The Xavier Legion - Open - Need Players

[McKaela Kiama]

McKaela nods, though not looking back to the others as she walks. "Yeah, 'course, we're goin' out the back door anyway, so we'll be goin' right by th' bar." She yawns lightly, stretching a bit as she leads them out. It had to be nearly midnight by now.

They pass by Saturn again on their way out, and after a few minutes of walking through the massive laboratory, they arrive back at the mansion. It felt just like walking from room to room, hard to imagine they'd traveled several million miles in that one step.

Upon arrival at the bar, McKaela leans over the bartop and grabs a bottle of rum for herself, turning to the others as she opens it and takes a long drink. Then, she steps toward the back door, from where they could see the Stadium. She adjusts her jacket, waits for their go ahead, and then leads them out.

The sidewalks were wet, but not slick, as someone had thrown rock salt on them. Everything else was covered in snow. And it was getting colder by the second. But McKaela seemed perfectly content, drinking her rum and walking along in a light jacket which only covered down to the bottom of her miniskirt.

It's not a horribly log walk, maybe a mile or two within the fortress walls before they arrive at a large house in a big neighborhood. These were the houses that Kata and Gwen could move into if they so desired. McKaela motions to the door. "This is it."

 

[Katakeome]

With a nod, the fox let's go of Alma, he didn't know why he bothered to keep him like that, seeing as how Alma was all better now. Maybe he just wasn't thinking again.

As they left out the back door, Kata did all he could to avoid looking at the stadium, keeping an eye on the floor, or either Gwen or Alma. He'd gotten over the incident there, but that didn't mean he had to like the place.
The transition from the warm bar into the frigid night air sent a chill down his spine, making him shudder slightly. Gwen seemed fine, as usual.
Why's Winter gotta be so damn cold? He thought, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Gwen was a little cold, but she had more than a rag and scraps of paper to keep warm with this time.
She fumbles around with something in her pocket while they walked down the streets.

"What'cha got there?" The fox asked.
Gwen took her hand out of her pocket and gave him a confused look.
He looked her over.
"Those pants aren't too big are they? We'll have to get'cha some smaller ones."
With the belt, the pants held up fine, but he just handed her the perfect excuse, why not take advantage of it?
"Oh... yeah, I was just pulling them up, they're fine though, thanks again."
Kata nodded at her with a kind smile, then returned his gaze elsewhere.
He wondered what Gwen had in her pocket for a few more seconds, then forgot about it.

Finally they reached the housing section of the fortress.

"This is it." McKaela said as she motioned towards one.
"Nice place." Kata added. "So these are the fortress houses."
He tried thinking back to what Veritas told him about the houses, and when he'd get his own. Kata didn't have a problem chilling in the barracks with Zander, over the course of his time here the two had a good friendship going.
But even then, these were pretty nice houses.
This brought Gwen to mind, she obviously couldn't take up the guest room the whole time she was staying here, what if they had, well, guests?

The thought of the fortress having friendly guest visits seemed alien to him.  

[Samiur]

Alma walked along with the rest. It somehow didn't seem so cold when he had someone to talk to. He struck some small talk with everyone. He spoke to Mckaela of her grandmother, and what it might be like working for her. He had a conversation with Kata about the neigh 70 year old Colt that he carried with him. And he conversed with Gwen, well more likely to Gwen, about his home town in Guadalupe. Carrying a smile with him the for the entire trip.

As they grew near his home he gave a sigh. "Well" he chuckles "thank you all for the pleasant evening." He steps up the small stair case that leads to his front door and pauses at the top. "You uhh... could come in if you like." With his back still to them he laughs nervously. "Though i haven't made much of the place."  

[McKaela Kiama]

The conversation Alma had with McKaela mostly consisted of naming some of Aluna's more prominent achievements, and then bitching about her. She and Aluna never go along great. "She raised me, though," McKaela sighs, "after my mom... well, anyway, I lived with Aluna for a long time, so I can't complain too much." She'd have complained a ton if she were still fifteen and dealing with Aluna. Oh man, what a time that was. McKaela shakes her head, trying to keep off what the subject would inevitably lead to, more of her family. Thankfully, Alma moves on to other conversations, and McKaela stays silent the rest of the way to the house.

McKaela nods to Kata. "They're really nice, an' they come in all sizes up t'four bedrooms an' three baths."

Once invited inside, McKaela glances to Kata as if asking what he wanted to do. She didn't mind, she certainly had nothing better to do aside from going to bed, which didn't sound all too thrilling. Finally, she nods. "I don't mind stickin' 'round. Maybe I can help ya unpack." The way she helped Kata move.

However, McKaela pauses for a moment, "Mmm, d'ya allow smokin' inside?" Strange question, but the answer would effect whether she went right in or took a smoke break outside first.

 

[Katakeome]

It was getting late, it had to be far past midnight by now. "Tired?" he asked Gwen, who shook her head in response.
"Yeah, neither am I."
He looks up at Alma. "Yeah, if that's not a problem. We could help get ya situated 'n stuff."

They moved up the stairs and waited for Alma to unlock the door for them.
The room they entered was dark, Kata fumbled around on the wall for a light switch. "Aha!"

He flicks the switch and a flush of light brightened the room. There was a table with a few boxes on and around it, with a couch and a few chairs close by.

This really was a nice house, even better than the one he and Markus lived in.
Kata turns back around to see what Alma and Mckaela were doing.  

[Samiur]

"Smoking? I haven't set foot in this house long enough to dictate what you can and cannot do, But if Madame here is going in." He gestures to Gwen. "Then i would strongly recommend against it. He walks to the door pulling a keyring from his pocket, holding one lonely key, and unlocks it. Taking a look over his shoulder to see if they were following before stepping in.

Alma hangs his head a little when Kata offers to help him, but then perks right up with a smile. "Well there really isn't much to do." The lights flick on.

Indeed there was very little to do. There were a few boxes maybe six in all, and a couple pieces of furniture but other than that anything else in the house was here before he came. "I lived in an apartment back home" He pauses and grasps his necklace almost subconsciously. "with my brother, Owen." He smiles again this time after saying his brothers name. "It was always hard to find real estate, and he never made all that much as far as money goes compared to me. I suppose He enjoys life too much to worry about such things. I left the apartment to him with almost everything and most of my money."

He nods. "I guess i could use a little help, There really isn't much and most of it will probably go to my room, but what the hell?"  

[McKaela Kiama]

"Ah little weed ne'er hurt anybody. An' she's been in the mansion stayin' with me for a couple weeks now. But, if ya insist, it's yer place, an' yers t'set th'rules for." She nods, smiling to show there were no hard feelings. She liked the cold, actually. She stays behind for a few minutes, lighting up a joint and puffing on it, staring across the night sky. Hm, peaceful nights like this just made her want some action. Some epic battles, some damsels in distress followed by damsels getting undressed, some action... maybe an alien invasion. Nothing major.

Needless to say, for a few minutes her mind wanders. All sorts of things enter and then exit. A final deep puff of her joint and it's dropped to the ground and stomped on thoroughly. One thing that wasn't going to happen tonight was a fire that burnt down Alma's house and destroyed everything he had... but it'd at least be amusing. No, no McKaela, bad. She shakes her head, and as a preventative measure, she kicks snow onto the severely crushed butt.

Smoke break over, she wanders into the house and looks around. They'd already gotten a box unpacked while she was out. "Yer gonna have fun fillin' this thing up with furniture an' stuff when ya get paid." Fun probably wasn't how he'd describe it. She hums something lightly, poking her head into the nearest box and digging around. Her intention wasn't to help unpack, it was to see what kinds of things that albino mouse scientists owned.

One such thing she digs up is a photograph. She motions to Alma lightly, "Mmm, who's this?" She offers the framed picture to Alma so that he can see what she's talking about.

 

[Katakeome]

Gwen blushed at Alma when he called her 'madame'.
As they walked over to the table, Gwen was the first person to open up a box.
She peered inside, there was a stack of well folded clothes, something that didn't necessarily need to be unpacked, here at least.
She sets the box down and goes for the next one.

"So you left a brother behind too, huh?" Kata asked absently as he opened his first box, inside there were a few certificates, awards, and books neatly and tightly packed together.
He pulled the first one out,
Pointe-à-Pitre University of Robotics: Alma Abdoe
Kata mouthed it out, then sets it on the table, moving on to the next one.
It was a thick, leather bound book that read Duel Quaternion Synthesis of Constrained Robotic Systems, Vol 1.
What a mouthfull. Curious, he flips the book open to a random page. The page was full of complex equations and words that made his head hurt just looking at them.
Kata turns the book sideways, as if he was hoping that would make it make more sense somehow. Before long, he gives up and lays the book down on the table.  

[Samiur]

Alma makes his way over to Mckaela. peering over her shoulder he assessed the family photo she was holding. "Who her?" he points to a tan mouse with matching hair. "That's mother err...Karen." He slides his finger across the photo to a gray spotted white mouse dressed in a pinstripe suit and red tie. "That's father, Blaire." He laughs. "That's me." he points to a white mouse with a big smile on his face receiving a nugie from the muscular looking full gray mouse next to him. "Owen" he states pointing to the one delivering the nugie. "And baby sister Nico."

He points to a white tan spotted mouse who looks at least ten years younger than the two boys and not too thrilled to be having her picture taken. She is wearing a set of messy coveralls and a green beret. a few grease stains on her face and clothes. "A little firecracker. Had a thing for machines, loved cars." He slowly takes his finger off the picture. "She left for Germany after Father died. Owen and I went there once for a vacation. we did some digging around but never found anything."  

[McKaela Kiama]

McKaela glances up to Kata as he looks over the books. Just the thickness of them made McKaela shiver and decide she didn't want to look at them at all. She'd leave that s**t to Kata.

Watching quietly as Alma explains his family, McKaela nods. "Errr, Karen?" She wonders why he said it quite that way, but shrugs it off, listening to each explained person. "Your father is quite handsome." Though the way he dressed, she was reminded of the mafia. She smiles at the next part of the picture. "Ah, so that's Owen, hm?" She nods.

Then on to Nico, McKaela's ears lay back as Alma explains. "She's missing? I hope she's alright?" She glances up to Alma to see his reaction to what he'd just explained.

Sighing, McKaela gets back to digging in the box, maybe she'd stop being nosy now. Probably not. But she starts asking where certain items should go and getting up to put them away. At this rate, it wouldn't take but maybe half-an-hour to unpack the boxes completely.

 

[Katakeome]

As he continued to unpack boxes, Kata didn't try to start any conversations besides the occasional inquiry on where Alma wanted his things placed.
Gwen spent more time fiddling with Alma's fascinating instruments than actually unpacking them, such as trying to examine her claw under the microscope. For whatever reason, she sneaks a few of Alma's random knickknacks into her pockets; a few pens and a paperclip. She found a sleek, black laptop, to which she opened up and started typing away on, pretending she was some kind of secret agent hacker, even though she never turned it on.
The kitten looked up only to catch Alma smiling at her. Her childish smile fades into a blush, and she closes the laptop, sneaking away to find a place to set it down.

It didn't take long to finish unpacking, and the house was still considerably barren.
Kata took the now empty boxes and stacked them in a corner, then planted himself on Alma's sofa, tossing an arm over the back and one leg over the other.
Gwen joined him there before long, she yawned in the cutesy way that only a kitten could, then leaned into Kata's side. It only took her a minute to drift away into a comfortable nap.

The fox showed a small smile as he gently stroked her hair back.
"Guess it's time for bed." He says, glancing up at the other two.  

[Samiur]

Alma Shrugs. "I don't know about missing. Have a feeling she doesn't want to be found. She left in a fluster. I wasn't all that uncommon for her to do that, but that time she didn't come back." His smile fades away. "I wish i could talk to her."

After carrying the two boxes of clothes to his room. he tried to help the others as best he could but he was constantly interrupted with someone asking where this and that should go. catching a glimpse of Gwen with his laptop he stopped to watch her. The smile he had lost minutes before came right back as if it never left. She reminded him of his sister when she was about that age, Such an imagination. Of course Gwen is a much more docile creature.

When she spots him and scurrys off. He is tempted to tell her that it's okay if she wants to play with it, but he knows it wouldn't make a difference.

"I guess so" He sighs as he pulls a chair over by the sofa to sit in. "Well, thanks for all the help and the company. Feel free to stop by anytime. It gets a bit lonely at times." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a rather plain cell phone. "My number is 243-3739 if you need to get a hold of me." He rocks the phone back and fourth slightly  

[McKaela Kiama]

McKaela lays her ears back. She wanted so badly to ask what exactly happened with Alma's sister, but she didn't want to pry, for once thinking of others' feelings and not just her own.

The unpacking doesn't take long at all, and once everything is finished, McKaela leans up against the wall across from the couch, watching Gwen curl against Kata's side and fall asleep. She smiles lightly for a couple seconds before the fox suggests it was bed time. It had to be getting close to one in the morning by now, so it probably was time to sleep. She sighs, grabbing her flask off her hip and taking a drink. Long day.

When Alma says his phone number, McKaela drags her own out of the satchel. Unlike Alma's, McKaela's was fancy and new; an iPhone. Quietly she programs his number into it... even though she didn't often talk on the phone. She wasn't too great at thinking of things to say when not in person. "Mine's 233 1313." Much too suitable. She stretches and yawns, putting the phone back into her satchel. "Aye, guess I'll see ya 'round. I'll prob'ly see ya in th'mornin' on yer way into th'lab."

She starts toward the door, glancing back over her shoulder at Kata and Gwen. She sighs, stepping toward them. "No need t'wake 'er." She reaches down, offering to pick her up and carry her. She would unless Kata decided to get her up or carry her himself. Of course, the barracks weren't too far if she and Kata split up right outside and travelled in different directions... it wouldn't do him much good to go all the way to the mansion.

Once decided, McKaela turns back to Alma and offers him a light smile. "Sleep well, see ya again."

 

[Katakeome]

Kata didn't have a cell phone, and Alma's house wasn't that far away. He need only to walk over here if for whatever reason he needed to visit the mouse, or he could go to the lab. Somehow, the wiser choice seemed to be just coming by the house.

When McKaela offers her hand to the two of them, the fox shakes his head. "I got her." he says, smiling.
The fox taps Gwen lightly on the shoulder, her emerald eyes open only slightly.
"Time to go."
Gwen yawns. "But I'm sleepy...."
"I'll carry you."
She gives the fox a sleepy stare, then closes her eyes.

He hoists the kitten up onto his shoulder, Gwen is surprisingly lightweight, and easy to fit into a position comfortable for both of them.
Kata turns and faces McKaela. "You can take her when we split up, if you want." It was curious why he didn't just let McKaela take her in the first place.
"And you." He glances at Alma. "I'll see you when I see you. Hopefully soon, eh?"
He noticed that Gwen had taking quite a liking to the mouse, he would bring her over next time he could.

With a wave to Alma, the fox passes Mckaela on their way out the door, once outside, he stops.
"You should smile like that more often, Milady." He says, turning towards McKaela. A grin creeps across his face. "It makes you look cute, and less of a sadistic b***h."
His sticks his tongue out at her and continues on his way.  

[Samiur]

Alma nodded to the fox. "You can drop by any time you like." He gives a smile to each of them as they step out into the night. Feeling the chill he lights his fireplace and stares at his family photo for several minutes.

After about half an hour of staring at his photo he decides to hit the shower and head to bed. the first night in town he had slept in a hotel. He didn't like the size of this house with barely anything in it. The shadows irked him and the house seemed to hold the spine chilling emptiness no matter where he went.

He unplugs his alarm clock, surely they won't mind if he is a little late to work tomorrow.