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 Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 3:37 pm
"Yeah, sure. We've gotta get going anyways." He helped Danny up, scratching Espoo's neck to keep her calm as a strange demon mounted her, and then hopped up behind his ghoulfriend. He pressed a kiss to her tan neck and he reached around for the reigns and spoke into her ear. "This is your last chance to turn back. You don't have to do this if you don't want to."
He knew if he'd been given the choice he'd be out of this quicker than anything.
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 3:41 pm
"Are you kidding?! We're on a freakin' horse!" Danny said excitedly, nearly bouncing up and down in her seat. Danny entirely though he meant the horse ride, not the meeting of his parents.
She would deal with those feelings when they got there.
She realized the position they were sitting in was a little ... much and with a smile added, "You better not be thinkin' weird things."
He inevitably was.
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 3:57 pm
When is he not?
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Rikki brought them down the cobblestone streets of his old town, reveling in the click clack of Espoo's hooves on the narrow roads. As they neared his house the sky was already going dark with night and he could see cars in the driveway and hear the sound of far more horses in the stables than usual. He steered them into the paddock instead of the stables and swung off Espoo, holding out his hand to help Danny do the same.
The large stone house was lit brightly from inside and various well-dressed figures were visible through the tall windows. Rikki frowned as he watched, not excited in the least to have to join them.
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 4:02 pm
Danny was positively shellshocked from all the fun she had on the horse. She never could have dreamed that horses would be so fun to ride. She was definitely asking for a few for christmastival. The worst part is that she would probably get them.
She dismounted and then grabbed Rikki's hand, the nerves setting back in her stomach. Rikki looked rather unenthusiastic about the whole thing, so she gave his hand a quick squeeze. "We can leave whenever, it's fine," she assured him, with a quick kissed to his cheek as they arrived on the doorstep.
She waited for Rikki's move at the doorway. With her house, a servant always answered the door, and most people waited for the door to open. Of course, Danny always rushed in regardless. She was never one for manners- they were too complicated. Door etiquette was very tricky business.
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 4:25 pm
He would be keeping that in mind, because there was no way he would want to stay very long. He squeezed her hand back, took a steadying breath, and then opened the front door and stepped in. (Not every family could have a fancy butler.)
His house always looked a lot warmer when there was a dinner party going on. Rikki's guess was that the presence of actual emotions did it. Still, even a bit more warmth didn't actually make the house seem like a home. It was still mechanically decorated in things that should make it seem lived-in, but instead only looked coldly planned without real care. He passed by the wide staircase that would lead up to the bedrooms and guided Danny towards the sound of voices.
Until they were intercepted.
"Oh my, Rik. Who's your friend? She's lovely." A blond demon with towering golden horns stood before them, dressed smartly in a white three-piece suit that intensified his even tan skin tone. His light blue eyes sparkled appreciatively as he watched them and played with his gold lip ring.
Rikki barely held back an aggitated groan. "This is my ghoulfriend," he said pointedly. "Danny, this is Eznho, a family friend. Ezhno, Danny."
"Pleasure," the demon smirked.
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 4:32 pm
Danny's mouth twitched into a smile when Ezhno called her lovely. She was getting so many compliments lately! This was definitely not something she was used to. In fact, part of it felt almost forced and awkward.
She itched to meet Rikki's parents and get it over with, but this was apparently Rikki's family friend so she had to meet him. This was why she hated parties. Everyone was always introducing everyone to everyone. She felt awkward and out of place. Sure she wanted to meet friends, but she'd rather be outside playing casketball or going for a run- actually DOING things while she made new friends. Not standing in a stuffy room talking about your achievements.
"Uh, no. Danny. Not pleasure," she corrected nodding. "Nice to meet you!" At least this Ezhno fellow seemed comfortable enough. The way he carried himself almost reminded her of Rikki. She leaned closer to Rikki and whispered in his ear, "Are you guys friends?" Danny was the type of person who needed to know point blank if you were friends. She couldn't figure out the hierarchy of the business world by herself.
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:54 pm
Rikki hid his smug smile in Danny's hair as Eznho sort of... floundered, obviously warring with correcting her and being polite. In the end, the demon just pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded. "Nice to meet you too."
Rikki really had no idea how to answer her question, so he stood there for a moment, face pressed into Danny's lovely little pixie cut as he watched the demon over the top of her head. Eznho was the picture perfect version of innocence, as if he had no idea Rikki was battling love and hate. Finally he just sighed. "Yeah, we're friends. We've been friends for a long time."
It was impossible to miss Eznho's smug smile, as if he'd achieved the purpose of this entire charade.
"I believe your parents have already joined the rest of the guests. It was wonderful to meet you, Danny." He gave a gracious bow left with as mysteriously as he had appeared, long black tail flowing behind him as he disappeared into a sea of people.
"Sorry about that," Rikki ran a hand down his face. There was no way he could keep this up for long.
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 3:02 pm
With Rikki's answer successfully in her grasp, Danny turned back to Ezhno, her expression far more relaxed, a grin on her face. It was an expression that lacked the confusion and worry from earlier- something far more Danny-like. She waved as Ezhno walked away, giggling at the way he bowed just like Yin.
Rikki was apologizing and she shook her head. "It's okay. He seemed nice," she said with a smile, tilting her head. The gentle smile fell from her face as she remembered what Ezhno had said- Rikki's parents were already here. All of the nerves meeting Ezhno had released were simply coming back and bunching up two-fold.
"Do you see your parents anywhere?" she asked, barely a squeak. Danny wasn't often nervous, but this sort of thing had her in shambles. "I should ... I should meet them!" If she could have, she would've been sweating buckets. For once being a fire demon paid off.
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 3:18 pm
Nice isn't the word Rikki would have used, but at least he'd been decent. There were people who'd come from an introduction to Eznho far worse, that was for sure.
"Uh, I dunno," Rikki shrugged, looking around for his dad's familiar hairstyle. There was no way he'd see his mom in the crowd, but Tapio just might be tall enough. Rikki stood on his toes, because let's face it he was a short little s**t, and scanned the crowd. Oh yeah, those dreads were hard to miss. "They're over there. At least, Dad is." He pointed to the front of the room, where most of the crowd had congregated to chat it up with their hosts. "We don't have to go over there yet..." Please say we can stay here please say we can stay here.
Rikki wasn't embarrassed of his ghoulfriend - he'd been with her for too long to be embarrassed by her particular brand of unique - but he was not in a rush to do the who introduction thing.
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 3:28 pm
Danny nodded. "Y-Yeah. We can just stay here," she agreed. Danny wasn't in any particular mood to meet his parents- nor would she ever be. It was nerve-wracking, totally terrifying. This was a thousand times scarier than she thought it'd be.
She moved him away from the crowd a little bit, ducking behind an outcropping of wall, a little hidey-hole. Since no one was around she took them time to wrap her arms around his waist and put her forehead on his shoulder. It wasn't as comfortable as when he was wearing his hoodie, but it was Rikki and that was enough. Nobody watching. Nobody judging her appearance, her stature, her position.
"What if they don't like me?" she said, voicing her worries. "What if- what if they want you to have a nice, pretty ghoulfriend and they're like 'wow you're lame' and and-" Slight hysteria, it was mostly nerves talking, "And they won't let me date you and then I don't get to be your ghoulfriend and-"
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2012 6:05 pm
Rikki used his body, though short and not very good cover, to block Danny off from the rest of the party and give her some room to breathe. He hadn't realized she was pretty nervous until she'd agreed to stay where they were. For some reason, it was a bit comforting to know that even the demoness was a bit shaken by the environment, when she seemed to just make herself at home anywhere.
"They'll like you just fine." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I do have a nice, pretty ghoulfriend. She's also fun and tough. She could kick my a** in casketball or a spar any day of the week. I've seen her take down people twice her size." Another kiss followed to her nose, then both her cheekbones in turn, and finally her lips. "If they try to keep me from dating you, then I won't come home again. It's not that difficult a problem to solve."
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Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2012 8:14 pm
Danny's claws dug into the back of his suit as she clenched the cloth and kissed him, holding what little peace she could in this chaotic scenario. She wished they could just stay here behind the wall, not have to go back out there into the hysteria that was upper crust society.
"You're right I guess." She put her head on his shoulder and rocked back and forth a little. Her tail wrapped around his legs, pulling him closer. "But I hope they like me. I want you to come home." A tiny smile as she put her forehead on his. She pulled him into another kiss, pushing him gently onto the wall separating them from the party. After a few more pecks to his cheeks, Danny released her death grip on his body, taking a deep breath.
Her hands fell from his back and into his hand, fingers intertwining with claws. "C'mon. I ... We can do this." She stood a little bit more confidently, mostly mimicking how she felt Oersted would look. "And if stuff doesn't work, we'll just run and take Espoo." She giggled and started moving back towards the party.
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 5:46 pm
He dragged a finger gently down the side of her face, smiling softly. "I really don't care if I come home. I'm happier with you." And he was. He so, absolutely, definitely was. Because these little moments, trapped in corners and blocking out the rest of the world, touching and connecting and just being, were far better than any and all moments he could think of with his parents. Combined.
He couldn't help the pride he felt when she took his hand and pulled him back into the real world. They could do this. Absolutely. And if not, they'd still be together. It would be okay.
He gently herded her toward the front of the room where his parents still stood with business associates, some he recognized from years of business. He pushed through the throngs easily though, and soon was in the innermost circle staring directly in the face of his parents.
His father was a tall man, towering somewhere around six foot plus. His skin was darker than Rikki's, though not by much, and his night dark hair was styled in thick dreads, tied back at his nape. His eyes were ghost white on a black sclera, looking absolutely souless.
His mother was somehow the exact opposite of her husband. Where Tapio was tall and broad and masculine, Mielikki was small and petite. She stood a couple inches shorter than Rikki, looking absolutely dwarfed by his father. Her skin was pale, stark in comparison to her inky hair which framed her face in a tame bob. Her eyes were hard red-orange instruments of power. They created looks that Rikki felt could flay his skin.
As always it was weird to see his parents in their party attire. His mother looked startlingly strange in a sleek black dress, and his father looked less savage in his suit. The only thing normal about the outfits was his father's leather gloves. He could always count on those gloves to be there.
"Mom, Dad. This is my ghoulfriend, Danny," he introduced without preamble, knowing to cut to the chase. "Danny, my mom, Mielikki, and my dad, Tapio."
White and orange gazes shifted in sync to focus unwaveringly on the demoness, silently.
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 11:29 pm
Danny's entire being was telling her not to go over to his parents. Every step they took through the crowd was another knot in her stomach, another moth thrown in the chaos that was her tummy. Maybe they should just go home. Maybe this entire party was a terrible idea. She had Rikki, though. It wasn't a matter of losing him- they were in too deep for that to be a concern. It was a matter of Danny wanting him to come home, and be with his parents. She didn't want to be the cause of a family problem. Not another one anyways. So her mind told her that if she ran away, if she backpedaled quickly enough, she could avoid the problem altogether.
It was too late. They were there, in front of her, and Rikki was introducing the separate parties. She was standing tall, but then, that was never really a challenge for a ghoul who was almost 6 feet tall. Her grip on Rikki's arm was best described as an attachment at the molecular level. She at least had the courage of Rikki's kiss painted on her lips, but that too was dashed when she looked into the crowd and noticed a tail that looked eerily similar to Oersted's. Confidence drained in a matter of seconds.
Eyes shifted to her and she mustered, "I um ... Yeah. I'm Danny. Nice to mee-"
She'd only taken a simple step forward to shake hands or something, but it had been enough. Perhaps it was her discomfort with flat sandals, a shoe that she wasn't used to, to say the least. They were nothing like tennis shoes, after all. Perhaps it was her uncanny ability to mess up simple situations. Either way, her foot snagged on the flooring.
And sent her flying towards Tapio's arms.
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Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2012 2:34 pm
Tapio caught Danny easily with leather-clad hands on her shoulders. To a less observant onlooker, it might as seemed like neither parent had much response to the slip up. Even Rikki saw no emotion flicker across their faces, but it was there. It was in the slight crinkle at the corner of Tapio's eyes, and the imperceptible scrunch of Mielikki's eyes and the downturn of the corners of her lips.
Tapio slid a glance sideways to his wife as he helped Danny right herself, aided by Rikki's arm sliding around her waist to pull her towards him. He looked pale, worriedly watching his parents for their reactions.
"It's good that we're finally meeting you," Tapio finally spoke up in his deep voice. Mielikki wrapped a hand around his arm and he leaned into it, just slightly.
"What's your family name, Danny?"
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