[center][h2][color=d7d7d7]Roland[/color][/h2] Level 8 Roland (15/80) - Holding 1 level up. Location: Eseka Word Count: 1697 (+3 rapport) [/center] Finding the mortal kombat arena wasn't too difficult, and as he watched the same match as Nadia finish and wrap up, he could only give a soft chuckle to himself. [color=d7d7d7]"I wonder if they got the idea from Angela. I'd say she got the idea from them, but knowing her..."[/color] Roland said watching the 'Fatality'. If it wasn't the fact this was to the death, he would very much be at home here. This used to be his 9 to 5 for a very long time as it was anyway, just without all the book hauling and organizing. Roland saw that as some of the crowd dispersed, Nadia jumped into the water, coming out slightly different. Presumably grabbing the spirit that was dropped. No one stopped her, so apparently this was fine? Well, Roland wouldn't need to go looking for her that hard, and moved his way silently to Nadia. Once he got close to have a conversation, he said from her blind spot. [color=d7d7d7]"Got your paws on something good? You should be clawful that doesn't mess ya up too much."[/color] opening up with a cat pun. The sudden confrontation made the feral recoil, bristling in instinctual hostility. Her defensiveness waned the next second as her posture eased upon recognizing Roland, but Nadia did not relax. Admittedly her new outfit didn't really disguise her all that much (she'd been wearing the bare minimum during her brief swim as well), and she knew that her name could be found on any tournament board, and she hadn't been paying attention...but still, getting found and called out irritated her, after dedicating some serious time and effort to her solo act. She narrowed her eyes and scrutinized Roland, clearly wondering why he'd sought her out. Then she just decided to ask him. "Well, look who the cat dragged in," she snarked, putting her hands on her hips. Had Roland always been this much of a punner? [i]Well, you asked for it.[/i] "For your in-fur-mation, I vetted that spirit purr-sonally." As a couple passers-by walked up, she slunk back toward the railing behind her to get out of their way. "And what, pray tell, are you doin' here? Realized you couldn't live without me?" It was a joke, of course, since the two rarely spoke. It might prompt Roland to bring up the events of the night before last, though. If that was why he'd come, better to cut to the chase. Roland gave her a chuckle, noting her apprehensiveness but deciding to overlook it for now since she was doing her whole pun thing. [color=d7d7d7]"Oh. Just checking in. After that night you disappeared, but your still purr-forming in the MK tournaments. Furr-gire I should see how you were doing. Rest of the team has been in relative contact since then."[/color] Roland said. While he had some fights he had to do later, so far he'd been finding Tekken had been a great tournament for him to join as it had longer rounds, and thus more time to warm up, than what he had seen in the other tournaments. Once Roland made it clear that he didn't begrudge her over the events of that night, or seem to care much at all, Nadia let down her guard a little. She adopted a less sassy posture, leaning on the railing as her tail flicked behind her. "Well, I'm fine," she told him. "Three wins and countin'. Just thought I'd grab a li'l extra power while I could. Turns out that if you wanna do fusion in here, you need to do some fission first." She grinned. "Like, fishin', get it? 'Cause I had to go underwater...? And fission's the opposite of...uh, whatever." She raised an eyebrow at Roland. "So, I hear things ain't goin' so well over in Tekken. Figured you could use some help, so I found us a wrestlin' ringer. Beowulf. He's a good guy, buff as hell, and now he knows about spirits too. If things don't go your way, consider helpin' him along." Roland gave her a quick thumbs up. [color=d7d7d7]"Yeah yeah, I got it. I'm not just a pretty face, I used to work intelligence."[/color] Roland said, giving Nadia a bit of a tease himself. [color=d7d7d7]"I'll keep that in mind. Granted the tekken tournament is perfect for me. The matches being longer than the other tournaments really lets me get going. Also..."[/color] Roland said, getting a more serious look on his face, leaning in to whisper to her. [color=d7d7d7]"We found the guy who ordered that attack with the exploding bots and hes in Tekken. I'm sure I'll be running into him eventually, and I've got a plan to deal with him."[/color] Roland said. "Oho?" Nadia replied. The thought of taking revenge for the attempt on her life appealed to her too, but she remembered just how terrifying Kazuya had been in person in their brief encounter after her theft. "Good luck with that plan of yours! Care to give me any hints?" Roland gave her a bit of a cold look. [color=d7d7d7]"Well... He'll understand why I'm called the Black Silence."[/color] With that he pulled away and put back on his casual more cheerful face. [color=d7d7d7]"So. How have things been doing with you? I saw the fatality that just happened so I figure you've been winning all your matches. Had to do anything like that yet? And what can you tell me about this Beowulf guy?"[/color] The feral shook her head at Roland's second question, skipping right over the first. Asking multiple questions in one go was a great way to get confusing answers. "Nah, I'm still in Winners, fatalities only happen in Losers. I think." She scratched her chin as she thought about Beowulf. Given how ostentatious tons of people in Esaka tended to look, the wrestler was actually pretty low-key in terms of appearance, if not personality. "Uh. Dark hair and eyes. Hairy arms. Not too tall." She snapped her fingers. "He wears a wolf pelt. And he's got no indoor voice. You'll hear him before ya see him!" Roland nodded, so she was still in her winners bracket too. [color=d7d7d7]"Yeah, I'm still in Winners too. Just beat a guy who could beat you in a single shot with a... frankly antique looking pistol. I kept hearing people calling him a 'tier cheater' but well... He never learned that skilled people can deflect bullets."[/color] Roland said, commenting on his own tournament performance. As Nadia then explained Beowulf to him, Roland could only scratch his head in confusion. [color=d7d7d7]"He feels like he'd fit right in with the Middle. I'm pretty familiar with those kinda people."[/color] Granted that also meant he seemed very indistinct outside of the wolf pelt thing. "Okay, cool," Nadia remarked, not having any idea what Roland meant. She was starting to remember her prior conversations with him and how they tended to go. Unfortunately, if he meant to provoke her curiosity with obscure references to his past, he would find Nadia pretty incurious about other people's worlds. Unless those people were really, really attractive. A moment of silence passed between the two of them. "So...guess you've checked off your boxes? I've been, uh, keepin' my distance. Do nyat want anyone else gettin' hurt. So if the others ask, guess you can tell 'em I'm fine, but I don't really wanna pal around with you guys 'til we're through." She raised her eyebrows at him, her implication clear. "Got it?" Roland gave a bit of an exhale before saying. [color=d7d7d7]"Yeah. But if you need help with your problems don't feel afraid to ask. I got a feeling keeping people separated is what this whole 'fighting tournament' is trying to achieve. Needing to take out 4 different people in 4 different locations at the same time? Whoever designed this place really wants to split up people for their own ends. Best not to let them do that."[/color] An idea then snapped into Roland's head. [color=d7d7d7]"Oh! Do you have a link pearl or did it go missing?"[/color] In her eyes Roland was reading into things too much, but who knows? He could be right for all she knew. "I lost it," Nadia replied after a moment, not elaborating further. Roland knew what it meant for her to be so blunt, so he wasn't going to push it too hard. [color=d7d7d7]"Hmm... Well just keep a way to contact people without people having to seek you out in person. After all, can't have you go into feeline fall when not only that 'demon dude' is looking for ya, but your also in the most dangerous tournament and there is still those... Consuls skulking around."[/color] Roland said, trying to insinuate kazyua but not actually mention him by name. [color=d7d7d7]"Speaking of the Consuls. I haven't heard much about them, but I'm pretty sure theres gotta be one or two in the city."[/color] That prompted a sigh. "That tracks." Nadia narrowed her eyes at Roland. "Hey, if you want me to be reachable so bad, why not give me your pearl? You can always get a new one from Primrose." [color=d7d7d7]"Yeah true."[/color] Roland said, fidgeting to get his linkpearl and hand it to Nadia. He did say before giving it though. [color=d7d7d7]"I'll tell everyone your fine. Just give us a call when you've finished what you need to do. I'll call you when that mutual problem is 'dealt with'. Other than that, well... Good luck on whatever your hunting for."[/color] Roland then went to look at the next upcoming match, remembering what Nadia did. [color=d7d7d7]"... I should probably stay for a bit to see if any of these spirits are good. Wanna just chill out and watch the matches for a bit?"[/color] "Guess that couldn't hurt," Nadia decided after a moment. The two then watched the upcoming matches for a bit to see if anything caught their eye.