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 Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:27 am
 Halloween
In the apartments that stood above some businesses and towered over said sidewalks, it was no different. Jack o' lanterns stood proudly in windows and on fire escape levels, windows were lined with appropriately colored lights of purple, black, and/or orange, and peel-off window stickers decorated a few lit panes with images of ghosts, witches, and the odd vampire or black cat. The insides of some of those homes were decorated to the nines as well and the one that belonged to Zeke and Anastacia most definitely was one of them.
The veterinarian had gone well beyond to make his flat right for Halloween: ceramic jack o' lanterns decorated the window sills and were lit with unscented tea lights while the windows themselves had electric lights of all three Halloween colors lining their borders. Away from there most everything was covered to some degree in stretchy fake webbing - from the bookcase to the coffee table, to the TV, and all the way to the stereo that played a mix CD of Halloween sounds, songs, and music. Zeke had wanted to put in a fog machine for kicks, but unable to find one in time for the holiday he instead settled on plugging in just about all of his home use strobe and party lights of various shapes and colors in practically every available outlet. The holiday influence stretched as far into the other rooms as possible too, with only the bathroom and Anastacia's bedroom left untouched. The holiday-apathetic Frei was still protective of her domain and as Zeke had tore through the apartment with lights, webbing, and strobes she had remained on alert and actively watched him even if he was only going down the hall to quickly make use of the bathroom. She hadn't wanted any of that in her room no matter what it was or what it was for and the first (and last) time he had tried to chipperly go about entering her room she had deftly blocked him with both her body and a stern, commanding look. No words from him were able to sway her and after a time he had dejectedly walked back down the hall to instead muck up his own place of rest.
That was hours ago though, when it was still light out and after Zeke had called up Zul to wish the older Frei a happy birthday (another thing Anya didn't quite understand but also want nothing to do with). Now that it was dark out with the streetlight's glow just kissing the windows, the man with the bi-colored hair had vanished into the bathroom for what he called a quick shower before the "real festivities started". What that meant, Anastacia didn't know, and so the Frei kept herself seated and immersed in her knitting instead. She had taken in all the decorations as Zeke had set them up so they were no longer of any interest to her, and the one thing that could have held it - a large teal bowl of colorfully wrapped treats Zeke had poured just before leaving for his shower - was both inedible to and unusable by her and thus unappealing. Whatever this holiday was really about and why Zeke was so giddy was beyond her and she could not care less. She had her knitting, she was in a warm place, Nel was keeping herself occupied on the coffee table, the cat was no where to be found, and Zeke was out of her hair...For Anastacia the night would have the most made out of it if left like this.
That wasn't destined to be the case, however.
Zeke had explained to her during his mad sweep of the house just what Halloween was. The costumes, the parties, the tricking and treating, even a bit of history behind it from shows he had picked up over the years on the History channel or some other that wasn't strictly monster movies. Anastacia, as always when Zeke went on rambling longer than it would take to get a point out, only half listened to his words. If asked about Halloween, the most the Frei could probably come out with would be a few detached words such as "costumes", "trick-or-treat", and/or "witches". Nothing substantial, but enough to potentially answer a question and be left alone again which was good enough for her. And thanks to 'in one ear and out the other' having taken place, it was quite a surprise to the Frei to suddenly hear a jolly knocking coming from the front door. The sudden sound over the supposedly "spooky" music pouring out through the speakers made her jump and caused Nel to utter a chittering chuckle. Anastacia shot a cold glance at her wayward pet, but otherwise did not move from her seat. A knock? Not worth her time. Zeke could get it. Zeke would get it, as he always did when the door was knocked upon or the phone rang. He would always appear to answer, and always with that damn smile on his face. It was one of the things she could say she sort of liked about her ragamuffin guardian - if she called, he would come no matter the distance, ready to hear her and answer to her whim. It was what pleased her.
But this time, he didn't come. Over the music came another knock and when that sound died down there was still no Zeke. She looked from her pet to the door that was just out of her field of vision, expression not moving at all or showing a hint of her thoughts. The crash of water from the shower in the bathroom was going strong and she just tilted her head at that concurrent sound, listening to the small snatches of song that came from beyond the bathroom door as well. Even with the shower going and though he was running his own show in there Anastacia was certain Zeke could hear the front door and the knocks coming from it. She could hear him after all, even if only just, so her logic dictated he heard the sound too and because of it she needn't move from her spot or abandon her knitting.
"Perhaps you should get it." Not a mind reader but well aware her owner was still on the young side, Nel offered her words on a helpful tone as the she turned between the black widow and where the Frei was looking when another knock came. For all the tarantula knew, the Raevan was just leery. Thanks to spending most of her time in her tank (as well as Anastacia's tendency to be quieter than death and not show anything but boredom on her face), she wasn't aware of most of the goings on outside the spider queen's bedroom. But, keeping with her promise of Anya's potential, she had to offer the advice even if it wasn't the sort she had been expecting to give. Common sense and what not after all, but with youth came the naiveity that just needed instruction and option. Of course this wasn't the case, and Nel quickly found the true fact of the matter.
As the tarantula spoke, Anastacia's head turned enough that the eyes along her brow could monitor the door and instead rested her lavender set upon the orange and black body that fit well among the Halloween decorations. Nothing was writ upon her features; there was no sign or warning to her immediate mood or thoughts. Though it was done with caution Nel looked back just as firmly, unswayed when Anastacia wasn't upset or displaying the signs that would lead up to or equal such a thing.
"It might be something important."
"Doubtful," the Raevan replied flatly and remained in her seat, all eyes turning back to her hobby as though the door and phantom knocks did not exist. In her mind, her smug assumption was correct because after that knock another did not come. Not crucial, not at all, and - most importantly - she was correct.
As the Frei rested back in her seat, Nel shifted left and right, turning between her owner and the door that she too could not properly see but was keeping well aware of. Naiveity? Youth? Fear? No. Just laziness and perhaps a sky high ego coupled with a delusion of unwarrented self importance. Though she was agreeable to the idea of the male getting the door when present, he was indisposed right now and therefore it was only logical that Anastacia would have to be the one to answer. Nel surely couldn't and a knock could mean anything - good or bad, important or perhaps not - but...No. Not to Anastacia. She was clearly wrapped up in herself and her tone told Nel straight up that that much was true. This girl sometimes. Honestly...
But no matter how right Anastacia thought she was and how content she would have been to have her night remain knock and general interruption free, she was in for a rude awakening. It was no sooner than when had she finished two lines of new knitting that the knocking started up again and roused her from her work. This time, a leg of her crown gave an irritated twitch but despite that she made no other movement. Whatever it was it wasn't important and if it was Zeke could get it. Again, Zeke would get it. If she could hear him singing even a fraction as well as she could hear the knocking, her guardian could hear the door too. It was logic, pure and simple, and she'd just have to be patient. This was, of course, tested and quickly wore thin.
Knocking. Silence. More knocking. More silence followed by even more knocking. Quickly the twitching from the one leg of her crown became twitching from them all. There was a muscular tic at the corner of Anastacia's lips and more than once she lost her stitch on her in-progress scarf. The on-and-off sound was working at her and effectively at that. In most cases a spider had the patience of a saint but Anastacia wasn't fully a spider anymore now was she? When the time arised perhaps she could wait out the perfect move but now? No. She was still young, still unlearned to that fact, and above all else her nerve had been touched. More than that really: it had been strummed like a guitar string over and over and over and now it had worn thin. Just one more time and it just might break-
Knock knock
That did it. That was it.
She rose in a fury, throwing her hard work to the coffee table with no care put toward its safe landing or to the sound it made when the strung up plastic needles missed their mark and instead landed on the floor. Nel uttered a soft cry and moved erratically, remembering full well how Anastacia had been when bent out of shape before. She knew just as well that she was out in the open with no source of cover unlike when she was in her tank. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and if that woman was a black widow? Well...There was a reason why the females were infamous. Even a petshop tarantula knew that. Luckily, Anastacia did not. Not yet. She still vehemently denied what was truth mostly in part because she did not know it. Nel was sure that even if the spider queen was given evidence right now, she would have flown right past the one who procured it in her headlong barrel toward the door. Had it come to pass, this assumption would have been correct. Since it did not, the Frei reached the door in record time without even knocking into the coat rack. As soon as her hand was on the knob she had the door thrown open wide, looking ready to bite the head off whatever lay beyond the threshold.
"WHA--"
"TRICK-OR-TREAT!"
Annoyance-born anger became confusion at the drop of a hat as Anastacia was thrown through a very large loop. The eyes that had been flashing with rage and danger fell as fast as her sharper bits but landed upon a bunch of small, decorated faces instead of her hair and skin. The snarl that had lifted her cherry red lips was lost under the delighted seasonal cry and Anastacia was left with nothing on hand, mind, or anywhere else. She stared openly. Her grip on the knob slackened as one word went through her mind as she literally gawked at the gaggle of children at her front door: what?
Only 'what'. What was this? What were they saying? What were they doing? Was this what the knocking was all about? The knocking! As quickly as she had been thrown off, that brought her back some and, not one to desire or like being caught off guard, the Raevan slowly straightened and gave her chitinous wings a grounding flutter. Following that motion she gave her periwinkle head a slight shake for good measure, still almost not believing what she was seeing. Her four navy blue eyes blurred but thanks to being lidless she clearly saw that what she was seeing was real before she opened her periwinkle pair.
A tiger, a witch, a superhero, and some sort of flower stood before her; holding out pillowcases-turned-bags and looking at the oddity that hovered before them with wide, disbelieving eyes. Behind the four their chaperon did much of the same and raised a hand to her lips to stifle the obvious gasp.
"I...Uhm..." The woman's voice was muffled by her hand but the words alone helped jog Anastacia's mind completely out of Suddenly Neutral and back into Drive.
This...These...They... But not without sticking between a few gears first.
"Mommy look at her costume!"
"I...I don't think she's wearing a costume Hannah..." Flower Child's eyes widened into dinner plates.
"So cool!" Superhero's jaw dropped as he spoke and his pillowcase bag slumped to the hallway floor. Even though he spoke a compliment, Anya didn't absorb it. Instead her face folded back to neutral and she took in each face as they stood before her. What...did they want? Again, 'in one ear and out the other' was not a boon to her and though she wasn't showing anything but that cool apathy once again, inside she was flummoxed. She remained silent in light of this, eying each one in turn and expecting them to say just why they were knocking on her door. As always the quicker, the better.
"Oh uhm..." the mother of the four children gave a meek smile as Anastacia's eyes finally rested on her. She seemed to be the one willing to take the initiative and thus won the extended but continually flat look. Right then the spider queen assessed her. Mouse-brown hair tied back in a ponytail, thin face, brown eyes, high cheekbones, and wearing a blue windbreaker with a pocket in the front with faded blue jeans. Not impressive - certainly not attractive - like all humans tended to be and she looked windswept too. Unkempt and mousy in demeanor if her stance was anything to go by. Easy to walk over and push out of the way. All in all? Right beneath the Raevan, especially when she factored in the human woman's lack of common courtesy. Her children held some interest with their outlandish (even by living-with-Zeke standards) outfits and painted faces, but like the decorations inside the apartment it quickly waned. With a rather unremarkable parent figure who wasn't giving anything up as fast as she required, as well as her own confusion as to what was going on, when Anastacia got the thought in her head she acted on it.
"Oh! I...!"
The spider queen floated back and shut the door in their faces.
"ANASTACIA!"
The easily startled Raevan jumped. All her spiny parts were lifted into the air with her and as she whipped around, her wings were thrown over her shoulders as a means of defense. This display quickly fell, however, as she saw her guardian standing there but were raised slightly once more as Zeke cleared the distance between them in a few brisk steps. He brushed past her with a look of stunned surprise on his face and grabbed the knob of the door she had just closed.
"Excuse me! Ma'am!? Ma'am!" Zeke went out into the hallway the moment he had the door open. Anastacia moved away from the wall and peered out at him, lips curving downward into a frown. What was he doing?
"Don't call them back if they're leaving." She was going to get her quiet night back dammit!
Her words fell on deaf ears as the man quickly engaged the woman Anya had shut out in a conversation that was fraught with apology.
"I'm really sorry," he said, "she's new to the whole 'Halloween' thing. She might not look it, but she's only six months old."
To this the mousy-haired woman looked surprised and turned her head between Anastacia and her shower-fresh guardian more than once. It was clear that she couldn't grasp how the oldest-looking of the Freis was truly the age she was. The faces of the children who had swarmed about their mother's legs also held some surprise and all put their gawking firmly on Anastacia. The Frei shot them an unsavory look which made them all flinch back and turn their eyes away.
Zeke continued on unaware.
"So yeah, she's just...Not used to people knocking on my door so much. I was in the shower and--"
"I understand. I didn't realize...She looks your age..." Zeke gave a shaky laugh.
"Yeah she does. But I hope there's no hard feelings Miss...?"
"Becky. And no, now that you've explained it I think everything's okay. She didn't know. A-And I'm sure this cold weather can put anyone in a foul mood." Zeke nodded.
"Yeah, especially my Anya." The spider Frei shot her guardian a look too and though Zeke felt the scathing, he didn't respond to it past a slight wince. Instead, the veterinarian clapped his hands once and turned his eyes - and a renewed smile - to the children who had since turned their eyes to the odd looking man. "You guys dressed up, and I'm pretty sure I heard you say 'Trick or Treat'--"
He heard THAT?! Anastacia's wings shook and she lofted herself higher in the doorway with indigence.
"So I think that's worthy of some candy." His grin only brightened as the kids reacted with delight at this news. "Give me a moment, I left the bowl in the living room...Hello Anya."
She watched her guardian's beam thin into a polite smile to which she only looked dead pan back at. The longer she looked, the more she felt agitation creep into her veins once again. He hadn't heard any of the knocks, but he had heard the kids. Was his timing just that perfect or was his hearing as selective as hers was? Either way, she was not pleased, and her eyes showed this with the way that they all flashed at the man who was waiting patiently before her.
"Zeke." She said tersely to the greeting as she crossed her arms over her partial chest. It was rather surprising since she wasn't prone to speaking but then again this night was just full of surprises.
Despite her tone, the man's smile actually quirked and his eyes lit up with some delight. Though he was going to have a talking to her and despite her tone being unsavory, the fact she replied without two or more promptings was progress to him! He decided to test it.
"Would you be so kind as to get the bowl in the living room for me, please?"
Her answer was - to her - obvious.
"No." She instead moved out of his way so he could get his precious bowl unhindered, squeezing her biceps as she tightened her hold across her bosom. Zeke sighed.
"Anya..." He was quickly cut off.
"No." That was that, no room for argument. It was set in stone and she would not be swayed. Zeke looked over his shoulder at the group before his door and gave a slight smile.
"Just a sec." He was in and back in a flash. In just as long a time, the candy was dished out to the children and the entire group was back on their way down the hall. Zeke showed them off with a friendly wave. "Have a nice night!"
"You too," Becky replied with a gracious but still meek smile, "and thank you."
"Of course!" He laughed, but as soon as the mother and her children were out of sight and he and his Raevan were back inside, the veterinarian had his eyes on his ward and he wasn't smiling. "Anastacia."
His tone when saying her name said it all. A lecture was headed her way, or at least, what should be one, but Zeke was a softy at heart and given his nature his disciplinary lectures could be rather...lukewarm at best. Despite the knowledge, the virus Frei lofted herself to her full, chosen height and stared right back at her guardian. She wasn't about to be swayed by anyone, let alone a man running around in a pair of pants covered in cartoon rocket ships.
"I'm not mad, Anya."
Surprise, surprise. She rolled her eyes. She'd never seen Zeke get mad ever, even if he was having a bad day, and never was he mad at her even if she full on snubbed him or gave him the cold shoulder. In fact, that wasn't such a bad idea.
"Hey, where are you going?" Zeke set the bowl down on the table by the door and naturally tromped after her. "I'm not done with you, Anya, what you did wasn't polite!"
Again she rolled her eyes but didn't stop her march back into the living room. Her floating slowed just enough to scoop her work off the floor and she gave that a displeased look though it was her own fault it ended there. Zeke was right behind her one hundred percent of the way, but she continued to pay him no mind even as she finally reclaimed her seat and gave her knitting a shake. Zeke came to rest right next to the Raevan's seat.
"Anya, I'm not mad, but you'll get me there in no time if you keep this up." When she didn't so much as look at him, Zeke's hand reached out and gripped the topmost line of the knitting, lips falling into a frown. That drew her gaze. "I mean it. What you did wasn't polite in any situation."
Anastacia attempted to tug her work from her guardian's grasp but Zeke held on firm. Her eyes were right on his face and flashed with warning and her crown slowly creaked upwards, using an age-old method in attempts to get him off. It didn't work. He wasn't going to back off easy and he had to teach what was right.
"I mean it, Anya. I know the constant door knocking is annoying, but it'd go away fast if you answer it when it starts. It's Halloween. Remember what I said earlier?"
She continued to try and wrench her work from his hand, looking like a child who wasn't getting her way and nearing a tantrum. Of course she didn't remember! She hadn't been listening to his wax poetic tangent on the holiday!
"Do you remember what I said?" He only held on tighter and a corner of Anastacia's cherry red lips twitched.
"No." Her voice didn't even so much as tremble. Zeke sighed and ran his free hand through his hair.
"I said 'lots of people will probably be coming to the door tonight, so expect a lot of knocking'. Then I went on to talk about trick-or-treating. Remember?" Her flat expression told him his answer. "Okay...I know you like the quiet and stuff, but you're not going to get much of it tonight until it gets late."
Anastacia took in these words. Was that so? Well he was right to some degree; she wouldn't get quiet if she stayed in this room. So instead she'd just go to her room and shut the door--
"Reason being: given how you acted, you're going to be working the door tonight."
"What?"
"You heard me," Zeke stood straighter and this time he was the one doing the tugging on the knitting. "Instead of letting you get off with just a few words, you're going to have to do a bit of work passing out candy to the people who come next. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."
Zeke looked satisfied by this but Anastacia could only gawk with shock at her man. Her fingers slackened enough that the vet was able to pull her hobby from her hands and she didn't even make to grab it when he did. Was he...He was serious. This wasn't lukewarm and this wasn't anything close to a compromise either! Shock and surprise gave way to indigence and distaste. She shook the gawk from her face and when her gaze returned to Zeke it was a full on glare. Unlike the scathing look that had made him flinch in the hall, Zeke did not flinch to this. Still a child, she'd have to learn. She didn't have to like it though.
"The bowl's by the door. You don't have to wait there, but don't get too comfortable here either. Understand?"
"No."
"What?" Her voice was so soft and her lips barely moved that he almost wasn't sure she said anything at all. Her next words, however, were loud enough that he heard them clearly and if he hadn't, her sudden leap up off her chair into the air was words enough.
"No! I will not!"
"Anya..." The since forgotten tarantula backed off as she was snapped at.
"Shut up Nel." She rounded back on Zeke who was remaining calm, arms comfortably crossed over his chest and expression set on neutral but stern. "I will not do this! They didn't say what they wanted!" Wasting my time...
"But you didn't listen to me earlier. If you did, you would have known and everything would have been over and done with in a few moments. I explained pretty much everything, Anastacia."
"You get the door!" It wasn't as much a snap back as it was a statement of fact. Zeke always got the door. She needn't touch the damn thing ever before!
"I do, generally, but you live here too. If I'm busy, you're next in line to answer it no matter what day it is." He frowned ever so slightly. "I can't get it all the time, Anya, and Dusty and Nel certainly can't at all."
"They can learn..." She muttered these words with repugnance, shooting a nasty look to her pet. The red-knee quickly moved herself behind Zeke, once more not wanting to get in the way of a tantruming Anastacia.
"Anya, I like to spoil you, but you can't be on your high horse all the time. You have to learn to do things, understand? Basic and for yourself. Answering a door isn't rocket science and passing out candy isn't like you're hauling a fridge up a flight of stairs. My point being? It's not hard and, hell, it'll be a lot more interesting than sitting in here and staring at a wall all night."
Anastacia kept her glare up, body positioned in a defiant defensive. She wasn't going to break beneath that, no matter how easy he said it was. She was in the right, and he was just being a righteous pain.
From there a staring match between Raevan and guardian ensued with neither one giving up or turning away. Both sides were adamant about their stands on the matter, but as time slowly passed, Anastacia watched as Zeke's chipper 'everyone should get along nice and not go to bed angry' personality ate at him from the inside. She didn't smile but she felt a bubble of confidence in her chest and increased the intensity of her look at him.
On his side of the court, Zeke's shoulders fell slightly and his frown became more pronounced. He couldn't keep this up. Demanding from her would lead to constant negativity all around and being who he was, he didn't want that, especially between himself and his ward. He wasn't, however, going to give up the main goat at the heart of this though. He would just...Compromise. Yeah. A knocking at the door made them both jump and Zeke turned around, smiling faintly to himself. Okay. Okay...
"How about this," he said as he turned back to his ward. The spider queen took that moment of Zeke turning his back to move away from him and the chair that had bound her in place. She paused as she heard his tone and smiled inside. He was breaking. "Empty one bowl of candy, and that'll be it. One bowl, okay?" He paused and reconsidered his tone. That was asking for permission and that wasn't what was supposed to happen. He shook his head. "No...You're going to pass out one bowl's worth of candy." His tone was firm. Perfect. "No excuses and certainly no whining about it."
The smile she was feeling inside glimmered for an instant on her face. He had broken. Not fully, but enough so that she felt victorious all the same. The fact alone actually lifted her mood and lightened the glare that crisscrossed her features. She lofted herself higher in her triumph. This was pleasing, very pleasing. She still was not favorable to the idea (that would not die so readily), but already her mind was churning out ideas on just how to get out of this all the quicker. One bowl could be depleted plenty fast with a little slip of the hand...
The knock resounded again.
"You better get that." Zeke lofted a pierced brow at her, expression mildly directing that she wasn't getting out of this one bowl. The Frei's height fell as she looked back at him, smile turned upside down in the smallest frown she could manage. Zeke crossed his arms and rested his weight on his left leg, giving his damp head a toss toward the door. "Go on. And be nice to the kids, Anastacia. Smile a little."
Her expression didn't change but the spider queen gave her wings a shake and began a slow float toward her guardian, who remained facing as he was as she neared and went by. He was confident she'd do this just to get it over with, so he needn't watch her procession. This was true, but as she passed, Anastacia made sure to drop and hook the point of a wing into a loose section of fabric on her guardian's pants. She didn't hear a tearing, but felt the rocket ship dotted pajamas give a little and as she moved down the hall, she knew she had made a little hole. It was petty, but it instilled a bit of pleasure that would keep her from biting off strange children's heads during this annoying trial. Zeke didn't seem to notice, which was the icing on a small cake to her, but in exchange for this convenience he seemed to become something of a mind reader.
"Oh, and Anya?" The Raevan paused but didn't so much as turn her head. His tone alone made her seethe inside. "Don't try dumping the entire bowl into one bag to get out of this." The Frei's hourglass marked back was given a winning smile. "I have a lot more candy waiting if you do."
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Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 11:49 am
Botanical Gardens{Page 15511 to--}Participants: Anastacia, LuLu, Virgil, Vyn
Location: Botanical Gardens
Type: {In-shop RP}
Status: Void
--- Summary ---
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Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 11:19 am
Season of Giving "There's a stop I wanna make before we get to the clinic, okay? It'll be quick, I promise."
Anastacia caught her guardian's glance through the rear view mirror as the vet pulled his car to a stop at a red light. The Frei had no opinion on the matter because time and again Zeke had made stops on his way to work to pick up a danish or grab the day's newspaper. There was nothing new about it and nothing odd about it either.
"Is that okay with you, Anya?"
The Raevan shrugged lightly and turned her eyes away from the caramel brown ones reflected by the looking glass. No opinion, no qualms, and in fact being away from that too clean clinic for a few minutes longer was not a bad thing in Anya's books. She'd have to spend at least eight hours there today and would not be able to go outside freely thanks to the cold, so every little bit of time she could scrape together counted.
Zeke continued to watch his ward, eyes flicking between her and the light that dangled over the street in front of him. He did prefer a solid yea or nay when it came to questions like that, but he knew his ward and a shrug was better than nothing from her. He cast a friendly smile her way through the mirror.
"I'm taking your silence as a 'yes', so speak now or forever hold your peace."
"Go ahead." Her response was more 'I don't care' or 'whatever' in Anya-speak, but if Zeke wanted to believe it was a 'yes', then all the power to him. Perhaps the steady flow of heat was making her compliant, but no matter the reason, she was just plain okay with whatever he wanted to do right now...so long as it didn't disturb her too much of course.
Zeke made no reply to that but soon enough the light turned green and Anya was jostled as the car suddenly pulled back into drive. She made a disgruntled sound in her throat as the motion forced her to readjust, but as she fixed herself she was able to watch Zeke make a turn down a street that was different than the one he usually would when he was planning to make a stop. Despite the change she raised no concerns or queries and instead settled back down against her seat, eyes drifting to what lay outside her own window. From there she promptly zoned out as she looked at the blurry blanket of white that covered everything outside, losing herself in thoughts about weather and seasons and how they were weird. She kept those thoughts up even as the car was pulled off the road and into a large parking lot, only being jostled by Zeke when the man made his happy exclamation from the front:
"We're here!"
Anastacia jerked at the words then blinked rapidly, clearing her lavender eyes of that glassy 'lost in thought' glaze before shaking her head to help clear the other four seated on her brow. Once they were clear she turned and gave her guardian's back a disgruntled look, not pleased by the sudden cry that had all but startled her. Naturally, Zeke was beaming in his seat and it didn't falter even as he turned around and caught that unhappy glare.
"Sorry," he chuckled, "I guess I get a little too excited sometimes."
I'll say, the Frei's inner thoughts grumbled. And over the stupidest things too...
"But I got a good parking space--"
Stupid.
"--so you won't be out in the cold too long when we make our way up to the store."
The inner grumblings ceased. Anya looked perplexed and leaned over in her seat to look out the window. They weren't at any gas station or corner cafe.
"Our way?" She said then, looking back to her guardian. She hadn't expected this. Not one bit. Zeke's brows raised slightly at the question but he grinned, nodding at his ward.
"Well, yeah! You and I are going into the store. I can't leave you in the car, Anya, it'll take longer than getting the paper or something to do what I wanna do here. I don't want you to get cold, and I'm sure you don't want that either." Sure he could leave the keys in the ignition, but he didn't want to risk his car getting jacked with the spider Frei inside. Besides, he wanted her to take part in what he was about to do and maybe teach her a thing or two by it. He couldn't rightly do that if she stayed in the car!
Anya once more turned her attention out of her window. Though the snow had been cleared from the lot, it was still clear the world outside was cold and threatening to her. She couldn't tell how close they were to this store Zeke was hyped up about, but she didn't want to spend more than a few minutes traipsing about in the December air. She doubted she could last that long out there.
"It'll be quick?" Zeke knew she wasn't talking about the entire trip.
"Very. I'm parked right next to the entrance, see?" The vet pointed the doors out which were as close as he could get to them without having parked on the lines reserved for firetrucks or parking in a handicapped spot. "Don't worry. Even if you do get chilled, you'll be warm in no time, Anya."
Anastacia couldn't see this, and Zeke didn't know, but she made no quip about it either. She did know her man well enough by now and he always parked as close as he could for her sake. She was happy for this, but would never say so to him. It was an 'as he should' sort of thing.
Zeke watched his ward carefully, judging her neutral face and looking for any sleight of hand she might give into what she was thinking or feeling. The Raevan gave nothing away, even the fact she trusted her man on this, and instead shifted to remove her seat belt.
"Let's go then." Simply put, maybe even sounding a little bored at the prospect. She felt like Zeke wouldn't let her roam about freely, given how he was still on his way to work. Time was wasting after all and in-and-out meant sticking near him.
"That's my girl." Zeke smiled at her before turning away to shut his car off, watching her from the rear view again as he did so. Once his ward was unbuckled, he gripped the handle of his door. Then he caught one of Anya's sets of eyes and nodded at her. "On the count of three. One...Two...Three!"
The door opened. A gust of icy wind blew inward, immediately sucking the heat out before it turned its grips on the virus Frei. Anastacia flinched, shuddered, and drew her coat's collar up all the higher on her neck. How had it gotten so bitter so quickly?! The moment her door opened, the Frei threw herself out of the vehicle and began her beeline toward the door that Zeke had said was close at hand.
Anya wait!" Zeke called, but the wind rushing against the Frei's ears drowned the man out. She had her mind set on the heat the sliding glass doors protected and dammit she was going to get there. Luckily for her no cars came barreling down the lane between the store and the parking lot and she was soon inside the doors.
"Ahh..." The Frei sighed in relief as heat kissed her too-cold cheeks and made them damn near burn with the difference. There was noise all around her, but despite it her height dropped slightly with that relief, her ribbon touching the floor. Screw the noise and screw looking around for the moment. She had heard the word 'Heaven' before and while she wasn't entirely certain on what that was, she had a good inkling that whatever it was was most certainly something like this.
Anastacia!" The Frei's 'Heaven' shattered with the carrying, worried call of her name. She jumped, immediately picking herself up as she whipped around. If her wings hadn't been covered by her coat, they would have raised, but her crown showed her alarm well enough on its own. The sudden action of the odd looking female caused people coming in and leaving to pause a moment to stare longer than they already were, but the spider queen's eyes were only for the spot where the offending sound had been heard. It was in said spot that her Guardian stood, red faced and panting, rubbing at the bump in his throat.
Oh right. Him.
With Zeke's arrival came the remembrance that she was in fact in the store the vet had so happily driven her to for his quick "in-and-out" for whatever reason he had. That notion became more interesting to her than the man who looked concerned yet relieved at her person. Interest in the man lost and source of her fright found, the virus Frei turned from her man and took in the scene that lay before her. People dashed about to and fro with laden carts being pushed before them, Christmastime music crooned from hidden speakers and mingled with the echoing beeps of check out counters, and decorations of red, green, white, and gold were everywhere and anywhere she looked. The fog that obscured the Frei's distant field of vision was aglow with glittering, sparkly shapes even as she looked up toward the ceiling. She had seen such things before in the grocery store but not to this extent. Definitely NOT what she was expecting.
"Hey, Anya! Anya! Anastacia! Are you listening to me?"
The virus Frei felt an unfamiliar weight on her covered arm and reacted as she saw proper. The spider Frei whipped around and yanked her arm from her Guardian's glove-covered grasp, crossing it over her partial chest and holding it close with her opposite hand. When she fully saw what and who had caused her such offense, Anastacia also gave the raver her standard 'do not touch me' warning glare. She was covered, yes, and so was he, but that gave him no right to lay his hands on her!
The reaction made the vet recoil his hand, the look of shock still on his face but with an added soft gasp leaving his presently too-red lips. He should have expected it, yes, but his need to check his ward overruled the normally kept to restrictions. He had to make sure she was okay.
"I'm sorry," he said before recollecting himself as quickly as his ward had. Concern grew in his features, pushing out the shock, and his eyes roamed his Frei's being before coming to rest on her face. She was fine. No traces of cold sickness, no harm done to her at all in any way, shape, or form. Relief touched him on that one but then the next big concern settled right in.
What if she had gotten hit by a car? Sure it was the most wonderful time of the year and all, but that didn't mean it was the safest one either! A fresh wave of worry hit him and Zeke took a quick, short breath to calm his fears before they got out of hand for no reason. She was fine. Heck, she was probably happy to be nice and cozy again after that brief excursion into the too bitter morning, while being clearly unhappy that he had touched her arm at the same time. He had probably overstepped his bounds on that one, but he had a damn good reason for it. She had scared him taking off like that! No cars had come down the lane, but he had seen one start to pull out of its spot as the Frei had taken off like a shot. He was sure he had literally felt his heart in his throat then and now that he had confirmed she was no different than when she had left him...well...he wasn't going to let her off without saying something about it.
"Anya you can't just fly off in the parking lot like that! What if you ran right in front of a car and got hurt?!" The smile was long gone now and the vet's voice shook from a mix of cold air, soreness, and worry.
What was this? First he grabbed her, now he was lecturing her? Where did he think he had the gall to do that and where was it coming from?! She was fine, with no thanks to him for it! What did he expect her to do when faced with cold that chilled her to her very core and made her ill just thinking about? There hadn't been any cars and she had gotten into the store just as easily as if she had been floating at a walking pace. She had just gotten there quicker, that was all. She had done what was right and healthy for her. And besides, he was the one who said he was making this trip quick. Had she not been partially playing to his idea in some way just now?
Urgh. The look of anger on her face from her man's grab faded into flat indignation with that mental grunt. Nothing had happened. He was getting worked up for no reason and not using his head again. Idiot. She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm fine." Better even, now that she was warm. And hell, even though he was being out of order toward her, she was still willing to keep to his initial idea of why he was here. It seemed the heat was keeping her mild as well as healthy, all things considered.
"I know you're fine, but if you had gotten hit...I wouldn't know what I'd do." Zeke wanted to take hold of her arms to really seal his words in, but instead he kept still with his arms at his sides. He didn't even want to begin to imagine such a thing, but the thought of himself running to his fallen ward and freaking out still soaked into his mind's eye before he could stop it. It made his hands ball into fists against his legs and Zeke shook his head again. None of that. Not now, and with all the good fortune he could muster, not ever.
"I'm fine." Once more, and with feeling this time. That would surely nail it into him.
"I know, I know, and I know it's cold out and you gotta get warm fast, but you can't just bolt across a parking lot like that. I bet you probably think I sound lame or something but it's true. This time of year can be really dangerous and there's a lot of crazy drivers out there. I love you, Anya, I don't want to see you get hurt." Or worse.
"Don't we have something to do here?" Now she was getting annoyed and her words cut through Zeke's statements like a knife. It was time to end this once and for all. She hated his tangents normally, but she knew how easy it was to get him on one and felt that doing so would be a boon to her right now. She didn't need a lecture no matter how heartfelt or tried and true it or its speaker was. No, what she needed was for him to lay off and get his rear in gear so they could get going and she could get some knitting done.
"We do, but that can wait a bit. First you gotta promise me you won't go off across the lot like that again."
"What?"
"Promise me you won't run blindly fly around the parking lot, Anya." Even when he got her word, Zeke would be making sure that the virus Raevan got a remedial course in street safety as soon as the temperatures were warm enough for her to stand being outside.
It took a lot in her to not roll her eyes at him. Why was he being like this? She was fine, he could see that! And he knew damn well why she had sped across the sludge and snow covered tar too! It was agitating and damn near pathetic, but then again, this was her guardian she was talking to.
"Fine."
"Anastacia..." Zeke tilted his head slightly, looking at his charge firmly. He wanted a promise out of her. Not a 'fine', not an 'okay'; a promise. He cared about her and while it might not be to the aloof Frei's liking, it was so and would never change. She was his, he was hers, and no matter what they were family. He'd act the exact same to anyone else he cared about just as much. "Promise me."
The Frei gave a quiet but haggard sigh under her breath, a frown settling visibly on her features. Fine, she'd say the exact words he wanted to hear. It wasn't what she really wanted to do, but Anya did pride herself in her intelligence and knowledge of what would be a good time for when. She knew that giving him that quipped 'I promise' would get him to drop the lecture entirely. It was the easy as pie way out, with it they'd be on their way to getting the heck out of here, and she'd save herself from more nagging. Besides: she didn't really have to keep her word. She just had to sound like she meant it and then it would be a win-win in her favor. She dropped her arms, letting them hang loose at her sides, though the frown kept the corners of her lips pulled down as she looked her man straight in the eyes.
"I promise."
"Thank you." And Zeke meant it. Even though he knew his ward was holding firm onto the stubborn child within her, he took her words to heart all the same. He was a kid once too after all. Now with the promise given Zeke renewed a light smile toward the spider queen and finally gestured to the aisles just past the long line of check out counters. He wouldn't let this incident go and would keep an eye just that much closer on his ward from now on, but that didn't mean he would let it damper the remainder of their side trip or the entire day. It just wasn't in his nature. "Now how about we get this show on the road?" Zeke's kindly expression took on some playful hints while his voice remained even as he spoke; "I bet you can guess where we are, but do you know what we're doing here?"
She would never say she liked her man, but she tolerated him more when he wasn't trying to be Mister Boss-Of-Her or unnecessarily clingy. The tangent had led to her make a hollow promise which was now leading into something of a game, but at least it got him off her back and off his parental high horse. As her man waited expectantly for any reply, Anya had to think that perhaps these tangent things weren't so bad after all. That is to say, only when she used them of course.
"Any ideas? Anya?"
She turned her eyes over the front of the store she was facing - even the very doors were decorated in gaudy shiny stuff! - finding cartoon store mascot cut-outs hanging on the walls and sales posters taped to the windows. Said posters openly displayed the newest, hottest toys this season in bold, bright print and equally festive yet gaudy colors. Anastacia lofted a brow. A toy store? Why were they here of all places?
"No." That was the honest truth unless he meant to buy her something for some unexplained reason, but even the Frei knew that was too farfetched at the moment. Her guardian was the out of the blue surprises type but he probably wasn't so generous as to buy her something right after he lectured her (no matter how in the right she really was). Besides, even if he did plan to get her a gift she was too refined for such childish toys. She was above such things, especially the sorts the window posters depicted. Trucks, dolls, indoor kiddy play places...Not to Anastacia's tastes at all. She had no use for such trivial things.
Zeke chuckled at her response. He didn't expect her to know why they were here, of course, but it was always fun to quiz others to see how they'd reply. His Anya was oblivious and it wasn't a bad thing at all that she was that way.
"I guess I could tell you," the vet said, playfulness breaking into his voice now, "but it'd be more fun to show you."
The Frei gave her guardian a look that was half dubious, half incredulous. It'd be fun for him but it was her belief that it'd be easier just to tell her what his little plan was all about. She really had no idea what it had to do with a toy store of all places and more importantly she wasn't the sort who liked being yanked around all morning like a dog on a chain. She had quelled her own ire easily enough once, but a second time in such a short amount of time? She was no saint. In her opinion, Zeke's best interests lay in getting what he had to do done faster than he had said he would. The faster they were free of this tinsel-draped scene, the better off Anastacia - and by extension the raver she called her man - would be.
Zeke chuckled at the look and waved his hand in a 'follow me' manner, stopping only once in his trek to grab a carriage out of the indoor stall. Anastacia kept with her original idea of keeping close to the man so they'd get out of here quicker and followed her guardian into the nearest aisle with no hesitation. Now that she was bodily in the corridor of goods, her vision opened up and showed her what the store had to offer. Toys in boxes of all shapes, sizes, colors, and descriptions lined the walls but all of them, she noticed, had a decidedly masculine theme to them. Glances to either side of the case-lined walls consisted of play-sets, trucks, and action figures with each group of toys segregated into their own little areas. The Frei didn't see what was so appealing about them, but her guardian was well into things; touching, pressing, turning boxes over to read the back...He was wholly in the 'kid in a toy store' mindset and the Raevan had to roll her eyes at his back and frown. She didn't sign on to play babysitter.
"What do you think of this?" Zeke said suddenly, causing Anastacia to stop fast as a box was damn near shoved into her face. The Frei recoiled and her frown deepened, blinking fast to focus her eyes on what had just been forced into her personal space. In the vet's hands was an action figure in a neat black box with a clear plastic cover, allowing everyone to peer in at the chiseled face of a man in army fatigues astride a motorcycle. The words 'G.I. Joe' were emblazoned on a corner that wasn't plastic in red block lettering, while the corner opposite and on the bottom of that one was graced with a photo of a man who looked like the one the figure was supposed to be. One of Anastacia's brows raised at this item Zeke was holding out to her, dubious feelings coming right back on her face.
"It's a doll."
"Action figure."
"Whatever." Doll, action figure, it didn't matter to her what it was called. She didn't care; she thought it stupid. Anastacia crossed her arms over her partial chest and kept her brow up. "So?"
"D'you think a kid would like this? A little boy?"
His words sent her other brow to join the other as far up as they both could go. Now her curiosity had been piqued, but only in the sense she was wondering why he was suddenly concerned if a little boy would like that toy. She knew Zeke regularly saw kids with parents at the veterinarian's office, but none of them stuck out as worthy of getting a gift from her man. With that in mind, she could only shrug at him in response.
"Hm...Well, what boy doesn't like army men, right?"
She couldn't rightly say, even though Zeke was just talking aloud. He could plainly see she wasn't a little boy and it wasn't like she cared what little boys liked to play with. For that matter, she didn't care what little girls played with either. Instead, Anastacia was quickly growing a mind to call this trip 'stupid' and gave her man a flat, reprimanding look.
"C'mon Anya, I need your help here." Zeke lowered the box and brought it close to his chest, looking at her with his head slightly tilted. He was studying her, and had her wings not been bound beneath her coat, the Frei would have given them a disapproving shake. Instead she flexed her crown, but she felt it wasn't quite the same. "Give me your honest opinion - d'you think a kid would like this?"
Again she shrugged and she knew she'd have to tell him in order for him to get it.
"I don't know," she said flatly, "I'm not a boy."
Zeke chuckled softly and shook his head. He knew that full well - honestly couldn't miss his Raevan's gender by a mile - but he still wanted her to have a hand in what he had set out to do. He knew she got agitated easily, but even the threat of her getting miffed at him wouldn't deter him or his desire. He wanted her to be a part of things in general and knew that started in the home and family. They weren't home, but the vet was her family.
"I know Anya. Trust me, I know you're a girl." He gave her a silly grin that didn't win him any favors with the contemptuous spider queen, turning the box over in his hands to look at the plastic man with the plastic motorcycle inside. "I really want your help on this. It's important, plus with your help, we'll be able to get to the clinic that much faster." She would like that. He was sure of it, but Zeke had to add a little extra icing on the cake as well: "Your opinion is important to me, babe. I'm gonna take it right to heart."
Anastacia raised her chin at the vet's words, eyes sharp and alight as she studying her man in turn. The second half of his little speech played to her wants and desires, while the little addition played to her vanity. She enjoyed being looked at, yes, but being listened to was a whole 'nother kettle of fish entirely. She didn't like to talk, but she sure did like it when her orders were met. What's more, she knew Zeke; he was the sort to do what she asked of him with little to no talk-back. She liked that...but that wasn't to say she wasn't still annoyed by what he had said to her back at the front or what he was attempting to do now. Still...
"Sure." She said, giving a halfhearted shrug. She retained her disinterest in the "action figure" and ultimately what it was for, but being listened to and possibly getting out of this loud, too tinseled hole all the quicker? Well...She wasn't going to say she was against that at all.
Zeke beamed at his ward and deftly placed the toy in the belly of the metal carriage. The box barely made a sound against the interior of the cart, but the metal vibrated at the drop.
"Okay then! Now what else do you think a boy would like? There's plenty of aisles, so we don't have to stay in just this one. Once we find a few toys for boys we--"
And just like that he was rambling again. Anastacia tuned her guardian out, focusing her hearing instead on the Christmas music, the odd, squawking call for an employee over the loudspeaker, and her own thoughts. She kept near to him as he moved, but aside from a lazily disinterested 'yes', 'sure', 'mmhm', or 'no', the Frei had her attentions elsewhere and kept them there for that part of the trip. It was only when they reached the check out aisle that Anastacia came back from her inner wanderings, and even then it was only thanks to the polite, if not startled, remark of the harried-looking older woman running the till.
"...And what a pretty young lady you have with you!"
The compliment pierced through the metaphorical cotton Anastacia had stuffed into her ears like a hot knife through butter. It went to her very core and in response the Frei did what came naturally in such a situation, albeit sans the regal spread of her elongated pinions. From her lofted height she looked down her nose at the grey-haired not-quite-a-granny, a faint but appeased smile curving her cherry red lips.
"Thank you." Never in her life would she miss a compliment. Everything else could filter past her ears, but a few words on her beauty or intrigue would always reach her no matter what. She would not miss out on an opportunity to preen.
"So polite too."
"Well now she is," Zeke commented, voice laden with hearty joking at his ward's expense. The woman at the till tittered at the raver's words, but Anastacia did not. She turned her eyes over her man and gave him a scathing glare, a deep crease forming between her lavender eyes as she did so. He didn't see it, too wrapped up in cashing out and laughing as he was, but it didn't matter to her either way. No matter which way it was or six days from Sunday - it wasn't funny, and she was always polite. He was just blind and dumb and...He was Zeke who was she kidding?! She couldn't expect much from him in the realm of brains and DEFINITELY not in courtesy now with what he just uttered. If she hadn't just been complimented and downright obligated to keep her lady-like facade up, she'd have cut several choice words into him like a knife. He should consider himself lucky as far as she was concerned!
But of course Zeke didn't, because he wasn't aware of his ward's acidic contempt, though he did feel her eyes on him and assumed she was goading him onward toward the door so they could leave. Not one to keep his lady waiting the vet finished checking out, gave the clerk a cheery valediction, and turned to give the spidery Frei the word that they were set. What he was met with when his eyes landed on the Raevan was not what he was expecting. Arms across her chest, a scowl on her face, the Frei looked quite peeved and the raver could not for the life of him figure out why. His smile faltered as he picked up the four bags his purchases had been fit in and as soon as they were away from the clerk and line, the man with the two-toned hair quickly spoke up.
"What's wrong, Anya?"
The spider hunched her partial body at his question which served to give her a brooding look. She rolled her eyes at him but the action led to her turning her face toward the store's interior, pout fully formed on her lips.
"Anya?" Uncertainty covered the vet's face and with it came the feelings of confusion. She had gotten a compliment just minutes before and now...this? He scanned her face but even with the pout she wasn't giving away any secrets as to why her mood had taken such a nosedive. "C'mon, what's wrong? You were fine just a minute ago..."
As she had several times during this trip the Frei gave a half-shrug, but kept the majority of her eyes averted. She could do nothing about her far right eye though, and that was trained right on her guardian's face. Anastacia saw the puzzlement grow as he tried once more to figure out what had caused her change and came up empty. She wouldn't tell him. If he was so smart, he could figure it out on his own. Nothing would change that resolve of hers. Nothing.
"Did I do something wrong?"
She stuck her nose up in the air. He was on the dot then, but she wouldn't give him a hint to it and that was that. Unlike the vet, she wouldn't bend so easily, and the only thing keeping her from walking out on him right now was the bitter cold lurking outside the toy store's doors.
Despite her determination to keep him out of the loop as to what had set her off down the path of stubborn distaste, the snooty chin lift was all the clue Zeke needed. His shoulders slumped as he sighed, immediately figuring out then that it was his all-in-good-fun joke that wasn't sitting well with the femme. A light shake of his mohawk-topped head came with the other two actions and though in he knew it was just a joke, he knew just as well that Anastacia wasn't one for jokes. Playful teasing, it seemed, was a part of that too.
"I get it," he said softly, eyes raising to the Raevan's sharp-angled face. He moved to the side to see her face in full, but seeing the vet shift only made Anastacia do the same. "C'mon, look at me. I get it now; you didn't like my little rib back there."
Well well, he CAN figure things out without a clue. She was oblivious to the actual fact, too wrapped up in herself and her belief to see the truth of the matter. Still, she did turn her face back toward Zeke's, but she gave no sign of yes or no to his completely correct assumption. Other than the clear signs of her distaste toward him at this moment, her expression was stoic as per usual.
"That's it, isn't it?" There was no nod or any other sign to this, but Zeke was sticking to this idea all the same. He sighed again. The vet wasn't partial to sticks in the mud usually, but this was different. This was Anya, and family was the exception to the rules when it came to certain things. Sure, he wasn't happy with it or how she was taking it (and she was overreacting to a little joke, really), but an unhappy loved one made the vet unhappy as well. It was better to apologize and clear the air then let the negative feelings stew, even though he was personally the sort to do just that. It didn't bruise his ego any, but he felt it would hurt in the long run if nothing was done to fix what Anastacia was taking as a wrong.
"Okay, listen," Zeke said, putting his bags down to better talk with his hands. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings; I was only teasing. It was just a little joke, and I'm sorry I offended you." He put on a little smile to soften his words all the more and was being as sincere as he could be. He honestly didn't mean it. It was just - and always meant to be - a good humored jib. "I promise I won't do it again."
She considered his words as the promise lay heavily on top of everything else the vet had said like a thick cream. Her opinion of him changed as easily as the wind depending on several factors but even with the apology she wasn't moving him back onto her good side so quickly. However, she did understand the man's promises were always kept. Zeke's word was golden when he gave it and he had proven this to her enough times that she knew full well he wouldn't make the same mistake twice now that the words 'I promise' were thrown in front of it. He was good for that at least, but her silence after the fact put a little worry into her guardian.
"D'you forgive me?"
Even with the question Anastacia still gave no verbal reply and opted to instead start her float toward the sliding glass doors at the front of the store. As she went, her posture relaxed and her head lowered back to its normal position. She would accept his apology, but only just. She was still mad at him and in her mind he should not expect her to say anything to him for a long, long time. In her opinion, Anastacia felt that Zeke should once again consider himself lucky. Twice in one day - in the span of a few minutes - was a jackpot.
I guess that's a...yes? Zeke watched his Frei go with a dumbstruck look on his face. She hadn't told him off or said 'no' so it seemed he was in the clear, but he wasn't quite sure. She was pissed, clearly, but even with his uncertainty and inward, downtrodden feeling that he had upset her at all, Zeke had to smile fondly at Anastacia's peacoat-covered back all the same. She was a strange creature and try as he might, the vet felt he might never fully understand her. It made her all the more intriguing to him still and so he took off after her with no ill will or displeasure in any form.
"Wait up, Anya! We've got one more thing we gotta do first!" Said thing was, in truth, the main event and entire reason for the excursion into the too-crowded toy store. Even though Anya was upset and likely unwilling to have anything more to do with him right now, this was still the moment he really wanted her to witness.
As much as she wanted to ignore the call and get out of the store now that they were supposed to be done, Anastacia knew she needed her man to get her safely out of the store with no nasty side effects and no extra nagging from him either. She made an audible sigh as she came to a halt and turned around to face the man who had come to a slow walk a few paces behind her. One slender brow raised at him, giving her more of a 'what now?' appearance than a puzzled or intrigued one. To this look, Zeke held up the bags he had picked up from either side of his feet and made a quick gesture toward something that lay behind the Raevan and opposite the sliding glass doors.
"Remember how I said it would be more fun to show you why we were here? Well I'm gonna show you now!" He was back to a cheery exterior in seconds flat, covering any lingering confusion perfectly thanks to years of practice.
On Anastacia's side of the conversation there was no nod, no reply, but she did clearly remember him teasing that too. It hadn't been that long ago and she was not an absentminded dolt. If she forgot anything it was because of time or complexity and neither had occurred this morning at all. She remained impassive in face, but looked over her shoulder all the same. Fog obscured her vision, but she could make out something very big, very blurry, and very red lingering in the distance of the tinsel-wrapped, people-filled faux wonderland of the store.
"We're gonna go over there and once I do what I wanna do, we'll be out." Zeke had yet to learn about his Raevan's disability so from his point of view, Anastacia had spotted the big red dumpster without any trouble at all. With that thought in mind, the vet took the lead again and started the march toward the giant red beacon that stood against a front wall of the store and blocked a couple of the windows with its bulk.
Anastacia had no real choice but to follow, and kept close to her guardian only to keep from losing him in the crowd that filtered in, out, and around them. As they neared the red eyesore it came into clarity to her six eyes and what she saw standing there made her stop flat out. Now it was the spider queen who was the one confused, and the feeling only grew as Zeke happily wandered up, stood on tiptoe, and proceeded to dump the contents of each bag into the belly of the beast.
After a moment of equally matched dumbstruck, Anastacia floated over to her guardian, aghast at what he had just done. She had told herself she wouldn't speak a word to him, but like her feelings toward the bi-color haired man, her own assurances were twisted upside down in the blink of an eye.
"What...Why did you do that?!" Anger or offense should have been in her tone since Zeke had just taken her opinions and shoved them literally into the trash, but instead there was just alarm and raw surprise that the vet would do...THAT.
Like Anastacia was, Zeke was taken right aback by the outburst. From the volume of her words to the warbled nature of her tone when crying out it was so un-Anya-like that Zeke could do nothing but stare blankly at his charge...and then burst out laughing. This, of course, only added to the Frei's surprise, but also helped a touch of anger flare in her chest.
"What's so funny?" Heat rapidly entered her tone and had she had the blood to do so, her cheeks would have taken on a deep, rosy blush of frustration. That question was the least of her concerns given what had just transpired, but it was the first thing past her lips all the same. The second thing was a repeat of her first question: "Why did you do that, Zeke?" He was throwing his money away! Blatantly! Why was he smiling about doing something so. Damn. STUPID?!
Zeke had the hardest time getting his laughter under control. It was bad normally, but right now it was the sort that wouldn't stop no matter how hard he pressed his fist to his lips in order to stifle the noise. His lungs ached, the corners of his eyes stung with held back tears, and by the time he was able to get himself reasonably sorted out Zeke had been both bent at the waist and leaning against the dumpster's side for support. The two of them were getting stares from more than just the dumpster's attendants, but the man did not care in the least. It was just too damn funny. Anya was too damn funny!
"I...Oh god pfft...!" The vet looked up at his ward's disbelieving face and fell back into a round of heavy chuckling that only added to his gut pain. To see the woman that was normally so apathetic and stoic now looking at him like he was mad and with her mouth agape? It was just too damn much!
"Zeke!" His name was snapped, Anastacia's temper flaring as the man chose instead to continue guffawing instead of explain his rash actions. She was considering nothing other than getting his reason for what he had just done, but it didn't take anything else but that vehement bark to get the man back to forcing himself into line.
"I'm...I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's just...Oh god, that is too ********' funny..."
"Stop. Laughing." The Frei grit her teeth, forcing the two words out with a touch of acid to them and her crown pumping outward on each. Her comical disbelief was draining out fast and rapidly being replaced with ire instead.
Zeke collected himself all the more and did his best to only screw up his face as he looked at the spidery Frei. He hurt, oh god he hurt, but it was so damn worth it. He would have to tell Alex this, if only for the look on his sister's face.
"Why did you do that?!" She pointed right at the dumpster, all eyes attempting to bore holes into her guardian's caramel brown pair. No more ******** around; answers were now imminent. What Zeke had just done was beyond her comprehension. He had taken four shopping bags worth of toys - three gifts in each - and just thrown them all away without a second thought or a single glance to her to get her opinion on the matter. The fact there were attendants and even a large, white sign hanging on the wall next to the dumpster were moot and unseen by the Frei. Right now she only had eyes for the man who had just done what had to be one of the STUPIDEST things she had ever seen in her short life. Before she looked anywhere else, she wanted him to tell her what the hell he had just done, other than blow money and her advice out the damn door!
Zeke saw that face and - while it was clearly angry in its disbelief - struggled once more with laughing. His cheeks puffed out with a held-in cry, his eyes watered heavily, and his lungs screamed for relief from the mounting pressure, but he bit them all back, swallowed, and did his best to explain.
"For the kids," he whispered, the words strangled as he held back himself with all his might.
"What?"
"I-It's for the kids. The kids, Anya." Zeke gingerly lifted his left arm from his gut and gestured to the Toys for Tots banner hanging in full view of the entire store. "Toys for Tots. It's...It's a charity. Y-You buy presents and you put them in the dumpster and then th-they go to kids wh-who wouldn't get any on Christmas morning."
Anger retreated back a ways and let the disbelief come back in for an encore presentation. In her fit, Anastacia had been leaning over her man as he sagged against the dumpster's side, imposing as best she could without her wings to add to the event. Now that Zeke had explained his motive she moved away from him and sunk in on herself, looking between him, the dumpster, and the slightly blurry poster hanging up on the wall. She did this a few times before things clicked into place for her.
"You..."
"I d-do it every year." His job paid him well enough to live more than comfortably and given that Christmas was his favorite holiday, donating to Toys for Tots was one way he got into the seasonal spirit as well as gave what he could to those who did need it. Smiling as best he could with a sore face, Zeke picked himself up and pointed his finger at the opened lid of the bin. "Lots of people do. Look for yourself."
She took his suggestion. Lofting herself high into the air, Anastacia easily peered over the lip of the dumpster. Inside was what seemed like hundreds of toys of all shapes, sizes, and descriptions with Zeke's offerings floating at the top. Even with the massive amount in there, the container was still less than half full. That quick glance was more than enough for Anastacia, and she sunk down to her normal height of five foot-eight. Zeke was waiting there with his smile.
"See?" He moved off the side of the treasure trove of presents, taking a ginger step to see if he could walk without collapsing before walking right over to his ward and standing at her side. He looked up at the dumpster's opened half as he spoke, hoping whoever received his gifts this Christmas enjoyed them. "It's a great charity and this is my yearly tradition. I wanted to share it with you."
A charity. All of that time, all of that money, all of her opinions tossed into an over-sized garbage can for charity. Still young, Anya didn't have too much of an idea what 'charity' truly meant, but from what she saw before her it was taking money and literally throwing it away on people neither she nor Zeke knew. It boggled her mind that Zeke did this knowingly and with that damn smile of his plastered on his pierced face. It just didn't compute with her selfish, self-centered mind. She knew children liked toys because they were children, but what child on earth really wanted--
"Dumpster toys."
"Hm? What was that, Anya?"
Though the Frei was at his side, her words were uttered under her breath and thus hard for the vet to fully hear. When the vet's questions were out in the air Anastacia rounded on him. There was no incredulity in her face and it seemed her moment of humor-causing disbelief had passed. While she didn't give two figs about the kids the toys were for at heart, she care about pointing out the giant, glaring fault in this whole matter.
"Kids don't like dumpster toys."
She was deadpan whilst speaking; the statement and the flat look on her face taking the raver aback once more. Both of his pierced brows raised and added to his shocked appearance but, as just before then, he immediately fell back into laughter. Unlike before his chuckling was more controlled, but it was there all the same and it didn't do anything to raise the Frei's mood.
"Anya!" Zeke managed to cry, "They aren't dumpster toys!"
This made the spider queen look from her man to the dumpster and back to her man. One slender brow raised and the words 'are you kidding me?' were all but written on her pale face. Zeke snickered at the action and look, composing himself before replying.
"Well...They're in the dumpster now but they won't be come Christmas morning! They'll be taken out and wrapped before then and given to kids who should have presents. Heck, the only reason they're in there at all is because the charity gets so many! They need to have a safe place to keep them all and that's why they have the big red dumpsters."
It did make some sense now that she heard it, but it still didn't sit right with her. They were still toys and they were still in a dumpster. Wrapped or not that still made them dumpster toys. She had seen what went into those things and how they looked in general on the street. Though the toys were beneath her, the very thought of anything new and just paid for being in such a filthy, stain-riddled place made a shiver crawl up her partially formed spine.
Disgusting. She held no envy for those who were going to receive the parcels within. She didn't feel dismay or an urge to right the perceived wrong either but such as it was with the virus femme.
On the other side of the conversation and despite the Frei's expression, Zeke was feeling like Anastacia was showing him a secret side to her he had not yet seen. She did care! It was a little odd and perhaps out of place to someone, somewhere but to Zeke it was an amazing turn of events. Delight filled his gut at the notion and showed clearly in his already bright eyes as he looked the deadpan Frei over. She certainly was a curious creature, no doubt about that, and while she had had her moment in the store, he was willing to overlook it for this one spot of what he thought was genuine concern for others. Eight months of silence and aloofness and now this? It damn near tickled him!
"Hey, you know, if you're still unsure, we could ask the people who keep an eye on this thing. There's probably a bit more to the dumpsters than that and we still have enough time I think..."
Zeke checked his phone for the time, but Anya had her reply in seconds flat. The very idea had her eyes widening and her posture straightening; the Frei flying back into the depths of her aloof personality and locking the doors behind her. There would be none of that today as she had already been through enough and it wasn't even nine a.m.. She wasn't a talker at all and now that Zeke had explained himself, she didn't need to hear it again.
"No."
Zeke looked up from his phone. They did have time, but as soon as the 'no' was said, he knew they wouldn't be doing what he had suggested today.
"You sure?"
Anastacia nodded, tugging her gloves higher up on her wrists. No more today. Shock and tangents aside, they had done what Zeke had set out to do and he had promised they'd be in and out. Delays would make her man a liar and even she didn't want that. Despite her solid disapproval in the man she did have a smidgeon of trust in him yet.
"Well, okay, but only since you say so." Zeke beamed at his ward and pocketed his phone, not at all put off by her decline. He couldn't expect a full on exposure of this secret side of Anastacia so soon now could he? No, and he knew that if this was to show again, it'd take time. Thus the bags he had cast aside as he had done his business were plucked off the floor, crumpled together, and stuffed in a coat pocket. Giving only a vibrant 'you're welcome' to the attendants who thanked him and Anastacia for their donation as they passed, the raver made his way to the door with the spider queen in tow. A few glances were cast back over his shoulder to make sure the Frei was still with him, but otherwise he - and Anastacia of course - remained silent from there.
Only once they were in the heated, enclosed space between the doors into the store and the doors out into the chilly morning did Zeke speak up again. He cast his eyes to his left when Anastacia came to a stop there, quietly checking her to make sure she wasn't apprehensive to what she was about to go into. From the virus Raevan's point of view, his not-at-all sneaky glance came off instead as him trying to give her the 'remember what I told you' eyes. She didn't like that and although she had gone back to her gated personality, she could still set him straight from behind the bars.
"I won't run off."
Zeke chuckled at her matter of fact way of stating it.
"I know, but I was thinking...How about you wait here and I'll bring the car to you? That way it can warm up a bit and you won't get sick from being out in the cold too long. Sound good?"
Of all the things that had transpired and all the things Zeke had said, that query didn't sound too much like a bad idea to Anastacia at all.
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Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 5:33 pm
Christmas Journal to come...
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 11:24 am
The Circumstantial Bane "Goooooooooood morning Durem! This is Elliot Monroe with Rock 98.4, your go-to station for the rock sensation that's sweeping the nation! It's a beautiful sun-shiney day out today but as cold as a meat locker, so be sure to dress appropriately and keep those heaters cranked to ma--"
"Mmm...Will do." The voice streaming from the radio speakers was cut off as Zeke's hand landed on the On/Off button. Through half-lidded eyes he stared at the time, letting a minute pass completely before finally groaning in that waking 'I slept good' way and moving to get out of bed.
"Oooh...Mm...Ah." Zeke stretched as he sat up, feeling a pleasant cracking sensation in his back and a similar-feeling pull in his arms and shoulders. If it was cold outside, he didn't feel it in his room, even if the windows weren't exactly winter-weathered. The vet gave a wide yawn and pushed the blankets from his lap, tousling his bird's nest of hairdo as he got up. "S'a good day."
Once on his feet, Dust Bunny was quick to greet him, curling around her owner's legs and purring loudly. The vet chuckled and bent down to scratch her back, but once the kitten was sated, quickly put himself into drive. He had work today after all, and though the bed still called to him to rest a few more minutes beneath the sleep-warmed sheets, he was able to ignore its siren call. He had to, really, even if a few more minuted snuggled in tight was appealing.
Maybe tomorrow, he told himself, and walked across the hall into the bathroom. It was still early yet - Anastacia was asleep and would be until about the time Zeke finished his morning routine - but Zeke still relished the morning. Once he went about his business in the restroom, the vet went back to his own room, dressed himself part way into his work clothes, and then left again with his sights on breakfast. A bowl of cereal, maybe some fruit...It sounded good to him and his stomach growled in agreement. However, en route to the kitchen, Zeke detoured into the living room in order to turn on the morning news. Even though some could call him a 'square' for it, he liked to eat breakfast and either listen to or watch the news each day. There was no particular reason why for it, but it was just one of those things that had become routine and he couldn't have a full morning without even a few minutes of it. However, today's newscast would shake that necessary routine and turn Zeke's opinion of the day all the way to the other end of the spectrum.
"Good morning, I'm Diana Lawliet and you're watching Durem News Five."
"Hello Diana." Once the news anchorwoman came up on the screen, Zeke immediately turned his back to pick up his original route again. Volume was just right, he had caught the news just as it was starting (again, a pretty good day already!), so all he needed now was his food.
"First and foremost, we're going to take live you to Gambino Island, where calls have been pouring in of a strange phenomenon that seems to have taken place overnight. Our special corespondent - Marcy Dean - is reporting live from the police blockade set up around the scene. Marcy?"
"Thank you Diana. Reports of what you can see behind me starting coming into the Channel Five offices shortly after seven this morning. Now, it took a bit of looking into, but we've found that the building is called 'Lab 305' and it is owned by a man called Dr. Kyou."
Zeke stopped dead in his tracks, freezing with the heel of his right foot in the air as he prepared to take another step. The word 'what?' careened through his mind and before it veered down another mental passageway, the raver had turned on the ball of his foot and moved himself closer to the TV. His eyes immediately went wide as the bar at the bottom of the screen confirmed that he had heard correct:
Lab 305 Mysteriously Encased In Ice
In that moment various feelings and emotions flashed through Zeke's mind and body - surprise, shock, fear, sudden sickness, worry, confusion, and awe (to name a few). No matter what he was feeling in the span of a few seconds, one thing remained the same; the overall presence of 'what'.
"From what we've gathered from neighbors and the few police officials willing to talk to us, it appears that last night the Lab was ice-free and sat on its lot as normal as any other building. However, early this morning something yet unexplained occurred and froze the lab over solid. We have some video taken by an amateur cameraman, which you will see now, and it shows that the entire building is coated in a thick layer of opaque ice. Stranger still, the ice has formed into a veritable castle!"
"Did I hear that right? A castle, Marcy?"
"You heard me correct, Diana, and the video you see on your screen now is not altered in any way. Towers, walls, vestibules...A two-story building has been transformed into an ice castle, and all in what appears to be a few hour period."
"Do you know if anyone is inside?" There was a few second pause for delay, a short time during which Zeke felt his blood run cold.
"According to our sources, Lab 305 also acts as the home residence to Dr. Kyou and his assistant, but reports of the doctor and his assistant being inside are still unconfirmed at this time. However, we do know that at least three of the Gambino firefighting houses have been called down and will attempt to combat the ice with blasts of hot water. Despite the cold air outside, the temperature of the water to be used and the amount of pressure that will send it out of the hoses should free the doors within minutes once the servicemen arrive and get everything set up. Rest assured, Durem News Five will be here until the doors are found and those inside - if anyone in fact is - are freed. I'm Marcy Dean, reporting live."
"Thank you Marcy, we'll see you again soon I'm sure. Now the latest in your local forecast with meterologist--"
It was then Zeke stopped listening. His ears filled with the sound of his heart in his throat as everything that had been said came crashing down to earth like a ton of bricks. His mouth hung open and his body slumped back under the weight of the shock, but his mind became a flurry of thoughts that crisscrossed and crashed together.
The Lab was covered in ice. Those who lived there, or could possibly be in the building at all for any reason, were unconfirmed to be inside. The Lab had been as normal as any other up until sometime early this morning. Police and officials were stumped as to the hows, but were going to attempt to melt the doors free with boiling hot water.
"I...I...I..." Zeke's voice was shaky, but he paid it no mind. He had a feeling in his gut, one that twisted his insides and made him feel sick. His heart was hammering, his breath was hitching in his lungs and, most certainly of all, his eyes were bulging slightly out of their sockets. He felt everything give at once and before he knew it, he had his cellphone in his hand and was pressing a button down to bring up Alex's number on speed dial.
"C'mon, c'mon..." he whispered in a frenzied hiss as the phone seemed to take its sweet time in registering that he wanted to call his sister. In that time, Zeke started to pace, and his steps only increased their speed when he heard the not-so-familiar sound of Alex's voicemail message. "s**t." He hung up and tried again, once more getting the message outright with no rings.
Alex... As the saying went, the third time was the charm, but not in this case. Once again, straight to voicemail with no ringing in between. Growing frustrated as well as evermore nervous, Zeke muted the TV to keep the cheery advertisements at bay to some degree and tried again.
And again.
And again.
It's Thursday, he told himself, she works today. He felt his gut squeeze and his veins fill with a mix of ice and fire as he thought the fact. Just when Alex actually went into work was a mystery to him thanks to his weekender status, but she might not be at work yet. He felt some hope and a pearl of wisdom grow in his head, though the feelings in his torso didn't die so easily. She might not be there! After all, Alex was well known around the Lab and he knew he couldn't be the only guardian who had happened to catch this special report. With such a situation, she was probably taking calls out the wazoo right now. Yeah, that had to be it! He was just calling at the wrong time and the fact she was in a call was why it was going straight through to voicemail. Okay...Okay. He'd try again in just a little.
With that acting as a topical balm, Zeke steadied his breathing and looked to the TV again as the news came back on. First thing was first and he saw them revisiting special correspondent Marcy and the scene at hand, but the location had changed. Though the camera was focused on the reporter for now, he could see a mass of white in the background surrounded by red and flashes that could only be his weekend workplace. The vet pressed the button on the remote and unmuted the TV.
"...our location to bring our viewers a better picture of Lab 305. Three of the Gambino firehouses have shown up, each bringing a number hose trucks, ladder trucks, pumping trucks, and what appear to be two large generators with them in order to heat the water they will be aiming at the iced over building. Everything's in motion and the atmosphere is full of activity as every available hand works to set these stations up."
"Cazzo." Zeke felt his heart in his throat again as he watched the numerous firefighters and policemen work. What happened? What's going on in there? Where... He looked at the now-black screen of his phone.
"Where are you, sis?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 8:42 pm
Phone Call with Anita
Participants: Anita and Zeke
Location: Telephone
Type: {PRP - MSN}
Status: Complete --Zeke has just finished calling Alex for the umpteenth time and left another voicemail asking her to call him right away when she gets the message so he knows she's all right. Given he hasn't reached her once in all his callings, he's starting to think Alex could be trapped within the Lab. He's nervous, scared, starting to freak out, and at a loss as to how to explain the scene at hand, thanks to a lack of information and an inability to contact Alex or the Lab itself. As he begins to pace anew, his phone starts ringing and the number on the screen belongs to Anita. It doesn't even go a full ring before he's accepted the call and has the phone to his ear--
Zeke: H-Hello?
Anita: Oh thank God. Zeke, I just called Alex and only got voicemail. Are you okay?!
Zeke: Anita! Y-Yeah I'm at home, I was just getting ready for work and turned on the news and saw.../That/! Are you okay?
Anita: I'm... Well, I'm not there so... I was just really worried. I figure Alex was probably getting a lot of calls, wanted to make sure you guys were okay. Do you think this is like... an Essence thing?
Zeke: Right...You can't be there...Sorry. And yes, I've been trying to get ahold of her too, but all mine were going right to voicemail too. I think she's probably being bombarded but she does work full time...
Anita: Yeah, that's probably it... I left a message anyway so there's not much we can do except wait and try not to freak out... The, uh... The news said there were two people believed to be inside, do you think one is Dr.Kyou? He lives there, doesn't he?
Zeke: Yeah I did too, but I'm still gonna try again...Yeah I heard that! And he does with his Raevan, Lazarus. They live above the Lab itself but the entire building's covered. Lady on the news said firefighters were...were uh...spraying boiling water at the exterior.
Anita: Oh man... Well... if it's just those two, then Alex can't be in there, right? I hope they're okay, though. Yeah, I heard that, and it froze over too? Definitely sounds like an Essence... Were there any ice Essences you knew about? Maybe any ice Raevans?
Zeke: I'm seriously hoping she's not in there, but I can't be sure until I get through or she calls me back. And you and me both, Anita, you and me both...I really don't have much information. I'm trying to think back to the Raevans that were infected but I don't recall any ice Essences other than Zul's, and his is only half of his.
Anita: Right... and all of the documents of other Raevans and Essences are frozen up in Lab, too... Well... I'm glad you and Anya are okay, though-- -stops suddenly, as though realizing something- Oh, s**t. s**t, s**t, /s**t/. Wh-- Zeke, the Raevan tanks...
Zeke: Yeah...I didn't really browse through all of them. Most of the ones I touched were in regards to rehomings--Oh my god.
Anita: Dammit. -something sounds like it was kicked- There's nothing we can even do...
Zeke: *bites his lip as he tries to figure something out* We don't know if the inside is frozen. Maybe it's only the outside that's been warped...I'm sure the Lab has back up generators for the laboratory itself. Heaters too!
Anita: Maybe... but if boiling water is freezing upon contact... W-well... Yeah, maybe it is just on the outside...
Zeke: Y-Yeah maybe! And it is the end of December, maybe the air outside is just having an adverse effect! We just...We just have to hold out a little hope. I don't know what's going on or what happened past what the TV told me but... *sound of movement as Zeke looks toward the hall and the bedrooms beyond* But the Lab's dealt with more than it's fair share before.
Anita: Yeah... I can bet it has -forced chuckle- -takes a deep, calming breath- You're probably right. I guess, uh... Keep me updated if you learn anything. There's not much I can do but I'm here to help if you need it.
Zeke: *smiles meekly* Yeah...And I will! I'm probably gonna get a few calls once people find their call sheets and see I work for the Lab so...I hate to leave you hanging, Anita, but...You understand right? I promise I will call you first thing when I get any news, any at all.
Anita: Yeah, you're gonna be busy. I think I'm gonna take off from work today... I'm gonna be too anxious to get anything done -chokes out another laugh- so I'll be here. Good luck and be safe, okay?
Zeke: I think that's a good idea, but try to not let the worry overrun you, okay? *not following his own advice of course* And thanks...I promise I'll be safe. Take care, Anita.
Anita: I'll try. I'll talk to you later, Zeke. -hangs up-
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 10:05 pm
Phone Call with Jez
Participants: Jezabroux and Zeke
Location: Telephone
Type: {PRP - PM}
Status: Complete Koco Pelli Cell phone held up to his ear, Jezabroux tapped the surface of the marble countertop with an impatient finger. He could hear a ring, then a second and finally a click as the call was answered. "Hello? Is this Mr. Zeke Farris? Mr. Farris, this is Jezabroux. Luka's guardian, I'm calling to as about Lab 305." The acupuncturist's voice was lace with worry, anxiety and mostly importantly, fear. Ravina Loki It seemed like as soon as he had gotten off the phone with Anita, the screen was lighting up once more. The display on the front of his cellphone alerted him to a number he wasn't familiar with but, with things as they were, Zeke did not let this go to voicemail.
"He-" Immediately he was cut off, but the name that graced his ears was familiar and made his stomach do a tumble. Jezabroux. Luka's guardian. The most recent Raevan he had homed. He didn't waste any time reminiscing. "Yes this is mister...Yes this is Zeke!" His words came out on a warbled choke, but he was quick to clear his throat and turn his volume down to something respectable. "Jezabroux...I take it you saw the news too."
If not, well...Jez had a bit of explaining to do. Koco Pelli Jezabroux exhaled the breath he had been holding when Zeke identified himself on the other end of the phone. It was a reassuring though to know that Zeke was fine, even if the two had only talked once before. "Yes." His voice grave. "What is happening? Are you alright? How is Miss Anastacia? This isn't something natural is it? Should I be keeping a careful eye on Luka?" The questions just rushed out in Jezabroux's state of panic. "I'm sorry, I'm overwhelmed by what's happening at the moment." Ravina Loki "I--" Even though he was expecting it, he was still thrown through a loop by the amount of questions thrown at him. His pacing increased and his free hand waved up and down in an attempts to control his own breathing, collect his thoughts, and ease his haywire nerves all at once. "I'm...I'm all right, just a little all over the place right now. Anya's fine. Actually..." He turned around and saw no one but Dust Bunny, who was peering up at him from the floor. "She's sleeping. It's...It's early for her."
He managed a shaky, almost disbelieving laugh at that, but it didn't sound like him at all. It was touched with a small dose of fearful madness that he knew he had to get under control despite all that was coming to light in these minutes. He was a representative of the Lab after all. If he sounded too off, that would lead to other guardians getting antsy. He took a breath and released it, sitting himself down on the edge of the couch to force himself to be still.
"I'm gonna be honest with you, Jez, I...I don't know what's going on. I was going about my pre-work routine a-and when I turned on the news, there it was." He stared at the TV that was now muted, but showing another run of the odd scene at large. Zeke could only watch in renewed fear as a replay of firemen launching boiling hot water from hoses at the building to no effect was shown. Only after the scene faded into another news story did he realize he was being too quiet and not speaking into the phone at all.
"I'm sorry, Jez, I just...All I know is the police made a barricade about a couple blocks wide out there and that my calls to Alex have been going straight to her voicemail." Koco Pelli As Zeke continued to speak, Jezabroux slowly realized what Zeke was no where near the frozen facility. The young man must have been at home, considering Zeke had just said 'prework routine' and 'news'. It was both relieving and slightly frustrating, he was glad that the young man was safe but it was unfortunate that both men were in the dark about what was going on. "I'm so relieved that both you and Miss Anastacia are safe."
His eyes fell on the TV screen as they replayed a clip of the iced building. Realizing that a silence was building, Jezabroux pulled up an island stool and took a seat. His legs were going weak. "Is Miss Alex in the building?" His throat was suddenly dry. "I tried to call the building through the landline and got directed to their voicemail. I'm not surprised that you could not reach her via phone."
Jezabroux massaged his temples. "Should I prepare for any unexpected behavior in Luka, Mr. Farris?" He asked. "I... I can't help but think that it must be another Raevan... that ice is not natural. I saw the clips of the firemen hosing it down with boiling water and it... Nothing is rendering the ice apart Mr. Farris. Is that not what these Raevan fel essences are? Parts of natural that have been changed to become something else, something unnatural?" Ravina Loki "Thanks Jez," he said with some offhandedness as the man on the other end of the line spoke of his relief that there was at least one Lab employee not trapped within the ice palace. As Jezabroux spoke the question he had been asking himself - as well as thinking just the same it couldn't be true, her phone was probably clogged with calls - he could only shake his head and ball his free hand into a fist over his suddenly sick-feeling gut.
"I don't know, Jez. I'm holding out hope that she's just getting bombarded with calls and I was dialing at the wrong time." It was a definite plausibility. Alex was well known among the Lab and Zeke, who had only met a tiny portion of the population thus far, had always had a feeling she was sort of the 'face of Lab 305'. People went to his sister and called her first for things. She had homed a lot of Raevans before his time there and had experienced with their the various trials that came with the beings they had given a home to. With what was going on, it only fit, but he knew he wouldn't breathe easy until he heard her voice coming through his phone.
As the acupuncturist gave him another round of questions, Zeke got up off the couch and started pacing. His mind hadn't focused on just what caused the ice or what it could really be, but now that the words had been uttered, he felt something inside him sink. Boiling water froze on contact with it. The entire building - and it was sizable - was encased in a thick cover overnight. The weather was cold and the Lab was near the ocean, but not close enough to suffer the sprays. The hand that was on his gut went to his temple, pushing back his bangs to hold what was quickly starting to throb.
"I don't...I don't think you have to worry about Luka," No way in hell was this caused by a certain virus, but since the Lab was the only target it had to be Raevan in origin. "But I do think think you might be on to something there. I saw those clips too and I guess I was getting too worked up about Alex but..." His voice trailed off and he bit himself on the tongue. Jez was looking for guidance - as others might later if they found out about Lab's newbie - so he had to give what seemed logical. Again he took a breath.
"You live in Gambino right?" First, get where the man lived for sure. He had a feeling that the Raevan - if it was that for sure - had to still be in the building. Those in Aekea, Barton, and Durem like himself were fine, but if that much power could freeze a building overnight? ...He didn't want to begin to think it, especially as his stomach gave another sick flop to the idea of the ice master being inside where his friends, family, and baby Raevans were and could be. Koco Pelli Zeke was trying to help. Yes, but the acupuncturist felt like he was sinking into an abyss of confusion and anxiety. Talking a deep breath to calm himself, he nodded at Zeke's comment about Luka. Even if Luka was starting to show signs of playing around with his abilities, hopefully, it would be nothing of that scale. A few broken lightbulbs was something he could easily fix, an exploding apartment not so much. Strumming his fingers against the granite countertop, Jezabroux couldn't help but chuckled at the man's question. "No, Mr. Farris. I live in Durem. My parents live in Gambino, but it is nowhere close enough to the Lab 305 building so I am not too worried at the moment. I will have to call them later to check and see if they're okay anyways."
His eyes instinctively fell back onto the TV, hoping that they had more information. But, it was the same. The same clips, the same lines, they were just as underinformed as he was. Possibly more baffled than he at the moment considering they had no idea what Lab 305 did. "Mr. Farris, you're going to drive Gambino to see if you can get to the building correct? If you find anything new, could you call me back please? I need to leave for the clinic now. I'll have my cell phone on me so feel free to call me back as soon as you can." Jezabrouz couldn't help but recall how nerve wreaked the receptionist seemed. "And, Mr. Farris, you seem really stressed, particularly about Miss Alex. If you'd like, we can meet up for a cup of coffee and talk face to face."
He could only imagine how stressed the young man was. It was a lot of stress and responsibility, answering the call of a distressed guardian. Jezabroux had a feeling that he was not the only one to call Zeke. Ravina Loki "Durem, right, okay." That hand on his temple went into his hair - a sign he was feeling sheepish. "Sorry, I coulda swore it was Gambino, but like I said, I'm kind of all over the place right now." Hearing that Jez's parents lived in Gambino didn't make him feel better and he stepped on his own toes in order to snap himself out of it. He couldn't run around like a chicken with its head cut off! Look to the positives. Find them. Cling to them...
When he heard the question about driving to the Lab, it made him pause and look out the windows as though he was hit with a sudden epiphany. He had been pacing around the room with his hands in his hair or else on the phone with Anita but he hadn't been thinking just what he was going to do. He was half dressed for work, and still had to go in, but now the idea was in his head. He had to see it. He had to try and see if there was some way...Any way...
"I will call you if I learn anything, Jez." He was still looking out the windows but he wasn't really seeing what lay beyond the glass. Zeke was working this all out in a manner of moments. He had to call work and say he'd at least be late, then wake up Anya and get her out to the car which might be difficult depending on her mood. He'd drive them both out there and then...Well he'd go from there! Roll with the punches, water off a duck's back, come what may.
"I think coffee would only work against me right now, but thank you for the offer. I might get more calls today, so I'll have to have an ear out for that, but maybe some other time if that's okay?" He hoped so and hoped Jez wasn't offended by the decline or if his voice held any clipped tones, because he really couldn't sit around and chat about his feelings right now. He heard the man's words about having to go to work, and once again nodded to himself as though Jez was right there before him. "I actually have to call into work myself right now, but trust me Jezabroux, I will call you if I get anything new, you can count on that." And then, though it seemed so suddenly out of place, he added: "Have a good day."
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 10:09 pm
Phone Call with Isikoro
Participants: Isikoro and Zeke
Location: Telephone
Type: {PRP - PM}
Status: Complete Storei Isi nearly choked on his rush to get a mouthful of words out of his throat and into the phone receiver. "Zeke! Zeke are you there?" he asked pathetically. He was sitting beside Aphi on the bed, his hand on the cook's shoulder in a motion of comfort. The cook had since passed out after having tried every phone number and line at the Lab with no luck, and Rivener had deposited him here in his bedroom on the bed for Isi to watch over. The reality of the situation was only presented to him when he investigated the cause, and it was something that he could hardly believe himself, but the pictures and the chaos was real enough. There was only one more person Isi could think of calling that Aphi had yet failed to call and that was Zeke, the interesting individual who flitted about the Lab whenever Isi stepped in to offer himself for a day of work and chores, and even when he was moping about the Lab while it served him as a make shift home. He hadn't spoken much with the man, a casual conversation here or there, but never an in depth and close meeting. Still, it was enough for Isi to rely on him for honesty, to feel comfortable enough to call him and demand in a cracking and nervous teenage voice, "What the ******** is happening at the Lab?! Do you know anything? Anything at all? Who's in there?"Ravina Loki Once he hung up with Jez, Zeke turned on his heel and began the quick walk to the hall and ultimately his Raevan's bedroom. However, as with Jez's sudden call after he had finished his call with Anita, he didn't get more than a step away before the phone was ringing and alerting him to another number he couldn't place. He didn't hesitate and stopped dead in his tracks, pushing the button and putting the phone to his ear.
"He-" Once more Zeke barely got the first syllable of 'Hello' out before he was being hit with another fearful tone. What's more, again questions were thrown right at him, all of which sent him through a loop. He really have to expect them all, but with how he was feeling, it only felt like he was having a hard time dodging fast obstacles.
"Who is thi--" He cut himself off. It didn't matter who it was (though the voice sounded familiar, there may as well be plenty of foreign voices coming through his phone before the day was out) and instead he shook his head and dove into the heart of the matter. "I-I-I don't know what's going on," he said in that rushed and shaky tone, trying hard now to keep those nerves and touch of worried madness at bay, "all I know is what the news was saying: the Lab's iced over, boiling water froze on contact with it, and there's potentially two people inside plus some developing Raevans." One of which has a reptile for a soul, he remembered, and once more felt his stomach give a sick flop.
It's gotta be just the outside. Just the outside... Storei Isi grit his teeth, suffering through the silent pauses that were Zeke's inhales, only a few seconds long but much longer than Isi could bear to wait. He tried his best to keep quiet, trying vainly to distract himself by looking around his brother's room, which still had a few packing boxes huddled in the corner. Once his gaze landed back on the comatose man beside him, though, Isi couldn't help but interject and bark while the man on the other side of the line tried his best to reply. "This is Isi! I'm trying to figure out where Alex is, or the doctor! Aphi here has had a near break down over what's going on, he's passed out and if I can just figure out what's happened to Alex, then maybe I can placate him or something. It's terrible not knowing where she is! If she's in there...." Isi had to pause as he digested the rest of the information Zeke was giving him, scary details about the situation the Lab was in. If this was anything like what happened when the Lab exploded...Isi had to hold his breath, staving his thoughts off from the thoughts of the unborn raevans tucked in their cases. "Two people...If it's not you and I....It could only be Dr. Kyou and Alex...Or maybe Lazarus..." Isi felt the information given to him did nothing to sate his worry. His grip tightened on the phone and he had to keep himself from looking at Aphismet's face, affixed into a haggard sob that refused to melt away when he was unconscious. Isi's voice dropped down into a whisper, <********, are you going over there?" Ravina Loki "Isi!" Okay, he knew who he was talking to now, and the fact the boy was something of a part-timer at the now iced off building was a relief to him. It was also a help he could put a face to the name, but nothing in his body relaxed. What's more, upon hearing Aphi had passed out as well as finding out even the teen hadn't heard from Alex herself, he began to pace again.
"I-I haven't heard from her either, he began, and quickly paused, realizing how fast his words were coming out and forcing himself to dial that back. "I tried calling her multiple times but each time it went straight to voicemail." Zeke swallowed as everything he was feeling became lodged in his throat in a hard lump, leaving his mouth feel cotton dry and making his voice crack. "Y-You two haven't heard from her?"
He didn't know the details of his sister's break up from Isi's sibling, just that it happened, but even if the separation was hard and painful to bear, he just knew Alex would treat them as among the first she would call in the time of any crisis. It's just how she was. Again his mind drifted to the 'what if she's in there' question and he had to force himself to keep moving - both in body and in mind. No stopping, and again, she was the face of the Lab. She was probably taking calls left and right and would get to his messages soon enough. Just...Just had to be patient and not lose his head.
"I'm holding out hope she's just swamped with a billion calls. I'm in Durem and they have this on Special Report, so everywhere else has to be informed by now." But still, he couldn't be sure and had no way to separate fact from fiction. He didn't know when Alex went in on the weekdays and, given the breakup, there was no way he could ask Isi what time she left either. "I-I've gotten a couple just now myself, so that just has to be the case." He grasped to that idea and didn't want to let it go. It was logical! It made sense! It just...It just had to be the case!
Despite that constant assurance and repeated telling himself, the words did nothing to stop his maniac pacing and soon enough rapid, over-exaggerated swings of his free arm and hand were thrown in too. Only Isi's haggard whisper made the veterinarian make a pause, just because it seemed like the boy knew him quite well even though they had only had passing 'hellos' after all this time.
"I...I am." His voice dropped and matched the teen's, almost like this was now a huge secret and taboo among them. Zeke turned on his heel just in time to see that lady reporter come back on screen, live at the scene and standing before that barricade of police cars and white wooden horses stamped with the Gambino police department's logo. "Th-They have a blockade set up down there and probably all the way around the Lab. I don't know how close I could get but..." His voice trailed off as it broke again and filled him with cottonmouth. He had to let Isikoro fill in the blank, but he was sure the teen was sharp enough to know the words even if he had been able to complete them. But I have to try. Storei Thoughts, aimless and scattered, tried to pull themselves together in Isi's head, shouting strands of advice that he couldn't understand. Biting his lip, he switched ears with the phone since he had pressed so hard to the other ear that it was stinging and red. He rubbed at his earlobe, trying to think of something intelligent to say. "She hasn't called us, we haven't heard anything at all and I don't know when it was last that she and Aphi talked," he didn't like the sound of his voice when he said that, shaky and desolate, already convinced of the dark and morbid. Isi knew, just like everyone else who knew the recently bonded and even more recently broken relationship between Aphi and Alex, that she would have called them first in an emergency like this. She wouldn't leave the Delaran family, especially Aphi, in the dark during a trying time when it would be her first instinct to call them, to pacify their worries and tell them what was going on. Something had to have happened to her, something had to have happened in the white bound building that was Lab 305. But what could have choked out enough ice to cover the entirety of the Lab? It was a haunting question, one that Isi couldn't convince himself to think straight about. It had to be something unnatural, it couldn't have been just a freak accident of weather, and perhaps it was, like the explosion in the Lab, linked to a raevan. It had to be that. Isi's gut rolled beneath his ribs, making him curl over onto his lap, as he brought up the raevans that he knew, raevans that were on file, that could possibly be responsible for the ice over.The ice rose raevan was the first that came to mind, a cute and quiet little thing, that was born near the same time that Eiry was. And beyond that was...was Roux. But he was gone away, far away, with Chloe, Isi's friend from distant childhood, his only friend really in the place that was their Orphanage. Isi didn't want to think more than that and he wiped it all from his mind. It didn't matter who did it, not now. What mattered was that the people inside the Lab were safe from harm. But how could they get inside if it was frozen solid? Of course...Something that wasn't solid. Isi turned to Eiry, who was pacing nearby, hugging a book to his chest and looking out of sorts as he tossed his head from the couch and then towards the doorway he last saw Rivener. "Zeke," he said, after a time that he had been quiet on his side of the phone, breathing with difficulty as he tried to calm himself down, "If you're going to the Lab, perhaps Eiry can help you get there. He can go through anything solid, he can get you past the authorities. He can get you to the Lab."Ravina Loki Zeke felt his gut clench again as Isi said those damning words. He didn't blame the kid for not remembering, but it still made him bite his tongue behind his lips in frustration.
"It's okay," he said in a soft tone, hearing the hollowness in Isi's voice and not wanting the teen to immediately fall to those dark imaginings. "It's not your fault you don't know. L-Like I said, she probably got swamped with phone calls before she was able to call anyone herself." Logic, logic, logic.
As he paced, Zeke finally remembered what Anita and Jez had asked about this perhaps being done by a Raevan. As he had told Anita, the only one he could recall having ice based powers was Zul, but now that he was going back and forth and recalling, he remembered he was in fact mistaken. Zurine had an Ice Rose for her Essence but he felt that it couldn't be her as much as it couldn't be Zul. Perhaps if the Lab had been covered in a mass of ice roses, but instead it was a castle.
"A couple calls I took," he said somewhat suddenly, "the people who called asked if this could maybe have been done by a Raevan. The only two I know who have ice Essences most likely couldn't have done this." Not solely as a matter of personality, but also power. A Frei covering an entire building in a few short hours? They'd wear themselves out and probably have been collapsed at the scene and found by now. This was an assumption of course, but beneath the churning and turning, Zeke felt like this gut feeling was correct.
"S-So I think--" He fell silent as Isi interjected, listening with widening eyes as the teen spoke of his Raevan. Eiry...Eiry...He remembered that name and seeing the Raevan it belonged to from what felt like eons ago. And he could help get into the building? Zeke felt a glimmer of a smile tug at his lips but it fell as he caught the news and their replay of the firefighters with their hot water hoses. The camera crew got a great shot of the water freezing into ice on contact and Zeke felt his heart sink again. The idea was a great one on paper, but there were always going to be certain kinks in a plan. The one he was thinking of was much too important to him to risk.
"The fire crews blasted the building with boiling hot water, Isi, and it froze on contact." He pulled his eyes from the screen to the way that lead to the hallway. He remembered what had happened during the sudden temperature drop at the beach party and knew that even if he could go down there, Anya herself wouldn't be able to get too close. The cold, the wind, the ice... Since this was very much looking like it wasn't natural, that fact about his Raevan was especially pertinent. This unnatural ice could be a one-hit KO to his heat-loving Frei and the vet bit his lip as that frustration took a larger hold. He wanted to help - desperately so - but he couldn't put his Raevan's life in any danger.
"Your idea could work, but my own Raevan can't handle cold for long. She..." 'She's the virus' was on his lips, but he bit that back. He wasn't sure if Isi knew of that detail, but even though it was the reason why she couldn't take the chill he wasn't about to add anymore stress on the boy. Now wasn't the time. "She just can't last very long in the cold, and if boiling water freezes on contact...I don't even want to imagine what going too close or even in there would do to her." That was just too cold, would add to the potentially injured count, and he wouldn't leave Anya by herself during this, no matter how well behaved she generally was when on her own.
But even if that was the case on his end, it didn't mean the idea Isi had wasn't still viable.
"I think you're on to something, th-though, so don't drop that." Eiry could get inside. Boiling water couldn't melt it, but if the Raevan could get through solids... "If Eiry can get inside and have brought me along with him, then it's possible for him to get everyone out, right? He can probably do that a lot easier without having me to worry about, especially i-if it's just as solid inside as it is outside." Everyone had their limits, even Raevans, and even if Eiry could get everyone stuck inside out with him and have gusto to spare, Zeke wanted all the Sigel's energy and strength to go toward those trapped and them alone. Storei Isi knew the details of the ice-covered building, the way that ice seemed to freeze and suck the heat out of everything that touched it, a backward and ravenous vampire-like effect, but he had no idea what kind of effect it would have on his raevan. There seemed like there was nothing that could stop his raevan so far. He would drift through walls, through earth, through trees, through people, through any household object, anything of solid matter at all, and that alone was reason for Isi to hope. There wasn't anything that Isi could rationally think that could stop Eiry...But then he remembered Rivener. Rivener could sink his ghostly venom into Eiry, make him sick, and tear him out of his insubstantial state. But what exactly triggered the effect was beyond Isi's simple thinking mind. There was one other, like Rivener, who could hold Eiry down when he was intangible and that was Zul. There was that time during the virus outbreak, a terrible and nightmarish wakening that stopped Eiry with the clasp of ice around his wrists. That was Zul, though, a raevan, and Isi didn't bother to think it through that perhaps it was more than just the raevan who stopped his ghostly sigel. All Isi could think about was that chance, that slim and feather-weighted chance that Eiry could break in and get to the precious people inside. "If you can't bring your raevan inside as well, that's fine, leave her in the car, or something, if you absolutely have to have her with you," Isi said, clutching onto the phone as if he were clutching onto a literal life line. He tried to bring up images of Zeke's raevan, a lavender haired girl, who unsettled Isi when she adjusted the legs on her head. She seemed sweet besides that though, from the few brief glances he had of her. He couldn't remember why she didn't like cold, though, for the life of him. He pressed on, "If you can just watch Eiry from afar, track his progress so that he's not alone in case anything happens, then that's all you can do. But still, we have to try, anything to get to them before they die of pneumonia or something worse!" By this time, he had gained Eiry's attention and the ghostly sigel floated closer to him, sewing both his lips and his brows together with worry. He gave a slow and quiet nod, his bright red blood eyes intense with the purpose he was slowly coming to realize that was being heaved onto his shoulders by his panicky guardian. Isi locked his eyes with the red gaze of his raevan, nodding at him as he spoke with Zeke on the phone, weaving some kind of plan, "I'll send Eiry over with my cellphone, he's hard to miss, but just in case you two don't find each other, you can call to find where he is. Meet up with him, and try to get inside, just watch over him as he tries. If anything happens, if he gets inside, or if he doesn't, call me. Alright, Zeke? You need to call me and tell me what's going on!"Isi looked down to his brother beside him, the white-haired man who was still locked in a fitful faint. "I need to stay here and watch over Aphi. I can't leave him alone.
But Eiry will come in my stead. Please, watch over him."Ravina Loki "I can't leave her home and I won't leave her in the car either, and that was the parent-side of the guardian speaking, "but I can do that!" He'd drive as close as he could to the side of the barricade that was closest to the Lab. That was his plan all along, but he could also keep an eye out for Eiry. Not hard, especially as the Sigel in question was a prominent green. Yes...he could do that, for sure, but as Isi snapped about death and pneumonia Zeke simultaneously flinched and got an idea.
"If I'm outside, I can tell the police or someone that there could possibly be more people than they think in there. Plus, that way, I can also field anymore calls that come in and give more information back to those who called me already. If all the lines are dead inside the Lab, then we'll need someone outside to keep everyone up to date and the news just won't cut it."
As he spoke this idea, his voice evened out for the time being and became firm. This was a plan, this was in motion, and while when the call ended he'd quickly go right back to being a nervous wreck while getting everything ready and leaving, for now he felt like he had something solid and something that could work within reach. It'd just take some time to get down there, but once more his mind was a whirl of ideas, possibilities, and the plan at hand.
"I understand." Zeke said as Isi entrusted him with his Raevan's safety. It wouldn't be hard to watch the Sigel, though the barricade would be a physical challenge to get by. However, he would do his damnedest to make sure this all went okay. It had to. For everyone inside, no matter who they be. "I promise I'll keep you informed of whatever goes on. I'll watch over Eiry and how about I come pick him up too? You're in Durem too, right? I'm sure he wants to get everyone out as fast as we do and traveling together would make it just that much easier on everyone." He didn't give Isi any time to reply to that idea, because to Zeke it was spot on and just made everything flow much better. What's more, his nerves were forcing their way to the calm the formation of the plan had brought. "Have him look out for a silver Aston Martin. That'll be me, and the car shouldn't be that hard to spot, but I'll also blow the horn when I get there."
He looked at the tv again and finally shut it off. Time was wasting - time that shouldn't be wasting - and now that they had a plan, they had to put it in motion as soon as possible. For that to happen, he had to get off the phone.
"I'm going to get everything together now, okay? I'll be out the door as fast as I can and getting down there as fast as I can. Remember, it's a silver Aston Martin that Eiry should keep an eye out for, but for now go take care of your brother, Isi, and I promise I'll keep you posted." Storei "Eiry doesn't like cars...But he should know how to handle it by now. He will be outside," Isi said after giving the man his address, but after that there wasn't much else to say. He tried to gape a few moments, summon some words that would be appropriate to say, but even bidding him goodbye felt like he was saying goodbye for once and for all. The boy managed to swallow despite the thick layers of spit in his throat. "Find them," he said, and that was the last he said to Zeke. There was a click, and the phone call was done, and Isi handed over his cellphone to Eiry, unable to tell his raevan goodbye. "Be safe."
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Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2010 11:59 am
A Staggering Change in Behavior{December 30th, 2010} While Zeke's world simultaneously exploded and crashed around him, Anastacia remained blissfully unaware of and undisturbed by the situation at large. Put plainly, she was asleep, spread out over her bed beneath a toss and tangle of sheets and an odd number of quilts. She was in that fine space between sleep and awake, only vaguely aware of the sound of hurried footsteps from somewhere outside her room and the feel of the soft cottony innards of her pillow against her cheek. She didn't even seem to register the sound of her doorknob hitting the wall as Zeke came barreling in, eyes frantically searching the room over and over until they finally came to rest on the spider queen still tucked into her bed.
"Anya! Anya!" There was barely a twitch from the virus Raevan. Zeke called her name again to the same results and, unable to control himself with everything bubbling inside him, crossed the space between himself and his charge's bed. "Anya! Wake up, Anya!"
"Mm...Mmm..." The Frei made a face as she started to head toward full consciousness, one that made it seem like she smelled something bad despite that not being the case. Her crown twitched, and as each leg moved in turn, she became aware she was being shaken.
"Anastacia, wake up! Please!"
"Mmn. What's going on...What are you doing to me?!" The forward and back motion of her head and partial torso finally did the trick to pull the spider queen into the world of day. She caught the barest, sleep-fogged image of her guardian out of the eyes on her brow and from there her mind was able to put two and two together. "Get off me!"
With that cry she lifted herself up in bed, snapping her wings outward toward her guardian and his uncovered gut on instinct. Zeke immediately pulled away as those web-lined sabers were extended, but as Anya pulled them back toward her body in order to turn around to face him, he immediately threw himself into her personal space once more.
"Anya, Anya please." Zeke broke boundaries in one fell movement and Anastacia reacted as appropriate. Her entire body seized and she immediately started to both recoil and flare her spindly bits as Zeke's hands grasped her bare upper arms. This...He was...He had his hands on her! She felt her flesh crawl and her mind screamed the offense at her. In that instant every muscle in her body locked to return fire but as she looked into his face to give him that "get your hands off me" snap, she froze. Her quick-forming snarl slackened and she openly looked surprise, taken right aback by what she saw.
Zeke wasn't smiling. He looked scared, flighty, and twitchy in a way that wasn't like how he was when he first came to bring her home from the Lab. His posture was tensed - could be likened to that of a horse that was ready to bolt in fact - and his hands were clammy and shaking. In addition to a beading of sweat on his brow, her guardian's face was pale and he was looking at her with an intensity that made alarm bells go off in her head long before her curiosity piqued.
"Anya we have to go. Now. Put on your coat and gloves, we have to go!" Zeke's eyes bugged as she did nothing but stare at him with that open and dumb shock. "Please, Anya! Right now!"
A phone ringing in the apartment next door made the vet jump back and take flight, clearly thinking it was his own home receiver going off. Anya watched him whip out of sight as he exited but made no motion of her own to rise. While his out of character behavior should have had her immediately moving in order to take in more of this odd display, the surprise of what had just transpired kept her rooted on the spot. Like Zeke when he saw the damning news report for the first time, only one word went through her mind and out her lips:
"What?"
The span of time that passed was, at length, that of a few rapid heartbeats. Anya remained frozen until her curiosity was able to worm its way forward and from there - slowly and almost feeling heavy with the stun of normalcy being shattered - the spider queen finally picked herself up. Her eyes remained focused on the door as she lifted herself into the air, but wavered to her shoulder as she automatically dusted that spot upon feeling a faint tickle. She plucked cotton fluff from that spot, held it before her, and stared at it as though she wasn't truly seeing. Once again she had accidentally torn up a pillow with the legs of her crown in her sleep, but unlike those times she did not turn to the massacre to pull it from the bed. Instead she moved forward as though on a track - looking for what lay beyond and at not what lay behind.
As soon as she exited her room she was thrust into that beyond and continued toward it with no reservation. It wasn't hard for her to spot Zeke and despite the mist before her eyes she could see him as a blotch of many colors darting about at the mouth of the hallway. Left and right and in and out of vision, he moved erratically as he tried to put all of his eggs into one very small basket in a very short amount of time.
"Anya!" He cried and finally came to a stop as he saw his ward slowly coming toward him. "About time! Hurry up, we need to go!"
When she got to the opening of the hallway, she stood on the spot, doing nothing more than just blankly staring at her man. If he had looked frantic to her before, all the running about he had been doing just now did not work in his favor. In that short amount of time he had worked up a healthy sheen of sweat on his brow and some on his chest too. It spotted lightly through the blue t-shirt he had hastily thrown on and besides that, she couldn't help but notice was inside out and on backwards.
She didn't make to point out that fact - couldn't really, even in this rather turned around state - but she did flinch when the usually eccentric man suddenly jerked forward.
"We don't have time for that," he said in a near-snap when he saw the pillow stuffing she was holding in her hand. The Frei dropped her eyes to the fluff and could only begin to wonder where it came from as she let it fall to the floor. "I'll give you another one later, j-just...just come on Anya!"
He said no more to her and turned on the ball of his foot to start toward the front door. The spider queen was kicked off her invisible rail with that and moved of her own volition, but took a moment to look around the immediate area. Nothing looked out of place, nothing smelled out of place, and the only thing that was visibly different was her guardian and his behavior.
Again the word 'what' went through her head in a flash of dumb uncertainty, but this time she didn't stick to anything because of it. Instead the Frei listened to those renewed alarm bells and trailed right after her guardian. She found him by the door, trying to shove one foot into a snow boot as he double checked his pockets for what was possibly the umpteenth time now.
"Phone, keys, wallet, charger for the car - no way I'm letting this die on me out there...Why won't my foot go in?!" He looked down, saw he was trying to shove his left foot into his right boot, and muttered 'goddammit' under his breath before fixing the problem. When he stood up again, Anya watched as Zeke swept one of his shaky hands through his half-brushed hair. Said hand then joined its opposite as the vet made a downward pressing motion before his chest and stomach in a vain attempt to steady himself. So strange, so foreign, so...unlike Zeke.
While normally so uncaring to - and annoyed by - her guardian and his whackadoodle ways, she would later surprise herself to the fact that she was right now itching to find out what was causing him so much unsettling panic and agitation. She would also later be annoyed that Zeke didn't just spit out what was wrong in the first place as well as feel the same toward his actions and reactions until the event was settled, but for now she grabbed her coat and her other winter needs from the hook that hung before her with no words or quarrels. She wasn't by any means "presentable" by her own standards, but she found herself not exactly caring to that fact at the moment. A cause for or simply too much more delay and Zeke looked like he just might snap.
As she put on her winter wear, the virus Raevan saw her guardian fumble with his keys; attempting to find the ones to the apartment and the car in one go. Zeke cursed a few times, but by the time he had both between his fingers Anya was fully dressed and quick to usher herself out once the door was opened and immediately after Zeke had thrown himself out it.
"C'mon...C'mon...Go. In. The. Lock--Yes!" The word of triumph was uttered in a hiss and once the door was locked up tight Zeke yanked the key from its hole. "No, no, the elevator will take too long!"
The virus Raevan had floated to the two metal doors once she had escaped the apartment. Zeke always used the elevator and out of urgency Anastacia herself had pressed the button to call the lift. But no, that would not be today's apartment transportation. Instead, Zeke rushed right past her and the elevator and all but charged the door that led to the stairs. She gawked as the door made a sound that loudly declared that wasn't how it was supposed to be treated but then Anya felt that track pulling her along again. The door was nearly to its jam on the recoil when she reached it and that forced her to press on the cold metal bar on its face. It gave with no resistance and didn't squeal on its hinges, though it did make a metallic cracking sound as she pushed it too far and locked the door open. She paid it no mind and didn't even flicker towards any realization that her guardian hadn't so much as thought about holding the door for her. Her mind was blank save for cues that read "Follow" and "Find Out" and she intended to do both.
A few circles of a stairwell later and they had reached the lobby level. Again the situation with the door was the same, but once freed there was the warm first floor to greet them instead. However, they weren't destined to linger in this place and soon enough Anya was greeted by a gust of cold air as she neared the front doors. This made her hover backward - as it always did - but she lifted her scarf higher onto her face and forced herself to take on winter.
"This way, Anya, hurry!" There was a thin prickle of annoyance at Zeke's constant calls for more speed, but it was veiled and thus didn't give rise. The prickling of cold on her skin through her winter wear also helped and the Frei did all she could to keep pace, but ultimately fell short behind her guardian.
"I-I know it's c-cold," Zeke said by means of an apology when she made it to the car, "but you'll w-warm up as w-w-we g-go." The cold had quickly got to the vet too (naturally since he had picked a wind breaker over his winter jacket and hadn't taken either gloves or a hat) and his teeth chattered as he tried to thumb his car key back into his hand. That need was what had made him come to a stop and Anya was able to catch up beside him. "H-Here, g-g-get in. W-We n-need to get out there now."
She was well aware of the plan by now, thank you, but 'out there now' was squirreled away by her curiosity to add to the puzzle.
As he spoke that unintentional hint, Zeke found his key and managed to both unlock and open the door to the backseat before he hauled a** around to the driver's side. Anya didn't hesitate and dove into the backseat before Zeke was halfway around the front of the Aston Martin, shutting the door herself for the first time and buckling in the moment she was in her seat. It was a good thing she was on automatic for the time being, because once Zeke was in and he had tossed his wallet and phone onto the passenger seat, the key was in the ignition and there was no other time to brace oneself as the car was pulled out of its spot and onto the street.
"I'm taking the back roads," said Zeke in what sounded more like he was speaking a thought out loud rather than informing his charge of more of the situation at hand, "Less traffic. Hopefully less traffic." He sounded like he was praying on his last words and that tone made the Raevan c**k her head at him. She felt that itch grow.
Zeke was pleased to find that his prayer had been answered. Anya rather felt the same as well, but the bumps that came with the less-than-cared-for roads had her pressed back against the seat and holding on for dear life. She relaxed each time they came to a red light and during those short periods she was able to take the harried man in more.
Now that he had no place to run, pace, or just move around in a haste Zeke was twitching even more as the car sat before the lights. His fingers curled and flexed over the wheel, his eyes darted about the interior, and his entire body trembled with everything that he was holding in. The spider queen said nothing for most of those short times she could watch him without gripping the seat backing, but as they neared a part of Durem she had never been, she managed to loosen her tongue.
"Where are we going?" Her voice was softer than normal and her tone suggested she was approaching this with the same care one might take when around an explosive or a mad person. It was ginger and she while she expected him to jerk at the sudden sound of another person's voice, she still flinched all the same when he did.
From the rear view mirror Zeke looked at his Raevan, firmly stuck in a silence before he seemed to realize he hadn't told her a thing. Her own change in demeanor didn't register to him at the moment, but regardless of it or how she asked, the vet still replied in that same, shaky voice.
"W-We're going to pick up another Raevan." He swallowed and she saw him lick his lips that by now were quite chapped. "Th-Then w-we're going to Gambino. Something's ha-happened to the Lab. I...I'd tell you more, but it's...it's hard to explain." It was then the light turned from red to green and Zeke wasted no time in putting his car into motion.
"You have to see it to believe it."
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Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 3:48 pm
The Blockade{December 30th, 2010}Participants: Anastacia, Eiry, and Zeke
Location: The police blockade outside Lab 305
Type: {PRP}
Status: Complete
--- Summary ---
Eirdirsceol and Zeke run off to the Lab during the events of Roux's madness.
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:30 am
Happy Birthday Anastacia! Another morning, another pillow torn open during sleep.
The spider queen's frown only deepened as she plucked stray bits of fluff out of her hair and off the crown that was twitching with her agitation. This made how many pillows now? A hundred? Two hundred? Three? She wouldn't say she lost count when she hadn't been doing so in the first place, but the number had to be insurmountable by now. If anyone outside herself knew, they'd most likely...Well...She didn't know what they'd likely feel but it wouldn't be greeted with a smile and dance, that was for sure. Zeke was the only other who knew of course but even though he greeted each pillow-turned-corpse with a light, understanding smile and a helpful "let me get you another, Anya", the Frei knew he was just as shocked each time as he was the first. He had to be. It was insane how many pillows she had been through in what? A year now?
Anastacia pulled the last bit of pillow stuffing out of her lavender hair and gave her head a toss. There, all clear, and now she had a small pile of cotton on her bureau. She was never amused by this but what could she do? No tricks had worked (all of them had been suggested by Zeke, fancy that) and by now it had almost become routine. She wasn't about to sleep while floating, so short of pinning her own chitinous appendages to her head she was at a loss for what to do about the situation.
"How annoying," she murmured to her own reflection as from there she carefully went about brushing her hair into its normal partial up do. A slight line creased the spot between her human eyes but faded into the regular, bored expression the spider queen wore once her bun was in place. There, perfect, and it wasn't a stretch to say her own completed appearance calmed her slightly aggravated nerves almost immediately. She may have gored her pillow for the millionth time and woken up once again with a head full of cotton fluff, but it was suffice to say she once more thought she turned out absolutely beautiful in the end. And what was better than that? Not much to Anastacia.
"I am absolutely perfect." Her words of appraisal echoed in her tapered ears on a cool, pleasant ring. Even though she was complimenting herself, Anastacia still lofted herself higher into the air and gave her reflection a small, but smug smile. Yes, she was perfect, and no one would ever take that fact from her mind. She was always perfect, and even though she had a rather bad "habit" of mutilating her pillows every night it wasn't something that marred her beauty permanently. Heck, cotton was much preferable to mud, or twigs, or whatever else could manage to get stuck in hair. Cotton was easy to get out and even easier to dispose of. What's more, no one outside herself or Zeke would ever know and that was good.
Despite her assurance and new-found calmness however, the Raevan still felt a renewed niggle of annoyance settle in her chest when she turned around and saw the remains of the pillow lying on her bed. Another morning, another corpse to dispose of by way of the overly cheery guardian express, but even with the returned feeling she didn't frown as she grabbed the pillow in one hand and turned toward the door. No, she refused to frown. Now she was completely and utterly perfect and perfect of that caliber was permanent. Besides, the pillow would be taken in a moment's notice and replaced later in the day - gone from her sight for good. Had she been silly to get agitated before? No. But would she be if she was now, right as she declared herself perfect and unruffled? Perhaps, leaning strongly toward 'yes', and Anastacia was NOT a silly woman. Instead, and with yet another toss of her head, she grabbed the knob of her bedroom door and let herself out.
A cool breath of spring air greeted her as she floated out into the hall, and it didn't take even a moment for her to know Zeke had the windows in the living room open again. Logic dictated that was where her man was and so she made her way there, not even pausing to see if he was actually in his room. Logic won out and as she turned the corner, there the vet was, seated on the couch much like he had been on his birthday. Zeke was still in his pajamas, with a cup of something steaming (Coffee, Anya guessed) sitting before him on the low table in front of the couch, a newspaper in hand and the TV on. The windows on the far side of the room were wide open, letting in both the breeze and a hearty amount of sunshine that caused the Frei to wince and float a ways back until she was in a shadowy corner while her eyes adjusted. As they took the time to do so, she had to wonder what was going on now. Last time Zeke had been dressed like that had been on his birthday and that had long since passed. What was the occasion now? Anya thought about it, but couldn't hazard a guess. It was Sunday...And that was about it. Even though she came up blank, she knew she would find out soon enough. It was all just a matter of getting her guardian's attention off his newspaper and onto her, and the Raevan knew just how to do that.
The moment her eyes were free of the glare pouring in through the open panes, Anya floated directly toward her guardian. With her head held high - she wasn't proud of what had happened but she clearly was not embarrassed either - and her wings aloft, she presented her ruined pillow to Zeke: by putting it right in front of his face.
"What the hel-Oh! Hah! Good morning Anya." The vet had jumped at the sudden whiteness that blocked his vision and the article he had been skimming. The newspaper quickly fell into his lap as he reached and grabbed the pillow, pulling it away from his face before he turned toward his ward. His usual, friendly smile crossed his pierced features, genuinely happy to see Anastacia up and about, especially given the day. "I didn't hear you come in. Did you sleep well?" He made no mention of the pillow he now held. Didn't have to - he knew the drill - and why spoil the morning by bringing up what had to be a sore subject for the Widow?
Once Zeke had his hands around the white, slashed open cushion Anastacia let it go, watching it sag onto her guardian's lap and release a cloud of cotton onto his paper-covered legs. Mission accomplished; on her end at least. Zeke would do his part of this morning mission once he got up and then the problem would be gone once more - for another day at least. To her man's greeting and polite (routine) questioning she simply nodded, neither smiling nor frowning and giving away no secrets. To this Zeke only smiled a little more, and secretly tucked something beneath the throw pillow at his side. That would come about in a bit but for now he had to get rid of what he had been presented with.
"I'm glad to hear it," the raver said as he rose to his feet; feet Anya couldn't help but notice were bare, just like they were on Zeke's birthday. Really, what was going on today? "I slept pretty good myself."
Zeke watched Anastacia move out of his way as he neared her, and while he tried to not make it apparent, his smile did dim slightly at that. Still not wanting to be touched or even brushed by, even a year later. It was long since apparent that Anya was how she was - set in her ways - and Zeke loved her no matter what, but a part of him did still wish she wasn't so opposed to even the barest forms of physical contact. Despite her opposition, it still didn't mean she couldn't sit with him, even if she did end up sitting on the very far end of the couch. As he was about to enter the kitchen, Zeke looked back at his ward and extended his offer. "Take a seat if you want to, Anya. We won't be going to the Lab today."
Well that was easy. She wasn't easily impressed, especially by her guardian, but the fact she didn't have to play a waiting game or listen to him ramble on about something that barely had to do with what she wanted to know did make her brows raise with mild surprise. She was still left with the 'why' though, that hadn't died, and in fact only grew in size as she floated there, her curiosity definitely piqued. Luckily for her, she didn't have to wait long to get that ultimate answer.
"Prefer to float?" Zeke said upon seeing his Raevan hadn't moved from her position. The spider queen gave no reply, but as Zeke neared and extended his arm toward the couch, she floated by and took up a spot at the opposite end. Just as Zeke had expected. He shook his head lightly and reclaimed his own seat. "So I bet you're wondering why we aren't going in, huh?"
Anastacia crossed her arms just below her chest and leaned back against the seat, eyes turning over her guardian's always-friendly face. Yes, that was exactly what she was wondering. She could swear he had these moments of clairvoyance though this time was based purely on common sense. He had said they were not going, and given it was routine for them to go, of course she would want to know the reason why. Still, the spider Frei nodded.
"There's a very good reason for it." Zeke began and Anastacia noticed a tremble of excitement creep into his voice. Immediately her thoughts went to something having to do with Brad, and that made her neutral expression dip once more into a frown. She may tolerate the Italian to some degree - he gave her no reason to hate him so far at least, but she wouldn't say she liked him either - but she wasn't exactly giddy to the idea of having to be around the lovebirds for an entire day either. If that was the case, perhaps it would be possible for her to stay home. And if Brad came here? Then she could be in her room. With the door shut. Yes, that would do nicely.
As she sat assuming what it was Zeke had planned, the vet had pulled out the thing he had oh so secretly tucked beneath the throw pillow at his side. It was a simple sky blue envelope with the front lovingly emblazoned with the Raevan's name in black ink. Without a word Zeke held it out to his charge and his eyes seemed to shine when Anastacia appeared rather surprised to this sudden, spontaneous gift.
"The reason is...Well...Why would we go to the Lab on your birthday, Anastacia?" His smile stretched across his face as the Frei took the offering.
"My birthday?" She said softly, looking at her own name written out before her. Anastacia was...perplexed, to put it lightly. It was her birthday...Now? Today? So soon? Had it honestly been a year? Zeke laughed out loud at her questioning, causing his ward to jump and flinch back from the sudden noise.
"Yes your birthday! You're a year old today!" He found her very cute in that moment and had to wipe his eyes just from the way she voiced her surprise. When his hand fell from his face, he instead extended it and the opposite out to her. She may not like physical contact, but it was still worth a shot. "Happy birthday Anastacia. One year old and just as beautiful as the day you came home! Heck, you're even prettier!" He winked, good humor abound.
Still stunned and most certainly surprised, Anastacia kept her gaze on the envelope, ignoring her guardian, his compliments, and his gesture in favor of letting the gears in her head turn. A year. It had really been a year since she had been born and then brought home by the man sitting opposite her. Her mind couldn't wrap around it. Time flew by before she even knew it had come. Hours into days into weeks into months...Had it honestly been an entire year since she had first floated through that front door?
"Time flies..." She murmured more to herself than state to her guardian. This was...rather awing. She was a year old today and hadn't even begun to suspect it while Zeke had done a good job of not letting on either.
"It sure does." His fond tone brought the Raevan's eyes to his face, but not before pausing to look at his outstretched arms. She appeared to study him for a moment but clearly showed she was not going to throw herself into his arms. With this knowledge apparent, Zeke gingerly lowered his arms back down to his sides. Not even on her special day, eh? Well...A zebra really can't change its stripes. Again the vet's smile flickered, but he didn't let this fact stop him from reaching out and tapping the envelope the spider queen now held in her hands. "Why don't you open this? From me to you on your special day, Anya. Happy birthday."
Anastacia's stupor lessened as soon as the weight of the day settled fully onto her shoulders. The Frei studied her man's face for a moment longer - almost expecting him to shout 'surprise' or 'just kidding' and try to pull a fast one on her - before she pulled the envelope out from under the vet's lightly tapping finger. Now it was the light blue rectangle's turn to go under her six-eyed gaze and it was given a full look over. Front, back, and then both again: no inch of either side was left unturned. Once the assessment finished the envelope lay with its back side facing up - waiting to be opened. Now that the day was realized, she knew exactly what this was. It was a gift, and even though she was officially a year older she hadn't changed in the slightest. She still loved gifts, and despite its small, thin size Zeke was clearly giving her one. She didn't smile with delight, but the Frei's eyes brightened at the prospect and she wasted no time from there. Anastacia slid a short nail beneath the lip of the envelope and tore the triangular flap from its base. The paper tore neatly up until a point, where it then ripped perpendicular to her tearing. The Frei didn't mind - it was just an envelope after all - and the jagged tear helped her see what was inside all the better before she pulled it out.
Inside was a card in gaudy, girly colors. Pinks, baby blues, yellows, and light purples crisscrossed the front as festive balloons, streamers, and other party accessories. White bubble letters popped out near the top and declared 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!' in an arch above a large pink frosting cake with a ring of candles around it. A light layer of glitter covered everything and made the card's cover sparkle even in the shade cast by Anastacia's shadow. It was something all right, but the Frei's brows raised. It was certainly not what she was expecting and haughtiness and disappointment crept into her veins. Was this it? Really? She had received smaller gifts in the past that were much more impressive than this. Was this really all Zeke had thought to give her on her first birthday? How stingy of him!
The crease between the Raevan's brows returned and her frown settled in again. Anastacia was not impressed. Zeke, however, continued to beam from his spot on the couch, unaware of his charge's inner thoughts and unable to see her expression thanks to her down-turned face. He thought everything was going swimmingly, but as Anastacia made no movements to open the card, he decided to gently help her along.
"It opens up." His tone was friendly, light, and still fond toward his Raevan. Even though she was now a full year old it didn't mean she would undergo a full change or sudden knowing of everything ever overnight. He had never given her a card before, perhaps she was just unaware.
The words from her guardian made Anastacia's crown flex. She wasn't dumb, she knew it opened of all things, but she was of the mind that whatever was inside was going to be as much of an insult as the outside. Still though, she wasn't the sort to leave most stones unturned and this particular one might as well be flipped now, even if her guardian was now going down in her books as a cheapskate. Once it was she could throw an empty 'thank you' at him and be done with it. Maybe even go back to her room and surround herself with gifts that were actually worthy of her.
With a short outward breath through her nose and no return comment to her guardian, Anastacia flipped the card open. Inside the card stock was a darker shade of gaudy pink that would have likely burned her eyes had the card been opened in full sunlight. Instead of being burned, her eyes were quickly drawn to the left panel of the card. Written on the back of the front cover was a short note from Zeke, one that opened with a wish for her to once more have a happy birthday in forcibly neat handwriting. After this wish the note spoke of how happy he was that she was in his life, repeated phrases of how time flies, and a how amazed he was with how much she had grown throughout the year.
'I'm proud of you Anya,' the note read as it came to its close, 'so here's to you and to all the birthdays you have ahead!' Zeke had scrawled his name just beneath an affectionate 'Love,' valediction and to complete the note the vet had even drawn a little picture of some flowers tied with a bow beneath that. To the Frei it looked like a scribble, but she wasn't about to nag that of all things. Instead she turned her head from the note and her eyes immediately fell to a shock of cream amongst all that pink.
The right panel of the card was designed so that the one doing the giving could place a sum of money or a check into it without risk of the money falling out mid-opening. Instead of bills or a check, however, tucked inside the slat was a yet another thin item. Just looking at it, Anastacia could tell it was made of plastic instead of paper and without missing a beat she plucked it from its card stock prison. Immediately her brows furrowed as she assessed this new item. It was a thin, cream rectangle with the logo of the Durem mall printed on its front. In the top right hand corner '$100' was printed as well but other than those two things the front of the card was otherwise blank. There was no telling what it was. Anastacia had never seen such a thing before but even with the '$100' looking her in the face, she still wasn't impressed. In fact, she was a little confused and unsure of what this thing was and growing more frustrated with her guardian. Some paper and plastic - that was all she was getting? And she didn't even know what the plastic was! With no ideas coming to her, she was made to go with her last ditch option - ask Zeke.
When the virus Frei looked back up at him, he was still smiling and looking expectant of her reaction. Hers was simple: she was frowning.
"What is this?" Her voice was cool as always, but she could hear her agitation and desire for answers to his game. Did he think this was funny? Until she knew what this was, he had pretty much presented her with trash. Pastel, glittered paper trash filled with plastic trash.
Zeke seemed to not hear the note in his Raevan's voice and instead chuckled at her question. Still learning, he knew, even after one whole year, with more to come.
"It's a gift card!" For all the things he was, Zeke really was no good with presents, even to close friends and family members. When it wasn't something from the heart from him, nine times out of ten the hapless raver would happily go with a gift card on special occasions. To him it was practically the perfect gift! No worries on his end about finding something the person would like and no worries on the receiver's side about getting something they didn't like, want, or need. It had to be one of the best inventions since sliced bread in Zeke's opinion. "You use it at places to buy whatever you want. This one is for the mall, and since it's your first birthday you get a hundred dollars to spend as you like. Cool, huh?"
His smile stretched into a grin. On Anya's end of the couch, her frown slowly settled back into its impassive, neutral expression as Zeke explained. She soaked in this knowledge. One hundred dollars, and it was hers to spend as she wanted, according to Zeke.
Hm...
It was rather amazing how fast her mind went from mentally calling her man a cheapskate to accepting this was a rather decent present, but there it was. She was now the owner of a card with one hundred dollars on it and sitting before a guardian she knew would listen to her every whim. She didn't even have to think about it.
"When are we leaving?"
Zeke laughed again, but then turned a little sheepish. He expected that, of course, but still had to break the bad news to his ward.
"I'd be happy to take you today of course, but-"
"But what?" She was instantly incredulous and even a little mad. He had given her this to use and she wanted to use it! What was stopping them? It clearly wasn't the Lab, so what then? She thought back to Brad and started to glare at her man. His fault for su--
"But it's not only your birthday today," and here he looked sincerely apologetic though it was completely out of his control. "It's also Easter. Since it's a big holiday all the shops are closed; including the mall. I'm sorry, Anya, but we'll have to go another day." His smile had fallen to a tight, thin shadow of its former self. He did want to take her out, he really did and even planned to, but lo and behold the holiday had decided to settle in first.
Her glowering stopped in its tracks, but Anya wasn't happy with the news.
"'If it's not one thing, it's another'." She muttered, crossing her arms across her bosom and pouting. Zeke chuckled at that, and nodded in agreement, but he wasn't the sort of man who was going to let one thing ruin an entire day. He had back up ideas.
"If you wanna go out, Anya, we can still do that. S'a gorgeous day out there and while it might be Easter, your birthday comes first in my books. So what do you say? How about I take you out someplace nice, hm? Anywhere you wanna go." Anastacia cast her eyes on him, showing quite clearly she only had one place on her mind right now.
"You know where I want to go."
"I do, and I'd love to take you, but it's closed for the entire day. I didn't realize Easter fell on your birthday this year, so this was some stroke of dumb luck. Someone out there wants to ruin your day, Anya, but it's not me." He was as sincere as could be, hoping to get the Raevan to believe him. "We can still do whatever you want, we just can't go shopping is all. So do you have any ideas about what you wanna do instead?"
Anastacia kept that same look up and squeezed the tiny plastic card she had in her hands. Zeke's smile grew a little out of amusement - she was a tough nut to crack and still a child under that mature exterior - but there was a touch of wanness to it still. They had to come up with something else and just reschedule. Anastacia had to realize that. Perhaps a Zeke-style compromise was in order.
"How about this? I have to work tomorrow, but after work I'll take you to the mall so the money's not burning too big of a hole in your pocket. How about that?" Zeke started to suck on his lip ring, thinking things through. "I'll pack some clothes so once I'm done with work I can change and we can go right over. No time lost, ya see? I get out at five and the mall doesn't close until eight or nine, so you'll have a good few hours to browse and buy at your leisure. As for today though, we could do all sorts of things." He held up one hand and used the pointer of his opposite hands to tap his fingers as he listed his ideas off.
"We could go to the park for awhile and I could push you on the swings if you want. If you don't like that idea, we could see if the botanical garden is open. Plenty of plants in there and I'm sure some are sick so you could have some exotic cuisine." Zeke stopped to chuckle at that idea, and he muttered 'exotic cuisine' under his breath with an amused shake of his head. "Or, if you don't like that, we could go to the beach! I'm sure you could find a ton of seashells on the sand since no one is out there this early. I'll help you look if you want too. Heck, we can even stop by Vermillion on our way there and get you a cake! But if you don't like that either..." He scratched at his bearded chin, definitely looking thoughtful and searching his head for everything and anything that came to mind. "Well...I guess we could see what's in the paper and go from there." He shrugged, but smiled sweetly. "What do you think Anya?"
Waiting a day still didn't seem like the best idea to Anastacia. She had this money, Zeke said she could spend it, and she wanted to spend it now. On what was a mystery, but she was sure she would find something she liked at the place that was jam-packed with three floors worth of stores. She still wondered how and why one day could close down so much but what was done was done. No matter how much she pouted and huffed, it wouldn't change no matter how much she or Zeke wanted to...And she was certain Zeke wanted it to just as much as she did. He was annoying, but she knew he was also agreeable; especially towards her. The Frei looked down at her hundred dollars worth of plastic and the card she had cast aside in favor of the former. She wasn't getting her exact way, but she could see Zeke was trying to make it so she still had her day and had the most of it. Something like this only came once a year - even if Zeke did cater to her whenever she asked. She knew she had to use this day to its fullest...even if the one thing would most certainly lack. And he had said he would make it up to her tomorrow, hadn't he? She was getting her day and a little more too. She thought about it. It was now...marginally...acceptable.
"All of it."
"What?" Zeke was taken aback, brows raising to really add effect to his surprise. Anya raised her head and looked sternly at her guardian, corners of her lips threatening to lower into a frown.
"I want to do all of it: except the part with the cake." He knew full well she didn't like human food and she didn't want to spend her day with her guardian's attention on anyone but herself. The virus Frei then tilted her chin up and expanded her crown outward to make her decree as regal as she most certainly was, accenting her sharp facial features. "Look in the paper too." If she couldn't do one thing, then she wanted to do all the rest and more to make up for it. If he disagreed, then no dice. She would stay in her room and snub him the rest of the day.
But of course Zeke didn't. Instead he laughed, shook his head again, and got up off the couch.
"So she wishes it, so it shall be!" His declaration came with a toothy grin at his Raevan: a bounce already in his step. This would be an interesting day for sure and hey, even though she was clinging to her original desire, she had been rather easy to agree! A bonus! "Just lemme pour myself a fresh cup of coffee and I'll go through the paper with you, okay? We'll make this one helluva first birthday for you, Anya. Just you an' me!"
Even without giving a smile of her own, Anastacia found that just fine.
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