Wandering for Relaxation {Shula, acra, open]

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar was wandering around the halls of the second floor of the headquarters of Spades world and the two fuhrer's. He had taken a flight here to check on everything he had missed, if there was anything he wasn't being told by reila or the others at briggs he would find it here. If not, well the underworld was a last resort. One he wouldn't hesistate using if necessary.

He walked around in in his normal pure white suit with fedora hat on his head, long silver hair flowed behind him and his jacket bulged slightly at the sides where his two .45 sidearms were hidden fairly well. Several small bags lined his jacket on the inside, all of it filled with his special dirt. He sighed lightly as he day dreamed, he had no idea where he was going or if he was even on the right floor. Let alone right building, he had a good feeling though abotu being here.

He figured if he couldn't find anyone to point him in the right direction he'd just play around for a little while before leaving back to briggs. He put his hand to his head blocking his eyes momentarily, a headache had hit him jjust then. He was still extremely tired from his coma and headaches were coming in frequently at random times. They were easing out slowly, he just wished they would go away faster.

[Shula Brighton]

Shula turned the corner into the hall and leaned against the wall, letting out a deep, agitated sigh as she ran a hand up through her bangs. Her cheeks were deeply flushed, and she was more than a little annoyed. This had been such a roller coaster of a week... Moving, nearly getting killed, being rescued by Tweedle Dee the Wonder Liar.... She wiped at her flushed cheeks again, refusing to allow herself to be seen too upset by that jerk while at work. Sure he outranked her still, and sure he had saved her, and sure she had thought he was charming... but the he'd lied to her completely.

Straightening her uniform jacket, walking back into the hall to head back into her office down the hall. She was distracted, but still observant enough to notice someone else walking in the hall. He didn't look like he belonged her... he was dressed too nicely. Shoving her irritation at Acra aside, she smiled politely, approaching the taller man slowly.

"Pardon me, sir.... Can I help you find something?

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar paused briefly and stopped in his stride to look at the cute tan lady that had just appeared from down the hall. He decided to be polite, yet fairly informal. He spoke softly tipping his hat, he smiled politely and his eyes seemed to stare into her soul. "Mornin' little lady, i'm looking for my ol' drinking buddy Spade. Seen him around, I just need to ask him a few questions over a bottle of whiskey."

He made sure to sound informal, yet very polite. He also referred to a general by name alone and as a drining buddy. It threw off one of two things, he was either high up and just didn't look it. Or he was bsing around and was a spy. Both were dangerous, and yet he did his best to give off a friendly appearance despite his eyes doing the exact opposite with their raptor-like gaze.

The alchemical symbols on his hands were extremely obvious, he held out a hand towards the girl. " Fox, at your service little lady." He was thinking over multiple things, chief among them was about her. She was a sergeant. Way below him in rank, she was half ishval and half amestrian juding by her eyes and skin tone. and by her demeanor she was rather new in central's military.

[Shula Brighton]

Swallowing the last of her irritation, Shula's smile became more natural as she looked up at Fox, shaking his hand firmly. It was strange how easily people just seemed to walk into Central HQ that weren't personnel. That never would have flown at South, but she had been warned it would be different, but as much as she was teased about being from the sticks, it honestly baffled her that things were really that lax. His gaze was penetrating, and Shula was finding she had a hard time looking away from him. Finally she took a small step away, still not letting go of his eyes. She was getting used to being sized up by almost everyone she'd met, and dammit if she was just going to keep getting the short end of the stick from it.

She glanced down to the arrays on his hands, and then back up to him. Spade was his drinking buddy? That... didn't sound too far-fetched from what she knew of her C/O, but if that was the case, why was his drinking buddy looking for him during working hours? And if they were that close, wouldn't Spade have told Fox which office was his?

"Sergeant Shula Brighton, sir," she returned politely. "Spade should be in. If you like, I'd be happy to call his secretary and inform him that you're here. There's an open conference room if you'd like to wait, or you're welcome to wait in my office..." The offer was polite and genuine, but this was the second time this week someone who didn't look like they had business with the Military had come up to look for more important people. It was disconcerting, at the very least. Having Fox wait in the conference room or her office would at least let her check a few things.

[Murazar Dauthi]

Fox kept the polite smile and replied to her the same as he had been, " We'll wait in your office, just make sure when you give the call he knows that he's either bringing the alcohol now from his office or we're going out. If you want you could join us. " It was a genuine and polite offer, which was given right after the authoritive yet polite order that sounded like a suggestion.

His hands fell to his sides and he motioned for her to lead on as he walked by her side, just slightly edged to the front as if he was leading the way when he wasn't. It was just a natural thing to do. He spoke again to her frowning lightly, " No need to be so formal with me you know, just call me fox. Alright?" He gave a polite and friendly smile to her to show that he did want her to call him fox.

The word sir, itched at his spine. His hand went up to his head again. The headache was back and it hurt, it made him miss a step in his confident stride before he regained his posture and moved on. He hoped she didn't see that. He also hope that she wasn't too good at looking up his records. Sicne they were going to her office, she was bound to look up this mysterious fox. The word alone would bring up his military, medical, and underworld career.

[Shula Brighton]

Shula's steps were small and quick, leading Fox back down to her office. She let out a faint chuckle with a small sigh. "Heh, sorry about that... Fox. So used to calling everyone sir that I think it's become a force of habit." She wasn't so sure about joining the man for a drink with the head of command...Wasn't there some rule about drinking with subordinates and not doing that? She loved wine very much, and liked did occasionally go out for drinks with some of her friends at her old office... She nodded, opening the door to her office for her guest. [color=green]"That might be alright. I know it's been a long day for all of us in here... Sorry about the mess. I've recently inherited this disaster and am still trying to conquer it."

Though she'd been at it for a few days, Shula had only made a small dent in the mess of papers. What she needed was a bloody secretary to help her with some of this mess... hopefully she'd be able to borrow someone else's, or bribe them with muffins. Her desk was a mess of boxes and files holders, incoming, outgoing, to be sorted, backdated that needed doing now, that needed doing last week, files that didn't even belong in her office... not to mention the shelves and cabinets of files and records that they all turned into. Some were still needing to be input into the computers before being given to archives. Really, did NOBODY in this building work??

Shula looked more than a little embarrassed to have another living human see the office look like this. She gestured to the open chair near her desk, moving to her seat to get to the phone and a rolodex to call upstairs. "I'll call up to Jenine and see if Spade is in for you... Anything I can get you? May be a minute..."

[Murazar Dauthi]

He nodded in acknoledgement and barked a laugh, he spoke with a tad bit of humor." Dont worry, i've been on battlefields more messy than your office. It just seems like you could use some help, I might get spade to redistribute a couple of people to help you if you need them." He mean't it, he could just talk to spade and probably get him to just shove three or four people over to help her enough to remove most of the paperwork properly.

His hand still held his head he paused in midthought before nodding to her proposition of giving him something. He spoke soflty, "Some aspirin or alcohol would be good. I always seem to have headaches lately. You know for someone who works here your not too curious about people like me are you?" He decided to take a more blunt approach.

He wanted to see if she was stalling him or if she was going to call spades secretary, his paranoia seemed to have increased dramatically after his coma. He also didn't want her to call the MP's or anything to have him thrown out, so he decided to play it safe and show her his military i.d. that identified him as a Lt. Colonel, his name, former position, and duty station. He held it out to her saying simply, " Just so you know who I am, although please still keep calling me fox."

[Shula Brighton]

opening the top corner drawer of her desk, pulling out a large bottle of prescription painkillers that she kept on her. There were so many pills she had to take every morning, and sometimes the painkillers a few times a day. It hadn't been so bad this week, but it hadn't been so cold... Boy she would know when when it was about to get cold, though. She opened the bottle and shook out two of the pills, handing them to Fox. "Some help for an afternoon would at least get the leg up on it, but I'll manage. That's why they shipped me here, I guess." She gave a small shrug, the faint smile still on her lips as she found the right extension. "I'm afraid I don't keep any alcohol in the office, but there's a water fountain on the wall just behind you."

The computer screen lit up and she went to check something on her guest when he held something out to her. The tiny sergeant blinked, taking the ID from him and looked it over. It was legit, and he was a lieutenant colonel.... Oops. Shula blanched slightly, mentally smacking herself that she'd done it again. Didn't recognize the Fuhrer, speaking out of turn and getting pissy with Acra, and now she was making this man wait because she didn't initially believe him or thought he was up to no good... Dammit! Shula handed the card back to him, still looking kind of sheepish.

"Sorry about that, um, Fox... I really wasn't aware. I'll call up to Jenine and see if Spade is in." She swallowed down the knot in her stomach down, praying she wasn't going to get fired by the end of the day.

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar pocketed his i.d. card back and smiled to her, she was far too shy and while that did make her cute in his eyes. She needed to be a bit more outgoing, he grinned and joked with her." Dont worry about it too much, if you want you can look up my military files. I'm a contracted mercenary by general tsukino in briggs, the only reason I have rank and keep getting promoted as if I was normal military is because it makes the people I command easier to follow my orders when they forget i'm a mercenary. "

He paused a moment before continuing after he swallowed the pills without water, "Thanks for that, also since you know a bit about me. Tell me about you. Little lady." He kept making sure to call her little lady, well not that he didn't like calling her that. It was a habit he called cute, young, and women shorter than him.

Now it was time to learn about her, for his rank he pretty much was nothing like a officer usually was. He was a charismatic person to put it nicely. Manipulative at worst. Currently he was just being charismatic, mostly because it was a helluva lot easier to be that than to be than to be a pompous prick.

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar pocketed his i.d. card back and smiled to her, she was far too shy and while that did make her cute in his eyes. She needed to be a bit more outgoing, he grinned and joked with her." Dont worry about it too much, if you want you can look up my military files. I'm a contracted mercenary by general tsukino in briggs, the only reason I have rank and keep getting promoted as if I was normal military is because it makes the people I command easier to follow my orders when they forget i'm a mercenary. "

He paused a moment before continuing after he swallowed the pills without water, "Thanks for that, also since you know a bit about me. Tell me about you. Little lady." He kept making sure to call her little lady, well not that he didn't like calling her that. It was a habit he called cute, young, and women shorter than him.

Now it was time to learn about her, for his rank he pretty much was nothing like a officer usually was. He was a charismatic person to put it nicely. Manipulative at worst. Currently he was just being charismatic, mostly because it was a helluva lot easier to be that than to be than to be a pompous prick.

[Shula Brighton]

A faint blush moved up to the tops of Shula's cheeks. He kept calling her little lady and he wanted to know about her... She shifted a little in her seat, unsure of what to say. She'd had to talk about her career and professional ambitions at the interview to get her position, of course, but your professional self was different than your personal self. Then again, Fox had just fessed up to being a mercenary of all things... So that was a professional thing, right?


She dialed in Jenine's extension with a faint laugh, waiting for the call to go through and punching in the various codes needed and waiting for the busy signal to clear. "Not anything nearly as interesting on my end," she replied with a faint laugh, still waiting. I just started here a few days ago after being transferred from South HQ. But I'm from a village in the southwest that isn't even printed on most average maps. I'm just trying to work my way up and working toward my state alchemy license." Shula's smile became a little warmer, reminding herself how close she was to being ready. "But I'm really close to being ready to test." There was a low beep tone as Jenine picked up the phone.

"Hey, Jenine? It's Sergeant Brighton. Hey, was wondering if Spade is in? Uh-huh. Ahh, gotcha. No, no, Lt. Col. Dauthi here to see him. You will? Thank you." Shula let out a little sigh, hanging up the phone. "Apparently Spade is out for the rest of the afternoon, but he should be back in tomorrow morning... Sorry about that."

[Murazar Dauthi]

He sighed for a moment as he listened to her speak without interrupting or being judgemental, he figured he might as well come in tomorrow and meet him then. Right now there was far too many other places spade was possibly at to find him. He spoke again to her deciding to spend the day talking to her, " Really, what kind of alchemy do you use? If you go state you might reach my rank one day soon." He smiled and showed general approval of her goal.

He did approve of her goal, he just didn't hold that goal himself. He gained power without having a state liscense and had nearly their resources to boot. The difference was he could keep most of his resources and power, while if a state alchemist lost their liscense they no long had even half their resources. He decided to play it safe and have far more freedom.

He took up a seat right across from her and sat down, his legs crossed and hads on his lap. He looked like he could appear polite and formal while also being informal and cheerful. Which generally he was that way these days despite the paranoia. He enjoyed it too, plus he was enjoying this young ladys company.

[Shula Brighton]

As Fox moved to sit closer to her desk, Shula felt herself begin to relax around him. It felt strange having company, considering her boss liked to just empty truck-loads onto her desk and run like hell. She smiled, inwardly relishing the encouragement. Her mother hated that she was determined to go this path, and her father didn't outwardly say so, but she knew he was worried about her pushing herself too hard.

"I'd love it if I could reach your rank someday.... Or if I'm very, very lucky, my grandfather's. He was a Brigadier General when he retired. He's been helping me get ready He's insistent that I get general alchemy down, but I specialize in working with fire." Her smile was warm, the excitement burning deep in her red-brown eyes. She'd get there if it killed her, even if she probably wouldn't live long enough to make it past the rank of Major. Once she was there, she would have proved her point and could die satisfied at least.

"It's pretty for the reasons I came up with it, but still needs just a little more work for application... What about you?"

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar smiled not just outwardly, but inwardly now. She was relaxing, he raised an eyebrow in surprise of her choosing fire and wise enough to follow her grandfathers advice and teachings. He decided he'd speak the truth as well, what harm could it do? " I was born in the mining town of kanama, how I learned alchemy was through books. Most of the general alchemy was easy for me, when I decided to specialize I chose wind and later fire. I could teach you a bit if you wanted to learn more about fire or air for that matter. I could also help you come up with something that would pass the state alchemist test, too."

Why not one part of himself was saying, it was telling him it was something right and kind to do. Something that was probably good, the other half was saying dont do it. She might be a spy and therefore a enemy later. He decided to ignore caution and paranoia and delve straight into the unknown of helping her. Who knew she might need it one day or she might save him.

He held out his hands to show her the complicated transmutation circles tattoed upon them, they were different yet alike, wind and fire were good together. They made each other stronger.

[Shula Brighton]

Shula listened carefully, ignoring the stacks of papers next to her as she listened. Wind and fire... Use the wind to control and steer the fire to where you wanted it, or use the wind to feed the fire. That... seemed very practical. She looked down to the arrays on his arms, carefully studying them. They were so simple, so clean... She supposed it was true what her grandfather had told her about simplicity taking you further. The opportunity to learn more was too good to say no to.

"The combination makes a lot of sense... Grandfather started teaching me general alchemy when I was younger, and then I started working with fire poi for fun and developed what I've got so far as a better way to control their fires." Shula reached for a pencil and her sticky notes, quickly sketching out the circles she'd woven into her bracelets. She'd left them at home in her dresser, feeling that if she wore them to work it would be a faux pas. She knew what her arrays consisted of, so she didn't need her bracelets as a reference.

"It works off of friction and uses the antimony to guide it, but I can only extend it out each flame a few feet from me, so it's still in the works... Really, though, I'd love to get another perspective and improve enough to pass the exams." Oh, she really hoped he meant that; that really would be phenomenal!

[Theo Chulainn]

Acra returned to the office from his short trip down the road. Waving back to the desk lady as he walked in. He went to the elevator to see it full. Giving a loud sigh he turned to the stairs and started a slow climb. He was glade for the cardboard cup holder that he was able to slide both the cardboard cups filled with hot drinks in. IT kept them reasonable balanced and still. He didn’t want to disturb the mass of whipped cream and sugary treats on Shula’s hot chocolate. Reaching the second floor he let out a stratified breath. Time to apologise like never before.

Acra headed to her office. He placed a hand on the doorknob and was about to let himself in when he heard voices. Realising the handle he gave the wood a light knock with his knuckles. He still carefully held the two hot drinks in a cup holder in one hand with the paper work and cookies in the other.

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar nodded and spoke while observing the transmutation circles she drew and her explanation. It was a start, but he could help her improve that or at least give her some ideas to improve that. He replied to her nodding again, " Thats a good start, but theres ways to advance the range and power of the fire. I prefer to use bags of phosphorus dirt and fill the air with them. I snap my fingers to create the friction and the air travels the explosion over making it incredibly lethal. I've also created a few other tricks up my sleeves that would be too complicated for you to understand without a very long explanation."

He heard a knock at the door, once he heard it he looked over at her and asked quietly," Expecting company?" Before she said anything he went over and opened the door, making sure he was out of sight from the doorway and hidden until whoever it was entered the room. If it was someone after him ,he'd take them out. If not, then he'd just tell them to have a seat.

[Shula Brighton]

The gears in Shula's mind spun, running the process over and picturing how it worked. Like hers, the basic function revolved around friction, something feeding the fire and something to guide and control it. Thus far the friction of her bracelets moving together or against something, the saltpeter and antimony worked well enough to suit her needs, but as the men in the alley had been so kind to point out a few days ago, if she couldn't move either of her hands it left her rather vulnerable to, well, everything else.

Shula was truly fascinated, finding herself very curious to see Fox's fire alchemy and understand how it worked, and see how she could apply what she might learn to her own in hopes of passing. And then she paused, my mind slowing to a halt. "...More lethal?" The one true pitfall of joining the military was the ever-looming threat that someday she may have to kill and it not be purely in self-defense. She'd joined and gotten this far in hopes of someday helping to bring peace to her country, but.....

A knock came to her door, startling her a little. Fox all but bolted out of his seat and behind the door to open it, Shula looking toward the doorway. Her boss wasn't a knocker; he would just burst in, scatter the papers, toss fresh ones in, and blow right back out like a small tornado. Shula stood up, straightening her jacket and pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear as the door opened, and then blinked in surprise. It was... Acra? Her heart sank a little, What was he doing here? He said he'd send the file over, not deliver it.

"Acr-Warrant Officer... The enthusiasm that had been in her voice while talking to Fox had begun to deflate.She gave a quick salute to the higher-ranking officer and stepped away from the door and back to the desk, her eyes not looking up to meet his. "How can I help you, Sir?"

[Theo Chulainn]

Acra blinked as the door opened and frowned when she saluted. “Here…” He said managing to dangle the white bag tied with a blue ribbon in front of her. Being careful not to spill the hot drinks though...he may have to warm them back up. They weren’t steam so much anymore. “Peace offering.” He said simply hoping he wouldn’t just chuck them in his face.

“I also brought the paper work.” he added slowly and carefully stepping past her once she took the bag of sweet treats and headed to her desk. Setting down the two cardboard cups one with a top on the other a mountain of cream and marshmallows. Then the paperwork he had sighed next to it. He watched to see her reaction to the message on the first cookie. ‘Sorry for being a jerk.’ Which was true. He was truly sorry and hoped she forgive him.

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar raised an eyebrow to himself as the man, or rather warrant officer passed him by and didn't even appear to notice it wasn't shula who opened the door. He either didn't seem to think things out much or he just was very careless. It was a good thing murazar was not their enemy... Yet... You never knew when your friends in the past became your enemies and vice versa.

He spoke as he shut the door after he made a apology, his tone seemed generally curious yet in a amused way. " Should I go or should I stay, this seems to be a rather private moment coming up. Unless of course it isn't and its just an apology by a workmate." For a moment he appraised the warrant officer and held out his hand to him saying calmly, " Murazar Dauthi, my friends call me fox or murazar. You can call me Mr. Dauthi."

He stressed the fact that acra was not in any way his friend or on friendly terms. He also made sure not to mention anything about his military or mercenary career, except his alias which the man would most likely not even have heard of unless he was in intel or infantry or even an alchemist. He looked over at shula with a small smile on his face, " Is there anything you want to specifically work on or any ideas you have that you might want help with? Little Lady."

[Shula Brighton]

Except that Acra outranked her and that it was very rude, Shula had half a mind to take the file and ignore the idiot completely, until something was dangled in front of her face. Red eyes blinked in confusion as she took it, sitting back down. What was this. Slowly she untied the ribbon and pulled out the cookie, the word SORRY piped in icing. Her smile softened, putting the cookie and bag down onto her desk as she looked up to Acra. "...Thank you... Acra. It's alright." At least her hero was enough of a gent to apologize for hurting her feelings like that. Even if he still treated her like a kid sister, as long as he saw her as an adult in some way, eventually she hoped he would see her as an equal.

Shula looked over to Mura as he shut the door, asking if he should excuse himself. On account of her heroic lunkhead? Naaaah. She shook her head. "Workmate. Fox, this is Warrant Officer Schiwatas." Her tone referring to Acra had warmed up significantly with the addition of his apology, once again sounding friendly toward the taller man.

"I have a pretty good grasp on controlling and moving it, but the reach is rather limited... I'd love to demonstrate what I have and get your feedback on improving it, though! And I do have a few ideas I've been working at using a lethal force in a nonlethal manner, if that makes sense..."

[Theo Chulainn]

Acra nodded the Murazar and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you Mr Dauthi. My name is Acra Schiwatas.” He said giving the elder mans hand a brief shake. He stood back a bit listening to there conversation while he took a sip of his lukewarm coffee. Frowning he sighed and looked to Shula. “Is your hot chocolate cold? I think I took to long walking back.” He murmured searching in his pockets for his gloves. This is where his alchemy got handy.

He then blinked and smiled. “I look foreword to seeing a demonstration of your alchemy Shula.” He had always loved watching other alchemist perform there special brand of alchemy. He had a note book full of what he had seen several alchemists do including his teacher. With that he went back to pulling on his gloves. “I’ll reheat that hot chocolate for you now.” looking to Murazar he coughed. “Would you like me to get you some coffee Mr Dauthi?” He asked realising it would be rude to exclude him from hot beverages.

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar nodded to shula and spoke calm as always," Reach would be a easy problem to solve, more creative ways of using your abilities will be a harder yet more enjoyable task. " He paused to look over at acra who offered the coffee and was generally being polite, yet he seemed a bit of a show-off. He'd have to be blunt with him rather than subtle to get a point across.

He replied to the offer, " No thank you, I dont like stimulants personally. " He didn't bother to just grab a pinch of the phosphorus dirt and light up the the cold drink with ease and speed. He frowned for a moment as the man pulled out gloves. He hated gloves, it was far easier to disrupt the transmutation circle on that, than your hands.

He went over to one of the chairs and sat down, after crossing his legs he clasped his hands together and smiled for a moment at the alchemical process about to take place and smiled to himself that he hid his transmutation circles.

[Shula Brighton]

Shula glanced between Acra and Fox, shifting a little in her seat as the feeling of the conversation seemed to shift a bit. Fox... didn't seem to like Acra. Very much. At all. But the cookies and cocoa were a very sweet gesture. She smiled faintly, sitting back in her chair, not yet digging into the cookie. It would be rude to start eating it while she had company, but also rude to refuse it on that account...

A faint blush crossed her cheeks as Acra said he wanted to see Shula's particular brand of alchemy. She'd offered to show him sometime while he walked her home, but he didn't believe her at the time that she could do it. If he'd met her when she was 14 and implied she couldn't do what she said she could, Shula would have considered melting his shoes. It was still an option; even though she wouldn't, it was funny. "Um... Thank you, Acra. I wouldn't mind your feedback as well."

She moved her hands away from the cup of cocoa as Acra pulled on his gloves, taking a quick swipe at the whipped cream. Mm, her favourite... "Just don't burn yourself this time, Acra... Shula smiled back at Fox. "Well, I said, I already have some fairly unique things I do with my fire and a few ideas. But if I can make it go from a few feet of a stream to more of a pillar, like when I breathe fire... Except without having to carry a bottle of Everclear everywhere!" She laughed faintly, watching her coworker. "My schedule is usually pretty open, so whenever you'd like, I can show you...

[Theo Chulainn]

He chuckled softly pulling the fingerless gloves on. He watched her take a bit of the cream and caution him not to burn himself. “Not on stuff like this.” he rubbed his palms together watching the alchemy spark and crackle then pressed his palms to the two drinks. After a few seconds steam rose from them once more as if they had just been freshly poured. Removing his hands he slipped the gloved off and shoved them carelessly back in his pocket.

Taking his coffee he listened to fox and Shula talk. Slowly enjoying his coffee in the state it was meant to be in he took in the facts. Fox was offering Shula some lesson’s in fire alchemy. So Fox who ever he was, was a fire alchemist. Part of him wondered if he should leave. It seemed like a private conversation that Fox didn’t seem to want to welcome him into.

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