2024-01-20 - Making it Big in Asakusa
| Title: Making it Big in Asakusa | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Nori and her friends respond to the threat of a Cardiax worm. They almost have it sortd, when a newcomer makes herself (and her intentions) known. | |
| Who: La Sirene du Diamant, Mami Tomoe, Sailor Mars, La Siren d'Argent | |
| Where: Asakusa Traditional District (Tokyo - Shitamachi Low City) | |
| OOC - IC Date: 1/20/2024 - Tuesday, May 10, 2016 | |
.************************ Tokyo - Shitamachi Low City *************************.
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* Asakusa Traditional District +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
The heart of Shitamachi, Asakusa is an emblem of tradition and street
culture. Once, this was the city's foremost pleasure district, a place for
entertainment, music, and parties. Left behind by rebuilding and
modernization, today it is famous instead for its temples and shrines. With
Ueno's parks to the west, the slow waters of the Sumida River to the east,
and plenty of old-fashioned buildings, Asakusa is scenic and colorful.
Sightseeing and temple visits bring a lot of traffic, and it's one of the
few places in Tokyo that rickshaw drivers and (a small handful of) geisha
can call home.
Asakusa is not, however, merely a historic district or tourist spot. It's
very much a living part of the city, with department stores, apartment
complexes, and corporate offices. The street life is lively, with many
storefronts spilling out well into the street. More traditional street
markets are available near the temple districts, too, with stalls that sell
handmade goods, local food, and religious charms. Interaction feels a bit
easier here than in most of the city; it's certainly no small town, but
there's something of a personable, mid-twentieth century ease to the urban
bustle.
"ALRIGHT!!!" shouts the man standing in the middle of the Kappabashi intersection.
Except, perhaps, that it is not a man at all.
Getting to this man was difficult. The intersection was jammed up - not that rare in Tokyo even if it's usually transient. Approaching the intersection would reveal a subtle scent to those who have eyes to see. Or a nose to sniff, that is to say.
A grotesque smell, lurking in between what might be taken as the dust and haze of jackhammers and construction, or the burnt smell of a recently extinguished fire. The storm of a Cardiax: and what swirls is not rain, of course, or tears, or sand, or any of a thousand other possible things. It is instead a smell of something prosaic, perhaps even familiar:
The scent of cheap chargrilled yakitori, half-eaten and left to cool into something rancid.
But like many storms, this one has an eye. And it faces, not on a darkling night or a high vaulted ceiling, but a bright early afternoon with clear blue May sky up above.
Like many - most? - of the Cardiax in their early stages of manifestation, the man seems to be twins. The one who stands in the middle of the road, grinning as he faces those who strive against him, and the other one, slumped against a fire hydrant at one corner of the intersection. The fallen one is mute, unconscious beyond suffering but certainly alive.
They have the same face and the same shape: A man in his late forties, unmarried, wearing a suit that doesn't fit. An expressive and care-lined face, but not a weathered one. The face of a man who's strived hard to do his best to entertain you -- you may have seen him on the TV, here and there, perhaps in passing as you left the house and saw Mama or Papa or big brother watching the morning variety shows.
AND DID WE SAY VARIETY SHOWS?
The talent man always dreamed of running his own. But he never could.
It wasn't his fault. He had what it took. He ALWAYS had what it took.
And you will understand WHY.
A devilishly cunning Cardiax, leaping up and down and vaulting along part of Kappabashi - forcing pursuit - he helps himself to the contents of stores as he swings past. Restaurant pans and pots hurled and banged! Wax and plastic food samples set out for people to "try". Lanterns and signs hurled! He may not have broken into TV entertainment, but his sorrow has flexible and agile with a rictus-grin and a high-energy presentation.
Striking blows against him all but demands you play along with his game.
But however it happened, the great run up and down Kappabashi ended up where it began - running in circles, just like his life. And as has always seemed to happen with the sorrow-bloated otherworldly parasites, the form of that man faded away, and in the seething storm of rancid bar food and unwept regrets, the great worm rose upwards -- six meters long, with a pair of wickedly-jagged jaws resting, hideously out of proportion for a small and pathetic mouth positioned quite poorly. Hideous but iridescent scales make it almost painful to look at, managing somehow to be a single color in a thousand different shades. A muddy and filthy color.
The Cardiax screams, the pretense of humanity gone.
-=-=-=-
OOC: Welcome! This scene is not a conventional combat scene.
For your first pose, frame things as a montage of how you got here -- probably sneaking out of class -- and your own contributions to the struggle against the Cardiax before it revealed its true wormy form. Ideally, you will conclude at the point where you're getting ready for your big and flashy finale --
But don't pose FIRING your finisher!
If you have any questions, ask Nori. And speaking of Nori...
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
THIS MORNING:
"Cousin," said Batiste as he dips a cracker in his little bowl of reheated vegetable soup which is the primary course of today's elegant breakfast, "I have scented something..."
"Oh?" said Nori, still in her night shirt. She leaned forward, slurping some of the hot soup. (Her own share of crackers were spread as an elegant crust atop the stormy vegetable sea.)
"I think... but I am not sure... there may be another Cardiax rising. And not far away."
"Should I skip class?" said Nori, perhaps a little too eagerly.
Batiste pointed a cracker at her. "No! A queen needs mastery of all knowledge to command the myriad isles, you know that. I also am concerned about your long term career prospects."
"It's too early to have that talk," pouts the model, before slurping up a little more soup.
"If it becomes worse, I will tell you," Batiste affirms. "I am sure you won't mind skipping out of class."
10:24 AM, DURING A LITERATURE CLASS
Nori's phone buzzes. A glance down.
> it became worse!
> i think... kanda station
> i'll meet you there
A glance up. Nori's eyes turn left, then right. When the teacher turns to write an ancient kanji in elegant chalkboard technique, she sneaks towards the door. Once safely in the hall, she sends out texts...
Which may be how YOU found out about this.
AT THE STATION
Batiste is standing on top of a cold drinks machine. "Hello, everyone -- hurry!" He hops on Nori's shoulder, a stole of guidance.
SOON, AFTER CROSSING THE BRIDGE INTO ASAKUSA:
La Sirene de Diamant, fresh from her transformation, shades her eyes against the bright sunlight. "Why did it get brighter...?"
EVEN SO --
La Sirene is swift but is not quite as agile as some of her peers. She has taken great vaulting leaps - Mami may recall one in particular - but for the pursuit of the Cardiax, she kept to the street, which has fortunately emptied out, due to the """roadwork""" discouraging foot traffic.
Bursts of the glimmeringly luminous abyssal 'light' that surrounds her snap upwards, trying to pin the Cardiax down. While she is, at least, able to cut the creature off, the only time she scores a good telling blow is when he threw several tables into the road and started explaining something about hurdle jumps when he was in school.
The Cardiax was struck.
La Sirene did not leap over the tables in time.
Someone as gracious as she never looks *ridiculous*, as such; but she did sprawl out on the ground, the diamonds on her uniform leaving peculiar scrapings in the Kappabashi pavement before she could regain her feet. The Cardiax, afterwards, makes a big "X" with his arms.
"I didn't ask you!!" cries la Sirene, at the creature.
The creature makes the big "X" again.
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mami Tomoe would never--
No, that would be a lie. Mami Tomoe would definitely skip class for magical business, and is doing so today. She got a text and quietly slipped out of the classroom and just didn't go back, making an elegant egress from the educational estate.
NOW...
"La Sirene!" Mami Tomoe calls in alarm as she sees her fall. Mami hops down from her perch, where she'd been taking potshots at the Cardiax to keep it off-balance while waiting for La Sirene to do her thing. She is dressed gloriously as ever, in her Puella Magi attire complete with flower pin, and she points a rifle at the Cardiax.
"To repeat oneself unduly is very rude," Mami declares, and then looks to her friend, "Are you all right? I think we need to reconsider our strategy..."
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
It was a pleasant Tuesday morning, before Rei saw a crow perched on the windowsill of her Social Studies class, a rap-tap-tapping on her classroom door. (Window. A window is just a door for birds.)
She made an excuse to the teacher, and snuck outside, and that's when she got a text to explain Deimos's strange behaviour --
"What kind of warped question is this?!" Sailor Mars cries, as she loses at a riddle. "I could have gotten that!!" All she's gotten is significant morale damage over the thought that maybe her head is as empty as a blonde.
Really, it's almost a relief when the Cardiax reaches the next stage. Except, of course, for --
"Agahhh!!!" Sailor Mars goes flying, as that worm makes a big 'X'. She lands on her heeled feet, but it's a bare thing, her arms flailing. "How am I still getting the questions wrong when it keeps looping?!"
It seems she's about to unleash Hell because her morale is almost guttered.
She hates losing in public.
(And in private, too.)
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Whatever cruel jibes the Cardiax made when it wore a human form are written on the wind. In the end, the Cardiax can't achieve whatever the original could not. And while that man has many virtues, drowned as they were in sorrow...
He wasn't the Memorable One Liner guy, except by accident, which can be anybody.
But despite the best efforts of the worm-as-man, the three of them prevailed against it. Not easily, and certainly with plenty of suffering; La Sirene de Diamant had to stumble at least once more, and Sailor Mars may be feeling the irritating burn of being snapped at by quiz questions and other things, unfairly suggesting her to have an internal pressure void for a head!
But that's over now.
The Cardiax, revealed, has little to say, but plenty to scream.
Over its high pitched and ululating clamor, la Sirene calls to Mami, "If we box it in, can you hit it with the big --" She makes a rifle-shooty gesture with her hands as the Cardiax's raising volume makes talking aloud difficult.
La Sirene looks then towards Sailor Mars. As she does it, she unfastens her glove. Nodding once, she hurls the bejeweled glove forwards, leaving it sprawling in the Kappabashi street. The discarded treasure gleams faintly; in this bright daylight, it's LESS obvious, but a ripple of un-light cycles between her and the glove as the Cardiax leans that way, doubtless preparing for a sweep attack that would smite them all -- and perhaps the helpless man besides. (Hopefully someone put him, like, against a wall somewhere.)
La Sirene raises her bare white hand to her forehead, smiling faintly even as her fingers veil her eyes from view. The Cardiax reels somewhat from where it struck that light, jaws gaping as strange black eyes turn downwards towards the heroines arrayed against it.
A second pair of jaws slip into that useless little mouth. Oh: it had more of them.
The Cardiax rears up, glaring furiously at them. And the Cardiax seems to settle on MAMI TOMOE, perhaps because she is not laden with either abyssal light or the spiritual power of Sailor Mars. The creature twists, head arcing forwards, and surge towards --
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene d'Argent [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
There is, from behind the Cardiax, a blur of motion, a glimmer of something flashing bright in the midday sun, the faintest whip-thin sound of something slicing through the air.
And then all of a sudden the Cardiax freezes in place, mouth open in a bellow of pain that never comes.
Through its belly sticks something shiny and silver and sharp, shimmering with a pale white light.
The great worm trembles for a moment, as energy ripples within it. Violently it shudders, bulging a bit as it swells more and more. And finally, when the entire thing is bloated and cannot possibly contain anymore
It explodes.
Sorrow-made flesh transmutes into saltwater, the bitterest of tears of a life unfulfilled and left wanting being released back to the man who spawned them, for better or for worse. And as she worm dissolves, it becomes clear what that object that pieced its gut from behind is.
A rapier. Held by a girl.
She is lunged forward in a picture-perfect fencing stance. Right hand extended, left arm back and up for balance. Black dress, a leather bolero jacket and gloves, boots, and...
Long wavy silver hair and eyes.
She does not move, does not even seem to flinch or recoil from the dying Cardiax as it unwinds and is unmade, not until the last of it is gone and she can draw back to a standing posture, rapier down and to the side.
And through it all, even before she could see her, with the Cardiax between them, her gaze was aimed squarely at Diamant, a fun little thing for her to discover when the worm started to dissolve and they could lock eyes properly.
Once standing, she casually brushes some hair back with her left hand, behind her shoulder, and looks to the others. She is smirking, faintly.
"Thank you for keeping it busy for me."
COMBAT: Ginka Shimizu transforms into La Sirene d'Argent!
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mami's grace to Rei is that she doesn't answer her rhetorical questions. It would be... unkind.
The Cardiax is screaming, and Mami narrows her eyes, radiating confidence. She is a beacon to her friends. That is part of the role she plays. But also...
"I can!" Mami calls out to Nori, and the barrier she's thrown up to shield the helpless man nearby should protect him against whatever comes. But it has more jaws, it seems. And it furiously comes towars her. It arches forward, and Mami braces, not inclined to make the same mistake she once made--
Until abrubtly it is frozen. Mami leaps back as it makes to explode, shielding her eyes with a hand so that she doesn't have to look away. And there s that girl, with the rapier, who...
Hm.
"You're welcome," Mami replies, dry, and looks her over. "Though we could've accomplished it more easily had we known there was another fighting it."
A pause. "I'm Mami Tomoe. And you are...?"
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
La Sirene de Diamant doesn't see the light at first. She's too busy looking upwards. Calculating perhaps if she can save Mami with a shield or with some sort of counterblast to deflect the creature and when it might happen. When she makes her decision she hops to change her orientation, raises her left arm--
The thing shakes.
And swells.
La Sirene's head whips to look at it.
B U R S T
The splashing eruption as the Cardiax meets an unexpected and (for the Cardiax) unfortunate end washes outwards.
La Sirene de Diamant stares with her mouth hanging slightly open.
(Batiste, who had been hanging out at a post box nearby because he is a small otter and is not able to fight anything much larger than a salmon with hope of success, does much the same.)
Mami speaks up and reminds la Sirene that she is actually still in her regalia and standing in the middle of the street. In the background, the Cardiax's storm-clouds begin to fade away, leaving a certain amount of inexplicable gross yakitori meat in the street. The cats will be eating good tonight.
"Keeping it BUSY -- for you?!" la Sirene blurts. "We --!!"
Huff in a deep breath, push it out.
Her eyes still wide, she continues as her hand comes down to her hip, "Your assistance, oh stranger, is WELCOME but -- anyway -- I --"
Batiste glances at la Sirene de Diamant with some concern, then towards Mami, who, in his experience, is a rock on which many more people could stand to build their church. (Also, she lets him have cheesecake, historically.)
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Sailor Mars, naturally, princess-carried the man off to the side where he could be protected by Mami's barriers more easily. And unlight and fire are a wonderful mix, and Mars is ready to burn the Cardiax on the pyre of purification. Except--!
Her prayer slip burns to nothing in her hands, as she watches that rapier stick the Cardiax through. "What's that?!" She exclaims, and it's only when the form of that girl resolves behind the Cardiax that she drops her gloved hand.
"You're certainly confident," Sailor Mars scowls. But Mami, at least, minds her manners, and so she puts her hand to her chest. "... and I'm Sailor Mars. But you're not really wondering about us -- are you?"
She follows this stranger's gaze, deliberately, to la Sirene.
"So," she says, in open prompting.
<Pose Tracker> La Siren d'Argent [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
'Though we could've accomplished it more easily had we known there was another fighting it.'
Those silver eyes drift over to Mami, slowly regarding her and her weapon. As for those words... "Hmm. Yes, I suppose you could have."
She glances over to the man, who was protected by Mami's barrier, then directly at Diamant. "Good work remembering to protect that poor man, Mami Tomoe." How does she make a compliment somehow sound like an insult at the same time?
She looks to Sailor Mars, next, as she introduces herself. She's confident. "Of course," she says, plainly and matter-of-factly. "I knew that there was only one person going to Saint Ives--the man narrating the riddle himself."
Obviously.
'But you're not really wondering about us -- are you?'
That smug, confident smile broadens just a little bit wider as she says, "No."
She spares a glance towards Batiste, for just a moment. Does she see him? More importantly, does she recognize him for what he is? It's brief, before she turns her attention back to Diamant.
'Keeping it BUSY -- for you?!'
"You're welcome," she says. "After I saw you falling all over yourself like that, well, I just had to step in and render my assistance."
Diamant seems to ahve trouble with her words, and Argent tsks softly. "I know I make quite a first impression, but please do try to compose yourself."
But she was asked for her name, and two of them have provided theirs, so it's only fair... She lifts her chin up a little, looking to the three others in turn. "As for myself..."
"I am La Sirene d'Argent."
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mami always appreciates Nori's defense--but in this case it turned out unnecessary. She knows, all the same, that she can rely on la Sirene de Diamant in all things. She does try to keep them all composed, though. This could easily dissolve into a fight...
Mami hasn't had to fight other magical girls like this in a while, but she remembers all too well.
There may be cheesecake for Batiste later.
"Our most vital goal as magical girls is the protection of the populace," Mami states boldly. "We would do no less." 'We', not 'I', this time.
But Mami's opinion of this other girl rapidly sours, given how she treats la Sirene de Diamant.
"I would say it's a pleasure," Mami answers, "But I think a lie is a poor way to begin our acquaintance." Her words are chilly, her expression icy. "But we don't have to start on such a wrong foot. I'd much prefer if we could all be friends."
"...But ultimately," she says, meeting eyes with Rei, "I'll be taking my cues for La Sirene de Diamant on that."
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"What is your problem?!"
Mami is diplomatic. Sailor Mars is not.
"I was prepared to think it was just an awkward meeting -- but there's no mistaking an explanation like that!" She swipes her hand through the air, before levelling her finger, pointing straight at d'Argent. It's a terrible insult in its own right, like the anger in her voice. "Do you think you can just march in here and declare yourself Queen of the Cardiaxes?! I've never seen you defeat one before -- not once!"
She gestures -- open-palmed, this time -- to de Diamant. "And do you want to know how many people I've seen her save from those worms?! An APPRECIABLE AMOUNT! So I suggest,"
she takes a step forward,
"you IMPROVE YOUR ATTITUDE,"
fire in her eyes and her lungs and her heart,
"or I'll wipe that smirk from your face!"
Well, diplomacy was nice while it lasted.
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
La Sirene de Diamant absolutely picks up on that jibe. Her eyes widen.
Her shoulders raise up. Her expression darkens towards something that approaches a theatrical mask and not one of the happy ones. The aura around her twitches a little, a small blob of unlight actually erupting from her forehead and making a distinct little orbit before coming to a silent landing on the back of her head.
Her hands make fists!
"Oh," she says in a deliberately mild and meek tone of voice as her eyes turn downwards to stare at the pavement about ten paces in front of her. "Then I thank you, cousin, for your assistance. I suppose you were, moved to assist, while passing through, yes? I so rarely see other Sirens here. In fact, I believe you're the first one ina very long time!"
She looks upwards.
Batiste essays a small cough. "It's always difficult when there are surprises, isn't it?" he says, hopping down to scutter forwards, deliberately putting himself in between de Diamant and d'Argent.
Which works, in that de Diamant crosses her arms and looks off to the side.
"I believe this particular Cardiax had, hm, many... frustrations to work out, and sadly, la Sirene de Diamant, and her dear comrades Mami Tomoe and Sailor Mars, were - hm - the unfortunate recipients!" says the otter.
He's about to say more when:
SAILOR MARS ATTACK!
La Sirene de Diamant looks at her, and for a moment there is real, clear gratitude on the elegantly alien masque laying atop the face of Nori Ankou.
"W-w-w-w-wait, Sailor Mars!" Batiste implores, but he's also getting out of the way.
<Pose Tracker> La Siren d'Argent [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
d'Argent is not posturing to attack. She is, after all, just standing there, in the same spot, where she had casually slain the Cardiax not a moment before. Her rapier--surely it must be enchanted in some way, given the name she just introduced herself with--is just hanging there by her side, still in hand.
Then again, nobody quite saw her get into position in the first place, did they?
"Of course," she says, with a faint nod to Mami. But when Mami makes that cutting remark about lies and starting acquaintances, she actually laughs a little, free hand coming up to politely cover her mouth. "Why, you do have a way with words, Mami Tomoe."
Why is she impressed by that!?
She lowers her hand, letting it rest on her hip as Mars takes her turn next, pointing at her--why, that is frighteningly rude of her! Not that it seems to bother Argent any. "Oh, Sailor Mars, but you did see me defeat one. Just now, in fact. And by that same token, I haven't seen you defeat any."
"Besides," she follows up, dismissively. "It is not the Cardiax that I seek to be Queen of, but rather..." She looks to Diamant again.
"The Sea of Tears."
Do Diamant's friends know what she's about? Argent doesn't know and she really doesn't care. As long as Diamant knows, that's all that matters.
"My, my. So aggressive. Is this really the sort of company you keep, 'cousin'?" And still she just stands there, rapier by her side, not even readying herself for Mars' (inevitable??) attack.
"Passing through? Oh, but only if I were, for your sake. No, my dear Diamant, I do believe this is... how do they say... the beginning of a beautiful friendship? Something like that."
Batiste has some more to say about the nature of the man's suffering, and Argent's gaze does turn somber for a moment as she looks to the man. "Mmm. The life of a man with ambitions unfulfilled."
She looks to the others, suddenly serious. "That won't be my fate."
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Thank you," Mami answers the compliment primly. Then, Sailor Mars speaks her heart. Mami can't really blame that; it's something she appreciates about the Inner Senshi in general. But la Sirene de Diamant is acting... Well, very un-Nori like to her, in this mild and meek tone of voice. Passing through...
Perhaps it's a gambit. But it rankles at Mami to see her friend speaking this way.
"Mars," Mami says, "I know exactly how you feel."
To be Queen of the Sea of Tears... that place that was such a balm to Mami, too, at her lowest. She remembers it well, their visit there when they were closest to Earth's Hokkaido. It is a precious set of memories--too precious to be trod upon by what she views as an upstart.
"It's certainly good to know that you'll be with us for a long while," Mami says, turning to Diamant instead. "And..."
She looks to the man so easily dismissed, and begins to walk towards him, to check his condition. Without looking back she says, "It's nice to want, isn't it? ...I'm sure your fate is in your own hands."
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Sailor Mars marches right up to d'Argent, fearless of that rapier, and by all visual suggestion unarmed. Her hand lifts, each elegant finger parting just so, as the back of her hand flashes --
W-w-w-w-wait --
-- and, face still twisted in indignant rage, she lowers her hand moments before she loses her temper outright and slaps the other girl. It curls to a fist beside her instead, with the grit of her teeth, before she half-turns to stomp her foot and glare at anything other than that smug face.
For Batiste, and for Batiste alone, she sheathes her weapon, though she's glad to know Mami sees her perspective. (Her weapon is her hand. Her slapping hand.)
"Then you're her competition," she sniffs, haughtily, "and I've nothing more to say to you." She makes a liar of herself moments later, of course, when she puts her hand to her hip, fingers clutching in at her skirt.
"If you pursue your ambitions so arrogantly," an arrogant, ambitious woman says, as she turns her head back to look in the mirror, "you'll only end up lost, you know." And when she meets d'Argent's eyes, there's a depth to her outrage beyond surface offence.
This girl... really irritates her.
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
La Sirene de Diamant's lip woobles which really ruins the face she's trying to pull at d'Argent here. It's transient, but it's there. What the other Siren says makes her lift her voice: "They have fought with me and I have fought with them with honor and valor and, importantly, SUCCESS-- so I will THANK you not to speak poorly of them!"
She sweeps her hands open. "I can give them no greater introduction than they could give themselves!"
MEANWHILE, Batiste breathes out.
They're not going to fight! Yay!
"Well, then, however long you are in this lovely and enormous city," Batiste says, because la Sirene de Diamant is spreading her hands dramatically, "I hope that you will enjoy yourself, and I do hope you will forgive us if er -- the hunting is -- irregular. Rarely do we see more than - hm, we did have two in that one month, one time?"
La Sirene's hands stay spread.
"la Sirene de Diamant?"
"Hm? Oh," she says, glancing down. "Yes, two in one month -- and it was near the turn of the month too, so if you aren't going by the calendar --"
The distraction has reduced if not removed the tension; her hands go to rest on her hips instead. La Sirene de Diamant makes a purse-lipped face, but has nothing else to say to d'Argent for the moment, it seems.
(Also, her thrown glove is still laying in the street, but she's sure not going to go over and pick it up right this moment.)
<Pose Tracker> La Siren d'Argent [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"It is, isn't it?" She says, of being here for a while. "I suppose it means I'll be able to 'assist' you all again, should another Cardiax arrive."
She's mostly not trying to rankle Mami at this point--she's too calm and collected, Argent can tell.
Mars and Diamant, on the other hand...
"I usually get what I want," she states, simply and plainly, and with a dismissive casualness.
She's watching, as Mars comes stomping up to her, looking her directly in the eyes the entire time. She doesn't move, or make a motion to defend herself, or even do the very simple thing of taking a step back.
She is, seemingly, completely open for the slapping, should Mars choose to go through with it.
When she doesn't, that infuriating smirk just grows wider.
She 'wins' by Mars backing down... and she would have won had she followed through.
At least, it's clear to see that Argent believes that.
She's Diamant's competition. "So you understand my meaning. Good."
Argent hasn't moved since withdrawing into her standing posture, but when Mars offers that final advice... she does lean forward, just a tiny bit, just enough to really rub it in. Along with that smug smile. "My, my... Is that given from personal experience, I wonder?"
A brief, contented chuckle, buried deep in the back of her throat, as she sees that quiver of the lip from Diamant.
"Well then," she says airily, "I suppose I will have to take your word for it, if you are willing to vouch for them so."
She looks to Batiste. "Why, I do think I will, if there is such... spirited company here." But... they had two in a month.
Once.
"Really, now," she says, feigning disappointment. (Or the disappointment is real and she is saying it in a mockingly insincere way.) "Then I suppose I shall be far less busy than I used to be." She brightens (or pretends to brighten, or...) again with that same infuriating smile. "I'll simply have to find something to occupy my time, won't I?"
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Competition. Yes, that's the shape of it, isn't it? Mami watches Argent quite carefully. She does indeed understand Mars's perspective, and if she were as hot-blooded as Mars she'd have registered that displeasure much more plainly.
Diamant lifts her voice, and... Of course, it is to defend them. Batiste is peacemaking, of course, and perhaps Mami should help him, but...
"How wonderful," Mami answers Argent. Indeed she is unruffled, though not unbothered. She usually gets what she wants...
"I've known many girls who felt that way," Mami says, and looks up from where she'd checked on the man. He seems reasonably fine for now, at least--but that laugh...
"Sailor Mars is a stalwart ally and a skilled fighter. You would do well to consider her advice, rather than to dismiss it. But of course, it is your choice what to do with the gifts given you."
"I'm sure you'll find much to do," Mami says with a smile. It is a pleasant expression, but it doesn't entirely meet her eyes, which still focus on Argent.
"It has been most illuminating meeting you. I do hope that you get a chance to see the shores of your home sooner than later."
She turns to Diamant, "He'll be all right. I'll get him somewhere safer."
A pause. "...But," she says, looking back to Argent, "You should know that la Sirene de Diamant has my utmost faith... and loyalty."
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
De Diamant's fervent support is a balm against the anger Mars is feeling -- even if she's still quite cross.
But at least, with the ebbing tension, she probably won't get violent. Even if her eyes narrow, when d'Argent rubs salt in the wound. "I'm in the business of getting what I want, myself," she tells her, sour. "And I happen to know a thing or two about the process."
Her brow lifts; her chin tilts up; her lips fall.
"Lessons it doesn't seem you ever learned."
She can't help but look down her nose at her, even if she knows it's not what Usagi would do. Screw it: this is what Rei would do. Rei doesn't let upstarts march in and insult her friends.
On some level, she knows she's undercutting Mami's attempt to make d'Argent listen to her, but she just can't help herself.
"School life should keep you occupied enough," she assures her, archly. "Since I don't suppose a girl like you would ever find a boyfriend." And has Rei found one? Listen, she has suitors lined up, no one's just fit her standards yet.
"As for me --" because Mami and Mars are one of a kind in this, even if their methods are disparate -- "I'll be supporting my friends."
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
'I usually get what I want' gets another one of those purse-lipped glower faces from de Diamant!! But no words.
And then she looks... baffled, at the mention of the frequency of Cardiax being so low.
Diamant looks to Batiste but he has no real input on this one. He isn't gasping, but he also isn't rolling his eyes.
"Well, perhaps Tokyo is a city with less despair and sorrow than we might expect," she mutters, folding her arms again. She has been fidgeting. Her eyes turn towards Mami -- and her face turns a little red. Just a touch, but it's a touch of color in an otherwise monochromatic outfit. To the ground go her eyes again.
Batiste, perhaps knowing what he should do, also moves nearer to her, scampering a little. He crosses her vision but does not squeak for 'up' - he can do it himself if he must.
"There's plenty to do here, whatever your tastes," la Sirene concludes, even as Rei takes straight and level shots. (Some of which make her own face redden just a bit more, though it does make her finally lift her head up and just look at... nothing in particular.)
"I imagine though, that if you will stay here, that..."
I can do it, she tells herself, as the hot rush of anger had already plunged into the cold of 'oh no maybe she IS way better than me' - a certain sort of despair.
"... I may have to take my share of journeys; if you have been elsewhere in Japan, that is to say."
To Sailor Mars, now, she says, "We should - help the gentleman somewhere... He doesn't seem to be in awful health, or I think Mami would have coaxed us, but it can't be nice to wake up in the middle of the street. People will start coming by soon enough."
As if on cue, a car turns, hopefully, onto the street two blocks up. It's going slowly, though, but this may complicate standing in the middle of the street.
<Pose Tracker> La Siren d'Argent [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
If Argent has bothered Mami, then perhaps she can consider that a win, of sorts, even if she has not brought her to the point of her anger boiling over.
The gifts given to her... "Why, Mami Tomoe, I think I will quite look forward to hearing more of your lovely words."
Spoilers: She won't.
Finding something to do, however... "Certainly. Tokyo is such a large city, after all. So full of opportunities, wouldn't you agree?"
It has been illuminating. "Enchanté, Mami Tomoe. I'm quite certain that I shall."
To Mars, she purses her lips in contemplation. She knows about the process of getting what one wants. "Mmm. Do you now. I suppose we shall see, sooner or later."
"Oh I can quite assure you, Sailor Mars, that I work very hard to get what I want. You can be sure of that."
Difficulty finding a boyfriend.
Oh, that is such an easy shot to take, and Argent is tempted... but no. No, no. None of that, now.
So instead, she lowers her voice, just enough so that only Mars can hear her, and says, while looking her directly in the eyes, "And whoever said I was looking for a... boyfriend, hmmm?"
But both Mami and Mars announce their support for Nori. "What marvelous loyalty," she says. "Turly inspiring to see."
The undercurrent to her words is clear: 'You'll need it.'
If she's lying about how low the Cardiax activity is here... it's hard to tell. But then again, she's been so flippant about so many things, it might be hard to tell what's sincere and what's not in general.
Diamant has a theory, and Argent casually shrugs. "Perhaps. I'll simply have to investigate for myself." While Diamant is fidgeting, Argent is calm and still. She's barely moved at all, save the select few subtle and deliberate motions she's made.
Both Mars and Diamant suggest that school life will keep her busy, and that there are plenty of things to do in Tokyo. "Perhaps. I suppose, with all my newfound free time... I'll join a club." No points for guessing which one she has in mind.
Diamant announces her intention to take a journey. "You really should. It is quite the wide world out there... And Tokyo will remain in good hands until you get back."
Her hands, specifically.
"I shall leave the gentleman to you, and take my leave. Au revoir." A car turns the corner and honks, but if their attention is pulled by that and they look to Argent again, there is nothing left but a shimmer of light.
And then she is on the roof of a nearby building, standing at the edge looking down at the three of them. The posture is much the same: standing upright rapier casually at her side. And with another flicker of light, she is gone.
