ArchivedLogs:Merry Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve
Dramatis Personae Anette and Pedro
In Absentia	Christmas Eve This looks a little /too/ well fit. How'd you know my size?
Location <BOM> The Spatters - Ascension Island
The fire burns merrily this Christmas Eve, though not quite so high as it has on colder nights. Pedro sits on the floor, leaning against the front of the couch. On the couch behind him are a number of wrapped presents, and a few rolls of wrapping paper. Scraps of paper indicate several unsuccessful tries of wrapping. With a coffee in hand, he watches the fire, his face thoughtful. Anette steps in through the front door, her cheeks rosy and just slightly out of breath to suggest whatever she had just been doing had been active. The lack of coat and the way her wings hang a bit drooped heavily suggest that activity was flying. Once she closes the door behind her, she turns to look around the room, freezing at the sight of the piles of presents stacked behind the couch. "Santa came early?" she asks as she slowly makes her way towards Pedro and the couch, still staring at the pile as if it might be an illusion. Pedro blinks and looks over at Anette, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. "No, you weren't supposed to come home yet." Chuckling, he takes a long sip of coffee. "How chilly is it up there? Might go for a flight at some point tonight." He points to the fire, "I think it's enough, yeah?" "It's not too bad. Then again, I'm pretty warm-blooded," Anette says, sitting down beside him on the couch. "Why wasn't I supposed to be home? Are they mine?" She looks into the fire and nods. "Yeah, it's nice." Pedro grins and nods, "Yours and Killian's. Probably the closest friends I have." He chuckles. "Was hoping to leave them out after you'd gone to sleep. So were you out partying?" "Ha, no. Just went out for a flight. Trying to distract myself from..." Whatever Anette is trying to distract herself from goes unsaid as she glances towards the presents again. "Killian might just spontaneously combust. I don't think he's really expecting anything from anyone and I already surprised him a couple days ago." "Oh. I understand. Did flying help? I know it is often soothing when I am feeling upset. Quiet but for my wings and the wind in my ears. The feeling of solitude." Pedro rubs a cheek and looks to the presents. "You think he'll be upset? It's not much, nothing really pricey. But I think that he'd like them. What did you surprise him with?" He pauses to drain the rest of his coffee, and slowly gets to his feet. "If you want, you can open yours now." "No, not be upset. He just seems like the type not used to people thinking of him," Anette says, glancing again towards the pile of presents. "Yeah, it did. Flying is incredibly soothing. Oh, I got him a knife. A damn good one, too. It was the only thing I could think of and...well, they were surprisingly easy to loot considering the apocalypse." She looks towards the presents, raising a brow as Pedro offers hers. "Well, then I guess it's only fair if I give you yours then," she says, standing up and making her way to her room. She's gone only seconds before returning with what looks like thick black fabric draped over her arm. "Sorry it's not wrapped, I wasn't really sure how..." She hands it off to Pedro, revealing it to be a wool cloak. "I figured this would be easier for you to wear with your wings than coats." Pedro nods and chuckles. "I will enjoy his expression then, if he is not expecting anything. Makes the gift giving more enjoyable." He watches as she leave and returns. "Oh. It's okay if it's not wrapped." The bat grins as he accepts the gift, and turns it over a few times to look it over. "Oh, this is perfect." He slips it over his head and lets it fall to his sides. Grinning, he turns and picks up three wrapped things, turning back to offer them to her. "You and I were thinking alike, it seems." Anette takes the presents, her eyes widening a bit as she realizes there's more than one. Carefully, she unwraps them, pulling out each item. First the earmuffs, then the mittens. A smile remains on her face as she examines and appreciates them. As she unwraps the final gift, her smile drops a bit and her eyes widen as she pulls out the sweater examines it. Far from a negative reaction, it seems more shock as the smile suddenly reappears at the sight of holes for wings. "Wow, this is...this is pretty awesome," she says, setting the matching set down to fully appreciate them. "I don't think anyone's ever put this much thought into a gift before." "Well, I could be flexible with the open skin," Anette teases, though she does pick up the earmuffs and slip them on her ears. She also picks up the sweater and holds it up to her, judging the size. Suddenly, her eyes narrow and she gives Pedro an amused but suspicious look. "This looks a little /too/ well fit. How'd you know my size?" Pedro raises an eyebrow at her, and grins mischievously. "You tossed me one of your shirts, remember? Covered in blood, after you and Killian cleaned up G and his thugs. It does have your size on it. Besides, I have hugged you more than enough times to guess properly." He leans in and kisses her cheek. "Go try it on, yeah?" Anette chuckles and shakes her head. "Really? I thought you were going to burn that," she says, holding the sweater up again to look at it from the front, her smile growing a tad brighter as Pedro kisses her cheek. "Yeah, alright," she says, for once actually taking the sweater (and other items) into her room to change, rather than changing in front of Pedro. Once more, she isn't gone very long before returning again, wearing the sweater, gloves, and earmuffs. "I'm impressed. It even fits in the chest, usually sweaters tend to bag there." She looks down, smoothing the sweater before giving a playful twirl for Pedro, modeling it for him and stretching her wings out to test their movement. "Thank you so much," she says, leaning forward to kiss his cheek. Pedro chuckles. "I bleached it instead. I was really concerned about there being some zombie in it, who knows if any of the thugs were infected? But I think it's good." When she returns, he's in the kitchen setting the coffee maker. He grins at her comment about the chest. "Well, I know how people are when it comes to chest size. So I made sure that the sweater was going to fit." Anette grins and rests her chin on Pedro's shoulder as he begins making coffee, wrapping her arms around him. "Should I ask what you've been doing with it?" she teases, kissing his cheek again and wrapping her wings around him like a blanket. "I'm gonna need some shirts soon, the way I've been going through them and seeming to give them away." Pedro giggles at her question. "I have it saved somewhere. Not doing anything uh... inappropriate." He goes still as she wraps her wings about him, and lightly leans against her. "Well, we could go shopping again sometime? Hit the fancy thrift stores for good used stuff? Or maybe you want to spend some of that chunk of change you got from Killian?" "Yeah, that sounds fun," Anette says, unwrapping her wings and stepping away from Pedro to lean against the counter and watch him brew coffee. "Speaking of Killian, what did you end up getting him? He doesn't seem the sweater and earmuffs type." The coffee maker begins to gurgle, and Pedro glances to her. "You're wings are so soft. It's like being wrapped in a downy blanket." He does a little spin on one heel, his new cloak twirling about. "I can get used to this. And um, well, I got him a neat hat. One of those kinds that you might take hiking, with like, the ear flaps. And I also found some military webbing in an army surplus store. I figure he could use it to keep stuff strapped to him. I think it will fit his dog and panther form. We need to get him to a really big bird. Maybe Californian condors? I think that'd be a great present for him too." Anette reaches forward with a wing, gently patting Pedro on the back. "Imagine living with them and cuddling them all you want," she says with a grin, pulling her wing back and wrapping them around herself as if to demonstrate. "A hat? Hmm, he might enjoy that. The webbing would be pretty damn useful, he was just complaining that he tends to lose his good knives when he needs to run off quickly." She suddenly gives Pedro an odd look, tilting her head slightly. "And why are we getting him a vulture?" "I imagine that is pretty sweet actually. And I think he will like the hat." He rubs a cheek and extends a wing to lightly pat her side. "We're not getting him a vulture. We're just letting him see it. He said that he needs to observe the animals he copies, right? The condors are just about the biggest birds I can think of." Pedro smiles, "Maybe we can find a zoo that has them." "Aren't they an endangered species? I think getting him close enough to copy one will be tricky," Anette says. "Besides, the dog is cute, the panther and tiger are pretty in their own way, do you really wanna ruin that with a vulture? Especially when we could get him, oh, a Great-Horned Owl?" she adds with a wink. Pedro tilts his head to one side, "Hmm, those are pretty large birds. And aren't owl wings quieter than other birds? That might be more useful than the condors. And owls do hunt, so Killian could probably carry a decent amount as an owl. So do you know where we can find one?" He grins to her, "Unless he's already found one?" "Somehow I don't think his powers apply to half-animals. If we left the city, we might find one. They're native pretty much everywhere," Anette says, nodding slightly as she thinks. "Peregrine Falcons are also pretty good. Fantastic hunters. Not sure where they're native, though." She grins and looks up to Pedro. "Or we could get him a little Chihuahua and convince him to let us carry him around in a purse and dress him in doll clothes. It could be fun." For them, not so much for Killian. Pedro raises a hand up to his face, and laughs. "Doll clothes? The first one of us to giggle will probably get panther teeth in our ass." He shakes his head. "I'm just saying that helping him improve his abilities would be pretty neat. And gosh, you're not one of those people who would carry a little dog around in a bag, are you?" The bat sticks his tongue out at her. "They can walk you know." "Normally I'm not but...just the look on his face would make it hilarious as hell." She lets the images go with a deep breath, nodding slightly. "But yeah, helping is abilities would be great. Though judging from the perch in his room, I think he already has a bird form. Though it could just be a pigeon." Pedro giggles a little more and rubs the back of his head. "His ears are probably burning right now. Though, you are right, the look would probably be priceless. Please take a picture of that." He nods. "I've not seen his place, but I imagine he has stuff in there he uses for his different forms. You know... it must be pretty neat to have a tiger to cuddle with. I mean, warm and soft, yeah?" Anette nods. "He does, though he seems to favor the dog. Chew toys everywhere and his room is practically coated in dog fur." She chuckles softly, looking out over the room a moment. "I haven't spent much time with the tiger. Most of his forms are soft and cuddly though. Except the jaguar." Pedro grins and lets out a breath. "Well, I'm happy you two are hitting it off well." He fusses with one of his ears a moment before the coffee maker pings, and he reaches to pour himself a mug. "Want some coffee?" He pulls another mug over, anticipating her answer, and starts pouring. "Does he have lots of forms then? I only really know the dog, and well, I saw the jaguar when you two fought." Anette watches Pedro closely as he begins pouring himself a mug. "You know me and him don't really have anything, right? I mean...nothing more than what you and I have. Had." She nods slightly as coffee is offered. "I really don't know. I don't know exactly how his powers work, other than he seems to...store creatures. For sure I know there's a dog, jaguar, tiger, rat, and some kind of bird. Oh, and a wolf." Pedro shrugs to her then, "No, I don't know what you two have. Been trying to mind my own business as far as that is concerned. So I figure if you two aren't fighting, things are going well." He listens as she lists off the different animals, and raises an eyebrow. "A wolf? Cool, I wonder where he found it. And the rat is a pretty good choice, he can get into all kinds of places with that, I am guessing." "Yeah, I just...didn't want you to think...sorry," Anette says, suddenly getting very uncomfortable. Next topic. "The wolf...well, I've only seen that once or twice. Usually when he's just wandering outside. The rat was pretty damn useful to take out the dealers, scope out the house and such. I think a snake may have been involved, for the venom." "It's okay, Anette." Pedro takes a long sip of his coffee, and glances back to her. "I won't let stuff get in the way. I do still like you, like, more than friendship. But I will keep that under wraps. I'll try very hard to be honest, for when we may spar and stuff like that. It seems so easy to feel like this and so hard to turn it off, you know?" Another sip of coffee is had before he continues. "A snake? That is very sneaky." Pedro's comments about his feelings cause her to tense though she doesn't respond, just taking her coffee off the counter. "Trust me, I know. It's how I almost became engaged," Anette says, sipping her coffee quietly. "I don't plan on making that mistake again." She sets the coffee back down. "Just give it time. It'll go away on its own." She offers a faint smile and nods slowly. "It is. I used to think I was pretty useful in a fight. Though it's hard to compete with someone who can summon any animal quality at a whim." Pedro nods to her, looking away a moment. "I'm sorry for being a pain sometimes." Looking back and nods. "It is pretty useful, to be able to change forms. But you're still useful in a fight. You're just more direct. Nothing wrong with that at all. And you still have a massive advantage in being able to fly. Lots of times, people never look up. If you don't give them a reason to, they won't bother." "No, you're not a pain," Anette says, offering a thin smile to Pedro. "You're the one stable thing in my life right now." His compliment of her powers gets a chuckle and faint head bob of reconsideration. "Well, Killian /was/ lamenting the fact that none of his forms are able to carry booze, or anything big, back to the island without taking the ferry." Pedro smiles at her compliment. "And I'm trying hard not to screw that up." His smile brightens further. "Well if he needs booze, he should send one of the proper fliers, shouldn't he?" Chuckling, he drains the last of his coffee. "Or, as you suggested, he needs a great-horned owl to study." "You know, I did suggest that actually. I'll gladly offer you up for service," Anette says, grinning as she picks her coffee up again and takes a large gulp. "I really should try to get some sleep. Take care Pete," she says, gently clasping a hand on his shoulder before setting the mug down again and walking off. "Sleep well.", he says, smiling as she goes.