RWBYFanon v5
RPG World of Remnant => The Vale Region => Topic started by: Metroidhunter on February 06, 2017, 10:48:37 PM
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In a shocking turn of events, the room that Vivian resided in was nearly silent. The only noises that could be heard were the occasional whirs of motors as the rabbit girl poked at the opened up interior of the shiny, metallic arm that lay on her desk with a screwdriver. Each time she poked it, the hand gripped slightly, proving to her that the prior issue had been resolved. While doing this, she sat in a wooden chair with another pulled up a few feet in front of her to rest her crossed legs on. As for her upper limbs, only her left arm was present, the right being the aforementioned prosthetic that lay on the table. The sleeveless tank top she wore exposed the empty socket connected to her shoulder where her arm would usually be attached, but seeing as nobody was around at the time, she didn't exactly care to cover it up.
The powerful metal arm had taken many beatings just fine in the past, seeing as it was designed for combat and heavy lifting. Oddly, and seemingly for no particular reason at the time, it started malfunctioning earlier that day, costing her the spar that she had been in the middle of. After getting on and off of the phone with her father a few times while messing with it, they had finally found the source of the problem, managing to get it resolved rather quickly afterwards. Now, she was simply testing it to make sure that it wouldn't let her down again anytime soon. Satisfied with her results, she set the tool down and shut the panel on the prosthetic before lifting it up with her free hand. She brought it to her other side and pushed it into place, holding it for a brief moment to make sure it was connected properly before letting go. With a light hum, it came to life, raising and turning as she closed and opened her hand a few times. "Perfect!" she said to herself ecstatically, grinning all the while.
Now that that was finally over, she let both of her arms hang free, leaning her head back in the chair. One, two, ten seconds passed. After less than a minute, it occurred to her that she had another serious issue... Extreme boredom had already set in. With a groan, she climbed out of the chair and hopped onto her bed, grabbing her scroll. Maybe if she were lucky, she could find someone to hang with that she wouldn't have to wait hours to meet up with. The first that came to mind was her freakishly tall friend, Michael. They had met less than a couple of months ago, but had really only gotten a few occasions to spend time together. Part of her was eager to at least see him again. He probably had better things to do, she assumed, but there was always a chance. Opening up her messages, she sent a few short ones his way within a few seconds of each other.
'yo mike'
'we should chill, im fuckin bored'
'you down?'
Once they were delivered, she tossed the device about a foot to the side, deciding to lay face down until he either responded, or she passed out. Not like she had anything better to do in the meantime, anyway.
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The soft sound of snoring could be heard on the upper floor of Michael's house. The big guy was enjoying a somewhat restful nap that afternoon when the sound of his scroll beeping several times in quick succession caused him to jolt awake. Picking the scroll up and squinting to read it, he saw the messages left for him by Vivian. With his evening plans nonexistent, he found no reason to say no to her offer.
'Yeah, sure. I will meet you at the docks in a little while.'
Michael quickly changed clothes, choosing a light blue button-up and dark jeans. Grabbing the keys from the kitchen, he smiled as he got to pilot his newly-finished pet project.
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It didn't take very long for the scroll to buzz, her ears perking up as she heard the noise. Giving a brief glance at the screen, she then hopped up and got out of bed, glad that her boredom was going to be dealt with relatively shortly. First, she found a pair of shorts to put on, before grabbing her usual neon pink jacket. Realizing that she did wear that a little too much, she quickly tossed it aside and went with an equally bright orange variation of the same type. Good enough. Chances were that they wouldn't be going anywhere too fancy like the first time they went out for food, so she didn't feel the need to dress well. Hell, even if they did, she most likely would have stuck with casual clothing anyway. After tying up her hair in a bun, she grabbed her scroll and headed out the door, making her way towards the docks.
Vivian was mildly surprised as she walked outside, not realizing just how much time she had spent working on her arm. It wasn't night yet, but it was decently late in the afternoon, and probably not the best time to ask someone to hang out. Oh well, she thought to herself. After all, he agreed to it anyway, so he obviously didn't care much. After some time, she reached the docks and plopped down on one of the benches, expecting him to show up eventually in one of the regular airships.
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The airship slowly descended, gently gliding over toward an open dock about 100 feet from Vivian. Painted in a striking black and gold color scheme and pasted with the Vaktar crest, the airship was easy to spot among the normal grey airships. Michael came down with a decently soft landing, especially given his experience.
Hopping down from the pilot's seat, Michael admired his new aircraft. "Good as new." he said before walking toward Vivian.
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Vivian watched each airship that landed, attempting to look for Michael somewhere in the crowds. After all, that wouldn't usually be hard, as he stood a few feet higher than the average person. And yet, she didn't see him at all each time, disappointing her each time she checked. It wasn't until the quite obviously customized airship neared the docks that she realized what it was that he was doing.
Rolling her eyes, she stood up and stretched a little, making her way towards where the airship had landed. It was quite obviously Michael's, judging by how fancy and overdone it was. Her suspicions were confirmed as she noticed him stepping out of it. With a grin, she started to skip over to him, eventually stopping a couple feet away. Even from that distance, she still had to look up at him, as he towered over her quite a bit. She gave him a short wave before holding her metal hands together behind her back. "Hey~!" One of her hands came forward again, her finger extending and pointing at the aircraft behind him. "Do you really need to be that much of a showoff?"
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Smirking and leaning against the aircraft, Michael felt a smug satisfaction that she immediately assumed that. "Hey, what's the point of having one of these if you don't use it. Now hurry up, I don't actually have clearance to be here, so we gotta go." he said, his smirk quickly falling as he realized he could be in big trouble for unauthorized landing.
Turning around and quickly hopping back in the pilot's seat, he re-started the engines. He quickly got preparations finished for takeoff, not wanting to figure out what happens when they see him out on the docks. He reached behind the seat, grabbing both his headset and another one for Vivian. Admittedly, his looks like it could fit around Vivian's waist, but it fits him nicely.
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Raising her brow as he casually mentioned breaking some serious laws, Vivian placed her hands on her hips, actually frowning at him for once. While lots of things that he did were amusing to her, getting involved with the law was most definitely not one. "You couldn't just take a regular airship like a normal person, could you? It'll be a miracle if you don't get sent some kind of fine. Or worse, shot out of the sky." She took the headset and quickly climbed into the back of the ship, yelling out to him as she did. "I'm going to sit back here so I get in less trouble once you get arrested." With that, she moved to lay down on the seats, trying her best to get mildly comfortable as she put the headset on herself.
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Michael shook his head as she voiced her concerns. "We'll be fine. You worry too much." he said through the headset. The airship's engines fired up, lifting the ship off the ground and quickly taking back to the sky. The ship flew away from beacon, heading back toward the city. The sky was clear and the sun was beginning to set, leaving a picturesque view of Beacon behind them.
The inside of the airship was less polished than the inside. While the seats were leather and comfortable, they didn't seem to match the rest of the airship. It looked as if the driver's seat was ripped out and replaced with the way it sat farther back than it should. And the seatbelts for the back seemed to be designed for different seats.
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"I'm, like, almost never worried. That's why you should be." As they took off, Vivian nearly fell off of her seat. Maybe sitting properly would help prevent any sort of disaster. She moved to sit up and leaned back against the seat as one should, though oddly enough, she still decided against putting on a seat belt. They looked to be too uncomfortable to be worth it, really. While that train of thinking wouldn't make the slightest bit of sense to any reasonable person, Vivian was not one of those people.
"So..." The girl spoke to Michael through the headset, thankful that she didn't have to yell out to him instead. "Where are we headed, anyway?" Even though she had asked him if he had wanted to hang out, she never really came up with any sort of plan as to what they would do if he said yes. In hindsight, that may have been a poor course of action.
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"Well, I have just received a shipment of Atlesian brandy I was hoping to try. Want to hang out at my house?" he said. He was already flying toward his house, mostly because he had no other place to park the airship. The flight was especially short due to the direct route and lack of other air traffic in the direction they were going.
The sunset was getting into full swing as they approached the district of Vale where Michael resided. The taller buildings cast long shadows across the various neighborhoods as the ship flew overhead. A fiery orange glow enveloped the rest of the houses, setting the city ablaze in sunshine.
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Vivian nodded, not that he could tell. "Sounds like a plan." Even though she agreed to it rather quickly, doubt began to creep into her thoughts. Drinking had the potential to be a fun social activity, but at the same time, she knew that that also wasn't always the case. Having super powerful arms was a blessing when it came to most of the things that she did, while it became more of a curse whenever she was intoxicated. The last thing she wanted was to break something expensive in his home. In addition, getting past a certain point tended to result in her becoming much more obnoxious than she already was.
Of course, if they did end up drinking together, moderation was possible. Really, it was necessary if she didn't want to upset Michael in one way or another. She kept reciting that idea in her mind, not wanting to eventually forget about it. 'It'll be fiiine. One or two glasses should be fine. Then I can just... chill.' Once she felt that it was burned into her memory well enough, she began to relax in her seat, waiting for them to arrive at the destination.
"I guess you're sorta-kinda like, a booze aficionado, then?" she asked through the microphone, starting to wonder to herself what he would be like when drunk.
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Michael brought the airship down for a landing, the airship taking a massive chunk of his backyard. The engines took a few seconds to finally slow down, the air taking on a somewhat awkward stillness in comparison. "Um, yeah. Well, kind of." he responded, taking off his headset after a brief second. "Considering how much I can drink, I tend to be able to sample a lot. And I've got a bit of pull within the company. I've gotten a lot of bottles mailed to me. Easiest way for me to test quality is to try it myself." he said, stepping off the airship and landing in the grass below. He held his hand up to help Vivian off the step. "Need a hand?"
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"Thanks, but I've got two." Giggling after she said it, Vivian hopped down from the airship before stretching a bit. "I'm kinda surprised. Didn't know you could fly anything." She looked up at him with the usual grin on her face, waiting for him to make his way towards the house. "Any other strange things you can do that I'm not aware of?"
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"I guess that's for me to know, and you to find out. Or something like that." he said, walking to his back door and holding it open for Vivian. "I mean, when you're in the liquor business, you have to know your stuff."
The house was almost the same as when she visited previously, the only exception being that his kitchen counter was hosting a line of bottles. Each with various fancy labels and designs, spread across the counter like a police lineup. At the end, a clipboard could be seen hanging slightly off the table. Clearly, this was all set up previously for a tasting.
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Vivian went through the door and thanked him as she walked past. Taking a look around, she noticed that not much had changed, which was a little disappointing, but understandable. Spotting the bottles in the kitchen, she made her way towards them, entering the room before leaning against the counter slightly to study the labels. While she certainly was no expert on alcohol, it definitely looked like high-quality stuff compared to the stuff that she drank.
Turning around, she now leaned back against the counter, looking up at him. "Which one was it again that you wanted to try? And also, how hard is this stuff that we're talking about? Because something tells me you're going to be able to have a lot more than I am." As she said it, she raised one hand to the top of her head, making a simple gesture in reference to her height.
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"When I said 'Atlesian Brandy', I meant several kinds of Atlesian brandy. I was thinking...all of them." he said, picking up a bottle and examining it. "Besides, it's only a tasting. This stuff's light enough that I could down an entire bottle in less than 30 seconds."
Placing the bottle down, he picked up a slightly larger one off the counter. "Well, it's light for me. Maybe being able to fit in the bottle makes you a bit more of a lightweight?" he said with a smirk, taking the opportunity for another jab at her height.
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In response to his joke on her height, the rabbit faunus shot him a quick glare, though she didn't say anything in response. At this point, she expected such insults, and she knew fully well that she could get back at him.
"Back up for a sec?" Vivian raised an eyebrow. "A whole bottle? I'm calling bullshit on that one." As she looked at the different bottles of his supposedly good alcohol, she couldn't help but wonder just how accurate his claim was. In all honesty, it seemed plausible, and she was definitely playing up her disbelief of it. Mostly because she wanted to see if she could convince him to actually try and do that with her around. Even if it might not be the safest thing a friend could encourage one to do, Vivian didn't care a whole lot; it would be entertaining. What else could one ask for?
Looking over at Michael, she gave him a smirk of slight suspicion and curiosity. "Come on, prove it."
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Michael set the bottle back down on the counter. "Now, you see, there's two problems with that. First off, I actually need to taste the brandy. It'd be kind of a dick move if I just slammed it all. Secondly, I don't do dares, I take bets." he said, moving over to a lower cabinet. Opening it revealed a small metal box with a glass front, a miniature wine cellar. Michael pulled out a bottle of roughly equal size to the large bottle he had previously and set it near the sink.
Turning back with a smirk, he leaned against the counter. "So, shortcake, what's your offer?" he asked, wanting to see what she'll bet him.
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"Well," Vivian hopped up to sit next to the bottles on the counter, impolitely assuming that he wouldn't really mind as she continued speaking, "I miiight have to pass on that. Because, like, there's a good chance you could actually be for real. You're a giant, after all. Knowing that, I could just be setting myself up to lose." She shrugged. "Still... I do want to see you try it." Leaning forward, she supported herself by placing her hands on the edge of the counter, making sure not to grip too hard to avoid cracking it. Maybe it wasn't the best place to sit, but it let her be closer to his level, meaning that she didn't have to constantly be looking up just to see him. Less strain on the neck was always preferable. "Though, if you have any ideas for a good bet that won't be too shitty for either of us to lose, I'm all ears." As if to reinforce what she had said, one of her faunus ears twitched slightly.
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Michael pulled the top off the bottle, a loud pop ringing throughout the kitchen area. Leaning against the opposite counter, Michael examined the bottle in his hands briefly before replying. "How about, rather than taking the time and effort to figure it out now. I just do it, and we'll figure out what happens when you lose. How's that sound, short stack?" he said, putting on his biggest, smuggest grin.
Truthfully, he had never drank this much at one time. It was less of the issue of holding his liquor and more of if he could drink an entire bottle in under 30 seconds. He figured he could, he's just never had the reason to try before now.
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"Wow. Somebody's confident." Noting his cocky smile, she couldn't help but roll her eyes a little. "That sounds totally dumb, actually. Why would I want to let you make the conditions to a bet after I've already lost?" Vivian didn't seem as amused anymore after the short jokes, though she was still keen on getting him to do it. Hopefully, with minimal repercussions on her end. "You obviously think you can do it, so maybe you should just go ahead and chug it. If you succeed, I'll drink too." She was aware that it didn't sound like much of a bet, given away by her chuckling. "I don't do it often, so you should be glad," she finished with a rather sarcastic tone.
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Michael was rather amused by this exchange. "So, you're telling em that if I win the bet, I have the privilege of letting you drink my alcohol? No, no, no. That's not how betting works. How about this: You win, you can pick the stipulation afterwards. I win...hmm...you have to wear a costume I pick out? I'll let you veto, but I get to pick. Deal?" he said, not giving up that easily. The bottle swirled in his hand, Michael catching the smell of the alcohol as it moves past his nose.
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"... You never really struck me as a guy that would be into dress-up, Mike." Folding her metal arms together, Vivian couldn't help but smirk a little at his proposal. In reality, it couldn't be that bad, could it? Putting on a stupid costume for a bit might be worth it in order to watch someone destroy a bottle of liquor, because that isn't exactly something you get to see everyday. Also, for all she knew, it could actually end up being a decent outfit. She certainly wasn't counting on that last part, but she did always try to look at the bright side of things. "But, I suppose that's doable." While she kept her hand resting on her arm, she did lift one finger. "However, there needs to be more rules to this. First, I don't want to do it today. As I don't trust you to not try and make me wear something really weird when you're drunk. And, if I do win, then it's the same deal. I'll pick out an outfit for you to wear." She paused for a moment, pursing her lips as she attempted to think of some more conditions. "Hmmm... Also, I'm not gonna wear any sort of servant outfit. 'Cause that's, like, demeaning and racist, and stuff."
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"Oh please. Do you really think I need another brick through my window? I'll agree to these terms, you've got yourself a deal." he said, pulling out his scroll and propping it up against one of the bottles. Grasping the opened bottle in his hand, he set a timer for 30 seconds and took a few deep breaths. He simultaneously pressed the button and tilted the bottle back, starting to drink as quickly as possible.
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At this point, Vivian was mostly expecting that he'd be able to do it, so once she saw that he was taking it down quite skillfully she couldn't help but grin. In the past, she had met some avid drinkers, but none of them would likely agree to such a challenge. That was fair, considering that the average person would be knocked out by it, but considering Michael's size, he could most likely pull it off. She couldn't help but wonder just how badly this was going to affect him. Seeing how quickly he had once recovered from a square punch from her fist to the face, she figured that this couldn't hurt him too badly. Of course, she had no idea how that really worked, but it seemed like a safe assumption.
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Michael stopped from his gushing for only a second in order to take a breath. Quickly bringing the bottle back to his lips, the liquid steadily drained from the opaque bottle as the seconds counted down. It was down to the wire as Michael slammed down the rest of the liquor as the clock hit 2 seconds. He held the bottle upside down and shook it, the last drop exiting the bottle before the time was up. "And THAT is how you win a bet." Michael proclaimed, immediately coughing up a storm after drinking that much at once.
Stumbling back and hitting the counter, Michael quickly realized why this was something most people cannot do. The burning sensation in his throat was constant and merciless, but the alcohol slowly dulled that feeling. He set the bottle down on the counter behind him, standing up fully while breathing heavily.
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Vivian felt a small flicker of hope as he took a break, though that quickly faded as he started on the bottle again. As entertaining as this was so far, it'd still be great if he didn't make the time that he had set. Sadly, it didn't appear that that would end up being the case.
Once he had finished it off, she was conflicted in how she was supposed to feel, but the smile didn't leave her face. Sighing a little, she started to clap, though it really just sounded like metal banging together until she stopped. "That's what I figured would happen. How's that feel?"
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Michael responded with a guttural sound somewhere between a groan and a yell. "Not great. Not great at all." he said, his stomach not liking the fact that he just drank an entire bottle. Thankfully, his pain tolerance was rather high, but this was not a fun time to be a giant.
Steadying himself with a hand against the countertop, Michael took a long, deep breath and tried to relax. "And now, I get to spend the next few days figuring out what to get you. What size are you, children's medium?" he said, laughing for a brief second before clutching his stomach and grimacing.
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"Oh, shut up. Do remember that I can still manage to punch you in the face, even if you are as tall as a tree." While she did retort, Vivian could hardly take his insult seriously, seeing as he was immediately in pain after he was finished. As far as she was concerned, he deserved it.
Kicking off her shoes, she pulled her legs up on the counter to sit cross-legged, assuming once again that he wouldn't mind. Now that he had some alcohol in him, she figured that the chances of that would be even lesser. Not that she really cared about whether or not it was polite, as it didn't even cross her mind. "So, you've had your fun now, and you're probably going to be drunk in a couple of minutes. Think I could get a glass?"
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After straightening himself up, his stomach seemed to calm down. "Yes, we do still need to try the brandy." he said, fetching two glasses from an overhead cabinet. He grabbed two clear spheres of ice from the freezer, placing one in each glass. Filling both glasses with a small clear bottle of chestnut brown liquid, he set one down next to Vivian and leaned against the counter next to her. "Cheers." he said, holding his glass out toward her.
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Vivian took the glass in her hand, carefully so, not wanting to shatter it in her grip. Seeing that he was holding his out, she did the same, the glasses clinking as she tapped her cup against his own. With that, she brought it back to herself, looking down into the glass. After a brief moment of hesitation, she put it to her lips and took a big sip, the taste making her face scrunch up a bit. She then set it down on the counter next to her, nodding as she attempted to get used to the flavor. "It's not bad. Can't say I've had a whole lot of brandy to compare it to, but I like it."
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Michael sipped his brandy, distributing the liquid across his tongue. He had a look of deep concentration as he tried to focus on the flavor of the brandy. "Not bad. I've certainly had better, but it is good for its price. I might have to give this one a second look later." he said, taking another sip and picking up his clipboard. He grabbed the pen from the top of the board, writing a small note about halfway down the page.
After finishing his notes, he took both glasses and set them down next to the bottle. Grabbing two more glasses, he repeated the process as before, pouring from a new bottle. This liquor had a red tint to it, making it distinguish itself from the other liquors on offer. It had a very sweet taste with a cinnamon aftertaste. Almost like honey with a hint of spice.
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As he began pouring the next set of glasses, Vivian looked over at how many bottles they still had remaining. "Maybe you shouldn't taste all of 'em tonight. I don't know how much you can really handle, but that seems like a looot of drinking to do in one sitting." Once he had finished, she picked up her second glass, bringing it to her mouth before taking a gulp of the beverage. Right off the bat, she didn't prefer this one quite as much as the last. It was most likely the cinnamon, as she wasn't a huge fan of anything with that in it. Setting the glass down once she was satisfied with how much she had drank, she looked over at him with a neutral expression. "Mm... Meh. This one is alright, I suppose, but the after taste is a little weird to me. I'd volunteer to do most of the testing for you, but I don't think we've got the same tastes when it comes to this stuff."
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Michael sipped the liquor, his lips smacking lightly. "I will be fine. My tolerance is very higy." he said, continuing to drink. "I like this one. Very smooth. Nice aftertaste. How about you pour the next one? " he said, marking his notes on his clipboard.
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From where she was sitting on the counter, Vivian reached over and grabbed two more glasses. Placing them on the countertop, she moved to pick up the next bottle carefully. She was definitely feeling something, but not really enough to make her want to stop. Instead, she began to pour the next selection of alcohol, filling her glass before doing the same for his. "If you say so. But you did also just chug a bottle, so you wanna keep that in mind."
Closing the bottle, she set it down and grabbed her glass, moving to drink it yet again.
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Taking a step toward Vivian, Michael wobbled a bit. It seems that the alcohol was finally starting to hit him. "Believe me, I'll be fine. Although, food would probably be a good idea, considering I haven't had much to eat today." he said, picking up his glass and slowly sipping.
This liquor was smooth. Very smooth. Although, it lacked a whole lot else to it. "I'm not sure what to think on this one." Michael said, tapping his clipboard with his hand. "Kind of tastes like nothing."
He marked on his clipboard and set his glass down. After a second, he looked back down at the board and concentrated. "Shit." he muttered under his breath, quickly striking his last notes and rewriting them further up the page.
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Once she was finished taking her sip, Vivian added her glass to the collection of others that they had already used. Listening to his comments on it, she nodded. "Bland. Does have a small kick to it, though. Not awful." She hadn't caught him wobbling, though her ears did pick up his profanity. By the way that he was looking at the clipboard, she knew that something was finally hitting him. They hadn't even been at his house for very long, and he was already drunk from the looks of it. In all fairness, he destroyed the first bottle almost immediately, so that sort of made sense. As for her, she was doing relatively fine.
"Told you," she said, pointing out the fact that he was quite obviously intoxicated, something that made her giggle a little. "Might be a good idea to slow down a bit now. I mean, hey, I'm not the boss of you, but, like, I don't think you're gonna be very good at judging taste properly at this point."
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Michael, ignoring her for the time being, pulled out his scroll and started going through various programs on it. He was heavily concentrating, the task made far more difficult as more alcohol hit his system. He scanned his thumb at the bottom of his scroll. Then, he proceeded to do it twice more as it did not register. Finally, he tapped the screen a few more times before putting the scroll back in his pocket.
"I told you I would be fine, not that I wouldn't be drunk. There's a distinct difference." he said, setting his glass down and moving toward where she was on the counter. He suddenly grabbed her, carrying her in a weird side-hug as he walked toward the living room. "Let's go sit."
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Vivian herself wasn't paying a whole lot of attention, as she was sort of zoning out as the effects hit her in waves. Of course, she wasn't drunk quite yet, and would definitely need more to get to that point, but it was still affecting her. It wasn't until he suddenly grabbed a hold of her that she returned to reality in a state of confusion. "Whut?" was the only thing she could get out before he started carrying her away, at which point she finally attempted to resist a bit. One of her metal hands grabbed the edge of the counter top, though she quickly came loose. "Nooo, wait." In a last desperate attempt, her other hand darted towards the glasses that they had been using, her fingers locking around the top of one of them just as he pulled her away. Now, she was still being carried, but at least she had a drink in her hand. That was a good enough compromise for her to have no further reason to complain about the current situation.
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Michael, mostly ignoring her attempts to get her drink, carried her to the couch. He then proceeded to sit, neatly setting her in the space next to him. "There. That's more comfy." he said, relaxing into the seat behind him. He let go of the side hug and moved his hand to his lap, brushing her ear in the process. He then stopped, thought for a second, and said "You know what? You have very soft ears.". He then proceeded to rub her right ear softly. It was obvious that he was incredibly drunk at this point, the bottle he slammed coming into full effect.
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While she did consider what he was doing to be strange, she wasn't exactly surprised, for obvious reasons. Instead, Vivian simply reached up and grabbed his wrist in her iron grip, pulling it away from her bunny ears. "Yeah. But you have to ask before you do stuff like that, man." Leaning back in her seat, she started to get comfy, closing her eyes for just a moment. "You're pretty messed up right now, by the way."
Shortly after she said it, she resumed getting herself closer to where he was at by downing the remainder of what was in the glass that she held. It was enough to make her cough a few times, but she soon went back into her relaxed state. "Now what?"
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"Just. Just a little bit." Michael said with a smile, leaning away from Vivian. "I'm just saying that I expected them to feel different. Now anyway, I ordered some pizza. So, it should be here in a few minutes. Now, may I touch your ears?" he asked, trying not to sound like an asshole while doing so and only failing slightly.
Michael moved away from Vivian slightly. While he wanted to keep petting her ears, he was at least trying to avoid making her uncomfortable. He leaned back into the seat, keeping his arms to himself for the time being. There was a small part of his brain that knew he was very drunk and attempting to keep him civil. And boy, did that small part have its work cut out for it.
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Vivian laughed as he actually went and asked. People seemed to want to do that a lot, and in all fairness, she didn't even mind it all that much herself. Still, she found it a little odd just how much he wanted to do it.
After a few more moments of silent consideration, she shrugged. "Yeah, go ahead, I guess. But only for a few seconds." Leaning forward, she took her glass and set it down on the floor next to the couch, figuring that she'd remember about it later. Not that she would, but it was the thought that mattered. Afterwards, she sat back against the couch again, though she did tilt her head sideways a little in his direction.
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Michael nodded slightly when she agreed, happy that they were on good terms. He reached over, petting her on the base of her right ear. "You know, these ears are way too fucking cute, right? Like, god damn." he said, having a small laugh as he petted. He was entirely too amused by what was going on, and him being drunk was not helping.
Inside his head, the rational part of his brain was scrambling to try and keep him from doing anything stupider. His moral compass was aligned correctly for the time being, but he was periodically thinking of how he should behave in the situation. This was his friend, and he wanted to not drive her away from being his friend.
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Laughing at his comment on her ears, Vivian couldn't help it when her face turned red. That type of compliment was one that she received a lot, but seeing as it was coming from him, she appreciated it a bit more. "Thanks." Unable to think up a better or longer response, she simply sat there and let Michael pet her. While she had originally only wanted him to do it briefly, it was somewhat relaxing, especially with where he was doing it. Even in his drunken state, he could probably tell, as she was smiling with her eyes closed the whole time.
-
Michael continued to pet her for a few seconds before finally taking his hand away. He leaned forward, running his hand through his hair. "You know, I've always wondered. So...how does it feel to get your ears rubbed? It seems nice, but I don't think I have a thing I can equate it to." he said, leaning back against the couch.
Michael looked as if he was going to say something else, but quickly changed gears when he looked back at Vivian. His face turned a bit red, and he quickly tried to shake the color out of it. Placing his hand on his cheek, he looked to Vivian for her answer. He was clearly trying to play it cool, his drunken mind not sure whether she saw that process or not.
-
Vivian was just mildly disappointed as he stopped, but considering what she had asked, it was fair. Looking over and up at him for a few seconds, it was easy for her to spot his odd behavior. It wouldn't have been the first time she had seen someone flushed and embarrassed like that, and she knew what sort of implications that could have. Still, she didn't want to say anything, as it would probably just end up making things more difficult for him.
Afterwards, she cleared her throat and turned to look forward again, deciding to respond to his question as best as she could. "It's... hm... I guess it feels kind of like, scratching an itch? Not exactly, but... Without the itch actually being there in the first place. Hard to explain." She shrugged, folding her arms together as she continued. "It's not amazing. Feels good though. Kinda relaxing. But it's also like tickling, in that you can't do it to yourself and get the same feeling."
It didn't take long after she finished her explanation for the room to fill with silence yet again. Out of boredom, she tapped one of her fingers against her arm repeatedly, making a light ding each time. While she usually had a lack of awareness when it came to awkward situations, even Vivian could feel it in the air. In attempt to try and ease away from the awkwardness with more conversation, she brought up the first thing that came to mind. "Sooo... What kind of pizza did ya order?"
-
Michael was going to speak, but was cut off by the sound of the doorbell. Speak of the devil. "Well...I guess we'll find out now, won't we." he said, standing up and walking clumsily to the front door. With his hand on the wall to balance himself, he opened the door to reveal a generally startled teenage boy.
"U-Um, that'll be 23 even, sir." the teenager said, not being able to keep himself from looking at Michael's height. The kid had very curly hair under a baseball cap. Between that, his uniform, and the fact that he was gawking at Michael's height, he was looking just as awkward as the previous situation he helped to resolve.
Michael grabbed the two pizza boxes and replaced them with a stack of lien. "Here. Thanks." Michael said quickly, wanting the interaction to be over swiftly.
The kid looked down at the stack of money wide-eyed. "B-But sir-" was all he managed to sputter out before the door was shut in his face.
Michael walked back over to the kitchen, setting the two pizzas down on the counter. "I got pepperoni and cheese. Didn't know what kind you liked." he said, grabbing two plates from a high cabinet.
-
A sensation of relief came over Vivian as the silence was broken by the almost perfectly timed ding of the doorbell. Instead of getting up as Michael did, she remained on the couch, leaning back against the cushions and closing her eyes. She hadn't had nearly as much to drink as him, but she could tell that she was definitely intoxicated. It seemed like a good idea to stay there for the moment to avoid any tripping or breaking things in Michael's home.
Vivian's faunus ears easily picked up the brief conversation that Mike held with the pizza guy, the sudden closing of the door bringing a short chuckle out of her. That helped ease the awkward tension in the air, at least to her. Once he had gone into the kitchen with the boxes of pizza, the rabbit girl opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder, yelling out to him from her comfy spot on the couch.
"That's fine. Pepperoni sounds good." After a brief silence, she realized that getting a slice would also probably require getting up. "Think you could grab me some, Mike?"
-
"No problem. I got ya." he said, putting two slices of pepperoni on each plate and stumbling his way back toward the couch. He set one plate down on Vivian's lap before plopping back down on his side of the couch. He leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and took a massive bite of his pizza.
And again, the awkward silence continued for a brief few seconds. Michael just ate his pizza and thought, his mind spinning with possibilities of what to say. After just enough tension to make it awkward hits the air, Michael just sort of blurts out "You know, I wish I could be more like you at times. Especially with the whole self-confidence thing."
-
"Thanks." Vivian answered as he handed her a plate. While she didn't eat pizza a whole lot, this pizza in particular looked amazing. That was most likely another side effect of the booze, but she didn't care. Carefully lifting one of the slices, she went ahead and started eating, not paying much attention to her surroundings. At this point, she didn't have any of the same uncomfortable feelings that Michael had, as she was much too involved in her food to care. It wasn't until he spoke up that she paused, slowly setting her slice down and finishing chewing before she turned to look at him. Despite his less than exciting topic, Vivian still smiled at him.
"I mean, I'm great. I won't deny that. But you are too, y'know." She was briefly distracted as she noticed a bit of sauce on one of her metallic fingers, which she quickly licked off before continuing. "I don't think you wanna be like me, really. Self-confidence is all about, like, liking who you are. Besides, I might like myself, but I know that I'm not very kind. That seems to come naturally to you." Looking at him for a few seconds without saying anything, she then started to laugh a little. "... Except for maybe that time you tried to get me arrested."
-
"B-But here's the thing." Michael said, cutting off Vivian as she was talking about him trying to arrest her. "I just wish that I could like myself like you do. Then, I wouldn't be constantly thinking of what my parents say. I wouldn't be settling for being without a team for so long. I wouldn't take any of these threats against me. I would stand up to those assholes. Stand up to my parents. I would have told them how I felt about them restricting my life. I would have told off all those assholes in Atlas who scoffed at me. I would have told you I liked you a long ass time a-" Michael went from high-speed rambling to a dead stop. He paused, suddenly gaining a thousand-yard stare as he realized what he said. "go." he finally finished, his face turning a pale white. His mind went into panic mode, but he lacked the capacity to do anything about it at the moment. He just sat there, frozen, looking off into space as he desperately thought of something, anything to say to make the situation better.
-
While the last part of his short rant was not the most surprising of revelations, Vivian herself looked somewhat shocked, mostly by how he had gone about accidentally saying it. She was never one to hold her tongue, but even she knew that she had to pick her next choice of words rather carefully. The difficult part was deciding what exactly would be and what wouldn't be the right things to say. She didn't want to make him more terrified than he already appeared, but the two of them were also drunk. For all she knew, she could say something that she would totally regret the next morning. On the other hand, she had done plenty of awful things while wasted in the past, so it would be hard to fuck up any worse than she had those times, right? With that idiotic train of thought, she soon decided to just... go for it.
"I like you too!" she exclaimed a little loudly, with quite a bit of enthusiasm behind it. Her goal was to not make him feel scared, but with her sudden change in tone, she was probably achieving the opposite. One of her metal hands landed on his shoulder as she turned to look at him while smiling widely. "There you go! That's one obstacle out of the way! Now you can, like, totally deal with the others just fine, yeah?" Still unaware of the fact that she had probably made the situation stranger and more confusing for him, she gave him a thumbs up with her other hand.
-
Michael was in shock. Between what he said and her response, he had absolutely no clue what to do at this point. The gears in his head were turning, but he still could not process what was happening. He proceeded to bite the inside of his cheek, drawing a little blood and confirming that he was, in fact, not dreaming.
After a few seconds of silence, Michael did the first thing that came to his head. He grabbed Vivian and pulled her into a tight hug. Thankfully, the size difference meant that his head was mostly behind her, which did well to hide his big, goofy smile. "T-Thank you." he said meekly.
-
"Yay!" Vivian laughed as he came in and hugged her. It surprised her somewhat, but she didn't mind it whatsoever. Seeing how much better he was feeling made her just as happy as him, something that would be obvious given the wide grin on her face. Despite her agreeing with him, she really didn't have much of an idea as to what she was supposed to do next. They both liked each other, that much was clear. But what did that mean? Vivian couldn't really decide, but realizing her drunken state, she decided to herself that focusing on that topic might be better off being held at a different time.
The rabbit girl soon started to hug him back, though not with the same strength that he was using. It took a few more seconds for her to realize that he was hugging her just a little too tightly. While she didn't want to interrupt him, she also didn't want to be squeezed to death. After waiting a couple moments, she then tapped him a couple times with her hand, attempting to signal that she needed him to loosen the hug.
-
After feeling her tap on his shoulder, Michael slowly weakened his hug until he let go. "S-Sorry. I just got excited. And nervous. And, well, everything." he said, digging himself into a verbal ditch. "I just thought you would get angry and then we wouldn't be friends, and I would be alone again. A-And just...thank you."
After further embarrassing himself, Michael just decided to settle down onto the couch and scoot closer to Vivian. He kept his hands to himself for now, wanting to let her feel comfortable, especially given the state he was in. Slowly, exhaustion started to take over him again, not helped by the alcohol.
-
"You should be thanking yourself for accidentally letting me know." Moving back to rest against the couch once again after she had been freed from the hug, she then folded her hands together as they rested in her lap. "You gotta just try to stop worrying about all that stuff so much." As she went on, the slight slur in her voice became a little noticeable, as the last glass that she had drank was still settling in. Not that she would notice or care. They were both drunk, after all. "We're preparing to have one of the most dangerous jobs you can get. We might die young. No point in wasting time overthinking everything."
She paused for a moment of brief consideration over whether or not the next thing she wanted to say was appropriate. Of course, that questioning didn't last very long in her mind. "Though, not gonna lie... It is a little adorable when you get all embarrassed like that." Looking back up at him, she smirked, expecting that his reaction would prove her point.
-
Vivian got what she was looking for, as Michael blushed lightly. It did not last long, however, as he leaned back and closed his eyes. "Maybe I should..." he said weakly before dozing off. He slumped away from Vivian, his head resting softly against the top of the couch. The silence in the room only broken by the sound of the giant's soft breathing.
-
Vivian didn't watch him for long, as she herself had begun to zone out again once it got quiet. It wasn't until she listened to his breathing that she realized what exactly it was that he was doing.
"... Mike?" she asked curiously, looking back over at him to see that his eyes were closed. There was no way that he could have fallen that quickly, she had thought to herself, and yet it seemed as if it had indeed happened. It wasn't an immense shock or anything, seeing as Michael had downed an entire bottle, though she had expected him to maybe stay conscious for just a little longer. Either way, she was now lacking anyone to talk to, defeating her original purpose of being there. She didn't feel way too tired herself, but without much to do, she could probably fall asleep if she tried.
Frowning, Vivian moved to lay down, pulling her legs up onto the couch was well. Without much room, she had to rest her feet on top of him, doubting that he would mind. After all, he was asleep. She sat there with her eyes closed, mind wandering as she attempted to rest. With the alcohol in her system, it didn't take too long for her to start drifting off. It may have felt like it was taking forever for her, but in reality, she was out in less than ten minutes.
-
The Next Morning
Michael was confused, petrified, and a little thirsty. He stared at the wall, not moving a single muscle, save for his heart. He really had no control over that at the moment. He had no idea how he got into this situation, and he really did not think it would be good for his health if he asked. He had woken up a few minutes earlier to a very confusing sight. He was on his living room couch with Vivian asleep in his arms. And he had not gotten his chest caved in yet. His breathing picked up, heart pounding in his chest the only thing informing him he was not dreaming.
-
Despite the fact that Michael had already awoken, Vivian herself was still half-asleep. She had no awareness of what was going on, but she felt rather comfortable, so she felt no rush in waking up. As the minutes pass, she slowly started to come to, her eyes remaining closed the entire time. Even when she had the realization that somebody was with her, there wasn't much of a reaction, as that apparently hadn't surprised her a whole lot. It wasn't until her mind started putting the details of the previous day back together that her eyes suddenly opened. Seeing the room around her confirmed her suspicions. The size of the arms around her, too.
"Uh... Mornin'." Vivian didn't look back at him, but she could feel his heartbeat and his breathing, letting her know that he was most definitely awake. How she got into this position, she didn't know, but she also didn't make much of an effort to escape.
-
The fact that Vivian was not actively trying to kill him was a good sign. "What...what happened last night?" he said, his memory of the night fuzzy at best. He did not recall anything that would cause this, however. And that is what he was concerned about.
He thought about the events of the previous night for a little bit. He could recall drinking a lot, then they got some pizza. And that was about it. The rest of it was a whole lot of nothing, and he woke up here with Vivian in his arms. In my arms. OH SHIT! Michael quickly moved his arms to allow Vivian to leave his grasp, his face turning a deep red.
-
Vivian moved as well, though not as suddenly as him. Scooting away a little, she couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of the situation, even if it was obviously not so entertaining to Michael. A quick look at his face made it clear that he wanted an answer, but she stayed silent for a couple seconds, considering her options. There was the truth, which would be the nicest and most considerate path. Of course, she could also make up a crazy story about their drunken shenanigans that would result in a lot of laughs, at least for her. Deciding to stick with the first option, she cleared her throat, leaning back against the couch calmly.
"It was definitely interesting." Looking up briefly as she attempted to properly recollect everything, she nodded a few seconds later before turning towards him again. "You drank a lot. Like, a lot. In all fairness, I was also drunk, but you passed out before I did." While she wanted to soften the blow of what she had to say next, she was always terrible at not being blunt, and that probably showed. "We talked a lot. You said that you liked me. I said the same thing. We hugged, and then I think you blacked out. That's about it, really." she giggled towards the end, a childish grin growing on her face that she couldn't force away.
-
20 seconds. That's how long Michael sat there utterly frozen by this revelation. The gears in his head were turning, but there seemed to be an error in the system. For those twenty seconds, he stopped talking, he stopped looking, and for the most part, he stopped breathing.
After being frozen, he took a deep breath, held up one finger to pause Vivian's retort, and punched himself directly on the right temple. His head snapped quickly, and he stayed looking to his left shoulder for a few seconds. He slowly turned his head straight forward and looked at the wall. "So...that really happened. Huh." he said, mostly dumbfounded by the situation.
-
As the time of silence went on, Vivian started to grow bored, her interest in his reaction disappearing by the second. Leaning her head against her hand, it wasn't until he hit himself that she started paying attention again, giving him an inquisitive look in response to the action. "Yes, yes it did. It was kinda fun, but we didn't get to chat for very long. Anyway... Now that we both have that information and are fine with it, what should we do?" As socially capable as she was, Vivian had few romantic relationships throughout her life, most of which weren't very meaningful. While she was fine with going down that path, she still had no idea if he was equally interested, considering that he had revealed his thoughts while he was incredibly drunk. For a moment, it appeared as if she wanted to add something towards the end, but she stopped herself from saying a word until he responded.
-
Michael thought about it for as long as it was necessary for him to come to a solution. Approximately 2 seconds later, he responded. "I mean, if you're okay with dating a schmuck like me, I can't possibly say no." he said, hoping that his face would stop being red at some point.
He was really inexperienced with relationships, so how they got started and what was official was beyond his knowledge. He was nervous about her response, and proceeded to twiddle his thumbs as he waited.
-
Listening to his response, she couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Really, with that again?" Vivian frowned a little, annoyed that he had reverted to the same levels of self-confidence that he had been showing the previous night. "You gotta give yourself more credit, dude. Like, I'm no professional, but I'm pretty sure that a lot of your problems are just in your head. If I thought you were a 'schmuck', we probably wouldn't be having this conversation." She shrugged. "Maybe not, but this worked out pretty well, I'd say. If you try and face your other issues head on, you might be surprised how it ends. As you obviously didn't expect this."
Realizing soon after finishing her statement that she hadn't given him a proper answer, she spoke up again, smiling this time. "That's still a yes, by the way."
-
Michael grew a wide grin as she finished up, finally saying yes. He proceeded to grab her in another tight hug, mirroring his actions from the previous night unbeknownst to him. And while it was not the most gracious way it could have gone, Michael was happy with the end result. And now, he's got not only a friend, but a girlfriend at that. And he could not be happier about it.