daemonized | RECOLLE IC CONTACT.

Ardyn's home, thankfully, and so it doesn't take long for him to answer the door. It swings open, and Togusa is greeted by the familiar face.

"Togusa," he says with a small smile, an obvious sort of greeting. He glances at the man, curious as to why he might be visiting -- a social call for the sake of it, he wonders? At some point, however, Ardyn's eyes flicker down to the rectangular-shaped object with a blanket over it. His eyebrows raise, but then he merely looks at his friend again.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Togusa grins in response, he is far too cheerful about this. "Morning, Ardyn. Wanted to check in, and," he reaches down for the carrier, "deliver a slightly late wedding present."

It is far too obvious what is inside, from the way that the carrier is letting out the tiniest of mewling sounds. Togusa offers over the carrier proudly. Peeking in between the bars gets a glimpse of The tiniest orange fluff who at one point had a white ribbon around her neck, but has already figured out how to get it off, and is now chewing at it with one paw holding it down victoriously.

"Shelter named her Ruby."

Oh. Oh no.

Logically, Ardyn knows that he has no need for another cat. It isn't that he doesn't have enough room, or enough time or effort to take care of another kitten, but there are already four in the house. Is five the threshold that one crosses over into Crazy Cat Man Territory?

But more importantly, he's not one-hundred percent sure that Grell would much agree to this. That she had already said that Penelope was the last one they would accept into the house, because four was already too many. He knows that if she was here, she would probably be giving him a disapproving sort of look, or gently tell him that they have no need for another feline, but they will find a good home for this Ruby.

And yet... Ardyn is weak. He possesses a bleeding heart and a love for animals in general, and when the carrier is handed to him, how is it possible to say no to a cute little kitten like Ruby? He can't. He's not made of sterner stuff quite like Grell is.

"Togusa... you didn't have to do this." He really didn't have to. But here they are. "She's precious."

How could anyone resist when those big blue eyes peer up at Ardyn, and the kitten's mouth yawns open wide to let out a very high-pitched mewl? Togusa certainly couldn't when she gave him the exact same look at the shelter. Togusa would be the wrong person to ask about veering into 'Crazy' territory, because the cats rank the lowest on Ardyn's particular behaviors, in his opinion.

"Well, I had to do something for you, it was only right." Cheery. And his tone stays cheery as he breezes on ahead and gives up the ghost. "Our new mutual friend assured me that you really wanted another one." Now, the shape of this might be better revealing itself to Ardyn.

Togusa steps inside a little better. "I wasn't kidding about checking in, though. I had an unexpectedly easy time of it last month, and I know not everybody else did." He looks Ardyn over a little more carefully. "How are you doing?" The question isn't just a formality.

Ushered in, cat carrier still in hand, Ardyn will of course motion for Togusa to follow him to the living room after he closes the door behind him. Already, the other cats are curiously bounding up to them -- they can sense a new kitten in their presence.

"Our new mutual friend?" he echoes, though he is keen enough to quickly put together whom he may be referencing. There is only one person he can think of who would suggest giving himself and Grell another cat -- and not out of the kindness of their heart.

"And I'm doing well enough. Resting and recovering from the little expedition I took."

Not that he has to confirm, but Togusa does verify. "Pitou is...interesting. They were a big help back in Pesgare, but I figured out that showing appreciation and telling them that they are helpful would have been the fastest way to get them to stop. But they did find out things that I wouldn't have been able to."

Togusa takes a knee and sticks out a hand towards the approaching cats, but they are far more interested in this new arrival in their midst than him. Especially when Ruby mewls and starts to try to poke a paw through the carrier holes.

Togusa's eyebrows raise approvingly when Ardyn mentions that he's resting. "Good. I'd love to hear about it. I'm glad I guessed right and those locations became stable, and we can go back there." Bah, he finally looks away from the unresponding cats. "But I get it if nobody else is eager to go back immediately."

"Interesting is one way to put it," he said, purposefully vague. His relationship with Pitou, though not nearly as strained as before, had always been something like walking on eggshells. They were much like the cat they appeared to be; huffy and hissy and fickle, at times.

He smiles at the sight of the cats, but will leave Ruby in the carrier for now. Some time for all the felines to get used to each other while they talk will not go amiss.

"It was unbearably hot in that place. I have no pressing need to return, not just yet. A change of scenery, instead, would be welcome."

Such as finally being back in the city.

"Pesgare was beautiful," Togusa stands and walks away from the cats, okay, let them work it out among themselves. "It's like a trading port and fishing village. The whole pace of the town is slower. But they have a different currency there," Togusa laughs. "We had to literally work off our night's stay at the inn, before we could do anything else, oops."

The smile stays, but the Togusa pauses, thinking. "But the part Pitou helped the most with. There was someone who was trying to buy out the town. He's in custody there, now, but it's another sign pointing to something I've been considering for a while."

He scratches the back of his head nervously. "That is, if you're up for another round of paranoid conspiracy theories, I can give it a rest if it's not welcome."

Hearing about Pesgare was enough to spark his curiosity, even if he had grown tired from his own exploits. It sounded far more... pleasant, at least, than the heat of Respartum, radiating into one's clothing, one's very bones.

"From you? Always. Tell me what that mind of yours has come up with."

There's a particular smile that comes to Togusa's face whenever he gets encouraged by Ardyn, that reflex from back when he was a student that never goes away. If Ardyn thinks it's important enough to spend time on, he must be on to something.

"There has to be a third faction, other than us and Retrospec, that knows about this area and what's happening here. That's the short version."

He takes a seat so he can use his hands to gesture better. "The attempted buy-out was all an act, Pitou found out that what the man was actually after was some source of magic near Pesgare. Something we didn't have the resources to locate ourselves. But he kept referring to 'the four original areas.' So, not only is there more going on here, it's something that another group knows about. It would also explain who was behind the sudden kidnappings that almost dragged me back here instead of staying on mission."

He nodded, for all the Togusa said did not stray from logical deduction. Though the implications were just as confusing as they were disconcerting.

"And what do you think the motivations of this third group might be?"

"And there's the problem," Togusa gestures. "Hard to know for sure. Taking control of the world-regaining process? If it's true that us remembering the lives of these lost souls will help rebuild their worlds? Then I can imagine that if you interfere with the process, you might be able to exert your own will on those new worlds. Change what they're becoming."

"It might not even be that, but that's the worse case scenario I could come up with," Togusa has to admit.

Troublesome, to say the least. And worrying, too, though Ardyn did realize it was just conjecture based off of what observation they had indulged in so far.

"That sounds rather villainous, doesn't it? Exerting one's power over new worlds, and using us as-- what? A resource in order to make it possible?"

He sighed.

"Is there a best-case scenario in all this?"

Togusa's hands spread out to the sides. "That it's a branch-off of Retrospec, themselves, and someone who wants to make the same thing happen, a hands-off restoration of the worlds, but just disagrees with Retrospec's current leadership?"

"I'd call somebody who just wants to slap Jim and take over a best-case scenario." Togusa nods emphatically. He realizes that it's wishful thinking, but Ardyn is good at drawing him back from spiraling into full paranoia. Sometimes simpler explanations are more truthful.

Ardyn's lips quirk into a small smile, vaguely amused at the idea of someone slapping Jim. Such a mental image will never grow old, no matter how long Retrospec remains a part of their lives.

"That would be more comforting than the alternative, but then one might wonder exactly why someone might disagree with the current leadership. Though slapping Jim? I'd at least wish to be there to see that."

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