[PRP] Hey! Been hoping to find you! (Elijah/Relm) -again ^_^

[Trelweny]

"Good surprising." Relm teased, eyes sparkling just before giving another wink. She felt so good around Elijah. He was fun, and could take some teasing -even if she never seemed to want to get as harshly teasing with him as she was with others. Challenge flashed in her eyes. Best man or girl... really? "Oh, I'm sure I can work around any plans we make."

Any, any plans. Smiling to herself & blushing hotly at the notion that could not quite be called a true thought. Thankfully, between the darkness & the red glow of her ruby her blush would not be noticed. Hopefully. She still could feel the heat of her cheeks. To hide any chance of Elijah possibly noticing the carbunkle girl stepped back beside him and laughingly wrapped her arms around one of his arms and tugged. "You waiting with me for my ride?"

All at once she groaned, leaning her head back. "I forgot to call!" Raising one hand to her ear Relm spoke to someone she called Myr about seeing if someone was up who would come get her so her friend did not have to walk home by himself if he went all chivalrous on her. All the while she grinned up at Elijah, showing she was being playful & perhaps even that she liked how he was willing to be chivalrous even if she was not going to let him. As she dropped her hand the artist's expression turned sheepish. "Want to sit while he gets here?"  

[Stormbreaker7]

Elijah nodded his head in response. He had planed to wait with her all along after all. There was no hurry for him to leave and he was actually happy she forgot to call. They could have a little more time with each other that way and that was always a good thing to him at least.

He laughed a little as he heard Relm talking on the phone. The dog wasn't bothered at all by the teasing. Taking a joke was something he was very good at and hey, he didn't feel ashamed of being a little chivalrous. There was nothing wrong with showing some chivalry every once in a while after all.

"Sit? Sure." He looked around the clearing. He always came here a lot so he knew very well someone had put a bench around here recently. It was most likely someone who was staying at the same place he was who had put it there without telling him for some reason. Besides Relm, the ones at that house were probably the only ones who knew he came here to practice sometimes, but he still couldn't figure out who did it exactly still. "Want to sit over there?" He asked as he looked over at the bench that was found by one of the trees surrounding the small clearing. "It would be a bit more comfortable than sitting on the ground..."  

[Trelweny]

Relm blinked as she followed his gaze while trying to ignore the beating of her heart. Bench? When had that gotten there? She must have been so focused on meeting with Elijah earlier that she did not notice the change in scenery. A fool's error... the former adventurer chastised herself without much bitterness. How could she even feel regret, when being with him brought her such blessedly normal happiness?

"hmm... maybe. You saying the ground's not comfortable, Musician?" Again with the teasing. Again with the nickname, as if to put a barrier between them. But her arms were back around his, her fingers lighting on his wrist beyond the sleeve of his jacket to touch his skin with her red-gloved hands as she playfully tugged the dog anthro to the bench like a friend or little sister might.  

[Stormbreaker7]

Elijah let himself be tugged over to the wooden bench and sat down next to the other, which he was of course quite happy to do so. "Nah. I'm just saying this is more comfortable I guess..." He replied and shrugged his shoulders afterwards. "It doesn't matter much to me..."

Elijah wondered how much time had gone by after feeling a breeze sweep by. The night was beginning to get a bit colder. Either that or Elijah had been too distracted by his friend to really pay attention the weather around him. He didn't even have any idea how long it had been, but he didn't really care either. He was enjoying himself too much to. The only thing that concerned him was if Relm was cold or not. "You aren't cold, are you?" He asked as he put and arm around Relm, wondering if it would help any.  

[Trelweny]

"You guess?” Relm teased, drawing her legs up beside her upon the bench –leaning towards him and yet not leaning on him. It was late. Later than she was usually out anymore but nothing near what she used to do sometimes while adventuring. Monsters and evils did not exactly make it easy for Gramps to enforce curfew or bedtimes. Not that he had been able to do much of that in Thamasa. Though they both inwardly knew she had heeded him. To an extent.

Cold? Sleepy & comfortable Relm gave in to one single temptation as she felt the warming weight of her friend’s arm around her shoulders. There was nothing wrong with it, was there? Sometimes her housemates would comfort or warm others this way. She just wanted to see what it felt like, so she leaned into him & rested her cheek just as gently while being careful to fold that ear back so not to poke him in the face. With a small yawn that was not entirely forced, Relm’s eyes lidded sleepily and with contentment for the moment.

“Not anymore.” The slight teen answered with an odd tone to her voice.

She could wait out any amount of silence like this. Perhaps Elijah would think her asleep. Then she could relish this feeling until her ride arrived.

How long it lasted the girl would not know until returning home & calculating it from the clocks there. She did not try to pretend it was anything other than a friend’s warmth and comfort, nor did her thought wander over anything really. Like Relm was holding the moment as if time had stopped. The ear furthest away from Elijah twitched hearing the sound of heavy approaching hoofbeats. Cloven hooves, of a great white steed larger than any natural horse. Though equine enough at first glance despite the huge and stocky build of him it took no expert to know this creature was not a horse. It was not the shimmering blue mane, though perhaps the smooth tail bearing a matching smaller mane of blue might be a clue. The silver moon marking on what looked like ears but were really horns and the three toes that seemed like cloven hooves –those gave it more away. That, and his shoulders were higher than the head of any Clydesdale.

The great ninau Timex pawed his mostly gray foreleg upon the ground and snorted gently, tossing his blue mane. This Relm could not translate his words, and the family’s traveling translators could not either. Great blue eyes hovered on the two friends upon the bench, shimmering and patient. So much he saw and yet he showed so little of it. Blue eyes blinking large, doe-like, intelligent & wise from either side of a dark gray blaze. ‘When you’re ready’ those eyes seemed to say.  

[Stormbreaker7]

Elijah sat as still as possible so that his friend could remain undisturbed. It didn't matter if they couldn't talk or anything right now because she wanted to sleep. He was happy enough just being around her. Being close like this was nice anyway. It felt comfortable. After some minutes of silence he had assumed she was asleep. He didn't blame her. It must have been so late by now.

Elijah watched Relm "sleep" for a few minutes as he thought over how the day went. Lately it seemed he had been developing strange Relm related feelings. Was it alright to have feelings like that for a good friend...? Would it eventually hurt? He sighed softly at himself. He liked being this close to Relm.

He cast his eyes away to look around. The night was pretty quiet besides for a cricket that was chirping nearby. He listened to that for a while until he noticed the strange creature walk up near him and Relm. At first Elijah didn't know what to make of it. He had been expecting some sort of anthro to come around with one or two of Relm's birds or something like that, but he was apparently wrong. By the way the creature was looking at him; he could assume this wasn't just a strange animal passing by.

"Relm, hey Relm... are you awake...? I'm not sure, but I think your ride might be here..." He said softly. Still he didn't move much. There was no urgency to wake her up right away from what he could tell. He wasn't even positive if she was asleep...  

[Trelweny]

For the most part Relm remained still except for the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathed -slow and relaxed while she kept herself calm as possible- and the lifting of a curl when the breeze shifted through. This was nice. This was warm. Relm could have sworn she could hear Elijah's breathing & feel his heartbeat -if she let herself think beyond simply experiencing the moment. But she still was not, not wanting to have to deal with the thoughts that would follow such thoughts most certainly.

As if through a haze or dream she felt her friend's sigh, on some level wondering what had brought it about. And on another level, wishing there was some way she could offer Elijah anything so that he would not need to sigh.

Or perhaps his sigh was a good thing? Once more Relm blanked her mind to all but the moment.

"hmm?" The carbunkle anthro responded like one waking. It was not entirely by design either, though she had not been asleep. Happily trapped in a conscious-less dream that was more feeling & essence than thought or things that could be put into words. So much, that Relm did not 'know' she had been dreaming. A mint green ear flicked softly just before Relm opened her eyes. Damn it all. Timex was here already. And looking so damn patient & understanding too. That brought a whole new argument within to commence: Whether she was glad or not to see him ... and whether it was safe to confide anything to the gentle giant.

Wrestling with the urge to snuggle closer into Elijah. Fought and won -but then why did it feel so much like losing? Internalizing her own heavy sigh Relm closed her eyes then opened them again. Otherwise she did not move yet. "You're right." Maybe Elijah should file that away as a rarely said thing from a Relm. The precocious girl was not thinking on that at the moment, but rather not answering about whether she was awake or asleep while trying to convince herself that she must not stay as she was with him no matter how comfortable. So she wrapped her arms around him and gave a hug that said goodbye for her, letting it last long enough Elijah had a chance of returning it if she so wished. "I'll call you soon for our next concert!" Said with a sleepy tease, referring to their 'contest' of sorts.

Relm had to force herself away, quickly getting her feet down and slipping like a thief from the embrace she had instigated and had no desire to leave. She had to --in so many more ways than one. Her steps were a little wobbly as Relm darted sleepily to the ninau's side. "I'll introduce you better to Timex next time!"

Her voice quivered with tiredness, thankfully masking the ache of leaving as the petite girl scrambled up the large ninau's side to get upon his back. An ache dulled only slightly holding onto the promise of another meeting & another concert.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
((got too tired. Will add start of new roleplay sometime tomorrow. *hugs*))  

[Trelweny]

All right! She had done it! Done it & called him & he was meeting her in the clearing once mroe. Relm had procured another pair of concert tickets before Elijah could. It was tough, finding concerts before the musician did. Getting notifications from TicketMaster really did not help any because not only were they slow but they did not cover local or otherwise relatively unknown bands. She had needed to find new avenues of getting the information she wanted. It was sometimes tedious, but Relm was up to it. She positively sparkled with the challenge, her green eyes flashing brightly as she made new connections for this, her latest project. It kept her busy too. Not too busy for art of course, but busy enough her mind was always occupied with finding the next concert or the next hook-up for the next concert.

At least when she was on her own, Relm's thoughts were safe. When she was awake and anywhere without her friend, her bright mind brimming over with ideas & plans was hardly given time for a thought on anything else.

Which was how Relm wanted it.

Dealing with the thoughts and feelings that had the awkward tendency of popping up whenever she spent time with her friend... well... it was best kept to a minimum. At least as much of a minimum as it could, considering the last thing the pictomancer would permit -the last thing she wanted- was less time with the dog anthro.

And why is that, Artist? The unspoken question arose unbidden in her mind as Relm made her way to the clearing where she would be meeting the guitarist. Quelling inwardly from the question as if it burned Relm pushed it once more away. No. She would not think on it; she would not dwell on it. She would focus on getting to go to another concert with Elijah instead.

While also ignoring how her pulse quickened at the thought. She started to trot.

Today's concert was in a bar. Or a pub, whichever one preferred to call it. Relm considered it a bar more though because it really did not offer a whole lot of food options. That signified a difference to her. Of course being 'underage' here Relm had a note from her guardian, Trelweny, that she had permission to go to the concert. Just in case it was needed. Being from another 'world' as it were, Relm had no problem with the drinking... but it was of the smoking of cigarettes she held disdain. They smelled bad, with all their odd chemicals, and being around them made hair & clothes smell bad too. She missed the smell of pipes and home grown tobacco like Grampa Strago would sometimes smoke. Good earthy smells.

In thinking of the smoke Relm had been careful choosing her outfit. Vinyl close-fitting black pants with a green off-the-shoulder top that was a lot like her usual top except that it covered a bit more of her torso. It still left her belly a little bare but not much. After putting it on Relm had laughed, thinking it looked a lot like the outfit 'Sandy' wore at the end of Grease. Except Relm was wearing red snakeskin boots and a matching short jacket instead of heels and a pinklady jacket. She could not do much with her hair -other than pray to the Espers that the spray the Weasley twins had given her would keep the smoke from clinging as they claimed it would. So she just sprayed it and pulled it back with a clip to keep the curls from her eyes.

Like an mood ring the ruby gem on her forehead glowed with warmth as she neared the clearing. Hopefully... she had beat Elijah here and could rest & catch her breath on the bench for a moment or two. Or maybe it was better if she could not. Then her breathlessness could be credited to the artist's hurried traveling. And why is that, Artist? "Shut up." Relm muttered darkly to the thought, squashing it again to think on more pleasant things.

Like Elijah. And the concert.  

[Stormbreaker7]

Relm's wishes had been granted since the dog anthro wasn't at the bar just yet. He had been ready to go for a while now. He had thrown on a brown short sleeved shirt with one of his favorite band names on it and dark green cargo pants. He also had on a black wristband on one of his wrists and a red jacket with sleeves that only went up to his elbows since it wasn't very cold anymore. He hoped the outfit would be alright. He was always the kind of guy who really didn't care about outfits and such, but for once he was really hoping it was alright. He always seemed to think differently when it came around close to the time he was about to see Relm or at least recently. Elijah had been trying to block out that little fact from his thoughts for the time being. It was silly to begin with. Relm was his friend and he shouldn't have to try so hard around her. So why did he...?

Elijah had been lying on the floor of his room when he first realized that he should heading out to meet Relm. He had distracted himself after getting ready with trying to finish a song he had been trying to finish up that he started after their first meeting with Ryder, Koen, and Kai. It was the most difficult song he had ever tried to write. Not because it was hard to play, but because he couldn't get it right. The inspiration for the song was a bit different that what he was used to. During his music plotting, he had spotted the clock and had seen that he was going to be late if he didn't get up now. Funny, he had gone from being almost extremely early to being in danger of being late.

The anthro dog wasn't very happy with himself, and soon rushed out the door of the house, not even bothering to say goodbye to anyone there. Most likely someone had an idea of where he was going. Besides, it wasn't like he wasn't old enough to care for himself.

Elijah almost ended up running as he neared the bar. If only he had brought a watch with him... he had no idea if he was late or on time. He was just happy to be there. His heart always started beating faster in his chest every time he was about to see Relm, after running or not. He always looked forward to seeing her. She would probably be already waiting too if he wasn't mistaken. He walked through the bar doors and looked around for the carbunkle.  

[Trelweny]

Green eyes glanced around the empty clearing and with a spew of explicatives Relm broke into a run as realization struck. She had totally forgotten that she had said to meet at the bar not the clearing. Relm had gone out of her way, and the direction the bar was from their houses she would have missed Elijah on his way there. For a change her cursing was directed inwardly. Soon however her personal mental berating had to go silent as she was running out of breath. The artist mage reached the bar, chest heaving & face flushed.

Slipping through the door Relm did not even bother to pause to catch her breath as she looked around to see if her friend had arrived before her or not. Green eyes lit up, shining as brightly in their fashion as the ruby gem above them. "Don't pay yet, 'Lijah." It was supposed to sound casual and teasing but instead came out breathless. Though her eyes were on her friend Relm had spotted the bar employee waiting to sell or take tickets and check IDs who had also seen the dog anthro enter and was waiting for him to come closer. Trotting over to Elijah's side the artist could feel but otherwise ignored how her outfit clung to her as she shrugged out of her jacket. "I already bought tickets online."

The artist's slender fingers fanned the slips of paper she had picked up the day before as she pulled them as if by magic from her coat pocket. It actually wasn't magic, but a trick she had picked up while watching the gambler, Setzer, upon his airship. From the corner of her eye she caught the ticket attendant make a slight smirk and tiny nod and Relm knew he recognized the tickets.  

[Stormbreaker7]

(( Gah! I messed up on the meeting place part. I was trying to figure out what I should make him wear and... I must have forgotten while focusing on that. x.x; Sorry... ))

"Huh? Oh hey..." Elijah was a bit caught off guard. Seems like he hadn't been the only one in a rush. That made him feel a little better. He laughed a little and shook his head at her comment about the tickets. "I didn't. I remember the deal," Elijah said as he watched her get out the tickets. He was slightly impressed by the way she got them out so easily. He also happened to notice how nice she looked in that outfit, and made himself look away at another crowd for a moment before he started staring. She looked great; he couldn't deny that to himself.

So it was possible for someone to find out a concert faster than him. He had been slightly surprised to hear that she had found a show before him, but in a way he knew it would eventually happen. Relm seemed like the type to like a challenge, or at least that's how it looked to him. Oh well. It didn't matter as long as he got to spend time with her, right? Elijah smiled after the guy gave them approval. "How'd you get these tickets so quickly? I didn't even notice this concert till you told me."  

[Trelweny]

((*hugs* that's okies! I figured I just wasn't clear! *laughs* But it's really okay... I got to play with it! ^_^))

Her eyes sparkled happily, matching her smile. Good. She would have been disappointed if he forgot. Casually as she dared, Relm let her gaze traverse her friend. He looked good. She had to clamp down on the thoughts that wondered whether he just threw something together or actually thought about his look before she gave anything away. Waving the tickets in front of his nose Relm led the way over to the large man who was checking everyone into the bar proper. "Nu-uh-uh." The pictomancer teased Elijah, handing over tickets and showing her ID as she held out both hands to the bouncer backs up so he could stamp the big black 'underage' warning on the back of them. Being warned by Trel, Relm knew they would not wash off for days. Her chest was still pressing against the top of her shirt from her run as the mage tried to speak. "Girl's gotta have some secrets."

Lifting her chin, Relm crinkled her nose at him in a playful manner as she stepped past the man as she was permitted through. "Unless you want to trade secrets, then maybe we can work out some sort of deal."

The wink she gave him could be taken so many ways, but for once Relm meant it in all innocence. Perhaps a little petulance. He was winning. It upset her because she knew she made more than he did, and it simply wasn't right that he kept buying their tickets. She wished she had never agreed to that 'whoever finds the concert pays' stipulation. It made her feel she was taking advantage of him. Even worse... Relm could not think of anything she could get him. She knew he loved his guitar so a new instrument was out. He had not let slip anything else he might need yet either, so no help there. It wasn't like Relm could just give him some money, for no reason at all. For one thing... that would be hard on his pride. While she might do that to another just for that reason, Relm would not to Elijah. She wanted to do something nice for him... not hurt him.

This big man, watching all this was trying not to laugh. He hoped the dog anthro was close to the girl's age if they were interested in each other. A guy had to be careful... around 'jailbait' like that. Cute though, how she was going about things. Innuendo teasing. Had to take a quick thinking guy to keep up with her. Girl had been no-nonsense when she had come by for the tickets the other day too.

Like most bars the lights were dimmed, The air was not too smoky yet, the evening having only just begun. It was pretty easy to tell the 'bar crowd' from the 'concert crowd': the first hung towards the bar away from the stage while the second were taking tables near the stage, which was to the left as one entered the building. The decorator had given this place a tavern style feel so the interior was mostly wood that was dark from years of soaking up smoke. Round wooden tables were smooth and polished from years of use and countless alcohol spills. Waiting for Elijah, Relm inclined her head to an empty table just to the right of the stage, within sight of the stage door. At least they might get a few breaths of fresh air there throughout the night.  

[Stormbreaker7]

(( *hugs back* Okay. I'm glad it's okay then. ^.^ ))

Elijah was once again caught off guard, this time by an innuendo his artist friend had brought up that he could take in quite a few ways. He should probably figure that it didn’t mean anything else, but what the conversation had previously been about. It was a stretch to think of it as anything more than ticket searching tips. He had seen Relm wink after saying such things a lot before too. "S-secrets? What secrets of mine are we talking about here...?" He asked, trying to ask calmly like he would with any normal question. There was no reason to not act normal. It wasn't like it was a flirt or anything. 'Course not...'

Elijah had taken out his own ID and showed it to the man as Relm showed the tickets and her own ID. He glanced over at him for a moment and wondered if he had caught what Relm had said too. Maybe he wasn't the only one who was over thinking it. Maybe it wasn't just him.

He followed after Relm. He took a moment to look around. The location for the concert seemed to be interesting already. The concert was looking to be a fun one. Elijah hadn't had any doubts about that before of course. He nodded his head in agreement for where they were to sit. It would be nice to get away from all the smoke and such.  

[Trelweny]

If she was not who she was, self trained in getting the most out of every conversation, Relm might not have noticed anything ‘off’ about her friend’s return question. It was more than the slight stutter that began it. It was like he was… trying to hard. Relm tried to ignore the flutter within her chest that normally would be no more than a thrill for noticing something hidden. Her only outward signs of anything were a small twist of her right mint-green ear and a slight flick of her tail. Dare she? How did she want to respond?

Stomping out the first thing that came to mind Relm went with the second. Walking towards the table they were to claim she paused and turned around, an look of wide eyed innocence in her green eyes. “Why… how you find concerts of course.” Pure innocence in both tone and the wide display of her bright green eyes. Innocence… an act she had perfected as a child. A perfect act to fall back on. “You have me at a complete disadvantage on that field you know.” A fact that caused more than a little irritation. Surprisingly, not as much as it could though. The table she had indicated had a bench and sliding onto it Relm patted the seat beside her after setting her jacket down. Slowly the innocence started to shift, getting a slight flirting edge. He could not know how much she was reigning that edge in, trying to make it only a little teasing –only a little flirting. “Unless there’s other secrets you’d rather share? Not sure I want to give up my only edge in our contest for something else. Not without it being really good.”
 

[Stormbreaker7]

Elijah sat down next to Relm and soon found himself on the spot. Did she know about what was going on with him? Her 'teasing' sounded an awful lot like she was implying something. 'Should I tell her...?' No. He couldn't tell her. All of this was too confusing. Yes, that's right, confusing. Yet... could he really hold this 'confusion' in for so long? Maybe, maybe he was just afraid of how she'd react if he actually did tell her about the ‘feeling’ he kept getting while he was around her. "Hm, maybe I have one. I'll consider telling you. So... don't get your hopes up, 'kay?" He winked and smiled. Hopefully he could just leave it like that, for now anyway.

He snickered a bit as he thought about what she had just said before the whole secret thing. He knew very well of his advantage, of course. It was nice to have an upper hand. "Ohhh and about that... A disadvantage? Naaah. I don't think of it like that. It's more like I'm... uhm.. Challenging you. Yes... That's it. Just a bit of a challenge for you," He teased. "We can play another game too where you have a better advantage. Would that make you happy?"