Magnetism (SG)

[SongofWindchimes]

And now Linza officially had Bianca's full attention. Being purred at tended to have that effect. Near instantly, the woman's posture shifted from relaxed to flirty. "Mmmhmm," she hummed, shooting Linza a sultry look. "I don't really see the point in those types of rules." Bianca rarely even used the word for her orientation, even though describing herself as 'free of limitations' and 'not liking labels' tended to get rolled eyes at best from people.

Then she blinked and looked at Alaric when he spoke, and part of Bianca wanted to laugh at his expression. Poor man looked like he was going to pull a facial muscle. As it was, she raised an eyebrow slightly, wondering if she should tell him to cut it out before he hurt himself. He wasn't fooling anyone, but Bianca was blaming his obvious discomfort on the fact that she'd been making a pass at his sister, which she knew she really shouldn't be doing, rather than her admission.

"Well, you said there weren't many places he could hide, right?" she said with a cheery, and slightly apologetic, smile. "It shouldn't be too hard to track the big guy down." Bianca considered trying to recruit the other two women for the search, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea on the 'don't hit on Alaric's sister' front.

[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Avelina | Alaric | Linza ]

Alaric gave a sigh of relief when they took to the subject change. Rather calmer, he guessed, "That answer from you? ..I'm gonna say in one of your bedrooms, the western study, or harassing Gretchen again." His and Ava's rooms were on the western side of the manor, so that was the study she most huddeled up in, while Gretchen was the head of their kitchen for the past fifteen years or so. Ava made something of a habit of helping with dinners, simply out of a like for cooking, so if he was begging for 'scraps' again it would certainly get to her.

Ava kept a deadpan look and simply replied, "Please get him off my table. And I swear if he's ruined an books you're replacing them." Not like the big beast listened to her, and she certainly couldn't move him herself.

Alaric just laughed sheepishly. "Sure thing. Just don't let mom and dad know I'm back all right?" This was met with somewhat annoyed but understanding looks from the girls. "Let's go, c'mon~" he slightly rushed Bianca, taking hold of her hand and heading toward the hall the maid had gone down before.

Linza was a little disappointed through all this that her fun was being cut short, but when they went to leave, she just shrugged before grinning a little toward the pirate and waving somewhat flirtily. "Well, maybe we'll see each other later, hmm?" she purred at her, prompting Ava to facepalm and Alaric to shudder lightly.

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[SongofWindchimes]

Bianca blinked ever-so-slightly at the exchange, only now thinking about how much of a 'big boy' Kado was. How hard was it to get a cat off a table? Bianca could even haul Blue off of things if she really wanted to, not that Blue really climbed much in the first place. Then again, Avelina really was a tiny thing.

Bianca probably shouldn't have been surprised when Alaric suddenly grabbed her hand. At least he wasn't trying to yank her down the hallway, and she wasn't about to dig in her heels or anything. Linza's farewell, however, put a somewhat involuntary smile on Bianca's face. She didn't say anything (frankly, she found that her mouth had caused enough trouble), but she shot a flirty look at the other woman that could be taken as a 'maybe.'

Of course, once they were further away from the other women and out of earshot, the 'I am so completely shameless' feeling rose up and she sighed a little, shaking her head. She had no idea why she did things like that. Actually, she did. Bianca was shy of thirty, and she'd been flirting since she was a teenager; it was so damned ingrained that, if someone appealing hit on her, her eyes, mouth, and body acted before her brain did. Which is why it was probably a good thing she didn't have real relationships.

In the hope of not having Alaric completely hate her, she moved so that her arms were wrapped around his like before. After debating on whether she should ignore or apologize for what happened, she decided to follow his lead and ask cheerily, "So how long have you had Kado? Did you get him as a kitten?" He'd mentioned 'papers,' so she doubted he'd just taken in a stray cat. With Alaric being noble, her mind had already conjured some sort of rare, expensive feline that she'd probably never seen in person before.

[Admiral Striker General]

Jun 7, 2011 14:05:37 GMT -5 Admiral Striker General said:

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[ Avelina | Alaric | Linza ]

Once they'd left the line of sight, Linza couldn't help but burst out in a small fit of laughter, receiving a nudge from Avelina. "I swear, assuming he doesn't walk right into it someday, you're going to be the death of him."

Her sister just shrugged, smirking in response. "You know, if I stopped picking on him he'd think I was pissed." Twenty-three years of habits would have that effect.

"Eh, true."

=====

Alaric managed to calm down pretty quickly once they were away from the girls, slowing to a normal pace about the time she took hold of his arm. He liked her there~ At her question, he smiled and nodded. "We got him when he was a few months old. So we've had him ever since I was six~" He laughed lightly. "We only had one cat before... God I barely remember him." He grinned a little sheepishly. "I think his name was Patches or something. I'm not even sure if I actually remember him or just pictures and stories. It just seems like we've always had Kado, and eventually the Pokemon." Turning his head and the conversation back to her, he asked, "How about you? You always had armies of cats?" He laughed lightly. He really needed to get a little cat or few for his apartment..

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[SongofWindchimes]

Bianca found herself doing a bit of mental math when Alaric mentioned how old he was when he got Kado, even if she wasn't interested in the result. She never cared about age. Other people tended to, however, which was why she wasn't volunteering her own.

Bianca laughed with him at the question. "Five isn't an army." She grinned. "Not as a kid. I actually come from a family of dog people, if you can believe it." Her smile became a little sad. "But, well, when I felt lonely, they just...sort of started coming around. I'd find strays around my house, or someone would give a cat up." She brightened again. "Some of them were pretty wild, too; I couldn't touch Jezebel for a couple of months after she moved in. Wouldn't let me out of her sight, but always moved away if I reached for her."

Bianca chuckled softly, flashing another grin. "I never tried to have a bunch of them, but, well, call it animal magnetism. Or call it me not being able to say no to some poor homeless kitty."

[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Alaric ]

Alaric laughed lightly. "Can't say I'd be any better. ...Oddly enough I don't think a stray's ever come around my apartment.." He blinked a little, suddenly surprised to realize this. Of course.. It wasn't like he spent just a lot of time there either. Eventually he shook his head a little and shrugged. "Ah well. I'm probably not home enough to take care of a cat full time anyway.." Not that he didn't still want to try.

During this time, they'd gone down a hall, up a flight of stairs, and through some more hallway, coming now to a set of doors. "Here we go." Smirking a bit in expectation, he opened a door and headed into a rather extensive library with high shelves of books on every wall, a long table with several chairs, and a few more plush chairs and a small couch in the few gaps between shelves. The table in question had no cat, Kado having apparently moved. On the far side of it, however, was a large pile of fur---.... No. No wait. Not a pile of fur, but a full grown (if very old and a little graying) African lion lounging his side and dozing lazily. Alaric's grin grew as he resisted tackling the beast, waiting instead to get a reaction. "Hey Kado<3"

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[SongofWindchimes]

Bianca stared. First at the library (she wasn't extremely bookish but Great Arceus she could spend days in here) and then at, when her attention was drawn to him, what was apparently Kado.

A lion. An honest-to-God African lion right there in the study. Bianca, for a moment, wasn't sure whether to be terrified or--"Eeeeeeeeeee!" Do that. Bianca's grip on Alaric's arm tightened as she squealed in girlish glee, staring wide-eyed with her biggest, goofiest grin on her face at the massive beast. "He's gorgeous!"

While her sister had been a normal little girl who begged her parents for a pony and, then, when she realized that wasn't going to happen, a puppy, Bianca had been having fantasies of riding a tiger to school. Now, Kado was a lion and not a tiger, but who cared? "Is he friendly with strangers? Can I pet him?" she asked with barely a breath in between the questions before letting out another, shorter squeal.

[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Alaric ]

Alaric gave a small snort of a laugh. "Please, you're almost lucky to wake up the big lug." He shrugged then, admitting, "Assuming he's in a good mood." Breaking away from her for a moment, he fell to his knees and mock-tackled the cat, who snarled weakly and yowled weakly pushing the young man away with a massive but harmless paw. After a little weak light-hearted wrestling- during which Kado pretty well reacted exactly as a standard house cat save for being on a much larger scale- Alaric laughed and looked up at the woman. "Yeah, he's good." He buried his face against his mane and began praising and baby-talking him. Something about such a good boy and going to take him back to his apartment. Because it totally wasn't like Kado would take up the whole damn thing, given it was little more than a place to crash.

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[SongofWindchimes]

Bianca bounced a little on the balls of her feet where Alaric had left her. Watching a man wrestle with a lion was mildly nerve-wracking, but the whole thing was unbelievably cute as well, and part of her brain was still squealing, Big kitty! at her.

When Alaric looked at her and assured her it was okay, she made her way over, making sure Kado could see her (assuming he didn't have any sight problems due to age), and then kneeling down. "Hey, Kado," she said in a gentle coo, smiling. "You're a handsome boy, huh, big kitty? Alaric says you won't eat me, so don't prove him wrong, kay?" She giggled at her own words, and carefully reached a hand toward the big cat. She'd never met a cat who didn't like being scratched on the neck right behind their jaw, so hopefully it applied to lions as well.

[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Alaric ]

Kado couldn't purr like a lesser cat, but the contented look on his face and the way he nearly went limp into the pettingz made it clear he would have been. As Alaric watched Bianca with a soft grin- continuing to coddle the kitty as well- he couldn't help but have the passing thought, He's not the one you should be worried about. He laughed a little lightly then, as much at how terrible that was as at her. "I'm glad you like him," he told her softly. Mood falling, he continued a little more somberly, "I need to start coming home more.. I know he can't have long left, but then...." He forced a weak, sad smile. "I kind of wonder which way would be worse.." He knew he'd regret it if he wasn't there- didn't make more of his time with his dear friend- but it seemed like it would be easier if Kado was just there one visit and not the next. If he had to see him go... He could have a cleaner conscience, but he wasn't sure how well he could take that pain.

After a few moments, he gave another half a laugh and shot her a weak but legitimate cheesy grin. "Ah, but hey. I didn't invite you over to be all depressed, right~?" He lay down fully and pressed against the big fluffy cat a bit, one elbow on the ground with his head propped on that hand, the other arm draped over Kado petting idly, and one knee slightly over him. "Not that I mind if you want to know anything more about him of course, but.." His voice dropped to its flirtatious-abyss mode. "I'd honestly rather know about you~"

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[SongofWindchimes]

Bianca had to fight the urge to squeal again when Kado reacted so favourably to her petting. However, when Alaric's words turned more somber, Bianca didn't stop petting, but she found herself staring sadly at Kado. A soft sigh escaped her. She knew the answer to his question, though she didn't speak. Not being there when they left was always worse. The pain of not being able to say goodbye...

Bianca flashed a smile at the welcome change of subject. She shifted a little, switching to her other hand to scratch at the other side of Kado's neck. She raised an eyebrow slightly. "About me?" Bianca chuckled a little. "There's not much to tell, really. I told you I sell pokemon? It's not really all that exciting." The closest she'd had to exciting had been, well, something Alaric knew enough about and she didn't plan to talk about again.

"I do get to travel, though." When she could get a cat-sitter, anyway; luckily, she had a good one. Bianca's voice took on a slight purr, shooting Alaric a flirty look, as she added, "...And look what happens when I do." She then smiled and looked at Kado, her voice returning to its cat-adoring coo. "I've wanted to pet a lion since I was a little girl."

[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Alaric ]

Alaric simply continued petting and watched the woman with mild fascination as she spoke, trying not to let his smirk get too obvious. He didn't need astonishing tales of incredibleness. Tales of a really good or bad day at work or cat antics were more than enough to keep his interest. She seemed to come up with something without him needing to prompt this, however, making him laugh at the final words. Well lookie there! She could be a more subtle tease. That or he was reading more into it than intended, but it amused him either way.

"Glad I could help then.." he replied softly. After a few moments, he gave her a slightly wry smile and asked, "...What other dreams have you had..?" Most probably wouldn't be so convenient as this, but... Eh.

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[SongofWindchimes]

Bianca smirked at Alaric's laughter. She was more-or-less throwing his words back in the forest back at him, but that was the point. The question, however, caused her to blink in surprise, then chuckle a little.

"You mean besides the whole pirate queen thing?" she asked with a grin, before really considering it. "I dunno...I don't think anyone's ever just come out and asked me that." After a moment of glancing around at the study as she thought, she said, "I used to think I might leave Era. Not permanently or anything. Just to see what's out there. I heard that there are these islands off the coast of Olivine in Johto with these whirlpools on all sides of them, and Unova is supposed to have these megacities that make the Capital look tiny."

Bianca chuckled as she added, "Maybe even take my sister with me, if I could convince her. That'd probably be the hardest part."

[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Alaric ]

"...Oh?" And somehow, she'd managed to find an answer that kind of made him sad, though he kept up a light smile. Not that he was just adamantly against visiting foreign lands or hadn't thought about it himself. But the idea of traveling so much with someone was just entirely too intimate to even consider, and the thought of her being so far away for so long just depressed him a bit at the moment. Not that in a few days or a week or few months very tops he wouldn't be totally over that and interested solely in knowing she was enjoying herself. "Well, maybe you could take her on vacation just for part of it, eh?" He winked. "She may be more willing if it's not too much at once."

Kado by this point had laid back down to soak up the petz, and arguably may have been asleep. Not that Alaric was about to complain, just moving to lay his own head on the cat's neck, though his eyes scarcly left the pirate princess's face. "But were you serious before about having a ship, majesty?" His smiled broadened just a little, eyes slightly heavy and rather adoring. "Because if not... You know I could probably get you one?" It would probably be one of if not the most expensive things he'd ever done, depending, and even he knew she wasn't going to get The Black Pearl or anything, but he could probably find something..

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[SongofWindchimes]

Whatever reaction Alaric had been expecting, it probably wasn't this. Bianca's eyes widened and she nothing short of scrambled away from him and to her feet. She shook her head sharply. "No, I--No, don't do that," she stammered, a faint tremble in her voice.

Bianca shut her eyes and took a breath, calming herself, and forced a weak smile. "What I mean is, if I ever have a ship, I want it to be because I got it myself." She chuckled, her good humour returning. "I don't usually let men pay for my meals, let alone buy me things like that."

Gifts were innocent enough to most people, but Bianca wasn't most people. She knew Alaric meant well, and he couldn't have known that he'd scare her, just like before when he claimed to care so much about her feelings, which is why she wished she'd been able to reign in her reaction. But how could she ever prepare for someone to say something like that?

[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Alaric ]

Alaric half sat up when she scrambled away, certainly shocked and debating whether he should follow more or keep his distance. He'd certainly had woman react negatively to offers before, but that usually involved more snapping, pride, and/or lack of confidence than just... fear. As she explained, he got the feeling that was probably the short version (given the sheer simplicity compared to severity of reaction), but he smiled again, chuckling lightly. "I see.."

After a few moments, the look slowly widened to an odd half-sheepish smirk as he looked away a moment and shrugged. "I'm not about to go do something that drastic without your consent or anything but.. Well, I'm afraid if we see much of each other I'm not going to be able to do much about the meals and such," he admitted. Sitting up fully and crossing his legs then, the now-sleeping Kado seemingly forgotten, he rested an elbow on his knee and tilted his head a bit to rest on that hand.

"So.." He glanced around a bit for effect before looking back at her. "I think by this point saying I have money is a little redundant?" He laughed lightly. "But when I'm not here or traveling, I stay in a one-room apartment and eat a good bit of fast and microwaved food. When I do travel, it's usually on foot, or since he evolved on Boxer. The only things I tend to buy are video games, comics- random nerdy shit." He grinned and shrugged a little. "A few Pokemon and training supplies, but I'm a half-hearted trainer at best honestly." Half-huffing a sigh and smiling more gently, he concluded, "None of that's really putting a dent in my funds though, and nothing makes me happier than making other people happy." The female half of people, of course. "If I didn't buy gifts and things, what would I spend it on?" Again he chuckled softly.

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[SongofWindchimes]

Bianca really hated her own flight reflex right now. Normally, she could look fearless, but damn it all if Alaric wasn't pushing every wrong button at every wrong time. At least she hadn't felt the urge to flee the room; that was something she couldn't just explain away with a desire for independence.

As Alaric spoke, what tension was left in Bianca's body slowly dissipated, and she moved over to sit near him again. She sat with her weight resting on her hip, legs tucked half-under, half-beside her, and chuckled a little along with his laugh when he mentioned having money. "You make a good point," she admitted. I just don't like owing people. She flashed a grin. "And I said 'usually,' didn't I? I guess if we ever went out for dinner I could let you pay if you want to."

Bianca understood Alaric's reasoning. It was somewhat the same idea behind why she spoiled her niece, or why she tended to cut prices when dealing with her friends. Bianca's financial situation was pretty good for this economy, and why not share? She still didn't want him to buy her a ship, though.

However, no longer frightened, Bianca mentally rewound their conversation and landed on something that piqued her interest and could make for a good subject change. "Did I hear the words 'video games' in there?" she asked, a bit of a teasing smile on her lips. "I admit I don't play much more than the occasional pokemon battling game, but I've had people try to get me into other things." She actually had a pretty good computer back at her place in the Capital; she just didn't really know how to find something she might like.

[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Alaric ]

Crushed. Completely and utterly crushed. Such were Alaric's hopes when she raised them through the roof by asking about games only to drop them like that. All right, so she was still at least mildly interested in the idea, so it wasn't that bad, but he couldn't help but feel insanely depressed in the back of his mind over the way she'd said so. Nevertheless, he kept up a smile and laughed lightly. "I imagine you've already had people try dragging you to WoW then. ... Er, World of Warcraft." Non-players didn't always recognize the acronym even if they'd heard it. With a wry look, he glanced down to and pulled at his shirt a bit before looking back at her. "Yyyyeah I'm a total loser I know." And damn if he didn't enjoy the hell out of it.

All of a sudden, he sat of straight as a realization hit him like a raging Donphan. "Oh hey!" He instantly cringed at the sound of the exclamation and looked down to Kado, who barely twitched. Continuing at a more normal volume, he announced, "He seems pretty out of it anyway. I could just show you all my games." Grinning as he stood up and offered a hand to her, he added, "Plus there's this character in one series you simply need to see. Seriously. Need to."

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[SongofWindchimes]

Bianca laughed a little at the mention of WoW and nodded. She certainly knew about World of Warcraft; she was pretty sure everyone with an internet connection knew about World of Warcraft. One guy had actually offered to let her make a character on his account and try it out a little, but her interest had plummeted shortly after the character creator. She'd ended up with a very blurry screen (due to a very drunk character) and not much else accomplished other than finding out that her Paladin was both a lightweight and apparently tasted like chicken to the local wildlife.

Bianca grinned back and let Alaric help her up. "Oh? Now you've got me curious." She chuckled. "Love to." She figured if his collection wasn't limited by money, there would be something in there she wouldn't make an idiot of herself trying to play.

[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Alaric ]

A part of Alaric- the part most in control of him on the outside, fortunately- retained a cool, gentle demeanor, hoping she would find the similarity as amusing as he did. A much larger part, however, was zooming around the room screaming 'fweeeeeee!' at a girl who was actually interested in his nerdiness, even if she didn't fully share in it herself. Yet. Sure other guys had tried, but that hadn't turned her off of it either<3 Maybe he could find something to make a gamer of her yet? All he'd need was a good gateway game. If he could get her playing one steadily, he could introduce her a little at a time and she'd be raiding Stormwind with him and Kael in no time<3

He kept hold of her hand after she'd stood and took one last loving look down at Kado before leading her out of the study. Once again they headed down the labyrinth hallway, Alaric guiding them with total certainty despite the size of the place. "So what types of games might you be interested in? ...Other than something kind of Pokemon-based, I guess. Though I have a few of those too." For whatever odd reason, only a handful of games used actual Pokemon, feeling compelled instead to make their own monsters with similar attributes. And for whatever even odder reason, the results were often spectacular. Enough to keep him inside playing rather than outside actually training when he got into them, at any rate.

"Strategy, puzzles, shooters, hack-and-slash.." He really couldn't help himself, and a more mischievous look found its way to his face. "Personally, I've always thought role-playing can be fun. What do you think, your Majesty?" That may or may not have been a bit subtle, but he was mentally snickering either way.

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