The Trouble With Sandwiches

The Trouble With Sandwiches
Date of Scene:	03 May 2013
Location:	Traverse Town - Cloud Nine - First Floor
Synopsis:	As it happens, sandwiches are not actually the primary problem here.
Cast of Characters:	Maira, Emi Dennou, Isaac Hanlon, Percival

---

Isaac Hanlon has posed:
EARLIER TODAY

Isaac decides he wants a sandwich. He descends from his place of seclusion to get one.

Nobody is downstairs when he gets there.

Hm.

RIGHT ABOUT NOW

Isaac is hanging out at a table by himself in Cloud Nine. There's a few people here and there, but it isn't terribly busy; Traverse Town has not been the place to be lately, what with the horrible monster attacks and the like. He's got a plate with a sandwich on it, stacked with meat and cheese but kind of messily made. It looks a bit like it was made by a right-handed guy who made it with his left and only his left. (Fancy that.) He also has a glass of something dark next to the plate.

Isaac is reading something on a tablet, propped up on a foldable standing case. He isn't expecting any visitors, but he doesn't appear to be terribly busy. He's wearing his coat around his shoulders, though the right sleeve is cut short, folded up and pinned shut.

Percival has posed:
Sandwich cravings. They were Percival's mortal enemy. Well after the Heartless, Hades, Seith.. You get the picture.

Their sojourn on Souji Murasami's ship had been brief for a singular reason.

Souji was kind of a jerk.

And so it's late in the day when Maira and him descend down the stairs from the rooftop of the Cloud Nine, to the first floor. When they arrived, the russet-skinned Gargoyle would survey the room, spotting Isaac nearly immediately amongst the sparse crowd of regulars. A moment later he'd usher Maira over towards the table with him, standing there. He tried to keep his voice from sounding too sympathetic, as he didn't know how the man would react, or if he'd interpret it as pity. "Good evening Isaac. How are you holding up?"

Though his dealings with the man had always been amicable, he couldn't say that he knew the man all that well. He liked him, but he had trouble relating to him.

Maira has posed:
This was all Percival's idea. It is probably a good one. Maira never would have thought to ask Isaac for help. She'd meant to check up on him again anyway, see how his wounds were doing and how he was adapting to life without one of his arms...that...she can't imagine terribly well.

Maira doesn't arrive full of pity, but concern she most certainly has. As a healer, she'll want to make sure he's doing alright. A good lookover ought to tell her that he's going to get through this and his wound wasn't infected or anything. "Isaac! Hi! You look good," she says, and she means it. "You know, for what happened...you look good," she says, moving over to sit at the table, smiling softly.

Yes, Souji was totally a jerk and she'd be happy to never see him again!

Emi Dennou has posed:
Emi knows well the pain of losing limbs. Metaphorically speaking. She hasn't found Souji to be a 'jerk' as of yet though she may be biased due to his electricity powers. Electriciy powers are awesome, so she firmly believes. Still, she does rather like Maira, Isaac, and yes Percival more at present and she's happy to see all three as she steps inside with Shida Dennou, who is all smiles as usual, and quite calmer than her last Isaac-visitation.

"Hello Isaac, The Network greets amiably." She looks at the sandwich but doesn't judge. She may not be an expert judge of sandwich quality control.

"Maira." Shida adds as she spots her. "It's been a while, how've you been?" She pulls away from Emi and adds, "Shida of the Network was wondering about you?"

Isaac Hanlon has posed:
Isaac is contemplating trying to eat some of the sandwich without dropping bits of it when Percival and Maira come down from the roof. He peers at them for a second, and glances at the front door, possibly doing some mental math. Right. Flying. That's a thing.

"Hey Percival. Hi Maira." He gives Percy a nod and Maira a smile. He doesn't appear to assume he's being pitied. You can tell because he hasn't stuck Percy to the ceiling or something. "I'm holding up fine." He glances at Maira. "Thanks." He doesn't bother inviting them to sit down; he isn't that stuffy.

Isaac nods at Emi and Shida come in. His smile widens a little. "Evening." He lifts his free hand and reaches for the sandwich. "I get the feeling you guys aren't here for the atmosphere. What's up?"

Percival has posed:
He'd manage a sheepish look, his hand moving to scratch the back of his neck. He'd motion for Maira and Emi to sit down. The booth wasn't really big enough for him, he'd just remain standing. "It just seems like we only come to you when we need you Isaac. Maybe we can change that in the future."

He'd smile at Emi, grinning. "Good evening Emi, Shida. Good to see you again. It's been a while."

He'd rest his hand on the backrest of his side of the booth. "Well the short of it is... Maira might be a Princess of the Heart, and a big bad Sorceror may have some interest in her after she broke.. his favorite toy. Turned him back into a man. We're rather certain he won't let it rest at that, so we're trying to figure out ways to protect her from Emperor Mateus of Palamecia. Let's just say the battle against him was a rough one.. we barely squeaked by."

Maira has posed:
Maira looks up as Emi and Shida enter, her smile growing. "Hello Emi, hello Shida! I haven't seen you in ages Shida! It has been too long. I've been...uuuuh...well stick around and you're sure to hear some of it! I'm okay though. Things have just been crazy," she replies, reaching over then to give Shida a quick hug. "I hope you've been alright?"

Maira looks back to Isaac, nodding. "Uh, well. I wanted to check on you--but Perci also suggested you might be able to help me..." she trails of blushing. "Gotten myself into some trouble I guess...."

Then Percival explains and Maira falls quiet, blushing deeper, looking like she'd like to sink into the booth. "He's talking about the Dark Knight. I kind of...purged his Darkness or something."

Emi Dennou has posed:
"the Dark Knight? You mean the one that was going around starting fights?" Emi realizes this doesn't actually lower the number of possible people all that much. "...The one that attacked Wutai recently?, The Network clarifies further having found it surprising that it was neccessary."

Shida laughs lightly at that, since it is a bit amusing to the Network even if it's also kind of sobering?! She moves over to Maira and will attempt to give her a hug. Somehow, even Emi seems to be happy, giving Isaac a big smile of her own. It's hard to focus on serious matters right now.

"Still," She says. "This one remembers that AVira had some problems after she restored the world heart, have you been feeling any...emptiness or something of the kind, Maira? The Network admits it would not be a perfect comparision in either event due to one man hardly equating to a world..."

She pauses amoment.

"What's Palamecia?"

Maira has posed:
Maira blinks, shaking her head. "No, I don't feel any different...at least now that I've rested. I was certainly tired but...nothing besides," she offers. Avira felt empty? That's horrible! What must it have been like to restore Manhattan? She can't even imagine. If she's...what they suspect (which is surely not possible!) would she do the same? Was there even anything left of her world? It had been gone for so long!

Maira does laugh just a little at Emi's comment. "Heh it is...kind of ridiculous, isn't it? That's the one though. He's been kind of...stalking me?"

Isaac Hanlon has posed:
"Maybe." Isaac shrugs. "It's nice to feel useful all the same."

He shoots a sidelong glance at Maira, listening to Percival give him the low-down and then Maira adding onto it. He seems to be considering Maira while he's being told she's one of the super-rare, super-powerful individuals that they have to protect basically at all costs. The fact that they came to him for a solution is a bit flattering, admittedly, but...

"You seem to have a knack for that," Isaac asides to Maira, a sort of teasing tone in his voice for a second. A good sign, that. "A Sorcerer? What, like Merlin?" He quirks a brow. "That sounds a little... out of my league. Not completely," he appends, "but a little. But, y'know, if nothing else --" He flashes a quick grin. "-- I love a challenge."

"So what's this Emperor Mateus of Palamecia done that you need to protect her from? Physical Darkness-empowered stalkers sound more like Tom or Mercade's bag than mine, unless they're just skulking spies. Garland tried that." His eyes flash with a sort of dark satisfaction for a second. "He wasn't happy about it when he stopped getting reports."

Percival has posed:
The Gargoyle shrugs, his wings briefly rising from his shoulders. "Admittedly, I don't know. His stalker seemed to be interested in her, above all else. Like she was a laboratory animal to be studied. The night his Dark Knight came for her.. it was like he'd been broken, he was after her heart, when before he just wanted to test her."

He'd tap his talons lightly upon the rest. "The Emperor though.. he was not someone to be trifled with. His magic was powerful, and what he did.. It doesn't seem like something any run of the mill Shadow Lord can do. So I'm not sure. I'm a real /newb/ when it comes to magic, Isaac, I just heard the word being dropped around by a few folks."

He'd suggest, "If I had to guess, he's watching her right now, and when it seems like we're at our weakest or least vigilant, he'll try to snatch her. If I had to guess, he wants to study her more in depth now, just to see how she did what she did. Maybe kill her afterwards. I don't know what his game plan is. But I don't intend to just stand by and just wait for it to happen."

Percival has posed:
And then he'd answer to Emi, "Palamecia is one of those evil empires. They seem to be a dime a dozen in this new world. Strange part about it is that when I looked into the country, it looks like his people /love/ the Emperor, and /love/ the Darkness."

Emi Dennou has posed:
"Oh," Emi says because really, evil empires? Dime a dozen really. She used to be impressed by them but after a while they sort of blend together.

Emi quirks an eyebrow when Maira says she's being stalked. Usually one doesn't use that in a fond manner--right? She hasn't been stalked before, come to think of it, at least not by modern parlance. Cronus didn't really follow unless it was to kill otherwise he just did his own thing. Hmm.

"I see." She ays after a moment's thought. Shida frowns a bit as Isaac says really ANYTHING being out of his league. She is suspicious of that statement.

"But it's good to hear that you're doing fine as usual, Shida of the Network is quite relieved." She adds, glancing back to hte Gargoyle. She frowns again and puffs out her cheeks. she'd like to see him try! And that's to say she wouldn't like to see him try, but if he tries he's gonna get a mouthful of hot electric death! Or at least, hot electric inconvenience. Emi gives Shida a small nod.

Maira has posed:
Maira looks down, ashamed as Isaac jokes with her about her knack for trouble. It's so true! That doesn't mean she needs to feel good about it though. "I'm sorry...I don't mean to be trouble! I don't know what to do--or even if I am one of these princess things! It isn't like there is a test--there isn't, right?"

Maira takes a deep breath and lets it out slow as Perci speaks, wringing her hands in her lap. "I'm worried...Garland coming after Avira, Mateus maybe coming after me....I don't want people to get hurt trying to protect me forever," she says, remembering Souji's words. Even with Perci's talk of them being a clan, it was still painful. He'd known just where to twist the knife; right in the guilt-center.

"This...Mateus. I met him a few times before--we actually got along well, or so I thought. He approached me as Matthew, I'm sure of it."

At Perci's explaination, Maira blinks. "Really? Well...darkness does not always mean /bad/ I suppose...light can be just as painful," she replies. Too much fire is as big a problems as not enough. "That, or he has them all under some spell."

Maira catches Shida making a face and tilts her head slightly in confusion.

Isaac Hanlon has posed:
The idea of Percival saying 'newb' makes Isaac almost crack up. He forces himself to keep a straight face, instead kind of smirking a little bit at it. Play it cool, Isaac, play it cool. (But Isaac making suspicious statements? Never!)

"I don't think there's a, uh... test, or it'd be really easy to tell. I mean, I could check your aura and maybe peek at the status of your soul, but I figure that's something anybody could do, and if you could identify 'em that way, wouldn't it be really easy to find these Princesses?" Isaac seems to have an odd idea of what dabblers in magic can do in the day-to-day. Maybe it /is/ in his league. "If it's scrying or something, I can shut it down. It might take a little work..." He glances to his right side unconsciously. Then, he forces himself to look back at Maira instead.

Isaac picks up his sandwich. It's kind of floppy because it's overloaded and he only had one hand. He frowns a bit at it and leans over to take a bite. It's awkward, but doable.

Percival has posed:
"Really, the best test is probably to have Will.. do what he does. He'll probably just look at us funny and be like, 'Wait, you didn't know she was a Princess of the Heart?'"

Will was like that. But then he'd scratch his head. "And yet he didn't know when we were trying to determine who it was for Manhatten.. Hades had to tell us. Confusing really. Best just to presume that she is, rather than to assume she isn't. The Dark Knight at least kept referring to her as the strongest /light specimen/ he'd ever encountered, and he'd fought Avira..."

He'd nod at Isaac, "Really Isaac, whatever you can manage would be appreciated." He doesn't try to suggest that the man is less capable, or that it might take him longer. He wasn't about to insult a member of the Agency's pride, especially a wizard of his caliber. "Also, I'd like to ask you for a favor later, in private."

Emi Dennou has posed:
"It's best to not get too involved whether you are one or not. IF others find out, they'll try to take advantage. If it becomes important, it'll likely make itself apparent." Emi is pretty nervous about fretting over Princess Power but, then again, Hades. Somehow HE found out and she isn't sure if it was something he knew all along or if he found out through some other process. Though come to think of it... maybe he DID have a test.

So Emi brings it up. "Isaac, somehow Hades was able to figure out Avira was one. We still don't know how, right? The Network cannot be certain, but he may have a way of telling...or it may simply be an unconventional method. Perhaps it is simply because of what he is--This one couldn't be sure, but it seems he knew for some time." She does consider telling folks to leave off Isaac--he did recently lose an ARM after all--but as she thinks of her understanding of Isaac, he'd probably prefer it this way--so she settles on saying nothing, but she did have to take a moment to think that through.

"Well, he had fought her after--" Shida adds before turning her head to Maira, she blinks a few times, and then she raises up her hands and squoshes her face back into a neutral space, though she's kind of blushing a bit.

Maira has posed:
Maira laughs nervously. "See? It must be a mistake or else surely someone would have noticed by now, right?" she asks. "Its just...my fire...or something--wherever that comes from," she continues, looking down at the table. Oh so many mysteries.

"Also I'm pretty darn sure that isn't something /anybody/ could do Isaac! You're being ridiculously modest," she says, sticking her tongue out at him briefly. "Will was there that night...he's fought against the Dark Knight before too, I'm sure of it."

Maira looks over to Shida again, seeing her blush then squosh her face for some insane reason. "Who fought who after what? What's wrong Shida?" she asks.

As for Perci's private favor, consider her curiosity piqued!

Isaac Hanlon has posed:
"Will is..." He frowns a little. "He sees the strings of fate as they manifest between people. If your fate is particularly strong or if you're particularly 'unique' somehow, he can usually tell. It isn't infallible, though; he's missed things like this before." Isaac has a lot of experience with that sight of his. More than most.

Isaac nods a couple times. "Yeah, sure. Talk to me later, Percival, I'll be here till I've come up with... a thing." Suspiciously vague? Maybe. "Don't worry, this isn't an uncommon problem, I'll..." Isaac trails off.

A second later, a lightbulb turns on over his head.

Isaac looks up at the fixture behind him on the wall. He puts down his sandwich and then raps a knuckle against the fixture. The light goes out. "I keep saying we should've had a second opinion on the wiring --"

"Anyway, you said /Hades/ knew? Hades, like, Lord of the Dead, has TV and radio stations because I put something together? That Hades? The one who, I feel I should add," Isaac says, a gleam in his eye, "specifically owes me a single secret of my choice on top of resurrecting Shida?"

He just leaves that there.

Percival has posed:
He didn't say anything during the explanation about Will, he didn't know how his sight worked beyond a few radio conversations where he described it. Seeing the strings of fate. Except it wasn't /fate/ fate, as in predetermined destiny necessarily. He had trouble wrapping his brain around it.

Percival would nod at Isaac's statement. "Thank you, Isaac." He was apparently keeping whatever it was he was asking for close to the chest.

And then Isaac mentions cashing in a favor.. from Hades. And the Gargoyle can only groan. He doesn't speak out against it though. Out of everyone in the TDA, he had the impression that Isaac always knew what he was doing.. The Gargoyle would still be trying not to glance at his missing arm though.

Maira has posed:
Maira looks to Isaac, her eyes going impossibly wide at the implications here. "W-wait wait. The god of death....owes you a favor?!"

"Well I wouldn't...use that on something like this...I mean...it's not /that/ important!"

Emi Dennou has posed:
Emi wasn't going to suggest cashing that in, but as Isaac brings it up she does, neutrally--though Isaac can no doubt see a bit of a gleam in her eye that she is enjoying this almost as much as Isaac is, comment. "This one could think of worses aims to call it in. It is not without risk, but he revealed this to us in what was meant to be a moment of triumph. It didn't feel like a trap."

Shida blushes at the mention of the lightbulb. "Sorry," She mumbles.

"Even so, the answer may not be a helpful one." Emi admits. "The Network does acknowledge it is your favor, and thus your gamble to take."

Isaac Hanlon has posed:
"Look, unlike most of the other chuckleheads who've been making deals with Hades, I actually knew what I was getting into," Isaac says, pointing a finger for emphasis at Percy. He snatches up his sandwich. It droops a little pathetically. "You don't make deals with powerful otherworldly entities unless you have something that they want. And I think we kind of made out on the deal," he adds, looking to Shida with a warm smile.

Then, Isaac glances at Emi and shares a sort of little smirk. Just a little one. Moments like these.

"It's worth the risk, and it /is/ that important. Even if it turns out they're wrong about you, Maira, and I'm not sure that they are..." Isaac takes a bite, chews, swallows. "...it gives us a hint as to how to confirm this sort of thing in the future. Maybe we can beat the bad guys to it next time. Besides, what else would I use it on? Learning necromancy?" He shrugs.

Maira has posed:
Maira chews her lip anxiously, but nods. "That's your decision Isaac, but...I can think of favors that would benefit you a whole lot more," she says, glancing to his arm. She would never fault him for making the choice.

Maira then reaches over, grabs a toothpick, and sticks it into Isaac's sandwich to help hold it together. She's helpful like that.

Percival has posed:
"I'm not doubting you Isaac. And I don't deny that you did a wondrous thing for a friend. I just... despise, Hades. I despise what he did to our friend, whether it was a mistake on her part is irrelevant. It doesn't mitigate how I feel about him. If I had it my way, Hercules would throw him so deep into Tartarus that he could never climb out."

He'd glance towards Shida, as if to give her an apologetic look.

Isaac Hanlon has posed:
"It is specifically a single secret. Information. That is /way/ more important than something comparatively minor like fixing me getting a little messed up," Isaac points out a little irritably. He immediately regrets calling it that in that way, but doesn't go back on it.

"Thanks," he mutters at Maira. He should've thought of that.

Maira has posed:
Maira nods, smiling a little. "We'll figure something out then. About your arm. Prosthetics are really advanced in some worlds," she says.

She has new nightmares now about Garland, the darkness, and the pool of blood around Isaac...probably not as strong as /his/ nightmares on the subject however.

"Well...let me know, I guess...what you do. I'm not going to stay around here since I don't want to draw any more attention. So...we're going to hide for a bit, I guess," she sighs. "Need to check in with Avira though first, for sure. Shida and Emi, you could come too. Girl time."

Emi Dennou has posed:
Emi is just figuring Isaac will get a clone arm from somewhere. She hasn't yet thought about where he'd find a cloner but how hard could it be?

Shida smiles back at Isaac or maybe... Is<3<3c?? A single warm smile from Isaac is well enough to effectively send her spiraling into her own fantasy world. She sighs contentedly.

Emi sprays her with a water spritzer in the back of her neck.

Shida jolts briefly and then glowers at her sister, crossing her arms and turning her head aside.

"Isaac will have time to think it over." Emi tells Maira. It's not like he's gonna be summoning Hades in the next six seconds after all! She has little intent of getting her hopes up, however--Hades has made his affiliation perfectly clear. "He should obey his own rules. That's the one thing we can rely on."

She glances to Maira, pausing to add, "Oh--you were thinking prosthetics?"

She pauses.

"Girl time? Why would you want us for 'Girl Ti--'"

She glances at Shida making doe-eyes at Isaac.

"...Ah, this one understands. Certainly, if Isaac is alright with it?" She glances at him, fondly.

Maira has posed:
Maira looks to Percival. Yes, he will have to wait outside for GIRL TIME!

Percival has posed:
Percival, also oblivious, maybe willfully, maybe not. He'd just chortle, "Alright Maira, Emi, Shida, enjoy yourselves..."

Isaac Hanlon has posed:
Isaac suppresses a snicker at the water spritzer. He kind of wonders why she has one. His smile doesn't go away though.

"I was going to see if Mercade's contacts with Xanatos Industries had anything in that vein, but I'm keeping my options open." He shrugs at Maira. "Keep in touch, I'll get to work on it after dinner. Be nice to have something to do."

He does not comment on 'girl talk.' He assumes it is code for some kind of clandestine espionage ring.

Maira has posed:
"Alright! Thank you Isaac, I really appreciate it," she says, standing and moving over to give him a quick (innocent!) hug of appreciation. Hugs for all. Hugs are wonderful!

Emi Dennou has posed:
Emi takes Shida's arm gently and guides her up to her feet. "Thank you, Isaac." She bows her head respectfully before glancing over to Maira. "WE will engage in this ... 'girl talk', then. We may require some instruction."

Maira has posed:
"Okay, have to find Avira first though! Lets head over to VALKYRI HQ...." Maira says, then links arms with Emi and Shida to skip off for girl talk!