Guardians of the Divine » Places

         “How’s…your brother been?”

The first words out of her mouth after introductions. Jun did his best not to let his face betray his emotions, but the suddenness of her question caught him off guard. They’d still been in the middle of exchanging the hand shake, his grip unconsciously tightening as he spoke.

“What does that matter?” Jun asked bluntly, and just by the rising octave in his tone, his annoyance would be apparent. Certainly, Jun was here to find information on his brother, but it irritated him that of all the things she could have asked him about or started the conversation with, that was what she chose? He was the one here now. Not his brother. Everyone always seemed to forget that, talking about his brother or wanting to know about him. He wasn’t even a guardian anymore! Silently gritting his teeth, Jun stared down Quinn, awaiting her response.

Quinn promptly pulled her hand. His quickly tightening grip causing a small, but sharp pain. Quinn’s small frame did well to interpret Jun’s shifting squeeze into something unbearable. Coupled with the awkwardness, all Quinn wanted to do was to slither away.

The snake girl held her wrist, airing out the modest squeeze of agony by shaking her wrist ideally. She turned to answer his question, a bit bothered, but nowhere near irate. Mistakes happen, sometimes people forget that one of the great and powerful divine was a bit frail in her current form.

From what most definitely was not a mistake, her look of openmindeness was promptly crushed by a cold scorn. Why was he angry all of the sudden? Was this his resting face? He looked at her like she killed his family. While she wasn’t the worst conversationalist in the world, she didn’t know whatever she said offended him in some way. First he looks at her like a piece of meat, now he wants to choke her out?! This guy was infuriating.

“Because I want to know, that’s why it matters! Unless I got the wrong guy, I believe you’re the little brother of dear Reiji..I don’t see it as unnatural to ask about him.” Quite frankly, she was getting a bit heated for something that didn’t matter much at all.

“Tch…” Jun clicked his tongue, narrowing his eyes as he glanced about the room. This wasn’t exactly a good start to things. Not only was he showing a lack of composure, but so was his Divine. Given that the group were the centre of attention at the moment, it wouldn’t look favorably on him if he couldn’t control the situation this early. Still, invoking her name seemed like overkill, and probably would look just as bad. As his peripheral vision fanned about the room, he could see that he was watching them. Why did his smile have to be so infuriating? Even now, he had to be judging Jun, seeing how he handled it. Smug bastard… He’d show him!

“Even if I knew, I don’t think it’s important. I’m your Guardian now, not him.” Jun stated firmly, focussing on Quinn once more as he leaned in closer to whisper. “You want to talk to him? Fine. But don’t ruin this moment for me. Don’t forget where we are.” Jun stated, a coldness to his words. It wasn’t out of concern for her, no. He was concerned for himself and his standing. After saying his piece, he stepped back, giving her space again. Still, surely she’d understand the situation? They were in front of the royalty. Neither of them would benefit from bickering here. Logically trying to calm the situation, Jun wasn’t the best at intuiting the correct emotional response. Not only that, but it would’ve been far smarter just to give in to Quinn’s question rather than push back, but for some reason, Jun felt the need to take control of the situation.

Quinn also noticed her one true love gazing at them both. Instead of interpreting the extra...twinkling amber set on them as a wake-up call to act up. Quinn proceeded to wave frivolously at Reiji, albeit stopped short by a cold breath tickling her ear.

Her lips formed a slight grimace. All she was hearing were moans of self-centered entitlement. A rather somber realization that this man was just like the others. She looked in Reiji’s general direction once more before shooting a glare at her much unwelcome partner. “I’ll behave, but not for you.” A flame seemed to light up her pupils, Quinn not being as mindful as to keep her complaints to a lower decibel.

Crossing her arms, she spoke up once more. Venom adorned her every breath as she made apparent her increasing desire to be anywhere else but here. “Can I go see Reiji now, master?”

Usually she was good at keeping her complaints all to herself, but when it came to Reiji..her emotions couldn’t help running rampant.

Continuing to bite his tongue, Jun was trying to understand how an ancient being could be so impetuous; almost like a child. It was as if she was being rebellious just to spite him! In fact, that was exactly what she was doing. Just enough to provoke him, flirting the fine line of danger where it wasn’t quite enough for him to take action. It was infuriating. But he wouldn’t play her game. He knew that the Divine’s were wily creatures, so no doubt she was testing him. He wouldn’t fall for her bait. Tempting as it was to return her gesture in kind, he needed this woman to prove his worth. Perhaps he could try to shift the situation into his favor?

“No, not now. You’re expected to remain by me for this audience. Play your part, and perhaps I’ll consider inviting my brother to visit. It would look unfavorably if he was the first person I decided to pay respects to.” Junichi still remained cold, calculating, briefly glancing around to see if the others were having as much trouble as he was getting his divine under control. Reiji hadn’t warned him that she was rebellious, so was this all some insidious prank on his part? Had he tried sabotaging him from the beginning by asking Quinn to act up here of all places? That might explain why he was observing so closely, getting some sadistic pleasure by watching him fail. Well, he wasn’t about to let that happen. He’d speak with the highest nobles and begin making some strong connections, demonstrating how capable he was. All he needed was for Qi to be obedient and follow in line.

Ohh..did he mention Reiji? Now that she thought about it, Reiji looked like a hunk with his hair all messy like that. Of course, that was how he always did his hair..but if no one was going to think it, Quinn would!

Quite frankly, the thought that she would never see Reiji again had crossed her mind more than once. Jun chose exactly the right words to calm her down. Her previously apparent temper had subsided into a reluctant pout. Puffing out her cheeks, and blowing air from her nose, she stood beside him instead of against him.

“One hour..a day..without you staring daggers at me.” It was hard to make demands, especially when calmed..or the fact that they were mostly angrily whispering to each other a few moments prior. But she took her Reiji time VERY seriously..

“Let’s get this over with.” She held Jun’s arm, donning a slight..but warm smile. To change from letting her emotions run rampant, to hiding them behind a shell..she’s done this for a while. A whole 759 years to be exact.

Jun was a little surprised with how quickly and easily she acquiesced his request, but he wasn't about to complain. Relenting to her request, he nodded for now. She had a lot of gall to be making her own demands of him, but some concessions were needed for progress, and he could respect that she was willing to work with him on some level while still holding her own values. Letting her hug into his arm, Jun scouted the crowd for valuable targets - individuals he knew to hold high standings - and made his approach, introducing himself and his divine and making productive small talk to form connections. He'd need to prove himself as a Guardian and a contact to these people in order to improve his own standing. Already, he was confident that he'd be able to as well. After all. This divine of his didn't seem too hard to tame. And if Reiji could do it, he'd be able to do it even better.

Quinn did well to act her part. She felt more like a trophy than usual, but his promise to let Reiji visit was the only thing keeping her from acting out. The snake girl greatly exaggerated her arm squeezing, affectionately bringing herself close and laying her head on his shoulder. She was good at this so-called small talk as well. Her words possessing so much emotion as she spoke of how excited she was about the partnership to the many people he led her to.

Every so often, she caught a glimpse of Reiji, prompting her to pull them in his direction. Though, her tugging was mostly ignored by the stoic youngest.