Creature Languages, 1/12, Period 3

[game-of-you.livejournal.com]

A fishbowl-sized terrarium has been placed on Dream's desk, and students who look closely may notice a small brown arachnid within it, crouched between two rocks.

"Hello.

I have decided to start the term with a discussion with a creature who many of you might be wary of, a Brown Recluse Spider. Like all spiders, brown recluses are arachnids, not insects. This means they have only two body segments instead of three; a fused head and thorax (called a cephalothorax or prosoma) and an abdomen (called the opisthosoma), supported by an exoskeleton composed mainly of chitin.

Spiders also have eight legs (insects have six), no antennae, and their eyes are single lenses rather than compound eyes. Additionally spiders have pedipalps (or just palps), at the base of which are coxae or maxillae next to their mouth that aid in masticating food; the ends of the palp are modified in adult males into elaborate and often species specific structures used for mating.

In short? Do not refer to our guest, who you may call Aunt Nancy, as a "bug."

And do not fear her. Brown recluses bite only when disturbed, and she is bold for her breed. No harm will come to you from her."

As he speaks, Dream reaches into the terrarium and draws out the small brown spider. She crouches on his palm, then waves a foreleg.

//Hey there, children.//

"She is greeting you. I will interpret for the duration of class, but I believe you will pick up on her cues soon enough."

"As always, I am in my office after class."

Comments

Re: Sit in class

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

Blair finds a seat and sits, sniffling slightly and pulls out a notebook to write down his notes from the lecture.

Re: Sit in class

[anole-x.livejournal.com]

Victor waves hi.

Re: Sit in class

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

Blair grins and waves back. "Hey, man. How's things going?"

Re: Sit in class

[anole-x.livejournal.com]

"They're...okay, I guess. Hey...exactly how when did you leave the bonfire a couple of nights ago?" he whispered.

Re: Sit in class

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

"I left early" Blair whispered back. "It was really cold and turns out I was coming down with the flu."

"Why? Anything interesting happen after I left?"

Re: Sit in class

[walter-n-wires.livejournal.com]

Walter plopped down behind Blair and grinned slightly. "That depends, I guess."

Re: Sit in class

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

Blair turned around. "Hey Walter! Depends on what? What happened?"

Re: Sit in class

[walter-n-wires.livejournal.com]

Instead of answering Blair, Walter looked over at Victor and grinned a little more broadly.

"We found out that Wonka's fizzy root beer has interesting side effects if you're green. And Togusa got hacked by his boss for taking his Tachikoma to the beach. I hear that it attended all his classes for him yesterday."

Re: Sit in class

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

Blair watched Walter smile at Victor.

"Really? Root beer? Did it make you sick or something, Victor?" Blair frowned. "That's so not fair, what did he expect, for Togusa just not to come?"

Re: Sit in class

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander sat down and, under cover of an open binder, casually reached into his bag to pull out a plastic-wrapped Twinkie. He shot a speculative glance at Dream, however, and hesitated, not actually opening it.

Re: Sit in class

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

Blair glanced over at Xander and his eyes widened. "Man, are you Xander with the twinkies? Are you going to eat one right now?"

Re: Sit in class

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander, startled, dropped the Twinkie back into his bag, looking around to make sure there wasn't a disapproving professor standing next to his desk. "Well, not now," he answered in a hushed tone. "Way to harsh the stealthy mellow, dude."

He blinked, then grinned. "My tribal name is Xander With The Twinkies, but most people just call me Dances With Preservatives."

Re: Sit in class

[anole-x.livejournal.com]

Victor giggled. "Hey, I can help you with that if you want..."

[ooc: i follow you! like a lemming!]

Re: Sit in class

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander looked over. "The mellow, or the dancing?"

Re: Sit in class

[anole-x.livejournal.com]

"The twinkie. I know how to unwrap one so no one will hear it. You're not a germaphobe, are you?"

Re: Sit in class

[soldtoarmenians]

"Dude, Twinkies can't carry germs," Xander whispered, handing it over. "The preservatives are like Twinkie body-armor; nothing gets through."

Re: Sit in class

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

"Sorry, man. It's just...Janet told me to find you for the twinkies and now I need the wrappers too and are they really good?" Blair grinned and bounced. "That's a cool nickname, Dr. House calls me Tigger"

Re: Sit in class

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander eyed him. "You know, I never ever thought there would come a time in my life when I'd say these words, but you may in fact not need Twinkies, Tigger."

"Which are good," he added. "The wrappers, not so tasty, though."

Re: Sit in class

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

Blair laughed. "I've just never had one before and my mom says that their like, going to destory civilization as we know it. But they look all..." Blair sighed. "They don't seem all that evil."

Blair leaned forward and whispered, "No man, I need the wrappers to keep the gremlins away. Do you have some you could spare? Unless you're using them yourself or something."

Re: Sit in class

[soldtoarmenians]

Xnader snickered. "They might outlast civilization as we know it..." He fished in his backpack and pulled out another one, sliding it across his desk to Blair, all suave-like. "But they're not evil. Twinkies are a force for goodness and righteousness in the universe. Evil cannot bear the sight of their glowing golden goodness."

Xander looked down at the Twinkie wrapper, and back up at Blair. "You need..." Ohhhhhhh. Riiiiiight. Thaaaaaat. Xander grinned. He shouldn't. He really shouldn't. It was mean. Except... it wasn't like gremlins were actually dangerous. And the newbie was so fresh, young, and cute gullible... "Oh, yeah. The wrappers. No, it's all yours, dude. I've got a stockpile in my room. No gremlins getting near me. S'why I haven't been bit yet."

Re: Sit in class

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Pippi smiled. "He needs to learn how to be more *clandrstine*"

Re: Sit in class

[soldtoarmenians]

"And also sneaky," Xander said, nodding.


__
{ooc - heeeee pippiphone. Which reminds me I need to set up textmessaging for Xander's LJ. Not that he has a cellphone, but I do.}

Re: Sit in class

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Pippi nods "That too."

[[ooc: ring ring ring ring pippiphone. This is the icon I use when posting from my cel. :D

Re: Sit in class

[walter-n-wires.livejournal.com]

"Yes, learning to be clandestine is a must." Walter grinned conspiratorially at Pippi. "Unless you enjoy detention with the grinding pervert."

Re: Sit in class

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

*giggle*