Difference between revisions of "2016-04-14 (PostU) Busy Night in the UR"

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(Added a bunch more, thanks to Kazuki! Also remembered that Sunset was in the scene... >.>)
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Title    = A Busy Night in the Usual Restaurant
 
Title    = A Busy Night in the Usual Restaurant
 
|Summary = Here are the records of but one night in the Usual Restaurant...
 
|Summary = Here are the records of but one night in the Usual Restaurant...
|Who    = [[Desmond]], [[Kazuki]], [[Lina_Inverse]], [[Minu]], [[Rayne]], [[Sae]], [[Silencia]], [[Steve the Bartender]]
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|Who    = [[Desmond]], [[Kazuki]], [[Lina_Inverse]], [[Minu]], [[Rayne]], [[Sae]], [[Silencia]], [[Steve the Bartender]], [[Sunset]]
 
|Date    = April 14th, 2016
 
|Date    = April 14th, 2016
 
|Where  = [[The Usual Restaurant]]
 
|Where  = [[The Usual Restaurant]]
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Rayne nods to Kazuki.  "Well, then, good luck i-"  Sunset's attempt to get Rayne's attention succeeds!  "Sunset?  Wait, aren't you supposed to..."  She looks over at a clock on the wall.  "SONOVA!"  She sighs and closes up her computer.  "Damnit...  I'm sorry, Sunset.  I'm getting bad at this..."  She shovels the last of her salad into her mouth before standing up.  "Sorry to just cut and run, guys, but, uh, yeah, I'm late for work."  All her things collected, she says something into her comm and soon vanishes from sight with a wierd effect that somehow resembles glitter being stirred in a glass of water.
 
Rayne nods to Kazuki.  "Well, then, good luck i-"  Sunset's attempt to get Rayne's attention succeeds!  "Sunset?  Wait, aren't you supposed to..."  She looks over at a clock on the wall.  "SONOVA!"  She sighs and closes up her computer.  "Damnit...  I'm sorry, Sunset.  I'm getting bad at this..."  She shovels the last of her salad into her mouth before standing up.  "Sorry to just cut and run, guys, but, uh, yeah, I'm late for work."  All her things collected, she says something into her comm and soon vanishes from sight with a wierd effect that somehow resembles glitter being stirred in a glass of water.
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Kazuki nods.  "Makes sense," he replies.  "Less chance of friendly fire-- allies stepping on them and the like."  Yes, he saw the badge.  Rayne talked about TASK, about being a member of it.  He snickers at Desmond's words to Lina, but doesn't comment.  The other guy looks like he can handle himself just fine.  But he does finally ask Desmond, "Oh yeah.  I don't think I've heard your name, if it's been said or not."  He seems to be avoiding the whole 'didn't catch your name', 'I didn't throw it' dialogue.  Rayne suddenly needs to depart and Kazuki offers her a wave.  "Take care," he offers.  And then she... disappears?  He raises an eyebrow.  "...Pretty sure I saw something like that in an old sci-fi show on TV..." he mutters under his breath.
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Sunset laughs a bit at Rayne and steps aside to avoid being run over at the door... But then Rayne uses the teleporter instead. She rubs the back of her head. "I forget about that." Easy to forget since she can't use teleporting in her almost ordinary human form. "Don't worry about it, she loses track of time like that easily." But Sunset wanders over to join the group herself. "How's everyone else doing?" Gives Desmond a playful nudge with her elbow. "Still enjoying being 'stuck' and not 'dead'?"
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Oh! Right! Here Desmond was chatting up a storm, flirting with pretty girls, and claiming he'll protect everyone without even introducing himself! Guess this is what his organization meant by working in the dark to serve the light. Although to be fair, Desmond had never truly gotten the chance to apply all his learned skills until now. Not to this length at least. He's still getting the hang of balancing all of his internal bleeding effect of multiple past personalities blending into his.
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Anywho, introductions are in order, right? "Desmond Miles." He perks up and smiles, Des isn't the kind of douche that'd play on that common response and gives his name freely. "At your service." He adds almost elegantly while making a pose. Though not quite as elegant as Kazuki, it does look like he's playing a well rehearsed role. Maybe he's an actor?
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Desmond then blinks as Rayne just up and disappears, though he doesn't act as surprised as he did before. "I think I'm finally getting used to the craziness of this place."
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Then as he takes another shot of his drink, Sunset comes in and elbows him playfully which causes him to snicker. "Well, I ran into some of these Fog Demons and some Orks while I was exploring the city, so let's just say I'm doubly happy right now of not being dead."
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Sunset's words of being 'not dead' to Desmond get a blink.  "Whoa.  OK, that sounds like a long story," he notes.  Desmond introduces himself, first AND last name, so Kazuki does the same. "Kazuki Wakahisa."  And then offers a polite bow.  It is, as before, spoken with the Japanese accent.  There's a bit of blending of that 'h' sound with an 'f' sound, just an ever-so-slight shade of it.  Not enough to think he's said 'Wakafisa', though; it's just a little extra 'hiss'.  As for getting used to the weirdness?  Kazuki nods.  "That does seem like the best course of action, yeah."  He smirks as he says this, though.  He finds a seat finally!  Weird to be standing around chatting in a restaurant.  He also appears to be one of those guys to whom sitting with the legs crossed at the knee is comfortable, since he does that when he finally sits down.
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Sunset wrinkles her nose a little at the mention of Fog Demons. "Yeah, those would be one of those 'problems' I mentioned. That keep turning up to pester the city every so often. Probably one of the easier ones to respond to though since the fog makes it a bit more obvious when they're about." She shrugs a little, and orders herself a salad. "Good to here that you're adjusting, though." With the order made she turns to smile in Kazuki's direction as well. "You certainly don't seem to have any problem with getting comfortable with other people."
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Kazuki mimics Sunset's expression, wrinkling his nose at Sunset's mention of fog demons.  "Yeah, haven't run into those yet," he replies.  "Hoping I don't."  As for getting comfortable with other people?  Kazuki chuckles.  "Well, I gotta learn how.  I'm hopin' to be a public figure at some point.  So it'd suck if I went berserk when there were a lot of people around, right?"  A lopsided smirk.
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Sunset raises an eyebrow a bit as she claims a seat for herself and leans on the table on one arm while waiting for her order. "Oh? What kind of public figure? That's a pretty broad field when you say it like that. Though the lack of flipping out is certainly appreciated. We have to deal with that enough with some first contacts as it is."
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"Oh I can imagine," Kazuki replies, to the words of having to deal with flipping out first-contacts.  "No offense meant, but overall?  This place is weird enough to give people a serious case of the willies.  I'm pretty sure I'd probably freak the hell out if I met any of these 'problems' I've been hearing about."  It's then that he addresses 'what kind of public figure' he wants to make himself into.  "A singer.  Well, performer.  I can dance, too.  And play the keyboard.  Not at the same time, though.  I have to pick one of those two latter options."
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The little elven lady has been quietly enjoying her smoothie and listening to folks chat.  That is one of the good things of being so small, folks forget she's about often. When she finishes her drink the lady turns back toward the bar Steve, those glass bottles please? The bar tender nods and pulls a few empty booze bottles from behind the bar and stacks them that enough Miss Minu? The elf nods that will do thank you Steve. This gives me enough to sort out how to powder the glass and see if it will be a viable option. If I need more I will send someone for more if you don't mind. The bar tender offers a smile don't mind at all Miss. They would have just gone in the bin any way. The little elf stacks the bottles into her arms then carries them over to where she left her basket. Tip toeing up she puts the bottles in the basket and turns to look over at Kazuki and Sunset It was a pleasure to meet you Kazuki. Time for me to head back to the office. You folks have a good evening. As she sifts to tiny elf owl form and takes wing. Taking hold of the wicker basket, she lifts it with ease, little wings beating hard and carries it toward the door. One of the skutters is already there holding the door open so she can make her way out.
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Sunset turns a moment to watch Minu leave, waving after the elf-owl as she takes off and flies out. Must be nice to be able to transform at a whim like that. Maybe some day she'll figure that out and not have to rely so heavily on other circumstances.
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Her attention shifts back to Kazuki as he starts talking about performing. Almost instantly her expression brightens more. "Oh! That's great." A pause as she sits up as her salad is delivered to the table. "I was in a band with the rest of my fiends back at Canterlot High."
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Kazuki catches the movement and turns.  Seeing it's the elf-owl shifter, he raises a hand and offers her a pleasant wave on her way out.  A smirk at Sunset's words.  "Maybe.  I'm sure there's all kinds of problems with being able to change forms," he observes.  "Like... what if she only has the strength of an owl that size in that form?  That seems like it'd be a pain.  Also no hands.  Lack of opposable thumbs seems like it'd be a damper on a lot."  And the mention of a band gets his attention!  "Oh?" he asks.  "What kind of music?  And what did you play?"
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Sunset laughs for a moment as she holds up her hands at the comment on opposable thumbs. "Don't forget you're talking to someone that originally just had hooves." And magic, but that would ruin the joke. Then picks up fork to dig into her salad. "I play guitar. But they already had that covered with Rainbow Dash on bass and Applejack playing acoustic, so I mainly filled a singing role."
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"Oh that's true, too," Kazuki admits, regarding hooves.  "How ''did'' that work, anyway?  Seems like hooves would be difficult to pick things up with.  Did you pick things up in your mouth?"  He doesn't mean anything offensive by the questions; the tone is that of someone who is just genuinely curious.  The mention of having guitar 'covered' gets a frown though.  "You need at least two guitars in any good band," he replies.  "One rhythm guitar, one lead guitar.  Rhythm guitar provides a 'base' for the rest of the song, along with the drums and bass.  The lead provides an instrumental version of a singer's melody-- the individuality of the song.  But it's all needed.  Me, I play keyboard.  A real take-it-or-leave-it instrument.  That's why I dance, though.  Some songs don't need keyboard accompaniment."
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"Equestrian hooves are a bit more flexible than normal horses." Sunset makes an exaggerated motion of using the fork on her salad. "Though as a unicorn I had magic too... that was actually harder to get use not having that using hands was." Walking into doors because you forgot you can't open them with just a thought anymore is a pain in the butt. And the nose. "To be fair we also had a tambourine to help keep time and beat. I guess a lot of 'modern' bands don't go that route anymore." It's followed by a little shrug, but quickly gets another smirk out of her at the mention of keyboards. "You know why we had the convince Rarity to play a keytaur?" She pauses for a moment for an effect. "For one practice she had a -baby grand piano- carried in for her to use."
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Kazuki blinks a little at the mention of the hooves.  "That makes sense," he replies with a nod.  "I admit, that picture you showed me didn't look like any kind of horse I'd seen before."  Explains the discrepancies, as far as he's concerned-- different world.  As for tambourine?  Kazuki nods.  "A lot don't, but there was an American band back in the late 1900s, early 2000s that did.  Though she mainly used it because she didn't play anything else and felt self-conscious being onstage without an instrument to hide behind.  That said, she was pretty good at it."  The mention of a baby grand gets a laugh.  "Hey, sometimes only the best will do~," he comments.
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"We're not as big and... burly? as the horses you'd probably be familiar with." Nevermind the technocolor coats and manes. "And that..." Sunset waggles a finger. "actually describes Fluttershy pretty well. She is much better with animals than she is around other people."
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Kazuki nods.  "Almost like... miniature horses, a little," he observes.  "They're... I don't know, cuter?  Does that make sense?  Humans have this thing about if it's small it's automatically cute.  Which kinna leaves me out unless I try really hard."  A smirk.  He's probably referring to his height.  It may not be immediately visible since he's sitting, but he's pretty tall for an average human.  As for shyness?  "Well, she had NOTHING to be shy about, really.  She was very attractive, even as an older woman, had a fantastic voice, and her sense of style was absolutely heavenly.  I think I have one of hers if you want to listen to it?"  He pulls a music player out of his pocket.  This thing he is never without.
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Sunset can't help but imagine how most of that, save the older woman part, applies pretty well to Fluttershy as well. Maybe waffly on the last one but she did know almost as much about sewing as Rarity did. She takes a few bites of her salad, then perks up and scoots closer with the music player is produced. "I'd love too!" Pause, then ahems softly to calm herself. "I mean, I've been dabbling in studying music from the different worlds collecting here. It's often a language in itself and can be useful in crossing some of those culture barriers."
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Kazuki smiles when he sees her excited about the music.  "Hey, no worries.  I listen to music from all over, too," he notes.  "Though about all I do myself is rock and pop.  Some metal, little screamo.  'Harder' stuff.  But I like to listen to lots of different stuff."  He starts flipping through the music player.  "Let's see... really good ones... three come to mind, but one's a little creepy.  Maybe keep to something lighter for now."  He connects the tiny external speaker, puts both on the table, and presses play.
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The song starts with two guitars playing.  A strong bass line and a similar drum track joins it soon.  The silky female voice begins to sing soon after, ''~Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night and, wouldn't you love to love her?  Takes to the sky like a bird in flight and, who will be her lover?~''  Kazuki starts to bob his head to the song; clearly he likes it.
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It doesn't take long into the song before Sunset is bobbing along a bit herself. She even taps the fork against her salad bowl a bit with the rhythm, before realizing that's probably annoying and stops. With the fork, at least. "It's a very pretty song."
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Kazuki nods.  "She went solo during the 1980s I think.  We can still find some of her stuff if we look around.  I'd love to be able to try to cover some of her stuff, but sadly, my English is... abyssmally bad.  I can understand her, though.  Just can't get my mouth to form the words right."
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Sunset chews on a bit of salad thoughtfully for a moment before she responds. "I would say to not worry about that." Instead the fork is used as an instrument to gesture at Kazuki. "Isn't the point of a cover to honor to the original in your own style? ... Well, okay, yeah you need to make sure your English is good enough to be understood. But music isn't just the words. It's the overall experience. A cover should be a tribute of your feelings of the song, not just trying to replicate the original."
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"Well, like I say, I understand her just fine," Kazuki replies.  "We were taught English in school.  And a little of the Zentradi language too, though I could never pick that up.  A cover would end up me having to translate it into Japanese, and that's awkward at the best of times.  I don't like changing a song's language, because it feels like it's not being true to the song somehow.  To me the words are part of the song, even if it's not the whole song."
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Sunset aaaahs, nodding her head a bit as he explains more. "I see what you meant now. I suppose the best advice I could give, coming from someone that's had to adjust to new cultures before, is to just keep practicing. You'll find the right balance between the original and your own touch eventually."
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"Yeah.  Though my level of bad, there may not be any help for."  And to demonstrate, Kazuki tries it.  Just speaking it, not singing.  It comes out something like, "Rianon ring'z raika beru eenda nait..."  He stops there, and makes an odd movement with his mouth and tongue, as if untangling them.  "Gah.  That's hard.  You'd think with a voice coach I'd be able to manage that, but I guess not.  Bleh."
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Sunset tips her head a little to the side, and tries not to wince too badly. Not that she can understand it. But she gets the impression of how awkward it is for him to try and do. "This is probably why they usually rewrite some lyrics in other languages than try to translate directly," she muses. "Sounds like it's definately the language barrier and not you being bad." It was pretty rough to listen to either way but she's not going to be that rude to the guy. Not going to be like the old Sunset Shimmer who would of said something sarcastic, vagely insulting, and then walked away. We don't roll that way any more.
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"I think it's a little column A, little column B," Kazuki reples, with a bit of a self-derisive smirk.  "But we can't be good at everything.  There's plenty I can do within the boundaries of my own language.  Fact, you might see some of it at one point.  I'm going to try to see if I can perform here a little.  Not sure if that's an ideal solution, but it does seem to be where people gather a lot, so I'm sure to get some attention."
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Sunset nods her head in the direction of the dance club at the other end of the building. "They're usually pretty open about giving people a chance to do their thing." Then forks the ends of her salad to finish it off.
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Lina Inverse is back! She dares to return through the front after whatever caused her to flee in the first place. Like that one guy for instance. That was being -nice- to her. Or flirting. She doesn't really... Anyway! Now, she's composed herself and she's coming back and most everyone that was there earlier is gone. Ohthankgod. "Yooooo."
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Kazuki nods to Sunset's words.  "I may try that, see how far I get.  They have karaoke here too, so I can try that too.  Though you don't really do that for exposure, you do that to make an ass of yourself, mainly."  A smirk.  Lina returns, and Kazuki chuckles.  "All the embarrassment is gone, you can come out now," he teases.
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Sunset looks up from finishing her salad as the other girl wanders back in, giving a brief wave. Chuckles a bit at Kazuki. "Karoke is a good way to learn what not to do on stage, as I was once told."
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Lina Inverse pauses, then barks in angry response to Kazuki, "I wasn't embarassed! I just..." She gestures vaguely and then stomps over to the bar, sits and crosses her arms. "So what's going on? Karaoke?" She turns that over in her head, remembering... then she goes very still and kinda blanches. Bad memories.
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Kazuki nods.  "Pretty much, yeah," he agrees.  "Most people do karaoke when they're drunk and relaxed enough to let themselves screw up."  Kazuki jumps at the angry bark, but then snickers when Lina trails off.  When she asks what they're talking about, he explains, "I'm a decent singer and I'm looking for a place to start.  Thinking about performing here a little, if I can swing it."
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"Speaking of relaxed, I think it's getting about time for me to head home for bed." Sunset gets up from her chair and picks up the empty salad bowl so she can return it to the kitchen on her way out. "Nice talking to you again Kazuki. Especially seeing as we seem to share a few tastes." She adds a wink with the last remark before turning to walk away.
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Lina Inverse watches the other person go quietly while settling into a seat. "I really need to keep better hours than this if I want to see actual people. This place is a little strange when it's so empty, like..." Glance, glance. "Well, you'll probably see sooner or later. If I start pointing stuff out it won't happen." Hrnf.
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Kazuki nods to Sunset's needing to go.  And ne returns that sentiment, "Good to talk to you too, Sunset.  Hopefully I'll get to sing for you sometime."  And he nods to Lina's words, chuckling.  "Well, it's also not just about there being living bodies in here.  It's the quality of the crowd, too.  i'd rather have one person cheering me than fifty people booing me."
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Lina Inverse hooks her feet in the legs of the stool, "So you some kinda musician, then? I've seen a couple live, uh..." Glance. "Well, maybe not -live- but there's been people here playing music. Singing. All that. There was even a little bug going around that made people sing stuff..." Shudder.
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Kazuki nods.  "Singer, dancer, and keyboardist," he confirms.  Though he raises an eyebrow at the mention of the 'bug' that went around.  "That would have been so bad for me.  I'm already usually resisting the urge to sing something most of the time."  Smirk.  "Got to practice if I'm going to really get good, you know?"
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Lina Inverse headscratches, "Eyeeeeah, I dunno if it woulda counted as practice if it was just some kind of weird compulsion! I think we mostly got rid of it but... I'd rather have the monsters. That's what I'm good at handling, not that." Never again! Please! "I think someone actually made the weird singy-bug. Probably some sick joke; there's alot of that around here if you haven't seen it already. Fair warning!
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"I'm just the opposite," Kazuki replies.  "Put me up against a monster and you have a dead singer."  He chuckles.  Though he tilts his head at the latter comment.  "A lot of what?" he asks.  "Sick humor?  Mine's pretty bad, too, so I can't say much."
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Lina Inverse probably the butt of it because she's... herself. Not that she'd ever ever ever admit to this! She points up then gestures around, "Ya might see it eventually. A lot of the worst offenders are gone or at least, uh, absent. So hey, hopefully nobody's going to mess with you by makin a room full of people sound like they're booing instead of clapping, say. That kinda sick humor."
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"Well, not to worry," Kazuki notes.  "I'm at least polite enough not to go off on an audience.  And considering I've always dressed and made up my face to look more femininine, but always used a male voice, I got plenty of flak.  'Two-bit transvestite', 'fake drag queen', 'God can't he even be arsed to sound like a woman'-- I've heard it all."  He smirks. "I'm thicker-skinned than people tend to give me credit for."
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Lina Inverse frowns! "Well, you get it. Just keep your eyes open; when things get weird here they really just take right off and don't come back until someone starts busting heads." Though here, at least, she usually never gets the real culprit! "Wait, so..." Wow, someone else that gets flak over their body!? A kindred spirit, "I know how you feel... sort of?" Even she's not quite -that- full of herself. "Eh, you have a problem outta someone and you let me know!" She flexes... of all the incongruity!
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Kazuki nods.  "I get'cha.  Though I think 'weird' is kind of a setting that's always on about this place.  So 'when things get weird' might just be a bit subjective."  He snickers.  Though the offer of assistance gets a very odd response.  He clasps his hands next to his jawline and makes 'heart-eyes' at Lina.  Figuratively speaking, of course, there are not literally hearts in his eyes.  Would be if this was an anime, though.  "Aaa, my hero~," he trills, in a voice that is legitimately female-sounding.  He can't keep it too long, though, and starts to laugh.  Back to his normal baritone voice, even though it sounds a bit out of place with his looks, he notes, "I'm kidding.  But I do appreciate the offer.  Thank you, I'll remember that.  Chances are I'll need ''someone'' to bail my butt out of the fire if the fecal matter impacts the ventilation systems."
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Lina Inverse shifts a little, starting to feel the first hints of alarm creeping into her from that reaction! "Ah, uh... S-sure. No problem..." Wow, that range. She's gotta figure you can sing like crazy! "Yeah, chances are, the way things happen here... something will happen! Even if it's just more of those loud green bastards again!"
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"Loud green bastards... orks?" Kazuki inquires.  He'd heard the word earlier.  "I'm not familiar with them.  The closest thing I can think of, from what I heard, are oni.  And they're all fire and angry until you give them some strong booze.  Then they fall asleep and you can run away if you're in trouble.  Not that they're not a threat, since they eat people.  But the booze conquers all."  Snicker.  "Though they're also myth where I come from, so there's that."
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Lina Inverse nods, "Yeah, those. Awful, dumb... like fighting more than they like being alive, if you know what I mean." She leans back on the bar, sorta slouching into her seat. "Lotsa other crap around, though I guess you've probably seen. Never tried giving anything booze, though... huh." Maybe she'll try that and -then- fight whatever! Heh. Probably not, considering how mad she gets!
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Kazuki nods.  "There are people like that," he acknowledges.  "Humans, even.  Most I know are Zentradi, though.  Meltrans seem particularly bad about that, from what I've heard.  Then again I grew up on Earth, so that might be just the 'once you go Meltran' crowd's inane ramblings..."  As for booze?  "Don't discount the effect of booze in battle.  Old Japanese myth says that's how the god of storms beat a major demon, he got it drunk first."
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Lina Inverse looks lost now! "Zentradi? Meltrans?" She tries to remember but doesn't come up with anything, so she tilts her head. "Guess that's something native to your world?" Dimension, universe, whatever. Same to the legends as you recall them, though that's certainly more relatable, "Huh. Outsmart the big dumb demon, heh... I wish it was always that easy. The only thing my demons get drunk on is destruction and misery. It's kinda awful." Probably why they always hang around nearby! Or why it seemed like it anyway!
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"Zentradi are aliens," Kazuki clarifies.  A sheepish look.  "Sorry, I forget I'm not in my universe anymore.  They're just so common there that I'm used to people going 'oh right' when I mention them.  they look like humans except they're usually like fifty feet tall.  They can make them smaller, though.  'Meltran' is what they call the female of the species, 'Zentrans' are the males.  I'm told the Zentradi thought their males and females were two different species and initially freaked out when someone showed them a baby."  He seems to find this funny.  Though Lina's mention of the demons in her world only getting drunk on violence gets a frown.  "Oh bleh.  That sucks.  Spiritual beasties then?  Or just weird-as-all-hell biology?"
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Lina Inverse looks up, kinda envisioning... Yeesh, THAT big? "That must be crazy. You live around them?" That must make cities awkward to build. Anyway. "Huh, so males and females now allowed to mix... Yep, seen that before. Except the men were dressing as ladies and sneaking over to... mix it up. Eventually, nobody even who was really what. It... Was different?" She handwaves, "They're butts. Every one of them. A couple of them aren't -bad- all the time but they can really piss you off with how cryptic they like to be. And yeah, totally spiritual. They can manifest a physical body like ours. Their real forms are always more abstract.
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Kazuki chuckles.  "Yeah.  Those most of them chose to come down to our level, so to speak.  There's a way to make them human-sized," he clarifies.  Her mention of men dressing as ladies gets a snicker.  "I've done that a time or two.  Not for THAT reason, of course.  I'm pretty convincing."  He's not bragging, just stating a fact.  He quiets at the account of the demons in Lina's world, and wrinkles his nose.  "Ooh... yeah, that does suck.  Have to use other means than getting them drunk, then."
 
|}}
 
|}}

Revision as of 16:24, 18 April 2016


A Busy Night in the Usual Restaurant

Summary: Here are the records of but one night in the Usual Restaurant...



Desmond-icon.gifKazuki-icon.gifLina Inverse-icon.gifMinu-icon.gifRayne-icon.gifSae-icon.gifSilencia-icon.gifSteve the Bartender-icon.gifSunset-icon.gif

The information contained within this log is to be considered information gained Out of Character (OOC).
This information may not be used as In Character (IC) knowledge or in roleplay unless it has been learned in-game or permission has been granted by the parties involved.

Questions should be directed to staff.


At her usual table, the one with the bench against the wall, Rayne is currently eating from a bowl of salad while looking at something on her computer. She regularly sets her fork down to type something in, then either goes back to munching her leafy meal, or alternatively drinking her orange smoothie. Total vegetarian today, right? No, actually, there's chunks of chicken in the salad. The looks on her face as she stares intently at her laptop suggests that she's actually doing work on her lunch break today.

Sae twirls as she comes out of the kitchen, all giggly and singing, having an extra wonderful day. Sae's got on a rather rugged looking pearl necklace to go with her waitressing uniform. Despite the outfit though, it doesn't seem like the girl's doing much work, more or less deciding to wear it just because it's so darn cute! Seeing Rayne, she gives a happy wave and runs over to the girl, a big grin on her lips. "Heya Rayne!". The schoolgirl turns her chair around, then sits down on it, arms crossed over the back of it, chin in her arms, just getting comfy and idly humming, trying not to bother Rayne, though she is kinda staring at her pretty rainbow hair!

The door opens to reveal a timid-looking Silencia. She had been taking it easy since emerging from her cocoon, needing some time alone to adjust to her new appendages. Today she finally got out and came to the Usual, but she seems like she's still a bit uncomfortable with her change. She's wearing her old white dress with the back altered to make room for her new wings. Those large, violet butterfly wings flutter behind her, the girl needing to pause so that they fit through the door properly.

Rayne waves a bit idly as Sae greets her. "Good afternoon, Sae. How are you doing today?" She does not, however, give Sae much more than a glance as she continues working on her laptop. Well, that is until Sae takes a seat right at her table and starts staring at her. With a raised eyebrow, Rayne slowly looks up from her computer to ask "...Can I... help you?" She's of course distracted from Sae as Silencia walks in, and does a double take. "Damn, Sil... I saw you come out, but I still forgot just how big those things are..." She blinks, then covers her mouth, suddenly realizing that Sil might be sensitive about the subject. "Uh... sorry."

Sae grins back at Rayne. "I'm doing awesome! Me and Flan are sprucing up our dorm lately, and it's getting cuter day by day! Not to mention I met Miss Morgana the other day! She made me a super super cute necklace!", tilting her chin up to show off the pearls hanging from her neck. She shakes her head to Rayne's question, answering in a giggly voice "Nope! I just like looking at.." she trails off as Sil steps inside, eyes slowly widening at the sight of those butterfly wings. "..cute things.". Without skipping a beat, the schoolgirl rushes over to glomp Sil! "Sil Sil Sil!". She squeezes the priestess tight. "You're finally out! AND OH MY GOSH your wings are so cute! So so so amazingly adorable! You're like a real life butterfly fairy princess girl! It's cuuute!". Sensing some sort of tiredness in her adorable friend, she gently takes Sil's hand and tries to guide her over to a seat. "Need anything Sil?", looking quite sincere and wanting to take care of her. "Me and my puppy made sure to play lots outside your cocoon and stuffs! Hoped it helped you feel better!", giggling again, having cuddled and played and snoozed with her new puppy in the park, at the advice of a few others here.

Silencia smiles when she sees familiar faces, the wings actually fluttering to show her happiness at seeing her friends. "Hey there!" She smiles reassuringly at Rayne. "I still get surprised by their size too!" Sae's reaction catches Silencia off guard though. Silencia tenses slightly when Sae rushes over to hug her, afraid of possible injury to the delicate-looking wings, but everything seems to be alright,so she relaxes quickly. "I'm finally out! I'm glad you like them, Sae! And the correct term is Fae." She winks before making her way over to Rayne's table. She sighs softly and shakes her head at Sae. "I'm alright, Sae, just a bit overwhelmed is all." Before sitting down, Silencia hesitates, peeking at her wings. She then shrugs and sits down, making sure not to lean back. "So, I'm sure I have some catching up to do! What have I missed?"

Rayne gives Sae a bit of a smile and says to her, "Well, I'm glad you-" and then Sae is off like a guided missile towards Silencia. Rayne lets out a sigh and seems to deflate just a little. As Silencia sits nearby, she nods to the fae woman. "Well... In the biggest news, that group of crazies near the beach managed to find and wipe out the next of those... black creatures. So apparently they're not much of a threat anymore?" She smiles a bit. "Be on the lookout for stragglers, though. The gnome said something about the place needing to have a 'good old mana bomb' set off in it. Not sure exactly what that meant, but I'm going to assume it's a sizable explosive from her universe..."

Sae bounces in place, leaning in towards Sil to peer at those wings up close. "Fae! Like fairies! Fae-ries? Fae-fairies!", trying different combinations to see which one's the cutest. Overwhelmed? The younger waitress hmms for a moment. What can she do to help that? Nothing! Sae's come to realize her giggly antics can sometimes be a bit much on people who don't have Flandre's limitless energy, so rather than bounce up and down even more, she simply takes her chair and puts it next to Sil's, facing backwards so she can go back to resting her arms a along the back of it, just staring at those pretty wings with that soft hum in her voice. "Oooh! You know Miss Gnome-y too? She's cute! She let me pet her ghosty-kitty!"

Silencia's eyes widen and a broad smile appears at the news that Rayne shares. "Thank goodness! Those monsters were terrible..." Silencia shivers as she remembers her own little encounter with the Xenomorphs. She then grins at Rayne. "You must be even more relieved than I am, right?" Silencia doesn't seem to mind the fact that there might still be stragglers around, the less of them meant the easier the escape! Sae's adorable little antics make the fae giggle and she reaches out to pet the schoolgirl. She does understand the excitement and the curiosity, so she shifts to allow Sae full view of her back and her wings. The odd appendages flutter nervously, but Silencia doesn't move. "Go ahead at touch them, Sae, but be careful. I'm not exactly sure if they can hurt..." Silencia has been treating her wings like they're breakable, because they just look so damn delicate!

Rayne says, "I've met her in passing once or twice. She's... disturbing." The phoenix frowns, shaking her head. "Yeah, sure, totally relieved." Her smile doesn't manage to make it back to her face, however. Instead, she stuffs her face with some more of her salad, making sure to get a bit of chicken into this bite! Still, she can't help but more or less stare at Sil's new wings. "They do really fit you, somehow. Even if they are a bit... large. Have you tried to fly with them yet?"

Sae closes her eyes and grins dumbly at the pets, always loving such contact. Slowly opening them back up, she leans closer to stare at the wings from hardly an inch away, trying to make out their texture. "So pretty..", slowly tearing her vision away so she can look back at Sil, nodding. The schoolgirl's the very picture of gentleness as she uses the backs of her fingers and hand to lightly stroke up and down one of the wings, gradually shifting so her fingertips run over the softness, before tracing the upper edge, then the back edge, then the bottom, taking in every detail she can. "Super beautiful Sil..do you need to sleep on your tummy now or something?" she questions in an uncharacteristically soft voice. Then comes the silliest thing of all! She leans extra closer and rubs her nosetip against the wing, then nuzzles her cheek back and forth, giggling.

Sae says, "Awww, Miss Gnome-y is nice Rayne! Have you met her ghost-kitty?", presuming the only reason Rayne might be disturbed by the girl being she hasn't yet seen the cuteness that is that undead kitten."

Lina Inverse is here! Look out! Relax, she's just coming here for... food, right? Well... The sorceress hits the door and pauses, glancing from warm body to warm body with a look of mild surprise. "Huh, figured this place would be empty!" Then she kinda screws her face into a rather troubled look. Cuddling someone's wings with your face!? "Hey!" To whatever's working, "Just a drink! Foam is fine!" Eh?! Isn't she a bit young for that? Anyway, she picks her way around the tables and hops up onto a bar stool. Because they're high up and let her feel taller! Or something.

Silencia frowns slightly when Rayne answers her. That didn't seem very relieved... She decides not to dwell on it at the moment. She smiles sheepishly. "Thank you! I'm still adjusting though. It's really odd to suddenly have two giant wings sprout from your back, I keep knocking things over! And no... I haven't tried flying yet... I'm a bit afraid to, because they really don't look like they'll be able to hold my weight!" Yep, Silencia doesn't have much faith in her wings! Silencia's wings twitch when Sae touches them, Silencia tensing up again. The wings are very thin, the texture like a luxurious silk. Along the edges, the wings seem to thicken slightly to support the weight of the delicate appendages. "I've been sleeping on my stomach, yes, but I don't think they're that fragile. I just need to get used to the idea of them being there..." A soft yelp escapes her when she feels Sae pressing her nose then her cheek to her wing. "Hey! I can actually feel all that, you know?"

Rayne tilts her head at Sae's question. "I guess? The cat was with her..." Unlike Sae, however, Rayne still sees a ghost cat as a spooky undead. She shrugs and looks back to Silencia. "Well, I certainly hope they can let you fly... I'd never be able to put up with wings like that if they didn't. I can only imagine how bad they are for getting in the way..." Predictably, she's able to resist touching Sil's wings. She glances as Lina walks in, seeming to recognize the place, but Rayne doesn't recognize her. "Why would it be empty? I, for one, regularly eat meals here... It's a good place to try to be social outside work."

Sae giggles and uuus. "Uuuu! You can feel it?", then deciding to trace a <3 shape with her fingertip on the wing! "Adorable! And If you wanna learn to fly, I can come with you Sil! Flan says I make a good pillow! So could totes be something for you to land on if you need! I'm soft!", flashing a goofy smile at the priestess. Waving at Lina, she swings her feet back and forth, giggling.

Lina Inverse spins slowly in her seat, "Why would it be empty? You must be new; this place has spent, uh... Actually I'm not sure how -long- it's been. Guess I've kinda lost track!" She grabs the mug placed on the bar behind and takes a drink. "So maybe I'm just outta touch. Too many nights stooped over doing, uh... work." Yeah, work. Eh? Waving? Even here, somebody waving something other than torches and pitchforks is unusual. Not sure how to react.

Speaking of new people, the door to the UR opens abruptly and in comes a young man wearing a white hoodie and a messenger back. His sweat shirt is covered in grim and dust and as he enters he lowers his hood revealing that his face is also covered in similar black oil. "What the hell!?" He exclaims and proceeds to stumble forward and tumble before collapsing on his back. "There's freaking monsters out there!"

Silencia grins at Rayne, wings fluttering again. "They're actually really flexible and I could probably fold them or something to make it easier to get around, but I still need to get used to them." When Rayne addresses that stranger, Silencia turns to peek at her. She gives a friendly smile, but gets distracted by Sae before being able to address the redhead. She squirms, holding back a giggle when Sae traces a heartshape on her wing. That tickles! Luckily she stops before Silencia bursts out in laughter. She does shake her head and turn to pet Sae on the head. "That would hurt you, Sae. Don't offer to do things that could hurt you!" She then returns her attention to Lina. "Would you like to join us? It's always a delight to meet new peop-" The girl can't even finish her sentence before another unfamiliar person storms in and exclaims a fact that is already well-known to most. Silencia frowns and rises, ready to help and heal. "Are you alright?"

Sae giggles and shakes her head. "You're too light to hurt me, silly Sil!". Something seems to click in the schoolgirl though, and she lays her head down on the table and starts drifting off for an impromptu nap!

Rayne says, "Well, it depends on your definition of 'new,' I suppose. I've been here about... six months? Seven? But from what you're saying, I'm guessing you're someone who was here long before... It's an interesting phenomena... You're... what, the third person like that I've seen in the past month? There was also that guy in purple and that kid who punched the tank." As Desmond enters and declares there to be monsters, Rayne dang near bolts out from the table, drawing her swords as soon as she's clear of it. "Just outside?! What kind of monsters are we talking about? Fog? Xenos? Something else?"

Lina Inverse looks pretty comfortable at the bar! She's leaning back against it all lazy-like and everything! She also seems perfectly content with shouting across the room at people but, "Eh? Join-" She pointedly looks from the owner of the wings to the person fawning over them... "Wow, months? I guess my sense of time really is going. I feel like it's been a few years but I'm not really sure." Then, a distraction! "Oh yeah? We talking monsters right now or did ya just see something, get scared and plow through every filthy back alley on your way here?" Someone's a little blase about the whole monsters thing. Or maybe she's just too used to being called a monster herself.

"No! I'm not alright!" The guy wearing the sweat shirt stands up abruptly and dusts the grim and dust off his clothes. "Well, actually." He pats himself once he gets back to his feet. "Actually, I'm okay, all my innards are still inside. I think." Though from the looks of it whatever attacked him was a close call.

That's when he notices Rayne standing up and he glances at her. "Fog, definitely fog. Came out of nowhere and all of the sudden I was up to my eyebrows in zombies. Then this huge muscled guy wearing a triangle helmet with an oversized kitchen knife chased me for miles." He stumbles and holds on to a table for support. "Oh and as I escaping some ugly looking ogres with green skin and axes started running after me." Looks like this guy nearly ran into every monster that there's in Twisted.

"Uh, I dunno, both, I guess?" He answers sounding a bit confused to Lina before sitting down to catch his breath. "Man, I need a drink."

Silencia doesn't take any chances. She marches over to the unfamiliar male and lightly touches his shoulder. A warm, golden light escapes her fingertips, healing every possible wound he may have, however small. Silencia nods softly, agreeing with the male's observation. "You're alright... good." She then glances at Rayne and frowns. "Don't go rushing into battle. Call in backup first." With all the shouting about monsters, Silencia fails to react, or even notice, Lina's odd indifference to the monsters or Sae's passing out. Silencia walks over to the door to try and peek outside to see how immediate the danger is.

[TASK] Rayne says, "I've got a report from a resident that there's a fog outbreak out there, be advised."

Rayne says something into her comm before looking back up to Silencia with a nod. She then turns to Desmond. "Okay, where did you see the monsters? Are they just outside, or did you lose them elsewhere?

Lina Inverse doesn't move, not just yet. "So you'll live! Good news." She makes a gesture at whatever's behind her, "Lotsa drinks here. Probably plenty of stiffer stuff than you need but hey, it's there!" What strikes her as odd is the others being super gung ho about creepy crawlies possibly being outside, "Well if he brought that stuff here it'll blow over if you hang around. If you're gonna play exterminator just know that the fog stuff will go away on it's own. Smarter, not harder!" Anything else, well, maybe a little target practice won't hurt! She takes another drink, though now she's at least leaning forward to listen!

Desmond is a little twitchy still after his close encounter with whatever and doesn't seem to appreciate Silencia getting near him. "Hnng!" The sweat shirt wearing guy leans back on his chair and away from the approaching woman with large butterfly wings. This place just keeps getting stranger and stranger for him!

Fortunately, rather than react violently or attempt to dodge Silencia's touch, Desmond's eyes flicker with a strange momentary light and afterward he seems to trust Silencia implicitly. No magic there either for whoever could sense such a thing, this guy isn't magical but doesn't seem to be wholly normal either. "Oh hey, thanks." He brushes his clothes after being healed of any discomfort by the fairy. "Nice wings. Are those real or are you cosplaying?"

When Rayne asks where the monsters are though, Desmond's face looks a fair bit more confused. "I, uh.." He looks back to the door and drums his fingers. "They were.." He hms pensively and rubs his chin. "To be honest I don't where anything is in relation to anything. Did I mention this is my second day in the city?" He chuckles nervously.

"Oh, but I can tell you they aren't anywhere nearby. Maybe." Kind of hard to gauge the distance when you're running over buildings.

Finally he nods over to Lina and sort of sprawls his upper body on a table, pressing his forehead on the wood. "Thank goodness. I need some vodka or something after that mess. And probably a sandwich."

[TASK] Rayne says, "I don't have a location, so I guess this is just an all posts thing? Be advised someone has spotted the fog monsters. He lost them and doesn't know where he encountered them."

Silencia seems to relax as she sees that there is no immediate danger outside. "They're not here, luckily." Lina gets an odd look from the priestess. "They go away on their own? Really?" Somehow Silencia has a hard time believing that, even though she had no personal experience with the fog monsters. Desmond's question earns a sheepish grin. "You're welcome and yeah, they're real. Can't detach them." Silencia did notice that odd little light, but had been preoccupied with the possibility of monsters attacking, so she missed the opportunity to ask about it. The comment about it merely being his second day earns another grin and the fae gestures grandly. "Welcome to Twisted, where things like that are very common."

Rayne seems to deflate just a little, but can't help but look a little relieved, as well, as she says something else into her comm. "Okay, then...Well, I told everyone to keep an eye out, if we don't know where exactly it's coming from..." She sheathes both swords, glancing back at Lina as she does so. "It's kind of in the job description to have to deal with monsters that show up... not everyone here can fight them off, you know. I've got a populous to protect." She points at the TASK badge on her armor, before looking back and forth between Desmond and Lina. "Rayne Hurris. Second in command at TASK." She then looks more to Desmond to explain that one. "We're the local police force, more or less... but I'm also in charge of the Welcome Center, if you need any help."

Lina Inverse nods, "See? It's fine! We can relax, enjoy the quiet! Besides, who'd be dumb enough to- Er, not saying that. Nope." Cough. Best not to tempt fate. Or incriminate herself for that matter. Pretty sorry fate getting that grossed up and not even coming out of it with some kinda loot to show for it. She returns to her comfy slouch. "So why all worked up? You two monster hunters or somethin?" Sip. "Huh? The fog will go away on its own. I mean, you can probly kill everything that comes out of it if you really wanna draw attention to yourself. No real sense in it if you're just checking around for..." What's a diplomatic way of saying loot? Shoot. "Anything interesting that isn't trying to kill you." Good enough. To Rayne, she nods once... then double-takes. "Task?" Eyeshift. "That's... Wow, it really has been awhile. Last I heard someone was picking you guys off." Little bit blunt but she has spent a looooong time in what amounts to this place's wilderness!

As the door to the restaurant opens and some non-descript citizen enters, a tiny elf owl carrying a wicker basket darts through the still open door. There is a soft hooting from the bird as it wings its way around the room then carries its burden to a wall sconce and works to hang the basket handle on the edge of the light fixture. After the basket is hung, the little owl roosts briefly on the other side of the fixture and looks around the room.

"Yeah, thanks." Desmond raises a hand to Silencia without bothering to pry his face off the table. "Talk about a welcoming committee you guys got going over here." The guy straightens up on his seat and chuckles at Silencia's grand gesture, clearly the girl is enjoying greeting hapless newcomer into this twisted world a little too much. Can't say he blames her for it though, he'll probably be doing the same when/if he gets accustomed to the craziness.

He twists and looks over to Rayne and offers a weak military salute. "Well, nice to meet you, officer. Name's Desmond. Glad to see a cop with a friendly face for once." He arches an eyebrow. "And an interesting hair style. You're the second person I see with colorful hair actually, is that regulation?" At the mention of the Welcome Center, he widens his eyes and nods. "Oh, yeah, I talked to some of your co-workers on my first day here. Sunset and that fish person in a water bubble named Serenity? There was also a cat man named Asato."

When Lina goes on her spill that the fog is perfectly harmless if left alone, Desmond sighs at her and gives the redhead a tired look. "Well I'm sorry if my first instinct to seeing a bunch grotesque undead monsters with knives is to run in the other direction. And what about the green skins with the axes? Do they also go away if you ignore them?" He goes quiet when Lina mentions someone picking off police offers and instead decides to go get himself a drink at the bar. The motion is definitely deliberate, like he's trying to avoid the conversation.

When the owl flies in carrying a basket, Desmond stares at it but otherwise doesn't say anything about it. That is hardly the strangest thing he's seen so far considering what he just went through, and at least this basket carrying owl isn't trying to kill me, so that's a plus.

Rayne pauses for a moment, looking at Lina. "Well, like you said, years ago. TASK is much more a police organization than it was in the past, as well. I would dare say we only took the old organization's name, and nothing else. As far as picking us off... Just monsters for the time being. Well, unless you count that psycho with the bomb..." As the owl flies in, Rayne waves to it. "Hey, Minu," she says in greeting, then tilts her head as she looks back at Desmond. "...Greenskins? That actually doesn't sound like any.... wait. Did they have tusks?" She puts a hand up to her face to emulate ork tusks with her fingers. "Damnit, I told them to behave themselves..."

Lina Inverse makes a face. "Running's fine. Just looked like you mixed it up a little first. If you can find a place that doesn't look like it has bleeding walls you can probably wait it out. Or you can keep doing it your way. And ogres? Yeah, running from those is fine. Unless you can take em out!" She gets a greedy look in her eyes for just a moment before settling down. "So-" She stops, watches the owl and she huh's softly. Sip. Odd that the least peculiar thing to happen today seems to be the most unusual occurrence. "Huh. Anyway, you're new, it's fine. I can let you in on some of the know-how around here- at least the bits useful for not winding up dead. Or worse!"

As the little owl is greeted it hoots brightly in return. Hopping from the basket the little owl glides toward the bar and when its nearly there , the owl shifts and in its place a dainty little elven lady, no more then four feet tall , lands with a little bounce and enough momentum to carry her walk the rest of the way to the bar. "Steve, Hi! My usual please and..I wanted to ask you if you had some glass bottles laying around you were just gona throw out." The little elf is currently dressed in a ruffled red skirt and a white off the shoulder ruffled blouse. Her hair is loose and falls in a straight smooth line of nutmeg brown all the way to the middle of her back. One little hand lifts to push gold rimmed glasses up on her nose. The bar tender smiles "hello Miss. Minu. I will have your smoothie right up , and yes we have quite a few we can spare. You doing arts and crafts Miss Minu?" The little lady shakes her head "no, no arts and crafts, its for work. I just didn't want to purchase something I could get through some creative recycling." The bar tender nods "well before you leave I will get you what ever you need Miss." The elf smiles brightly then turns and looks around the restaurant and one can see a familiar badge hanging from a lanyard around her neck.

Desmond nods to Rayne as she mimics how the Orks look. "Yeah, also they sound Welsh or something?" That is, assuming anyone around here is from Earth and knows what kind of accent is that. Suspecting that, Desmond goes ahead and tries to imitate it. "Also, 'dey talk loik dis, ya zug.' Or something."

He makes a helpless gesture at Lina whilst he partakes on some stiff alcoholic beverage. "I'm not inclined on finding out if I can take them out or not." Which is a funny thing for someone like him to say. Logic states that a regular, scrawny human wouldn't be able to take out a bunch of Orks, but it seems this guy thinks he might have a chance.

"Sure, anything I can find out about this place is useful."

By the way, did Rayne just greet that owl-oh wait the bird just shifted into a woman. "Sheesh!" The surprise nearly makes Desmond fall backwards off the bar counter but he steadies himself before returning to his drink. "This is way too weird for me."

Rayne raises an eyebrow at Lina. "I wouldn't mind hearing more of the 'old days' myself, to be honest... I really need to be learning more about the history of this place... but I've just been so damned busy." As Minu makes her request on bottles, Rayne asks her, "Let me guess, chemical weapon delivery systems?" She finally makes her way back to her table and her salad as Desmond confirms her suspicions. "Yeah, that's them, all right. Were they giving you any trouble, or were they just acting belligerent?"

Lina Inverse well. The owl becoming a person is a little weirder than an owl just breezing in and hanging out but not by so much that it makes her freak out or anything! Besides, it's someone actually shorter than she is. Score! Anyway, the mention of 'orks' makes her paw at her face in disgust. "Oh. Those. Yeah, you can probably take 'em if you get the drop on a couple... but I guess that's the problem. Oh! If you see a bunch of crazy guys in big chunky armor yelling crazy junk? Lemme know. I need to, ah, talk with them. Oh, and this place was... Different? Not so different in a lot of ways but it was really tense. Lots of bad just waiting to boil over and... Y'know, tense will do for now I think." She sets the mug back on the bar and waves for a refill! "Anyway, uh..." Oh, right, now there's more Task. Guess she'll just keep behaving herself!

Owls and Phoenixes and... what is Lina again? Oh my! There's a lot of things here that might be 'weird' for a human's sensibilities. It's probably fortunate, then, that the next person to come in... is a human. No wings, no feathers, no shapeshifting. Completely normal human, albeit a little scrawny. Fact, the weirdest thing about him might be his eyes-- they're purple. Or maybe his hair-- it's short in the back but long in front of his ears, a haircut you might see in an anime. Rather tall, little over 6'. Reddish-brown hair, pair of glasses set on his nose. Other than that, he looks like a typical Asian guy. He gives a wave to the bartender and Minu as he enters, and looks around the room. Catching sight of the table of Lina, Rayne, and Desmond, he raises a hand and offers a lopsided smile and a mock salute.

When Des falls back in shock at her appearance the little elven lady smiles up at the fellow with big golden eyes. "Hello to you. New to Twisted I see. Its alright. I don't bite, ok...that is a lie, I do bite but only if you annoy me." Her eyes twinkle with mischief and a sass. "My name is Minu. Welcome to our little pocket of the universe." When Rayne questions her need for the bottles she shakes her head "nope, after that thing with SuperBoy, I decided I needed more non-lethal ways to subdue a suspect. Thermite is all fine and good for near gods but the ordinary sword wielder doesn't need to be put down , just contained." Ok, the little lady is small and cute but, wow, what a topic coming from one that looks well...like a librarian on her day off.

"Well, they were chasing me while hollering and waving huge axes around." Responds Desmond to Rayne's inquiry about what where these Orks doing. "So I'd say they were giving me a bit of problems." He takes another gulp of his drink before glancing back at Lina. "Guys with armor, sure. Shall I tell 'em the cute redhead at the bar sent me?" He offers a smirk with his scarred lips.

To Minu, he looks a bit less inclined to flirt even though she may appear cute on the surface, particularly when she starts talking about biting people and setting them on fire. "Ahuh.. thanks, and yeah, I'm the new guy." He offers in response to her greetings and raises his glass in mock celebration. He also offers a wave to Kazuki as he walks in since he waved and its only polite to greet back. Also, there's the little fact that this guy actually looks like a normal human. "Heya there."

Rayne scrunches her lips to the side a bit. "Huh. Well, it sounds like things are in fact better right now than it was then..." She offers a wave to Kazuki as he approaches. "Hey there, uh... damnit... Kaz.... Kaz something, damnit." She sighs, giving up on trying to remember his name with an apologetic smile. Minu mentioning non-lethal methods gets a nod of approval from Rayne, though. "Good! But it's still a chemical weapon, even if it's not lethal. I'd suggest a small firecracker in a very hot pepper, by the way. See how that works on Erron." She offers an oh-wo innocent smile to her co-worker... then facepalms as Desmond once again confirms that the Orks are indeed... acting like Orks. "I'll put out a bulletin on them... Damnit, those idiots can't seem to understand 'no hurt people or we shove you in small room.'"

Lina Inverse glances. Must be about time for business to be picking up? She supposes this isn't all that unusual. Still! This is the most she's seen here in... feels like forever. "Yeah, he's new. Guess he got a hard time from some of the local fauna." She starts to snarl something harsh at Desmond as he asks about... Her mind just kinda turns off and her face colors visibly, "Wh-huh?" A-ahem! She snatches her refilled mug from the bar and hides her face behind a long chug. "Hah!" Composure returned! For now. "Actually, don't mention me. Thaaaaat's probably only gonna piss them off. A lot." Awww, actual helpful advice. "I just wanna pop by and check something of theirs out!" And probably steal it. Leave a bunch of fire and craters behind. The usual shit she pulls. Anyway, she calls out to the new person, "Whassup new guy!" Ah, chugging probably wasn't the smartest thing.

Kazuki raises an eyebrow at the topic of thermite and near-gods. "Uh. What did I just walk into? Is it going to involve burning and pain?" he asks. His voice is a baritone that might be a little out-of-place for his slight frame. "I promise I've been good. I've been keeping my naughty bits to myself, really." He's probably kidding, given the completely flat tone in his voice. Desmond's talk of being the 'new guy' gets an interested browraise. "Oh, hey. I'm reasonably new myself," he offers. He heads over to where Desmond's sitting and asks, "Mind if I join you? Newbies need to stick together, after all. Don't wanna get ganked by the higher-level guys, right?" He gives a lopsided smirk. Rayne's callout draws a snicker. "Kazuki," he offers, without seeming to be too upset about it-- at least she remembered 'Kaz'! He says the name with the accent of his mother tongue, leaving the emphasis-- if there is any; the Japanese language actually doesn't work like that-- on the first syllable, and almost completely leaving the 'u' sound out, barely a pause in the name. He snickers at Lina's blush, but offers a wave as she greets him. "Hey there, not-new gal." He offers a wink. It's a playful one, though, not a flirty one.

The tiny elf lady tosses her head back and laughs at Raynes suggestion "I was thinking of raiding Kotals spice cabinet actually. I will have to give Erron a chance to play practice...dummy." She giggles more and then her golden eyes go to the door and the new fellow that enters. His comment about keeping his naughty bits to himself brings a bright blush to her cheeks "I should hope so Sir. Though we do have a few folks who are less worried about nudity in public, most of our citizens are particular about such things."

"I'd appreciate that." Says Desmond to Rayne's promise of putting a bulletin out for the Orks. "Something tells me those guys were not gonna hit me with the flat end of their axes had they caught me." Although to be fair, even getting hit with the flat side of those things could still very much kill a normal human being.

Desmond is all ready to return to his drinking and supporting the counter when he sees that unexpected reaction from Lina. Honestly, he wasn't meaning to flirt but if Lina's even a little bit receptive might as well see how far he can go, right? "I can't really mention someone I don't know, can I? Does the lovely lady have a name?" Desmond smiles softly and inwardly feels a little odd to be taking this kind of role all of the sudden. It almost feels like someone took over his body and was playing on the actions. Could it be Ezio's memories taking over his instincts?

Speaking of instincts and thinks that Desmond normally wouldn't do, he frowns as Kazuki comes over and says how he doesn't wanna get ganked. That is vocabulary Desmond understands as an avid MMO games and it triggers another strong persona from within himself. "Safety and Peace." He greets Kazuki sounding very formal all of the sudden, a fist over his chest like an old school warrior. "Don't worry, man. Stick with me and I'll keep you safe." Where did that come from? He almost sounded like some kind of knight. This bleeding effect is really getting out hand.

Rayne nods as Kazuki re-informs her of his name "Kaz'ki, right. Sorry." She lets out a sigh and stuffs a forkful of salad into her mouth, chewing before swallowing. "I'd go for the fresh peppers, Minu. You get that capsaicin in the juice, it buuuuurns the eyes. Liquidy is harder to get off the hands, so if he tries to rub his eyes to get rid of the burning, it'll just make it worse." Wow... Rayne can have a cruel streak. To Desmond, she just nods. "It's part of the job, in the end..." But she lets him be as he starts flirting with the redhead.

Lina Inverse kinda grasps for any little thing as a distraction. "I could probably have a talk with 'em!" Maybe even... Nah. Not her style. She'd probably just leave them all in the bottom of a crater too. Kazuki's greeting kinda gives her pause, "Whaddya mean not-new? You tryin to say I look older or somethin?" She's suddenly very interested in this new person; sparing on glances elsewhere until... A-aack! Desmond goes in for the kill and she doesn't even know what- She can't! Ah! Panic! She blanches, blushes and then leeeeeans back. "Ah, uh... Lina Inverse, heh...!" Oh please someone say somethin crazy! Something insulting! Help! Then... Des reacts to Kazuki and she breathes a sigh of relief.

Kazuki snickers at Minu's blush. "I know. Don't take everything I say literally, though; I was just being a smartass," he admits to the delicate-looking elf. "You want to really mess 'im up, though? Menthol salve in his shorts." He nods, once, firmly. Brutal. Though he smirks at Desmond's antics regarding Lina, though he keeps quiet aside from a snicker. Though he blinks at Desmond's words of keeping him safe. "Er... well, I was kinda kidding. Though yeah, there's a lot of people here that can smash me into paste pretty easily," he points out. "The pitfalls of being normal, right?" A smirk. Rayne's apology gets a dismissive wave of his hand. "Don't worry about it. Soon enough my name'll be on enough lips that no one will forget it~!" He puts a hand to his hip, striking an elegant pose. Hoo boy. One of those. Lina's words, though, draw a blink. "No, I meant it seemed like you handle this place's weirdness pretty well, and you seem pretty comfortable with it all." And then he snickers again when Lina seems to freak out a little.

The little elf's eyes go wide at the new fellows words "Ohhh I will have to remember that. Thank you. Kazuki is it? A pleasure to meet you. I am Minu." The little lady says. She turns to Rayne and nods "I will remember that. I am working though on things that can be delivered in owl form. Like I did with the thermite. Dust works well because back winging blows the powder right to the eyes...this time I am taking a note from and earth culture that had stealthy warriors called ninja, they used finely ground glass powder."

Desmond seems to be aware how out of character he's being all of the sudden and he adjusts his sweatshirt awkwardly before giving another chug of his drink. "Well, don't get me wrong, I'm no crime fighter or anything." That's a lie actually. "But I can take care of myself. So, in a pinch, I can bail someone's ass if there's need for that." If you got the skills might as well use them, right? "Besides, after running into those fog monsters and those, what where they called.. Orks, yeah. After running into that mess I'm sure its like you said, us new guys have to stick together." Desmond has literally just met Kazuki and he's already feeling some kind of kinship, probably because he can tell they are the two only relative normal human beings in the bar, Lina excluded obviously.

Speaking of said mage, Desmond smirks at how cutely she's reacting. There's something about the cute ones that act tough that really rub him the right way! Thankfully, Desmond is not enough of a creep to start being really pushing the issue, so he kind of giggles at Lina's reaction obviously noticing how uncomfortable how she feels being hit on. "Lina Inverse." He says, "I'm glad that there are wonderful girls like you in this weird as all hell universe."

Rayne raises an eyebrow at Kazuki. "Oh? Planning on making a name for yourself around here? A bit bold, eh?" She tilts her head towards Minu, then. "Yeah, I've heard of them too... though in my universe there's a couple of non-human groups that identify by that word in our language, too. I've actually trained a little in Mi-chkul fighting style, but not the sneaky stuff... It's more a martial art that I learned. Glass powder, though... I've not heard about."

Lina Inverse would graciously forgive Kazuki if she weren't... Aaaah! Desmond gets her about as helpless-looking as she's been in awhile... Then he backs off and reason kicks in. At least until her temper starts to heat up. "Are you making fun-" Then again, she's kinda-sorta stunned by the choice of words. Wonderful...? What in the world!? She thumps her mug bag on the bar, huffs, then starts straightening herself out.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Minu," Kazuki replies, bowing slightly. The mention of ground glass gets a wince. "Ow. Yeah, they used those," he agrees. "Also sharp bits of metal on the ground. Caltrops. Definitely worse than stepping on Legos." Desmond's words get a nod. "Well, yeah. Strength in numbers and all," he admits. "Though I'm glad I haven't run into any of that stuff yet. Starting to wonder if I need to buy a gun or something now." His words are a little wry, but it's clear he's not completely kidding. Rayne's question gets a grin! A lopsided one, because Kazuki doesn't seem to be capable of any other sort of grin, smile, or smirk, for whatever reason. "Heck yeah," he says to the rainbow-haired girl's question. "Might as well do what I know how to do here, since I don't seem to be able to find a way back." Lina's reaction? That just gets a laugh. Once he can talk again, Kazuki says, "I'm sorry, really. I'm not laughing at you. No, he's not making fun of you. I'm pretty sure he's just being nice to a pretty girl that's caught his attention. Pretty normal for a normal guy."

It's the end of the day's shift and time for the usual stop by the restaurant for food. Or just something to drink. She hasn't entirely decided yet. But that's originally Sunset's reason for strolling in. Though after walking in the doors she stops, noticing a bit of a gathering already going on. And a certain head of rainbow hair amongst it. "Rayne!" She doesn't shout too loudly to get the other lady's attention but does wave at her. "You might want to check the time!", she adds in a mischievous tone.

When Steve the bartender finally slides her smoothie up onto the bar, the little elf takes it in both delicate hands and takes a deep draw on the straw. She makes a small sound of pleasure then sighs. "I will have to think about caltrops , but really I am looking toward air delivery, bombardment." Is her answer to Kaz and she goes back to her smoothie.

"Sure!" Desmond grins with those scarred lips of his. "Like Kaz here's saying, you've been nothing but nice to me, so why shouldn't I complement you, Lina?" Oh, and apparently feels sufficiently comfortable with the redhead to call her by her first name too. He doesn't chip in on the talk about martial arts or sneaky violent stuff. It might look awfully suspicious if he shows his expertise, particularly in front of all these cops! Instead, he turns to see the approaching Sunset and waves at her. "Heya, Miss Shimmer."

Rayne nods to Kazuki. "Well, then, good luck i-" Sunset's attempt to get Rayne's attention succeeds! "Sunset? Wait, aren't you supposed to..." She looks over at a clock on the wall. "SONOVA!" She sighs and closes up her computer. "Damnit... I'm sorry, Sunset. I'm getting bad at this..." She shovels the last of her salad into her mouth before standing up. "Sorry to just cut and run, guys, but, uh, yeah, I'm late for work." All her things collected, she says something into her comm and soon vanishes from sight with a wierd effect that somehow resembles glitter being stirred in a glass of water.

Kazuki nods. "Makes sense," he replies. "Less chance of friendly fire-- allies stepping on them and the like." Yes, he saw the badge. Rayne talked about TASK, about being a member of it. He snickers at Desmond's words to Lina, but doesn't comment. The other guy looks like he can handle himself just fine. But he does finally ask Desmond, "Oh yeah. I don't think I've heard your name, if it's been said or not." He seems to be avoiding the whole 'didn't catch your name', 'I didn't throw it' dialogue. Rayne suddenly needs to depart and Kazuki offers her a wave. "Take care," he offers. And then she... disappears? He raises an eyebrow. "...Pretty sure I saw something like that in an old sci-fi show on TV..." he mutters under his breath.

Sunset laughs a bit at Rayne and steps aside to avoid being run over at the door... But then Rayne uses the teleporter instead. She rubs the back of her head. "I forget about that." Easy to forget since she can't use teleporting in her almost ordinary human form. "Don't worry about it, she loses track of time like that easily." But Sunset wanders over to join the group herself. "How's everyone else doing?" Gives Desmond a playful nudge with her elbow. "Still enjoying being 'stuck' and not 'dead'?"


Oh! Right! Here Desmond was chatting up a storm, flirting with pretty girls, and claiming he'll protect everyone without even introducing himself! Guess this is what his organization meant by working in the dark to serve the light. Although to be fair, Desmond had never truly gotten the chance to apply all his learned skills until now. Not to this length at least. He's still getting the hang of balancing all of his internal bleeding effect of multiple past personalities blending into his.

Anywho, introductions are in order, right? "Desmond Miles." He perks up and smiles, Des isn't the kind of douche that'd play on that common response and gives his name freely. "At your service." He adds almost elegantly while making a pose. Though not quite as elegant as Kazuki, it does look like he's playing a well rehearsed role. Maybe he's an actor?

Desmond then blinks as Rayne just up and disappears, though he doesn't act as surprised as he did before. "I think I'm finally getting used to the craziness of this place."

Then as he takes another shot of his drink, Sunset comes in and elbows him playfully which causes him to snicker. "Well, I ran into some of these Fog Demons and some Orks while I was exploring the city, so let's just say I'm doubly happy right now of not being dead."

Sunset's words of being 'not dead' to Desmond get a blink. "Whoa. OK, that sounds like a long story," he notes. Desmond introduces himself, first AND last name, so Kazuki does the same. "Kazuki Wakahisa." And then offers a polite bow. It is, as before, spoken with the Japanese accent. There's a bit of blending of that 'h' sound with an 'f' sound, just an ever-so-slight shade of it. Not enough to think he's said 'Wakafisa', though; it's just a little extra 'hiss'. As for getting used to the weirdness? Kazuki nods. "That does seem like the best course of action, yeah." He smirks as he says this, though. He finds a seat finally! Weird to be standing around chatting in a restaurant. He also appears to be one of those guys to whom sitting with the legs crossed at the knee is comfortable, since he does that when he finally sits down.

Sunset wrinkles her nose a little at the mention of Fog Demons. "Yeah, those would be one of those 'problems' I mentioned. That keep turning up to pester the city every so often. Probably one of the easier ones to respond to though since the fog makes it a bit more obvious when they're about." She shrugs a little, and orders herself a salad. "Good to here that you're adjusting, though." With the order made she turns to smile in Kazuki's direction as well. "You certainly don't seem to have any problem with getting comfortable with other people."

Kazuki mimics Sunset's expression, wrinkling his nose at Sunset's mention of fog demons. "Yeah, haven't run into those yet," he replies. "Hoping I don't." As for getting comfortable with other people? Kazuki chuckles. "Well, I gotta learn how. I'm hopin' to be a public figure at some point. So it'd suck if I went berserk when there were a lot of people around, right?" A lopsided smirk.

Sunset raises an eyebrow a bit as she claims a seat for herself and leans on the table on one arm while waiting for her order. "Oh? What kind of public figure? That's a pretty broad field when you say it like that. Though the lack of flipping out is certainly appreciated. We have to deal with that enough with some first contacts as it is."

"Oh I can imagine," Kazuki replies, to the words of having to deal with flipping out first-contacts. "No offense meant, but overall? This place is weird enough to give people a serious case of the willies. I'm pretty sure I'd probably freak the hell out if I met any of these 'problems' I've been hearing about." It's then that he addresses 'what kind of public figure' he wants to make himself into. "A singer. Well, performer. I can dance, too. And play the keyboard. Not at the same time, though. I have to pick one of those two latter options."

The little elven lady has been quietly enjoying her smoothie and listening to folks chat. That is one of the good things of being so small, folks forget she's about often. When she finishes her drink the lady turns back toward the bar Steve, those glass bottles please? The bar tender nods and pulls a few empty booze bottles from behind the bar and stacks them that enough Miss Minu? The elf nods that will do thank you Steve. This gives me enough to sort out how to powder the glass and see if it will be a viable option. If I need more I will send someone for more if you don't mind. The bar tender offers a smile don't mind at all Miss. They would have just gone in the bin any way. The little elf stacks the bottles into her arms then carries them over to where she left her basket. Tip toeing up she puts the bottles in the basket and turns to look over at Kazuki and Sunset It was a pleasure to meet you Kazuki. Time for me to head back to the office. You folks have a good evening. As she sifts to tiny elf owl form and takes wing. Taking hold of the wicker basket, she lifts it with ease, little wings beating hard and carries it toward the door. One of the skutters is already there holding the door open so she can make her way out.

Sunset turns a moment to watch Minu leave, waving after the elf-owl as she takes off and flies out. Must be nice to be able to transform at a whim like that. Maybe some day she'll figure that out and not have to rely so heavily on other circumstances.

Her attention shifts back to Kazuki as he starts talking about performing. Almost instantly her expression brightens more. "Oh! That's great." A pause as she sits up as her salad is delivered to the table. "I was in a band with the rest of my fiends back at Canterlot High."

Kazuki catches the movement and turns. Seeing it's the elf-owl shifter, he raises a hand and offers her a pleasant wave on her way out. A smirk at Sunset's words. "Maybe. I'm sure there's all kinds of problems with being able to change forms," he observes. "Like... what if she only has the strength of an owl that size in that form? That seems like it'd be a pain. Also no hands. Lack of opposable thumbs seems like it'd be a damper on a lot." And the mention of a band gets his attention! "Oh?" he asks. "What kind of music? And what did you play?"

Sunset laughs for a moment as she holds up her hands at the comment on opposable thumbs. "Don't forget you're talking to someone that originally just had hooves." And magic, but that would ruin the joke. Then picks up fork to dig into her salad. "I play guitar. But they already had that covered with Rainbow Dash on bass and Applejack playing acoustic, so I mainly filled a singing role."

"Oh that's true, too," Kazuki admits, regarding hooves. "How did that work, anyway? Seems like hooves would be difficult to pick things up with. Did you pick things up in your mouth?" He doesn't mean anything offensive by the questions; the tone is that of someone who is just genuinely curious. The mention of having guitar 'covered' gets a frown though. "You need at least two guitars in any good band," he replies. "One rhythm guitar, one lead guitar. Rhythm guitar provides a 'base' for the rest of the song, along with the drums and bass. The lead provides an instrumental version of a singer's melody-- the individuality of the song. But it's all needed. Me, I play keyboard. A real take-it-or-leave-it instrument. That's why I dance, though. Some songs don't need keyboard accompaniment."

"Equestrian hooves are a bit more flexible than normal horses." Sunset makes an exaggerated motion of using the fork on her salad. "Though as a unicorn I had magic too... that was actually harder to get use not having that using hands was." Walking into doors because you forgot you can't open them with just a thought anymore is a pain in the butt. And the nose. "To be fair we also had a tambourine to help keep time and beat. I guess a lot of 'modern' bands don't go that route anymore." It's followed by a little shrug, but quickly gets another smirk out of her at the mention of keyboards. "You know why we had the convince Rarity to play a keytaur?" She pauses for a moment for an effect. "For one practice she had a -baby grand piano- carried in for her to use."

Kazuki blinks a little at the mention of the hooves. "That makes sense," he replies with a nod. "I admit, that picture you showed me didn't look like any kind of horse I'd seen before." Explains the discrepancies, as far as he's concerned-- different world. As for tambourine? Kazuki nods. "A lot don't, but there was an American band back in the late 1900s, early 2000s that did. Though she mainly used it because she didn't play anything else and felt self-conscious being onstage without an instrument to hide behind. That said, she was pretty good at it." The mention of a baby grand gets a laugh. "Hey, sometimes only the best will do~," he comments.

"We're not as big and... burly? as the horses you'd probably be familiar with." Nevermind the technocolor coats and manes. "And that..." Sunset waggles a finger. "actually describes Fluttershy pretty well. She is much better with animals than she is around other people."

Kazuki nods. "Almost like... miniature horses, a little," he observes. "They're... I don't know, cuter? Does that make sense? Humans have this thing about if it's small it's automatically cute. Which kinna leaves me out unless I try really hard." A smirk. He's probably referring to his height. It may not be immediately visible since he's sitting, but he's pretty tall for an average human. As for shyness? "Well, she had NOTHING to be shy about, really. She was very attractive, even as an older woman, had a fantastic voice, and her sense of style was absolutely heavenly. I think I have one of hers if you want to listen to it?" He pulls a music player out of his pocket. This thing he is never without.

Sunset can't help but imagine how most of that, save the older woman part, applies pretty well to Fluttershy as well. Maybe waffly on the last one but she did know almost as much about sewing as Rarity did. She takes a few bites of her salad, then perks up and scoots closer with the music player is produced. "I'd love too!" Pause, then ahems softly to calm herself. "I mean, I've been dabbling in studying music from the different worlds collecting here. It's often a language in itself and can be useful in crossing some of those culture barriers."

Kazuki smiles when he sees her excited about the music. "Hey, no worries. I listen to music from all over, too," he notes. "Though about all I do myself is rock and pop. Some metal, little screamo. 'Harder' stuff. But I like to listen to lots of different stuff." He starts flipping through the music player. "Let's see... really good ones... three come to mind, but one's a little creepy. Maybe keep to something lighter for now." He connects the tiny external speaker, puts both on the table, and presses play.

The song starts with two guitars playing. A strong bass line and a similar drum track joins it soon. The silky female voice begins to sing soon after, ~Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night and, wouldn't you love to love her? Takes to the sky like a bird in flight and, who will be her lover?~ Kazuki starts to bob his head to the song; clearly he likes it.

It doesn't take long into the song before Sunset is bobbing along a bit herself. She even taps the fork against her salad bowl a bit with the rhythm, before realizing that's probably annoying and stops. With the fork, at least. "It's a very pretty song."

Kazuki nods. "She went solo during the 1980s I think. We can still find some of her stuff if we look around. I'd love to be able to try to cover some of her stuff, but sadly, my English is... abyssmally bad. I can understand her, though. Just can't get my mouth to form the words right."

Sunset chews on a bit of salad thoughtfully for a moment before she responds. "I would say to not worry about that." Instead the fork is used as an instrument to gesture at Kazuki. "Isn't the point of a cover to honor to the original in your own style? ... Well, okay, yeah you need to make sure your English is good enough to be understood. But music isn't just the words. It's the overall experience. A cover should be a tribute of your feelings of the song, not just trying to replicate the original."

"Well, like I say, I understand her just fine," Kazuki replies. "We were taught English in school. And a little of the Zentradi language too, though I could never pick that up. A cover would end up me having to translate it into Japanese, and that's awkward at the best of times. I don't like changing a song's language, because it feels like it's not being true to the song somehow. To me the words are part of the song, even if it's not the whole song."

Sunset aaaahs, nodding her head a bit as he explains more. "I see what you meant now. I suppose the best advice I could give, coming from someone that's had to adjust to new cultures before, is to just keep practicing. You'll find the right balance between the original and your own touch eventually."

"Yeah. Though my level of bad, there may not be any help for." And to demonstrate, Kazuki tries it. Just speaking it, not singing. It comes out something like, "Rianon ring'z raika beru eenda nait..." He stops there, and makes an odd movement with his mouth and tongue, as if untangling them. "Gah. That's hard. You'd think with a voice coach I'd be able to manage that, but I guess not. Bleh."

Sunset tips her head a little to the side, and tries not to wince too badly. Not that she can understand it. But she gets the impression of how awkward it is for him to try and do. "This is probably why they usually rewrite some lyrics in other languages than try to translate directly," she muses. "Sounds like it's definately the language barrier and not you being bad." It was pretty rough to listen to either way but she's not going to be that rude to the guy. Not going to be like the old Sunset Shimmer who would of said something sarcastic, vagely insulting, and then walked away. We don't roll that way any more.

"I think it's a little column A, little column B," Kazuki reples, with a bit of a self-derisive smirk. "But we can't be good at everything. There's plenty I can do within the boundaries of my own language. Fact, you might see some of it at one point. I'm going to try to see if I can perform here a little. Not sure if that's an ideal solution, but it does seem to be where people gather a lot, so I'm sure to get some attention."

Sunset nods her head in the direction of the dance club at the other end of the building. "They're usually pretty open about giving people a chance to do their thing." Then forks the ends of her salad to finish it off.

Lina Inverse is back! She dares to return through the front after whatever caused her to flee in the first place. Like that one guy for instance. That was being -nice- to her. Or flirting. She doesn't really... Anyway! Now, she's composed herself and she's coming back and most everyone that was there earlier is gone. Ohthankgod. "Yooooo."

Kazuki nods to Sunset's words. "I may try that, see how far I get. They have karaoke here too, so I can try that too. Though you don't really do that for exposure, you do that to make an ass of yourself, mainly." A smirk. Lina returns, and Kazuki chuckles. "All the embarrassment is gone, you can come out now," he teases.

Sunset looks up from finishing her salad as the other girl wanders back in, giving a brief wave. Chuckles a bit at Kazuki. "Karoke is a good way to learn what not to do on stage, as I was once told."

Lina Inverse pauses, then barks in angry response to Kazuki, "I wasn't embarassed! I just..." She gestures vaguely and then stomps over to the bar, sits and crosses her arms. "So what's going on? Karaoke?" She turns that over in her head, remembering... then she goes very still and kinda blanches. Bad memories.

Kazuki nods. "Pretty much, yeah," he agrees. "Most people do karaoke when they're drunk and relaxed enough to let themselves screw up." Kazuki jumps at the angry bark, but then snickers when Lina trails off. When she asks what they're talking about, he explains, "I'm a decent singer and I'm looking for a place to start. Thinking about performing here a little, if I can swing it."

"Speaking of relaxed, I think it's getting about time for me to head home for bed." Sunset gets up from her chair and picks up the empty salad bowl so she can return it to the kitchen on her way out. "Nice talking to you again Kazuki. Especially seeing as we seem to share a few tastes." She adds a wink with the last remark before turning to walk away.

Lina Inverse watches the other person go quietly while settling into a seat. "I really need to keep better hours than this if I want to see actual people. This place is a little strange when it's so empty, like..." Glance, glance. "Well, you'll probably see sooner or later. If I start pointing stuff out it won't happen." Hrnf.

Kazuki nods to Sunset's needing to go. And ne returns that sentiment, "Good to talk to you too, Sunset. Hopefully I'll get to sing for you sometime." And he nods to Lina's words, chuckling. "Well, it's also not just about there being living bodies in here. It's the quality of the crowd, too. i'd rather have one person cheering me than fifty people booing me."

Lina Inverse hooks her feet in the legs of the stool, "So you some kinda musician, then? I've seen a couple live, uh..." Glance. "Well, maybe not -live- but there's been people here playing music. Singing. All that. There was even a little bug going around that made people sing stuff..." Shudder.

Kazuki nods. "Singer, dancer, and keyboardist," he confirms. Though he raises an eyebrow at the mention of the 'bug' that went around. "That would have been so bad for me. I'm already usually resisting the urge to sing something most of the time." Smirk. "Got to practice if I'm going to really get good, you know?"

Lina Inverse headscratches, "Eyeeeeah, I dunno if it woulda counted as practice if it was just some kind of weird compulsion! I think we mostly got rid of it but... I'd rather have the monsters. That's what I'm good at handling, not that." Never again! Please! "I think someone actually made the weird singy-bug. Probably some sick joke; there's alot of that around here if you haven't seen it already. Fair warning!

"I'm just the opposite," Kazuki replies. "Put me up against a monster and you have a dead singer." He chuckles. Though he tilts his head at the latter comment. "A lot of what?" he asks. "Sick humor? Mine's pretty bad, too, so I can't say much."

Lina Inverse probably the butt of it because she's... herself. Not that she'd ever ever ever admit to this! She points up then gestures around, "Ya might see it eventually. A lot of the worst offenders are gone or at least, uh, absent. So hey, hopefully nobody's going to mess with you by makin a room full of people sound like they're booing instead of clapping, say. That kinda sick humor."

"Well, not to worry," Kazuki notes. "I'm at least polite enough not to go off on an audience. And considering I've always dressed and made up my face to look more femininine, but always used a male voice, I got plenty of flak. 'Two-bit transvestite', 'fake drag queen', 'God can't he even be arsed to sound like a woman'-- I've heard it all." He smirks. "I'm thicker-skinned than people tend to give me credit for."

Lina Inverse frowns! "Well, you get it. Just keep your eyes open; when things get weird here they really just take right off and don't come back until someone starts busting heads." Though here, at least, she usually never gets the real culprit! "Wait, so..." Wow, someone else that gets flak over their body!? A kindred spirit, "I know how you feel... sort of?" Even she's not quite -that- full of herself. "Eh, you have a problem outta someone and you let me know!" She flexes... of all the incongruity!

Kazuki nods. "I get'cha. Though I think 'weird' is kind of a setting that's always on about this place. So 'when things get weird' might just be a bit subjective." He snickers. Though the offer of assistance gets a very odd response. He clasps his hands next to his jawline and makes 'heart-eyes' at Lina. Figuratively speaking, of course, there are not literally hearts in his eyes. Would be if this was an anime, though. "Aaa, my hero~," he trills, in a voice that is legitimately female-sounding. He can't keep it too long, though, and starts to laugh. Back to his normal baritone voice, even though it sounds a bit out of place with his looks, he notes, "I'm kidding. But I do appreciate the offer. Thank you, I'll remember that. Chances are I'll need someone to bail my butt out of the fire if the fecal matter impacts the ventilation systems."

Lina Inverse shifts a little, starting to feel the first hints of alarm creeping into her from that reaction! "Ah, uh... S-sure. No problem..." Wow, that range. She's gotta figure you can sing like crazy! "Yeah, chances are, the way things happen here... something will happen! Even if it's just more of those loud green bastards again!"

"Loud green bastards... orks?" Kazuki inquires. He'd heard the word earlier. "I'm not familiar with them. The closest thing I can think of, from what I heard, are oni. And they're all fire and angry until you give them some strong booze. Then they fall asleep and you can run away if you're in trouble. Not that they're not a threat, since they eat people. But the booze conquers all." Snicker. "Though they're also myth where I come from, so there's that."

Lina Inverse nods, "Yeah, those. Awful, dumb... like fighting more than they like being alive, if you know what I mean." She leans back on the bar, sorta slouching into her seat. "Lotsa other crap around, though I guess you've probably seen. Never tried giving anything booze, though... huh." Maybe she'll try that and -then- fight whatever! Heh. Probably not, considering how mad she gets!

Kazuki nods. "There are people like that," he acknowledges. "Humans, even. Most I know are Zentradi, though. Meltrans seem particularly bad about that, from what I've heard. Then again I grew up on Earth, so that might be just the 'once you go Meltran' crowd's inane ramblings..." As for booze? "Don't discount the effect of booze in battle. Old Japanese myth says that's how the god of storms beat a major demon, he got it drunk first."

Lina Inverse looks lost now! "Zentradi? Meltrans?" She tries to remember but doesn't come up with anything, so she tilts her head. "Guess that's something native to your world?" Dimension, universe, whatever. Same to the legends as you recall them, though that's certainly more relatable, "Huh. Outsmart the big dumb demon, heh... I wish it was always that easy. The only thing my demons get drunk on is destruction and misery. It's kinda awful." Probably why they always hang around nearby! Or why it seemed like it anyway!

"Zentradi are aliens," Kazuki clarifies. A sheepish look. "Sorry, I forget I'm not in my universe anymore. They're just so common there that I'm used to people going 'oh right' when I mention them. they look like humans except they're usually like fifty feet tall. They can make them smaller, though. 'Meltran' is what they call the female of the species, 'Zentrans' are the males. I'm told the Zentradi thought their males and females were two different species and initially freaked out when someone showed them a baby." He seems to find this funny. Though Lina's mention of the demons in her world only getting drunk on violence gets a frown. "Oh bleh. That sucks. Spiritual beasties then? Or just weird-as-all-hell biology?"

Lina Inverse looks up, kinda envisioning... Yeesh, THAT big? "That must be crazy. You live around them?" That must make cities awkward to build. Anyway. "Huh, so males and females now allowed to mix... Yep, seen that before. Except the men were dressing as ladies and sneaking over to... mix it up. Eventually, nobody even who was really what. It... Was different?" She handwaves, "They're butts. Every one of them. A couple of them aren't -bad- all the time but they can really piss you off with how cryptic they like to be. And yeah, totally spiritual. They can manifest a physical body like ours. Their real forms are always more abstract.

Kazuki chuckles. "Yeah. Those most of them chose to come down to our level, so to speak. There's a way to make them human-sized," he clarifies. Her mention of men dressing as ladies gets a snicker. "I've done that a time or two. Not for THAT reason, of course. I'm pretty convincing." He's not bragging, just stating a fact. He quiets at the account of the demons in Lina's world, and wrinkles his nose. "Ooh... yeah, that does suck. Have to use other means than getting them drunk, then."



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Rayne

97 months ago
Score 0
If someone could just append what happened after I went to bed, that would be greeeeeeaaaaaaaat.

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