The Majikus Circus. 8D Five Years Ahead~

Otto's roaring train of thought screeched to a halt when Erik decided to make more snarky comments. For some odd reason, the young man felt an intense urge to punch him in the mouth. He instead chose not to say anything, intead leveling a flat stare at the redhead. Otto lurched after his pulled sleeve, his arm limp inside the held-out sleeve.

The German stared at the steps with slight distrust, until being abruptly forced down. He plopped down onto the steps with a thump, his legs askew in such a way that the side of one calf was pressed onto the ground, and the sole of his other military boot was resting on the grass.

At the return of the dark haired woman, who seemed quite nice, if a bit loud, Otto looked up, squinting slightly in the bright light. She seemed to be carrying medical supplies in her arms, and he tilted his head to the side, trying his best to keep his attention on the women. It was difficult, as every so often she split into two of herself, then shook back together. He thought he got the gist, however.

Otto shifted to the side on the steps, turning his head away from Adriel. The gash on the back of his head didn't seem to need stitches, as it was wide, but quite shallow. It looked far uglier than it actually was, the fact that he hadn't really cleaned to area around it not contributing to making it look any better.

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At Maya's accusation, Dravius pasted an over-blown hurt expression onto his face, scoffing at her, rolling his blue eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. I would never do that to you, hun." He flapped his free hand a few times, looking a little bit smug.

Maya's shoving skills could really use some improvement. Her wimpy little push at first just made Dravius grin widely at her, not moving at all. Her pushing and shoving usually had very little to no effect, but the lunge she made at him caused him to make a "Nnnwoah!" noise as he tipped over backwards, laughing uproarously.

Dravius propped himself up on his shoulders sputtering, water streaming down his face. He took a deep breath in order to laugh at bit more, and nearly choked on the volume of water pouring into his mouth. Sputtering quite a bit more, Dravius wiped the water from his eyes, grinning.

"You know, I think you may be correct on that point, my dear," The Co-Master smiled, shaking his head once again in a sort of retaliation, then trying his best to sit up with her still on top of him. "And I can indeed fall over properly, I just choose not to." He snorted, ruffling Maya's hair with a wet hand. "At least it's a bit warm out." Dravius lay back in the water, his arms out to his sides, floating only slightly.

"Uh-hu... Why do I not believe you." Maya snorted, patting Dravius lightly on the cheek. "You'd probably throw me in the lake first chance you got." Giggling, she smiled at him, turning her face away slightly when he decided to shake his head again, which she assumed he had probably done on purpose.

"Sure I am." The blonde laughed, running her fingers through the tall male's now soaking hair; Shaking her head at him when he decided to just flop back into the shallows of the lake. She stared at him for a minute, then rolled her eyes and pushed herself up and away from him; Coming to sit in the lake with her arms around her legs, smiling absently at the view of lake and it's glimmering reflections. Pff. Dravius. He was so unromantic. Or, rather, he wasn't quite responding how Maya wished he would. Eh. They had all day. She rolled her eyes again, looking borderline amused.

The sun had risen dramatically, casting a bright sheet of warmth over the large mass of water and it's surroundings. Maya spent a couple of minutes lost in thought, eyes focused on the far off shore of the lake. She eventually pulled her attention back to Dravius, inhaling quietly through her nose and standing herself up before heading back to where she had dropped off her towel, straightening it out and flopping onto it.

The butterfly winged young woman then caught sight of the black box that contained the Co-Masters gift. Reaching over, she picked it up, before opening the glossy lid and pulling out the ebony harmonica with gentle fingers. She spent a minute looking at the silver engraved name on the front, before looking over to where her boyfriend resided, smiling. She eventually put the little instrument back into it's box, leaning back on her hands once they were free; Her eyes on the sky. It was going to be a stunning day, that much was certain.

~~~

"... Yeahhh." Karene snorted, laughing under her breath. "Sure. What's best for them. You know they were perfectly fine with Disera being in that relationship before this proposal?... You don't need to be married to provide well for your kids." Raising an eyebrow, she rolled her eyes as Selvai continued. "I'm sure Kanec will be delighted." She teased, her voice heavy with sarcasm and amusement.

She rolled her eyes again, then laughed. "Our situation?... I take it you can't have such a high opinion of Dravius then, considering he's not married and he has a daughter." Karene snorted, gently poking Selvai in the shoulder with a finger. "But fine. Besides, you might be looking forward to being a "father-in-law"." Still laughing somewhat, the magician tried to muffle the sound when Selvai's forehead made contact with hers; And she threw a playful sort of grin at him before responding.

"Of course. And maybe." She responded, breathing the last word, bringing her face closer to her husbands so that their noses were mere milimetres apart. Disera's arrival cut Karene short, and the dark haired woman closed her eyes for a second, her face amused, before looking over her shoulder at the blue skinned shifter.

She eventually slid her arms from around Selvai's waist, crossing them loosely. "Maybe later." She laughed quietly towards Selvai, waving in Kanec;s direction before turning to watch as her husband headed towards the food van. When Disera and Kanec followed shortly after, the magician glanced off towards the lake, before shrugging absently to herself and following after, slipping both hands into the pockets of her jeans.

~~~

Zyano had been keeping a careful watch on Nylat, not at all offended by his mate's explanation and refusal to leave the pups with him. A motherly thing, he assumed. As protective as he felt over his own pups, Nylat was probably ten times worse in that respect. He knew full well just how protective she was of her friends, so no doubt her own pups would have her focus on them entirely.

"I can understand that." He said, sitting on his haunches as he watched the pups, ears erect. "All right. I'm going to head out. I'll bring you something back anyway. You will need to eat, and somehow I'm not entirely sure you'll get yourself to the food van any time today." He stood, stretching out his long form and heading for the door. He paused before he left, however, looking over his shoulder in Nylat's direction.

"I don't think you need to worry too much. Pretty soon, we'll be running around after them." Laughing, Zyano padded out of the door, stretching again at the bottom of the steps, before turning to run the shore of the lake. Upon catching sight of Erik, however, the sand furred hybrid, paused, flicking an ear at the unfamiliar voice that joined the red-heads, as well as Adriel's.

Glancing fleetingly at the lake, Zyano made a split decision and instead, headed away from the shore and towards Erik's van; Pausing momentarily to look over the stranger who now sat on the stairs leading into the shifter's residence. He was pretty certain he had never met this man before.

Stepping forward on quiet paws, he came to stop a couple of foot from Erik, sitting himself down and glancing at the shifter. "Another one of your past phases?" He asked quietly, keeping his amber eyes focused on the sickly looking man.

((Someone hurry up and post today. O_O! I want to bring some evil back. D;))

((I cannnnnnnnt.))

((I'm going to post anyway. Feel free to add your own evil people, guys! Experimental evil people. O_O This is a big 'un. ;D))

"Finally..." The dark haired man murmered, dark eyes focused on a sheet of paper that lay befoe him, in the centre of a dark wood, glossy desk. His hands resided on each side of the table, a small, indistinct smile on his face. After a quiet moment, the man stood himself staight, arms falling to his sides as he gazed outside the large window of his office-like room, just as the sound of clicking heels began to make itself known within the corridor outside.

Within minutes, the door opened, and a woman wearing a rather severe looking bun stepped into the room, closing the door behinfd her. She wore what seemed to be a business suit, mimicking the outfit of the man who stood in the room.

"So you found the place?" The woman asked, looking over her square rimmed glasses at the dark haired, older looking male. "Whats next?"

"Simple. We send Penelope out. She's likely to get in and out without a hitch. Maybe a couple of others with her... I also need you to get a hold of David. I have some news for him, rather urgent." The male paused, glancing back at the window. James, as he was known, was a wealthy, though somewhat unknown, scientist; A sort of man who had a constant air of irritation about him.

The fact, however, that he had located the place he had been searching for had cheered him up somewhat, giving him a slightly more get-along attitude. The Circus Majikus, home to probably the largest concentration of "freaks" in existance. Full of potential should his plan go without any bumps in the road.

At the sound of the door opening again, James glanced quickly over his shoulder, his expression annoyed until it landed on the person who had stepped over the threshold. The blonde woman had left the room just as soon as the other two entered, on her way to go and speak to the scientist named David. The first, was a girl, no older than what seemed to be fourteen. She was a rather dark looking child, with black hair that resided in a tight ponytail, wearing dark jeans and a black shirt. Her eyes, strangely enough, were also black, and somewhat emotionless.

An experiment. One created as a means of... Well. Collecting, so to speak. And one of the only ones to survive, to be brutally honest. Seeing as James, unfortunately, was unable to capture his own... subjects, he used these people. As much as he absoloutely despised the freaks walking around out there, this girl was his only means of getting them to him safely. Her, and her companion. As well as the few othes who existed.

Stood just behind the girl, was a man, looking almost exactly the same as she; Dark hair, dark eyes, and a long black trenchcoat that had the collar turned up, so that the material obscured half the male's face from view. He too had very little emotion in his expression, his eyes glued to the view beyond the window.

"Ah... There you are, Pen. I have a job for you." At the mans' words, Penelope, raised her eyebrows marginally, her voice emotionless as she spoke in response.

"You would wish us to collect more subjects." It wasn't really a question. Her only understanding, and her only reason for existing, was that precisely. It was her job, to collect "weirdos", for the simple purpose that the people in this building enjoyed looking at them... And cutting them open.

"Exactly." James responded flippantly, turning back to the desk. "But I think... It is best we wait for David to show his face... As I think there is something down there he will be incredibly interested in."

A brown stray dog darted across the street in front of a blonde-haired man, who's blue-green eyes followed it. He inspected it carefully, then, deciding that as usual, it was not what he was looking for, he continued down the street, his steps careful and placed with presicion. He wore a black suit with a white tie, which is what he normally wore. Occasionally, he'd wear a white suit and black tie, or white suit and tie, or black suit and tie. It varied. But his current attire was his usual. He liked a sense of normalcy. After all, where he worked--if he could even consider it a job; it was more of a 'paid hobby'--being normal was quite important, if not quite in the sense he saw normal. His view on the word was a little...severe.

He strolled for a while longer, until a phone in his pocket started ringing. It was a very boring ringtone--a very normal ringtone, and he had pulled out the device and answered it before it had finished one cycle of the sound. "Hello?...He does?...Ah, yes, I'll be there soon." He hung up, slipping the phone back into his pocket, then turned around and strode back the other way, at a pace much faster than his previous one. It would figure, of course, that as soon as he left, he'd be needed. But he had needed some fresh air. After all, spending all day sitting around, staring at a picture of the greatest mistake of your life, was surely not healthy.

He soon reached his destination, walking right inside. He made his way through the maze-like innards of the building, before coming upon the door he knew quite well. He opened it carefully, taking a mental note of the other two non-residents of the room. He closed the door behind him, his tone careful as he addressed the third occupant of the room. "You asked for me, sir?"

In the past few years, he had gotten used to being a subordinate, but even still, acknowledging that someone was in charge of him still made his gut twist. If he were still as rich as he used to be, if he still had the power he'd used to control, if he'd only just doubled the thickness of those doors...He flicked away that train of thought. Dwelling on his past tended to be...bad for him. After all, it was just one messed-up mishap.

James had been more or less focused on the view outside his window, when Penelope's flat voice swam across the room; The dark haired child still stood by the door, arms hanging at her sides, her much taller companion standing at the other side of the door.

"So what do you require of us?" She had asked, dark eyes boring into the rich man's back. "What sort of specimen are we after."

It took a moment for the scientist to to reply, his eyes still focused somewhere beyond the window. "I'm not really all that concerned about it. As long as they're decent enough, and unusual enough. Feel free to use whatever you see fit to bring them here. Alive, preferably." Turning to look over his shoulder, James stared at the two creations for a minute, before settling in his chair by the desk.

Pen, and her companion, had both been results of the extensive experiments that went on in this building, a couple of the very few human beings to survive the procedures placed on them. Most were failures, due to the lack of knowledge regarding the freak genes, hence the reason the place existed. Studying those who were born with those particular genes was the only surefire way of being able to harness those abilities, although it was hard finding and getting a hold of them. Finding this Circus, however, would change that.

Oh... James was excited hugely by the prospect of the power that could come from such research. If only he was able to actually control and create it... Those genes.

The male's train of thought came to an abrupt halt as he heard the door open, frowning slightly over his shoulder; Smiling slightly once he caught sight of David. "Oh, please." He started, waving a hand. "We know eachother too well for all that." He stood, placing both hands on the desk in front of him.

"We found it." He continued, grinning wickedly. "And I believe there's something there that may well interest you, my dear man." Opening a drawer, the black haired, suited male, took out what seemed to be a photo of a large dog, holding it towards the blonde scientist with a flourish. "Our scouts didn't think much of it, other than how much of an example it was of these... Freaks. You, however... Might find it far more interesting." James murmered, having recognised the creature the instant he saw it.

And quite frankly. It was one sure fire way of getting David interested in this Circus.

Through the chats that were going on in the large office room, the halls were mostly empty in the building beyond. There actually wasn't a lot of staff that wandered about, so Paul had made it his habit to dance around as often as possible. Which he was doing right now. Grooving around around a corner, the twenty-something whipped his head back and forth a few times, earbuds screwed into his ears, and the latest hunk of technology to hold music in clinging to his pants pocket.

Paul hummed a bit of the pop tune coursing through his ears, his soft grey cardigan flying outwards as he spun. The grey and black striped v-neck under the outer layer was tucked into a pair of black jeans, held up on his thin hips with a checkered belt, closed by a seatbelt buckle. Paul had his eyes closed as he twirled a bit more, the mop of hair onto of his head dyed black on one side, white on the other. The young man had a pretty good sense of where he was going, navigating the halls without the use of his eyes.

He even pulled up short to avoid colliding with a young girl and a rather frightening looking man in a black trenchcoat. "Jesus, look where you're going, Penny." Paul gave the cord to one of his earbuds a yank, pulling it out of his ear. He stuck his tongue out at the girl's retreating back, then returned to shaking his hips back and forth to the music. He went on dancing around the corner, ignoring the undoubtable meeting that was going on without him.

Until the iced coffee arrived. It was as good an excuse as any to get into the office, and since he had seen David sashay through the front doors, he made sure to obtain five of the largest, worst for you frosty beverages the local coffee shop offered.

Also lots of coffee cakes.

Hanging the main cord of his headphones around his neck, and still humming upbeat music, Paul planted one foot on the door to the office, pushing just enough to wedge his shoulder into to gap and slide in. He had a much more somber look now, his sweater buttoned up halfway, the cord to his music player tucked underneath it. "I brought drinks and snacks," He offered, balancing the five plastic cups and the container holding the cakes in his arms. "It was really just an excuse to get in here. I couldn't bear not knowing what was going on. I do so hate being in the dark." Even without his dancing, he seemed much less professional than the chilly people standing about, and quickly made a circut around the room, setting down a coaster on top of James' desk, and a coffee on top of that, and wrapping Penny and the man's finger around two more, regardless of whether they wanted them or not. He then shoved one at David, opened the box of cakes, and set them on the desk as well. "There we are, now that everyone can have a snack, what's going on."

Aside from the information that looked like it was flying everywhere, there was probably money involved. And there was nothing Paul loved more than being paid money. He could just rub money all over his naked body all day long. Although he also loved spending money. Money was.....super great. Paul grabbed a bit of cake and popped it into his mouth, chewing, and lifting the photo out of James' hands gently. "Oh! Mmm, isn't this...the thing that caused you to become a bit poor?" Paul said snarkily to David. He waved the photo a bit, mouth full. Handing it back to the scientist, Paul swallowed his mouthful of cake and said, "I take it you found the clusterfuck of freaks, yes?" He raised one eyebrow, a smirk still on his face. "I want in, pretty please. You know I can catch people almost as well as Penny, and I'm prettier to boot." It was true, for all his flippant attitude, he was one of the best at catching people who didn't want to be caught.

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Dravius had been content to sit in the water for a bit longer, his arms outstretched and floating gently. He was actually on the verge of falling asleep with his back resting on the shore, when Maya stood up, sitting up with her, then staring at her walking away, watching the swing of her hips before she flopped down onto her towel. Pssh. Fine. Dravius shook his head quickly, some of his wet hair sticking to the side of his face when he brought the movement of his neck to a stop.

Dravius got to his feet, stretching his arms over his head and wading out of the shallow surf. The pants that he was wearing were darkened by water, and felt more than a little heavy on his thin hips. He yawned hugely, sitting down next to Maya, and slipped a bare arm around her shoulders, extending his bare feet past Maya's. He then kissed her gently on the cheek and said, "I'm gonna go get the stuff for lunch so we don't have to later, yeah?" He smiled softly and stood, his long stride carrying him away.

The small fridge in his van was full of a large, wicker basket packed full of food, probably more than they needed for a few lunches, and a large, flannel-type blanket. Hopefully Maya didn't mind just the picnic, because he really just wanted to spend time with her today. Dravius really was pretty terrible at expressing any sort of feeling without any physical action.

Outside of the building, shaded by a small tree, a well dressed woman of indeterminate age stood with a slim cigarette clutched between two fingers. Raising it to her painted lips, she took a long draw, holding the smoke in for a moment before exhaling a cloud of thick, black smoke, which twisted unpleasantly as it rose in the air above her head. One tendril of the smoke brushed against a group of leaves on the tree as it began to dissipate, causing the once green leaves to shrivel and turn brown.

The woman, who chose to go by the name of Ava, was dressed rather stylishly for someone in her line of work, wearing a long sleeved, cream colored silk blouse that was tucked into a pair of dark dress slacks. She wore no jewelry except for a simple string of pearls around her neck. While she had been standing beside the building her wine colored eyes had been scanning the street in front of the building, and watched as a man in a suit hurried inside.

Exhaling one last lungful of black smoke, Ava stubbed out the cigarette on the bricks beside of her, careful of her manicure. Flicking the stub of her cigarette away, the silver haired woman followed him inside, the heels of her leather pumps clicking loudly on the floor. She spotted that annoying twit Paul scurrying into James office with an armful of coffee drinks and sweets, and sniffed in disdain at the blatant suck up before following him inside.

"Hello James, David," she said blandly, making a sour sort of face as she spotted Penelope and the trenchcoat wearing man in the office. "I see you've called in your freak squad. Might I assume you've gotten a lead on our next batch of test subjects, then?" Unlike the others, Ava had volunteered herself as a test subject for James' research, out of frustration at the lack of suitable subjects and the trouble they had had in finding more. Side effects aside, finding and capturing them did progress more smoothly when you had an edge over the freaks.

-----

"Alright, done with the cleaning," Adriel announced, wadding up the used wipes and stuffing them into one of the packages. "It doesn't seem to be deep enough for stitches, so I'll just put some antibiotic cream on it, kay? There was a lot of blood, but head wounds tend to bleed freely, so I don't think you should worry about that," she told him, grabbing a white tube from the kit as she spoke. "Now, hold still for a second and we'll be done here."

Unscrewing the cap, Adriel squeezed a small bit of ointment onto her fingers and began applying it to the gash on Otto's head. "And when I'm done, you and Erik can sit down and discuss your past, without anyone shouting or bleeding or running off. Right, Erik?" she asked in a dangerously pleasant voice, leaning around Otto to stare at him as she spoke.

Erik had been doing his best impression of a statue as Addie busied herself with Otto's head wound, and nearly dropped the first aid kit and ran at the tone of her voice. "Yes, of course," he mumbled, shuffling his feet nervously. "Wouldn't want anyone to be too comfortable around here, would we." The shifter had been thinking of ways to distract Adriel long enough to make an escape when Zyano walked up, and glanced at the hybrid briefly before speaking.

"I wouldn't say that, exactly..." Erik answered. "He was a bit more of a phase, to be honest. I left him after he went into the hospital, and he sort of had a breakdown after that. So he spent the last six years tracking me down on the orders of some nurse. Also, he thinks he's a zombie now," the shifter explained. He paused for a moment. "So anyway, how are you?" he asked brightly. "I'm sorry I haven't had time to come visit you and see the new pups, but, ah, I don't think Nylat thinks too highly of me. I figured I should ask you first before stopping by unannounced."

-----

Selvai held the door for Disera and Kanec, waiting till they went inside to speak to Karene again. "You do know that I do not actually dislike Kanec, right?" he asked. "It is just that Disera is my family, and I had to watch over her. Which meant ensuring that Kanec was serious about their relationship. And occasionally reminding him of the various hexes and spells I know."

-----

Lightly stepping up the steps of Nylat and Zyano's van, Kioko tapped the door frame in a soft knock before peering inside. "Hey, Ny," she said, in a near whisper. "I hope it's okay to come visit right now, I just saw Zyano leave." The pyro scooted closer to the hybrid and her pups, the look on her face that of someone who was holding back the urge to make high pitched squeeing noises. "They're so cute," she cooed, hands clasped together in front of her chest. "Have you decided on names yet?" she asked excitedly, making sure to keep her voice low as to not wake the pups.

This place really was amazing... The lot of it. And the weather certainly was helping that along; The midday sun casting an almost perfect mirror image of the woodland that stood far across the other side of the lake, the only differing factor being the slight shimmer of the copied image on the water's surface. The quiant little village that resided further up shore was incredibly detailed in such clear weather, and even the countryside beyond seemed to reveal intricate details that wouldn't normally have been spotted.

Smiling idly, Maya, who still sat with her legs outstretched, leaning back on her palms, spent the next five minutes or so just looking at the surrounding area; Pulling her wandering gaze to a stop as she caught sight of Dravius standing himself up from the lake's shallow shore. Pff. He probably should have rethought jumping in the lake with his trousers on. Although admittedly, he never really thought much beforehand anyway.

Still smiling somewhat, she watched his approach, her attention being momentarily diverted again as he flopped down next to her. She sensed it more than saw it, really, though she did glance back towards him when he slipped an arm over her shoulders. "Hm?" Was all the blonde had time to murmer, as the Co-Master placed a kiss on her cheek, pulling himself back to his feet and walking off. Again, she had very little time to respond; And so settled with simply smiling slightly at his retreating back.

The butterfly winged young woman eventually pulled her gaze back to the lake. It didn't seem too early to have lunch now, she supposed. Although admittedlty, she hoped after lunch perhaps Dravius would be a little more responsive to her advances. The mere thought of his lack of anything set the young woman off rolling her eyes, looking amused. Stupid great oaf.

That was one of the things she loved about Mr. Tall, dark and handsome. Despite being as tall, scary looking, and evil seeming as he could be, he was also very capable of being incredibly gentle and loving. Particularly with those people he held close to his heart. A double edged sword, so to speak. Needless to say, the tall, dark, handsome bits were added bonuses.

Snorting quietly, the blonde halted her train of thought to extend her arms above her head, before collecting herr mass of golden hair, bringing the wet, glittering strands over one shoulder as she awaited Dravius' return. She probably should have put it up before getting it wet, really. Ah well. The weather was very likely to sort that out, in a rather short space of time, too, by the feel of it.

~~~

James had still been keeping a hold of the photo, his arm extended towards David, when Paul suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere; Sliding through the door with a tray full of coffee and cakes. "So I see." The dark haired male replied, raising an eyebrow slightly at the black and white haired male. "And, if you had remained in your room rather than trawling the area in a daze, you would have been called into here earlier. I had wished to talk to you, too." He waved a hand, then watched as Paul settled himself with forcing coffee's on everyone present.

Pen, who hadn't moved a single step from the door, stared with a slight frown at the man now shoving a coffee cup in her hands, before watching as he proceeded to also place one in Fang's. The much taller, dark eyed male, let loose a barely audible growl when the coffee-carrier appraoched him, glancing fleetingly at his younger companion as Penelope patted his arm once. Fang certainly did like his personal space.

Sighing quietly, James finished with watching the new arrival walk around the room, before shaking his head slightly. He had little time to say anything when Paul took the photo out of his hand, eventually shoving it at David. Exhaling quietly, he straightened himself up, before speaking.

"Well. For a start. Yes. We found them." He replied, raising an eyebrow slightly. "And as you can imagine, I called you all in here for that reason-" The black haired male had to pause again as another new face walked in, this time, Ava. "Ah, hello. You arrived just in time." Waving a hand again, James continued. " As I was saying, we've located the Circus. As you're all aware, we need subjects. You know what to do, although I would advise you be a little more cautious here. You might run into trouble considering the number of people in the place. Feel free to use any means necessary to get in and out of there, though."

"Although we're not particularly fussed about what you bring back... The more... Interesting members, will certainly be the best ones. I do have a few photo's here of the more suitable ones." Reaching a hand into a drawer, the man removed a few photo's, before placing them on the desk in front of him. "Any of these would be perfect. The sums you will be earning on doing this successfully are really rather large. Seeing as this will be the first time in a long time we'll have had real freaks in this place., and they will provide valuable opportunities."

Smiling slightly, James sat himself down, twining the fingers on each of his hands before looking over each of the people in front of him. "If you set off now, you'll be there by the morning. Get this job done... But take care doing so. Here's the location." Unfolding a piece of paper, he placed it on the desk in front of him, still smiling somewhat at the prospect of a successful job, and of course... All those possibilities...

~~~

Stepping up to the door, Karene paused to look up at Selvai when he stopped outside the food van entrance. She raised an eyebrw at him, simmultaniously laughing and rolling her eyes. "Oh please, dear husband, I didn't truly think you disliked Kanec. I KNOW you're just looking out for Disera."

Still laughing somewhat, she pff-d at his last sentence. "Goodness gracious. I can only imagine what you'd be like with children of your own." The caramel haired woman threw a wink at her husband, her expression still highly amused as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, grinning outight by this point. "You know. I'm not really that hungry." She paused, then smiled slightly. "If you wish, you can go eat with Kanec and Disera. Why don't I meet you a little later, hm?... We can go for a walk. Or something, if you can think of it."

~~~

"... Right." Was Zyano's only response to his oldest friend, his tail sweeping the grassy floor as he surveyed Erik's funny looking friend. "A phase... Most of them are, when it comes to you." Sighing quietly, he watched as Adriel patched up Otto, eventually pulling himself back to his paws, looking up at his red-headed friend as he spoke again. "Okay..." He murmered in response to Erik's brief explanation, snorting quietly.

"Please... Don't worry about it. Nylat doesn't hate you... As of right now, she is being rather protective of them though. It'll probably wear off aftr a few days, but with them being newborn." He wagged his tail slightly, then nodded a quick goodbye to Adriel, before stepping off in the direction of the nearby woodland. "I'll be back a little later. I feel like I need to hunt. Have fun." He said, voice amused, before pelting off, dissappearing into the wood on swift paws.

"I wasn't trawling. I was EXPRESSING MYSELF." Paul looked hugely offended, sipping his iced coffee in a refined way. "Are you trying to STIFLE ME, James?" He flicked his head to the side, pouting heavily. When the boss-man began explaining the whole situation, Paul quieted down a bit, screwing an earbud into his left ear covertly, jumping slightly as Ava came in, stinking as usual of those horrid cancer sticks she was constantly flailing about with. Stupid woman. Paul's personal opinion was that the cigarettes had worked their way into her brain.

Paul made a face at Ava's back, before returning his slightly bored expression to James, listening to the older man talk. His eyes were slightly hooded, and he kept nursing his coffee was he listened, raising his hand in a nonchalant way halfway through the explanation.

"How much of the money we find can we keep, Jimmy?" Paul blurted as James settled the photos on the desk. One picture caught his eye, of a white haired girl in motion, quite young. "Well, this one looks like she could be from Madame Butterfly's, cutest li'l whorehouse in town!" Paul snatched up the photo, studying it closely. "Isn't she adorable..." He had a wolfish smile on his face, not one of mirth, but of pure greed.

"Shame you want her alive, actually. Little bitty wounds are a-okay, though, right?" The man held his first finger and thumb very close together to indicate the minimal nature of the injuries, looking hopeful. "See, because I really can't protect against bruises or rope burn, sir..." Paul's expression had changed from cheerful boredom to greedy expectance. The white-haired, scarlet eyed young woman seemed a good enough target, and had that look about her of a woman who was prone to panic, if nothing else.

Paul really was quite a sick type of person, and aside from money, one of the things he loved the most was to see people genuinely afraid of him.


------------------------------

Dravius had dragged the basket out of the fridge, sitting on the bed with it on his lap, and quickly took stock of the contents, nodding with satisfaction of the food inside. Standing and stretching luxuriously, the Co-Master began a leisurely stroll back to his girlfriend, the blanket thrown over his gently swinging arms. He really was looking forward to this picnic, although he probably wouldn't eat much, as per usual.

The sun had become even hotter in the few minutes Dravius had been inside, but the damp nature of the cloth he was wearing made the heat much less intense. The bright light, however, did make the man blink a few times to become accostomed to the change from dim to blinding.

Approaching Maya, who was still facing away from Dravius, the young man uttered a bright, "Hi-hi!" And a wave, although the woman's line of sight was in the opposite direction of it. He sat down next to Maya, stacking his legs on top of one another inn an orderly fashion, and settling the blanket down gently. "I hope you weren't too lonely while I was away, love." He smiled, flipping the lid off of the wicker container, revealing neatly packed containers of fruit, separated by type, a few sandwiches, and a rather ridiculous amount of different candies.

"I've got quite a spread here, if you'll have it, May." Dravius opened the blanket with a snappy wrist movement, and began setting out the large amount of food packed tightly into the basket, arranging it in a particular way, opening a container of watermelon and taking a chunk for himself as he pushed thiings around on the cloth covering the ground.

Having still been somewhat caught up in the beautiful weather, it took a few seconds for Maya to register Dravius' overly bright greeting; Eventually turning her face to look over her shoulder at him, eyebrows slightly raised. More for the fact that she had been somewhat lost in her own thoughts rather than any real surprise of him being there.

Smiling slightly as he sat himself down, she listened to him with an amused expression, pff-ing at him quietly in response when he finished speaking. "Maybe." She laughed. "I don't think you were gone nearly long enough, though. I've been more lonely on the nights you choose to sleep elsewhere." Still laughing, she shook her head at him, pausing to watch him open the basket he had brought along.

"... How many are you expecting?" The blonde teased, looking at the sheer choice the dark-haired male had put together. She started a giggling a little. "Honestly. You know for a fact you don't eat that much. How much do you think I can put away?" Punching him playfully in the arm, Maya quickly stood herself up; Moving her towel out of the way and to one side, before allowing herself to flop somewhat haphazardly onto the blanket.

"Can't complain about you not trying, though." The butterfly smiled, taking a small container and checking what was inside. She eventually put it back in favour of opening another, which she settled for eating some of, considering the contents were a mix of berries. She spent a minute simply staring at the lake's water, eating the berries one by one, before placing the container back where she had found it. "I bet the sunset here is amazing, huh?" She asked suddenly, smiling hugely as she looked back at the countryside. "I think we should take a walk later. Maybe. Unless you have other things to do today." She laughed, popping a strawberry into her mouth, before hugging one of Dravius' arms.

"Unless you can think of something else?" The blonde asked with an expectant sort of smile on her face.

~~~

James had been busy pondering over his papers, when Paul's voice came out of nowhere, causing the black haired male to look up at him. Honestly. He should have expected this. Paul was all money. Which, in truth, was probably the best thing. Afterall, James had PLENTY of money, so keeping the double-haired experiments loyalty was pretty simple. "Keep whatever you find, I suppose. So long as you're not TOO obvious about it. The last thing we need is those surviving members finding any trail of us."

The business suited man had just gone back to looking at his papers when Paul spoke again; And he placed a somewhat exasperated look onn his face. "Yes. Fine." He answered. "I couldn't care less about damage, so long as they're not dead. We kind of need then alive and kicking. But as I said. Feel free to use any means necassary to get them here. If that means knocking them out, then so be it. No doubt you'll have to fight off a few if they notice you anyway."

He stared at Paul for a moment. then looked over towards Pen, who had walked over to the table and was now surveying the photo's he'd placed out, as well as glancing at the photo Paul now held. No doubt looking each of them over. She always did like to know what she was dealing with beforehand. And it looked like they had their first target, going by Pauls wishes.

Ny had been doing nothing more than staring at the wall when a light tapping on the door broke the silence. She flicked an ear as Kioko came in, smiling slightly. "Oh, no, it's fine. It'll probably keep me from dying of boredom." At her second question, Nylat looked away, a bit embarassed. "No, not yet. It's been quite hectic, you know. Not to mention, I'm usually asleep quite alot. If only for lack of something better to do." At the look on the pyro's face, she snickered a bit. The pup's had woken when she'd spoken; even whispering, her voice was rough enough to be heard by the pups. She glanced at the two puffballs, then nosed the bigger one slightly toward Kioko. "Want to hold one?" She covered the runt slightly, not really trusting anyone with her. She was so frail, Nylat feared anything would hurt her.

~~

David took the picture from Paul, huffing slightly. He ignored him for a moment as he inspected the picture. It was her alright, and he only wondered what she'd done to get herself those scars. They surely looked like they'd been nasty wounds. Though outside, he seemed completely emotionless--aside from a faint smile--inside, he was as giddy as a schoolgirl. Finally, he decided to grace Paul with a few answers. "No, she did not make me go broke. She was just the only living result of a very expensive series of tests, and she ran away." At Ava's entrance, David sighed. This room seemed to be getting a bit crowded. Next thing he knew, they'd be trying to fit a zoo in there.

He listened carefully to James, then rolled his eyes at Paul's obsession with money, and the comments that followed. He, personally, was occupied with how he'd manage to get his own target. Last time they'd seen each other, he'd ended up with a few broken bones, and there was no doubt she was stronger now. He was silent for a long while, before finally speaking up. "Well, Paul, go after whoever you wish. I'm sure you can manage without me. I have my own mark to get." He returned his attention to the picture, his mind going through more ideas at once than he thought he had. If he could get her back....

Paul had seemed content with James' answers to his questions, and was holding the picture he had snatched up off of the desk and was staring at it with his head cocked gently to the side. His expression had shifted once again, to a lazy sort of anticipation, his brown eyes hooded. The study of the white haired woman's picture continued as he put another earbud into his ear, turning a different sort of music on softly.

He had always been attracted to pain, but after he had accepted the unreasonable amount of money he had been offered for experimentation, it had turned into something else. Paul just wanted to fill an olympic sized pool halfway with gold and money, and the other half with blood, and LIVE in it. All the time. The man took a deep breath in through his nose, blinking a few times to try and establish a stronger connection with what was going on around him. He shook his head once to clear it, and realized that people had been talking around him.

Bending forwards, Paul extending a hand and swept up the piece of paper with the location of the "nest" of freaks and studied it, a smile curling up the corners of his lips. "Are we all in the same vehicle or what?" Paul's voice had lost the irritating, mocking quality it had carried before, in favor of one still slightly mirthful, but oddly flat. "We should go, huh?" He folded the paper holding the location in half with a sharp crease, and his smirk only grew. "Unless we want to show up late for the party."

---------------------------------------------

Otto had sat in complete and utter silence as Adriel cleaned the wound on his head. Her touching it made it sting quite a bit, and he would have preferred her to just leave it, in truth. He didn't like people being all that near to him at all. Her hands were unusually warm, it seemed, and she was smearing an unpleasent ointment on the gash.

Otto's white eyes twitched to the side as a huge dog walked up, and began to talk. Even with his admittedly minimal grip on reality, the man realized that massive dogs weren't supposed to talk, which caused his brows to furrow, and he tried to turn his head away from the woman's touch to study what was most likely a hallucination.

Maybe he was crazy.

The young man leaned away from the woman and said, "Not six years. Two." almost indignantly, holding up two dirty fingers. "And I vould like to zhink zhat I was not just un 'phase'," He looked miffed, and pulled himself up into a standing, albiet swaying, position, facing Erik. Oh. His hallucination was leaving. Otto's next sentence was clipped short as he watched the thing leave, still looking confused. "Erik. I vould like to just talk vith you. You are still using humour to avoid zhings, yes?" He tilted his head at his ex, his cloudy eyes oddly distant.

"Ve should sit. I am not very steady at zhe best uff times." Otto stepped up onto the van, pushing the door open with one hand, watching the door tap lightly against the inside of the dwelling.

----------------------------


Dravius had been busy setting up still, making sure none of the containers were touching, and rotating each a certain way before he was satisfied with them. He flicked a gaze towards Maya as she teased him playfully, grinning back at her. "Well, I figured I might as well cover all my bases, yeah?" He retrieved another cube of watermelon with the tips of his fingers and popping it into his mouth. Then he went straight for a bit of canteloupe, making a noise of agreement at Maya's comment on sunsets.

"I like walks." Dravius nodded once, his mouth full with different bits of many species of melon to really respond to anything past that. He wasn't feeling all that hungry, but he did like the taste of fruit, so he figured he might as well eat before he forgot again.

Clearing his throat, Dravius grinned at Maya as she hugged his bare arm, before teasing, "Well. I am infinitely busy, as I always am. You really should have called my secretary to schedule a stroll, dear." He snorted and grabbed another bit of food, leaning back onto one hand.

"Hmm. I'd have to think about that, won't I?" The Co-Master raised one eyebrow, his smile crooked. He felt like Maya was expecting him to say something, but he really couldn't think what it could be. Obviously, playing hard to get was the next best thing.

The light haired woman inclined her head in acknowledgement of James words, but said nothing as he pulled out the photos and spread them across his desk. Ava joined Penelope in studying the photos on the desk, being sure not to accidentally brush against the girl. She scanned over them, her attention coming to rest on one in particular. It was a group shot of three members, two winged adults, a man and a blue skinned woman, sitting on top of one of the vans that made up the circus, with a small child being held in the woman's lap.

Ignoring Paul's ramblings, Ava pulled the photo closer, tapping the photo with one white tipped nail. "A family I'm guessing? If the small one has the abilities of its parents, it would be more prudent to acquire it instead of trying to capture the adults." She had focused on the photo, speaking in a quiet sort of way that suggested she was not so much sharing her opinion with the others as speaking her thoughts outloud. "Children are much easier to subdue and are easier to keep restrained during the testing and experimentation phase, after all."

Pulled out of her musings by the sound of James dismissing them, Ava slid the photo in her hand ontop of those remaining on the desk and gathered them together in one hand, tapping the edge of the stack sharply against the desk to arranged them more precisely. "Going to play the lone wolf, David?" she asked mockingly at his words. "Not that I care about your safety or success, but I do hope your obsession isn't clouding your judgement when it comes to this animal. It would affect our research quite negatively if we were unable to aquire new specimens because you screwed up."

Photos clutched in one hand, Ava marched towards the office door. "Bring that address Paul, and hurry. We have a freakshow to scout out."

-----

"Oh. Well, you know I could come keep you company when Zyano's gone. Since the circus is on vacation and I'm not going to be doing anything except sitting around for the next few days," Kioko offered. "I'm not really big on swimming, you know." She inched closer when Nylat nudged the larger pup toward her. "If you're sure," she said, carefully working her hands underneath the small pup so she could pull him onto her lap. The pyro stroked his fur lightly, watching carefully for any signs of discomfort from the pup. "Thank you for letting me do this," Kioko told the hybrid quietly. "I know you don't really trust alot of people, and, um. It means alot that you'd let me hold your baby," the pyro finished, watching the squirming pup in her lap.

-----

"Hey, that's just... Oddly accurate, actually," Erik responded to Zyano's words about his past run ins. Adriel rolled her eyes, but didn't add anything, instead taking the first aid kit back from Erik and peeling her gloves off. "Well, I'm going to return this and deal with some other things. I trust you're going to have this work out by the next time I see you, right Erik?" she asked, glaring sharply at him. Addie waved a quick good-bye to Zyano as he left, then threw another hard look at the shifter. "It was nice to meet you Otto," she said before walking away.

"Well wasn't that nice," Erik said sarcastically, watching Otto climb the steps and open the van door. "Oh, not just humor. Tears, pleading, and sometimes running away as well," he supplied, stepping around the German and entering the van. Gathering up an armful of clothing from an upholstered chair, Erik tossed them onto the bed and dragged the chair closer to its twin on the other side of the van. He collapsed into one of the flowery pieces of furniture, rearranging a small throw pillow until he was more comfortable. "Come in, have seat and close the door. Unless you want to stand there while we talk, which, I'm not exactly comfortable with, but hey, whatever." He gestured first to the chair facing his, then to the doorway of the van.

It certainly seemed to be going well, at least, for now. Afterall, they hadn't even got to the Circus grounds yet, but each of them in the office seemed interested enough to do the job properly. Still, like Ava, James was a little concerned that perhaps David's focus might be a little too directed towards his previous experiment. While the scientist had no qualms about his associate's wants and desires, he didn't particularly want it ruining his chances of getting that new material.

Waving as Ava left and Paul discussed leaving, James eventually turned back to his papers, leaving Penelope still looking at the photos. Everyone seemed to be choosing their own targets... Which was fine, she supposed. But that wasn't how James had mentioned this should be dealt with. Afterall... Oe thing goes wrong, and they'd have an entire Circus of people with powers to face off.

Exhaling sharply through her nose, the child picked up all the remaining photo's, before following Ava out of the door; Fang following silently behind. "Here." The girl muttered, handing all the photo's to Ava. "Would it not be wise to just keep them all on us. We may as well trap these as we see them, no?... Afterall... It'd be far, far easier to just... Get the members on their own. Especially if we were to just... Shall we say... Cross paths with one of them."

Had it been anyone else, Pen wouldn't have bothered mentioning it. Paul was the kind to focus solely on one, that sick desire of his to hurt, or something. Pick his target and keep it, although perhaps he'd find more joy once he caught sight of the number of freaks he could do damage to.... And David... Well. He wasn't going to be too much use, all things considered. His focus was elsewhere. Ava was probably the only one who had a logical way of thinking, which she had only proved when talking about the little blue child and how easy he would be to get a hold of.Pen always had liked the woman.

"I don't think James is specific about these." She gestured to the photo's. "We may as well make it easy for ourselves. The child is a good idea, though."

~~~~

"Pff. Fine. Where's this secretary?... I might have to mention you wanting the rest of the day free." Maya snorted with amusement, throwing a strawberry at Dravius' head and returning to the nearby containers, looking over the contents with interest. There was a huge veriaty of colour here, thanks to most of the fruit the Co-Master had put together. The blonde lifted a small container of blueberries, before looking at her boyfriend as he spoke again.

"Oh ahah. You had better." She laughed, picking up a couple of berries with slender fingers. "Although I'll try not to expect TOO much. It is you, after all." Scooting away slightly, the blonde snorted again as she popped the blueberries into her mouth, placing the little container back onto the blanket.

"Dravius." She said suddenly, still looking highly amused as she helped herself to more of the available fruit. "Do you have any idea how useless you are at flirting?" The young womans expression clearly stated it wasn't a serious accusation. Not at all. The Co-Master was perfectly capable of being flirty... When it suited him, of course.

Laughing again, the blonde took a moment to glance around, her gaze pausing for a fraction longer on the little cvillage in the distance. "Hey. You went to that village the other day, right?... That night you decided to leave me all by my lonesome?" She asked, looking back at Dravius with a smile. "Is it nice over there?"

... >:/

Paul had been pleasently surprised when Ava had been the one to forge ahead, his eyebrows raising fractionally as she marched past him. His black and white mop of hair was parted far, far to the side, so most of the black was oscured at the moment. When the fancy struck him, Paul parted it to the other side, which usually meant that he was either in a foul mood already or was about to be. Oh, god. Ava was marching along in a way that looked like she had a MASSIVE stick rammed up her butt. It was oh-so-attractive. No wonder she was so work oriented.

Never got laid.

Paul snorted to himself, waving the picture in his grasp back and forth gently, fanning himself with the slightly thicker, photograph paper. He then stepped slightly to the side to avoid coming into any sort of contact with Penny, creepy little broad that she was. No sense of humour, either. Just work, work, work. His associates were so stuffy. And boring. And occasionally ugly. Paul sighed to himself, watching Penelope talk to him with a detached sense of boredom, not really hearing what was said to him.

Oh my gooood, she just kept GOING, didn't she. Paul blinked lazily and nodded in a vague sort of way, continuing on his walk down the hall. "I call the entire back row of seats so I can lie down and nap." He raised a hand as a sort of punctuation to the sentence, looking around to spot any and all opposition.

-----------------------------------------

Draviu snorted internally at Maya's teasing, picking the container of berried up only a seond or two after it was put down. He set a few of the bits of fruit in the palm of his hand, rolling them gently from side to side. He didn't really care for blueberries, but it was an odd thing that happened with them, and some other foods. He'd forget he didn't like them, take a few, eat one, and remember he didn't care for 'em. Sighing, the Co-Master stared at the berries, listening to Maya and scoffing at her. "Pssshwhat? I am delightfully flirty." He tossed the few berries into his mouth anyways, although they struck him as a bit tart, and altogether unpleasant.

Dravius was concentrating on not making an nasty face in response to the food he had just eaten, and nearly missed Maya's question. "Huh? Wh-The v-Yeah. It's pretty nice. Dravius more or less shrugged, tilting his head gently to the side. "I caught a bit of flak from some people who thought I was buskin', but there's good people watching."

Shrugging once more, Dravius followed Maya's previous line of sight, adding, "We could walk out to it, if y'like. It's pretty clean, as far as towns or cities go." He nodded his head once or twice, staring out at the small village. His smile had become more of a neutral expression, a small smirk still in place.

"I mean, if you'd like. We don't have to." Dravius didn't feel much hungry anymore, athough he knew that the sensible thing to do was to probably eat more regularly....and better....and blah, blah blah. Probably wasn't going to happen. Ever. Sighing internally, Dravius then said with a teasing lilt in his voice, "If we do go to the town, I hope you cover yourself better. Wouldn't want to cause any old men to fall over dead."

((Didn't say it had to be productive.

HERE'S A POST))

I am totally not going to post for like a week if someone doesn't hurry up. O_O

And Nylat. Fine. Get out. >8(

Nylat smiled at Kioko. "That would be wonderful. It really is lonely, just sitting here all day. Even with Zyano here. It would be nice to have other company, too." She picked up the smaller pup by the scruff, ignoring her protests. She then carefully set the runt between her front paws, proceeding to lick her carefully. Her tail flicked back and forth as she stretched out slightly. She paused in her cleaning of the pup for a moment to yawn widely. "I just wish I'd be able to roam around." She flicked her ears once, sighing and continuing to lick her.

((ICANTDOTHIS.))

Penelope, still strolling alongside Ava with her unusually dark eyes focused on all the photo's she had brought with her, had seemed somewhat determined to keep her attention away from Paul. It wasn't out of dislike or even hate. Simply the fact she really couldn't have cared less about his existance. Still, she kind of had to tolorate it, working in the same organisation and all that.

She glanced fleetingly at him, barely seeming to even move her head in his direction, before turning back to look where she was placing her feet. The man's bored, half-hearted expression, and his barely noticeable nod, made Pen frown slightly. She hadn't even been talking to him. It was Ava she had been directing her words to.

Sighing quietly through her nose, the strange, dark haired child stepped lightly through an automatic door, and out into the light of day. She stood out so starkly against the bright light, although Fang, following shortly behind, looked far, far more like a shadow than she did; Being mostly covered by his long black trench coat, the collar of which still covered the entire bottom half of his face.

He, like the child he followed, paused outside the cream coloured building to glance around for their means of transportation, which turned out to be a very original looking van. Okay. Guess James didn't want them to come across as too suspicious before they even got to the Circus. Still. They probably wouldn't get all the way in. It'd be better to stop a distance away and watch the freaks for a while. Trying to decide when and which ones would be bbest to risk a capture.

Shrugging to herself, Pen walked over to the van, then glanced over her shoulder. She had been on the verge of asking about a driver, when a man in a black suit and sunglasses stepped out of the van. Oh. Designated driver. All right then.

~~~

Maya had watched Dravius' peculiar interaction with the blueberries with interest and amusement. She knew full well, even if he didn't seem to remember, that he wasn't particularly fond of those fruits. The blonde wasn't quite sure whether or not she should mention it, though, smiling slightly as she pondered over it. She watched him as he decidely ate the berries, giggling at his spoken words beforehand.

"Delightfully flirty. When you want to be." The blonde laughed, wording her earlier thoughts and chucking another bit of fruit at her boyfiend's head. She paused to listen to him again, eyebrows raised. "Huh. Buskin'." Breaking out into another round of giggling.

"And all right." The blonde agreed, smiling as she redirected her gaze towards the little village. "I wanted to go see it yesterday... I don't think I really gave myself time to do it, though. And I do want to go." She looked back at Dravius, blinking. "Don't you?... I know you've been already." She glanced back towards the town, her focus remaining there until Dravius spoke again. Maya couldn't help but look at him with a highly amused face.

"... Was that an attempt at flattery?" She laughed. "Those poor old men. You know, I'm sure there are plenty of women strolling around over there with not much on. It's too hot, and that village is very, very close to the lake." She paused, then adopted an expression of utter and way over-done surprise. "Unless... Goodness. You're not jealous, are you?" She said; Her tone of voice light and joking as she wiggled her eyebrows at the Co-Master. She eventually broke out into another bout of laughter, standing herself up and stretching her arms above her head.

"Pfff." Maya snorted, flaring her wings in an attempt to stretch out the muscles on her back, similar in fashion to how she'd just stretched her arms. She then smiled at Dravius again, and held both hands out to him. "Want to come back in the lake?" She asked, wiggling her fingers at him. "We can always walk into the village a little later, right?... It's not going anywhere." She laughed. "And it'll be nice to walk at sunset, anyways. Meanwhile... We should make the most of not having anyone here right now~ Right?" She asked, raising her eyebrows, a smile still present on her features.

Omg you guys. xD

Selvai. Freaking post.

Nylat. Freaking post for your scientist whatever. ;(

AND I AM TALKING TO A CERTAIN SNAIL.

WHO IS ALSO A SHIT FORTUNE TELLER.

Ava glanced over at Penelope without breaking her stride as the dark eyed girl spoke. "Yes, yes," she said distractedly as she gestured to the pictures of the targets. "We can't count on all our targets to just wander off on their own, though. We'll need a plan to seperate them as you're suggesting. Since Paul is fixated on the albino, and David will go after the hybrid no matter what we say, it's likely the three of us shall have to take on the burden of coming up with strategies during this outing."

She spoke briskly as she walked, keeping close enough to Pen to keep conversation from being awkward, but not so close that there was any chance of accidentally brushing against her or Fang. When Paul's grating voice piped up from behind them, demanding an entire row of seats in the vehicle so he could nap, Ava exhaled in aggravation, fingers twitching in her urge to light another cigarette. "You'll sit upright, and keep your mouth shut on the way to our destination, so that hopefully the rest of us can forget about your existance for a short bit," she snapped harshly.

Stepping out through the automatic doors, Ava headed in the direction of the van that had been sent for them. The light haired woman stopped just beside the front passenger door, taking a silver cigarette case from a pocket and extracting one slim cigarette from inside it before slamming it closed again and putting it away. She held the unlight smoke between two fingers as she waited for the others to catch up. "We'll go over everything on the drive there," Ava told them.

-----

Kioko snuggled the puppy to her chest, following Ny's lead and stretching out. She leaned backward on her elbow, making sure to cradle him with her other hand. "If you want, I could bring over one or two books the next time I come, and read to you and the pups. They'd probably like that. Or! I have a checker set somewhere in my van. We could play a few games to pass the time."

"I'm sure that once they actually get old enough to move on their own you'll get plenty of chances to run after them," the pyro told her. "You know, going by how much Lionel keeps Disera and Kanec on their toes."