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+---- Thread: cut our teeth and make our bones right here (/showthread.php?tid=7764)
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-09-2023
[say]"Yeah, this is a little different to a stroll through the woods or being out on the docks,"[/say] Ronin agrees. Even going to a bar isn't this, and besides, they've usually been out for a few hours before the wendigo needs to be social. Not so today. Heading up the stairs, their footsteps echo on the concrete steps, and soon enough the door to the third floor is before them.
[say]"Hey, same here."[/say] He scoffs. [say]"But you don't eat to leave dirty dishes around, and unless you secretly practice drums or the saxophone at night, I think we'll be good."[/say] As for Ronin, [say]"I'll do my best not to slip and crack my head open, or cut my fingers off when I'm cooking. I feel like that's a bit too much for a trial period.[/say]
The hunter opens the door out onto a quiet and empty corridor. This has been wisely carpeted in a deep maroon colour - all the better to hide any dirt or bloodstains, my dear. Ronin walks them along the hallway, past rows of numbered apartments, until they reach 17. Remi won't need to worry about memorising the number, though - he'll know it's Ronin's place by the heavy iron horseshoe that's been nailed above the door, fixed firmly in place.
[say]"Home sweet home,"[/say] he drawls, fishing the keys from his pockets and unlocking the (multiple) bolts and catches. [say]"Wait here a second?"[/say] he asks. [say]"I've got to take the silver away from the threshold to let you in."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-09-2023
[say]'No...no, that's true.'[/say] Remi agrees with a thoughtful chuckle. [say]"Actually, I think most of my formerly bad habits are gone."[/say] He had new bad habits of course, but the things his girlfriend had once constantly lectured him for (dirty dishes, drinking milk from the carton, being too hot when he slept at night) had all been taken care of. [say]"Drums or saxophone, huh?"[/say] The wendigo repeats with a scowl, as if Ronin had suggested the most absurd instruments on the planet to accuse Remi of playing.
Mention of Ronin hurting himself has Remi noticeably pausing. He'd thought of this of course, but there was nothing quite like having the worst-case scenario waved around in your face. [say]"You don't have one of those panic-necklaces, do you? You know, like they used to show old people wearing on TV back in the day?"[/say]
[say]"Wouldn't have pegged you as a horse girl."[/say] Remi says, nodding toward the horseshoe, before smirking. [say]"Or maybe it's to peg a horse girl."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-09-2023
[say]"I bet you never expected that becoming a wendigo would make you a good roommate,"[/say] Ronin says with a grin - one that only grows in response to Remi's scowl. He stands by what he said - if his new roomie decides to take up music practice in the dead of night, they'll have to revisit the rules situation.
[say]"No panic necklace, but in a place like this we've got appropriate measures in place,"[/say] he assures the other man. [say]"Intercoms, alarms, things like that. But maybe I'll see if the science nerds can get me a danger bracelet just in case."[/say] He sounds amused, but it's a really good idea, in reality. Ugh.
Having just about unlocked everything, Ronin raises his eyebrows in confusion at first, before realising where Remi's attention has gone. [say]"Ah,"[/say] he says through a laugh. [say]"Old superstition - a horseshoe above the door catches luck and wards off evil. And it's made of cold iron, too, so..."[/say] You know. Fae.
Opening the door and stepping inside, Ronin is bathed momentarily in darkness, and Remi will be able to see as he draws something away from the threshold to give the wendigo entry. Then, with a click of a lightswitch, he's holding out a hand to beckon him inside. [say]"You are formally invited,"[/say] he tells him.
The front door opens into a modest living space; open plan with a kitchen-diner combo off to one side, there's a suggestion that every apartment in the complex is designed in very much the same way. And it's all painted in millennial grey, though the paintings and other wall decorations set Ronin's space apart as belonging to him. Remi is right, though, in that the place is neat and orderly, but for a few unexpected cardboard boxes stacked on a small dining table and one of the kitchen counters.
[say]"I had to clear your room for you. It was storage,"[/say] Ronin explains. Yeah, that's code for full of weird Fae bullshit.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-09-2023
[say]"The thought quite literally never crossed my mind."[/say] Until now. Though, given the sorts of things that would soon cross the wendigo's mind, this was perhaps the least interesting of them.
Hmmphing in a way that's both amused and aware of the danger that they were putting themselves both in by even entertaining the idea of living together for a week much less doing it, Remi can only shove his hands further into his pockets as if this act alone will keep them both safe.
[say]"And I bet the girls just eat that line right up."[/say] The wendigo replies smoothly. He'd already assumed it was some Fae-thing, as he'd assume about most of Ronin's things, but if he couldn't make awkward small talk about his new roommate's sex life, what was the point?
Narrowing his eyes into the darkness, he doesn't need the click of the light switch to help him see, but he doesn't mind it either. Raising an eyebrow in Ronin's direction as he enters, shifting the bag on his shoulder slightly, Remi sets it down before glancing over his shoulder. [say]"I'm a wendigo, not a vampire."[/say] He mutters; did fae need an invitation as well? Either way.
[say]"Oh, you didn't need to.."[/say] Remi begins, itching his fingers up the back of his neck. [say]"I don't..sleep much, so.."[/say] Given he wasn't used to having privacy either, Ronin could have just pulled out a chair for him and the wendigo wouldn't have found himself wanting. [say]"Thanks, though, but really, I don't want to ... Impose any more than I know I already am."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-09-2023
[say]"The girls and the boys,"[/say] Ronin says. [say]"Or they would if I ever went out to meet anyone. Besides, if you haven't noticed, undertown isn't exactly the cream of the crop when it comes to options."[/say] Between the drugs, pollution, lack of sunlight and literal demon attacks, to say they are a rough people down here is an understatement and then some.
[say]"Wendigo, vampire, doesn't matter to me. You don't come in unless you're invited, and you are, so."[/say] He beckons over his shoulder with his chin and smirks, clicking the door shut only after Remi has entered the space. He's removed the silver in his threshold strip so it can be taken away and replaced, the hunter doing just that and bolting everything up again. Still technically a cell, he supposes, but hey, Remi has company here.
Finding the wendigo weirdly endearing as he stands all awkward in his apartment, Ronin folds his arms across his chest and shakes his head. [say]"Remi, stop,"[/say] he says, and there might just be a whisper of something affectionate in his voice, but he won't admit it. [say]"You literally can't be imposing on me. I chose to do this - I volunteered and fought to help make it happen, remember. The room's yours. Hell, treat the whole space like home. Just be careful what you touch, like you said before."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-09-2023
[say]"Ohho."[/say] Remi trills back, and not that he's ever given a ton of thought to how broad his partner's sexuality might be, given the limited options around (and the overwhelming prevalence of men in the hunter's quarters), he isn't too surprised to hear that Ronin might swing both ways. [say]"What? Surely a high-ranking hooker like you has some pull."[/say] Listen, it's an easy verbal fallback now, alright? Deal with it.
[say]"No rules he says, followed immediately by a rule."[/say] Remi mutters with a roll of his eyes. In truth, he appreciates knowing the boundaries of what's to be his new normal, if only because so much of his life had been bordered by rules and guidelines, that without them he'd probably just stand aimlessly in the middle of Ronin's apartment. Which he might still do.
Eyeing the silver and marking its location, Remi glances up sharply as he's told to stop. Ronin is treated to an involuntary flinch on the wendigo's part, if only because Remi Stop is usually followed by an electric shock. Relaxing slightly, Remi rubs a palm up the side of one arm and then wraps his fingers around his bicep. [say]"I appreciate that."[/say] He says bashfully. [say]"I just...I know this is your space, and I know what I am, so just...I don't know, don't be afraid to say anything."[/say]
It's been a minute since I was treated like a real human, and I might have forgotten how to be one, is what he doesn't say, though as he removes his sunglasses and wipes at his eyes with his fingers, his expression says as much.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-09-2023
[say]"I absolutely have some pull. There's just not many people worth pulling,"[/say] Ronin informs Remi haughtily, because at least the wendigo can always count on him to match that running joke when times get tough (or awkward, as the case may be). As for tHe RuLe, now it's his turn to roll his eyes. [say]"It isn't really a rule when I only need to ask once. Why, do you plan to invite many people over?"[/say] He grins. He probably wouldn't even care if Remi did. His wendigo hunting partner, making friends. (Cue awwww laugh-track).
He doesn't mean to cause the other man to flinch - or to do anything of the sort, in fact - and Ronin is already holding up a hand as if to tell Remi he's not a threat when the moment unceremoniously passes. [say]"You'll be the first to know if anything needs to be said,"[/say] he assures him. For now, though, he knows when it's a good time to give some time and space.
[say]"I'm going to go shower,"[/say] he tells Remi. [say]"Your room is just through there."[/say] Gesturing to a door towards the left of the space, Ronin is already walking to the right, thus mapping out there perimeters of the apartment. [say]"The bed is made, and there's an empty trunk and some drawers. We'll need to go out and get some more clothes for you though, I think."[/say] He'll find his coat in there at well at least.
[say]"I've scoured the bookshelves already and there shouldn't be anything on them that would hurt you, so if you get bored feel free to read something."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-09-2023
[say]"Ayyoo."[/say] Remi comments, nearly pointing a finger-gun at Ronin for his wordplay. Instead, he just smirks boyishly to himself as he drums his fingers against his arm. [say]"Well how was I supposed to know it was just a one-time thing? I thought I'd have to be invited every time we came home."[/say] That, had Remi's ears ringing, and it was with something like a shiver that the wendigo turned from his partner. We? Home ?
Clearing his throat, Remi nods slightly but merely stands and watches as Ronin strays off to the right. He doesn't go to the bookshelves, having never been much of a big reader in his past life, but continues to stand rooted in place as the gravity of the situation descends upon him. He can hear Ronin shedding his clothes and the rushing of the water, can hear the gurgle of pipes and the faraway sound of voices muffled by thick walls. He can hear too, he thinks anyway, the sound of music, though it's muffled and maybe he's making it up.
Once the weightiness in his limbs finally lessens, Remi picks up the bag he'd brought and walks to the threshold of the room on the left. Peering inside, he sticks his nose in first, half expecting to feel the red-white burn of silver. Not needing to turn on the light (everything was automated in his cell, so he'd never really thought about it), the wendigo places his bag neatly down on top of the trunk before scanning the small room.
That's where Ronin will find him once he gets out of the shower; back turned to the doorway, just standing a foot or so from the bed, in the dark.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-09-2023
And if Ronin didn't know the gravity of the situation and what Remi has been through to get here, he might have made some quip or another about finding him standing in the dark in silence. But as he returns, in fresh clothes and with damp, dark hair, he does his best not to make a big deal about it - or any sort of deal about it at all, in fact. Instead he lets the wendigo ghost around at his own pace, reminded a little of the time he'd rescued a stray cat, and how he'd basically pretended it didn't exist for a few days until it came around.
So Ronin heads to the kitchen, idly turning on the radio on the counter; it's never anything good, given that there's only one shitty radio tower in undertown, but it fills the silence and it's always wise to get an idea of news and the occasional topside gossip. He'd been about to offer to cook for Remi before remembering, lol, wendigo, and so the hunter rattles about with his pots and pans.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-09-2023
It's the right strategy. Had Ronin just told Remi what to do and how to be, the wendigo might never have broken the habit of expecting such and thus would never have thought of himself as Ronin's equal. He'd have always waited for the hunter's instructions and this little exercise would have been nothing more than a game of Simon Says.
Slowly, as Ronin probably experienced with his stray cat, the wendigo just appears, and like said cat, he does so with eerie silence. Leaning against one wall near the kitchen with his arms folded across his chest, Remi watches his partner with a gaze he tries to keep from being predatory.
Clearing his throat as a courtesy, Remi tightens his grip around himself. [say]"You want to hear something stupid?"[/say] Biting at the inside of his lip and rolling his eyes at himself, the wendigo inclines his head toward an analog clockface ont he hunter's bookshelf. [say]"I never learned how to read one of those."[/say] He admits, looking and sounding both boyish and foolish.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-09-2023
Remi lurks and Ronin lives, going about his evening much the same as he would have without the wendigo's presence. That's not to say that he isn't vigilant for the signs of his approach; as they've both already established, they have no idea how Remi might react, expectedly or otherwise, having been quite abruptly liberated from the science wing. And so the courtesy is appreciated, the hunter glancing up from where he's been chopping a few root vegetables to roast.
[say]"No shit,"[/say] he says, sounding surprised but equally committing to nonchalance as he follows Remi's gaze across to the clock. [say]"How come?"[/say] he asks. [say]"Just always used to digital? I can teach you if you want, though I reckon most places use a 24-hour clock these days."[/say] It's hardly a transferable skill. [say]"If it makes you feel better, I only started learning to cook properly in the past few months."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-09-2023
This is by far the worst small talk they've ever made, but Remi supposes given everything, it isn't too bad. [say]"Yeah, mostly. I had a girlfriend give me a watch once with an analog face, but it was more of a fashion accessory than anything."[/say] The wendigo shrugs. [say]"And ever since coming down here, well...not like time matters much."[/say] He nearly adds for someone like me, before realizing that Ronin's life was probably structured just as much by routine as his was.
[say]'Oh?'[/say] Remi sniffs in the hunter's direction. [say]"I used to be quite a good cook, back in the day."[/say] Back in the day and back in Italy. [say]"We had a little garden so most of our vegetables were fresh from there. And we handmade our own pasta."[/say] He explains, sounding a touch melancholy as he did so. [say]"I could probably still make the pasta, but so much of cooking involves tasting, so..."[/say] Remi shrugs, frowning slightly and shifting his place awkwardly against the wall.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-09-2023
Unable to help it, Ronin does laugh at the idea of Remi with his fashion accessory wrist watch - not that he's any better, with his My First Baked Potato cookery skills. [say]"That's true enough,"[/say] he says. [say]"But hey, now you'll be able to experience undertown turning the sun on and off. You don't need to be able to tell the time for that."[/say] It's not the sun exactly, but they do dim the lights and raise them again to simulate nighttime, which Ronin finds tragically hilarious.
Throwing on some seasoning, oil and spices, Ronin pushes his vegetables into the oven to do their thing before straightening up and beginning the process of pan frying some chicken. (He hopes to the gods it's chicken, anyway, he didn't look too close at the packaging). [say]"That sounds like something out of a storybook,"[/say] he says of the vegetable garden and the handmade pasta.
And then, because who cares about awkward small talk when you can just be awkward, the hunter tilts his head to Remi. [say]"Can you just not taste anything, then...?"[/say] he asks. [say]"What happens if you try to eat... you know..."[/say] He gestures to the current kitchen situation.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-09-2023
Remi always knew that there was artificial sunlight down here, but he'd never really given it a second thought before now. [say]"Has anyone ever...just fucked with it before? Put the bat signal on it, or turned it a colour, or..?"[/say] You know, did any of the things you might expect a bunch of hooligans to do with a giant artificial light source.
[say]"Well, it certainly feels that way now, yeah."[/say] Remi agrees. [say]"Things weren't as bad over there at first. We had to conserve water of course, but then Europe was always better at reusing water than the Americans."[/say] Italy had less pollution at first too, so things could still grow. Now what it was like, he had no idea. Probably no one around here did.
A bit befuddled by his partner's question, Remi finds himself staring intently at the cooking chicken (it wasn't Ronin, the wendigo could smell that clearly but nevermind). [say]"It's more like...imagine if I handed you a piece of paper to eat. Could you eat it? Sure. Would any part of it be enjoyable? No. Would you get anything out of it? Also no."[/say] He explains. [say]"I could have eaten that raw-"[/say] He nods to the 'chicken'. [say]"-if I'd wanted, but all washed and cleaned the way it is.."[/say] Crinkling his nose, the wendigo gives his head a shake.