Crowvette

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

Didn't mean to hang that conversation out to dry, hectic start of the semester for me. Should get to posting within 24 hours

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Alexandria

@Scarifar

Alex had opened her mouth to speak further... but someone else started talking, too. The situation was far too gone now for her to reach Vera. Alex had to watch Vera walk away, even though she felt like she should run after her. The truth was, it felt like something that would need time. Perhaps there was a tiny bit of hope, since she had mentioned where Wolf was. If Vera completely gave up on Alex, it was unlikely she'd bother even telling her that much.

It didn't make the feeling of rejection go away, though. She had gone over what she'd say in her head when she finally met up with Vera... and it all went completely out of the window. Alex realized all too late that she expected everyone to be the same after her time away from them. It was clear that was not the case.

After some time silently thinking over the situation, she eventually turned to Michael. "Um. Sorry you had to see all of that..." She wiped her face with her sleeve, clearing up the last of her tears. She gave a somewhat forced smile, looking the direction that Vera left from. "W-With friends like these..." Her weak joke and fake laughter belied her inner turmoil. "Right... Let's go." Alex didn't feel like talking much, but she would feel better walking with someone compared to doing it completely alone. Which was how she felt, after this long, long night. Alone.

'Wolf... Don't be too mad at me.' Alex thought to herself with all of her heart. She didn't know what she'd do if this happened again.

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Alexandria

@KillamriX88 @Scarifar

Alex looked visibly confused. "Replacement? Priorities?!" Her stomach twisted as she considered what Vera said. What was she saying?

What was it Vera once told her? Alex thought back to a moment years ago. Parts of it felt like a faded memory, but Alex remembered the feeling of her own tears. Alex was sitting there, curled up, just wishing that Vera would go away and leave her alone. And Vera said something she'd never forget:

"You're one of the two people in the world who I want to hear from, and you won't talk to me even to smooth this over. Do you see the issue here?"

Alex had nearly forgotten what the argument was about. That part didn't matter. But Vera back then was right. There was an issue here and Alex wasn't going to let it hang over the two. Alex gathered up her courage to be as forthcoming as possible, thinking through what she was going to say.

"The doctors said that I might have stunted my growth spurt due to my coma." Alex blurted out.

'Ah. I jumped too far ahead in what I wanted to say right into an awkward spot.' Alex had already screwed up her confident retort.

She had to keep going, before Vera cut her off or her own tears made it too hard to speak. "I-I mean to say... It's not been all fun. And you're not making things easy either. It's not like I didn't want to see you or Wolf..." Her vision blurred from her tears. "I don't know what happened. I had a little bit of resentment, maybe, to wake up after a year and only be greeted by my parents. No Wolf or Vera." Alex emphasized her displeasure at that. It was true. One of the first things she and Vera bonded over was their parental issues - different types, but issues all the same. "But maybe, I thought, it was something wrong with me. Maybe I wasn't good enough to be with you two again, since I had... Left so suddenly. I shied away from trying. Not until I had done something amazing. I had made up some fake bargain with myself to solve a problem I wasn't even sure existed."

Alex had wanted to say more, but she felt her throat tightening, and tears beginning to fall down her cheeks again.

...And then she heard Michael's voice behind her, and her heart sank like a stone. 'N-Not now! W-Why is he leaving from this exit?!' Alex quickly pulled her hood up, trying to hide her tear-streaked face. 'I was just trying to clear up one misunderstanding and another shows up in its place!! And how much of that did he hear?!' Alex felt like she might die from embarrassment, anxiety, and sadness all at once.

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Alex

@KillamriX88

Alex felt pleased with herself that she managed to sneak out with Vera in tow even amidst a dangerous situation. As she walked into the alleyway, she whirled around, her chest puffed out with pride - Only to find nobody following her. "Huh? Vera?!" Her ears were still ringing slightly, but she couldn't even pick out anything that sounded like Vera.

Alex thought out what could have occurred, her gut sinking with dread. 'Okay. She's fine. Don't panic. She didn't get shot. Or trampled by the crowd. Don't panic. She wasn't kidnapped by that weirdo stalker guy who was snooping on us. Don't panic. Don't panic don't panicdon'tpanic-'

Alex was panicking. And just before she was about to dash back inside, Vera appeared through the exit.

"Where were you?!" Alex wiped her eye with her sleeve. "Did you go back IN there?!" She gave Vera a look of incredulity. "I don't even think we should be stopping running right now!" Alex quickly shot glances up and down the alleyway, as if she was looking out for more danger. But at this point, she would deal with danger. She couldn't let Vera leave, especially on such an awkward note for both of them. Alex wished they had run into each other in a situation other than a pit-fight-turned-shooting. Couldn't they have met at a library or coffee shop?!

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

"Woah...how's your book doing that? Is it magic? Are you a wizard!?"

@The Irish Tree

Io opened her eyes as someone asked her a question - but she couldn't see anyone standing in front of her at first. Then she realized it was coming from someone floating in front of her. A fairy. Io had not had much contact with them, given their chaotic nature... but she trusted a member of the Task Force would behave themselves. Plus, Io could vaguely recall that there were varieties that were less... capricious than ones she knew in the past.

It had been a while since someone asked her that last question. "A wizard... I was, perhaps." Io didn't want to brag, but she considered herself beyond that title now. She then circled back to the initial question, "The grimoire's pages are magically linked using a small component inlaid along the edges of the page. I've learned how to subtly influence the leafing in the physical world through a minor spirit link, allowing the pages to turn themselves as I will them, which happens to be very energy efficient due to the lightness of the pages. Of course this requires decoupling the spirit to begin with, but after that it is a trifling manner to correlate certain lines of thought to the link given some training. As a bonus, if the grimoire is sealed, any interrupting noise will simply not be strong enough to open the grimoire, even in a particularly overloaded area like a graveyard. Provided you've learned certain fundamental arcane combinations, and freed your ego from a body once before, I would consider it 'easy,' even." Io doled out her torrent of words without so much as a breath in between, her eyes gaining the slightest glint of passion. "You can see the basics of it in this page's inscription." The pages quickly flipped to a page in the front of the grimoire, which was scrawled over with Io's inscrutable personal language.

Io nodded to herself, satisfied with her own description. She slightly adjusted her posture for Liliana, as if to ask, 'Any questions?'

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

Io at Terauchi Temple

Io nodded wordlessly at Ayu's thoughts. It was true that the task force was... unconventional. It was actually a benefit, in Io's eyes. She had already encountered things that living things wouldn't see in dozens of lifetimes on her first day.

She saw Ayu off, taking a moment to scan the temple grounds before returning to taking notes; sketches, thoughts, theories as she considered some of the task force members she had just recently met. In this case, the extremely rare male. 'I must study more closely in the future. Perhaps tonight. I'll need some spells to sneak through the area...'

Io began studying her grimoire, mentally sorting through her accumulated knowledge to find the right spells for the job. Something simple so as to not take much energy... Something that would let her blend into the shadows. Her eyes closed as her grimoire's pages quickly flipped to and fro, mimicking her internal search. There were other spells she should prepare, but this was important. This was for the sake of rare knowledge, basically uncatalogued by others. If Io's heart could beat, it would be pounding with excitement.

Her outer appearance of deep, thoughtful meditation was incongruous with her inner desire to gawk at her fellow task force members in secret, but luckily nobody else could possibly know what was going on in her head.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

Put the wrecking ball down! And the spoon, too.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

Io at Terauchi Temple

Io mulled over the words of the weavers. Of course, they had some fair points, but this was for their sake moreso than Io. Were it her choice, clothes would be done away with entirely save for functional pieces such as armor or bags. Not that she needed to voice that opinion - she knew it was perhaps too radical for the living. Or at least, most of them. She had encountered a few in her travels that agreed with her on that no-clothes stance, perhaps too emphatically.

"No need for high quality fabric. Use something strong and cheap. A simple long robe, with a hood. Should cover a grown person from head to toe." Io quickly laid out her desires for the clothing. She had to stifle her desire for something lavish - this was for the sake of relations on the island. Maybe once the situation was less tense she could commission something aesthetically pleasing - and something for herself, too. She had a mild interest in trying the local style of clothing.

She paused for a moment, thinking about what to do for payment. She wasn't entirely initiated with the economics of the island. It was unlikely that offering some free labor from her zombies would go over well, either. There were some things that were usually well received in most cultures, though...

Io removed one of her many rings, holding it up to let the sun catch its metallic gleam. This one didn't have any gemstones set in it, but it was clearly made of pure gold. "Is gold fine? I can change its shape to coins if needed." Io wondered how they would appraise it. She hadn't surveyed enough of Shizuyama to know if they valued gold to the same degree as other places. Given the cheapness of her specifications Io considered it to be more than enough, but new places always had a way to surprise her.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

If I don't get a post out by the end of today someone poke/kick/stab me.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

Woo!

And to keep the hype up I got another drawing of Io done! I think this one might actually be better for her RP portrait than the original. Not that I'm asking for them to be swapped, but I figured it might be fun to share.