Description: Items are returned, more questions are raised, conversations hit a few awkward silences... and an alliance is formed? Zach comes looking for Arika, and it seems that beyond saving her sunglasses he's offering his help should she need it.
The Suiryuu has been through quite a bit in the past couple of months. Lots of fights, and a truck ramping down a dock to crash into it.
Zach has been a participant in some of the fighting, but has somehow managed to avoid doing so outside of the scheduled matches. Right now, however, the walking Psycho Bomb has a job to do. He has a towel over one arm, and something in that same hand. He reaches up, checking to ensure he is at the right place, and then knocks three times.
That was supposed to be the signal, anyway.
Three knocks... why does that pop out in her mind? Arika fumbles with the clasp of the necklace she was slipping around her neck, but recovers before it falls to the cabin floor. Snapping it into place, she takes one final look in the mirror and then walks toward the door to open it.
"Eva, I thought we were gonna meet in your cabi--- oh, you're not Eva."
Clearing her throat, she lifts a slender eyebrow and looks at who's standing outside. Takes her a moment to place the face, but then she smiles. "Zach, right? It's been a while." Subconsciously, she rubs along her jaw, grateful that the light layer of makeup she's wearing today hides the remaining bruises from the tousle in the library the night of the crash.
"Yeah," Zach nods, offering the towel to Arika, "I was supposed to return this, but I got tangled up in some stuff." He scratches the back of his head, grateful that the shirt covers the mass of bruises that he received at the se floor the other day. It's not pretty.
He brings up a hand, "You left these in the pool that day, thought you'd like them back." He opens the hand, to reveal a pair of sunglasses. They are, in fact, the pair that Arika had left behind during her... discussion with Sakura in the pool.
Blinking once at the towel, Arika grins. She -had- forgotten all about the thing, but who can blame her with everything that's been going on. "Please, don't worry 'bout it. If I'd been missin' it, I would've 'unted you down." The towel is balled up and tossed onto the upper bunk.
The sunglasses, however, are given a look as she blinks again. "Now -these-," she says as she reaches for them, "-These- I didn't even realize I'd left behind. Thanks." Should they be handed to her, she's going to slide them up over her head like a headband, despite the orchid that's been pinned into her hair.
Zach does, in fact, hand them back to Arika; they are her's after all. He smiles a bit, then glances around.
"So how are things going for you lately?" Zach asks innocently.
Leaning against the frame of the door, the punk princess does her utmost not to laugh at the innocence of the question. "'ow are things goin' for anyone on board? S'pose they've been well enough." Crossing her arms over her chest she shrugs. "Wee bit worried 'bout a teammate of mine, but she seemed to be doin' alright when I last saw 'er."
Shifting her gaze to him, she asks, "'ow've things been with you? Other than busy that is?"
Zach shuffles his back foot a bit, chuckling with a bit of chagrin.
"I have been strapped into a seriously old-school diving suit, tossed off the boat, and forced to fight a cheerleader that hits like a freakin' /truck/." Zach winces, the intake of air causing his ribs to sting, "Couldn't tell you how the fight ended, though. I remember hitting the ground, and then the next thing I could tell you is that I was waking up on the boat." Zach frowns. He /hates/ gaps in the memory; they usually mean he blew up. "But other than that, I got to get some reading done. Haven't slept well lately. Something odd's going on, and I have no clue what it is." He looks at Arika, then looks away, "And it's bugging the hell out of me."
"Heh."
Extremely verbose in her response, Arika does a quick glance up and down the corridor. She nods once as she listens to him talk about his most recent match, and then taps her finger against her cheek -- only too late wishing she hadn't, as it causes her to wince a little.
"Us girls... well we -can- 'it pretty dang well," she points out. "Me? I wound up in the map room, weird ninja symbols tattooin' themselves all o'er my body. Let me just say that it's a good thing those markings came off." A frown creases her brow, and she watches him for a moment.
"Somethin' odd? You mean besides some blokes from Mad Gear drivin' a truck into the side of the ship and tryin' to take somethin'?"
Zach blinks. He had managed to sleep through that. Had no clue it had even happened, really. "Yeah. I mean, I don't know much about fighting tournaments or anything, but I think that has to be the most heavily armed boat I have EVER been on." He waves a hand, "I mean, the rapiers and hand to hand stuff, I can understand. Part of the martial arts tradition, whatever that is." He frowns, "But /bazookas/? And I could have sworn I have seen a machine gun or three around here somewhere."
He looks at Arika with a trace of concern before continuing, "Then there's that Travedi guy. I'm... I'm not sure what his deal is, but I think he's a bit like me." Zach pauses, "With the power, I mean. It /felt/ like..." Zach trails off.
"Yeah. Just /odd/," he comments as if trying to change the subject.
Blink.
Blink.
Oh shi--
So, pretty much everyone knows about those things now. That -is- going to put a bit of a damper in the plans. Hopefully she can find what she's looking for before anyone becomes super suspicious about things. "'onestly, I'm bettin' bazookas are the -least- of our worries. 'ate to say it, but a regular ol' cruise ship ain't got no need for those weapons..." Shrugging her shoulders back in a nonchalant manner, she tries to look completely uninterested in it all.
"Travedi guy? Don't think I've 'ad a chance to meet the bloke. 'ow'd it feel odd?"
Zach chuckles, feeling his cheeks burn at the memory, "I think he's like me." Zach says quietly. "Or that maybe he was at some point in his life." He looks away, distinctly uncomfortable; he knows the mess he is in right now. He doesn't care much for it. "But what he has..." Zach falters, "It felt kinda like what I have but not."
He shakes his head, the mane of purple hair shaking behind him in echo of his head movement, "I don't know how to explain it any other way," he states.
Well... that really isn't telling Arika much at all. Maybe if she broke into Sakura's office, she could get a dossier on everyone aboard and...
No, they'll need a better distraction than -that-.
"I see. Guess I'll 'ave to seek 'im out then, though I doubt 'e'll be able to offer me any'a the answers I've been lookin' for." Pausing, she sets a curious look upon her face and then glances around again. "So, 'ow'd you find out 'bout those guns anyhow? I mean, it ain't like they're 'idin' them really well, but wot struck you as curious 'bout them?"
Zach shrugs meekly, "You said it yourself; regular cruise ships don't need 'em. The fact that they were there at all kind of got my attention. I don't think I have seen that many guns in one place ever," the American chuckles. "I don't think Travedi will tell you much. Seemed like he played things pretty close to the vest," Zach supposes. He considers for a moment, "I'm starting to think that things are... not completely above level here."
"I 'ave. Wasn't a pretty sight." Arika frowns a little, recalling things over in Thailand. There were more weapons there, tanks, innocent lives lost. No way in -Hell- the Stars can let that happen here. "Won't 'urt to make nice with the man though. Information or not..." Travedi -could- lead them to a clue after all. "Don't know wot gave you -that- idea, mate. I mean, the reasonin' for some'a us gettin' involved wasn't exactly on the up-and-up. Not all'a us got pretty lil' embossed invites in the mail."
Bitter much?
Zach smirks, "Mine was nailed to my pillow with a knife," he snorts as he crosses his arms. He's kind of grumpy about that; the bedding wasn't cheap, and he had used part of his paycheck that he propably should not have to buy it. "One of those numbers with the solid wood handle." He frowns again.
"Don't know why, though. I don't /think/ I've done anything to piss these guys off," Zach ponders.
Ahh, another dagger. Arika smirks a little and shakes her head. "It ain't 'bout pissin' them off, mate. It's all 'bout 'ow they think they're challengin' you to be a better fighter. The more mystery, the more intrigue... the more it makes you think." Pause. "Accordin' to some at any rate. I've got a pretty good feelin' that these guys ain't wot they've been sayin' they are, and that this ship ain't exactly wot they're portrayin' it as. But I doubt I'm gonna be able to confirm that unless I can track down Riko and bloody well make'er talk." With force. Much force if necessary.
The frown is still there; more out of concern for this woman he hardly knows than for anything surrounding his own life. He considers his next words for a long moment, his eyes not straying too far from the Brit Rocker's face. It's a pleasant one to look at, at any rate.
"Well... be careful, okay? Whatever is going on around here isn't worth getting yourself killed over." Zach pauses, almost thoughtfully, "If there's anything I can do to help you out, you can find me around here somewheres." He shrugs, "Right untill they kick me off of this tug, at any rate." He points, "My bunk's down the hall. Just do the ole 'shave and a haircut' knock, so I'm not confusing you for someone else, okay?"
It's the look on his face, more than his words that cause the punk princess to blink again. Unless she's seriously mistaken, that's a look of -genuine- concern. Trying to mask the confusion she's feeling, she looks down at the floor. Only one other person has bothered giving her a look like that, and well, that's because he knows her so well.
A very subtle shake of her head is given, in order to clear her thoughts and she forces a smile to display upon her lips. "I'm always careful, mate...." And yet, here Arika is, willing to put herself on the line for others. When did that change occur? Normally, it's all about her. Her safety. Her survival. So why does she care -now-? "I can definitely pull off that knock, so if we're needin' some 'elp... just be expectin' it."
"In the meantime," she says after a slight pause, "be careful yourself. Keep an eye out for anythin' that don't seem right, okay?"
Zach chuckles softly, "Just as careful as an exploding man can be, Arika." Oh that Zach, ever one for the strange humor. "I'll keep an ear to the ground." Zach sticks his hands in his pockets, looking around for a moment. He's not sure what to say now.
Arika doesn't say anything else, and for a moment it looks as though she's about to dismiss him. Slipping back into her room, rustling of paper can be heard, and a pen clicks. Scratching the tip of the pen across the paper, she clicks the pen again and then peeks her head out the door. "Try not to set off the bazookas," she replies with a somewhat dry laughter. The paper is held out to him then and she adds, "You 'ear anythin', give me a call. My cell's been great for workin' even when we're out at sea, so 'opefully it'll work..."
Zach takes the paper with a certain amount of grace, nodding with a slight chuckle. He looks at it for a moment, committing it to memory before folding the paper up and sticking it in his pocket, "One can hope, as expensive as those things get these days," he says with a dry chuckle of his own.
"You're tellin' me." Smiling, Arika crosses her arms over her chest again. "Try 'avin' one for different continents and tryin' to remember the numbers. It's a bloody pain, if you ask me..." But he didn't ask her. "Oh, 'ey... thanks for bringin' back these glasses'n'all. Sweet of you to go in after them."
Zach blushes again, his face matching the Bogard-esque ball cap. "Wasn't really a problem, Arika." He looks around, then at her, then away, "You looked so good in them, I thought it'd be a shame for you to lose them just because you forgot them," Zach says quietly as he takes a half-step back.
The blush doesn't go unnoticed, but Arika is nice enough not to point it out or make a big deal out of it. Smile brightening slightly, she turns to face him and then reaches a hand up to slide the glasses down to sit gently upon her nose. "I appreciate it. Not many would go out of their way for a pair of shades..."
Zach shrugs again; it's a comfortable gesture, "I know the value of a buck," he comments. "And I know I hate it when I waste money like that," he says matter of factly. He pivots on a heel, glancing over a shoulder past his purple hair. "Take care of yourself, Blondie," Zach says with a slight wave as he starts to walk away.
Log created on 13:17:19 09/20/2007 by Arika, and last modified on 19:58:43 09/20/2007.