Day Tripper [OPEN]

[Kaidan [3837]]

Why was it so windy!? It was the day that she planned on putting that silly billboard up for the emporium. How could a ragdoll, not even seven inches tall hope to put up a sign about eight by four inches on top of a hut about eleven inches tall, in such wind? It wasn't strong as in hurricane strong, but if she even tried to carry that big index card in that wind, it would probably carry her. And she'd probably land in Traitor territory, or even straight to the Factory. That wouldn't put a bounce in her step at all.
"Kore wa hidoidesu," the ragdoll let loose from her lips with notable frustration. She was sitting in front of the window looking at the cloud filled sky, hugging her knees to her soft satin covered chest. There wasn't even any rain to make her feel better. "Ah. What dah flip am I supposed to do now?"
It was a good question. If she couldn't put up a sign for her store, who would know what her place was supposed to be? Aside from being the sketchiest looking ragdoll hut in the Shops area with a sunlit sky badly painted on one side and a rain storm on the other. (She still had yet to paint it over again with waterproof acrylic!) Of course, when nobody knows where your shop is, there won't be any customers. And with no customers, she'd have to find something else to do other than sit in her hut all day. Something constructive... and not boring, hopefully.

Then, it came to her. She'd be the billboard herself!!

Quickly, the young ragdoll rushed to the back room of the hut where she began to rummage through the left over pieces of index card. She finally found a couple smaller sized pieces, and then she went straight to the writing desk where the make shift pen she won in a bet along with the large(in ragdoll perspective) ink container she kept next to the desk. With a gleeful look of anticipation, she dipped the pen in the ink and began to write... The first word was done, and the girl looked at it over again to make sure she got it right. Also to make sure it wasn't in-
"Kanji!? No!" she exclaimed, before she scribbled out the Japanese character she wrote by mistake. "Watashi no warui! Hahaha-Ahem! My bad~, hahahahaha!" the ragdoll then stated with quite a giggle at herself as she flipped the piece of index card and this time wrote the lettering in English...

...When she was done with both pieces of index card as far as writing goes, she basked in the glory of her accomplishment for a moment as she read from as far away as she could get in the tiny room the sign she made.

"Octopus Garden"

With prideful strides, she went back to the supply room and pulled out two pieces of twine. She then poked a couple holes appropriately through both card pieces, then attached them both as skillfully as possible. Her backup billboard was complete, and she donned it and looked in the mirror shard for final approval on appearance before the satin covered ragdoll nodded in satisfaction and exited the hut. It was the middle of winter, so there might be less people going about. That didn't stop the stitchpunk girl from putting on her best smile and start crying to any passerby.
"Heyyyy! Come to Octopus Garden! Get yourself nice spirit charm! Get item that will spook your friends!" // "Fortune telling! See what fate has in store for you! Only at Octopus Garden! First time for free~!" // "Your favorite hang out spot haunted? I can calm spirits down just by talking to them! Low price medium, only at Octopus Garden!"

This went on for a good fifteen minutes, interchanging pitch lines every now and then. After the fifteen minutes though, and with no customers so far, ragdoll 3837(as indicated by the number along her left arm) had lost all interest and enthusiasm. Her shoulders slouched over, and the card pieces touched the ground. A mournfully bored look was on the girl's face, even as she continued to call out.
"Come to Octopus Garden," she began to repeat, without any cheer in her voice. "...Really great stuff."

...


Before a half hour past, she just quit.
"Aaeh! Dare ga kokyaku o hitsuyōdesu ka!?" she exclaimed before removing the billboard hung in her shoulders, threw to the ground, and stomped off a few paces toward her hut before calming herself down a little as she made her way back to sitting in front of the windowsill in the same position she was in to begin with.
"Kore wa-egh!-This sucks."

3837 was not intent on staying in this rut. There had to be something she could do aside from rotting in her patron-less hut. A brighter side to everything was possible, even in the darkest of times; so thought 3837 at least. If she couldn't find the positive side at home, she'd find it elsewhere.

Perhaps a midweek story telling? At the shambles! Yes. It had to be there since the Northeast Shops were so depressing to 3837 at the moment. Without a second thought, 3837 grabbed her spear and once again headed out the door. She didn't even notice stepping on the sign she worked on and was so pleased with earlier. It wasn't a long trip to the regal hall of the Rogues. What on earth would Columbine think about the visit so suddenly? Technically, 3837 was supposed to be waiting in the Shops territory for someone to come to her with announcement of when her welcoming trial was to take place. It sort of slipped the girl's mind, however.

...

It didn't seem much time at all, yet still all too long before the familiar sight of the zoo came to meet 3837. It had been some time ago indeed, since she gave her first story telling. The looks on all the faces were all that the girl cared to remember most about that time. Especially Columbine's. Great expectations came over 3837 like a calm wave of electricity as she neared the gates. A bright cheery smile remained on her pinkish satin coated face.

[Dagen]

It was another somewhat dreary and uneventful day in the shambles; everyone was either hidden away in shelter or off visiting other stitchpunks, leaving the current area more or less devoid of movement beyond the occasional gust of wind that sent snow and debris dancing across the ground. For reasons unexplained Dagen had taken up position inside one of the few, broken down cages that littered the Shambles. True, due to his size, and stitchpunks in general, it hardly kept anything under the size of a dog captive anymore. One would have little trouble merely waltzing in and out between the now slightly rusted bars of the cage. The sunlight, partially obscured from winter clouds still managed to cast enough light for the floor of the cage, as well as it's contents to be decorated in a pattern of alternating vertical lines of shadow and light.

Dagen himself had cozied up to one of the skeletons of the creature that had once prowled within, forever encased within it's prison. He was leaning against the side of it's great skull, which had only recently, courtesy of him and a recently discovered permanent marker, been given big bushy eyebrows and a full set of lovely eyelashes to surround the now empty eye sockets.

...heh..imagine of one of those skull-things decided to use this one as their head he laughed to himself. No doubt the intimidation factor would be reduced by several levels even with it's monstrous power. He half wondered if he left it somewhere if it would be taken for use...if the Fabricatior cared if his minions had embarrassing scrawling on their faces, then decided against it. The last thing anyone needed was any way for another skull-beast to appear, no matter how silly they looked. He sighed and stretched out, back supported by the skull and..then out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of something...something coloured and moving just a little ways outside the cage he was currently in.

He leaned forward, scrutinizing the scene before him, and indeed..the color he saw was a figure, a ragdoll by the looks of it. From here he couldn't tell if they were familiar at all but since when did that matter? With only a moment's hesitation wherein he decided how to approach this, he called out at the top of his voice to them. Not in a regular voice though mind you, in a bizarre sort of animalistic shout that half resembled a dying bird and a baby feline.

What the hell? May as well suit the zoo and cage setting right?

[Kaidan [3837]]

The Shambles were actually more pleasing to Kaidan than a lot of other places she had been to. The lack of humans specifically being as connected to the place as animals were made it so that any lingering human spirit being there at all was incredibly rare. The mere bones of typical creatures that they were didn't bother Kiadan in the slightest. In a way, it really was rather sad how they were all dead and no longer free to roam the world. At the very least, they didn't die like several humans did in such a dark way that the feelings of wrath, depression, envy, or whatever else tied down ones spirit to something or someplace. It was rather more peaceful the way such animals died, and didn't leave any regrets or what not to follow their departure of this life. Of course, it wasn't like she would typically find the bones lying around as something to fool around with or even look at for too long. It was kind of a respect thing, yet more so to try and keep the subject of death of ones mind. Kaidan just passed cage after cage, minding her own business and still electrified slightly with anticipation for giving a story telling once more in this place. Just as she was passing one cage in particular, a very odd sound emerged from within it that stopped the girl in her tracks.
"Nandesuka?" she said quietly in question to what the sound was exactly. It wasn't like any sound Kaidan had ever heard before. It wasn't a verbal cry of any typical stitchpunk, Machine, or ghost alike as far as she could tell. The sixth sense that Kaidan had with tracking down wandering spirits gave no indication as far as there being any such apparitions within the area. Was someone playing a joke?

Kaidan let out a sudden gasp.
Rather, was this some sort of phenomena where an inhuman animal actually left behind a ghost? After all. If it was possible, how could Kaidan be sure she could sense it at all since it was a spirit of an animal and not that of a human, that of which she was more sure of her abilities to sense the presence of? The thought of such a possibility made her optics go wide. After a moment then, Kaidan decided to try and get closer to where the sound came from.
"Helloooo! No ghost should come from animals! Be at peace!" she implored the "spirit" as she made her way into the cage. Then Kaidan noticed the stranger... sitting up against the bones of an animal. "Oh. Don't mind me~. I'm a medium, and I just heard an animal's spirit cry out," she assured the stranger as she continued to approach the bones. What she noticed drawn on them disturbed her greatly.
"Nan hanten!?" let out Kaidan as soon as she saw it. She then poked her head around the skull looking at Dagen. "Hey! Hey you! What the flip? You do this? No wonder animal spirit cries out! You desecrate animal grave!"
And so began a tirade that she continued before a response could even be given.
"Haji! Anata ga ima sugu koko de shindanara, anata no karada ni orokana koto o kaku dareka o shitai ndarou!? Sono mazushī dōbutsu wa, kore made sono yōna shochi ni ataisuru tame ni nani o shimashita ka!? Hito no shinkei! Ikutsu ka stitchpunks ga tanjō shite wa ikemasen! Watashi wa chōdo ima anata o korosu koto ga dekiru! Tameiki!"
Whatever it was that Kaidan was saying in the foreign language was clearly harsh scolding and otherwise... heated words. Other than that, she made no indication of becoming violent with the stranger.
"Nani ga anata jishin no tame ni iwanakereba naranai nodesu ka? Dono yōna iiwake ga arimasu ka?" the girl then asked a little more calmly while expecting a quick answer to follow, yet... still in Japanese.

[Dagen]

The figure in his field of vision stopped in their tracks, presumably in response to his abnormal call. He himself didn't bother moving; he was far too comfortable right where he was. The skull provided just enough shelter from the cold air for it to be tolerable, and the ground where he sat was devoid of any snow, as he had brushed it aside before attempting to take a seat. Nothing was worse then a wet backside, especially when it was made out of fabric. No, if the figure was curious enough and wanted to see the source of the noise, they would have to come to him.

And come they did. Perhaps a little hesitant at first but it was only natural. Soft footfalls emanating from the approaching figure, still silent...and then, suddenly without warning a shout reverberated around the previously silent cage. And what words they were! Dagen almost had to stuff his own fist in his mouth to stop himself from cracking up on the spot. What was this? Spirit animals? Be at peace?

He raised his hand in response to her greeting, and was about to respond when she beat him to it, first shouting out something completely incomprehensible, then, the nerve of her, insulting his beautiful handiwork! He'd spent a whole three minutes on that, and here she was, berating him, calling it desecration and - for the love of god, she was still at it, only this time back in that jumble of words he couldn't understand. Presumably it was a different language, but he had no idea which.

And so he waited as she ranted at him, watching her with raised brow, a slight smile and all the while tapping a finger expectantly on his thigh. When finally..FINALLY it seemed she had finished, he waited an extra ten seconds or so just to be sure. She had seemed most terrible flustered. He didn't move from his seated position, so he was looking up at her, neck craned at an awkward angle so he could see her face properly.

"Well damn, someones not happy with little ol' me. Don't get your panties in a knot now." he spoke in light, playful tones and leaned lazily back against the skull, placing his hands behind his head. "And I'd hardly call that desecration. It's an art form you just don't seem to appreciate." He shot her an impish grin. "Besides, I think it looks rather cute, don't you?" He made no mention that it was he who had made the animal call. Honestly it was hysterical that she thought it was an animal spirit and he would let her believe that for as long as he wished, or until she figured it out herself.

[Kaidan [3837]]

Kaidan's optics narrowed on Dagen at the word "panties", which even though she never wore any, and spoke slightly broken English, she wasn't stupid enough not to know what it meant in his phrase. After coming closer to the stranger, she crossed her arms while holding her spear aloft in one hand. Following the grin that came on Dagen's face and his final comment, Kaidan looked to lose her cool again. She herself shot her spear out with one hand until the edge was pointed between Dagen's optics.
"Kawaii!? Eghdgh! Cute? I kill you now and use oil to draw a mustache on you! That would be cute. No?"
Her look remained intently and serious for a moment after threatening the stranger. But then Kaidan's glance turned back to the animal skull... and a smile grew. She even started cracking up a little while withdrawing her spear.
"Hmh-hmh-hmh! I guess it does look like, ehhh. Improvement. Maybe animal spirit cry out in joy?"
After stating this, Kaidan spun on a heel and walked back in front of the animal's skull. She gazed at the bodily remains with a light smile. She then lifted her free hand to her chin, and looked upwards in thought towards something. After a shrug of her shoulders, Kaidan then pointed her spear down and began to inscribe a word in large kanji in the dirt just in front of the skull.

'楽しい'

"Heiwa, tsukareta ryokō-sha ni iku." she then said quietly after she finished. She then closed her optics and bowed her head in respect to the deceased. "There. Now animal have proper fun'ral. Spirit should be at rest. <3My job here is done!<3"
And with her last cheerful statement, Kaidan spun around again, and began to walk back out of the cage and carry on to the inner parts of the Shambles.

[Neodymium [144]]

Neo was feeling exceptionally bored today. There was nothing to fix, no one to talk to or trade for trinkets and metal scraps with, and he certainly wasn't going to head out into the Emptiness again just because he was bored.
Somehow, the turquoise-haired stitchpunk had been led by his wandering feet to the shambles, where he leaned against the rusting metal bars of a cage and tried desperately not to look over his shoulder at whatever manner of skeleton might be trapped within the bars. Neo didn't really understand why he had decided to come to the Shambles in the first place. He usually tried to avoid the place, because of all the skeletons. But, for a change of scenery, it wasn't the worst idea ever. There was something peaceful about it. It was quiet here, but Neo wasn't so sure he liked that very much, at the moment. Just when he was deciding that the place was too boring and too cold and too creepy, he spotted another stitchpunk making their way toward him, past the warped frames of cages and the piles of bones Neo wouldn't allow his optics to focus on.
As the figure came closer, he saw that it appeared to be female, and that it appeared to be wearing tin foil on its head.
Oh well, he mused to himself, shrugging. At least tin foil is better than turquoise.
When the ragdoll had gotten close enough for his soft voice to be heard, he waved a hand in the air to get her attention.
"Hello. I was wondering when I would meet someone here. It seems that not many people are out and about today." He called out to the purple-swathed ragdoll. Then he paused and squinted, failing to recognize this particular stitchpunk. "Say, I haven't seen you around before. What's your name?" He inquired, surprised by how outgoing and sociable he sounded.
The things boredom can do to a person. he thought jokingly.

[Dagen]

The spear, he had to admit was unexpected. Sure the she-doll had gone on blabbering about god knows what for the past minute, but she hadn’t shown any sign of hostility. That is until a potentially dangerous and pointy object was thrust into his face. How had he missed that? Ah well, best he could currently do was play it up as casual and unthreatening as he could and hope he didn’t end up with an extra hole in an undesirable place. Just in case though he reached up and gently curled his fingers around the shaft of the spear, readying himself to jerk it aside if anything was attempted.

Then as she spoke it all made sense. Another scorned person. It seemed wherever he went there were angry people who seemed to have a problem with the things he said. How unfortunate. He shrugged in response, a one shouldered sort of gesture as the other arm was preoccupied with the spear.

“Sure. Draw me one. From what I remember I never could grow one as a human, though it would be nice if you left that little tidbit about me dying out of the picture, yeah?” He chuckled, and much to his (secret) relief, the spear was drawn back, and he allowed his hand to drop to his side once more. This girl here was a little odd, as just as suddenly as she had begun chastising him for his “art”, she was now laughing and seeming to find it amusing. Seriously…what the heck? Such opposing and contradictory reactions in a few second span of time. It was kind of awesome to be honest; he liked odd as it was usually more interesting to be around, despite “odd” having just about punched him a new optic hole.

As much as he didn’t want to, he forced his legs to move and he shifted himself first onto his knees then up onto his feet, then made his way over to her, nodding in agreement. Inwardly he was laughing again. So she really did believe that his god-awful animal call had been a spirit of an animal? Ha, let her believe it. It would be his own secret amusement. Casually he strode up to stand alongside her as she scratched something, a symbol into the dirt.

“..so you have taste after all’” he grinned hugely, then, much to his astonishment and frustration she turned to leave…..just like that. What was he, chopped liver? “OI!” he exclaimed, hopping after he, though already a little ways behind. He had stood there in annoyance for a few seconds, allowing her to already get halfway to the cage bars before he had even reacted in movement. The pink stitchpunk had already vanished from view, though she couldn’t be far…she had just been in sight seconds ago…then ah there! He spotted her shiny head as he drew nearer, and she was now accompanied by something luminescent-no...not glowing. It was just an incredibly bright shade of blue that seemed to radiate light as the sun hit it. Hmm…interesting. He didn’t know how he had missed them of all people…presumably he was preoccupied with pinky.
“HEY! Pinky! That was rude. Shove your stick in my face then leave straight off to greet your boyfriend? I’m all for getting up close and personal like that but seriously…” he huffed as though highly insulted, not minding at all that there was now a third party listening in.

[Kaidan [3837]]

As Kaidan made her way, something definitely caught her attention out of the corner of her optics. It was the sight of that hair on the ragdoll's head more than the hand he was gesturing with. She let out a giggle while giving back a firm yet quite feminine wave of her own hand. As Kaidan approached this new stranger, she listened to him but kept most of her focus on those gorgeous bright colored locks.
"Ahh! You meet people all the time! No biggie," was her remark in reply at first. Then when her name was asked about, 3837 made a dramatic pose, pointing arbitrarily in the distance with her finger and slamming the blunt end of her spear into the ground next to her. "My name is Kaidan~, mere mortal! Hm-hm-hm!" she said to introduce herself with a lighthearted chuckle at the sound 'mere mortal' made coming out of her mouth as Kiadan made contrast in tone between saying her name in a high, cutesy, airy and almost flirtatious quality, while 'mere mortal' came out in a deep, hoarse, and dark tone of voice. It was more apparent where her real attention was placed when she came a few steps even closer and her optics were clearly focused on the threads of highlighter blue atop the stitchpunk cranium that stood just a fifth of an inch lower than her own tin foil covered head.
"I haven't seen hair good looking like that since... I don't know. Can I... touch?" Kaiden then asked while raising her free hand in the direction of the hair in question. Just before her hand could reach for what she desired, the other stranger from before cried out to her. The term 'pinky' made a strange expression come on Kaidan's face, yet she wasn't so shaken up by it as he at least didn't call her 'tin wig'. Momentarily, she glanced back at Dagen approached. The fact that he called Neo her 'boyfriend' put the idea in her head, and while she wasn't actually looking to throw herself at Neo(even though he was particularly handsome looking with that hair) she decided to play along.
"My job with animal spirit was done. What more you want?" the girl of a stitchpunk said before suddenly getting very close beside Neo, and putting her arm around his. "Now, if you don't mind. I'm going for walk with Mr. boyfriend now. Just us, on lonnnng romantic stroll. No stragglers. Sayōnara~"
As she stated this, Kaidan then began to drag Neo along with her between the cage bars and off towards the inner Shambles. She entertained sending Dagen a blown kiss, except it was done with her spear hand so it was kind of fumbled up a little. Then Kaidan went as far as clasping Neo's copper hand with her free hand, trying to play the part of them being lovers(and doing a pretty good job on her end of the role play at least).

[Neodymium [144]]

"Um...uh....I" Neo stuttered unintelligibly as Kaidan the stitchpunk dragged him along with her deeper into the Shambles. She had one arm wrapped tightly around his shoulder, and had even managed to clumsily intertwine her fingers with those of his bulky copper hand. Neo was beginning to think that this stithpunk might be a little on the eccentric side, what with the "mere mortal" joke and the trying to touch his hair and all. Oh well, at least she was nice. Besides, the Shambles seemed a little less scary with someone by his side, even if that someone was an unfamiliar ragdoll with tin foil on her head. Any of that aside, Neo was still incredibly uncomfortable. He wasn't used to interacting with people, and often just a brief conversation was enough to nearly stop his breathing. Right now, he was certain that, if stitchpunks possessed any sort of circulatory system, he would be blushing as red as the numbers on his side."So, uh...what was that about, back there?" Neo asked, gesturing back the way they'd come as Kaidan half-guided, half-dragged him through the Shambles. He felt that he deserved some sort of explanation as to why this stitchette decided to get all cuddly with him. He was "Mr. Boyfriend", after all. The other stitchpunk had seemed familiar to Neo, but he couldn't remember where they might have met before. Furthermore, why was Kaidan playing along with his assumption that she and Neo were...you know, together? Should he be flattered, or should he be angry that Kaufan had only gone with him to get away from that other ragdoll? A little voice inside of him said yes, but he'd long since learned to ignore that part of himself. Well, most of the time, that is.

[Dagen]

The whole while, as the two exchanged words with one another, he just stood there, incredulous, not used at all to being ignored. Now it wasn't just once, but twice! This only further fueled his desire to interact with, not just the girl now but the neon haired boy too. Screw giving them privacy. They would talk to him and they would like it...or at least he would, which was more the idea then anything else. He also doubted they were boyfriend and girlfriend, maybe friends, but the look on the boys face had suggested they were not that intimate. Watching their retreating backs, he figured he could have just gone barreling after them like some irritating child or puppy, but that would be too easy for them to just keep walking. So he formulated another idea. It was funny what he would do just to garner someones attention, but the very fact these two had ignored him inevitably made him want to bother them even more.

Dagen turned back the way he had come as soon as he took into account the direction in which the pair was heading, and then he himself darted back in the direction of the "cuteified" skull. However, rather then taking up position there once more he made a turn to the left just as he reached it. He darted across the muddied earth, leapt expertly over a couple low lying boulders and hurtled through one of the other sides of the cage, glancing from left to right as a general precaution. One never knew what might rear it's ugly head, and it was always safer then sorry to check the area for nasties before darting free of cover. When he was satisfied that the coast was indeed clear, he circled back around the outside of the cage, to the place where the pair should appear, and attempt to block their path. Though they weren't too far away, they wouldn't be able to see him yet until they were ten feet away at the most, thus they wouldn't be able to pretend they hadn't seen him and casually change direction. Dagen grinned to himself amd gave a little happy bounce as he waited. He almost wanted to thank them for walking off...they just made it ten times more interesting this way.

[Kaidan [3837]]

"Oh, nothing. Don't mind him," Kaidan assured Neo, and after a while the coast was clear yet she still kept her arm around his as they walked. After a moment of peering around looking for any sign of Dagen, she backed away from Neo a little bit just to better make out the numbers on his left side.
"Sooo, One-Forty-Four. What brings you to Shambles? You, ahhh, Rogue? No?" then asked Kaidan, returning to being as close as she was. She released his hand, yet kept her arm snug around Neo's. "And that hair. You wake up with it like that? It really does look good... Although I liked that other guy's hair, too. It looked more natural. Hm-hm-hm!"
It seemed difficult to distinguish who she thought had the better looking hair at this comment, yet it was safe to say that she liked both examples equally enough. Another thing that was becoming even more so prevalent perhaps was the fact that she was totally playing with Neo... as well as Dagen. At least she wasn't sounding heartless about it.

[Neodymium [144]]

((I am completely, profusely sorry about the delay in responding, bros. I was absolutely swamped with school work after vacation. I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive meeee! QAQ))

It was around that precise moment that Neo realized he was being toyed with. The phrase "cat and mouse" drifted through his mind, but he didn't understand what it meant, so he just ignored it, as per usual. This Kaidan stitchet was totally messing with him, and with Dagen, too. Neo was usually a pretty perceptive guy, so he picked up on these sorts of things. He just couldn't believe he hadn't realized it until now.
That malicious little voice in his head- the one that had been snickering at Neo's severe discomfort around the whole situation-seemed to awake from its lethargic slumber. And whenever that voice awoke, it awoke with a vengeance. His now-free hands clenched into fists, and his shoulders were suddenly free of Kaidan's grip, although he couldn't remember exactly how he'd managed that. A red tinge was creeping over his vision, turning everything blurry. His inner monster was back, and it was mad. A whole lot madder than it should be, given the relatively frivolous situation, said the part of his mind that still held on to some appearance of rationality. He was surprised by how remarkably little he cared about that right now.
"Give it a rest, would you?" He exclaimed, much more sharply than he would have done in normal circumstances. "You can't just...go around doing stuff like that. I may be a nice guy, but I don't exactly appreciate being used as an excuse for you to avoid your problems. I'm a pushover, sure, but I won't just sit back and let you...toy with me for kicks and giggles!" His voice had risen to a shout. But then, realizing with a jolt that he'd probably hurt this young stitchpunk's feelings in a big way, he struggled to get himself under control, and compose his features into a kind, brotherly smile. Instead, they turned out more like a twisted grimace.
"I'm...not really the kind of guy you want to get mad."
And that was when they walked right into Dagen. Of course, they didn't physically walk into him-that was a concept far to awkward and uncomfortable to even think about. However, at some point, they had drifted farther along the path (Neo had probably started to pace around furiously, which he was prone to doing when his anger was threatening to get out of control) and Dagen was standing right there to meet them. It wasn't like they could walk back the way they'd come as if they'd never seen him like "Oh, I just thought that was a lovely spot to turn around and start walking in the exact opposite direction."
In spite of himself, in spite of his bottled-up anger, he somehow found himself smiling, accepting his fate.
He may be annoying as anything, Neo thought. But I've got to give the guy points for persistence.