ノイズ

    When his hand was swatted away by the human, Joey huffed. He rubbed the blood between his fingers and stared in deep thought. It was human blood as he expected.

Following the other through in an almost bored silence Noiz glanced over the items that the other had cleaned away. Kitchen or no, it looked more like a makeshift lab-- in fact that's exactly what it looked like. For the first time his expression altered slightly when told to fetch his own water. It wasn't exactly annoyance despite the frown forming on his brows-- more like quiet bewilderment.

    He was messing with some chemicals in the kitchen, taking no safety precautions like he usually should. Joey’s hands were trained to mix chemicals carefully and intricately assemble things together. Nothing could surprise him enough to break his concentration or make him drop anything.

When, as expected, the owner had appeared before him, Noiz hadn't so much as blinked, merely giving his usual blank stare. Despite that though, Noiz found himself somewhat caught off guard by the calm, almost pleasant demeanor of the person whose home he had just broken into. How strange.

    “The only real thing I could offer you is money… I don’t really have much else to pay a debt.” Then again he didn’t really put much thought into it. Money and Rhyme were really the only things that he had right now. It was a sad concept but it was also true. But even money was scarce for him. When Noiz suggested that they battle in Rhyme, he was sure that he would lose. Neku had a debt to repay though. If all Noiz wanted was a battle in Rhyme then he would take it.

"I don't want your money." Noiz interjected with a repeat of his earlier words. He held no interest in something he had plenty of already, and the business of information selling had been going rather well of late; money was in abundance with all the Rhymers trying to get in on a few more matches.

    “You kinda pulled me by my arm to ‘help’ me. But you did save me from the cops so I won’t complain.” Neku took another large bite out of the pizza and took only a couple bites before swallowing. “Lucky I actually have a job now. For some reason this place really doesn’t like giving jobs to kids who haven’t finished high school. It’s not my fault I was in the hospital for a year ‘cause someone doesn’t know how to drive a car…” Neku noticed that he was ranting on. That didn’t usually happen but he got carried away. 

Noiz didn't seem to care in the slightest bit by the other's comment of him being the one to offer help when it wasn't asked for. After all, in his mind it was still a debt of kinds, and that was enough of a reason to be 'owed' something in return. 

    “A lot of people don’t call Neku by his real name. They usually call him ‘Phones or Black ‘n’ Blue, ne-ko!” Polly took the liberty of answering for Neku. He gave her a glare until Neku was demanded to give his number. Neku willingly gave it to Noiz, taking a second to get used to the interface of the screen that was put in front of him. After he typed it in, he sat back for the other to take the projection away.

He stared silently at the other's Allmate for a few moments before giving a small nod in acknowledgement to the feline. Turning projection back to himself with a simple wave of his fingertips Noiz made light work of typing both the younger's full name along with 'Black 'n' Blue' since 'phones' seemed a rather ridiculous thing to be putting next to a phone number all within a matter of just a couple of seconds before screen vanished from sight.

    Not expecting the sudden yell, Neku flinched. He really wasn’t used to anyone like Noiz. The only guy he really reminded him of was Josh… And Josh wasn’t exactly a likable guy. Noiz seemed alright after Neku got past the awkwardness.

Again Noiz gave a raised brow, staring for a few moments before drawing up the screen of his coil, "Your name was Sakuraba Neku, right?" He didn't even bother to wait for an answer-- He wasn't certain it was right until he'd said it aloud. "Give me your number." Of course he wouldn't ask. Instead, he brought up his contacts list, giving a small gesture of his hand to have the projected screen turned to face Neku.

    Neku really wasn’t liking the large amount of silence between Noiz and himself. Sure, he didn’t exactly like talking but the silence was just so awkward. Neku was about to break the silence until the other asked yet another question.

Rather than awkwardness Noiz had found himself rather comfortable with the silence; then again, he always was. When Neku finally joined him at the table though, for perhaps the first time since they'd quite literally bumped into each other Noiz's expression changed from it's near constant blank state with hardened eyes. Granted it wasn't much of a change, but there was a clear raise to one of his eyebrows, before quite literally shouting his order to the middle aged man stood behind the counter across the room.

    Thinking for a minute, Neku stared off into the distance while his legs automatically followed the other. “Probably heard it somewhere. I recognize it a little.” Rumors mostly. His knowledge of Rhyme teams was minuscule. He debated on starting his own team or joining one but Neku didn’t really get along with people, even if they were teammates.

Noiz didn't reply to the comment of 'good for you'. He didn't particularly care whether it was a genuine comment or sarcasm, after all, he only thought it necessary to bring up for the sake of giving the younger an opportunity to recognize him. At that thought, the fact that he didn't cleared up his thought of whether or not Neku was new to Rhyme. After all, just about anyone who had been playing for a while new of Ruff Rabbit, or at the very least of Noiz, since he was unbeaten to this day.

    “You’re a Rhyme player?” Neku should’ve recognized this guy sooner. Then again, he was still new to Rhyme and everything so he didn’t know the ins and outs and everyone that was involved, so he didn’t feel that bad he didn’t know. Or Noiz could’ve just been a spectator. He was into Rhyme nonetheless. He could’ve gone to one of his own Rhyme matches before for all he knew.

"Yeah. You heard of the Rhyme team, Ruff Rabbit?" He questioned without glancing back, though slowing his pace when he heard the other's footsteps following behind himself, "I'm Ruff Rabbit's team leader." He gave an idle shrug, glancing towards the smaller figure. Did he say only 'four' matches? This kid was either pretty new to the game or extremely lucky when it came to picking which matches to attend; although the first seemed far more likely.

    It took a little while but Neku finally regained his breath, or at least enough to carry out a regular conversation. He turned and put his back against the wall. Polly hopped off Neku’s shoulder, lacking enough room to stand. Instead, she sat at her masters side.

Noiz continued to simply stare at the other until his question was answered, at which point his eyes finally turned away to glance down the alley ahead. He hadn't really been paying much attention to where they were heading exactly, merely making sure that it was away from the main streets as the other's Allmate had suggested.

    Neku was barely keeping up with Noiz. He had to put a little more effort into running since the other was clinging to his arm. It was really awkward for him to run and keep up with the others quick pace. The teen stumbled around every sharp turn they took. Polly seemed to be quite content on Neku’s shoulder. It was a wonder how she stayed on her masters shoulder while he was moving so much.

Watching Neku catch his breath against the wall nearest, Noiz had stood to the side a few steps away, his own breathing not quite so heavy yet panted all the same. Even if he couldn't feel the burning in his lungs they were still in desperate need of oxygen after such a hard run with no prior preparation.

    Neku wasn’t really expecting this guy to just ignore him after running into him. It would’ve been nice of him to listen. Neku let it go. It was unnecessary for him to get so mad about something so little. He motioned for Polly to follow him just as the stranger grabbed his arm.

Continuing to run without much consideration for the other's well-being beyond getting them away from the previously approaching footsteps, Noiz had held tightly to the other's arm, silently taking the other's allmate's advice. After all, it would be common sense when they were this close to a highstreet that it would be where most others would head, so sticking to alleyways seemed likely to increase their chances of escape somewhat.

    Neku was listening to his tunes as usual with his allmate perched proudly on his shoulder. The cat’s eyes glowed and was like a watchcat for the boy while he walked. However, not even the cat saw the escaping Rhyme player coming their way. Polly hissed and hopped of his masters’ shoulder to get away in time and avoid impact.

Quite easily standing himself straight after the impact of the wall, Noiz had simply glared at the smaller figure and his allmate in silence for a few moments before something seemed to distract him, leaving the taller to turn, glancing behind himself. Were those footsteps running towards them? If the footsteps had been following him for a while he could easily have assumed that they belonged to another Rhymer, but for them to only be appearing now? It was far more likely that it was police.