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Floyd Fletcher

Floyd Fletcher

@birdybirdnerd 5 months ago

((I wanna say HI to new ppl that joined after I disappeared, I wanna say HI to everyone I missed, I guess here's a good a way as any to hastily explain Floyd's long and sudden absence from the Society))

“Thanks again for, for everything!” Floyd called back as he trot away from the moored ship. He waved, and the sailor waved back, a fond smile on his rough face.

Floyd looked up at the city and sighed, throat feeling only a little off at the return to the smoggy city, away from the salt-tinged air of the sea. He shifted the bag slung over his shoulder that held all the supplies and notes and samples he’d taken during his impromptu journey, pulling it over his head so it was strung diagonally across his back, and set off back towards the Society.

He hadn’t planned on disappearing so suddenly, or for so long. Not three weeks after his arrival at the Society of Arcane Sciences, he’d heard about a research trip a local museum was doing to the wilds of South America. He’d heard mention of rare birds, specimens sighted after nearly a century of thinking they were extinct, and he acted without thinking.

He initially stowed away on the ship they were taking, but got caught pretty early on. Floyd liked to think he could be sneaky, but he couldn’t. He really couldn’t.

Good thing he was easy to pass off as a homeless orphan five years younger than he actually was, or he’d be worried they might turn around and bring him right back. It’s not that he didn’t want to go back to the Society- in fact, he was happier there than he’d ever remembered being anywhere! He just wanted to see some birds, and do some studying. He was supposed to be a scientist, darnit, but all he’d done was draw and talk and climb things he wasn’t supposed to climb.

So he disappeared without telling anyone.

...that was more dramatic than he’d meant it to be, to be honest.

But now, after over a year of wandering around South America and drawing strange birds and following archaeologists and getting lost, he was back home.

Home. That had a lovely ring to it, it did.

He’d had to take an entirely different ship home, as after wandering off during the expedition for a week, he’d come back to camp only to find the others gone without him. It’s probably why it took him so long to get back to England anyways; it took a month or two of hiding around port cities until he could sneak onto another Europe-bound ship that didn’t turn around and drop him back off.

But he was back, and he was tired, and he was definitely looking forward to some lamb pie and a nap. And a bath.

Some time later, Floyd trudged up the stairs to the Society and pushed open the front door. As he made his way to his little out of the way room, he noticed there were many more unfamiliar faces than there had been when he left. He shied away from the crowds, hiking his bag higher on his shoulder, and turned back towards the hallway.

Only to slam face-first into someone going the other way.

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MillieGriffin • 5 months ago

((I don't think Floyd ever met Millie or Griffin would you he like to say hi to them?))

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Floyd Fletcher  MillieGriffin • 5 months ago

((Yes!! I would love to meet them and say hi!!! I'm still sad I didn't get to meet more ppl before disappearing last year but eh, we can fix that now! :D))

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MillieGriffin  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago • edited

"Hey!"

Turns out he ran right into Griffin, slamming his face right into his chest and causing him to spill some of his coffee.

"Can't you watch where you're going!? I'm visible right now so you have no excuse!" He chastised wiping some of his hot beverage off his sleeve.

"Bet that woke you up more..." Commented a young girl around the age of twelve at the very miffed albino man in front of her.

"Nobody asked you, Millie!" He retorted.

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Floyd Fletcher  MillieGriffin • 5 months ago

Floyd was ripped suddenly back into reality, the elation at being home again disappearing and replaced with an all-too familiar anxiety. He stumbled back, ducking his head as he clenched the strap on his bag with a white-knuckled grip.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry I-I didn't, didn't mean to run i-into you," he stammered, shoulders bunched up around his head. He took a step back, half a mind to flee and hide somewhere up high. But he still had his bag full of research, and he'd really like to put it away before climbing anything, so he forced his feet to remain rooted to the spot, no matter how much it made fear prickle along his spine.

"I'm really, I'm really sorry, mister, I didn't mean to," he repeated.

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MillieGriffin  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago

The young girl could see how Griffin was treating poor Floyd.

"Griffin, you're scaring him." She told the grumpy albino.

"He should be scared." Griffin snapped back.

"Psh..." Millie brushed past him, she approached Floyd with care like the was approaching a scared stray, and spoke softly, "Hello, I'm Millie,

Millie Griffin —as you heard from my grouchy uncle," she said referring to Griffin behind her, who merely sipped his coffee, she then cautiously held out her hand for him, "it's nice to meet you, mister—?"

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Floyd Fletcher  MillieGriffin • 5 months ago

Floyd had flinched at Griffins harsh words, shrinking in on himself even more. He felt tears building up, about to fall, but he looked up at the girl who approached him so carefully.

"M-my names, uh, Floyd," he said quietly. "Floyd Fletcher. And, and I'm really s-sorry. It's, it's nice to meet you, it's nice to meet- meet you too." He knew he ought to reach out and shake her hand back, the order for his hand to reach out and do it was there in his mind, but it felt like his fingers had glued themselves together on the strap of his bag. He looked back down, first at her outstretched hand, then at the ground.

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MillieGriffin  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago

"That a nice name." Millie said softly, "you don't have to worry about my uncle, he's just a jerk."

She then noticed how tightly his gripping his bag.

"Your bags look pretty heavy, may I help you lighten the load?" She politely offered.

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Floyd Fletcher  MillieGriffin • 5 months ago

((hey hey hey I'm about to ascend to the astral realm my car broke down and I'm Done))

Floyd gulped, shaking his head minutely. "Th-Thank you, but I'm, I'm good."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steadying himself mentally before he looked up and gave Millie a weak smile. "I don't, uh, don't think I've met you guys yet, back when I still- back when I, I lived here last year. I kinda, uh, ran off for a bit be-because birds."

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Jekyll1886 • 5 months ago

((Would it you like him to run into Lewis? If not, that's alright, too--I understand Floyd and Char really had a connection. Just wanted to ask.))

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Floyd Fletcher  Jekyll1886 • 5 months ago

((No please?? Yes?? I wanna say hi to everyone again!! I made specific mention of the lamb stew hoping you might remember XD))

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Jekyll1886  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago

((Oh, yes! Lamb pie and the garden and Nyx--and the falling, before that, because that bicycle-plane contraption hanging in the main hall was just too tempting. XD

Do you think maybe Floyd disappeared on Valentine's day the previous year, since that was the last time Lewis saw him and we never did RP the proposed party? The ship to South America could well have been leaving that day.))

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Floyd Fletcher  Jekyll1886 • 5 months ago

((Yeah, I was just rereading that thread last night and trying to figure out how to fit that in. That might be good, maybe he went down to check out the baker Lewis mentioned and got distracted, then ran off without thinking. He's kind of a ditz, but I love him anyway))

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Jekyll1886  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago

((Sounds great! ^_^

Do you want me to hop in on the thread with Char and Richard, since Lewis is friends with them? I imagine their reunion might attract Weir's attention. (If not, we can do something else.)))

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Floyd Fletcher  Jekyll1886 • 5 months ago

((I'm cool with it if Tairais is!))

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Tairais  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago

(( The more the merrier! ))

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Tairais • 5 months ago

(( Hey! Do you mind if Char and Richard (I dunno if Floyd's met Mr. Clockwork-Patchwork Prince yet) come and say hi to Floyd (again/for the first time as the respective case may be)? ))

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Jekyll1886  Tairais • 5 months ago

((Floyd Fletcher Hey, so...Floyd and Richard actually have met before, though it's been awhile. https://disqus.com/home/dis... ))

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Floyd Fletcher  Jekyll1886 • 5 months ago

((OH. agdjagsjsf I can't believe I forgot that. Well, I guess I can just pass it off as part of Floyd's memory problem...? What do you think, Tairais ?))

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Tairais  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago

(( Richard has similar memory problems, as does local swiss cheese brain over here! Let's just go with everyone is a forgetful dork ^^" ))

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Floyd Fletcher  Tairais • 5 months ago

((I absolutely would love for them to!! He can bump into really anyone, and boy howdy he'd be glad to see Char again after a year's sudden disappearance :D))

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Tairais  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago

(( :D! Wonderful! Here are the lads! ))

The man Floyd ran in to was tall and of a sturdy enough built under his pinstriped suit and gray greatcoat that he more resembled a statue than a man. Though this might have been somewhat intimidating to someone of Floyd's height, the effect was mitigated by the soft, forest-green scarf he wore and a mess of auburn-red curls spilling out from under a shabby-looking hat, patches in a rainbow of colors holding the poor thing together.

Said curls bounced like waves as a face with sharp cheekbones and a single almond-shaped eye the color of aspen leaves peered down at Floyd with a slightly startled smile.

His other eye was covered with what appeared to be a cross between an eye patch and a monocle, the lens crystalline in nature and twinkling merrily.

"Ah! Excuse me, I am afraid I did not see you there. Are you quite all right?"

An accent as familiar as it was odd called out from further down the hallway as it rounded the corner.

"Oi! Ricky-boy, wha's gotten ya held u-"

Charricthran stopped just behind this man, voice sputtering to a halt.

Surprise became an owlish blink in red-slit eyes, turning to a brief flicker of suspicion, then ultimately, recognition and delight.

"Well heya kiddo! I didnae fancy seein' you here again!"

The man-- "Ricky-boy", if Charricthran was to be believed, which he often wasn't-- with auburn hair glanced over his shoulder, his brow furrowing slightly and turning his cheerful smile to a bemused one.

"I take it the two of you have met, Charricthran?"

"Yup! Ages ago, an' I'd wondered where you'd gotten off to, by the by. You doin' all right?"

Charricthran's bounding strides better resembled those of a golden retriever's than something approaching a man as he crossed the rest of the hallway to stand nearby, crow's feet crinkling merrily in the corners of his eyes.

see more

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Floyd Fletcher  Tairais • 5 months ago

((I'm VIBRATINGwith excitement I missed this))

Floyd had initially scrambled back after the collision, a half dozen apologies already on his lips. But none of them made it out, because in the next moment, Floyd heard the voice of his long-missed friend and everything else stopped mattering.

"Char!" He veritably launched himself at the taller man, all pretenses and also the stranger he'd initially ran into forgotten. His cheeks hurt from how hard he was smiling.

"I'm sorry I left but there were birds and, and people goin' to study those birds and I just had to!" he rambled, face buried in Charricthran's coat so the words came out a bit muffled. "And it was far away and I forgot to tell you guys, and I'm, I'm sorry I forgot but I just got so excited! But I got there and there was so much! And, and I took a lot of notes and got samples and-!"

He interrupted himself, yanking away so he could dig through his bag and pull out a handful of brightly colored feathers. "And I found these!" None of the feathers matched each other, ranging from long, sturdy and colorful primaries to tufts of soft down, silky and dark. But Floyd was grinning brightly about them, rambling on about their origins.

"-and these aren't from the, the birds we went to go see but we couldn't find those, but that's- that's fine, I learned a lot but I'm back and I missed you!"

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Tairais  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago

Charricthran grinned, finding a lightness in his heart that was steadily growing less and less rare as he placed his hands on his hips and rocked on the balls of his feet.

"No need ta apologize, kiddo! I'm thrilled ya had fun--an' returned all in one piece for tha' matter, seein' as I missed ya somethin' fierce myself."

He tilted his head in a decidedly birdish manner as he beheld the feathers clutched in Floyd's hand.

"What kind o' birds didja get those from? Some o' those are fair bright."

Richard, for his part, watched with a faintly indulgent smile that said this was hardly the first time he'd been stopped in a hallway thanks to his friend.

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Floyd Fletcher  Tairais • 5 months ago

Floyd started shuffling through the feathers rapidly, chattering off names as he pulled out specific ones.

"This ones from a, from an Amazon kingfisher and I saw a few of those and they were cool! And these are from owls but I couldntcouldn't out what kind, I-I think they're screech owls. And, and these are from macaws! But there were a lot of different kinds and, and I forgot the names but I wrote them down in my journal and drew some of them so, so I could show you when I got back!"

He picked out a few of the darker downy feathers, carefully shoving the rest back in his satchel, before offering them to Charricthran. "These, I got these from a crested... or-orop, uhh." He screwed up his face in concentration. "O-ro-pen-do-la. Yeah. That one. It reminded me of you! Well not, not fully, but I found them and they were black and soft and, and yeah."

A thought occured to him and his eyes went wide. "And! And I didn't hurt any of the birds! I found these feathers, and, and only took what they left. I only pulled one feather off a bird the whole time, but it was already dead so that's fine. It didn't need it."

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Tairais  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago

"The dead bird would likely be gladdened you found some beauty in the body it left behind."

The man Floyd had run into, who had hitherto been quiet from his post against the wall, stepped into speech and motion with the jarring grace of artwork coming to life as he smiled brighter and gave a slight nod to Floyd.

"I take it you are Floyd, the ornithology enthusiast, then? Charricthran has mentioned you to me with no small amount of joy. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance at last. I am Doctor Prince, geologist and engineer, among other things."

Similar to Charricthran, Richard had crows feet at the corner of his visible eye as he smiled, offering a gloved hand for Floyd to shake.

Charricthran, for his part, was still grinning as broadly as he had been to begin with.

"I have absolutely no idea what any o' those birdies are like, so' you'll have ta tell me all about 'em," he announced with all the cheerful aplomb of someone who finds great joy in learning new things.

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Floyd Fletcher  Tairais • 5 months ago

((sorry lol, been at work all day))

Floyd startled, having forgotten the other man was even there in his enthusiasm to reunite with Charricthran. He ducked his head bashfully, hesitantly reaching out his hand that wasn't full of feathers to shake the offered one.

"Nice to, to meet you Doctor Prince sir," he said. He felt his cheeks heating up at the mention of Char having talked about him, enough for his reputation to take on a shine of such sort. "You said, you said you were a geologist? That's rocks 'n stuff, right? I don't know much 'bout rocks but they're, uh, they're cool. Some are pretty and I like those."

He brightened a bit, digging through his bag for something. "Found one I really liked! 'S called uhh, obs- obisd, uhh..." He abandoned the bag and dug around in his pockets, before producing a smooth, glossy black stone this size of his palm. "This one! Found it near an old volcano. Someone told me what it's called and, and I know the first part but names are hard and I forgot to write it down."

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Tairais  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago

(( No worries, I've been at school and in meetings for most of the day, hence my Just Now getting to this ;-; ))

Richard's expression brightened further as he peered down at rock in Floyd's hand, nodding enthusiastically.

"Obsidian! Quite a useful igneous rock both in antiquity, and now. There are a great many people who utilize it in weaponry, but there is no denying its beauty in less lethal forms of craftsmanship as well."

He paused, consideration written in the silence.

"Would you like me to write down the name for you this time?"

(( I'm gonna go ahead and tag Jekyll1886 so they can hop into the turn order o/ ))

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Jekyll1886  Tairais • 5 months ago

Understandably, someone shouting Char's name drew the attention of Lewis.

Curious what might be afoot, Weir made his way from his office to the hallway from which the call had emanated.

He turned a corner, only to find Charricthran, Richard, and...

"Floyd?" Lewis half asked, half gasped, as he straightened in surprise at the sight. He'd not seen the lad in a year--on Valentine's Day, no less!--Fletcher having vanished without a word.

Weir stood there in shock, his waistcoat the same eye-catching shade of red as the head of a female eclectus parrot.

The revelation sank in: wherever Fletcher'd gone...he was back!

"Floyd!" exclaimed Lewis, spreading his arms and smile wide. "You've returned!"

((Floyd Fletcher ))

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Floyd Fletcher  Jekyll1886 • 5 months ago

Floyd nodded along, eyes wide, entranced as Richard talked about the properties of the cool rock. His grin widened at the offer and he nodded fervently. He opened his mouth, but spun around at the sound of his name.

"Mister Lewis!" he shouted happily, forgetting the other two for a moment to run over and embrace the man. "I missed you! I'm sorry I was gone, but, but I'm back now!" He started rambling again, giving his long and wordy explanation for his disappearance, but broke away from the hug halfway through to reattach himself to Charricthran's side, still talking.

"-and I found feathers and did research like, like a real scientist! And I just got back but I'm back and I'm happy and I missed you guys!" He felt an uncomfortable warmth building up behind his eyes, tears threatening to fall, but he pushed them back. He'd missed them terribly, but it hasn't really hit him just how long he's been gone until mention if the aborted Valentine's day the previous year.

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Tairais  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago

Bright smile turned gentle as Charricthran placed a hand on Floyd's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"If ya couldnae tell by all o' our chipper faces, we've missed ya too, kiddo. Welcome back!"

He then shot Lewis a welcome smile, the corners of his mouth aching as it faintly remembered how to.

The faint scrape of pen against paper announced that Richard was busy keeping his word to Floyd, sneaking glances of the scene before him with a wry, fond smile. He gave Lewis a slight nod when he noticed the man's approach, a flicker of something darting through his eyes as it made an attempt to hide under the rest of his genial air.

Said genial air was half-broken with a hapless frown tugging at the corners of his lips. Printing letters in English had always been difficult for him. More so now than when he'd been younger, given everything that had happened to his hands.

(( Jekyll1886 ))

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Jekyll1886  Tairais • 5 months ago • edited

((Sorry I didn't post sooner; haven't been well.))

Lewis returned Floyd's embrace and Charricthran's smile. Weir regarded Prince perhaps a half-second longer than he should have, but said nothing and merely returned the nod.

At Floyd's explanation of where he'd been and what he'd done, Lewis lit up with excitement.

"That's stupendous! What an opportunity!"

He smiled warmly at Floyd and agreed with Charricthran.

"It's a pleasure to have you back."

((Floyd Fletcher ))

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Floyd Fletcher  Jekyll1886 • 5 months ago

((Nah, it's good. My life's been pretty hectic lately too lol. Also I realized I forgot to tag last time oops))

Floyd beamed up at them, heart full fit to burst and feeling like he was buzzing up out of his skin.

"So what, what did I miss around here?" he asked. "'S been a long time and, and lots of stuff happens all the time. Do we have any new people? Any, any new scientists?" He gasped. "Any who like birds?"

((Tairais ))

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Tairais  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago

(( No worries! ))

"New faces, yup, dunno if any o' em like birds, though- I've no' had a chance ta chirp at 'em, mind, so's it's entirely possible tha' some o' em do. Should prob'ly learn their names, too. Been slackin' off a bit, me."

Richard eye tracked Charricthran as he bounced on his toes again, his smile cracking enough to show a few teeth, such was the infectious nature of the joy in the air.

(( Jekyll1886 ))

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Jekyll1886  Tairais • 5 months ago

"No ornithologists, no, I'm afraid," answered Lewis.

"But, let's see...since Valentine's last year, we've had Ezekiel Hollis--whose field of study is rare diseases--join. Millie Griffin--I don't know if you've met her--was promoted to Senior...it eludes me which title they settled on," Weir admitted sheepishly, "but 'tis a similar field to Ezekiel's--he's the Junior whatever-the-word-was.

"Everyone got to go to the seaside in summer--that was something.

"We discovered a section of hallway to be unsound, so we marked it off, stating as much--for your own safety, don't go there," he advised.

"There's a Society Valentine's party slated in a week's time, if you've an interest.

"Griffin is coming along with his research, which may or may not soon be ready for publication--'hard to say, really.

"As for myself, I've gathered more data on the so-called 'Jekyll-and-Hyde phenomenon', as well as some of the more salient points of neo-alchemy, but I'm afraid I'm still a long way off from the sort of presentation Jekyll wants us to do," he admitted.

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Floyd Fletcher  Jekyll1886 • 5 months ago

((I'm BACK but who knows what my availability will be for awhile, I am currently sans one car with two jobs that need getting to so uhhhh yeah ajkasdhfk))

"Wow, that's that's a lot!" Floyd exclaimed. "I missed a lot!" Despite this, he was still grinning. "You guys, you guys sure have fun a lot. But now I'm back, and I can have fun with you!"

He squeezed Charricthran one last time before stepping away and straightening the bag over his shoulder. "I hope I meet everyone else soon! They sound, uh, pretty cool! But now I gotta, gotta put my stuff up and I wanna take a nap and also I'm, I'm kinda hungry." He giggled bashfully. "I'm gonna go see what, what's in the kitchen. See if I can make something, or if there are any leftovers or, or something."

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Jekyll1886  Jekyll1886 • 5 months ago

((Floyd Fletcher ))

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SHANA MARIA VERGHIS • 5 months ago

The someone going the other way was Pink.

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Floyd Fletcher  SHANA MARIA VERGHIS • 5 months ago

((Hi!! Don't believe I've met you yet! And I uhh tried to find you, maybe in one of the other threads, so I could get an idea of your character, but you're not... here?? Do you think you could give me a quick description of what Pink looks like/how they react to this small child basically barrelling into them so I know what Floyd's reaction would be? He's kinda skittish but it's circumstantial. Thanks!))

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SHANA MARIA VERGHIS  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago • edited

Pink was a former member of a band called The Wall who were always writing songs about school teachers and how they would prefer to have them skimpily dressed. Including Mr Barrett, six foot seven inches tall quadroon who had a double life on the WWC circuit.

Mr Barrett had been known to squash Mr Perfect to a pulp in his heydays. The days when he used the phrase 'Hey!' a lot in the regular course of life.

And he had an earthly loathing for Pink because he hated being tormented by songs about himself. Though he sang them privately in his head to soothe his ego like a balm of extinct Chinese sabretooth mixed with verdigris.

Pink's scientifically constructed chest was hard as buckypaper with a heart of the normal stuff that hearts are made of, and when it was rammed into by the midget Floyd coming at him with his salt tinged air ideals he was flummoxed into immobility and began to think about the Theory of Everything as a quartic equation assisted by some ideas embedded in Wolfram Alpha.

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Floyd Fletcher  SHANA MARIA VERGHIS • 5 months ago

((OH you're a troll, gotcha. Understood. Thanks!))

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SHANA MARIA VERGHIS  Floyd Fletcher • 5 months ago • edited

HI Floyd. I'll be back. I have some stuff to do right now. :D

( i mean, IRL that is. LOL!}

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