Like it or Not

[Ndale]

Quiet feet padded their way down the hallway as bright amber eyes scanned the ares, ears on the swivel. He was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. He was wearing a pair of loose black cargo pants that hung on to narrow waist by a drawstring.

Ndale, deeming the hall as safe as it was going to get, crouched by the mechanic professor's door. Now, geez...what the crap had Rendaz done to his door? It was like a thick plate of metal. Several keyholes were positioned randomly across it, as well as wires, locks, buttons, levers...ugh. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Alright, well, there had to be something. Sharp gaze trailed along the door and the trim, looking around for anything at all unusual. It took a few turns about before he noticed something that probably should have been just another old castle thing. A small corner of a panel of wallpaper was peeling up. At first, he shrugged it off, thinking it humidity and age. He looked over it twice more before he finally decided that it was worth a shot. Reaching up, he peeled it back carefully, trying not to rip the flimsy thing. His grin widened as it revealed a neat row of keys. He quickly observed the way they were lined before snatching them up. He held each one to the keyholes, trying to find the right one. He even, when he thought he had it, placed the keys in a few of the locks to see if they fit the pins right, but never turned. For all he knew, do this wrong and you'd get electrocuted like at Valentin's door. Damn paranoid mechanics. He spent more time that he would have liked on matching up keyholes to keys. And really...he found it odd that he found only one key was actually used and only some of the locks. But...well...go with the gut. He lined up the keys back on the wall to his memory of how they were originally and put the smallest key in the rightmost lock. He threw caution to the wind and just went with it.

His sensitive ears were eventually gifted with a few 'clicks' of approval from the freakish door. He grinned.

Oh how he loved his sheer dumb luck.

Turning the handle, placing the key back, and returning the wallpaper to it's rightful position, he heaved the door open and slipped inside, closing it behind him. He squinted and coughed lightly upon finding himself inside. Really, it was rather like a junkyard in here. He didn't even know what half this stuff was, honestly. Waving a hand in front of his face, he set to carefully placing his feet as he moved. Perhaps he should have worn shoes...

The feline took some time lifting some junk and looking under scraps and some sort of thing that he thought may have sparked at him. He really only had a very faint idea of what he was looking for, actually. Eventually, glancing around, he spotted an old, rugged looking chest. Ndale carefully made his way over and tested it. It opened easily, having been left unlocked. Peering inside proved that there was...well, more junk. Metal things, things with wires, things that looked might actually do something and things that looked like they may never do anything. He riffled through these, crouched in front of the chest. Really, all he really wanted was some sort of firing arm. Was that really so much to ask for? He huffed.

((Went off some old posts of Rendaz's for this about the door and room. Tell me if I got anything wrong, I can change it ^^ ))

[Rendaz "Flammy"]

It was like some sixth sense he had. He could just tell when something wasn't the way it should be, even if he wasn't quite sure who or what it was meant to be. It wasn't like any magical sense either, it was more like some sneaking suspicion, some mistrustful intuition.

The sensation crossed him while he was fixing up a chair while in the mechanics classroom. Apparently it was broken in the counsellor's office by one of the rowdier students. Perhaps that new counsellor wasn't capable as he'd first appear.

But either way, he'd finishing patching up the poor furniture, but he was unable to wipe the agitation in his mind. He'd check in on his room - just quickly.

Of course, when he arrived, the scene was just as he'd seen it before - ordinary. He did trust his own invention of course, he doubted other's capability of getting past the locks. He was about to depart with just that... until he heard what he thought was a sort of shuffling noise from within. Pausing for a moment, he went about peeling back the wallpaper, then after a quick check behind him for witnesses, turned the key into the correct slot. The door swung open carefully.

Reddish eyes narrowed on the distinct shape he saw crouched next to the chest. He blinked, his expression completely blank, as if he were taking a few moments to register just what was going on.

Then reared his head back in surprise. "What the heck are you doin' here?"

[Ndale]

Ndale knew he was overstaying his self-invited welcome. But he had still had yet to find what he needed! He knew it was here somewhere, it had to be! Huffing, he dug deeper into the chest.

He forgot to listen at the door, so confident was he. He was in the room, Rendaz should have been gone for longer. He hadn't payed attention to any sounds from outside. The first sign he got that he wasn't alone anymore was the click and the sound of the door opening. His eyes went wide and flicked around for a place to hide, but there were none. Rather, he went rigidly still, as if if he didn't move, he wouldn't be seen or attract attention. He didn't even bother to turn around and see who it was who had caught him...he was pretty sure only one other person would be coming in here...

Still, the sudden exclaim had him jumping. Ndale spun to his feet and did the first thing that came to mind.

"What the heck are you doing here?" He accused right back, putting up a front as if he were as angry as Rendaz for having an intruder.

[Rendaz "Flammy"]

Rendaz leered at the offending cheetah as he seemed to realise his presence here. Really, was he hoping to go completely unnoticed in his endeavours? It was laughable, but Rendaz admitted that he probably would've gotten away with it if he hadn't felt inclined to check.

The reflected question made his jaw drop. "What am I doin'--- This is my room!" His eyes landed on the trunk he'd been searching through, and his eyes squinted in thought, trying to piece together the situation. 'I'll still learn whether you teach me or not.' ...His claws flexed irritably.

What he did not appreciate was the sheer intrusiveness of Ndale sifting through his projects like some second-hand store. Of course, questioning Ndale's morals wouldn't do much good here, he was well aware of them from his last meeting.

"Get out," he simply sneered. No lip or threat today, he just wanted this dumb cheetah out of his business and out of his face.

[Ndale]

His brow creased and he leaned back and crossed his arms. Okay, perhaps not the smartest thing to say. He huffed.

"Yes, this is your room, but you're not supposed to be back here yet." He narrowed his eyes and made a tsking noise, as if Rendaz were the one who had messed this whole thing up by not sticking to his schedule and accidentally meeting Ndale in his room. At the order to get out, the cheetah flicked his eyes to the door and back, but he didn't immediately move. His tail turned over, twisting, behind him lazily in thought.

"Actually..." He started slowly. "I would...but I couldn't find what I needed elsewhere and it took awhile to get in here. I really don't feel like trying again later. Figuring out your stupid door is annoying. So, either give me a few minutes more, or just hand me a gun and I'll be on my way." He grinned widely with a false innocence.

[Rendaz "Flammy"]

Ndale's remark seemed so woefully lacking in tact that Rendaz wasn't sure if it was worth scraping up the effort of another comeback. There were so many ways he could've responded, it almost seemed a waste. But it would just go back and forth, and quite honestly, Rendaz wasn't in the mood for another game of table tennis of witty arguments.

So he did want a gun. Rendaz blinked at him, before shrugging his shoulders in apparent defeat. Without a word, he moved across to the other side of the room, mindlessly stepping over the litter on the floor like he'd already done it too many times before. Pulling open a drawer, he peered through it momentarily, before plucking out a pistol, twirling it carelessly in his hands momentarily before pointing it directly at Ndale.

"Get out," he repeated, his tone firm.

[Ndale]

Ndale raised his eyebrow high as Rendaz shrugged and started to move towards the other side of the room. That was it? Was he just going to give him one? A small, smug smile pulled at his lips. The feline was pleased that he was finally getting what he wanted and lightly hopped over some sort of large contraption on the ground to try and make his way over. Of course, he stopped rather short as he was soon found himself looking down the barrel of a pistol. He blinked once widely in surprise, but that was the only emotion his showed. He wasn't particularly shocked and the flat expression that came over his face said loads about how scared he was.

The level, unimpressed glare he directed to Rendaz was almost challenging, staring him straight in the eyes. The feline stayed silent, standing there defiant. He offered no reasons or pleading as to why Rendaz shouldn't shoot him, made no case for himself or any move to dissuade the Professor from doing so. Rather, he simply stayed, stance almost casual except for the slightly down angled face that seemed to shadow his eyes as amber burned bright. His tail flicked behind him and he waited for Rendaz to either shoot or hand the gun over, because as he saw it, those were the only two options he was accepting. One or the other, and Rendaz had to choose which loss he was going to take.

[Rendaz "Flammy"]

Well, Rendaz hadn't expected the cheetah at all to leap to his command. He was hardly surprised to find him standing there giving him some sort of glare as if he knew exactly what he was doing. The idiot.

Although, he admitted, he was half tempted to shoot him right there and then. Not a killing blow, but perhaps a shot to the ankle. Watch him blunder around in pain for a bit. It would be entertaining perhaps for a few minutes. But that probably wasn't the wisest choice, considering that he'd probably want to get his own back.

When it was clear that Ndale wasn't going to get out his room like he'd requested, he gave an impatient sigh. "You realise I ain't teaching you nothing 'til you get out?" He raised his chin with a leer. "It's not difficult."

[Ndale]

He face automatically brightened, smug and rather happy at the ruckarl's next words.

"So you are going to teach me?" He grinned, tail taking on a happier swing. He now acted like the gun wasn't pointed at him at all and rather snickered lightly. "Awesome. When and with what? I'd prefer something small and quick. I'm pretty good at aiming, but I don't want something extremely complicated or hard to use." He hummed, which sounded rather alike a purr and tapped a finger to his chin thoughtfully. After all, some of the things he had seen in this room, whether they were guns or not, seemed particularly complicated. Though he thought he might be able to get used to it.

He didn't quite make his leave yet.

[Rendaz "Flammy"]

Well, trust Ndale to push his luck again by jumping to immediate conclusions. Truthfully, Rendaz didn't really want to teach Ndale - but the last thing he needed was a trigger-happy lunatic running around the halls. Especially not with one of his own guns - for which he'd immediately be pinned the blame for.

"Nothin'," he snapped. "Not 'til you leave." He paused to think for a moment. "Even then, not 'til I show you how to use one." He was already considering which one of his weapons he could possibly spare to the cheetah... A thoughtful grin crept onto his face.

"But I'll give you one rule of safety you might wanna keep in mind." His eyes squinted with a sneer. "Don't provoke anyone pointing a gun at you."

[Ndale]

Ndale huffed and rolled his eyes. So touchy...uptight mechanic professor...sometimes Ndale wondered is he a crowbar stuck up his as- He cut that thought off as Rendaz continued. He was extremely pleased, Rendaz was going to show him how! He tried not to show it too much on his face this time, but found a happy expression stuck there on display anyway. At the first piece of advice though, it dropped and he gave the man a incredulous look. Really? No duh...

The feline opened his mouth as if to say something probably just what Rendaz meant not to do, before he hesitated and grew thoughtful. Amber eyes flicked up and down the ruckarl, as if reevaluating his opinion of the man. His mouth closed slowly, ending with a barely audible but definite click of teeth. Well, he had said that as soon as Rendaz started telling him something useful he'd start listening. Might as well start immediately. His eyebrows raised, a little amused, but Ndale raised both hands in a surrendering motion.

"Alright. First rule: got it." The corner of his lips turned up in a small smirk. "What else?"

[Rendaz "Flammy"]

It wasn't too much like Rendaz to point out the obvious, but he was confident that Ndale would need the advice. Because truth was, if Ndale came out with something undeniably crude and provocative, then even he couldn't be sure if he could stop himself from pulling the trigger. Ah, the temptation...

The raise of his hands, although unexpected, was a welcoming sight. "Secondly," he started, lowering the gun and placing it on top of the drawers. "You will never enter this room again without my permission, or you can forget about me ever helping you." Either way, he was going to completely rebuild that door; it was unreliable now that someone knew how to crack it. He'd install lock combinations, steel reinforcements, keys that he would keep on his person. Let's see him crack that.

As he spoke, he was searching through the drawers. Every once in a while, he would pull out some gun, peer at Ndale, before shaking his head and returning it to its place. it was done in an exaggerated, overtly manner, making it obvious what he was doing.

Finally, he plucked a small gun from the drawers - and that was an understatement. It was tiny, small enough to fit inside the palm of your hand, child-like in size. Rendaz held the thing up to show him. "Remember, this is no toy, and I don't want you treating it like one," he huffed, before giving Ndale a questioning glance. "Tell me, what is it you wanted a gun for?"

[Ndale]

He pursed his lips and blew out, making his lips vibrate in a noise of exasperation and maybe a bit of disappointment. Well, not like he really wanted to make a habit of sneaking in to this room anyway. If he got what he needed, he wouldn't have to.

Ndale shrugged, letting his hands drop.

"Alright. Deal. No entering without permission." He also had no doubt that Rendaz would be installing some sort of - probably strange, hurtful and overprotective - new security measure. And he was fairly sure that he wouldn't want to have to deal with it. It was just the type these crazy, seemingly slightly insane or sadistic mechanics were. It was too bad that they were just so useful he had to deal with them, or else Ndale was sure he might like to stay far away most of the time. Well...until he wanted to pester them, of course, and that was admittedly very amusing.

Bright amber eyes dilated, focusing on the Dean's actions as he pulled out guns of strange sorts and mulled them over. It was very obvious one was being picked out for him, and his tail flicked sharply behind him in eager anticipation. As the one, small, rather remarkably tiny gun was displayed to him, finally, he looked it over. The feline, at first, might have been put off by the size of it, but it didn't show on his expression as it was quickly rethought. In fact, it's size might be just perfect. His ears turned forward in interest. Yes, actually, he rather liked it. It was small, inconspicuous, easy to hide. He could carry it with him without anyone the wise. Especially as a cheetah, a large something would be quite unwanted. A smile pulled across his lips and he started forward again. Delicately, feet were placed around the random stuff on the floor as he crossed to the professor. He nodded at the instruction and seemed to think about the question carefully.

"Why? It's useful. I'd rather know now before I need it so that when the time comes, I don't find myself lacking. I'm quickly realizing that I'm not powerful. There are lots of people around here that have powers that far outrank my simple shifting ability. People can set you ablaze or control your mind without even moving and I am admittedly rather defenseless. Even my speed, as fast as I am, is not the fastest in this type of community. It's...disappointing, but I need to adjust." Ndale's eyes flickered to Rendaz's. "This is what I can do. It's not a toy. It's a precaution."

[Rendaz "Flammy"]

Deal? No doubt the scoundrel would go back on it the moment it suited him, but Rendaz kept this thought to himself. Traps. Traps would solve all his worries.

Seeing that Ndale wasn't whinging about the size of the gun, Rendaz was at least a tad bit pleased. Finally! Someone that saw that a tiny weapon wasn't necessarily wimpy or any less dangerous. Or at the very least. someone who didn't need a big-ass gun to compensate for what they lacked. It was the sort of gun you could cup in the palm of your hand and not a soul would be aware of it. It was a good start, anyway. He hadn't planned on giving away any guns if the cheetah had been at all displeased with his choice. It wasn't an easy invention - it took delicate, microscopic engineering to construct it.

He did listen carefully to his explanation, eyes narrowed in thought. If he gave him the gun, would it have been an act of respect or pity? It was starting to seem like the latter, and he didn't want a reputation for free- hand-outs whenever someone walked by with a sob story. Then again, he felt as if he could sympathise with him. Rendaz himself had very much of nothing in terms of magic, heck, even for being a 'fire breathing race', Rendaz failed in that. The world of machinery really was his only saving grace.

"Tell you what..." he started, addressing him as he neared. "You can keep this gun if you can show me that you're capable of using it..." he trailed off as if he weren't finished speaking. He glanced to the door very briefly, as if to check something. "But kid, don't tell a living soul I'm doing this. You only found that gun in the trash or something. Is the clear?"

He held the gun towards him to take, but he wouldn't dare let go until Ndale agreed.

[Ndale]

He stopped about arm's length from the Professor. Glancing at the gun offered to him and back, Ndale adopted a cocky, amused smirk.

"But of course, Rendaz. And if anyone recognizes it as yours, then I broke in to your room and stole it from him." He raised an eyebrow and lifted his arms in a gesture around him as if to point out the situation they were in and say 'What? You mean that's not what I'm doing?' He had broken in to the man's room, after all. He may have gotten caught, but the intention to steal had still be entirely there.

He let one arm drop back to his side while the other moved out to place a hand on the gun, though he didn't move to take it yet. Amber eyes looked seriously in to the other's.

"How do you want me to show you I am capable?" He wasn't that stupid. He wanted details before he actually took the gun. Ndale figured he should either know what he had to do, or at least know what word of his own he would be breaking.

[Rendaz "Flammy"]

Rendaz's eyes narrowed with a trace of annoyance as Ndale tried to assure him. He was confident no one would recognise the gun - he'd never used it in this academy after all - but he certainly didn't appreciate Ndale rubbing in the fact he'd successfully broken into his room. And he didn't want him sharing that fact with anyone else.

"No," he affirmed, "There was no breaking in. No stealing. You only found it." The sly look he gave Ndale almost dared him to disagree.

His glanced down to Ndale's hand mistrustfully as it touched the gun, but did nothing. Well, of course he wanted to know the details. The insight not to blindly run into problems head first was promising. "I'll teach you." His expression was sincere. "All you have to do is show me that you've listened. It'll be easy," he sneered casually.

"I must ask... do you have any possessions of yours that you're hoping to get rid of?" He raised brow curiously.

[Ndale]

He made a slight 'tsk' noise, as if to complain that Rendaz was taking away all of his fun without actually verbalizing his complaints. He figured the man would be against actually hearing any of his thoughts right now anyway, and knew it best to just for once keep his trap shut. He could do that. Right.

"Alright alright. I found it." He tilted his head, giving the other male an amused look that practically said: 'happy now?'. The smirk grew as Rendaz affirmed that he would indeed be teaching him. Alright, listen and then prove he listened. That didn't sound too bad. He could do that too. Right.

The feline nodded and slipped his fingers around the gun in a secure but gentle grip, finally accepting it upon these terms.

The question did have him raising an eyebrow though. Possessions he was hoping to get rid of?

"I have old clothes, but otherwise, I don't have much in terms of possessions." It was true, actually. He didn't really own anything. He had his stuff from life as a working cheetah, and the clothes that Od and him had picked out. Besides that, really, he only had some African drums, a notebook or two, essentials for cleanliness, not stuff he wanted to be rid of, just stuff he needed. Ndale was a traveler, he didn't keep stuff he didn't need. And yes, he really did need six different colors of fishnet shirts.

[Rendaz "Flammy"]

That's what I thought, he smirked, finally satisfied with his response. Although he did wonder if Ndale would try to find a loophole in his instructions... Well, of course he would. This was Ndale he was talking about. But whatever, he was doing him a favour. The rat'd better be grateful.

He only nodded at Ndale's lack of possessions. Well, it proved to be no real surprise. Who needed possessions when you had people instead? It must've been quite a shock to walk into the den of the academy's greatest hoarder, he assumed. "Doesn't matter. I'll bring my own targets."

As Ndale took the gun, he gave it a quick, cautious glance, before turning around to a desk littered with sheets and pens. He scrambled for a small journal, flipping over to a date before hastily scrawling something down. "2pm... Fields... Tomorrow," he mumbled, but loud enough for the cheetah to hear. Afterwards, he pointed to the cheetah with the pen, not bothering to look at him. "Don't even think of not being there."

"You can go now," he huffed, still not turning to look at him. And if he didn't turn up? There would be revenge, of course. Sweet, cold hearted revenge.

[Ndale]

The feline raised an eyebrow. Targets? Ahh... a sly, almost wicked, grin came over his face. That would be fun. His tail twitched in excitement, now hardly able to wait. Of course, though, he would. Just because he often ignored it didn't mean he didn't know when he had over stepped his bounds. He knew asking the man to bring forth the date closer and to tonight would be definitely crossing those lines. No, he wouldn't push it.

Testing the gun in his hand, Ndale carefully, though firmly, wrapped his fingers around it, trying out the fit. It was alright, a little awkward. Something to get used to surely. A grin still graced his lips, seeming to be unbeatable. He glanced up and nodded firmly. Giving a slightly cocky bow, turning his hand over, he purred out his thanks.

"Thank you, Professor." Straitening, Ndale slipped the tiny firearm into his pocket and turned, raising a hand in farewell as he weaved his way out through the stuff to the door. "See you tomorrow."

He opened the door and shut it behind him, feeling mighty victorious.

[Rendaz "Flammy"]

Rendaz nodded slowly as Ndale seemed to realise just what he was getting at. And there had been no objection to his plans either - it was a lucky start. Dare he suggest it - could their next meaning possibly turn out to be rather pleasant? Well, he could only wait and see. And likely make preparations until then.

His suspicious gaze never left the gun though. There was something that irritated him about him holding it - although he knew fine well he was only testing his grip, but it wouldn't be difficult for his finger to slip and pull the trigger instead. A mistake he'd seen with amateur gun users before.

"Don't be late," he snapped before Ndale would eventually leave. With a slightly smoky sigh, he turned around to dig through an assortment of junk behind him. Now, to find what he needed...

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