*catch*
Ditto about the 'on the spot' thing. If nothing else, it's good excercise.
And, by the by, *laughs* riot of a scene.
*toss*
*timestamp - picture of great big hole in the Windbloom Royal Palace*
I reiterate what I'd stated about one Haruka Armitage, Meister Otome to Yukino Chrysant. Though, on that note, one should consider that there are a precious few occasions when having a tornado or tsunami pass through a specific area is actually beneficial.
At least I'm sure the visiting dignitaries and spectators at the Arena would think as much, after seeing that rather spectacular throw.
Mental note, don't challenge a woman who can throw a multi-ton aircraft husk into the stratosphere with one hand to an arm wrestling match. Ever.
Noted and logged.
"Mister Schrdinger, I thought you'd decided not to attend?"
...
You know, I keep getting told how disconcerting it is, having two red eyes staring at you. Now, I strongly suspect it depends on the person doing the staring. The look Asagiri had hadn't really bothered me much, the few times I'd seen her face rather than her helmet. Ayanami Rei's had been a bit offputting at first. In either set of memories. From the one set that included meeting them, I'd found that Tabris could indeed be scary, and Gabriel habitually wasn't, but had a lot potential in that direction. Of course, he/she had told me there were a few times where mine had made him/her think of a raving lunatic.
This one beat them all unconscious, sliced them into little pieces, and fed those pieces to starved piranha.
Shizuru Viola was quite possibly the most ... intense person I'd ever met. Not that I'd actually met her for more than a few minutes at a time, but if that hadn't been enough to firmly lodge said impression in my brain, then this time certainly was.
Maybe it was the fact that her hair was in a less than perfect condition, maybe it was the dust cloud that followed in her wake as she strode from the Palace interior, or the fact that she had her Robe active. And that dual bladed katana of hers? It looked really, really sharp.
Or maybe, just maybe, it was the tone she'd greeted me with. It would have been perfectly fine and at home in a pleasant dinner setting. Hearing it from somebody who'd obviously been involved in combat minutes, if not moments, ago ...
One of these days, I'd see this woman fight ... and I'd quite possibly curl into a ball and start to whimper.
Eh. Well, okay, maybe that was laying it on a little thick with the dramatics and all.
"Well, in all honesty, I wasn't going to," I replied, and hoped my tone didn't waver. I don't think it did, but even now, I can't really be sure. "I hate dressing up for these formal occasions. But since it was starting to look a little less stuffy, I thought I could enjoy a bit of a working party."
"Yes, it has turned into that, somehow," she said, expression unchanging. "I suppose there is quite a bit of confusion going around at the moment, and information would be your business. Would you care to accompany me?"
Keep your friends and allies close, enemies and unknowns even closer. Say, at around the distance it would take a sword to reach out and touch said person?
With an offer like that, could you have refused?
Though I had been truthful about formal occasions, I had been to quite a few in the time I'd spent on Earl. And ever since Black expanded, I'd been forced by neccessity to adapt.
Which meant a suit. At least it was a casual one, and didn't include a tie or anything else strangling my throat. I'd gone for simplicity, though, which resulted in a plain black on black look, with a double breasted suit jacket and a high collared shirt, plain black slacks and a pair of like colored boots.
Well, it was better than some of the things the nobles had to wear to make nice-nice with tradition.
I've been told I make an impression, though. Something about the stark contrast of pale skin and nearly white hair with the black material. Never really had the nerve to ask whether it was a good impression, or if it made me look like some freshly risen cadaver. Both, I suppose, had things going for them for a person in the information business.
Though I was more than aware of the fact that Shizuru made purple look _good_, no matter the state she was in. A fact which became glaringly obvious when we finally entered the interior corridors of the Arena, coming upon a mixed group of Otome, Otome in training, and various officials.
I was promptly ignored by everybody there, when they asked my jailo ... err, kind host, if she was alright and what had happened.
Which suited me just fine when I used the distraction to slink around the congregation of people, along the corridor wall. Not before I was given a glance that could have been both amusement and warning from the Third Pillar of Garderobe.
"Ah, Katz-kun! I wasn't sure you'd be in Windbloom."
Well, one person _had_ noticed me.
"Yukino-san, you did make it!" I replied. It took surprisingly little effort to put enthusiasm into the greeting. Genuinely liking the person you're talking to does that, I think, even if it is a mostly business acquaintance. "I wasn't aware you had, that is, up until the rather obvious display outside. I was out of the office and ..."
"Ah," she looked faintly embarassed. Also, cute. A thought I carefully shoved to the side and locked away. "You know how enthusiastic Haruka-chan can get about things."
"Quite," I looked around quickly. "I still have the mental scars."
Yes, you know a dinner is going well when you almost get your head bashed in with a vase after trying to renegotiate a contract.
The blonde Meister Otome had a hair-trigger temper. Add to that her over-protectiveness of her charge/mistress and ... well, you could describe her attitude as that of a pitbull smelling blood.
Just don't ever tell her that to her face, or you might walk away sans. If you walk away at all.
After a further exchange, and a quiet question of whether or not I knew what was going on, followed by my reassurance that I would find out and have the usual report compiled at the usual price, I lingered a little and left.
Somehow, we'd ended up scheduling a business lunch in two days' time. Don't ask me how, I really couldn't tell.
What?
I was looking forward to the conversation.
Really.
Eh. Believe what you will.
The vultures from the office would be arriving soon, bearing discrete information offers to those Black had done business with in the past.
I made a mental note to take care and send a compilation to Garderobe, regardless of whether they asked. A token of good will, a bribe, whatever you'd call it.
Er, yes, Viola had made me _that_ nervous.
*sigh* Yare yare ... honestly? I claim Nate's excuse. The characters are doing their own thing. I hadn't considered anything that even remotely resembled a romantic subplot, however veiled.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm
Ditto about the 'on the spot' thing. If nothing else, it's good excercise.
And, by the by, *laughs* riot of a scene.
*toss*
*timestamp - picture of great big hole in the Windbloom Royal Palace*
I reiterate what I'd stated about one Haruka Armitage, Meister Otome to Yukino Chrysant. Though, on that note, one should consider that there are a precious few occasions when having a tornado or tsunami pass through a specific area is actually beneficial.
At least I'm sure the visiting dignitaries and spectators at the Arena would think as much, after seeing that rather spectacular throw.
Mental note, don't challenge a woman who can throw a multi-ton aircraft husk into the stratosphere with one hand to an arm wrestling match. Ever.
Noted and logged.
"Mister Schrdinger, I thought you'd decided not to attend?"
...
You know, I keep getting told how disconcerting it is, having two red eyes staring at you. Now, I strongly suspect it depends on the person doing the staring. The look Asagiri had hadn't really bothered me much, the few times I'd seen her face rather than her helmet. Ayanami Rei's had been a bit offputting at first. In either set of memories. From the one set that included meeting them, I'd found that Tabris could indeed be scary, and Gabriel habitually wasn't, but had a lot potential in that direction. Of course, he/she had told me there were a few times where mine had made him/her think of a raving lunatic.
This one beat them all unconscious, sliced them into little pieces, and fed those pieces to starved piranha.
Shizuru Viola was quite possibly the most ... intense person I'd ever met. Not that I'd actually met her for more than a few minutes at a time, but if that hadn't been enough to firmly lodge said impression in my brain, then this time certainly was.
Maybe it was the fact that her hair was in a less than perfect condition, maybe it was the dust cloud that followed in her wake as she strode from the Palace interior, or the fact that she had her Robe active. And that dual bladed katana of hers? It looked really, really sharp.
Or maybe, just maybe, it was the tone she'd greeted me with. It would have been perfectly fine and at home in a pleasant dinner setting. Hearing it from somebody who'd obviously been involved in combat minutes, if not moments, ago ...
One of these days, I'd see this woman fight ... and I'd quite possibly curl into a ball and start to whimper.
Eh. Well, okay, maybe that was laying it on a little thick with the dramatics and all.
"Well, in all honesty, I wasn't going to," I replied, and hoped my tone didn't waver. I don't think it did, but even now, I can't really be sure. "I hate dressing up for these formal occasions. But since it was starting to look a little less stuffy, I thought I could enjoy a bit of a working party."
"Yes, it has turned into that, somehow," she said, expression unchanging. "I suppose there is quite a bit of confusion going around at the moment, and information would be your business. Would you care to accompany me?"
Keep your friends and allies close, enemies and unknowns even closer. Say, at around the distance it would take a sword to reach out and touch said person?
With an offer like that, could you have refused?
Though I had been truthful about formal occasions, I had been to quite a few in the time I'd spent on Earl. And ever since Black expanded, I'd been forced by neccessity to adapt.
Which meant a suit. At least it was a casual one, and didn't include a tie or anything else strangling my throat. I'd gone for simplicity, though, which resulted in a plain black on black look, with a double breasted suit jacket and a high collared shirt, plain black slacks and a pair of like colored boots.
Well, it was better than some of the things the nobles had to wear to make nice-nice with tradition.
I've been told I make an impression, though. Something about the stark contrast of pale skin and nearly white hair with the black material. Never really had the nerve to ask whether it was a good impression, or if it made me look like some freshly risen cadaver. Both, I suppose, had things going for them for a person in the information business.
Though I was more than aware of the fact that Shizuru made purple look _good_, no matter the state she was in. A fact which became glaringly obvious when we finally entered the interior corridors of the Arena, coming upon a mixed group of Otome, Otome in training, and various officials.
I was promptly ignored by everybody there, when they asked my jailo ... err, kind host, if she was alright and what had happened.
Which suited me just fine when I used the distraction to slink around the congregation of people, along the corridor wall. Not before I was given a glance that could have been both amusement and warning from the Third Pillar of Garderobe.
"Ah, Katz-kun! I wasn't sure you'd be in Windbloom."
Well, one person _had_ noticed me.
"Yukino-san, you did make it!" I replied. It took surprisingly little effort to put enthusiasm into the greeting. Genuinely liking the person you're talking to does that, I think, even if it is a mostly business acquaintance. "I wasn't aware you had, that is, up until the rather obvious display outside. I was out of the office and ..."
"Ah," she looked faintly embarassed. Also, cute. A thought I carefully shoved to the side and locked away. "You know how enthusiastic Haruka-chan can get about things."
"Quite," I looked around quickly. "I still have the mental scars."
Yes, you know a dinner is going well when you almost get your head bashed in with a vase after trying to renegotiate a contract.
The blonde Meister Otome had a hair-trigger temper. Add to that her over-protectiveness of her charge/mistress and ... well, you could describe her attitude as that of a pitbull smelling blood.
Just don't ever tell her that to her face, or you might walk away sans. If you walk away at all.
After a further exchange, and a quiet question of whether or not I knew what was going on, followed by my reassurance that I would find out and have the usual report compiled at the usual price, I lingered a little and left.
Somehow, we'd ended up scheduling a business lunch in two days' time. Don't ask me how, I really couldn't tell.
What?
I was looking forward to the conversation.
Really.
Eh. Believe what you will.
The vultures from the office would be arriving soon, bearing discrete information offers to those Black had done business with in the past.
I made a mental note to take care and send a compilation to Garderobe, regardless of whether they asked. A token of good will, a bribe, whatever you'd call it.
Er, yes, Viola had made me _that_ nervous.
*sigh* Yare yare ... honestly? I claim Nate's excuse. The characters are doing their own thing. I hadn't considered anything that even remotely resembled a romantic subplot, however veiled.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm