Zuri, Abby, Strips ~ Private

[zash]

Zuri looked at everything in the kart. "Hygiene, food, drink, test. Uhhhhh, I think we got it all." Zuri looked once more. All he cared about was food and drink and the test but the other things were a good idea. Zuri got a whiff of himself and his eyes watered a bit. Yeah, definite on the hygiene. “I can’t think of anything else. I would say something to maybe clean with but you probably already have that and I’m sure Abby has gotten it by now. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get back and she had completely cleaned the entire house. If you have a vacuum maybe a bag refill thing, but I doubt you’ll need it and nah, why bother.” Zuri just looked around. While they went through the store he didn’t see anything that was a bare essential. The blood whine was a nice touch but what they got will most likely cover everything.

[petdr89]

"Eh, I'm sure I already have extra vacuum cleaner bags. And you're probably right; Abby probably has cleaned the entire house by now. Kinda worries me a little, actually. Someone willingly cleaning and enjoying it, well, just ain't normal." Strips kind of shook his head a bit before walking to the check-out line. They didn't have to wait in line too long before their stuff was bagged, and Strips paid the cashier. "Now we just gotta carry all this stuff home." Good thing he had asked Zuri to go with him, because he doubted he would have been able to get all of this stuff by himself. He grabbed half the bags, wrapping the handles around his arms and wrists.

[zash]

Zuri did the same. He put all the bags on his arms and wrists. Luckily they were double bagged other wise they may have had some problems on the way home. "Ah, atleast it isn't to heavy. But I still would suggest that we walk a bit faster on the way home." Zuri figured that they may be pretty light but after 5 minutes of holding these things up would probably be a bit of a work out. "Lets just hope our arms don't fall asleep on the way back." Zuri then started to walk for the door.

[petdr89]

"Yes, let's hurry." Strips followed Zuri, making a B-line for the door. He wanted to get home as quickly as possible; he wasn't sure about Zuri, but his left arm was straining under the weight of the bags. He figured he must of grabbed a bag of water and a bag of soda and somehow managed to put them on the same arm; he just wasn't too bright. Right now it wasn't so bad, but he figured about halfway there he'd be running for the door and then drop the bags as soon as he got into the house. He could see that happening, anyway. His other arm felt fine, and he was tempted to even things out a bit, but he figured his strong arm would be able to handle it. He flexed the muscles in his left arm, pulling the bags closer to his chest, finding it to be a more comfortable position, and then briskly walked down the street

[zash]

Zuri had done the same. He had evened things out so each arm was about equal. But he figured that about half way home that his ams would start to burn or something and he'd have to sprint for the door. So he did as Strips was doing, he was walking at a fast pace with large steps. This kept him looking fairly normal and being able to nearly run and not look like a psycho. "So, lets get home and get something to eat. I'm hungry. Hopefully Abby will be in a good mood and maybe have things cleaned up when we get there. That way it'd make cooking and eating easier. And if you don't mind, I'm probably gonna take a shower when we get there. I keep getting a whiff of myself and to be honest with you. It really doesn't smell all that great." The real question here is, why weren't they just flying back to Strips' house. They had wings and could fly, why don't they? Just to absent minded I guess.

[petdr89]

Strips never really thought about it when it came to flying short distances or when he was already in a city; mostly it was a question of whether he wanted to strain his wings or his legs, and he figured being in a vertical position would be a lot easier.

"Yeah, I didn't wanna say anythin', man, but I've really been tryin' hard not ta breath around ya." He wasn't going to bring it up but since Zuri brought it up himself, he figured why not.

A more important question was; why hadn't they just called a cab? Maybe because Strips had spent every penny he had back at that store. He figured he would be able to find more laying around the house, but he hadn't brought much with him to begin with.

[zash]

Zuri just shook his head. He figured as much. "Yeah, I call the shower when we get back then." Zuri did rather stink and he did need to rinse, lather, and repeat a few times. His hair was rather matted and nasty looking. He hadn't showered in a few days so he really needed to wash. But for now he had to wait. They pretty much just kept walking and walking. Eventually Zuri's left arm started to fall asleep. "Oohhh man. My left arm is starting to get a tad numb. This is going to be interesting."

[petdr89]

"I think you're the only one left that has to take a shower, unless the dust bunnies wanna get in there. Prolly wouldn't be a bad idea for them to, actually."

Strips kept flexing and un-flexing his arms to keep the blood flowing, until eventually they froze in place and refused to move. They were almost home anyway; so it didn't really matter. Still, Strips thought his arm was going to give way before he reached the door. He got a cramp in his forearm, and just kept walking as the pain crawled up his arm and onto his shoulder, where it began to burn and sting.

They finally made it to the door and Strips wrapped his tail around the doorknob, flung the door open, and walked as quickly as he could into the kitchen. He hadn't noticed, at first, how clean his house now looked.

[zash]

Zuri then followed suit after Strips. He walked in side as well, closed the door and rushed to the kitchen. He didn't notice the cleanliness of the house either. The burning of his arms got in the way of noticing. He ran into the kitchen and sat the bags down on the nearest table. After that he felt the extreme burning of his arms. "Oooouuuu that really hurts." He just kinda curled into himself until the burning stopped. It wasn't until then did he see how clean everything was. "Oh, cool. We were right. She cleaned the entire house. Hmm, well I'm gonna go take a shower now then. Tell Abby nice cleaning job. If you don't she may get mad we didn't notice." After that Zuri began for the bathroom.

[petdr89]

Strips had thrown the bags on the counter, then grasped the ledge of the counter tightly, keeping his muscles flexed, and just rode out the pain; enjoying it to some degree. He didn't say anything to give any indication that he was in pain, though it was probably pretty obvious.

Eventually, though, the pain subsided, and he also noticed how clean the house was. He laughed internally, half smiling on the outside. She's so weird.

"Alright, I will." Strips didn't watch Zuri leave the room, but rather got to work putting away the things they had purchased.

[zash]

Zuri had walked down the hall and entered the bathroom. He closed the door behind him and then took off his clothes. They really reeked. "Ah crap. What am I to do with my clothes? They probably stink. Ah well I guess." What could he do. Throw them in the shower and clean them? Ah why not. Zuri took his clothes and put them in the shower. He soaked them with hot water and took some soap and scrubbed them down. He then rinsed them off and squeezed the water out of them and hung them on the curtain rack around the shower. "I hope he doesn't mind a little heat in here." Zuri sat down on the toilet and used the bathroom and while he was sitting there he used some fire magic and blew some flames near his clothes to dry them off. He was careful and kept a dull flame going under his clothes.

Eventually he was finished using the bathroom and his clothes were fairly dry by then. He then just put them on a towel rack and used the shower. When the water hit his knuckles and the side of his face it burned a bit. "Ouch, gosh darnit." But he continued to scrubbed down his body with the soap and washed his hair. He rinsed off and then just kinda stood there and allowed some of the water to drip off.

After standing there for a bit he got out of the shower and went to find some towels. "If I were a towel where would I hide. Maybe under the sink?" He got lucky on the first guess. He pulled out a towel from the bottom of the stack and began to dry off. After drying off his body he grabbed his under wear and pants and put them on. Luckily they were pretty dry. He then dried off his hair and put his shirt on. He was all nice and clean and dry. "Thats better. I needed a hot shower.

[petdr89]

Abby had heard the pair walk in the door, but stayed hidden to avoid running into Zuri. Once she was sure Zuri was in the bathroom, she walked into the kitchen and stood in the doorway.

One of Strips's ears turned around to face behind him, though he never turned his head. He just half smiled, already knowing who was in the doorway. "You didn't have to clean the house, you know."

"Oh, but I did." The soft voice of the female replied.

Strips chuckled, shaking his head. "Bug ya that much, did it?"

"Yes" Abby replied simply.

“Well, thank you.” Strips continued laughing and shaking his head for a moment, as he continued pulling things out of the bags and putting them away. "Oh, here, I got this for you." He handed her the bottle of blood wine. "Though I'd like to drink some too, if you don't mind."

"Aww, Strips, you know how powerful this stuff is."

"Tchah, that's why I like it." He paused, continuing to go through bags. "Oh, and yeah, Zuri wanted me to get these for you, too." He said as he tossed her the box of pregnancy tests.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Abby had also noticed that she was a little more round; didn't know why, but figured there was a logical explanation.

Strips shrugged, "Tell ya the truth, I have no idea. I think he's a little paranoid; it's probably somethin' in the atmosphere. But you know what, when you take that test and it tells you that you're not pregnant, you should so totally tell him that you are. I bet that would scare the shit outa him."

Abby giggle, shaking her head. "That is rather tempting, but he should know that I'm incapable of getting pregnant."

[zash]

Once Zuri was completely dry and clothed he walked out of the bathroom. He then walked out and heard Abby and Strips talking. He really didn't want to see Abby so...."Alright. front door here I come." Zuri didn't bother to go see them. He felt like cooling off and staying away from them for a bit. So Zuri walked quietly through the house and found the front door. He opened the door and walked outside and closed it behind him. He then looked up at the sky and took off. He leaped into the air and went for a fly.

[petdr89]

"One would think he would, but sometimes I wonder about that boy. I think he's got somethin' wrong with his noggin."

"I concur; there's definitely something wrong with him."

Strips smirked, "You're still mad at him, aren't you?"

"Whoever said I was mad at him?"

"Well, no one, but you seem a tad on edge."

Abby sighed, walking further into the room and plopping herself down on a chair at the table. "I don't know; I'm not really mad at him. I'm just.... Oh, I don't know what I am. I guess I just can't believe, I-I just can't believe that, th-that...." She couldn't finish her sentence before tears began rolling down her cheeks.

Strips cocked his head, a look of concern on his face. "Aww" he started as he walked over to her, knelt down on his knees in front of her, and cradled her face in his hand. "It's okay, sweetheart. I really didn't think you'd be this upset about what happened."

"I know I shouldn't be, but...I dunno. I don't know how to describe it."

"Shh, that's okay, I understand." Strips stared deeply into Abby's eyes, and forced a smile in hopes of making her feel a little better. "How 'bout I pour ya a glass of wine? Maybe you'll feel better once you get somethin' in your stomach-thing."

Abby only half smiled, nodding her head. "Yeah, I'd like that."

[zash]

Zuri continued to fly through the Darigan air. It was kinda nice out here. It was dark and evil but Zuri didn't mind, part of him liked it. "Ohhhh man. What am I going to do?" About that point in time Zuri saw a bank. "I wonder." He landed in front of the bank and walked in. There were maybe one or two other people there. He walked up to a teller and told her his "name". Zuri used various names in his accounts. Lucky for him he could remember them. Of course if he didn't then he had it in his sheath, most of the time. "Uhm, do I have any money here?" He asked her.

"Why yes you do Mr. Crosman." She said.

"Uhm, arlight." Zuri grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down 100,000 NP. "Can I withdraw that much?" He said as he showed her the paper.

"Uhm, yes you can sir. Just give me a moment to fill out the form."

"Alright." Zuri then looked around the room. He always hated this part. You wait and look around. He always felt like he was being watched and when he was looking around he felt as if they were thinking he was suspicious. What else is there to do? Well after about 3 minutes the clerk came back.

"Alright sir, here you go. Just sign at the X."

"As if I didn't know that already." Zuri thought. They always tell you to sign at the X but it wasn't as if he didn't know that already. "Alright, here you go." Zuri then handed back the paper and then she looked at it and ran it through the system.

"Alright sir, just a moment." After about a minute of running it through the system, neopoints started to spew out of the dispensor. "Alright sir, here you go." She then started to cound out the neopoints and handing them to Zuri.

After about a minute she got done counting them. Zuri then put it in a bag and said. "Thanks."

"Your welcome sir. You have a nice day."

"Uh, thanks, you to." Zuri then walked away. He put some of the points in another bag and put it into his pocket. He then put the rest in his sheath in its compartment. He walked out of the bank and then flew away again.

He was flying for about 3 minutes when he saw a bar. Zuri wasn't a big drinker but he felt like going somewhere where he could pretty much be alone and get something to drink. There he could find a place to blend in. He landed in front of the bar and walked in. At the front entrance there were a few bouncers. Amazingly he just walked in with his sword and no one complained. "Odd, Darigan is a tough place. I guess they don't particularly care about weapons. Which I'm sure everyone has one here." Zuri thought to himself. But he just walked over to the bar. A guy went flying across the room behind him as he sat down. "Huh, nice." The bar tender came over.

"So what will it be kid?"

"Uh, I'll just have a Jack Daniels."

"Alright." The bar tender went over and grabbed a bottle of Jack and brought it to Zuri. "There you go kid."

"Thanks." Zuri opened the bottle and took a swig.