1/25/2003

02:33 AM

Logfile from Chase.

                               Villa Palladio                              

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Historic elegance -- the Italian architecture of this home, being one of the first and only in New York City, is classic. Four ivy-covered columns line a central section, shrouding the main entrance in shadow, while two wings are set several feet behind. Something akin to white stucco covers dark grey brick, though many windows are set into the stonework to provide light to the interior, though shutters of pale orange sit to each side of each window. Well-known to be a historical landmark, though its once-large front lawn has been reduced by city development, the low brick wall -- once the interior wall -- is still intact, complete with wrought iron gate (that, it must be said, has a unobtrustive automatic opener) leading up to a small garage.

The inside is, upon first look, as elegant as the outside, well-suited to holding social parties and other such things, but glimpses into other doors show a different face indeed: comfortable, overstuffed furniture and soft light, mingled with the trappings of modern life -- television, computer, and such -- provide a note of family life, and from the wear upon the furniture, it's well-used. Books are left scattered here and there in the family rooms, while the rest of the house is pristine.

Anana(#253) and Brice(#250) are here.

Exit: Exit (to Broadway - off 72nd Street)

 

Waiting out by the gate is a casually clad Anana, complete with knitted hat and mittens, seeming /far/ more comfortable in such than in, say, her uniform. However, patience is not one of her virtues; she continually checks her cellphone and shifts impatiently from foot to foot, waiting for someone or something. Which would be, of course, Brice and Chase. "C'mooooon."

Chase trundles along beside Brice, smile just a wee bit wry. Arms are shoved into his pockets. Hat? Mittens? Bah, its nice out. Silly Anana. Silly, silly girl. "And you should have see the way she was looking at that Hiroshi kid. I'm telling you... those Suzaku... Don't trust them as far as I can throw them."

 

Brice has - thankfully - mananged to acquire a much thicker coat over the past couple days, so Anana may not recognize him through the coat and scarf and the two bags over hsi shoulders (damn classes) - but Chase is a fairly obvious give-away. "You may not, but Trevor's all right. Haven't met the others. And Miaka passed the test, whatever you say - I still fully expect Ash and Anana to castrate you for that, you know."

 

Some people didn't live for two hundred years sans a body in an ice cave. It's bound to up a person's cold resistance. Anana spots the two, then waves and skids neatly across the icy-then-slushy sidewalks. "You took your time... and Trevor's nice, yeah. Castrate him? I think Ash wouldn't like that, but anyway, let's get inside? I left milk in the microwave for hot chocolate, and I have marshmallows, too, and /news/."

And she promptly opens the gate to the villa, dragging (should they not protest overmuch) the two up to the front door.

 

Chase is immediately giving off his most innocent smile, "What? I have no clue what either of you are talking about." He chuckles though at Anana's rather exuberant greeting, and thus the dragging of his person as well. "Goodness, Anana. Did someone feed you a chocolate bar or something today?"

 

A twelve-year-old has a cell. Damnit, Brice needs one. And gets dragged, pretty much expecting it from the Genbu females at this point. "How much hot chocolate have you already had, kid? And yeah you do Chase, don't give me that look." He finds his feet again once inside and begins upwrapping his head and neck from the scarf-entombment. "And what's this news about?"

 

Dragging the two into the same family room as before, complete with comfortable chairs, books, TV and assorted other things, Anana quickly disappears, then returns with three mugs of hot chocolate balanced on a tray. "It was /cold/," she protests, pulling a face at both of them. "And I only had one mug before you got here. And news, right. The Suzaku and Seiryuu seem to be fairly neutral at this point towards each other, or so Hiroshi said after you-" She levels a glare at Chase this time. "-left me in his apartment and told me to talk to him, and do you know /why/ I act like that around him?"

 

Chase is really good at That Look, thank you very much. He has had a very long time to practice it. Usually it actually works. Durn. He is drug within, murmuring, "Okay, nice place, shorty. Clearly you are affording this on your paper route salary." He shrugs off his jacket, readjusting his ball cap, and then reaches for a mug with a nod of appreciation. He blinks owlishly back at the girl, "Because you have a crush on him."

 

Brice has to muffle a snort of laughter into his just-accepted mug, making lotsa little bubbles. Chase has a point with the Hiroshi thing. "Don't start on the house, I've already gotten the lecture. And that's the news? That the Seiryuu and Suzaku are getting along all right?" Somehow he definitely expected more than that. "That's nothing you couldn't have said over the phone. What else is up?"

 

Anana quirks an eyebrow at Chase. "No, Dad's on Wall Street, and Mom likes entertaining, so we have this house," she explains and all but facefaults. "Not really." Sardonically. "He has a bit of a crush on me, and he's very nice, but he watches out for me, and I get more information that way, plus he watches out for Ash." Self-delusion is lovely, really. "Chase, you already know this. But it's got to do with the priestesses. At this point... it looks like to stop the four yin gods, all four of /our/ priestesses are going to have... to summon our Gods."

 

Chase flickers a glance askance to Brice, the twinkle in his eyes having nothing to do with the light. "Actually, I'm rather surprised that they are playing nice," he muses lightly. With mug in hand, he wanders a way a little, taking up position leaning against a wall. At Anana's last words, he smirks slightly, lips drawing into a tight line, and he looks away.

 

Oh no... Oh no, you did not just say that Anana... Tenuous grip on reality smashing to bits at the current moment... For the second time in twenty-four hours, Brice is stunned beyond all speech. He now remembers exactly /what/ happened last time Takiko summoned Genbu - and that was bad enough. He doesn't yet know what happened to her after she went back. But still, they were separated, and he and Tomite died. That's a pretty good cause for alarm, dontcha think? But still, there IS one advantage... He swallows a couple times to wet his suddenly-dry throat. "Well, she can't switch worlds on us now. We can help her after all."

 

Anana thought about a few ways to say this, and settled with the blunt approach. She, however, only had the vaguest suspicions of what happened to Takiko, having died soon after the miko's return to the world she considered 'home'. "That's the good thing about this," she says, settling down at Brice's feet and looking up at him. "Another good thing about this is that those who have rivalries between the groups /can't/ do anything to each other because we don't know if the shinzaho still exist or /anything/."

 

Chase exhales slowly, setting the mug down onto a table or such. He pushes away from the wall, moving towards Brice at a slow pace, "Look. Everything is so new right now. For all we know, things will change in the future, right? Were what... four now?" He reaches over as if to clasp Brice on the back, then looking down at Anana with a wry grin, trying to lighten the mood, "Are you saying that I can't give the Suzaku a hard time or something? I was kind of planning on that for the months ahead."

 

"/NO/ tormenting the feathered ones, Case." Automatic reaction. Gotta love it. "I don't want to be on Trevor's bad side - and I /severely/ doubt you want the kid over there-" he nods down at Anana"-to cute you to death for doing it." Ahh, a return ofnormalcy, at least somewhat. Thank you Chase. Brice quickly drains the rest of his chocolate. "So, if no one can kill each other, that should make things easier - should we start scouting jewelry stores in an effort to find the necklace?"

 

"And you call /me/ immature, Chase?" Anana asks, trying not to laugh. "I know what you did. I /do/ have Chiriko's memories, you know. Another reason why he's so nice to me, and me to him." Curling her fingers around the mug of hot chocolate in unconscious search for warmth, the girl smiles up at her two pseudo-older-brothers. "I wouldn't cute him to death. I'd shove him in a room with Kourin and Trevor. And... um. As for the necklace, I don't know where it would be, or if it's even here now. What happens to a shinzaho when it's used to summon a god?"

 

Chase does his best to pout, or at least try to be dramatic about it. Ah well, doesn't work all that well. He grins over to Brice, "As if I haven't seen that necklace enough in my dreams... do we really have to start looking over pawn shops and such for it some more?" He sighs heavily, flickering a glance to Anana, "You wouldn't dare... I don't know them, but that still sounds like a fate worse than death. Well, that is unless I can get them into a good game of poker, have some beers. Sake. Whatever..."

 

"You're underage." Again, automatic reaction. Gets the feeling that this is going to be a frequent pattern with him and Chase. "I have no idea, Anana - I'd assume that it'd just go back to being a normal necklace, or whatever the object is. And I'm not that desperate to go hunting for it myself - it's been several centuries, who knows if it even still exists? And if it does, who knows if it's even in this /country/, not to mention this city?" Yeah, Brice is a realist most of the time - at least he's not a pessimistic realist.

 

Pouting successfully is more of Anana's domain anyway. "Or even this dimension. I mean, I don't even know if our old world is the same as this one," she says, nodding at Brice, then grinning at Chase. "I think that Kourin would take you up on that and probably drink you under the table, but I dunno. Trevor might, too." Another sip at sugar-sweet chocolate. "Underage for what?"

 

Chase smirks across to Brice, even if deep in some portion inside of him he rather enjoys his big brother's commentary. Ahhhhhh. So good. "Look, if we need the necklace, I'm sure we'll be able to find it. I didn't watch it for two-hundred years and not remember what it looks like." He shrugs his shoulders, "But, I'm not sure that we even need to start looking into that yet." He blinks back at Anana, "This Kourin is a Suzaku, eh?" He is skeptical. "I'd like to see that happen. You should set us up."

 

"He's too young to be drinking alcohol, let alone buying it." Not that most of the bars in the country care as long as you've got some valid form of payment. Oh well. "I remember it perfectly too-" he's remembered it longer than anything else, practically "-but I'm not that wild of having to search the entire globe for something that may not exist or may not be in this dimension or universe or whatever." They might come from another dimension? Head trip... "And don't, Anana, no knowing what he'd do to him. Or her." No, Brice doesn't know Kourin. Is it that obvious?

 

"Exactly. I hate to say it, but Fate's far too weird around us to make us lose track of that necklace if we really need it," Anana says firmly. "And Kourin? She's a Suzaku, and, um. Well, she's just... interesting." There're no words, really. "I don't think she'd hurt him? Those were her bracelets that broke Miaka out of your ice, anyway."

 

Chase rolls his eyes at Brice, "Aw, come on. I'll let you join in as well? That way you can chaperone or something." And he can try to get his dear brother smashed. Ohhhh, the possibilities. Ohhhh, the blackmail. "She?" Okay, that puts an entirely new spin on things, "Is she good looking?" If not, all that beer and sake will make her that way.

 

"Is she involved with anyone?" No use in having Chase get decapitated. And Brice relents at the thought that he can join in - the Southern Stiltedness is rubbing away. "I'd insist on buying - you're not getting arrested on my watch."

 

"...actually, I don't think giving your ladyfriend an autographed album would be wise," Trevor says, raising a brow as he ambles in behind Darren. "Oh, I've got it." He enters the room, duly impressed, and waves at Anana - and look, it's Brice too. Nevertheless, he returns his attention to Darren, then draws from his pocket a business card, a pen, and lip gloss. "Mint flavored," the young man comments, reading the Winter's Kiss brand label. "What will they think of next?" A quick, chic application and a light kiss to the back of the card, along with Trevor's signature, and he hands the card to Anana's brother. "Don't forget, um... red carnations." He winks, then makes his approach towards the small group. "Anana darling! I'm going to move in with you."

 

"Um," Anana says, looking for any escape at this point. "She's sort of... um. In love with someone else, I think?" And... she's saved by the bell. And her brother. Who is, by this point, looking torn between freaking out and worshiping the ground that Trevor walks on. "Anana," he says, giving his little sister a wide-eyed look, "You really have weird friends. But cool ones." And then he leaves. Thank goodness. "Thanks for coming, Trevor. What did my brother want? And Brice, Chase, this is Trevor. Trevor, this is Brice, and this is Chase."

 

Chase sighs, loudly. Mmmm, mention of the authorities. Must definitely remember not to mention the job to big brother. Throat clears as he does his best to change the subject, "Oh, no need to worry about that. But anyway.." Look someone else is here, and as such this seishi is left to blink at Trevor rather owlishly. And then blink some more. Speechless. He has been rendered speechless.

 

The unaccomplishable has been accomplished - Chase has shut up. Brice is definitely appreciative of whoever can do that. "We've met. Hey, Trevor." He steps forward, holding out a hand for a shake. Yes, he's been living under a rock - he has no clue who Trevor is. "How've things been going? And have you seen Cat lately?" He's pretty concerned for the Byakko seishi, both of them - especially after last night. The way Lee described their relationship, nothing should've shook it, but that little argument that he was part of definitely did. Something's wrong there.

 

Trevor is dressed in elegant whites, a suit and round collar making him shine, complete with a slick jacket cleverly concealing within its depths a holy sword. No jokes now - the holiness is so great it glows. "Brice and I have already met," the man offers, flashing the seishi a bright smile and clasping his hand for a moment and extends it to the new guy. "And it's always good to see new faces. Nice to meet you, Chase."

 

Awkward silence, anyone? The other man gets a raised brow, and a laugh. He's pretty, and he knows it. "No, I haven't seen Cat. Something wrong?"

 

"Trevor? Do you like poker?" Anana asks, all but fluttering her eyelashes at him. Maybe they can get Brice to keep on twitching. Closing the door after peering this way and that down the hallway to ensure that Darren's disappeared, she turns back to the Suzaku. "And what did you do to Darren? He nearly fell down the stairs just now." Such a concerned little sister when it comes to her older brother? No, she just knows that he's resilient. "Chase was interested in playing poker with you and Kourin sometime."

 

Chase is drawn out of his silence at Anana's words. He is abruptly clearing his throat, an almost sloppy smile on his lips. Heh.... Heh heh. "Yeah, its great to meet you... Trevor." Nice. Wait. What did Anana say? "Oh... this is the same Trevor?" He gives the pretty boy another assessing glance before shrugging, "Maybe not."

 

"Lovers' quarrel, as far as I can tell. Lee was getting sloshed in Chinatown last night." Leave out the details, they don't need 'em anyway. "I wanted to know how she was doing." Brice rolls his eyes at the mention of poker, then shakes his head. He's leaving all card game-references alone from now on. "Anyhow, what's going on with your faction?" Yes, he knows who Trevor is in this context. "How's your miko?" He gives Chase a distinct warning look. "Don't start it. Just don't start it."

 

Trevor runs a hand back through his hair, and by some kind of magic, it falls perfectly back into place. Chalk it up to a good stylist, or natural talent. "Only if the stakes end up on the floor eventually," he replies, winking at Chase. He's joking, of course. No... really. Taking a seat and folding his hands in his lap, the young man looks perfectly innocent. "I think he recognized me, and had a girl he wanted to impress. I gave him a little advice, and did him a tiny favor." Blink blink. "Well, I hope everything turns out all right. Catherine was terribly nice to me. To be honest, I've been recording for the past couple of days. Johnston tells me we're coming together, that Miaka is a sweetie, and that evil is trying to destroy the world." But Trevor still looks good, so it can't be all bad.

 

Chase blinks rather owlishly at all of the names being bandied about before him at the speed of light. Whoa. Whoa there. Most if it simply passes through one ear and right out the other. So, he sits, sipping cooled cocoa, and offering a wry grin to Brice every once in awhile. "What?... Oh, you worry far too much."

 

"I don't think I got that, Trevor, and I don't think I want to," Anana informs him. "The stakes of the poker game, that is." And with due aplomb, she settles back down upon her own seat, drawing her legs up onto the chair and watching the byplay. "Yes, this is the same Trevor. Suzaku seishi Hotohori, meet Tomite and Hikitsu." She gestures first to Chase, then to Brice. "And you know who I am. I think."

 

"Johnston? Who's Johnston?" At last, someone /else/ with an Aristocratic British Snob name! Brice nods over to Anana. "He's the one who told me about Miaka - first clear memory I had. I still haven't thanked you for that." Another head nod in Trevor's direction is the thanks, and Brice takes a seat on one end of the couch. "According to everyone, evil's trying to destroy the world, so that's nothing new. The kid over there told us that one of the Seiryuu was tortured and another went insane. From what I've heard, that's pretty par for the course for them." Actually, he's not bitter - his internal tactfulness filter seems to be in the "off" position at the moment. "Oh, you're a musician?" Duh. Brice. Duh.

 

"Tomite," Trevor repeats, brows raised and looking from one man to the other. "And Hikitsu. You two froze my miko in solid ice once." And had Hotohori only been there, he would've probably made a valiant attempt to kick some ass. No, stay at home, heika-sama. No, defend the country, heika-sama. Stupid counselors. "I'm only glad it came to some good in this life. As for Johnston, he claims to be my agent. I'm only sure that he's Chichiri, Suzaku seishi, though." Something about the face. A little concern floats into his eyes, and he nods his head gravely. No love lost between Suzaku and Seiryuu, but Amiboshi did comfort him in a time of need once; the attempted assassination was all but forgotten in the wake of Miaka's grief. "Yeah..." A blink, and an elegant segue to a different subject. "A musician."

 

"Johnston is Chichiri. The blue haired one with the funny face," Anana says, grinning. "And... well, Amiboshi and Suboshi are... special." She's really flubbing for ways to describe people today, really. "I haven't talked to Suboshi to see why things happened like they did, or talked to Nicholas to see what he's going to do about it -- at least, I'm not mad at Hiroshi for interrupting me the other day, but oh-" Back on topic, Anana. "Four yin gods, one priestess for all four. Hiroshi's trying to chart the stars, but he's getting really bad feelings about it. According to him, all the different seishi of the Four Gods -- ours, I mean -- need to work together. And the priestesses will have to summon their respective gods again." She does pause long enough to throw a warning look at Chase. "I need to talk to Nicholas and Tori again. I hope they're not /too/ mad at me." Death threats are /so/ hard to deal with. Pause another beat, and then, in her perkiest tone, Anana says, "Can I come to a recording sometime? I'll be /really/ quiet!"

 

Chase blinks owlishly at Brice, rolls his eyes, and looks as though he is going to reach over and smack his big brother on the back of the head. "You /do/ get out now and again, don't you?" Clearly, Brice has been living under a rock. A big moldy one at that. Although he won't go quite embarrass himself with an explanation as to who Trevor is. But at the mention of Miaka, Chase simply looks back to Trevor with an expression that basically reads -And your point being? But then he is getting glared at by Anana. What? He hasn't done anything yet. But he is blinking at her query to Trevor, "I might just have to tag along as well. You know, kids these days. Need to keep an eye on her." Yeah, whatever.

 

And Brice gets whacked, making him rock forward to keep his balance, then glare at his little brother and take a similar whack at his back - only harder. "Hey, I wasn't the one who made her strip." And if Hotohori had tried to attack, he would've met the nice thick ice wall, just like Tama. Ooh, emeperor pancake - new delicacy at IHOP! "Yes, I /do/ get out, nimrod." Siblings - even pseudo-siblings. They never change. "I don't think they're too mad at you Anana - I'm willing to bet something very bad would have happened by now if they were." Something like the house exploding. "And do I need to keep an eye on /both/ of you?" Gives them his best, fiercest, sternest Big Brother Glare. "No disturbing when recording." He had a musician friend, and nearly got his head torn off when he unknowingly broke that rule.

 

Trevor lattices his fingers and gathers his thoughts together, wincing in realization. "I might've thought that if two people were tormented in tandem it would've been them. Suzaku," he says, rubbing his temples, "Why are you so merciful?" Hey, Hotohori allowed himself to get wet in a pond for Miaka once. It ruined his hair for /hours/; he could do anything for his miko. "I think you should tell me why you're not mad at Hiroshi, Anana-darling. And we could go have a chat with Nicholas together." He turns his head towards Brice and laughs it off. "Don't worry; I'd be honored to see you two around the studio. Just don't bug the drummer." Shudder. Scary.

 

Anana squirms slightly under Brice's stare, but manages to stop for long enough to eye Chase. "I asked first," she mutters under her breath. A wee bit competitive at times, perhaps. "And these two had a reason for doing what they did." Such as being stuck in a cave for two hundred years. It's her turn to twitch, however, and shift in her seat when Trevor requests for her to talk about /why/ she's not mad at Hiroshi, glancing at Brice again. "Umm." Saved by an offer. "Thank you!! I'll be /really/ good.|"

 

Chase winces at the hit, shooting a grin back at Brice. "And neither did you object." -if you want to get technical about this. He clears his throat and then nods back to Trevor. Heh, honored. "Just let us know what is most convenient for you..." One rather delighted grin is shot over to Anana, before he is looking to Brice once more, "Oh, you know you want to come too. Admit it."

 

"Actually, not really. Been there. Done that. Didn't get a t-shirt. No interest left." Brice shakes his head and rubs his temple, wondering why he's even bothering. They'll just figure out some other way to do it - might as well save the energy. "I officially declare my non-responsibility for both of you. Youre parents or other relatives are /not/ allowed to sue me if something happens to you in the course of your 'curiosity.' Will you be my witness, Trevor?" No, he doesn't trust either of the "young ones." "And would you really take her to Nicholas? Apparently he's going to be my professor, I don't want to piss him off prematurely."

 

"You're all invited," Trevor says magnanimously, knowing in his soul of souls that Johnston is going to murder him for wreaking havoc with the system. Then again, it's for new old friends; why not? His mouth widens slowly into a grin in Brice's direction. "But you're supposed to watch over the little ones. A shepherd leading the flock, so to speak." Granted, shepherds usually get big hitting sticks to go with the job. "And you can stay out of it, if you want. If we're to have negotiations, it would be nice to have an amicable representative of every god there." Trevor doesn't apply here, really. Ahh well.

 

But big hitting sticks would leave /bruises/. And bruises are Bad (tm). Anana mock-pouts at Brice. "You're no fun. What happens if Chase gets taken hostage by a little old..." She trails off, then clears her throat, trying unsuccessfully to smother a smirk. "Never mind. But Nicholas really isn't that bad. I had tea and sandwiches with him and Tori. That's Soi. It was really fun until Hiroshi tried to be all gallant and 'save me from my own folly'."

Chase doesn't like the sound of this. Little ones? He even mouths those words to Anana, and then shoots an almost offended look his way. That better not be a crack on his height. Or anything else. He chuckles at Anana's words, slowly shaking his head from side to side, "Tea and sandwiches with Seiryuu? What is the world coming to? Maybe we should invite them to that poker game as well." Imagine the entertainment. "Hiroshi... so is that what has the two of you acting all funny? Besides the obvious?"

 

Brice blinks at the moniker for the other two - then grins, verrrrry widely. "Shepards have gone out of fashion. I think the term is 'riot police' now." Ehehehehehehe, just wait 'til those snakes come back - or that handy-dandy wall-building ability. Anyone for a frosty time out? He gives Anana one of those 'ohhhhhh' looks. "So /that's/ why you're so ticked at him. You weren't really specific on that - not that Chase helped any." He can't really blame her. Chiriko might be smart, but does he have Anana's common sense? Or, to rephrase, the common sense she usually has? "And do you think Anana is an amicable-enough representative of the biological impossibility, or should I show up as well?" That question was probably unnecessary - Nick seems to like Anana.

And that fact in itself is scary.

 

Luring the girl into a false sense of security, no doubt. Hmph. "Well, Nakago killed my past incarnation. I'm a little leery about having people chum around with him." Trevor sighs, wincing apologetically at Anana. Concessions, however, must be made. "The battle we fought, however, was senseless. If we need to unite, we need to communicate. If Hiroshi has reduced our chances of this, I am profoundly sorry." See? There is something buried underneath all the pretty. The fact that it's a politician might be a little worrisome. "If you want to meet your Professor on interesting terms, you're welcome to it. It's not for me to decide."

 

Aside from the fact that one, I remember everything he does from when he was Chiriko, two, he remembers nearly the same about /me/ as Hatsui, and three, we're kids when everyone else is an adult?" Anana asks Chase dryly, resettling herself upon the couch and shrugging at Brice. "It's all right now. It just made me mad that he thought I /needed/ rescuing. Tori wouldn't let Nicholas hurt me, and anyway, I can defend myself, to a point." She smiles at Trevor, shaking her head gently. "It wasn't senseless to you, and as I said, things are fine now.""

 

Chase chuckles, reaching over as if to ruffle Anana's hair, "Down, girl. It's fine." He smiles softly, crossing his arms over his chest, simply smirking Brice-wards because... well, because that is what he does, and he is very good at it. "And your companions lost a shinzaho that we guarded for 200 hundred years in our spiritual forms to the Seiryuu before they could barely step out of the temple. Think I should still be a wee bit cranky about that as well?"

 

Brice ignores Chase's smirk - he's very good at that, had over 200 years of practice. "Much as I hate to agree with Mr. Impetuous over there, he's got a point. The shinzaho was /not/ that easy to lose - I think we have a right to take exception to it. But I can see your point with Nakago." Yes, the politician is scary. There's enough of them in the world as is. "Anana, do you trust Tori enough so that one of us-" at the moment he's thinking either him or Ash, not Chase "-can talk with her privately? And do you have the means to arrange it?" Hey, back-up planning never hurt anyone. "And yeah, you definitely can defend yourself." He stillll remembers the pillow.

 

"Things are fine." Trevor's echo is mostly to himself, and he closes his eyes. When those cornflower blues open again, however, his face has undergone a dramatic metamorphosis, oozing delighted optimism. Chase's comment gets a warm laugh and he shakes his head slowly. "Miaka, as I'm sure you noticed, had more spirit than survival instinct." In fact, most of the Suzaku seishi shared that common trait. It's a wonder that they lost so many battles, yet managed to win the war. "This is so terrifying, yet interesting. All of our fates, entrusted in a young lady with pink hair."

 

Anana gets to her feet (after tossing a dirty look at Chase for rumpling her hair) and bows in Trevor's direction, adding a little flourish to the conversation for /her/ part. "I'm honoured that you trust me with it," she says, straightening up and tucking her hair back behind her ears. "And... Tori? Yes, if you wish. She's not hard to approach at all." Padding over to the coat she tossed so casually on an empty chair, she hauls out her wallet and pulls a business card out, holding it out for whomever wants to see it. "Her phone number's there, as well as her business. A club or something. It's opening soon. But anyway, which of you wants to talk to her? I will tell you this... she's /very/ beautiful. And /very/ in love with Nicholas. So I don't think that flirting with her would be too good an idea."

 

Chase is still fairly sure he'll have a thing or two to say to Miaka if he ever crosses paths with her, but instead he opts for the soft smile at this moment. Innocence incarnate -or something. He glances back over to Brice, not smirking, but more along the lines of an astonished gasp. "Hey, if we have that poker game, we can all get together and talk. And get drunk. Reminisce. And probably even get along -even come to an agreement about things, so don't you go getting all like that with me." He rolls his eyes, but shrugs his shoulders, "Whatever you all wish to do, I'm game for it."

 

Brice shrugs at the insinuation Trevor is making with the statement about Anana. "I trust her, believe it or not. She's not dumb." Generally. Or, maybe a better word would be hyper. He heads up to said-chibi and plucks the card from her grasp, reading it aloud. "Fate and Fantasy..." Immediately he starts wondering what kind of club would have that name, but eh, let 'im wonder. "Victoria... All right, doesn't seem too complicated. I was thinking me, or Ash, or both of us, could go see what her take on things is." And at the beautiful-woman-no-flirting remark, "Well, that rules Chase out." Immediately ducks to avoid whatever physical retaliation Chase comes up with.

 

Trevor slips his cell phone out of his pocket, recording the information, then does a doubletake. "Tori as in... Victoria? As in, the place that just opened up? God, J Lo wanted to take me there yesterday, but I told her I was busy. I guess she doesn't have much of an electricity bill, does she?" Oh, just ignore him. "I'll just wait until we get a proper footing, and then speak with Nicholas. As influential as Soi may be, Nakago holds the power, unless he's lost all of his old self." Trevor doesn't need or want to flirt with anyone; he's got enough problems as it is. Granted, Johnston manages most of them, but the little pop icon still gets to complain. So there.

 

"If you're getting drunk, I'm /not/ going to be there," Anana says crisply, pulling a comically disgusted face at Chase. He jokes, she makes faces at him. It's a lovely brother-sister relationship. "I think Hiroshi's already talked to Nicholas. Kourin wasn't very pleased with him over that. I dunno. He's sort of scary, and I know I have to be careful, but I like him, too." It's something about the charisma. "And I guess it's that place? She's very nice, you know."

 

Chase is right on back to glaring at Brice again. "You know? You take all the fun out of everything." He sighs before flopping onto a couch, chair, wherever will suit for a moment. Head lolls back as he stares at the ceiling, finger tracing idle lines on the fabric of the seat. "I'm not getting drunk, and I'd give you chocolate or something like that," he mutters to Anana.

 

Brice actually has a very high tolerance for alcohol - thank god. He'd better chaperone. No, higher-up ulterior motives have nothing to do with that. "Isn't that what an older brother's supposed to do?" he smirks at Chase. "Keep the younger from being put under house arrest? You're still not buying the alcohol." He gives a little concession. "At least not where I can see it." Hey, he /was/ young and dumb once. Still is a lot of the time. "How powerful was Nakago?" The statement has been made that he's powerful, but Brice isn't entirely sure what that means.

 

"I don't blame her," Trevor says, wincing. "As smart as Hiroshi is, he's also very little, and can't defend himself against Nakago, as far as I'm aware. Kourin and I both keep that in mind; she might even be a little more over protective than I am." He smiles, leaning back. "I suppose I'm not qualified to make an opinion until I actually meet Nicholas, though." The young man crosses his arms, answering Brice's question slowly. "Tenkou - I assume you're familiar with that name - tried to use Nakago to take over this realm via Tokyo. I guess you could say that he was powerful enough. It was nice to see that he managed to find some what of a heart, though."

 

"You're taking up too much space, Chase," Anana informs him, then quite promptly hops up onto the couch... and lands squarely on his stomach. Such abuse. "You'd give me chocolate, huh?" Let him gasp a bit while she addresses the other questions. "Well... the phrase 'one man army' comes to mind, Brice. More power than I have, even if you include the amount I can't /touch/." Attention flicks to Trevor, and she bites her lip briefly. "I need to hear that story in full sometime."

 

Chase is silent for a moment as he listens to Tervor explain this mysterious Tenkou, still sprawled upon the seat. He frowns just the slightest, turning his head to the side to watch the peacock with consternation. "Bah, I can't even afford the alcohol now. School books. Deposit on the apartment. I'm going to be eating over at Ash's quite a bit the next week or so." Only, she doesn't know it yet. But then, he is attacked... by the little. *Whoosh* All of the air goes streaming out of him, only to be sucked back in with a gasp. "I don't think you need any more chocolate, shorty." Heavy thing. But, he conforms as he becomes her seat, reaching a hand up tousle her hair once more. Its his job.

 

Brice whistles; even for an evil-doer, that's an impressive track record. "Don't suppose we could pin the invasion of Hokkan in our time on him - I've still got issues with the commander then." Yeah, commander-cicle, anyone? He'll gladly do it if they confirm the guy's identity - and if he's a bastard now, too. "It's no use asking me for help Chase, I'm worse than you are - don't even have a proper-sized bedroom." Oh, that came out so bad. But let it pass. He grins at Anana's treatment of Chase, and in return, his of her - he might act gruff sometimes, but really he's glad that everyone seems to be having good lives and is comfortable with each other. "So, Anana, do you know when Tori will be at work next week?"

 

"That's a story for another time," says Trevor (namely when the player gets a chance to rewatch the OVAs. Cough.) A brow is raised in Chase's direction, and he reaches over to ruffle Anana's hair, grinning. "Wow, that is unexpectedly more fun than it looks." He watches the three seishi, a grin tugging his lips - think Hiroshi would allow himself to be tousled now and then? Maaybe not.

 

"I always need more chocolate," Anana informs Chase, now quite comfortable in spite of the tousled hair (which goes ignored for the moment, in spite of it being done twice over). "And I wish I could offer help, but only my Mom really knows what's going on with me, and I don't think I could explain it to Dad without him trying to find me a psychiatrist or something." Even if Darren's a suspicious sort. "And why is it fun to mess up my hair? Do I have to mess up yours, Trevor? I'm sure your fans-" She's one, but she's actually getting to talk to him about stuff that's more serious than hobbies. "-would love to see the 'mussed' look."

 

The fun part is provoking Anana. That is the whole reason for the hair-tousling. Mention something about a crush on Hiroshi and she can look the very same way. chase mentions, "I think I might actually have some. Somewhere." With the ramen and peanut butter. He peers beyond Anana and over to Trevor, chuckling, but he doesn't say another word.

 

Ahhhhhh, the life of the college student, living hand to mouth while guzzling caffeine - no, Trevor does /not/ count. "Guess it's my turn." Brice grins and ruffles Anana's hair as well - then turns and completely tousles Chase's, perhaps just a /bit/ harder than necessary, with a smirk. And steps away quickly. "Well, since we all feel so nice and fuzzy, guess it's a rather inopportune time to bring up a rather uncomfortable subject." But he's gonna. "Anana, I know I'm bugging you with this, but please tell me nothing else has happened besides those brothers getting in trouble."

 

"Check next month's Enquirer. It's not so much that I mind getting pictures taken of me at the beach, but it was a little windy that day," Trevor sighs, patting down his head just to make certain that each strand is in its proper, perfect place. Brice is watched and snickered at, but as the conversation turns serious again, his attention turns full to Anana. "Yes, do tell," he prompts, watching the girl intensely.

 

Anana claps a hand over her head again, glaring around. "Enough with the hair-messing! Meanieheads, the lot of you!" It'd be a far more dire insult if it weren't delivered with a hint of laughter behind the worlds. "And it's not an uncomfortable subject. Umm. Nothing else that I can remember's happened /yet/. I don't think it's going to stop; if anything, it's gonna get lots worse." As she speaks, she's trying to fingercomb her hair straight -- Chase gets a breathing respite as she hops off of him, settling upon the floor instead. "Oh." Er. They're not going to like this one. "There was getting Kourin's bracelets back, so Hiroshi told me, and a plant monster, and, um, just before I ran into Ashleigh the first time, Hiroshi had just killed a monster that she tried to hit with her skateboard."

 

Chase gaahs. Tair-messing. He is immediately slapping a hand up to try to stop Brice from doing far more damage. "You know, it's a good thing she is sitting on me," he calls over to him. Otherwise he'll what? Give Brice a wedgie? Ponder that. But he does look back to Brice, frowning slightly at those words, and then looking back to Anana as she bounces off of him. And then peering at her harder. "Wait... What was that?" His mind clearly hasn't caught up with all of this yet. "What did Ash do?"

 

That... That... That sounds so much like Ash Brice isn't surprised one bit. He just gives a sort of long-suffering sigh, one hand coming up to press his temple - need to stop at a drugstore on the way home for aspirin. He's gonna need it for awhile. "Okay Anana, give us the details." He won't flip out over this - if he was, he would have already. And he's actually kinda proud of the little guy (Hiroshi) for taking care of the monster - from what he's gathered, the boy isn't exactly the toughest seishi around.

 

"Oh yeah, that was weird," Trevor says, elaborating on the part he's actually familiar with. "We were going to get Kourin's bracelets back, from this old oriental cabinet in a warehouse. Funny thing was, though, that there was a guardian defending the box - a red creature with tentacles in a pit. Furtunately, it responded well to Nuriko having been there, and backed down... but it was more magic than I had thought we'd be seeing anytime soon." Hiroshi's not too touch, but he plays the leaf whistle like nobody's business.

 

Anana tosses her arms out wide in a visible expression of 'I have no clue'. "I was hiding from Darren -- he was trying to drag me home -- and saw Hiroshi and Ash in an alleyway, and there was a lot of water around, so I guess it must've been something water-based-" She knows about monsters, more about the chi-eating sort, but still. "-maybe an elemental or something, I don't know. Anyway, Hiroshi called me over, and said that there'd been a monster, and then I saw Ash, and she didn't remember me at first, but then she did, and it was so great. But she /still/ tried to hit it with her skateboard."

 

Tentacle monster? *twitch* Chase blinks owlishly at Trevor for a long moment before pushing up to stand once more. "That's... disturbing." He flickers another look at Anana, mouth drawing into a fine line, "How is it that everyone else gets to do all of the fun stuff?" That's it. This has to change. He moves over to locate his jacket again, pulling it on. "Anana? You. Me. Tomorrow. My place. Chocolate... Be there. Until then, I'm going to wander the streets and hope something with scales, a nasty attitude, and more than six eyes jumps me." And before Brice can say a word edgewise, he hauls ass right out the door.

 

Brice is /so/ gonna start calling Chase Owl-boy. Oh hell yeah. But this reaction is expected - a Tomite-leash has not yet been invented. Maybe that should be his next project. Ahh, let the boy have some fun, he probably /was/ being too overprotective. Brice just shakes his head at the door and yells after the departing dark head "Just try and come back in fewer than three pieces! I don't wanna have to put 'em together again!" He drops his voice to normal. "And damn, we gotta get Ash a better weapon than a skateboard. Anyone have something sharp on hand? Somehow I can picture her taking a kitchen knife around in her boot." Yep, he /can/ see it, that's the scary part.