Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

[BlueSlime]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

"It is most certainly NOT required of you, Raven. You can sleep while the rest of us do so. And I'm not gonna tell you where you should sleep, but if you had an ideal spot to get the most recuperative sleep you could, I want you to tell me what it would be, so I can build it for you. As for what you're good for, combat and reconnaissance are only good for war, and as far as I'm concerned, we're not in one. Though if you want to beat up on your former controllers, I'll understand - heck, I'll even help you."

Celes got to the first hole in the fence and dug out the old plank, before grabbing one of the planks from Raven and hammering it into place with a mallet.

"I suppose if you're a soldiering type, once Locke gets his Rancher level up, we'll get you training alongside Marla. Or if we save up enough money for me to be an official Rancher too, I'll get you into workouts. Until then, we need to find you a job that might let you still maintain your fighting for, or even improve it a little. What do you think?"

***

"Hey now! Not out here in the yard... we humans have a need for decency. Celes could turn around any second and see me. I... really don't want that. Look... uh... fly me up to your nest and we'll see about this whole mating season thing. What exactly does that entail anyway? Because I'm just one guy..." Locke gripped his belt to make sure his pants stayed up until Marla complied and flew him up to the roost.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Raven looked a little distracted for a moment when Celes suggested going against her former masters, but she didn't say anything, instead turning her head away in dismissal upon her pressuring her for what she wanted. "... I have no preference... Do as you like." she replied coldly.

***

Marla giggled, showing persistence. "So what if Celes sees us? Maybe she'll join us, hmm?" Marla suggested, giggling as she tried to get on top of him.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

"I doubt you have no preference. But it's okay, I'm not going to force you to say anything. I'll just build you what I think will work. Maybe something like what Marla has, only in a different part of the ranch. I was thinking maybe that tall oak tree on the south edge of our field? Is that suitable? I figure you'd want your own territory, so you could feel independent from the rest of us and do your own thing. We just want you to feel welcome here, Raven. That's all." Celes continued on with the fence repair, walking further along, and pointing out the tall oak tree where she was thinking of putting a sort of tree-roost in the upper branches.

***

"Celes? Join us? Ah, no... no no. That's not gonna happen," Locke said, his face reddening. Celes was a beautiful girl, and any guy would be lucky to have her, but she and he had been close friends since they were kids. They were best friends in fact. He didn't want to ruin that friendship by having sex with her. It was true that from time to time he had thought of her in that way, but he knew that she would never look at him the same way and to approach her like that would just make everything weird between them. Besides, she had helped set him up with girls back home... she knew every girl he'd ever gone out with, so there was just too much knowledge there already for them to ever get naked together. At least that's what he told himself.

Looking back at Marla, Locke gritted his teeth. "Marla, as your trainer, I need you to respect my boundaries. Please, let's do this somewhere private."

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Despite Locke's wishes, he saw a mischievous grin appear on her face. "So you say... But I wonder what Celes thinks? I'm gonna go ask!" she suddenly announced, turning, and flapping her wings in preparation to take off.

***

Raven looked to Celes upon her request that Raven feel welcome. "... If I did not feel welcome, I would leave." she stated simply.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Locke crossed his arms, but didn't move to stop Marla or tackle her. "I guess you could do that, but don't expect me to be here when you get back," he said coolly, not happy with her inconsiderate decision.

***

"Oh. Well... that's good." Celes said, looking over her shoulder and smiling at Raven. In her own way, she supposed that was as good an acknowledgement as any that she would get from the black harpy. Content with that, Celes worked on in silence for the next few minutes, covering ground quickly.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Marla stops, and turns around to face him with a sad expression. "Aww... Locke, don't talk like that! Don't you like her? I'm willing to bet she likes you too!" she insisted, halting for now.

Meanwhile, Raven was as silent as Celes as she helped her work on the Ranch.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

"Of course I like her! She's my best friend! It's just... we've known each other for so long. She might as well be my sister." Locke scratched under his hat and looked sidelong down the field to where Celes and Raven were working to fix the fence posts. "Besides, I'm certain she doesn't feel for me like that. I mean, she's helped me get girl friends before. I can't imagine she'd do that if she had any feelings at all for me. I like what she and I have right now... sex could just mess that up."

What Locke said was mostly true as far as he knew and assumed. He did think she was beautiful, and they knew each other so well that if they were a couple, they'd probably make a great one, but he just couldn't be certain how she'd feel if he made a move, and he was scared to death of what would happen if he lost her trust as a friend. The two of them had come to this island together, intent on helping one another succeed on this ranch. If there were some kind of schism between the two of them because of some bonehead threesome attempt on his part - it would be a crushing disaster.

"You might be willing to bet she'd like it... but I'm not." Locke said, with a touch of sadness. Then he looked up, as if suddenly having it click in his mind what he'd overlooked by being so concerned about Celes. "Wait, you're wanting to share me with another girl?!"

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Marla blinked, a plain expression on her face. "Does it matter? I like Celes too," she stated, before looking over at them. "And who knows what she's thinking. Maybe she feels the exact same way you do?" she theorized.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Locke put his hands out to the side. "And if she doesn't? Then it'll be... it'll be all wrong." He looked exasperated. "I mean it's not worth the risk!"

***

Celes scanned the rest of the fence on the south side, but it all seemed to be in good repair, most of the work had been done on the western boundary. "Guess that's all for now, let's head back to the barn, and I'll see if Locke has some advice for building you a roost in the oak."

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Marla clenched her talon, and pumped her wing, making a confident pose with what looked like a clenched fist as she grinned at Locke. And just as she began to speak, Celes and Raven were making their way around the barn, standing within earshot of Marla and Locke, while Marla's back was to them. "If you love her, then it's worth any risk!" she boasted loudly. Although, she thought about what she did for a moment, and glanced behind herself, getting nervous as she quickly added. "T-t-t-there she is! Raven, the woman of your dreams! You love her! She's who I meant, ha-ha-ha... ha...!" she laughed, putting on a very suspicious facade as she began sweating nervously.

"Locke is... In love with me..." Raven said slowly, lowering her head and looking off to the side, a blush on her cheeks. "... I don't... Understand..."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Locke's draw dropped as Marla went haywire with her mouth, blabbing things that weren't true and causing instantly recognizable chaos.

Celes as well was a little taken by surprise, though for completely different reasons. "Ahh.... Locke... what exactly is Marla on about?"

"I -- she -- uh -- I think there's been a..." He glanced at Raven, remembering just how fragile she was right now. "I love having Raven here at the Ranch. That's what Marla was trying to say, I think. And I'm going to go to my room now, because, uh, I'm very tired. So... Celes, uh, you're in charge, for now. While I sleep."

Locke slowly started taking big steps towards the house and then quickened his pace, wanting to simply run away and gather his thoughts, so that he could take stock of the situation.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Marla panicked, chasing after Locke. "Wait! Locke! Sex! Come back!" she exclaimed, chasing after him while Raven watched the two flee from the situation.

"Even though Locke is in love with me... I won't get in your way," Raven said with a surprisingly humble voice towards Celes. "... I am not too sure what he sees in a weapon anyway..." she added, noting her uncertainty.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

"Get in my way? What do you mean, Raven?" asked Celes, still perplexed by the entire situation. She knew Locke was a nice guy, and probably cared for Raven's condition as much as Celes did, but she didn't think he was the type to fall in love so soon. She had seen him date girls throughout his life. He could be charming, even flirtatious when it came to dealing with other girls. However, he'd always told her that he could never find that spark of love with any of them. He always seemed to be holding out for some one better. Celes had always sympathized with him, because it's hard to know who is the right one. So it made no sense whatsoever that he would be truly in love with Raven. It just wasn't like him and Celes more than anyone would know that. However, she didn't want to say this to Raven.

***

Locke sprinted up to his room and threw himself down onto his bed, clutching at his hair. "Arrrrghhh..." he moaned as Marla burst through the bedroom door behind him. "Why did you say that???" He asked. "Now Raven thinks I love her, and Celes thinks it too!"

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Marla shook her feathers, looking panicked. "I-I don't get it! What's wrong with that!? I thought Celes was the only one you didn't want to think that! Do you know Raven from some time ago too or something!?" she exclaimed.

***

Raven turned, and looked to Celes. "During my reconnaissance on you, I determined that the relationship between you and Locke was very strong, and concluded that the two of you must be in love with each other." she stated simply. "Am I mistaken? I hold my abilities of perception to high credit, so it would be quite surprising if I was incorrect..."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

"What? No! I don't know Raven from before. I met her the same time I met you. It's just. You shouldn't go around using the love word so freely. It's not good! You might get Raven's feelings hurt. Or Celes' feelings. And it'll be up to me to make them understand that it was a misunderstanding." His shoulders slumped as she let out another long sigh.

"I'm sorry, Marla. You probably didn't know what you did. I shouldn't be upset with you."

***

"You spied on us? When was this? As for Locke and I -- we've been friends since childhood. We're really loyal to one another, but we're not in a relationship. I don't think Locke wants that and, uh..." Celes blushed a little. "Well, I'm too busy learning about mamono and trying to get this ranch up to be in a relationship anyway. Heh. I mean, don't get me wrong. Locke is a great guy. He's funny, he's smart, he's reliable, he's caring, and yeah, he's quite handsome. He's a great catch. But I don't know, we've been friends for so long..." Celes seemed to zone out into introspective thought for a moment, leaving Raven simply watching the girl staring into space.

"Uh, yeah, anyway, I guess Locke's gonna be busy with Marla for a bit, so I guess it's up to me to figure out your roost plans. I'll go get the extra building materials in the barn. It can't be that hard to build."

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Marla scratched her head with her talon. "Love is a good thing though. I don't see why you don't love everyone." she said, not seeming too sure how to respond to Locke.

***

Raven let out a thoughtful hum at what Celes said, before, for the first time, she saw the harpy smile. "As I said, I won't get in your way," she said thoughtfully, before continuing right on. "I don't want a new nest. I will nest with Marla." she said suddenly.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

"Love's a good thing, but I don't 'love' everyone. I like most people. Some I like very much. But love... there's a lot of different types of love. But to love someone, like being in a relationship -- well, that's a big step. I guess I just differentiate it more than you do." Locke tried to explain his hesitancy to declare love for just anybody.

***

"Oh? You want to do that? Um... okay. Just as long as Marla's okay with it. Are... are you gonna go ask her?" Celes inquired of the black harpy. Seeing the smile on Raven's lips was an encouraging sign to Celes, even though she didn't know the purpose of it.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Marla shrugged at Locke. "I love *you* Locke... I mean..." she scratched the back of her head. "That's why I want to help you. I thought that's why you want to help me, so we can help each other, and raise lots of little harpies together~" she laughed, grinning.

***

Raven replied simply, "I feel welcome," before glancing back at Celes. "... Despite everything you saw... I was in love with my master... I would like to love again, one day... Although seeing you without love makes me feel equally lonely."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Locke guffawed, and look sidelong at Marla. "You love me, huh? Well... I like you a lot, Marla, and for me, liking goes a long way. It might even result in a few little harpies maybe... one day. I do love the ranch, and you're a part of that - so I guess in a certain way of thinking, I do love you too. But if I'm going to achieve my dream of being the greatest male mamono rancher, I've got to keep focused. So maybe we'll hold off on the children for now, huh?"

Smiling, Locke put his arms around Marla's shoulders and hugged, hoping that this little episode of anxiety would soon be swept under the metaphorical rug.

***

"Oh Raven... seeing what I did between you and your master, I felt so angry for you. If I had been in her position, I'd have given you back all the feelings you felt for me. You're such a cool, sleek, and beautiful fighter, and it hurt me to see you treated that way. It would make me so happy if you loved again one day. Really it would." Celes clasped her hands together and approached Raven, her eyes soft and kind. "Maybe we won't be lonely if we hang out together more often, Raven. Though I'll understand if you still want your own space, of course. Black harpies are known to be tough on their own, right?"

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Locke's Ranch (BlueSlime)

Marla frowned at Locke. "Just like... Huh?" she asked, folding a wing under her breasts. "I wouldn't have minded making you my mate, but... I guess I jumped to conclusions..." she said, before turning, and walking out of the room.

***

"If we could fall in love with each other, then that would be pleasant, but it would seem that such a thought wouldn't be as effective as I might have thought." Raven said distantly, looking to the house Marla and Locke ran off to, as if she could see them. "It seems that I will continue to be lonely for a while yet."