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 Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 11:15 am
Who: Justin and Zeke
When: August 9th, 2014; around noon
Where: Lab 305
Weather: Classic early-August day! Sunny and warm with only chances of rain later in the day.
The files were ready and waiting for him when he showed up at work that morning, along with a sticky note bearing the news that the writer hadn't made the phone calls and asking Zeke to make them himself. He was all too happy to do the task, although when he saw the name on the second folder, the vet decided a more personal reach out than a phone call was necessary. That particular file had been tucked away in its case, and now the vet was waiting for the arrival of the bearer of the name on the first file.
Zeke was certain he had met or at least seen Justin Lindsey at least once before, although there was a struggle to remember just when or where. At any rate, Justin had clearly put in an application here at the Lab and had been chosen to be one of the project's newest Guardians. The phone call Zeke had made had been a chipper one most like the vet, congratulating the other man and giving him the good news all in one conscious stream of words. Before it had come to an end the standard detail had been given - Justin could drop by the Lab any time between opening and closing hours to pick up his so called 'tools of the trade'. From there Zeke had congratulated him again, given an appropriate valediction of 'see you soon!' and hung up.
Now it was all down to the waiting game.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 2:18 pm
By some miracle, Justin walked into the Lab while it was still daylight. In fact, he must have over-hurried, if such a thing was possible: it was only just past noon. His dark hair was still damp from his hurried shower and nothing could've gotten rid of the dark circles under his eyes. But he was here, and that was what mattered. He had figured, in his first, disbelieving state, that to come and get the, his mind stumbled curiously over the words, 'materials of the trade' would be the best step. The sooner he retrieved things, the sooner he could begin preparing for whatever happened next. He knew there was an essence and that, through some crazy science, it turned into a raevan, but he knew nothing about the inbetween. s**t, he needed to clean out of the other bedrooms, too.
Surely they'd brief him today. He wondered if Zeke would be there - the man was brightly colored and oh, so energetic. Justin had recognized the man's voice over the phone right before he dropped it in utter shock. Luckily, the device suffered no cracks. Looking around, he idly spun the ring on his thumb. He'd been here a couple of times to repair things: printers, a computer once. The blue screen of death affected everyone. Today, though, the Lab seemed much more imposing, towering over him brightly. Rolling his shoulders, he breathed deeply, stepped inside, and promptly yawned. Ah yes, the best impression. He was going to give Marina hell for this. But, at the same time, an odd kind of excitement curled in his gut, fanning out like spread feathers. Taking a brief breath, he approached the desk.
"Ah, hi, Zeke. I don't know if you remember me; I'm Justin Lindsey. I, uh, got a call and kind of rushed over." Spin, spin, went his ring as he smiled sheepishly at Zeke.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 3:08 pm
Zeke was rifling through papers in his desk - copies would need to be made of this, that, and one more thing so there would always be extras - when the chime over the door alerted him to Justin's arrival. Upon seeing the man, Zeke immediately remembered where he had seen - and actually met - the other. He stood up, got out from behind the desk, and with a noticeable bounce in his step cleared the space between himself and the technician, smiling widely and holding out his right hand for a shake.
"I do! Took me a bit when I saw your name, but it has been awhile!" The raver laughed openly and lightly, brown eyes damn near glowing with good humor. It had been the Lab's Christmas party where they had been all too briefly introduced. Zeke's hair had still been green and purple then. "Glad to see you got my message! Welcome to the Lab!"
From what he was aware, Justin did some computer stuff for Lab 305 in the past so Zeke wasn't entirely sure if a hearty peal of 'welcome to the Lab!' was really appropriate. However, with the tech support-turned-new Guardian standing before him and all the fun to come from this meeting waiting in the wings, he didn't rightly care. Besides, it was almost tradition, and Zeke was never one to break such sacred things! And speaking of...
"Help yourself to a seat! You know, you look like a guy who just rushed over here!" The older man meant that in only the most playful sense of the phrase. As he spoke he gestured to the two seats positioned in front of his desk, the latter of which was topped with assorted office-related necessities, personal touches of Zeke's own doing (standing out clearly with jarring colors and clashing patterns), and a single cream-tan colored file. It was clear by the readied file that the veterinarian had been waiting and was prepared to get the show on the road, but Zeke did not immediately walk back around to his side where his own chair stood waiting. Lab traditions and common courtesies; two things the raver would never, ever forsake. "Can I get you anything? We have water, coffee, soda...Just name it!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 6:06 pm
Justin's face relaxed into a more natural smile as he took the colorful man's hand. Those words.... "Welcome to the Lab." It was very surreal. He was a little thankful for the surreality, actually, it meant that he wasn't thinking about things too hard - yet. And Justin was nothing if not a worrywart; he over-thought and picked at little things until they seemed sky high and utterly overwhelming. It was a hard habit to kick. With a loud pop, courtesy of Justin's knee, the worried man lowered himself into the empty chair, glancing over at the file curiously.
"Thanks. I-I did rush over here, actually. Guess I was... too excited." Or too afraid I'd chicken out, he thought, and laughed self-consciously. Even he was a little amused by how nervous he was. After all, it wasn't like Justin would be taking home a raevan today. That was for... sometime later. Was it like a baby: nine months and pop? Abruptly, he realized exactly how little he knew about raevans. Well, if the raevan turned out anything like Cruz, he'd certainly never be bored again. He tapped fingers along his thigh and wondered if that would be a good thing. Justin's lips thinned for a second; the green frei had been utterly ridiculous recently...
"Ah, thanks Zeke. I'm good. So, um... what now?" His pale green eyes darted all over the office: from the file to the long hallways to the pink and blue haired man in front of him. "Hey... wasn't your hair green or something at Christmas?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 6:52 pm
Zeke made a funny little noise in the back of his throat at Justin's choice of words and his smile somehow spread farther across his pierced face.
"There's no such thing as 'too excited' in my books!" He gave a wink and with Justin's turn down of his offer, made his way back around to his own seat. Before he sat down, the mention of his hair made the vet chuckle. He reached up and twirled a blue and pink bang around his left pointer finger, clearly amused. "Green and purple, yeah. But you know I figured on my birthday 'Hell I'm turning thirty, let's finally change this up a bit!'"
His laughter was immediate and warm, plonking himself down hard enough that the wheeled office chair went back a few inches. Scooching up by the heels of his sneakers, the vet momentarily rested his arms loosely on the desk before him before reaching out to tap the manilla folder. The item in question was innocent enough; crisp and new but also thin enough to appear empty. Only a peek of paper could be seen between its covers and on the tab that stuck out for easy identification was the name 'Justin Lindsey' with a slash and a blank space thereafter.
"'What now' is...actually not this!" Zeke let the moment sink in, pushing the folder off to the side with a grand sweep of his bracelet-laden right arm. In a motion that contradicted his previous scooching, the vet pulled back just a little from his desk in order to reach down and pull up a metal briefcase. Setting it on the desk so the clasps and handle faced Justin, Zeke gave the upward facing side a gentle pat. "The paperwork comes after," was his explanation for the dismissal of the folder. "And this baby here is actually kinda second in line. First thing that's first is this: congratulations, Justin! After your application was reviewed by the staff here at the Lab, you were chosen to become a Guardian to a future Raevan. In here," and instead of patting the case a second time, Zeke did one better and stood up before bending over the case to unlatch the locks, "are two of the three things you need to make a Raevan."
With long-practiced deftness, the clasps were freed with two simultaneous and rather loud clacks. Even after all the times he'd heard the sound before, the sound still made Zeke flinch just a little. Sometimes he thought the damn things broke off because of it! From the moment the locks were undone the vet wasted no time at all to reveal the contents inside. Pulling the top half free from its other, the light both from the overhead fluorescents and the sun streaming in through the lobby's windows made sure no detail of the two things was missed. The first item was a small vial stopped up with a simple brown cork. Inside the glass - though one might think not quite so contained, thanks to the darkness emanating out past its confinement - was a brightly glowing blue...something, no bigger than a pinhead, floating in a mass of swirling blackness. Beside it, much larger in size and perhaps the odder looking of the two in some respects, was a bulbous orb of glass topped with a conical metal handle. Unlike it's counterpart, the glass orb was empty, but between it and the metal contraption was a multicolored cloth bearing two different blues, a pretty green, and an almost bronze orange to offset the cooler colors. If Zeke had been smiling before, his expression was absolutely luminous now, looking between Justin and the two revealed something-or-others with delight and yet something in the vein of expectancy.
"Say hello to your Fel Essence and Soul Glass, Justin!"
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Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 7:00 am
"What? You're seriously thirty? Must be the hair, but I had always pegged you for a fresh outta college type." Justin smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners. Zeke was definitely a good choice for a receptionist, or whatever the position was called. He was charming and enthusiatic, with a way about him that set people at ease. Justin had heard he was a guardian as well, although he had never met the raevan. What percentage of the population of Gambino had assisted in raevan-rearing? Judging from the turnout at the Lab-hosted parties he'd been to, Justin guessed that a lot of people had some sort of passing connection. It was just like six degrees to Kevin Bacon.
The thunk of a metal briefcase hitting Zeke's desk brought Justin out of his thoughts. For the shortest second, Justin held the mental image of someone grabbing it and running, pursuant by spy music. Very Bond-like. The loud noises of the metal case popping open made Justin jerk in surprise. A little embarrassed, he ran one hand through his mussed hair and peered into the case. an empty bottle - the fabric marked with beautiful blues and greens and golds that vaguely reminded him of his childhood. And, to the side of that, a vial. The vial was fascinating. Something very like the light of the moon glowed within a swirling void. It seemed to suck the light from the space around it, concentrate it, swallow it to a pinprick. His hand reached out to touch it but only felt the cold of glass. Justin didn't know what he'd expected.
"It looks like a moon..." he said wonderingly. Blinking, he looked back up at Zeke. Justin cleared his throat and spoke again, this time in a more normal tone of voice, although his eyes were still round: "So, I, uh, know almost next to nothing about this. I mean, I gather that the glowy out-of-a-video-game thing is the essence - what is it, by the way? And that means the clear one is a soul thinger. D-do I have to kill something or does this have a soul already in it?" He made a face; it certainly didn't look like it was filled with anything. Justin would rather avoid killing something if he could. He'd signed up to become a guardian, not an assassin, he thought dramatically.
"Wait... you said three things? What's the third? An incubator?" Justin had a sneaking suspicion that the third thing possibly involved that empty bottle and some sort of elbow grease. He didn't remember any sort of murderous fine print on the application. Oh man, what had he gotten into?
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 10:59 am
"Oh I've been outta college for ages. I guess I got lucky; I'm aging like wine rather than milk." Amusement saturated his voice, cocking his head playfully as he made his statement. He knew full well he was damn youthful in the face, even if laugh lines and crows feet were just starting to make their subtle marks. Naturally his zany appearance and zest for life and everything in it only helped to make him seem like some wide-eyed college kid, but no, he was certainly thirty now and for a whole 'nother year.
As Justin viewed the contents inside, Zeke kept a keen eye on the other man, watching and waiting for anything and everything to come from the reveal. This continued even as he set the top half of the case on the desk and sat back down, sitting drawn tight like a bowstring on the edge of his seat. The awed, wondering remark about the Essence made Zeke chuckle and nod in agreement. The Essence was a blue pinhead of light glowing in a mass of darkness. Unlike the moon, the Essence was something much more close to home in truth - a fish scale from some sea beast eking out a life in the high pressure waters way down deep below the surface. Then again, the very bottom of the ocean was quite alien and as seemingly as far away as the moon itself, wasn't it?
Justin's throat clearing dragged the vet out of his idle musings but instead of having to catch up, Zeke was well-practiced and thus right on the ball. The notion that the guy was wholly unfamiliar with the process wasn't unsurprising. After all, many people knew of Raevans in some way, shape, or form, but the process that went into making one was something of a trade secret. Luckily for anyone and everyone who walked into the Lab, Zeke was well versed and something of a pro at that very secret at this point.
"That's right, that's your Essence. Feel free to take it out of the case, by the way." The tech guy's wide-eyed expression was endearing and hilarious at the same time. "It's called..." Here the vet reached over to check the name, opening the folder and finding the name instantly. "Independent Bioluminescence. A.K.A: The Mouthful."
Zeke smiled widely, chuckling at his own joke. As he pulled his hand from the folder's crisp cover, he grazed his fingers over the Soul Glass, nodding to Justin's guess.
"The Soul Glass, you've got it right." The bulb of the bigger item was cool to the touch and the cloth was soft, yet also crisp as if freshly dyed. When Justin asked about killing something to fill it, Zeke leaned forward in order to heft the weighty half of the dynamic duo out of its slot in the case. To him it was familiar, almost comfortable in in his hands. Judging by the look on Justin's face, it wasn't about to be that way for him.
"No, it's empty, and yes, you will have to fill it." Zeke's smile waned, though he did not fall into a look of thin lipped severity. Instead the vet looked mild and ready to impart the necessary information. "In order to make a Raevan you need only two things in truth: an Essence," he tipped his left hand toward the vial, "and a soul. Though given the line of procession, the soul is third, hence three things."
He hoped that wasn't confusing.
"A soul is something that comes from anything not man-made. Animals, plants, people, even rocks have souls and the Soul Glass is a container for one. And...Yeah you hit the nail on the head - in order to collect the soul, the thing the Soul Glass is near has to die."
No matter who it was sitting before him, whenever Zeke outed that part of the process, he always subconsciously braced himself for any retaliation or outcry. He would be the first to admit it wasn't the greatest circumstance that came with the role of Guardianship, but it was what it was and what had to be done. At the very least, he would always try to soften the blow.
"Of course, I'm not saying YOU have to kill something. There are plenty of Raevans out there who came from souls of things that their Guardians stumbled across when already dead or dying and wanted to give another chance at life. You also don't have to go for a living thing like an animal or a plant. Like I said, rocks and gems have souls and can be used."
He thought of Revontulet in particular. "We actually have a Frei right now whose soul came from a stone."
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 6:20 pm
Despite being worried about the possibility of becoming a murderer, h e was utterly fascinated by the essence. "Indepen- ********, man. Biolum." At Zeke's prompting, he had lifted it free from the case, cradling it carefully in one broad palm. The vial felt delicate, as thought he might break it with an ill-timed sneeze (unlikely, Justin was sure the Lab made things sturdier than that), and neither particularly cold nor hot. Justin frowned; if he was dredging up hazy memories of high school biology correctly, bioluminescence gave off light, but no heat. He supposed it was a good thing - he wouldn't have to worry about the vial somehow setting things on fire when he wasn't looking. Idly, he wondered if he were to set the vial near a lamp, would it absorb the light? Justin could see now it was no moon, and more like a very tiny scale. But still, the glow, the fragile beauty of it... it reminded him of gentle moonlight.
His pale green eyes looked up as Zeke continued talking about souls. "Even rocks, huh?" But it had to die, whatever it was. There was no life without consequence. But, was it worth it? Could a person decide which life was better - whether to allow an animal it's own life or to give a raevan precedence... It was a moral whirl inside his head. Justin was silent for long moments as he thought. He really, really would rather not kill anything at all. The very thought of it made his palms sweat and the walls lean in on him. He took a deep breath.
"I guess," he said heavily, shoving one hand through his hair. "That if it's already dying, it's like reincarnation. And that can be... alright. As for a frei with stone... uh, I think I met him. Big, big hands, right?" A frei had kissed him at the Lab potluck a long while back. Ugh, Justin felt himself flush at the awkward memory. Sure, it had been an utterly chaste, not-even-on-the-lips type of kiss, but the raevan had blushed, which had made Justin blush, and everyone had been watching... He waved the memory away, coughing awkwardly.
"Uh, ignoring the soul bit for now, because honestly, if I think about it anymore my heads gonna pop-" Or he would just run out of the Lab, screeching... "What do I need to do afterwards? Do I need to be worried about breaking either of these things? What's up with the cloth on the soul catcher anyway?" Once Justin stopped dwelling on the moral obligations of soul-stealing, questions poured out of him like water down a hill.
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 5:03 pm
"Even rocks." He nodded to affirm the statement, but the action quickly became a shake of the head and Zeke's smile returned. "Actually the one I'm talking about is a girl. Her name is Revontulet; her soul is a moonstone. If you're talking about Iorek, his soul is a gargoyle. Close, but no cigar." It wasn't hard to piece together who Justin meant - Iorek was the only Raevan he knew with such a noticeable characteristic. He was mildly surprised that Justin had seen the Gargoyle so recently. Zeke hadn't seen hide nor hair of the burly Frei since last summer, and that meeting had not ended on a pleasant note.
Justin pushed the soul and its unhappy origins aside - not that the vet could blame him, it was a lot to digest in one sitting - and Zeke returned to being the lighter, easier going man he naturally was. Chuckling audibly, the vet set the Soul Glass down and removed the case from the desk. This was a temporary situation, as Zeke would offer Justin the chance to take the case with him before he left. Once it was set aside, Zeke easily got back to brass tax.
"Well, after you catch a soul you'll return the bottle and the vial to us. Once we get them back, we'll start the process of making them into a Raevan." His thoughts drifted to the two tanks occupied by developing Frei as they spoke. Duncan's Pomegranate had slowed her growth in recent weeks and Ronan's Bat hadn't even formed his or her chest yet. With Justin and the Guardian he would be meeting with later, soon almost all of the tanks would be occupied all at once. It would be amazing to see. "Don't worry about them breaking - they're sturdier than they look. Dr. Kyou put a lot of work into the bottles and the vials so they'd be all but unbreakable. Just don't uncork the Essence, that's the only 'mundane' thing about the container."
The cork had been treated and magicked for the very nature of some Essences but at the end of the day it was just a simple stopper. It was certainly jammed up tight though; pulling it out would take a lot of effort on Justin's part if he tried.
When the other man asked about the cloth encircling part of the Soul Glass, Zeke reached over and purposely turned the bottle over so that the prettily dyed fabric was face up so both of them could see it. For a moment the vet's smile turned sheepish and apologetic, lingering as he spoke.
"It actually has to do with the soul," he said, eying the Indian man to gauge him before continuing. "See souls are actually kind of color coded. A red thing, like a ruby, has a red soul. A blue thing, like a blue jay, has a blue soul and so on and so forth. The cloth here is kind of like a limiter, so that the bottle doesn't go hog wild and try to suck up just anything." Zeke eased his grip on the Soul Glass' handle and the bottle wobbled, but stayed cloth side up. "Your cloth is blue, green, and kind of orangey-bronze. So you are actually a bit more free as to what you can capture. It could be something blue, something green, something blue and green, or even a mix of all three colors if you happen to find something like that."
Immediately his mind went to stones and gems and metals that could fit the bill for any of those criteria should Justin ask for a springboard. Sapphires, emeralds, and topaz were first in line, followed by bronze, copper, and even lapis lazuli. The only problem with metals and gems was that only raw metals and stones could be used. He didn't know why, but those tampered with by human hands were null and void. Raw gems were sure to be hard to come by, at least when one figured Durem's annual gem show wouldn't be around for a couple more months at least. Zeke also doubted that any jeweler would be happy to just turn over such a precious resource "for science" so barring the former thing, if Justin wanted a jewel he'd have to find a natural source.
"So if you have any pets at home, they'll be fine. I mean, they're probably gonna be leery around the bottle - we've noticed that happens a lot with animals, what with the whole 'sixth sense' deal and all - but so long as they don't match the cloth colors, you won't have to worry about waking up one morning and finding the bottle filled up next to them."
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 4:58 pm
Justin filed that tidbit about Iorek away. It would be interesting, he thought, to meet and try to guess raevan's essences or souls. But... would that be considered rude? He thought it might be unfortunately akin to people who would pester him about if he, a man clearly of mostly Indian descent, were from Durem originally. Justin was born and raised in the suburbs of Durem, but still, people were persistent. But where are you -really- from? Best not to play a guessing game with raevans, then.
Shaking his head, he turned his pale eyes once more to the soul bottle. "I see. Well, as long as it doesn't want my snake, I guess I'm alright with it. I, uh... won't go out looking for things to kill probably. I guess a soul will kind of come to me.... maybe. Or I'll toss it at pieces of rock until something happens." The idea of the bottle sucking out Monty's soul was incredibly disturbing, but a rock - that he could do. Justin almost chuckled until he realized how his last sentence could have come off. He waved his hand dismissively in front of his face.
"N-not that I'm going to go chuck the bottle at cliff sides or anything! Ah, that sounded weird..." He trailed off uncomfortably. His fingers traced along the length of the vial idly. "Ah, anyway, do I just bring this back to you when it's uh, filled, or...." Zeke was being beyond helpful which was a huge relief. The guy needed a raise or something, if he had to deal with dumb people like himself all day, Justin thought.
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2014 9:26 pm
"Your snake should be fine, but just to be safe, don't leave the bottle lying around near his tank." Not knowing what kind of snake Justin owned, Zeke figured it best to just play it safe. For all he knew, the man sitting across from him had a python or a boa and the largely brown color of those types of snakes might be close enough to the cloth's bronze cross pattern for the Soul Glass to trigger. Better safe than sorry and down one beloved pet. At Justin's suggestion of tossing stones at the bottle, the vet chuckled. There was an acceptable idea! "If you do that, just be sure they're raw stones. Anything tampered with by people doesn't set the bottle off, so if you've got a smooth stone, it better be naturally eroded to that finish rather than by some guy's belt sander."
As Justin started to fluster, Zeke couldn't help but laugh. The vet waved his left hand to dismiss the flub as nothing more than what it was, grinning from ear to ear as he did so.
"If it happens to take a flying leap on its own accord, it's all good. Like I said, the bottle's made to be sturdy as all heck." He patted the bulb of the Soul Glass fondly. "Even if you do throw it off a cliff I think you'll end up finding it again with only a scuff or a bit of wear and tear to the cloth. All the same, don't really recommend it."
He winked and withdrew his hand from the bottle again. He would have stretched, but in present company that would be impolite and so the vet instead focused on Justin's newest question. Before he replied, Zeke popped open a drawer on his desk and leafed through the files inside, only to close the drawer with a jut of his pierced lower lip and a soft 'hm'.
"When the bottle is filled you'll return it to us as soon as you can." Zeke turned to the left and slid open another drawer but that one was immediately closed without a similar search before he looked back at Justin. "We're actually going to be trying out this new delivery service to see if that can help us expedite the process. I thought we had some business cards but they must not have come in yet." No big deal, the company's phone number and assorted information had been written down and taped to his monitor. "Reason we're trying this is because it can be a pain in the a** for everyone to try and work around schedules, but I'm always more than happy to do the work around samba if need be."
He grinned again. There was nothing quite like finding out what the Guardian-to-be had caught straight from the horse's mouth, but at the same time this way would be something of a relief for him and allow for not only more hours at his full time job but also some long overdue R and R. It would be nice to be able to set up a weekend trip for himself, Anya, and Brad and not have to idly worry if a Guardian would be looking to return their filled bottle over that same weekend.
"Before you go I'll give you the details for that, but while you're still here do you have anymore questions? If there's anything you wanna know about this or being a Guardian or what you might have to expect, fire away! And I'll also have to get you to sign a few documents while we're at it, but that can be the last thing we worry about, really."
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 12:34 pm
Somehow, Justin thought throwing the soul bottle off of a cliff was a grade A bad idea. Even if Zeke reassured him that the bottle would not be harmed... well, what happened if it cracked, if the soul started leaking out? The result would probably look like something out of some gritty anime with half-human constructs. Which was about 20 different shows, he supposed. He quashed the sudden urge to toss it off an edge anyway; it was just his nerves acting up. There weren't any cliffs around. Discreetly, he wiped his sweaty fingertips on his pants. Justin didn't particularly like the idea of the soul bottle or it cracking or, well, offing something, rock or not, just so his raevan could have a soul.
He nodded his head as Zeke spoke, looking just like a bobble-head doll, eyes likely as vacant. Everything was taking an exceedingly long time to sink in for Justin. It was better this way; he didn't feel quite so panicky. "Nab a soul, chuck it over at you, wait, boom - raevan. Got it, mostly." His smile was a little befuddled, but genuine. "I don't think I have any more questions... You've been pretty thorough, which is a great help. I just, uh, need time to process everything, I guess." Process, followed by freak-out, followed by hurried rush to get ready. Justin knew he had time before a raevan popped up, objectively, but his brain was already whirling in circles and lists of what nexts.
"I guess I'm all ready for signing documents and stuff. Oh, and I guess if you've got it, I'd like to talk to other guardians too. I know some of them already, but-" he shrugged. "-the more the merrier."
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 4:45 pm
Zeke laughed.
"That's the jist of it, yeah!" His eyes twinkled even when his mirth subsided, nodding when Justin spoke of needing time to process everything. It was a lot to take in in a single go and Zeke wasn't going to begrudge him that. "Well, if you're sure, lemme get those papers for you..."
Humming a note, the veterinarian pulled the folder over again, opening it before flipping it around so it faced the other man. Zeke tapped three spots in particular where Justin would have to put down his signature.
"That's where you'll sign after you read it. It's legal jargon mostly, just making sure you understand what you'll be undertaking, Guardian expectations, that sorta thing." Zeke couldn't recite it by heart, but he knew the core details well enough by now. While Justin got to that, the vet chuckled, opening up a drawer on his desk to pull out a stapled set of papers meant just for him. Zeke took a highlighter to the top of it then swapped that out for a pen in order to write down the information for the Lab's new carrier service in the top right hand corner.
"I always make sure to give this to the new Guardians." And a copy would be included for all those who would be receiving their bottles and vials via the post. He passed it to Justin. "This is a list of all the Guardians, their Raevans, and their contact information. The highlighted ones are Lab staff." He tapped his name in particular, Anastacia's right next to it. "A lot of the time questions will pop up after this is all said and done. If any do, you're more than welcome to call or text me. Or email, whichever works best for you."
They could even trade Skype information if Justin preferred that.
"Up in the corner here is the info for that delivery service we're trying. If you prefer not to use it and want to stop by or have me drop by your place to pick it up, just let me know!"
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 9:04 am
The more Justin sat in the Lab, the more he could feel a hundred thousand worries run around his head. The document was scanned carefully, although the words seemed to swim alarmingly in front of his eyes. This was it; it was official. Despite Justin's reluctance, he never thought of simply giving up, of not signing the papaers and just walking out. He might not be the best guardian, but ******** it, he was going to try. And the people at the Lab had clearly seen something in his application that said he was a fit, that he was trustworthy. Swallowing painfully, he signed his name: Justin Rohit Lindsey. Once, twice, thrice, and passed the paper back to Zeke.
He took the other set of papers. "Oh! This will be really helpful, thanks, Zeke. Exactly what I need! I, uh, I know I'm going to need a lot of guidance as I go along, most likely. I'm not exactly the most experienced in chil- uh, raevan-rearing." He stared at the paper as if trying to memorize every name. Of course, justin had already met a few here and there, although the only raevan he'd talked a lot with was Cruz. If his own frei was going to be anything like Cruz, Justin would need a lot of preparation. Mental preparation. Also, he needed to get the guy... or girl... a cellphone, maybe a laptop. Nice things.
"As long as the stuff won't break in transit, I'll probably use the delivery service." He smiled, cheek dimpling. "I don't wanna make your work load dramatically increase. And hmmm, yeah I'll probably just text you if I need you. I talk all day on the phone at work, so it gets tiring. Sometime, I wouldn't mind meeting your raevan. I heard she's quite different from you." Carefully, he stowed the papers in his bag and stood up. Justin had an appointment later today, an odd job for his day off, but it couldn't be rescheduled. He grimaced a little.
"I need to get going, sadly. Uh, do I just... dump the vial and soul bottle in my bag?" It seemed like a bad idea, but he couldn't expect them to just give him that snazzy suitcase. He rolled his shoulders.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 12:52 pm
Zeke sat back as Justin looked over the documents and when the papers were signed and passed back over to him, Zeke gave them a cursory browse - yup, everything was signed where it should be by Justin - signed his own lines and dated them too. Once, twice, and then thrice. They were now official.
"Don't worry about that. You think most of us were experienced in rearing anything when we got into this?" He laughed, tucking the papers into their file and then the file into its slot in his desk drawer. Copies would be made later. "Besides, even if you did, the Lab's got plenty of people to help you along all the same." He gestured to the contact list, grinning from ear to ear.
With the mention of the delivery service being used, Zeke picked up the case from its spot on the floor and set it in between himself and the Indian man, albeit off to the side somewhat so they could both speak without a big hunk of foam-filled metal in their way.
"If that's the case, feel free to take this with you." The case was more than suited for shipping back to the Lab and would assure that the durable Soul Glass and Essence would make it back without so much as a crack. "And texting's fine by me! I keep my phone on all the time, but if I don't respond immediately I'm either at work or charging it. Or sleeping, but I figure you won't be messaging me at 3am." The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled, which continued to spread once more when Justin mentioned Anya. "That's not far from the truth, actually!" Night and day they were, but Justin would be able to find that out for himself. "I'd love for you to meet her. We can set something up sometime for sure!"
Justin stood and Zeke followed, walking around his desk before holding his hand out for a shake.
"I'm glad we finally got a chance to talk longer than a passing moment." When the handshake ended, Zeke crossed the lobby and held the door open for Justin. "Like I said before, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to give me or the Lab a call. We're always here for our Guardians." Zeke beamed and when Justin was outside, gave a parting wave. "See you later, Justin! And congrats again on getting picked!"
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