Inner City // Carrion Land

Bravery Valentine
Liberator
-------------------------------------
"To see the people I care about free and happy...I'll fight until my very last breath."
-------------------------------------

"The best superhero you've ever seen?" Bravery looked at Gabriel, his eyes practically glittering in amazement at this revelation. "Y-You really mean that, Gabriel? Because if you do, that would be--like--one of the best things that anyone has ever said to me ever!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bravery's Theme - Declaration of War

Gabriel Winters
*Incendium*
-----
"All is fair in love and war..."
-----

"Of course I mean it, silly," he replied, smiling warmly at the other male. "I mean... I wouldn't lie to you. And besides; I deserve to have the title of having said the best thing to you. I'm your boyfriend after all," he added, chuckling a bit before ruffling his hair.

Bravery Valentine
Liberator
-------------------------------------
"To see the people I care about free and happy...I'll fight until my very last breath."
-------------------------------------

Bravery gave Gabriel a big grin, stopping there in the hallway for a moment to look at him.
"You know...over the past month, I was kind of getting worried that maybe the whole being a hero thing was being seen as childish...but, now I see that it's A-Okay! I'm just gonna have to work doubly hard until we manage to beat the bad guys and all get out of here, huh?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bravery's Theme - Declaration of War

Gabriel Winters
*Incendium*
-----
"All is fair in love and war..."
-----

Gabriel stopped when Bravery did, smiling at him while he listened to his words. He nodded slightly at first before stepping forward, carefully wrapping his arms around him in a hug. "Of course... but don't overwork yourself. You've been working pretty hard already and I don't want you to become so wrapped up in training and all that nothing else matters..."

Emilia Melchiott

The Valkyur



Emilia looked at her injury, and placed a hand on it, She was trying to stop the bleeding, but the blood just leaked in between the cracks of her fingers. She hissed, but did her best to hide most of her pain. She was surprised that she had even done so well. "No... Keep the knife dear. You need to keep on practicing..." Emilia said as she turned to head to the infirmary. "Hey Chelsea... Mind if I ask you something? Did you see Elliot anywhere during this fight?"

"Justice, Peace, and Love must be protected! And I will stop at nothing to protect Law and ORDER! FOR JUSTICE! TO ARMS!"

Bravery Valentine
Liberator
-------------------------------------
"To see the people I care about free and happy...I'll fight until my very last breath."
-------------------------------------

"It's really hard to balance it all out..." Bravery mused on the subject for a moment. He knew that he had to set time aside for Gabriel, after all... "...Hm! Gabriel! We should go on a date!" Better to get it done sooner rather than later!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bravery's Theme - Declaration of War

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Ryder Mercy
Curveball
-------------------------------------
"We still have a chance. I can’t give up now.”
-------------------------------------

After a long walk home of awkward talks about the weather, Ryder finally returned to Carrion Land along with Jo. As they headed into the entrance, he looked around worriedly, wondering how much damage The Family's assassins had done...it was around that time that he spotted a few footmen, and walked over to them, asking,
"Hey, so--we heard that you guys were kind of attacked by assassins here...is everyone alright?"
"The injured are all in the infirmary, sir," the footman replied simply. "We managed to fight them off, and then they retreated. There weren't any major casualties, as far as we know."
"Alright--thanks," Ryder nodded to the soldier, then turned, facing Jo again and smiling at her. "Good news, huh?" It took him a moment to remember the things that had just played out at the dance, and he hesitated for a moment, giving a slight awkward laugh. His suit was suddenly starting to feel quite suffocating--he felt kind of sweaty and gross, too, come to think of it--must've been any of the number of times he had freaked out and/or gotten nervous at the dance. He paused for a moment, then began moving down the hallway, talking to Jo as he slowly walked away, facing her and walking backwards, "I--uh--I'm gonna go get washed up and change and stuff--but after, we still need to talk--wh-whatever time is good for you, of course--we could meet...uh...in the infirmary? Just so we can check on how everyone's doing first. Y-Yeah, we can meet there, and then choose where to go from there. So--" He paused as he accidentally walked backwards into the wall next to a doorway, jumping slightly as he did so. "Uh--y-yeah. See you then--" And with that, he turned, hurrying off back to his room to get cleaned up and changed. He was pretty sure that his tie was trying to strangle him by this point. Not wanting to have to accuse his tie of attempted manslaughter, he untied it even before he got back to his room. Once he got to his room, he headed inside, closing the door behind himself, and started getting all cleaned up and whatnot.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryder's Theme - Burn My Dread (Reincarnation)

Chelsea Mercy
The Comeback Kid
-------------------------------------
"Just you wait! I'll show you that I can protect the people that I care about!"
-------------------------------------

Chelsea followed Emilia along on the way to the infirmary, and thought about the woman's question for a moment. "Hm...Elliot? No, I don't think I saw him...I-I haven't seen him all day, I don't think...why do you ask?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chelsea's Theme - Comeback Kid

Emilia Melchiott

The Valkyur



"Nothing... I just... Find it odd sometimes. But whatever, his life not mine. He's probably all torn up still about what happened with Jo and Bunny... They kind of broke up you know... Hence the reason she hasn't come back. It's more Elliot then it is Jo I think." Emilia said as she sat down and waited for the medics to treat her. She lifted her arm and allowed the female doctor fish out the bullet stuck in her arm. She kept a straight face the entire time. "Oh god... That feels good to get that stuff out..." Emilia hissed with a piece of the bullet was taken out. "Take a mental note Chelsea... Don't ever get shot here..."

"Justice, Peace, and Love must be protected! And I will stop at nothing to protect Law and ORDER! FOR JUSTICE! TO ARMS!"

Chelsea Mercy
The Comeback Kid
-------------------------------------
"Just you wait! I'll show you that I can protect the people that I care about!"
-------------------------------------

"Oh no, they broke up? Really?" Chelsea asked, frowning in concern. "J-Just how much did I sleep through today...?" Chelsea sat on a stool nearby the bed as Emilia was treated. As the bullet was being taken out, Chelsea did her best to focus on looking at Emilia's face, rather than the wound. "I-I think that I'd rather not get shot in general..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chelsea's Theme - Comeback Kid

Gabriel Winters
*Incendium*
-----
"All is fair in love and war..."
-----

"... A date?" Gabriel tilted his head as he looked at Bravery, though his lips curved upwards into a surprised, but happy smile. "That sounds... that sounds nice, actually. Did you have anything in mind?" he asked curiously, hugging him tighter for a moment before he pulled away and merely held his hand with his less injured hand, smiling softly.

i`d give my life
not for honor, but for you
in my time, there will be no one else. ↯

__________________________________________________________________________________________

That was probably the most enthralling conversation about weather she would ever endure. Jo entered Carrion Land along with Ryder, her eye scanning the room. Nothing too bad on her first look, at least. She cupped her hand around her mouth before bellowing, "Honey, I`m ho-ome!" through the halls. With a soft shrug, she quietly followed Ryder as he approached a pair of footmen, watching their conversation carefully. As Hal had said, nothing too serious went down, at the very least. It still wouldn`t be dismissed too easily, though. She wouldn`t let this down. The only reason she kept their alliance after finding out about the assassins was because it was in her best interest to do so. She felt like a sellout; but, if it meant the lives of her Vultures being spared, she could deal with it.
She gave the footman a rather involuntary glare before Ryder spoke to her again. "Uh, yeah! Really good news." She replied to him, her nerves getting the better of her. She returned his awkward laugh, rubbing her arm bashfully. She sort of liked it better when they were talking about the weather. That was nice. She watched, mentally wanting to scold him for doing something as clumsy as walk backwards in a rather spacious hallway, but... it was funner to just watch. Jo knitted her eyebrows sympathetically as he crashed into a wall, jumping and wincing slightly as he did. "S-Sounds good! I`m gonna.. do that too! I`ll see you in a bit!!" She responded, giving him a sheepish smile. Something is off. It`s your hands. Do something with them. Wave, maybe? No, no -- don`t wave! Why are you waving?! It looks stupid! Screw it-- you`re committed. YOU ARE RIDING THIS WAVE STRAIGHT TO HELL. Forget it. The sooner she got out of this dress and the less people saw her in it, the better. Jo made a mad dash for her room, her face fixed on the ground in the case that if someone saw her, maybe they wouldn`t recognize her! Except, there was a surprising lack of blue haired women in Vulture Team, making her rather notable among them. Whatever. She locked herself up in her room for the time being, anxious to get into some actual clothes.  


__________________________________________________________________________________________
♚ ❝ Jo`s Theme - I Always Kill The Things I Love ❞ ♚
★☆﹙ l e t    t h e    p u n i s h m e n t    f i t    t h e    c r i m e ﹚

Ryder Mercy
Curveball
-------------------------------------
"We still have a chance. I can’t give up now.”
-------------------------------------

After taking a bit to just chill out in the shower kind of, Ryder had gotten back out and gotten dressed--he was too tired right now to actually care about his outfit, so a t-shirt and jeans would suffice. He brought a towel with him, letting it drape over his shoulders to prevent his hair from dripping all over his shirt and making it all wet. He took a moment to muss with his hair with his hands, but didn't even bother styling it like he usually did. Yup. Too tired for that right now.
He simply left his room, shutting the door once he was out, then headed to the infirmary. As he walked there, he tried to think over everything that had happened, but the entire memory of the banquet was just a big blur of upset feelings--with that small gem of happiness that he'd had with Jo embedded right into the center of it. He kind of wished that he hadn't screwed that whole thing with Jo up--that waltz had actually been really nice, at first. Then, he just had to go and ruin it, didn't he?
He sighed as he entered the infirmary, looking around at the people sitting at all of the beds, and the people being treated. He found himself relieved as he saw Chelsea sitting by Emilia, perfectly fine and well, but decided not to interrupt her, since she was having a conversation and all. He moved to a folding chair that was up against a wall and sat down in it, waiting for Jo. Did she even actually want to talk to him? What if he had totally creeped her out? He really hoped that she didn't think he was a creep...because that would suck. A lot.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryder's Theme - Burn My Dread (Reincarnation)

Bravery Valentine
Liberator
-------------------------------------
"To see the people I care about free and happy...I'll fight until my very last breath."
-------------------------------------

"Well...we just need to think of something fun to do!" Bravery gave Gabriel a grin, then put his thinking face on. And he thought. And thought. And thought. And he was kinda stumped, but he kept thinking anyhow--

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bravery's Theme - Declaration of War

Gabriel Winters
*Incendium*
-----
"All is fair in love and war..."
-----

Gabriel hummed a bit as he too tried to think, gently playing with Bravery's fingers before he suddenly though of an idea. Although... he was a bit unsure. "Well... I mean... I'm not sure how much you'd like this but there's a bar here somewhere...? That way we could still be around in case someone needed us...?" he suggested tentatively.

Bravery Valentine
Liberator
-------------------------------------
"To see the people I care about free and happy...I'll fight until my very last breath."
-------------------------------------

"Oh! Great idea, Gabriel!" Bars were where grown-ups went to drink stuff, right--no, wait! He was an adult, too, he wasn't just some kid! ...Right? Either way! "Yeah, we could totally go there and get drinks and stuff!" Bravery gave a wide smile, gripping tightly onto Gabriel's hand before full-out running off and dragging Gabriel along. "Let's GO~!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bravery's Theme - Declaration of War

Gabriel Winters
*Incendium*
-----
"All is fair in love and war..."
-----

"... You really think so?" Gabriel smiled slowly- before suddenly Bravery was dragging him along and he laughed slightly as he hurried to keep up with him. "It's not going to go anywhere, Bravery...!" he yelped- but he was happy that Bravery seemed interested in his idea. It was a beginning- though it did cross his mind that he would need to keep an eye on the blue-haired superhero and how much he drank...

words that kill
would you speak them to me?
let the world fear us all, it`s just means to an end ↯

__________________________________________________________________________________________

After undressing and condemning that dress of her`s to the very back of her closet, Jo took a brief shower, which mostly consisted of her irritably scrubbing at her Paladin tattoo -- thinking maybe there was a chance soap could wash it away. She had no such luck, only succeeding in making her long hair annoyingly wet. That was definitely the downside to her current hair length. She sort of preferred it back when it was short. But there was a surprising lack of hair salons in No Man's Land, she found.
And she didn`t trust herself with a pair of scissors anymore. Made myself sad again...

She quickly got dressed in a white button up shirt and some slacks; smiling as she looked at her reflection. Better. She held a few ties in front of her neck, comparing them, but decided she could go a bit without one. As horrible at that sounded. After tonight, she had quite the desire to keep away from formal things for a while. Jo sighed, looking at her reflection as she tightly tied her eye patch over her empty wound routinely. Over the eye lid was now a faint pink scar that had been cleaned and disinfected by Jade a month ago; luckily enough, her patch hid it all quite nicely, so she didn`t have to stare at the grim and permanent reminder on her face. Covering an obnoxious yawn as she did, Jo exited her room, closing the door behind her. She wanted sleep. She wanted sleep so badly. But, she had Vulture things to do. Check up on the injured, ask about Bunny, and talk to Ryder. She kind of wanted to procrastinate more on that last one; but she knew he`d be waiting for her at the Infirmary. Not that she didn`t want to speak to him in particular-- she just quite honestly didn`t trust herself around him at the moment. She didn`t want to do something she would regret. Or say something she would regret. Both were equally plausible, and it unnerved her.
She tried to keep such thoughts at bay, not wanting them to plague her when time came to actually speak to him.

The Boss approached the Infirmary, knocking on the open door as she entered. A slight smile snuck on her face as she noticed some familiar faces getting treated; Emilia and Chelsea in particular. She was worried about them both. But, they were indulged in conversation, so she sufficed with offering the pair a nod of acknowledgement. Her sight had originally grazed over Ryder, not fully recognizing him with that moppy hair he currently wore. When she finally did notice him, she just stared. Not that it was weird -- just alien to see him without his hedgehog hair! She almost wanted to touch it, but that was definitely weird. Very weird. She almost waved again, too, but past experience told her not too. "Uh, hey." She said briefly, leaning against the wall next to her companion.


__________________________________________________________________________________________
♚ ❝ Jo`s Theme - I Always Kill The Things I Love ❞ ♚
★☆﹙ l e t    t h e    p u n i s h m e n t    f i t    t h e    c r i m e ﹚

Ryder Mercy
Curveball
-------------------------------------
"We still have a chance. I can’t give up now.”
-------------------------------------

"Hey there," Ryder gave Jo a small wave, managing to conjure up a smile for her. Even if he'd made the air between them super awkward, he still didn't have any ill will towards Jo or anything. He'd always have a smile ready for her.
At that moment, he had been about to say something else, but then Bunny appeared, and he fell quiet, raising his eyebrows over at the other redhead. It was obvious that Bunny just wanted to talk to Jo, so he decided to let them talk, and looked down slightly, pretending to become very absorbed in fixing his goatee. It was a bit crooked, actually, now that he looked at it, so he actually did start working on fixing it...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryder's Theme - Burn My Dread (Reincarnation)

Bravery Valentine
Liberator
-------------------------------------
"To see the people I care about free and happy...I'll fight until my very last breath."
-------------------------------------

Bravery happily ran all the way there, dragging Gabriel all the way, then finally skidded to a halt once they had reached the bar. "Alright! Here we are! The bar! So..." He trotted forward, taking a seat at one of the bar stools, then swiveling around on the chair to look back at Gabriel. "What kinds of drinks should we get? Do you know any good ones?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bravery's Theme - Declaration of War

words that kill
would you speak them to me?
let the world fear us all, it`s just means to an end ↯

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Okay good, he was waving. She awkwardly returned the gesture; but it still felt weird when she did it. Jo forced her hand back down, letting it dangle awkwardly at her side. She ran a shaky hand through her hair. She waited a moment - which again felt like it would never end - before opening her mouth again.
Just as she did, she heard a familiar voice in the doorway. "Bunny!" She chirped, immediately throwing her arms around the other woman. It hadn`t occurred to her that Bunny had tried to end her life earlier -- or, that at the time, she was okay with that. She didn`t even know if Bunny came back with the intentions of still being a part of Vulture Team. For all she knew, she could be here to kill her. But, Jo could take that chance. She tensed for a moment, realizing what she had done, and hastily backed away from the former assassin. Her eye flickered over to Ryder, whom was... fixing his goatee. Oh, no. That was cute. Focus. She had a mountain of things to say to this girl. Apologies, questions, concerns, but for now all she said was "... Are you still with Vulture Team?"


__________________________________________________________________________________________
♚ ❝ Jo`s Theme - I Always Kill The Things I Love ❞ ♚
★☆﹙ l e t    t h e    p u n i s h m e n t    f i t    t h e    c r i m e ﹚

Gabriel Winters
*Incendium*
-----
"All is fair in love and war..."
-----

Gabriel laughed as he hurried to keep up with Bravery, finding his enthusiasm rather infectious. Even after he was released, he followed him happily, humming softly as he took a seat beside Bravery. "Hm... well..." Tapping his fingers on the counter, he thought for a moment, before shrugging. "I'm not sure...?"

Bravery Valentine
Liberator
-------------------------------------
"To see the people I care about free and happy...I'll fight until my very last breath."
-------------------------------------

Bravery turned around again, so that he was facing the counter, then looked to Gabriel, speaking cheerfully,
"Well, I don't know any special drinks or anything, so just pick something that you think is good, and I'll get the same thing that you get. How does that sound?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bravery's Theme - Declaration of War