---

The dark skinned girl had arrived at the apartment exactly six hours ago, in the wee cracks of the morning (sort of) and she knew because her iphone was blaring the alarm she'd set for six hours later. Groaning and wiping drool from her chin, she rolled off of her couch, falling graciously on the ground with a soft "thump", enveloped still in a pile of blankets.

"Oof," she huffed, seating herself up, brown locks astray as her eyes blinked out the weariness. "Time to start the day!" Lilly immediately fell asleep again while sitting up, awaking five minutes later with full alertness. Well, enough alertness to bring herself to her bathroom and take a speedy shower before brewing herself a late (very very very late) morning brew.

Dressed in her usual sweats and long-sleeved shirt (she passed on the scarf, seeing as she hadn't gone out in a while and the bruising on her neck was light enough to excuse as a result of a weird sleeping position), Lilly headed out of her room coffee in hand, heading for the railing out in front of 3C and 3D, wanting to look over the happenings thus far of the Oddball Apartments.

---

It was one of the rare days that the man let himself have a day off, and Daniel had spent most of his morning at his old university, talking with old classmates and helping out with a few things. Sighing pleasantly, he almost missed working in an environment with other artists- that, and working in his own apartment was so dreary! And yes, he did have a studio in another place in the city, but it wasn't as inspiring... ah, the fickle heart of an artist.

Stepping through the crowds of people, Daniel clearly attracted eyes. Especially with his long golden hair, paired with nude pumps that spiked his already tall height even higher. Gripping his large tote bag, the crossdresser walked past the open gates of Blackwing, chirping out a cheerful, "Goodmorning~" to Jin, who was feeding the fish in the pond.

The landlord nodded and smiled in reply, Daniel continuing upwards to his room, eagerly slipping off his heels while he was at it. Sure, the guy loved to dress up, but he still made stupid mistakes sometimes like wearing high heels early in the morning for god knows how long. Relief left his lips with a sign at the comfort of even footing, turning a corner to head to the staircase when he found himself bumping into someone--

"Oof!"

Frankie was sitting on the sofa, with Elaine's head on his shoulder, and his arm around her shoulder. They were flicking through channels on the television, there rarely ever appeared to be something good on. Elaine looked at her watch, "Maybe you should check on Will," she told her fiancé, "He's usually had breakfast or something by now."

Frankie sighed, and stood up, "I guess," he started walking over to Will's room, when Elaine continued talking,

"Do you think we should get him therapy?" she asked, "He always seems so sad,"

"I don't know, it's just how he is. And anyway, we don't really have the money,"

"I guess so, but he wasn't like that before the accident,"

"Well, I'll ask him," Frankie replied as he went into Will's bedroom. He could see him, sitting on his bed, staring out of his open window, stroking a cat that was on the windowsill. Without looking, Will knew that his brother was in the room, "I think he's one of that European bloke's,"

"You alright?" Frankie asked. Will replied with silence, but could see a tear develop in one of Will's eyes. Frankie walked over and sat on the bed next to him. "Look, I... I know it's hard. But... you just... you have to get through this. For me." he told him, fighting back tears himself. "What'll make you happy?" he asked, "How 'bout a full English? Will that do?"

"Yeah, I guess," Will replied,

"That's the spirit," Frankie said, before walking into the kitchen. He looked in the fridge, and saw that they were out of bacon. "Dammit," he said to himself.

"What's wrong?" asked Elaine, curious as to why her fiancé was annoyed.

"We're out of bacon, and I just said I'd make Will some breakfast.

"Don't worry, I'll get some. I need to get more coffee, anyway," Elaine began walking over to the door, and Frankie came over and kissed her.

"Thanks," he told her, before giving her ten dollars.

As soon as she had walked out of the door, Frankie walked into his bedroom, and got a hip flask from his jacket pocket. He sat down on his bed, and drank the whiskey that was inside. It was only half full, and he didn;t get drunk that easily, so he wouldn't get drunk. It still helped, though.

---

Will sat on his bed stroking the cat. Maybe, later, he would return it to the European man. He thought about what he could do today. Maybe just mope about all day, like he had done most days for the past year. Maybe he should try and get through this. It might get better, if he tried. Will had lost most of his friends. He rarely spoke. What he said to his brother would most probably be the only thing he said all day. He probably wouldn't even leave his room until he needed food, drink, or to use the loo. Will decided that he was just going to go on his computer all day. He walked over to his desk, and booted up a game, whilst he waited for his food.

Huo had been awake for hours. She had been reading. But a growl from her stomach told her that she couldn't put off food any longer. So she put the book down and headed towards the kitchen of her apartment. She sat down and soon she had switched personalities. Mei was in charge now. She was always in charge when there was cooking or cleaning to do. Mei scrambled around the kitchen making food. She didn't make anything fancy, but she made sure to brew a mug of tea. She poured the tea into a mug in the shape of a dragon and put it on the table next to the food. She then sat down and let Huo take charge once more. Huo smiled at the food, thanking Mei. She then began to eat her late breakfast, early lunch.

Pushing at his desk, Vale's old computer chair rolled back noisily and with a little resistance, he swung around in a full circle enjoying the momentum of the swing before bringing his feet down stopping him in direction of the kitchen. "Oh coffee, my love... I hear your sweet whisper!" He spoke to himself theatrically as he took to his feet. Marching towards the kitchen Vale stopped to twist and crack his back, after a series of satisfying 'pops' echoed in the mostly empty space around him, he continued on his way to the kitchen. Releasing a heavy groan Vale adjusted his glasses to ensure he was not, in fact, seeing things. On his kitchen counter lay an empty container of instant coffee, "I guess it can't be helped." A small shot of anxiety filled Vale's stomach as he planned his march to the local convenient store in his head. 'But first things first, medication time!' Vale reminded himself as he grabbed a box labelled Pristiq Desvenlafaxine, popping three square orange pills out of the foil then gulping them down with a glass of water. Not forgetting to get some food in his stomach with his medication Vale shoved a piece of bread into his mouth and started chewing.

Honestly, the medication wouldn't do much to rid him of the small amount of anxiety in his stomach, it'd only prevent it from getting worse, but the placebo of the process helped to ease his mind. Closing his door behind him, Vale paid no mind to locking it and eagerly began his journey to the store, but only after stopping to lean over the railing slightly and get a good view of the courtyard bellow. The sent of near by coffee filled Vale's nostrils, 'I'm already suffering withdrawals!'

The desk was covered in papers, what were once nice organized stacks now held only some small semblance of their former state. With a groan of exhaustion Anthony stood stretching his arms as he rose, this new client was just tiring. Glancing down at the papers he couldn't stop a sigh from slipping through his lips, these weren't even all the papers he needed, there were still some that he needed to fetch from his mail downstairs. Turning his direction to a small clock on the wall. It was a little after twelve, he had not only apparently worked through the night but a meal as well.

Calling it good enough for now Anthony exited his office. The plan now was to eat something, preferably food, and then promptly crash in his bed and forget the world for a few hours. Starting towards the kitchen he hesitated, despite just calling his work done he thought about how sitting downstairs was the last thing he needed to complete the work for this client. Immediately, he regretted thinking it. Walking towards the door to his apartment he grabbed the tan trench coat from the closet and slipped it on. With a deep breath he opened the door and stepped out.

Once outside he immediately drew into himself. Even though he had lived in the building for five years and was used to the layout, he still felt the fear begin to gnaw on him as he made his way through the terrifying stretch of space from his door to the stairs. Anthony's steps were quick and his heart was beginning to pound. By the time he reached the stairs he realized lack of sleep didn't help with things like this. Continuing down he let his mind wander in hopes of coping better.

He was snapped back to his surroundings as he collided with another person. It took a second for him together his bearings, he wasn't on the stairs anymore in fact he was almost to his destination. Looking down he saw a tall, well dressed blonde, it could only be Daniel. Immediately, he began to apologize. "Ah, I'm sorry. Are you alright"

Somewhere in the room there was a ringing phone, its factory setting default ringtone acting as a surrogate alarm clock. The problem being that Tanner hadn't set an alarm clock, she so rarely did - any alarm setting was more of a reminder than anything else. Tanner Sykes had only returned home to the apartment when the sun was peaking up over the horizon; as others were getting ready to leave for work, Tanner was returning home with a frown and frumpy hair and in a what appeared to be a Daisy Mae Duke costume direct from the television show, just with Tanner's signature blonde hair rather than the brunette she was modeling for.

Because of her early, or late depending, arrival home following her exit at midnight, Tanner wanted nothing more than to get some sleep and worry about the day when at least six hours of sleep had been granted. But the phone had other plans. Tanner wasn't sure exactly how many hours of sleep she had gotten, but generally if one wakes up grumbling and cursing a ringing phone or alarm clock the answer is 'not enough'.

Tanner carried two phones, one for work reasons and one for personal use. The ringing one was her work cell phone, which she had casually tossed onto the living room coffee table en route to the bedroom. Crawling out of bed Tanner walked out of her room, steps slightly sluggish thanks to being stuck in that early wake up phase of the morning routine, and approached the phone. Before picking it up, she ran a palm over her face just to confirm that she was awake.

"What?" Tanner didn't much care for etiquette right now. Phone in hand, Tanner walked towards the kitchen to open the fridge. "I don't do day jobs." Tanner shook her head as she observed the contents of the fridge, mostly liquids, before settling on some Greek yogurt near the back. "Why would I start now? It specifically says 'nights only'." A plastic spoon scoops up a glob of yogurt and Tanner swallows it down. Repeat. "What? What do you-" Tanner held the phone to her ear with her shoulder while her other hand continued scooping up yogurt. The blonde headed into the bathroom, checking herself out in the mirror. She looked haggard, tired, worn out. Unacceptable. "I was just there last night...no. No, I don't care if the day jobbers are booked. Am I getting overtime pay?"

Tanner left the bathroom, she would take care of the disaster area later.

"Yes, overtime pay. I know there's a fee, but that's for my shift only, not for OVERTIME. Well don't ask me, I'm not the one paying. No, I didn't say I would...look, I'm not doing a day shift. If they want it, they can wait. Okay? Okay. Yeah, I'm on call tonight. Okay. Sorry...thanks. Bye."

When Tanner hung up, all she wanted to do was hurl the phone at a wall. She settled for tossing it onto the coffee table with a bit more force than a traditional 'toss'.

Following her breakfast of yogurt, Tanner took care of the necessities. Shower. Application of make up and hair treatment. Dressing in jeans and a too-big blue t-shirt, and basketball sneakers. She was awake now, for better or for worse. Tanner approached the exit of her room, pausing to look at the magazine articles pinned to the wall before opening and stepping outside, shutting the door behind her. The first thing she did was cross over towards the mailboxes.

"Shit," she said, audibly, when the mail hadn't yet arrived. "Hopefully later."

With nothing better to do at the moment, Tanner shrugged her shoulders and headed for the 'pool', not even bothering to look towards anyone who was out and about at this time, not even Jin and his fish feeding got a nod. Tanner sat on the grass by the 'pool'; it was either here or under the big tree, but here was closer. And it was relaxing, hearing the water. And right now, Tanner just wanted to relax. To unwind. To get her mind off of last night.

It was working so far.

The day had gone by slowly. Kei hadn't done much of anything that morning but sit in her office and look for interesting places on the net. She was trying to find some inspiration for her portfolio. She would need a lot of really good works for her portfolio if she was going to make it as an artist but she simply hadn't felt that inspired today. She decided to give up for now and get some food instead.

Stretching as she got up, Kei drowsily made her way to the kitchen and opening the refrigerator only to reveal her severe lack of anything ready to eat. All she had were ingredients, which meant she had to cook. She currently lacked the motivation to cook and so in turn no longer had the desire to eat right at this minute. She started to walk back to her office when she noticed something outside. By the pond there was a lone man feeding the fish. It was none other than the mysterious landlord Jin. Kei took a step onto the balcony to get a better look. At that moment Jin almost reminded her of a Buddhist monk, he had a certain zen-like quality to him that appealed to her.

Quietly as not to disturb the atmosphere, she dipped into her office, retrieved her tablet, and hurried back to her balcony. She deicded on watercolors and got to work. Everything else was only a distraction as she focused intently on the scene. She wanted to capture every feature, every ray of light, and turn it into something beautiful.

Yoska wasn't quite used to sleeping in a normal bed yet. The concept wasn't that strange; he'd had a bed at the farm. But the straw and makeshift thing he'd slept on there was nothing like the real mattress in his new bedroom. It was almost too soft. Sometimes it felt as though he would sink right to the floor.

Luckily, he had plenty of his furry companions surrounding him to keep him company while he adjusted. The jealously guarded spots on the bed were taken by a large mutt, a yorkie, and some kind of terrier mix. On the floor around the room slept various other canines, plus a few brave cats that were able to fend for themselves. Yoska laid stomach down on his bed, his messy, curly locks buried in his pillow.

When the morning sun finally awoke him, the young man slowly sat up and looked around the room at his little pack. A few fuzzy heads lifted to look back at him. Yoska scratched his chin, then climbed out of bed and got dressed. The sound of dull claws scraping the wood floor approached behind him as one of his dogs got up to come check him out. A cold, wet nose pressed against his hand, encouraging a pat.

Once dressed, Yoska shuffled into the bathroom to clean up, then came back into the bedroom to tell the dogs that it was time to go outside. A couple popped up and ran out of the room to the front door while a few others just dragged. Yoska followed them to the door and opened it to let them out into the courtyard. He trusted them not to run off. Yoska had taken most of them off the streets; they knew they had it good right where they were.

"Oof, geez," giggled the tall man, before his eyes wandered upwards. And then continued to wander upwards-- the only man this much taller than him could be none other than Anthony. It was good to see him out of his room, and Daniel responded with a large smile, voicing a chipper, "No, it's my fault, I wasn't watching where I was going-- are you heading out?"

He rubbed at his nose before stepping slightly aside so that he wasn't in the way of anyone else wanting to use the stairs, reaching the hand not holding heels to pat the blonde haired man on the shoulder. Ever the helpful neighbor, Daniel offered, "If you want, I can go with you? Ah, not that I hope to be a bother or anything--" He quickly took his hand back, well manicured nails waving as though trying to brush the awkwardness away. Geez, fourteen or twenty-four, he still acted like an idiot around his school girl crushes.

---

Lilly at first enjoyed the cup's heat warming her fingers, her deep brown eyes gazing lazily over the peaceful courtyard of Blackwing. In the height she was in, she could see the hustle and bustle of the city beyond, the gates- despite being open- a barrier between the hustle of afternoon rush and the calmness of her apartment.

Taking a sip of her drink, Lilly nodded to herself, admiring how well versed she was in poetic things, pretty sure she wouldn't remember whatever shit she'd been thinking of in thirty minutes, her thoughts disrupted by the sight of movement below. "Ah!" she ended up shouting rather loudly after glancing down, a hand rising to cover her mouth.

With a cheeky grin, she called down from above, "Vale, baby! Good morning!!"

Marching down the stairwell Vale passes Anthony and a fashionably dressed Daniel, with a quick smile and wave Vale rushes past them, not wanting to interrupt. Hearing the faint sound of a female's voice cursing, Vale turned the corner to spot the beautiful Tanner as she made her way towards the pool out the back. 'Phew' echoed through his mind when he realized he didn't catch her attention, it wasn't from a general dislike of Tanner or anything, Vale just wasn't the best at dealing with people he didn't know too well, sometimes his anxiety would get the best of him and he'd purposely cut the conversation short, a gesture Vale was sure seemed rude to others. After quickly checking the mail and yielding nothing, he continued down the few steps that lead to the courtyard.

Childishly Vale hops from one stone to another as he follows the path towards the open gate before him, all the while his back slouched forward as he watches his steps closely. The sudden echo of his name causes the 22 year old to quickly straighten his back as he turns to find the source of the enthusiastic greeting. Growing a smile on his face, Vale spots Lilly by the third floor railing looking down at him. "Heyo' Lil' Lilly!" he called out with mischief in his tone. Though this time her elevation defeated the purpose of the joke and it took a moment for Vale to realize that.

With coffee still on his mind, Vale instinctively took a step backwards, ready to continue his quick journey to the local convenient store. However, fate had other plans as a black furry figure elegantly and skilfully weaved it's way around Vale's legs as he took his step, tripping the 6-foot-2 man. With a hard 'thump' he landed on his arse, swiftly the black fur ball instantly capitalized on Vale's new, seated position by head bumping his wrist for a pat. But before he could even register what had happened, one of the dogs pouring into the courtyard rushed over to give Vale a slobbery greeting on his cheek. Patting both the animals as he stood up, Vale couldn't help but find the event amusing, the pets he was used to greeting(although not recently), where owned by drug dealers and human interaction was often a violent affair for them. It was nice to experience the kinder side of animals, despite how embarrassed he felt from the whole ordeal.

Elaine stepped out of the apartment with her bag over her shoulder, and saw Lilly, leaning over the railings. "Ah, bonjour Lilly! How are you?" she asked in her natural French accent, "I am going to buy some food, we've run out of bacon and baguettes," she told her, "Oh! How stereotypical of me," she chucked, *Hon hon hon*.

---

Frankie was sat on his bed, looking into the empty hip flask. Maybe... maybe I should drink some more, he thought, No. No. I can't. I don't want to get drunk. I don't want to get drunk, get angry, and hit someone. I can't risk Will being taken away from me. Suddenly, his phone vibrated. He put the hip flash back into his jacket pocket, and looked at his phone. There was a text message from his cousin, Sam. It said Hey, mate! Why don't you come over soon! We all miss you! Frankie deleted the message. He hadn't taken Will and Elaine to England since the accident, and he didn't plan on going any time soon. He didn't plan on going back anytime. Frankie and Will were making a new life here in New York, and he wasn't planning on getting that ruined. He didn't want to be reminded of what happned back in England, and he certainly didn't want to remind Will of what happened.

---

Will's game wouldn't load, so he decided to do something else. He look across to his windowsill, the cat was still there. Maybe he would have to take him back to the European man. Will decided that he was going to listen to some music. He went on YouTube, and started laying some Zedd music. He put it up loud, without headphones. The cat just sat there, not bothered by it at all. Damn, I wish I could make music like this, Will thought. he went across the room, and looked in his money box. Nope, still not enough money for a keyboard. Will wished that his family weren't so strapped for cash, otherwise, he might be able to get a keyboard, and learn to play it. Will lay down on his bed, and began lip syncing to the music.

Anthony couldn't help but smile at Daniel's offer. It was so nice to have such kind people living in the same building as him. It was extremely beneficial, as while out of his room Anthony felt rather tense, skittish, and such, the interaction with others always made it better, it gave him something to concentrate on. Even at that moment he could feel his rather intense panic subside some. He wasn't particularly calm in any fashion yet, but calmer, that would be true.

He went to speak but paused for a moment to offer a small quick wave in return to that of a rushing Vale. Focusing back on Daniel, Anthony replied, "Just checking on my mail. Though, I guess you could join me." With a small chuckle, mainly to himself, he continued, "I must say though I can't promise it'll be too exhilarating, I'm kind of running on fumes here."

Josh lay in bed with his face buried in his pillow, trying to block out the sun coming in through the window. He and Ava constantly fought over whether the blinds should be open or closed. He had closed it the night before but his sister must have opened it early, before the sun rose.
"Josh, get your ass out of bed!" Ava ordered, marching into the room. She had been up all night, but it didn't seem to affect her in the least. She was dressed in a floral sundress, with her hair spiked and pushed back.
Josh groaned in response and pulled his blanket over his head. Maybe if he ignored her she would go away.
Ava wouldn't give up, though. She pulled the blanket away and glared at her brother. "Come on, let's go do something. All you ever want to do is stay here and do nothing. Let's at least go outside. I was going to go check the mail, so you should come with me."
Josh went over his options in his head. He knew Ava wouldn't leave him alone, and getting a little fresh air couldn't hurt. He gave in. "Fine."
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and walked into the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, tried scrubbing the paint stains off of his hands, to no avail, and picked a pair of jeans and a shirt off the floor to wear.
"Are you going to eat something?" Ava asked when he was finished.
"Not hungry."
"Okay, let's go!"
The twins left their room and headed outside.

Huo walked out of her room, heading towards the large tree, planning to sit under it, maybe even nap. Huo had her mug of tea in one hand and a set of books under her other arm. As she approached the stairs leading to the first floor and outside, Huo's foot missed one of the steps, and she tumbled.

Niu switched into control, flipping and landing on her feet at the foot of the stairs, catching the mug, without a large amount of tea spilling. Once she was at the foot of the stairs, Niu grabbed the books Huo had been carrying. She sighed. But it wasn't often that Niu was in charge and she wanted at least a bit of time out. So Niu did not relinquish her control yet. Instead she sat under the tree, drinking tea. Like always, Niu wasn't in the best mood. She was huffy, annoyed, and just plain mad. Combined with Huo's recent lack of sleep, it combined to a mean combination.

Kei was starting to get frustrated at the number of people who decided to disturb the scene at that very moment. She supposed it couldn't be helped since it was an apartment complex but this was her first bit of inspiration since she'd been here and it was slipping away just as quickly as it came. She had almost finished the basic outlines when she took another peek to refresh her memory. Unfortunately, Jin was nowhere to be found. Her muse had fluttered off like a butterfly in the wind. Maybe he was embarrassed because I was staring at him? she thought. Looking down at what she had managed to do before he disappeared, she had actually managed to jot down enough that she could finish the rest on her own.

Satisfied with the result after all she turned to go back inside but just then heard Jin call her from very close by. "Miss Aramaki?" Her surprise was audible as she let out a small gasp. Jin just looked at her with a slight smile. "I'd like a copy of that painting when you're finished if you don't mind." All she could do was nod her head as he then went about his business. Did she imagine it or did he just teleport across the courtyard? Regardless, she may as well give him a copy once she's finished.

The dogs bounded out into the courtyard. Some stopped to sniff here and there while others played. Yoska sat down in the grass and let one of the smaller dogs curl up in his lap. It was nice out today; maybe he could just stay out here for a while. He absentmindedly swirled the curly cream fur of the shaggy dog that was making his legs its home. After an hour or so, Yoska was about ready to call his canine back inside. As much as he's like to laze around, he had chores to do.

Yoska picked the sleeping dog off of his lap and set it down as he stood, just in time to hear a yelp somewhere behind him. He turned to see a taller man crash to the ground, one of his dogs scuttling away with her tail tucked. Another dog promptly rushed over to lick the man's face.

"Hey!" Yoska quickly came over, snapping his fingers and pointing away from the man. The enthusiastic dog begrudgingly listening, slinking off to sit by the apartment door. Yoska looked back at the man, his posture suddenly changing to unsureness and tension. "Sorry," He said quietly, not coming any closer to help the man up. There seemed to be an invisible barrier between the them, and Yoska had no intentions of crossing it.

Lilly Vereen

Lilly stuck out her tongue teasingly at Vale's jibe, laughing at the following accident before her attention turned back to sipping at her coffee. At the sound of her name, the dark skinned girl below her and found a lovely French lady underneath her. Hehe, underneath- wait no, wasn't she married? Though Lilly didn't know much about the Thorton family, she knew- she thought she knew- there were three of them, two of which were English and one of which were French.

Probably.

Okay that was a guess, but at least Lilly remembered her name! "Hey, Elaine!!" chippered the young lady, offering an enthusiastic wave, giggling after her joke. At least she thought it was a joke- "Hehehe," died down Lilly's laugh as she added, "Wait, shopping? I'm running low on some stuff actually-- do you mind for a bit if I join you?" Groceries and making more tenant friends- it was two birds in one stone!

---

Daniel Wordsworth

Even though he was 6'2 without heels and 6'7 with his tallest pair, Daniel had always swooned at the thought of a taller male. Now that there was one in the very apartment he lived in, the man had to admit that he was more than excited-- of course, not that he could show that. Everyone in Blackwing, himself included, seemed to be the rather gentle bunch and he didn't want to come off harder than he needed to--

"Hm? Oh!" started Daniel as he forced himself to stop getting lost in the way Anthony's lips moved, "Mail? Pfft, that should be fine- I'm here after all to accompany a friend." He let himself grin cheekily, gloss covered lips framing his face. As the two started to head towards the front to fetch the male, Daniel brushed his blonde wig aside, catching from the corner of his eye the newest tenant Yoska and- hm? Was that Vale? Oh dear, wasn't the new kid bad with people?

Niu stood up and headed towards the commotion of dogs.
"What's with all these dogs, geez?" Niu sighed. Looking at both Yoska and Vale. She didn't know either of their names. But that was too e expected. It was Niu's first time out. And she was going to make sure to keep Huo's body safe. If anybody or anything tried to get to close to Huo they would pay. Niu wasn't normally like this. She only took control when Huo was in immediate danger, and only while the problem was there. But Huo had moved to an apartment. And Niu had all right to be suspicious of the other tenants, as she did not know any of them.

Brushing the dirt off his butt, Vale turned to the curly haired man with an embarrassed smile. "No problemo!" Vale laughed as he watched the dog that licked him rush off at Yoska's command. Sliding his hand into his long sleeve slightly, Vale wiped his cheek of any slobber the dog had left behind. Hearing a disgruntled (as he thought)Huo, Vale quickly turned to face her while raising a hand for a wave. "Yo' Huo!" he spoke cheerfully. A small amount of anxiety was growing in his stomach as he realized just how eventful his 'uneventful planned store run', was becoming.

'Maybe a quick chat with a familiar face will calm me down.' Vale thought as he approached, who he thought was Huo. "Neat... uhm, Weather we have today, right?" Vale spoke awkwardly as he usually did when he had nothing to talk about. Placing a finger on the bridge of his glasses, Vale pushed them up closer to his eyes to better see his surroundings. As he did this, he noticed that something looked slightly off about Huo, maybe it was the expression on her face or maybe it was her stance, Vale couldn't quite put his finger on it.