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Buoyed happily to see him smile, Abbi mimicked the motion with her own face, grinning in a dopey fashion when he posed the question. For a moment it didn't quite hit and the teen tilted her head slowly to one side before she literally jumped to attention. In a rush her face turned a shade brighter than her hair, her hands bringing Viveca forward in attempt to clutch at her chest, as though he had discovered a secret thought she hadn't noticed.
"W-WELL NO I-I UH I DIDN'T MEAN THAT BUT I-I-I GUESS I MEAN TH-THAT WELL UM UH ER--" Whatever elated feeling from before vanished, replaced entirely with frightened panic that had the girl avoiding his gaze at all possible. Especially when Ripley mentioned her one day finding out.
If it was possible for her to just run away screaming because was this flirting wait no one would flirt with her especially someone as cool as Ripley, Abbi would be booking it across the arena back to her room. But Viveca was a steady laugh in her head and it was time she stuck around and tried flirting back! Yeah! This was her new grown up life!
With a clench of hands around her weapon, Abbi stumbled forward and, forgetting that making eye contact made one look more confident especially given how much she was blushing, stuttered out a small, "I-I will totally find out one day!" before she swung Viveca out.

Feeling better about that for all of two seconds, the teen squeaked when the question was posed to her.
"They match!" Wait no augh wait! "I-I mean its natural! I-I could have dyed it bu-but I would have had to dye my e-eyebrows too and it was too much work!" That and being a ginger was a very special distinction. Sometimes.

Honest distraction came from his helpful hint and Abbi focused her eyes on trying to move her hands apart, liking the weight distribution but not sure. Cautiously she flashed Ripley a smile.
"You uh... You used to wielding scythes?"

HP: 24
DMG: 7

Eyes down in hopes that that would help keep her from flushing so much, Abbi missed his blush which might have made the situation a bit better. At least she wouldn't have been alone in her flustered state, even if seeing Ripley blush might have made her feel all the more confused.
A noise left her when he spoke again, something startled and unsure. Whatever things all the popular teen magazines said about flirting totally left the girl's head and all she could think of was how many apple slices equaled 200 calories.
Looking for some sort of comfort, Abbi whined in her head to Viveca, who only snarled a laugh, totally abandoning her previously kept position as personally appointed conscious. Today she hooted inside the girl's mind, skimming any real thought by trying her best to show that she was laughing at Abbi.

Totally frustrated with herself and Viveca, the teen looked up with a pout she didn't really mean.
"Well I'll be stubborn with my middle name! And that too!" But ooohhh he was spinning his sword and--
She threw up her hands to clank the handle against the sword, but was too slow to dodge the attack that hit her in the middle. That knocked her aside, Abbi gasping despite her shield as she tripped back and landed hard on her backside.
{ That's what ye get for tryin' to flirt instead of fight. }
That was not helpful and the teen remained on the ground, pulling her feet back toward her hips as she sat there trying to decide if she wanted to give up now or keep fighting.
"You mopped a lot? What did you do? ...And how old are you?! You know what I did but I don't know about you!" And she felt rather sour about both those now, along with the whole failed attempt at flirting.

HP: 14
DMG: that's cute

Part of her knew that pouting wasn't the way to go, especially not when it came after something as heinous and pathetic as her inability to take a joke. But the girl was all wound up and totally unsure how to work out the kinks, especially given how he just kept being blase about this. It was surely mostly her own fault for never having interacted much with boys before, but Abbi could not help but attribute all sorts of feelings to this that did not mesh and did not soothe her.
Perfectly content to sit on the ground and wallow, she looked up at him, eyebrows drawn down no longer in frustration but now in mild concentration.
"But not always a kitchen?" What kind of place sometimes required a clean kitchen but always needed clear front steps?
Eyebrows shot up when he moved down in front of her and, as easy to distract as ever, Abbi sat up a little straighter to talk to him. That laughter from before subsided and Viveca rustled around in the girl's skull, but found no purchase for her want to continue the battle. Not when there were new fun things to learn, and a willing partner to dispense them.

"What was the family business? I'm stumped on the front steps..." Maybe he was part of one of those big catherdrals? But that wasn't really a business? "And two or three months? That's so vague! Can't you give me an actual date and wait you'll be twenty-three?" That was older than Jack! That was way older than her... Wait had she told him how old she was? Uhhh might be best to gloss over that. Especially since she'd had a birthday since she'd met him. Not that anyone would know about that if she could help it.

About to ask another question she paused at how sweet he sounded, her pout returning along with her blush. It wasn't that she was frustrated, simply that she was very flustered. For a second she looked away, though her eyes couldn't help but dart back to him and his hand.
"I know." She blinked and shook her head. "Well ok no I didn't know. But now I know! I just... I didn't know if you would yanno... Not want to talk about it? A lot of people... Didn't come from good places and you're really cool so I wanted to ask but..." She hadn't wanted to dredge up anything bad. With a wide eyed look meant to convey sympathy should he need it, one hand lifted off her scythe to slide into his palm.

For a long while she just smiled at him as he talked, nodding occasionally to show that she was listening. The teen opened her mouth to say something about swiffers and how they were totally just as good, if not better, than mops when Ripley spoke first. Without thinking Abbi nodded at his reply only to feel her smile darken a little.
"D-death care? You were a....... F-funeral d-director?" That all came out far more frightened than she meant and, never having been a very good liar, Abbi threw herself wholly into the attempt to look unphased by this new bit of knowledge. "Wow! That's a really... Uh interesting family business! Did you like it? I mean you must not have if you came here?"
There was only one funeral she remembered with crystalline recall, but it was the only one that counted anymore anyways.
"N-not to assume that you uh didn't like it-- Just th-that maybe there was so-something that made you want to uh change-- Your life I mean! Change your life! Um like uh I really didn't want to go to college and pick something to do for the rest of my life like, I'm not really good at a whole lot I mean I'm really good at random facts like did you know that the human stomach produces a new layer of mucus every two weeks so it doesn't digest itself?!"
{ Jackin' hell.... Just... Just stop... }

Extraordinarily happy to cling to a less creepy subject the teen mimicked his dismissive hand wave in a stilted, choppy fashion.
"Twenty-three is not old. BUT AH THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Except it was totally fair and she was caught telling him the thing she didn't want to. If his reaction to finding out she had been in high school was stark, this one was going to be even worse. But disappointment and rejection were familiar things, winter sweaters to be shrugged into and out of as the seasons presented themselves, so she took a breath and tried not to look like she had been hiding this specific information.
"I'm... seventeen. And my birthday is uh... September 7th. I'm uh... A virgo." That was also extremely important information too. Hopefully it would gloss over the fact that she had technically been sixteen when they'd met.
"So when's your's?"

Waiting until after he'd pulled her up to speak, Abbi was careful to tuck Viveca away from him so as not to accidentally whack him with any part of the overly wieldy weapon. Honest hesitation crept into her form as she held onto his hand for a second longer than might have been necessary before she gently pulled her hand back.
"Yeah but... There always feels like a lot of harm in asking." Asking too many questions, being too forward, seeming too eager had never gotten her anywhere with friends. The fact that it was working now, let alone working with Ripley, felt like a fluke ready to end at any moment.
"My definition of cool is not off base! You're like... The definition of cool!" So much for being too eager. Her hands clenched around her weapon and she jumped up and down to show her dedicated belief in this.

"It doesn't sound weird at all!" She was quick to chirp, shaking her head to get rid of all the creepy crawly feelings she might have about funerals and how Ripley was intimately part of many of them. If she thought about it rationally, it wasn't so weird. It was just... A job. Lots of people had jobs that were not necessarily normal that they enjoyed. This was just one of them! It was like thinking that an autopsy technician was less than normal because of what they did. Abbi could... Reconcile all that without judgement.
Maybe she would ask him more about his job later, right now she didn't really want to pry anymore.

The compliment (she was pretty sure being called suitable for tv was a compliment) made her scrunch her funny little nose.
"I don't really think I'm pretty enough to be a hostess." Not when she was petite and meager all over. But despite the compliment she didn't believe, the mention of a show she'd never heard of made her pout once more.
"Beat The Geek? I've never even... Heard of that. And trust me, I watch a lot of TV." Almost personally affronted by not knowing one random show, Abbi cocked a hip to think it over, one hand brought up to pinch her chin lightly between thumb and bent forefinger. When nothing came to mind she switched her weight to stick out the other hip.
"Where are you from again?" Because obviously if she had never heard of it, then it wasn't from her world.

Glad there was no more harm in asking, Abbi smiled genuinely up at Ripley, grateful and believing him when he did not react harshly to her. If the clench of his fist had not been hidden behind his person, she might have noticed, but today she missed it and instead smiled all the brighter.
"Yeah! I kind of have a thing with seven's... Lucky number I guess." Half way through a shrug, she jumped instead at the mention of a present. One hand waved back and forth in semblance of a 'no no no' motion. "Ah no really its ok! I don't... I mean there's not anything I want and I don't want you to like feel like you have to and really its ok." No one had even known she'd had a birthday and after the initial melancholy over that, it was best to keep it forgotten.
"Your birthday is Christmas Eve? Woooooow! Then I'll have to get you two presents!" She laughed and brought the once flailing hand back to hold Viveca. "And you're a Capricorn." How funny that those two signs got along so well...

As for being called 'crazy' by someone who could be so very serious, Abbi could have cried right there. Even if part of Ripley seemed amused by her show, the teen still wasn't convinced and tried to swing out her scythe as retaliation.
"I am not crazy!" She shouted in attempt to be funny, but finding she sounded rather sensitive about the topic.

HP: 14
DMG: nawp

Surprised enough by his unhappy face, the teen paused and blinked wide violet eyes up at him, not even noticing the close proximity of his finger until it tapped her sharply against her forehead. Even if the gloves dulled the sensation enough so that it didn't hurt, Abbi winced as though it did, going so far as bunching up her shoulders with a tiny whine. For a second longer she kept her eyes closed in case he repeated the motion, but when it seemed he would not, she opened one eye to cautiously peek at him.
"I was talking down about myself." She corrected with a pout, obviously not yet cowed by his stern voice. Pushing it, however, probably would prove otherwise. A blush crept onto her face a moment later, eyes dropping down to her feet as she mumbled a low, "You're crazy if you think I'm pretty."
No one back home had thought that, perhaps cute in a goofy, pathetic manner, but never pretty. That was reserved for the girls who knew not only how to dress themselves, but also knew how to carry themselves with poise and gentle smiles. Quite the opposite image from a girl whose legs were smattered with bandaids and currently stood pidgeon-toed and pouting at a very nice man trying to call her pretty.

The pout turned mildly hurt next, the expression turned up now that the blush felt as though it had vacated, and Abbi hopped up and down.
"But I wanna know where Riiiipplleeeeyyy is frroooommm!" Whining definitely never got anyone anywhere, but the teen was hard pressed to stop. What proved effective in her ceasing her whine was the tilted smile he gave. Abbi stopped her jumping and whining and overall very mild temper tantrum to once more feel herself blush.
"Birthdays are important." She mumbled softly with a nod that lightly bounced her hair, her mouth tilting up into a grateful smile when he crossed his heart. It was a silly gesture, but she honestly needed the light heartedness, especially since it was so unexpected from someone who held themself with such a serious demeanor.

The tease, as much as she knew it was just a tease, made the girl fumble her weapon, crying out lightly when the sword hit the pole and made it reverberate in her hands.
"Why don't you think you're cool?" She asked, leaning forward in attempt to keep her weapon from tipping in the same direction. It wasn't the best change in topic, but at least he couldn't call her crazy anymore!

HP: 11
DMG: fo real

Another wince, hard enough this time to make her squeak, is her reply. It is the only reply that Ripley will receive beyond a wide eyed pout that Abbi is not at all shy about hiding. Had she been given more of an opportunity (had she not been in the middle of a battle), she would have even gone so far as to ball her fists under his chin and try to strike a cute pose. But Ripley's attack is harsh, the girl tripping backwards and finding one hand slipping from the handle to shove back in the air, a clumsy attempt to keep herself balanced. Viveca roars in her head, stomping incorporeal feet at how ineffective her user is, hating to be stuck with someone not even possessing the basics of proper fighting techniques.
Knowing she will lose this battle if she doesn't shape up, Abbi lets go of finding out the small bit of information she is interested in in favor of trying to swing her scythe out. At best she is only able to clip him lightly before she suffers a harder blow than she suspects. This startles her enough that she trips and falls once more, scraping a hand against the ground with a tiny whine.
"Who would call you cold? You're so nice and friendly!"

As for being popular, the teen can totally understand that. She nods once, shoving herself back onto wobbly feet. Now she feels tired, but stopping isn't as much fun as talking about herself and about him, so she takes Viveca back into both hands and displays a prominent frown.
"Have you seen my hair? And all these freckles?" An arm is stuck out for him to see. "And this nose is terrible! Its so... Blah. You've got interesting hair and a neat backstory and you're really handsome and Wilhelm is really rad! I'm from high school. You are so cool. And not cold."

HP: 3
DMG: 2

The frown she had worn at first turned more genuine, less a frown and more a look of worry mingled with hurt. It was one thing to be told that someone was a certain way, but another for it to be assumed that she would one day have to feel the same.
"I'm not like a lot of people." She tried softly, not shying away from showing him exactly how unwilling to accept his version of himself she was.
Considering he was being just as stubborn as she, the teen shrugged off his reply. There was also a small joke to be made at his glasses, but she was reluctant to poke fun at something like that when her own genetics were so poor. It was also increasingly difficult to concentrate when the ache in her muscles was suddenly so stark. The only thing she could really hold onto was the mention of her name, but even that wasn't enough to keep her focused.

A small noise leaves her at his narrowed gaze and then return to calling her clever. He'd called her that on their first meeting and to hear it again made her smile.
"I didn't mean to try..." She mumbled, taking a deep breath before she tried to rush him. It was a sluggish run, one that she only got partway through before she noticed his look. That stopped her, eyes stuck on him even as the sword slashed toward her.
The shout from Viveca was heard too late, though it felt as painful as the slash against her front. Whatever else the ghost in her brain said was drowned out by the sound of shattering glass, or something else just as fragile. Not sure what else to do, Abbi let herself fall back a third time.

"Ow! Wow that.... Ow..." Her hands dropped the scythe into her lap, patting down against her front and stomach. That clanky but invisible little shield from before was gone and her abdomen felt tender, sure to bruise come the next day.
Feeling vulnerable without the shield and especially with how grumbly and disappointed Viveca is, Abbi blinks once at her hands before she looks up at Ripley.
"Can I get to know you and decide for myself?"