Are we Hunters or Partners??? I'm Confused! (Nana & Foster/Smith Partnership; So much chaos)

After finally convincing the man to grow a pair and drop his stupid pride, Jasmine was able to convince Joe to leave the apartment and look for Nana. She could handle herself on her own, of course, but if anyone should be going out and apologizing to her, it damn well better be the one that upset her in the first place. Grumbling despite this, more at himself now that at anyone or thing else in particular, he made his way out of the apartment and to the street, looking around to try to figure out where in the hell the meister had gone.

Nunally wasn't showing any signs of interest in contacting her beloved friends. She was just sitting there crying quietly, waiting for the control unit to reactivate itself (which would take about an hour). Minerva decided to take everything into her "hands". She couldn't let Nana hurt herself so much over a mere misunderstanding. The hacker downloaded a list of numbers from Nunally's phone and decided to call one of her friends. She decided to choose Joe's number as it was saved as "Joee~! <3"
So, soon Joseph's phone rang. The call was coming from an unknown number.

He glanced at the device, used to not recognizing the numbers that came through on it; he was part of his parents' business affairs, after all. As such, he didn't seem opposed to answering it, picking it up and introducing himself as he picked a random direction to go search in: "Joseph Foster speaking, how may I help you?"

"Joseph Foster. Listen, this is very important." Minerva said. Her voice was definitely feminine and though it sounded quite natural, if Joe listened carefully, he'd notice that some syllables in the words she was speaking sounded a bit weird. "Nana is in danger... Please... Please save her! She's planning to turn her control unit on and then just... wipe all of her memories. What's gotten into that girl?! Alright, dude. I'm sending you her coordinates right now. She's hiding in some creepy valley, behind a fence. Hurry, man!" She said loudly and then sent him Nana's coordinates in a text message.

"Now, wait just a-" he received the message while trying to respond, weighing the options. He was still a weapon, he could handle it if someone were to be setting a trap to attack him. However, the timing was awfully convenient, and if it was the truth, well, he couldn't risk Nana. Popping the directions up in his map app, he turned on his bluetooth and went into a run, suddenly thankful for the physical training of the DWMA. He didn't hang up the call in case this mysterious voice had more to say.

Ooc: mobile posting

IC:

"You must have lots of questions, right? Alright, I'll give you the basic info for now, 'kay? My name is Minerva and I am that cracker who's broken into the clones' systems. Before you say anything: I'm really not your enemy... In fact I need you help... But about that later" Minerva explajned. Her tone was surprisingly calm despite how serious the situation was. At one point something glitched and her voice became surprisingly high pitched for a second. "This is actually my fist time talking to an outsider so... Uhm... Yeah. Anyways, I don't really understand what made Nana so depressed though..." It seemed like Minerva was completely unaware of what had happened in the apartment...

"How do you know that she is depressed," he said, speaking as he exhaled, the words coming out in pieces as a result, since he was running, "but not know what upset her?" Still, he was moving onward towards the destination. How far had she gotten?!

"I'm a hacker, not a mind reader, duh!" Minerva responded. Her tone indicated that the answer to his question was obvious. "Alright, alright. I'll explain, ye? So, I wanted to finally call our little cutie, roight? I wanted to finally beg for her help since I really need it, ye? So... I was like: Maybe it'd be a good idea to make sure she isn't busy before calling her. Sooo... since I have access to her absolutely insecure phone... I turned the microphone on. I heard crying so, obviously, I got worried. Then I managed to learn about her plan before she kicked me out of her systems. Dude, you must save her! Like, seriously, in her contact list she has a heart next to your name!" Minerva sounded genuinely worried about Nana and her well being. Surprising, considering she was the one who hacked her.

"Wha-?" He began to ask but stopped short when he caught sight of Nunally. His phone pigged to alert him that he'd made it to his destination before the GPS disabled and the app shut itself down, leaving him alone with the voice in his ear and the girl in the alleyway. Wow, that sounds creepy when you really think about it. He thought the words to himself as he approached her, concerned but not knowing what he should be doing. Should he go ahead and say her name...? Well, if he just stunned her by appearing beside her that might not go over too well, even as a weapon. "Nunally..."

Nunally was crying quietly in the alley the entire time. The song she had been listening to ended which meant that everything she could hear was the sound of her own despair. Well... until she heard her name. Nana looked around quickly, trying to locate the sound of it. She then saw Joseph. Her face was pale earlier, but it turned as white as snow. Tears were rolling down her cheeks and her eyes were red and puffy. The bad memories of a terrible morning returned to her quickly. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... P-Please... P-please..." Nana mumbled. She was scared of being scolded for everything that had happened since the morning. "Just... leave me alone... you deserve a better meister..." The girl finally said, staring at the ground blankly.

"For what?" He asked, voice surprisingly tender as he knelt with her, disregarding the "safety" of his own clothing to be able to get close to her. "For a word mix up? A grammar mistake?" Joseph shook his head, chuckling weakly before beginning to clean up her face, brushing her hair back for a moment before removing his tie --- suddenly aware that he hadn't changed since they'd left the pool the day before --- and using it to dry the tears off her face. Fuck it, she can use it for a tissue, he decided, handing it to her for her nose. "Is that really worth all these tears?"

"But... but... but I made you angry..." Nunally said quietly, almost whispering. "Your tone... I... I understood my mistake immediately... I... I'm so sorry for not being... y-you know... more... more careful with my words..." She didn't want to look at him, mostly out of shame of what she'd caused. Out of respect for him and his clothes, she refused to use it to clean her nose, so when he was about to hand it, she turned her head away and attempted to clean her nose with her own hand... which only ended up with a small mess.

Minerva decided to just remain silent for the time being. It was their moment. She wanted them to enjoy it... well... she assumed they'd end up enjoying that while...

"Take it." He said, more forceful, now as he pushed it back towards her. "And Darius and I are not going to be properly on good terms, regardless." At least he respected her brother enough to use his chosen name, instead of Ordis, which he knew him by previously. Joseph certainly wouldn't have used his designation though, regardless. That would be disrespectful to Nana and Darius both. "His purpose was to kill you, Nunally. Control unit or not, I am not comfortable leaving him alone with any one of us, much less Lily. I would not have been so forceful if I had taken a moment to understand."

"I... I... I believe in him no matter what you think about him..." Nunally said quietly, she seemed deeply hurt that her brother was unable to gain his trust with Joseph. It seemed like it made her even more upset. Because Joe was so forceful about making her use his tie, Nana felt forced to just accept it and clean her hands and nose with it. "T-Thank you... and... just... forgive me..." She seemed calmer now and she finally looked at him. Well, she looked like a mess from running, tripping over and crying. But it was still the same Nana we all know and love.

He nodded, but seemed still dismissive of the notion, stating, "There's nothing to forgive." As he spoke, he worked to move her hair from her face, trying to make her more comfortable as she slowly calmed down. She'd be stiff from the tension and position when she tried to move again, and at least busying himself kept him from trying to speak further on Darius. Now was certainly not any time that he wished to mention his fellow man; his focus was on the sister clone before him.

After a moment Nana finally managed to calm down enough to get up and wipe the rest of her tears from her face. The girl bit her lip and scratched the back of her head. She suddenly felt embarrassed by how emotional her reaction was. Well, she was just a 4 year old who had to behave like a teenager after all. She'd never been given time to mature. "Uh... I'm sorry for causing you trouble... again..." Nunally said quietly and sighed. Suddenly she realized something. "How did you find me anyway?" The girl asked

Suddenly Joseph could hear a quiet, short groan. Minerva was getting tired of waiting for them to deal with their problems. "Okay, okay, I get it. You need more than a few minutes! Jeez, and here I thought you'd just kiss and the whole thing would end. Fine, fine, I'll call ya later, kay? I mean, sure, I guess a bunch o' crazies with their own mindless army can wait... Ye, ye. I'll call ya later! I guess I'll go play some games instead..." With those words, the hacker just hung up to let them have their sweet moment.

"A... little birdy in my ear." Joseph said, a bit red in the face from Minerva's comment, but not noticeably enough so, if Nunally wasn't specifically looking for it. Clearing his throat, he shifted a bit, moving to stand before offering her a hand up as well. "Let's go home, Nunally." His voice was the slightest bit unsteady, his expression still softer than usual, though he gave away nothing more about the conversation or what it was that was making him suddenly seem nervous.

"W-Well... sure..." Nunally replied, as she looked him in the eyes. For some reason his behavior seemed quite strange. Nana frowned, curious about who the "little birdy" was. Perhaps asking him would explain everything? Probably not, but at least it could potentially give her a better idea. "By the way... if that "little birdy" helped you find me then... how did that "birdy" know where I am?" The meister asked. Well, if she thought hard enough, she'd probably realize that the only person capable of that would be the mysterious hacker.

Joseph simply shrugged, clearly withholding the information for the sake of the girl's sanity; it was bad enough that she knew she could be hacked. Knowing that she could also be tracked with that information would certainly not help any need she'd have for privacy. It by no means made him feel better, or safer, for her, after all. "Do you want to... I do not know... get ice cream or something?" He asked, shifting a bit, seeming to want to prolong the trip back in some small way. Besides, she hadn't really eaten and ice cream was a good way to cheer people up, right?

Nana's eye twitched when she heard his question. He was trying to dodge her question in the most pathetic way ever! "Not before you tell me how exactly you managed to find me." The meister said calmly as she stared directly into his eyes with her hands placed on her hips. She demanded answers! Well, it seemed like Nana wasn't going to give up so easily that time.

Meanwhile, Minerva was dying out of curiosity. Did they kiss? Are they finally happy? Will she be able to finally explain why she was harassing them so hard? To get those answers she once again hacked into Nana's phone and turned on the microphone in it to listen to their conversation- only to find out the disappointing truth: they still hadn't kissed... "COME ON I SHIP YOU SO HARD! FOR FFFF.....pft!" Minerva screamed loudly. Of course, nor Nana nor Joseph could hear her at that moment since she was only listening to them without sending any sounds to the hacked phone.

He shrugged, turning away and heading towards the house, escaping the clutches of any potential pouting by simply not looking at her: "Prepare for disappointment, then." Joseph said, making his way very shortly towards the shopping district instead of their apartment, when he remembered that proposal.

You asshoooole! WHYYYYYY?!" Minerva screamed again, completely ignoring the weird stares she was getting from a group of people who were in that room at that time. "Like, come on, you telling her wouldn't change anything! What a failure of a man! Gah! Fuck this shit, imma make a call!" Minerva whined. At that point, everyone in the room stopped listening to her assuming she was just watching some TV show or something similar.

"O-Oh come on..!" Nunally muttered and then pouted (as Joseph had predicted). She sounded and felt quite disappointed too, indeed. With nothing else on her mind to use as an argument, she just decided to follow Joseph in silence. Why couldn't he just be honest with her? Him not telling her the truth and just outright avoiding it, made her quite worried.

Suddenly Joseph's phone rang. It was Minerva calling him from a different number. At that point, she was really angry at the man for not allowing her to enjoy having the ship she'd shipped!

He glanced down at his phone, pausing for a moment to think as he assumed, rightfully, that it was probably the supercomputer calling him once more. With a sigh, he answered, waiting to hear her yelling in his ear as he kept the phone in his pocket, the wireless headset handling the call. "What kind of ice cream do you want, Nana?" He was saying when the call finally picked up.

Nunally's lid twitched as she realized that Joseph just won't answer her questions. There was nothing else she could do to make him change his mind, so she just let out a very loud sigh. "Got no preferences... Though I'm in the mood for something strawberry-ish" The girl muttered quietly before letting out another sigh.

"OH COME ON MAN DON'T BE DISAPPOINTING?! BE NICE FOR THE GIRL?! GAH! No seriously, telling her wouldn't change anything at this point! I bet she won't be surprised at all! Besides, you've just wasted such a beautiful, romantic moment! I'm sooooo annnoyed man! Dun worry, I still ship ya two." The AI screamed in his ear as expected. Oh well, she wanted them to be together so hard...

Joe winced, pulling the piece off and moving it away while he was shouted at. As soon as she got softer, he replaced the earpiece, shaking his head, "The bird said to be nicer to you. Also, that you probably don't care that it's her, that... hacker thing."