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※ » [SOLO] - Justin returns home.

Most people, he assumed, he had been told, tended to associate certain scents with the concept of home: cookies baking, vanillas and butter, spicy curry, even stale perfumes or whiskey. For Justin it was the sounds - the low, sweet hum of electricity, the way the rain sounded like tiny feet on the skylight in the bathroom. He remembered hearing friends talking downstairs, their light voices filtering upstairs and tickling the edges of his ears, and he remembered the difference when everything was quiet and still at 4am and that was home. It was those small comforts he missed most here; the way his mother said 'welcome home' sounded hollow, even the rain here sounded wrong. A house he barely remembered and people he'd rather never see again... how could it be home?

Justin hadn't wanted to come back, but obligation had caught him by his collar and dragged him to Durem. And it was obligation now that pinned him to this heavy bed with carefully neutral sheets - a guest bed in this house that was not a home. It afforded him some piece of mind even so; the lock clicking shut was less of a death toll and more like safety. He could not hide away in the room forever, sadly. There was family who expected him, half-known strangers wearing familiar masks and expecting familiar words. Justin wondered how hard it would be to really run away. Sighing, he rolled out of the bed and shuffled over to sit down at the desk, a tasteful piece in teak, not too feminine, not too masculine. Neutral. He booted up his laptop and opened notepad.

- change name
- change phone number
- move and tell no one
- change ssn? (is that even possible??)
- abandon e-mail addresses, create new ones
-

His fingers flew over the keyboard, surprisingly fast and accurate although they were not thin, nor long, nor beautiful. Justin hummed softly as he typed. The very act of typing was somehow cathartic to him. The things he typed were merely a fanciful list, not something he could execute easily. There were already things that bound him to his row house in Gambino, even if he could manage somehow to leave all of this behind. But, it was nice to think about. Justin knew, ultimately, that even if he followed those steps to the letter, his family could find him. There were legal ties and nosy family members that seemed unavoidable, short of death. His lip curled and he deleted the entire document. He was ungrateful for what he'd been given.

Funnily enough, Justin's mother had not given him the password to the wifi, with the admonishment that he should not be online anyway and simply interact with his family. Even still, it was easy enough. Her first pet's name, Sushi, plus her birth-date. The password had been the same the last time he'd been home - over six years ago. He wondered if time had stopped in this white elephant house on a hill. And, if he stayed long enough, would he stop too?
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※ » [SOLO] - An unexpected soul.

If Justin had learned one thing during his stay (aside from various and sundry tidbits about his extended family, none of which he particularly cared to know), it was that peacocks were unequivocally assholes. One hundred percent, ******** assholes. They stripped the paint from cars and shattered mirrors. Who knew that peacocks enjoyed pecking as reflections of themselves until that reflection shattered? Peacocks hissed and puffed up at the slightest prevarication, blocking in cars and scaring small animals - and small children. Irrational beats that they were, Justin remained unsure why his mother kept them around - the cost in property damage must be astronomical. But they were pretty, at least, and that may have been what counted. And, in spite of, or perhaps because of their general a*****e-ish nature, Justin kind of liked them. There was a kind of straight-forward dependability about their mean temperament. The sky was generally some shade of blue; the sun rose in the east; peacocks were petty, mean creatures. Not so bad, Justin thought. They were plain-dealing villains, at least.

But right now, he would've happily murdered them all. Justin looked around his room, the expression on his face a mixture of bewilderment and fury. The room was in complete shambles - papers were strewn across the floor, the bedspread had been flung onto a lamp, the little plastic caps of individual keys of his keyboard were on the floor. The culprit was, obviously, one of the peacocks, if the haphazard feathers and open balcony door were any indication. Maybe it was even Clarence, whom Justin had named oh-so-affectionately after his brother. Justin grumbled under his breath as he began to slowly clean, scooping up papers and rights pictures. As he tidied, he realized something horribly, horribly important was gone. Justin froze, a mask of panic sliding across his face. The papers in his fingers crumpled, then fell to the floor as he clenched his hands into fists. Clumsily, he ran to the balcony, feet sliding on papers. Clutching the railing. Justin leaned over, searching for any glimmer of glass. His heart beat into his throat, hoping against hope not to see the shards of a broken soul bottle littering the ground.

He squinted. Nothing broken lined the grass below, which was both a relief and a bigger worry. If it wasn't dashed to pieces outside, where was it? He rubbed his hands across his face, palms catching on a couple days' worth of stubble. Even in the midst of his apprehension, a small part of mind made a note that he needed desperately to shave. Abruptly, something caught the light. Justin sucked in a breath as a peacock strutted into his field of view, the soul bottle dangling by a strap from its small beak. Immediately, he turned and flew out of his room as though the hounds of hell were nipping at his heels. He scooted down the stairs (yelling out a garbled apology as he collided with Nisha), and then he was outside. Rounding the corner, he paused to catch his breath, staring at the avatar of destruction. It stared right back at him. Of course, he thought desperately, it would be the one peacock who was least inclined to be friendly to people. Justin had tired making friends, leaving it tidbits of food, et cetera, but nothing had been able to coax it close enough to form any kind of bond. The peacock made an odd noise between a honk and a coo, unable to do more while its beak was clamped around Justin's bottle.

"Now, now, there..." He spoke slowly, in low tones, hoping to ease its mind enough that Justin could get closer, maybe even close enough to grab his bottle. The bottle itself looked unharmed and Justin sent up a thanks to whatever god was responsible for that. "You're a nice, stupid little bird, aren't you? C'mon, come here..." The peacock cocked his head at Justin as though he were some strange alien creature. He held his breath as he inched slower closer, trying to look as no-threatening as possible. It tilted its head the other way, the bottle swaying with the movement. It still, tail feathers shivering. Oh no, Justin barely had time to think, and then it ran, short legs eating up the ground. This was probably the fastest Justin had ever run in his life. His bare feet (he'd forgotten shoes in the mad rush to get outside) slapped against the grass - wet from the sprinklers - and he hoped he wouldn't end up with a sharp stick or a rock lodged in the sole of his foot. Then, to his utter dismay, the peacock took off. It flapped once, twice and was airborne. Still, Justin ran after it; he couldn't let the peacock get away - that bottle was far too important. It soared (not majestically - in flight, peacocks never did look terribly majestic) up into what might have been the tallest tree on his mother's property. Justin grimaced, cursing under his breath, and grasped one of the low-hanging branches in both hands. The tree was far too tall, but Justin would climb it and more if it mean he could get back his soul bottle. His eyes strained through the leaves and he could only watch helplessly as the peacock pecked at the glass.

"Get the ******** away from that!" he yelled, using his fists to slam against the tree trunk. Justin did not expect it to actually do anything, but the peacock startled in a truly spectacular manner; its feet slipping and knocking into the bottle. It squawked in alarm and lost any kind of footing it had. Justin skidded away from the tree, only able to watch as the poor bird fell, slamming into branch after branch on the way down. The bottle followed with the bird, catching the light as it twisted down. He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to watch. Even after what was surely the final, sickening thump, he kept them closed, unwilling to see even though he knew what had happened. A peacock was dead or dying and, undoubtedly, his bottle was smashed into a hundred pieces. He breathed slowly. Maybe he could duct tape the glass back together... Slowly, Justin peeled his eyes open and walked over to the bird. It lay limp, at all kinds of unnatural angles, wings akimbo from where it tried to halt its fall and was thwarted by the branches. Dead, as expected. A pang of sadness flared in his chest, his lips twisting. Oh, but, he saw - Justin dropped to his knees near the bird, forgetting everything but what he now stared at.

"Oh, s**t," he said with feeling, reaching out hesitantly to touch the filled soul bottle. It lay on the peacock, safe, unbroken because of it. "Oh, s**t, oh s**t, ohshit." Like a broken record, Justin cursed, his tone falling to something soft and full of wonder. He lifted the bottle and cradled it in his arms, watching the soul swirl delicately inside. It was death, but it was new life, too, though for one brief, fleeting second he wished it had been a rock instead. Was it a murder or a rebirth? Suddenly, the colorful wrap on the bottle made sense - he wonder how he had never put together the vibrant colors in his mind before. His gaze lifted momentarily from the bottle. The peacock lay just beyond his knees, eyes glazed and lifeless, long neck at an awkward angle. It was to this scene a good portion of his family arrived (not even five minutes later). And then, Justin had a whole 'nother reason to curse.



[a peacock noise]
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※ » [IM RP] - job hunting is pretty awful
※ » [FEAT] - The surliest Gabe, Justin, and Ethiriel


It was hot and only due to get hotter as the week wore on. Gambino was usually on the warmer side, especially during Summer, but today there were few clouds and the breeze was lacking. Henry was at work today, which meant it was just Ethiriel, Nedhudir, and Gabe. The offer for her to come along was made a little last minute, a passing thought, but it was better than being cooped up all day. Gabe just didn't realize how oppressive the sun would be until setting foot outside and they were quick to don shades and dress down.

Thanks to Gabe's warning, Ethiriel was able to dress accordingly to the heat; she donned the sunhat that Duncan have given her for her birthday, some spare shades from the Knight household and she hid her silver from the world.

Tourist season was practically in full swing, which made the streets crowded. That meant the air conditioned car interior was a blessing but today was a day of errands and that meant leaving the coolant enriched sanctuary. They pulled up to a strip of stores and Gabe managed to find a parking space after a few minutes with only minimal cursing under his breath.

”Do you want to come in or stay in the car?” He already had one foot out the door when he asked. His hand lingered on the key, ready to turn the power on for the radio so she wouldn't be bored out of her skull.

"I would not mind coming in," Ethiriel said, her hand searching for the door's handle. While it was nice and cool with the air conditioner on, as well as Nedhudir being cooped up, she figured she could stretch her ribbon.

The two of them entered the store quickly, they didn't want to leave Nedhudir in the car in theis heat. He followed along eagerly as they hopped out of the car.

---

Justin figured that the more places he applied to, the better chances he had of finding a job, fast. It wasn't that he needed a job quickly - luckily, Justin had a tidy pile of savings despite being cut off - he just was afraid of falling into the 'useless blob' style of living. He'd done it before and it was incredibly hard to get out of. That, unfortunately, meant he had to brave the heat and try to scout out some places. First on the list was Home Alliance 'making sure your appliances don't rebel' (not their actual slogan, but Justin liked it better), a shop that specialized in any sort of repair: refrigerators, sinks, electronics. They also sold refurbished appliances on the cheap. Justin had already applied online for a computer technician job, but he figured meeting the hiring manager might be good. He said a few word to the service desk girl (lovely, with long blonde hair and a smile that needed to be measured in kilowatts), and waited, watching people enter and exit the store.

Which is how he saw Ethiriel and Gabe as they entered. The appearance of a raevan in town, one he had only briefly seen before, would have sent his tail wagging. If he were a dog. But since he was not, he resisted the urge to rush over and pepper them with questions. Instead he tried to watch them surreptitiously out of the corner of his eye. He tugged on the hem of his polo shirt.

---

Gabe lead the small group towards the front desk, Nedhudir leading Ethiriel along just a step or two behind. The collie's bright harness clearly read 'GUIDE DOG', which quelled any questions burning on the tips of customer and employee tongues. Without the heat beating down on them and the sharp glare of the sun, Gabe tucked his sunglasses atop his head.

Ethiriel was definitely the happiest to get out of the heat, just as Nedhudir was, and the first thing she did upon entering was listen carefully to the banter of those around them; people idly chatting to one another, whispers and murmurs-- she was used to people commenting quietly on her appearance, and she almost found it amusing.

The goal was to apply to every store. He had already checked them online but he was ready to apply physically as well as digitally if it would stand to up his chances in the slightest. That would make for a pretty boring trip on its own, however, and there was still plenty of daylight left so wandering and window shopping wasn't out of the question, especially with Ethiriel in tow.

”They have a headset over there if you want to sample some audio,” he mentioned to the frei when the blonde girl at the service desk disappeared briefly to help another customer, ”I don't know how long this might take.” Gabe leaned his arms against the counter and glanced around the show floor. Most people were minding their own business, but the attention of one guy in particular caught Gabe's eye. He stared briefly at Justin in return, brow creased.

"I am fine," she answered plainly, looking away.

"Alright," Gabe replied, glancing away for just a moment to check where the service rep was.

---

When the other man's brow creased, he glanced away, trying not to clear his throat. Justin was, at best, awkward. At worst, he was embarrassing. He opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. "Ah, did... did you go through Lab 305, by chance?" A poignant beat (poignant only in that it contained all of Justin's nervousness wrapped up in a pretty bow of syllables). "Me too! ...Sort of."

--

As soon as a new voice addressed them, he turned back to stare at Justin with an expression that read very plainly he thought this was inconvenient. "No," he responded flatly. It was true, he hadn't. "She's right there, you know, you can ask her Lab s**t yourself."

The silvery Frei had heard Justin's approach, turning to face his footfalls. Gabe's reaction was, well, expected of him, and Ethiriel didn't flinch at his 'greeting.'

"My guardian is not here, but I recognize your voice and scent -- we have met before, with Cruz."

---

He blinked, puzzled. Justin had thought he wasn't awful in asking who he presumed to be her guardian because, well, he was a guardian. Almost. Some sort of vaguely defensive look passed across his face and Justin's eyebrows rose. "Well, it was a legitimate question." He opened his mouth to say something else - something very much not pleasant - but Ethiriel spoke, effectively cutting him off. For a moment, he looked at her, at the sort of otherness that might feel strange to some, but instead, Justin felt a crushing sense of urgency. Aadhira was coming and Justin was not prepared enough. He shoved his hands into his hair.

"Hello, I'm Justin - yeah, I saw you at the beach." He grinned, remembering the silly burial at sea for his poor, poor dslite. "How has Cruz been? I've been gone for a rather long time - oh, and I guess I'll be a guardian soon, too. Just sent my bottle off." A faint note of regret colored his voice. He didn't even like his family, but being cut off was not necessarily a pleasant experience.

----

The only thing her guardian's brother had to say in response to Justin before Ethiriel lead the conversation was a dismissive hand wave just as the service rep returned. Occupied with job and application questions, the two were left to their conversation in peace for the mean time.

"It has been an unfortunate amount of time since I have seen Sir Cruz, though I do wish to remedy it."

Ethiriel cocked her head as Justin mentioned a Raevan of his own, a small smile spread across her lips. "I see. Well, I eagerly welcome you into the Lab family."

---

"Ah, really? Shame, though I guess he's probably a busy bee. I'm hoping Aadhira can meet him, and you, too, when he comes, though." Justin was filled with both excitement and dread. Dreadcitement. It was not the most comfortable of feelings. Just then the clerk beckoned him over. With a murmured 'one moment' to the raevan, he went. What followed was a brief conversation saying the hiring manager would likely be a bit longer, was that quite alright? Justin nodded. After all, he had nothing better to do. He drifted back to Ethiriel, thumbs hooked into his belt loops.

He fidgeted for a second, shoving his hands fully into the pockets of his khakis. "Ethiriel - was there like... anything you wished you'd had upon coming home for the first time? I admit, I'm kind of lost and I just want to be welcoming, I guess." Justin was honestly feel of questions, but also lacked the ability to express himself well. So Ethiriel got stilted questions, spoken in a voice full of uncertainty.

---

Ethiriel waited patiently as Justin spoke with the girl, once again turning her attention to the other people in the store.

The Frei gave a small "hm?" when Justin's attention was on her with a question before turning her own back on him.

"I had no needs upon being born, I was just thankful to have a home," she said, her brow twitching in the memory of Leo.

At Ethiriel's denial of needs, Gabe stared at the back of her head skeptically. He frowned, made pointed eye contact with Justin, gave a brief shake of his head, then returned forward to continue his own conversation. The service rep was being difficult about a physical application and suggesting repeatedly he apply online.

---

Justin opened his mouth, then frowned at Gabe's pointed look. It was obviously a warning to discontinue this line of questioning, which was a shame, because it was the very sort of thing Justin was most worried about. Sighing, he rubbed a hand through his hair. "Well, I guess that's what's most important. Who's your guardian, by the way? Since the ray of sunshine over there isn't."

---

The Frei couldn't know of the silent exchange between the two males, instead taking Justin's lack of remarks or questions as him thinking -- though she certainly wouldn't have put it past Gabe to do such a thing. However, once the guardian-to-be spoke against Gabe, Ethiriel raised her chin.

"His name is Henry Knight. This is his brother, Gabe. May I ask what is yours?"

When there was a lull in his conversation with the service rep, Gabe shot Justin a cold look. Ethiriel moved past the man's snark and by the time the woman helping him at the desk asked him a question his response all but died on his lips. He clicked his tongue after answering and pulled his phone out, ready to make a note of the man's name and number for his absent brother.

---

Ah, <********> - had he seriously not introduced himself? "Oh, shi-" He stopped before finishing the curse, shooting Eth a guilty look. "I'm sorry - all over the place today. I'm Justin Lindsey. Gonna have my own raevan soon, which is making me unconscientiously brusque and nosy, obviously." If he had been fairer, it would have been extremely obvious that he was flushing wildly. Instead, he looked mostly just uncomfortable. He glanced over at Gabe and shot him a sheepish smile; the other guy was helping, at least, and not everyone was required to be nice. Although, if he was considering applying to the storefront, then a measure of false sincerity would do wonders. But... it wasn't required now, and even Justin hated putting on that mask sometimes.

"Thanks, I'd appreciate it; I really don't know exactly what I'm doing." He pulled out his own phone to look up his number. All these years with the same number, and Justin still needed to look it up nearly every time. Justin looked back at Eth. "Ethiriel, despite our, uh... not-so-ideal meeting, I hope sometime we can meet up again - like when my kid arrives?"

---

Ethiriel, all the while Justin fumbled nervously, smiled enough to meet her eyes. Charming, in a way, she figured. She gave a gentle nod.

"I am glad you would consider your Raevan a family member."

She had never really considered herself a true member of the Knight family despite their hospitalities -- as lovely as Henry was to her, she couldn't call him a father figure. In some ways, despite her age, she felt... somewhat older than him.

"Kid," Gabe repeated skeptically under his breath.

He scrolled through his phone for a moment, not lifting his gaze to Ethiriel or Justin until he typed Justin's first name into a text message to his brother. Gabe held a slight frown at Justin, which looked even less kind thanks to his tired eyes and lowered brows.

"What's your number? He'll probably want to talk to you." With a short scoff, he added, "Who knows if they put you on their new call sheet yet or whatever the hell."

---

"There's nothing else for me to consider them as, er, whenever they get here," he replied, a little surprised by Eth's comment. Charge, ward: those sounded too sterile. Pet was entirely inappropriate and untrue. Family was warmer, realer. He shot a look at Gabe. "Maybe 'kid' is, in itself, a rather presumptuous tern, but it seems rather like becoming a dad, I guess, just skipping all those infant years with the diapers and such." He knew, eventually, Raevans grew lower parts and those presumably came with well... Just hoped adult diapers wouldn't be needed. He honestly had not thought of these things before.

He blinked, realizing that Gabe had asked for his number. He rattled it off while looking at his phone. "I doubt I'd be added yet, being new and all. Though I do have some phone numbers off of the list, I haven't talked to many yet." He cocked an eyebrow. Gabe was dutiful, if not exactly nice, and Justin thought he knew the answer to his next question before he asked it. He asked it anyway. "What's your number, Gabe?"

---

"Pet," indeed, wasn't the right name for it. Ethiriel had forgotten that, that careless comment was what planted the seed of, not hatred -- of strong dislike, for Henry in their meeting. This, however, was none of Justin's problem; at least he hadn't said it aloud for the Frei to hear. Then there might have been problems.

"However you wish to consider them, I hope they are happy within your care."

Gabe's thumb plodded away at the screen while Justin recited his phone number. He paused though didn't raise his eyes to Justin while the other man continued speaking; he did, however, offer a passive "mmhm" to acknowledge Justin spoke at all. At the request for his own number, Gabe finally looked Justin in the eye again. "Zero." With that, he sent the text off to Henry and returned his smart phone to his back pocket.

He reached over to lightly tap Ethiriel's arm with his knuckles. "Unless you need anything else here, I'm done."

The Frei didn't turn her head at Gabe's touch, but her eyes met his direction -- and his necklace. She nodded before saying, "I have no need here."

---

Ah, yes, the very sort of answer Justin had been expecting. It was almost a challenge, he thought - not to push to get Gabe's number, but to wear down, gently, slowly like a stream or some other zen bullshit. Justin didn't press it, although he snorted amusedly at the answer. Ethiriel's answer got more consideration.

"If they are not happy, we will work it out. That's part of why I'm there as their guardian." Just then, the store clerk gestured him over. "It was nice meeting you two. I hope I run into you again - hopefully Henry will give me a buzz." He waved and hurried to the desk.

---

"Alright," Gabe leaned back, giving Justin a passing glance as the man gave his parting words. "Yeah. Good luck with that."

Sarcasm.

"Come on, Legolas," the younger Knight murmured to Ethiriel's guide dog, patting his thigh to get Nedhudir's attention. The collie was quick to acknowledge and turned to follow Gabe, gently leading Eth to the front of the store.

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