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[Armoured Priest]

"Hold on, hold on, I got my ult, getting there now." Barren informed the now rather annoyed Googy after getting some tank items. "Thank you Mr.Kamui." he said like a kid getting a treat from a neighbor, but not looking away from the screen because otherwise that means death in this game. "So, we're our own little family now? That's pretty cool, and sis got a promotion, guess today isn't so bad." he reasoned as he set himself up for an ambush hook, making sure it wasn't warded first. "But does that make that lady a....hooker?" the ghoul boy asked about the one talking about strings around throats, letting the pun sit there by itself before throwing his champ's anchor out. He wonder if that what adults really are into or if that was just her. Course, now it just made him worry about the kind of women Oce meets. 

[Oce]

Oce took note of two things: Howl repaying the 'favor' of her decision to spare his life, and the fact that hook lady was from the past. She ignored Googy's outburst at the game, focusing entirely on Howl with vague disbelief sketched across her face. She didn't look at Kamui's revealed face, as she had no interest or care, too startled to look away from the teen, even as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Part of her wanted to point out that Barren and her could have killed him, though she understood it was the fact that they chose to save him that prompted Howl's trust. 

 

The blonde was silent as she was announced as Howl's second. She couldn't even feel the heat that came from Howl's hand on her shoulder, nearly burning her, as she continued to stare at him for another several seconds. It took her a moment to accept the tablet from Kamui, curling her fingers around it but not immediately throwing it in the device around her neck. "I shouldn't be surprised that you would know that it's fatal for me."

 

Kamui's question nearly caused Oce to refocus on Howl again, but she instead forced herself to stare off in the hook lady's direction before remembering one question floating through her mind. Apparently she wasn't paying much attention, as she drifted away from the wall and wandered towards the lady, her eyes fixated on her neck. Did she have a pulse..? Were there strangulation marks around her throat? Oce very nearly reached out to check for herself, but regained her senses and froze with her arm just slightly raised. 

 

Coughing awkwardly just to choke when her brother called the lady a hooker, Oce stumbled out of the room wheezing. Barren was an idiot.

[Thugren]

the hook woman considers the group for a couple moments, and there is a terrifying screeching as two large mantis like blades erupt from the womans stomach and rear up menacingly over barren like a looming preator.

 

"Thats funny."

 

the woman says with a smile and pokes the back of his head, Kamuio huffs at this and goes to speak, but as oce gewts to the door you hear somone bark orders and order somone to kneel.

 

kamui and howl look at one another and walk outside as googy drops her controller and runs out alongside her brother to see a woman, surrounded by yakuza toughs with weapons trained on her.

 

"Oce!"

 

Gabriella calls, her face obscured by the ho siht rebreather she was wearing to obscure her face.

 

"Oce if these are your friends please call them off!"

 

a yakuza guard shoves her face down as she shows her hands, making the former operator grunt in pain.

 

"PLEASE.. Im just here to talk!"

 

Kamui looks from howl to oce, his eyebrow raised.

 

"Youre call...Ill have her gutted in the street and left for the dogs.. Ive got no love for the goverment here."

 

howl shakes his head as he lookat her hard.

 

"No....Oce will probably want to talk to her....They where close."

[Armoured Priest]

Barren just looked up at transforming lady when she loomed over him and gave a big grin after she gave the compliment to his joke. But of course the nice time they were having just had to be interrupted by something, which made his mid go to see what was up with her brother. "Wait, no, can't pause game!" Barren cried out, already too late. Giving an annoyed groan before getting up and seeing what was going on, grabbing his mouth mask on the way out, and was surprised to see Gabriella here face down into the concrete. Though it was hard to recognize her with the mask on, and only seeing her a few times with his sis, the voice was definitely familiar. "Oh....wow she actually found us. Huh....maybe we should start leaving if it was this easy for her." Barren suggested as the realization crept up on him. He looked up to oce, who looked like she was recovering from a bad coughing fit or something. "Hey weezy, want to take your girlfriend with us? Probably have to check her for bugs first."

[Oce]

The immediate panic that burst from Oce's chest when she heard shouts outside prompted her to react immediately, which was simply to throw open the front door. The metal knob frosted over at the contact which was the only indication of her fear; the rest could just be chalked up to quick reflexes. When she spoke, her voice was teasing despite the jarred smile she wore: "I thought we promised never to let ourselves be caught in compromising positions, Operator." 

 

Her hand twitched, having caught herself from reaching out to knock one of the weapons away from Gabriella. "Why are you here?" Her tone hardened, expecting some twisted message from Ho Siht. Still, Oce offered their former operator her hand to pull her to her feet in order to have a proper conversation. "If you're staying, I'd like for you to discard all of your electronics-- just as a safety measure." 

 

She didn't look away as she reached behind her to smack her brother.

[Thugren]

gabriella goes to talk and she stops dead. She is looking at something behind you, and when you turn around you can see howl besides his cousin. There was a glare of rage and hatred on the young yakuzas face, and his fists are balled tight at his sides.

 

"come cousin..Lets go work out specifics .. Let them talk."

 

he bodily pulls the younger man inside as gabriella looks around at the yakuza toughs standing all around them, blades and guns fully brandished,

 

"When you disobeyed they silencers where in my house within minutes to come and get me and try to force you to come back... but i find you here, surrounded by yakuza armed to the teeth... ANd the biggest player on the board backing you all... Fucking hell oce what are we goign to do.."

 

from the balcony pandora cocks her head and looks inside where a crash can be heard. The sound of howls more feral form and fighting can be heard and within seconds howl is flung outward, landing on the railing in his second stage of evolution, jack of blades.

 

Kamui comes outside, clapping his hands as if he picked up a dusty nag and grabs his cousin my the hooved leg.

 

"Carry on...Were just having a talk about tempers..."

 

he drags the younger man inside and closes the door as gabirella winces.

 

'Hes not too happy with me..."

[Armoured Priest]

"Well duh, you did say to execute him and stuff. How would you be feeling right now?" Barren shrugged with an annoyed look on his face, still rubbing the back of his head from Oce's slap. He didn't know if she was just dancing around the issue or not, but he thought Howl had a good reason to be mad at her. He would be too if he was in his place. "And I'll tell you what WE're not doing, going back to the people who suddenly decided their own agents were disposable just because one bad thing happened that they should have been on top of in the first place. You know, with the terrorists?" The boy said resolutely while emphasizing the 'we' as him and oce and not her, having his own mind made up as to what they were doing. It didn't make sense to go back to them now, at least to him, even if Gabriella was going to beg them to do so.

[Oce]

Oce didn't manage to keep the grimace entirely off of her face at Howl's anger, so she looked away from Gabriella for several heartbeats. It wasn't embarrassment that tore at her. Rather, it was discomfort to be placed into such a difficult position. "He doesn't have the luxury to disassociate you with pain," the blonde half muttered to their former operator after Kamui had dragged his brother inside. She understood why he was so angry and frustrated, and she respected it. To some extent. 

 

"We're going to do what we've been doing all along: survive." Oce shrugged her shoulders as she waved her hand and the yakuza members surrounding them, wanting them to lower their weapons but unsure if they would allow her to order them around. "And you're here either to kill us yourself- which is a terrible idea by the way, or to join us." She made no comment on her brother's thought that Gabriella was here to beg them to return. It would be a fool's errand. 

 

"Howl wouldn't want you here," she continued on before giving Gabriella time to clarify why she was in front of them. "Barren is.. Skeptical to say in the least. Kamui is rational, but that doesn't mean that he is going to blindly accept my word. That is, if I can even vouch for you." 

[Thugren]

the men akll lower their weapons, as the door opens, and the woman who had been making teac ocmes out, handing a cup to everyone there. SOon enough, kamui comes out , dragging an unconcious howl by the leg and he begins to slap him awake.

 

"I dont care either way."

 

The massive warrior says calmly, his broad hands slapping the rag doll like kaumui awake.

 

"If you want her to join, bring her in.... But also take her life as your responsibility... Traitors mean ruination in budding families."

 

Howl wakes up with a pained groan and looks sidelong at gabriella, his eyes seething, but soon enough, he simply nods and shrugs.

 

'oces call.."

[Armoured Priest]

Accepting the cup of tea, the first time he every had tea period with it not being a soda or juice, he went over to the still dazed looking symbiote user. "Man...he knocked you out hard." Barren said after crouching down next to Howl. He fished into one of his pants pockets and pulls out a bag of beef jerky. "Want any?" he asked in hopes of brightening the guys mood just a tiny bit at least while his sister decided what to do with Gabriella. Barren didn't exactly like their former handler, but rejecting her outright didn't feel right either, not when you've been on the receiving end of that too many times too.

[Oce]

Oce declines the tea with a small grimace; hot liquids were uncomfortable for her, so she tended to avoid them. She once compared it to having an ice pack in your stomach, unwilling to melt fast enough to take away the numbing feeling. Besides, she was overly focused on the topic at hand, with what they were going to do with the former Ho Siht operator. 

 

She knew how serious Kamui was with his words, but still she gave him a smirk though her gaze never left Gabriella's. "I already am responsible for two lives, so what's one more?" Except Oce knew that Barren and Howl were relatively safe. This was like her taking in a stray cat, hoping that it would get along with her animals and it had no contagious diseases. In other words it was a gamble, one that she barely wanted to take despite her calm demeanor. 

 

If it had been anyone other than Howl's cousin carelessly slapping around her ward, she would have reacted violently, despite knowing firsthand how durable he was. Still, it came off as 'rough housing' to her and was a mild irritation. At least Barren made an effort to cheer the kid up some. She figured that watching over him for so long made her a little too protective of him. 

 

Oce's hand reached out to tug gently on Gabriella's sleeve, finally averting her gaze as she looked behind them, away from Howl's place. "Come with me for just a minute." She took a step forward, not releasing her grip on the woman's sleeve until she stopped. Her voice adapted a somewhat awkward tone as she glanced backwards at her for a mere moment: "Please."

[Thugren]

howl takwes the jerky with a chuckle.

 

"THanks barren..... Nothing like some jerky after your cousin uses you like a swiffer .."

 

he chews the meat softly as kamui replaces his helmet, the rebre4ather oxidizing with a hiss as the hook woman cocks her head.

 

"you are like a family there already howl."

 

grimacing howl sits up as gabriella stands and follows oce without a word, ignoring the look of disdain on howls face as kamui begisn directing his men to take everything out of howls apartment to have it taken to the family home.

 

"Yes oce?"

 

gabriella asks when they are out of direct earshot.

 

'And thank you for vouching for me."

[Oce]

Oce didn't make a sound as she lead Gabriella out of earshot and out of sight of the rest of the group, and likely most of the soldiers posted around. She turned a few corners before she suddenly stopped, having mostly ignored the woman's words, though she never released her sleeve. Still without a word, the blonde tugged the woman's sleeve roughly, yanking her forward and slamming her back into the side of some building not so gently. Her hand came up to curl slender fingers around the former operator's throat, the chill of her skin alone being uncomfortable, much less so when she released a small portion of her excess power causing a thin coat of frost to coat the woman's neck. 

 

Between her fingers just slightly cutting off Gabriella's air supply, the biting frost forming, and the uncomfortable Oce's body pinned her against the wall.. Well, Oce hoped it merely added to the intimidation she was going for. "You're the wild card here and we both know it. If it ever appears like you've betrayed us or you act too suspicious, I'll kill you myself." She glared into Gabriella's eyes, not bothering to downplay the threat. She meant it entirely. 

 

A few seconds later and Oce released the tension on the woman's throat while brushing away some of the frost with her thumb before allowing her hand to drop back to her side; she wouldn't be able to raise the temperature of the afflicted area, nor did she want to undermine the seriousness of the promise. "I .. Know that things are going to be difficult between you and Howl, and I .. Apologize for that." She sighed quietly, her pale blue eyes softening. "Aside from that.. I'm glad that you're alive, Gab."

 

She hesitated a moment before kissing Gabriella's forehead then backing away, releasing her from the wall. 

 

"Shall we head back now?"

[Armoured Priest]

"Well yea, meat helps with the healing and stuff. At least for me." Barren said before shoveling a handful of the dried seasoned meat into his maw and washing it down with the tea. He wasn't sure what to think of the tea, but it was ok to him at the very least and that counted for something right?

 

"Oh! Thank you, it was really nice!" He thanked the Kimono clad woman who made the tea in the first place, remembering he had said so earlier in the first place. Seeing Oce turn the corner with Gabriella, he only shook his head and wonder what she was going to do with her before plopping onto the pavement with Howl with a whoosh of air from under his cloak, who is pretty much his new boss along with his sister in second.

 

"So I guess she's staying.....maybe it won't be so bad." He said to him, it being obvious Howl will be hating the girl's guts for awhile. He forgot all about the online game that was still going on that he and the one girl with the shadowy tendrils were playing. It was probably over anyways by now. 'Another thing to blame Gabriella later for.' he thought with a snort of laughter. He actually looked over to the tendril girl now as he thought of something.

 

"Hey, what's your name? I want to play another round when we don't got drama stuff interrupting it." he asked.

 

Spoiler

since no one besides Kamui actually introduced themselves, I didn't want to assume barren knew names.

[Thugren]

"im googy!"

 

the girl says, two tendrils lifting her as she folds her legs beneath her before being set down.

 

"And sure! Kamui is gonna stick around you guys for a bit to make sure you al lsettle in and divert some people from lower families to start you guys up."

 

One of ther tendrils snake a piece of jerkey as she chews it, barely able to work the rough meat before beginning to pull and yank at it xcomically.

 

"What...the...Hell..Is ..ThiS!"

 

she growls as kamui comes up and crouches beside the group.

 

"Barren.... Were going to have to get you a helmet... Were gonna need to break the synapse with whatever hive they have you connected to... it may be scary but i promise its going to be alright."

 

googys bunny like ears twitch.

 

"I can hear them talking like a bunch of ants in the back ground..."

 

 

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

 

 

 

Gabriella is silent for a long moment, the former operator choosing her words before speaking.

 

"i didn't want to give you the order Oce.... The silencers were coming in and killing everyone in the clean operation. It was my head or  howls, and i figured you'd run... Like you did ."

 

she grips her elbow and sighs.

 

"From government operator to working with a yakuza pit lord.... At least the pays better."

 

'' I cant assume to know what you all went through.... But i can say, Ill do my best to help you."

 

She follows without a word, 

[Armoured Priest]

Barren was laughing at Googy having trouble chewing on the jerky when Kamui told him what they were going to have to do for him, cutting him off from the ones he can hear in his head. He never thought about it, he didn't even think it would be a problem, but it made him thought about the times when mother didn't....sound right. The ghoul boy fidgeted with his cloak, wanting to protest the idea but thinking it wouldn't matter anyways.

 

"But, but mom..." He said almost absently, obviously not referring to his biological one, the anxiety of being separated from her voice seizing up his mind.

 

"I...I don't know how to change without her, or the fluids the scientist guys used. They never let me practiced without it." He told them in an almost depressed tone, trying to tell Kamui just how much little control he was given over his own self before they ran off from the government. Howl probably understood after being around each other after a while, despite the difficulties of his symbiote and Barren being its natural nemesis. His head perked up after hearing what Googy said, making him confused mostly.

 

"Wait, how can you hear them?...Are you a ghoul too?" He question her. The tendrils would make sense to him, but he never got the sense she was one of the undead like him. If anything it felt like she was...something bigger? Scarier? There was a word that he had heard scientist used that he think fit, but what was it? Alexan? Alp?.....Apex! Apex predator. That sounded right.

[Oce]

Oce hummed, the sound low and contemplative as they slowly wandered back to the group, feeling no need to rush back to the emotional Howl. Even after the .. lecture.. by Kamui, she figured some extra time to cool off and settle could only be beneficial. Plus it gave the blonde time to consider Gabriella's specific phrasing. While it would be obvious that such a threat would either make a person speak carefully or ramble nervously, it was easy enough to fake. While Oce almost desperately wanted to trust in their former Operator, she had too much depending on her in addition to the fact that she wasn't that foolish. Probably. 

 

Still, her pale gaze drifted to the woman beside her without prompt. "How exactly did you escape?" By now they were in sight of Howl and Barren sitting on the pavement chewing on jerky, and only enough words reached them to determine that they were talking about her brother. Oce kept her voice barely above a murmur, either overly conscious of being overheard, or not in the mood to be unnecessarily loud. She guessed that it was mostly the latter, but she wasn't certain.

[Thugren]

googy smiles widely, cocking her head.

 

"Nope im a cthulu flargen!"

 

her tnedrils move around as she makes a "wo-ooo-o-ooooo" njoise and her bunny ears twitch.

 

"SOme c all us old ones..... I am the crawling madness! Cthulu!"

 

kamui shakes his head and pushes down on her head.

 

"YOu are a receptacle of t hat power...Not the entity."

 

he says as googy makes a face from being pressed down.

 

"MEANY!"

 

she huffs as kamui cocks his head to barrens question.

 

"ill just have a friend of mine write up a connection.... Your "Mother will be easy to replicate..... Ill just take some grey matter and youl ahve a safe link to her likety split."

The large warrior says as a limo pulls up and opens for all of them

 

---

 

"I am a silencer you know."

 

gabriella says with an almost annoyed huff.

 

"I may not have been active in the field, and i did work with krieg and caliphas....  ALl it took was s little blood and brain matter..... I laid until the sweepers passed and put my head in a way that most people would think it was a killshot."

 

she raises her eyebrow at googys tendrils.

 

"I dont expect you to trust me oce...BHut  it shoudl mean something that i came directly to find you two."

[Armoured Priest]

Barren clutched his head with his hands and just grew nervous. It wasn't so much them taking something out of his brain he was afraid of, it was what he was implying what it all meant. "...Another mother? No, mom is real, right? You don't have to replace her! I heard her since that thing bit me....she sounded different sometimes but...I don't know now." The boy sort of rambled. His world just got turned upside down when one of two things he was always sure of in the world, his sister and his mother in his head. It was turning into a not so good day for the ghoul child as he went into the limo that Kamui opened the door for them. "Thank you." he said, not wanting to be rude by his tone reflected just how dispirited he became as he wondered what's going to happen to mother.

[Oce]

Oce chuckled quietly, the sound somewhat empty and shallow. "It says that you can either be a liability or a useful ally. And your choice in coming to us.. Is equally as a challenge to decipher. Yes, you are a .. friend," she pauses for a breath, trying to decide whether or not Gabriella was merely a former co-worker or if she could actually be considered a friend. "And Kamui.. I will look after you."

 

The blonde sighed, turning to look at the woman fully, her right hand lifting to tentatively brush the back of her fingers against Gabriella's cheek. "I know that you are capable of taking care of yourself. That is why you scare me so much." Her smile was just slightly bitter as her hand dropped back to her side.

 

Oce took a few steps towards Barren, glancing back at the former Operator; "Shall we?"