Re: Tension project

[Kotone]

Kotone simply waved her hand nonchalantly as she relaxed when Atrum told her to tell him about any Allergies. Grant had already passed out at the table, apparently more tired than hungry. Kotone didn't have the heart to wake the boy. It suited her fine anyway. Kids had a way of censoring how she acted, and even if she liked him it could be a bit inconvenient. "As much as he can manage, huh?" Kotone asked as Atrum looked around. "You're big but not whole restaurant big. Unless your real secret is that you break down food into fuel for your flame magic," she joked, though she was probably as hungry as he was. She looked at the waiter. "I'll have what he's having."

The waiter looked surprised, to say the least. Have what he was having? She was so much smaller! Could a child afford this much?! It was like she could hear what he must be thinking. She couldn't of course, but that was what she imagined. It made her grin a knowing grin at Atrum as the waiter scrambled off to start their orders. It would take awhile to cook that much. "At least it'll make up for their lack of customers today," she shrugged.

Before long, she was brought a glass of water, which she was rather glad to have. Placing her hand on the glass, it frosted over like a mug of root beer. She never failed to appreciate the little things she could do with ice magic. Taking a drink of the extra chilled water, she let out a contented sigh, leaning back and letting her head fall back for a moment.

"So how does a guy like you join a guild like Fairy Tail anyway?" she asked curiously, raising her head again. "No wait scratch that. How does Fairy Tail attract so many strange people?" She actually meant to ask both questions, but the second one was even more entertaining to ask. She was pretty sure there wasn't a normal person in Fairy Tail. It was probably why it was her favorite of the guilds.

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum chuckled drawing a chair for him to sit down, getting comfortable at his seat.  “No I just eat more food in general.  Something about my body means I need a larger food intake to operate like normal.”  He replied to her joke with a smile on his face, he didn’t talk about it unless mentioned.  He didn’t really understand the specifics of it, and honestly didn’t care.  To him it was just another thing he had to deal with, more of an inconvenience than anything else.  He was more interested in her order, she had basically declared a kings feast of this little outing.  He sighed and knew that he would be doing work for this place later on to pay for this meal but whatever he didn’t mind helping out the Crossroads.  

He took up his glass of water when it was brought to him and raised it above his head before taking a drink.  He sighed as Kotone asked him about his past and the Fairy Tail guild in general, he didn’t really think of the past but she did ask it would be a shame not to fill her in.   He cracked his neck and smiled, feeling pretty okay with sharing.  “Well you did ask and it might help me explain your second question.”  He chuckled, taking another drink from his cup.  “I ended up joining Fairy Tail some years back when my family fled our home country before that war ended.”  He said shrugging; he wasn’t interested in that part of his life and wasn't sure what to say concerning it.  "Until then my entire family had been running for our lives, kicked out of our home by an enemy we didn't understand and then running here in the middle of a war?  We must have had the luck on our side to survive it all."  He frowned for the first time in a long time.  "I was sick of running and this place was our new home so I joined Fairy Tail and I fought."

“On the subject of Fairy Tail, I am not sure what to tell you.  There could be plenty of explanations.  ‘Bird of a feather.’  ‘Like minded individuals.’  Honestly I have no idea what truly draws people to this little corner of Fiore, if you want my opinion that I can give.“  He said finishing off his water, before giving Kotone a smile and continuing.  “Many guilds are essentially extended family, but I feel like there is definitely something deeper when it comes to Fairy Tail.  I mean even among family you tend to be scared when your life is in danger, but among my guild mates that fear does not exist.”    The smile on his face turned to a grin.

“It is almost as if the guild itself is sentient and calling to those who belong, though that just might be the speculation of a foreigner trying to make sense of the local phenomenon.”  He said as leaning back in his chair, the grin changing into a cock sure smirk.  “Or, and I would find it much more interesting if it were true, that Fairy Tail is simply the proper result of people coming together.  Not for a cause, we have no overall goal.  Not because we are all the same, we are all different from each other.  Just people, joining together despite not having any real reason to do so.  If you ask me that might be our guild’s secret to getting all these ‘strange people.’” He said shaking his empty cup too keep his hands busy while he waited.

[Kotone]

The teenage girl might not have looked it when he spoke, but she was actually rather curious about Fairy Tail. No, she wasn't going to join it for multiple reasons, including both that she was tired of being abandoned by 'family' after twice in her life and the fact that she often did things that would reflect badly even on Fairy Tail, and had enough respect for it's Guild Master to not want to get his little guild in more trouble than he already did. There was just something about the place that was different. She'd visited them all since she started traveling at eight years old. She figured he probably had a point though, with his guessing. It was very accepting of even the most different and strange people. So long as they weren't truly bad people.


"I suppose I stick around a bit when I come here. Though I usually overstay my welcome and get in a bit of trouble," Kotone admitted, grinning as if she were proud of driving Ranor Taiga and his Ace completely insane. She actually probably knew Ranor better than most guild members did. Which was funny considering they'd only met a few times. "Perhaps it does have some sort of spooky magical draw," Kotone grinned mischievously, "Or curse." she added the second one because of her own outlook on joining a bunch of misfits who would insist she pretend they were her family.

Kotone ruffled the sleeping child's hair gently with a grin, before she recalled people often wanted to know about dragon slayers, and didn't want him thinking her asking made it fair game. "I expect you'd probably be interested in me as well, since I asked you?" she decided, leaning back and throwing her feet on the table despite the obvious rudeness of doing so. It wasn't like there was anyone here anyway. "But I'm afraid there's not much to tell. It usually ends up sounding like some sort of sob story when I tell it in my head and I'm not looking for your pity."

Kotone hadn't explained to anyone about her life with Krendall the ice dragon, nor had she ever felt the need to give the harsh truths of a young girl caught up in a war over the more romantic stories people told. All in all, her life - her real one - was a complete mystery. The very beginning of it was even a mystery to her. Her arms were crossed again, as they often were, once again giving off the attitude of wanting to be independent and aloof, despite her being more social with him than most people she talked to. Not to mention less rude. Rude kept people a safe distance away, which suited the dragon slayer just fine. She wasn't a fan of people in general to begin with.

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum shrugged at her, he didn’t need to tell her that the guilds door were open.  If she knew the Guild master she already knew, she didn’t need Atrum to thrust his guilds ‘hospitality’ in her face.  He had no desire to do so in any case.  Atrum kept mostly to himself, his polite mannerisms and speech pattern were simply to ease interacting with others.  Honestly he did not have many people he honestly called friends, he didn’t know many as actual people.  There wasn’t any point in trying to be over welcoming with her anyways, it was clear that she like to be distant from others.  He liked reading others, but it didn’t give you any true insight to the person being read.  

Atrum was about to reply when some of the food was brought and he stopped leaning in his chair moving out of the way for the serving to put the meal down.  He suddenly didn’t feel like eating despite the undeniable hunger he felt within.  He sighed annoyed taking a bite of pork, his favorite kind of meat should get his appetite back up and running.  Atrum put his food down after he had taken a few bites and looked at the Dragon Slayer, his eyes slightly narrowed over the soft smile that almost never left his face.  He didn’t think she had intentionally pressed this button, that would require her to know him a lot better than she did.  “I do not believe you intentionally insulted me, Kotone.”  He started, pausing to eat a bit more.  “Honestly you couldn’t have, unless you’ve dealt with Shanraian’s in the past.”

“Am I interested in you?  Perhaps, but if I wanted to know about your past I would have asked, and I do not intend to pity you after what I have witnessed.”  Hells was he hungry it was getting in the way of him talking.  “If you don’t want to tell me about your past then do not have to do anything of the sort.  You are free to do what you will and I shall not force you into anything.”  He had by this time calmed down, he didn’t have the energy to stay upset more than a few minutes at a time and right now the food was overriding any negative emotion he might be feeling.  It was a tiny transgression upon his honor anyways easily ignored, so why did he get bothered enough to even mention it?  He was probably just suffering from low energy levels.

Atrum wasn’t surprised to find that by the time he looked to check to see if the how much food had arrived, it covered most of the table. That put him in a good mood by itself, and meant he didn’t have to slow down.  “I apologize, I get a bit testy when I feel that I have been lumped in with certain groups.  I try to keep to myself normally and not bother others.  Today was a bit of an exception to that I will admit.  Still I shouldn’t have gotten upset over something most people would consider small.”  He finished grabbing some more food to pack away in his stomach.  He didn’t eat fast but he ate a lot, and at a constant steady pace.

[Kotone]

Kotone listened to Atrum rant as if she'd done anything unintentionally. The truth was, Kotone had grown accustomed to insulting people. Bad habit or not, she knew how people reacted to insults. Despite her hunger she hadn't started eating thanks to his explanation. Her feet left the table, planted firmly on the floor again. "Tch. You act like people aren't insulted by me all the time." She mused aloud, entirely for his benefit. His own reaction caused her to react negatively as well. Much as she tried to mask her emotions, Kotone wasn't good at masking annoyance or anger. No, those leaked out with her fiery temper like smoke from a chimney. She wasn't apologizing. She hasn't meant an insult but she also wasn't apologizing.

She finally reached over and grabbed some chicken, taking a bite, an annoyed furrow to her brow. Of course he'd be like the rest of them. Lecturing her and telling her she was rude. She knew she was rude. Did they expect to change her? At least he was apologizing. She decided to try and let it go for once, with the child nearby and her being low on energy. Plus causing a scene here might get her caught for good.

Kotone shoveled food and drink down every bit as well as Atrum, a surprising feat for a girl her size. Finally, she spoke again. "Look, I insult people a lot. Hell, most of the time I do it on purpose. But in case the kid can hear us... I didn't mean any offense." Stupid kids. Why did she have to like them so much for some reason? She hated kids when they grew up. Maybe it was because she never got to know what it was like to be one. Krendall had said her life was short enough without wasting it when she was important and should be learning what no one else could. "The point is..." Kotone didn't apologize. She never did. She had tried to just then, but she was exceedingly proud. "I'll keep that in mind if we meet again."

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum rolled his eyes, a wry smile on his face as he continued to eat the shrinking feast.  “Do not worry about it, at least when it comes to me.”  He started grabbing his refilled cup to help some of the food go down.  “Last I checked there are precious few mines you can really trip to get me on your case.  It is not like people put up warning signs spaying where they are specifically anyways”  He wasn’t stupid, and sometimes despite his rather polite demeanor some people assumed he was a simple brute.  They were wrong, he wasn’t the smartest person but he had more than enough insight and practical intelligence to make up for whatever the average person consider smart.  “Besides shouting matches never get me anywhere but angry.  Which in turns gets me into a fist fight, if I am going to fight anyways I would rather do it without the shouting.  You understand, correct?”  He didn’t know why he was still talking when he should be eating.  Usually he ran out of things to say at this point and fell silent but for some reason he couldn’t stand the absence of words.  It was an annoying feeling, he felt like he was forcing the words out of his mouth.

At the rate they were plowing through this food he was going to have an annoying time dealing with this.   It couldn’t be helped, he deal with the mess he was in as it came.  “Besides.  If we meet again?  I suppose it is entirely possible that I may indeed die before our next meeting.”  He said pausing to stuff his face a bit more.  “If I die before I figure out what I want to do with myself, there will be hell to pay.”  He chuckled, chugging the last of his water down.  “Thank you for humoring me today, Kotone.”  He said as he picked up some more food, and tearing into it.  “I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”  He hadn’t been doing much of anything before this.  Now he felt as if he had at least found a direction to head in, and he could attribute that to either the luck being with him Or the Dragon Slayer sitting next to him.  At the very least, he owed her a thanks for including him in saving Grant.  Though he had his pride as well he didn’t feel like giving her much more than what he already did, besides he was paying for the meal.

[Kotone]

Kotone nodded her understanding at Atrum's preference for letting his fists do the talking. Or shouting as the case may be. Although it wasn't that unusual for her to get into both a shouting match and a fist fight with the same person. It was just how she worked when someone rubbed her the wrong way. And that wasn't hard to do.

"Figuring out what to do with yourself. Heh. That sounds familiar." Kotone grinned a small, knowing grin. Kotone ate some more of the food, eventually stopping when she was too full to continue, and leaned on her palm with her elbow on the table.

"I'll humor you again sometime. Maybe we'll even see who's stronger by then, eh? I'd hate for it to be so one-sided again. What with you being unfortunate enough to face me and all." Kotone gave him a fangy grin, both cocky and joking as she had been before. "It's been awhile since I had such a good fight, myself. Heck, the last two I've been in have been interrupted. Stupid Roejaster." Kotone still wanted to show Hannah she could best her. And now there were two people on that waiting list. Ah well. One day soon. She'd just have to keep getting stronger, right?

[Atrum Furea]

“Geh heh, I shall not make it easy for you, I shall throw everything I can at you next time we clash.”  The large man chuckled, as he finished his part of the meal.  He felt a lot better now that he had some food in his system, if he didn’t pass out when he returned to the guild he just might find another job to take.  Well maybe he’d wait until his magic power came back first, thinking about it his body might fall apart if he didn’t rest a bit.  “Next time I think I might try to avoid just letting people beat on me the better half of the day however.”  He said laughing at himself a bit, hoping the bruises he had earned himself would heal before they got in the way of his next job.  Well they weren’t that bad as far as he could tell just annoying as all hells.

He snorted at the mention of Roejaster, a decent guy as far as he figured but it felt typical he somehow interrupted a fight of Kotone’s.  “Actually that does interest me, you got in a tussle with someone and the Wildarms had to stop in?  Sounds like fun.”  He took a drink and pushed himself away from the table, standing up allowing him to stretch out to help the meal along.  “I never really get to see him in action, ah well I guess I could always go punch him in the face next time I see him.”  Atrum thought aloud, it would probably be a good thing to fight him as well, could definitely be fun if he did it right.  He’d just have to find a way to close the distance so he could actually take him on in hand to hand.  He chuckled to himself the glint entering back into his eye, either way he was planning on seeing how he compared to his guild mates anyways.

[Kotone]

"What and ruin his perfect looks?" Kotone laughed aloud at Atrum's desire to punch Roejaster. "I might pay to see that. Once they pay me for finishing my job." Grant had been startled by her laugh, jerking awake and seeing the food. He quickly grabbed some of what was left and stuffed his face as well. The guards had apparently been bad at feeding the poor boy. At least he hadn't been there long. Kotone just chuckled and shook her head, tilting her chair back.

"You should know though, Roejaster's crafty. He seems like a simple friendly cowboy, but something tells me there's a lot more to him. Underestimate him and you'll lose that fight." Kotone had adopted a serious look, as if she was coaching the taller, older man. She knew he meant it when he said they should fight. She figured Atrum could use the tip. He'd have to do more than take every shot and charge forward to defeat him.

Kotone shrugged, letting it go after that. He wouldn't be fighting Roejaster today. And Kotone probably wouldn't be there to see it later anyway. Too bad. "Well, how long before we can venture out? I figure you're the one with the plan at this point."

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum couldn’t help but grin at her evaluation of Roejaster, he have fun with that when it came around.  Until then he had to get these two back to the guild, and pay for the meal better not forget about that. “Let me pay for our meal right quick, then let us get out of here.”  He said walking over the bar and accepting the paper the employee handed him.  He gave it a short look and grinned, folding it up and putting it in his pocket.   “Alright then, time to leave.”  He said turning to the others, and stretching himself out.  If he was right on the time they had a bit before the guards started checking residences, which meant they needed to hurry.  He rotated his arm as he headed back to the others.  “We have a little bit of leeway, but we should probably head out now so we are not caught.”

“We should get moving.” He said moving towards the door and checking outside to see if the coast was clear.  “Looks like we are clear, Let us go.”  Atrum said stepping out, from what he could tell the fire was more or less under control by this time.  That shouldn’t be a problem unless they were ambushed on the way back but after eating he wasn’t too worried about being jumped.  He could still fight hand to hand with little to no problem if he absolutely had to.  Being tired was just a distraction anyways it could be ignored when needed, though ignoring ones limits was dangerous as well.  He had several scars to attest to that fact, right now he had to worry about escorting the other two safely back to the guild and try not to attract any attention.

“I believe the rest will be simple compared to what we went through earlier.”  Atrum said grinning.

[Kotone]

It was time to leave. Atrum told the two guildless mages to get up, and Kotone helped the tired, now full, child out of the chair. "Where are we going?" he asked her curiously, a hint of alarm in his voice. "We're going to Fairy Tail. They'll keep you safe until the council stops being stupid. Though if you really want safety you could do a lot worse than Fairy Tail." she grinned at the boy, then moved towards Atrum to follow him outside. She could hear the guards currently gathering to come vaguely in their direction, but they wouldn't be fast enough if the three of them didn't dally. She picked up Grant, who hung onto her neck as she carried him on her back. She allowed Atrum to lead, as he knew the city better than her.

The fire seemed to have been put out in the distance at this point. Kotone could see that the smoke was slowly dying out over the buildings. That was probably good. At least it had only been a warehouse. "I think we're good as long as we don't stop and let them catch up," Kotone decided after a few minutes. "Atrum," she said his name for the first time in acknowledgement that he had been a good teammate. "Let's do it again sometime." Whether she meant burning down the building, assaulting the authorities, or simply having another fight was left unsaid. She probably wouldn't mind repeating all of it to be honest. Of course, they weren't back to the guild hall yet.

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum smiled at Kotone, he had not missed her using his name proper but didn’t feel like drawing too much attention to it. He motioned for the two guildless mages to follow his stride as he took a hurried pace towards his guild hall. His large form allowing him to cover more ground with less strides than the average person. They were a ways away from the guild but if they hustled a bit they would certainly make it before they had to deal with any guards. He elected to lead the two through the crowds gathering in the street for cover rather than try their luck in the alleyways, they were too close to the commotion and he was certain those were being swept for anyone hiding out, especially with the guard so close on their heels. Once they were out of the area he could easily lead them straight to the guild, right now he felt better about their chances in the crowd.

“Just act like you own the place, no one will bother you.” He mentioned as they entered into the crowd, it wasn’t too thick to walk through and mostly off the road but honestly only he would stand out here standing a full foot taller than just about anyone else around. The worst come, he could easily act as a distraction for the others. A large seven fire mage was good at distracting people when he needed to, though he’d rather avoid any trouble until they were safe. The crowd gave them no trouble and he lead his charges towards the nearest alley feeling safe enough to enter the side routes. “All right then, ready to book it?” Atrum asked feeling pretty good about their chances, he half considered picking Kotone and Grant up and carrying them but he didn’t have the strength to do that all the way back to the guild. Kotone would probably punch his teeth in for it as well. Still the thought entertained him.

[Kotone]

With a nod, Kotone took off at a run towards Fairy Tail's guild hall. The three of them were less inconspicuous running, but they'd gained enough of a lead it didn't really matter. Besides, Fairy Tail wizards weren't exactly known for doing things in an inconspicuous way, and as far as anyone knew that was exactly what they were. Before long, the two of them burst through the guild hall's doors into the always rowdy Fairy Tail common area. Grant slid off of Kotone's back, and she told him to go find somewhere to sit, and that he was safe now. Grant said a quick thanks and did exactly that, quickly finding some of the younger Fairy Tail wizards to talk to.

Taking a few steps forward, Kotone leaned against a nearby pillar. She was half surprised no one was breaking anything for once. Maybe Fairy Tail wasn't in a constant state of friendly bar brawling after all. "Well, we made it," Kotone told Atrum with a sigh. She needed to find Taiga and ask him what she needed to do next, but figured she needed a rest and wouldn't hurry. She wouldn't be any good to him with only a few spells left in her. "You've even managed to destroy city property just like a real Fairy Tail wizard. I take it it's been a good day then?"

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum laughed when Kotone declared they managed to get back without getting caught, he didn’t have much doubt they would make it. Even weakened they were two of the best fighters in this town, he was confident that if they wanted to evade capture they wouldn’t be caught until they sent someone definitely stronger than them. “We made it all right. I told you it would be simple.” He said grinning; this was definitely a good day in his books. Had a decent fight, saved a kid, and routed out a corrupt Magic council officer? Not many ways this could get much more entertaining to him from where he stood, He could only hope this was a sign of things to come. “Today has been great as far as I am concerned. Well I owe the Crossroads a few favors, but that could also be fun so it is looking like a win-win for me.”

“Until I am back to one hundred percent however I think I shall rest up a bit, what about you? Have anything planned?” He asked grabbing himself a chair and sitting down licking the inside of his mouth absent mindedly, attempting to find any food he might not have swallowed. Without anything else to keep himself distracted he was getting comfortable as he began to rest himself a bit while he had the chance. “Personally I can’t wait until I am ready to get back into field and do a job. Sitting around and doing nothing gets under my skin leaving me antsy and irritable. I would at least prefer to talk to someone.” He said half complaining half joking about his own impatience, clearly he didn’t enjoy being stuck inside when he could be doing something. “If I’m not going to be doing anything I might as well be asleep honestly.”

[Kotone]

Kotone let out a tired sigh, her guard lowered just enough to reveal how tired she actually was at this point. She looked at Atrum again, giving him a small toothy grin. "I just need to rest before the next part of my mission," Kotone answered. "Preferably somewhere quiet. People aren't really my thing." She looked around at the jovial Fairy Tail members. Part of her envied them. A bigger part wanted away before they got on her nerves.

"So unless you've got somewhere I can relax a bit I'll be going to find that," she decided firmly. She was doing a rare thing and inviting him to give her a suggestion, but it didn't matter either way. She could sleep just as easily as anything, after all. Left to her own devices, that's exactly what she would do.

Kotone glanced over to Grant. He seemed to have forgotten the stress of today already. Fairy Tail wizards close to his own age had taken quite the liking to him. It made Kotone feel a little less grumpy and tired seeing the site. They hadn't talked much, since the boy had been so scared and quiet, but she had a small attachment to the boy. Part of her hoped he would join Fairy Tail and be spared from future trouble. At least now she wouldn't have to worry about him. The fact that the council had arrested someone that young made her want more than ever to get to find whomever was involved and smash their faces in with her boot.

[Atrum Furea]

“Here in this guild?  Unless you’re a heavy sleeper there really isn’t a quite place to not be bothers.”  Atrum chuckled standing up as he said this.  There wasn’t really a place that he could think of that one could get away from everyone else.   “Most places besides the private rooms which most just barge in are public anyways.”  He added chuckling to himself, the wear of the day was getting to him.  He might turn in after all, get a little sleep and eat some more once he woke up.  “However I am both a heavy sleeper and lazy so I think I shall just go to bed until it is time for me to embark on the jobs I owe The Crossroads.”  He said grinning, giving the Ice Dragon Slayer a thumb’s up, feeling pretty good about himself all things considered.  Just a small break to rest up and he was set to work his next job.

“Of course as you know, you are free to use the Fairy Tail guest rooms as you please.”  He said stretching out getting ready to head out, food coma must be setting in.  “I however am going to my room to pass out for an hour or two.  You are free to do as you please, and if you need to tell me anything now would be a good time.”  He said yawning as the weariness settled in in earnest, he really was going to pass out soon.  “If you need to talk to me after I have passed out feel free to wake me up, I’m a heavy sleeper until someone gets too close.”  He said rolling a shoulder, Atrum suffered a bit of paranoia from his old life in his home land.  Monster attacks did that to a person, he became aware when another person got into his edge of perception.  Still, he didn’t think that she would bother him after he passed out.  She’d probably get everything she needed from him while he was awake he was sure.

[Kotone]

"Guest rooms it is," Kotone nodded at Atrum as he decided he would go to sleep. She could use a nap before meeting with Ranor to see what she needed to do next anyway. The poor town seemed to have a lot of little problems popping up everywhere these days. The Ice Dragon Slayer stood up straight again, giving the hall one last look before grinning at Atrum. "The kid owes you and Fairy Tail. Take care of him while he's here, alright?"

With that, she turned and walked down to the door where the guest rooms were. Entering the wing, she noticed it was rather empty. Either there weren't a lot of female guests or people weren't doing a lot of traveling lately. It was a bit concerning, truth be told. Last time there had been several people staying here. She'd ignored them, of course, but at least it had seemed more alive. The Magic Council was scaring people just as much as the people who caused them to react like this. She needed to do something for the town. Luckily, she knew who to talk to to find out how she was going to help put it at ease again.

"Well, Spellbreaker, looks like you'll have your work cut out for you while you're at Fairy Tail." The thought was fine with her. She enjoyed helping people most of the time, even if she wouldn't say it out loud. It was probably obvious though, considering that she spent most of her time doing so when she wasn't getting into fights with people or playing loner.

A grin formed on her face. Atrum had been a nice diversion from her solitude. She wouldn't mind running into him again. And next time, she'd be fully rested and ready to take on the big man for real to see who the stronger wizard really was.

-Exit-

[Atrum Furea]

Atrum nodded at Kotone as she made a request of him, he did not expect her to ask him to watch over Grant. Maybe it was because he never had to watch over a child before, but he was honestly caught off guard by her request. The look of surprise only lasted for a second, before he regained his composure. He grinned even though she could no longer see it, he felt a bit flattered that she would ask that of him. “From where I stand he doesn’t owe me anything, and I’m sure the guild would feel the same, we want to help after all.” He chuckled talking more to himself than to the Dragon Slayer that had left towards the guest rooms. “Of course I shall take care of him as long as he resides here.” Atrum promised walking off towards his room to get some well-deserved rest.

Entering his room he closed his door and looked about to see if anyone had dropped off anything, to which he was surprised to find that someone indeed had dropped off a few letters addressed to him from a ‘Mr. Back.’ Atrum snorted it was most likely his brother trying to be clever, though the man hadn’t contacted him in a year or so. If it wasn’t him then he wasn’t interested in what they had to say, if it was a letter it mustn’t be to terribly important otherwise they would have sent something more immediate. Deciding that he’d have to read the letters later he walked over to his bed and plopped himself down on it. He was tired and worn from the events, but his blood boiled. He couldn’t wait to give Kotone a real fight, not that he went easy on her. That would be an insult, but he did try to keep from hurting her in a way that would keep her from fighting later on in the day. He was glad he did hold off on it. Seeing her take down those grunts was worth the hits he took.

He took his hat off laying the surprisingly heavy item on a bed post before closing his eyes to rest. In a few hours he would wake up to take care of a few jobs for the Crossroads, but right now he was sleeping with a smile on his face.

[End Thread]

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