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 Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 5:06 am
"Sorry." He mumbled, for a moment feeling like his old, private self as he stared down at her defeated form.
By contrast, Wilhelm only gave a smug huff, but Ripley could feel the pride brimming in the back of his mind. So much for being modest, he thought to himself - no, to his weapon. There was a disapproving scoff before the silence resumed, and by then he realized that Abbi was speaking. All of his focus went to that, yet once she posed her question he was almost stunned. Almost. He should have expected it from her; the determined, nearly hellbent Abbi, but at the same time...well, very few people had ever taken an active interest in getting to know him.
It would be her, wouldn't it?
Ripley's eyes closed and he inhaled deeply, holding it for only a moment before he sighed his out, his posture easing with the release of breath and his eyes opened, however downcast.
"Of course you can." He couldn't really stop her now could he? "Just...try not to be too disappointed if it turns out I'm right." The smile he offered was a surprisingly light one, even as he held his gloved hand down to the poor girl. "Can you stand?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 2:05 pm
"For what?" The teen asked lightly, her head cocked to one side. Why would he apologize? "That was a great fight! I got to show off Viveca and met Wilhelm and you won! I mean I think you did? My uh... Shield thingy broke." At least, of what she knew of them it had broken. To be told that would happen and to really experience it was certainly odd, but a good lesson. So even though Ripley looked all sorts of mopey about his loss, Abbi shrugged it off.
{ He ain't mopey cause he won, he's mopey cause yer pryin' }
Nu-uh! See look he's--
But when the girl looked up, the face he wore was still tensed. A second later his eyes closed and he breathed in deep.
Already predisposed to melancholy because of her little tirade earlier, Abbi dropped her gaze to the weapon still fallen across her lap. With a wave of her hand it reassembled itself into the crystal ring on her finger, the weapon quiet for a moment.
Of course he was upset about her prying. Nobody liked being bothered by such an annoying thing, especially not when it was obvious she was trying so hard. From the start she'd been forward and silly, too childish for someone who'd come from a stable career and a good life. Even if she was terribly curious as to why he'd left, it wasn't her place to ask and here she'd gone, barreling along as though he should tell her or that he even cared what she had to say.
The words that interrupt Abbi's thoughts catch her off guard and she looks up curiously.
"Y-yeah? I mean... I'm used to disappointment so like... Its no big deal." That rang of bitterness and the girl quickly waved a hand through the air. "But you won't disappoint me! You already impressed me with your fighting abilities so I'm sure it can only continue to go up from here!" Despite how sappy that sounded, she smiled at him brightly, her hand edging up into the air to once again meet his.
{ Oi. Tell 'em yer ankle hurts }
But it doesn't. If feels fi--
{ Just do what I say }
With a small flush of her face the teen let her hand halt mid-air, curling back slightly toward herself. A simpering, if nervous, look was turned up toward Ripley and in a shaky voice Abbi replied, "M-my ankle hurts... Viveca says you... You should carry me."
{ You weren't supposed t'tell him I SAID THAT }
A string of internal apologies is all Abbi can think of to soothe her weapon as she tries blinking in what she hopes is a becoming manner.
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Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:22 pm
"For hitting you so hard. I didn't mean to." Fight or not, he hadn't really meant to hit as brutally as he had. While he was proud of himself for winning, he tended to feel a little bad, considering who his opponent was. She seemed to be okay, perhaps mostly tired, but at least he didn't really hurt her. Though if he knew how mistaken she was, he might have felt more guilty than he already was. As it were he was clueless on that matter, and took her compliments with yet another small smile and glance down at his feet.
"Well, thank you. I appreciate it." His expression fell as she admitted to being hurt, and his immediate response was to crouch to her level, eyes on her ankle as if trying to assess the damage. It didn't look injured...maybe it was sprained? She could hobble off a sprain, but...
"She does, does she?" How much of it was Abbi wanting to be carried, and how much of it was truth? Was there any real harm in it? Probably not. He did hit her hard, and there wasn't much wrong with humoring her here and there, especially considering he had been...well, somewhat of a jerk. At least in his mind.
"Well, if Viveca says." Now, how to go about it? He could carry her like she were a Princess...or perhaps the good ol' fireman hold? Hmm. Neither seemed right. As he pondered this little riddle, Wilhelm fell to pieces and reattached as a wrist watch, harmless and ticking. When he solved his particular problem, he turned a bit to put his back to her, looking at her over his shoulder.
"Hop on, then." Piggyback seemed like the best - and safest - option, and so it was piggyback he offered.
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Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 3:37 pm
Once again the teen waved it off quite literally, not at all bothered by being hit so hard. It was easier to handle with a shield, especially since it hadn't really hurt and that the whole point of their match had been to, well, hit each other.
Guilt rose thick and sudden a second later when Ripley looked honestly worried about her, and Abbi almost called the whole thing off. The nagging from Viveca to keep up the act was hard enough to ignore that the teen followed along, pulling back her other ankle that was supposedly not hurt. Not really sure how to look injured, or even pretend to be injured, the girl looked down at her feet, giving a soft whine for good measure.
"Y-yeah... Viveca says..." When in doubt, pass the blame. "Not that she would know. She was a ghost... She once told me she never walked if she could help it because floating was so much fun." And despite the enjoyment Abbi derived from having such a closely linked friend, that thought still mildly unsettled her.
For as long as it took Ripley to decide what to do, Abbi flashed him her biggest eyes, batting them occasionally and even pulling one pigtail forward to twirl the end around her finger. That was laying it on far too thick, both for her own and for Viveca's liking, but she knew if she just continued to pretend it hurt she would chicken out. In fact, she could feel that little bit of worry begin to take over her courage and she was only a deep breath away from telling him she was faking when he turned away. Both hunter and weapon watched curiously until he spoke.
Had Ripley offered to carry the girl in any other manner, she might have declined from sheer embarrassment. Being carried like a princess was meant for lovers and girls prettier than she, and an over the shoulder hold would have meant sticking her backside in the air and that was just all sorts of no thank you for a self conscious teenager.
But a piggyback ride? That was right up Abbi's alley.
With a laugh she climbed aboard, sticking her arms around his neck with glee and hanging on tight. It was probably obvious with the way she launched herself onto him that her ankle wasn't really hurt, but who was she to look a gift piggyback ride in the mouth?
"You carry all your favorite people like this?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 7:17 pm
Thankfully Ripley was too preoccupied to get the full extent of her big violet eyes, because, well, they would have been super effective on him.
"...A ghost, really? Huh." He mused, further distracted from the full power of her fluttering lashes. "Wilhelm told me he was an eight legged horse, so I guess he did a lot of walking." Not that he had ever thought about it until now, though he wasn't sure if he ever wanted to think about it. All the weapon did was send off annoyed vibes, but otherwise remained stubbornly quiet.
The way she took him up on his offer made him suspicious of her intentions, but he just gave an amused huff and a shake of his head. Well, even if she did lie, at least it made him feel a little better to be able to do something for her.
"Just you...and maybe one of my little cousins once, at Christmas." He looked at her over his shoulder, offering a grin, and hooked his arms around her thighs to tuck under her knees. "So, yeah, I guess~" With a grunt he pushed himself to his feet, finding his balance with this new added weight.
"Nurses station or your room?" It was as close as Where to, Princess?' he was going to get.
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Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 7:53 pm
"YEAH! She was like this uh ghost light thingamabob--" The teen squinted lightly to hear Viveca shouting on and on about what exactly she had been, "An.... Eight legged horse? Uh... Wilhelm kind of uh... Doesn't know how to count?" Inwardly the teen questioned what this could mean. For once, when Abbi wanted to know something Viveca turned sullen and quiet, grumbling instead of replying. Not one to let it get her down when there was lift off occurring, the teen grinned and held on. It had been ages since anyone had carried her like this, and for some reason it felt exciting and strange enough that she flushed lightly. Thank goodness Ripley seemed a fan of long sleeves and gloves, or else he would have gotten a better understanding of underage legs.
Feeling mildly self conscious of all her band-aids, the teen wasn't at all sure what to do with her legs so she decided talking about be way better.
"Do you have lots of little cousins?" Wiggling for a moment, Abbi straightened herself up and pressed herself more fully against his back so she could rest her chin on his shoulder, content. "Awwwwwww! Do you like Christmas? Isn't it weird that its practically on your birthday?!" Oh, she would have hated to have a holiday on her birthday. Especially a gift giving one!
Tilting her head a little away from him, the teen let go of his neck to stick out a finger in one direction.
"Our rooms! Cause they're across from each other!" Sort of!
Happy to cling to him once more, Abbi hummed lightly as they made their way, finding it difficult not to kick her feet or wiggle around too much. This was just really fun ok?!
"Sooooooo~ My stomach kinda hurts... You should tell me your favorite color." Ignoring the less than stellar leap in logic, the girl tried to once again flutter her lashes at her ride, finding it difficult when she was almost fully behind him.
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Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 5:18 pm
< I beg her pardon! > Wilhelm's bored voice rose in an offended pitch.
"Err he can, just - He said he's a Sleipnir, like the eight-legged horse Odin rode? I thought it was just the one, apparently there's a slew of them." Which sounded so, so strange; did he come from the myth, or did the myth spawn him? He was something he was itching to learn, but at the same time was afraid to. He had yet to see this Halloween past the titan monsters, and despite it all he could still hold a string of disbelief.
It wasn't until he shifted her on his back that he realized where his arms were, and then suddenly he too was thankful he favoured long sleeves and gloves. However innocent the gesture, he suddenly felt very, very strange. So he looked for something to distract himself, which somewhat failed as his gaze dropped to her legs on their own, drawn to the various bandaids that he hadn't really noticed before. Curious. Had she hurt herself? They were in strange places, for bandaids... He was only vaguely aware that Abbi was asking him a question.
"Hmm? Oh. Sort of. There were six and one on the way when I left. Four of them were piggy-back age though. As for my birthday...well, when I was a kid I hated it. When I got older I didn't mind so much, but I don't really ever celebrate it now anyway." He shrugged. They were important, but what was the point when people just glossed over it? She had pointed to the direction she wanted to go and announced their destination, but all he could do was roll his eyes and be thankful she couldn't see him do it.
"Which room, though? Yours?" Or Mine had been on the tip of his tongue, but he smartly held it back. He was not inviting an under-aged girl to his room. Living on an island was bad enough all ready, the last thing he needed was the potential for rumours. If she insisted, well...future him would deal with that, he supposed. Regardless he headed back to the dorms, easily carrying Abbi now that she was situated properly on his back.
"...How..." Ripley trailed off, sounding incredulous. Her stomach hurt, so he had to give up his favourite colour? In what world did that make sense? Was she up to something? "It's green." He answered anyway, though he still sounded somewhat suspicious. His gaze dropped, giving him a view of some fairly nice legs, splattered with the occasional band-aid. Oh yeah.
"And what happened? What are all these bandaids for?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 7:06 pm
To her utter horror, Abbi's voice rose with alarm as she realized about the same moment she chose to let out a forlorn "I don't know what a Sleipnir is!" that she had studied a lot of things, but still found herself lacking. Mythology was really something she had only a faint passing interest in, especially considering it was a difficult subject to really find one singular answer on. So distraught by this information, the teen went momentarily limp against Ripley, burying her face against his shoulder in abject woe.
The study of Halloween hadn't really interested her much either, not that awful place where all the creepy crawlies and ickiness lived. Especially not when there were so many other interesting things here to do at Deus!
Mildly comforted by Viveca's haughty insistence that she could give the girl a week long lecture on Halloween, Abbi lifted her head only to plop her chin back down on Ripley's shoulder.
"Six cousins is a lot... You must have a big family then!" It must have been hard to leave such a big family too, especially with cousins that young. Abbi hadn't really gotten the chance to give any of her younger family members piggy back rides, but the idea of it seemed absolutely fantastic. Little kids were adorable and she loved them, but was rarely ever given the chance to really play with any... "You don't celebrate your birthday!? What, why? Its like... The best holiday because its all about you! And everyone has to listen to you and be nice and stuff!" Wiggling against him, she pulled one hand back to poke at his cheek, putting the distinct advantage of being so close to good use.
"This year I'll throw you a party! And do whatever you say aaalllll day long!" Already she was planning what she could get him for his birthday that would be wholly different from his Christmas present, all too excited to actually celebrate the holidays with actual friends.
As for rooms, the teen shrugged against him.
"Mine is good. Don't much matter though, cause they're across the hall. So whateves." A peal of laughter left her at his lack of understanding of her logic. Flawless Abbi Logic is flawless.
"Green? What shade of green, there's all kinds! Forest green is nice and lime green looks pretty cute with pink!" In fact, she looked quite good in green, it made her skin and hair really stand out, even if it didn't do much for her eyes. Just about to go off on that particular tangent, every thought came to a screeching halt instead. Nothing processed for a few seconds, her thoughts only spinning in place before her brain jerked itself back into working.
"B-bandaids oh its uh nothing yanno just-- Just whatever! So tell me more about your job! Or your used to be job!" Lying was something her face had never quite gotten the hang of, which was only convenient now that she could hide her worried eyebrows behind Ripley's shoulder.
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Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 5:29 am
Ripley couldn't help the grin as she went limp against him in despair, but he smartly refused his urge to laugh, simply because she'd be able to feel it and, really, she was beating herself up enough for the both of them. "It's fine, don't feel bad. It's an obscure myth point since people pretty much only focused on Odin or the Valkyrie." When he had been ready to talk he had schooled his voice to be as soothing as possible, though he couldn't quite hide a small amount of amusement in his tone.
She settled down again and Ripley paused in his walk, offering only an apologetic noise before he jostled her, just to re-adjust her on his back again after her little melting party. He resumed his walk, but he stared thoughtfully ahead. "I guess I do. It doesn't seem that big, but when you put it into numbers I suppose it is." Huh. That was an interesting thing to discover! It was something he hadn't given clear thought to; the size of his family was the size of his family. "But I suppose I should clarify...I'm the youngest in my generation of family, so the six little cousins are the kids of my cousins. Second Cousins, I suppose you'd call them." Perhaps that would make the family seem less large, now that he'd pointed out the generational gap between them.
"...Well, why bother, really? It's glossed over in the Christmas rush. It's just--" He let out a small noise and tilted his head away from her poking finger, not that it was an incredibly effective move due to her having a pretty good vantage point. Though he paused when she promised him not only a party, but a day of practical servitude. He tilted his head to try and look at her, his gaze narrowed but an eyebrow lifted. "...Do you have any idea how terrible of an idea that is?"
Her laughter, while loud and quite in his ear, was infectious. Ripley found himself smiling, or at least trying not to, even if she wasn't letting the colour thing go. "I don't know, just...green." Shades of things like that went over his head. He knew what looked nice with what, and he could distinguish shades to make sure they didn't clash, but to actually name them and favour one? That was out of his field of expertise.
He was granted a few moments of not only silence, but total stillness from the little bushbaby on his back. When she seemed to boot back up she was full of it, and he had to smirk. She was subtle as a brick, wasn't she? Either way he fell silent, rounding the corner that brought him to the trainee hallway. He began the long trek to their rooms - no, her room - all the while letting the subject linger in silence. "I'm not telling you anything else until you tell me what happened." He said after the long pause, his voice dropped sternly but thankfully moments later he was in front of her room, and that particular tone was gone.
"My hands are full, this one's all you." Meaning she had to open the door because, well, he had her legs.
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Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 9:05 pm
Recovering quickly from her momentary lapse in lack of knowledge, the teen tried to hold on as she was shifted around, going back to pressing herself against him. "So you're the... youngest? Do you have brothers or sisters?" Undaunted by the previous refusal to provide the information she had asked after, Abbi continued on to think of things to ask, though most of them passed through the filter-less path from brain to mouth. "Your family sounds so big! Do you miss them any? Did you have a favorite cousin? I bet it was the one you carried around like this... I'm not too heavy, am I?" Not that she should be given she was only an inch above five feet and rather petite. As for birthdays, Abbi shook her head against his shoulder. "But it shouldn't be! Its your birthday and birthdays are speeecciiiaaalll!" Or they should be! With her head on his shoulder she was able to see the eyebrow lift and it made her laugh, that odd bubbly feeling from before building slowly as well. The finger that had poked his cheek moved up to further quirk his eyebrow. "Its not a terrible idea! Its a really awesome, fantastic idea! Whatever you want! All day, I have to do it all!" It was a heavy temptation to prod him further over his favorite color, but Abbi found herself unwilling when there were other conversational topics at hand. Staying quiet herself, the girl pressed her cheek to the back of his shoulder, pouting against him. The silence stretched out between them for far longer than she wanted, long enough that she began to shift lightly in his arms simply for want of something to do. At least until he spoke in a voice more serious than she knew how to handle. That bubble of happiness within her burst to reveal its slimy insides and Abbi sat up straight for long enough to speak in her own attempt at a stern voice. "It happened a long time ago and its way, way worse than what your natural hair color is so I'm not telling you about it now!" She huffed and then dropped her face back down to press into his back. Viveca had poked around in her headmate's brain enough to know not only to be quiet, but the story too. She nudged the teen softly and when Ripley stopped, Abbi looked up. "Its unlocked but.. Oh yeah..." Not really sure how to do this, she sat up straighter and reached out a hand, only to find that... well... She didn't quite make the stretch. With a resigned sigh she crawled up and half on the man's shoulders and head, agile in her youth enough to barely reach the doorknob if she really pushed herself into almost being carried fireman style and it was only one good twist before she slumped back down. "Sorry I snapped at you... Its just... Stupid." That wasn't it, but it was the best way she had to explain it at the moment.
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Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 4:48 pm
"Only child." Ripley confirmed. "But yes, big family ~ I had a lot of favourites, all the little ones especially." This was something that he could tell her without feeling bad, even though it did give him mild pangs of homesickness. The extended family wasn't so bad to talk about, so long as his immediate family was stayed away from. Thankfully he had the mild distraction of her weight, and he shifted her on his back not because he had to, but because he could, as if he were testing it before he answered.
"Nah, about the same as a sack of feathers." He had been about to say potatoes, but he figured it was nicer. She started to rub her face against his shoulder and he chuckled at the feel. It was adorable really. Her finger went to his eyebrow and it only made him put pressure on her finger tip, again mostly because he could.
"No, it's a terrible idea. Don't go promising things like that to guys you barely know." There was a small pause as he considered his own words, and felt it was important to add: "Actually, to any guy, really." It was very important, and he hoped that she would take that to heart. The most startling thing about the silence was that it was actually silent, and most importantly it was still. She had stopped wiggling and shifting, and instead decided to be worryingly still.
"Ah." Was all he said at first, allowing the silence to stretch on until they were in her room. "Don't apologize, I'm sure it isn't stupid." Long steps took him to the side of the room with her bed, turning and crouching just enough for her to get off his back and sit down comfortably. Of course it didn't look even remotely graceful, but at the same time they were alone, and it did the job.
"If it's enough to make you act like that, anyway." He amended with a shrug. "But...back to serious matters. What is your favourite colour?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 7:03 pm
Though she hadn't been asked, Abbi was happy to divulge some information about herself.
"Lucky ducky! I have an older step sister and a younger step brother." She did not sound one bit happy about this, which should be indication enough about their relationship. But since she didn't know about the rest of his family, and because being told he was an only child certainly opened up the topic of who else was in his family, Abbi felt no reservations in asking. "So what are your parents like? Do you think they miss you? I bet my dad doesn't miss me... He uh... Wasn't my biggest fan." A bit of an understatement, but that required back story the teen wasn't so fond of expounding upon. "But Natalie was really nice! That's my step-mom. She was cool."
The wave of homesickness hit her harder than she was expecting, especially for the woman who had actually expressed kindness to her on many an occasion. Abbi sighed heavily, letting her cheek fall against Ripley's shoulder as she slumped down, weighed down by missing her old room and her step-mother.
Being compared to a sack of feathers made her laugh, a silly bubbly thing as she rubbed her face against him just to make him laugh again. When he pushed against her finger she laughed again, feeling happier than she really ought to for such a simple action.
"Why not?" Abbi hastily interjected between his pause. "I don't 'barely know' you! You're a Capricorn and your birthday is December 24th and you're in Death Division. Your favorite color is green and your weapon is Wilhelm! You're really nice even if you think you're cold and you can carry me around. You were a funeral director and you know how to clean really well and and and--" She couldn't think of anything else with the way Viveca was speaking, reprimanding her and backing up what Ripley had to say with tidbits about boils and wolfish gentlemen. The teen shook her head to clear the thoughts but grinned at Ripley all the wider.
"Birthdays are supposed to be special. Especially your's. So I don't care what you say, you're going to get whatever you want aallll daaaay long!"
With her mouth screwed up to one side in a pout, Abbi didn't say anything in rebuttal to him, not until long after she was on her own bed. It didn't matter that her decent was as graceful as his deposit of her, instead sliding back to sit with her back against the wall her bed was shoved against and curl her arms around her knees. It was a gesture that hoped to cover as many of the band-aids as possible, but given their number was impossible.
"I'm still sorry." Was finally mumbled, violet eyes focused away from him in a guilty manner. Snapping was rude, especially to her awesome friend who had been nice enough to carry her back to her room when she had lied about a fake injury.
But the mention of serious matters had her lifting her gaze just in time to giggle at the not serious question.
"Purple." She answered simply, one arm unwrapping to reach out and pat the bed next to her. "OK OK. So tell me more stuff." Maybe she wasn't as chipper as she had been before he'd asked after her band-aids, but she was getting there.
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