Rose Quartz (closed)

Rudy sighed and opened his hand to look at the little package in his hand.  A palm-sized mound wrapped up in white ribbon.  It was clearly a crystal of some sort, and decently heavy.  And from Odette.

He leaned against the doorway of Baram's isolation room and grinned.

"Ey, bro?"  He knocked on the door and peeked into the observation window.  "I'm gonna open the door.  I have a present for you-- from your little girlfriend."

Baram sat slumped over in the corner. He had been calming down from a little training with Asher for quite some time now. He wasn't sure how long. He grumbled at the voice, and looked up. He smiled, seeing one of his new Beserker buddies at the door. He stood up and brushed off his pants.

His lip was cut and he was sporting a new shiner but nothing too out of the ordinary. His head tipped slightly and his brow furrowed. "Girlfriend? I don't have one of those. What are you talking about, Rudy?"

Rudy's grin turned into a smirk as he swung the door open and held out the little ribbon-wrapped stone point.

"Well, if she ain't your girl, she probably wants to be. Odette tracked me down and asked me to give this to you." He flicked his hair out of his eyes and added in a voice colored with laughter, "She also said to give you a hug, but I'm not much of a hugger, so just know that the sentiment was there."

He reached out his hand and took the small parcel from his friend. His eyebrow arched, curious.

He smirked and glanced Rudy through his bangs. "You? Not a hugger? I can't believe that. Your mom is certainly huggy enough for both of you, I suppose." He cuckled, slowly and carefully unwrapping the ribbon until a rose quartz point was revealed. His smile softened and reached his eyes. "Odette is very kind." He sighed and pang of sadness rose in his chest. He couldn't think about things like this, not yet. Dating someone while he was still so volatile was dangerous and foolish. "I don't know why she would want to be with," his voice got a bit quieter, "someone like me." He grumbled and shoved the stone in his pocket, fiddling with the ribbon. "She was probably just being nice. There's no point in looking deeper into it than was probably intended."

"Yeah, my mom's a little..."

Rudy arched an eyebrow and leaned forward to ruffle Baram's hair instead of finishing the sentence.

"Well man, if you're gonna shoot Odette down like that I guess I'll ask her out instead. She seems to like big guys. Maybe she's got a bit of a thing for bad boys." He playfully nudged Baram with his elbow. "Where d'you propose I take her on our date, then? A nice restaraunt? Maybe a movie? Hope I can catch a few smooches if we sit in the back row."

Baram grumbled and shot Rudy a glare out of the corner of his eye, feeling the warmth of jealousy rising from his chest. He closed his eyes for a moment and nudged Rudy back, a tad bit harder than needed. He suspected that his friend was just playing with him, but it didn't make him feel much better. Rudy could date girls if he wanted and . . .if Odette wanted to who was he to get in the way.

"Eh, I dunno. I'm not really one to know what girls like since I haven't dated one in so long." He shrugged. "Forget about liking the bad boy image. You better hope she likes asymmetry." He lifted up one of his hands to gesture to Rudy's missing horn. "Might want to wait till the other one sheds off too."

Rudy recovered from the unexpected force of Baram's nudge quickly and laughed out loud. "I'm glad your sass isn't effected by time spent in the isolation room." He shook his head and nodded to the crystal in Baram's pocket.

"Listen, d'you know what time you're eating dinner tonight? I can let Odette know, so that you can tell her yourself that you're working over your tragic past and can't commit to a relationship because reasons." He crossed his arms and couldn't keep a residual chuckle from escaping him. "Or put in a good word for me and my artistically mismatched horns."

He rolled his eyes and smirked. "The more time I spend with you the more my sass grows. I think you're rubbing off on me."

He idly wrapped the ribbon around his wrist, actually, that wasn't a bad spot for it. "I'm going to be going on the last shift. You know, less people and crap." He chuckled and ruffled Rudy's hair. "Oh yeah, because I would rather be responsible than throw an adorable flower like Odette into danger. I'll only give you a good word if she actually seems interested in your horney self." He smirked. "And yes, I meant the pun."

"Ahh, what's a little corruption between friends, eh?"

At Baram's joke he snickered and snapped his fingers. "Of course! It's Tarandin mating season in Arcadia, don't you know? My charisma and my libido get a boost this time of year."

He rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "Oh my god," he grumbled and sighed. "Rudy, I love you. Please don't make me hit you. I really don't want to." He laughed softly and looked at him. "But, in all honesty. If she expresses interest in you I'll be a good friend and see what I can do. Just don't let me know if you actually. . . "He grumble cleared his throat, "yeah."

Rudy grumbled himself and hooked his thumbs into his pockets.

"You really are unshakeable when it comes to this kinda thing, eh?" He sighed and leaned his head back. "Listen, I'm gonna tell Odette that you'll be in at the end of dinner time. Make sure you talk to her."

He stepped back towards the door, and paused. "I can hover nearby if you want." A new smirk curled across his lips. "Oh, and there was one more thing she wanted me to tell you. What was it...?"

"Okay. You can hang around if you want. As long as no one whistles like last time, I should be fine."

He stared at Rudy and tipped his head. He chuckled soflty and smirked. "C'mon man, spit it out."

Rudy rubbed the back of his neck, taking his time to think.

"Ah!" He clapped his hands once when the thought hit him. "Now I remember. She turned all petal-pink and sorta rubbed her toes into the carpet, and then she made me promise to tell you that she missed you." He winked and pranced out into the hallway.

He bliked after the other boy and could feel a warmth coming to his cheeks. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Damnit," he muttered. He wasn't sure what was going to happen at dinner but now he was nervous.