Gippal walked into the room, slamming the door open. After hearing the story of what happened to his friends and how they were treated he was not happy. Not at all. He stopped in front of Lenora as she sat at her desk, her receptionist running in after him saying, "I'm so so sorry miss Lenora, he just ignored me." She squeaked, as she moved to her side.
"Where are my friends?" He said bluntly, as Braska walked in behind him and Maximus coming in last. Gippal was a mess, with his tight white shirt covered in sand and sweat. Rips in the fabric here and there from the wreck. The blonde haired captain had her boots set up on her desk, pushed back in her leather seat with a newspaper in hand and small reading glasses perched at the end of her nose. She looked up at the group that had just come in with a mix of disinterest and reluctance. After a moment of silence, she looked back at her newspaper and flicked a page over.
'"Sorry, can't say I know anybody going by the name of 'Friends,' you'll have to be more specific." Her voice was rather lethargic, a sign of someone relaxing after a good day's work. Gippal looked at the woman and sighed, she reminded him of the world he left behind long ago. He folded his arms and said,
"The ones you arrested today. Tall red headed woman, massive guy with white hair and a frail black haired woman in a chair." He leaned slightly down towards her, "Does that ring a bell?" Lenora peered over her glasses at him and began rolling up her newspaper as she formed a response.
"As a matter of fact, they do. And I must say, you keep some very interesting company, Mister...?"
"Gippal." He said simply as he kept eye contact with her, as the one guard with the massive sword on his back walked in and saw what was going on. He knew of Braska, he thought the man standing back with the katana seemed familiar, but one he definitely recognized was Gippal. He perked up, having missed the tone of the conversation beforehand. He smiled and couldn't help himself.
"Oh WOW! Mr. Gippal!" He rushed up and gripped his hand, shaking it with both of his own hands. "Big fan, ever since you started playing Blitzball!" Looking over to his captain he stood amazed, "I didn't know you knew two famous Blitzball players miss Lenora." Mentioning Braska as well behind him. Lenora looked at the guard.
"Professionalism, please..." She sat at the desk, properly, placing her elbows onto it while resting her chin against her folded fingers as she looked at the group. "Ah, Now I do recognize you... you were the star for the Zanarkand Abe's once upon a time..." She paused to grab a stack of papers on her desk and straighten them out by tapping them against the wood.
"Once upon a time..." He murmured as she paused. Lenora glanced at him before resuming organizing her paperwork.
"Back to the point however, your friends have gotten themselves into quite the mess." The guard looked to his captain and realized what he was doing and let Gippal's hand go, mouthing 'sorry' as he backed up to the wall and assumed his position. Gippal had given the man a small smile before looking back to Lenora, he listened to her once again as she said they got into a mess. Alex, he believed. Nai? maybe. Urick? Definitely not. He shifted his folded arms to behind his back, gripping his right wrist with his left hand.
"What sort of mess...Miss?" He asked, his blunt attitude from before quickly going away to a more...civilized tone. Lenora responded well to this, rewarding Gippal with a smug smile as she slid her reading spectacles off her nose to lay on the dark wood of the desk.
"Lenora. Captain Lenora... of the Kilika Youth League division." She sat back in her chair, drumming pale fingers against her desk as she answered thoughtfully, "To make things clear, my orders were to arrest all parties involved with the assault of the mayors son after he was significantly injured by your red-headed friend. Upon going to apprehend the suspects with the help of an eyewitness, we experienced resistance and had to take necessary protocols. The redhead proved to be most dangerous, and she will have to be punished for her actions... the others..." She took pause to glance up at them, pursing her lips as to how to word her next statement. At last, her lips parted, her eyes distant. "To quote the mage-girl... 'shall I remind this town what happened before the last eternal calm' and... 'There shall be no one left alive in this place that shall regret hurting my friends...' Yes, something like that." She glared at Gippal, her body tensing. "I won't need to apprehend all of you as well under suspicion of high treason... will I?"
Gippal's expression remained calm as Lenora explained the situation, his head did tilt to the side as he heard a quote Nai, may or may not have said. She did have a temper but he had never heard anything like that before. When Lenora asked if if she wouldn't need to apprehend them, he smiled. "Rest assured miss Lenora, that won't be necessary." He answered with a slight chuckle. He was surprised on how even his own attitude and how his anger was being quelled. All those lessons he got from his father about speaking properly and tactfully in these situations came back to him as if he had never lost it.
He lifted his chin, indicating he had a question to ask, his eyes narrowing as if he was trying to formulate the words. "May I ask who was the eye witness was?" Suddenly, the rolled up newspaper found itself being slapped across Gippals face, the captain having stood up with spitfire in her voice and flames in her eyes. Gippal pulled his head back as he was slapped, his eyes narrowed in a confused look. The guard on the other hand, went wide eyed in shock and utter fear. What did she just do!?
"Listen here you little shit, you don't question a Captain of the Youth League!" She stood over him behind the desk in her heels as she glowered down at him, her lips curling up to a snarl. "There were multiple witnesses accounting exactly to the words I have spoken here!" As she spoke, she reached into her cleavage--quite suddenly--and slammed a surveillance sphere onto the desk. As it hit the wood, a holographic mini projection popped up with the faces of both her guards, Braska, and Sifen all there. On top of it all, a play-by-play of the scene that unfolded back when everyone was arrested played from Lenora's point of view.
After watching the sphere Gippal closed his eyes, why did they have to go and get all pissy with the local authorities?! He did feel sympathy for Urick though as he got kicked in his jewels. It almost made him chuckle, but with how Lenora handled the situation and hurting Nai so unnecessarily with the kick to the gut it quickly died before it could even hint at his lips. Opening his eyes he looked to Lenora, taking a breath to calm himself down and keep up the diplomatic tone, much to his displeasure.
"You misunderstood my question Captain Lenora, I was referring to the witness of the crime that Alex may, or may not have had committed to the mayor's son. I did not mean or ever ment to imply that I doubted your testimony. Forgive me for the miss communication." He said with a slight bow of the head.
Maximus was leaning against the wall with his arms folded, watching the scene unfold. He was very displeased with the sphere and how Captain Lenora and the guards behaved. He cleared his throat after Gippal had apologized, impressed with how Gippal was handling it but had to say something about what he saw. "Captain Lenora... I do understand were you were coming from with taking Naisha, the mage, words as a threat, I would have done the same...but to me, the way you and your men handled yourselves..." He waved to the sphere. "...was barbaric." He said with dissapointment. A shadow fell over Lenora's face as a thick layer of atmosphere settled into the room.
"Hey, Old Man..." Lenora's eyes glinted beneath the shadows of her face as she locked her eyes with the eldest guardian present. "Don't think you're better than us just because you don't run with the Youth League anymore. It was protocol. If you question it, then I may just have to show you the true meaning of the word 'barbaric.'" Her words dripped with acid and a pleasantness that could melt through thick steel like liquid iron through thin paper. The tension was so thick that it could be sliced with one of Gippals simple knives. The two remained locked in that stasis, glaring at each other through the shadows of their own eyes. Did they know each other...?
Gippal looked at Maximus, who in turn only flicked his eyes to meet Gippals for a second, then back to Lenora. "I don't think I am better than any of you." he said slowly, meeting Lenora's glare with a casual one. He then continued. "Protocol calls for putting the subject down quickly, a simple touch of your gauntlet would have sufficed, but the added kick to the gut to a frail woman, despite the threat, was overboard." He pointed to the sphere as it was playing through again silently. "I would have just expected better from you."
The silence that filled the room this time wasn't the thick tension from before, but an airy, rather melancholic flavor. Captain Lenora said nothing before swiveling her chair away from the group behind her. Only the guards behind her would have caught the distant look in her eye, and she slight tremble of her bottom lip... She closed her eyes lightly, her voice both wistful and tired as she spoke to those behind her.
"Your friends are being detained for the moment. After they've been placed under their proper arrest attire, they can be outfitted to leave. I'm afraid there will be a fine imposed over them..." Her hand with the remaining functioning gauntlet drummed on the arm rest of her chair as she fought for composure, moomentarily squeezing her eyes tightly shut before relaxing them again. "I will need all three of your signatures on the proper documents before we can proceed."
"I am not signing anything till I know more of what happened. Back to my question, What of the witness who saw Alex hurt the mayor's son? Did he know why she attacked him?" Gippal said as he stared at the back of her chair. He didn't know what just happened between Lenora and Maximus, something he would ask him later. But wait....she said three...? Where was Saina!? Hadn't she been with them when they walked in...? Lenora's eyes glinted from behind the chair and she threw a decorative glass ball from her desk at the wall, ricocheting it off to hit Gippal square in the forehead causing him to crumple to the ground as she swiveled around, her fist hitting the desk as she shouted with a furrowed brow;
"Learn to respect your elders, you fucking brat!"
As soon as the group had entered the Youth League hall, Saina had decided to stop behind them as the went ahead. In the decorative hallways, she looked around and sighed. Oddly, she felt quite at home in these very expensive-looking interiors... Glancing back at the others, she quietly stepped away from them to explore the Youth League halls.
Not too far in, she found a set of stairs leading down. The pale woman stopped briefly atop them, taking a glance behind her before making her way slowly to the lower levels of the Youth League center. As she hit the cold flooring, her heels clicked against the ground, causing an ominous echo down the long corridors. She passed up several bunk rooms, no doubt where the guards would stay as she caught a glimpse of some of them napping while others sat at their respective tables having a conversation or gambling. Despite her surreal appearance, it seemed she was able to slip in this far undetected... a trait she rather appreciated in herself... However, as she rounded the corner, she was met with a large locked gate with two guards standing beside the entrance, looking at attention. Her eyebrows lifted.
"Intrigueing..." She whispered, her breath visible as she stepped up towards the two attentive men.
"Hold!" One of the guards said as they both raised their guns into a ready position, not aimed at her, but at her feet. "Who are you? You are not allowed down here." He said gruffly, looking her up and down. Saina looked him up and down right back, her slightly glowing blue gaze flicking between the two of them, her lips parting. She averted her gaze as she thought of a response, a 'hmmm' escaping like a purr from her throat. Looking back, she pushed the hair out of her face as she spoke.
"Inspections..." She murmured softly, twirling an ebony and blue lock out of her hair. "Were they not scheduled for today?" She didn't particularly care for lying, but by the looks of things the jails lay beyond these two obstacles and she felt the urge to get in ahead of the others by her own terms.
The two guards lowered their guns slightly as they stood up straighter and gave each other with a queer look. The one who spoke up first whispered to the other, "Inspections? I never heard of that. Did you?" The other guard shrugged in answer as they both looked to Saina again. They glanced at her as she spoke up again.
"Yes... Inspections..." Saina sighed, her fingers working to undo the tie of her cloak, allowing it to slide off her shoulders and expose even more of her pearlescent white skin in a show of being ready to do some dirty work. "Gentlemen, I've had a long day's journey from Bevelle and have had quite a day securing lodging for tonight, so unless either of you intend to invite me to dinner, I ask that you let me get to work. It's your raise on the line, after all..." She spoke softly, but matter of factly. Saina made a show of stretching her legs out as though she'd been resting on an airship for a long time.
Both guards looked at each other again, one having a slight smile at her giving the hint that maybe just maybe she would accept if he asked her to dinner, but the other seemed to know what he was thinking as he nudged him with an elbow. though he couldn't tear his eyes away from her as she took off her cloak. Saina stepped a little closer to the both of them, looking between the two as she gestured to the gate.
"If you wouldn't mind...?
The first one shifted back and forth very slightly between each foot, looking to her and the other guard as he thought... his fingers stretching and resting back on the gun as he tried to think if he should let her in. She seemed confident enough though... After a moment he allowed his gun to go down and hang from the strap it was attached to. "S-sorry miss." He fiddled around for his key on his belt loop and unlocked the door, opening it for her. "We didn't get the message." Saina looked at the guard that opened the door and gave him a very small smile. As she walked by him, she gave a soft, airy chuckle.
"No harm done... farewell, for the moment..." And she was in. As she made her way away from the guards, she exhaled and began to relax. It had worked... and so easily as well! She looped her cloak through the belt loop of her shorts and hurried on ahead down the long rows of prison cells. Where could they be? How many cells could even be inside the Youth League? Evidently, not too many. As she got to the end of the long hall, far away enough that shouting wouldn't alert the guards on duty, she heard voices speaking amongst each other... they sounded like...
"Naisha... Alex?" Saina stepped between the cells, even in the dim lighting of them, her bright white skin shown like a ghost. She glanced between all the holding cells before noticing Urick, his white hair showing much like her skin, and going to his cell first and foremost. She was surprised by the extreme relief that made its way into her heart as she saw him. Her gloved fingers wrapped around the bars, not noticing the shadowy figure of the captain behind him. "Urick... are you alright?"
Urick glanced away from Hector as he heard a familiar voice and saw Saina standing in the middle of the hall. His eyes widened for a moment, he then stood up quickly from his chair and moved to the bars as well. His hands just barely far enough apart to grip the two closest bars. He looked down at her, resting his head on the metal as he did. "Saina! ...What..." He cleared his throat as he felt a wave a heat rush over him. His cheeks reddened at the sight of her exposed body. "Are you...doing here?" He managed to push out.
Hector pressed his face against the metal bars to get a better look at Saina, whispering, "He-llllooo..." His eyes began trailing from the heels of her boots that accentuated her pale legs all the way up to her rump, which had just enough meat on it to give it a petite curve which gave way to her backside. Hector's gaze trailed from the scar running down her abdomen, which only accentuated the subtle wave her waist gave before conforming upwards to her perky, supple breasts, barely covered by black triangles of fabric--something he both loathed and applauded. He felt his face grow hot as at last the lines of her neck gave way to a face accentuated by a subtle, pouty lip and wide, glowing blue eyes. As if the exotic aura of her pale skin wasn't intoxicating enough, the shock of her black and blue hair made her an absolute beauty only written about in fairy tales. 'Damn...' he thought to himself, He moved over to the bars that separated him and Urick, reaching his arms high to grab the highest part of the prison bars as if it helped him get a better look at the both of them He made eye contact with Saina and gave a dashing smile.
Saina glanced over as she saw movement, blinking furiously in surprise that there would be someone else down here. As he smiled at her as he met her eyes she felt herself blush a little before shyly turning her face away to focus back up at Urick. As she blushed looking at Hector, Urick frowned slightly and narrowed his eyes at the captain, who had looked at him at the same time and saw the narrowed eyes. At which he shrugged with a silent 'What?' on his face. Urick simply looked back to Saina before moving just slightly between her and Hector, blocking his view of her.
"I-um..." She'd been a bit forced out of her element with the sudden appearance of the other man, but quickly attempted to brush it off and focus on answering Urick's question. "Gippal and the others, aside from Eva, are all upstairs looking to get you out... I came down here to make certain that you, Naisha, and Alex were unharmed." Though, perhaps she should leave out the part that she really didn't care for the redhead. From her point of view, both Naisha and Urick had nothing to do with whatever could have gotten them locked up in here.
Nodding, as Urick had thought, Gippal was handling it. He then said to her. "We... are fine...bruised...but fine..." He struggled to say, as if mentioning bruising caused him more pain. Saina looked up at him, surprised to feel concerned at the notes of his response. Her eyes studied his face and her grip on the bars tightened. Why did her chest feel tight...?
"If there's..." She began, but stopped. Urick was strong... if he said he was alright, then he was alright. She sighed, starting again. Her shoulders fell as she began to relax. It was only now that she realized that she'd been worried. "...You weren't hurt then... I'm glad."
Hector watched the little exchange between the two. As he noticed a moment to slip in, he took it. "Yeah Urick is like a rock, takes a lot to hurt him!" He pulled himself up slightly to the left to get a better view of Saina, also to use it to show off his biceps, as they flexed, holding his weight up. As she looked at him he would smile again. "Hi. Captain Hector Langlois at your service...Saina was it? Beautiful name by the way."
Saina felt herself looking at the mans biceps, just as he had wanted her to, and look away while scratching her cheek and blushing dark red. Flustered wasn't exactly an emotion that anyone wore well. "T...Thank you... Captain..." Was that steam coming off of her frigid skin?
