| Fee's First Flight | ||
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| Summary: Mimi ferries Halberd over to a more appropriate parking space than the middle of the park. Fee, of course, insists on tagging along. The two then get to know each other a bit better as they make their way to the UR. Who: Felicity, Leon Kennedy, Mimi Valroon, MoonShadow When: August 3rd, 2019 Where: Nowhereto Park, Mabase Gardens, The Usual Restaurant     |
Having very little else to do aside from satisfying her curiosity, Felicity has found her way back to the park as well. After yesterday's exciting encounter, she wonders if she might have the good fortune of meeting up with the funny aviatrix again. As she winds around the path, she the glint of the sun off of Mimi's plane's wings shines like a beacon and this brings a huge smile to the heiress' face. Felicity quickens her step and oh so rudely calls to her newfound friend from some small distance, waving her hand high in the air, "Helloooo! I say! Hellooo there!" Mimi Valroon looks up from where she's investigating what might be a problem on a tire(it's not, just a stone in the treads), and blinks at Felicity before waving back. "Oh. Hello, Felicity was it?" She makes her way back to the main hatch again. "Caught me just as I was about to move her." Felicity 's eyes flash with excitement, "Move her? So you've consulted the proper authorities then? I knew they would handle it. Well done." But that isn't what has her so excited, of course. It's that now she's in the perfect position make Mimi make good on her promise. She licks her lips, "I call this absolutely providential! Why, I only just stepped out for a short jaunt in the park to take in some fresh air and...here we are." She waggles her brows. "It's time to make good on that promise." Mimi Valroon pauses in surprise. "Promise?" It takes a moment, then she says, "I promised to take you on a flight?" It's less that she's saying she didn't and more that she honestly doesn't remember it that way, but can see herself having said something similar. Well, she probably vaguely insinuated it. There's a light shrug, then she says, "Just, you know, don't touch anything," she says before she opens the hatch and swings down the door along with its built in stepladder. She steps up first before turning around to offer Felicity a hand up. Felicity cocks her head and gives Mimi a withering look. As if she would be stupid enough to attempt to pilot the thing. "I have no intention of doing that. I'm not interested how it works! I only want to know how it feels to experience flight." Felicity takes Mimi's offered hand and holds it firmly. She may look and act the lady but there's strength in that grip. She quickly ascends into the body of the beast. The inside is an odd mix between messy and neat. Nothing here is built to look nice. There are exposed structural components, cables, various bits of equipment. And yet, nothing is on the floor. Everything is stowed away on the sides, in boxes bolted to the wall, strapped with beltwork to the ceiling, everything is secured. Well, obviously, if this is going to be doing any sorts of maneuvers. Towards the rear is a seat that looks to be for the bubble dome on top, the one with the machine guns on it that Fee might have noticed on the outside. But just before that is a hammock set up at an angle across the plane. The front, however, has the two seats, of which Mimi is already approaching to take the one on the left. "Take the seat and strap in while I finish off the checklist." Felicity takes in the full splendor of Mimi's majestic flying machine. It certainly isn't what she would expect but to be fair, Felicity has never been in side of one. "Dear me...Look at all these bits of rubbish. You fly with all this?" She says, taking it all in. It's not exactly as spacious as it looks on the outside either, though she's been in smaller spaces. The smell of metal and oil and all of those things fill her refined nostrils. She holds a hand, palm out, just under her nose for a moment or two until she adjusts. The guns are impressive! That's for certain. There's just....so much for her to take in but she does make her way to the seat, taking in the view from the cockpit. "What tiny windows..." She rubs a smudge off of the glass in front of her. She's certainly going to want to have a better view. What's even more mind boggling I all of the dials and buttons. "Jehosephat!-- You really know what to do with all of those..." She sounds doubtful but she's actually impressed. She finally settles into her seat, trying to make sense of the harness waiting for her there. She manages, though she doesn't love the confinement of it. Mimi Valroon is starting to go through hitting some switches here and there. "Of course. I more or less live out of it when travelling. I need spare parts, I need emergency survival supplies, I need spare ammo for the guns..." Then she hits two switches in the center and the entire vehicle rumbles as the twin engines start up. She checks over the throttle in the center just in front of being between the seats, then starts looking over the dials. "Okay, everything is looking green. Engaging the Varytitite." With that said, she carefully slides forward a smaller, secondary throttle that is just forward of the main one. The plane lifts slowly off the ground, more floating than really flying for the moment. She continuously shifts her gaze between the windows and a dial on the dashboard, then finally nods. "Okay, so what I'm about to do is change the pitch angle on the propellers. You've noticed that we're barely moving forward at all? The engines are only on to power the Varytitite. When I shift this, we're going to start moving forward." She waits five seconds, then shifts yet another throttle. By now her other hand is firmly on the yoke, however. And the plane starts moving forward! It actually lurches forward fairly quickly, as this is just the way Mimi usually does it. The sensation of lightly lifting off the ground sends a little thrill through Felicity, who is craning her neck to look in all directions. Below, she can see the people who are gazing up at the plane as it gently lifts off the ground. So far, the roar of the engines and the slight vibration of the plane are the only things she can note. It's a bit loud but she knew that already after yesterday. She bite her lip, knowing full well they're barely begun. Her heart begins to thump in her chest but she's very much alive with this excitement. "Right, " She says, nodding though she really doesn't have any idea what Mimi is talking about. It sounds like an explanation but really its a warning, isn't it? Just as she said, Mimi moves the plane forward and the sudden motion draws a little shriek out of Felicity - a sound that most girls make on thrill rides that's somewhere between fear and a triumphant woop! "Oh!" She says, her hand pressed against the side of the cabin, but she's al grins. Mimi Valroon's hand moves from the pitch control to the main throttle, now finally, pushing it forward, bringing the plane's speed up... considerably. She pitches the plane to its side and does a wide turn. At first, it looks like Mimi is almost bored with all this. Like it's just a job. But more careful eyes notice her gaze constantly shifting, rarely blinking. She doesn't want to miss anything! She's just... not very chatty when flying. She angles the plane to the south before pulling back entirely on the throttle, causing the plane to speed up even more. "We're going to-" She then winces, having forgotten to get Felicity to put on that seat's headset so they can actually talk over all the noise here. She grabs her own with the hand that was on the throttle, taps Felicity with it, taps the headset on the back of Felicity's chair, then puts the headset on herself. It's, of course, the big headphone style headset with a significantly sized microphone sticking out to near her mouth. "I was told to park on a small platform that's on a tower to the south. Apparently there's some halted construction project that should be stable enough, and they wanted me to park there." It takes a moment for Felicity to tear herself away from the window where she is staring wide eyed at the world below as it gets smaller and smaller. Her heart is positively pounding now and she finds herself both thrilled and slightly terrified by the whole blood-pumping experience. The tap on the shoulder pulls her out of her reverie and she nods her understanding, looking behind her and securing the boxy things over her ears. It makes a HUGE difference. Felicity hears what Mimi is saying but she doesn't seem entirely convinced. "Stable -enough-?! That does not inspire much confidence, Mimi. I'd prefer you be sure! I won't die this way, no matter how thrilling a story it would make for someone..." Some little movement in the plane causes Felicity to jump slightly, a hand going to her stomach. She's still smiling, though. It's a good sign. Mimi Valroon reaches to that secondary throttle again, this time sliding it down to zero. "We are now being held up entirely by our wings," she announces, the power supplied to the Varytitite crystals now cut off. She then grimaces at Felicity's concerns, and nods. "Yeah. Well, I took a look at the site already. It's made from a lot of stuff I don't recognize. But it was between there and that wrecked bridge... This looks a lot more stable. It didn't move in the wind at all... but I'm still going to keep the engines hot for a few minutes when I cut off the vary... make sure it's not moving under Halberd's weight." She frowns at the sudden motion of the plane. Why is she having to fight the yaw so much? Everything checked out before takeoff, so why is- She glances to her right, to Felicity. Oh, right. "Those pedals are not foot rests," she says. The tower is coming into sight, though. What looks like an abandoned subdivision that was never fully built to begin with, then above it a lone tower with a full platform on top and what looks like the beginnings of some lower ones. "There's supposed to be some others built and they're supposed to get connected, but apparently some people bought up land around it and are keeping it from happening? It sounded like the police I spoke to didn't really know what was going on." Felicity oh's and sheepishly removes her foot from the pedals, the barest hint of a pink flush rising to her otherwise China-white cheeks. She kept bracing herself against the damn things without even noticing it. The truth is, as much as she has loved this experience it has really set her heart to racing. It's such an unfamiliar sensation and the idea of speeding above the solid ground is surreal to her. IT's definitely something she will want to do again. Speaking of landscapes, this whole area of Mabase is unfamiliar to her. She narrows her eyes on the tower that comes into view. "How strange, " She mumbles, wondering outlaid about the circumstances under which these structures remain half built. "What purpose would someone have standing in way of progress?" Yes, gentrification and imperialism is a very English quality and Felicity still sees progress in all manner of industrialization. Her eyes flick to Mimi, who looks concentrated as ever. A hint of a smile pulls Felicity's full lips askew. She can see it plain as day, this really is Mimi's passion. Mimi Valroon looks around continuously, starting to sound a bit distracted. "Probably because the area looked nice, was a little remote, and thus a good place that rich people like to build at." There's a pause, then she says, "I'm guessing it's before all... that happened, though. Or just everyone's used to it around her?" Mimi doesn't normally look quite so pale as Felicity, but right now, she's getting there. Why? "The fog's not as bad as it was yesterday in this area..." She's looking right at the edge of... well, reality. Where the land is just... ending nearby. Sheer cliffs into nothingness. "...I think I'm more worried about the stability of the land itself than of the tower." She shakes her head to clear herself of those thoughts and concentrate back on coming in for a landing on that tower. "...Should be fine for a few other planes on this platform." Sure, as long as they don't need a runway. Oddly enough, the platform itself is covered in soil for some reason, even grassed over. "Thank god for elevators, though." Felicity, ever the observant one, notes the change in Mimi's demeanor. Her brows furrow, "What's the matter?" She looks back out of the window and sees the unusual 'geography'- if one could even call it such - looming ahead. She looks between Mimi and the void. "Steady," She says, the admiral's daughter coming through indeed. Felicity reaches across to grip Mimi's arm - just a 'gentle' reminder that any subsequent freakouts would endanger her precious cargo...ie Fee. In spite of what she says, she's just a bit unsettled by this too. Not that she hasn't seen something like it before. In her travels with Sleeve, she's seen a number of mind-blowing things but...flying towards them is another matter. Grabbing the pilot's arm may not be the best idea, especially when the pilot is used to flying solo. Yeah, there's a start at that, but thankfully it's nothing compared to what the Chief of Police displayed. More just a start of surprise. Mimi doesn't even bother to berate Felicity for it, instead blushing slightly in her own embarrassment for even having the reaction to begin with. At least she keeps the plane steady in that, other than a quick bank to the left that's easily corrected. "Restarting the Vary," she says, reaching to bring that secondary throttle back up again. They're properly approaching the platform now, and when the throttle is up on the secondary, she pulls back on the main slightly before, "Adjusting propeller pitch to neutral." They're soon over the platform, almost perfectly timed to be almost just drifting in the wind. "Crosswinds aren't the greatest here," she mumbles as she drops the Varytitite's power a little too harshly, perhaps. She wants to get the plane down on the ground before the wind pushes them off target! She reaches under the main throttle to set a parking brake of sorts (The flight was so short she never bothered to raise the landing gear). "Sorry," is all she says to the rough landing. "It'd be nice if I had a proper runway and didn't need to rely on the Vary, but..." So they're there, on the platform... not that Mimi is stopping the engines yet. She's glancing around carefully, keeping a hand near the Vary's throttle. Felicity holds her breath as the platform rises up to meet them. As the plane hovers over the platform, Fee peers outside of the window, her expression a bit tense. She may be telling Mimi to hold steady but the truth is that for all the fear of flying, it's the landing that has her most uneasy now. She fights the nerves that are pushing their way to the surface, mentally cursing herself not to be a damned fool. If her father could navigate the dangerous oceans of the world, she an certainly keep her composure as the plane touches down. It's bit of a rough landing but the jolt of the earth below is reassuring in its own way. They have most definitely made contact with solid ground....if it holds, that is. Felicity lets loose the breath she'd been holding in and visibly relaxes a bit. "Well done, " she says with a smile. "Zero points for style, but we are still breathing at least." But the engines are still sounding and she can feel the vibrations too. Fee arches a brow, "What is it? You don't trust this place?" Mimi Valroon rolls her eyes at the zero points for style comment, but then nods. "Exactly. I said I was going to hold with the engines, didn't I?" Or did she just think that? She doesn't seem entirely sure. "I'm testing to see if it feels like we're moving in the wind. Or less than the wind..." She waits another moment, then finally brings the throttle down to as low as it can go before cutting the engines. "I'm gonna want to check something," she says as she unstraps herself. She heads to the back to rummage through a trunk strapped to the wall, then pulls out a necklace. Yes, she does have nicer clothes and jewelry in there. Does she put it on? No, she grips it firmly in hand before opening up the hatch again and climbing out. "Where are you going?" She asks, whipping her head back around to watch with great puzzlement just what the heck Mimi might be doing. "Mimi! What in the devil is that for?" She asks, spying the necklace which seems like the very last thing the young woman would be needing at a time like this. Mimi seems otherwise occupied, of course. One thing is for sure, the time to be seated properly in this harness has passed. She quickly unfastens herself, "Well, I am NOT my father. -I- shan't go down with the ship should this great beast should topple off this crazy tower." Moments later she's taking swift steps down towards the hatch and looking after Mimi. She's very intrigued by whatever the girl is doing...and at a time like this. What is Mimi doing? She's taking the necklace to the edge of the platform, where she crouches down to hold it below the ground level. Here it's more manufactured an edge rather than just dirt, a flat space she can actually see... and she's holding the necklace with one hand close to it, and guarding the necklace from the wind with the other hand. She just sits there for about a minute before standing up again. "It's actually remarkably stable up here. So long as the ground itself holds out, we should be fine." ...Is she including Fee in with the 'we' or is she including Halberd? ....Probably Halberd. "And there's no point in going down with the ship if you can avoid it. I love Halberd, but she's still just a thing. I've even got parachutes in there in case things are really bad." None of what Felicity is seeing makes any sense to her at all. In her mind, Mimi just went from an amazing aviatrix and pretty girl to a complete lunatic in about the span of 5 seconds. She stands just a little ways off, taking in the whole scene with an incredulous air. "Should I take your necklace's word for it, or yours? What the devil was that all about?" You'd think that Felicity would have come to trust necklaces better than this after all she's been through with Gemma and with Skeeve but it seems that she has short term memory for all things that don't fit neatly into the boxes of what makes sense in her little black and white world. Felicity thinks on the reaction Mimi had just before they landed. Maybe the girl's head is reeling from multi-dimensional travel. "Mimi," she asks, her husky voice dropping lower as she moves in closer to her. "Are you altogether well?" Mimi Valroon blinks and tilts her head. "I was using it as a plumbob," she says with a slightly insulted tone. "It didn't move relative to the edge, so we're not swaying. The edge seems to be straight vertical, so it looks like it's not tilted. I was testing the stability of this place." Felicity's brows raise and the expression on her face could only be described as sheepish. "Oh." She nods, as if she'd known this all along. "Of course," she says with a little sniff. Eager to move past the awkwardness, Felicity shifts tact and breaks into a massive smile, "Mimi, you're stupendous! That...that was simply GLORIOUS! Oh, I rather like flying." Mimi Valroon stands up more properly and puts the necklace into place around her neck. It's a fairly simple one so it doesn't look out of place. that in place she offers a grin to Felicity. "Oh, I do have my moments, but today was just a simple ferry run. It's not like I was having to fight off pirates like I did off Australia. Or, you know, doing what Halberd was designed to do..." She steps over and pats one of the forward guns on the plane. Felicity eyes light up like Christmas trees, "Pirates!? Ohhh, how marvelous!" Suddenly, Felicity swoops in and slips an arm through Mimi's, as if she were her own escort, and lays a hand over hers, "Oh you simply must tell me EVERYTHING! I should like to hear all about Australia - Hah! AUSTRALIA! With all those vagrants and miscreants they ship off there, I shouldn't be surprised at all that they'd fall to debauchery." Mimi Valroon blinks at the arm taking, but just smiles in the end. "Oh, I never really got onto the mainland of it. The pirates were mostly using old German airships and fighters, though. And they weren't all Australian, it was a pretty mixed bunch." She leads on towards the edge to look out over the city again. "But I guess the question is... now what? I was told I can get money for locating landmasses, so I know what I'm gonna do for that, but..." She pauses, just looking out over there. Oh, she can get used to being up on this tower. She might have to try to get a place near here when she gets that first paycheck for scouting. Felicity scoffs, letting loose a harsh "HAH! Of course the Germans would be involved." She shakes her head with no little derision. Mimi is oh so lucky to have made a fast friend now. A young woman who is not only accomplished, but worldly and brave as well. This certainly raises her in Felicity's esteem. She catches the note of trouble in the young woman's voice and hazards a guess, "You're searching for lodging?-- I have an apartment. It's not nearly as awful as it sounds. Nothing like those squalid little flats in East London. There are some vacancies, I'm sure of it. People come and go, you know? There's always an opening somewhere." Mimi Valroon tilts her head, then asks, "How close is it to here?" It sounds like she doesn't want to be too far away. "I don't think I'd like to sign a lease on an apartment if I'm going to want to move closer to where Halberd is." Sh then looks down at her own stomach, and she says, "And then there's food... there's that place that I ate at last night, they seemed nice in that when I came in and said I didn't have any money it was okay, but..." Felicity sighs lightly, arm in arm still, "You're so pragmatic. You remind me of someone - a friend...though, now that I get a good look at you....Yesss, " She says, drawing out the "s" as she gazes intently into Mimi's face, locking her intensely, icy eyes with Mimi's green ones. "Uncanny. Your eyes are...They're quite striking. I've only ever seen eyes like yours once before." She smiles somewhat wistfully. Felicity does not bother to elaborate, though. She pushes on, shrugging carelessly. "I haven't any idea where on earth you've brought us. I assumed you did. I shouldn't worry too much. That's what public transport is for. We can hail a cab and they'll take us anywhere we ask." Mimi Valroon blinks and leans away ever so slightly at the gaze. "-Just once?" she says after a moment. She then blinks again, then looks out over the land, trying to ignore the fact that she's fairly certain a blush came on for some reason. "We're... south of the park. From the maps that I saw. Actual compasses don't seem to work too well here. And... 'On Earth' might not be the right phrase." She clears her throat, then says, "They call this place 'The Gardens'." Felicity only smiles in reply. She doesn't get into it this time. Suffice to say, she keeps that unsettlingly probing gaze on Mimi until the girl turns away. If Mimi felt in that moment that she was being appraised, well, she would not have been wrong. For a daring aviatrix, there's something very sweet about her face...almost innocent. It makes her kind of intriguing that way, though Fee has a tendency to look straight through people. It's a bad habit. "The Gardens? Hah. That's lofty. I've seen much grander ones than this, I can tell you. Beautiful, breathtaking gardens where plums become fairies in the palm of your hand...And those gardens aren't skirted by a void. What an eyesore!" She shakes her head, though she's being slightly facetious just now. She steps infant of Mimi, disengaging her arm only to take hold of her hands. "Here now, what shall we do now? We've a whole day to ourselves. May as well spend it profitably....and I should like to get to know you better." Mimi Valroon shrugs. "I didn't name the place. And yeah, I've seen plenty better, too. I know what you-" She finally looks back at Felicity. "Fairies?" She then blinks and shakes her head. Have to remember, that kind of weird stuff isn't unheard of in this... world. "Uhhh... yeah, I get what you mean about the voi-" She's cut off by the step in front. "Not sure," she says. "Profitably? You mean literally? What do you have in mind?" She'd not mind getting to know Felicity, herself. Felicity says, "I'll tell you all about it - the fairies, the Realms - ALL of it and you tell me about -your- adventures- taking on pirates, flying around the world and whatever else..say, over a late lunch...or early supper, if you prefer." She's not taking no for an answer, apparently, because while she has relinquished her hold on one of Mimi's hands, she's kept her firm grip on the other and is leading her....leading her, where? Felicity seems to be looking for that way down. Her eyes flick to the left and right. "How do we get out of here?" She asks, her tone edging ever nearer irritation." "Sure!" Mimi says with a chipper tone. She's lead in a seemingly random direction before they stop, and Mimi laughs. "It's the stub of a tower sticking up over there. There's a pair of elevators in it, one for people, one for big equipment. They just... built it hard to see for some reason." Yes, she scouted the place out a little before she flew over. "Come on, I'll show you where it is in there." She leads over and... actually takes a moment, herself, to find it and press the elevator call button. Elevators! That's a relief. The height would have made for a very tedious descent that Felicity was not at all looking forward to. "Ah! Elevators. Of all modern conveniences, they rank among the highest in my favor. You would not believe the fits they gave me upon my first arrival. I could not make heads or tails of the bloody things." She laughs and follows Mimi right into it once it opens its doors to welcome them. Settled inside Felicity smirks, her voice dropping to a naughty little purrs, "Since that day I've learned some very intriguing things about elevators...and what can be done when inside of one....with the right person." She quirks a brow, purposely leaning back against the wall in an unnecessarily provocative way, shoulders back just so, so that her bosom announces itself. Mimi Valroon steps in as well, tilting her head slightly as she looks back to Felicity. "Really? When are you from? You know the lands of my world, but I thought elevators were around for at least fifty years or so... Uh, I'm from the mid-1940s." Not that her 1940s bears much resemblance to the 1940s of most universes. In her world, the Great War lasted much longer, and the second World War hasn't had remotely enough time to get started. It's more socially like the late 1920s for her. There's another blink at Felicity's... antics and then a laugh. "I bet you could!" Felicity gives that full, ripe smile and laughs herself. Mimi has a sense of humor that's good. AND she's not such a prude that she would balk at the sight of another woman's body- however shapely. That's also good. They may end up good friends after all. In answer to her question, though, Felicity says matter of factly, "1897. It isn't that such things did not exist. There were lifts here and there but they weren't common and they certainly did not look anything like this." She motions vaguely to the box they are in currently. "Did you say 1940? Well, well! You're from the -future-." She says, with a laugh because they both have to know how absurd it is to call it that when they are in a world now that is even far more advanced than that...theoretically, anyway. "You must regale me with all your news so that I will be better prepared for what may lay in waiting back home...if I ever go back home. Which, I have no plans to..." She says the last part more quietly. Mimi Valroon offers a quick wink as they hit the ground. "Of course, the doors could open at any time, so be careful with that." Hey, if guys can make jokes like that, why can't women, too? That's her line of thought, at least. "It doesn't look too different from what I'm used to. Maybe a little more barren, but..." She shrugs. "Oh, you want to be prepared for the Great War?" She frowns. "It's going to be a bad one," she says a little more quietly. She steps outside before saying, "Halberd... wasn't built to be privately owned. She was built to hunt down bombers in the night. She's based on a light bomber herself." Before leaping to the oh-so-fun topic of the Great War, Felicity does offer a little quip to Mimi's comment saying only, "Therein lies the fun." Who doesn't like a race against time? But now it is the talk of war that gets her. The way Mimi speaks of it, it certainly does not sound like something she would want to live through. "You're military?" She asks, realizing that it hadn't even occurred to her that a woman might one day pilot a war plane...for some reason, the idea of her being a rogue vigilante made more sense in her mind. Mimi Valroon shakes her head. "I'm not, no. But that's only because I was too young when the war ended. I would've definitely joined the WASPs if I could have. Though my father was a General in the Army Air Corps. Um. Did I mention that already?" She actually looks unsure of herself if she's mentioned that or not. Felicity nods, "You did. " She narrows her eyes, scrutinizing the young woman. "So the plot thickens. This promises to be a -very- interesting story." She strolls casually beside Mimi, trying to work out just what to make of this young woman. "Tell me, how did you - a girl - happen to come by this extraordinary machine, then? Did you abscond it from right under your father's nose?" The smile that Felicity wears shows that it's the answer she's rather hoping for. She likes a good rebel. Mimi Valroon continues her stroll as well. "No, no. Nothing like that. It's war surplus. I did have to separately purchase and reinstall the weaponry, but everything's on the market now that the war's over. The governments of the world went broke building machines and weapons and now they're trying to recoup some of their losses." She looks over at Felicity and says, "They can't just... not sell something to me because I'm a girl. I had a pilot's licence and over a thousand hours in the air when I bought her, and are they going to question General Valroon's daughter?" She laughs once. Sadly, no, she's no rebel. Felicity hahs, though there's something a little bitter in it. "No, I wager not. A father's reputation and influence can carry his daughters rather far...but there are limits. There are...conventions," the word seems to stick in her throat "guiding all comportment in -my- world. Perhaps, "she says brightening a bit, "progress has done right by women by 1940....If you world and mine are anything like. Or perhaps its because you are American." Another little chuckle escapes her. "Propriety was never a concern for your people. By the by, whereabouts in America are you from. I've a dear friend in New York." Mimi Valroon smirks and says, "We are the land of the free, afterall. A line that was come up with when we were fighting against your people, I might add." She then shakes her head. "No, not from up there. I'm from the midwest, some podunk town in Illinois you've never head of. I doubt she's head of it, either." Felicity nods once, though she wears a somewhat amused expression. She didn't really have to be told that this Mimi would not be a big city gal but at the same time, times change and she is from the 'Land of the Free.' "Land of the free, " she intones in a somewhat mocking tone. "I've been there and it is a grand place! I tell you it is NOT America." She lifts her chin with that typically imperious air of hers. She's got those secrets she's bursting to share. "So, purchased that plane? Did you also name her? Is that a sign of your warrior spirit?" "Well, maybe it is compared to other places. Like Britain, apparently?" Mimi teases back. She glances back to Felicity again she says she's been to a place that would be called 'Land of the Free'. "Yeah, I named her Halberd. The second thing I was into as a kid, other than planes, was stories of old times. I started looking a lot of things up about then, and the word 'Halberd' always stuck out to me. But are you glossing over things again? What place are you talking about?" Felicity imagines a small girl reading up on weapons and history. It's very winning, for it's not a luxury anyone in her era would have been allowed. History, yes but not in any great detail...only enough to learn how to engage a man's company and keep his interest. The 1940s sound like a wonderful time to be alive. Ah, but now Mimi is touching on something that Felicity would say puts every other world to shame. "The Realms," She says with great importance. "You wouldn't have heard of them. Few have. Only those in the Order or the Rakshana have ever heard of it or been there. It's the Order that had the run of things. It's sensational. They were women, priestesses all of them, who could conjure a doorway into another world...one unlike anything you've ever seen before. I've been there." She says this last bit with such immense pride that you'd swear she'd created the damn Realms herself. "It's a secret I share with a handful of others-My friends." Talk of the Realms is very exciting to her. Mimi Valroon blinks in surprise... But, after witnessing Twisted and Mabase city for a day, this doesn't shock her nearly as much as it would have two days ago. "Can that doorway be opened here?" Alas, Mimi isn't quite as much of a feminist as Felicity is. She wasn't shoehorned into the role of just being there for some guy to marry. She never knew a United States where women couldn't vote. She grew up knowing there was that role in the auxiliary for women pilots to help in the War, and planning to take on that role herself. "Yes, " She says, without a hint of doubt. "Yes, the Realms do not adhere to the natural way of things. They are wild and untamed, and only brought to dominion through the powers of the priestesses-- though the magic resides within the Realms too. Oh its just so breathtakingly beautiful...and terrifying all at once. There are places - like the Winterlands - one does best to steer clear of. Such horrible creatures there. And the Poppy warriors-UGH! Loathesome wretches. Gemma should done have done away with them all when she had the chance..."Felicity shudders, remembering their decaying bodies and leering, red-rimmed eyes. "It's another world entirely. It is not beholden to any rules but its own." Mimi Valroon glances around, then looks back and asks, "Even compared to this place?" A fair question from someone unfamiliar with the Realms. Twisted is a pretty freaking strange place, too. "But I'm glad I've never had to deal with any creatures worse than people on my adventures... And snakes."
Mimi Valroon sighs and slumps her shoulders again. "Oh, well. I suppose I can't show you what it's like to fly over the open ocean seeing the whales, the shoals of fish from the air. What it's like to fly through a mountain pass." She's fully aware this doesn't compare to the Realms. But it's her experience. It's all she can share. Felicity is snatched out of her reverie by Mimi's morose comment. She whips her head around to face the girl, looking at her as if she's grown a second head. "What has one to do with the other? Do you mean to shut me out because I cannot take you now?" Felicity's temper flares. "Is that how it's going to be?" Mimi Valroon blinks a few times. "No! I mean... Those things aren't here. I've not seen any mountains, and I can't see how any oceans can exist when that is out there." She motions off to the side intending to mean the void. "We're both stuck in this world for now." She pauses, then sounds a little more morose. "...Or am I just not able to visit that realm because of something else about me?" Felicity opens her mouth to speak but the understanding comes upon her and she sees that she spoke out of turn. She visibly relaxes. Her eyes flick to the swirling void. "No, " Felicity says quietly. "It isn't you anymore than it is anyone else. Only..." She hesitates. "The magic does not dwell within all of us. Only a few - the chosen, it would seem - can boast such power." Her lips form a tight line. Oh how the mood has soured. Mimi Valroon looks back, seeing the mood soured... Well, time to fix that. "Well, anyone can fly. All it takes is some dedication and training. And the plane. To hell with only being able to do something if you're born to it!" Felicity's brows arch, but a smile soon follows and she gives a laugh. "You curse. Oh, I rather like your spirit," Felicity says edging her way back from broodsville. "Of course you're right. Here, we may be do as we please. There are no constraints placed upon our persons. You shall fly and I--" She considers her options. The world is a fruit, ripe for the taking. "--I shall conquer!" She swoops a hand down to pick up a nearby stick and proceeds to wield it as if it were a fencing foil. Whatever she means by this, who even knows. She's obviously made up her mind to succeed here one way or another. Why spoil it with practicality? Mimi Valroon laughs and nods, but then reaches to try to grab for the mock foil. "Oh, please, how positively ancient a fighting style!" She laughs again and says, "This is now the motion one would use as a weapon for conquering!" With that said, she puts the three middle fingers of her right hand together and spreads out her thumb and pinkie. She moves the hand straight forward, fingers first for a moment before swooping down with it, mimicking a dive-bombing, complete with the swoop upward and higher than she started in the end. The "foil" is grabbed, and the look in Felicity's eye is a challenge. She narrows her eyes, a smirk on her lips. She watches the grand pantomime that Mimi makes and she finds herself unsure of just -what- the hell she's looking at. "What is THAT?! You're -mad-!" She says, pulling her stick back and giving the young woman a light thwap on the head. "Too many hours where the air is thin, I wager." She waggles her brows. "Is that meant to be an airplane?" She snorts and laughs some more. "Need I remind you we are not -ALL- in possession of a military grade flying machine? Besides," at this, she begins to mount an assault on Mimi, coming at her with the stick and attempting to swat at and jab her with the stick. It shouldn't cause great damage but it's definitely annoying and...maybe a little painful. A little. "One would have to live long enough to climb aboard! Ah! En Garde, yank!" Mimi Valroon makes an almost too adorable 'meep' sound at being hit on the head with the stick. "Well, are you in possession of an actual sword? Gah!" Must endure the assault! She grabs for a stick herself and snaps it in half, arming herself with a pair of play daggers, as it were. Time to defend herself! ...Possibly to Felicity's surprise, it seems Mimi actually knows what she's doing with the smaller sticks. When she finds the right opening, she goes in for the 'kill' by aiming to shove Felicity's stick to the side with her own, then move in quite close to duck around the side and put her other stick at Felicity's neck, laughing all the way. To be fair, Felicity IS actually skillful with a sword. Like many young woman in her time, she's had lessons in archery and fencing - rich people sports. She's also had extra training within the Realms so, she has quite excellent form to be sure, even though she is making a show of 'playing.' That said, this particular style of combat is not necessarily best equipped for more roguish forms of counter attack. To Felicity's surprise, Mimi is not without her own skill and her smug little smirk gives way for some surprise. At first, she thinks the girl a lunatic for trying to come at her with a pair of stubs. But soon she finds a stub at her throat. She freezes in place a moment, looking down at the chunk of wood at her throat and at her side. Her chest rises once as she takes in a sharp breath and then, scowls giving Mimi a bit of a rough shove away. " What are you playing at? That's entirely too close." Her cheeks look slightly flushed with her rise in temper. Oh boy. Sore loser alert. Mimi Valroon blinks, then says, "Oh! Um, sorry. It's just... uh, that's kind of how you... um, nevermind, sorry." She glances away, tossing the sticks to the side with a blush as she continues her walk to the north. Finally, they're reaching where Mabase Drive meets The Twisted Street. Felicity wears her irritation openly. She does not relish defeat, even in games. As poor Mimi is learning, she has something of a tempestuous nature. Control is something she will not relinquish freely...not usually. She remains quiet for a bit, the pair walking on in silence. "That wasn't fair." She says, with her nose turned upwards. "That was not proper form.-- Where did you learn to fight that way? A thieve's den?" Mimi Valroon looks back, her look still sheepish. "Um, kind of. There's no such thing as a fair fight in the Amazon. I, uh, learned the hard way," she says quietly. She brushes aside where she keeps her hair long on the right side of her face(from her perspective, not from Felicity's perspective), revealing a long scar there. Her voice goes a bit more quiet still as she says, "I learned a lot in the Amazon." Felicity stops dead in her tracks. For Mimi to admit to such a thing is nothing short of remarkable. Who IS this girl? She moves closer to Mimi, stepping forward in that invasive way she has and staring at her intently. She gently take girl's chin between her forefinger and thumb and turns her face so that her scar is visible. Her cool grey eyes linger there and then she speaks, her voice low. "What happened to you?" Mimi Valroon grimaces slightly at the grab, but doesn't pull away. There is no eye contact, either. "I got caught up in a hunt for something in the Amazon. Russians wanted to find it first. Really, really wanted to find it first." Felicity says, "They did this to you? The Russians?" Fee makes a disgusted sort of sound in her throat. "Only a real brute would mar the face of a woman. They intend it to spoil you in the eyes of others." She shakes her head. "They failed. Even that vicious mark cannot detract from your loveliness. You come by it naturally." Mimi Valroon finally pulls away, pushing her hair back into place to hide the scar. "Um, no, I think they intended to split my face open and leave me to die." She looks away, but she is blushing at the compliment. Apparently she doesn't know how to take a compliment like that very well, managing only to mumble out a, "Thanks." She then blinks and looks around before asking, "Wait, where are we going, again?" They're on Twisted Street by now. Felicity doesn't make any motion to stop the girl. She won't mess with anyone else's scars, she knows them all too well even if her own are not visible to the world. There is a careful distance that must be maintained from all manner of unpleasantness. Instead she motions to the direction of the UR. "There, just that way - The Usual Restaurant. You're hungry, aren't you?" There is one last thing she asks regarding the whole ordeal. "Tell me one thing - Did you manage to secure the...object? Did you snatch it out from under their grubby paws?" Mimi Valroon pauses, then laughs. "'Snatch' isn't the right word. I found El Dorado, but none of it was actual gold. A lot of Pyrite, a lot of carefully maintained paints by the locals. They just liked the color, apparently? I didn't have much of a grasp on their language. Or any, really." "El Dorado?" Felicity laughs at the rather unfortunate turn of events. "What a disappointment. All that maiming for nothing." She shakes her head, "Ugh. MEN. They're all the same. Greedy, impetuous, self-important. SAVAGES. The hot air they all spew could power a dirigible thrice around the world.... And the ones that aren't all bad are typically dull as dirt. To hear them droll on about investment opportunities or the weather is enough to force a girl to contemplate suicide." She pauses and turns a keen eye to Mimi. "Forgive me, I should not assume--Have you a gentleman? If you do, perhaps he is the rare exception to the case in point." Mimi Valroon blinks at the sudden tirade against men. By the time said keen eye is on Mimi, she's facepalming. "No. I don't. And the one that cut me wasn't a man, either." Felicity gasps, actually surprised, "A WOMAN! The outrage! Why, that vile, treacherous---Salope! The nerve!" At the hand of a man it's expected. Brutish behavior is the norm for them. At the hands of the woman, there is now insult added to this injury and Felicity is even less forgiving of this slight. "Ohh, if she dared show her face again-- I hope you did her in! Brought to absolute ruin as she deserves." And with that, they venture into the restaurant. Of course! What better dinner conversation. Mimi Valroon steps into the Usual Restaurant, as she does so she makes a subtle motion. She's not sure if Felicity sees it... she's not sure she wants Felicity to see it. But Mimi's face goes a slight pale as she draws a finger across her own neck. It's not the big, obvious motion one makes when threatening someone. It could easily be seen as her scratching something on her neck. But the line of conversation, combined with the way Mimi mock-fought Felicity before, the meaning behind the motion can be figured out. "Um... Yeah. Anyway... Yeah. The city just turned out to be a city." Blink and you'll miss it. Felicity doesn't. She knows quite well what Mimi has just communicated and it brings her utter satisfaction. "Good," she says, not an ounce of pity to be spared for the poor headless...or, at least sliced, woman. "We don't need women like -her- among our ranks," she says and one supposes the 'our' in this case is some kind of universal sisterhood of women. Felicity seems surprisingly cool when it comes to murder. One might wonder if it's entirely put on or if she might not have tasted it's bitter sting once or twice before. She doesn't elaborate, but settles quite comfortably into a booth and reaches for a menu. Mimi Valroon goes for a menu as well. Mimi doesn't seem as comfortable with the fact that she's killed a woman with just a knife. She's not really all that sure what makes herself so different from Svetlana... other than the fact that Svetlana started the fight. For now, she's just silently reading over the menu, completely unsure of what to order. Eventually, she does speak up, but what she says is, "What would you suggest?" Felicity doesn't immediately respond as she is still perusing the menu herself. There's nothing new, though. Nothing of note. She lowers it, eying her new friend from over the top of it. "Mmm, " She says, scrutinizing her friend with those narrowed eyes. "I wonder...What would satisfy your appetite." Questions questions. "As a yank, I suppose a slab of beef and some dry potatoes would suit you?" She grins wickedly. "Or are you more adventurous than that?" Mimi Valroon starts by saying, "I don't kn-" Oh, great, ribbing of her as a 'yank' again. There's a slight wince at it. She's a little down on herself right now, so she's not able to take that quite so easily anymore. "Yeah, I'm pretty open to a lot of foods. Pardon me if I have a fondness for local, low class flavors of whereever I go." Felicity furrows her brow, lowering her menu completely, she regards Mimi with a hint of concern. "Here now, what is this? Do you intend to brood your appetite away?" She slides the menu out of the way and, cocking her head to the side. "Have I offended you? Dear me, I'd no idea you were so sensitive. Very well, you have my sincere apologies. I meant no harm. I assure you, your Americanness is not in the least bit offensive to me. I was only teasing." A women with white wolf ears and tail steps into the usual. Three large grey wolves following behind her. The women heads to the bar and orders a beer. Mimi Valroon sighs and hangs her head. "Sorry. No, it's just. I don't know. I keep feeling like I'm stepping on the wrong spots. I can't tell when it's meant in jest and when it's actually... acidic right now. I've run into enough people that never use the word in jest that it... nevermind." She takes a deep breath in and finally looks up again. "So you've been here enough, what would you su-" She blinks, watching the woman with wolf ears, wolf tail, and three actual wolves walk by casually to the bar. "...What would you suggest?" As much as she isn't in the habit of doing so, Felicity takes this moment to check herself a little. She's generally a merciless teaser but this Mimi isn't yet a bosom friend so she has no way of knowing this. "It's true. You Americans are generally insufferable to the rest of the civilized world..." She says, as if this somehow makes it better. "However, -you- are quite pleasant. I enjoy your company and I take full account of myself for having offended you. I hope you accept my apology." Casually, she takes up her menu again. "As penance I shall pay for your meal and I shall spare no expense. I trust that will satisfy the debt I owe you? " Now she's grinning again, the cheeky bitch. Felicity eyes the new arrival. Ah! She knows the woman too. So of course she goes about the business of ordering only the most expensive offering she can find. That dish turns out to be something called Kaiseki-- a multi course Japanese meal that most tourists would pay WAY too much to scarf down. She places the order along with whatever Mimi should like to drink. That done, she suddenly waves across the restaurant to Sarra, "Why, hellooo! Sarra! Hello again!" Yes, calling across a business is oh so classy. " Wont you join us?" Sarra_Moon gets her beer and heads over "Hi there, hows it going" she says, her wolves come with her, one moveing to sniff at Mimi as Sarra takes a seat. Mimi Valroon takes another breath in and out, then smiles to Felicity. "Yeah, it'll do," she finally says. There's a slight pause at the mention of the dish, not sure of what exactly it is. But this is followed by a shrug. She'll try any food once! She looks back over to Sarra as Felicity waves to her, then offers a slightly nervous grin. Her first time talking to a non-human. Partially non-human? She's not entirely sure, Sarra looks human except for the ears and tail. "Um, hello!" The wolf coming up to sniff at her makes her... slightly nervous, but she holds out a hand for the... large dog (yes, just think of it as a large dog, Mimi) to sniff. Felicity makes the appropriate and proper introductions. "Ms. Mimi Valroon, I should for you to make my friend Sarra's acquaintance, Sarra, this is Mimi Valroon." Felicity leans forward mock-whispering to Mimi, "Lookout, they're werewolves. They might eat you right up!" That's only -half- untrue. Sarra_Moon shakes her head "Don't tease her, me and my children are actually quite frendly" She offers her hand to Mimi Mimi Valroon nods to Sarra and says, "Nice to meet you." She then gives Felicity a somewhat non-beleiving look. Sarra's response to it, however, gets another look. Wait, she didn't deny the werewolf part. Are they actually werewolves? "Uh... Children?" There's that part that's confusing her, too. Felicity just leans back in her seat and chuckles, the greatest, most 'shit-eating' grin you can imagine gracing her lovely, oh so lovely features. Felicity's gaze slides over to Sarra, thinking it best that she fill in all those little gaps. Sarra_Moon says, "I was born as a wolf, I can take several different forms, and yes, the wolves are my biolagical children" Mimi Valroon nods slowly. "Oh... kay? Um... They're... lovely children?" She's very much still trying to get used to this whole... not on the earth she was used to thing. Felicity throws her head back in a full, unrestrained laugh. It's the most absurd situation and she is just wicked enough to enjoy it. "You'll--" she begins, but can't quite string more than a pair of words together without being interrupted by her fit of giggles. "--have to forgive--my friend, Sarra--- she's---she's unaccustomed to--c-children with quite so much fur!" Sarra_Moon giggles "It's quite aright, I know there are people afiad of wolves, but I asure you, they are quite friendly" gives a grin to the two ladies "Eheh.... yeah, I can tell..." Mimi then shoots Felicity an irritated look. She's feeling like she's being just used for amusement here, right now. Felicity lavishes Mimi with what can only be her most charismatic smile. "Sarra is an unusual specimen, but a fine one. You should see her -true- form." Yes, it's a lovely and very well developed form, as Sarra is a bit older than the the two seated here today. The food arrives, in its many courses and various containers. It's almost an obscene amount of food but they all appear to be in miniature and prepared with that level of attention that the Japanese seem to excel at. Chopsticks included. "These primitive little twigs..." Felicity comments, wielding the chopsticks with little difficulty. "Don't let it fool you, for all of their backwards traditions, the Japanese are actually quite skillful cooks." And with that, she helps herself. Sarra_Moon shakes her head again and sips her beer, her tail wagging alittle as she blushes a bit "I Do enjoy my wolf form, but then, Its nice to have hands at times" Mimi Valroon looks at the food, looks at the chopsticks, then looks at Sarra. "Yes, hands are very useful." She then looks down at the food again and says, "So are forks. How do you use those things?" Felicity snap-snaps the chopsticks in Mimi's face, "It's quite simple. A child could do it. See here?" She demonstrates the motion again. It's all in the fingers." Then comes the throaty chuckle, "I'm told I'm rather good with my fingers..." And this she says making sure to keep steady eye contact with Mimi. It's a purity test. Sarra_Moon shakes her head "It actually took me a while to learn how to use them" she smiles "Just takes practice" Mimi Valroon pays close attention to the hand motion when Felicity demonstrates. "Yes, a child that grew up with them. I frew up with forks." She keeps trying to use them, and failing miserably. The eye contact is hard to maintain, because Mimi is looking intently at her own hand as she tries to use them... but she manages to have her eye caught at just the right point... and simply looks confused. Why is Felicity looking at her like that when she said that? "Yeah. Practice," she says. Ah, pure as the driven snow then. She scoffs quietly, rolling her eyes slightly through her fixed smile. This one will be as hopeless as Ann, it seems. "Poor lamb. Here, let me." Reaching across the table with her own chopsticks, Felicity demonstrates the proper technique, taking up a portion of food from Mimi's plate and plopping it into her mown mouth. "See? Care for another demonstration?" Once more she picks up a bit of -- what must be chicken in some sort savory sauce -- and makes as if she might eat it -- winks at Sarra -- and then holds it up to Mimi's mouth. "Ahhhhhh?" Sarra_Moon just shakes her head but says nothing as she watches. One of her woves now rubbing against Mimi's leg Mimi Valroon tilts her head at the eyeroll. Yeah, she definitely missed something there. "Um... Ri- Oh, come on, let m-" She pauses at the food offered directly to her. "I'm not gonna get it if I don't try to do it myself." That doesn't stop her from munching it herself from the offered chopsticks. She's trying to gently push the wolf away with said leg in the meantime. Crowding in a bit much here... Felicity nods her understanding, but it doesn't stop her from snapping her fingers and requesting that a server bring a fork just in case. Truth be told, Felicity prefers to use a fork too but she will not squander an opportunity to show off a little. It's the 'authenticity' that she feels the need to experience. Victorians are nothing if not gimmicky. While poor Mimi struggles with her meal, Felicity leisurely enjoys her own, turning her attention to the werewolf woman, "Well now Sarra, what mischief have you gotten into these days? Anymore public displays of nudity?" She seems completely in earnest. Walking into the Usual Leon heads to the bar where he can get himself a Double whiskey as he will note Sarra and Felicity. "Hello there again Sarra, Evening Felicity." he offers Sarra_Moon shakes her head at Felicity" I try not to do that, makes humans uncoftorable, O I got an apartment now too. Other then that, just settling in" She then turns to Leon and waves " Come Join us" Mimi Valroon is slowly getting the hang of the things. Yeah, she's eating more slowly and with a lot more effort than Felicity is, but the comment about 'more' public displays of nudity almost gets a spit-take from her. She covers her mouth in time and manages to finish her mouthful, however. "Hello," she says after all this to the newcomer. as Leon gets his Drink he decides why not and comes over to join the group (of three?) as he asks, "and how are you all doing tonight?" Felicity says, "Ah! Officer Kennedy. How good of you to join us," Felicity says lifting a glass to the man for a little toast. She looks between the pair - Leon and Sarra - and says, "You two know each other? Why, you little scamp. Our Officer Kennedy may be quite the rake. Watch yourselves, ladies." This is a joke for certain for Felicity has rarely met a more straight-edge man than Leon. "Allow me to introduce my friend, the lovely Mimi Valroon. You all might like to know that Mimi is something of an accomplished aviatrix. Why just today she took me for a ride in her impressive airplane. Oh, it was sublime!" Sarra_Moon tilts her head "Really? sounds like alot of fun" she smiles giggling a bit at Mimi's reaction as she explays "My cloths don't shift with me, so if I wanna chang shape, I have to disrobe" As Leon sits down the comment of being a Rake makes him lift his eyebrow up as he recalls for a moment what happened the night before he got into Raccoon city. "Yes I do know Sarra in a casual way." he admits openly, "And no I am not that type of gentleman Felicity." he sits back and stares off into the distance and will take a drink for a moment and says, "A pleasure to meet you Ma'am." he offers "Leon Kennedy." he introduces himself. "A.... rake, huh?" Mimi looks from Felicity to Leon a moment. "Um, yeah. Mimi Valroon, at your service." She glances at Felicity again, then back at the other two. "...I don't think Felicity has flown before." She wines at Sarra's explanation, though. "That... is too bad." She shakes her head, then looks to Leon again. "Nice to meet you, too, Leon." She does look like she's a little overwhelmed, still. Clearly a newcommer. Leon S. Kennedy is still adjusting himself as he will nurse his drink slowly as he finally decides to order himself something a bit greacey to help shield him from the alcohol, Cheese burger with steak fries. And says. "It means I believe someone who rakes in the ladies or gentlemen." he says Felicity nods, "Mm, precisely so. And all men are, in some fashion." How she can say that right there in front of this man is anyone's guess except to say that this is a young woman who simply doesn't mince her words. She's done being -polite-, apparently. Now she's just 'honest.' "Ah but I fear our Mimi may be a bit overtaxed. This is all so strange and new." She reaches across the table and lays a hand on Mimi's. "It gets better." | |
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