pawnstorm | (open) with all their lions

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(open) with all their lions

Who:Arashi Narukami and you, too ☆
When: Late July
Where: Griffon-troubled Admin buildings in Caissa
What: Getting some griffons and activists to calm down, one day at a time... (and some overflow threads from the ball)
Rating: currently none

i.

Arashi's seen plenty enough of it on trips outside: Griffons swooping down and causing trouble with nothing but instinct to blame, but what's surprising is how troublesome their fans can be.

"There's no need to get so heated! She'll be totally fine!" Arashi's making a Hero's effort, trying to calm a small mob of activists furious over a downed griffon that's fallen asleep nearby from a dart. But all the Queenly charm in the world isn't a surefire balm this time (there's been a lot of that put to work today, and it isn't constant as you'd think with a face this pretty!), and in slight exasperation, Arashi turns around to just whoever shot the thing with the tranquilizer in the first place. "They told you how that stuff works, right? Help me out here?"

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ii.

Another day, worn out from the frequent tirades, Arashi tries to band with a partner again for an alternative approach....

Blondie's role consists of getting into a chat with a griffon directly this time, distracting it momentarily from a nerve-wracked mail carrier. "I'm not sure this package is the best to raise children around, you know? Aren't these corners a little sharp?"

Maybe this is a chance to lead the poor worker to safety, but can the idol really be left to the beast alone? By the looks of it, Arashi's not exactly armed here....!

---

iii.

((ooc: WILDCARD: Feel free to comment with something different in mind, or let me know if you want a custom top-level! This can be an overflow post, too, from the Ball!))

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"Oh yeah! They gave an instructional lecture and everything." Lucio said, with a slightly nervous smile. He was pretty sure he had used it right. Guns weren't exactly his strong point, but one dart per Griffon was what they had said. It was hard to mess that up, right?

"And it must have included that the point is to make a griffon fall asleep, correct?" Arashi continues, nodding to him before going back into a stare-down with the group of people. "As opposed to more brutish methods?"

One comes up with some argument that the griffon can't have consented to be darted, another that there should have been a net to capture it when it landed, one even insisting it be given a pillow - all once, and really, this Queen's starting to lose patience for real....

"Jeeeeez, was there anything more convincing than that?" Please let there be, stress is one of Arashi's least favorite things!

"Wild animals CAN'T consent, dude. They can't talk! All they can do is screech and steal your furniture."

It was a logical and straightforwards argument which of course meant that it had no effect on the more intense parts of the audience at all. Lucio backed up until he was standing right next to Narukami. "I don't think they're buying it. What if I healed the Griffon? Think they'd less sympathetic to something that was screeching in their faces?"

Arashi leans to him in a whisper then, "As much as I agree with you, we're going to have to speak their language if we're going to get through to them with words... but if you want to try that, be my guest." Where's the energy to argue any more? Far, far away... if Arashi's here for anyone's protection it's the mail carriers' and possibly this guy if this crowd has anything to say about it. Hence asking - "Would you be able to ward it if it backfires?"

"Well...I still have the dart gun."

He didn't really like the idea, though a chance to try out more of this magic stuff was pretty exciting if he was going to be perfectly honest with himself.

Edited 2016-07-29 06:04 (UTC)

Arashi sounds positively tired, speaking low enough for the protesters not to hear. "Oh, see how tiresome this has been? I've already forgotten! Use - something that would be safe, that's what matters."

Going from worn out to bright and beautiful again once turning back to the crowd, Arashi makes an announcement for them, "How about this, my friend here can heal any condition the griffon may be in due to landing, then we'll see it on its way. How about that?"

The idea starts getting some agreeable nods, and Arashi's relieved - looking back to Lucio and saying, "Okay then, show time!"

"Alright, I'm still pretty new at this, so bear with me here."

Lucio and held his hands out above the snoozing griffon and concentrated. After a few seconds, there was a sound like a distant bass beat. It slowly grew in volume, and was eventually matched by a pulse green light coming from his palms, shining down on the bird lion.

Over all the whole process took about thirty seconds, ending with the griffon suddenly waking up. It looked confused, but it was probably not going to be long before confusion gave way to angry screeching. Lucio backed up quickly, still holding onto the dart rifle.

Arashi's focused on the griffon as it happens, ready to act as it wakes.

"There there, why not fly home? There must be something important there to attend to there."

Something in Arashi's words reaches it this time, and after staring for a moment blankly, it spreads its wings and does just as suggested, the activists breaking into a surprised murmur that turns into somewhat dubious applause.

"Okay - now, if you don't mind, we're going to get back to work. You can see we make a good, safe team, right? Right. Adiós!"

Not waiting out their response this time, Arashi goes to Lucio's side, wordlessly encouraging he follow quickly....

Lucio follows quickly, looking relieved he didn't have to immediately shoot the griffon again.

Once they were out of earshot, he relaxed a bit. "Whew! I never thought I'd get that annoyed at social activists."

"It'd be one thing if we're hunting out here, but honestly we're doing this for everyone!" Arashi agrees! "Haaah, I apologize if my patience seemed short over there, it's been like this all day...."

But they aren't the only ones out of griffon duty, so now they're able to take at least this moment for a break from the beasts and their champions both.

"You'd think they'd be a little nervous around something that can fly while carrying a goddamn couch."

Lucio sat down against a wall, taking a moment to let the sheer weirdness of the last few weeks get to him. He could only ignore it for so long before he felt like he was going to explode.

"Goodness, you saw that one?" Arashi laughs, "You really would! It's too bad that's no concern of theirs compared to its health."

Arashi joins him by the wall, taking out a pocket mirror to make sure the day hasn't brought on too much stress to this face... thankfully not.

"I'm starting to wonder where their passion comes from... I like cats, but these have been a bit much for me." Not cuddly enough!

"Bored, upper class kids without much hardship in their lives who want to feel like they're doing something important, I'd guess."

"They could find better avenues to help, that's for sure! Like coming up with a better charm..." Arashi raises a hand to whisper slightly, "You know I'm not sure the ones the workers have been carrying are strong enough?"

Truly, every time Arashi's seen someone brandish one in fright, the griffon being warded off wasn't... well, warded off for long. If at all. It's been so sad it's gotten Arashi on this job.

"I just assumed they wouldn't work at all."

Just because he could do magic himself was no reason to really believe in it.

Thank god there's at least a rook here! Because what would happen?

She wouldn't know either, really.

What was Arashi talking about, though? She takes a glance at the package. It's not that sharp, but if it works on the griffon, who is she to complain? Either way, she takes this chance to lead the worker away, and hopefully get back in time to whisk Arashi to safety.

Unfortunately the griffon's not interested in Arashi's logic either, wings raising in an awfully aggressive stance the longer its blocked - hissing outright as the worker's led away.

"Oh hush, it's like I'm saying! Getting your claws on one of those is more work than it's worth on top of shredding it down, no?"

Apparently, no is still what this griffon is thinking, and oh, maybe Arashi is backing up now....

Alright, maybe she really did have to save Arashi too. As soon as the worker is free, now running right away to a much safer place, Vietnam backs up so she can go find Arashi again, before the griffon does some damage.

And she sees enough, nothing Arashi backing away.

"Oh! Look at that! Free food!"

An attempt at misdirection was made just so she can pull Arashi away from the griffon's gaze. Maybe. If it would even work.

Arashi calls back - "I'm not sure 'free' makes a difference for them..." The griffon at least hasn't made a real approach - for Arashi - looking instead to circumvent the idol completely to get back on the hunt for someone else's mail.

Arms raised trying to keep it from getting way, this job is way too involved for Arashi's liking. "Ah! it's looking for more - we can't let it bother anyone else!" But attacking it is out of the question if they don't want someone getting on their backs. What now??

Goodness - maybe not anything if it's about to fly...!

[ What's with all the protests? Not that he didn't understand how terrible of an idea it is to shoot innocent (as far as he knows) creatures, but at least, they weren't killing them. Subaki had mostly agreed for the negotiated price of this job, so he wasn't given much room to complain. The need to purchase food and supplies was greater than the need for such a large population of griffons.

It's not his fault that his aiming skills are excellent enough that he hasn't missed a single griffon just yet. Why must he be so amazing at this? It's a curse really. ]

Do you need assistance in learning how to fire the tranquilizers or dealing with the protesters? I recommend simply ignoring them. It shouldn't be difficult to focus regardless of their groaning and complaining. A sure-fire mind won't miss.

[ Also countless hours of practice, but this young man doesn't need to know exactly how long Subaki had been training last night to sharpen his aim. ]

Dealing. Ignoring them doesn't help the poor workers out here, and I'm trying to give them a break...! [This one won't hold Subaki's success against him when he's essentially doing the same thing. But sighing, up comes a hand to rub at Arashi's temple. Solving one problem's only stoking another.]

A sure-fire mind, huh... should I just use a spell?

[Queen's are expected to use magic, aren't they? As much as mana conservation matters, it'd sure make this job easier.

And Arashi likes easy.]

As long as your spell doesn't kill the griffons. Are you able to charm them or put them to sleep with it?

[ If he's just going to shoot a fireball at them, then that's really no good. They don't need to give heroes a bad name by being that barbaric, especially with a gallery of upset onlookers. Sure, it's effective if he's aiming to eat the griffons, but he imagines the meat wouldn't be that tasty anyway.

Subaki at least tries to be graceful with his shooting and manages to catch the griffons before they hit the ground. In fact, he even has a pile of cutely nestled griffons, letting them sleep in peace until he can collect his own reward and be done with this exercise. ]

[Waving it off with a hand - ] Of course! I can pull off either one. [But noticing the growing batch of lionbirds Subaki's put together, Arashi doesn't feel like imitating him.] But I see most of yours are asleep already... oh - there.

[Arashi spots one early this time - a griffon perched and clearly ready to pounce on someone unsuspecting. Arashi makes an approach its way, calling out - ]

Hey there, I wouldn't do that if I were you...!

[And it looks the Queen's way and... sits? Good griffon.]

That is impressive.

[ And also a lot better than having to shoot them. It's not like Subaki had gotten a similar power, so he had no choice himself but to use the special tranquilizing weapons. His own power would have left the birds dead or de-feathered. That would be a horrifying sight for all onlookers, so he doesn't even consider it. ]

I suppose you can just ask the rest to come to you. We don't need to linger here longer than needed.

[ He feels he has more than an adequate amount to hand in, and he's not up for chasing anymore birds when there are better things for he can do. Other jobs that require doing. ]

I am Subaki, by the way, retainer to Lady Sakura. Not a hunter by profession, but I always aim for success.

Your aim certainly is successful! [If his handiwork is any indication, and Arashi giggles at the play on words, seeming almost accidental in Subaki's calm delivery.]

I'm... Narukami - what's this about the rest? [Arashi blinks, considering his suggestion and scanning the sky for good measure. There aren't that many griffons left flying out here, but...] I could, but it'd take more of my mana to gather them up...

[Arashi looks back to Subaki then, extending a hand in a lady-like way.]

If we're going to finish the job that way, you'll have to give me you hand. ♥

If you're truly that desperate to finish quickly-

[ He supposes he can afford to give a bit of mana in return for the sake of the job. There's no need to hoard it all when he can't exactly use his own magic at the moment.

His fingers gently graze Narukami's hand before tugging him closer so he can place his other hand on the back of his neck and help replenish him quicker. If he remembers anything from when he needed to recharge, this should emit a pleasant cooling feeling, like the wind brushing through them and delivering the gentle fragrance of flowers with it. ]

Will that be enough, or do you require more? I am sure we're starting to attract attention from our onlookers for other reasons.

[ Not that he minds at all. He's rather used to catching the eyes of others. ]

Ah? Ahhh???

[Arashi is, too, but for the first time in a long time the idol's struck speechless, not expecting a gesture this grand in the least!]

U-uwah! I didn't - I wasn't desperate, I - oh my.

[Even so, it does feel good, maybe even wonderful! Arashi's signature combines in a wave, liquid and bright and warm like a shimmering scented bath.

Arashi gently tries to pull away after a moment's replenishment, though, not forgetting they have a job to do despite the fast drum of this heart.]

Y-you really know how it's done, don't you? I think I've got enough to work with now....

[ Admirers are never anything new to him, and he takes it as a compliment that Arashi reacted so splendidly. At least, the young man is in better spirits now, and Subaki let's him enjoy the extra charge while he himself enjoys the tingling sensation of having his own mana refreshed. It does possess with it a certain delight, not one he can explain to himself but isn't opposed to. He's yet to come across anyone whose touch was less than enjoyable here.

At least, that's one benefit to recharging so frequently, though he's been carefully monitoring and taking care of his mana levels so as not to be an inconvenience to anyone at all. It also wouldn't be good to drain himself in the event that an emergency comes along unexpectedly. ]

By all means, then go ahead. No need to feel self-conscious on my account.

[ He's simply fascinated by the different kinds of powers here, and it's to his own benefit to learn what others can do. He never knows when they'll be turned against him or his liege. ]

I'll only be here watching from the sidelines.

((ooc: from ☆))

Hm☆, perhaps more "Offstage" than "On". But you're right about us! It's what I promised since the beginning. [Arashi brings a fist up in newfound determination.] We can do anything we set our minds to!

[Saying so reminds Arashi of one difference from home...] Though I have to admit, getting magical powers and all definitely helps. Did you always have some or is this new for you, too?

[ Maki noticed that a few more people are filling into the music room she's been using to teach in, which means they might need to pick things up again soon. But first, she turns back to Arashi with a confused, indignant sort of expression. ]

O-Of course not! Stuff like that...

[ She wants to say doesn't exist, but Santa exists and he's magic so... Suddenly, to cut herself off, she turns to Arashi and then--quickly away. ]

D-Do you need a partner? I mean--to teach how everyone how to waltz, I need someone who knows what they're doing! You can do that right?

[ ...She's asking Arashi to dance, in about the tsun-est way possible. ]

[Arashi looks from her to the rest of the room, reminded that oh right, there's a lesson going on here!]

Ah? Of course! It's not hard as it looks, you know? [And with an offered hand, after smiling to everyone and giving them a hello - ] Shall I lead?

[Notably taller, it'd certainly help!]

[ Making sure everyone else has a partner in the small class, Maki finally turns to Arashi and looks almost suspiciously at the offered hand. There's plenty of reasons why she hesitates, but nothing she would admit out loud. ]

Th-That's fine with me.

[ She turns up her nose just a little, taking her position opposite Arashi, settling her feet opposite her partner's. A moment later the music starts to play and she explains to everyone else how to move. ]

Remember, try to step within a box, and don't get your feet tangled.

Don't worry, Nee-chan won't bite. [Arashi laughs, beginning to find this aspect of her charming in its own way.]

I promise, it's unlikely I will. ☆

[And the further along they go in demonstration, Arashi proves it with a perfect back-and-forth of their movement together. The waltz may not be a dance Arashi does often, but you'd never know it from watching....]

[ Calling her that just makes Maki fluster all the more. She nearly steps on Arashi's foot, and ends up looking down for a second then back up to Arashi's dumb, cute face smiling back at her she has to look away all over again, face red as can be. ]

J-Just focus on your footwork! Everyone focus on your own footwork!

[ She is quick to try to stop anyone from actually looking up at her at the moment, snapping at her class.

...Wait did she just think Arashi was cute? ]

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(open) with all their lions

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ii!!

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i.

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for Maki

:D

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