Just Keep Swimming (Closed)

Ryker did not hesitate for a moment when asked how he liked his steak prepared. “Rare, please. And a large glass of milk, as well.” The milk had been of his own preference, since Dante didn’t really care what he drank and Ryker just really liked milk. There was just something about the cool smoothness as it ran down his throat. It was a rather nice chaser for bloody steak, he had found.

While he waited for Noctavia to finish ordering, he leaned back in his chair, hooking his hands behind his head. Leaning back, he lifted his gaze to the ceiling, watching the way that the light reflected from the pool danced and shimmered across the white surface. It was a striking visual that, if he tried, Ryker was sure he could connect to life in some quirky philosophical statement, but he decided to forgo that, for now. Rather, he decided to simply sit and wait for this meal which, if it held with the same quality as the rest of the hotel, should prove to be quite delicious.

"Another steak, rare with a glass of milk. Okay thanks. How much?" Noctavia paused for the price, then nodded even though they couldn't see her reaction. "Alright, okay thanks." She hung up and then tilted her head as she looked at Ryker across the room. He was staring at something, but what? Her gaze followed into his direction, following a stream of light gleaming into the pool. Noctavia wasn't as surprised to hear that he wanted milk more than a fancy type of meal. She was high-class and had lived that way since she was old enough to walk and talk.

She looked to his eyes and pointed her thumb over her shoulder to the phone. "It won't be long before they get here, the service here is pretty fast believe it or not. Good think I chose this place or I'd end up having to murder someone." The female looked to Ryker and waves him off. "I'm not the most patient woman if you've noticed." She smirked, sitting back down in her chair, legs crossed. Her brows furrowed at a sudden thought occured. "You know, I just realized something...it seems everyone around here names their, 'internal being' a name." she quoted 'Internal being' with her fingers. "Like how you call yours Dante, and the other Beta calls hers El. How come you named it? I always call her or him or whatever the hell the thing is called wolfie." She chuckled, questioning him.

Ryker lowered his gaze from the ceiling when he heard Noctavia hang up the phone and pad her way back over to the table. It certainly was convenient to have room service available in every room. Almost pathetically so, but who was he to judge? Her comment about not being the most patient woman drew a grin from him. “Aye, you do seem to have the vibe of a lass that’s used to gettin’ what she wants, when she damn well wants it,” he said, chuckling. He wondered if that would cause problems down the line if there was strategic disagreement. Probably, he decided, but he would just have to deal with that when it became a problem.

He folded his arms over his chest when she asked mentioned his naming of Dante. “Well,” he said, chuckling and nodding his head a little bit. “I didn’t so much name him as he, uh, claimed the name, himself. He decided that anyone who could come up with something like Inferno was suitable to be named after, so he informed me that he was called Dante shortly after I had finished readin’ it. It’s his favorite book, so far. What about you, my esteemed Alphess? Tell me a bit about your own other half.”

She sighed, thinking about what lie underneath this pale skin. What was there to say was the question? Noctavia leaned down a bit in her seat, then looked to Ryker. "There's nothing really exciting to say since I've already mentioned my first shift and it's capabilities." She sat up and crossed her forearms on the table. "In all my years of preparation long before you were born and before I hit shifting age, wolfie never really was a problem to me. I can handle my own skin fine as well as wolfie but if I just happened to care less of what he or she does, then I blank out. I'm still there, but its it's decision of what pleases them. Most of the time, wolfie doesn't come out for I am the one in control." She shrugged and grinned slightly. "If I let the thing be without me actually there, things could get ugly."

Out of boredom, her finger traced the curves of the tattoos the laced over her mid-forearms. "Unless you want me gone during wolfie time. Then I'm sure I can make arrangements but I'd warn you now before doing so, nothing about that idea is logical. I know very lit- She stopped at the sound of the sliding door swish open slowly. How long had it been since she hung up? What, seven minutes and their food was here? Then again, they were on the bottom floor and the kitchen was only down the hall. Noctavia glanced to Ryker to say she'll be right back and this isn't over, then lifting herself out of the chair, making her way over to the servant. The man stiffened at the sight of the Alphess in a skimpy black bikini. She could almost hear a chuckle come from the Beta's mouth as he watched the man, if not she must've imagined it. Noctavia looked to the man, a small smile pinching back her cheeks, taking the dishes in hand and balancing them like she had done as a waiter a few years back. She bobbed her head to the table where Ryker was sitting to the worker, the man took two glasses; one of the white wine she had ordered, the other milk filled to the brim.

Setting down the drinks delicately, he looked to Ryker and back to her as if something important was going on and he shouldn't be interfering. Most of the workers there feared Noctavia, for she was the part owner of the building, sharing it with the original owner by paying his bills in return for the last top floors for her pack. She hadn't told Ryker about it, but soon enough he'll catch on on his own. Noctavia looked to the man, he straightened, nodded his head and he was gone, the sound of a cart wheeling down the hallway growing fainter. She shook her head and slide the door closed again, walking back to her seat and plating their meals in front of them. "Viola. Don't worry about the money, I've got it covered." The female shifter stopped, a sudden thought occurring on the spot. "You know? It seems I'm always buying you food." She chuckled a little, sitting own. "Hm...where was I...?" Noctavia took her wine glass in hand, rolling it around as she thought about where she left off, taking a small sip then widening her eyes a bit as it all came back to her. "Oh right, wolfie. Well, yeah, like I was saying, I know very little of what it is capable. On very few dates in my recent history, I've let wolfie free, but it all ends in tragedy for both me and the civilians around me. If I were to let it out and not be present, it could put a lot of people at stake including you and the rest of the pack. I need to stay under the radar, well I take that back. We need to stay under the radar, not that I don't encourage the gift we were all given, but like I have said numerous times before, no one is going to want to see a murderous, ten foot wolf killing a bunch of people in the most popular tourist attraction in all of America." Her canines seeped with saliva as her emerald eyes danced around the streak's juice that poured off it's sides. The hunger inside growled with impatience, she wouldn't be surprised if Ryker even heard her stomach from such a close distance.

Ryker cocked his head slightly as he listened to Noctavia talk about her relationship with “wolfie.” He found it odd that his alpha, who claimed to have been so meticulously trained and prepared, would have such a tenuous relationship with her other half. Ryker and Dante were completely different than that in their interactions with one another. Ryker honestly couldn’t remember when the last time was that only one of them had had a say in what they did. Dante heavily influenced the Ryker’s behavior and Ryker heavily influenced Dante’s behavior and that was simply the natural order of things. A small smile slid across Ryker’s lips as his mind filed away pieces of information, saving them for future reference.

He was about to comment on this fact when the knock at the door interrupted not only his train of thought, but Noctavia’s narrative, as well. He glanced over at the door just in time to see the bellhop more or less freak out at the sight of Noctavia dressed, or, rather, not dressed, as she was. Poor little kid, Ryker thought to Dante, who also chuckled in amusement. “Thanks much,” Ryker said when the young man put his glass of milk on the table in front of him, giving him a warm smile and a friendly nod. In his opinion, it was well worth his while to make friends with the hotel staff. Just in case they could come in handy later on down the road.

At the quip about her always buying his meals, Ryker chuckled and shrugged, spreading his arms out wide. “I’ve been taught to never turn down a free meal, what can I say?” He grinned over at her because they both knew full well that the other was not tight on money, in any sense of the phrase. When she continued on with her description of her relationship with “wolfie,” Ryker leaned forward a bit, propping his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. The aroma of the steak about a foot beneath his nose was extraordinarily distracting, but he forced himself to ignore it until Noctavia took the first bite. Manners were important, after all. He chuckled a little bit. “Aye, I doubt that a whole pack of rampaging, ten foot tall wolves, terrorizing these fine streets would go unnoticed on the global stage,” he said, grinning. “Although” he added, shrugging lightly. “You’ve got to admit, it would be fun.”

Quite suddenly, he remembered something that he wanted to ask Noctavia about. "Oh, I had a question for you, Alphess," he said, shifting slightly in his seat. "It smells like you've recruited another Beta into the pack. What can you tell me about her? I've tried to find her, since I first smelled her, but she hasn't been around much." There was something about the scent of the new Beta, he knew, that was quite familiar, plucking at memories that he had held onto. But he wanted to know more about this Beta before he jumped to any conclusions. Unfounded assumptions had proven to be the bane of much better men than him.

She grinned and tossed her head to the side. "Indeed it does, but we both know the consequences that will follow. As much as it would give us a laugh in the beginning, we don't be laughing when someone gets caught and turned into a lab experiment. Good things don't last forever, my friend." Friend, the word left a bitter taste on her tongue that ached for her meal before her. Noctavia really never had friends, acquaintances and some close connections but no real friends. It felt alien to her. Was Ryker really her friend or just one of her packmates. She shook her head a bit and started to slice into the steak, it cut like butter. Such a nice meal to feast upon, the steak was simple to the Alphess's usual dinners. This right here was probably the most simple meal she's enjoyed all month, for she had been eating the finest dinners since she was born. Just as she lifted her fork to her mouth, Ryker spoke in a concerning yet curious tone about the newest Beta female.

Noctavia took down her fork, dangling it from the handle as she tried to think of the nicest way of describing the female. "Well for starters, she's not my most favorited out of the pack." She shifted her jaw to the side, narrowing her eyes in thought as she set down the fork completely. "She doesn't stick around the hotel very often, mostly out on the town, picking up some dude on her way there, probably." The Alphess shrugged slightly. "Her skills are quite the display, she's a bitten surprisingly. I don't know, but her other half is quite the character. She named her El I believe." She chuckled, dragging the fork over the steak, then peering back to Ryker. "The chick's name is something with an A...Armony? I think it was. No. What was it? Ah shit you've got me thinking now." Noctavia chuckled and thought about the woman's name. Her eyes widened again as it finally hit her. The woman didn't seem to make much of a mark on her, so forgetting the name was quite common to Noctavia. "Arielle, that's the name. Yeah, Arielle Hamilton. Blonde, kinda bitchy sometimes when she's actually in control. Why do you ask?" Noctavia cocked her head to the side, eyeing the man curiously.

“Aye, lab experiments would be not so good,” Ryker agree, nodding his head slightly. While he had never heard of a werewolf being captured and studied, he imagined that it would certainly be possible and rather unpleasant. Although, to be perfectly honest, there were a couple of experiments that Ryker himself would not mind conducting. But that would probably have to wait until there was a Braveheart captive. Her comment about good things lasting forever made him grin for more than one reason. “That they don’t, but they do last long enough.” He watched Noctavia cut into her steak, but held himself still until she actually took a bite. Damnit.

All of what he heard about the new Beta served to further his suspicions, but even then, they were still only suspicions. Until she said the name, Arielle Hamilton. He kept his face carefully neutral, though, until she mentioned that she was somewhat bitchy, sometimes. He then allowed his face to relax into a small smirk, but remained careful not to give away any of his surprise or the fact that he had just identified the one after whom he had flown all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to find. “I’m just trying to learn what I can about my fellow Beta, that’s all,” he replied, smiling a bit. “You say that her skills are impressive? What all can she do? Did she show you these skills or have you just heard of them?” It was something of a relief to hear that her wolf had a name. At least that meant that she had not totally rejected it. Not yet, at least.

She slightly shrugged. "I really shouldn't say her skills are impressive, but she does have a way of getting what she wants. Kinda like me, only the use of men mixes in with it, but El seems like quite the persuader when it comes to things." Noctavia took a bite of her steak finally. The taste of the red wine juice melted on her tongue. She wanted more and more till she could explode but stayed composed and swallowed. "Don't get me wrong, for a bitten she holds herself pretty well together. I mean, sure her other half tends to bud in but other than that at least she's not phasing like most bittens I've come across in my days. El mostly told me her abilities. I didn't bother asking her to prove herself, soon enough it'll be displayed once she relaxes I bet. Most others do."

Noctavia set down her fork and grabbed the glass of white wine, she leaned back into her seat with the glass in hand. Ryker didn't seem like the one to get-to-know this Arielle, but there didn't seem to be a reason of why not to inform him before he decided to meet her. "I met her inside Rapture, the club a few streets down. She was quite amusing to tell you the truth, she even started a riot. The only thing I liked most about Arielle was that she's a total con. Somehow this woman seduced two men into giving her money for drinks and got them to start punching the living hell out of them." She sipped the wine for a moment and then set it back down next to her plate. "She ended up leaving while I was interviewing another dude by the name of Damian. You'll meet him sometime other I suppose. Anyway, I finally finished up with that dude and met El. We had a cigarette or two and started into a conversation of whether or not she wanted to join. And since she believed that Arielle could do so much better than just a Warrior, I decided to let her be Beta. The end. Anymore questions?"

-bangs a bong- Ryker, you there?