Nikolas sighed as he looked at the houses they passed, searching for the correct one as they weren't located directly in the city. "And that leaves Kit and Ryker. Kit's the oldest, a year older than me, and Ryker's a year younger than me. The former is a bit more laid back, but that doesn't mean he's not going to partake in questionably stupid stunts. He just doesn't get super rowdy or let people under his skin. Usually pisses people off when they don't get the reaction they want while getting insulted at the same time." He conveniently ran out of time as he pulled up to the house, not mentioning Ryker. However, that might be a bit of an issue if he didn't break it to Atlas right now. Nikolas drummed his fingers on the wheel after he shut off the car, then looked down and said, "Ryker's my ex."
Atlas continued listening to Nikolas, watching the scenery go by through the window. As they pulled into a parking area, he looked straight ahead, a mix of excitement and nervousness rising. Before Nikolas parked the car he unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to him. He then watched as Nikolas finished. Atlas nodded slightly to himself. "Ahh I see, that's what you meant by him 'giving you the gay', or whatever you said? That's cool that you guys are still friends and, like, are cool about it."
Nikolas blinked, then looked over at Atlas. "I was expecting a different reaction," he admitted, then leaned over and kissed Atlas with a soft smile. "Yeah, he has a fiancé now, and I have you. Things weren't all that good, though, since I kinda disappeared on him without an explanation after getting kicked from the system. We worked things out though, so he's back to his obnoxious normal." He was so relived that Atlas wasn't hung up on him and Ryker being exes. It made this introduction so much easier for him.
Atlas smiled, kissing him back "Well, everyone… almost everyone has exes and there's nothing you or I can do about that. So I personally don't see the point in being angry or anything over still being in contact with an ex, in a healthy way of course." He said, very happy that Nikolas had had told him about it, and that he'd been open instead of secretive. "So, let's go then! I'm excited to meet everyone!"
Nikolas chuckled at Atlas' eagerness, then unbuckled and opened the door. "Alright, alright. Let's get going." He slipped out of the car, shutting the door behind him, then went around the hood and opened Atlas' door for him with a crooked smile. Despite his insistence that his friends weren't the most civilized and safety-concerned, he did love them dearly. They were his family. They stood by him when things got tough, then refused to stay away even if he tried to run. He didn't know where he'd be without any of them.
Atlas excitedly jumped out of the car and grabbed one of Nikolas' hands. He kept right up against his side and closed the door behind him. He looked at the building, studying it so that he could remember what it looked like if he had to come here on his own. His nervousness jumped out a little more as they got closer to the door, but tried not to pay any attention to it.
Nikolas pressed a reassuring kiss to Atlas' temple, then opened the front door without bothering to knock. They walked into the living room—which was the largest room in the house—and first came in contact with the twins.
The woman had a cloud of black coiled hair that spilled over her dark olive shoulders, exposed thanks to her shoulderless long-sleeved top that clung to her torso and exposed a sliver of her belly. The sleeves of her shirt were pushed up to her elbows. Her eyes weren't visible at first, but she did look over when she heard Nikolas and Atlas enter. Her right eye was a light sky blue while her left eye was a grassy green. What stood out about her was that there were red marks around her right eye and on the right side of her face, trailing down her neck, over her shoulder, covering her entire right arm and hand, and splattered down the right side of her torso and right thigh. The ones on her torso and leg weren't very visible, as she was wearing skinny jeans, but a small bit was visible because of the sliver of belly showing.
Standing in front of her was her twin. This one was male and taller than all of them at 6'3, with fluffy dark brown hair leaning towards black and angular features. His skin tone was the exact same as the woman's, though without the red marks; his eyes also had the same coloring as the woman's, though the colors were reversed—the right was green while the left was blue. He wore no shirt, seemingly having just stepped out of the shower, which showed off the howling wolf tribal tattoo on his shoulder and lean muscle that beat out Nikolas by a smidge. He did have a pair of grey sweatpants on. His arms had been crossed over his chest, but he dropped them curiously when Nikolas and Atlas had entered.
Atlas looked around, first catching sight of the twins. He smiled at them, not really sure what to do or say. He kept ahold of Nikolas' hand as they got inside, closing the door behind them. They both were beautiful humans in his opinion. Not that it mattered, but he could appreciate beautiful people. He resulted to looking up at Nikolas, still unsure of what to do.
Nikolas addressed the twins first, who wore identical looks of confusion as they looked at Atlas. "Cin, Wolf, this is Atlas Fox, my boyfriend." He lazily gestured between the three, then glanced down at the male next to him. "Atlas, this is Cinthia and Wulfric Griffin, the twins." He looked up at the two still-confused twins with a crooked smile, "if it wasn't already obvious."
Atlas' smile grew brighter as he was introduced to them. "Hey, it's nice you meet you!" He said to them, but not making any move to shake hands or anything of the sort. He stayed glued to Nikolas' side. They definitely looked like twins. He always thought it was cool to know twins. It was interesting to see how similar they looked, but how totally opposite their personalities were.
Finally, Wolf cracked a bright grin and looked over at Nikolas. "About time you brought a cute guy over. I was considering hooking you up with Mrs. Grumpy Pants over here just to get you both laid." He hooked a thumb over towards Cinthia, who shot her twin an incredulous look. "No," was all she said, then turned her softened gaze towards Atlas and gestured vaguely to the house. "Welcome to our home, Atlas. I hope Nik hasn't been too much trouble?" she directly the thinly veiled accusation towards Nikolas with an arched brow in his direction. He winced slightly and lightly nudged Atlas further into the house.
"Thank you, it's a nice house… definitely nicer than my apartment and Nikolas' apartment put together," Atlas said giggling. "To be fair though, I don't know what your apartment looks like, I'm just assuming it's trash since it's in the same building as mine." He said directing it to Nikolas. He took a step forward finally and smiled. "But no, he hasn't been any trouble at all, if anyone's causing trouble it's me…" His smile dropped for a second before returning to its former brightness.
Nikolas laughed softly at Atlas' statement directed towards him and nodded. Cinthia offered a small but friendly smile to Atlas, then shot a much sharper glare towards her brother before walking away. She lifted her hand and flicked her fingers. "Make yourself at home." Wolf watched her leave with a blank expression, but it was gone by the time he turned a beaming smile towards the remaining two. "Well, as much as I'd like details on this," he spiraled his index fingers around to indicate Atlas and Nikolas, "I'm sure you'd like to get to the others. They're upstairs in Tess' room."
"Oh I would love to meet everyone else!" Atlas said, smiling brightly back to Wolf. His nervousness had disappeared, replaced by pure excitement and eagerness. He looked back at Nikolas, reaching his hand back to hold Nikolas'. The twins were so nice already, so he wasn't worried about anyone else at all. He knew there was no reason to be anyway.
Nikolas took Atlas' hand without hesitation and stepped up beside him, ready to guide him up the stairs to the bedrooms. Wolf looked pointedly at their intertwined fingers, then back up to Nikolas with a smirk. Pulling Atlas towards the staircase, Nikolas shoved a hand into Wolf's face and pushed the laughing man away with a soft smile of his own. "Work out whatever it is with Cin before we get back down, will ya? I need her to not be in a pissy mood." Wolf shot him a thumbs up, then went after his twin to do just that.
Atlas watched them with a bright smile, giggling a little. He loved their chemistry, but that was of course only the beginning. He knew he was basically being introduced to Nikolas' family, he hoped they would welcome him. He followed Nikolas up the stairs, his fingers still intertwined with the other's. Looking behind him, he saw Wolf, smiling to him as he looked forward again.
((word dump, sorry. Basically just a bunch of character descriptions since it's three at a time this round))
Nikolas guided Atlas towards one of the closed doors and opened it without any sort of warning. One wasn't exactly needed, as the three occupants were all lazing about in the room.
Ryker Young, a 5’4 Canadian-born guy with a thin and lithe build with rounded and soft edges, was sitting on the end of the ruffled bed. Light brown skin with freckles all over his nose and cheekbones. His cat-like eyes were green, but different shades of green starting with lightest at the edges of his irises and ending with darkest at the pupil. His chocolate brown hair was full of curls that clearly didn’t like being told what to do from how they fell all over the place. Hasn't changed a bit since the last time they saw each other.
Kit Saunders had been definitely female when they last saw each other, but now she—they? he?—had clearly gone through at least top surgery to remove the extra bust Kit had been self-conscious of, leaving them with a more masculine chest that was shown off by the muscle tee. Kit's blonde hair was cut shorter than last time, though still long compared to a usual guy's cut, and had a new hoop lip ring and a single gold bar earring in one ear connected to a cuff with a small decorative chain. In usual Kit fashion, sweatpants were worn to finish it off, and they lounged across the bed along with Ryker.
Theresa Hunt was the only one not on the bed. Instead, she was sitting on the computer chair with her bare feet propped up on the desk, which was littered with papers and recording equipment. Eyes of burnt gold shone with an innate fire and passion as they peered over at Nikolas and Atlas, framed by naturally thick and long lashes; complimented by a waterfall of golden blonde hair. Her lithe build, made of muscle and determination and flexibility from years of labor, was outlined by her off-the-shoulder sweater crop top and fashionably distressed shorts.
((It's all good! I appreciate it actually.))
Atlas looked around, studying everyone and taking it all in. He glanced up at Nikolas, then back to the others. He smiled at them all, a slight wave came from the hand that wasn't holding Nikolas' hand. "Hey~," He said, nervousness edgeing at his voice even if he wasn't aware of it.
((sorry, just been in a slump where I'm really picky about which rps I'm in the mood for))
Nikolas caught Ryker's questioning eye and didn't break the stare as he slid behind Atlas and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's waist, propping his chin on the other's head. Ryker smirked and said, "Looks like I've been replaced." Kit barely blinked as he instantly tossed a crumpled up piece of paper at Ryker's head. "Bitch, you've got a fiancé. I don't want to hear you complain about being replaced." That broke the curious silence and all three people in the room fell into fits of soft snickers and giggles. Nikolas rolled his eyes but smiled as well.
Tess was the first to recover. She dropped her feet to the floor and spun her chair so that she was looking at Atlas. Her eyes narrowed slightly, then widened and sparkled as she pointed at him. "You're Fox."
((Ah, it's okay. I get in moods like that at times as well :))
Atlas giggled with everyone, looking around at everyone. He smiled once he calmed down as well, leaning back into Nikolas and placing his hands on top of his boyfriend's. His focus went to Tess, eyes widening a little. "Yeah, I am." Answering with an almost shy smile.
Tess grinned and sat cross-legged on her chair. "I've heard some of your stuff. Gotta say, I'm impressed." She tipped her head and arched a brow at Nikolas. "You got good music and you snagged a pretty boy drummer that refuses to sing for me." She stuck her tongue out at Nikolas, who stuck his out at her and tightened his grip on Atlas as he buried his face in the crook of the other's neck. Tess ignored that and gestured to herself. "Theresa Hunt." She then lazily flicked her fingers towards the two sitting on the bed. "The short one's Ryker Young. The other is Kit Saunders. He/him, or they/them. Doesn't matter, just no female pronouns." Kit pointed at her in agreement, then reached over Ryker's lap to grab a notebook and jot something down.
Atlas' smile turned bright. "Thank you! It's nice to meet you all. But that's too bad for you I've heard his voice and it's absolutely beautiful. I love it quite a bit." He said in response to her first statement, to both Theresa and Nikolas. Atlas really meant it, he was so happy to have been able to hear his voice. "I'm supposed to release a new album soon, but who knows if that's actually even gonna happen." His smile dropped, looking down at the ground. He took a few breaths, leaning his head on Nikolas' chest.
Tess narrowed her eyes in concern and curiosity, sitting forward in her chair and resting her elbows on her knees. "That's no good. What's up?" Ryker also looked concerned, but he didn't say anything, letting Tessa take the lead of the conversation. Kit was the only one seemingly not paying attention, as he was jotting things down on the notepad he snagged, but he was splitting his attention between writing and Atlas. As they were all musicians, they knew about the struggle up-and-coming music careers brought, even if only one of them was a legitimate artist in the eyes of the public. Nikolas closed the door behind him and leaned against it, keeping his hold on Atlas tight and comforting.
Atlas sighed, he looked back up at everyone. "So, yesterday was going to be the last day of recording songs and we were gonna finalize stuff, you know? Earlier that morning, I invited Nikolas to come to the studio, just for fun. Um, I got a couple of songs done before he came. I asked if he wanted to feature in one of my songs, so then we practiced and recorded it. All great stuff going on. The lunch break came… uh, yeah we went to my favorite cafe close to the studio. I got really distracted and I distracted Nikolas as well. After way longer than we meant to be there, we finally realized the time and I left before Nikolas to hopefully fix anything that I messed up, but it was already too late. I got to the studio and my producer, manager, and the owner of the studio were meeting and just waiting for me. The owner's really strict and he doesn't like people wasting his resources. He won't allow us to record there ever again. Now my manager's pissed and he probably already quit, I haven't checked any of my messages today because I know he's gonna actually hate me for the rest of his life… I have nowhere to finish recording and stuff so I'll just have to postpone my album release for a while or something… Sorry for the lengthy explanation…" He said, tears welling up in his eyes again. He quickly brushed them away and fixed his gaze to the floor.
