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He made a face at her. "Salt. Pepper. Whatever. From the sound of him I might need pepper to make me sneaze." Zell stuck out his tongue.

Then he grinned. "Course I got your back. That's exactly what friends are for." He stood, stretching, as she got up and stepped away before hopping a little & going into few backflips.

"Don't wanna swim... paintball's kinda out with just the two of us... you've spilled your soul.... well aside from training what else is there?" If the tone didn't give away that Zell was teasing playfully the gleam in his blue eyes certainly did. He bounced from paw to paw in his usual way, keeping an especially close eye on Kitsyn so he could dodge whatever she might choose to chuck at him. Just in case.

He should have expected a move like that from her, after weeks of playing paintball together. It was probably the situation that had lulled Zell into a false sense of security. Or just impressed with that sideways leap and thinking about how he should work out a good way to do that himself. But he was still a SeeD, Zell Dincht, Fistfighter! He responded instantly before his thoughts even caught up to the notion that Kitsyn was attacking him -albeit in a friendly way. He shifted, dodging a bit to the side even as he brought his foreleg up to block the blow... and blinked in surprise at the jar he took from it. Shock melted into a slow, quirked smile. "Cool..."

He was impressed. "If that's what you do without having tried it before..." Zell gave out a low whistle & shook his head. "Hyne." He laughed, putting a paw behind his head. "Where do I train? At home, usually. On good days, outside in the glade. Then there's the training center, which I hit after a warm up most days. Anywhere really. Sometimes just stop on the way some where and do a form or two." He looked at her then, a little sideways. Thoughtful briefly then grinning. "Sure! I'd like to meet this Atae. Lily & Hemi really seem to like her. And a walk back down the mountain is nothing." Zell laughed, bouncing up. "Only one I know can beat me out for energy is your Shoom. And probably Sephers... but she's not here."

Blue eyes glanced at Kitsyn, laughing & saying that she was not to do whatever it was she did to find out if the bubbly SeeD was coming or not. He wanted to be surprised. "Chroma's got energy too, but not Shoom's speed, that's for sure."

"Dusk, huh? That why his heads funny & he's all sproingy?" Grinning Zell shrugged, his descriptions no more to him than saying someone had blonde hair or red fur. Of course he only knew a little about this Org. Something Lily & Hemi had mentioned about their uncle. Maybe a painting of some 13 audios he came a across when accidentally getting into a storage room full of Relm Audio's stashed paintings.

"No... they're not. That's why learning to roll with a blow is almost more important even then learning how to give a blow." From what Kitsyn had shown him what he said was probably redundant but Zell did not really think about that.

"Her family's around here? That's cool. Family's important."

He paused stretched, then with his typical bounce to his step continued down the trail. "The Training Center? Huh... well I've never had to describe it before. I guess it's like a monster zoo, where you can fight monsters. It's got plants and things there too. Like walking into Balamb Garden."

Maybe after he met one of the Organization or another Nobody Zell would think to ask Kitsyn more about it or recall at least what she said today. For the moment it was information with little to put it with. The idea of Shoom being nobody when the fast little Dusk was certainly somebody wasn't something the easy-going fistfighter wanted to get into right now. Especially when he was still digesting everything bout Kitsyn and this Caim of hers that she had dropped in his lap.

Speaking of which... that should have given him a clue that she might know about Balamb Garden, after that snippet she gave about knowing about him. However Zell had not gotten that far in the absorption of everything he had been told. "Huh? Wha?"

He staggered a little but did not fall down as his brain caught up a little to piece together her odd knowing with her being so excited about it much less seeming to know A slow grin reformed on his face, glowing brightly. So Kitsyn may've been with us too? S'pose it's not any different than Rune being there, then here. "Yeah! Sure!! Seriously! C'mon!"

Mid stride he shifted their course. He could meet Atae later. The Training Center was no place for someone without any training. He didn't let Lily go there, and he knew what his student could now do -both with magic and her body. Actually with magic Lily would probably be okay but Zell was not sure he wanted to chance it. Having her kin mad at him for letting her in was not something he wanted to deal with should she get hurt.

The blonde SeeD nodded his head avidly, spike of bangs bobbing with excitement. "Yup!! Atae & End tell ya 'bout it? I tell you what -that door sure made moving in and adjusting to living with a huge amount af strangers so easy." He laughed, because although he remembered moving out of Ma Dincht's in Balamb to go to Garden for training that moving in to live with a huge amount of strangers was not really strange. Not like the horde of 'family' he had picked up here, or finding out there was another 'him' ... now two other hims, since the anthrobreedables in their family expanded.

"Door's massive cool. Why, if we'd had one in Garden I bet HeadMaster Cid'd never had to worry about funds as much as he did." Zell played dumb sometimes, but he wasn't. Hard to tough it as a SeeD and be truly oblivious. Still, he was on many things. Or he had to think about things twice. That's just how he was.

Zell was in one of his thoughtful moments, though he smiled over it as if he wasn't & laughed. "We don't get many true 'strays' from the stories I've heard but I can imagine that would be interesting."

He gave Kitsyn a look with one brow arched as if saying 'why... don't you know?' before grinning with an almost impishness to his boyish charm, blue eyes flickering with remembered concern. "Yeah. But I know he'd've rather never turned Garden mercenary, if he'd had a choice."

They continued to chat like that, avoiding any 'real' topics all the way down the mountain and away from the kitsu lands. After a while Zell went into random excited chatter about the other 'hims' and everyone else who lived in the house in Bass'ken Woods just for fun it seemed though it might have been a partial warning or filling in for anything those of Kitsyn's family might not have told her. Like the tala Seifer & Zell growing or the new anthrobreedables that had recently joined them. And Ginny's eggs. Things that maybe Endless & Liliana had not bothered to share with others in the light of exploring their new relationship. Which thought made Zell grin.

Then there was Bass'ken Lake. "Booya!" The energetic SeeD exclaimed, going into two pawsprings then an areal sommersault. Bass'ken Lake! Nearly there!"

Inclining his head to the other side where a dense wood grew Zell winked at a path that could just be made out.

"Yeah! And she's doing great! Hardly shows her temper. Well... 'cept for that bat-hex of hers on Tien the other day, but then the kun touched an egg without warning. Of course it thought it was some great new game and was actually disappointed when the wings on its face disappeared."

He bounced ahead to the path softly lined with blooming ground covering and pranced a few times to let the delicate aroma drift out. "Sure thing! As long s you don't want a pop or something. Trel doesn't like 'em, so there's never any in the kitchen. Juice water, milk... always have those."

Grinning, Zell trotted down the path.

"Juice then. Tea takes too long." Zell grinned and led her down the path, across the glade, then through the garden to the porch -introducing her to Maree & Peter in the garden with a laugh as the little cait gave the older kitsu an 'adult' frown that he always used her nickname.

Of course he was still laughing when he opened the door and was bombarded by four winged female kits and a small gray soot all jabbering for play. One with a long honey-blonde braid refused to let him go even as he got the holiday girls off of him in time to be 'charged' by a blue-gray kunkun astride a bright yellow pursekitty. A pile of what looked to be tiny kittens gave them a few odd looks but otherwise decided greetings were not worth getting Tien's attention. Zell gave introductions all around as he steered Kitsyn towards the kitchen where the scent of hotdogs indicated that either his tala or AnthroBreedable selves were inside and the automatic cooker was on.

His tummy rumbled at the scent and Zell kitsu gave a happy moan of expectation, licking his lips and hurrying inside the kitchen. "Yo! Save some for me!" "Ha! You know hotdogs wait for no one!" "Awww... c'mon..." "But we're hungry!" "So'm I!"

"There's plenty for everyone." A female voice said above the back and forth talk of the three Zells, getting a sheepish look from all three & a laugh from the permakit that matched her, still clinging happily to the kitsu Zell. Soft laughter in her green eyes Trelweny flicked the moomba ear of the anthro then pet the heads of the tala & kitsu -being mindful of their hair. "Glad you could make it, Kitsyn. Juice? Tea? I just put a pot on a bit ago & it should be ready soon."