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 Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 1:42 pm
"Oh?" Aulus blinked. "I thought pretty much everyone knew it wasn't your real name... As I thought that, I never thought to mention it to anyone though and now I do know I won't." So she had trusted him with that fairly early on, and now she was telling him more... She could be lying. She could easily be lying, little actress that she was. He wanted to believe that she was telling the truth but he didn't dare put too much faith in that... But if she was being truthful then maybe they really could be friends. "I... Thanks. I guess it's not important but I feel better knowing a few real things about you." If they were real. Was it worth the risk? He liked her. He liked her a good deal more than he was comfortable with now he thought about it. She was smart and sharp and beautiful and... and... Oh. He looked into her hazel eyes and cursed internally. This was just what he needed.
Tortie replied, flicking her tail in a shrug-like gesture, She was better than whatever other pokemon he'd had, she was sure of it, and she was better than this female too. Stupid man, why was he looking at the other human and not at her?
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 1:54 pm
She shook her head of currently wavy, not-light-brown hair with a smile. "Nope, just you, Lucas, and the elites." Or at least, they should know. Not her fault if they didn't read her file, but then again the name wasn't the important part in there, it was her relationship to a specific other team.
If she had heard the term 'little actress' she would laugh at how correct it was. Well, sort of. It still applied.
"You're welcome. I know what you mean though." It was always nice knowing more about people, especially people that were nice. Or less prickly around you than everyone else.
He shrugged, not having much to say on the topic, though felt no need to continue such a topic.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 7:48 am
Tortie gave a shrug of her own,
Oh s**t. How had he got himself into this mess? How had he not seen it? Seeking her out, comforting her when Lucas abandoned her, freaking out about her during the mission... s**t. What was he going to do? "Uh..." Aulus blinked rapidly a few times before breaking eye contact and looking over at Odette, as if the beautiful bird had just distracted him from plain old boring Claire with her messy wavy hair and her curves and her hazel eyes that were so much more complex and beautiful in hue than those vivid purple things she put in...
s**t.
"Yea. Right. Good... Have you eaten? Dinner I mean?" He needed to get out of here. If she had he could excuse himself to go get food, and if not he could tell her to stay here and go cook something for both of them. Oh s**t. He had sworn he wouldn't get tangled up like this again. Think a girl was hot and screw her, or deal with her just as an acquaintance, maybe a casual friend. It wasn't love, he wasn't that far gone, but it was dangerously like it. Less than love, more than lust. Oh s**t.
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 2:21 pm
One eyebrow rose a bit as he suddenly seemed to.. be... confused? Or something. She really wasn't sure what he'd suddenly thought of, but it must've--
Oh, dinner. "No, I haven't," she said a bit sheepishly, "I dozed off probably two or three hours after lunch, I haven't had anything since." As if on cue, a quiet rumbling floated up from her stomach to affirm the fact that she had indeed skipped dinner, and her cheeks turned the slightest bit pink at the feeling and sound. Hopefully it wasn't too loud.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 2:25 pm
"Well," Aulus got to his feet in what he hoped was a decisive manner, "I haven't eaten either, but we've missed dinner. I'll go cook us something and bring it back here, save you limping all the way down to the dininghall." More to the point, give him a few minutes to breathe and collect himself. What was it, a crush? Infatuation? It was more than something physical certainly. He wished it wasn't. It would be so much easier if it was just physical.
"So... what do you want to eat? I could stir fry some vegetables to go with instant noodles... uh... I guess there's probably pasta, might well be leftovers from whatever dinner was that I can reheat. Pizza? I think there are some frozen pizzas. I don't really care, so you decide." Decide quickly. Please.
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 2:43 pm
Both eyebrows rose as he jumped up, and she blinked a few times as he spoke a little quickly about making dinner and what she wanted and she was still sleepy why was he talking so fast? Even if it was just a bit faster than normal, her tired brain had yet to fully wake up enough to process words spoken at anything faster than a regular speed. "Oh, um, okay," that was sweet of him to make something and bring it to her too, he could've just left and gotten something just for himself. "Anything's fine with me." Oh, but he said he didn't care either. "Uh, pizza then?" Pizza was good. Anything was actually, she was hungry.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 9:31 am
"Right, pizza," Aulus nodded, already heading for the door, "back in a bit then." As he exited the room he tried to close the door behind him, but was met with resistance and a yelp of surprised objection. "Oh," he opened the door again to allow Tortie to scurry out into the hall, "sorry. Forgot about you." The Absol treated him to a thoroughly unimpressed look, which he completely understood. "Sorry," he muttered again as he set off for the stairs, "I'm just a bit... distracted."
Distracted? What kind of an excuse was that? Tortie gave a low growl of annoyance but continued to pad along by her trainer's side. Distracted, distracted by that female. What had that other human ever done for him to excuse him being so preoccupied with her? Nothing, that was what, she'd brought them here but that was all and that wasn't exactly a favour. She liked getting to battle more, but she didn't like this strange, overly clean setting. She didn't like the confinement either. He had never asked her if she wanted to come here. Was she just a tool to him in the end? Oh she was a well treated tool so far as tools went if she was but... No. That couldn't be it. They were friends, companions... So why hadn't he asked her?
As he entered the kitchens Aulus was asking questions of his own. Why her? Why now? He fetched a pizza out of the freezer (checking absently that it didn't involve meat) and turned on an oven that must have been used recently; still hot. As he waited for it to come all the way back up to temperature the scarred man fetched out a big bowl and then hunted through the fridge for the makings of a simple salad. Assorted lettuce, tomato, water cress, dressing... Why her? He placed the pizza in the oven and turned on the timer. Well she was smart and sharp and attractive and all that other stuff he'd thought of but there were plenty of women that were all of that stuff.
He wasn't going to come to a sensible answer, he realised as he mixed the salad and poked his head into the store room on the off chance that there were some pine nuts to throw in. Attraction didn't work like that, you could name all the good qualities somebody had but it wasn't possible to pin down exactly why you liked them as more than a friend. He couldn't anyway, but maybe he just wasn't emotionally intelligent enough to figure it out... Drinks. He should get drinks. Just water maybe? Fruit juice? Some kind of fizzy drink? He remembered her drinking juice the first night he'd been here, but he couldn't remember what kind it had been. Water then. He poured out two glasses and set them on a tray along with the finished salad (that did indeed have pine nuts in), and fetched out a big plate to put the pizza on once it was done. Damn. What was he going to do about this? Just ignore it?... He supposed he'd have to. She obviously didn't return his feelings, whatever his feelings were. If they were different people in a different place this would be the time when he asked her on a date and she said yes and they went to dinner or a movie and tried to figure out what they both wanted from the relationship, waited to see if it would go anywhere serious or if they'd just have a bit of fun together.
A n** at his hand, painful but not enough to break the skin, jerked Aulus out of his melancholy pondering, and he looked down to see Tortie looking up at him. "I shouldn't have brought us here," he sighed, shaking his head and kneeling down to stroke her. "It's been nothing but trouble." She didn't rub her face against him fondly as she once would have, but at least she didn't take the chance to sink her teeth into his throat either. He shouldn't have brought them here. Had he only said yes because he'd been attracted to Claire even then? He wished he could say yes or no for sure, but he honestly had no idea. He should have asked for more time to think about it, he probably wouldn't have come if he'd thought about it more. He would have swallowed his pride and gone home and sooner or later he'd have forgotten about her.
Before he could sink further into this new depressing train of thought, however, the oven beeped at him and he got to his feet with a sigh. "We're here now," he said as much to himself as to Tortie, "we just have to make the best of it, try to deal with it... I'll do something fun with you tomorrow, okay?" The dark-type behind him gave a soft huff, but he was too busy concentrating on getting the pizza onto the plate to turn and see what her expression was. He hoped it was vaguely appeased. Sighing and shaking his head the scarred man retrieved a pizza wheel from one of the cutlery draws and sliced the thing into more or less even pieces. Pizza. Salad. Drink. What else did he need, other than to make sure Claire didn't find out what was going on inside his head? Nothing in particular sprung to mind other than putting a flower in one of those table display things on the tray, but doing that would rather shatter his previous intention. Fine then. Pizza cooked, best eaten while hot, so time to go.
Taking a deep breath Aulus turned and exited the kitchen, making for Claire's room once more. When he arrived outside the door he paused for a moment to collect himself and then knocked. "Pizza boy! You still awake then there?"
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Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 9:42 am
When Aulus returned he would have to wait several moments - not without some mumbling from inside the room - before the door suddenly opened an inch or two, followed quickly by a hurried scurrying back towards the bed and an eager "chu!" Artemis eagerly trotted over to nose the door open further, bumping it all the way open with her head, and peered up at Aulus with her bushy tail waving. He had food, and whatever it was, it smelled heavenly. "Grawf!"
"Artemis, go lay down," Claire said with a sigh that didn't sound the least upset, and pulled her hand out from a drawer in the small table next to her bed. After closing the drawer she offered a small item to Zeus, and with an excited noise he grabbed it before scurrying under her bed.
Three guesses at what it was.
"Pizza boy?" She said with a light chuckle, sitting up again carefully. "Can't help but wonder if that'd be a better or worse job than trainee work. Congrats on the promotion, by the way." She didn't recall ever properly saying so, but oh well. Better late than never.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 4:24 am
"Well at least pizza boys get to drive around and have a chance of a tip," Aulus snorted as he entered the room and pushed the door closed behind him (once Tortie was inside too, of course). "And thanks," he added with a small smile, "same to you. Anyway, pizza, it's just sauce and cheese on the pizza, but I made a kind of salad... thing to go with it. Where do you want it? On your bed or what?” The less said about things happening on Claire’s bed the better. Act natural. He felt tense, and hoped he didn’t look it.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 11:02 am
"True," she chuckled lightly, noting that he actually waited for Tortie to get through the door before closing it this time. "Oh, thanks," she blushed lightly, completely forgetting she never mentioned her promotion to him. It was sort of obvious anyway since they were both on the botched mission just the day before. Oh well, whatever. "Sounds good to me, and kind-of-salad sounds good too," she replied with a smile, then glanced around quickly. "Ah.." She didn't have a table or anything, so it was either the floor or her bed, and if it was her floor then he'd be on it by himself, or with Artemis shoving her nose in his food the whole time...
"On the bed's fine," she said after a moment, a rueful smile on her lips as she regarded the Growlithe briefly. "Otherwise you'll be on the floor, and Artemis would love that, I'm sure."
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 11:24 am
"Ha, I bet," Aulus looked down at the hopeful puppy with a lopsided smile. After a moment's pause - totally distracted by the puppy, not at all hesitating - the scarred man put the tray down in the middle of the bed and sat down on the edge. "Didn't know what you liked to drink," he went on, "so I just brought water. You want any fancy you'll have to go get it, because I'm not making another trip downstairs just for that." Maybe he should have asked before he went... Well he wasn't going to feel guilty, and he wasn't going to be persuaded to run around after her just because he liked her a bit more than he had hitherto realised. Damn. Would ignoring it work, or would she figure it out? He hoped she wouldn't, he just have to make sure he stayed at least a bit prickly. Not too much though, he didn't want to put her through what Lucas just had.
As Tortie padded over and gave him a pointed n** Aulus scowled slightly and elbowed her in return, although like her n** the elbowing was designed to show annoyance rather than to hurt. "You're a pest," he informed the Absol in soft tones that didn't match up to his frown, "settle down and I'll give you some salad dressing in a bit... Don't ask me why," he turned back to Claire and shrugged, "it's almost like Zeus and you know what. Pretty much any kind of sauce or dressing she likes actually, ketchup to balsamic vinaigrette to mayonnaise. I guess maybe she saw us putting things on our food when she was little and fixated?... Anyway. Yea. Eat the pizza while it's hot." Taking his own advice, Aulus grabbed a slice and bit into it.
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 4:33 am
"No no, water's fine," she said, eyebrows raising a fraction as she shook her head a bit. Besides, she didn't have anything else in here and she damn well wasn't going anywhere to get anything else. No way. She was comfortable for one thing, and her hip was obviously the other. The comment about him not getting her anything else caused her lips to twitch into an amused smile, and she chuckled lightly. "Aww, you won't go all the way to the kitchen again just for me?" Not like she expected him to anyway, nor would she ask him to.
"Salad dressing?" She echoed, one slender eyebrow raising in a bemused expression, but she chuckled a bit at his explanation. The mention of ketchup jarred a memory of a green pokemon eating something smothered in ketchup at a small cafe. "One of Aila's pokemon adores ketchup, come to think of it. I forget which one.. I think it was her Bulbasaur or Ivysaur or something... though it's probably evolved by now." Had it? She couldn't recall that or what its name was, or even gender.. Only that it loved ketchup. Anyway, pizza. As she leaned over to grab a slice, she completely thought to be careful of her hip and it twinged painfully when she moved. A small flinch and a frown were the only indication before she shifted a bit, moving to be partially laying sideways on the bed rather than normal, and picked up a slice of pizza. While cold, leftover pizza right out of the fridge was good, pizza that had been made and sat out until only traces of it were vaguely luke-warm was disgusting.
Artemis trotted over to the bed, putting her head on it and staring up at the pair of humans with large, pitiful eyes. "Grauf?"
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 3:11 am
"Nope," Aulus bit into his piece of pizza, quickly gulping it down before adding, "not a chance; I'm pizza boy, not drinks boy." She lent forward to grab a piece of pizza. Lucky pizza. "Hu... Uh... Really? Well, maybe I should introduce Tortie to her, they can go raid the fridges together or something." Don't get distracted by attractively lounging woman; eat pizza, give salad dressing to pokemon. Aulus picked up a dressing-covered leaf of salad and bit into it, holding his pizza out to Tortie... Woops. He finished the salad and tried to look as though he'd meant to do that by retracting the pizza, pulling a bit off, and passing it to his Absol. "Can puppy-eyed there have some?" he asked with a nod to Artemis. "Wouldn't want her getting jealous of Tortie." What had he just told himself about not getting distracted? Stupid, stupid Aulus. Eat pizza, give salad dressing to Tortie; it was hardly rocket science!
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Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 7:01 am
While Claire might have missed Aulus' little mix-up, Zeus did not, and he snickered quietly in response. Mention of salad dressing before eating some and offering Tortie pizza instead... Yeah, this human was more than just a little distracted. Normally he wouldn't care less, but it was obvious that the patched Absol wanted her owner to pay attention to her, and not the Pikachu's owner.
Claire glanced from Aulus to the begging Growlithe, whose eyes looked like if they got any wider they'd fall right out of her head, and rolled hazel eyes. "She can have the crusts if you don't usually eat those." As if to demonstrate, she finished her piece and offered the crust to Artemis who eagerly wolfed it down almost instantly and then resumed her begging stare. Her owner eyed her dubiously before reaching for a bit of the salad. "She doesn't need more than a couple, though." She had no intentions of fattening up her fire-type.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 2:00 am
"Ha," Aulus grinned, actually managing to pass Tortie salad dressign this time, "yea, you don't want to end up with a second Zeus, right?... So, uh, what's it like being an Agent? Any different, other than the nice new quarters? You'll get to do more interesting work now, right?" She looked good in her new uniform, he remebered that from the mission quite distinctly. The more he thought about it the more amazed he was he hadn't realised he liked her sooner. Maybe he'd just been in denial or something. Maybe it would have been better to stay there. Nothing was going to happen between them; she wasn't interested in him and even if she was he... He couldn't take a chance on her.
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