nodded, and waded her way through the sea of oddities to reach the car. Reaching the exterior, she dragged her fingers across the smooth metal, perplexed. She hadn't touched a vehicle such as this in years. Looking back at Theo intently, she beamed a bright smile at him. The odd contraption pleased her, due to it being so drastically different from nature. Yet at the same time a faint shudder ran through her, this was completely and utterly manmade-something she wasn't to keen on.

 

[vibrantsystem]

Theo cast a strange look at Sophie. She seemed pleased by the machine, even though she was one with nature, in the most literal sense of the term. It was really rather strange to see her acting in such a way around something so man-made.


'Do you like it?' Theo asked curiously, for the car wasn't of the highest quality ever. It got the job done, but there were plenty more nicer specimens out there in the world for Sophie to look at, if she found herself as a gear-head.

 

[Forlorn]

Sophie answered with her usual cheeky grin, her dimples showing as she looked at Theo. "Lets drive" She chirped, excited but a tad nervous. This would be the first time in a long while that Sophie was completely deprived of soil, the one key material to be able to use her powers. Running outside, she filled her kaki pockets with as much dirt as possible. She then ran back inside and grabbed Theo's hand. "Ok lets go!" She exclaimed happily as she dragged Theo towards the car.

 

[vibrantsystem]

Theo didn't even bother questioning what Sophie had in her pockets as she raced back in and grabbed Theo's hand. He knew what she had in them. Dirt. Of course. It was on her hands. But then again, Theo didn't mind. It was what she needed to use her power, so why couldn't she have it with her? If it comforted her, then why not? Why not let Sophie have it?


'Right then,' Theo said, sitting down and starting the car, causing a deep rumbling noise to sound from the vehicle. There was a small device on the dashboard, and Theo leaned forward, took it, and then proceeded to press the small button on it, causing the garage door to slide up.

 

[Forlorn]

Sophie screeched as the car rumbled, digging her fingernails into Theo's arm. Drawing them back, she mumbled "sorry" before grabbing onto the seat with all her might, fearing an imminent death. Once she realized the car rumbles wouldn't kill her, she calmed down and relaxed slightly. "Sorry, I forgot what it was like to ride in a car. Haven't been in one in like 12 years" she scratched her neck sheepishly, sporting an embarrassed grin

 

[vibrantsystem]

Theo sent a reassuring smile Sophie's way as her grin formed. 'Don't worry about it,' he said, turning to look out at the driveway. There didn't seem to be any cars going down the street Theo lived on, which was normal enough, but when they actually got out of the quiet suburbs, the traffic would no doubt pick up.


In an attempt at making light conversation, Theo drove out of the garage, closed the door, and then threw a question at Sophie, curious as to if she would answer this. 'Sophie?' He questioned. 'How old were you when you were bitten?'

 

[Forlorn]

Blaire gave him a nervous laugh before explaining. "I don't remember, to be honest. I was perhaps four or five?" She shook her head, watching the shapes wiz by around her. Outside was a blur of colors, it perplexed and astounded Sophie at the same time. "So tell me your life's story" she said, half joking.

 

[vibrantsystem]

Theo laughed slightly at this, pulling out of the driveway and onto the street. 'I do believe we've already had this conversation, but I'll oblige again, if you wish. My parents were...wealthy, to say the least, and I lived in a large house out in the countryside, where there no schools and whatnot. Because of that, I had a private tutor, who took me through school and such, before I was sent off to high-school. The problem was, I lacked any social skills, and didn't have any friends and had to be that weird lonely one. Not that I really cared, of course,' Theo paused, thinking. 'But I'm fine enough now, even if I do prefer to live on my own simply out of preference.' Theo ended, pulling out onto the main road.

 

[Forlorn]

Sophie scratched her head. She was flighty-extremely so-possibly from spending so many years inhaling noxious drug fumes. Looking over at Theo, she wondered how it felt to be in his position. To be unsure of your own parents' wellbeing. Then again, Sophie didn't give a rats-ass about her parents, they were long dead, which was well deserved.


"Ok, so how many mates have you had?" The question left sophies mouth before she could stop it. She muttered a curse under her breath, biting her lip at such stupidity. Why was she thinking of that anyhow? Why did she care? Sophie knew little about mating, only that wolves had very specific rituals. Only certain chosen ones could mate, and Sophie wondered if humans-or werewolves-had the same dynamics.

 

[vibrantsystem]

Theo laughed, once again at Sophie's question. It was an innocent question in essence, but she had made it sound rather strange. Curiously enough, she used the term "mate" rather than partner, which surprised Theo, as he would have thought she'd have referred to it as girlfriend and whatnot, due to being born as a human initially. Oh well, it wasn't really her fault.


'Well, none, actually,' Theo said causally, his eyes on the road. 'Nobody really bothered with me. I didn't bother with anyone else either. Hence the part about the "weird, lonely one" from earlier,' he paused. 'Sophie, have you ever had a "mate",' Theo asked, using the same terms as Sophie.

 

[Forlorn]

Sophie broke out in intense laughter. "When you're surrounded by only animals, the possibilities of finding a mate drop to zero. Well, there was this one buck…." Her voice trailed off, looking at Theo's horrified face. She burst into more rambunctious laughter. "Im kidding! Animals only mate with their designated species. Naturally, I'll do the same-or lack thereof" She spoke with a cheeky smile, her dimples reappearing. "And thats too bad you've never had one. I would have expected quite the opposite" Sophie stopped herself from further embarrassment, and fell silent.

 

[vibrantsystem]

Theo snorted, more out of surprise than laughter at Sophie's question. 'Really now?' He asked, his gaze locked at the road. 'What exactly are you suggesting? I feel like your hinting at something regarding my appearance,' he added with a sour face, casting a quick gaze a road sign the car had just passed. "Young Street" that road had been called. "What a pointless thing to look at. " Theo thought, brushing it away.


'So where did you live before you were bitten, Sophie?'