((ooc: Continued from “A great start”.))

Rupert’s apartment was close—only two blocks from the diner. And while it wasn’t either big or glamorous, the closeness to Central Park more than made up for it, in Rupert’s mind. The closeness to the Central Park Precinct of the NYPD was another happy bonus. The building was gray-bricked and non-descript; his place was on the third floor. Normally, he’d take the stairs up at a run, with Flispy madly jumping steps to keep up with him. But considering that even walking sedately up those stairs would have left him sounding like a winded old man, he tastefully opted to lead Raina to the elevator. It was either that, or explain about a certain green-ribboned mutie and the biggest reason he had to hate mutants. He just as tastefully opted against that. Not first date material.

He unlocked the door and held it open with a flourish. “Welcome to my humble home,” he said cheerfully.

It was a small place. There was a kitchen to the right and a living room to the left as you walked in, separated by a long countertop. Straight ahead was a hallway, dead-ending in a window that looked out over the fire escape. To the left was the tiny bathroom, and to the right was his dorm-room sized bedroom.

And on the ground right inside of the door was a pair of white smiley face boxers. Rupert dodged around Raina, scooped them up, and hid them behind his back. He wasn’t blushing. He was just, ahh, hot. They were in the middle of a New York summer, after all. “So, umm,” he stammered, walking backwards to keep the boxers hidden. He kicked a pair of sweatpants and a balled-up T-shirt under the kitchen counter as he went. He even managed to keep a straight face while he did it. “Would you like to pick out some clothes? I’m afraid I don’t have anything in punk, but I’ve got everything from Queen to Springsteen. I’m pretty sure I saw Warren Zevon and Blues Traveler hiding in the back, too. And if you want to rinse off quick, I’m sure I’ve got a clean towel lying around somewhere.” Flipsy was sniffing at a discarded tie on the floor down the hall. Bad Flipsy, bad. Rupert stood in the middle of his bachelor pad, and tried to look presentable.

Besides the stray clothes, there were a few other tell-tale items lying about. On the kitchen counter, for instance, on top of a pile of unopened mail, was this week’s Church of Humanity newsletter. Flipsy had an obnoxiously fluffy and blindingly pastel pink doggy bed in the corner of the living room. He had a couch and a chair in there, both facing the TV, and both covered in notes about recent cases. A few photos were visible: the wolf girl Emerald posing with her motocross bike, a security camera photo of a big red mutant and his six identical friends holding up a jewelry store, and the newly minted Twins statue in Central Park, among them. Flipsy’s pink-and-gold “Princess” water bowl and food dish were on the kitchen floor. And his gun was slung across the back of a kitchen chair in its holster.

Raina followed Rupert's lead smiling the whole way. She was a little akward walking- unsure if she should hold his hand, but decided against it and was content enough to walk next to him with Flipsy hopping about.

She noticed how close he was to central park, and mentally thanked God over and over that he hadn't spied her and Ali during all the craziness with Amp and Vibe.

He led her to an elevator. She'd never been in one before, and tried to hide her wooziness when it stopped. As he opened his door she smiled- she wasn't sure what she was expecting... but wow.

So this is how a single guy lives!

She followed him in and looked around. He sure was a detective! Old unopened mail piled up, what looked like crime scene photos on the wall... clothes on the floor. She had to giggle. Right on the floor was Flipy's bed and waterbowl. Raina wondered if an old girlfriend had some sort of input on that, or if it was pure Rupert.

"No worries!" she replied non-chalantly. "I'm just excited to have a place to get clean... I really don't like Broccolli soup now." she shrugged. She pulled her hair back in a make shirt pony tail, and with her hair off her face her ethnicity was really shining through. She almost looked exotic- percicely the reason she self conciously always wore it down.

"I think I can maybe make do with some shorts." She laughed sizing Rupert up. "I suppose anything is an improvement on green goup... but maybe you've got something with a draw string?" she was fairly petite. "I'll wear any shirt you'd think would look nice!" she beamed.

As her eyes followed around searching for the bathroom, she found herself wondering again how she got herself in this situation. She was not really in the home of a respectable police detective about to borrow clothes was she? It sounded almost laughable. Her eyes saw the church newsleter and she puzzled over that for a moment. She'd heard of it before- but where? Maybe she'd ask later...

"So where's this bathroom?" she asked. "I hate to be uncourteous, but I hope you wont mind me going first..." she thought back to the diner. "Tho, you did have a bowl of soup on your head!" she smiled playfully. "I'll have you know that that was one of two outrageous things I've never done before today!" That was one, kissing someone who was almost a total stranger was 2!

Rupert was just edging his way to his bedroom and his laundry hamper with the smiley boxers still behind his back, when Raina swept her hair back from her face. His breath caught. “You should wear your hair back more often,” he said simply. Understatement. “Umm... There’s the bathroom. If you wait just a second, I’ll scrounge up those clothes for you...” He grinned. “I think I’ve got something with a drawstring, somewhere.”

Moments later, he emerged with a pair of blue shorts—drawstring and all—and a white Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers t-shirt. It was the first band that popped to mind when she’d given him liberties to pick whatever. He had a fluffy canary yellow towel, as well. What could he say? He liked bright towels. The smiley boxers where at home in the hamper, at least. “Here you are then, my lady. I’ll just park my bum out here until you’re ready to yield showering rights to your victim.” He ran a hand through his soup-glopped hair for dramatic effect. “So, what was the second outrageous thing you’ve never done? Let me guess: accept a date with a man who owns a poodle?” He joked.

"I suppose..." started Raina taking the clothes and towel with a smile from him. "That would be the third!" she winked with a giggle at his dramatic hair. She looked down at the t-shirt and let out a musical sigh. "I love Tom Petty. He says that I belong among the wildflowers..." she joked. She gave a shy wave and headed into the bathroom.

When she got there, it was very much like the rest of the place. She quickly figured out how to work the taps and shed her green clothes. She wondered how she was going to get them clean. Leaving the clean one son the sink she got into the shower and let the warm water wash over her. It was wonderful. She felt relaxed and happy to be getting clean.

As she undid her pony tail and let the water run through she started to hum a Tom Petty song unknowingly. Her voice was shockingly beautiful... but also shockingly cold.

The temperature in the apartment dropped like the thermostat was broken. But with the warm showed Raina didn't notice.

ooc: sorry rushed, on my way out!

((ooc: *grin* Pretty good for a rushed post, lol. Que Rupert's obliviousness!))

Rupert hadn't so much been parking his bum, as promised, but quietly tip-toeing all over the apartment, trying to make the place as clean as it should have been in the first place. The clothes got shoved into his hamper, and his hamper got shoved into his closet; the case notes and files got stacked together and moved to a coffee table, under a newspaper; the kitchen stove got hastily wiped down, and the unwashed plates and cups got shoved into the dishwasher. His gun got put into a desk drawer in his room, and locked up--frankly, that's how it should have been, anyway. That was just careless of him. A cop should never just leave his gun lying around, even if it was in his own apartment. He listened to Raina's door-muffled song as he worked, feeling like a little boy standing outside of daddy's office, hearing things he wasn't supposed to. She wasn't allowed to sing anymore, right? Well, then... he wasn't hearing this. Nope. But what he wasn't hearing was beautiful.

He'd just gotten things to the point where he could stand back and nod approvingly when the air conditioner broke again. The temperature took a sudden plunge. He'd been arguing with his landlord for the better part of the month over that thing. Up until the repairman came yesterday, it had been practically blowing hot air on him. Now, less than twenty-four hours after it had been fixed, it was trying to freeze him out. Great. He went into his room and started twirling hopelessly at the thermostat—some mechanical background would have been useful, right about now. He finally just unplugged the thing—hopefully the temperature would climb back up by the time Raina was done, and she wouldn’t add “cheap” and “crappy” to the list of adjectives that could be used on his apartment. He could think of quite a few adjectives himself, right now…

With a shock Raina realised she'd been singing and came to a hault, her voice ressonating in the air long after she stopped. She finally finished in the shower and got herself out of the shower wrapped in a towell. She looked around the bathroom and started to dry off when she realises she didnt have anything to dry her hair with. She opened the door so it was ajar and peeked through. "Rupert?" she said shyly. her body framed elegantly with the bath towel. "I dont suppose a detective has a hair dryer?"

Two bright points: Raina's voice seemed to linger in his ears even after she'd stopped singing, and unplugging the air conditioner seemed to do the trick. He felt the air temperature begin to rise out of the sub-artic range again.

"Rupert?" Raina called shyly. He turned to look through the bedroom door to the bathroom. His eyes got caught by a figure that even a cananry yellow towel could compliment. Woah. "I don't suppose a detective has a hair dryer?"

"I, umm--ah--" He cleared his throat, wiped the wide-eyed puppy-love look off of his face, and smiled apologetically. "Actually, I can't say I do." He ruffled his own short hair. "I mostly just towel mine. Don't worry--it's summer. It'll be dry before we get there." It had been awhile since he'd had a woman showering in his apartment. He forgot that they liked things like hair driers, and having the toilet seat put back down.

...Crap. He'd left that up, hadn't he?

ooc: haha, i'm working at full capacity today! no alcohol. But for an alcohol induced post, lol that one wasn't too bad! Just short.

Ic: Raina blushed. "I'll just pull it back!" she said remember his earlier comment. She closed the bathroom door and put her back against it- staring across at her reflection in the mirror. her heart was pumping a mile a minute. A blush again creeped across her cheeks.

"I'll have to remind Rupert to stop doing that-" she said to herself outloud.
dazzling me!

She towelled off and pulled the clothes on. The shorts looked pretty cool- almost skater-chick esq on her. The shirt however was a little big so she tied it in the back and already she was making a fashion statement.

She pulled her hair back and braided it into a long red plait. It felt heavy like rope against her back but it would have to do.

She opened the door carrying her dirty clothes (thank God her undergarmnets stayed clean, she didn't want to borrow boxers and she was pretty sure Rupert didnt carry bras!) and looked up at Rupert from under her long dark eye lashes. she felt self concious and wish that she could hide behind her hair. "I guess it's your turn in there-" she said as Flipsy nuzzled at her feet. She bit her lip and gave a sheepish half smile.

((ooc: lol! I was a little worried about the drunken posting. But you proved my fears wrong! *teasing grin*))

Rupert returned her half-smile with a non-nervous grin. A completely non-nervous grin. One that didn’t say exactly what he thought of her standing there, making a fashion statement in his own clothes, with that hair of hers tied back.

“Hmm, so a guy can finally use his bathroom, huh?” He teased, giving Flipsy a scratch behind the ears on his way past her. He shut the bathroom door, looked in the mirror, and air-punched. His reflection in the mirror did the same. What could they say? Raina was hot.

He put the toilet seat down, and piled his own hastily grabbed clothes upon it. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds seemed to be a good complement to her Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers, and he’d picked out his least scrubby scrub pants. They were perfectly clean, perfectly respectable black sweatpants.

He showered quickly, slapped on the clothes, and came out toweling his hair dry. “So, what time’s this band of yours going to be on?”

While Rupert got washed Raina took the liberty of looking around. She wasn't trying to snoop... she was just interested in what kind of things a detective had at home.

She smiled at the messyness of the place. Hey, Einstein was messy and he was a genious! She spotted something on a coffee table and it sparked her interested. She looked down at it closely and her eyes widened a little bit.

Is that... Emerald?!

She wasn't sure, and didn't get a chance as Rupet emerged from the bathroom and she spun on her heels a little red in the face to face him,

"Oh, uh, well, I think around... 7!" she dropped the photo back behind her hopefully unnoticed.

She took a step closer to Rupert and suddenly her head was swimming in his scent. Raina didnt have a mutation that affected her scent- but being raised in her tribe to use that sense more than others, she felt intoxicated by Rupert's smell and looked a little dazed.

"We... can go whenever you'd like." she wanted to get closer but knew it would be creepily obvious that she was smelling him. She looked him up and down trying to shake the thoughts from her head. "Nice outfit" she smiled.

Was Raina… smelling him? Rupert was suddenly very conscious of the fact his shampoo was wild berry scented. It was cheap and it didn’t give him dandruff, okay? He laughed nervously. “So… It’s about five now, isn’t it? Would you like to head down there? We could get a bite to eat—something that isn’t green.” He looked down at a certain happy poodle who wasn't aware that she wasn't coming with them this time. A certain happy poodle whose normal shades of tan and white were caked in dried green. “Uck. You, missy, need a bath.”

Raina looked down at Flipsy thinking that she could have her clean in a second using her powers. Nope. That wouldn't work.

Without thinking she asbent mindnely reached for Rupert's hand. "That would be great! Anything but green. It would be nice to get back outside with the nice weather." She then noticed her hand and turned red snatching it back again and then trying to make it look like she meant to do that.

"Er, uh, shall we go?" she half smiled closing her eyes. "Or bath Flipsy?"

Hmm… Bathe the dog, or hit the streets with Raina? Decisions, decisions. Rupert’s hand tingled where she’d held it—like her lips, her hands were cold. Much better than his, which currently felt like heat sinks. He was blushing just a little too—yeah, blushing. He was admitting it to himself. They definitely had a little love-at-first-broccoli-battle thing going on. Part of his brain found that really funny, part of it was thinking cynical thoughts about him not being in high school anymore, and a very large chunk towards the front was concentrating on forming coherent thoughts from its happy little infatuated-fog.

“You know, I don’t think Flipsy minds being green.” The poodle mutt’s merry little prancing between their legs was proof enough of that. “Shall we?” He said, taking a step towards the door and offering her his hand. To which the parts of his brain were thinking, take it!, …if this gets any cuter, I swear…, and wow, she looks beautiful.

((ooc: Continued after Raina's next post in "The Jazz Club".))

ooc: sorry I was gone for a few days! I've been moving and getting ready for another uni year!

ic: Raina smiled and took Rupert's hand. A little jolt of electrcity ran through her and she looked away bashfully. "Ok, let's go this way!"

ooc: I've continued this in a post called "The Jazz Club" in the same forum.

((ooc: Continued from "The Jazz Club".))

The street lights cast yellow pools onto the sidewalk as Rupert walked around to the passenger side of the car, and opened the door for Raina. "Are you okay to walk, or do you still need help?" He asked, trying to keep the concern out of his voice. A hospital really was a much better idea than his apartment. Her sudden faintness aside, even, Rupert didn't know that if he was in her shoes, he'd trust a guy he'd just met today to this extent. Granted that Rupert knew he wasn't planning anything... but that couldn't have been said of every man in New York City. All he could think was that she must have been truly desperate to not have her employer or the hospital catch on to her expired visa.

He looked to Micheal as the young man got out of the car. "My apartment's on the third floor. Care to come up, and help her get settled in?"