☼ 004 ☼ | Video

[wilder]

[Filtered from Seles]

[A rare video feed from Kaneis comes on, partly because one of his roommates had to turn on the tablet. It becomes quickly apparently why- it seems his hands and locks of his hair are tangled up with strips of brightly colored leopard print duct tape. Someone attempted to do home repairs when they knew absolutely nothing about home repair. The background shows one giant hole in the wall about six inches in diameter, just to give you an idea. Allen is next to him, trying to get some of the duct tape off]

Okay okay- I'll ask! Just get me outta this stuff!

[He gives a huff and looks at the camera. He looks rather disgruntled]

Say, does anyone out there know where a person can get a couch? Ours kinda...got wrecked the other day and we can't fix it.

Oh and, stuff to seal up holes in the wall? That'd be good too.

Thanks in- [And then he YELLS "OW" as Allen his roommate pulls a piece out of his hair not so gently]

ALLEN! THAT WAS MY HAIR!

[Transmission end!]

Comments

video;

[anklets]

[She does not need to speak for the answer to come through in all the faint lines around her mouth and the tense line of her shoulders.

No. Of course not.

And to be perfectly frank, Lenalee would prefer that be the case, because speaking publicly about a Transport's death— a true and unending death— where permanency had before been the exception puts in a place she'd rather not be.]

General, where are you right now?

video;

[aequivoci]

[ the silence is more than enough. it speaks volumes.

his next objective? to find out the fine print attached to the death-isn't-permanent clause here. that is already a messy subject in and of itself, and it is not something he is looking forward to.

he sends her the coordinates of his current location, which is some building near the Hold. ]

I'll be here for the next few minutes.

video;

[anklets]

[Near is better than far, though distance has rarely been a factor difficult to surmount. She's already looking to the door when his coordinates come through, and when she notes them, she's curt and efficient.]

A few minutes is more than enough, General.

[And she terminates the feed, because she can move faster through the unpleasant boring stares being a Transport brings without a tablet in hand to mark her— but Cross shan't have to wait long for her voice again (Lenalee is quick on her feet even uninvoked).]

video → action 5eva

[aequivoci]

[ ha. Cross smirks as he shuts his own tablet off. he finishes his cigarette within several more drags and flicks it away, not bothering to put out the remnants — the constant rain would do the job for him.

rain, hm. an Exorcist couldn't have too many pleasures in life, and the few he or she might have were cherished.

he wonders if Lenalee has invoked her boots to get to him faster — not that the girl isn't fast without them in the first place. then again, it might be better not to use them, what with the tension between Transports and natives escalating. (he would certainly take care of any native that dared to lay a hand on her, anyway.) ]

[anklets]

[Surprisingly chivalrous. Still, Lenalee's of the mind to avoid confrontation altogether, with her anklets tucked neatly into a pair of mud-coloured boots and a hood drawn up over her hair.

She is not short on breath upon reaching his coordinates, but dampened and somewhat cowed. Not by the General. By the circumstances under which he's here. She can't escape the itching that this world is ... collecting the faces from hers.

Peering in through the crumbling doorway, she takes care not to enter just yet.]

General?

[aequivoci]

[ if she plans to head back to the Hold with him at her side, his hair alone is going to bring confrontation, oops. (and he's not planning on hiding it anytime soon. /kanyeshrug)

it's a run down building — crumbling walls here and there; a set of stone stairs that are partially destroyed; a few aged and worn chairs and tables still on the ground level. the sky can be seen for the most part through the destroyed roof, and the rain falls in, but it doesn't touch the ground within a radius of several feet.

he drops Magdala Curtain, going from bottom to top instead of the normal top to bottom, if only because he doesn't want the sudden shock of red hair against greys and blacks to startle the younger Exorcist in any way. ]

Lenalee.

[anklets]

[ "oops".

He truly is like a ghost, she thinks, lurking unseen and unheard in broked, hollowed-out buildings. It does little to assuage the quietest niggling of an idea; that they had found him in Edo only because there was more benefit then to returning to the Order. She slips inside once he is fully revealed to her and leans against the wall with her palms to the plaster.]

You're from later on, too, aren't you?

[aequivoci]

[ :)

he raises an eyebrow at her inquiry. "later" could always mean anything. ]

It depends on your definition of "later."

[anklets]

[ decides to play it carefully safe: ] Do you know what became of my Innocence?

[aequivoci]

[ without a second-thought: ] Crystal-type.

[ and now he will come back with a question of his own: ] Do you know what happened with my idiot apprentice?

[anklets]

[ so shrewd— and here again is an unspoken answer, the clouds rolling in where her eyebrows lift; blank, without confidence ]

"What happened"?

[aequivoci]

What is his status within the Order?

[anklets]

Exorcist.

[aequivoci]

[ ...

hm. he might have to dig a bit deeper into where exactly she was brought from. ]

Is that pain in the ass [ Lvellie of course ] still forcing your brother to keep my idiot apprentice and I separated?

[anklets]

[There's a tightness to her that had not been there before. She feels it in her toes. In her lungs. He's planted some bitter seeds, now; the Inspector is enough to make the shadows beneath her eyes look positively ugly.]

I suppose so. [ "force"... it's a word she strongly associates with that man ] You'd both just left for Central.

[aequivoci]

[ and the points of the timeline are now marked. he crosses his arms as he walks towards Lenalee, changing the topic now that he knows where they stand. ]

And what has become of your Innocence during your time here?

[anklets]

[ ...well, she warms slightly when he nears her ]

It's fine. The Initiative hasn't touched it.

[aequivoci]

[ he stops in front of him, taking her chin in his hand as he examines her face. his hand will drop once he is happy with what he sees. ]

Good. We do not need a surprise to see what their sentience would do when in the same space as the Innocence.

[anklets]

[The way she lifts it in his hand could be construed as challenging, were she someone, anyone else; she's brambles save for where her allies are concerned, raising her chin so he can inspect, as the Order always inspects.]

It isn't their duty to go poking about anti-Akuma weaponry in a place without Akuma. [ and she does not wish to take the Fall for it ] And yours, General?

[aequivoci]

It remains intact. [ his hand brushes his coat, shifting it enough that, if Lenalee is looking. she will see the gleam of black steel in a leg holster around his left thigh. ] They could give me a lifetime of Romanée-Conti, and I still wouldn't allow them to mess with Judgement. I'd gladly keep the wine, though.

[anklets]

[ is always looking (the Order always inspects), and it relieves her

(she never wanted to be relieved by weaponry) ]

I have to wonder if there is any Romanée-Conti to be found in this place.

[aequivoci]

[ he smirks as his hands rest on his hips, looking to the side as a flash of gold flies in — Timcanpy. ]

I'm not holding my breath. I will simply have to...strongly encourage them to do a mission for a large supply sooner rather than later. [ Timcanpy will fly around Cross and then settle on Lenalee's shoulder. ]

[anklets]

[Lifting a hand, she rubs the spot between the golem's wings. Solid. Reaffirming, again, that this is not the preface to another nightmare.]

You would be the one to convince them, General. Somehow, things always seem to bend in your favour. [ wry ] Almost always.

[aequivoci]

[ Timcanpy flutters his wings at the rub!! Cross scoffs lightly, the smirk never really going away. ]

They'll learn fast enough to let me have my way. Some wine and cigarettes for my time & effort shouldn't be an absurd demand.

[anklets]

But it is still a demand.