#01a || lab rat dog. [ic: red xiii]

[nanakithewarrior]

@umbral-stigmata-unbound || Continued from here~

"Not one bit... But it's what I expected." He sighed, and that alone was enough to make his sides hurt. With a grunt, the specimen pushed himself up. First his front legs, then his rear, gracelessly.

All that effort purely so he could turn around a little and sit back down on his other side. What were the chances a change of posture would help? Very few. But when you're in a cage, you don't have the luxury of many options.

"Maybe it's meant to be this way." He grumbled. "Your life is too short to understand it. I'll be the one to live down your company's mistakes and see what they bring."

[nanakithewarrior]

"The agreed strategy is to lay low for a while. That is why we've decided to split and spread out until we have a grasp of the situation in the city." Red bowed his head down and to the side, helping himself with a brief scratch to readjust an itchy spot behind the ear.

"Going out and about will help me assess the atmosphere around here. Until my next rendezvous with Cloud and the others, consider me at your disposal."

“There’s a few of us. Just spread a little thing right now, is all.” That was okay though. They worked well under pressure and he had a feeling something might turn things around eventually.

“You don’t look like much? I’d hardly say that. You look like you can do plenty of good. I’d bet you’d be a big help. But are you sure? If you got other places to be, I wouldn’t blame you.”

[nanakithewarrior]

"I can see you've been stressed out. Have you considered trying Cait Sith? Grab him with your teeth, and give him the wildest shake of your life. Works wonders for me. Especially when I manage to make him scream and flail. There's something so... cathartic about it. You won't get it until you try it."

[nanakithewarrior]

"I seem to have started some kind of fad. Fascinating."

Said in a gruff voice for dramatic effect.

[nanakithewarrior]

"I see where you're looking at. Do not."

[nanakithewarrior]

"..." Red nearly spoke, and he almost did so in a way he didn't mean to. Cloud wasn't the only one between the two of them holding something back; even though their secrets might be different, the creature thought he could relate.

He paused to make sure he could modulate his voice in that gruff and adult manner he needed. He didn't want Cloud to know how much like a fish out of water Red XIII felt right now. But here he was, trying to give a lecture bigger than he was himself; the rest of the group had left them behind. They were worried with Tifa, and they counted on 'old and wise' Red to beat some sense into the problem person.

If only they knew how hard he was concentrating right now just to keep his own tail from tucking tight under his rump before the guy who'd just cleaved a few people in two before their very eyes.

"... Cloud. You know when I said you don't smell quite like literal shit?" He asked when he couldn't bear the silence between them any longer. "What I didn't want to say was that you smell like something else. You smell like them."

His head half-turned to point at the back of the road, behind the swordman. In the distance, a couple black-cloaked figures clumsily stumbled their way in their direction. Making their way to wherever they were headed.

To wherever Cloud was headed too, Red knew.

He just hoped the similarities between them stopped with their destination.

"... Please tell me what you're feeling. Try it."

It certainly had nothing to do with being scared, and Red damn well knew it. Words spewed to force the mercenary into a vulnerable position which, with all intents and purposes, seemed to be working.

Even if the first thing Cloud did right then was fix the former lab-rat-dog with a vicious glare.

"You get a kick outta talking to me like I'm stupid?" If nothing else Red was getting a rise out of the blond, much against Cloud's better judgement. A misplaced yet seething anger he was no choosing to project on this creature asking questions Cloud did not have the answers to.

Least, no ones coherent enough to be put into words. He knew what happened at the reactor, he knew, and the regret was insurmountable, yet how could this conversation hold more worth than getting back to the village and caring for their friend...

Their friend he'd very nearly murdered... A thought all in itself which forced Cloud's entire demeanour in that moment to droop about the shoulders.

Only then did the gravity of it all begin to weigh heavy, and it's all he can do to just drop his gaze into the space between them.

[nanakithewarrior]

“Oh, don’t cry. You’ll be so beautiful, soon. I’ll immortalize you in my collection.” (This one was just too creepy to not xD)

Serial Killer AU Starters || Always Accepting~

He could not help the whining whistling sharply through his nose. It was an instinctive response to the pain and stimuli received from the machinery that surrounded him. The growl that followed, however... that one was very much intentional.

Everything about this woman, from her looks, to her behavior, down to her very scent made every single alarm in his primordial senses scream. She was danger. She was death.

[nanakithewarrior]

"I know what it feels like to have a voice in the back of my head."

"Hmmm... why do I get the feeling that you mean that more literally than I do?"

Coming to a stop next to Cloud, Red XIII sat his rump on the ground and rose his head to let out a wide yawn. His jaws opened wide, exhibiting sharp fangs and a tongue that yearned for fresh water... wherever their next stop for a drink may be. Who knew when a car would actually stop to give them the ride Aerith and Tifa were hoping for.

"What is it like, then? This voice in your head." He asked, as casual as someone wondering about the weather, but nonetheless involved in the conversation. "What does it tell you?"

[nanakithewarrior]

"Let's not."

[nanakithewarrior]

Every single time, Elena...!?

For some reason she likes to charm the dog.

"I don't like two-legged things!"

[nanakithewarrior]

From this post~ || @azure-steel

"Maybe I won't... if the plan was to try and pick a lock with my paws like you people do. I find mine to work best on the ground... or to strike at unsuspecting faces." The beast shoots a taunting glare up at his traveling companion, not skipping a step in their walk. His lanky shoulder blades continue rolling in their rhythmic back and forth with each stride beside the moving pair of leather boots next to him.

"Locks are a problem created for a species that relies on hands; luckily for me, I do not belong to that minority." Red explains. "Most creatures on the Planet feel the world through their nose and mouth, and so do I. Mine are much more trustworthy problem-solvers than yours will ever be."

[nanakithewarrior]

"I'm going to need to find a trash can to wash that taste off my mouth now."

-- Red XIII, probably

[nanakithewarrior]

"I'm not going to say it a third time: I refuse." And now he's properly growling in his voice. "Some fur got on your clothes. Not enough evidence that I'm shedding. And definitely not a good reason to threaten me with a bath."

[nanakithewarrior]

"You think Rufus Shinra is irritating? Consider yourself lucky. I'd gladly let him talk my ears off if it compensated me with becoming incapable of understanding what Darkstar says every time we meet. That dog wears the words 'Real Bitch' like a crown, in every sense."

[nanakithewarrior]

"You will all need to sleep at some point. And when that moment comes, nothing will stop me from sitting on your arm until it goes numb. You will feel those pins and needles to the day your hair turns gray!"

Them big threats.

[nanakithewarrior]

"This is too many...!"

Where can he find a bed large enough to hide under for the rest of the day?!