Let the Games Begin ( Christine Svenna )

[Raoul Christophe de Chagny]

“Here Max, you want a treat?” The Old English Sheepdog’s tail wagged energetically and he started running around in circles around his master at the mention of the ‘t-word’, as Raoul referred to it. He chuckled at the dog’s reaction and withdrew said treat from his pocket, dropping it to his pet. Max panted happily and sat at his feet devouring the treat, even as he filled a bowl with puppy chow and the other with water. “Come along, Max…” he called as he walked across the hallway to the television room.

“There you are—plenty of treats.” he said with a smile as he set down the two bowls and ruffled his canine friend’s fur. He had had the dog for several weeks—he had been walking back to the manor from work, and had found that the dog was following him. He had been against keeping him at first, but upon Christine’s insistence and giving him a name, he decided to take care of him after all.

He enjoyed taking him out for walks, and yes, often he did talk to the dog. He didn’t really feel as funny about it as he did originally. It sort of helped having someone there to listen…it made him feel a bit calmer, as who was Max going to tell? He was simply a dog, he didn’t understand half the things he said. Sure he recognized things like ‘treats’ and had a good sense of when he was happy or having a bad day, but it wasn’t as if he understood English. But still, he did feel as if, in a way, the dog understood him. He always managed to brighten his day. He wished he had had a dog when he was a child, before he had met Christine. He had never considered it then, but having a dog might have eased his loneliness.

“Stay here for a minute…” he told Max as he went back into the kitchen to pop some popcorn. The opening ceremonies of an event called the Olympics started in fifteen minutes. They involved a variety of different sports in which a pantheon of countries competed. Several of them he hadn’t heard of, but he was most excited for the football in particular, even though the swimming and sailing interested him due to his naval background.

He had asked Christine to watch the opening ceremonies with him on television, and was going to go wait for her in the living room area once he finished making the popcorn. With the microwave it didn’t take long to finish the popcorn. He poured it into a bowl and returned to the room, sitting on the sofa with Max at his feet. He reached for the remote and turned on the television, munching on the popcorn as he watched the commercials.

[Christine Svenna Daaé]

((Suckish post is suckish, but this is the only Svenna thread I can see on this computer x.x ))

Christine entered the living room area which contained the strange box called television, hoping to meet Raoul there as she had promised she would, and sure enough, there he was. They had planned to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics together, but it seemed that commercias were running at the moment.

She was dressed in a pair of denim pants and a purple blouse -- perhaps not the most ladylike of attire from back home, but it didn't matter here. Besides, it was comfy! The went over and flopped down on the couch next to him, Max instantly jumping up and flopping across the seat and her lap. "Hello, Raoul. Hello, Max," she chuckled, fopping the dog's shaggy ears as he panted, drool dripping from his tongue.

"Ooo! I see you made popcorn" she said, shoving her hand into the bowl and grabbing a handfull of the buttery snack, shoving it into her mouth. "Has anything happened yet?" Her last sentence was hardly intelligable through the mass of food she had reccently shoved into her mouth, as she had yet to finish chewing it.

[Raoul Christophe de Chagny]

Raoul stood up when Christine entered the room, as was a bit of a habit to him since they were children, as when he was younger he was taught to stand whenever a lady entered the room. “Hello, Christine.” he answered with a smile, sitting down once she did. He too laughed when Max immediately leapt up onto her lap. “I think he likes you more than me.” he commented, still chuckling as he reclined on the sofa. It made perfect sense, since she was the one who wanted to keep him in the first place.

“Indeed I did…” he watched as she stuffed a bunch of popcorn in her mouth and shook his head with a bit of a laugh. She hadn’t changed a bit. “I’m glad you like it, darling…no, no nothing’s happened yet…” he replied. “Just a bunch of drink commercials…and that ‘Mac Donald’ restaurant. There’s one in town, you know, but I’ve yet to try their food. It looks good though…I suppose.” he said, glancing at the television again. “Ah, here they are.” The city of London once again showed up on the screen, and he reached over into the bowl for some popcorn himself, popping it in his mouth and chewing.

“It looks so different from the last time I was there…but then again, it hasn’t changed all that much…it’s just…I don’t know, futuristic, I suppose.” he stated as the camera zoomed through various parts of London. As the camera focused in on the stadium complex, he yawned a bit and draped an arm over Christine’s shoulders.

[Christine Svenna Daaé]

((They still have to go to Starbucks XDD ))

Christine laughed when Raoul stood and couldn't help but to roll her eyes a little bit. She laughed even more though when Max began to cover her face in slobbery kisses. “Oh, nonsense! she managed through her fit of giggles. “He's just missed me today because we didn't go outside and play fetch this morning. Isn't that right, Max? Who's a good boy? Who's a good doggy?” She rubbed the dog's ears on both sides with her hands and planted a kiss on his nose, after which, Max gave a happy bark. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cuddled him almost like a teddy bear as he wagged his hairy tail, continuing to sit with them.

She reached her hand into the popcorn again, taking out a single piece. “Hey! Hey Raoul? Look what I can do...” She tossed the piece of popcorn up in the air, meaning to catch it in her mouth, but it flew over the back of the sofa and landed on the floor instead. She glanced over the back of the couch and gave a nervous chuckle. “I meant to do that.... Ummm.... here...” She took another piece and tried again, this time managing to catch it in her cleavage. She pulled at the collar of her shirt and glanced down at the popcorn that had fallen in and gotten caught. “Umm.... well that wasn't quite what I was trying to do.... ” She took the piece of popcorn from her cleavage and stared at it for a moment before sniffing it. Suddenly, “Here you go!” she said as she shoved it into Raoul' mouth. “You can have that piece.”

She picked up yet another piece and tried again, this time succeeding in having it land in Raoul's hair. Christine looked over at him and ave an amused chuckle. She continued her attempts for the good part of the commercial break, getting popcorn in just about everywhere possible before finally hitting herself in the eye with a piece. “Ow!” she exclaimed, taking the thing before offering it to Max, who was already enjoying a good portion of the popcorn which had fallen into her lap from her previous failed attempts.

She listened for a little while as Raoul spoke about how different London looked from the last time that he had been there. She had to admit, it did look pretty, but there was something she really wanted to do..... She reached into the bowl again as she felt Raoul drape an arm over her shoulders. Picking up one last piece and tossing it in the air, finally managing to capture it in her lips. “Aha! Ta-da!” she said, still holding the thing carefully so as not to drop it and turning toward Raoul to show him her little accomplishment.

[Raoul Christophe de Chagny]

Raoul chuckled as he watched Max assault Christine with another round of wet kisses. He was glad the sheepdog was fond of her, and vice versa. It was rather endearing, watching them. They were almost like a little family of sorts. Or at least, they would be someday. He just had to wait for the opportune moment to propose. He was certain that he wanted to, but he also was certain that he wanted his proposal to be special, which was why he put so much effort into planning it. He couldn’t do it today no matter how much he might want to, and frankly he was afraid of the answer if he did.

He was watching the various commercials with mild interest when Christine spoke again. He shifted his attention to her when she tried to catch a piece of popcorn in her mouth, but ended up dropping it instead. He laughed a bit, but his laugh turned into a cough as he tried to maintain his sense of propriety. When she tried again, his face reddened when he saw where the popcorn landed, and he diverted his eyes toward the television again discreetly. However as soon as he had, she spoke again, offering him the popcorn. Offering wasn’t really the right word—before he could politely decline, she shoved the food into his mouth. He choked a little before swallowing. He rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks still flushed, and tried to pay attention to the television again, but watching Christine get popcorn all over the place was much more entertaining.

One of the pieces landed in his hair, and as he picked it out, he tried to give her the sternest look he could muster, but ended up laughing with her. Then he shoved the popcorn into her mouth with a smug smirk. He shook his head in amusement as she finally was able to catch a piece of popcorn she had tossed and smiled in amusement as the opening ceremonies started. “I should like to go back to London soon…especially since this village is close to the city. It’d be nice to drive there for the weekend…”

[Christine Svenna Daaé]

Christine batted her eyes playfully at Raoul when he tried to give her a stern look and ended up utterly failing and bursting into laughter instead. She was quite happy that it had seemed the two of them hadn't let the few years of separation get too far between them. It seemed to her that they were still the same two dear friends they had been before, and with this, she was quite content.

“London? Ooo! That sounds like it could be fun! How close is the village exactly? I'd love to come too, if it's all the same to you.”