The Gloved Alchemist

[rise-chi-deactivated20140525]

Either he really didn’t notice that she didn’t bring anything along, or Roy had chosen to ignore it; either way, the first step to her great plan “get free food” had succeeded and Rise was quite happy with this accomplishment. “Whiteth’s?”, she repeated his words, but the name didn’t ring a bell. “Hm, never heard of it. But sure, let’s go there!”

Okay, maybe the little hop on the spot was overdoing it a bit, but it was one of those things she loved to do. Plus, getting closer to this “Whiteth’s”-place meant they were further distancing themselves from Rise’s own finances - which had admittedly suffered in one or another shopping spree.

“Hey Roy-san, you know how to get there, riiight? I’ll count on you then!”, she declared and managed to quickly display a very concerned expression. “I’m a bit worried to walk off on my own. All these enemies Kouzeon showed me… Are we… really going to be okay?” Now that she had spoken these words, that was actually quite worrisome. 

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

Roy chuckled at Rise's overreaction.  "You must be really hungry.  I'm pretty sure I know where it is, so it shouldn't be a problem."  He smiled at her for a moment before looking ahead to make sure he really did know where he was going.  Her little hop caused Roy to realize she didn't have any kind of purse or bag with her.  While she couldn't see, he put on a face of annoyance. 'This girl is a freaking genius.  She kept me so distracted I can't believe I only just now noticed.'  He decided not to say anything, she won that fight, but the war still rages.

When Rise's tone suddenly changed, Roy stopped and turned to her.  As she spoke her concerns he looked at the ground and listened.  As she finished he looked back up at her.  "My alchemy isn't just for show.  It's a true weapon and I am the master of it.  You have nothing to fear so long as you're with me..."  He paused and his voice began to trail off as he spoke.  "I won't let anything hurt you...I promise."  With that he turned back to the direction they were headed and walked of again, looking back only once, "We're almost there, it's just around the next corner."

[rise-chi-deactivated20140525]

Rise nearly broke into a fit of giggles when she saw how silly Roy had chosen to react to her remarks, trying so very hard to not seem that old. Oh, she’d have her fun with this, no doubt about that. Following his comment, the teen had left the apartment first - and suddenly realized that in her rush to change the topic and consequently to get something to eat she’d entirely forgotten to bring a handbag. For a moment she considered going back to her room to grab it, but then she changed her mind. If Roy didn’t notice her lack of money, he’d just have to pay for her as well. 

“Hmm, do you know a good place to eat, Roy-san?”, Rise then asked in an innocent fashion. “From all I’ve heard, the cuisine of these imps is almost inedible for humans. Ending the evening with food poisoning doesn’t sound very appealing…  Sooo, I’ll leave it to you to find something good, okay?” 

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

As Rise left, Roy closed the door behind him and kept pace with her.  "Good places to eat?"  He echoed her before rubbing his chin and staring into the sky, obviously deep in thought.  "Come to think of it, I did find some restaurants through a little bit of exploring when I first arrived."  

He decided to suggest the names out loud as they came to his head so that Rise could voice her opinion if she wanted.  "Lets see...there was something about a Emael's Homemade Troll Cuisines.  Or something like that...either way...I don't think we're trolls so let's count that one out.  Then there was a Bakery and Eatery...which doesn't sound dangerous, I suppose."  He paused for a chuckle.  "We have a Kenoran's Adventure Soups...I don't think the words 'dinner' and 'adventure' should go together in a place like this, personally."  He grimaced at the idea before continuing.  "Last but not least there was Whiteth's...which sounds...about as normal as they come."  He finished with a nod before looking at Rise.  "Any opinions on that?  Or does Whiteth's sound good to you?"  He asked, casually putting one hand in his pocket as they strolled.

[rise-chi-deactivated20140525]

Older… gentleman…? What? As far as she could tell, that really wasn’t the issue here, right? ‘Going out to eat’ sounded suspiciously like a date, didn’t it? Then again, what were the alternatives, really? Rise was fairly sure their fridge was currently in a miserably abandoned state and even if she’d find enough ingredients to fix some meal - there was a certain chance that the ‘subtle’ taste of her creation would be too much for him to handle. It seemed like she really had no choice here; she wouldn’t make it that easy though, of course.

“Mh, not really. I’m used to meeting up with adults, you know. Like my former manager… but well, I am his daughter’s age though.” She paused for a moment, and suddenly her expression turned into a quite guilt-ridden one. “Uh, of course I’m not trying to say that your his age too. You’re not that old yet… riiight?”

Unable to hold back a mischievous smile any longer, Rise got up and began to walk towards the exit. “Roy-san, are you coming?”

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

Roy had no intention of making a date out of the dinner, he did, however, plan to make Rise think that the entire time.  Things would be far too boring if he didn't.  Roy realized his own mistake when he referred to himself as an 'older gentleman' and regretted it almost as soon as he said it.  "No I'm not that old, yet somehow I feel like that's exactly what you were trying to say."  He said in a matter-of-fact tone and stuck his tongue out at Rise, appearing extremely childish.  Whether that was to try to annoy Rise or make himself feel younger (considering he is ten years Rise's senior), he didn't care to know.  

When she got up and moved towards the exit, Roy quickly followed.  'Either she's really hungry or she's just eager to find some way to embarrass me'.  He thought with a smirk before catching up to her.  He opened the door and stepped to the side, allowing Rise to leave first.  "Ladies first."  He said, his smirk still smug upon his face.

[calculatedfutureoffragments]

Fire Scares Me~@Roy

[calculatedfutureoffragments]

“Not really anybody in particular, to be honest, Mister Roy,” Mary said, trying not to remember the last two visitors to the Fabricated World and how she had ended up in this place thanks to them. “I especially don’t want to run into the Red Ladies.”

Mary took Roy’s hand after a moment of hesitation. “I guess we could see if there’s another little girl like me. She has brown hair and wears red and white!”

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

When Mary spoke of the Red Ladies, Roy found himself confused.  "Why do you want avoid them so much?  Did they do something to hurt you?"  He asked, wondering if they were the thing that caused this poor little girl's death.

Once she took his hand, Roy began to lead Mary through the town, looking down at her once in a while to make sure she was okay.  "So is this other girl a friend of yours?  What's her name?"  He asked in hopes that he could calm the little girl and convince her to warm up to him.  He hated the thought of Mary being dead so he wanted to help her as best he could.

[fatedchains-deactivated20130401]

*!underworld ❜. // zeshea intro&open.

[fatedchains-deactivated20130401]

His words seemed sincere enough, and he didn’t look like he was armed — at least, not armed with a weapon the princess would’ve recognized. Her apprehension was mostly because he’d caught her by surprise, and while her guard was down. She wasn’t really expecting to bump into anyone here, but then .. thinking on it now, it seemed a little silly. After all, ominous as its appearance was, this place was first and foremost a city. That being said, they garden they both stood in now was probably a public one; either that, or they were both wandering around a place they shouldn’t have been in. Velvet figured it probably wasn’t the latter, though, seeing as how quick this “city” had been to send her that introductory imp when she arrived. If they were somewhere they shouldn’t have been, something would’ve been done by now —

But that was besides the point. Fighting wouldn’t really do anything except end what could be a helpful conversation; in that, the man was right. Though her hand released the chain links that she’d grabbed onto a moment ago, she remained just as alert. It took her a moment to agree to the terms. “If you can agree to it, so shall I. There is no honor in attacking one that means you no harm.” Or claims not to, at the very least. Roy Mustang? It sounded so foreign — even moreso when she said it out loud. That fact made her a little curious as to where he’d come from, but now was hardly the appropriate time to ask about it. “Roy Mustang. You may simply call me Velvet. .. I suppose I apologize for my apprehension, but I should think it was justified.” Her head tilts slightly to the side as she looks him up and down.

“In any case, if you’re here, and if what that imp said earlier is the truth — it must be right of me to assume that you’ve .. .. passed as well.”  Talking about the fact that they were both dead was more than just “a little” strange, but they might as well get right to the point — .. right?

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

Roy sighed with relief when Velvet agreed with him and lowered her guard.  He would have hated to fight such a beautiful woman.  The way she spoke so elegantly caused Roy to raise a quizzical eyebrow, but he quickly regained his composure, not wanting to insult her.  "Then allow me to say it is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Velvet."  He said, putting a hand over his heart and bowing his head slightly.   "It's completely reasonable to be suspicious of anyone or any...thing in this place, so you don't need to apologize."

When she referred to Roy as 'passed' he couldn't help but cringe a little. He hated the thought of being dead, not when he was still able to do all the things he'd done when he was alive.  It just didn't add up to him, which is why he has been conducting his research of this place.  "I suppose that's as good a term as any, but yes.  I am...dead..."  He paused to shrug his shoulders as though he were throwing off the weight of the word he said.  "But now, if you don't mind me asking, what brings such a lovely rose as yourself to this garden?"  Roy asked in an attempt to change the subject from death.

[rise-chi-deactivated20140525]

She should have expected as much but… yeah, this alchemy stuff really wasn’t anything Rise would want to meddle with herself. Nevertheless, it was quite impressive to see someone else use it. Giving a nod to show her understanding she focused on the glove Roy had laid out for her to examine. Alchemy circles, was it? She’d only ever seen things like this in mangas or other questionable sources. To think it could actually work… even in death, the world was full of surprises. Then again, having a persona wasn’t easy to explain either.

And the worst part of it was that without a doubt she’d have to mention how to obtain a persona to begin with. For Rise this was quite an embarrassing tale to tell. But maybe she could do this - if she simply skipped all dubious parts and if Roy refrained from asking too many questions.

“Well first of all, Kouzeon is not just some ‘machine’. A persona… uh in the TV world, people have to face their inner selves, all these thoughts and feelings they might not want to acknowledge… they will appear in front of them in the form of a shadow self.” Rise paused for a moment, still vividly remembering how her shadow had been behaving, and the kind of ‘dungeon’ her mind had created then.

Ignoring the faint blush that had appeared on her cheeks, she quickly continued. “Uhh, only when you face your shadow properly and accept these feelings, you can obtain your persona. It is a part of its user, but unlike a shadow, it can be tamed and trained… sort of.” Well, that should be a good enough explanation, right? “So hey uh… maybe we should make dinner! It’s getting kinda late, right?” 

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

Roy rubbed his chin and nodded as Rise spoke, absorbing every word.  He put on a faint smile when she blushed, he could tell by the way she only touched about her shadow self that there was a bit more to get out of that, but he'd save it for later.

Unfortunately for Rise, Roy still had many questions he wanted to ask, but mentioning dinner made him put those inquirers aside and check his watch.  He frowned at the time before retrieving his glove and putting it back on his hand.  "Well, you're right about that.  Dinner wouldn't be too bad right about now.  I suppose we could go out to eat..."  He paused to grin at Rise.  "That is, if you don't mind being seen in public with an older gentleman."  He said in a teasing manner.

[fatedchains-deactivated20130401]

*!underworld ❜. // zeshea intro&open.

Velvet had already known fate to be a cruel mistress — in all her years of life, it had done more than enough to show her so. However, nothing would have prepared her for the situation she faced now. In fact, it still felt surreal, despite her having plenty of time for the news to sink in.

She was dead. Perhaps she should not have been so surprised, considering she’d only just been exploring the depths of the Netherworld — though, strangely enough, she could not remember how she’d succumbed to death exactly. Had she not escaped? Had the Demon Lord, her father, not come to her, with the intention of aiding her — of helping her escape the wrath of the “Queen of the Dead”?

She could not recall much more than his sudden appearance. Actually, that wasn’t entirely true; she could recall entering the Netherworld, and retrieving the scrolls foretelling Armageddon .. everything up to her being cornered by the Queen and her “death messengers”. But anything past her father’s arrival was nothing more than a blur — and try as she might, she could not for the life of her piece it back together.

Perhaps she had died, then, by the hand of the Halja, or of the queen herself. In any case, if Velvet was correct in assuming so, they had gone to all lengths to make sure she could not escape their clutches — for the place she found herself in now did not resemble the “Underworld” she knew at all. Rather, the princess now found herself in a garden where the plants emitted a strange, violet glow. There were small, glowing orbs floating around the area as well — they looked almost like fireflies, but she could never get a good enough look at them to be sure. Being in this garden brought her a sense of relief, as it reminded her of her own forest back home, however, it did not comfort her entirely.

Being dead meant she could not continue her mission, after all — and being unable to continue her mission meant the demise of Erion as she knew it. She let herself lean back against the trunk of the nearest tree as the thought came to mind, her red hood slipping off her head. And, thinking herself alone, she started to muse aloud. “A curse .. and death. Perhaps you were right, brother. ‘Twas unavoidable all along .. —”  

It’s at this point that the princess hears a faint rustling of plants from nearby, and she could only assume it meant one thing: that she was not alone. Someone was coming towards her — and rather quickly at that. She stood almost instantly, one hand reaching up to pull her hood back up while the other gripped the chain around its wrist, the gem at the end of the chain beginning to glow faintly — whoever had brought her to this place had granted her her weapon, and for that she was somewhat grateful. The rustling grew only louder, signaling that they were closer than she’d thought, and she called out to the sudden “intruder” without thinking.

“Who goes there? Show yourself.”

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

Roy had needed time to think over his research of sh'tori and with the drama his roommates were going through, he felt it best he went for a walk out of the town and find someplace quiet for a bit.  He allowed his legs to take him where they deemed fit and merely let his mind ponder over whatever questions came up. 

When he finally decided to pay attention to his surroundings he realized two things.  One being, he had no idea where he was.  Two being, he was in a garden that, given that number one hadn't been the case, he would truly love to examine and explore more thoroughly.  

He turned back to see if he could manage to retrace his steps to find a woman leaning against a tree.  Hoping she didn't notice him, he dove into the bushes as quickly and quietly as he could.   He slowly made his way in her direction, hoping he could learn more about this place without causing any disturbance.  Roy heard the woman speak briefly before cutting herself off, which he only assumed meant she knew he was there.  When she called him out, Roy cursed under his breath.  Slowly walking out of the bushes with his hands raised above his head, though one hand was ready to snap should he need his alchemy to protect himself.

"Hold up, I'm out see?  No need to be so afraid.  I'm not here to hurt you, just a little lost...that's all."  He looked at her position and from the way she grabbed the chain around her wrist, he could tell it was some kind of weapon, Roy eyed it carefully before continuing.  "My name is Roy Mustang.  I'd like to say its a pleasure to meet you, but in order to do that, we may need to try not to kill each other...I hope we can agree on that much?"  He asked casually as he slowly lowered his arms, still ready to attack if need be.

[rise-chi-deactivated20140525]

Rise had rested her head on her hands for a moment, but looked up in mild confusion upon the tone Roy suddenly chose to use. Did she offend him or something? That certainly hadn’t been her intention.

“Um, but that’s what I meant. If my readings are correct, there still should be things you can do, especially if there are large quantities of water around, right? I admit, I don’t understand this alchemy of yours too well… It sounds a lot like chemistry and I never was good in that subject…” 

Hopefully her honest explanation would dissolve any confusion she had caused. It was probably better to hold back with the teasing for a while, if all it did was cause misunderstandings. What Roy was saying though didn’t make too much sense to her either. “Mh, but these imps have always been nice to me. Why should they be my enemies? They usually are happy to do whatever I tell them”, she mused. “But Kouzeon’s readings can’t be wrong…” In the end, a sigh of frustration escaped her. “Well, none of them are my friends, that’s for sure…”, she murmured mostly to herself.

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

Roy realized he may have over reacted slightly, and when Rise attempted to cool his head, he frowned.  He was worried he might alienate her on the first day he met her.  "I'm sorry...it's just..."  He paused to clear his throat before deciding to leave the apology for later.  "Chemistry would be a good comparison.  You see, to use alchemy, you have to have a combination of the proper alchemy circle along with the suitable ingredients to create the desired effect."  He thought for a second before adding, "Now, before you ask, its not like the stories you hear, I can't create gold nor turn water to wine.  You can not create matter...merely...rearrange it per-say."

He took off his glove and laid it in front of Rise for her to examine it.  "These gloves are made of something referred to as ignition cloth.  Snapping the fingers together causes a spark, then I activate the alchemy circles on the back of the gloves in order to turn said spark into a flame.  As simple as this may seem, if you can't control your alchemy effectively it could be devastating, it takes a strong willpower to perform alchemy at it's best."  As Roy finished he crossed his arms and tilted back in the chair, looking away from the young lady.  "There's your science lesson for the day, you weren't able to finish school right?"  He let out something that resembled a chuckle.  "I'm sorry if I confused you worse than you were already..."

When Rise appeared frustrated thinking over the persona Roy smiled faintly.  "It seems I made matters worse trying to suggest things when I don't even have any sort of understanding of it.  Sorry it's in my blood I guess."  He laughed lightly.  "I suppose you would know best, after all it is 'a part of you' right?"  That made him think again.  "Which confuses me.  Maybe you can't show me how it works quite yet, but perhaps you could explain to me something.  How is that machine...a part...of you?"  He asked with extreme curiosity.

[rise-chi-deactivated20140525]

If only he knew - finding out an enemy’s weakness was only one of her Persona’s analytical skills - and much more than the man’s shortcomings she was interested in finding out just how exactly this “alchemy” of his worked. His comments, however, sounded a bit annoying to Rise’s ears. True, she couldn’t fight, but her abilities always had been helpful to the others, right?

“Kouzeon is not a toy; she’s a part of me. Your ‘magic tricks’ aren’t enough to break her, trust me”, the teen insisted, still with a smile but it was fairly obvious that Roy’s words had hit a nerve. “Shouldn’t you worry about yourself instead? Water itself isn’t your real weakness… right? — Huh, what is this?”

Rise had interrupted herself, confused by the readings she was getting, not from her room mate but from the surrounding areas. Kouzeon’s enemy radar had been activated, revealing a lot of red dots nearby. “This… makes no sense. There should only be imps around… maybe it’s not working correctly…”

With a sigh, Rise allowed for her Persona to disappear and took a seat again. “I’m sorry, let’s try another time, okay?”

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

Roy found himself somewhat annoyed that Rise even had to ask if water was his real weakness.  "Water might hinder me somewhat, but if you think I have to rely solely on my fire alchemy to defeat my opposition, they're in for a rude awakening."  He stated, briskly.

Rise's confusion disturbed Roy somewhat.  If her persona is as effectively as she said why would it be malfunctioning?  When Kouzeon disappeared, Roy blinked a few times in surprise before retaking his own seat.  "Told you I'd break it."  He said, somewhat childishly, with a chuckle.  His smile faded and he leaned back in his chair, furrowing his brows as he looked at Rise.  "Well, maybe your persona sees all these non-human creatures as hostile?  I suppose it would work out as anything that has an ill-intent towards you would be an enemy...and I seriously doubt these creatures want to be your friends, they serve their Lord and obey his commands, and we know he cares for us less than dirt."  Roy said, casually tossing out ideas as they came to his head.  He found himself more and more curious as to how this persona of hers worked and was prepared to jump hoops to see it in action.

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

So, a Nephilim, an Alchemist, and an Idol walk into a room...[[ Roy/Rise/Dante]]

[rise-chi-deactivated20140525]

Several hours had passed since Rise’s arrival. Most of this time she had spent fast asleep, just to be greeted by a rather obnoxious headache. She had never felt this hungover before and cursing under her breath, she swore to never accept any alcohol these stupid imps gave her ever again.

Even so, she couldn’t stay in bed forever and so the idol forced herself to get up and slip into a new set of clothes, fixing her looks just enough to at least not look as terrible as she felt. It was then that a few knocks broke the silence. Rise frowned. This couldn’t be— ?

Opening the door, she gave the man in front of if it with a weak smile of relief. “Oh, hello Roy-san…”, she attempted to greet him cheerfully, but her voice felt a little bit hoarse. Great, more things this cursed liquid had messed with - she’d never drink alcohol again, ever.

A long sigh escaped her, but Rise tried her best to remain focused - not only because of the headache. “Uhm, did you need something from me?”, the teen asked, carefully avoiding to look into the direction where she knew Dante’s room to be - maybe a bit too obviously so.

[devilslivinghell-deactivated201]

Even though Dante had been listening to music on full volume, the metal music wasn’t loud enough. He tried to drown out the noise of them talking but he ended up forcing himself to socialize. Even after the drama between him and Rise, he wanted to please the overlord and the imp snitches. Kicking the door open with yet another bottle of strong serum. He wasn’t going to share this time; he didn’t want to have any repeats of a few nights before. Thinking to himself he tried to piece together what kind of conversation to strike with the two. Not saying a word he just looked at the both of them.

” Well..? What? ” Dante knew Rise wouldn’t even look his way, and by the looks of the new guy he probably wanted nothing to do with the nephilim either. 

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

When Rise opened the door, her appearance caused a quizzical expression on Roy's face.  "You look like hell...I'm making some coffee and with the mood you were in last night when you came home, I thought I'd offer you some."  Roy attempted at a smile, though his confusion might have contorted it.  

It was plain to see she was avoiding looking at something in the room, Roy glanced in the direction she averted to find their other room mate standing there.  The man directed two sharp words at them, which caused Roy to smirk somewhat.  "Second best introduction I've received, someone else has you beat on that one, sorry."  Roy said sarcastically to him.

Roy's smirk changed to a smile as he walked to the coffee pot.  "I'm making coffee, I'd offer you some, but you appear to already have a drink."  Roy paused to indicate the drink in his room mate's hand.  "The name's Roy Mustang, by the way.  You got one?"  He asked casually as he poured the hot beverage.  

There was a sharp thud at the door that caused Roy to spill some of the coffee on his jacket, cursing he removed the jacket as he went to the door and tossed it to the side.  When he swung open the door, rather irritated at whatever had caused his accident, he realized there was nothing around but a newspaper laying on the ground.  He picked it up and looked around one last time before returning to the room and closing the door behind him.  He set the paper on the table next to his research and resumed finishing up the coffee.  "So they deliver a newspaper in hell, huh?  That's something.  Just leave me the weather and the comics if you want to read it."

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

blindesper started following you

Roy was sitting on a bench reading the paper, laughing at the article on his room mate, Rise, when someone approached him.  He stopped reading just long enough to look up and smile  "Hello there, what can I do for you?"

[rise-chi-deactivated20140525]

“Hm, I’d be worried if I didn’t”, Rise commented equally playful; if this was some sort of game of throwing vaguely flirty comments back and forth, she certainly refused to lose it. 

“Okay, maybe not all your weaknesses - only those needed to defeat you in battle”, she then corrected her previous statement with a chuckle. He did have a point though; Rise couldn’t really be sure if she could use Kouzeon here or not unless she tried. “Well… even when I was still uh… alive. I could only call her when I was inside the TV, so I’m not sure if it’ll work”, she explained, but with a nod stood up from her seat, distancing herself a few steps from the table. “Alright, here goes nothing. Persona!”

To even her own surprise it actually appeared to be working; bright orbs of light began to surround the girl and seconds later her persona, Kouzeon, had appeared behind her. Rise’s determined expression quickly turned into a smile again. “Hey Roy-san, want to test my skills?” 

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

"You'd be worried, huh?  You just want to be on my mind don't you?"  Roy answered her vaguely flirty comment with one of his own, smirking all the while, this was a game he never lost before and he didn't plan to lose now.

His smirk quickly changed into a look of surprise as the orbs circled the girl.  When the persona appeared his eyes widen further, nothing he's seen compares to the technology that appeared before him.  He quickly regained his composure, hoping Rise didn't notice.

When Rise asked him to test her, he shrugged slightly, no matter how impressive this thing was, he still didn't truly believe in it's capabilities.  "That almost sounds like a challenge.  Either way, I accept."  He paused to eye the persona over one time.  "Just don't blame me if your toy breaks, you shouldn't play with fire."  He taunted lightly.

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

So, a Nephilim, an Alchemist, and an Idol walk into a room...[[ Roy/Rise/Dante]]

Roy had been out most of the day gathering as much information as he could on this hellish place and it's demonic lord.  He wanted to learn as much as he could about him, Roy felt it was wrong that this demon had the right to play with their souls and their emotions to his heart's content, but Roy couldn't do anything about it if he knew nothing.  

When he had gotten home he closed the door, realizing he had roommates now he left the door unlocked for them before sitting down at the table and spreading the notes and books he gathered throughout the day.  Not long later the door opened and slammed, Roy hardly noticed and whoever it was went directly to their room and slammed the door again, obviously not wanting to be disturbed.  After the interruption, he resumed his studies, hardly paying attention to the time.  The sun had long set and Roy was debating stopping for the night when the door opened and closed once again.  This time he looked to find a male, he assumed was his other roommate, walking toward his room.  He watched the male as he walked, not wishing to strike up a conversation when the man appeared either pissed or drunk.

Then Roy realized that the person who came in earlier had to be Rise.  Assuming she had calmed down since earlier, Roy closed up his notes, put a pot of coffee on, and went to knock on her door to see if she was awake.

[rise-chi-deactivated20140525]

A few moments of silence passed, only filled by sound of the spoon Rise used to stir the leftovers of her coffee. She had a lot of questions left to ask, but for now it was her turn to reveals some secrets. Sighing, Rise dropped the spoon and brought a vague smile on her face.

“You sure must be curious about me to tell me this much about yourself, hm, Roy-san?” A little bit of teasing should be allowed, right? “Don’t worry, it’s only natural to keep some secrets from a stranger you’ve only just met. I guess it’s my turn to tell the truth then, huh? Well…”

But how could she even explain such a long story in but a few words? “When I returned to my home town last year I was kidnapped and thrown into a TV… I know how that sounds, but it’s true”, she insisted and frowned lightly. “In the TV world, I met my other self that I kept denying. I was finally able to accept her as a part of me and gained the ability to call my ‘persona’. She doesn’t have any fighting skills - and I don’t even know if I can use her at all her. If I could though, I’d find aaaall of your weaknesses - easy!”

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

Roy smirked at her teases, "What can I say?  You pique my interests."  He winked at her playfully before chuckling.

Roy raised an eyebrow when she spoke of being thrown into a TV, yet he chose to believe her.  "All my weaknesses, hmm?  You're sure of that, aren't you?  Well, I've been told I'm useless when I'm wet, with obvious reasons."  He said with a laugh.  Then he become more serious and sat forward, resting his arms on the table.  "If I can perform my alchemy why wouldn't you be able to call on a persona?  I suppose there is a difference, but its worth a shot, isn't it?"

[rise-chi-deactivated20140525]

So he wasn’t that easy to play after all, huh? Well, she should have expected that. It wouldn’t really be a problem for her to analyse his skills if only she could use her persona - but this wasn’t the TV world and Rise wasn’t sure if calling upon Kouzeon would have any effect to begin with. For now, she’d pay Roy in kind, by elegantly dodging any questions.

“Me? I can’t do anything like that”, the teen replied more or less truthfully. “Well, I used to help out in my grandma’s tofu shop before I started to work on my career again.” Giggling a bit, she added with a smile “Well, some people might think so, but there really is nothing magical about being an idol. It’s actually a lot of hard work, but I’m okay with that.”

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

Roy had smiled and nodded as Rise spoke.  He already knew she was hiding something when she slipped with the Agi.  Maybe he was going about this the wrong way when he lied to her?  Perhaps telling the truth would be easier than playing a lie, but the only question he had was, would she do the same?  There was only one way to find out, he guessed.

Roy took a deep breath, mustering up the last of his pride, considering he'd been lying to a young lady and decided to tell the truth.  "Okay...it's obvious neither of us are telling the complete truth to each other, you know it as well as I do.  I am a Colonel in the military, I achieved this rank through my abilities, which where I'm from we refer to as Alchemy.  These gloves are what allow me to perform these feats.  The other thing that earned me this rank was a civil war..."  He stopped mid sentence, realizing he might be going too far into that one.  

"There you have it.  I feel that lying to you is probably wrong, and I'd just end up screwing myself in the end, especially considering we'll be staying together.  I hope you can forgive me for hiding the truth from you."  He said with an apologetic tone, bowing his head.  'The cards are in your hand now, let's see how you play them.'

[calculatedfutureoffragments]

Fire Scares Me~@Roy

[calculatedfutureoffragments]

Mary looked up at him. “Mary… I’m Mary. I was looking around to see if I knew anybody around here, or if it was safe yet…” Well, he didn’t seem like too bad of an adult, although Mary still had her doubts from her previous experience.

She looked at her knife. “I… I guess you can say that.” Her ability i the museum that kept creatures away from her didn’t seem to work in this world, which made the butter knife her only form of self-defense.

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

Mary looked uncomfortable as she spoke, so Roy tried to smile as friendly as possible.  "Well miss Mary.  It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Roy.  I'm not sure about anyone else being around here, but I can promise you that it is safe so long as I'm here."  He winked at her before standing up straight again.  Roy had been wearing his alchemy gloves ever since he left the apartment, though he wouldn't admit it, he found himself...uneasy, whenever he walked the streets.

"Is there someone in particular you're looking for?"  He asked, finding himself somewhat worried for the poor girl.  "Maybe we could look for them together?"  Roy suggested before offering his gloved hand for Mary to take.

[rise-chi-deactivated20140525]

Rise failed her attempt to suppress a giggle. This guy had only been waiting for a chance to show off, didn’t he? Well, there were no downsides to letting him do so - knowing what her cohabitants were capable of could come in handy at some point after all. And so the teen simply nodded to Roy’s comment about his gloves. They did have a peculiar look to them, but she didn’t gave it much thought - they were just gloves after all, right? The sudden sight of fire in the air surrounding the man caught her by surprise though - and even more so the fact that apparently he could effortlessly force these flames to do his bidding.

“Is that an Agi skill? Then, are you a per-“

Rise quickly interrupted herself. No, this ‘magic trick’ was something else entirely, that much she could sense. Still, without her own persona by her side it was hard to determine just what exactly he was doing there. And somehow, the fact that she couldn’t understand his magic right away did bug her. Nevertheless, the teen managed to look rather impressed and with a decidedly innocent sounding tone she added “you really are pretty amazing, Roy-san! How did you do that?”

[uselesswhenwet-blog]

Roy's grin widened when he saw the glimpse of a surprised look on her face, but the expression changed when she referred to Agi.  "Agi...?"  Maybe she was keeping just as many secrets as he was.  'Well played, my dear girl, well played.'  He thought with a smirk as she interrupted herself.

"So I've been told.  But, come now, I can't be the only one with neat tricks.  So what do you do besides school?"  He asked curiously before taking a seat again.