It all seems to fall at your defense.

[theschemer]

Ienzo ached all over.

He wasn't sure he could remember the last time that he felt so exhausted. He had slept well enough in the hotel bed, but a single night's sleep was nowhere near enough to soothe away the strain of travel. He had, thus far, been unsuccessful in his request for a second one.

Just under a week ago, he had been informed that one of the Ryoka had defected from the main group and relocated to Daguerreo, an ancient, vast and half-submerged library out in the wilds of Nabradia. The Ryoka in question, a man described as being tall and very similar in appearance to an Al Bhed, could only be Vexen. Or Even. Whatever he was going by now -- Ienzo didn't know.

Under ordinary circumstances, Ienzo would have pointed out that Vexen was a scientist and that a trip to a repository of information like Daguerreo would not be out of character for him, certainly not enough to count such a trip as being a defection. However, these weren't ordinary circumstances, not now. He remembered Ulquiorra's recording of the battle following the Fall of Midgar. More precisely, he remembered Axel's participation in said battle, and the fact that he was fighting alongside Saix. That, Ienzo was sure, would definitely be enough of a push to get Vexen to cut ties with the group once and for all.

After the revelation came to light (something that L was responsible for), a quiet meeting was held with some of the other members of Khamja. From there, it was decided that he should be ... collected. It wasn't that Ienzo was concerned about him returning to the Order that had made him agree to do it, it was more that he wouldn't put Vexen's elimination past certain members now that he had shown a desire to leave them behind. Clan Khamja was not exactly safe, but it was certainly safer than going it alone in a still unfamiliar world, with enemies behind you, even in a remote location such as he had chosen.

A brief discussion later and a small party was decided upon. It was a carefully picked group of powerful fighters, friends and, it had to be said, enemies.

The group that left the Desert Palace consisted of Lumi and Marluxia, a pair of full Khamja members with enough firepower between them to subdue an unwilling addition to their ranks; himself, due in part to his long association with Vexen, his similar circumstances and the knowledge that Vexen would not trust Marluxia or his partner in the slightest without someone to vouch for them; Ulquiorra, now known to be an associate of his and someone Aizen could trust not to let him escape; and Neliel, because she was strong, non-antagonistic and it was safer for two of Aizen's minions to go on a trip such as this than one, especially given the company.

So far, the journey had been arduous, at least as far as Ienzo was concerned. For a start, it had all been taken across ground, or under it, instead of by airship. They had travelled more of the Zertinan Caverns than Ienzo had known existed and, in spite of the fact that some of it had been undertaken on chocobo-back, there was rather more walking on his own two feet than he would have liked. The second leg had been across the desert, all mounted. The longest part thus far had been through a great tunnel called the Fossil Roo.

That had been the worst.

The Caverns were bad enough, but the tunnel was long to the point of being seemingly endless and, as if that wasn't bad enough, it was also full of air so stale that it had been recommended that masks were worn for that part of the trip.

The aspect of it that had unnerved Ienzo the most was the fact that the Roo stretched from one continent to the other. Underwater. The idea that there was no hope of escape in the event of a cave-in was not his idea of a good time. The huge Gargants that scurried along the long-dead root systems that sprawled across the ceiling was not much fun either and they had, at least to begin with, spooked the chocobos quite as much as they had spooked him.

Well, they were giant spiders.

It had not taken him long to work out that, when the tunnel was built by whichever ancient culture had carved it out, the path between Dalmasca and Nabradia had probably not been submerged at all. Indeed, the sea above them was very likely to be considerably shallower than the rest of it. It had, to his reckoning, been some sort of land bridge recently enough that an intelligent culture had made and, for the duration of their stay, maintained the path. It was a minor miracle that it had survived for so long without its integrity being compromised.

Alternating between riding and walking, they had made the trip from one end to the other in a few long and, after a while, rather painful days. The only positive aspect of the Roo was that it was, for the most part, free of monsters brave enough to bother a party of their calibre.

They had come up some distance inland on Nabradian soil. The nearest city and, as luck would have it, their destination, was Luxerion. It took the group more than a day to reach it, but it was visible long before that thanks to the sky-piercing spire of the city's Cathedral. Luxerion may have even lived up to its name if it wasn't permanently overcast and swirling with Mist of the sort of density that could probably be described as 'low-to-moderate-risk-to-foreigners'.

They arrived late and in darkness. Luxerion did not have much of a tourism industry, not since Nabradia's fall, so the party had no trouble getting a hotel room for the night.

With dawn having broken, the city was beginning to come to life again. Shops opened their doors as the cathedral's bell tolled and, an hour later, Ienzo found himself sat inside an open-fronted café in the railway station, nursing a cup of rapidly cooling tea.

Comments

[tozasemurcielago]

When the news had come that another of the Ryoka had abandoned The Order, Ulquiorra had expected that a party would be sent to collect them. Zexion had been collected in much the same way by Marluxia, Lumi, and Kuja; Khamja would hardly let the opportunity to further swell their ranks with The Order's defectors pass them by. He hadn't expected, however, that Zexion would be considered necessary enough to risk sending him out of the Palace.

It seemed that Zexion was considered precisely that important for this, however, and since Ulquiorra had become acquainted with him, Ulquiorra had been tasked with keeping an eye on Zexion.

Lumi and Marluxia were not important to Aizen-sama's plans, but Zexion had been, and may be again. Ulquiorra considered that his task was not only to ensure Zexion didn't attempt to escape, with his introduction to Khamja being partially involuntary, but also that Zexion made it back to the Palace in one piece. Ulquiorra was aware that Zexion's relationship with Marluxia and Lumi was tense at best.

There were similar tensions between Marluxia, Lumi, and the Ryoka they were going to collect, which was why Zexion was so important.

Neliel was in attendance to keep a lid on the situation, should one arise. She was also, Ulquiorra knew, there for his own protection. Aizen-sama would not have been content to allow a single Arrancar to travel with three Ryoka to pick up a fourth defector, as it would imply far too much trust.

They were travelling on the ground. It had begun with the caverns, then chocobos across the desert to the Fossil Roo, and from there to Luxerion. From Luxerion, they would take the train. Daguerreo was hard to reach, and a trip by airship would still have required leaving the ship in Alexandria to travel by foot or by chocobo across into Nabradia.

The train was a morning train, and so the party was up earlier than Ulquiorra would have preferred. He travelled with a minimum of fuss and complaining, but long days on foot or bird had taken their toll even for him, and a night's rest in a hotel had been appreciated. It hadn't eradicated the muscle aches and tenderness of the journey, and even though a shower had helped somewhat, Ulquiorra would have appreciated perhaps another couple of hours or so to sleep.

Instead, the party had temporarily disbanded to acquire supplies from Luxerion. Neliel had headed that way, and Ulquiorra had opted to stay in the station, with a cup of questionable quality coffee with a little more sugar than usual to mask the questionable taste, and Zexion.

He also had a newspaper, although there wasn't much of interest in it. The local news was of no concern, and the national news was of no great importance, but it had been worth a look to at least ensure that being out of contact with Khamja's main base for a while, and coming out into the Mist swamped lands of Nabradia, hadn't meant they'd missed anything significant.

They hadn't. They also hadn't attracted any attention themselves, as far as they could tell, which was good.

Ulquiorra folded the newspaper, half skimmed, and half unread, and put it on the table. The others would meet them before long. Then Ulquiorra would have to endure their company once more.

[theschemer]

Ienzo sipped his tea unhappily, staring off into space, eyes unfocussed.

"Another night here really would be nice," he said, quite pointedly, putting his cup back down with a bit of a sigh.

His shoulders and neck ached from carrying his travel supplies in a backpack for so many days and his legs hurt from both walking and from staying in the saddle of a chocobo for long stretches. Like Ulquiorra, he had had a shower, but what he really wanted was more sleep and a long bath.

[tozasemurcielago]

Ulquiorra murmured a wordless response, picking up his coffee and taking a sip. It was still poor, even with extra sugar, but it was hot, sweet, and had caffeine, so Ulquiorra dealt with it.

"The train will be a more comfortable mode of travel than we have used so far," he said, feeling rather than saying the 'at least'. A train was going to be infinitely more comfortable than a chocobo saddle, that much was certain. "We will hopefully stop here again on the return."

When Ulquiorra got back to the Palace, he was going to soak in a bath until the water went cool, and then sleep for a day.

[declaregamuza]

"Might have known you two would find the shop with tea," Nel said in greeting. Zexion looked like he could take some more sleep, easily, and Ulquiorra, well, to be honest, he just looked like Ulquiorra usually did. Nel couldn't tell if he was approaching this mission with his usual steadfast commitment to getting it over with the minimum of noise, or whether this was how Ulquiorra suffered.

Nel had suffered, though quietly. She was sick of chocobos, sick of travel food, sick of sleeping where they could, and sick of not being able to wash her hair properly.

She'd had a room to herself, and the opportunity to sprawl out in a real bed the night before, and shower for half an hour this morning had done a lot to lift her spirits. She'd be glad when they got to Daguerreo, and even more glad when they got back to the Palace, but Nel was, like Ulquiorra, a professional.

Especially around Marluxia and Lumi. Those two gave her the creeps; Marluxia was a smug bastard, and Lumi was just off in ways she could never put her finger on, but it was enough to unsettle her. Not that she let it show, because Nel had dealt with a lot of creeps in her time, and she knew better than to let them know they bothered her.

Besides, it was less bothering and more instilling in her a desperate desire to smack Marluxia so hard his face landed on the other side of his head. Lumi was the sort of creepy she could deal with because she had to, but Marluxia was that bit too smug, and kept his creepy pet just close enough, that she kept wondering how smug he'd be if she kicked him in the nadgers.

That was probably the grouchiness from travel talking.

Maybe.

She put a restocked backpack (more food, a couple of extra ethers, more water, and most importantly, more dry shampoo) down at the next table, and went straight up to request a tea for herself from the vendor.

[theschemer]

"Hopefully for a few days," Zexion muttered to Ulquiorra, pushing idly at the handle of his teacup with a fingertip, turning it halfway around in the process.

He looked up as Nel arrived, snapping out of his zoned out state.

Ienzo didn't mind Nel. She was kind to him, and pleasant. He knew very well that the reason she was there was to mitigate the potential risk to Ulquiorra as the otherwise lone Arrancar on the trip, but he was glad that it was she who had been picked. Mostly because he was half sure that Marluxia's partner would have killed any of the others if they'd irritated Marluxia enough for him to idly make such a suggestion.

Probably.

He wasn't entirely sure of the dynamics of their relationship.

"The tea's about the best thing to have happened on this trip so far," he said, sounding rather more sullen than he'd have liked. "Other than the hotel room, anyway."

[tozasemurcielago]

Ulquiorra eyed Zexion out of the corner of his eye, but Neliel's appearance interrupted before he could respond. Ulquiorra had no objection to Luxerion, or to Ienzo, or, for the most part, to Neliel, but he'd prefer to be done with this task sooner rather than later.

Instead of admitting that, however, he kept quiet, picking up his coffee for another sip.

[declaregamuza]

"Well, I'll agree with you on the hotel room," Nel said, before making her way back with a cup of tea. She smiled softly at Zexion as she sat down. "At least the next part of the journey is easier."

She wasn't particularly looking forward to the long and subterranean road back, but she'd prefer not to think about that right now.

Zexion was having a rough time of it, she could tell. He didn't seem the type who used to spend long days travelling and getting dirty and fighting monsters. He seemed like he was more at home with his nose in a book, and a chair under him, and a desk in front of him.

She looked around, sensing reiatsu while non-clandestinately spying out anyone earwigging, before she said, "So go on, without those two around, what's the poor soul we're going to 'collect' like?"

They had information, of course, but there was a difference between information and someone who actually knew them. Nel knew that their target would be more inclined to listen to Zexion than the other two, which meant Nel was willing to give him a chance from the off, but other than that, information about what the person was like, as opposed to what his knowledge and abilities were like, had been scattered at best.

Nel wanted to know what she was walking into.

[theschemer]

Ienzo took a moment to think about it. How best to describe Vexen to someone who had never met him? There really was no point in sugar-coating the truth, he supposed. Vexen wasn't a bad person, but it was a little difficult to describe him without bringing up his faults.

"Anything but a poor soul," he started, not having to try hard to imagine how unhappy he would look at being called such. "He's proud, short tempered and cantankerous."

As for his negative traits... he didn't say, instead sipping the last cold dregs of his tea and smiling wryly.

He thought about what else he should say. He doesn't suffer fools gladly? He can't bear to be undermined by somebody he deems inferior and he's very taken with the concept of hierarchies, but only when he's at or near the top..? No. It was all true, of course, but none of it was worth mentioning. Not really.

Ienzo shook his head, looking at Nel through his fringe. "He's a scientist and he takes his work very seriously. He won't be easy to prise out of Daguerreo, not with all of that information there, but the draw of a library and possible lab space elsewhere should be an attractive prospect... and he's proud enough that flattery might help."

Which sounded ridiculous, but what else was he supposed to say?

He glanced around. He was relatively confident that he would be able to catch the scent of Marluxia and Lumi's chakra before they got close enough to overhear, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure. Not with this much Mist saturating the air.

"He doesn't know Lumi as far as I know, but he has no love for Marluxia." He said just about managing to keep the tension from his face. "The two, to put it very mildly, were enemies. The only person he hates more than him is the red-haired man that Ulquiorra fought. That fact is our greatest asset."

[declaregamuza]

Proud, and grumpy, Nel thought, well he'd fit right in with Khamja's happy crew, at least he had that going for him. Despite what Zexion said about him not being a 'poor soul', however, Nel was inclined to disagree.

Anyone being collected by Khamja was in an unfortunate position, whether they consented to it or not, because the thing about Khamja was that the individual's consent was neither here nor there. They joined willingly, or unwillingly, or they'd be eliminated, because Khamja was of a mind to break things it couldn't have just so that others couldn't have them, either.

It wasn't even like joining willingly was protection against eventual elimination, anyway.

She felt sorry for Zexion. He was young, and smart, but some of the powers in Khamja had decided that, since he'd fallen out with The Order, they should have him instead, and now the boy would spend the rest of his life with Khamja's leash around his throat whether he liked it or not. A leash that, at the whims of others, could readily become a noose.

Aizen had already made us of him, and that didn't sit well with Nel, either. Aizen left her feeling that way a lot. Sometimes she wasn't sure what he was after, sometimes she was reasonably sure that what he was after was the better option, and sometimes, even when it was the better option, she didn't like Aizen's methods. But she was loyal, and had to stay loyal, because even when she disagreed with something, she had to think of the other Arrancar who were variously too young, too impetuous, or too damaged to protect themselves.

Aizen was complicated, and Nel's loyalty to him was complicated, and sometimes that kept her awake at night.

And Zexion had been thrust into this world, and now another was being dragged into it.

She tilted her head at the mention of Lumi and Marluxia. No love lost between him and Marluxia made sense, because Nel could understand that point of view very easily, but not knowing Lumi? "I thought you were all part of a group?" She asked, and then shook her head, dismissing that thought for a moment. "Or were, anyway." There had obviously been rifts, between this man and Marluxia, and, from the sound of it, everyone except the berserker, and the fire elemental, which now meant a rift between the berserker and everyone else, too.

[tozasemurcielago]

Ulquiorra listened to Zexion speak with his eyes closed. The information was useful, not least the fact that the man, a scientist, and that was part of the stated reason for being so keen to bring him into the fold, was of a personality to require appeasing, but also the tension between him and Marluxia.

Ulquiorra wasn't present to appease anyone. He was here to guard Zexion, and potentially subdue a reluctant acquisition. It would be down to Neliel and Zexion to appeal to the man's ego and entice him to join them willingly.

If nothing else, the fact that Nel had nearly killed the fire elemental in their encounter might hold some encouragement, if he despised the fire elemental as much as he despised Marluxia.

Not knowing Lumi, however, made Lumi, who felt powerful, and who seemed as loyal to Marluxia as Ulquiorra seemed to Aizen (Appearances could be deceptive a voice whispered, internally, and Ulquiorra shut it down), might deter Vexen from joining. Lumi was too much of an unknown quantity, and the fact that Marluxia kept him close enough to bring him on a mission such as this despite that possibility only made it worse.

"Lumi and Marluxia should not have attended," he said, quietly.

[theschemer]

Ienzo looked at Nel, but addressed Ulquiorra's comment instead of her concern. He wasn't sure how much Marluxia would want him to say. The two weren't really allies, but they had come to an understanding. Enough of one for Ienzo not to want to bring his partnership with Lumi into question.

"It's best if they're here," he said, scowling. "If we're going to get Vexen to come with us, he needs to strike up a truce with Marluxia sooner rather than later or he won't agree to join at all, not knowing he's there."

That, however, was going to be the hard part. Marluxia had ordered Axel to kill Vexen just as Saix had ordered Axel to kill him. Ienzo held his elimination in Castle Oblivion against Saix just as much as Axel, but it wasn't the fact that Saix had ordered it that had forced him to leave, it was the fact that he'd kept that information hidden until he'd slipped up and revealed it unintentionally. The deception of the human had done more damage to any notion of trust within the Order than the plans of the Nobody.

He couldn't be sure that Vexen would feel the same, but it was worth appealing to his ego anyway.

"They'll never be allies, but they should be able to put their differences far enough aside that they are able to stay in the same Clan without trying to kill each other at every turn," he said, rather hoping that he was right about that.

[declaregamuza]

Nel gave a wry half smile, and looked at Ulquiorra. "Besides," she said, "those two were not going to let Zexion and two Arrancar go off to recruit another Khamja member."

She caught Zexion's eye, briefly, twitching the corner of her mouth up at him as she did. Zexion seemed to trust and like Marluxia about as much as she did, and while Ulquiorra might be less concerned with the delicate internal politics outside of matters that concerned Aizen, she expected Zexion felt them a little more acutely.

"Fortunately, Marluxia seems as intent on bringing this man back alive as we are, and he's just charming enough that I don't think he'll accidentally jeapodise the chances of it." He didn't seem the type to put his foot in it unless he wanted to, so they had to hope that he really did want to recruit this one, and didn't change his mind before they got back to the Palace.

[tozasemurcielago]

Ulquiorra responded with a quiet grunt. He still disliked travelling with Lumi and Marluxia; things would be less complicated if they weren't in attendance, and not just because Ulquiorra would be escorting Zexion to protect him from outside forces, and not, potentially, ones from within their own travelling party.

Not that he was going to admit to any such opinions in Nel's presence.

He picked up his coffee in both hands and took a drink before he asked Zexion, plainly, "Do you believe bringing Vexen to the Palace is the best course of action?"

He sounded difficult to work with, but so was Szayel, and like Szayel, despite the downfalls, he had a lot to offer. The question was whether he'd be prepared to offer it, whether he would be an ally of Zexion's, whether he would be an ally of Aizen-sama's, and whether taking him to the Palace where he would be less easily reached by others would be worth the effort of doing it. They were investing a lot in retrieving this man; he would need to be worth it.

[theschemer]

Zexion looked at Ulquiorra and nodded.

"I do," he said, quite seriously. "As a scientist, Szayel would probably pale in comparison to what he's capable of. He's bad tempered but he's brilliant."

Of course, he also had the arrogance to go with that brilliance, but an ego didn't invalidate his ability in his field. Vexen could make replicas outside of Spira, there was no saying what he could achieve here with the research materials, equipment and laboratory space that may be available to him in Clan Khamja.

He sighed, picking up his cup and then putting it down again when he remembered it was empty.

"He's worth bringing in. He'd be an asset," he was sure about that. "If we don't, there's a good chance that one of the Order will take him out and he's valuable."

He chose not to play his 'he practically raised me' card. He decided that it may be worth using later, should he neel to appeal to Nel's gentle nature, but he wouldn't let Ulquiorra know about that, not just yet.

[tozasemurcielago]

That answer wasn't quite enough to satisfy Ulquiorra, but he hadn't expected better. If Zexion considered the man worth bringing in, then that would have to be enough. It certainly sounded as though Vexen represented a lot of potential value, which would be why they'd been tasked with retrieving him.

If he turned out to be too difficult to work with, he would either have to stop being difficult, or be eliminated. Since they already worked with Szayel, he'd have to be extraordinarily difficult to be too difficult.

Ulquiorra nodded his head, just once.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia had suffered a crick below his right shoulderblade since the chocobo ride. He wasn't sure whether it was the ride itself, or that he hadn't trained with his scythe since the start of the journey, and he was now starting to feel it. Zexion knew about it, as did Lumi, but Marluxia wasn't prepared to risk any techniques in the presence of Ulquiorra, or Nel.

Especially Ulquiorra. That one had the unique ability to replay anything he'd witnessed, in detail, for later analysis by third parties. Unfortunately, he'd had no good reason to reject Ulquiorra's company, especially in light of the fact that no one, including Zexion, trusted him with Zexion without an escort, and Zexion had become acquainted with Ulquiorra.

So Marluxia was forced to deal with the boy's presence. Nel, at least, was more pleasant company, and much more personable. Though she too could be a little stiff, when the time came. He couldn't quite understand Nel; she was loyal to Aizen but was far too genuinely nice to have any good reason to be loyal to someone like him.

Marluxia wanted to get this over with. Vexen would, inarguably, be an asset. Marluxia didn't like the man, although he wasn't about to pretend that the notion of having the three of them reunited under the same roof once more wasn't amusing. With both Vexen and Zexion nearer himself, and cut off from The Order, Marluxia had access to their innovations and discoveries where the likes of Xigbar no longer would.

It would cripple The Order, and boost Marluxia's power within Khamja, provided he could get Vexen to set aside his grudge for long enough to ally with him.

Luxerion was a strange place. Grim and haunting at night, it seemed much more pleasant by daylight. The church dominated half the city, and the other half was given over to shops and the train station.

They'd taken the opportunity to resupply, and were on their way to the station so they could catch the train to make the next leg of the journey.

"Have you ever been on a train before?" He asked Lumi. He'd discovered there were a few experiences Lumi was lacking, on this journey, and if he hadn't been on a train before, this had the potential to be an interesting part of the trip for him.

[thesilentstorm]

"Once or twice," Lumi replied, glancing around at the sights of the city.

It looked different in daylight.

During the night, when they had arrived, it had seemed sombre but full of the splendour of a large, modern -- for a given value of 'modern' -- and potentially lively city. Windows had been illuminated in the darkness and the late-opening shops had cast inviting rectangles of light across the richly tiled floors. Wrought iron metalwork had gleamed darkly in the streetlights and the frontages of the train station and surrounding buildings had looked impressive and well-kept.

Now, in the thin morning light, Lumi noticed that the ironwork was spotted with rust, some of the tiles were broken and the plastered walls were ingrained with years of accumulated grime and chipping in places. It was as though the light had washed away the city's delusions of grandeur.

"Bullet trains," he elaborated. "The journeys were short. I don't imagine that this one will be."

He swung his bag up onto his shoulder and expertly kept the wince he felt from his face. The travel was taking its toll. He ached and he was tired. Lumi had barely slept on the journey through the underground, catching only snippets and snatches of sleep when it wasn't his turn on watch. He had gone out like a light almost the moment his head hit the pillow once they had checked into the hotel, but it hadn't been near enough.

On the upside, the next leg of their journey was at least a day's ride by steam train across the country. It was slow and likely to be dull and uneventful, so he should be able to catch an hour or two. When they came back through Luxerion, however, he was going to insist on spending more than a night there to catch up on his rest before they headed back towards that damned Roo.

[gracefuldahlia]

"No," Marluxia agreed, "this one will take most of a day." Marluxia privately welcomed the opportunity to rest that the train ride would offer, too. In the very least, there wouldn't be any tedious monsters, they wouldn't have to carry their bags, and there would be no chocobos to deal with.

Marluxia didn't mind chocobos, exactly, but you could definitely have too much of them. Around the point where you were accustomed to the smell was where you'd had too much.

"And then Vexen," he said, trying to picture that man making the return journey with them and struggling. Recruiting him without restraining him and forcibly carrying him back with them was going to require all of Zexion and Marluxia's talents at diplomacy.

[thesilentstorm]

"And then Vexen," Lumi echoed, glancing at Marluxia.

He blew out a short sigh and looked up at the nearest clock -- Luxerion did seem to have an unusually high number of them. They still had some time to kill before they would find themselves cooped up with Zexion and the Arrancar.

"What should we expect from him?" He asked. "I understand that you and he do not see eye to eye."

He knew that much, but the swift nature of the mission's start and the current company had not given Lumi chance to ask his opinion on how things were likely to go. Now, away from the others, was the first opportunity he had found.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia glanced at Lumi, and then smirked. He'd picked up on that much, then, even if no one had been overly explicit about the fact that they didn't get along.

"I ordered him killed," Marluxia said, with a smile. "He's a tedious, shrieking harpy with an inflated sense of his own importance, whose presence is as aggravating as that of Szayel," although Vexen's presence didn't constitute a low-grade sexual assault all on its own.

He looked at Lumi, and shifted the weight of his own bag before he added, with a sigh, "Unfortunately, he's also a singularly talented scientist, which means that, as much as I don't relish the idea of bringing him to the Palace so I can be in close confines with the man, having him and Zexion on our side is of significant benefit. The two are a scientific dream team, and if there are any edges or talents available to us as Ryoka, they will be the first ones to discover and master them. They will also be able to discern a lot of information from this world that we may find useful."

They might, also, spot flaws or weaknesses in the other people in Khamja, including the Arrancar, or in their abilities, and Marluxia would welcome that information, should it come his way. That, however, was a possibility, and not something Marluxia considered key to Vexen's potential value.

"If nothing else, we should take the opportunity to keep him out of Xigbar's hands."

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi listened and acknowledged his explanation with a nod.

So, they were a clash of personalities, but beyond their likely mutual dislike of each other, Vexen was useful. Zexion had proved useful already, even without Vexen, so if they were a 'dream team' together, it explained why Marluxia was keen to have him on board despite everything else.

Getting him away from the other Ryoka was just a bonus, apparently.

Still, none of the upsides to his recruitment changed the fact that Vexen probably hated Marluxia. If he'd had him killed, whatever that entailed, Lumi was not entirely certain about what had happened within Organization XIII and chose not to ask, he had every right to be difficult about or refuse. That would be where Zexion came in, but...

"How do you suppose he will react to your presence on this retrieval?"

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia considered that question for a moment. How would Vexen react? There were a few possible ways, and one of them involved Vexen making a dive for the nearest exit.

"He'll most likely expect it," Marluxia admitted. Vexen was not so naive as to think they wouldn't at least try to contact him once his separation from The Order was apparent. If their arrival did come as a surprise, then Marluxia had clearly overestimated the man's intelligence, or ego. Vexen in the least liked to think of himself as important, and important enough to contact was a part of that.

"Though he won't be pleased to see me in any respect. This time, however, we have a mutual enemy, which is more in common than we had previously." He looked at Lumi, "Zexion is the in-road," he explained, "he has no great care for me, either, but we've shelved those differences to our mutual benefit. Vexen's ego will require a significant amount of placating, but he'll do anything to ensure his own survival, and right now, joining us is the best way for him to do that."

[thesilentstorm]

That made sense. Lumi knew men like Vexen, men who considered themselves important enough to have a sizeable ego but also just enough doubt to make them take small risks with allies to make sure they weren't killed. It was useful.

"And what do you think he will make of the Arrancar and myself?"

That was one of the tricky questions. Well, it was one of the easy questions, it was the answer that was tricky. Vexen was known to have had negative experiences with Arrancar. That said, the group were relatively sure that he had never encountered these two Arrancar in particular, which was a plus. As for what he'd make of him... he was, by and large, an unknown quantity.

The most they knew of him was that he'd shot and either killed or grievously injured a member of Akatsuki and that he was Marluxia's partner.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia pursed his lips as he considered that question. "You'll scare him," he answered. That part was easy enough; Lumi felt powerful, and was to all appearances a staunch ally of Marluxia's. That was plenty to make Vexen wary of him, and Lumi's demeanour would do the rest.

In truth their relationship was more complex. They were allies, but not quite friends, and yet Marluxia had been able to trust Lumi with something as delicate as pushing him in training with Graceful Dahlia. It was partly convenience, partly necessity, and, lately, partly trust that kept them together.

But Marluxia liked to keep the outward perception that Lumi was his, rather than their partnership being one of tentative, possibly equals. It meant people underestimated Lumi's intelligence, if not his power, and considered Marluxia too dangerous to mess with.

"Neliel is unlikely to spook him; she's a kind hearted woman with a will of iron, and her elemental affinity goes in her favour. Zexion's little friend, however," Marluxia frowned, trailing off while he considered how to explain it.

"Darkness clings to that one, even when he isn't fighting. He'll either intrigue Vexen, or frighten him. Possibly both."

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi agreed that Ulquiorra was odd, but he had no first-hand experience of this 'darkness' that Marluxia spoke of, though he knew that wasn't simply metaphorical, that it was bad and that it, quite likely, began with a capital letter. Neliel, on the other hand, was largely inoffensive, but Lumi didn't miss the fact that she seemed to deliberately keep her distance from the two of them and that she treated them with rather more caution than she did Zexion, for example. He could hardly blame her.

It looked, at least, like it wouldn't be impossible to get Vexen to come back with them, even if it might come with its share of problems.

"Mmm," he said, adjusting his bag again. "There's a little time before the train is due. We should have time to get a cup of coffee before we have to meet up with them again."