2019-06-24: Detectives Mikaia and Marivel in the Case of the Floppy Turnabout
- Log: Detectives Mikaia and Marivel in the Case of the Floppy Turnabout
- Cast: Riesenlied, Noeline, Elhaym van Houten, Marivel Armitage
- Where: The Fereshte, Luca
- Date: 24th June 2019
- Summary: A pleasant day is suddenly turned into mystery when Riesenlied is found roosting in a cuccoon in despair! But the Love Detective is on the case...
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
HALF AN HOUR AGO
Riesenlied! Woke up this morning having a really good day!
It's a fresh, sunshiney morning in Luca before any portents of war ever cropped up, and she's waking up happy and pleased with her family, had a wonderful breakfast and did some chores and laundry and there's nothing that's going to get her down.
She turns the corner in her chair.
"Oh, you're looking for Riesenlied?" asks one member of the Outreach as they greet several Lucans. Riesenlied perks up, horns piped up as she smiles and starts to open her mouth--
"Just look for the lady whose horns just go 'droop', like this!" speaks said member, holding her fingers up to her head and then making them flop down.
NOW
"I--I don't know! She won't get out of her cuccoon!" Janey stammers, staring back into the bedroom where a certain fluffy duvet with a cucco print bedcover has bundled up into a very round roost adorned with pillows where... a pair of floppy horns stick out of a head of telltale blonde hair.
"What could've caused this...??" Mikaia laments in terror.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline suspected something like this had happened; it was an emanation of feeling from her ring, and her link with Riesenlied, that convinced her that something was wrong and that brought her up here in the first place. The Hyadean Noble pauses at the door, a frown flickering across her face as she studies the curled-up ball before glancing across to Janey.
"She was perfectly happy this morning," she comments thoughtfully, planting one hand on her hip as she flicks her hair out with the other. "Even talked about how she was looking forwards to trying her walk. She said she was feeling a little stronger. There was /confidence," she blurts, as if that should have solved absolutely everything.
Steeling herself, she gingerly and stealthily creeps into the room, watching for any signs of a quiver from the cuccoon. Once she's close enough, she seats herself next to the ball, lets out a lightly fond sigh, and places a hand on the blanket - then leans over, trying for a rather awkward but well-meant hug if Riesenlied will let her. "Rieseee."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
ELLY VAN HOUTEN AGENT OF FISHQUERY
is on the case.
"Don't panic," Elly tells Janey and Mikaia. She crouches slightly to get nearer to their level. She lacks the benefit of empathic connection - at least of the more overt, ring-bound, lily-scented kind which Noeline and RIesenlied share. Elly glances at Noeline as she approaches, and then looks back to the children.
"I don't know what happened... it's possible that it could be related to her physical health. But I suspect that something scared her," Elly tells them, "and I promise you that I'll get to the bottom of it and help her to feel better. Alright? But I may need your help."
"In return..."
"I'll teach you the sacred arts of -Fishing-," Elly says, throwing in a fancy sky word just for exotica. For once there seems to be a vocabulary overlap because it sounds like 'fischerei'.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel has wondered where the ship of cutepals has gone out to and has, of course, managed to return to Luca before the explosions all started, early enough to engage in this ridiculous but fascinating scenario off adorability and anxiety.
She is wearing a deerstalker hat and has a pipe in her mouth as she arrives in Q-like fashion, just popping in like she was always there.
"Hmmm... It seems that we are in a crime scene here." Marivel says, pulling her pipe out of he mouth to consider the cuccoon before her. "Yes, and Riesenlied and Noeline have the only key, so this is a locked room case on top of everything. Fascinating, fascinating..."
She looks over to Noeline and draws out a notepad. "We will need to take some detais for the case. How long was she like this?"
She blinks as Elly offers the secrets of Fishing and her eyes widen, clearly impressed. Being able to feed yourself readily is a key skill you see.
Marivel reaches down and feels the fabric of one of the pillows and then licks her finger, furrowing her brow.
"Fascinating, fascinating." She scribbles more nonsense on her notepad.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
As Noeline approaches, there's a terribly timid, somewhat high-pitched squeal from inside the cuccoon, which has all kinds of cute cuccos, some of which are being cheeky, as part of its bedsheet. Ever since this morning whenever whatever happened, Noeline's ring has been transmitting a singular feeling of... of...
Well, a singular feeling of wanting to be round. Perhaps it's a defence mechanism. The most powerful kind, when one wants to block out anything else in the world and become round!
Mikaia looks to Elly as she posits that something scared her, and then to Marivel as she holds a pipe to her mouth. Her eyes light up, and she runs away.
She returns a half minute later wearing a deerstalker hat, a cute little ulster, and a magnifying glass. "Hweh! It's--"
"Mikaia, Love ==== <3 Detective!" Mikaia exclaims. S-she's really getting into this! Did Marivel inspire her? (Is Marivel retroactively responsible for this, because we established they met in the past??)
"The arts of fishing..." Janey muses. "You know, a mouse beastgirl like me should be able to fish. The early rat... um, gets..." A longer pause. "I don't know where I'm going with that."
Mikaia bobbles next to Marivel and looks proud. "I see your deductions are on point as always, Inspector Marivel!"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline raises her eyebrows slightly as she gives the pair a bit of a Look from where she sits against Riesenlied, but it's not one that's exactly upset so much as quietly amused and doing her best not to chuckle out of tact. The fact that she's getting anything at all in the way of sensation from Riesenlied is... distinctly welcome, if she's honest about it. She knows how it feels for Riesenlied to be truly distraught, and this sensation isn't really the same thing.
"You know, you took to fishing far faster than I ever thought you would. Here I thought hunting and that sort of thing would be Fei's lookout, though at the same time I can imagine him starving himself rather than do something like that," she puffs, before her eyes flick towards Marivel, light up in quiet recognition-- and then spy Mikaia joining in. There's a long pause, then she huffs. "... you know, I don't think it's anything to do with 'love', per se. And I didn't think detectives went for that," she retorts with a snort.
Next moment she's huffed protectively as she tugs the bundle towards her, doing her best to maneuver Riesenlied against her a little. "I don't know how long it's been, but it seems a couple of hours at least. Really... no-one mentioned anything going on. The first I knew was when I felt it."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly has a powerful gift to share. She glances over at Marivel with her funny hat (Elly, at least, does not associate it with Detection... directly) and smiles.
Then Mikaia scoots off.
As Mikaia is gone, Elly speaks to Janey. "The... cheese? I don't want to put that role on you, of course, but fishing is relaxing and can be done in a lot of areas. Even if you can't catch anything that good, it's been very calming..."
Elly muses to herself, ("Maybe I should take Riesenlied fishing...") Is she really this committed? Is she going to level cap fishing?
She straightens up then and smiles at Noeline. "Oh-- well; I think it's because the approach is entirely different. With hunting it's about pursuit, right? And you have to aim. I know there's spear fishing, but I just really enjoy casting out a line and dreaming of what it will catch..."
"May I come in, Noeline?" Elly then asks, at the threshold. And here the actual vampire just barged in.
("And the love detective, of course.")
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Honestly why would you associate it with detection? Who is sherlock holmes anyway? Not that sherlock holmes ever wore the deerstalker anyway. So like how did it happen anyway?? Maybe Marivel watched some crazy anime about this. She probably did. There is also a Love ==== <3 Detective involved here so it does strongly suggest as anime being the influence here. What sort of depraved culture existed during the Zeboim Empire???
FEI JUST APPRECIATES THAT ELLY IS ENJOYING SOMETHING NEW, NOELINE. HE CAN FISH TOO.
"Hmm.... Everybody goes for love, Noeline, even super cool stoic detectives." Marivel says which is maybe not the greatest of retorts in response to a retort but she is having fun so logic isn't really important here which might be curious since she is also saying she is a detective and logic is pretty important there.
"A couple hours..." Marivel murmurs. "This must be serious..."
She smiles brightly as Mikaia joins in and says to her, magnaminously, "Well you are quite the knowledgeable sleuth yourself, Love ==== <3 Detective Mikaia. With you here I am certain any deduction we come upon will be accurate."
She looks to the cuccoon as if she almost forgot it was there.
"Hm...." Two hours... Riesenlied, can you wiggle your horns if it is true that you are sick for a certain kind of love, perhaps?"
She puts her pipe back into her mouth.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Sadly, Riesenlied doesn't respond to inquiries of fishing. Riesenlied probably wouldn't do too well at fishing anyway, the moment she thinks of how the hook bites into the fish's mouth... aiee!
The bigger mouse beastgirl cackles a bit as she looks to Elly, though. "Hmm, I'd be eager to learn from you, Miss Elly! While we're in Spira, there's so much open water to try learning how to fish from!" Elly's description about relaxing and dreaming of what it might catch appears to have inspired a...
Well, it's not quite a fire. Perhaps it's a newfound desire to slack off...?
Mikaia taps her magnifying glass in her palm as she proudly responds, "It's a case to do with mom, so of course love has everything to do with it!" to Noeline, then pumps her arms again as she excitedly say, "I can't possibly solve this case... unless I tap into love!"
She bobs her head at that comment, though. "A couple hours... well, after we woke up and had breakfast together..."
Janey perks up to go, "Well, mom went to go do laundry. You all went with her, right?"
Mikaia rubs at her chin, deep in thought. "So the only one without an alibi... is you, Janey!"
Janey recoils in shock, eyes and mouth going 'yipes!' as she exclaims, "Oh no! I wanted to play witness, but I didn't wanna play culprit!! I didn't do it, Mikaia!!"
PRIME SUSPECT
Janey
Meanwhile, Marivel asks if Riesenlied is sick for a certain kind of love.
The horns... pause for a moment, and then curl up into a shape kind of like ? except they don't have dots. Riesenlied is confused....?
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline raises her eyebrows in curiosity - but she isn't exactly a fishing sort of person, and those people who she has been around have usually done it out of livelihood rather than relaxation. As such, there's not a lot she can say for or against Elly's point, beyond having to allow the fact that it certainly seems to have helped the redhead overcome a lot of her own anxieties and stresses. In that respect, at least, it seems to be a success.
"Of course," she adds with a nod and an amused smile, not to mention a moment to gauge Riesenlied's level of worry. It doesn't feel like Elly's presence is going to be unwelcome; quite the opposite.
Her eyebrows jolt upwards at the combined assault of Marivel and Mikaia, her snort of laughter rather undignified. At least it means that spirits are high; she knows from past experience that's one of the best ways to bring Riesenlied out of a funk like this. "Hold on, hold on. Exactly who am I in all of this, for a start?" she hums to herself, stifling laughter. "I'd say I'm the judge, but I'm obviously rather biased in this case."
But she at least picks up on the energy to offer Riesenlied some silent support and encouragement across their link, patting the round ball on the back as she watches the horns shift and curl up in confusion. "As suspicious as Janey is," she grins right afterwards, "I can definitely say that she wouldn't say something to make Riese hide away like this. Call me a character witness, if you like. ... well, then, was it something someone said to you?" she adds, leaning down low to try to catch a peek of Riesenlied's face, rather unsuccessfully.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Well, with a direct link to mom, you're the walking spoiler, mom," Mikaia breaks character for a moment. "Don't spoil it for us!! I want to figure this mystery out myself!"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Solaris produces synthetic visual entertainment and marketing packages to bring pleasure and satiety to the second class citizens. While Elly was a little too high for this, she went to school with others, and it isn't as if it was kept secret. And so Elly knows...
What anime is.
It's her burden. This... is her curse.
As she enters into the room, Elly stays to a corner, though not a dark one. She contemplates the evidence thus revealed.
"Riesenlied... something made you feel..." Elly trails off, as if fumbling for the right word, and eventually goes with, "Ugly? No, uncertain... Is that right?"
(To Janey, in confidence, she says, "You'd have lots of time to fish in love prison." What???)
BACK IN SOLARIS, A FEW YEARS BACK
Elly watches on her in-shower screen as the twelve-minute episode of "Prison of Love," a G-rated story about the formation of romance in the early days of Solaris, begins to play.
HERE AND NOW
Elly thinks briefly about missing a shower. But a bath is good enough, right?
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
PRIME SUSPECT: JANEY.
"Hmm... Could it be Janey all along...?" She studies the horns. It is probably not a great idea to force folks to interpret hornwiggles if you are concerned about not being more than your horns so this is a pretty good tactic of guiding Marivel towards the completely wrong conclusion.
"Hmm... why is Riesenlied hiding everything except her horns...? Could it be...."
Her eyes widen and she does the sayanora zetsubou sensei set of dramatic poses.
"She believes we are not paying enough attention to her horns??"
She rests a hand on the cuccoon with a hand and tells Riesenlied, "Riesenlied my friend, I think your horns are splendid. They are aesthetically striking and very informative as to your state of mind. Tis like a window to the heart."
WAIT NO WRONG WAY WRONG WAY MARIVEL!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied does, quietly, find a lot of admiration in the relaxation Elly finds in fishing, in truth. Maybe the activity on its own isn't quite the one for her, but there's certainly something dream-like about it that she can appreciate... and for a moment Noeline can definitely feel--
...
The thought of Noeline guiding her how to fish, her arms moving hers to keep the rod steady...
...
Then the thought flabbergastedly gets embarrassed and is replaced with cuccos again. Round. Huff! She was being upset!!
Both Noeline and Elly find themselves on the scent, though. There's a telltale waggle and a 'perk' from the cuccoon at the mentions of "someone said something to you" and "something made you feel ugly", like...
Mikaia pauses as she tilts her head as Marivel talks about Mom's horns. "Not paying enough attention...?" A pause, as she taps at the bridge of her nose. "A window to the heart... mom's heart... wait... what Mom and Miss Elly said before..."
LOGIC START
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvKy0MHbwGA )
"These two pieces of logic evidence!" Mikaia exclaims, spreading her arms in that Great Deduction kind of a pose.
[ Someone said something to Mom ]
\
LOGIC
\
[ Something made Mom feel Ugly ]
LOGIC COMPLETE
"Did someone say your horns are ugly?! Who was the black-hearted villain?! I'll give them a piece of my mind! Wham, bam, straight in the kisser!" Mikaia rolls up her sleeve in puffy anger. Mikaia: Love ==== <3 Detective is taking the law into her own hands! Oh no, what happened to due process?! She's going rouge! This is truly the dark age of love!
"... L-Love Prison? Is that the prison moms spent when they were still dancing around each other? No! I don't want to suffer in such a prison!" Janey looks terrified. "Anything but that, Miss Elly!"
Riesenlied whiiines louder as she finally surfaces her face up, like a cucco kaiju washing up from the shores. "...ummm..."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Ah, I see. I suppose that's fair," huffs Noeline to Mikaia's retort, unable to keep the grin off her face; her link with Riesenlied glows at the thought of family, and she quietly rubs Riesenlied's back for good measure. "This is just them showing how much they care," she points out in a quiet whisper, as if it weren't already obvious, and then chuckles softly.
Even if she's sure that Elly's comment doesn't quite miss the mark - or at least is more dire than actual events might indicate - she still feels her temper raise at the thought of anyone treating Riesenlied in that way, huffing under her breath as Marivel turns towards her.
"I don't know," she grumbles honestly before she furrows her brow in thought. "I was not with her when she went down to the docks. After all, I am quite aware of how much I've been taking on around the Fereshte - and that I might have been taking on a little too much, and leaving Riesenlied out. ... so I have been trying to balance things a little better as of late," she adds, looking a little awkwardly off to one side as she pouts.
She blinks as a thought crosses her mind - no, touches it, and she glances to the ball of blankets with an amused sigh and a quiet smile. "You know, if you want to do something like that, you only have to ask. It sounds like a pleasant afternoon, after all," she teases, but there's warmth in her voice as well. The thought of a quiet day together is a tempting one, especially after they've spent so long looking after the Azadians.
She's even prepared to try quite hard to catch no fish at all, to ensure they can enjoy the day without any hooks getting in the way.
She does lean back a little as Mikaia bursts into indignance, and then chuckles to herself as Riesenlied finally pekks out. She takes the opportunity to slip her hand into one of Riese's - human or draconic, she's not picky in any shape or form, these days - and raise her eyebrows at Mikaia. "You know, if you're too much of a loose cannon I think I'm supposed to take your badge away."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"Mm.. Yes! Your horns are very cute," Elly says, although some vague thought tells her not to lean in too hard there. When Marivel offers the role of culprit to Noeline, Elly kind of makes a c_c face, but she knows nothing of Crimson Noble law enforcement procedures.
Not paying enough attention...
To Janey, Elly says, "I don't think there's much risk of that. They don't have love prison in Spira anyway." This may address the immediate issue but not the long term one, Elly!! But then, in the long term, we're all -- anyway.
Elly glances back as Riesenlied seems to speak up.
"... Can you tell us what happened?" she asks Riesenlied, smiling in her voice as well as her face.
Then she pauses, looks at Noeline, looks at Mikaia, and asks with guileless curiosity, "You have a badge?"
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Whaaat? Nobody would say that Riesenlied's horns are ugly. At least, nobody worth listening to." Marivel cups her chin in deep thought. "I think we can all avoid Love Prison if we're careful. We just have to rig the evidence so we can't determine guilt."
Wh...what kind of detective are you, Marivel??
She considers Noeline as she threatens to take away Mikaia's badge. "I think that makes you the chief of police, Noeline. So it's settled!"
WHAT. Is this even still about Mom's horns now?? Marivel does suspect the horns are somehow involved though but she's still whining so maybe she hasn't quite gotten it right.
But Riesenlied is surfacing! Perhaps she can assist with a hint coin (WRONG SERIES MARIVEL).
"Ahh Riesenlied. Are you feeling any better?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied twiddles her thumbs with that exact look that Noeline especially knows that she's terrified at how much of a big deal this is becoming!! Marivel has spent some Picarats so she confesses:
"W-well, a few people from Luca wanted to see me. I overheard someone guiding them-- s-so, so they said..."
Riesenlied puffs up her horns back to full height, then she mimics what happened: "Oh, just look for the lady whose horns go..."
fwoop
And then they're dog-ears again! Like they were before!
"T-that's not... that's not the only thing people remember about me, right??"
Mikaia and Janey stare at each other for a moment, before Mikaia looks on eagerly and encouragingly to Noeline. It seems like she wants her to take the lead, because the Love Detective moves to mom's side to hug her tightly for now.
Case Closed??
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline hums towards Elly, the mark of someone who's found something fun to follow up with. "Strictly speaking, she doesn't, but I have no doubt I'll be making her one before long," she points out, but as Riesenlied starts to surface, the other Hyadean beckons Mikaia over to her, all thought of teasing temporarily fleeing her mind as she offers their daughters a chance to get closer.
Towards Marivel, her eyebrows shoot up. "...I don't think you should suggest rigging the evidence in front of the police chief. I would like to assume, at least on /this/ particular topic, that we're going to buck the usual stereotypes."
However much she jokes, though, she's quick to offer Riesenlied an arm around her waist, and a presence at her side; with a quiet and warm chuckle she tries for a soothing sensation over their link, knowing that this is mostly just boisterousness on the part of their friends and family, rather than anything that's going to be taken too seriously.
She listens patiently to Riesenlied's woes - and then her eyebrows raise as she catches her daughter's glance, letting out a breath with amusement tickling at the back of it. "I am /quite/ sure that is not the only thing they remember about you," she suggests calmly, reaching up to pet between said horns. "The Azadians think a great deal of you - and the Kilikans and Lucans too, what with all the supplies and assistance we've brought them. The fact that everyone knows and trusts you is a testament to that."
"For that matter I am sure that they're only mentioning your horns because of how expressive they are," she adds smoothly. "And are thoughtful enough they don't want to upset you by directing everyone to the wheelchair instead."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Crimson Noble justice is complex, Elly thinks.
Then she looks at Riesenlied... and says, with a faintly sad smile, "That's not the case at all, Riesenlied!"
Noeline speaks up about the truth of the matter. Others move in to hug. Elly feels, for a split second, like a fifth wheel on a goat cart. She looks at Marivel, who may be the sixth. But six is an even number... together they can make things smoother.
Elly folds her hands behind her back.
"I think," Elly says, "that they said that only because it would make it easy for someone who had not met you before to find you. To be sure that they had found you - you look a little bit like Noeline, or like Marivel, or a number of others. It's possible that from a short description, like 'a blonde woman, from the people from abroad,' they might have made a mistake. But your horns..."
Elly falters a little.
"Yes," Elly says, with a nod, "I think that's why they brought it up." Instead of the wheelchair.
She slumps a little, and moves to sit on the far corner of the bed, looking at Marivel with gratitude in her eyes.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Okay I will suggest rigging the evidence in private from now on." Marivel promises Noeline when suddenly... Riesenlied reveals the reason she was hiding! Marivel looks towards the gracious Elly. She blinks a few times in shock and--
SEPIA COLORED FLASHBACK!
"It's a shame," Seraph Liath is telling Marivel. "I had very much hoped I could speak to Lady Riesenlied again."
"She is always one willing to listen." Marivel says. "I suspect you will get another chance to talk with her. I suppose I will have to do in the meantime."She raises both hands to the side of her head, fingers pointed out in the form of 'horns'. She then waggles the top of the fingers up and down because yes she has seen the horn waggles too.
(And of course then Liath provides her own interpretation).
NOW
Marivel is sweating bullets!!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied would give Elly a hug. But maybe it's too early, even though she'd like to become greater friends with her! Still, her presence, like everyone else's, is incredibly welcoming right now.
"T-that's true..." Riesenlied gets led gently towards a more positive course of thinking, with Noeline and Elly, lowering her head. "I would feel pretty bad about that. That's why we're working hard to have Walking Days, after all..."
She smiles a bit wider as she says, "I know they didn't mean anything. It just took me entirely by surprise, but..."
She looks at Marivel. And her reaction. "Why are--"
"Could you have been the prime suspect all along, Marivel?!" Mikaia suddenly emerges, her eye enlarged because she's holding up her magnifying glass. A pause, then she giggles to go, "Thanks for playing Love Detective with me! Let's do it again sometime!"
Janey grumbles and says, "I wanna be a cooler role than red herring next time..."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline's eyebrows raise as she glances towards Elly; she can't say that she's ever thought she looks like Riesenlied, more like her opposite - but she chuckles regardless, accepting the other woman's suggestion with a nod of her head. It's afterwards that her expression darkens a little at the way Elly seems to deflate, and she nudges Riesenlied towards her just a little in encouragement.
"... let's be quite honest, here," she puffs towards Mikaia. "If I were going to expect anyone to describe Riesenlied in detail by how her horns wiggle, it probably would be our local Crimson Noble, hm?" she grins wide enough to show her own fang, which does leave her comment a little bit ambiguous - at least, until Riesenlied picks out the truth, flanked by their winged daughter.
"... haah... honestly," she grumbles, putting a hand to her forehead - but then she replaces it in Riesenlied's, her expression calmer. "Most of all, I don't want you to feel ashamed of yourself. Certainly not for something that's captured people's hearts. ... well, maybe that's overselling things a little, but at the very least, I don't think you have anything to worry about at all."
Quietly, she makes a note to get Janey a... foresics kit? But any way you look at it, that's Mikaia...