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 Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 8:06 pm
 Late night in the Lucky Noodle Shop--several months ago, the room would have been filled with lovers, enemies, and more drama than a French opera. But now...? It was quiet. Too quiet. Pi hated quiet things. They put her on edge. But either it was hang out here in the shop where people might wander in now and again, or go home where everyone would sleep in until nine in the morning. Either way, it would be silent, lifeless, and too damn boring. Pi sighed, sprawling on the couch, staring listlessly at the staff as they finished their last few chores until morning.
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 8:29 pm
Achan's journey to the Shop obviously hadn't taken very long. Before he knew it he was there. Of course that was to be expected from living a block away. With an indifferent sigh he padded into the shop and looked around. It was quiet and there wasn't a fox in sight. It was like a ******** graveyard. He was about to leave when he smelt another fox and turning around he looked at Pi. How ironic. He spends a second or two thinking about her. And there she was.
Achan didn't know if he should just leave or go to her, but her turning around and looking at him answered his question for him. With a shrug he padded forward. He was about to hop onto the couch she sat on when he had a flashback of that day he and Rina were on that couch. Biting his lower lip he hopped onto the couch across from that one.
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 8:45 pm
Pi turned at the sound of another fox in the shop. She raised her eyebrows. Achan, the cynical fox she had met just the other day. "Good evening, Achan," she murmured, watching as he sat on the couch opposite. "Or is it good morning?" She smiled at him and curled her tail around her legs, watching him with her scarlet eyes, her eyebrows raising as he chose the couch opposite her. Something was haunting him about it, she could tell by the lip he bit as he settled.
For some reason, Pi was pleased to see Achan. It was an odd feeling, to feel glad to see someone she had only met twice--and it made shivers run down her back at the implications it might hold.
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 4:25 pm
Achan chuckled. "It's quiet a cryptic day today, is it not?" He asked. Usually the shop was bustling with morons, but today it seemed that no one was there, but them two. That was interesting. He wanted to beat himself with a stick right now. To want to see someone again like the way he wanted to see Pi could only lead to disaster. Like the kind that had brought Death and Dante into the world. He sighed to himself and stared at the clock in boredom.
Achan watched her shiver and raised and eyebrow in amusement. It wasn't a particularly cold day today, so that meant it was something else. He would have liked to question her about it, but something told him in the back of his mind that she would probably never tell him what it was and odds were he wouldn't like the thoughts very much either. He glared at the couch she sat on, memories of it still fresh in his mind. Why had he been so naive that day?
Oh right, intimidation.
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 4:59 pm
Pi smiled in spite of herself. "Yes, it is quiet...too quiet, I dare say." She shook herself. "I wonder where the usual crop of idiots are. Normally it's flowing with people." She glanced at Achan. "I assume you are of the same opinion?" she asked. Something was on his mind, she could sense it in the way he glared at the couch she sat on.
Cautiously, Pi glanced at it. It was still the same couch it normally was, large and soft, singed here and there from near misses with the various explosives found around the shop. It was the couch Pi usually sat on, as it faced the window behind the other. Currently curtains had been drawn across, bringing the focus to the blue fox across from her. "What's wrong?" she asked curiously. She quickly but smoothly added, "Mind you, you don't have to answer unless you want to. It's quite all right if you do not wish to answer. We all have our quirks." She fell silent, watching him.
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 6:12 pm
Achan nodded. Even though it was kind of crepy he liked the shop a lot better when it wasn't surrounded idiots. "They're probably out annoying one another elsewhere." He suggested without much thought.
Achan watched as Pi cast a careful glance at the couch. He was almost finding himself telling her that she'd never find out what was bothering him just by looking at it. Her next question surprised him. No one'd ever asked him that before and her almost felt inclined to just tell her. Screw it. He'd kept it bottle up for some while, maybe it'd be helpful to just spill it out to someone.
With a sigh Achan sat up a little straighter. "You know Rina right, and her children Dante and Death?" He asked with a hard voice. "Do you know who their father is?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 6:24 pm
Pi nodded at his remark. "Yeah, better somewhere else than here. Too many people flitting about, flirting and dragging off playmates for the night." There was that shiver again. She shouldn't be able to feel cold, and it certainly wasn't cold, and yet she was shivering...odd, very odd.
She sat up straight as Achan began. She hadn't really expected a response. As she sat, Pi wrapped her wings around her shoulders, reaching up idly to stroke on claw. "I know Rina," she replied cautiously. "I've seen her around, and I know she has a kit and a bowl right now." She narrowed her eyes at the thought of the battle in which she met them. "However," she added, "I don't think I know of Dante and Death..."
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 7:50 pm
Achan snorted. He couldn't care less what those brainless foxes did in their free time. He watched her shiver again in mild curiosity. Why the heck did she keep doing that. It wasn't even cold. But then again she was a female and who knew what possessed a female to make her do what she does?
Achan narrowed his eyes. She had another baby? Poor thing, probably doomed to those cursed wings of hers. He rolled his eyes and continued. "Figures that she'd have more children. And I can't say I'm surprised that she hasn't told anyone about... Them. Death and Dante are my children. Rina and I initiated on that very spot you're sitting on right now." He said that so calmy and without emotion that it kind of shocked him. Perhaps it was the concept of finally getting the truth out. He shrugged the notion off. He was over it and it was good enough for him.
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 10:03 pm
Pi's eyebrows shot up. By his words and tone of voice, he had a hatred for the odd female--which certainly explained why he didn't like the couch. It would hold bad memories for him. Bad memories, she thought. Well, I can certainly understand that. Self consciously, Pi moved to one side, away from the spot. "What don't you like about Rina?" she asked. "She doesn't seem that bad, but then, I haven't dealt with her much, and not at close range." She knew the risk she ran; she didn't want to alienate Achan, and her support of a noodle he obviously hated would probably only make him hate her.
Oh well, she told herself firmly. You win some, you lose some, and that's the way things work.
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 7:33 pm
Achan almost fell off the couch laughing at what the Female said about Rina, but he kept some self control. He watched Pi move away with a smirk. Just moving from one spot wouldn't be enough, but he held his tongue and kept his mouth shut. "What don't I like about her? Everything. From the way she smells to the things she does. She's been nothing, but trouble in my life." He narrowed his eyes. "Then she must obviously put on a "Good Side" for those she wishes to see it." He shrugged. There was no need for him to care about Rina anymore. Not in any form.
Achan's thoughts lined up and he too shivered at what he thought about. The spot, Pi, and... He shook his head slightly and looked at his paws. Not again, he wasn't about to go down that road ever again.
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 9:42 pm
Pi shook her head. "We may have to agree to disagree on that, Achan," she murmured. She stared at her paws, turning them over and over, frowning. She could feel--minimally. She could hear and see well. But she was never meant to taste any but a very few tastes--she could taste sweet things and nothing else. And one thing that had been left out of her was a sense of smell. Ironic, for something basically fox-like, to lack that most canine of senses. Do I smell? And why do I care? The only one that should care about that can't smell either.
She shook her head vigorously. "Sorry, spaced out," she muttered under her breath. Before she could stop herself, she heard, distantly, her raspy voice ask, "What do I smell like?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 8:10 am
Achan shrugged. At this point he could make some really rude comments, but he decided against it. What would be the point of that anyway? He watched her fiddle with her paws before putting his tail over his paws. Clearly coming to the shop today wasn't the brightest idea.
Achan was shocked at her question. What kind of a question was that? He narrowed his eyes for a moment. In truth he had never... Sniffed her. With a mild shrug he took in a deep breath. As it came in there was obviously a lot of scents. He could smell spices, noodles, and all that stuff. Nothing out of the ordinary. Yet.
With that breath Achan had caught a faint whiff of metal. Off of Pi? Frankly, he had no clue. It wasn't something that came often so chances were that it was her. "You smell faintly of metal." He said, finally.
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 4:37 pm
Pi's eyebrows shot up. "Metal...that's interesting...makes sense, though," she murmured, half to herself. "Steel, lead...silicon, maybe even, though that's not really a metal..." She shook her head. "Sorry to get off onto a tangent." Pi got to her paws and padded across to flop next to Achan, again curling her tail around her paws. "I'm also sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable," she added softly. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
She rested her chin on her knees and sighed, wrapping her leathery wings around her shoulders. She didn't want to offend Achan, although a voice in the back of her head told her that he would be easily offended, probably even shallow--but Pi tried to see the good in everyone, including him.
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:46 pm
Achan's mind wandered for a bit as she talked and he nodded absently as she apologized. There was one thing that he was still pondering. Why had she asked such a question? Couldn't she smell for herself? He would have asked her if she could tell him what he smelt like, but that would probably get him a beat down if his thoughts were correct. "So... Can you smell?" He asked.
Achan watched her rest her wings against herself. If there was anything that he was ever envious of it was that. Wings. He'd always wondered what it'd be like if he had wings. An interesting concept, but not quite fitting. He shrugged the idea off and looked back at Pi waiting for her answer.
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:57 pm
Pi stared at him when he asked. Instantly, she struggled--tell the truth? Or lie? A half truth or the whole truth? He might not trust her if she told the whole truth. Or if she lied. People didn't trust those who weren't alive, that much was evident from her past dealings. But then...she didn't want to lie to him. Or tell a half-truth. That was as bad as lying.
Pi looked down at her paws. "I'm...I'm an AI," she began awkwardly. "An artificial intelligence. Seeing, hearing...these are very important. Feeling, too. But tasting and smelling...not so much. So I can't smell. Anything." She braced herself for the inevitable hatred she felt sure would burst forth.
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