"Mm, alright, then." Aiko sipped at her coffee and took one last look at the bustling crowds before tailing Kenji away from them. She'd been right about Gregory, then; it was too bad she wasn't able to grab the opportunity and add a member to their small party.
Aiko and Kenji's current path took them further and further away from the buzz of the heavy crowds of Tokyo and into what eventually appeared to be a residential district. A quaint park sat in front of them now, surrounded by short brown fences and filled with kids' toys that sat very, very still. The area was deserted except for the two of them, strangely; it mustn't have been a rush hour. Also, she hadn't really been listening to Kenji's explanations; she was uninterested in why he chose the place, really, as long as she had a good song on her single track setlist...Maybe something that would make him fall asleep anyway.
"That's all very nice," Aiko said disinterestedly to Kenji's little speech as she sauntered to the turtle she thought she might have heard Kenji mention earlier. "Alright then, prepare yourself! You're about to attend a mini concert," she grinned, and opened her mouth for some vocalization, just a quick set of do-mi-so's in ascending keys. She made it a point to go as high as she could, just to show off, maybe; she liked the sound of high pitched notes when they weren't too strained. Although she wasn't really in best form today (the coffee made her mouth feel sticky and generally unpleasantly rough for notes), she still wanted to make sure she stole the show.
Just as she was about to let loose the first miserable note, however, a call caught her attention, as well as Kenji's, and she turned to the direction of the voice with a small frown on her lips. The frown quickly turned into an O of surprise as she saw--guess who--Gregory at the park fence, watching them from next to it with his naturally blond hair and everything."Why, hello there, Greg," she chirped immediately, breaking into a welcoming smile and gracefully waving him over. "I was about to give Kenji-kun over here a personal concert, but you're certainly welcome to join in!"
+++
"Aww, you're no fun. You should make more friends," pouted Crisis Sonata as she and Fantasy Sky Breaker made their way to the looming castle, dark and intimidating but also emanating this suppressed air of both darkness and excitement (in Crisis' case, at least). It was also gigantic, which only made things all the more fun. Honestly, though, Crisis hadn't bothered to imagine an army in this stronghold until Breaker made that comment about weapons, to which she scoffed and responded, "Oh, don't worry. I'm much more amicable than you are."
As they arrived at the intimidating doors of the fortress, Crisis crossed her arms and watched, amused, as Breaker pounded on the heavy metal and screamed out his (slightly offensive) introductions. She decided to ignore that nuisance comment and focus on how amusing it was to see such a serious-faced guy yell out so loudly with his voice cracking in so many places. He was obviously not a yelling type of guy, and it showed in the hoarseness of his voice afterwards. "Don't push yourself too hard now," she teased him.
Breaker's efforts were rewarded by the sound of heavy iron footsteps and the slow creaking of the monstrous doors as they slowly opened to a large room and a single woman who welcomed them with warmth, nothing of the military unit Breaker seemed to expect. The woman radiated beauty and calmness even as she simply stood and motioned for Crisis and Breaker's entry, and maybe Crisis couldn't help but feel a cross between envy and admiration for the other female. Just five seconds of standing and doing nothing and she already seemed like a nice person.
Crisis whistled as she walked into the building, glancing at Breaker over her shoulder as she stepped inside. "Nice home you've got here, miss," she said flatly as the doors loudly shut behind them; she wasn't sure if her words were heard at all above the din. To her surprise, another familiar face had entered the scene; a large armored man stepped away from the doors to stand by the woman's side. "Ohh, hello, Ironclad." Crisis clicked her tongue and grinned; her grin only grew wider as the strange man from earlier made an appearance in the corner of her eye. "My, my! What a party we've assembled here."