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Buddingtonite knew that he wasn't the most likeable guy in all of Destiny City, or even within the block, but surprisingly enough, he actually didn't have that make attempts on his life before. He had done some things that would have made anyone wanting to kill him a justified homicide, and some of which he never recalled doing (thank you alcohol!). But still, people in this city had remarkable patience to not try to kill him, despite how he may have wronged him.

Or perhaps they were simply more concerned with other ordeals, such as trying to stay out of this war that he now found himself willingly involved in. Between the scoundrels of the White Moon and the Negaverse, perhaps the civilians couldn't be bothered with all the things that one Richard Moreau had done, when one's life could have easily been ended at the hands of a being of another world.

But there was an attempt on his life, or at least he came to realize that it would have been an attempt had he not been completely intoxicated at the time, and that attempt on his life was what brought him to where he was today. Standing just beyond a restaurant and away from the everyday civilian's sights and waiting for a certain someone to make an appearance. He now knew the name of the Negaverse officer he had unknowingly run into that fateful night, and that name seemed all too fitting for someone that carried such a formidable weapon.

"Painite." Buddingtonite spoke the name, as though he were summoning Betelegeuse. He'd need to say it two more times, of course, but he hoped for the same results. He wanted to talk to her, learn from her... perhaps convince her to not try and kill him again, if the topic should come up. He gave his pinwheel another blow, as he sat alone on the rooftop, feeling a few Chaos aura pings but unable to pinpoint them just yet. "Paaaaaaaainite... aptly named Painite."

He was beginning to wonder if she got his message- she could have been too busy, after all. But, he was certain that she had gotten his message. Who wouldn't have?

Twice had Painite appeared before him, and each time gave a familiar sensation within Buddingtonite, though on the third time, he was completely sober and well aware of his mortality when in such a general's presence. And yet, despite knowing who she was and what she was capable of, he still had to hide the start of what he suspected was a boner, and he hoped that his flowery words and the expressive hand gestures would be enough to conceal this from the Negaverse general.

"Why, can't you tell? I fancy you, General Painite," he said, giving a bow of respect to the general, and while he spoke with a smile on his face and mirth in his tone, his respect to her was genuine. At least, he hoped she would see the sincerity of his actions- they could have easily have come off as mocking, and given that Painite could have impaled him once before, perhaps it was not best to give her the wrong idea. "But not in the way you're probably thinking, and if I gave off that impression, then I do apologize. However, I'm not sure if we've been properly introduced."

He rose to his full height, not that his boner was completely gone, and he pressed a hand to his chest as he introduced himself. "I am Lieutenant Buddingtonite, member of the Infiltration team, and I was hoping for a chance to talk with you in private. If you're not too busy?"

Buddingtonite was new to this gig, and while he enjoyed it, he knew that there were some waters to tread carefully. What he was seeking in Painite was a mentor figure of sorts, as well as question her on her whole 'kill civilian' way of life. Not that she condoned the act, but there was just something he wanted to address her about, even if it was out of morbid curiosity. He waited eagerly for her audience, and not that spear that she could have summoned in the blink of an eye, and a sliver of fear could be seen as he glanced at her weaponless hand and back to her face with a bold smile.

He was pleased that he had her ear this night and not that spear to his throat, and Buddingtonite was simply too smitten with her and her brand of crazy at the moment that he didn't once think of how strange that might have sounded. He must have been crazy as well, to actively seek someone that could have easily killed him without so much a second thought, and as morbidly curious as he was to think of what color his starseed might have been (you know, assuming she didn't just stab him to death), he didn't want to invoke her wrath by wasting her time.

He cleared his throat, moving onto business and almost forcing himself to put that before pleasure, even when all he wanted to do was skip ahead to the juicy part. Best to preserve his life long enough to reach it.

"First of all, General, I would like to personally thank you for introducing me to think little war that was going on under my nose," Buddingtonite started, keeping his tone kind and respectful, despite how he could feel the slightest bit of nervousness trying to creep up on him. He toyed with his pinwheel, the only real outward sign of his anxieties, and he had to stop when it was beginning to distract himself. "Before I ran into you, I was ignorant. Of everything. Just a regular citizen with nothing to do but run a candy shop, get drunk, looking around for someone to fill that empty spot in my bed."

He paused, then looked at her, as though she were the very physical form of an epiphany coming to light. "Until I ran into you. Tell me, do you remember it as clearly as I do?"

"Make it good? Alright, I suppose I could throw in some purple prose and maybe some slightly exaggeration," Buddingtonite said, having absolutely no idea what was going on in that head of hers and that honestly spooking him. He liked to think he had a good read on people, but there were times when he was taken off guard and had no clue, and he couldn't hide the slight nervousness that was present in his chuckle before he cleared his throat.

"It was a regular night, just like any other. You know, for a regular, boring civilian that owned a store. He had a little too much to drink, and his foolish but well-meaning employees hid his keys," Buddingtonite started with the truth, dropping his tone to a more sinister sounding noise in hopes of adding to the story-book like direction he was taking. He even psuedo-acted out his story, his gesturing and quick motions a key indication that he was nervous still, but gradually relaxing throughout the course of his story. "So the poor drunk civilian had to walk home, with the assistance with a young, obnoxious little girl. Damaging to his pride, but you see, he was quite drunk, so much that even he realized he couldn't make the journey alone, or else he'd collapse in the street and lord knows what might have happened then!"

He wasn't sure when he realized that he was getting carried away, but he didn't look to Painite, uncertain of what expression she would have worn but certain that he wouldn't like it. His mannerisms were taken down a few notches, as he continued. "Well, on their way home, wouldn't you know it? They're interrupted by a Negaverse general, one with refine beauty, class, and a rather dangerous looking spear. Any of this sounding familiar yet?"

He looked to her now, after he dropped that question, and he didn't give her the chance to answer as he finished his tale. "The little girl screamed but eventually left, leaving the foolish drunk and his fate in the hands of the Negaverse general. You know, up until some white blur came out of nowhere and knocked the drunk's a** right out cold."

Though he was smiling, there was a twinge of apprehension there. What if she didn't remember? How would he have felt about that? The damnest thing was that he didn't know...

He wasn't expecting her to clap, but he took a bow, regardless. He was enjoying the moment profusely, despite everything, and even her little jab about him being s**t-faced drunk did nothing to deter his good mood. After all, it was the truth, wasn't it? "Thank you, thank you. Normally I don't get that drunk, not unless I had a really bad day. Funny that I don't remember exactly what led to the bad mood, but I cannot say I regret that decision."

Buddingtonite had no idea how things might have been had he not been drunk- he would have likely tried flirting with Painite regardless, knowing him. So instead, his what-if scenario was merely focused on something else, and now, though he still appeared smiling and pleasant, his voice had taken a more serious tone. "I feel welcomed here, yes, but I must ask you a question and I'd be grateful for an honest answer."

Not that he was certain that he wanted to hear it, but still, he had to ask. "Were you truly planning on killing me that night? I only ask because... well, I was curious if you killed any civilian on sight or if you simply didn't think me worthy of awakening me. You can imagine it is quite imperative for me to know this..."

There were times when Buddingtonite wished he cared about the 'would have, could have, should have' mentality, and while the thought of what they're expressions could be if they realized their blunder, it wasn't something that interested him anymore. For starters it would have given away his identity and that was a strict no-no, even for a risk taker like himself. There was also the matter of him not really sticking around long enough to see the other two Senshi that had arrived and therefor he didn't have a good visual of what their expressions could have been. He didn't even get a good look at the one that Painite had pinned down, thanks to a mixture of alcohol, distance from the event, and the fuzzies of regaining consciousness...

Also, the little tidbit at the end was a good mood killer as well. He liked taking risks, but he never really liked to take the time to consider his own mortality, or how dangerously close he was to it that night. And now that he knew... part of him wanted to spin around and bolt for the nearest method of escape. Yet, he tried to keep a cool head on his shoulders, and some of that realization of death might have shown in his voice, as it wavered from its smooth, sultry tone for a moment.

"Ah, yes, well... business per usual for you, am I right? I can't fault you for that, though in hindsight, perhaps I should find these Senshi and thank them for not allowing you to kill me," Buddingtonite said, fiddling with his pinwheel in hopes of hiding how uncomfortable he had become in such little time. It was damaging to his ego to know that she didn't see any potential in him, but then again, he had sought the Negaverse out, not vice versa. That made sense. "And by thank them, I mean giving them a head's up before plucking out their starseed. Speaking of..."

Just as quickly as he was rattled, he was curious, and he waved a hand over his chest as he asked, "When will I get the honor of ripping out starseeds? What would I have to do to earn that ability?"

That wasn't necessarily the answer that Buddingtonite was looking for, and it might have shown as his shoulders visibly slumped. It was a cookie-cut answer at best. 'Work harder and you'll eventually get the promotion', a phrase that Buddingtonite himself muttered to his employees when he didn't feel like doing the necessary paperwork to offer them a raise. Of course, having someone telling him what was essentially the same thing was ironic in a way, and on the other end, it was quite disheartening to hear.

But it wasn't something that could be fixed here, and he wasn't going to push the subject any further with Painite. She was a superior ranking officer and definitely willing to kill, and Buddingtonite did not want himself to be the test subject of seeing how starseeds were extracted. So, it was best to leave it be, and simply do his job. Which was, as far as he knew, recruiting more officers of value into the Negaverse. "I will keep that in mind then, General. Trust me, it is certainly my intention to scale the ladder of the Negaverse quickly and let everyone know of my worth. One rung at a time!"

Which meant he needed to double his efforts in seeking out potential recruits, not spending anymore time realizing just how close he was to death that day. The strangest thing was that it didn't make him admire Painite any less to know about that, and if anything, it proved that he chose the right side to be on. Painite as an enemy? He didn't want to even think about it!

"Thank you for your time, General. I appreciate you giving me the time in your day, even if it was only for a few minutes." He said, as he tipped his hat to her. "I hope that the next time we meet, you will know that I was worth the trouble. When the time comes, I hope it would be acceptable if I sought you out for that lesson?"

Of all the time a woman or even a man called him cuteness and offered for him to contact them anytime, this was probably the most awkward for Buddingtonite, and he wasn't quite sure whether to feel flattered, or terrified. With General Painite, a slue of conflicting emotions were always to be expected, and it seemed that she did not disappoint.

Still, while she may not have seen the potential in him that night (for which he couldn't blame her as he was drunk off his a** and made a terrible first impression), it was a good polishing session for his ego to know that she was willing to assist him in some fashion, and if nothing else, that was enough to lift his spirits once more.

He took a moment to flash her a polite, if not slightly flirtatious, nod, before he placed his hat back on and made his departure. "Do not worry, General. I will definitely seek you out again for one thing or another in the future. Good night!"