Victory and Defeat [D4 EN] (Expecting)

[Rayfe Drathmire]

The telephone in Calico's room would spontaneously start to ring and rattle as a call came through. On the other end of the line, a severely disinterested teen working the overnight shift would mumble at her while tapping away at his game pad.

"Yeah, uh?" A pause as he swivels in his chair to check the computer screen. "Miss... Calico Carter. Right. You got a dude in the lobby who wants to see you. Thanks"

The phone clicks as he hangs up.

And waiting in the lobby is a dude. The same tall figure with dark hair and a quiet expression that she met at the Apricot the night before. Rayfe is sitting on one of the sofas, arms crossed and reclining as he waits. Nyx lays across his feet, her eyes curiously following the people that come and go through the entrance.

[Calico Carter]

Calico had just started to drift off, and therefore looked and felt her best when she stepped out of the elevator into the lobby. Her hair was a bit tangled (and Orlok was riding on top of her head), she wore an outsized t-shirt that had some kind of cartoon steamosaur on it that was long enough it wasn't entirely apparent she was wearing much else.

She wasn't sure who she'd be dealing with- Felix? Another debt collector? Someone out to serenade her with an account of her alleged misdeeds?

...

Rayfe and Nyx?

"Uh... hi?"

[Rayfe Drathmire]

Rayfe hears her approaching footsteps and perks up. Before he can even speak, Nyx scrambles across the lobby and rushes up to Calico's side. The Magnox lows happily and pushes her snout against the woman's hand.

"Hey, Calico. Orlok." Rayfe greets as he stands and approaches much more calmly. "Sorry-I know it's late. But..." He rubs at the back of his neck. "We didn't get to thank you properly. For helping us out in the marsh."

[Calico Carter]

Calico blinked, even as she reflexively started scratching Nyx behind the ears.

"That? That was just... I mean, hell, seemed to me you two had gone through a rough enough day. Anyway, it's not like I have enough friends I can just leave 'em covered in bug bites and claw marks if I can do something about it..."

[Rayfe Drathmire]

"It means more to us than you know. Truly." He looks down at Nyx and sighs. "It was... the toughest day in a long time. At least you and Orlok are headed for the finals. Very excited for that." Rayfe smiles a bit and bows his head to Orlok. "It was a very impressive show of skill and resolve."

[Calico Carter]

Orlok chittered, and Calico half-smiled.

"After facing Desmond and Lucy the day before, today was a breeze for us."

A joke about how Orlok had snuffed the flames each time he'd been set alight? Quite possibly.

"Tomorrow stands to be... messier."

She glanced down at Nyx. The poor little magnox had really gone through hell in the past 24 hours.

"But then you know that already, dontcha girl?"

[Rayfe Drathmire]

Nyx snorts in response and nuzzles her snout against Calico's leg.

"Perhaps, but it will decide the champion of the tournament. So that's bound to be messy..." Rayfe reaches into one of the pockets in his jacket and retrieves a pair of spray cannisters. "Here. These could help, perhaps? I acquired them specially to deal with that Maguana but... Never got anywhere near." He extends his hand and offers the dousing spray and healing spray to her.

[Calico Carter]

Calico blinked... then reached out and took them.

"Riki tends to go for a pounce and pin, so I might not get a chance either, but thanks. Used all my medical sprays up yesterday."

She chuckled.

"That zephid is tough."

[Rayfe Drathmire]

"She is, but you made it out. I'm confident in your abilities and... I think Nyx will be just as happy to see a friend win. Hopefully Orlok can stay clear of those flames..."

Rayfe looks down and kicks at the floor a bit with his boot. "Disappointed I won't be able to see that dance of yours." He admits hesitantly. "Perhaps I'll have to stay in the tournament scene. If that's where you'll be?"

[Calico Carter]

Ohgod!

She flushed a bit- she was, after all, only human.

"Well, uh... I might, at that. Have to see. I want Orlok to spend as much time around Blitz as possible, so Mara will have a say in it. And y'know, there's... always next time, right? Hell, maybe I'll cut a rug anyway, win or lose. You never know. It's just your jaded peers who're gonna miss out."

[Rayfe Drathmire]

Rayfe scoffs and raises his eyes. There's a startling confidence to them. "Oh, good, because I didn't want to share my win condition anyways..."

At the mention of Mara and her companion, he waves his hand. "Well. You did win your semi-final. A bet's a bet. Means Orlok and Blitz will be getting that spa day. Any plans in particular for that?"

[Calico Carter]

"I, ah... haven't mentioned it to Mara yet. Things have been a bit hectic of late."

Beat.

"But... yeah. I think we can sort that out pretty easily. We'll just... find her taichen something to do in the interim."

She was still evidently slightly flustered.

Orlok chittered.

[Rayfe Drathmire]

Rayfe tilts his head with interest. "A Taichen? Is it a battling monster?..."

His eyes drift back down to Nyx, who is still rubbing her fur all over Calico.

"...I was very impressed with her today. I'd like to keep training her. Maybe Nyx could keep her other monster busy with some sparring?"

[Calico Carter]

"I could ask. Taichen are pretty little, but... well. Fighty. But yeah."

She crouched down a bit to scratch Nyx around the throat.

"I'd say this girl has potential."

[Rayfe Drathmire]

She scratches. She scratches. She scratches!! Nyx rumbles happily, her eyes lidding at the attention.

"All right. I'm not sure how to keep in touch other than...?" He shoots a glare at the inattentive teenager behind the hotel desk. "...Ringing up your room?"

[Calico Carter]

"Welllll... I do have a cell phone. Kind of? I mean, it can double as a doorstop pretty handily and weighs more than Orlok..."

It dawned on her that she had literally nothing to write with. Or on.

Calico left off scratching Nyx to saunter over to the front desk, idly snag a pen and a brochure, and scribble her number on the margins.

[Rayfe Drathmire]

The teenager at the desk suddenly becomes incredibly attentive. He leaaaaans over the counter as if to see what she's writing, but not really. "...Are you wearing pants?"

Rayfe waits patiently, standing perfectly still, hands in his pockets.

Nyx clomps after Calico, pacing by her legs as the wrangler scribbled.

[Calico Carter]

She glanced at the kid as she finished writing. Then handed him the pen.

"A mystery for the ages."

She turned on her heel and made her way over to Rayfe, holding out the brochure.

"Doesn't always ring, and sometimes I need to thump it on the ground a bit to get the battery housing to fit, but... there ya go."

[Rayfe Drathmire]

Rayfe smiles. He takes a glance at the number, holding it in his memory for a moment, before he tucks it into his pocket. "Thanks. I'll text you mine and just reach out when you and Mara have a plan. All right?"

"Or- Anything else. that comes up... Don't have many friends either. It would be a welcome."

[Calico Carter]

"Er... text? My, uh... charming antique doesn't actually support that function..."