Dallin turned as Kolka, Gwangi and Migo returned to the clearing with Percy and Fleem.
Immediately, his eyes went to his own body on Migo's shoulder, as usual. Fleem shot him a glance from the corner of his eye, but his wariness seemed less….cold. In fact, he seemed resigned.
Dallin looked at Migo in bewilderment. "What did you do to him?"
"Just a little tough love." Kolka responded. She looked at Fleem. "Right now, he's just pretending that he's too miserable to cheer up."
She shrugged. "You're up, Dallin."
Dallin blinked. "Uh…"
Kolka put a hand on his shoulder. "We know him. He won't admit it, but he's as curious as the rest of us to see more of this world."
Dallin bit his furry lip. "Yeah, but he hates me. He'll just ignore me."
Kolka smiled gently. "Go ahead and surprise him, and he might surprise you."
Dallin looked back at Fleem as Migo put him down, making sure the snow wasn't too deep. Fleem looked warily at Kolka as she, Gwangi and Migo bailed, taking Percy and leaving the two alone.
Dallin cleared his throat awkwardly. "So. It's just you and me….again. Not so bad...yesterday went all right, I think, and I really think we're starting to make a connection." He smiled awkwardly, glad that Fleem didn't understand what he was saying. He was no good at this kind of situation.
Fleem sighed as he looked up at Dallin, looking defeated.
Well, it was better than being glared at and ignored all day.
Dallin rubbed his hands together nervously, and looked around. "I think we're supposed to find something to look at or do together, but I just see snow. How are you holding up, by the way? Are you still cold after last night?"
Fleem stared at him flatly, understanding none of it. But Dallin was sure he'd be making the exact same face either way. He chuckled nervously. "Yeah, good answer. It's a stupid question. So you know what, let's lay off the talking for a moment, and just build a snowman or something. You probably did that as a kid too, right?"
Dallin glanced at the nearby Yak Shack and began walking stiffly in the opposite direction. It was probably best if his bosses didn't see Fleem.
He peeked over his shoulder, and was relieved to see Fleem trudging after him, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.
"Okay, this is a good spot, right?" Dallin looked around, then at Fleem again. Fleem folded his arms, cocked his head and raised his eyebrow, waiting to see what Dallin would do.
Dallin crouched and shoved his hands into the snow, grabbing a couple handfuls. He didn't even feel the cold through his thick skinned hands.
Molding it into a ball as best as he could, Dallin dumped the misshapen lump onto the ground in front of him.
"Okay, not my best snowball, but it'll work." Dallin muttered under his breath. "If I just smooth this over, add some snow here, get rid of this…."
Fleem's eyes bore into his back, until he couldn't help but glance at him again. Fleem looked rather confused, and exasperated. Are you seriously doing this? His face seemed to say.
Dallin awkwardly turned back to his sorry art project, scooping up some more snow to stack on top. He should have made a snow cave instead. That would've been more impressive.
A small poke on his arm got his attention. Dallin looked down at Fleem as he made his way around the clumps of snow, inspecting them. He shook his head, giving Dallin an unimpressed look.
Dallin shrugged helplessly. "This isn't the best packing snow for this."
With a sigh of resignation, Fleem crouched to scoop up some snow of his own, using his oversized sleeves to cover his hands.
"You know I have a coat and gloves at my house right? You didn't have to wear that."
Fleem eyed him, glancing at the coat when Dallin pointed at it. His eyes narrowed.
Dallin held up his hands in surrender. "Just saying."
Fleem ignored him, and began to roll his snowball along the ground, making it bigger.
Dallin watched him, until the snowball was almost too big for Fleem to move, and just as misshapen as Dallin's.
Panting, Fleem stood up and gestured towards Dallin's snowball.
A little uncertain, Dallin picked it up, watching Fleem for any sign that he had misunderstood, even though Fleem couldn't have been more clear.
Fleem rolled his eyes and pointed towards Dallin's snowball again, saying something in gibberish.
Dallin cursed his awkwardness and timidity, and slapped the snowball onto his sorry excuse of a snowman bottom. Now the middle was bigger than the bottom….
Piff.
Dallin jumped as a snowball splatted onto his back. "Hey!"
He faced Fleem, who looked quite satisfied with himself. "What was that for?"
He reached an arm around to brush off the snow that was now stuck in his fur.
Fleem cocked his head curiously, and blinked innocently, then simply began to roll another snowball for the top of the snowman.
A minute later, another snowball hit his shoulder. Dallin turned and frowned at Fleem, who was already lumping together another one. "Why are you throwing those at me? The snowman is right here!"
In response, Fleem chucked his new snowball at Dallin's face. Dallin held an arm up to shield it, grimaced and shook off the snow.
He pointed at the snowman again. "Throw snow at that!"
Fleem smirked, gestured at the head he'd already rolled and grabbed some more snow.
Dallin grabbed it and turned his back against Fleem's attacks as he completed the snowman body.
Piff.
Dallin ignored the snowball as he frowned at the snowman. It was one of the ugliest things he'd ever seen.
Fleem agreed. Dallin saw him approach from the corner of his eye, and stand next to him. His expression was of what he interpreted as a combination of disgust and morbid curiosity.
Dallin gave Fleem an uncomfortable glance as he held up a couple of rocks he'd found, and stuck them onto the sides of the snowman's head.
"Horns? It doesn't even have a face."
Fleem dusted the snow off his coat sleeves as he looked challengingly up at Dallin.
Dallin eyed the ugly thing again. "You'd rather this be a snow yeti? I'd pity any yeti that looked like this."
"Hey guys! How's it going?" Dallin turned as Meechee approached. Her eyes went to their art project. "Oh. What's this?"
Dallin rubbed the back of his head, trying to stifle his embarrassment. "It's supposed to be a snowman...or a snow yeti….I think."
Meechee looked it up and down, obviously unsure of what to say.
Fleem threw another snowball at Dallin, as if throwing all the blame on him for its creation.
"Just say it's hideous." Dallin chuckled awkwardly. "I haven't built a snowman since I was a kid, and my dad was the one who did all the work, really. This one looks more like a snow hoodoo."
"Well, you did your best." Meechee answered diplomatically. "You're not used to yeti hands after all. And Fleem isn't used to smallfoot hands."
Dallin scowled at Fleem, who had another snowball to throw. "Yeah. Sure."
Meechee smiled. "Carry on, then."
She walked off to find everyone else again.
Dallin braced himself, waiting for the snowball to hit.
Nothing.
He peeked at Fleem. He'd gotten distracted by something.
Dallin followed his gaze, and started. "Dr. Laker!"
That scientist always seemed to appear out of thin air!
He stood nearby, looking from Dallin to Fleem. He looked exhausted.
Taking a step closer, he started talking, babbling in 'smallfoot to yeti' language. He seemed agitated about something.
Heart quickening, Dallin looked expectantly at Fleem. "Uh, Fleem? Translate?"
Fleem:
Fleem considered throwing the snowball at Dr. Laker just to get him to talk more sense.
"What do you mean, 'fried'"? Fleem did his best to pretend he didn't suspect it sounded like he thought it sounded.
"That doesn't just happen! You set the device on fire, and cooked it!?"
Dr. Laker shook his head frantically. "No! It just got a little overheated, and the broken parts couldn't handle it. So they burned, and took the good parts with them!"
Fleem stared at him, unable to move or talk for a moment.
That device was all they had to work with. Dr. Laker was trying to trick him. He had to be!
Dallin growled in frustration next to him, crouching and gesturing insistently for Fleem to explain what was going on.
Fleem huffed in annoyance and turned to him. "This smallfoot destroyed his own device. Can you believe it?" He tried to sign to him, but he didn't know what signs to use. Dallin watched him, trying to make out what he was saying. He shrugged, confusion evident.
Fleem pointed at Dr. Laker, who had gotten distracted by the disaster of a snow yeti behind them. "He." Dallin nodded.
Fleem signed 'break'. "Broke the device." Dallin lurched back in sudden realization. His wide eyed gaze shot to Dr. Laker.
Dr. Laker shook his head. "Not me." He signed. "I did everything I could to fix it, but it was too damaged to handle the test I tried."
"What about the other one? That one isn't broken, right?" Fleem asked.
Dr. Laker looked down. "One of my assistants went and messed with it, and triggered a security lockdown. And the pass code isn't working. If I try too hard to break through, the prototype is designed to overload, and shut down for good. We'd have to wait a day even if both of the prototypes were functional."
He signed this to Dallin, since Fleem didn't know how.
Dallin shook his head in dismay.
"Why are you so upset? Being a yeti is way better than being a smallfoot. Now you get to stay one." Fleem told him bitterly, and threw the snowball, masking his own fears.
Dr. Laker was supposed to fix everything! After all, this was his fault to begin with.
Dallin began to sign to Dr. Laker. He looked determined now. Fleem narrowed his eyes. "What are you telling him?" He asked suspiciously.
Dr. Laker cautiously tried to sign back. "You want to….see it? The prototype?" He gestured to his eyes and then cupped his hands as if holding the device.
Dallin nodded.
Dr. Laker sighed. "You won't be able to do anything. It's far beyond repair now." His face changed suddenly. "But there is something else….maybe…." He nodded in the direction he came, into the smallfoot village. "I moved both of them to my house after my assistant triggered the good one's lockdown. You can look, I suppose, but don't touch. I just had an idea that could potentially still work. Right this way."
He started walking, and Dallin followed with tiny steps to match Dr. Laker's smallfoot stride.
Fleem glanced around, but there were no signs of the S.E.S, or Percy, or even Brenda. No one else knew he was actually a yeti.
Fleem was hit by a wave of nervousness. He didn't want to be lost by himself again.
He ran after the two. "Wait up!" He called, glancing around at the maze of buildings.
Dallin glanced back, and let him catch up. The three continued in silence.
Fleem still hadn't gotten used to how different the smallfoot village was to a smallfoot. The height difference was extremely noticeable. Things stood out that he hadn't noticed before, like the insides of the buildings behind those windows.
It was like a completely different world.
Since he'd started wearing the coat and boots, the other smallfeet walking and riding on the streets and sidewalks had stopped staring at him as he passed. But he still felt completely out of place here, like a red rock fruit thrown in with the greens.
Even as a yeti, he'd felt more comfortable here.
Fleem shuddered and looked at Dr. Laker's back in front of him. "You built those devices. Can't you just build two more?"
Dr. Laker glanced back and then faced forward before he answered. "I've never been able to recreate anything I've invented, though I try."
Of course.
Fleem fell silent again, until Dr. Laker stopped in front of a small smallfoot house. It was a wonder any smallfoot could find anything at all in this place.
Dr. Laker glanced up at Dallin. "Er, I'll bring them out here, so both of you can see them." He disappeared through the door, leaving Dallin and Fleem alone again. Both of them sighed. They were probably thinking along the same lines of thought, but when Fleem glanced at Dallin, he was avoiding eye contact.
Fleem shook his head. Weird kid.
The door opened, and Dr. Laker came out, holding both misshapen black objects, and another silver one.
Fleem cocked his head and pointed at it. "What's that?"
Dr. Laker held it up. "This nifty little thing was part of my inspiration for these devices' models. It was supposed to create a connection between two living beings."
He shrugged. "It ended up just making them appear somewhere else in the room. I've been studying it a bit in my free time, since it's similar to your current dilemma. It could possibly be the key to solving this."
"How?" Fleem reached out to take the silver device, but Dr. Laker held it out of reach. "Don't touch. It's similarities could possibly make it compatible with this one." He held up the undamaged device. "With a few modifications."
"Do it, then." Fleem insisted. Dallin let out confused growls. Fleem groaned and translated Dr. Laker's idea. Paraphrasing of course.
An odd sound came from the silver device. Dr. Laker was fiddling with it. "What's it doing?" Fleem asked suspiciously.
Dr. Laker bit his lip in concentration. "It's scanning you. So it can work." He quickly added the last part as Fleem stepped back.
"There. Done." He glanced at Fleem. "You're in the system."
Before Fleem could ask what that meant, sudden cold shot through his body as if the wind had gone inside him. A jolt went through his chest and stomach, making him gasp.
The effect passed as fast as it came.
Fleem blinked and looked around. He almost jumped and fell in his shock.
"Uh, no, you're wrong!" He shouted downwards. "I'm not in the system! I'm on the roof!"
Dr. Laker and Dallin looked up, mouths agape. Fleem gave him a flat stare. "Maybe you should keep your crazy machines to yourself until that thing will put me back into my body instead."
Dr. Laker ran a hand nervously through his red hair. "Sorry about that."
Fleem looked around again. "How do I get down?"
Dr. Laker gestured to Dallin. "Your friend can help you."
Fleem scowled. "He's not my friend. Don't you have a ladder instead?"
Dr. Laker hesitated. "I misplace a lot of my tools." Fleem sighed. "Let me guess. One of those monstrosities you built sent it away to some unknown wasteland?"
"Close enough."
Fleem groaned.
Dr. Laker waved to Dallin, signing for him to get Fleem down. The smallfoot-yeti nervously shuffled his feet before inching forward to comply. Fleem swallowed his pride and let him.
Dallin lifted him and set him back on the ground quickly, as if he were afraid of touching him. Fleem gave him a weird look. "Seriously, what's up with you?"
"You all right?" Dr. Laker asked Fleem. Fleem backed away from him. "Just keep that thing away from me."
"Right. Right." Dr. Laker looked around distractedly.
Fleem eyed the devices from what seemed like a safe distance. "How soon can you switch us back?"
Dr. Laker rubbed the back of one hand over his face, still clutching a device. "Hard to say, my friend." He stifled a yawn. "I will try everything that can be done."
Dallin got his attention and put both hands beside his head, in a sleeping gesture.
Dr. Laker nodded. "Including sleep, I suppose. How'd you know I forgot to last night?"
Fleem rolled his eyes at him and looked up at Dallin. "Where did everyone else go? I'm ready to get out of here for a while."
Dallin shrugged, not understanding. Ugh. Trying to communicate with smallfeet was more trouble than it was worth.
Fleem pointed frustratedly back at the street they had come on. Dallin blinked, and nodded.
Dr. Laker shook his head, blinking away drowsiness. "Yes, yes. I really should be working now, too. Go find your other friends and tell them not to worry. One way or another, this will be over soon."
Dallin took an eternity signing his goodbyes and good lucks. Fleem stood impatiently off to the side, until Dr. Laker finally went back inside with those death machines.
Dallin gave him a nod and started walking.
"Not too fast." Fleem grumbled. "I'm counting on you to make sure I don't get lost."
Shivering a little, he instinctively reached to pull his blanket tighter around him, only to feel empty air. He grunted. He needed to get that thing back. It had to be dry by now.
He jogged to catch up with Dallin. "You know, I'm having a hard time deciding what I think of you. I'm surprised no one has gotten suspicious of you, because you look so out of place in that body. Too jumpy and paranoid, like Gwangi." He smirked mischievously before narrowing his eyes.
"But don't think that because I'm talking to you, it means we're friends."
Dallin glanced at him uncomfortably. Fleem was pretty sure he had guessed that meant.
A/N: Ughhhhhh, this took quite a big longer than usual. Sorry about that. Have you ever had writer's block for dialogue instead of the plot? I think my soul left my body a few times while I was getting through. But I'm good, now that it's done! *Nervous laugh* Enjoy!