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Post by Erlkings on May 9, 2014 14:45:50 GMT -8
Edited by LittleBlackCat: This is a continuation from Recruiting You (For the People).
It had been a long night Engel woke to the stirring sounds his little visitor. Little Sena had finally woken up from her ordeal, her hair was in a mess and she was rubbing her eyes irritated by the bright morning light. She had thought it was all a dream until she looked across the room and saw Engel, she cried out trying to scramble over the back of the couch, making a loud thump sound when she fell off the other side landing on Engel’s hardwood flooring. With a frown he said loudly enough to be heard, “I’m not going to hurt you, besides that would be a waste I put a lot of effort into saving you.” She wasn’t sure she could trust him, all she remembers was being forced to disobey her church to save her own life. Sena peaked over the back of the couch glaring at him her with her hair all disorderly and yelled at him, “You made me turn my back on my faith!” Frowning at her Engel said, “Is that really how you see it? Do you even know the original teachings the church had 400 years ago?” She gave a confused looked not really catching on to what he was saying. He continued, “The church your following is a perversion of the original teachings! I should know I grew up with them when I was still alive! If you keep trying to go down the path your church laid out for you, you’re going to die simple as that, and die for nothing.” Walking over to a bookshelf Engel grabbed an old dusty tome carrying it over he placed it on the couch for her to look at. Engel told her before she touched it though, “you should go get cleaned up I’ll call a friend to see if they have any clothes you can borrow.” Sena pulled her hand away from the tome, and found her way to the restroom where she locked the door working on preparing a bath. Engel got on the phone calling Elizabeth roughly explained the situation to her leaving out finer details to what had led to it. He had asked if Elizabeth had any of her older clothing she could loan to little Sena. Elizabeth told him she would look through what she had and be right over. It was about an hour later, Sena had refused to come out of the bathroom, and there was high pitched knock on the door. Engel answered it wondering who was knocking and what was doing the knocking, because it certainly wasn’t a hand. It made sense as the door swung open there was a skeleton standing there with two big black trash bags that looked lumpy as if full of clothes slung over each shoulder. Elizabeth let herself in and the skeleton followed. Elizabeth took a look around and asked, “So when did you start kidnapping little girls off the street? You weren’t too clear on what happened.” Engel’s face grew red as he crossed him arm responding, “I didn’t steal her off the streets, I saved her life... And now she won’t come out of the bathroom maybe you can coax her out.” Elizabeth grabbed a few clothes choices knocked on the door calling Sena’s name, after a few minutes Elizabeth was let in, and the door closed quickly behind her. Annoyed Engel paced around his living room and kitchen unaware that the skeleton was copying his movements in the next room mirroring them perfectly. The pacing continued for a while before he heard the bathroom door open with Elizabeth glaring at him keeping Sena behind her she yelled across the room, “the reason she wouldn’t come out is because she said you stole her first time from her!” Engel was too shocked to say anything, he couldn’t believe what he had just been accused of, he could barely get out, “W-what?!?!” Leaning around Elizabeth, Sena shouted, “You took my first kill away from me!” Elizabeth stopped in her tracks looking back at the little girl, “W-wait… You were talking about your first time killing someone?” Sena nodded to Elizabeth. Engel recovering from his near heart attack said, “Yeah, she was trying to find Atari.” Elizabeth’s eye twitched as she looked back and down at the little girl, “you were trying to hurt Atari?!?!” Sena, getting nervous backed up a bit mumbling, “Sorry… I didn’t know who it was…” Engel walked over putting a hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder and said, “It’s ok she is just misguided, I’m trying to help her, the church really did a number on her.” He walked over to the couch grabbing the tome and handed it to Sena saying, “Read this it’s my family’s old bible, there is none of those changes they have made in these recent versions.” The tome was ancient he knew it had to be about 800 years old by now, and it had been well taken care of. Sena took the bible over to the table and opened it looking at it from the beginning and complained, “Hey! This is all written by hand I can barely read it.” Engel smiled at her and said, “Trust me, it will be worth your life.” Looking back at the two big bags of clothes he asked Elizabeth, “Did you have to bring a full wardrobe?” Elizabeth just rolled her eyes at him saying, “Please, don’t even insult me that is not even a quarter of a wardrobe.” As Elizabeth watched Sena she asked Engel, “So, have you told Atari about your little project yet?” With a sigh Engel said, “No, but I’m sure I need to sooner than later. I forgot to call him last night when I got home. I should probably give him a call.” He reaches out for his phone as…
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Post by LittleBlackCat on May 10, 2014 11:59:56 GMT -8
OOC (Edited): Sorry that this had to be a work in progress earlier! I started this on mobile, but I didn't have enough time to finish typing up everything from my phone. Here is the actual post, all fixed up and pretty! I hope you enjoy it.
The night of his double date ended with many unanswered questions. Would Engel be joining the Underground Rebels? What happened to the pursuer following the blood leftover at the crime scene? Why did Matsu return home without explaining anything? These thoughts ran through the young man's mind as he rested on his bed with the family wolf by his side. (Matsu was lonely that night without Ryoshi.) Even though he knew that he should rest, he felt too restless to do so. At least that only lasted a few hours into the evening. Eventually, he fell asleep due to the fatigue from the mission, his wound, and the anxiety caused by concern.
When Atari woke up, his older brother already prepared to leave for work. Stopping the man at the doorsteps, the younger sibling asked again about what had happened the night before. He only got an "ask the other guy" comment from Matsu before sending him off to work. Due to the unsatisfactory response from his older brother and the lack of one rom Engel, Atari took it upon himself to look for the other man. Stopping by the university, he checked the classroom to see if Professor Glast was in. Unfortunately, it was a wasted effort. Staring off into the distance as he stood at the quad are, he thought of where to search for Engel if not at the university. The last place that he could check would be the man's home, but he did not know if it still belonged to him. Since there were no other leads, Atari decided to swing by anyway.
Walking around the neighborhood, he looked around curiously at the familiar buildings. Looking around, he thought to himself, 'It sure has been a while since I came around here.' He continued on with a decent pace until he reached Engel's home and stood at the door. "Let's see if he still lives here," he said aloud to himself, reaching his hand out to knock the door. Knock knock. His fist rapped against the wood. "Hello? Is anyone there?" he yelled out, hoping to get the homeowners' attention.
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Post by Erlkings on May 11, 2014 11:08:10 GMT -8
Engel heard the door knock as he was reaching for his phone. The skeleton jumped up to go answer it, and Engel yelled, "Hey! Get away from there you." The skeleton backed off as Engel shook his head at it and went to open the door. Finding Atari standing there he said, "Oh, hey Atari I was just about to call you." He held the door open so that he could walk in the skeleton waving at him from the corner. Elizabeth peeked her head around the corner and said, "Hi Atari!" Sena looked up at the mention of Atari's name and quickly went back to reading the book she was given not wanting to be noticed at that moment.
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Post by LittleBlackCat on May 11, 2014 22:50:18 GMT -8
The sound of Engel's voice from the other side of the door notified Atari that the man he had been searching for all morning was only a few steps away. 'Maybe I'll finally get some answers,' thought the young male as he waited for the door to open. Soon enough, Engel finally opened it to greet him and motioned for the boy to enter his home. Atari walked in only to see two other familiar faces. They greeted him in a cheerful manner. Their unexpected appearance completely threw him off. 'How am I supposed to ask him about last night now?' he wondered, staring back at Engel. He realized that he had gone on a date with both Engel and Elizabeth the day before, and he got himself into some trouble with the government, religious cult, and the underground rebels.
Just as he was wondering how to put his thoughts into words, he noticed something was off. There was a strange presence in the room with them. He looked around to see a young girl, dressed in Elizabeth's old clothes, and reading what-looks-to-be an old bible. "Who is that?" he asked, pointing to the girl. He stayed by Engel's side and waited for an answer.
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Post by Erlkings on May 12, 2014 10:39:00 GMT -8
Engel crossed his arms frowning, and saying, “How do I say this... She was the one trying to track you down last night.” Elizabeth looked between all three of them piping up, “And why would she,” As she points towards Sena, “Be tracking Atari?” Before Engel could respond Sena spun around on the chair and said, “Because he was injured! My sisters and I were told to help the injured along to their final rest for the Serephim.” She crossed her arms and said, “Then he had to stop me.” With a sigh Engel said, “get back to your reading Sena, hopefully you’ll learn I’ve done you a favor in time.” Sena just turned around with a, “Hmph,” and went back to reading. Elizabeth then glared over at Atari, “And? Why were you injured?”
Engel jumped in to save his friend the explanation, “You see, me and Atari here went out to hang out at the bar and got a little drunk. We were just messing around, and Atari wanted to show off so asked me to spar with him, and I accidentally cut his arm.” Elizabeth eyes were glaring at Engel now for a number of reasons as he had continued, “So I carried him home, and my Gigai told me he was being tracked so I went to go stop them with Matsu. Then Sena was that person.” Elizabeth not amused tapped her foot arms crossed under her breast, “You’re telling me you and Atari got drunk together, then after cutting him you go and kidnap a little twelve year old nun and take her home with you…” She then glared at Atari saying, “after dropping me off at home you go and party all night?!?! After what happened to me?!?!”
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Post by LittleBlackCat on May 12, 2014 12:15:38 GMT -8
Atari just stood and watched as the others talked amongst themselves, leaving him out of the conversation (even though they were talking about him). As the conversation kept going, the situation turned for the worse. There was honestly no way to explain the situation to Elizabeth without getting into some kind of trouble with the girl. A part of him regretted keeping the events of last night a secret from her, but another feeling whelmed up inside of him. He grew angry. "What happened to you was my fault and I shouldn't have left you alone! But there's nothing I can do about it now! I can't turn back time to change things. And what I do with others is my business!" he yelled at Elizabeth, releasing all his frustrations from the day before to now. His inability to protect Elizabeth and all the secrecy bottled up occurring within a matter of hours took its toll on the young man. Atari was seeing red; his heart pounded hard against his chest and his fist clenched tightly by his side. There was complete silence in the room.
What broke the silence was the ringing of Atari's cell. The young man did not turn away as he took out his phone to see who the caller was. The words Private Number showed on the screen, and he knew it had to be related to the U.R. It infuriated him even more since they were calling him at such a terrible time, but he could not ignore it. Everything he had been doing for the past two years would have been a waste if he started to ignore what really mattered. (As for now, what mattered was the big picture. He may even be a bit naive to feel that way instead of prioritizing his loyalties to his friends.) Turning around and walking out the door without a word of good bye, he picked up the call and spoke in a serious tone. "What is it?" he asked. A familiar voice laughed at him. "What are you doing, Mr. Grouchypants?" asked the female in a casual manner. Atari kept on walking, hoping that the others did not follow him. Seeing as the caller was the female rebel he worked with at the hotel, he replied in an irritated fashion, "Look... what do you want? If it's not about work, don't call me." He stopped walking after finding a good spot to stay at and stood against the wall of a nearby building, waiting for the woman's reply. She replied saying, "The big honcho wants us to check out the circus that's coming into town." Atari sighed, lowering his scarlet eyes to the ground and nodding, even though he was on the phone. He ran his fingers through his hair and spoke up, realizing that he had not responded to her yet. "Alright. Where are we meeting?" he asked, changing his attitude towards the woman on the phone. "Meet me tomorrow in the old part of the shopping district by the clock tower! They're going to be setting up near there. Oh, and this time... you don't have to worry about how you dress! Just think of it as a date!"
The girl hung up before Atari could make a retort. Date was the last word he wanted to hear after what had happened. He glared at his phone, hearing the dead line that signified the end of their call. He muttered under his breath, saying things like, "I can't believe I'm working with that girl again. What's the leader thinking? Putting us together after we just finished a mission last night." Again, he sighed, this time looking up into the clear blue skies. The sound of birds chirping calmed his nerves, and he thought back to what happened at Engel's place. 'I should go back and apologize,' thought Atari, stretching his arms up before turning his body towards Engel's home. Even though he had told himself to go back, he stood there on the spot, not wanting to move. There was something else that bothered him. That girl that had been following his trail of blood... 'could she be part of another faction?' If that was the case, Atari had to get some more answers. He was deciding to either go back to Engel's place or go somewhere else to find some information about the girl until he saw someone familiar.
OOC: I'm hoping this thread can go on for another two to three posts before we head to the circus!
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Post by Erlkings on May 12, 2014 15:28:58 GMT -8
Elizabeth’s eyes glowed a bright amber color after she heard Atari yell back. The demon soul she had absorbed months ago restless and eager for a fight. As Atari grabbed his phone and walked out she yelled after him, “You weren’t the victim I was! ARGH.” Elizabeth punched the wall next to her leaving a hole the size of her fist in it. Pulling her fist away she notice she had cut her knuckles open, and quietly walked to the kitchen to wrap the wound shaking with anger the whole way. Engel was trying to process a lot of information and was too preoccupied to care about the damage to his wall. Still impressed by Elizabeth’s transformation he asked, “What happened?” Elizabeth glared at him and growled, “You’re the last person I want to talk to.” She stormed out of the building with a kitchen towel around her hand.
Meanwhile the skeleton had been following Atari, being as quiet as possible it had eavesdropped on his conversation. As Atari turned back around the skeleton stood there arms crossed tapping its foot with an annoyed expression. It mimed out its demands looking a bit crazy, wanting something from telling Elizabeth about the phone call, but what was wanted wasn’t made to clear in any translation. The miming stopped suddenly as you could hear a little rattle go through the skeletons spine, looking behind it darted past Atari into an alley to hide. Elizabeth was fuming as she walked along the sidewalk, mumbling to herself, tears hot in her eyes.
She wasn’t even paying attention as she walked into Atari and yelled, “Watch it!” Meeting his eyes with a bit of blurred vision, she clenched her fists and kept walking past him. The skeleton peeked its head out of the ally visible to Atari and rubbed its hands together like it was plotting something.
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Post by LittleBlackCat on May 13, 2014 1:29:08 GMT -8
OOC: Aww... it's not like the skeleton really heard anything. I don't want to be mean to the skeleton either, but he followed Atari. ):
Turning around, he saw Masuja, the friendly neighborhood skeleton, tapping his foot impatiently. He made some crazy gestures, but Atari could not make word of what he was trying to say. The skeleton did not stay long enough for the young male to figure it out. His quick disappearance act really confused Atari until he saw Elizabeth stomping along the sidewalk towards him. Atari tried to avoid contact; however, the girl still managed to bump into him. In an irritated fashion, she yelled at him to watch where he was going, looking up to realize it was the man who caused the tears in her eyes. Before Atari could say anything, she left without a word. 'Even if I chased after her, I can't explain it... I'll end up lying to her more and more,' he thought, sighing out involuntarily.
Shoving his hands in his pocket, he realized that Elizabeth was no longer at Engel's place. He headed towards the man's home and knocked on the door again. 'This time, I'll get some answers,' thought the young man as he waited outside. His cat-like curiosity nearly got him in some deep trouble with his other companion, but the need-to-know feeling bothered him.
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Post by Erlkings on May 13, 2014 13:54:47 GMT -8
Engel watched as everyone stormed from his house, he could see Sena silently watching him after all of the commotion. He walked over to his door looking out seeing nobody around, and gently closed it. Sitting down in his recliner he looked into the curious stare of Sena’s eyes saying, “Maybe I haven’t done this the right way Sena, do me a favor and come sit down on the couch and I’ll explain to you more about myself.” She reluctantly closed the bible she had been looking over, but not really reading, then walked over to the couch and sat between the two big bags of clothing Elizabeth had brought over. Engel smiled then began sharing his story hoping it would help Sena along with her life choices.
“First it helps to know that I was alive about 400 years ago. When I was about your age there was only two things we really had, work and church. My father knew I was a bright kid, and he couldn’t afford to have me tutored. He would say all the time whilst helping him in the fields that he would find a way for me to at least learn to read, something he had never gotten to do in his childhood. It was shortly after that I had moved to the church in a nearby village, and began being taught the ways of priesthood. Doors were opened to me, and I eventually on top of an education was also able to travel.” Engel continued on about some of his travels, and about how he had gone from town to town helping people.
A short pause was taken while Engel went to the kitchen to pour them each a glass of juice putting it in the table in front of Sena. Taking a sip he went on with the story, “I was in my late teens when I became ordained as a priest, which was about the age of adults back then.” Some shadows of pain long past could be seen as he went on, “It was shortly after I had passed away during what your historians call the thirty year war. That is where my faith was truly challenged.” He motioned to the black robe he wore saying, “People die, and it’s just a whole new struggle, not as pretty as the book paints it.”
Shaking off the old memories he said, “I won’t bore you with information on soul society, there will be plenty of time for that after you live a long life, but I will tell you killing someone for this tournament doesn’t help anyone in the afterlife. The Serephim don’t seem to be so concerned with your eternal soul.” Sena looked at him questioningly asking, “How is reading your old Bible going to help anything?” Engel smiled and said, “It will help you learn to practice your free will, and not do something just because a corrupt priest told you to do something.” Their conversation was interrupted by a soft familiar knock on his door getting up he said back to Sena, “Want to take bets on which one it is?” He didn’t wait for the answer as he swung the door open to greet his new guest.
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Post by LittleBlackCat on May 14, 2014 2:02:09 GMT -8
OOC: Poor Sena, having to sit through a long history lesson from an old fart! Haha! Good thing Atari didn't have to sit through that!
The trip back to Engel's place did not take long because he did not walk too far. When he knocked, Engel opened the door and let him in again. Atari did not even have to ask if Elizabeth was still there since he had seen her fuming in the streets not too long ago. The shinigami probably had some questions for him in regards to Elizabeth, but he kept it to himself as Atari sat down on one of the chairs within the room. Since he entered the room, he had kept his eyes on the young girl sitting on the couch, being very wary of his assassin. "So what happened last night after the talk we had?" the young male asked somewhat vaguely since they had extra company. He continued with his question, adding, "Matsu came home pretty out of it and didn't tell me anything. Did something happen with you and my brother?" Whatever did happen, he guessed that it had something to do with Sena being at Engel's house.
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Post by Erlkings on May 14, 2014 10:40:54 GMT -8
Engel shook his head at the thought of Matsu, looking towards Atari he said, “Nothing happened, just a difference of opinion.” He looked back down at Sena on the couch now asking, “So Sena, how did you know where to find Atari’s blood last night?” She looked at him like it was a dumb question, “My priest told me of course, he tells all the nuns where they are needed.” This led Engel to assume they must also have some kind of surveillance in the city. Not wanting too much attitude from the girl Engel asked, “Then could you please tell me what you did after that before Matsu and I showed up?” She didn’t go into big details on it but explained she had just used her magic to start tracking Atari from when she got to the pool of blood, and then she remembered talking to Engel, shortly after passing out.
Engel looked at the girl and asked, “So how were you planning kill anyone with healing powers?” Sena jumped up and said, “I’ll show you!” She ran over to Atari quickly and poked his wound from the night before letting her power knit his flesh back together as if it were brand new. Engel’s heart stopped thinking, ‘Oh no, what have I done…’ Sena ran back away from Atari, Engel clenching the handle of his sword tight enough that his hand was starting to hurt. Engel watched, but Atari didn’t seem to be affected by anything glaring at Sena he said, “Explain yourself!”
Sena smiled and said, “It’s ok I didn’t kill him, with a cut that small he might just be suffering from a small side effect.” Looking over at Atari, Engel asked, “Are you ok?” Sena started saying, “My healing powers can heal anything, but there are side effects the worse the wound the more severe the side effects get.” She did avert her eyes and mumble, “though some people are more prone to side effects than others…” Engel stared her down saying, “Meaning?!?!” Sena took a deep breath, and started to recite from memory, “Side effects may include: coughing, itching, dryness of throat, sneezing, involuntary muscle spasms, aches and pains, death, giddiness, spontaneous outbursts, migraines, nirvana, paranoia, vertigo, diarrhea, constipation, and…” Engel cut her off, “Ok, I get it there are a lot of side effects… Did you say nirvana?” She shook her head and said, “Nope.” Engel watched her closely turning to Atari see if any of these side effects would pop up.
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Post by LittleBlackCat on May 14, 2014 11:54:10 GMT -8
Atari did not move away in time to prevent the girl from touching him. At her stabbing finger, he flinched from the sharp pain of having his wound poked. "H-Hey!" he cried out before the pain disappeared altogether. At this surprising sensation, he looked at the girl, and then at his wound while Engel demanded for some answers. While the shinigami questioned the young girl, Atari stood from his spot, took off his outer long-sleeved V-neck, lifted his T-shirt sleeve, and unwrapped his bandages. 'The gunshot wound is healed,' he thought, running his hand over the healed flesh. It did not even leave a scar. At that moment, the young male decided to listen in to the conversation. "...side effects may include: coughing, itching, dryness of throat, sneezing, involuntary muscle spasms, aches and pains, death..." with the list continuing on until Engel stopped her.
For a while, Atari stood there in perfect health. He looked towards Engel, who had turned to the young male and sought some unspoken answer. Everything seemed normal until Atari's vision suddenly started spinning. He widened his scarlet eyes, stumbling over slightly when he tried to move. Placing a hand on the table for support, Atari looked around the spinning room to found his target. He lunged at Sena with a crazed look, grabbing her shoulders tightly in his hands and growled at her, "W-What did you do to me?!" Even though he tried to keep his focus, the dizziness caused a pounding migraine. A part of him began to believe that if he got rid of the source, the symptoms would stop. His mind reasoned with him to avoid such violence, but the headache was slowly clouding his judgment.
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Post by Erlkings on May 14, 2014 13:38:24 GMT -8
Sena screamed falling to the floor when Atari grabbed her shoulders “Help! Help! He’s gone crazy,” she yelled while trying to twist free from his grip. Engel ran over trying to pull them apart yelling, “Atari what’s wrong, knock this off!” After a couple minutes of struggle Engel said, “Ok, that’s it I’m only doing this because I love you.” He focused a kidou to bind Atari locking him in the position he was in with his arms still latched onto Sena’s shoulders. Rolling him over he pulled Sena from his grips and said, “You said it wasn’t going to be bad with that little cut!” She hid her face and cried, “Sorry! He must just react badly to my magic.” Engel frowned between them both and said, “Sena you should go hide in my room I’m going to try and release him and sort him out.” Sena got up and ran into the room and shut the door a locking sound behind her. Engel turned back to Atari leaning over him slowly inching closer looking deep into his eyes, and whispered, “Just relax…” With that he released the kidou hoping a familiar face would calm Atari.
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Post by LittleBlackCat on May 14, 2014 16:30:54 GMT -8
Engel locked his movements with magic to get him to release Sena. The sudden stillness brought some of his senses back as he watched the two interact. Soon enough, the young girl left the area and locked the door behind her. Although he began to realize what sort of situation he was in, Atari remained angry at the little girl hiding in the other room. The intense migraine was so overwhelming that it made him sick to his stomach. Hearing Engel whisper softly to relax as he gently embraced him calmed his nerves. The younger male rested one of his hands on the man's shoulder and leaned his head down against the other, shaking slightly from the pain. After a calming silence, he gripped the shinigami's robe and was about to lean his face closer and closer to Engel when his phone started to ring.
Atari pulled back a bit, still in the man's arms. He let it ring until it stopped, looking at the man in front of him. His heart clenched tightly. Both his spiraling vision and pounding headache slowly disappeared. "Th-Thanks..." he muttered under his breath. The phone vibrated as the unknown caller left him a voice mail. Even so, Atari wanted to just enjoy the moment while he could.
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Post by Erlkings on May 14, 2014 23:14:11 GMT -8
Engel smiled backing up slowly and said, "For you Atari, anytime." With concern he added, "How are you feeling now?" He sat back a few feet from Atari keeping a glance at the phone that now showed he had a message. After Atari shared how he felt he took a breath through his mouth with a sigh and said, "So. Before you answer your phone I've put thought into it..." Mumbling a little he knew he was asking for trouble down the line, but finished, "I'll help you with the resistance, things like what's happening to Sena need to be stopped." He looked away not sure what response he wanted from Atari, but hoped it would at least be a good one.
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