[center] A long idle moment stretched by, Aito thinking of several different things; none of which pertained to the room he was in, or the file he had just read over. Then the door. Then dripping? Aito's eye came up from the desk, a slight smile on his face. A nod that some would call 'vacuous' or 'empty' or 'a little spooky' returned the gesture. With his mind freed up, it was a lot easier to listen to someone earnestly. He did, though, offer an interjection from time to time.

[color=87CEEB]"Lazy, [i]me[/i]? Never,"[/color] Vatalla was right, though, Aito did the bare minimum to scrape by...unless it came to Monster hunting or wasting time with his friends, [color=87CEEB]"I'm pretty much busy all the time."[/color] He motioned to the room with a broad sweep of his arm, [color=87CEEB]"You not see how many important appointments I have?"[/color] He said most of this with his eye averted. Despite how she acted, it didn't quite sit right with Aito to stare dead-ahead while she was changing. Instead, he turned his chair; meandering to the window. He had drawn in half a breath to ask what was going on when she started talking.

 [color=87CEEB]"Ah,"[/color] he nodded, bringing a hand to his chin, turning to face her, [color=87CEEB]"yeah, people are like that. You know how long people been calling me 'Patchy'?"[/color] Forever. Forever was the answer. At least since he had moved to Port Crescendo during his early years of middle school. Before that people had [i]known[/i]. Now it was just a curiosity he deflected, unless he felt like someone really needed to know. He offered a more wide smile, leaning back to rest lightly against the window. Scratching and scrawling mingled with her words. Surprise touched on his features, for a moment. His mouth might've hung open for an extra second or two, before he went back to smiling.

 [color=87CEEB]"Now [i]that's[/i] a new one. You asking me about work, Valla,"[/color] he [i]had[/i] to reiterate, to keep himself from saying something stupid, [color=87CEEB]"Bad timing, though. There's nothing really going on, around here, except a secret mission deal from Cannon."[/color] Which wasn't much of a secret, now that he'd said something. [color=87CEEB][i]But, hell, I trust Valla. She's cool.[/i][/color] Now he stepped away from the window, eye trained on her. [color=87CEEB]"I [i]guess[/i] I could cut you in as an outside resource, but keep it quiet. I got in a lot of trouble, last time you were involved with a Club Mission."[/color] Really, it wasn't that much trouble. He had become so used to being the target of Cannon's scorn that it hardly even fazed him anymore. [color=87CEEB]"Good that you don't care about the pay, though. Because, uh,"[/color] he stalled, faltered and attempted to collect himself, [color=87CEEB]"there isn't any. This isn't a sanctioned hunt, or much of a hunt at all; so we're just kind of poking around in the dark. It's been [i]real[/i] quiet around here. Kind of weird, I think."[/color]

Again, he turned, back to the window and cracked it open; looking out over the courtyard, but missing a potentially important detail. Still, he had a lot on his mind. Probably too much. Things had been suspiciously quiet, in terms of Monster activity. It brought him to the contents of the file, then back to Vatalla. [color=87CEEB]"Have to say; I'm glad you asked. Must've been a hell of a morning-"[/color]

 Aito had planned to segway into a talk of more personal matters, intent on offering to walk with her to school. George's arrival put an end to that, but not to Aito's relatively good mood. [color=87CEEB]"George, dude, what the hell are you doing?"[/color] A laugh followed that, and a light tap of his fist against George Jordas' shoulder. [color=87CEEB]"Stairs are easier, man, for sure."[/color] Then the launched towel. Then a crate gently set on the ground. Aito stepped away from the window, lowering himself to slide the crate into an unoccupied corner. [color=87CEEB]"Thanks for the repairs, as always, I'm sure some of the rookies have been dying to get their gear back. Cannon or Zeke will probably send pay your way, later today. I'll be sure to put a word through, unless you need it now."[/color]

 Technically it wasn't his role to pay anyone anything, but Aito felt fairly strongly about services being paid for. Even if it was out of his own pocket, for the time being. George asked him, too, about some work to be done. A sigh escaped him, one that lingered somewhere between uncertainty and amusement. [color=87CEEB]"Seems like everyone's ditching today. Damn. Sorry, man, I don't have a whole lot right now. As far as I remember that batch of repairs was all we have on the list."[/color] The list, as it was, didn't really exist; more of a word-of-mouth commandment passed down and passed down again. [color=87CEEB]"Me and Vatalla,"[/color] he opted to not use the nickname he had chosen for her, around other people, at least not often, [color=87CEEB]"were going to go check out some stuff on the third floor. Got a report about a potential Monster nesting up around here."[/color] 

 He left it at that, but opened his Enlil Network interface to send Vatalla a copy of the document he had received earlier. Then carried on. [color=87CEEB]"As far as Cannon's told me, it's just a lead; with manifestations happening mostly at night. I won't ask either of you to come along for an overnighter, but I get the feeling I'm going to be hanging around here [i]until tomorrow[/i]."[/color] He took his gaze from the crate and cast it to George, then Vatalla. [color=87CEEB]"But, hey, whatever you guys want to do is cool with me."[/color] He took his seat, leaning back again. [color=87CEEB]"Either way, I've got to hang here until this meeting's over with. Or not. I'll give it another ten minutes."[/color][/center]