The initial, underlying threat of being treated like some sort of trade object by this man already has Zelos' anxiety rise to dangerous levels underneath his skin, but Lloyd stepping forward in front of him and pretty much screaming at this guy turns that anxiety into a quickening panic that painfully spreads through Zelos' pulse. His chest constricts and his breathing hitches, a curse whispered under his breath as he sets a hand on Lloyd's arm to get him to shut the fuck up before he makes this worse--
Sheena steps forth, too, falling in place right next to Lloyd. The sight of it leaves Zelos speechless. The almost complete loss of control of the situation sings a song of fear and paranoia in Zelos' core.
Fuck.
Brain scrambling to do damage control, Zelos' previous starts to anything he wanted to say evaporate on his tongue. In the following silence, uninterrupted, the man before them takes a drag of the cigar and laughs the smoke out of his lungs once Lloyd's done speaking. "Ah, you got guts, don't ya?" he calls out, an amused glint to his squinted eyes. He lightly waves the cigar about in front of his face. "I like that, kid. But either way, I wouldn't get so feisty if I were you, you know."
Tick-tick-tick-tick, comes a familiar little pull in Zelos' core, in his ether-filled artificial veins. Tick-tick-tick, it comes knocking from their left, their right, before them and behind them. Zelos grits his teeth, grip on Lloyd tightening. Reinforcements, easier to detect now that they're so much closer and actually moving. About... three? four? He can't really tell. And he seriously doubts that's all of them, even though they've made their presences pretty damn clear to anyone familiar with the way superficial ambient ether changes when someone uses up their own. It's mostly just a threat. But where are they? Zelos discreetly tries to look around for a tell-tale glow, or a weapon, but the amount of ether crystals and their glow in the area makes that difficult.
Shit, shit, shit, shit.
Seemingly ignorant to the Aegis' plight, the man calmly takes another drag of the cigar. "Now here's a proposal for you fine people here. You hand over the Aegis, we let you through without a single scratch to your pretty little heads, and without taking any more than what we want," he now says, gesturing. "Put up a resistance, though," a chuckle, "and I can't say my associates won't want a better booty to take home for their efforts."
Great!
Sheena steps forth, too, falling in place right next to Lloyd. The sight of it leaves Zelos speechless. The almost complete loss of control of the situation sings a song of fear and paranoia in Zelos' core.
Fuck.
Brain scrambling to do damage control, Zelos' previous starts to anything he wanted to say evaporate on his tongue. In the following silence, uninterrupted, the man before them takes a drag of the cigar and laughs the smoke out of his lungs once Lloyd's done speaking. "Ah, you got guts, don't ya?" he calls out, an amused glint to his squinted eyes. He lightly waves the cigar about in front of his face. "I like that, kid. But either way, I wouldn't get so feisty if I were you, you know."
Tick-tick-tick-tick, comes a familiar little pull in Zelos' core, in his ether-filled artificial veins. Tick-tick-tick, it comes knocking from their left, their right, before them and behind them. Zelos grits his teeth, grip on Lloyd tightening. Reinforcements, easier to detect now that they're so much closer and actually moving. About... three? four? He can't really tell. And he seriously doubts that's all of them, even though they've made their presences pretty damn clear to anyone familiar with the way superficial ambient ether changes when someone uses up their own. It's mostly just a threat. But where are they? Zelos discreetly tries to look around for a tell-tale glow, or a weapon, but the amount of ether crystals and their glow in the area makes that difficult.
Shit, shit, shit, shit.
Seemingly ignorant to the Aegis' plight, the man calmly takes another drag of the cigar. "Now here's a proposal for you fine people here. You hand over the Aegis, we let you through without a single scratch to your pretty little heads, and without taking any more than what we want," he now says, gesturing. "Put up a resistance, though," a chuckle, "and I can't say my associates won't want a better booty to take home for their efforts."