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Got beat by Cloud during the first fight with him. I know you don't gain anything by beating him there...but still. (I beat Leon pretty easily though so I thought Cloud would be cake.) Then later on when doing the Hades Cup solo, I got killed by Yuffie. @_@ Oh Proud Mode. It's amusing.
I've been waiting for keyblade transformations to make another appearance. Guns though? That's amusing. Glad that Traverse Town is back! And a Toy Story world would be...well I'm not sure.
Henrik raised an eyebrow when Brandon asked him that question. What did he and his wife do? Well at least it seemed like things weren't going as awkwardly as Henrik thought they would be. His eyes shifted over towards the university as it came in sight. It looked smaller than it did during his first visit. "Iris and I are professors of physics back at Norway." Soon the taxi came to a stop leaving the two to exit. Henrik lead the way towards one of the buildings before continuing with, "I met her when she was still a student. I was visiting the university she was studying at, gave a seminar, and afterwards she stuck around to interrogate me on all sorts of things." He smiled to himself. "She was pushy to be honest but until I met her I had no interest in starting a family of my own." Henrik decided not to go any further into the details of his personal life, thinking it would have been boring to Brandon anyways. It was actually not so cold inside the building as compared to outside. The heaters seemed to be working just fine when they entered. Seeing as how Brandon asked what he and his wife did for a living it seemed only fair to ask what Brandon did for a living. If he did anything at all that was. "So, what about you? How do you put bread on the table?" After some walking, Henrik came across an office. The same one Iris had called from. Of course the name on the door was spelled out in Cyrillic but at least Henrik could read it. He looked over at Brandon for a moment, unsure of whether or not to tell him to stay outside or follow him in. So instead of telling him anything, Henrik simply pushed the door open, immediately finding himself being pushed back as Iris ran into him and wrapped her arms around him. "Iris!" "It's been a long time, Henrik." A woman's voice came from behind Iris. She was a brunette not much taller than Iris with cold eyes that were now fixed on the man. She was Kalia Alkaev, head of a department here in MIPT...and also an ex of Henrik's from before he met Iris. In a strange twist of fate, Kalia had met and befriended Iris during one of their trips to Russia. Henrik looked down at Iris then back towards Kalia, giving a weak wave to the young woman. "Of all the friends we have here, you picked her." Henrik whispered towards Iris. Iris pinched his shoulder. "I spent days in Hell. I think you can manage a few minutes here." She retorted before slowly pulling away from Henrik. He had too much to say to Iris but now wasn't the right place to say those things considering the company the two had at the moment. "Thank you." Henrik muttered towards Kalia, hoping she wouldn't drag things out and just let the two(and poor Brandon who was a witness to the awkward situation) leave. Of course, Kalia was too angry to just drop her questions and let them go. "Why was she out alone in the middle of this country with no money and no-" "It's a long story that you wouldn't believe. Thanks for your hospitality but we have to get going." "Who's your friend, Henrik?" Iris was the first to take notice of Brandon and thankfully, it kept Kalia from pursuing answers long enough for Henrik to change the subject. "This is Brandon." Henrik paused and scratched the back of his head. "He tagged along because he had nothing better to do." It was partially true at least and Henrik couldn't spend time explaining the whole situation to Kalia. Iris knew what was going on but they couldn't start dragging everyone they knew into this mess.
If nobody gets the joke, I will hurt someone... Spoiler
-100 Woo. Winning post.
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1 .
If it hadn't been for the phone call Henrik would not have woken up quite himself. It snapped him back to reality and broke Lei's concentration. Once more Lei had tried to fight for control of his body. No, it was more than just a struggle for control. Henrik quickly sat up and reached over for the buzzing phone only to wince before he could touch it. He bit on his lower lip and turned his palm over to look at the small gash running across his hand. From the looks of it, the wound had stopped bleeding a few hours ago. Henrik growled lowly and picked up the phone with his other hand. He recognized the call as it was coming from the university within the town. Specifically, it was coming from the office of a particular head of department that Henrik was not fond of... "Hello?" Henrik reluctantly spoke. "I just...got here, Henrik..." It was Iris. She sounded out of breath as if she had just ran a mile. Hearing her voice again made him anxious. She was still alive and in the same city as he was for the first time in what felt like an eternity. She must have been traveling nonstop to get there as until now she had not even contacted him since she first let him know she was alive. Henrik opened his mouth to speak but nothing came. "Hey..." An IQ of over 200 and that was all he could utter. Even as a teenager he wasn't this awkward--then again he spent more time in a laboratory than talking to girls during those years. "You idiot." "I love you too." Henrik smiled faintly and lifted his free hand to press it on his forehead only to suddenly snap it away and flick his wrist. There was still a cut across his palm he had forgotten about and it was already getting itchy. It would probably finish healing soon so he decided against covering it up. "How's she treating you?" "Fine considering I barged into her office just now...Henrik-" "I'll be there in a few minutes. Stay put and I'll pick you up." Henrik was already at the door when he spoke. "Iris, I'm sorry for everything I've put us through. Just give me time." Once they ended their call, Henrik met with Brandon out in the lobby and muttered a halfhearted apology for keeping him waiting for so long. This time, when they left the hotel there was already a taxi waiting for the two and already paid for. Just one of the favors from the university. Now that Henrik was sure that this was the right path to follow he decided to at least give Brandon a little more information as to why he knew Iris would here. "We're heading to MIPT. Some people like to call it Russia's version of MIT." Henrik wasn't sure if Brandon even knew what MIT was considering that Brandon was not an American. "Um...it's a really good school." Henrik scratched the back of his head. "Iris, my wife, has a friend who's the head of a department there." 'You're not telling him everything, are you?' 'Shut up. You already tried killing me for the day so just go back to your corner.' Henrik folded his arms as he sat in the taxi. 'It was years ago. I doubt she would still be mad. If she was, how would I have been able to pull these kinds of favors? At worst, things will be a little awkward.' 'And for all you know, Iris's little friend is only doing this so she can give you a piece of her mind. 'Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.' Poetic isn't it?' 'Don't quote Congreve to me.' Henrik sighed, hoping to avoid any kind of childish drama when they arrived.
Henrik nodded towards Brandon when he seemed to have gotten over the cold air. He wasn't about to ask how Brandon was able to manage despite having been freezing just seconds earlier. "Dolgoprundy. It's a town within Moscow's-" Henrik paused, trying to think of the right words to phrase it correctly. Well, it didn't matter. That was all part of geography and the specific details weren't too important. So instead of giving Brandon the full background he merely said, "It's a town within Moscow. It's not far from here." Once the two were outside Henrik called over a taxi. Just as Henrik anticipated, it was only a few minutes before the taxi dropped them off within the town. Most notably, there were few large buildings to be seen unlike the city save for a university familiar to Henrik that was off in the distance. It was getting late and Henrik was beginning to run out of his own money. They would have to go further tomorrow now that it was late. To make things short, Henrik paid for a room at a nearby hotel where the taxi had dropped them off and let Brandon pay for his own room since that's what they did last time anyways. And then Henrik went to sleep. Yay.
Even Moscow's airport was chilly. Henrik adjusted his coat and stuffed his hands into his pockets, taking in a deep breath. He never liked flying. It wasn't a phobia, but it was just something he wanted to avoid whenever he could. The Sheremetyevo International Airport looked the same since his last visit. Mostly the same at least. The grass outside looked greener than it did back then despite the cold. 'At least there's no snow today.' "This wouldn't be the first time you've pulled some pretty pricey favors, would it?" 'So what?' Henrik closed his eyes and thought for a moment. A town known as Dolgoprudny was just a few miles away. It was where Henrik intended to go. He pulled out his phone and checked a few of his latest messages, shaking his head slightly when he read a certain name of the person who would great them at the-- "At least this isn't the sketchiest thing you've ever asked for." Lei interrupted Henrik's thoughts as a passerby walked right through the angel who immediately took the time to respond with a vulgar gesture with his hand. "Let's go. We can take a taxi out of here." Henrik directed towards Brandon, ignoring Lei's comment entirely. He paused for a moment and looked at Brandon. Henrik was used to the cold, he wasn't sure how well Brandon would fare and getting sick right now wasn't going to be productive. "Can you deal with the cold? It's only nine degrees out." "Only nine? What? Were you born in the arctic? Wait...are we talking Celsius?" Unlike Henrik, Lei hated the cold. Fortunately for him, he did not have to endure it considering he was not physically around the two. 'Why would I use another scale? Only if we were in the US I wouldn't be using it.' Henrik stuffed his phone back into his pocket and started to walk forward, hoping they wouldn't need to stop to allow Brandon to get a chance to dress better for the occasion.
"You're not made of money, Henrik. How will you pay for everything once you're in Russia?" Lei headed out through the door before Henrik. Henrik unlocked the door and as he walked out of his room, sighed out in frustration. It had been a long while since Lei had last made himself visible to Henrik outside of a dream. He preferred it that way. 'Do you have any idea how popular I am within the Russian scientific community?' "Oh right. You're like a rock star over there aren't you? But how's that going to help?" 'I can call in a lot of favors. It means we won't be able to stay in a fancy hotel but we won't be sleeping in a cardboard box in the cold.' Henrik finally arrived down at the lobby to find Brandon already there. That was good, the boy was punctual. At least more punctual than himself. "We're heading to Moscow if you're still coming along." "Why Moscow? I doubt Iris was there when she called." 'And what reason would she have to not go there? She wouldn't leave Russia and make it harder for me to find her. The only reason why she hasn't called again is because she isn't wasting any time getting there.' Henrik knew his wife very well just as she knew him. That would be the place to search. Henrik's conviction was even enough to keep Lei quiet. Though Lei did not waste any time poking a finger through Brandon's head even though the boy could neither see nor feel Lei. For some reason the shadow of an angel had a strange liking for acting as if he was tangible. "Come on. Let's get to the airport. I'm not able to pull the kinds of strings the others were able to but I've got some influence over at Russia." With that, Henrik started to head out of the hotel.
"Did something keep me busy?" Henrik repeated Brandon's question. He nodded slowly. "Seems like Temeluchas dropped Alistair off in my room. I don't know why. Maybe she wanted to punish him. Naturally I tried to kill him. He took off before I could get the job done." He bluntly stated, giving little thought over how quickly he had tried to take another's life. It was starting to get late and they couldn't go back to the same hotel now after all the commotion Henrik had just caused. They had to find somewhere else to stay the night before heading out of the country. Now that there was just only two of them, it seemed as good a time as any to decide not to follow the Scooby Gang. "I still need to find my wife." Henrik glanced over at Brandon. "I'm done waiting for all this recruiting to be over. It would be better for both of us if we stuck together but I have no intention of going after the others." Henrik sighed out and looked down. "I've wasted too much time." With that said, Henrik and Brandon then went to a hotel, got their own rooms(because Henrik had money of his own to use), and Henrik turned in for the night because apparently it's time to start the next day early.
Oh. That's kind of cool.
If that's actually right, then that's pretty neat. I never use "whom" but this might make me start.
