pawnstorm | ( open) la pista è come uno specchio d’argento

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( open) la pista è come uno specchio d’argento

Who: OTA parties interested in the Remove the Obstacles! job, with the added bonus of collecting the frozen-to-the-canal toys and donating them to the orphanage for bonus cookies and affection points from the orphans!
When: Before the start of the Flower Festival.
Where: Anywhere in Caissa!
What: Several Heroes take up Stuart's request of taking care of freeing frozen toys from the canals and repairing ice where they can.
Rating: None, will update as becomes necessary.

The canals are used by citizens looking to shave time off their travel through the city during the winter season, skating on anything but thin ice. The troublemakers salting patches of the smoothed ice has turned it into a hazardous endeavor, made all the worse when wooden toys have been frozen to the ice. Of the Heroes who've stepped up to help take care of this clean-up (or perhaps even catch a culprit in action, despite the guard saying they had a plan in place for the very thing) were finding themselves facing a variety of challenges, up to and including...

One: getting out on the ice. The salted patches aren't too slick, but the rest gets slippery, and those who might be borrowing ice skates to speed up their travel times from trouble spot to trouble spot might be facing the biggest challenge yet. Learning how to ice skate! Or walking out, or giving up and sliding on one's rear end to reach the trouble spots. Whatever works! If people are judging you, well, they're probably no one worth listening to anyway, right?

Two: communication over radios is a dream and a wish, but Heroes do have Carriers, and Carriers do have audio capabilities. Trying to coordinate with fellow Heroes over Carrier-audio is more of a challenge than it may seem, especially with so many new to the idea! (And not all Carriers being willing to cooperate...)

Three: there are places where the salt has thinned the ice too much to support added weight... be careful, Heroes, lest you fall right in! Though if you do fall in, can you swim? Or fight off the shock of potential hypothermia? Oh dear, where are the blankets? Victims of thin ice may need to get wrapped up and brought indoors as soon as possible. Heat 'em up! We don't want our Heroes losing fingers or toes!

Four: though once the wooden toys are found, prying them off the ice is a challenge in and of itself. For those Heroes already tapping in to the Pawn rank's limited magical abilities, matchstick level fires can be effectively used... at a cost. Patience and perseverance are key to this method of toy removal, as will purifying and replenishing one's mana. Toriel will insist that everyone should try and salvage both the toy and ice for the sake of donating these toys to the orphanage along the way. Then again, one might try using brute force to pry the toys free... or see about convincing one of the residents who lives near the canals to allow them to borrow pots of hot water to extract toys that way!

Five: all work and no play leaves people grumpy and gives people aches and pains, which means that breaks are a must have, even for the heroes! If that means earnestly learning how to skate, picking impromptu snowball fights, or volunteering to haul a load of salvaged toys to the orphanage for a cookie break is up to each individual. This may not be their city, but wandering the canals, at least they're bound to get to know the layout of Caissa a little better than before!

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Aggravating Dog, henceforth referred to as AD, has been thoroughly bored with this whole job. It's cold, there aren't enough good things to eat on the ice, he can't even play with the toys he finds, and Toriel is barely breaking to give him belly rubs when he throws himself down on the ice in front of her.

What he does notice in his wanderings away from her is this delightful, stinky, soggy old shoe. One he is stealthily crawling up to, belly to the ground, ears perked forward, and tail wagging every so often. As he gets closer, he stretches out his neck while opening his mouth, eyes glancing up at Emil... attempting to delicately seize the tongue of the shoe with his front teeth.

Emil is oblivious. He's sitting in the snow, head tilted back to rest against the tree, eyes closed and strangely peaceful for someone sitting on a frozen surface. Apparently, he’s never been told not to fall asleep outside in the cold.

And then there’s his carrier.

Pomelii, being of course too aristocratic for silly things like defrosting shoes, is grooming his nine inches of fluffy tail in the tree branches. The crunch of snow draws his attention, and the brown tosker climbs upside down the thick branch to watch the dog approach.

Now the shoe may mean nothing, but his master does (marginally) mean something. Pomelii's fur rises and he starts hissing vehemently.

AD peers upward, teeth chomping down on the boot even as he whuffs, then yips, springing to his feet and gleefully whipping the boot around like a captured animal. He doesn't care how close he is to Emil, and Pomelii is presently out of reach, but the hissing seems to spur him on as the Carrier dances and thwaps the side of the salvaged boot against the tree's trunk and Emil's arm. Toriel has only just noticed what her Carrier is up to, but she's down the canal, and it will take time for her to get there.

Time that AD is going to use to yip-yap at Pomelii while showing off the shoe that he'll settle down to chewing while splayed over Emil's lap if he can get away with it.

Emil stirs and opens his eyes, trying to focus on the blur of his tosker running along the branch. Pomelii hisses at anything and everything, so that in itself is no cause for alarm. (If he woke from a nap every time his monsters had a squabble he might never sleep.) But something bumped into him...

And a white dog with a half-frozen shoe tumbles into his lap. Emil starts, eyes wide and back braced against the tree. It takes a moment to understand the situation, at which point his features relax and he sighs in relief rather than exasperation.

"Hello?" He asks curiously with a smile. He saw this dog running around earlier... a pet or a Carrier? It's hard to tell. Emil raises a hand to gently finger the dog’s ruff behind the ears. (Ready to pull back in case the pet is as unfriendly as his own.) The shoe was already a lost cause, and he makes no attempt to remove it from those teeth.

Overhead, Pomelii chatters with fur on end.

AD delights in the attention, wagging his tail as if to taunt Pomelii while shoving his head under Emil's hand. One finger isn't enough. Full hands are required, and should Emil give in to his demands for pets, he'll settle in, hold the boot down with his paws, and start gnawing on it in earnest.

All the while wagging his tail. Take that, fellow puff-tail. Hiss all you like, but the real rewards are in not reserving space and instead ruthlessly invading it!

Toriel isn't of a mind to agree, but she has to skate across the ice on bare feet, carting along a wooden toy boat better meant for warmer seasons. "I am sorry, I do not know what goes on in his mind! Here, doggy, be a good boy and drop the shoe..." Her voice rolls right into cajoling as she steps off the ice onto the solid, snowdusted ground, a sheepish sort of smile on her face. AD really is an embarrassment. The look she sends at the back of her Carrier is one of mild irritation. How can he keep up this kind of energy? How much is he going to eat tonight, and what can't he eat? "And please get up off the poor youth you have fallen upon. You are a nuisance!"

AD doesn't appear to mind, considering he just wags his tail and keeps chewing on the shoe. In fact, now he's chewing faster. As Toriel gets closer, he starts to tense, as if in preparation to bolt with his hard won (stolen) prize.

The ostentatious display combined with Emil's inattention is enough to leave Pomelii in a huff. Short of crossing his paws, the tosker's expression could not more say, I am through. He escapes up into the tree's heights. Best of luck recovering your phone, Emil.

Meanwhile, Emil is glad to occupy both hands; that long fur is just too familiar. His wolves had coats like this - thick with bushy tails. Just a few days ago he was holding and stroking his own furry friends; he misses them already. Emil fondly runs his hands from head to tail, enjoying the sensation and the feelings of gratitude from the animal.

He looks up at Toriel's approach, and his immediate reaction is an amiable smile. Her appearance doesn't seem to bother him in the least. Indeed, he's always been better with monsters than humans.

“I don't mind. He seems like a normal dog to me.” Emil says lightly and in good humor. When he feels the dog tense in his lap, he reaches a hand to scratch in a delicious spot behind the ears. Try escaping now, hm?

Edited 2016-02-04 01:24 (UTC)

Toriel breathes out in a huff, part of it from exertion. She'll realise before long that she needs to put some effort into physical training in a different sense than before: she can cover ground at a decent clip when she wants, but chasing around AD all day is going to be a fitness program unlike any other. What stamina is she supposed to have for this?!

She shakes her head, letting her shoulders relax a fraction. "If that is to say normal dogs are nuisances, I have met more than his like who are that way. Some few have also been good guards, in their ways." She watches as AD clearly struggles between going and staying, one ear pointed back to listen to Toriel. His tail keeps wagging, his mouth keeps chewing, and he gives in with a happy groan, staying in Emil's lap as he finds that delicious spot behind his ears. Toriel refrains from rolling her eyes at the canine Carrier's obvious delight, stepping around to the side and freeing the shoe from his grasp with only a brief tug-of-war involved.

"He seems to like you well enough. Is this your shoe?" Not that he was missing a shoe, but she wanted to figure out if she should be apologising for her Carrier destroying personal property, or if it was part of what they'd been dealing with here on the ice.

"I guess dogs can be handful. They need training, but that's true of most animals." He continues scratching the dog behind the ears, deliberately ignoring Pomelii’s occasional huffs. His own Carrier training is off to a rocky start, but he’s used to this sort of thing. "He's your Carrier, isn't he? Is there a particular job you want to train him for?" Emil is still trying to understand precisely how the Hero-Carrier partnership is supposed to function, but the mention of guard dogs brings up a few ideas.

Emil keeps his new furry friend occupied while the shoe is freed. "No. I found it there." Keeping one hand petting, he uses his left to point to a spot on the canal near a bridge. He has since smooth the ice over the hole he had to create to free the boot. It took the last of his energy, but this way no one will trip or fall in.

The chewed on, half frozen shoe now in hand, Toriel realises she's at a loss for what to do with it. There might be laces that she can use... chewed on laces. She uses those laces to tie the shoe to her waist, smoothing down her (too short, in her opinion) skirt in a reflective manner. She can't make out much detail from here, but the ice looks smooth throughout the region around the bridge. He's done good work.

Training. This young person is right. She's going to have to train with her Carrier, not simply train herself. "One of the leavings of the unknown pranksters of Caissa." She looks down at the nuisance who is continuing to eat up attention in Emil's lap, now attempting to turn his head to lick at whatever of Emil he can reach.

"I had not thought about it. The last canine who annoyed me would stop by to steal my pies or sleep around the house. It did not occur to me that he would be one I would want to train." She gestures toward AD, then glances to Emil's side. Her Carrier doesn't look likely to run off right now. She might even be able to convince AD to flop in her lap in turn. That's part of bonding, isn't it? Understanding her Carrier while making an effort to get to know another person placed into this precarious position in this world.

"Would you mind if this old lady joined you for a while? It is quite tiring, all this running around and coaxing toys off the ice."

Emil grins at the mention of pie thieving. “Your pies must be really good.” He looks down at the dog, still ruffling his fur affectionately. An enthusiastic lick to his chin startles him; Emil pulls back at first - it tickles! But for the first time since arriving in this world, he laughs. And it feels great. He hasn’t had many reasons to laugh since he arrived here. Feeling happy seems to revive him even more than mana.

“Please.” Emil nods to the side, indicating she may sit next to him if she chooses. Then he remembers he has not introduced himself. "My name is Emil. I came here yesterday with everyone else." He shrugs, his shoulders still tense in the fitted white jacket with its’ military design. He feels a little silly in it, but he imagines he’s not the only one. “What’s your name?”

She settles down with a small oof of effort, smoothing down her skirt and feeling little of the cold around her. Toriel looks toward Emil, offering a nod of her head along with an introduction. "How rude of me! I apologize for not introducing myself sooner. I am Toriel, former... Formerly many things, I suppose. Presently I am here, as are you."

The dog continues to lick at him, then flops back in his lap and tries to squirm onto his back, inviting bellyrubs. Toriel hasn't absconded with him yet. AD feels almost safe being a nuisance.

"It is nice to meet you, Emil."

He wonders how many of them here are ‘former’ somethings… former leaders of their people, heroes to their own world, or members of a family. It’s a troubling thought, but a motivating one as well; he’ll do his best to help everyone return home.

“Very nice to meet you, Toriel.” He adds apologetically, “I’m sorry I haven’t introduced myself until now either.” Even though it’s been a whirlwind these past days, Emil feels sad that familiar faces pass him every day in the Hall and he does not even know their names. If these are to be his comrades, they should not stay strangers! As the conversation distracts him, he pays less attention to the carrier in his lap, resting his hands in the dog's thick fur and rubbing absentmindedly.

“How have you been since arriving?” He inquires, genuinely curious. The Blanc citizens have been open to receiving those human among them, but he wonders how their reception of other folk has been.

Edited 2016-02-11 00:47 (UTC)

AD squirms when he doesn't feel he's getting enough attention, but otherwise is content to remain in Emil's lap for now. Toriel eyes him with a look of consternation and resignation, her expression clearing up as she glances back at Emil's face. He's such a reasonable and calm young man.

"I have been well enough given the circumstances. I have been interested in meeting the non-human population of the city, but for the most part, have only glimpsed them in passing at the parade and after, during all this." She gestures out to the ice. She feels right now that she's operating on borrowed good will. Making that a genuine trust is important, not just for her, but for all Heroes in their tacked on roles. She's not sure how patient the citizens of Blanc are compared to those of the Underground. She's not sure how well they'll take a Hero who refuses to fight their war in the way they want, or think they want.

Future worries when she needs to play it wise until she can get home without compromising herself. "Have you found Caissa to be a welcoming city?"

"Welcoming? Yes." All the noise from the parade still occupies his thoughts. He imagines the Heroes did look glorious falling from the heavens, so the reactions were to be expected. But with said Heroes still staggering around in confusion and mana disharmony, it seems unfair to expect so much of them.

“Though, I’m a little nervous that they’re expecting so much. Not this, I mean." He gives a sheepish smile, nodding to the canal to indicate their job. "We just got here and everyone expects us to save them." He almost says that it is arrogant, but catches himself. The people are desperate and he shouldn't blame them for that. "But I don't understand what's going on, and no one seems able to explain it."

The canine continues to squirm, shoving his nose up against Emil's arm before he goes limp again. Isn't he inviting? He's fairly sure he's absolutely inviting more vigorous pettings, but he's a glutton for attention, and a glutton for food. Food... his stomach rumbles.

Toriel lifts her eyebrows at the sound coming from her Carrier as it registers he's not growling with his mouth. "You were just fed, you silly thing," she says, reaching out to gently thump him on the hindquarters. Her attention returns to Emil right after. "I do not believe anyone truly knows. Those who might are not saying so, not yet. It is fine to talk of war as if it is a reality when none of us understand what is going on. Expectations are heavy even when we are prepared for them. This? This is a challenge. One none of us expected."

Emil feels the rumble against his legs at the same time he hears the sound. He laughs lightly, ruffling the dog’s fur. "Dogs often get hungry after playtime. You may want to carry snacks around." It stirs up memories of playing with his monsters before mealtimes. He always enjoyed cooking to settle down after a good run. “I made biscuits for my wolves. The recipe is really easy if you want to try it.”

His expression turns somber as he considers her words. "It is the withholding of information and deliberate ignorance that worries me. The assumption we'll serve the war blindly, even those with no experience. I understand that it makes the people feel better, but it’s not fair to the citizens or us." His voice seems a little deeper, but it could just be the cold.

She agrees with his sentiment. The change in voice doesn't seem to register to her: not at first, at least. Subject changes to what they are is enough for her to believe that a somber tone would accompany a somber look.

"Those who are in power here are not interested in fair. They are interested in keeping short term peace with long term goals that will require from them what they may not wish to give." Her own expression grows somber. AD goes still, but for the most part, that's because Emil's still paying him some measure of attention. "What they do here is dangerous for all of us. I believe it would also have been dangerous if they were to try and deny that we are here, but I cannot see this as being the better way."

Perhaps it would change. Perhaps things would get better as time passed, as talks with those in power bore fruit, as reality started to factor in, but at each success at their hands, she wonders at how much reaffirmation of what people want to believe will be suffered.

For someone who thinks long-term by nature, it is difficult to imagine why anyone would think otherwise. Such a weak government! Why is it often that way with humans? “The long term effects are more serious, aren’t they? The war hasn’t started yet, but when it does, the government will have their hands full.” It takes him a moment to remember that they may be facing crises he is unaware of. It is a big country after all, and the heroes still in the dark about most of it.

Emil regains his lighter tone and smile with some effort. "I wish they'd let us help more. So many of us have good ideas about integrating into the city during our stay.” It would feel good to have a voice instead of his role being dictated. Cheering up the citizens and meeting new friends makes him happy, but he worries over the Heroes' concerns. The parade seemed superfluous when there’s so much to do.

Humans, monsters, Toriel might debate that almost anyone can be prone to shortsightedness. She couldn't leave herself out of that claim. But as it is, the renewed whines and wiggles from AD as he tries to ply his doggie whiles further on Emil has her glancing down at her shameless Carrier. What a ham!

And what valid things to consider that this young man brings up.

"They ask for us to use the magic they refuse against those who embrace magic, no? It is a curious conundrum. We are safe because we are part of this philosophy of the divine with how we arrive." She looks skyward, reading out to place a hand on AD's wriggling rump. It stills the dog in Emil's lap, for the moment. "Yet they wish for us to fight, not to negotiate. It is understandable that there is fear and aggression that is feared from those in Noir. Yet they do not ask us to be a shield. They ask us to be Heroes."

She leaves those thoughts unfinished. They're complicated, similar to ones she's seen and lived through before, but not with herself as part of the focus. Leading? Yes, she's done that, and she's realised how she's failed that before, too. Not out of intention, but out of leaving it to her ex-husband when she could no longer broker with the stance he took after their son and adopted child died.

They all make mistakes. Which ones are Blanc and Noir making even now? "We do have ideas. Yet those are not asked for, I have found. Much as we are not asked, please, we will fight for them. Or if we have it in us to fight in the ways that we are warned we may need to, for a home that is not our own. Are we to kill to defend Blanc? Will we do so fighting at the side of their soldiers, or standing before them? These are not pleasant thoughts."

She shakes her head, lifting her paw off AD. She breathes out in a small huff of apologetic laughter. "I am sorry. This old woman should not bring such dark thoughts into such a bright day! We must look forward and act to ensure the worst does not come to pass. For us, for our wishes to return to where we belong, or even for the people of this country." She doesn't wish any of them harm in the long or short term. It's not in her nature to wish harm on much of anyone.

“Maybe they want to make us into their ideal heroes because their rules have kept them from fulfilling their own dreams?” This is why he doesn’t like politics and policies – too inflexible. All these rules without explanations! The citizens try to describe the conflict between Noir and Blanc, but their opinions slide off him like rain. War is all so complicated.

Looking down, he opens his arms and lets his hands rest by his sides, encouraging the dog to move towards her. Yes, he could continue to pet him, but at the end of the day, it’s not his carrier. Sort of like he isn’t Blanc’s hero. He’s glad to make them happy and feed off their goodwill, but he’s still solely devoted to his own world.

“Mm, it's fine.” He shakes his head and smiles. Those are all excellent points. Talking to her is easier than speaking to the humans; Emil finds himself feeling less concerned about how he comes across. “I think we should be considering what we’ll do now, while things are still peaceful.” At least he’s making the effort. He closed his eyes to war once; he may not have that luxury here. Whether or not he fights in the war? He’ll decide that only once he’s had the chance to see the situation through his own eyes.

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( open) la pista è come uno specchio d’argento

c | i'm so sorry ahead of time

Let the games begin!

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