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 Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 9:57 am
Scenerio 8: I dont' think I like this very much....
She hadn't been exactly sure how she felt about coming back 'home'. Sure it was 'home', but it also made her feel a tad sick after all of her past experiences with it. Delicious 'sicky' feelings.
Well, some of that 'sicky' was 'Ogodwe'reonaboatblaarrrggghhh' sicky. Really, she was going to make travelling horrible until she found a way around her motion sickness. Certainly the problem wasn't 'reading while moving' or 'looking out the window'....
...
..
Nn. She'd develop an immunity eventually.
But she'd had to make a point to first. Right now it wasn't a good 'don't get sick kthnx' time because she was in a state of twisted turmoil. Especially avoiding the Inn of their previous 'visit' (or theirs.. she hadn't been visiting) and...
...
.....
..
Well, at one point the group had walked past an alleyway and she'd gotten physically ill, not to the point of vomiting, but she sure as hell had squeezed Yossarian's hand just to make sure he reciprocated (or was capable of it).
He was clueless, frankly, as to why the other woman was so.. panicky with an ill look on her face and even an odd moment where he'd been expecting her to actually get sick. It was abotu then he'd had it with how she was 'feeling' and went about ignoring it.
They'd already settled in to their Inn of ... not-so-choice (a different one from previous visits) and well..
..
Kanda had voted for a 'break up' to look around for work. Not a bad idea either. That meant that if Aster needed to be bedded while the other three went on their little 'search', all the better.
...
.....
Really, could their girls be riddled with more problems?
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 11:23 am
Why she insisted on such ridiculous behavior, he'd never understand.
No, really; it was completely and utterly beyond Yossarian's comprehension as to just how she could manage turning ill at the sight of absolutely uninteresting scenery they happened to walk past. Being motion sick was simple enough to wrap his brain around, sure (that was only caused by the rocking of the boat and even he had been slightly effected before the 'trip' was over), but... an alley? That was nothing short of ridiculous!
Then again, from his point of view, said alley was just another lame fragment of scenery with no bad "feelings" attached, so he never batted a lash over it. Hell, he could've been walking right past the spot he'd fallen and remained completely unperturbed; even if there was a giant dried up bloodstain and a big neon sign that flashed YOU ALMOST DIED HERE, he probably wouldn't have felt upset (aside from the gaudiness of the mental image, maybe).
But that was just him and his silly Get Up And Move On With Life logic, so naturally Aster just couldn't go along with it.
And so for the better part of their entire first day back he'd been stuck as the obligatory source of (AWKWARD) comfort, holding hands, enduring (COMPLETELY ILLOGICAL) clingy behaviors and trying to assuage her until a certain rival had finally suggested 'breaking up'...
Which meant he probably needed to TAKE HER HOME (... to the Inn) so that there was a chance he'd be able to find some productive jobs before sundown. Sigh.
Well at least not all 'their girls' were so endlessly frustrating, as one Shae Elliot Harper had proved to be nice, tempered, and more or less pleasantly accommodating since arrival. Sure, there were moments when she lagged a little or seemed to be off in her own little world, but all it ever took was a quick word or a growl from the 'leaders' to snap her right out of it and hurry the quiet koshka along.
It was a very strange feeling, being back... but so long as they could find some decent work again and get by, it'd all be fine.
Of course she stayed in her usual 'spot' post break up (aka Sir's shadow), content to tag along and keep an eye out for any promising job opportunities as they headed ever closer to the seedier parts of the city, where lackluster bars and other such mercenary watering holes were commonplace.
It was a good area to dig around in... and hell, if nothing else, she could always crack open her bag of tricks and find someone with a gambling spirit to mop the floor with. See? FOOL PROOF PLAN.
(... Sans the possibility of getting chased and/or beaten up by sore losers, but eh, her running skills were probably still intact if needed.)
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:11 pm
If pale Aster's got the response, so did blood-stained alleyways. Especially when it was the... second or third most traumatizing event in her life?
But curling up in a bed to be physically ill was good enough to Aster who simply had to cover her head with a pillow (suffocation much?) and attempt to purr her problem away.
She really didn't mean to be a pain.
It wasn't hard for Kanda to go right back to very places he'd been to (hey, the Highway hadn't been his only haunt, afterall) before being dragged into adventures of..... almost harassing magnitudes.
Sigh.
Though Kanda never 'sighed' any of these sighs out loud, oddly.
Upon entry into one of these 'shady' establishments there was a noticable shrinking of people at the sight of an oh-so-familiar though long-gone figure, though there was also indifference from other figures.
No need to assert authority over the entire room when he was simply looking over the board.
Mmm... some mundane things, but also some pretty good looking tasks as well.
Now he simply needed to narrow things down into 'As a group' or 'in pairs'. Whatever would work out better. If there was something himself and Yossarian could handle better without the girls then that's what they would do.
But first he had to look into jobs that would be worth it.
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:48 pm
Oh, he knew she didn't mean it (she BETTER NOT HAVE), but that didn't make it any less of a PAIN to deal with.
Poor Yossarian was stuck in a very unfortunate situation then, hovering in the doorway of the their little 'bedroom' (AH HA HA) with his back against the wall and arms folded broodingly across his chest while a certain somehow was busy trying to... hell, was she smothering herself? Surely, a little stress wouldn't have reduced her to that level of desperate stupidity, right?
On the one hand, he could've stayed with her and played the 'good significant other' (or whatever the hell his position had been labeled), but on the other, wasting the few hours of daylight they had left instead of heading out and looking for work to keep the bills payed seemed incredibly... yeah, not good either.
Ugh.
"Will you be alright on your own for the moment?" he finally settled on asking aloud, "or would you... prefer the present company for a time?"
Ah, bar hopping was so nostalgic, wasn't it? Just like riding a bike, in a way; you never really forgot the feeling, as it all came flooding back the moment you started up again.
Though there was a difference between then and now-- yes, the fact that she was no longer alone in her searching, but at the side of her resident partner in crime (who had the magical ability of spooking off any previously intimidating folks with just a leer, good lord).
So then, looking over the mass of papers in front of them, hmm... It was sure a hell of a lot fuller than the sparse bulletin boards in Vodenska, and there were a lot more options to choose from with better payoffs, with plenty of peacefully mundane odds and ends there were right up her alle-- ...
"...?" But her train of thought stopped when one paper in particular caught her eye-- or more specifically, the bolded reward sum written on it-- forcing the female to stand on her tip-toes before she could yank it down by a corner for a better look.
... Retrieval of a safe from some property on the southeast half of the island?
Rough terrain of the location aside (apparently it was some lone area far outside the city borders), it didn't seem too terribly dangerous, especially considering the money involved...
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:58 pm
Aster moved the pillow off her face to peer across the room with a slight frown.
"Mmmmhmmmm. I'm perfectly capable of toughing up a bit of sick-feeling on my own." she replied, before covering her face with the pillow again and taking a deep breath.
Breathing would make eeevvvvveeerrryyything better.
"Go ahead and do what you need to. I'm sure I'll still be here when you come back."
Kanda glanced towards Shae as she grabbed the notice from the board, giving her a curious looking before taking the other edge of the paper to turn it enough for him to glance over it as well.
....
...
While he wasn't exactly familiar with the layout of the island, but it seemed like a simple enough job. But there was also one liiiiiiittle thing for him to ponder about.
Why would they require someone to go and do such a mundane task? It looked simple enough to him, afterall. There had to be a catch somewhere.
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 2:20 pm
Yes, because that was really a convincing show of 'capable' right there. AH HA HA.
Needless to say, Yossarian was seldom convinced by her little pillow-breathing and moping show, but... well he'd asked, she'd answered and, for better or for worse, he still needed to take advantage of the final daylight hours and try to find a damn decent job lest they run out of funds and wind up LIVING ON THE STREET.
Or at least, that was how his train of thought went, finally peeling his back off the wall, uncrossing his arms, and straightening slightly.
"I'll... be back by nightfall, then." Yes, good to assure her that he WOULD return in a prompt fashion (in stead of, say, sitting at the dock all night and ditching her overseas). "Be vigilant in my absence and stay out of danger."
Oh, if only he knew that the other two had beat him to the job punch already, though... Hell, even Shae had yet to realize what she'd just gotten them all into, quite content to share the reading part between herself and her partner as she mulled over a few little 'fine print' details. There was an RSVP name and address near the bottom to visit first, so...
"Do you think it's worth investigating, Sir?..." Of course she had come to the same conclusion of 'there must be some catch' as he had, but the money involved was still pretty damn decent (to put it lightly) and it didn't seem like there could be anything too terrible to come of it.
... Then again, things were rarely as they 'seemed', huh?
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 2:35 pm
His assurances earned a 'prrprrr' for an answer as Aster settled into her 'nest o' singularity' time, practically wrapping herself around the pillow that had previously been on her face.
Now to just nap until Armageddon and maybe feel less sick-to-her-stomach (psychologically) when she woke up.
"Mmmmmkay.... I'll see you then."
Kanda had re-read the paper several times before determining that while there had to be a catch, it was worth investigating ahead of time then seeing if they were interested.
"We'll look into it, see if it's worth our efforts, then bring it up to the other two."
Seemed like a steady enough plan. No need to bring the whole brigade into the 'planning' process until they wanted to go into the execution phase.. or were even considering going into such a phase.
A few troublesome people in a house wouldn't have been a huge problem in terms of clearing it out and getting what they came for. Perhaps that had been the problem.
"So for now let's see if we can get anymore 'heads up' on this inquiry."
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 3:05 pm
With all the 'goodbye' (for now) formalities taken care of, Yossarian was finally free to head out again, back out of the room, into the streets, off around the corner and...
So, off to go dig around in the 'usual' (sans one bar that was still burnt to the ground) spots for job snooping until nightfall. WHAT A JOY.
Which just left one duo to handle the matters of actual plot (and monetary) significance, still mulling over their paper of inconceivable-but-as-of-yet-unknown-doom in the seedy little bar and contemplating their next move. Well then... it seemed as if they'd be focussing on a little follow-up for now. Good, that sounded nice and logical and...
Yeah, logical was enough.
"Right. Hmm... I... think this address is somewhere in the industrial district near the heart of the city," she reasoned after a pause, making a mental note of the numbers before releasing the paper to Kanda's custody (since he was the dominant party and all) and headed right for the door, never one to waste a moment idling needlessly. "At least, if memory serves..."
... Ahaha. AH HA HA. Yeah, that 'if' was a big damn joke, because as it turned out, her memory 'served' perfectly as ever, and barely thirty minutes of navigation through the body-and-vehicle clogged streets had passed before they made their way to a rather... peculiar little avenue of "houses" all set in a line between two enormous buildings on either corner (probably science or manufacture related, if the billows of belching steam were anything to go by). Just who in the hell would live in such a place, really? It wasn't quiet or peaceful or out of the way at all!
But alas, the numbers on the paper still matched with one little red brick and stone structure smack dab in the middle of it all, sporting a very... strange looking door that looked like some frankensteined abomination of scrapped steel and copper.
Oh, and the 'doorbell' was actually a cluttered mess of wind chimes and bells like the work of some drunken hippie pack rat. How absolutely... special.
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 4:22 pm
And what a.... creepily uneventful little trip it had been, really. Kanda half-leered at buildings as they passed them by, a frown painted on his face. They sure had an air of 'familiarity' to them, sadly.
Damn time flew, didn't it?
The row of houses they travelled down felt a little too much like 'home' in a way, Kanda staring at houses suspiciously. Not really staring, more than just making sure that they hadn't secretly walked through a portal to Xorosho and that his father wasn't going to be leaping out of buildings anytime soon.
Which was good for all parties present.
The house they arrived at looked... innocent enough. It didn't seem as though the Adams Family would be leaping out of it and snapping their fingers at them. Which was a plus.
But he had to wait until he actually saw the family in question. Or the singular being.
He reached out and like the good 'leading' being tapped on the door. Knock knock.
Here was to hoping they looked presentable enough.
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:12 pm
Oh god, having the dreaded General show up was something NEITHER of them needed right now-- and Shae wasn't even allowing herself to make a connection between then and now. Nope, it was already bad enough to feel queazy whenever she looked down out of windows more than two stories off of ground level (... not that she'd ever admit to it), and she did not need any and more mental stigma in concerns to that man.
Ick.
There was a long and slightly awkward pause following Kanda's knocking, and it seemed at first as though there might be no one home... but then, out of nowhere, there was a sound like shuffling from the other side of the sheet metal, and suddenly the door swung open with a glorious clatter of chimes and bells and shuttering copper plates to reveal--! ...
... A baylk.
Yes, just one, and he didn't look particularly old, either-- maybe 30, tops-- with the strangest orange skin covered in bold white stripes (some throwback to a clown fish?), a floppy black top-fin that fell in front of one eye like some dark poet trying to look tormented, stark sea foam irises, and... sweet god, how many times had he ironed those clothes to get the CREASES that sharp? Perfect pants, perfect dress shirt, perfect cravat folds...
And another few moments of RINGING AWKWARD ensued as he just stood there and stared at at the duo on the steps, face glazed over in a total blank... or something. Was he mumbling to himself?
"A-Ah! Hello, hello, hello!" But then he was suddenly TALKING to them-- oh god, and that quivery tone was just so... and... bumbling and... strange... "You two-- you're a strange young pair to be gracing my doorstep-- the job I presume?" Of course, the moment Shae started to speak up there, he just went on talking and answered his own question. "Oh, of course, of course, of course, why else would two odd young Koshka ruffians be gracing the doorstep than that? Do come in, yes? But take those filthy shoes off in the hall-- I'll go fetch some bleach water to decontaminate them! Step in, step in, step in!"
...
.......
............
Had he just run off and left the door WIDE OPEN?
Well, he'd said 'step in' (... three times), right?
And oh, god, the air inside the little house just REEKED of bleach and disinfectant, even from where they were standing. It was enough to peel the paint off an air purifier.
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:11 pm
Not just a baylk. A 'Monk without detective desires' Baylk mixed with 200% OCD. Bleach to disinfect their shoes?
Really?
Sure race was no issue to him, as work was work, but when they were 'ruffians' and required some detox there was a little.... 'issue' with such.
"OCD tendancies, repeats things and seems to like things in groups of three. Perhaps we should have fetched Yossarian to make our number more tolerable."
...
.....
..
A hint of a joke there perhaps?
However, Kanda didn't quickly oblige to the man's suggestion, simply stepping into the hall and then sitting to wait patiently for their 'benefactor' to return. He had a feeling that the man liked Starch a tad much.
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:31 pm
Well it seemed as if Sir had pegged things just as thoroughly as she had, already very aware of their strange maybe-benefactor's odd compulsive tendencies and-- ...
..................
Wait, wait, WAIT a second, had that been an attempt at HUMOR?
Now there was the end-all of brain breaking thoughts, but at least Shae didn't have much time to contemplate it, having turned her attention back to the 'tasks' at hand and following Kanda into the hallw-- ... oh god, the smell of bleach was even STRONGER now and she had to FORCE herself to close the door behind them. Goodbye fresh, breathable air.
But she just choked down her... choking.... and sat like a good girl, taking in the strange place and all of its white-washed, overly clean ridiculousness as best she could. Had there not been meticulously polished chimes and mobiles hanging from all over the ceiling (all in groups of three and eerily still from the lack of wind), she could've sworn the place was a clininc instead of a home. Ick.
"... T-This is certainly a--"
"Aha, here, here, here we are!" But alas, Mr. OCD was back with a washpan full of something like water and clean white washcloths draped over one arm, setting it all in front of the "unclean" duo with a cheerful smile (... and taking three steps back). "Clean up thoroughly, hmm? Those are some awfully dirty shoes, germy things-- now tell me, you're here in concerns to my written proposition from the outside world, correct? Correct. Of course it's correct. Interested, are we?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:51 pm
Kanda was incapable of such humor. It had simply been an observation, really. With the 'fourth' member bedded (ah ha ha) there were only 'three' of them. It might have tickled a bone or something in the Baylk.
"Unless we're entering further it would be more time efficent to clean up the footprints rather than the shoes which will be leaving it."
Ah ha ha. Logical Kanda was logical. If only to keep from sounding rude, he continued his logic, "Then the total steps I will have taken into and out of your home will have been six."
...
....
Multiples of three had to be very enticing.
"However, to answer your question- yes. It was an intriguing offer that we'd like to hear more about. Details, that is."
....
Very impressive pattern Kanda had adapted to his speech there. Every sentance was numbered in words in multiples of three. On purpose perhaps?
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 8:12 pm
Oooh, smart Kanda was smart-- and adaptable, too! Amazing how someone could not only be freakishly powerful and skilled, but intelligent to boot (in hidden ways)... and it sure did tickle their little patron, who clasped his hands together in front of him in a gesture of plain glee and beamed.
"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! Sensational idea, I must wholeheartedly agree!" And so he immediately swiped the last of the the washcloths (yes, he'd brought three for two people), splashed it into the tub and, without further ado, went to meticulously scrubbing at the floor where his little 'guests' had stepped. No doubt he'd repeat the process when they'd left... at least twice over. Maybe five times.
"Your love of numbers is something I can appreciate." Wait, love of what now? When had that been assumed?! ... Well, it couldn't hurt to cater to the will of the one who'd pay them, right? "Yes, yes, yes... You picked up a flyer, then? A dear friend posted them for me, good fellow. You're interested, hmm? Good money to be had there. Benefits to all sides as well..."
"And... those details mentioned earlier, Sir?" Oooh, Shae's turn to speak up, then? And she was even keeping perfect stride, despite her lungs semi-suffocating from the BLEACH OH GOD WHY.
"Aaah, the details!" Only when Mr. OCD seemed satisfied with his scrubbing (... he could've probably taken the varnish off the wood with that much elbow grease) did he speak up, still beaming. "Indeed, indeed, indeed... mmm, well, shameful tragedy, but... I've a father who passed away recently-- three years, exactly-- and he possessed a rather special something I would like to recover. I'd go and visit the residence myself, but... no, no, no, dreadful air out there. I can't stand it at all. Full of germs."
... O... kay then? So maybe the catch was a little less ominous than they'd first suspected and it was all in the head of a harmless obsessive compulsive nutcase?
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:42 pm
It was a huge off-the-top-of-the-head-counting-number-of-words-and-holding-a-conversation convention. Truly all sans the one who would be eaten by the cannibal would have participated well.
Well, from what had been shared with the duo (perhaps their 'third' party would have made the number participating less 'joyous'.. but damn all the elbowgrease was a little... creepy in a sense.) their benefactor should have chosen a better place to house themselves. In the middle of an industrial district was... filthy amongst other things.
"So simply, to avoid the filth, you are emploring strangers to retrieve this 'special something'?"
... Repeating what was said much, there?
"Should we care to know what this 'something special' would be or would we be better off not?"
A more boggling task to play 'nice with boss' than expected. But not impossible at least. Kanda took a couple of seconds (about 10, but he tacked on an extra 2 for the sake of numbers) to consider the 'pros' vs 'cons' of this job.
Well...
It seemed reasonable enough on the slowly exposed surface of the 'mystery'.
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