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 Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 4:45 pm
Who: Ripley, Rong Wei, and Zeke
When: Early evening, roughly seven o'clock p.m.
Where: Lab 305
Weather: Cool and mildly breezy
Tap, tap, tap...
Another stack of papers touched the desk top in rapid up-down motion, another stack of miscellaneous forms and copies of said forms neatly paper-clipped by Zeke and about to be put in a folder in the receptionist's desk. Given it was Thursday evening the vet commonly would not have been seen here, but he got into contact with Alex and asked if he could take tonight's evening shift so he could have Saturday off to do some cleaning, preparation, as well as a little relaxation. While the virus Raevan was still just a genderless figure without anything below its collarbone, the pierced man felt it wouldn't hurt to start sweeping out the dust and moving in new sheets and other room details. He had been in a hurry to get here and start is impromptu shift so much that he didn't even stop at home to change; his tattooed figure still covered in the professional doctor attire that came with his line - button up shirt, dark slacks, polished but comfortable shoes, a tie, and his physician's coat. It was likely the most professional he had appeared at the Lab thus far.
"That's done," he said as those last few copies were tucked into their spot and the desk door was shut. "Now what?" His caramel brown eyes scanned the room, looking for anything he could do or might have missed. The list that had originally been left for Alex to do had been just about completed by him, and only one item remained - another rehoming. The Raevan's folder was on the desk, tucked between the computer monitor and a nice vase. Unlike with Zurine, there was no ballpark estimate of when the new owner would arrive, just "sometime today". With it not crossed off or any other memos lying around to say otherwise, it looked as though Zeke had his task. He plopped back down into his seat.
"Some company would be nice." He said out loud to himself. The folder was pulled from its spot and Zeke flipped it open. Like with Phiel and Zurine, the legal release forms and other mumbo jumbo were on top, followed by the report on the Raevan itself. Zeke skimmed this, his eyes just a wee bit tired from his full time job and dealing with the copier though they did pop ever so slightly as he saw what the soul was.
"Wow. Good luck, new guardian, whoever you are."
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Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:15 pm
Okay, wait what. Rong Wei wasn't aware that she had anywhere she needed to be going that day, let alone going to that specific location to pick something up. It was only when her mother stood at her door and demanded that she get out and go get the 'raven' that she was accepted to adopt that the Chinese woman even knew she had an agenda planned for her, so it was with several swears and a shoving on of (clean) clothes that she headed out into the evening air.
The only thing she had in her hand was an address for a place calling itself a Lab of some sort as well as instructions that she was required to pick up some bird of some kind. If Rong Wei could recall correctly her mother had been lamenting for the past few weeks that they needed more life in the house, a pet of some kind, and apparently the old bat had taken it upon herself to use her daughter's name to obtain one. She'd been informed of all of this just minutes before being kicked out so the venom of her mood hadn't had time to settle to a bitter vinegar though the walk from her home to the listed location was actually serving her well. She was souring as it were and probably would be in a decent enough mood to speak with whomever had this bird for her without using some choice words.
Eventually Rong Wei stopped in front of massive doors at her destination, the cigarette she'd had in her mouth for a majority of the trip dropping to her feet to be snubbed out by her mule. She was hardly dressed for the weather (khaki capris and an old college hoodie) and hadn't brought anything along with her to get this animal home, but she figured whomever was inside would provide her with what she needed. At least they better or else there might be a problem.
When she approached the doors and walked herself in the first thing the Chinese woman did was take a deep breath and glance around, allowing a sinking feeling into the pit of her stomach. Stupid old bat, this was a lab! What the hell did she get herself in to?!
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Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:36 pm
Realizing that if the guardian hasn't showed up by now, it was likely to take even a little longer (if at all) only dawned on Zeke when he had been sitting in his seat for nearly five minutes. He had the computer as an option to keep himself entertained, but even though the pop up blocker was doing its job he wasn't feeling compelled to web browse. Instead, he figured, he might as well get some reading in and he had just the book for that. Once he fished his bag out from under the desk, the vet opened it and pulled out the book he had bought from Xiu roughly a month ago. The Stand's black letter title gleamed under the fluorescence and Zeke had to tilt the cover away from him as his finger slid across the top to the spot where his bookmark was. As he pulled the pages open, he realized how ironic it was he bought a book whose plot and characters stem from the aftermath of a widespread virus from a Raevan previously infected by the fel pathogen. Nonetheless, it was a really, really good book and he started into it, propping his feet up on one of the desk's half open drawers.
He didn't get very far into the page though, until the shadowy outline of a figure passed by the Lab's large front windows and drew his eye. It was an action he couldn't really control, his attention had gone to the windows each time someone walked by or when a car passed just out front. Most times he had wondered if that could be Dr. Kyou, but had since given up on that idea. There would have been a notation if the still-mysterious man had gone out for any reason, just like one of the previous weekends where he had met Cordelia and Ebony. His attention was soon back at his book, telling himself it was likely just another person on their way home from work or something, like it had been the rest of the night.
He was wrong of course.
The faint squeak of the door hinges (why hadn't he - or someone else - oiled that yet?) made the mohawked vet look up and over the desk top. The person he saw there was looking around as though lost, so he was certain this couldn't be the person he was waiting for. Seemed to be the one who had just passed the windows too, though with the glare from the lights and the growing darkness outside he couldn't be positive.
Probably looking for directions, He assumed inwardly, but he got up and slipped his bookmark into his novel regardless. A welcoming smile lit his face and he cleared his throat, both to ready his voice for talking and to draw the Chinese woman's eye.
"Welcome to Lab 305, miss. May I help you?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:30 am
Rong Wei tapped the tip of her shoe against the ground, a wooden clunking sound echoing out from the motion. It was more or less an action to help push the mule back on her foot without having to bend down and over, but it provided ample enough sound too that she barely heard the man call out to her. She swung her unhappy gaze in his direction and had to bite her lip in order not to burst out with laughter. She was clearly not impressed with what she saw, even if this figure was dressed neatly. If this person wanted the Chinese woman to take him seriously he was quickly failing the test with each sweep of her eyes over his multi-colored hair.
Trash.
Anyway that was something she could move away from as she actually moved closer to the man, the sheet of paper with the address crumbled between her index and middle finger. If people dressed in lab coats were the norm around here then whatever she was getting to bring home certainly wasn't going to be a bird. Her mother was going to s**t herself but it was well deserved. She hadn't quite forgiven the older woman for using her name without telling her and then forcing her out into the night looking like a hobo.
"My name's Hu Rong Wei, I received a call telling me that the 'raven' I had been accepted for adopting was ready to be brought home. I apologize for being late, I had just gotten off from work and barely had time to change my clothes before I was told I needed to come here."
All lies but who was counting? Certainly not Rong Wei and she wasn't going to feel bad about this later on. The only thing that was leaving a bitter taste in her mouth right now was a lack of a cigarette but that could be easily amended.
"I do believe this is the correct place then, since I was given instructions on how to find it. I didn't bring anything with me to carry it back in, so I was wondering if you provide carriers?"
Rong Wei would have felt stupid to keep going on and on like she thought whatever it was that she was here for was a bird, but she had to keep it up anyway. She knew that she would not be leaving with an animal of any kind, at least not an animal in the sense of the word, but what else could she do? Whatever it was she hoped it was housebroken and wouldn't enjoy eating people or plants.
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 12:46 pm
The feel of Rong Wei's eyes scanning his dyed and pierced face as well as his professionally clad exterior didn't even cause Zeke to flinch, let alone feel inwardly self conscious. He knew quite well how he looked and if people didn't like it or judged him by that appearance, then ********. So far with working at Lab people didn't seem too phased by his dual-colored hair or the metal in his face, but there would always be at least one who did. So far though, none and Zeke didn't even realize the woman who had just entered was biting her lip to keep from laughing at him.
"Ah yes, I was informed you would be showing up sometime today." He spoke lightly, his tone taking on a conversational voice rather than professional. Despite the setting and his dress, Zeke couldn't stay uptight for long, gesturing to Rong Wei to come before the desk so he could get the mandatory paperwork taken care of. He didn't even notice that her wording of 'Raevan' was as though she thought she was here for a crow rather than a being with half a chest that fell into a spiral ribbon. "No need to apologize though, you're here, that's what matters." Unlike Xiu, he couldn't detect the Chinese woman wasn't being truthful, taking her words as they came and therefore not judging that her hoodie seemed a little out of sorts. Zeke nabbed the legal documents and a ballpoint, turning them around and sliding them across the counter top.
"These are release forms. Name, date, signature on the 'X' line, that whole bit. It's just legal stuff for us to have on file in case anything goes amiss or whatnot." While Rong Wei was busy with that, Zeke picked up the Raevan's file, flipping through it again for any notable details he'd have to tell the Frei's new guardian. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for two things - one was the male Raevan's birthday, printed out in typing on a black line. "October twenty-second, twenty-oh-seven..." He spoke the words more to himself than to the woman before him. The second thing followed right after, a long paragraphs following a bold starting 'Ex. Notes:'. Summarized, the Raevan's original guardian was a no show. In an attempts to be sure the Frei never felt abandoned or learned too much without a suitable caretaker, Dr. Kyou had put the Raevan into a special cryogenic freeze chamber to pass the time until its guardian could arrive. It was noted this was already done before for a previous Raevan, so there was no worry about long term sleep in the pod. The guardian had still been MIA for weeks, even months after the Raevan was originally born, and it appeared he had actually been forgotten about until being rediscovered not too long ago by the good doctor himself. Three years of one life, wasted, but the notes ended stating the Frei's progress was good and he was acting like a normal newborn. Well, that was good at least.
"I didn't bring anything with me to carry it back in, so I was wondering if you provide carriers?"
"Pardon me?" He jerked out of his reading, catching the tail end of Rong Wei's words and thus leaving him in a hurry to catch up. Carriers? Something to carry the Raevan back in? Walking would be suitable, didn't she know? "Ah well," he started, the look of 'what in the world is she talking about?' clear on his bearded face. "I can assure you that you won't need a carrier for him." More than that, he was sure no Raevan could fit into a carrier of any sort nor would want to. He realized he must've come off as rather spacey, so in order to save grace Zeke cleared his throat and looked down to the papers on the desk.
"If you're done signing, I'll take you to see him. He's just down the hall here." A point to the two double doors on his left that led into the Lab itself. Unlike the Ice Rose, the Sphinx Frei's room was near the top of the hall, so the walk wouldn't be long at all. He didn't know how he felt about it's new guardian yet though and hadn't seen the Raevan either, so hopefully everything would run smoothly from here on out.
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 1:50 pm
Wait, what? She wasn't going to need a carrier to get this thing out? Wasn't that basically illegal on the streets then without a permit? Or...was this really something very different from what the Chinese woman had been imagining? She was going to need something more than a cigarette when this was all over, probably something that came in a bottle with the promise of a better tomorrow.
Still she followed all the instructions laid out to her, signing her name on the line in neat Chinese. She cursed softly at her slip, the papers and everything she signed at home always in English since she did most of the bill paying for her parents, so to make it easier for everyone she wrote the translation above each character - Hu Rong Wei. The Chinese woman had never adopted a pet before, not even anything from a local shelter, so she didn't really question the whole need to keep things legal and in order. As far as she knew she wasn't having to pay for any of this so questions weren't going to be popping up.
When everything was done and the man motioned for her to follow Rong Wei couldn't help but think of this place as something she might have read before - about a petshop in Chinatown. What was that called again - something 'horrors' ? None of those stories ended well and she half chuckled thinking that her own fortunes might follow that route. Everything certainly seemed to be getting set up that way, she just hoped that in the end she was still standing with all her limbs in tact.
"In here then?"
She finally spoke again when they'd reached a door and the man stopped before it, actually opening it and motioning for the woman to enter inside. She frowned at him, clearly displeased, but still went to take a look that this 'raven' she was going to be taking home with her. The room was dimly lit and she could hear something crackling, like a fire perhaps, though there was no smell of smoke nor any sign of flickering light in the air. Along with crackling was the sound of movement, something that drew her in closer, and Rong Wei glanced around before she felt something cool brush against the back of her neck. She quickly turned on her heels, eyes wide, to face what had approached her.
"What the hell is this?!"
A floating torso was before her, just like the many she'd seen before. Like that Xiu thing she taught, or the one creature she saw while painting that ladies nails. Was this...what the hell was going on?!
"Is this some kind of joke? What the hell is this?!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 2:34 pm
Door open, door shut, and Zeke was hastily tucking the legal forms back into the manila folder as he walked on down the hall, Rong Wei in tow. He didn't glance at her signature, just put it away neatly. His mind was already on the Raevan so nearby, excitement lining his features at getting to once again see a veritable newborn go home with a suitable guardian, though he still didn't know what to make of the woman following behind him quite yet.
"Right inside. Guardians always see first." He rapped on the door lightly to make the Raevan within aware of their presence and pulled the door free of its frame and latch. The hinges on this door squeaked like the front one and Zeke found himself flinching to the tinny sound. "Ugh, doors." He said. Like Rong Wei he was aware of the crackling coming from within the room but unlike her he had prior knowledge to the Black Lightning Essence the Raevan was created from. His mohawk was already sitting a little straighter on his head because of the static charge the air coming from the room possessed.
"What the hell is this?!"
His eyes widened and in that moment Zeke took the fastest three steps of his life to get into the room, uncaring of the fact the heavy door slammed back into its lock behind him. Had something happened to the Raevan? Was he okay? Those questions and more filled his mind as he frantically started looking around the room; but the more he saw, the less he feared and the more confused he became in its place. Nothing was out of order. The lights were dimmer and flickering but that was the only abnormality, otherwise everything else was neat and in place and the Raevan was floating right there with Rong Wei ogling him.
"Wh-" He began but the Chinese woman's squawk shut his trap before he could get the full word out. His brows, pierced with more than one ring on each side, flew up into his hairline, giving Rong Wei and the new Raevan a look of surprise at the same time. In his rush, he didn't even truly see the Frei floating there and so far the details of his appearance barely had a chance to settle in Zeke's mind. Joke? What the heck was she talking about? Zeke's metaphorical feathers ruffled. Even from his vantage point to the side and somewhat behind Rong Wei he could see her expression clearly. This was not what she was expecting but...She applied didn't she? She had to know what she was getting into! Not any average Joe off the street would have been picked for this job! "That," he began, one eyebrow lowering to give life to the confusion he was feeling inside, "not 'that'...He is your Raevan."
Zeke looked to the Sphinx Frei, finally taking him in. He couldn't really give words to the Raevan's expression but he was rather taken with his overall appearance and dress. Like his soul, he was quite the Egyptian. Hair segmented, braided and black, red accenting otherwise completely black and silver beads and metal for clothing and accessories, and a smooth dark complexion - he was rather dashing and as inhumanly handsome as any other Raevan the veterinarian had met thus far. Like with Zurine, he gave the Raevan a winning smile, just knowing the sudden outburst of who was supposed to be his caretaker was likely confusing, startling, and positively hurtful.
"Hello there. Sorry if she startled you, she's just..." What could he say to make that first impression seem positive? His jaw opened and shut a few times before one phrase came to mind. It was neutral if anything, which was more than he could say for the woman in the room. "Taken aback."
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Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 2:34 pm
The Chinese woman glared back and forth from the creature to the man with the freaky-colored hair, her expression absolutely livid before she finally raised a hand to her temple and let her fingers slowly start rubbing the agitated spots. What the hell had her mother gotten her into now? She rightfully could say that she didn't do this to herself, she was actually innocent of everything for once, but it looked as though this man believed it all to be her fault as he snapped at her about the thing now belonging to her.
Rong Wei could probably come right out and say that her mom had been the one to do all this so their contract was null and void, but then what? She'd already signed a second one and it wasn't as though her mom would lie about whatever it was she had put down. If the old bat had one decent trait about her it was that she never did anything that would make her own integrity be put into question, be that a good or bad thing. Anyway, moving along.
"I know what the hell it is, it's not like I've never seen one before. I teach one Chinese every other weekend for Christ's sake, so it's not a stranger. What bothered me to start with is the freak tried to grab my neck."
The Chinese woman pointed at the floating Frei, her eyes dark as she watched the changing expressions that covered over the Raeven's face. At first the creature ( a male creature she was assuming - no tits at least ) had indeed looked shocked at her outburst, perhaps even a bit hurt as one might expect, but now its eyes were narrowing and his lips were tugging at their corners as if to mimic a smile. He raised one of his own hands and copied the motion, though with the movement the sound of crackling increased slightly and Rong Wei felt the hair on the back of her neck slowly rise to attention.
" . . . . "
Thankfully (?) the man had decided to speak again, distracting the Frei to look over at him with that same twitching smile on his lips. There was a mild bow of his head, as if to say hello, but for the most part he looked....uninterested? Or was he simply uneasy? It was rather hard to tell since he didn't have a concrete look just yet, his arm still point out towards Rong Wei and his eyes moving from human to human. What could he be thinking of?
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:58 pm
It was clear to Zeke this new guardian had absolutely no idea what she had gotten herself into. He didn't know the real reason behind the matter - just that she had been picked for this Raevan - but already his confusion was settling and replacing with dislike of the woman. That was something that rarely happened so fast with the young man; he liked to give a person the benefit of the doubt, especially when he first meets them, but with Rong Wei and her expression as well as tone and words toward the Egyptian Frei, she was not winning that chance with Zeke. What, had she submitted an application when drunk for shits and giggles? Wonderful. His arms crossed in front of his chest, body language sealing himself off from doling out anymore kindness toward the Chinese woman.
"He's not a freak," he stated simply, "and he's probably just curious. According to his file he's going to be three years old come October, but due to some circumstances he's really still just a newborn." Hopefully the woman before him didn't attribute "special circumstances" into "this Raevan's mentally retarded" because that was so far from the truth they weren't even in the same ballpark. "But no matter how many ways we slice it, he's yours to take care of now. Out of probably hundreds of other applications yours was deemed the best match for him." The corners of his lips tugged down into a half frown as he accentuated the word 'yours', but with his inner struggle to play the neutral, professional party it came out looking more like a grimace. Luckily it didn't stick around as the Frei turned his attention to Zeke, and even with the uninterested expression on the Sphinx's face, the vet was pleased to see his greeting returned.
"He'll need a name," Zeke said as he moved from that spot by the wall toward the desk that the Frei was near. He clamped down on his pierced tongue to prevent himself from saying something like "and 'Freak' isn't a suitable option". The folder out on the desk and Zeke pulled out the pen Rong Wei had used to sign the documents to prepare himself to do as he had done with Phiel and Zurine - write the name down for the guardian to make the process go faster. A voice in the back of his head was lamenting that he couldn't just kick Rong Wei out and keep the Sphinx here. He could call Alex or even take the trip upstairs to the residential area of the building and start knocking on each door until he got the doctor himself, but he had that feeling it would react negatively on himself since she was the one they picked out of all those others. Looking at Rong Wei again as he waited, he wanted to track down that application and read it for himself; maybe after this was done.
"So what'll it be?" He turned his eyes over to the Frei, taking in more of his appearance. He was an ancient Egyptian through and through, but a name like 'Set' or 'Akhen' would be rather cliche in his opinion. It was why Zeke had eliminated any spider-like or virus-sounding names right off the bat for his own Raevan; the name should be distinctly for them, not for or relating to what they were born from. His naturally dominant hand held the pen loosely, the tip barely resting on the starting end of the corresponding line after 'Raevan Name:', simply waiting. He was keeping his attention on the Raevan, preferring to not see the daggers that were more than likely being directly at him for his uncharacteristically cool demeanor. That and because the young Frei still hadn't lowered his arm quite yet and Zeke was curious as to why that was.
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 1:38 pm
Rong Wei did not take kindly to being told off, even if Zeke was doing his best to make it sound like he wasn't trying to do so. Either way the Chinese woman had taken it as such and she bit her lip to prevent herself from calling him something rather unpleasant in both of her languages, instead taking a deep breath and swallowing. She'd have to keep her cool and not shout out as well that she didn't even fill things out - her mother did damn it. She had to keep cool, just keep cool. Her voice was low and calm, and her eyes didn't look so entirely bitter anymore.
"You don't need to remind me of that. It's not like I'm going to sit here and abuse him so cool your jets already. He'll be fine with me."
Eventually the Frei did lower his arm and actually float over to Rong Wei's side, his eyes looked her face up and down. He reached over and touched the clothing she wore - the hood of her hoodie to be more exactly, and he pulled his hand back while rubbing his fingers together. It appeared as though he was really thinking over something, or at least probably wondering why this woman was so dirty and smelt like a pyre. It wasn't a bad smell, at least he wasn't wrinkling his nose in disgust at her, but it wasn't as though he was smiling over it either. The Frei continued to keep touching the woman after the rubbing of his fingers ceased, though he paused when he felt Rong Wei give a slight jump as his finger touched her cheek.
"Tsk."
It had been a slight shock, almost like he was testing the waters or something similar, but either way the Frei finally made a sound too. The air between his teeth gave more of a crackling noise then an actual word, but that was about all he said. Rong Wei ignored it as she hoped to do with whatever else he did while they were here and turned her attentions back to the man. He'd asked for a name right?
"Ripley. I'm naming him Ripley and we're not going to have any discussion on that. You understand me, Ripley?"
The Chinese woman repeated it as she rubbed her cheek to get rid of the sting, hoping the blasted floating creatures would understand what she was saying to him as well as the man with the funky hair.
"Tsk."
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 2:47 pm
"You don't need to remind me of that. It's not like I'm going to sit here and abuse him so cool your jets already. He'll be fine with me."
Well that was a relief at least, though calling the Frei 'that' and 'freak' still counted as verbal abuse in Zeke's book. He didn't respond with anything but a nod at that, already keeping quite cool and handling himself as well as ever. His attention was still on the Raevan as well, watching the being float over to his new guardian with a simple flick of his metallic wings - the still irritatingly flickering lights making the red in them look less dark cranberry and more a deep blood. This trick of his eyes didn't perturb the vet at all, though really, the lights were annoying him. Zeke watched the Sphinx as he set about taking in his caretaker's appearance; fiddling with her clothing and even giving her a light shock. Seemed he was well aware of his powers already, that would be something to mind.
"Ripley, eh? Sounds like a good choice to me." He said lightly, nodding once more and turning his attention to the paper. He had to note that Rong Wei came up with that name right on the spot and it was kind of odd that she didn't even need to pause for a breath before coming out with it. Ah well, it was a name and not one he would of thought of, so he couldn't really judge. With his attention off the new pair, Zeke's shoulder blades shifted as he made himself comfortable over the paper in the folder, pressing the pen tip down on the white surface and just above the line. Now came the hard part for him - making sure this was neat, straight, and legible; not something he was really quite used to yet. While he could swap the pen over to his right hand and go from there, the end result if he wasn't mindful would be the same.
"R-I-P-L-E-Y..." He murmured to himself as he slowly started that near-painful process of writing out neat block letters. His speech was soft, but loud enough to drift over to the Chinese woman and check to make sure he had the proper spelling down. Once the last letter was made Zeke checked his work, pleased to see that despite him being a natural southpaw, the name came out without too much of a slant. Zeke flipped through the papers to that summary of Ripley's history before now, adding an extra notation of the Frei's name and checking to make sure it needn't be added anywhere else in the documents. Zeke's attention was diverted for now.
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:30 pm
"Yeah, that's about right."
Rong Wei was half paying attention as well, her gaze and focus fully commanded by the Frei that was now moving closer to her. Ripley, as he was now called, still had that same desire to just check the woman out, his head tilted slightly to the side as he looked her. She was nothing like he'd ever seen before, not much of a surprise considering how he'd been stored until now with little to no knowledge of anything. She certainly was a bit more interesting then the quiet one who was working with something in his hands, seeing as she was much louder and reacted funny to his motions. Perhaps he could try something more fun, to touch her face again!
He moved his palm back slightly as he got within a good distance, and Rong Wei frowned as she watched everything he was doing. She was about to open her mouth and say something to him when the palm of his hand connected with her face, shocking the woman.
"!!"
Rong Wei staggered back a bit and cupped her nose, aware that it wasn't bleeding but it was certainly smarting. Judging by the surprised expression that graced Ripley's face she was pretty sure he hadn't intended to strike her like he had, thought what startled her more than the impact was the flicker of a grin that echoed shortly after his surprise wore off. His eyes were bright and almost full of energy, and that annoying crackling sound that had been filling the air when both of the humans had come in seemed to increase.
The man writing the papers hadn't noticed, right? Perhaps he could do it again!
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 12:14 pm
Papers were flipped through quickly but gazed at with an acute eye. Marks were made where required or needed and the Frei's new name was written down as well when asked for it. Zeke had just made it to the final page when the slap rang out in the otherwise quiet room, his head lifting and turning fast enough to put a crick in his neck. His brows raised as he moved and the sight he saw was rather surprising. Rong Wei looked just as shocked - if not more so - and Ripley floated there with a grin just starting to curl the corners of his lips. The vet didn't just stand there, he dropped the pen and went to the woman's side, likely putting a stop to any thoughts the Raevan had about repeating the action.
"Are you all right?" He asked, his tone edged with concern though he still wasn't taken with the Chinese woman. His hand raised to move hers away from her face to see if she was injured past a sore feeling, but then dropped back down. With her attitude, he doubted she wanted to be touched, especially after getting a slap out of nowhere and from the being she was now in charge of taking care of to boot. Plus she did smell like an ashtray in the worst way, but that was beside the point. From there he looked between the two, trying to piece why the Frei had just up and smacked his guardian in the face. He had no experience with children so the obvious answer of the Raevan just being curious (though in a violent, uncouth action) didn't cross his mind right then. Had she done something to upset him into retaliating like that? She had likely frightened him when she came in and maybe this was the delayed reaction to that. That was likely right? Seemingly.
"Do you want some ice for it?" Even in the light he could just see the redness from the slap creeping slowly past the cover of Rong Wei's fingers. The slap resounded around the room thanks to the silence and the spaciousness, but it hadn't been that hard had it? No matter. She would likely be sore in the face for awhile with that, but ice would help dim that and possibly any temper or ill will she had toward Ripley for it. "Yeah, looking at it, ice would help." He said without waiting for a yea or nay. Getting them both out of this room into the hall and then into the large cafeteria might be a good idea, no matter if Rong Wei was miffed about it, so Zeke made a gesture to follow him - after picking up the folder and pen of course - and proceeded to the door.
"This way please." Once all were out he noticed the dimming and flickering of the lights in the room stopped once Ripley left the room, but it transferred over into the hallway lights instead. Good thing the cafeteria comes before before the lab itself, he thought, I wouldn't want to even guess what would happen if he went in there. The research and both his and Anita's Raevans could be jeopardized if Ripley's static ability to mess with the lights carried over to other devices as well. He wouldn't worry too much though, they were plenty near the cafeteria and a long ways from the sealed doors of the laboratory and there was no reason to go in there either. The walk didn't take long at all and soon Zeke was holding one of the two cafeteria doors open, his arm sweeping the air and giving off an 'after you' gesture. The room was nice, clearly less science-like than the rest of the building (minus the lobby which felt residential and the upper floor which was), and had its fair share of tables, chairs, and cheery decor to look at while eating.
"Just give me a moment, I'll get ice and something to pack it in for you." With that, Zeke turned on his heel, passing by the counter tops and going to the large double-door fridge across and slightly hidden by other things and effectively leaving the pair alone once again.
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Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 1:55 pm
Rong Wei pulled her hand back several times, each glance of her eyes moving to the palm of her hand to see if blood had dared show itself against her pale skin. Thankfully nothing had come out like she'd originally thought, there was just that smarting pain, and she gave a few strong sniffs in order to try and sort the nerves back to normal. A weak hit to the face like that was nothing to trouble her - she'd been punched much harder and for a lot less (not that she'd ever admit it to this guy).
"I'm fine, he just caught me off guard. I think he was trying to brush my hair or something and couldn't keep track in the dark the distance between us. Nothing serious, right Ripley?"
Her glare was turned at the Egyptian-like being, though it was hard to take the Chinese woman seriously with a red hand print spreading over the whole of her face. She looked like someone had tried to give her a hive-five but had missed her hand entirely.
"Hmph."
The Frei gave a sort of grunt of agreement (hopefully) before simply shrugging his shoulders up and down, a motioned he'd seen the woman do once before while she was talking to the man with bright colored hair. He'd had no desire to really try and repeat anything they were saying, none of it seeming rather important other than perhaps the constant 'Ripley' that was being parroted over and over. He figured that eventually he would have to repeat the word just to appease these two, though his interest in them was slowly waning thanks to how quickly they'd gathered together after that tap.
So far he'd learned that poking and shocking was slightly okay, at least she didn't swat at him, but visible touching with force not so much. Anyway, it looked as though the man and woman had decided to move out of the room finally and further into the building and Ripley felt his own face frown slightly. He'd rather liked staying where he was, thank you very much, there was no need to make him go somewhere unfamiliar. If perhaps they could bring it to him he'd be okay with it but - he didn't have much of a choice. Since he wasn't moving of his own free will Rong Wei had reached over and taken his hand, a small tug on his arm forcing the Frei to float alongside her and out into the hallway.
They all moved in silence until they came into a larger room that was brightly light, though soon the lights dimmed and fell to a more hushed tone. He rather liked the way things looked when cast in shadow, so Ripley wasn't complaining there either, but he was going to say or do something about the man leaving him alone with the woman again. Was she really going to be taking him?
"What? Got a staring problem?"
His hand was dropped quickly from hers, and the Chinese woman crossed her arms as she looked at him. He didn't quite understand what she wanted him to say, but he picked whatever sounded good. He wasn't a slow learner, just not much of a conversationalist at the moment.
"No. Watching. Waiting."
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Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 2:37 pm
While he was occupied with playing fetch with ice and a plastic baggie Zeke was pleased to see that none of the appliances in the cafeteria's kitchen seemed to be malfunctioning like the lights. Still, he wasn't about to microwave or toast something to see if it was true, and instead kept his focus on the dual fridge-freezer combo. The bag he had pulled from one of the many cabinets in the room took some work to get open (his nails were trimmed short and therefore he stumbled to pull the seam apart) but once it was Zeke was in the freezer, digging out a tray of cubes. Someone had set or accidentally knocked the cold thermometer to 'deep freeze' so the ice barely budged when the veterinarian twisted their holding cells to and fro. A couple resounding bangs against the counter top, however, did just the trick.
"Here you go." He said upon his return, holding out a Ziploc bag with five slowly melting cubes inside of it out to Rong Wei. Zeke hadn't heard them talking, so did they just stand here the entire time? Not that he was expecting deep, lengthy conversations right off the bat, but still! Anyway, he shouldn't dwell on that, he still had a job to do. Now that Rong Wei had her ice, he could continue and soon lead them up toward the lobby again. "Okay..." Zeke started with some uncertainty, attention flicking up towards the lights that were tripping out above his and the other two peoples' heads. "Let's see, you've signed the papers," he directed that at Rong Wei, "met and named Ripley, he's got his name, so...Last thing left to do, really, is to ask if you have any questions and lead you both back up to the front again."
Hands without their usual coverings of gloves and rings clasped behind their owner's back as the young man waited patiently. Unlike with Phiel and how the older man seemed to have a decent amount of prior knowledge, it was clear Rong Wei lacked that and he expected quite a few of them to come. Zurine possibly needed a special climate given her Essence, but looking at the Sphinx again, Zeke wasn't sure what sort of answer he could provide if a question of that sort was spoken. Clearly he was of the Egyptian variety rather than the Greek, so perhaps he would like it hot and dry? He seemed fine in the cooler rooms of the Lab but was in a cold chamber for three years so that was likely yet to be seen. Either way and even with his still professionally masked dislike of his guardian, he'd do his best to answer as well as he could. For the Frei and his new life.
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