Heaven On Earth

[LILLIAN WILSON]

So, what did one do when they had money? Well, there wasn't much she was allowed to have at the Circo. She had tried. She wasn't allowed to order video games, she wasn't allowed to have a phone, she wasn't allowed to have a computer, so many 'not allowed'. Really, what harm would a video game do? She'd even take one of the old systems, the ones that didn't do anything /but/ play games.

So what had she done with her money? Lilly was laid out on the roof of the girl's flat, an old-fashioned camera in her hands. The kind that you had to shake the paper that came out to make the picture appear. She wasn't allowed a modern camera, and she wasn't allowed to take pictures of people without permission, but it didn't really matter. She didn't mind. With a laugh, she turned the camera on herself and made a funny face.

"I need someone else to take pictures of." She really did. She had taken six pictures of herself like that, though only two of them were her looking stupid. "Maybe I should take a picture of the big tent. Make a little scrapbook of the Circo..."

[ARTISAN KIM]

While the chimera was strictly forbidden to chase after the birds at the ranch, the pigeons on the roof were fair game. With a battle cry, he barreled down the slanted rooftop. He spread his arms wide, waving them up and down as he tried to keep his balance.

"HIYAAAAAAH!"

The pigeons took off just as Artie made a wild leap, landing in the midst of the flock...and loosing his balance. Shingles popped out as he slammed the heels of his bare feet against the roof, like he was using the break of a car.

He toppled over, head over heels, and did a somersault to the gutter. If he hadn't phased his fingers and toes into claws, and clamped them around the gutter, he would've fallen off the roof.

Then, he started laughing. It was a sweet laugh, one where he covered his mouth with his hands and tried to hold it in. Had he really almost fallen off the roof? Artie flopped backwards, arms spread like a snowangel.

Well, that was fun.

From his jacket, he pulled out a worn teddy-bear and tucked the toy under his arm.

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[LILLIAN WILSON]

What even happened? One moment she had been laying out on the roof, all alone, snapping pictures. And then suddenly, enter crazy boy. His battle yell startled the poor girl, sending her sliding a few inches till she managed to catch herself. "Hey!" She didn't stay angry for too long though. It just wasn't in her nature. And besides... He was kinda cute. One moment he was running and screaming and pouncing on pigeons, and then sliding and almost killing himself, and now he was laid out on the roof, hugging a very sad-looking toy.

He was obviously insane. It was a cute insane though, like a child or a puppy. Not bloody and slenderman-y. This was someone she wanted to meet. But first she had to take care of her new toy. The camera and the pictures were lovingly put in it's case, the strap fitted securely across her body. It would mean nothing if she fell to he honest, but what were the chances of that? She was certain she wouldn't fall, that's why she wasn't wearing shoes. She actually had more traction that way, even though the hot shingles kinda burned.

Lillian slowly got up, carefully making her way over to the new boy. "Hey there. I'm Lillian, but you can call me Lilly." So they toy was a teddy bear. A bear that looked like it really needed washed. And sewn. And replaced. But she wasn't going to mention it. No, she just wouldn't touch it. It was kinda gross.

[ARTISAN KIM]

Artie's eyes began at Lilly's feet and travelled upwards to her eyes, where he met her gaze. For some reason he felt...uncomfortable? Like he wanted to sit up straight, dust himself off, and hide his chew toy. Like he wished he'd yelled a few decibles less when chasing those pigeons. His cheeks flushed.

"You're pretty," he said.

Not-so-subtly, he stuffed the chew toy behind him. Why was he acting this way? What had gotten into him? "I'm Artie," he said.

The chimera felt a little warm...he pressed a hand to his forehead to check for a fever. Was he sick? He blinked at the girl in confusion. "I feel funny."

It felt like...a bunch of pigeons were fluttering in his belly. He presssed his palms against his stomach, thinking it'd silence whatever was in there. A pigeon he hadn't eaten all the way, perhaps?

Artie didn't understand it, but he'd just experienced the nervousness of talking to his first ever crush.

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[LILLIAN WILSON]

Lillian blinked. Maybe it was the way he had looked at her, but she suddenly felt very exposed. Which was strange. She didn't mind people seeing her feet, or her lightly tanned legs. Her once-jeans shorts were of a very decent length, and she was wearing a bra under her tank. So why did she feel like he was judging her? And then he said she was pretty, and her freckles were suddenly framed by a very red face.

Nervously, Lilly ran her hands through her ponytail, bringing it over her shoulder so she could play with the golden locks. "I-umm- Thank you?" She wasn't pretty, and he was insane. She liked her hair yeah, and the ever-spreading freckles were kinda cute, and she wasn't obese.... But she wasn't pretty. Of course, the fact that the seventeen year old had never been around a boy who wasn't intimidated by her physical skill didn't really help.

Heh. She preferred the jocks she cowed on the fields to the insane boy. They didn't make her feel self-conscious. Plus, it was hilarious watching them go from all macho to /did a girl just...beat me?/

And then Artie was acting like he was going to throw up or something. That was nice. She really didn't want to get thrown up on today.

So Lilly sat down where she was. Close enough to talk to him, but hopefully out of throw-up range. "Maybe you're a little sun sick." She had a little water bottle in the side pouch of her camera bag, and pulled out a granola bar from beside her newest toy. Both were handed over. "Here. It'll help."

[ARTISAN KIM]

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“I feel sick when I look at you...but I don't really care!” [/center]

Food?! His teeth shifted into sharp points suited for carnivores without Artie's conscious effort. Artie snatched the granola bar, tore the wrapper off with his teeth with a growl, and smashed the snack against his lips. The chimera ate like he was starving, swallowing the entire snack in two chews. He seized the bottle next, tilting his head back and chugging down the water within seconds. The bottle rolled out of his hand and right off the edge of the roof, not that Artie cared. He ate like...well, an animal.

Artie licked his lips contently, almost forgetting about the pretty girl next to him. When he saw a twirl of golden hair out of the corner of his eye, he turned -ever so slowly – to face Lilly. His teeth shifted back to normal immediately and his tail, which had been “thump-thumping” against the roof, froze. For the second time since their meeting, his face burned scarlet. “S-sorry,” he mumbled, “I forgot to lift my pinky.”

Jeez, did he have to be such an idiot? The chimera shied away from Lilly, no longer able to meet her gaze. She probably thought he was disgusting. Which normally, Artie wouldn't have a problem with. Let people think whatever they wanted to think.

But, Lilly was so pretty. He wanted to impress her. Oh gosh, he wanted her to think he was cool and suave. While his behavior was acceptable around a hybrid or fellow chimera, Artie knew that humans didn't like his...er...habits.


Artie held still, as though waiting to see if the water and granola bar made the “sickness” go away. But when it didn't, he shrugged his shoulders and turned to Lilly with a smile. “It didn't help,” he said cheerfully, “I still feel sick when I look at you, like I didn't chew a pigeon all the way and...and it's still fluttering in my belly.”

He cocked his head and smiled. “But I don't really care!”

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[LILLIAN WILSON]

That was fine. She hadn't wanted to keep the bottle. And she could just pick it up when she returned to earth. It wasn't like plastic could shatter or anything, and blowing into it would fix any dents. She didn't get a chance to be angry or disgusted though. "I forgot to lift my pinky." She couldn't help it. She laughed, sounding almost like she was dying as she tried to stop. She had no idea if it would offend him, and it definitely wasn't meant that way. It was just, what he had said, his insane impulses, it was funny. It was the funniest thing she had ever seen.

Nice. She was /pretty/, but she made him sick when he looked at her. He said it was like an uneaten pigeon... Did he know that from experience? Oddly, that didn't bother her. She had watched an oddity much on hay as if it was the most delicious thing on the planet.

And she may have tried some. It really wasn't that great. At all. And hay wasn't even the worst thing on the buffet table. On principle, she only ate the things she recognized.

A fluttering in his tummy. Lilly blushed again. Neither of them were going to stay pale for more than a few seconds it seemed. He had a crush on her. Why? She didn't even do anything. She literally just walked up to him, offered him water and food, and say down to talk to him. "Well, umm, I'm sorry you're feeling sick." She gave him a small smile, slightly tilting her head. Now that she knew he wasn't actually sick, she was kinda warming up to him.

She moved closer to him too. "So you're some kind of shapeshifter, right?"

[ARTISAN KIM]

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“That's MINE, stupid bird! Gimme!” [/center]

When Lilly laughed, the chimera sat up straighter. He wasn't quite sure what he'd done to make the pretty girl giggle, but he'd gladly do it again! Because he was feeling quite pleased with himself, his tail was wagging up a storm behind him. Occasionally it'd brush against the girl's legs or thud against her back by accident. And on his face was a grin that went from ear to ear.

“Actually, I'm a chim—Um, yeah. You can say that.”

Artie didn't know how a human would react to a synthetic being; he faintly remembered controversy over the entire procedure being unnatural. He also remembered how offended Carter had been when he'd mistaken him for a chimera. Did he really want to make the pretty girl with the bag of food go away? Plus, she was friendly...a trait that Artie liked most of all.

He changed the subject pretty quickly. “Were you chasing pigeons too?” he asked, “What were you--” Artie spun around as he heard the flap of feathers and the snap of thread. A pigeon picked off the eye of his teddy-bear, probably mistaking it for a berry or snack – and started taking off. “That's MINE, stupid bird!” shouted Artie, “Gimme!”

The chimera took off, making a wild leap for the bird. He missed the first time, the second time, but he propelled himself high enough the third time to snatch the pigeon right out of the air. Artie could've killed the bird easily, but for some reason...he felt like it might upset Lilly. He would settle for scaring the crap out of the creature.

Artie landed in a crouch, held the bird's wings to its body so it was helpless, and growled in its little face. He wrenched the button eye from the bird's beak and clenched the plastic part in his fist. “Dumb bird,” he muttered. The moment he released the creature, it took off flying and screeching.

Artie, however, trudged back to Lilly with a drooping tail. He plopped down besides Lilly and gathered his teddy, holding the torn eye where it used to go. Now, there was nothing there but a couple of frayed, discolored strings around a stained spot (looked like grape juice) on its head. “Oh, no...” Artie said softly, “He's broken.”

The chimera stared at the toy for a solid minute, seeming to be making an important decision. Suddenly, he thrust the bear into Lilly's arms. Now, it wasn't the type of thing anybody but Artie would want to hold. Stuffing was beginning to leak out of the stretched parts of the fabric, mysterious stains made the teddy's original coloring an enigma, the ears were chewed off at the ends, and it smelled like old dog slobber.

Still, the toy was important to Artie.

Hesitantly, he held out his fist and unfurled his fingers so Lilly could see the button resting on his palm.

“Can you fix him?”
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[LILLIAN WILSON]

Just as she was about to explain her camera, he took off. She spun around, eyes wide. One jump was a fail, and her heart jumped with him. He was going to fall. He had nearly done it once and he didn't have her power. His body wouldn't automatically curl correctly to fall without harm. A second time and she almost got to her feet, about to call for him. She had no idea why he was chasing the bird. Hungry maybe? He had yelled about something being his, but she had been so focused on him that she hadn't known the bird was so close. A third jump, an amazing jump she knew she wouldn't have been able to do, and he caught the bird.

He was going to kill it. She flinched a little, and watched in shock as he let it go. He had let the poor thing go. Why? Because she was sitting there? It was both sweet and sad. She didn't want him changing his insanity for her. He didn't even know her, not really. She wasn't someone he wanted to be around.

And then he came back, staring at his toy, and then thrust it in her arms. Her skin crawled and her first impulse was to throw it back. It was gross. It was all kinds of gross. But it was clearly important to the boy. Holding her breath, trying to touch it as little as possible, she slowly turned it over. Broken was an understatement. The poor thing looked like it had been run over over and over. Or a puppy had had it for years. Made sense.

She looked up, and carefully took the button from him. "Yeah, I can fix it. Do you want me to just put the eye on? I could probably wash it too, and patch up where the stuffing is coming out, if you want." She wanted to replace the whole thing, but he would probably notice. So she'd just wash and patch and it would look like a normal Aveira turned into a bear.

If he even gave her permission.

[ARTISAN KIM]

Artie brightened when Lilly said that she could fix it. But when she offered more than what he asked for, he was grinning so wide that his smile took up most of his face. She would do all that for him? Then, he flung himself at her. Artie looped his arms around the girl's body, squished their shoulders together, and pressed his cheek against her's. His cheeks were warm and ruddy from all the running he was doing in the heat, and his breathing patterns were still exhilarated.

“Thank you!” he said, sounding out-of-breath. He held position for what seemed like forever, then tilted his head so his nose brushed up and down the side of her neck. He stopped when he was close enough to Lilly's ear, he could talk into it: “Can I smell your hair?”

He wasn't trying to be a creep or anything. He was just...well, doing what any puppy would do. Artie's sense of smell was as important to him as normal humans regarded sight and hearing when identifying people. If he didn't know Lilly's scent in-depth, it would feel like he could only see half of her. In human terms, it'd feel like only seeing the upper half of someone's body or staring into a face that was missing an eye and a nose.

Hey, at least he'd asked permission.

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[LILLIAN WILSON]

She had just offered to fix the toy. Clearly, though, the toy meant a lot to him. She was swept into his arms, holding onto the nasty bear for dear life, almost unable to breathe. Did she struggle though? No. No, she didn't. She loved this. He held her close, and it almost felt like he nuzzled her. After a few heartbeats passed, she shifted and gentle hugged him back. She even relaxed and rested her head against his shoulder. Just like all the cute couples in the movies did. She didn't even care that he was sweaty, or apparently ate birds. She probably wasn't much better, the sweaty part at least. Everyone else fled to the watering hole or the buildings when it got hot and she just climbed up higher.

It was connections like this that she searched for so desperately. In his arms, she felt perfectly happy. Like her past didn't matter, her ability didn't matter. There was no way she could mess this up either, he was holding her far too tight. She wouldn't mess up, and he wouldn't go away, and he wouldn't hate her. As long as he kept holding her. So when he asked to smell her hair, even though it was such a strange request, she gave permission. She would have agreed to just about anything as long as he kept holding her.

"Yeah, yeah. You can." she murmured. He couldn't hold her forever though, could he? She closed her eyes, hiding her face against him. He'd have to let go of her sometime. And then she'd do something stupid. Maybe fall off the roof. But what could she say? Please carry her down? No. That was stupid. She took a deep breath. She was just being stupid. She wasn't going to fall. He was going to let her go, she was going to fix the toy, and she'd have the very bestest friend either.

What did she smell like? Her name was Lilly, but names didn't affect smell, right? What even affected smell? Emotions? What she's eaten? Her past? She had no idea, and she was far too shy to ask him.

[ARTISAN KIM]

Whether she'd meant to or not, Lilly had won Artie's undying loyalty. Artie was as affectionate as a young puppy; a few acts of kindness would win his heart over forever. He'd paid attention to her because she was pretty, but now, it wouldn't have mattered if she had a squid for a head. He liked her because of the sincerity of her actions, the fact that she'd approached him without fear, and that she didn't seem to judge his odd habits and quirks.

The chimera pressed his nose right behind Lilly's ear and started sniffing, moving up and down the side of her head as he breathed in. When he felt that he'd be able to identify her a mile away, Artie licked Lilly's cheek and let go. “Can you fix him right now?” he asked, “I'm coming with you, so I can watch.”

While Artie was okay with handed the teddy over to be fixed, he still didn't feel comfortable enough to have the toy out of his sight. What was it about that ratty old thing? He couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew that the teddy had been in his possession for ages. Without it tucked into his jacket or cradled in his arms, he felt naked. Someone...important had given it to him when he was young, but he just couldn't remember who. Those part of his memories were blocked for one reason or another, leaving the chimera stranded on a shattered past.

“By the way,” he added, almost like an after-thought, “You have a nice-person smell. Much different than Carter's smell – he's an-annoying-butthole-but-i-guess-he's-the-alpha-since-he's-more-aggressive-and cranky-than-me type of smell. ”

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[LILLIAN WILSON]

Lilly almost hadn't heard him. His sniffling in her ear, and the brushes of air and nose, was making her laugh. She was trying to hold it back so she wouldn't move though, which resulted in her shaking like an old woman. When he let go she finally started laughing and took a step away. She wasn't afraid of falling now. Just like the first few moments of the hug, she was happy. Bad things didn't happen to the happy Lilly, at least as long as others didn't cause them. And he wouldn't hurt her. If nothing else, she had the bear. He wouldn't risk hurting the bear.

Not that the bear could be hurt. What was she thinking? Maybe his insane was infectious, and he had just given it to her. Oh well. If it kept her happy, she would thankfully spend the rest of her life broken. She hadn't even notice he had licked her. A mouth filled with disgustingness and horror, and she had let him lick her. Yep. She had gone insane.

"Yeah, I can fix him now. I'll have to use some of my clothes, but I don't mind if you don't. I'm sure I can find something bear-like." Brown, soft, wouldn't be too hard. She liked natural colors and soft fabrics. And then the bear would smell like her, a nice-person smell. Oddly, it pleased her. She liked the thought of him carrying around a part of her.

She carefully carried the bear in one arm, the button firmly pressed against the palm of her hand. She'd cry if she lost even the smallest bit of stuffing. "And when I'm fixing him, I can use the old pieces of him to make him more stuffing. That way he's the same, just a little changed. Is that okay?" It wasn't like she carried around a bag of stuffing and fabric. She just had a little sewing kit, since the Circo frowned on wastefulness. As it should.

She held her hand out to him. "I'll have to sneak you into the girl's dorm, but since it's daytime I don't think anyone would really care."

[ARTISAN KIM]

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“Oof!” [/center]

An answer didn't come quickly; the complete reconstruction of his beloved plaything was a serious matter for the chimera to consider. Eventually, he gave Lilly a solemn nod so she'd know that he'd accept whatever procedures she deemed necessary. He couldn't see the harm in letting Lilly do her own thing, especially since he'd be right there watching to make sure everything went smoothly. Teddy-bear surgery was serious business.

Once their fingers were intertwined, – with Artie perhaps applying a little too much pressure – the chimera swung their hands back and forth. He followed Lilly off the roof and paid heed to the edges. Even if he had different shifting abilities, he was still as fragile as any animal. One twisted ankle could put him out for the count.

When they arrived into the room, Artie dropped their hand-holding and made a bolt for the bed. He threw himself into it, landing face first in to comforters and pillows. “Oof!” he said, voice muffled, “Hey! Your bed smells like nice-person too!”

He laid in the bed for awhile, hugging the comforter instead of a teddy-bear for a change. “Do you like being human?” he asked suddenly, “What's it like?”

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[LILLIAN WILSON]

She liked him holding her hand. The reaction was not as strong as the hug, of course, but the same feeling of contentment washed over her. They walked almost quietly off the roof and Lillian didn't slip once. She couldn't slip. Though she was not in her working phase, her body reacted just as she needed it to. She stepped in the right places, her feet turned the right way, her toes griping when needed, and through it all she held his hand. She knew she was going to be just fine, and so she was.


They got to her room without a problem, and before she'd even looked around he was gone. The sense of loss was dramatic. She seemed to almost jerk, taking the direction he had gone, before her mind kicked back into gear. She had almost looked like her heart had been ripped out, but instantly her smile returned. He was just throwing himself onto her bed, declaring it smelled like a good person too. "Well, I should hope so! It's my bed. And yes, you have permission to lay on it." She was teasing him of course. He could have infested her room with fleas and she wouldn't have cared.

Why was she so attached to him suddenly? Other people had shown her kindness too, and she had made many friends. But... it was kinda like when she was with her coaches. She wanted so desperately to make him happy, to keep him near her and keep him being kind. Why? She had never felt that drive with anyone else. Not her parents, not her teachers, not the few friends she had made. So why now? Why with this boy who didn't have a mean bone in his body? He was nothing like the coaches...

He asked her what it was like being human. She wasn't exactly the best person to ask but, from what she had seen, she had had the most experience being human around here. Lilly stepped into the room and set the bear on her desk before turning to face him. Her room was so bare, almost lacking any personality. The sheets were her favorite color of course, a nice blue, but they weren't her blankets from home. The Circo had taken the things she had brought from home, and was slowly giving them back to her. It was to keep others from being jealous of her past life, of the things she had and they didn't.

"Well, I don't really know Artie." she murmured softly. She sank down to sit in her desk chair, thinking over her words carefully. "I was born to two parents, a father and a mother. And they loved me very much. I loved them too, but..." How was she supposed to explain this to him? She rested her head on her arm, which was draped across the back of her chair. "My mom, she had things wrong in her head. She needed things to be perfect. And when they weren't, she got really really sad."

She closed her eyes, trying to remember. "And my father, he got very angry sometimes. Maybe it was because of all the stress, but sometimes he would hit me. Only when I really deserved it, but it hurt." She took after her mother in the mind aspect, and sometimes she was thankful for that. She didn't want to be angry all the time. But sometimes...the depression wasn't a good thing, nor was the drive for perfection. One warm brown eye opened, focusing on the shapeshifter as if to make sure he was still there.

"My powers, I've had them since I was a child. They allow me to do things other people can't. When I want to do something, I can do it. But I have to believe that I can. That's caused me a lot of problems. The human world is built around breaking people down. Breaking them down, and making yourself better. People were jealous of my power. I played a lot of games and was very good at them with only half the effort everyone else used. So they were jealous of me. They tried to break me down with their words, to make me less than them, so they felt better about themselves."

She was trying to explain things simply, so that he would understand. She turned the chair to face him, and after a moment, she took a deep breath and lifted her shirt. Not enough to show her bra of course, just her abdomen. Her muscles were well defined, but not just from work and her gift. Every single was traced with a scar, as if the skin had split for the muscles to grow. She lowered her shirt. "And sometimes, their words got to me. I wanted to be their friend, and my body wouldn't let me. I couldn't do the games anymore, because their words always echoed in my head. I had lost the belief that I could play. So what use were my muscles? I started with the ones no one could see, and I tried to cut them out of me."

Why was she telling him this? Not even her parents knew that story. It was fine though, he didn't know all of the stories either. And he wouldn't. She just needed to tell him this one, so that she could answer his question. She didn't look at him again though. "Being a human isn't a good thing, and it never will be. I like the Circo better, being an oddity. People don't hate me for what I can do here, and now I've met you."