Tomanton and Kaloaten were soon interrupted by the sound of two voices arguing.
Well, one voice arguing and one voice apologizing.
"Jeezopetes, why do I have to be saddled with you AGAIN!? I mean, seriously. It's like the cosmic entities hate me or something. You're just baggage, you know."
"I know...I'm so sorry, miss Rosalind, I'll try not to bother you."
"Then don't talk."
An older girl with dog ears laid back aggressively against her black hair dragged along a little pink android. The dog-girl seemed angry...the android sheepish and frightened.
"This the place in the letter?" Rosalind growled angrily.
"I believe it's the correct address..." Essex murmured quietly in turn, nodding in greeting to Tomanton and Kaloaten.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
A metallic glint shined in the distance. Slowly it grew and moved closer until the sun hinted off the tarnished bronze body of a six foot tall robot. It was strangely constructed, it's torso looking rather like an upside-down triangle with a massive arm jutting from each vertex-like shoulder. His legs were oddly short and widely spaced to keep the contraption balanced. It's head bore a strange configuration of purple hued LEDs arranged to mimic a face. It's name was Helper, and it was walking towards the mansion, presumably from Paragon City.
Helper shufled up the walk to the mansion. The robot didn't quite understand why he had been selected to take part in this particular program. SERAPH had received an invitation to send a representative to take place in a sociological experiment, and they all choose Helper to go. Everyone else was far too busy to dedicate an indefinite amount of time to, what they called, 'extra-curricular' activities. Helper had been sent mostly because it would have looked bad if the organization had sent noone.
Ultimately, Helper had been told to do it, and therefore would do his best to function adequately.
He came to a stop just outside the door.
Kefetasura simply popped into existence at the edge of the gate. He strolledd non-challantly up to the house, his brightly colored clothes swishing in the breeze. He grinned happily when he saw the robot at the door.
"Oh goody! There's a butler-bot! They didn't tell me there'd be a butler-bot!" He clapped his purple skinned hands together and twirled for joy, dropping his suitcase at Helper's feet.
"Bring that to my room, will ya?" he ordered as he made his way inside. Apparently he was not as concerned for propriety as any of the others.
"I would be glad to assist," Helper said, lifting the suitcase. The robot turned to Rosalind, Tomanton and Kaloaten, "May I carry your things as well?"
He glanced down at the little pink android and the LEDs of his face positively brightened.
"Why, hello miss S-6! How funny to meet you here."
((FOR GODS SAKE I QUIT THE DAMN GAME AND TOM STARTS POSTING))
((*impales self with spork*))
((Well, welcome to the RP boards! I doubt I'll be able to join your RP cause I'm in too many already but feel free to join in the other threads. Oh, and welcome again 
.
[EDIT][ QUOTE ]
((FOR GODS SAKE I QUIT THE DAMN GAME AND TOM STARTS POSTING))
((*impales self with spork*))
[/ QUOTE ]
Does that mean you're.....going to be staying? 
))
In front of the mansion gate, green smoke burst into view. A figure only three and a half feet tall stood there, covered by a green haze that was slightly dizzying to look at at first, with a gas mask and wild yellow hair just visible through the smoke.
"I suppose this is the place," Hallucinogen said.
And then all of a sudden, two points in space abruptly traded places. Essentially, if the universe was written out in programming code, someone had just cut and pasted themselves to a new location. And indeed, the tall, thin young man in a blue robe and glasses that subsequently appeared seemed to have been typing a second ago, although no keyboard was visible.
"Ah yes, hello, Pharaoh," Moonscribe said upon seeing Hallucinogen. Light was shining off his glasses so that his eyes were hidden, but truth be told, light shone off them at all times. Even if there WAS no light.
Hal turned to him. "Why are you here? Look, I appreciate your skills as a hero and whatnot, but to be blunt, I really don't enjoy your company."
"I have received an invitation," Moonscribe returned. "Much like the one you received, Pharaoh. A 'social experiment'."
"Why are you interested in this anyway?" Hal muttered. "You're not very social."
"At least I am not coming solely because I think Essex might have received an invitation," said Moonscribe calmly. "Shameful."
Hal was silent for a moment. That was the worst thing about Moonscribe. He was usually speaking the truth.
Trying to convince himself that there WERE other reasons he was here, Hal turned to the others.
"Oh, Essex! Ah. . .did you hear what. . ." He blushed furiously.
"'Go on Solid, you could use some time off.' 'All that heroing must be tough, you should really go somewhere to unwind. How about this FREAKING TOO CONVENIENT invitation I got in the mail?'"
Flying through the air on a pair of integrated jet boots, the hero known as Solid Shot cruised above the mansion that he was about to be wasting a half a month of his life at. Seriously, what did a freaking robot need downtime for? Purely human concept, purely load of [censored].
....
....
Then again, it would be nice to not be shot at by someone for a while.
Swooping down toward the mansion, Solid caught sight of the taxi hired to drive his luggage to the mansion just pulling into the main gate. Nodding to himself and promising to tip the cab driver for being honest, Solid dipped down into a dive that left him backburning to land softly about a dozen feet from Tom and Kaloa.
Tossing the two a jaunty wave, the android turned around and tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for the taxi to get here. It did, soon enough, and in a minute his two large suitcases were standing next to him as the cab drove off.
"So I take it you guys got invited too?" Solid asked as he turned around and walked up to the other two with a hand extended. "Nice to meet you both. I'm Solid Shot, hero by trade, angry dysfunctional robot by desire."
"And I'm Toy Dispenser," came a voice from above the trio. "Has any ever told Paragon City Transit that they need to debug their teleportation systems more often?"
The multi-colored mastermind floated to the ground as he slowly dialed down his anti-grav generators, eventually landing with barely a stir to his cape.
"Gotta love those entrances, eh?" Toy said to Solid, who spent a moment staring before lowering his hand and looking at the mastermind more closely.
"Hell, you're that mercenary dude, aren't you?" he asked after a moment.
"Yep," replied Toy. "I figured that I could use a break, got this invitation in the mail, and decided to drop by. How about you?"
"Pfft," Solid snorted, waving his hand is dismissal. "My freaking contact told me I needed some time to unwind. He'd gotten this invitation along with a letter asking him to give it to one of his heroes so...here I am."
"Interesting," Toy said as he looked Solid, Tom, and Kaloa over.
"Yeah. Very."
EDIT: Freaking hell you guys are fast. Shouldn't you have been playing the game? Thus giving me enough time to make my entrance unimpeded.
And no, I will not edit my actual post. >_>
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
((Sorry Leo, but even the 1337-est Stalker of all can't keep me paying for forums...Heh..))
((CLAIMS SPOT AS HIS. Will post later))
((Har, thank you very much for the greeting! XD I'll link to images of the two of them later, when the host makes his appearance..))
Tomanton was taken aback at how quickly the others had come- evidently they were just on time. Looking around to at the others, he tried to memorise each name at first. Essex, he had dealt with once or twice before. Rosalind, he had seen. Hallucinogen, he had heard of, he was sure- and Moonscribe's remarks confirmed it. Then he turned to see Kaloaten happily lifting their gym bags into the arms of Hermes.
"Ack! Kaloaten.. no. He.. I'm not sure he works here. You shouldn't burden him, you know how it feels."
Kaloaten whined and looked to him, his joy once again killed. "But Tomanton, he wants to help.."
Sigh. "Ugh, fine. Just.. no, I leave it up to you. Do as you like, Kaloaten." He continued to glance around, his gaze landing on the purple Kefetasura- another extraterrestrial, like himself and Kaloa?
After handing off their bags, Kaloa spun and began to look around at the guests. The robots especially interested him- as he looked over Solid Shot, Toy Dispenser and Essex in turn, Kaloa's 'looking at you without looking like he's looking at you' methods were blatantly obvious.
For those who chose to go inside, they would immediatle be hit by the house's chilled air conditioning, which seemed unaffected by the doors being wide open. The main hall was in a T- shape. They would enter at the base- a lobby with various shoe and coat racks. Toward the junction was a recessed foot-deep hardwood pit with a bigscreen TV and an impressive sound system- to the left an open kitchen, to the right a more formal dining area. There was a balcony crossing the middle of the T, but there seemed to be no stairs to get up on it from this room.. with the exception of the front door, of course, all the doors leading out of the main room were currently locked.
((Claims last spot while out of breath. Have one, still determining the other. Will introduce them in a bit.))
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
((I don't count for one of the seven, so there's still one spot left. Just make sure to introduce them soon, I'm looking forward to it. >_< ))
"What's with the football makeup?" The pale redhead sneered at the other taxi passenger.
"What's with the attitude?" The grey-skinned carrot-top sneered right back.
"Hrmph. At least you've got decent taste in shoes."
"Yeah, whatever."
As the taxi approached the house, both girls quieted. They'd been sniping at each other for most of the ride. Given their attitudes, it was completely understandable that the taxibot "accidentally" let them go about 40 feet above the ground.
"HEY!" they screamed in unison, but the taxi was gone, vanishing into the sky. The two landed with a whumph, sprawling on the ground in a tangle of arms and legs.
"Get off me, you pansy!" There was a punch thrown.
"Lily! Not a pansy you cry-baby devil!" Someone was pinched.
"Demon! I'm a demon! Get that through your head, you pyro!" Hair was definitely pulled.
"There's nothing wrong with fire, you horned toad!" With a slap, the two girls separated and stood staring at each other, furious. Then slowly, they turned to look at the rest of the group that was gathered in front of the house. Unconciously, they took a few steps so that they stood side-by-side.
"Lily?" The grey-skinned copper-top tugged her green baseball cap down around her pointed ears and shifted uncomfortably in her green football pads. There were indeed black streaks under her eyes, and a large orange celtic design on her t-shirt. Small orange horns poked up through the cap.
"Yeah, CC?" The pale redhead tugged on her red and yellow vest, and shifted from side to side in her red work boots. The rings on her belt jingled softly as she peered over the top of her wrap-around shades. Her own pointed ears wiggled slightly.
"We're stuck with a bunch of weirdos."
((Hope this suffices. Sounds like fun. For the record, Lily is a Villain, and CC is a Hero.))
Writing: Cape Fic
Featured Art: MechaTerp & CorporateRock, by Shia
Music: DJ Pyrria
[Edit: Bah, my slow typing and myself do not mix.]
[OMGedit2: <.< *Makes sure the $20 bribe is still in Tom's hand. >.>]
Overhead, a puttering, and then a total shutoff of jets could be heard, followed by the girlish screaming of Experiment 2.0, smacking into the ground at full force. His armour saved him, and oddly enough, his worst injury seemed to be a cut on his cheek.
Before, of course, a small stream of blood started flowing from his forehead, but that doesn't matter so much.
He dusted himself off, pulling out an already blood-soaked napkin. He wiped his face and head, healing them instantly, apparently from some substance the napkin had inside it.
He pulled out a slightly crumpled envelope, reading the note once again. He looked up at the mansion, shrugging. "Eh, it must be some kind of survey or something..."
"Or perhaps, Experiment, it could be some sort of contest?" came a grainy voice from behind the hero.
2.0 turned, his eyes wide as he saw a red-haired, floating human with such a disfigured face it was almost unimaginable. In fact, as far as he knew, the mouth was only supposed to be on the bottom half of the face, not most of it there and some melted onto the chin.
"...Uh... And you are...?"
"Pyro-Technis, known as one of the best pyromaniacs in the Rogue Isles."
"...You should meet Burning Brawler. If he weren't married, you two would make a good couple."
Pyro pulled a slightly charred note from his armor, checking the address once again. "Well, I suppose we should go in. Coming, 2.0, or must I drag you?"
"...I don't even KNOW you, you are NOT touching me." muttered the hero, following the villain toward the mansion.
((Haha, yeah, same with me. Decided too late I guess. Yalls have fun now. 
))
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((What? Ack, nooo! I had no idea people would be this interested in it. I can deal with nine people as opposed to seven, so I'll bend the rules- this'll be the cut off post. Since you guys got in and had something in mind.. Devious, Prodiguy, feel free to edit your posts into your entrances. But anyone below this line is out of luck. 
))
"Hi Essex," both robots said at the same time as they turned to look at all the newcomers.
"Who ordered Color-Blind Bot, anyway?" Solid asked, pointing a thumb at Toy.
"Hey Rosie," Toy said, ignoring Solid's comment.
Solid snorted and crossed his arms before looking around and spotting Hal. Freezing, Solid stared at him for a moment before looking over at Essex again. He abruptly put his head in his hands and sighed.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
And the books and the scream
And every nightmare and every dream
And the window over your land
SO TURN ME ON AND TAKE MY HAND!
Watching you, watching me
You don't know you betrayed me
Can't find myself lost in your lies
I NEED TO TRUST MYSELF AGAIN!
Cheery, peppy eurotech isn't exactly a genre one would enjoy listening to with angsty lyrics, but the Dark Angels had somehow managed to do it with their song Right Now. It was also what a trenchcoated man was listening to as he drove along the highway on his motorcycle, his grey coat flapping behind him as his sneaker-bearing shoes pushed pedals and piloted the driving machine.
"Onwards, noble steed! Yonder destination 'tis merely a distance away from thy roaring wheels!" An english accent speaking middle english barked through the air as he spoke to his motorcycle as if it were a horse, expertly blazing along the highway, ducking and diving and weaving left and right between cars and trucks. His ponytail whipped behind him as the wind crashed into his face, his sunglasses and NINJA MASK ((JUST FOR YOU, PYRRIA!)) adorning his face.
Geeze, it had taken far too much effort to manage to convince Celia that this would be done alone. But, well, somehow he had done it.
Of course, he fully expected to be sleeping on the couch for a few days when he returned.
Sir Morgant Trahaearn Drystan, invitation in hand, tilted his motorcycle to the ground as he hit a sharp turn, burning rubber onto the concrete as he bent dangerously close to the ground and righting himself back up again.
Morgant slowed down to a stop as he pulled into the front of the mansion, lifting up his sunglasses to reveal blazing green eyes, the left one with a large gouge over it that had left the eye perfectly intact.
"...Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..."
Snoring. Snoring could be heard from the already opened doors, not loud enough to be obnoxious or annoying, but definately loud enough to be noticed if you were a few feet away. The big screen TV was already in effect, playing a cheap samurai anime high on action but low on plot--fans of anime would notice it as "The Path of a Man". It was right in the middle of a rather bloody battle, the main protagonist having lost a leg and, somehow, gotten a cybernetic replacement--rather out of place and completely impossible, given the feudal japan setting. But, well, the fighting sequences was pretty flashy, at least.
The guest was sitting on a fine leather couch, sprawled out across the entire length of it, head resting on one armrest. He had his sakkat tilted over his eyes, a bag of opened, halfway-eaten popcorn sitting in the lap of his gi, hands clutching onto it protectively. His build was scrawny and his height was short, likely only 5'4"...his entire form looked the antithesis of "threatening". On either ends of the couch, two Jounin stood there impassively, arms crossed...completely unmoving, the two katanas on their back untouched, as well as the third sheathed at their waist.
Kairaishi, the legendary puppetmaster.
"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..." He continued to snore as he slept on the couch.
(OOC: I am deeply saddened by the lack of cyborg monkey butlers. Can we have Ninja Monkey Butlers? AND AW BALLS I spent too much time typing >_<
((Sorry, Plague, you're too late))
[ QUOTE ]
((Sorry, Plague, you're too late))
[/ QUOTE ]
(OOC: I know...spent too much time typing >_<
Tomanton stared quietly at Experiment, who he had met before- then at the two girls who then approached next- and silently second guessed his ability to put up with living with others. He would swallow his pride, though- it was a social experiment, so the idea was to be, well, social. Taking a couple paces toward them, he really wasn't all that good at masking the look of.. unamusement on his face.
"Well, if we are all 'weirdos' as you say... then would that not make this ordeal all the more interesting. Greensryche Industries is a prominent company on the isles- they would stage such a thing as this on good grounds. Furthermore.."
And then his head would turn in the direction of the sound of the motorcycle sputtering.
"...Morgant."
Kaloa, liberated of his (and Tomanton's) bags, saw the anime out of the corner of his eye, and would dash right inside to it. He didn't give much of a thought to the Jounin, only hoping to get closer to the TV- nimbly placing his hands on the back of the couch he would vault over it, plopping down... not realizing that the couch was quite taken until it was too late.
((And here they are.))
Miles away from Paragon and the gathering of asorted personalities, in a building compound labeled St. Raven's Academy for Trouble Youth, another prepaired for her own deperture. If somewhat, reluctantly.
"Why must I go... there?" Cortianna asked, already knowing the answer thanks to her telepathy.
"It'll do you some good," Headmaster Deathagar smiled, "And provide an opportunity to gather our own information about other participants." His smiled dropped and he pointed toward the glowing ring of the teleportation portal. "Now stop delaying and go."
"... Yes headmaster." Telekinetically lifting her bags and shoving them through the portal, the dominator followed at a leasurely hover.
On the other side of the glowing apature, from an apparent empty spot in the air, two duffle bags hurttled out to strike at some of those gathered. They preceded the appearence of a pale, sixteen-year-old. Her mini-skirt held by a leather belt with chain loops used to bind... unco-operitive patients. Chains also encircled her dark blue boots and slender throat. An ash-grey vest with similar blue trim covered her simple an also dark blue tubetop. Light purple hair framed an intense face dominated by a pair of eyes so pale as to seem white. Against her pale skin, the vains in her temples stood out starkly as did the intricate tattoos covering her lower arms.
Cortianna surveyed the others with a slight twitch in her left eye before smiling at Essex and holding out her hand. "Hello. I am Cortianna." She said in a strained voice, before the android girl could even think about taking the offered hand, it burst into flame. "Sorry," She didn't sound it, "But you look very... flamible."
"Cortianna." The man's voice sounded behind her, as the top half of her headmaster stuck through a rift in the air. "You forgot your spare medication. Remember to take it regularly. The Academy will not be able to help you if you forget and burn the place down after driving everyone mad." A bottle was sent sailing toward the girl's outstreched hand.
"Yes headmaster." Slipping the bottle into her vest, Cort looked back at the other and gave them a not-all-there grin.
----
A vactaion, huh? Stellarmare thought as she coasted along the road in her simple but gas-efficient car. The part-time university student and full-time Kheldian hero was feeling decidedly burnt out following finals and shutting down a conspirecy within the Council's top American commanders. Finding the invitation to a social experiment seemed almost too good to pass up. Making suitible arrangements with the leader of the Violent Femmes supergrup she was third in command at was a cake walk compaired to the hoops she had to jump in order to get the time from Paragon University.
Sheesh, save the free world and they'll throw you a parade. Ask for a few weeks off and you might as well be a convicted serial killer asking to buy a gun.
Pulling into the address listed on her invitation, the Peacebringer was treated to the odd gathering outside the doors to the massive manor. Parking her car, she opened the door and got out to face her apparent housemates. Adjusting her glasses back up and briefly hoping her dirty blonde hair didn't look too wild, she walked forward. A few jerks of her shoulders settling her burgundy jacket and white dress-shirt with it's black tie and matching black slacks and shoes, making the twenty-three year old look more like she was there for a job interview then a vacation.
"Hi there, guess we're all here for a few weeks at least hmmm?" She smiled.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
"Wah..." Essex said, looking around wide-eyed. She was quite overwhelmed by the number of people she knew in the area - Helper, Toy, Solid, Tomanton, Morgant, Hal, Moonscribe, Experiment...Just to name a few.
"H-hello..." she murmured, suddenly quite shy and inching behind Rosalind.
"Shees." the were-human scowled, turning around and lifting the little pink robot by the back of her armor where a dog would lift its puppy by the scruff of the neck. "Why you hidin' from your friends, movie star?"
"Mm noffa muffy stir." Essex protested quietly, face red, as she kicked helplessly in the air in Rosie's grip, the armor shifted up so the collar covered the bottom half of her face.
Her kicking intensified as Cortianna all but shoved flames in her face.
Rosalind only chuckled, turning to Toy while still keeping a grip on the hapless little android.
"Sup TD?" she said, with a duck of her head. "Where're the boys? Y'all in this 'social experiment' [censored] too?"
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Morgant reached up with one hand to run his hands through with his fingers, giving it a quick comb as he rode up to the parking lot in front of the mansion. Doing yet another dangerously-close bend to the ground to peel some more rubber onto the pavement, he swerved into an empty spot and quickly ground to a halt, shutting the entire thing off. He hopped off of it and gave the motorcycle and quick pat on the headlight.
"Aaah, wonderfully done, mine noble steed. Remind me to give thee a treat later."
The only response was a dying out putter as the motorcycle slowly shut off.
"Heh." Morgant waved his hands nonchalantly, casting a quick ward over it to prevent thievery, and then turned around to see the rest of the cast.
"Ah! Essex! Sir Tom! Hail to thee, new and old meetings alikes!"
Any further potential greeting was spoiled from a scream from inside the mansion.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGH!"
Kairaishi had not taken too well to being landed on top of and had flailed both him and Kaloa off of the couch, sprawling onto the ground, popcorn splattering everywhere across the floor.
Four SHING!s could be heard, and each of the Jounin sprung into action, drawing out a katana in each hand, all four pointing in the air, mere inches away from the hapless Kaloa's face...their painted porcelain faces seeming to glare down at him with murderous intent within their fixed eyes.
"Stupid...freakin'...best gorram dream...port off the starboard bow...all your base...mmmph, freakin' little..." Kairaishi muttered sleepily as he put the sakkat back up on top of his head, adjusting it to it's usual fit...rubbing his eyes tiredly, he stared over at Kaloa and blinked a few times.
"Oh. Hey."
The Jounin quickly pulled away and walked back behind Kairaishi, sheathing their blades and crossing their arms once more, resuming their normal standstill posture.
((My first activity on the RP boards, and I'm hosting it! Woo! Hope I'm not in over my head.. *ahem* Welcome to Bad Company, (hopefully) the first RP in the style of Reality TV, pitting 16 of our Heroes and Villains together in a house and forcing them to deal with it. Think Big Brother, Survivor, or even Drawn Together and you get the idea. A few things to know:
1. In order to streamline things, you MUST RP two characters, preferably one hero and one villain (or two of either kind if for some reason this dosen't work for you). This populates the house fairly nicely without making for a mess of spam posts- it also means it's not the end for you if one of your characters gets voted out. That said, the RP is 'limited' open because there's obviously a limit to how many that can be jammed in the house for the sake of the game. With sixteen contestants in total minus two of mine as a control group, this leaves fourteen. Fourteen divided by two is seven. After (and if) seven people post their character's entrances, that closes it off unless otherwise noted.
2. This won't be in real time. People have schedules, and it'd be ridiculous to think we could cram an RP day into a real day. We'll shoot for two, three, four days to each? Rest assured, each of the main activities in the day (Immunity challenges, vote tallies, end of the day) will be clearly marked.
3. The host will ask for the votes at a certain points in the RP, just PM them to me- but feel free to vote earlier than when it's called for if you're busy or something. First vote you make is final.
4. In terms of what the mansion has or dosen't, be creative. THIS IS A BIG DIRTY MANSION. If you think your dream house would have a pool table, a gym or a slice of private beach, it is there. You won't need to ask unless it's something extremely out there like a cyborg monkey butler (we do not have one).
Premise: Each of your characters would have recieved an invitation to participate in a 'social experiment' being conducted by the illustrious Greensryche Industries at an out-of-the-way location just north of Paragon City, on the coast. They have been told that the 'experiment' involves staying overnight, and to be prepared to remain there from anywhere between two to sixteen days. That is the essence of the invitation, though interestingly enough, a footnote reads "You will be paid upon completion of the study... should you win.". The invitations would have been recieved by the characters roughly a few weeks before the experiment was to start.
Now, without further delay...))
"Wow, Tomanton! I had no idea taxi rides were so expensive when you go outside the city!"
Kaloaten, with a spring in his step as he exited the yellow cab, double checked the adress on his invitation. This was the place, alright.. supposedly, just beyond the crest of the hill would be the mansion where the experiment was to happen. Kaloa carried two gym bags, one under each arm- a less enthusiastic Tomanton giving a sigh and following behind, his wallet now lighter to the tune of forty dollars. They started up a freshly-paved asphalt driveway that, after being in the sun all day, was giving off that offensive fresh tar smell.
"Yes, Kaloaten, you can consider it to be something of a life experience. The next time we go somewhere distant we can take a charter bus. Now then... this is the right place, is it not?"
"Yup. Says so in the invitations right here. Didn't you read yours?"
"I did, but I don't quite think I.. memorised it like you did, Kaloa. I don't think I have ever seen you so excited.. Kaloaten?" He watched as something caught Kaloa's attention as he came to the top of the hill- and dashed down the other side. Sighing as he lightly picked up his pace to catch the boy, Tomanton would get to the top of the hill, and be stopped in his tracks.
The black-bricked mansion at the bottom of the hill on the other side looked like the sort of dream home you'd see in a finance magazine. Two stories tall in all but a few places, the centerpiece of it was a massive front hall that had its front side seemingly made almost entirely of glass- From there, the narrowly-slanted roof shot out from either directon to give the mansion an east and west wing. From the top of the hill it was possible to look over the mansion to the back yard- visible amidst a well-kept grounds was the back edge of a swimming pool, and steps leading down to the rather choppy Atlantic Ocean. Finally, the fresh black driveway on which Tomanton stood (and Kaloaten hurried down) snaked down the hill to an open front garage that looked big enough to fit four cars... only one was parked, though- a vintage black muscle car that was so well taken care of it practically shone. The two main front doors to the mansion, also glass, were propped open invitingly.
"...Wow." He would take a few steps forward in awe before going into a dash. "Kaloa! Let's not go in just yet!"
Kaloaten stopped and spun on his heel, having gotten just in the doorway. "What? Whyyyy?"
"Well.." Tomanton knew he was a killjoy. "We seem to be the first here. Let's at least wait for someone else to arrive before we barge in."
"Tomanton! The doors are wide open, there's nothing to barge- .." But from Tomanton's stern glance he knew he would not budge. He stepped back from the door, setting the gym bags down on the lawn and sitting on them, watching the crest of the hill boredly for whoever would come over next.