[LOT] Looking Over Them [Khai]

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Thank god, they were almost the end of the line now!

Stretching high up above, Valus looked up at the towering round shape of the Odaiba Ferris Wheel, his gloomy expression lightening somewhat at the prospect of soon being on top of the world. Behind him stood his sole companion, an older woman with a strange looking pendant worn around her neck. Modoki's new disguise - a technology he hadn't even been aware of since a few days earlier - was working beautifully.

"Blimey! Just look at me and all! I've got hair, right enough! Real hair like!"

... alas, it was limited in the sense that it could not censor her voice, too. Posing in front of a glass window, Modoki reached up and ran her hands through her fringe, flicking it around and squealing with delight at her reflection. Her skin was a teal blue, and her hair was an eye-watering shade of searing orange, but in all other aspects she looked totally human. Even Valus had to admit that it was really quite amazing. Though that novelty was fast wearing off...

"Yes, but you stand out enough already!" he intervened, his eyes shifting worriedly from side to side, noticing the way other people ahead of them in the queue were looking at her strangely. "Do you mind? I want just a quiet day today. Just... something normal." Screwing up her illusionary face and sticking out her tongue, Modoki folded her arms and looked down her nose at him in disdain. Indignant at being denied the opportunity for attention.

"Hmph! Don' think I'm all made up with jus' this dandy toy!" she reminded him peevishly, jabbing him in the chest with one of her long fingers. Scowling, Valus turned away from her and glanced longingly at the ticket booth, just two people away from where he and Modoki were standing now.

He'd make it up to her after this - after this chance to relax.
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[khai]

<sub>"Heheh..."

The sun shone brightly and there was a pleasant breeze as Khai walked down the streets of Odaiba. He was in one of his better moods today, and with good reason. He was going up on that huge ferris wheel of course! Of course it was bitter sweet, he had no friends to go with. It seemed nobody wanted to be stuck in a car with him for lord knows how long. He'd just have to enjoy the view by himself. By himself... Thinking about it more, it made him feel down. Well, there had to be other people going on too right?

Once he was on the grounds he took a moment to look up at the immense structure. "Wow..." He gasped in amazement. It looked even bigger and more impressive up close! I'll be above everybody in Japan up there! The thought enthralled him. Everyone thought they were so much better than him, but once he was up there, at least for a short while he'd be above them, albeit physically rather than socially.

Looking back to where people were lining up, he realized the wheel was already boarding, and the line becoming shorter every minute. He had to get in line or they'd put him in a car all alone! Khai broke into a run, slamming into the ticket booth and handing the man his money and grabbed his ticket. He then ran into line, ending up crashing into the young man at the back of it -- Valus. Falling back on his rump, he blinked up at the much older male. "Oops!"</sub>

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Reaching the end of the line at last, Valus was about to step into the last car available, which he'd managed to secure just in time, when out of nowhere something slammed into him from behind. It was small, but unexpected, and it didn't take much to make the teen topple. Falling forwards, he stuck out his arms just in time to catch himself. Narrowly avoiding a collision between his head and the steps leading up to the empty cabin.

A little shaken by that close call, Valus' next instinct was to feel enraged. Who was responsible? Who was to blame? He needed someone - and his first assumption was Modoki. At least until he remembered the chip. It couldn't have been her. Getting back up on his feet, he wheeled around with the most unpleasant scowling expression he could muster, finding himself face to face with a child of all things.

"Hey brat." he said quietly through gritted teeth, the bitterness in his voice just as evident as if he had yelled the word instead of whispered it. "Watch it."

He was terrified by the idea of another incident like the last one. Like with Trevor; that other kid had been called! He was just a few steps away from the ferris car now, a personal indulgence, something he'd wanted to do ever since he'd moved here but never found time for. Behind the bravado he was putting on right now, Valus felt exhausted. Tired out from fleeing the things he feared one right after the another.

Reaching out a discolored hand to help the fallen child stand back up, Modoki shook her head and made a tutting sound in the back of her throat. "Now then, Valoos! The poor lad was jus' in a bit of a hurry, right surely!" speaking in a lighthearted manner, she couldn't help but feel a little smug that Valus had been knocked over so quickly after annoying her. "Chin up son! Don' be a fussypot now, tis jus' a tiny bump! Ain't it?" Chuckling, Modoki stepped away with a quick wave in the child's direction. Skipping after Valus, who was now boarding the otherwise empty six-seater cabin. "Ta, laddie!"
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[khai]

<sub>A childish smirk quickly turned to alarm as the man he had managed to knock over turned around and growled at him. As if it was his fault! Okay, maybe it was, but the guy must have been ready to fall over on his own if he, who was over two feet shorter than the guy could knock him over. Great, this trip had all ready taken a downward turn and Khai sat at the ground, more upset by the guy's reaction than the actual fall.

It wasn't until the girl who had been with the guy extended her hand to help him up that he snapped out of his anger. Accepting the help and allowing her to pull him up to a standing position, he blinked at her. "... You're green." He stated, with the complete lack of tactfulness many children had. This woman was very green, and it certainly sparked the young boy's interest. She was definitely nicer than the guy had been at least, even if she did look kinda funny.

A smile spread across his face as the green skinned woman chuckled at him, and stepped away to their car. The last car. "Hey, I'm coming on too!" Khai shouted, shoving his ticket in the attendant's hand and slipping into the car with them. He took a seat across from Valus, looked around. Quickly getting bored as they waited to get moving, Khai began rocking back and forth, causing the car to rock with his motions. Marik grinned, but the grin disappeared as the attendent knocked on the entrance to the car.

"Hey! No rocking the car!"

Khai snorted at the man, but ceased to continuously attempt to get the vehicle rocking... Most of the time. Every once in a while he still rocked back and forth for a moment, making the car rock ever so slightly. Soon though, the wheel finally started turning, slowly bringing them upward. Looking back to the two other passengers. The question still lingered on his tongue, and he couldn't hold it any more. "Why's your girlfriend green?"</sub>

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The rush of enthusiasm Valus felt upon stepping into the cabin was short-lived when he saw that there would be an extra passenger, the pest who'd bumped into him just moments ago joining them, undeterred by his hostile actions. Taking a seat directly opposite him, groaning, Valus slumped his head against the window. Waiting impatiently for the ride to start moving.

"Hey! No rocking the car!"

Clenching his teeth, Valus resisted the urge to shove the kid out of the car or otherwise glare at him, feeling too tired to even stir up a decent outburst. It would be easier to just try and ignore him, despite his obnoxious behavior. His past encounters were starting to leave him somewhat paranoid - he didn't want to go around making new enemies when he already had more than he could handle.

"Wha' d'you mean why am I green?" came an indignant reply from Modoki over by her window-seat in the opposite corner. Although she stifled a smirk as she said it, in truth quite happy to take over the conversation Valus seemed so keen to avoid. "Why ain't you green? Tha' be the real question I says!" The ride starting to move, the car swaying naturally as it started to rise, Modoki spread out her arms like she was flying. "Heck! This is what you humans do for fun like? This is great!" she let slip, at last provoking a reaction from Valus.

"She's not my girlfriend..." he butted in quickly, turning to face the boy for the first time since he'd been bowled over. "And she isn't a human. She's a digital monster." He said quite honestly, although he phrased it as though he was only being sarcastic. "It's the truth, right it is!" she chipped in quickly, barely able to contain her laughter. Indeed, neither of them were very good at deception. But when the truth itself was so ridiculous at face value, where was the real need to be dishonest?

"Some science fiction thing... I don't know." A full rotation of the wheel would take 15 minutes. Holding out against a child for that long... he could probably manage it.

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[khai]

<sub>Khai tilted his head in confusion as the woman gave an indignant response, only to end with asking why he wasn't green. Khai blinked incredulously. Was this woman serious? Why wasn't he green, what kind of question was that? "Because people aren't supposed to be green!" Khai flailed, frustrated that his question had been answered with stupidly obvious question. People weren't green! They were yellow, white, tan, black, even red, but never green.

If the woman being green wasn't bizarre enough, the woman's next statement certainly raised Khai's eyebrows. "What you humans do for fun like?" She was talking like she wasn't even human! Well, it certainly would explain the green skin a lot. That wasn't it though, monsters and aliens were made up! As if he was going to believe she wasn't really human even if her skin was green.

When the guy spoke up though, in addition to denying any relationship status with the girl, he affirmed that she was a digital monster, the woman confirming it for truth, and him rambling off about it being sci-fi. "Oh I get it." Khai finally said, a light bulb lighting up in his mind. "Costume heh. Had me going there. Digital monster. You'd want her to be a real digital monster wouldn't you? Haha." Khai teased.

Looking back at the woman, he wondered what about her was supposed to be digital, and monster. Green skin sort of fell on the monster theme, but that was pretty much it as far as this girl's costume went. "You know, you should have more wires or something if you are supposed to be digital, and something scary to make you a monster." said Khai, his creative juices flowing as he imagined how much better her costume would look.

Khai looked out the window of the car, and watched the streets Odaiba shrink away beneath him. People looked like ants from up here! "I'm higher than everybody up here!" He said with not just excitement, but a twinge of resentment as thoughts of those that bullied him or abandoned him came to mind. They were all mean people who thought they were better than him. Well, look at him now! "Hehehe..."

The wheel was beginning to reach it's apex, when it suddenly stopped dead. Khai jolted, but managed to keep himself from falling over. As alarm shot through the young child, a voice sounded on the intercom. "Attention passengers, please remain calm. We are experiencing some minor technical difficulties with the wheel. Rest assured everyone will be unboarded safely. There is no need to panic."</sub>

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Modoki pulled a mock sour face when the child complained to her that people weren't supposed to be green by nature. Sticking out her lower lip and placing her hands on her hips, leaning forwards at a slight angle. "Well noo laddie! I takes offense at that, so I does!" Pretending to be insulted, she let out a small harrumph, reaching out an arm to wave at Khai in a dismissive manner. Taking full advantage of her new semi-holographic appearance to try out as many different examples of human body language that she could think of!

The boy was certainly persistent, though! He took Valus' rehearsed explanation as the honest truth, which it actually was! But for some reason, humans didn't seem to react surprised by it, unless confronted with actual evidence. Thinking about it confused her, but at the same time, made her feel a bit like laughing. Here they were announcing to children the existence of Digimon and getting off scott free!

"Callin' me a monster, are ye?" she chuckled, sticking out a finger and wagging it around like a scolding parent. "Watch yer manners, like! Or I'll show you what a monster really looks like!" Glancing over at her just to make sure she didn't mean it, Valus narrowed his eyes at her, which she responded to by shaking her head from side to side. Nonchalant as she seemed by the gesture, she was actually disappointed by how fickle her partner's faith in her was. Or perhaps he was just snappy? He had been on edge lately, even more than usual.

There was a sudden jolt, enough to make her lose her balance and tumble out of her seat. What was going on!?

Valus reacted almost immediately, rooting himself in place while the carriage shook, and then springing to his feet the moment the footing was stable. He seemed alert, as if expecting this to be the initial phase of some sort of attack directed at him! And did he notice her lying there on the floor? Of course not.

After all, had he been looking? He would have noticed her outline blur for a moment. Her shape flickered and became transparent - but then quickly returned before she could even notice.

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[khai]

<sub>Khai had narrowed his eyes at the woman when she started to get all huffy. Well it was the truth! What kind of human being had green skin? Khai felt deeply offended that she was offended by his statements. He just wanted to know why her skin was green! Was that really so bad? He didn't think so at all, and he believed he deserved an answer, not some indignant response that gave him absolutely nothing to go on. When she waved him off, he simply stuck out his tongue.

If her getting huffy about him questioning her skin color wasn't enough, she also uppity about the monster thing as well! "Your friend was the one who said you were a monster." Khai huffed unhappily. It wasn't his fault, it was the other guy who called her a monster in the first place! She should be mad at him! How could she blame him for believing what her friend told him? If anyone here had to watch their manners, it had to be her!

After she delivered her ominous warning though, she and her friend exchanged a serious look, ending with her shaking her head no. "Wha... What are you guys doing?" Khai demanded. Khai was getting a strong impression that these two were messing with him. Was that guy laughing at him behind that grumpy attitude? Was he just having his own twisted fun with him? Suspicion consumed the child's thoughts as he raced to figure out what these two thought they were doing.

Then the car stopped, Khai barely managing to stay in his seat, the guy looked like he thought he was about to be shot or something, and the woman had fallen right on the floor. Except the woman... Was transparent. Khai eyes widened, just having caught the vision of the woman's image fading, a darker silhouette inside. It happened too fast to determine what the silhouette was of, but he had seen enough to know something was really messed up about this woman, and it wasn't just her skin color.

Various explanations crossed his mind, none were any good. Except maybe the thought that he had been seeing things. Was he seeing things? Maybe he hit his head... But these two were already fishy to start with. They must be hiding something! "What happened? She was see-through!" As sat their, frozen in alarm, and being stuck on this car at the highest possible car, there was very little he could do here, except try and figure out what was up with these two. "Somethings wrong with her. Tell me! Tell me now!"</sub>

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[thal]

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This was all perfectly normal, Valus told himself. A little accident like this was practically routine. He knew that he was getting worked up over nothing.

But that still couldn't completely banish the memory of Renamon's last words to him, or the things he'd seen in the dark hours of dawn over in the Digital World. He felt hunted - all the time. Like there wasn't any way he could let down his guard willingly. Frightened for his life, he couldn't help but treat circumstances with suspicion. And that's why he'd wanted today to be so normal. All he wanted was a break from it all.

And then he heard the boy cry out something about Modoki.

"Oooo blimey! Valoos! There's a problem wit' the thing like!" Turning around suddenly to face her, Valus saw that she was covering up the device on her neck using one hand. The child kept on talking, demanding answers, and Valus felt his stomach lurch with dread. If the device failed here, if the boy saw what Modoki really was, and told people about it? It would destroy him. He'd have no place left to hide if he became a fugitive here in the real world too.

That didn't leave him with many options. If he wanted to keep his secret safe, he'd need to silence the kid somehow. Playing ignorant probably wouldn't work, not with Modoki in hysterics and a disguise matrix that could malfunction at any moment! He'd need to talk the kid down somehow, or else find another way to get rid of him. Preferably a way that wouldn't land him in even more trouble.

Still standing, he crossed over to Modoki slowly, her outline starting to flicker irregularly almost every second now. "It ain't workin' right! Feels a tingle I does, get it off!" Taking off his coat, Valus draped it over Modoki's shoulders before reaching out and taking the matrix off her neck. In an instant, her false body was gone, and his coat slipped and fell. Landing on her true form just as it was appearing, which he then scooped up into a bundle of fabric. Cradled in his arms like this, nobody would see her real body.

But that was just the start of the problem. Now, he had to deal with the boy.

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[khai]

<sub>If the other two people weren't so shifty, Khai's concerns may have only been on the fact that they were trapped on the Ferris Wheel with no idea when or if they would be able to get off of it safely. Such was not the case however. The lady was acting really really weird, and the guy was not responding to him whatsoever. This added more frustration to Khai's alarm, and since the frightened part of him could do nothing inside this ferris wheel car, the more frustrated and demanding part of him was winning over.

"Stop ignoring me! What is going on!?" Khai complained very loudly, standing up from his seat. Still, he continued to be ignored as the woman panicked over 'it' not working. "What's not working? What do you mean?" Still, nothing as they were still far more concerned with the woman's whatever it was, than answering his pressing questions. How dare they! If this was their idea of fun, they were totally messed up!

Then something even weirder happened, even weirder than the woman turning see-through. The man through his coat over her, and it fell on something significantly smaller which the guy picked up and held in his arms. This whole deal was really messed up, and Khai had enough of being ignored. If they weren't going to tell him what was up, he'd find out himself. He charged into the man, grabbed the coat that was wrapped around the woman, or whatever it was, and pulled.</sub>

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Before he could react, there was a tug on the bundle in his arms and Modoki dropped out of the coat, landing on the floor with a small splat noise in all her amphibian glory. There was no hiding the truth now, Valus realized with a sinking sort of feeling. This kid would have to face it.

"You weren't supposed to see that." he admitted, Modoki looking up at the boy rather sheepishly from down on the floor of the carriage. "Please don't be scared, don't shout or scream. I'm begging you!" Holding up both hands in a gesture of surrender, Valus spoke in a hushed voice, dreading the loud attention-grabbing panic this child was sure to fly right into if he was not properly placated.

"Uh... ello there!" came Modoki's embarrassed greeting, her body trembling with anxiousness and excitement, terrified and yet intrigued by what was going to happen now that her and Valus' cover had been blown. Lacking even her optimism, in his mind Valus was already trying to think of ways in which he could get back to his normal life after this was over - if he ever got out of it.

His fear was written all over his face, and he couldn't have managed to hide it even if he'd tried. Still, it was a good thing for the child to see his honest feelings. Up until now he had been nothing but honest... with the possible exception of the offhand comment made about sci-fi. Placing both hands down on his head, he clenched it between his fingers, squeezing it in frustration and helplessness. To be made to feel this way by people younger than he was, time and time again?

It made him feel tired again.

"To be fair noo lad, we ain't exactly lied about anythin', has we Valoos?"

She was saying his name. She was telling the boy his name every time she spoke out like that! He gritted his teeth, but did nothing else to try to silence her. It was an impossible task anyway, or so Valus chose to think, a hopeless feeling setting into him as he waited for the kid's reaction with baited breath.

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[khai]

<sub>Pulling the jacket away was surprisingly... easy. Digesting the sight of what was beneath it was incomparably not. Khai instinctively jumped back, backing into the opposite side of the car, eyes wide in shock as he gazed down at this... Thing. He couldn't even begin to compare it to anything. A fish with legs maybe? It certainly looked slimy, and he might have thought frog if it weren't for the short legs, tail and fin. This certainly explained the whole "I'll show you what a monster really looks like!" among a lot of the pair's shifty behavior.

Fortunately for Valus and his partner, Khai was too shocked for any immediate action beyond putting as much distance between himself and the monster. His delayed reaction allowed Valus to get his word in, and between trying to sort out how dangerous this thing was, Khai could make out fear in his voice. Glancing to the man, he could see that fear, like a reflection of his own. "Why shouldn't I scream? Why are you so scared?" Khai shot back.

Slowly though, it occurred to him why this man was so nervous. "You don't want people to find out it, huh?" He guessed. He returned is gaze back to the creature, who said hello, and appeared quite friendly. Slowly Khai relaxed, shifting from afraid, to more curious. She certainly wasn't wrong, they did in fact say she was a monster, though he never thought they were serious. He slowly edged towards Modoki, before shooting a hand forward to touch her head before quickly pulling back.

He was nervous around this thing, but in a way, she was kinda cool. Some strange monster no one else probably knew about. He could guess they were scared something would happen to her if other people found out. He suddenly realized how much power he had now. They didn't want anyone to find out, and he could tell the world about his little talking monster thing. Part of him knew blackmailing was the right thing, but he also knew he had tried everything to make friends. Others had it easy, and it wasn't like he'd really be hurting them, and he deserved friends to have fun with like anybody else, so it couldn't really be that bad.

A more mischievous grin spread across Khai's face. He held all the cards here. "I probably should tell somebody. Heheheh." He said, smirking, moving towards the call box. He knew the guy... Valoose the monster thing called him? Would probably try and stop him, but the resulting struggle would still get the attention Khai would need to bring the monster into the public's attention. "What exactly would it be worth to for me not to tell everybody there's a monster in here?" He asked, his hand on the wall below the call box, ready to slap the button should Valus not give him a good enough reason to not press it and reveal his secret to the world.</sub>

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Valus had been expecting the kid to reach for the call button, but not quite for the same reasons as the child now gave. His jaw dropping in disbelief, Modoki frowned, failing to understand quite what the child wanted with the console, but aware of his point regardless. "Wha's the worth!?" she almost yelled, gawping up at Valus, evidently outraged by her life, her existence, once again being reduced to nothing short of a commodity.

"Listen to me!" he hissed at the child through his teeth, his hands remaining in the air, but clenching into fists. His anger was just as obvious as his fear, but right now he couldn't think straight enough to untangle them. "You can't... please don't... don't tell anyone!" His voice cracking, the urgency in Valus' voice and mannerisms caused Modoki to take a solitary step away from him, her expression one of concern as he shot her a desperate look. Nodding towards the kid, Modoki realized what he wanted her to do.

He wanted her to attack. To silence the boy if he tried to speak out.

"Oh, you're USELESS like this, you are!"

Raising her voice to it's full volume, Valus recoiled in surprise, and Modoki allowed herself a gratified smirk once before reverting her expression to one of stern authority. "Lad, leave poor Valoos alone! Had folks tryin' to kill 'im all week he has! And you're no helpin'! Shape up, both of ye!" Screwing up her face into a frown that showed off her pointed fangs quite nicely, she jumped up from the floor and onto one of the seat cushions closest to the child, so that she was now almost at eye-level with the smaller human.

"I ain't gonna hurt ye, but I don' wanna be chased outta this world either!" Lowering her voice slightly, Modoki looked the child in the face while Valus remained where he was. "Wha' does a kid like ye want anyhoo?" Slipping her frown, Modoki raised an eyebrow in curiosity, puzzled as to why a child so young would be so keen on blackmail.

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[khai]

<sub>The first reaction to Khai's proposition was of course, and indignant echo of it from the monster thing. 'Valoose' on the otherhand, just continued pleading, seeming to not even realize what he was asking of him. That was quite annoying. It wasn't like it was that terrible a request, something in return for him keeping silent. It wasn't like he owed this guy any favors after all. His hand inched towards the call box, a glare on his face. "If you--"

"Oh, you're USELESS like this, you are!"

Khai jumped, and recoiled when the monster suddenly bellowed out, jumping back to alarmed. Thoughts returned to how dangerous this thing was, and pondered forgetting the whole blackmail deal and hit the call box anyways. Khai listened more out of fear than anything, though failed to understand why it was his problem that Valoose had people trying to kill him. His problem right now was that he had this potentially dangerous and angry monster with him in the car he was currently trapped in, and that was far more concerning than what ever happened to the man throughout the week.

Even when the creature said she wouldn't hurt him, Khai wasn't too sure how much he believed her. What would they do to shut him up? When asked what he'd want, he found himself caught off guard. What did he want? He hadn't really thought on anything specific, and was intending to bounce off whatever they offered him. They had suggested nothing however, and Khai was left wondering what exactly he could ask for.

After a moment of little more than humming as Khai made up his mind, he finally spoke up. "Well, fun stuff." He began. Well, that wasn't very specific. Trying to think more, he finally got an idea. "I want you guys to hang out with me! Have fun, whenever I want." Khai decided, returning his hand to it's position below the call box, as just a reminder of what he could be doing. These two owed him for keeping quiet, and if they wouldn't give him what he wanted, then he wouldn't stay quiet!</sub>

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Leaving the situation in Modoki's hands made Valus feel uncomfortable. Trusting her, or anyone in general, with matter that concerned him felt... inherently wrong and unfamiliar to him.

Growing increasingly anxious, disapproving of Modoki's willingness to negotiate as if matters didn't really concern her, he briefly went over his list of expectations for what the child might want in his mind - money, toys, video games... maybe something he was too young to buy, like alcohol...

Somebody to hang out with? ... wait, had he heard that right?

"You want to have fun?" he blurted out accidentally, unable to hide his utter astonishment at the child's highly unusual request. "With us? Even..." Even though one of them had just been revealed to be a monster? Even though he'd treated the annoying kid with nothing but grumpy hostility up to this point?

It just didn't make any sense!

"Heh!" An amused snort from Modoki caught Valus' attention, and he saw an odd sort of twinkle in her eye, the corners of her mouth turned up in a satisfied grin. "Done deal mate!" She said with some measure of relief, as if she had been expecting much worse. What, did she think that something like this was so trivial? He'd be bound to the whims of a child because of her, at this rate!

Which, of course, would be irony.

"Promise not to rat us out like, and we'll meet'cha every day! Valoos 'as a phone number I can give ye, and more wack like that!" Nononononono! She was signing away his liberty here! Her every word was a condemnation, and silencing her was practically an impossibility. "Modokibetamon, me name is! But tha's too long winded ain't it? Modoki! Call me tha'!" Even if he did try to do it? It wouldn't get him anywhere. Not with that brat now holding the fate of his regular life in his hands like an idle plaything.

"Noo then lad! Since we'll be knowin' ye a while, wha's your name like?" Hopping down off the seat and back onto the floor, Modoki shuffled triumphantly over to Valus, who now sagged backwards slowly into the nearest chair in reluctant cooperation. His hands were tied now, he knew that. But by how much?

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