spira_rp | Make my way back home

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Make my way back home

Their foray into the Vile Peaks had been fruitful and frustrating at the same time. Yylfordt had got the time the day after their encounter with the stupidly overpowered-for-what-it-was Hollow to go and mooch among the old ruins left there. He'd wanted to bring back a lot more than he'd been able to, in the end, partly because of the bulk of things. He'd got some very flat looks when he'd suggested just leaving some people behind so there was more room on the Ragnarok; fortunately, they'd known he was joking.

Or had thought he was, anyway.

They'd brought back what they could, and Even and his scary Aeon level ice powers had gone off to his laboratory, and Nel had gone back to doing whatever she did all day, and Yylfordt, Apache, Tayuya, Kadaj, and Grimmjow had been left to their usual devices again.

They'd got bored after two days, and Yylfordt had got round to wiring up their coffee machine. He'd been tempted to just steal it and wire it up in his workshop and then lord it over Szayel that he had one, but he hadn't wanted to annoy Apache and Grimmjow any more than he usually did by existing, so he was working on connecting in to the Palace's electrics, and running a cable to the Sunhouse.

Which was about when he'd decided he could really do with some more insulated wire, and connector pins, and another socket adapter wouldn't go amiss, really. He had things, of course, he was Al Bhed, he'd never not have things. But that was why he needed more things, because if he used these things then he'd be running low, and something about machina and the associated gidgets and gadgets brought out the hoarder in him. He could never allow himself to get down to his last thing, because then what if he needed to use that, and ended up with no things?

He'd got some funny looks when he'd tried to explain his reasoning for wanting to trip into Rabanastre, just to pick up some basics, even though he already had the basics. It was only Rabanastre, and it would only be a day. They'd proven they could go out and come back without getting in trouble. Anyway Nel had apparently told Aizen she'd been impressed with Grimmjow's leadership ability while she was out with them.

They'd been allowed to go to Rabanastre. It was only a short hop of a journey, a shorter hop than Nel usually made to get groceries, which was probably some of the reason they'd been allowed to make it. The Arrancar overall were being given that little bit more freedom, one outing at a time.

The girls had come, because Tayuya and Apache jumped at any chance to get out. Yylfordt had, if he was honest, taken a bit of pride in showing Apache around the Al Bhed quarter. Then he'd burned with jealousy when he'd seen Kadaj give an absently friendly wave to a cute Al Bhed girl in folded down dungarees and a bra, working in the Rockbell repair shop, and getting it returned cheerily. He'd been even more jealous when Kadaj, after being asked, had said simply that she was Winry, which caused a minor meltdown on Yylfordt's part.

He'd not been allowed to backtrack and talk to her, though, as much as he'd wanted to. Kadaj had refused to take him back and introduce him, too, on the grounds that they weren't here for long enough for Yylfordt to fanboy the Rockbells.

"Bro, can't we just--?" He asked again, as they were leaving. The intention was to get something to eat, but Rabanastre Al Bhed food was a little too authentic for some. You had to go to the peripheries if you wanted something everyone found palatable, funny as it would be to try and get Kadaj or Apache to try Desert Oysters.

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Fang had spent enough time around Saix to know that when he said 'interesting' a moment ago, he meant 'messy'. Aerith's comment about not being able to fight didn't come as much of a surprise to her.

When Saix headed off to meet them, warning the rest of them to wait, she didn't take the instruction any more seriously than Lea did.

If there was likely to be a fight, the more people there to head it off before somebody ended up dead or arrested, the better.

Yylfordt watched the berserker make his way over, followed close behind by the rest of his group. "Who's the new chick?" He murmured, eyeing Fang in particular. Another unknown quantity wasn't what they wanted in a fight, the last time it had been the Holy elemental girl and she was, to put it bluntly, a pain in the ass when it came to fights.

He put his own hand on Del Toro, ready to draw it if necessary.

Tayuya sneered, her upper lip curling as the berserker approached. He walked ahead of the rest of them, and she kept her eyes on the fire elemental in particular.

That bastard was going down.

Kadaj already had his hand resting loosely on Souba. He gripped her when Saix started to make his way over, and his companions followed. He'd only heard about Saix's new companions from the others; he hadn't seen them himself yet.

He loosened his grip again and straightened up when he saw exactly who they were. He knew those people.

"Lea," he said, softly, watching the red head. Aerith, too.

Shit.

Aerith had heard Saix ask Lea if he wanted to take her and go before, and Lea seemed about as prepared to do that then, as he seemed to stay behind now.

She followed after them, sticking close to Lea, and looking over the people before them.

Most of them, she recognised. One of them she didn't.

One of them, she recognised against all expectation. She knew Kadaj. He'd come into Rabanastre with a beaten up motorcycle, which Lea had helped him get repaired. She'd met him then, when he'd thanked Lea with a drink afterwards. He'd seemed a quiet, slightly shy kid, but he was in possession of some serious power under that surface, and the mako glow to his eyes told a story he hadn't gone into, and she hadn't asked about.

He was a Hollow Hunter, he'd said, specialising in Fiends.

What was a Hollow Hunter doing with Arrancar?

Saix glanced back over his shoulder with a hint of irritation. Lea was monumentally bad at taking orders, and sometimes, at recognising when something was an order.

He huffed as he approached the Arrancar, his eyes on Grimmjow. He didn't look at the rest of them, yet.

"I'm not going to fight you here," he said, stopping a few feet away. He was close enough to talk, he wasn't close enough to get hit without warning, at least, not under normal circumstances.

If Grimmjow wanted a fight, he'd give him one. But he'd give him a fight somewhere else, at some other time, and without their friends getting caught up in it all.

If Grimmjow insisted on trying to start one, however, things would get more complicated. Saix was willing to bet that Grimmjow enjoyed fighting him, but they both matched each other power for power. If Grimmjow had, even once, started a fight by going in with everything he had, he'd have beaten Saix long ago.

But that wouldn't have been fun, which was why Saix had never done it, either.

Was he willing to bet their safety on Grimmjow having no interest in fighting him if he refused to fight back? Saix wasn't entirely sure.

He hoped he didn't have to find out.

Apache looked at the impending altercation with a small amount of apprehension. She had no problem with participating in a fight, but the location was bad and she'd heard about this Berser--

When he got close enough, she stopped thinking. Instead, she stared past Grimmjow at him, eyes a bit wide. She recognised him, but not from battle, like the others did.

"You--" she said, not giving Grimmjow a chance to respond to the berserker's attempt at composed diplomacy.

Grimmjow listened to Saix's words with a cocky look on his face and a decidedly confrontational slant to his composure. His lip curled to reveal his teeth, but he didn't move.

Starting a fight in the middle of a city was a bad idea for both a Ryoka and an Arrancar, especially if they wanted to sort anything out, but he didn't get the chance to respond whatever he considered doing because Apache had opened her mouth.

He looked round at her, confusion on his face. It was the first time she'd seen him, but she knew who he was. Well, she'd caught sight of him on Ulquiorra's replay of the battle after the Fall of Midgar, but most of Ulquiorra's attention had been on the other guy, the red haired one standing a few steps back.

Lea recognised Kadaj as he got close, his expression mirroring the silver-haired Selkie's. He hadn't known that he was an associate of Saix's favourite playmate because he'd never met him on the battlefield. When he'd faced off against Arrancar, he hadn't been present in either fight.

He'd liked him. He didn't want to fight him, here or anywhere else. He was nice, if a bit shy, and his bike, though in need of repair, had been cool. On top of it, he'd bought a flower from Aerith.

He didn't remain a respectable distance behind Saix after spotting him. Instead, he stepped closer.

"Kadaj," he said, clearly more than a little uncomfortable with the situation due to this turn of events.

Fang, uniquely, didn't know any of them. She stayed behind the line, her arms crossed and her expression just slightly too curious to be impassive.

Something weird was going on. Some of the group knew each other in a mutually antagonistic fashion, that much was clear as day. Others... were less clear-cut.

Well, wasn't this a tricky one?

Saix turned at the voice, looking at the person it had come from. Recognition blossomed, and was quickly followed by a wave of awkward apprehension.

He pushed it away. She'd already announced that she knew him, there was no point in denying it. Besides which, denying it would be a disservice to her, and Saix had fond enough memories of meeting her that he didn't want to do that.

"It's good to see you again, Apache," he said, giving her a faint smirk. "Pity about the circumstances."

He knew there were going to be questions, later. There was no possible way he was going to avoid questions later.

Kadaj looked at Lea, and sighed. He flashed a quick glance in Aerith's direction too. She seemed just as surprised to see him here as he was to see them.

So Lea was the fire elemental Tayuya wanted to personally castrate. This was awkward.

"Hey," he said, frowning, and then glancing at Grimmjow and Saix. He considered saying 'Shall we try and prevent our blue haired idiot friends from trying to kill each other this time?' Somehow, it was a difficult sentiment to put into words.

"Look," he said, looking from Aerith back to Lea, "we're not going to fight you."

He wasn't about to let them.

Yylfordt looked dumbfounded, turning from the berserker, to Apache, and back again, and then to Grimmjow, just for good measure.

Grimmjow looked confused too. Good. He wasn't the only one?

And then Kadaj was talking to the fire elemental like they knew each other too and--

"What?!" He asked, loudly, looking at his own group of friends, throwing his hands up and out to express the magnitude of the what the fuck that was taking place right now.

Tayuya was having a similar meltdown, he noticed. Okay, that... didn't make him feel better, but at least he wasn't the only one who felt like they'd walked into the twilight zone.

"What the fuck?" Tayuya shouted, staring at Apache, and Kadaj.

They were talking to these bastards like they'd met before, but Apache couldn't have possibly seen the berserker before today, and Kadaj hadn't even been talking to them when they'd run into the fire elemental.

"How do you know that bastard?" She yelled, staring at Apache, and gesturing at the berserker.

Then she rounded on Kadaj, "And how the fuck do you know him?" She shouted, pointing angrily at the fire elemental. "And what's this bullshit about us not fighting them? What the fuck is going on?"

She turned to look at Grimmjow, enraged, and confused, and that only served to make her more enraged.

"Uh..." Apache started, looking more than slightly awkward. "Remember how I told you about that ... hot Selkie..? In the bar..? Looks like he wasn't exactly a Selkie."

She felt awkward, but she refused to look cowed. He'd been nice and she hadn't known who the fuck he was. How was she to know? She'd never been allowed out on any of the excursions they'd taken that had resulted in fights with these guys. To her, he'd been the same as any other blue-haired Selkie she could have met in a bar, charming and handsome enough to get her attention.

Grimmjow looked from Saix to Apache, dumbfounded.

He'd been all ready to have a bit of a spat with the berserker, even if it was just going to be a verbal one, but this ... changed a lot. Suddenly he wasn't the most volatile member of the group any more. Tayuya would both want to murder other members of that team.

Especially Yylfordt. He mentally counted down the seconds to the inevitable explosion.

Lea looked at the Summoner girl, wincing at the scene she was causing. She wanted revenge on them for last time, that much was clear enough, but his knowing Kadaj, and the Hume girl with the odd eyes knowing Saix -- however she knew Saix -- had only made things worse.

He almost answered for Kadaj, almost, but decided not to. He didn't want to tip her over into doing something more violent than yelling.

Yylfordt stared at Apache as if she'd come from a different planet. It took a moment for her words to sink in because his brain kept trying to reject the possibility.

Then he exploded.

"You fucked the berserker?" He shouted, glaring at her as if he could make her declare it all a bad joke if he looked angry enough. "Yna oui vilgeh' creddeh' sa, pnu? Seriously? Dra vilgeh' pancangan, yc ev oui fanah'd ahuikr uv y cmid vun ed paehk cusa nyhtus yccruma," he spat, although he wasn't addressing Apache directly any more, and running his fingers through his hair.

He turned a positively venomous look to the berserker, then, who was standing there with a cocky ass smirk that was rapidly falling off his face in the aftermath of Yylfordt's outburst.

"He helped me out when I was alone," Kadaj said, infuriatingly calm and reasonable in the face of Tayuya's ire. He was used to Tayuya's ire, she got irate easily. She also got over it.

"I owe him, he's a nice guy," he added. "We're not fighting him."

Especially not now Yylfordt had just shouted in Al Bhed. People were looking at them. If anyone threw so much as a punch, there'd be guards here in a heartbeat.

"Speak for yourself," Tayuya told Kadaj, looking thoroughly pissed off. "You weren't there. If you won't fight them then fuck off out of the way, but you don't get to boss the rest of us about."

Kadaj getting in the way like this was new, and Tayuya didn't like it. He'd always been up for a fight in the past, but now? What the fuck had gotten into him?

Aerith looked between the two groups. There was a lot of shouting going on, and it was drawing attention, although no one was stopping to stare at them, yet. It looked, at the moment, like guys arguing over girls, and she hated to say it, but the fact that most of the arguing involved Selkies meant people were more likely to just walk on by and ignore it as stereotypical Selkie behaviour.

So Saix had slept with one of them? He'd kept that one under his hat, and she could see why, but he didn't seem embarrassed by it. She wondered when?

But now her boyfriend was upset, and suddenly the Al Bhed of the Arrancar seemed a more pressing threat than the blue haired Selkie Saix usually fought.

At least Kadaj was on their side with trying not to let this come to blows. She remembered the girl from last time. She was a Summoner, and she'd put Aerith to sleep. She could be dangerous.

Saix had, despite the current situation, felt a little bubble of smug satisfaction arise when Apache had referred to him as the 'hot Selkie'. It had come out of him in a predatory smirk when she'd amended that assessment only to remove the 'Selkie' aspect.

Then the Al Bhed had started talking, loudly, most of it in rapid Al Bhed. Saix had never paid him much heed before; he wasn't on Grimmjow's level, and Saix tended to dismiss him as a potential threat.

He still didn't see him as one. Which was why, when he caught a particular word in the Al Bhed's tirade, he said, firmly, "Watch your language."

He liked Apache. They'd had a good night together, and there was no need to be using words like that about her.

Grimmjow had half expected him to go for Saix and was slightly relieved when he hadn't. Instead, he'd opted to make a scene, loudly, in a language that was widely spoken by the general population of both the city and the country the city happened to be located in.

He turned to Yylfordt, eyes narrowed, looking more annoyed at him than he did at their favourite enemies.

"Watch your mouth," he snapped, at almost exactly the same time as Saix did.

It had grated on him when he'd berated Apache for what had happened in the immediate aftermath of it and he wasn't going to let him start over now, just because he happened to have found out the unfortunate identity of the "Selkie" it had been.

Apache stood, quite dumbfounded, at Yylfordt's outburst. He'd been annoyed before, but he'd seemed to have gotten over it, but now he was starting this again, just because she now knew who the "Selkie" was? How the hell was that her fault?

She folded her arms, glaring, but her expression softened somewhat when both Saix and Grimmjow gave him a brief yelling at.

"Whoa whoa whoa," Lea said, holding up his hands as the Summoner got a bit aggressive about the potential for a fight. "I don't want to fight anyone."

He'd join in a fight to defend his friends, but he wasn't about to try and make enemies of his own on the opposing side. As far as he was concerned, their feud with Saix was pre-existing. He didn't have a quarrel with them, no matter what went down in a battle.

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