2017-04-21: To Kiss and Tell

From Dream Chasers
Jump to navigation Jump to search

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

In the wake of all the commotion and noise of the Demons' recent plans, Riesenlied is taking just a bit of time to rest in Adlehyde. The winged woman is... pretty much a bit of an identifiable person in Adlehyde thanks to a certain cuccoon accident (and no, not even the Cucco Invasion), and she's taking the time to stretch her wings on an outside bench. "... ah, really ..." she shakes her head and flips through some letters that she's acquired by courier, keeping tabs on extenuating circumstances.

She swallows faintly, and then frowns as she puts a finger to her lip. "... we'll need more garments too," she muses to herself.

Beside her, Odjn is heavily engrossed in the latest trashy romance novel being peddled. There's a swole fellow with hair up yea high and his sword is also up yea high and his chin and eyebrows are twice as sharp as his blade. The cover of the book reads: 'POUNDED BY THE SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATION OF EVERYONE'S SOULS: AN ECO-TERRORISM ROMANCE IN THREE PARTS ((part one) (final mix))'.

"... I hope you are measuring how much you read of that," Riese sulkily murmurs, reminded of what happened the last time.

"Planet's dyin', Riese!"

A pause.

"I knew that."

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Hot weather or not, Talise wore her seafarer's coat. She's come to really like it. She's also got her sword with her but that's probably for Reasons.

She's a little more on edge than she normally is, easing through the streets and stopping at a crossroad to look over her shoulder. Her lips come together as she doesn't see anything suspicious.

Good.

Starting down the road, she cants her head after a few seconds as a familiar voice reaches her ears. Diverting towards the bench, she smiles as she recognizes the woman and the metal dragon there. It's enough to chase at least some of the worry and gloom out of the forecast; she takes the opportunity to socialize. With a steady thump of boots against the cobbles, she steps over, clearing her throat, then leaning forward and reaching out to tap her finger against the spine of the book.

"Who's pounding who now?" she asks with a whimsical arch of her brows and a playful smile, eyes atwinkle.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Seated next to her-- companion, for want of a better word, is a similarly familiar sight around Adlehyde as late: the black-haired, red-eyed girl in the tail end of her teenage years is taking up rather a lot of the bench, partially thanks to the dramatic dress that looks totally out of place in the city's setting but also because she's gained a few issues of the local newspapers, stacked next to her as she works through them with obvious interest and a toothy sort of grin.

The occasional odd looks she gets from townsfolk as they go by only seem to fuel Noeline's good cheer, the Metal Demon obviously enjoying the rumours swirling around her presence. She's been around the city for a couple of weeks by now, ensuring that her status as a Crimson Noble is well-understood, and there's a certain level of fame that she's started to garner.

"... well. All's well in the world, I s'pose, for certain values of 'well'," she comments almost to herself. Is she... working, for once? Not that anyone but Riese would recognize it as Noeline's job to keep abreast of information. "At least, Kislev and Aveh have been sitting mostly still. No signs of any enormous crater popping up in nearby cities out of the blue, filled with wreckage of Gears and glassed cliffs, that sort of thing."

Pausing in her sing-song, Noeline peers at Odjn, letting out an amused huff as her gaze flicks towards Talise with the lightest of nods of greeting. "Odjn, dear, I did have to make something of a truce with Riese, so don't go too fast through that one."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riese looks just a little bit contrite as she murmurs, "I-- am not certain I'd use the word /truce/, but... perhaps that..."

She looks just a bit startled as Talise asks the question, and then stammers, without even thinking, "Nobody!"

Odjn beams and says, "Oh, Talise! This book's so riveting! This guy's rock-hard sword is twice his size and he's grinding it up vigorously against the other guy's super-long sword!"

Riese doesn't look ready to deal with this. Wow, she looks a bit tired, actually.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia is, through no fault of her own, a brat. She can't help it! She knows she's supposed to be being careful to stay close to her friends, but sometimes she just forgets and goes for a wander anyway when she gets too restless. Like today.

Fortunately for all involved, Sephy seems to have stumbled on to a gathering of those same friends!

"Hi everyone!" she says, waving as she spies Talise, Riese, Odjn and Noeline. "What book is THAT? Books are normally pretty boring but that sounds pretty neat!" Her expression is one of complete innocence.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise could not possibly have missed the dress. Hand at her hip, she smiles a neat smile for Noeline, eyebrows arching shallowly upwards. "Truces with Riese? I thought you two were already the bosomest of buddies."

As Sephilia flounces up, Talise gives her a little pat on the shoulder. "Hey you," she says with with a smile. "I'll tell you about that book later."

Odjn explains the basics anyway. Talise just shakes her head with a dip of her lashes. "Well. So long as they're handling their swords like professionals. A lot of guys want to go right into the big swing and finish the duel right away, but it's a lot better when the duel goes on for awhile and both swordsmen get to show each other their technique, you know?"

She does not so much as wink. Instead her gaze snaps over to Riese, and she tilts her head to the side. "You look bushed, Riese. What's wrong? Your bosom buddy wear you out?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

With a wag of her hand near her hair - an almost half-hearted attempt to flick out her hair, what with her attention tugged in a couple of different directions - Noeline smirks up towards Talise first and foremost. "Well~ when it comes to dear Odjn's studies on this topic, I've been asked not to go too deep too fast," she chimes, doing her best to hold the amused grin steady on her face and not tug it wide enough to give the game away. "Poor Riese has been fending off question after question, and wouldn't you know it but I seem to have the knack to slip out just as Odjn asks them," she reports, hands clasped in front of her as she cutely tilts her head.

Of course, Sephilia's question immediately tugs her interest in that direction, eyes lighting up like fire. "Oh~! Look at you, all safe and sound. That's good to see, don't you think? /Well/, this is an important step on the road to becoming an adult," she adds breathlessly, more for mischief's sake than to seriously figure out where Sephilia stands on the matter of turning adult. At least she leans forward a little, careful to make her reply into a stage whisper.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"Absolutely!" Odjn chimes. "The main character's got a real handle on his gear, even if other people say no one'd touch that junk! Sephy, you should read this too! It's a romance novel about people who can't get off on the train they're on!"

Talise gets, perhaps, an unexpected reaction from Riese as the winged woman begins to stammer again. Someone's guard is still not yet recovered. "N-no, she did not..." She pauses, and then clears her throat and puts a hand to her forehead. "S-stop-- stop calling her a bosom buddy, please. ... you do mean Noeline, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"I'm fifteen and a half," Sephy says indignantly, before turning her attention huffily back to Odjn. "Romance? Books are...kind of boring but...it has a train in it?" She seems intrigued. "Do you mean they can't get off of the train? Are they moving? is it locked? What's happening to them?"

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Probably a wise decision. You've got to warm her up a little before you go too deep into the topic," Talise agrees with a deep, fervent nod for Noeline.

She reaches over to give Sephilia a little pat on the shoulder but gives up on trying to keep her from reading it; she's old enough to figure out how boys handle their swords, after all. No sense sheltering her.

Riese's stammering surprises her, though. She promptly helps herself to a seat, plopping down next to the blushing woman and breaking into a sly grin, eyes darting between Riese and Noeline. A little spark of mirth dances within them. "I didn't think my mentioning 'bosom' in that context would make you blush like that, Lady Riese," she tosses out mildly, clasping her hands together atop her thigh. "And what's all this about truces now? Did something get heated between you two? Here I thought you were like this."

Holding her hands up, she touches her index fingers together.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Maybe Noeline does have a conscience in there somewhere. Maybe she's just biased. Either way, she sits up a little as she starts to pack her stack of newspaper a little more tidily, allowing Talise the space to sit down as she properly flicks out her hair. "... we had a brief falling out," she reports, her tone maybe even edging a ways towards serious. "Nothing terribly major, but it was a bad combination of circumstances. Most of them are, when Zed gets himself involved," she huffs as if that were the only answer needed, folding her arms.

But her grin turns sunny again in a moment as she nudges Riese's arm. "But-- well, that's nothing new, is it? Everyone's got to let some feeling out once in a while, I've always thought. Even I need a moment from time to time," she hums, basically emitting musical notes into the air.

"--ah, but you know, that's the perfect time to learn about this sort of thing! I'm sure you'll be taking everyone's breath away in no time," she hums as her attention abruptly switches towards Sephilia, leaning forward a little in her seat towards the girl as she snickers. "And-- really! We can't give away the plot just like /that/. That would be doing the book a disservice, not to mention yourself. It's no fun if you just skip right to the end." ... this time, her lecture - though delivered as sweetly as ever - almost seems like actual admonishment.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy scowls. "Well, I'm not going to read it. I like to have my own adventures, after all, not sit around reading about other people's adventures." Is it possible that she literally has no idea?

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"I don't really know! They got on this train like, three hundred pages ago and they haven't been off since! Is the train a metaphor for something? I don't even know!" Odjn seems resolutely engrossed. "It's all just train rides and swordfights and sometimes an ARM plant blows up!"

Riese's lips absolutely thin as she wobbles just a little bit. "I-- simply feel tired, is all, Miss Talise," and she absolutely can't help but continue shooting herself in the foot as she casts Noeline a sideglance look. "... perhaps it was a falling out to you," she tries to speak in a manner that she absolutely hopes isn't 'sulky'. "Really, how could you act so capriciously all the time... you do cause quite a bit of trouble for me, you know..."

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"That's Zed for you," Talise says with a slight lowering of her lashes and a shake of her head. "He's a real special little guy."

She leans forward, crossing her hands again and smiling, the expression increasingly impish as she listens to Noeline's explanation of what happened. "Oh yes, a little feeling goes a long way, a /very/ long way," she agrees with a brisk nod. "And it's not good to just bottle it up. Sometimes you've got to let it out and share it with one another." It's like she /knows./

Then Riese wobbles, and Talise brings her hand up to support her, squeezing her shoulder firmly. Sparks of something wicked whirl like fireflies behind her eyes, her smile parting into a grin that shows off those feline little fangs of hers that offset her otherwise normal human deeth. "You two are so cute," she laughs. "If I didn't know better I'd think there was kissing involved." Tethelle Cirdian has disconnected.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

THAT gets Sephy's attention. "K-kissing?!" she says. "Why is kissing involved? Who's kissing? What's happening?"

She DEFINITELY has no idea.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

... ... it's kind of telling that Noeline is leaving Talise's response completely untouched, her focus entirely on Sephilia as she offers a amused and rather fanged grin and ramps up her sing-song nature to better work past a spike of red across her cheeks. "Oho~ how forthright! I suppose I can't argue with that sort of logic - that's the kind of thing that moves mountains, as I hear it. Still, you shouldn't knock reading," she wags a finger artfully. "It's thanks to that that I know what's going on a few hundred miles away, after all."

She does start as even Sephilia's attention is massively diverted, sitting up a little with wide eyes.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Something incredible happens.

Riese keeps a completely still face and tilts her head, believing herself to have a hold on her reactions. "A-ah, kissing? Whyever would you think that, Miss Talise?" She even loosens her smile and relaxes.

She...

She doesn't realise that her horns are wiggling up and down in absolute panic and terror.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Sometimes people just have to kiss," Talise answers Sephilia with a patient smile and a slow, knowing nod. "It's how some people express their affection."

Catching sight of Riese's horns wiggling, she just grins a wider grin, bright-eyed as she turns in her seat and reaches out to clasp Sephy's shoulder. "You see, Sephy, some girls like to kiss other girls, too. And that's perfectly okay. Sometimes when you care for each other very much, it just happens. And some boys like to kiss other boys, too! And we shouldn't judge them for that, especially if it's a very cute kiss with lots of passion and feeling involved."

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"I just wanted to know why we were suddenly talking about kissing when before we were talking about a book about two men swordfighting on a train," Sephilia explains. "I mean, I know that...that people kiss each other. That's fine! It won't happen to me, but th-that's fine too!" She hugs Chauncey tighter. "Is...is it really cute though? Kissing, I mean."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline has to clear her throat quickly - not to mention make a serious mental note to talk to Riese later about what she considers her poker face - and ends up turning it into an aggrieved-sounding huff as she again flicks out her hair. Maybe it's a defence mechanism of her own. "Well, /really/. I've heard of 'kiss and tell', but never 'kiss and told'," she grumbles good-naturedly, playing up the part of the artfully offended as she basically gives the game away.

For a moment, she looks to her poor companion on the verge of rebooting - and after a pause, lets out a soft sigh. "... we are-- figuring things out," she offers afterwards, rather more sedate than she's sounded in quite some time, perhaps as an attempt to cover for Riese a little more fully. "We are also both quite bad at the whole thing, I suspect, and singularly-- well, there is a lot going on, let us put it that way."

So saying, she lets her response hang in the air for a moment before picking her enthusiasm back up. "Oh, my. ... I'm going to remember you said /that/," she reports to the confused girl. "Give it a year or two, and we'll see if you've rethought that stance as to whether it'll happen to you or not. All humans do when they reach that sort of age, I've found."

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia frowns. "Oh, it's not that I don't want to, it's just...I'm not very...you know."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riese might actually be on the verge of literally rebooting, depending on how her systems actually behave, though-- glances aside and murmurs, "It is not something that can be fully realised anyhow..." as if defeated, just for a moment. A-aww!

Odjn, meanwhile, continues to be tone-deaf as she chimes in, "Yeah, I'm curious too, it's been three fifty pages and I'm not seein' a single instance of lips smackin'. The fatback I ate is more lip-smacking goodness than this one! Must be a real slow burn."

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Something very serious crosses Talise's face, and she draws her hand back, touching it over her heart and nodding soberly. "Someday, Sephy, you'll meet someone you want to kiss," she assures. "It might be a boy. It might even be a girl. But you'll know it when you see it. And when it happens, it'll be a wonderful, heartfelt moment. Don't count yourself out yet. And yes...." Here, she nods deeply and gravely. "...kissing can be very cute."

Noeline's effort to cover for Riese just leaves Talise clasping her hands together at her heart and gasping with delight. "Oh my goddess, there /was,/" she breathes, suddenly quite starry-eyed.

Leaning forward, she takes Riese by the shoulders, giving her a little shake. "Riese! No dying of embarrassment on me! You don't have to be ashamed of kissing your bosom buddy!"

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia shakes her head. "I may /want/ to kiss someone but...everyone thinks I'm just a kid, and nobody kisses kids." She hugs Chauncey, looking down. "So nobody's going to kiss /me/. That's what I'm saying. Boy or girl. I'm already halfway to being sixteen! I mean...it's not that I'm /scared/ of it, it's just." She sighs, wistfully.

"I...you kissed Noeline, Riese?" Sephy seems to be eager to change the subject away from herself now.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Oh, that huff is priceless this time. "--excuse me!" grumps Noeline as she folds her arms again, tighter this time and with a pouting glare. "I kissed Riese, thank you very much." ... ... at least the Metal Demon is quite aware enough about how the order of these things matters.

Her sigh is an elegantly long-suffering one, albeit completely fake - and she 'consoles' herself by levelling a wink at the girl. "We'll see if that changes in a couple of years, as well. Really, you humans do shoot up something fierce all of a sudden. I bet you'll be taller than Talise," she adds with a toothy grin and an attempt to divert the girl's attention elsewhere.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riese might be of one mind with Sephy as far as wanting to change the subject goes.

She looks super alarmed as she glances between Noeline and Odjn, and then Talise and Sephilia, and then back and forth again. "This-- this-- this is not appropriate conversation to be had... in the midst of nowhere-- how did we even-- broach the subject of kissing?!" Oh dear, someone's very flustered in that particular way of hers.

That Noeline interjects that /she/ kissed her just makes her cup her hands to her face in defeat.

"I--I do believe you have the right idea, though..." Riese bounces the topic /back/. "You should not rush it... rushing it headlong serves no purpose for anyone..."

Odjn sniggers and says, "Says the one who just went, 'Noooooo~' and went for it?"

Et tu, Odjn?!

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Hey, I wouldn't say no to looking up to Sephy," Talise says with a smile. "Though I do look up to her already. I wasn't a good adventurer when I was fifteen."

As Noelaine confesses, Talise draws her lips into a little 'O' of wonder. "This just gets better," she says as she slides her hands back from Riese's shoulders. "My only regret is that I wasn't there to see the kissing happen. You two really are the best." A soft giggle bursts from her. It's a surprisingly delicate sound for someone who's almost six foot two and looks like she could bench Noeline and Riese at the same time.

She settles back in her seat, hands in her lap again. "They are right, though," she assures Sephy. "You'll find someone for you. Don't force it. You'll know when it happens."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

With a rather softer snort this time, Noeline first taps Odjn on the head with a finger and then rests a hand on Riese's shoulder in... ... hopefully support. "... well... that is that, at least for the moment," she decides with an imperious wag of her hand. "Leaving poor Riese alone for a moment, well-- children grow up in the shortest span of time. It might seem long to /you/," she grins pleasantly at the younger girl with an amused hum. "But to a Crimson Noble, it's like the blink of an eye."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riese murmurs, not exactly darkly, but definitely something approaching ruefully, "I'm not sure it was a fun time for anyone involved..." as her horns wilt just a little bit. She's going to be so embarrassed when someone points out her horns' behaviour to her. "But-- why do you have such an interest in it, Miss Talise? If that is not... rude to ask. ... I have never particularly... er, inquired as to whether someone was... kissing or not, myself, I must admit."

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"I'm NOT a kid!" Sephilia says, glaring now. "I'm fifteen and a half, and I've been exploring ruins since I was seven with my Dad, and on my own since I was eleven! Don't treat me like I'm a child! I hate that! That's what I was just saying, even!" In Sephilia's eyes there are tears of frustration.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Delicately, Talise lifts a hand. Her fingertips touch to the edge of one of Riese's horns, as if to perk it up.

"I guess I'm just a sucker for romance," she admits with a shrug, holding her arms out at her sides. "Besides, everyone likes to see friends enjoying themselves. Especially in fun ways like--"

Sephy starts crying.

With a sigh, she trails off, cupping her chin in her palm and watching the girl with a touch of concern. Then she glances at Noeline, clearing her throat. "Let's avoid that word," she suggests with an arch of her brows.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riese lowers her head again, and nods as she pats Sephilia on the shoulder gently. She lets go, after a while, Odjn bobbling down to go, "Hey, I know how frustrating that can be too! Riese tells me I'm being a kid sometimes, as well! I'm a lot older than that, y'know!"

"What-- about you, Miss Talise?" Riesenlied finds it in herself to ask, curious and nervous at the same time. "Have you had such... affections for anyone? Or is there-- just-- 'fun' in it? I confess to not being ever quite certain..."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline's reactions aren't quite as in-step as they could be, though that's probably not a surprise to anyone who knows her; she leans back a little in her seat as Sephilia launches into a tirade, her hands coming up before long to try to placate the girl - but she doesn't exactly sound terribly contrite when she tilts her head to wonder aloud: "Oh?-- hmm. Well, either way - isn't that what /I/ was just saying, in return? It won't be long before any shadow of a doubt is erased, don't you think?"

Again, she's kind of ignoring the Riese-and-romance side of the conversation, though one arm remains nudged up against the other demon's in something like support.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Oh, me?" Talise pushes a hand through her hair and exhales, smiling wryly at Riese. "I've had a fling or two here."

Lunata may have had to hire a carpenter to fix pieces of furniture in Talise's room on those occasions. Talise leavs that out.

"It's harder here," she says blandly, "because nobody's looking for romance so much as they're looking for a good time. Which I'm alright with, too. Sometimes two people produce a spark. It happens."

Retrieved from "https://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2017-04-21:_To_Kiss_and_Tell&oldid=2693"