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Alexander had honestly completely forgotten that he had made plans with his sister to go to the maul that day. So when she arrived he was lounging in his room lazily, undressed save for a pair of boxers (he wasn't even wearing a tie, gasp!) and the headset he wore while playing video games on his computer and chatting to other online players. He had no idea that she had knocked on the door. He had no idea that she had just welcomed herself into his room without waiting for a reply because his back was turned to the door, having moved his desk to the opposite side of the room when it became apparent that he was never going to replace the bed that he had given to Yin, and felt that the empty space needed filling.

His room was it's usual mess of garbage, papers, food wrappers, and general disgusting filth strewn about the room. The smell was awful, much worse then just your typical undead and rotting flesh scent. Dirty clothes littered the floor and minipets scurried about the room, hiding in tiny garbage forts, there beady eyes peering out at the sudden intruder.

And then there was Fei, Alex's runic vaisel, lying in a curled up ball of blue on the only comfortable looking seat in the room, his head rising, ears twitching towards the door, and tail flicking as he slowly stood up, stretched, and bounded towards Sophie to curl around her legs and purr contentedly.

Worst guard pet ever.

The zomboil was so absorbed in his game, so very not expecting any sort of company or trouble that day, that when the scream rang out across his room he perhaps never moved quite so fast in his unlife. Alexander very abruptly shot up in his chair, the headset wire snapping taught and jerking downwards and taking his head down with it before pulling off of his head to land on the keyboard with a clatter, the stitches in his neck pulling dangerously taught as well, causing a small bit of rotting blood to ooze. He rapidly pushed back on his chair to turn and see who or what had invaded his room, but his movements were so quick and jerky that the chair toppled over backwards instead of scraping back across the floor, and as he turned his own feet got tangled in it, sending him sprawling face first into the floor.

Lesson one: Do not barge in to Alex's room announced.

Lesson two: Do not make any sudden and loud noises in the zomboils presence when his attention is elsewhere.

It wasn't until he was laying on the floor in a groaning heap that the rest of the sentence and the voice attached to it registered, and by that time his sister had already begun talking about how their mother would flip out about the room.

There was no time to answer, no time to do anything but roll onto his hands and knees and scramble towards the nearest pile of passable clothing on the floor and start pulling them on with wild abandon, scowling the entire time. "Ever heard of knocking?" He growled irritably as pants were fastened with a zip and a button, and a t-shirt was then pulled over his head. Glancing around the room, he caught sight of his jeans from the day before and crawled over towards them next, snatching them up in his hands and digging around in the pocket not for his wallet, but for a small round badge with the image of a mantis stamped on the front of it. This is shoved into the pocket of the pants he was wearing now with a small smile.

"I forgot." He admitted with a shrug. "Still doesn't excuse you traipsing your way into my room without waiting." He leveled a scowl at her now, his expression changing from fondness to annoyance as he pushed himself to his feet and shuffled over towards his closet, reaching up to wipe away the small trickles of blood from his neck wound with a hand, then opening his closet door to pull out a solid red tie, looping it around his neck and tying it with deft fingers in mere seconds before grabbing up his skull pin and attaching it firmly to the knot, the red crystal within glinting out the eye sockets.

Was he embarrassed by his sister catching him in a filthy room wearing nothing but his boxers? Possibly, but he didn't let it show as he made his way to the door, grabbing his backpack up off of the floor on his way.

"Well, what are you waiting for. Let's get going."

"Knock louder next time." He was being a jerk, he knew it, but he was weird about his bedroom. He didn't like anybody going into his room unless he invited them in, and he certainly did not appreciate being told that it was a mess. He knew that it was a mess. That was how he liked it!

"Who's being the drama queen?" He laughed as they made their way out of his room, "You're the one that shrieked bloody murder for me to put on my clothes." The smile plastered across his face would suggest that whatever small grudge he had been holding over her invasion of his privacy had vanished.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry I forgot that we made plans. I should have been ready to go and waiting at the door. Forgive me?" He flashed her his largest and most charming smile as the shuffled along.

"Now lets go and find me a new eye!" He was perhaps acting a little over enthusiastic now, one fist pumping before he pointed down the hallway with an index finger towards the stairs.

"Onward to a new and better way of not living!"

Yep, he was in one of those moods.

He stuck his tongue out in disgust at the mention of eyescream. "How can you even eat that stuff? It's disgusting!" The only time it was even worth trying was when it was blood and brain flavored, and even then it just wasn't to his tastes. "But sure, if you want to fill your body with that crap, then by all means." He shrugged, still smiling as they continued on there way.

"I'm in a very good mood, yes." And why shouldn't he be? He was doing well in school, he and Yin were doing quite well since getting back together with minimal drama, he was enjoying his third year so far, and he had a new family member going to school with him that he could choose to either be nice to or torment on any given day.

Usually he was nice, though.

Plus he was finally doing what he should have done months ago and getting himself a new eye. He was putting his past behind him and moving on. It was like a fresh new start, sort of.

"They've got shops for spare parts. Usually patchworks deal there, bringing in parts to trade for others, but it will do for me as well. There's one in the maul I've had a look in a few times on my way to work, and it seemed decent enough. Most of the merchandise seemed fairly well preserved, at least."

Soon enough they were outside and well on there way.

"Did I ever tell you what happened to my old eye?"

"Well, it isn't easy keeping a physique quite like mine." He admitted with a mock sigh, gesturing down his body, which was nothing short of a tall and emaciated mass of skin and bones. He then rolled his eye at his sister. "You know what I meant. That stuff tastes awful."

As they trudged along, he fell into a short silence, deciding whether this was really the time to tell her what had happened. It was not something he was particularly proud of, to say the least, and he didn't really want to dampen the mood.

"Ya, I did. I lost several fights in rapid succession, actually. That particular fight, however, was one of the last." He gave his sister a lopsided smile, though he at least managed to look somewhat ashamed of himself.

"Just so you understand, this isn't something I would have normally done, but I was angry, and hurt. Not physically hurt, but emotionally. I wanted revenge....so I went after hunters. They're strong, though. Their weapons make them so much stronger then us, and I was just no match for them." No, he'd had his head beaten in until it was split open on the floor before he dissipated. He'd taken an arrow through the throat. He'd been sliced up and punctured, but the real wounds ran much deeper beneath the surface.

He shrugged, though he was still smiling a little. Not to undermine the situation, but to ensure Sophie that he was okay now.

"A hunter named Ofelia stabbed me in the eye with her weapon when my Fear shield was down. I ran away before she could do any worse then that. I ran into her again, recently, when the horsemen had us attack all of those hunters. She went after me, again, and threatened to take my other eye."

He stopped, while he let that all sink in before continuing.

"Now, I don't think she understands that to me? An eye means almost nothing. It's replaceable. I've only put this one off for so long because...well, I deserved it, really, for being stupid and acting recklessly. It was a reminder to me, both to be more careful, and that hunters are ruthless, no matter how friendly they might behave to begin with. None of them are to be trusted for a second."

Well, he hadn't really wanted to dampen the mood, but it kind of felt like he probably just did.