Out of My Element [Castle]

[Oathkeeper Emi]

The last time someone told me I looked good, I woke up in a dumpster, naked, slathered with honey, holding a jar of angry bees.
--

Emi slowly raised an eyebrow. In her experience, that kind of flattery never meant anything good. This was no exception. She had no idea what was in that potion, but it had done a number on Castle's brain for sure. Slowly, she backed away. "Ugh, you are kidding me right?[/color]" she said. Even if she was the least bit interested enough for this to be somewhat amusing, the shrimp body kind of ruined everything. His very human face, though... it had this pitiful, infatuated look on it. She almost hated to crush his little heart. Those red eyes had the perfect puppy-dog look going. Emi closed her eyes and let out a slow sigh.

"I'm thinking maybe we should leave now, Castle. We've done enough damage. Let's go report back to that fish, maybe the fresh air... fresh water, rather, will do you some good because obviously...[/color]" she said to him, gesturing a hand towards him vaguely. "You need it.[/color]"

She hoped she wasn't going t have to carry him back up. That would be beyond awkward.

[Castle]

Why was she moving away from him? It was disappointing not to have her as close. It was weird, but he just wanted to be near her right now. It didn't matter that she bullied him or threw him in an explosive cauldron a minute ago. He could forgive her. Hey, maybe he should tell her that?

"Yeah, let's ditch this place," he began diplomatically. Most of the restraint ended there, and her comment about him needing fresh air, or water, went right over his head. "Hey, I know it's been rough between us lately, but I think we can sort things out. I think you're sexy."

Something deep inside him did a double take, but it was smothered under layers of unnatural thoughts and feelings. Words passed his lips unbidden,

"I mean, a lot of guys might think you're just a flat-chested string bean, but I don't. You've got a good body. You're, like, exotic."

He smiled in admiration of her.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Mission: Failed. Miserably.
--

Well, any interest she might have possibly had was completely killed with the flat-chested string bean comment. She rolled her eyes at the rest of his comments. She was tempted to just bolt out of there and let him try and get back to the gummi ship by himself, but she knew he wouldn't be able to in his current form. But, especially considering the kind of comments he was making, there was no way she was going to carry him. So, she reached behind him- hoping he wouldn't take it the wrong way- and grabbed him by his tail.

"Allrighty, we're out of here,[/color]" she muttered, heading for the exit. Castle trailed along beside her. She realized once they were pretty much halfway back up that they had kind of wrecked the grotto. She shrugged. It didn't matter, it wasn't like anyone lived or even went in there anymore, right? Right. It was kind of disappointing though. All they had succeeded in doing was turning Castle into a love-struck shrimpy lady's man, and they hadn't found anything to help them get back to the ship.

She realized what she was probably going to have to do. She would have to use a corridor, but she didn't have a cloak. What kind of damage was that going to do?

[Castle]

Even though she was holding him by the tail in a very unaffectionate way, it was still wonderful to be in contact with her. However, Castle's thoughts were starting to get sort of jumbled, and he mumbled various and random words of adoration on the way out of the grotto and across the gap. Maybe it was from being upside down, but he felt a little lightheaded, too. It was hard for him to discern what was going on anymore, apart from her hand being on him.

The fish was no longer by the edge of the cliff. When the last spell had gone off, the commotion had carried all the way there, and the shady character had been sufficiently spooked. He would be back later, but with any luck, he would find that his two brief acquaintances were already gone.

Castle tried to lift himself up so he could look directly at Emi,
"Hey, what're we gonna do now? Can we... wait, hang on, let me get my words straight..."

His eyebrows furrowed as he examined an invisible point in the distance. The lightheadedness was starting to fade, and that wasn't the only thing that was clearing up. He blinked.

"Wait, what?"

[Oathkeeper Emi]

This is YOUR fault, you know.
--

"What what?[/color]" Emi said, looking around. Then it hit her. "Oh. Looks like the spell is starting to wear off, since you aren't looking at me like you want to tackle me and kiss me all over my face anymore,[/color]" she said, and began to pace a little back and forth. She ran a hand through her hair, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. "I don't know what we're going to going to do now, but I have an idea. Not sure if it's a good one though.[/color]"

She looked over at him and frowned a little more. "Dude, what's wrong with you? You look mad. You mad? Don't be. I didn't mean to turn you into a lovesick shrimp boy...[/color]" she said. Typical Emi- never going to apologize if she could get out of it. "You are the one who should be apologizing, you said some pretty awkward things back there.[/color]"

And, even if she wouldn't admit it, something a little bit hurtful... though she didn't usually take those things personally, usually, and he didn't really mean it. She was just trying to shirk off the responsibility and avoid apologizing.

[Castle]

Emi was right. Castle was mad. In fact, as he took a few moments to let the situation sink in, his face went from blanched to pink-tinted to its regular color in mere seconds. That dagger-glare he had shortly before the spell first sunk in returned.

"Is that some kind of a joke?" he snapped, "Do you seriously think it's my fault that I said those things? I had no idea what the heck I was saying!"

He took a quick breath, which shuddered with the barely contained emotion that he promptly released in the form of a shout,

"You threw me in an exploding cauldron!"

He waved his arms angrily, though the effect of that was severely tarnished as those arms were spindly and belonged to a crustacean. He couldn't remember the last time he was this ticked off. Of all the bad days he had ever experienced, this had to be one of the worst, and he was completely sick of it. He didn't think about what he had said to Emi while he was under the spell; as far as he was concerned, those words were totally meaningless and were better off forgotten.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
--

Emi clenched her jaw. She knew what was happening- Castle wasn't going to put up with her usual responsibility avoiding- but that didn't really matter. She didn't like his tone and it grated on her nerves. She took a long, deep, shuddering breath and decided, you know what, through the corridor unprotected. Who cared? Maybe it was just her self-destructive tendencies coming back- and come to think of it, it wasn't really in Castle's best interests either- but she just didn't give two rips anymore.

She tried to calm herself. She turned her back on Castle before she attacked him without really meaning too, and summoned a corridor. Still no apology. She was afraid if she opened her mouth the only thing to come out would be more frustrated screaming so she just kept her mouth shut. Maybe if she calmed down later, she would apologize. Maybe.

Without even bothering to turn around and address Castle again, she swam though the portal. She had to admit she feel a bit odd as soon as she went though. She felt this odd pressure in her chest, highly unpleasant. She gritted her teeth and kept going until she stumbled into the gummi ship on the other side. She was fully human again , with two legs and wearing her normal clothing. Curiously enough, her hair was still dripping wet, but out of the ponytail. She stepped out of the way and shook her hair out.

[Castle]

Her silence only made him angrier. He was at a momentary loss for words when she opened the Corridor and swam through it (It was a simple solution, and he wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of it before, but that was the least of his concerns right now). Castle let out a frustrated growl as he made his way to the portal and jumped through it. Being human again would be one relief, at least.

After a short tumble through the darkness, accepting the bizarre rush this time now that he'd done it once before, he stumbled out into the gummi ship. To his immense satisfaction, he was exactly as he was before the hit the water, albeit a little damp. It took a moment to get used to having a human anatomy again, but the adjustment was quick.

In a second, he rounded on Emi again.

"So you got nothing to say?" he asked sardonically, "What, did you think adding me to that thing would be neat somehow? Or were you just trying to kill me?"

It had been a while since he'd tried to pick a fight with someone, and it had been even longer since he'd tried to pick a fight because he was actually angry. He honestly didn't know, or care, what he was trying to get out of this. An apology? Sure, why not. Was that likely? Who knew with Emi. He had no clue what to expect from her. All he knew was that he was mad and that he wanted to do something, anything, about it.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Take it back or I'm telling Mom.
--

If she hadn't been about to kill him before, she was about to now. No warning; though, truthfully, anyone who really knew Emi would have realized what was about to happen the moment they saw her tense. Any self-control she had managed to build over the years was gone.

She lashed out blindly. Since she was really no longer in control of her actions, she literally didn't know where or what she was hitting only that she needed to hit something. Her fist connected with the side of Castle's face, and it felt good. So good in fact, that she wanted to do it again. Maybe even a few more times until she felt better. Fighting was the only thing that sated the demons- well, the only thing now. There had been other things, but that was a long time ago.

Her mind was filled with the things she would have liked to do. What she ended up doing was tackling him to the ground, pinning him down with a knee to his chest. She was a lot bigger than he was- height wise, anyway.

The thing about Emi, though, was that she was all offense and no defense. This was going to be an interesting fight.

[Castle]

Before he even knew what was happening, he was on the ground with a sore face and a knee on his chest. As soon as his mind registered that she had attacked him, and was still attacking him, his brain switched to fight mode. She had just transcended his long held vow to never hurt a member of the opposite sex. Girl or not, he was going to beat the crap out of her.

With the position they were in, using his legs wouldn't do much good. He lashed out at her face with his fist, and then grabbed her knee in both hands and tried to push her off. Emi was fierce, but Castle had brute strength on his side.

Of all the fights he'd lost since he left Traverse Town, he was not about to add this one to the list. He would not let Emi beat him. He'd let her get away with too much already, and now she needed to learn a lesson.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Lost all control now.
--

Emi bit her tongue when Castle punched her in the face, not hard enough to do any permanent damage but it hurt and she was sure to let him know it did. He manged to get his hands under her knee and push her off and as she was going down, she lashed out and grabbed a handful of his purple hair, effectively dragging him across the floor a bit. While she had a hold of him, she popped him in the chin with her foot and let go of his hair, scrambling backwards and onto her feet.

She didn't know the meaning of play fair. Her philosophy when it came to fighting was take any hit she could get, whether it was accepted as fair or not. There always seemed to be some kind of code of what hits were acceptable, even out on the streets. She paid no mind to this and it had lead to more fights more than once in her lifetime. Biting? Sure. Below the belt? If she could get the shot in. She had no qualms about punching somebody in the head. All that mattered was beating the crap out of whatever had angered her, no matter the cost.

[Castle]

Castle's teeth clacked together when Emi kicked him. It hurt like heck, but he wasn't about to let her know that. Hopefully his face wouldn't bruise. He would hate to have his face damaged by a girl. Then again, at the moment, he wasn't considering Emi a girl. She was just another opponent who needed to go down. He'd already let her get too many hits in.

As soon as she let go of him, he sprang to his feet. Ignoring his throbbing jaw, he rushed in for another attack. He did a quick kick at her middle, but that was mostly a distraction while he threw another strike at her face. The metal studs on the knuckles of his gloves glinted slightly.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

I love a good fight.
--

The kick to her middle effectively brought Emi to Castle's level and the strike directed at her face connected. The taste of blood in her mouth was the perfect fuel for her anger. It hurt, but it would hurt even more later when the adrenaline had worn off. She straightened up and finally went for her weapon. She unclipped Duskywing from her belt and made two quick strikes- one backhanded attempt at his face and then she brought the weapon down hard on his shoulder. After that, she ducked out of the way and moved behind him. She moved quickly, switching Duskywing to her left hand and then reaching out and grabbing Castle's ponytail.

She would have liked to push him up against the opposite wall, or kick him in the back of the knee until he fell to the ground. But, he was fast and she doubted she had enough time to do either one. So, in the split second between decision and action, she tugged on his hair hard and tried to pull him to the ground. She expected retaliation. In fact, she counted on it. It had been a long time since she'd been in a good fight like this. She was getting some kind of amusement out of it, and she found that it actually put her in a better mood, for the time being.

[Castle]

Maybe the feeling of his strikes hitting their targets was a little too good. Maybe he shouldn't be getting so excited to hurt someone again. Maybe he didn't care. Castle wanted to hurt her more, to make sure he left an impression. The burn of anger was shifting into something else, a more streamlined rage that rushed even faster through his nerves.

She pulled a weapon on him. No big deal. He blocked the first two strikes with the same forearm, his glove muffling the potentially bruising force of metal on flesh. Then she managed to get behind him and grab his ponytail before he could turn. She was trying to pull him down.

"No you don't," he muttered.

As he spoke, he planted a foot and turned just enough to launch a side kick at her middle, not bothering to try and get her hand off of his hair. The kick could do that for him if it connected.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Worn out.
--

The kick completely took Emi by surprise. She yelped as she was thrown to the ground, side aching. She didn't think there was any serious damage done, but that boy could kick. Duskywing fell from her hand and rolled across the ground away from her where she laid on the floor, trying to get up. She couldn't let him win this. That would be too large of a blow to her ego, after all that had happened with Sephiroth and Jericho. Castle couldn't let Emi win, though. It was a problem. Were they just going to beat each other senseless? It was a definite possibility, but Emi could feel the adrenaline beginning to wear off. She was beginning to come to her senses again. Things were a bit fuzzy. Had she thrown the first punch? What were they even fighting about?

Before Castle could strike again, she started scrambling for Duskywing. "Castle, stop,[/color]" she said and her voice sounded very far away. She didn't know what else to say so she got back up on her feet, holding out her free hand. "Back off. Seriously.[/color]"