[center][color=aqua][h2]Mia and the Rook[/h2][/color][/center]

As was the usual with the Rook, it gave no reaction to the good doctor's greeting, instead just waxing ominous as it closely monitored his actions. The lack of any movement whatsoever was unnerving, to say the least.

Mia bit back a yelp as her senses vanished, feeling a flicker of fear as she lost sight of the other Chasers. Almost immediately, she realized her mistake. As the darkness faded, sound returned with the crash of broken glass and the tortured screaming of cheap steel bending out of position. Mia herself was located a few feet above the ground, lifted and protected by one of the Rook's gigantic hands. The bodyguard had pushed its massive arm through the front door to grab at its charge, ignoring irrelevant things like 'property' or 'collateral' damage. Inside the deep hood of the tarp, steel blades glinted in what passed for a mouth on the iron giant, unidentifiable gas slowly escaping from the maw with a telltale hiss. Sometimes having a bodyguard that reacted to the slightest signs of danger had its downsides.

[i]Gods, this was embarrassing.[/i]

Unable to control her tone of voice, Mia nearly squeaked out her order for the Rook to return to standby. It abated slowly, uncurling the protective cage of metal fingers that it had erected around her and retreating back up to a standing position without giving much care to the twisted remains of the door still attached to its forearm. Turning on her heel to face the rest of the cafe, she began apologizing profusely to the rest of the cafe for disturbing their meals and to the chasers for disturbing their meeting. If the sudden rush of darkness hadn't set them on edge, the Rook's preternatural ability to break things most certainly would have.

As the monstrous steel creature withdrew back to its unerringly solid position by what was once the door., Mia carefully stepped over the broken glass and approached the immortal vampiress Shiina, head drooping with embarrassment. She had wronged the cafe's owner most of all, even if she didn't feel it was entirely her fault. [color=aqua]"Sorry about this... [i]again.[/i] I'll pay for it, and any days of business lost because of it."[/color]