[ thread ]

[waitingfora]

Who: Yosuke Hanamura, Gladias, and Beta.
Where: Secluded area in Terra ; park. Abyss.
When: During and after this conversation. During school hours.
Summary: Beta is a jerk.
Rating: R.
Other: Character death.

Comments

[suaviloquent]

No. No, not really. Ditch the job, perhaps. But not 'get tired and give up.' Because that would suggest a 'loss,' no? Gladias was as proud of his abilities as he was strong, and a loss would never do. Especially not after it had been hinted that the target might have some sort of special ability. 'I hope that it is something interesting,' was the main thought running through his head as Gladias ran along the rooftops of an abandoned alley in Terra. 'And if it isn't interesting, I hope that it at least won't take long. A boring job taking a long time is the last thing I want to be doing right now, when the weather is nice

[waitingfora]

"Ah!?" His breathing was still labored from the run. It was difficult to even properly ask who this person was, but it really seemed like he didn't have to. This kind of person was the one who was going to kill him? The agent sort of looked harmless to him. Sort of reminded him of that medicine seller which he spoke to over the Network. "Why ... why ... are you going to ... kill me?" He wished that his words sounded a bit more forceful rather than just forced out

[suaviloquent]

Were he a ruder type of person, Gladias probably would have done something to interfere with the phone call. It was just so -- so -- defenseless and pathetic, screaming for some sort of outside influence to cut it off. But -- well. That would be rude. And so Gladias merely waited while Yosuke finished the phone call. Exhaling a long streamer of smoke, and studying Yosuke as he watched the other slam the phone shut. (This wasn't a very promising start.)

Gladias looked unarmed for the moment as he sauntered forward, hand to chin as if in thought. "I don't?" A pause. "Of course -- it probably won't be a danger to my life if I don't. You hardly look like a threat to the city, and I find it dubious that you are important enough to warrant an order to be disposed of." He sounded pleasant as he spoke, his lips curved in a casual grin around the stem of his pipe.

Taking a few steps close to his target, he took a long drag of smoke before continuing, his voice still level and polite. "-- but there is also no reason what I shouldn't carry out

[waitingfora]

Somehow, he was surprised that this person knew about his ability. He probably shouldn't, but he had hoped that would give him an upper-hand in this battle. Ah, it really seems like it can't be avoided. Yosuke wasn't too sure about the voice that was in his head. It sounded a lot calmer than what he was feeling. There really didn't seem to be any way to convince the agent that he should be spared, because the guy was right in the twisted sort of logic that he had

[thebet_a]

Not that it was any of Beta’s business, but she was going to watch anyway. She had already followed Yosuke here to the park before Gladias had even reached him (How? Who knew, a clear explanation would be that she jumped off the side of Elysium and hit Terra - but in truth, she was exploring which she seemed to be more prone too these days.) Her constant hiding her face behind a massive shopping bag when Yosuke ever felt being watch obscured her face, and it was only at the park that she moved.

Of course she had no forte in speed, quicker than a ordinary human yes, but she wasn’t as quick as Gladias -- and she groped for one of the opposite trees, climbing up them as nails dug deeply into the bark until she was perched up on one of the top branches. An impish inquisitive danced along her face as green leaves covered her rather flamboyant uniform (Honestly, how could someone not see her hidden amongst the branches with that outfit

[suaviloquent]

So much hemming and hawing and hesitation. Though Gladias waited patiently while Yosuke went through the little fit of uncertainty and nervousness and tension, he was actually rather disappointed. He hadn't expected much at first, but Beta had raised his expectations by saying that the teenager might have something special -- and so far, the only 'special' that Gladias could see was that the boy talked an awful lot. Shifting his weight so his kimono rustled about him, the sleeves hanging loose, Gladias breathed in a lungful of opium smoke, then sighed -- raising an eyebrow as Yosuke crushed a card. Something like that

[waitingfora]

"Come on!" Yosuke continued tugging at the branch until it finally gave way. He heard the snap first before falling onto his back. It was when he looked up that he noticed that there was some young woman watching what was going on. He supposed that this all must have looked like some weird cosplay gone wrong or something, but he didn't think that it was particularly safe for her to be here. Hadn't Ryou told him to try to keep the people involved to a minimum? Oh yeah, now you're listening to him! His thoughts weren't being particularly helpful

[suaviloquent]

It was an odd feeling. The moment that his sword should have sliced through flesh, it only cut through thin air. The impact he'd braces his arm for never came, and he immediately sprang back, his sandals grating across the ground as he slid back into a defensive posture. Summons were hard to track, and it took him a moment of squinting to realize that the summon -- Persona, was what Ms. Beta had called it -- had returned to Yosuke's hand. "Haa -- how convenient, to be able to call it back at any moment

[thebet_a]

Too busy with a nail filer in hand and letting the soft grind of metal meeting dead blood cells, she barely acknowledged Yosuke’s words. Well, she did, but when she looked at him she just had to roll her eyes a bit and saying in a tone that was inaudible, ( -- "shut up" -- ) before slipping from the branch onto one of the lower ones, her face no longer obscured by the leaves and her chest heaving with a long, well-needed, inhale. She knew nothing of personas or anyone other people’s powers. And researching those that inhabited the city was so boring.

Finally she sighed and fell from the branch - the movement itself made a tiny crater in the ground, each step to follow matched that of the small hole - and she walked over to the swing set, and finally in plain view. Really. She was nosy, but she wasn’t unaware of that, and just rocked back on her heels before her expression was fixed firm on Yosuke, letting out a huff of breath she muttered, " -- Don’t tell me what to do! I know you’re going to die, so I’m here to watch. What’s wrong

[waitingfora]

"Ah...?" His eyes widened when he saw the ground give way. It looked like he wouldn't even be given a chance to give a move. There was a desire to scream as he was falling; his hands were thrust out in front of him like that would actually help. All he could see was the Abyss and wondered what it was that he was going to do. There was no way that he could survive this sort of fall, was there? His cellphone slipped out from his pocket -- hovered in front of his face. Would this have happened if he had just given up

[suaviloquent]

Sword still held in the iaijutsu stance, Gladias had been watching Yosuke talk to -- someone in the tree. A small sigh, as Gladias relaxed his stance marginally and looked up into the tree, scanning the foliage. It only took a moment for him to spot the spots of hot pink amidst the dull green, and he gave a small, thoughtful cant of the head. "I didn't expect you to be here." It was almost murmured to himself, and the swirls of darkness around the sword and his arm dissipated halfway, his concentration disrupted. "Did you come to watch, Miss B

[thebet_a]

She really had to blame her own clumsiness for that; but she didn’t. Instead of being more worried about hitting the ground and waiting to splatter like a pancake, Beta’s hand fumbled to keep her skirt from being lifted up by the air as she continued to drop. Eyes squeeze shut out of embarrassment more than fear she rotated herself so her spine had hit the ground first, sending a vibration of miniature earthquakes that trembled throughout the whole block of what was remaining of the Abyss

[waitingfora]

The wind had helped to slow his descent so that he landed more or less nicely onto the rooftop. Looking around, it was difficult for him to see anything even from his vantage point. He wondered what had happened to those two agents. He decided that they must have died and thanked his very lucky stars. Now came the time to figure out how to get home. His shoulders dropped happily as he sat down on the roof

[suaviloquent]

Breathing deeply to calm his irritation with opium smoke and wrinkling his nose at the concrete dust that continued to waft about the air around him, Gladias took a moment to massage his temples with a hand. He hated -- hated -- when external factors sent his plans askew, and as much as he'd had low expectations for this job, it was still highly irritating that things had gone so drastically wrong. Running long nails through his hair and brushing it out of the way, he peered into the dusty streets, looking for his target -- the faster it was taken care of, the better. His mood was very rapidly turning foul, and if he had things his way, he probably would have simple turned and gone home

[thebet_a]

Gladias’s chiding had sent Beta to make a sour face, her lips pursed and nose wrinkled with arrogance of her own firm excuses that she didn’t do anything; even if she did. She was about to complain with a outburst how she wasn’t trying to help him in the first place but simply settled with simply folding her arms against her chest, glaring at Gladias with a completely childish, completely stern visage that almost told Gladias that she would challenge him. But she knew that her own emotions weren’t top priority and as soon as Gladias turned his back, Beta’s lips formed a small frown, and she sulked stupidity as she flopped down on the hard cement cross-legged and scrunched up her form.

"...I didn’t even do anything." She murmured to herself as she watched Yosuke acting like some mentally dysfunctional idiot. Obviously the words that were spoken by the older man had been sharp enough to hurt her, but she wasn’t going to let that on. Not when she was meant to be an authority figure anyway

[waitingfora]

He had raised his cellphone to his check in order to see if he had gotten any bars yet. Still, if he was trying to figure out who he should call, his choices seemed to be Kazama, Madara or Ryou. Itachi had abandoned the apartment, so there was no use calling him. Like he wanted Shika to come down here. Even if he had been down here, there was no way he'd let him do it again. Shimazu was out, too. Nill wasn't even part of the choices. Same went for Shijima and Maya. What kind of guy would he be if he asked those girls to get him, anyway? That was if he could get a single goddamn signal.

Sure, it was really lucky that he had thought to grab it out of the air like he did. But this was going to be ridiculous if he survived the attempt at his life only to end up being murdered by the people in the Abyss. His shoulders rose and lowered in exasperation. Just what were those A&O guys thinking, anyway? What reason was there to kill him? Thinking in those terms weren't really his expertise and decided that he'd discuss it with the others --