|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 10:00 am
Shale stretched against the fold-up chair, feeling some bones pop along his legs while he strained the joints. Discussion lasted some hours and Porsha hadn't yet arrived. Their span of topics thinned to a lull, leaving the brothers to lounge in great stretches of silence while they shot the breeze with one another. Slate, from what he could tell, seemed satisfied with Shale's telling. He asked no further questions of it.
There remained a need to discuss with Porsha on Slate's potential residency there. The thought of it entailed further cramping of the apartment, and lacking another bedroom at their disposal meant that Slate was left to sleep on the couch. They could rotate, if the redhead felt the need for it, and Shale himself held no qualms over sleeping on the floor; often he found it more amenable. The final say still fell to Porsha.
"So do you like it here?" Slate peered through the venetian blinds, bending their cheap metal slats for a better view of the city. Mostly he was faced with walls of buildings. Apartments, he guessed, seated above the shops that framed the street. Sometimes he spotted a potted plant sitting in the sill, or heavy fabrics hung to obscure views or keep the apartment cool and dark. In the streets below, clusters of people meandered along the sidewalks, some shopping while others looked en route to another location. Sometimes cars slid out of parallel parking spaces, and other times pulled in right after one that recently vacated. The sheer number of strangers peppering a short stretch of road always fascinated him; he couldn't imagine living around such activity every day. And with the number of youma he encountered, he wondered if large populations weren't such a bad idea.
Shale watched his brother in silence for a time. "I got used to it." In truth, that's all it was - a living adjustment made for his recent recruitment. "You will, too, if you stick around."
"Right." His finger slipped from the blinds, and they righted themselves to even spacing, with only a folding dent to indicate their abuse. "You're an idiot, you know. For following all that s**t. None of it's real. None of it makes sense. Some bullshit about paying homage with what you love... Why did you even buy it?"
But the door chattered before it groaned, and the pair were faced with new company.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 10:39 am
Maybe Slate would notice her on the sidewalk below in all his watching. a bright spot of violet among the masses. Maybe not. It didn't really matter one way or the other. Porsha had lingered in the market long after she' grown tired of being there. It would have been different, probably, if she hadn't been on her own, had someone to talk to, but at a certain point she'd just gotten bored. The brothers had needed time to talk though, so she'd given it to them. She wasn't coming back empty handed though. She'd actually found the stall Shale had mentioned, or one similar. The wears had run to furs and bones. Small items, mostly jewelry, and Porsha had purchased herself a porcupine quill necklace along with a little bone carved raven. She wondered, as she climbed the stares to her apartment, how exactly Shale had managed to explain away his presence in the city without giving away his recruitment into the Negaverse. If he'd lied, she'd have to figure out some why for him to tell her, so she could play along. If he hadn't, there were other things they'd have to worry about. Keys in the door were rattled a little more than they would have normally. A warning, or just an announcement before she let herself in. Pale eyes went immediately to the elder brother, brows arched in question before she turned a friendly smile to the younger. "Has he offered you something to drink yet?" The bag with her purchases was dropped on the island on her way to the fridge to help herself to a bottle of water. The room was tense, a little awkward, but not quite as badly as she'd been expecting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 11:35 am
Slate looked toward the door once he heard Porsha cross the threshold. "A drink? Nah - I think all the hosting rules flew out the window. Hosting's a bit different to us than it is to the city, so it's pretty much on me to ask for anything I need. But! Since we're in Destiny City, a certain someone should stop being a shitty host and offer me something." The younger side-eyed the older, his teasing plainly evident in his features.
"Right." Shale sighed through his nose; he reached the awkward point of rudimentary familiarity with present culture, while losing intimate knowledge of his previous home. What remained was an assortment of factoids and habits that, occasionally, he struggled to separate into either category. "There's water, milk, orange juice, tea, coffee..." His gaze drifted to Porsha to confirm an exhaustive list. He rose, regardless, and crossed to the kitchen for an inevitable choice.
While near to Porsha, he mumbled to her in a low whisper. "Don't let the Negaverse into this." He busied himself with rearranging the remaining water bottles to buy further time without suspicion. "He doesn't know. And I didn't elaborate on how we met. Choose your own story."
"Tea. Definitely tea. Rose tea is best, but I'll take what I can get." The bag came as a surprise - had someone started using plastic bags at the market? It seemed an inevitability; while most objects were wrapped in paper and handed to the customer, there came a time when plastic handles proved an immense convenience. And hadn't they received comments on their lack of bags at the last market conference? The council must've ruled on it before their latest trip, or someone got a little thrifty with a five finger discount. Not like it'd happen any other way - who bought bags when most were given out as a complimentary deal?
His thoughts returned to reality while his brother acquiesced to the request. Slowly he approached the kitchen, carefully toeing around the furnishings as he went. "So, Porsha, how'd you two meet? He didn't accidentally shoot you, did he?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 1:35 pm
Water in hand, Po leaned against the counter beside the refrigerate to watch as the young sibling have the elder a hard time over being a less than stellar host. It made her smile as she cracked the top of her bottle open so she could take a drink. It was all the more amusing considering what she knew of their lives in their village and the general take on entertaining company. To Shale's credit, he was acclimating better than she'd expected, and seemed to be picking up the ins and outs of city life in polite society pretty well. Perhaps not habit, yet, but she saw the effort he made to blend. Honestly, she didn't much mind the mannerisms and habits he'd come with when she'd found him in the woods, but it was better, as agents, not to draw attention to themselves. A glance in her direction had her pausing with the bottle nearly to her lips, and she gave a nod. "There's a couple cans of soda in there as well," she added, tipping the bottle back for a long drink before Shale's lowered voice demanded her full attention. Fingertips brushed his arm before he had a chance to pull away, expression set in amused neutrality as her mind worked furiously to fabricate some believable story for how Shale had come to live in her home and sleep in her bed. They weren't dating, though that probably would have been more believable than any other alternative she could offer. Since Po didn't drink tea often, if at all, she didn't actually know what kind they had, or how to prepare it. That was Shale's ball park, not her's. But she did watch him as he moved around the kitchen; filling the kettle, setting it on the burner, pulling a container from the cupboard she'd honestly never noticed before. A thin brow arched as she peered at it, before Slate pulled her back to him with the very question she had hoped to avoid answering so quickly. Her head turned back to him slowly, eyes following last before she flashed him a smile. "Naw, nothing half that interesting, but wouldn't that be a story, eh?" The joke bought her a second or two as she chuckled to herself, and another drink of water bought a handful more. "I found him," she finally offered, and this, at least, wasn't a lie. "Near the edge of the city. Looked completely lost, distraught, frazzled." Silver eyes rolled to Shale, lingering on him for a moment. "I took pity on him and brought him home with me."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 8:11 am
Shale tossed her a suspicious glance when she cited him as distraught and frazzled, but he busied himself with the tea. The box sat buried in the very back of her pantry, likely left there for some time, and he looked over the box itself for any special preparation instructions. He doubted there were any beyond pour boiling water over the bag, but in the process, he discovered an expiration date on it. Curious, he studied the faded numbers. Oh, so this one expired two years ago. I wonder if it was left here by the previous resident of the apartment. Porsha never favored tea herself. Shale offered no comment on it when he took a bag; since when do dried leaves expire?
"Porsha exaggerates somewhat, but that's most of what it was. Good samarita, with the added catch of 'babysit my cat while I'm gone'. The arrangement worked out fairly well. Establishing myself here seemed like a better idea than trying to return home, so now I'm the resident cat-sitter."
Slate looked between the two with a frown. He leaned against the counter, folding his arms half-on the surface. "Yeah I doubt she exaggerated. You were the one to flip s**t the most whenever something happened to me. Remember that one time when I was being a jackass and fell out of a tree? Broke my arm? You were more worried than I was that I wouldn't be able to play violin anymore."
Restless fingers sought out red lengths of hair that protruded from their cuffs. Idly he braided the ends, though he managed little more than a couple rounds before he ran out of material. "Pretty Good Samaritan of you. Helluva lot different than how we would've reacted. But that's the thing about the city - there's people here that are actually nice to outsiders. Weird, huh? We might as well stone them to death with how we deal with 'em. I dunno if Shale told you, but if you wandered around and found where we lived? Someone would literally come up behind you and gas you out with chloroform, then leave you on the outskirts of the forest where you 'belong'. Sometimes the person that had to do the drugging gets kinda pissed off, because they used the last of the chloroform, and then they have to make it outta bleach and acetone. Gasses out the ancestors. Er, stinks to high heavens. Colloquialisms." He waved the stumble away flippantly. "Bet you Shale didn't tell you he had to do that once, did he?
"Anyway, it's pretty nice of you to let him stay here like this. I hope he earns his keep." Slate spared her a wink.
Shale stayed mostly quiet through the explanation; he found little reason to object beyond his own emotional responses. The tea came to a boil quickly, and he poured it over the bag itself before sliding the mug toward his brother. Afterward, the remaining water was left to sit over an unused burner and he turned the heat element off abruptly. "The decision has yet to be made, but Porsha, would you object to him staying with us?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 6:06 pm
Po feigned innocence in the face of Shale's look, smiling sweetly at him as he went about fixing the tea. The minor correction was met with a soft chuckle, quickly cut off with another long drink from the water, only to resume again as Slate then spoke up to confirm it. It made her grin between the two, a hand resting at the crook of her other arm as she bounced her hips against the counter a time or two. The smile did dim some with the story, features turning thoughtful instead before any lingering humor slipped away completely. She glanced up at Shale, pale eyes lingering on him a moment or two before returning to the younger sibling once again. She had known, about their village. Not specifics, but in general. Shale's involvement was new information, but she honestly wasn't surprised by it, and certainly not bothered. If Slate knew half of what Porsha was really capable off, she wondered what his reaction would be. Surprise, perhaps. Perhaps not. If they did manage to keep Slate out of things she'd likely never know. The cap was returned to her bottle, and she set it on the counter beside her before pulling herself up to sit on the edge. "He cooks as well." This was added idly, that faintly amused smile returning as she tapped her heels against the cabinet doors. As far as Po was concerned Shale did plenty to earn his right to stay there. She turned a glance to the older of the two as he spoke up again, brows raised in question, before looking back to Slate. "Not at all. He can stay as long as he likes."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 7:28 am
"Have you forgotten what grocery store chicken tastes like yet?" Slate cocked a grin.
"I dunno if I'd move in with you guys - no offense to Porsha - but I'm really enjoying being the only kid right now. I mean, I get my pick of the rooms too, you know? Then our parents will do whatever with the remaining one. All the sympathy's pretty sweet too; you can milk it for what it's worth. But, I'll try to hang out here for a few days, then decide. I'm gonna need to go home first, though, because I really don't want to wear the same clothes for days straight and not brush my teeth."
He glanced to his brother while he raised mug to mouth. A sip, and he started speaking before the mug met the countertop surface. "Shale, you remember what we discussed? I need something for the home trip."
Shale nodded in silent agreement. He busied himself with untying a bracelet of primitive quality to toss toward his brother. The throw landed it near his idle mug, displaying its tanned and tattooed leather. "It's not for her."
"O-kay." Slate inspected the bracelet before he tried it on himself, though he disliked how quickly the leather clashed with his typical gold jewelry. Instead the article was slipped into pocket for later use.
"Sounds like that's it, then. Unless Porsha wants to walk me home?" He glanced toward her, but added nothing more. "Shouldn't take me too long, unless something jumps out and mauls me. I'll see what I can bring back, too - they kept most of your stuff since no one knows if you're dead or not, so I'll bring what I can."
After draining the rest of his tea, Slate pushed the mug toward the resident housekeeper. "Alright. Unless there's any objections, I'll be off. See you guys in a bit?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2015 2:01 pm
There, but not there. A part, but not apart. Porsha leaned against her counter and felt superfluous as she sipped her water. In this instance that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, nor did she mind where in another situation she certainly would have. This was about them, not her, and regardless of how much she enjoyed the spot light, she did nothing to draw it's stark spot in her direction. She listened, watching the both of them intently as Slate considered their offer to live in the apartment, and Shale untied a bracelet from his wrist and tossed it over. She didn't speak up again until she was addressed. "I could. I do knew where you live." The smile that followed was wolfish, but her tone was mild enough. Setting her water down, she straightened up as Slate went for the door. "I'm sure you can find your way home jut fine, but I can walk you down to the street, if you like." She didn't know if he'd take her up on that offer, but it had seemed important to make it. Fingertips brushed along Shale's elbow as she went for the door, opening it for the younger brother. A thought occurred to her, a little belatedly, but she spoke up anyways. "Do you have any means to contact each other, if anything were to hold you up?" She'd gotten Shale a phone, Porsha had no way of knowing if Slate had one, and even if he did, she wasn't sure they'd exchanged numbers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 4:36 pm
"Hey, if you're gonna offer." Slate was smart enough to accept; the city had enough weird rumors floating around in accompaniment to the usual knifings and muggings. Destiny City's high mortality rate wasn't exactly a secret, so if Porsha wanted to walk him out, that was fine by him. Hell, she could walk him all the way home if she felt inclined.
Or walk him into bed.
"As for contact? Uh..." Slate tapped fingers to jawline while he indexed his options. Pay phones don't really exist so that's a no-go. Obviously don't have a cell phone when basically no one gets reception out there. Sending letters is kinda pointless except if the count of days doesn't matter. What else, what else... Oh! A snap of his fingers, and Slate finally responded. "There's disposable cell phones I could get. I'd just need one of your numbers. Most of them don't get reception out there cuz it's kinda ******** Egypt but I think AT&T does? I remember Shayla saying something about that. She got a cell phone from her boyfriend in the city. Nothing great, but it actually works out there. She'll tell me."
She's gonna want to come with if I tell her though. Can't have that.
"So, uh, ready when you are."
"Get Porsha's number. She knows the city better and is good about keeping her phone on her. If you're lost or need help, contact her and she'll get in touch with me." Shale watched from his station after Porsha's touch clued him in on her departure. His gaze followed her, the line of her shoulders, until she turned to partially obscure herself with the apartment door.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2015 4:02 pm
"Happy to do it What sort of host would I be otherwise?" Another sweet smile, though she'd aim it back over her shoulder at the elder brother before leaning on the open door as she waited for Slate. She'd give him her number before she left him on the street. When he passed she'd close the door behind them, falling into step at his side as she slid pale fingers into her back pockets, thumbs hooking the belt looks at her hips. "Your brothers right, if you need to get a hold of him it's easier to contact me first." Porsha had other means of contacting the lieutenant, which was fortunate, because the hunter didn't always keep his phone on him. "Though if you do need anything, you can always just call me as well." More or less, it would let her keep an eye on him, keep him safe for his brother. She hoped Slate came to stay with them, at least for a while, because Po had grown accustomed to having Shale around, and she suspected if the younger left, the elder might follow. "If you're looking for disposable phones, there's a store on the corner of Seventh and Freemont that has a large selection. It's a few blocks down." Once upon a time, when she'd first joined the Negaverse, she'd had a pay-as-you-go phone. Kept it, in fact, for years before upgrading to something a little more high tech. Even after Po had started making money in the MMA circuit, even now, she lived like money was still a luxury. It meant her life style was frugal, and her bank account kept growing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 10:03 pm
"I don't think we'll need to contact each other too much." Slate tried to smile, but he lacked the enthusiasm for it. He hoped that Porsha would assume it related to his impending move-in.
How hard could it be to move from point A to point B? He knew the address, and he didn't have much to take with him. The sheer physical work could pose a problem, but Porsha may help with that. He needn't contact Shale over it. And in walking about Destiny City, he noticed an impressive number of physically fit individuals that enjoyed helping others. And how fantastic would it be if he convinced one of those 'terrorists' to carry a box for him? With the way they moved, it'd be there in no time. The thought brightened his spirits so that he might return a legitimate smile to the violet-haired girl at his side.
The thought of obtaining a disposable phone induced in him a childish and bald excitement. Phones received no signal where he lived, so only land lines would suffice; having a cell phone that worked meant more interconnectedness with the small community of relations he might build. He could potentially call Porsha at any point in the city, at any hour of the day, and be able to leave her a message at least. He could order pizza from wherever he stood, or return a call for a job offer, or even make prank calls to random numbers he found in the yellow pages hanging at a defunct phone booth. And that only took into account the calling function - the messaging function entailed an entirely new domain for him.
When they reached the front of the building, beyond the musty lobby where an older man sat and combed absent fingers through his scraggly beard, Slate glanced at the placard outside the automatic locking doors. Porsha's name read next to a room number, giving him the exact apartment should he return without announcement.
"Well, if you got your number handy, then I guess I'll go bum my a** down to the cell phone place and pick one up. Then I guess it's just heading back home and giving my mom this creepy thing," he finished, gesturing to the tattooed bracelet. "So, guess this is goodbye for now, huh?" After receiving the number, he would start backward a few paces, as if uncertain of this course of action, and then finally about face to the sidewalks themselves.
He knew it as a commitment, but remained uncertain if he liked it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 2:45 pm
Porsha kept close, smiling at the old man in the lobby as they passed him. Hand coming up in a little wave over her shoulder before opening the door for Slate, and leaning against it. "Probably not, but just in case." Wouldn't do to have anything happen to the younger brother now that they'd found him. When he mentioned her number she'd draw a pen from her pocket, tapping the plunger end against her thigh to pop the top. Pale fingers caught his hand, drawing it close and flipping it palm up so she could write her number on it. "There you go." The pen disappeared again. "When you get the phone shoot me a text so I'll have your number." Then he was backing away, down the steps and along the sidewalk. She watched him, cat like, before wiggling fingers at him in a parting wave. "See you soon."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
