Seth [King Cheetah] - elfgurl1234

[Seth_Avi]

Manly Man-Date [PM RP]
5/27/09 - 7/17/09

Quote:

Though they may have gotten off to a slightly rocky start, Eli and Seth probably had a lot more in common than either realized. They'd certainly agreed that they should try and strike up a friendship outside their other ties--though Eli would never admit it, he always felt extremely awkward whenever both his sister and Seth were around him, mostly because they were...really affectionate. Not that it was a bad thing, it was just...his little sister. Being affectionate. With a boy.

Brothers usually just didn't want to actually witness that stuff.

So Eli had mustered what little dignity he had left after his escapades of attempting to play the overzealous big brother (which he normally would've left to Zane, but Zane and his father had been out of town for some time), and asked Seth on a man date. He didn't call it that, but when he'd mentioned the idea of taking Seth out to dinner, his mother had hid a sudden grin before innocently asking, "Oh, you mean like a man date?"

Eli was pretty sure he just couldn't win.

So it was with his usual vaguely-morose-"the world's out to get me, srsly" attitude he entered Hytech proper, casting his eyes about for Seth and thanking whatever deity didn't have it out for him that Noe was, for once, not there. He wasn't sure he could've taken his sister teasing him about man dates too.

Seth was slightly surprised to say the least when out of the blue he had received an invite from Eli to hang out for a bit. Not that the cheetah had anything against him, it just seemed a bit odd considering how the kuppy usually acted when he saw him and Noe together. Still, he didn't often hang out with very many of the Hytes around the shop, so he went ahead and accepted the offer. It would certainly prove interesting to say the least.

The cheetah Hyte had been sitting on one of the couches reading when he the magical boy came in. "Hello, Eli," he greeted, slipping in his book mark before closing the book and walking over. "Been well I take it?"

"I've been better, but on the whole it's been pretty average," Eli offered with a rueful smile. "You know, my mother building the next weapon of mass destruction in the basement, Missy plotting world domination through judicious use of the world's mass media, Shimy trying to embarrass the hell out of me..." He paused, then shrugged. "Pretty much normal. I guess I'd worry if my family members weren't up to no good..." Shaken by that terrifying thought, he waved weakly as if to distract Seth from his rambling habit, and asked instead, "So, any idea where to go, what to do?"

Seth couldn't help but chuckle. "Doesn't sound all that different from my house," he replied with a small smile. "The twins causing destruction whenever they go, Kolby with his inferiority complex, etc... It must just be a family thing." In response to Eli's question the cheetah Hyte gave a light shrug. "No idea. I figured you had something in mind already."

"Or a family-from-Hytech thing," Eli agreed. He laughed a little at Seth's reply, explaining, "You know, I'm pretty sure we could go back and forth for hours if one of us doesn't form an opinion here. We'd better n** that in the bud. Food first? There's a diner nearby with nice burgers, and amazing slushies." Eli was fond of anything that had excessive amounts of sugar--it was another one of those mahou shounen things. "You know, I always see you reading and I think I've never asked you what it is you like to read," he added, mostly for the sake of conversation.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Food works," Seth replied, nodding along in agreement to the plan. Unlike the kuppy, however, he actually wasn't very fond of sweets. The burgers however sounded more to his liking. "I mainly read fictions, but they're all a bit different," he answered, starting for the door. "What about you? Shounen and shoujo?" Although the cheetah didn't read much manga himself, he knew enough about them from his mother.

Eli laughed. "Quite a bit of manga, yeah, but Kamiko-chan will probably get me reading American comics sooner or later as well. I read a lot of general fantasy fition too, Shimy's got...an impressive library. And I watch a lot of various tv, not just anime. 'Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog' is probably the only thing my mom and I ever agreed on liking without a fight." Mena of course liked the mad scientist element, Eli preferred the sing-along element. He still had very fond memories of the Sera Myu musicals he'd watched as a child with Shimy, both of them singing along as they watched.

"Really now? Interesting." They continued to walk along as Eli led the way. "How are things going with you and Kamiko-san anyway? You're together now, yes?"

"Ah--yeah," Eli said, just the faintest tinge of a blush appearing on his cheeks. Luckily for him, it seemed it wasn't as big a deal to discuss this with Seth as it was with his family. "'Thanks' to Noe," he said wryly. "Not that I don't appreciate her help in the matter, but...well, it was a bit anticlimatic, you know?" He shrugged nonchalantly, then added, "But I guess it all worked out~ We've got our first date planned, but I haven't really seen her since then--Shimy's got us scheduled on opposite shifts at the bakery cafe."

"Hmm, wonder if that's intentional," Seth said, only joking of course. "Well, I'm glad to hear that you at least have a date planned. That should be fun for you." The cheetah Hyte glanced around and noticed a small restaurant up ahead. "Is that the place?"

"It's Gramma Shimy. Of course it's intentional. Sometimes I wonder how little escapes her, no matter how innocent she always professes to be--she's worse than Mom," Eli said, shaking his head. Of course, he'd complain all he liked, but somehow the meddling of his loved ones was comforting--or perhaps it was simply that it was all he'd ever known. "Yeah, that's the place. Want to just eat outside on the benches? Since the weather's nice and all."

"Sure, sounds good," Seth replied with a small nod. The cheetah found that he rather enjoyed listening to the exploits of the rest of Noe's family. They were certainly an interesting group, and it was a nice change from the day to day stuff. "So, do you come here often then?"

"Every now and then. The only car we really have is Mom's van and she doesn't let us use it, so I walk or bike most places, and I like to get to know the area around Hytech since my family's here most days," he said with a shrug. "I kind of wonder if Maxx and Jun really knew what they were getting into, running a community center for all of us, in addition to creating new Hytes. I guess as long as the place isn't burned down they aren't too picky, especially since they added HQ to encourage us to hang around more...or spend more money. Or both."

"You know, I never really thought about all of that," Seth replied thoughtfully. "I'm sure the electric bill alone is outrageous. Perhaps the profits from the bar help to balance that a little bit." Although, he didn't go there very often himself, and even when he did he pretty much never drink. Only drank once actually. "Whatever the case, I'm certainly grateful. It's a good place to hang out and meet with the others."

"It is," Eli agreed. "Shall we order?" After a brief communication with the staff, and their orders being prepared, Eli steered them both to an outlying bench while they waited for their order to be brought to them. "At any rate, it really is nice to have a central place to be able to meet with everyone. Otherwise I'd probably be a hermit or something," the kuppy admitted with a laugh.

"Oooh, I wouldn't let you be a hermit~" came a soft singsong voice from behind Eli, as a youngish human-appearing girl of about fifteen, with grayish silver hair seemed to appear out of nowhere, her chin resting on Eli's shoulder and staring, quite fascinated, at the cheetah Hyte sitting across from him. "Besides, when you do make an effort to be social, I've noticed it always turns out nicely," she said, reassuring the kuppy, before turning her brilliant golden eyes back to Seth. "Hello there~ I'm Elti."

Eli seemed to be conflicting between turning red from embarrassment and pale white from fright or nervousness. "Is it safe--"

Elti waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine, for now at least."

"Hello, Elti. It's a pleasure to meet you," Seth replied, acknowledging the girl with a smile ad a nod. "My name is Seth." Both the kuppy's words and expression had the cheetah Hyte quite curious about this mystery girl. Why wouldn't her being there be safe? Unless he was talking about something else. "So, how do you and Eli know each other?" he asked casually, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"It's nice to meet you as well, Seth," Elti said quite cheerfully. At Seth's question, she let her gaze slide over to the kuppy as if asking 'Shall you explain, or I?' Eli's expression had frozen into something of emotionless, so Elti took it upon herself to finish the formalities. "We've known one another since Eli was born. He's my Contractor, and I am the Ti'ama he is sworn to. I've been meaning to come to Hytech, but this works out as well~ Ti'ama are quite skilled at the sort of genetic manipulation required to create products such as you, or Eli, though we normally don't go in for hybrid-types, it's true."

"This," Eli said, finally speaking up in a sort of world-weary tone and waving to indicate the girl whose chin still perched on his shoulder, "is merely a projection. Elti's true form is...well, sort of a world dragon. Except she's a moon."

"Erm... what?" Needless to say, Seth was completely lost. Ti'ama? Contractor? World dragon? The cheetah Hyte honestly didn't know much about magic whatsoever. At least not this kind.

Elti patted Eli on the head as she exclaimed, "Really, Eli, you've been taking this secrecy thing a bit far, haven't you, dear?" Turning to Seth, she grinned. "You know Eli's a magical boy, right? Replace 'magical boy' with 'contractor'. I'm the one he gets all his magical power and sparklies from, and my race--the Ti'ama--are 'world dragons'--basically, you are standing on a Ti'ama right now. Planets, moons, celestial bodies--pretty much all of them have a Ti'ama at the core. We're also called 'mother stars'..." she trailed off, as if wondering if she'd left anything important out.

"Normally, Ti'ama do not make themselves known outside of their Contractors," Eli said, seeming flustered still. "However, Elti is not exactly a normal Ti'ama..."

"I don't talk in plurals, for one," Elti said, with a shrug. "Always 'we' and 'us' and what have you. It sounds pretentious to me."

"Ah, I see," Seth replied, somewhat awkwardly. All of this magical stuff seemed just a tad ridiculous to him, but that was only because he had never really been exposed to it much before. Perhaps he would grow more accustom to it in time. How Eli dealt with it on a daily basis though was beyond him. "So, um, what made you decide to visit?" The cheetah Hyte really needed to start working on his conversational skills.

"I wanted to meet everyone!" Elti said, clasping her hands together. "Being a moon gets a little lonely, as you might be able to imagine, and Eli's my only contractor. I can see what he sees, to an extent, but..." She sighed, settling her chin back onto her Eli-shoulder-perch. "I love Eli's family. I'd offer a contract to Noelani and Zane but I'm not sure they'd accept," she added, making a sad face. "However, there's nothing that says I can't visit with their loved ones, too! And besides being Noe's beau, you're getting to know Eli better. That warrants a visit~"

"Elti's shy," Eli added, though his voice carried a current of 'yes, I know she doesn't look very shy right now' to it. "Still, though, you're not supposed to be here, really. Didn't Txori tell you it was a bad idea to manifest too often?"

Elti sighed. "Txori may be more experienced than me, but she's still just a 'half'. I'm far better at cloaking my presence than she'll ever be."

She sees what he sees? The guys really doesn't get any privacy, does he. Seth would have asked what a 'half' was, but at the moment he didn't want to make her explain anything else. "Should I ask whom you're hiding from, or is it one of those 'the less you know the better' type situations?" the cheetah Hyte replied with a weak smile. What could possibly be an enemy to a moon?

"Oh, it's probably nothing too serious for anyone not a Contractor," Elti said, with a shrug. "I have a...sibling, I suppose you'd call it? My mother is the planet I orbit around--her name is Sennith, the planet is Phanes--and besides me, there's a second moon-Ti'ama. She and I don't exactly get along, and she's begun to drag her contractors into the mess. She also...doesn't quite play fair."

"This is totally different from the lamiak situation too," Eli said, almost mournfully. "It's getting to the point where I think I might have to ask for Kamiko-chan's help, maybe even Noe's."

"Wow, sounds serious," Seth replied, even though he didn't really understand 100% of what was going on. "Well, I don't really know much about your guys' dealings, but if you ever need assistance feel free to ask." Of course, it wasn't as if he could really do much though. The cheetah had absolutely no experience in magical dealings and he didn't really fight that much. Still, if there was some bizarre scenario were his speed was needed or whatnot, he would be glad to help.

"We'll try not to drag you in as well," Eli said, with a weak laugh. "I actually haven't run into any of the other contractors yet, though Txori has and she let us know about it. We're just trying to be cautious right now..."

"The moment it really gets dangerous, I'll make sure you're aware of it," Elti promised. "You can definitely help protect my precious kuppy family~ Well, Noe, at least."

"Are we leaving Missy out, or is she assumed a kuppy now?" Eli asked, with the first true smile since Elti had arrived.

Elti stuck out her tongue at her contractor. "Ssh, you know she doesn't hold with us magical folk ever since Miribelle insulted her so badly. I'm afraid to introduce myself properly..."

The cheetah Hyte couldn't help but smile as well. Missy truly was quite the character. "What did this 'Miribelle' say to insult her?" he asked, unable to help himself.

Eli and Elti exchanged glances, and Elti giggled as Eli began, "Well, Miribelle was from the same place as Shimy, and I was supposed to be training her to be a proper magical girl. When she first met Missy, Missy was just a piglet. She took it...well, very much the wrong way when Missy suddenly became a little girl."

"There were some very unkind comments, you know, about the cleanliness of pigs and the like..." Elti said, eyes sparkling mischievously.

"And Missy sort of flew into a blind rage--Mom didn't even try to stop her because Mom thought Miri was a bit of a snob, Gramma Shimy was busy making sure nothing breakable was left within range, and it fell to me to separate the two of them. Only, you know, one of them's a half-trained magical girl and the other one I've been teaching karate to keep her busy--"

"So Eli drags Miri down to the basement to calm her down, only they go far enough down that Mena's tentacle monsters start getting agitated, and one of them manages to break out--"

"And then I convinced Miri that, yes, being forced to be nice to Missy is in fact less painful than tentacle rape," Eli said, rolling his eyes. "Mom arrives to save the day and lock her pet monster back up, and we all sit down to a nice formal dinner. Though Miri wouldn't talk to any of them but Gramma Shimy and I until she left, after that..."

"And there you have it," Elti finished, seating herself beside Eli and interlacing her fingers together in her lap. "And that was also Mena's motivation to start breeding out the...ah, 'aggression' in her pets, especially pertaining to magical folk."

"Like I'd really be tempted to get that close to one of them..." Eli shuddered. "I don't know why my mother thinks breeding pet tentacle monsters is a legitimate hobby."

Seth had to bite down hard on his tongue to keep from laughing during the story, and had to fight even harder not to show that he was trying not to laugh. It was a losing battle. "Wow," he said, clearing his throat and trying not to smile. "That's quite the story." Suddenly his home life seemed to be almost tame. Almost. "I suppose there's never a boring day at your place, ne?"

"I long for boring days. Yearn for them. Pray that they will come more often..." Eli said, being almost as overdramatic as Missy's default attitude.

"Oh, shush. Boring is boring and you like having things happen, even if they're not always to your benefit," Elti said wisely, also choosing to jab Eli in the ribs.

"'May your life be interesting' is a curse, Elti," Elti said mournfully.

"Only to the Chinese~" Elti said, quite cheerily. "It's considered a positive greeting in the Neo-Sovreem Empire."

Right as Seth was about to reply their food came. He thanked the waiter and waited to make sure he was out of earshot before continuing the conversation. "Erm, well, I' offer you a fry, Elti, but I don't suppose a projection can eat. What do Ti'ama eat anyway? If anything at all that is." He was having a difficult time picturing what I moon might use for sustenance, other than perhaps the elements.

"I'm a very solid projection, but you're quite right, I don't eat human food," Elti said as Eli started to pick at his food. "We...hmm...I suppose you'd call us something of 'emotional vampires'? We're sustained by our hoard--more specifically our Contractors' starseeds."

"You're making it too complicated, Elti," Eli said, with a wry smile. "Seth, she basically eats sparkles. Though 'eat' isn't quite the right word--sparkly starseeds need to be there, but she doesn't consume them. That's why, with most Ti'ama, the larger your hoard--the more Contractors you have, the more Ti'ama subject to your Contractors--the more powerful. There's more to 'eat'."

"That hardly makes sense either," scoffed Elti.

"I think I basically get it," the cheetah Hyte replied with a small smile. "The starseeds seeds give you strength. The more there are, the stronger you get, yes?" Although how on earth sparkles would be enough to sustain anyone was beyond him, but the details didn't really matter. Perhaps they gave off energy or something.

"Exactly~" Elti said, pleased. "There are additional variables--not every starseed is the same brightness or intensity, a Ti'ama's bond with their contractor has a lot more variables like how perennial that particular contractor is--"

"Perennial refers to how many lifetimes they've sworn the contract in," Eli interjected.

"Or another one would be if that particular contractor's a Knight or Flower or Blossom though that has a little to do with perenniality," Elti continued smoothly. "Carrying capacity--how strained a particular Ti'ama is in having so many primary Flowers versus the secondary Blossoms..."

"In other words, it's a very complicated system and only the Ti'ama truly bother to keep track of the particulars. Their social hierarchy is...kind of a nightmare, actually," Eli said, with a shrug.

"Sennith has it easy, since all the Imperial Ti'ama are under her jurisdiction, being as it's her hide they're all crawling across," Elti said. "I have a similar purview in rank because Sennith's my mother, but it gets more complicated since Eli's my first Contractor...which would normally put me quite low in the ranks, to have waited this long to join the game."

Seth listened silently to the whole exchange while chewing his food, once again becoming quite lost. Nevertheless, he was quite satisfied with Eli's simple answer of "it's a complicated system" and wasn't about to ask for more detail. "Why did you wait so long to get a Contractor?" Seemed to him that Ti'ama were better off i they had several, weren't they?

Elti looked a little embarrassed, as she said quietly, "Well, I was sort of afraid, really..."

Eli patted her on the head. "It's only natural. Especially playing host to the Imperials, you really see the worst side of the system..."

"There's a force in the universe known as 'chaos'--it's basically what everyone's starseeds were born from, be they human, Ti'ama, or something else altogether. Chaos is a force that seeks to return everything to the primordial state. Ti'ama may live billions of years as celestial objects, but...we fear chaos, we fear death above all else. To take a Contractor opens yourself to the possible taint of the chaos, the atrophy that humanity tends to carry with it. Usually that risk is outweighed by the benefit of having such a brilliant hoard, but..." Elti paused, taking a breath after her ramble. She looked as if she didn't know quite how to word what she wanted to say next. "It...it's supposed to be unusual for a Ti'ama to get tainted enough that the Contractors go Phage, or worse. But I've seen it happen a lot with the Imperials, their Ti'ama. The reason they took refuge on my mother's hide was because their empire fell--an empire that crossed a hundred star systems fell in a single generation because one Contractor went Phage, became consumed by chaos in the worst way possible. Granted, she was the then-Empress' sister, but..."

"That fall affected a lot of the other Contractors--the Contractor can carry the heightened taint for quite some time before the Ti'ama becomes aware of it, and by then it's usually too late for the Ti'ama to cut the bond--well, they can, it's just that the damage has already been done. Shimy's said...their laws on becoming a Contractor are very, very strict, because the most likely time to go Phage is the first access of power, the first transformation. You are required by law to do it in the presence of five full Contractors so they can kill you if necessary," Eli said, his voice rather grim. "But that doesn't always keep it from spreading. Elti's sibling..."

"Has been overtaken by chaos, though I don't think anyone but my mother and I have realized it," Elti said, gripping Eli's arm. "The others wouldn't believe us if we told them, because my siblings' primary contractor is the current Empress. If something is not done soon...their empire will fall again and this time I am not so sure that my cousin Ti'ama will be able to escape the fallout."

"It's been that way for awhile, since Shimy left at least. The only reason Elti took me as a Contractor was that Shimy suggested it, and Shimy used to be a Contractor of Sennith's," Eli continued.

"And Shimy saw what needed to be done," Elti said, with a shrug that tried very hard to look nonchalant. "If everything continues...eventually I will have to step in, via Eli. Because he's my first Contractor, my only Contractor--he's not limited the way the others are. Ti'ama start to...fall into a rut? They become known for a certain specialization, so their contractors only display those abilities. Elemental ones, like wind or water, or conceptual ones, like fate or hope or emotion. Eli doesn't have those limits."

"At least for now," Eli demurred.

"... Ok, I can certainly can see why you were reluctant to join in the game then," Seth replied. It seemed that this stuff was a LOT more serious than the cheetah Hyte had ever given it credit for. "So... how far away are your planets and moons exacty? How can Eli help from here? Teleportation?"

Elti cocked her head in thought, and her fingers twitched as her mouth moved without sound, as if she was counting to herself. "Hmm...Phanes is actually quite a ways from here, but Gaia and Phanes are interconnected because of one of the kristi'os...ah, but we do use something like teleportation. Ti'ama can set up permanent portals to other places, but it's a bit painful--it's like ripping a hole in yourself that never quite heals over. Still, the benefits usually outweigh the pain..."

"There are two...uber-classes of Contractor," Eli clarified, "one of them being the kristi'os. They operate...well, a bit like mini Ti'ama, except they're human. The particular pathway behind this world and Phanes is very well trodden because one of the kristi'os basically set up a permanent portal of her own, independent of Ti'ama hide-ripping or what have you."

"Now, if we had a kristi'os to back us up on Phanes...the one that opened the portal passed on centuries ago," Elti said mournfully.

"Ah," Seth replied, tilting his head thoughtfully. This was all becoming quite intriguing really, even if it was a bit complex. "So, how do contractors reach those higher classes? Is it something they can train up to, or is it based off of initial ability?"

"Kristi'os...can go either way. They're created in an odd way--they start out as normal Contractors, but at some point when the hoard they protect is in danger...basically the entire hoard has to react, even unconsciously, and allow the contractor to access all of their latent power. Usually a token is produced as a sign of it--they're called 'Ti'ama Tears' but each is named." Eli paused, then smiled. "If you know anything at all about Sailormoon--the Ginzuishou that Sailor Moon possesses is a Ti'ama Tear. But they're also very, very rare. I think there are maybe ten, fifteen in the entire galaxy? That might even be guessing a bit high..."

"The other class is the Vanth. They're born, not made...like a regular contractor, there's usually a certain Ti'ama they're associated with, but otherwise they're independent of the system. They're...sort of the balance check," Elti said, pulling another weird face as she seemed to be figuring out how to explain it.

"Vanth don't protect the hoard. They're a sign of atrophy--harbingers of death, sovereigns of silence, destroyers of worlds," Eli said, looking a bit amused as he listed off the ominous titles. "They don't act maliciously, either, unless they've been infected by Chaos--but most of them don't really care for the Ti'ama either. Their weapon of silence, along with a kristi'os' Tear, is the only thing that can kill a Ti'ama outright."

"And the Vanth are always uninvited guests--when they show up out of the blue, you know something really bad is about to go down. Deaths of important contractors, falls of empires--as part of their duty, they have to be there to let their weapon of silence fall as the destruction happens. They don't cause it, but they're there...so they get a very ominous reputation."

"Sailor Saturn from Sailormoon is one of the Vanth," Eli chimed in.

"I am sorry to say that I know nothing of Sailor Moon," Seth replied with a meek smile. "That's good to know though." If he recalled correctly his mother had mentioned once in passing that she watched the show long ago herself. Perhaps she might know a bit more about this stuff then. "I'm a bit surprised that so much of this isn't widely known. Does earth even have a Ti'ama?"

"Oh, yes, of course! The Sumerians knew about us, but otherwise it gets a bit confusing," Elti said, cocking her head again as if trying to encourage some of the knowledge buried away in her mind to slide into more advantageous access points. "Remus and Romulus--founders of the Roman Empire--were exiled Imperials and the Roman pantheon of gods is based in part on some of the Imperial contractors who followed them into exile. If you know where to look, there are clues everywhere."

"But the Ti'ama aren't supposed to be obvious, not after the fallout of the last interstellar Empire. And not even all of the Ti'ama are 'awake.' Some choose to lay low and sleep, others seem to have never woken to this day. But it's clear they are there, because when a Ti'ama dies--or even when it 'abandons ship', so to speak--it's very obvious--the planet they supported begins to die. That's part of the reason why normal scientists will have a tough time finding life on other planets--the Empire's fall wiped out most of the nearby planets. Phanes is half the galaxy away," Eli said, very matter-of-factly.

"Ah, I see," Seth replied, a slight smile on his face. "So that's a yes then." Glancing down at his companion's plate, he noticed that the meal appeared to be even hardly touched. "Um, you may want to start eating soon, Eli. I think your food's getting cold." His was too actually, but he had been taking bites here and there while listening to all of the explanations, so he was a bit further along than the kuppy was.

Eli blinked, and looked down at his plate, looking a bit rueful as he replied, "I'm pretty sure you're right..." Elti shot up from her seat next to Eli, choosing to hover over him instead.

"Ahh, eat, eat!" she said, flailing just the tiniest bit--it was definitely reminiscent of Eli's habit, but the question remained whether it was Elti that had given it to him, or Eli rubbing off on the Ti'ama. "I'm sorry for distracting you!" Looking suddenly quite chagrined, she turned to Seth and bowed, seemingly in apology. "I just meant to introduce myself but then I got carried away and I completely forget you two were on a--"

Eli looked up suddenly from the food which he had begun to eat, his eyes flashing very suddenly in what seemed to be a mixture of concern, embarrassment, and outright panic. Don't say 'man date'... he thought very swiftly.

"An outing~" Elti finished smoothly, patting Eli reassuringly on the head.

"Ah, it's perfectly alright," Seth replied with a smile. "We all get carried away sometimes. No problem." The cheetah Hyte wondered what exactly Eli had looked so panicked about for a second there, but decided that it might be a question best saved for later. No sense in putting him on the spot or anything.

The meal was something of a quiet affair as Seth finished what was left of his and Eli hurried through eating to make up for lost time, but it was a companionable silence. Eli was still working through his large grape slush when Elti noticed Seth had finished, and her eyes shot from kuppy to cheetah before she nodded and strode over to Seth's side of the table, offering him a hand up. "Ah, I'd like to talk to you for just a second," she said, sounding almost as shy as Eli had claimed she was back when she'd first appeared--she'd certainly seemed friendly enough the rest of the time. "Eli, we'll be nearby. Don't get brain freeze~" Eli nodded and waved them off, taking a particularly large slurp of cold, delicious sugary slush and immediately wincing. Elti giggled, hiding her smile behind a hand. "Oh, silly Eli..."

Seth chuckled good-naturedly. "In all fairness, telling someone not to get brain freeze is like practically giving it to them yourself," he pointed out as he walked with her. The cheetah was actually guilty of doing that on a couple of occasions to his mother when she was being particularly irksome. Without fail she always seemed to get it right after. "So, what did you wish to talk about, Elti?"

"But it's not my fault he drank too quickly!" the projection of a girl protested as she led Seth out of Eli's earshot. At Seth's question, she paused and did a little pirouette in place, leaning back against the wall. "I...wanted to thank you," she said, looking up at Seth from beneath the silvery fringe of her hair. "For being a friend to Eli. And for taking care of Noe. For everything you've done, are doing for my precious kuppy family." Her eyes unfocused as she seemed to stare off into the distance, stare beyond Seth, before she added, "Things are probably going to get a lot more serious soon, and I'm sure it will be hard on Eli and his family and friends. But I think as long as they have people like you, that...it'll be okay."

The cheetah Hyte blinked in surprise at Elti's words. That had certainly been unexpected. "Erm, your welcome?" he replied awkwardly before shaking his head. "No no, I don't believe that's I've done anything 'thank' worthy really. I hardly even knew much about him before today actually." Seth's expression grew a bit more serious as he considered the end part of the Tiama's statement. "In any case, my offer from earlier still stands. Just try not to let anything happen to any of them." Other than Noe, he barely even knew the family really. Still, he couldn't imagine how it would be should something actually happen to one of them.

"But that's changing and you were willing to put forth the effort," Elti said, with a little smile. And she nodded very seriously. "Don't worry, Seth. We Ti'ama are pretty overprotective beings. I'd go berserk before I'd let anything happen to Eli or his family." Her smile returned a little bit as she mused, "Wide swathes of destruction, violent weather...pigs might even fly."

Seth had to smile at her response. "Glad to hear that." Fighting back a smirk, he added, "Although Missy might take a bit of offense to it."

"I'd make sure and apologize to her properly afterward," Elti said breezily, not even trying to hide her wide smile. "Though I suppose I'd have to introduce myself first, as I've only ever spoken to her through Eli..."

At this Seth couldn't hold back a laugh. He had brief mental image of Missy mistaking Elti's words as Eli's. Ah, poor guy. That would not turn out well. Shaking his head, he replied, "Yes, an introduction might just be in order. So, shall we return to Eli and see how his brain freeze is coming along?"

"Sure~" Elti said, leading the way as she skipped back to their table. Eli had finally finished his slushie and had slightly purple-tinged lips to prove it, though he didn't seem to be suffering any ill effects, brain freeze or otherwise.

"We're back," Seth said casually as the two of them approached. "Excellent suggestion on the food by the way. It was quite good. So, did you two want to go somewhere?"

"There's a movie theater nearby, we could go see what's playing," Eli suggested. Elti's eyes glanced yet again from Eli to Seth, and she smiled.

"I think I've definitely intruded enough for tonight," the Ti'ama said, clasping her hands behind her back. "So you two go and have fun, okay?"

"Ah, are you certain?" Seth asked as the Ti'ama politely backed out of the movie. "Well, feel free to join us if you change your mind." Thinking back, Seth honestly couldn't even remember the last time that he had been to a movie theater. It was probably long overdue. "Sure, a movie sounds interesting." Although if Eli wanted to want anything to do with sparkles and such the cheetah might have to find a way to persuade him otherwise.

"Thank you, but I'll be all right," Elti said with a smile. She gave Eli a swift half-hug before stepping behind him and disappearing a bit dramatically in a small explosion of sparkles. Eli glanced behind his back at the show, shrugged at Seth as if to say 'well, that's Elti for you', and started to walk. It was maybe a half mile to the theater, easy walking distance.

"I hope there's something good out, I haven't been keeping tabs at all on what's playing," he said ruefully. "What kinds of movies do you fancy? Action adventure? Comedy? Drama?" His cheeky smile as he said the last suggested he was pretty sure both of them had enough of that in real life.

Seth smirked ever so slightly, saying aloud what Eli had been thinking. "Oh, I'm sure that we both get enough drama on a day to day basis not to want to seek it out. Other than that I don't really mind the genre all that much. Let's just see what sounds good, shall we?"

"Sounds good to me," Eli agreed.

 

[elfgurl1234]

The Fight [PM RP]
6/28/09 - 8/01/09

This is the PM continuation of the in-thread fight started between Seth and Hunter on pages 2294-2295.

Quote:

Seth let out another growl under his breath. "You asked for it," he muttered before springing into to action. He dashed at the raccoon Hyte, a punch aimed straight for the face.

The Raccoon was ready; body tensed and waiting for the oncoming attack. He saw the Cheetah as the other male sprung, sidestepping with surprising grace, elbow coming up and around to strike Seth in the back- Move faster!

The cheetah Hyte let out a small hiss as the blow connected with his back. Not about to let the raccoon Hyte get the better of him though, Seth spun immediately into a low swipe-kick as he landed, trying to knock the other off of his feet.

The Raccoon laughed in mad delight; bracing himself as Seth’s kick hit its mark. However the large male didn’t fall; he flinched slightly, taking a step back in order to steady himself. “That actually hurt.” His hand snaked out, trying to grab a handful of the Cheetah’s hair.

Seth quickly rolled out of the way before bouncing back up onto his feet. No way in hell was he about to do something as stupid as let himself get caught by the hair. Not deterred by the fact that Hunter was still standing, he pounced back in for a sucker punch.

His keen red gaze watched the Cheetah and as Seth leapt forward, Hunter moved to meet him. He curled his own hand into a fist, allowing Serth’s attack to hit in order to unleash a powerful one of his own.

Oh ****, flew through Seth's mind as he saw Hunter's attack coming for his face, too close to dodge. He barely managed to intercept the blow by raising his free arm to shield his face, but some of the impact still passed through. Damn that smarts, he thought to himself, bouncing back a few paces and shaking out his arm. He hung back a bit, prepared to counterattack whatever the raccoon might try to throw at him next.

The raccoon didn’t waste any time taking advantage of his first hit; he darted in for another attack, a low punch towards the Cheetah’s stomach. Hunter was intent on beating the crap out of Seth but he would take his time and savor each hit. Just the feeling of his knuckles against the other male’s skin was a dark joy he had been waiting for.

Speed was the cheetah's only real advantage in this fight, and he intended to use it well. Seth waited until Hunter was nearly to him before leaping lithely out of the way and off the the side, at the same time bringing his fists down together to hammer Hunter in the back of the head.

The Raccoon hissed and spun on his heels, moving his body around to face the attack and bringing up a muscled arm to block it before it could cause any damage. From this position he lifted a foot and kicked out at Seth’s stomach.

Seth started jumping back the second he saw the leg come up and was able to evade most of the blow. It still hit him, but not as strongly as if he had just been standing there. Urk, come on, just one punch to that bloody face of his. Looking for any sort of opening, the cheetah waited again for his opponent's next move.

The Racoon chuckled in dark amusement, red eyes fierce. Like a cat playing with a mouse; enjoying making the little rodent feel like it had chance. He moved forward slowly; movements almost lazy. Then he darted in, faking first towards the right and then swinging his fist up to get the Cheetah in his stomach.

Not being a very experienced fighter, Seth unfortunately fell for the fake out. Definitely a painful mistake. Several curses flew threw the cheetah's mind as he dashed off to the side, fighting the urge to double over. That would just leave him vulnerable, and breathing was overrated anyway. He spun around quickly, aiming a kick for Hunter's back.

The Raccoon grinned as the Cheetah dashed to the side, the look of pain on the other male face extremely satisfying. Well, he was fast. But that wouldn’t save him. As Seth kicked out, Hunter gave a swift turn in a graceful movement, catching the Cheetah’s foot. “Gotcha.” Now with him caught in his firm grasp, Hunter pulled forward.

Seth hopped along awkwardly as Hunter continued to pull. Ok, this definitely isn't good. The cheetah Hyte tried to twist his foot out of the raccoon's grasp while somehow staying upright. This probably wasn't going to work out too well.

Hunter watched Seth hopwith amusement and then let go abruptly, darting forward to elbow the other male in the chest while he was off balance.

The strategy worked quite effectively, and the cheetah Hyte soon hit the ground. Ok, I need more training. Even though the battle seemed to be pretty one-sided, he still wasn't going to throw in the towel yet. Not after what that low-life did.

Seth bounced back up on his feet, eying Hunter critically for any openings and prepared to counter in the meantime.

Settling back into a relaxed but ready state, Hunter watched Seth pick himself up off the ground. The Raccoon hardly had to put an effort into this fight, which was, in a way, rather annoying. While it was a testament to his skill, some part of him longed for a challenge and Seth was certainly not that.

“Just stay down.” He advised; rolling a shoulder back with an audible crack. It was time to finish this.

At the raccoon's words, Seth's eyes narrowed and he let out another low growl. "I'm not letting you off that easily." He rushed in for another attack, seeming to aim for Hunter's face initially, but switching for a stomach punch last second.

“You should stay out of things that are none of your business.” Hunter rushed forward as Seth did, the two colliding. “Weak, weak, weak! Damn it.” The Raccoon’s stomach muscles absorbed most of Seth’s punch easily and now close up; he wrapped a powerful arm around Seth’s neck, squeezing the air out of the Cheetah.

"It is very much my business!" he retorted, shortly before they collided. As Hunter tried to choke him, the cheetah reached up a clawed hand and swiped furiously at the other's face.

Hunter tightened his grip, muscles flexing along his arm. He angled his head up, hissing angrily as Seth’s clawed as his face, sharp nails dragging four thin lines down his cheek. The Raccoon continued to try stop the air from getting into Seth’s lungs so that the other male would faint.

The cheetah's clawing at Hunter's face only grew more desperate as his body begged for oxygen. Damn it! I'm not going to let it end like this! Maneuvering what little he could, Seth threw his elbow back into Hunter's gut, still trying to get the other off of him.

Hunter let out a snarling noise and threw Seth away from him. A trickly of a blood ran down his cheek and dripped from him chin. Eyes narrowed he went in for the final attack, lunging forward to smash Seth in the face with his fist while the Cheetah was still getting air into his lungs.

Seth fell into a coughing fit as soon as he was released, his body trying to make up for the lost oxygen faster than his lungs could handle. He wasn't able to recover fast enough to dodge Hunter's attack and ended up taking the painful blow to the face and falling back onto the ground. Argh... Tomorrow's going to be hell...

Hunter growled under his breath as he stared down at the fallen Cheetah. He lifted a hand a wiped the blood from his cheek before turning away. "We're done here." Seth needed to learn not to get in his way. Hunter had proved his strength and that was enough for now. "Unless you want to get up and try again, I'm leaving."

Seth slowly sat up and glared at Hunter as he turned, but otherwise said nothing. Watching the other leave, the cheetah made his way over to the couch to rest, biting back a growl. At least he didn't get away scratch free, he thought to himself as his tail twitched back and forth irritably beside him. If he was lucky, perhaps the raccoon would even scar.

 

[Seth_Avi]

It's Easier To Beg Forgiveness Than Ask Permission [PM RP]
7/19/09 - 11/10/09

Quote:

It was trickier than she thought, trying to subtly corner her daughter's boyfriend. She had experience mostly with covert operations, and it was rare she needed to actually confront someone (well, other than Tio, but he was /asking/ for it, every time he showed his annoying visage at Hytech proper...), but Philomena Sabina was forced to do just that. It was a friendly confrontation, she assured herself, and Seth was hardly going to fight back. The worst he might do was blush to death, and, judging by Eli's capacity to not actually die though maintaining the reddest of faces, such a thing was most unlikely to occur.

So she chose a day she knew Noelani would be busy, and picked an early morning weekend to make her move, figuring Hytech would be pretty empty--except for the nearly ever-present cheetah, likely with a good book in his paws. She'd chosen something a little more covering than her usual tank top and short jean shorts--something a little more motherly. It was because of that fact that they were even going to have this chat after all.

Mena had given a lot of thought to how to open the conversation, and eventually she'd discarded all her ideas save the one that cut to the chase--so she tossed herself onto the other end of the couch the cheetah was occupying and said, very cheerfully, "So I hear you and my daughter are moving in together?"

It had been a fairly quiet morning thus far in the Hytech building. Seth had been woken up much earlier in the day to the all too familiar sounds of the twin truffle Bytes causing yet more mayhem. As such he had thought it best to make his escape back to somewhere a bit more peaceful. It would be so nice once he finally moved out of that house. Speaking of the move...

The cheetah had been so involved in his book that he had hardly even noticed Mena's entrance until she plopped down onto the couch beside him. Blinking up in surprise at both her entrance and her words, Seth responded, "Ah, good morning, Mena. Um, yes, we are- along with Hunter and Haevan as well." He still had misgivings about the raccoon staying with them, but he was Haevan's 'beau' after all, so there wasn't really much helping it.

"Hunter and Haevan too, eh?" Mena chuckled at the thought. "Well, here's to hoping you all don't kill each other. Or wreck the apartment bad enough you can't get the deposit back." Even though she herself had never lived outside the Cottage, she had been researching apartments--mostly for Eli's sake, since she figured one of these days the magical boy would come to his senses and realize he was probably better off outside Shimy's immediate realm of influence. "I have heard talk down the Hytech grapevine that there is room-sharing involved," she added, almost as an afterthought.

"Um, yes, that it correct," Seth replied somewhat awkwardly, already seeing where this was going. "It's a bit difficult trying to find a four bedroom apartment after all at an affordable price." Flimsy excuse, but at the same time entirely legitimate. They were all working on a limited income after all.

Mena raised one delicately shaped eyebrow as she said, "I suppose this is more for Noe than for you, but, really, if I can afford a nuclear-proof laboratory thirteen stories underground, I'm pretty sure I could help my daughter front money for a four bedroom apartment. Or a small house. I suppose that might offend her independence though..." she allowed, with a sigh. But suddenly she grinned, and said quite nicely, "I mean, if you'd rather share the room anyway that's completely different. In spite of what you may think, I am most assuredly not the closeminded, stick in the mud sort, though a mother I may be. Just because my husband was slow on the uptake doesn't mean I'm going to begrudge anyone else their intimacy before marriage, if marriage is even involved at all." She paused. "I really want to ask if marriage might possibly be involved but I have the feeling that you and Noe might not have talked about that step quite yet..." She wasn't in any particular hurry to marry off her kids, though it seemed all three of them were now in fairly established relationships--she was a little more intrigued by the possibility of her kids doing Generation. Mena wasn't sure she was ready to take up the 'gramma' mantle and make Shimy a 'great-gramma'. Especially because she knew what sort of puns were likely to follow that route... She was pretty sure Zane wasn't likely to attempt it, Eli and Kamiko had a ways to go before considering kids...so any chance of grandchildren would lie in Seth and Noe's hands. Paws. Whatever.

"Well, um, yes, I suppose there's that factor too," Seth admitted, flushing just the slightest bit. Even though Mena seemed to be pretty cool with things, it was still an awkward conversation to hold with your love's mom. "I will admit that even if money were not an issue, I would still be inclined to room with Noe. However," he added, hesitating for a brief moment, "I do not plan on becoming 'intimate' with her just yet either." The cheetah's face was just this slightest bit redder by this point, and his gaze was turned off to the side.

It was an odd thing to say really, that your plan to sleep with your love without actually 'sleeping with' them, but he was being entirely honest in his intentions. "We haven't really had any discussions on marriage yet, other than mentioning it once in passing, but I do intend to ask her." This was the first time Seth had ever admitted this plan to anyone. "I'm just not sure if it's still too soon yet or not."

"Hmm~" Mena said, considering all the enlightening knowledge she'd just been given. "It's not a bad thing to wait either--despite what Shimy and Eli may avow, I spent a very nice Christmas eve at Colton's that in fact did not involve anything more dangerous than snuggling. There were matching pajama sets though," she said with a slight grin, as if paired sleeping apparel was racy. "I'm not sure I recommend that, as I'm fairly sure Noe's taste in sleepwear probably runs at least a little on the sexy lingerie side, but I could be wrong."

She looked a lot more thoughtful and less teasing when she turned back to the subject of marriage. "And I would know less than you, I think, on when the proper time to broach the subject would be, at least for Noe. I know she doesn't talk about it to the rest of her family, but...we were all pretty worried about her, after Dyre. And I know just the littlest bit about the trouble with Hunter on that subject... That's part of knowing the right time, yes? Knowing when those wounds have finally healed past the point where they can reopen."

"So it is," Seth replied with a small sigh, ears flattening slightly against his skull. It didn't bother him much that Noe had been in a relationship with someone else before him (he actually would have been surprised if she hadn't), but somehow or another Dyre seemed to always throw a wrench into things. It was bad enough that he had even left her in the first place as he did, but leaving behind Hunter in his stead seemed just plain cruel. It seemed that she couldn't catch much of a break. "It's been... rather rough for her," Seth said quietly, his tail flicking to and fro off the side of the couch. "She seemed to be doing much better, but recent, um, 'events' kind of upset the apple cart again." He vaguely wondered to himself whether Mena knew of Hunter's forced kiss or not, but decided against bringing it up himself. If she hadn't already found out then it might be best she didn't know.

"Is it really the best idea to be moving in with him and Haevan then? Missy says Haevan's a sweetie, but will things really be better with closer proximity?" Mena said, mostly musing--she certainly didn't expect Seth to know the answers to this one, though she suspected he was probably concerned about it. And she had thought her young romance had been complicated--all she'd really needed to do was give Coltie a swift kick and he'd realized Lilith would always prioritize Maxwell over him. From there it'd been smooth sailing...well, smooth as it ever got. "I wonder why it is that Zane and Eli have had it so easy, compared to Noe. I mean, Ciaran was practically part of the family before Zane was born, and if there was ever a Hyte more suited to Eli than Kamiko, I'd really like to meet them." Mena paused, considering. "I suppose you could argue Missy has her own issues in that I'm not sure she actually understands the concept of commitment...but so far it hasn't burned her. It helps that she's been grounded."

"It's hard to say," Seth replied, his expression thoughtful but slightly troubled. "When we first agreed to this arrangement they were getting along just fine. In any case though, it doesn't look like this move will be happening any time soon, so this may just be a good cool-down period." For all of them actually. Although that didn't necessarily mean that Seth would be less inclined to wish to claw Hunter's face out still the next time he saw him, but they'd cross that bridge when they got to it. "I'm certain that things will work out in the end, it's just going to be a bumpy road along the way it seems."

"Ah, so there'll be a bit of a wait?" Mena said, echoing Seth's sentiment. She smiled, shaking her head ruefully at Seth's last statement. "You people and your 'it'll work out in the end's. I swear that's my mother's favorite phrase." She let out a sigh and sank into the back of the couch, making herself comfortable. She figured this talk was probably going to talk awhile--she had a lot of pent up questions about her daughter and who better to ask than her daughter's boyfriend? "I was sort of serious about being a source of financial support, though, if the Hunter and Haevan thing doesn't work out and you still need the help. Otherwise I tend to expand my terrariums in the basement and that makes Eli awfully nervous..." she said, with another teasing smile.

Seth had to chuckle a bit at that last part. "Yes, I would imagine so," he replied with a small smile. Of course, he would probably be just as nervous about it if he was in the magical boy's place. Tentacle monsters ands sparkly magic tended to make for a bad mix. "Thank you for the offer, but we are quite alright at the moment. I shall be sure to keep it in mind though should the need ever arise." Shouldn't be much of an issue hopefully, so long as they weren't constantly needing repairs or anything of the sort.

Readjusting himself comfortable on the couch, he turned back to the other feline with a smile. "So, I'm assuming you have more questions? Feel free to ask away." He may regret that later, but Noe's family did deserve to be filled in a little bit after all. It was only fair, and at least there was no on else around at the moment.

Mena made a silly face, and laughed. "Am I that obvious? Wow, I need to practice more on my subtlety..." She folded her paws in her lap, and admitted, "It's one of the peculiarities of Hytech, and I'm sure you'll find out for yourself someday if you and Noe are interested in Gen, but--it's really weird living in different places than your kids! Coltie and I have a system where we usually spend time at one or the other's house now that we're married, but before that--well, he usually could tell me what Zane was up to, and I had Eli here, but Noe...we pretty much only saw her here at Hytech. And then she got so attached to Dyre so young--I have to admit, I feel a little guilty sometimes wondering if it was because she wasn't as close to her brothers, to her parents, that she became that close to him." She paused, then shrugged as she said, "I guess what I'm saying is more or less anything you could tell me would be more than I know. I feel like a terrible mother, saying that, but it's the truth."

Seth nodded sympathetically with Mena's words. He had actually had a similar conversation once before with Noe about that same thing. "I imagine such a situation is very difficult for a parent," he replied. "But even though things may have been a bit odd in raising them, I do believe that all of your kids turned out quite nicely." There was something entirely odd talking about Hytes who were all twice as old as him in such a way, but that was simply the direction the conversation had gone in.

"Well, we got Zane past the 'professional entertainer' business, so maybe I can let myself agree with you," Mena said, with a chuckle. "But enough about me and my parenting insecurities. How've things been with you and Noe recently?"

"Quite well I believe," the cheetah Hyte answered with a smile, the end of his tail swishing casually off the side of the couch. "We enjoy spending time together whenever we can. She's been quite involved in her bounty hunter training recently, and I do believe she is progressing quite well." Of course, he didn't necessarily know this first hand or anything, but he had faith in her and her abilities. After all, he had witnessed her studying quite hard on several occasions.

"She gets the femme fatale thing from me," Mena said, with a cheeky grin. "Considering one of my kids was brainwashed from birth and the other one is basically an underachieving slackerface, having a kid with motivation and a great taste in careers is really nice~" The cat woman paused, and then allowed carefully, "I suppose Eli hasn't really turned out horrible either. Though I have to wonder when he's going to get his sister involved in his mess...or, rather, Mother's mess. I don't know what it is about mahou-ko and their ability to generate complicated situations..."

"Well, I suppose that you might understand it a little better than I," Seth replied with a faint smile. "I haven't had that much exposure to it really." The most exposure he had ever received was on his recent outing with the magical boy kuppy, during which he and his "Ti'ama " had dumped a whole truckload of information on him in a very short amount of time. "It does sound as if things are getting quite grim though, doesn't it?"

"I understand it a little better," Mena said, stressing what she felt was the important word. "Most of it still goes over my head, too--Mother tells me it's a self defense mechanism and I usually tell her right back that she's just still miffed I never went for the whole magical bit." Mena shrugged, and settled back into the couch with a little grim look of her own. "Yeah, things are getting pretty bad there. It's a bit too early to intervene though, Shimy's waiting...for something." She laughed, albeit hollowly, and added, "Of course that could mean anything really."

"Ah, I see," Seth replied, frowning slightly. He really didn't like the thought of anything that might pose a threat to the family. Being that there wasn't really anything that either of them could do at the moment however, the cheetah decided to redirect the conversation a bit. "So, how-" he was cut off mid-sentence by a strong vibration in his pocket, just as Mena's cell started ringing as well. "Looks like we're both being sought after," he remarked with a small chuckle, fishing the phone out of his pocket and flipping it open. "Hello?"

Mena fished her cell phone out of her pants pocket, flipping it open to prevent it from reaching the chorus of 'We Both Go Down Together' (she still wanted to get someone to sing the parody version Jun and Maxx had written for her wedding), and answered with a cheery, "Hello Colt~" She watched Seth, bemused, as she listened and nodded along to Colton's narration. "Mmmhmm~ Gotcha. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's not flammable. What? Oh, you can never be sure with all the improving he's been trying to do... I'd get the fire extinguisher to be safe, love. Uh huh. I'll be over for dinner. Love you!" She flipped her phone shut and sat back, waiting for Seth to finish his conversation.

"Certainly. I'll be there in a bit then. Goodbye, Love." Seth hung up the phone and smiled apologetically to Mena. "Sorry about that. Noe needs some help with a computer program, so I was going to head over to walk her through it. I hope you don't mind." He hated to be rude and just leave the other feline Hyte abruptly like this, but at the same time he generally took whatever opportunity to see Noe that he could since they both had such hectic schedules. "I've enjoyed our conversation together though. Is there anything other question that you perhaps had on your mind?" It wouldn't hurt to be a few minutes late after all if need be.

"I guess that's another thing I have in common with her, though my trouble with computers is more the fact that they start sparking and then there are explosions," Mena said thoughtfully, blissfully unaware of how odd that really sounded. "But, no, no, go for it! It's been fun getting to talk to you, and we should really invite you and Noe over for a nice family dinner or something--" The Turkish Angora paused, and then a grin slid over her face. "Actually, Seth, how do you feel about babysitting? I think I might be adopting from a place similar to Hytech soon, but Missy is not something I trust to watch small children and...well, Eli will probably need some help. Whaddya say?"

"Baby sitting?" Seth echoed, caught slightly off-guard by such an odd request. Somehow he didn't like that grin she was giving him, but... he wouldn't exactly feel right saying no either. "No, I don't mind at all. Just let me know when you need help." After all, if Eli was there then it couldn't be that bad, right? Whatever she got couldn't possibly be as hyperactive or destructive as what he dealt with at home on a normal basis. At least he hoped. "I'll see you later then, Mena." Picking up his book, the cheetah Hyte went ahead and made his way out of the lab.

 

[Seth_Avi]

The Way You Look Tonight
7/29/09
Takes place sometime before the move.

Seth plopped down on the bed and sighed, staring up at the ceiling. It had been a very long day. His job wasn't particularly draining or anything, but repeating the same thing day in and day out had a way of making one weary after a while. It also didn't help that he hadn't seen much of Noe lately. While the cheetah Hyte spent the great majority of his free time over at the shop, he still hadn't been able to run into her. It seemed that she was studying quite a bit at home now, so that meant that their quality time together had been rather lacking. This, in turn, had a rather negative effect on Seth's mood. While he was never actually visibly upset, there was always a noticeable upturn in his mood and behavior whenever he had been spending time with the kuppy.

Deciding to listen to some music, Seth fished around momentarily in his pocket before pulling out his ipod. Hmm, what to listen to... he pondered to himself as he scrolled through the various playlists. Techno, no. Jazz, no. Rock, no. Hm, this might do. Highlighting the playlist titled "Oldies", he hit enter and began to search through for a good song. Finding what he wanted to listen to, he put in his earphones and hit "play."

Some day, when I'm awfully low
When the world is cold
I will feel a glow just thinking of you...
And the way you look tonight.

Seth could help but close his eyes and sing along quietly. It was an appropriate song for the way he felt at the moment. Noe's smiling face flashed through his mind's eye as the song continued.

Yes you're lovely, with your smile so warm
And your cheeks so soft
There is nothing for me but to love you
And the way you look tonight.

As Seth got caught up in the song itself, the volume of his voice rose steadily with it's progression. It peeked at a comfortable level along the climax of the song.

With each word your tenderness grows,
Tearing my fears apart...
And that laugh that wrinkles your nose,
It touches my foolish heart.

Lovely... Never, ever change
Keep that breathless charm.
Won't you please arrange it?
Cause I love you... Just the way you look tonight.

Once the song had ended, Seth sighed and opened his eyes to find his mother standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorway with a slightly amused smile on her face. from the hall behind her several of the other household critters were attempting to peek into his room. "You know, you should sing out like that more often," she said. "You have a nice voice."

The cheetah's face immediately flushed red, and he couldn't help but scowl a bit at the unexpected intruder. "Is there any particular reason that you came in here without knocking?" he asked calmly, trying to ignore the heat he felt in his face.

"Actually," she replied with a small smirk, "I did knock first- you just couldn't hear me over your headphones. Anyway, I wanted to ask if you wouldn't mind helping me make dinner. I was going to grill up some steaks, but I can never seem to get the timing right on the cooking."

"Sure. Just give me a moment and I'll be right there." He watched her leave for a moment before wrapping up his headphones to put them away. Perhaps later in the evening he would send Noe an e-mail to see how she was doing. For now though it seemed as if there was still stuff left for him to do before he could fully relax for the evening.