2022-12-16: Bonds of Sea and Fire

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<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.


It's a momentous day -- the sort that might go down in the history books!

The Al Bhed and Shevat have decided to negotiate an agreement to cooperate and coordinate. Having comrades and allies among the Drifters, they already have shared friends; with the appearance of Solaris on Spira, they have shared enemies. It makes a good chance to reach out and cooperate. There are, of course, differences too.

Shevat is an old society, powerful but limited in scope, and with its own traditions. The Al Bhed are a disadvantaged people, only recently with a home and a close alliance. The Fahrenheit now /is/ their home, and they have a singular goal: survive, whether that's Yevon or Sin.

They're also much less formal. Which is why Cid sent a request to the Drifters, to see if they would be on hand and help him make his case. At the very least, it might show their sincerity.

But when they arrive...

...something has gone terribly wrong.

The main deck of the Fahrenheit is a mess. There are splashes of brown across the walls. People are strewn over the deck. Some lay moaning on the ground. There is a beer bottle rolling across the floor.

There are /dozens/ of beer bottles rolling across the floor.

A door /swings/ open, squeaking on the hinges. And, from it, emerges Cid, the leader of the Al Bhed. His flight suit is half-unzipped, exposing part of his chest. It is thoroughly stained by several liquids. He looks over the arriving Drifters, and then says: "Eyyyyy gwuuuhh argghh nuh? Mwah gloo vrrrum bhalgwass. Thwaaaannn kemmeh!"

That isn't Al Bhed. It isn't anything. He belches after.

Leon Albus, standing with his peers, blinks. Then, he says: "Good God." 

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei Fong Wong can't help but feel some anxiety over the Al Bhed and Shevat working together. He KNOWS of the old betrayal but he also has decided to forgive them! Despite this, it's a lot easier to say forgive than to do it. Maybe it's coming from Id, or from himself, but either way he keeps expecting another dreadful shoe to drop. There is a very real possibility Shevat is just wanting to use them to fight Solaris so they can reclaim some of their old equilibrium--even if the Queen herself seemed honest.

This is in conjunction with another worry of his. Xantia has been given a bracer!! But ... .... nothing happened, far as he could tell. He had hoped it would get Xantia out of her rut but now he keeps expecting another shoe to drop THERE TOO. And perhaps most frighteningly of all, Fei isn't sure he knows how to treat his now TEEN ROBOT (sort of) DAUGHTER and there is only one man he knows who has raised a teen daughter that hasn't resulted in one or the other trying to kill their own family or like turning them into some kind of nanocyborg assassin slave--sure, there's RIESENLIED but Riesenlied didn't really raise her daughters she adopted them and is raising them now, that's different than raising them all along!

So he has suggested to Elly that maybe they should ask Cid his thoughts. Why, he even raised a SON. That's like double points right? And if helping Cid negotiate a peace with Shevat is the way to get his FATHERLY ADVICE, then that's what he's going to do!

Fei dressed up nicely for this in one of his outfits he used as part of an infiltration, a nice suit and tie and black slacks that don't really seem to fit him.

"Ah, sir Cid. You asked for some help? In return I was hoping you could...uh..."

He looks at Cid for a long while. He reaches for Elly's hand for support.

"......."

Cid says some stuff.

".....what?" He asks. "Um."

His shoulders sag, defeated. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline Barber is, of course, eager to help in conducting diplomatic relations between two peoples. She considers both Shevat and the Al Bhed friends and allies, and so if she can help bring them together she'd be glad to. And so, she joins everyone as they make their way to Spira and the Fahrenheit! But when they get there...

"...Something doesn't feel right. Be careful, everyone." Jacqueline warns. Splashes of liquid, moaning bodies... who could have done such a horrible thing?

And then, a door opens, revealing Cid. Jacqueline pauses and stares at him. She blinks, several times, as her mind attempts to grasp the words(?) coming from his mouth. An unimpressed look slowly begins to cross over her face.

"...Ah. I believe I may have drastically misinterpreted the situation." Jacqueline comments. "Cid, did... something happen?"

In the back of her mind, Jacqueline begins to calculate just how many batches of hangover cures she's probably going to need.

It's a lot. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.


Riesenlied is... actually spending most of her time in Shevat, due to reasons of poor health!

Shevat's advanced medical knowledge is, largely, what her nanomachine-related issues is able to help with, and when she isn't being drawn by the Ley to fix its problems to face the Prophets or dealing with matters of an overtly friendly plant who just wants to help...

Well, today, the Fereshte hovers next to the Fahrenheit, because the two have become sister ships of a sort -- the Wayside Outreach know very well what being disadvantaged is like, after all. And when Cid told her that he wants to reach out to Shevat to make an alliance, Riesenlied is all too happy to help.

The creaking sound of her wheelchair can be heard as the doors slide open. Fortunately, the Fahrenheit is *mostly* wheelchair-accessible, with high-tech lifts and the like (some stairs are a problem); she calls out, "Ah, Cid? I am here with some material from Shevat--"

A long pause.

Her horns slowly droop until they're flat to either side of her head.

She looks to Leon.

"I understand. This is still punishment for what we did to Filgaia..." Riesenlied's soul can be seen slowly escaping from the corner of her mouth.

Then she slowly unsheathes a long staff with a plastic clamp on the end from the storage compartment of her wheelchair. CLACK CLACK CLACK

One beer bottle, two beer bottles... 

<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.


Rikku is excited about the upcoming conference between Shevat and the Al Bhed. For so long her people have been denied a seat at any table... this makes it feel like they actually have legitimacy for the first time!

Rikku bounces on her toes behind the pack of Drifters here, she's a shortie, so she has trouble seeing, then slips around and tears forward to get a better look. "I was afraid of this!"
 
She pinches her nose, and waves a hand in front of her nose, "UGHHHH this place reeks!"
 
Her father arrives, and his dearest daughter is there waiting at him, a hand on her hip, as she scrutinizes him.
 
"Why does this not surprise me Dad? Okay yep! Time for some Rikku-approved solutions to these problems!"
 
Rikku reels back his hand, and pitches - an object forward onto the deck.
 
Something metallic pings, and rolls around on deck...
 
... and yep that sure is a grenade, so mercilessly close to her own father.
 
"AJANOUHA IB IB! NEKRD HUF!"
 
It immediately detonates, showering the whole area of downed Al Bhed in billowing smoke, as Rikku turns around, and says to Leon in an imperious voice, "Leon. /Brew some coffee/." 

<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.

Tidus has been busy in the background of everything that's been going on for the past while. There are ancient relics and weapons to uncover via the sacred rite of the mini-game, there are Al Bhed primers to discover (and are definitely not missable), there's no end of ways to prepare for... well, the end. So even though he hasn't been on-screen, he's been up to a lot. Promise.

But that doesn't mean he's not too busy to help his friends out, especially since the Fahrenheit is Team Yuna's primary way of getting around these days. He figures that talks between the Al Bhed and Shevat have to be pretty high-tension, too, so while he's not exactly the *best* diplomat around, he could at least see what he can do to help out.

Despite that, there is... no explanation for this.

Tidus stares at Cid, drunk out of his gourd, sloppy as all get out, and *extremely* stained as all manner of glass bottles roll about.

"What the ramm?" he utters. 

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.


The friendship between Shevat and the Al Bhed was a great and beautiful thing, even if Elly (as with many things) has slightly mixed feelings about both of those parties. And hey, parenting advice of some kind doesn't hurt. It isn't as if either of them can ask their own parents.

So it didn't take much to persuade her to join this particular Party Finder, although Elly is having large, powerful second thoughts right this moment.

The sight of the brown stains makes Elly's hackles raise, metaphorically. She has no literal hackles, but she certainly has a neck, and arms, and she can feel the gooseflesh prickle up; she can feel the unpleasant surge of anxiety and disquiet that isn't exactly *unfamiliar* in the slightest. She gazes at the splashes of brown.

A door swings open. Someone comes outwards, struggling to -

Speak -

Wait, it smells like a cheap dinner hall, thinks Elly, whose perceptions of life were strongly affected by a place with very little of a 'drinking culture' and more of a 'a gramme is better than a damn culture.' Elly slow-blinks at Cid as he struggles mightily with his organs of speech production and pie consumption.

"... I don't think God was involved with this, Leon," Elly finally says.

A beer bottle rolls to Elly's foot. She bends over and picks up the bottle. "... Was it this? But -- this is just beer. I don't think you could really get badly drunk on this, you'd keep having to get up to go to the toilet..."

  • Got 1x Empty Beer Bottle!
  • Evidence has entered the Detective Mode.
<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.


Lulu, Black Mage of Spira, has been busy combing the worlds for every scrap of information that could help Yuna and the others at defeating Sin. She has gone into the depths of dungeons, explored ancient ruins, gone to sky cities. And now...

Now, Lulu, dressed as ever in black, watches Rikku as she approaches the others. A seat at the table, indeed. Tidus is there. Brother is there. Cid is there.

"..."

Lulu regards Cid for a little while. Then her eyebrow twitches.

Water /crashes/ down about deck in a flash of Black Magic. It is abrubtly there, chilly, almost frozen, and /rushing/ through all the assembled people strewn about the deck.

"no," Lulu decides, and walks right back out. 

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.


Emeralda loves history books! Also possibly being in one!

She already could be in one. She might actually be in one *right now* that she has no idea about. But that doesn't count, because it wasn't about anything she did, only possibly something she was.

But that's beside the point. The point is that she didn't want to miss this, and so she came.

Like Fei, she dressed up a little, though nobody is actually sure where the dress came from because she sure didn't ask anyone for it. It's in her favourite black and red, though the style is a little different, and it actually connects the top and bottom, as opposed to all the belly-baring shirts she seems to prefer to wear. It still has the extended scarf, though, and the high boots. She is over with Fei and Elly, as might be expected of her.

"...?" Emeralda is immediately disappointed by what she sees here. "What?" she says, followed by, in her extremely halting Al Bhed, "What? Don't understand." She's making an effort here!

Emeralda steps up onto a stepstool when cold water washes past her. The stepstool is *also* black and wasn't there a few moments ago, and it is reabsorbed back into her boot when she steps back down off it after the water passes. 

<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.

"What a wonderful new smell I've discovered" mutters the diminutive alien as she maeks her way with the rest of the group having jumped on the assignment because... well of course she would. For reasons that she will probably start talking about soon with other events. Juni does a head shaking facepalm while commenting mostly to herself, "I speak multiple languages from all over and I have no idea where to even begin with that."
 
 Beyond her usual excuse for selective hearing and.. borrowed clothes, she doesn't know the relations between the two groups. She does have some connections with individual bands of Al Bhed though. Nominally, so she'll play nice. of course! She'd only met the people, probably for the best she hadn't met the leader before.
 
 She brushes herself off, pulls up the collar of her poncho over her nose and starts the important post party ritual of rolling people onto their side so when they inevitably do horrible things, they d- you know what. Don't worry about it.

 Incidentally, that splash of water gets a shout in.. a completely different language and she jumps onto the nearest anything she can to avoid it. Stuff's cold! And you know, she doesn't wear normal boots. You monster. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

Behind Jacqueline, there is a ghost. A ghost who cares about the Al Bhed quite a bit! The Seraph Boudicca is wary, just as her merchant friend warns, and the door opens --

Boudicca's head cr e a ks to the side. Her horned helm tilts at a jaunty angle, giving her a little less height, though she's still quite towering.

"Was Lanval here..?" She wonders, staring at the atrocities.

"Ah--!" She gasps, as Lulu and Rikku engage their vicious solutions; her braids fly up to either side of herself in a little gust of wind, in her shock. "Surely it is not so dire--!!"

She turns to Cid, and asks: "There is a reasonable explanation, is there not?" 

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.


Some of Azoth's first experiences on the surface involved the Al Bhed... and one of his own components was found deep within the ruins of Spira. If there is information to be found in regards to defeating Sin, Azoth is interested. Unfortunately, he remains an asset of Solaris, making his presence at a meeting between Solarian enemies potentially awkward. And useful, but not necessarily to the right people.

...Unless, of course, a wayward program had loopholes and plausible deniability to exercise? But that would be terribly risky behavior. What reward would be calculated as worth it?

His predictive analysis is not powerful enough to simulate a situation remotely like the one Azoth steps into.

Azoth dodges up on one foot as cold water rushes past, giving a distressed string of beeps. He slowly lowers back down, scratching his cheek as he beholds the glory of Cid.

"Uh, error... No matching language in database found." He says this perfectly human-like, without his monotone or his reverb. 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    "Oh, you are surely not one to take offence at this, Mister Albus," snorts Noeline, who somehow manages to do an effortless job of both grinning like a lunatic and simultaneously channeling one of Riesenlied's most fearsome lecture tones before the humour of the situation simply becomes too much for her. "I've seen you slowly and methodically work back and forth through the contents of a bar in a manner that would put a typewriter to shame."

    A thought strikes her, and she automatically steps forward to peek around the door. It is possible, after all, that the alliance between the Al Bhed and Shevat did in fact go _terrifically_ well and they're just witnessing the aftermath. If there's a chance she's going to see one of the staid, calm leaders of Shevat blackout on the floor mumbling about something innocent, she doesn't want to pass it up.

    Riesenlied's soul slowly starts to escape her, and Noeline is left to gently pat her partner on the shoulder as the other Hyadean works through the situation with some gentle tidying up. "Well. Look at it this way - there are at least going to be absolutely no false pretences around this alliance," she quips, shortly before the quiet 'tink' of a grenade activates every single synapse in the paranoid part of her brain.

    Just before the room can explode in an unholy combination of smoke and water she's managed to bodily lift Riese out of the way, depositing her just outside the door. Which unfortunately means that she's the one who gets the worst of it, grimacing as most of her back is suddenly soaked. 

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia came along with the Black Wolves on this mission of paramount importance. Even if she's trying to keep her head down a bit during the proceedings. Like Fei, she's feeling anxious, but not for the same reason. What if Shevat has noticed her trying to spend as little time over there as possible? What if they suspect it's because she knows more about her possible ties to events in the past than they told her about, and she can't fully trust them as a result? What if there's something to that vague inkling she has that she may have been running from Shevat at some point in the past she can't recall? This may well all be in Xantia's head, but she can't help but worry, all the same. At least it's taking her mind of all the other things she worries about.

Still, she's here. She had to be. You don't have to understand politics very well to understand the behefits of an alliance between Shevat and the Al Bhed. Especially when the shared enemy involved is Solaris, giving one probable cause to suspect that if anybody's going to be trying to sabotage this somehow, it's going to be Solaris. Other than Azoth of course, why would his presence be any sort of potential security risk?

Turns out, the Al Bhed are doing a fine job of sabotaging the effort themselves. Though she doesn't realize what's going on at first. Dressed for combat as usual, her eyes go wide when she sees people on the floor, and the floors and walls covered in some kind of fluid. Is that blood? Is Al Bhed blood brown?? Are they already too late???

She immediately springs into action, making to charge right through a door... when Cid emerges from it, saying something unintelligible. "Cid! Are you okay? What happened, are you feeling okay? I think there was some kind of attack, and--"

She winces, and takes several steps back, covering the lower half of her face with an arm. She just got a whiff of the man's breath. "Th-that's..." she launches into a coughing fit, presumably realizing what's really going on now. What a mess, what a mess. 

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    Shevat has a particular, precarious position in the world of Filgaia. At once, they are the only ones capable of standing against Solaris in any meaningful capacity, yet they lack the power to do more than undermine and stall -- whatever the propaganda in Etranank might say otherwise. Adding to that, there is an additional wrinkle: there are those in Shevat who want to reach out to other allies and move away from their reactive position to a more proactive one... and those who think that their self-defense ought be their first and only priority.

    Thus, it behooves the Al Bhed to make a good impression on the Shevites. Which means that this meeting must go off without a hitch, which means--

    ...that of course everything has gone completely wrong. A catastrophe of a very particular, specific sort has taken place on the Fahrenheit!

    Citan regards the mess silently, his expression utterly impassive as it sweeps the mess of people and bottles before him. He blinks, just the once, when Rikku lobs a (harmless??) grenade so close to her father... which then detonates.

    Well... this takes him back to his days in Jugend.

    "Well now..." he says after a moment's consideration, watching as Rikku gives some marching orders. "Yes, I do believe that coffee would be a good first step. Captain," he says to Leon, turning his way, "How long would you say that we have before the Queen arrives?" 

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"This was inflicted on them by themselves, Riesenlied," Leon groans, and he rubs between his eyes with his finger. "Don't blame yourself."

A smoke bomb explodes near Cid. He yelps, waving his hands in front of his face. This isn't clearing the smoke in the slightest. "Rikka! Fryd kejac!? Fro yna oui drnufehk knahytac!?"

He hacks and coughs. His eyes blink -- scan across Tidus, then settle on Jay -- and he hesitates. "We... uh... we decided to have some pre-partying partying. Before the queen got here. We--" He stops when he gets drenched in Lulu's blast of water.

Well, that's fair. He looks at Azoth.

Then he shrugs. "I got nothin'," he says. "Maybe we got a little carried away." A beat. "A little."

"Yes, but not when there are important negotiations to be had," Leon complains to Noeline. He sighs, before he looks at Elly. He nods. Then, he looks at Rikku. "Right. Coffee, let's see--" He starts for a nook to the side.

"I... think they cooked something in here," he says. "And I don't think it was a kitchen."

A whiskey bottle, then three more, roll out of the room. "Does anyone have a lot of coffee?"

Then, he looks at Citan. He considers the doctor's question for a moment -- brow furrowing. "A...bout two and a half hours."

He looks around and lets the state of this place speak for itself.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei looks to Elly for a moment, then to Leon. He rubs at the back of his neck with a hand.

"Even in the air... A true man of the sea." Fei says softly, thinking warmly of the ridiculous walrus man he befriended. Maybe true men of the sea even extends to space which would, come to think of it, explain Space Bart to Fei.

Space Bart, to be clear, is Fei's mental name for Claude Kenny. He doesn't have an eyepatch yet, but maybe one day...

It feels absurd to ask Cid about parenting while he's surrounded by beer bottles and also while Emeralda is here. He's kind of having second thoughts about the whole enterprise really.

"Maybe...another time...?" He murmurs to Elly, uncertain. It would be nice if Emeralda was the kind of kid who felt she could throw grenades at her parents though.

There's not enough kids out there like that and if he ever becomes a bad dad it'll be emotionally healthy for her to not have a rough time throwing grendes at him.

"Hey Doc." He smiles at the bespectacled man before looking back to Cid.

"You uh. Did you just want us to help sober you up or...?" He rubs at his neck. "How can we help?" 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    In terribly short order, disaster happens as Rikku tosses a smoke grenade that prompts some coughing from her, along with a huge wash of water from Lulu that nearly tips over her wheelchair and has her floating out with her dead expression--

    Noeline to the rescue!

    "... ... ... we can... destroy the Fahrenheit and replace it with a completely identical ship," Riesenlied intones through glassy, soulless eyes, as she cuddles onto the princess carry, before being let down outside the room.

    "Yes, perhaps with the help of Dan Dairam, we can draw upon different timelines and pluck a second Fahrenheit from there................"

    Riesenlied lifts her head up slightly.

    "Yes, we have to erase the evidence, for the sake of cooperations between Shevat and the Al Bhed..." 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    "Oh, this will not do, it simply will not do...!" Boudicca exclaims, wringing her hands. "Shevat shall be here any moment! We must do something!"

    Riesenlied has some great ideas. Boudicca turns to her, with a sympathetic frown. "Ah, I am not sure... that is practical at the moment," she offers, gently.

    Even so, she won't give up! She pulls out a cloth from her pack, and splashes some water on it...

    ... and moves to start scrubbing those Mystery Stains off the wall!

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

A smoke bomb! Elly jumps. She takes a deep breath and lets it out before

SPLASH!

Elly is drenched with cold water, which means her big fluffy red hairstyle is suddenly flattened down, making her look about 20% smaller and significantly more like a drowned purebred dog of some kind. "..."

Her hands come up and her arms spread a little, and there is silence from Elly as she draws on... something; warmth is rising up in a column around her, but it's mostly keeping her from shivering horribly. She looks at Fei, mournfully, before taking several deep breaths, smiling at Citan, and folding her arms as she squelches forwards.

"You need to drink water," Elly tells Cid, which is the only factoid she knows about this. "Um. Were you all -- partying -- last night, or...?"

"This is what happens if you drink to excess, Emeralda," Elly tells Emeralda, a little distantly. "I hope you won't think too poorly of them."

Her eyes track towards Riesenlied. "um"

"... I agree that picking up would be good, though!" And with this Elly goes to start collecting the grim remains of the Devil, Intemperance, at least from her immediate area. Maybe later they can throw them off the side of Shevat for yucks. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline sees the measures prepared before they occur and, wisely, elects to wrap her cloak defensively around herself as smoke and ice waft through the room. She emerges once it's safe, then looks toward Cid.

"Pre-partying... partying." Jacqueline repeats with a sigh, massaging her forehead. "Goodness."

She shakes her head for a moment, and exhales. Two and a half hours, huh.

"Well, okay, we can work with this." She says. "This isn't the first time I've had to put a positive spin on a bad situation. Let's just... try to get everyone and the ship cleaned up as quickly as we can before she gets here. I do hope you saved some some drinks for the queen and her entourage, at least..."

She considers her options.

"Hmm... I should have some coffee back on my wagon. I can get the supplies I need to fix up some hangover cures while I'm there, too. Shouldn't take me too long to duck out there." Jacqueline considers... and then, glances toward Riesenlied. She looks toward Riese, and then to Noeline, silently whispering... "...Is she okay...??" 

<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.

"OUI GHUF FRO!" Rikku shouts back before switching back to a language everyone can understand because he deserves to be publically chewed out...
 
"Here we are all excited about finally having some legitimacy and YOU! Have to get everyone blackout drunk THE DAY OF! Look at this place! It's a disaster zone!"
 
Rikku puts two hands to the back of her head, pacing back and forth in panic, "I couldn't brew a hangover cure strong enough for this! Not even if I had five hours!"
 
Rikku's usual time for alchemically brewing a thing can be measured in fractions of seconds, which goes to show that hangover cures are a mystery not even the greatest alchemists of Spira can solve.
 
Riesenlied presents the idea of creating another ship and erasing the evidence, "There's an idea! Let's table that one for now..." Rikku says to her gravely, "... as a last resort."
 
Pacing some more, "Right okay-! With Lulu out - it's going to be up to the Ace of the Zanarkand Abes!"
 
Rikku then clambers right up to Tidus and immediately dumps like Ten Hi-Ethers into his hands, "Tidus... you may be our only hope." She says, completely seriously, "Water Magic. We're all gonna have to make with the swabbing, and fast!!!!"

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

Emeralda does not have a grenade to throw, so Fei is safe (today) and also will never know whether she's willing to do it (today).

Why Emeralda bothered stepping up, even she doesn't know. Her feet are still a little wet. And *now* she's fanning the smoke away from her with one of her hands, which has flattened and spread out to several times its normal size.

It works better for her than Cid.

Her hand returns to a lot more normal when she steps further into the room, trying very hard not to step on something or kick a bottle. "It stinks!" Emeralda declares, referring to... everything. All at once. "Do I have to clean it up? None of this is *my* fault. I don't even drink beer!"

She elects not to add about the time she stole a Bartweiser, because it was gross and she hasn't done it even once since. (And this is from someone who sometimes eats the tin foil she packs her lunch in and once ate bread that was growing green stuff to no apparent harmful effect.) So, mission accomplished.

Emeralda walks over to one side and pushes one of the bottles around. She makes a face when she picks it up, immediately looking for a bin or something to put it in. "I can do water Ether too," she adds to Rikku, as she seizes on something that is helping but that does not require picking up gross things, "but I don't know any soap Ether so it might not clean the wall off."

As Emeralda wanders around moving bottles around, she pauses a couple times near Juni. Emeralda looks at her own hands for a few moments. "Aren't extra thumbs complicated?" she asks the 'beastwoman'. 

<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.

Juni Vandrer looks at her soaked boots, muttering more and more. When she drops back to the ground with the typical sound of wet boots, she shoots Lulu a dirty look before fishing her satchel out. Producing a small vial of smelling salts. "If we're cleanup crew-" she starts, she starts waving it around the closest.. casualty? That didn't get woken up by the water. "Fyga ib un E's kuehk du cmyb oui yfyga." she says flatly to the KO'd figure. It's not quite a phoenix down, but it's better than nothing right?
 
 "I don't think you need a hangover cure." She calls out to Rikku, ear twitching, "They're still hammered. I don't think any kind of mint will help either. Can you hold the ceremony in another room? Tomorrow?"
 
 Well, probably not. She doesn't have any space cleaners anyway. Those are dangerous and caustic or something. "Can we get a few of them sobered up enough to meet on the other ship maybe?" Hey, if all else fails... "Or just admit the truth and hope it doesn't go sideways. Further." That part's said with more than a hint of pessimism. This is the kind of mess that would have given even the best diplomats back home conniptions. And she's definitely not their best diplomat.
 
 Still, onto the next person, complete with the same threat given to the first until they're awake. Occasionally with light slapping to get them to focus. 

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

That's a lot of water and smoke all of a sudden. Xantia welcomes it though. Anything to clear the foul air even a little. She waves her arms in an almost theatrical way, to get as much of that awful smell away from her as possible. "Ugh ugh ugh, why would you ever drink anything that smells that bad?!" She has a general distaste for alcohol, but whatever kind this is, well, it's Bad with a capital BAD.

Coffee is asked for. Xantia rubs the back of her neck, exactly like Fei commonly does, and did just now. "Last time I had coffee I, uh... made kind of a mess, so I try to stay away from it now." Can you imagine what happens when someone with Xantia's natural energy level drinks caffeine? Maybe that would be helpful if it's decided to go with Riesenlied's idea, but otherwise...

She briefly wonders if her power to absorb things from people's bodies could draw out the alcohol, but all anybody sees of that is Xantia firmly shaking her head for no apparent reason. She is not going to try or even consider suggesting that, even if it works who knows how that would affect her.

Still, they have to do something about all this. Seeing some people starting to clean up a little, she shrugs, deciding that the best thing to start with is... the people that still remain on the floor. Lifting up one of the Al Bhed who still somehow remained unconscious throughout all of this underneath their arms, she starts to drag them off towards whatever random room is most nearby. How did that saying go again? Out of sight, out of potentially ruining the formation of a long-standing alliance? "Hope this isn't anybody important for the negotiations," she mutters to herself. 

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    This is the dreaded 'pre-gaming', a ritual of which Citan is hardly unfamiliar. Some of their old drinking parties in Jugend had gotten really out of hand (the benefit and peril of your senior in school being of drinking age, among other things...).

    One thing at a time. To take in everything before them is to become overwhelmed, and so it's best that they start focusing on the things they can do, such as sorting out the hung-over men (a hangover remedy would go wonderfully at a time like this).

    But a smoke bomb and a water spell are good first starts.

    "Two and a half hours... that is what I thought," Citan says, glancing up at the ceiling in thought. He sighs, looking around the catastrophe scattered around them. "I had hoped I might have been in error," he remarks, only to smile in a rather pained fashion. "But it cannot be helped. The talks between Shevat and the Al Bhed cannot be permitted to fail. It appears that we have much to do," he adds, shaking his head.

     He turns a concerned eye Riesenlied's way and nearly comments, but then Leon reports that things are even more worse than they appeared.

    They might not even have coffee.

    "Ah," Citan says, grimly. "Then we shall need to make do. Ah, yes, if you are able to obtain some, Miss Barber, that would be much appreciated! In the meantime, I believe I will make myself useful."

    Which means that since he's a doctor, he's going to see to some of the more semi-conscious Al Bhed lying around in here and see what he can do to help. A little acupressure can go a long way. 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    "Well," Noeline decides after a very long and silent pause, and a check to make sure that Riesenlied didn't get splashed too badly. She preens for a moment before cattishly deciding to continue as if she didn't just get half-drenched, as if the sheer denial of reality might somehow manage to make it real. "Never let it be said that Drifters don't deal with everything in their way, whether big or small. Two and a half hours is a lot better time limit than we've had in some situations," she puffs.

    She sags a little as Riesenlied starts to escape reality a second time, looking rather concerned at the empty look in her eyes before she gently pats the other Hyadean on the shoulders a couple of times. "Dear, please come back to us. It's when you start to sound like Janey that you worry me the most," she can't help but snort a little as she grin filters through enough for her to give Jay a nod back.

    Xantia and Emeralda both balk at the smell of the alcohol, leaving Noeline to carefully pick up one of the bottles between two finders and bring the neck of it to her nose. She doesn't recoil, exactly, but she does rock back and forth on her heels for a moment. "... goodness," she decides after a moment, her eyebrows raised as she lifts the dregs to the light. "Finest rotgut. Straight out of a rickety old still, I'll bet. I cannot fault the authenticity, at the very least." 

<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.

    A lot of people arrive! Rikka throws a grenade at her dear old dad; Lulu splashes a water spell on Cid before simply turning around and leaving; Cid asks how much time there is until the Queen gets here, the response to which is two and a half hours; and something deep in Tidus's soul shrivels and lights on fire.
    
    *His* old man pulled stunts like this all the time, too.
    
    He's got half a mind to walk straight out like Lulu just did, except at that moment, Rikku marches up to him and shoves approximately a metric buttload of hi-ethers into his arms and commandeers *his* water magic for the job. He groans. "Fine, I'll do it," he grumbles.
    
    A series of Watergas ensues. Better hope there's nothing important on the floor, because it's about to be sopping. 

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Strictly speaking, Azoth is not ordered to collect the level of data and perform the level of social engineering necessary to sabotage an agreement. And someone, somewhere, has probably already guessed how obnoxiously he could report on trying to interfere either ruining the data collection on the situation and, thus, his future calculations, or that his judgment, already being in question as an artificial intelligence, would simply not make the right political choices.

He's best used as an observer. But the problem with that is: someone will have to ask him what he observed. And what is Azoth observing?

It's delightful. It's perfect. Whatever report he gives is absolutely sabotaged.

Smells are not something Azoth has a reaction to, emotional or otherwise, and though he detects nothing noxious and harmful, the others do not demonstrate favorable reactions. The smoke does not help, and Azoth moves closer to Xantia to produce a small explosion of clean ARM energy to produce an air shockwave to chase off some of the fouler air. He's no fan, but it'll have to do in this pinch.

"I've never heard of pre-partyng," he muses. "Maybe you can teach it at negotiationns?"

Maybe you should not do that.

He kicks a bottle on the ground by it's neck, flipping it into the air to catch before going about trying to help collect and clean up with some of the others. Waterga sends some rolling, and Azoth chases after them. "Piib pyyb!"

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

Boudicca goes to scrub a stain off the wall. She applies her mighty Seraphic strength -- and the stain lifts. So does some of the paint, which has somehow mixed in with the strange substance.

"We ain't destroying my airship!" Cid says, looking at Riesenlied -- and he looks horrified. "This thing's too precious for that! Now, it's not that bad. See, we even made chili, and--"

Look out, Emeralda. A chili pot is rolling straight for you! It is leaving a streak of bright red chili in its wake.

Then Cid groans. "Uh..." He looks at Fei. "Maybe--maybe--" He looks at Rikku -- then groans. "Ugh... loud..."

That would be a 'yes,' Fei.

"If you have something, that may be best, Miss Barber," Leon says. Then, he looks at Juni. "I believe the group from Shevat is coming her via shuttlecraft. That won't work..."

Xantia props up an Al Bhed -- who groans, then leans against her. "U-ugh... so much... beer," he groans. "And we made a bunch of food... and there's the things we didn't set-up downstairs..."

Another Al Bhed looks up at Citan, as he approaches. "Am... am I going to live, Doctor?"

Cid looks at Noeline -- then grins. "Yup!" he says. "That's how we do it here! Shame we don't have any to offer that queen, huh?"

(Because they drank it all.)

Then, Cid looks at Azoth. His brow furrows. "You might be onto something!" he says. "They want a cultural exchange, you know?" A beat. "Hey, do I smell? I think I got a whiff."

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei has gone through sewers enough that Lulu unleashing a swath of water around his ankles doesn't really bother him even if he wasn't expecting to be doing a sewer level today. It's actually cleaner! and there's no chance of like some kind of BLOOD MURDER PERSON rising up, ringing a bell, and instant KOing him.

He sees Xantia also rubbing the back of his neck. He leaves his hand on his neck, suddenly a bit self concious before he decides it's actually charming that she picked up the habit and finishing rubbing the back of his neck in defiance of his own anxieties.

"Oh okay." Fei says as he gestures with his hand, gathering up some water that Lulu pushed in with his ether power and dumping it on Cid's head. "Did that help?" He hopes he didn't misunderstand that maybe.

He looks at Azoth for a while.

"Well, did you uh. You all like Blitzball right? They seem pretty bored up here a lot, maybe you could do a sporting event...?"

He looks to Tidus. "Like, you could do a practice match and...show them how it's done? Maybe they'd like Blitzball."

The other big cultural touchstone the Al Bhed has seems to be machines and well--that seems obvious enough to Fei to not even sugest it.

He does pull off his coat though, draping it around Elly's shoulders almost without thinking about it. At this point it's an automatic movement.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. I think uh--Shevat can be pretty stuffy you know? Maybe they'd appreciate a bit of culture."

he seems to be using culture in a particular way there. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    Boudicca is mighty! Too mighty for the stains to withstand!

    ... and too mighty for the paint, as it happens. "Oh, no," she exclaims, downcast, as she looks at her cloth. "It happened again...!!"

    (Boudicca often helps mortals clean their abodes up. Sometimes she messes the process up a little, because she doesn't exactly have domain over water.)

    She turns to Jacqueline, with an absolutely devastated expression. "Jay, the stains are defeating me! Have you not a potion to assist in their removal? Cid does not wish his airship to be destroyed..!"

    Perhaps, with the power of friendship, Boudicca can clean this up in a less... obvious manner.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Boudicca gently advises her that the idea doesn't seem practical, and Rikku adds that they should table it as a last resort. "Oh..." Riesenlied tilts her head and sags for a moment, even as people start cleaning up. Watergas are being thrown around again, but it seems like Riesenlied has avoided the worst of the initial splashes.

    ... too bad about the wheelchair still inside, though.

    She's idly found toweling Noeline's back, though, because she somehow can manifest a towel at any time she wants. How she manages to crawl to her side is a mystery, but let it be known that Riesenlied is, too, a fusspot, and fusspots make their way where there is a will.

    Noeline urges her to come back, and there's a little moment as Riesenlied's motivation meter starts to fill up again and her horns fill with approximately 20% air.

    Then, uh oh, the chili pot comes into being. She (somehow) looms over it despite being a chairless sluggo at this point, and murmurs, "I see. So this chili is supposed to be part of the plan to resuscitate those that have been brought to door's death by the intemperateness of alcohol. It is an agent of Life, then..."

    Riesenlied's horns fwip back up to full strength as the power of the Ley is felt throughout the (very wet) grounds of the Fereshte -- and with both hands, she zaps the chili pot with her power of ley channeling.

    It begins to glow. Is this a good or a bad thing??

    "Chili with the power of Life...!" she intones. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline's gaze drifts over toward where Boudicca has removed some of the substance from the wall. ...And some of the paint. ...How is that even safe for human consumption?? She shakes her head.

Noeline says that Riesenlied is okay, at least. Jacqueline... will just have to keep an eye on her. She nods toward Leon, then.

"Yes. I'll be right back, then." Jacqueline says. "I'll need a crew, though..."

Some of the Al Bhed may find themselves volunteered to head out with her. They return a short while later, bearing stacks of crates containing coffee supplies and potion ingredients. But upon her arrival... there is another crisis at hand! Oh no, that devastated look on Boudicca's face... it can't be ignored...!!

"Hmm..." Jacqueline considers, as Boudicca airs her concerns.

"...I have something that may work. Just don't let anyone drink it." Jacqueline says, rummaging through her bags and presenting Boudicca with a large bottle, the insides gleaming a dangerous red. It's a mixture made for fighting monsters. Weapons-grade potions.

...But right now, they may very well need its strength to save the Fahrenheit... 

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

 
'do I HAVE to,' comes the question. Oh no, Elly thinks in a minor panic, parenting challenge. "Well," she dithers to Emeralda for a moment, "you don't have to, have to, but I think it would be very kind for you to do it, and you'd really be helping them out. And it might be something that helps to save all of Filgaia, ultimately, so I think it's worth doing!"

"You never know when a moment's kindness will pay rewards," Elly says, looking upwards and off towards a gentle beam of light. From where an Al Bhed is playing with the searchlight control board.

"Do you think we could claim it was an illness, and ask for their forebearance? Queen Zephyr is a... reasonably understanding and generous person," says Elly to Citan, who - technically - did pretty much just show up and get a super-Gear.

"Oh no, no, you could - hold on. Um," Elly says to Fei, now, watching the pot roll around. "Oh god, this is a mess!" And then Fei puts his coat around her shoulders - and she blushes slightly, looking away. It does break possible spiralling that was about to make her wave her arms around and run in a little circle.

"Thank you..."

Elly then looks towards Jay. And towards -

"Is it glowing?" Elly asks in a small voice. "That potion..." 

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

"I guess," is Emeralda's answer to Elly. "I dressed up because I thought I was going to see a queen, though."

Tidus sprays water everywhere! Emeralda does not bother to stand on a stepstool this time, because it's not going to help.

Honestly, given that gross things don't *normally* bother her very much, the way she's acting around the drunk detritus is a little unusual. But maybe she really just doesn't like the smell. Or maybe Emeralda is just annoyed that she has to clean up something that she didn't have any fun getting messy in the first place.

She's still trying to figure out Juni's second thumb when a bouncing, rolling chili pot advances at her! Emeralda actually doesn't notice it, distracted as she is, until it's almost too late for her to get away from it!

At the last moment, though, she does notice. Eventually. "Aaah!" Emeralda's entire left leg shifts, flattening and becoming more... angular as she lets it become a ramp for the rolling chili pot to go up, slowing it down and angling it to the side so that it doesn't slam into her. Which it does! But it is also likely to splatter her with spray from the rolling chili.

"I'm under attack by dinner!" How spicy is that stuff? Emeralda is about to find out. 

<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.

Juni Vandrer calls out over her shoulder, "They were getting intox finally just giving up and removing the things that qualify as boots, stuffing them aside in her pack for now as more water is called in. They can bill her for any weird footprints she leaves. She'll just bill them back for time spent cleaning.
 
 She's prompted on the extra thumb and she holds them out like she's considering it. "Wait extra? Did you lose yours?" teasing, clearly. Even if she's still got the funny accent. "She holds her hands out, wriggling each finger and thumb, "Makes buying gloves annoying if you're curious, not much else though."
 
 "Cultural exchanges usually involve a nice gift basket. Some bribes. Maybe an after party. This looks like a training room the day after high G spins." She's not even going to bother covering it up. Most of the people here either know, guessed or are so drunk and hung over they won't remember and you know, dancing around various bits of nastiness including a- "Look out kid" she says, trying to move Esmeralda to the side with her tail as she ducks out of the way as well. Whether she can or not is entirely up in the air, she had no idea.
 
 Either way, the thing rolls past and she goes back to work, promptly keeping herself back to herself.
 
 "Chili with the what?" she asks, now just... done.
 
 To Leon's response, she looks out over the side of the ship. "Could we land and do a beach party meeting? The water's pretty important here right?" Hey she's paid SOME attention. Still, with most of the people awake, she gathers mops. She's not touching this stuff and gets to work on scrubbing. Not the first time. Space faring marine-y sort. Of course part of their routine was swabbing. Keeps up the discipline. And sure, none of them keep it long, but it's the thought that counts.
 
 There might be muttering about the need of a power washer though 

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia speaks calmly to the Al Bhed she's dragging off. "Sh-sh-sh, don't try to talk. You're not in your right mind right now, I can actually understand what you're saying." Al Bhed, talking to her in a language she understands? In her experience, it's like they go out of their way to not do that!

Azoth acting as her biggest fan is appreciated, and responded to with a nod and a smile. That's right, it may look bad right now, but the solution to this is no different than usual. If they pool all their efforts together, they can surely salvage this situation, somehow!

...she quickly doubles back after dropping off her 'patient' in a side room to cover Azoth's mouth, pointless as that might be to do with a robot. "Ummm! Let's maybe not do that suggestion!" she counter-suggests, before releasing Azoth, giving him an apologetic pat.

Splash, splash, splash, go her boots on the now very damp surface, thanks to Tidus. She nods appreciatively. Water is good. Maybe fire would've been even better, but she'll take water. Kneeling down, she places her hands into it, sending a pleasant wave of warmth throughout the giant puddle. Nice for the people standing in it, but that's not why she's doing it. She was told that warm water cleans better, so this only makes sense, right?

Now all that's needed is some cleaning agent to add to the mix. "Hey Jay! Throw some of that stuff into the water, won't you?" She's sure this is a good idea, red means powerful, so it will clean powerfully! Or maybe it'll tear the ground apart. Either way, the mess will be gone, right?

Just in time for Xantia to get incredibly distracted. "Wait, what'd you say, there's chili? is it dinner time already?!" 

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    Crouching beside the afflicted Al Bhed, Citan smiles. "Yes! Though, you may continue to experience some discomfort..."

    A little realignment with chi (and other things besides) will help the man feel a little more lively, but some elements of a hang-over can only truly be shaken off by the powerful elixir of time... and the right medicine.

    This, again, he knows from cold, hard experience!

    "Xantia, if you would help to move anyone else still unconscious to another room...?" he calls over. "Once we have tended to them, perhaps we can survey the damage and coordinate our, ah, approach!" Also it would be a good idea to not have anyone unconscious or otherwise seriously indisposed anywhere near where proceedings are set to take place later.

    "It is possible that the Queen would be sympathetic," he says to Elly, still tending to the man. "Indeed, there would be many among the Shevite contingent who would be understanding." He pauses, taking a moment to glance up at her. "...But there are others who are not. You must understand, Elly... there are two major factions within Shevat at present. There are those who seek to ally with the rest of the world in the fight against Solaris... and there are those who would see their present conservative course prevail. If they were to think the Al Bhed foolish, it would give their arguments weight. The Queen's word is law, yes, but even she cannot simply adjudicate as she pleases in all matters..." 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Noeline looks faintly aghast at the-- scale of the-- cleaning going on, to the point where she's not sure if she can consider it cleaning or demolition. She'd like to think that she and Riesenlied have some expertise here, what with a lot of their Wayside work being a similar sort of thing. Sure, you're cleaning up after a natural disaster rather than a drunken bender, but this one seems to have been big enough that the lines between the two might have blurred.

    The chili pot rolls by, and she simply decides to let herself drift down towards a sitting position and lean back into Riesenlied's fussing, waiting until she can safely disengage to rescue the wheelchair. The rather overexuberant summation of the misbegotten meal makes her hinge her jaw open, but something tells her it would be better to just let things be and try to ensure that her partner is at least kept safe and out of the way of any of the many errant water jets.

    "At least if it starts to grow legs it can go clean itself up," she mutters as she watches the pot get infused with the power of the Ley, before squinting owlishly up at Cid. It says something that she's not all that able to tell whether the man is actually still drunk or not. "Dare I ask how many secret extra-special ingredients you have put in it? Are we talking to the level of stubborn stains or an outright biohazard?" 

<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.

It's true, they aren't even to the hangover part yet, and Rikku in her panic forgot that, thankfully Tidus is on the case with water, there's a Chili Pot rolling across the deck and...
 
"Okay that's got the ball rolling! Way to go Tidus - we can do this in time, maybe - Hey Fei! What cologne are you wearing? Can you lend it out?"
 
... Rikku realizes something to her horror.
 
'downstairs'
 
"Oh no."
 
Rikku takes off below deck to just... see how extensive this mess goes all over the ship.
 
I mean, how bad could it be?
 
Rikku returns back not long after, pale, "Dra runnun... dra runnun..."
 
Slapping both of her cheeks, and chirps more optimistically soon enough, "Well! Maybe we can just - keep the delegation to the top deck! A little fresh air never hurt anybody!"

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Xantia covers Azoth's mouth, and he beeps at her with a feigned muffled sound because his voice does not actually come from his mouth, but he is going to respect the sentiment. If Xantia thinks he has a misinformed social idea, then it might be... a little too much chaos to suggest. He gives her a sheepish, apologetic smile once released.

"I would recommend bathing," Azoth tells Cid gently. He glances to Xantia briefly as if to verify that one's okay. Probably it is! As a robot bathing isn't exactly his area, either.

Fei looks at Azoth a while, and Azoth looks innocently on back. After a moment, his head tilts. One can practically see the question mark forming. Oh wait, that's an actual projected hologram.

<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.

    Tidus grimaces at Fei's suggestion that he put on a practice blitzball match. "The kind of match we'd have to put on to impress the Queen more than she'd be disgusted by this mess would take WAY longer than just cleaning up this mess. Good idea, though. Maybe if there was more than TWO AND A HALF HOURS LEFT." He shoots a maybe surprisingly ugly glare at Cid. Looks like he's taking this kind of personally for some reason.
    
    Meanwhile Citan over there explains why this is a big deal and the stakes are actually really high. Tidus groans. It only deepens as a pot of chili rolls across the deck, creating even more mess.
    
    Even so, there's still plenty of work to do, and if they're going to do this in time, they have to keep things up. He leaves it to someone else to grab the chili pot (is that happening? Riesenlied seems to be powering it up instead) and hunts around for mops to put the Waterga magic to actual good use, especially if Jay gets some cleaning agents into said water as Xantia suggests. Tidus, overhearing only part of what Jay said about said 'cleaning agents,' shoots them both a thumbs-up. "Whatever you got!"
    
    As he does, Rikku rushes below deck, then returns white-faced. Tidus grimaces. "Dryd pyt, rir?" he says with actually quite good pronunciation (even if he's still got a Zanarkandian accent). He hangs out with a lot of Al Bhed, after all. "Yeah, we'll just have to sweep that under the rug. ...The deck. Whatever." 

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"Sure didn't," Cid tells Fei, flatly (but also wetly). Then, his head swivels, peering at Boudicca -- and at his airship's wall. "Aw, hell! You're peeling the paint off! Wait... what was that stain? Was that the bread that Brother tried to bake?"

That might explain a few things. It may also raise more questions.

Then he looks at his chili pot. It hovers in the middle of the room, glowing and sparkling, as the power of the Ley fills it. "My chili!" Cid exclaims.

Someone pushes a cup of coffee into his hand -- after Jay returns, with the aid of several of his Al Bhed -- and he takes a sip. "Mm. That's the stuff," he says. Then, he sniffs himself, at Azoth's urging.

"Oh, hell," he says.

"You may, to be fair, get to see a queen," Leon tells Emeralda. "Just... in a state of anger. And perhaps disappointment."

He's helping, really.

Water from Tidus's spell sloshes over his boots -- and then he turns his head, as the chili pot rolls up Emeralda when her body shifts that way. "Good God," he repeats, as chili is sprayed across the briefly cleaned food.

The answer, Emeralda, is very spicy. But hey, Xantia, now you can see the chili! It's right here!

Leon looks at Citan -- and then his brow furrows. "Then... success must be the outcome here," he says. "And we need to fix this place up?"

Cid looks at Noeline. His brow furrows. "Well... about thirty-six different peppers. And some meat and some beans," he says. "And... this flower that grows on Dragon Roost Isle, down on Filgaia?"

It's Bomb Flower Chili.

Rikku experiences existential horror. Leon turns to look at her. "...I think we have to get down there," he concludes. "And clean it. Tidus, as much as it pains me to say this, has the right idea."

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei sniffs his armpit.

"Oh it's 100 squats, 100 situps, and 100 pushups." Fei says to Rikku. He smiles at Elly. "It'll be okay. Just some cleanup." He assures her as he steps forward--

--steps on an errant bottle and slips off it. Fei spins in the air partway through and lands back on his feet after a full rotation before picking it up. "Haha close one."

He shoves it into one of his spare and empty bags.

His gaze then turns back to Azoth.

His gaze raises up to the projected question mark.

"............"

".............."

He listens for Id's opinion on the subject.

Azoth's kinda badass huh.

Fei looks at Azoth's adorable face. He can't holographically project a question mark but it's in his eyes well enough.

"It's fine," He murmurs. "All this is already doomed so what's risking a little more doom?"

He looks to Tidus and says, "Yeah fair point." to Tidus. "But honestly I think leaving things a little scuffy is still a good idea. Shevat hasn't seen uh. Like, they haven't personally experienced surface life exactly for the most part so..."

Leon says they have no choice to clean it.

"I hope this isn't a situation where the mess was so bad it gained a measure of sentience and we have to fight it in a literal fight to the death." Fei says.

"...Not again."

He looks to Emeralda and pats her on the shoulder. "We'll see her eventually, I'm sure."

Riesenlied infuses chili with the power of Life.

"...Are we going to have to fight the chili in a fight to the death?" 

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

"I didn't *lose* mine, you just have extra," Emeralda informs Juni, before chilitastrophe. "And an eye! It's neat..."

But that was then, and this was now.

Emeralda lets out a sound that is probably best described as 'wak' as Juni pulls her out of the way with her tail. Which is a pretty new sensation for Emeralda, as she has been pulled out of the way of a lot of things, but never by a tail.

She still is splattered with chili. She catches some in the face, and sputters for a few moments: "Hot! Hot!" It's not temperature-hot; it's spicy, judging by her red-faced reaction. She lets out a whistling exhalation and then does a little Ether of her own:

With a cloud of slowly condensing fog that contracts into her hand, Emeralda makes a handful of ice, which she shoves into her mouth and crunches loudly, her teeth digging into it with a slight squeak of bending ice. It seems to help. The sound is horrible for everyone else near her, though. 

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Factions... always factions. Elly's shoulder slump a little at what Citan explains, before she looks up at him, clasping a hand over Fei's coat's collar. To hold it closer. "Even so... I suppose it isn't any good to fib about it, though," Elly says, skimming over her immediate thought to "lie like a rug," because

1. They know what beer is in Shevat
2. Al Bhed message discipline is *unreliable*
3. they only have like 2h20m to set this nonsense up
4. it sets a bad tone
5. emeralda is watching and will learn that lying is rad, which is one of the things you SHOULDN'T learn at Jugend

Elly looks towards Fei then as he reveals that no, he just smells like that naturally. She frowns slightly. (Didn't I --) And then Fei almost slips and breaks his neck!! Elly reaches out plaintively with --

No, he's fine. Emeralda--!!!

... is also fine, and she's using Ether to... huh, Elly thinks. That's a relief, too.

This is a very stressful party, and Elly isn't even involved. It hasn't even started! Breathing out, she says, "I don't like to do it, but if you really need to feed an entire party..."

Elly looks to Rikku. "I'm going to need grenades." 

<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.

"You're getting really good at that!" Rikku chirps the positive at Tidus first, sunny and all smiles - before - that smile becomes a bit forced, "Funca. Funca dryh oui lyh buccepmo esykeha. Brother sicd pa nacbuhcepma."
 
Rikku then blinks at Fei's regimen, "Wait really!? Is that just how martial artists-" Pause, "-there's no way we're going to get this crowd to do that! Doc!" She turns to Citan, "What about you? Any cologne?"
 
Fei's comment though gets a blink blink out of Rikku, "Eh?" Rikku looks at the Chili, then at Riese, then back at Fei. "I mean my Dad's Chili is strong but I hope not that strong-!"
 
Elly asks for grenades, before she even finishes the sentence, there are twenty grenades in her arms, it's possible she didn't even see Rikku move at all.
 
"That enough? Let me know if you need more!"

<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

Emeralda spotted Elly looking at her, worried.

She gives a thumbs-up, though her eyes are watering. And then burps, which makes a sudden tiny wisp of flame. "It's better now," she promises. 

<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.

Juni Vandrer listens to the king more or less fidget and do anything, but actually help out with the mess they've made. She's not actually one of his subjects, she just plays one on TV so she has no qualms saying, "Kad ouincamv dukadran yht ramb! Tuh'd syga sa ica drec." not that.. she's tall enough to really be imposing as she brandishes the mop, but she tries to sound serious. She continues waving the mop around at various humans for a moment. Mutter mutter. Then she gets back to work trying to work away the corrosive mess before it causes more damage.
 
 She's helping. She's goign to help. She's not going to just let it all crash and burn. Nope nope nope. She might just be grouchy that she's stuck cleaning incendiaries without a hazmat suit.
 
 Emeralda's trick gets a scrutinizing look from the alien woman. Then she's dancing around because the chili's hot and she asks flatly out loud, "Why would you have unsecured cookware on an airship?" Sounding exhasperated by now. "Ice isn't going to help. Try milk or cream. Something fatty." as she looks around for anything that might actually help there. "Bread as a last resort, but I wouldn't trust any bread on this ship. It might grow legs and fight you."
 
 She's checking her pack at least. There's a gun solvent rag in there and... if the kid's affected by chili oil she probably wouldn't react to that well so it goes back away and a clean rag is offered instead.
 
 "Can we hold it purely topside on a deck maybe? Avoid showing off anything that might eat a guest?" 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    "Ah! What a powerful concoction!" Boudicca exclaims, with relief, as she takes Jacqueline's Weapons-Grade Potion. She proceeds to work with Tidus to make sure to get it in the water they're using to clean everything up..!!

    But despite all her efforts... this was a REALLY wild party... "Would not inviting them down really work?" She wonders, in vague despair, to Rikku. "I know little of human meeting rituals, still..."

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

 
"Oh, this should be great," says Elly to Rikku, who is absolutely going to keep most of these. It's a mystery tool, that will help her later.

"Umm--m - I'd have to defer to Dr. Uzuki..." 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Noeline rescues the wheelchair, where it is soggy, but at least Riesenlied has a seat back in return. Still, what kind of secret and dangerous ingredients are there? Emeralda gets splattered with chili, and creates some ice to crunch on. "Oh no, there there..." mom instincts kick in, and she wipes the nanomachine child's face gently with a cool cloth and hands her some milk. "Here you go."

    Still, it is revealed that Cid used thirty six various kinds of peppers, and a flower that grows on Dragon Roost Island.

    'I need some grenades,' Elly espouses.

    A moment later, Riesenlied wheels herself over to Elly, with a fresh round Bomb Flower on her lap. "I found this in the chili," she holds it up for Elly to take, to add to Rikku's growing pile of grenades. 

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia gives Azoth a thumbs up at this new suggestion. Bathing is cool and good, especially when these people smell the way they do. As there doesn't seem to be any immediate floor-related calamity, she presumes that matter to be decently handled at this point. Gonna need a bit of scrubbing, but surely that won't be too much of a problem as long as all this... stuff comes off well enough.

As the realization begins to dawn that there is another mess below deck, possibly worse than this one, Xantia hastily adds to Juni's suggestion, "Yeah, let's... can we put an 'out of order' sign on all the doors that go there?" Sweeping it under the deck, indeed. That should be fine, right? How much room could they really need for... Xantia pales a little bit when she realizes that she doesn't actually know the full scope of the planned events and the required space for them.

Citan next tries to get her attention, but by then it's already too late. Xantia has spotted the curry. Ain't nothing stopping her from having some of that, even if she has to use her hands to scoop some up!

This... was a mistake. The addition of the power of Life does not in fact reduce the level of spiciness of the curry. Which she isn't great at handling to begin with so she really should have known better. Live and learn. Well... hopefully Xantia will live. Right after some of it touches her tongue, she starts running in circles, yelling loudly and mostly unintelligibly, though the word 'hot' is in there quite frequently. She could likely solve this in a similar way Emeralda did, but she's so not thinking clearly after that one. The only thing that makes sense at the moment... is rushing Tidus.

"Hit me! Hit me!!" she shouts in his direction, which, well, hopefully he'll understand that she means 'with the water'... 

<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.

    Tidus grins broadly at Rikku's compliment. "Heh, thanks! Or I mean, dryhgc!" (That one's a little tough on the throat.) His grin turns into a sympathetic wince at her response. Even if he didn't understand what she was saying, just the mention of 'Brother' says it all. "Clyno..."
    
    When Juni speaks in Al Bhed, though, he double-takes at her in surprise. They've met before, though it was a long while back, during a trip through the Thunder Plains, but... well, there's no reason a beastfolk couldn't learn Al Bhed. He scratches his head and gives her a lopsided smile. "You tell 'im," he says, waving his own mop back.
    
    Leon agrees with him, with great pain. Tidus makes a face. "Dryhgc," he repeats, this time much drier.
    
    Bomb Flower Chili. Good lord. Now Tidus REALLY doesn't want to see what's below deck. He'll cover that up by pouring on the elbow grease with cleaning what's right here. Boudicca will help a lot on that count, especially with drying up afterwards. Of course, that's the point at which Xantia, having scooped up and eaten some of that delicious floor curry, will start running around screaming before beelining over at him.
    
    "AAAA WHAT," he yells, right before--as requested--drawing Brotherhood and beaning her over the head.
    
    It's cool! It has Waterstrike! That'll work too, probably! 

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

"BWAAAA," is Xantia's eloquent reaction to that one, falling backwards onto the water-logged surface, eyes swirling and seeing stars. Welp, she's not noticing the burning sensation anymore, so... good?! 

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Elly, lying IS rad!

Azoth gazes unrelentingly, adorably on at Fei, unaware of Id's opinions. How could a face like this bring about doom? (He won't be wearing this face when he brings doom.)

Cid describes the ingredients of the (now glowing) chili, and Azoth's eyes whirr softly as he scans it in curiosity. He nods along with each of the ingredients mentioned, then pauses, slowly looking up at Cid. "Dragon Roost Isle." It's fortunate Emeralda's a nanite colony. Azoth watches her burp flame. ...Very fortunate...

Xantia goes for a taste and Azoth is too slow to catch her by the collar to stop her. "Ah, wait--!"

He closes his eye on a wince, then flinches with an even greater wince as he pleas to Tidus end up getting Brotherhood involved.

Juni has her own advice. Something fatty... "I'll go see if we have any milk on board before she's conscious enough to taste the chili again. Or... some close equivalent." This may end up in a whipped cream disaster, but really, can things get much worse? Absolutely but don't even worry about.

He begins to leave, then stops, poking his head back in halfway, hand raised diagonally.

"Oh wait, hello, yes, I have a question! ...Why grenades?!"

<Pose Tracker> Rikku has posed.

Rikku promptly activates Copycat.
 
And does the exact same thing, somehow a bonk of her hand now has Waterstrike too.
 
She then walks over to the floor curry, bends down in expection, puts a finger to it, and puts the finger in her mouth, sucking it off, then...
 
"Hm. Mild."
 
The Al Bhed are terrifying.

<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.

    "No... I do not think we could 'pull it off'," Citan agrees, coupling this with sad smile. "It is best if we do what we can to, ah... mitigate the situation." And try to at least keep anyone who is too drunkhungoverunconscious away from the Shevite contingent.

    He had noted the passage of the pot of chili in the same way that someone watches a hubcap rolling away from a crashed car. Well, up until that point where the pot's content finds a particular target. "Emeralda?!" Though, particularly with the use of her Ether, she doesn't seem to be burned as much as...

    Cid explains what was in the chili.

    "...Ah," Citan remarks, in much the same way someone might upon being told that, yes, the poison had been in the wine glass one had just drunk from. Their pulling this off has just become that much more tenuous.

    "Yes, I am afraid it will fall to us," says Citan, providing not only the prior diagnosis but the proposed treatment plan. Though this is the sort where it will be far more unpleasant to the practitioner than the patient.

    "--Ah, Fei?!"

    Case in point, even if Fei manages to pull off a perfect landing?

    "Cologne? Well," Citan pats himself down. "Actually, yes, but... surely you do not mean to cover for their, ah... aroma with cologne?" 

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"We cannot rule that out," Leon tells Fei, regarding the chili. Then, he looks at Emeralda, with mounting concern.

Grenades are passed out -- plans are made.

"We had some of the party topside," Cid says. "Actually, basically everywhere."

He looks thoughtful about this for a moment. He doesn't seem perturbed at the growing pile of grenades. And Xantia running by, after being bonked (and chili'd).

"Maybe I could have planned this better."

Leon pauses for a moment, then, and his eyes scan the room. He has a soldier's training; a soldier's instincts. He notices small changes, for he knows they can be significant. Alarm begins to grow within him, but it's also visible on his face.

"Wait," he says. Then, with the utmost urgency: "Where's Brother?"

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