-shrugs-

I can just make you pay for ittt~ hehehehehee

-ebil plotting-

"Of course I trust you. I don't think you'd purposely get in a wreck with me." She began to gently lead him toward the foyer with her arm locked in his. "But if you insist, I'll drive I guess."

Near the front door was a couple of hooks. Some were bigger and meant for coats and objects of that manner. Beside those were smaller hooks that held a few key rings. Martisol gently lifted a ring of keys from one of the hooks with her free hand.

The keys rattled and jingled as she reached and turned to door's knob. "I could show you where Val's new house is..." She opened the door and led Rutilus out. "... Ya know, just in case.." She let go of him to turn, close the door, and lock it behind her. She turned back around and motioned for him to follow her down the porch steps. "..You ever need to know where he is."

When she reached the ground, she turned left in the direction of the driveway, following the sidewalk. She pressed the 'Unlock' button on the car's key, and the white Ford Focus in the driveway came to life, its headlights blinking on and off.

I wonder if you would like to roleplay Sax with one of my chars. Either Brighteyes, or Abseilen, I can't decide which...

If Brighteyes, then it may turn into something of a confrontation, because he's companions with Smiling Jack, and is fairly fond of Juliet and...e_e; What with the whole disagreement going on between those three...
But it could be fun.

If Abseilen, I feel the outcome could turn more like a lighthearted rivalry. However, Abby's leg is broken at this time, and she can't move without really exerting herself. This could make the two of them meeting a little challenging unless Sax is near Abby or breaks the ice first.

Your thoughts?

[ theswan; aw, thankyou c: <3 I am, fortunately.

cicaaadia; hello 8D I think I'd go with Brighteyes out of curiousity c': Although I'd really love it if you could start for me, lookatallthesedamnroleplays. >>; ]

theswan

His eyes followed the creature's wooden limbs curiously, pondering on how easily they might be snapped. For just a moment, in his head, he was cracking them one by one, watching the creature's face to see if it felt pain--

--his master's influence, no doubt; The Keeper shoved the thoughts away with a mildly distressed expression that soon faded, relaxing back into his calm state. He would have followed the creature even if he had not been invited to, and so he did, curious.

"Was or is there a mother figure in your life?" The Keeper questioned it, standing with his feathery-furred body leaning against the insides of the oak to rest, inquisitive gaze still set on the thing. How could it even understand a word he said? Did it know what things were called? Trees; wood; plants; water? Did it know that it was made of snow? "Those without mothers, they..." He trailed off, lips pressing together under the golden Kabuki mask.

AA

Rutilus did not like the hidden implications of Martisol's words. The only reason he would ever really need to know where her brother was would be if she had gone missing, and that was a notion he was not fond of. The ocher-haired man was fearful, though he would never admit it, that one day, she would never come back.

"Sounds like a plan," he said nevertheless, trying very hard to resist the urge to just grab her again, pull her to his chest. Man. This had to stop. "Maybe I'll drag him out for a beer. Is it a big place?" He knew fine well he wasn't 'allowed' to drink anymore after his last alcohol-and-pills-induced hospital stay, but nevertheless...

The blonde hopped - not literally - into the passenger seat of the Ford Focus, clipping on his seatbelt. He inhaled, curious, through his nose and found the smell of the car to be to his liking. "Hey, it smells nice in here." And then a frown; he blinked. "...kinda like you, actually, that'd be why," Rut mused close to under his breath.

He checked his hair in the wing mirror, eyes wide as he studied the organised mess of shaggy hair. "Damn." Rut sniffed and straightened again, foot tapping on the floor. "...Turn th'radio on."

Ickydog

Assuming it was an incantation of sorts that she was murmering, Snake could not help but associate it with both sorcery and witchery. Either way it was magick, and, conflicted, he knew not whether to associate it with an enemy, or his wife. Both were dangerous to associate somebody with for him.

Although he felt that he was truly safe in this doe's company, a sense of unease still crept upon the stag as the white vapour's tendrils began to wrap around him. Unconsciously, he took a small step backwards, eyes squeezing shut for a second under the mask. A strange warm, fuzzy feeling found its way to his left hindleg, and--

--relief as he put his weight on it. Snake blinked, wide-eyed, staring in something akin to awe at the mule deer. How could such a little creature perform such wonderful magic? "...You've got somethin' there, I'll give you that," he murmered to her, one corner of his mouth twisting up into that crooked smile. "It--it worked, I'm good."

And then a rare, proper laugh, though gritty and almost a bark; Snake paced back and forth proudly, glad to be rid of the limp. It might have been temporary and it might have been permanent, but any relief was appreciated, as said.

"Thanks, Roe. Really." A pause. "What's Iphea?" It sounded like a God's name or something like that to him.

Kumiko

The gesture of his bent elbow made her stammer for a mere second, though silently; she was not exactly used to being offered someone's arm, and she felt that if she ever had been in the past, she had never taken it. But then, of course, there was no time to think about that, because she was insisting that 'John' move mere seconds later, heart slowly rising upwards into her throat.

It took her a few seconds to properly notice what was watching them. The grin disturbed her, reminding her of various targets in the past - and her commander. Eyes glowed and she hissed, tensing up, still staring right at the thing so that it did not get out of her sight should she glance away.

Sax almost responded violently when Cypher grabbed her shoulders, grip almost painfully tight, and stumbled unskilfully into the alleyway that he pretty much dragged her into. The second she felt his grip loosen she tore herself away with a growl in her throat, shoulders shifting for a second before she looked around them swiftly. "Fuck."

The crimson armband did not go unnoticed and for a brief moment her mind saw it as M.I. - Sax grabbed Cypher's arm with a low snarl, staring at the red material, but then stopped. "...You'll be tellin' me about that later," she informed him, and then gave a derisive snort at his words. He spoke so politely - and more perplexing still, he seemed to know that whatever was watching them was dangerous.

She had the feeling she'd met worse. "I can handle myself, babe, thanks for askin'." Sax muttered dryly, hands pushing into the pockets of the black trousers she wore, hidden by that trenchcoat, looking for a weapon. Shit, no gun. She didn't have a fucking gun! But she did, thankfully, have a dagger. Ah, that dagger. The one she'd meant to give to Snake.

It was a ceremonial dagger, and she was almost reluctant to use it, but hey-ho, saving her ass came first. The sinister figure reappeared at the mouth of the alleyway, grated breath audible from where the other two stood. Long arms continued to dangle as if useless, but the grin never faded, and the eyes never blinked.

It began to move towards them.

Sax's eyes found Cypher's gun. How had she not noticed that before? Because he kept it hidden, she supposed - and now more questions raced through her mind. What was the AoM? How did 'John Smith' know that the thing was inhuman and dangerous?

Hey, man, I'm inhuman and dangerous too...


[ MAN Kumiko that reply was very scattered >>; I have a tendency to forget what the Hell I'm talking about and I didn't want to make it too long so I missed some stuff out but D8 ]

(( oh god I wrote color=10 and size=white at first xD;; ))

-

It shook its head once more, but perhaps it did have one. While it could not remember anything, it had to be created by someone, God or mortal. It could also think of the Oak as its mother, the blissful humming and the shelter it provided were enough to make it feel safe around it. The snowy mass decided not to question the other's abruptly cut off sentence.

Its sight drifted to the endless forest that stretched out around the Oak. It looked endless, at least. Whether it really was, the snow-carved being did not know. Maybe it would never get the chance to witness it, having only been able to cover ground near the Oak. Perhaps, if snow fell in this static forest, it would be able to explore a little more of its new home.

AA

A dismayed tut at the sudden blare of pointless advertisements and irritating commercials. Rutilus' hand darted towards the dark buttons that he soon figured were, as he'd guessed, the ones for controlling the radio. He skipped through stations swiftly, head cocked; had he been able, his ears would have been pricked up, listening intently. Rap was a definite no. Mainstream pop was also a no. Hm. He wasn't too familiar with radio stations, spending most of his days blasting CDs, but soon found the only one he really listened to if he listened at all.

...man comes on the radio, he's tellin' me more and more, 'bout some useless information, supposed to fire my imagination - I can't get no...

His lips twitched into a pleased smile at the sound of one of his favourite bands, even if he wasn't overly-fond of that particular song - it was incredibly overplayed, he thought, and overrated too, though admittedly he liked the lyrics of the verses. It was the chorus that irritated him after a while; the song ended up blurring into I can't get no satisfaction eventually, over and over...

Bright blue eyes skimmed the outside world, taking in the unfamiliar neighbourhood. It was a nice area, he thought to himself - clean, tidy. Nothing like the rough area that he himself lived in, mangy cramped flats and litter in the streets...One day, he decided, he would live somewhere like that. Of course, he could have gone back and lived with Taliene, but...well, she was starting to do his head in. Rutilus was tired of her endless misery - and he suspected that was why Jared had finally moved out, too.

"Looks nice, don't it?" He mused, eyebrows raising appreciatively as he, too, stared at the building. Rutilus unclipped his seatbelt, leaning back as he turned his head to look at Martisol instead. On impulse, the blonde leaned over to her, nose touching her hair as he sniffed it. "...I was right, you do smell nice."

Dismissing the awkward feeling he had grown accustomed to every time he threw logic out of the window and relied on instinct instead, Rutilus clambered unsteadily out of the car, shutting the white metal door after him. Habitually, his hand patted at the pocket of his denim coat, looking for the cigarettes he usually kept there. All he found was his keys and a near-empty packet of chewing gum. The gum was no doubt a replacement for the cigarettes. "...Hey." His gaze had found the cream Labrador on the porch, smile finding its way to him again.

theswan [ LOL you :'D ]

The Keeper hummed shortly and shifted, pacing slowly around the Oak, eyes closing briefly as it listened to that perpetual humming. He had never heard it stop. Some, he had heard, could understand the Oak's eternal song, but he himself could not, and it grieved him somewhat. The Oak could have told him things, he was sure - it could have answered his endless questions about this strange endless realm of deer...

"I have heard it snows here." His gaze returned to the creature past the long lashes that protected his eyes from dirt and grit. "I will find you if the frozen rain falls, and we shall walk." The Keeper liked this idea as he spoke it without thought, nodding slowly as if agreeing with himself.

An unsettling thought hit him; did this innocent creature ever have violent tendencies? Could it tell right from wrong, or had it been created with no sense of morality? Although he was certain the peaceful Twins had never intended it, this Forest contained all kinds of evil - but it did contain all kinds of good, too.

He was supposed to be neutral himself, and yet a guardian all the same. It was difficult to choose who to protect, sometimes.

"Have you ever experienced hatred?"

Kumiko

Sax's gaze flicked briefly back to him as he echoed her words, adding that pet name at the end; this amused her somewhat, though there was no use in showing it. There were, after all, more pressing matters to focus on rather than the gun-wielding man's use of words. And so she looked at the lumbering creature instead, wondering why she wasn't already murdering it. It couldn't be difficult; it was slow, really, unless that was an act to lower their defences somewhat.

Admittedly, however, the woman did not like being armed with only a blade when the man stood beside her was equipped with a firearm. But his back was turned to her now - which could have very well been a foolish move had the circumstances been different. Stupidly, she actually thought of pickpocketing him for a split second - and then, the demon charged them.

It was actually faster than she had originally thought, but not by much. It was too easy to dart aside as it lurched quickly towards them, and too easy to avoid the clumsy punch it threw in their direction. Reluctant to use the dagger, because she was considering giving it as a gift to a certain friend - it's his fault I'm out here! - Sax growled at Cypher instead.

"Will you shoot the bastard?!"

[ SHORT but y'know, I don't want to throw in too much with an action...thing D8 ]

Nnnnyes 8D

Roe watched Snake as he walked limp free. She smiled, holding her head high. "See? Told ya I could!" she said playfully. The doe was proud of her work. With every time she healed she was gaining more control of her abilities. She nodded at him. "You're welcome." She giggled at his question. "Who, not what! Iphea is my mate." She beamed as she said this, thinking of their little one growing inside her. "He'd be proud. I healed without being afraid . . .and without passing out," she added with a giggle-snort.
The doe spun in a tight circle, tail wagging and all smiles.

AA

[ I KNEW she'd have coconut-scented shampoo/conditioner...|: ]

Well, he hadn't thought very far ahead. Rutilus looked at the house, blinking as he thought, then eventually leaned down too to stroke the canine. Abbi. Not a name he'd have chosen for a dog, but then, he'd probably have called it Ratbag for the fun of it. Rut looked over his shoulder at Marti, then laughed, grinning.

"That last one? Tempting, very tempting." He straightened, ceasing his snuggling of the labrador, hands on slim hips. "Uuuh. Well I...guess this is it, I s'pose. What d'we do now?"

The ocher-haired man peered around the place again, curious about this unfamiliar neighbourhood. Wouldn't it be nice to live around here? In his own area, he occassionally was genuinely afraid of being stabbed - he'd been bloody well kidnapped before, after all, stabbing wouldn't really have surprised him.

"'Ey Marti, where d'you work now?"

Ickydog

Now, to a human from the human realm, the term 'mate' would have been confusing. But Snake was not entirely human - he didn't know what the hell he was and doubted if any other human hybrid did - nor was he from that realm. The term 'mate' was used for various inhuman but intelligent-all-the-same species in the Otherworld.

Snake found himself smiling as he watched her; no longer the shy but curious creature he'd just met, now a happy, bubbly little creature whose smile had the ability to make him do the same. "Yeah? Well he should be, it was impressive," the masked stag admitted, ears pricked as he watched her. Happiness seemed to radiate from her like the damn sun.

"Does everyone have mates here?"

Kumiko

She couldn't believe it was so complicated! Certainly she had come across creatures that had to be killed in very specific ways, but often the case was simply that if you hacked them up enough, they were gone regardless. Sax bristled impatiently, gaze following the attacker, examining it quickly. She decided very quickly that she did not want to be bitten by the thing - one, because it would hurt like hell, and two, because there was always a chance it might have some sort of negative effect. Poison, narcotic, disease...

Sax found herself moving to Cypher's side, heart hammering against a thin chest. She did not recognise the language he was murmering almost inaudibly, not being familiar with many languages of the human realm aside from English. Nevertheless, she could tell that this was an incantation of some kind, or so she assumed - and that made her uneasy as well. If Sax could use magick at all it was not powerful, and she was incredibly loathe to make use of it regardless.

"Hurry up, fucking hell it's gonna run at us."

It sounded like a casual mutter. The thing that had attacked them was slouched over again, a distance away, luminous crimson eyes watching the two. It seemed to be torn between attacking again or running away, confused as to what the cologne-scented male was doing. Perhaps it could have attacked the girl had she not moved to his side.

Roe continued her happy prance for a moment, playfully skipping around Snake. It didn't take long for her true self to come out - once she was comfortable, she became the playfull, silly doe.
"Not everyone has mates, I think," she replied to his question. "Many do. There are stags with stags and does with does here too. I met Iphea here, in the forest. Do you have a mate?" Roe thought she knew the answer as Snake seemed to be a loner. She felt lucky to have met Iphea and to be as close to him as she was. He was her everything. The doe was still smiling at Snake - it seemed she couldn't stop.

[ugh double post D8]

Hatred. The creature played around with the word in its head. Sure, it knew what it meant, it just couldn't explain how it felt. Did it not know, or did it just not remember? It shook its head.

If the frozen rain falls.. So it did perhaps snow in this forest. One could hope it did. The creature already felt safe around the other, having been the only one to speak to it. The other deer would start and end the contact with a bow, a few skips around and perhaps a dance, the younger ones did. But this one just stood and talked with it, with no sign of leaving soon.

-

((FFF sorry I'm late, and this post is so short and stewpidjfw ;n;))

"Fawns? No, not yet." She smiled sweetly and looked down. Her grey eyes seemingly twinkling. "Iphea and I are expecting our first fawn." Roe beamed. "A fawn, Snake!" The doe hopped a circle around the stag, her tail flicking excitedly. Facing him again, she composed herself, still smiling, however. Have you ever wanted a fawn? Or, I guess for a human, a child?" She thought that child was the correct term. She'd heard it used before.

Leaning against the brick wall, Cypher crossed his arms. The true heaviness of his body being realized as his collapsing weight pulled down on sore, tender muscles. His vision still blurred from the sudden brightness that had exploded around them; he blinked furiously for a moment waiting for his eyelids to draw back moisture to his dried, dull eyes. His already pale complexion grew an even brighter shade of white as the dizziness began to surface. The pulsating the pain dug itself out from deep within his head, banging on the inside of his skull. With one arm still crossed, he massaged his throbbing temple.

The world spun around him before clarity returned to his vision. Still disoriented, he remained where he stood, allowing the wall to support him. "I taught myself, my dear," he replied as exhausted eyes fall upon her; the blue hues to his irises fading.

The white-haired woman began snarling at him as the tone in her voice lost its curious charm and was replaced with genuine fear. From where he stood, he could her body stiffening. Her shoulders slightly tightened as her clenched fists were pulled forcefully to her sides. Who the fuck are you?

"'Tis a good question, my dear. One I do not have an answer to," His eyes remained stern as he spoke truthfully for there were no lies in his sentences. Unlike most people he assumed she had met, he could not speak of his childhood or his birth place, he barely even knew when his birthday was. He had no recollection of his parents or school or life in general for that matter. Even life within the asylum was just a haze a to him. He only knew that much of his life seemed to have no exist and if it did, he had not known it. Dr. Heung had always told him before to try to "remember" what he had forgotten, but Cypher never could even begin his personal search for he did not even know what he did forget.

His mind was at the risk of being lost in thought when the girl's displeased look drew his attention away from his nagging, subconscious questions. She was obviously aggravated and annoyed by him; eyes burning with an intense rage and body ready to spring. Perhaps she needed a better answer than what he offered. Sighing, Cypher shrugged slightly. He had already exposed himself by using magic, what harm would there be in telling her more? Besides, she possessed a ceremonial dagger. The line of work he did was certainly something she had not seen before.

"What I do know, my darling, is this...I am called 'Cypher' and I work along side the Agency of Mystery. Are you familiar with them?"

Because otherwise I'll be waiting centuries:

He looked around for the other man. Nate was sure that he had seen Rutilus around here somewhere, though there was no trace of the other blonde man to be found as he searched around and around. Eventually, Nathaniel stopped in order to take a breath, and simply wandered slowly, in a more precise search down the street. It wasn't busy exactly, but there was enough people that his view was obstructed. He knew that he could probably use chaotic energies to find him, but Nathaniel had never been very good with that kind of power, he was better at direct manipulation.

He sighed, and kept going, continuing his seemingly fruitless search.

[lol it's ok. I'm just an ignorant Anerican :3. Btw I nearly spazzed when I saw Danila's name there 8D.]

Martisol glanced over at Rutilus as she turned onto a more crowded street, heading in the general direction on the "flea market." As the car straightened out, she spoke. "Yeah I think I've heard a little about those two. But, yeah, that's awesome! You'll have to tell me when you guys have your next practice, I'd love to come listen." A pause as she thought for a second. "Val tried to start a band once. Didn't last very long, though. Anyway, let me guess, you're lead guitarist. Are ya singing, too?" Her southern accent coming out in the last sentence.

As the car passed a building, Martisol caught a glimpse of tents and crowds of people wandering around the park. "Ah ha." She pulled her car off into a nearby parking lot and brought it to a stop in the first space she saw.

As she opened the door, she turned to grin at her best friend. "Let's see what merchandise the lovely locals have to offer us."

Mick

True, the chaotic, ancient creature probably had seen him around the area, on other occassions as well as today. In this particular street was his favourite cafe, after all, where he went for a mug of tea on the days where he managed to get up before the afternoon hit. It was a quiet little place, since he wasn't overly keen on the more popular cafes - not first thing in the morning, anyway. Best to leave half-asleep Tutti Fruttis alone.

He hadn't actually been to the cafe today, though. A day off work meant time to himself for once, not dealing with idiot teenagers and their middle-aged mothers searching in the wrong sections, whining at him about how it was difficult to find things in the store. Admittedly, though, some of the people that spoke to him there were alright; it was how he'd met James and Nathan, after all. Cool cats, they were, nice guys.

"Sorry--sorry, s'cuse me, sorry--s'cuse me--thanks, thanks--'pologies--" He rambled hastily as he pushed his way past the people outside the little shop he'd been in, praying he was loud enough for them to hear him because he couldn't hear himself properly with one earphone in. The blonde stumbled slightly, clumsy, and hastily began walking away, up the street, eyes flicking here and there.

..some girls, they're so pure, some girls, so corrupt--Skip--hey hey mama see the--Skip--here comes the--Skip--five to one, baby, one and five, no-one here gets out ali--Skip--where can I get my ass f--?

Fuck it. Rut tugged the earphone out, switching his Ipod off with a faint huff. He was one of those people that could never decide on a fucking song, and even when they did, never listened to it all the way through. Goddamn. His irritation dissipated quickly, however, at the sight of a familiar head of blonde hair, lighter than his own; Rutilus smiled and hoped it was actually who he thought it was.

The shorter blonde sped up, darting past people quickly, slipping up to Nate's side just to give him a quick sideways glance, check it was him. Lo and behold, it was! "Hi, ass bandit." He greeted him casually, gaze having drifted away, distracted by the people around them. "You busy?"

Kumiko

Her eyes never left his as he dug in his pocket. She was fairly confident he wasn't looking for another weapon, nothing to harm her with; that would be stupid, wouldn't it? Eventually when her brain registered the photograph as one of the man himself, she relaxed very slightly. It could easily be fake, she knew that, but - Cypher was convincing, she'd give him that. Not understanding his job might have been strange to some, but she knew what that was like, didn't she?

Funny, that.

Saxophone found a dry smile pulling at thin lips as he described his work, and she did not speak until he was done, seeing no need to interrupt him. She had relaxed by now; the second he expressed a distaste for his work as a 'field operative', she realised she could relate. And then - their mangy pet. A dog sent out to go fetch and bury... Wasn't that how she and Snake felt?

Paranormal phenomenon; she outright grinned at that, apparently entertained, and quite suddenly, no longer hostile. "A dog eh?" She shook her head, eyes turning towards the sky, disbelieving. Of all the people she could have almost gotten attacked with, it was this guy. Who could handle himself. Joyous occassion; she snorted. "So--I'd say the thing you decided to blind to Hell comes under the category of 'paranormal phenomenon'." A raised eyebrow.

"I don't see no supervisors around, though. You allowed to defend yourself, is that a loophole?" She found herself pleasantly surprised at being able to discuss something that didn't revolve around entirely normal things that regular humans could properly process - albeit with a stranger, a dangerous one at that. Still, he had his charm.

Of course Cypher was the dog of the 'Agency'. He couldn't possibly be a high-up kind of guy; those people never did anything, did they? Sat back in their fancy chairs, watched the others do their dirty work, bashed your head against a sink and grabbed at your clothes...

Sax grimaced. "I ain't a fan of agencies, pretty boy, I'll tell you that." A mild threat was coming, but it was precaution only. "This shit of yours don't affect me, right? Won't get in my way? I don't get up one morning and find a bunch of guys standing in my room waiting to murder me 'cause I ain't freakin' out over a demon like the rest might?" Ramble, ramble.

AA

Her interest in his near-obsession with music, and his new friends, made him smile yet again. Jesus, when had he last grinned so much? He chuckled and shook his head. "I'll drag you along, it'll be great." A sniff; he craved a cigarette, but tried to ignore it. "I actually sorta--we're all kinda...multi-instrumentalists, y'know? So we swap around a bit, I tend to play lead on the acoustic stuff...but y'know. It's handy, havin' so many of us." He paused, momentarily reflecting on the differences between her Southern-American accent and his own distinctly general English one. "Shame Val's band didn't last, I'd go listen. I'll make him jam with me sometime."

Excited, he clambered out of the car as soon as they stopped, brightening eyes darting all over the place. "D'you think they'll have occult shit? I've always wanted to buy some just to scare the fuck out of people." A giggle; a rather unmanly one at that. Rut blinked. "...I think my voice jus' broke." He wound his arm around Marti's shoulder, looking here and there eagerly. "Where to first~?"

Ickydog

Snake nodded in understanding at her forgetfulness, not finding it all that strange really. What he did find odd, however, was the feeling of calm that was washing over him. The stag was so used to being on high alert, constantly watching his back, and Sax's back, and anyone else that was sent out on missions with them - although it was rare, because they were the best team when it was just the two of them.

"Pff. Take it easy." Carefully, he looked around just to be sure they were really safe, and then eventually lowered himself to sit near her, grass brushing against a grey-brown pelt. Snake exhaled, eyes flicking shut briefly behind the wooden mask. "...If I come off as...a bit of a bastard I apologise, by the way. But you've--y'know--proved yourself I guess." A weak chuckle. "Thanks again for sorting me out. My leg I mean."

"He'd enjoy that, probably." Martisol said in reply to Rutilus's suggestion that the two guys jam together at some point.

But when Rutilus nearly squeaked out a giggle, she almost lost her composure. Her hands flew to her mouth as her voice nearly exploded with giggles and laughs. It wasn't helping much, though. The people around them could still tell that she was almost laughing her head off. She didn't care. As the laugh died down a couple of seconds later, she brought her hands back down to her side. "God, Rutti.." Another giggle outburst. ".. Way to be the manliest guy around." She loved moments like this with him.

She felt his arm go around her shoulders and she leaned into his side, looking around as well. As the two walked down the streets, she looked around at the different tables stacked with odd little objects. Most of the tents were the kind the only had a cloth roof. Farther down the road she spotted one or two complete four-walled tents. One was a dark navy-blue. Strange.

Her gaze fell on the closest tent on their right. It had a green cloth roof and was home to a table covered in little knick knacks and other odds and ends. Another table held small costume pieces like masks and hair pieces while a rack off to the side was filled with strange-looking outfits, almost vintage looking. Perhaps someone was trying to get rid of some old Halloween costumes?

Her arm found its way around his waist to get his attention. Her other hand pointed to the tent. "That looks promising. Maybe we can find you something covered in wierd symbols and blood to put up on a table by your door." She joked.

Roe was quite pleased that Snake sat with her - she wasn't sure he would. "You're welcome," she replied to him. The doe giggled. "I didn't know I was trying to prove myself to you." She leaned over and gave the stag a quick nuzzle. "You're not a bastard. You're just wary. And you probably have a reason to be." Roe smiled at him, cocking her head. "By the way . . .what is a bastard? Something bad, I assume!" She had never heard the term before. Probably from the human world, she thought.
Roe nibbled at the grass around her. Along with tiring more easily, the doe's apetite had increased with the little one growing inside her. She smiled at Snake as she chewed. "Does this mean we're friends?" Grass fell from her mouth as she spoke. She giggled again. "I seem to have lost my manners!" Roe was relaxed around Snake. It hadn't taken her long to feel comfortable with him, which was a feat in and of itself. It usually took her longer to trust. She was happy he had opened up to her.

Roe smiled softly and closed her eyes with Snake's brief nuzzle. "You are good company, Snake." She continued chewing her mouthfull of grass, eyes becoming heavy. She knew the stag must be a little uncomfortable with her. Perhaps not her specifically, but opening up to anyone, letting down his gaurd. Unfortunately for him, Roe didn't much care about that. If she considered him a friend, he was a friend to her, and she would be loyal and help him in whatever manner she could.
The doe was starting to drift off. "Sometime, you'll have to take off your mask," she said dreamily. "I'd like to see your face . . ." She moved closer to him, curling up against his warmth. "I'm sorry if I fall asleep. I'm quite tired." She smiled at him again and layed her head down.

Nathaniel seemed to consider the suggestion to fuck himself as if it were a serious suggestion. Then he made a sort of sighing noise.
"Fucking yourself isn't that fun," Nathaniel answered, "Narcicists think it'd be amazing. It really isn't. You know what you like, and you never experiment, never do anything different. It's rather boring to me honest." He wondered then what Rutilus did as his job, Nate couldn't really remember having a job. Raelin tended to do everything whenever they simply felt like it, and Nathaniel had never really wanted employment. Better ways to fill the long millennia.

"Could quit," Nathaniel added, "You are friends with someone that can create money." He also absently took Rut's hand back without really noticing that he had done it.

[ Sorry this has taken me so long, guys >>; I've been pretty stressed for a while and I couldn't reply yesterday as I was out all night with the school fffuuuu ]

Ickydog

Good company. He remembered somebody - a Thirk demon, old and grizzled by now no doubt - telling him when he was much younger to 'keep good company, because in the end, it'll just be you and no-one else'. Snake still wasn't sure what the point of that had really been; a hidden meaning, no doubt, one that he would probably never understand now.

His ears twitched as he noted the slight slur in her tired voice, and quietly, he gave a short chuckle. "Maybe sometime." Snake wasn't sure how he felt about revealing his face. It was easy to hide behind the mask, no guilt and no regrets - the scars really were not his main problem. But how hard could it be to remove?

Carefully, the stag curled himself around the smaller doe as best he could, instinctively keeping her warm and safe with his own heated, scruffy-furred body. "M'not exactly overly-awake myself," he admitted with a gritty chuckle, eyes drifting - then snapping back open. Alert, always alert, but the sounds of the forest were blurring together as one.

"Y'know, uh..." He struggled to find coherent words in his tiring state, chin resting on the ground by her head, weary eyelids sliding down beneath the wooden mask. "M'glad I...met you. Yeah, that..."

AA

Exaggeratedly, Rutilus fanned the air infront of his face with a huff of breath, unhappy with the strong aromas that assaulted the two. Some incenses, yes, he liked - but these were far too potent for him. Rut's hand tightened on hers as he followed, chuckling. "Yeah, yeah, of course." White teeth flashed briefly.

Darkness and candlelight. Eyes of the ocean's blue roses swept around twice more, in awe. "Holy shit," Rutilus whispered, chest against Martisol's back - for comfort on both of their behalfs. He let go of her hand, guitar-burnt fingers resting on a slim shoulder instead. Silver hair caught his attention, drawing it away from one sculpture in particular that he had wanted to go and investigate; a twisted foetus of sorts, jaws agape in a silent, snarling scream. Horrifying, yes - but interesting.

A psychic, eh? These people were usually fun to listen to. Sometimes, they were accurate enough to scare the living shit out of him, and sometimes, they were laughable. "Get back in there," he growled lightly in Martisol's ear, nudging her forwards then coughing loudly to attract attention before the blonde could disagree with him. "S'cuse me!" He was smiling, bright. "'Allo."

Mick

While some might have been disgusted, and some might have been humoured, Rutilus only rolled his eyes yet again at Nathaniel's complaints. He was used to them - found them a bit pointless and unnecessary, but used to them all the same. Sex, it seemed, was all Nate ever thought about. Rutilus? Not so much, contrary to popular belief. Usually.

"I'm also an honest guy," the shaggy-haired blonde reminded him, raising an eyebrow. "And--poofter, gerroff." Rutilus huffed, jerking his hand back, shoving it into his pocket with a sniff. "Dick, y'gonna make me look like a queer."

Kumiko

The sound of thunder was the first thing to make her visibly cringe, bullets shooting back and forth in her brain, ripping through flesh and muscle, and always, everywhere, was the sound and smell and throttling, choking grip of murder. Happiness was a warm gun. and desperation was so close by as fear crawled up her throat and threatened to turn her inside out--

Her auditory and mental hallucinations ceased abruptly all of a sudden as she realised she was alone. Suddenly more panic swept over her and she turned just in time to hear him call over his shoulder. What had she missed? Where was he going, why was he leaving?! Quickly Sax was at his side again, calming herself, trying to act as if she had not just had a minor frenzied episode.

Cypher's voice was rich, deep, and that helped her as he spoke of his job. It was similar to her comrade's, though not quite so gritty, and Snake did not possess the accent. She nodded numbly, mind flicking here and there, briefly considering the downfalls of all that paperwork. She'd had to file reports before - usually having to work on them whilst under Danforth's heavy stare and carnal smirk, jaw clenched as she struggled to resist the urge to fight or flee.

A car. It was silver and sleek; a bullet for the road, with a coded license-plate name, destined to hit and murder something, someone, someday. Morbid thoughts were shaken from her head. Sax was...perplexed, at best, by modern vehicles. They did not exist in such advanced forms in the Otherworld, and as a result she did not really know the difference between a cheap car and an expensive one, relying only on personal preference. "...Evidently."

Her question burned both of them, it seemed, whilst the thunder rolled again overhead and Saxophone's ocher eyes stared blankly at the man's hand. The one she had seen holding the revolver. It was his left hand, and that almost made her laugh - she wondered if he ever used his right. Which did Sax use, she asked herself, and could not recall.

That dry, chilled laugh rang out again as she stood by his car, smiling now, with a dark sort of humour that she found necessary to get through life doing what she did. She knew the look in Cypher's eyes; had seen it a thousand times over. The look of a killer. But, as he said, he did not consider his victims to be people. This brought Saxophone to her next, biting question.

"Yeah? And what qualifies as a person to you?" Sax stepped forwards without thought, hands on bony hips, bringing herself closer to Cypher as she stared at him, sunrise meeting the sea. "Human?" Part of her was afraid, now - afraid of giving too much away, afraid of digging herself a hole she couldn't backchat and divert her way out of. She considered most creatures of her world, at least, to be 'people' so long as they were...rational. The line between 'human' and 'beast' was incredibly blurred there.

"Shit, man, you're lucky." Sax chuckled and patted Cypher's chest as if pitying him, stepping away, tense. She froze abruptly at another drumroll of thunder and hissed slowly as if pained, staring at nothing. The rain had started to drop to its death.

[ MAN Kumiko sorry about the awful jumbled mess I just gave you |: So tired fffuuu ]

Nathaniel snorted, fairly loudly at that one causing a few to turn and look at him before continuing on on their journies to wherever they were headed. Nathaniel cared not whether people looked at him at times like these. He cared only when he wanted them to look at him. When he wanted to spend time with someone, occupying the long hours and days of the years that he had been and would be alive.
"Had I wanted to deliberately make you look "queer" I wouldn't have merely held your hands," Nate retorted. "I'd have given you the "earth-shattering" kiss that I'm apparently known for." He laughed here thinking of the reviews that people had given his kiss. He wasn't sure why he was supposed to be a good kisser, perhaps it was the millennia of practice that he had had, perhaps it was a natural talent. Nathaniel couldn't be sure.

He would have mentioned something about the honest guy comment, but he doubted that it would be wise to press that one. People were most defensive of their own honesty. Few people embraced what liars that they were, few people wanted to. It meant they had to accept that they liked doing something that was morally wrong according to them. Nathaniel was one of those people, he admitted openly that he was a liar. Were it the same for his cowardice, Nathaniel wondered if the voices of Cissnei, Elenora and Dimetrinev would leave him alone...but for all the pain that they caused him. He didn't want them to go. They were all he had left of them, all but the pendant that he had of Cissnei's face that he dared not look at, though it dangled from his neck. He never took it off, the one time that it had been off in the last century was when a thief he believed was named Caravaggio had stolen it from him when he had been in deer form.

"If it bothers you that much to hang out with me and my...affectionate nature, I can turn into a girl." He added jokily.

[ oh Jesus Christ sorry about the delay! I forgot all about this |8 ]

AA

The thing about the woman that caught his interest was her eyes above all else. Black. As if the light had been sucked from them and replaced with something else, something darker. Something that was invisible, but there all the same. A password to the unknown. What did she know that others could not?

Rutilus' hand laid flat against Martisol's clothed spine to reassure her, let her know that he was still there. She was intimidated, he thought, by the stranger - and for good reason, for Rutilus felt that in the Spanish woman's presence a fool would feel his foolishness instantly, and he himself was something of a fool, and he felt it. The stranger was older than both of them too, it seemed, and in her age he supposed there would be natural knowledge.

Relationship reasons! Rutilus chuckled aloud, unable to help himself, hand patting gently against Marti's back, silently telling her not to shrink into the floor. His eyes flickered here and there for a moment, away from the black abyss of the fortune teller's, to the foetus statue and then the gargoyle's head. For a moment, he was disturbed.

"Uh, none, actually." The only male smiled slightly, shifting his weight for a second. "Sort of...just stumbling in." Rutilus made a sweeping gesture to all of the statues, frowning slightly. "What're these for? Sale, dramatic effect, scare tactic...?"

Ah, damn. That last part had sounded a bit rude. Whoops.

Mick

The less-confident blonde could not help but grimace and avert his eyes as people glanced in their direction. Rutilus glared up at Nate - silently lamenting the other man's tall stature compared to his own, when he had thought himself fairly tall - as he started to speak again. "Eugh." He snorted and shook his head, shoving briefly at Nate's face as if to emphasize his lack of wanting a kiss. "Well, don't, please," he frowned, but then laughed despite himself; never could take everything too seriously. "Arrogant prick."

Affectionate nature...pfft. Should see me when I'm drunk. He could distinctly remember crawling all over someone's lap the last time he'd been intoxicated, and he wasn't even heavily drunk at the time. Not drunk enough to actually follow through with what the lap-crawlee had wanted afterwards, anyway. Too chicken.

"Please...please don't. I'd...cry." Rutilus laughed, turning a corner hastily. "You in a fuckin'...frock..." A snigger. "And tits." His snicker became a full-on laugh at the thought, and then eventually stopped.

"Where the hell're we goin'?"

Kumiko

For a split second the M.I. agent actually thought her newfound subject of interest and suspicion was going to toss his stomach up there and then. He didn't look well and she could not figure out why, though the death of the universe in his eyes looked all too familiar. It took her several seconds to figure out where she had seen that look before, and it shouldn't have - Snake. Snake looked like that, sometimes, when he let his walls crumble and laid there motionless for hours, staring at nothing. He would be thinking about the days gone by. Thinking about the blood he'd spilled, for the man had a much more difficult time than Sax did when it came to murder.

Sometimes her own lack of remorse worried her, but she couldn't always dwell on things, could she? It would destroy her. Of course from time to time she regretted her actions, and often she wished she did not have to perform them, but guilt was not overly familiar. But on the other hand, there was always fear.

Saxophone remained rigid and blank-faced as the other agent went to unbutton his vest, but that was the movement that snapped her into reality properly. She didn't know what he was doing, what was he doing, why were his hands loosening those buttons, what--and then he stopped. Her posture relaxed very slightly as if relieved.

"What--oh." Saxophone blinked as the hat was set upon her head, and for a moment she felt ridiculously triumphant, like a child with a new toy they had been desiring for a long time. After all, was the hat not something she had been tempted to steal from the start? And now she was wearing it, and did not have to steal it at all.

She realised she was smiling.

"Gentleman, eh?" The woman mused, but humour and smiles stopped abruptly at the next crawling roll of a sky-born earthquake; Sax shuddered visibly and hastily slipped into the car, pressing herself against the seat, hands tightening as she stared straight ahead through the windshield. Impatient, she could not wait for him to close the door and so reached over and slammed it shut herself with a trembling hand.

Weak.
He's going to pull that gun on you the second he has you where he wants you. Just wait and see. How will you get out of that one, agent?

It was not her voice in her head but his, Danforth's, conjured up by her own brain, for it loved to torture her so. Perhaps her paranoia was right; perhaps Cypher was tricking her. But there was no way in Hell she was getting out of the car now, not with the noise, not with the noise. She feared stepping out and finding herself in a battlefield again.

"Hurry up and drive, hurry up, man," she insisted quietly, taking the fedora off of her head, turning it in her hands over and over, as if trying to draw - of all things - [i]comfort/i] from it. Comfort from a dangerous stranger's hat.

She could always just stab him.

"...Where're we goin'?"

sneaks in.............*hides behind corner*