paixaorpg | Reunions and Returns: y halo thar [Active]

Entry tags:

Reunions and Returns: y halo thar [Active]

Character(s): Ed, Nina, Alexander, Repliku, Pride, Deidara, Zetsu, and Sasori.
Content: Upon returning to the hotel, the ninja and their new homunculus friend find Ed and the others in the lobby, arguing.
Setting: F4
Time: Early evening?
Warnings: Nothing, really; the Akatsuki ought to be behaving...

After all the earlier events, moving to the hotel had been almost bland---in comparison. In itself, it was interesting enough; an opportunity to see more of the city and its citizens, admire the architecture, and observe occasional other outsiders mixing in among the mass of blonde, blue-eyed natives.

Sasori disliked change. Anyone who knew him knew this, and anyone who knew his art (which, admittedly, was near enough the same) could easily infer it. As such, the city and its strangeness had made him uncomfortable; this was compounded by no longer having Hiruko; his partner at hand again was a comfort, the presence appreciated. Zetsu, he considered pleasant company, and Pride continued to prove himself an agreeable companion, however odd. Arriving at the Haja O Que Houver, Akatsuki’s older artists thought to himself that, thus far, things were working well enough; he had no petty argument with events, as they were unfolding at the time, although circumstances were weirdly coincidental.

Pushing past the doors to emerge in the lobby, circumstance established itself again, suspect in its strength. Ed was there, talking to some small child as another boy and a dog looked on. Certainly, that was Edward Elric; noticeably taller and a little older than the version Sasori spoke with, earlier and in person, but not tall enough or old enough to allow any doubt.

There was a brief pause; the puppet master assessing the situation, before deciding he might well interrupt and approaching to do so. “Edward. This is unexpected.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ed was panicking at Nina's question. Leave a 4-year-old alone? No! Out of the question! Not even for a half-hour! He absolutely had to find a trustworthy baby-sitter if he was going to go and meet this Sasori person.

He was just attempting to do his verbal back-peddling when somebody spoke up behind him. 'No! No of course you're-- Huh?!'

His ponytail flew out in an ark from the speed at which he whipped around to look at the person talking. A boy with dark red hair and a very neutral expression was addressing him. There was something just a little odd about the red-head's appearance, although Ed couldn't put his finger on it. And behind him...

Oh... crap... It was true.

Pride wasn't really sure what was going on up until that point; Edward, last they'd seen him, had been at the café, but here, Pride had never been. This place was new and large, and there were so many people that he would have gotten lost again, like at the train station, had he not been bound and determined to stay with Sasori, and held onto his sleeve the entire time.

Until, that was, they found Edward.

The homunculus blinked, and flickered, momentarily forgetting himself, before he broke into a grin. That was Edward. The same hair and same face, and same eyes, and same clothes. He'd done as he'd promised again, and been found.

Pride's fingers slipped from Sasori's sleeve, and in an instant, he had bolted, near-tackling Edward as he wrapped his arms around his (still taller) counterpart and buried his face against Edward's chest.

Nina was rather forcefully detached from Ed's leg as the Small-Big-Brother-who-wasn't tackled him. Eyes wide, she regarded both with interest. She had no trouble telling the two apart, given their clothing and size differences, but the similarity was still amazing to the small girl. Alexander circled uncertainly, sniffing at the smaller Ed and regarding all of the new people with varying levels of suspicion.

"I talked to you on my box!" Nina declared, pointing at the Ed doppleganger. The rest of the newcomers were, for the moment, forgotten in the eyes of the four-year-old.

Repliku instantly placed himself in front of Nina defensively at the arrival of the strangers who had recognized Edward, being just as wary as Alexander. He was holding his arm out beside him as if he were grasping an invisible sword and although he wasn't, he could easily call upon Soul Eater to materialize any moment should the need arise. For now he settled with regarding the new company with a frown, assessing them carefully.

There was the boy who had tackled Edward and looked very much like Ed himself but only smaller. For a moment he was guessing this was the other brother Nina had been talking about but the girl's reaction seemed to indicate otherwise. Needless to say Repliku was quite confused but he firmly stood his ground, no harm would come to Nina as long as he was here.

Zetsu showed them the way back to their hotel, content to assume that he could hand any pretenses of leadership over to Sasori after this. With Deidara on his feet again, after all, and the puppetmaster found, there was simply no need for him to do anything but be the background support he was intended for. He could certainly see the resemblance between Pride and this Edward, as Sasori called him; perhaps they were twins, or at least brothers? But no.... No, he most certainly could not be. Pride smelled nothing like a human, though he presented himself as such to the eyes. Edward.... now, Edward smelled distinctly human, with some very strong whiffs of metal and fainter ones of oil--why did he smell like a machine?--, plus....

Well, it was difficult to place the last. He'd smelled it on Pride, very strongly through and through, though it had taken him more time to recognize it than he had the other scents--this too lingered around Ed, though not as powerfully. He smelled coppery and sharp and bright, a little like a thunderstorm as it fades away and a little like the buzzing chakra-scent aftermath of a jutsu-intense battle. It was like.... some sort of nature-magic smell, was the best label he could give it. All in all, the mixture disconcerted him a little, and he wondered how two such different beings could look so alike.

It was interesting enough that he remained silent in the face of the whole scene, simply glancing at Repliku--ready to preform some kind of weapon-summoning jutsu or magic, no doubt--before fixing glowing yellow eyes intently on Ed. It wasn't intended to be menacing, though it could probably be taken that way; he was a spy and a gatherer of information. He was meant to watch and listen and figure things out, not talk out of turn, and that was exactly what he intended to do.

Edited 2008-02-15 22:12 (UTC)

Deidara had fallen into step behind Sasori on the way there, content to resume his role in their partnership. It was a strange thing, to be the secondary partner again after having attempted to get used to teaching Tobi, but this was the role he preferred. It gave him more freedom to do what he wanted.

Edward was regarded with typical ninja suspicion, and Deidara suspected the blond hair was what had prompted Pride to confuse the ex-Iwa nin with this person. Curious, how the two appeared identical twins, yet the slightly taller one seemed different from Pride, somehow.

At the silver-haired boy's stance, one hand of Deidara's casually slid into a clay pouch to fill one of the palms with clay, just in case. It couldn't hurt, though Deidara suspected the child's presence was the cause of the reaction.

"Convenient, un."

A nod, primarily in response to the other artist. "It is." Convenient coincidence and a useful surprise, although he hadn't expected such a crowd. He did, however, suspect that they were something to see now, even as strange as the city was. Between both collections, they formed a modestly motley crew...

And as to collecting, it seemed Pride had a claim Edward could not argue with. Pride's actions were ignored; attention on Edward, Sasori spoke. "Convenient, but unexpected; I had intended to contact you on the journals again upon arriving, but I'm pleased to see that that won't be necessary." The girl and dog were certainly not threats, and Repliku wasn't a worry; with his partner present, the puppet master was prepared.

Edward had not been in the least bit prepared to be hugged by the homunculus. He ended up nearly falling on top of Nina, but barely managed to catch his balance as the younger version of his own body clung to him affectionately. That was... rather unexpected. He was glad, in retrospect, that he had been caught off-guard, otherwise he likely would have met the oncoming homunculus with a fist or a boot.

One thing he had noticed, before being tackled, was Pride's eyes. They weren't the violet color that the other homunculi's had been, but the same color as his own, just... dead. As he was being hugged, he recalled that Wrath's eyes weren't violet either, before Dante's influence got to him. They were blue.

... So the violet color came from the stones. That meant that Pride hadn't been tainted yet, in body or, presumably, mind.

Assuming this was really 'Pride'.

'... Pride,' Ed said, catching the homunculus' shoulders and pushing him away a little to look him in the face. He smiled congenially and said, 'Would you please show me your special power? The thing that you can do that other people can't?' He hoped that it wouldn't be something like Lust's fingers or Greed's shield, that Envy could have mimicked the appearance of, or the request would be entirely pointless.

Pride looked up at Ed; he'd gotten slightly bigger between the times Pride had seen him, before and now. But he was still Edward, and he was asking a question.

Something that Pride could do, that other people couldn't. Other people could could eat and drink, and Pride didn't, but that didn't mean he couldn't. Other people walked and talked, and other people died, but didn't come back. But Brother- Envy- he could come back, and the others like him could, too.

Pride's head tilted, and he considered for a long moment, before it finally seemed like he'd figured out what Edward was talking about.

He raised his hand, and touched his fingers to Edward's face, soft and gentle, and then, in an instant, he was gone, flickered into nothingness like a ghost.

Nina's eyes widened at Pride's sudden disappearance, and she voiced her shock in a loud, awestruck gasp. Alexander startled visibly and began to bark. The dog wasn't sure how to take in all these strangers; a disappearing boy who smelled a bit like Edward, except not, a redhead who stank of chemicals, another blond scented in smoke and clay, and a strange plant-human who smelled earthy (of all the scents, that was the one the dog was most comfortable with, but the plant-human was still a stranger and in the dog's eyes still a potential threat to Nina).

"Alexander!" Nina cried, attempting to calm the dog.

Alexander stopped barking, but instead settled into a growl.

Repliku simply raised an eyebrow, the disappearance not that much of a surprise to the replica. He'd seen all kinds of powers and this was just another one of them. He lowered his arm slightly, took a step back so he stood beside Nina and grabbed her hand before giving it a gentle reassuring squeeze. All the while his eyes never left Edward and the spot this 'Pride' had been at before.

"These were the people you were going to meet?" He asked sharply, obviously not liking being put on edge so much.

Zetsu noted with something that wasn't quite annoyance that Deidara was fetching some clay; it was a sensible thing to do in the face of a threat, after all. No, what irked him was that Deidara and Repliku were the only two who seemed remotely hostile or looking for a fight. This meeting had been, after all, requested--it simply happened earlier than expected by either party. He didn't really want to separate any fighting that broke out.... That wasn't necessary or desirable for either of their groups. And what sort of impression would it leave on Pride? They didn't need to accumulate enemies here if they could help it.

They certainly were an odd group; Zetsu's eyes brightened their glow as he tapped into his bloodline, focusing his gaze on Edward to visually strip away the layers of obstructions. It was quick and easy to figure out exactly why the boy smelled like a machine; it only took a couple layers to see Ed's mechanical arms in the entirety of their exposed metal, though he had yet to so much as get within arm's reach of the boy. So that was it.... Mechanical limbs were dangerous. It meant that they could pack a stronger punch, stand more weight and abuse, could sport hidden weapons.... Many things could be done with them, and he didn't like the implications that brought. Had he intentionally replaced his limbs? And why one of each? Why not both arms or legs?

Pride's disappearance was noted with considerable curiosity as well, as he turned his gaze upon the homonculus. In that moment it took to regard him, the rest of the hotel seemed to drop away; he ignored Alexander barking and Nina trying to calm him, ignored Repliku's suspicion and discomfort. Pride looked..... like nothing he'd ever seen before. The invisibility didn't cloak him in chakra, as a normal invisibility jutsu would. No, not at all..... This just made it brighter, faster, harder, stronger.... The glow of his lifeforce was positively scintillating. Nor was it even flowing normally like a regular human's....

No, it shone as a veritable rainbow unfolding before his eyes, thousands of individual rays streaming out, each one a slightly different color, all twisted and coiled together into several brilliant points, like tiny suns burning hot in Pride's stomach. The rays stretched ghostly fingers out, radiating as though there was nothing there at all, rather than flowing through defined channels as they ought to. They grew dimmer and darker as they went, until they became murky and disappeared entirely at the edges of Pride's being, illuminating a hazy, wraith-like human figure.

It was beautiful and perplexing and very, very disconcerting. Zetsu hadn't even realized he was staring so blatantly now, expression one of open, quiet wonder and concentration as his eyes traced Pride's invisible figure, trying to pick apart the details--surely there must be some method to this madness? He didn't make sense at all....

Deidara quirked an eyebrow at the disappearing act and made a motion as if he was going to push back the hair that perpetually fell in front of his left eye. Instead, he unhooked and tilted his scope up just so--and still could see nothing. Not genjutsu, then. Or a very powerful genjutsu. Either way, Deidara wasn't sure what to make of it. The scope was hooked back on.

A glance at Zetsu revealed the plant-nin's interest, and Deidara wondered just what he was seeing with those eyes of his.

The silver-haired boy did seem more interested in protecting the girl than any immediate assault; Deidara allowed himself to relax a bit. And then he glanced to his partner, to see what Sasori thought of all this.

Only calm neutrality and a mild interest found expression; the vanishing act intrigued Sasori more than he would show in such company. Tactical advantage aside, he wasn't surprised the skill hadn't been mentioned---Pride was quiet, and had been reasonably quiet this entire time. It was quite the contrast to the noise, now... He looked from Edward to Alexander, granting that the dog had every reason to be on the alert, and then turned a glace to Deidara. Still neutral, this look was a little more open (at least, to the other artist) and enough so to be understood as statement. We'll have to be patient.

He hated to keep others waiting because he so disliked waiting himself... At least his partner was well aware of this. Little could be done to avoid it, however; he would have to wait until this business with Pride was concluded, before a proper question-and-answer occurred.

Ed could still feel Pride's fingers on his face, very lightly, no more substantial than a feather, but there for a moment, before Alexander started barking and that flickered away as well. 'Alexander, shh shh shhhh,' Ed soothed, turning to look at the dog. 'It's okay.'

It was, in fact, better than okay. It was good. This was something that Envy definately couldn't mimic. If Envy could have turned invisible, he wouldn't have needed to do so much acting or interacting as he had, and since he hated humans, he probably wouldn't have done much of that for pleasure. So if this homunculus wasn't Envy, and he wasn't tainted by the incomplete philosophers stones, he might not have been entirely 'safe', but he did seem... innocent. Not a danger, at least.

'Yeah,' he cast Repliku at his question. 'They are,' he answered before turning his attention back on Pride. He grinned at where the homunculus had been and presumably still was and said, 'That's really cool, Pride! Thanks for showing me!'

Of course, now that he wasn't so focused on assessing Pride's potential as a threat, he did notice the rest of the people in the room. He had to reflect on his answer to Repliku that, actually, it wasn't entirely true. He had no idea who the other two people wearing the same robe-things as Sasori were. The other blond had a slight maniacal look to him that Ed found rather discomforting and the other guy was... bizzar. He wondered if the odd coloration was make-up or, for lack of a better term, natural.

That was good. Edward was happy with Pride, even though the dog wasn't. But the dog didn't really matter. No one else was angry (or at least, didn't seem to be, not that Pride noticed,) and that was pleasing.

Pride flickered momentarily, concentration wavering and making him appear like a bad picture on an old television, and then slipped into invisibility once more, before ducking behind Ed and finally reappearing, quite corporeal, at his shoulder, fingers curled in the cuff of his sleeve.

Now, he thought, would be a good time to make sure he knew everyone. So he did as always, and parroted back what he'd recognized from their conversations.

"Sasori." The person who had come and rescued him when Edward had been gone.

"Deidara." The not-Edward, who seemed not so inclined to fall over again.

"Zetsu." The strange man with eyes like Edward's and gentle touch.

But the tiny one, the little girl and her snow-colored dog, he didn't recognize. On the box, they'd talked. But that encounter slipped his mind. And the boy with hair that looked like a dark moon, and eyes with strangeness in them... he didn't know that one, either.

So he just watched them, head canted, and went immediately silent, as if he'd never talked at all.

She was only too happy to finish Pride's list. "I'm Nina!" she chirped happily, and then pointed to her dog, who had settled somewhat and was simply sitting beside Nina, watching. "That's Alexander! He's really nice, really!" And then she clung to Repliku's hand and swung playfully. "This is Repliku! He's nice, too!"

As quickly as she clung, she detached herself and ran over to the Ed lookalike. She grinned up at him and reached out to grasp his hand.

"And you're Pride!"

She giggled.

Repliku smiled at Nina before nodding to show that yes, he was Repliku, although he wasn't so sure about the nice part. He was only nice when he wanted to be but he was glad Nina thought so. He frowned a little when Nina suddenly detached herself and ran over to the odd 'Pride' person. The replica figured Pride couldn't do much harm though so he let her go.

He had to wonder what kind of name 'Pride' was for a person and the only reason he did not voice his opinion was because he had a rather weird name himself. The way the kid looked, those blank eyes, were starting to eerily remind him of a doll which in turn reminded Repliku of himself. On the spot he decided that he'd stick around a little and if there was no further threat he'd leave to go find his friends.

Zetsu nodded as his name was mentioned, watching the display; he personally had no questions to ask of Ed, having never met him before, so he didn't really mind being patient. Not that he had to be at all, after all, he thought as he cut off his Byakugan. After all, the one he wanted to speak to now wasn't busy with anyone else, and hopefully would be happy enough to speak with him. Besides that, he honestly didn't care what it looked like to everyone else; he always looked strange. What was one more piece of oddity to add to the mix?

That said, he lowered himself into a comfortable kneel, position rather like a seated dog itself. His leaves swayed with a gentle rustle, as if to a metronome--the best substitute he had for a tail his body had been born without. He stretched a hand forward, slow and smooth, almost flat against the ground as he offered it for inspection. He hated to shove things at animals--they were people too, after all, and Alexander could come investigate him at his own leisure. "Hello, Alexander." The words came out not as anything intelligible, but in soft woofs and quiet rumbles, the sounds any friendly dog would make as it approached another. "How are you?" Pleasantries first; substantial conversation could come after he'd been polite.

Deidara never had been one to want to be patient longer than he had to--it was one of the few things in which he and his partner were the same. But this was a case where it was necessary, and if he had, to, he could. He nodded slightly at mention of his name. Aside from that, he had nothing to offer except to tilt his head ever so slightly at Zetsu when the plant-nin began talking to the dog.

As little as Deidara knew about his coworker, he did know about the man's skill in talking to animals, although he had never actually seen it; it was only momentary curiosity. So instead he watched those who weren't familiar with Zetsu's more peculiar traits, because their reactions might be amusing, at least.

"Now that we've met, to move to somewhere better suited to questions and answers...?" It was a request due in part to not knowing the layout of the hotel beyond the lobby (which was uncomfortably open), and in part for the sake of civility---it did not try his patience to be polite, when it most often prompted cooperation and courtesy predictably enough. He'd nodded to Nina as she introduced herself and her animal, and to Repliku; it seemed everyone was settled, that the interactions ought to be informative, and everything else should proceed peacefully enough, so the puppet master was pleased.

Ed didn't quite jump when Pride's invisible hand closed on his sleeve, managing to reign his reaction in to a surprised twitch and a glance back at the homunculus. It was the kind of gesture he'd have expected from Nina and again he found the child-like innocence Pride exhibited comforting. He gave Pride another smile.

He was a bit miffed that Nina hadn't told him she'd spoken to Pride over the journals, but then he'd never asked. Actually, he hadn't even mentioned the name of the person he was supposed to go and meet with, and from posting in his own journal he'd noticed that conversations just tended to crop up in them, few being of any consequence. Repliku, Ed noticed, was looking pretty tense, although he had offered Nina a smile when the little girl clung to him. Ed probably should have paid more attention to the other people around him, but he'd really only been concerned with the possible threat Pride presented and Nina's safety, and he'd kind of failed to notice that the other people around them even existed.

But then, it was hard not to notice a grown man talking to a dog. It wasn't even the baby-talk sort of way people normally talked to dogs. He was... making doggy sounds at Alexander. Edward was somewhat relieved to have his attention drawn away from the strange scene when Sasori suggested moving.

'Uh, yeah. Sounds like a plan,' Ed said with a nod. 'I... haven't checked in yet or anything, but I suppose I should get a room, it kind of looks like I'm going to be here a while...' He shifted, feeling a bit awkward. 'You were planning to stay here too, right? I suppose we could talk in somebody's room?'

Pride seemed pleased that he'd made Edward happy, returning his grin with a soft smile of his own.

At the mention of rooms- not that he'd been ignoring Zetsu's attempt at speaking to Alexander, but he didn't really want to let go of Edward's sleeve, for the moment, anyway- he idly wondered if Edward would give him a room to himself, only to wind up sharing it anyway.

"Your room," he said thoughtfully, lips turned slightly down in absent musing.

Nina, for the moment, ignored the other conversation in favor of watching with fascination as Zetsu began to speak with Alexander. She had never seen anyone speak to Alexander like that before--and it seemed like he was speaking right, too, because Alexander could understand him.

Of course, Nina only knew that because of the connection she and her dog shared ever since her father had asked for her help on the test. She had no idea what it was, so she accepted it as something that made her closer to her dog.

"Hello," Alexander said warily; this wasn't normal, to be speaking to a human in this way, and yet at least knowing someone could understand him was a comfort. "Who are you? What are you?" It wasn't meant in any sort of judgmental way; he wanted to know what sort of animal he was, that he could understand and speak with him in such a way.

Nina, meanwhile, decided to voice her own awe. "You can talk to him, too?"

Repliku was temporarily distracted from the conversation as the half-heartless-looking plant man started...talking? to Alexander. It was quite a sight to see and apparently Alexander understood too. Talk about odd. The replica had been distracted enough that he had to take a moment to recall what people had been saying. Something about a room?

"I have a room," he offered, somehow managing to keep the reluctance from creeping into his voice. He wasn't exactly looking forward to having an entire group of wackos come into his room but then again, he wasn't planning on staying for very long anyway.

For the most part, Zetsu was comfortable ignoring the other humans in the group, strange though they were. "Our name is Zetsu." He offered pleasantly enough, standing as it seemed they were going to move out of the lobby itself; he could speak just as well on two legs, after all. And it was.... nice, to know that someone could ask that question without any prejudice in their voice or judgment in their eyes.... a dog did not condemn, and he was grateful for that. "We aren't quite.... anything, really. Not entirely. We suppose we're closest to being a human or plant." Or chimera, if he had known the term.

But he didn't, so he couldn't help but frown a little at Alexander, mildly curious and concerned. "You don't smell entirely like a dog. And your Nina doesn't smell entirely like a girl. Why is that?" It was just a bare hint of wrongness, a strange sort of blurring.... Nina smelled like Alexander, and Alexander smelled like Nina, but only a little. Only a little, but it was deeper and more pervasive a scent than simply rubbing off on each other from proximity alone could cause. It was.... confusing, to say the least.

"We can. How can you?" He couldn't help but be curious, the warm beginnings of a smile beginning to stir on his face; Zetsu tended to like people who were close to animals as a rule, rather than an exception--save for Grass-nins, where the distinction blurred--and Nina seemed to be quite close with her dog friend, at least. Now too, he was able to turn his attention to the other humans, offering his own two cents. "We have a room as well." He wasn't sure if Haku was going to share it tonight as well, or not.... Either way, he didn't mind. He would sleep with someone else if he had to, or in a chair. Or even on or in the floor, for that matter.

Deidara once again had little to offer; he had spent the night in Zetsu's room, and didn't have one of his own. The conversations going on, furthermore, were of minimal interest to the explosives artist. That Nina could understand her dog was vaguely interesting, but not enough to completely hold his attention.

He was bored. It didn't take much... But when Deidara was bored, things tended to get chaotic. Only his partner's presence kept him from starting more interesting things rolling.

"If you'll check in now, we'll go to your room; I imagine it would be best to establish a place you'll more likely be found, if something should separate you and Pride again." Sasori nodded twice, once to Ed in affirmation (as he did intend to stay, and room with the other Akatsuki present; it was established that he would accompany his partner, and Zetsu's prescence provided additional security. Deidara was sufficient, of course---he hardly slept---but the older artist felt exposed outside of Hiruko, and was well aware of how heavily he slept,) and once to Repliku, acknowledging his offer. Another nod, now, to Zetsu, when he spoke, and a sidelong glance at Deidara---discouraging his partner from...manufacturing his own fun was an old chore, and Sasori suspected duty was due in the near future.

'Okay, that sounds good,' Ed agreed. 'Hang on, I'll go check in.'

He walked over to the concierge, who looked up and smiled politely. 'Can I help you?'

'Yeah, I'd like to check in,' Ed said and reached into his pocket, fishing out a handful of leaves he'd grabbed on his way from the train station to the hotel, after having read on the message board that the local currency was 'shinies'. As he signed the ledger, a thought occurred to him, glancing back over his shoulder to look at Nina. 'Hey, d'you have any crayons?' he asked the concierge. In traveling around Amestris with no permanent residence, he'd found that hotels more often than not did seem to keep a supply of cheap crayons on hand.

The woman reached under the counter and came back with a four-pack of crayons. 'I could give you some paper that's only been printed on one side,' she suggested with a smile.

'That'd be great, thanks.' Ed returned the smile.

After checking in, Ed returned to the group. 'Okay, so.' Ed held up his key, feeling somewhat awkward. 'Third floor then.'

Pride recognized this procedure- Edward had a key, now, for a room, but only one. Not two like he had before. Did that mean Pride did not have a room, or that Edward did not have a room?

After this, would Edward leave again?

Mouth turned further down in contemplation, Pride's grip tightened on Edward's sleeve and he flickered once, thoughtfully. He didn't want to lose Edward again, even though he recognized that any of the others- especially Sasori- could bring Edward back.

The hand not occupied with sleeve reached, sliding over Edward's fingers and brushing the key from them and into his own hand.

Nina could only shrug in response to Zetsu's question. "Ever since Daddy did his test I could." So it hadn't been that long, really; just since she had been in Paixao. But she was already used to it, as it felt entirely natural. She could hear Alexander's thoughts and voice as easily as she could her own.

Alexander's explanation was perhaps a bit clearer. "Since Nina's father did something with circles," he said. "I've seen him do it before, with other animals. But we didn't fuse together like them. He does the circle thing, too, but not with animals." And he pointed his nose at Edward.

Meanwhile, Nina had spotted the crayons. She grinned and ran over to grab at Edward's leg. "Crayons~!"

While Edward checked in Repliku had pulled out his journal and was starting to shift through entries nonchalantly, looking for something interesting. It didn't take very long before he had found an entry that wasn't so much as interesting as it was an utter shock for the replica. He nearly dropped his journal in surprise. Naminé was here.

The name left his lips in a whisper and an uncertain look crossed his face. He wasn't quite sure what to think of this, on one hand he was happy she was here where he could watch over her but on the other it meant she was in the Organization's clutches again. Well, whatever he thought could wait he decided as he composed himself and started ticking away replies.

The conversation didn't last that long and the replica was quick to snap his journal shut and walk over to where Nina was. He was pretty much ignoring everyone else by now as he put a hand on her head and crouched down to her level.

"Nina, I found Naminé and I'm going to go pick her up now, okay? I'll be back soon." He announced before getting up again and glancing at Edward. "Take care of her."

With that he promptly turned around and started walking out of the building, still ignoring everyone but Alexander as he gave the dog a quick pat on the head as he passed him by.

Zetsu couldn't find much interest in watching the others check in, and the other conversations seemed to be crawling along, to him; the only ones offering useful information were Nina and Alexander, probably the last people the others would have wanted to talk to. But he was more comfortable with animals, and in a sense, children--while they could often be cruel, those who weren't tended to be much kinder to him than even the most understanding of adults.

Maybe that was why he felt a small twinge at the mention of Nina's father testing on her and Alexander; the thought brought to mind pungent chemical smells and rows of gleaming test tubes, filled with Nature-knew-what to be poured into syringes and pumped into vulnerable young bodies. It brought to mind Orochimaru, and the way he treated so many children. It was...... unsettling, to say the least. "What sort of tests did your daddy do?"

He nodded to Alexander; whatever the dog's age, by animal standards, he was obviously the elder and more mature part of the pair. "Did you not fuse together during the entire test, or was it interrupted? Do you know what happens when the other animals fuse?" The situation kept looking worse and worse, in his mind. At least 'circles' offered some sort of basis to extrapolate from; they sounded something like the ritual circles used in making complex seals, or that showed up when a summoning was performed..... He followed Alexander's nose with his eyes, deciding that asking Ed about these circles might be in order once they got to the younger man's room.

But for now, he simply nodded a farewell to Repliku as he left, and decided to partially follow the boy's example; glancing at his journal would be a good way to ease the discomfort at the thought of the experiments. Considering he didn't even have to look at the journal to see what he typed, following the others took hardly any attention at all.

Deidara threw a casual grin at Sasori, one that the puppet master might not take as worthy of relief. And the mouth of one hand was full of clay and chewing it, so the worry would be understandable. He wasn't really paying attention to anything else; he would follow Sasori if he had to. He was giving far more thought to what he was going to make, and what he was going to do with it. He hadn't yet decided.

We go over here (http://community.livejournal.com/paixaorpg/330545.html) now, k!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Reunions and Returns: y halo thar [Active]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject