Broken Wing(Jay, SG)

[Admiral Striker General]

"An' who'd'ya have ta thank for that?" Nik reminded her. Pulling out his phone again, he checked the time and mumbled, "Eh.. It's been almost twen'y I think. 'e should be here soon.."

And... then........

Yeah this was getting uncomfortable wasn't it. Alex still didn't really know what else to say, and Nikolai was a little afraid to try starting any kind of conversation, for fear of... well, not really making an ass of himself so much as upsetting Alex again. Finally, he just sighed and moved Jasna aside before pushing himself up. "Yyyeh, I think there's a convenient store a bit down the street." Because he wasn't in any way so snobby that the thought of going into one made him mildly offended, nor was he so paranoid that he was just certain the place would get robbed the moment he got inside. "I think Jas an' I are gonna run and see what they have."

Jasna jumped down from the couch and smiled up at him, then at the rest of them. Careful not to step on her 'sleeves' (though such a thing was so natural she really didn't put any thought into it) she followed her trainer as he moved toward the door. "Back in a minute, I guess, if y'guys aren't gone by then."

Alex just kind of blinked, almost expecting this to be some odd ploy. As he actually reached the door, though, she muttered an "..Oh. ..Okay?" Looking to Iris and then Lyall, she shrugged. "...I guess if either of ya had anything else you didn't want him to hear..."

"Nyyyeh," Nik murred, opening the door.

[Jay]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/SojiRem/Lyallposttable1.png);][atrb=width, 497][atrb=height, 297][atrb=style,border:0 blue none,b,Table][scrolly:h(210),w(230),sy,as(padding:4px 0px 5px;margin-top:48px;margin-left:260px;)]Lyall blinked as Nik got up and left. However, his eye finally felt on the Meinshao, and for all that had happened, and for all that was still going on in the situation at hand, he couldn't help but smirking upon realizing that the pokemon was a fighting type. Looking at Alex as he asked about anything else, Lyall just sighed. However, a thought did come to him after a moment. "Hey Iris... so what's the stat out West?" he asked after a moment. That was what he had thought she had been doing. That was the mission that he had said ok to, after all.... [/scrolly]

[KARP KARP!]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/SojiRem/irisposttable.png);][atrb=width, 497][atrb=height, 297][atrb=style,border:0 purple none,b,Table][scrolly:h(200),w(269),sy,as(padding:4px 0px 5px;margin-top:8px;margin-left:208px;color:#de86e2;)]Iris breathed out a sigh of relief--albeit quietly--when Nik got up and left. That would definitely make things easier. Then, Lyall asked about the situation out West, and she took it as her chance for redemption. She sat up straight in her seat, suddenly looking professional. "The West is pretty much chaos right now. There are still servants in the castle, but there's no Western Duke or Duchess at the moment. So, the remaining nobles are struggling for power, while there are lots of rumors fluttering around about who's gonna take it." Iris reached inside her jacket, pulling a rather thick notebook from the inside pocket. "I know, it's vague, but that's all I remember. I did take notes though. I have all the details written down, as well as a list of all the active Western nobles, and what areas they control." She flipped the notebook open, and her face paled. Dead white. The notebook fell from Iris's now trembling hands to the floor, and from there, Alex and Lyall could see what got her suddenly shaken up. In the middle of the pages was a bullet-hole, and the bullet was likely still inside the notebook somewhere... [/scrolly]

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc64/Heart-of-Thorns/VC/alextabletry.png);width:525;height:400;,bTable][atrb=style,border:0 black none,bTable][atrb=style,border:0 black none;][scrolly:h(286),w(246),sy,as(padding:4px;margin-top:82px;margin-left:253px;margin-bottom:19px;color:106620;)]Alex's eyes widened as she really took in the object now lying there, and...... there hadn't been a hole in the cover, had there..? Well.. Alex hadn't noticed one, and Iris hadn't reacted until opening it, so..... that sort of meant by default..... After a few moments of hesitation, she nervously reached out a slightly unsteady hand and... At first, it just fell on the notebook, but finally she managed to grasp it too, and... As she picked it up by one cover and then flipped the pages through to the other, a small pieces of metal fell out from somewhere in the bulk of it all and hit the floor with a clank! clank. cl-cla-clank.. spinnn.... ......... ......... ......... Shit. Finding her voice, if only a quivering substitute of her normal one, she attempted to offer, ".........Well.. At least this is one time getting your notes damaged seems totally cool, all things considered....?" Yeah that... was really failing. She tried. [/scrolly]

[Jay]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/SojiRem/Lyallposttable1.png);][atrb=width, 497][atrb=height, 297][atrb=style,border:0 blue none,b,Table][scrolly:h(210),w(230),sy,as(padding:4px 0px 5px;margin-top:48px;margin-left:260px;)]Lyall took in the information, yet Iris's sudden reaction caused a look of confusion to come to his face. Red eyes shifted to Alex whom had picked up the book, and upon seeing the actual hole then, he simply stared. That.... The sudden fall of metal was enough to cause Lyall's eyes to shift back to Iris, and for a few seconds, he stood there wordlessly. She'd just taken that out of herjacket... That could have hit any number of vital organs but....A chill went through him, and the Knight shook a little before trying to find the words to say. Instead, a weird chuckle of sorts escaped from him only causing Lyall to shiver again and fall silently. "....Well....damn Iris....." he finally managed to grasp some words. "That... yeah... paperwork just... saved your life..." He forced another laugh which ended up coming off rather dead overall. [/scrolly]

[KARP KARP!]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/SojiRem/irisposttable.png);][atrb=width, 497][atrb=height, 297][atrb=style,border:0 purple none,b,Table][scrolly:h(200),w(269),sy,as(padding:4px 0px 5px;margin-top:8px;margin-left:208px;color:#de86e2;)]The sound of metal hitting the floor as Alex flipped through the pages of the notebook didn't help Iris any, nor did the comments. Those purple eyes clenched shut, tears threatening to come out. "Y-yeah....The notes should still be in decent condition...if you can get past the ho--" She choked up as tears began to fall freely and she buried her face in her hands, her long purple hair falling around her head to conceal the fact that she was crying even more. Iris danced with death almost every time she went on a job, but...this time it was really sinking in. This time....death almost had her. [/scrolly]

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc64/Heart-of-Thorns/VC/alextabletry.png);width:525;height:400;,bTable][atrb=style,border:0 black none,bTable][atrb=style,border:0 black none;][scrolly:h(286),w(246),sy,as(padding:4px;margin-top:82px;margin-left:253px;margin-bottom:19px;color:106620;)]Alex laughed uncomfortably a bit in an ill-conceived attempt to lighten the mood. "Ya know... that sounds like a great topic for when we get home..." Yeah.. Just.. put off thinking on that for a while.. heh... Inwardly she prayed Iris would just sort of... stop crying because wow that was awkward; she just.. didn't really know what to do. Perhaps if they'd been alone, but with Lyall... You know what sounded great? A subject change! Yes that would be splendid. Suddenly smiling, if obviously falsely, to signal such a shift, she looked between the others. "So~ Anyone wanna... take bets on which'll get here first between the beer and our ride 'r somethin'?" [/scrolly]

[Jay]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/SojiRem/Lyallposttable1.png);][atrb=width, 497][atrb=height, 297][atrb=style,border:0 blue none,b,Table][scrolly:h(210),w(230),sy,as(padding:4px 0px 5px;margin-top:48px;margin-left:260px;)]Lyall's bottom lip twitched at Iris's words, and as she suddenly started crying, he ended up biting it before quickly substituting this for biting the inside of his mouth. After a moment, he shifted weight uneasily before finally making to sideways hug Iris. He was trying to be comforting... but even with growing up with two sisters, it never got any easier to deal with women crying "x3. Yes yes he knew that this...er... that bullet could have done Iris in, and he knew that he'd probably be in some similar boat if he'd been nearly killed, but... still women crying = bad. Always. And first instinct made him want to make it stop, and because there was never any sort of instant solution to this, it just....yeah... At Alex's words, Lyall forced an awkward chuckle. "I'm betting the beer," he stated flatly back. [/scrolly]

[KARP KARP!]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/SojiRem/irisposttable.png);][atrb=width, 497][atrb=height, 297][atrb=style,border:0 purple none,b,Table][scrolly:h(200),w(269),sy,as(padding:4px 0px 5px;margin-top:8px;margin-left:208px;color:#de86e2;)]Iris just leaned into Lyall's hug, shaking and trembling as she tried to make the tears stop. She HATED crying. Iris Hennesy did NOT cry, dammit.... She dried her tears with her sleeves, making her make-up smear even worse than it had. "Yeah, I'll bet the beer too," she finally choked, finally calming enough to speak. This was just so much to swallow, first she was crippled, now she finds out she almost DIED....oh well, the feeling of Lyall's arms around her was at least a very good thing. So that part, she'd just enjoy while it lasted. [/scrolly]

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc64/Heart-of-Thorns/VC/alextabletry.png);width:525;height:400;,bTable][atrb=style,border:0 black none,bTable][atrb=style,border:0 black none;][scrolly:h(286),w(246),sy,as(padding:4px;margin-top:82px;margin-left:253px;margin-bottom:19px;color:106620;)]Alex fought not to betray any discomfort at Lyall and Iris's.... situation. Dammit she should have done that before he could. Right she was just gonna... keep sitting there in the floor on Iris's other side and kind of... not look at them. Somehow that didn't help at all, but she was going to keep pretending it did. Giving a weak smile instead, she rolled her eyes and muttered, "Bah, guess there's no bet then... Give it about a minute'n I imagine 'e's gonna be barreling through that door." She gave a slight laugh. "Food for thought, if we ever decide it's time t'decommission the North, all you'd hafta do is throw Nik out in the middle of some woods alone for a week." The jackass would hardly be so dismissive of that other Duke's issues then, heh... Assuming he'd remember they existed after breaking so hard. ....Man why did she really want to do that for no actual reason now? Had Nikolai actually been there to hear this, he would have made quite a fuss defending himself. He was not some kind of fucking agoraphobe. He was just reasonably cautious when it came to situations where potential dangers were higher than average! Preferring to stay away from hunting grounds for large predatory beasts was a completely justifiable caution, and it wasn't his fault that other people might not have the common sense to realize this, nor did it mean he couldn't handle himself just fine if he had to. ...That said, he.. maaay have run as fast as he could from the Center to the nearest store once he'd been out of immediate line of sight from the windows.... [/scrolly]

[Jay]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/SojiRem/Lyallposttable1.png);][atrb=width, 497][atrb=height, 297][atrb=style,border:0 blue none,b,Table][scrolly:h(210),w(230),sy,as(padding:4px 0px 5px;margin-top:48px;margin-left:260px;)]Another forced chuckle came from Lyall as it appeared to be no bet at all. However, as Alex expanded, Lyall actually stopped to consider the idea. Pampered jackass doesn't know how to camp? Lyall mentally muttered as he tried to imagine what he'd do with all that money if he had such. "I'll keep that in mind," he smirked a little before actually laughing a little. And.......after that Lyall had no idea what else to say so he simply ended up looking around the room. [/scrolly]

[KARP KARP!]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/SojiRem/irisposttable.png);][atrb=width, 497][atrb=height, 297][atrb=style,border:0 purple none,b,Table][scrolly:h(200),w(269),sy,as(padding:4px 0px 5px;margin-top:8px;margin-left:208px;color:#de86e2;)]Iris was slowly coming back to herself; chuckling lightly as there seemed to be no bet after all. Not that the woman was surprised all three of them voted for the beer coming before the ride. At Alex's comment, the ex-assassin cracked a mischievous grin. "That I think I'd like to see," she murmured. After this, Iris too had run out of things to say(Shocker, I know.), and she resorted to looking around the room while drumming her fingers lightly. Okay, at least getting shot at was exciting, this was as boring as watching grass grow. [/scrolly]

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc64/Heart-of-Thorns/VC/alextabletry.png);width:525;height:400;,bTable][atrb=style,border:0 black none,bTable][atrb=style,border:0 black none;][scrolly:h(286),w(246),sy,as(padding:4px;margin-top:82px;margin-left:253px;margin-bottom:19px;color:106620;)]Alex was apparently more easily entertained than her comrades, or perhaps just less in tune with the current situation. Actually, her continued attempt to keep her mind off the mild churning of her stomach at the thought of Lyall holding Iris probably indicated the latter. As such, she just chuckled lightly in response to Iris. "You'd think that.. Somehow actually watching someone so terrified tends to be more pathetic than amusing.." She shrugged. "Maybe it's just me." ...Oh man.. Suddenly Alex remembered once as kids, dragging Nikki camping with her and Dávid.. She could practically still hear him protesting he'd fallen in some water and had not pissed himself in sheer terror after they ditched him in a game of hide and seek. Alex didn't even realize how hard she was grinning-- aaahhhh, childhood<3-- but just as she considered whether or not to share-- Sure enough, the Center door flung open only to be slammed shut, Nikolai's back and palms pressed to it. The nurse at the front desk gave him a sharp glare, but Nik just offered her a fake grin, and the woman sighed and continued ignoring them again. Dropping the expression to something more annoyed, or perhaps even tired, the Duke made his way back to the small... did that qualify as a coffee table when it was in a lobby or just...? Whatever, the small table of some kind that lay near Alex and her friends. Jasna followed close behind, carrying a six-pack in each arm; both appeared to be moderately expensive but conventional sorts of beer. Taking them one at a time from the Mienshao to set on the table (as if she couldn't set them down herself), Nik glared at Alex. "By th'way, if anyone asks, you bought these..." Seriously, what was he doing with his life? It was like people didn't even respect what it meant to be the God-damned duke of a mother-fucking quarter of a country. He shouldn't need an entourage for people to realize he was worth respecting dammit. It was like... when he was all alone, all people saw was some random 20-yr-old with no regard for who his blood tied to or something! How dare that clerk question his ID and refuse to sell to him! Of course, in the end, he waited until the guy was busy, threw some money at the counter, and 'walked' out with them anyway... and by walking, well.. At least being all alone at night in a town that was apparently fucking dangerous right now because he wasn't sitting with someone who'd just been fucking shot a few hours before or anything wasn't the only reason he'd been running. "Told ya.." was Alex's only mildly snarked reply. "Shut y'r fucking face." Rather than give her a chance to respond again, though, he grabbed one beer for himself and turned away, pulling out his phone with a furrowed brow. Somewhat fervently, he began texting. Now as always, this was only because he was annoyed and not at all because he had trouble reading small print because obviously that would be a bad thing for someone who had to do lots of paperwork by necessity to have. [/scrolly]

[Jay]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/SojiRem/Lyallposttable1.png);][atrb=width, 497][atrb=height, 297][atrb=style,border:0 blue none,b,Table][scrolly:h(210),w(230),sy,as(padding:4px 0px 5px;margin-top:48px;margin-left:260px;)]Lyall smirked a bit more as Alex spoke. He wanted to see it happen now, damn it. Nik's sudden rush inwards was a cause for distraction as Lyall looked over towards him. As the drinks were set on the table, Lyall sweat dropped a little but didn't say anything. A thought to ask whether Nik was alright or not came and went rather quickly. After a moment, Lyall slowly let go of Iris and reached forwards on the table to take one of the drinks. His hand twisted over the can as red eyes habitually examined the name of the drink before he simply popped it open and took a sip. M... well... that wasn't bad at all~ Even... with all the situation and whatnot, heh. [/scrolly]

[KARP KARP!]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/SojiRem/irisposttable.png);][atrb=width, 497][atrb=height, 297][atrb=style,border:0 purple none,b,Table][scrolly:h(200),w(269),sy,as(padding:4px 0px 5px;margin-top:8px;margin-left:208px;color:#de86e2;)]Iris had to smile now, just picturing Nik in that situation. "That'd be something to tape for future...reference," she said with a smirk. What, Iris, cruel? Noooo... Iris let out a small laugh as Nik came in, and her eyes examined the beer he set on the table. Reluctantly leaving Lyall's grasp, she grabbed one and popped the top, taking a sip. Okay yeah, that was pretty good. Though she'd just stop at the one. Yeah, just the one. She took another sip, savoring it as the liquid slid down her throat; just the mere thought of this was comforting to her. Iris relaxed considerably, closing her eyes. [/scrolly]

[Admiral Striker General]

Alex shrugged and took a beer when everyone else did. She thought of asking Nik how that ride was looking, but before she could, he suddenly gave a small scream of frustration and feigned throwing his phone. "MOTHER FUCK." An exasperated sky escaped him. "Hold on."

He headed back toward the door, mumbling something about 'fuck texting bullshit' and dialing a number into his phone. For the next several minutes, the others would hear the muffled sounds of him yelling at someone through the door (which he made sure not to stray too far from).

Alex sat blinking for a minute, but finally just shook her head and laughed lightly before taking another drink. "There's the brat I know.." she sighed to herself.

[Jay]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/SojiRem/Lyallposttable1.png);][atrb=width, 497][atrb=height, 297][atrb=style,border:0 blue none,b,Table][scrolly:h(210),w(230),sy,as(padding:4px 0px 5px;margin-top:48px;margin-left:260px;)]Nik's sudden outburst almost caused Lyall to jump. Tensing, his hand tightened around the can before quickly relaxing. Watching as Nikolai walked out and started raging on the phone. "......Damn..." he stated in a rather flat tone. Whether he was surprised by Nik's outburst or surprised that he hadn't seen something out of Nik like that before, not even Lyall was sure. After a moment, he took another sip of his drink and managed a half smile. "Wouldn't wanna be the other one on the phone," he chuckled a little to himself before sighing. Work sometimes produced raging drunks which were never fun to deal with despite how amusing their motions may have been. [/scrolly]

[KARP KARP!]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/SojiRem/irisposttable.png);][atrb=width, 497][atrb=height, 297][atrb=style,border:0 purple none,b,Table][scrolly:h(200),w(269),sy,as(padding:4px 0px 5px;margin-top:8px;margin-left:208px;color:#de86e2;)]Iris too jumped a little at Nik's sudden outburst, but calmed rather quickly. She took another sip of her beer, shaking her head. "Can't say I would either," she replied with a laugh. "Though....right now he really reminds me of a certain someone I tried to kill. Except he's not crying." She grinned her usual sly grin, then had a thought. "Ya know, it's a good thing I'm not seriously injured or anything, otherwise I'd be screwed faster than a cheap hooker at a live show..." [/scrolly]