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 Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:59 am
Well good, he hadn't wanted to have to plead with her. As Claire (Lucy, keep that in mind) set off Aulus fell into step beside her, content to remain silent for the time being. He supposed he had missed being around people on his travels; he'd had Tortie of course but it wasn't the same as human companionship... Humans were nasty, selfish, and bound to betray you eventually. He hadn't forgotten that, he was still wary, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy Claire's amiability while it lasted. Just don't expect it to last long. She wouldn't be this nice forever.
It wasn't long before the car park was in sight again, and as they approached the car it occurred to Aulus to ask; "Ever ridden on a motorbike before?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:31 pm
"Hm? Oh, no, I haven't," she admitted, "though it looks fun." And they were kind of sexy too.. Wait, no they weren't; they were dangerous vehicles, moreso than cars, and she never should ride one. Even if they did look fun.. Well, one little ride couldn't hurt, could it? No, of course not.
It was just a few more moments until they reached the car, which she quickly unlocked and hopped inside. Zeus immediately jumped off her shoulder to sprawl out on the passenger seat before Aulus could reach his door, and had absolutely no intention of moving. "Zeus," Claire shot him a mild glare, "you can't stay there, you know."
"Chu." Of course he could!
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:49 pm
As he was letting Tortie into the back seat, the electric type took his seat, and Aulus gave a snort of amusement, shaking his head. "C'mere pudding-butt," he chided, scooping Zeus up and quickly climbing in before dumping the Pikachu in his lap and buckling up his seatbelt over the mouse pokemon. Honestly he fully expected at least a mild zap for this, but it would be worth it.
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:52 pm
That short phrase made Claire snicker a bit - 'pudding-butt'? Arceus, that was hilarious - though Zeus was obviously far less amused by the name and the actions that followed it. "Chuuu," he growled, squirming against the seatbelt, his cheeks sparking threateningly as Claire started the car and pulled out of the spot, heading towards the outpost.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:57 pm
"Okay, okay," Aulus chuckled, loosening the belt for long enough to release Zeus to his own devices. He didn't have anything more to say right now, but it was still okay. He supposed he could turn on the radio or something but he didn't really feel the need, and they wouldn't be on the road long. Anyway, he didn't know if he and Claire had the same taste in music, and he didn't really want to give her anything extra to tease him about.
In the back seats, Tortie wasn't hugely happy but supposed she couldn't complain. She was out of her pokeball, and she was too big to squeeze in and sit on her human in the front seats. He'd be more grateful to her later, right now he wanted to go for a ride; she was rather looking forward to it too honestly, and as such was willing to put up with being slightly sidelined on the trip there.
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:54 pm
Finally Zeus managed to wriggle free, and for some moments he sat on the scarred man's lap, pouting. For a while it seemed he wouldn't do anything in retaliation, but suddenly his cheeks sparked again and he shot a small zap at the man before jumping into the back with Tortie. It wouldn't really hurt too much if it did manage to hit Aulus, it'd probably just feel like a static shock. On steroids. Either way, he deserved it.
It wasn't long before they reached their destination in the less populated, less savory part of the city, so when Claire parked the car and got out, Zeus hopped up to the front again and clambered up onto her shoulder before she could shut the door.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 2:00 am
"Ow! Son of a -" Aulus shook his hands to try to get rid of the tingling in his fingers the shock had brought on. "Okay," he muttered as he attempted to make his hair look less like a dandelion, “I deserved that, and it was worth it.”
As Claire parked the car and turned off the engine, Aulus twisted around in his chair with Tortie’s pokeball in hand. “Sorry girl,” he said with a slight smile, “I’ll let you back out later for a nice dinner, okay?”
What? What did he think he was – That was as far as the Absol’s thought process got before she was sucked back into her pokeball. Shut away in the darkness, she began to seethe; this was not what was supposed to happen! He had beeter be planning to make this up to her!
Climbing out of the car and closing the door behind him, Aulus cast around at their surroundings. He’d been here once before on the day Claire had recruited him, but he wasn’t familiar enough with the place to figure out where to go. “Do you know where they store people’s possessions?” he asked of his companion. “I just dropped my bike and camera off with a grunt on duty when you brought me here last.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 2:46 am
The shock and Aulus' reaction made Claire chuckle lightly, nodding in agreement. "Yeah you did." Though whether or not it was worth it, she had no idea. Probably.
Okay, as for where to go.. "I'm not sure," she said, brows furrowed as she pulled Zeus' ball out and recalled him. "I don't normally come here.. ever. I didn't come here with a lot, so I didn't need anything stored anywhere. It can't be too hard to find, though..." They could always simply ask someone where it was, after all.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:05 am
"Eh," Aulus shrugged, "I’ll find it. You can wait out here if you want." So saying he set off towards the entrance they'd used last time, keeping his eyes peeled for somebody to interrogate. Unlike some men he had no issue asking for directions when he was lost, provided he could intimidate whoever he was asking just a little bit in the process.
It wasn’t long before he found and unfortunate grunt to ask. Dressed in plain clothes as he was the other Rocket had no idea of his rank, and seemed to assume either equality or superiority thanks to his attitude. In either case the scarred man got the directions he needed and was soon wheeling his bike out into the light of day.
Turning to Claire, he held out his leather jacket and helmet. “Here,” he jerked his head at the items, “jacket will be big but you’ll live, and the helmet should be more or less okay. They didn’t have any spare bike helmets but I got these,” he pulled a large pair of sunglasses out of one pocket, “and this,” he took a bright red bandanna from another. “Should keep the wind out of my face a bit, and I don’t plan to fall off. I’m not going to be doing anything too crazy with a novice passenger, but I thought having proper gear might make you feel more relaxed, and you being more relaxed makes us less likely to have any issues.” Wasn’t that he felt he ought to be looking after her... Well it wasn’t, having her relaxed would keep him much safer than having the jacket and helmet.
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:19 am
At the mention of waiting, she merely shrugged. It didn't bother her in the slightest to wait there or go with him, but when he left she decided to simply wait instead. Thankfully she didn't have to wait very long at all, and he returned with his bike and several items. The items themselves weren't surprising, but what he did with them was. "What?" He was giving the more protective items to her? But why? "Are you sure?" She asked, brows furrowed as she hesitated to take them; not yet. "Wouldn't it be better if you wore them, since you're driving?" Because she certainly wasn't driving, no way.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:32 am
"Well you don't have to wear them if you don't want to," Aulus responded with a scowl, "I just thought I'd offer seen as you've never done this before and might be nervous. Like I say, I want you to be relaxed so if it would make you more relaxed for me to wear them, I will."
He'd expected her to just accept, maybe even to be a bit grateful. He should just give up on expecting things of Claire, she was unpredictable in the extreme. Still, it would have been nice if he’d got more than a confused knitting of the brows for his offer. He’d never let anyone wear his gear before, and the only person who’d ever ridden with him was Tortie. Hu. Ungrateful bint... Well it wasn’t like she knew any of that. She could still have thanked him or something. Feeling more annoyed than he felt he ought to feel Aulus continued to hold out the jacket and helmet, waiting for a decision from miss frowny confused face.
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:44 am
Though she was completely unperturbed by his scowl, she felt the need to apologize. "Oh, no, I appreciate it - I just thought it'd be easier for you to drive," is that what you called it? You didn't really drive a motorcycle, you rode it, but for lack of a better word at that specific moment, 'drive' would have to do, "with that instead. Um.." Though she was a bit nervous - and nervousness wasn't something she liked to admit - so it took another few moments of hesitation before she took the jacket, but nothing else. "I'd feel better if you wore the helmet. Probably a lot better than sunglasses," and it would make her feel better, "and thank you." She still wasn't sure if riding one of the se slender deathbikes was a good idea, but for whatever strange, inexplicable reason, she was starting to get a little excited about the prospect, which grew as she quickly slid on the large jacket. But why? Why was she excited about this?
Unfortunately for her, she still had yet to realize that being the second person on a motorcycle without a side-car meant she'd be forced into extremely close contact with the first person. Why she hadn't realized this fact yet was probably largely due to her thoughts mostly being focused elsewhere, probably still on Lucas. Or attempting to not think of Lucas. Either one.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:02 am
“Oh... Well alright,” Aulus smiled briefly and donned the helmet, flicking up the visor so that he could keep talking to Claire. “The basics of bike riding are pretty easy,” he informed her, “just lean along with me when I do, we won’t be taking any tight corners fast so it should be minimal. We’ll always be leaning in to corners as a heads up. Hm. Right then,” stepping over the bike and setting down in the saddle, Aulus looked up at Claire, “any questions? Ask them now if you’ve got any, I promise not to laugh at you even if I think it's obvious; I've been riding bikes for four about years now so it's all second nature by now.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:12 am
Hmm, was she supposed to leave the jacket unzipped, or not? No, definitely zipped; the wind would blow around it otherwise and just in general cause problems. So, with that in mind, she fumbled with the zipper for a moment or two while he put on the helmet. It was a lot bigger than any normal bike-riding helmet she'd ever seen, but she supposed it had to be. Safety and all that.
She stepped closer and studied the bike while he explained and sat down, and she slowly (finally) had a certain and sudden realization: It seemed... rather close. "Um," she started when he brought up the topic of questions, "where do I sit..?" As far as she could tell, there wasn't really any designated spot... There wasn't on a Pidgeot either, but it felt a lot more natural than she was sure a human-made thing would feel.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:24 am
...Boy did he regret promising not to laugh at her. Thank Gods most of his expression was invisible under the helmet. “Just behind me,” he said with a nod, “lean against me or you’ll mess up the balance.” Mmmh, Claire leaning up against him; that sounded good. Bit of a shame he’d given her that thick jacket really, but on the other hand it would be easier to concentrate with that extra layer. “You can either hang onto my belt or put your arms around my waist,” he went on, “whatever makes you more comfortable.”
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