We're Friends [Isamu, Vanyel, Violet]

Violet was on her seventh day of rest when Vanyel cooked the last of what was in the fridge. Violet was feeling much better, but she was still sore and had a few stubborn bruises that refused to heal as quickly as Vanyel preferred. The worst of them were on her ribs, where she took a bad beating, but a light one was still on her jaw. Because of this left over bruising, Violet did not feel comfortable showing her face outside. So, when they needed food, Vanyel had to go alone.

At home, Violet made sure to clean up. She fought through Vanyel's stubbornness and told him to go to the store while she would take care of the kitchen and the couch, where he had been sleeping since they arrived. It didn't take long for everything from breakfast to be washed and the blankets to be folded up. She knew Vanyel wouldn't be home for at least another fifteen to twenty minutes, so she grabbed on of the many random martial arts notebooks he had and started reading.

"Psh, for someone so specialized in givin' me leads on a target, I wish he would've given me the specific address after doin' me a favor..."

Isamu exhaled softly as his surveyed the neighborhood. What a bothersome search this was. He wondered if there was even any point to conducting this search. Furthermore, would the man in question even want to speak to him again? Heh, it'd been so long he wondered if he was even still alive. According to his personal research, most sources seemed to indicate that that was the case. He couldn't confirm this particular point of info, but he even found good work nowadays under a supremely wealthy woman. Good. He found honest work, unlike himself.

His eyes landed on one door in particular after exploring and knocking at the other doors. Pinpointing another house, he inwardly hoped this would be the one. Otherwise, he'd probably spend time on this little search experiment another day. Rapping his hands against the door, he flashed a polite smile. His casual wear, befitting the summer, consisted of a black tank top and sweatpants, accenting his decidedly masculine features well.

Violet was impressed with the detailed notes that Vanyel wrote down and kept reading through until she was startled from her concentration by a suddenly, rather heavy, knock on the front door. That was odd, but Violet thought very little about it. She set the notebook down, page to the couch and stood up, doing a light jog over to the door. ‘He probably needed help with the groceries…’

Opening the door, Violet looked up to see a man… a large man… with a larger smile… that she did not recognize. For a small moment in time, Violet felt her heart race, her skin warm, and fear overtook her, yet not an ounce of this showed on her face. She just blinked at the large man and then hid her body half behind the door, since she was just wearing pajamas. “Um… Can I help you?” she asked, shyly.

"Sorry to impede yer afternoon, miss, but I happened to be lookin' for an old friend, but..."

Isamu took a moment to allow the woman greeting him at the door to feel comfortable. He understood that seeing someone who cut such an imposing form at the door would naturally lead to a nervous, perhaps even startled, reaction. As such, he maintained a warm baritone as he observed her features now that he'd gleamed a closer look at her. A lovely lady by all accounts, and he always knew what his default reaction was to women with stunning features.

He noticed a light bruise on her skin, but that hardly took away from her appearance in the slightest. Was she a tomboy who enjoyed getting into fights? A friend Vanyel sparred with who was resting at his house? A girlfriend? Nah... no shot. He always got stupidly irate whenever he brought up talk about girls.

"...I didn't expect a pretty lady like you to greet me at the door. With hair and eyes as stunning as yours, I'm almost at a loss of words. What's yer name, sweetheart?"

Now, conventional wisdom posited he ought to mention the name of the person he was looking for. Unfortunately, when it came to women who stroke his fancy, even at first glances, he wasn't very wise. His attention now shifted onto getting to know who she was, and perhaps even make her blush a little.

He was looking for an old friend? Violet thought of asking if it was Vanyel, but if this guy was a criminal, he could just use that to trick her, so she was stuck for a few moments. Then, everything that came out of his mouth made her blood rush. Violet was blushing so deeply that she swore her cheeks were going to fall off. She hid herself behind the door a bit more. “W-Well, my name’s Violet…” she said nervously, fiddling with the door knob by twisting it repeatedly. “So… your friend… The one y-you said you’re looking for? What’s his name? I guess I might know him…”

"A lovely name for a lovely face. I like it."

His focus, not faltering in the slightest, noted the nervous aura about her, but gods, the way she blushed was simply too adorable. When it came to stroking a woman's ego - among other things - he relished these exact reactions. Of course, he supposed it was only polite to state his reason for being here. He carefully stepped away from the door to give her a temporary reprieve as he placed his hands up with a warm and inviting smile. One peek through the door would be enough to glance his firm musculature and his somewhat intimidating frame.

"Ah, right. Sorry about that. His name's Vanyel. I know it might be a little suspicious, but the neighbors can vouch that I've been knockin' on their doors, too, in search of this guy. We knew each other way back. Not sure if he's mentioned me, but my name's Hagane. Hagane Isamu."

Violet’s blush didn’t deepen because it was impossible at this point. There was no deeper red that the human face could go. When he finally mentioned Vanyel’s name, Violet pushed up a smile. “Well, this is his place. He’ll probably be back soon if you want to wait inside,” Violet said and pushed the door open, gesturing for him to come in. “Unfortunately, he hasn’t mentioned you,” she said, and then looked to the kitchen. “Uh… Would you like something to drink? We have some some canned soda…” Violet pulled a couple of cans out of the fridge and held one out to Isamu.

"I can't imagine he would. I haven't talked to him in ages."

Walking inside once the door was opened, Isamu took a moment to soak in the surroundings of his old friend's household. At the very least, he was glad to see he was living well. His eyes turned back to the woman as she offered him a soda and he nodded his head, wiping the small beads of sweat from his head as he approached her, taking the soda from her hand as he stepped over her, awaiting further instruction. This was his house, after all, and he didn't exactly relish the idea of helping himself to anything or sitting anywhere out of principle. Maybe the pretty girl with the name of a flower could show him the couch?

"Sure, a cold soda sounds like heaven right now. I must say, though, I'm a lil' curious. What's yer connection to Vanyel? Sparring partner? Childhood friend? Or did my old pal happen to finally find a girlfriend?"

Violet took a calm breath and opened her soda. She took a quick drink and then glanced up at Isamu. “Wh-What? W-Well… I… Um… He’s helping me out a lot.”

This man was pretty intimidating, so when he approached her, there was a momentary withdraw. It was small, but noticeable. Trying to figure out what to do next, the easiest thing to do was let him relax and wait, right? “So, let’s take a seat…” Violet said nervously, trying to hurry pass Isamu and not paying close attention to where she was going since her mind was a tad overwhelmed. Her foot got caught on something while trying to pass him. It took her a fraction of a second to realize it was his shoe, but was not quick enough to let her catch herself.

Isamu offered a small blink of the eye as he observed the woman, ever nervous still, trying to direct him elsewhere to sit. He was about to follow her to their next spot in the house until she tripped over his foot.

His natural reflexes allowed him to lower his frame and reach down to grab her, but with only one arm and her falling momentum, he had to inch further downward, and accidentally fell over himself.

Even worse, the soda he'd just open, bursted outward wetting himself and the woman beneath him. Whoops. Well, this was probably a less than ideal situation, and whatever nervous energy she had before, was likely exacerbated tenfold now.

His frame now pressed against her own on the floor, there were several options he could've chose here, but dear reader, we must reiterate - wisdom was not his strong suit. Ever the playful charmer, he smiled sheepishly with a wink, his face far too close to her own.

"Whoops. Sorry about that. I was just tryin' to prevent ya from fallin' over... but I also can't deny that I'm enjoyin' the view right now. Even up close, you have killer looks."