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 Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:20 am
Well at least the one who would be eaten by the cannibal wasn't present to throw things off and potentially upset their... uh, 'special' host-- and even Yossarian's absence was probably better in the long run, too, seeing as he would've inevitably just gotten fed up with the head games (no matter how apt he happened to be at playing them), declared the whole mess as 'too much trouble for their time', and gone storming straight back out the door.
Not that Shae would've really blamed him for that, though; hell, she was secretly eager to finish business as quickly as possible to reach BREATHABLE AIR again before her innards shriveled up. Ack. Gross, overly sterile 'medical' air...
"Oh, no no no, I'll be keeping no secrets on the matter," Mr. OCD (for lack of a better title at the moment to be) hummed, having gotten back to his feet post-scrubbing to crack his fingers-- sans the last pinky, that was-- and chuckle a bit. "The truth of the matter is... Well, I haven't the slightest as to what you'll be finding there!"
.............
... Okay, wait, WHAT?
"Could you... elaborate on that, Sir?"
"Of course, of course, of course!" Well, at least for all of his ridiculous antics, the guy seemed accommodating enough.
"My father was slightly... well, certainly an eccentric man." And look who was talking there... "He always told me of his most precious things, kept in a small hidden safe on the property... though he never specified their identity. Strange, isn't it?" Again, he was one to talk there. "I'd like to retrieve it now, but... well, the germs, you see..."
Yes, it really did seem reasonable enough-- an odd job to say the least, though surely, not too difficult.
... Right?
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Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 3:41 pm
Somewhere, Aster sneezed and groaned into her pillow. Sob.
Well the circumstances seemed.. innocent enough. Certainly that gave no hint as to what it was that they were supposed to be unearthing outside of a 'safe' (he had to hope there wouldn't be more than one and that he alone would be enough to carry it.. because then it could be passed between himself and the other male) could hold some issues...
...
But overall there were no problems.
"How promptly are you looking into for a return?" he inquired further, knowing better than to presume they would have all the time in the world to return with such an object. It would likely be another 'multiple of three' thing going on, but whatever worked.
...
.....
...
Hopefully not 'three days'.. because then they had to babysit the 'safe' and the 'house'... or at least in their inn.
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Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 6:26 pm
And of course he just had to jinx it--
"Aaah, a return? Well, three days would be lovely. Can you manage such a deadline?"
Oh yes, it seemed that Kanda's want against the the 'babysitting' period had inevitably damned them to it anyway-- but hey, it still couldn't be that bad, right? Tedious and a little odd, sure, but the little 'annoyances' would be worth it in the end for a nice, bulky, comfortable paycheck...
Shae certainly didn't have a problem with it, or didn't seem to, anyway, just passing off the request with a light sigh (oh ew bleachy aftertaste) and knitting her fingers in her lap.
"Also, Sir... given our partnership for the moment, wouldn't it be proper to exchange names?"
"Oh, goodness, goodness, goodness, forgive me!" That earned another little flourish of hands and a smile. "My name is Reginald Clearwater, at your service... Do tell me, is there any more information you require for now?"
Huh, that was... a good question, actually. There was a rough map of the 'house location' drawn on the flier they'd picked up (... yeah, this place was pretty damn OUT THERE in the boonies of the island), and they had their objective set, so... Er, they wouldn't be needing a house key or anything if he hadn't provided it, right? Hell, for all they knew, it could've just been some abandoned heap of rubble on a hillside...
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Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:44 pm
He did jinx that just a tad, didn't he? But he made no complaints about such, simply seeing that with the timeline he could simply have the woman babysit the object if they finished up early while the three 'useful' characters were productive elsewise.
"Such timeliness would be easily managable."
Now it seemed as though they had accepted the job more or less, hadn't they? Ah well, it was better work than they'd be finding anywhere else before sundown. Which-....
...
He had a feeling that with it being close to the hour of 'nine', they'd be being 'kicked out' soonish so that their benefactor would be able to sleep nine hours and wake up at six.
..
In fact, he was willing to jinx them on that thought.
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Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 12:53 pm
Well how nice that he was willing to jinx them... because he'd just done it all over again when, as if by magic, Mr. OCD (okay, so his name was Reginald Clearwater but the first title fit just as well) glazed over in a look of vague surprise, blinked (three times), and suddenly went to rifling through all of his pockets for-- aha!-- a pocket watch, studying it most intently before he exclaimed out loud.
"My, my, my, just look at that-- almost nine!" Was he panicked? Well, close enough; there was quite a hurried flourish about him. "I dare day, you two must be out the door quickly, posthaste!"
He wasn't about to literally shove them out the door, of course, as that would've contaminated his perfectly clean hands with contaminants from the outside world, but the shooing hands and hasty mumblings were enough to get Shae back to her feet with a little nod of compliance. No need to linger unnecessarily, right? They had all of the information they needed (... or at least, they had as much as they'd ever be getting), so best to flee the scene quickly before total darkness outside...
"Ah, thank you, Mr. Clearwater, Sir..." But no fleeing out the door (Reginald grabbed the nob and promptly yanked it open for them) without a little proper farewell first. "We'll do our best to fulfill what you've requested."
But that said, she was MORE than eager to flee the scene and get back out into the BREATHABLE AIR of the real world (holy GOD her poor lungs felt ready to shrivel up like raisins) as quickly as possible.
And no doubt both their brains were getting worn out over the ENDLESS NUMBER GAMES too, oi.
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Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:39 pm
Kanda offered the man a nod at the end of Shae's statement before he too took three big (paced purposely) out of the door so they could be ushered away to...
....
...
.....
Well, to probably gather up their missing members, get them up to speed, sleep, then start up the next day. Which..... wasn't a big 'to do' list rather than a short one that would take some time.
....
Sigh.
He wasted no time in utterly fleeing (though not exactly that) to start on said 'list', though. The further they got away from that house, the sooner he'd stop smelling like..... clean. Nasty clean.
Anything would be able to smell him now. He could smell himself... or at least that cleaner. Ugh.
"We'd be best to never take the woman there." he commented out loud, if only to keep from a new 'odd silence'
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Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:42 pm
Ohthankgodshecouldfinallybreatheagaincoughcoughhack.
Finally getting the hell out of there and away from the noxious clean was an endless relief for poor Shae (for various reasons), who took the luxury of a nice, deep, stress-relieving sigh the moment they were back in normal air. Damn, she could still smell it all over her, though; bleach and disinfectant just had a way of sticking in clothes for days...
It was almost enough to run a shiver up her spine. Ick.
"Admittedly, I don't think Ma'am would be very apt for that type of... ah... 'atmosphere'." AH HA HA, yeah, that was putting it lightly. The dense and illiterate probably wouldn't have lasted long in a giant mind game, huh? "The endless nuances would probably be a little overwhelming..."
As if it hadn't been for her, but at least the latter female's quick wits had been enough to get her through.
"So then..." Off and back to the Inn, huh? The street lights had already flickered to life overhead, and the streets themselves were already half-emptied as straggling workers puttered home on their bikes and carriages. The daylight crowd was winding down. "How early do you suggest setting out tomorrow, Sir?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:31 pm
He shot Shae a half-concerned look in exchange for her hacking fit. She wasn't-
Okay. No spontaneous lifefail attempts on the part of her lungs. Always a positive. He didn't blame her for practically dying on that air. He'd..... just have to drag along Yossarian next time. Then the two 'non failing in this household in some manner' parties could deal with all things.
....
.....
Once they found Yossarian.
"Dependant on the time we assemble tonight to pass on the news and how early someone can be coaxed into being alive, I'd say before noon." It was a rough estimate, but then they'd be able to take care of any 'I don't wannas' that might have come up.
She sneezed again before burrowing into her covers. She sure felt like she'd been left to her own devices for a while. Not utterly horrible to the point of prompting a 'search and be rescued' mission...
But bad enough that she kept glancing towards the door before groaning and sinking into a little 'ball of motion sickness and bad memories' woe.
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:30 am
Huh, that was strange; why did Sir suddenly look all (semi) concer-- ... oh, right, coughing hadn't always been an innocuous symptom, huh? Well, spontaneous lifefail was thankfully in the past now, and hopefully for good, so there was really nothing to worry about... except maybe that smell clinging so damn tenaciously to their clothes.
Or maybe she was just too sensitive to the chemicals and it wasn't really that bad. Who knew.
"Sounds reasonable enough." That would give them plenty of time to get outside the city and hunt down their mystery location before nightfall, anyway... unless they managed to get horribly lost out in the wilderness or something (which didn't seem too likely given the better navigators of the party present). "Hopefully, Ma'am won't be too... obstinate in her exhaustion by then..."
So then, where was Yossarian, anyway?
As it turned out, the dark swordsman, by some ridiculous stroke of good luck, just so happened to be on his way back toward home base at the same time that the others were, scowling all the while. He'd gone and made his old 'usual' roundabout tour of the city back streets and scoured a good handful of seedy bars, And yet...
Yet he barely had a thing to show for it. Sigh.
Sure, there had been a few fliers of partial interest that he'd yanked-- mostly body-guarding jobs and the like-- but by and large it had been an unproductive search.
He'd even beaten the other two home by a solid five minutes (oh, yes, SO IMPRESSIVE), throwing the door of the little Inn wide open and stepping inside with a little grumble.
If only he could've guessed the joy they'd be in for tomorrow...
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 11:53 am
He predicted they'd be in the house by early afternoon.. and with four of them (or two groups if someone refused to let a certain female wander on her own), they'd likely find it quickly.
Which simply meant that they'd likely be looking for 'simple' jobs the day after which would allow them to be productive before returning the safe to it's proper owner.
'Proper'.
Whatever.
"Worse case is that she'll be dragged along like a zombie for the ride." Kanda replied to the 'hopes' in terms of Aster's waking-habits. It really wouldn't have been all that bad.
They could even stash her in the corner of the house until she woke up or they were finished.
Indeed, there was still much more to be happening in the next amount of time...
But Aster was a good little girl and meandered downstairs at the sound of the door to see who had- Or to fall down them.
Whatever.
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:21 pm
... Okay, they seriously needed to rig a net or something at the bottom of that staircase (or hell, ANY staircase they encountered!) to zombie-proof it, because Asteria's antics were getting pretty damn ridiculous. Maybe if it was only in the mornings or something, he could've handled it... but no, the crashing joy KNEW NO LIMITS.
Sigh. Such a problematic woman he had.
"..." Well at least he knew better than to rush over in a panic or even lose composure, just ambling over to go 'greet' her with a lame semi-frown and grabbing her by one arm to pull upright. How she managed to repeat her little stunt over and over again without breaking her neck, he'd never know.
"You pay greater attention to your gait..." As if the advice would actually help, but it was just one of those obligatory things he had to say, like sending someone off with a good luck before they charged into their own sure demise. "That fall is going to be the death of you one d--"
And of course it was right then that the door had to creak as another duo finally made their grand (or not so grand) re-entry into the little Inn, earning a quirked brow and a disinterested shrug from the grouchy mercenary.
"You're back." Oh, such a charming greeting as always, huh? "... Did you find anything merit-worthy on your little jaunt, swordsman?"
Ah ha ha, oh, he didn't even KNOW... but Shae, like the obedient little creature she was, discretely kept her mouth shut on the matter (as she was quite obviously not the one being addressed and therefore found speaking inappropriate).
... And besides, Sir had the paper with all of their 'written' information anyway.
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 4:09 pm
It was the world. It was out to get her.
Aster groaned a bit as she was pulled up to her feet, the sound not exactly sound pleasant, but at least her 'sick' seemed to be a few degrees less 'horrible'.
Which was pleasant in which it seemed their other companions had made their appearance before Yossarian could be subjected to a look of 'WTF'
at the word 'Gait'. She just would presume he needed her to stop falling down stairs then staying 'fallen' once there.
Well, seemed that they wouldn't need to search much further from their return to the Inn, staring at the two little 'lovebirds' for a moment, before holding up the paper that he'd pulled out of his pocket.
"A retreival from a house outside of town. The price is almost over-reasonable..." but considering their benefactor it was probably to keep the price divisible by three, "and shouldn't take long if all goes well."
..
..
'If'.
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 4:29 pm
Oh, right, he'd used one of those silly, fanciful, apparently IMPOSSIBLE TO COMPREHEND ONE SYLLABLE WORDS again-- best tone it down to... hell, how much simpler could he make it, really? Well at least the other two had arrived before he could suffer much of a dumbfounded look, thank god.
And apparently their venture had been more productive than his own, huh?
"Let me inspect that."
With Aster upright he was free to remove his hand and snatch the paper away from his dearest rival, giving it a scrutinizing once over. Hmm, so, they were after a 'special something' in a house (it was a house, right?) several miles outside the city border? Okay, that... sounded a little vague and quite possibly suspicious, but not too terribly hard-- and the mention of an 'almost over-reasonable' sum drew his eyes right down to the price tag like a magnet.
... Damn, that was a nice payoff.
"Well, I suppose it's a reasonable offer," he grumbled at last, brows furrowed, "... if not slightly unusual."
Oh, if he wanted unusual, he should've seen who they'd just had their little 'interview' with, but Shae wasn't about to open her mouth and go explaining the joy of their number-loving obsessive compulsive patron right then. No, not while her clothes still reeked of bleach and cleaner.
"W-We've also been given a three day time criteria," she added, however, seeming to read the darker male's mind when he opened his mouth, only to have her cut him off. "Departure for the residence will be tomorrow before noon, if that's suitable for you both..."
Or in other words: if Aster could get her undead rear in gear and MOVING before then.
Yeah, that really was a big 'If' they had going for them, huh?
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:27 pm
Well she didn't mean to be utterly retarded. Really. However, the 'time we're leaving' was all that Aster needed to be prompted back up the stairs.
With a few issues, but she ultimately got up said stairs. Sicky was going to need some sleep if she was going to be getting up at all, more so 'early' esque. So likely she'd turn into 'alarm clock' again.
It was more than reasonable, but Kanda wasn't about to point that out since it was one of those 'tone things down' deals.
No need to start fighting. That'd wake up the 'sleepy one' who had just wandered up the stairs.
"I would assume between the four of us that the 'three day' time limit is doable?"
Well, it certainly was for him, but he might as well have asked the question for the sake of 'politeness' or whatever. Code of courtesy and all that good stuff.
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:01 pm
So then, it was decid-- wait, where was Aster going?! Upstairs again? But hadn't she just woken up from a semi-sort-of-but-not-really nap minutes earlier? Was something wrong with her that he hadn't noti-- ... oh. Oh. She was still feeling inexplicably sick or something, huh?
Ironically, it was Shae who came to that realization long before it ever crossed Yossarian's mind-- but the girl was an old pro when it came to illness, so it was no surprise that she caught on in a blink. Ma'am had seemed under the weather since their arrival, but the seasickness should've worn off, so...
"More than doable," the latter swordsman scoffed, restraining himself against the urge to roll his eyes. Ha! He could easily do such a menial thing in half the time required, really! This would be a cakewalk! "... Tch, such copious amounts of time are unnecessary for a task so menial."
With that, he shoved (well, handed) the paper back to Kanda, glancing back at the stairs (huh, the woman was really gone) before... er... well, there wasn't much to do but sit himself down on the couch and read an old paper until he was tired, huh?
That, and he figured a little 'head start' on getting to sleep would serve Aster from good... and prevent any pre-sleep lynching. Yep.
As for the latter female of the group, she politely excused herself to the back of the kitchen-- no doubt going to set some water on the boil before heading upstairs to grab her tea tin (among other things) to go ahead and... er, do whatever? Who could guess.
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