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Ronan decides to visit the Lab after work, phone unchecked, and receives a rather titanic shock.

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A local bakery provides some treats for a party at work, with an unexpected guest.

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The phone rings three times. Ronan picks up, listens - responds.

Yes. He'll be coming.

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A fun filled scarring trek through the jungle to find Dr. Kyou

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(( Ronan and Connor talk out just why his soul bottle is giving him so much grief. ))

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Breath puffed out in front of Ronan's face as he stood on the steps to the aquarium, unable to calm his shaking. The fact that it wasn't all due to the cold certainly didn't help. Looking up the street, looking down, no sign yet. Part of him wished he'd asked more questions, said more about what was going on, but he could tell this was simply his worry talking. He was going to have to be patient and trust in Cesc. Even so, his gloved hand tightened around his cellphone, waiting for the other's arrival and backpack slung over his shoulder.

It should have been a simple feeding. Just an exercise for a new keeper to get familiar with the animals. And yet, the whole affair had gone terribly wrong and the flying fox had escaped. Ronan still wasn't sure if he blamed the keeper or not, but either way that wouldn't help the bat now. The search party was already in full swing, but without success so far. Ronan just hoped the raevan might prove to be the saving factor in the day.

Cesc had been surprised to get Ronan's call. It had been a long time since he'd seen the selkie -- longer since he'd spoken with him. Briefly, he'd seen the other after getting treatment at Khadlok, and then again looking well at the Lab's winter party, but that was all. He was flattered that Ronan remembered him, and further still that the other remembered his talent. He was glad to see the man again.

But not quite under these circumstances.

It was not long before the stag appeared in Ronan's view, floating swiftly toward the aquarium steps, his hand raised in a wave. He wore a dark grey coat and a scarf tucked into it, his hair all the brighter in comparison.

"Ronan!" he called. "I hope I'm not too late."

Relief came over Ronan like a bucket of water being dumped over his head - possibly prematurely, but it was still nice to feel like he could breathe again.

"I am so glad you could come, and not at all!" The selkie jogged over to the frei, stashing his cell phone and taking a few large breaths to further calm himself. "We haven't found the bat yet, but we're pretty sure it's still on the island. Unfortunately, that's still a pretty large area."

"Ronan, you ready to go?"

The selkie looked to a car down the street, the driver standing partway out but clearly not wanting to stay in the cold too long - they were currently lacking a coat. "In a moment!" Ronan yelled back.

"Sorry for the interruption there, that's Dale, a coworker. He's going to be driving us if we need to go long distance. Do you need anything to get started, or should a description do?" It'd been long enough since Ronan had seen Cesc's power that he'd gotten hazy on exactly how it worked. He just hoped anything that might be needed would be in the aquarium.

Cesc could only nod along with what Ronan was saying. He could sense the man's urgency and badly wanted to preform. What he did NOT want to say was that his power was not an exact science -- he couldn't just hone in on something as though it were a beacon in the darkness. He'd tried to tune out all the background noise, the quiet whispers of all manners of lost things that regularly popped up on his radar. In the aquarium, he already knew, were several lost stuffed animals, a teething ring, and a set of keys a puffin had stuffed into a rock crack. They were the closest, and so they rang through the loudest. But none of them were precious, and none of them were living, and so Cesc did not mention them.

"Can you tell me about the animal? What it looks like, feeds on, that sort of a thing?" The stag waved absently to Dale, already making his way for the car. "It's generally easier if I have a thing the person or animal owned, but ..." He shrugged helplessly. Few animals had prized possessions.

Ronan listened to Cesc's request, nodding along slightly as he went. "The bat itself is a Grey-Headed Flying Fox and it arrived at the aquarium around a year and a half ago. It mainly feeds on fruit, and fruit blossoms if it were in the wild, but it was a rescue as a baby and hasn't left captivity yet." It was part of why everyone was so worried. The bat wasn't anywhere near ready to live in the wild yet, and that was in the best of conditions. About to continue with the description, something struck Ronan. "I think I know of something that might help, be back in a moment!"

A little bit later the selkie came back out with what looked like a metal skewer with a hook on the end, showing it to Cesc. "I'm not sure if this would be counted as a posession, but this is what her food was placed on each day. If nothing else they've been around it a lot."

The stag waited patiently as Ronan reentered the aquarium. Under normal situations, he would try to make polite conversation with Dale, to introduce himself and make a new acquaintance. But he could tell that there was some panic about the lost animal, and he wanted to do his best to find her. Afterward, perhaps, they could talk.

He closed his eyes, trying to focus. A grey-headed flying fox that had never left the aquarium. He hummed, trying to tune into the sounds of the lost things around him. Something living, something small, something that would probably feel lost and frightened. Alone.

His eyes fluttered open as Ronan returned, and for a brief moment Cesc was unsure what Ronan held. His lips parted and he let out a soft 'ahhh' as the selkie explained, and then the stag took the hook, rubbing his thumb over the metal.

It wasn't exactly a home run.

Frowning gently, the stag waved Ronan into the car. He ducked in, himself, and leaned forward to speak with the driver.

"Thank you for doing this," he said politely. "If you could go north, and go slow, I think she may be in that direction."

Dale turned around as the two got into the car, giving a nod at the directions. "Lemme know if you need to change course." The key was turned in the ignition and after a sputtering start the car was on it's way, chugging along a few miles below the speed limit.

Ronan thought to himself as they drove, fighting to keep himself from fidgeting. Well, it wouldn't hurt to continue the description from earlier, to keep his mind off the other.

"We weren't the first place to care for her, so she's pretty close to her full growth at this point. Her body's around ten inches long and her wingspan's a little under a yard. Very furry body, grey head, and orange fur around the neck." He went quiet for a moment. "We had to rescue her because of the mom dying. Heat exhaustion, we think. And she wasn't the only one, unfortunately." The car rolled to a halt and a stoplight, engine idling. "The species is considered threatened, so we do all we can to help."

Cesc frowned gently as Ronan spoke. He listened carefully, trying to form a picture in his mind of the creature, of what they would want and need, of where they would go. Would the animal even realize that they were missing? Try to come home? He was banking on that, they all were. The stag breathed deeply, trying to focus inward. There were so many voices. So many small things that wanted to be discovered. If he could just filter through them...

"I'm sorry this happened. Has she tried to escape before?"

A sudden idea popped into his head. The flying fox was lost, but nobody seemed more desperate to find it than Ronan. That sense of loss, the urgency to find, could possibly be helpful, couldn't it? Rhedefre put his hand on Ronan's arm, mumbling a quick apology for the touch and squinting his eyes closed. Focus, focus.

The car stopped, and it was like someone had turned a radio on in Cesc's head. Ronan's determination to find what had been lost tuned the sounds, pulled one of the threads ahead of the others. It was quiet and indistinct, but it was still something.

"Wait -- go a block, close to that bridge there, I think."

"No escape attempts, but it'd never really had a chance chance before. I can't even begin to guess what motivated it." He just had to hope they could find it in time.

Ronan started when Cesc placed his hand on his arm with a small apology, the selkie barely keeping himself from asking why. He had to let the frei do his work, even if it meant he had to stay in the dark a few moments longer. In fact, however, a beam of hope came through as Cesc gave a new set of directions, Dale turning the car and Ronan's hand gripping tightly on the strap of his backpack as he watched the area as close as he could.

Cesc kept his hand on Ronan's arm, his brow knit over his half-closed eyes. There was something just out of his grasp, a fluttering, confused thing, something that seemed to pass out of his depths each time he tried to grab for it. The lines that connected him to the lost were vague, and this one was blurrier than most.

"It's..." murmured Cesc, drumming the fingers of his other hand against the carseat. "It--- wait, pull over!"

As they went under the bridge, the car's lights caused a flurry of motion. Diving to the window, Cesc could see it: a fluttering and confused flyer darting away, out of their grasp. "Look!"

The request to pull over was the only warning Ronan got before the bat was startled by the lights and fled from under the bridge, the Selkie stiffening and only distantly hearing Dale's curse at the disturbance. It was so close - !

Dale had only barely turned around to ask if they wanted him to keep driving before Ronan was out and running, car door swinging. To say the selkie wasn't thinking straight at the moment would be an understatement. All he knew at the moment is that they had the bat in their sights, and if they let get away, if it kept flying panicked, something terrible could happen. He didn't even have a plan for capturing it yet. He just had to keep up.

"Wait--!" Cesc yelled, but Ronan was gone before Cesc could grab him. He still needed the man to cast a wider net for him, in case they lost sight of the bat in the darkness. He darted out after the man, trying his hardest to keep a line on the bat's whereabouts as he went, shutting the car door behind him.

"Keep the lights on!" He shouted back at Dale as he went. The animal's broadcast was not more muddled than ever, sparked by fear and true confusion, its world bigger now than ever before. Cesc could see it looping without grace against the darkened sky.

Damn! He was a thing of light, and if he took off after it, he could read as a predator, spurring it faster. He floated higher, sweeping closer to it, then changed his mind and sank back down.

"Ronan! Food -- do you have food? Or a net?"

Cesc's question about food finally snapped Ronan out of his pellmell run, him stumbling for a few feet and breath coming out in gasps. He had to swallow a couple times before he was able to speak.

"I... have some figs, but not sure about the net." Bringing his backpack to his front he continued after the bat at a less mindless pace, soon bring out the figs. He began to rummage around for something to use as a net but he withdrew his hand as if stung, some of the fruit falling ot the ground. Peeking out from it's thick cloth swaddling was his soul bottle. He'd been keeping it in his bag in case the right moment came, but he still hated it. Making sure he didn't touch it again Ronan took the cloth from around it and dropped the bag to the ground, hoping this would be enough

"I'll try to coax it," said Cesc, taking the fig and putting his thumb into it, sectioning it off and letting the scent of its juice waft into the air. He floated in a slow, slow ascent toward the bat. It was still looping, looking for something to alight on, and Cesc looked around. There didn't seem to be many options for it, not unless he could get it to go back toward the bridge, Ronan, and where they'd left the car.

He dimmed the light in his eyes and exhaled slowly, expanding his aura of calm. If he could just make the animal feel less desperate, perhaps they could shepherd it to a safe location and take it back to the aquarium.

The bat fluttered as Cesc approached. He held out his hand with the fig in it, making no noise, staying beneath it.

Ronan could only watch tense as Cesc went up with the fig, nails scratching the back of his hand with worry as he watched. The bat had already been out for a long time, a long with missing the feeding the keeper had been scheduled to give them. To make matters even worse was the cold, so much more so than it's native habitat, and he had no idea if it could handle it as much.

Soon the bat started to drop towards Cesc, but to Ronan's horror he realized it was for all the wrong reasons - the bat was slowing down. It wouldn't be able to fly for much longer. He began to run, trying to deny to himself over an over, but just a few yards away from being beneath it the bat dropped, wings crumpling around it.

Cesc gasped as the bat dropped in midair like it had been plucked. He'd seen something like it before, a tired hummingbird that had gotten trapped in their garage. Too late, he remembered the same looping motions, the tired arcs, and the drop to the ground. Only this time, there was nobody there to give it honey water and an easy escape path. There was only Ronan, too far away and not quite fast enough, and there was the ground.

The stag swooped down, trying to catch it, but only succeeded in a front row seat to its crash. Immediately, he recoiled, looking at Ronan with alarm, allowing the selkie to take the reins. He had no idea what to do in this situation. To touch it, to let it alone? To try to feed it?

Ronan's cell phone was out the moment the bat hit the ground, numbers punched furiously and his bag being picked back up. "Dale? Leave the car and get here now. Yes, I know, just come on!" The phone snapped shut before Dale could say anything else, Ronan leaning over to examine the bat. This was far from his area of expertise but it was obvious that the flying fox was in bad shape, breaths shallow and body having taken on an almost broken appearance. He wanted to help, and wanted to so badly, but he was forced to admit he had no idea what to do.

Dale arrived shortly after, sucking in a quiet breath through his teeth when he saw the bat. "s**t..." Ronan was pushed out of the way when Dale went down to examine the bat but there were no complaints, the selkie simply watching anxiously as the coworker lifted a wing, checked the breathing, and looked at the neck. A few other things were gone over in the next few moments but eventually Dale sat back, shaking his head.

"I think the fall broke it's neck. I hate to say it, but there's nothing else we can do."

Ronan stared at him for a few moments, looking between him and the bat. No. They'd found the bat, they should have been able to save it. They shouldn't have been too late. Ronan slumped on the ground as Dale took the blanket wrap the bat and give it some warmth in it's final moments. Ignored by both men was the curve of the soul bottle peeking out of Ronan's backpack, soul glass reflecting the moon starting to climb in the sky.

Cesc knew the answer before Dale said it. The frei hovered uselessly in the sky, the fig still sectioned in his hand, his golden eyes watching the creature with a hopeless expression. Slowly, he descended toward Ronan, setting his free hand on the selkie's shoulder. His eyebrows knit, and his eyes were honest as they ever were, bare and crestfallen for the creature he'd meant to help save.

If only he'd been quicker...

Rhedefre shook his head, leaning down to set the pieces of fig back on Ronan's bag. As he did so, he noticed the glass bottle in the man's bag, and a quick, half-startled breath left him. A flash of a memory came to him: Vivi, sitting on the couch, her fingers tangled in his hair as he rested. What a shame you could not meet yourself... what a shame that you ran from me in that life. But who can now complain?

"Ronan," said the stag, some urgency in his voice. He plucked the bottle from the selkie's bag without asking. Dale was wrong. There was one thing they could do.

The appearance of the bottle was a jolt to Ronan. For so long he had come to think of it as something that would make him ill and would kill something else. It had become such a negative in his mind he hadn't even thought of it before. But now, in this moment Cesc made him remember it's true purpose - rebirth.

Taking the bottle from Cesc with a slight tremble Ronan placed the bottle by the bat, breath caught in his throat as Dale gave him a look. "Ronan, what the hell is that?"

"A soul bottle."

"A what?" Dale looked at him flabbergasted, nearly swatting the bottle away before Ronan grabbed his hand.

"You said there was no chance of the bat surviving, right?" Dale nodded, expression still uncertain. "This... will let the bat come back, as something like Cesc." He made a gesture to the frei beside him. "At least let me try."

Dale watched him for a moment before finally withdrawing his hand, shaking his head. "I don't know what is going on, but I'll trust you."

The selkie let out the breath he'd be holding. "Thanks."

By the time the conversation had ended the bat gave her last breath, the soul bottle filling with dark fog as Ronan watched. Gently lifting the bottle he sat back as Dale picked up the bat for their return trip. It was still going to be a heavy one, but at least not entirely in vain, and Ronan gave a silent squeeze of thanks to Cesc's shoulder.

Cesc could only give Dale a tight-lipped smile as Ronan tried to explain. He was torn -- torn between feeling sorry for the bat and feeling a strange sort of pride for it, a gladness that it, too, would have another chance at life. He thought of the feelings that he could garner from it just before it had gone: exhaustion, confusion. Now it would have a chance at joy, at friendship and conversation and companionship.

"I'm sorry it could not have gone another way," said the stag later, when they were in the car. "But I think this is perhaps the best for it now."

The soul bottle sat in Ronan's lap as the car made it's way towards each of their respective homes, dark fog swirling lazily and the sickness the bottle had once instilled in the selkie now completely gone. This result was one he had not expected, but with how things had gone it was better than he could have hoped.

Ronan nodded at the frei's words. "It is. And thank you for your help tonight. I would never have found them otherwise." He gave Cesc's hand a firm squeeze, eyes grateful, and the car came to a halt at its first destination.

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Ronan: -shifting through his contacts late in the afternoon when he comes across Anita's number- -reminded about their conversation last summer for a moment until he realizes with a jolt that one of the main topics, him capturing a soul, had now been achived- -hesistates for a moment, thinking, then dials her number- -a message to let her know about his sucess wouldn't hurt-

It took a few rings, but before the voicemail picked up Anita answered.

Anita: "Hey, Ronan! What's up?"

Ronan: -caught of guard for a moment, having expected to just leave a message, but recovers- "Hey! I hope this isn't interupting anything, but I thought you'd like to know that I've finally caught a soul for the lab."

Anita: -laughs- "Nah, not at a-- really." -keeps her voice calm but genuinely interested- "Are you gonna give me the full story?"

Ronan: "Well... do you remember seeing anything in the news last week about a flying fox escape?"

Anita: "Oh-- Mm... No, I can't say I do. I haven't really been paying attention to the news lately. Is that what you caught?"

Ronan: "Yeah." -goes silent for a moment- "There was a new keeper at the aquarium and they accidentally let it out. I was able to find it with the help of a raevan named Cesc, but we were too late unfortunately. I'm just glad I had the soul bottle in my bag."

Anita: -stays quiet while Ronan explains- -clicks her tongue a few times, repeating the name- "Don't know them... I'm sorry to hear that, though. At least, this way, it'll get another chance at things. Did you already give the bottle back?"

Ronan: "This Sunday. I admit it almost feels kind of weird to have it done now."

Anita: "It's good to have it done, though. Better to get it out of the way quickly. I kinda let mine hang around a while and it gave me weird vibes and dreams. Thought I heard it talking once." -scoffs- "So, how do you feel about it? Knowing you're gonna have a, uh-- s**t, what was your essence again? Bark? A barkbat."

Ronan: "Barkbat?" -small laugh at the nickname- "Well, main thing is I just hope the raevan's happy. Though I might have to hide all the fruit in the house."

Anita: "Yeah, you know, kissycroc, barkbat." -chuckles- "Naahh, I don't think it'll be a problem." -pauses- "Maybe. I mean, when I was waiting for Cruz I thought he was gonna chow down on mistletoe and he might starve 'cause there's none around here, that'd be an expensive ordered diet, but-- I'unno, they might just eat tree stuff. What did your essence do, again?"

Ronan: "It... bled." -another pause- "I really hope they eat tree stuff. No thank you to blood bank trips."

Anita: "Oh." -stifles a giggle- "Vampire fruit bat. That'd be awful-- Oh! Speaking of Lab stuff, do you remember Duncan?"

Ronan: -rueful laugh- "Oh so much. And vaguely. I know he helped me out last summer. Why do you ask?"

Anita: "Yeah. Well, he asked me and a couple of other people to help him set something up at Lab. Have you heard anything about a crawfish boil this month?"

Ronan: "I actually haven't! Do you know when exactly it's going to be?"

Anita: "Ah, damn. I had a feeling some of the invites might get lost. It's slotted for the 15th, that evening. Think you can make it?"

Ronan: "It's a weekend, so definitely! Would it be alright if I brought a family member with me?"

Anita: "Sure! The more the merrier. It's kind of like a potluck, too, so if you've got stuff to bring, feel free."

Ronan: "Potluck? I'll see what I can bring." -quick moment of writing stuff down, followed by a moment of silence- "I just... really hope when the raevan comes along that they can find some good friends."

Anita: "Mhm! ...Ah. Yeah. You worried?"

Ronan: "A little bit. I've seen how hard it can be and just... there's only so much you can do as a guardian, you know?"

Anita: -gives a slight pause- "It'll be okay. At the very least, I can assure you Cruz'll definitely be their friend. I mean-- he's had a few rough instances with some of the other raevans, but that hasn't put him off them. I can't imagine them not being civil, if nothing else."

Ronan: "Either way, it won't hurt for them to meet. Do you know of anyone else that might work out?"

Anita: "Let's see... Ethiriel's very nice. She's a calm sort, though, and her guardian's generally busy. Zul's fantastic, I'm sure he'd be very patient with anyone. Um... Cruz is friends with a few, but you know-- I haven't met as many of the raevans as I'd like! There's such a big list, and it keeps growing. I'm sure there'll be plenty of friends."

Ronan: "Zul..." -a somewhat unpleasant memory from the jungle comes up with that name, but luckily it's replaced with a better one- "Oh! Alex's raevan, right? She showed me the ropes to lab and I've been wanting to meet him for awhile. And Ethiriel... how do you spell that?"

Anita: -didn't notice any change in Ronan's tone, figuring he was just repeating for the sake of notation- "Um--" -pauses, followed by the soft patter of bare feet on wood floor, a drawer opening and some papers rustling- "Ah. E-T-H-I-R-I-E-L. Not like the word ethereal but pronounced the same."

Ronan: "Alright, got it." -small sound of a pen being unclicked- "See you around on Saturday then? And hopefully I'll soon have raevan in tow for future get togethers."

Anita: -laughs- "Hopefully! Really can't wait to meet 'em, and whoever you're bringing to the thing. I think it'll be a lot of fun."

Ronan: "Most definitely! Been awhile since I've been able to have some crawfish, so that'll be nice, and getting to see people will be good too. I admit I've ended up as a bit of a hermit with lab somehow." -chuckles-

Anita: "Can't say I blame you, with all the s**t that happened... But maybe this'll be a nice way to reconvene. Try to forget about that, at least for a little while."

Ronan: "Yeah... I also guess I just felt kinda bad for not getting my stuff back yet. Glad to have it off my chest finally."

Anita: "Yeah, I know how that is. Procrastinating 'cause you feel bad just makes it worse, though, so this is good all around! Now's the hard part," -laughs- "but when they get here, it'll seem like it all went by really quick."

Ronan: "True enough! I'll just have to use home prep to take up some of the time. Oh! Anything I might need to do different for their room?"

Anita: "Yep! Hmm. I didn't do a whole lot different for Cruz, but I guess it depends on them. Not knowing what to expect, I just got some sheets I thought he might like based on his essence and freed up space for him. He just uses it as a place to sleep anyway, so do what you think you should for any other kid and then you can work out the specifics when they get there."

Ronan: "True enough. Now to just figure out a spot for all the stuff that was being stored in the room." -laughs- "Either way, thanks for all the advice today. Feels good that things are on their way."

Anita: "Sure thing! Let me know if you have any other questions. I'm no expert but we'd been in the same boat now, huh?"

Ronan: "Hmm... can't think of anything at the moment. And true enough! I'll be sure to send a message your way when they arrive."

Anita: "Yes please, I'm sure Cruz'll want to meet them as soon as he can. Me too."

Ronan: "Sure thing." -pauses for a moment, another voice heard in the background- "Alright, I think I'm going head out for the evening. Thanks for the advice!"

Anita: "No problem! Good luck, and see you on Saturday."

Ronan: "See you then! Bye." -click-

***

Ronan slipped the cell phone into his pocket, looking over to see Maili walking into the kitchen. "You have a good day at school?" All he got was a raspberry in response. Unsurprising. "So what was it this time?" he asked. Maili sat down heavily in one of dining room chairs. For awhile she just picked at her cuticles, frown deep set and not paying attention as Ronan began to take some food out of the fridge. It was only after he'd sat down with a couple plates that her fingers finally stilled. "Just... idiots, really," she said quietly, biting into her sandwich as her uncle looked on.

"Former 'friends,' you mean." The was only a shrug in response. It was all the confirmation he needed. He couldn't stand seeing her like this, but as he'd mentioned to Anita before there was only so much he could do. The silence continued for a while longer as they ate, Ronan swallowing the last of his sandwich and looking over to his niece. "So, I have a question." Immediately her expression became guarded but he waved his hand, shaking his head. "No, no, not about school. The up coming raevan actually." She relaxed, looking back at him quizzically. "Yeah?"

"All the stuff is turned in back at the lab, so we need to start thinking about what to do for their room." He got up and picked up their plates, taking them over to the sink. "Which would you prefer - cleaning out the fourth bedroom for them, or having them room with you?" The question clearly surprised Maili as she didn't respond for several moments, and even when Ronan turned around she was just staring at him. "I... I thought we were just going to clean out the room."

Ronan shrugged, leaning against the counter. "I thought so too, but I realized you might like the company. You can take some time to decide if you want." He'd been toying with the idea for awhile now as things had gotten rougher at school, and... he had to admit - it was one of the main reasons he'd applied at the lab in the first place. Sure, the community played a big part, along with the curiosity at the myth and wanting to give a raevan a good home, but at the heart of the matter? He'd wanted someone to be with Maili. Someone that'd actually give her a chance, that might be her friend, and maybe Maili could even help them in turn.

Picking at her fingers again Maili looked away, nails clicking. "I'll probably keep my own room but... thanks. Really."

"Not a problem," Ronan said, turning on the water. "And like I said, there's time, so just let me know if you change your mind."

"I will."

◆x◆x◆xRoleplay



The call was made around 2PM that Saturday. Ronan and Anita agreed to meet at The Lighthouse, a neat little beach side cafe with a perfect view of the surf. Anita arrived a bit early and kept to drinking water and piddling around on her DS until Ronan arrived.

Ronan had been a bit surprised by the invitation, but he was still more than happy to get it. A few minutes after Anita had arrived Ronan came walking down the road from the bus stop, waving when he caught sight of Anita and heading over.

"Hey!" he said, sitting down at the outdoor table. "Thanks for the invite."

She hadn't caught his wave initially and was quick to save and snap her DS shut when he was a few short yards away.

"Hey! Thanks for comin' out." Anita tucked the system into her pocket and adjusted her seat, then took another sip of water. "Sorry it was kinda spur of the moment. How've you been?"

"Not a problem!" He gave a short thank you to the waiter as he dropped off another glass of water, taking a short sip himself. "It's been pretty good, mainly just keeping up with work and dealing with a full household now that summer's here. How about you?"

Anita offered the waiter a quiet thanks as well.

"Oh yeah? You got munchkins or something?" She grinned. "Been okay. Just trying to keep up with work and Cruz, you know."

He gave a nod at Anita's reply. "I'm taking care of my niece Maili, along with Kris who's staying while out of college. She was at the crawfish boil with me." Finishing another drink Ronan took a look at the menu. "So what do they have here?"

"Oh, nice," Anita mused before picking up her own small menu. "Soups and salads, mostly. They've got some really good crab cakes, though. Might get one of them."

Ronan's eyes practically lit up at the mention of crab cakes. "I think might have to get one of those too." Scanning over the menu his eyes found the afformentioned culinary treat, but instead of a single dish there were several variations. "Crab cake club? That sounds interesting."

She gave a short chuckle at Ronan's enthusiasm as she scanned over the selections. "Oh yeah, that should be good. Mmm, they have cream of crab soup, too." Quietly, she mumbled 'is it too hot for soup?' and tilted her head a bit at the sea breeze. It was fairly cool when the wind was blowing.

"Was Maili at the boil? I don't think I met her, and I know Kris was playing some of the games with us but I don't think we met formally. Are they sisters?"

Ronan shook his head. "She wasn't at the boil, no. And they're not sisters actually." He paused to think of a way to explain the odd situation. "Kris had a rough time with her family so I took her in when she was going to high school. She does consider me to be somewhat of an uncle though, so I guess they could be considered siblings in a way," the selkie said with a grin.

"Ahh, okay." To Anita, that just read as a more distant relative; an easy enough explanation on Ronan's part. "Maybe I'll get to meet her someday. Oh, that reminds me--" she adjusted in her seat, arms leaned against the metal table, "--you ready for the new addition?"

Ronan's eyes sparked at the mention of the upcoming raevan, still somewhat in awe that it was actually happening. "Working at it, though not sure if I'm there yet. We're currently cleaning out what'll be their bedroom." He shook his head. "I just wish I had a better idea of when they'd actually be coming along."

Anita couldn't help her eyes bulging and rolling slightly at the mention of time. "Yeah, I know. Seems like it's wildly different for everyone." She wasn't sure when precisely Duncan or Troxel had put in their bottles, but she knew at least one of them was still waiting. "You're not alone in that, at least. I think there's a couple on the way?"

"Mmm... that is true." He'd known from the get go that there was no definite time period for how long it'd take for a raevan to arrive, but it was still unpleasant to deal with.

It was at this point that the waiter came by once again. "You guys ready to order?"

Anita nodded just as the waiter arrived. She leaned back and gave a quick scan of the menu once again, offering only a quiet 'um' before deciding for real. "I'll have the crab soup and a root beer, please."

"Alright. And for you, sir?"

"I'll have the crab cake club," he said, figuring he might as well try it.

The waiter nodded and gathered up their menus. "We'll get those out to you soon."

"Thank you," Anita smiled to the waiter and promptly returned her gaze to Ronan. As soon as the waiter was gone, conversation resumed. "It might be good for you to talk to Duncan and see what kind of prep he's done. I think it's been several months, at least, since he handed his in."

"Duncan... he was at the boil right?" Ronan knew the name sounded familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on it. He really needed to expand his lab contact base. "And that's... a really long time." There was a pause. "Though I guess most of my wait is on my head."

"Mhm. He and Mordekai were the ones that set it up." Anita didn't quite mean to scoff at that span of time being 'long' but-- she did. She leaned forward a little, lowered her voice, and gave Ronan a wry grin. "Try two years."

Ronan nearly spat out his drink. "T-two years?" He took a moment to clear his throat, attempting to compose himself. "Was... was that Cruz? I am so sorry."

Anita gave a tight smile. That was a suitable reaction.

"It's okay. I don't think that's normal. Extenuating circumstances and all." She shrugged. "I doubt you or Duncan'll have to wait that long."

"I hope not." Ronan shuddered, then went quiet. "Especially since it took me so long to get my bottles back in," he said after a moment. "I don't feel great about it, but stuff kept coming up and... I guess I kept waiting for a way to not have to kill something myself." The selkie turned his glass as he thought. "Do... do you have any idea why the soul bottle would have made me sick? I've never heard of something similar happening."

Anita's brows knit. "It made you sick?" She frowned. "No... I haven't heard anything like that, either. Hm." Anita chewed her lip and stared down at the table. "My dog didn't like it. Kinda spooked him. And then... I had a weird dream once, I guess, because of it."

"Huh. I guess your dog's reaction does make sense." While Ronan was glad for the raevan that would be coming into his life, and the other raevans who had gotten a chance to see the world, he wasn't going to miss that damn soul bottle one bit. "Glad I don't have to worry about it anymore at least. Uncanny to the extreme."

"Yeah, it spooked him when it was empty but not when it was full -- or less, anyway." Anita shrugged. "Maybe you're just sensitive to that kind of thing? I mean, it's kind of a ******** up bottle..." she laughed under her breath.

Ronan paused, thinking on his selkie nature. "Yeah, I think you're right. And it is, really," he said, grimacing. "At least something happier wil be coming out of it." He glanced around the table, seeing the waiter returning with a tray of food. "Ah! I think that's our lunch."

She smiled at the sentiment; it was definitely a nice thought, and they seemed to be on the same page as far as soul capturing was concerned. Anita thanked their waiter when their food arrived and was quick to start on her drink, letting the soup cool a bit first in the salty air.

"So you were saying about the whole 'no killing' thing-- I know you told me what you got but I'm having trouble," Anita gestured vaguely toward her head.

As soon as the sandwich was in front of him the selkie went ahead and took a bite, and he had to keep himself from eating it all at once. "Oh that is good." Ronan took as second bite as Anita asked her question, swallowing a couple seconds after she finished. "You mean understanding what happened?" He didn't want to launch into a whole story until he was sure what she'd asked.

"Well that, and I forgot what you got," she gave him an incredulous look, smirking slightly before blowing on a spoonful of soup.

"Flying fox," he said simply. "Grey headed if you want to be specific." There was another bite of the sandwich. "The keeper that accidentally let it out still has their job, but they're essentially on probation now. Called the raevan Cesc since he has a power to find things, and we did find it, but by the time we did it was exhausted and fell out of the sky." He stirred his drink with the straw. "Broke its neck in the fall. I think that's about the only time I was glad I had the soul bottle on me."

"Barkbat! Right, right." Now she remembered.

Anita listened and nodded as Ronan explained. She gave a hiss and a grimace at the poor thing's injury. "Yikes. I would have been, too..."

"Yeah..." There was a brief silence as he continued to eat. "What about Cruz? What happened with him?"

She took Ronan's silence to eat as her cue to as well, closing her eyes a moment to savor the soup. Without opening them or her mouth, Anita scoffed and smirked until she swallowed. "a*****e stole my bottle."

"Stole it?" He looked at her, image of a crocodile trotting around with a soul bottle in it's mouth coming into his head, and he had to work to not laugh into his sandwich. "It sounds funny now but... that must have been terrifying. Mugged by a crocodile!"

"Almost got my hand," Anita grabbed the middle of her forearm and wiggled her fingers towards Ronan from across the table. "Yeah, I didn't know what the hell I was supposed to do. Didn't seem to want me to go back inside the building through the doors so I had to scale a bit. Got to call Animal Control but I was ready to get some tape for his mouth myself." Now she could laugh at how ridiculous her train of thought had been, but she was a lot younger and scared at the time.

Her goofy demeanor subsided into a calmer sort of introspection as she looked at the table, smile lopsided. "It was Winter. What the hell was a croc doing out then?" Anita shook her head. "Cold got to him. They said he was old, weather wasn't right for him. I'm sure the bottle helped, he had it for about an hour."

Ronan gave a small nod as he listened, looking down at his drink. "Sometimes you have to wonder if an animal knows it's their time. Or if they're just tired." It wasn't a common occurrence but he'd seen it before, just a quiet resignation and eventual rest. "I'm glad they got a second chance at least. Cruz seems more than happy now."

"Yeah, that's what it seemed like to me... Old and tired." Looking for a place or way to die. Her brow creased for a moment. She thought of the gazebo. Anita's gaze lifted abruptly at Ronan's mention of Cruz and, a second later, she managed a smile. "Yeah. He's definitely not an ornery old croc."

There was a laugh. "Pretty much the opposite from what I've seen. If it weren't for the teeth and the scales I'm not sure I would have pegged him as one." At this point Ronan realized he was already half way through his sandwich. Woe. "Speaking of Cruz... would you be alright with meet ups once barkbat is around?"

Her smile flattened and Anita tilted her head chidingly. "That's a silly question." She dragged it out to take another sip of soup; it was in a tea cup rather than a bowl. The place certainly was certainly a tourist venue. "You just give me a shout when the time comes and you know we'll be there."

Another chuckle. He guessed it was a silly question. "Alright. Any other 'playdate' suggestions?" He knew they'd talked about this over the phone but it would hurt to go over it a little more clearly in person.

Anita stuck her tongue out when he laughed. "Hmm. Well like I said, Ethiriel's a good calm sort. I think she could really use the company. Zul's good. Duncan's, of course, whenever they pop up. Um-- I-- think there's one named Rhede? I keep forgetting his name. Anyway, his guardians are nice and he seems nice too. He was at the boil. Pink hair?"

"Rhede...?" The name didn't sound familiar, but then she mentioned pink hair. "Oh! Cesc!" Ronan laughed. Apparently Anita had met him, but not under the same name, and it could very well have been after his soul capture. "Hmm... I think I might try and meet up with Duncan sometime soon. We're both waiting for raevans on the way after all."

"Oh, is it?" Anita clicked her tongue and threw her hands up. "There Shep goes, tellin' me somethin' else. I'll clear it up next time I see them." She laughed and shook her head while going for another sip of soup. Her lunch was almost gone too. "Yeah, I think you should. Duncan'll probably feel better having a waiting comrade. Do you want me to give him a heads up or anything?"

"I met him with someone named Vivi, so that might explain it." He just had a couple bites left of the sandwich and he set it down for a moment. "I think that'd be nice. Having a mutual acquaintence usually helps with stuff."

"Ahh, maybe." Shepard and Vivi did certainly have different ways about them, it wouldn't be surprising if they called their charge two different names. "I think the soonest I'm seeing him is the fourth? Mordekai mentioned something about that, anyway. If I don't see him before then, I'll let him know when I go over there."

"Sounds good!"

The waiter returned, topping off their drinks. "Everything taste good?"

"Wonderful, thank you," Ronan said.

"One or two bills?"

"Yeah, it's great!" She laughed at how quickly the waiter seemed to be ushering them along. It was getting to be tourist season after all, so they needed to keep the customers moving. "Two, I think?" Anita glanced at Ronan for confirmation.

He nodded. "Two."

The waiter gave a smile. "I'll be back with them in a second then."

Ronan watched him go, noticing different groups of people waiting at the front of the restaurant. It seemed to be busy enough that they wanted people out of here once they finished eating. Oh well.

"Pushy," she mumbled under her breath with a slight smile. Her soup was cool enough now that Anita chose to forgo the spoon and just sipped the rest of it down. "But yeah, I'll let you know what's up when I get a chance to talk to Duncan. He's been kind of busy with job changes, if I'm understanding right, so it'll be better to just do it in person, I think."

"Makes sense!" He took the last bite of the sandwich, chewing slowly to enjoy the last bit of flavor. Damn that had been good. "And thanks." The waiter was already walking back their way with the bills. "So do you want call things good after this?" Lunch had gone a bit faster than he'd expected.

Another quick thanks was given to the waiter and Anita got some cash from her wallet. "Yeah, if you're good. Did you wanna talk about anything else?"

Ronan also gave a short thank you, setting out his money. "I think we covered everything! I'd say about the only thing would be to let me know on the Duncan stuff."

"Yeah, of course. I'll give you a call when s**t's settled on our end."

"Sounds good!" The waiter took their money up to the register, returning after a couple moments with their receipts and Ronan set out his tip, taking one last sip of water before standing up. "And once again, thanks for the invite."

Anita pointed her finger at Ronan and grinned as he left his seat. "You betcha." She lingered a few minutes more, just to enjoy the last bits of her soup and water before heading back home.

(Credit to ex o ex snoof for formatting and compilation)