Final Fantasy: The Great Awakening (Full)

[Haro Starwind]

Azel kept his smile on as she paid for the rental. Even through her comment. As if it didn't really cross his mind much at all that what he said was rather... lame. "I meant it in a... Well..." He said with look on his face of thought. It was still the morning, man he was still in sleep mode. Could he use that to excuse himself? He didn't think so. Women and their little quirks. The damage was done, there was no way of digging himself out of that one. So he just had to make himself look again. Boy it's gonna be hard to out that sexy appearance. "Flirting, hah. I wasn't aware I had to do that with 'this'" He said as he egotistically patted the bare chest that laid open form the front of his coat. (What? He totally doesn't have a big ego... totally)

Taking the potion from her and catching the insult he chuckled a bit. Feeling dumb for what he said. But hey, he was lucky, this would blow over like it normally did. "Hah... don't tell me a tough girl like you got your feelings hurt." He teased as he jumped up on the chocobo, grabbing the rein with one hand like he was some sort of suave cowboy. Riding the chocobo over to her he leaned over to her on top of hers a gave her a kiss on the cheek with a small whisper attached, "Fine babe, I'm sorry." He spoke before retracting his head from her, still gripping the rein with one hand and ready to rock in his usual stylish self.

~Azel Zephyr

[fractalJester]

As Atrozeon glanced around, he felt the many pairs of eyes land on him, all cautious, some judgmental. He released a light scoffing, and rolled his eyes behind his glasses. However, the scoff morphed into a light yawn, which swiftly led into a light stretching of his arms behind his head. Staying up late and waking up early, while a long-time habit of his, had its effects, but he'd learned to deal with them over the years.

Speaking of late nights...

Atrozeon watched as a hulking man, likely twice his own weight in muscle mass alone, leave the Old Yellah and pass him up, heading into town. He had been there the night prior, drinking a bit by himself. Atrozeon had considered approaching him, as he'd been welcomed by the others and was apparently a regular, but decided against it. As large as he was, he could probably handle a lot more alcohol than he'd drank, so asking about the Eye 'out of curiosity' wouldn't have worked out so well.

As he strolled over to the Chocobo tie-offs next to the Tavern, he spotted someone putting up a poster on the wall of the tavern. Missing, young boy, heading toward the mountain... Atrozeon's eyes narrowed. This brought up a number of variables. People would be searching for the boy around the mountain. People would be on alert for suspicious activity. People would be particularly critical of outsiders. It seemed the Goddess of Luck decided to frown upon him today, he deduced with a scowl before turning his attention back to untying his Chocobo.

The purple creature gave a happy wark at Atrozeon's appearance, patiently waiting for the male to untie him before nudging up to his head affectionately. Atrozeon chuckled- openly chuckled- and began to scratch the creature's neck, a brief smile crossing his lips as he did so.

"Goooood morning, Sory," he said cheerfully, possibly the only sign of emotion since he'd awoken. The Chocobo gave another happy wark at the sound of his nickname, rubbing up against Atrozeon's face. The man playfully pushed the head away, chuckling again. "Hey now, calm down, I'm happy to see you too! Ready to take a jog?"

'Sory' suddenly pulled back, giving an abruptly loud wark in excitement, even lifting his legs up and down as if to run in place, which earned a laugh from Atrozeon, who threw the saddle around the Chocobo's back before gracefully jumping on the bird's back. With a light pat, the two took off, heading into the center of town and, from there, they'd head toward the volcano.

[King Keiayo]

Seig Darkscar

Seig's strange eyes turned to Tomoko with a sense of confusion. He wasn't use to seeing such obedience and control of character as her. It was like he was some sort of important figure and she had to prove herself formally to take his acceptance. With a slight c**k of his head he looked at her with a small audible chuckle, however it didn't mean it to escape. "Heh... Sure." He responded simply, hoping his response would give her the proper permission she was searching for to join him. "Trust me, You don't have to be formal with me..." He spoke with a bit of a friendly tone, as if he was connecting to her. "those days are over." He added, but seemed to look a little unpleasant that he let it slip through his teeth. So instead he looked for something to move the conversation onto as Tomoko sat down.

He found himself in a bit of predicament. It had been awhile since he had to make a conversation with someone as to not seem rude. Needless to say it was a good first impression of him, as it was usually under a fouler term that he met with other patrons. Again his eyes moved to hers, but this time he was caught up in thinking of something to say to realize he was showing a weakness by allowing her to stare into them. Gently he shifted his elbows onto the the table and leaned on the dark metal of his gloves with his chin, propping his head up. However it was in more of a reclining sense.

Finally having an idea spark in his head he turned his eyes to her attire and the back to her face. "From Sai-zhin, huh?" He spoke, not quite revealing he came from the same place. But hinting at it all the same. It was actually funny that he reminded so many people of coming there. It was his hate for the place that drove him from it. He wanted to escape his image, but it seemed that through his now battered soul that the darkness came back to him, but in the form of a power he controlled.

As soon as he seemed to get his question out however, the waiter had shown up. Turning his eyes to him he raised his chin from it's rest and looked at the nervous guy. He didn't think anything of it and just took the menu. Glancing at the selection quickly, as if pressed for time or perhaps w minor want to return to the conversation. He just closed the menu and pushed it along the table back to the guy with a simple response to match it. "Just a steak or something, and a water." He spoke blandly, but then seeming to absentmindedly forget the waiter's presence.and return to Tomoko's response.

[ShadowOfIce]

[NPC -Fathia]

Not exactly the most... graceful responce, but he was certainly trying. She just rolled her eyes at him before they would be off, but her cheeks seemed to turn a slight hue of red at the kiss, mostly because they were in public now and she was a bit more timid about showing that sort of effection in front of others. ..To an extent anyway.

"..I'm still surprised a one-night stand is turning out to be something more... interesting and in depth." The girl said with a pretty honest tone as the two rode. She seemed to offer a hint of respect and even a desire to make this relationship last a little, but she didn't keep her hopes up. A thief and a pirate? It would never work. Instead, she just focused on riding for now, a casual stride upon her rented orange chocobo constantly glancing back at Azel like she couldn't take her eyes off him. There was actually something about him she was starting to enjoy. 'Now-now, best not to let that go to your head~'

They were getting closer to the outskirts of the town, starting to cut through apartment complexes, older buildings, and straying from the cobblestone path as they traversed the dirt roads, the sites of the mountain coming into play. Though technically it was a volcano, the massive mound of land looked more like a mountain peaking up nearly to the coulds, clearly dormant for centuries, but a site to be hold. Up ahead there was a path for them to take, enough for their chocobos too that lead along to the base of the mountain and up higher, but it had it's share of guards. Mostly, the guards were on path though, and although it would be a little rougher, they could certainly traverse to the outskirts of the town off path and towards the mountain, but that would waste time. She thought maybe it was good to bluff their way through, especially since the guards here didn't seem as aloof as before. "Psst, Romeo, maybe you could smooth talk us through here?" She asked under her breath as they were approaching 2 guards at the entrance to the path. The base of the mountain was still a mile away, but they were already much closer than before, and if Azel pulled a little hat-trick here, she might have a sneaky way to get that precious stone.

[Narration - travels]

Fortunarely for Atrozeon, once he started to leave the district of that area in town by the Old Yellah inn, the stares and judgmental glares seemed to stop. It seemed like something had occured only in that area, and for some reason, he was their subject of hate. Where as it was a mystery to him though for just what happened, the people seemed to know right by looking at him, as if they had seen him commit whatever crime or action they blamed him for right out in the open.

Shortly a mile behind Azel and Fathia, the rest of his travels would have seemed less conflicted, starting his way to the outer districts of town, and eventually to the few paths that lead to the volcano. All of the pathways had guards, none anywhere close to being as relaxed as the guards in the town, and he would even notive Azel and Fathia encountering one group. It seemed that he too was going to have a share of trouble getting past the guards unless he had the right plan or thing to say.

((Will narrate the inn tomorrow))

[Hiwa Kaoru]

~Kaoru Hiwa

Unfortunately for Kaoru, his good intentions ended up being canceled out by his own idiocy. Well, at least mentioning unnecessary facts. Just mentioning the town of Seraphims birth produced memories that, had he known better, would make him apologise outright, along with feeling like a total a**. The problem was, he didn't know that particular detail; everyone had their secrets, him included.

Anyway, her reaction originally seemed to be pleasure at the gift, but she quickly moved away and fixed herself a plate. It confused the elf, and he wasn't sure if he did something wrong or she was embarrassed. He couldn't tell sometimes with her—good at reading people he was, but Seraphim always remained a mystery to him. That said, while she may have muttered the comment, he heard her words. Idiot, he mused, with her that might be a compli—

"Hey," Alison chimed in, derailing his thoughts rather abruptly, "you must be hungry from your journey. You can have the rest of my pancakes, I'm full enough~"

"Hrm? Oh, no thank you; I'm alright. . . I actually ate not too long ago, so it's fine."

He offered a sincere smile to Alison, and bobbed his head lightly. Honestly, he hadn't eaten since morning—it was now afternoon—but he was always a sporadic eater. Oh well, he didn't want to take away from their food. He could always get something out in the woods. In fact, why didn't you bring anything edible, dolt? he thought, suddenly. Kaoru had to admit it might have been another nice thing to do. Well, there was always another day. It shouldn't be too hard to hunt down some vension or other tasty morsel. Being that the two probably didn't eat anything fancy, that might be a good thing—ooh, so it wasn't so bad that he didn't bring it before. If Seraphim was mad, bringing her some nice too cook up might change her mood.

Or make matters worse! Sad enough, it could have a negative effect with Seraphim. He shrugged and suddenly, realising he'd been silent—and lost in his thoughts like an old man—for a while, he turned to the two girls, letting the bag return to his hip's side. Not feeling like talking directly to Seraphin just yet was a good idea if she was actually angry over a gift, the lithe young elf looked over in Alison's direction.

"Anyway, I hope you don't mind if I borrow the living room floor, again? And are either of you busy or have plans?"

—

[ShadowOfIce]

Rastifar.. that was a city she tried to think nothing of. Her times there were surrounded by nothing but misery and death, having lived among the poverity, gang wars, and overall horrible conditions that she had to put up with for so many years. Seraphim wanted to forget about it, moving on, and never looking back. She knew her friend Alison had grown up there as well, but the girl's conditions were some of the best for Rastifar's standards; sheltered from the disgusting world that the city really was.

Seraphim wouldn't say it to Kaoru's face, but she was glad he was thinking about her, and knew that he was unaware of her connection to that town. Still, out of all the towns, he just had to get one from there, didn't he? Just her luck...

Not even going to sit down at the table, Seraphim leaned on the small counter by the stove, just eating her pancakes right there, using her fork to cut it into small pieces since it was easy enough, and finally turned back to them, deciding to go along with the digressing subject. It helped her get her mind off things, and she always prefered just dodging or steering away from sensitive subjects as best as she could, so this helped. "Well actually, we're going out in a bit. I need some sleep, while Alison here needs to vent out some of her endless output of energy. So I was thinking of going somewhere like the mountains." She had a few places she liked to rest, but if it came down to one place they could both enjoy, that was definettly the place. "I get to sleep near the base, there's no monsters, and the place is warmer than most because of the volcano, while Alison gets her fun in climbing-" Seraphim paused for a moment, taking another bite before looking at Alison, finishing her morsal quickly so she could add, "-so long as she doesn't attract any monsters." Seraphim said with some stress on that word, making sure Alison got that part. It wouldn't be the first time that happened. Seraphim slept at the base of the mountain, onl to be woken up by Alison after her climb, telling Seraphim that there were a few monsters after her. ...She was not a happy camper that day. Hopefully with Kaoru, things will be a little different though. And besides, if that didn't work, they could always go off to the beach. Sleeping on the sands was just as comfortable~

~Seraphim Harmonia

[Altral]

The man chuckled in response to Tomoko and she lifted up her head, looking at him slightly confused as to why he would laugh. As far as Tomoko was concerned, her actions were considered normal and she didn't see why someone would find them to be peculiar. Either way, he did say that she could join him and she sat on the other side of him, facing him. As she sat down, he commented on how she shouldn't be so formal with him and she stared at him with wide confused eyes, blinking. It didn't seem to her like she was doing anything wrong and oddly enough she had been told by several other people to not be so formal. It was just her manner of speaking, but perhaps she would lay off the bowing if she could help it. That seemed to throw people off from time to time when she was around them too long. The man was at least warming up to her, at least she thought so until he made the comment about 'those days are over', once again peaking Tomoko's curiousity, but she quietly kept any questions to herself. She was always a person interested in other people, but she never invited herselves into other people's personal lives without asking.

Slowly he started to open up and he looked much more relaxed with her around. She of course sat up right, looking relaxed despite how proper her posture seemed to be, and she had her hands politely folded in her lap. The same light smile was on her voice and when he mentioned Sai-Zhin, she nodded, about to answer his question but then a nervous looking waiter came up and she turned her head to face him. He was a little shaky and hesistant about giving them their menus and Tomoko's smile left her face, softening but vacant while she stared at the man, trying to figure out exactly what was wrong with him without having to flatout ask him. Her only conclusion was that their Sai-Zhin attire was throwing him off guard. Quietly and slowly she took the menu from him and opened it. Her eyes slowly scanned each and every entree, all of them sounding even better in the next. That could very well be the effects of hunger. Unlike Seig, it took her a minute or so before she shut the menu and handed it back to the waiter.

"If there is a special today, that is what I would like to have for my meal. A hot tea would also be nice as well as a slice of cheesecake." She spoke calmly and gently, making direct eye contact with the waiter. That steak that Seig had ordered sounded good...but she couldn't possibly have picked one thing without ordering another.

Actually, that reminded her.

"Also, if it's not too much trouble, I would like to order something....vegetarian friendly. A salad maybe? This won't be for here but to go, so if it could be placed in a doggy bag it would be greatly appreciated...along with a second piece of cheesecake." This second order wasn't for Tomoko of course, but the chocobo. It was a good thing that Tomoko did a lot of traveling, or else her chocobo would be very much so on the hefty side with how much dessert she gave it, thinking that it deserved to have as much variety in its diet as she did. If Tomoko treated herself to something, the chocobo got a treat as well. Really, before Tomoko left on her travels, Jinx had been quite pudgy. Luckily most of that weight had been lost already.

After the waiter got their order and left, Tomoko turned her attention back to Seig, nodding again in response to his question. "Yes, I am from Sai-Zhin. Are you as well?" She asked hopefully, thinking it would be nice to be able to talk with someone from her home town, not that she had many friends there to begin with. After her friend left she was didn't have that many people close to her other than Jinx...and as much as she treated Jinx like people to the best of her ability, it just wasn't the same as having someone to talk to who actually talked back rather than with some sort of wark. Seig didn't seem like a very talkative person, but he was fairly interesting in Tomoko's opinion and even if his responses were short, he did talk back.

[King Keiayo]

Seig Darkscar

Seig felt a bit accomplished as he seemed to guess her nationality. Not that it was too hard, but it didn't concrete the fact that the two had something in common. Someone to understand what the place was all about. Plus it was rare, or so he was told, to see a Sai-zhin citizen out of town. Especially a whole continents away from it. "Thought so" He said, watching the waiter trail off nervously before turning his gaze back to her just in time to catch her comment.

His creamy yellow hair fell cleanly over his blue eyes but he instantly pushed it to the side as he sat back in the seat, straight up. With a bit of a lazy posture to him. "Well," He paused momentarily thinking what he should say. She seemed happy and cheerful about her nationality while he was a little bit scarred by it's haunting memory. He didn't want to say anything he would regret. "Yeah I am." He said, moving an eye to her smile. Each time he caught glimpse of it, it seemed to lighten up his mood just a bit. It was hard to believe she was from the same horrid place he had escaped so long ago. "I haven't been back in a long time. I sort of-left that behind."

Leaning back he placed his arms on the table with a light clank, letting them hold up his frame. "You seem... different than I remember people from that place to be." He spoke as a sort of compliment but also unknowingly a small hint to his feelings for the town. Despite the fact that many natives of Sai-zhin were friendly, he had witnessed first hand the other sides they harbored. Even referring to it as 'that place' may of indicated he was hiding something, but almost every bit of him was secrets. The truth was that he wasn't absolutely use to being accepted so easily after the incident. In a sense, Tomoko was the first to show much if any interest in him for years now. It made him seem very awkward with responses as if he was willing to interact but unsure if it was right to. A small window to the boy that use to be. "You seem... nicer." He said honestly, his rigid uncaring tone slowly beginning to change to a softer one. Almost as if he was talking to long time acquaintance.

[Chachamaru v2]

Shrugging softly, Alison continued munching her way through her pancakes. Even if she wasn't especially hungry, there was no sense letting food go to waste. There wasn't much left, and she finished them quickly, leaving a huge mess of syrup around her mouth, whcih she somehow didn't seem to actually even notice. Of course, she'd eventually notice when the syrup dried and left an annoying sticky residue behind, but for now she simply grinned to herself, rubbing the back of her head with embarrassment as Seraphim reminded her of the times before when Alison had managed to end up with monsters literally chasing her. "But-but-but I didn't have my bat then!" Alison insisted, sounding like a child desperate to persuade her mother that she hadn't done anything wrong. Alison didn't really like having to use her bat to defend herself, mostly because she was convinced most of the 'monsters' that had chased her were just animals that didn't really know any better, but at the same time, she'd sooner cave in the skull of a giant insect than risk it chewing on her's. "And now I carry my bat everywhere, so that won't be a problem~"

The girl was actually quite excited now. Not only would she get to spend time with Seraphim, but also with Kaoru. Clearly today was going to be an incredibly good day for her, and the very though made her grin, literally bouncing on the spot with excited. "So, when are we leaving~?" Chimed the girl, really quite eager to get going. After all, the sooner the left, the more time they'd have together to enjoy the day.

Alison Melissa Owen

[NPC - Dargan]

Hunched over, limping, and walking with the assistance of a stick, 'Old man Dargan' came limping into the inn. One of the members of the 'Town Hall', Dargan was well-known around time, and really quite liked, especially with children. His ankles were constantly heavily bandaged, due to an old hiking injury. A smile crossed his face as he hobbled over towards Wulfgar, although nobody would see it due to his thick beard. "Ah... 'Wolfger', isn't it?" The old man was kind, but his eyes and ears were failing him in his old age, and he had secretly become the butt of many jokes due to his inability to remember people's names. They could tell him their name over and over again, and he'd still somehow manage to get it wrong when he came to say it again later. "Just who I was looking for." The old man helped himself to a seat near wolfgar, letting out a quiet grunt as he did, glad to get the weight off of his tired ankles. "I trust you are well?" The man was panting softly, although in truth he hadn't really even walked that far, and it was really just his age getting the better of him.

[Hiwa Kaoru]

~Kaoru Hiwa

To say the least, the elf didn't like the idea of the girls going to 'play' in the mountains, as it were. That wasn't the safest idea, especially with Alison. However, he knew Seraphim could protect herself—even kill someone. Alison's comment on the matter, however, gave him a bit of reassurance. Besides, he would be there to keep anything bad from happening—he hoped.

"That sounds good," he replied, "I've never been into Mt. Pheara before; I hear there are pretty orchids up there this time of the year. . . And I have nothing important, so whenever Snow White's ready?"

The elf held his tongue out to Seraphim playfully—gods forbid she was still upset or unhappy with him. For his part, the thin male just pushed his hands onto his belt. He actually had a few things to do—particularly delivering a parcel from Mistros for some rather interesting woman. Well, he didn't actually care, it was just a job he'd picked up since he was headed out this way anyway.


—

[Na-Ki]

Dance until the end, my friend, and find joy in every living thing.

In response to hearing a variation of his name being called, Wulfgar had ceased humming and looked toward the one whom had done so. When he had, he discovered that Dargan was the one responsible. Wulfgar then withdrew his feet from the chair opposite of him, just in time seeing as how Dargan had already begun to sit down. As for the mispronunciation of his name, Wulfgar simply let it slide. He knew very well that no matter how many times he'd explain it to Dargan, the old man would simply forget it shortly after the discussion came to an end.

What Dargan had come to say next, had peaked Wulfgar's interest a bit. With his feet now firmly planted on the wooden floor, he leaned forward, resting his arms on the table's surface. "Yes, Dargan. I'm as well as I can possibly be." Wulfgar started to say, pausing a half a second before he started to speak again. "What of yourself, Dargan? Are you holding up well?" He asked in return, partially concered on account of how the old man continued to pant even though he was now sitting down.

"Dare I ask though, why is it that you're looking for me?" Wulfgar asked the old man infront of him, who was still very much a member of the Town Hall. Having responded to everything Dargan had said, including a question regarding why the old man was seeking him out. Following that, Wulfgar held his gaze on Dargan, not wanting to speak another word as he awaited to hear whatever answer the old man would give him.

Optimism is not a choice, it's a belief.

[ShadowOfIce]

Seraphim had to admit, Alison had a good point then. When they first met, their skills in combat were completely opposite; the only thing Alison had running for her was her speed and agility. But overtime, with enough training and a few lessons, Seraphim helped the girl know how to fend for herself. Not only that, but she actually had quite a natural skill with a bat, like that aluminum 'mace' seemed to work for her like it was an extension to the girl. Hell, with all it's yellow marks adorned across it now, it pretty much was at this point since she never left without it. As for Seraphim though, she had been a fighter since the day she walked the streets at the tender age of six. She had learned how to break bones through lethal submissions, use her knees and elbows to shatter bones, and her fists and feet to pulverize flesh and muscle. Seraphim practiced using these eight points like it was a deadly art, only she believed there was actually nine points, and wasn't afraid to use it either; her head, possessing a headbutt that was powerful enough to shatter a skull with her amazing strength. Overall, with Alison’s speed and finesse, and Seraphim's brute force and power, the two were a capable enough team, and if anything happened, Seraphim even had the ability to heal.

"Alright-alright, you made your point, we should be fine. Let's just go now then." Seraphim said rather calmly now, having composed herself enough at this point after the incident with the necklace. Speaking of which, she decided against keeping it out though, and tucked it under the collar of her shirt, not really wanting to look at it, the necklace hidden between her simple white undershirt and the gray collared shirt. "You'll like it, aside from the few monsters occasionally, the place is quite nice this time of year. I'd take you to the restaurant there if I could afford it, but... let's not get on the subject of Gil. Digressing the thought of money like it was taboo to speak of, Seraphim was already on her way to the door, but not without taking a napkin, and reaching up with it, leaving the napkin on Alison's head as she passed by the girl. That had always been Seraphim's joking way to tell Alison she needed to clean something up of herself, sometimes throwing a towel over Alison's head, or even chucking a bar of soap at her, leaving Alison with the mystery of just what to clean, but at least knowing there was something Seraphim didn't approve.

With that, Seraphim lead the two outside. However, as she went to open the door to their apartment, there was a rusted squeak, and with a dull clatter, the bottom hinge gave out, causing the door to swing upon crookedly. "Son of a-!" It figures! Most things she touched ended up breaking some how, it was like she was jinxed or something. Then again, this whole place was falling apart, and it was only a matter of time. Her fists tightened a little, the one still on the doorknob actually making the metal of it buckle a little under her grip, but she remained calm in the end, using a simple breathing exercise and counting backwards from ten before stepping out to let the others follow.

~Seraphim Harmonia

[Narration - Restaurant]

It wasn't long before the food was served. The young waitress for Wulfgar came by with a plate of medium rare steak, a side of gravy, and some hash browns. Since he decided to skip the alcohol, she gave him water to suffice, but it looked like the young waitress was more than happy to serve, as if she wanted Wulfgar to ask her to do something else for him. Then again, maybe she was just trying to make a good impression since Dargan was around, who she smiled kindly at, even bringing over the elder councilman's food from the table he was sitting at previously, so the two could sit and talk. Then with that, she was off to serve another table.

Sieg and Tomoko were also served their food, the older waiter seeming to hold the plate with shaky hands, serving them both their meals, and even giving Tomoko the salad and dessert to go, making sure he was very precise and strict to his actions, like he was afraid to make a mistake. It turned out that today, the special was roasted Garuda thighs with a side of garlic mashed potatos, the smell of it was simply heavenly, and the meat looked like it was practically falling off the bone.

For the waiter, it sounded like he heard the name Sai-Zhin, and almost jumped a little as he did, nearly causing the plates to fall. But when he finished serving them, he gave a quick bow, before leaving most expediently, mostly fearful of Sieg more than anything as he scattered off. This in itself got a few people looking at them again, but they seemed a bit calmer about the situation, both because a councilman was nearby, and because they didn't have to actually approach the table. It was almost like Cryth itself had a personal fear of people from that town...

[Haro Starwind]

"One night stand? Ehhehe, don't be crazy... I totally didn't plan it that way..." He said, trying to go with his theory that women didn't want to hear they were interchangeable to him. His tone was sort of nervous but at the same time still suave and put together. If she already knew then there was no point of arguing it, but he said it anyway. Maybe he just shut up. There was thing his quick wit wasn't to great for and that was conversation with the stubborn ones. He just put back on his smile and that let that gem of his keep her in a lighter mood every time she looked back to him.

He continued to follow her until he too saw some guards in the way. As they came up she whispered in his ear to come up with a way to get past these guards. Without thinking at all he nodded in a way to say he had already thought of a plan. "Got it babe." Time to shine! It was go time! Azel's time to shine. As they came to a halt he pushed his chocobo up to the guards who eyed him with a sort of boredom but also in a sense of authority. Azel knew the perfect way to get past the normal male guards, no trouble at all. He was just quick witted like that. Without a hitch, Azel totally revealed his plan for getting past them. "Hey, me and my girlfriend wanna get by for some sight seeing. She said she'd show you her boobs if you let us past." He said to them with a grin and in a lower tone so Fathia couldn't hear he added, "And they're nii~ii~ii~iiice."

~Azel Zephyr

[Altral]

Ah, so he was from Sai-Zhin as well. Except...he didn't seem exactly happy about it. He paused when he spoke about it. Now this only made her more curious as to why he left it behind so long ago. She really wanted to ask, but it must be something very personal and deep if he left Sai-Zhin. She knew quite a bit of Sai-Zhin and understood many of it's secrets...but mostly it was a nice place to live if you didn't mind being around such a culture. A majority of the people were nice, though like every place you get the ocassional a*****e, and it was a place that held a lot of memories for her. Good and bad.

His comment took her by surprise and briefly her eyes widened and her lips parted slightly, forming a small 'o'. She didn't think she was so much different than everyone else, at least not in Sai-Zhin. The way he said it, made it sound like a compliment, only furthering her interest in the man and why he left Sai-Zhin. It was becoming more and more apparent that he didn't like the place and how he said that she seemed nicer, made her think that some of the people there may have done him wrong. He was opening up, but that only left her with so many more unanswered questions.

"Thank you for the compliment...and I am sorry if people mistreated you there..." She looked at him softly, the smile disappearing and replaced with a concerned and caring frown. She too had dealt with less than desirable people from Sai-Zhin during a difficult time in her life, but she didn't hold it against them. The people of this world were only human and part of that was making mistakes, the only thing to do was to forgive them and move on. Subconsciously, Tomoko bit lightly onto her lower lip, her questions eager to come out...but she didn't want to force him into a personal rant when he didn't want to and she definately didnt' want to invade her privacy. Hopefully she would know this man long enough to get to know him better and ask about his past, but this was not the time.

Finally, it was Tomoko's turn to break eye contact as she tried to change the subject onto something more light-hearted than Sai-Zhin, not wanting to stir up the past on either of their parts. Her eyes were cast down, looking at her shoulder thoughtfully. "Hm..."

It didn't take long for a distraction to come though. The waiter came back with their plates and she looked back up. Shaky still, he gave them their plates and her to go order, bowing and leaving hastily. This just caused Tomoko to sigh quietly and shake her head. Strange. She pulled the plate with the special order, whatever that may be, closer in front of her, sniffing it. "Mmm, smells good." She remarked, taking a bite of it. "Tastes good too~ Care to try some?" She asked, pushing her plate towards Sieg to see if he would like a bite. The best part of cooking and eating was sharing the enjoyment with someone else and since Jinx wasn't here...she would share with Sieg.

[ShadowOfIce]

[NPC - Fathia]

If this guy was as smooth of a talker as he was yesterday, then they should totally have this in the bag. Surely, he'd come up with something clever, maybe outwit the guards or have a witty bluff, right?

That was what she thought, until she suddenly heard what Azel had to say, and she tensed up immediately like a knife went in her back, orange eyes widening. She had to play along, but to this, she wasn't going to let this go! 'Oh he is so going to get stabbed when this is over with!' A mix of love and hate going through her, she played along as best as she could, forcing a big, toothy smile like everything was okay. "You're dead when we're done with this." She whispered to him through her big smile, her expression resembling a whimsically happy go lucky girl, but her words a deadly threat for later.

Looking back at the guards with that smile, she stepped forward, getting their full attention as her hands were crossed right beneath her bosom. Azel had his chance now, Fathia speaking to the guards as she said a little sweet-nothing to them, trying to work her charm. "Wh.. What my friend is trying to say is, I run a brothel down in the center of town, and.. if you let us through, I'll um.. give you guys a free week pass. I even run one of the shows there and-" She seemed to go on, getting the guards full attention, having quite a fond skill in lying and conning someone, working her 'magic' with the guards now, giving Azel the chance he needed to move on as she grasped their attention.