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((Well that's always good to hear but I was wondering if it is ok for to post))

Rusty hadn’t an idea how to react to anything that was going on. He was stunned when Dakota kissed Akari right in front of him, her date. It’s just wrong for something like that to happen and it boiled Rusty’s blood at the thought of it. He wanted to say something while Akari was away but he took to long thinking on how to confront the situation and Akari was back in his seat before he knew it. But that didn’t really matter… then people at another table got riled up and that threw Rusty train of thought for a loop.

He saw a lizard anthro hastily make his way through the door of the bar after a bit of a skirmish. There was a small mob that trailed him but stopped just after passing the door, apparently shrugging off the lizard as a one time crazy drunk or something. A pair of officials stayed on his trail, persistent to catch the drunk for the fighting. Despite that though, Rusty guessed they’d back off eventually.

There was a small uproar by the upset bartender still wanting the money for the unpaid drinks.

In Rusty’s mind, too many things were happening to focus on just one specific situation and that made him even more frustrated. He couldn’t stand it.
He stood up, shot a quick glanced at Akari and Dakota, and left the table for the door.
Outside, he picked a random direction and started walking away from Hallor’s bar. He desperately needed to vent everything from his mind, so he migrated to a path that he knew would lead to a place that would be quiet enough to accomplish that.


((Woohoo... that was complicated.
I guess we can through everything into full swing again (part way, anyways) XD
Oh, my current DA Journal has some detail of my trip.))

The whiskey in Dakota's system was now beginning to affect her but she desperately needed to follow Rusty to apologize. Her sight became blurry but used her water magic to dilute the effect and jog stealhily (sp?) through the random direction that led her to Rusty all on her own. In a short while the town was just a few lights behind them and she was in an ambush position ready to strike but couldn't and just wished to understand. She should have never kissed Akari but whiskey had that affect on her which clouded judgement.

Dakota hung down from her perch letting herself slowly on the ground and sat right next to Rusty looking out on the city. "Rusty look I should apologize for my behavior, I guess whiskey had that effect on me you should have really gotten that kiss not Akari so I was wondering if you would be willing to take mine's" she said and smiled turning over to him and kissed his lips also. There was something much different with this kiss though, there was no spark. "Maybe there is no chance for me and Rusty" she thought but frowned a little.

Akari put his hands to his head. Why me? he thought to himself, Why did this have to involve me?

After gathering his thoughts, Akari left two hundred drops ($2) on the table for the waiter and left. Dakota had run off after Rusty shortly after he left, likely to try to somehow make up for kissing Akari, and he decided it would be best to not interfere with that. As he walked out of the bar, he just happened to catch a glimpse of the lizard anthro he'd seen running out of the bar earlier and a raccoon anthro run into the nearby crowd that was still listening to Z-Stripe. He realized that the route they were taking, if they followed the street they were on, would take them past his place. Realizing that it was not that likely, he dismissed the idea that they'd try to hide out in his house or something like that. He then thought about simply heading home, since there wasn't all that much for him to do for the rest of the night. He decided that he should get home and try to get this whole situation with Rusty and Dakota off of his mind. Besides, he thought, I need to start packing for the trip to Q'ercheck Ental.

Akari stopped by his mother, let her know where he was going, and headed home. He took a shortcut where he basically made a bee-line for his house, but took his time along the way. Once he got to his house, he unlocked the back door, walked in, and headed up to his room. He crashed on the bed, lying on his back. As soon as he did that, he closed his eyes, and tried to clear his mind. It was harder than he thought it would be, since he couldn't get the thought that his relationship with Rusty might have been ruined forever due to what happened earlier at the bar. Rusty was the closest friend he had, and he didn't know what to do if Rusty wasn't his friend anymore.

Let's just hope that that doesn't happen... he thought.

Sissmuth was back in the same location where he'd met Cyrus -- only this time, he was a lot more concealed than before... hiding in a tree. He was never much of a climber and aside from the monetary uncomfortableness, he also had an itch under his tail that was simply murder. He found these celebrations a bother and suddenly found himself wanting very badly to return home. He quickly dismised th idea and hunched over as he heard voices coming.

There was a dark figure approaching. Lonely. Sissmuth's heart did a small leap, thinking that it would be Cyrus. His tail was bushy enough. But as he stepped closer, his eyes contracted to see and recognize the young fox that had been sitting nearby his table back at the bar. The one with the clueless look on his face. Yeah, that was him alright. Just then, he pulled himself tighter down as he saw another figure materialize out of seemingly nowhere... this was the white wolf that had kissed the other one earlier. Sissmuth wasn't surprised to see her come bumbling up, asking for his forgiveness... the whole thing almost amused him. They were talking in hushed tones, but it didn't take a monkey brain to figure out what they might be saying.

Eyes narrowed, body pressed down, and tail twitching, he continued to watch and wait. Maybe Cyrus will come. And if not, he'd be off to Desdon in the morning -- guards or no.

It was just getting quiet enough for Rusty start purging his mind and get things straightened up there when Dakota came up behind him with apologies and excuses. As if Rusty couldn’t have been even more irritated. Despite the mess that came from this little date, Rusty turned and listened to everything she had to say before coming back with words of his own.

And what she said didn’t surprise him at all. A whole apology and shifting the blame to the whisky in just a few words wasn’t convincing. Because of the frustration that was still built up inside, he wasn’t thinking rationally enough to be able deal with this in the way that he wanted, and hearing those words just made him want to blow her off completely.
And then she came close and kissed him. He didn’t accept it by letting her kiss a frown. His eye narrowed, judging her for crossing another line, but there was something about it all that made them soften…maybe he could give her a chance…

When she retracted, Rusty shifted his eyes away from her and said, “Despite what you’re doing to make up for what you did, I’m not willing to accept your apology tonight, Dakota. Sober or not, understand that what you did was far below the belt.” His eyes went back to her. “How would you feel if I did that to you?” Rather that hearing her answer, he sighed and continued speaking, leaving the question for thought. “Listen, tomorrow might be a better day, so just go home and rest and talk to me when you get recover from the hangover.”

Stifling a yawn, Sissmuth couldn't help but listen in. He was curious to see. Enthralled to know. Compelled to stay. And he did have to admit, the whole charade of using the whiskey as an excuse was rather lame. Being what he was, Sissmuth knew his drinks, and he knew it would've taken A LOT more whiskey to get that woolly. Furthermore, no one orders something as potent as whiskey for something light and casual. That's what cheap wine was for. He was powerless to stop the slight smirk that turned up the corner of his mouth when he saw the fox wasn't buying it either.

Smart fox, thought Sissmuth. White wolf -- not so smart. He stowed these useless bits of information somewhere in his mind as he constricted his tail around a branch and rest his head on his arms. He didn't take too well to sleeping in a tree. He'd surely be cranky in the morning. But he wasn't in the mood to move anywhere. Not yet...

I will post sometime soon. I was extremely busy today and am definitely booked tomorrow. Though, I can probably find time. It may be later at night but I should be able to do it then. I'm NOT suggesting to wait for me or anything, just don't do anything super huge like jump to daylight. Thanks, and I apologize for the out of context post

ok my computer is being weird along with that fact that my internet has gone off since i am moving so yea my replly will be tomorow. * Sorry for the spelling*

Cyrus quickly slapped his money on the table. "Here-I'll pay for him!" he yelled to the bartender as he bolted towards the doorway. He pushed through the crowd, brushing past bruised and battered anthros and humans alike. "I apologize for my friend." he stammered as he stepped over a man on the floor who seemed to have just realized he had been knocked down-he was shaking his head as if waking up from a stupor. Cyrus started out into the night, shouting back at the staring crowd. "Sorry again!"

With that he began to follow the path away from the bar. The tail of his overcoat flapped behind him as he ran, his feet lightly tapping the dirt of the road. There was an unwavering breeze traveling through the trees now, muffling some of the noise from the festivities and sending embers flying from the many torches about the town.

He felt guilty and confused. Should he have helped Sissmuth fend off that mob? He had just sat there dumbfounded as his friend had rushed out of the place, clearly distressed about something. Cyrus was glad he didn't cause the fray to get more out of hand than it already was, but at the same time couldn't shake the feeling that he had betrayed Sissmuth, in however small a way. No time to worry about that now. Just try to find him. he thought to himself as he spotted the main square. There was no sign of a bulky, drunken lizard, though there was a good portion of other... intoxicated individuals. Cyrus stopped for a moment. Wherever Sissmuth was, he would definitely be out of sight. He looked around. The road to his right led to a strip of houses that were mostly unlit. It seemed quieter than other areas. Maybe he went there. "No, that wouldn't make sense." he spoke softly to himself, thinking aloud. He turned away from the residential area and glanced up at the stars. It was a clear night, the sky seemed even more alive than the bustling town below it. Cyrus let out a sigh-not of relief but out of frustration. "Why are things always so complicated?" he said. His attention suddenly drew to a crunching sound behind him. It was getting louder.
Footsteps.
He turned quickly towards the houses to see a silhouette approaching from the driveway of the closest house.
"Why, hello my good man!" the shadow said with a wave. Cyrus was startled, and suddenly a little embarrassed. Did he hear me talking to myself just now? he wondered.
What little light was present shone behind the stranger, entirely hiding his face, though it didn't obscure his bulk.

"Oh- Hi." Cyrus replied nervously.

"Sorry to scare you. You waiting for someone?" asked the man. He was getting closer.

"Nope. Just gathering my thoughts really. Beautiful night isn't it?" He tried to be natural.

"Yes it is. The sky's a gem." the wide shadow grunted after a pause, stepping under a street torch a few yards to the side of the road.

Cyrus's heart jumped. The light showed the man's scraggly bearded face to be the same as the obnoxious man that had stopped him in the road earlier. Cyrus tried not to make eye contact, turning his head a little more towards the glowing town square. "You have a good evening sir." he said, trying to dismiss the awkward conversation.

"I do believe I will. I've added much to my collection tonight. Have a hoot yourself." he said. Then he stopped on the sidewalk. He eyed Cyrus's face. "Oh, I do believe I saw you earlier my Coonish friend. Still not up to selling that jewel of yours?" he asked in an indistinguishable tone.

"Nope, sorry."

"Alright then, see you." said the large man as he walked away.

What was he doing in that house? Does he live here? Cyrus thought. He had never seen him before today.
Cyrus was relieved when the hulking shadow finally left from sight. It took him a moment to remember what he was doing before the eeire encounter, then he started back towards the square. He had a guess as to where his lizard aquaintance would be, that is, if he had meant to be found. If this assumption was wrong, he wondered if he would ever find Sissmuth.
The place where they had met wasn't far.

Dakota left Rusty swearing at herself for drinking and thinking of the consequences in the first. She may have been the person to not only destroy their but disband them as students. After flying back into town she distracted herself with a little bit of shopping for a couple of weapons spending around 100,000 drops ($100) she had a shotgun and and some special human-tech armor which she had to read the instruction for over and over just so it would calibrate correctly. The shopping still could not keep her mind off Akari and figured she may as well pay him a visit.

She made her way through the winding streets of Asper to Akari's home which she had visited a couple of times before but in this context it was definetly awkward (sp?) for her just to be here. At first, she couldn't have the nerve to see Akari but she was brave and this was the only oppurtunity she could ever get. She knocked on the door and gave a light smile when she saw Mrs. LaKoth. "Hi Mrs. LaKoth is Akari there I kinda messed up so is it ok to talk to him" she asked

"Yeah, he's here," she replied, "but you're going to have to leave those weapons with me. I do not allow anyone to posses a firearm in my house for any reason unless it's the Asper Militia." She quickly grabbed the shotgun from Dakota and stowed it in a cabinet which she promptly locked with a key. She turned back to Dakota. "I'm sorry, but I'll give it back to you when you leave. ... Akari is upstairs... " Mrs. LaKoth started stammering a bit because she kept remembering the reasons why she made the "no firearms" rule. "...first door on the right once you get there." Once she finished talking, she went back to her work.

Akari was up in his room, seeming to be asleep, but was really in very deep thought. His decorative sheaths, with his swords now removed, were prominently displayed on the wall to his right. His normal sheaths, with his swords in them, were leaning against his bed. He heard dialogue downstairs, and recognized Dakota's voice. She's here? he thought, This'll be interesting...

"Thank you Mrs. LaKoth" she said and found the door to Akari's room. She became apprehensive once again not sure how this will turn out between them. Soon though she opened up the door with her tonfa and entered his room sitting on a nearby chair. Words could not describe what was going through her and it freaked her out a little but there was no turning back. "Hi Akari, look I know this is hard for both of us, but nothing could justify why I kissed you. I can't be making excuses or anything except truthfully I... I think love you a lot" she stammered all along through the sentence

Akari's eyes opened the instant she finished her sentence. Of all the things he had expected her to say, this was the last on his list. He took a minute to digest this mentally, then started to speak.

"I, uh... am very flattered, Dakota," he began. He paused, trying to think. His mind was going blank, but he managed eventually to get his thoughts out.

"I guess it's nice to know that you were for real when you kissed me, but that was the complete wrong time to do it." He took a deep breath. "That, and the fact that you were drunk when you did it, added to how wrong that was." Akari stopped to sit up on his bed, facing Dakota, making eye contact.

"As much as I'd like to return the 'I love you', I can't. Well, not yet, that is. Since you kissed me in front of Rusty, your supposed date for the night, you should make amends to him as best as is possible. Preferably tomorrow, when you've recovered from your hangover that I imagine you're going to get tomorrow morning. Then I'm going to have to go to Rusty, on my hands and knees if I have to, to try and convince him that I did not willingly take part in that. He's... like, my best friend, who I've been friends with for years, now... He knew me before I got this scar on my face, he was the first to know about it... and to be honest, I don't know what I would have done without him, or what I would do without him if he wasn't my friend anymore."

He paused, hung his head, and sighed. "If we want to start a meaningful relationship, we should wait for a while after both of us have made amends to Rusty. The situation with the three of us is too fragile right now for us to do anything. I'm sorry, Dakota. Love between us is going to have to wait. Neither Rusty nor I are ready for it."

After a few minutes of silence, he spoke again, "I should also thank you... You know, that actually was my first kiss, believe it or not. I mean, I would've preferred it if you weren't drunk and in front of Rusty, but still... So... well, thanks."

Everything seemed to begin to calm down people where leaving, the little booths that had games in them where starting to close down, and the music that was being played was starting to become slient. Standing up Nero took one last look around at everything placing his hands behind his head he said " people are really going to be talking about this tomorow" in a quiet, sarcastic tone of voice. Turning around Nero began to walk down the path he had taken when he first heard the music being played. " shoulda brought a flashlight" he said to himself, being alone in the dark walking home through the woods made things seem bigger and a bit different then if he was walking home in the middle of the day trees where looking as if they where reaching out trying to grab him while ceritian rocks that where layerd over each other had seemed to look almost as if they where alive. As nero walked foward he could begin to see his small little village some people where up and sitting in front of there yards somking or talking while others where inside sleep. Reaching his small little hut Nero walked inside throwing himself onto a couch not even bothering to change into his pajama's or even attempting to go into his bedroom placing his hands over his head he let out a slight sigh before falling asleep.

((sorry if its a little short))