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Chapter 2:

Dominic:

(Mon)17/11/2008 7:45am

'annoyed, annoyed, annoyed, annoyed, annoyed, annoyed, annoyed, annoyed, annoyed,.... '

'Well, some sadistic part of me is awake enough to keep the rhythm'. Having caught on to this my head started to use insults to keep the time instead.

'shut-up, piss-off, go-die, in-a-hole, a-very, deep-hole, and-get-eaten, by-a-wale, ..., ..., buy, a-whale, a-dollar, ninety-nine, at-your-local, convenience-store...'

I managed to finally find the alarm in my draw and unceremoniously turn the thing off.

" ... good, that was getting weird, even for me." I sighed as I dragged the covers off my still unresponsive body. 'Aww... What's wrong scaly?, too much of a freak for even you to handle, hm?'.

It's always a pleasure to wake up to a dick of an alter personality. I actually thought about giving him a name once, you know? like you would an imaginary friend, until I realised that; one I was eighteen..., two he was an internal part of me, impossible to separate from the rest so in essence the most fitting name was already taken and three that was exactly what he was, an 'imaginary friend', except replace the 'friend' part with 'huge ass-hole'. In the end I decided that he didn't deserve a name beyond what ever insult I felt like throwing at him at the time. At this point however I was too tired to give a damn. 'speaking of which...'

I turned my body so I was sitting on the edge of my bed, my tail still giving flicks of annoyance before reaching in and dragging out the battery operated alarm clock, squinting through the tired in my eyes in attempts to see the time until I realised that the room was too dark for me to see it unless I used the 'glow in the dark feature'. After pushing the required button, all I could manage to do was growl and flop back on the bed.

"So that's what? Forty minutes of sleep... Why do I even bother going to bed any more?", I got out of bed and went towards the door where the light switch was. 'I hate this part'. Knowing the fact however still wasn't enough to stop the involuntary hiss escaping my maw when I flicked the light switch on. I took a brief glance around my plain room and its contents and suppressed a snort. 'No, really, a teenager lives here, can't you tell by the vast quantities of ... I don't know ... wall space?' Baring the dresser/wardrobe that held my clothes and miscellaneous items, the bed and the small laptop/desk set-up in the corner of the room (next to what used to be my window), my room had nothing to tell anyone of who or what lived here, I mean isn't that what normal teens do? Express themselves by using their rooms as a sort of canvas? To show those who enter what they consider to be important to them? 'and just who exactly would even want to enter here?'

Not caring to engage in conversation with myself, I dragged my tail over to my dresser and attached three quarter length mirror suppressing another sigh. _'with the amount of crap your putting on, anyone would think your a depressin-' "_Oh fuck off brain!". The image in the mirror might have actually come across as frightening if it didn't look like a pre-pubescent whelp, still if there was one thing that I wouldn't change about my self it would be my physical appearance.

From my three straight ivory horns sitting on my head, to my nicely shaped tail, the varying shades of light grey scales (currently covered stray hair and fluff) , and the light but strong membrane that covered my wings, none of it dis-pleased me. I could honestly say that even the 'more fox' parts of me I liked from the two and a half foot long jet black hair to my modestly size sheat- 'pfft... just like a dragon to be vain'.

"So what? First I'm too depressing and now I think too highly of my self? Can't I have just one thing that I don't hate about myself, or is that too much to ask?", 'quit the whingeing drake, it's breakfast and I'm hungry, do something arround those lines instead of carring on like a hatchling'.

"DOM... ARE YOU UP?!?"

'As if half the street isn't now... well considering what's going to happen today I should hardly be surprised'

In my lethargic mind state I almost walked straight into my grandmothers bedroom before realising that I had yet to put any clothing on.

"I'd never live that one down" I grumbled as I shuffled back towards my dresser to grab and put on my underwear and jeans and contemplated whether or not to put a shirt on... "eh... I've been walking around shirtless half my life, if she had any objections she would have said so before now, besides it can hardly be my fault that shirts are a bitch to put on or that there are not enough winged furs left in the world for innovators to care to provide an alternative, hell, it's more common to have your wings surgically removed now then to actually keep them, I'm still yet to meet a winged fur that can actually fly, even the avians"

When I finally did walk into Monica's bedroom I was greeted to what I was every morning; quiet right-wing talk back radio, the hum of the battery charger connected to a electronic wheelchair, a oxygen machine set to its second highest level and a hospital style bed containing a heavy breathing (thus the oxygen machine), short, over-weight tan and white fox looking expectantly at the door to her room waiting for her grandson to help her out of bed to start the new day.

'Analysis: annoyed, impatient (though trying to hide it) & in the processes of planing'

I tried to give my warmest smile as I went and turned off the radio alarm, though I have the feeling that it probably came off more as a grimace rather then the caring smile that I wanted to convey, trying to remind myself that it isn't her fault that she is so ill, 'or that she has a prick as a carer'.

"Do you want me to put the kettle on before I get you up or do you need to go through the morning routine first?" I asked as I opened the blinds to let some light into her room.

Her expression softened slightly when the thought of coffee was implied but that only really dealt with her impatience, not her annoyance which pretty much confirmed what she was annoyed about as well as what it was she was planing.

"No, could you help me to the bathroom and get my change of clothes first, then I'd appreciate the coffee thanks mate".

I nodded as I went over to her wheelchair, unplugged it and drove it over to Nan's bed, as Monica fiddled with the bed's controls and got her self mentally prepared for getting into the wheelchair. I often wondered at the actual effectiveness that I had at anything regarding physical care when it comes to my grandmother. To put this into perspective I'm extremely light for my size, not including my horns I just breach five foot nine and have a total mass of only fifty-six kilograms giving me a body mass index of about eighteen (twenty-two being optimal), my grandmother on the other paw has a BMI of forty-two point five... So lets just say that (at least in my mind), the idea of my physical 'help' can sometimes seem outlandish to say the least, but she insists that it helps so I'm happy to oblige.

After about a minute of struggling on both of our parts, Nan finally was in her chair and heading off to the bathroom, I grabbed the appropriate clothing and followed her. This part we had down pat by now, we came to the conclusion long ago that it would be easiest to do the clothing change during her transition between the chair and the toilet since that possess was a pain anyway but not overly strenuous, there was actually very little I had to do as all she ever wears are random assortments of dresses, just the last parts of taking off and the first parts of putting on the clothes was the full extent of my services in this part... well besides helping her to actually stand up.

With Nan safely back into the chair, she went back into her bedroom, probably to roll her self her days worth of smokes, as I went into the kitchen to make breakfast coffee for us both... As the kettle was taking its sweet time my mind started to wonder to what the day was expected to entail when I herd a sound that I wasn't expecting from my bedroom... my ringtone. Intrigued that I was even getting a call let-alone at this hour in the morning I decided to investigate. By the time I got to my phone I was too detracted by trying to answer it preventing my usual glance to see who was calling ... big mistake.

"HEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!!"

'Good God... really?' I flinched and held the phone at arms length until my over enthusiastic caller had to stop for a breath... thankfully raccoons aren't generally known for their air intake.

"Come on Lewis. It's not even eight yet and you expect me to conjure any sort of positive response with that greeting?" I stated, holding my head in my claws hoping to stave off the oncoming headache from the outburst.

I knew from the snicker in the background, and the distant hum of a motor that this conversation probably wasn't going to get easier for my ears. Lewis is actually quite a shy fur normally but easily excitable, the fact that I herd who I suspected was Michael and a car motor in the background I could guess why he was acting this way at the moment.

"Michaelgothisprovisionallicenceandweareonourwaytosorrentotogotothebeachwanna'come?"

'holy crap... no breath for that one'

"Umm, I have an idea, how about you put me on loud speaker so I can talk with someone who speaks a language I am capable of understanding."

I herd Lewis blow a raspberry as a response before answering. "Fine, grumpy scales your on loud speaker".

"Finally, hey there Mitch congrats'."

Michael sounded quite amused, "you mean you actually caught that gibberish?, - HEY Lu! I'm kinda driving here!"

That transition made me smile a little. "He's pouting now isn't he?"

"Yep."

Lewis interrupted "you just wait till this car stops-"

As much as this was some what entertaining I still had quite a bit to do, so I decided to move this conversation on a bit. "Anyway, I caught most of it, you want to fill me in after the licence part."

"Yeah, Umm, Lu and I are heading your way to go to the beach and were wondering if you want to join us."

'If you asked me this tomorrow...'

"Heh, I know this is a common thing with me guys and I'm sorry but probably not. I've got a few family issues to handle at the moment and I'm meeting up with someone later today... look I'll tell you what, if the guy doesn't object I can suggest meeting up at Koonya for lunch, it isn't likely but, well, does that work?"

It sounded as if Lewis was going to argue but Michael was faster. "That little store on the corner of the round-a-bout right?, alright if we don't here from you after about one then we'll assume you can't make it that good with you Dom?"

"Sounds like a plan, ok I got to go guys, enjoy the freedom" I was trying to sound enthusiastic for them, I don't think they received more then a light growl though.

"WE BETTER SEE YOU!!!"

A gave a slight chuckle as I hung up the phone, and returned to the kitchen to see the kettle had finally stopped boiling. I made our coffee's (Nan's double strength and my improvised mocha), and steeled myself for the conversation that I was about to have with Nan.

'you know what is waiting on the other side of the door right?, if you want to get anywhere with her today just ignore it and get straight to the point'

'Predictable' there was my grandmother; door closed (until I opened it obviously), window closed, oxygen machine running and smoking her heart out. The most annoying thing about it isn't even the fact that she does it (it does worry me, but I suppose it only carries a small risk of blowing the house up), it's the fact that she knows it annoys me and she doesn't seem to care, she just says that nothing is going to happen no matter who tells her otherwise and keeps doing it. At least she allows me to turn it off when we have visitors now, ever since her doctor that does the house calls refused to come back unless she stopped doing it whenever he visits.

I placed Nan's coffee on the desk in front of her and took a seat on the corner of her bed taking my first of what was going to be a very long drink as I knew that there was going to be more talking then anything else. I decided to wait until she finished her smoke and had a couple of muzzle fulls of coffee before I started though.

"So I finished your packing last night and got in contact with the nursing home and everything is set for your visit-"

"Dom, I'm not going"

'Well.. at least she isn't going to play the ignorance card this time, that's a good start' We had this argument every time the school holidays came around. Before I started caring for Nan, we both set forth conditions of my becoming a caretaker, there were not many from either of us, hers were all along the lines of what she expected from me while I was caring for her. Mine on the other paw were the opposite outlining what it was I expected outside the lines of care, ranging from my 'on-the-clock' hours (baring emergencies) and respite care periods (this is our current argument), to what I just couldn't do for her outside the realms of care (lending her money for smokes is one moral issue I have. Sure I'm a smoker as well, but I refuse to help someone who I have promised to care for to further harm themselves for the sake of a addiction).

I took a small sip of coffee to try and help defuse my annoyance of the situation, before I decided to continue. "And why are you refusing to go?"

"Because, I had a look at our finances and we just can't afford it this time".

'Good, starting on a easy one'. "Ok first, you know... better then I do that the government offers to pay for my respite-"

"No they subsidise back for the amount that we spend there, I just don't have the initial lump sum to make such a payment"

"That's not a problem.-" I said with a small sigh. This argument of hers was about to fall through so I took the time to think of what she would use next. She had tried this line of argument successfully back at the beginning of the year, it wouldn't have been a problem if the week before she spent most of the savings on buying a T.V. on E-bay and I'm lucky to walk away from each week breaking even. Since then I had taken on a little bit of tutoring in Mathematics and PDSSS for the year ten students going for their HSC during my free periods and lunch at school and had able to put most of the savings aside. "-I've already taken care of the initial costs, so this time instead of you getting the payment back I will"

'Analysis: Shock, Irritation.'

"Oh, well, what about the taxi to get there? That costs just as much-"

"-that's been arranged too, you wont be going by taxi-"

"-In other words you roped someone in to do it-"

"-No, it was offered, and I'll be paying the person back with a day of labour-"

"-so you would prefer to work for someone else then for me?"

'There we are, I was wondering how long the manipulation would take to kick in' I shook my head, 'Really Dom? Your so cynical that you automatically expect the worst now? We both know that isn't the case just press on logically as you have been doing'

"Look Nan you know that isn't the case, I hate to keep saying this but if I was in this for any other reason then general care I'd be foolish to continue looking after you. If I financially motivated I'd go and get a trade or other full time job, if I was after a stable living circumstance while I finish school I'd go back and live with Mum."

"OK, OK, I get it Dom!" she sighed and slumped in her chair. "Can't you just have your respite here I won't ask you to do anything-"

"We've tried that Nan remember? When ever I try to head out, something happens like you getting your oxygen tube stuck in the wheelchair, or when your up and walking you overcompensate your balance and fall on your walker. It always ends up that I have to take more care of you when I'm on respite then I do normally."

"But-"

We were interrupted by a knock at the front door, I knew this was going to happen soon and frankly I was grateful for the interruption, these talks usually went on for an hour or two, I was happy that it wouldn't be the case this time. I slowly got up and made my way to the door as Monica reached over her desk to get another smoke. As I opened the door I remembered that I would likely be greeting two furs, one about my age... I hesitated slightly remembering that I'm not usually good at meeting furs around my age, though I finally snapped out of it enough to open the door.

'Analysis: excitement, amusement and concern"

I provided the newcomers with a polite if slightly tired and nervous growl. "Good timing Dave..."

I then turned my attention to the shorter, younger yoshi hybrid.

'Analysis: curiosity, surprise and ... and ... I'm not sure ... definitely something positive though and ... warm?...' 'well? Don't just stand there drake, at least pretend you have some social capability'

I shock my head slightly to clear the thoughts, "Ahh, you must be Gib, please come in", I gave Gib another quick glance as I opened the screen door to let the visitors in. 'The poor guy doesn't know what to think, what the hell did Dave tell him about me before they came here today? That I was some random two hundred kilo old guy that ate cubs for breakfast...'

As I let the yoshies into the house, I passed the power point where Nan's extra long oxygen machine cord was plugged in, turned it off and started to think how I was going to juggle the situation of getting Nan to go with Dave to the nursing home with as little fuss as possible.

I was broken out of my thoughts by Dave speaking, "Thanks Dominic, but if you don't mind me saying, you look like crap, did we just wake you up bud?"

'Analysis: pure shock'

"Dad really? He welcomes us into his home and the first thing you do is insult him?"

I couldn't help but chuckle, 'Well at least he hasn't been told anything about my personality, that's good, I can destroy any good first impressions on my own thanks'. "Heh, don't worry about it Gib, normally I'd return the favour, but my mind isn't completely with me at the moment-", I stated this while I looked over myself and saw that I was still shirtless, and realising that not only had I not done anything about my hair but my eyes were probably still blood shot from the lack of sleep.

"-though it seems that Dave's observation isn't exactly unwarranted, I'll go and make my self more presentable, please make your selves comfortable I should only be a sec'" I started to make my way into my room when I felt a paw stopping me.

"Umm, Dom?"

"Yeah Dave?"

'Analysis: serious concern, determination','I don't like where this is headed' I decided to act before he could ask the question on his mind.

"She is in her room."

"Handy, but not exactly what I wanted to know"

I turned away as to not give any hints as to what I was felling at this point, I didn't want to talk about it, I wanted to forget about it. "... I know it isn't" I sighed, " Look Dave I appreciate what your going to do, and I know that I'm not going to talk you out of it but please don't let pity enter the conversation she doesn't understand it and I don't need it, ultimately it is her call". Thankfully Dave let me go and get dressed and he went off to talk to Monica.

After a minute of struggling with a shirt, roughly combing my hair and putting some drops into my eyes, I decided I was now presentable enough to attempt to entertain the remaining yoshi in my living room, before I did I gave Nan's room a quick look in to see if she had finished her smoke (she had) so I'd know if I could turn her oxygen machine back on. After doing so I returned to the living room to the poorly hidden watchful eyes of the yoshi that currently inhabited it.

'Analysis: ...... again, I can't tell, the surprise is still there though... or returned'

"Sorry about that, shirts and I don't tend to get along that well, so at home I don't usually bother with them."

Gib seemed pleasantly amused by this statement and seemed to relax a little. "Heh, I can't say that I wouldn't be the same if I were in your position, but I got to ask, can you actually fly?"

I was slightly taken back from the question, not because I was angry or annoyed but because Gib was direct enough to ask. Generally such questions were avoided like the plague (though I never exactly understood why, I think it has something to do with pride especially among dragons), I have to say though it's nice to have someone be so direct. Gib though got a little worried by my not so well hidden reaction and started to apologise before I stopped him.

"Hey, it ok, I prefer it when furs are direct, I have yet to meet a fur that has been able to insult me so don't worry about it. To answer your question though, I should be able to in theory but no I can't and... I don't know if I'll ever attempt it.-"

'Analysis: relief, confusion'

"-and to answer your next question, it's possible in theory due to both my bodies physical proportions, (wingspan being over two times my hight, and my legs and feet being just the right size with my tail to work as a sort of rudder) and the fact that like a lot of avians I'm extremely light for my size mainly due to the fact that most of my bones appear to be hollow. However the reason I probably will never attempt flight is due to the fact that it would be extremely dangerous to try as I'd need to jump off a forty foot cliff or be towed behind a car going around sixty kilometres to get the required start, and safety precautions like a cushion to break my fall in the cliff scenario would be pointless if the attempt starts to work but my body gives out part way through, which is how the last guy who tried it died."

Gib seemed to physically begin to relax again, but not before smiling and shaking his head slightly.

I couldn't help a small smile myself glad that the c-... yoshi... didn't seem to be put off by my actions yet. I looked around for my for my coffee which had somehow migrated to the kitchen counter, after this I realised that I hadn't offered my visitor anything to drink, it only took a glance however to notice that he probably wasn't interested, "I'd offer you something, but I get the feeling that you'll just decline, if that changes at all though just ask". The response from that statement was interesting, most people are shocked or annoyed after I do something like that for the first time, instead he seemed amused, he started chuckling lightly before I asked him playfully, "What?".

Gib, (still smiling) tilted his head slightly, "Just realising something dad told me earlier something along the lines of there seems to be little point lying to you."

That statement got me a little worried. "Oh, well, please, if I'm making you uncomfortable-"

"Not really, just a little surprised is all, but I'm wondering if you could tell me a little about yourself".

I had to think carefully about this one, I didn't know if Gib knew it yet but he and I were going to be spending a bit of time together in the future. Ever since I started care for Monica, David insisted that I spend some of my respite periods with him and after spending most of the last one at home, we arranged that I spend most (if not all) of this one at his house, we actually got into an argument over that as I found out later that Gib was actually moving in and I felt it rude to impose. I wouldn't be surprised if Dave hadn't told Gib at this stage, so I thought it best to stick around mutually accepted topics as not to insult or anger the yoshi.

"Quid pro quo?". I asked with a sheepish grin, hoping not to alert the yoshi to the seriousness I took the questions, relieved when it seemed to work though he did seem a little nervous about the proposal.

"Sure Hannibal". Gib chuckled.

I smiled darkly, 'I knew he thought I ate Anthro Furs....'

What followed was a genuinely fun and relaxing talk with a pleasant, entertaining, and interesting Fur. We found out that that we actually had a lot in common, that both of us would actually be going to the same school at the end of the holidays and actually share most of our classes together (unfortunately [or luckily depending on ones point of view I suppose] we would be the two oldest furs there as, Gib was forced to redo year twelve and I had to take a year off school two years ago when Monica's health was particularly bad...), that we shared our interest in music (Gib apparently had been classically trained since he was about seven in piano and can play a little clarinet, while I dabble a little with piano and violin though all of my experience was self taught and I cant read music to save my life...) and we both enjoy a wide variety of sports, (though I enjoy a little of indoor cricket and softball I tend to stick to the more non-team sports while Gib almost always sticks to teams) on top of this we both seemed to enjoy computer and 'nerdy' games like first person shooters, RPG's and Magic: the Gathering, just not to the same extreme extent where you spend every waking available hour playing them like some. The conversation wasn't just restricted to the shallow likes and dis-likes either, we also talked happily about more in-depth things like politics and philosophy, happily agreeing and enforcing each other on issues we agreed on and respectively disagreeing (yet for the most part I still found intriguing Gib's points of view) on the parts we didn't.

What I enjoyed most about the conversation however was when a topic came up that we were not comfortable answering neither of us felt awkward when we said we we would prefer not to answer it, (this only really happened around the topics of my caring for Monica and Gib's reasons for his move to Melbourne, though families and relationships in general were never mentioned. I didn't really want to say much on the topic and I guess Gib didn't either.) when ever this happened we'd just apologise and move on, it was a good free flowing conversation all round and something I didn't know I was genuinely missing out on, just having someone similar but different to talk to... it was actually really nice.

We were in what I considered to be a relativity interesting and amusing conversation on wither or not religion should be taught in public schools, (interesting due to the fact that Gib grew up in a catholic environment and was currently having big issues with his own grasp on religion [for what reasons he didn't say]. I on the other paw grew up in a very anti-religion environment but considered my self to be very much a Christian. The reason I found it amusing though was he was all for the notion, while I was totally against it) this was when David came back out into the living room with Monica close in toe.

'Analysis: Shame'

'... Analysis: Shame'

They had the same felling but very different variations of it and it stemmed from very different places. I have to say, after seeing both of them like this I think only Gib was void of the emotion. I knew what this meant... poor Dave was going to have a hour and a half drive of very awkward silence.

I stood up and sighed, I looked out the window to see that it had started to rain heavily which actually relieved some of the tension I had. I looked at my phone and was a little happy to see a text from Lewis saying that they were postponing their beach trip to later in the week, glad that I wouldn't be pissing anyone else off today I looked back to David and Monica.

"... Well I'll go and get the other chair and portable oxygen tank then..."