cawnviction | ryslig thread continuations

[ooc: from here.]

It sure is. "Heh, why not?"

After the horsing around on RSDOS starts to die down and a slew of empty beer bottles line the tabletop, Crow glances from the screen over at Dante.

"Hey. You wanna stay the night? It's a long way back to Vandare."

It's been a good laugh, all the trolling. And no one but Lady figured it out without help, how disappointing. Is he really that hard to spot?

Dante's lazily nursing the end of his last bottle of beer, idly watching Crow have some fun at the expense of anonymity. At the question his ears perk, and he gives a lazy swish of his tail in thought. It's not a bad idea all things considered, he doesn't really want to walk all the way back to Vandare tonight, and Crow kind of seems like he could use the company.

"That's not a bad idea, my hooves are sore enough from the walk here in the first place," It's not a lie, they are still very tender from the mutilation fiasco. Besides, the company's not half bad either. "And to top it off Lady will owe you one, saving her a night of me whining." He smirks, of course he's going to play it off as it's totally just the hooves thing. Yup.

Crow lets out a snort of amusement, standing so he can start clearing the table of beer bottles. "So I'm your baby sitter now?"

Looks like Crow's bought it.

"I only got one bed though." Not that he ever... uses it. The words, You sleep in a bathtub, Crow! still ring in his head. But Dante doesn't need to know that. "As long as you don't kick, we can share."

Nevermind that he has a perfectly serviceable couch. He just...

"Hey now, I'm not that bad," Yes he is don't let him lie to you, Crow. Still she puts up with it like a champ. You signed up for this buddy.

An ear does that questioning pivot thing while Dante glances at the couch, apparently having the same thought. He likes sleeping on the couch, really, but at the same time he's grown accustomed to a bed since coming to Ryslig.

Not to mention how empty and lonely he's felt since the blob collective thing fell apart... "Well so long as fur isn't a deal breaker for you I'm sure we can manage. I only kick if I don't know you're there." It's a fair warning, no one wants a surprise hoof.

Into the bin those bottles go! They make a terrible racket, clanking all the way, for all of one second.

The corner of Crow's mouth curls up. "I invited you home, didn't I?"

Even with the knowledge of how much Dante sheds, too. Though he definitely does not want any kicking.

"If you wanna use the shower, it's over there." He points out the bathroom. There may be a pair of crow plush toys in the bathtub, the only evidence of Crow's tendency to sleep there. There's also a towel, but Crow mostly uses that for his face, not for showering; not much point ever since he stopped showering. "I've got spare toothbrushes under the sink if you don't wanna be gross."

At all the noise Dante winces, ears pinning back against his head and teeth gritted against the sound. Once the cacophony dies he shakes his head vigorously, rubbing at an ear to clear it.

"Hnph," Okay, that's a good point. "I suppose you did."

He does shed a lot. Though he's gotten better about trying to keep it brushed out to the best of his ability. Can't reach all of it, though.

After a good stretch he makes his way toward the bathroom. "Alright, alright, I get it. You're callin' me gross. Awful demanding for a whale, you know that?" He is totally going to bring those back with him because Crow sleeping with plushies, really? That's almost cute. Hopefully Crow's got some spare shampoo because all that fur needs it.

There is indeed spare shampoo, which Crow had bought when Gon was still living with him. Now it goes mostly unused... until now, that is.

"Least you could do is get yourself cleaned up!" he calls out over his shoulder after Dante's left the room, not really expecting the minotaur to hear it.

But while Dante's hogging the shower, there's not much for Crow to do besides make his way to the bedroom and at least make it seem like it's been lived in. Staring at the unused bed, Crow frowns. The time where he used to enjoy sleeping in a bed seems almost an age ago.

Shaking his head, Crow shucks off his jacket, shirt and pants so he can get changed. What? He owns pyjamas! ...Which is basically an oversized backless shirt because custom pyjama pants seems like far too much effort. And he's gonna get under the blankets and roll to become a whale burrito.

Good, he's going to use quite a bit of it. It's a lot of fur to wash after all.

Unfortunately for you, Crow, Minotaurs hear everything. "Speak for yourself, Whaleface! You smell like a fish market." Keep it up, Crow, he'll shove you in the shower too. Swimming around in a filthy lake does not count as getting clean.

To be nice, Dante makes the shower quick as he can with all that fur to scrub. Guy has a bad habit of eating up all the hot water at his own house, for some reason Lady hasn't murdered him over it yet. Maybe she's just glad he's using conditioner now.

It's not terribly long before hoofsteps announce he's located Crow's room and subsequently the burrito of a mer, still scrubbing the water off his head with the towel he found.

"Pfeh, couldn't even wait for me." Well for that, he's going to make a grand show of flopping down on the bed and attempting to steal at least some of those blankets.

[ooc: from here.]

Crow snorts. "A bus doesn't go where you wanna go, when you wanna go."

Are you ready to ride, Marco? Once the other mer is nice and secure -- for a given value of secure -- Crow starts Blackbird's engine with a roar, the only warning Marco gets before they shoot forward, going northward.

"Why wait around for a bus that takes forever to get somewhere when you could get yourself there?"

Good lord. At least Marco is getting used to Crow's driving, for a given value of the phrase "used to".

"W-Well, I wouldn't get myself there this fast, either!" ... Wait, he doesn't want Crow to take offense to that. "But, ah, thank you."

To be fair to Marco, lots of people wouldn't drive as fast as Crow. It's what happens when you come from a world where speed limits are literally not a thing.

"Hey, no problem!" Crow lifts a hand from one of the handlebars to give Marco a thumbs up. Somehow, the bike's trajectory doesn't waver. "But seriously. Even if you don't ride as fast as me, wouldn't it be better to choose where you get to go?"

"Please put your hands back," he says in a muted, strained plea. It's fine if Crow couldn't hear him - in fact, it might even be preferable - but he had to voice that.

It takes him a moment to remember there is an actual conversation happening. "Oh, well, yes. It's just that I don't typically go anywhere the bus won't take me-- I mean, aside from the lake and all. Walking is good for you."

Ha ha. Come on, Marco! There's nothing dangerous about driving one handed! He does it all the time! Professionally, even! You can't play card games on motorcycles if you don't have a hand available to actually play your cards.

Crow hums. Maybe it's in agreement. Either way, it's lost under the sound of his bike's engine. Marco's not exactly wrong about walking being good for you. But there are just some places that're too far to walk to quickly.

Like the sea they're driving to, for example.

"Is that the same back home? Walking and bussing everywhere?"

"Well, no, I had a car. I had a driver too, but I just... preferred to drive myself, usually." Then he adds: "Oh, but don't get me wrong, I didn't want to put him out of a job or anything! I just didn't think it was necessary."

~~LET MARCO EVANGELISTI TELL YOU ALL ABOUT HIS CONFLICTED FEELINGS ON SOCIAL CLASSES AND SOCIETIES DRIVEN BY MONEY~~

"A driver?"

Most of the people Crow knows are working class citizens or have grown in poverty; they can't afford that kind of service. Honestly, the entire idea of a driver would've been totally foreign to him -- there's more thrill being behind the wheel yourself! -- if it weren't for him knowing a guy who's...

"You the head of a company or something?"

Ah. Right, he should have guessed that would have raised a question or two. Marco doesn't like to brag, but every so often, he does forget that some everyday things weren't quite so everyday to most other people.

"I... was, actually. We dealt in computers and computer software, broadly speaking."

[ooc: from here.]

"Well, we're gonna have to fix that, aren't we?" Because Crow staying on just the road? Hah!

It's a lot to take in at a time, like wow, there are so many more things in a car than there are in a bike, seriously. But hey, Crow's great at multi-tasking and doing things at the same time, so Crow listens while he's steering with his foot on the accelerator and reaches over to turn on his lights as instructed.

Click click, click click.

...That sure is his left indicator going off instead.

"Uh." Well, like, he can see pretty ok in the dark, but Crow's pretty sure that's not what Mike meant for him to do. "My light's not supposed to be flashing, right?"

"Heh, we'll spruce her up for it later, promise." An amused snort--Crow would try driving this thing up a mountain, Mike bets.

. . .and then Mike would try to follow him more than likely. Ah well.

Just when Mike thinks he can relax a bit more, Crow flicks the wrong switch. He shakes his head, tapping his finger to the beat of the clicking signal. "Nope, that's to let folks know if you're moving to the left or right. What you need is to move it up, to the--"

BEEP BEEP SUCKERS, they're not alone on the road. A truck's coming fast, and without the lights on, it looks like its driver is a little too drowsy to notice them.

"--LIGHTS. You need the lights! And to get outta the way, man!"

Lights!? That's what he's been trying to do!!

"Move what up!?"

Crow tries flicking what he thinks is the lever for the lights with one hand -- the car remains indicating he's gonna turn left -- before giving up on that and swinging his wheel violently to the left to avoid the truck and avoid turning the pair into a side of sushi and minced meat.

And hey, he even indicated before he turned! That makes him automatically better than 50% of drivers out there.

But after that narrow miss, Crow instinctively slams a hand on the car horn--

HONK HOOONK

--just like in the shows he used to watch back in Neo Domino.

"Watch where you're going!!" Crow yells at the truck driver, who, of course, can't even hear him.

JEEZUS Mike's fur stands on ends at the honks, and he's suddenly regretting leaving the horn in. A neccessary evil, apparently. He leans over, flipping on the light tab for Crow with a claw.

"Move this," said with some heavy relief. The road lights up from the headlights, and their path is now a heck of a lot clearer. Leaning back, Mike chuckles. They're not roadkill right now, so hey, he's gotta give credit to Crow for those reflexes. "A little slow on the draw there, but hey, you figured out your signals and your horn. A+, dude."

He gives Crow a thumb's up, and honestly, it's hard to tell if the gesture is genuine or teasing. Probably both when it comes to Mike.

Those reflexes are the only thing that's saved him from being crushed by or thrown into rubble. Once he gets the hang of driving a car, Crow's gonna be doing tricks and crazy stunts at top speeds like the pros.

"...Ohhh." That makes sense. Crow lets out a bark of laughter.

Now that they're not about to become pancakes, he comments, "It's kinda weird to just be controlling this hunk o' metal with just my hands and feet." He drums his fingers on the steering wheel. "Instead of, y'know."

Crow leans to the side to demonstrate. The car starts to slowly drift to the side before he returns to the normal position and he readjusts their tragectory. And then a thought strikes him.

"Do you know? You ever ride a bike?"

Mike shoots Crow a look of faux offense. If the question is "does Mike ride it?" the answer is likely yes, yes he does, in every context.

"'Course! Back home, anyway. Had my own chopper." A nostalgic sigh, but he doesn't linger on it. "It's definitely fun, feels like you're the one flying through the streets. But. . ."

He brings a hand up, tapping his knuckles at the overhead of the car.

"Being in a car feels right at home. Just feels. . .safe, I guess. Like you're with a friend, even on a lone trip."

[ooc: from here]

A no small part of him is relieved Fiora doesn't have a reason to leave instead of stick around. He does and doesn't want to be around people right now, is that weird? It'd definitely be weird to ask someone if they could just hang around because it feels too empty in his head and maybe company would help with that.

Definitely.

Crow takes the offered muffin and starts by splitting it in half, offering one piece to Fiora. "Sanctuary?" Nom. Hope you don't mind him talking with his mouth full, Fiora. "That the town I see between here and Vandare?"

[ooc: from here]

Wow, okay. Yep. No use trying to play pool if he's that badly affected. Crow scoops up the pool cue from the floor and puts it back in the rack where it belongs.

"Alright, alright. When we get to the next bar, there'll be more drinks." Crow's by Shulk's side, in part to lead him away from the pool table -- and empty beer bottle san -- but also to make sure Shulk doesn't accidentally walk into a bunch of people. "But you need to drink a glass of water first, okay?"

Yeah, ok, it's a bit of a jerk move to leave the remaining balls all there on the pool table like that, but eh, people will deal.

What do you mean there's no use? It would take a long time and many concussions, but Shulk could do it! You just don't believe in him, huh, Crow? >:(

Which is fair, since empty beer bottle-san is quickly forgotten at the mention of more drinks, as is the game. So flighty, this bird. Who nods enthusiastically, until he's nearly dizzy, but here's Crow saying very agreeable things. Yes, very agreeable!

"Okay. A drink, any drink is good. Water is awfully plain though, isn't it?"

And then he sways, leans into Crow. Which he would never, ever do sober. Being in Crow's personal space is essentially the danger zone, but Crow's being very nice today. That, and Shulk won't be able to process any physical pain until like three days from now, barring the inevitable massive headache.

"Are we going to play more games too?"

At least Shulk won't wander off, in his tipsy way. Crow makes a very handy whale-shaped crutch.

[ooc: from here]

Better to be safe than sorry, right? Wouldn't want her to know what he thinks about having a hot... lady... in him.

...Let's not follow that thought. Focus, Crow! They've gotta find her body and hopefully they can figure a way to get Lady back in it. But that can't happen without finding her first.

"Alright." It's reflex to nod, except he's not really the one in control right now, huh? "Let's go that way. You're the driver right now."

[ooc: from here]

[Crow returns the smile and wave.]

Hey, Tsukikage. Good to see you. You got a moment?

[A nod in Reira's direction, encouraging.]

[Tsukikage glances between the two of them and nods. He even puts down the bed of dirt he's propped up and his knitting. You have his full attention.]

Of course. What can I help with?

ryslig thread continuations

For Dante

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For Marco

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For Mike

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For Fiora

For Shulk

arrives 100 million years later

For Lady

For Reira and Tsukikage

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