Sun Rise at the mercenary grounds

The guild grounds were quiet, though Gaige wasn't really paying attention as she worked away in her workshop. Her suits stood on stands behind her and a verity of robotic arms, all left handed, sat before her. Each was a new potential replacement for the Battle arm Mk II. She picked up one, a fiery emblem engraved into the armored plates.

A sensor went off, and silent alarms were tripped, the alert going to both the security room, and her. This could only mean one thing, since the sensors marking the edge of the grounds were keyed to anyone who was part of the guild, and it straight up ignored animals.  Only strangers would set off the sensors.

Since it wasn't the middle of the night, she could only assume it was someone interested in joining the guild. Gaige decided, despite having such a grave decision to make in terms of her new arm, she should go and greet the stranger.

She left her workshop, the door locking behind her, and passed through the kitchen  to grab herself a cup of hyperspanner coffee. The entrance door opened, letting the stranger in. Gaige, being to preoccupied with tasty coffee never bothered to look at the camera feed. She stepped into the entrance hall to greet the stranger. And dropped her coffee.

"Oh." was all she said as the cup bounced across the wooden floor. She ignored it, as two little mechanical legs deployed and it scurried off to the kitchen to refill itself.

A man walked into, what he had assumed to be, the mercenary guild which had appeared from out of nowhere. The man had spiky, blonde hair, which reached slightly past his chin. His bright, orange eyes scanned over the building, making note of some of the defenses around the building. He was wearing a white dress shirt, a dark blue tie, and a black suit. He had white, dress gloves on, and his most striking addition was a long, black cloak, with red on the inside. It was held onto his shoulders by a couple of gold chains.

As Robert Solis walked into the HQ, he figured that alarms had been set off, as no one was in the entrance hall. Sighing, he scratched the back of his head. It wasn't long before someone showed up. And it wasn't who Robert was expecting. Gaige Ashe walked in, saw him, and dropped her drink. Robert watched, as it grew legs, and scuttled away. "Oh. Well, that's one way to greet someone." Robert said, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "Well. Seeing as this is a bit awkward, maybe now isn't the best time to ask about the guild openings."

Gaige watched as a Rumba looking cleaner robot rolled out from under a flap in the wall and, giving her a scathing look, proceeded to clean up the coffee. Gaige waved it off and took in the man before her. Robert Solis. Trying to avoid letting the awkward situation between them from getting to heavy, he made a joke. Gaige used this to school her face in to a cocky grin. "Sup, Sol. Its been a while." She said. She stepped over the cleaner and approached.

"Sorry about the wait. I guess I'm the only one around right now." She said and as she approached began examining his arm. She scanned it with Artemis for good messure, detecting some minor faults caused by wear and tear. At this point her human brain clicked off and her robot brain sprang into action, metaphorically speaking, and she started examining his arm without permission. "Considering the last time I seen you was a year ago, this thing is holding up pretty well." She said as she flexed the joints. "What about the gloves, still working as intended?" She asked as she pulled out of him.

Since she was distracted she hadn't actually registered that he was here to join the guild, and started tugging on his arm to follow her. "Come on, to the workshop with you. Let me hammer out those faults before this thing brakes down altogether."

As Gaige smiled, Robert did too, though his was less cocky, and more warm. "I would say so. A year, right?" Gaige stepped over the cleaner robot, and apologized. "No worries. From what I've heard, this is a somewhat new guild, so I wasn't expecting, like, a hundred people." He chuckled. "I do hope that somebody else shows up. I'm eager to meet some of the members."

She started examining his arm, and Robert sighed, but allowed it. He knew how Gaige was, with his tech. "Ya. Good thing too. I haven't had a need to use my heat blade, and my claw arm in a while. And, yes. The gloves are still working as intended." He silently thanked her, as he knew what could happen, if he didn't have the gloves. It was the reason he had a synthetic arm, in the first place She then started tugging on his arm. "I thought you built this thing to last until I died? He said, semi-sarcastically.

The smell of Chinese takeout wafted through the air as the blonde girl zoomed across the landscape. Liv Firestorm hefted the table cloth that housed her haul with satisfaction and anticipation as her motorbike "Bumblebee" made short work of the distance from town to the mercenary guild grounds. She was surprised when she had found the eatery, named Ping Kee, in a nearby town. It was even better when it turned out to be a 24 hour deal. Liv travelled the route daily, keeping the staff there on their toes. She didn't care about the cost as Gaige had given up trying to cut down on her habit, and instead simply wrote off the expenditure as "global research material". Liv chuckled at the joke as she pulled up at the mercenary guild building that had become Gaige's new HQ for running her new project. She got off the bike and flicked some of her unruly blonde hair out of her face as Bumblebee whizzed off to the vehicle depot.

Upon entering the building, Liv hit the punch-in machine which registered in the system that she was in the building and announced that fact to Gaige if she was here, then headed straight for the mess hall. She deposited her loot on the table, the table cloth unwrapping perfectly over the mess table and the food laying out perfectly on top of that. Then, it was as if the gates of hell opened up and welcomed the food sacrifice into their fiery embrace. Liv literally attacked the food, not coming up for air until every last bit of the eighteen-course meal. When the dust settled, the remnants of the banquet comprised of simply used plates, bowls and boxes. No cutlery was necessary. Liv then burped loudly and gratuitously, and proceeded to get herself a mug of hyperspanner coffee. She took the mug of steaming caffeinated beverage and reclined lazily on the couch, enjoying the sheer gluttony she had just displayed.

Gaige led robert to her workshop and pushed him into a diagnostics chair. She hooked up a wire from the chair to his arm that fed information to a computer. Gaige ran some more in dept diagnostics."Well, in theory. It depends on how you use it, on how much stress you put on it. Everything has a breaking point, these arms are just hardier than most. But for instance, when I faught my mother the first time, she managed to shatter my robotic arm, and you have experienced first hand just how tough that is." She explained as she tweeked a few things in his arm. "There's nothing to wrong with this. Its good to keep it tuned though." She said. An alert popped up informing her that Liv had returned, no doubt with allot of food in tow.

Gaige disconnected Sol from the chair and stepped back. "So your interested in joining the guild? You know I run it right? Thats not a deal breaker is it?" She asked. She headed for the door. "Liv is here if you want to meet her. She's one of the enforcers... Try not to mess with her, shes a bit fiery..." Gaige said and headed out of the room waving for Sol to follow. She headed for the kitchen, found the trail of destruction and food, and knew the next stop for her cuddly arrancar money pit.

The common area contained a range of comfortable sofas, computers and a big tv. Liv was in the middle, chilling on the biggest couch, looking lazy. Gaige snuck up on her and tackle huggled the arrancar from behind, ready to right herself if she was thrown off. "Heya Liv. I see you decided to run up the food bill some more." She said. She looked over at Sol. "Sol, this is Olivia firestorm. Daughter to the former cero king. Liv, this is Robert Solis. I told you about him, remember?"

Yuri walked into the common area with a yawn, scratching his stomach. Since there usually wasn't anyone else but the main crew this early, he wasn't disguised or anything, just his normal semi-albino self. Wearing a white tank-top and black shorts, he simply stepped over the women on the floor and headed to the kitchen. To see a mess. Walking back into the common area, his cyan eyes landed on the fiery arrancar. "Liv...will you please clean up your mess...or pay me eighty thousand to clean it up for you...I don't care which..." If there was one thing that annoyed him, it was the arrancar's tendency to not clean up after herself.

Yuri walked back in to warm up some of his mixed cheese dip and grabbed chips and veggies to snack on until lunch. He barely noticed the blond new arrival, but he didn't care. Another thing that was odd was the fact there was a kitten on top of his head. Which he also fed some tiny cubes of very tender raw beef and some raw fish.

Robert allowed Gaige to lead him to her workshop, and immediatly had flashbacks. "This brings back memories, eh?" He said, as she pushed him into a chair. As she hooked up a wire, to his synthetic arm, Robert said, "Ouch." He didn't feel pain in that arm, and he knew that Gaige knew it too. She then explained things about his arm, things he already knew, and also mentioned her mother, shattering her arm. "So, you found her then?" Robert knew about Gaige's mission, to find her mother when they broke off their relationship.  "Hope you had fun." He said, as Gaige released his arm. He gave it a couple of test-grips, before getting back up.

"Yes, I am here to join up. And no, I don't have a problem with you running it. Might make it easier for you to send me on missions, or whatever." Robert said, placing his hands in his pockets. "You know me, I'm not exactly the trouble-making type." He said, following Gaige. He raised an eyebrow, at the amount of food that was ther, but continued on. He walked in, and was surprised by the amount of comfortable looking sofas, chairs, and a couple of tv's. He was a little surprised, when Gaige tackle-hugged the woman in the sofa, but he chuckled at it. He waved, as Gaige introduced him, and waved. "Yo." He looked confused for a moment. "If you're dad's a king, does that mean I should address you as princess, then?" It was teasing, but Robert had to see how far he can push.

It was then, that a young-looking man walked in, promptly ignored him, and told the arrancar to clean up her mess. Robert shrugged at the two women, looking like it didn't bother him. As the guy walked back in, Robert decided to introduce himself. "Hey, new guy who I don't know, my name is Robert Solis. Continue ignoring me, if you don't care." Robert said it, with no trace of sarcasm. He merely wanted to see where he stood with new arrival.

Liv simply lazed about, there was no other way to put it. Despite her beauty, there was nothing at all attractive about this display. Fortunately Liv was not the type to really care what others thought. It was all going swimmingly until the half-metal menace arrived and tackle-huggled her over the top of the couch, sending them both to the floor. Liv freed herself from the embrace and sat up, brushing hair from her face and grinning mischievously. "Yup. If it helps it was worth every cent. I would've saved you some if, you know, I cared at all." She stuck her tongue out in a display of absolute immaturity. Then she noticed the newcomer, and Gaige made the introductions. Robert waved and said hello. He then made a wise crack but Liv was quick with a retort. "I remember. This was your boyfriend right? He was a king. But sure, you can call me princess, if I can call you bitch." She winked at him and smiled evilly.

Then, another newcomer walked in, and immediately began to complain. Liv rubbed the bridge of her nose with thumb and forefinger. She then stood up and sighed. "Whatever. Here, have a seat." Liv then suddenly hurled the couch she had been lazing on at him. Then she entered the mess hall and began to eat all of the mess she had left, including the table itself. Satisfied, Liv returned to the room. "All done. Happy?"

"You wound me so, you evil arrancar you." Gaige said in response, though she made it clear she wasn't letting go even as Liv stood up, she remained hanging out of her. Sol asked her if she was a princess and Liv resoponded by asking him if he was a bitch, causing Gaige to snort a laugh. And then Liv picked up a sofa and threw it at Yuri, causing Gaige to fall to the floor with a yelp. "NO! That was my favorite Sofa! Bad arrancar! Bad!" She shouted after Liv. Indeed, her attitude had been a bit, more fiery of late. Gaige didn't blame her, since her father had been killed.

She told this to sol while Liv was out of the room eating a table. "She gets pretty upset when you mention it. So dont." Gaige said. She watched Liv walk back into the room. "How was your table? I made sure it was painted with sweet and sour sauce." She said grinning. She was half tempted to call for some coffee, in revenge for her sofa. But she decided her friend had dealt with enough shenanigans right then, and Gaige didn't want to pay for it later.

Of course she threw the couch at him. Thankfully, the wall was reishi absorbing material. With a wave of a finger, he fired a cutting wave of holy energy that split the couch in half, the two pieces flying harmlessly past him on either side. Yuri couldn't help but agree with Gaige on her. He simply waved at the newcomer and responded. "Hi, welcome to the circus. I'm Yuri. I find out if you broke our rules or not. If so, Liv will promptly send you to the mental hospital like she did to Mason. Granted he just tried stealing her Chinese food, but I'm sure you get the point. If you didn't break our rules, then whoever accused you of doing so can promptly f*ck off. Oh, and I will occasionally cook and bartend for here too. And if you see any squirts hanging around me, don't bother them unless they bother you. But they will bite so be careful."

He had to get it out there. Hopefully the guy wouldn't be too turned off by this display of...whatever it was this was. As crazy as they were, they were good people. And it was very nice in here. It was just keeping the other idiots in line...but luckily, that wasn't his job.

Robert put his hand, on his heart, as Liv called him a bitch, basically. "Oh no, I could never take something like that." He smiled, right after saying it, to make sure no one took this seriously. "I don't care what you call me, as long as you don't call me a coward." He watched, as the couch was thrown. Don't get involved....Solis thought to himself, as the scene continued in front of him. He turned to Gaige, when she told him about Liv's attitude. "Don't worry, you know I'm not that kind of person." He then added, "And if I was, I could at least count on you to kick me in the ass, to set me straight. Right?" He asked, holding out his hand, in a fist bump.

Whether or not she did it, he looked at Yuri, as he spoke to him. "Circus? I've been on some pretty wacky jobs, so this doesn't really bother me." Robert then lost his smile, as Yuri told him about the bartender part. He spaced out on the rest of what Yuri said, as he imagined how messed up he could get, with the aid of a friendly bartender. He started drooling, pretty obviously. "I could have......so many drinks..." He said, loud enough for Yuri to hear him. Shaking himself awake, RObert then realized something. He connected Yuri's name, to a famous Mercenary. "Wait, you're Yuri? As in, Yuri Romanov? " Robert whistled, as he contemplated on whether a friendly fight with Yuri, would be a fun little activity.

He looked, as Liv walked back in. "So. Is there some sort of paperwork that I need to do? You know, to join up? I almost forgot that was the whole reason that I came here, to begin with." It had been a rough journey here to, so the low stamina that Robert already had, was starting to get to him. "I would like to officially join up, before my body clocks out on me..."

The blonde Arrancar snorted in derision at Gaige's quip about the table as she returned to the room. Then Liv listened as Yuri spoke, outlining his role in the guild. Liv looked a bit sheepish when he brought up Mason, the poor unfortunate who got too big for his britches and attempted to steal food from Liv. But she knew it was necessary. The young man was cocky, and after all there was a reason that not stealing Liv's food was written in the official guild rules when recruits sign up. "He was too cocky anyway. He wouldn't have lasted much longer." She noticed that Robert zoned out a little when Yuri mentioned that he also doubled as a bartender. It was as if he couldn't wait to get massively drunk. Liv wagged a finger at him.

"Don't get any ideas though. Coming back here and downing a cold one after a job is all fine, but if you start making a mess then I'll have to make a mess out of you" SLiv looked to Gaige when Robert reminded them that he was here to sign up. "Oh yeah, that's right. I'll get the contract. Be right back." The blonde Arrancar disappeared for a moment, and then returned with a clipboard with a fresh contract attached. She offered it to Robert and flicked a lock of hair from her face. "Here you are. Rules are there and all you gotta do is slap your autograph on the bottom of that and Gaige will print you an ID card. The machine should be working again after Laura set it on fire. Must've been a smokin' hot recruit." She nudged Gaige in the ribs playfully. "Eh? Get it?"

"Mason was an accident. Laura's accident. I said not to illegally air a commercial, and she does it anyway. Luckily he was the only one to see it, or act on it. I think his power was just, believing in the mason hype. Unfortunately it takes more than a bit of skill to survive in this business, especially when you decide to part this adorable arrancar with some of her food," Gaige said explaining the full story of mason.

Robort became startstruck when he realised who Yuri was. Gaige sniggered. "Oh look you gained a fan Yuri. You should definitely take advantage of this opportunity. He's great in the sack.." Gaige said laughing, "Card's already made. He mentioned he was here for that already, so just read the rules. it could save your life. Or sanity."

Yuri shrugged at him. But it seemed the guy knew his name at least. Not surprising, he wasn't exactly unknown. Just his real face was. When he was about respond, Gaige made a quip, making Yuri's otherwise pale face turn red with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. But not as much as it would have if he didn't know she was just joking, or if she was serious. His hyper intuition was good not just for battle or interrogation.

"Yes, that is my name. And I'm not close-minded, but seriously, Gaige? You're lucky I know you were just joking. Honestly I'm more surprised you haven't had some lesbian sex going on with these other two wonderful ladies. Or the Coalition's killer robit and her creator. Anyways, I need to get going and change appearances before any of the others wake up or start coming in. Nice meeting you. If you need anything, just ask. I don't do sex on the first date though." Or ever...he may have killed people, tortured them, used Alexei's inventions on them, but he has virtually zero experience in the art of romance. Oh, he has seduced people before, but only to get information or steal their identities for a little while. And nothing happened...he always knocked them out or drugged them before it got to that point.