2017-04-04: Lady Riesenlied's Fan
- Log: Lady Riesenlied's Fan
- Cast:Riesenlied, Noeline, Zed
- Where: Adlehyde Hospital
- Date: 499 PC
- Summary: Riesenlied recuperates from her Cucco-related injuries with feisty romantic literature, courtesy of Noeline. It-- it doesn't go well. She does not have the modern affectation of weakness.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied is... well, a little banged up from yesterday's devilish Attack of the Flying Cuccos, in which she briefly became a mother nest for the devilishly adorable birds in a bid for Coexistence and Understanding.
Unfortunately, she could not achieve quantization and become a giant flying space chicken. One day, Riese. One day, you shall be Cucco.
She's lying on a bed in the Adlehyde Medical Centre, wrapped up in some bandages from where she took a grenade nearly to the face and probably has a few chickenbones stuck somewhere that had to be plucked out, and Odjn is curled up cozily next to her. Unfortunately as well, her rest is all but peaceful, because she's flipping a small novel and...
...gasping. "M-my goodness!" Riese appears utterly flummoxed. "Is this really the kind of material that Noeline shares with you, Odjn?"
"What's the big deal?"
"I-- she-- I--" her cheeks are reddening as she covers her face by the book a bit more.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Speak of the devil, and she will appear," proclaims Noeline in a sing-song voice as she unceremoniously barges inside, immediately behind Zed. Her presence alone seems to fill the room, one hand resting on her hip as she immediately huffs out a breath. "Though, from what I hear, you've already /met/ one today. I know you said that diving into the fray is a mark of leadership, but I don't think that applied to overgrown chickens," the Crimson Noble motormouths without a beat.
Before the other woman can protest she's slipped around Zed and sat herself down on one edge of the bed, the bag in one hand held out for Riese to take as the pair of them bother Riese in tandem. "A change of clothes, or two, and some local trinkets. I thought you might as well be comforted if you're going to spend all your time in bed," she sniffs airily, flicking out her hair - and it's only then that she realizes her defacto patient has become something of a red blob.
"Oh, but I see Odjn beat me to it," she slowly decides, her expression spreading into a toothy grin. "/Personally/, that's one of my favorites. Did you pick up the others? The way Riesenlied reads, I'm sure she'll go through it like wildfire," she adds conversationally to the dragon, offering the creature a hand up towards her shoulder.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riese has a very sad sigh as she murmurs, "I thought I saw a beautiful coexistence within the flock.... ...."
A pause.
"Perhaps I still do," she muses. A pause, before she shakes her head and stares at Zed and Noeline as she stammers, "I--" she holds onto the book a little closer. My goodness, it's not even a racy bodice-ripper by Noeline's standards, it's... 'Jess of the d'Adlehydes: A Pure Woman Wutherfully Heighted', apparently, is the title on the cover of the bound tome.
She whines softly and frowns. "I think you're teaching Odjn rather improbable and impossible expectations about-- about relationships, is all!"
Odjn groans and pulls up from where she's half-dozing off, sniffing pastries. "Ooh, croissants? Zed, you my man!" She pulls up to Riese to go, "What's got you so riled up anyway? Lemme see, lemme see--"
The winged woman attempts to snatch the book away, but the dragon is reading already. "'Oh! Why doesn't he come? This waiting is horrible. He should be here. Why is he not here, to wake by passionate words some fire within me? I am cold, cold as a loveless thing!'"
Riese's fiery blush doubles as she exclaims, "W-we are in polite company, Odjn!" like Odjn just cussed like a sailor.
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
Wake by some... Passionate words?? The fire within me???
Zed squints at the cover of this book, even as he foists a croissant upon a hungry and narrating dragon.
"Riese," Zed says after a moment. "I do not see anything impolite about this! It's fine! I know exactly what she is talking about, there are no problems!"
Beat. Zed squints at Noel's bag o' loot. "Be careful though, Riese. You may be swallowed up by the clothes she brings. They have a tendency to be... Voluminous."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline's smirk holds steady at first - then turns dazzling as she clues in on Riese's blush. "Right, right. Basically, it's--" hand to forehead in wan maiden pose, commence extreme overacting, "~'Why, when will my dearest arrive to slide off my dress in a page-long description? I have an urgent need to lose a button or two, and some other things as well!'~" Her switch back to a more normal tone is instant, almost like changing a channel. "It's fairly tame for this sort of thing, /really/. I mean, she's not even tied up or anything yet." Yet?!
Nimbly, the demon steals one of Zed's pastries to take a nibble out of it. The motion is more to give herself time than anything else - the idea that Zed might have a fuller understanding of romance than Riesenlied does require something of a metal gearshift, after all - but chewing over the idea makes her realize: "--they aren't /rivals/," she points out huffily, though with an immediate grin of amusement afterwards. "Though I suppose I have to admit that impulse may not be terribly far off the mark."
"In any case, at /least/ give me some credit for knowing what Riese likes to wear," she adds with a rather arch tone and another flick of her hair. "I'm hardly going to let her be shabby, let alone wear anything with-- residue on it."
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
There's a beat.
"...Dress? Dearest??" Zed's brow furrows. "It... It was not talking about a rousing battlefield speech?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riese just covers her mouth as Noeline rather melodramatically describes the scene, protesting, "T--t-t-tied up?!" She nearly looks like she could faint. "I-- she is in lament and despair! Look upon these words -- 'Oh, what can I bring him? Lips that have lost the note of joy, eyes that are blinded by tears, chill hands and an icy heart. I could only bring him nothing!'" She huffs as she says, "Surely such-- such-- such frivolity would be the last thing on this maiden's mind!"
Odjn just stares. "It's precisely because she's so sad she wants a good shaggin--"
"Odjn!" Riese balks, ever more riled up.
"What! That's just how these things go in these novels!"
Riese sighs and sets the novel down. "N-no, it is not a battlefield declaration. Ah. Um." She glances aside and says, "Thank-- thank you for the spare clothes." She peeks in to look very closely, as if to try to catch Noeline out on anything she might be slipping her by. "There is nothing untowardly risque, yes?"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Hmm... well, who can say?" lilts the demon, a hand at her cheek in a serious imitation of Riesenlied's 'I'm mothering over you' expression and amusement dancing in her eyes at the opportunity to needle someone. "If you feel /that/ strongly about someone else on the battlefield, Zed, I suppose it's only right to recognize those feelings. Do be sure to let them know, won't you?" she adds, hands together in front of her. "You shouldn't bottle these things up."
A pause, and she's turned a rather glum frown on the demon leader. "... no more than /usual/," she points out after a beat. "Really, I don't know how you can complain over a little ankle when you're usually toeing the line yourself."
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
"T-tied up?" Zed's eyebrows knit uncertainly, he looks... Confused. Befuddled. Uncertain, even. What kind of... Is she a prisoner somewhere? Does she need liberating? Perhaps so, but certainly not in the way that Zed is imagining. In his mind, the only time a maiden is tied up is when she needs to be carried from some den of iniquity and evil. Or when she's about to clobber some variety of archfoe who believes her helpless with a mighty axe kick.
Zed reads equal opportunity literature.
"...I am not sure what you're talking about???" Zed turns to Noel, looking suddenly EVEN MORE UNCERTAIN. "I... Why would I hesitate to tell someone something like that!? Who do you think I am! I am Zed, the Dark Hero! I don't bottle anything up! My heart overflows! And it is only fair..."
"For them to know that I am coming for them," Zed clenches a fist... heroically. "And that I will never let up!" He holds it to the sky! "That I will always be there...!!!"
"TO MEET THEM IN BATTLE!"
(Zed, no)
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Oh, my. Even when they're sleeping in bed at the dead of night?" the noble-ish girl songs as she brings her hands to her chin, wondering ever-so-innocently. "You'd go that far? Why, I'll have to revise my opinion of you. That's terribly daring." ... ... yeah, she's enjoying herself.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riese puts her hands to her face as she watches the banter between Noeline and Zed -- or more precisely, the banter flying over Zed's head, perhaps. "I regret saying anything," she mumbles with a deep, deep, deeply embarrassed look on her face. She sighs. "At least tell me that she maintains her maidenly virtues and does not succumb to vice."
Odjn makes a face to go, "Riese, you can't just ask for spoilers, you gotta read to the end!"
Riese mumbles, "I--I just-- I might not agree with..." she fidgets, then sulks. "Also, it's /different/. You tend to try to make me toe the line in different ways, Noeline." Oh, topic shift!
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
"W-why would sleep spare them!?" Zed stares at Noeline like she'd grown another head. Another grinning, jeering head. "I would appear at their window and declare my intentions with all the fire in my veins!" All of this banter. It goes right over Zed's head. He... probably thinks it's still about fighting.
Probably.
Beat.
"...Maidenly... virtues? Vices?" Zed tilts his head. Zed is confused!!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riese looks no less flummoxed as she stares at Zed for a longer moment, and wonders why she's being so uppity about all of this. It's only a novel, after all. "Nevermind. I-- do think that earnestness is the best policy, so perhaps you already were on the correct path, Zed. And I am fine, I shall recover soon enough..."
She sighs. "Really, who would have thought Filgaian Cuccos would be so endearing?" A pause. "Threatening."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"I certainly will /not/ tell you!" huffs Noeline of Riesenlied's question, possibly sounding the most seriously galled that she ever has in front of another Metal Demon. "That would go against the whole idea of the thing. If you're going to read a book, read it properly or there's no point at all!"
Oh, lord, Noeline's actually lecturing. Lecturing Riesenlied. Over romance novels.
It takes a little bit for her to step down from her grumbling, her posture slowly relaxing as she trends back towards a lazy grin. "Besides, I know when to push and when not to push. Eyepatches and visible bandages might be tempting to some people, but I've never really considered myself one of them, you know. Really, only you could get into a fight with a bunch of chickens," she says with all the blitheness of someone that didn't witness it.
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
"Do not underestimate the cuccoo," Zed warns with all the gravitas he can muster. "They are a fierce and cunning opponent. And their matriarch is..." He tilts his head upwards, tossing furtive glances at the ceiling and out the window just to make sure she-- or one of her minions-- isn't listening. "The matriarch is a foe to be reckoned with. I do not think... At my present level of skill, that I could best her in combat. But I have tried! And we nearly succeeded, once...! Though she simply shed her skin and took off again!"
"Cuccoos," Zed explains, shaking his head. "They are terrifying indeed."
Beat.
"But! You should totally get an eyepatch!" Zed says, suddenly grasping one of Riese's hands. "You should! You'd look good! I have been considering investing in one, once I perfect my EVIL EYE TECHNIQUE."
What... is he talking about even
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riese yelps a little as Zed grabs her hand, and looks astonishingly confused, even as she cows in the face of Noeline's serious lecturing about novels. "I--I apologise, I shall read to the end, I promise. I-- just do not wish to be disappointed!"
Odjn groans and says, "See, this is the problem with Riese, she expects the contents of each book she reads to be spelled out! Ugh, I don't get why you're so into that stuff you read all the time."
"Dissertations, whitepapers and theses are entirely fascinating to read and worth reading, thank you. Why, Linga's scholars are all fascinating philosophers," Riese grumps. "Why... would I get an eyepatch, though, Zed?"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline is the one to chip in - perhaps it's a little odd how possessive she is of Riesenlied's fashion, but nevertheless she's the one who folds her arms first. "--it wouldn't suit her at all!" she grumbles loudly, then takes a glimpse at Riese and immediately moderates her tone. "... well, I suppose it would. In certain situations. But it's not as if it would be particularly /elegant/," she maintains after a moment of verbal stumbling.
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
"Not /elegant!?/ Your fashion sense is too constrained, Noeline!!" Zed now clenches BOTH fists. His eyes burn with PASSION. A passion... for CHUUNI FASHION!! "You can have all kinds of eyepatches! Cool ones! Practical! See-through ones! Why, you could even have one that matched with those frills you love to wear so much!"
"Obviously, you would wear one--" Zed looks to Riese, nodding firmly. "To show everyone that you are not to be trifled with! That you are a [BAD DUDE] or conceal some kind of [HIDDEN POWER] in your sealed eye! Also, it's convenient when dealing with something that likes to blind you. Just switch eyes!"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"But--" Riese pauses, as she dares to attempt to match Zed's logic and knowing this is a losing game, "Would it not be... more practical to wear goggles, perchance?" She cups her hand to her cheek in that characteristic manner of hers again. "My eyesight is not particularly... enhanced, shall we say, and I daresay losing an eye would affect my perception of depth rather poorly..."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Of course, the twintailed gosuloli immediately swerves her mind's eye towards the idea of Goggled Riesenlied - and after a moment's rebellion, strongly opts to divert over to glasses and the much more pleasant concept of Librarian Riesenlied instead. It's enough to silence her for a moment, her lips drawn into a thin and uncertain line as she tries to evaluate the thought. "... at least get something lighter," she grumbles after a long moment. "Do you want to look like some kind of miner?"
Wow, Noeline, way to shame the working class.
"And, really now. If I were to get an eyepatch it would be much too much. Besides, I've been told my eyes are my best feature," she adds with a coy little wave of her hand, obviously cattishly proud of herself. "Covering them up would be a /terrible/ shame."
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
"No! The assymmetry is fashionable, don't you know?" Zed frowns, his STYLE CHOICES questioned by these... These...!!! Vastly more knowledgable individuals who spend a lot more time on this than he does. Or at least, one of them spends a lot more time on this than he does. "Besides... Noelline! If your eyes are your best asset... Then you must keep others on their toes! Hide one until they are sure of their defense against your... assets...! And then! REVEAL IT!" Zed spreads his arms wide like he were making some GRAND DECLARATION. "And you will shake their resolve to its foundations!"
Beat.
"Also. Mining is a perfectly reasonable occupation. I happen to know a miner. He suplexed me into a treasure chest."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... your eyes definitely are your most attractive feature," Riese picks a perfect lull to say in the resulting conversation, holding Noeline's hand with her own and brushing it gently. "And it would be rather a shame to see them covered."
Odjn stares at the sparkles and bubbles that have inexplicably appeared behind them for a moment, and then says, "I don't see why you're so upset about these novels when you live one out yourself, practically."
"W-what?!" Riese is back to flusteredness, all of a sudden. "I do not! I do not have such... such raucous proclivities!"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline isn't expecting the other demon to get handsy and earnest all of a sudden, and it shows in the way she pips out a slight noise of surprise, a hint of colour rising to her cheeks as she lights up and sits straighter. "Wh-- well--" she stumbles, and then frowns as she flicks out her hair and tries to regain control. "Well, of /course/ they are! I'm not about to hide them when a smile and a piercing glare can do much more than that as it is! What do you mean /assets/? You be quiet!" she blusters quickly, giving first Zed and then Odjn a rather dirty look just for being present.
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
Zed stares at this mysterious field of bubbles which forms between these two beautiful battle maidens. He is mystified by it. What caused this to occur? No... No, he's seen this before...!! "It's... It's just like in my animes-- W-what? No! I mean that... Strength is an asset, right? So your eyes are a strength! I- I think? Is that what I mean??"
Zed appears confused.
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
"Riese!" Zed points! "Why are you so ashamed!" He deflects! "There is nothing wrong... WITH RAUCOUSNESS! LET IT SHIIIINE!"
(Yes, this is good strategy.)
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline claps her mouth open and shut for a moment, jostled to one side by Zed's first statement - and then more or less KOd by the second, gaping for a long moment as Zed meets her usual line and unexpectedly goes way over. "--you-- you--" Oh god, she kicks? With heels that high?
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.
OH GOD SHE KICKS. WITH HEELS THAT HIGH! Noeline... Is a woman of many talents. She also catches Zed right in the chin.
He goes flying, right out of his chair, and into another further-away chair. He'll... Probably be okay?
"So... much... lace...??"
Yeah he'll be okay.
Unless Noeline straight up murders him now.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riese winces as she exclaims, "N-Noeline! That was uncalled for!" as Noeline just straight out kicks Zed. She huffs and says, "I-- do read me this book, how about that? Let us settle this down so I can rest and recuperate some more."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
With a solid grumble, Noeline folds her arms and is totally not drifting closer to Riesenlied. Unpacking the concept of reading a romance novel together with the other demon, you know, /in bed/ is something she has to approach from the side, and carefully. "... not that I'm /against/ raucousness, just perhaps not at the top of one's lungs!" she blusters instead, basically a hypocrite (as if this were even vaguely a surprise)..