Frolicking by the Fountain

Frolicking by the Fountain
Date of Scene:	10 November 2012
Location:	Fluorgis
Synopsis:	Relaxing by a fountain in the grand plaza of the desert city Ivo now calls home after an adventure with Raiya, the Shard Seekers' strategist encounters two of his favorite ladies. He's practically swimming in fun these days. But could he be getting in a little too deep?
Cast of Characters:	Ivo Galvan, Maira, Viola

---

Ivo Galvan has posed:
"...Whew."

Ivo, reclining upon the smooth stone circumference of one of the large fountains in Fluorgis's main plaza, gazes up at the bright blue sky as the desert sun shines down upon him, its warmth merely soothing in the proximity of the water's spray. Fully relaxed, arms crossed behind his head and blue cloak spread out beneath him, the young knight-errant's smile is for once neither playful nor impish but simply gentle, at peace.

"...Home at last."

There's a slightly sardonic hint to what the swordsman says to himself, but his mood is not soured for it. It's true: Fluorgis has come to feel like home, in its own way. The Shard Seekers are coming together, and the city is a lively, thoroughly aesthetically pleasing place, where little is expected of him and nothing is demanded. The many worlds are endlessly diverting, and he has friends he can trust. Now that he's returned from his training mission with Raiya, he can even begin to believe -- maybe just a little -- that he's progressing as a warrior, too.

"Heh!"

Not that he's quite sure what that means.

The Shard Seekers Headquarters are only a few blocks away, but... maybe he'll stay here, just for a little while longer.

Maira has posed:
Maira thought she might find Ivo here. You know, probably because he told her that she was welcome there and should come visit. Pretty strong clue there. Having some time and the inclination to wander, not to mention the determination to find out just what Ivo wants from her, Maira set off with a small bag of things in case she happened to stay overnight somewhere.

NOT WITH YOU IVO.

Suddenly the young woman appears, blocking out the sunlight as she leans over to peer down at Ivo. The light of the sun sets her hair aflame with a halo of golden light as she smiles down at the knight. "Comfy?" she asks.

She's dressed in denim cut off shorts, a pink t-shirt, and white sneakers, one of which is untied. She wears no jewelry, as she owns none, but she does have her bag slung over her shoulder.

Viola has posed:
This is rather definitively /not/ home for Viola, of course. It's not really even anywhere /close/ to home, though at least the waterfalls are something familiar, as is all the plant life. So perhaps it's a little bit of a reminder... But that's about all, just for the moment.

The black mage is walking through town, accompanied by a black chocobo, and dressed in her usual dark clothes, complete of course with a hat that's fine for keeping the sun out of her eyes. She is pretty obvious for her profession, in any case, and even has a /reason/ to be here.

So it just so happens that she'll be passing in view of Ivo behind Maira for a moment, having thus far missed the presences of someone who even asked her to come here.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo blinks, lifting a gloved hand to shield his eyes as something blocks the sun, splintering the shafts of lights and sending rays to bedazzle his sight. "Hm?" After blinking again, his blue eyes begin to twinkle, his tranquil smile broadening to take on the signs of its usual playfulness. "What's this? Am I dreaming, or is this already paradise?"

He slowly hefts himself up to a sitting position, his relaxed muscles taking a moment to kick into gear, and pats the stone next to him invitingly, grinning up at Maira. "I was comfortable," he says, "but suddenly, my heart is racing. How have you been, Maira? You're lovely as usual. Have you been shopping in Manhattan?" Oh, right! That grin widens yet further as he reaches up to cup his chin, one eyebrow raising. "You know, I've been drawing up some ideas for your flame-resistant outfit in my spare time. I was about to go see if Shiki and Lenn were at our headquarters. I think we'll be able to do something about your fire problem. As much as I enjoy seeing your clothing burn--"

Wait, could it be?

"...Viola?"

Ivo raises his hand in salute, his smile effortlessly losing any trace of mischieviousness, as though he hadn't just been saying the most scandalous things, and becoming easy and amiable. "And Jalli, too. Glad to see you two have made it here." He remembers the bird, of course. That's just how he is. "Did you have any luck finding Troia?" His smile fades slightly. "I'm sorry to say that I haven't heard any news, myself..."

He's long since concluded that the city is likely missing, as this new world seems to have been decently well navigated and mapped out. He's merely been wondering how long it'd take her to find them again -- and hoping she'd make it alright.

Maira has posed:
The first words out of his mouth make her blush. How infuriating! She hasn't been here for more than a minute! Still, at the invitation, she sits down beside him, her smile turning nervous. "I have been well, mostly! Um...yeah. Pretty much good! Accidentally stumbled onto some sort of creepy path, but luckily Katyna was there and she lead me back," she replies. He's always complimenting her. She should compliment him too, right? "Um...you look...hot. I mean warm! I mean--" Maira groans.

At mention of her clothing difficulties, she perks up. "Oh! That would be awesome! I hoped that would be possible," she says. Of course, when Ivo makes the comment about her clothing burning off, he may feel a strange, cold pressure beginning to form around his neck....at least until Uist gets distracted by the newcomer, as does Ivo.

Maira turns and waves to the other mage, grinning. "Oh, hello! Eee! Chocobo! Can I pet him?"

Viola has posed:
The city's missing--the entire /nation/ is missing, its lovely forests and all. Perhaps for the best, of course, Viola doesn't actually pay attention at first to Ivo's rather cheerful statements towards Maira--not, in fact, until her attention is grabbed by the use of her name, prompting a blink and a... "Oh! Ivo!"

Ah, the question, "Afraid not, no word. Baron's there as it was said to be, but that's about all." She absently rubs at Jalli's feathers, then, "Well, at least you kept your ears out, right?"

But Maira's strange clothes (to the Troia native) aside, she's opened out the gate by complimenting her chocobo, and so Viola smiles at her, "Sure, she's friendly. Just careful around her eyes--she gets sensitive there, and she might nip a bit." She even steps a little out of the way, and Jalli, for her part, is quite friendly, offering a proper 'Kweeeeh' of greeting in return.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo is obviously entertained by Maira's immediate bashfulness, leaning back and bracing his palms against the stone as the soothing sound of the fountain behind surrounds them, his composure a stark contrast to her fumbling for a suitable compliment. His grin doesn't change as she stammers, the only shift the slow raising of a single eyebrow, as if to say, 'Go on.'

But then he has the strange urge to clear his throat again. Hrmm, what is that? Is he coming down with something? But it only seems to happen whenever he teases Maira. How intriguing.

Well, clearly he'll just have to keep flirting with her until he finds out what it is. Empirical research and all that.

It allows for a suitable transition as he turns his attention to Viola, nodding more seriously at her words. "Then it's as I heard," he murmurs. At least she doesn't seem too shaken about it. She does seem to be a rather practical young woman. Though perhaps there's more to it than that? "Ah, Maira, this is Viola. She and I met in Traverse Town, and I was, of course, immediately won over by her charm." His tone sounds like it's simply a friendly off-hand comment, but his gaze is merrily mirthful as he aims to meet Viola's eyes beneath the rim of her hat. "Well, Viola, have you given any thought to employing the services of the Shard Seekers? While it may be a little while more until we're fully operational, you're welcome to rest at our headquarters for a while and meet the others. I will of course ensure that you're... most comfortable."

He lets up a little bit, his eyes and smile softening.

"They're all good people," he adds. "If you ask them, I'm sure everyone will want to help you find the fragment in which Troia still dwells."

He looks back at Maira, and seeing how much joy she seems to get from the chocobo -- just like Mercade's -- his smile splits into a grin once more. Maybe she'll start bouncing up and down with excitement again. Hmm, that would be nice. "You know, Maira, I heard that Troia is a city full of and led by powerful warrior women. I'm sure Viola's a formidable mage indeed." He glances back to Viola again, his grin broadening slightly. "Though I suspect she also has her... sensitive side."

Ugh, he's just awful.

Maira has posed:
"Oooh, a she! I'm sorry pretty lady," she says to the bird, approaching and reaching out, slow but sure to give the chocobo a gentle pet, being careful of the eyes, beaming brightly all the while. "Who's a pretty girl? You're a pretty girl! Yes you are!" she coo's to the bird, Ivo forgotten. Sorry Ivo.

Finally registering something about Baron, Maira looks up, her eyes widening a little. Is this person from Baron? Will she recognize Maira!? Are there even actually wanted posters!?!?

.....Eh. Chocobo! Maira goes back to squeeing over the animal for a little while before giving a shy smile to her owner. "Nice to meet you miss."

What had she come to do again? Hmm...something about Ivo...OH RIGHT! Give him a piece of her mind! But this isn't really the time, is it?

Maira looks between Ivo and Viola, her eyebrows raising, then lowering dramatically as she senses Ivo is flirting with Viola too! Oh Ivo, you are on the receiving end of quite a glare! Indeed, does the air seem to be growing hotter...?

Viola has posed:
Viola doesn't seem to recognize Maira even a little bit, while Jalli is all too happy to receive a bit of attention just at the moment, her lovely purple feathers catching the light a little as she is /petted/. Thus, as Maira is distracted, Viola has a chance to be distracted as well.

She does seem in good enough spirits--not cheerful, precisely, but not moping around, either. "Oh, it's good to meet you," she agrees, nodding Maira's way, and then stopping at the comment about her charm. ...And stopping /again/ at the mention of 'most comfortable'. /She/ at least finds it a little warm in here.

"Aah, ha ha, I, um, haven't thought that much about it at the moment--been on the road, you know--but maybe..."

"W-well, I am pretty familiar with black magic. But--what? Ha ha, I'm, suuure I don't know what you mean! But--ah, yes, Troia's military is all-women."

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo does not seem particularly jealous of the chocobo. If anything, he just seems like he's having fun as usual. It doesn't appear to be the attention of women, however attractive, that he derives satisfaction from. Seeing Maira's reaction to the presence of someone or something else -- like a friendly riding bird -- is just as interesting. Really, any form of the human contact which he finds so endlessly diverting and delightful is good to him. Of course, sometimes life can be rather... predictable.

That's why he has to mix things up, right?

The persistent upward quirking of Ivo's lips suggests that Viola's embarrassment continues to amuse him. Honestly, he would expect a woman from a matriarchal society to not be so easily affected by his advances, or even be a little more aggressive herself. He very much has to visit this Troia, and find out if all the ladies there are like her. Focused as he is on Viola's predicament, Ivo only belatedly realizes that Maira hasn't picked up on the mention of Viola's magical abilities. That's odd; he thought she'd be interested in that. He wanted to see the two girls interact. What could she--

"Hmm," he murmurs distractedly, furrowing his brow for the first time as he reaches up to dab at his forehead with the back of his gloved hand, "is it getting a bit hotter all of a sudden?" He glances over at Maira for confirmation--

Uh oh.

What? She's mad? But in the beginning she barely even noticed when /he/ was hitting on /her/! How could he miscalculate so catastrophically? Could something have happened in the interim? Has she caught on to him? But how--

An image of Avira, muttering in Maira's ear in Central Park.

Grrrr... that woman...!!

"Ah ha ha," Ivo laughs lightly, raising his hands palms out, his expression as easy and disarming as ever were it not for the beads of sweat still on his temples, "I must just be overheating because I'm in the presence of two beautiful women. How about you, Maira?" He tilts his head slightly, grin widening. "Want to go for a refreshing swim? I'd like to see that."

If he can just put her on the defensive again, maybe she'll let it slide...

Maira has posed:
GLARE!....Then confusion...then...hurt? Maira looks away from Ivo and back to Viola.

"Oh! You're a mage too! Of course, of course you are...I could sense the magic," she says with a nod. "Do you specialize? Fire is my specialty," she informs, as if it wasn't plain. She practically brims with it. It doesn't escape her that Ivo is making this poor woman flustered as well with his....his....his come on's! Was Avira right about him?

Meanwhile, Uist is inspecting Viola and thinking 'another powerful mage, good, she can help Maira destroy Ivo.'

"Miss Viola, that's intriguing! I'm in a group called VALKYRI. Just getting started, but we've got a few members already! We'll be getting a headquarters in Traverse Town soon I hope." It is easy to see Maira's excitement over VALKYRI. She's never belonged to a group before, unless you count the 'Midgar Orphan's Club' which isn't really an official club but it probably could be.

Maira's eyes return to Ivo as he says her name, asking if she wants to go swimming. Swimming! She flushes. "I'd like to swim...but I don't actually know how...."

Viola has posed:
Most of the ladies out there are /not/ quite like Viola; Viola has the distinction of essentially being a farm girl from Troia, rather than one of the cosmopolitan socialites that might have come out of the capital. ...Perhaps Ivo will have his chance one day to find that out. For /now/, however...

Something...? Viola is distracted by Maira's sudden attention rather than Ivo's confusion, as, "Not in any given element, though I've been taking some inspiration from Jalli here to try to come up with a few unusual spells." Now that she's looking that fire is all too obvious, of course, but, "I come from the Mysidian tradition, if you've heard of it--my teacher suggests that my approach be to master a wide variety, and use them as the situation merits."

VALKYRI...? My, so many groups! "Oh, then great luck to you with it! Traverse.. It's a little weird, but it's a nice place, right?"

Wait--swimming? "Ah--oh, come on," she says with a shake of her head, "But--wait, you never have...? Oh, it's easy!"

Luckily, she did miss the 'I'd like to see that.' comment.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo heaves a silent sigh of relief as Maira's ire seems to cool, the ever-cheerful young woman distracted by the opportunity to speak with Viola more. Yet once his social self-preservation instincts fade, he keenly detects an off note in the blonde fire mage's expression before it fades. Abruptly, as the two ladies chat, the young swordsman's features turn serious, his gaze attentive and reserved. Did she--

"..."

Did she look wounded, for a moment there?

An unease nothing like his previous nervousness overtakes him. He could tell that Maira was innocent, of course, but that was why he imagined that his flirtations would simply bewilder her to amusing results, that-- well, that he could antagonize Avira through her without causing any real trouble for anyone (including himself). This was, at best, optimistic, but he thought he would have a little more time, that it would be a gradual process, and he could relent in time. But whatever exchange she and Avira have had must have keyed Maira onto her feelings.

He'll have to be careful from now on.

The evidence of his concerns vanish from his features, however, when Maira mentions VALKYRI's progress. "Oh, is that so? In Traverse Town?" he says, smiling slightly again, body relaxing against the fountain once more. "I'll have to pay you all a visit. I'm sure Avira would like that." It's hard to tell whether or not he's joking. Maybe that's the point. "They're an all-woman band of independent adventurers," he explains to Viola, "as I understand it. The Shard Seekers... cross paths with them at times." That's one way to put it.

Yes, he'll have to be careful not to lead Maira on when he--

"You don't... know how?"

Oh, screw it.

"/Well/, then."

Ivo's grin becomes as dazzling as the sun above.

"Clearly you'll have to be introduced," he says easily, pleased as could be. "I'd be happy to teach you everything I know, one step at a time." Oh, or even better-- "Unless Viola would like to teach," he continues, turning his delighted grin toward the Troian mage. "There's a pond in the garden behind our headquarters, if the two of you would like to take a swim beyond the reach of prying eyes."

How gentlemanly.

"I'll of course ensure no one intrudes."

Right, except for /his/ prying eyes.

Maira has posed:
"Oooh..." Maira breathes. "I have heard a little about Mysidia! I have heard the school there is amazing...Suppose my magic probably works a little differently, but...maybe I could learn other ways besides materia! I would like that," she says with a nod.

In response to the wish of good luck, Maira smiles bright as the sun. "Thank you! We're an all girl group. If you'd like to know more, you should come visit us!"

"Heh...no I never have. I fell in some water once though! That's how I met Zeke, and I saw Faruja again!" she said, glancing to Ivo. That rat is everywhere! "But no, I never learned to swim. There wasn't any swimming pools in Midgar, and I never really left the city until--until--well, until I left. Anyway! I'd love to learn how!" she responds, not suspecting his /devious/ plans! Maybe Ivo is not so bad...maybe he is genuinely interested? Bah! She just doesn't want to think about it anymore!

"I don't have a bathing suit. Can I swim in my underwear?"

Cue Ivo's inner Hallelujia chorus.

Viola has posed:
"I haven't actually been there, but that's the kind of thing I hear, too--materia? Hmmm, maybe you can tell me about that sometime, too." She smiles back in return, however, "Maybe I will. It looks like I'm going to have to do a lot of travelling regardless, though..."

But about all this swimming, "No pools...?" She shakes her head. "Whoa, how crazy. But, of course, I can teach you--and oh, come on, swim in your clothes and you'll just get them all wet! You..."

'Gentlemanly'. Finally, she does not respond with fluster, but instead with a stern shake of her head. "Don't be silly. I can't teach her to swim while there's a guy watching!"