Chaos is Brightly Colored [Finished]

[Kari Muffin]

"Get back here Peter!" Zane yelled as he chased after the brightly colored swan dog. He needed a leash. It didn't matter if it was his brother by adopt the little monster needed some sort of harness so he didn't run off like he was doing right now.

Honker thought it was rather amusing. He normally didn't respond to his "proper" name, but he turned back to honk at Zane. "You're never gonna catch me!" Playing tag with the unwilling was the best fun he could ever have. After all, he always one when it was against Zane. Unless Zane cheated and used his wings, but the sparrow didn't like doing that when there were crowds. Hehe. He was going to win this one!

The sparrow had reached a whole new level of furious. This was the number one reason why he was never going to have children. And the number two reason why his parents should stop having kids. Even Tosiek wasn't this difficult when he was younger.

Honker bounced down the street until he came skittering to a halt. He gave a distressed honk when he almost ran into someone. Oh wow, he needed to get better at stopping. "Owie! Sorry about that!" He said with a bob of his head.

[Shinigami]

The person who had been run into was wearing a sand-and-dust-staind cloak, worn and ragged from years of use, and humped up oddly over the stranger's back and shoulders, almost as if he had wings himself, though it hung oddly even for wings. Furred paws reached up to pull the hood of the cloak back, spilling free long blond hair, and revealing the rather distinctive coloring and markings of the Hisstor Wastes, blue eyes peering downward intelligently.

"It is no problem, child," he said softly, kneeling to come face to face with the strange little creature - and to catch the mark upon his breast. Something flashed in his eyes; something like recognition, or dislike, or even maybe sympathy. "Where were you headed, in such a hurry? Young ones such as yourself should not be out and about on your own," he added, and though he was distinctly canine, there was still a purr to his voice.

[Kari Muffin]

"No where Mister! I'm just playing a game with my Big Brother! He's really slow when it comes to catch!" The swan dog's tail wagged as he spoke and bounced on his front paws. Staying still was almost impossible for the little boy.

Zane finally caught up the him, panting. Honker was a little devil. "Sorry... sir..." were the first words out of the sparrows mouth as he tried to catch his breath. He scooped up the boy as quickly as he could, protesting wiggling and all. "He's just a little bit excitable."

And he probably spoke in full coherent sentences already. This would be a pain in the ass to cover up wouldn't it. It didn't seem the man was over reacting... he was actually sort of creepy. From the pale coloring maybe he was a.... Hisstor?

Honker proceeded to kick his big brother in the face. The sparrow gave a muffled grown before bowing his head again. "I'm sorry about that sir. Would you like to have some coffee or a meal to make up for the trouble?"

"But he didn't mind!" He wiggled some more.

"If you let me have Coffee with this nice man I'll give you ice cream."

"Okay!" Honker honked cheerfully as he stopped fighting against Zane's grasp.

[Shinigami]

The wolf raised an eyebrow at the mutated sparrow who arrived shortly afterward to scoop up the boy. There were mixed messages going on here. On one hand, the bird was treating the Ace a bit like a pet - scooping him up and holding him like that. On the other, the child himself had called the man "big brother," and there didn't seem to be any sort of public abuse going on, at least not on the part of the sparrow, who sat through the brightly-colored child's beatings without getting too upset.

He stood then, making sure that his cloak kept his chest - and rank - covered. There was no need to blow the game just yet, no. Things were just getting started.

"As I told him, there was no problem. I am glad, however, to see that he is not running about unattended." And let them interpret that as they would. "Coffee would be appreciated, though. It is rare that I have the chance to indulge in a quality drink."

[Kari Muffin]

Oh he was definitely Hisstor. Zane never really knew how to react to the rarer realms. Either way he just nodded to the strange man's comment. He just wanted to spend a little time with another Card who wasn't a bouncing young child who kicked him in the face. "There's a rather nice cafe around here. Not even a five minute walk." Zane said with a nervous laugh.

Honker meanwhile was wagging his tail. He wanted to know why the man was wearing something that covered him up so much. He could just ask, but where was the fun in that? Maybe when he got the chance he could try to pull the thing off. Of course Big Brother Zane wasn't going to put him down until they were seated at the cafe. Even then... there was a chance he wouldn't let go.

The awkward silence filled their walk. Zane couldn't come up with much small talk. When they were finally seated though, with Honker in his lap, he relaxed a bit. "What... brings you to the city?"

[Shinigami]

"Thank you for your kindness," he replied, settling into a smooth, gliding pace next to Zane. it was something he could keep up for hours while traveling through the Wastes, though it wasn't as fast as the lope his wolf-form could keep up.

Once he was seated - still making sure his cloak was in place, though he took advantage of the arm-holes so that he could move freely - he glanced about the cafe, nodding to himself. He rarely had the chance to patronize places like this, though it was easier with his recent purchace of his rather useful cloak. One of the simplest ways to hide a rank, after all.

"I am traveling right now, with no particular destination. My Clan sent me out to spend time in the world outside the Wastes, and I determined that the Capital City would be as good a place as any to start," he said smoothly. It wasn't exactly a lie - it was more the fact that he'd gotten a restless foot and felt the need to be out from under his grandfather's expectant eye, at least for a while. "I asume then, that you live here?"

[Kari Muffin]

Zane wasn't quite sure what to think of the person sitting before him. He half wished he could see the man properly and half didn't. "Yes, I live here."

He wasn't going to tell his life story to a stranger. The sparrow refrained from sighing, but he did jump bit when Honker bit him. The boy had no attention span, honestly! "What?" he looked down at the boy with a glare.

"I'm bored," he stated.

Sometimes he wondered if the boy was dropped on his head when he was younger. How on earth did he always end up taking care of him on his days off? This was the most aggravating thing possible. "Remember how I said I'll get you ice cream if you're good?"

He nodded, giving Zane puppy eyes. The swan dog really wanted to do something even though the person was there.

"You won't get it until after I have my Coffee. And if you bite me again you won't get it at all."

The swan dog pouted and looked at the man sitting across from him. "Mister, why are you wearing that cloak thingy?"

Zane just couldn't win.

[Shinigami]

The boy was either a cherished pet, or a member of a truly unique family indeed, to be able to get away with biting someone and given only the threat of lack of ice cream as a punishment. Then he raised an amused eyebrow at the question - and entergetic child indeed, and one not particularly afraid of punishment, or at least perfectly willing to work around it.

"There are some aspects of my appearance that society as a whole finds...displeasing," he explained smoothly. Like the bold red A on his chest. The bone wings and sword weren't particularly pleasing either, but at least people expected things like that from a resident of the Hisstor Wastes. "My cloak allows me the freedom to travel without being impeded by those who might take offense." Which included almost the entire society. Aces weren't supposed to be able to travel freely at all, much less armed with a weapon of high quality. And considering that he'd kill (had killed) anyone who tried to take either of his bone adornments away, he had had quite a lot of trouble until he'd obtained the cloak.

"By the way, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Merquise." That was added with a slight bow from his waist, about all he could do from his sitting position.

[Kari Muffin]

The swan dogs ears twitched in thought. That made sense... but why were people so silly? He honked as he grinned at the man behind the cloak. "I'm Honker and this is my Big Brother Zane!" he announced cheerfully.

The sparrow pinched his ear, the little ace honking in distress. "His name is Peter. Honker is his adorable nickname." Which wasn't that adorable in his personally opinion. Why the kid preferred that over Peter he would never understand. Not like he could understand Honker at all. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Merquise."

Even if the sparrow was still cautious around the man, he was a little more relaxed now that was a name associated with the cloaked figure. Finally one of the waitress came over to take their order. She looked down at Honker and almost squealed.

"What an adorable little pet you have!" Before she could reach out to pet Honker Zane stopped her hand. Honker looked thoroughly disappointed.

"He might look adorable but he tends to bite. After he's had something to snack on he might let you touch him without gnawing your pretty little fingers off." He smiled and then proceeded to place his order.

She waited for Merquise to place his as well before hurrying off.

[Shinigami]

He raised an eyebrow at the repeated comment about brotherhood. "You are related, then? I'm afraid I don't recognize any realm or bloodline you might have in common," he said. It was a risky question, and he kept his voice quiet enough that it hopefully wouldn't travel beyond the table. If they were relaxed enough around Aces as to claim them as blood, then there wouldn't be as much of a problem, though.

The waitress' arrival distracted him from the conversation, and he turned to regard her as she apparently nearly had her fingers gnawed off, if Zane was to be believed. When she turned to him - obviously nervice about the thread, and probably not made too comfortable about the presence of a Hisstor - he made sure to simply order and let her go about her way. Absently he brushed a bit of blond hair back, and wished that he was in private so that he could take off the cloak and lean all the way back, as that way his bone wings had the room to move and spread out. But that would have all sorts of unpleasant side effects that he didn't feel like going into just now, and so he would just have to deal.