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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:18 pm
Encke was exhausted.
He stared down at the side of his house, laying his body against the roof. Couldn't he just ... meld into the house? He didn't feel like dealing with this.
After being discovered by Richard, coughing, bleeding, injured, Encke had made the decision to stop coming into the house through the front door. It might have seemed like a silly way to deal with things, but there were a lot of rooms in this damn house. He loved the space, but there was too much space in some ways. It was fine, though, in situations like these. It meant that he could just go to a missing brother's room, pop their window open, and leave that way. Richard wouldn't notice. His parents didn't notice, either, because the rooms were upstairs.
He still had to make the effort to get back in through the window, though. After a hard day of capturing a starseed, nearly having his own starseed captured, and beating off some youma, that was just ... annoying. It was really the last thing Encke wanted to do when he just wanted to go home, curl up next to Richard, and fall the ******** to sleep.
Maybe he could just ... take a nap on the roof.
Encke pinched his nose. That was a worse idea. By the time he woke up, he'd be as red as a tomato. And he was fairly sure at least one of the Bells would question how the hell Ignacio had gotten himself onto the roof. Or why he had.
He should just get it over with.
Encke swung around and edged off the roof, grabbing onto the edge of it with his fingertips. After a moment to calculate how quickly he would need to grab it, Encke let go of the edge of the roof and let himself fall down to the window ledge, grabbing onto it quickly and using it to hoist himself up into the window.
Once he was at least partially in, he let his powered form melt away, just hanging out as Ignacio.
An Ignacio that had made a fatal error.
"Luz! Hi Luz." Right, they had a dog now. s**t.
Luz started barking. Loudly. Excitedly. Maybe confusedly? She had definitely just seen him turn from one person into another.
"Shhhh!"
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:21 pm
Across the second floor, Richard groaned softly. Still fighting waking up, fighting being dragged from the vestiges of dreaming, he dragged his pillow out from under his head to instead lay it over his head, covering his ears. That muffled most of Luz's barking, but not all of it. Loathe to move from the warmth of the bed, he hoped that she would soon stop barking. Maybe it had been a... night squirrel, or something. A cat outside? An owl in a tree near a window?
When Luz's barking didn't stop, Richard heaved a sigh. Someone was going to have to go get her before she woke up his parents. And maybe something was up, because she hadn't done this before. Granted, they hadn't had her very long, but Richard was pretty sure they would've known by now if she was one of those chronic barking types. Was there a home invader, maybe? Richard wasn't sure--she didn't sound frantic, but he'd never had a dog before, so could he really be sure what that would sound like?
"Ig-" Richard was interrupted by a wide, jaw-cracking yawn, "-nacio... Luz is barking..." As if Ignacio could sleep through it. Richard was usually the heavier sleeper of the two, so if he was awake, she had to have worken up Ignacio. "Hey, hey...." He patted a hand out onto the bed, puzzled initially when he touched the bedsheet and not Ignacio's shoulder. Richard patted his hand on the sheet a couple more times as it processed that Ignacio was not beside him and, judging by the fabric coolness, hadn't been for a couple hours at least.
He didn't come all the way awake at once, but it did motivate him to sit up and go see what was going on. Squinting out into the darkness, he decided to forgo his glasses for the time being. It was only Luz barking, so he shouldn't need them... right? He could see well enough, he supposed. Not well enough to drive, probably, but certainly well enough to stumble out of bed, out of the room, down the hall, and toward the barking.
"Luz!" His voice was hoarse from sleep, and clearing his throat didn't really help. He needed a drink of water, honestly... "Luz! Shh!" Richard stumbled down the hall toward what used to be Tammer's room, since that was the one he was pretty sure Luz was in. Grumbling as he nearly tripped over the sagging cuff of one of the legs of his pajama pants, he squinted into the darkness toward his destination. He should honestly turn on a hall light or something, before he tripped and fell down the stairs. That would definitely wake his parents.
He came around to the room Luz was in--he was certain that's where she was now--and slapped ineffectually at the wall next to the door, managing to miss the light switch every time. Giving that up with another grumble, he hissed her name, "Luz!" hoping to get her attention and get her to quiet down. What the hell was she even barking at? Why was the window open? Squinting into the room as his brain gradually came back online--and made him realize he should've brought his glasses after all--he noticed someone else there. "Mm, Ignacio?"
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:26 pm
s**t.
Richard sounded groggy, so maybe he just ... wouldn't notice anything weird about this. Ignacio briefly had the thought of maybe just bumping himself back out the window and letting himself fall to the ground; he had relatively good balance and faster healing than the average bear he would be fine, right?
Of course, Richard would probably be even more suspicious if Ignacio scrambled out the window and maybe broke something. Maybe he should just pull himself the rest of the way in. Besides, his arms were starting to hurt. He pushed himself further into the window, only to have Luz run closer to him.
And bark in his face.
"Shh, shh! It's me, Ignacio, okay--"
He was interrupted by the sounds of slapping against the wall, and Richard tried to uselessly get the light on. That was almost a blessing because it meant that Richard couldn't actually see him, but unfortunately, Richard wasn't an idiot, and he quickly named that Ignacio was there. s**t, s**t, s**t--
"Uh, hi, Arra," offered Ignacio, with a nervous laugh. "Could you like, uhm, get Luz to uhm--"
She barked at him again, bouncing around him this time.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:31 pm
What the actual a**-
Why was Ignacio kneeling...? On the floor...? Or.. wait was he... Why was his face all the way down there? Richard would have definitely been more suspicious to see Ignacio trust fall his way out of the window at that point, so perhaps it was a good thing he didn't do that. He managed to hear Ignacio between barks, reflexively obliging without thinking too hard about it.
"Luz! Come here! Sit!" He stepped closer before hissing something unfit for polite company when he nearly tripped over the other leg of his pajama pants. Arms wind-milling, he caught himself with a thud of his palm on the wall. He held still for a moment as he caught his breath from the momentary feeling of being about to die horribly. Leaning on the wall, he pulled the other side of his pants up before retying them so they'd stop trying to fall off and murder him.
This is what he got for accepting Constantine's hand-me-downs, honestly...
Satisfied he wasn't going to be visiting the hospital due to pants-related injuries, Richard looked towards the window that Ignacio was... Currently... Dangling out of...
What the actual a**...?
"Ignacio why are you in the window?"
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:31 pm
Ignacio was relieved when Luz's obedience of her owners was more important than her continuing to bark at the weird Ignacio-but-before-not-Ignacio in the window, and she trotted over to Richard and plopped herself down at his side, wagging her tail. She still seemed to be keeping a close eye on Ignacio, though, her eyes following his every move as he attempted to squirm himself into the house before Richard made any comments on it.
His attempts were interrupted when he watched Richard nearly collapse on the ground, quite nearly felled by Constantine's pants again. There was a moment that he considered teasing Richard as a distraction from his current state, but the last thing he needed was for Richard to take a closer look at what he was doing, legs hanging out the window awkwardly.
This sucked.
Ignacio couldn't help glaring at their dog while she tilted her head and barked at him once more.
He knew it was coming eventually, and it seemed that Richard's brain finally came back online enough to ask the vital question: just what was Ignacio doing in the window? It was an excellent question, admittedly. A question he wasn't really sure how to answer. There weren't really any good answers to being discovered hanging out a window in the a** hours of the morning. It was the kind of thing one saw in movies where someone was trying to cheat, or definitely something a lot less savory than trying to save the city.
He gulped.
Quickly, his mind came up with the brilliant cover of, "It seemed like a good idea at the time?" Because it did, honestly, even though it clearly did not anymore. Ignacio managed to get himself the rest of the way through the window, collapsing on the carpet of Tammer's room in a heap. What a mess this was...
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:32 pm
Richard squinted at Ignacio some more, not convinced but also still not awake enough to articulate why. "How... did you even get up here?" It wasn't like there were a lot of places to climb to the second story from the first outside. "Why didn't you just use the front door?" Tucking one leg behind the other, Richard fell to a sit next to Ignacio on the floor before reaching out a hand to pet Luz. If Ignacio was trying not to wake anyone up, he would've been better off just coming in the front door.
...Wait...
His other hand reached out to pat down Ignacio's arm and back. He... didn't seem injured... With a puzzled frown, Richard tucked some of his hair behind one ear before doing similar with Ignacio's. "Why did it seem like a good idea?"Just... what in the world was Ignacio doing?
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:34 pm
How did he even get up there? Well, that was harder to explain. He couldn't just say he just jumped up there, because he didn't exactly have super legs when he wasn't, well, super. He could just say he climbed up, because maybe Richard would just believe that, considering Ignacio occasionally dabbled in doing parkour--
Richard started patting his body down, and Ignacio felt a pang of anxiety. Was he trying to find injuries? Was he already connecting this incident to the last incident? Considering Richard enjoyed mystery books, he supposed putting together weird events was something he was used to doing. It was something Ignacio was used to doing, too. He should have known better. There was a small part of him that thought about throwing Richard off him, but that would draw more suspicion, especially when he was not exactly grievously injured.
Ignacio rubbed at his eyes. Didn't stop his eyes from burning, though. Or much of the ringing in his ears, though that had lessened over the past couple hours...
"Uhm."
Great answer.
"Because it ... did."
Wow, an even better answer.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:34 pm
Throwing Richard off of him would've probably done more than make Richard more suspicious. Richard was already suspicious, already weirdly on guard, drawing his knees to his chest and resting his elbows on them as he looked down towards Ignacio. He hadn't felt any injuries, so that was a relief, at least. Maybe Ignacio was right and had just been out for a run and decided to take a weird, vaguely burglar-esque method to get back inside?
Richard was half asleep and extra gullible, but even that was a stretch.
"Okay," another yawn interrupted him and drew out the word, "but," he tilted his head a bit to look down at Ignacio next to him on the floor. He hadn't missed him rubbing his eyes, but it had only just now registered, "what's wrong with your eyes?" Did he need to go get him water? Had he gotten something in them, or was he just tired? Richard was pretty tired himself, after all, and he also rubbed at his eyes as a result.
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:36 pm
Yawns were, as always, contagious, and Ignacio couldn't help yawning too. He was tired. He wanted to get a bit of sleep. If it wasn't for Luz barking up a storm--
He shot a glance over to the dog again, who was now just happily settled at Richard's side, wagging her tail. When she caught Ignacio's eyes, her eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't bark at him at time. Maybe she was recognizing he was just Ignacio now. Or whatever it was in her doggy brain making her decide he was worth barking at was calming down. Too bad that didn't happen sooner--
"Ah, what?" He turned his attention back to Richard, rubbing at his eye again. "Eyes? Just itchy. Nothing more. I'll go put in some eye drops or something."
That was at least an easier excuse than the excuse he tried for sneaking in through the damned window.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:36 pm
"Mm... okay." Something about the reply didn't sit right with him, but... well, if Ignacio had just been out on a run, then maybe they were just itchy from... pollen, or something. He wasn't sure what plants were even still pollinating, but... he hadn't detected any injuries on Ignacio. It... was weird. Something about it didn't sit right with him. This didn't make any sense, but... it wasn't like Ignacio didn't sometimes just... do things for the heck of it.
Richard wasn't wholly convinced, but... there wasn't anything he could point to in order to say Ignacio wasn't being truthful with him. It was just... weird, but being weird wasn't some great crime or anything. He couldn't insist without looking like he was being unfairly suspicious, like he didn't trust Ignacio, and he did trust Ignacio. Alright, maybe it was just a whim on a midnight run after all... Sighing heavily, Richard moved to get to his feet.
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:37 pm
Ignacio counted a few small blessings. For one, it seemed Richard was too tired to actually question him. For another, if Richard was awake enough to question him, he certainly wasn't bothering, and perhaps that was the greatest blessing of all. The less questions he had to answer about whatever the ******** he had been thinking when he attempted to sneak back in via Tammer's old bedroom window, the better.
He'd have to try something new, next time. Richard's increasing awareness of Ignacio's coming and going was ... inconvenient.
He shot a glance over to Luz again, who this time simply barked happily at him, jumping up and down. Well, at least she calmed down, he guessed. Maybe she wouldn't start barking at him next time.
After rubbing at one of his ears, Ignacio got himself up, moving to shut the window he came in through. Better not to leave it ajar. Might let something in. Maybe let something else out. Like the dog. He was pretty sure Luz was smart enough not to jump out the window, but considering he hadn't been smart enough to not try sneaking in the window with a dog in the house, who knew.
"I'm really tired," offered Ignacio, attempting to distract Richard from whatever thoughts were actually going through his head. "If you can not trip over Connie's pants, maybe we can just... go to bed?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:40 pm
There weren't too many thoughts now that some of the excitement had calmed down and Richard's body was reminding him that he still had the rest of the night to sleep. He watched Ignacio get up and shut the window, observing impassively as Ignacio locked it and nodding vaguely as Ignacio asked to go to bed. A moment later, the question actually registered.
Richard blinked and inhaled sharply, trying to get himself at least awake enough that he wasn't about to fall back asleep while crouched on Tammer's bedroom floor. A long exhale and another blink as he tried to formulate an intelligible response. "Mm... sure, yeah." Bed... sounded good to him, honestly. He would rather be in bed than blinking up at Ignacio and trying to remember English.
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:41 pm
"C'mon," offered Ignacio, gently, walking back over to Richard and offering his hand to help him up. Richard was definitely too tired at the moment to question much of what was going on. The guy seemed to be barely functioning. If Luz had to bark at him and wake Richard up at any point, at least it was a point in which Richard was too asleep to truly register what was going on.
He wasn't sure how he was going to handle this tomorrow morning, though.
Maybe he should just make himself scarce.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:42 pm
“Mm...” Richard reached out to grasp Ignacio’s hand and try to pull himself to a full upright standing position. It worked, for the most part, and Richard rested a hand on Ignacio’s shoulder. “It’s bedtime now, right?” It was a silly question, sure, but Richard was a hair away from falling back asleep where he stood. All of the questions nagging at him would just have to wait until later.
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:43 pm
Definitely a silly question, considering Ignacio had just asked if they could go to bed barely a minute ago. Ignacio offered a sheepish smile. Yeah, if Luz had to summon Richard to the room with her angered barking, there was definitely no better time to do it than a** o'clock. "Yeah, bedtime. No worries, Arra."
Luz circled around their feet, tail wagging.
Aw, hell.
"And you can come too," murmured Ignacio to Luz, who simply barked out her joy. Ignacio wrapped an arm around Arra's waist and led him out of the room, tossing over in his head the approach to tomorrow morning.
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