2017-04-11: Shifting Alliances

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  • Log: Shifting Alliances
  • Cast: Agatha Pyrelight, Zed, Riesenlied
  • Where: Adelyn Ranchlands
  • Date: 4/11/2017
  • Summary: Agatha has a meeting with Zed and Riesenlied. Agatha then breaks Zed's brain.

============================<* Adelyn Ranchlands *>=============================

The area around Adlehyde Castle is occupied by rolling fields of grass that are the envy of nations more seriously affected by the desertification that plagues Ignas. Most of the continent's cattle and horses are bred and raised in these ranchlands, which are owned by a scattered assortment of families, each with lands and borders carefully marked out by poles and fences.

While Adlehyde's soldiers patrol the main trade routes throughout the country, the ranchers are for the most part left to their own devices except during tax season; this has tended to produce an independent and stubborn streak in the people who call this territory home. Folks around these parts are used to looking after themselves, and do so with a brutal effectiveness.

The four-footed wealth that covers the ranchlands attracts its fair share of rustlers, bandits, and other ne'er-do-wells; when local posses prove insufficient to the task, a single rider sent to the Adventurer's Guild will generally bring help quick enough.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfRBmqBlzzQ
<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.

The message is rather simple - an invitation to discuss the disposition of a certain relic that had been recovered on a ruins run a few weeks earlier. It arrives through the standard Adventurers' Guild courier system, seeking out Zed and Riesenlied - given that the pair are not exactly wandering the city every day, it is likely that it was sent out a while ago and has taken a while to actually find its recipients.

The meeting location is in an shady copse out in the ranchlands outside of Adelhyde. There does not appear to be anything out of the ordinary about the location - it seems quaint, almost idyllic. The breeze rustles through the branches, and the sun casts a dappled pattern upon the ground. And in the center stands a single figure.

It isn't Agatha, but instead one of the porters that she had brought with her on that expedition into the hillside ruins. He stands unmoving - almost eerily so. It's impossible to tell how long he has been here, waiting. But as soon as he sees the two Metal Demons arrive, he turns towards them and inclines his head. "I will inform my mistress that you have arrived," he states, his voice sounding hollow and empty.

He then does nothing else besides stare, his eyes unblinking under the scarf wound around his head.

It takes perhaps fifteen minutes for the 'mistress' to arrive. The smell of burning tobacco wafts through the air, and then Agatha steps from the shadows, a long thin pipe held in one hand. Her oversized witches' hat flops down over one eye, and the other - completely black, with a yellow iris that glows slightly in the shadow cast by her hat - looks at her two guests. "I appreciate you responding to my message," she states, and bows politely. "It is good to see you both doing well, especially with how chaotic the last few weeks have been."

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

The last time Zed heard of Agatha, she made Ida a liar. That's not a good place to be in Zed's books. Not necessarily just because he can get rather protective of people he considers 'friends' in his big book of contacts and acquaintances, but also because... Well, because it just wasn't really a nice thing to do! Certainly not honorable in the slightest! For the greatest* ninja** to walk amongst the Metal Demons, honor is very important, and honesty is but one of its facets.

And so when he is conjured by missive to appear and meet with this... this WITCHY WOMAN, Zed does not come in peace. Zed comes with his sword strapped to his hip*** and a distinct frown on his face. Frowns are rare on Zed faces, rarer still are frowns that persist for greater than thirty seconds. But this one seems stubborn, if exaggerated. A consummate >:( if ever there were one.

He glances sidelong at the beturbaned arm-candy as he does basically nothing but maintain eye contact. Zed maintains eye contact too. Stare meets stare. This continues for fifteen minutes.

And then she arrives.

Zed is still staring at that guy, though. He's suspicious.

"So, you've finally shown yourself." Zed huffs, not averting his gaze, "What's this you called to meet us about, now?"

(*Self-proclaimed)

(**Even more self-proclaimed, loudly, at any good opportunity)

(***It's always there anyway)

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied had left Odjn in town, letting the dragon busk her little heart out. It was... rather wise to leave her, innocent as she can be, out of matters such as this. The winged Hyadean has her robe on, cloaked rather well around her form though in a chic manner, having found a separate one to wear after her first one turned into a bit of a crisp at Kent Hauch's curious invention.

The man draws a rather curious look from Riese, though she keeps herself quietly reserved. An automaton? A homonculus? Curious indeed, but the Witch had made a show of having servants around her prior.

She bows in turn when Agatha arrives, though it's clear it's all just a formality. "I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say."

<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.

Well, that was a bit more of the measure she was expecting from Zed. Agatha actually smiles for a moment as she sees him seething with a little bit of hostility. She was wondering if he could muster that sort of response, given that he had seemed like something of a fool when they had met last time.

Very good.

Riesenlied on the other hand is more polite, and receives Agatha's attention first. She inclines her head, and sits back slightly. Her cloak twists around her, part stretching down to a point just above the ground, the rest sliding around to form the back of her 'seat' as she relaxes and takes a long draw on her pipe. A smoke ring drifts out, spinning around on its axis in a manner that smoke really shouldn't do naturally.

"Well, I wanted to greet you more formally, my allies twice over," she comments with a smile. She raises one hand, and another of her porters steps out from behind her, carrying a large silk wrapped object in his arms. The porter walks forward, stopping a good five feet away from the two Metal Demons. With a single motion he goes to one knee, unwrapping the silken package so the cloth spills over his hands, leaving the object within exposed.

"To avoid misunderstanding, and because it seemed that they were important to you, I wished to present the findings of our recent little ruins adventure," Agatha explains, as the two Metal Dragon fangs glimmer in the dapple light of the copse. "Originally I had intended to present them to your leader in exchange for a meeting to discuss our mutual interests, but it seems that is no longer necessary."

The witch smiles, and takes another drag on her pipe, waiting to see what the response of her 'guests' will be.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

There is a raised eyebrow from Riesenlied, quietly. Allies, hmm?

She reclines gently against the tree, looking towards Zed. It wouldn't do for him to lash out unnecessarily, though his expression made that seem like it would be rather certain.

"So you do know," Riese spoke softly, closing her eyes for a moment and shifting her stance quietly. She glances towards the porters and looks towards the fangs for a moment, before looking back towards the witch. "Of our nature. What do you mean when you say it is... 'it is no longer necessary' for you to speak to our leader?"

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Zed is blissfully unaware of any strange approving glances that any strange approving witches might have for him. He is blissfully unaware of many things. Such is the benefit of being Zed. Your world is what you make of it. Often that means technicolor, explosions, and cool fight scenes at 1080p or higher.

But he is aware of what Dragon fangs look like. And what that sack on the ground is. It actually gets him to shift his gaze away from the turbano'd man. He stares instead at the teeth on the ground.

Then back up at the witch.

"You're pretty far past misunderstandings," Zed says with a cross of the arms and a squint in the eye. "You caused misunderstandings! Deliberately. It was a very confusing day, when I received that message. But now you're saying that we have some kind of... Leader???" Zed narrows his eyes even further. His arms unfold and one slooooowly creeps towards his sword.

"...There is no leader. What are you talking about?" Zed glances to Riese. Are they going to have to put this one in a box and bury her in a mountain???

<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.

"Well, I'm certain that the two of you may pass as... what? Beastmen? Unusual foreigners?" Agatha smiles, and exhales another cloud of smoke. This one takes the form of a dragon, and wings its way to - and around - Zed's head for a moment before it finally dissolves away on the breeze. "At least to normal humans. But you show great reverence to a creature of legend that fought against humanity, and... hmmmm." The witch taps her chin for a moment, and then smiles, leaning forward on her floating perch.

"Well, let's just say that normal humans react to my kind in a certain manner. If I do not restrain my powers, my... aura shall we say... seeps into the surrounding area. But as far as I can tell, it simply washes around the pair of you like water around a pair of rocks."

Agatha slides out of her perch, and walks across the ground to stand next to her servant, where he remains stock still with the fangs held upright in his hands. She runs one clawed finger along the sharp point of one of the metal objects, and then looks back at Zed. "Oh, you mean that incident with Miss Rey? Did she mention that she and her companion threatened me? Very uncouth, and I figured a bit of trouble would teach her some manners. Besides, clearly you did not harm her, and indeed... I would presume given her nature that you've further gained her trust given her nature."

A thin, hungry smile. "After all, that supports your infiltration. A task which I am now bound to assist you in as well, thanks to the negotiations of my associate."

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Is- is this a joke about Odjn!? This cloud of smoke that encircles his head. The breeze that follows!! Or is it just... About the fact that this whole conversation came about on account of dragon bones? That seems far more reasonable, and so it's not the thing that first comes to Zed's mind. "Miss Ida wouldn't have done something like that if there wasn't a good reason for it," Zed says, after a moment. Something about this situation... It seems to have set him on edge.

He's expecting something to jump out of a nearby bush and try to cut off his head.

Or an awesome fight in a bamboo grove.

SOMETHING like that.

On the matter of infiltration, Zed says... Nothing at all! Instead his eyes narrow like this were Samurai Jack or something.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

There was a measure of silence from Riesenlied, and the gears are rather clearly turning in her head.

"The armored knight," she speaks after a lengthy pause. "I assume that K.K. is your associate that met with our leader."

She places her palms to their opposing elbows, giving this turn of events a longer consideration. "It would appear that you have his trust. But if I may, what do you seek from this alliance between our two organisations? I can only assert that it is a situation of mutual gain, given that..."

She gestures very faintly. She thinks back to what Talise has spoken about her. "From what the Lunarians have spoken of you, you are something of a dark legend to them, though the details escape me. You view humanity as an enemy, do you not?"

<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.

Agatha extends her hands outwards in response to Riesenlied's supposition, although she says nothing at this point. Who knows what acronym that person was using these days - they were so very fond of them, and of their own personal mystery.

"What I seek to gain is the reason why we are allies twice over, for my mission is to return the Lord of Calamity to her world," Agatha states after a moment. Given that she brought *that* up may seem like a rather radical right turn in the conversation. "I am working diligently to that end, although progress is slow. Ways to return to Lunar from this world are quite limited, and none are what even you would consider to be safe."

She walks in a slow circle, moving away from her servant and staying out of arm's reach of the two Metal Demons. It almost feels like a predator sizing up another predator, seeing which is the larger and more dangerous - and if they are worthy of respect or perhaps are more worthy of being a meal.

"Ah, you must mean that bard who attacked me. Really, I don't know where she learns her stories from, but they are quite... mmmm." Agatha pauses and tilts her head. "Well I can't say they're not flattering, but really I wish they would tell the whole story. Humans are not my enemy. They are my... clients. They come to me for assistance, and I help them as long as they are willing to pay my price."

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

There's something to be said for Zed's capacity to sense danger. If he wasn't halfway good at it, at the very least, he probably wouldn't have survived this long. The other major contributing factors are his unusual durability and his utter inability to recognize when he should really quit when the quitting is good.

Something here... Doesn't quite feel... Right?

"You want to return her to Lunar?" Zed asks, his thumb tapping at the pommel of his most favorite cursed sword. "That's kind of strange. Why would you want to do that if you're not an enemy to humans, hmmmmm?" Certainly, Lucia doesn't really seem Lord of Calamity material in the practical sense, but pretty much everyone from the moon who ISN'T travelling with her already seems convinced that she's the bringer of the end times. "Or is it more..."

Zed tilts his head and winnows his eyes.

"Do you just want her to owe you something?"

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Beat.

Zed steps back! "W-wait, does that mean you want US to owe you something!? I already gave away most of my money!"

<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.

That commentary - Agatha just laughs in amusement, walking behind Zed, provided he isn't turning to keep her in sight. That might be fun, to see if he's willing to show enough confidence to allow her to stand at his back, of if he'll turn enough that he's put his back to the two servants behind him. A fun little exercise that Agatha will gladly partake in!

"Ah, but what IS the Lord of Calamity? I doubt that you know, nor do most people on Lunar really *understand* what it means," Agatha states, still moving in that wide circle around the pair. "Our little waif is quite charming in her innocence, but make no mistake - she has considerable power. But the title 'Lord of Calamity' is not one of religious significance - it is given to a person who has the power to upend the current order of the world."

The witch chuckles quietly, as if in response to a private joke. "And believe me, out waif will indeed upend the order of the world when she returns. It will be quite exciting to watch - I don't believe anyone will have seen anything like it before. When you have lived as long as I have, novelty has a strong attraction - the disruption of life's everyday rhythm can provide diversion that not even a thousand years of the same occurrences can match."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"It must be quite the price indeed," Riesenlied muses, keeping herself well reserved still, though her speech has not wavered one bit. The Pyrewitch was quite the manipulator, after all, and picked up on the smallest of details. She couldn't doubt that any price Agatha exacts is anything less than incommesurate. It wasn't the kind of deal that you could take back.

The news of the Lord of Calamity, however, was a bit unsettling - in part because of Zed's affinity to the Fiends.

"We were largely unaware of the existence of the Lord of Calamity and her designs, and those that are chasing her, up until recently. I cannot say that we have many resources committed to it."

She tilts her head to say, "I feel we are still lacking the context. Her presence here -- and subsequent absence in Lunar -- is troublesome on a grand scale for many, such as the Althenan Chosen. But I do not have a finger on the pulse of the situation. Can you provide some more insight into that?"

She lowers her head a little. "Information, after all, is the lifeblood upon which we must operate."

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Zed does indeed have an affinity for the fiends. You might say that he's a fiend friend. A friend of fiends. Hiro is a pal, and Ruby is adorable, and Lemina is greedy and apparently his guildmaster now?? Jean gave him food, and Lucia is great. He's a Fiend Friend, tried and true.

So hearing that someone like this just wants to... Send them all back, get them to where they're going, is... weird. But then, she just wants to see what happens when she does? Zed narrows his eyes.

He narrows them further when she starts circling him.

Trying to intimidate?

To size him up!?!?

WELL. TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME.

Zed begins circling her now, too.

It's not even that he's letting anything get behind him. No, he's moving in such a way that he can keep exactly everything important in view at all times. Somehow, without actually backing away. He needs to move at oblique and at times non-euclidean angles to manage it, but somehow he seems to manage it.

WHAT NOW, FLAME WITCH!?

"Doesn't really matter what she is! It just seems strange to me that someone who's been around for as long as you have just wants to... See what happens? I guess? You probably have some kind of idea, don't you? And you know what she really is, too?"

"Is it just age by which you know all these things that you know? Will I know this many things when I am as old? Hmm. Curiouser and curiouser."

<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.

Agatha laughs, and leans forward so that it looks like she's leaning on something (in this case her cape has wrapped around as she is using it light a floating bar) as she looks at Riesenlied, her black eyes more amused than anything else.

This means that she's stopped circling Zed for the moment, and instead focuses her attention on the other Metal Demon. "Ah, but that is the mystery - why were so many people brought to Lunar from here? No one knows - that reason remains elusive, but from what I have gathered the appearance of the Sorcery Globe in the skies and the mass transition of people from Lunar to Filgaia are too closely spaced to be mere coincidence. It is unprecedented, as far as I am aware, and the Lord of Calamity vanishing and being brought here is all the more interesting. Is she meant to work her will up this world first?"

Agatha smiles and turns around, drifting backwards slightly so she can catch Riesen out of the corner of one eye again. "I personally don't believe that, but I could be wrong. The way in which the Lord will reshape the world is up to their own will and power - at the moment, her power has been weakened, but when it returns... well." A hitch of the shoulders, as if to say 'what happens will happen'. "Lucia is a woman who seems to view the world very much in absolutes."

That also answers Zed's question, although Zed might not be paying attention. Because unless his reflexes are very good, he'll find that as he turns in odd ways to keep Agatha and her minions in sight that there is another minion standing behind him. Not threatening, not moving, he is just... there as if he stepped from the shadows.

And when he turns in reaction to *that* minion appearing, another one is right behind him once more, again non-threatening - just standing there, an unexpected barrier for Zed to run into unexpectedly as he keeps moving.

In fact if he reaches the point where he's so freaked out that he's lying down on the ground, Zed will even find someone poking him in the back, as if he were being prodded from beneath the ground.

Despite the fact that Agatha is talking to his companion, it almost feels like she continues to watch his antics out of the back of her head, one of the large jewels on her hat glimmering in the sunbeam struck shadows of the glade. Because she smirks in amusement at this little game.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

While Riese is nowhere near as old as Agatha implies she is, she's been around for a while as well. Fortunately, perhaps, she doesn't quite share the same sentiment of attempting to find excitement in a world that no longer inspires. Even after four centuries of wandering, there was much that she knows she does not understand.

Zed, on the other hand... she's not sure if age will temper him, but she hopes that he'll learn something as time goes on. To see his rougher edges tempered a little, and to see that his sentiment is not dulled down by the unforgiving sands of time.

"Zed, don't waste your energy," she softly suggests with a sigh. "By how you speak of it, this woman is not the first Lord of Calamity. There are, no doubt, tomes of lore of past disasters..." She thinks on that comment. Viewing the world in absolutes... A very dangerous way of thinking, indeed. And one that, no doubt, entertained Agatha. "I see now why she might interest you. Filgaia is a very dangerous world to take in black-and-white."

"We definitely have a vested interest in the Sorcery Globe. We would welcome your assistance -- whether you or your acquaintance, in our investigation of it, when the time comes. There is a plan already underway."

That the plan begins and ends at 'fly out there on dragons and then poke it and see if something horrible comes out' is not something she has to share, though.

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Zed widens his gyre. He turns one way and then the other, but no matter where he goes, there's always... someone. Behind him. Always someone lurking in the shadows of his own shoulders to poke him or prod him in the back. W-what is this!? Some kind of... Some kind of burly turban-man summoning power!? Is that even a thing!? IS THIS THE DARK SECRET OF HER MACHO MANSQUAD!?!?

Or maybe one should simply not meddle in the murky arts of the noneuclidean cowboy encirclement.

But... BUT...!!

ZED! WILL NOT! BE STOPPED!

Zed leaps through the air, vaulting off the top of one man's turban. He disappears...!!!

Only to reemerge a moment later. Standing atop an entirely different minion's shoulders.

Zed has claimed the high ground...!!!

"Well obviously! Filgaia is a land of many colors! Why, if you could only see black and white, how would you know whether the monster you encounter is a mere weakling, or something that belongs outside the lair of the demon lord!?" Because everyone knows that power levels are directly correlated to palette swaps. "It's dangerous to only see monochrome! If she has this problem, she should correct it post haste!"

Beat.

"I think she's just here because of an accident, myself," Zed says with a tilt of his head and an uncertain blink. "I mean, maybe not! But one coincidence leads to another, and everything has to happen at the same time as at least one other thing! Right?"

Zed... May someday grow older. But whether he grows up-- that is another thing entirely.

<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.

"To be honest, I'm not sure why anyone would like this dying little dust ball," Agatha admits, resuming a more normal standing posture. "Compared to Lunar your world is, I am sorry to say, a dried up ball of sand. Then again, from the old legends the Blue Star supposedly burned to ashes, so even finding any life here is unexpected." The witch smiles, tipping her hat forward slightly.

"Still, there is something to be said for a world free of Althena's 'Blessing'. Those who wear no yoke are most *interesting* beings, even if they must struggle on a world with so little. There is a certain undeniable dignity to staring an encroaching end in the face with courage, refusing to back down." Agatha enjoyed new things, after all, and so much of those world was worth investigating. Even if it was only as a side project.

But the offer to explore this Sorcery Globe... "Why yes, I do believe I would be interested in that, if only to assuage my own curiosity," she replies to Riesen, inclining her head. "Of course, I would expect some share in whatever we discovered there. But given what I have heard, I am sure there will be many opportunities to be had."

But Agatha is also paying attention to Zed's antics, and when he disappears the second time, he reappears above... nothing. The sight of it is quite disturbing, because one moment there are a number of the minions in the clearing. The next... it is almost as if they melted into the shadows in the ground. Indeed, it grows darker in the clearing for a moment, as if something had moved between the shafts of light, moving somewhere.

It might be most disturbing that the last place those shadow are seen are just beneath Agatha's feet.

"Oh I do agree, Zed," Agatha comments as she turns to look at him. "No one should live only for one mission. Love, life, happiness - those are as important as determination, of pushing through pain and suffering to accomplish a nebulous mission." The witch chuckles, a low and throaty laugh as she drifts away from Riesen and towards him. "Our waif has seen so little of the world - it would mean a great deal to me if you could work to broaden her horizons. Although..."

And in single, flowing motion that Zed might find distressing, because Agatha is ALMOST CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH HIM in that single movement, the witch reaches up with one taloned finger and lightly taps him on the chest, provided he doesn't go diving out of the way. "...there are a few things that we should agree to leave to her Consort, don't you agree?"

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"Our brethren and humans are, in a way, alike," Riesenlied comments, not really having reacted to the whole shenanigan that Zed's pulled off in his little dance number in-between the muscled servants of Agatha's. That they move towards her shadow does draw some interest, but ultimately, she must ascribe it to a spell or purview of the Pyrewitch's domain. "Gifted with nothing, and despised by the barren world which would like no more than for us to shrivel and become ash, we yet continue ever onward."

She finally pulls up from her lean, to head towards the dragon bones that had been so preciously wrapped before to pick them up. Once more, there is a quiet reverence as she nurses them into her arms, and then places them away -- someplace. "I shall be in touch, when the time comes. I assume the Memory Cube and the couriers will suffice, as you've yourself used their services to contact us?"

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Zed finds a lot of things distressing. 'Disappearing macho men' is among those things. Can she just... Disappear macho men on demand!? Is that her secret domain, beyond just lighting things on fire and smoking for thousands of years with no sign of premature aging or coal miner's lung!? Zed frowns as he lands not on a mountain of muscles, but a flat plain of grass.

And then Agatha moves.

And then ZED moves. He doesn't dive out of the way, no. He lunges in! And if she doesn't dodge... Zed would take the witch by the hand! Dip! Twirl! And then release!

Yes, because it takes only one to dance...

But two to tango.

Zed frowns slightly, then, having revealed his strange grappling art prematurely. But... But then. Hmn. "...Hnn? What? Leave what to her Consort, now?" He seems... Confused.

Hmn.

<Pose Tracker> Agatha Pyrelight has posed.

Amusing Agatha submits to Zed's little action, twirling along with him for a moment. Although Zed will notice two odd things - the lack of resistance, as if Agatha wasn't actually touching the ground, and just the fact that her hand feels abnormally hot - as if it were trying to burn him through her glove. But Agatha chuckles, as he pulls her along into what seems like a dance routine.

And then he asks that question, and Zed gets an unexpected answer, because Agatha pulls him close during the middle of his little spin, wraps her free hand around the back of his head, and kisses him rather passionately.

The witch pulls away a moment later, and replies: "Things like that, my young friend," she comments absently, and slides away.

As Agatha walks back towards Risenlied, she gestures once, her servant standing and bowing to his mistress. "You can also leave a message with one of my servants - you will find them more common in this area as time passes and your leader prepares himself. I am also to help create some safe houses for you, which is the task I move onto next."

Agatha's smooth, slowing gait takes her to the edge of the grove, and she looks back. "After all, that serves both of our interests - for I also intend to offer them to the Lord and her companions as well."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied looks rather surprised as the Pyrewitch dances along with Zed and-- oh dear, she kisses him.

She's going to have a field day with that one. Now where was that copy of the romance animes that Zed adamantly refuses to watch because they're 'icky' again... perhaps that could be a good start. Then again, maybe not. She just hopes she doesn't have to have extended metaphors of pollen and the bees...

"It is much appreciated," Riesenlied nods. That was certainly unexpected. When she put herself forth to investigating the Pyrewitch's name, she didn't think they'd align under the same purpose. But how long can such an alliance last, both between the Metal Demons proper... and what Riesenlied herself wishes to create?

She strides forth with a bow of her head, then looks with an amiable, if amused look on her face. "Don't look too flustered," she tells Zed, "Let's get back to town, hmm?"

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Hoh-hoh. He twirls this woman with the greatest of ease! It's as if she's just gliding in his arms! Truly, his strength is great indeed! He dips, he whirls, he opens his mouth to ask a question--

Wh--

This--

WHAT

IS

THIS

Zed is frozen! Petrified! His lips are locked. Strange, unfamiliar sensations shoot down his spine; a vague notion of warmth and softness and a whole host of other things Zed can't even begin to describe, because he's approximately as ignorant in the ways of love as a frog in a well is ignorant of the sea. "Buh?" Zed asks of the land, sky and air as soon as he has the breath and wherewithal to voice a question.

And then Riese starts dragging him away. "Bwuh??" Zed asks again, then, sort of stumbling after his friend and superior officer. This... This feeling. This strange feeling. What is it? What... IS IT????