Company Over for chiron_survivor

[juststeverogers]

Steve's apartment is a sixth floor walk up in a tan brick building near the edge of the Plaza and the Wilds. The area is quiet with a nearby park that is well maintained even in Winter. All the paths are shoveled and it's impossible to miss the slightly eerie statues on either side of the front entrance at the top of the steps.

The directions Steve had given Adia were easy enough to follow even in a place as shifting as the Nexus. When she reaches the right number the entry looks plain, though there is a rather plain 'Welcome!' mat in front of his door. She'll hear shuffling when she knocks and the sound of some kind of animal's nails skittering across the hard wood floor toward the door.

Steve appears a moment later, smile huge on his face. The smell of coffee and some kind of baked good exudes from his apartment.

"Glad you made it Adia. Come on in. I hope it wasn't much trouble?"

Comments

[chiron_survivor]

Adia is careful to wipe her feet on the welcome mat before she knocks, not wanting to bring New Caprica dirt into Steve's home. She wishes that she had something to bring him, or even that she was able to look more presentable. Her face and hands are clean, but her clothing is worn and dusty, perhaps even more so than usual.

Still, it's a bright, genuine smile she gives Steve when he opens the door. "Hi, Steve. No, it was no trouble at all." This is the first time that she's been to the residential section of the Nexus, but his directions were easy to follow. She wipes her feet one more time before entering his apartment and looking around. "It smells wonderful in here."

[juststeverogers]

"Good. I know sometimes the Nexus makes things tricky to find, but it's always in this same general area."

He steps aside to welcome her in and gives a quick glance down at the large brilliantly orange fluffy dog creature standing behind him peering up at Adia eagerly and wagging its tail. The dog is quite fluffy and gives a little sniff before coming out from behind Steve to sniff at her knees and feet more directly.

"Come on, Let her get in at least." Steve nudges her away but he's laughing all the same. "Adia this is Sarah, one of my three housemates. When I asked if animals were okay, I meant these guys. Go ahead and take a seat wherever you'd like, I've nearly got the coffee ready. I also bought scones, if that's okay to eat?"

The apartment itself is a mostly one room studio though it's rather spacious with a tall floor to ceiling window along the far wall that leads to a modest little balcony. Steve keeps a desk across from the window with his art supplies strewn across it. There's a little pet bed next to the desk where another creature with a rather oddly shaped head is curled up. Yet another--a large fluffy bird--is perched atop one of Steve's bookshelves and puffing out it's feathers when it spots Adia.

[chiron_survivor]

Adia has never seen such a creature before, but she is immediately delighted. Its coloring reminds her of a tiger, but otherwise seems very doglike, so she treats it accordingly, offering it a hand to sniff before scratching it behind the ears if it's amenable. "Pleased to meet you, Sarah," she tells the furry pokemon with a small laugh.

Stepping further into his apartment, she notes the art supplies and the large window that must give him inspiring views. "You're an artist?" She asks curiously. She doesn't know much about Steve, but he has a kind, friendly way about him that made her accept his invitation to coffee without hesitation. And scones, apparently. "Oh, I love scones. Thank you." She settles into a chair, and it's then that she notices the other two animals. The curled-up one is like nothing she's ever seen. Some sort of tiny dinosaur, maybe? The other one she at least recognizes as a bird, although none that she's ever seen, either. She smiles at it, admiring how cute it is. How cute all three of them are, in fact. "Steve? Where did you find such unique animals?"

[juststeverogers]

New people! The Growlithe sniffs at her hand in genuine curiosity and making a happy little noise at head scratchies. If Steve says New Person is a friend, then Sarah is all cool with her and the strange dirt she smells of. it is good that Steve has friends. He needs those.

"I am yes, it's how I make my living here."

Steve walks back toward the couch and coffee table carrying a tray of coffee, cream, and sugar as well as a bag of baked goods and two small plates with napkins. The tray is set down on the coffee table before Steve takes a seat on one side of the couch so he can best see Adia. With Adia in the chair though the Growlithe is going to jump right up on the couch and curl up on the other side.

"They're actually called Pokemon. A large number of them ended up in the Nexus last year, and truth be told these little guys found me. I fed and played with them and thought they had wandered back home. Guess they ended up stuck here too. So now they live here with me."

[chiron_survivor]

"What kind of things do you draw? Do you sell your art somewhere?" The idea of living and working in the Nexus is still somewhat novel to Adia, despite how many of her friends do just that. She wonders briefly if she could make a living as a microbiologist in the Nexus, or if she would have to find a new profession. Not that she's thinking of moving, but every day on New Caprica makes life in the Nexus more and more appealing.

Her wandering thoughts are distracted by Sarah hopping up onto the couch and curling up. Awwww. She smiles softly at the fluffy pokemon, then turns her attention to Steve when he explains his pets' origins. "Oh... I feel like I've heard that word before. Or maybe seen one in the Nexus. Are there specific names for the each kind?" They all look so different... especially that one curled up by the desk. She peers at it again, and then the bird, giving it a hopeful whistle like she used to do for her pet budgie.

She leans forward and adds a splash of cream to her coffee, a luxury that she normally can't afford. She'll wait for Steve to select a scone before she takes one for herself, unless he insists that she goes first.

[juststeverogers]

"I prefer to draw people and places."

He gestures to a couple of larger pictures of Brooklyn that are hanging on one of the walls. The architecture and roads are a lot less developed than that in most of the Nexus and after a moment Steve adds, "That's my home. Brooklyn, 1941." Steve had done his best to capture the memories of his old neighborhood soon after finding out he was stuck here. Its the only thing he's been able to hold onto.

Memories.

He drinks his own coffee black and takes one of the lemon-blueberry scones while he looks around the room while Adia talks about the pokemon. After a nod, he points at Sarah.

"You've met Sarah; she's a Growlithe. Ethel's dozing off right now over by my desk and she's a Shieldon. And the Rufflet up there is Buchanen. They're very smart, so I treat them more like housemates than I do pets, I guess. Even got a few pointers from a master on how to help them train and stuff."

When Buchanen makes no move to flutter down at Adia's whistle, Steve cranes his head and makes a jerking motion toward the couch.

"C'mere, Bucky. It's alright. You want a berry?" He pulls one of the blueberries from the scone and holds it out. The treat is enough of a peace offering for the bird to hop down to the back of the couch and carefully take the berry from Steve's hand. It watches Adia while it eats. "Buchanen's a bit shy. He was hurt when I found him, guess he's still wary around humans."

[chiron_survivor]

"They're beautiful," Adia says quietly as she looks over the paintings. "Like something from the past." She understands all too well the desire to capture memories of a place that you can't return to. Her gaze lingers on them while she takes a scone -- the same kind as Steve's -- and puts it on her plate.

She looks at each pokemon in turn while Steve names them. Adorable and intelligent... and well-behaved, apparently, if how they're acting now is typical. "You lucked out in the housemate lottery," she says with a small grin. But it's Buchanen who gets her undivided attention when Steve bribes him to fly over to the couch. "Oh... that's awful," she says sympathetically, when Steve explains how he found the rufflet. "I'm sorry, Buchanen. I promise that I'm harmless." She breaks open her scone. "Does he want more blueberries? He can have mine."

[juststeverogers]

"I guess for most folks my home is the past. It's sometimes hard to wrap my head around, but it's true. There's an awful lot more folks from my future than not."

Steve gives the rufflet a bit of a head scratch and a smile when it seems to be behaving. The bird is still giving Adia a wary stare, but goodness the offering of food is tempting. It makes Steve roll his eyes and turn back to his own brunch so that he's not staring down the pokemon. It's up to him what he wants to do after all. Steve just doesn't want him to be rude to their guests, frankly.

"She's real swell Bucky. I think you'd like her." The murmur is quiet and Steve says little after that on account of the food he has in his mouth. Definitely doesn't regret going out for breakfast today, the scones are amazing. Though after he takes a sip of coffee he glances at Adia once more.

"They have their own special food they eat, but berries are a good 'sometimes' snack. And a good bribe, by the looks of things." The bird has shuffled slowly closer until he's juuuust barely within Adia's reach without her having to get up. Because if she does he's heading back to the bookshelf.

[chiron_survivor]

"Most of the Earth people that I've met are from the 21st century," she confirms with a small nod of her head. Her attention drifts up to the drawings, the little details that came from Steve's memories, while she takes a sip of coffee. "I find it a little hard to wrap my head around, too," she says with a small laugh. "The pictures I see of modern-day Earth remind me so much of the Colonies... even your Earth, Steve, it's like my world's past, too. But perhaps farther back. We've had space travel for a very long time."

Adia does not meet Bucky's stare, not wanting him to interpret that as a challenge. She patiently picks the blueberries out of her scone until she has a small pile of them. "I know all about 'sometimes' snacks," she says, smiling softly. "I had a pet parakeet growing up." Putting three berries into her hand, she slowly raises it towards the rufflet. "Here you go," she says to him in a gentle voice, her gaze resting on his plumage respectfully.

[juststeverogers]

Adia's got the right idea and the right body language. Buchanen hops down to the armrest so he can lean over and gently pick up one of the berries from the woman's hands. Steve trusts her and she's not threatening. The first one he pulls away to eat before coming back for another, but the second and third he stays right there and eats while he watches Adia. There's a slow thump, thump as Sarah watches this and wags her tail against the couch cushions slowly.

It's good to encourage positive behavior and even better when said encouragement comes from a friend.

"There you go. Good job, Bucky." Steve gives the rufflet's head plumage another gentle scratch before he turns back to his own food so as not to make a bigger deal out of the event. All the activity and company has roused Ethel and she will slowly clomp over to the couch and peer up at Steve and Adia with calm brown eyes.

"Sorry t'wake you Ethel. This is my friend Adia." Steve runs his hand across the shieldon's back affectionately as she gives Adia's leg a sniff before sitting down calmly at the woman's feet. She doesn't seem bothered in the least by the newer face.

[chiron_survivor]

Adia keeps her posture relaxed while Buchanen eats from her hand, a small smile on her face. "Would you like a few more?" she casually asks the rufflet, taking a page from Steve's playbook and also not making a big deal of things. The next three berries she places on the table within easy reach of Buchanen's beak so that she can return to her coffee and formerly lemon-blueberry scone, now just a lemon scone with purplish craters.

The pastry is delicious, regardless, and she savors the bite before washing it down with a sip of coffee, her eyes on Ethel as the strange-headed pokemon shuffles over. "Hi, Ethel," she says brightly, smiling widely when the shieldon sits at her feet. She reaches down, tentatively patting her back, wondering what that head of hers feels like. It's so shiny!

"Do they talk at all?" she asks Steve, her gaze returning to her host. "They're all so quiet and well-behaved."

[juststeverogers]

The rufflet cocks its head at Adia before looking at the three berries she's left on the table. There's a moment of feather ruffling contemplation before the bird takes one of the berries and hops back onto the back of the couch and gives one to Sarah and another to Ethel before it eats the last one. Sarah and Ethel both bark out a thanks, though Ethel's has a distinctive metallic ring to her cry.

"Bucky and Ethel are pretty quiet for the most part but Sarah gets excited easily." He reaches over the couch and gives the growlithe a loving pat on the head and chuckles softly at the warm berry-stained tongue that licks at his hand when he pulls away.

"I explained to them that there are other people living in the building and we don't want to bother the neighbors. But they let me know when they want to go out and play or train and the like. They seem to understand me pretty well. I wish I could understand them better than I do."

[chiron_survivor]

Oh, that is simply too precious. Adia smiles warmly at Bucky before setting aside the rest of her berries for him to do what he wants with them. There are only a few more, anyway, so nobody's appetite should be spoiled for whatever it is pokemon normally eat. Sarah and Ethel almost sound like they're saying something, but she's more curious about the metallic note to Ethel's bark. What a curious animal. She makes a mental note to read up on pokemon the next time she has a free moment at a Nexus computer terminal.

"She's so much like a dog, I'm not surprised." Adia giggles a little at Sarah's antics. She'd like to get up and pet the growlithe, but she doesn't want to startle Bucky and Ethel is comfortably warm at her feet, so she stays put. There's always time for more pets after she's finished her coffee. "You know, if you really want to be able to talk to them, I have a potion that lets someone talk to animals for ten minutes. It was a present from a Nexus friend, her world has a lot of magic. I, um... I don't think I'll get a chance to use it any time soon. Would you like it?" The only animal on New Caprica is a pet dog that belongs to a member of the Resistance, and she doesn't want to know what it has to say.

[juststeverogers]

"Well, in Sarah's case at least I think she kind of is? Pokemon have pretty unique abilities that differ for each kind. It's an awful lot to know and I'm still studying up on it. But it can be kind of dangerous if you're not aware. They're all really good about it, but if I wasn't careful Sarah could easily start a fire and I'm pretty sure Ethel could knock down the walls in my apartment if she wanted to. She's always rubbing her face against tree trunks when we go outside, grinding the bark off and polishing herself. And Buck here will fight literally anything even if he's hurt if he thinks its a threat to them or me."

It's a trait he happens to share with the bird. A fearlessness to face stronger enemies than himself if it's for the right cause. Naming him had been the easiest choice for Steve. He can't think of a personality he could relate to better.

His eyes go wide at Adia's offer and he grins without realizing it.

"If you don't want it I'd love something like that, though I'd probably save it for an emergency so they could tell me what's wrong."

[chiron_survivor]

Despite the unusual appearance of the three creatures before her, Adia was not anticipating just how different they would be from the animals she grew up with on Leonis. She looks at Sarah in newfound wonder. "She can start fires? Really?" It is a power that seems to suit her bright red fur... she isn't as surprised about Ethel's strength, or Bucky's protectiveness. "I'm glad they listen to you, then. Although the owner of this building must anticipate people having all sorts of pets, right? It's the Nexus, after all." Steve must have had to pay one heck of a security deposit.

She returns his smile easily, happy to be able to repay someone's generosity, for once. "I think you could benefit from it more than me." She breaks off a bite of scone and adds, "I'll drop it off the next time I'm in the Nexus. Let me know how it goes when you use it? I'll bet that they'll all have a lot to say to you."

[juststeverogers]

Steve nods.

"It's a pretty handy skill for the Nexus in winter. She melts the steps for me and makes sure I get around alright. Ethel and Bucky don't much care for all the snow and ice though, so they've been a bit more cooped up than I think either would like. Once it warms up I'll take them out for a nice long day outdoors."

He pauses then, regarding Adia with a thoughtful look.

"Would you like to come with when we go?"

[chiron_survivor]

"That's great, that she can melt the ice for you." She smiles warmly at Sarah, although she can't help but feel a touch guilty at the mention of winter, what with being close friends with the man responsible for it in the Nexus. Doubly so knowing that it keeps Ethel and Bucky indoors. At least this winter has been relatively mild.

She hurriedly swallows a bite of scone and nods enthusiastically in response to his offer. "I'd love to. Where do you usually take them? Is there a park nearby?"

[juststeverogers]

"Yeah, there's a park nearby where I do a lot of sketching when it's nice out, and these guys love to play around there too. I feel like first day of Spring we'll be out there romping around, letting them stretch their legs and wings."

Steve chuckles before he takes a moment to finish drinking his cup of coffee. Having these three around has been so good for him. It's helped ease the loneliness he feels and the ache of missing his home. Simply having someone to share his time with has helped so much in that regard.

"Plus, I'm supposed to be training these guys so I gotta start learning how to do it."

[chiron_survivor]

"I haven't explored much of this area of the Nexus." She hasn't had a reason to, not knowing anyone who lives here. Until now, anyway. "I'll have to look for that park on my way back to the Plaza. We don't have any green space on New Caprica."

The image of Steve's pokemon romping about brings a wistful smile to her face. She wishes she could have a pet again, an animal as playful as Sarah, as loving as Ethel, as protective as Bucky. But even if she could work around the logistics of bringing one to her barren planet, she could never subject another living creature to the harsh cruelties of life under Occupation. Better to thank her lucky stars that she can spend a little of her time with her friend and his furry (and feathery) housemates.

"If you need any help, let me know." She's not sure what sort of training he'll need to do, but she's happy to lend a hand. "What's it like, to train a pokemon?"

[juststeverogers]

"It's pretty out of the way, so there's not a lot of traffic most of the time. Perfect for taking these guys out to play."

No one accidentally getting their shoes melted from a misplaced fire breath or the like. Steve's still getting used to the idea of what these creatures are truly capable of, and he wants to make sure he does it properly. They're depending on him to help them grow, after all.

"To be honest? I don't really know yet. I've gotten a lot of advice from Ms. Candela though, and Theodore of the Velvet Room. They make it sound a lot like school, you know? Helping them develop their skills and learn to take care of themselves. The world they come from isn't always the safest, so they need to be able to do their very best if they ever head back, you know? And I won't make them or anything, it's up to what they want. But they seem eager to get started, so once it warms up I'll be doing a lot of work at it!"

He sounds excited to have a new goal for his time in the Nexus. A cause to dedicate himself to wholeheartedly. It's something even he can do, and he intends to put just as much effort into this as they do.

[chiron_survivor]

Out of the way sounds great to Adia. Somewhere quiet to relax, especially in the warmer weather, would be a nice change of pace from the busyness of the Plaza. "What kind of games do they like? Does Sarah play fetch?" She's so dog-like, but Adia doesn't want to assume.

She works on her coffee and scone while Steve explains what he knows so far about training pokemon. His enthusiasm is contagious, and more than once she has the cup halfway to her lips without taking a sip because she is too busy smiling. "I think you'll make a wonderful trainer," she tells him, once he's done. "You have such a spirit for it, and a good bond with the three of them." Ethel is still sitting by her feet; she gives the hard-headed pokemon a fond pat on her side. "They'll make great students. What do you think Ethel will learn to do? And Bucky?"

Her scone, diminished by the lack of blueberries, is now mere crumbs. She starts to reach for another one, then pauses and looks at Steve for approval. She doesn't want to be greedy.