2017-03-22: Flirtatious Capriciousness
- Log: Flirtatiousness Capriciousness
- Cast:Riesenlied, Noeline
- Where: The Photosphere
- Date: 499 PC
- Summary: Riesenlied meets an old acquaintance. Banter ensues. A Dragon gets a Recorder to annoy her mistress with.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied wasn't expecting to return to the Photosphere so quickly, but extenuating circumstances have forced her hand and sent her back to Mother Base (literally) to recuperate... the winged Tainted is limping gently, assisted by some lesser Tainted who're by her side as she heads through the corridors of the gray-and-gunmetal steel Photosphere.
A certain capricious noble demon might spot the winged commander of the Ebony Wings on her way to the medical bay!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Oh, look at you," chirps a sing-song voice from a side passage as Riesenleid and her entourage go past. "Are you /sure/ the mighty leader of the Tainted should be stumbling injured through the halls in plain view? I'm sure there are plenty of Demons who'd like to take advantage of a chance like that."
The source is a slight figure, dressed all in flamboyant black made up of ruffles and lace - a human, possibly, were it not for the fact that she's casually stood leaning against a wall in the midst of the Photosphere's corridors. The blood-red eyes, too bright in colour to be natural, also help dispel that image - as do the pair of little black balls bobbing around her shoulders, wearing painted-on mouths in a jaggedy crimson.
She pushes off the wall with a light step, then grins brightly as she starts to step towards the group, spreading her arms wide in a shrug. "Really, to make a ruckus like that. I think you set enough rumours flying around to wake the ghosts of Arctica, you know."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied stops and glances towards her flank, sidelong. She rises up gently and folds her arms, before responding softly to say, "It's been a while, Noeline. And pray tell where you've been all this time? When was the last time we met -- Arctica?"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Something like that... though it's hard to consider it a meeting when it involved damn near everyone in Photosphere, isn't it?" she teases, hands behind her back as she leans forward a little to regard Riesenlied's injuries with something like detached curiosity. "At least use something big. 'Conflagration'? 'Massacre'?" she hums, the amused grin remaining in place.
Dancing back a step, she shrugs her shoulders again - this time a more exaggerated movement, combined with a tilt of her head. "I've been around, of course. Here and there. It seemed like a good idea to slip away from the region for a bit, in case anyone came to pick over the ruins. It seems like you had the same idea, as I heard it."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"I prefer to not embellish our operations," Riesenlied answers in turn. "It was a measured attack to eliminate a known hostile entity to secure the cocoon of Mother," almost as if she's trying to contradict the capricious metal demon. She heads towards the healing bay, where the lesser demons lay her down on a reclining cot and begin work.
"Were you watching me, then?" Zed has arrived.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline isn't about to let Riesenlied escape her teasing just by reaching the medical bay, of course - it's not clear whether she considers it 'tagging along' or 'chasing after', but either way the demon in black is right there, taking up the doorway with her light smirk.
"Watching? It's not really my thing to go down into dusty ruins. Besides, I didn't need to - 'Scene of carnage' tends to spread, as terms go. It didn't take long for bits and pieces of the story to filter out of Linga. ... of course, I made sure they didn't go much further, where I could," she waves a hand airily, as if it were no big thing, and flicks back some of her mass of dark hair. "Or else tried to bend them into something else, instead. Plenty of nasties around underground for people to believe in instead."
Somewhere in the midst of her huff, both eyes closed
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Somewhere in the midst of her huff, both eyes closed - she opens one now, frowning ever so slightly in a way that might edge towards genuine. "You should be more careful, though. I can't be /everywhere/ at once, even if I come close."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied lets out a little sigh as she says, "It is regrettable, but not something I could completely avoid. At the very least, my blood resembles human blood much more closely... it isn't as obvious that it is quicksilver," though she doesn't sound like she's trying to make any excuses for herself. "But I thank you for your timely intervention, all the same."
Noeline nearly gets something bumping into her behind her -- and the tiniest most adorable dragon floats on in on a 'whizz'. "Riese!! Geez, don't you ever do anythin' like that again!" A pause, as she turns. "Oh, it's Trouble and Strife, kyaa!"
A pause. "Oh, Noeline's there too."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Well, it /is/ my job--" is about as far as her overly-confident reply gets before Noeline ends up having to blink, squint, and duck in short fashion. While she might have developed something of a sixth sense about where the little dragon is, Odjn's probably not going to be outdone that easily, and she has to spend a long moment fussing at her hair to fix the position of her hairpiece.
"Really! Mind your claws already!" the spy huffs once she straightens back up, cheeks puffed out as she plants her hands on her hips and studiously ignores the way her two spherical pods bobble forwards to do a little waltz around Riesenlied's... ... ... partner. She would use other words, but this is technically polite company.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Odjn does a delighted little dance around Noeline's little baubles, bobbling along as she hums, "To the gentlemen, I'm Miss Fortune! To the ladies, I'm Sir Prize! But call me by any name, anyway, it's all the same..."
Riese stretches a little flatter as she winces when the demon doctors (doctors of Doom?) start fixing her up; she didn't really get beat up much on the field, but summoning the Fallen Sword always messes up her physiology in a way that's perhaps less than ideal. Then again, that's why she's part of the Tainted.
"Surely you won't be satisfied only meddling, though," she offers. "Sir Siegfried has assigned a new mission for us. We're to establish a forward operating base in eastern Ignas, where we're looking to expand our activities."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Meddling is good enough for me," the figure in black responds as she resumes obnoxiously leaning against the wall, waving a hand and speaking in such a light and airy tone that it's hard to tell if she's serious or not - then edging further towards the latter as her grin tugs wider. "But, if our esteemed leaders have need of my skills, then I can /only/ provide."
"Not... that you give me a great deal to go off of, just spitting it out like that," she continues with a shrug of one shoulder. A tugging motion sends the better-maintained of her two round pods to her side, whereupon she simply leans forward and rests her crossed arms on top of it as it squeaks in indignation. "A base is fair enough, but what are we talking here? Renting a pretty little getaway in Hilton? I hear Adlehyde's nice this time of year, if you can get to the recliners before everyone else."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied chuckles underneath a soft rolling of her eyes, saying, "No, nothing so deluxe. Though you are free to accomodate yourself luxuriously if you so desire. I am surveying the landscape of Ignas' frontiers to identify abandoned mining towns. I believe we'll have the most success in discreetly standing up a base without notice there. We'll have the advantage of our holographic tools to create a mock-up town and deter curiosity for a time."
She knew it would only buy them so much time, though. Drifters are hella curious, as a sort.
Odjn blobs onto Noeline's back to go, "Nevermind all that boring work stuff! Tell me another raunchy bodice ripper story, Noe-noe!"
A pause, as Riese's eyes widen. "Wait-- /what?!/"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Well, there's no shortage of them, I suppose - though you'd do better staying away from Linga for a little while, for obvious reasons." She's obviously about to let the matter drop when the dragon hops onto her back again - this time, at least, she seems a lot more content to let Odjn have his perch, never mind the way that Trouble lets out a long and slow whine from underneath Noeline's arms at the added weight.
"Ohoo~," she chimes instead, her grin redoubling itself. "Someone's reaching that sort of age, is he? Ah, the springtime of youth," Noeline hums, shortly before her crimson eyes glitter. She's definitely watching Riesenlied's expression as she starts to sing-song along. "What was it last time? Did we reach the part with the balcony? Ah, the tragic death, and the kiss of life, or the heaving of her--"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Umm, I think the hunky and dreamy but obsessive dude just dug up the corpse of his loved one and dances with her in the cold moonlight," Odjn tries to recall, to which Riese just looks more agog and protests, "Don't teach her anything untoward!"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Whatever could be untoward about true love surpassing death?" sing-songs Noeline again, if only to bait poor Riesenlied on - it's not like Noeline herself knows half of what she's talking about, after all, not that she's about to admit that any time soon. "Well, I guess there'd be the smell, but somehow these things always get left out in the end~... ah, but you know, Odjn, that book isn't out yet. It wouldn't do for me to spoil what I've heard about it, would it?"
She leans over conspiratorially the next moment, a completely fake whisper: "It's not like the villagers would be gathering pitchforks and forming a mob, leaving the pair to flee through the night to a secluded farmhouse where they this and that..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied has a very huffy grump, the kind she doesn't show around just anyone -- but she winces again as the doctors continue on her work. It's rather clear that, despite whatever else, she cares deeply for the little dragon, being something of a mother to her over the many years. "W-whoa! How'd you even know about that? Do you know the author herself, Noe-noe? Or... maybe... maybe..."
A gasp. "You wrote it yourself?!"
Riese sighs again and says, "I wish you'd be half as enthusiastic with useful literature, Odjn."
"Your books are boring, Riese!"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline actually breaks into a snicker this time, obviously pleased as she straightens up and lets the poor little pod bobble uncertainly away from her. "Hmm~... I've definitely thought about trying, but no," she lectures the little dragon amicably, wagging a gloved finger. "I'm just doing my part as a good fan, keeping on top of things. ... or, I could be lying to keep you in suspense~."
Either way, Noeline looks immensely proud of herself at basically making Riesenlied's life hell for a while, humming in a pleased fashion as she encourages the dragon off her back. "Ah, but I did bring back a couple of souvenirs, Odjn. It's not often I head over towards the west, but it's always... something of an experience. They should tide you over until your mistress manages to find her way back out into the world, don't you think?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied mumbles, looking half-liddedly unimpressed, "At least I try to publish actual academic work."
Odjn wrinkles her nose and says, "To an audience of me, and Strife! Trouble didn't even want to attend, and she can't read!" She's very quickly distracted as she perks up and exclaims, "Oh boy, oh boy, I like presents! What'd you get me, what'd you get me?" She hops off straight away.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline brushes herself down, then holds one gloved hand up for Odjn to use as a perch while the other reaches into-- well, it's frankly impossible to tell which folds of her dress are folds and which are pockets, if any at all. Either way, a moment later she's holding up a small wooden tube, studded with holes along its length and capped with a brass mouthpiece. The way her grin tugs wider suggests she's well aware how mean it might be to offer Odjn access to a recorder. "It's a little instrument that some children were using in one town I went through. It's a natural step from literature to music, don't you think?" she blithely notes, as if you could ever have called those noises a melody. Somehow, she manages to keep her face relatively straight. "Perhaps it will help dear Riese get better?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Odjn sucks in a breath and holds up the recorder like she just found a valuable dungeon item, dunna-na-na!
She immediately stuffs her face into it and tries to blow, but... well, it's kind of hard to actually play a note on a musical instrument designed for human mouths with soft lips when you've got a literal maw of killer shark teeth and metal for lips.
The sounds come out, 'pweh--', 'pweh--'.
"... is that how it's supposed to go?!" Odjn asks, completely straight.
"Oh for the love of..." Riese puts her hand to her face.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Immediately putting on a serious face, Noeline leans forwards to peer closely at the dragon and its new prize. "Hmm~... something like this," she adds, neatly sneaking the tiny thing away for a moment to put it to her lips and blow out a low note that isn't terrifically in tune. Once done, she looks pleased with herself as she hands it back, humming lightly. "It's probably just a matter of practice, I'd think."
She looks up, afterwards - with Odjn hopefully sated and making 'pfffrt' noises in the background, the Metal Demon grins over her head at Riesenlied, sauntering up to the side of the Tainted leader's cot. "Now, now. It's all in good fun, isn't it?" she teases, though a part of her seems genuinely pleased at Odjn looking thrilled with herself. "You should know the value of morale, after all. I'm sure she was worried after you."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riese cringes softly, and then leans forward a little to reassure, perhaps motherly, "We'll learn how to play it together, okay?" Odjn seems pleased with herself enough to be going 'pwehh--', appearing no better than she was even before instructions.
"... yes, I do know," Riese has a very soft sigh. "I do thank you for the gift. Odjn will enjoy it, I'm certain."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Kicking one leg - when exactly did she hop up onto the side of the cot? - Noeline lets out a long and low hum. It's almost a thoughtful noise, were it not for her everpresent grin. "It's fine. I thought of her the moment I saw it, after all. ... I /suppose/ I'd better leave you to convalesce," she adds, already hopping up from her seat again to let a little dance carry her into something like a spin and a curtsy, throwing a glance back at the door as if expecting Riesenlied's cohorts just outside. "Since I hear tell I'm not the best when it comes to bedside manners."
"You know where to find me, when you're all ready to make a move - or when you're ready to prepare yourself to make a move," she corrects quickly, and then frowns. "... I suppose that statement isn't entirely true, is it? In any case, I'm sure I'll be--" waggle hands, "--/around/. Do try to get better, and perhaps not injure yourself so badly next time?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"I don't know what you might mean," Riese huffs very gently. "I hear all kinds of tales of your bedside manners." She strokes gently at a horn, but then nods as the doctor starts injecting a kind of substance into her to promote regeneration. "Mm--" she shakes her head slowly.
Odjn bobbles up and down again. "I'll stay by your side, Riese! See, I'm loyal, right? I could totally be reading up on handsome breathy Crimson Nobles and the women of untoward proclivities that they seduce, but nooo, I'm right here for you!"
"... that's so... generous of you," Riese murmurs, and then she's out like a light. Demonic Novocaine is powerful stuff, man.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Folding her arms, the demon in black simply lets out a long puff of air, apparently just about respectful enough to watch Riesenlied slip away into unconsciousness before she thinks of walking out. It's only when she's about to turn on her heel that she pauses, and breaks into a terribly toothy smile. "Were you just /catty/?" she exclaims brightly, never mind that Riese can't answer right now, and immediately breaks into a brief but pleased cackle. "Well! ... I'll take that as a compliment."