Hack lied back on the patio of The Frozen Treat, entwining his fingers behind his head and using his hands as a pillow of sorts. He stared lazily up at the sky, wondering why in the hell he was still alive; he wondered why he wasn't trying to kill someone and why someone wasn't trying to kill him; he wondered why he was staring lazily up at the sky; he wondered how Isabella felt.
And he grinned at that thought.
Isabella, merely a small child taken under Hack's wing after the untimely murder of her mother by none other than Hack, was sitting at one of the tables licking her minty ice cream cone as she rocked her legs back and forth in the chair.
"Mighty tasty, I assume?" asked Apothius as the psychic laid a hand on her shoulder and smirked.
Izzy glanced up at him with a big smile and replied happily, "Sure is!"
Apothius chuckled; Hack seemed to fancy that flavor as well. "Similar minds think alike I suppose. That's almost...frightening, in your case Izzy."
The girl looked quite perplexed and totally lost. "Huh?"
Apothius just chuckled again and ruffled the little girl's hair, much to the disapproval and annoyance of Isabella of course.
Hack was still staring lazily up at the sky as Izzy and Apothius had their small chat. He wondered if there was a good store around here that sold knives; he wondered if there was a good store around here that sold people; he wondered how it would be like now that the N2 was a "freelance" group; he wondered why the sky was so damn blue.
Hmm...maybe it was time to go recruiting.
Hack grinned at that thought as well.
"Hello!!" burst Milly as she slammed her elbow down on the counter of The Frozen Treat, much to the surprise of the mage who ran the small shop.
"May I...help you?" greeted the mage awkwardly.
"Why yes you can good sir!!" Milly exclaimed estatically. She pointed a thin finger at the display of what she wanted and announced, "I would like to have a large, triple scoop mint ice cream cone good sir of the store!"
In an active effort to distance himself from the rather loud customer, the mage complied quickly with the reply of, "Right away! Right away!"
Milly smiled a crooked smile from ear-to-ear and leaned on her rifle with both hands, the firearm being almost as tall as she was when stood upright.
Apothius just watched Milly's display with an amused smirk; she never ceased to be a character.
Izzy was still quite scared of the weird woman in the pink suit, so she quickly turned away and continued to lick her ice cream, pretending like it never happened and that she wasn't there.
Hack was still staring lazily at the sky, his eyes starting to feel heavier and heavier...
He hadn't slept in such a long time, this was practically a new thing for him.
Mmm...sweet release...
"You are of the Hellsend?" asked a voice just as Hack closed his eyes.
He slowly dragged his eyelids open and looked up at a cloaked figure standing over him, looking down at him, its face masked by the hood of the cloak.
"I could ask myself the same question..." replied Hack slothfully.
"Perhaps," said Cloak. "I am looking for a girl, and I have reason to believe that you might know where she is."
"We are all in search of something..." quipped Hack as he blinked with all the speed of a broke-down supertanker.
Cloak seemed to be getting impatient. "Where is she? Where is the Godsend Kure?"
Hack grinned, finally taking a bit of interest in the growing exchange between himself and the cloaked figure. "In a safe place...don't worry," and he winked.
"In the name of the Sons of Elial, perhaps you could be more specific..." threatened Cloak.
And Hack found himself staring down the business end of the large Judgment-Class in Cloak's hand, the barrel being aimed right at the point between his eyes.