(Open) Between the velvet lies

[Albert Wesker]

It looked like his sudden input into the conversation had been unexpected, at best, and maybe even unwanted, at worst. The reaction of the man wearing the wolf mask was difficult to judge -- or at least, his real reaction was, at any rate. He was far from a stranger from being forced to put on a mask and hide what was really going through your mind at any given point. He'd practically made a career out of doing just that, forcing his personal feelings down to do his duty in his military service. Forced to act out the role of enforcer, glorified policeman, bounty hunter, island destroyer, fearless warrior, and even executioner. He had a better grasp on picking out when people were forcing something down to put on a facade of some sort...even if he wasn't so good at picking out exactly what was behind said front.

And right now, he was more than positive that mister wolf-mask was definitely hiding how he really felt about...something. Probably Kuzan's own sudden butting into what may have very well been a private conversation.

The reaction of the young man was much easier to discern. Caught off guard by his sudden looming presence, and seemingly just as quickly put at relative ease by his offer of assistance. While he had enough experience to know that appearances and even age, in some cases, meant far less than might be expected in some cases, he was still more than a little uncomfortable with the thought of someone who appeared so young fighting something that had been described the way this 'Tarrasque' beast had. It reminded him all too eerily of a Sea King that could roam the land. And even fighters as powerful as Navy Headquarters officers couldn't take beasts like that lightly.

There was even a story that such a beast had been the very thing that took the arm of Red-Hair Shanks. And if one of those monsters could deal so devastating an injury to one of the Yonko...

Admiral or no, he was going to have to stay on his toes, especially given his dramatically weakened state since his arrival here. Had he been at full strength, he wouldn't have had anything to fear. He could have frozen the best solid in mere moments and shattered it, rendering it harmless and dealt with as soon as he could find it. But with his powers restricted as they were...he didn't know if he would be able to freeze something that large at all, much less in any frame of time to be useful in a direct combat scenario. Better to have some form of help along for the ride, then.

Not wanting to seem overly rude, Kuzan finally emerged from his thoughts, giving the wolf-mask man a deep, polite nod, and taking a seat in the chair pulled out for him, making a show of moving carefully and cautiously, as if he were much older than he was and was growing stiff and tired in his old age, like Sakazuki or Borsalino. Even something as subtle as that could prove to be useful if things went south. Who would expect someone with such stiffness to their movements to disappear if you blinked? He wasn't nearly as fast as he had been before coming here, but he hoped he was still fast enough.

Fast enough for what, though, he hoped he wouldn't need to find out just yet.

"That seems fair enough...wouldn't want to spoil the surprise." Though he sounded as bored as anything, he was at least sincere in his words. When he revealed that he had intention to make the announcement to everyone gathered here at the event's end, the ice-man nodded slowly. "Right...get all the help possible..."

When Dio mentioned he must be entirely sure of their commitment, Kuzan's brow furrowed beneath the mask. He could understand needing to be sure that people who were going to be your allies against such a beast wouldn't just run out on you, but... He brushed that aside and said, as simply as he could, "I don't care what you are, what you've done or what you will do, right at the moment...only that you're trying to get rid of some monster terrorizing people on both sides of a conflict." He adjusted the mask as he spoke, and when he went on, his tone remained level, even and conversational, but there was a cold cast to his eyes, something almost soulless and hard, stern and unrelenting, like the darkest, coldest part of a glacier's core. "...so for the moment, I don't have any reason to go telling anyone where you are."

The meaning behind his words was clear: Give me a reason, and I won't need to tell anyone where you are. It wasn't a thread; he wasn't in the business of threatening people. He was merely illustrating his point. Even predators needed to stay on watch from time to time, no matter how in their element and secure they felt.

And then the deathly cold, severe look went out of his eyes, and a lazy smile spread across his features. "....so let's keep things working for the better, and we'll all walk away happier and better off, aye?"