Timestamp: Mia 18, 81379 10:00 AM Last night students on the second sub-floor hadn't been able to use the girl's lavatory. Why? One of the toilets backed up. It was morning now, and the bathroom had been cleaned up -- that was one of Lox's requirements. He didn't work in a place full of filth. He wasn't actually at the bathroom yet. He had to find it. Cue one blue-and-magenta pendragon at the stairs, looking down the hallways. Comfortably-fitting black pants, a bright orange t-shirt, and in one hand, a toolbox. He smiled softly, trying to spot a sign. His head bobbed to some unknown beat coming from the headphones plugged into his long ears, and his tail twitched slowly to the music.
Radin was having some plumbing problems of his own. He had woken up with something of a sour stomach, and had spent an extra half hour in the bathroom. He would have spent more time in there, but Case had knocked on the door and said he was going to wet himself if he wasn’t let in right this very second! The green arden had handed the bathroom over to his friend, and then he’d made a beeline to the cupboard in the kitchenette. In one, he had found the generic brand equivalent of some Tums, and had eaten, oh, about twelve. He felt a little bit better now, as he marched down the stairs on his way to meet up with a classmate to study for an exam, though his stomach kept rumbling. It felt like something in there was kicking, and Radin would not have been surprised if something had popped out of his abdomen like they did in that freakish earthen Alien movie that had caused Radin to wet his pants when he had been a nioti. His stomach gave a rather loud lurching noise as he reached the landing to the second sub-floor, and he groaned. He was going to be embarrassed as hell if he showed up at his study buddy’s dormitory room only to run to their lavatory and throw up. But he couldn’t not go – he really needed to study for that test, and so he kept going despite his stomach troubles. It was as he was about to descend the next flight of stairs that a bright spot of technicolors grabbed Radin’s attention, and he glanced sideways up the hall. Even with the shades covering his sensitive eyes, he was taken aback by the colorful fellow in the hallway. One green hand reached up to lower the sunglasses the slightest bit so that he could see the other arden in his full, true colors, and Radin gave an impressed whistle. In the next moment, though, he winced, and instinctively clutched at his belly. Oh, dang. Where the hell is the nearest bathroom? he thought to himself, and he ran up the hallway towards the other arden. But before he reached him, Radin dashed sideways and into a room clearly marked as a bathroom – the girls’ room.
The music was low enough that Lox could hear the whistle, and he looked over, and grinned at the younger arden. Pond green and red. Nice combination. Lox popped a headphone and started down the hall, intending to ask where the girl's bathroom was, but the arden had already decided on another course of action. Or, rather, his body had decided for him. Lox's shuffling gait morphed into an easy lope as he strode down the hallway to where the kid had gone in a door that he presumed was a bathroom. Reaching the spot, Lox was suprised to see that the door said "Girls." So, he'd been desperate, eh? Well, this was obviously the place, so Lox put away his music player and pushed the door open. "Hey, buddy," his voice almost crooned, soft and low. "You okay in here? ....I should warn you, the third pot on the left don't work. 's why I'm here."
It did register that this was the girls’ room, but Radin didn’t give a damn. He passed by the tampon machine without batting an eyelash, and launched himself into the second stall on the left. He did not bother with locking the door, but bent forwards over the toilet, throwing up rather neatly into the little bowl. He made plenty of grotesque gagging noises as his gut emptied, and when he was finished, he groaned and kept one hand on his stomach while still bending over the porcelain pot. Radin’s eyes watered a bit as he eventually straightened and stood up, and his ears flickered as he heard another voice in the lavatory. “You okay in there?" a masculine voice wanted to know. The Dragyn gurgled in response before flushing the toilet and backpedaling out of the stall. “I felt sick," Radin said when his eyes fell upon the brightly colored arden. My, was he handsome, and the arden’s already weak stomach suddenly filled with butterflies. “But I’m better now, I hope. Are you some sort of janitor?" he added on, rubbing his stomach thoughtfully. Despite the butterflies, he really was feeling much better.
Lox leaned back against the wall next to the door as it shut, and for a moment enjoyed the cool, smooth tile against his back, shoulders, and tail. It curled and uncurled, almost of its own nature. It liked to do that, sometimes. Bright eyes watched the green tail, and his ears flicked forward to catch the gurgled response. Lox continued watching intently for a moment, until he heard the toilet flush and saw the arden start to back up. His mouth spread in a slow grin. He chuckled, tail twirling into a spiral on his left side and slowly uncurling. "Yeah, I can see that. You want some water?" A blue hand held up a clear bottle. Lox straighted up, pushing against the wall to come back to his full seven-three height. "No, no janitor. I'm not really one much for cleaning up after people I don't know. I'll fix your pipes, though," he winked, slow and purposeful. "Here to fix that third toilet -- called in special. Seems there's a shortage on plumbers nowadays."
As he awaited a reply from this rather tall, rather relaxed looking arden, Radin moved towards the bank of sinks on one side of the washroom. He turned on the faucets, and then put some soap onto his hands and began to lather, but he kept his head turned so that his shaded gaze was always on the other male. When his hands were thoroughly cleansed, he wiped them absently on his jeans and then walked confidently to stand just a few feet in front of the stranger, all his illness seemingly gone. Nodding at the other guy’s offer of water, Radin grasped the bottle, unscrewed the cap, and threw back his head to take a rather long drink. Its coolness cleared the burning, disgusting flavor from his mouth, and it also seemed to settle his stomach even more. When he was finished taking his swig, he wiped his mouth and gave the other male a respectful nod and a purred, “Thanks." The comment about his pipes caused Radin to blink, and he wondered what that was supposed to mean. He was bisexual himself, and he found this arden quite easy on the eyes even despite his multihued pelt, but he barely knew this guy. Plus, he looked a number of years older, and it was so hard to tell when some ardens were straight or not. So far, Radin had not picked up on any clues, but the mention of “pipes" certainly made him wonder. “So, who broke the toilet?" Radin eventually asked after his slight pause, his serpentine tail flicking. “Do you get a lot of girls while working in the shitter fixing trade?" he added on rather randomly, in an odd effort to dig out this male’s orientation.
Lox liked this kid. He seemed sure of himself -- cocky, even. But in a good way. He liked cocky people. They were usually pretty funny. And Lox liked funny. He took the bottle back. Staring at it, the bottle slowly filled with clean water, and Lox screwed the cap back on and slid it back into the mesh holder on the side of his box. "Hey, anytime." He knelt down to get into the box, long limbs folding up almost like a marionette. Was he chuckling softly to himself? It's quite possible he was. Not very audibly, if he was. Lox knew his comment threw the arden off -- that's why he said it. It was part of his usual schtick. He shuffled trays and tools around, setting things up. "Dunno. They weren't exactly gonna tell me which poor kid broke the thing, now were they? Don't really matter much, not like anyone's gonna own up to breaking the toilet." Lox stood, ambling over to the stall with the hastily taped "Out-Of-Order" sign on the door. <span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>"Let's see what we got here,"</span> he mumbled to himself, lifting the lid. It settled on the floor with the soft "clink" of porcelain on tile. "Oh, sometimes," came the casual reply as Lox poked around. Hmm. He jiggled the handle. "Most of 'em find it real squicky to have to deal with, so they're pretty grateful by the time I'm done. Then again," -- he poked at the plug on the bottom of the tank -- "the plumber ends up being squicky, because he's been screwin' around with the squicky toilet. I find they usually like it more when I have to come fix the sink. Y'know, head'n'shoulders all up under the sink and the rest of me helpless on the floor," -- did the bobber work? -- "for 'em to look at while I'm workin'. ...Huh. Well, everything in the tank looks good," Lox said, backing out of the stall. "Maybe something's plugging the bottom." Time to get the gloves and the plunger.
OoC - This thread is love. My last reply for tonight, the speed posting has been fun! BiC - Radin watched the arden shuffle about and get down to business, his brows arching with real curiosity as he watched the plumber dig in his tools and then move towards the broken toilet. All the while, he listened to the other’s words, his flamed tail switching as he wondered what to make of this guy’s obvious ease and openness. “Ah," the young Dragyn said to make sure the older arden knew he was listening, and when he had stopped speaking, Radin wondered what to say next. Should he even say anything? Shouldn’t he have been on his way to his buddy’s dorm to study? It suddenly seemed a lot less intriguing than this strange plumber. “So, how often do you get molested on the job?" the green male finally cracked, hooking onto the other’s mention of being “helpless on the floor." He watched as the tall pendragon backed out of the stall to fetch more tools, and he stole the chance to finally introduce himself. “By the way, I’m Radin Dragyn. I’d shake your hand, but, well, man," he said, pausing for a beat, “You just touched a toilet."
Lox rolled his eyes, pulling the elbow-length rubber gloves on. "A Dragyn, huh?" He grinned. "I think I mighta heard about you guys. My name's Lox." The rubber was cold, and caught on his fur. But it was worth it -- he didn't like the feeling of cold, wet fur plastered against his skin. That was only submerged in water, though. He didn't mind rain. And then there was the fact that it was a toilet. Plunger, check. Gloves, check. Roto-rooter ready, check. Let's fix this toilet. "It's happened a few times," Lox remarked casually, jumping back to the topic as though Radin had just asked the question. "Generally it's against company policy, and it can be somewhat startling to be turning a bolt and have a tail run up your thigh, but just between you and me," the arden paused for a moment and turned to look over his shoulder, "I'll usually set up a date for when I'm not working." This just was not working. Whatever was in there wasn't going anywhere. Lox pulled out the roto-rooter and sent the line down. "So. Radin. You a student here? Silly question, but you never know."
OoC - Sorry about the delay. I’ve had exams all this week, on top of feeling like utter crap. BiC - Radin smiled a little as Lox spoke, and he watched as the other arden worked, the curiosity of his gaze hidden behind his shades. By now, he knew he should have been at his friend’s dormitory, his nose in a book, but he thought it would be pretty harmless to linger a few more minutes here in the girls’ room. “I would think most anyone would know my name, considering who my grandparents were," the green male replied matter of factly, his flamed tail flicking. His grandparents had, of course, been the Arch Magos and Magosai. “So we’re a little notorious, heh." At the mention of Lox’s preference of dating outside his job, Radin laughed knowingly. He sometimes worked in the caféteria, just to pass the time, and he knew how odd it was when his co-workers hit on him, or when customers got a little too flirty. He was a flirt right back, though, so he supposed it just depended on the pendragon and his or her personal preferences. “Yep, I’m a student here. I actually have an exam coming up, and I should be studying with a buddy," Radin replied to the other’s question, and he flicked his wrist to check his watch, “about five minutes ago now. Hm, so, Lox, what’s your ideal sort of date, anyway? Just out of curiosity. I imagine you get as far away from restrooms as you possibly can, yeah?"
<span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>ooc: It's okay. I understand. Had finals last week, m'self.</span> ...And the roto-rooter wasn't going to work either. Oh dear sweet gods. Lox hated when it came to this. ...Although it usually meant someone had flushed something down the toilet that shouldn't have. He kneeled down next to the toilet, and stuck his arm down into it. "Ideal date?" Lox chuckled, tail thumping lightly against the floor as he groped along the pipe. "Depends on the person, and how far along in the relationship we are," he replied honestly. "Although you're definitely right -- restrooms are to be avoided as much as possible. ...I really like dancing. Sometimes I like to take a 'dragon to The Rage, spend the night dancing there with them. Good place." Lox grinned, and it could be heard in his voice. "And I like picnics. Why, you tryin' ta hook me up with someone?" His fingers wrapped around something, and Lox tugged. "Ah-HA! Let's see what we've got here..." Yanking, the object came free with a squeak. It was a rubber ducky. Lox fell backward against the stall, peals of laughter echoing against the tile.
Radin’s ears perked with curiosity as Lox mentioned The Rage, and he licked his lips thoughtfully. He, too, loved dancing, and so when the other arden asked if he was trying to hook him up, Radin was tempted to admit that he thought the elder male was quite a catch. However, he still hadn’t really picked up any sexuality vibes, and so the Dragyn stayed silent on the topic. He opened his mouth to say something about the nightclub, but it was just at that moment that Lox tugged something – was that a rubber ducky? – from the grimy toilet pipes. As the plumber toppled backwards and began to laugh, Radin grinned and shook his head. He wondered who had stuffed such a thing down the john, and why, but he was much more curious about his conversation with Lox. “Ah, no. I’m not trying to hook you up, although you are a handsome guy and I know several girls – and guys – that would jump at the chance to date you. Hm, well, I’d better get going to that study appointment I have," Radin added on, and he moved slowly towards the bathroom door. “Maybe I’ll see you at The Rage sometime, Lox. I go there, too. As a matter of fact, one of my good friends, Riot Stormwing, owns that place. I’m there somewhat often, so… perhaps we could dance sometime." The green arden left that open as he reached for the door handle. No matter how Lox responded to that, he really did have to leave, but the reply would definitely make or break the Dragyn’s day.
