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 Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 11:02 am
Shade swallowed a bit - he was still frightened, truthfully. His fear had merely...lessened a little and he felt that it was better to trust Kaosu than any of the other people that he could see wandering around. He decided to keep that bit of information to himself though.
The boy nodded softly, blinking up at Kaosu - had the redhead thought that he was older? Most people thought he was much younger than that, due to his size. The redhead looked surprised by Shade's response either way. "I...turn s-seventeen in O-October..." he said with a small shrug. He /really/ hoped that Kaosu knew where he was going /this/ time - going with him wouldn't do him much good if they didn't find the inn.
"I'm...a-actually not r-really good with d-directions on a r-regular day..." Hell, he'd almost gotten lost trying to get to Elst's nursery! How had he expected himself to navigate through a city? He had to admit though, Kaosu was right about the whole night thing - Saffron was much more intimidating under the cover of night. At least he wasn't alone anymore though...that provided some comfort for the nervous teenager.
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Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 5:37 pm
Kaosu quietly led the way, extremely confident that he could navigate the complicated area even in the utter dark. "Yeesh. Only sixteen. They get younger every year..." he muttered to himself, shaking his head. Now now, where exactly was that inn? He would get there eventually simply by heading for the tourist zone of town, sure, but that would waste too much of his precious time. "If you're so bad with directions, why didn't you stay put when you got separated from your group? That's the logical thing to do. More logical than getting lost, at least."
The redhead was about to elaborate when he spotted a peculiar motion out of the corner of his eye. He hesitated only briefly, tightening his grip on Shade's arm slightly and pulling him along faster. For the most part he acted normally, but he ceased worrying about finding the kid's hotel. They needed to take a different route now.
Nonchalantly, he turned down a particularly dark, unlit street. It was completely abandoned, nightlife and all. The run-down buildings were dripping with decay and disuse. There was no life to be found. The pavement dead ended a few blocks down at the foot of a crumbling apartment complex. No lodging in sight. Kao released his acquaintance and tucked one hand in his pocket. The other rested casually by the handle of Robert Lynd's gun.
"This is as far as we're going," he purred bluntly. Hopefully Shade was rational enough to not run or panic.
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Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:08 pm
Shade scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish. He wracked his brain for another excuse to give to Kaosu - he was running out of them and was fairly certain that most of them had already made him look like a total idiot. "I...n-never t-thought about...t-that." Well, at least the redhead hadn't caught on to the fact that he was pretty much lying.
The impling was surprised when he felt Kaosu's hand tighten on his arm while their speed picked up a bit. Was there something wrong? What the boy didn't know what that a rather...familiar figure was following after them. One that Shade knew quite well actually...and if he knew that this particular person was following them, he probably would've been very frightened indeed.
A confused look came over his face as they stopped in the alleyway and his nervousness almost immediately returned. "W-What's...?" Shade's ears flicked as he caught the sound of footsteps. Was there someone else here?
Meanwhile, the figure hurried along down the sidewalk, peeking into the mouth of the alleyway. He was an impling...and one that resembled Shade in a striking manner, though this man was obviously much older. He wasn't anything like the 16-year-old either - instead of timid and nervous, this one was confident, and there was a glint in his eyes that could only be described as cruel...a cruelty that he intended to inflict upon Shade as soon as the boy was alone.
And from the sound of the words that his sensitive ears were picking up, that wouldn't be too long at all.
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:35 am
Kaosu decided not to reply to Shade's most recent excuse. It really did not matter to him whether the stranger was a liar, a sixteen year old, or the city's newest serial killer. He simply had been making small talk to calm the kid down and prevent the situation from growing awkward. Now, instead, he wanted to prevent the situation from growing tense. They were being followed. They were definitely being followed.
By who? There were a thousand possibilities. A disgruntled gambler. An angry one night stand. Dave, Red. A hit man. A random miscreant. Kao had countless enemies. It never occurred to him that their hunter might be after Shade. The redhead sighed heavily and patted his acquaintance on the head. "You don't want to know. Just stay still and be quiet. I'll handle this." Spinning on his heel, he turned around and drew Robert Lynd's gun. With a tired indifference, he expertly leveled the weapon at the impling whom had been trailing them. In an absolutely arrogant demeanor he purred, "You know, if you want my number THAT badly, you just have to ask. Stalking me like this isn't necessary." He sized up the creeper.
Ooooh, this one looked menacing. Fortunately (or UNfortunately), Kao lacked the capacity for intimidation. "And if you want more than my number, I'm afraid I'm busy this evening," he added motioning suggestively towards Shade. "So I think you should leave. Unless you want to get caught up in some of tonight's..." He clicked the safety off of the pistol. "Action." The threat was half bluff, half lie. Hopefully this guy would fall for it anyways? Cruel men were often cowards, after all~
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 8:00 pm
Shade nodded slowly, watching as Kaosu drew the weapon and advanced towards the person who was following them. The boy squinted, trying to get a better look at the person, though it was his sense of smell that ended up telling him who the person was. Terror flew through him in and instant and the teen was suddenly very, very glad that the familiar person hadn't gotten anywhere near him.
It was just his luck that he'd ended up in the village that his father apparently lived in.
The impling, Shade's father, tensed as the weapon was pointed at him. It appeared that this wasn't turning out to be a good idea. Still, he snorted, looking disgusted by what the redhead was even suggesting, both towards him and his rather terrified son - even he could see that Shade was shaking uncontrollably form where he was standing.
"Whoever said that I was here for /YOU/?" he hissed, a loathing look in his golden eyes. A question came up as to whether or not Shade was a willing participant in the 'action' that the gun-wielding man claimed was about to go on. If he was, then there was another reason to detest the brat. If not...well, then maybe he'd just wait until the guy finished with Shade - it might be funner to kick him around then.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 9:47 pm
Wait. Waaaaaait. Wait just a second there.
This stranger was here for the kid? Kaosu, surprised, turned to Shade. ”I take it you know him..?” he inquired, raising a brow. He clearly was not sure what to make of the situation. Shade was obviously terrified. Had Kao stumbled onto something unpleasant? That would be just his luck. The ONE time he actually tried to help someone else…
Deciding to find some answers in his own little way, the redhead continued, ”Why would you know an old…” Pointedly Kao eyed Shade’s father up and down as though appraising him, ”…codger like HIM? Please tell me you have better taste than that.” Waving a hand dismissively, he mused on, ”What a loser, stalking you in the middle of the night like this. You’d think he was some kind of pervert. He didn’t even realize I was kidding.” Whoever he was dealing with was no ally of Shade's. He had no reason to play nice. Besides, since he was the only one armed, he could speak as he pleased. "Even if I wasn't, I wouldn't let him watch. Not for free, at least."
Dropping the teasing, Kao lowered his pistol and addressed Shade’s father directly. ”Let me make one thing clear, though, old man,” he stated flatly. ”I’m NOT kidding when I say I’m getting this brat to his hotel safely.” Oh yes, that was a threat. ”So who are you and what do you want, hm?”
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Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 10:48 am
Shade found himself feeling quite glad that he'd accepted Kaosu's offer; had he still been on his own, he knew for a fact that his father would've probably dragged him back to whatever hole he was living in now to kick the s**t out of him. Why? The teenager had never really understood. Perhaps he just got some sick amusement out of beating the tar out of his only child, or perhaps he resented the boy for some reason or another. Shade had never really asked, nor did he want to know - he just wanted to be far, far away from the man that his mother had left almost 7 years ago.
Apparently, the man got that Kaosu was serious. Under any normal circumstance, he would've had no problem with taking Shade forcefully - however, the fact that Kaosu had a gun in his possession made this a little more complicated than he'd have liked. He thought of running, but that would be stupid. Kaosu could just shoot him down if he really wanted to. "Well, if you must know, I'm the brat's father." A look of disgust came over his face at the very mention if this fact. "And what I /WANT/ is for you to hand my son over to me." Father or not, Darth had no intention of seeing his son to safety, however - quite the opposite. Shade's current demeanor seemed to emphasize this. Clearly, the boy didn't want anywhere near the man.
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:23 pm
Mmmm… This guy claimed to be Shade’s father. If that was the case, then why did Shade appear so apprehensive of him? Why had he stalked them, instead of greeting his son? No matter which way Kaosu looked at it, this seemed to be a classic case of family feuding. And he had gotten involved. What a drag. Oh well! He had promised to help this kid find his hotel, and it did not take much intuition for him to guess that if he left him with his daddy, that would never happen. K-tan fully intended to fulfill said promise. That meant surrendering Shade to Darth was not an option. ”You’re his father? So what?”
Wary of my gun, are you? Hate to break it to you buddy, but I don’t need it to deal with the likes of you. ”Obviously you’re not a very good parent if you allow your child to wander around a place like this at this hour.” He had picked Shade's side, and that was the end of it. He wanted to scare this nasty imp away. ”But that’s a moot point,” he purred. ”I don’t really care who you are. You obviously are up to no good, and I’m not stupid enough to leave this poor kid alone with you. So um. That gives you two choices.” Clicking the safety of Robert Lynd’s pistol back and forth, he purred,”Either get lost, or…”
He grinned insidiously, ”Just try to take him from me.”
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Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 11:11 am
Well, this wasn't going the way that Darth had wanted it to. He thought about threatening Kaosu with charging him for kidnapping, but thought better of it - Luna was the only one who had custody over Shade, and the boy knew it. Darth wasn't stupid either - he knew very well that Kaosu could probably overpower him easily, and the last thing he wanted was to get his a** handed to him.
So, he took the former choice. True, he might not get another opportunity to see Shade again for a while, but better that than risk his own hide. Beating on the brat wasn't worth /THAT/ much! Meanwhile, Shade looked on as his father backed off at Kaosu's threat and took off down the road. The boy could only hope that he wouldn't run into Darth again any time soon; though the fact that his parent had shot him quite the glare before taking off again led him to believe that the adult wasn't finished with him. Well, he wouldn't be able to do anything once he was back at the hotel.
"T...T-Thanks..." Shade let out the breath that he'd been holding in and swallowed a little as he turned his gaze towards the redheaded man who had defended him. "I...I-I owe you o-one..." And did he /EVER/. Kaosu had probably just saved him from a fairly bad beating, or possibly something worse The boy shuddered at the mere thought of it, really. "I'll...p-pay you b-back for this, I p-promise." How? He wasn't sure, unless Kaosu had a broken computer lying around somewhere, but...he'd figure something out.
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Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 4:59 pm
Yep. Kaosu was too stubborn to let Darth get anywhere near Shade now. It was a lucky thing the guy did not threaten him with a legal suit -even if Shade HAD blown his cover, the lawless red head probably would have just laughed. He had been on his own far too long to be intimidated by paper and ink. Sure, he might not have been physically capable of overpowering the guy, but Robert Lynd's little gun fixed that quite nicely.
Too nicely. Shade's ill-meaning father slunk off without much of a fight. How disappointing! Here Kao had been looking forward to scaring the daylights out of some coward who liked to push around the weak. Bullying bullies was the sort of thing he thrived on, be it in gambling or on the streets. It sparked that sadistic craving of his buried deep under all of that angst.
Shrugging, he holstered his weapon and returned his attention to Shade. "No problem, kid. Seriously, don't mention it," he hummed. He did not really consider his actions a favor. They were more so... his natural response to that kind of situation. "You really don't have to pay me back. It's fine. I said I would guide you back to the hotel, didn't I?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 4:01 pm
Shade nodded a bit, his body relaxing as he began calming down. With his father gone, the boy was clearly considerably more at ease than he'd been a few minutes ago, as well as a little more comfortable around Kaosu. After all, someone who'd gone out of his way to keep father from getting his hands on him couldn't be all that bad, right?
The boy managed a small smile as he moved forward, standing next to the redheaded man. "W-Well....still. T-Thanks." Shade scratched the back of his head and shrugged. Thanking Kaosu was the /LEAST/ that he could do - it wasn't like the older man had been obligated to help him. The young impling would be sure to repay Kaosu, despite what he'd said about not worrying about it. For now though, he just wanted to get back to the hotel - it was late and Shade was rather tired, needless to say.
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Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 4:17 pm
Kaosu eyed Shade flatly, gaging the kid's reaction. He could not help but wonder why the imp had been so horrible terrified of his father. Obviously, there was some kind of abuse involved. After all, Darth had almost seemed amused by the idea of letting him hurt Shade. The mere thought of it made his skin crawl and his thoughts flicker back into his own household, with his own less-than-perfect dad. Why couldn't people these days just suck it up and be good to their kids? Was parenting really that hard?
"No really, it was nothing. Thanks for the entertainment," he insisted, patting the short kid on the head gruffly. "I think I remember where the Saffron Inn you're referring is now, so you'll be safe in no time. Mmkay?" He hummed, trying to lighten the mood after what had just occurred. Being kind like this was not his thing, but it couldn't hurt every once in a while, could it?
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Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 7:51 pm
Shade blinked, somewhat surprised by the gesture by Kaosu, no matter how gruff it may have been. Still, the teenager nodded slightly before saying, "A-Alright." Soon, the boy was following Kaosu down the sidewalk again.
He didn't know how long they'd been walking before the redhead finally got him back to the inn. The boy, exhausted and grateful, again thanked Kaosu for his help before heading into the lobby. Needless to say, his teacher scolded and fussed a little over him - apparently, he'd had her worried sick. Even while apologizing though, his mind was still on the young man who'd helped him find his way back that night. Kaosu had been odd to say the least, but...the teenager found himself hoping that they'd meet each other again. He'd make sure to find something to pay him back before that happened, but for now...he just wanted to sleep.
Which is pretty much what he did for the rest of the night and on the bus ride home. He didn't even wake up when some niner kid stuck gum in his hair.
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