forum I'm lacking the creative ingenuity to provide a clever and witty name (Character Chat 5)

Started March 16, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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"Hello." He returned the smile and offered his hand to shake.

She took it. "It's nice to see Tess has moved on since that tragic event. You two look like a cute couple." She chuckled.
"Mom!" Tess seemed to want to shrink back like a turtle.

He smiled. "Thank you, ma'am." He was on his best behavior at the moment.

A man wandered into the living room from presumably the kitchen, since he was wearing an apron that said 'Kiss the cook.' He had hazel eyes and black hair. He smiled at the two. "Tessa! And I'm assuming this young man is Runner?"
Tessa bobbed her head. "Ben, I see you're still snooping," she teased.
He chuckled and waved a spatula in the air. "Just doing my job. Speaking of, I need to get back and check on the food."

This wasn't exactly what he expected. Everyone was…normal. He didn't need to take off the headphones to know that. But, normal was weird after the months with Tess, so this threw him off slightly.

(Tessa's mom has traces of shapeshifter magic, but it's dormant. She passed the gene onto Zeus and Tess)
Tessa and Diana nodded, and Ben went back to cooking. Then the last family member appeared.

Tess kept her face neutral as she looked up at the staircase landing off to the side, where her younger brother scowled down at her. He had dirty blonde hair and electric blue eyes, and was skinny and gangly but had some defined muscles from boxing practice. "Lex," she said.
His scowled deepened. "My name's Alex."
She just shrugged.

Runner watched the scene silently, keeping his tongue in check. This is her family, don't get them mad at you.

Diana clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Children! This is a nice family dinner. No bickering allowed." She shot a look at her son. He huffed and went back upstairs.
Zeus meandered in from the kitchen, some kind of batter splattered across his cheeks. "Mom. There may or may not be a cookie batter explosion in the kitchen."
Diana sighed and shot a jokingly exasperated look at Runner. This family, she seemed to say.

He smiled in return, glancing over to Tess to study her expression.
"Seems Zeus isn't a good of a cook as me."

Zeus mock glared at Runner. "I'll have you know that it was the beaters' fault."
Tessa just shook her head disappointingly. Angel took that moment to take both Runner and Tessa's hand and drag them to the couch. "Play, play, play! Wanna play wit Tethie's booooyfriend!" The tip of Tessa's ears turned a slight shade of pink.

Runner smiled.
"Well, what do you wanna play?" he asked.

Angel urged them to sit on the couch, then shoved an Xbox controller in both of their hands and grabbed one of her own. "Maweeo!" she said, bouncing up and down. Tessa rolled her eyes but smiled slightly.

"I've never actually played this," he admitted, glancing over at Tess.

"An Xbox or Mario Kart?" She asked as Angel started the gaming system and searched for her favorite game.

"Uh, both." He grinned sheepishly.

She taught him the basics of the controller and what it does while Angel set up the game, leaning over to show him how. Then as the little girl started the game, Tess had her wait so that she could 'refresh' Runner on how to play the game by going on a test race with just the two of them.

He immediately crashed into a wall, and laughed loudly. "I knew I was gonna be bad, but I didn't think it was gonna be that bad."

She chuckled, and continued to patiently show him the basics and some tips.

"And people enjoy this?" he asked. "It seems more like a torture method."

"It's a classic!" She playfully slapped his arm with the back of her hand. She didn't notice Diana and Ben watching them from inside the kitchen–Zeus was begrudgingly cleaning his cooking explosion.

He shook his head, chuckling slightly after the third wall collision in 3 minutes. "Alright, I think I might retire from racing while I'm ahead."

"Just humor her, please." She gestured to a big-eyed Angel.

He sighed out of her nose and picked up the controller again. "Alright, fine."

She smiled and nudged him in thanks, before patting her lap. Angel beamed and jumped on Tessa's lap. The older sister laughed and moved her arms around the girl so her hands were in front. "Ready?" she asked them both. Angel nodded vigorously.

Runner rubbed the side of his face, unable to hold back a small grin.

Tessa smiled, enjoying her time with her little sister despite her earlier complaints. She added Angel to the game and started a round with the three of them.

As expected, Runner did horribly, but couldn't help but admit he was having fun.

Alex finally wondered back down, shooting a glare at Tessa as he passed, then sat in a chair to watch them. He kept a close eye on Angel in Tess's lap.

Runner's jaw tightened slightly as he walked past, but once again said nothing.

Tess suddenly looked at Alex. "Lex, it was your birthday a few weeks ago, right?"
He looked at her with obvious distaste. "Why do you care?"
"You're sixteen now. Have your license?"
He narrowed his eyes. "In a little bit. Why "
She fished through her pocket and pulled out a key, then tossed it to him. "Happy belated."
His eyes grew the size of saucers. "A Ferrari?!" He opened his mouth to say something else, but she beat him to it.
"Honest money, honest work. I volunteered at a few places." She tried to look disinterested, but inside she was hoping this act was enough to win him over.