Fleo Plector – Phoenix Wing Stands
At last! Alive with the energy of hype, Fleo jumped for joy. After thirty minutes of agonizing waiting, at the very least, the final match of the day was to begin. Sure, in the greater scheme of things a half hour wasn't that long, but to be forced to sit and do nothing all this time, waiting for a paid service? A restaurant serving a family of four couldn't be forgiven for taking that long. The dusty woman didn't think that an entire colosseum's worth of competitors and viewers deserved such a treatment.
Again Phoenix Wing took the stage. Proud as she was of her guild, Fleo didn't know about Karn. His personality utterly befuddled her; one moment he seemed like he would be the happiest guy in the world, the next behaving like an animal, or incredibly depressive. The situation reminded her of a multi-sided dice, rolling to see which traits would manifest themselves on a moment's notice, which seemed neither stable nor dependable. Still, she leaned back, arms behind her head and feet propped up on the empty seat in front of her, to watch.
Only a few seconds passed before Fleo was forced to groan. As of this moment, her guild was not being represented by a real wizard, but by a child. Surely shapeshifting didn't mean swapping out human intellect for kittenlike tomfoolery at a moment's notice? She noticed that some of her fellow guildmates didn't seem to be realizing how shameful his display was, instead focusing on the apparent adorability of his chosen form. Though normally full of youthful energy and playful, Fleo wanted nothing more than to curl up. How embarrassing! How unprofessional! It was almost sickening to watch. The loudspeakers of the Doma Flau transmitted Karn's declaration of his seriousness to her, but the dusty woman didn't buy it. If this Krystal didn't realize that she was being made to look like a complete idiot, though, she deserved to lose.
The unpleasant silence continued. Ever-savvy, Nero knew that behavior contrary to his usual, upbeat demeanor brought a chilly sobriety to any situation, and hoped that it would spur Ayame to consider what she wanted more carefully. He stared at her with black eyes, devoid of the merry glint that so often played through them, as she thought and built, brick by brick, a reply. Nonchalantly he shrugged off her punches and remained stolid when Ayame stuffed her face into his purple cape, concentrating instead on his other companion's exploration of her neckfat. When she finally parted her petite lips to reveal what troubled her mind, albeit somewhat muffled by the fabric of Nero's mantle, her sentiments flew instead to Eve. Surprisingly, Ayame decided to furnish the Necromancer a question, before positing a few spots they'd like to visit.
With that, Nero brightened slightly. He took the changing of subject for a desire from Ayame to forget about her odd request and its implications, instead focusing on the future. For this, the Genie would be only too happy to oblige. He crossed his arms as Eve responded to Ayame, and slumped slightly when she mentioned the possibility of him thinning her back down. Did she not like this form any more than her old one? Nero felt compelled to further justify himself, but if it was true that Eve did not prefer her new self, then the transformation had been a betrayal of her trust and trying to cast himself in a better light would be to twist the knife. Now a little unhappy, Nero decided that the best course of action would be to come clean—after all, wasn't that people who valued one another were supposed to do? He hoped so.
”Ah, Eve...” he paused, momentarily distracted by his friend's rippling gut as she heaved herself off her strained chair.
”One other thing, I shoulda told ya from the start, but I felt kinda...guilty, I guess. The truth is that, er, I like fat girls. Don't know why, i just the way I am. I wasn't kiddin' when I said I thought you were beautiful, but doin' this to ya for my sake is selfish. Guess selfish is the way I am, too. I'll change ya back any time ya want.” He slid off his own chair, a defeated expression on his face. He'd always been honest with his own quirks, making fun of himself often, but it felt a lot more difficult when he cared about the people he was confiding in.
A moment later, he jumped in surprise as became aware of Trinity, just now saying the word 'thinner'. Where had she come from?!
Beyond the veil of not-paying-attention, I suppose, he mused ruefully. Reddening slightly in embarrassment -
by the Horned one, I'm acting just like Aya- he took a step back and tried to listen. It took a few seconds for him to compose himself, but afterward, he bore his usual demeanor.
”Don't beat yourself up. To die is to betray the ones ya care about. If he doesn't want to try to live, then he doesn't care aboutcha Wingers enough to live for your sakes. Leave him to wallow in his own 'destiny', and find someone with a stronger will to care about. Thinkin' about it, I'm sure I coulda cured him. There's nothin' in the world that magic can't do. I'll grantcha this wish instead.”Nero pulled a penny from his pouch and waved his hand around it, like a magician performing a magic trick. When his finger retracted, the coin gleamed with the fulfilling luster of gold.
”By all means, spend it all in one place.” He moved between Eve and Ayame, putting an arm around both of their shoulders.
”Ready to go?” He grinned at Trinity.
”Aya wanted to visit a place with magic, I think, and there's a range not too far from here. I haven't used my actual combat magic in ages, so it'll be a lotta fun to a-range a trip, heehee! If you're burned out on the arena fightin', you can come with us too!”
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