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White	White is six hours early to update both the Concord-accessible digital schedule she's been using- as well as those non-Partner individuals who expressed their interest in private- with the location of a particular warp gate to meet near at the appointed time. More accurately, it's a little milkshake shop *near* the warp gate, in the relative vicinity of the apartment she's been staying at. White can be found seated at an outdoor table by herself, wearing a light fleece jacket over her usual dress with her hairbraid wrapped around herself several times underneath. She has a clearly oversized milkshake clutched between the ends of her jacket sleeves, which she has to set down to slowly wave when people begin to show up. The shake-shop owner seems happy if anyone else orders when they arrive, and it might slip out if anyone chats him up that he gave White a free shake... So that she'd sit out front and sip at it to advertise. She either didn't realize his ulterior motive, or seems content with the arrangement.      Once everyone who has confirmed their intent to arrive has shown up, and White has checked her phone for any more updates, she sends out one more message to those not in attendance that if they are free later she can pick them up from one of Many Spiders Near You! Then, she beckons everyone together and briefly focuses on teleporting the group, a vague sensation of being lightly touched coming over each of her guests as she sets the parameters of the spell, and-      - Oh. That was abrupt. There's no 'poof' or bright flash, just a brief moment of overriding wispy violet light and a disorienting new location that's decidedly more indoor, and lacking in electrical lights. You're in what appears to be a rather lavish manorhouse guest room, the second floor specifically with the curtains drawn over the window. It doesn't appear that anyone has used this room in some time. White doesn't linger, and leads you out into the hall and to the left, into the upper floor of the foyer where it almost appears more like the show-floor of a historical museum than part of someone's home. She then takes you rightward straight into an expansive office-study (almost more of a private library in scale) without knocking. Several people seem to have been waiting for you, and the smallest one of the bunch is seated behind a desk that clearly wasn't made with her own specifications in mind. "Oh! They're here, they're here! Shiro-chaaaaan~!" she croons exaggeratedly, beckoning White over to her side. White walks over quickly and then leans down when the smaller woman, presumably Ariel, makes it look like she's going to whisper something in her ear... But then Ariel's right arm hooks around White and latches on.      White doesn't seem to be able to wiggle free, and the way her mouth draws out into a thin pensive line is as close to breaking out in a cold sweat you've seen her get. "So you've been making friends huh? Good girl, good girl. You don't think you could've sent a letter sooner though?" Ariel continues to sweetly pressure White like this, but doesn't ignore her guests either; she might even be putting on the performance a little more than normal because of them! White barely manages to murmur, "I brought souvenirs..." in her own defense, and Ariel smacks her on the back jovially in a way that makes White stumble a little. "Oh good! First though," Ariel says, looking over at her new guests. She has a smaller, crooked smile on her face now, something that feels a little more forced. "Glad you could make it, folks. Demon Lord Ariel here, I hope this little one hasn't given you too much grief." White opens her mouth slightly at 'little one', then closes it again.
White	White||| The Demon Lord herself seems to display her title more in the confidence of her demeanor and posture than anything else; Ariel looks a bit younger than White, but appears to have dramatically more social presence. Initially as you enter the room, she's sitting with one leg folded over the other, feet up on the desk and leaning on her elbow in a velvet-lined chair, which definitely shouldn't be tilted back from the matching desk nearly as far as it is. She's certainly the least dressed among the army leadership, given her long gloves and hole-y stockings cover more skin than her tubetop or hotpants do. A fluffy high-neck cape of sorts is draped over the back of the chair, split into eight strips like ribbons with heavy metal spikes hanging from each one. Her hair is black, neatly cut to frame her eyes with long bangs on either side and a blunt strip of bangs over the bridge of her nose, while a stark white stripe highlights a spot slightly off-center from her forehead, but brushed across. A pair of small gold hair accessories seem to stand in for a proper pair of horns. It's hard not to notice that she's physically the smallest of her compatriots, but she shifts and gestures like someone twice her height.      From the moment she can see your faces she's making adjustments. Every single new person probably meets her gaze at some point and she sits up straighter, then leans forward to meet you with a beaming grin.      Sophia is immediately recognizable to those who have heard her name and heard White talk about her before; she's a beautiful young woman just a little bit shorter than White is, and she makes no efforts to hide her blood red eyes, silver hair or little fangs. She's wearing a cuffed, tight-fitting blouse with a ruffled red necktie, a pastel purple mantle and a short skirt with extensions on either side that hang near her ankles, and she's wearing fur-lined high-heeled boots as well. When you enter the room she's seated on the edge of a desk and swaying her feet in boredom, but some might notice the slight signs of repressed pouting aimed in White's direction, and a half-hearted aloof sense of judgement aimed at just about anyone else that meets eyes with her. She isn't as pale as Merazophis despite both of them being vampires.      Merazophis- who those of you that attended the meeting at the Dorado have already met briefly- is a modestly tall, pale man dressed to cover as much skin as he can manage. Black coat, black cloak, black boots and long gloves, all alongside his short black hair with just a dull-shining steel gauntlet on his right arm to create contrast in his wardrobe. His forehead sports some deep-grooved wrinkles no doubt formed by consternated grimacing, but his expression seems to trend a little more toward friendliness than that implies, with a small smile as he notices some familiar faces. His red eyes still look sunken in, so either that's his normal look or he still hasn't slept much since then. At his hip is the same sword from before, a broad-bladed saber that appears just a little bit larger than a typical example, most noticeably in its extended grip. He stands by alongside Sophia, hands folded behind his back.      Wrath appears to be a boy in his late teens, with ruffly dark green bangs that fade into a silvery color further back in his hair, with a long ponytail in the back. A pair of asymmetrically long, sharp horns protrude from above his ears, curving back and then jutting straight up, white at the base and shifting to purple near the tips. He's wearing a white kimono with a red flame design crawling up from beneath his dark green hakama, with the sleeves rolled up as high as he could manage. He's wearing a katana at his hip as well, mounted on a leather belt that seems slightly out of place with the rest of his outfit; nothing in anyone else's clothing or even the architecture of the building you're in really gives 'Japanese' vibes at all, so he stands out a fair bit. His expression is curious, and a little pensive, but he doesn't seem to be socially receding as if h
White	White ||| (cont.) He's wearing a katana at his hip as well, mounted on a leather belt that seems slightly out of place with the rest of his outfit; nothing in anyone else's clothing or even the architecture of the building you're in really gives 'Japanese' vibes at all, so he stands out a fair bit. His expression is curious, and a little pensive, but he doesn't seem to be socially receding as if he's truly anxious. He quietly drums two fingertips on his sword's tsuba, the faint clicking of sharp nails on metal seemingly comforting him.
Audrey Basque	PHONE: Phoning Petra Soroka, Audrey Basque texts | PETRA PHONE: Phoning Petra Soroka, Audrey Basque texts | WHAT DO YOU WEAR TO MEET A DEMON LORD PHONE: Petra Soroka texts | well you have to use what information you already know about what she considers appropriate dress     Audrey is miraculously not late, for someone who had to rummage through the family wardrobe to find something at the last minute after being told not to stick out. She didn't want to just keep wearing the same blouse and cloak to every fantasy place, and... the school uniform would definitely stick out.     She's managed to score, after too many questions from her mother, a nice collared dress, that looks something like what you might expect a neophyte priestess or magician to wear, somewhat in this style. It's dark blue, accented by gold and silver trims; there's even a sort of shawl or half-cape, that reaches roughly to her elbows. There are vague suggestions of constellations across the dress, and the Basque heraldry on the back in gold and silver, depicting a canyon under a starry sky.     It's not particularly visible though because her hair's down, reaching almost all the way to her hips. Black thigh-highs, gold-trimmed like the dress, and fancy dark blue boots complete the look. The clothes being dark and her brown hair being loose means her golden-blue eyes stick out a bit more than usual, the sunset overlapping a starry sky shining a bit brighter from her good mood.     Emerging from the gate, and even ordering a strawberry shake when prompted, Audrey makes sure to greet White, and even spares a quick: "Ah, thank you again for your assistance last night. I've already spent some time studying the Star it and it is wonderful."     She rambled, more like.     Petra knows.     And as with last night, teleporting Audrey seems to be just a nudge harder than it should be. She must clearly not be doing whatever that is intentionally, because if White points it out she'll apologize without being totally sure what the deal is exactly.     The fancy manor interior is not entirely what she expected, but it's also on-brand for a ruler, so Audrey doesn't question it. They go through various rooms, and she ooohs and aaahs at all the display pieces, especially in the foyer. Then they make it to the office, and...     Ariel looked bigger in the picture. Politely, she avoids staring at the outfit, instead switching her gaze to each of Ariel's staff first before finally doing a bow when Ariel introduces herself.     "It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Demon Lord Ariel. I am Audrey Basque, Cr--" She cuts herself just short of putting on an air. "Ah. Just Audrey is fine. White saved me from some danger last night, as a matter of fact, so technically I am in her debt twice over."
Timespace Riders	Sougo and Woz arrive via the swirling fabric vortex of the latter's scarf, on time and in good spirits. As ever, Sougo's unguarded enthusiasm matches the bright pastels of his outfit just as Woz's reserved smile matches the more uniform-like attire he prefers.     "Hi, White!" Sougo gives her a spirited whole-arm wave.     "Felicitations, esteemed Partner," Woz similarly offers, with a slight bow at the waist. Of course, neither of them can really miss the big milkshake she's got.     "That looks really good," Sougo enthuses, his brow lifted. "Actually, if you'll excuse us a minute--Woz, you want to try one?"     "I don't see why not, sire. Let us peruse their offerings." A little excuse-us bow follows, given to White, before the two of them hit up the counter.     Sougo orders a banana milkshake, Woz a vanilla. They're both teleported mid-sip, and given the fact that Woz himself has some means of folding space, neither seems bothered enough to stop their enjoyment of their milkshakes to boggle at the sudden change of scenery.     "That was most efficient," Woz compliments after savoring his vanilla shake.     The two of them follow expediently, since White doesn't bother waiting. Sougo's gait is urgent enough to keep up with her, but his head cranes curiously on the way there, ogling the decor like he expects there to be secret passages behind every third curio. They're here, they're here!     "Hello!" Sougo waves pleasantly at Ariel.     "Demon Lord Ariel," says Woz, bowing deeply at the waist. "I am Woz, retainer to his majesty Sougo Tokiwa, the rightful Demon King of Time."     "I'm not the king yet," Sougo smilingly deflects. "But it's nice to meet you! White... actually hasn't given us any grief at all! She's pretty great."     "Indeed," says Woz as he rises. "White is most agreeable in temperament, cooperative and reasonable." If anything, the unspoken part is, she's been a breath of fresh air compared to some of the other Partners.     Sougo matches Ariel's smile in enthusiasm, hands clasped behind his back as he eagerly bounces and wiggles on his heels.     Woz, meanwhile, matches Sophia's judgment with not so much the same energy; it's more like appraisal but could certainly be interpreted as the former.     Merazophis they've met before, and the retainer's slow nod towards him speaks to a respect, emphasized by the polite refusal to dwell on Merazophis' wrinkled brow or baggy eyes.     "Hi!" Sougo offers, both to Sophia and to Wrath, opting to simply willfully bulldoze through the standoffish behavior of one and the pensive thoughtfulness of the other in one stroke.
Kukuru	As usual, Kukuru arrives right on time for today's get together at the milkshake shop. It's pretty easy to show up on time what with her ability to just show up anywhere at a moment's notice, dropping right onto the roof out from an ominous cloud and then dropping from there to the entrance with a light hop and heavy impact on the sidewalk below. She greets White with a pleasantly cheery, if somewhat sleepy "He-llo, Whiiiite~" and hurries over to offer her a hug that's just shy of being too tight. Today, Kukuru's dressed in a light ribbed sweater (white) and ankle-length skirt (purple), not quite having the chance to repair or replace her damaged clothes yet from the past few outings. It's probably not the best choice for a milkshake shop, but she's definitely going to take advantage of any delays in anyone showing up to get one before it's time for White to send everyone to their actual destination. "Ooh, are we going already? Oh, I wonder how this'll feel..." Kukuru comments with a curious tone as she stands close to the group, humming softly while glancing around at the little sensations surrounding her. As quickly as it starts, though, it's gone, and now she's in a new place! Still a little dazed by the abrupt shift, Kukuru follows White through those halls while gawking at everything and anything, oohing and aahing at the museum-y feel of it all. She perks up when she hears an unfamiliar voice calling out to White, then lets out a curiously cheerful noise of her own when she sees Ariel being as affectionate as she is with White. "Oh! Hello, hello~ It's nice to meet you, Ariel. Aaand... Oh, Sophia, I think I saw you once somewhere... And Me-ra-zo-phis, hello agaaain." She greets, eyeing Wrath curiously as the one other person she doesn't recognize at all. "My name's Kukuru." Pause, breath, then- "That's Ku-ku-ru. Yes, White's been making plenty of friends and new family members ever since she arrived. There hasn't been aaany grief at all, don't you worry." She comments with a light giggle, smiling as serenly as ever in the presence of new extended family members. "She's been a wonderful addition to the Concord, and we're super glad to have her with us." Unlike the Demon Lord, Kukuru's posture is anything but trying to look tall. It's pretty clear from how much she sways idly that she'd be far more comfortable draped over the rafters or lounging by/out a window. The only reason she isn't, then, would be because she's meeting White's family and also because she doesn't want to spill her milkshake (cereal mix) all over the floor.
Angela	There is no way Angela would miss this meeting but she is going to have to telecommute today because she already had Petra accompany her outside the previous day and Angela just can't do this multiple days in a row like that. She already feels some unease at making Petra carry the burden. Multiple days in a row? That feels like taking advantage of it. Only if it was a real emergency and, sad to say, this isn't one. It's just a talky meeting. She isn't goin to need to use any particular talent of hers but her voice. Malkuth arrives, wearing the Wingbeat EGO again. Wingbeat is a forest green jumpsuit with a jabot and dark green thigh-high boots along with iridescent light green butterfly wings sprouting out the back, functional enough that they are flapping back and forth as Malkuth moves. Strapped to her side are her EGO weapons, green tonfas with violent serrated edges. Angela insisted that White's world seemed dangerous enough that one should probably be ready for some nonsense but Malkuth doesn't look like a fighter. Not only does she wave energetically at White with a big smile (someone who didn't betray her grand dream!!! Because she wasn't there!!!), once the teleportation happens, Malkuth immediately stumbles and falls flat on her face. BUT SHE WILL ALWAYS PICK HERSELF BACK UP NO MATTER HOW OFTEN SHE FALLS so she waves off any offers of help and pushes herself back up to her feet, still confidently smiling. She follows after White and gives a little wave to the people ready to greet her. "Gosh they really like you, Commander White." Malkuth says, warmly. " She doesn't bend over and wave to Ariel or anything like that because Angela has given her information about the Demon Lord's appearance. ''Demon Lord Ariel here.'' Angela cocks her head to the side. This isn't exactly what she's been expecting but ultimately she shakes her head, "No, Demon Lord Ariel. She hasn't given us any grief at all." Angela says on the pad. "I apologize for communicating through this device but my time outside the Library right now is limited. Please forgive my rudeness--and I hope I haven't been too informal." She bows her head politely from her desk. "She has been helpful and considerate enough that I have already offered the Library's aid in your--" The plural your. "--cause." Seems like Angela doesn't need convincing. Angela then looks to Sophia and gives her a little small bow of her own. She notices the pouting and successfully supresses a smile out of concern it might cause White problems. "Good to see you again as well, Merazophis." Angela adds. But then she stalls upon looking at Wrath. She doesn't recognize his appearance but he reads to her as not unlike a high grade Fixer so she gives him a nod as well. Then she turns her face back to Ariel. "I am Angela, Librarian of The City. My associate here is Malkuth, who is acting as my conveyance today. She is competent and strives to fix mistakes--and crucially, not repeat them." Angela looks to Sougo and Woz. She knows that Sougo has spoken to Binah but that is the last she heard of the matter between them but then she seems to settle back in, folding one hand over the other. "It is our pleasure to properly meet you, Demon Lord and entourage."
Petra Soroka	In the past month, Petra has already met with two different people referred to as 'Demon Lord', so from that, she would expect to not be anxious about this one at all. Neither Sougo or Nobunaga evoke the same kind of gravitas that Ariel's managed to do purely secondhand through White, helped along significantly by the amount of respect Lilian gives White. Nobunaga's personality elicits more contempt than respect from Petra, and Sougo is a guy her age that Petra's known for years-- and mentally, they feel separate from a 'true' Demon Lord, so the title still intimidates even Petra a little bit.     So Petra wants to dress nice, but Petra also wants to dress inconspicuous, since they don't want to be spotted by D. Not that, ideally, D will be able to see them at *all*-- but the only cloaking they have from D's vision is Petra, and so if Petra doesn't try and dress inconspicuously, she'll *feel* like she's symbolically sabotaging their efforts to be sneaky, and that might *actually* end up making her psychic shield unstable. That train of thought leads into her fussing about dressing to fit in with the *world* specifically, because sure, maybe the sneakiest outfit is a balaclava and a hoodie, but that wouldn't feel like she's blending in context, and she doesn't want to wear something like that anyways.     What she ends up with isn't too dissimilar from what she would wear in Elibe, but a bit more 'scrappy adventurer' and less 'knight of the evil empire'. She has a brown cloak with a high collar clasped around her neck, mostly obscuring the black leather collar she's begun wearing again since reconciling with Lilian. Beneath that she has a long striped shirt and baggy pants, secured at her waist with overly complex belts with a pouch holding her compact mirror, with the pant legs tucked into her boots. It's the exact kind of outfit that's distinctive enough to be iconographically marketable as a funko pop if needed, but downplayed enough to make her a skrunkly down-on-her-luck that blends into the crowd. The image is either weakened or enhanced by the fact that she also has a guitar case slung across her back.     When specifically called for, Petra's numbing aura washes off of her like subdermal static, skittering itch under White's skin when she approaches the milkshake shop and waves hello. She waffles between whether she wants a milkshake for long enough that the decision is made for her, and White teleports her along with everyone else right as she settles on feeling like she's been good enough for the past few days that she deserves one. And so, milkshakeless, Petra finds herself in the manor, conveniently closer to the end destination than she'd been expecting to be brought. She thought there would be a little bit of a journey first, but this is the privilege of being on the side of the Commander of the Demon Lord's Army, rather than some loser protagonists.     To confirm with White without actually having to make a definitive claim herself, Petra looks to the side at the curtained window, then back to the group. "We're not safe from D seeing us even in here, right? So I still need to stick close to everyone?" "I've already spent some time studying the Star it and it is wonderful."     "And by 'some time' you mean it was like four hours straight, and you haven't even installed it into the tower yet," Petra good-naturedly bickers back while walking through the manor behind White. "It *is* pretty cool, though."
Petra Soroka	"So you've been making friends huh? Good girl, good girl."     Petra has a healthy fear of Large Women born from many rational experiences, and in this moment, she comes to understand that largeness is a state of mind. Rather than being caught up in her outfit or height, Petra meets Ariel's gaze as it sweeps over everyone and stands up a little straighter, one thumb hooked through a strap of her belt. It's *so* important to make a good impression, she thinks-- a significant part of that determination comes from knowing that Lilian would appreciate it.     "Hi, Demon Lord Ariel. I'm Petra; White and I have worked together on a few things, and... I mean, yeah, no grief at all. Compared to most of the people I know, she's hypercompetent enough that having her help available at all makes me practically obligated to help her and you back."     She lifts a hand to Merazophis too, and adds, "Sophia and Wrath, right? White's told us a bunch about you." It's not actually Petra's problem if leaving the exact contents of what White said about Sophia vague makes her too smug.
Lilian Rook	Lilian has started having an Outfit when it comes to visiting foreign dignitaries in fantastical worlds. It is, technically, a different configuration every time, but made of a consistent constellation of pieces that rotate in and out together. There's a tiny overlap in the venn diagram with her supervillain outfit, but let's just drive quietly for a while.     Thus Lilian ends up feeling pretty good about wearing her Trídéag coat-- one that that goes down to the knees-- when the initial meeting point is a milkshake shop. She'd feel kind of ridiculous wearing star-studded black and infrared shades of amber, scarlet, and gold, dark outer layer accessorized with pieces of her armour halfway to looking like a gacha character, jewellery-matching the gold rather than the white in her iconic hairpin plus intentional back window for her whole demidivine binding tattoo deal, while sitting there sipping a milkshake like an asshole. Because seeing White enjoying one made her want one and she frowns a little bit at the crafty shopkeeper in a 'game recognize game but I'm not happy about it' way.     Reflecting on the fact that she's already seen what Ariel looks like, and knowing perfectly well how human beings tone match, Lilian makes a decision while doffing her coat and handing it off to Petra (whom she is now significantly taller-than, with the heeled boots and all), and transfers Night Mist from its pendant position to its Lycian sheath mounting, triangle fastened on waist and hips, and then takes the advice of a fashion conscious Dark General she's met before; she contemplates two separate lipstick tubes for a strong couple of seconds, then twists the one that produces acid-kelly green.     'We're not safe from D seeing us even in here, right? So I still need to stick close to everyone?'     "Oh right. Shame." Lilian says, distractedly staring at the fact she now has an undecorated collar window. "I got all dressed up, too." The half-full milkshake is now also Petra's problem.     'Glad you could make it, folks. Demon Lord Ariel here, I hope this little one hasn't given you too much grief.'     "A pleasure to meet you." says Lilian, touching half-armoured fingertips to her chin in smiling consideration rather than bowing. "I've heard plenty about you, so I admit, I've been rather looking forward to this." she says. "And Commander White has been wonderful. I hope you two have the time to catch up; I'd hate if she didn't receive the appreciation she warrants." Lilian says, basing this entirely on her completely delusional headcanon.     Glancing around the room, she just barely makes the save to not say 'meramera' a second time. The tradeoff is that she looks directly at Sophia, says nothing, and looks away again, which could mean Anything. "Pleasantries aside, Commander White has thoroughly briefed me to your current situation. I'm interested in helping to resolve your current deadlock, but I'd like to hear it from you; have your plans changed since Commander White's temporary disappearance?"
White	White's reaction every time someone goes in for a tight hug or other similar gesture seems to be to go a little bit limp, at least at first. Kukuru is the quickest to learn this, and White doesn't quite know what to do so she ends up patting Kukuru on the head and briefly stroking her hair, like the only time she's ever participated in a hug was while consoling someone smaller than her. Going by how she reacts to Ariel's side-hug of imprisoning doom, it seems like the 'going limp' reaction might be a survival adaptation to not get crackled like a sheet of bubblewrap.      The decor in the foyer seems to consist of gilded portraits, and many, many glass cases showing off pieces of old, used armor or weaponry, in a rather wide variety and clearly not all used by the same person. Perhaps the belongings of a long lineage.      White seems oddly a little perplexed for a moment when Audrey says 'twice over', not having counted it twice herself. Ariel seems jovially impressed though, shaking White a little by the shoulder. White's head wobbles to either side slightly, but she resets to neutral once Ariel's had her fill. "Well. I'm glad she's not lazing around then! I hafta be honest, I'm a little shocked." the Demon Lord admits, waggling her other hand at the wrist like she's halfway to making the 'crazy' gesture beside her head.      Woz's praise had won them a little nod, pleasing White a bit. Once in the study and making further greetings, Ariel hears 'Demon Lord of Time' and snickers a little, finally releasing White from the vaguely threatening side-hug to mime out a hand-twirling bow to everybody with one foot planted on the near edge of the desk for extra height. "Damn, li'l Shiro-chan is seeing other Demon Lords now? Well, I guess she knows where to look." Something about Ariel's phrasing makes Sophia click her tongue bitterly off to the side, but hearing the earnest praise from Woz about White seems to disarm the vampiress's animosity back to more subdued levels.      While Wrath is mustering a slightly soggy but earnest smile for Sougo and raising his hand off his sword to wave back, Sophia hops up from her desk-edge seat. She offers an obligatory (and therefor quick) curtsy when her name comes up aloud. When she speaks, her voice is relatively high pitched, almost like someone trying to sound a little bit more like the archetypical noblewoman than they naturally would. "Oh very well. Yes, my name is Sophia. Sophia Keren," she emphasizes, dips her head one more time, then straightens up into a surprisingly natural hip-cocked posture with her chin perched atop the knuckles of one loose fist, supported against her chest by her other arm. "Well, it is natural Master would work something out given the time she has taken." It's well hidden, but she does sound just faintly pouty saying that. Glancing at Malkuth, Sophia turns her nose up with a little 'hmph!', but then lowers it again. "I suppose I recall that one of you was rather homebound, from Master's letter, but it seems you have more than one stand-in. Good for you." She pauses, her lips drawing in for a moment in hesitance. "I suppose I may be seeing this Library of yours soon, if Master has her way." Merazophis clearly doesn't intend to speak over Sophia, but the fluctuations in his face may help others read Sophia's intentions; he's pensive when she delivers her greeting, but his smile returns with a gentle warmth as if to assure you that the young lady means no harm. He's pleased to see familiar faces again too, and makes a point to individually dip his head to each of you.
Natsuki Nuki	Invited out, White's milkshakes bring ALL her friends to the yard! Or, would, if she had so innocently premised the thought of sucking down syrupy shakes with extra thickness and cream! If Natsuki knew, she would have changed her approach! Instead, she expects to be escorted into the hospitality of the Demon Lord Ariel by one of her powerful army commanders. The flutterings of White's heart - the little anxieties, the faint 'what gift should I get' only reinforced Natsuki's own idea of the woman after what research she could do. Someone of power, who commanded respect, who had clearly refined tastes, and was a thorough and true Demon Lord. Natsuki thought she knew the type. Better, she thought she knew White, and so Natsuki shows up to shakes like she walked off the monster stage of a Harajuku fashion show. Wearing her full and shameless shape, a tall and built tigeroid woman with thick black stripes and a rich dark brown interior instead of white, Natsuki's eyemask-patterned expression remains recognizable despite pantherine shift of face and her outfit remains exactly on-style. Wearing a white collared shirt half-open to show a hanging pendant and a higher chain necklace, odd-buttoned and shifted across neck to reveal bare shoulder under narrow pink sweater-jacket, plus black pleated skirt that her shirt was only half-sorted for and spilling over from jacket, thick platformed heeled ankle boots with three-quarter inch straps and buckles, and a ruffly roll up the calf over the end of the boots to just short of knee with white sock, Natsuki hits the Milkshake place and is all birdsong and laughter as she rolls up. 'Hyoo-hyoo-hyoo!' calls her laughter, and 'huyu-huyu' the warbling of her giggles while she heads up to White out front to appraise. "White, if you wanted to take me out for milkshakes you didn't have to *calendar* that!" She observes, glancing over at the look that Lilian is throwing and grinning broadly across black lips at the fierce fit. She didn't come early - right on time, actually - and thus doesn't have the Time Hatrix powers to acquire an instant milkshake being one of the last to arrive. Instead, stealing a long slurp from White's milkshake with a dip down, Natsuki agrees with the general enjoyment: "Mm!" A beat for extended enjoyment, a low chortle, and a sigh. "I'll have to double back." Laments a woman who will certainly not, and flips out her phone to start texting someone. > Takeshi. I want a milkshake. Have the best one in Osaka ready for me by the time I'm back. Flipping closed her phone after the scene transition, Natsuki smiles in beatific (red-eyed evil rakshasa woman) pleasantness and waves at the greeting crew. "Hi-hi!" . . . After being introduced to everyone, particularly, Ariel giving White the treatment she does, Natsuki dips into an exaggerated bow and sweep in of the hand then rise. "Oh, quite the opposite, Demon Lord!" She assures immediately, still jovial. "White's been a darling to me, and I've been excited to meet you and others for a while. I've heard quite a bit - good things, good things!" Falling to huyu-huyu for a moment, Natsuki rights. "I am the Lady Nue, Natsuki, and I've heard you've got quite the unfortunate set of problems that your adorable White has convinced me we might help with."
White	White nods a little at Petra's inquiry, but she doesn't seem *too* concerned. In fact, she even gives her a Very Reassuring thumbs-up! At least for a single visit, she seems to have a decent amount of confidence in their privacy right now as long as Petra is nearby. Petra's own impressions of White seem to once again bolster Sophia's mood by proxy, but Ariel nods along in clear agreement like she's proudly absorbing the praise herself. It isn't like she *raised* White... Though, Petra admitting that White's talked about Sophia and Wrath makes both of them almost seem to flinch in their own ways, one shielding her face slightly like she's expecting something bad, and the other leaning slightly back like he's suddenly aware something dangerous has been watching him. They both notice each other's reactions, and share a glance before mutually, wordlessly choosing not to pursue that topic.      Then, with Lilian echoing several others' impressions and seemingly no dissent from among those gathered on the praise pile-on for White, Ariel finds her head tilting almost like she's sensed something missing. "... There's no 'but'?" she asks, then looks at White, who looks uncharacteristically grumpy (ver. 'lips stretched into a completely flat line and eyebrows scrunched') at the look Ariel is giving her. The Demon Lord lingers like that for a beat, makes a soft 'huh' sound, and for a short moment in time her grins and exaggerated joviality melt away to a sort of gentle surprise, and a sense of reevaluation. Like she's flattered that White has been working so hard, maybe.      Ariel takes a proper seat now, hearing actual nuts-and-bolts questions begin to be raised, and she leans in onto the knuckles of both hands, perching her chin. The change in mood is only slightly undercut by Sophia muttering "Cool." under her breath when she thinks Ariel has all of the attention, sneakily watching Natsuki. Sophia is the girl who reinvented xenomorph blood for herself; there's no other impression Natsuki could create for her, even with her silly-cute laugh. "Right, business then. The short version is this- though I'm going from the notes about that meeting you all had before, for reference: Dustin, the Pontiff I mean, has been trying to recruit the noncombatant reincarnations, or at least invite them away from our custody. Only a few of them bit, but we haven't been able to tell what he might be doing with them now that they're not in our care. He doesn't do things for free, so we've been looking into it. We also believe we know where the new owner of Sloth is going to pop up, but she doesn't have the title yet. Still no word on the Ruler of Pride, and Schlain- the kid hero- has been missing for a little while too ever since he ambushed White. Since he used up the Sword of the Hero on her, I'm betting the kid is off training somewhere, taking advantage of her being missing to try and even the odds, which isn't so bad... But it seems he got his hooks into Hugo at some point too. Hugo already gave up his Ruler Keys, but he's still a Ruler of Two, and specifically Lust and Greed could be a real issue if we somehow lose track of the useless prince and he finds a way to break li'l Sophia's skill seal. So, we're focusing on keeping him apart from Schlain's gang, right now, and mostly holding onto the remains of the Elf Village as a secondary territory, but we don't have a lot of people to do much else."      MUCH EARLIER... White makes a bit of a startled face only once Natsuki boldly leans in to steal some of her milkshake. Food theft!! But, she reevaluates, smiles softly, and takes another sip herself. She wasn't going to finish it alone, anyway.
Audrey Basque	"And by 'some time' you mean it was like four hours straight, and you haven't even installed it into the tower yet,"     (Earlier) "Well, I can't install it until the tower's been remodeled, and of course it makes sense to understand it before I rearrange ley lines to use it. I am NOT plugging a star in a jar into the local energy flows until I'm sure it won't fry everything and make the air even drier," Audrey argues, as they were still making their way through the halls. Of course, the air isn't actually particularly dry, she just means magically. Indoors cat.     She'd done her best to avoid Lilian's gaze, predictably enough; staying out of her way, and not even raising a fuss when Petra is made to carry her things. Much as she wanted to.     She's normal about this.     Who she HADN'T avoided the gaze of is Natsuki; in fact Audrey was quite happy to see familiar faces (Kukuru, too!!), but Natsuki in particular was an oddly comforting one for reasons. So she'd made sure to say hi, out of the way! "Well. I'm glad she's not lazing around then! I hafta be honest, I'm a little shocked."     (Now) "Hardly! White--" She picks up, quickly, on something from Lilian. "Commander White, has been invaluable in a little project of mine, and features prominently in a few others." Gas her up! This is a proper lady's duty, when accompanying someone else. "I can only hope to be as useful to your cause as she has been to mine, and several others' too."     She counted it as twice, you see, because accepting to come at all was already one. Helping her through that fall was two!     Then, they're given the briefing; Audrey is quiet through all of it, making mental note of the important names. She'd grasped the basics of White's world, from overhearing conversations, but most of this was still a tad over her head.     "Hypothetically, what all could these noncombatant reincarnations be useful for that the Pontiff wants them? Can they learn, say, unique crafting or social skills, or anything nonstandard in that realm?"     She also peeks at White. "You wanted me to find some locations for you, if I recall. Does it relate to this?"
Lilian Rook	"My my. I can't remember ever seeing you quite like this." Lilian takes the time to comment towards Natsuki. It's hardly a pleasantry; she is, genuinely, a little bit fascinated. "I suppose our previously-crossed paths weren't naturally amenable to the mien, but I suppose this is exactly your element, isn't it?" she says, eyes free-roaming to tiger stripes and bare shoulder in the idle moments before Sophia jumps in.     'Oh very well. Yes, my name is Sophia.'     'Well, it is natural Master would work something out given the time she has taken.'     'I suppose I recall that one of you was rather homebound, from Master's letter, but it seems you have more than one stand-in. Good for you.'     'hmph!'     The way that Lilian zones out; glassy-eyed, mouth just slightly open; is not entirely dissimilar to the way that Rita does when a dripping-raw stake is dangled in front of her. She swallows, weirdly hard, and fixes White with a stare that oozes with Meaning.     '... There's no 'but'?'     "If you need one, I suppose I should give Merazophis his share of credit for his timely presentation." says Lilian, not missing a beat. "It seems the Commander is 'a woman of action'." As opposed to words. "Hence why I rather wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts."     Of course she gets them. Leaning her cheek into her fingertip, she appears one part taken aback to three parts impressed that Ariel has them all on deck to blurt out like that. Even if they're a bit of a ramshackle ramble, and Lilian is working to keep up with them, spare hand resting idly on the sword angled at her own hip and fidgeting lightly with the hilt, the overall impression it gives her is, "You've had this on your mind non-stop for quite a while, haven't you? Your familiarity with all the particulars of the topic informs me that you've become familiar with it through countless hours of action and consideration." Which is a polite way of practically saying that Ariel is a War On God Nerd (positive).     Contemplating Pontiff Dustin being the mastermind, Lilian says "Even in this world, people seem to still not know better than to . . ."     §Don't finish that. It's trashy and bitter.§     ". . . Well. As eager as people have demonstrated they are to challenge the child hero themselves, it'd be fortunate if he isn't in the picture for a while. I'd like that loose thread to remain as uncomplicated as possible." Lilian says. "Hugo retained his Ruler skills despite giving up the Keys? That's possible? Ah, for a certain definition of 'keep'. But 'keeping him away' seems like it would account for some of your staffing shortage. Wouldn't it be ideal to capture him before Schlain returns?"     "On that note, is there any reason to not move to secure 'Sloth' before she manifests the skill as well? Acquiring her loyalty before she has the power to really think about it would save you-- us all, a lot of trouble in the long run." Lilian says. "Are the reincarnations without Keys something we actually need?"
Timespace Riders	I hafta be honest, I'm a little shocked.     "Well, that makes two of us, because it's hard for me to imagine White 'lazing around,' haha!" Sougo smiles.     "Seriously, though," he adds, "She told us a lot about what's been going on here," he says, nodding in agreement with Lilian. "And so did Merazophis. They were both really helpful in helping us understand your situation, and what you're looking to do."     "I actually took some notes, too, here..."     Woz reaches into his scarf and procures a bound notebook for Sougo.     "Thanks, Woz," the Demon King beams. He opens it to a colorful neon sticky-note bookmark, scanning down the margins.     "So, there's a System in place that empowers the people least benefitted by it to protect it, as a kind of overseer class. That's a 'hero,'" he says. "It does that by drawing from the planet's life force, so even if you or White fight this hero and win, it's still a loss for everyone on the planet."     "Uh, let's see..." He reads a little further down. "That System is also... deteriorating, and eventually it's going to lead to the death of all life on the planet. But you can't just *tell* people that, because the closest thing you have to an Internet or a news network here is still designed and kinda controlled by someone who benefits from that System and--this is guesswork from me--" Sougo looks up from the notebook. "Can either insulate themselves from the consequences of it blowing up, thinks they can, or they just don't care?"     "And that person is also the reason we need Petra here. *And,*" he says, looking back down into the notebook with the harrowed sigh of someone staring down the barrel of another long-long-long-term project, "She actively fights against any way to solve this without war, because this is all a big game to her, and she's the kind of person to put a Sim into a swimming pool and delete the ladder."     "Sire, they do not have 'the Sims' here," Woz politely asides.     Sougo nods and smiles faintly. "I know. That was really more for White. And Petra. Anyway! Does that about cover it, Demon Lord Ariel? There were some ideas I had, and some that White had, but I wanna make sure I have all the details right first." Cool.     "Indeed, she is, and more," Woz answers at conversational volume to Sophia's under-the-breath, his brown eyes briefly flicking towards her, then Natsuki, with a little spark of impishly amused appreciation. I suppose this is exactly your element, isn't it?      Sougo smiles to himself, his eyes drifting towards Natsuki, too, but he doesn't comment. Assuming he got all the details right:      "Woz can find things from far away," he says, gesturing towards his retainer, who affirms with a little inclination of his head. "White mentioned some things she'd like to have on a team. Kukuru seems pretty good at keeping people alive. I feel like Audrey would be pretty good at keeping people out of places? Lilian or God Genm could keep the dragon busy, I bet. I don't... know enough about our magic people to know how good they'd be at 'altering spells,' and I don't know enough about Audrey's in particular to know if she'd be good at keeping people from teleporting. Audrey?"
Angela	''If Master has her way.'' "Well she ''is'' Master. It would be strange if she didn't have her way." Angela says to Sophia. Her eyes slant towards Merazophis for a moment. She closes her eyes, steadies herself, and then opens them again. "I hope you do, of course. I enjoy visitors. May I inquire what sort of books you are interested in, literature or otherwise? I'll set aside what appropriate manuscripts I have at the time--and if the selection is lacking, of course, I can have them retrieved. I am sure you have been warned of what The City thinks of what we call 'Blood Fiends' but I assure you I carry no such prejudices." Though, to be fair, she doesn't have blood right now. When she does have blood, she might have sudden occassion to reevaluate her position--but she doesn't think she would. She's met Yuuki already and while she can't help but be a little suspicious of how sweetie and pateetie she is, consistency does pay off. It helps that Yuuki has a Zero Yuuki to be the stern sour apple--not that she really minds it, quite the contrary--he is very direct with his instructions and expectations which is, frankly, a bit of a relief even if he isn't so chirpy about it. Malkuth for her part seems confused more than offended by Sophia turning up her nose at her. She immediately thinks she must have done something to offend the blood fiend but the blood fiend doesn't rip out her blood from her body or anything so she is going to take this as a sign that she didn't mess up too bad. But it's going to haunt her. Malkuth doesn't like making the same mistake twice. Even if it's a mistake that she only arguably made by virtue of existing within proximity to Sophia. ''I'm glad she's not been lazing around town!'' Angela makes the will save to not immediately blurt out 'She gave me a spider I named her Harriet'. Instead she says, "She has been a great help both as a friend off the field and an ally on the field." She is not ashamed to flatter White. And as she thinks about it, it's not like she can't exercise some patience with Sophia. Sometimes people are prickly for good reason. Usually it's for bad reasons but, well. She looks to White, nevertheless, and asks, "Is it alright to speak on what we discussed? It may be too early." She means using her ability to 'steal' pages from people to be used as a manner of copying Ruler Keys. She looks to Natsuki and says, "Which reminds me of one other obligation. Malkuth, please give Natsuki what we discussed." Malkuth reaches into her coat, drawing out a page from her coat which rapidly transmogrifies into the Gold Rush EGO--specifically the gauntlet--which she then offers to Natsuki. "As promised." Angela says.
Petra Soroka	"Oh right. Shame."     Petra obediently takes Lilian's jacket and milkshake as if it isn't even a question, carefully folding the former over her arm so it's neat and available on demand if Lilian asks. The milkshake is left awkwardly held in one hand, though. She can't just store it anywhere, so she ends up stuck with carrying it around while anxiously tagging along behind Lilian at minimum-NPC-follow-distance.     "I mean, that doesn't have to be a problem. You can just drag me along wherever you want to go." "Oh very well. Yes, my name is Sophia. Sophia Keren,"     Oh, she really is *that* type. Petra's stare lingers on the pouty noblewoman brat pose for just a second too long, briefly flicking her eyes to Audrey for reasons she won't explain. The fact that she looks *nervous* about 'being talked about when she isn't around' rather than smugly pleased fills in another gap in a puzzle that Petra didn't realize she was assembling but now has about 80% complete. "Well, it is natural Master would work something out given the time she has taken."     Now slightly obsessed with prodding at Sophia, Petra decides to go a little bit further on White's defense. "She hasn't just been sitting around, yeah. Merazophis would remember, that from that first meeting she was talking about things she'd need in order to come back safely and everything. She was trying to figure it out right from the start." "... There's no 'but'?"     Petra is a little surprised to even hear that that's an expectation. What has White ever done that was counter to her being extremely skilled, intelligent, dedicated, and overall competent? She runs through memories, mostly from Angela's perspective, of times where White strung pizza from the ceiling, or scuttled out of a closet dragging some random man wordlessly, or covered Petra in spiders... "... No, I can't think of any? And I'm usually *looking* for them." "Dustin, the Pontiff I mean, has been trying to recruit the noncombatant reincarnations, or at least invite them away from our custody."     "That's the guy who's been making sure humans never get along with demons, right..." Petra pouts thoughtfully. She's *so* bad at maintaining dense worldbuilding lore, especially when it involves tons of different people's names. She doesn't know those people! She barely remembers the names of people she interacts with herself! Thankfully, Lilian is here to provide an anchoring point for Petra's brain to function at all.     "I know how these sorts of things work. Are the noncombat reincarnations ineligible to get any of the Ruler skills just by default? It seems like they're kind of disproportionately ending up with the reincarnations, but... besides that, what kind of things do you mean by noncombat? Like... ones who do construction or crafting or economic type stuff? Because I can see how that would be *incredibly* useful to someone whose best weapon is manipulating public opinion, since they've all got unique stuff as reincarnations, right?"     "Speaking of manipulating opinions, though-- Schlain's been fully roped into opposing you guys, right? But he wouldn't know any of *us*, if one of us could find some way to gaslight that kid into being less of a problem." Petra is *so* comfortably at home in a demon lord's manor.
Petra Soroka	"And that person is also the reason we need Petra here."     Petra is suddenly animated to look at Sougo at the mention of her name like a cat instinctively responding to 'pspspsps'. In order to justify her abrupt attention, she has to figure out something to say about the actual topic Sougo was explaining, as if she wasn't just perking up at any mention of her own name. She drags his words out of short term memory and puts them back in her mental oven for a moment longer, in order to form Opinions and provide useful information.     "Oh, yeah. I figure that since D was the one who established the System in the first place, it's not something that she's weak to having it busted. Especially since she *programmed in* the way for it to be broken." "I know. That was really more for White. And Petra."     "Wait, I wouldn't do that!"     Petra immediately responds as if it's an *accusation* rather than a metaphor, and her following hesitation from realizing what he actually meant keeps her from continuing that thought. She stays frozen for a second, finger raised and lips slightly open, rapidly becoming guilty-seeming even though she did nothing particularly wrong. Had she continued to elaborate about her opinions on drowning Sims, she would've explained that doing that is way too quick and anticlimactic which is rude to these little blorbos who she is responsible for inside the prison of her computer, and so she would instead contrive long, drawn out narratives resulting in their painful death instead. She might actually be worse than D, come to think of it.
Kukuru	White's reaction to the hug tells Kukuru a lot even as Kukuru adjusts her hold almost immediately to, indeed, not crackle white like a sheet of bubblewrap. She wants her family to feel safe, after all, and that means after the initial gentle patting on both sides, she lets go of White sooner rather than later. Seeing how White has a similar reaciton to Ariel's side-capture helps confirm a few things, too, and Kukuru's definitely taking mental notes about all that for later. "I'm glad she's not lazing around then! I hafta be honest, I'm a little shocked." "Really? She's been preeeetty proactive ever since I met her, so maybe..." She strokes her chin lightly, trailing off to listen to Sophia's own introduction and further comments about White echoing the same idea. Ariel's expression shift has Kukuru chuckling lightly before long, and Sophia's quiet one-word comment has Kukuru tilting her head ever so slightly upwards to make sure she heard that right. Of course she heard that right. Sophia's talking about natsuki, after all. Needless to say, Kukuru's smile has a slightly smug quality to it just by living vicariously through her family, and she takes a moment to settle down as Ariel starts talking business. Lacing her fingers together, she rests her hands against her midsection idly while trying to come up with suggestions or questions that might help with this whoel situation. "Well, you've got pleeenty more people to work with now, so that should help with spreading the work load." She starts, nodding in agreement with Sougo's assessment of those gathered here. "And that's just for fighting. We still have aaa... Um. What's the word..." "But he wouldn't know any of *us*, if one of us could find some way to gaslight that kid into being less of a problem." Kukuru struggles a bit as she gestures at everyone that had come here by White's invitation, then nods quickly at Petra. "Right, that... Gaslight?" Kukuru seems confused for a moment, then purses her lips as she proceeds to not ask what that word actually means. "Anyway. That Schlain boy... If he's being misled by Dustin and whoever else, he just needs someone to show him the truth." She asserts, apparently conflating 'truth' with 'is on our side'. "Then maybe he'll even quit this whole 'hero' act and go back home where it's safe. Oooor... He'll join us when he's old enough."
Audrey Basque	"I feel like Audrey would be pretty good at keeping people out of places?"     A bit startled, shifting her attention from one Demon Lord to the other, Audrey taps her chin, considering. "That depends on the method of entry or exit. I can make rooms physically inescapable, but magic is always unpredictable. If their method of teleportation involves traversing space, I can stop them for sure. If not, I may still be able to make it very difficult. I'd have to see the location and take a look at the nearby ley lines and--"     If you get her in top student mode you will be here all day hearing about this, and she catches herself enough to stop. Petra's stare lingers on the pouty noblewoman brat pose for just a second too long, briefly flicking her eyes to Audrey for reasons she won't explain.     There is almost a visible ? as Audrey glances back at Petra and tilts her head, like she's very clearly missing the point.
Natsuki Nuki	Wicked villainess of food theft, Natsuki notices that her measured sampling of White's creamy treat is taken in stride and with smiles, and notes this for later. She doesn't attack the shake more, but it's sorted away as knowledge. In the intervening moments between milkshake shacks and teleportations directly into conversations, Natsuki is greeted! Better, over others (Lilian) in the conversation she is *selected* and so like a magnet is gravitated over. Except Natsuki had been in her 'Osakan human' form before when they had met, which was a 5'9" girl with tiger ears and evil tail, and now she was brazenly bigger in every dimension and taller over a foot in height and then several extra inches in thick platform and heel on purpose. Leaning in on Audrey is like *looming* in on her, shifting off of White to shoulder-grab Audrey and lean-over to squeeze-hug by drawing her in by the span of one arm. "Hey yourself," Purrs Natsuki, "my adorable junior." 'kawaii kouhai' rolls off her tongue like spiced cocoa, sweet and hot. If she was getting picked over Lilian, Natsuki would take that in the form that suited her: as a direct show of clear intention and desire. Regardless of fact. However, it's different when *Lilian* appreciates her. Natsuki senses an alpha heather - a Student Council *President*-type, and shifts off the Astrology Club captain with her attention. 'I suppose our previously-crossed paths weren't naturally amenable to the mien, but I suppose this is exactly your element, isn't it?' Part of falling on Audrey was showing for Lilian's appreciation, turning eyes over to smile in aside. "That's ex~actly right! Even the Pretty Cures I get along with more when I'm the storybook version and not the. . ." She chortles. "-historical scroll version? But here, I'm meeting the Demon Lord! So I'm dressed~ to impress~!" It's clear what kind of 'dressed' she means - here in the land of literal demons, appearing as a fashionable youkai without holding back simply seemed appropriate! --- It's not that Audrey escapes from Natsuki afterwards but that Natsuki has to bow and shift and introduce afterwards, and she wants to, because Ariel is clearly the one to Impress with the shift of her stance and the placement of hand upon hip and the confident carry of her whole self. Sophia, meanwhile, catches the shadow and shift and sway-out of Natsuki's black tail-serpent, red-eyed and glaring from her wake. Open appreciation is an easy way to Natsuki's heart and she shifts her stance to unsubtly mug a but for Sophia as well, though her head's attention remains on Ariel. "Business, then. What I have to offer is discrete investment." Natsuki begins, lifting and addressing with poise. "I know that your world is overseen by a powerful, and annoying, force that might intervene, so I know that discretion has a high value as well. Because it's a Partner I'd be helping - I'm sure there's numerous and extremely boring ways that my wealth *and* wealth management might be put to use to optimize everything about your empire. This sounds boring: it will be. I know it is, and so it should take place among more dramatic actions, but what gods like I believe your problem deity in question don't understand is the value of deep investment and precision accounting. An example:" Natsuki presents an open hand.
Natsuki Nuki	"Imagine I give you wagons of diamonds and gold. Your meddlesome divinity would see that and give more to the other side, or take yours and move them." Her hand closes into a fist. "But if during the operations you've been investing, at every point, there's no wave of deific hand to make it better. They could make a miracle accountant and they'd still have so much work to do to even start the wheels turning on what we can accomplish. And of course: My investments *naturally* involve protections against being tampered with or stolen. I can guarantee satisfaction on that. I understand it's humble, so it's just an opening offer, but," She shifts the arm back to shrug widely and rotate down to rest palms on hips. "I do hope we can work with each other, my Demon Lord." Natsuki declares, in ending. Sidegrinning at Woz, knowing she's easily hit 'cool' with a home run smash, she's surprised when she's addressed by Angela! "Imagine I receive such a beau~tiful thing!!" She twitters with glee, lifting one heel and placing hands together in shamelessly exultant motion before reaching out to take the transmogrified page with both hands. Of course, Natsuki has eagerly awaited this gift for some time and wastes no time tucking it away for later, immediately shifting her whole arm into the gorgeous amber-gold sworl circle patterns and diamond scale motifs. With a frill where the gauntlet meets forearm and black segmented fingers, she eagerly flexes and fully fits her hand and arm into the glove on her left fist.
White	White hears Audrey gassing her up, hears the intent to match White's contributions in return, and White looks in Audrey's direction with a strangely serious expression. "I'll win." she says at a mumbling volume, and Ariel immediately grabs White's arm and shakes her vigorously. "Now now, no bullying your friends Shiro-chan. It's a bad look to get competitive with someone youn-" She does some mental math. "Gentler than you." She coughs, then answers on White's behalf when the latter is rendered to busy pouting in Ariel's direction. "I belieeeeve the idea was to have you help us locate some unwanted facilities hidden away and draining the planet's energy. From back when Potimas's scummy ass was still alive. If we can locate them with your help, the more we take out the longer our doomsday clock can run for, you get it? Of course, we won't say no if you can help us find some other things too, like where the Pontiff's hideout is, or where Schlainypoo is doing his secret training. Or uh, where Sloth and Pride are, maybe."      Sophia seems completely, blankly oblivious to the meaning of Lilian's reaction, but like Ariel did for White, she sponges up her own share of the praise for Merazophis by proximity. "Isn't he just a darling? It's completely unconscionable that he keeps being required-of by the other commanders, I think. But he's just too capable for his own good." She sighs wistfully, cupping her cheek, and Merazophis does his very best to recieve the praise with decorum despite its fawning delivery. "You needn't worry for my sake, Young Miss. I owe Lady White and Lady Ariel immeasurably, and it is a pleasure to repay them."      Merazophis mouths 'the internet' like it's an arcane word he's only heard once before, that inspires some kind of awe in him. Mentioning the Sims, on the other hand, makes Wrath's spine straighten up like an alerted dog, but he tries to play it off and let the tension drain back out of his shoulders. There might have been a glint of recognition in Sophia's eyes too, but she masks it better, especially while playing off Woz's acknowledgement of her abrupt comment before with a little clear of her throat. "Well, she does seem to know what she is doing." is her way of praising Natsuki's appearance; Sophia is one to appreciate a certain amount of aesthetic deliberateness. Merazophis speaks with Angela on Sophia's behalf as well, noting "I deeply appreciate such consideration, Lady Angela. I fear most of my reading of late has been of the 'report' variety, but in my leisure time I enjoy both novels and biographical accounts. I will warmly anticipate our visit, when it is feasible."      Sougo and Woz sharing their notes from before has Ariel leaning in a little more over the desk, nodding and 'mhm'ing at most of what they're saying, but she offers brief corrections as they go. "Technically, it's people's souls that are deteriorating, rather than the System itself. But close enough! As for the skeevy god that brewed it up, she wouldn't be affected in the slightest if it did collapse. As far as we can tell, it's just her favorite toybox, but... Well, we can get into that more later. Dustin's doing most of the lifting on keeping everything hush hush on the humans' side, since the Word of God is the only human organizaiton that actively trains Telepaths and Fartalkers." She sits back in her chair then, and smiles in Woz's direction. "That's a real help. Between me and White, we can get people where they need to be as long as we know *where*, though I'm a lot slower at it than she is."
White	White finally tries to speak again, brushing her sleeve off as if discarding her grumpiness from before. "... Miss Audrey is... Resistant. To Dimensional Magic. If she can direct it... She might..." Then she pauses, stirring words around in her brain for a few long moments. She doesn't seem to land on a good succinct version of where she's going verbally, so she cuts it down as much as she can. "... Prevent a kidnapping." Ariel blinks, so it doesn't seem like she's following either, completely.      Refocusing toward Lilian a moment, Ariel does a Big Shrug. "I mean, it's kind of been my entire life's work ya know? But I'd be dead already if not for... Well, you can guess." She smiles slantedly, closes her eyes a moment and shrugs harder. Maybe she's just embarrassed to admit she'd fall short without her supporters. "Anyway. Yeah, Rulers keep the skill even if they give up the key, but there's a chance that if someone else qualifies more highly to be the Ruler of that skill, then it might jump ship while the Key is missing. But likewise, if the Ruler is dead, and a new Ruler gets named, then the keys go to the new Ruler immediately too, so it's a pain to risk that and just get rid of him. And White's got this thing she's trying to do that means we can't kill the reincarnations either... She's pretty serious about this kinda thing sometimes." White offers no argument or sass to that, either. "As for Sloth, well, the problem is she's like, super deep in enemy lines, and a part of their upper-eschelon forces too. Girl prodigy-type mage, who studied under the Humans' greatest wizard like the last two Heroes did. Also basically invented the concept of Sniping, at least by firearms standards, but she uses Light Magic for it. It's a huge pain, Merazophis had to give up on taking a major fort because of her months back. Oh and, yeah. I meant keeping Hugo and Schlain apart. Capturing Hugo would be easiest, but the other Reincarnations aren't gonna like that very much, and they don't all trust us a bunch even though we did save them."      Then, she sighs at the mention of the reincarnations. "We don't *need* them, but the problem is the humans have a lot more resources to train them, if they do go over to that side. And some of their unique skills are completely fucked up. The ones that went over at Dustin's invitation were... What was it..." At that, Sophia clears her throat and neatly fills in, "'Defiance', 'Book Lover', and 'Affection Arrow', I believe?" Ariel rolls her eyes and scoffs. "Yeah, those ones. Basically, 'damage reflection', 'casting any spell using a book as a focus', and 'magical girl beam, scaling with the way she feels about whoever she fires it with'. And, well the beam-girl has a crush on the book kid, so there's that. I really don't want to see them turned into soldiers and powerlevelled. When I said 'noncombatant', I just meant they'd never fought before. They're level 1, no real stats yet. But that can change; reincarnations level up way the hell faster than the natives do, because their souls are still fresh."
White	White starts to become a little lost as she tries to follow Natsuki's suggestion, given financial management has never been a part of her daily life in this world OR part of her duties. Ariel isn't much for it either, but she's still enthusiastic to hear that someone else is, and her grin comes back with a full display of glinting little pearly fangs. "I'm gonna have to put you in touch with Balto then. He's already scared of me enough not to screw around, so someone like you should... Heh, do numbers." Zing. "Fortunately between White's silk and Wrath's weapons, we've got equipment handled for our better soldiers, and we don't have a ton of them to equip anyway. So any extra funding can go into stuff like getting food out of human territories, but aside from that it'll be up to the two of you. I'm really more of an action girl myself anyway, y'know?" She snickers herself, a sort of 'nee shee shee' like she's playing along with Natsuki's particular brand of laughter.
Angela	"Is it gaslighting if it's the truth?" Angela asks. "But you also manipulating them into believing it?" ''It's completely unconscionable that he keeps being required of by other commanders.'' "It is the dark fate of the competent, I'm afraid." Angela says. Getting a response from Merazophis instead of Sophia whose interest she actually was interested in gauging makes her frown faintly but she does say, "Well fortunately History is one of our larger sections. Malkuth can guide you around the Floor of History." Angela's eyes widen faintly at 'book lover' and she writes something down. "So it would be easier for you to copy the key than risk it going to someone new or being in the hands of someone who wishes you ill and is annoying to deal with." Angela summarizes. She's surprised by Natsuki's eagerness but--she supposes it means she's a good fit. She hopes it doesn't consume her mind or anything but, honestly, everybody seems pretty resistant to those effects in her life and it's probably safe to assume Natsuki is too. She doesn't even dwell on it but she does smile faintly at Natsuki's appreciation. She can lend EGO out a lot more casually than she could before because she doesn't care about it being proprietary tech. ''There's no 'but'?'' "Well she's your Commander." Angela doesn't seem to get it either.
Audrey Basque	"Hey yourself," Purrs Natsuki, "my adorable junior."     Okay maybe just maybe greeting Natsuki was a mistake but now she's locked in that hold and a prisoner while the taller woman is chatting with... Lilian. Yep. Great, perfect, immaculate position to be in.     She'll, surely, just be ignored. Don't worry about it.     She's eventually freed, but knows better than to make for a swift escape and give off any kind of vibes right now. Be cool. Act natural. Deep breaths. Keep on topic. "I'll win."     Audrey smiles, nodding happily.     There's no doubt to that, and it makes White look good. "I belieeeeve the idea was to have you help us locate some unwanted facilities hidden away and draining the planet's energy. From back when Potimas's scummy ass was still alive. If we can locate them with your help, the more we take out the longer our doomsday clock can run for, you get it?"     "Oh! My, that is much more detail than before. I am fairly confident I could find such facilities. For those other matters, we would have to discuss it in more details. Finding facilities that are impacting the world's energy flow is a very different beast from finding ambiguous secrets. It will be my pleasure to try at least. See what your stars have to say."     She did enjoy how different each sky feels, and she's certain the one here won't disappoint at all. "... Miss Audrey is... Resistant. To Dimensional Magic. If she can direct it... She might..."     Blink.     "I am?"     She supposes while she's actively making a barrier, that would make some sense, but she doesn't know what to say.     "I-If you believe so, then I... suppose we could conduct some experiments to see how useful that is." No, no, she wants to know what they're even talking about, and experiments are a good way to do that.
White	White nods along slowly with Ariel's elaboration, looking more comfortable with someone who knows what she's trying to say nearby to do most of the heavy lifting. Though, it's Wrath that finally speaks up on the subject of Schlain being a pain, and he steps around Sophia to stand on the other side of Merazophis, closer to the desk so that nobody has to turn much to see him. "Shun is... Consumed by the image of his brother, I think. The one from this world, the last Hero I mean. But he never actually... Saw his brother, when he was acting as the Hero. Only when he was visiting home, being a good brother and his closest family. Shun thinks the world of Julius, and isn't... Willing to acknowledge what he's lacking, that Julius had. Because he doesn't think it's possible that Julius was more of a soldier than a saint. Shun is trying to be the saint, not the soldier, and now that he has Mercy, it doesn't seem like he can be... Easily persuaded. I tried, when we fought his party at the Elves' village." He sounds a bit morose, and there's definitely a personal stake in it for him; Ariel doesn't do much besides listen and watch when he speaks on this subject, and her own expression is plain and hard to read. "... He's still holding out for the 'third choice', between a bad war and bad peace. I don't think he really gets how messed up D is. We had this big... Reincarnations council meeting, after the Elves were finished off. Tried to get everyone on the same page. He even seemed like he was listening, but... It seems like he really, especially can't trust Wakaba. It's not like they were friends before, but I think D told him something about her, so he's flipped completely around on everything he heard from her before." 'Wakaba', it turns out, seems to mean White. He glances in her direction, at least.
Natsuki Nuki	There's some amount, some warm lull, of Natsuki's tone that welcomes the layperson with the warm confidence of an expert. She absolutely knows what she's doing. "Oh, my Demon Lord, I understand com~pletely!" Natsuki assures, enthralled for a moment by the flexing palm of her heavily gloved hand. It must feel good, like kneading a cloth or testing a claw, for she works the hand slowly and with great purpose. "It's the effect I'm counting on." Natsuki admits, clicking gauntlet closed. Turning over hand -- pulling away eyes, she lifts red gaze to Ariel. "In collections of strong fighters, my Demon Lord can do what's best, and I will do what's best, and that together will be greater than any snap of the fingers!" Huyu-huyu-huyu, at a confident puff. "So show me to your master of books and let their problems become my problems and see and hear the profits of victory. Good investments pay out over seasons, and that's why festivals mark them. Think about our relationship as... looking forward to more festivals!" Raising new glove too hold it closed before her, Natsuki grins. "Plus, the obvious - my incredible power!" Posed, she laughs more in time with Ariel, having a great time meeting new people with good dress sense and proper tastes. And, Angela's faith in Natsuki might be properly placed and well founded with plenty of evidence, but what is more accurate is that Natsuki as a curse-eater has decided to pursue new and exotic corruptions on purpose with great eagerness. Feeling the power and corrosion both flow through her from the throb of her encased arm is what she had hoped would occur, slamming on the gauntlet of desires because there was simply no other place it could be more. 'I am?' Giggling further at Audrey's modesty, Natsuki makes the brunette's calmed fears of being only being grabbed once get dashed as she reaches with the King of Greed hand and reaches out to stroke the seemingly-static charged yet amber-smooth digits atop Audrey's head in a 'there there' motion. "Don't be modest! You were building that whole tower to your space magic, weren't you? I don't just believe so -" Raw want draws her close, intimate, handsy and jovial. "I want to *see*." She urges.
Timespace Riders	But he wouldn't know any of *us*, if one of us could find some way to gaslight that kid into being less of a problem.     "That shouldn't be a problem for me," Sougo says. If he's being misled by Dustin and whoever else, he just needs someone to show him the truth.     "It's probably too late for that," laments Sougo. "If it would have worked at all. Remember that 'the truth' is pretty tightly controlled, and not by us. But that doesn't mean there's no point in talking to him. If he feels like he can't trust anybody," notes the Demon King with casual ease, "Then he'll have to think for himself. And that's just one way to do it. Once I meet him I can figure out which option is the best one, without him catching on to what I'm doing."     Wait, I wouldn't do that!     "I know," says Sougo, assuagingly. Internally, he knows because there's no grander narrative to be had in a ladder being removed from a pool by divine fiat. Petra doesn't do things 'because she can' out of childish boredom! If she ruins someone's life there are reasons and motivations behind it.     "As for 'Shclainypoo,'" Woz intones the word like handling a live isotope, "I can get that information to you at any time. There are two considerations: the first is whether you feel it prudent to pursue at this early stage; he is, as you and White have noted, D's favorite."     "The second is the nature of how that information is acquired," he says. "For the sake of simplicity, I shall say that... the higher the specificity of the desired information at the time of my research, the better." He's still holding out for the 'third choice', between a bad war and bad peace.     Sougo frowns--thoughtfully, but not a little sympathetically. "Then... that changes things. I guess I'll just have to fix things so that he doesn't know I'm involved with White until he's already changed his mind," Sougo resolves. "It'll take more time to get the info I need," he says, "And I'll definitely want plenty of it before I make a move on him. But I'm confident that, if I have that info and the time it takes to get it, I can reach him and make him think it was his idea to change his mind. If I'm wrong, then I can just cut and run with a minimum of contact with him. From his perspective it'll just be like... a chance meeting with some weird guy." Is it gaslighting if it's the truth? But you are also manipulating them into believing it?     Sougo shrugs. "I dunno," he says. "But if it stops him getting spent and thrown away by D to hurt a lot of other people besides, it's worth it, to me. Worst case scenario, there's this guy that..." Sougo stops himself. Does he really want to subject this world to Blood Stark? He shakes his head. "Nah, nevermind that."
Petra Soroka	"Hey yourself,my adorable junior."     Petra Also notices Audrey getting rizzed up a little while Natsuki leans on her to chat with Lilian. Maybe surprisingly, but Petra hardly registers the difference between Natsuki's typical downplayed appearance and her full-plumage display here, because between them, Kodoku's presence remains the same, and until Natsuki addresses her with a voice that comes from her face, it's the curse-snake whose movements Petra is attentive towards.     But now she's not being talked to! And she needs to be talked to! If she doesn't get attention from a tall woman for too long it's not good for her! And so she invents a reason to slide up to besides Audrey, using her as a conversational midway point to insert herself into the 'tall scary woman looming and saying things in a low rumbly voice' situation.     "Hey, Natsuki. Audrey was telling me about some plan of yours to conquer some land off of some ancient Chinese warlord somewhere? Mind if we talk about that sometime? I," Petra begins to say, half a second before realizing how it sounds, especially right next to Audrey, "Need to get some of my conquest wiggles out." "I belieeeeve the idea was to have you help us locate some unwanted facilities hidden away and draining the planet's energy."     "Oh, cool. I love to do ecoterrorism. Er-- the good kind of ecoterrorism." This is the one thing that Petra adamantly refuses to follow in Doctor Eggman's footsteps on: being a treehugger is cringe, but it's good to reduce your personal carbon footprint! And if your giant coal-spewing mech leaves a literal footprint of blighted landscape behind it, that's not something Petra can feel good about! "Schlainypoo"     Petra will remember this. She doesn't know how to feel about it, but she can't forget hearing it. "I fear most of my reading of late has been of the 'report' variety, but in my leisure time I enjoy both novels and biographical accounts."     Petra is called upon indirectly once again! She perks up and raises both of her hands to do inscrutable little jazz hand wiggles at Sophia to draw attention to herself. "Oh, oh. I'm actually working on expanding the collection of biographies we've got. I'll make sure to bulk up our options by the time you come over." "... Prevent a kidnapping."     Petra, a girl who has been kidnapped so many times in so many different ways, actually thinks she *does* follow what White's implying. "Do you mean that since D can see everyone when I'm not around, she might try and fuck with us directly with Dimensional Magic?" "'Defiance', 'Book Lover', and 'Affection Arrow', I believe?"     Petra repeats "Magical girl beam..." under her breath while thinking fondly of Love. Maybe her beam could get stronger if she cast Arcana Slave with people she was fond of too; it'd be *very* magical girl. "I guess maybe I had too much faith in D to think that she'd bring over reincarnations with overpowered skills that would *improve* people's lives rather than just shoot out beams. We should make targeting the book boy a priority, probably, and try and snag both of them that way."
Petra Soroka	"... He's still holding out for the 'third choice', between a bad war and bad peace."     Petra groans, unable to contain her contempt despite the fact that Wrath obviously cares about Schlain. "Auuuuuughhhh, I *hate* those types! I bet that Mercy skill looks really good on his window while he fucks around and half-asses committing to anything and making everything worse for everyone. I bet it makes him feel soooo justified."     She crosses her arms, looking over at Ariel and White primarily. "So what *is* our end goal with the hero? Find a way to convince him to our side, try and disable or disappear him for long enough to complete the war-- oh, god, I can already see how the bullshit protagonist luck power would pull out a deus ex machina *there*-- or just defeat him outright? He wouldn't scale to beat *us*, just you two, right?" "It's not like they were friends before, but I think D told him something about her, so he's flipped completely around on everything he heard from her before."     Petra sighs. This happens to women. "So... still the gullible type, but he's currently anchored onto her instead of us. Which makes it really hard to separate them, because if we try to undermine D's trustworthiness and he notices, he'll double down on being fucking *loyal*. A big disaster that's directly caused by D might shake his faith, and then he'd flip around on anything she convinced him about, but...." "Is it gaslighting if it's the truth?"     "The way I'd do it it would be." "I want to *see*."     "She's actually setting up inside my castle on Hydrochoeria, so we could totally arrange a visit sometime." Petra is also here. Pay attention to her!!! Or she'll die!
Kukuru	While she listens to more strategy talk, Kukuru's eyes also wander around to seeing the way White and Natsuki share that milkshake. It's an adorable enough sight that she has to turn away just to lower her voice enough that the elated squeak coming out of her isn't too loud, and it takes long enough for her doing that that she looks back just in time for Natsuki to address Audrey so warmly as well, all while speaking to Lilian like a close friend already. This really is almost everything she could have asked for. Looking completely at ease at this point, Kukuru just basks in that moment before finally turning to Ariel with an utterly peaceful smile plastered on her face. "We've got an amazing group for finding people and stuff, mhm. We've got people that can fly, jump around real good, dig into places, find stuff that happened a looong time ago, and pull in even more help that none of us could do along." Content with that little extra upselling, Kukuru covers her mouth for a brief yawn, then takes a moment to fight off her drowsiness before turning to the local Demon Lord once more. "I wonder... Yeah, it'd just be way easier if we had a... A clue?" Kukuru shakes her head, not satisfied with just that. "No... A lead? Not the same thing, but not different eno-oh! Any intel, so we know where to even start looking. Liiike..." She can't come up with anything right after that. "Shun is trying to be a the saint, not the soldier, and now that he has Mercy, it doesn't seem like he can be... Easily persuaded." ". . . I think D told him something about her, so he's flipped completely around on everything he heard from her before." "That sounds like a big problem, mhm. If someone that used to be that nice could get led into being so much worse by what one person said..." Kukuru starts, not thinking one bit about any potential implications she's making there. She does, however, perk up a little once she realizes Wrath's speaking, and she golf-claps excitedly to give him a bit of moral support. "Then... Either he's reaaaally blind, or he's lying about wanting to be a saint instead of a soldier. If he's a good person, though, then I wonder what D could've said to really make him turn against Wa-ka-ba so much." "As for 'Shclainypoo," Hearing Woz say that puts thatsmile right back on Kukuru's face even though the topic is still more serious than the smile on her face would suggest. "If he's already doing secret training, finding out more about him might really help. Better to know where he is with his training so we can hash things out before we risk him running into White again, you knooow?"
Lilian Rook	'Lilian or God Genm could keep the dragon busy, I bet.'     "For the right woman, I'll kill anything short of a god." Lilian half-snorts in reply. As if 'keep busy' were a sort of subtle insult. "It'd be be best for you to assume that I can do absolutely everything and ask for what you don't have instead."     'I mean, that doesn't have to be a problem. You can just drag me along wherever you want to go.'     "If it were just the two of us, though . . ." says Lilian, taking a breath and a very different tone of voice. "I think it'd almost be a shame to spare her the sight."     'I feel like Audrey would be pretty good at keeping people out of places?'     'That depends on the method of entry'     Lilian looks, smirks, rolls hereyes, and looks away, on purpose. And 'away' is understood to mean 'up'.     'That's ex~actly right! Even the Pretty Cures I get along with more when I'm the storybook version and not the. . . historical scroll version?'     "Those girls certainly do have a way, don't they?" Lilian talks literally over Audrey's head. "Of making us want to be our most PreCure selves, even when we might fit better elsewhere." Words that only two people in the entire room will fully understand; and they're exchanging them. "Forgive me for how inane it is to say so, but it's a surprisingly good look on you. I know too many in vaguely similar circumstances who don't know how to wear their own skin. They'll either embarrass themselve trying, or wilt into nothing attempting to assimilate." says Lilian, in a way that she means to sound offhanded, and yet betrays slightly too much intensity of thought on the subject. "Congratulations."     'I know that your world is overseen by a powerful, and annoying, force'     "And unwashed." she adds, without context.     'But if during the operations you've been investing, at every point, there's no wave of deific hand to make it better.'     Lilian tilts her head away from the aligned conversational direction again, and raises an eyebrow halfway. She makes a soft sound of something close to appreciation. Re-examination, perhaps?     'I belieeeeve the idea was to have you help us locate some unwanted facilities hidden away and draining the planet's energy. From back when Potimas's scummy ass was still alive.'     Lilian quietly coughs. Shaking White and calling her 'Shiro-chan' hadn't gotten her, but 'scummy ass' did. "Simple enough." she says. "You may as well consider it a done deal, actually. The Pontiff depends on what sorts of magical protections he's installed against us finding him; if he's as old as I've heard he is, he's no doubt far more canny than the average level of experience amongst our admittedly youthful cohort would be a match for, so I can only promise I'll take my time with it."     "And as for Schlain . . ." Lilian knows that she doesn't really care about a little hero boy who's been told he's the chosen one enough to reliably divine a path to him. For now. Hearing about his training doesn't exactly stir her warrior's blood all that much. ". . . I might ask my . . ." she says, then tries to remember who in the room is a Japanese reincarnation. "Usual expert."
Lilian Rook	'Isn't he just a darling? It's completely unconscionable that he keeps being required-of by the other commanders, I think. But he's just too capable for his own good.'     "Oh he is, isn't he? I rather like him." Lilian says. The devil possesses her tongue, and commits her to "Quite a bit. I wonder what it takes to get him assigned to us~?"     §I'm so sorry for critizing you, White. I understand. I really do.§     "I'm so very glad to hear that you're committed to duty first above all. It's so pleasant to meet a man I know I can depend on~" Lilian says to Merazophis. "Goodness knows that I understand how it is; 'too capable for your own good', I mean. I wonder if you might relate? Were we to speak a little more, that is."     'I mean, it's kind of been my entire life's work ya know? But I'd be dead already if not for... Well, you can guess.'     "I don't need to." says Lilian, grinning with a faintly bashful quality that almost borders on commiserative; almost, but not quite. "I'm afraid it may, regardless, be for the best to capture who we can't allow to roam around unchecked. While I prefer that people have a positive opinion of myself as well, I'm sorry to say that the trust of those children isn't particularly valuable."     Now it's shockingly all business with her. "Their fundamental nature will be to believe whatever it is they prefer, and trust whomever speaks to them more kindly. And when 'the fate of the entire world' are the stakes that our side is playing with, it can only be their choice to get over themselves and understand that, once we tell them, or--" Lilian cuts off as if to stop herself. Her mouth hangs open a second, eyes visibly rethinking, and then she sighs as if to give up, and continues anyways at half again the dry intensity. "--behave well enough that they can be permitted a minimum of discomfort. If every living being on the lpanet is at risk, I'd urge you not to think twice about breaking a disobedient teenager's arms and legs before shackling them."     'We don't *need* them, but the problem is the humans have a lot more resources to train them, if they do go over to that side. And some of their unique skills are completely fucked up.'     "Likewise, I'm afraid that's something we can't allow." Lilian says. "As a possessor of a 'fucked up' 'unique skill' myself, I want to seriously urge that we don't give the Pontiff the opportunity to militarize them against us. If it came down to it, I'm confident in my ability to take on the latter two, but the first would be a pain even for me. If they won't respond to you, or any other 'demons', then us humans will have to step in to set things straight." Lilian pauses for a second. "Or at least, to appeal to their more mundane natures." she says, without explaining.
Lilian Rook	'Is it gaslighting if it's the truth?'     "Definitively, no." says Lilian. "Not in the sense of what the word actually means. Don't fall for it when people start claiming every single form of social influence is gaslighting; they're the worst. The word you're looking for is 'deprogram'."     'It is the dark fate of the competent, I'm afraid.'     Lilian nodes solemnly.     'He's still holding out for the 'third choice', between a bad war and bad peace.'     Lilian's expression darkens.     'It's not like they were friends before, but I think D told him something about her, so he's flipped completely around on everything he heard from her before.'     "Never mind. I suppose I should 'speak' with him too."     'Need to get some of my conquest wiggles out.'     "If only being on the other end of one sufficed."     'Do you mean that since D can see everyone when I'm not around, she might try and fuck with us directly with Dimensional Magic?'     "God I fucking dare her." she scoffs, heatedly.
Natsuki Nuki	'Audrey was telling me about some plan of yours to conquer some land off of some ancient Chinese warlord somewhere? Mind if we talk about that sometime?' Petra NEEDS to get loomed over by tall lady in platform boots! It's a vital nutrient and she WILL DIE if she's not given it! But how to ask the doctor for a prescription? Does it come in a pill? No, no, that's not the right strength: Petra needs a topical. And the pharmacist in question's tail, wicked-curling from gazing at Sophia's soft glazing to be attentive to Natsuki's wake as she seizes up Audrey anew, finding Petra staring and staring back. Petra feels her conquest wiggles, the minute squirms of her wants. Natsuki's whole self sees this, and her ambergold left hand lifts from Audrey's head to get elbow up and over Petra's head, dropping heavy arm around Petra's shoulder and letting avaricious gauntlet take left shoulder while her upper body scrunches down, over, Vizierpostured. With snake-headed tail 'keeping watch' in rear surveil, smug now in some ineffably way, Natsuki goes full rumbling-purr of pantherine vizier for Petra's full enjoyment having gathered the desirous around with her greedy grasp. "I'm~ so~ glad~ you~ a~asked!" Is her rolling singsong, voice verging on privacy in tone while knowing she's brazenly doing so in front of everyone. That's what makes it fine, isn't it? It's the demon lord's court, and, she had a question! They're Partners. It's fine! Probably. "Little Audrey," It's indulgently delivered for Petra to enjoy the particular warbling tones to 'little', like she might be bigger. "Joined me for a brawl in China, with what happened to be the Yellow Turbans, against Dong Zhuo. Some mess with outside forces," Aliens, etcetera. "-meant the po~or yet original victors of history needed lots of help in the face of evil! So, with a little work, we could work out your cute little conquest wiggles and take a nice chunk of China for our troubles as the financial backers of the noble rebellion. Neat, isn't it? In much the same way -" Across then to Ariel, Natsuki's purr peels proximity as she looks away. "-it's about investment. But since White's our Partner, I'm helping out as a special service." Petra can't stay lucky forever, even if she feeds into Natsuki's naked need and gloved greed, as Lilian talks entirely over her head and Natsuki turns and raises to speak back, slipping off Petra while she does. A kind of reason resumes, a clarity of refined purpose. Something core is being spoken to, bare of another sort, and so with a blink Natsuki's gigglyness drips off her lips and leaves her appreciative. "You should talk to Calvin about things from the Expanse and 'wrappings', sometime. He and his shadow chapel preacher are a good conversation. Those girls," The side of her mouth curls, almost a smile, almost a thought. "Remind me of my friends," Herself. "When I was younger. And my sister's friends now. They're hard to disappoint. I look incredible either way, so," Gauntleted arm settles onto hip, while right hand flips through the fringe of her blonde-white hair. "... I'm glad you noticed." Natsuki says, and the words are perhaps-usual for her ego, but the tone is. . . Summing the work she had put into it, being appreciated for all of it was surprisingly somber, to receive and to send back.
Audrey Basque	"I want to *see*." She urges.     Audrey tenses up, in a way that is extremely unnatural and not merely a reaction to not having expected a hand on her head, though she eases up when Natsuki is merely petting it. There are a thousand different responses to this situation in her head and none of them are good if she thinks about any for longer than a second.     "A-Ah, well, yes, of course, the tower is of and for my magic, but... I was not aware I was... I mean, it probably makes sense, but I did not realize." She'd just never known about the resistance. She clears her throat, awkwardly. "There's no harm in seeing if it can be useful though." "Need to get some of my conquest wiggles out."     She tenses up again, for a totally different reason.     Being casually referred to as some kind of conqueror right in front of everyone is definitely not the kind of vibe she ever seeks out, on purpose. She restrains herself from blurting out 'Petra please' even though the words burn at the tip of her tongue. And then has to restrain herself from 'Natsuki please' when she calls her little and lays out the whole plan. "She's actually setting up inside my castle on Hydrochoeria, so we could totally arrange a visit sometime."     "O-Once it is complete, I will be happy to host... a soirée, dinner of some kind. Show off the installations, and what they do for the area around. Of course." Lilian looks, smirks, rolls her eyes, and looks away, on purpose. And 'away' is understood to mean 'up'. Lilian talks literally over Audrey's head.     It's a major improvement that Audrey doesn't give Lilian even a word of rebuke, though she has to wonder if that eyeroll was a clue or just an eyeroll. "Do you mean that since D can see everyone when I'm not around, she might try and fuck with us directly with Dimensional Magic?"     But Petra underlining that point leads Audrey to interpret the look up as literally as it could be. She's not sure if she COULD keep someone as seemingly powerful as D from interfering spatially, but she's not about to admit that out loud. Lilian's confidence in the face of that challenge is oddly comforting.     "Miss Rook, you have knowledge of runes and wards. If it would not be too presumptuous, should keeping D out become the main concern, perhaps we could..." Just say it just say it just say it the worst she can do is say no. "Combine our efforts to establish a safe perimeter."
White	White looks Natsuki-ward and nods slowly as if reassured. She's made no secret of how important it was for her to manage espionage operations for the Demons rather than just go out and kill people constantly, so she highly values the idea of another kind of managerial specialist. Especially one who can... Actually manage people! And money, money-people! The incredible power is a bonus, really. Ariel in her enthusiasm reaches over the desk to offer a handshake to Natsuki, and while the sizes of their hands are poorly matched, she can still shake Natsuki's body like she does White's with sheer strength, even if doing so is presented as a sort of playful gesture more than anything. "I'll look forward to it then, I've been missing a good festival for years now~. I'll introduce you after the meeting, since I think defusing Balto's shock would take a little too long and I don't wanna waste all of your time dealing with that right now. This is his office anyway!" Oh, so that's why the chair is too big for her. She just... Stole the room. Is this his house, too?      While Woz repeats the dreadful-sweet nickname, Sophia snickers behind her hand, and Wrath gives a soft sigh. "As long as he stays out of the picture for now, we can hold onto that ability of yours for a crucial moment. Right now, if he's with who we think he is, he could be anywhere in the world the moment after you found out their location. So far, D hasn't been kidnapping people or interfering directly with her powers for the most part; it actually came as a shock when she sent Shun to attack Wakaba personally. But she *only* sent him, so I think she knew it would only delay the war's end, not end the war outright." He pauses, and adjusts where his wrist rests across his sword as he looks *up* at Sougo from under his own brow, as if meekly asking a favor. "... I don't like tricking Shun, but if it prevents the worst case... Let me know if there is anything I can do. We were best friends, before. I should know him better than almost anyone."      Petra gets Sophia to quietly snort. For how moody she acts, she at least seems amused, more than she's letting on. "Well, I suppose there were a few with more utilitarian abilities, but I believe the most notable met a very young death. According to Okazaki-sensei, one could cry magical tears that would miraculously heal others, and one had the ability to create a labyrinthine dungeon. Shame about the assassinations." She doesn't sound very torn up, but she does frown a *little*. "At any rate, taking back the Book Lover first would certainly be ideal, so long as it does not turn the other reincarnations against us. I think right now the greatest potential issue are the ones still under our custody; how does it strike you to hear that 'Leader', 'Songstress' and 'Trend Leader' are each different skills, all in the same place, the owners bonding over spreading their... Hobbies." She says that last word with some amount of implicative disdain.
White	White hears 'the dragon' come up, and realizes something that makes her glance sidelong at Ariel. Ariel picks up the cue, and after releasing Natsuki's hand she laughs again a little in a way that seems like healthily venting stress rather than just being amused. "It's so nice to know this many people hate that bitch now~! With the fucking Elf gone, I don't really have many other people to call mean names left, and that's just sad to do alone! Good job White. Anyway!" She immediately resets to 'positively neutral' as if via mental switch. "That 'dragon'? He's actually one of my Commanders too, on a... Temporary basis. He's not here right now for a reason, you see. He goes by 'Black' in the army, but his name is Guliedistodiez. He's a Lower Administrator, meaning he's technically the direct manager of this planet's affairs, under D. So he's not actually allowed to *directly* help us, we just talked him into using some of the untrue dragon-type monsters he commands for the push on the Elves. If it comes to open war with the humans again, he's probably going be an obstacle eventually." She seems somehow sad to say that, like she feels bad slighting him even though he isn't here.      "He's a god too, like White. Not on D's level, but he's strong. We're pretty sure we know what to expect from him though, which I think is why White felt she could find people able to handle him as a problem. The original plan was going to require White to duel him herself, but... He's a bad matchup for her, and she's apparently worse-off now than she was last time she was here." The frown deepens, and she picks at her* (Balto's) desk with a fingernail hard enough to pick a small piece of it out with a little peeling crunch. "Between the two of them back then, White was guessing, what?" she says, glancing over at White for confirmation, "A week straight in isolated space, to keep him down? If things went well. But with an outside team, we might actually have a better timeline to look forward to if it comes to that point. The big things to remember are that he's a close combat specialist, with high-grade Dimensional Magic, and extremely powerful self-enhancement. As a dragon, he weakens magic used against him as well. Potimas's machines used the Dragon Barrier skill as their model for their own Anti Technique Fields, so it's the real deal. The problem we were running into was... Well..." She sighs and slumps. "Everyone here besides me is at least halfway a 'magic build'. Even my biggest Skill, Gluttony, still counts as a magical attack. I could clobber him in a fistfight, but it's not like I could stop him from just... Leaving. And I don't think he'd be willing to fight me anyway." She smacks her palms lightly on the desk to emote 'conclusiveness'. "So, timeline right now looks like, we find and smash up Potimas's bullshit machines, then we try to either locate Sloth and find someone we can raise to have Pride on short notice, which will proooobably have to be a cooperative Reincarnation. Then once we have those two, we try to kidnap Dustin, figure out a way to perma-kill him that sticks better than Abyss Magic against his Temperance skill, and then we're probably going to have to deal with Guliguli almost immediately after that. If we get through all of that unscathed, it's a matter of either knocking the Hero Party's heads together and convincing them to fork over the keys, or finding a new way to make up for not having them. White said a 'Miss Angela' might be helpful for that part, but it's not certain yet. That's all the broad strokes, for now. How we handle the other Reincarnations will need to be stuffed between all that. Make sense?"      Meanwhile, Sophia is quietly seething as Lilian praises Merazophis a little *too* much. You can actually see her forehead turning red, as she flicks out an ostentatious fan to cover her face.
White	White||| Merazophis, for his part, does his very best to walk the line he's been placed upon. His smile barely changes, and it feels like he's rehearsed lines for times like this. "I am flattered to be considered worthy of your attention, Commander Rook. However, I have sworn my life to the Young Miss Sophia not only of my own volition, but in honor of her esteemed Mother and her Father, who was my very dearest friend in life. Please accept my apologies, as I will strive to be of service through our collaborations from the Young Miss's side."
Petra Soroka	"If it were just the two of us, though . . ."     Petra doesn't quite know what Lilian means at all anymore, but she's still confusedly trying to solve the problems that Lilian is having. Eventually, she shifts the half-melted milkshake into one hand and uncorks a blorble of Silver, which encompasses the milkshake and then expands outwards into a bubble. This produces a vacuum inside around the milkshake, keeping it cold for longer! Though, probably, Lilian has already forgotten about it.     "Uh-- I mean, you could..." TIP: Don't talk about being blindfolded by Lilian in the presence of the Demon Lord! "... Put me in a box? So it's like I'm not even there."     Petra is a kind of item that can be placed into your inventory at high enough affinity levels. "As a possessor of a 'fucked up' 'unique skill' myself,"     Petra, in that instant, is hit with the sudden psychic spike of realizing that she could *also* be considered to have a 'fucked up unique skill'. In fact, the way she's been using it lately as an Elite, it's almost *archetypally* a bullshit cheat protagonist power in some stupid System like this one. She immediately becomes *desperately* curious to know what her skill window looks like, especially after using her power on someone.     In the end, after an unwholesomely Considering look towards White, all Petra says is, "I might actually be a pretty good matchup against Denial boy. Er-- what was it? Defiance? But hopefully we can just recruit them instead." "If only being on the other end of one sufficed."     Petra clears her throat and looks away, a little pink, with the golden lily hanging from the collar around her neck clearly visible. Even worse than that comparison is the inverse, that there is some conquest along similar lines that Petra could theoretically perform to others. "W-well, it's... different wiggles." "I'm~ so~ glad~ you~ a~asked!"     Petra has an arm draped over her shoulder! Natsuki's arm is bulkier than Petra's entire thigh, and the weight of it being dropped on her is enough to make her wobble just a little bit, and being squished a little bit like that by another person is a very effective first dosage of the Nutrient she needs.     She now has an extremely difficult question to answer, though, and that is: how does she respond to an arm wrapped around her, here, in the presence of both the Demon Lord and Lilian Rook? It's already too late for her to be flustered about it. She can't particularly muster up the desire to pull away, slip out, or stay tensely rejecting about it. And she... is a Partner? They're both Partners? So, probably, she has a responsibility to match Natsuki's freak a little bit. "So, with a little work, we could work out your cute little conquest wiggles and take a nice chunk of China for our troubles as the financial backers of the noble rebellion."     "Well, I'm, uh, not much for financial backing, compared to you," says Petra, after having funneled tens of millions of dollars worth of funding into three of the most prevalent figures in deciding the fate of the City recently. "But I'm pretty good at rolling across the countryside leaving destruction in my wake, so. Count me in on the warlording."     Petra is leaning juuuust a little into Natsuki's arm, not exactly *luxuriating* in the attention, but certainly not about to pull away from it before Natsuki does. She taps a finger on the golden gauntlet on Natsuki's hand, leaving it and the accompanying four there for a second longer. "The King of Greed's a good choice for you, I think. Did you pick it out, or was it Angela's personal selection?"
Angela	Angela has no idea that Natsuki eats curses for breakfast. Maybe lunch and dinner too. With maybe a nice curse a la mode for dessert. But honestly that's not exactly something that makes one unsuitable for Gold Rush. Of course, there's always the risk of TOO much buy in, allowing oneself to become one with the story of the King of Greed--but so far Corrosions haven't proven fatal. Though Angela knows they can be. ''White said a Miss Angela might be helpful for that part.'' "That's me. I'm Miss Angela." Angela says. Malkuth does some jazzhands. With one hand. Because the other hand is holding Angela. Which means the tablet is wiggling a little anyway. A dragon, Angela thinks. She thinks of Igon, of course, but there's also the literal anti-dragon weapons they found in Elibe. ... Perhaps she should lend White the texts Petra brought back to help inform her more of that land. As Sophia's head turns red, Angela turns to look at her. And she just watches as she covers herself with her fan. ''Did you pick it out, or was it Angela's personal selection.'' "It just felt right." Which is Angela's answer. "But as I recall we discussed options." She is now smiling smugly because Petra said it was a good pick. She's so good at finding the right EGO for the right user.
Petra Soroka	"We were best friends, before. I should know him better than almost anyone."     Ugh. There's always one. Petra tries to deflect from feeling annoyed about Wrath having sentimental attachments to the Hero by focusing on something else instead. "Those Japanese names are all from when you were on Earth, right? Did you... *all* know each other? How did you all end up reincarnated here at the same time?" "Shame about the assassinations."     Of course. "Sounds like the City, a little bit." Petra commiserates, less about the death and more about the bullshit of it all. It's so cool and fun to live in a world that's specifically and purposefully engineered to be bullshit and cause constant pointless violence nonsense without ever changing. "how does it strike you to hear that 'Leader', 'Songstress' and 'Trend Leader' are each different skills, all in the same place, the owners bonding over spreading their... Hobbies."     Petra squints and tries to add these things together in her mind, like they're Captain Planeting themselves together rather than simply cooperating. "Are they... creating... an idol group?" "A week straight in isolated space, to keep him down?"     White is extremely scary. Petra figured this already, but there's a... certain kind of vibe, to strategically planning out a battle tactic that involves constant enclosed battle for a week just to burn someone's time and energy. Petra did this too, but it's way less scary coming from her. "Everyone here besides me is at least halfway a 'magic build'."     "Uh, for what it's worth," Petra raises up her hand politely. "I don't have any magic. Well, except if I use Audrey's, but... I don't know if that actually counts as magic, since it's just mimicked. I don't know if I could take on a... dragon god on my own, though, but I could at least put up a fight or be support for Lilian. But I'm all on board with everything, yup."
Natsuki Nuki	Natsuki ate curses like koala ate eucalyptus, for breakfast lunch and dinner. And, like a koala, her body was full of corrosion such that she was pleasantly buzzed by the interaction with the EGO page and her arm, listening to the new set of whispers and getting the King of Greed's influence introduced to her ecosystem. Time would tell if it would be rejected or not, or if she'd have a negative result, but part of the alignment she had with the EGO was the precipitous desire to try either way and see where they went. Audrey and Petra remain in Natsuki's surrounds, though both Audrey and Petra alternate between being the Neediest Little Flowers and the Most Trembling Little Fulfilled Darlings as Natsuki waters them with her broad-grasped attention. Would she be so greedy as to extend her span and take one each in an arm and hold low-voiced council right here? Right in front of the whole Dark Generals and everyone? She. . . Only has the one EGO glove, though, and just on the left arm, and is being praised about it-- "Oh, it just lined up like that, I'd like to say I make my own luck now but it did just happen that way!" She admits at a laugh to such a high compatibility, answered-for by a knower in a pleasing way and thus allowed to bask a little more. Petra seems to wish to be free, and with a giving peel-away around the expected spring-away of the darting creature, Natsuki peels the King of Greed glove away from the shoulder it's curled around. "I'm hap~py it's a lucky pick! Hearing the approval of experts does warm my ears." But there's a target for her talking, a reason for her coming, and when it's not faintly gassing up White before her boss or making her pitch: It's shaking hands and sealing deals. Stepping out, lifting arms as she shifts about to approach Ariel, Natsuki smooths herself out and dips into a quarter-kneel to take Ariel's hand gently and match strength to strength as legendary yokai to Demon *Lord* in understanding. "Just as I'll look forward to ensuring your success, my Demon Lord. I'll happily make myself at home here while I wait for my future coworker to come back, and I see there's..." Her eyes search around pointedly. "Books, to look over." With a wink. Stepping back, Natsuki returns to the group pleased with herself.
Lilian Rook	'You should talk to Calvin about things from the Expanse and 'wrappings', sometime.'     Lilian curls her lip, just a little. "Him? I'm shocked you got anything intelligent out of him at all." she says. "The last time I met him in-person, he was screaming about pussy in front of a pair of lesbians at a bar and getting cursed out by his own mother." This is technically true, but Lilian is mostly just sore about Rita making her apologize for pulling a gun on him. "You must have a way with men that I haven't refined yet." she relents.     'When I was younger. And my sister's friends now. They're hard to disappoint. I look incredible either way, so,'     "I wish I could believe that some people are." Lilian says. "But you do. So, in a strange sort of way, I feel slightly honoured for having seen it. I'm certain you can figure out why."     'Combine our efforts to establish a safe perimeter.'     "Eh?" Lilian glances down at Audrey like an afterthought. "I'm reasonably confident in my wards, but they're not my specialty, so I don't know if they'd hold up to a goddess. If it's going to come to cooperating, I'd rather just call Tamamo and be done with it."     'So far, D hasn't been kidnapping people or interfering directly with her powers for the most part; it actually came as a shock when she sent Shun to attack Wakaba personally.'     "I understand perfectly." That wasn't a question for anyone, but Lilian responds to it anyways, with the gravity of it being meant for her; or perhaps if it could only be answered by her at all. "If she begins using her own power to meddle with things when they don't go her way too much, there was no point in setting this all up in the first place. A game can be more enjoyable for bending the rules here and there, but rampant cheating will inevitably suck all the fun out of it."     "Few people ever realize it. But with people as powerful as her, the best thing you can do is not to try your very hardest, but to embody the fulfillment that she's looking for. As long as they're still having fun, they won't remove the safeties."     'The problem we were running into was... Well... Everyone here besides me is at least halfway a 'magic build'.'     "Your relationship with him sounds complicated." Lilian says, just barely consoling, but more or less disinterested in this particular guy's allegiances. "But if it's a matter of taking him down, without magic, before he can get away--"     Lilian tilts back Petra's chin with the tip of Night Mist, drawn and held lightly extended to reach. The cold point is a terribly good reminder not to get too slutty with Natsuki while she's watching, and the total lack of visible motion or any kind of mana signature is to prove her point. "You won't find anyone better than me."     'Please accept my apologies, as I will strive to be of service through our collaborations from the Young Miss's side.'     "Oh don't worry about me." Lilian says. She waves a hand in his direction, in 'oh you' style, whilst at the same time, snap-sheathing Night Mist without first aligning it with the scabbard, accompanied by a little flourish. "I just couldn't help teasing her a little." Lilian winks. "I'm getting married in the autumn, and my fiancée doesn't like it if I don't share."
Timespace Riders	Let me know if there is anything I can do. We were best friends, before.     "The best thing you could do to help would be to tell me what he's like," says Sougo. "And how you guys became friends."     "As far as 'tricking' him... Well, I work with several people who don't respond really well to being told 'you shouldn't do that.' They take it as, like, a challenge, or, um, an insult, that they have to answer."     "He sounds like he'd be a lot less frustrating to talk to," Sougo laughingly admits. "But it's still true that some people... need to draw their own conclusions. It's less about tricking him, and more about not saying anything that makes him associate me with you and White, and, instead... leading him to think about what you and she *actually* said, instead of what D said *about* what was said, or what he *thinks* about what was said. You know? And maybe after that, you guys can even be friends again."     "So!" He gently pats Wrath on the shoulder. "Let's get together soon, and we can talk about it a little more. That way, I already have some background info when it comes time to move. Would that be okay?" I think right now the greatest potential issue are the ones still under our custody; how does it strike you to hear that 'Leader', 'Songstress' and 'Trend Leader' are each different skills, all in the same place, the owners bonding over spreading their... Hobbies.     "My Demon King and I have extensive experience in dealing with idols at this point," Woz says flatly.
White	White nods in Angela's direction, and waves slightly when she responds to the mention of her name. Hi Angela! She's grateful to see her, even if the number of topics is a bit chaotic and hard for White to contribute to. Ariel seems to be used to speaking for White anyway, though Sophia elaborates for Petra first. "... Well, maybe they could. But no. That little threesome apparently managed to start turning their classmates into fujoshis in a matter of days, and they were even corrupting the elves. Can you imagine what they would manage if they had anything beyond boy-on-boy fantasies in their tiny brains, enough open ears and the motivation to act?" Sophia shudders a little, snapping her fan shut and putting the backs of her hands on her hips. "Well, that aside, the more direct Skills are discomforting too. Segawa-san can turn things into sugar by touching them, if their Defense is low enough. Patently absurd."      Wrath picks up after Sophia stops, giving her the priority out of habit to keep her happy. "... Yeah. Every one of us was in the same class. Apparently someone tried to kill D once before, and that got us all blown up. We had our cliques already, but after the move-over... Well, at least Shun wasn't by himself. The rest of us, and Natsume, were mostly reincarnated in different places. I guess Kushitani and-" Then Sophia sighs abruptly, batting Wrath across the tip of his nose with her folded fan. "Just use their new names, you clod. You're going to confuse everyone." He's momentarily taken aback, but exhales and nods. "... Shun is Schlain now. Natsume is Hugo. Sorry, White." Sophia squints at him as he doesn't apologize to her as well, but he shrugs. "I didn't use it..." That also helps straighten out Lilian's confusion about who's from where, probably.      Natsuki, fortunately, draws no judgement for her *carousing* from anyone present save for a halfhearted eyeroll from Sophia. She's seemingly just a little Like That about shows of affection, though. Ariel seems pleased with Natsuki's grip, and when they separate she sinks back into a comfortable elbow-leaning sit, really just basking in the moment as she pans her sight across everyone. "So, 'Miss Angela', I'll leave it to White to check on the theory she's cooked up with you, mmkay? Feel free to steal li'l Sophia when the time comes, I've cleared her schedule for the next little while and she could do with some kind of outing or she's going to get the zoomies." Sophia balks! "Hey!"      Both White and Ariel make almost the exact same slight mouth-open expression at Lilian, then close their mouths and nod in near-perfect unison. The latter speaks for both of them again, encouragingly confirming, "I guess you've got experience!" she starts, and White looks slightly pensive for a moment after hearing it. "But yeah, that's pretty much spot on. She wants drama, Guliguli doesn't, and that's why he's amenable to helping us out even though she's his boss. Well, aside from the fact we've known each other for, uh, six hundred years now almost..? Besides the point really." She watches the display from Lilian curiously, and one-note chuckles while White tries not to sweat. "Great. There's other work-arounds for the Dragon Barrier too, to a point, and if you're gonna help smash up Potimas's labs then you should get a great chance to practice against it. Though, I'm kinda hoping none of them are big enough to produce any more of those stupid tanks anymore..."      White glances over at Sougo as he speaks to Wrath as well, and the Oni-boy takes a bracing breath. Maybe it's not a coincidence that he has a lot of visible self-control habits, given his name. He nods firmly, meeting Sougo's gaze and squeezing his sword's hilt a little like a stress ball, while his other hand reaches out to mirror the shoulder-pat briefly. "... Thank you. You're very kind." He looks to White with an unspoken question, and she gives him an 'ok' handsign, so he looks back to Sougo with an effortful smile. "Let's talk soon. I'll be sure my work is caught up by the time you get word to me."
White	White glances over at Sougo as he speaks to Wrath as well, and the Oni-boy takes a bracing breath. Maybe it's not a coincidence that he has a lot of visible self-control habits, given his name. He nods firmly, meeting Sougo's gaze and squeezing his sword's hilt a little like a stress ball, while his other hand reaches out to mirror the shoulder-pat briefly. "... Thank you. You're very kind." He looks to White with an unspoken question, and she gives him an 'ok' handsign, so he looks back to Sougo with an effortful smile. "Let's talk soon. I'll be sure my work is caught up by the time you get word to me."