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 Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 11:56 am
There was only so much time a person could spend in the constant company of whores without becoming somewhat ruffled, and Yossarian-Lang Romanovitch Vandrooghenbroeck the Thirteenth had both reached and surpassed that point fair week ago. He was tired, cranky, doubly disgruntled more distruntled than usual and, quite frankly, eager to bail the moment an opportunity first presented itself. Why they had even stayed so long in the first place was beyond him. It had been nothing but a bothersome waste of time!
... Still, at least his long-winded (and constant) complaints had finally prompted a change of "heart" on Jade and Hanna's behalf, finally giving in and agreeing that, yes, perhaps a change of scenery was in order. The dark male wasted no time packing. Any sparse belongings NOT stolen or pawned by pesky Kanus were thrown into bags. Goodbyes to any disappointed 'fans' (which numbered too many and too scantily clad for him EVER) were forced out, albeit through an internal filter of woeful swears. Finals checks were made and, finally, they were free to find better accommodations elsewhere!
Or so he thought.
In retrospect, he really should have prodded further into the hows and whys behind a particular bar related incident, but whenever Wolfy returned to pester them again, looking no worse for the wear and acting suspiciously normal, Yossarian had just thrown any concern for it aside under the pretense of trying not to get their wretched selves involved with anything. King, too, had even returned once or twice since, but never mentioned a thing. Strange, sure, but workable... until it wasn't.
Digressing from that momentarily, however, things had been going more or less smoothly amidst the other members of the group, too. Shae had finally managed to mostly-shake whatever pathogen had been dragging her down (thanks in part to some elixir Hanna provided her) and was functioning normally enough. On fair days, she would go out on errands as normally as she could, and on not-so-far days... well, technically female or not, the whores had still taken an unusual shine to her as the "adorable little prince", and sought her out to dress up, play with, and entertain conversations over, which she was alright with.
It could've been worse, anyway. She would've rather been on their collective good side than constantly suffered dirty looks for hanging around the "real" men of the group.
As for Hanna... well, she didn't dedicate as much of her personal time buttering up the 'local ladies' by comparison, but that was alright be her... seeing as she left to go "exploring" so curiously often. In fact, she seemed absent as often as she was there, sometimes not even mentioning her 'errands' before she vanished completely. She'd been looking a little offcolor, sure, but her her behavior (so far as anyone knew) never changed, and barely a soul even noticed to begin with.
But anyway... they'd scheduled to move out that day, and while the others packed and waited, she was off on a very special supply run with one Jade Curtiss-- for groceries! Supplies had been running low lately, after all, and better to be prepared for their move than wind up hungry! Feeling rather triumphant with a grocery bag in each arm, they'd been on their way back, even...
"Mister Yossarian, shouldn't we be waiting on them?..." Shae questioned meekly as a certain dark warrior promptly stormed out the brothel door.
"They'll undeniably catch up with us!" he barked over his shoulder, "let's just be on with this deplorable move already..."
He wouldn't have been terribly distressed if the two irksome science-therapy monsters never found them-- but alas, that was wishful thinking. Hanna and Jade would never let them be so easily.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 1:08 pm
Honestly, how Aster had spent those nights NOT being mentally scarred beyond ALL reason by the sounds of wuffing and thumping and other sounds from downs tairs..... it would be anybody's guess. Even she wasn't sure how she'd escaped from the mental trauma! ALAS.
But it was much better than her going 'dfajsldkfj' for the next year and a half whenever any sort of situation cropped up. Even if part of her had been leering at all of their 'housemates' from then on with a look of horror. She could only imagine it was something that wasn't exactly that easy to enjoy.
Maybe she was wrong though.
Either way, however, when it came time to go 'LAWL LAWL CHORES' and romp about to a) find a change of housing and b) go grocery shopping, Asteria had been more than happy to romp outside freely (albeit keeping herself reigned in as being further than arm's reach away had a tendency to be bad). Especially when it came to the fact that they were still a fun oddity for the Kanus people.
Tagging along after Yossarian and Shae, Aster found absolutely NOTHING wrong with Yossarian's disapproval of their previous situation.
Kanda likewise was as inclined to get out of there.. as since his hand and foot had healed up, the girls had been ALL ABOUT harassing him... and it had been bothering the living hell out of him.
AUUUGH! HE DIDN'T WANT TO BED ANYBODY. SERIOUSLY. BACK OFF. However, he had been a little better about hissing at anybody now that he wasn't constantly in pain and was capable of getting around by himself.
That and some good ol' swordpractice with Mugen had mace everything better.
"There's not much that could happen to that pair anyways..." Kanda pointed out.
Seriously, Jade was more capable than either he or Yossarian were... as much as it pained him to point that out. It was obvious to Kanda that Jade had purposely declined any sort of major militarian status.
God forbid.
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Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:17 am
"I-I suppose so..." No matter how distraught Shae was over the thought of 'abandoning' a comrade (regardless of how obnoxious they were), even she couldn't deny how the dastardly duo was perfectly capable of handling themselves in the meanwhile... so really, there was no long term harm in all this, right? Surely, Jade and Hanna would think nothing of it...
And it was with that reassurance that she trailed along, biting her tongue against any further commentary. She didn't even know the real specifics of where they were going-- sure, there'd been discussion (from their missing members) of a "lovely little place near the city's edge", but beyond that... did Mister Yossarian even have a clue where they were headed?
Watching the brooding male saunter about, one seriously had to wonder.
But anyway, that wasn't completely relevant just yet. Back with Jade and Hanna.. well, they were still skipping along in good spirits just a few streets over, the little therapist even humming a little tune under her breath and blissfully ignoring any local stares. It was a fairly good day, after all, so why be bothered? They were just curious about the halfbreed cats strutting about!
... Sans one particular group idling on the other side of the street, anyway. They didn't look that intimidating at first-- hell, most people would have hardly even noticed them-- but there was just something a little peculiar about the trim way they dressed, and how stiffly they held their shoulders, and how they seemed to be terribly involved in some conversation amongst themselves, one or two occasionally glancing over their shoulders in a slightly-too-discrete manner...
"... Seems we have some unusual admirers today," she commented offhandedly, as if it were just a passing thought.
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Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 1:56 pm
Well, one had to consider that Yossarian also wouldn't just walk away from a paycheck after they'd invested this much in it..plus yeah. Generally, Aster wasn't too worried about anything in terms of 'abandonment' from their little group. However, she was about clueless when it came to where they were all HEADED. Certainly she knew they were changing housing and the like....
but she ALSO knew that she didn't know where that was in particular. Would they just wander and be lost for a little while? Aster didn't know... but she did practically glue herself next to Yossarian. "So do you know exactly where it is we're going? Or are we going to have to snoop?"
It was a legit enough question.
Kanda, on the other hand, was... well, he didn't know either. He just figured when they got out there their new housing situation would be OBVIOUS to them. But it seemed to him that nobody was quite sure where it was they were headed.
He didn't know, Aster didn't know, and really it would have probably been worth SOME effort to wait on their companions.....
AS for said companions, Jade was more amused by how much attention their little group tended to get than anything else.
"Well, I'm sure we turn all sorts of heads." Jade agreed jokingly, waving it off nonchalantly. Fufufu. They were sooo silllyyyy~~
But there wasn't TOO much wrong with being 'silly' as far as Jade knew. Besides, it wasn't like everybody and their dog (no pun intended) hadn't been checking them out as well. The silly people.
"Surprising how strange it is to not see mench about as much anymore."
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Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 7:32 pm
... But of course he couldn't expect dear Aster to keep her mouth shut and not ask the obvious, no matter how fervently he wished for it.
"We're headed toward the edge of the city," he answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world (and he wasn't just as clueless as the rest of them), "our accommodations will undoubtedly become clearer on arrival..."
"......." Clearly Shae was far from convinced at this, but just continued to plod along in uncertain silence, ears flicked back and idly distracting herself with the sight of Del, who had taken it upon 'himself' to whirl about her periphery in some kind of loopy, time-killing figure eight.
She had, however, noticed something a little curious that they passed by-- people, but not quite the 'average' looking, cityslicker Kanus. Not too unusual at a glance still, but... there was just something that made her hair stand on end when she made accidental eye contact with one, and a brief, tightening clench in her gut...
"True enough," Hanna couldn't help but agree. Jade was right, after all; staring wasn't unusual, so why consider one gape more suspicious than another? Perhaps she was still lingering on it, in some part of her... but for now, all that went on the back burner, and she could distract herself with a wry chuckle.
"You know, I'd say we're about the vastest walking quantity of bare flesh in this city," she mused, "... or at least, the second vastest, but close enough-- ah! Look, it seems the others have come to meet us halfway!"
... Oh, dammit, Yossarian's mind swore for him as soon as he had the misfortune of recognizing just who it was on the other end of the street, making a face when Hanna shuffled her grocery bags enough to even wave at them.
"... Seems we've found them," he grumbled, shoulders sinking a little.
Wasn't this just going to be great now?
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:24 am
And yes, that answer did earn Yossarian a frown. Certainly Asteria had no idea where it was they had been going, but now she was fully aware that Yossarian ALSO had no idea where it was he was going. Ba dum bum dum dum dum. Yeah, well.. there was worse company that one could get lost with, that was for sure! "If you say so.." she said mopily, adjusting her bag over her shoulder and shooting an awkward glance around the street they were trekking down. Hmmmmm.
Kanda was fully aware that Yossarian had no idea where he was going.. especially given his 'convincing' directions to where it was they were headed at the given time. So essentially they were going to wander to the edge of the town until they managed to get themselves SOMEWHERE. Somehow, that didn't sound too pleasant. In fact, it sounded about as pleasant as what that sea lion had done to his FOOT.
>8C.
However, it seemed they were 'fortunate' enough to have ran into their employers on their way to what seemed to be the same place.
Kanda 'nnngh'ed quietly at this new development, but at least NOW they knew they'd been heading in the right direction.
As for Jade, he'd dismissed their newest 'attention grabbing' as quickly as he'd gotten Hanna to do so. Certainly part of him was still holding onto a slight suspicion about it (namely in what so many Xeric were doing in the Kanus city), but beside that, there were some youngins to harass! Yee-haw!
"Well! They certainly look ready to be restationed as well!" Jade chuckled, causing Kanda's tail to prickle slightly. The Kanus probably thought the whole dynamic was Hillaaaaarious. "Yes. Yes we did." he grumbled.
Aster just frowned a little bit, looking to Yossarian. Well, it seemed things were indeed 'becoming clear' to them. :C
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:26 pm
Perhaps if Yossarian had been less distracted by the utter disappointment of their resident slavedrivers reappearing, he, too, might have felt the slow, creeping vibe of suspicion closing in around them... but that wasn't the case, and so he didn't, reduced to scowling lamely at Hanna's enthusiasm.
"Well isn't this a grand old timesaver!" she chirped with utmost maddening earnestness, not pausing for a moment before she unceremoniously stole one of Jade's grocery bags on top of her own to deposit in his already-full arms, complete with, "would you be a dear and carry those for now? Thank you so much, Mister Yossarian; we appreciate it so--"
He wanted to protest that moment. He wanted to so very, very badly... but there was just something terrible and manipulative and cornering about the way she said it, and then, just to make things WORSE...
"-- But I digress; we shouldn't be wasting any more time out here chattering than I've taken up already... Onwards!"
Perhaps Shae had been one of the wiser victims to just keep her mouth shut the whole while that mess transpired, and when it was time to shuffle off again, she did so just as silently. Mister Jade and Miss Hanna were leading, and Mister Yossarian was disgruntled, and there was something almost tangible in the air she didn't quite like, but couldn't place as particularly unsettling... so it was put aside for lack of anything better. So long as she kept her head down, she'd be alright, right? Besides, as they wandered on further through the streets, nothing felt particularly off.
... sans the fact that they were being discretely tailed.
Her tail was already stiff and prickling, and she didn't even realize it.
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Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:24 pm
s**t, ASTER was picking up on the unsettling feeling of... stuff. She wasn't sure what it was, but her tail was slooowwwllyyyy prickling right up. God, if she'd had a FULL tail, the prickling probably would have made her look like a damn squirrel.... and probably have been a hell lot more obvious than it was.
But for the time being, there was obedience and a lack of commenting. If it had been Aster to bring up a "8C" feeling, it would have easily been chalked up to the fact that the whole TOWN made her puff up. Y'know, her being the literal 'cat' of the group next to her lovely group of hiss-spitting-back-in-return kitty-companions in the face of the dogs.
Alas.
"Well, at least our destination is 'becoming clear'..." Aster commented, almost as a sort of 'tease', bumping Yossarian with her shoulder as she went to take one of the newly-piled grocery bags from his arms.. if only to be helpful... while not oozing affection at him.
Alas, her disgruntled better half was very much disgruntled.
Kanda, on the other hand, was the disgruntled party. Not to Aster's chipper prickling of 'ILU' at her half, but..fjks;lfj. Somehow, the return of their 'leaders' didn't exactly put Kanda at ease at all. It was very...awkward.
But eh, they were at least NOT doomed to get lost this time.
Not lost was good.
And excellent
and good. Yep. Yep yep yep! "Looks like we'll actually get where we're headed at the very least now.." he grumbled, causing Jade to chuckle dismissively at the angry male.
"Well, I certainly think Yossarian could have found such a pleasant place as this. The owner happens to have a thing for flowers.. and these particular purple flowers..."
Hmmm... What had they been called again?
"Do you recall what they were called?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:58 pm
"Asters?" In retrospect, the question had no doubt been a very calculated one-- but Yossarian answered it swiftly out of reflex anyway, and immediately fell silent thereafter at the realization of too much irony. Speaking of... he'd glanced over at Aster when she stole one of his bags from him-- albeit with a sad lack of protest. His arms were already too full and, pathetic though it was, even her help seemed better than nothing right then.
And still, they were walking. They were walking and it was tangibly awkward in a very abnormal way. Shae remained warily silent in the meanwhile, and Hanna... Hanna's pace had quickened the slightest bit at their lead, Yossarian noted. Why? He couldn't quite place it...
"Keep those feet moving back there, everyone," she even called behind her, obnoxiously sing-song and innocent. "Time wasting's never wise with too much to do already, you know."
Somehow, that felt foreboding.
... Which only increased when Yossarian looked back over his shoulder and spotted a faintly familiar Kanus still in distant sight, despite having passed the fellow some streets back. Surely they weren't being... but it did seem unfortunately possible...
And then he looked ahead of them and saw yet another eerily familiar mutt in the streets ahead, and his stomach wrenched with a kind of grim, foreboding certainty.
"Hurry up!" Hanna called rather suddenly, taking a very unexpected turn... into an alley he'd thought they were about to pass by, picking up her pace another five notches with such suddenness that he nearly forgot to follow. "Step lightly!"
... And of course both of the Kanus fellows instantly broke into running too, not hardly a split second later.
No one needed to tell Shae twice, there. If there was one thing she did well, it was fleeing, and the adrenaline had just been waiting to flood her system. Really... how did they ALWAYS manage to get targeted and chased about like this, even in a completely foreign land?
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Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:23 am
Aster seemed to perk a little bit at the answer from Yossarian. There was a flower with her name? She didn't know that! Yep, that was going to be a fantastically strange fact she'd hold onto and purr abou- hey, why were they suden turning down this way?
The sudden direction change was a good hint to her and her puffed up tail that she needed to move and she needed to move NOW. She wasn't sure what FROM, but Shae started moving faster... and Aster was right on her tail to do so as well, hefting her bag better into her arms and practically breaking out into a run.
As for Kanda, he was actually LAGGING a little bit at the back of the group, one hand lingering on his sword as he half-watched behind him and half moved along after those ahead of him.
Yes, it was partially his 'looking out behind him' that was slowing him down, it was also partially his foot and it's not-completely-healed-up that was doing it as well. Fortunately for him, however, Koshka (especially a purebred like he was) were naturally quite fast as was.
Then again, Kanus could have possibly been too... but something in him felt they were more of giant lumbering power-machines instead.
He didn't want to test this out yet. However, behind him he could hear the yapping of their pursuers along the lines of, 'Dammit, where does this lead?' 'Dammit! Somebody head them off!'
s**t.
Jade, on the other hand, had put on a serious face. Oh god, seriousfaced Jade. World was gonna end. AhhhhhHhhh!
However, he was moving faster than Kanda (surprisingly), if only to be covering the girls which were being headed by Hanna. Alright, Curtiss... think think think think think.
How was he going to make this situation turn out for the better?
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Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 11:52 am
... Names and flowers would definitely have to be discussed after they made sure to avoid certain doom at the hands of an unknown Kanus mob-- as Aster too was no doubt aware by that point.
Unlike his rival, however, Yossarian hadn't even bothered enough to look over his shoulder once the run command had been issued. He could hear enough to know that they were in deep trouble as-was; slowing himself down by getting a head on look at it seemed pointless. Shae was already booking it, Aster wasn't far behind, and Jade-- ... well, the fact that he was looking genuinely concerned just spoke volumes.
In short, there was a 90% chance of them being somehow and inescapably screwed already.
"Left up there!" Hanna was calling orders, too-- with an eerie (albeit strangled) kind of authority-- "Straight'll dead end us--"
And of course, she was right. Somehow, it didn't seem entirely surprising that she'd learned these back streets during the previous week-- but the Kanus were still gaining... and then, three twists later, they hit a wall. Like, literally. There was a good ten-ish-foot, unfortunately sturdy brick wall blocking their way... and the only way over it?
"Shae, Yossarian--"
"I know, I know!" Yossarian clearly had the same thought in mind already, what with being the most 'able' body in the lot... and of course Shae, as the lightest (while NOT inept), would be the one he got to give a heaving leg up to to get to the top. She, in turn, got the joyous task of them offering an arm for the others to grab without being torn down herself... which probably only worked because of the insane adrenaline running through her. Yossarian first, so he could help, then Aster and Kanda would be next--
"They're this way!"
But oh, man, those voices were getting so loud and there were footsteps and yells and howls and shadows pulsing down the alleyway, and no matter how fast they were, it didn't feel fast enough!...
(And what if Kanus could climb as well as Koshka, too?...)
"... Down another block, there should be a fire ladder you can reach," Hanna explained as calmly as she could, despite a very real and unusual tone of uncertainty, "go as far as you can by rooftop-- eastern edge of the city, glass greenhouse, alright?"
What, why was she explaining THAT to them now?
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Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 4:13 pm
Also fortunate was Aster's lack of desire to scramble once they hit the wall. Sadly, she was a panicky thing at all inopportune moments, so the fact she hadn't automatically hit a wall and tried to scale it was tremendous progress on her part. Yes, she was a good girl who was more than willing to wait her turn.
Assuming her 'turn' to go up came before those THINGS descended upon here ;AAA;.
But she wasn't twitching madly and whining or anything of that sort, so all was well in their fantastic little world. Good kitten, Good.
Kanda, on the other hand, had focused some effort on knocking things OVER, if only to give them some precious extra 'running' seconds to go with. If the trash cans could thwart him, they could thwart Kanus (who probably had an instinct to go 'SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF??????' at them.) dammit.
Or so he hoped, as he'd been making one HELL of a mess on his quest.
Jade frowned as he took the look-out of the crew, looming furthest back and keeping one hand on that...thing.. that one would call an exploding weapon of death. Really, nobody was supposed to be using Yrova's like he did. One had to question how cost effective his battle-style was, but....
"Hanna, I'm going up last." he stated flatly, looking over his shoulder a-... hmmm. What the HELL was all of this foggy stuff filling up the alley?
As everybody else got more and more serious, however, Aster started feeling more and more distressed... ;A;???
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Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 6:29 pm
Yossarian didn't even have time to be 'gentle' when it was Aster's turn, only cautious enough to avoid ripping her arm out of its socket when he practically tore her off the ground. Up, heave, and over... he had to be as fast as humanly possible, after all, since there was still the rival to hoist (who, for the record, was handled with even less delicacy), practically grabbing Kanda by the SCRUFF of his coat when Shae had him by the arm--
... And it was just as the last of the little quartet made it that he noticed something strange-- strange, sudden, and even more alarming than their swiftly-approaching pursuers. A thick cloud of something was threatening to obstruct his vision...
"I see 'em!"
"Hurry up!"
"Just get up already," Hanna, in the bluntest voice she possessed, had very nearly snapped back at Jade's comment. "This isn't a--..." But she never finished, because that was the moment it registered in her senses, a thrum of uncomfortable panic tightening her frown.
"Cover your noses!" she barked up at the wall-straddlers, "don't breathe it in-- and get moving!" To illustrate this point, she mustered up some frightening explosion of strength to heft her leftover grocery bag up and hit Yossarian with it DEAD ON... so hard that he SQUAWKED, lost his balance, and went crashing gracelessly down on the OTHER side. "Shae, Kanda, pull Jade--"
"THERE!"
s**t. Through the noxious, acrid smelling fog, they had finally caught up.
... And in higher numbers than even Hanna recalled counting.
On the other side, Yossarian had made up his mind. For as much as he despised the thought of anything like 'abandonment' with a comrade... he grabbed Aster by the leg to YANK her down by force, and hissed up at the other two fervently. "Hasten yourselves already!"
Shae, of course, couldn't just go so easily-- already coughing and tearing up from the awful stuff she'd managed to inhale before attempting to mask her face with a hand-- b-but to jump down would've left Mister Jade and Miss Hanna with no means to get up, either!
Yet if she stuck around any longer, there was no doubt she'd be caught and ripped down too.
... This sucked in the most horrible way.
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Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 6:57 pm
Hey, Aster was pleasant enough to not COMPLAIN about it when she suddenly was hoisted up off of the ground. Whoopie!!! Though the yelling between their straggling companions wasn't very reassuring either, causing the girl to actually HISS down at them.
Y'know, as if her angry noise could make anything happen other tha- jasfk;lj COUGHHACKWHEEZEUGH. Aster also got herself a good dose of what was coming up to assault her AUUGH SENSSEEESSS. Almost immediately, she clamped her hands over her nose before she was yanked down by her other half to continue their romp.
Ahhh!
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" She squawked, awkwardly climbing down while she attempted to cover her nose at the same time. But yes, moving! SHE WAS MOVING. PROMISE... her head was just a little fuzzy, that was all.
Nnngh. She was going to need a freakin' NAP eventually.
Kanda, on the other hand, didn't feel TOO horrible about leaving those two to their own devices. Jade was capable. He would be able to keep themselves freakin' alive to come harass them another day.
Yep, he expected the pair would come to their rendezvous point no worse for wear by any means.
Jade, on the other hand, had gotten a little bit TOO much of the fun that was about to come to everybody... given that he'd been the one who had practically been IN the stuff before he went 'BUUUHHH?' and realized just what had been coming his way. Welllll s**t.
Life had just gotten a little bit harder.
"Now if you hadn't argued with me, Hanna, we may not be in this situation now.."
Grumble grumble... he could already feel his head going "jldksf"
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Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:10 pm
'Fuzzy' was a very light way of putting it, but that was beside the point. Yossarian didn't have time to let his woozier thoughts get the better of him now, making sure, without a shadow of a doubt, that the quartet was intact (... Shae wound up being the last to go, hesitant, certainly, but possessed by far too much self-preservation to stay behind) before he took off at full tilt. Almost miraculously, they still had a fair lot of their supplies, and the dogs weren't following immediately, but...
Still, he couldn't help but wonder vaguely-- would the devious duo really be alright?
His vision was still unfocussed when they finally outran the fog, but it didn't take him long to spot the marked fire escape Hanna had described, immediately readjusting his luggage to start scaling it. One rung, two rung, three... behind him, he could still hear Shae coughing raggedly, and perhaps if he'd been a little less 'tough', he would've joined in, too. That fetid air still seemed to be clinging to his insides.
"... So, we're due east," he reasoned as levelly as he could, like it would somehow help to settle all their wild senses and throbbing hearts. "I'm certain they'll manage a rendezvous with us there..."
"O... Of course..." Shae choked in a dry tone at the back, mechanically. No one could really blame her for being particularly out of breath or bleary-eyed, all things considered. Still, she struggled quite valiantly not to fall a step behind or straggle.
"If you hadn't insisted on chivalrous insanity, I could say the same, Jade."
But while they vacated the premises, a certain duo remained stuck in the literal thick of it, and one little therapist of said duo didn't have such convenient weaponry to defend herself when the time came to brawl with a wolf pack.
Thankfully, however, it seemed that her grocery bag-launch at Yossarian had left a rather convenient loaf of long crusty bread behind (on the ground, regrettably making it inedible later), which she picked up out of reflex... for the sake of greeting their guests, of course.
"... But we'll just have to deal with it!"
Sure, the odds were against them; they were two willow-bodied 'old coots' against a mob of rowdy, unknown bruisers, backed against a wall (very literally) in a cloud of choking, horrible fog. Their aggressors had all thrown on makeshift masks, clearly prepared for the onslaught... but there was no harm in putting up a vicious fight anyway.
All things considered, it was rather impressive Hanna managed to take out three of her own personal attackers with nothing but some well-placed knees and an oversized dinner roll... but apparently, things weren't meant to be, because she suddenly couldn't catch her breath through her sleeve anymore, and her chest panic-inducingly tight, and they were on her like lions on a gazelle.
She couldn't quite recall the point she stopped recalling things after that-- but surely, it was a proud effort to be remembered... someday.
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