Luca looked at Ellen, then looked back to Vita. Something struck him and a frown crossed his face for a moment, it was that moment that every father dreaded when his daughter wanted to go out and get into a car with a stranger. He remembered what he told Aerin - and this was almost double-backing on it.
But it wasn't Aerin he was looking at, it was Ellen. A sixteen year old girl caught in the middle of all this and being the host for a woman close to being tipped over the edge by her life's problems - but not falling over it like Luca once did.
"Just be safe," Luca replied. "We're in a different town and all. Hopefully this'll all be over by the end of the day."
He then looked over to Ellen to honour her offer. "Thanks, but I'll probably use my motorcycle, it should be arriving..." Luca bent his head down to look at his watch and he could hear a roar over in the distance. A grin crept across his face as he looked over the horizon. "Now."
It was one of those little modern niceties that came with having too much spare time on your hands, access to a lot of money (ill gotten and legitimate), and a workbench with plenty of room to test. The motorcycle was driving itself across the road, and eventually came to a stop next to Luca, lowering a middle-kickstand and waiting patiently for its owner.
It was his Durandium Steed, his Getaway Vehicle and one of those prides and joys that every father had to have aside from their children. Fortunately, both he and his daughter were able to enjoy this vehicle on the weekends together once upon a time. He gave the chunky looking, hybrid Nepleslian/Yamataian motorcycle a pat before mounting it. He cooed at it and throttled the engine while it was in neutral. "Anyone wanna hop on? Room for two!" He yelled.
-
The 'princess was lost in thought. It wasn't quite Bronzi's words that got her attention, it was the smell. She raised an eyebrow and took off one of the earbud earphones before hearing the second sentence, turning around and pausing, mid turn. She'd seen Gartagens before in passing, but this one was ... different. Too fat, and overgrown.
She huffed for a little, having been interrupted at the best part of the song and asked: "Who wants to know?" in accented Trade. Her eyes then wandered towards Enzo. She rolled her eyes indignantly at the rouge and bit down angrily. Upon closer inspection, her bodytight suit wasn't done up all the way, it was unzipped down to the navel, and there seemed to be a large calibre handgun nestled in the V her suit was making, that was being previously concealed by her jacket.
"L-listen, if you want it, come and get it - if you can outrun Mr. point-five-oh!" Obviously, the proceedings had gotten off on the wrong boot and she thought the two louts were going to look for more than just a word. They just didn't look the type for diplomacy. She then spotted the others who'd just fallen in next to them.
Another Nepleslian who didn't look like he'd fallen out of the ugly tree and bought the whole thing with him, built a house out of it and raised a family of ugly in it - in her words, and a Nepleslian woman whose arm looked as though it could be used as a substitute for a sledge hammer, should push come to shove.
She then remained still and gave the quartet an upwards nod while remaining in a defensive stance, hand quivering next to her pistol. "C'mon. O-out with it then, gaijin yonbaka."
-
Seiren, meanwhile found himself with salt in the air and a nip in the breeze, making him shiver and shuffle his gear around for warmth. The walk there had been more comforting than his destination. Along the way he saw some sights such as a man standing in front of a statue of a sphere and contemplating it endlessly - ignoring Seiren's presence entirely.
Another sight he saw was a convenience store with an older looking Yamataian woman standing at the counter, completely oblivious to the fact that most of the contents of her store had been emptied.
And then, at the docks, Seiren saw who could've been the culprits - three younger looking Yamataian boys and a girl. The pockets of their sweaters and pants were filled to the brim with confection. These weren't criminals, these were kids in a candy store. There was a missing element though. If you had all the candy and not a care in the world, you'd eat it and jump around all night.
These kids were doing neither. One kid in a red sweater was lying face down on the ground and moaning slightly. He rolled over and confection fell out of his pocket. He barely paid it heed. Meanwhile, the two other boys were counting on their fingers, stopping, stumbling and occasionally garbling their words.
Their panic begun to rise as they tried to remember but kept finding blanks in their memory. Ichi, Ni, San, Yon, Go ... Go ... Another ... that's how it was supposed to go - wasn't it? They kept on starting again.
The girl was curled up against the wall, her knees were against her chest and her head rested upon her knees. She seemed to be sobbing quietly to herself.
These weren't even kids any more. They looked as though they'd been broken. Seiren couldn't see any physical marks from where he was standing though, which made the turning in his stomach worse. It was something in the mind - the very thing that made you breathe, made your heart beat and made you aware of what you were doing.
And it was betraying these kids today, just like it was with the rest of the city. The problem was just figuring out what it was causing this.
