The Abnormal, Normal Life (M)

Cory was a bit dissapointed, he had been hoping to use the excuse of sun screen to massage her and lead into things. She either wasn't in the mood or had wanted him to be more aggressive. The reason he hadn't because even if you slept with a woman and she got in a state of undress around you, didn't mean she nesscarily wanted to sleep with you at that given moment as he had learned. That was why he was going to use that excuse to test the waters and go from there but seemed like she wasn't in the mood or foreplay wasn't her thing.

He mentally shrugged, it he wasn't going to lose sleep over it as he sat down and relaxed. Give her thirty minutes or so and maybe her wake her up then.

* *

None of the others weren't too sure, but when in doubt go for something easy and classic so pizza was the safe choice. "Um..not sure I just want to sleep next to Torin." Kyco says after a bit. Torin wondered why but he didn't care where he slept either way. Probably just where she was comfortable.

"I have no prerferences, but maybe something in the living room." Camlo was pretty easy far as where she went.

Cory's plan might have worked, if he had offered to put the sunscreen on, instead of offering to give her some. Still, as it turned out, he didn't need to do much, as the wind started to pick up, which was causing the umbrella to rock and move. There were some clouds moving in and they looked like rain clouds. Not thunder clouds, just rain. So, if he played his cards right, Cory might still get a chance with Nicole.

* *

Christine didn't know Why Kyco wanted to sleep with Torin, but she must have her reasons. She would probably put the two with Nicole or Cory. They would keep anything from 'happening'. Not that Christine suspected anything would. Still, better safe than sorry.

She needed to in over the sleeping arrangements. There were seven of them and four rooms. Sonic and Camlo could take the common room, Torin and Kyco could bunk with either Nicole or Cory or maybe both. But that might not be necessary ,since there was plenty of room.

That would remain to be seen, mood was very important in these kinds of things. As odd as it may have sounded, if he didn't feel natural for both parties then there wasn't as much of a point forcing it into things.

He did, however, wonder something and it had nothing to do with the current situation.

* *

Most of the others were all right with the arrangements, it made sense and nobody was really in the way of things.

Nicole wakes as the wind picks up "Uh...Figures..." she mumbles as she sits up "We finally start to relax and a storm moves in." she gets up, putting her bar back on as she stands, grabs her still wet clothing "We had better find some shelter." she says.

* *

Christine, while in the kitchen, was making dinner, as well s thinking about where everyone will sleep tonight. There were four places and about seven people. Sonic and Camlo will be in the common room. Christine would try and see if Nicole would like to bunk with her. She Would like to have Camlo and Kyco in the same room and Torin and Cory in the same room as well. Maybe even have Sonic join them. She would ask everyone once the got back.

Cory got up as well, getting back on some of his clothes as he looked around. "There is that small beach house we could go in until the storm blows over." This place really did seem to feel completely like the real thing, down to how it felt.

* *

The real reason Kyco wanted to sleep by Torin was she was just comfortable there. That and Christine was less likely to make further advances. Preferences aside, the aggression scared her off the only thing was Christine was her friend and she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Though she Really should just say so as Cory said closed mouths don't get fed.

As for the rest they just waited around with small talk here and there.

(We could skip the second half until Cory and Nicole come back or keep going with it. Leave it to you.)

Nicole shakes her head "No need. Computer, end program." she says and the background shimmers and disappears. Nicole sighs "Well, they're still a bit damp, but our body heat should dry them off." she says as she gets dressed "All in all, a decent day. Ready to head back or did you want to get something to drink?" she asks "Just wondering, can kind even get drunk" she asks as she heads towards the exit.

At the question the young man shook his head. "I don't know. Drinking a lot has never been my thing but I have on occassion a few times. There's actually a lot about my kind I'm learning about since we're so new that its literally learning as we go. But I wouldn't mind a drink."

Nicole shrugs a bit as she walks out of the holodeck "Well, if you have any kind of advanced healing, than you can't get drunk." she says "Any advanced healing would burn the alcohol out of your system before it could be absorbed into your blood stream." she points out.

She knew Mystics could get drunk, but only with stuff from their own world. Which was Very strong. Too strong for Humans, but maybe it would be alright for other non Humans, like Cory and others like him. She would have to test that one of these days. After all, she Did have a bottle of Mystic spirits at her apartment...In fact, why doesn't she head to her place and pick it up.

She looks over to Cory "Let's swing by my place for a bit. There's something I need to get." she says. Aside from the bottle of boose, she would also like to get some more clothes.

"Fine with me.I don't think I've ever seen your place just yet." He was Pretty sure he himself didn't heal at a faster rate. Granted, he couldn't expect for every member of his race since they all seemed to be different besides the bare basics like portals.

Nicole shakes her head "It's really nothing too impressive. It's just a small, one room apartment." she says as she starts out.

It didn't take them long to get to her apartment.It was closer to the firehouse, than to Christine's store, making her going to see her friend, somewhat out of her way.

It was the standard Japanese low rent apartment housing complex. Nicole unlocks her door and heads in. Her place was, as she said, a bit on the small side. There was room for a small desk, which doubled as a TV stand, a closet, a small kitchenette, and her futon, which was folded in he corner.

She opens her closet and rummages around for a bit, pulling out two changes of clothes. She folds and packs one away, then strips down to her underwear and changes into the second set "There. All dry and clean." she tosses her training clothes into her closet "Okay. We can head out now." she says.

It was very small and humble, Nicole had really changed a lot to how she used to be in the past since he didn't imagine her going for a place like this. He did like the other view of seeing Nicole in her underwear, though.

"All right. Though, something's been on my mind. Does time past differently from here and the After Life? Like the same, faster or slower?"

Nicole thinks for a second, then shrugs "I honestly can't say. It Seemed to pass like normal. But truth be told, I was way too busy to notice much a change." she says. She turns to Cory "So, did you want to head over to your place, pick up some clothes as well, so you don't have to keep wearing Christine's brothers things?" she asks.

"If I'm out here I might as well. This way."

Cory lead his friend to his place, which honestly wasn't that big and overall pretty plain. It was made for one person and just enough to get by which Cory was more then fine with. There were a lot of pictures around notably, they of some unique places and people.

One picture looked a lot like Camlo but clearly wasn't, the hair was silver and the eyes were black, plus they looked a few years older. Another was an old woman who gave off a grandmotherly feel to them; Cory was in the same pic as them in some.

The young man went straight to his closet to get his own clothes to get dressed; after making sure his previous clothes were packed. They weren't his clothes and he was just borrowing so he'd make sure they were taken care of.

Nicole didn't ask abut the picture, as it wasn't any of her business. Once Cory was all set and ready, Nicole sent a text to Christine letting her know they were on her way back. It didn't take the long to get back. The first thing Nicole noticed, was that they shop was closed. So they had to use the rear entrance.

Once inside, they ra into Christine, who was bringing the laundry back up "Oh, welcome back you two. We have some unexpected visitors. They're waiting in the common room." she says "Dinner will be ready in a little bit." she says as she heads back upstairs.

Nicole was wondering who it was that came to visit. She heads to her room really quick and puts her cloths away, then heads to the common room to greet Christine's guests.

Camlo and the others were just hanging out when the other two came into the room. Sonic was the first to spy Nicole, which she'd be surprised to see. "Hey Nicole! Long time no see."

On the contrary, Nicole wasn't too surprised to see Sonic, at least not alive. She knew Shadow well enough to know that he wouldn't hurt his friends or rivals just because some jackasses he didn't even like told him to do so. If nothing else, it should have been Him surprised to see Her. But even than, she was sure the others told him what was up.

She Was, for hr part, surprised to see Camlo "Hello everyone. It's quite good to see you all again. It's almost like old times." she says with a smile. *Except for Harlan and Shadow not being here and the last time we all got together, you died...* she thinks.

She focuses on Torin "But you, sir, are Just the person I wanted to see." she says as she walks over to him "I wanted to ask if you would be interested in some intense training, to get you ready for your Mark of Mastery test and become a true Keyblade master?" she asks.

Torin didn't have a huge interest in it to be honest but if it helped get a bit stronger to help protect his own then why not? "Mastery huh? I could give it a shot. Just have to let me know the time and such."

Nicole nods, before focusing on everyone in the room "So, what brings you all here today? Do all plan on staying the night? I'm sure Christine would like that." she says. She felt a bit guilty about letting Christine do all the cooking, but she wasn't good at cooking and would just get in the way. Besides, she was certain that Christine would just refuse any offer for help.

Kyco nodded. "We're just visiting is all, nothing special. And yeah, we're staying. At least not unless anyone changed their minds and had something else to do."

"We'll I just want to catch up so I'm not going anywhere." Sonic said simply.

"Everyone is staying, its just a matter of sleeping arrangements at this point. We were partly waiting for you and Cory to come back before finishing that up." Camlo was kind of curious of some other things but it could wait.

Nicole nods slowly, thinking "Well, we're all here now. But I think we'll have to wait a bit longer, as Christine is making dinner." she points out "And as stubborn as she is, she probably wouldn't want her guests helping." she says.

She looks everyone over "So, what sleeping arrangements would everyone like?" she asks "I think we should talk amongst ourselves about this, then pitch our ideas to Christine." she suggests.

Cory, Camlo and Sonic could care less where they were just as long as it worked. Torin was fine with anywhere in the living room using a blanket, Camlo and Kyco were fine with being in that general area. Sonic and Cory could share the other room.

Nicole thinks for a bit "Well, since there are six of us, tree boys and three girls and there are two rooms, why not girls in one room and boys in the other?" she suggests "And that'll leave Christine with her own room, as it should be, seeing as it's her house."

The group was more or less fine with that, at least no one was complaining or suggesting otherwise.

"So, just wondering what kind of training would I even be doing?" Torin asked Nicole idly.

Before Nicole could answer, Christine comes walking in "Dinner is ready everyone!" she calls, happily "We're having tabletop barbeque and steamed rice tonight." she says.

Nicole looks from Christine to Torin "We'll talk later." she says in a low tone to him, before looking back to Christine "Tabletop barbeque...isn't that were you cook the meat yourself? You know, like thin strips of meat, I mean." she asks.

Christine nods "Yeah. It was the only thing I could tink to make with s many over. So I Rushed over to the store, bought a ton of meat strips and got out the tabletop barbeque ad threw some rice in the cooker." she says "I also have some steamed vegetables for anyone who wants them and a bunch of sauce."she seemed quite pleased with herself.

Torin wondered what that was about but it could wait and he wasn't too concerned about it. Everyone settled around to make themselves comfortable and get settled in for dinner.

"This is really good. Makes me wish I kept up my cooking skills other then 'good enough' on my trips." Cory said.