paixaorpg | If you were a bottle labled drink me, I'd devour you [completed]

The new additions to the city (namely the ones attacking everyone) went more or less ignored as Kadaj made his way towards the Estale a Cereja. Any that wandered too close were dispatched of fairly easily, and he gave the ones that didn't an irritated glare as he passed them by. He didn't mind the attention, but just the fact that they were getting in his way was rather irksome. Making a mental note to take care of the ones he'd left untouched later, he continued onwards.

It was hard not to miss his target, and with one last regretful look in the direction of the mayhem he had left behind, he approached her, molding his face into a congenial grin and saying to her, "Ai, I presume?" He had to remind himself to at least pretend to be nice to her while he learned more about her ability. A covert glance at the shop beside her, though, made that seem considerably more difficult. Just what kind of place was that?

"Kadaj!" Ai's face lit up, eyes and all, as she grabbed the silver haird one in a hug. Brief, but a hug all the same. She pulled away in a fit of giggles, clasping her hands behind her back. "Mmm, it is so nice to finally 'meet' you."

... Okay, so maybe approaching her hadn't been such a good idea. Backing away from her as stealthily as he could with her still so close to him, he said, "Yes, it's nice to meet you too." His smile was a little strained now, and he tried hiding it with a small laugh. "Friendly, aren't you?"

He turned away and made a show of looking around. "Anyway... did you have any particular spot in mind to sing, or do you plan on doing it here?" He glanced back at her, smile growing with the distance between them as he edged further away. If she tried hugging him again, well, he didn't know what he'd do.

Ai was too thrilled to notice his discomfort, smiling like a damned fool. "Not really, I figure we could step off over to those trees," she said with a nod, not wanting to stand in the middle of the road. She loved attention, but she still didn't know how to handle this place. "I, uh, wrote something new for you."

The Corinthian was an unhappy nightmare. He was walking as far away from Daniel as he could without being considered rude. His hand was in his pocket, fingers wrapped around the knife. It was something to focus on and take his mind off of the fact that he had been thoroughly rebuked, among other things. He was still unsure of his emotions and it made him irritable. Of course, the way that he would deal with stress was not appropriate behavior.

The Corinthian was not very fond of appropriate behavior, then. He was even less fond of how Daniel had chosen to deal with the situation. Daniel was better than that, to accept responsibility for ... The Corinthian shook his head, moving those thoughts out of the way.

They had been walking for a while when his eye caught a shop. An "adult" shop. Feeling mildly immature and vindictive, the Corinthian started moving in that direction. "...is that someone I know?" He said outloud. Of course, he couldn't see anyone at all, but he thought it would be a good excuse to get closer.

...then he caught sight of someone he did know. "...Kadaj."

"Did you, really?" Kadaj asked, pretending to be interested. "How very thoughtful of you. You must be very talented." The flattery sounded appropriately sincere, even though like everything else it was completely fake. He was almost disappointed with how easy it was to lie to her. He hoped once the excitement over meeting him had worn off it would be more challenging, though.

Movement around them caught his attention, and he looked up to see a very familiar figure walking towards them. The warm smile he had been wearing for Ai's benefit twisted slightly-- not quite becoming his usual mocking one but getting close. "Hello, Mister Corinthian," he said, the politeness now distinctly false. "I didn't expect to see you again any time soon... and who's this?"

He looked towards the man dressed all in white, falling silent. There was something almost familiar about him... some part of Kadaj recognized him, that is, but whatever that part was didn't seem entirely conscious, in more ways than one. The smallest crease formed in his brow before he looked away again, back to the Corinthian. He appeared to have forgotten about Ai entirely.

"Yes I-" But Ai stopped mid-sentence when she realised she'd lost Kadaj's attention. She huffed and turned to see what had stolen it; a sandy hair colored man with sunglasses and... the one dressed in white. Ai bit her lip and positioned herself behind Kadaj. Mr. Sunglasses and Kadaj knew each other, but she detected that they didn't exactly approve of one another.

Even though today was supposed to be about her, Ai hung back and stayed as silent as the white one.

Mister. He resisted the urge to start off on some tangent about why 'mister' wasn't an appropriate title for him. He wasn't a mister, really. But it was more that he was looking to pick a fight with Kadaj, rather than he actually cared. The other was irritating, probably a liar, and ...frustrating.

"...what are you doing here?"

The Corinthian didn't really have any authority to ask that, but he'd rather ignore the questions. He was decidedly unpolite about how he spoke to Kadaj, making it clear that he'd rather not be encountering Kadaj here. Briefly his gaze flicked to the woman behind Kadaj. ... interesting choice of clothes.

The girl's indignation at having their "date" interrupted only amused him, but Kadaj made an effort to try and include her again. Sort of. "What does it look like I'm doing?" he asked the Corinthian scathingly, following it up with a very unpleasant laugh. "I'm merely spending some time with Miss Ai here. She said she was going to sing for me... isn't that right, Ai?" He gave her a reassuring little smile, just to make sure she wouldn't be too terribly upset. If she stalked off before he had a chance to use her, he would be very disappointed.

Looking back to the man in white, he replied thoughtfully, "Yes, I think I remember you... Dream, right? Have you had any luck finding Del? I don't think... well, she shouldn't be off on her own." Which was true, and he felt almost genuinely concerned that she should be found. It was hard for him not to empathize with people searching for lost family after all, and Del was... special. Useful, too.

Besides his concerns about how both Ai and Del were coping, he had to wonder at just what the relationship was between the two men. They were obviously traveling together, but beyond that.... Well, whatever it was, he supposed he'd find out soon enough. Maybe they had simply met by chance somewhere, and the Corinthian was planning on eating Dream's eyes...? He would just have to observe them some more.

So she did know the one in white. Side-stepping out from behind Kadaj, a rare moment of shyness overcame her as she took to biting on her thumb. "Daniel? Did you ever find your sister?"

However, the moment Kadaj's attention returned to her, all shyness evaporated and her hand dropped back to her side. Beaming, she gave a short nod. "Mmm, you two are more than welcome to listen. It would sound much better with instruments but I can improvise." Ai tilted her head to the left, smiling ear to ear.

Sing to Kadaj? What was this? Some kind of date? The Corinthian gave Ai a rather disapproving and mildly disgusted look. He was betting, if anything, Kadaj wasn't in this for the singing. And he would prefer to not have to have his own ears assaulted by her voice. It was probably annoying. That was one side of the argument, the other went back to the fact that Ai knew Daniel. So, outright condescension and disgust would probably warrant him an admonition.

"...we were on our way elsewhere," The nightmare said, without bothering to sound nice. He would be civil but he felt no need to try and be nice to these people. Especially not Kadaj, who the Corinthian was beginning to suspect was too conniving for his own good. It was in the way that the other spoke, and... the nightmare did admit that his own general anger was clouding his rationale.

Fuck rational thinking.

Kadaj wanted to ask if the lack of instruments would change how her singing effected people, but he had to resist. It didn't really fit the flow of the conversation, unfortunately, so he would just have to wait until a more reasonable opportunity to question her presented itself.

He was a little curious, though... maybe, if the two of them stayed, he could see how they were impacted by it? He was a little doubtful about how much it would work on Dream at least, for some strange reason, but the Corinthian... "Maybe just one song? You two must have been searching for awhile, so a break might be in order. If not..." He sighed and shook his head, seeming almost regretful. An opportunity like this might not present itself again, but it wasn't important enough that he would draw attention to himself by being too insistent.

Ai blushed every time Daniel addressed her as 'princess.' And either she was too naïve to notice the Corinthian's lack of kindness or she simply refused to acknowledge it.

Kadaj seemed insistant that they stay, which made her feel special; it meant more people to entertain. Tucking her wings down and behind her back as well as she was able, she nodded, pressing, "I promise not to keep you too long. And I could use the practice. Last gig I was at I was sick and not on top of my game. It'd do me good to try out a new song on new friends."

Yes, friends. Because to her, Kadaj and Daniel were already dear to her in some minute way... she hadn't met the nightmare yet to consider him friend or foe.

((apparently I can't hit the right button -_-))

The Corinthian shot Kadaj a somewhat dirty look. It would be more effective if he took his sunglasses off, too. He almost reached for them, knowing that it would have helped get rid of these two nuisances. However, he was sure that again he would get reprimanded by Daniel for doing so. With a sigh, he shook his head. "We should hurry." He commented sharply, "...being detained would ... not help her."

Stopping here would be unwise. Princess Ai, if she was a real princess (which he could not believe. What kind of princess dressed in that manner and did not carry some sort of signet or anything else? She did not act like a princess or have any proper speech patterns... perhaps it was a nickname more than an actual title).

Excellent. Kadaj shot a triumphant look at the Corinthian, sorely tempted to gloat over the fact that they were staying for at least a little bit longer, but of course... that would give the wrong sort of impression. Sigh. Oh well, maybe he would get a chance to later.

Instead, he said, "It shouldn't take that long, right Ai?" He gave her another cheerful smile. Perhaps he was overdoing it...? Maybe a little, he decided. Ai didn't seem to be all that aware of the act he was putting on for her benefit, but that could change at a moment's notice. He didn't doubt for an instant that the Corinthian might ruin it all for him either, since there was no chance he was fooling him.

As for Dream... He looked over at him again, curious again. The man was still an unknown, but judging by his experiences with both Desire and Delirium... there was a chance he would say something that would alert Ai as well, without even knowing it. Kadaj didn't think it was all that likely, though, so he would just have to keep an eye on the Corinthian. He just wished that idea would stop unnerving him.

"Oh, yes, no more than two-three minutes. Promise." Ai winked at Kadaj, eating up all the smiles he threw her way. If she thought Kadaj was beautiful before... dears Gods, when he smiled she swore her heart stopped. She just wasn't ready to kick it into over-girly-in-love mode. Maybe if they were alone... but she wasn't ready to embarass herself in front of the Corinthian and Daniel. Speaking of the eager to leave Corinthian...

"Where are my manners, I'm Ai by the way." Ai held out her hand for the nightmare to shake, her smile warm and welcoming, despite him acting in the complete opposite manner.

Manners. The Corinthian eyed her hand and then blatantly turned his face away from it. He didn't like her, or her clothes, her taste in men and he would probably hate her singing too. He bet her head was filled with silly frilly girly ideas with no substance. And her eyes were boring.

"... Perhaps then, I'll just excuse myself." This was begging punishment from Dream, but the Corinthian could care less. He did not want to waste time here with Kadaj and his little badly clothed girlfriend.

It was very, very hard not to laugh at the exchange between Dream and the Corinthian, but he managed to do it by reminding himself that failing might mean losing them as part of Ai's audience, and who wanted that? Not him, that was for sure. The fact that it gave him more ammunition to use against the nightmare later made it easier too, of course.

"Three minutes," Kadaj agreed, then indicated the trees Ai had nodded to earlier. "Shall we get started, then? I hate to rush your performance, Ai, but we mustn't keep these men long. But, I'm sure someone of your talent won't be too bothered by a little haste." Another smile. Too, too easy. He was almost ashamed.

Ai's face dropped slightly at the blatant dismissal of her hand. –Rude much?- She managed to recover, running the ignored hand through her hair before giving a short, polite bow of thanks to Daniel.

“Thanks so much, Daniel, I truly appreciate this opportunity.”

She gave a nod to Kadaj, bustling forward toward the trees and mentally going through the song once more. “Feel free to sit or stand… not that there’s really any where to sit.” Ai let out a small titter, rolling her eyes. She cleared her throat and made a series of small prep noises before closing her eyes and delving into her song.

“Every time

Every time it gets worse
and I’m not sure
how much longer I can handle this

I’ve loved you in secret
for so long
that I sometimes wonder
if it’s only a whisper
in your memory now.”

Ai didn’t need instruments or fancy lights to convey her feelings through her singing. Whomever she was singing about she loved deeply, needed. And so these feelings passed onto her audience, whether in full force or a small tugging from within. Perhaps Ai should have offered a warning about her abilities, but she didn’t want to scare them off; Kadaj was already fully aware of her “powers.” Ai finished the song off with,

“and yet I know
that you know
but denial is a fear of mine
doubt

When is it my turn
to wrap my heart
up in brown paper packaging
and FedEx it your way?

and pray
to every God in existence
that you won’t cut
it into paper snowflakes
but that you’ll mold
it into your own

Every time.”

When Ai had finsihed, she slowly opened her eyes and awaited their reactions.

[[ Just an FYI in case you don't know, Ai's "power" consists of her abilty to transfer whatever she's feeling unto her audience. I.E. If she's pissed, they riot. Sooo since this is a love ballad, and I wouldn't dream of God-Moding, I just wanted to let you know so your characters react appropriately. ^_^ Oh, yes, and the lyrics/poem are my own work, so copyright fakeness? XD! ]]

The Corinthian's first reaction to most music and/or poetry was that he didn't care. His first reaction to Kadaj's girlfriend's music-poetry thing, or expecting it was that he didn't care plus he thought it would be bad. Not because he disliked her, but he didn't quite 'get' the appreciation of music. It was music, so what. The fact that he had already been in a bad mood, asked to stay against his will and then so reprimanded only put him in a worse mood. Then she had actually begun to sing.

There were a few things that the Corinthian was. And 'nice' was rarely one of his adjectives. Nice conveyed the sort of squishy fluffy pink cotton candy idea in his mind. Or small cute animals. Or people who were ready to give each other hugs and eye each other with the sort of 'inlove-cow' sort of look. No, he didn't do any of that.

...which was probably why he felt ... vaguely uncomfortable when she was singing. It was a hard thing to pin down. The vague shift in emotions which he already had trouble understanding when it was his own emotions. At least usually he knew why he was angry or feeling rather thrilled (as 'happy' was never the adequate descriptor). The nightmare's brows had snapped together and an irritated look was all over his face.

"...what the fuck." He murmured under his breath.

The Corinthian was not necessarily ... built for this. There was a rather large hole in more than just his comprehension, because he could intellectualize this quite well. The little hintings of wanting to apologize to Kadaj or ... express himself in ways that were not his usual. He could give them names and chart them, but that didn't mean he could entirely grasp them. They were a set of emotions he had a hard time reacting to and with. This was only made worse, because Daniel was standing right there. The nightmare fidgeted, and it was clear that he was uncomfortable.

Kadaj's reaction was... considerably more complex. He might have been more human in some ways than both Dream and the Corinthian combined, but he still wasn't about to give in to the onslaught of too-strong emotions Ai's singing evoked. The second he realized what was going on, he averted his eyes, hoping that would somehow dampen the effect. It didn't, but at least it gave him a chance to examine the reactions of the two others.

To his surprise, neither of them seemed to really be effected by it. If anything, the corinthian seemed more annoyed than ever, a fact which would have amused him more if he wasn't trying so hard to suppress any and all emotions at this point. Shifting his gaze to Dream, he was a little disheartened to see even less of a response. Was it just him...?

Inevitably, he found himself looking at Ai again. She was dangerous. Far, far too dangerous, and though he had hoped to control her, if she couldn't even effect an enemy of his like the Corinthian, there would be a very big problem. He might end up being controlled himself, and he could not let that happen. Kadaj knew full well that he was a puppet, but he was not this girl's. Jenova and Sephiroth had a stronger hold over him than her... he hoped.

He forced himself to stare down at the ground, crossing his arms over his chest almost protectively. He wanted to... he didn't know what. He wanted to do something, but what exactly it was.... He shut his eyes, trying to ward it off. He wanted to find Mother, and Yazoo, and Loz, and his big brother, and... be a family with them? No, that wasn't right. Cloud was supposed to die, not be accepted into the fold. And, more than that, Kadaj wanted...

The song finally came to an end. He hid his sigh of relief as best he could and looked slowly upwards, summoning his earlier pleasant smile and directing it towards Ai once more. "Yes, that was wonderful, Ai," he purred, the smallest hint of instability creeping into his eyes. She had to die. There was no question about it. After something like that... he shut his eyes again, fighting back against the lingering power of her song. No, he did not want to welcome her into his family, he wanted to control her. He couldn't do that if he was caught himself. Best to eliminate her before she posed a real threat to him and his cause.

He looked up at her again, his kind smile only intact because of the calm feelings still more or less in place. His arms were still crossed tightly over chest, however, belying his inner tension. How much longer would he have to keep up the act? Any second now one of the warring emotions would win out, and he didn't want to think of what would happen if the one that did was the one caused by her.

Ai positively beamed, bowing low to the three of them in deepest gratitude. "Thank you so much for your kind words, that was... whoo, that was fun. I'm thrilled I got to try out my new song on you guys and that it went over so well." There was a hint of sarcasim as Ai directed her gaze to the Corinthian, but her eyes barely lingered there before averting to her more 'sincere' fans.

Ai moved forward to hug Daniel, saying, "Good luck in finding your sister. I'm sure she's here somewhere, safe. And again, thank you for staying. It meant a lot to me." Ai nodded and stepped back to Kadaj's side, wondering if he'd want her to sing anything else; perhaps something conveying a different emotion.

(( Yeah, I wasn't sure either how or what she'd effect since she's half human, half angel. I know for sure she effects humans (duh), angels, and demons. ^^ ))

If you were a bottle labled drink me, I'd devour you [completed]

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