seasonsrpg | open / what was i searching for?

For your cat...? ( Steak looks, well, a little bewildered to hear that the little old lady in the spring segment's airship station wants apples for her cat. He's no expert in felines, really, but aren't they carnivores?

Still. She seems insistent, shooing him away with the kind of intimidating steel reserved solely for a little old lady who has nothing left to fear.

And so, off Steak trots with a list of ingredients, of which apples is only one of the strange requirements. But he supposes he'll start there. After all, apples can be found on trees, and it's not like there aren't plenty of those around.

He's found with a wicker basket hooked in the crook of an elbow, stretching to reach a juicy looking, red-tinged apple. )

Ngh... Come here, you—!

( He can't slice it down with his swords, sadly, but imagine if he could! )

Hey—! Who said I was volunteering!

( The cry can be heard through the streets, coming from a nearby gift shop as a redheaded young man finds himself (once again) forced into a very fancy outfit he never asked for. But despite the protests, Steak doesn't toss the gifts he's been given away, doesn't storm out and ignore the script he has to memorise.

Alright. Fine. He does exist to help humans, and apparently these humans need help. (Desperately, if they're asking him to do this.)

That is how Steak comes to be standing in front of your character, all dressed up with a bouquet of roses in hand, before clearing his throat to— )

Your smile, my darling, is a piece of art
A cupid's arrow shot straight to my heart...

( Honestly, how hard can it be to climb a tree? Even a really big one like this, when it has stairs? Sure, it'll be a ballache after a while, but one thing she's worked on since her sprinting days is her endurance.

This is nothing more than another test of that.

She knows better than to shoot off straight up at full pelt, no matter how tempting it is to listen to the itch of energy buzzing in her legs when she starts up the first flight. It's... bizarre, really, to walk up stairs in a tree, but the sheer novelty has her biting back a smile.

Though, that smile doesn't remain hidden for long. The higher she goes, the more the knot that has taken permanent residence in her chest begins to loosen until there's a bounce in her steps, and the world around her seems brighter. More colourful.

Well, as colourful as you can get inside a tree.

The lightness in her also means that, when someone stumbles, or seems to be flagging, tired on their trek up, she makes her way over, a bottle of water in hand. )

Here.

( Coffee Rats. How very specific. And a little gross, really, but if Ellipsabucks is anything like the earthen equivalent...

Eh. It deserves it. The coffee is probably an atrocity, only tempered by the myriad of syrups and milks people throw in to mask the actual taste of it.

Kate slips a few of them into her bag and makes her way inside, grabs a bottle of water and a vegetarian panini instead of any of the coffee offerings, and finds a place tucked away in a corner to sit, leaving her tray and water as she makes for the bathroom.

From there, it's easy enough to open her backpack while in one of the stalls and let the critters scarper, waiting a few moments before she follows them out and back to her seat.

Now, all she has to do is enjoy the show. )

( The Winter lands remind him of Nevras, in that way that has Steak wanting to explore more of it. He hasn't taken the opportunity to do so yet, and it goes down on his mental list of things to do in Ellipsa, because right now there's an actual problem that needs his attention.

Sharks in the snow.

He slows his steps as he catches sight of the Watchtower in the nearby vicinity, hands going to his swords, red eyes scanning the snow for signs of movement.

And there it is. Snow shifting and... A familiar face on the other end. Huh. Well, Steak isn't getting left out of this so heads up, Jean, he's coming in! )

Hiyaaaa!

( Slicing the air with his swords results in a wave of fire shooting out towards where the snow is moving. )

( The itch in her muscles becomes impossible to ignore after a few weeks, when running and sparring just isn't enough and her eyes map out possible routes up the sides of buildings and over railings and walls at every opportunity.

She gives in one morning, just as the sun starts rising and the streets are still mostly empty, her morning jog shifting to a vault over a fence and onwards, running towards the wall and rushing up it before she pulls herself up to the very top with a gasp and that familiar burn of brick against her palms. Excitement shivers down her spine and the worries about running into the wrong persons vanish as she continues onwards, through the courtyard of a building and back up the other wall.

At this hour? Who the hell is going to find her as she ascends, hopping onto the roof of a single storey building and taking a quick second to survey her surroundings.

Hm. Where to go now? )

Please stop, please stop, I'll pay you to stop singing to me??

[Evangeline genuinely looks like she might have a panic attack at any second if Steak continues to serenade her. Which is one way to make an introduction!]

[Frieda, only recently having learned about Valentine's Day customs, can only jump to one conclusion at the sight of the roses and the candour of Steak's recitation. How did this happen?! Is it because she healed him in between the battles in the portal? He didn't show any signs of liking her back then, nice and interesting as it was to talk to him!]

Steak, this... this is so kind of you, but I'm overwhelmed!

[Jade is already so ~~possessive~~ protective as it is... she's going to have to turn Steak down! How is she supposed to do that without hurting his feelings?]

[And the show starts before long! For a little while longer, the chatter of patrons fills the chain café as usual, but then there's a distinct sound of something falling to the floor, and many heads turn towards the counter. A decorative bag of coffee beans that sat by the register is now spilled on the ground... and up on the counter is a rat.

Immediately some people shriek or let out cries of disgust. A guy with glasses and a shitty haircut loudly calls out "That's a coffee rat! I told you guys that the coffee here was shit!". Some customers outright flee, others make a scene and demand that the personnel remove the critter (which they do attempt, leading to the rat running off) . Hijikata, among some other less sensitive patrons, stays put, though he does look pissed since he's still waiting in line and now there's a hold-up! On the other hand, does he really still want to buy anything here?]

Wow. I only came here because the little place around the corner's closed, but I should've known better.

( He doesn't like it either, but he has a job to do! And being interrupted makes Steak sputter, tripping over his next line; )

Please, my- my dar...

( Ah, fuck. )

You made me forget my line!

( He's really not good at this, whoops. )

Good! Stop, I hate this!

[Love confessions are the quickest and surest way to make her upset.]

( Steak knows about Valentine's Day from Tierra, but being the dutybound, workaholic idiot that he is... Well, he knows what he's doing, and what he's doing is delivering a message and flowers as he was told to.

As stupid as this whole thing is, and as much as he was not volunteering for this job, he has it now.

But no one told him what to do if his recipient interrupted his recitation. )

Please... Allow me to finish...!

( This probably isn't helping the impression she has, but he does not even consider that anyone would think he was doing this of his own accord. )

[Jean had been hanging out in the Watchtower and hadn't really planned on going out there (it was part of his 'get better with being in the Winter Segment' attempt. But the Snow Shark had come a little too close to someone who was making his way to the teleport crystal. So he had gone out to help a native make their way back. Otherwise, he wouldn't be alone in the segment (out of the safe zone) like this.

He's glad to see Steak arrive. The fire hits the shark and while it should melt, it doesn't do as much damage as it should. Huh, interesting.]

It's great to see you.

[Jean has his regular sword as his weapon of choice this time. Since he hadn't planned on fighting, but he wanted to have something with him just in case. He uses some fire to distract the shark.]

I think we might need a better plan than "kill it with fire".

Ah... right.

[She should let him finish, shouldn't she? He must have put so much effort into preparing this! She goes quiet and listens attentively, nervously fiddling with her fingers the whole time. This is a terrible situation! He's being so brave and vulnerable, and she's going to hurt him for it? If it weren't for Jade, she might even consider accepting Steak's feelings - she doesn't know him well, but he seems to be a good man who at least deserves a chance! As it is, though, she's fairly certain that bad things would happen if Jade heard about this (~~which, honestly, should give her more pause than it does~~).]

[ It's been long enough since Things Happened that Korone's able to go out by herself without triggering an entire menagerie's worth of worried fussing or panic. Not just able — she's actually allowed now, which is an important distinction when you're surrounded by (valid) mother hens with a (sizeable, legitimate) list of reasons to cluck. A lot. Loudly. At length. Nevermind how worried she is about them.

A long enough time …

And a bad enough night. Her sleep was restless, plagued by nightmares and confusing, disjointed memories — some of which may as well be nightmares themselves. Ugh. She gives up somewhere in the cool, dusky hour before dawn; throws on an oversized hoodie and leggings, tucks her phone in her pocket, haphazardly belts on her hammerspace hip bag, and takes her window to the skies.

The relief is almost immediate. Fresh air and a chill, slow flight alongside the rising of the sun and the waking of the world. Wind against her feathers, as grounding as it is uplifting. God, she'd needed this. She takes a deep, deep breath, and … … pauses, when she spies a familiar figure standing on a rooftop far below. Huh. Looks like she's not the only one feeling restless. Korone hesitates a moment longer, and then, with a shrug, banks one wing and winds her way down towards the roof in slow, steady spirals, gliding more than flapping. ]

G'morning, Carly-san! [ She offers the greeting once she's close enough to not need to shout.

… Which means she's close enough that Carly will be able to see that she's wearing an eye-patch beneath her glasses. It's cute. Blue, with an adorable pattern of chicks and chickens. ]

In that case, talk to the person who ordered it!

( Should he be bickering with a client's loved one? Probably not, but he has to do this ridiculous thing and now he's getting interrupted and losing track of his job.

Oh, right. He all but shoves the bouquet of flowers at this strange woman. )

Here. These are for you.

( Okay. Where was he... Ugh, this whole thing is so embarrassing. At least when he was playing the Great Prince, all he needed to do was hand flowers to women and tell them they were gifts from people. None of these stupid poems and songs. )

Your smile, my darling, is a piece of art
A cupid's arrow shot straight to my heart
Please accept my gift to you
Flowers which say what I fail to

( Good lord, who wrote this? Anyway. He thrusts the flowers forward, clearing his throat as he does so. )

These are a gift from an admirer.

( Still... not being explicit here, Steak. )

( Well. That's great. Fire and swords are all he's got, and Steak frowns as the Shark seems to all but shrug it off, huffing as he comes into step next to Jean. )

... Then we take off its head.

( If the fire doesn't work, it's time to try the swords. They have three of them between them, surely they can manage to slice the thing apart. And Steak is gonna waste no time trying to confirm his theory, wrapping himself in a protective iridescent bubble as he leaps towards the shark, swords reaching for whatever bit of the creature they can.

Time to see how this thing deals with physical damage! )

I don't know who ordered it! They clearly aren't somebody who knows me well so they could be any random weirdo creep!

I'm not taking those flowers. You can't make me.

[The takes the bouquet from him. It's beautiful. He probably chose the flowers carefully... or did he just ask the florist to pick for him? Either way, it must have cost a lot! She buys herself another moment by lowering her head to smell the roses' delicate scent.]

...

Thank you, Steak. I'm touched. I don't know what I did to earn your admiration, but I can hardly overstate how thoughtful this is of you.

[She's about to feel really embarrassed, but she doesn't have a clue yet.]

( She's chewing on a corner of her panino as the chaos begins, brown eyes flickering from one disgusted customer to the next.

Well, the poster should be happy. This is exactly the kind of chaos they seemed to want. Except for a few people, which is good for Kate. If they're not bothered, they're not likely to suspect that she's so blasé about the whole thing because she set them free. Most likely they'll just think she's fine with it because she doesn't enjoy ruining her tastebuds with subpar coffee.

(The panino is pretty good, though. Maybe a bit too heavy on the pesto but given Kate's usual culinary creations, she has no room to throw stones.)

She's contemplating making a run for it and eating on the go when a comment catches her attention. The place around the corner? She's walked past it but not yet gone in, so... )

It good?

( She might be shorter (barely), and brunette, but that accent is still the same. )

( Exercise really is the best way to shake off a nightmare. And to render yourself too tired to have more nightmares afterwards. For once, it isn't something which has driven Kate to her morning parkour, but she knows the problem all too well. This? This is just normal.

Well, as normal as anything can be when she's stranded in a world without her brother, without anything familiar and access to magic that stretches far beyond what she thought possible. Something which grounds her even as she stands several feet above the ground proper, watching the slow shift of dark sky to something lighter and brighter because at least the sky is something that doesn't change when stuck in another universe.

Her drifting thoughts leave her lingering on the rooftop long enough to be caught by a familiar voice, and she thanks that podcast for teaching her that a fake name is best when it starts in a similar way to your own, turning as she hears the "Ca-" and not quite registering the alias until she's already looking at Korone's face and... eyepatch?

That wasn't there last time. )

...Hey. ( She nods her head in greeting. ) You're up early.

( Said the pot to the kettle. )

[Sadly, Hijikata can be pretty daft. Without that bright pink hair, it'll take him a moment or two to figure out why this girl seems familiar...]

Well, it wakes you up. Granted, all the sugar in the stuff they sell here will probably also do the trick, but I prefer the kick to come from the caffeine.

[With the Ellipsabucks personnel still chasing after the coffee rat(s), he exhales in exasperation and takes his phone from his pocket to look up alternatives.]

There've got to be more options around here.

[He'd ask for recommendations, but given that the kid's been eating here, she's probably also only now starting to consider branching out!]

open / what was i searching for?

steak 🥩

kate galloway 👟

open / quest - horror errands

open / quest - their gift is my song

open / quest - one very big fruit tree?

open / quest - we don't talk about ellipsabucks

closed / quest - winter jaws

open / parkour hours

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