The worst hide and seek...

[youjustlivehere]

The rooftop tiles felt rough under Greeds feet. Scraping his foot back and forth for a while the man found the sensation interesting. However as the suns rays began to cast light on the building he knew the time had come. Carefully then he slipped back down into the upper window of his 'Nest' in Dublith. Hard to believe he'd managed to travel all that way in a single night. But then if he'd stayed in Rush Valley there wouldn't have been much of a challenge.

The callenge. That was the important thing. And the reason why he had left a simple note:

Hey Ninja woman.
I've got something of value to you.
Better find me if you want it back.

~Greed

A bold statement making his role as the culprit exceedingly clear.

Placing the black, red, and white mask on top of his head with a cunning grin the homunculus had nothing to do now but wait.

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[forherprince]

Lan Fan was waiting in the original room, having torn the curtains adorning the window down with every intention of covering him the second he walked through the door, assuming he was still parading around in the nude. Well. Covering him. Binding him. Strangling him. It was all the same, right?

Her face was still red. The damned flush was probably going to stay there for hours after that display and she hated it, just because everyone could see it. Even if hiding her blush had little to do with the purpose of the Yin mask, to her it was one of the most useful attributes. She could disguise almost every other reaction to anything with her mannerisms, but the damn blush was the only thing she couldn't control.

And Greed was right. She could pin point his location in the building and even while berating herself and planning his demise on the fourth floor she was following his movement below her. If he left the building at all she would be on him faster than a hound on the trail of a fox.

[youjustlivehere]

Pants on and he slid a light jacket over his arms. Hey, I haven't worn this since-- Greed shook his head, cutting off that train of thought. This was no time to be getting nostalgic! He took a deep breath, as though he were half meditating before bolting to the nearest window and propelling himself out with an impressive burst of speed. And he was running back up in the direction of Rush Valley as he made for the town limits.

[forherprince]

THAT BASTARD--

She felt his ki leave the building and start becoming fainter--did he really think he was going to lose her? He didn't have the advantage of a giant philosopher's stone beneath the ground masking his ki this time.

Without second thought she leapt out the window and across to the next building, springing between ledges to get to the roof before giving chase. If he thought he would escape then he was dead wrong.

[youjustlivehere]

She had to be following him now, as the scenery became a bit of a blur around him the man veered off the main road and up into the scraggly wilderness that would soon turn into the dry rocky mesas leading up to Rush Valley. He knew the area all too well and had a certain fondness for it. Just a little ways up there was an outlet from a larger water source, and beyond that a glorified shed that he laughingly referred to as his 'cabin'. That was as good a place as any to end the game and there were a few trees around that almost made it seem 'foresty'.

The stream was easy enough to ford. Even when the thing flooded the depth had never reached more than 4 feet. And while logically he knew that he couldn't wash away his Ki the way he could with his scent Greed couldn't help going through the water anyway.

[forherprince]

Greed was only a minute or so ahead of her. Fortunately she had impressive speed and stamina, so he didn't get much further. Sprinting after him she cleared the stream in one strong bound, honing in on him.

[youjustlivehere]

Oh she was definitely there. He'd hopped up to the top of a tree behind the shack but he knew that there were only seconds to spare before she unleashed her glorious wrath upon him. Out of habit the man shielded his hand up to the elbows, though he found for the first time that his inability to choose whether to have claws or not was an inconvenience. He was at a disadvantage against her in so many ways, and somehow that made things exciting. No risk, no reward I guess Greed thought to himself, his breathing shallow and excited as he wondered just what direction she was going to come from.

[forherprince]

She was not afraid of Greed, and ultimately she knew he intended her no harm--and so she did not even stop to consider any other plan other than to charge head long toward him.

Coming around the shack her eyes locked on him, her voice rising angrily even as she leaped into the trees as well, bounding from one limb to the next to reach his same height.

"GREED--," she stopped just before him, chest heaving from the sprint there, her teeth bared and her eyes practically glowing with how angry she was. "Give it back."

[youjustlivehere]

Hand casually placed on his chin in thought, Greed smiled at the woman, his voice taunting in the deliberate tone he used. "Actually" He began, the tree rocking softly in a gust of wind that passed by "I've grown kind of attached to it. And you know how I get when I decide I like something!" His grin broadened as one shield coated hand raised, pointing first his finger at the woman, and then ashe spoke moving to direct his thumb at himself.

"So if you want it back. You're going to have to come over here and take it!"

And just for a little extra incentive, Greed reached up to the top of his head and slowly began to pull the mask down over his face.

[forherprince]

Lan Fan growled from her place across from him, the fire in her eyes seeming to burn brighter as he started to pull the mask down--and just like that she leaped across to the same limb, waiting only a split second to find her center and balance her weight before striking out with one of her hands, teeth bared in anger and irritation.

[youjustlivehere]

As soon as he heard that sound Greed knew he had to stop what he was doing because she was definitely coming his way now. He let go of the mask only to discover that he was just a split second too late. As the object fell down the rest of the way it crossed his eyes just in time to see the palm of Lan Fan's hand, which slammed into the mask. The force of the blow sent Greed plummeting off the top of the tree and down onto the ground with a noise that would have probably meant hospital time for anyone else.

He didn't move. The mask was sturdy and so unharmed as it lay across his face, only slightly askew. Content to remain where he was, the homunculus moved not a muscle as he anticipated the young woman following him down to claim her prize.

[forherprince]

Lan Fan paused where she was, half shocked that he'd just fallen like that and also with the distinct thought of 'that was it!?' going through her mind as she looked down to him in the brush.

She jumped down, landing gracefully like a cat nearby, striding over to snatch her mask back before putting her feet at either side of his head and sitting down hard on his chest, glowering down at him.

"What was the point of all of this, Greed?" she growled, scowling down at him.

[youjustlivehere]

The small gust of wind that brushed against Greeds face as the mask was snatched away felt cool. Greed hadn't realized how hot the thing could get and it surprised him. For a long moment he just lay there, staring up at her with a slight, cocky grin until finally he folded his arms up under the back of his head and odly enough began to chuckle absurdly.

"The point?" He asked back at her before shaking his head "None at all Ninja Girl. I was just bored and needed a little excitement! And what can I say. I--" He stopped for a moment and internally cursed his incessant need for honesty, breaking his eye contact to glance to the side "I missed havin' you guys around."

[forherprince]

Some note of touched emotion that she would never admit to crossed her face and she turned her eyes away as color rose on her cheeks again. "There were simpler ways of going about that, you know." Ways that didn't involve both of them risking bodily harm.

And then she scowled again, turning back and actually smacking him lightly upside the head. "And why were you naked!?" she snapped, going even pinker thinking about it. "Or do I not even want to know?"

[youjustlivehere]

"Yeah maybe. But they wouldn't have been as fun." He told her boldly. The weight was interesting and comfortable to him. Really he couldn't remember if anyone had ever actually sat on him before. Not in that way at least. And even when she clunked him on the head he just let it roll to the side a little, pretending for the moment that he was a bobble head doll.

Her question about his clothes caused him to regain some of his energy though "Well what do you expect?" He asked her "You wouldn't have been surprised at all if I'd worn clothes. I had to get the drop on you somehow!" That was his brilliant strategy. Startle her with nudity and then wing it from there.

[forherprince]

Well.

To be fair, it technically turned out to be a good strategy because she sure as hell was thrown off by it. But she wasn't going to tell him that. In answer her jaw moved a couple times without sound... before she finally just stood up, still pink and grunting another 'idiot' at him.

[youjustlivehere]

"You keep saying that" he commented coolly. "But I'm not sure of your conviction to that opinion." He lay there for a moment longer after she stood up. The ground was pretty comfortable after his body had healed the damage caused by the fall. And while he didn't mention anything just yet, Greed did think the young woman's blushing was kind of adorable. Even if she was only doing so because his body looked like Lings.

He sighed. "Maybe I should geta haircut" the man sat up at last and he couldn't help but consider Lan Fan's facial features. He didn't think something as small as changing his hair should be a problem but with her and her fixation on Lings features he couldn't be sure.

[forherprince]

It was a good thing he didn't call attention to her blush, because she was liable to turn and kick him for it, considering how much she hated it.

She turned back to him, expression confused over the sudden topic change, "What for?"

Did his hair have something to do with him being an idiot?

[youjustlivehere]

"Because you seem to have this problem separating me from the Prince." Greed addressed the question in his usual blunt manner as he finally pulled himself up onto his feet. He could feel a slight irritation on his back so he casually slid the black jacket off of his body, his nose wrinkling just a bit as he looked at the bits of dirt and little blades of grass clinging to the back of the clothing article. A thorough shake down took care of the problem for the most part.

Almost as an after thought, or maybe an extension of his hair cut contemplation, Greed slung the coat over his shoulder with one hand and began to awkwardly comb similar debris out of his long black ponytail with the free one. After several passes with his fingers he halted as his progress was hindered by a twig that had become tangled up in the mess of hair.

"This isn't exactly helping things either" the homnculus added irritably.

[forherprince]

She snorted, "I assure you, I do not. You are far more obnoxious." It had been quite a while since she had issue separating them. But the game completely changed once nudity was involved. She looked over as he battled with the debris from his fall... and it took her a moment to react.

Maybe she had a bit of trouble separating them after all, because she hesitated before moving to help. "Here," she said flatly before reaching up to help work the twig (which did seem to be impossibly tangled in there) free. "You are troublesome."

[youjustlivehere]

Greed rolled his eyes, then exhaled with a soft grin. "Come on now. I shared a body with the guy I can assure you he's way more obnoxious than I am!" For a moment he turned his gaze toward her and then gave a small nod. "Alright" He said at first but quickly his tone changed as the twig decided not to come unstuck so easily

"OwowowowOW!" Greeds exclamation came in quick succession until finally he squatted down so that she didn't have to reach up to try and assist him. "The only thing troublesome here is this damn twig" He complained loudly.

[forherprince]

"He is not obnoxious, he lacks tact." Oop, did she just say that out loud? YOU DIDN'T HEAR THAT, GREED. Well, whether he heard it or not, it was almost drowned out by his childish outburst. She grumbled something in Xingese under her breath as he moved down, moving to work from the bottom up. "I do not know how you managed this..."

[youjustlivehere]

There was a long pause before he couldn't contain himself anymore. He had to at least give a hearty chuckle at her sudden admission. The man made an expression of mild irritation as she muttered something in Xingese. He never did get the chance to learn that from Ling. And of course now she was chastising him for the twig.

"It's not like I did that intentionally!" he huffed, managing just barely to keep still as she worked on his hair until he finally had to wonder aloud "Wouldn't this be easier if you untied my ponytail?"

[forherprince]

She didn't respond right away, concentrating on the tangles. She pauses a moment to consider it. "It's a toss up," she answered. "It might get even more tangled..." But that said, she was reaching up to the tie anyway. Worst case scenario she would hear him complain more.

[youjustlivehere]

A mild grin spread across his face, an almost involuntary thing. "Well I guess you should do it then" He told her. No matter how hard he tried it seemed the man could not resist taking a gamble. When she'd told him the situation could go either way she may as well have handed him a random poker hand and 500$ worth of chips. And more than that; he was really kind of enjoying the attention right then.

[forherprince]

Lan Fan snorted at his response, wondering if he thought this through at all, but then it didn't really matter all that much. A moment later and the tie was free, his hair falling like a thick black sheet down his back--other than all the strands holding onto that twig for dear life, of course.