ArchivedLogs:Fruit Salad

Fruit Salad
Dramatis Personae Anette and Pedro
In Absentia	2015-12-15 "So have you uhm, played the other side?"
Location <BOM> The Spatters - Ascension Island
A comfortable three-bedroom cabin, sturdily built if inelegant. The front door opens up into a cozy sitting room with small bathroom; it is adjoined by a kitchenette with room for small table. The three bedrooms here -- two off the sitting room, one on the other side of the kitchen -- are not uniform in size nor layout, with the considerably smaller kitchen-adjacent room having its own screened-in porch. With the sun rapidly disappearing behind the horizon, the cabin has been made ready for the coming night. The fire burns brightly in the fireplace, with plenty of wood stacked up and ready to go. The curtains and blinds have been drawn closed, further enhancing the cozy feeling. Curled up on the couch is Pedro, who clutches a small tablet to his chest. Bangs and booms can be heard, and he seems to be winning whatever game he is playing, given the grin on his face. The front door opens and Anette slips inside, for once not sneaking in at a ridiculous hour. She also comes bearing gifts: dinner, a Chinese takeout box and a half pound of supermarket fruit salad. She glances towards Pedro as she hears the game sound effects, watching for a moment before making her way over. "What's up?" she asks, sitting down in a chair and passing the fruit salad off to him. Pedro blinks and looks up at Anette, and then the game makes an explosion sound, to which Pedro looks down and sighs. Tapping a button, the screen goes black. "Not much, was just playing some World of Tanks. How're you?" The salad is accepted, and he opens it up, sniffing at it. "Thank you," he says quietly. "What did you get?" the bat asks, nodding at her Chinese takeout box. "Sweet and sour pork," Anette says with a shrug, leaning back comfortably and breaking a pair of chopsticks. "Went into the city to check everything out. Almost looks normal. I even almost got murdered by a taxi." She picks out her box before pulling out a rice coated chunk of pork and popping it in her mouth. "So...still mad at me about the other night?" Pedro is nibbling on a piece of apple, and looks away when she asks. "No. Not mad anymore." He glances back to her. "Are you angry with me?" The bat looks quite cheerful when he pulls a slice of orange from that salad, chewing it enthusiastically. "We're quite the pair, aren't we?" Anette shakes her head. "No, not mad. A little concerned maybe." She chuckles a bit as Pedro comments on their status and shakes her head with a grin. "If you think we're a pair, you should have seen Daken and I. We were nearly always fighting, sometimes physically. Breaking up left and right. Hell, I got glass in his eye once." Pedro winces and shudders. "It was bad enough picking bits of glass out of non-eye places." He flashes his wings, which still bear a number of bandages. As well as fresh scars and scabs. "So what concerns you?" he asks, a look of worry in evident in his eyes. "How I feel about you?" Anette looks down into her takeout box, picking out a few pieces as she thinks before responding. "Yes...and no. I'm worried that the...flirting and fooling around and so on might just be teasing and leading you on. I'm worried I might be keeping you from finding some sweet girl who would be good for you. And I'm afraid this is only going to hurt you in the end." She pops a chunk of pineapple in her mouth before adding. "I care about you. Even if it's not in the way you want me to." "It hurts a little bit, I will admit. But.. It won't keep me from finding someone. I mean, unless the person is terrible, I would be open to advances, you know? I wasn't looking for someone, and I was surprised that you would take me into your bed." Pedro's ears perk up at the sight of pineapple, and he licks his lips. "So uhm as long as you're gentle with your flirting, I won't be mad. I will try very hard to not take it seriously, just lighthearted fluffy, you know?" "Hm, my flirting settings a bit more basic: 'on' and 'off'. And the off button is faulty," Anette teases with a playful wink. "At this point, you really shouldn't be surprised. I'm uh...pretty open to sharing my bed. Never did buy into the whole 'saving yourself for someone special' bull." Skillfully, she pulls out a clump of rice with her chopsticks and pops it into her mouth. "As long as we're on the same page." Pedro nods to her then, "I know that you flirt a lot, and uhm, I don't think I am too picky about who I would share my bed with." He holds his wings up a moment, before digging out a few grapes. "But I look like this. Some people like it, some people don't, and it's pretty obvious when it's a rejection usually. I stopped trying a few years back." Anette nods along. "I used to do pretty well with the wings but, well, you get a bunch of drunk people in one place and they all went to pet the pretty feathers. One thing leads to another..." Anette absent-mindedly waves her hand as she speaks as if this is purely common knowledge. "I haven't had a chance to try my luck with talons, I think they might scare people off. Though I could try the head scratch angle." Pedro tilts his head to one side, looking at her curiously. "Head scratch angle? And I am not surprised about your wings working magic, they are very pretty. Mesmerizing." He spends a few moments practically inhaling the handful of grapes before continuing. "So have you uhm, played the other side?" "The other side?" Anette says, trying to suppress a grin. "Since I was fourteen. Why? You curious? Or do you play both teams already?" She sticks her chopsticks in the box, stirring it slowly as she watches Pedro with an amused grin. Both of Pedro's eyebrows rise up, as do his ears, and he shrugs. A telltale pink begins to rise on his cheeks. "To be honest, I don't know. I haven't given it a whole lot of thought. The idea of that does not feel wrong to me. I just haven't considered if it's right for me, you know?" He glances to one side. "Since you were fourteen? Has it uhm turned out alright? Like, did you ever run into anger over it? Hate? Discrimination?" Anette gives a faint shrug. "Occasional snarky comments from little old ladies but for the most part, people were content to hate me for the wings. And other reasons." She glances towards Pedro and looks him over a moment. "Well...there's only one way to find out. Want me to help you find a guy?" That light pink turns rather red and he looks down at the floor a moment. "I don't know. Having some random guy over to... It would be difficult. I don't know." He looks up at her. "Surprise me?" Now Anette lets out a laugh. "Surprise you? I mean...I could try. But, I mean, for all you know I could pick a random hobo off the street. And who do you think is going to come to a random strangers house to sleep with her bat roommate?" Anette sets the takeout box on the floor, leaning forward with a playful smirk. "Besides, I don't know what your type is besides gorgeous brunettes with wings. And we are not very common." Pedro shrugs and chuckles, "I would hope you would not pick some hobo. Do you know anyone who would be up for that? Trying some guy who doesn't know if he bats for the other team, or is a switch hitter?" He grins at her then, and nods in agreement with her last comment. He extends a wing and delicately brushes her cheek with it. "I am happy to have one as a roommate." Anette shakes her head. "How about we go out to a club or something and we do some...window shopping. And if you see someone you like, well, we'll go from there. Deal?" she says, extending her own wing to playfully bat at Pedro. "Well, having a fruit bat for a roommate has been much more interesting that I would have thought." Pedro grins, "Deal!" He cants his head a little, and points to her takeout box. "Is there any pineapple left and can I beg a piece of it from you?" The batty mutant nods, "Well, it has been interesting, my time here, in the brotherhood, and in this cabin. I hope I'm not too much of a pain in the ass."