Day 31: Sun Room (Fourth Shift)

[screwthegods]

Though perhaps not entirely as successful as he wanted it to be, Homura walked away from lunch feeling satisfied with his efforts. Roland and Fai both had shown interest in the goal, and that was enough for the moment. Homura could be patient, had already been for five hundred years, and felt no harm in waiting another five hundred if he had to. He would have his goals realized, no matter what obstacles he faced, be they from the prison or those trapped within.

But now was time for business of a different sort, and the demi-god made his way to the Sun Room, near the common board. He made sure he could be seen from the entrance to the cafeteria, knowing that one stranger and one member of his own group both wanted to meet with him. It worked out well enough, especially given that the stated purpose of the History Club was simple.

Revenge and escape.

For now, Homura had no intention of revealing that it'd grown more complicated than that.

[Waiting for L and Junior]

Comments

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

He wasn't quite sure what Aidou was trying to get at, if anything during their first meeting Aidou was the one who had been disrespectful, openly demanding answers and with no regard for anyone but himself! It was no wonder Allen had no respect for him in return. He raised a suspicious eyebrow at the boy, frowning at his continued lack of respect. Just because he'd been in the foul company of Master Cross, didn't mean he'd needed to lower himself to that level. He was quite happy he'd managed to stay far away from most of the vices that his master suffered from.

"It shouldn't matter," Allen pointed out, since Rinali hadn't. "You ought to at least have respect enough for a lady not to behave in such a manner. Unless you feel Miss Rinali isn't worthy of your respect?" he asked the question innocently enough, more than happy to argue whatever small point if it meant showing this little upstart that he wasn't to be trifled with.

"It's as she says, the Akuma aren't human, they don't have a will of their own. They're just puppets," he didn't want to say much more than that and was somewhat relieved when Rinali didn't mention his curse to Aidou either.

[idolism]

"Then perhaps we owe both owe Rinali-chan an apology," quipped Aidou, turning to Allen and addressing him seriously for one of the few times in the conversation. "Unless you mean to say suddenly putting your hands on someone else without permission is deemed acceptable where you come from. I forgive you, though." And then he turned back to Rinali with another smile and a shake of his head. "Let's forget it already. I've been taking lessons in etiquette my entire life, and it's boring after the first course. Super boring. But if you really want to see propriety in action, sit in on one of my dinner parties."

If not for Rinali's presence, he would have slapped Allen, the universal punishment for disrespect. Inwardly, Aidou was getting mad and had said enough on the subject. Boring was right. Why the hell had they been talking about mannerisms for so long? At first, he would have entertained the idea of assenting to Rinali's idea of 'proper' and dropping his feet, but by now... He had no intention of acceding to anyone over anything regarding etiquette, especially not humans.

"But," Aidou continued, acting very well-behave indeed by calmly furthering the conversation, "you said stronger ones 'appear' sentient--does that mean they can think for themselves? And the Earl you're talking about, I assume he must be, perhaps, if he's the master stringing along the puppets. So why want to annihilate everyone?" So far neither had properly answered his question, and Aidou thought it was the fundamental key to the entire explanation. At least in his experience, where the pyramid level of vampires was concerned, E classes were driven to mindless violence because they needed to feed. It was an instinct that drove all classes of vampires.

It didn't make sense to Aidou unless either person before him could say more than 'because they do'.

[boot-i-licious.livejournal.com]

Rinali would have to have been blind to not have noticed the tension in the atmosphere between the two boys, but she couldn't for the life of her comprehend why. Firstly, why was Allen pressing the issue of manners with Aidou? And secondly, why was Aidou pushing back? She found herself breathing inwards and stiffening slightly, tensing in response to them. "It's ok, Allen," she said with a smile, though her eyes still reflected the concern. "There's no need to get into such a heated argument over ettiquette, is there? He's not from our timeline or our world...we may have very different ideas on what's proper behavior and what isn't..."

Rinali glanced back at Aidou, hoping the change of topic would lighten everyone's mood...or at least get them to stop bickering. "As far as we can tell, they can't think for themselves. If they do have independent thought, that thought is in the same line as the Earl's. I don't know his motives, unfortunately...I don't think any of us do. We can't exactly ask him, as normally the only things we end up encountering are Akuma. I've never met the Earl of the Milleneum personally. Few have."

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

"I shall apologize for that when you do the same," Allen said coldly, every bit of pretense gone from his voice. He rose to his feet, slamming his palms down hard on the table. "If I recall correctly, you were the first one to commit that offense," he replied with biting clarity.

"Don't think I've forgotten," he added. The first time he'd met Aidou had been bad enough, but the boy had been every bit as pompous and obnoxious then as he was now!

"I don't know know what game you're trying to play, but leave us out of it," he finished, eyes trained on the other boy's.

[idolism]

"Hmm, what an enemy that is, even for having such a stupid title," said Aidou, looking ponderous despite himself. "And you use weapons you don't fully understand? That's interesting... Why do you suppose that is?" Just from the sounds of it, whether he truly believed in the account or not, a mysterious offence that wasn't fully understood probably had more in common with the enemy than with "innocence," or whatever meant by it.

And fighting against an enemy whose motives you couldn't even describe... Well, Aidou supposed one reason he couldn't relate to such an idea was because when it came to his experience, he was the non-human entity dubbed the 'enemy'.

Aidou would have continued with his thoughts had Allen not interrupted again, and this time at the end of his little human chain. The vampire laced his fingers in an arch, elbows propped on the armrests; he glanced at Allen from the corner of his eye, but no more. Aidou knew Allen breaking had only gained Aidou ground, like two wolves circling the kill, and it soothed any of his irritation. He was every bit his aristocratic background when he said, "I have nothing to apologize for. Nobody likes a crabby soul, so why don't you try and cool your head before dinner."

He sighed lightly, giving Rinali a look and a half-shrug as if to say he was sorry for the rude interruption. "This shift is almost over, anyway. Do you want to spend some more time with me tomorrow, Rinali-chan? I enjoyed this."