|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2016 11:54 am
who: Zeke, Anya, and Nell where: Zeke's house when: early afternoon After she had captured a soul and returned it and the essence back to the Lab, she had done her best to try and relax and calm down from the whole ordeal, and part of that involved doing her best to not obsess over the raevan that was going to be showing up in her life soon. That hadn't lasted too long. By the time she had caught up on her lost sleep and shook off the remaining nerves that the hag stone had given her she found her thoughts constantly returning to the essence, the raevan, and the Lab as a whole. Setting up the house and their room gave her some measure of distraction to keep her from overthinking about things, but meeting other guardians and raevans only seemed to heighten her impatience. And the more impatient she got, the more worried she became that she wasn't prepared in the slightest to deal with a raevan of her own. But at least now she knew people she could pester with questions. A quick glance at the contact list and a short text conversation later and she had another meeting set up with Zeke, and he mentioned that she would probably meet his raevan as well. The drive out to his place was relatively uneventful, save for a bit of a detour she had to take when her GPS told her to turn down the wrong street, but soon she found herself pulling up to a rather impressive house. She had to pull a generously oversized sweater over the simple floral dress she wore before stepping out into the chill air, giving herself a quick once-over to make sure nothing was too out of place before stepping up to the front door and ringing the doorbell.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2016 10:04 pm
Zeke had been all a-flutter since getting that text from Nell. Anya had watched him light up considerably from the first chime of his phone to the last, upon which he had taken to the kitchen to see what could be done about a light lunch for himself and their soon-to-arrive guest. Brad, despite having to be on his way to a meeting to see about another architect job, was happy to provide some additional culinary prowess to make a fine assortment of sandwiches that were sure to wow even the pickiest of taste buds. The spider queen thought the spread was perhaps a little too much for just two people but had kept mum while watching the two men all but dance around each other in the kitchen. Besides, even if she had said a word or two there would have been no stopping them. They both lived for excess in the 'feeding others' department and were both more than happy to partake in any leftovers thereafter.
"Coming!" The doorbell echoed through the house and Zeke all but bellowed the word to be heard over the few short barks that came after it. They were both in the living room; Anya with the first few stitches of a new embroidery project, Zeke nursing a glass of iced tea and filling her in once more on Nell and just who she was until the doorbell rang. Altair had been with them as well but as soon as the doorbell went off so too was she and Zeke was following right after her.
Before the door opened there was a muffled fumbling, a few 'ah ah ah!'s, and a firm "Altair, sit!" that was threaded with the beginnings of laughter. "Good girl!"
The door opened and Zeke's head was turned to look over his shoulder at the fluffiest white furball to ever grace the planet. Like her owner, the Samoyed also appeared to be smiling at the woman at the door and even if she hadn't been fulfilling the nickname of her breed to a T, her tail would still be going the same mile a minute it was anyway. "Hey Nell!"
Like their first meeting, the vet was a splash of several colors in human form. The blue and pink hair was still there (and still just as styled into his trademark mohawk as always), topping a flashy ensemble of bright yellow t-shirt with splatters of purple and orange stars and jeans so red the shade could be argued as firetruck or apple. Even his shoes were outrageous in color - bright blue sneakers trimmed with white and strung with red laces patterned with white stars. On his chest a red coral cornicello hung free, swinging slightly from the vet's motions just before.
"Glad to see you again! C'mon in!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 2:09 pm
The sound of a cheerfully barking dog nearly drowned out Zeke's voice, and she had a brief pang of childlike impulse to just throw business off to the side and play with what seemed to be the happiest and fluffiest dog she had ever seen instead. But that, perhaps could wait until later, and instead she simply offered the dog a chance to sniff her hand and a brief ear-scratch when she was finally let go.
"Hey Zeke! Thanks for taking the time to see me again!" She had been a bit surprised when he had invited her over to his house rather than to the Lab or somewhere nearby, but she was glad for a chance to get out and explore areas of Gaia she wouldn't have a reason to see otherwise. The entrance to his house was given a quick once-over, the interior seeming to be just as impressive as the outside.
Anya, thankfully, was spared the indignity of having to do with two blindingly dressed people at once, though the print of her dress and the few bits of jewelry she wore were probably a bit bigger than what was considered fashionable, and her braids still ended in a pink that rivaled Zeke's hair.
"Seems like life has been treating you well, your place is amazing!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 11:10 pm
When Nell extended her hand Altair of course took that as the okay to get up and greet the stranger. Her movements were all wiggles, giving the hand a hearty sniff and a lick before backing off to let the new woman inside.
"Sorry, she loooooves people," was his apology, even though he was all smiles while saying it. He watched Altair pad just a little ways away, just far enough to let Nell inside but not far enough to say that she had lost interest in her. "I should warn you, you will probably be leaving with a new fur coat."
He offered Nell his hand to shake, laughing as she spoke.
"Well thank you! We enjoy it a lot!" Even in the foyer the condo's first floor had high ceilings and like outside the interior was painted in earthy tones. Here there were the expected bits of this and that - a set of hooks on the wall for coats (a couple of them occupied), a welcome mat to wipe ones feet off on, a few pairs of shoes and boots lined up neatly to the side (some noticeably larger than others), and a small table with a bowl on it for keys to occupy and, hopefully, never get lost from. It was clear Zeke had lived here for awhile as decorated and well loved even the entryway was.
"I'm glad you could come over! I know the Lab would be more professional but it's cold, it's wet, and hey why not?" When their shake ended he gestured for her to go farther inside. "Please, make yourself at home! Can I get you a drink or would you like something to eat? We made some sandwiches in case you haven't had lunch yet although I can try whipping something else up if you'd prefer or--"
"Or you could let her take her coat off, Zeke."
By this point he had walked to where the short span of wall ended and opened up into the home proper when the calm, but poignant voice spoke out. Zeke came to a stop as Anastacia floated into view and hovered next to her man. Between the two, she was clearly the one who knew how to dress herself. The Widow had clothed herself in a billowy sleeved dark green tunic that she had pinned up to keep her jagged ribbon from ruining the hem. She wore scant accessories - a couple rings, a single bracelet, all silver - but perhaps her crown of legs might also seem like some by the way they jutted out of her hair, which she had braided and left to trail down her back and between her massive wings. Zeke looked between her and Nell for a moment, seemingly the fish out of water, before reaching up to rub his neck and chuckle.
"Ah...Yeah. You're right. Sorry, Nell, can I take your coat for you?" He started to reach out to do just that but the realization came crashing down upon him.
"Oh! Wait! Wait! Let me make introductions first!" He whipped the arm he had held out to Nell to Anastacia before bringing it back to Nell. "Anya, this is Nell." A bob of his hand and both it and the arm were back to the Virus Frei again. "Nell, this is Anastacia!"
The spider queen watched the proceedings with a slow shake of her head and a quiet sigh, but did not seem at all ornery about her Guardian's antics.
"Hello, Nell." She let her six-eyed gaze fall upon the woman after the introduction was complete, her expression mild as she looked over this new face and her words carrying the finest of lilts to them upon greeting. She nodded her head as customary and with that nod her crown expanded and moved - not an accessory by any stretch of the word. "It's nice to meet you; welcome to our home."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 7:58 am
"That's alright," she said with a laugh, giving the wiggly dog one final pat before she ran off. "A bit of dog hair never killed anyone!"But she did, at least, try and brush some of it off of her front before returning Zeke's handshake.
At his gesture, she dutifully followed his lead further into his house, head cocked to the side slightly as she listened to the choices being rattled off at her. She started slightly when a new voice butted in, not having noticed the raevan that floated into sight. A slow smile began to spread across her face when she saw Anya, not seeming to pay too much attention to the conversation they were having. Well! If there were any raevans who were impressive to see for the first time (which, in her opinion all of them were, but still) Anya would definitely be one of them.
"A pleasure to meet you too! I've heard so much about you," there was a beat before she added, "Only good things, of course." The pictures Zeke had shown her certainly didn't do her justice, especially the crown of what looked to be spider legs that moved in a rather hypnotizing way. Even though she had only met a handful of raevans in person, it was becoming very clear that there was little in common (physically, at least) between any of them save for the fact that most of them were all floating torsos. And that thought squished any budding ideas she had of what hers might look like. Oh well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 1:19 pm
"I should hope so," was her reply, though her tone and the slight widening of her human eyes seemed to suggest that she was concerned, rather than making a joke. To her side, the vet chuckled. "But Zeke has told me a lot about you too."
"Everything good I assure you," he winked.
"Of course."
She nodded her head again with that confirmation, that mildness before this stranger still so apparent. As if to showcase that, she gestured into the living room and looked pointedly at Nell.
"Would you like to sit down? It's a long drive from Gambino, especially this time of year."
Zeke made a funny noise and when she looked at him, he looked a little funny too. Well...funnier than usual. She arched a brow at him and his weird expression, taking it in for a moment as if waiting for some sort of change before giving up with a shake of her head. The Widow waited no longer from there, floating into the nicely furnished room to her seat, but waited for Nell to follow and take up one of her own before she would 'sit' down again.
"Well I'll be..." He said quietly as Anya floated off, shaking his head himself in wonderment. Raising it back up he smiled at Nell. "Well...Best not keep the lady waiting, as they say! Here, I'll take your coat. You go on and make yourself comfortable and then we can talk about everything you wanted to discuss!"
By what she had said on the phone before coming over, he was sure it was quite a lot!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 8:36 pm
"Good," she said, a mockingly serious tone creeping into her voice. "I'd hate to have to give him a talkin' to," she gave him a playful punch on the shoulder, not quite seeming to notice the bit of silent communication between the raevan and her guardian.
She waved off the mention of the long drive before beginning to shrug out of her jacket. "It wasn't too bad! It was nice to get out of the house for something not work related for once," something that she was still trying to figure out despite the act that she had already been in Gaia for a good six months by now at least. But at least it seemed as if she could broaden her social outings with people at the Lab. It was a start, right?
She turned her coat over to Zeke with a smile of thanks before following in Anya's wake, taking a quick inventory of the available seats before perching on the edge of the couch. Quite a lot indeed, most of it was likely just her overthinking things, but most of her experience caring for people came from small children, not from fully developed people that potentially had some very unsettling abilities, and she'd like to at least see if there was anything she could figure out in advance before they arrived.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 1:25 pm
He laughed at the punch to his arm and continued as he took Nell's coat and went back up the hall.
"As if I have a bad thing to say about anyone! I'm too nice for that!"
Anya couldn't help but nod in agreement at his words, even though it was more in a 'this is my Guardian, I live with this' sort of way. She had never heard him say a negative thing about anyone no matter how bad his day had gone or his experiences had been.
"It's nice to get out of the house period," as Nell sat down, Anya moved her pet project onto the coffee table to make room for the other woman. This included a book filled with photos of flowers, opened to a page filled with dahlias. She set the embroidery and her spool of thread on the open pages then 'sat' on the couch as well, relaxing against a pillow propped up behind her. "Winter kind of puts a damper on that for me. I can't wait for spring."
She hoped February passed by quickly and that March was mild. Freedom to go out when and where she chose was getting close enough to taste now.
"Just another month to go and then--"
"Nell, can I get you a drink?" As if on cue the vet poked his head in with his body angled for the kitchen and the bevvy of beverages they had on hand. "How about you, Anya? Want a cup of hot water?"
"Could I have one?" Her Guardian affirmed with a nod and sunny smile. "Then yes, please."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 12:32 pm
She supposed she was in the same group as Zeke, as she tended to err on the side of niceness when it comes to talking about people (though it was a bit of a different story when she was by herself).
"It looks like it's shaping up to be a warm spring so far, though, so you might be in luck!" While not affected as severely as Anya was, Nell much preferred the heat to the cold and was looking forward to summer with almost as much eagerness as the frei seemed to have. "I'm hoping for an early spring too, can't stand all this cold."
"Oh! Um, water'll be fine, thanks!" Her eye caught on Anya's project as she moved it to the table, and she leaned forwards slightly to get a better view. "This is wonderful! Looks like you've at least figured out how to keep cabin fever at bay," the tips of her fingers twitched slightly as if she wanted to pick the piece of embroidery up for a closer look, but she settled for looking at it from where she was sitting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2016 9:25 pm
Zeke nodded to the request and took off. He could be heard clattering about in the kitchen, digging out the kettle and prepping water for Anya's drink.
"I'm glad to hear that." She noticeably relaxed with Nell's words; there was a similarity shared between them and that was always a good thing when it came to meeting new people. "Neither can I; it goes right through me and I really can't stand it."
Her words were plainly spoken, which could be construed as 'friendly' for those who knew the spider queen well. They did, however, take on softer notes when her guest noticed the work she had not done so well in hiding.
"Thank you," she gestured for Nell to pick it up if she liked. From where Anya was sitting, the other woman's hands looked clean and thus there was no worry of anything getting on the cloth or threads. "I've decided to try focusing on embroidery lately. I can sew and knit and crochet, but I haven't dabbled in embroidery or cross-stitch as much. I'm hoping to amend that."
She had been working on this piece but in her opinion it was still in its infancy. One flower was completed but three more were in various stages of work and leaves still had yet to be added. Even still, she was proud of how well she was doing with it. Plus, as Nell had said, it was a great way to stave off the cabin fever. Knitting and sewing she could do easily now, without much thought. This, however, required focus until she mastered it.
"By the end I'm hoping to have it filled completely, but I don't think I'll stick with the dahlias throughout." She waved a hand over to where the book lay. Dahlias for now, but perhaps roses later. Or daffodils. Irises? She wouldn't know until she found something else that caught her eye. "Do you do anything like that? Or perhaps I should say do you have any hobbies?"
Polite questioning wasn't unseemly, surely. And this woman hadn't given off any vibes that Anya did not favor. Until such a time where that happened, she could give this whole thing a fair shake. She should, right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 4:41 pm
"I haven't gotten used to it yet, where I'm from we don't have much of a winter, so this was a bit much for me," Though the snowball fight at the new year's party was more fun than she cared to admit.
At the gesture from her, she gently picked up the fabric, bringing it closer to her face to look at the stitches closer. She made a quiet noise of acknowledgement as she continued to speak, most of her attention riveted on the embroidery piece. But it was eventually placed carefully back down with a regretful shake of her head. "No, but not for lack of trying. My gramma tried to teach me to to knit more times than I can count, but she eventually said all I was good for was winding the yarn into balls," she admitted with a laugh. "Mostly my hobbies are pretty physical, I go out running a lot when I have nothing else to do, but until I moved here most of my free time was taken up dealing with my family, so I'm kind of trying to find things to fill up my free time now that I'm not home anymore."
There was a slight pause before she added "Mostly I've just been sitting on the beach a lot, nothing too exciting unfortunately! Do you do something else in the summer when you're not all cooped up any more?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 10:18 am
She tilted her head at the mention of a place without much of a winter, as if the notion of such a place existing was foreign or a fairy tale. Anya kept mum about it, not wanting to come off as naive or ignorant in that line of thought to this new face. But in thinking on it, she supposed her cloistered world during the winter was extremely small compared to the rest of it.
"I think it's a bit much for everyone. People say they're stronger for experiencing winter but I've seen plenty of them complain about the cold in the same breath." She found it funny and it showed in her muted way of it. Her lips gave the barest tugs at the corners but her eyes brightened and her crown scuttled about her face.
"Zeke's mom said the same thing to me about him, actually." The hen of a woman had said it was also a good way to keep him still when he was a child. The spider queen hadn't yet tried that out with him herself yet, however. Perhaps one day when he was being especially...Zeke-y.
From the kitchen came the whistle from the kettle and Anya knew it'd only be moments now before the conversation was interrupted by her Guardian.
Best to make the most of the time she had left.
"I can't run yet of course," she gestured to her obvious lack of legs at the topic of jogging and physical activities besides, "but Zeke and Brad do that a lot." She straightened at the mention of the beach, nodding when Nell asked about summertime activities. "I do so many things in summer." She sounded wistful and broke eye contact to look out the window and the lingering wintry grayness outside. She frowned at it.
"I also like going to the beach, but I like looking for shells over anything else. I also like going for walks and window shopping in the city, spending time with my friends, and just...not being inside anymore." The spider queen shrugged. "Zeke and Brad also take me out places; "day trips" they call them. We go everywhere you can probably think of - the beach, of course, the mountains, plenty of festivals..."
"And believe me, we've already got several places in mind already for when it warms up."
Anastacia looked up and Zeke had reappeared, one cup in each hand and a smile still on his face. She considered him and his words mildly, the crown on her head moving slowly at that.
"I look forward to it." His smile grew all the more.
"Sorry for taking so long; I think I was watching the pot a bit too much." He set the ice water down for Nell and the steaming cup down for Anya, making sure to keep it far away from her book and work in case of a spill. He took up the spot he had been sitting in before Nell's arrival and took a sip off his perspiring drink. "I hope you two have been getting along!" By the way he spoke, he was clearly joking. From what he had walked in on, everything was going as swimmingly as could be! His ward, however, shook her head at him, heaving a sigh as she looked at Nell with one of those kinds of expressions.
"Not at all, Zeke. I'm this close to shutting myself up in my room until she leaves." She held her right index finger and thumb a half-inch apart from one another. "She's been terrible company, how dare you bring someone like this into our home?"
Zeke burst out laughing.
Anya almost regretted the sarcasm for how loud he could - and was - being. Almost.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2016 5:36 pm
"Hah, well those people are the first to say that they're melting in the summer, so I guess there's no pleasing everyone." She had been doing her best to not be too obvious about staring at Anya, though the motion from her crown of legs kept drawing her eyes whether she wanted it to or not.
"Well at least you have someone to do that for you," she offered, leaning forwards conspiratorially after glancing at the kitchen. "I think my Gramma used to purposefully tangle her yarn to keep me out of her hair. Might be good to keep in mind, just in case." She sat back with a small wink at the raevan as Zeke came back in, giving him a quiet 'thanks' at the water. "Well it looks like you at least have a lot to look forward to!"
"Might be a welcome break from the miserable hospitality if she does," she added, hiding her smile by taking a sip of the water.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:41 am
"Very true. Some people are just so hard to please!" She gave a roll of her lavender eyes as she put emphasis on the one word, ending with a slow shake of her head. She had decided she rather liked this woman. When Nell leaned forward, Anya followed suit instead of pulling away, interested in what she had to say.
"You should be careful with words like that; they sound like good ideas and I would be so inclined to use them." There was a light in her eyes as she spoke and it kept up after they parted. If Zeke noticed that look when he came in, he wasn't giving anything away.
"Oh goodness me! And here I thought you two would get along swimmingly! Agh! I feel as though you both yanked out my heart and stepped on it. Well...at least one of you stepped on it..." He threw his left hand over his heart and clenched it there, putting on a pained expression before dropping it and winking at the ladies. Anya shook her head at him and his display but could not be annoyed by it even if she tried.
"He can get like this sometimes, I apologize."
"Pfft! Nothing like a little play now and again Anya, c'mon!" He was grinning and once he dropped his hand from his chest he patted both against his thighs with eagerness. "We have fun, don't let that fool you, Nell." This could not have been going better and he was so happy for it!
"But...If I remember right I think you said you had questions for me and Anya, maybe? Don't leave us in suspense now!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 8:01 am
"I won't say a word if you decided to," she said with a laugh, miming zipping her lips closed and tossing an imaginary key over her shoulder. She smiled brightly up at Zeke as he came back, a picture of innocence. Nothing going on here whatsoever, no sir.
"And here I was thinking it was all no-nonsense and business! I must say I am very disappointed!" She clutched at an imaginary strand of pearls at her neck, the whole thing ruined by a snort of laughter. But ah yes, there was business at hand, so she got her thoughts back in order as she idly waved away Anya's apologies.
"Yes! I've mostly talked with other guardians, but I figured it'd be good to get some insight from Raevans, too! I have one coming soon...ish, and I was wondering if you had any suggestions on what to have ready for when they get here?" This last part was directed mostly to Anya, though Zeke's input wouldn't be ignored if he spoke up as well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
