World Tree MUSH

Raven had decided to take Damian... out. As a nice thing. A thank you, of sorts. Or maybe just because she was nervous and a bit shy. She didn't really... know what you actually got for people. OR did with people. Frankly, she was still amazed he, for some reason, seemed to REALLY like her. she wasn't very good at this... dating, thing. At all. she'd read books on it(something he was likely aware of.)

But the actual experiences? She didn't really understand them. That and he was so different from her. He was hyper and energetic, chipper and fun. Meanwhile, she enjoyed just relaxing and reading books and... And she liked him. She wasn't entirely sure how she liked him. She just knew she did. She knew he gave her hope. Hope that she COULD be a good person. That she didn't have to be terrible. He was like her, in a lot of ways. And he understood. Could understand the pressures. He was an odd little... beacon, for her. To push towards.

She was still quite inexperiened in the whole dating thing, but was really, really trying. So when she had decided to step out of her comfort zone? Taking him out to dinner seemed like a good idea. And so she had taken him to the only other place she knew that had a lot of animal like people. In this case, one of the space stations she'd been to that had some delicious carnivorious options. Of course... well... She'd not TOLD hime where they were going, so when the darkness ended and they were teleported onto a place, he'd find himself... on a space station. Staring out of a window overlooking a planet. "So.. surprise."

"We're... in space. I hope you like it," she mumbled, her head up and hiding her face, though the small hint of red could be seen in her cheeks.

     Damian is a lot less uncertain about this whole "dating" thing. After all, Raven's a cute girl who /gets/ his unique position in life (though it seems to be less so nowadays), plus she's way smarter and more responsible than he is. Maybe he dived into the relationship because of his recklessness, but he doesn't regret it for an instant.

Especially when she does things like bring him to A FREAKING SPACE STATION HOLY CRAP. "Oh man, we're in /space/!? That's so awesome! Look, I can see the planet down there! Best date idea ever!" he practically squeals with glee, pulling Raven into a big, excited hug.

     "Wolf," speaks a voice before a punctuating sigh. "You're drunk." 

     "I don't need you to tell me what my limits are," comes a reply before an arm outstretches to press against the chest of a feline near the door to- Well, it's not a bar, so the matter of drinking stuff to make one drunk could be in question. The dark-furred and well-dressed cat person is pressed against the frame of the entryway without retaliation but with a light grunt. 

     "Fine," relents the panther. "Go walk it off and I'll finish the talks. I don't see how you let one fox get under your skin so badly." The wolf, or the one so called one, pauses just outside the establishment and lifts a hand...and along with it a single forefinger. The feline shuts up, but the lupine never actually says what's on his mind. They both leave it at that and this 'Wolf' takes a step forward -- and bumps into somebody. 

     This 'Wolf' is also a rather not so small individual. The person bumped into scoffs at first, "Hey, why don't you watch where you're-" but quickly interrupts their own complaint with silence and opts to quickly go around and away when they see who it is. A bit wobbly in his step, the inebriated gray-muzzled one-eyed wolf takes a few more steps away and the panther rolls his eyes and turns to fully reenter the room. 

     It's at this time that a single roaming eye catches the motion of a teleported entry, some dialogue between familiar and not-so-familiar faces, and then...a hug? Or is it a grappled attack? Certainly little Raven wouldn't put up with such contact. So, what does the drunken middle-aged wolf do? He does what any father would: 

     He draws his pistol. 

     "Hands off the girl...before she wrecks the station."

Raven couldn't help it. She could feel the excitement and glee coming off him. She rememembered the first time she saw space. How small and insignificant she'd felt... Well, then she'd felt very significant when she realized Trigon likely intended to make her help him destroy every universe out there BUT THAT WAS BESIDES THE POINT! "Thankl you. I thought you--"

URK! HUGGED! EMOTION OVERLOAD! She had to stifle herself, to lock up for a moment and take slow, deep breaths. But.. it wasn't so bad. he was happy. Really happy. He didn't have that 'I am happy but you're still a terrible creatures' feeling towards her she was used to. It was just... happy.

He really liked it. So she... enjoyed it. For once. She didn't hug him back, she was still not good at THAT particular aspect. but... He could feel her hand lightly grip and tug on his shirt. Her own little version of hugging back.

And then AGGRESSION! Protectiveness? Her eyes widened when she looked to Wolf. Why was he--

Wait. Destroy the station? She was NOT that out of control... probably... usually. Not now! "It's fine, wolf. He's a..." And her cheeks turned redder. "F-friend..." Oh gosh. She suddenly realized how this looked. Aside from Miwu, who ONLY knew because she needed advice, no one outside of Damian's school knew she had a boyfriend. She didn't know WHY she was hiding it... she just knew it made her feel... nervous to say. To admit. It wasn't anything logical or that made sense. It just... was...

".... My.... b-boy friend... He's allowed to... hug me..." she mumbled softly, her cheeks burning almost scarlet. As nervous and blushing as she was, you'd think he'd walked in on them kissing and full on making out... Not a hug and a feeble little shirt grip.

     Damian realizes after a little bit that he might be putting a bit too much into that hug, so he lets go and just puts his hand over Raven's as she tugs on his shirt. The fact that he suddenly has a gun pointed at his face also helps of course.

"What? Is he another friend of yours, Raven? He smells like he's been hitting the bottle pretty hard." the jackal remarks, pulling a disgusted face. "Anyway, yeah, what she said. She's my girlfriend, and we're here on a date. If you'd mind putting the gun down, since you're kinda killing the mood? Yeah, that'd be great."

     "Boyfriend?" comes the spoken reply perhaps a bit too loud for some to care. There is an appraising and studious stare for almost a moment too long before that rather large bladed handgun is put away. It's Wolf's turn to sigh. "Aren't you a bit young to have a boyfriend?" The alcohol-tinted speech from a gravely worn voice otherwise does seem to echo with hints of 'dad speak'. The biker-punk clad big guy presses fingers to the bridge of his snout. "Maybe not. Okay..." He seems to be thinking. 

     In fact, Wolf's current state allows more body language tells -- and more -- than usual. He's very conflicted. He was doing very mature things even before Raven's presumed age, but he also feels the need to at least ask one thing: "Has...anyone had a talk with you about boys yet?" 

     An eyebrow lifts and Wolf's gaze passes from Raven to Damian. "Has anybody had a talk with you about gir-" Damian's choice of clothing interjects. "Eh, stupid question. Sorry about the, eh, whole gun thing." Wait, did he apologize? "There are some things you can never be too careful about. You got a name, kiddo?"

Raven blinked a few times and... "You are drunk, aren't you? That isn't healthy. You're a..." Annnnd then he kept talking.

And her cheeks almsot lit on fire. "T-t-t-talk about boys? I, I mean, n-no one has talked to me about... THAT particular thing, but, um..." She was floundering a bit, her hand twitching under her cloak. "But, I assure you, I am well prepared for any such... possibility of that nature. I have studied plenty of books on anatomy, from different universes. I have acquired enough details of the... important matters to grasp an adequate understanding of any and all such physical... things of that matter," she said firmly, her voice a little unsteady, eyes unable to meet either of theirs.

"On... top of that. I'm an empath. Trust me. I knew... more about... those kinds of things by the age of eight than most adults just from what I could feel from those around me. And that was BEFORE I started going to a school filled with a bunch of hormone filled teenagers. So, while I may not be... old enough for such things, by years, I assure you my mental, knowledge and maturity has far out stripped any 'required' limits that could be placed on them."

Oh gosh she hoped he wasn't going to give her 'the talk'. She was smart enough! she didn't need advice! Okay, maybe she did, but NOT ABOUT THAT KIND OF STUFF! GAHHHHH! Of course, asblushy as she was likely wasn't filling the wolf with confidence.

     As Wolf drunkenly stumbles his way through an apology, and asks the two of them if they've had The Talk yet, Damian tries to hold it in. He tries his hardest, really he does, but Raven's flustered indignance finally causes him to break, and he just /laughs/. Long, loud, hyena-like cackling fills the hall as the absurdity of the situation overwhelms Damian.

After what seems like forever, the laughter finally dies down into some chuckling, then wiping away tears of mirth before the demon jackal is finally able to stop. "Whew, that was great. You guys should start a comedy routine, haha! Anyway, I know a thing or two, yeah. Hell, I can /be/ a girl if I want, but... eeeeeh, it's a weird feeling."

     At this point, Wolf can only watch along with Damian at Raven's declaration of knowledge. Where Damian finds amusement, Wolf, however, feels some amount of what might be subtle surprise. He opens his muzzle to speak at least once in this defensive speech only to shut his mouth after a moment more. Then, eventually, his shoulders slump a little. And, finally- 

     Damian bursts into laughter. In this, Wolf averts his gaze from the couple with a faint toothy grin while lifting a hand to scratch just between his eyes with the nail of an exposed finger in his style of gloves. This hand is finally pulled from the gesture only to add another gesture to Damian in his last sentence. Again, maybe it's the clothes. "I'm not shocked to hear that. It's not uncommon for many young folks to...experiment-" 

     Wolf cuts himself off. "Look, anyway, it's good to see young folks having fun. You're on a date, right? Fine. Good." He can't remember the last time he ever did such a thing with any amount of innocence or lack of ulterior motive. "So, Raven. Raven's Unnamed Boyfriend. Go...have a good time." Maybe it's best that he remain not introduced for the time being, in case that paints the situation a very different color. 

     "Just..." Wolf partially leans in to whisper to Damian. "...don't go breaking her heart or else you'll wind up answering to me, mm?" That faint grin comes back.

Raven turned even redder at his laughter. "I'm not funny. I am merely stating that I have studied this thouroughly." She studies a LOT of things thouroughly. Then.. "Turn into a girl?" she asked. "I'm not even sure how that would..." She then shook her head.

And then WOLF'S comment. And she glared at him. "I assure you. I have no intentions of... performing such experiments at this time. Damian and I are merely..." She squirmed, thinking of trhe right word. "Dating. that is all. He is... special to me. I guess. and I enjoy his company. It is... nice. But our intentions are nothing but innocent, I assure you. And, right. Damian, this is Wolf, he's a space..." she paused for a moment. "Entrepaneur," she finally chose. Well, he was. Sorta. That was a good name for it. "And one of my friends. Wolf, this is Damian, my... B-boy friend. He goes to school with me and... such." She left out the fact she tried to kill him the first time they met. Or that he introduced her to the school...

     "Oh, yeah, my name's-" Damian starts to say, but Raven has already beaten him to the punch. With a casual shrug, the jackal nods and leans over to give Raven a kiss on the cheek... which requires some levitation since she's a head or two taller than him. "Yep. Just two teens in love, nothing to see here. No intention of breaking any hearts, either." he says with a grin, choosing not to question Raven's description of Wolf's profession. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Wolf. Pretty on-the-nose name, huh?"

     "I think the no-nonsense transparency suits me well," Wolf says in reply to his name being what it is. He takes a single step backward, also with a notable wobble, before waving away all the explanation. "Besides, really. I get it." Of course, the feat of floating is noted, but considering what he knows about Raven he wouldn't be surprised if she attracted the attention of somebody else with special abilities. 

     What Damian is -- or, rather, what he appears to be -- likely fits in fairly well with the majority of those around, but if there's one thing that the jackal doesn't exude...it's Corneria. A monkey walks up to Wolf right around this point. "Uh, Lord O'Donnell?" This thuggish individual gives both Raven and Damian a questioning look over before he adds, "Did we make the deal on the Harrivan?" 

     Drunk or not, there's something about the way Wolf shifts his demeanor completely to address him. He turns his head and looks over his employee before raising a hand to jerk a thumb in the direction he came from. "Caluroso is inside. He's handling it. Head on in; I'll head back shortly." Strangely, the monkey salutes before heading off. 

     "Well, kitten, I'm glad to see you finding some happiness. If you make him happy, and you make her happy, then it doesn't matter what anybody else says, I suppose." There's a beat. "You have money for food?"

Raven nodded. "I... don't think he could break my heart. At least, not without fundamentally altering his being and personality. I... would never have agreed to this, if I hadn't become fully aware of the mind that lingers between those rather..." she hummed. "He's smarter than he acts. And has a good heart that I find quite endearing. Even if in the end our relationship never proceeds to the level of full intimacy and... beyond to... it is unlikely we would stop being friends. We just have certain things in common that makes him... difficult to replace."

And then he called her kitten and she sighed. "I don't know if it's happiness. But... it is enjoyable. And... nice. He is... nice. and pleasant to be around. Despite his silly ness..." she said with a small, happy smile. "And... we do. Thank you for your concern, however. I have actually managed to get a better grasp of the currency system. Along with the wages I've received from you for my side jobs, I've managed to acquire plenty of currency across different worlds. Not to mention my side projects. But thank you, for your concern," she said.

"Do try not to get yourself into too much trouble, okay Puppy?" she said cheekily. Well, if he could call her kitten, she could call him puppy.

     "Aww, you're too sweet." Damian blushes a little, giving Raven a little side hug and cheek nuzzle, tail wagging behind him. "You're pretty irreplaceable too, as much as /some/ girls might want to."

There's some chattering down the hall, in the direction that Damian shoots a glare toward. Should Raven or Wolf notice, they'll catch a glimpse of three red furry little creatures hurriedly darting around a corner.

"Anyway, money's nothing to worry about. My dad's kind of a big deal, see. He makes sure I have everything I need, and if something unexpected comes up, I can just snap my fingers and /bam/. I still haven't convinced him to give me a tank though..."

     "Trouble is the nature of my business," Wolf says to Raven, although she already knows as much. He lifts his hands to rub at his face. He'd rather have another drink instead of sobering up to finalize a business deal that has very nearly gone sour due to the native Team Star Fox's interference on other matters. 

     "And, hey, you two stay out of trouble yourselves and, eh, I might be convinced to let you sit in a tank." Wolf owns tanks. And more. "Or even fire one, on a testing range." O'Donnell is not above teaching operational training to the young. At least, in part. 

     "Go, get." He waves a hand dismissively. "Go do your date and leave me to the boring adult stuff." There are definitely going to be raised voices and arguing when he gets back to rejoin his men.

Raven sighed, glancing back at the girls. "So, I see they're still following you. You'd think by now they'd have accepted it..." she mumbled. "Well. I suppose demons aren't exactly known for taking things lightly," she mumbled, shaking her head. She then glanced towards Damian again."If you get a tank I will break it," she said firmly. "I would barely trust you with a moped." Ouch. She then glanced to Wolf, before...

"Though, I suppose as long as Wolf is supervising you. With experts in the field... that would be fine. I doubt even you could cause too much trouble..." She trailed off. Then shook her head. "Just be careful, he's... clever. A lot more clever than he looks," she said warrily. She then turned. "Good luck on your deal, Wolf. I wish you the best." She'd start to walk, reaching out and... Catching Damian's pinky in her own. It wasn't full hand holding but... from her... the gesture was clear. that and the rosey cheeks.