Children of the Gods: Arc 2 [Game/Closed]

[IFS]

"Undo whatever the fuck you did and leave me out of it."

"Calm down," Nicole said, out loud, to Andrew. The telepathy was surprising and somewhat uncomfortable as a result, but she could see its usefulness. Its the storm, she realized, regretting that she hadn't noticed it earlier he's on edge because of the storm.

"This will make things easier to discuss," she said "just bear with it for a little bit ok?"

Given how long it took him to start showing his true face to us I doubt he enjoys a mental invasion, however well intentioned, I wonder how much of what I'm thinking now is being heard. Or do I have to broadcast it? Frowning she considered trying to think louder or something, though Prometheus had started speaking aloud. Has it ended then? Ahem, do I have to think ahem? Nevermind, "CAN ANYONE HEAR ME? HOW DOES THIS WORK?"

"If we need the bus, we need the bus. I'm sure if we leave him with some money he won't be too mad. Greater good and all..."

Immediately her attention was turned back to the situation at hand "We are not stealing a bus," she said firmly "Really we should seek shelter with the weather right now, though if we really want a ride we can either pay for the bus or call a taxi or something."

 

[hiei82]

Hymir was surprised by Andrew's disagreement. It wasn't like he hadn't told him about it on the plane. "I don't see the issue - the horn only sends what thoughts you want to the others. It's just like talking, save you can send more if you like-" he said, sending them all what he was currently seeing (the phone in his hands) "-and cannot be overheard. If you wish to be let out of it however, I can do so." Hymir said, allowing Andrew to slip out of the horn's connection.

"As for the bus, can we not see if a bargain can be struck with the man?" he said, aloud as well for Andrew's convenience and drawing some attention given the sudden outburst.

 

[Green Shoes]

Prometheus was caught off guard, both by Andrew's scathing comments and Nicole's stalwart disagreement.

"Easy, easy!"

He spoke out loud, quick to prevent an internal collapse amongst the group. Hymir returned to the group, advising a middle-path between soaking in the rain and transportation larceny. However, the Titan was painfully aware of the passing of time, and grunted in frustration.

"Unless anyone has anything that a Brazillian bus-driver is going to accept as payment for driving us to - where are we going Hymir?"

The Titan's temper had began to flare - angered with the continuous set-backs caused by disagreements, he turned his back on those around him, only to spot a strange figure snaking out of the forest and towards the road some distance off. Though he hardly possessed the keen eyes of some of those around him, through the blur of the jungle he saw the glint of a blade. And what appeared to be a four-armed woman.

"Forget the bus - look over there, by the trees. I would gamble anything with four arms would know something about the local...residents?"

He had always disliked referring to himself and others as Gods. The sodden asphalt had failed to endear itself to the Titan, and so, swallowing hard, he began pacing quickly to the strange figure in the distance, motioning for others to do the same.

"I'm sure they won't attack a large group by themselves, but be alert. Just in case."

He just prayed that it wasn't the Blue Witch herself.

-----

As Keshi fled the forest, her assailant pursued her diligently - small knives flung here and there cut her arms, though nothing that wouldn't heal with a few days rest. As she deftly left the forest, the sound of pursuing boots ceased. Catching one last glimpse of her pursuer, she saw him standing stock still, at some arbitrary border within the forest, seemingly unable to continue.

 

[DarkRawen]

"Calm down,"

Andrew looked at Nicole, surprised. She was speaking aloud, but he nodded.

"This will make things easier to discuss, just bear with it for a little bit ok?"

"I don't like it, not now," he said, shuddering as he too spoke aloud. "Not when..." he trailed off. "Give me some time, I just need to get used to the thought of it."

"I don't see the issue - the horn only sends what thoughts you want to the others. It's just like talking, save you can send more if you like and cannot be overheard. If you wish to be let out of it however, I can do so."

"I understand the use of it," Andrew muttered, but nodded. "I need to... rest first." That was a lie, but he wasn't sure what else to say. He didn't want to explain that he was really fucking afraid of the weather.

I really hate it. This damn lightning.

"We are not stealing a bus. Really we should seek shelter with the weather right now, though if we really want a ride we can either pay for the bus or call a taxi or something."

Andrew didn't want to speak against Nicole, he was more in favor of "borrowing" the bus than somehow finding a way to pay them. However, the discussion that followed was quickly dispersed.

"Forget the bus - look over there, by the trees. I would gamble anything with four arms would know something about the local...residents? I'm sure they won't attack a large group by themselves, but be alert. Just in case."

He swallowed, whatever the Titan had seen couldn't be worse than the weather, though, so that wasn't his worries. It was walking through the forest during lightning. Heck, it was being anywhere but inside a car or inside during lightning. If Kirsten had been there, she would have told him that it wasn't dangerous, that it was all inside his head, and he understood that on a level. However, lightning could kill you, he had seen it happen -or at least, the result- so why was this different?

His limbs were still, and Andrew kept his eyes on the sky as he followed Prometheus. Even though it was not what he wanted to do, not at all, he couldn't let his friends go alone either. Besides, if he didn't move, he would likely be left behind. And that was the last thing he would want right now, being stuck in Brazil all on his own wasn't much better.

 

[Athol]

Looking over her shoulder, and seeing her pursuer had stopped, she breathed a mental sigh of relief. That asshole and his throwing knives had forced her off the jungle road, to deny him clear shots at her back; even then though he got way to close as the stinging cuts to her limbs proved. On the up side, she had been able to snag three of the knives that'd missed, so at least she now had a weapon for each hand.

Realizing she was out in the open, her head snapped about taking in the surroundings. "The airport?" She muttered. Shit, this is the terminal...the hotel is at least a couple of klicks away...kinda like in- Don't. Fucking. Say. Anything! The potential argument with herself died before it began, when her eyes locked onto a group of tourists that were standing near the 'For Hire' buses. One of them is looking this way. I noticed. Do you think he sees us? Probably...the rain IS slackening a bit. Back to the woods? No, don't know if that asshat is still around. Good point; so...leg it? Leg it! With that she took off as fast as she could away from the terminal, trying to stick to whatever shadows/cover there was.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Rias followed after the Titan after Hymir's little explanation. She thought little of who ever this blue person was, at first. Till she saw them glance into the forest, then to the group, before breaking into a full spirit away from them. Rias debated for a moment weather or not she should follow, after all, this person seemed to be fleeing some one already and pursuit would likely not make things better for them. But something told her she should really go after them, so, still doubting it was a totally good idea, Rias broke into a full sprint as well, fallowing this person into the alleyway they ducked into.

 

[IFS]

"I'm sure they won't attack a large group by themselves, but be alert. Just in case."

Blue with four arms? Not many figures meet that description as far as I can remember... She frowned trying to think of what did meet it, only one I can think of is Kali who is a Hindu goddess of destruction or something, we should probably be careful. What would she be doing in Brazil though?

She followed along after Prometheus, though when Rias broke into a sprint after them she couldn't keep her pace slowed down and ran after her. We can't be rushing off into danger on our own, that's a recipe for disaster. One hand went towards where she was keeping her sword, though she didn't draw it, there was still the chance the person they were pursuing wasn't hostile, or that they were a goddess of destruction and therefore not someone you'd want to piss off.

 

[DarkRawen]

Andrew wasn't surprised by the fact that he could keep up with the rest. While he was among the physically weaker of the group, he had still always had an edge above normal people when it came to physical feats, even more so after training. Still, he couldn't help but mentally sigh when some of them, Nicole and Rias, turned up their speed and went from just running to sprinting. And of course he followed, trying to match their speed, and sort of managing it?

I didn't think we'd be sprinting through some forest.

he thought to himself, wondering if he should crack some joke in his mind to try to forget that they were chasing after--- what had Prometheus said, something with four arms?

Doesn't a whole bunch of Hindu gods have that?

It wasn't really among the lore he had read up on, but he could remember it from some class in high school. Or was it primary school? They seemed the same to him now. Both of them had been spent with a more advanced book in his lap and being the perfect student, friendly but not tiresome, eager to help so that people didn't think he was arrogant, but still keeping his distance enough to not go completely insane. An odd way of dealing with things, especially for a child, but it had seemed natural to him. It hadn't harmed anyone either, save perhaps himself, though those who had been his friends might feel hurt.

It was such a long time ago, though. Then again, just thinking about it might help, if not for their sake, then for mine.

He told himself. Besides, it worked well to distract him.

Anything is better than... well, that.

A lightning strike struck somewhere, he could only see the light in the corner of his eyes, as he was intent on following the others. Especially Nicole, and, what luck, she was the fastest one there. Keeping up, though barely, he felt his body starting to get tired. However, with how everything was, he knew that if he stopped running he would likely freeze up, so he had no choice but to keep going.

God, I hate running, it's so dull. And tiring. Nicole could at least try not to leave me behind.

Andrew thought sourly to himself. He knew that to many, exercising was rewarding and even fun. However, to him, even after a half year of going regularly to a gym, it still was one of the least engaging activities in the world.

 

[Athol]

Keshi's heart hammered in her chest. It was one thing to be chased by armed Islamist extremists, who stood no chance of hurting her, but it was something entirely different being chased by people that probably could kill her. Fuckfuckfuckfuck! A quick glance over her shoulder, as she ducked and weaved through the light industrial area on the edge of the jungle, showed at least three people were on her ass. I can't keep running forever. I know...THERE! Up ahead she spotted some construction supplies, including some likely lengths of pipe.

Skidding to a stop on the wet ground, she flicked the two throwing knives at her pursuers, then snatched up a piece of pipe in each free hand. "What the fuck do you want?!" She yelled, dropping into a low guard position. "Just leave me the fuck alone!" Once again she really wished she'd brought her swords.

 

[Green Shoes]

Prometheus was hot on the heels of the others, running even with Andrew, as they pursued the stranger turned fugitive. The rain had slicked the already unsound urbanized area - remnants of a cheap, hastily constructed zone intended for producing cheap aeronautical supplies. Mostly abandoned, save for the odd unsavory character.

Turning a quarter, he found Rias confronting the pipe-wielding assailant. Without a weapon himself, he raised his hands above his head, hoping to look peaceful. While doing so, he murmured to Andrew, audible only to Apollo's son and Rias.

"Hope you have that arrow. Just in case."

Stepping forward, he called out in his strongest tone, his voice heavy with age.

"Stay calm, we're not going to lay a finger on you. We just want to talk. Considering your extra appendages, I imagine you know something about that jungle you came from. Specifically, who is in it. Can we talk?"

Noticing Nicole's hand on the hilt of her sword, he cursed himself for his lack of weapon - a situation he would need to remedy as soon as possible.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Rias took the throwing knife in the left shoulder, and initially looked at it in less surprise and more annoyance, with a look of '... really ...' on her face. Rias was already moving to pull it out when the Titan told Apollo's son to ready an arrow, that, combined with the Nicole's own readying for some kind of an attack and the Titan's lack luster negotiation tactics caused Rias to roll her eyes and sigh out loud. "No wonder you sent the children of Nike and Apollo onto the train to talk to me..." She said in annoyance as she used her left hand to rip the knight out of her should and throw in the ground, leaving the knife embedded in the turf. "Let me handle this. Last thing we need is more meaningless blood shed." She said to the Titan, and not waiting for his response before approaching the blue skinned woman a bit, at least enough so the she was between the this blue skinned woman and the group she'd flown in with.

"The Titan is correct, We do wish to have an open discourse with you." Rias said as she examined the blue skinned woman, and saw something she might be able to use to get her to agree. "Perhaps even strike an exchange. Lower your weapon, talk with us a bit, in exchange, we can offer you medical aid for those cuts, some of which don't look so good, and even our constitutions are not immune to all infections after all." Rias said, her tone calm and non threatening as she spoke, her stance equally non threatening as she spoke, even though she was still ready to defend her self if need be.

 

[DarkRawen]

When the knives were thrown towards them, Andrew automatically brought one of his arms up to his face. While he doubted the knives could kill anyone from just being thrown like this, they would still be harder to deal with if one of them hit him in the face. Luckily, none hit, but better safe than sorry.

"What the fuck do you want?! Just leave me the fuck alone!"

Andrew stopped as well, he had no intention of getting closer to the four-armed woman. Besides, he was tired, and while he hid it well -especially because of the rain- he still didn't want a possible foe to see that he was both physically tired and worse off mentally.

"Hope you have that arrow. Just in case."

Andrew didn't respond, just raised his eyebrow. He had it -he hadn't even asked Prail before sticking his hand into her bag and retrieved it back at the airport- but it seemed like a hasty decision to made. It told him two things, one, the person in front of them could be a demigoddess, likely was, if her reaction was any indication. He'd not seen a god panicking this much from being followed before. The second thing it let him know what that Prometheus was quite ready to kill this woman. He wasn't sure what he thought about killing a demigod, most of them seemed to have been dragged into the war the same way he had.


"Stay calm, we're not going to lay a finger on you. We just want to talk. Considering your extra appendages, I imagine you know something about that jungle you came from. Specifically, who is in it. Can we talk?"

So, does that mean I should ready a bow or not?

Andrew asked himself, since apparently Prometheus hadn't decided which they were going with. Then again, Andrew was aware of where the arrow was, and he could prepare the bow in an instant. They would have to rely on Nicole's sword -and possibly several other swords- for that instant, but that was all. 4 arms or not, he doubted the stranger could deal with something like that, when all she was carrying was a pipe, and possibly a few more knives.

Rias continued where Prometheus had stopped, going closer and being very eager to offer Andrew's abilities as a bargain point. Before that, she made some remark about Prometheus' tactics, but Andrew decided to ignore it, he doubted the Titan had anticipated the amount of dislike Rias would have for someone who had been forced to pick a side. Then again, she might just be annoyed, considering that she had just pulled a knife out of her shoulder.

I should probably take a look at that once everything is a lot less hostile.

"Perhaps even strike an exchange. Lower your weapon, talk with us a bit, in exchange, we can offer you medical aid for those cuts, some of which don't look so good, and even our constitutions are not immune to all infections after all."

Correction; Andrew can offer you medical aid for those cuts.

Andrew thought in his mind. If he had been in the mood to nag, he'd mention the fact that none of the others seemed to be even carrying band-aids apart from him. Since he wasn't in such a good mood, he didn't do anything else than to nod and bring a hand through his hair, getting the curly, wet mess of fringe away from his eyes. Most of all he was just happy it was raining enough for the water to wash away his sweat, both from dealing with a phobia and from the running.

"Yes, we have no reason to harm you. We just got here, and this isn't really the place or time for a fight. Actually," he looked up towards the sky for a brief moment, hoping to see signs of the weather ending soon. "This isn't the place or weather for a chat either, so let's just agree to work together and get somewhere a bit less wet. Then I could take a look at your injuries and make them magically disappear, okay?"

A fair bit of impatience bled through the last statement, he really wanted to get inside.

 

[Athol]

Her eye's darted back and forth between her pursuers as they caught up. You do realize we're dead if we fight that many, right? Probably; but not before I push one of their heads out their own asshole...

"Stay calm, we're not going to lay a finger on you. We just want to talk. Considering your extra appendages, I imagine you know something about that jungle you came from. Specifically, who is in it? Can we talk?"

"Like you don't fucking know!" She spat back. "I'm guessing you lot are 'Net Boy's' back up in case he screwed the pooch." Her jewel-like eyes started to glow. Don't let the anger rule, keep calm and let an opportunity present itself. As a tall Arab looking cat-girl stepped forward, she took a step back.

"The Titan is correct, We do wish to have an open discourse with you. Perhaps even strike an exchange. Lower your weapon, talk with us a bit, in exchange, we can offer you medical aid for those cuts, some of which don't look so good, and even our constitutions are not immune to all infections after all."

Titan? What the hell? You caught that too huh? Add that to the 'What the fuck' pile. "Bullshit kitty-cat!" She called out. "I've never been sick a day in my life. If you think I'm going to give up just because of a couple nicks, you're a fucking moron. They DO hurt like a *****... Yeah, but they don't need to know. Fair enough; say does she sound familiar? Kinda...why? Dunno, need to think on it.

"...Then I could take a look at your injuries and make them magically disappear, okay?"

Keshi's gaze flicked to So-Cal looking asshole. "Is that before or after that ***** with the sword cuts my throat? How 'bout you keep your hands to yourself, and I don't separate you from you cock." She spat. The weather seemed to make him uneasy; the longer she could keep them outside the better. I have an idea...about who that cat-girl is; just go with it okay? Ask her, her name. "You! Kitty!" She called out, focusing her attention on the cat eared woman. "What's your name?"

 

[Lunar Templar]

'Net boy? She must mean one of Zeus butchers, fan-fucking-tastic', might as well play a long for now, might calm her down.' she thought as this woman remained on the defensive.

"Rias Blake, Daughter of the Goddess Sehkmet. We only just arrived here when we spotted you, and I assure you, we've no friends here, your enemy are likely ours as well." Rias said remaining calm but also motioning for Nicole to stand down as well, who ever this, admittedly familiar sounding, person is, they where right. being ready to strike her down was not going to lead to a peaceful solution."And you? What is your name?"

 

[IFS]

s that before or after that ***** with the sword cuts my throat? How 'bout you keep your hands to yourself, and I don't separate you from you cock."

Nicole took her hand off of the hilt of her sword and held both hands out in front of her open palmed in a gesture of placation. She's clearly been fighting something, maybe something that would go after us given the chance, so we should try to calm her down before we do anything else.

"We aren't going to hurt you," she said "we're demigods on Zeus's bad side, same as you I'm guessing."

"What's your name?"

She seemed to be addressing Rias, though why her specifically Nicole wasn't sure, introductions would certainly be a good step towards actually talking though. Certainly better than threatening people's genitalia at least. Though I'm not sure Rias is the best person to handle talking someone down.

Rias replied quickly and politely though, asking for the blue woman's name as well, another step in the right direction.

"I'm Nicole, daughter of Nike," she said "since we're doing introductions."

 

[DarkRawen]

"Is that before or after that ***** with the sword cuts my throat? How 'bout you keep your hands to yourself, and I don't separate you from you cock."

Andrew's patience was growing thin, even more so by the fact that Nicole put her blade away. He bit the inside of his lip, not quite glaring but clearly not going to try to be polite anymore. What use was it letting some pathetic imbecile insult them? Andrew knew how to deal with people, and he knew how important it could be to swallow your pride every now and then, but he would be damned if he was about to do it when they had her cornered.

What's the point? She's probably of no use either way.

Besides, why did they have to bring their weapons down, when she was still armed? Sure, it was just a pipe, but the mere idea of it was idiotic, it was giving her a benefit that she didn't deserve.

"Rias Blake, Daughter of the Goddess Sehkmet. We only just arrived here when we spotted you, and I assure you, we've no friends here, your enemy are likely ours as well."

"I'm Nicole, daughter of Nike, since we're doing introductions."

Andrew's strained smile turned into more of a frown, and he sighed.

"Why are you even bothering?" he asked, mostly Nicole, of course, whom he stepped a bit closer to as he spoke. His tone was ice cold, it was one thing having to listen to someone threaten him for offering to help them, and another to have someone insult a friend. Add that to the fact that two of his "teammates" -Nicole one of them- was making a stupid mistake, and it was pretty much the last straw.

"She's just some useless ***** either way. Let's just leave her to do whatever the fuck she wants, we've got better things to do that's not going to be a waste of time and resources."

He didn't turn his back to her quite yet, most of all because she seemed unpredictable, even psychotic. Andrew knew that people acted out when they were in danger, but he still couldn't grasp why. If she really had any sort of survival instinct, then she'd shut up and listen to them, look for contradictions in what they said or suspicious traits. That was what he did, while the phobia was a bit different, Andrew didn't tend to lose his cool in a bad situation, that was when one needed it the most. Perhaps that was difficult for less intelligent people. Or perhaps it was just him.

Regardless, we don't need to be here. We shouldn't be here.

That was how he regarded this situation. A waste of time.

 

[Athol]

"Rias Blake, Daughter of the Goddess Sehkmet. We only just arrived here when we spotted you, and I assure you, we've no friends here, your enemy are likely ours as well. And you? What is your name?"

"No way..." She muttered. That can't be Rias, she didn't have ears or a fucking tail! A lot can change in a decade. Not that much! Ten years ago I couldn't turn blue or grow extra arms! Maybe she's like me...maybe they all are... She lowered her weapons a bit. While the 'Titan', Rias and 'So-Cal seemed to be unarmed, the fit looking chick who introduced herself as Nicole had a sword; if they'd meant to kill her they'd have made a move by now. "I'm Kes-"

"Why are you even bothering? She's just some useless ***** either way. Let's just leave her to do whatever the fuck she wants, we've got better things to do that's not going to be a waste of time and resources."

She'd been starting to calm down a bit, but now the heart rate was back up, and the temptation to try and lodge her last throwing knife into 'So-Cals' throat was very strong. As satisfying as you might find that, it wouldn't be helpful. Her grip tightened on the pieces of pipe she was still holding, as she once again readied for a fight, the metal protesting as she squeezed it. I'm going to beat that pig fucking, shit guzzling, piss stain to death with his own spine! NOT. HELPING! Sure he's a colossal douche, but he's not worth getting killed for!

 

[Lunar Templar]

"Why are you even bothering? She's just some useless ***** either way. Let's just leave her to do whatever the fuck she wants, we've got better things to do that's not going to be a waste of time and resources."

Rias just turned and stared at the son of Apollo for a moment "Are fucking retarded or something?" she just kinda said out of reflex at the really stupid thing she just heard. "Know what, don't answer, I don't care enough, but if all your going to do is sabotage some one else efforts, ether leave, or keep your miserable trap shut." Rias said turning back to the blue woman "Besides, even if she doesn't know anything, a 'pawn that's been thrown away' has no business judging the value of others." she added as an extra dig.

'Stupid Greek prick, now I have to try and clam her back down again.' Rias thought as she tried thinking of away to placate the blue skinned woman again, then she remember how she'd reacted to her name, the Greeklings outburst having distracted her from it. 'Maybe we've met before? What did she she say her name was Kes ... somethi' "Can't be ..." she said in a low tone, then locked her eyes on the blue woman's face, this time really looking at her. After a moment Rias expression changed from cautious curiosity to surprise and confusion. "No way ... Keshi?" she more or less said to her self "Is that you Keshi?" Rias asked, her tone denoting her confusion as to what she was seeing.

 

[IFS]

"Why are you even bothering? She's just some useless ***** either way. Let's just leave her to do whatever the fuck she wants, we've got better things to do that's not going to be a waste of time and resources."

"Besides, even if she doesn't know anything, a 'pawn that's been thrown away' has no business judging the value of others."

"Alright both of you cut it out," Nicole said, annoyance starting to seep into her voice "We've got enough bastards out there gunning for us without taking shots at each other."

"Is that you Keshi?"

Huh, apparently they know each other? That's convenient. How did they not recognize each other earlier then? The cat bits and blue stuff stands out pretty well, unless they didn't have that back when they knew each other. Although that makes this the most massive coincidence I've seen out of the theater.

"You two know each other?" she asked "how? Actually that can wait, Keshi, if that's your name, can you put down the pipe? If you want to be left alone then we'll leave you alone but we're demigods like you and we can help you if you'll let us."

 

[DarkRawen]

"Are fucking retarded or something? Know what, don't answer, I don't care enough, but if all your going to do is sabotage some one else efforts, ether leave, or keep your miserable trap shut. Besides, even if she doesn't know anything, a 'pawn that's been thrown away' has no business judging the value of others."

Andrew raised an eyebrow. His first thought was to reply, using what he had seen of Rias to make a remark as hurtful and condescending as possible. He couldn't care less if she thought he was retarded, her opinion regarding his intelligence didn't matter, nor bother him. However, it was ironic, a terrorist calling a pawn useless.

At least the pawn captured the opposition's king.

he thought.

And that without slaughtering innocent human beings.

She had seemed eager to make people guilty by association earlier, and Andrew had no issue with that. He could play that fucking game too. Regardless of what had happened after he had been "thrown away", justifying the things that had been done by Dionysus' side was probably how the cat-eared, naive little girl went to sleep at night.

He wanted to reply, and was about to, though Nicole's voice and words made it quite clear that doing that wouldn't be the best idea in the world.

"Alright both of you cut it out. We've got enough bastards out there gunning for us without taking shots at each other."

He bit his tongue, and sent her a; "she started it," kind of look, before sighing and nodded.

"Very well," he said, rubbing his eyes. He forced himself to calm down, he didn't want to, and he still thought of this as a giant waste of time, but if Nicole said to knock it off... besides, it'd show Rias, she likely wouldn't apologize at all. Apologizing meant he was better than her, more mature.

"Keshi, if that is your name. I'm sorry for being rude. I know it's not going to help, and it's certainly not an excuse, but the weather is making me very anxious, and I get very mean when I'm anxious." Admitting weakness. Andrew would certainly not do that again for the sake of appeasing a stranger. He looked towards the blue woman, an apologetic tone and expression on his face. While it certainly was forced -though not exactly insincere, he had to admit that he was sort of acting up- he showed no signs of it.

"I'll be quiet now, and I understand that you don't want me near you, that's fine. I'd simply like you to know that I'm sorry for calling you useless... and a *****, and that I'll leave you alone so that the others can work something out."

With that, he backed away, walking up to Nicole and behind her, facing the other way, as he waited for the sign of that they could get the hell out of there, with or without the 4-armed woman.

"Is that good enough?" he whispered to Nicole, she was the only one close enough to hear it, and even then, barely so.