Highschool All Over Again [Hope/Noel]

[Hope Estheim]

"At least we've learned that all fal'Cie are closet drag queens. We should remember that for the future, should any fal'Cie ever decide to cause trouble again. We could always trap it in Yuj's closet," Hope commented, to add to Serah's joke about crossdressing fal'Cie. He couldn't remember being in a good enough mood, or having enough free time, to have a joking conversation like this in a long time. Though it was disturbing that Barthandelus had become one of them at the time, looking back now, it wasn't so bad.

Rubbing sheepishly at the place where Serah had poked him, Hope could feel his face going a bit red at her words. He supposed they were kind of sort of true, in a way, especially since he experienced the results of her explanation near-daily. His embarrassment left him, though, when she began her rant about how he'd end up creating an army of Hopebots that would destroy all humanity, just so he could keep unwanted attention away. "You'll always believe, after the fal'Cie, that everything I plan to build will turn into a disaster in a few hundred years, won't you?", he asked her, grinning and rubbing at the sides of his eyes. "I appreciate the votes of confidence," he added, jokingly, with a shake of his head. It was odd to think, the very machines he was building to protect the future could ruin it in a Caius-caused paradox. That was exactly why they had to solve the problem of Caius - without him, the future became much easier to predict.

He followed Serah outside, taking one glance behind him into the room to make sure Mog wasn't, by some chance, following them out when he'd seen Serah starting to leave. When he saw no indication of the floating form, Hope's attention turned to the fountain, following Serah up to it. The place was extremely well-lit, so if there had been a rounded entity with a magical trail nearby, neither of them would have trouble seeing them. At Serah's calls, nothing about the scene changed. Hope was starting to think they could be chasing Mog around all night at this rate. Why would he leave? He cupped his hands around his mouth and called the creature's name a few times loudly, wondering if he hadn't wandered further out into the school grounds. No response came. Hope had to admit, he was a little frustrated, though not necessarily at Mog. This night consisted of their one opportunity to relax before they all returned to their duties, and of course, a problem would have to arise, wouldn't it? Seemed like fate didn't want them to take it easy more than a few minutes at a time.

Hope couldn't help but agree with Serah's comment that someone had taken him. The moogle had absolutely no reason to have simply left Serah's side without saying a word or coming back to her almost instantly. Anyone suspicious? Well, she'd already accurately discredited Kayla - the girl was too busy looking at every man in sight to pay much mind to a small, bulbous creature floating anywhere in the room. So that left... "I...wait," Hope hesitated, scratching at his wrist, before turning to Serah with a look that epitomized sudden realization. "One of the students, Queen, told me all about a scientist who works here - Kazusa. She told me he drugs students and takes them back to his lab to study them. I..." Hope squinted his eyes a bit and looked off into space, trying to remember if he'd seen him at the dance. He had, at the beginning - Kazusa had been firmly entrenched beside the punch bowl, and Hope had believed he was there specifically to watch it. He also realized that after his dance with Lightning and just before his conversation with Serah, his eyes had trailed near the punch bowl and he hadn't seen the scientist. He could have simply been on a bathroom break...but Hope sincerely doubted it. "...I think I may have noticed he left the dance. I may be jumping to conclusions, but if he's tempted by performing experiments on the school's own students, a subject as unique as Mog might prove too tempting for him to resist studying." Hope could never imagine, even as a scientist, merely taking someone's friend away - or even their pet, if anyone defined Mog as such - for study without any sort of permission. He knew other scientists would have no problem with such an activity, though, as shallow as it made them sound. "I know how to find his office. Follow me." Taking up a brisk pace back towards the building from the fountain, Hope found the door nearest the research wing and pushed it open for Serah before entering and nodding his head down a hallway. "This way."

If this Kazusa really was experimenting on Mog...he'd be getting more than an earful from Hope. At least, that was if Hope could get in a word edgewise over whatever Serah would end up doing to him...

Words - 941
Muse - Excellent!
Outfit - Here
Notes - Elementary, my dear Farron. *smokes a pipe*[/size]

[Serah Farron]

Trapping a fal’cie in Yuj’s closet… it was almost sad when you considered that that would probably be a winning move too. Yuj was protective of his clothes and could fly into a blind rage whenever someone damaged his precious babies, not to mention that his closet was enormous and could probably house a small fal’cie with relative ease. Serah had thought about his fascination with clothing before, but she’d never considered arranging an intervention until this particular talk. It made her realize that he really did have some issues. Not life threatening ones… just… issues. It would have to wait until they got back home though, and even then, it would have to wait until they had all finished their duties, because they would definitely need Lighting’s merciless comments and Snow’s broship to get the blue haired boy to ease down on the shopping sprees. “Well…” she trailed off with an amused smirk when Hope asked her if she believed that all of his inventions would end up completely and utterly destroying the universe itself at some point down the line. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Hope, it was just that… well… he was too smart for his own good sometimes. The Proto-fal’cie was a telltale sign of that. It might not be his intention to create anything dangerous, but then the fal’cie wasn’t intended to be dangerous either, and look how that turned out. She giggled at the words that followed his initial statement, and with a graceful bow, she replied “You are most welcome!”

The pleasantness didn’t last, of course, because heaven forbid they ever have a nice, non-stressed filled evening for once after all the fighting they’d done lately. Serah didn’t brood on it though, as she was far too busy worrying about Mog to think of anything else. Hell, she wasn’t even worried about Kayla coming after her with a butcher knife anymore! No matter how many times she called, Mog didn’t show himself or even replied to her calls at all, which made her worry even more. Where could he be? It then occurred to her that Mog might not be simply missing, perhaps someone had kidnapped him. But who would be cruel and kind of weird enough to go kidnapping a moogle? They were about to find out, because Serah wasn’t going to go to sleep tonight until she had her Moogly friend back with her, even if it meant throwing every single student and staff member into the interrogation chair and demanding answers long enough that some of the more weak hearted people would break down into tears. After which she’d probably feel bad, but so long as she got Mog back, it was all worth it. Hope seemed to agree with her assessment of the situation, as he was obviously racking his brain for possible suspects, and then, after some more thinking, he finally came with a suggestion. A suggestion Serah hadn’t thought of yet, but now that she heard him say the name, it all made perfect sense. She, too, had heard rumors going on around the school about a crazy scientist that kidnapped people and then experimented on them. …was he experimenting on Mog?! The mere thought made the pinkette gasp in horror as her expression shifted from angry, to worried, to angry again and so on and so forth. He’d better not be experimenting on him. He’d be in a world of pain if Mog woke up without his pompom as a side effect, or something awful like that.

With a firm nod, Serah hurried after Hope, her mind going over all sorts of horror scenarios. Etro please let them make it there in time to save her friend from the evil scientist, please! “You really think he’s capable of doing something like that? How could anyone be so cruel?” she voiced during their run through the school, “Poor Mog… he must be so scared…” Hope pushed the door open for her, and Serah instantly marched through the door opening and then into the hall. So this was where the scientists did their work, huh? This pinkette was no scientist herself, so she hadn’t really felt a need to go here just yet. But now that she was here, it was interesting to see all the high tech equipment this school owned. It seemed this world really was just about as advanced as Cocoon had been, who would’ve thought? But her amazement didn’t last very long before it was overshadowed with thoughts of Mog and Kazusa once again. “Mog? Are you here sweetie?” she called sadly, running from lab to lab to poke her head into the room to check for signs of life before continuing on to the next. They’d been to pretty much all the labs now… and no sign of either Mog or that insane scientist. Serah was starting to lose hope, but instantly regained it again when she saw a flash of light coming from the lab at the end of the hall, only one of three labs they hadn’t checked yet. “Mog?” she called as she sprinted towards the door, not even bothering to see if Hope was still behind her as she yanked the door open. The sight that greeted her made her sigh in relief, it seemed Hope had been right about Kazusa… because there was Mog, sleeping on one of the tables. Kazusa was nowhere to be seen however. Serah instantly rushed over to her little friend and picked him up, shaking him a little in an attempt to wake him, “Mog? Mog! Wake up, are you alright?”

“Uh oh…”

Serah’s eyes instantly narrowed as she followed the sound of a strange voice. It seemed Kazusa had only stepped out for a moment to go grab something from storage, boy had he picked out a horrible moment to come back. He held a small vial in his hand that he quickly hid behind his back as he offered Serah a charming smile.

“Well hello there! How are you enjoying your evening?” he turned towards Hope and nodded a greeting at him as well, “To… uh… what do I owe this pleasure?”

Almost eerily slowly, the pinkette placed her Moogle back down on the table before taking a step towards the scientist. The game was on now, and like a true Farron, Serah pulled her arm back and with as much force as her body contained, she socked Kazusa across the jaw, making him actually lose his balance and fall on his ass. With a dangerous glare, she stepped forward and grabbed the man’s collar, “What did you do to my Mog?” she demanded, pulling him slightly closer to her rage filled face, “Well?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Words: 1124
Tagged: Hope
Location: The dance
Outfit: >>>This<<<
Notes: Serah: *Removes detective cap and puts murder cap on* Hope may need to save Kazusa. Maybe. Or maybe not. >

[Hope Estheim]

"I haven't met him, so I can't say for sure if he's capable, but we have to consider him as the prime suspect if someone really did take Mog." And if a scientist didn't think taking a bunch of teenagers, loading them up with drugs and laying them out for experimentation was cruel, what was to stop him from doing the same to a creature that clearly was not human in any way? And then further, what was to stop that scientist from taking the experimentation a few steps too far exactly because he wasn't dealing with a human and had to treat it civilly? Hope was starting to feel as worried for the floating creature as Serah was, knowing what went on in the minds of scientists. It hadn't been long since Hope had last seen Kazusa within the party, but it had been long enough that he could be well into any work he might have been performing on Mog. The sooner they found the creature, the better, because Hope didn't want to think what could go on if some mad scientist went on unabated with a defenseless subject on a night when everyone who might feel motivated to stop him was distracted.

Following after Serah once they were inside, Hope checked the laboratories on the hall opposite her, occasionally calling Mog's name when he pooked his head into a room or found an adjacent wing. "I'm not sure which office is Kazusa's," Hope admitted to Serah, as he emerged from yet another room that had been empty save for a pair of small creatures running around a tube against the wall. "He apparently has some influence in the research department, though, so I'd expect him to have one of the bigger offices." He was mostly just speaking to try and come up with something that would keep Serah's mind off of too much worry, because there was no guarantee they would find Mog in any of these rooms. Hope wasn't sure if it would be a good or a bad thing if they didn't. Good if he was to be found somewhere harmless later on. Bad if they weren't able to find him before the night was over.

Hope spotted the flash of light at the end of the hallway the moment Serah did, his eyes drawn forward to it. Okay, so someone was on this hallway and they were working during the dance. That was a telling scenario. Chasing behind Serah as she made for the door, Hope followed her in a little more cautiously than she'd made her entry in case whoever was inside didn't take well to sudden entry. The place seemed empty, though, save for one tiny form lying on one of the tables. He looked to be fine, just completely wiped out by a drug. Hope moved to join Serah beside him, trying to inch around her shaking him a bit to check and see how fast his pulse wa- did he have a pulse? Ah, Hope was going to be out of his league making sure Mog was alright....but he wouldn't get the chance to make any checks, anyway, as a voice rang out from the opposite site of the room. Hope raised an eyebrow slightly as he peered over Serah's head at the very scientist he'd been expecting to see. No, Queen had not been exaggerating by any means.

If Kazusa thought they weren't onto him, he was badly mistaken. Hope would have spoken up to say as much but Serah was...already on her way over, apparently to give him a piece of her mind. Hope took the opportunity to step over to the table where she'd placed Mog and check the creature's eyes. Hmm...he still didn't know what to look for to ensure Mog was okay. ALl he could do was-

Hearing the clear sound of flesh meeting flesh, Hope's surprised expression immediately moved up to see Serah looming over a downed Kazusa. Oh...if he hadn't known any better, he would have seen Lightning standing there, having knocked Snow to the ground. Watching incredulously as Serah grabbed the scientist by the collar, Hope was momentarily at a loss for what to do. He probably deserved this sort of treatment for whatever he'd been doing to Mog, but they were guests here, right? It didn't seem like the best idea ever to start threatening the school's scientists...though for now, Serah seemed to be resolving the situation...without further violence. Cringing, Hope stepped up behind her, looking down into the scientist's face. "I shouldn't have to tell you, but answering her would be a very smart decision here," he said, calmly. "You had no right to take Mog without Serah's or Mog's own permission. Chances are he would have let you study his powers. Mog doesn't understand them himself."

Words - 899
Muse - Excellent!
Outfit - Here
Notes - Beaches be crazy.[/size]

[Serah Farron]

Serah nodded her head in agreement to Hope’s words. Maybe Kazusa wasn’t responsible for all this, but he seemed to match the profile the best for now, so they had to work under the assumption that he really was the one responsible for Mog’s kidnapping. Hopefully he was a harmless nutcase, and not a dangerous one who could potentially kill her floating friend just because he felt like it. If he did end up hurting Mog, Serah would be sure to avenge him, that was for certain. Kazusa wouldn’t get away with his crime so long as this Farron drew breath. But she was getting ahead of herself. They still had no idea where either Mog or Kazusa was, so planning ways on how to hurt the scientist were really just a waste of time. And who knew? Maybe he really was innocent? In that case, this would be an even bigger waste of time and energy. Energy that would be best spent trying to find her friend.

And so, without saying another word, Serah and Hope took off in search for the culprit of this heinous crime, making a beeline for the scientists labs. That was the best place to start, and when they got there, neither of them wasted any time. Serah took one side of the hall with Hope taking the opposite side. Sadly, neither of them could find anything or anyone, and Serah felt her spirits sink. The longer they spent searching, the more time that scientist had for his twisted experiments. They needed to find them, and soon. As if some higher being had heard her prayers, a light literally appeared at the end of the tunnel, and Serah took off into that direction without even worrying about what dangers might await her in that room. She also failed to drag Hope along with her, but it turned out that it wasn’t necessary anyway; the silver haired man had seen the light as well and was running towards the lab too, although he was definitely being more cautious about all of this than Serah was, who just ran into the room without even bothering to check if the coast was clear.

“Mog…?” she whispered softly as she shook him again, her entire expression filled with worry for her friend’s wellbeing, “Hope, can’t you do something?” Serah wasn’t dumb, but she could easily admit that Hope was smarter than her. He had made a damned fal’cie and invented time travel for heaven’s sake! He was brilliant, and if anyone could help Mog, Hope could. “I… I don’t think it’s too bad, but-“ her sentence was cut short by another voice coming from behind her, and the pinkette’s eyes instantly narrowed into dangerously tiny slits. Kazusa had arrived. So he really had been behind all of this then, that bastard. Idiot was a better way to describe him, because hadn’t anyone ever told him that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? It was definitely true in this situation, because Serah was this close to tackling him and head butting him until he cried for his mommy. Serah however, ever the image of self-control, managed to reign her terror in and merely smacked the scientist once. Sure, it was hard enough to knock a full grown man on his ass, but those were details that nobody cared about. She hadn’t killed him yet, and that was quite the accomplishment when you kept in mind how absolutely pissed off the younger Farron was.

Serah nodded her head dangerously slowly as she tightened her hold on the scientist’s collar when Hope told him to answer her question. He’d better answer her soon, before she lost her patience. Kazusa, for his part, could only look from Hope to Serah and back again as he considered his options here. Fessing up might get him killed, but if he somehow managed to free himself from the girl’s death grip and made for the door, there was a good chance her silver haired companion would grab him before he made it out the door. And then what? If he tried to escape, Serah would most certainly hurt him. Neither of those options were very appealing, so he decided to discard both of them and handle this situation in his usual brilliant way.”Oh, he’s not hurt,” Kazusa replied with a shockingly smooth voice for someone stuck in this predicament, “I merely gave him a sedative, that’s all,”
Serah glanced over at Hope, throwing him an incredulous look before glaring back down at Kazusa, “Am I supposed to believe you took him here just to put him to sleep for a few hours?” she hissed, “How stupid do you think we are?”

Kazusa’s reaction was not something she’d expected, and when the scientist offered her a charming smile, she looked back over at Hope with a confused expression. This guy was really more deranged than they’d even thought, wasn’t he?
“But I did have ulterior motives, how else was I supposed to get you here? Away from all the competition?” he winked seductively, and then shrugged his shoulders casually as he regarded Hope, “I didn’t know you would be bringing a friend, but hey… the more the merrier!”
Serah slowly let go of his collar and took a step backwards, not really sure what to make of this. Was he serious? Was this supposed to throw her off guard? If it was, he was definitely successful, because she really didn’t even know what the heck was going on any more. “What the hell…?”
“I’d set a table for two, but we can always get another chair, no problem!” Kazusa informed them casually as he dusted his knees off and ran a hand through his hair, “I’d say we could wake the moogle up, but that would just kill the romance, wouldn’t it?” he very subtly wandered around the room, inching a little closer to the exit with each step, “Ah, but I see you’re worried so I guess I’ll just- BY ETRO, WHAT IS THAT?!” he screeched as he pointed dramatically at something behind his two assailants. Oh yeah, his escape plan was flawless.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Words: 1030
Tagged: Hope
Location: The dance
Outfit: >>>This<<<
Notes: Up to you whether they get distracted and he escapes or not. ;P

[Hope Estheim]

Hope genuinely wished he could tell Serah he knew exactly what to do in this situation, but having never had any reason to study a creature as strange as Mog (and especially not one who was apparently fueled by magic from the goddess herself), he was generally at a loss. "I'm not sure I can do anything to revive him," Hope admitted, quietly, moving on from his indecision about a moogle's pulse to checking under the nose for breaths and pressing a hand into the chest to see if there was any sort of beating going on there. How was he even supposed to know if breathing or beating was a good thing or a bad thing? Finally, though, Hope focused on the little bauble that popped up out of the top of Mog's head. Hope was going to have to assume that it was as good of an indication as any of determining whether or not the moogle was healthy. It looked to still have its usual glow to it. "So far as I know, he seems okay. He'll likely have to sleep this off, unless we can find Kazusa..."

And speak of the devil. Despite his surprise at Serah's pounding of the scientist, Hope couldn't say she was all that wrong to do it. He fully expected the other man to whine to someone later about the situation, though, and therein was the problem. For now, though, Kazusa seemed settled on making excuses and explaining how Mog was only sedated. Hope met Serah's gaze with a slight shake of his head before she continued her interrogation. Kazusa might have been telling the truth - Mog may have only been knocked out, and Hope believed that to be the case - but he was surely planning more beyond simply capturing a perfect test subject and letting him sleep on his laboratory table for a few hours. If Kazusa even began to believe they were that stupid, it explained all he needed to know about the other scientist's state of mind...and it would convince him that he probably needed to tell Queen he'd support any motion she made to convince the school's faculty that one of their primary scientists wasn't completely fit to work in a place full of young people.

....And the further on this conversation went, the more Hope was starting to think Queen would have plenty of ammunition if she did present an argument. His eyes narrowed even further on the scientist as he continued his relay of excuses...now trying to convince them that...wait, what? That he was looking for a tryst with Serah? So...he chooses to steal her fast companion as a way to gain her attention and have some sort of private meeting with her? That was a load of bologna if Hope had ever heard it. "Look, we want you to get this sedative out of Mog's system-" The scientist continued his rant, causing Hope to bring a hand to his eyes to rub them. If Serah hadn't already been disturbed enough by Kazusa's decision to capture Mog and experiment on him, she would be a vegetable by the time this senseless encounter was over. He gave her a pat on the back as a subtle way of saying ignore him while Kazusa only continued his ranting. By this point, Hope wanted to punch him.

It was a fortunate thing Hope was still standing there, impatiently rubbing at his eyes, when Kazusa started yelling. He peered confusedly at the man as he looked back up at him, only partially glancing in the direction he pointed before catching on. This scientist...how had he ever been hired? With a sigh, Hope slid himself in between the doorway and Kazusa, thankful he was big enough now to properly block the path. This wouldn't have worked when he was fourteen. "We'll let you go wherever you wish after you've assured us that Mog will be fine or given him something that will negate the sedative," Hope assured, glancing at Serah and the little moogle still peacefully sleeping on the table. "Otherwise, we have all night for a dinner for three."

Words - 752
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Hope needed a moment of mini-badassery.[/size]

[Serah Farron]

It was weird, despite having spent so much time together with Noel and Mog, Serah still didn’t really know what Mog was supposed to be and what his physiology was supposed to be like. Noel had told her Mog was a good luck charm sent to her by Lightning, and that was pretty much the point where all of Serah’s curiosity regarding Mog had ended, and where she’d tried to question him about her sister instead. After that, the subject just hadn’t come up. They’d been busy looking for paradoxes to solve, time gates through which they could travel, and the visions she’d started to have. Her good luck charm’s body structure and whatnot had really not been at the top of the list of things they needed to discuss and figure out. Right now, Serah kind of regretted that decision. Maybe if she knew more about Moogles, she would’ve been able to help Mog tonight. When Hope admitted to not knowing what to do either, Serah felt like she was going to cry. Why did that asshole of a scientist have to take her Moogle? Why couldn’t he just have taken one of the school’s Moogles? Not that she wished this sort of thing on them, but they probably knew more about Moogles than Serah and Hope did, and maybe the natives of this world would know of a way to wake them. Maybe they should take him to one of the natives, ask them what to do.
First things first though… when the scientist responsible for this crime showed up, Serah had to go over and make sure he understood just how displeased she was with his actions. Maybe a good old slapping would get the man to his senses and help him understand that kidnapping people or other living creatures and using them as guinea pigs was not alright. Not by a long shot. And definitely not when someone who cared about the creature you’d taken away was in the building. Messing with creatures like that was generally a bad idea.

But it seemed like he hadn’t learned his lesson at all. Judging from the way he was talking to them, it almost seemed like she’d never even punched him because he just acted completely unaffected… maybe others had punched him so often he didn’t even feel it any more. Or maybe he was just a creep who your mommy and daddy always warned you to stay away from. For now, Serah was going with the latter as she took a step away from the scary man. He wanted to draw her away from the competition? What in the hell? Didn’t he know she was engaged? And even then, how disturbed that you have to be to think that kidnapping someone’s friend would win you their affections? Serah did feel better knowing Hope was here with her, otherwise, she might’ve just grabbed the Moogle and ran because things were getting scarier by the minute.
“Yeah…” Serah replied in response to Hope’s demands. Had that scientist really just tried to escape by trying to distract them with a finger point? There wasn’t even anything over behind them aside from a few tables and chairs on the other side of the room. “And I’m not asking you again, fix him up now, or prepare for a long, very long night. And not a pleasant one either, you creep.”

The scientist clicked his tongue in annoyance and then walked back into the storage room he’d just left with an exasperated sigh. “How do people expect me to invent anything without ever being able to test it?” he mumbled to himself before walking out with a syringe. Rather than explaining what it was supposed to do, he just made straight for the table the Moogle was on and jabbed the syringe into the creature’s neck with such finesse that it seemed like he was so used to this kind of thing that his body worked on auto pilot. “There, he’ll wake up in five,” He put the syringe down on his desk and then casually walked past Hope, “Enjoy the rest of your evening kiddos!”
Serah for her part just stared at Mog, then at Kazusa, at Hope, and finally at Mog again. Had he really given him something that would fix him? Or had he just finished his experiment without either Hope or Serah knowing the difference? She was about to call him back in just in case Mog didn’t wake up and this was just another trick, but then Mog slowly started to stir, and Serah could only sigh in relief. It seemed like he’d actually done what he said he’d do this time. The pinkette still wanted to hurt the scientist, but now that Mog seemed to be doing alright, she could suppress those urges with relative ease. “Mog, are you alright?” the pinkette asked softly as she scooped her tiny friend up in her arms and hugged him slightly. Aside from a drowsy ‘Kupo’, he didn’t really say anything else. But that was alright, he didn’t have to talk now, so long as he was alright, that was all that mattered to the younger Farron.
“It’s okay Mog, just rest. You’ll be fine,” Serah turned back to Hope and shook her head slowly, “Can you believe that guy? How does he get away with these things?” the world would never know. With a sincere smile, she nodded her head once towards her blond friend, “Thank you so much for the help Hope, I wouldn’t have known what to do if you hadn’t come with me.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Words: 938
Tagged: Hope
Location: The dance
Outfit: >>>This<<<
Notes: We can probably end this one in a few posts, unless you had some things you wanted to do still?

[Hope Estheim]

Perhaps Hope really, really needed to talk to some authority at the school about Kazusa and inform them that he was not fit at all to serve as one of the head scientists at a school with children. How had they not noticed thus far, though? Obviously he wasn't particularly stealthy when it came to his propensity to capture subjects against their will and hold them for experiments, so someone outside of Queen and whoever he'd captured for the experiments should have clearly noticed something... For all this school did right, it certainly did have some odd ways about certain facets of the school's operations. Again, it wasn't Hope's place to judge, but a man who captured people or even a sentient creature like Mog against their will crossed teh line from simply an oddity to a question of human rights... Meaning that every human had the right to avoid being used as a guinea pig instead of being taken as one by an authority figure like the school's foremost scientist.

Hope wouldn't have been remotely surprised if Kazusa had some sort of escape hatch in the storage room he disappeared into, but what with him mumbling so much at least they could know he was still within earshot. He glanced to Serah with an annoyed look, before the "scientist" emerged again with a syringe, having nothing to say until he'd already gotten to Mog. Hope would have protested about just sticking the next thing into the creature, but he wouldn't have known what was right or wrong for a moogle, so instead he just sat down on his tongue and waited. Then Kazusa announced his success and casually walked out, giving Hope another reason to sigh in frustrated disbelief that a man like that could be free to walk the school. With him gone, though, Hope could move back over to Mog and check him again to ensure Kazusa hadn't done anything further to harm him instead of administering something that would revive him. He still seemed to be normal, though, his little headpiece still glowing with its magical sheen. Still...

Okay...he was moving. That was as good of a sign and indication he was alright as anything for Hope. And he could speak, as well, if faintly. Hope's shoulders rolled down slightly in relief as he watched Serah pick the little creature back up. At her words, he shook his head, looking off at the hallway Kazusa had disappeared into. "I'll have to talk to Queen again and let her know if she wants me to help convince someone at the school that he's no scientist, she'll have backup..." Not any that deserved to be respected among a group of people as prestigious as those at this school, at least, where the best of the best both in talent and in mindset. He...didn't seem to fit.

Hope gave Serah a nod at her thanks. Yep, this was one mystery solved, and thankfully it hadn't turned into a problem as he'd been expecting it to. Not a permanent problem, anyway. Their night was somewhat disrupted, though, and so Hope scratched at his chin and spoke. "Would you like to head back to the party?", he asked, before looking to Mog, "Or should I walk you back to your room?"

Words - 596
Muse - Great!
Notes - I think that's fine! The shortness should tell I didn't have anything to add. XD[/size]

[Serah Farron]

When she’d first arrived at this school, Serah had been impressed by how professional everyone was, both the school’s faculty as well as its students. But now she realized it had only been the surface she’d looked at, when you dug deeper, there were things that just made you shake your head in disappointment. No place was perfect, but this supposed scientist just brought the school’s level down from an A+ to a C at best. How was he allowed to walk around freely and do stuff like this? No matter how hard the pinkette racked her brain, she just couldn’t find an answer to that question. Sure, she understood that despite his weird and offensive behavior, he was probably an intelligent man that provided a service here at the peristylium, but he couldn’t be so amazingly brilliant that it made his behavior acceptable. Surely there were other scientists who could do what he did who did know when they were crossing a line somewhere. Serah shook her head at the entire situation and just hugged her friend again before turning around and facing Hope, “You really should… what he’s doing is just wrong, and I’m fairly certain it’s illegal too,” Mog made another drowsy noise that made Serah frown, how could anyone take someone as adorable as Mog and strap him to a table and stick needles and whatnot in him just to test a theory? The younger Farron felt herself get angry again, Kazusa had really dodged a bullet by leaving, because if he’d still been here… “And if that doesn’t work, I’ll be sure to kick him so hard that he’ll think twice next time before taking someone against their will,” she hissed irritably as she patted Mog’s head. Nobody touched her loved ones without having to pay for it, that was for sure. Though Serah usually didn’t resort to violence (that was more up her sister’s alley), she would gladly make an exception in cases like these.
A soft smile replaced her feelings of frustration when Hope asked about what she wanted to do next. Having another drink would be nice, because Etro only knew she could use one right about now, but the school didn’t serve alcohol, so it would be kind of pointless anyway; apple juice definitely wouldn’t help calm her down. Besides, Mog needed to rest in a quiet place, and there was no way she was leaving him alone after tonight. “I think we’ve seen enough excitement for one night,” she told him with a smile as she also glanced down at the Moogle in her arms. “So I think we’ll go with your ‘back to our room’ suggestion.” With that said, she took a few steps towards the exit of the room. Hopefully Kazusa was long gone, because if she ran into him on the way to her room, she was certain she wouldn’t be able to suppress the urge to kick him somewhere he really didn’t want to be kicked.

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Words: 500
Tagged: Hope
Location: The dance
Outfit: >>>This<<<
Notes: Fin~