Twinwolf

Satomi did her best not to blush. "O-Or nothing, it's just... that's just how that sentence structure goes... we can talk after if you really want to, but I kinda want to get clean..."

Hikari Rakukaja on Halley (Note: Session buff should be on Mitsurugi and Walmond as they were the targets of single-target support actions. And Halley after this action. Quote from the perk: "When Hikari uses a single-target ally affecting move during her turn, it also applies the “Session” buff of indefinite duration. Hikari has an action called “Session Trigger”, which when activated, causes all allies affected by the buff and herself to attack once with their equipped weapon or a zero cooldown attack. The buff cannot stack, and can only be applied once during Hikari’s turn.")

Alva "At the camp a bit ago. She helped fix my arm after someone dislocated it during dodgeball." Alva answered simply - no reason to lie, so the truth was fine. She was, however, increasingly nervous and wondering what the girl wanted with Kaede... she didn't look like another church person...

Priscilla took a deep breath. "That... won't be neccesary. Like I said, as incredibly unlikely as it is, it's the only explanation I can currently think of." she said. Well, guess that whole 'doesn't believe in the gods' deal was over now, considering one was literally standing in front of her. The way she was drawn to her, the air of authority, the way that she seemed to be the only one who could see her, well, she didn't exactly see that coming from a normal maid or even the head of the association herself. She was doing her damndest not to show her shock and not doing too great, but she managed to compose herself. "So..." she said, "Why're you here? What kind of god business is bringing you to Masquerade? I can't imagine you just wanted to see your great times a dozen grandchildren." she paused. "...If you don't mind me asking, that is. Respectfully."

Val was a fairly sharp one. She could piece two and two together. A primary reason she had not already done so was that she, in all honesty, had never truly believed in the gods. The idea of greater beings pulling the strings of her life and that of other humans didn't sit right with her. The idea she was speaking with a goddess, and not only that but the one whose lineage her family claimed, was rather absurd to her and not the first thing she'd think of. And yet, with what the woman said, with her presence, with that feeling, it was the only interpretation she could arrive at easily. Priscilla blinked. Then again. "You're telling me that you're the Stewardess." she says, unsure if it's a question or a statement. "...I hope you realize how difficult that is to believe, if it wasn't for the fact I really can't think of another explanation." She said. She still wasn't quite sure, and was half prepared to laugh it off as a joke, but she was mostly trying not to look like she was in complete shock.

Alva Alva... felt really nervous, all of a sudden. She had no idea why - this was just some girl here to see Kaede. "I think I am?" she said, almost cautiously. "We just met, but we've gotten along really well, I think. I hope she thinks of me as a friend." she elaborated. "Why?"

"I don't know... do they have Angels that small? In any case, I can't imagine they're the only inhabitants of the planet. It's a planet." Satomi said, thinking about the question a bit... then remembering the situation and hastily covering her chest with her arms again (having dropped them while considering the question). "So... are you intending to go take your shower, or...?"

"You know, normally there would be a point there, but this is a party. It's sort of expected that there's going to be strangers." Priscilla notes, but then the maid continued. She tried not to be too irked at the fact she was looking at her like that, although it was certainly a... different, thing than she normally received from servants. This, of course, led to her thinking about who this woman could be. Why would the Clockwork Lady be here- the thought was derailed and Val blushed scarlet when it was revealed she actually had come across like... that. "O-Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... oh gods that's embarassing..." She took a deep breath as she composed herself and the maid continued. "Yes, my surname is Lemaire. What significance do you mean? It's not as if being of the Stewardess' line means I'm drawn to every servant I meet, after all."

Hikari Takino Rakukaja on Walmond

Val, well, she had heard that kind of commanding tone before. Mostly from her parents and other nobles. Never, though, from a maid. She couldn't say she'd ever expected to either. That said, she had no real reason to lie. Maybe she'd know something about it. "You could stand to be a bit less rude... In all honesty, I don't know why I followed you. There was a feeling that just... compelled me to do it, I couldn't take my eyes off of you and I had to come and talk. I couldn't begin to say why. Do you know anything about it?" Priscilla said, standing straight and not breaking eye contact, and hoping it didn't sound like a pick up line.

Satomi pointedly did not look Beverly in the eye. "...Yes. I don't like bugs." she said. Yeah, great excuse. Bugs. In a clean room, and on an alien planet at that. And you decided to punch one. Granted some might have been aboard the ship during the trip, and it would be interesting to see how they'd mutated since - anyways. "...So yes. Not my greatest idea, I admit."

Arty had been quiet, only really speaking when spoken to. She was sort of in awe, for a while, simply going along with the others. This was it, she was meeting her idol, getting a chance to look into the unknown. She ate, she answered questions. She looked at the numbers Felicity was writing - her birthdate, the day she graduated elementary school, the first time she read a book on her own. Important dates of her life, things she was giving up. She had family, of course. No siblings, but a loving father - her mother had died a few years ago. That was who she would miss the most she thought. Friends, sure - 'adventuring' buddies, friends from school, her first boyfriend (and then first girlfriend), those names were there. It sort of hit her just what she would be giving up to go through with this. A pizza wasn't what she would like as a last meal, although it would suffice given it was actually her favorite food. She told herself though it wasn't a last meal - she was going to survive this. At least that's what she told herself.

Q11, iron axe the pegasus rider

Satomi wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings, given her focus on her own problems and the pain in her hand. Her muttered curses were interrupted by a sharp pair of pinches above her hips. "Aaaah!" was the first sound she made in response, practically jumping several feet in the air and turning to face her assaulter. "B-Beverly? I, um, I'm sorry, I didn't notice you here..." She probably didn't speak Japanese, so she wouldn't have understood what Satomi was saying to herself, but it wasn't hard to take a guess when she'd punched a wall. She was now mentally berating herself again - she'd let someone else see her in this state. She made a motion as if to adjust glasses she wasn't currently wearing, due to being in the shower. "...I thought I saw a bug." she said, a very poor attempt at saving some sort of face.

Satomi walked into the shower, looking mostly at the floor and not really noticing Beverly's presence. Her mind was elsewhere as she went through the motions of getting her plugsuit off and getting the shower ready on autopilot as she muttered to herself in Japanese. She had done precisely jack shit to help in that fight. She had gotten a big head of what she could do after that initial engagement. She'd overestimated both her armor and mobility and been taken out before she could really do anything, and it had helped the opponent. She had underestimated her opponent, not been able to get a proper AT field going, her attempt to make plans had failed even if Asuka had praised that, just... she wasn't good enough, not good enough, not nearly enough and - Beverly would hear Satomi make a sound that was almost like a growl, followed by a thump, followed by something unintelligble. Satomi had punched the wall and was now rubbing her (now rather sore) hand, trying to calm herself down.

"LAND HO!" the man in the crows nest shouts. In the distance, one can see he's not lying - there's land, dotted with buildings. Opus is in sight. It takes nearly the rest of the day to make landfall, the sun setting as the ship begins it's final approach. Winston directs the helmsman to dock at the royal shipyards, and disembarks first. "I'll need to talk with some of my colleagues. Those of you who came to Aica with me, you've earned a night of more comfortable lodgings than the barracks. I'll send someone to bring you to them. Civilians, I ask that you go as well - I know not all of you are Opus citizens... actually, I'm not sure anyone besides Elizabeth and Leslie are... but, the higher ups are going to want to talk with you about what happened." He steps off, and is briefly accosted by the dock guards - ships can't dock here without royal permit - but he shows identification and waves him off. While waiting, Leslie turns to the others. "So, I never got to thank you all for saving me. I'd never have gotten out myself, let alone with any stock. I noticed most of your things are practically falling apart... I'll replace them, free of charge. I'll sort through my stock, see if anything stands out as useful and give you a discount. I'd give 'em for free but with my shop probably burning down or something I sort of need something to get new stuff." All QL refunded. Leslie's shop opened when the lazy GM writes up the shop and prices. Afterwards a guard arrives, and says he'll be escorting them to their temporary lodgings. They walk through the city for a while. At first, it seems they'll be going to a standard inn. Then they're in the high class district. A fancy one, maybe? But they keep going. As they approach the castle and the gate opens, it seems clear that they're not staying in an inn. "The king will be wanting to hear of what happened in Aica personally." their escort explains at this point. The group is escorted to what could be, if one was in the habit of understating things, a guest house near central citadel. It's huge, with plenty of room to fit them comfortably and a variety of amenities. It also has several guards. The king, it seems, takes responsibility as a host very seriously. "I've never been anywhere like this before..." Elizabeth said. She had been looking around in awe the entire time they'd been present - the locale was impressive, even in the dim light of the moon. "Do you think they'll let us use those stables we passed? I haven't rode in ages..." "It's uncertain whether you'll be called tonight or in the morning, but please be patient." The escort says, before heading off.

Priscilla blinked, but stood firm under the gaze of the beautiful woman. She was used to this sort of look. The nobles she interacted with on a daily basis were certainly the judging sorts. This, at least, was normal. "That's fair enough. It wasn't this breathtaking when I looked around in the morning, for sure. And Swords wasn't so 'out of sight, out of mind.' I've been there once... not a pleasant place on the ground, either." she had, as a child, on one of her youthful 'adventures'. It was probably very good that was also when she met Elias. She might have been young but she remembered how she coughed and struggled to breath, how her clothes were caked in dust before an hour had passed, how the odd passer-by had given her strange, in some cases predatory looks. A man had been following when Elias had found lost little Val, loaned her a mask, and taken her out of Swords. She may have been less than ten years old, but that wasn't the sort of experience one forgets. "I meant to ask you the same thing, but you asked first. Priscilla Valentine Lemaire. And you are?" Priscilla asked, meeting the maid's gaze. She really reminded her more of nobility than maids, by her bearing and how she spoke, how she stood out and waxed poetic over the light even if the message wasn't exactly what one would say in "polite company". And yet, she still felt like a maid. It made no sense, but that's the way it was.

Priscilla stared for a few moments. At the Cups below, a sight beautiful enough to make one nearly forget it was built by human hands, to forget what goes on below the lights of the city. At the woman in front of her, almost like a ghost, ethereal perfection. Val had to wonder what the nature of this compulsion to get close, to speak with her, was. It didn't... feel right. It was like nothing she'd felt before, like something was pulling on her mind and her body alike to bring her closer to the maid that, despite how she stood out so much, still seemed distinctly that. So, Val walked further out on the balcony, looking at the city below. "...I didn't know it was that beautiful." she says, trying to casually strike up a conversation and hopefully sate that odd compulsion.

Alva stepped back as the girl forced her way into the room. Something about the girl - something struck her as wrong. "I don't see why it would be a problem..." she said, unsure. "Uh... what is it you want with Kaede? I don't know how long she's gonna be. Are you friends?" She didn't want to be mean but... Kaede didn't seem the sort to have that many friends. Maybe she was wrong though.

“I’m, uh, going to the balcony if you don’t mind.” Val said. “I think I need some air. I’ll find you again in a bit, sorry.” It was a little surprising she had the presence of mind to say as much, given the situation. If she could detach herself from Pris she’d quickly head that way, following the maid up the stairs. She wasn’t sure why - maybe she just wanted to ask her if she was really a maid, or just compliment her, or what. But she did it, following the silver haired beauty as best she could.

Priscilla, "Val" to friends, had sort of zoned out for a bit there. She'd found her walking towards that beautiful maid, unable to look away. It was honestly shocking how striking she had been, how much she'd stood out - had she been a noble making a fashion statement or something? That seemed stupid but made more sense than a member of the Association going out of her way to make herself noticeable like that. She didn't really know what she meant to say when she reached her, but her sister had appeared out of nowhere and attached herself to her arm. She blinked - "Oh, there you are Pris." she said, shocked out of her reverie. "I think it was more like you slipped away from me, really." she said, not really meaning to push that issue at all. "I was just getting a drink. Got distracted though..." she looks around for that woman from a moment ago.

Priscilla Valentine Lemaire hated heels. Too hard to walk in, and if she had to do it for too long her feet hurt. She hated fancy dresses. They pinched in uncomfortable places and tended to draw eyes to places other than her face. And she hated these sorts of noble parties. She had to wear a fancy dress and heels and deal with social rules and all of that. At least they tended to have good food. She could think of any number of things she would rather do than what she had to do right then, which was, in fact, go to a noble's party, in a fancy black-and-white gown that accentuated certain things that she'd rather not be accentuated and uncomfortable heels. Perfect night, really. It was to be expected, really. Even if the royal family lines had no real power anymore (despite what they tried to tell her for her entire youth), they still had some social status. So it made sense Priscilla would have to attend some social functions - especially one thrown by her sister, such as this. At least she didn't have to wear one of those absurd masks (yet, at least, who knew what she'd be forced to do down the line). Her sister said it was because of their family's connection to servants and all but she was pretty sure she just didn't want to wear a mask, and she herself was happy to take that explanation and run with it. The event had been going for an hour or two. For a while she'd been sticking with her sister to avoid having to really talk to people herself, but she'd lost her in the crowd a while ago and was having to play nice on her own. Currently, she was at a buffet of food and drink in order to take a break from the main party, and glancing around for a certain close friend.

Linton: Pick Wind or Dark affinity.

T12, poleaxe peg.