2021-05-18: I Love You Slightly More Than Pineapple Juice
- Log: 2021-05-18: I Love You Slightly More Than Pineapple Juice
- Cast: Riley Arwell, Xander Lovell
- Where: Luca - Port District
- Date: May 18, 2021
- Summary: The Fangs enjoy a nice dinner and process a strange encounter with Magilou, Neriah, and Jacqueline.
===========================<* Luca - Port District *>=========================== Luca is the largest port and second-largest city in Spira, located the southern tip of the archipelago's largest island. Its location as the central port for Spira's surrounding islands has turned Luca into a thriving economic hub; Besaid, Kilika, and a dozen smaller islands all send their goods to Luca for sale, and even the Al Bhed are known to trade here from time to time. The port district is an immense, bustling area. The largest port in Luca brings in ships from across Spira -- from small fishing ships from Besaid to Al Bhed salvage ships to large sailing vessels from Bevelle -- and a massive market to match. A large seawall keeps the waters at bay, with piers extending out past the seawall into the water. Luca remains as active as ever in the wake of the Guard occupation. Commerce must go on, and with the Guard controlling as far south as Kilika, the city is busy. Althenans, however, keep a close watch; Guard can be seen everywhere, and some rebuilt buildings are in styles seen on Glenwood and Meribus, instead of Spira. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zHN4IyLk68&ab_channel=NewBrawlgamemusic
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
The Fangs have escaped a potentially disastrous encounter, but you would never know it from the carefree enchantment with which Riley is enjoying his dinner. The setting is nice -- an outdoor table with a view of the sea. And the food is good, too, especially if you happen to like fish. And, of course, the company is Riley's favorite. But what's truly holding his attention at the moment is his drink. He sighs dreamily as he finishes another sip, leaning back to look at Xander with a smile.
"I forgive you for whatever you had going on with that invisible guy because I am in love with this pineapple juice."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
"Whatever you're thinking is wrong," Xander says as he inspects his seafood skewer.
As it so happens, Xander does like fish. This is not necessarily a brand new fact, but fish from the ocean are different from fish from lakes and rivers. This offering has some manner of crayfish looking meat on it that he tears off with his fangs. (Skewered meat, he decides, is better because no one will try to make him remember knives are meant to be a kind of utensil in civil society.) It is not crayfish. It is about six times better than crayfish.
His face does not betray any of his enjoyment, however.
Instead he sighs, finally looking to Riley's glass of juice with only the briefest glares of jealousy. "We haven't heard of pineapple before now, have we?"
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
"Whatever I'm thinking is wrong?" Riley asks. "You mean it's a scenario that you're sure has never before entered my imagination, even with how long you've known me? You must realize that makes it even more intriguing to me, not less..."
Riley pauses to sip his drink again. He is forced to confront the terrible thought that eventually he will have drunk all of it... how many more of them can he order before Xander stages an intervention, he wonders?
We haven't heard of pineapple before now, have we?
"No, definitely not. I would have taken note of a fruit this wonderful." He (willfully?) misinterprets the jealous glance. "You should get one, too!"
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
"Fine, maybe your imagination could have come up with what a Normin is," Xander relents. "At least it wasn't a hallucination after all."
He sets the tip of his skewer to his plate, idly twirling it as he looks out into the ocean. He knew his resolve couldn't have gotten that shaken... But the confirmation is a relief.
"Maybe." He's beginning to suspect Riley wants him to order one so he can have some of it himself. Xander eyes Riley, his fang a little more visible than usual. "...I'd have to taste it first."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Fine, maybe your imagination could have come up with what a Normin is.
"But what is a Normin? Oh, and I'm glad you didn't go crazy, too."
Well. He went a little crazy. But not seeing things crazy, and that's something.
Xander asks for a taste of his juice. Riley's eyes widen, and he looks from Xander to the pineapple juice and back again. Guilty. Reluctant. "...All right," he says at last, holding it out as he turns away melodramatically, like he can't bear to look. "I love you more than the juice."
Riley, it shouldn't be this close a contest...
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
"I'm glad you didn't go crazy, too."
Xander looks away with that, frowning. "... Yeah."
They both know that already happened. But it hasn't found a new manifestation.
He glances back to Riley. "I don't know how to describe one. A big headed cat... thing...?" He holds up his hands above a foot apart. "This big? With bat wings. And a top hat mask."
As Riley struggles with the request, Xander can't help breaking into a wry smile. Maybe it shouldn't be this close, but it's not like Xander wasn't hoping to see him squirm. He gives a quick glance to make sure no one else is watching their table, then ignores Riley's juice in favor of hooking his fingers into Riley's vest to tug him into a kiss.
He pulls back, contemplative of the taste left behind with a wide eyed blink of surprise. "...Huh." That really is unlike anything they've had before. "Sweeter than I thought it'd be."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
A big headed cat... thing...
"Aha," says Riley, as though all the mysteries of the world have suddenly fallen into place. "It was an adorable creature."
He is silenced from making any further teasing commentary, however, when Xander pulls him in for a sudden kiss.
As they pull apart and Xander contemplates the pineapple flavor, Riley finds himself in a bit of a stunned reverie. "Ohh, you wanted to taste it like that," he says, with a smiling fluster, his face a little red. That genuinely caught him off guard.
"S-so, weird day, huh? Wasn't expecting the witch girl to cover for us... although now I'm wondering if Jacqueline has some dark secret too and the joke was that we're all--" since they're in public, instead of declaring himself evil, he just flashes a fang, "you know. Except maybe with different bosses, in some cases." The violent impulses come out around her, so she can't be one of Valmar's.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander manages to nonchalantly return to enjoying his skewer, but can't deny the flutter of satisfaction for having been able to ruffle Riley into silence. "I'll order one," he decides, already aware some of it will be going to Riley.
Well, maybe he loves Riley better than pineapple juice, too.
But the recap of their day makes Xander sigh out all his breath. "I thought we were going to have to kill someone to get out of that. I don't know why she would cover for us, besides that she seems a little..." He winces, looking for the right word. "...Broken?" That's not a good word.
He frowns further, thinking of the possibility of Jacqueline's allegiances. "You think so...? She hardly seems the type. But different bosses would explain why she and Neriah aren't..."
Aren't together.
"...working with each other."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Riley gives Xander a catlike smile as Xander agrees to order a drink for himself, both savoring the victory and likely already planning how he will sneak some sips.
...she seems a little... broken.
Riley is sobered by that. "Yeah. I wonder what her story is. It could be like ours." In some way or another.
She hardly seems the type.
"Some of us are stealthier about it than others," Riley says, with a sideyed glance flicked toward Xander's ensemble and perhaps his general demeanor as well. "But it could be she just doesn't know about Neriah. It's not like she was freely talking about all her... stuff in mixed company. I was a little worried she would." Riley is fairly sure that Neriah's sense of reality is a bit askew from his own, but he hasn't gotten a feel yet for how far askew. The encounter is a sign that she's got a firm enough grip on how the rest of the world thinks to get by in public, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander will have to pretend not to notice when Riley does.
"Makes me wonder why she stepped in before. To toy with us?" He sighs at Riley. "She doesn't seem done trying. Be careful around her." Riley was the one who made 'friends' with her.
Xander catches Riley's glance, then growls at him with his one eye, gloomy mantle, and dark attire, his fangs entirely visible. "What's that look for?! You're the one who brandishes that shovel everywhere we go!"
But he settles down, like an angry crow smoothing out its feathers. "Maybe we should ask Neriah about it later if we're going to end up running into her friends." Xander's got enough to worry about looking out for himself and Riley, but he's not terribly interested in accidentally exposing the secrets of those stuck in the same position, either. "Yet they spoke of each other as friends..."
He frowns down at his food. Or if they're more than that? Neriah seemed to have a forlorn edge to her that was too familiar. She mentioned not having been as good to Jacqueline as she should have been.
"...I do wonder what would be holding them at arm's length." But to Xander, such matters are painfully simple decisions to make.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Makes me wonder why she stepped in before. To toy with us?
"Maybe. Or did we strike first? I can't remember." Riley's recollection of the battle is a bit scattered on account of the fiery finale.
"She strikes me as the sort of person where it's hard to tell what hey're really thinking."
Be careful around her.
"Mm," says Riley. And it's a 'mm' of agreement but it's clear he's a little intrigued.
"Having a spooky shovel is cute and charming," Riley protests. "The way you dress is..." he hesitates. Considers. "...also cute and charming. Nevermind, I talked myself out of my own point."
Maybe we should ask Neriah about it later if we're going to end up running into her friends.
"Yeah, maybe we should try to find her again while she's still in town."
...I do wonder what would be holding them at arm's length.
"Hmm, I don't know, it seemed a little sensitive. A rejection, maybe? Although I guess there's some chance it could be a misunderstanding..." Riley stop envisioning everyone having exactly the same story as you.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander jerks his head away and plopping his chin in his hand. "...Striking first like something I would do," he admits in a mutter. But he can't much remember, either. He doesn't want to say out loud that Magilou reminds him of Riley in some ways, because she also very much does not in others.
He gives a knowing glare at Riley with that intrigued style of 'mm'. "Am I going to have to put a cap on your evil friend allowance?"
"The way you dress is... also cute and charming."
"That doesn't sound like how you initially planned to finish that!"
Xander, it'll just be worse for you if he somehow proved that it was, don't pick this fight.
As quickly as he heats up, prickly and bristling, Xander deflates again. He plucks off one of the pieces of his skewer he has identified to be a grilled pineapple based on the taste of Riley's juice and goes to pop it into Riley's mouth. Xander is, unfortunately, trying to parse the situation with the same level of projection. "Maybe so. It isn't any of our business either way."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Am I going to have to put a cap on your evil friend allowance?
"...can't I have as many evil friends as I want?" Riley asks. "It's the other kind that causes problems." Although the Magilou kind seems likely to cause... different problems.
That doesn't sound like how you initially planned to finish that!
"Well, I think originally I was going to call it un-stealthy, but that might discourage you from wearing it, and I like it..."
Riley accepts being fed without question, a belated look of delight coming onto his face as he realizes why Xander chose to share this morsel with him. "...pineapple..." he says, reverently.
It isn't any of our business either way.
"I guess so. We'll just be forced to wildly speculate unless one of them decides to tell us..."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
"Evils that aren't aligned with ours are more of a problem!" At least the nonevils of the worlds are easier to stab in the back. It's a sickening thought, but a necessary one.
"Well, I think originally I was going to call it un-stealthy, but that might discourage you from wearing it, and I like it..."
And there it is. Xander flusters, moving his hand up over the lower half of his face as if it matters as someone who blushes all the way to his ears. "I don't think there are stealthy options for us," he mumbles.
"Not being our business means we shouldn't be wildly speculating." Xander furrows his brow.
...
"But Neriah did seem fond of her... and it's not as if Jay seemed bothered by her..."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Evils that aren't aligned with ours are more of a problem!
"Not if we're friends... though I have no idea if we really are friends or if it's just layers of whatever her game is." Riley did rather kind of enjoy bantering with Magilou in between trying to kill one another. So long as her game isn't an overly elaborate way of killing them, maybe he's okay with it if she wants to befriend them as some kind of joke at their expense or something.
Xander is successfully flustered, and Riley sips at his juice smugly.
I don't think there are stealthy options for us.
"People don't point and scream when they see us and immediately figure out our deal, so I guess we're fine."
But Neriah did seem fond of her... and it's not as if Jay seemed bothered by her...
"Mm," Riley agrees, with a nod, as Xander is tempted into speculation with him. "And when Neriah was saying we were lucky to have one another, I thought it sounded a little brokenhearted..."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander pinches the bridge of his nose. "Her game doesn't need layers, it just needs one impulsively violent play." He meets Riley's gaze with intensity. "And that goes both ways. She isn't exempt like Neriah. Be careful who you get attached to."
For all of Magilou's chaotic energy, Xander can easily see Riley finding ways to get along with her. Precisely because of it.
Xander grunts with Riley's overall approval of their clothing. He wishes he could say he put more thought into it these days, but... Whatever, it's fine if Riley likes it. (It does not occur to him a lack of concern for showing skin may contribute to this.)
He winces as their gossip takes them back to that. Neriah projecting might also explain how she comes to all her muffiny conclusions. "... Yeah." Does that mean Neriah's been at this all alone? "Being cursed that young probably limits your options."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Her game doesn't need layers, it just needs one impulsively violent play.
"Right, right." Riley's shoulder slump. "But as long as we're going to be bumping into her like this, it seems safer to try to be friendly than to go for being open enemies."
Being cursed that young probably limits your options.
"Yeah, I bet. Even before I'd... done anything, I didn't want to tell anyone I'd just met." A cursed child Neriah wouldn't have had time to forge the kind of trust with anyone that he had with Xander.
"I wonder if their problem is she hasn't been able to open up to her at all."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
That is, unfortunately, a pragmatic truth. Xander curses under his breath. "Fine." He says it like it isn't always inevitable he's going to relent. It isn't as if there's much time left...
...It isn't as if there's much time left. Between that and the somber talk, Xander scoots over, leaning his head against Riley's shoulder with a possessive squeeze on his arm. "'M tired," he says in a preemptive excuse.
"I guess I forget it wasn't easy for you to say." It's surreal to think that far back, and trying to grasp onto the emotions in those moments is like looking at memories through fogged up glass. Xander remembers seeing Riley at his window and... nothing else had mattered, once there was that.
"If that's the case, maybe there's still hope for it?"
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Xander leans against Riley, who strokes a hand through his hair.
"If you want to get going soon," he says softly, "I can finish your drink for you." Well, it was briefly a tender moment.
I guess I forget it wasn't easy for you to say.
"That I was cursed or that I had feelings for you?" Riley asks. The question briefly has him imagining a universe where he'd attempted to confess his love to Xander while concealing the curse. Leaving poor Xander to try fruitlessly to figure out what kind of disease caused thorns and bleeding eyes...
If that's the case, maybe there's still hope for it?
"...Maybe. I wonder if there's any way we could meddle...er... benevolently intervene..."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander relaxes against Riley, and... the truth is, moving to sit up so he could drink just got less appealing. He still has to sigh about it though. "I guess."
But the question of which part was hard to say tied a guilty knot in Xander's chest. "The... first one." It's easier to remember how difficult the second one was. "...I wasn't going to turn you away."
Riley knew that. That's why he went to Xander.
Because of that 'second one', Xander grimaces at Riley's suggestion. "Riley, we're a list of what not to do." ... "Which I admit might be relevant."
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Riley remorselessly helps himself to Xander's drink while keeping a hand free to pet him.
...I wasn't going to turn you away.
"I don't think I could have imagined you turning me away." Though he's not sure anymore if that's true or it's just how he chooses to frame the memory. "I remember it was... so good to see you again. Like the color went back into the world."
Riley, we're a list of what not to do.
"Hm, maybe we could benevolently intervene by offering dire warnings, then..."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander closes his eye, letting himself relax. He's not above trading his drink for this kind of attention.
"Mm," he agrees, throat tighter for how much Riley takes the words out of his mouth. His voice softens: "And like all the sounds stopped being... noise."
With a quiet sigh, Xander relents. "...It wouldn't hurt anything to try."
What are evil friends for if not at least dire warnings?
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
And like all the sounds stopped being... noise.
There's a pang of... sadness as Xander echoes his sentiment. All that time feeling the same without knowing it... and then when he finally found out, he threw it away. Corrupted it. Stole Xander's whole life, while he was at it.
"...We have lots of wisdom to share with the world about what not to do," Riley agrees.