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 Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 6:54 pm
Living in an apartment building had its benefits. It meant that, even though she hadn't gotten her license yet (she didn't understand how they kept failing her!) she could get around. It got her the exercise her restless body often craved and so a jog to the store was pretty typical for Riley. Today she had popped by one of her more frequent stops; the sports store.
She actually had something to buy for a change. Mikael had broken their bat last game (they liked using wood ones) and so she had been charged with getting a new one and some balls too. Hey, they were easily lost, when they kept getting hit pretty far out in the field.
Wandering through the familiar rows and shelves, she took her time. It was one of the few times she didn't seem to be in a rush. Though that didn't mean she was energetic.
She stopped eagerly by a shoe rack, looking extremely interested, "Shiiiit, those are some nice cleats!"
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:06 pm
Antony... well, no, but we'll call him that, sat in the middle of the shoe aisle on one of those seats they provided, doing a very strange thing. He was measuring his foot on a scale. "Well, this is interesting," he said to himself. "I suppose it fits with his height, but seriously, a size twelve? I'm shocked. What was it that large feet meant again?" he asked the air beside him.
It seemed as if something replied, because he nodded slightly. "Fascinating..."
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:14 pm
Even distracted as she was, Riley noticed right away. It wasn't easy for her to pass up a familiar face. She grinned and waved before dashing over, her head tilted in eager curiosity at what he was doing.
"What? Shopping for shoes for someone else, Antony?" She asked, not really understand his self-conversation. Perhaps she should have found the talking to himself bit a little more strange...but she didn't. Maybe because Kai tended to mumble to himself like that when he was puzzling through something important.
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:20 pm
It seemed to take a moment for him to realize she was talking to him. He looked up with a friendly grin, one a bit too friendly for the usual Antony. "Ah, no, actually--" For a second it seemed as if he were searching for something in his mind. "Manny--"
"Ah, that's Riley, Rudolfo," Thanatos commented. "You really shouldn't ask Antony questions about that sort of thing. He's not that stupid."
"I mean, Riley," "Antony" said, his grin barely slipping out of place. "My feet have just... grown."
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:25 pm
"Manny? Come on, Antony, if you can't tell us apart maybe you're coming down with a bug," She shook her head with a roll of her eyes, but didn't seem seriously offended. Antony had always been a bit strange to her; not in a bad way, completely, just that she couldn't figure him out. Which eventually she had gotten used to.
"Really? You sure made it sound like you were getting them for someone else..." she paused and then shrugged it off. Whatever. "You just getting some normal sneakers? Cause man they had some nice cleats a shelf back...and I heard they got a new shipment of running shoes in."
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:30 pm
"Well, actually, I was planning on spending a lot of money, and shoes seemed to be a good way to start," he said, still keeping that almost creepily cheerful smile on his face. "I mean, you can never have too many shoes. Running shoes would be nice, since I can run. It's good to be able to run, don't you think?"
Thanatos just watched her, wondering if she noticed just how odd that statement was, especially coming from Antony.
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:35 pm
At first the conversation sounded typical to Riley. Why? Because Antony, like Manny, had a strange like of shopping. Or something. So despite the odd prattling, it was acceptable to her unfashionable ears. However, when he mentioned running, which was of course her favorite pass-time, she furrowed her brows and blanched.
"Wha? When the hell did you start running?" she asked disbelievingly. Somehow that didn't seem like something Antony would wish to do. He didn't like getting dirty, from her memory, so she assumed that also meant sweat was a no-no.
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:40 pm
"Last week," Antony said.
Thanatos slapped himself in the forehead. "I said to quit listening to him! Antony's been running since he could walk, you moron!"
"I would appreciate you not calling me names," Antony told the ghost, turning away from Riley with a dark look on his face.
"And he doesn't respond to me because people will think he's crazy, you FREAKING DIPSHIT!" Thanatos bellowed. "That's it. I'm leaving, deal with this on your own." Then he disappeared, leaving Rudolfo to figure it out for himself.
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:47 pm
Riley would have been fascinated to know that the real Antony had, in fact, always been a runner. It would have been a delightful bit of common ground that neither of them seemed to have, aside from self-defense lessons. But since Antony's occupant made it sound more new, she actually seemed to accept the idea more readily.
"Well that's pretty cool. Never thought it'd be something you'd like to do," ah, she was ever honest. Or blunt. Whichever you'd prefer to call it.
"I know some pretty good routs, you know," she offered cheerfully with a confident flash of her teeth.
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:53 pm
"I would like that," he said with a grateful smile. "Would you like to help me look for running shoes? I wear a size twelve." He put his shoe back on and stood, looking around curiously. "Where was it that you said they were?"
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:59 pm
Riley was never able to wrap her head around Antony's manners. So, when his comments were more open today then usual, she didn't notice. Not enough to mention it, anyway.
"Sure thing," she agreed, immediately whirling around and jumping over to one of the other shelves, "Let's see..." She moved down the way a bit, scanning boxes briefly before she finally stopped near the end.
"The new ones are down here," she said, running her finger along the numbers, "12...12...ah! Here's one." She pulled the box out and took a look inside to see if the pair was any good. Eh, seemed fair. There were probably better ones.
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 8:03 pm
"Something not blue, I think," he said. "Let's keep looking, shall we?"
Inside his mind Antony was cursing himself. Of all people, he thought, of course Riley wouldn't notice anything was wrong. He scowled and turned, beating the crap out of one of the guards that Rudolfo had added to his "playground." Maybe the next person they ran into would notice.
This guy was an idiot, after all. Just a really powerful one.
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