Reluctant Resignation (Ant)

[David Reed]

A non-smoking bar? Dave frowned a little in disappointment. It was only 10pm. He could still go somewhere else. However, as he glanced up and down the street of the club district, Dave knew that the last thing he wanted to do was wander around town at random looking for a bar he could have a smoke in. It was the drink he was after tonight.

Putting out his cigarette, Dave opened the door to the Churchkey Bar. Luckily for him it wasn’t a super busy night. There were a few people at the pool tables and a pair of guys at the darts board, but the bar was half empty and no one was on the karaoke machine.

As he glanced over the drinks a smile came to his face. British beverages meant hard ciders, a favorite of his and not something easily found in most places. Dave opened a tab and started in on his first, eager to relax. It wasn’t long before he had ordered a second.

Taking FI from his pocket, Dave held her up around face level and looked her over.

“What do’ya think?” He asked her.

”What do I think about what?” the voice inquired back.

Dave glanced around. No one could hear FI except him, but some part of him still expected others to. He pondered a moment. Dave didn’t even know what he had meant by that question. The bar? Picking up his dad’s business? Settling into Pilot Ridge…. forever? He frowned.

“Dave has not answered.”

“I’m sorry, FI. Forget I asked.”

There was a pause, Dave was sure. He could practically hear the reluctant resignation. Then, as expected, “Question removed.”

Dave was going to need a lot of drinks tonight.

[Antosha Vikenti]

The tall panther walked down the rather crowded street of the club district, a trail of smoke following the vision in black. He had decided, in his usual fashion, that he would go to see Cecil tonight. If only to apologize for cheating on the British bar with the rather well stocked bar up at the Inn. This seemed like a reasonable enough reason for the Russian to be braving the teenage and older hordes of people crowding outside various different dance clubs.

Antosha flicked his cigarette ash onto the ground as he came near the remarkably less crowded Churchkey. This caused him to let out a small smile of relief since he quite hated crowds when attempting to visit the establishment owner. Scrapping the cigarette against the brick wall to kill the cherry, he pushed open the door and slid inside with all the finesse of a cat.

He continue his movements all the way to the bar, nodding to someone he knew at the pool table along the way, before tapping the hardened wood surface. It seemed easier to get attention than to shout or something similar. Cecil gave the familiar Russian a nod to show he heard but was busy doing some other man's drink at the moment. With a small smile to show his own response, Antosha turned his head slightly to the left when he heard a distinctly male voice speaking. Bright amber eyes studied the speaking male, realizing he was either talking to his device and had a blue tooth in.. Or he was a meta.. The Russian was hoping for the last, personally.

"Hullo there.." he spoke up, his deep and husky voice vibrating in his chest similar to the purr produced from his second form, "You are alone tonight, da?" he continued.

After a moments pause he gave the stranger a half smile, holding out his hand some. "I am Antosha."

[David Reed]

The deep purr of a voice from his side came rather as a surprise. The last thing Dave had been expecting was for someone to introduce themselves to him. He turned to see Antosha, a little bit dumbfounded by the introduction, but after a moment’s pause took the guy’s hand in a solid shake. “Dave,” he returned. He even pulled off a half smile… although that might simply have stemmed from the surprise. Either way it was a bit of a relief to have someone to potentially talk to. Less time alone with his thoughts.

Speaking of, Dave took another good swig of his drink, returning the empty bottle to the bar and raising his hand toward the bartender in a gesture that meant he was looking for another. He too received a nod.

“Yeah,” he said in answer to Antosha’s question.

It was only then that he realized he was still holding FI, absentmindedly turning her over in his hands and picking at her sides with what little of his nails he had. Was that what had drawn the other guy’s attention? He glanced down at his digital friend before returning his attention to Antosha.

“Except, of course, her,” he said with a flick of his wrist to indicate the GPS device that he was holding. This time his smile was most genuine.

Dave may have been slightly intoxicated but he wasn’t drunk yet. No, he was not the least bit ashamed that his best friend was a GPS. As a matter of fact he was rather proud of it. FI meant more to him than rationality could explain.

[Antosha Vikenti]

Antosha studied the male before him with his amber-almost gold under the lighting in Churchkey-eyes, taking particular interest in the device in the male's hand. It was easy for him to ignore the slight hesitation the other male had in returning the greeting since he had past experience in dealing with anti-social people. He'd even seen worse than what the other was displaying. However when the man grasped Ant's hand and spoke his name, Antosha gave a small frown. "Short for David, da?" he asked, hope highlighting the undertones in his voice. Antosha had a habit of trying to shorten everyone's name (his included) to avoid ending the name in a vowel. If it couldn't be done with the first name, Ant would just have to ask for the male's last name.

At the second gesture, the bartender brought over the replacement drink for Dave as well as Antosha's usual drink of vodka, which came in not a shotglass but a real glass much like you'd find a glass of whiskey served in. After the first few visits of the Russian man, they found this saved time from having to constantly refill him. Or from having to leave the bottle.

The panther let a small grin pull at his lips as the man looked down to notice he'd been playing with the device the whole time. Something which furthered Antosha's thought that the male was a meta rather than a human with a blue tooth. His head tilted again and his smile increased even more at the male calling his device a she.

"Ah. Is it always a she or is it allowed a male too?" he asked, trying to make a joke out of it, "And does she have a name or we just call GPS?"

[David Reed]

The frown confused him a little.

“Yeah, David Reed,” he answered, giving his full name in the off chance that would alleviate whatever had brought on the frown. “Though David’s just kind of too formal, ya know.” There weren’t many other options though. David – Dave – Davey… and ugh, how he hated the sound of Davey.

Dave offered a slight lift of his chin and a “thanks” as the bartender dropped off another drink for him and the glass of vodka for Antosha. He smiled to see the other man wasn’t a timid drinker. Although, that didn’t exactly come as a surprise for such a tall dude, and Dave was pretty sure he was Russian too, although he’d confirm that later.

“Cheers,” he offered, lifting his bottle to meet Antosha’s before taking a good solid drink of it. Aaaah… that cool, crisp taste. Hard cider wasn’t terribly high in alcohol content, but there was nothing else like it. So refreshing.

He could see the smile grow on the other man’s face and even chuckled lightly at the joke. “Nah, her name is FI. Short for ‘Friendly Intelligent Navigational Device’ - F.I.N.D. - FI… and well, I don’t control what they are. It’s just how they express themselves to me.”

His cell phone was male, as was his computer. At least that’s how he interpreted it. Dave supposed it had to do with the programming and the intention of the device’s use… or maybe it reflected the programmer’s gender. Truth be told, he hadn’t a clue. Perhaps FI was female simply because the voice the developers gave her for giving directions was female.

“You got a smartphone?” Almost everyone did. If Antosha had one Dave could listen for it’s voice.

[Antosha Vikenti]

Antosha smiled at the other male, grateful for the fact that he could come up with a name that wasn't going end in a vowel. He nodded is head once at the fact the other didn't like being called David and let his small smile remain on his face while he spoke. "How about I call you Reed then? Is not so formal and does not end in vowels." This, to him, would be a very reasonable alternative.

"Yра!" he responded, raising his own glass to gently clink against Reed's. He was aware it was rather ridiculous to just say 'cheers' but since the other male wasn't going to understand, Antosha wasn't worried about seeming to be proper. He knocked his head back and brought the drink with it, tossing back almost half of it in one go. Fire immediately raced down his throat and into his stomach, and if he'd been a lesser man he would have begun coughing. But Antosha isn't a lesser man so he merely grinned and set down his glass on the counter once more.

Antosha was happy that his poor joke went over pretty well and nodded once before turning his full attention back to the male. Which really wasn't that hard. Any attractive male could draw the Russian's attention, even momentarily. "Ah.. So you are technopath then? A meta?" he purred happily, the smile still on his face.

To be honest, Antosha had never really been that into technology. Sure he used his laptop a lot for various things but past that he'd never bothered to learn anything about electronics. So meeting a technopath was sort of not the greatest thing it could have been. There would be no real relating between skills. The Russian nodded once before fishing his phone out of his pockets, setting the older touch screen onto the counter. The phone hadn't been his choice but it was the only one he could have gotten at the store for a relatively good price.

"So.. How long have you been in town?" he asked, trying to appear casual and conversational.

[David Reed]

Ahh, vowels! That would explain why Antosha didn't seem thrilled at his name being Dave. He nodded at being called Reed. He'd been called by his last name plenty often since his first was so common. "That's cool. I'll call you Ant then, k?" After all, Antosha was a rather long name. Not to mention it didn't end with a vowel as well, and so it played by both of their rules.

'Ypa?' Dave squinted a moment in confusion but as the other male clicked his glass and downed about half he figured it must have been his native reply to 'cheers' so he simply chuckeled slightly and shook his head a bit in amusement. Ant's rhythm of speech was quite fun. Or maybe he was getting a bit tipsy. Unlike his new friend, Dave wasn't exactly a heavy drinker. He wouldn't have called himself less of a man, though. Simply less intense.

Though that was plenty fair considering he was on his third drink in such a short amount of time, and without any food. He frowned just a tad upon remembering just why he was here. Uck. Luckily Ant saved the day again. "Indeed I am," he said, returning the smile.

Dave was glad when Antosha pulled the phone out of his pocket. It was an older phone, but that was honestly more interesting to him. "Eh, I actually grew up here, went to school over at Hammel, and whatnot, but I just been outta town till lately." For at least the last two years, but Ant didn't need all the fine details.

As he spoke, Dave picked up Ant's phone and listened for a moment. He could hear a quiet voice, almost inaudible - the phone's background programs running. "Hiya," he said, directing his attention to it. The phone lit up, opening to the home screen. "Hello, how may I help?" came the formal reply. Male. Dave glanced up at Ant, grinning. "Congrats sir, it's a boy."

[Antosha Vikenti]

Why was it never anything else? There was never any other nickname that people could come up with for his name? But Antosha smiled regardless of his thoughts on the matter, not willing to start anything from such a trivial matter. Once upon a time he might have made it a big deal but that was back when he went to Hammel for schooling. "Da. Ant works, it is the popular nickname."

Antosha stuck with his single drink, watching the other drink with a slight growing apprehension. Something about the male made Antosha pretty sure he'd not be able to handle his liquor, nor did the Russian want to test that theory by allowing the male to drive. Perhaps, if he were to get drunk enough, Ant could just give him a lift. Or take him home to sleep it off. With that in his mind the Russian shook his head when his favorite bartender went to refill his drink.

"Ah well. We have in common then. I only came back this semester to finish my schooling. Am student teacher at Hammel until I finish up my courses and take the finishing tests. Hopefully will be done this summer." He smiled once again, nodding his head briefly. His own break had been for over three years, but that was only for college and an excuse to leave the Pilot Ridge area. Which was for the better, as anyone who formerly knew him could attest to.

His amber eyes watched with interest as the male picked up his phone, curiosity pulling at his features. Being a physical meta, it was hard for Ant to understand the way other might use their gifts but it didn't stop the male from finding it all fascinating. At Reed's response to his phone's gender, Antosha let out a laugh and cocked his head to the side. "Now you ask him why he does not want to work proper, da? He is always shutting down on my calls!"

[David Reed]

The popular nickname? Dave couldn’t help but be curious what other nicknames Antosha might have? Tosha? Tosh? …Anto? The thought of that one brought a quirky smile to his lips. He highly doubted it, but if this guy was a foreigner it wasn’t an impossibility. “What other nicknames are there then?” He couldn’t help but ask. Dave had a buzz going now and the topic was too interesting not to.

Dave’s eyes lit up at hearing that his new friend had also attended Hammel. It made him curious how old he was, older, younger? It was hard to tell but the age gap couldn’t have been much. They must have been there at the same time. “Oh yeah? What kind of meta are ya?” It was always a fun question to ask. Dave tried to look Ant over and guess what it might be with that calm, smooth demeanor. Surly not a telepath or telekinetic… he wanted to say it wasn’t a mental power, but there was no crossing it out. Maybe something elemental? “What kinda student teaching are ya gonna do?”

He was so into the line of questions that he almost forgot the phone in his hand. At Ant’s demand, however, Dave laughed a little and took another good swig of his drink. Such a common question. It seemed that people were either just fine with computers or absolutely terrible.

“Your owner wants to know why you don’t work proper,” Dave said as he turned his attention back to the phone. There was a moment of silence followed by the phone asking him to clarify. Oh right, not like FI. “Why have you had trouble doing what you’re asked to?”

Dave listened a moment then his head tilted back in a slow nod of understanding. He’d heard this one before. “Is that why you shut off calls?”

'I shut off calls because I am told to.'

Dave couldn’t help but laugh, lifting the hard cider to his lips again. He shook his head a bit.

“He says that he only does what you ask, that it’s you who confuses him.”

[Antosha Vikenti]

The Russian continued his lazy smile and tilted his head to the side, watching as the other rambled about in his own head before speaking. "Not as many as would be desired... Anto, Antoshenka, Kitten, Giant, I was called Annie by my family." The last nickname was said with only a mild amount of disdain, enough to show he didn't like it but he put up with it for the sake of a joke. The joke was really the only reason he continued to allow himself to be called that name.

Antosha wasn't really as curious about the other's age as Reed seemed to be of his, he was just assuming they had been around roughly the same time. But thankfully for the technopath their paths had never crossed, otherwise this might have been an entirely different conversation. One involving a lot more apologizing... But possibly a lot more flirting than what was currently going on. Which was to say- no flirting. The question about his power had Antosha smirking and he leaned in closer with a brief glance to check that no one was watching before he carefully shifted his eyes to their feline state. Something that had taken him almost a year to be able to do without fully shifting. As quickly as it started, Ant faded it out and casually cracked his neck to each side to ward off any oncoming headache. "I am a shifter, panther specified. I have been student teaching the art classes. Though is more of shadowing than actual teaching- but student teaching does sound better."

Now, he wouldn't say he was absolutely terrible with computers. It was just his phone that seemed to enjoy giving him problems. Usually the kind of problems that resulted in messages not sending and calls dropping without him doing anything- and it wasn't as if he didn't have signal either.

With his head cocked to the side he watched with interest as the other displayed his particular gift. Though Antosha couldn't hear his phone responding, he knew that his phone must be saying something to have the technopath laughing. Granted it didn't seem like an all together good laugh.

A thought that was quickly confirmed by the words leaving Reed's lips. Antosha's face drew into a look of confusion as he looked at his phone, almost expecting it would explain what the other meant. When no answers appeared he went back to the technopath to gather his answers. "What? How you mean, I tell it to? I do not press buttons to turn off so how I am one telling him to?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously at his phone before he flagged down the bartender to get refills for both their drinks.