Tango was quiet for a few moments, communicating with Rei as the latter signed and the former…didn't do much. An eyebrow flick here, a quick sort of shake of her head, or just the minor changes in expression people who knew her understood.
With a puff of air that turned into a sigh, she came to a sudden stop, letting her hands drop as her arms ached. "Fine. A jump would be nice. If only because I'm pretty sure all of the frozen groceries are melted now, and I gotta get that shit out of dad's car."
“Alright. I can also help with the cleaning. And maybe you were lucky enough; we might be able to refreeze it again.” Advir had jumped the gun on his chance to talk with the other, hating the silence between them. It used to be bright conversations and laughter (occasionally) with each other. Now it was just… silence….
But with his help, they made it to his house which was just a couple blocks more. He grabbed his dad’s car and brought it over with a few wires to help start it.
Tango was siting up on the roof of the Jeep when he returned, head tilted back and eyes closed as she let the cool breezes blowing by cool her off. Rei was looking through the groceries in the back seat, trying to see which ones were spoiled and which weren’t. “I have to ask. Why are you helping me, Advir? It would be in your best interests to just pretend I wasn’t even back, wouldn’t it?”
Advir busied himself with working on connecting the cars, instead of staring at her like the young boy he still was. He couldn’t let himself get distracted with lost chances. She wasn’t interested…
“I can’t help?” He asked softly up at her.
The soft tone of his voice made her heart skip a beat, and she scolded herself mentally. That was just how Advir talked sometimes. It wasn’t directed at her, and it shouldn’t be, anyway. “I’m just saying. The help is…nice, but why me, when there are people who deserve it?” The sunlight that fell upon her hair lit it up, choppily cut red strands falling like tendrils of flame upon her shoulders now that she’d freed her hair from the bandana.
“But you do deserve it,” Advir protested slightly louder as he went to put the clamps on his car in return and turn his car on. Without waiting for her response, for he knew the whole thing would become an argument, he started his car’s engine and went to try hers.
“Ok, this should be enough for us to take you back.”
I really don't, and you should know that by now. Tango didn't voice her thoughts though, letting him change the subject, however obvious the switch was. Opening her eyes reluctantly, she slipped down off the jeep, landing in a crouch before straightening. "Thanks. Without your help, we woulda gotten back after dark." The use of the word 'we' was strange, but Advir knew. She was aware of the fact that he knew, because she had been the one that had accidentally slipped up a year and a half ago. And that wasn't something people forgot about.
Advir took the clamps back and hopped into the back of her Jeep, nodding. “Right you are. Here, you go ahead and start driving, and I’ll clean up back here.” He moved the bag of frozen goods and with a rush of relief, realized it was just some perspiration on the seat from the melted ice. He mopped it up anyway, scrubbing for no reason to make it sound like he had actually found something to clean.
Tango shook her head, a light breath of air rushing past her lips. She was sighing at him. "Confusing and weird." She muttered, climbing into the driver's seat anyway. "Rei, help him out?" Starting the vehicle, she paused, waiting as the engine stuttered before coming to life. "It's mostly junk food, but the icecream is what I'm worried about." She wasn't kidding. There wasn't a single thing that wasn't junk food in any of the bags, except for a single jug of milk. True to form. Tango hated vegetables, and wasn't too big a fan of healthy things either.
A small 'murp' sounded from somewhere inbetween the front seats and the back seats, and a small calico cat clambered not-so-gracefully up onto the seats, her one eye blinking curiously at Advir. The other was scarred over, but the one that was fine almost matched the color of Tango's eyes.
(sorry i haven’t answered this in a bit lol I’ve been busy)
Advir grinned at the cat and reached out to stroke it, but paused to let it sniff his hand. Advir always wanted some sort of animal, but he was only allowed lizards and small birds because his dad was allergic to the dandruff a lot of furred animals gave off. It was pretty serious but all well.
“The ice cream’s fine, it just perspired a lot. No worries, I can get it myself. Hey, what’s this cat’s name? It’s super cute.”
((ur totally good man! hope this rp might brighten your day just somewhat))
"So that's where she went." Tango muttered, shaking her head and huffing a laugh. Her hair shifted around her head, the choppy strands again looking so much like fire it was strange. "That's Mochi. We met in Tokyo, a few weeks after I…left here. I found her in an abandoned apartment, half starved and crying for her owner. Poor cat…her owner had been killed in a crash a few days before. Stuck around to try and find somebody to find Mochi, and…I was that person. Took her home a week later when the shelter called and told me nobody was adopting her because of her eye."
Mochi immediately butted her head against Advir's hand, purring up a storm.
(aw thanks uwu. so like, did you have any plans as to where this could go?)
Advir beamed at the cat’s happy bump, patting and scratching the purring cat happily. Despite its rough beginning, it seemed pretty happy now.
“That’s really sweet, Tango. Really cute name for it, too…” Advir was never one to humble, so obviously he meant it. His smile was spread out on both cheeks as he stroked the cat’s head very gently. It was honestly a disappointment that such a pretty cat had been passed up just for its eye. Advir would have definitely adopted it. But he might’ve ended up adopting the whole pet shelter along with Mochi.
((this scene in particular? yeah, actually. I was thinking Hinata could show, either when they get to her place or before, with a panicked ghost in tow. exposition and possible drama ensue))
Tango made a face at the use of her first name. She'd gotten so used to people calling her Arden, both because of Japanese customs and even in other places before she'd met Advir, that having someone call her by her first was strange. She'd forgotten how he always did that. Even while everyone else here knew her as Arden, she was Tango to him. "Isn't it? Ms. Kino picked a good name. She told me she had been going over lists and websites looking for a name, and then a sign in a restaurant made her decide on Mochi." Almost as if in response, Mochi let out another small 'murp', moving away from Advir to climb up onto his shoulders. "She must really like you. She only does that with me and Rei. Hinata once, but that was during the…" She trailed off, a slightly haunted look coming over her features as her fingers tapped anxiously on the steering wheel. The movement drew attention to one thing; she was missing a finger on her left hand.
(oo ok!)
Advir didn’t notice the face his friend made. She never really told him to not use her first name, so he always used it in question. Tango just always made him laugh and she always seemed so frustrated with him about it. She always got super tired of him for the dumb things he’d laugh about, but that was just her problem sometimes. Advir glanced up when the other trailed off, and his brow furrowed heavily at the loss of her finger…
“Well… I’m glad she likes me, then.” He didn’t want to say much else. If he did, he’d be insinuating that they’d see each other again. At her house. And while Advir wouldn’t mind more time to hang out and catch up, she might not want that. Especially considering how it ended off the last time they saw each other so long ago…
Tango was quiet for a few moments, breathing slowly to calm the memories crawling up her throat. Rei's hand on her shoulder and Mochi hopping to the back of her seat to nudge her head helped. It always did. They were so used to the after effects of everything that had happened, that they were a well-oiled machine when it came to offering whatever comfort they could to each other. After she could speak without her voice wobbling, Tango looked back at Advir, raising an eyebrow slightly as Mochi returned to him. "You can…come and see her, you know. Whenever you feel like. She's good at making bad days better, too."
((Any preference on which one? Now or later?))
(umm ig later? That way we can use it to skip a bit?)
((Sure! I’m helping my grandma move rn, so could you start us off?))
((i really hate bumping things, but i just want to know if you forgot about this, or if you were kind of done with it, like, lacking the motivation or spark for it? either way there are absolutely no hard feelings, and i totally get it! just curious!))
(oh shit this was a while ago. I’m sorry! This was around when my marking period for school was ending so I tooootally forgot about it. I must’ve clicked it in a rush then reloaded the page and not have realized it. Sorry! I would love to continue this.)
((i thought something like that might've been the case, which is the main reason i bumped it. glad you'd like to continue it though! i've done the same thing so many times, or, sometimes, i'll post a response but reloaded the page too fast, before it posts lmao))
(Yeye so could you give me an overview of what you want to achieve with the skip? Maybe he explains to her, finally, about what’s been happening regarding the kidnappings and stuff?)
((ooo, i like that. like, skip to when he's explaining everything, back at her place?))
(yeye that sounds good. also i may or may not be exhausted rn so i won’t be able to write a lot till tomorrow)
((that's alright! i have a bunch of cleaning to do, and im not even sure if i'll be able to do much until late tomorrow night, because it's my siblings' birthday party))
