09 | was never much but we made the most

[scentofmakai]

Characters: Zett Takajo and you! Also starring a chipped unit.
Setting: Two wildcard prompts and floor 88.
Format: Actionspam, will switch to match.
Summary: Zett names the chipped unit tailing him, continues to stalk people for the hero book, and learns to play pool.
Warnings: None, will edit if any come up.

[A: Anywhere]
[It's hard to miss the chipped unit tailing Zett. For one thing, he's now wearing a hat in the same style as Zett's.

Zett's reasoning is simple - it's getting cold and he doesn't need two hats, he can't wear two at once. Thus his regained hat could be better used for someone else, and why not his chipped unit?

He's gotten attached to him, anyway.]

You don't mind if I call you Hibiki, right? I know theme naming is a little tacky, but I think it suits you.

[Hibiki is a name that means 'echo' or 'sound' and it suits Aria's little brother.

Zett can be found almost anywhere in the tower, and wherever he goes, Hibiki will be behind, still wearing that silly-looking hat Zett put on his head. Feel free to comment.]

[B: Anywhere]
[Was your name dropped for the heroes list? Congratulations! That means that Zett needs to communicate exactly what you look like for the book's illustrations to be any good, and for that, he needs a good sketch.

That's why Zett spends a lot of the day trying to find the people he's meant to draw, and after he finds one, he tries to tail them without raising too much suspicion so that he can draw them. It's hard to draw quickly and stay hidden at the same time, though, so it's not that hard to notice him after a while.]

[C: Floor 88]
[There's an increased lack of things to do when he is taking time for himself, so Zett's decided he's going to teach himself pool.

He's not very good at it, though. Those passing by the bar floor may hear his curses of frustration as he continues to flub at getting the balls where he wants to go.]

This looks so easy when other people do it.

Comments

B

[papillonmagique]

[And here's one of said people, although she doesn't really know it. So when she picks up on that she's being followed, she eventually stops on the stairwell to the music floor and turns around with a deadpan expression.]

... What are you doing?

B

[scentofmakai]

[It's someone Zett namedropped himself, which is why he's a little embarrassed to be caught. He hides the notepad behind his back.]

Nothing!

[papillonmagique]

[Too late, she saw you hide something and now she's approaching, Zett. With a small grin as well since she can tell he's a bit embarrassed about whatever it is.]

It is a something... What is it~?

[scentofmakai]

I don't have to tell you anything. [Backing up.]

[papillonmagique]

[Nope, still walking closer.] You were the one following me. So I think I have a right to know why.

[scentofmakai]

Maybe I want to keep it a secret.

[papillonmagique]

... Should I be worried about a secret like that?

[scentofmakai]

It's not a bad thing... Just embarrassing.

[papillonmagique]

[That gets her to raise an eyebrow.] For you or for me?

B - Stairwell

[bashfulshifter]

Hmm?

[As oblivious as Rick is half the time, the enclosed space of the stairwell makes it easy for him to pick up on the fact that he's being followed. By someone other than Tristan, of course, who is once again diligently trailing in his myriad of winter accessories and knitted sweater.]

--O-Oh--hi, Z-Zett! [The blonde man catches his demon friend from over his shoulder and flashes a pleasant smile--a nice change from when they first met, surely!] W-What are you u-up t-to?

[scentofmakai]

Drawing heroes! You wouldn't mind holding still this time, would you?

[He felt bad for Patrick last time because he was panicking, but Zett still has a job to do.]

[bashfulshifter]

[At least he's not panicking this time around! Cold, yes, but he grew up in Michigan, he can deal with this.]

Uh--y-yeah, sure! [No arguments--he could use the break from his jogging anyways. Rick rests against the wall and combs an anxious hand through his hair.] S-Sorry, I...d-d-didn't know you w-were s-s-still... [realizing that he's probably making this more complicated than he needs to be] ...n-never mind.

[scentofmakai]

Still looking for people. I might've been finished by now, but then the plague doctors came and I decided not to get killed for my work.

[Zett continues to diligently sketch Patrick.] It's a shame to be a blue collar sometimes.

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick nods, biting his lip.]

They...w-weren't very f-f-friendly, yeah. [He hides his face behind his arm, unconsciously avoiding Zett's scrutinizing gaze as he's drawn.] ...I h-hope not t-too many p-people were h-hurt. Were you...?

[scentofmakai]

I was alright. I hate hiding for so long, though. Did you get killed?

[That's the most important thing to ask.]

[bashfulshifter]

[Abrupt question is abrupt! Rick blinks, somewhat startled.]

A-Ah--no. [A beat; then he points at his side without really thinking about it.] They, um--they d-did c-catch me, though. Once.

[scentofmakai]

[Blunt fly is blunt.]

Good. You should probably go easy on any of your injuries for a while.

A - Floor 1: Waiting for an elevator?

[neverbeamemory]

[Silly hat #1....Silly hat #2-

Wait is that one of the chipped units?

Not too many moments later and he's aware suddenly that he has already been staring between the two of them for too long. Sephiroth turns his head away pointedly to the floor and drags his gaze over towards the for-now closed elevator doors again. Practically boring a hole impatiently into the already pressed call button with his eyes.

The soup has gone some way to taking the chill off but still Sephiroth rubs at each of his upper arms in turn while he waits; that blasted cold is creeping into his extremities again. Damn this week of being stripped of his power, it was just like in that prison cell a couple of months ago except much colder.

Sephiroth steps forwards and presses the call button again before ending up looking over at Zett and his chipped unit once more. What are people thinking, treating these things like their pets now...decorating them, probably naming them. How pathetic, yet how typical for most of the types of people the Tower houses.]

Was that really necessary?

[He can't resist to comment. Sephiroth's own chipped supervisor is no where to be seen right now, he 'got lost' on one of the stairwells in the 1st Block as Sephiroth doubled back on himself in order to lose the attention. Being supervised at all is annoying, being supervised when eating -when Sephiroth doesn't usually need to eat- is just downright irritating.

The admins would surely catch on that he's powerless, if they didn't already know.]

[scentofmakai]

What part? The hat?

[Zett doesn't know much about Sephiroth except that he's on the heroes list. Still, he's hardly intimidated by intense staring.]

You might've noticed that it's cold lately, and I can't wear two hats at once. I figured that this was better than letting it go to waste.

[neverbeamemory]

Hm, next thing you'll be telling me is that you named him.

[He hasn't yet spoken to anyone that has named their unit, it was simply a natural progression of logic. Neither does he know much about the heroes list, other than a disregarded note that had been left in his mailbox a while ago.

What an absurd notion naming heroes, as if it would change anything.]

[scentofmakai]

How'd you guess?

[It's a silly notion, but it's what Zett considers his job now, helping Romeo work on it. He's not going to be stopped.]

[neverbeamemory]

[Some sort of predictable scale of imbecilic psychology? Sephiroth only huffs in reply to Zett, drawing his leather-clad arms up and crossing them over his chest. The elevator must be right at the top somewhere for it to be taking this long to come to the 1st floor...]

I guess I must be psychic.

[It should have been a joke, but considering Sephiroth in general -not to mention his deadpan tone- it's really note much of one.]

[scentofmakai]

You know, you're not that good at this whole 'joke' thing.

[Zett isn't as impatient as Sephiroth is. It'll get here when it gets here, and no huffing will make it come faster]

Your name's Sephiroth, right?

[neverbeamemory]

It wasn't much of one at all.

[He is psychic, to a certain extent after all. Only he's seen immature behavior like this a thousand times over in a million different faces. The same way a child names it's doll, dresses it up and treats it just as a part of their lives.

Sephiroth turns his head down and to the side towards Zett at his question. Lightly gleaming green eyes just visible through thick eyelashes.]

That's right.

[scentofmakai]

I have to draw you later. Somebody anonymous called you a hero for the book and my job's not critiquing their choices.

[Zett shrugs at that.] Anyway, I don't have my sketchbook on me.