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Rhys followed her lead since he didn't know exactly where her house was now, eyeing the various houses and their current state, destroyed or not. "Is owning a house out here worth the risk?" he asked while nodding at a home that was completely wrecked.
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Joy mused on this, "Most of the time, yeah. A lot of the houses that recently got damaged was probably when the Legacies did this life-switch thing. I mean, if Halloweeners and Hunters can end up as Horsemen in wherever they were living, it kinduva kinda makes sense that Horsemen could have ended up as Hunters living here." They eventually reached the flat she shared with Kai, "Unless you find living in a basement dungeon dorm fun, mos def try to get a different dorm."
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Rhys listened and considered all of what she said in silence, and frowning slightly. "Creation just really likes to ******** around with us, I guess," he muttered as they came up on her flat. It was nice, he thought as he nodded st her suggestion. "Was thinking of moving upstairs a little later on. I got my eyes open for when rooms open up."
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"You can ask Rep about housing stuff. That's how I got this place, but unless you're a full hunter or specialized, it's gonna be pricey if you plan on living in a house all by yourself. Basically, this is me strongly suggesting you find yourself a room mate." It was so hard for Joy not to have said wife instead. "I mean, if you get one of the smaller places, you'll only need one~" she grinned. "Gimme a minute, I'll getcha a towel. Feel free to fresh up or wash up or something," she added.
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"Rep," he murmured, "I'll..try...and remember that. Thanks. As for roommates," and he paused and was a little surprised at the face that popped up in his mind, though he didn't say anything. They weren't even really anything yet so he figured it was just because they were pretty close already, even if they'd only known each other for a short time. So after the pause he just shrugged. "I'll think about it. The dorms are alright for a guy like me, honestly." And he shrugged again and looked around as they went inside, pretty impressed by what he saw so far. When she spoke again he turned and nodded his thanks before looking down at his shirtless state and sighing, just figuring he could cover up with the towel.
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Joy's return had her tossing Rhys a sizable hand towel while she was wiping herself down with a damp one. She'd changed clothes, or at least a fresh shirt,"Ah, this feels much better." she declared, "I'd offer you actual clothes but I don't think anything I got will fit you. Not without being stretched to hell and back." The grin on her face was teasing as she headed to the fridge. "You game for some rice or you prefer bread to go with your food?" she asked, taking out the ingredients from the fridge and pantry. She had the foresight to defrost the meat what with the replacement oven still not finished being runic'd.
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"Thanks," he said as he caught the towel and started drying himself off. "And no worries, unless you mind shirtless dudes at your table." He grinned and while following her to the kitchen, eyeing the space and giving a nod of approval, then snapped to at her question. "Whichever goes best with that sausage you mentioned earlier." He watched her prep the food with as much expertise as Seren, and he gave an amused huff. "I think Seren would kill for a private kitchen like this at some point. Always having to go to the caf kitchen is a big-a** hassle." He purposely left out the part about usually going there because he was hungry, though. "She been here before?"
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"Shirtless away~" Joy laughed, getting out the appliances that thankfully had not been ruined and needed runicing and cooking as necessary. She wanted to ask him to spill already and it started to sound like he was beginning to, what with bringing up Seren without being prompted. "Natchet," she answered at the question of having brought the younger Sun over, purposely keeping her back to Rhys as she cooked to hide the HUGE grin on her face. It was proving difficult to keep the love team instincts down but damn it, he was not making things easier for her. "I do plan on inviting her over eventually, might be good incentive for her to get promoted sooner. Rise in pay to help get a place of her own and all that. Is she the someone you mentioned?"
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He gave an amused huff and finished up drying off before he took up a post by the counter, watching Joy do her work. It was oddly reminiscent of watching Seren cook, only without the more-than-friends vibe he got these days. The thought had him smiling a bit wider, so it was fine with him that Joy was looking the other way. "With or without incentives she's gonna go up the ranks pretty quick," he replied with a bit of a nod. "Woman is kinda on fire," and there was a pause as he considered that phrase but in a slightly different context, smile a bit brighter before he continued. "But yeah. A private kitchen's just gonna motivate her more, which isn't bad." "As for that last part..." he went on, purposely slow because he honestly didn't want to answer the question until after they ate. After giving it some thought he decided there probably wasn't any harm in saying so sooner, so he eventually nodded. "Yeah, she's the someone. Why so curious, though?"
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Joy couldn't stop herself from letting out the tiniest squeak of delight, before quickly faking a yelp. She rubbed at her arm, pretending that the oil from the sausage had spattered onto her as it cooked. "Hmm? Well, Seren's my very good friend and I one hundred percent believes she mos def deserves to have great things in her life. Like trust worthy squadmates, decent living space, a healthy love life, stuff like that." It was the truth, although she may have left out the part that Joy just loved the idea of Seren and Rhys specifically together. "'Sides, just because I'm all out of love, doesn't mean your nights can't be brighter~" somehow she managed to mash the two songs together as she plated the food.
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The squeak-yelp didn't go unnoticed, but he looked and saw that some oil splattered and he didn't think much more on it since it didn't seem like she'd gotten injured at all. "She does deserve great thing," he followed up, very tempted to go over and have a look at what she was cooking because it smelled good. But no, he stayed put if only because it seemed weird to lean over someone cooking if that someone wasn't Seren. "Not sure I'm it, but guess we'll see?" The mashed together lyrics were done in a way that got a snort out of him, not un-tasteful but also just so cheesy he couldn't deal. "Nights? We hang out together a lot but not at night. 'Cept that one time when she slept over 'cause I convinced her to watch some scary movies."
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Joy set the plate of food down carefully in front of Rhys, her usual cheery expression suddenly serious. "Did anything happen during that sleep over?" she asked with a quirked brow. Her other hand was holding the frying pan and all that she really needed at this point was to be in a frumpy daster and her hair up in curlers and she would be in full Mom Mode. Technically Joy shouldn't be one to judge or worry given Rhys' expressions whenever he was talking about Seren. But when she remembered Seren's worry and confusion and doubt, it was hard not to be protective. This might just be a case of mixed signals or something being lost in translation versus people playing with each other's feelings.
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The plate of food caught his attention more than her question or expression did, really; food was...a weakness he was sure would never come up on the field. But in someone's home? And that someone was a person that he had no issues with? It was fine to let his guard down a bit for food. So his eyes were down at his plate and he was wearing a smile when she asked. "Nothing, unless you count her getting scared a lot?" he eventually answered, looking up at Joy finally. "I let her tuck into me whenever she got scared, but nothing happened, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking."
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That had actually not been the happened that Joy was referring to. She'd been expecting some attempt at distancing and establishing the borders of friendzonia. What Rhys just described very easily fell under He is mos def interested in you, signal him he's good to go! territory. And her confusion over Seren's worry about whether or not Rhys just wanted to stay friends was evident on her face. "Huh," she ended up saying before shrugging, "Well if that's the case, I hope you two manage to not need a sassy best friend to move things along." A beat. A suggestive smirk. A quirk of her brow. All that was missing was Joy literally gesturing to herself with her thumb. "Anyhoo, here is your breakfast, Longsilog~ Longganisa, Sinangag, and Itlog."
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Her confusion confused him, and that probably showed on his face too, however briefly. And then he snorted at the look she was giving about possibly being that sassy friend--and yes, he got that. "Not sure we need one at this point? Maybe a few weeks ago, though." He turned his attention back to his breakfast after she listed the foods, poking a fork into the sausage and giving her a smirk. "I'm guessing that means sausage, egg, and rice? I'll leave the foreign words to you, if that's cool." And with that, he took a bite, a very pleased look taking over his expression before he tried some of the rice and egg. His smile only widened the more he ate, though he did pause at one point for some water. "This...Kai must be livin' it up, dude. ********! Beri gud!" Joy beamed, pleased to hear that her Love Team would soon be an official thing and not something that existed only in her heart of hearts. She didn't think there was any issue in Rhys using terms he was familiar with. "Sure sure, I find longsilong has a nicer sound to it," Joy said, turning back to the stove to finish her own food. "Don't forget to try it with some of the vinegar and garlic." She did glance back at him from time to time, checking up on his reaction and feeling all the warm fuzzies from having successfully fed someone. "Dunno if he is, but he hasn't complained about my cooking yet."
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"Just don't wanna butcher the language," he replied before popping another bite, this time trying garlic and vinegar dip per her suggestion and being pleasantly surprised. He didn't add that he didn't want to potentially embarass himself trying, though. Languages were...not his area of expertise. "He better not unless 'cause it's an allergy or messes up his stomach." Rhys sounded pretty serious, too, but the sight of him popping yet another bite made him seem harmless despite his tone. "Anyway, so what'd you think of the workout? Wanna keep this a regular thing or what?"
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"Aha, I getcha, but it's not like I'm grading you on it or anything. And you're not, like, purposely saying it wrong to be mean or anything naman right?" As someone who had her fair share of linguistic ******** ups, she was definitely forgiving of mistakes made provided the intention was good. "So I hope you'll feel oks to try around me." She was frying up the last of the sausages when he asked for her thoughts on his regiment. "It's a murder course," Joy admitted before she glanced over her shoulder to show Rhys her smirk, "I love it! Mos def gonna keep using it."
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Rhys was already halfway done with his meal while Joy was still cooking hers, so for the sake of actually eating together he slowed down and just listened for now. No water though, since there was a good chance it'd fill him up before he finished his food. "If I ever try, it'll be around you first," he said with a nod. "No promises that I ever will, but yeah." Her answer to his question, coupled with the smirk, caused him to puff up a bit proudly, taking the "murder course" part as quite the compliment. "Sweet! I can put more together for you if you ever need another workout. Do you lift at all or...?"
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A good thing about frying food? They cooked fairly fast, using the same oil she finished up the fried eggs, preferring runny yolks. "Okidoks," she nodded, no sense in pressuring Rhys over something that wasn't really a huge issue. She pulled out a bottle of ketchup from the fridge before she finished plating her own food. "I do a bit of weights? But nothing serious, just those mini-barbells, whatever they're called. I'd be okay with a set too buuuuuut would rather one that I could do by myself. Like, I'm sure the FEAR shields would keep anything from killing me if I ******** up midrep or something, but I don't always have a spotter."
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Once she joined him, Rhys poked at another piece of sausage, lifting it up about halfway to his mouth before he got too lost in thought thinking about potential workouts for her. "I'm sure I can think of something," he finally said before taking the bite and adding some rice and egg to it, too. It really was some good food; new, but very good. "I can teach you the motions first, for lifting barbells and stuff, then you could probably do 'em on your own. You won't kill yourself even without a spotter, unless you aim too high for the weights."
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"Sounds like a good plan!" Joy held her hand up and out, clearly asking for a hi-five from Rhys, "Can I just pay you in food or do you need, like, cash? I think that's how being someone's personal trainer works? That's what my dad told me about his membership at Slimmer's World at least."
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He actually missed high-fives, so with a grin he gave her one before going back to his food. When she brought up payment, he paused and blinked, like he was stumped and confused about the idea. It never occurred to him to "charge" someone for his help; it definitely hadn't when Seren asked, but that was because it already felt like a fair exchange for the food she so often made for him. "Uh..." he tried to start, then eventually shrugged. "Kinda feels wrong to take cash from a workout buddy, so maybe just owe me a favor for now? Not like I'm a professional or anything, anyway. Cool?"
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"Okidoks," Joy agreed to the favor then added, "But it's not the kind of favor where you've got Kate Blanchett on what you ask okie?" before going back to her own food.
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He looked at her, confused yet again. "Kate Blanchett?" he asked, for confirmation. "Did...you work out with before or am I missing something?"
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"Yeah, Kate Blanchett. That latin saying where it means you can do whatever you want?" She continued, completely oblivious to the mangling of the actual phrase.
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It still wasn't ringing any bells, but it didn't sound like she'd worked out with the actress before so he assumed it was some kind of mix-up of wording, which was fine. She explained what she meant anyway, so he just made an "o" with his mouth and nodded. "Gotcha. Don't worry, the stuff I ask for is practical s**t. Still free to say 'no' if it's not reasonable to you, though."
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"Nice naman you," Joy chuckled, "Got any friends you can introduce me to?" It was a half-hearted joke but if Rhys did, Joy wouldn't say no to expanding her social circle.
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He smirked and gave a shrug. "I don't really have 'friends'," he replied. Half-joke or not, the word was just something he never associated with people. Joy? Joy was a buddy, someone to hang out with that he thought was cool. The meaning, at least to him, didn't have the same weight as the word "friend" did.
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"Awww, you mean we're not friends?" She pouted before continuing to dig into her food, "You're lucky I like feeding peeps in general, otherwise I might have to declare I only feed friends." The smirk she gave him was teasing, but after that "Kate Blanchette" nonsense maybe a clarification was in order.
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He gave a half-hearted smile and shrugged. "We're buddies. Different things in my head, but you're cool so I got'chu." It was something he preferred to not explain, but if she asked he would. It was hard to find people he liked hanging out with on the island, so getting the boot because he didn't want to explain his word preference would be a stupid thing to do.
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"Ooooh okay, sorta like how we would differentiate a regular old kaibigan from a kabarkada. I gotcha," Joy nodded in understanding. Feeling pleased that her social circle was getting bigger (finally) and ignoring the disdainful sneer that Bert was projecting at her in the back of her her mind.
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Despite not understanding the words she used to parallel his thoughts, he smiled rather appreciatively at her nod, relieved that he didn't have to explain after all. It looked like they were about done, though, so he tapped the table. "So breakfast was ********' awesome, thanks. Should probably go hit the showers though. We good, or...?"
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"You're very welcome! Thanks for that workout routine. Will mos def be using that until it stops killing me, then maybe I'll come back with grilled offerings for another session," Joy laughed, walking him to the door.
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