Eyes of the Beholder [Aude]

[Marluxia]

All seemed pleasant in Hollow Bastion. Nobody seemed to have a troubled expression on their face, nor did they act rudely. Actually, the small chatter among the people implied that the day was well, and quite free of threat, at that.

Had the heartless taken a day off?

Wandering through the shadows of buildings, Marluxia wished that he had been able to take the day off. In fact, he was supposed to be off today. But, no, Superior had decided that he was required to visit this dirty little world instead, for recon. Sure, it wasn't a big deal, but it was still time that the hooded man could have spent by himself, and certainly not on this world.

After wandering for a short while, he paused. On the other side of a house, he could hear an argument between a woman and man. Though it seemed rather unimportant, the nobody really had no other direction to go, that hadn't been examined, unless he returned 'home.' But, if he did that, he knew he'd be in plenty of trouble. He was still walking on thin ice, after all. Returning after no effort was put forth would surely place him in a worse position.

The two continued their argument, about something as silly as ice cream, then wandered away, finally leaving the annoyed man to peer around the corner, then step into the open. To his luck, nobody else was standing too close to this little house, and wouldn't take notice of someone walking past. Once he had gotten around the house, he slipped back into the shadows.

Why didn't Demyx get this job? He had heard that the other man had a preference to the lazy work. Perhaps, he should have caught up to him and seen if he had a more interesting mission. Clear out Heartless, or something. Something, anything other than this. Then he would have offered to trade.

Walking further, the assassin let out a faint sigh. Oh, wonderful. Several people filled a small portion of the town, primarily near an ice cream stand. Why did people care about ice cream? He just couldn't see the point.

Ah, well. The man shifted, to look to one side. At least, it seemed that everyone was distracted well enough that he could make it down another street.

[qualityfactor]

Her father had commented on how the outside seemed tamer than usual on that particular day. It was probably a sad thing that it was more unusual for it to be quiet than it was for it to be full of heartless to be roaming the streets. Nonetheless, a peaceful day was something to look forward to for most people. It meant heading out for something, if only for the sake of heading out.

For reasons of her own, Aude didn't allow herself to be an exception to this rule. Braving the streets couldn't be any worse than wallowing in boredom at the house. If nothing more she would have different people to watch. The ice cream stand was usually the busiest place on a day like today, and, though she didn't bother purchasing any ice cream for herself, she took a seat nearby with a book. Reading wasn't her interest, but it was a good time for eavesdropping on the latest town gossip.

However, gossip proved to be the least interesting thing on the street. It was out of the corner of her eye that she caught sight of a man in black. It wasn't an unusual thing for someone to wear black, but... a black cloak with a hood? She wouldn't have cared, but something about it was unsettling. It was probably nothing, but she couldn't help but be curious. She watched him walk down the street and looked around to make sure no one was paying much mind to her before she stood from her seat to pursue him casually.

The click of her shoes against the street's stone was bound to give her away, but that didn't matter too much to her. By the time she had gotten close enough, she had formulated a plan to approach him. She pulled a light gray handkerchief from the small bag she was carrying and hurried for a moment to catch up. This would either go very well, or not go at all. In either case she would see if her suspicion was just.

"Excuse me," she started, stepping a bit closer and holding out the handkerchief. "Did you drop this?" She knew he didn't, obviously, but it seemed like a good fake excuse to follow a strange man down the street.

[Marluxia]

It seemed that the man had only begun to feel that he had left the 'danger' zone of getting caught, when he heard a faint tapping on the stones behind him. For a second, he felt the sudden urge to remove himself from his usual demeanor, to curse and act upon anger. But, no, he'd save that for the more noisy members of the Organization. Instead, he continued walking, fighting another feeling that he should increase his speed. However, doing that would appear suspicious. Quite the opposite of what he was to do now.

Not as though it mattered. He was already caught.

Especially when the voice rang in his ears. Body struggling not to go rigid, the assassin turned his head, as if to listen, before shifting his entire body to properly face the woman. A handkerchief was being held out. As if he was the one to own it.

Reaching out with a gloved hand, Marluxia gently took the object from the woman, and lifted it only a few inches from the shadow that coated his face. If only she could see the smirk spreading across his lips, as he examined the cloth. It wasn't his, and a suspicion of the woman crept up his spine. If he were creepy, perhaps he would even have moved closer to the woman, to see if the scents matched up. But that would likely cause an uproar, which would be even worse than one person noticing him.

Finally, after a moment, his voice spoke, softly, as if not to draw attention to themselves with noise-filled words. "Oh," still, he held the gray object, loosely, lowering it to his side. "So it seems that I did." Monotone, the voice held no lacing of the entertainment that was found in the woman's attempt at... something.

Perhaps it was merely paranoia. She could have thought it belonged to him. But what if there had been further thought to this?

Eyes lifted. Still, people were too absorbed with their ice cream to take note. If they had, they hadn't bothered to watch for long.

Turning again, he made a light motion, with the handkerchief, as if to request the woman to follow him. He wouldn't even wait, really, to see if there was a result from the movement, but the nobody was far from off-guard. In fact, half of him expected her to suddenly pull a weapon from nowhere and attack him. It was one of those things that would never really surprise him.

Perhaps, it would have come off more odd, as he moved toward the nearest alley. There, at least, he would be out of public view, and into the safety of the shadows. At least, he could feign that it was a sense of safety.

"And, what was the purpose of returning this?"

Surely, if the woman intended on causing harm, he wouldn't get a direct answer. Unless she was actually that noble. But, wasn't it worth a shot?

And, really, if a person had dropped a handkerchief on the ground, how likely was it for another person to care enough about the simple cloth to return it?

[qualityfactor]

He was calling the bluff. She had been expecting him to politely point out that it wasn't his, or get nervous and run off. His simple acceptance of the piece of cloth was odd, but she smiled at him in pleasant surprise.

All of the possible bad scenarios played through her mind when he motioned for her to follow him into the alley. Following him was probably a horrible idea. She knew very well that it was probably better to go on her way then, but there was really no reason to turn away now. He had her handkerchief, after all. She wasn't going to lose it for nothing.

It also could've been said there was a small naïve sense of security within her that the people of Hollow Bastion were generally harmless. Well, to each other anyway. The same couldn't be said when it came to the heartless or other monsters. So, cloaked stranger or not, he appeared to be quite human. She was confident enough that she could handle the situation.

As composed as she always was, with head raised and hands daintily folded over her book and bag, she took one last look behind her and followed. "Isn't it only natural to return something someone has dropped?" Aude shrugged her shoulders lightly at his question, the calm grin still on her face.

"I found it and it seemed right to give it back. It's only fortunate that you stand out enough to be noticed and assumed the owner. That is to say... it's not every day you see someone lurking the streets in a hooded cloak." The only subtlety about her comment was the fact that she remained completely casual. It was nothing more than innocent statement. And, well, that was the truth, wasn't it?

[Marluxia]

Listening, the cloaked man continued until he could know that he was safely out of publics view. Superior would not be pleased about this woman, if he were to find out; let alone if Marluxia just stood out in the open, for everyone to view him. And, it was almost definite that Superior was aware, somehow, about the one following him.

It seemed that, for the most part, the woman's intent was pure. Just curiosity? It was the main thing he could remove from her final sentence, before finally speaking. It seemed that she was done with her response, at least. If not, it appeared that he would end up coming off as rude. Ah, well. It didn't matter to him, anyway. Why would he care about how she felt?

"It would be the right thing to do," the assassin started. The only thing that didn't seem to blend well with the shadows was that handkerchief. In fact, it stood out quite well in comparison. "But, the problem with that," a smile still crept on the man's concealed face, "is that this clearly isn't mine."

Raising the cloth, it remained loosely between his index and middle finger, as if to tempt her to take it. It wasn't like it would matter to him, if she did or didn't. The showing of it could easily be taken multiple ways. He could be offering it back, or he could simply be showing her that nothing would even hint that the object belonged to the nobody.

"Actually," although subtle, an accusing tone leaked through the otherwise emotionless voice, "this seems like it would belong to a woman, rather than myself." Shifting the cloth, it almost seemed like he was looking at it. In fact, he was. But only for a second. Without moving his head, blue eyes lifted to examine the lady that had followed him.

"Wouldn't you agree?"

[qualityfactor]

"Oh?" Aude's head tilted slightly with interest, her own eyes trained on the handkerchief rather than the man in front of her. There really wasn't much of a point to look at him. It was hard enough to make his face out from under his hood and she wasn't going to struggle. She was more focused on the matter at hand. Or, well, the matter in his hand. While at first he was going along with the bit, he was now turning it to make it clear he was on to her. That was what it seemed like anyway. Whoever the man was, he was certainly more clever and more composed than what she had been expecting. Rather, it was better than what she had been used to. That was far from a complaint.

"So, you're dropping things that don't belong to you? That seems more shady than just wandering about in a hooded cloak," she pointed out with a small laugh. It was obvious by that point that both of them knew what was going on. The verbal game was just rather amusing for the moment. Part of her had to wonder how long they could talk themselves in circles with the charade.

The way Aude saw it, she had the option to see how long it would take him to tire of the matter or the option to end the game where it was. She was in a position to easily deny any direct accusations he could have made. However, given that she could only learn so much about who he was and what in the world he was doing ghosting around the town if the whole conversation was focused on a handkerchief, it was silly to her to carry on an otherwise unnecessary back-and-forth. She had the strange man alone in an alley. That was a good enough accomplishment.

Finally, she nodded in response to his comment. Even the very slight accusatory tone didn't break her composure. The nod she gave was one of understanding rather than simple agreement. "I suppose it could belong to a woman instead. No frills, but it's certainly dainty. Not that I haven't seen a man carrying a lady's handkerchief before." The woman held out her hand politely, expecting him to return the piece of cloth to her. Hopefully he wouldn't just run off afterwards. "I could just hold on to it if it isn't yours then. Now that I think of it, I would actually like to keep it for the dress I bought it with."

[Marluxia]

Marluxia shifted slightly, as if to peer over the girl, to be certain that nobody else had taken notice of them. With a slight tuck to the bottom of his hood, it parted, just enough to reveal his nose, down to the zipper. One would think that it would be something the man wouldn't do, as it was to conceal his identity, which he more than likely needed in this situation, but it was too late now. May as well make himself slightly comfortable, at least.

"You may think that it would be more suspicious," the mans lips curved into another smile. "But, it seems that you were the only one to really take notice." Almost strangely, it seemed true. Then again, not making a scene about it not being his item, or running away, was likely the reason.

Really, it seemed that the entire point of these recon missions would be to get caught when you weren't supposed to. After all, why would someone send an obviously strange looking being into a normal world? Even if they had removed their cloaks, they would look far less suspicious, regardless of strange colored eyes and hair. But, it wasn't his place to argue the situation with anyone. Especially with a girl that didn't even know about the Organization. At least, he couldn't imagine that she did.

If she did, he would need to figure out how.

It was almost funny, the last comment that was made. If he were human, he probably would have laughed. But, the truth was, he didn't feel quite human. Humans had hearts, where as he did not. This gave him quite an indifference to the situation. Other than, of course, the getting in trouble later for being seen. That, he could only imagine, would not be fun. For once in few times, the memory of irritation slipped into his mind, just enough to feel a faint anger slip through his veins, only to vanish once more.

Oh, how he hated the trickery of his memories.

Almost slowly, delicately, the assassin placed the object into the other's hand. He had no use for it. The best he would have done with it, likely, would be to give it to Larxene, and it... didn't quite seem like something that she would want. Not that he blamed her. He didn't want it, either.

Trying to think quickly enough to recover from the problem at hand, Marluxia's lips parted, only to ask, softly, "and, if you wouldn't mind telling me," a slight hesitation lifted. He needed a reason to be talking to a local. If he got some form of information from her, perhaps punishment from being caught wouldn't be so harsh on him. And, even, if it was good enough information, maybe he wouldn't get in any trouble at all? Well, that was unlikely.

"What is your name?"

[qualityfactor]

"It's rude to ask for a name before one is given." Her nose wrinkled in doubt for a moment, but she grinned despite any skepticism she had. "You may call me Aude. Just Aude. It's short enough, so I have little patience for nicknames," she answered, neatly folding the handkerchief that was returned to her and slipping it back into her small bag. Aude couldn't think of a good reason to keep her name from him. She thought of her identity as something low on the security list, after all. Being a high class lady in Hollow Bastion had little worth when it was as broken as it was.

And on that note... she was reminded once more of the world's disappointing population. Disappointing to her, anyway. Not a day went by when she wasn't reminded of that fact at least once. It wasn't as if she could avoid it when she had lived there for so long. "Somehow I'm not surprised that no one else noticed you. The people here always seem most oblivious to what's right under their noses."

She let a quiet sigh of disapproval slip, but she forced herself to keep a smile on her face. It was a charade she had kept up for far too long, but was it really worth the risk to break it in front of a stranger? It was still questionable at that point. There was a strong hunch that he was different somehow if the coat and the snooping behavior were anything to clue her in. On the other hand, it could've just been her own interest and false hope making her think that he was different in some way.

"Everyone is usually more absorbed with frivolous things like ice cream on a day like today. It's nothing new and certainly nothing special." Aude gave a small shrug of her shoulders, briefly glancing to the end of the alleyway. Still no one there. She took it as a good sign.

Turning back to him, she looked him over a bit more suspiciously, but nothing in a manner that was too obvious. The woman avoided jumping to the conclusion that he was from elsewhere, but she had a reasonable curiosity. She eyed what little of his facial features he had revealed only to confirm that he was completely foreign to her memory. Unfamiliar clothing, unfamiliar voice, unfamiliar lips, and an unfamiliar nose. She had lived there for most of her life and she was certain that she had never seen him before now. It wasn't like her to forget a face so easily.

"Though I imagine you aren't out for ice cream, hm? Are you from around here at all?"

[Marluxia]

"Aude," the assassin repeated, quietly. For a while, Marluxia simply watched and listened. Although, he had known it was rude to never provide a name for her to call him, he hadn't interrupted her to inform her of one.

Really, it wasn't necessary to do so. It would only irritate Superior, but he would likely inform her eventually. And, better sooner than later. But, perhaps, a little later. Not quite yet, to pester into her talking, but... soon.

A slight nod was one of the few acknowledgments he provided, when she brought of the oblivious nature of those in Hollow Bastion. He had been able to be pretty careless, in some areas, because of their lack of interest to those around them. It was almost odd. He had simply mistaken them for idiots. Then again, the way the girl talked, perhaps they were.

"Observant, aren't we?" the man chuckled, as she lightly accused him of not belonging to the world. "No, I'm not here for ice cream. In fact, I didn't know this world even sold ice cream until now."

Although very small, useless information, she had still provided him with something to return to the leader of the Organization.

Perhaps, if he was in a friendly mood, he would offer to take Xion here someday, if he ran into her again. She did say she liked ice cream. Wait. That was the girl's name, right? Xion?

Ah. It didn't matter.

There were more important things to deal with. Such as how angered Superior would be, once the assassin returned 'home.' He had been noticed, revealed himself as an outsider, and...

There was no real reason to hide behind his hood, protecting his name or identity. Perhaps, where he was from was something that he would hold to himself. The Organization itself? Maybe. He just had to be careful on how he took his steps, not necessarily if he would take them.

Having already been halfway there, the man removed the remainder of his hood, allowing it to fall, and sakura petals to scatter from pink hair.

It was better to remove the 'rude' gesture of not providing his name before she needed to fully request it. After all, it would be more forgivable of an action to do so without request, if he was correct. If not, it didn't matter. Wouldn't hurt him any.

"And, to fix my earlier 'mistake,' my name is Marluxia."