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       “—exactly what I was going for! Hoping, to denizens like you, it fully represents my brand of justice. I appreciate its practicality, more than anything; but, there are some wounds that not even my suit can protect me from.“

He’s getting used to life around here, and that means getting used to his new job. He didn’t really ever see himself as an office worker, so it kind of bums him out, but that doesn’t stop him from reading over the job description papers in his hands. In the background, he hears a loud sneeze, but it doesn’t phase him much. That’s why, when he’s addressed about it, he looks up and blinks, tilting his head at the poor guy and just kind of looking around at the people around them.

“… Dunno…” Pauses and tilts his head the other way, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck. “Do you need a tissue? I think I have a couple.”

"Ahhhnn." There's a space for a small noise to filter from his lips as he takes the answer. Attention perking, he quickly sweeps his gaze along the faces of those present, ignoring the sheep that also sit among their presence. From the looks of it, everyone was off in their own world keeping to themselves. This giving him some security, he settles down and flicks his eyes once more over to the other, small smile forming as his head shakes. 

Lollipop Library was Hajime’s objective for today. Despite having spend more than a month in Stella City already, he had never visited the library for some reason. Fantasizing about the kind of mysterious books Stella City might have, he almost didn’t notice the stranger trying to get his attention. 

While Hajime wasn’t exactly big on helping every lost soul (he was a busy man… sometimes), he wasn’t as rude as to pretend he hadn’t heard the stranger’s greeting. Coming to a stop, he turned around to face the other properly. 

“Hello…” Hajime replied, unsure of what else to say. He hadn’t seen this person around before. For someone who had presumable just arrived in Stella City they seemed to be pretty chill about it. 

The very moment Hajime had been about to ask if there was something he could help the stranger with, he was asked the million-dollar question. A clock ominously started ticking, leaving Hajime with only a few seconds to formulate his answer. Fortunately for him, the sheep of Stella City was what he was all about.

“That’s what I want to know. Aries and Stella let humans live their lives, and have very nice things, but don’t get confused. It’s the sheep that hold power here.”

Immediately his face contorts, confusion running along it. The sheep held the power? Aries and Stella? He wasn't completely sure who those two were, but the former answer to his question was a little alarming. Animals, as far as he was aware, didn't have the intelligence capacity to keep order in a group, much less a city. But.. of course, maybe he was wrong. If someone could be put under a magical curse, an animal had the ability to be put on one too. Unless it wasn’t the animal that had been targeted, but a person turned into one.

“Come now, we may not have spoken to each other properly, but is that any way to greet a comrade?” If Niles was being honest (which he always was, really), he was a tad offended. Not just because Laslow had the gall to ask the clichéd question about his vision, but because the man hadn’t even bothered to ask Niles how he was, or even acknowledge that this was the first time they’d seen each other ever since Niles had disappeared from Nohr. He clicked his tongue, folding his arms across his chest. “I didn’t peg you as the sort of person to skip straight to the personal questions.”

An eyebrow arches itself. He’d asked a simple question to a stranger expecting to either be told to mind his own business or given an answer. What he received however, was a sensation that he was being fooled somehow. Never before had he seen this man, nor was he convinced that said man had ever seen him. With that patch, the general structure of his face and fluff of hair, it would be hard for the mercenary to forget him. But the way he spoke and acted as if they were known to each other..it was puzzling, confusing. 

He usually wasn’t the type of person to grow angry, and it wasn’t that he was- but after being hit in the back of the head not once, but twice, with a cluster of small pebbles well.. One could only assume how he felt about the matter. Being new here and not knowing a face that passed him was a good way to amplify his anxiety and with his nerves freshly rattled, he turns to the nearest person, a small pout of his lower lip forcing itself forward.