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 Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 10:24 am
The Croc Plays Host to a Scorpion
This is a private RP between:
ex o ex Snoof - Cruz and Anita
Aphismet - Rivener
- - - - - -
Where: Anita and Cruz's coastal apartment in Gambino
When: Between 11:30AM and Noon, on a Friday
Weather: Gambino's Spring weather is clear skies, temperature in the 80s, with a cooling cross breeze
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Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:28 am
Rivener checked his phone one more time and looked up at the building, comparing numbers. Yep, that was the place. He made a slight face, mouth quirking sideways in uncertainty, brows coming down in faint disapproval. An apartment?! Raevans needed ROOM, and apartments usually had very small amounts of that! Riv himself could remember his very first living arrangements as a Frei, back in Aphismet's shitty little one-bedroom place.
Well, maybe this was too early a judgement, which was why his face wasn't so clear in its emotion. Hell, Vyn lived in an apartment too and hers was a gigantic penthouse. Riv wouldn't make up his mind on this place until he saw it, and saw how this young Frei liked it there.
The phone beeped closed and went back into the pocket of Rivener's favorite leather coat. With a shrug, the Scorpion headed to the building and went inside, holding the door for an older lady who just happened to be exiting as he was going in. Retarded security, Riv scoffed, wondering if there was anything other than a key needed to get in here. A buzzer? Intercom? He hadn't noticed. At least the old lady didn't seem too surprised to see him despite his sharp, spiky image and the lack of a lower body. Proof that a Raevan already lived nearby and was seen often enough that people knew what they were.
So the Scorpion languidly flew up to the proper apartment via the stairs, wondering what he'd find. It was kind of strange to have been called out of the blue like that by an owner he'd never met, but he thought he'd seen her before. A girl with a dog, at some of the lab's events. And the Raevan, though, didn't ring a bell. Surely he'd seen it around, but the name wasn't familiar to him. Cruz. Riv hoped to make a good impression, as his vanity demanded, so as he stopped before the proper apartment door he shed his coat, smoothed it over an arm, and ran a hand through his hair to make it as stylish as possible. Then, finally, he rang.
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Posted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 12:25 pm
The initial phone call had been brief, and a little awkward since neither of them had spoken before, but Anita was quite jovial with the scorpion sigel about the situation. In general it was something she felt was important, to get to know the others involved with Lab 305, but moreover it was important for Cruz to become acquainted with more of his kind. That made the suggestion of a solo visit, just for the two of them, an exciting prospect that both looked forward to for the next couple of days.
During that time, Anita and Cruz both worked in their free time to clean and straighten up the apartment. Tango "helped" too but generally made them have to straighten the bed sheets again. With Cruz being a member of the Bishop family for over a year now, it stood to reason that other tenants in the building were used to seeing someone with wings and half a body. As would be expected of those living in as weird a place as Gaia, it wasn't unusual to see even stranger sights as that so Rivener was offered a rather indifferent welcome from those exiting and wandering the halls.
When the doorbell sounded, Anita and Cruz immediately stopped what they were doing. The first thing Rivener heard from behind the door was barking from a dog much larger than Vyn's tiny pug and, through that, an excited chirp. "Oh, he's here!" Some shuffling occurred and the dog's barking was muffled behind another door, which was closed, before the locks on the front door were undone.
The interior of the apartment was warmly lit and welcoming. It was a large space with plenty of room to move around but nowhere near as large as the rose frei's penthouse suite. The main draw of the living room, upon its polished hardwood floor, was the large sofa that was pulled out into a bed that faced the medium sized television upon a large sound system which held several video game consoles. The curtains to the balcony were drawn, letting in the warm sunshine, and it was there the green frei hovered, sunning himself, with a large grin. Anita stood at the open door, smiling pleasantly. She recognized Rivener instantly, though they had never spoken -- she'd been to enough Lab functions to see him in passing a few times.
"Hey, thanks for coming," she offered a hand in greeting, Tango still barking from the other room, "I'm Anita, and that's Cruz. I hope dogs aren't a problem. I'll let him out once you get comfortable, he'll just say hi and go on his way. He doesn't cause trouble."
At this, the frei floated towards the door and gazed upon the scorpion with ever growing excitement in his emerald eyes. "Rrivenrerrr," he purred incorrectly, making Anita laugh.
"I'm sorry. We weren't really sure how to pronounce your name from the paper." With some light nudging, Anita pulled Cruz aside to make room for Riv to enter and she beckoned him with a few quick waves of her hand.
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Posted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 12:45 pm
Riv listened patiently at the door, noticing how the barking suddenly dimmed. Ah, good. He wasn't looking forward to having a dog jumping all over him first thing. So the woman was at least considerate. Locks (many, so at least there was THAT) slid open and before long the door swung in, revealing Rivener's first look at... well, at everything.
The barking dog, Rivener ignored for now. He focused his attention first on the woman that greeted him. She seemed pleasant, as he'd assumed from the phone. A nice person, upbeat and cheerful, one who wasn't easily intimidated as she didn't blink a single eyelash at his spiky appearance, unlike some of the more meek people he'd met. Good. She extended her hand and he took it with a grin, shaking. "Anita, pleased to meet you. And Cruz."
Cruz was the next to receive his scrutiny, though his sharp red eyes hid behind his bright, charismatic smile. Ah, that's why Anita wasn't all that phazed at his spikiness: look at all the spines and teeth on this one! His color was a very vibrant green, and he seemed very friendly, not snobbish, well-behaved... And with a speech problem? Riv's smile turned a little nostalgic. He liked people with speech problems. Like Eiry, Roux... He chuckled at the rumbled version of his name, waving a hand softly. "I get that a lot, it's not a usual name. It's RIV-ah-Nurr, but just Riv will do."
As he was finally allowed in, his gaze turned to the last piece of the puzzle, the apartment. He floated forward slowly, examining everything like he was the health inspector come to pass a grade. An eyebrow slowly rose, lips pursing thoughtfully.
Clean. Bright. Balcony, good. Other rooms, good. Who slept on that sofa-bed? Lots of games, good. Huge TV, double-good. Room enough to float and flit about, good, good.
"Nice place," he concluded, turning to smile at the pair. "Really bright and airy. You like bright and airy, Cruz? I do. I like warm sunlight too, and that seems like the floor would be really comfortable around that balcony door. And about the dog, I'm not a huge fan but if he's well-behaved it could be fine."
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Posted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 1:26 pm
Anita's handshake with Riv was friendly and surprisingly firm. Once the sigel was inside, she locked the door and tucked the chain into place. It wasn't a matter of being overly cautious but Anita, like Riv it seemed, was intent to provide a safe environment. As Rivener floated around the room, Cruz followed a few feet behind with a low and pleasant rumble hanging in his throat. "Rivener. Gotcha."
The frei attempted to parrot his name as well but, like with Iorek, it became sloppier the faster and more comfortably he spoke. "Riv-ah-nerr. Rivner. Rivernrer. Rrriver." Each one had a different inflection but all of them were amiable. Cruz didn't seem particularly frustrated that he was getting it incorrect, more like he was having fun trying. R names and words were some of his favorites to say, as they lent themselves well to his reptilian grumbles and his sharp teeth made rolling Rs easy and natural. At his question, Cruz hovered a bit higher and flared his small wings while nodding. "Yes. It's very nice," he floated past Riv towards the balcony window to bask in the bright noon light.
All the while, behind the door, Tango's barks began turning into halfhearted whines rather than any attempts at feigning intimidation. "He's friendly and a good listener. If he becomes a problem, though, I can just keep him in the room with me." Anita stepped toward the middle of the room, closer to Riv, and began pointing out the closed doors. "That's the bathroom over there, if you need a mirror or sink, the closet's right next to it. That's the kitchen, over there's the room I'll be in. It's my mom's but she's at work. Next to that is Cruz's room." With the impromptu tour over with, Riv received an answer to a question he didn't vocalize; the sofabed in the living room was used by Anita. Resting a hand on her hip, she shrugged. "And that's that, really. You guys can do whatever you want. Cruz knows how to set up the games if you want to mess with them. Once Tango meets you I'll get out of your hair."
In the time it took for Anita to explain, Cruz had eagerly made his way to their shared bedroom door where the dog was now whining pathetically. He reached for the knob but didn't touch or turn it, looking to Riv for confirmation. "Can he come out? Tango's a good boy," Cruz announced this to his fellow Raevan with utmost certainty.
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Posted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 3:16 pm
Riv smirked as his name was repeatedly butchered in rather adorable ways. At this point the Scorpion was under the impression that Cruz couldn't do anything BUT parrot words, but in the next moment the Crocodile proved that false by answering the question of liking the warmth very clearly. Riv's eyebrows shot up in surprise but quickly came back down, the Sigel silently berating himself for jumping to a conclusion too fast. He smiled at Cruz. "Well, we have that in common, then."
Anita went on to explain where each door went, revealing that she'd be hiding in another room while the two Raevans met. She also revealed who slept on that couch by not mentioning a room of her own, and Rivener found he didn't like that any better, either, though. Poor lady seemed nice, she should have a room... Why couldn't she find a bigger place? No money for it? Well, that was too prying a question to ask someone when you'd just met, so the Scorpion put it in his back pocket for now.
"Thanks for showing me around, and yes, he can come out," Riv spoke first to Anita and then to Cruz, grinning at the eagerness he could clearly see. If the Frei was good friends with the dog and didn't get routinely mauled or manhandled, then Riv should be fine. After working where he did for so long, Riv was beginning to grow increasingly wary of damned dogs.
So despite the tension that instantly set in his shoulders as Cruz moved to let the dog out, Rivener kept smiling and turned to the consoles for a moment. "We have some of these too," he revealed. "Seems like the games we have most at my house are music games and racing games. Do you have anything else we could try?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:18 am
At Riv's assurance on the matter of enjoying sunlight, Cruz smiled heartily. It was more a confirmation of something he took as fact, rather than feeling as if he received validation. Anita, too, grinned that the two raevans had common ground already, even if it was something seemingly insignificant as far as human standards went. Raevans and humans seemed to have very different ideals but it was something she found fascinating, rather than offputting.
"No problem. Cruz should be able to help with anything else but if you've got any major questions you know where I'll be." she was about to give the go ahead to Cruz, following Rivener's own acceptance on the matter, but held a hand up to give the frei pause when another question arose. "Oh, we've got a little bit of everything. I work at a game store in the Gambino mall so we try to keep a fairly eclectic library going." Anita smiled, pointing to one of the entertainment system's shelves which had a CD white, medium sized CD booklet. "Those are the ones I prefer he not play yet but everything else is fair game. Platformers, RPGs, adventure games, fighters, even a couple shooters that should be safe and Teen rated. Go nuts." Another hand gesture was given and Cruz let out a short rumble of excitement.
The door knob turned and Cruz pulled the door back, revealing a modestly sized bedroom with the lights off. A medium sized, wolfish dog with a blue bandanna tied around its neck stepped out hurriedly, cutting yet another whine short. Tango stopped abruptly when he noticed the new presence, let out a halfhearted snarl which devolved into a snort, then approached the sigel slowly to begin sniffing. Any disapproval from the dog was belied by his wagging tail, which picked up in momentum when Riv's scent was identified to be similar enough to Cruz's for comfort. It took a few moments as Tango circled a little, sniffed, wagged, but once that was done he stepped over towards the frei and let Riv be. Easy, as they said. Cruz hovered down and Tango sat on his hind legs, arms wrapping around the hound's shoulders as Cruz nuzzled into his neck fur. "Good boy," he muttered a few times before lifting himself, hands delicately moving to Tango's ears which he lightly massaged while giving his attention back to Riv and Anita.
"I think he'll be fine, hm?" she glanced to Riv just to make sure. Anita gave a short, parting wave to Cruz, Tango, and their guest before heading into the larger bedroom. The door was left ajar, just enough that they could hear what she was doing and vice versa if they were close enough.
Once the TV turned on in the other room, Cruz gave Rivener his full attention -- at least as full as one could give when they were gently mushing their dog's cheeks with their hands. "What should we do?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 2:12 pm
Aha, she worked at a game store. That explained the extensive setup, then. Rivener nodded at the pile of games Cruz was not yet allowed to play, glad that Anita was taking Cruz's youth seriously despite his appearance, unlike some. Even with the restriction in place, though, there seemed to be quite a lot of games to play, and that would no doubt provide a lot of distraction for the pair of Raevans. Already Riv was eyeing some of the titles...
Then Cruz was letting out Tango, and Rivener stiffened a little. The dog was rather big, but he seemed friendly enough after that initial growl. Not like the vicious animals Rivener sometimes had to fend off at work. No, this was a lot calmer and before long Riv was comfortable again, offering his hand for sniffings until the dog was satisfied, trotting back to Cruz who lavished him with gentle affection.
Rivener angled his eyes to the woman when she spoke, giving a smile and a nod. Yeah, okay, the dog could stay. Cruz seemed to like it a lot and it did seem well-behaved. So with that, Anita left and Rivener approached Cruz again, giving the room another look over. Cruz asked what they should do, and the Scorpion turned to grin and chuckle at his shorter companion. "We can do whatever you want, Cruz. But I for one would like to play video games! Do you play a lot of games? You have so many more than I do. Maybe we can find something to play together, hm?"
The logical choice would be a fighting game, but Riv wasn't so sure how the other would handle competition. He floated to the library and began scanning the titles, tilting his head. "What kinds are your favorites? We could try one of those."
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Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2014 2:36 pm
The scorpion's enthusiasm, though calm, was greatly appreciated. Cruz's eyes lit up and a smile tugged at his lips, drawing them open to reveal a top row of pointed teeth. Just a bit away, Tango was pawing around and sniffing at the floor, trying to discern if anything else changed about his home besides the addition of a new face.
"Neeta plays more than I do," he smiled, "I play hand-- helds?" Cruz had to think a moment on the terminology, then nodded when he decided it was correct. "A lot. Can take them anywhere."
The croc followed Rivener, nearing a bit closer than was perhaps necessary to the sigel but he did not reach out or touch the other raevan. They were both preoccupied and before they would have a chance to get more friendly they needed to agree on what would take up the silence between.
"Ah-- together," the croc rumbled, almost like a purr.
His fingers ran over the assortment his guardian laid out. The frei's ribbon touched the floor as he leaned in to get a closer look, face tight with concentration but keeping an eager smile. There were several CD binders as well as a multitude of games still in their cases. Even still, there were older systems and games available, ones that ran on cartridges, which also had their own organization and cases. If they wanted to break into those they would need to unhook the wires and swap some cables out, though, as most often the more recent games were played.
Cruz's nails slid a bit noisily over the binder's textured fabric with each page turn. He tapped various disc fronts, Guitar Hero being a recurring one as there were several different iterations. All in all he covered those which cooperative play more than others, but the frei certainly didn't neglect more competitive games. The fighters included were fairly tame but, played with large enough egos, even Mario Kart could end friendships.
"All of these. They're good. What do you like best, River?"
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