Suggested changes: {before : after}
On Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:09:47 -0800 Brian Randall <brian@azurite.org>
wrote:
"You're one to talk," Motoko grumbled, as Ranma trembled, wide-eyed, in
fear of the mewling kitten.
Unusually rapid turnabout.
"Oooh, Ranmas like Motokos," Suu observed. "Now I can create a breeding
program!"
That would be delicious.
"Um... no, that would be a bad idea," Ranma insisted, shaking her head.
"A really bad one. Anyway, on with today's lesson."
I'm sure that *really* caught Suu's attention.
"So you've had this thing for fifteen years?" Keitaro asked, {eyeing : eying} the
stuffed creature appraisingly.
"That's more like it!" Ranma cheered, vaulting off after the creature.
She rebounded from a light pole, and landed before the lobby {to : of} the
building, barely beating Tamago there. The turtle landed on her shoulder
and chirped gratefully.
Ranma nodded, remembering when she'd seen her picture in Naru's room.
"Nice to meet you," she replied, smiling back. This girl radiated a
sense of tranquility and peace that Ranma found soothing. Her expression
was calm, and her smile spoke of near permanence. Tamago reached up from
her shoulder and brushed back her straw hat, granting Ranma a nice view
of her long, dark hair, braided loosely. While Mutsumi retrieved her
hat, Ranma realized she had been staring. "Um... sorry, my name is Oe
Ranma."
What of the bumps on her head that also speak of near permanance from
her continual fainting? :}b
Ranma said nothing for a moment, {eyeing : eying} Mutsumi thoughtfully. "You can
understand what the turtle says?" she finally asked.
"Oh, of course not, that would be silly!" the young woman giggled.
"Just like a curse would be?" Ranma asked.
"Exactly."
That actually makes sense. Sort of.
"Er... okay." Sighing, he looked up as Tamago drifted over to pat him
on the head before returning to Mutsumi's shoulder. "This way, Otohime."
She followed dutifully for the entire sixty-yard {treck : trek} to the base of
the stairs leading up to the inn. Keitaro and Naru -- along with the
other assembled tenants -- met them there, the entire gang skidding to
an awkward halt to stare in confusion.
Why didn't Ranma change into a girl again before returning to Hinata-Sou?
"We thought that Tamago had run off before we could have our final
confrontation," Suu supplied, {eyeing : eying} the turtle suspiciously.
Naru nodded, holding up a pamphlet. "It says here that when a turtle
stops flying, they're ready to mature," she said, pointing to a picture
of a turtle assaulting what looked like the Japanese Self Defense Force.
"Turn the page," Ranma suggested.
Naturally Ranma would be especially aware of the need to read the
entire book.
"It looks easy enough," Ranma said, {eyeing : eying} Mutsumi's collection of
empty glasses. "Heck, I could probably do that." Signaling the waiter to
pour him a third drink, Ranma quickly downed his first two, and then
chased them with the third when the waiter brought it by. He stared
around for a moment, then nodded. "I thought I could do it." Shaking his
head slightly, he turned his attention to Mutsumi. "So you moved into
the area just for the test?"
"Trick I picked up from my wife," he groaned. "Just after she taught me
how to track." He brushed a hand through his hair, tugging at his
{bandana : bandanna}, then opened one eye, and glanced across the table. "Wait. Did I
say that aloud? Damn, my head hurts."
"For obvious reasons," Naru muttered. "Really, Keitaro, is your
attention span that short?"
"Huh?" he asked blankly. "What are you talking about?"
Ah...
"His synch rating is over four hundred percent!" Suu exclaimed, waving
a small hand-held computer in one hand, a white lab coat fitting loosely
about her shoulders as she dashed into the room. "He's gone berserk!"
Five yard penalty for gatuitous NGE reference.
"Oh," Ranma said quietly, adjusting the fit of her {bandana : bandanna}, then
scratching behind one ear nervously. "I should have come clean on that a
while ago, I guess," she admitted, grinning ruefully. "Um... when I was
a kid, my... father... thought it would be a good idea for me to learn
the technique, so he tossed me into a pit for training." She shuddered
at that, shaking her head. "Uh, anyway, if I go... like that... again,
you can usually get me out of it by triggering my curse. Otherwise, I'll
usually calm down and let someone pet me... then it just takes an hour
or so to wear off."
"So I noticed," Haruka observed, suddenly looming over Ranma's
diminutive form, her voice much more dire than Ranma's. She looked down
at the redhead, cracked her knuckles, and said, "Please don't let that
happen again."
Ranma's eyes widened slightly, and she backed away quickly. "Won't
happen again," she said swiftly, shaking her head.
"These aren't the droids we are looking for."
He flipped off the power line, landing on the street on both feet, and
wiped a faint sheen of sweat from his forehead. "Man, I'm glad Aniki
sent all my stuff," he said, {eyeing : eying} the metallic bands on his arms with
a grin. "These things are great!"