thefolder | The New Guy

Entry tags:

The New Guy

Who: Shannon and Roze.
What: Meeting the new roomie and a date.
When: Backdated to December 6th.
Where: Apt F3-09 and on the town.

Finishing up with her shower, Roze poured herself into a slinky green dress and her trademark thigh-high stilettos. Piles of long pink hair too wet to be troubled with were whipped into a quick braid and a few rose-shapped twists, then pinned atop her head.

Shannon might not be able to appreciate the effort, but Roze never went out into public with anything less than her best face - normally. And the dress was more conservative than usual - she hoped it might aid in her not making an ass of herself and inspire a little more modesty for the evening.

Probably not, but at least she was trying.

When she exited the bathroom, the inordinately tall girl felt fairly good about her plans, even if they were more spontaneous than usual. She'd be lying if she said she weren't nervous or excited. She loved sudden plans, after all.

"Hey, anyone out there?" she called around the corner into the room.

If Shannon had already left, she'd just kick back on the couch to wait. Otherwise, she strolled out, looming at 6'4" in her heels with legs that didn't quit, hips for grip and a rack capable of hosting a clearance sale. Cranberry-colored nails tapped idly on the scabbard of a long blade as she hummed to herself, finishing the song she'd been singing as she smiled and waited politely for new companions to familiarize themselves with equally new surroundings.

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By the time it took Roze to get out of the shower, Shannon had only really just arrived. At least he had been spared the indignity of feeling down the corridor until he found the right room with Kera's help; it was handy to have a partner who could speak and read for him. Not that he would ever consider ditching Lacey or otherwise putting her below Kera, it was just... a different sort of support, and one that never felt condescending. The digimon did seem to have a sixth sense about when to speak up in aid and when to let Shannon handle it.

Now if only Kera knew when to shut up when dealing with other people.

Inside the room, Shannon had done a round of the common area and then let Lacey off of her harness. She immediately went about cataloging the smells, nooks and safe spots for the room. With Kera's help, Shannon found the sinks outside the running shower and helped himself to a large glass of water... or three... All of that talking on the way over had completely left him parched. Nursing a fourth refill, he tilted his head to listen to Lacey, casting about for something on him or could be found in an apartment to use as a water dish.

"There's no kitchen, huh?"

"Nope," Kera answered. He apparently hovered as his natural form of movement, but for the most part he had been walking on all those numerous tentacle things. Right now he was standing on the sink counter and peering about, too. "Saw the cafeteria downstairs but who knows if they've got stuff on rent."

Shannon reached up, nudging at the glasses with the lip of his glass until they were settled properly on the bridge of his nose. "We'll have to do that before tonight. Get her some food, water, a toy or two. Make sure we find my room and set the boundaries." Kera only nodded along, making affirmative noises. Lacey was still investigating, tail wagging and claws tapping against the floor, and it was a soothing sound to them both.

When Roze emerged, Shannon was on his fifth glass of water and really just starting to feel human again. He'd always had a harder time staying hydrated than any of the other kids. He tilted his head toward her and offered a grin.

"Nah, just us house invaders."

"House invaders. Oooh, so spooky," she drawled with a laugh, tilting her head to regard the Keramon thoughtfully, eerie green eyes eventually sliding to follow the dog. She personally didn't mind the addition at all. She didn't know what their other roommate would think, but she never talked to the woman anyways.

"So, is there protocol for approaching you, in regards to Lacey, or do you mind if I come shake your hand in proper greeting? Since, you know, we didn't actually do the whole introduction thing."

Her amusement was obvious and her questions sincere. She didn't really mean any insult in anything she said - she was just a naturally abrasive person. No holds barred, no punches pulled.

Kera looked at Roze with equal intensity. Eventually he placed his gigantic hand up over his head as if to hold his mouth shut and gave her something of an incredible stink-eye. He was not happy with the idea of not getting to spout his superiority to her partners, but he did indeed remember the arrangement.

"If the harness is off, she's off the job," Shannon said, setting the glass aside. The German Shepherd moved from her room inspection to come up and sniff at Roze's hand. She was quite the thorough investigator herself, leaving no stone unturned and quite obviously making sure she knew the lay of the room before she had moved on to anything else. Shannon, meanwhile, had tilted his head in a better approximation of Roze's height — he was no slouch at 6', but damn if she didn't make him feel short already. "You can pet her, play with her, whatever. Don't encourage bad habits. Don't feed her treats or sneak her scraps. Don't contradict anything I tell her."

Shannon shrugged after that. "Those are the basics, should be easy to follow. Handshakes are doable anytime, though," he added, holding his hand out as if to emphasize. He braced himself for the coming comment; he was quite aware that his internal body temperature was way higher than the usual person. Anyone who took even a moment to notice during a first meeting tended to become quite alarmed at the feverish heat he put off regularly.

"You should just tell Musashi all the rules. The guy loves rules and enforces them with merciless dedication. He'll pop me with his shinai if I mess up. If you want rules, that's the go to guy," she snorted, holding her free hand out slightly and turning it palm up, giving Lacey all the time she wanted.

"Dogs are sort of rare in homes back where I'm from. You need to have a plot of property to have medium or large animals and half my life was spent inner city where no one has space. Plus the Japanese aren't terribly big on dogs indoors. Cats, sure, but not dogs," the girl mused, sliding her hand away to grip Shannon's. If she noticed the difference in temperature she didn't comment. In fact she actually felt a little cooler than was normal. Really, she liked the radiant heat.

Her handshake was firm, direct, almost masculine without being any attempt at intimidation. Just quick and no nonsense.

"I was right. You're cute shit," she grinned, chuckling to herself and cocking a brow. "Roze Ichishi, I'll say, formally. You can call me Roze, or whatever you like. I almost never call people by their proper names. Just gotta decide what I'll call you. Takes time and inspiration. S'a work of art, I tell ya."

Edited 2013-12-08 07:16 (UTC)

Lacey sniffed at the hand gratefully and then turned back to the room. She stopped momentarily in front of Shannon and received a scratch behind the head and a murmured, "Good girl, good girl..." for the effort. Shannon was immensely grateful she seemed to be taking most of the weirdness in stride. All of the digimon in the city couldn't have been easy for her to maintain composure around.

Shannon shook Roze's hand, firm and equally businesslike. It was part of the job, and he didn't really feel any sort of attachment to the gesture. He did, however, take note of the feel of her hand. Curious. "Shannon Vaughn," he reintroduced with a matching smile. It was hard not to be amused when he was complimented on his looks. One thing that was literally effortless for him and yet seemed to help him through life more than he probably could ever understand. It was pretty cool. "You're a nicknamer. I'm not surprised. Yeah, don't worry, I'll tell Musashi later."

"Honestly, the only one you have to worry about is Julie. She's just trouble. She makes me look good, which if you knew me better is really saying something. At least I asked you out. She just told Musashi they were an item. And I'm fairly certain she meant it," Roze explained, withdrawing her hand and turning the sword over in her grip before moving to set it by the door. No use taking it with them.

"So you want to head out or poke around a bit? Your room is over here if you're curious," she remarked, crossing the floor and tapping her knuckles against the door. "The place is fully furnished, but if you want to make it your personal space you'll have to add the bells and whistles yourself. You can borrow a bra to hang off the ceiling light. That's always a good conversation piece."

Shannon chuckled at the description of Julie. She sounded like a spitfire and he was sure that living here was going to be quite an interesting experience. One he had never had before, but as long as no one caused any trouble (Kera included), he doubted it would be too difficult to adjust to. There were simply too many other weird things happening all at the same time to consider his sleeping arrangements all that hard.

Tilting his head toward the sound, Shannon pushed away from the sink. He moved toward the door with a tentative hand in front of him, but no falter in his steps. Kera remained on the countertop, watching avidly. Finding the jamb, Shannon let his hand stray over it a bit before turning back toward Roze. "And if people ask, I can always say I have no idea how it got up there," Shannon agreed with half a grin. "Do you have any bowls up here for Lacey? Otherwise I'm gonna have to take a trip out before we can actually get down anywhere nice."

"Bowls? Bowls...hm...Oh yeah! Sure do, actually. I got a set because Dante is always craving ice-cream at the weirdest times. But I don't need four, so you can have the other two for food and water!" she chirped, scooting off and rummaging in her room in search of said dishes. A clatter of heavy ceramics suggested she'd succeeded.

"Here you go," she reached out, holding two bowls. They were thick and durable. Good enough for dog bowls until he found something he liked better.

"Feel free to keep 'em as long as you have to. I can always get more or bring something up from the cafeteria," she pointed out, cocking her head with a smile. Even if she knew, logically, he couldn't see anything she did, she figured expressions carried into a voice just like anything else. Besides, she was feeling pretty damned good, all things considered. After having such a shitty couple of months it was nice to not only have a new roomie, but a damned date.

Shannon held a hand out, letting the tips of his fingers bump into the bowls before he turned a confident grip on them. He definitely looked grateful, giving a pleased nod to Roze before he moved back to the sink. He was already getting used to the basic layout of the apartment. Although, to be fair, he had mostly been walking in straight lines. There would probably not be much sleep tonight as he got himself used to all the corners and furniture in the main rooms and his own.

After he filled one of the bowls up with water, he placed it under the sink where it was less of a kicking hazard. "Lacey," he called, tilting his head toward where she had gone back to exploration. "Come. Water!"

Lacey broke away immediately, like a rocket seeking out its target, and Shannon stepped aside so she could reach her prize. She lapped it up noisily, a bit messily, and Shannon reached down to give her some back rubbings with a fond tone of his voice when he said, "Good girl. Good Lace."

Kera watched the interaction, then turned a critical eye toward Roze. "And who's Dante? Not the other roommate that's never around."

"Nope. The other roommate is a chick, too. Dante's my boyfriend, I guess?" she answered without any hesitance. She wasn't trying to hide anything, obviously. The only tone in her statement was uncertainty. Evidently she wasn't sure is boyfriend was the right word.

"You're bound to meet him. Or any of the others. People come around all the time. If its a problem though, I can go hang out somewhere else, its not a big deal. I just have a lot of friends, but I don't wanna cause a mess for you guys or disturb Lacey," she mused, propping a fist on her hip and watching the dog drink.

"Hm. Here." She leaned over, pulling open a drawer and tugging out one of the smaller towels she used just for her hair. "Go ahead and put this under the bowls. You can have it, I've got plenty."

Shannon turned, placing his hip against the sink and facing Roze. His brow was furrowed as he took the towel, rolling it around in his hands a few times before he knelt back down and went about getting it under the bowl. Lacey was impatient, but well-mannered and let him get the mess sopped up and handled before he gave her a few pats and she went back to it.

When he was done, he tilted his head back toward his roommate. "Boyfriend?" he asked simply. They could deal with the idea of frequent visitors later. This one seemed a tiny bit more pressing considering their soon-to-be date.

"Best word I've got, really. He's got other girls, I can have other guys if I want, I suppose. Most people normally consider boyfriend and girlfriend synonymous with exclusive. We aren't," she stated, tone firm. The idea of being tied down at this point in their lives was fairly repugnant to both of them.

"The only stipulation in our relationship is a matter of dibs. If I'm debating a night out with someone and he calls and says he wants to go out, he gets priority. Same goes for me if I tell him I wanna do something with him," she explained with a slight shrug. "Unless of course we're already out or in the middle of something."

"Some months ago he asked me if I'd be his girlfriend and I said sure. I mean why not? We get along, we vibe, he's stupidly good-looking and a half-demon, which is about as close to home as I can get."

"Sorry," she said as she paused, frowning slightly and cocking her head to the side. "Sometimes I forget that people are a lot more hung up on proper gender roles and stuff. If its a problem, I'll back off. I don't really understand, but I try to respect when other people are uncomfortable with me. Mostly. Humans tend to be particularly skittish about that crap. I spend more time with demons back home, and they're pretty open about these things."

She coughed, cleared her throat and laughed softly.

"Or I mean, if you think its weird or I'm lyin', I can always call him. Chances are pretty decent he's got himself shacked up with someone right now. He moves around way more than I do. Aside from flirting, carousing and one other date I've never actually done anything. I'm pretty much surrounded by stuffy prudes and emotionally stunted boys," Roze grunted irritably.

"Dante gets all the game because all the chicks wanna be with him. At this point I'm just kind of the safety zone he can always go back to. Sorta makes me the lame duck here, but its whatever. I said yes and stand by it. 'Least 'til he dumps me," she trailed off, having gone from enthusiastic humor to frustration right into uncertain and disappointed resignation. She'd volunteered as much information as she could, but usually when someone said "Boyfriend?" what they were really saying was "Not interested".

Shannon had, by that point, pulled himself up to the sink and retrieved his own glass of water. Had even refilled it by the time Roze was done, giving no interruptions as she stumbled along explaining her relationship and what it meant for her and Dante. He could kind of understand it, even if it was the only sort of thing he heard about as a complication to some kind of case; even then, it wasn't quite on the level of mutual reaching out. That part about Dante being a half-demon wasn't quite something he was going to process just right now, especially since he remembered hearing that didn't actually mean anything here.

He finally set the glass down and gave a shrug. "So... this Dante won't come and beat me up for macking on you? To be honest, I'm not looking for any kind of long-term sappy relationship, but it sounds like you're in the same boat anyway. Just some fun, right?"

She blinked, smiling slowly and shaking her head.

"No, Dante won't beat you up. Unless you go out of your way to hurt me or something. As for fun versus long-term relationships? Not even that bad, really. I'm very interested in commitment, only I don't commit to relationships, I commit to friendships."

She shrugged, leaning against the door frame to her own bedroom, folding her arms over her chest.

"I don't consider dates and physical intimacy exclusive rights to an individual. Companionship and comfort should be something you're able to freely offer to anyone your're close to. If I get into a committed relationship, they get my heart and soul. 'Way I see it, anyone really wants me that much knows they shouldn't clip the metaphorical wings anyways. The core of me ought to be enough."

"Besides," she added, pushing off from where she'd leaned to stretch her arms overhead with a yawn, "I can potentially live for hundreds or even thousands of years, if someone doesn't hunt me down and kill me first. I can't really be bothered with tying myself to someone right now. It'd spoil all the fun. Dante knows that, I know that. Now you know that."

"Sorry to say I've only got about a hundred years in me," Shannon said with a short bark of laughter. "Maybe sixty of them ahead, if I'm lucky." Considering his line of work and how, apparently, there were some scary (and incompetent) motherfuckers with him on their list now, that was a pretty big if. "But," he added amicably, "I'll try and keep up with you and your young, wild ways while I can."

It was as much of a concession as he was going to give. This world was just a bit too crazy for him, but he really would gain nothing out of denying it. Let everyone live in their own world and let them cross over with his own when they passed by. "For tonight, though, maybe just some dinner. You have any place in mind?"

That earned her own bark of laughter, teeth bared in a wild-grin. Only dinner? Certainly! She didn't exactly go out of her way to divest people of their clothing and ravish them on the spot on a first meeting.

It hadn't amounted to much in the past, at any rate.

"Of course only dinner, tch," she snorted another laugh, rolling her eyes. "I figured we'd hit Venus Fort in Palette Town. There's a lot of restaurants and if you're okay with Japanese there's several places to eat. They have Indian and Italian as well. And some other stuff. Your call."

"Like I said, anything but Chinese or Mexican," Shannon reiterated. He gave Lacey one last pat before he moved made his way along the wall to where he had left Lacey's harness by the door. It would do them both a whole lot of good to get her acclimated to the city more. He'd have to stop somewhere to grab her own food before they came back for the night.

"Doubt you'll have a problem with it, but I'll ask anyway: mind if Lacey comes with us?" It wasn't really a question, but Roze had given off enough of the vibe that she respected his partner's job to not understand the importance of it anyway. Shannon needed Lacey, and those that didn't understand that could hit the curb for all he cared.

"Nope. Kera can come too, if he wants?" she asked, looking at the Digimon with a shrug. She didn't judge Digimon and animals half as harshly as she did humans, and she'd improved exponentially over the months she'd been there. Being human like everyone else for a while had proven fairly cathartic.

"It might take a bit of a walk to get there though, since the city is in a shambles. Only the central area though. All the stuff around the outer circle of the city is still intact. While we're out, you want to stop by some of the shops and get you some basic clothes?"

Shannon fitted the harness back over Lacey's back, fastening it while he turned to let Roze see an amused look crossing his face. "Why, are you offering to be my sugar mama for the night? Or maybe..." He paused as he heard Kera scrambling along the floor with his many little tentacles to make his way to the door. Then, he shook his head and continued. "Or maybe I just look like a wreck after wandering around all day and you don't want to be seen at your favorite restaurant with a bum."

He didn't mean it, obviously, but the sentiment was there. He probably looked a little rough, and the idea of having more than a single pair of clothing to wear was pretty damn fantastic. He'd just need some help marking the labels and getting pins and all that, but he could make that trip with just Kera and Lacey if he needed to.

"Either way, I'm not gonna say no," he said as he stood and took the handle in his left hand. "Lead the way."

"Nah, I just know the suffering that is not having a wardrobe. I showed up here in my boots and a kimono top. The top ended up torn up as a tourniquet and sling when Dante broke his arm. Most of what I've got now I either stole from him or bought piecemeal. I spend most of my money on everyone else," she admitted with a bashful chuckle.

"I bought a couple of my friends new coats, because theirs got really messed up, and before that I spent everything I had on this huge party to help everyone in town get to know each other and recover from one of the attacks on the city. I couldn't afford anything like that this time, and I don't think anyone would go, anyways. Last thing I bought was a dress for myself that I was gonna wear on my birthday. I thought someone would at least take me out."

She shrugged, clucking her tongue softly and heading for the door and out into the hall, keeping a casual pace.

"You know how that went."

Shannon had no problem following her through. With a quick command, Lacey understood they were to follow Roze and her pace, and the guide dog trotted along happily. Kera kept along behind them and on the same side as Lacey; it kept Shannon from getting boxed in between them, some sort of natural rhythm they had found after only knowing each other for a few hours.

"Well, you could always consider this a belated birthday present," Shannon offered. "Hot guy, hot date. Cute dog. Getting a good walk across town. What better way to celebrate, huh?" Yeah, okay, maybe that was a bit sarcastic. Not like Shannon could help it; he very rarely employed those filter things people were always telling him about.

"There's only one thing better, and I'll save that for at least the second date," she drawled with returned sarcasm, cocking a brow and smirking. Her stilettos clicked on the hard floor as she walked, the leather of the boots well worn and whispering softly.

"True though - hot guy, hot date, cute dog trifecta with a bonus snarky Digimon. I must have hit the lottery," the green-eyed girl drawled, clasping her hands behind her back and tossing her hair.

"You want me to tell you things that are on the way as we pass so you can map it out or you gonna go walking out on your own some time? I'm sure you'll be pointing things out too," she remarked, addressing Kera.

"Hey, if you want to save me the breath," Kera said in an equal drawl to before. He had obviously not warmed up to her at all, but as long as she was treating Shannon with the respect he deserved, he would let her continue to play. Kera wasn't so far gone that he didn't see the value in keeping plenty of toys around for entertainment.

"Why don't we start with general districts," Shannon suggested. He had caught onto something of the tone in Kera's voice, but couldn't identify it. The lack of exact recognition bothered him, though not quite the end result it came out to. "We'll work our way down to specifics later on. Like... where are we now in the city? Where's this building?"

She could do no more than flat-eye the Digimon, though flipping him the bird suited her as well, particularly since she didn't have to discreet about it. So she doubled it up, flipping the bird, sticking her tongue out and tugging her lowered eyelid down in a full on gesture of war.

For Shannon, of course, she maintained her casual tone. Shannon wasn't a snotty little shit. If she knew sign-language and knew Kera could understand it she might have carried on an entire shadow conversation. Roze did not do well when challenged in any manner. Anyone could tell her latest friend that she was hyper-aggressive when provoked.

"Districts. Right. Okay..." she turned a few times, orienting herself and trying to remember everywhere she'd been against her internal map, holding her fingers up and pointing for her own purposes. As they walked she told him the particular areas, leaving fine detail for another time. She was through, but easy to follow, focusing on key buildings and districts more than anything. All she could really do was give Shannon the means to get from the apartments to Palette Town, but that was good enough, considering he'd have Kera and Lacey the rest of the time.

It wasn't long at all before she announced they were within a few blocks of the enormous entertainment and shopping center that straddled the main river. Not that he couldn't hear and smell it.

Kera sniffed in superiority. After a moment, he pulled both eyes down and let his long tongue drape out of his mouth and waggle around in the air. He was sorely tempted to add some sort of noise for it, but refrained for much the same reason as Roze. This was a private war, fought in the dead of night.

Shannon merely listened, enraptured and obviously concentrating on some level to lay out a mental map of the area as they traveled. He asked a few clarifying questions here and there, but managed to soak most of it up wordlessly. Just enjoying the walk was enough for him. Kera had been suspiciously quiet as well, letting Shannon's contentedness seep through to him.

"Oh God," Shannon said as the smells finally hit him. "Didn't realize how hungry I was until just now. That smells great."

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