Rhiannon inhaled the oh so familiar medical smell of the reception as she pushed the clinic door open, the door making a soft 'shoosh' noise as it opened and then closed behind her. She looked around - everything seemed to bring back strong waves of nostalgia, running around and through the hard plastic chairs with her childhood friends. Her parents bringing her here..she felt a lump in her throat, refusing to carry on the thoughts. She glanced at the unfamiliar member of staff behind the reception desk before taking a seat and picking up an ancient magazine, flicking through the pages.
She knew her mother wasn't in today, and therefore was why she was in. She knew her mother would only try and pry if she knew that Rhiannon was in to get her prescription renewed for her contraceptive pill; wanting to know the whos and how many she was sleeping with. Rhiannon actually wasn't..and hadn't since Damien had gone. But months and months of frustration had started to boil over, and she wasn't feeling so self destructive as to want to fall pregnant with a virtual stranger. She pushed back her hair, folding her legs so that she was comfortable and got stuck into an article entitled 'Suddenly Single?'
Not too many minutes later, Keeta pushed a stroller through the door with a very cheerful almost-toddler seated in it. Both had blue hair the color of cornflowers, and ears that came to a slight point, indicating their heritage. Her grey eyes swept over Rhiannon as she entered the room, and if the young woman looked up, Keeta was ready to offer a smile. Either way, she made her way to the reception desk to check in.
The appointment was for Joel. He was due to get another shot, and Keeta gelt bad for him. Shots weren't something that had existed in Evin for the most part. The 'technology' was new there and so it was only something use on the rich or desperately ill. Keeta had never been either.
The front door opened and then swiffed closed to mark the entering of another. Kendall really didn't know why he'd stopped in, only that he'd quite literally been in the neighborhood at the time.
His morning had been comprised, since Tourmaline had dropped him and Raven off in town, of drifting from one used car lot to the next, while Ray did the same on the other side of town. They had agreed that both of them had better ways they could be spending their day off, and that this would guarantee that they'd cover as much ground as possible in half the time.
....what they hadn't counted on was the the near-constant disagreeing over one continuous cel phone conversation as they bickered over prices, mileage, years, repairs, and whatever other baggage there was that used cars came with. HE didn't want to learn to drive a stick. SHE didn't want a car that perpetually stank like puke because its last owner had made a habit of driving his drunk buddies home. HE didn't want a car that came with 'some assembly required' no matter how cute it was. SHE didn't want a car that had no back seats.
And so on....and so on....
Just before coming inside, he'd turned his cel off, having had enough for awhile. They hadn't found a car all morning, they weren't going to find one in the twenty minutes it took him to cool his jets. The GMFC was somewhere that had been a big part of his childhood, even if he hadn't visited it in awhile. As bi-colored eyes swept the waiting area, he recalled when it had been much more....well....crowded.
The lone receptionist and the one girl he could see occupying a chair, maybe waiting for an appointment, were all there was. Even as he processed this, another mother swept through the front door past him, her child in a stroller. Maybe they'd cracked down on people using the waiting room as a flophouse or something since last he'd visited...maybe they wanted their patients to have more privacy or something...
He reached up to scratch idly behind one ear, venting a sigh. Maybe he should just go and get the car thing over with so it would stop being an issue...
Rhiannon didn't look up from the magazine the first time the door opened, but she did the second. The mother and her kid was given a cursory glance - she didn't remember being that young, but knew that both her parents had come to the clinic when she was that age and it gave her another lurchy, melancholy feeling. She slapped the magazine down, slapping away the memories at the same time and glanced up at the clock, wondering how much longer she would have to sit here.
After she'd taken in the time, and then checked the watch that dangled around her skinny wrist to check if it was right, she looked around to see who else had entered. She regarded him for a while, managing to admit that he was a good looking guy, around her age. Something familiar about him as well, she felt. Like they had met before but briefly or a long time ago. She couldn't put a name to his face at all though.
'Hi..' she said, as she ferretted around in jeans pocket. She pulled out some gum, popping a bit in her mouth. Gum chewing had become a nervous habit lately, and as she chewed, the angles in her face became more prominent. Her recent..stuff, had left her almost rail thin but she was eating more these days.
He jolted at the voice, not sure if the greeting was addressed to him or to the mother who'd just walked in. He turned his head toward the source, finding the girl who'd been reading the magazine looking in his direction.
He blinked, then feeling his hands begin to fidget, stuffed them in his jacket pockets. "Hi..." he said. Did he know her? He didn't think so....and that only made things ten times more awkward. Strange girls never said hi to him in public unless they were trying to discreetly tell him his fly was open, or unless they were of the obnoxious young teen variety who ran up to tell him their friend thought he was cute, solely for the purpose of mortifying said friend by making the weird geeky guy aware of her presence.
After signing in, Keeta took a seat in one of the plastic chairs near the desk. Another person had entered behind her. A young man, which seemed odd to Keeta. What business did a man of that age have in a maternity and fertility clinic? Inwardly shrugging, she figured there must be SOME reason. Not having been with the GMFC for terribly long yet, she hadn't come to understand the draw it held for those with memories here. Glancing at him, she offered a smile as well, before turning to Joel.
He had started to fuss almost as soon as Keeta had sat down. Now that the stroller wasn't going anywhere, he wanted out so that he could move on his own. True, he wasn't walking yet, but it wouldn't be long. He was crawling like a pro and was pretty steady in standing without support. Keeta had already begun to baby-proof things on a taller level so that a walking Joel wouldn't get himself into trouble.
Sighing, Keeta removed him from the stroller and set him in her lap, hoping that would appease him. She really didn't relish the idea of him crawling around the floor in a public place, even if it was a doctor's office.
'I know you don't I?' she said, after popping the small bubble she'd made. It was his ears, she was sure there'd been kids before that had ears like she'd gotten, and she seemed to remember something..but still not his name, if she ever really knew that.
'Rhiannon.' she said, pointing at herself. His body language radiated awkward, and so she didn't go standing up and charging over. Not that she ever felt 'in your face' lately, but he seemed like he would appreciate her not being so.
'Wanna sit?' she motioned to one of the chairs near her.
His ears swiveled forward in curiosity at her question. DID she know him....? As she said her name, all she was met with was a clueless blinking of gold-and-red eyes. Rhiannon....it didn't ring a bell.
"I..." he paused to turn his head and cough into his shoulder, clearing his throat. "I'unno, maybe?" he said lamely. "I don't remember everybody I met here when I was small, I guess..."
As she offered him a place to sit, he fought his knee-jerk urge to just turn and leave. No he didn't want to sit. He didn't want to give himself the opportunity to look like a jackass. He -really- didn't want to end up offending her. And he ESPECIALLY did not want to look like some sort of creep to both her, and the lady with the baby who had just gotten situated.
Or, you can stop being a goddamn spaz and go say hi for a minute...His tail twitched behind himself, betraying the conflicting notions in his head before he moved from where he stood to seat himself a polite distance away from Rhiannon.
'I just felt that I did from way back was all,' Rhiannon gave a shrug, popping her gum again, having to smile at his awkward behaviour. She'd only ever been like that around a guy she liked when she was growing up, but had left all that behind. A lightbulb went on - was he shy around girls? Maybe that would explain it..a late bloomer? She looked over at the mother and child, this time actually giving a look that could be interpreted as a greeting of sorts before turning back to the guy who had sat down by now.
'You have a name then?'
Keeta curiously listened to their conversation. It was a bad habit she had picked up from growing up in a tavern, where travelers almost always had interesting stories. It wouldn't appear she was paying them any attention, however, as she was struggling with Joel, trying to keep him from wiggling in her lap.
He WANTED DOWN!
Joel had seen the two other occupants of the waiting room, with his unusually keen eyesight and wanted to go introduce himself. He fussed and struggled sliding lower and lower in her lap in an attempt to get his feet to the floor.
"Joel, sit still!" she whispered at him in frustration. Keeta knew not everyone wanted a baby crawling over to them to say hello. She gave an apologetic smile to the girl as she looked over, hoping she wouldn't be irritated by Joel's fussing.
Name? Name. Dammit. Right. "Uhm, Kendall." he said, pulling a hand from his pocket and reaching across the gap of empty chairs between them to offer it for a shake, hoping it didn't feel clammy. "Or Ken. Either-or..." he gave a nervous chuckle.
Well, so far so good....she hadn't started laughing. Yet.
His attention was momentarily diverted by the sounds of the fussing baby nearby and he turned to watch the mother wrestle with him in an effort to hold onto him. He couldn't help but be reminded of what it was like trying to deal with Arkie or Zhane at that age, and it made his smile warm a bit into something more genuine from the awkward grimace it had been.
Kids had a way of breaking the ice in tense situations, intentionally or not.
Rhiannon's ears twitched at the sound of the baby, her tail hairs bristling a little. It was a tad annoying but she would keep her temper as this was a clinic, and sounds like that were only to be expected. Besides, it wasn't the kids fault that her fiance had abandoned her was it? No. No it wasn't.
'Kendall..' she mulled his name over, reaching to shake his hand.
'Raven's brother?' she asked. There, now she had remembered. She had met him, a very long time ago when they were both much younger.
At this, his eyes widened a bit. ....holy hell, she DID know him. And he didn't have the foggiest idea who SHE was.
Well! That got them off to a good start...
"Yeah...yeah, Raven's brother." he agreed, making an attempt at keeping the conversation going. "You, ah, you know my sister, then?"
"I'm sorry....He doesn't like being told he can't move around..." Keeta said looking over at the pair, feeling that she needed to appologize. She had manged to get him back square in her lap again, but that didn't mean he was happy about it. She grabbed a toy from the diaper bag and tried to interest him in it.
'I didn't either..' Rhiannon cast a glance at the mother, and her squirming kid.
'If you let him move around he'd be quieter?' she asked. She didn't mind him crawling around their feet if he wasn't crying at the same time.
Turning back to Kendall she gave a short nod.
'Yeah. I mean we aren't really close friends or anything, but spent some time with her. She was nice. You get on?'
Rhiannon being an only child had no idea what it was like growing up with a sibling. Maybe it would have been better during the bad times.
His eyes moved to Keeta as she spoke, then back to Rhiannon as she responded. "I don't mind if she doesn't." he told the young mother. "I've had a lot of younger brothers and sisters." The tail-pulling and the ear-yanking was almost nostalgic anymore, really...
At Rhia's question, Ken found that he had to bite back a bark of laughter.
Yes. We get on great. We get on SO great, in fact, that if I see her in the next hour or so, I am not going to stop shaking her until she tells me why the hell she can't be seen driving an orange toyota. Even if said orange toyota was in better shape than the dodge and only cost four hundred dollars. That's how well we get on.He did not, of course, SAY any of that, instead hearing something much tamer emerge from his mouth. "We have our ups and downs, I guess...." he told her. "Its....better than it was when we were young anyway."
'So you've argued and stuff then, I hear that's normal for siblings. Wouldn't know myself, only child. And likely to stay that way.' Rhiannon pushed the gum up against the roof of her mouth, then chewed on it some more.
'Raven popping in here as well and you're meeting her, or you out on your own?' she wanted to ask him directly what he was at the clinic for, she didn't really think he'd dropped in to socialize.
"I'm pretty certain he will...He just is to where he's almost walking so he's wanting to GO all the time..." Again Keeta inwardly grimaced at the idea of him crawling on the floor here, but...if it would keep him quiet then perhaps that's all that mattered for the moment. Resignedly, she set Joel on the floor.
Almost instantly he stopped fussing and his mouth broke into a wide smile, showing his teeth that had started to come in a few months ago. He cooed happily and within a moment was on his hands and knees begining to explore his surroundings.
"God WILLING, she won't find me here...." he muttered, rolling his eyes in disdain. If there was one thing that was guaranteed to make him, just for a few minutes, forget to feel uneasy, it was to remind him that he was pissed at Raven.
"We're supposed to be looking for a car to replace the one that just died." he explained. "But she was driving me up the damned wall, and I just....needed to sit for a minute." Saying so, he reached up to scratch at his ear again, unaware he was even doing it.
Rhiannon gave a small smile - so they didn't get on quite as well as he was trying to paint them as being. Good, she knew hers wasnt the only family to have problems, but it was nice to actually hear about them. Slightly reassuring in a strange way.
'I'm sure you'll get it sorted,' she said, looking up as her name was finally called.
'Well that's me. It was nice to see you Kendall, I hope to see you again.' and she meant it. For a few minutes she'd actually felt as close to normal as she had in a long time, and it was a good feeling.
'See you around.'
Of all the... where WAS he?? Raven stopped at the corner, holding a hand up to her eyes to shield from the sun as she tried to spot a familiar pair of brown ears. Kendall had been in this area, he'd SAID so.
"Wait... I know this area." Raven turned, glancing down the street to the clinic, then frowned softly. If they knew the place, he might just gravitate there to regain his bearings. Sure enough, when she pulled the door open, she caught sight of him and stood with one hand on her hip. "Okay, Mr. Colourblind, I found a car and I've been trying to call you for the past half a goddamned hour!"
"Sure, see you arou--" he didn't get a chance to finish before a familiar voice made his ears flatten along his skull.
Somewhere, distantly in the heavens, he could almost HEAR God laughing at his misfortune. WHY?? Why did she HAVE to come looking for him?
"Right." he grumped. "And what made THIS one appealing? Did you find one with no radio, no brakes, AND no motor this time?"
"No..." she answered, ears pinning in response to his tone as well. She might not have cursed if she'd noticed the baby crawling around, but at the moment... she hadn't yet. "It's not a stick, it's not day-glo painted. It has a radio that works, the interior doesn't smell like a garbage can and it actually still has most of its paint." She reached then, handing him a small hand-written assessment of the vehicle, from what she'd seen of it. "I took a look at the outside of it, and the inside, but I suck when it comes to anything more mechanical than that. It LOOKS okay, but I want you or Tourma to take a look at it in case I missed anything."
It wasn't often that she admitted her brother knew more than she did about something. Especially in public. In this case, however, she was willing to swallow her pride if it meant they wouldn't be back on the bus in a week.
He made a noise that was somewhere between exasperation and disgust as he hoisted himself out of the chair to snatch the paper from her and look it over. Paint or lack thereof, color, and smell honestly could come second as far as he cared. As long as it got them to and from work in the end, that's really all that mattered.
He also really hated how she always tried to be the last word on things.
The description sounded half-okay. The other half of the things she'd jotted down were more or less useless, though. What did he care whether or not it had rips in the seat upholstery?
"I'll look at it." he relented, if only because he didn't particularly feel like getting into a shouting match with her in front of strangers.
"Thanks." She actually smiled then, a bit relieved. At least that half of it had gone reasonably well. Compromise was where they always had their issues, ever since they were kids. Now was no exception. She wanted a car that didn't look like it was one step away from a junkyard. Kendall wanted one that wouldn't be there in a week. There HAD to be something out there that fit both of their ideals without breaking the bank.
"If it checks out, we can actually get it within the week. They just got it on the lot and haven't done the prep work on it yet."
"I wanna line up at least one backup." he told her. "And I don't want to look at anything til Tourma can come look at it too. She knows a lot more about this crap than I do."
Which reminded him...
Pulling out his cel, he tapped out a quick text message
'Need you to look at car. Meet at GMFC?'
Hitting send, he dropped it back in his pocket. The sooner this was all over with, and the sooner he could stop awkwardly trying to bum rides in the morning off of their landlord, the better.
"Deal." She was more than willing to agree to that, and slumped down into a seat next to him. Crossing her arms over her chest, Raven glanced to him, one brow raised. "Did you find anything after you started ignoring me?"
He regarded her in silence for a moment, his tail giving a single silent lash behind him. "Yeah, actually." he said after a lengthy pause. "You know some girl named Rhiannon?"
She probably did. And she probably was going to jump up all over him about not being able to remember her. There were some days he considered himself lucky if he could remember to put up Battle Shout before charging in after a boss let alone someone he talked to when he was still in diapers, for crying out loud...
"Rhiannon..." She blinked at him, the dual coloured eyes just blank for a moment before a nearly audible 'click - whirrrrrr...' came from somewhere behind them and the dawning of recognition hit. "Oh YEAH! I met her at the shop a while back..." Even with fur, it was still possible to see a blush beneath the velvet and she sank into the chair, staring towards the door. "I apparently hit on her boyfriend the day before."
The afterthought statement caused him to do a doubletake and forget, just for a minute, he was supposed to be mad at her for the absolute ******** that morning had turned into.
"You...?" he asked disbelievingly. "YOU hit on someone?"
"Shut. Up." Raven sank a bit deeper into the chair, her tail wrapped around herself as if trying to make herself smaller. She was ticked, but at herself for that one. "Yes. I hit on someone. I even put my phone number on the back of the business card I shoved into the bag of stuff he bought. And then I was pulling my foot out of my throat the next day."
And was there really any wonder as to why she hadn't done that since?
Rhiannon walked back into the reception area after leaving the consulting room, folding up her prescription and sliding it into her rear jeans pocket. She would have to hit the pharmacy on the way home. She paused near reception to dump her now well chewed gum in the bin, and made to leave, before realising that not only was Kendall still here, he had been joined by a female who she was sure she recognised straight away.
'Raven?' she made it into a question anyway, just in case it was like her twin or her memory was faulty.
He opened his mouth to say something, paused a second, and then instead of words a bray of laughter escaped. Oh god. Oh. GOD.
Just trying to picture the look on her face on the second day....let alone his sister awkwardly attempting to flirt with some random guy....was friggin' hilarious. Not that he had any room to talk, of course, as he'd never even gotten so far as flirting or giving of phone numbers, but even so...
"Oh F YOU!!" Raven shot back, levelling a closed fist strike at her brother's shoulder before catching a hint of her name and swivelling one ear towards the sound. "At least I act, I don't just sit there and stumble over myself anytime someone with tits goes by, then fap off to 3D Warcraft elves all night."
She was going to kill him. She was convinced of this. That was when she finally caught sight of the person who had called to her, and she just stopped, staring. So THAT was why he'd mentioned her. "Holy crap, Rhi, what happened to you?" Last she remembered, Rhiannon had been smiling, relatively happy and highly amused at Raven's single act of forwardness. Now she looked like a wraith. "You need a date with a sandwich. Seriously, what happened"
Rhiannon tried not to laugh at the display of family affection they were putting on, turning it into a cough. It had been worth getting out, she'd hidden herself away for far too long.
'I'm not going to comment on any of that.' she looked between them. The Warcraft comment had sailed over her head at any rate, she was rather a technophobe. The smile fell away at Raven's words towards herself though. It meant talking about it, and thinking about it.
'What you don't like how I look? It's a new diet..called 'get your heart ripped out by the one person you thought you could rely on'.' she smiled, a brittle one that tried to hide the fact that the old, raw nerve had been touched.
"At least I don't--" he had started, then trailed off, realizing they were no longer alone, feeling his face flush with embarrassment at Rhiannon's return. Great. Real smooth.
He cleared his throat instead of finishing his thought and settled back into his seat quietly, letting the two of them talk.
Raven snorted softly, getting to her feet. "Screw the sandwich, you need a date with an ice cream shop." Inwardly, she was grateful that she hadn't gotten mixed up with Damien after all... even if she didn't know the details. "Or at least a latte. Oh HELL..." Catching sight of the receptionist, she winced and remembered that she had her own business here as well. "Gimme a sec."
She turned then, moving to the counter and reaching into her purse. She pulled out a square purple compact and slid it to the woman. "Refill prescription for these please,"
Rhiannon looked at Kendall, wondering what the end of that sentence was.
'Don't mind me,' she waved a hand.
'You guys can keep fighting, been about the most amused I've been for a long time.'
She shrugged. She supposed she could eat something, but wouldn't have anything with caffeine, last thing that was needed was a jumpy werewolf. She watched Raven got to reception, and slid into the seat next to Kendall.
With Raven occupied, and the argument diffused for the moment, he had returned to much of the same mannerisms he'd exhibited when he'd first arrived -- quiet, eyeing Rhiannon out of the corner of his eye, and seemingly unaware that one of his knees was bouncing.
He was out of his element here. Girls, talking about girls things, refilling girl pills, just....rrgh. Guild chat was getting an earful about the day he'd had when he got home.
"If us arguing amuses you, you'd think raid night was a riot," Raven commented, still leaning against the counter as the receptionist disappeared to come back a moment later with a small square of paper. "Thanks," she said, picking it up and shoving it and the compact back into her purse. She'd get it refilled later. "Speaking of which..." she said, glancing to her brother. "We're running Naxx tonight, right? We'll need to stop and pick up munchies on the way home."
Fishing in her purse, she pulled out her cell phone, flipping it open and paging down through the text messages of the day. "Yeah. At 7. Gives us plenty of time if we actually wind up liking that car."
'Raid night?' Naxx? Rhiannon looked between Raven and Kendall, a puzzled look all over her face. It was like they were talking a whole other language. And they both could drive as well. She'd not ever learned, being trapped in a metal box on wheels didn't appeal to her outdoorsy sensibilities. Give her the wild, the night and room to run and Rhiannon was in her element. Or was once.
'I'm just going to nod along as you're losing my very unused brain.'
The tip of his tail wagged a bit at the prospect of someone new he could educate about his and Raven's obsession. "Naxx is a raid. Its sort of this floating dungeon that's full of slime, spiders and--"
bzzt bzzt bzzt!His phone vibrated against his hip, making him stop short and pull it out to examine the screen, reporting he had one new text message.
"WHERE R U? NEED FLASKS FOR 2NITE"
...dammit. Maybe another time.
"Sorry." he muttered, getting up from where he sat. "I gotta call somebody" his eyes fell to Rhiannon briefly. "It was good meeting you." he said. "....again." That said, he quickly excused himself out of the building to go and make said call, and to ask Wolf, yet again, to please forget he'd ever given him his damn cel number in the first place.
