Finally into the fray [Hollow Bastion - Closed]
Disembarking the ship at Hollow Bastion, Aya couldn't help but feel for the first time in his life, unnecessarily shaken. It had been his first ride in one of the gummi ships and it was a bumpy one. Even so, the entire experience thus far had been something worthy of the glimpses he had had of his sister’s affinity for mecha related television all
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Deciding to make him wait just a little longer - not for any particular reason other than that he couldn't be bothered to answer right away - he turned and went inside. Truth be told there were plenty of things we would want to know about a random stranger appearing from nowhere in front of him.
But as far as he knew, a nobody wasn't a random stranger. What he didn't know was what would be considered taking questioning too far.
He turned back and held the door open for Zexion and wondered about what would be the most pertinent question. The slightest expression change graced his features as it dawned on him. "How about you start with where you just came from," he offered with an almost curious edge to his voice.
Confrontational, maybe a little. But if Aya inadvertently goaded him into fighting, he was sure would handle it well enough. Whether the coffee shop did or not, well...
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Zexion appeared to consider the question, his forearms folded loosely on the table in front of him. He'd completely forgotten about the hood for the moment.
"A corridor of darkness." He said finally. "The heartless use a similar method to travel from world to world. As for a specific where, I'm afraid there isn't one."
That was possibly the most informative answer he'd given all evening. He'd never deliberately attempted this kind of experiment before and he certainly would have been cautioned against it without the exclusive permission of the Superior... There might be dire consequences otherwise.
A thin smile ghosted across Zexion's features.
"What kind of world did you come from?" He asked, idly curious.
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He neatly crossed his legs in a neither elegant nor lazy way, just overlapping practically at the knees as he was questioned far less personally than previously. He let his eyes meet that same area again and then look deliberately away again, determined to control the eye contact portion of the conversation.
"Hard to describe to a stranger. Somewhere darker than it looks," he mused out loud. He followed it with a resentful mutter. "With a relatively low ratio of insane to sane but with a relatively high ratio of bad luck to good luck."
He paused for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure what it is now." And didn't want to imagine the worst case scenario in too much detail.
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Strange to think he was more comfortable now. The idea seemed to take root, resting at the back of his mind with nothing like the agitation he would have expected.
"I imagine you didn't live a privileged life." He prompted, this time allowing the other man to take the seed of conversation and lead it where he would. He brushed his hair back away from his eyes only to have it fall into place again. His fingers itched for a pen and a clip board again.
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His eyes trailed up and down the fine, blue-white hair that slipped gently from the black material. He found it distinctly odd that the colour usually only found on an old age pensioner looked so striking on someone so young.
Finally able to meet his eyes also, Aya found himself studying Zexion's bright blue stare. Almost as much as he had been studying the hood. Maybe he really was expecting to see someone... but if his years here had taught him anything, it was that he couldn't rule it out.
"I don't dwell on the past now." He knew he was lying through his teeth and could easily win some sort of medal for holding grudges but was anxious to press for information. "I'm more concerned about the current state of things. I'm looking to... work somewhere that would let me find that out."
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It really was easy to disregard things until you lost them. Memories were that kind of thing. Still, he wasn't entirely convinced that this man had put the past behind him. Most people found it hard to when the heartless were still all around them.
"Oh?" Zexion's voice belayed polite interest and just a little more. "What kind of work were you looking for?" He asked, idly mimicking the redhead's tone.
He doubted if the man was a scientist.
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"Anything," he answered in as monotonous a monotone he had ever uttered. "Mercenary work inevitably varies." He almost felt the need to sell himself. Idle as it was, there were slight hints of a question in that last question and Aya wouldn't and couldn't let the opportunity for employment slip.
How typical that it was though, he realised upon replying that most of his work so far had involved assassination... "Although not much recently."
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His coffee was delivered to the table and he waited until the waitress was gone again before he responded. He needed to know a few things before he took the bait.
"Mercenaries aren't famous for their moral code. How far have you gone for the right price?" Though the words seemed personal, to Zexion they really weren't.
If he'd asked any other way, he would get words and promises that meant nothing. He wanted an accurate record of Fujimiya's actions, without the usual boasting and embellishment. If they happened to offend, that was just a nasty side effect that the man should be accustomed to by now.
"Consider it a resume." He added, implying, he hoped, that he had a job in mind and monosyllabic answers wouldn't cut it.
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Now that his sister was no longer immediately affected by his work- he cast his eyes down and reasoned that that was the wrong path to be taking his thoughts down. Nevertheless, his search for his loved ones and some glimpse of the inner workings of this world now being the only movtivation he held, truth was that he had gone very farindeed.
Very far. Much further than he would have in Kritiker, further even than his time before that... "It has sometimes startled me what I have been asked to carry out. To my credit, it gets done. For a price."
Aya swallowed heavily, even after two years he wasn't used to having to do the talking up himself. "Equally I have to warn you that you were right. Morality to me means that you must keep your interests in the forefront of my mind, so as not to let me be taken over by better jobs that might conflict with them."
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"I don't see that becoming a problem." Zexion assured him. There was no hint of a threat in his voice but, once his interests were secure, Zexion would go to any lengths to see that they remained that way. If this man thought it prudent to betray him, he would be sure to dispose of him and find another. There was no malice in the thoughts - it was just a way with him. He didn't look mercifully on betrayal. Ever.
"I'll need you to do some infiltration. Find out weather the Light has continued research into the basic structure of the heart - officially or otherwise. If they have, I'll need the names of the scientists and where to find them."
"Name your price, but I expect your results to reflect it."
There were some bits of information that could be leaked to his advantage. Even if the man chose to share Zexion's business interests with others, inevitably they would trail across the underworld to someone who would be of use to him. He wasn't within the power of the light or darkness, so any other outcome was naturally disregarded.
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As long as he had spent here and as much as he had come to know, it was plain to him that he was know in very new territory. Zexion was speaking in cryptic language that Aya wasn't about to weaken his position by querying. As long as he had been here, he'd spent the most of the time working in a tearoom and it afforded less time than he had wanted to investigate offered jobs.
"I take it you refer to the council," his voice was flat and thoughtful. If that was the case, it would be hard to get close. Pricing was going to be almost impossible...
"For this sort of scale I'll ask for twenty thousand up front. Honestly I don't know how to estimate..." he sank into thought again and added "if I find that what you ask is even more impossible than I've budgeted for, it may amount to less than half of what I'm asking."
Living, Aya envisaged, might become quite expensive on this little mission.
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The money, however, was no real object.
"Understand," He said, meeting the man's eyes. "That I don't care how you go about it as long as the job is done properly and discreetly. If you're unable to do it, find someone who can."
Zexion turned his attention to his coffee, tilting a creamer into it. "I don't gamble. Do what scouting you need to and come back to me with an accurate price tag."
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"I will scout first, as you ask. But I will not require anyone else," he added firmly. "I work alone and I will get the job done."
He stepped aside from the table and politely left money for coffee. Let it not be said that Ran Fujimiya didn't settle his finances. "Tell me where and I'll see you inside a week," he said, ready to make some very bizarre mental notes as he left.
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"Here." Zexion said finally, tilting in a second miniature cup of creme, more like a child playing with food than someone who intended to drink said coffee.
He looked up at Fujiama again, his eyes no longer scrutinizing but calm and reflective like an unbroken surface of water. "One week exactly. Don't come empty handed and I'll see that I do the same."
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