Souls of the Fallen

Never Too Careful

Well, friend... I won't be sharing much else with you after this little gathering for a while. Now that the boys Kilik introduced you to have met my baby, I'll leave the scenarios to him. He has a bigger passion for storytelling and there are situations that require my power coming up soon. Let's enjoy this goofy interaction in the meantime.

The boys make it to Shina's house without any issue and she accepts them inside. A smile still stuck to her face after seeing Riku enter the living room in his messy condition. "Don't move! Let me get a towel," Shina says, hiding a giggle. The others slide past him and enter the house. "Naru! We have company! Make sure you're decent!" she screams to her friend.

The redheaded Eon wanders out of her room. "Did you bring home another gearhead for me to flirt with?" She walks past Shina in the hallway and receives a pat on the shoulder.

"Have fun," the shorter of the two whispers. "All the male attention you could have. Chocolate, caramel, and vanilla," Shina jokes about the boy's skin tones. Naru raises an eyebrow but keeps walking to the living room. Once she reaches the opening, she freezes in shock that her friend was telling the truth. She awkwardly stares at the three boys settling down in her favorite place to lounge.

"Oh, hello there!" Lucas greets her. He looks pleased to see another female. This one with hair. He was inches from sitting on the sofa but lifts himself and swiftly approaches Naru. "Nice to meet you! I'm Lucas, cutie." He grabs her hand and kisses the back of it.

"That's a weird surname..." she mumbles, a little disturbed by his suave moves.

"It's not a surname... I was calling you cute!" he winks.

"Oh... Don't do that," Naru says calmly. She pulls her hand away from their interesting interaction and wanders towards the couch. "So, how did Shina find three decent looking dudes AND convince them to come to her house?" She looks the boys over and rests her eyes on Riku. He stands at the door waiting patiently on Shina to return with the towel. Mud splats on the floor next to him but he's too busy surveying the house to care. "What happened to him?"

Reno sits in the recliner next to the sofa. "Your friend hit a puddle on the way home and Riku here was an unfortunate victim," he says. Riku snaps back to reality and waves at Naru with a smile. "I'm Reno; that's my brother, Riku; and that's Lucas, our thirsty friend..."

"There's water in the kitchen," Naru informs while pointing directly over her head. "Have at it if you're thirsty, dude."

"That's not -" Lucas kills the sentence to avoid explaining their definition of thirsty to her. Saving him a little embarrassment in the process. "You girls live alone?" Naru nods and flicks on the television with a remote she slips from under the couch cushion. He slides onto the sofa, next to Naru but a safe distance away to not be creepy. "Cool! That means you two have some awesome jobs to be able to afford something like this."

"It was paid off when my mom died," Shina says while walking back into the room with a towel in hand. She walks up to Riku and instructs him to remove his shoes and to lift his black harem pants. Huh? OH! That's right... Last you were told of the boys, they were in school uniforms. Well here's a 'quick' rundown of their current attire. Just add dirt to everything in Riku's description for now...

Ok... Riku is dressed in black harem pants, as mentioned before, with an abstract purple and green design on the left leg. His top is a white sleeveless shirt with a purple cotton sleeveless open hoodie. His signature beanie is the same green as it appears on his pants and he carries his belongings in a black and brown messenger bag. White flats to match the shirt, of course.

Reno keeps it simple with khaki slacks and an untucked white button up. A blue ribbon, that was his mother's, is strapped to his left arm and his father's silver watch rests on his wrist. As for his shoes, he sports lowcut boots a few shades off from his pants.

Lucas is a good medium of the two brothers style. He wears distressed denim jeans with a plain black pullover hoodie. He replaced the right sleeve with a white kimono sleeve that drapes almost to his knee. He's wearing white shoes too like they aren't expected to get these things dirty... Back to the matter at hand!

Riku hands over his shoes as he's told and Shina then beckons him to follow her with a wave of her finger. They walk past the others without a word but Naru asks, "You gonna strip him naked?"

Lucas helps instigate. "Oh, little Riku is about to show off the goods!" he jests.

Shina stops midstride and looks down to her friend on the couch. "No... I'm showing him the way to the bathroom." She also glares at Lucas and he uncomfortably squirms on the sofa. "I'll be right back." They leave the living room and make their way down the hall. Shina stops in front of the bathroom door and opens it for Riku. "I'll get you some of my shorts and a shirt. You look like you can probably fit them."

"Thanks, Shina. Sorry for being weird earlier," Riku apologizes. "I just didn't expect to see a pretty face under that helmet." She closes her eyes with a smile and shoves him into the bathroom.

"The clothes will be waiting for you on the floor right here." She points to the floor outside the bathroom. He nods and she pulls the door closed. She turns the corner into her room and grabs some shorts and a plain shirt. While passing the bathroom she drops the clothes on the floor but Riku opens the door. He is hiding behind the door butt naked. The dirty kid reaches Shina his clothes with a smile. "Close the door, dummy. I can see your butt in the mirror." His face morphs from the shock and confusion attacking it. He quickly closes the door and bursts into laughter on the other side. After sighing in amusement, Shina tosses the dirty clothes into the washer then joins the others in the living room.

"How long are these nerds staying here, Shina?" Naru asks. Reno ignores the insult but Lucas gets offended.

"Um, I'll assure you I'm no nerd, sweetheart!" he claims. "I'm way more interesting than I look."

"Only a nerd would say that," Reno says while looking at television. Only giving the two part of his attention.

"Shut it, Reno! You're the definition of a nerd! Smart ass!"

Naru giggles at their bickering. "He does look the part... Slacks, glasses, button up..." He just nods with each article of clothing she names. The nerd doesn't seem the least bit affected by her teasing. "What makes you so interesting Mr. Cutie?"

"First of all, stop that... and second of all, I can blow your mind with the flick of a wrist," Lucas smiles, feeling confident about his comment. Shina passes them and approaches the stairs.

"You guys hungry?" Reno looks back at her and Lucas looks up to the ceiling.

"Anything you can offer will be fine," Reno says and snaps back to the television.

Lucas lowers his gaze down to Shina and makes his request. "Steak and gravy with some mashed potatoes, please."

"What was that? Ham sandwiches? Great! I'll take care of that for you, sir," she responds.

"Can we do something other than sandwiches, Shina? That's all we've been eating lately..." Naru complains. "I'm going to get constipated if we keep this diet up."

"Eggs, rice, and sausage patties sound better?" she asks.

"Thousands!" Lucas adds. "Now back to me! When do you want to give me that chance to blow you away with my awesomeness?"

"That's using your powers for evil, Lucas," Reno says while still glued to the screen.

"Dude! Why are you actively cock-blocking me?" he screams. A loud chime comes from the television. Drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

Breaking News!

A new bounty has been placed on
an anonymous female Eon. Our lead
has informed us that she has pale skin,
orange hair and eyes, and freckles.
Her shard is present on her right wrist.
The value for this dangerous target
is set at 100,000c. She attack -

The screen goes black and Naru lowers her hand holding the remote. "Damn, that's a shame... Poor girl..." she mumbles. Reno looks back to her and raises an eyebrow. Lucas tilts his head and scratches his chin. Naru slowly shoves the remote back under the sofa cushion.

"That description -" Lucas starts but is quieted quickly by Naru.

She rips her hand from under the sofa. Lucas' eyes widen as she aims a gun in his face. "Hands up!"

"Whoa, lady!" he screams. "Calm down!"

"Over there with your friend!" Naru commands, shaking the gun at him. Shina watches carefully from the railing of the kitchen above them. Reno looks up to her for a moment then keeps an eye on the gun-wielding woman before him. Lucas sits on the floor next to him. Naru stands up on the sofa with the gun aimed at them. "Your hands up too, nerd!" Reno rolls his eyes, sighs, and lifts his hands in the air. "Higher! Both of you!" The boys comply as Shina slowly comes down the stairs.

"We have no intent to turn you in," Reno calmly says. "We're just passing through this city because our parents came through here. We're looking for traces of their -"

"Shut up!" Naru yells. Lucas flinches from her outburst. "Who would pass on that much money... You're probably bounty hunters from another city here to get some quick cash."

"We're not, I swear!" Lucas pleads. "I mean - It IS a lot of money yeah but -" Reno kicks him after hearing that comment. Lucas' baggy kimono sleeve slips down to his shoulder. "Be for real Reno... That's a big pile of money." Shina approaches slowly and grips Lucas' right wrist and twist his arm slightly.

She looks into his green eyes and then to Reno's blue irises. "Where's yours?" Reno understanding exactly what she's talking about turns his left hand to reveal his shard. She releases Lucas and turns back towards the stairs. "How do you like your eggs?"

"What?" Naru asks, angry and confused. "Are we going to give them their final meal?"

"They're Eon too, Naru..." she says calmly while climbing the stairs. Naru's face fills with surprise and then relief.

"Scrambled, please," Reno says while lowering his hands. "Do you mind turning the tv back on?"

"Yo!" Lucas exclaims to gain their attention. "What just happened?" No one answers him. Naru walks back to the sofa and empties the chamber of the gun before swapping it out for the remote. She tosses it to Reno.

"He's the cool one, you're the nerd..." Naru mumbles. "Learn to control yourself under pressure, dude."

"What?" he screams. "That's not fair! You've gotta give me a chance to redeem myself!" Lucas follows her back to his spot on the sofa. "Just because I feared for my life makes me a nerd?"

Naru nods and gives him an awkward side eye stare. "Why are you so bothered by being a nerd?"

Lucas leans back into the arm of the couch. "I kinda like ya and I wanna impress ya," he says playfully. Reno chuckles and Lucas sends him a death glare. "What if I said YOU were the nerd compared to your friend? She has some cool tatts, drives a motorbike, and is cooking for me." She laughs from the kitchen, catching Naru's ego in the storm the Lucas is building up.

"Those aren't tattoos, she made that bike like a nerd in their laboratory, and everyone can cook breakfast!" Naru says angrily, matching Lucas' previous disposition. He smirks.

Lucas points at Naru with a grin. "I see, you're hot headed too! You're just like me..."

"Yup. Nerds of a feather..." Reno mocks halfheartedly. They both snap their heads in his direction. He chuckles at something on the tv. They both roll their eyes at him and return their attention to each other.

"Let's just drop it!" Naru offers.

"Fine!" Lucas agrees. "I've got questions that need to be answered anyway... Like, why are you wanted?" He leans in and waits patiently awaits her response.

"My crush reported me to the authorities as an Eon," she honestly answers. Naru turns away after admitting that and folds her arms.

"Whaaaat?" Lucas drags. "How could he do that to someone so pretty? Thinking with his pocket instead of his pe -" he pauses. His face turns red as he realizes he's verbalizing his inside joke. "NEXT QUESTION! Ahem... If those tribal designs on Shina aren't tattoos, then what are they?"

Shina speaks up from the kitchen, "They're proof of power, my race gains these markings as we get stronger."

Lucas looks up to the kitchen but can't see Shina. He speaks out to her, "So you're a knockoff Eon?"

"Whoa!" Reno is yanked from his show. "She's making our food, idiot! Don't disrespect the cook unless you enjoy spit in your eggs."

"You're fine, Reno," she says calmly. He settles back down and returns to his escape from reality shaking his head in disbelief at his friend's comment. "Your race is a genetic mutation of mine in case you didn't know. Be careful about that ignorance, buddy."

"Evolution is a step above mutation... We're stronger because our bodies felt the old way wasn't enough." Lucas is smirking the entire time, knowing he's pushing all of the wrong buttons. "We're naturally stronger and that's that."

"If you feel that way, we can spar in the backyard," Shina says while finishing the last plate.

Lucas gets excited from the thought of a chance to show off in front of Naru. He looks at her and she is vigorously shaking her head to warn him not to take Shina up on that offer. "Let's do this!" he yells. Naru facepalms and Reno looks at them for a second, chuckles again, and shakes his head too. Like a professional waitress, she steps down the stairs holding five plates. Reno thanks her as she slides one to him. She hands one to Naru then stands next to Lucas with three plates. "Gimme!"

"Teru! Come eat!" she screams. Shortly after her command, her younger brother wanders out of his room and meets her in the living room. Lucas stares at the kid like he doesn't belong in the house. "Here," she says while passing him a plate, leaving two more. "This one is for Riku," she says placing it on the coffee table before the couch. Lucas sits next to her with his hands out for the last plate. "We're fighting over this one, chump."

"Seriously?" Lucas complains.

"Teru, there's a guy with hair like mine in the bathroom. When he gets out, let him know that this plate is his. We'll be in the backyard if you two want to join us," she informs her little brother. Her head tilts in Lucas' direction, "Let's go, chump."

"Call me chump again, wimp," he threatens while following her down the hallway. They disappear into the darkness of the hall, Teru sits on the floor to eat at the coffee table, and Naru looks at Reno.

They lock eyes for a second and Naru says, "You won't want to miss this! Come on! We have a bench with an umbrella outside." Reno looks at the television, down the hall, and back at the television. He sighs after making his dramatic decision and picks up his plate before walking with Naru to the backyard.