Like A Level From Tomb Raider [Open]

[Eve Delacroix]

When she'd been in England, there was a trail behind her house that took her over the walls of her parents' estate, and down a twisting, bramble-edged path overshadowed by leaf-heavy trees until the edges of the cliffs were visible. Britain being an island, cliffs were not wholly uncommon - those old seventies horror movies with brides leaping despondently into the seas below did have some precedence, you know - but these cliffs had been stamped over and over again into her memory. Once, for the power and the sheer drop down; then twice, for a slew of memories, not all of them pleasant.

Most of her attempts to slim down had taken her past the edges of the cliffs - and to a child barely older than twelve or thirteen, it had been like standing at the edge of the world on the day of the Apocalypse. Gray skies. Gray sea. A white horizon, somehow edging closer, and the wind nothing more than a whisper.

In comparison, the lake was something of a puddle, and not anywhere close to Apocalypse status, but there was that same kind of feeling. That awe, that watchfulness. Maybe she'd been intended to have been born some kind of fish, considering that water - large, natural, fuck-off pools of water - always drew this kind of reaction from her; and that really didn't bode thinking about, considering that fish were only the third entry on her list of Top Animals To Please Extinct Themselves From Existance.

Birds were the first.

Evie did not look particularly gorgeous on this day of introspection. First of all, it was ungodly early, which never married well to people trying to look beautiful, so she'd given up before the starting pistol had even fired, so to speak; her hair was haphazardly everywhere, long red strands flung madly by the wind, her face scrubbed free of all makeup except a thin black line around her eyes, and smudged blue-black beneath them, which made her eyes seem to glow almost supernaturally. Vividly blue eyes against the whitest skin since (and this pained her to think it) fish tended to swallow light, and shine like diamonds in a coal mine - especially when cupped by long red hair that had, once, been pulled up into a ponytail.

To top it all off, she was in jogging sweats. Any man who found jogging outfits attractive was either operating on a higher plane, or trying to be complimentous. At least hers was all black and all matching, which didn't excuse the outfit, but it did make it look marginally better. Marginally.

Her heart hammering against her chest, Evie slowed to a walk around the edge of the lake and watched the water idle underneath a sun just really getting geared up to burn. Her long eyes skimmed over the surface, nearly the same colour as the water, wondering. Hammel had everything else - wonder if it had a Loch Ness monster, too? That'd be the final cherry on top of the sundae.

Chuckling to herself, the redhead reached up to pull her ponytail aside. Her right arm throbbed as she moved it slowly, trying to get it to twist back to pull her hair up again, a pain like a knife in the joints digging in and in with every stretched nerve - but she did it. It nearly made her weep, but she did it.

And soon after her ponytail was secured, she let her arm fall back to her side, wincing, letting the wind sting away the watery eyes. At least she'd done it. That was a start, right? Christ, her arm was really throbbing now.

Shifting minutely, the redhead looked down at the water again, focusing on the colour to try and take her mind off her arm; and, in doing so, blocked out the rest of the world behind her, to a degree. You didn't live through war without knowing what was going on behind you, and sneaking up on Eve was generally considered a Terrible Idea, but she was getting better at that, too. Once a soldier, always a soldier - but a soldier with a civilian mind would prosper far more. And accidentally injure less people.

[Sett Richmond]

Sett was a lazy bugger, everyone in his family knew that. But once in a while, he would just surprise everyone, including himself, by getting off his fat arse and actually moving around. That morning, he woke up at an ungodly hour of six am and took a quick shower before getting into some easily retractable sweatpants and sleeveless Lycra shirt should he feel like shifting in the middle of his run.

Equipped with his music player strapped to his upper arm, Sett went out of the house and into the backyard that connected to the woods. The first lap around didn't get his blood pumping as much as he had wanted so he decided to go for another round. This led him down to the town park, near the lake.

It was near deserted save one or two morning joggers. Sett raised the volume on his music player as his feet carried him around the mostly green park. The sun was slowly rising, casting some parts of the scenery with a soft yellow hue as Sett arrived at the lake.

His heart was finally pumping properly so he decided to slow down a bit. With just his loud music accompanying him, he almost didn't realise there was someone right in front of him until he was just about to collide with them.

"Whoa! Din't see you there," Sett chuckled, backing up a couple of steps, ready to move away but there was no way he could walk away from a girl, bent over and looking like that. The red hair was just a bonus. "Well hello there." Why no, Sett didn't actually quite care it was way early in the morning and the girl might not be interested. It was just what Sett did.

[OOC: Hope you don't mind my intrusion ^^]

[Eve Delacroix]

It wasn't so much the collision that startled her but the noise just before - easy shifting, something crushing grass - and her hand was fisted and ready to strike when she caught a glimpse of what he looked like in the water. Definitely not army - not to say that he was safe, but some part of her uncoiled anyway, relaxed a bit. There were a number of secret agencies that hired civilians, but she could handle it. Only one of her arms was out of commission.

Evie tended to look a bit on the conspiracy theorist side of things. Now that he'd actually spoken, her body relaxed even more, her spine unsnapping from the rigid line, her face relaxing. She was being a bit of an idiot, jumping at shadows and convinced that Big And Evil Things were prepared to tear into her at every other moment - at least she hadn't lashed out and knocked this one down. That was also a habit of hers, and not a very good one for making friends.

"It's fine - I didn't really see you either," she reassured him, pushing her hair out of her face with her good hand. Despite the newly-done-up ponytail, the wind was determined to drive her crazy, and pull her hair out of the tie again. She just managed to refrain from clicking her tongue in irritation, stepping to one side to clear the path just in case the jogger wanted to continue running.

And then he spoke again - and she laughed, offering him her hand. "I'm Eve. Sorry, I didn't realize I was in your way." Shrewdly, Eve let her eyes glance down, lingering momentarily on the definition of his upper arms, then zipping the rest of the way down, and back up. Well, if he was going her way, she could jog with him; that is, if he wanted the company. She wasn't going to ask, but it was a thought to set aside for later. Evie always did like to be prepared.

[Of course not! Hi there! *wave* <3]

[Sett Richmond]

Not noticing how quick her reflexes were, Sett concentrated on her face as she turned around, reassuring him. With a crooked grin, he took her hand and squeezed it lightly and bringing it up to his lips briefly. "Sett. And you weren't in my way." Sett responded, his accent thicker than usual. Her soft one made him smile. Was she English as well?

As her eyes moved downwards, Sett's grin grew wide. "Like what you see, then?" He chuckled before flexing his arms a little just for show. Sett battled with himself to run again or stay here and chat this pretty lady up. He could always do both but he wouldn't be able to look at her face. And Sett liked his visuals.

"Are you resting or just getting ready for a run?" He asked, before deciding to sit down next to her.

[OOC: Herrooo ^^ Here, an itty bitty post for you. Apparently I'm incapable of writing longer posts today >_>]

[Eve Delacroix]

D'awwww, he was a sweetheart. Hiding the twitch of her lips, Evie watched him, just then picking up on the slightest inflection that really spoke of home - adopted home, sure, but home nonetheless. A fellow Brit! Huzzah!

And in the manner of fellow Brits, she did not - as the French were wont to do, and the Italians, and anyone who wasn't British and Proper With It - hug him like they were on the Titanic and the last lifeboat just shipped out. She did smile a bit wider, but what was a smile compared to a hug?

"Sett..." To her, Sett was spelled 'Seth', as in 'not the Egyptian version'; thus, there was nothing much unusual about a boy called Sett other than he clearly had nothing better to do than flirt with women in the park - and on an early morning, too. "Nice to meet you, then, Sett."

And as for liking what she saw, well... "I like active men," she answered evenly, "besides, it's an eye for an eye, hmm?" And that he could understand whatever way he wanted.

When he settled by her side, Evie shifted slightly to face him, tipping her head to the right. "Just resting a moment - I didn't intend to, but the water just looked so lovely I had to stop and stare. And, well, wonder if there was anything below it. It is Hammel. Sea monsters wouldn't be too far out of the realm of possibility."

[D'awww, short posts are fine! <3 As long as you're having fun and all.]

[Sett Richmond]

Her smile prompted a wider grin from Sett as he took off his running shoes and socks and rolled up his pants before sliding his legs into the surprisingly warm water.

The way she said his name made Sett grin. The girl was probably unaware of how she sounded. Sett wasn't about to make her realise it. Not just yet. Yes, he was confident enough to believe that today wouldn't be the only time they were to ever meet.

Sett was far from being active but he was pretty fit anyway and working with Kali had proven to be fruitful in that department as well. He was getting muscle cramps from slinging drinks every which way but they were defining his arms, funnily enough. And the things he helped Kali bring in helped too. And would you look at that, the woman was scoring brownie points for being subtle.

A smirk made its way on to Sett's lips and he chuckled lightly at her comment about sea monsters. "Well, my feet would know if that was true, wouldn't it?" He lifted one leg out of the lake and wiggled his toes before dunking it back into the water.

"So you can't be a local but you know about Hammel. I'm guessing you work there?" Sett turned slightly to face her.

[OOC: ^^ Yis, I is havin much fun. And Sett definitely is ^^]

[Eve Delacroix]

Subtlety had never been Evie's strong point. It had to be something about how she'd grown up; or maybe it was just something she'd picked up in school - being subtle mostly got you ignored. Hinting at stuff was fine for a magician or a girl who didn't have anything to do but wait, but Evie had always been someone who rushed ahead and called a situation precisely like she saw it. Which lost her friends, sometimes. At least she tried to be nice.

As a sixteen-year-old, Evie could safely admit that she'd been a little horrible and probably deserved a freezing cold dunking twice a day for possessing quite a problematic attitude. 'Nice' had been, more or less, an option only available on days where all the planets were aligned in a specific and confusing order. She'd straightened out. Eventually.

Well, enough to make her a damn bit more likeable than she had been during her teenage years.

"Maybe it's lulling you into a false sense of security," Evie shot back, amused, "waiting until your attention slips so it can make its move. Antagonizing a sea monster might be considered a bit of an idiotic thing to do, you know."

There really wasn't any way that she was going to join him, but she did settle by him, legs crossed, watching the thin, glowing horizon. "I'm a trainer there - I moved here not too long ago, and I'm still getting used to the place. And the job. You?"

[Yaaaay, I am glad! Evie likes him, though she will find his name very awesome when she figures out how its properly spelled.]

[Sett Richmond]

"Ah, but you must know this about me then." Sett grinned and looked away for dramatic purposes before looking back at her, wriggling his one eyebrow with that damned smirk of his on his face. "I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed." He gave her a nod and a bark of laughter before settling on his back with his arms folded under his neck. "I'm quite proud of this particular trait if you must know." He said in a matter of factly tone of voice.

So he was right, she did work at Hammel. Pretty thing like her, couldn't have come to place like Pilot Ridge for its scenery. Briefly, he wondered what her power was. "Me? I'm here for my brother. He's in Hammel." He replied. Nothing else to it, was there?

He could have asked the woman why she chose Hammel but that would be too forward and time-consuming. And Sett was feeling the burn of his white lion in him. It usually tickled him when his heart was pumping too fast. And boy was his heart pumping now.

[OOC: Sweet! ^^]

[Eve Delacroix]

Well, pride was a good thing. Even if it was for something as silly as threatening hypothetical sea monsters possibly in hiding underneath the surface of the lake.

"Seem pretty smart to me," Evie countered easily, turning her head to watch the sun skim over the water, light and breezy as a gust of wind, sparkling like small diamonds on the surface. "Or do you make it a habit to flirt with women at an hour of the morning as stupidly early as this? You know what they say about hell and scorned women. Just imagine, cranky women are even worse."

Especially after a sleepless night, or, at best, three hours of sleep in some odd spectrum of awake and not-awake. "Oh?" Given that the boy was not unattractive, she was sure she could peg his brother easily, should he be in a crowd. The boy had good genes, strong bones. "That's nice of you. How old is he?"

Children, as a general rule, freaked her out somewhat. Especially tiny ones. Especially tiny ones that wiggled and depended on her. Then again, if Sett's brother was a baby, he certainly wouldn't be at Hammel on his own, unless accellerated aging and reincarnation was his power. Sometimes, Evie's brain did not accept the reality that was thrust upon it.

[Sett Richmond]

He shrugged in his lying position and laughed, showing his teeth at Eve's statement. "I flirt almost exclusively with cranky women in the mornings. It's my bread and butter." He joked and closed his eyes as the sun crept over the both of them.

"Yeah. Horus Richmond. He's seventeen. Junior, blond. He's very hard to miss. You'll probably see him using a friend as a tree. He climbs things." Sett said in a rather throwaway tone of voice. He was used to seeing Sammy being Horus' climbing post. And that other blond boy Horus brought back home the other day. Weather manipulator. Horus was on his shoulders when they arrived.

"You have any siblings?" he turned his head to face her again with a quizzical eyebrow raised.

[Eve Delacroix]

"Hmm. So. To cap it off, you taunt possible sea monsters, and flirt with cranky women in the mornings. Is your second name Indiana?"

This entire conversation was a bit silly and goofy, but Evie had never pretended to be otherwise - she had had a hard time keeping friends, but wasn't close enough to the level of social awkwardness that made conversing with people sort of problematic. Sure, she mightn't exactly be the most 'girly' girl out there, but who didn't like Indiana Jones? And Nathan Drake, for that matter - and most of the other video game men that saw climbing over temples as a way of life.

Speaking of climbing... "Wait. Horus?" Eve lifted a brow, "as in, the Egyptian god married to Isis? Bugger, I can't remember what he's a god of... That's so cool." And it was such a juvenile term, and fit so oddly on her tongue that she laughed, tilting her face back to the sun, closing her eyes, mimicking his posture in everything but lying down. "Mmm, no. Adopted, single child. Is it just you and Horus?"

The name could've been a fluke. She'd met a soldier called Rain once. Thought of him every time it poured now.

[Sett Richmond]

"I can't promise you that it isn't." He sat back up once more and pulled his legs out of the water to dry them. He felt like he was ready to run again.

And if she had voiced out the silliness she felt of this conversation, Sett would have been inclined to agree with her but then again, he was far from serious. He wasn't known as the goofball in the family for nothing.

Sett chuckled slightly at the woman's inaccurate Egyptian history. He had long since forgiven everyone of their lack of Egyptian history and thanked his parents for his saturation in Egyptology, however menial and possibly a little useless it was to him. "Horus is Isis' child, God of vengeance among other things." He waved a hand in dismissal.

If people judged the Richmonds based on their history of their names, it would be fair to say it would turn very disturbing very fast so Sett wasn't about to attempt to bore the pretty redhead with the story.

"Nope, not just me and Russ. I've got one sister and four other brothers. Isis and Ra will be coming around soon. I don't know why though. Maybe Ra is worried I'm not able to provide...eh, anyway." He shook his head before he went any further, chuckling and completely oblivious to the fact that Eve held a fascination for his name.

[Eve Delacroix]

Evie had had a relatively normal family - nothing of interest happened, other than her father liked to tell war stories, and her mother would forget her own head if it wasn't physically impossible to do so. She had a very distant grandmother that was convinced she could see ghosts - but that was also the same woman who addressed the hatstand by her father's name.

"Ah. Clearly, I am not equipped to debate long dead gods with you. However, I'm taking your withdrawal from the water to mean that the sea monster has just made an appearance. I told you so." Cracking open an eye, Evie shot him a bright smile, and moved to push herself up with just the one hand, since the other wasn't really useful in the physical sense. "So. Isis, Ra and Horus. I'm going to go out on a limb here and ask: is Seth spelled with an 'h'?"

A full fledged Egyptologist, she might not be - but she could vaguely remember some god starting with an 'S' in Egyptian mythology. Or was that Grecian? Shaking her head, Evie forced her hair behind her ear, and wondered if her shoe would ever survive the many, many times she had shoved it into her mouth during this conversation.

Ah, well. At least they were well-worn shoes. "Feel free to carry on. Naturally, I'll take your side, since I know bugger all about the rest of your family."

[Sett Richmond]

Sett simply laughed at Eve's conclusion but gave her an affronted look when she said she told him so about the sea monster. "Lies!" He exclaimed before returning her smile with a goofy grin.

Her question made him laugh slightly. "I get that a lot and no. It's with double Ts. And yes, all my siblings are named after Egyptian Gods." Sett responded a clarification. Shrugging, he continued. "My parents are...obsessed, for lack of a better word, about Egypt. Before I went to Kocher, I spent some time with my parents in their travels."

"Oh, that was it. I just think my brother doesn't think I'm qualified to do adult things. The nerve, don't you think?" He couldn't even hold the serious look on his face for too long. He may have been the personification of pride but he knew not to hold a grudge. Especially not on his brother. Besides, the man could snap him like a twig. Best not to anger the eldest Richmond.

Once he knew his legs were dry, he pulled down his pants legs and brushed the dirt and little things that had stuck on the soles of his feet before pulling his socks on. "Want to continue that run?" he asked, jumping up to his feet and offering the woman a hand.

[Eve Delacroix]

Evie grasped his hand, and pulled herself up - yeah, she could do it herself, but it would be rude to just shove his hand aside and ignore him; and while Evie made a career out of being rude, sometimes, about eighteen years of her mother drilling etiquette lessons into her head left a heavy mark on her. Either that, or her brain was just geared to know which fork was for the fish and how to wave in case of approaching royalty.

"Your parents are clearly a bit more interesting than mine are," she commented, and patted his shoulder, "and, you know, it could be worse. You could've been named Euripedes."

There was always a bright side, around Eve. She didn't really dwell on all the dark things that could happen to a person, simply because it would drive her insane to have to prepare precautions in her mind like that.

"Hmmm... You look like a kid. I can see why he'd be worried. You're about, what... twenty one, twenty two, maybe?" And if he was younger, holy shit. He really did look youthful, though. Evie was twenty seven, and she felt twenty-seven - occasionally, she felt like a twenty five and a half, maybe a twenty, once or twice, when she was appropriately drunk and acting even more of a goof.

Then, her grin turned naughty, wicked. "Sounds like a good idea." She could always offer to make it more interesting - a 'loser buys breakfast' sort of thing, but this wasn't the time for silly competitions.

Pushing her hair out of her face for what felt like the billionth time, Eve moved over to stand by him, absently flexing the fingers of her right arm, wincing just a little.