Rise and Shine! (Rina! ?)

[Anonymous]

?Everybody, wake up! Wake up! Come on, come on, let's go! Rock and roll time, dance with me~?

It was truly early in the morning when Fala slammed a hand on the head of her alarm clock. Though she turned just enough to open her eyes and see the red letters blaring from the clock- oh, right, she was supposed to wake up at 3:30 in the morning- Fala resisted the urge to destroy the clock, turn over, curl up, and go back to sleep beneath her warm covers again. How dare the clock wake her up, duty be damned. As it was, though, the alarm had already gotten her adrenaline pumping, and she knew already that she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep again if she tried. That, and she wouldn't let someone who was even half male outdo her at her job. Her pride was on the line.

Damn it.

Sitting up, the tired pilot stretched her tense muscles, feeling them relax after a few seconds of good stretching and making her way to the shower, letting Jorinth keep track of the time. He'd been awake for more than an hour, she could tell- there was no fog in his voice that indicated that he'd just woken up.

<I don't ever have a foggy voice. Get in the shower. Don't forget Alaric's coffee when you're done.>

Ignoring his voice, she stepped into the shower, taking as much time as she possibly could beneath the scalding water. There was something reassuring about washing beneath a cascade of water that would burn most- there was a satisfying numbness that eventually settled, leaving only the lower layers of skin to feel the warmth that most wouldn't tolerate, let alone willingly subject themselves to on a daily basis. Nothing made her body feel more relaxed, her muscles more calm, and yet it woke her up from that god-awful morning haze, like a nice scrub-down was supposed to do.

Five minutes into her shower, she rolled her eyes as the water was cut off.

Tell me my time's up, you damn scalebag. Don't cut the water.

<Then you wouldn't stop for another five minutes. Out.>

Killjoy. A laugh accompanied her message, and she walked out of the shower, drying herself quickly and getting changed into her usual ensemble. Throwing her sleeping outfit- a comfortable pair of gray shorts and a white undershirt- into a basket for later washing, Fala stepped out of her door and locked it behind her, clicking her visor into place and moving towards the cafeteria.

You told them I'd be coming, right? Clicking her heels as she walked briskly through the empty corridors and to the area where she normally got her morning brew, she was almost afraid that the lights to the stand would be off- she shouldn't have worried. An almost insulted huff in her mind told her that he had beaten her to the punch, as did the one set of lights that was on and the hand that waved to her from the stand.

<I told them what you wanted. Though you should've done it yourself.> Just as Jorinth said that, the barista had come out with two steaming cups of coffee in his hands- though they were lidded, one touch told her that it hadn't been a minute since the coffee had been prepared. She was quick to come up with a handsome tip, and left him smiling as she walked away(not to mention happy that his early start was worth the extra wages.).

Stepping up to Alaric's door not two minutes later, Fala had a slight dilemma on her hands. It was too early in the morning to go kicking at doors, and he did say he was making some particularly nice, gooey, sweet treats for them to enjoy before they went out. Not exactly the best manners to go kicking doors in and disturb the neighbors, though the thought was tempting.

Leaning forward, she gave the door a few awkward headbutts, rather than go through the trouble of putting the drinks down.

"Yo, Alariiiic. Rise and shine, sweetums."

[Anonymous]

Even for someone as blissfully domestic as Alaric, this was far too early. Kazef wasn't even awake. And Alaric really didn't feel like waking him up. He had heard enough of the large, pale dragons opinions on recent events. He would probably wake up soon, to provide helpful commentary once Alaric was on the mission. But there was still some time for that.

His long, bright white hair was still a little damp, but he had it pulled into a braid and the braid coiled at the nap of his neck. The style was rather feminine, but Alaric didn't really care. Got the hair back and not in a long easy to grab rope. He had taken the worlds fastest shower, trying to avoid getting his hair wet, but shower caps and horns did not mesh well, so he always tended to get his hair a little wet.

But he had been smart and prepared the cinnamon rolls the night before and now they were fresh out of the oven. He was mixing up the simple glaze for them when there was a loud bashing sound at his door. Several times. Jumping, rather startled, Alaric was confused for all of two seconds before a voice called out.

Ooooh. It was Fala. Alaric set the down down, wiping his hands down his black apron, the left one he was extra careful with. He paused at the door, a little nervous. Fala was very pretty and bold and...had been screwing Marshal. Someone Alaric really didn't like. But Fala seemed nice enough, but he had no idea if she shared Marshal's views on his freak status.

But it was rude to make her wait, so Alaric pressed the button, opening the door, the scent of fresh baked goods wafting out, "Fala. Hi." He stepped back, letting her enter, "Just in time. I was about to glaze the rolls. Come on in."

He smiled, flashing his huge canines, hoping he didn't sound as nervous as he felt. Play it cool. Everything would be fine. He resisted the urge to scan her thoughts to see if she had like spit into his coffee.

[Anonymous]

"Ah, good to see you're awake. Wait 'til I have a talk with the higher-ups about this..." While Alaric had smiled when he let her in, Fala could hear the notes of apprehension that flashed for the briefest of seconds in his otherwise cheerful. For a moment, she thought she was hallucinating- she dog-eared that thought in her mind, in case she caught it again later. Smiling as he let her pass, she passed him his cup of coffee as she let the scents of the sweet rolls tickle her nose in an all too pleasing fashion. If the scent was anything to go by, Alaric had quite a gift for baking.

Another thing she had trouble believing was how... colorful the room was. Posters of games she'd never heard of hung neatly off of the walls, arranged in a neat arrangement that perhaps only a gamer geek could understand. Figurines of all sorts, from a wizard with his hand outstretched to miniature statues of dragons attacking a plush little orc that she recognized from their messages to one another. Everywhere she looked, there were plush animals and dolls, hanging from this way and that, exuding cuteness wherever she looked. And yet, despite all the items... the room was still clean. Full, but clean.

If she didn't have an awkward little soft spot for the dolls and the relative mess (compared to the freakishly sanitary rooms some Pilots had), she would've stepped back and walked out. She liked the assortment of the items in his room, she thought the dolls were adorable, but some of those little statuettes and wall scrolls were just so damned weird that she couldn't wrap her mind around them. Despite this, Fala made herself feel better by dropping her hand between the gemstone dragon statues, pushing the rearing Sapphire Dragon aside slightly and nearly toppling over a roaring Topaz Dragon as she picked up the little orc plushie to save it from its non-moving attackers.

The softness of the plush in her hands, the smell of the baked goods, the barrage of color and nerdiness that seemed to permeate the room... it all accounted for quite a bit of a sensory overload, especially since it was so early in the morning. And yet, it all seemed so obscenely absurd, it was comforting- just in the fact that it let her know that the Citadel wasn't completely filled with assholes with sticks up their asses, after all. In this little pocket of eccentricity, there was still individuality that stuck out and surprised her.

It was nice. At least she wasn't the only one with a item-filled room.

"Cozy in here, isn't it?" Looking back at Alaric and still patting the little orc almost without realizing it, Fala let a good, earnest grin spread across her face. Geekville? Sure. References she didn't get? Oh, definitely. But cozy nonetheless.

"Where'd you get these, anyway?" Flopping down on his soft couch, she held the little orc plush and looked up at the light-skinned cook. Though she made sure not to sit on anything she wasn't supposed to, it didn't stop her from pulling a few more plushies close. A little yellow bird that looked like an ostrich was one of them, while the others were two plush toys that vaguely like balls of jello with eyes. One was green, one was pink, and both were held with the same tenderness.

"And how early did you wake up to make those? They smell delicious."

[Anonymous]

Not many people actually visited his room. Just..Gabriel really. Alaric always went to visit Remi and with most other people he seemed to just end up at their place or somewhere more public. He had forgotten his room was this utter haven of geekdom until he saw Fala looking at all of it. Then it hit like a ton of really, really horrifyingly embarrassing bricks.

There was a very pretty girl, who had awful taste in men but was still pretty, in his apartment. And she was playing with his stuffies and looking at his gaming posters. That was not good. Alaric took a long sip of hot coffee, trying to hide the fact he was starting to blush a darker blue.

He made a utterly graceful and in no way cowardly retreat to the kitchen to hid-finish glazing the rolls. Still blushing, Alaric tried to not blush worse then he already was, "Oh, uh, yes. Thank you." Cozy wasn't too bad, right? That was better then stupid.

Her question made the blush darken more and he was glad he was hidden in the kitchen, "I..well, it's..uh.." Alaric winced, wishing he didn't get so tongue tied around people he wasn't used too, "I find some of it. And..er...my...." He frowned, disliking the lack of gender neutral titles for people, "I guess mother works. She made some of the plushies and my family likes to send packages all the time."

Oh gods. He was sounding like a total moron. Quick! Fix it!

Nothing.

Shit.

How did Gabriel always know what to say to people? Thankfully Fala saved him with another question, "Oh! Um, not that early. I did all the prep work last night and just left them in the fridge. Just threw them in before my shower. Uh, the coffee is perfect. Thank you. They rolls are ready if you want one...I err...added apples. Is that okay?"

[Anonymous]

Fala couldn't help but notice how quickly he moved away- almost gliding, like a cat that moved away from a rocking chair while pretending it wasn't at all concerned for its tail's well-being. She resisted an impish grin- she knew the boy (girl?) was sheepish and geeky, but didn't expect him to run from the room as soon as she made herself comfortable. Her ears picked up a small, almost unintelligible noise from the kitchen- was he trying to talk to her? She nearly missed everything he said until he started talking about the plushes.

"Huh. Really, now? Talented woman, methinks. I can't sew. My hands are good, but they're not that good..."  Fala turned the small green plush over in her hands, hearing it make almost a dropping sound with each movement. Was it some in-game reference to the noises they made? Perhaps. Either way, she looked at it with some semblance of adoration before standing up, putting that one plush on her head to test her early-morning balance and leaving the others on the seat.

By the time the rest of his words would have fallen out of his mouth, she was leaning against the doorway that led to his small kitchen, listening to him while offhandedly making sure that the little... what was it called? Popoo... Poropoo... rin? Poropo... Ring? Quickly giving up that little attempt at guessing a name she'd probably get wrong anyway, Fala swayed slightly as she kept the little plush monster perched nicely on her head.

Appearances be damned, the thing was cute.

"Ah! Good, Jorinth didn't let me have a damn bite to eat before I left..." Reaching up and pulling out two plates from a nearby cabinet (Was she being presumptuous? No, of course not! She was saving him the trouble!), she likewise pulled open a few drawers here and there before finding a pair of forks. Cheese graters, can openers, ladles and the like were all fine and dandy, but not what she was looking for, at the moment.

Having set the utensils and dishes near the steaming tray of hot, freshly glazed rolls, she would have helped herself if not for an annoying beeping that came from her skirt.

There was no pocket in her skirt- she had merely put the small device between herself and the skirt's elastic, trusting it (and her very weak psychic strength) to hold it in place. Sadly, her mind was the lesser of the two security checks.

"...Well. Good news. Kid's reported to be a mile or so from the entrance to that god-forsaken place. More good news- there's somethin' down there munchin' on the frags. Bad news. We're goin' down there. Hand me a roll, will ya?"

[Anonymous]

It was still rather awkward having a pretty girl in his room and one he had no idea how she felt about him. Alaric knew she had been sleeping with Marshal, though he wasn’t totally sure if she still was. And as Marshal had made his views quite publicly clear, he generally did his best to avoid the people around him. You tended to drift toward people with similar views.

But Fala seemed nice and she liked his stuffies. Which earned her about a million points in Alaric’s book. He was relaxing a little now, feeling less nervous. His cheeks were still a little dark as he glazed the rolls, “She is really good at it. Though it’s not that hard to learn to sew. Even I can do it.”
Alaric heard her approach and looked up from the food and gave a short, barking laugh. It was a little odd to hear, as it sounded just a little wrong, not quite human, “That’s quite adorable on you. It matches you hair.” Alaric’s hand twitched as he had the urge to reach over and tug on a strand of the hair. But he didn’t really know her well enough for that, so instead he gave her another fang-flashing smile, “You can have that one if you want. Or I can ask my mother to make you a new one.”

Grabbing a knife while Fala got some plates, Alaric started to cut out two cinnamon rolls, “Well, I’m glad I made breakfast then. Give us some energy.” He fell silent as her skirt went off. He plated up the food while she checked the message. Alaric did find that one tell of woman's clothing. No pockets. Or those stupid little ones that nothing fit in. Why woman weren't allowed pockets was always a little beyond them. But he liked how girl pants fit his hips. Much nicer then men’s pants.

Ah. He had figured there would be problems. He wasn’t really surprised that he had gotten assigned this mission. It was what he was good at. He didn’t do that whole stealth/infiltration thing well. He was best at the straight forward things. And fighting was nice and straight forward. Handing her his plate, Alaric nodded, “Should make things interesting. I haven’t really been down there before. But I’ve heard stories.”

Sticking his fork into the gooey pastry, Alaric glanced back over at Fala, “How good are you at finding people? I’m not that great.” He shoved the bite into his mouth, chewing as he waited for her answer. It was perfect, warm and soft.

[Anonymous]

"Huh. Maybe I'll try again, sometime..." There was something a little bit wistful in her voice as she looked up for a second, bouncing up slightly to get the little monster stuffie to shift just right on her head. She thought for a second about all those delicate stitches- done so perfectly, really- and didn't bother looking over at Alaric's clawed hand. Whether he meant it as such or not, that really was a blow to her dexterity- hell, if a guy with a hand that looked like a natural weapon could sew so nicely, what did that say about her? It meant that he could do with one hand what she couldn't do with two hands, a professional-grade sewing machine, and three guides on how to sew her own little stuffed animal.

Damn it.

"Huh? ...Oh, really? Thanks, hon." She decided she'd give him a break when he shocked her out of her reverie- one strange laugh later (she didn't know quite what to make of it, to be honest), and he'd gone and offered the little monster plush as a gift! Fancy that. Pulling the little gel-beast off of her head and giving it a quick little hug, she looked around for a place to hold it- couldn't very well have it on her head during the time they were eating, let alone on the mission...

Fala, being the shameless woman she was, pulled her gray tank top forward slightly, putting the little monster plush literally on her chest before letting the top go, trusting it to hold the little guy in place. Now anchored by a pair of breasts and the elastic of the tank top, the little green monster was left staring up at Alaric with an oddly unnerving, unblinking stare and a gleeful little smile.

Ha, the little beast seemed to say, Don't I have the best damn seat in the house?

Not even caring that she had a new little monster perched on her chest, she took the plate gladly and used her fork to tear off a piece. Steam rolled up from it- always a delightful sign- and she blew on it a few times to cool it off before she dared to take the first bite. The waiting was worth it- though she'd taken precautions, the pieces of apple still felt like little pods of boiling juice exploding on her tongue. Not to say that that was bad- she would've been more than a little bit disappointed, if that wasn't the case.

"Mm, good stuff. ...Eh? I could track a guy, but not mentally. Without active footprints to follow, I'll have to have Jorinth log into the visor and help us out." Taking a careful sip of her coffee, she leaned back against the counter and thought for a minute. He wouldn't be too pleased, but if it meant finding a new psychic, she knew that Jorinth would have to cooperate, lest they slip away.

"I haven't been to that place, either. I hear it's the shithole of the universe, to put it quite frankly." Adjusting her top when the Po... po... whatever it was called threatened to pop out of the garment, she looked back up at him, then pointed at her temple.

"I hear your psychic strength's good, though. Exercised that, lately? We might need it."

[Anonymous]

"I could try and teach you sometime. If you want." Alaric wasn't sure if she would accept or not, but, she seemed like she wanted too. Something in her voice, "I'm not great or anything. I am sure not my mother, but I can teach you the basics. If you want...." He felt a little shy about the offer, but he wanted to make it. He liked doing things like that, and teaching people just made it better.

"You are wel-....come..." Alaric's cheeks flushed a dark blue as he caught a flash of ample cleavage while the green plushie got comfortable. He was already quite aware of the female Pilot's curves and he quickly turned his head away. People often didn't realize that with how tall he was, he could see a lot farther down their shirts then he was pretty sure they intended him to see.

Alaric stared down intently at his plate, cheeks still burning as he shoved another bite into his mouth. Once that was carefully masticated and consumed, Alaric nodded, feeling better able to speak without saying something stupid, "I can track alright physically. And if they do anything with their powers, I can generally tell. But, I'm not that great searching out a psychic with so many people around." He ducked his head a little at the mention of his psychic abilities, "I can throw things around pretty well. But I'm not real good with the subtle stuff. Sorry..."