Well

"That is true. Then again, why would I approach you if I didn't know?"

Zared laughed. "Ha, a sharp insult right there, miss. and a well played one at that. Its not my poker face I hide. Its just my face." He turned his head towards her. "In a battle of wits, your already the hardest opponent I've meet."

Nodding her head she said slowly, "I suppose that may be true." He knew what she looked like and he apparently knew she came to this spot. This meeting hadn't been a coincidence. She wondered if there was anything else he knew.

She allowed herself a small smile at the flattery and set her mismatched gaze on him. "Am I to assume there was something you needed, then??"

"There was but one question I wanted to ask, and one thing to tell you."

Zared removed his mask and let down his hood.

"Did E really send his regards, or were you trying to find out if I was in the Cult? And, before asking me of anything, I am no longer in the cult."

She definitely knew who he was - sort of. At least she had been right about the voice.

Indescision warred within Alessia. His regards had been sent. But she had never been told if they were pleasant or not. It probably would have depended on what this man had been doing for or to the cult at the time. It could have even been sent as a warning. Come to think of it...

"Last I heard, you wrecked a good knightmare. Maybe that's what it was about?? I was just the messenger, this time, unless I was supposed to work on it after it was in shambles."

"I did wreck a good knightmare. Lost its arm. After they found out why I was reckless, I was kicked out. Was allowed to keep the knightmare though."

He placed his mask back on and put his hood up. "Im like this to avoid the Cult of C. Had to talk to you though. See if it was a hostile regard."

He was allowed to keep it?? Can't have been that much of a threat, if that's the case. He had to have done something very stupid to have been kicked out, something dangerous to the foundation of the group or something.

She was a little disappointed when he hid his features, once again, but bristled at what sounded like a command. She leaned back in her chair, away from him. "Does it really matter if it was?? There's not a lot you can do about it, now is there??"

"Nope, not alot at all. I just wanted to be sure that, if I see E again, that I was prepared for a hostile, or a friendly meeting. After all, he let me keep the nightmare, the most powerful one they had, next to the higher ups. I can't have it repaired, so he might be playing mind tricks with me"

Mind tricks?? Sounded very plausible.

"Why can't you have it repaired??" she asked before she could stop her mechanical interest from getting the better of her.

"It had been repaired twice. The second time, they went all out, making it a very useful, but complicated knightmare. Only the most experienced with knightmares can repair it, due to the complexity, and I don't have that kind of money."

She was aware that his frame had been busted up once - she had worked on fixing it, afterall. It was a splendid knightmare and she was very jealous of it's owner at the time. But Alessia had no idea that it came in and went out a second time. Now, she was just jealous of the mechanic who had had the opportunity to jack it up.

"That's quite the problem, isn't it?? A useless knightmare laying around isn't much help to anyone."

"Its not useless" Zared said sharply. "It just needs its arm replaced. Even with only one arm, it still is a good knightmare."

"Good?? I wouldn't go that far. It's off balance, at the very least. The fact that it's missing an arm may be overriding other small problems that the computer detects, so who knows if anything else happened to it," she told him, countering his defensive answer.

She rose from her seat and stretched a bit before pacing to the other side of the well, and placing her hands on the warm stones. She looked down into the dark cylinder, thinking. Something occured to her. "You never did tell me your name. How am I to inquire about you?? 'The good-looking, purple-haired young man'?? That's not very specific. Or I could just refer to you as 'the rogue'." She looked back up at him, grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Trust me, this is not my real hair. and my name is Zared. and, as for referring to me, give me whatever nickname you want. Just don't call me by my name when im dressed like this.

Oh, and don't think that telling me things like that will convince me to give away my knightmare."

"I'm stunned. Purple isn't natural?!?" She said in mock suprise.

Telling him things?? She wasn't sure what things he meant, she hadn't revealed anything to him that she souldn't have.

Looking back out at the construction site, she stated plainly, "I'm not sure what makes you think I would need your frame. And more, I wouldn't just expect you to give it away," - If she was going to try to obtain his nightmare, she certainly wouldn't have asked him for it in any manner. She would have simply tried to take it - "But what good is it doing you, sitting there, unfixable??"

Zared let out a very long sigh. "It was my natural hair color. However...."

He took his mask and hood off, slowly taking off his hair. It was a wig covering.....

Orange and pink hair with rainbow tips. He put on the wig and mask quicker then you could pull out a laugh.

"Don't ask" He said with dread.

"I've had that knightmare for years. I haven't forgotten its symbolism, so I will raise the money to repair it."

His expression as he showed her his hair elicited a quick giggle. She couldn't help it. "Rainbow's a good color for you," she said through her lingering smirk.

She pulled her light hood up over her head and squinted as she stepped out of the shade provided by the little roof over the well. She walked over to Zared, close enough to be able to see his eyes well, even with the mask obscuring his face slightly.

"Be sure to look me up when you have enough for parts." With that she activated her geass and froze him in place. It hadn't been out of malice, it was just that she didn't quite trust him, and didn't need to be followed or something. He would have no idea what happened when it wore off, most likely, though he may figure it out. It would appear as though all of a sudden she was just gone.

She walked across the construstion site, leaving him there. Time to go satisfy some of this curiosity.

As she left, her Geass eventually wore off, leaving Zared blinking.

"Ether the sun has cooked my brain, or she just used a Geass on me."

He remember what she said.

"Sure, why not. Not like you can activate the core and doom us all."

Zared laughed to himself.

"Gotta stop talking to myself."