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Bubble, bubble...

The water just off the surface was bubbling slightly in a concentrated area. Despite the waters of Gambino being fairly warm as it was, it seemed unusual for such an occurrence - at least until a mop of green hair emerged, followed by a scarred face and some wet clothing. "Oy. Sometimes it's good to not be so top-heavy," sighed Rage, his steps leaving glass in his wake as steam flowed off of his body. He took a few steps more before turning back towards the water to watch the waves roll in. The white noise was interrupted, however.

There were no footsteps that he could hear; just one last crunch of sand as a pair of feet came to a stop.

His left arm spun outward in a backhanded fist that was stopped suddenly. His head turned to follow, meeting a face very much like his, but one that had seen far more time in the world of Gaia. Despite the thick cloak that obscured his face, the few strands of red hair that hung down low were a dead giveaway. Besides, there was only one person who knew his moves better than he did.

"Hello... Kal."

There was enough venom in the words to kill an elephant. Maybe two.

"Something wrong with your arm? It's all bandaged up." The voice was cool, collected, and nothing like the one that had just been uttered. One might almost consider it warm. But in stark contrast, with an unceremonious twist, Rage was bent backwards to prevent his arm from being taken out of socket.

"Kkh--!"

The man in the cloak simply continued to inspect Rage's arm as if it were a toy, bending it this way and that and forcing the subject to bend along with it. The whole time his voice was calm, analytical, almost like a doctor's emotionless drone after seeing one too many hypochondriacs. "I was worried this would happen. Seems like our mistakes are finally catching up with us...."

Rage's eyes widened slightly. "'Our' mistakes?! What the hell is that supposed to mean?! What the bloody fu-- AAGH!"

Both his arms were bent behind him now, as the cloaked man continued his less-than-pleasant inspection. "LANGUAGE, young man. Your right arm's fine, just as I figured... you'll probably want to keep this under wraps for now." Not bothering to laugh at his own pun, he let go just long enough for Rage to put his arms back to the way they were supposed to be, before gaining a hard grip on his wrists once again. "It's up to you to decide. Your gift is your curse. For all the things you will enjoy in this world, the greatest pleasures will be out of reach... unless you take hold of them before it's too late."

Rage could feel the pressure released from his arms, taking not more than a second to spin on his heel and unleash a hard left hook on the cloak that had restrained him.

"b*****d!!"

Whiff.

All he managed to hit was air.

The cloak fell to the ground, with not a soul inside it. Rage just sighed.

"... you've been watching too many movies...

"... dad."

He spit onto the sand before staring out at the waves once again.

"Hey, Lars... Lee... Icy Wolf."

It wasn't as though the voice preceded the man. A casual glance would reveal that he had been trudging in Lazenca's direction for a short while now, his right hand in his pocket while his left held a cigarette to his lips - the sea air had a way of blowing things around, like his red hair, which was determined to stay in his face at all times. From the looks of it, he was at least in his mid fourties, if not a few years past. Besides the hair, the kind of person that wouldn't stand out terribly so in a crowd (on Gaia, at least), with a plain white shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

"You're a friend of his, right?"

The cigarette pointed to Rage.

"Saw you during that... Hellorwhatever thing. See to it he doesn't get himself killed TOO much. I'd rather like to have grandkids." He snorted at his own apparent joke, and began to walk off.

Unless he was stopped, he'd continue on by before trudging towards the embankment that would lead up to Gambino proper, pulling a lighter out of his pocket and trying valiantly (but failing) to light up his cancer stick before disappearing over the ridge.

Was the man real? Was he, too, hallucinating?



Couldn't be. He wouldn't mess up his own name. Lars was nice though... if he was a pseudo dragon.

"Lazenca."

The wulf yawned quietly, then followed the invisible ray that the cigarette was making towards Rage. How would you classify their relationship? They had some kind of understanding, for sure... some sort of rapport. But they didn't actually go out to the mall or eat together. Friends... maybe that was much. But for the purposes of this conversation, and maybe in the hopes that the man would one day ask that and be speaking truth, Laz answered.

"Yeah."

A pause to contemplate the request, and let the man walk off. There was a hint of recognition... he could see Rage in this man. Or, he could see this man in Rage. Laz couldn't tell... he wasn't exactly looking to confirm his suspicions.

"I'll do what I can."

"I do what I can."
"I don't do enough."
"I do too much."

A sigh, a groan, and Lazenca stood up to brush the sand off his back and tail before walking down to the troubled guy in the water. He waited until he was pretty much side by side before saying anything.

"Was he for real?"

"Your father..." Lazenca repeated the confirmation as if it were vital, as if he needed to make himself believe it.

"He told me to be sure you don't get too hurt. Something about grandkids... which is kinda weird, if you go Sakura-mode and actually give birth." Lazenca shrugged. "For a past terror, he sure seems to care a lot about you. Or just messing with you."

He looked up to the sky, eyes narrowing at whatever light there may be, as he listened to Rage walk off. Part of him wanted to belly flop into the water and play dead, and another part wanted to see what all that noise was about over yonder.

A sigh, one of many this day, and he followed Rage. "These talks with you are the highlight of my day."