Post-Prelude Shenanigans

Post-Prelude Shenanigans
Date of Scene:	07 January 2013
Location:	Fluorgis - Shard Seekers HQ
Synopsis:	It was after Fluorgis was attacked by the Heartless. The Shard Seekers and the adventurers were resting at the inn, recooperating from the fight. Of course, shenanigans occured.
Cast of Characters:	Ivo Galvan, Reize Seatlan, Priel Aylin, Nagetta, Ward Zabac, Deelel, Lenn, Leida, Luso Clemens, Legion
Tinyplot:	Shadows Over Fluorgis

---

Reize Seatlan has posed:
It has been a couple of hours after the events of the battle, evening has fallen. The inns are pretty much packed today. Many of the adventurers who ended up resting in the inn were those who put their services up to protect the city.

It is a busy day for the healers as well. All of the people are tended to by the healers.

One particular room, however, had a member of the family who was protected by a massive man. Reize was one of the people who remained in the small room, deciding to wait until Leida would wake up.

He heard many things went on, but hearing that Leida collapsed in battle filled him with worry. So, he waited in her quarters, sitting the chair with a thoughtful look. He is beaten, hurt, but lived through. Only a few people are able to enter the room.

Others would likely have to wait outside.

Outside of the room is filled with those of other adventurers that are recooperating.

Luso Clemens has posed:
Among those outside the room was Luso, looking a bit better after some time with the healers. Nevertheless, his smile did not dampen any. Despite hearing news of Leida's collapse, knowing that her friends were there for her was enough to assure the boy that she would be fine. Dumb as they may have been to anyone with a brain.

A glance is given to the others in the meantime as Luso spoke up. "So, how's everyone else doing? It was a pretty tough fight out there! Those heartless just kept coming and coming, you know?" He brought a hand to his chin, rubbing it in thought. "What do you think they were after though? They've never attacked Fluorgis directly before..."

Curious indeed...

Nagetta has posed:
Nagetta's waiting outside as well. She's curled up of course, with the inn crowded as it is there isn't enough room for her to fully stretch out. She feels a bit cramped and uneasy with everyone around. "I don't know why they came here..." She looks around to see who else is present.

Ward Zabac has posed:
Ward was inside the room resting against the wall. he watched the healers take care of Leida. He was the only person letting just anyone in. during the battle Leida helped him so it is what matters to him. He looked at the healers hoping to hear something good from them.

Leida has posed:
Inns were not known for their fine quality beds, especially ones frequented as often as these. Flourgis was a city of trade but that meant it was full of transient merchants and rovering peddlers who rarely stayed long, needing only the comfort of sleep not taken upon the ground to be satisified. There were ofcourse fancier places about but their prices were clearly intended for the wealthy. The Shard Seekers do not qualify.

The mattress upon which the small girl now lies is comfortable enough for their purposes. Leida's rest seems to be mostly peaceful, perhaps thanks to the overwhelming calm that accompanied the light of a pure heart that reached out to touch her. But if that's so, why did she react so poorly? A mystery indeed.

At the moment, she is still unconscious though her injuries seem to have been reduced to superficial abrasions and scratches by that same light. It is probably only a matter of time that they must wait out at this point.

Legion has posed:
Imi of the Network had been helping fight but by herself she's not much of a warrior. She spent most of her time helping evacuate people into safe areas and holding off Heartless. Her damage output by itself is not so hot. And besides which, she had OTHER problems to worry about as it stands but she couldn't worry about it.

Problems like 'How long is Emi going to be alive?'

Imi looks up, noting the folks outside of the inn. She seems pretty battered--she's not used to fighting, but she wanted Fluorgis to survive the battle, she wanted the flowers to bloom another day.

"Hello those whom this one is spying on." She says, smiling tiredly at them. "I hope everyone is okay. I tried to help where I could, this one admits."

She looks around a bit. "Is Leida-Chan okay?" She taps her cheek lightly, her brow furrowing with concenr.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
"Reize!"

Ivo enters the hall in which the others are waiting outside of Leida's room with swift deliberation, his features intent with a seriousness and concern he rarely exposes. Not seeing his friend there, but seeing a closed door instead, the knight-errant straightens, expression grim. He exhales slowly and then, by dint of mental effort, relaxes, offering a more reassuring presence by releasing his evident stress. "Well fought, everyone," he addresses those in the hall. "I heard about the Heartless incursion. The Fire Crystal room was put on lockdown during the battle, and no one could enter or leave, me included." Ivo's occasionally outrageous attempts to escape will have to be enumerated another day. "I come bearing good news, though."

His smile is wry, but there's a real glimmer in his eye.

"I got some work done."

Imi's question, asked just as he entered, seems to soothe what tension remained in Ivo's face, and his smile softens. "Leida's collapsed?" Again. "She's more determined than she looks. Don't worry, Imi." Not that he should know, but he sounds like he does. "Reize must be in there, huh? Can someone call him out for me? I don't want to disturb Leida, but I've got to tell Reize something."

Nagetta, with whom he's acquainted, is nodded to, and Ivo offers Luso a broadened smile. "Thanks a lot for your help getting access to the Crystal, Luso," the older swordsman says. "I couldn't have done it without you."

Luso Clemens has posed:
Luso nodded at the appearance of Ivo, grinning a bit. "Hey, no worries! We held down the fort no problem!" Giving the knight-errant a thumbs up, Luso jerked a thumb towards the door. "Reize's in there all right. Looking after Leida." He didn't move to disturb those within though and stayed put for the moment.

"So, it looks like your membership with Clan Gully was pretty useful after all. Heh heh...!" The boy couldn't help but chuckle at their devious plot to bypass the red tape that the city had placed between the Shard Seekers and the Fire Crystal.

"Well, alright then. Gimme a sec." He then turned the door's handle and opened it just a tad, glancing at Ward. "Pssst! Hey! Could you call Reize out? Ivo's here, and he's got news!"

Ward Zabac has posed:
Ward tapped Reize on the shoulder and moved him towards the door. Ward looked around and shook Leida a little to see if she could or would wake up. Ward listened to outside the door with it cracked. He sighed, he honestly enjoyed these people, even with the limitations. Ward yawned, he had been at this for hours, although he didn't mind. Ward thought about the crnage. What did the heartless want?

Leida has posed:
A soft murmur escapes the girl's lips as she is shaken, her arms shifting position slightly, but she fails to rouse completely. No such luck.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
The young leader of the Shard Seekers lifts his head up to get a good look at the massive man. His head tilts over, trying to figure out how large this guy can be. God, he's huge. However, he brightens into a smile. "...Thank you for helping Leida." He starts to stand up, wincing a bit.

Nggh.

"...I don't think she is going to wake up yet."
Reize feels that he should had lead the Shard Seekers. However, he trusted Faruja in taking command. The other adventurers needed help. Nevertheless, Reize had stood up and he moved towards Leida.

A faint smile is given before he places his hand over to her head.

"Thank you, Leida." It's an affectionate smile. But it doesn't last. The frown comes next, realizing that he should do more to help her control her power. Help her become stronger. However, he isn't certain what he can do other than be there for her. He still doesn't understand the power that she possesses.

Nevertheless, he moves to the exit of the room and sees everyone that has gathered.

"Hello, everyone..." Then, he blinks, looking over at Ivo, "....Ivo?"

Nagetta has posed:
Nagetta nods back to Ivo as she sees him. "Clan Gully? What's that?" She's overheard people talking about clans before but she's not exactly sure what they do. "Hello Reize...it's been a while." She hasn't seen him lately. "What's been going on lately?"

Legion has posed:
"Oh my!" Imi says, upon seeing Nagetta. "That's... so pretty!" She bobs her head a few times. "I love your blouse! And your tail...ahhh, the guys must be chasing after you." She smiles broadly at Nagetta. She barely resists the urge to pet her tail. BARELY. She imagines Ami would be enamored, but she's not here. It's only Imi. "The Network is so impressed." She tells Nagetta, however.

She looks towards Ivo as he explains Leida's condition. "Mm? OH I know, I do not mean to underestimate her, but I can't help...this concern...flowing out of my heart, The Network acts out throwing her arms from side to side." She does just so. She looks around a bit and then lets her arms drop.

She reaches into a blouse pocket and withdraws a small remote.

She pushes a button.

She puts the remote away. "Um--I'm not sure what's going on here..." She admits. "But I was hoping to mention something."

MEANWHILE

As Legion pushes the button, LEida's bed suddenly springs up, throwing her out the bed and out the door, possibly into Reize. It starts singing and dancing.

"ROCK-A-BYE BABY! ON THE TREE TOPS! WHEN THE WIND BLOWS! THE CRADLE WILL ROCK! WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS! THE CRADLE WILL FALL! AND DOWN WILL COME BABY CRADLE AND ALL!"

And then it lies back down.

BACK TO IMI

She wonders why that 'Cid' fellow asked her to push that button upon her arrival. What a weird old man.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
"Hey."

Upon seeing for himself that Reize is safe, Ivo's relieved smile shows a hint of weariness. Now that he's closer, a little inspection will reveal dark circles under his eyes. Not much has been seen of him since the shenanigans in Goug. Has he been cooped up with the Fire Crystal all this time?

"It's functional."

Without ceremony, he withdraws from the folds of his cloak a small and peculiar device, what appears at first glance to be a dowsing pendulum tethered to a set of brass knuckles. But the metal is not brass, and it would be impossible to close one's hand into a fist when wearing them, because beneath the grip is attached complex set of magnets, some of them inset with various fragments and of differing hues, between which the dangling string passes. It's a little unwieldy, but at least has been designed to be conveniently worn upon the hand.

"Not finished," he quickly amends, "but functional. The Shard Seeker Mark I. It reacts to the Crystal's unique power, but succeeds in being undisturbed by other magical items and random objects with a success rate of eighty-seven percent. Based on the magnitude of the response, I estimate a detection range of about fifty miles, but more experimentation will be necessary to-- the point is," Ivo cuts himself short, seemingly almost uneasy showing this side of himself, or maybe just tired, "we can seek World Shards now. It might not work right all the time, but it'll work."

He smiles softly.

"...It'll work."

A rush of adrenaline and concern drove him here, but now the fatigue hits him like a freight train. "I don't know if this'll be of any use given Fluorgis's current state," he adds, "but if the city recognizes us, maybe we can at least mount a more concerted defense against future Heartless incursions." Not that City Hall is in any state for-- ughh, he can't think about this right now.

"What matters is--"

Cue loud blaring music.

"--"

And then-- shenanigans?

Naturally, Ivo will stand there, deadpan, and unhelpful.

Leida has posed:
There is a soft mechnical creaking sound that premeates the room upon Legion's ominious button-pushing. The fact that the room appears to be empty of machinery does little to help relieve any tension that might accompany this thought to those loitering nearby.

The bed lurches to life like some mad creation of science, capering about as it blares an ancient nursery rhyme at appauling volume. This motion, ofcourse, also acts as a catapult, pitching the peacefully resting girl into the air with solid momentum.

Leida flips over and smashes straight into the taciturn man who stands vigil over her room, bringing the both of them crashing down in a jumble of limbs atop the hapless and eternally unfortunate Reize. Somehow the delicate princess manages to remain on top of the pile, still lightly snoring away.

However, after a few seconds she stirs and sits up, eyes half-closed and bleary as she stares straight ahead in an unfocused trance. "Nnnyaaam... sorrybrotherI'llgetbreakfastreadynow..."

Ward Zabac has posed:
Ward watches as the bed throws Leida into him he crashes through the door while crashing into Reize and landing onto the ground. it was quite eventful but sadly he was hurt a little. he got up angrily and stared down at the door moving it.

Luso Clemens has posed:
Luso nodded in greeting to Reize as he appeared in the door way, stepping aside to give him room. He then turned his attention to Ivo, listening intently. His expression was one of grave seriousness. As if every word that Ivo uttered was being taken into full account and understood. Finally, once it was all said and done, he remianed silent for a couple moments, his arms crossed.

...After a couple moments of intenseness, suddenly, Luso's expression lasped into one of utter confusion. As if his brain just broke. "...Ahahaha, I didn't get a word of that at all! ..Well okay, I got some of it! Basically you can use that device to find world shards now, yeah?" The boy crossed his arms back then and nodded once more.

"Sounds like a plan! Maybe then we'll be able to make some real headway on this problem of the connected and lost worlds!" It was at that moment though, that Luso's Ma belle began to ring. He took it up, answering the call. "Yeah? ...Oh crud, really!? I'll be right over there! Don't move an inch until I get there!"

And with that Luso began to jog off, waving back to the others. "Okay, I'm outta here! Catch you guys later! And give Leida my regards! Seeya!"

And then whoosh. Luso was gone.

Too much energy. Way too much.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
 !!!!

Reize's eyes widen when he looks over towards Ivo when he withdraws a peculiar device. As the boy tilts his head at the strange mechanism, the boy brightens,"Wow! We finally hae the Shard Seeker! Now, we can find the shards!" He has a very happy look on his face.

He doesn't see the shadow looming over him. Well, he does, but...

"Did it suddenly get dark ov---..."

CRUSH!

Reize has the DOOR, WARD, AND LEIDA on him.

Pain.

"...Go on without me...."

Priel Aylin has posed:
It was then that Priel entered into the inn, passing by some way too energetic kid on her way in. He almost reminded her of a certain idiot leader she knew. Oh well. She soon came into sight in the hallway, smiling rather pleasantly and looking not at all worse for the wear despite what the city had just gone through.

She didn't help at all, did she?

"Wow. Look at all of you! All so beaten up and dirty. Ahahaha! So, this must be the price of being heroes, huh? Does it feel good~?" And immediately, Priel launched into taunting and teasing. Nope. No sort of situation would change that.

The dragon girl soon came a stop by Ivo, giving him a sidelong glance for a moment. "Ah, so you're here too. When did you come back from making out with Raiya, huh~?" And a wicked smile accompanied that casual question. Of course, she spied the device in his hands, but...this was a more amusing question.

Of course.

Nagetta has posed:
Nagetta turns a bit red as she hears Imi's comment. "Not really..." Despite being a lamia she still feels awkward about being around men. Even if she could charm them. "Network?" She sounds rather confused by that and her attention turns Priel. "Yes, it feels good...it's the right thing to do." Her wounds don't really bother her that much since the city is safe once again.

Legion has posed:
"Mmhmm! We're part of a Network, The Network explains to the fashionable snakelady." Imi seems charmed, in a way, even just by seeing her. She doesn't have any sort of MONSTER HISTORY that makes them biased towards snake ladies. But come on. That hat. THAT HAT.

She looks over to Priel, blinking at her. She doesn't quite recognize her, but she seems...what's the word--she can't think of it, but it's hard to not notice her. She waves at her, smiling, trying to think of that word.

What Ivo has to say is pretty amazing, though. A DEVICE THAT CAN SEEK SHARDS? That sounds amazing! So amazing, in fact, that Imi isn't sure she can believe it. On the one hand, it just sounds too incredible, but on the other hand--it's not like she knows whether or not Ivo could make a device that seeks shards. Lord knows how long they've been working on it either. She thinks about it for a while, putting it in the back of her head. If it's true, this will really help out Manhattan. She's sure the TDA will be thrilled to hear of it.

Oh! But she's forgetting what she came here to do to begin with!

She opens her mouth to say just what, but Reize is no covered in pain. And ward. And Leida.

"Leida!" She says, intending to throw herself into a big Leida hug because why not just make her more uncomfortable? That's what friends are for. She's so excited she forgets Chan.

And also forgets to mention what she came here for. Maybe hse really should just post a notice somewhere.

Leida has posed:
"Hmm... dontspillthewaterdontdroptheegg--waaaaah?!" The sudden application of IMI HUG startles the poor princess out of her haze and she pitches over backwards on the Reize-pile, carrying the two of them onto the floor.

Flailing ensues for a few moments until the girl recovers her senses and realises who is on top of her; for once it isn't Reize! Leida's action command shifts from PUSH to HUG as she is very glad to see her friend is still alive and well after all the horrible things that they went through the other day.

"I-Imi-chan! Oh, I am so glad you are well! But..." She glances around, taking notice of their present whereabouts with a confused stare. "W-Why are we here...?"

Ward Zabac has posed:
Ward picked up Reize and shook him much like a cartoon character would. He smiled at the group after setting Reize up against the wall next to Leida. He picked up his harpoon and set it against the opposite wall.

Ward waved to the people and smiled. He made the motion of bringing hands together. Sadly, Ward realized that all these people were children. He sighed, again the oldest of a group of people, Ward Wouldn't be bothered by that. He would have trouble communicating though. Ward moved to get a piece of paper and pen conviently in the desk drawer of the inn room. He wrote "Hello, my name is Ward. Is the young man and woman going to be ok?"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Reize's current status: @_X

Why. God. Why?

Just... make the hurting stop.

Legion has posed:
"Ahh... The heartless attacked!" Imi says, tumbling with Leida onto the Reize pile. This is ridiculous. This is so damn ridiculous. There've been so many people on reize that Imi doesn't even realize there's a reize there that she's on. She's just so... happySeizui (talk).

He looks up and over to Ward's piece of paper.

"Who?" She asks.

She squeezes Leida. "And I wanted to tell you...something...And Reize? And Ivo? Hmm..."

What was it again?

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo, blank-faced, offers Ward a raised hand in salute in response. Even Leida's half-coherent mumbling can't seem to fracture his careful absence of expression. "Don't worry, breakfast is done," he replies calmly, even conversationally. "Go back to sleep, sweetheart."

At last, Reize's groan is heard from behind the door. Ivo, who had arrived in such concern for his friend's wellbeing, turns toward the others in the hall. "Well, it looks like I'm in charge now," he concludes, placing a hand on his hip. "Who wants to have a party?" Looks like he's taking the Shard Seekers in a new direction.

As he turns, though, he comes face-to-face with Priel, whose mere presence causes the hidden sparkle of mirth to reveal itself in his eyes, the corners of his lips quirking upward. "Where've you been?" he asks, as though he hasn't been absent himself. Well, at least he has an excuse. "Did you finally get arrested for grand theft auto--"

Critical Hit.

It's true that Priel has a way of getting the better of Ivo at his own game, which is, strangely enough, probably why he keeps challenging her to battles of wits over and over. And the both of them have a way of making wild guesses that nevertheless manage to catch their social adversaries flatfooted. But the response to Priel's outrageous accusation is breathtaking. Ivo is rendered speechless. The blood drains from his face, then returns full force, then at last subsides, corresponding to: 'She knows.' 'How does she know!?' 'There's no way she knows.' But the damage is done.

"My training sessions with Sensei are always productive," he says casually, having recovered his composure fully. Well, maybe /someone/ will disregard his initial reaction if he just plays it cool. "Why don't you and I train sometime, Priel?"

Imi's concerns are more legitimate than she knows. How, exactly, did Ivo invent a shard-seeking device without access to any World Shards, without having even seen one himself? How much are his abtruse explanations hiding? How confident is he, exactly, that this device is going to work? These are all good questions, but the best question would be: Does Ivo actually care about finding World Shards? Likely no one here is prepared to answer /that/ question; Ivo's motivations are always sketchy. But suffice to say that caring about the Shard Seekers is not the same as caring about seeking shards.

Imi doesn't say anything, but Ivo -- maybe just paranoid after Priel's question -- thinks he espies a thoughtful look in her eye which puts him on guard. Right. The Network can be entertainingly foolish about some things, but-- he should take care to be aware when sharper new minds are around. ...and then she throws herself right at Leida. So much for going back to sleep.

"Nice to meet you, Ward," Ivo says to the big guy, smiling affably now that he's recovered. "Don't worry too much. These two have survived worse. Were you a defender of Fluorgis? Much obliged." He glances sidelong at Legion, curious-- then deadpans again. So much for sharper new minds.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is recovering after the fight she's been skulking about to make sure there's no more left. There's been none found and now she's going to come back and join up. She waves to everyon and calls out "Greetings!"

Leida has posed:
Leida blinks up at her friend, a hand going to her chin after a moment as she takes on a thoughtful look. "The Heartless... oh! I-I remember now..."

She was fighting. It felt... good. Surprisingly so. Every time one of those creatures died to her arrows there was a surge of something akin to joy. But she had started to lose herself. And then the light. Something inside didn't like that.

But that's all there is. These memories were worrisome but she did not want to raise alarm, so she dismissed them for the moment. Obviously she hadn't grown horns or a tail or anything like that - Imi would have been sure to ask about them.

"U-um... I'm sure you'll remember what it was..."

Ward Zabac has posed:
Ward had not slept since before the battle and it was finally wearing on him. Ward pushed the bed back down and laid down on it much like a snorlax he drifted off to sleep.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Reize is staggering. He is moving, weaving, bobbing. The boy clings onto a wall, trying to keep himself propped up. The boy shakes his head and shudders. The boy rubs his forehead once more, "I'm okay! I'm alive..." He twitches, wincing to himself.

And then he straightens himself up. Maybe the bed in one of the rooms sound like a good idea. He looks over towards the Legion, "...Buh?"

Legion has posed:
Don't worry, Ivo. You are Imi's ally. SHe will not use this information against you. Today anyway. Not when she has a Leida she can fawn over anyway. It's hard for her to not be shocked and thoughtful over the important news of the day but she probably won't use it for evil. She spies for the TDA, yes, but it's not like the TDA's goals don't roughly allign with the shard seekers. BUT YOU NEVER KNOW, there could be a battle of rivals, hearts against hearts, souls against souls! A race to the finish to see who ... ... does the same thing as the other group? Yeah, Imi hopes the device works!

Imi assumes Ivo is interested in seeking shards. After all, he's in the Shard Seekers. Presumably one is in the Shard Seekers because they are interested in Shard Seeking. This may be a faulty assumption, but she has little reason to doubt Ivo who seems, even more importantly than a good guy, a clever and funny guy.

These reasons and more are why she doesn't quiz Ivo over the matter and instead chooses to molest Leida. Molesting Leida probably saves Ivo from a lot of problems.

"Oh right!" She beams. "I wanted to let you know, ah, that Emi might be in trouble soon. The fight with CRonus happens any day now? If you wanted to help...well, you seem pretty busy as is! But I'll be staying here to help you, of course, since-haha--it'd be a bit of a trip to go back to Traverse Town."

Priel Aylin has posed:
Ivo's reaction to her random jab was rather telling. Even if he recovered and casually answered outwardly, he had already screwed himself over. But alas, like usual, Priel wouldn't openly capitalize on his failure. Instead, she just chuckled and looked away for a moment. "Oh yes, I'm sure your 'training' sessions /are/ 'productive'. Mhmhmhm~"

Cue another round of amused giggling.

Ivo's mention of training sometime causes Priel to pause. Almost frozen. "...Are you sure you can handle 'training with me now~? You might not survive, you know~?" ...What was that supposed to mean? "As for me however...I was simply out and about." A shrug was given then. "I had /complete and absolute faith/ in our fearless heroes~!" She clasped her hands together then, trying to look innocent as she uttered those lines. "Surely they wouldn't have needed help some someone as weak as little old me~"

Yeah, likely story now.

That shard seeking device is given another look then as Imi repeats it's use. Huh...and it looked rather dingy. Was this really supposed to find world shards?

Vaguely, somewhere deep down. She had a faint glimmer of hope that it could. Not that she'd ever tell anyone that.

And then Imi threw herself and Leida, causing a chain reaction. "...These kids..." Priel muttered to herself, resting her hands on her hips, her tail also swaying about idly. They all had too much energy at the wrong times. Really!

SPeaking of Leida though... "Oho! Well look who it is! All woken up and fine I see!" She then grinned mischievously. "What happened? Got hit by...a car~?"

Really Priel? Really?

Reize Seatlan has posed:
The Cronus situation?

Reize blinks, loking over towards Imi as she explains the situation, "Emi?" He tilts his head over, "Cronus?" Then, Reize offers a smile and he nods, "Right! Well, the Shard Seekers are able to help!" Then, both arms stretch up.

"Knight's Vow #1: Always help a person in need!" He is getting pretty dizzied... The effects of the pain still there.

"...I think I am going to sleep now.... I am feeling unconsciousness taking over." It was likely due to the RESOUNDING PAIN of being crushed by the door, Ward, and Leida. Mostly the former two.

Reize staggers towards one of the rooms....

And he flops.

...Unfortunately, it was likely Lenn who he flopped on.

Lenn has posed:
From the room, can be heard: "R-Reize? What are you- Ge-" A snore. "Good night, Reize..."

Leida has posed:
"Oh..." Leida takes a moment to blush shyly as more people start to come in, considering the position the two of them are in but she takes it it stride, unwittingly saving Ivo from having to suffer even more embarrassment. Teamwork!

"Emi is your sister...?" Then this Chronos guy must be the one they were after the other day. Yes, that awful fateful day where her innocence was stolen by the most horrid of fiends! With those wicked claws, that sinister grin, the gaudy fashion sense--oh hi Priel.

The princess' eyes widen as she realises who the woman speaking to Ivo is, staring at her like a deer caught in headlights. And then she just goes right ahead and punches Leida in the face with words. Not even so much as a hello. How rude!

For a moment it looks like she might simply pass out again, the color draining out of her cheeks rapidly. But having been so recently assaulted in this fashion and having a convenient Imi-chan to cling to tightly for support, she manages to recover, though she still seems to be on the brink of tears. Leida just closes her eyes and hugs her friend, hoping someone will intervene on her behalf.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel looks over at the nearly dead Reize "You need to stop running off like that your going to end up dead. If it's before your compling is finished." She seems to be in a good mood thoguh Ivo gets a look over for a moment and a nod from the basic. She listens to Legion for a moment and stares at Legion for half a second trying to take in everything she's saying in. She's making notes of thie and Leida is getting a look over too but she's showed no signs of the infection so it seems Reize was successful after all.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
If only Ivo knew just how many problems the molestation of Leida saved him from. Fortunately, he doesn't seem particularly inclined to rescue Leida from said molestation, alleged knighthood aside, so perhaps his luck will hold regardless.

Everyone is quite curious about what Imi is struggling to remember, but Ivo has his eyes on Priel, his eternal frenemy. He sees no need to further elucidate what he means by 'training session', given that the ambiguity suits him just fine. Playing around with words is a good way to avoid lying while avoiding telling the truth. His goading effort to flip the question back on Priel doesn't wrongfoot her -- he would be surprised if it did -- but she does pause for a moment, which causes Ivo to raise an eyebrow slightly. So the brash dragongirl isn't invincible.

Ironically, in seeking her vulnerability, it doesn't occur to him that he might be getting legitimate hopes up with his device, and thereby threatening to do what his amused distance from the world is supposed to prevent: letting people down. Even though he knows what she secretly wants, and wouldn't have pushed to have her admitted to the group otherwise, his thoughtfulness doesn't extend quite far enough. But then, it's not like the device is a /fake/, or anything. His wild conjectures /might/ be correct. It detects interesting things, and World Shards are interesting, right?

It /might/ work. Eventually.

"Sounds exciting," he replies to Priel's threatening challenge, smiling again, a mischievous look in his eyes. "Count me in." He doubles-down on the 'training' offer. Ivo, Heartless are attacking Fluorgis, do you really have time to provoke-slash-hit on Priel? Yes. The answer is yes. "Let's see what you got this weekend. No holds barred," he adds, extremely ambiguously.

He would probably continue in this endless battle of theirs, but Priel's comment to Leida actually causes Ivo to flinch, revealing the pity he sometimes seems to go out of his way to hide. "Priel..." he murmurs. Wow, even /he/ thinks picking on Leida over her trauma is too much, and he's half the cause of it. Aware again of the others, he smiles and nods to Deelel as well, and then listens to what Imi has to say. "Reize is right," is all he has to add, smiling affably again. "We did what we could in Goug, and we'll be there to support you and the TDA again. Though we may need to work on our teamwork," he continues, starting to look amused. "Let's try to blow up vehicles our friends /aren't/ in next time." Oh, great, now /he's/ giving Leida a hard time.

Actually, he doesn't look too put out for a guy who almost died.

He might be about to add more, but he pauses as Reize walks away, and there's almost a solemn silence as in the distance the thump is heard, along with Lenn's voice.

"But then," Ivo deadpans, "not everyone can have Reize's good aim."

Legion has posed:
Legion thinks Deelel has a point. But if Reize didn't run around a lot and get in a lot of trouble and land face first into Lenn's chest at least once or twice a week--would he really be Reize? NO! Of course not! It's always important to be true to yourself! Hopefully the power of friendship and smiling faces will pull him through whatever troubles he might find for himself.

"Yes you met her before, mm--but she doesn't really call herself that yet... But we've more or less decided it for her."

She remains oblivious to the loss of Leida's innocence. She is, however, aware of Leida clinging tightly to her!

Imi stares soulfully into Leida's eyes.

"Does this mean..." She asks. "...That you've fallen for me?" With her index finger, she lifts Leida's head up by the chin lightly so she can look right...into...them.

----And then abruptly she looks towards Ivo, nodding towards him, seriousness on her face. "Ahh--we appreciate it. But we understand that you have your own troubles, and a lot on your plate! I'm not sure if it's a Knight's Vow, but friends don't force friends to abandon their responsibilities I imagine. Come if you can. We'll understand if you cannot. You've already done plenty for us." She bows her head to Ivo. Imi can be pretty silly, but she doesn't want to compel th Shard Seekers to put their safety over that of the city. That would be more than they're willing to take for their own safety. Fluorgis is an important place to Imi. She wouldn't see it fall for anything.

"Well," She admits. "Individuality can be a strange thing, but I'm glad you have it. You're all so very interesting."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
From the other side of the room, a mumble is head. "ZzzZzz---Knight's Vow #72... never abandon a comrade..-zz-z-zzzzzZZz..."

Priel Aylin has posed:
"Oh? My, you /must/ be a masochist..." Priel mused, tapping her cheek lightly with a clawed finger. "...Very well. I guess I'll just have to oblige you...for now~" Why was she agreeing anyway? And just WHAT were they going to be doing!? ...Oh right, training.

Of course.

Leida's response in the meantime fills Priel is utter glee, if the smile on her face was any indication. In the face of the other girl's terror, she just raised a hand and waved cutely. Ah, how terrible. It was like Priel was just lapping up the metaphorical despair flowing out from Leida.

"Awwwww, what's wrong? Is there a...kink in your engine~?"

Oh joy. Another car related jab.

Leida has posed:
It seems like no one was going to come to her rescue this time. Ivo's warning bounces right off the wicked dragon's scaley hide, her natural armor apparently effective against subtle hints as well. Fortunately, Priel's newest attempt at prodding oversteps the princess' bounds of technological knowledge and fails to send her further into her trauma spiral.

However, Legion steps in for the tag-team?! The tactics are changed and emotional assault is comboed smoothly into a powerful social awkwardness shot to the kidneys!

Leida stares wide-eyed up at the other girl as her head is tilted slowly up, their eyes locking meaningfully. The breath catches in her throat, her heart beginning to beat wildly against her ribs at the sudden intensity of her gaze. The background shifts to a bright pink and sparkles fill the air between them seemingly for no apparent reason. Unsure of what to do, the princess merely allows herself to be guided into this strange new territory. "I-I..."

And then Legion turns away and the just like that the magic is gone. Leida stares up at Imi's face in confusion for a few moments, blinking audibly. And then she just passes out.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
"Thanks," Ivo casually replies to Imi.

Interesting - the highest compliment that can be paid.

Ivo again goes carefully expressionless at Priel's musing. He's managed to avoid any more humiliating public encounters with Quistis since the beach, but if he's flashing back to that -- or anything else -- right now, he's not going to let on. Still, one wonders if, given the way he usually interacts with women, he's not a bit of a sadist himself. Just a little.

Nothing on Priel's level, though.

"Good," is his response to dragongirl. "I'll be looking forward to seeing your all." Really, he's just a relentless onslaught of innuendo with her. What the heck are they actually even going to be doing? Does Ivo even know? At this point, if it actually /were/ a sparring match, that would be some sort of masterful fake-out. The answer, of course, as is often the secret answer when Ivo is playing it close to the vest, is that he hasn't decided what he means, and is going to wait and see what the most interesting prospect turns out to be. Knowing Priel, though, she won't reveal much, so he may just have to choose what form their 'training' will take.

Right now he's thinking Strip Triple Triad.

Yeah, these two will not make life easy for Legion, Deelel, or anyone else trying to figure out the subtleties of human interaction. It doesn't help that their whole gimmick is hanging around a bunch of kids who take their shenanigans in stride while often being none the wiser. At some point, someone's just going to call social services, and the jig will be up.

For now, though, Leida continues to suffer. Ivo raises an eyebrow in alarm as Priel continues relentlessly, but he should have been more worried about the effects of Imi's improbable social pivots. This time, when Leida passes out, he just sighs in resignation. "Maybe we're a little too interesting," he ponders aloud, as though considering that such a thing were possible for the very first time.

Legion has posed:
Legion catches Leida so she doesn't hurt herself. She looks back to Priel and smiles at her. "Leida is lucky to have a friend like you, The Network believes." Which is strange, of course, because Priel seems to mostly be teasing and/or traumatizing her. But perhaps that's just it. Priel CARES to torment her. Isn't that what the big sister is supposed to do for the little one? Well, perhaps it's a bit much to assume the two have that kind of relationship just from seeing Priel interact with Leida just this much--but nevertheless, Imi seems to have chosen to believe that sort of reality for the time being.

She will lead Leida on back into the room and let her lie down again. This may or may not be in an awkward position. She really is just so adorable, Imi reflects, though really they're /all/ kind of adorable in their own ways.

She steps back out and adds, "In any event, thank you for your kind offers. I will look to see if I can help the injured any more. If you need me, you know how to get ahold of me, The Network wishes you well." To Ivo, she just raises an eyebrow. Too interesting? "Haha, maybe. But we are what we are." She dips her head and heads on her way.

Priel Aylin has posed:
Imi's assumption caused Priel to pause.

"..........."

And then suddenly- "-Pffft-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She burst out into a raucous fit of wild laughter. "O-Oh god! I can't even begin to...Ahahahaha!" Wow, of the all the things people have said, this has got to the most hilarious one she's heard in a while...

...Maybe she's closer to the truth than she realizes. But no one will ever know that.

"Phew...! Okay, okay..." Priel mumbled, wiping tears from her eyes as she attempted to catch her breath. "I think...it's time to get out of here." And with that said, the dragon girl turned on her heel, intent to head out. "Catch you losers later. Try not to die too fast while I'm gone~"

Deelel has posed:
Deelel look over at Priel for a long moment and she smirks "Don't get derezzed your self hummm." She's looking pretty tired herself she's likely going to go get some rest herself she might end up falling over on someone at this rate but it's hard to tell. Ivo whom this i the first time she's really got to meet up with him, has left an interesting impression on her, as has the dragon girl and she's starting to get Users come in a lot more shapes than expected and leaves her wondering about that. Deelel is also yawning at this point and seems suprised with a what the goosehonk was that...

Reize Seatlan has posed:
It is funny that Reize had been able to mumble out a few words while he was asleep. Poor Lenn, she has to deal with Reize on her and now, she has to deal with Leida on the same bed as well. The young leader of the Shard Seekers is twisting a bit.

The face twists and twitches. However, he leans over to were his head rests against both Leida and Lenn. His arm wraps around their waist, essentially hugging them close.

"ZzZzZzz...."

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Don't worry, everyone. Ivo will pierce the armor encasing Priel's heart. And then he'll pierce her--

"I thought you had 'complete and absolute faith' in us 'fearless heroes'," he murmurs, but he doesn't put a lot of effort into it, given that there's no point in catching Priel out when she's blatantly lying in the first place. "See you later, Priel. Don't get caught." He's started saying that to her in lieu of 'farewell'. He figures it applies ninety-nine percent of the time.

"Good luck, Imi," he says, smiling as she leaves, not bothering to check where she dropped Leida off. He didn't react with Priel's humor to Legion's estimation of the dragongirl's character; if anything, his composed features turned a little speculative. But he has nothing to add, and doesn't reply to Imi's last comment, either. His thought being: 'Yeah, but what /are/ you?' He's provocative, but he's not rude. Unprincipled men tend to have funny principles like that.

Their departures leave just him and Deelel in the hall together. The knight-errant stifles a yawn. The dark circles under his eyes are still apparent. "I prefer to buck the mold," he says lightly to the Program, his smile now hinting at his weariness, "but I may join the masses this time. I'm going to pass out. Get some rest, okay?" She does /need/ rest, right? Ah, questions he wishes he could ask outright. But she is a lady, after all. Or something. Lady-ish. Forget it, he's way too tired for this. He glances over to the room with Reize in it, pauses contemplatively, and then thinks better of it.

"Alright, then I'll just..."

He looks in the other room, at the musical bed -- and its new occupant.

"...walk... back to headquarters."