Craith hadn't had much time to either respond or react to what the other had said before he was being dragged back in the direction of the Raging Dragon. That was fine for him though. That just meant he could avoid talking to Lonan about the situation with Taiki anymore than he needed to. At least for a little while longer anyways. The last thing he wanted to do was continue his streak of saying more than he should. He'd already messed up enough with that for one day.
While they moved, Craith chose to remain quiet. Yes he could have started up some sort of conversation with the other, but honestly, all he wanted to do right then was think. Go over everything that had happened again in his mind. Being led by the other made it easier to do, as he wasn't the one who had to watch where they were going. Even still, every once in a while he lifted his gaze, either to the crowd around them for a few moments, or to the hand that held his arm, and sometimes to the one who was pulling him along. A lot had happened that day, some things stressful, other things just strange. Each situation however, made him think, forced him to reevaluate plenty of the things he had done in the past and many of the decisions he had decided to make. He even had to admit, though he knew he must be crazy for doing so, that honestly, despite the issues, this perhaps had been a relatively fun day. Or at least less boring than it had been for a while. Maybe fun just wasn't quite the word to use. Exciting maybe, in some way or another. That of course didn't change the fact that his stress levels were through the roof.
'Maybe I am crazy. Or maybe everything that's happened within these last two weeks is finally just starting to pile up and break me. Well it's more like what happened exactly two weeks ago, and then today...'He sighed softly out loud, gaze moving from Lonan and over towards the street they were passing by. They were closer to the base now. Another few minutes and they'd be there. 'Trez...where the hell did you go? What happened to you?'
After a few moments of drifting through everything the male had said and done before he'd gone missing, he finally decided that thinking on it any longer would really do him no good, and he pushed the thoughts aside. The familiar smell of food, and the sounds of voices rose in either song, training, or just conversation in general reached his ears, slowly getting louder or more noticeable the closer they got to the Dragon. It wasn't until the Inn came into view that he realized he probably should have messaged Taiki, to let him know they needed to talk. Carefully, he reached into his pocket with his free hand, and pulled his phone out, the little crow charm gleaming in the light, flaring up and momentarily blinding him. The world was still the unnaturally bright and colorful mess it usually was when his ability flared up, and the idea of using the phone actually made him cringe slightly. Quickly he unlocked the phone and moved to find Taiki's number. Tapping it and opening the messenger, he attempted to type his message out. It wasn't easy with how he had to hold the thing.
- I'm on my way to the Inn - Taiki we need to talk, I ******** up
Once he hit send he quickly slid the phone back into his pocket. Looking up at Lonan he moved so he could walk a little more evenly with him, though he didn't pull his arm away.
"Hey, once over there he'll probably be waiting for me up at the Inn. It's up to you what you do. You can wait by my door, over by the bike there, or if you have anything you need to grab from your room you can do that. It shouldn't take..too too long hopefully. I'm not sure exactly where you have to go but leaving sooner would probably be better. That way we'll have more time to get things done." He said, pointing over towards the purple bike that sat parked in the raging dragons lot, to make sure he knew where to go. "I'm going to head up to my room now. Follow if you want to wait outside or go to your room I suppose."
He offered a slight smile before gently moving his arm out of the others grip, and moving off towards the Inn. When he got to the front door, he slid it open, stepped inside, and reached into his other pocket to pull out the key to his room. He flashed it to the person behind the desk before moving to head upstairs. He passed a few civilians who were leaving their rooms on his way to them, nodding to them as he passed with a smile, before he moved up them. When he got to his door he paused there, taking a deep, slow breath, before he unlocked the door, and slowly opened it. He could only imagine how upset Taiki was going to be, just from hearing that he ******** up alone. He only hoped that anger didn't involve him throwing something at him the moment the door was open enough for him to do so. He didn't have enough focus to stop it from hitting him.
I stand here today So far from the same It's hard to move on without you
I swear if he doesn’t have a good reason for being late I’m going to throw something at him, he thought. It had been almost an hour since he was supposed to meet up with Craith. A meeting that wasn’t his idea, but the other man’s, which just made him more annoyed. Normally he’d be okay with waiting, except he had been busy running around the last two weeks trying to catch up with all his new duties. It was so much easier when he was just the enforcer. All he had to do was track down people and beat or scare the s**t out of them. Being second in command and fake leader wasn’t difficult per se. It just wasn’t something he was used too. He had spent the last two weeks going around making sure everyone knew what they were doing and that there were no issues. Plus, he was also searching for Trez whenever he had spare time, though he didn’t have much of that. Honestly, he didn’t think they were going to find him, as they had no clues as to where he went. It didn’t hurt to try though.
He had just finished up checking with the security around the inn, when he got a text. Taking out his phone, he opened it up to see that it was from Craith. Finally, he thought, opening it up.
From: The Source of my Suffering - I'm on my way to the Inn - Taiki we need to talk, I ******** up
He reread the text a couple times, before he let out a groan. Craith ******** up was never a good thing. Especially, if he knew he had ******** up. Closing out the message, he headed up to Craith’s room. He had beat Craith to his room, so he decided to sit on his bed and wait for him.
It didn’t take long for the door to open and Craith to walk in. Honestly, he didn’t look the best, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. He had told him earlier in the week to get some rest, but that did little to actually make Craith get some rest. Anyway, that would have to wait. “So, what happened?”He asked, wanting to get the bad news out of the way first.
So my God fill these spaces left in me I'm so near to lost, but I'm not I'm everything but lost cause I'm not alone
Craith couldn't say he wasn't surprised by the lack of hostility when he first opened the door, but he also couldn't say he wasn't glad for it. With a quick look over to meet Taiki's eyes, he moved into the room, his gaze shifting to the door as he turned to close it behind him. It was difficult to convince himself to turn back around however, not because he thought the other would do something but rather because he knew he really had ******** up this time..and he was sure Taiki was aware of that as well. It wasn't often he'd straight out say he messed up. Often times he had to be told he ******** up for him to realize it, but most of the time those were on the less severe side of things.
Most of the time.
"What...no hostilities? I can honestly say I'm a bit surprised Taiki." He said, finally turning back to face him. He took a moment to watch him closely, a fake, light smile on his face though to most it would look legitimate. Just because he couldn't lie with his words didn't mean he couldn't lie with his body language and expressions. The only problem with that was, it took energy for him to do and he had a distinct lack of that at the moment. Oh yeah, and can't forget the fact that Taiki was an old time friend of his..so he'd probably be able to see through it with ease anyways. After a few seconds the smile fell and the cheery facade broke away completely, instead replaced with a much smaller, tired one, his eyes loosing any slight spark they had in them, instead taking on a sort of pained, dull and distant look. Now not only did he feel more his age, but he could feel how close his body was to just giving up on him, and how tired he truly was. However he pushed that aside as best he could, instead choosing to focus on the issue at hand.
With a sigh, he moved slowly across the room to grab a set of keys from a hook on the wall by the door, before he turned and moved to stand before Taiki, a few feet back from him. He would have leaned against a wall or something if there was one nearby him, but there wasn't, and he figured it would be best he didn't even try to get comfortable anyways. He might not want to move again afterwards, and that wasn't something he could risk right then.
'I guess there is no point in avoiding it any longer. He'll be pissed if I stall for too long. Not like I planned on stalling much anyways. I just wanted time to read his mood. He's not pleased, and he's stressed himself it seems. I'm so sorry Taiki. I've been inconsiderate...going out and causing so much trouble while you yourself are dealing with enough as is. '
"I suppose the first order of business here is. What I had asked you to meet me about before now...And let me start by apologizing for being late on that..I do have my reasons, though unfortunately they won't make the situation better in any way." He took in a slow, deep breath before letting it out just as slowly. It was hard to say this honestly, but it had to be done. He couldn't keep dragging either himself, Taiki, or anyone else in his gang through the search for someone they probably were never going to find. Whether it was because he didn't want to be found, or because something bad had actually happened to him. Someone didn't want them to know, and whoever it was, was doing a damn good job of hiding what went down. Yes he was his friend, in one way or another, yes he was his second in command for quite a long time now, yes it tore at him both mentally and emotionally to even be thinking of giving up the search. But he couldn't think of what else to do. They had already searched harder than any human would be capable of doing in two weeks time. Craith had even checked through sources outside of the city, and had even visited the two closest ones to do a search. Not too in-depth but enough of one to know there wasn't even a slight trace of them there.
"I'm giving up on my search for him, Taiki. It's done...I can't keep this up, I can't keep having you all wearing yourselves thin looking for..someone who might not even want to be found. Especially not you. I know they haven't been searching as much as us, nowhere near, but..it's getting to be too much, and clearly someone or something intends to make sure we never find him." If it hurt to think it, it hurt even worse to say it out loud to the other. Enough to make him quickly avert his eyes from him to do his best to hide just how much it had. While he was good at hiding things with his body language, when his guard was down he couldn't hide what showed through his eyes. Not only did it take too much energy, but it also took focus and he really wasn't up for trying to muster up either of them. Not right this moment anyways. He didn't want to waste time dwelling on the situation however and after a few seconds he closed his eyes, took in another, slow, deep breath before he turned back to Taiki. "To make things worse I had planned on going out to do one last search for him, hoping that maybe I could find some small bit of information that might lead us to him, but not only was the lead I had been following nothing more than another false report with nothing to gain from it, but then I ran into a bit of trouble soon after."
He sighed, shifting on his feet as he prepared himself for how the other would react to the news he was about to give. If it was him in the position the other was in now, he probably wouldn't react to this well either. Even if he was a lot more relaxed about certain situations and things that Taiki usually wasn't. Bringing a hand up, Craith ran his fingers back through his hair, free hand slipping into his pocket as he tried to think of how to start the explanation off. Eventually he realized there wasn't really any way he could start it off that would lessen the impact, even if he offered up the challenge the woman had offered at the end of their conversation. If anything, that might add more stress onto the pile of things Taiki had to be stressed over. This would mean a search would have to be done to find her before the three days were up, and unfortunately Craith was about to have to leave with Lonan and he had no clue how long he would be gone.
"As I said, I ran into some trouble on the way...though the first bit of trouble was just someone trying to steal my phone. It seems a lot of people lately have actually started to either pick fights with me on their own or they've been staring me down. Some of them for good reason, others..I'm not entirely sure why..but it's not giving me the best of feelings." He said, thinking back to the guy trying to steal his phone. If he'd had more energy, he might have actually hit the guy, or at least tripped him when he went to run away, but instead he'd let the guy off somewhat easily. Though he was glad he had, as it turned out someone had in fact been watching him rather closely during that time. It would have only caused more problems with him in the end. Then again he had also ended up revealing that he could have easily decided to handle that situation differently later on down the road to the woman anyways. So the save there hardly even mattered in the end. "Anyways, as I said, the first part wasn't the worst. The biggest problem was who I met next. Some..woman..who was on the side of the street playing a guzheng. I went to check on her because the guy who tried to steal my phones group ran past her so close it almost looked like they would hit into her or her instrument. I had only intended to see if she was okay, but instead I let my curiosity get the better of me. I mean...she was playing a guzheng, and you might think that's not such a big deal but I'd never really met someone or seen someone who could play it as quickly without messing up a single time. And she played it well. Even then. I had still only planned on asking about that after she had said everything was alright, but then somehow ended up talking about the fact that I played instruments myself, and when she asked if I would like to sit and stay a bit, if not to talk then to at least listen, for some ungodly reason I decided to agree."
As he spoke he hadn't realized that he'd started to pace a bit back and forth, until he was forced to stop, and he found himself having to turn his head to look at Taiki again. He was also feeling some of his previous frustrations starting to rise again, and couldn't push them back down. Why had he not just walked away from her like he'd known he probably should have done? Why did he have to stay? It would have saved him and Taiki a lot of grief. He sighed.
"Well skipping over some of that conversation since most of it was about music and instruments, my color-blindness decided at some point to act up, and it really messed me up. It hit without warning and...well lets just say with my lack of focus lately the effects of a sudden flare were a bit more intense than they usually are, and for a bit I couldn't think much past the pain and disorientation it caused. So needless to say even though I knew I needed to get out of there before she saw my eyes glowing or something, and I did try, I decided to stay for a few more seconds, explained when she asked if I was alright that i was fine, just a bit dizzy, and then i excused myself. Well..She apparently decided to follow me. To apologize for something. While I can appreciate that, there is still the fact that what she had apologized for wasn't exactly a good thing." He balled his hands up into fists, feeling his nails bite into the palms as he did so, and his eyes narrowed a bit, a small flash of his previous anger flickering through them before it was suddenly gone and he stood there, only slightly tense as the anger died down temporarily to simple frustration. "I knew I should have avoided her after I checked on her yet obviously I am a master of ignoring gut feelings. She could read minds Taiki! She was a mind reader, and I let her near me. I let myself be near her. You know what though? Things could have been fine, they could have worked out in the end, until she started to further explain things and with how paranoid I've been lately my thoughts have been a mess and I have no clue what all she could have heard from them or seen, and everything I said seemed to only be giving her more information she wanted. I tried to see if she would keep quiet about everything, I asked what she would do with the information she got from me and she said something about the information usually being safe with her, but that if someone asked, for the right price she might sell it. Taiki I just couldn't handle it at that point. I snapped."
His hands were shaking at this point, the color in his eyes darker, closer to red, and creeping closer to it each second that passed. He struggled to calm himself down, but couldn't seem to.
"Especially after she made a comment on how she doubted I would or could handle the situation with her in a more physical way...and you know me and challenges, especially when I am a bit more on the unfocused and unstable side of things. I got in her face, in public...I said some things that probably gave away a bit too much. I lost control of my telekinesis! At first it wasn't so bad, the windows just shook, cracked but didn't break...The new guy, Lonan..he showed up and stopped me from doing something unreasonable which helped to some extent but the poor guy was dragged into the mess and once again I'd like to say, she was a mind reader. The worst part was I couldn't even warn him. Taiki I have no clue what she heard from him but contact makes things clearer for her and I tried getting Lonan away but that only made things worse. Not only that but the things I said. Dammit Taiki. I ******** up bad, and now I have three days to figure out who she actually is and what she actually looks like or she is going to sell the information she has." When he stopped he was shaking a bit worse, and his eyes were slightly red, but his emotions weren't simply anger He was upset, disappointed in himself, and worried..or perhaps scared of what Taiki's reaction was going to be. He was his friend, he was going to be honest with him tired to the point he might pass out at any moment or not.
I stand here today So far from the same It's hard to move on without you
He watched him close the door, not surprised that he would take that time to put on a front. Like that smile’s going to hide the fact that you look like you could fall over any moment. Not the mention you aren’t the only one who dishes out fake smiles around here, he thought. Of course, he couldn’t keep the smile up for long. “It’s no fun beating on someone who can’t defend themselves. And I’m pretty sure if I threw something at you, you would drop. Which would defeat the entire point of me waiting an hour.” He said, watching Craith grab his keys. I guess this meeting isn’t going to be that long then.
He patiently listened to Craith. It hurt to hear that they were going to stop looking for Trez, though he knew they needed to. They could always keep an eye out for him, but they had to move on. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to fixate on it.
At first he was confused about the woman. So, what if you ran into someone and they distracted you? Of course that all changed when Craith mentioned the mind reading. He had to resist throwing something. Though he was pretty sure he heard some thing rattle around the room. At least he hadn’t broke anything. He still remained quiet and waited for Craith to finish. When it seemed like he was done, he took a deep breath before talking.
“I agree that we have to stop searching. We can always keep an eye for information, but it does us no good to waste anymore time. Especially now that you have gotten into this…situation.” He said, managing to keep the frustration out of his voice for the most part. Craith was tried and bitching at him wasn’t going to help the situation. “So, we have three days to find a mind reading woman you happened to stumble upon. Only you would have such luck. Anyway, what are we going to do when we find her? Do you have any idea what she’s going to want once you find her? Are we just going to let her go with what she knows?And do you have any idea how to find her?” He asked, they were mostly questions to consider. He didn’t need that answers right that minute.Though he would eventually. “Do you want me to help you look for her?” He added, it wouldn't be easy for him to, but he would if asked.
So my God fill these spaces left in me I'm so near to lost, but I'm not I'm everything but lost cause I'm not alone
Craith shrugged a bit at Taiki's "no fun" comment, still feeling the frustration he held towards himself for having been so stupid. Then on top of that, was his anger at the woman. Seemed like he couldn't keep himself calm for long. He only hoped the drive, to wherever it was him and Lonan were going, would help him get his mind off of the situation a bit. Though if it was a short drive, there wouldn't be much hope for that. He flicked his gaze to Taiki for a moment, then moved it to the door as he thought on what he'd said.
"We do need to stop searching..but you are right I suppose. We could still keep an eye out for any clues. Just..there is no need to keep it up nearly as actively as we were. I don't want to cause you and everyone else more stress...Though it's no help that I am honestly still at a loss on Kyrie as well. He basically just up and vanished as well. Although I guess with him there is quite the high chance he just chose to leave...I can only hope that Zira is having more luck, or that she is doing alright...and..I just wish he would have said something at least to me if that was the case. Then again..why would he? It's not like he knew who I really was, though I could have helped him make sure his tracks were covered. Even if it seems he's managed that well enough on his own, if he actually chose to leave of his own accord that is." Closing his eyes he tried his best to ignore the pain he felt at having lost two people he considered in some way friends of his. Though Kyrie may not have considered him a friend he was one of his people, and he cared for him. He cared for everyone in the Voiceless. If anyone went missing, no matter how well he knew them, it would hurt in some way. Slowly opening his eyes he turned back to Taiki.
“It's a shame about Kyrie, especially when we were so busy trying to find Trez. And who knows what might have been the reason he left. Things always get a bit rocky when there are shifts in command. So far no one has outright said anything to me about it, but I wouldn't be surprised if more than one person is displeased with me replacing him,” The other said, watching him. He was aware that the other knew how much this upset him, even if the only thing that really showed on Taiki's face seemed to be a mild sort of sadness. He also knew it wasn't that he didn't care, that he just tended to try and not let himself get attached to others, for this very reason. You never knew when someone might be taken away from you. He could understand that himself in some ways, but he wasn't good at keeping people at much of a distance like he was. Of course he was aware that there were still people Taiki did care about. Him being one of them. Else he probably wouldn't have been as considerate as he was right then about the whole situation. “And don't worry about stress. I'll survive. Just take care of yourself. You are useless if you can barely stand.”
He couldn't really deny that. With how he was now, and how he would inevitably be later if he didn't sleep at some point on their way back or something, he would be completely useless. Honestly he wanted to just lay down now and sleep, but he couldn't. He wouldn't.
"Honestly..it stressed me out a bit, that we somehow didn't notice that something might have been up with him. I know he was pained enough after what happened with him before, and then this. I'm terrible...to not have noticed that, if he did leave on his own because of how upset he might have been. I could have talked to him about it at least..." He said quietly, gaze now on the floor for a moment as he tried to sort out his thoughts again. He really, really didn't want to dwell on this right now. At the same time though, he felt he should teach himself a lesson on being so careless about things. When the other brought up the woman again though he looked up towards him slowly, trying to focus his thoughts back on the situation at hand.
'We would have three days, if I didn't have to leave. I'm sorry Taiki, I'm about to make this even more difficult for you.'
"We would have three days, if today didn't count and if I didn't have to leave with Lonan to make sure he has some things to wear, and at least has a few other belongings. He had to leave his home in a bit of a rush I guess..so he hadn't had the time to bring his things with him. I have no clue where he lived, so I don't know how long it will take to get there and back. I'll be sure to text you when I find out though. Also...I'm a bit worried about him. I told you before that it felt like he was one of those kinds of demons that possessed others right? That I wasn't sure if the other person in his body was still there or not? I'm pretty sure he is still there...and I'm not sure who he is exactly, but I might try and ask him some things on the way to wherever we are going. If it's something to be concerned about...I'll let you know. I just hope it isn't something we need to worry over." He said, his voice going a bit quieter now. He wasn't sure if Lonan was outside the room or not, and though he knew he had some sound proofing in his room to keep people from hearing important conversations between him, Taiki, and Rhys, as well as to keep mind readers from picking up on things, he didn't know how good the others hearing might be, and he wasn't sure where he'd chosen to wait for him. Being cautious was for the best.
"I think I might have a few ideas on things I can offer to help find her, but I don't have much time to stand around explaining things, or to draw something for you. I'm not sure how much longer I have. I am so tired Taiki, and my mental state is far from stable at the moment. If I waste any time, who knows what might happen. I mean, I could just collapse, but there is also a chance I'll lose hold of my telekinesis as well and that isn't something I want to do. While it may not be as strong as it could be because of my seal, it could still cause a lot of problems, and with me having to drive somewhere, taking more time to leave than necessary could only make things worse." Maybe he was being a bit unfair, maybe he should just take a few moments to give the other some more info on her, but he really didn't feel like he would be able to. Then there was the fact that simply speaking the information had the possibility of not helping at all. It would be better if he could show them as well, and while he was usually pretty quick with drawing, right then it wouldn't be easy for him to get the details right if he tried. He'd also want to make sure he involved color. That might be important, though that would have to wait till he hopefully had his normal sight back. Although he might have to deal with drawing it with his ability active. "..Anyways, speaking of having to go...I'm sorry Taiki, but I really should get moving now. He's probably getting a bit impatient out there...I told him we'd leave today, after I was done talking to you, and I didn't plan on it taking too long. I will however, need to ask you to inform Rhys of our situation when you can. Let her know I'll be bringing details later. I may need both of your help..and I know you can't do much with everything else you have on your plate...so I would more ask you to simply keep an eye out for anything while around base, or while you're out and about."
"For now though, I really do need to get going. Lonan may end up coming up here to see what's going on if I take much longer. I'll let you know where we are going when I find out, and let you know when we are there as well." He took a few steps back, keeping his gaze on Taiki for a few seconds, before he turned and headed for the door. He wished he could stay and talk a little longer, but he really did have to go. He felt bad for just dumping this bad news on the other and leaving though. He wondered if there was a way he could make it up to him when he had the time. Not like he'd probably have much of a choice but to. "I'm sorry Taiki. I'll talk to you later though..and I'll find some way to make it up to you...but oh...as for what she might do when we find her..I don't know..all I can do is hope it will help us rather than hurt us in the end. All we can do is wait and see."
“It's okay. Get Lonan sorted out and we'll focus on mystery woman. If you get the chance text me descriptions of her. I'll see if I can get people looking just in case today counts as day one.” He heard the other say as he was reaching to open the door. He paused for a moment, turning back to look at him, nodding in response and offering as much of a grateful look as he could manage, before he turned and headed out of the room, leaving the door slightly ajar just in case the other wanted to follow him out, or just in case he wanted to leave right after. He was aware there was at least a slight chance he might come back to some small destruction in his room if the other didn't follow. He'd not missed the rattling sound of something being tossed or knocked over by the others telekinesis before. He would deserve it though. So he wouldn't get upset either way.
I stand here today So far from the same It's hard to move on without you
Taiki waited for Craith to be gone for a few moments before he got up and paced a bit. There were so many things he needed to deal with already and now there was more.The woman will take top priority cause of the time restrictions. Then if Lonan and the sorry soul that is stuck with him becomes a problem that will come after. I would rather get that out of the way now rather than later. Of course he would still have to keep up regular duties and such. At least there wasn't anything pressing besides Craith's issues and catching up on all his duties. Most of which he had already done over the last two weeks.
There were so may ways he could start searching for the mystery woman. It would be easier once he had a description. Though he could still ask around. It was getting later in the afternoon though. It was doubtful she would still be out on the streets for very long and it would take a while to find her without knowing what he was looking for exactly.I guess all I can do is get the others ready for things, he thought, pulling out his phone. He sent a message to Rhys and after some consideration Zira.
To: Big Buff Creampuff Just letting you know We have multiple situations Guess who caused them >.> You only need one He's going to deal with some of it But I'll need your help at some point -.-
To: Smol Child Is everything going okay?
Once he sent out the messages, he teleported back to his apartment. He decided that he could take a nap while he waited on information and responses.
So my God fill these spaces left in me I'm so near to lost, but I'm not I'm everything but lost cause I'm not alone
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