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Full Circle (Razgriz x Candira)

"You ought to learn to use some manners," she started, taking her rifle from her back and cocking it, "In the presence of a lady." With that, she fired a shot that just missed the bastard. She stared at him. "Quit fooling around and answer the nice man's questions before I pump you so full of lead they won't be able to tell who you are, or how important."

Simon took a step back from Yoko. She was scary when she got like this. "Ummm, we do kinda need him alive for questions...careful Yoko."

The redhead didn't relax her stance at all, though she had heard him. She didn't actually intend to kill this guy. Just put the fear of God into him. Yeah, make him sweat a little.
 
Lyos felt the bullet graze him; however, he didn't flinch, as much as the bullet had scared him when it passed. "You should just kill me now, while you still have the chance, filthy ape whore. I will tell you nothing! Nothing you say or do can make me talk!" While Lyos was in no way a coward, this was merely a front; the near impact had indeed shaken him, ever so slightly, like Yoko wanted.

Kamina just smiled, "Take it from me, pal, she's not someone you want to insult. That rifle of hers? She can nail the eye of a gnat from a thousand yards away. So I suggest you rethink your next words. Now, tell us more about this General Thymilph" Lyos smiled; he didn't care what these pathetic creatures thought. "As if I care. You, female ape slut. Why don't you give me a show and fuck yourself with that rifle? It's been a while since I've seen a human woman get stuffed, and while I hate humans, I do find the view arousing."
 
Yoko didn't even flinch as she fired a bullet into his arm. She didn't take kindly to being antagonized, and this bastard was asking for it. "I'm not sure you understand your position, friend. I suggest you answer his questions."

Simon just stared at the scene, hardly believing that Yoko could shoot someone like that. Then again, the bullet wound wouldn't kill him--it would just hurt and maybe weaken him a little. Maybe humble him. Unfortunately, he felt there was little he could do.
 
Lyos howled as the bullet entered his powerful arm; it didn't hit any arteries, but it stung like hell and bled a little. "Cursed wench! When I get out of here, I'll rape you till you break, then cut your head off and mount it on my Gunman." Kamina sighed as he drew his blade, "Look, pal. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." "Eat shit, you filthy fucking ape."

Kamina had had enough of this guy's mouth; without any warning, he plunged the length of the blade into Lyos' shoulder, leaving it in and twisting it for a few seconds before pulling it out; the blade was now dripping with strange, green blood. Lyos's howled in agony as the blade pierced him and left him again. "Now I'm unhappy. You made me soil my blade." He then turned to Yoko and said, "Put a round in his knee, and then let's let him sit for a while."
 
Yoko didn't hesitate to do as Kamina asked. She did it with a deadpan face. "Yap yap. Who says we'll let you leave?" she asked. With that, she left the room, Simon at her side. He looked up at her as they walked, a little shocked at her actions, and that of Kamina's. Then again, he'd been thinking of doing the exact same thing. He walked with her, not saying anything, afraid of what might come out of his mouth.
 
Kamina couldn't help but smile as Lyos doubled over, cursing in pain; he'd break in no time at all. As soon as they were out of earshot of the unfortunate captive, Kamina then said in a cheerful tone, "Well, this was a day of victory in my book. Saved Littner, captured a Beastman, and......helping exact some vengeance on Exodus' behalf."

Kamina then gave a stretch; it had been a long day for the three of them, but they knew they'd have to keep pushing the Beastman harder and harder until he cracked. Nothing like a good ass-whooping to get the canarys singing. "Well, I'm off to go get something to eat, then turn in. You guys coming?" he said over his shoulder as he made his way to get some food for his belly.
 
Yoko nodded in agreement with Kamina as he caught up and then walked a little ahead of her and Simon. Food sounded good, actually. "Yeah, let's go, right Simon?"

The little digger nodded, glad to have an opportunity to eat with Yoko again. "Yeah, food sounds great."

Of course it was a little odd to think about dinner after torturing someone, but it was necessary, and frankly, the bastard deserved it. Speaking of deserving things...

"Hey Kamina, we should tell Exodus how it went when we're finished," she said, thinking it aloud. It was best to let the poor guy know. He was probably climbing up the walls with anxiety by now.
 
As Kamina ate his food, he nodded at Yoko's suggestion; it was only fair they kept Exodus in the loop of everything pertaining to the interrogation of the Beastman. NOt only would it soothe his anxiety, but hopefully he could get some useful info for himself. Either way, it was a win-win, except for the Beastman captive, anyway. But, that bastard probably killed more people than anyone would care to hear, so he didn't count.

"You're right, he definitely needs to know. And hey, if he gets better soon, maybe we can bring him in to the interrogation with us. He might have some questions for the Beastman himself. After he's strengthed up a bit more, though."
 
"Right. I think for now, we should keep him out of it though. Poor guy's already so paranoid."

Simon agreed through a mouthful of food. It was good to know that they had a plan. "I think I'm going to go see Ron for a little bit after food. Let me know if you want me later." He finished off his meal and sat there for a moment with a happy face.

Yoko smiled and nodded. "All right. Take care, Simon." She watched the digger walk off and waved at him before she looked over at Kamina. "Well, shall we head over to the infirmary?"
 
Kamina watched Simon walk off before turning his attention back to Yoko as he finished off his plate. "Yeah, let's head over." he said shortly, standing up and rubbing his gut before letting out a rather loud belch. "My compliments to the chefs." he said as he thumped his chest with a closed hand and then headed off to the infirmary with Yoko.

"So, Yoko, how long do you think before he cracks? I give him three days, four days tops." he said, confidence exuding from the last part. After a while they reached the infirmary; Kamina stopped at the door as he saw Exodus looking at Harbinger's picture again. "We have to get that away from him. It's not healthy to dwell on the past." Kamina whispered, not wanting to disturb Exodus.

However, he heard Exodus saying something under his breath. He managed to catch what sounded like the last snippet, "Soon, Harbinger. This is a blessing in disguise; when I am healed, that Beastman they captured....." he paused as his eyes closed and free hand clenched into a tight fist, the rage evident in his expression, "will wish he was never born." That last part was accompanied by a sudden shift from a deep voice to a downright baritone growl.

Kamina tried not to look disturbed at Exodus' shift in behavior as he walked in, "Hey, Exodus. Thought we'd swing by and keep you updated on the interrogation." Exodus' eyes opened again as they stared at Kamina; however, instead of the their dark brown color, they had shifted to a deep, dangerous gold. "What the hell?" Kamina thought to himself. However, the gold irises visibly shifted back to their normal brown; Exodus sighed and asked politely, "Did you find anything out?"
 
Though his manners left something to be desired, Yoko couldn't fault Kamina's zeal for life...and food. And the meal was good. She had eaten hers fairly quickly, though she wasn't sure if it was because of the taste, or because she wanted to get to Exodus. She walked with Kamina to the infirmary and thought over his question. "I don't know. Foul-mouthed bastards like him give off the impression that they're badder than they are, but something tells me he's not going to talk unless we do something drastic."

When they arrived at the infirmary, she looked at Exodus and then Kamina as he talked about the picture. "Yeah, but it's not easy to give up something like that either. I think she was a big part of his life before she died..." she said softly, and then Kamina started to talk to Exodus. Yoko had missed the thing with his eyes, even the shift in his behavior. She was blissfully unaware that he might actually be dangerous. She turned to face Exodus again when he started to ask about if they'd gotten any information. "We know he works for someone called Thymilph, and his name is Lyos, though I don't think I'll ever actually use his name." She frowned, remembering the bastard. "The foul-mouthed idiot's gonna lose a limb if he keeps talking to me like that," she muttered. "Unfortunately, there's nothing else that's useful."
 
Kamina was a bit shocked that Yoko didn't react in surprise; either she missed it or she didn't care. "Must have been the light." Kamina thought, and the growl was probably Exodus' throat being dry. This seemed to be confirmed as Exodus took a long swig of water.

As Yoko explained what they learned, which was two names, Exodus tried to keep himself from grinning, lest he give anything more away. He knew only one Lyos; Lyos was one of the guards at the research facility, and on several occassions when Exodus was 'evaluated' by Adiane herself, he had been the liasion for her. Kamina couldn't have captured a more perfect Beastman; when his strength was more recovered, he would definitely go in to see him. Exodus wondered "I see......Lyos, huh? Interesting name. Did he say his rank?" Kamina nodded, "Yeah, he said he was an Adjugant Lieutenant."

This confirmed it for Exodus; Lyos had bitched about being reassigned, albeit temporarily, to guard 'this half-ape freak', and even insulted Exodus when he was sitting in his containment. The others told Lyos they should be honored to serve under Thymilph's potential love interest; a common rumor was that Adiane and Thymilph were lovers, if only secretly. He then spoke again in a normal tone, "I don't know much about Thymilph, only that he's a Divine General." "Yeah, you told us that earlier." Exodus nodded, keeping his face straight even if it felt like he was going to explode with joy at his luck.

"Well, I'm sure you guys are tired, you certainly look it. You should try to get some rest." He paused and said, "And thanks again, you two. For everything you've done, I can't say enough how grateful I am to you all for this second chance."
 
Yoko watched Exodus as he talked about Lyos. She got the feeling that there was some sort of recognition beyond just names, but she didn't want to push anything for now. Besides, where Exodus was concerned, that was Kamina's job. They made for a pretty effective good-cop-bad-cop team. At his thanks, Yoko thought she might take the opportunity to leave him with a few thoughts. "Just don't waste it, Exodus. There are a lot of things in your past that might tempt you to--but just remember, there's someone counting on you to be around now," she smiled and patted Kamina's shoulder. "Right?" And with that, she gave a little wave and headed off to the showers and then bed.
 
Kamina nodded as Yoko patted his shoulder, "Right. See you tomorrow." he said as she walked off, watching those beautiful hips sway back and forth as she left the room. Exodus, however, was definitely in thought; though it most likely wasn't the kind that Yoko might approve of. He most certainly wouldn't waste this chance; he'd kill Thymilph, then use his meaty head to beat Adiane to death. Or at the very least, lure her out so that he could tear her apart himself. Exodus took a deep calming breath; he felt himself start to slip again.

Kamina noticed this and asked, "Hey, everything alright?" Exodus just replied, "Yeah, just relieved I don't have to worry about Beastmen breathing down my neck every five seconds. Still getting used to not having to stay awake at night, waiting for them to drag me away." Kamina just clasped his thin shoulder, "We got your back, big guy. Count on it. Now get some rest, the road to recovery can't be walked with weary eyes. Or something like that." Exodus chuckled, "See you tomorrow, Kamina." With that, Kamina left, leaving Exodus to ponder not only his own plan of action, but the words Yoko left him with. He wondered how they would react, when he told them just how dangerous he really was. Who he was, beneath that facade of a broken man he used to finally gain some allies.

*one week later*

The interrogations were going slower than hoped; Lyos proved to be as hard to budge as a mountain. No matter what they tried, even with gunshot and penetration wounds, starvation and isolation, nothing would seem to make him break. After another unsuccessful attempt to break him, Kamina was getting frustrated; for some weird reason, no other Beastman patrols could be located. While the respite was nice for the townspeople as a whole, the lack of potentially more-willing substitutes was aggravating.

Exodus, however, seemed to be making a rapid recovery. When he first tried to walk after being bed-ridden for those long four plus days, he failed miserably; his muscles had atrophied horribly, forcing him to use a cane and the shoulder of one ever-so-helpful nurse to walk. After a week, however, his muscle mass seemed to have returned in part, though he was still incredibly scrawny for someone of his height. At the very least, by now he could move on his own without assistance.

However, if Yoko and Kamina decided to go visit their newly-recovered friend, they would not find him in the physical therapy room, nor anywhere in Littner; Exodus had his own plans to accelerate the restoration of his muscles. And that meant healthy exercise, in the form of hunting. Not with a gun, or even a sword, but with his own two hands. Weak as he was with only an estimated 30% strength restored, he could still overpower a deer; the trick was, though, getting close to it without alerting it to his presence. His beloved Harbinger was a master of stealth; his mentality always called for a more direct approach. Not an easy mindset to get rid of, considering it had been the thing that had saved him more times than it hurt him.

As he approached the watering hole where he had heard deer were gathering, he could see them. Two large bucks and a gaggle of does; easily bigger than any he had seen before. The racks of antlers stood majestic against the rising sun; however, the fact that there were two meant the use of stones to stun them would be in order. A quick blow to the head would daze them, hopefully giving him enough to close in for the kills. He would give one to the people of Littner, and take one for himself. He only recently rediscovered his voracious appetite; his combat style required massive amounts of energy, and with how hungry he was, he could pick clean a deer carcass no problem. However, to show that he wasn't a total ass, he also requested a good dozen canteens to fill while he was there; these people saved his life, the least he could do was help them survive.

As he closed in to where the deer drank, Exodus held in his thin yet strong hands two large pieces of carbonaceous rock; this would be more than sufficient to daze them. Hell, if he was as strong as he was, he could chuck them with enough force to kill the things. Exodus kept his movements slow and steady, doing his hardest not to disturb the grass that served as his camouflage. He thanked the spirits that he was upwind of them; his scent would definitely render the hunt a failure, even with how much dirt he had rubbed on himself.

As he got to within the distance he could throw the stones, he felt his body tense and his heart rate rise. "Just like old times" he thought to himself, recalling the times he had hunted Beastmen while still part of the trio. The time to strike was now; he stood up quickly and chucked the first stone, nailing the buck on the left right in the side of the head. It buckled from the force of the impact, causing the others to flee. Exodus' sense locked in on the fleeing buck, causing to chuck the stone wildly. He somehow still managed to hit its head and make it fall, though he had a feeling it wouldn't stay down for long.

He charged in to deal with the first buck as it tried to rise; Exodus threw himself on top it, wrestling with it to try and snap its neck. It kicked and squirmed, grunting loudly as it tried to break free. However, Exodus grabbed its snout and wrenched; a loud crack was heard before the buck's form went limp. He looked to see that the other buck had nearly risen, and Exodus charged over to deal with it. However, before he could get there, the buck rose fully and took off, still somewhat dizzy from having a rock nail it in the head. "You're not getting away!" he growled; adrenaline pumped through his system, increasing the blood-lust he felt. His bare feet pounded the sun-scorched, rocky earth before his lithe form went flying through the air, slamming into the large animal and causing them both to tumble to the ground.

This one was even larger than the one he just dealt, and a hell of a lot stronger and meaner. It tried several times to gore him with its sharp antlers, though some maneuvering on Exodus' part helped to only get a few scratches from them. After about a ten-minute struggle, Exodus finally managed to grab a hold of its snout and wrench it, causing the loud 'SNAP' to reverberate throughout the air. "Whew, that was fun." he said with a grin as he hefted the meaty animal over his shoulder and carried it back to the watering hole where his other kill was. He opted to give the larger one to the people of Littner; he didn't need that much meat

Finally arriving there, he grabbed a stone and after making it sharp, used it to gut and bleed them. He then filled the canteens before using the water as his own wash-sink, trying to get the dirt off of his skin. When that was done, he hefted the animals over his shoulder and threw the ropes connecting the heavy canteens across the back of his neck before making his way back to Littner.
 
((I don't know what to do with Simon, so I might edit him in later...^^; ))

A week later and they still had no progress with that foul-mouthed beast. It seemed as though her predictions were coming true. He was proving to be incredibly tough. If they knew more, they might have been able to psychologically break him down, but they really didn't know anything but his rank, his commander, and his name. And Yoko could think of a nice place to shove all three of those things. Unfortunately, since they weren't tangible, it wasn't a viable option.

Yoko was tired of questioning this loser, and Kamina didn't seem to be getting anywhere either. It was nearly the end of the day when Yoko left the interrogation room to try and find Exodus. Oddly enough no one in the infirmary or rehab room had seen him. Did that mean? She tried not to think the worst as she asked around the rest of Littner, only to find that someone had seen him leaving town earlier. She headed in his general direction and saw him dragging the carcasses of two bucks and a load of canteens on his way back.

"Are you out of your mind?!" She ran at him and gave his head a little punch, not enough to do damage, but certainly enough to smart. Kamina would have called it a love tap. "What the hell are you doing out here alone? Much less trying to carry all this?" She was furious. "You're being reckless with your body! Even if you feel great, you have to take things slowly or your going to end up doing more harm than good!" Her golden eyes pierced his and she crossed her arms waiting for an explanation.
 
Exodus saw Yoko running his way and thought maybe she was coming to give him a hand. And oh did she, just not in the way he expected or wanted. "OW! The fuck, Yoko?! What was that for?" he asked after she bopped him hard on the head. "I just...went for a little exercise, is all! And I was trying to help you guys out! Is that really all that bad?" He didn't even flinch when she glared at him

He then motioned with his hand to the larger of the two bucks, "Look, I brought back a large juicy buck for you guys, and a ton of water." He then motioned to the other buck, which was considerably smaller than the other one, "And this one is mine. That way, I have my food, and you guys can eat heartily for a while." Hefting the large animals back on his shoulders, he looked at her and said, "If you're here to help me, great. If you just came to scold me, kindly move so I can make my way back to town."

He wasn't trying to be a jerk, but that was one of his weaknesses. He often said things the wrong way or said the wrong thing entirely. Besides, he knew his body better than she did. And so he moved past Yoko, intent on carrying the large load himself. "Have to get stronger quicker. That way, victory against Adiane can be assured." It would be painfully obvious to anyone that despite being made aware of having people to watch his back, his one-man-army mindset would be extremely difficult to break.
 
"Oh yeah, make me into the bad guy because I'm worried about you," she said, stopping him to take the canteens at the very least. "Just because you covered your ass by bringing in more meat for the people of Litner doesn't mean you're off the hook." She pushed him back a little so he would be forced to look at her. "You have people with you now. You can't just run off by yourself. And what would you have done if some beastmen had been in the area?" she asked him, worry evident in her eyes.

"Call me crazy for worrying if you want. Whatever. I don't really care if you think I'm stupid. But damn it, you need to learn that there's more than just you to think about. Don't I count at all?" She asked, turning and storming away.
 
Exodus let Yoko rant; it wasn't long, however, before she hit him with a proverbial curveball. Where the hell did that come? He was about to make a remark regarding just how stupid she was being before she stormed off with the canteens. "What the hell is her deal?" Exodus asked himself; in his eyes, she fulfilled her duty by bringing him in to get patched up, and now it was on him to get better. She had no obligation to watch over him further, and he didn't think the people of Littner really gave two damns about him. He was just some stranger they brought who, for all they knew, had an extremely long run of bad luck. Nothing more than a standard sideshow attraction that people would forget about in time. That did not mean, however, that he wasn't willing to repay his debt to them. He would help with whatever they may need until it was time for him to move on.

OK, maybe going off on his own wasn't the smartest move he made, especially in his stronger-but-still-fairly-weak condition. At the very least, he should asked Kamina or Yoko to come along with him, but they looked so busy that he didn't want to bother them. He didn't ask Simon because he was too young. Even if they had said no, he would have gone anyway. He felt a bit pissed that he couldn't tell Yoko why he was trying to be distant, because it ultimately would reveal his secret. And on top of that, everyone he had tried to get close to after Harbinger had died ended up being killed, and he wasn't going to let that happen to her. She was too good of a person to have that happen. "God damn it" he grumbled as he continued on his way back to Littner; she had no idea how much she counted. And that was the problem.

Kamina was trying to find where Yoko had run off; one of the townspeople had told him that she ran off, looking for Exodus. Kamina then went around and saw Yoko coming back. It looked like she was carrying about a dozen canteens. "Yoko!" he yelled as he ran up to try and help her; upon a closer look, he saw that she looked fairly unhappy. "Hey, is everything alright, Yoko? Someone told me Exodus had run off, and you went to look for him. Is everything alright?"
 
Yoko was a bit more than fairly unhappy. She was upset, and probably a little irrational. But who did that guy think he was? Some kind of super human? A week ago he was barely strong enough to get out of bed! And now he was running around making decisions that could have gotten him killed. It wasn't just her who would have been upset if he'd come back injured. Everyone who'd helped to take care of him from the beginning would have felt just as bad for not having gone with or tried to stop him. And his reckless decision could have put them in dire straits for more medicine. Why couldn't he just listen?!

Frustrated, she made her way closer to town. Kamina approached her--clueless as ever. He'd probably side with Exodus on the matter, wouldn't he? Jerk. "I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth. It was clear that she was not. She paused and tried to calm down as Kamina continued to try and get answers. At least he was concerned. It made her kind of an ass for lumping him in with Exodus. "The guy's gonna get himself killed. He's an idiot."
 
Kamina noted the hostility in Yoko's tone; whatever Exodus did to make Yoko this upset, he'd talk to him about it. "What did he....." but stopped as he saw Exodus carrying two large deer. What the hell was he doing hunting? From the looks of it, he didn't even have a weapon on him. No, Exodus didn't......but the more Kamina looked over him, the more he saw the truth. Exodus took down those deer with his own two hands.

Kamina stormed past Yoko and began chewing him out, "Exodus! What the hell is this?" "Fantastic. Looks I made another enemy today. I don't need this." Exodus grumbled in his head. "I don't see what the big deal is, so I went hunting. I wasn't hurt, was I? And from what I've heard, Beastmen haven't been reported anywhere near here for the past week."

Kamina clenched his hands in anger, "You don't get it, do you? You aren't a one-man army, you dope! You're still not fully recovered! You shouldn't be pushing yourself! What about all the medical staff that worked tirelessly to heal you? What if you got hurt again? Do you have any idea how that would make them feel about their work?" "And who the hell are you to tell me what I am and am not capable of?! The fact is you fulfilled your civic duty by helping me, so I don't need you breathing down my neck and shouting my ear off just because I went to get some exercise! And oh forgive me, because I added some chores to help you survive! It's not like I'm ungrateful! I was going to take the smaller of the deer for myself, to leave more food for your people, but here, take them both!" Exodus shot back as he threw both deer on the ground.

Kamina just got more pissed, "Agh! You don't get it! We can't just heal you every time you get hurt!" "Who says you have to?" This made Kamina pause, "What?" "You heard me, so what if I get hurt again? The fact is you saved my life once. If I get hurt that means I fucked up, so....just let me pay the price next time. Don't exhaust any more of your supplies on me, I'll be leaving soon enough." He paused then continued, "Like I said, I'm not ungrateful. I'll do what I have to repay you all for your kindness towards me. But once I'm fully recovered, then we can sever our ties, and I'll be out of everyone's hair for good."

Kamina just stood there, processing what Exodus just said to him; he then punched Exodus hard in the jaw, enough to knock him over. "You really think we'll just abandon you like that? Get a clue, Exodus. Like I said, damn it. People are concerned about you. You need to open up, and not just think about you." Exodus leaned up to wipe some blood from his lip; he felt his anger surge through him, causing him to emit a strange, almost primal growl. "Hey, I brought...." he started, but Kamina cut him off, "Bringing back food and water for the people to eat doesn't get you off the hook, you idiot! Selfless as it is, what really counts is you staying safe! We gave you a second chance, and you're insulting us by being reckless!" Exodus just gave a derisive snort as he stood back up, "Fine. I won't leave Littner without Mommy or Daddy watching over my shoulder! Does that make you happy?"
 
Yoko handed over the canteens with a little more force than she really needed to, but no one was brave enough to call her on it. Rather than get in Yoko's way, they let her storm off to find something more productive to do. That didn't stop her from catching sight of Kamina and Exodus fighting. She was glad that she wasn't the only one who thought Exodus was being unreasonable.

When he started in on Kamina, she watched how they handled each other. For once, Kamina was acting somewhat like the mature one. Exodus, on the other hand, was acting like a child. She put her face in her palm and wished desperately that some higher power would grant her patience. She walked toward them to try and get everything settled--she hated to just walk away, but she caught the end of the argument and walked right up to Exodus.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Someone has to act like they have a brain, you child!" Hurt was evident in her eyes and she made an exasperated sound. "Whatever. Just go take a shower," She muttered, taking the smaller of the deer to the butcher, not really having much difficulty with it.

Simon was just entering the scene, coming out to get some sun when he noticed Kamina and Exodus. Waving cheerfully, he headed over and smiled. "Hey guys. What's up?" Poor innocent, Simon. He simply had no idea.
 
Great. Now they were tag-teaming him. Fan-fucking-tastic. He didn't have to think about who he was; he knew who he was. What aggravated him was that he couldn't tell them; they'd kill him in a heartbeat. Exodus didn't know why he was so irritable and hot-headed; that was Sovereign's job. He was once calm, collected......but ever since Harbinger had died, he'd changed. Maybe part of him wished that he would just die, wished it would all just end.

But, a larger part told him that was a pussy's way out, a warrior faces his challenges head-on. Never back down, never surrender----that was the motto he tried and succeeding in instilling into his former squadmates. It was also most likely the thing that got them killed; Yoko didn't know it, but he was living with the guilt of letting his former squad-mates die. Not an easy thing to cope with, especially when one of them was a woman that he loved with his heart and soul. She just thought Harbinger was something like a girlfriend, but it was so much deeper than that.

Exodus just clammed up when Yoko scolded him; his hands clenched into fists, but relaxed when Simon entered the scene. Exodus didn't want Simon being dragged into this, so he just shut up. It would seem Kamina wanted the same, so he just replied, [color=1E90FF]"Nothing much, Simon. Just talking is all."[/color] Exodus nodded in agreement, "Yeah, just talking. I'll see you guys later." He then wandered to follow Yoko's suggestion; perhaps a shower would do him some good.

As the water ran over Exodus' lithe form, his head rested against the wall. Why was he so angry all of a sudden? Well, actually the answer to that was obvious; he wanted nothing more than to make Adiane bleed like a fountain. His anger surged through him again, causing to mutter "Damn it" as his fist pounded lightly against the wall.

He then took a couple of breaths; he shouldn't be mad at these people. They did nothing wrong to him, and yet he still felt somewhat like he was in hostile territory. "Harbinger, you were always good with this kind of thing, even if you were shy. What should I do?" he asked to no one in particular. Well, the answer was obvious; he knew he was in the wrong, but he let his defensive personality take over and shove them away. He didn't know whether his next words would be well-received, but any skepticism and snarky remarks about his actions were what he deserved. "Time to face the music" he said, sticking to his resolve.

Exodus got out, dried off and redressed. He decided that he would find Yoko and try to make amends. She deserved that, and living with Harbinger's near-exact double hating his guts didn't sit well with him. "Damn it, why do you remind me so much of her?" Harbinger could be quite the feisty fire-cracker when she wanted to, much like Yoko was. Though Harbinger was considerably more soft-spoken than she was, more times than not. He then went in search of Yoko, hoping to at least try to bury the hatchet.
 
Simon was a bit confused as they talked to him. Something about the situation seemed a little off, but it was probably just that he'd been inside and wasn't used to the sunlight yet. "Okay. Well, it was good seeing you, Exodus." He smiled cheerfully and then walked over to his bro to talk about whatever. Sometimes he just missed hanging out with him.

Yoko, in the mean time, had dropped off the deer to the butcher stand and decided that she should go lie down for a bit. She was acting like an idiot, even if she happened to be right. So he'd endangered himself, it wasn't like he'd endangered everyone else...Not that that was much of a consolation, really. She didn't know why it was bugging her so much...but it felt like he was keeping something from her, or that he didn't trust her after everything that had happened. She just felt like curling up into a ball and disappearing.

Okay, that was angsty. She wasn't someone who just curled up and disappeared. She was right about this, damn it. She was not the bad guy here--he was the idiot that messed up. So why did she feel bad for yelling at him? God, she hated men some days.
 
After being unable to locate Yoko anywhere, Exodus decided to ask if anyone had seen her. One of the residents said she went to lay down; after Exodus explained that it was urgent he talk to her, they showed him where she went. After thanking them and sending them on their way.

Exodus took a deep breath; facing down another pack of Beastmen would be easier than this. "No going back now." he said mentally as he knocked on the door softly. "Yoko? You got a minute?" he said shortly, hoping that Yoko would be willing to work this out with him. If not, he understood.
 
Yoko had calmed considerably in the time that she'd been away from exodus. She stood up at the knock on her door but paused as she heard Exodus' voice. He'd come to her wanting to talk, she reminded herself. That meant one of two things: either he was still mad and wanted to patronize her or he wanted to apologize. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, Yoko straightened up her hair, which she'd taken down since she thought she was going to take a nap, and then answered the door, opening it half way so that she was visible, but not much of her room was.

She decided to be a good person and not be mean to him. "Sure. Do you want to come in?" she asked.
 
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