Brightness in a Time of Tragedy (SG/Open)

[Prince Pony Age]

"Heh.." It didn't really sound very amused. Or sad, or angry or anything, really. Just awfully... flat. "Thanks for the offer. Really. But right now that's not really... feasible, I guess." She half-heartedly shrugged, and explained, "Aside from the fact that the only money-making skill I have I refuse to use, there's the fact that I have accomplished nothing whatsoever since, well, you last saw me which--it--well, ought to explain itself." Whether it was or not remained to be seen, but Yukiko thought the point she was trying to make was clear.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric cracked a bit more legitimate if still somewhat sad smirk, rolling his eyes. "Fuck accomplishments.." He was almost teasing, but it was pretty clear he honestly meant it. He leaned down slightly to lightly kiss her forehead, grime and all. "Do you even know how many leaf piles there are around my family's estate this time of year? We shall jump into the biggest pile ever if that's what it takes to make you have some fun." Because of course she'd enjoyed the leaf pile from their first meeting so much (and also the two hours he spent brushing leaves out of his hair even though they were all probably gone after ten minutes). But if that could get a smile out of her... dammit.

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[Prince Pony Age]

Half-smiling as she looked down and rubbed her eyes, Yukiko mentioned, "We did do that, didn't we." She sighed,looked back up and at him, and continued, "I'll make no fuss, whatever you want to do. I implicitly trusted you not to be a horrible serial killer when I met you, and now, well. I guess I explicitly trust you. I'm going nowhere on my own, so if you'd like to take me anywhere I've no objection."

She didn't even react to the forehead kiss at all.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric had already been vaguely pondering something, but at her words a slight-yet-devious grin slowly spread as the decision was firmly sealed. "None at all?" he reconfirmed. He glanced over her pitiful form, then, noting the ragged, faded tote bag she carried. Not that it looked to contain much (though surely something..), but she had one. He rather doubted that she had been carrying anything else, then, and so assumed they were ready to go without need to gather her things first. "Well then..."

At this point, he did suddenly realize the blanket in which she was wrapped matched those carried by many refugees, and so he reached down to slide it off her shoulders and fold over one arm. "I guess I'll take this first." The thought that Yuki had herself 'decided' to leave it here or that she had considered stealing it to begin with had never crossed his mind.

He spun slightly to the side and headed to the desk, where several lines were still formed. Not caring to wait, he thought to approach from the side and just make a quick note to the worker he was turning it in, but after a few steps that direction got a better idea. Heading to the back of the line, he scanned until he found a pair of children clinging to one parent. They would have a rather long wait, and he nodded to himself. Yes they would do. Carefully he approached, putting on a gentle smile. "Excuse me.."

Only one of the children glanced his way, but that was fine with him. "You and your sister should share this," he told the boy, holding the blanket out to him. "It's one of the ones they're passing out, but I'm taking my friend home now so she won't need it anymore."

By this time, the boy's (presumably) father and sister had realized he was speaking to them, too, and tuned in quickly enough to catch the jist. The boy hesitated before looking up at his father and tugging at his shirt. The man appeared somewhat dazed for just a moment before responding, nodding to the boy who promptly smiled and snatched the blanket to wrap up, his sister giving an indignant sound and reminding him to share. While they squabbled slightly and got situated, the man looked back to Alaric and gave a sincere "Thank you..."

...Annnnd Alaric was uncomfortable now. Why couldn't they have been with their mo--... The idea that these kids might have had two parents only days ago violently halted every ounce of his negativity outside his general nervousness, and even that was forced back a bit. "...Don'tmentionit," he mumbled, then nodded and quickly spun to head back to Yukiko, step a bit swifter than necessary.

Once returned to the ex-noble's side, he huffed out a small sigh and shot her a bit of a wry smile. "All right. ...Are you ready, then?" Something in the way his tone subtly dropped said he meant more than just if she wanted to exit the building. He gave her just a few moments pause, then smirked a bit wider as he quickly leaned down, pressed an arm against her knees while the other came up to stead her, and scooped her up into his arms. "H-.." It was going to be a little 'hup' sort of sound effect to picking her up, but her weight caught him so off-guard he just couldn't finish, and again his smile tried to fade, though he forced a bit to stay. She was practically nothing... "...Heh.." he let out the air that had caught in his throat. "Off we go then," he not-quite-teased, then carried her right out the door.

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[Prince Pony Age]

While Alaric reached for her blanket, Yukiko was not initially sure what he was doing. When she realized, she shrugged it off kind of, he also sort of slid it off it was a motion much smoother than the flow of this sentence really I swear.

He went to give back the blanket, and, having nothing better to do, Yukiko followed him with her eyes. Her hands felt strange with no blanket to hold up or no soup to sip, so she tucked them in her pockets.

He returned, then, and asked her if she was ready to go. Yukiko began to shrug and say, "Sur--" but was, as the dashes indicate, cut off as he picked her up.

"Uhwha? ...Uhm. Well okay," she said, as they went out the door. Even her surprised voice didn't really have much life to it.

At some point in all that, the tote bag that totally existed this whole time and was totally not just thought of last post OOC was brought outside. It probably has that spell on it from Harry Potter where muggles don't notice it exists because they're always reminded of something else, but then somehow gets to where it needs to be anyway.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric didn't know whether to be more happy or distraught at her continued lack of protest. At least her initial reaction had been something, but.... Oh his poor Yuki... "I just figure you should save your strength.." he sighed. Then half-shrugging, he teased, "And anyway, you know I'm not about to overlook an excuse to hold you."

Drawing in a deep breath and sighing then, he considered the options. "Mm. ...How much.. do you think you can eat?" They'd form a plan from there.. For now, he headed the direction that if memory served he thought should have the most restaurants that might be open just in case.

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[Prince Pony Age]

Attempts at explanation, and the comment after, were lost on Yukiko. She was exhausted--physically and emotionally--and because it did seem in keeping with the over-the-top sort of things she remembered from him, that was all the explanation her mind needed. That's what he does, just roll with it. Whatever, etc.

At the direct question, Yukiko kind-of frowned as she concentrated on her thoughts. After a few moments, she answered, "Probably...one of the littler hamburgers from fast food restaurants. I think they're for children?" She just ate/drank/whatever a bowl of soup, so she really wasn't hungry, but... "I really am fine as I am.. but I could force myself to eat that much, I believe."

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric dazed a little as he walked and listened, trying desperately to keep a smile on his face, however poor a job he was doing. A positive attitude was contagious, so he had to keep trying. Taking just slightly longer than he should have, he nodded at her answer. "We'll do that then. Maybe order a bunch of grilled chicken as a treat for Persy and see what all they have for your others." Did Gardevoir eat? ...He was sure they did, or it couldn't hurt at any rate. He knew emotions were a big thing and Yuki implied she needed those like the others needed food though she was so incoherent at times it might have been coincidence. Maybe they could sustain themselves either way? He wasn't certain he'd ever actually met a Gardevoir in real life, so it was hard to say.

Not far off, he actually saw a fast food sign towering and picked up his pace. He couldn't quite see the building yet there, but it wouldn't take long. Thinking for a few moments, he cracked a half a smirk again, though his words came out a little more listless than he would have liked despite the teasing intent. "I spy with my little eye..." The slightest hint of a chuckle escaped him as he glanced from her to the sign. Yes, he absolutely intended to call back every stupid joke or stunt from their previous encounters, especially the first and longest. To him it wasn't just a bad joke (though he admittedly enjoyed that aspect too); it should show that those memories were special to him. Important. She was special and important. Never mind that he could do this to some extent with most people; she was moooooore special and important. She was a friend even if they were both shitty at showing it. Even if he might have enjoyed that fact a bit more than she did.

"Something beginning with Burger King sign." Yup that was even more terrible than his 'big blue sign' for the IHOP they'd gone to, though at least this time it had been more an afterthought of 'in case you can't tell what I'm looking at' than actually trying to play the whole joke line.

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[Prince Pony Age]

"Sounds great..." Yukiko drifted off after responding to Alaric's first comment, both with her sentence and in general--she mumbled something along the lines of 'can I just go to sleep that would be nice,' but it was soft and mumbled and was she snuggling? Yes, she was indeed snuggling into Alaric because he was relatively soft and warm and shared body heat is what she was used to going to sleep to by now, and... yeah.

As he vocally pointed out the Burger King, she stirred--less at what he said and more at the renewed talking and the vibration of his chest as he did so man was her head really against his chest like that? That was mildly embarrassing. She tried to acknowledge that he said something and ask what exactly that was, but it came out as more of a... "Waiwhanow?"

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric paused for a moment to look down at her after her elegant response, but finally just sniffed a hint of a laugh and shook his head. "C'mon.." he sighed. You know, as if he wasn't carrying her and she had any choice in the matter.

Several minutes later, they came to the door, and Alaric (after making sure she was awake) set Yukiko down before holding it open for her. He then proceeded to order some sort of burger meal, presumably for himself, and half a dozen grilled chicken patties. Glancing down to Yuki, then, he asked, "Did you still want your kid's meal, or do you see something else that looks light enough and better?" As much as he dearly wanted to cram food down her face, part of him did understand that as little as she was apparently used to eating, doing so would do more harm than good. "And did you figure out what your other Pokemon could eat?"

... Blinking after a moment, Alaric turned back to the clerk. "You don't sell Pokemon food perchance..?

She stared at him as if he were on drugs, but after several moments of silence calmly answered, "... No sir. We're a restaurant..."

Well it didn't hurt to try. Shrugging, he turned back. "So yeah."

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[Prince Pony Age]

"I, ahm--yes. I still want the, kids' meal, that is." Having been up from her impromptu nap, Yukiko was a little refreshed but still drowsy and trying not to appear...too horribly slovenly and terrible around the people here oh gosh she probably smelled didn't she. Actually, there was no 'probably' to that Yukiko was pretty sure she could smell herself oh dear that was definitely bad.

"And, ah, well, Persephone and Boreas--my Cryogonal--are definitely carnivores so yeah the chicken should be fine for them. Hades--Gengar--should like that too though I guess he gets it from like...being a ghost, and such? Demeter--an Audino hybrid I can't place--seems to be omnivorous, so I don't know? Uhm. Circe--my Shuppet--needs nothing she's in the best condition I've ever seen her."

And that left...

"Dear Aph eats--well, what a human would eat, so I guess in here in, a restaurant, that counts as the same as Demeter." She was rambling and not very consistent with her intonation, but it was there. "The only one I'd let out in here is probably Aphrodite, for size and, well, behavior considerations and all.." She paused. "Also appearance I look bad enough already."

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric nodded back at her, understanding. "Don't you worry.." he told her, not quite choking again. He set a hand on top of her head, which then shifted more to her face. "We're gonna get you cleaned up soon." The clerk, meanwhile, suddenly felt a bit bad to realize she'd absolutely been judging Yuki, even if not heavily. "We can eat outside, too, if you want.." Granted it was still pretty cold, but he knew being self-conscious for any reason sucked.

He went on then, upping the order on chicken and figuring a few chicken salads and several fruit bowls (one of which may have been for him) should give the omnivores plenty of options. Once the order had been placed, it took just about a minute to gather everything, and Alaric picked up a rather high-piled tray to turn to Yuki. "Wherever you like..~"

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[Prince Pony Age]

Glancing about, Yukiko decided, "Yes, outside seems... better. And--thank you. I don't remember having said that yet, and realized I out to've. ...Right, well. Yes. Uhm." Considering Alaric had his hands full with the tray of food, Yukiko hurried to the door and held it open. She at least had that much presence of mind.

Once they had selected and sat down at one of the outside tables, Yukiko released Aphrodite from her ball. "Aph--this is Alaric. He's an old friend of mine and he's bought us all a meal. Would...you mind helping me keep the others in line while we all eat?" Yukiko spoke to the pale blue-accented Gardevoir just as if she were a person--well, as anyone else would talk to another person, especially someone they were very fond of. Yukiko usually reserved such politeness to Pokemon, but the only other person who will read this already knows that, so why it's being explained again here is anybody's guess.

Back on topic, Aphrodite nodded and Yukiko released all but her Shuppet. Really that ghost was in the best condition ever, Shuppet feeding on negative emotion and all.

Persephone looked fairly all right, to be honest, if a little dirtier than she'd have liked to be--especially since her forepaws seemed to be covered in somewhat-removed dried blood. Hades looked okay, though it was honestly hard to tell with a ghost and all. Demeter looked tired and a bit sad, and like she ought to be much chubbier and softer than she was. Boreas hung almost entirely still in the air.

After setting them all up to eat--not necessarily in silence but mostly speaking to her Pokemon--Yukiko settled in to eat herself. "Thank you again," she said. She then continued, if a nonsequitur counts as continuing, "Oh, uhm, Boreas has always been like that. That is, when I bought him, he was... not quite right. I know he's not like, well, other Pokemon in that he is less--animal-like, I suppose? I don't know...." She had more to say, but she trailed off for so long she half-forgot what it was, and there was plenty of time for Alaric to respond to what she'd already said.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric had surveyed Yuki's Pokemon as they'd been released. He could see how she couldn't place that hybrid, as he really couldn't either, though it did feel familiar as though maybe he should. Eh he should have paid more attention during Pokemon studies as a kid instead of always rushing to the battle parts and the chapters on Dragon-types. Persephone only amused him, and Hades was... a Gengar. That fact made him twitch if only slightly despite having been informed of that fact previously. Alaric was not afraid of ghosts, but upon actually seeing him it did spark a slight little cautionary alarm he'd developed a few years ago, and he found himself a bit surprised that Yukiko kept such a ghost considering their past encounter with them, which this author is choosing to leave completely vague even though the only other person who knows is not the only other person reading this thread because there is at least one person stalking it so there. :B Meanwhile, Boreas gave him an odd urge to smack the Ice-type with a string of prayer beads and it had literally nothing whatsoever to do with his being not quite right, in fact making Alaric smirk a little as he fought back a small laugh.

Then there was Aphrodite. Alaric had almost been unable to look at the other Pokemon at all, as strange as that seemed to him, and once he'd surveyed them he found his gaze returning to her immediately. After only a few more moments of confusion, though, he figured out what it was: she inspired the same sort of broken-hearted sympathy that her trainer did, if lessened slightly by the fact that she was a stranger versus his poor sweet adorable precious Yuki. He wanted to hug her and pet her and tell her she would be all right and force her to eat.

It was a very strange feeling.

He loved all Pokemon for the most part, but with the exception of a few of his own it wasn't like his love for all women. If Honey was sickly or injured, his reaction would probably be even worse than that for Yuki, but other Pokemon? He'd want to help and might want to pet them, but in a scratch scratch pat pat such a good boy way, not in an I will hold you until you are better way.

Eventually, though, he brushed the confusion aside for now, assuming it could be a side-effect of that whole empathy thing- not only absorbing Yuki's feelings but reflecting her whole demeanor or whatever. While he'd never seen one in person, he did know a little about Gardevoir as a species, as Ava had had quite a fondness for them when they were kids. He could remember very early days, before she got more concerned with her behavior and appearance, when they would pretend she was a cute little Ralts princess, and he was a big Gallade or Machoke or whatever-he-felt-like-being-that-day knight coming to rescue her from a terrible dragon or the like. (Alaric usually also played the dragon.) Eventually she'd kind of grown out of it, at least to a point it was more a casual like now than the obsession it had been.

"It's all fine," he hummed just a little belatedly, in response to both her gratitude and Boreas's demeanor. He set down the tray and began passing out food, pausing when he got to the Sneasel. "Nice to see you, Persy," he half-teased, remembering quite well that she did not at all care for him. "I'm sure this would be better raw, but you can't be too careful about disease I guess," he commented as he set several of the chicken breasts before her. "Hope they're not too dry."

Once everyone seemed to be situated, Alaric took a seat as well and more or less inhaled a burger- or at least in comparison to the young woman who was uncertain whether or not she'd be able to finish a kid-sized one. (On that note, he had in fact ordered her an entire kid's meal, which in addition to apple slices and a drink she'd yet to fill came in a cardboard box covered in colorful activities, a wearable cardboard crown, and a small plastic penguin toy from a movie that was currently playing.)

As he'd eaten, he'd found his mind wandering back to the calls he'd yet to make.. There were only a few people left, but he was still quite concerned for them.. Once he'd eaten one burger, then, he looked to Yuki a bit uneasily. "D'you... mind if I make a few calls while you guys eat?" He hesitated only because if something happened, he really didn't want to risk dragging Yuki all over the capital or losing track of her by leaving her somewhere. He supposed he could grab a hotel and ask her to stay there, but imagined they would probably be pretty strained right now by both some whose homes had been affected who could still afford it and, moreso, by loved ones flooding into the capital to see to victims... dead or alive. Still, he knew he'd never forgive himself if he found out later he could have helped and just never called.

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[Prince Pony Age]

Yukiko showed one of the few personality traits she'd retained from being in better health and was entirely oblivious to Alaric's confusion regarding his sympathy to Aphrodite. Or any of his reactions to her Pokemon at all, in fact. In that vein, the author is confused as to why Alaric wanted to whap Boreas with a string of specifically prayer beads, in an entirely unsubtle attempt to get the other author to explain or something.

But back to what actually happened, now. Persephone scowled at Alaric when he greeted her, and took a bite of the chicken patty she had just been handed.

To Alaric's question, Yukiko nodded and said, "Go ahead. We'll probably be here for a while, and you might as well take advantage of that, eh?"

After that, there had been a few tussles between... well, Persephone and a few of Yukiko's other Pokemon, but they had settled down now. In fact, they were all acting very well after Hades had opted to give most of his share to Persephone. It was obvious he did so not because he was afraid of the Dark-type, but a) to stop conflict and b) because he was fond of her. Demeter was happy to have her one chicken patty back, though she had a salad too and hey wait was there...already chicken in that salad? She wasn't sure what to make of that.

Unfortunately, Aphrodite wasn't really prepared to stop any fighting between anyone but Demeter and Boreas, as she was afraid of both Hades and Persephone (and uncomfortable around Circe, too, but she wasn't out), due to type disadvantage and the fact that Persy was kind of batshit insane and somehow Hades liked that even though he, too, was at a type disadvantage to her.

Then again, everything could be at least a little bit scary to Aphrodite, she had a talent for doing that.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

While the other author in question could just answer via IM as she originally considered, for the sake of anyone else reading who was also wondering she will clarify that Alaric has played Okami and thinks that Cryogonal look quite a bit like some of the enemies in that, even though it should be the other way around because in their universe Cryogonal have always been a thing and absolutely did not suddenly appear one day long after Okami was a thing, and one of the weapon types is strings of prayer beads which is why specifically them. This paragraph was way too big explaining that.

At any rate, while his author was rambling, Alaric took a deep breath. "All right.." he sighed. He could do this... His chest felt tight and his hands were beginning to shake again, but he could do this. Looking around at the Pokemon, he had one last afterthought, and returning his attention to Yuki asked, "Would you like me to leave Honey or someone to help keep these guys in line, maybe?"

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[Prince Pony Age]

This author thanks the other author for the explanation which this author thinks is hilarious but also sees that this is getting out of hand so will make no other references to this or the other author for at least a few posts now I swear.

In the meantime, Yukiko had the urge to roll her eyes at something and wasn't entirely certain what it was. So she pushed that aside and dealt with the matter at hand: looking to Aphrodite to see her Gardevoir's response to the idea, Yukiko answered "Yes, that sounds good," when the empath nodded her head a bit more vigorously than needed.

Even if they were all settled for the moment, another being to keep them all in line while they were all eating would be helpful, and ease Aphrodite's mind, no doubt.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric gave a light 'heh' and nodded himself before standing and retrieving the lioness's black Ball. Upon being released there in the Burger King courtyard, Honey found herself a bit surprised to recognize the girl there, as well as one of the Pokemon, even if the latter was only by extension. This was due to both having seen her a few times over such spread-out intervals as well as proof of the fact that she was, in fact, particularly special to Alaric... not that Yukiko would have any way of knowing this fact or its significance.

If nothing else, it was noteworthy that her trainer made such a fuss over this girl after so much time and so many meetings without having ever slept with her; the latter fact on its own was of no real significance, but the majority of the legions of girls with whom he'd never gotten that far fell by the wayside quickly enough.... along with the majority of girls with whom he had, actually, but the latter was a smaller majority, at any rate. At the moment, though, it wasn't even the recognition that caught Honey's attention so much as oh God what happened to her??

The normally stoic cat found herself suddenly quite fidgety, but forced herself to calm when she noted that the girl was now eating, and that she was with Alaric. He'd take care of her.. All right, good, back to pretending she didn't give a fuck then. Honey wasn't really the type to get too concerned over human troubles, though admittedly more of that than she admitted was because he was her trainer; she was still fairly maternal, after all. It also helped that she knew this particular human not only hadn't but likely wouldn't be trying to steal her Alaric away. Trying to steal him was always a perfect way to make her actually stop giving a fuck what became of someone, but Yuki wasn't likely to. And really, no one should look that pitiful.

Alaric quickly explained the situation including Honey's assignment in keeping everyone in line, and she simply nodded, before taking a comfortable position next to the table and yawning. She said nothing to her new charges, for now. "...All right," the still-noble said. Enough stalling. "I-...I'll be back." Another deep breath for courage, and he brought out his phone and headed off to a little more private spot to start calling.

He went through several numbers there to receive either good news or no response. Though deep down, he was certain that at least a fair number of both these and the earlier no-response calls were probably associated with phones- and plausibly enough their owners- being lost in the blasts, he did his best to keep telling himself no news was good news... until there remained only three numbers in his phone:

Riku...

Bianca...

And Delilah...

The latter wasn't even something he considered. He would not consider calling it (he was certain the number hadn't worked for years anyway, even though he'd never been brave enough to call and check, but he could not bring himself to erase it either), and he would not consider that anything could have happened. Surely the world itself would break without her presence within it.

Comforted as best he could be by this delusion, that left the two. Though he knew which number he wanted to call first- the one who, while the devastation of learning he was wrong would be far more detrimental than most and as such was put off this long, was most likely to have been wandering around who knows where; but he also know which he should call- the one who among his most important people was also the most likely to have been in the blast range. He had explicitly avoided passing by anywhere near the Murkrow's Nest explicity for the purpose of not wanting to know yet the likelihood of its destruction.

All the same.... he had to, and he knew it... Heart racing and head pounding already, he hit the call button on Bianca's number.

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[SongofWindchimes]

Bianca

Bianca was good about answering her phone. Exceptionally good even. A habit of always dropping everything to grab the device had mostly started due to wanting to be there if her sister needed her, and had quickly become something she simply did regardless of who was calling, though she was hastier with those more important to her. Three or four rings was her average, though her record with Alaric was six, mostly because of her being, ah, distracted at the time by something she respected his wishes not to be told about.

It hit seven rings of her cell phone before someone answered, but it wasn't Bianca's voice that did so.

Instead, it was a deep, baritone voice with just the faintest hint of a Spanish accent and an...odd sort of inhuman quality that those who were not familiar with its owner would likely be at a loss to place. "Alaric...?" A haze of background noise that generally accompanied speaking on the phone in a crowded place went on behind the single surprised, yet tired, word.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

............... Why is Zoro answering the phone?

Alaric felt his heart plummet... and he wasn't even sure where his brain might have gone, but in its place in his head was nothing but air. No, no, no, no... He'd been so fortunate thus far. He couldn't really get this far only to suffer such a huge loss now... Why is Zoro answering the phone? His throat burned, the fire within consuming all words before they even thought of crossing; the heat reached his face and stung his eyes even without real word yet. Somehow even the thought that she may simply be unavailable at the moment didn't help. Even if she was just hurt... if she was hurt at all..

Why is Zoro answering the phone!?[/b]

Suddenly, though, it hit Alaric that his panicked breathing and Zoro's patience would not be enough to keep the fox on the phone forever, if he had not already hung up and the boy just didn't know it yet. In the event he was still there, Alaric finally managed to spew out a frantic "Zoro..!?" His cracking voice came out notably higher than the fox's, and he didn't even care. "Wh-...where is she?! ..Bianca. Is she o-... Tell me Bianca's all right..!"

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