FMA: The Real World (Part Four)

[silverviper2134]

"Still, don't let your guard down" Arden said. She wasn't even looking at Krystal; her eyes were closed as she spoke. "After all, accidents happen wherever you go." When she finished her statement, Arden openned one eye and glanced cooly at Krystal.

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"Can I go home? This place is boring" Nikolai said once he finished his annoyed mumbling.

"Sorry, but the doctor wants you stay here until tommarow" Martel explained to the four-year-old, who sighed in slight annoyance.

[velinda]

*Kyrstal*

Krystal looked at the child before deciding to pay attention to the others. "I just hope you don't mean... unnatural accidents..." and gave a visible shiver. With the child responded to, she looked to the other three, and heard the armour's and the other female's responses. She shook her head as they said not to let her get under her skin, but she shook her head. "It's just... I can't. Not when she talks about my parents' life's work like that..." She glanced at the old female before she left, and looked back to the other female and the armour. "Yeah... my first- and hopefully last- conversation with her, especially if it's going to be about my family." she said cooly, her voice not seeming to become her.

*Roze*

Roze watched the other man raise her a dime, and she put in the dime... plus another nickle. "Raise you a nickle." she said. Either way- if he called or folded, she would still win the money from him. If he called, she'd just get an extra nickle. If he folded, she still got her nickle back, plus what else was in the pot.

[Zolf J Kimblee]

[Roze, Barry is in his flesh body here. Just thought I'd let you know. ]

[Gotta love Dante, the nasty ol hag. XD ]

Sarai

"Young lady.." she advised, "that is all the more reason why you should keep your emotions in check. I know it's hard, but when you wear your heart on your sleeve, it just gives people ammunition to use on you later."

She glanced at Arden cooly, "And as for veiled threats...those who make them rarely carry them out. If you plan on doing something, just do it instead of broadcasting your intentions for everyone to hear."

Havoc removed the juicy steaks from the grill and she put two nice ones on her and Barry's plates. She looked at the young girl, "There's paper plates on that table, help yourself. Apparently the Crimson Alchemist was hit in the head hard and had a momentary lapse of generosity."

Kimblee

He burst out laughing and slapped his knee. "Okay then...I'll see your nickel. I'm callin' you out pretty lady. Let's see what you got."

Honestly! He had to take her on a nice Vegas vacation. She'd bring them both luck.

[velinda]

((Ah. Sorry. I'm just going to use "former armour" for now on. XD))

Roze looked to the male as he called her nickle and he laughed, apparently thinking she was trying to bluff her. However, her frown turned into an evil grin of sorts, and she said in a psuedo-evil tone, "You think you can win, Crimson Alchemist?" before returning to her normal voice, albeit exited, "Get a load of this! I think it's good, at least." she said, laying down her straight-flush, jack of hearts high. "I played you! I acted like it didn't work, and then made small bets to make you bet, too!" she told him. "And it worked!... Unless, this isn't a good hand..." she said, cocking her head to one side cutely (although it wasn't intented to be cute).

[silverviper2134]

"It wasn't a threat, just a simple statement. Accidents do happen everywhere, you cannot deny it" Arden responded just as cooly. Not waiting for a response, she walked back upstairs and into the rec room. She sat next to Dahlia and folded her arms angrily.

[Zolf J Kimblee]

"Why...you little...sandbagger!" he exclaimed, laughing harder. "And here you pretendin to be sooo green at cards."

He waved a finger at her, "Tsk..tsk...that's dirty pool, little gal. I like that."

He threw his hand down, pair of aces. Good, but not good enough to beat a straight flush. "You got me, dead to rights."

He folded his arms behind his head and leaned back against the chest of drawers behind him. "You know somethin?" h e added, "You're just the prettiest little gal, and a damn trig cove too. You're just too adorable for words."

He cupped her chin and leaned forward, giving her a small kiss on the lips.

[velinda]

Roze glanced at the man. "I've seen it played once or twice... I just wanted to try it out, see if it really worked." she shrugged and laughed. "I guess it worked." as he revealed his cards, she took the pot and heard his next words. She blushed at them, and felt him give a small kiss on her lips, which made her eyes widen more a moment, before she closed her eyes and actually kissed him back when he stopped...

[amouri]

Barry nodded in agreement to what Sarai was saying.
"She's right. You kinda have to watch yourself, theres no telling what can be used against you."

He chuckled and sent Arden a stern look.
"Oi you. Respect your elders for once."

He accepted the steak with a smile.
"I'll go get cutlery, shall I?"

[dante]

"Well! It's been ages since I've seen this place, hasn't it?"

Magrace stood across the street from the house, his arms folded against his chest. His crimson eyes shone brightly through the eye sockets of the armor that housed his corrupted soul. It had been difficult getting out of the mansion with his counterpart, but with a little luck they managed to elude the authorities. After some scheming, they decided to waste no time in beginning their latest plan. Compared to the previous one, it would be quite simple to accomplish, permitting that no one meddled in his affairs.

He ran a clawed glove through the numerous black plumes sticking out of his helmet. "No use loitering about here. Let's get down to business, shall we? Mmhmhm..."

He slowly made his way across the street, his boots clanking against the pavement as he walked. Stopping at the front door, stuck a note to the front of his chest and rang the doorbell. He returned his arm to his side, and his glowing red eyes faded into darkness, making him look like an average suit of armor. The armor itself was extremely unnerving in appearance, very tall and composed entirely of black metal. Its gloves were sharp claws, and countless black feathers stuck out of its spiked shoulders. The face of the helmet was a demonically twisted theater mask, and even more black plumes stuck out of the top. It was a truly disturbing piece of work, to say the least.

The note pinned to its chest read:

"Auction prize #108, delivered to XXXXXX. $5,000, paid in full. Enjoy your purchase, and thank you for your contribution."

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Dahlia blinked when she saw her friend. "You look kinda grumpy..."

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Bob chuckled. "Hospitals usually want to keep you just to make sure nothing's wrong. Don't worry, champ; you'll be out in no time."

[silverviper2134]

"It's so annoying when one is not respected due to their age" Arden said simply in response to Dahlia's words. "That Sarai woman has made her a very powerful adversary".

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"But I feel fine and this place is boring" the blond child told Bob. Obviously he wasn't going to be that easily calmed from his annoyance.

[dante]

Dahlia frowned slightly, trying to remember where she heard that name. "Sarai...?" she mumbled. "That's the mean lady who said nasty things to my mommy! I don't like her."

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Bob laughed. "Just a precaution. Besides, you get to sit around in bed and watch television for the rest of the night. Doesn't sound so bad, does it? And the nurses will bring you whatever you want from the cafeteria."

[silverviper2134]

Arden rose an eyebrow at Dahlia's statement, then she smiled. "I find her to be quite an annoyance as well. She doesn't seem to understand that you must treat people with respect, especially once they've threatened you once".

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Nikolai simply growled slightly, muttering under his breath about wanting to go home to read his magazines. Suddenly he looked around, as though trying to find something. After a moment of glancing around, he asked, "What happened to Wally?"

"I really don't know" Martel said honestly. She was actually surprised that Nikolai didn't have the stuffed koala with him. After all, the boy carried it almost wherever he went.

[Zolf J Kimblee]

Sarai

She laughed merrily at Barry's chastisement. Especially the way he said, 'Oi!' when something irritated him. It was an expression she wasn't familiar with, and figured it was a regional thing. But it delighted her, along with most everything about Barry at this point.

"Barry...why is that little girl so...malevolent?" she asked, on another note, "What makes her so precocious and..wizened for her age? She's not normally developed for a girl her age. She should be playing house with dolls and going to sleepovers at friends houses."

Kimblee

He kissed her softly and chastely, not wanting to scare her, but then it was his turn to widen his eyes when she kissed him back. He put a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her into his deepening kiss.

He heard a muffled knock from below and broke it off. "Should I get that?" he asked, "Nah...I'm too busy... let someone else get it."

He tucked a stray hair behind her ear, and tilted his head slightly, admiring her beautiful face and hair. "So tell me...what's a nice lady like you doin' in a linen closet with a scallywag like me?" he winked.

[amouri]

((OMG EVIL ARMOUR LUFF))

Barry's lips twitched slightly in a sheepish smile.
"Well...As you mighta noticed, we have quite the varied household here. Martel, the woman with the tattoo I'm sure you've seen, is Arden's mum. She used to be a chimera, a creature created by "marrying" two genetically dissimilar lifeforms to say it in scientific terms. Needless to say, her powers aren't functional in this world, like everyone else. Arden's father is quite the oddball too. Greed, quite the dodgy fella if ya ask me. He was created by alchemy."
He paused, trying to figure out how to describe it.
"Bout Arden...I dunno really. She's a tough kid, extremely smart for her age as well. She's just...different, thats all."

His head quirked up as he heard the doorbell from the other side of the house.
With a sigh he placed his plate on the side.
"I might as well get that."
He walked through the house, and opened the door.
"Yes? Anyone the-HOLY-"
He nearly fell backwards into the hall again at the sight that met him.
What the-how could-
But slowly his shock ebbed, as he noticed that it after all, was nothing but an old suit of armour.
He gazed at it quietly, reprimanding thoughts swirling in his head.
Just for a second...he had thought...But no. After all, in this world, a scrap of metal WAS just a scrap of metal.

With a weary sigh, he shook of the memories resurfaced by his first impression, and looked curiously at the tag on front of the armour.
"...Auction prize #108, delivered to XXXXXX. $5,000, payed in full. Enjoy your purchase, and thank you for your contribution. Huh."
He scratched his head in puzzlement.
Probably something Dante's had cooking.

[velinda]

Roze-

Roze shook her head, and looked at the male in front of her, as he deepened their kiss. However, as the doorbell rang, they pulled back, and Kimblee thought about opening the door- if only a second, before deciding he was "too busy." She felt him tuck a hair behind her ear, and let him do so. She glanced around before replying to his question. "Well... because I don't judge one on their past- only on what they do to me. And so far, you've been a gentleman to me." Even the statement made her blush and turn her head away from him- although it wasn't because she didn't want to look at him...

*Hikari*

Hikari looked at the two talking to eachother. She figured that they had a thing for eachother, but then, a knock came on the door, causing her to forget the "cutlery" remark, and she walked with the man, and saw his reaction to the armour in the doorway. Curious, but also respectful, she didn't ask about it, but she did tilt her head somewhat. She looked at the tag, and then spoke, "What the... that's not a normal tag, is it? Especially when it says, 'delievered to XXXXXX,' right? Or is that how it normally works here? Either way, that seems a bit suspicious to me, doesn't it? Then again, if it cost that much, we just can't very well throw that much money away, right?" she shook her head. On one hand, she wanted to get rid of it, as something seemed off about it, but then again, she didn't want to get rid of that much of someone's money...

[amouri]

Barry looked down in surprise as the young girl from before poked her head forward.
"Nah...Well, I know at leats one of the residents here who couldave gotten something like this."
Something wasn't...Right though.
That feeling he had got...Had that been real or had it just been a memory of a past long gone?
The feeling of the close companionship between the guardians still stung in his memory.
How they had stuck together...The only ones they could trust were each other...And how they had died, nearly all of them, one by one, despite their metal shells.
He sighed. The sight of another suit of armour had just made him remember. That was all.

He leaned forward curiously, tapping the white mask experimentally.
"This is one weird artifact though. Not that I can say that I haven't seen anything like it, but its odd nonetheless."

[Zolf J Kimblee]

While Barry was occupied answering the door, she gathered cutlery and utensils for them and she also made up a plate for that new young girl. Being so new, she might feel shy about just helping herself. She set the food on a porch table and then fetched a few sodas from the kitchen fridge. Now the table was all set and she sat down to her meal.

Kimblee

He narrowed his eyes, trying to listen to the conversation downstairs. He heard the words 'armor' 'strange' and something about something not being quite right.

"Say, darlin', you hungry?" he asked, "I bet them steaks are done by now. What say we go pig out on bbq'd dead cow?" he chuckled.

[silverviper2134]

"Do you wanna meet somebody?" Arden suddenly asked her friend, cocking her head to the side. Not waiting for an answer, she ran into the room she and Dahlia shared and grabbed a large red bag. She then ran back into the rec room and reached into the bag, pulling out a stuffed gargoyle that was almost as big as she was. The thing had a horrifying face and large empty, staring white eyes that stood out amongst its black face. "His name is Guardiana Scuro".

[dante]

Dahlia nodded excitedly and waited for her to return with it, wondering what it could possibly be. When she pulled the frightening gargoyle out of the bag, she stared at it with a blank expression for a few moments, remaining silent. Whereas most children would have recoiled in terror, she brightened up and smiled at it.

"That's so cool!" she exclaimed. "Where did ya get him?"

[silverviper2134]

Arden smiled brightly. "Daddy....I mean, Father bought Scuro for me two weeks ago as a birthday present" the young girl explained as she hugged the demon-dolly like it was a stuffed bear. "He scours the darkness and devours all the good spirits, turning the night into a place for evil....." she said with an omninous tone.