Being Social...it's fun really. (Kris, Elric)

[Piper Wren]

Elric wasn't the most social of the human slaves, of course he had his reasons but since the incident of trying to turn himself into a snowman...Piper thought maybe it was time to introduce him to some of her friends, perhaps cheer him up a little bit? It couldn't hurt after all, just as long as he didn't come out with anything that wasn't designed to offend but seemed to have that outcome anyway.

But hopefully that wouldn't happen.

They were meeting Kristopher outside the Nightmare pub near the Funhouse, she doubted Elric would see the amusing side of the Funhouse itself so the pub seemed to be a better option. Piper had met Elric from his room and wondered if she might need to drag him by the arm.

"Come on, it'll be fine."

Piper commented, gently tugging Elric's arm. Since he had been the Ezel's Gopher he hadn't quite been himself in her opinion, especially since he seemed to have a new injury everytime she saw him. That worried her the most although she had yet to bring it up with him...maybe he might get on with Kristopher and they might actually have a laugh even if Elric wasn't really a drinker. Although Piper wasn't either...ah well.

[Elric Vlarintos]

Elric did not say anything as Piper attempted to drag him along in her well-meaning attempt to get him to socialize, but Elric's face said everything about how he felt about it. Meeting with people just made things worse in the life of a slave and the more friends you were in possession of the more ammunition the masters had to use against you. From a purely functional perspective the potential negatives outweighed the potential positives.

Then again, Elric didn't need to consider the benefits or lack thereof with the location of this meeting. The funhouse was an amusement for children, and Elric certainly was not a child any longer. However, the pub seemed like a horrific choice of meeting place. In all of his years in Wonderland he had always avoided the place as though he would catch the plague from it. That being said, somehow he was being brought there anyways.

He winced every few steps from the cut on his ankle and the bruise slightly higher on his knee. Simple mistake of not following the "friendly" advice from one of his masters. "I'm horrible with people. I'm just going to make a fool of myself," he muttered back at her in complaint. From all of the complaints he was making you would think Piper was dragging him along with all of her strength, but Elric was not really putting up much of a struggle. It was the sort of thing where he was vocally against something, but on the inside he was grateful.

[Kristopher Roberts]

To put it lightly, Kristopher had to wonder what kind of person Piper was wanting him to meet with and try to be soical with...Kris was usually alright with people. Provided they didn't try to:

A) Kill him
B) Molest him
or
C) Poke fun at him looking like a female.

However, Kristopher agreed to come along and see what he could do and try to be the nice little boy he could be. If knew only knew what type of person he was about to come across, he might of just stayed home. The blond was on the move, making his way towards the bar with his hands hidden in his long sleeved shirt as always. He looked like he always did, wearing tight ripped jeans, overly large sweater and his hair being let down. He was far to lazy to even work with it, so he just clipped his curled bangs to one side with a black clip. (Need he say that he utterly hates his hair?)

Well, hopefully everything will go fine. Speaking of which, he finally caught sight of Piper and smiled, "Hey!" he called out happily and made his way over to her. "What's up?"

[Piper Wren]

"I'm horrible with people. I'm just going to make a fool of myself,"

Piper had been hearing similar worded versions of that complaint since she met him this morning and was blatantly ignoring them, Elric acted like an ordinary human being around her, there was no reason that he wouldn't be just fine around Kristopher too. The young woman simply sighed and carried on gently escorting Elric to the pub to meet Kristopher.

"Don't be melodramatic, you're a nice person, I'm sure Kris will think so too."

Kristopher was easy to get along with as long as violence, molestation or un-needed teasing came into the picture. Elric usually didn't do any of those as far as Piper knew so she was sure things were going to be just fine! Piper smiled at Elric even if it probably wouldn't do a whole lot to make him feel better about this.

"Hey! What's up?"

She was then distracted by Kristopher's familiar voice and turned to see him as he made his way over to her and Elric, she chuckled a little at the clip in Kristopher's hair, he obviously couldn't be bothered to mess around with it.

"Hey Kris, glad you made it."

[Elric Vlarintos]

"Don't be melodramatic, you're a nice person, I'm sure Kris will think so too."

Elric just let out a sigh and turned his gaze skyward for a moment. Maybe she was right. He really had just been isolating himself because the chances of failure existed, and that was really no way to live. Whether or not you could call existing in a place like this living was another topic of debate, but Elric was going to leave that can of worms unopened for today. Regardless, he did not admit to Piper that she was right.

Of course, Elric very nearly made a misstep at first seeing Kris. From the general appearance it was difficult to determine sex or gender on this one and the clip in the hair almost clinched Elric's decision that Kris was a female. However, after taking in Kris' appearance for a moment longer he realized that Kris was merely a pretty man instead of a masculine woman. That being said, Elric was shocked by one feature of Kris.

"You are... short."

It was not the most brilliant of conversation openers, but Elric found himself struck odd by the height of this boy. Must have been a whole half foot shorter than he was. Granted, Piper was even shorter, but that was to be expected from a female. It also never occurred to Elric that his perspective probably should have been that he was freakishly tall for someone raised in the harsh conditions of Wonderland rather than his fellows being short.

He offered his hand for Kris to shake it, though he offered no other words.

[Kristopher Roberts]

"Hey Kris, glad you made it."

Kris chuckled then, shrugging his shoulders in a helpless gesture. "I almost didn't make it honestly. I got cornered by so many people on the way and then that seven year old red headed girl said I couldn't leave unless my hair was clipped. Apparently, it was very wild."

Then, Kristopher turned his attention to Elric. Holy crap, the man was huge and all Kris could do was crane his neck up and stare at the most frightening looking man he had seen in a very long time.

"You are... short."

Not the most proper greeting, but the blond dealt with it as he blinked a few times. "And you are freakishly tall." Kristopher replied without much thought. He took the much bigger hand and shook it lightly. More so afraid the Elric might suddenly freak his own frail and pale hand.

"Um, so I take it...you're the friend of Pipers...I--I--I'm Kris." He then slowly turned to look at Piper with an expression that clearly said: Don't let him kill me, please.

[Piper Wren]

"I almost didn't make it honestly. I got cornered by so many people on the way and then that seven year old red headed girl said I couldn't leave unless my hair was clipped. Apparently, it was very wild."

Kristopher got cornered every time they left him alone in public for more than five minutes...but the image of a seven year old girl forcing him to clip his hair back didn't fail to make her chuckle. Poor Kristopher, he never did have a lot of luck in that department. Quickly enough she also saw his initial reaction to Elric, great he looked scared of him! Not good! Before she could even open her mouth Elric had made his own way of introduction.

"You are... short."

"And you are freakishly tall. Um, so I take it...you're the friend of Pipers...I--I--I'm Kris."

Oh great...Piper nudged Elric hard in the ribs with her elbow, this was not off to the best start but it could be fixed and best fixed quickly. Kristopher looked nervous enough as it was.

"You mean to say 'Hi' right Elric? Kris, this is Elric, a good friend of mine."

Piper shot Elric a look that said 'A little tact please!' As much as she liked Elric he seemed to suddenly lose the ability to function like an ordinary person...how come he was perfectly fine around her?

[Elric Vlarintos]

"And you are freakishly tall. Um, so I take it...you're the friend of Pipers...I--I--I'm Kris."

Minus the stuttering, Elric liked Kris. Calling Elric freakishly tall actually was something Elric was able to take in stride as a sign of good humor. He thought this was going well until the nudge into his ribs from Piper told him that maybe he had not been approaching this in the best way possible. It was good that he had Piper to help him figure out where he was making missteps.

"Right, I completely forgot to introduce myself. Salutations, my name is Elric Vlarintos."

That being said, Elric was trying to figure out a good way to say that Kris should not be afraid of him. However, such a statement seemed odd and counterproductive. Instead he gave Kris a light pat on the shoulder and tried a smile. Those seemed to work wonders in social situations.

[Kristopher Roberts]

Yes, those pats on the back always worked well. Well they did if you where a healthy lad with a good back and excellent balance. Unfornately, Kris had neither of those and the pat took him by suprise and was a bit hard for him to take. So he stumbled forward some.

However, he merely chuckled and raised a hand to the back of his head, "Erm, right. Nice to meet you." Oh hell, what a scary man, he could easily snap his neck. Well, he couldn't be violent and he was a friend of Piper so that meant the guy was alright.

Right?

Running a hand through his curls the boy then offered Elric a smile and then turned to Piper. "So, what's the plan for the evening?" He inquired nervously, although handling the situation well enough. "I think I'm sorta thirsty myself."

And God said: Let there be Vodka, for the boys nerves are shot, so let him take a shot.

[Piper Wren]

Piper flinched when Elric patted Kristopher on the back and sent him stumbling forwards, maybe she ought to have warned Elric that Kristopher's health wasnt the best? Too late now. She just hoped that Kristopher might get used to Elric.

"So, what's the plan for the evening? I think I'm sorta thirsty myself."

Right, this wasn't going quite as well as Piper had hoped it would...but perhaps going for a few drinks, non alcoholic in Elric's case might actually help them ease into relaxed conversation. Hopefully Piper wouldn't need to kick Elric under the table to prevent him making Kristopher nervous.

"Well, I thought stop for a few drinks and see where we go from there." Piper turned to Elric, just to make sure he didn't feel under pressure, she knew about his dislike of alcohol. "You don't need to have any alcohol, just have what you want."

From there she also shot him a slightly pleading look which she hoped read as 'Please don't say anything stupid', it confused her to no end how he seemed so calm and behaved so ordinarily albeit slightly quiet sometimes around her...and then his first words to Kristopher were 'You are short'. Not a great start really.

"Perhaps move onto the funhouse later."

Now that would hopefully be interesting...to say the least.

[Elric Vlarintos]

"Erm, right. Nice to meet you."

The boy was still nervous, and Elric supposed that was a natural response. While Kris spoke nicely the nervous glances he cast Elric made the man want to double check in a mirror that he had not transformed into a four-armed gorilla overnight. The fact that he had nearly knocked his new acquaintance over with what Elric thought was a soft tap helped to alienate him further.

"Well, I thought stop for a few drinks and see where we go from there. You don't need to have any alcohol, just have what you want."

Elric was grateful for her concern, though he felt a little odd. Really, he just despised the smell of alcohol and the things it made people do. It just seemed like an excuse for people to act like idiots. In that sense he'd almost rather sit in the funhouse now than go into the pub. Piper was giving him a look, and he wasn't certain what she was trying to say with that, but he read it as 'please give it a try.'

"Let's just see how things go, then." Elric decided to air on the side of caution and not say anything about the presence of drinkers. Normally he'd be very vocal about such a thing, but he got the feeling that Kris was talking about picking up such a drink. Then he wondered if Piper ever went drinking. While slightly curious he felt appalled at the idea.

He'd just wait and see how things went.

[Kristopher Roberts]

Kristopher smiled lightly then and put his hands in front of him, gah, Augusta was making him into such a woman! "Sounds good then, I suppose." He chuckled and took Piper about the arm and smiled up at Elric. "Well then, shall we go in for a bit? Don't have to stay long at all."

Then he started to enter the pub and pulling Piper along in with him. Of course, Kristopher was never really one to drink, or rather get drunk. So he figured one drink would do him just fine, get his nerves to settle down and just be his usual gay--bi self.

Yes, that would work very well.

[sorry for being short XD]

[Piper Wren]

"Sounds good then, I suppose. Well then, shall we go in for a bit? Don't have to stay long at all."

When Kristopher grabbed Piper by the arm as was his usual manner with her, she didn't want Elric to feel left out and touched his arm to make sure he would follow them both inside the pub. Sure it couldn't be too bad, Piper just wanted Elric to get to know some more people, she wasn't exactly sure about the underlying issues with it but maybe this might help to solve it just a little...

"Come on, you might actually enjoy yourself."

The young woman smiled at Elric, trying to encourage him before turning her gaze to Kristopher, Augusta was making him into a bit of a woman...but it was like having a sister without the feminine competition. She leaned in slightly and whispered in Kristopher's ear.

"Cool it, he's really nice...just says the occasional daft thing when he's nervous. He was worried about making a fool of himself, give him a chance, Kris, please?"

[Elric Vlarintos]

"Come on, you might actually enjoy yourself," she said. Elric wasn't terribly certain, but he wasn't going to say no outright. He turned his head over his shoulder as if double-checking to be certain that no one was going to see him walking into the pub. Enough people would likely be inside to see him walk in. Then again, he knew almost no one, so what was he being so concerned about?

"I'll give it a try," he muttered in a voice that wasn't quite a whisper. Following Kris and Piper's lead he walked in to follow them, bracing himself for a sensory overload of sound, smells and sights. He was so concerned with surviving this encounter that he really did not take note of Kris' effeminate mannerisms. Even if he did, Elric probably wouldn't have remarked about it.

What he did notice was that Piper was whispering to Kris. There was a stabbing feeling in his side as he wondered what words she was passing on to him. Was it about him? Elric tried not to think about it too much, but there was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.