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 Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 12:33 pm
Who: Eden (Cynnybun) and Cruz (ex o ex Snoof)
When: Early afternoon
Where: Gambino, Wavecrest Apartments and the nearby beach.
Weather: Bright, sunny, and warm, but with a nice ocean breeze.
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"Okay, text me if you need anything. You're just going to the beach right?" Ian leaned across the center console as Eden drifted out of the car, adjusting her sunglasses on the bridge of her nose. She rolled her eyes behind the shaded lenses and took a sip from her travel cup of ice water as he continued with his fretting. "I mean, it's Cruz so it's okay if you go somewhere else, just let me know okay? And text me when you're ready to leave and I'll pick you up here."
"Okay, I will. Bye, Dad." She smiled and waved, letting out a sigh as he finally pulled away. Ian had been happy when she expressed a desire to hang out with Cruz, but he acted as if he didn't really want to let her go. It wasn't that Eden didn't want to hang out with Cruz; she really did! After meeting him during the Infamous Essence Hunt she'd taken to him a bit, pleased with his warm personality and bright smile. She just wished Ian would trust her a little more. She couldn't imagine what he'd be like if he didn't know Cruz.
Eden adjusted the wide brim of her sunhat and pulled her phone out of her purse to check the apartment number again. Apparently it was a buzzing system -- she'd had to look up how that worked -- and so she would just push a button...? She pulled her glasses off to look at the console and its rows of buttons with names scrawled on scraps of paper pasted next to them. Marlene. Oh right- Cruz had said it would be under his guardian's mom's last name instead of theirs. She pressed the button and jumped just slightly when a loud buzzing noise came from a speaker on the console, then soft static.
"Uh- Cruz? It's Eden, I'm here. Am I doing this right?" She glanced around a bit self-consciously, toying with the end of her long French braid where it rested on her shoulder. She knew she had the right button, but was it just a buzz or could Cruz hear her?
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2016 10:46 am
The croc, in all of his anticipation, had been on the balcony of the apartment sunning himself. It was within view of the rear entrance and parking lot, though it also had an excellent view of the beachside boardwalk and, if you craned your head in the opposite direction, the road. He recognized Ian's car, or at least what he hoped was the right one, as it drove past the rear and toward the front lot.
Cruz wasted no time once he caught sight of it; he threw a shirt on, grabbed his phone and keys, gave Tango a quick smooch on the head, and exited the door before the buzz even went through. Without wings to flap and gain momentum, Cruz's journey to the apartment lobby was a sluggish one but the elevator helped a great deal to speed up the process. Once on the ground floor, he rounded the corner toward the door and its glass pane, where Eden's familiar form floated in front of the call buttons. He opened it for her and grinned.
"Hey!" Cruz chuckled as he floated back. "How are you? Find your way here okay?" He glanced past her toward the lot but saw neither hide nor hair of Ian.
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2016 5:12 pm
Eden worried briefly that she'd done it wrong or had buzzed the wrong apartment. That is, until Cruz burst through the door behind her and proved her suspicions wrong. The nymph smiled brightly in response; Cruz was as happy and sunny as ever, she was relieved to see. She tried to match his energy and floated a little bit higher in the process.
"Yeah, I'm good! I thought I'd pressed the wrong button, but I guess not. Ian found the building okay though." She sighed and shrugged a shoulder. "He says hi; he has a thing for work I guess so he couldn't stay." She vaguely remembered him mentioning a workshop or exhibit or something- she hadn't really paid close attention if she was being honest. Turning back to Cruz, she floated out into the sunshine and took a deep breath of the seaside air.
"Well, lead the way! You gotta show me all the cool stuff to do here!" Perhaps the most exciting thing was the beach itself; they'd only briefly been able to see it while looking for essences, and they hadn't actually gone onto the sand. Not to mention all the things they'd passed by on the boardwalk, too!
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 8:36 pm
"That's good," Cruz rumbled with a smile, "Sorry I couldn't see him, though." It would have been nice to even wave at Ian, to get some form of acknowledgment between them, but if the man was busy then he understood - he knew work was important.
As Eden took charge, at least charge enough to pass Cruz the baton, the sigel did a double take toward the building's lobby. "There's a lot! Games and stuff all along the boardwalk." His fins shivered with excitement that matched the nymph's. There was a slight pause before Cruz spoke again. "But, is it okay if I bring my dog?" The croc's smile turned sheepish. "He hasn't really been out today and he really likes the beach, but if you want it to just be us then I can take him out really fast and then we can go?"
Cynnybun ; o ;; i'm sorry for the delay
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Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2016 6:15 pm
Eden's brows rose when Cruz mentioned his dog, her smile broadening as she nodded eagerly. "Your dog? Oh my gosh, yeah, sure! You can go and get him, I'll just wait here!" The only other dog she'd met so far was her grandparents', and she was excited to meet another. It was kind of like meeting another Raevan, in a way - every dog was different!
She couldn't help wondering, though, about what made Cruz different. Ian had told her his soul was a crocodile, but he hadn't known what his essence was. Maybe she'd ask him when he got back. It was always the hardest of the two components to guess at, since it was usually a lot more subtle than the soul.
"We should definitely play some games though! Ian gave me a little money in case I wanted to buy anything, too!
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2016 11:58 am
Eden's reaction made Cruz brighten. He wasn't sure how the flowery frei would be with animals, considering her reaction to the less than sanitary essence they first stumbled upon in their search, but her excitement was a pleasant surprise.
"Okay! Thanks. I'll be really quick." He assured her with another smile before he retreated back into the building.
Quick was a relative term for Cruz, who was bound simply by his natural hovering momentum. Regardless, he took the elevator up to the third floor and made bee lines for everything he needed. Tango's leash, Tango himself, and a small shoulder bag with for his keys, phone, money, and 3DS in the pockets as well as a few water bottles in the main pouch.
Tango lead the way toward the door from the elevator, eager to get out into the world. He immediately took pause with Eden, tail a steady wag as he sniffed her ribbon, flowers, and fingertips with a distracted amount of curiosity.
"Easy," he chuckled, "His name's Tango. He's a really good listener, so just tell him no if you don't want him to do something." Cruz kept the dog close as he fished through his bag and retrieved one of the water bottles, chilled in the refrigerator, and offered it to Eden. "Here. It gets pretty hot. It's all filtered so it should be fine with your rune."
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 6:35 pm
When Cruz disappeared Eden floated out into the sunshine, the sun high in the school with the noon hour and the building's awning casting a small shadow onto the sidewalk. Cruz was only gone for perhaps ten minutes at the very most, probably because he had to go up to a high floor and gather a few things. But soon enough Eden could see his figure through the glass doors of the apartment building, accompanied by a smaller, much more excited silhouette.
Tango's nose was cold and wet against her fingers and Eden cooed, letting him sniff her adequately before offering a hand to pet his head gently. "Aww, he's so cute! What a good boy, Tango." She grinned brightly and hovered a bit lower to the ground so he could sniff at her more if he wanted. Cruz's offer of a water bottle made her pause, eyes wide in mild surprise as she took the bottle.
"Oh thanks! Yeah I kinda remember it being pretty hot the last time I was here." She opened the cap and took a quick sip, the cold liquid refreshing even though she'd only been outside for a short time. Given that both her soul and her essence were relatively fragile from what she knew, it only made sense that she needed to be hydrated at all times.
"So where should we go first? Where's your favorite place?" She asked, adjusting her bag on her shoulder and glancing to Tango. "Or his?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:25 am
The wolfhound sniffed eagerly and curiously at Eden's offered hand, and everywhere else that she allowed him to. His tail wagged, excited at the prospect of a new friend -- and one so fragrant! Tango turned his attention more gently to the frei's ribbon as she drank from the bottle and two raevans discussed their prospects.
"His," Cruz smiled and tilted his head toward Tango, "is along the beach, but he's naughty and likes to chase seagulls."
He glanced around Eden, gently floating away from the stairs and guiding both her and Tango along with him toward the parking lot. Once they were at a suitable spot, Cruz lifted an arm and pointed toward the boardwalk just down the way, at the edge of the shore. It was, thankfully, not the same boardwalk they found their first lost essence along.
"There's a lot we can do over there. They've got carnival games and souvenir booths and stuff. Do you wanna take a look and see if there's anything fun?" Cruz looked back to Eden with a smile and eyes shining with genuine curiosity. Tango had returned to sniffing Eden's closest hand and gave her knuckles a tentative lick.
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 7:13 pm
In a rare moment of concession, Eden had to admit that Ian's idea of the sunhat had been a very good one. She was grateful for its wide brim as they floated further out into the sunshine, the dark asphalt of the parking lot radiating more heat. At least this way she would be protected a but more from direct sunlight. She'd learned quickly that her skin seemed especially prone to bruising after the bird attack at the spring party and the occasional bump of an elbow against something at home. She could only imagine the damage a sunburn could do. Not to mention it would not be cute.
She smoothed her hand along Tango's back and gave his shoulders a scratch as she followed Cruz's hand with her eyes. The boardwalk was already brimming with activity despite the temperature, in the height of summer vacation and a prime hour for trips to the beach. The nymph smiled brightly and her wings fluttered eagerly against her back. "Yeah! It looks so great, it's so cute! I wanna win one of those super cute stuffed animals I see all the time online. Like at the fair!" She clapped her hands together and started to head toward the boardwalk and looked at Cruz over her shoulder.
"If we get too hot--and if Tango's a really good boy--we can go down to the beach, yeah?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 12:47 pm
The heat certainly wasn't as bad as it could have been by Gambino's standards, thanks in part to the lovely breeze that carried the ocean's scent, but few clouds in the sky promised that the temperature would not lower until the sun began to set. In light of that, Cruz set about directing Tango on the shortest path across the blackened asphalt to spare his paws until they could reach the grass. Cruz grinned back to Eden and nodded. "Yeah! They've got a lot of neat stuff." He couldn't help but chuckle at the nymph's enthusiasm; it was contagious as well as adorable. The croc's wings bristled delightedly at her next suggestion, as well, as did Tango's wagging tail as Eden intoned 'good boy' with her suggestion. "Good idea," Cruz rumbled and gave Tango a quick scratch between his ears.
As they reached the boardwalk proper, there was a great deal more noise. Seagulls called out from above and across the sand, idle conversation between groups of people turned into a low and constant din surrounding them, and a few different tunes mingled in the air from carnival games and street performers to personal radios at various booths. Many small booths were decked out with novelty souvenirs and Gambino related tourist merchandise, including comically sized sunglasses, wide brimmed hats, and various t-shirts. Stuffed animals and other prizes hung from ropes and hooks on display in a variety of sherbet and fruit smoothie-like colors, and just about every store had some supply of flowered lei or hyacinths to tuck behind an ear. There were all sorts of games, from ring toss, water gun races, and ball throws, to mini-fish catching and even a clumsy rope jungle gym with gigantic stuffies at the top.
"Where first?" Cruz asked as he took a drink of water. He hovered down beside Tango and poured some of the bottle into his cupped hand, which Tango lapped up gratefully.
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:10 pm
Eden followed Cruz's path and laughed softly at how Tango was obviously eager to get to the pier. But he didn't seem to be tugging Cruz along, he knew better than that. What would Ian say about getting a dog? They had Ursula, but she didn't do much and wasn't even much of a snuggler...
The sudden envelope of activity pulled her from her thoughts and Eden stared at all the colors, lights, booths--all the people--around them. She spun slowly to take it all in, her smile growing a bit when she caught sight of Cruz again. Thankfully it wasn't so busy that she worried about losing him in the crowd, but the hum of activity gave her heart a rush and her rune surged brightly beneath the elastic hem of her crop top. It was strappy and not very protective against the sun's heat, so she'd donned a gauzy robe in hopes of gaining more of a shield without much additional weight or warmth. So far it was going well.
Cruz's question drew her attention away from the crowd and she blinked, trying to organize her thoughts. Though she'd been in crowds like this since she'd been born, mostly when at the market with Ian, this was different. The crowd at the pier was completely made up of excited people, not calm, browsing shoppers like the market. "Um... How about games? I don't really know any of them though... Which is your favorite?" She eyed the larger prizes up at the top of the booths, particularly a large stuffed CoCo the Kitty plush.
She started to float toward the game booths, scoping them all out. "Oh, and sorry about like, not keeping in touch since the picnic! Things have been kind of hectic and Ian is super paranoid now." She rolled her eyes, pulling out her phone in one smooth motion. "And we should take a selfie for Vesna! I didn't think it was possible, but Lorenzo is even more paranoid than Ian."
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Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:52 pm
Tango was a fairly well trained dog, Cruz had come to learn, but he couldn't take credit for any of that; the wolfhound was around before he was even born, taking on the role of a younger brother that his guardian never had which he, himself, now more or less filled the role of as well -- which in Cruz's mind made Tango his brother, too, rather than just a pet. The pooch appreciated all of Eden's gentle affection and, before she got swept up in the boardwalk scenery, he gave her hand a small lick in thanks.
As the nymph regained herself from the surroundings, Cruz giggled. It was adorable how windswept she looked for a moment, but he supposed she was a tourist; she wasn't from this area and that was how many people from out of town treated the scenery. "I like the water games," Cruz said, "but they're all pretty fun. I just like getting splashed." He laughed and shrugged.
"Oh -- that's okay. I figured things were busy." Cruz's smile wavered at the news of Ian's paranoia, though he tried to perk it back up as Eden rolled her eyes; she didn't seem to think it was that serious, so maybe he wasn't supposed to either. He didn't need to force his smile at all when the other frei was mentioned; Cruz's eyes and smile lit up like a flare and he floated just a bit higher in his excitement. "You know Vesna!" Admittedly he didn't know her as well as he would have liked yet but it tickled him that the two flowery girls were already acquainted. "Is her dad worried about being out here?"
Without question, Cruz readied himself for a picture -- and Tango as well. He hunkered down to the hound's front and lifted his front paws so that he was seated on his haunches and panted curiously with Cruz's cheek against his much fluffier one. "Ready~"
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Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 3:44 pm
Eden held up her phone and struck a pose, sticking her tongue out a bit and making a peace sign with her free hand. She rested her cheek against Tango's other side before snapping the picture. "Yay! She'll love it!"
As they floated back up to normal height Eden sighed and rolled her eyes. "Anyway yeah, I don't know. Ian's just been worried about things since the party, and Lorenzo had just barely let Vesna go out of the house then, so... Who knows." She waved a hand dismissively, clearly exasperated with the mysteries of anxious dads.
"Water games sound fun! How about this one?" She stopped in front of a stall with a large kiddie pool filled with rubber ducks. The keeper held out handfuls of plastic rings for them, and Eden smiled. "How do we play?"
"Just throw the ring, if it lands around a duck's neck you win a prize!" The old man smiled at them, seemingly unaffected by their lack of legs. "Just 500 gold for three tries!"
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