It was like the night

Kei takes notice of an unbreaking stare from one, pinpointing with great accuracy. “Enjoying the show?” A grin spread across her decorated face.

"Are you?"

it seems like a fair trade to him. "i don't know, i just wanted to look. you're high up." ed hasn't climbed something as tall as this building... ever. glancing down, it's almost enough to make him dizzy. but he likes that feeling. it's familiar, if not exact. "what kind of body parts do you have? do i get to pick?" suddenly excitable, his other hand comes up to join the first. he's eager to be invited in, now that body parts are on the table. clearly he doesn't understand what she means.

"all kinds, i make them. arms, legs, flippers, wings..." odette rambles, "not if you don't need one." odie is used to indirect threats, never the front person, never in the line of fire. once the immediate-ness of his appearance wanes, the more she's just standing there and he's not making a move to kill or maim, she can start turning the wheels in her head. she's needs information. "ah, do you like being up high?" she deliberates where she could make it if she makes herself invisible. "how'd you get up here?"

"As well you should be!" Leizu deliberately misses the point of this woman's word. "What a waste, honestly. You know, in the 1990s the finest fashion ateliers around the world would be going to war just for a chance to have someone like you on their runways. And here you are in... that." she tuts, gesturing disapprovingly at Odette's clothing with her neatly manicured fingers.

Is this what whiplash feels like? "Thank...you?" Somehow the words, which in Odette's book sound like a compliment, don't feel like a compliment usually feels. Instead, Odie is befuddled, expression showing as much. "What would you have me wear instead?"

“ I hope not, ” Sebni tried his best to take it down a notch. That was always his problem before, wasn't it? He was always too much for her. He loved her too much, gave too much of him to her, especially when she didn't want that much of him. She had her reasons, and even though he never really understood them, he tried his best to accept that some things were never just meant to be. You can't love someone into loving you. “ Do you have a preference? There's a new sushi bar down the street, and a taqueria beside it if you're not feeling raw fish. ”

"Sushi'd be fine..." Odette stepped back towards the exit, then upon thinking of the friend she'd made the other night, she added, "actually the taqueria...I don't think I can eat fish for a while..." She smiled cryptically, as if at an inside joke.

“ So, how did you like my performance? ” Hikari purred the question in the other's ear as she poured them a glass of sake. She personally recommended the bottle to Seth Vanmeter himself during a random conversation one night and was pleasantly surprised to see it on The Bearded Lady's menu a few days later. Maybe she really was Seth's favorite performer, and to think, she didn't even need to put a psychic blade through his forehead. “ Ever had something like this before? It'll change your world. ”

"The intent behind plying me with alcohol is...?" Odette's at ease in Hikari's presence, fingers wrapping around the glass and gently bringing it to her mouth. "Change my world how...exactly?"

"no," he answers, shaking his head. "i mean, they haven't told me i am... but sometimes it's last minute." fins doesn't enjoy fighting even on the best of days, but particularly not during the heat of their continent's summer. his size and strength get him far, but if he's suffering from the desert atmosphere, it's difficult for him to do well. and unfortunately, that's all he's good for. "i stay just in case."

me? no, i'm not much of a tracker. it doesn't make sense to follow a trail that, as far as he's concerned, has a dead end. emphasis on dead. it's possible the thief is alive and kicking, but given the state of the bike... if they are, they're certainly not getting it back. as far as i can tell, they met their match.

"it's alright, just hold on!" the transport goes from rocking to full-on rolling, much to the displeasure of adrian's stomach. fortunately, when it finally stops moving—for who knows how long—they're still upright. "i don't know, but stay in here. i'll go out and see if there's..." admittedly, he hesitates. what does he tell her? that there's a very real possibility there's some kind of horrible monstrosity out there wanting to swallow them up? the truth always feels like a bad play. unfortunately, it's the only one he ever has. "i'll make sure that we're safe." cocking his gun, he steels his nerves ( and his stomach ) and exists through the top hatch.

she answers, but fear-stink is heavy around her even through the glass. why? he hasn't even done anything yet. he almost says as much, but gets distracted briefly by his reflection on the glass. bringing a hand up—gecko-like... how he had gotten up here at all—and asks, instead, "can you open this?"

"i can," she says again, now rising from her desk and fully facing the person outside her window. "if you tell me what you're here for." observe. collect. assess. then odette gathers, she'll need to run. she itches to turn invisible even now but she holds off, reigning in fear for rational thought to take over. "are you in need of a body part?"

"Where were you before?" Odie pressed, gently as she could. She was thoroughly distracted from being sick, this conversation a good anchor.

her question only confuses him more. "...why?" he asks, head cocked toward one side. "...because you might need it?" fins is well aware that people are mostly unkind in this world—even if he struggles to believe it—but that doesn't change how he navigates it himself. he always would rather choose to do good than not. otherwise, what's the point? "if you need help, i wouldn't want you to go without." it's what he would want for himself, too... however unlikely.

"oh. i see..." unexpectedly warm and caring. she seems to be running into that more and more these days but she still doesn't know what to do with it. how does she respond? what does she do with such an earnest response? what are the steps to get out of such a foreign reception of kindness? odie attempts to change the subject. "are you going to fight tonight?"